WEBVTT 00:00:02.259 --> 00:00:05.259 Welcome to the Life Bible Church podcast. We 00:00:05.259 --> 00:00:07.660 want to thank you for joining us today, and we 00:00:07.660 --> 00:00:10.179 hope you find today's sermon impacting as you 00:00:10.179 --> 00:00:12.699 listen to it wherever you are in your daily walk. 00:00:12.980 --> 00:00:15.919 To find service times and watch messages online, 00:00:16.199 --> 00:00:20.120 see our website at lifebiblechurch .org. Now, 00:00:20.140 --> 00:00:26.679 enjoy this week's message. Well, Pastor Brad 00:00:26.679 --> 00:00:28.420 and Jenny mentioned it in the prayer, but they 00:00:28.420 --> 00:00:31.079 are out today, so you guys get me this morning. 00:00:34.789 --> 00:00:37.810 And I'm excited to bring a word this morning, 00:00:37.869 --> 00:00:41.570 but before I do so, I actually have a quick announcement 00:00:41.570 --> 00:00:44.170 that we didn't have time to include in video 00:00:44.170 --> 00:00:47.590 announcements, but Mike Winkleplek and actually 00:00:47.590 --> 00:00:50.950 Nita Lovell have been working together to actually 00:00:50.950 --> 00:00:54.770 create a GoFundMe for the Church's Wall project. 00:00:55.350 --> 00:00:58.750 And I don't know, do we have information, like 00:00:58.750 --> 00:01:01.530 a slide for that? I was told we might have something. 00:01:01.630 --> 00:01:05.150 So this is just what it looks like on GoFundMe's 00:01:05.150 --> 00:01:07.989 website. I believe we're gonna have this link 00:01:07.989 --> 00:01:10.969 on our website available for you guys. And the 00:01:10.969 --> 00:01:13.390 reason that we're doing this is just so you can 00:01:13.390 --> 00:01:16.230 share. And that would be our ask even as a church 00:01:16.230 --> 00:01:18.909 is that you would share it, whether it's on social 00:01:18.909 --> 00:01:21.950 media, with family, friends, coworkers, because 00:01:21.950 --> 00:01:25.969 we want to get the word out and let people partner 00:01:25.969 --> 00:01:29.939 with us. And so what... When it comes to you 00:01:29.939 --> 00:01:32.099 giving, you know, you guys are a part of this 00:01:32.099 --> 00:01:34.140 church. We encourage you to give on the website 00:01:34.140 --> 00:01:38.319 because GoFundMe does charge fees. So we're trying 00:01:38.319 --> 00:01:41.099 to maximize all that comes in. But for those 00:01:41.099 --> 00:01:43.680 that maybe are outside the church that would 00:01:43.680 --> 00:01:46.239 feel stirred to give and be a part of what God's 00:01:46.239 --> 00:01:48.480 doing here, we're gonna have that link available 00:01:48.480 --> 00:01:51.819 that you guys can send out to your family, friends, 00:01:52.099 --> 00:01:55.219 coworkers. Let's let the link go out all across 00:01:55.219 --> 00:02:01.549 the nation. All right, well, we are, I almost 00:02:01.549 --> 00:02:03.569 said we're in the middle of our churchwide fast, 00:02:03.730 --> 00:02:06.489 but we are two thirds of the way through our 00:02:06.489 --> 00:02:11.610 churchwide fast. Come on, praise Jesus. We are 00:02:11.610 --> 00:02:14.990 on day 14. I'm just gonna give a little encouragement 00:02:14.990 --> 00:02:18.330 to you. I know Pastor Brad has preached on fasting 00:02:18.330 --> 00:02:20.710 the last couple of weeks. So I'm not gonna preach 00:02:20.710 --> 00:02:23.650 on fasting today. I will restrain myself. But 00:02:23.650 --> 00:02:28.520 that being said, if you, have missed out on the 00:02:28.520 --> 00:02:30.639 last two weeks. Maybe you didn't know we were 00:02:30.639 --> 00:02:35.120 fasting. Guess what? It's not too late. Do you 00:02:35.120 --> 00:02:37.939 guys remember the parable Jesus gave of the vineyard 00:02:37.939 --> 00:02:41.900 workers? One started early and one came in the 00:02:41.900 --> 00:02:44.180 11th hour and they all received the same reward. 00:02:45.639 --> 00:02:48.419 Just saying, just throwing that out there. I 00:02:48.419 --> 00:02:50.020 don't know if that's, I might be taking that 00:02:50.020 --> 00:02:54.110 out of context, but regardless. If you haven't 00:02:54.110 --> 00:02:56.889 started fasting yet, we seriously want to encourage 00:02:56.889 --> 00:02:59.550 you to do so. Again, we're talking about some 00:02:59.550 --> 00:03:01.430 of the words that were given. We're talking about 00:03:01.430 --> 00:03:06.110 unity and just like what it looks like as the 00:03:06.110 --> 00:03:10.250 body of Christ to link arms together and pursue 00:03:10.250 --> 00:03:13.969 the things of God. The riverbank issue, that's 00:03:13.969 --> 00:03:16.830 an issue of unity, of us coming together to fight 00:03:16.830 --> 00:03:19.050 that thing. But fasting is something that we 00:03:19.050 --> 00:03:22.250 can do in unity with one another. And there's 00:03:22.250 --> 00:03:25.110 power in that. And so, again, I'm not gonna preach 00:03:25.110 --> 00:03:27.349 on fasting, but I'm gonna share just a few encouragements 00:03:27.349 --> 00:03:32.009 if you're still on the fence. Just a few. Fasting, 00:03:32.009 --> 00:03:37.310 what it does, in my opinion, is it actually declutters 00:03:37.310 --> 00:03:40.889 your soul. When you actually intentionally give 00:03:40.889 --> 00:03:45.870 up food, stuff happens in life. And what ends 00:03:45.870 --> 00:03:48.189 up happening is a bunch of junk gets attached 00:03:48.189 --> 00:03:50.750 to your soul. You know, a couple of years ago, 00:03:50.770 --> 00:03:53.409 I was in Northern California and I was driving 00:03:53.409 --> 00:03:56.569 down the freeway fast because it's all straight 00:03:56.569 --> 00:03:58.909 and flat there. And they just have like a hatch 00:03:58.909 --> 00:04:02.770 of bugs. And between like Sacramento and the 00:04:02.770 --> 00:04:05.550 Oregon border, there's a lot of just fields and 00:04:05.550 --> 00:04:08.500 orchards. And I don't know what bugs were out 00:04:08.500 --> 00:04:11.740 and about, but it was nonstop splatters on the 00:04:11.740 --> 00:04:14.379 windshield. And I actually pulled off at the 00:04:14.379 --> 00:04:18.360 gas station because my whole windshield was smeared. 00:04:18.819 --> 00:04:21.879 And I got out and I looked even at my headlights 00:04:21.879 --> 00:04:24.699 and there was like a half inch of bug carnage 00:04:24.699 --> 00:04:27.800 on my headlights. And so what I have to do, I 00:04:27.800 --> 00:04:30.300 went and I got the little squeegee and I washed 00:04:30.300 --> 00:04:32.620 my windshield, pulled all the bugs off my headlights. 00:04:33.310 --> 00:04:35.410 So I could see, and I was thinking about it. 00:04:35.430 --> 00:04:38.529 That is really kind of what fasting does. It 00:04:38.529 --> 00:04:42.029 gives you a chance to realign of the crap that 00:04:42.029 --> 00:04:46.209 hits your soul in life and obscures your vision. 00:04:47.019 --> 00:04:49.060 Guess what? You can still kind of see if your 00:04:49.060 --> 00:04:51.560 wipers are going, you'll smear, but you can still 00:04:51.560 --> 00:04:54.920 see for a little bit. But when you actually get 00:04:54.920 --> 00:04:57.740 that rinse and that wash on the windshield, you 00:04:57.740 --> 00:05:00.339 can actually see clearly what's ahead of you. 00:05:00.439 --> 00:05:03.439 And that is really the important piece of fasting. 00:05:04.079 --> 00:05:08.139 Aside from that, it actually just reallocates 00:05:08.139 --> 00:05:12.600 your appetites. And that is something that we 00:05:12.600 --> 00:05:15.199 don't talk about very much as the church, but 00:05:15.199 --> 00:05:18.279 when you fast, it actually causes you to begin 00:05:18.279 --> 00:05:20.939 to hunger for the things of God. Now, I heard 00:05:20.939 --> 00:05:24.459 a pastor say years ago, he said, fasting makes 00:05:24.459 --> 00:05:27.300 you hungrier for the things you can't see than 00:05:27.300 --> 00:05:30.399 the things you can see. And I think that's very, 00:05:30.480 --> 00:05:35.180 very true. Okay, that's it. No more fasting. 00:05:35.519 --> 00:05:38.620 So I do have a word I wanna bring to you guys 00:05:38.620 --> 00:05:42.540 this morning. And it's in the realm of embracing 00:05:42.540 --> 00:05:46.579 the authority that God has given us and standing 00:05:46.579 --> 00:05:49.379 in a place of faith. And there's a reason I'm 00:05:49.379 --> 00:05:52.339 bringing this word. I really do believe that 00:05:52.339 --> 00:05:56.160 God is calling our church this year to overcome 00:05:56.160 --> 00:06:00.060 impossible situations. And I really think that 00:06:00.060 --> 00:06:03.180 what we're seeing even on the riverbank, you 00:06:03.180 --> 00:06:05.639 know, that is a bit of an impossible situation. 00:06:05.680 --> 00:06:08.579 Have we seen breakthrough? Have we seen permits 00:06:08.579 --> 00:06:12.720 come in? Have we seen just blessing in this process? 00:06:12.959 --> 00:06:17.259 Absolutely. But there still is situations that 00:06:17.259 --> 00:06:20.379 we need to overcome corporately as a church. 00:06:20.459 --> 00:06:23.779 And I really believe even individually for every 00:06:23.779 --> 00:06:26.939 person that's a part of our church, God has, 00:06:27.160 --> 00:06:30.000 he's moving us into a realm where we're gonna 00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:33.189 walk in greater and greater breakthrough. And 00:06:33.189 --> 00:06:35.870 I really feel that what we've seen in the past 00:06:35.870 --> 00:06:39.550 in the realm of the miraculous, God is going 00:06:39.550 --> 00:06:43.110 to increase what we've seen this year. I really 00:06:43.110 --> 00:06:48.389 do believe that. But there's aspects of an increase 00:06:48.389 --> 00:06:50.470 in the miraculous, an increase in overcoming 00:06:50.470 --> 00:06:54.069 obstacles that requires partnership. And so I 00:06:54.069 --> 00:06:57.449 wanna talk about that today, specifically in 00:06:57.449 --> 00:07:00.670 the realm of embracing God's authority and stepping 00:07:00.670 --> 00:07:04.759 out in faith. So we're gonna open with a passage 00:07:04.759 --> 00:07:09.540 of scripture out of Exodus 14. So if you guys 00:07:09.540 --> 00:07:13.160 have your Bibles, you can open up Exodus 14. 00:07:13.420 --> 00:07:16.680 We're gonna start in verse 13. And I'm gonna 00:07:16.680 --> 00:07:19.060 give you a little bit of context of what's happening 00:07:19.060 --> 00:07:24.139 in this passage. So Moses has, he's responded 00:07:24.139 --> 00:07:27.139 to the call of God. He encountered the Lord at 00:07:27.139 --> 00:07:31.129 the burning bush and he went to Egypt. and to 00:07:31.129 --> 00:07:33.670 set the people of Israel free with the power 00:07:33.670 --> 00:07:36.529 of God. And so he goes to Egypt and you have 00:07:36.529 --> 00:07:38.750 the whole process of Pharaoh refusing to let 00:07:38.750 --> 00:07:42.629 Israel go, plagues and Pharaoh going back and 00:07:42.629 --> 00:07:45.170 forth, back and forth. Well, finally, after the 00:07:45.170 --> 00:07:48.490 Passover and the 10th plague, what happened? 00:07:48.550 --> 00:07:51.350 Pharaoh finally said, get out, please leave, 00:07:51.629 --> 00:07:54.949 we're done. You can take everything you need 00:07:54.949 --> 00:07:58.699 and get out. And so Israel leaves Egypt. And 00:07:58.699 --> 00:08:00.639 they're on their way out into the wilderness 00:08:00.639 --> 00:08:03.920 and the Lord actually leads them to a dead end. 00:08:04.180 --> 00:08:07.339 And it specifically says that God led them to 00:08:07.339 --> 00:08:10.240 that location. So they're looking at the Red 00:08:10.240 --> 00:08:13.519 Sea and in the midst of them having no way forward, 00:08:13.660 --> 00:08:17.860 Pharaoh changed his mind, gathered the whole 00:08:17.860 --> 00:08:21.199 army with all of his chariots and begin to pursue 00:08:21.199 --> 00:08:23.819 Israel. Now, what was Pharaoh's intent? Was it 00:08:23.819 --> 00:08:26.339 to recapture them or was it to kill and slaughter 00:08:26.339 --> 00:08:28.339 them? We don't really know. We just know Pharaoh 00:08:28.339 --> 00:08:30.959 was upset and he was gonna respond with force. 00:08:31.199 --> 00:08:35.539 So here Israel is, they're facing the Red Sea 00:08:35.539 --> 00:08:37.919 and behind them, they have the armies of Pharaoh 00:08:37.919 --> 00:08:42.659 enclosing and around them. So from their perspective 00:08:42.659 --> 00:08:45.840 in the natural, they're facing a very impossible 00:08:45.840 --> 00:08:49.470 situation that looks like certain death. In fact, 00:08:49.470 --> 00:08:51.610 they even articulated that to Moses. They said, 00:08:51.649 --> 00:08:53.789 were there not enough graves in Egypt that you 00:08:53.789 --> 00:08:56.389 had to bring us out here to die? Not really a 00:08:56.389 --> 00:08:57.950 statement of faith, but that's where they were 00:08:57.950 --> 00:09:03.330 at. So this is what Moses says, starting in verse 00:09:03.330 --> 00:09:07.970 13. It says, Moses said to the people, fear not, 00:09:08.049 --> 00:09:13.289 stand firm and see the salvation of the Lord, 00:09:13.450 --> 00:09:18.340 which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians 00:09:18.340 --> 00:09:21.720 whom you see today, you shall never see again. 00:09:22.360 --> 00:09:26.240 The Lord will fight for you and you have only 00:09:26.240 --> 00:09:29.360 to be silent. That was a really holy way to say, 00:09:29.399 --> 00:09:35.700 you can shut up now. But, all right. So what's 00:09:35.700 --> 00:09:39.620 happening here? I love this passage and I'm gonna 00:09:39.620 --> 00:09:44.080 actually keep reading in verse 15. Verse 15, 00:09:44.139 --> 00:09:47.159 it says, the Lord said to Moses, why do you cry 00:09:47.159 --> 00:09:51.200 to me? It's an interesting question. Tell the 00:09:51.200 --> 00:09:54.799 people of Israel to go forward, lift up your 00:09:54.799 --> 00:09:58.259 staff, stretch out your hand over the sea and 00:09:58.259 --> 00:10:01.960 divide it, that the people of Israel may go through 00:10:01.960 --> 00:10:06.559 the sea on dry ground. So this is a fascinating 00:10:06.559 --> 00:10:11.320 passage of scripture. And to me, between... like 00:10:11.320 --> 00:10:14.220 verse 14 and verse 15, it seems like there's 00:10:14.220 --> 00:10:16.740 a little bit of a gap because here Moses is addressing 00:10:16.740 --> 00:10:19.480 the people standing in faith, but you get the 00:10:19.480 --> 00:10:22.740 implication that after he stepped down from addressing 00:10:22.740 --> 00:10:26.100 the people, he went to prayer. And it might've 00:10:26.100 --> 00:10:28.240 been pretty desperate prayer. I don't know. It's 00:10:28.240 --> 00:10:29.940 not written in scripture, but the Lord asked 00:10:29.940 --> 00:10:32.139 him a question. He goes, why are you crying to 00:10:32.139 --> 00:10:39.200 me? So Moses actually kind of gets rebuked for, 00:10:40.430 --> 00:10:43.149 potentially crying out to God and asking God 00:10:43.149 --> 00:10:46.490 for a solution. What did God tell Moses to do? 00:10:46.549 --> 00:10:50.110 He said, take your staff, lift it in the air, 00:10:50.190 --> 00:10:53.990 lift your hands and divide the water in front 00:10:53.990 --> 00:10:56.169 of you that you may go on dry ground. And the 00:10:56.169 --> 00:10:59.330 rest of the story is great. Obviously, if you 00:10:59.330 --> 00:11:02.029 guys have read this, it's an amazing story of 00:11:02.029 --> 00:11:04.850 deliverance. The sea parts, Israel goes through 00:11:04.850 --> 00:11:07.730 the Red Sea, Pharaoh's armies follow, Israel 00:11:07.730 --> 00:11:10.549 gets out safe on the other side. Pharaoh and 00:11:10.549 --> 00:11:13.289 the armies get stuck and they get destroyed. 00:11:13.490 --> 00:11:16.149 So it's an amazing story of God's justice and 00:11:16.149 --> 00:11:18.590 breakthrough against the enemies of God. But 00:11:18.590 --> 00:11:22.850 what strikes me in this story is that Moses got 00:11:22.850 --> 00:11:26.870 rebuked for crying out to God. That really struck 00:11:26.870 --> 00:11:29.750 me as I'm reading that, that he actually, I shouldn't 00:11:29.750 --> 00:11:31.809 say rebuked, but he asked that question, why 00:11:31.809 --> 00:11:37.580 are you crying out? And then he actually, told 00:11:37.580 --> 00:11:39.679 him to do something very specific. He said, take 00:11:39.679 --> 00:11:45.080 your staff and lift it up. And I was intrigued 00:11:45.080 --> 00:11:48.440 by that. Why would God ask Moses to lift up his 00:11:48.440 --> 00:11:53.580 staff? And really the staff in scripture is symbolic 00:11:53.580 --> 00:11:59.299 of authority. It represents authority that God 00:11:59.299 --> 00:12:03.159 has given. God ordained authority. And shepherds 00:12:03.159 --> 00:12:07.240 carried staffs. All throughout scripture, they 00:12:07.240 --> 00:12:09.919 would carry their staff. They used the staff 00:12:09.919 --> 00:12:12.720 to actually guide their natural flocks to bring 00:12:12.720 --> 00:12:15.220 correction to the natural flock. They would also 00:12:15.220 --> 00:12:18.879 hold their staff as a way of counting the sheep. 00:12:18.940 --> 00:12:21.980 The sheep would come under the staff and they 00:12:21.980 --> 00:12:25.039 would do inventory of their flocks using that 00:12:25.039 --> 00:12:27.779 staff. So the staff typically was associated 00:12:27.779 --> 00:12:31.879 with shepherds. And we see this even with David 00:12:31.879 --> 00:12:35.120 in Psalm 23. What is that famous Psalm? The Lord 00:12:35.120 --> 00:12:37.580 is my shepherd, I shall not want. Well, in verse 00:12:37.580 --> 00:12:41.139 four, he says, your rod and your staff, they 00:12:41.139 --> 00:12:44.820 comfort me. So David was making a declaration 00:12:44.820 --> 00:12:48.019 about something. He was saying, God, your authority 00:12:48.019 --> 00:12:52.159 in my life actually brings me comfort. Your correction 00:12:52.159 --> 00:12:55.799 and your authority that I come under as a sheep 00:12:55.799 --> 00:13:00.409 in your flock brings comfort to me. And the truth 00:13:00.409 --> 00:13:04.110 is Moses was a shepherd. Pastor Brad actually 00:13:04.110 --> 00:13:06.029 preached on this, I think Christmas Eve. He talked 00:13:06.029 --> 00:13:08.570 about just how Moses spent 40 years as a prince 00:13:08.570 --> 00:13:11.490 in Egypt, but then the next season of his life, 00:13:11.509 --> 00:13:13.990 he spent 40 years in the wilderness as a shepherd. 00:13:14.769 --> 00:13:18.509 And he was a shepherd before God called him to 00:13:18.509 --> 00:13:21.789 deliver Israel. So guess what? He had a staff 00:13:21.789 --> 00:13:24.210 for his natural sheep that he brought guidance. 00:13:24.450 --> 00:13:27.990 He brought correction. He stewarded the flocks 00:13:27.990 --> 00:13:32.730 with that staff. And that is what he used. But 00:13:32.730 --> 00:13:35.429 it was a symbol of his authority over the sheep. 00:13:35.629 --> 00:13:38.570 But then God actually called him to lead the 00:13:38.570 --> 00:13:41.169 nation of Israel. And that staff became the symbol 00:13:41.169 --> 00:13:44.789 of his authority over the nation of Israel. And 00:13:44.789 --> 00:13:48.049 I wanna say this, the authority carried with 00:13:48.049 --> 00:13:50.970 it, the authority in that staff actually carried 00:13:50.970 --> 00:13:53.049 with it the power to perform the miraculous. 00:13:53.950 --> 00:13:58.330 And this is kind of an interesting note in scripture 00:13:59.789 --> 00:14:02.690 that there is a connection between authority 00:14:02.690 --> 00:14:06.129 and the authority that God gives and a miraculous 00:14:06.129 --> 00:14:10.409 display of what God wants to do. And God actually 00:14:10.409 --> 00:14:14.309 had to train Moses in that authority. And so 00:14:14.309 --> 00:14:16.230 I wanna look at another scripture. We just read 00:14:16.230 --> 00:14:19.490 Exodus 14. You can go back 10 chapters to Exodus 00:14:19.490 --> 00:14:22.769 4. The burning bush encounter starts in chapter 00:14:22.769 --> 00:14:26.169 three, the very beginning of chapter four. This 00:14:26.169 --> 00:14:28.990 is what the Lord says to Moses. Moses is trying 00:14:28.990 --> 00:14:31.029 to get out of this. He's like, I do not want 00:14:31.029 --> 00:14:32.850 to do this. I do not want to lead the people. 00:14:32.929 --> 00:14:36.649 I can't speak well. He had all the excuses. And 00:14:36.649 --> 00:14:39.289 then the Lord said to him, what is in your hand? 00:14:40.169 --> 00:14:44.210 Moses said, a staff. And he said, throw it on 00:14:44.210 --> 00:14:47.009 the ground. So he threw it on the ground and 00:14:47.009 --> 00:14:51.360 it became a serpent. And Moses ran from it. But 00:14:51.360 --> 00:14:54.360 the Lord said to Moses, put out your hand and 00:14:54.360 --> 00:14:57.159 catch it by the tail. So he put out his hand 00:14:57.159 --> 00:15:00.460 and he caught it and it became a staff in his 00:15:00.460 --> 00:15:04.879 hand. The Lord said that they may believe that 00:15:04.879 --> 00:15:07.820 the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of 00:15:07.820 --> 00:15:10.899 Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob 00:15:10.899 --> 00:15:14.700 has appeared to you. See, God had to actually. 00:15:15.309 --> 00:15:18.769 train Moses in this moment on how to begin to 00:15:18.769 --> 00:15:22.029 exercise the authority that God was giving him. 00:15:22.450 --> 00:15:25.250 And the authority actually carried with it the 00:15:25.250 --> 00:15:27.169 miraculous. Have you ever noticed this? This 00:15:27.169 --> 00:15:30.649 is the first miracle that actually happened at 00:15:30.649 --> 00:15:33.350 the hands of Moses. And the Lord walked him through 00:15:33.350 --> 00:15:36.490 it. The Lord said, pick up your staff, pick up 00:15:36.490 --> 00:15:39.470 the authority that I'm giving you right now and 00:15:39.470 --> 00:15:41.559 throw it on the ground. And it turned into a 00:15:41.559 --> 00:15:43.639 snake and then Moses ran away. I love that part 00:15:43.639 --> 00:15:45.159 of scripture. Probably most of us in this room 00:15:45.159 --> 00:15:48.220 would do the same thing. Like wasn't expecting 00:15:48.220 --> 00:15:51.860 that. Is this a sick prank? I don't know. Regardless, 00:15:52.059 --> 00:15:57.820 the reason Moses carried that staff, part of 00:15:57.820 --> 00:16:02.440 the reason is that that authority and the miracle 00:16:02.440 --> 00:16:05.059 that corresponded with it actually gave proof 00:16:05.059 --> 00:16:09.159 that God had sent and called Moses. Notice what 00:16:09.159 --> 00:16:11.679 God said at the end. He said, this is happening 00:16:11.679 --> 00:16:14.600 so they may believe that the Lord, the God of 00:16:14.600 --> 00:16:17.080 their fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and 00:16:17.080 --> 00:16:20.059 Jacob has appeared to you. So the miraculous 00:16:20.059 --> 00:16:24.100 display connected to Moses' authority was actually 00:16:24.100 --> 00:16:28.000 to be a proof to the people that God had released 00:16:28.000 --> 00:16:31.919 authority over Moses. And I think this, we also 00:16:31.919 --> 00:16:34.759 see this script, we see this principle with Jesus. 00:16:35.730 --> 00:16:40.590 In John 14 verse 10, Jesus said something powerful. 00:16:40.830 --> 00:16:44.590 He said, believe me that I am in the father and 00:16:44.590 --> 00:16:49.230 the father is in me or else on account of the 00:16:49.230 --> 00:16:53.309 works themselves. What was Jesus saying? He was 00:16:53.309 --> 00:16:56.809 saying, listen, have faith in me in the authority 00:16:56.809 --> 00:16:59.669 given to me by the father that I am God, I'm 00:16:59.669 --> 00:17:02.919 of him, we are one. But if you don't believe 00:17:02.919 --> 00:17:06.079 that, then at least look at the works. Look at 00:17:06.079 --> 00:17:09.079 the miraculous works and let them point to my 00:17:09.079 --> 00:17:12.519 authority. Jesus was really giving the same principle 00:17:12.519 --> 00:17:16.019 that Moses was given at the burning bush. That 00:17:16.019 --> 00:17:18.980 the point of authority, it should carry with 00:17:18.980 --> 00:17:23.420 it miraculous power to be a proof of the authority 00:17:23.420 --> 00:17:27.079 that God gives. So, and I wanna say this, I'm 00:17:27.079 --> 00:17:28.700 gonna stay on the staffs for a little bit. So 00:17:28.700 --> 00:17:31.730 hang with me guys. Most of the miraculous signs 00:17:31.730 --> 00:17:34.769 that Moses did involved him lifting his staff. 00:17:35.109 --> 00:17:38.549 If you go through Exodus, we'll start with Exodus 00:17:38.549 --> 00:17:42.970 4 .17. God is still giving Moses direction. And 00:17:42.970 --> 00:17:46.890 he says, and take in your hand this staff with 00:17:46.890 --> 00:17:50.630 which you shall do the signs. You shall do the 00:17:50.630 --> 00:17:53.230 miracles. And if you look through the plagues. 00:17:53.869 --> 00:17:57.329 Half of the plagues directly involved Moses or 00:17:57.329 --> 00:18:00.009 Aaron lifting up that staff of authority for 00:18:00.009 --> 00:18:02.809 the plague to be released. And then as you go 00:18:02.809 --> 00:18:06.029 on with Israel's journey, Moses split the Red 00:18:06.029 --> 00:18:09.269 Sea with the staff. He struck the rock with his 00:18:09.269 --> 00:18:11.430 staff, that water came forth. You can look at 00:18:11.430 --> 00:18:15.049 all these different miracles where Moses was 00:18:15.049 --> 00:18:18.910 instructed to hold up that staff representing 00:18:18.910 --> 00:18:27.190 God's authority on his life. So, I want to talk 00:18:27.190 --> 00:18:31.289 a little bit about this principle also in regards 00:18:31.289 --> 00:18:34.089 to a few other staffs out there. Because there 00:18:34.089 --> 00:18:36.349 was Moses' staff, but I want to talk about Aaron's 00:18:36.349 --> 00:18:41.869 staff too. Aaron's staff had a really interesting 00:18:41.869 --> 00:18:44.930 thing happen to it in Numbers 17. And I'll give 00:18:44.930 --> 00:18:46.809 you guys a little bit of context. In Numbers 00:18:46.809 --> 00:18:51.549 16, they're out in the wilderness. Israel is 00:18:51.549 --> 00:18:54.329 complaining, which was, par the course for them. 00:18:54.430 --> 00:18:57.809 They were grumbling, complaining. And this time 00:18:57.809 --> 00:18:59.950 it was particularly bad. And there was a man 00:18:59.950 --> 00:19:03.009 named Korah of the tribe of, I can't remember 00:19:03.009 --> 00:19:06.369 what tribe he was from, but he came forth and 00:19:06.369 --> 00:19:10.289 he said, why do we have to listen to you, Moses, 00:19:10.349 --> 00:19:13.930 and you, Aaron? All of God's people are consecrated 00:19:13.930 --> 00:19:16.529 and holy. You guys aren't anything special. What 00:19:16.529 --> 00:19:18.869 makes your authority so special? That was the 00:19:18.869 --> 00:19:21.450 condensed version for me. But that was essentially 00:19:21.450 --> 00:19:24.609 what they brought. And it was rebellion. And 00:19:24.609 --> 00:19:28.250 so the Lord in number 16, he dealt with that 00:19:28.250 --> 00:19:32.089 rebellious attitude toward God's authority. But 00:19:32.089 --> 00:19:35.710 here's what's interesting. In numbers 17, God 00:19:35.710 --> 00:19:40.009 gives some very interesting instruction. So this 00:19:40.009 --> 00:19:42.410 is right after the scenario where God brought 00:19:42.410 --> 00:19:44.809 judgment to Korah and the rebellious people in 00:19:44.809 --> 00:19:48.170 Israel. He directed each tribe. So you have the 00:19:48.170 --> 00:19:51.799 12 tribes of Israel, each tribe's leader. was 00:19:51.799 --> 00:19:56.500 to bring their staff or their rod into the tabernacle 00:19:56.500 --> 00:20:00.480 of meeting. And the Lord said, you guys are gonna 00:20:00.480 --> 00:20:03.059 put your names on your staff. You're gonna leave 00:20:03.059 --> 00:20:06.279 your staffs in the tent of meeting overnight. 00:20:06.299 --> 00:20:10.339 And in the morning, the rod or the staff that 00:20:10.339 --> 00:20:15.079 buds and blossoms, that will be the tribe and 00:20:15.079 --> 00:20:17.900 the leader that I have chosen to set my authority 00:20:17.900 --> 00:20:21.940 on for the tabernacle. And so what happened? 00:20:22.019 --> 00:20:25.980 God miraculously caused Aaron's staff to sprout, 00:20:26.140 --> 00:20:30.579 to bud, to blossom, and to produce ripe almonds. 00:20:30.619 --> 00:20:34.099 As if a bud on a dead piece of wood wasn't good 00:20:34.099 --> 00:20:35.519 enough, the Lord's like, you know what? We'll 00:20:35.519 --> 00:20:39.480 do all four stages of productivity in this one 00:20:39.480 --> 00:20:44.250 moment. So there's a lot we could, I could. preach 00:20:44.250 --> 00:20:47.309 on just this story for the rest of the time I'm 00:20:47.309 --> 00:20:49.150 not going to I'm going to skip a lot here but 00:20:49.150 --> 00:20:50.930 I'm just going to say there's a few things to 00:20:50.930 --> 00:20:53.690 note from this account the first thing is that 00:20:53.690 --> 00:20:59.130 every tribal leader had a staff they had God 00:20:59.130 --> 00:21:02.829 -given authority a level of it but each and every 00:21:02.829 --> 00:21:05.710 one of these tribal leaders they were desiring 00:21:05.710 --> 00:21:09.569 their authority to grow and increase And whether 00:21:09.569 --> 00:21:13.369 that was from a bad heart, based off the chapter 00:21:13.369 --> 00:21:15.789 earlier, it probably was because they had jealous 00:21:15.789 --> 00:21:17.849 hearts or they didn't wanna come under God's 00:21:17.849 --> 00:21:21.009 authority. Regardless, they had a level of it, 00:21:21.029 --> 00:21:24.609 but they wanted more. And I think it's important 00:21:24.609 --> 00:21:28.769 to note, it was only Aaron's rod that God blessed. 00:21:30.930 --> 00:21:34.329 This speaks to the nature of God -given authority. 00:21:35.150 --> 00:21:39.289 God -given authority, it's this, it comes from 00:21:39.289 --> 00:21:43.490 God. It doesn't come from man. It is released 00:21:43.490 --> 00:21:47.369 by God and it's given to those who will do his 00:21:47.369 --> 00:21:52.049 will. See, Moses and Aaron were dedicated to 00:21:52.049 --> 00:21:55.349 doing the will of God. And in my opinion, that 00:21:55.349 --> 00:21:58.130 is what actually brought them to a place where 00:21:58.130 --> 00:22:01.910 God could trust him, trust both of them with 00:22:01.910 --> 00:22:05.349 authority. is because they were actually dedicated 00:22:05.349 --> 00:22:09.309 to God's will, to actually complete God's will 00:22:09.309 --> 00:22:13.069 and to do it well. And we actually, I'll say 00:22:13.069 --> 00:22:15.930 this, there was one time where Moses, there may 00:22:15.930 --> 00:22:17.390 be a couple of times, but there was one time 00:22:17.390 --> 00:22:21.210 specifically where Moses did not do what God 00:22:21.210 --> 00:22:24.670 wanted him to do. And that's found in Numbers 00:22:24.670 --> 00:22:26.710 20. I'm not gonna read the whole passage, but 00:22:26.710 --> 00:22:31.269 earlier in Numbers, Israel's thirsty. Moses is 00:22:31.269 --> 00:22:34.170 directed to take his staff and strike the rock 00:22:34.170 --> 00:22:36.849 and water comes forth. There was a second time 00:22:36.849 --> 00:22:39.589 in Numbers 20 where the nation was without water 00:22:39.589 --> 00:22:42.470 and the Lord gave him different instructions 00:22:42.470 --> 00:22:44.950 this time. He said, take your rod. He said, but 00:22:44.950 --> 00:22:47.670 this time don't strike it, speak to the rock 00:22:47.670 --> 00:22:52.970 and it will yield water. And Moses, so he heard 00:22:52.970 --> 00:22:55.869 the will of God. He was the appointed authority 00:22:55.869 --> 00:23:00.950 over Israel. And instead of being obedient to 00:23:00.950 --> 00:23:03.490 the will of God, he came before the nation of 00:23:03.490 --> 00:23:06.910 Israel and he said something very snide and sarcastic. 00:23:07.089 --> 00:23:10.390 And instead of speaking to the rock, he struck 00:23:10.390 --> 00:23:13.710 it twice. Now God in his mercy for the nation, 00:23:13.809 --> 00:23:16.869 he still brought forth water and brought water 00:23:16.869 --> 00:23:19.390 for the whole nation. But Moses was actually 00:23:19.390 --> 00:23:21.589 punished very, I shouldn't say punished, he was 00:23:21.589 --> 00:23:25.289 disciplined severely for that disobedience. And 00:23:25.289 --> 00:23:28.630 I would argue that was actually an abuse of authority 00:23:28.630 --> 00:23:31.549 in that moment. He was a God -given authority, 00:23:31.750 --> 00:23:34.750 but he actually stepped outside of the will of 00:23:34.750 --> 00:23:37.849 God and used his authority to do something that 00:23:37.849 --> 00:23:39.930 wasn't sanctioned. And because of that, he didn't 00:23:39.930 --> 00:23:42.609 enter into the promised land. So again, we see 00:23:42.609 --> 00:23:45.210 that authority, yes, it comes from God, but it's 00:23:45.210 --> 00:23:48.630 given to those who do his will and are dedicated 00:23:48.630 --> 00:23:52.900 to doing his will. You know, looking at scripture, 00:23:53.039 --> 00:23:56.400 you will always see authority and power are connected. 00:23:57.839 --> 00:24:01.839 When someone has authority, it's because they 00:24:01.839 --> 00:24:05.599 are committed to his assignment that God has 00:24:05.599 --> 00:24:08.900 assigned them to do. And when they're committed 00:24:08.900 --> 00:24:12.000 to his assignment, authority comes and then power 00:24:12.000 --> 00:24:15.180 comes to actually complete the assignment that 00:24:15.180 --> 00:24:16.799 God gives. Because how many of you know, God 00:24:16.799 --> 00:24:18.819 never really gives us assignments that we can 00:24:18.819 --> 00:24:21.900 do on our own strength. And if you've been a 00:24:21.900 --> 00:24:24.259 Christian long enough, you will know that God 00:24:24.259 --> 00:24:28.500 is going to ask you to do the impossible. That's 00:24:28.500 --> 00:24:30.819 like the job description of every Christian. 00:24:30.900 --> 00:24:32.819 I don't know if you guys knew that, but it's 00:24:32.819 --> 00:24:35.240 actually to live in the impossible and it's impossible 00:24:35.240 --> 00:24:37.960 in the natural, but it's possible in him. So 00:24:37.960 --> 00:24:40.819 the authority comes and also the power comes 00:24:40.819 --> 00:24:44.099 to complete the assignment that he gives. And 00:24:44.099 --> 00:24:47.069 you know, an example of this. would be, this 00:24:47.069 --> 00:24:50.430 is a really basic example, but if a policeman 00:24:50.430 --> 00:24:55.289 in our world, they carry a badge, right? That 00:24:55.289 --> 00:25:00.309 badge is a symbol of their authority. And what 00:25:00.309 --> 00:25:03.630 that says, what that badge says is this person 00:25:03.630 --> 00:25:07.849 has been chosen to enforce the law and enforce 00:25:07.849 --> 00:25:11.170 the rule of the government, whatever that may 00:25:11.170 --> 00:25:13.829 look like. Well, notice they don't just give 00:25:13.829 --> 00:25:18.859 policemen and say, all right, obey the policemen. 00:25:18.920 --> 00:25:22.220 They also give them tools to enforce the law. 00:25:22.420 --> 00:25:25.599 Am I right? They're gonna have a baton. They're 00:25:25.599 --> 00:25:27.579 gonna have a taser. They're gonna have handcuffs, 00:25:27.599 --> 00:25:30.480 a handgun. Why? Because they need to be equipped 00:25:30.480 --> 00:25:34.259 to not just carry the authority, but to actually 00:25:34.259 --> 00:25:38.000 enforce the will of the government and enforce 00:25:38.000 --> 00:25:40.900 the authority that they're operating under. Does 00:25:40.900 --> 00:25:46.180 that make sense? Again, the connection between 00:25:46.180 --> 00:25:49.160 authority and power are very much there. And 00:25:49.160 --> 00:25:51.619 I wanna look one more Old Testament example here. 00:25:51.720 --> 00:25:56.940 The prophet Elisha understood this. In 2 Chronicles 00:25:56.940 --> 00:26:01.380 4, I think it's around verse 20, the Shunammite 00:26:01.380 --> 00:26:04.960 lady that he had ministered to, she had had a 00:26:04.960 --> 00:26:09.910 son and the son died. So Elisha was off somewhere 00:26:09.910 --> 00:26:13.029 in Israel ministering, doing his thing. And the 00:26:13.029 --> 00:26:15.990 Shunammite lady beelined it for wherever he was, 00:26:16.190 --> 00:26:19.450 bowed down and essentially pleaded for her son's 00:26:19.450 --> 00:26:23.890 life. And what was Elisha's first response? He 00:26:23.890 --> 00:26:26.869 went to his servant and he said, Gehazi, take 00:26:26.869 --> 00:26:31.869 my staff, run it to the boy and lay the staff 00:26:31.869 --> 00:26:36.190 on the corpse. What did Elisha understand? He 00:26:36.190 --> 00:26:39.170 understood that that staff actually represented 00:26:39.170 --> 00:26:42.829 God's authority on his life. It represented the 00:26:42.829 --> 00:26:44.690 mantle, the assignment that he'd been given. 00:26:44.730 --> 00:26:47.769 And with that, it carried the power to actually 00:26:47.769 --> 00:26:52.089 release the miraculous. Elisha got it. So let's 00:26:52.089 --> 00:26:55.329 go back to Moses in Exodus 14, 15 through 16. 00:26:55.750 --> 00:26:59.170 The Lord said to Moses, why do you cry to me? 00:26:59.799 --> 00:27:02.599 Tell the people of Israel to go forward, lift 00:27:02.599 --> 00:27:05.920 up your staff, stretch out your hand over the 00:27:05.920 --> 00:27:08.099 sea and divide it, that the people of Israel 00:27:08.099 --> 00:27:13.299 may go through the sea on dry ground. See, Moses, 00:27:13.440 --> 00:27:18.519 again, he started crying out, saying, I don't 00:27:18.519 --> 00:27:20.519 know, we don't know exactly what he was crying 00:27:20.519 --> 00:27:22.839 out, but maybe he was asking God for a solution. 00:27:23.220 --> 00:27:25.839 And what was God's response? You have the solution. 00:27:26.559 --> 00:27:29.519 It's in your hand. It's the authority I've already 00:27:29.519 --> 00:27:32.579 given you. Now do something about it. Stand up 00:27:32.579 --> 00:27:36.140 and divide the sea. You know, I think like Moses, 00:27:36.220 --> 00:27:40.779 a lot of us, we find ourselves in similar situations 00:27:40.779 --> 00:27:44.299 where even individually, we are facing potentially 00:27:44.299 --> 00:27:48.500 challenging circumstances, impossible situations 00:27:48.500 --> 00:27:53.160 that we can't solve in our own strength. And 00:27:53.160 --> 00:27:55.440 we were never meant to solve them in our own 00:27:55.440 --> 00:28:00.109 strength. And the truth is God has given us his 00:28:00.109 --> 00:28:03.470 authority to begin to address some of those things. 00:28:03.569 --> 00:28:07.009 Maybe it's a work dilemma, family issues, financial 00:28:07.009 --> 00:28:11.170 challenges, demonic oppression, physical disease. 00:28:11.210 --> 00:28:14.670 There are things that come up in our lives that 00:28:14.670 --> 00:28:18.200 feel impossible. And the truth is there is a 00:28:18.200 --> 00:28:20.640 time, don't get me wrong, there's a time to pray 00:28:20.640 --> 00:28:23.720 and there's a time to discern and hear the voice 00:28:23.720 --> 00:28:26.960 of God. But when you know the will of God in 00:28:26.960 --> 00:28:30.559 a situation, you know it from the word of God, 00:28:30.640 --> 00:28:32.480 you know it because he's spoken to you. Well, 00:28:32.559 --> 00:28:36.019 at that point, it's time to stop praying and 00:28:36.019 --> 00:28:39.640 actually grab hold of the authority that he's 00:28:39.640 --> 00:28:42.200 given and actually begin to part the waters like 00:28:42.200 --> 00:28:46.309 Moses did. Because it's only when we partner 00:28:46.309 --> 00:28:49.650 with what God has spoken and use the authority 00:28:49.650 --> 00:28:52.130 he's given that impossible situations will begin 00:28:52.130 --> 00:28:55.289 to crumble in front of us. And the life of a 00:28:55.289 --> 00:28:58.710 believer should be a life of embracing the authority 00:28:58.710 --> 00:29:03.329 of heaven and of walking in its power. So I gave 00:29:03.329 --> 00:29:06.549 a little preface on authority from the Old Testament. 00:29:06.589 --> 00:29:09.089 I wanna talk now about the authority we carry 00:29:09.089 --> 00:29:13.819 as new covenant believers. You know, and I'll 00:29:13.819 --> 00:29:16.539 say this, I understand, and I'm gonna say this, 00:29:16.640 --> 00:29:19.319 I understand that there are levels of authority, 00:29:19.319 --> 00:29:22.740 even in the church, in the new covenant church, 00:29:22.900 --> 00:29:26.460 that God gives more authority in certain areas 00:29:26.460 --> 00:29:30.680 to some. I can tell you, I can 100 % positive, 00:29:30.920 --> 00:29:34.079 Pastor Brad has more authority in many areas 00:29:34.079 --> 00:29:37.130 of life than I do. And that's okay. All that 00:29:37.130 --> 00:29:40.890 being said, there is a baseline level of authority 00:29:40.890 --> 00:29:45.029 that every believer in Jesus Christ has. And 00:29:45.029 --> 00:29:47.430 that's what I want to talk about today. Because 00:29:47.430 --> 00:29:50.509 if you believe in Jesus and you've actually made 00:29:50.509 --> 00:29:54.089 him Lord of your life, you haven't just incorporated 00:29:54.089 --> 00:29:57.430 him into your life, but he's Lord, which means 00:29:57.430 --> 00:29:59.829 you're actually submitted to his word. You're 00:29:59.829 --> 00:30:03.750 submitted to his will. There is an authority 00:30:03.750 --> 00:30:08.089 that God gives. to believers that are in that 00:30:08.089 --> 00:30:10.369 place that are born again. I'm gonna read a passage 00:30:10.369 --> 00:30:14.670 out of John 1, verses 11 through 13. This is, 00:30:14.730 --> 00:30:18.130 it says this, it says, Jesus came to his own 00:30:18.130 --> 00:30:22.910 and his own people did not receive him. But all 00:30:22.910 --> 00:30:26.490 who did receive him, who believed in his name, 00:30:26.650 --> 00:30:30.289 he gave the right to become children of God, 00:30:30.410 --> 00:30:33.549 who were born not of blood, nor of the will of 00:30:33.549 --> 00:30:38.329 flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. See, 00:30:38.390 --> 00:30:40.589 what is this passage saying? It's saying all 00:30:40.589 --> 00:30:44.869 who would believe Christ, who would receive him 00:30:44.869 --> 00:30:49.049 as Lord, he gave them the right to become children 00:30:49.049 --> 00:30:52.210 of God. And you know, if you look at that word 00:30:52.210 --> 00:30:56.690 right, it's the word exousia in the Greek. And 00:30:56.690 --> 00:31:01.109 that means, it can mean authority, right, liberty, 00:31:01.369 --> 00:31:05.779 jurisdiction. What that word actually says is 00:31:05.779 --> 00:31:09.079 that when we receive Christ as Lord and savior, 00:31:09.339 --> 00:31:13.299 we actually begin to walk in the authority of 00:31:13.299 --> 00:31:17.819 being his children. We have the right to be called 00:31:17.819 --> 00:31:20.880 children of God. That's what that passage is 00:31:20.880 --> 00:31:25.259 saying. And you look at even an example from 00:31:25.259 --> 00:31:27.519 this in scripture would be the prodigal son in 00:31:27.519 --> 00:31:31.779 Luke 15. That's an amazing passage. We all know 00:31:31.779 --> 00:31:34.289 that. It's an incredible display of the grace 00:31:34.289 --> 00:31:37.910 of God where the prodigal son, he emptied out 00:31:37.910 --> 00:31:41.089 his father's inheritance. He squandered it on 00:31:41.089 --> 00:31:44.509 sin and he found himself in a really dark place. 00:31:44.910 --> 00:31:47.910 And all he wanted was to go back to be a servant 00:31:47.910 --> 00:31:50.529 in his father's household. But what did the father 00:31:50.529 --> 00:31:53.490 do? As he approached his father's house, the 00:31:53.490 --> 00:31:56.990 father ran to him, embraced him. And the first 00:31:56.990 --> 00:32:00.920 thing he did is he put a robe. He put a robe 00:32:00.920 --> 00:32:03.259 on his shoulder, sandals on his feet, a ring 00:32:03.259 --> 00:32:07.720 on his finger. That wasn't just him being nice. 00:32:07.799 --> 00:32:10.779 Here, take some free stuff. There was actually, 00:32:10.900 --> 00:32:13.819 especially most commentators will say that ring 00:32:13.819 --> 00:32:18.400 represented a signet ring, which was a restoration 00:32:18.400 --> 00:32:21.720 of authority that the son would actually begin 00:32:21.720 --> 00:32:24.859 to walk and carry the authority of the father. 00:32:25.200 --> 00:32:31.259 Well, guess what? gift of authority was not given 00:32:31.259 --> 00:32:36.099 by merit. It was given because of grace and repentance. 00:32:36.279 --> 00:32:40.440 He repented, but it was strictly by grace. The 00:32:40.440 --> 00:32:43.319 authority was actually released to this man. 00:32:43.359 --> 00:32:47.140 He was restored before he had even proven himself 00:32:47.140 --> 00:32:51.980 again to his father. And as children of God, 00:32:52.059 --> 00:32:57.579 we have been given a similar commission. that 00:32:57.579 --> 00:33:01.779 we are actually to carry the authority that the 00:33:01.779 --> 00:33:06.539 Father gives to us as sons and daughters. Luke 00:33:06.539 --> 00:33:09.759 9, verses one through two, it says this, that 00:33:09.759 --> 00:33:13.859 he called, Jesus called the 12 together and gave 00:33:13.859 --> 00:33:17.640 them power and authority over all demons and 00:33:17.640 --> 00:33:21.440 to cure diseases. And he sent them out to proclaim 00:33:21.440 --> 00:33:25.619 the kingdom of God and to heal. So again, we 00:33:25.619 --> 00:33:27.359 see the disciples, they were given something 00:33:27.359 --> 00:33:31.950 here. They were given authority and power. And 00:33:31.950 --> 00:33:34.250 it wasn't just so that they could hold onto it. 00:33:34.289 --> 00:33:36.549 It was for a purpose. So they could proclaim 00:33:36.549 --> 00:33:39.769 the kingdom. They could heal the sick, cast out 00:33:39.769 --> 00:33:43.349 demons. They could actually do the work of the 00:33:43.349 --> 00:33:46.349 ministry and establish the will of the father 00:33:46.349 --> 00:33:49.450 on earth as it is in heaven. That was why the 00:33:49.450 --> 00:33:52.029 authority and the power came. And again, that 00:33:52.029 --> 00:33:54.069 Greek word for authority here, it's exousia. 00:33:54.190 --> 00:33:56.329 It's the same word that we looked at earlier. 00:33:56.549 --> 00:34:00.150 And that word for power is dunamis, which means, 00:34:00.190 --> 00:34:03.589 it means power. miraculous power force and might 00:34:03.589 --> 00:34:08.849 so so God gave his disciples by grace can I just 00:34:08.849 --> 00:34:12.710 say this is before Peter denied Jesus three times 00:34:12.710 --> 00:34:16.150 he embraced the authority and the power of God 00:34:16.150 --> 00:34:19.309 and was operating in it it wasn't by merit that 00:34:19.309 --> 00:34:21.650 Peter was operating in the authority and the 00:34:21.650 --> 00:34:25.010 power of God same thing Judas was healing the 00:34:25.010 --> 00:34:28.090 sick and casting out demons he later betrayed 00:34:28.090 --> 00:34:33.000 Christ So we can see Jesus releases authority 00:34:33.000 --> 00:34:37.420 and he releases power from a place of grace to 00:34:37.420 --> 00:34:41.139 all who would believe him. It's not by how hard 00:34:41.139 --> 00:34:43.840 you work for it. That has nothing to do with 00:34:43.840 --> 00:34:47.639 it. So as children of God, we've been called 00:34:47.639 --> 00:34:50.320 to give, we've been called to release the same 00:34:50.320 --> 00:34:52.920 commission, to proclaim and establish the kingdom 00:34:52.920 --> 00:34:55.940 of God through the miraculous. And we can only 00:34:55.940 --> 00:34:58.860 do this when we embrace the authority that he's 00:34:58.860 --> 00:35:02.960 given. And I'll just say this, maybe this is 00:35:02.960 --> 00:35:05.880 just me, probably all of us though, we have a 00:35:05.880 --> 00:35:10.300 tendency to push back on God's authority. Sometimes 00:35:10.300 --> 00:35:13.119 the authority that he would even put on our lives 00:35:13.119 --> 00:35:15.469 will push against it. Because of our own fear, 00:35:15.630 --> 00:35:18.610 insecurities or rejection. Sometimes we push 00:35:18.610 --> 00:35:21.690 back on delegated authority that God has put 00:35:21.690 --> 00:35:24.909 over our lives for the same reasons or pride 00:35:24.909 --> 00:35:27.610 could come into play there. But the truth is 00:35:27.610 --> 00:35:30.329 God is looking for a people that will embrace 00:35:30.329 --> 00:35:34.130 the authority that he gives fully and actually 00:35:34.130 --> 00:35:38.309 begin to operate from its power. See, God is 00:35:38.309 --> 00:35:42.230 looking for us. like his church to begin to break 00:35:42.230 --> 00:35:45.030 through impossible situations by embracing the 00:35:45.030 --> 00:35:47.670 authority he gives. So how do we do this? How 00:35:47.670 --> 00:35:51.449 do we actually embrace God's authority? We have 00:35:51.449 --> 00:35:55.710 to do it from a place of faith. It's the only 00:35:55.710 --> 00:35:59.090 way that we can actually embrace and operate 00:35:59.090 --> 00:36:01.949 in God's authority is the partnership of faith. 00:36:02.070 --> 00:36:03.989 And that's what I wanna talk about for this last 00:36:03.989 --> 00:36:07.869 little bit here. If we've been given authority 00:36:07.869 --> 00:36:12.710 by grace, Faith is what accesses that authority. 00:36:13.429 --> 00:36:16.590 Faith is what actually releases the authority 00:36:16.590 --> 00:36:19.429 in a place of power where miracles begin to break 00:36:19.429 --> 00:36:22.730 out. Jesus, and how do I know this? Jesus gave 00:36:22.730 --> 00:36:26.809 his disciples authority freely in Luke 9 to heal 00:36:26.809 --> 00:36:29.110 the sick, cast out demons, cleanse the lepers, 00:36:29.170 --> 00:36:33.469 raise the dead. But guess what? They had to receive 00:36:33.469 --> 00:36:38.030 that authority by faith. They had to hear Christ. 00:36:38.130 --> 00:36:41.090 And then they had to walk into a town without 00:36:41.090 --> 00:36:44.429 Jesus next to them. And they had to say, okay, 00:36:44.610 --> 00:36:47.510 now's where it gets real. There's a demonized 00:36:47.510 --> 00:36:50.269 person in front of me, yelling at me, manifesting. 00:36:51.110 --> 00:36:53.969 I'm either gonna believe what Jesus gave me or 00:36:53.969 --> 00:36:56.809 I'm not. And all of them had to actually take 00:36:56.809 --> 00:37:00.969 that step of faith and lay hands on a sick person 00:37:00.969 --> 00:37:03.489 or a demonized person or begin to proclaim the 00:37:03.489 --> 00:37:05.610 kingdom of God where people didn't wanna hear 00:37:05.610 --> 00:37:08.690 it. Something had to shift and they had to partner 00:37:08.690 --> 00:37:12.230 with the authority that God had given. And that's 00:37:12.230 --> 00:37:16.650 the faith aspect. And it's the same for us. You 00:37:16.650 --> 00:37:20.610 know, I remember, this is years ago, when I lived 00:37:20.610 --> 00:37:23.429 in California, I came up to Eastern Oregon for 00:37:23.429 --> 00:37:27.329 a family hunting trip. And my cousin and I rode 00:37:27.329 --> 00:37:30.909 together from California and we were in his beater 00:37:30.909 --> 00:37:34.900 Toyota Camry. And it was like, It had been on 00:37:34.900 --> 00:37:36.519 the road way longer than it should have. I'll 00:37:36.519 --> 00:37:39.579 just say that. We were driving back from Eastern 00:37:39.579 --> 00:37:43.260 Oregon and we're going to stop by the Willamette 00:37:43.260 --> 00:37:46.219 Valley at my parents' house. And as we're driving, 00:37:46.400 --> 00:37:50.960 I hear a sound from the rear axle that progressively 00:37:50.960 --> 00:37:54.280 gets worse and worse and worse as we're driving. 00:37:54.519 --> 00:37:57.440 I'm not a mechanic, but I'm assuming the bearing 00:37:57.440 --> 00:38:00.260 was about ready to give out or the axle was about 00:38:00.260 --> 00:38:02.059 to break. I'm not really sure. It sounded like 00:38:02.059 --> 00:38:04.530 it could have been either. And so we're driving 00:38:04.530 --> 00:38:06.789 back and it's getting worse and worse. We make 00:38:06.789 --> 00:38:09.030 it to Harrisburg. And I remember we had a family 00:38:09.030 --> 00:38:13.269 powwow about this axle or the bearing. Because 00:38:13.269 --> 00:38:15.329 we had to get back to California. We were on 00:38:15.329 --> 00:38:18.050 a tight timeframe. And so my grandpa and grandma 00:38:18.050 --> 00:38:19.949 were there, my mom and dad. I had an aunt and 00:38:19.949 --> 00:38:22.710 uncle, a couple of cousins. We were all circled 00:38:22.710 --> 00:38:25.750 up in front of my parents' house arguing about 00:38:25.750 --> 00:38:28.630 what to do. I wish you guys could have seen it. 00:38:28.670 --> 00:38:32.039 It was great. One person's like. Get him a bus 00:38:32.039 --> 00:38:34.260 ticket. We'll do that. No, we'll lend your car. 00:38:34.420 --> 00:38:36.340 We'll do this. We'll do that. And we're trying 00:38:36.340 --> 00:38:39.239 to figure out because obviously the car was not 00:38:39.239 --> 00:38:41.179 safe to be on the road. And I can attest for 00:38:41.179 --> 00:38:43.159 that. It really was not safe to be on the road. 00:38:43.260 --> 00:38:46.980 But here's what's interesting. My grandpa, who 00:38:46.980 --> 00:38:50.179 recently passed last summer, he was a man of 00:38:50.179 --> 00:38:53.980 very few words. He didn't say much. In fact, 00:38:53.980 --> 00:38:56.829 he rarely spoke at all, honestly. And usually 00:38:56.829 --> 00:38:59.170 we would have him as the patriarch pray for family 00:38:59.170 --> 00:39:01.909 meals. And he would say, dear Jesus, bless this 00:39:01.909 --> 00:39:05.530 food. Amen. And that was it. Like it was consistent 00:39:05.530 --> 00:39:08.849 every year. So that was like, he just didn't 00:39:08.849 --> 00:39:11.809 talk much. And I remember in that moment, everyone 00:39:11.809 --> 00:39:14.289 was arguing. There was fear at play. There was 00:39:14.289 --> 00:39:16.650 things happening. And my grandpa stepped into 00:39:16.650 --> 00:39:18.809 the middle of the circle. He was 84, I think 00:39:18.809 --> 00:39:23.449 at the time, maybe 85. And he goes, the car's 00:39:23.449 --> 00:39:26.320 fine. He said. They're gonna get in the car. 00:39:26.460 --> 00:39:28.360 He said, I'm gonna pray for him. And the car 00:39:28.360 --> 00:39:30.440 is gonna make it to California. And this is not 00:39:30.440 --> 00:39:36.139 an issue. And everyone shut up. Everyone's like, 00:39:36.320 --> 00:39:39.900 okay. And sure enough, he prayed a short, concise, 00:39:40.019 --> 00:39:44.639 faith -filled prayer where he took the authority. 00:39:45.559 --> 00:39:47.960 And I think it was twofold. There was a patriarchal 00:39:47.960 --> 00:39:49.940 authority that he stepped into, but there was 00:39:49.940 --> 00:39:53.239 also a believer's authority where he knew the 00:39:53.239 --> 00:39:56.079 will of God and he actually had to step out. 00:39:56.139 --> 00:39:58.639 And knowing my grandpa, that was actually probably 00:39:58.639 --> 00:40:02.139 a major faith step for him to actually interrupt 00:40:02.139 --> 00:40:04.840 everyone because he was non -confrontational 00:40:04.840 --> 00:40:06.500 and say, this is what we're gonna do and this 00:40:06.500 --> 00:40:08.480 is what God's gonna do. And sure enough, we got 00:40:08.480 --> 00:40:11.840 in the car by faith and we drove 400 miles and 00:40:11.840 --> 00:40:14.340 the axle didn't fall off. So it was a great testimony. 00:40:16.300 --> 00:40:21.079 So I wanna talk a little bit because we're talking 00:40:21.079 --> 00:40:23.699 about the connection between authority and faith. 00:40:24.179 --> 00:40:28.579 The Roman centurion in Matthew 8 understood this. 00:40:28.920 --> 00:40:32.139 He understood this connection. And I wanna read 00:40:32.139 --> 00:40:34.380 this passage starting in chapter eight, verse 00:40:34.380 --> 00:40:38.219 six. It says, Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed 00:40:38.219 --> 00:40:41.519 at home, suffering terribly. So he's talking 00:40:41.519 --> 00:40:46.139 to Jesus right now. And Jesus said to him, I 00:40:46.139 --> 00:40:48.960 will come and heal him. So right off the bat, 00:40:49.000 --> 00:40:50.920 Jesus said, hey, I'll come to your house and 00:40:50.920 --> 00:40:54.019 lay hands on him. The centurion replied, Lord, 00:40:54.099 --> 00:40:56.820 I'm not worthy to have you come under my roof, 00:40:56.920 --> 00:41:01.400 but say the word and my servant will be healed. 00:41:01.679 --> 00:41:06.420 For I too am a man under authority and with soldiers 00:41:06.420 --> 00:41:10.699 under me. And I say to one, go, and he goes, 00:41:10.800 --> 00:41:13.739 and to another, come, and he comes. And to my 00:41:13.739 --> 00:41:16.920 servant, do this. And he does it. When Jesus 00:41:16.920 --> 00:41:21.420 heard this, he marveled. And he said to those 00:41:21.420 --> 00:41:22.940 who followed him. So he didn't just say it to 00:41:22.940 --> 00:41:25.440 the centurion. He turned to the crowds following 00:41:25.440 --> 00:41:28.760 him. And he said, such faith I have not seen 00:41:28.760 --> 00:41:32.420 in all of Israel. So there's something about 00:41:32.420 --> 00:41:36.719 the centurion's understanding of authority and 00:41:36.719 --> 00:41:40.659 faith that moved Jesus tremendously to where 00:41:40.659 --> 00:41:43.860 he marveled at his faith. I think there's one 00:41:43.860 --> 00:41:46.639 other person in scripture that actually caused 00:41:46.639 --> 00:41:50.280 Jesus to marvel by their faith. This was one 00:41:50.280 --> 00:41:52.599 of them. And what did the centurion understand? 00:41:52.880 --> 00:41:57.380 He understood the authority that was on Christ 00:41:57.380 --> 00:42:01.880 from God. And he goes, Jesus, you don't need 00:42:01.880 --> 00:42:05.139 to come to my house. I know how this works. I 00:42:05.139 --> 00:42:07.599 have people under me. I'm a man of authority. 00:42:07.880 --> 00:42:10.900 When I say go, they go. He said, don't come to 00:42:10.900 --> 00:42:13.650 my house, just say it. It's gonna happen. That 00:42:13.650 --> 00:42:17.150 was the level of faith where he understood the 00:42:17.150 --> 00:42:21.869 authority on Christ Jesus. And he actually accessed 00:42:21.869 --> 00:42:27.289 that miracle because of his faith. See, God's 00:42:27.289 --> 00:42:29.630 looking for us to understand his authority and 00:42:29.630 --> 00:42:32.409 actually lead us into a partnership in faith. 00:42:32.550 --> 00:42:35.429 So I have to spend some time in my last couple 00:42:35.429 --> 00:42:38.730 minutes here, just saying, defining faith. What 00:42:38.730 --> 00:42:41.550 is it? What is faith? Well, the Bible defines 00:42:41.550 --> 00:42:44.789 it really clearly in Hebrews 11 one. Faith is 00:42:44.789 --> 00:42:48.030 the assurance of things hoped for. It's the conviction 00:42:48.030 --> 00:42:53.190 of things not yet seen. That is what faith is. 00:42:53.389 --> 00:42:56.610 And really faith, if I could focus on the last 00:42:56.610 --> 00:42:59.130 part of that definition, a conviction of things 00:42:59.130 --> 00:43:02.349 not yet seen. I'm gonna say this, conviction 00:43:02.349 --> 00:43:09.440 is not passive. It isn't. Conviction leads people 00:43:09.440 --> 00:43:12.960 to live their lives differently, right? And we 00:43:12.960 --> 00:43:16.300 see this in the world. If someone holds a strong 00:43:16.300 --> 00:43:20.340 conviction about a political persuasion or a 00:43:20.340 --> 00:43:24.280 certain movement or a social issue, if they hold 00:43:24.280 --> 00:43:27.019 a strong conviction, then they're gonna actually 00:43:27.019 --> 00:43:29.619 do something about it. They're gonna support 00:43:29.619 --> 00:43:31.519 financially. They're gonna post on their social 00:43:31.519 --> 00:43:33.519 media. They're going to go to demonstrations, 00:43:33.719 --> 00:43:36.900 go to town hall meetings. Whatever it looks like, 00:43:36.900 --> 00:43:41.300 that conviction actually should lead you to change 00:43:41.300 --> 00:43:44.099 your life in some way. Otherwise, I would argue 00:43:44.099 --> 00:43:47.079 it's really not a conviction. If it's not changing, 00:43:47.219 --> 00:43:49.400 actively changing your life. And I would argue 00:43:49.400 --> 00:43:52.780 as a definition of faith, you can apply this 00:43:52.780 --> 00:43:56.789 principle to faith. Faith is not passive. our 00:43:56.789 --> 00:44:00.809 conviction of things unseen or our conviction 00:44:00.809 --> 00:44:04.429 of God's authority that's been given to us should 00:44:04.429 --> 00:44:07.289 actually cause us to live our lives differently. 00:44:07.889 --> 00:44:11.250 We should not stay the same when there is a conviction 00:44:11.250 --> 00:44:14.449 of real faith of who God is and what he's spoken. 00:44:15.150 --> 00:44:19.309 Moses had to hold fast to that staff of authority, 00:44:19.530 --> 00:44:23.949 but guess what? He had to then by faith, wait 00:44:23.949 --> 00:44:27.000 for that miracle. Now we read it in black and 00:44:27.000 --> 00:44:29.840 white. Maybe that east wind came and separated 00:44:29.840 --> 00:44:32.440 the waters instantly. Maybe it was absolutely 00:44:32.440 --> 00:44:34.860 instant. It's possible that it took a little 00:44:34.860 --> 00:44:37.800 bit for that wind to begin to move. Where he 00:44:37.800 --> 00:44:41.059 took that staff and he then had to partner with 00:44:41.059 --> 00:44:45.079 the authority in faith and look at a circumstance 00:44:45.079 --> 00:44:49.380 that wasn't moving and say, God, you've said 00:44:49.380 --> 00:44:52.980 it. I'm operating in the authority you've given 00:44:52.980 --> 00:44:56.400 me and I'm, dividing these waters right now, 00:44:56.440 --> 00:44:59.760 according to your will. Maybe it was 30 seconds. 00:44:59.840 --> 00:45:01.900 Maybe it was a minute. Maybe it was five minutes. 00:45:01.940 --> 00:45:05.719 We don't know how long he stood there, but we 00:45:05.719 --> 00:45:08.500 see this in scripture, even with Elijah praying 00:45:08.500 --> 00:45:11.579 for the cloud. And what did he do? He prayed 00:45:11.579 --> 00:45:14.579 in faith and waited. Nothing happened. He prayed 00:45:14.579 --> 00:45:17.199 again. He prayed seven times and nothing happened. 00:45:17.219 --> 00:45:20.639 In the seventh time, a tiny cloud rose from the 00:45:20.639 --> 00:45:25.380 sea. It did not shake Elijah's faith. Why? Because 00:45:25.380 --> 00:45:28.800 it was a conviction. It was a conviction of something 00:45:28.800 --> 00:45:31.679 that he hadn't seen materialize, but he knew 00:45:31.679 --> 00:45:35.639 it was there and he knew it was coming. Mark 00:45:35.639 --> 00:45:41.280 16, 17 through 18, Jesus says to all of us and 00:45:41.280 --> 00:45:44.280 his disciples, these signs will accompany those 00:45:44.280 --> 00:45:48.420 who believe. In my name, they will cast out demons. 00:45:49.159 --> 00:45:52.519 They will speak in new tongues. They will pick 00:45:52.519 --> 00:45:54.739 up serpents with their hands and they will drink 00:45:54.739 --> 00:45:58.039 deadly poison. It will not hurt them. They will 00:45:58.039 --> 00:46:01.320 lay their hands on the sick and they will recover. 00:46:01.699 --> 00:46:05.099 Guys, this passage of scripture is a snapshot 00:46:05.099 --> 00:46:09.280 of the life of just a standard issue believer. 00:46:10.400 --> 00:46:13.860 Honestly, it really is. And we don't always see 00:46:13.860 --> 00:46:17.260 that in our own lives or if we're comparing ourselves. 00:46:18.139 --> 00:46:20.260 to the rest of Christianity, we don't necessarily 00:46:20.260 --> 00:46:23.780 hold ourselves to that standard. But Jesus made 00:46:23.780 --> 00:46:28.000 it clear, if you believe, if you are standing 00:46:28.000 --> 00:46:31.320 in the authority that he's given, and you will 00:46:31.320 --> 00:46:34.340 begin, by faith, you'll begin to operate in the 00:46:34.340 --> 00:46:37.219 power of God. But again, faith is the contingency. 00:46:37.559 --> 00:46:41.300 And we see that in this passage, that it is for 00:46:41.300 --> 00:46:44.880 those who believe, these signs will follow. That's 00:46:44.880 --> 00:46:48.239 the one contingency. If you believe these signs 00:46:48.239 --> 00:46:51.900 will follow. If you aren't operating like this, 00:46:52.019 --> 00:46:56.820 I would argue you don't really believe it. And 00:46:56.820 --> 00:46:59.099 I know that might be convicting. It's convicting 00:46:59.099 --> 00:47:01.139 for me because I read scripture all the time 00:47:01.139 --> 00:47:03.980 and I have to put myself in that place of, do 00:47:03.980 --> 00:47:06.239 I actually believe this to the point where I'm 00:47:06.239 --> 00:47:08.300 willing to operate in it? To the point where 00:47:08.300 --> 00:47:11.420 I'm willing to step out in faith in this area? 00:47:11.440 --> 00:47:13.719 And sometimes the answer is no. And that's where 00:47:13.719 --> 00:47:17.300 God has to work on us to actually grow and establish 00:47:17.300 --> 00:47:20.679 faith in what he's spoken, the authority he's 00:47:20.679 --> 00:47:26.389 released. So we must know our authority as believers 00:47:26.389 --> 00:47:29.630 and we must actually use that authority from 00:47:29.630 --> 00:47:32.650 a place of faith. So I wanna spend the last couple 00:47:32.650 --> 00:47:36.230 minutes here talking about how we can grow in 00:47:36.230 --> 00:47:39.570 faith. And I'm gonna just go through this quick, 00:47:39.690 --> 00:47:42.590 but the first way that we can actually grow in 00:47:42.590 --> 00:47:46.789 faith is by consuming the word of God. Romans 00:47:46.789 --> 00:47:51.170 10, 17, it says, so faith comes by hearing, hearing 00:47:51.170 --> 00:47:57.710 by the word, Faith comes by hearing, hearing 00:47:57.710 --> 00:48:01.510 by the word of Christ. What is the word of Christ 00:48:01.510 --> 00:48:05.050 in this? It's the rhema word, the Greek word 00:48:05.050 --> 00:48:08.489 for rhema, which is the active living word of 00:48:08.489 --> 00:48:11.929 God. Bob Sorge talked about this this fall where 00:48:11.929 --> 00:48:16.130 we read the logos and the Holy Spirit is the 00:48:16.130 --> 00:48:19.010 one who takes the written word and he makes it 00:48:19.010 --> 00:48:23.510 life for us. He makes it rhema. And so the truth 00:48:23.510 --> 00:48:26.829 is, when you put yourself in a position where 00:48:26.829 --> 00:48:30.630 you're consuming scripture on a daily basis, 00:48:30.710 --> 00:48:33.829 your appetite is growing for the written word, 00:48:33.909 --> 00:48:37.489 for the logos. You're setting yourself up for 00:48:37.489 --> 00:48:40.469 the rhema to be released in your life and for 00:48:40.469 --> 00:48:43.750 faith to begin to grow. That's how that works. 00:48:43.789 --> 00:48:46.969 And it starts with us getting in the word. So 00:48:46.969 --> 00:48:48.510 that's the first thing we can do, consume the 00:48:48.510 --> 00:48:51.829 word of God. The second thing we do is so important 00:48:51.829 --> 00:48:54.530 and that is to actually step out in our faith. 00:48:54.789 --> 00:48:59.150 And I'm gonna say this, faith is incomplete until 00:48:59.150 --> 00:49:03.409 there's corresponding action. It just is. Let's 00:49:03.409 --> 00:49:06.429 look at James 2, 14 through 17. What good is 00:49:06.429 --> 00:49:08.550 it, my brothers, if someone says that he has 00:49:08.550 --> 00:49:12.469 faith but does not have works? Can that faith 00:49:12.469 --> 00:49:16.550 save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed 00:49:16.550 --> 00:49:19.210 and lacking in daily food, and one of you says 00:49:19.210 --> 00:49:21.829 to them, go in peace, be warmed and be filled 00:49:21.829 --> 00:49:24.349 without giving them the things that they need 00:49:24.349 --> 00:49:28.190 for the body, what good is that? So also faith 00:49:28.190 --> 00:49:32.550 by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 00:49:33.590 --> 00:49:37.469 I'm gonna say that again. Faith by itself, if 00:49:37.469 --> 00:49:42.210 it does not have corresponding action, is dead. 00:49:43.110 --> 00:49:46.710 Faith, real faith involves being convinced about 00:49:46.710 --> 00:49:49.969 what God has spoken and actually doing something 00:49:49.969 --> 00:49:52.989 about it, actually acting on that. That is what 00:49:52.989 --> 00:49:56.369 real faith is. So if you say you believe God, 00:49:56.610 --> 00:49:59.969 but you don't act on what he's saying, what he's 00:49:59.969 --> 00:50:04.010 releasing to you, that's a dead faith. It absolutely 00:50:04.010 --> 00:50:07.070 is a dead faith. And I remember the Lord convicted 00:50:07.070 --> 00:50:10.820 me on this. Well, he's done it many times actually. 00:50:11.000 --> 00:50:14.260 But I'm gonna give you a specific example. A 00:50:14.260 --> 00:50:16.960 couple of years ago, I was here at the church. 00:50:17.400 --> 00:50:20.059 It was a super busy season. We had a lot going 00:50:20.059 --> 00:50:22.420 on. So my mind was in a thousand places. I was 00:50:22.420 --> 00:50:24.980 running from this thing to the next. And I noticed 00:50:24.980 --> 00:50:27.599 someone on WhatsApp had messaged me, a friend 00:50:27.599 --> 00:50:32.039 from ministry school who was in India. And this 00:50:32.039 --> 00:50:35.280 person reached out, said, hey, I was lifting 00:50:35.280 --> 00:50:38.880 weights. And I strained something in my back 00:50:38.880 --> 00:50:43.079 and I'm in excruciating pain. And this person 00:50:43.079 --> 00:50:45.900 was laid up in bed, had been in bed for two days 00:50:45.900 --> 00:50:49.900 because they could barely move. And just all 00:50:49.900 --> 00:50:51.800 I got is the question, will you pray for me? 00:50:52.420 --> 00:50:57.059 And in my busy, distracted state, I saw it, didn't 00:50:57.059 --> 00:51:00.440 respond. And I started praying, Lord, heal this 00:51:00.440 --> 00:51:03.380 person's back. And I heard the voice of the Holy 00:51:03.380 --> 00:51:06.139 Spirit so strong and say, do you actually believe 00:51:06.139 --> 00:51:08.659 that I'm going to do it? Or did you just pray 00:51:08.659 --> 00:51:12.940 a religious prayer? And I'm like, the fact that 00:51:12.940 --> 00:51:14.619 you're asking me that question, I think I know 00:51:14.619 --> 00:51:20.139 the answer. And I slowed down for a minute. I 00:51:20.139 --> 00:51:22.300 said, Lord, forgive me. I don't want to just 00:51:22.300 --> 00:51:26.900 get in the habit of rote religion, checking boxes. 00:51:28.199 --> 00:51:30.659 And I had to actually look at my heart. Do I 00:51:30.659 --> 00:51:34.500 believe that God is gonna do this right now? 00:51:35.239 --> 00:51:38.380 And I had to sit for a while, but the Lord showed 00:51:38.380 --> 00:51:42.719 me I'm a healer. I still am healing today and 00:51:42.719 --> 00:51:45.739 6 ,000 miles or however long it is to India, 00:51:45.880 --> 00:51:47.659 10 ,000 miles from here doesn't make much of 00:51:47.659 --> 00:51:51.320 a difference. And I prayed still a short prayer, 00:51:51.440 --> 00:51:54.590 but from a place of faith. And a minute later, 00:51:54.670 --> 00:51:56.869 I get another message. I had never even responded 00:51:56.869 --> 00:51:58.909 to the text. And this person said, you won't 00:51:58.909 --> 00:52:01.750 believe what just happened. I was, I got up out 00:52:01.750 --> 00:52:04.429 of bed to get water and I was in excruciating 00:52:04.429 --> 00:52:07.349 pain. I felt like warm oil flowing down my back 00:52:07.349 --> 00:52:11.250 and my back is completely pain -free. Well, what 00:52:11.250 --> 00:52:16.210 was the difference? The difference was a partnership 00:52:16.210 --> 00:52:19.690 of faith, recognizing that there is authority 00:52:19.690 --> 00:52:22.800 given. There's authority over sickness and disease, 00:52:23.000 --> 00:52:26.000 but it can't be accessed without partnership, 00:52:26.219 --> 00:52:30.900 without action, without faith on our side. James 00:52:30.900 --> 00:52:35.400 1 .22 says, be doers of the word and not hearers 00:52:35.400 --> 00:52:40.360 only deceiving yourselves. We are called to actually 00:52:40.360 --> 00:52:44.780 respond to what God says. And what does that 00:52:44.780 --> 00:52:47.659 look like? That is the message of faith is we 00:52:47.659 --> 00:52:52.219 hear the word and we respond. If God convicts 00:52:52.219 --> 00:52:55.059 you of sin, that doesn't look like just saying, 00:52:55.119 --> 00:52:59.719 Lord, I'm sorry, give me grace. It actually looks 00:52:59.719 --> 00:53:02.980 like saying, yes, embracing the grace of God 00:53:02.980 --> 00:53:06.800 for that sin, but also embracing the grace of 00:53:06.800 --> 00:53:11.320 God to step out of that sin. Same thing, if the 00:53:11.320 --> 00:53:14.360 Holy Spirit convicts you on healing, That he's 00:53:14.360 --> 00:53:17.099 a God who heals. What does that conviction look 00:53:17.099 --> 00:53:18.920 like? It should look like you're starting to 00:53:18.920 --> 00:53:20.559 pray for yourself and you're starting to pray 00:53:20.559 --> 00:53:23.900 for other people to be healed. A conviction of 00:53:23.900 --> 00:53:26.739 being generous should look like you start giving 00:53:26.739 --> 00:53:29.139 money. You may not even have much to give, but 00:53:29.139 --> 00:53:31.199 you start with what you have. Why? Because it's 00:53:31.199 --> 00:53:33.500 a conviction that you're partnering with what 00:53:33.500 --> 00:53:35.639 God has spoken to you and you're gonna bring 00:53:35.639 --> 00:53:38.460 your life in alignment with that. And guys, that 00:53:38.460 --> 00:53:42.400 partnership of embracing authority. And stepping 00:53:42.400 --> 00:53:45.480 out in faith is where the miraculous begins to 00:53:45.480 --> 00:53:50.659 break out. And I really believe that God has 00:53:50.659 --> 00:53:56.019 a season for our church of increasing miraculous 00:53:56.019 --> 00:54:00.320 signs and wonders, healings, deliverances, people 00:54:00.320 --> 00:54:04.539 coming for solutions to the house of God first. 00:54:05.000 --> 00:54:08.840 I believe God has an increased measure for this 00:54:08.840 --> 00:54:12.809 house. But something has to shift in all of us 00:54:12.809 --> 00:54:18.710 to recognize he's given us an authority to actually 00:54:18.710 --> 00:54:24.190 step into by faith. So I wanna just encourage 00:54:24.190 --> 00:54:29.909 us this year to not be like Moses crying out 00:54:29.909 --> 00:54:34.170 for a God solution when we have that solution 00:54:34.170 --> 00:54:39.039 in our hands and we know the will of God. I want 00:54:39.039 --> 00:54:43.139 us to be a church that actually begins to step 00:54:43.139 --> 00:54:46.300 into it and begins to use that staff, use the 00:54:46.300 --> 00:54:49.980 authority that's been given by grace in faith 00:54:49.980 --> 00:54:53.320 and begin to watch the miraculous break down 00:54:53.320 --> 00:54:57.039 impossible circumstance in front of us. And guys, 00:54:57.079 --> 00:55:01.000 the truth is, as a church, we are in a test of 00:55:01.000 --> 00:55:05.829 faith right now. Even with this river bank, I 00:55:05.829 --> 00:55:07.570 know I mentioned it earlier. There have been 00:55:07.570 --> 00:55:10.750 amazing praise reports. God is moving, but there's 00:55:10.750 --> 00:55:13.969 still impossible circumstance that we're facing. 00:55:14.510 --> 00:55:18.469 And this isn't just a test for Pastor Brad and 00:55:18.469 --> 00:55:20.909 Jenny. It's not just a test for the staff or 00:55:20.909 --> 00:55:23.690 the eldership. This is a test for each and every 00:55:23.690 --> 00:55:27.110 one of us that are connected to this church, 00:55:27.190 --> 00:55:31.869 this body here at Life Bible. And I just wanna 00:55:31.869 --> 00:55:35.829 encourage us. in this season to pray and say, 00:55:35.889 --> 00:55:39.809 God, how can I be involved? How can I respond 00:55:39.809 --> 00:55:44.010 in faith in this season? How can I pray? Lord, 00:55:44.110 --> 00:55:48.190 what does the church need? What can I give? These 00:55:48.190 --> 00:55:51.269 are questions we should begin to ask the Lord 00:55:51.269 --> 00:55:54.710 and in faith begin to actually step into them. 00:55:54.829 --> 00:55:58.150 Be faithful to pray, faithful to give and see 00:55:58.150 --> 00:56:00.949 what God will do. Because I'm telling you, yes, 00:56:01.030 --> 00:56:04.940 we're in a corporate test, But when we pass a 00:56:04.940 --> 00:56:07.559 corporate test, that flows to the individual 00:56:07.559 --> 00:56:10.980 parts. And I really do believe this is maybe 00:56:10.980 --> 00:56:14.780 the obstacle that's in front of us, that as we 00:56:14.780 --> 00:56:17.619 break through, there's going to be breakthrough 00:56:17.619 --> 00:56:21.219 in the realm of the individual parts at every 00:56:21.219 --> 00:56:24.780 level. So I want us to, I'm gonna close here, 00:56:24.880 --> 00:56:28.039 running out of time. Why don't you guys just 00:56:28.039 --> 00:56:32.920 close your eyes with me? You know, I just wanna 00:56:32.920 --> 00:56:39.300 give a chance to respond this morning. If you 00:56:39.300 --> 00:56:43.440 are here today, and even as I was talking about 00:56:43.440 --> 00:56:47.739 authority that is given by God to those who would 00:56:47.739 --> 00:56:52.059 do his will, and you recognize that you have 00:56:52.059 --> 00:56:57.139 not actually had Jesus as Lord of your life, 00:56:57.340 --> 00:57:00.630 maybe you've gone to church for a while, you've 00:57:00.630 --> 00:57:05.010 read the Bible, you've been to all this stuff, 00:57:05.110 --> 00:57:08.849 but when it comes down to it, Jesus is not actually 00:57:08.849 --> 00:57:14.510 Lord. You are not submitted to his will. If that's 00:57:14.510 --> 00:57:19.170 you, I'm telling you, there is grace in the house 00:57:19.170 --> 00:57:22.869 of God today to restore you fully that as you 00:57:22.869 --> 00:57:26.210 would repent, as you would turn to the Lord, 00:57:27.599 --> 00:57:32.219 He's gonna meet you in that place. So I just 00:57:32.219 --> 00:57:35.579 wanna give you an opportunity. Everyone's eyes 00:57:35.579 --> 00:57:37.920 are closed, but if that's you and you say, you 00:57:37.920 --> 00:57:40.340 know what? I have not actually made Jesus Lord 00:57:40.340 --> 00:57:43.320 of my life and I am gonna do that today. I'm 00:57:43.320 --> 00:57:45.539 gonna repent for the rebellion I've walked in 00:57:45.539 --> 00:57:48.820 in the past and I'm gonna step into a new season 00:57:48.820 --> 00:57:51.199 with Christ today. If that's you, I want you 00:57:51.199 --> 00:57:56.579 to just stand up. And the second thing I want 00:57:56.579 --> 00:58:01.179 to pray for is if you are facing an impossible 00:58:01.179 --> 00:58:06.400 circumstance right now, if you're not facing 00:58:06.400 --> 00:58:08.820 one, that's great. But whether it's physical, 00:58:08.980 --> 00:58:11.659 that you've got an ongoing health issue that 00:58:11.659 --> 00:58:16.239 you can't find a solution to, if there's demonic 00:58:16.239 --> 00:58:19.139 oppression, there's something going on in your 00:58:19.139 --> 00:58:22.610 life that seems... And it's actually impossible 00:58:22.610 --> 00:58:26.429 for you to solve in the natural. I really believe 00:58:26.429 --> 00:58:29.590 God is here to bring breakthrough this morning. 00:58:30.849 --> 00:58:33.670 So if that's you, if you're facing maybe a family 00:58:33.670 --> 00:58:36.690 member, being reconciled to a family member, 00:58:36.809 --> 00:58:39.829 a physical disease, oppression in your soul, 00:58:39.909 --> 00:58:42.429 I want you to stand up right now. And I wanna 00:58:42.429 --> 00:58:46.670 just, I'm gonna pray for everyone standing. I 00:58:46.670 --> 00:58:51.780 want you guys to just put your hands out. Father, 00:58:51.800 --> 00:58:57.239 I thank you, Lord, for your kingdom. Lord, that 00:58:57.239 --> 00:59:01.619 your kingdom is a kingdom of power. Lord, it's 00:59:01.619 --> 00:59:06.760 a kingdom of grace. It's a kingdom of life. Lord, 00:59:06.840 --> 00:59:10.760 I stand in the authority that you have given 00:59:10.760 --> 00:59:13.860 me. I stand in the authority that you've given 00:59:13.860 --> 00:59:18.170 your house. Lord, and right now I speak over 00:59:18.170 --> 00:59:21.969 every wall of impossibility, Lord, that it would 00:59:21.969 --> 00:59:24.690 begin to crumble, Lord, that even as the people 00:59:24.690 --> 00:59:27.650 in this room are laying hold of the authority 00:59:27.650 --> 00:59:29.769 that they have in Jesus Christ, that they're 00:59:29.769 --> 00:59:33.349 taking a step of faith today saying, God, I know 00:59:33.349 --> 00:59:36.190 that you can touch me. I know that you can release 00:59:36.190 --> 00:59:39.530 breakthrough. I know that you will release life 00:59:39.530 --> 00:59:42.889 over me. Lord, I ask for breakthrough to come 00:59:42.889 --> 00:59:46.550 by your spirit right now. Lord, every sickness 00:59:46.550 --> 00:59:50.570 would flee. Every disease would dissipate. Lord, 00:59:50.610 --> 00:59:54.429 oppression would cease. God, we are asking right 00:59:54.429 --> 00:59:57.809 now on behalf of every individual part that breakthrough 00:59:57.809 --> 01:00:02.050 would begin to be released over this house in 01:00:02.050 --> 01:00:09.989 Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you for taking the time 01:00:09.989 --> 01:00:18.780 to listen to this week's message. If you would 01:00:18.780 --> 01:00:21.559 like to give, click the link in the episode description 01:00:21.559 --> 01:00:24.719 below. You can also help us by subscribing to 01:00:24.719 --> 01:00:26.840 this podcast and sharing it with your friends 01:00:26.840 --> 01:00:30.199 and family. Lastly, if you are in need of prayer, 01:00:30.360 --> 01:00:36.159 send us a text message at 541 -625 -1365. We 01:00:36.159 --> 01:00:37.360 would love to pray with you.