WEBVTT

00:00:29.320 --> 00:00:43.039
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. That's

00:00:43.039 --> 00:00:50.659
enough. I don't want worms. It's a great privilege,

00:00:50.740 --> 00:00:55.219
honor to be here in the services, also on the

00:00:55.219 --> 00:00:57.880
campus, seeing new building and being with Brad

00:00:57.880 --> 00:01:00.259
and Jenny and family and people I've known for

00:01:00.259 --> 00:01:04.340
a very, very long time. And all the other people

00:01:04.340 --> 00:01:06.200
I've been shaking hands with and loving that

00:01:06.200 --> 00:01:09.340
I've known for some of those people over three

00:01:09.340 --> 00:01:12.450
decades. So really great to see everybody, all

00:01:12.450 --> 00:01:16.250
the ones I haven't met. I probably won't get

00:01:16.250 --> 00:01:20.549
to meet you, but God bless you. Love you. I'm

00:01:20.549 --> 00:01:26.590
so impressed with the campus, the campus that

00:01:26.590 --> 00:01:29.489
you have. I do a fair bit of traveling and I

00:01:29.489 --> 00:01:32.689
get around, you know, pretty much around the

00:01:32.689 --> 00:01:38.709
world. And this would be one of the most beautiful

00:01:38.709 --> 00:01:42.849
campuses I've been in. Just the lodge field,

00:01:42.950 --> 00:01:46.670
the northwest, the river. You just have to work

00:01:46.670 --> 00:01:49.230
it out so they let you shoot the animals. That's

00:01:49.230 --> 00:01:56.030
all I... You know, it just, it ain't right to

00:01:56.030 --> 00:01:58.489
look at those ducks landing and taking off and

00:01:58.489 --> 00:02:02.549
not take a shot at them. But, you know, that

00:02:02.549 --> 00:02:07.900
can be taken care of. But just being here and

00:02:07.900 --> 00:02:10.360
seeing the whole thing and knowing. I mean, I've

00:02:10.360 --> 00:02:13.560
been through a number of building programs. And

00:02:13.560 --> 00:02:17.139
I know the journey so well. And the sacrifice

00:02:17.139 --> 00:02:20.719
and the workload that happens accidentally on

00:02:20.719 --> 00:02:22.419
people. They don't even plan it's going to happen

00:02:22.419 --> 00:02:25.340
to them. It's just doing things and giving your

00:02:25.340 --> 00:02:28.099
money and helping and building and still working

00:02:28.099 --> 00:02:30.180
on all the stuff. And it will go on for months

00:02:30.180 --> 00:02:32.439
beyond this just to move in. There's still a

00:02:32.439 --> 00:02:35.300
lot of stuff to do. And that's normal. So I just

00:02:35.300 --> 00:02:38.000
want to say a huge congratulations to you as

00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:41.599
a church that you have done a fantastic job.

00:02:41.860 --> 00:02:47.759
And your sacrifice is a seed that's sown that

00:02:47.759 --> 00:02:51.460
many people will reap from. You've built something

00:02:51.460 --> 00:02:56.020
that will see a lot of people. find Christ and

00:02:56.020 --> 00:02:58.500
return to Christ and families that will be healed

00:02:58.500 --> 00:03:01.180
and marriages helped and young people will find

00:03:01.180 --> 00:03:03.900
their way and children be raised up in the ways

00:03:03.900 --> 00:03:07.659
of God. And it's because you had faith to build

00:03:07.659 --> 00:03:10.759
a place for them to come, for them to feel good

00:03:10.759 --> 00:03:13.620
about it. I mean, God doesn't dwell on the mortar

00:03:13.620 --> 00:03:16.099
and the carpet and all that. We understand that.

00:03:16.750 --> 00:03:19.770
But God does visit the houses that are dedicated

00:03:19.770 --> 00:03:23.569
to him. Whether they're our home, our business,

00:03:23.810 --> 00:03:26.590
or our church facilities, they become sacred

00:03:26.590 --> 00:03:30.069
because we make them sacred how we use them for

00:03:30.069 --> 00:03:33.789
the kingdom of God. And I'm just telling you,

00:03:33.810 --> 00:03:36.449
you have a great future. Have a great future.

00:03:36.830 --> 00:03:40.870
It's going to be an amazing journey. Just sitting

00:03:40.870 --> 00:03:42.930
there watching and thinking how many times I've

00:03:42.930 --> 00:03:47.090
done this with so many other people. myself too,

00:03:47.250 --> 00:03:51.550
and trying to think back what I thought would

00:03:51.550 --> 00:03:55.189
happen. And every time I go to that point and

00:03:55.189 --> 00:03:58.490
I go back and I try to think about what I expected,

00:03:58.729 --> 00:04:01.449
what vision did I have, and what could I see

00:04:01.449 --> 00:04:03.689
back when we did that building, that property,

00:04:03.810 --> 00:04:08.810
and none of them, not one time did I have enough

00:04:08.810 --> 00:04:11.729
vision to see all that was going to happen. Not

00:04:11.729 --> 00:04:16.500
one time. God always does much more than you

00:04:16.500 --> 00:04:23.980
see. What you see is small compared to what you

00:04:23.980 --> 00:04:27.589
don't see. And that's where God... It's working.

00:04:27.709 --> 00:04:31.649
And he's going to do some amazing things in and

00:04:31.649 --> 00:04:34.149
through this church and you, the church, the

00:04:34.149 --> 00:04:36.569
body of Christ and the people. I'm just still

00:04:36.569 --> 00:04:39.709
baffled. I'm just a little baffled when I drive

00:04:39.709 --> 00:04:42.730
here and, you know, there's just, it's in the

00:04:42.730 --> 00:04:47.009
middle of nowhere. And you drive and even seeing

00:04:47.009 --> 00:04:49.769
an animal is a blessing just to see an animal.

00:04:50.709 --> 00:04:55.089
And then you get here and here's this, you know,

00:04:56.029 --> 00:05:11.689
It's cultish. It's so... How can this be? How

00:05:11.689 --> 00:05:15.389
did this happen? Where do you people live? Do

00:05:15.389 --> 00:05:18.550
you really have a home somewhere that you end

00:05:18.550 --> 00:05:24.740
up coming here? I just... I was with Roger and

00:05:24.740 --> 00:05:28.000
Sherry last night, who was one of the first families

00:05:28.000 --> 00:05:30.600
in our church when I started in Eugene, and it's

00:05:30.600 --> 00:05:33.319
so good to see them, and just Sherry's cooking,

00:05:33.379 --> 00:05:38.860
I mean. And Roger, well, nothing about Roger,

00:05:38.899 --> 00:05:45.379
but Sherry. I'm on a roll here. I might as well

00:05:45.379 --> 00:05:48.829
just keep going. I know Roger's a great friend,

00:05:48.949 --> 00:05:52.129
great hunter, great encourager, great dad, a

00:05:52.129 --> 00:05:54.750
very proud dad, a very proud dad, and he should

00:05:54.750 --> 00:05:59.569
be. I'm very proud of the church. I'm also very

00:05:59.569 --> 00:06:02.329
proud of the leadership team here, some of which

00:06:02.329 --> 00:06:06.430
I've known for my whole life. But watching Brad

00:06:06.430 --> 00:06:10.540
and Jenny lead. this church and lead the team

00:06:10.540 --> 00:06:13.259
yesterday and meeting with them and just talking

00:06:13.259 --> 00:06:15.920
about everything to do with this church and the

00:06:15.920 --> 00:06:18.660
future and them just kind of getting what they

00:06:18.660 --> 00:06:22.600
can from it while I'm here. I just want you to

00:06:22.600 --> 00:06:27.899
know as far as I see it, as far as I know in

00:06:27.899 --> 00:06:32.279
my own personhood as a man that's been in the

00:06:32.279 --> 00:06:36.579
ministry for going on 45 years, I think Brad

00:06:36.579 --> 00:06:40.480
and Jenny are two of the best leaders you will

00:06:40.480 --> 00:06:44.420
find in the body of Christ. That's what I want

00:06:44.420 --> 00:06:51.040
to say. You're awesome. You're awesome. They

00:06:51.040 --> 00:06:55.899
have what it takes to be good pastors. Heart.

00:06:56.579 --> 00:07:00.100
They have heart. They have passion. They have

00:07:00.100 --> 00:07:03.860
faith. They're not afraid. Will they make mistakes?

00:07:04.060 --> 00:07:06.699
Have they made mistakes? Of course. Of course,

00:07:06.699 --> 00:07:10.420
we all do. I have. I'm just shocked that the

00:07:10.420 --> 00:07:14.759
Lord loves me so much in spite of me and that

00:07:14.759 --> 00:07:17.139
my church loves me so much in spite of me. I

00:07:17.139 --> 00:07:18.879
tell him, I said, if you knew more of me, you

00:07:18.879 --> 00:07:22.180
wouldn't love me so much. I'm sure of it. Maybe

00:07:22.180 --> 00:07:26.490
I have you totally deceived. I'm not sure. It's

00:07:26.490 --> 00:07:28.670
a great thing to have a bonding with the church.

00:07:28.829 --> 00:07:31.050
My church loves me because they trust me. They've

00:07:31.050 --> 00:07:33.730
watched me for a long time, and they trust me,

00:07:33.930 --> 00:07:37.029
and they trust my family, and they trust the

00:07:37.029 --> 00:07:39.250
eldership that I work with, and there's peace

00:07:39.250 --> 00:07:42.149
in the house. And I think one of the greatest

00:07:42.149 --> 00:07:44.870
things that happens is peace in the house, where

00:07:44.870 --> 00:07:47.670
you trust leaders. And remember, Brad's not alone.

00:07:47.889 --> 00:07:51.810
He has me. He has other people. He has, well,

00:07:51.829 --> 00:08:00.089
he has Jenny, too. We have everything he needs

00:08:00.089 --> 00:08:02.949
to help him do what he's going to do. I just

00:08:02.949 --> 00:08:04.910
committed myself again yesterday to them just

00:08:04.910 --> 00:08:08.769
saying, hey, I'm a dad to you and I can be more

00:08:08.769 --> 00:08:11.829
of a dad, so what do you want from me? And just

00:08:11.829 --> 00:08:17.569
making sure this church just really achieves

00:08:17.569 --> 00:08:21.009
something supernatural. You know, just try to

00:08:21.009 --> 00:08:25.189
move yourself to the realm of... You really don't

00:08:25.189 --> 00:08:28.629
have a clue what's going to happen here. It's

00:08:28.629 --> 00:08:32.669
going to be far beyond anything you've thought

00:08:32.669 --> 00:08:35.250
about. And that's the journey. That's what's

00:08:35.250 --> 00:08:37.889
fun. And the whole fun piece of that is it's

00:08:37.889 --> 00:08:41.799
all about people. It's all about people being

00:08:41.799 --> 00:08:44.860
saved and healed and et cetera. And I'm still

00:08:44.860 --> 00:08:47.399
in the people business and I love it. I love

00:08:47.399 --> 00:08:49.360
changed lives. So many people come to me, talk

00:08:49.360 --> 00:08:51.620
to me this week. I mean, you can't buy these

00:08:51.620 --> 00:08:53.440
kind of things in life. You know, the one young

00:08:53.440 --> 00:08:55.820
man talked to me yesterday. He says, you wouldn't

00:08:55.820 --> 00:09:00.240
know this, but he said, 30 some years ago, I

00:09:00.240 --> 00:09:05.080
was sleeping in a car in your parking lot. My

00:09:05.080 --> 00:09:11.110
life was, he went in and he said, You guys got

00:09:11.110 --> 00:09:14.250
me out of the car, put me in a place to live,

00:09:14.549 --> 00:09:19.789
got food for me. My life was changed. I got saved.

00:09:19.889 --> 00:09:22.710
Now I'm married to this woman, have these kids,

00:09:22.830 --> 00:09:25.970
been serving the Lord all these years. Who would

00:09:25.970 --> 00:09:28.990
have known that just looking at someone sleeping

00:09:28.990 --> 00:09:32.149
in a car ends up being a pillar in the house

00:09:32.149 --> 00:09:40.350
of God? Who would know that? You can't. You can't

00:09:40.350 --> 00:09:43.429
plan those kind of things. You can't imagine

00:09:43.429 --> 00:09:45.769
those kind of things. But that's what the Holy

00:09:45.769 --> 00:09:47.730
Spirit does with people. And that's what he's

00:09:47.730 --> 00:09:49.370
done with you. Every one of you are miracles

00:09:49.370 --> 00:09:53.009
sitting right here. You have a story. And, you

00:09:53.009 --> 00:09:57.049
know, I know some of you. And you are a miracle.

00:09:58.789 --> 00:10:01.470
And I am a miracle. If you know anything about

00:10:01.470 --> 00:10:05.250
me, I am a miracle. And so it's just great to

00:10:05.250 --> 00:10:07.289
be here. I don't want to take all my time meandering

00:10:07.289 --> 00:10:10.070
around, but I just wanted to say that to the

00:10:10.070 --> 00:10:12.169
church and make sure you heard it. I'm proud

00:10:12.169 --> 00:10:15.590
of you. I just think the worship leading this

00:10:15.590 --> 00:10:18.990
morning with the group was just heavenly. Just

00:10:18.990 --> 00:10:23.889
amazing. Great job, Jen. Just, you know, I knew

00:10:23.889 --> 00:10:26.990
you when you were just so big, you know. And

00:10:26.990 --> 00:10:33.100
watching you lead with that depth of gift. And

00:10:33.100 --> 00:10:36.419
anointing. And what a great gift you guys have

00:10:36.419 --> 00:10:42.159
in her. Great gift. Great presence. Great presence.

00:10:45.139 --> 00:10:50.279
And seeing all the young teams coming up is what

00:10:50.279 --> 00:10:53.460
it's all about. Our church is 6 ,000 plus people.

00:10:53.720 --> 00:10:58.279
And our average age is 29. And so we're into

00:10:58.279 --> 00:11:02.470
the next generation. And watching young leaders,

00:11:02.570 --> 00:11:06.330
I'm all about that. That's where you push my

00:11:06.330 --> 00:11:08.509
button. That's what I want to do. That's what

00:11:08.509 --> 00:11:13.169
I do, is help people find their dream and do

00:11:13.169 --> 00:11:15.950
it. And watching those young people lead and

00:11:15.950 --> 00:11:19.610
everything and write songs. You're just going

00:11:19.610 --> 00:11:23.490
to have a great life and a great time. And I'll

00:11:23.490 --> 00:11:27.009
be back around here. Last time I was here was

00:11:27.009 --> 00:11:30.409
six years ago. I'm sorry. It's Brad's fault.

00:11:33.269 --> 00:11:36.889
It's my fault. I just got a little busy, and

00:11:36.889 --> 00:11:40.230
I'll try not to let that happen. The reason I'm

00:11:40.230 --> 00:11:42.049
on a stool this morning instead of standing and

00:11:42.049 --> 00:11:44.049
walking around is because I went through cancer

00:11:44.049 --> 00:11:45.850
last year, as I shared with the team yesterday,

00:11:46.009 --> 00:11:47.549
and most of the church probably knows that. But

00:11:47.549 --> 00:11:49.750
I'm a cancer survivor. I'm cancer -free, by the

00:11:49.750 --> 00:11:59.480
way. The journey of going through that definitely

00:11:59.480 --> 00:12:02.679
changes your mindset, changes your life, changes

00:12:02.679 --> 00:12:05.279
something inside of you. I don't even, I'm not

00:12:05.279 --> 00:12:06.980
even quite sure everything that has changed,

00:12:07.059 --> 00:12:10.639
but I have changed and watched it and just, you

00:12:10.639 --> 00:12:13.500
know, you appreciate things differently and go

00:12:13.500 --> 00:12:16.419
at life differently. And I'm at that stage where

00:12:16.419 --> 00:12:20.720
I'm reinventing myself right now. I'm giving

00:12:20.720 --> 00:12:23.460
my church over to a guy that's worked with me

00:12:23.460 --> 00:12:27.559
for 20 years. I think I kind of shocked everybody

00:12:27.559 --> 00:12:30.240
that I would do it right now. I don't have to

00:12:30.240 --> 00:12:34.240
do it right now. Even my own doctor, one of the

00:12:34.240 --> 00:12:36.779
oncologists, my main doctor, she says, Frank,

00:12:36.840 --> 00:12:39.620
why are you doing this? Why are you giving up

00:12:39.620 --> 00:12:42.759
your church? She says, it's not because you think

00:12:42.759 --> 00:12:44.259
something's going to happen to you. I mean, we've

00:12:44.259 --> 00:12:47.379
been through this. It has nothing to do with

00:12:47.379 --> 00:12:50.809
that. Nothing. She says, okay, as long as I feel

00:12:50.809 --> 00:12:53.409
good, if you can tell me that the cancer wasn't

00:12:53.409 --> 00:12:56.409
your initial thought about doing this, because

00:12:56.409 --> 00:12:58.909
it shouldn't be. I'd be concerned that your emotions

00:12:58.909 --> 00:13:00.850
are going the wrong way. She gave me an okay.

00:13:00.929 --> 00:13:03.950
I said, nothing about that. I said, do you understand

00:13:03.950 --> 00:13:09.330
this phrase, thus saith the Lord? She says, no.

00:13:09.490 --> 00:13:11.570
I said, good, let's just go on with the point

00:13:11.570 --> 00:13:17.009
like that. It's God. God told me in my heart.

00:13:18.100 --> 00:13:20.379
To do this. And so I'm doing it because of that

00:13:20.379 --> 00:13:23.019
initiative. I always wanted to make transition.

00:13:23.039 --> 00:13:25.600
When I was the strongest. Which I am right now.

00:13:25.659 --> 00:13:27.720
Even though I have a little nerve problem. My

00:13:27.720 --> 00:13:29.879
knee and calf. That's why I'm not walking on

00:13:29.879 --> 00:13:34.659
it. It's really not cancer related at all. I

00:13:34.659 --> 00:13:36.019
wanted to do it when I was at the top of the

00:13:36.019 --> 00:13:38.440
game. Not the bottom. And when the team was at

00:13:38.440 --> 00:13:40.990
the top. And when the church was growing. Great

00:13:40.990 --> 00:13:43.629
steady pace. The finances are good. The church

00:13:43.629 --> 00:13:46.129
is good. The salvations are off the chart. The

00:13:46.129 --> 00:13:49.350
youth ministry is the largest it's ever been.

00:13:49.549 --> 00:13:53.389
I mean, we're at kind of that climb. That's when

00:13:53.389 --> 00:13:55.809
I wanted to step back and give it to the other

00:13:55.809 --> 00:13:58.950
teams so they could just keep making that climb,

00:13:59.169 --> 00:14:01.730
and it wasn't me pushing the climb, that they

00:14:01.730 --> 00:14:04.769
now get behind and push everything that's going

00:14:04.769 --> 00:14:08.269
on. So that's why I did it. In that, I'm reinventing

00:14:08.269 --> 00:14:09.990
myself and kind of doing some different things.

00:14:10.190 --> 00:14:13.830
And part of that will be mentoring, coaching

00:14:13.830 --> 00:14:16.269
more leaders and more pastors. I'll have more

00:14:16.269 --> 00:14:19.850
time to do that. And that's probably one of my

00:14:19.850 --> 00:14:21.529
gifts. That's probably what I should be doing.

00:14:21.730 --> 00:14:25.090
All right, enough about me. Psalms 133. Would

00:14:25.090 --> 00:14:27.429
you turn there if you have a Bible? Psalms 133.

00:14:27.509 --> 00:14:29.470
I'm going to go to Psalms 133, and we're going

00:14:29.470 --> 00:14:32.110
to preach for a few minutes here and communicate

00:14:32.110 --> 00:14:35.289
and pray. And I want you to hear my heart. I

00:14:35.289 --> 00:14:39.070
want you to hear the Bible. This is a psalm written

00:14:39.070 --> 00:14:42.990
by King David. And this specific psalm, I want

00:14:42.990 --> 00:14:45.370
you to think with me for a moment before we read

00:14:45.370 --> 00:14:47.649
it, before we do anything with it. I want you

00:14:47.649 --> 00:14:49.470
to hear something about it. I'm going to talk

00:14:49.470 --> 00:14:52.450
about what the psalm talks about, really these

00:14:52.450 --> 00:14:55.460
few verses. verses that are written. Psalms 133

00:14:55.460 --> 00:14:59.759
is a very short little boxy group of scriptures,

00:14:59.879 --> 00:15:02.379
only three or four scriptures and within that

00:15:02.379 --> 00:15:05.700
there's some mighty, mighty truths. I think in

00:15:05.700 --> 00:15:08.059
a situation like this, when you come into a new

00:15:08.059 --> 00:15:12.220
season and you come into a new arena of thought

00:15:12.220 --> 00:15:15.759
and an arena of progress and things change, and

00:15:15.759 --> 00:15:17.700
I told Brad, it'll never be the same again, Brad.

00:15:17.820 --> 00:15:20.840
You can't take what happened 14 years up till

00:15:20.840 --> 00:15:24.059
now and just transition it over to this new season.

00:15:24.240 --> 00:15:27.059
It's not the way to do this. You can't do it.

00:15:27.059 --> 00:15:29.259
It won't work. There's going to have to be some

00:15:29.259 --> 00:15:32.019
new stuff and new changes, and you have to kind

00:15:32.019 --> 00:15:34.419
of adjust to the new season, and the Lord will

00:15:34.419 --> 00:15:37.159
help you. And part of that adjustment happens

00:15:37.159 --> 00:15:40.299
in this psalm right here. If you understand the

00:15:40.299 --> 00:15:42.340
psalms at all and understand the writing and

00:15:42.340 --> 00:15:44.919
the writers, it helps you understand what is

00:15:44.919 --> 00:15:47.700
written, if you know why and who and when and

00:15:47.700 --> 00:15:51.100
et cetera. Well, there were three main kings

00:15:51.100 --> 00:15:54.539
of Israel, although there was 19 on Israel's

00:15:54.539 --> 00:15:56.840
side, 19 on Judah's side. We're not talking about

00:15:56.840 --> 00:15:58.659
the split kings. kingdom, just when it was together

00:15:58.659 --> 00:16:01.179
before it split with Rehoboam and Jeroboam. There

00:16:01.179 --> 00:16:03.840
were three main kings. And as you know, you have

00:16:03.840 --> 00:16:06.379
the Saul, you have the David, and you have Solomon.

00:16:06.379 --> 00:16:09.899
Each one did 40 years. And then after Solomon,

00:16:10.080 --> 00:16:12.620
it split and never came back together. Then you

00:16:12.620 --> 00:16:14.879
had the house of Israel and the house of Judah.

00:16:14.940 --> 00:16:18.799
Each one had 19 kings. Israel had 19 kings. Judah

00:16:18.799 --> 00:16:22.700
had 19 kings. Israel had 19 bad kings. They didn't

00:16:22.700 --> 00:16:25.679
have one good king. Unbelievable. Judah had 19

00:16:25.679 --> 00:16:29.320
kings. were revivalists and reformation kings

00:16:29.320 --> 00:16:31.200
that turned the kingdom around every time it

00:16:31.200 --> 00:16:33.759
went down. Israel never had that. So all the

00:16:33.759 --> 00:16:36.220
prophets that you have, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel,

00:16:36.240 --> 00:16:38.919
Daniel, all of them are talking to both kingdoms.

00:16:39.039 --> 00:16:40.980
And if you read your Bible now knowing that,

00:16:41.100 --> 00:16:43.799
you will find where they say Judah and you will

00:16:43.799 --> 00:16:45.840
find where they say Israel. When they say Judah,

00:16:45.960 --> 00:16:47.779
they're talking about that house. When they say

00:16:47.779 --> 00:16:49.740
Israel, they're talking about this house. It's

00:16:49.740 --> 00:16:52.240
not all one anymore. Most people don't know that.

00:16:53.320 --> 00:16:58.970
Everybody okay? Okay. So, when we come to David,

00:16:59.269 --> 00:17:02.370
King Saul, King David, King Solomon, three of

00:17:02.370 --> 00:17:06.750
the great kings, 40, 40, 40. Saul had a great

00:17:06.750 --> 00:17:10.069
potential, but he ruined it. He ruined his potential.

00:17:10.269 --> 00:17:12.509
He ruined his potential because he had a heart

00:17:12.509 --> 00:17:15.430
problem. He had a motive problem. He had something

00:17:15.430 --> 00:17:17.950
in him that could never change. And he ended

00:17:17.950 --> 00:17:21.250
up ruining the kingdom. Ultimately, he ruined

00:17:21.250 --> 00:17:23.849
other people under him, including his son, Jonathan,

00:17:24.089 --> 00:17:26.349
including all the sons that were in his house.

00:17:26.410 --> 00:17:28.950
He ruined them because Saul had a heart problem.

00:17:29.369 --> 00:17:32.589
David was raised up by God. And it says in the

00:17:32.589 --> 00:17:34.509
scripture, in the book of Acts, it says, David

00:17:34.509 --> 00:17:36.269
was a man after my own heart. And this is why

00:17:36.269 --> 00:17:38.450
I love David. That's what God says about David.

00:17:38.609 --> 00:17:41.509
So he was, God was disappointed in the heart

00:17:41.509 --> 00:17:44.569
of Saul, but he was overwhelmed with the greatness

00:17:44.569 --> 00:17:46.730
of David's heart. Even though David committed

00:17:46.730 --> 00:17:48.990
sin, committed adultery and murder. And I mean,

00:17:48.990 --> 00:17:50.970
the guy, did some very naughty, naughty things

00:17:50.970 --> 00:17:53.609
in his lifetime. It's not that he was a perfect,

00:17:53.670 --> 00:17:56.250
great leader and a moral man all the time. He

00:17:56.250 --> 00:17:59.009
made some super big mistakes. But at the end

00:17:59.009 --> 00:18:01.470
of it, even when you get 2 ,000 years down, God's

00:18:01.470 --> 00:18:03.809
still talking about David. He says, I love David

00:18:03.809 --> 00:18:05.829
because I love his heart. He was a man after

00:18:05.829 --> 00:18:08.170
my own heart, and I love David even though there

00:18:08.170 --> 00:18:10.710
were problems. So David was a heart guy, and

00:18:10.710 --> 00:18:13.809
then Solomon was a wise guy. I'm not saying that

00:18:13.809 --> 00:18:17.190
to be funny. But he was a man of wisdom, and

00:18:17.190 --> 00:18:19.670
so you've got the Proverbs. and Ecclesiastes

00:18:19.670 --> 00:18:21.529
and the books that come out of Solomon because

00:18:21.529 --> 00:18:23.910
he was a builder of the temple of Solomon and

00:18:23.910 --> 00:18:26.750
he was a mighty king but he also had some real

00:18:26.750 --> 00:18:29.609
heart problems later on and he drifted and that's

00:18:29.609 --> 00:18:31.490
where the book of Ecclesiastes comes out of.

00:18:31.569 --> 00:18:34.950
His bad heart, his bad sin and everything's vanity,

00:18:35.049 --> 00:18:37.029
vexation, everything under the sun is no good.

00:18:37.089 --> 00:18:41.670
He ends his life the wrong way. David, even though

00:18:41.670 --> 00:18:44.430
he had problems in his flesh, now listen to me,

00:18:44.529 --> 00:18:49.319
he never had problems in his heart. Never had

00:18:49.319 --> 00:18:54.359
a heart problem. And he ended correctly. Even

00:18:54.359 --> 00:18:57.480
though he had flesh and carnal and just like

00:18:57.480 --> 00:18:59.839
me, I mean, I've never committed adultery and

00:18:59.839 --> 00:19:02.660
don't plan on it. I'm not going to murder anybody,

00:19:02.819 --> 00:19:05.519
although I do think about it sometimes. And so...

00:19:10.179 --> 00:19:12.960
It's like, you know, you see someone abusing

00:19:12.960 --> 00:19:15.680
their child, spanking their child. We call it

00:19:15.680 --> 00:19:18.299
abuse today. God calls it discipline. And so

00:19:18.299 --> 00:19:21.599
you think, you shouldn't do that. You shouldn't

00:19:21.599 --> 00:19:23.779
do that. But I understand why you're doing it,

00:19:23.819 --> 00:19:26.099
you know. And so you kind of move on. Sometimes

00:19:26.099 --> 00:19:28.519
when it comes to Bible characters, you look at

00:19:28.519 --> 00:19:31.359
them and say, how could they do that? Well, how

00:19:31.359 --> 00:19:34.940
do you do what you do? It's the same devil, the

00:19:34.940 --> 00:19:37.220
same flesh, the same temptation. They had them.

00:19:37.299 --> 00:19:41.759
But David. was a man who had heart. And I want

00:19:41.759 --> 00:19:45.319
you to understand Psalms 133, if I can ever get

00:19:45.319 --> 00:19:49.180
to my notes here. If Psalms 133 is read with

00:19:49.180 --> 00:19:51.680
what I just said in the background, you will

00:19:51.680 --> 00:19:55.119
understand Psalms 133 was written toward the

00:19:55.119 --> 00:19:59.539
end of David's life. Psalms 133 was written after

00:19:59.539 --> 00:20:02.660
a lot of experiences that didn't line up with

00:20:02.660 --> 00:20:06.450
Psalms 133. And so when you read Psalms 133,

00:20:06.589 --> 00:20:09.349
it's a group of Psalms called Ascent Psalms.

00:20:09.369 --> 00:20:12.430
There's 15 of them. From Psalms 120 to Psalms

00:20:12.430 --> 00:20:15.990
134, those 15 Psalms were taken by Israel, and

00:20:15.990 --> 00:20:18.869
they would sing the 15 Psalms on the 15 steps

00:20:18.869 --> 00:20:21.009
of the temple, or they would sing them on their

00:20:21.009 --> 00:20:23.549
way to the feast. And so they were called Psalms

00:20:23.549 --> 00:20:26.009
of Ascent, going up to Jerusalem geographically,

00:20:26.029 --> 00:20:28.089
but also spiritually to the tabernacle, to the

00:20:28.089 --> 00:20:30.549
temple, to worship, etc. And so they're called

00:20:30.549 --> 00:20:34.519
Psalms of Ascending, Psalms of Ascent. psalm

00:20:34.519 --> 00:20:37.140
is next to the last psalm that they would sing

00:20:37.140 --> 00:20:39.720
as they would move into Jerusalem or as they

00:20:39.720 --> 00:20:42.339
would move from the 15th, 14th step up to finally

00:20:42.339 --> 00:20:45.779
get into the courtyard. So Psalms 133, if you

00:20:45.779 --> 00:20:47.539
understand the history of it, was placed at a

00:20:47.539 --> 00:20:50.640
very significant place and spiritually it has

00:20:50.640 --> 00:20:53.079
some of the most significant principles because

00:20:53.079 --> 00:20:56.799
Israel was what? Coming together. And they had

00:20:56.799 --> 00:21:00.440
been a divided house. Well, they hadn't at this

00:21:00.440 --> 00:21:03.329
point. They were fighting division because they

00:21:03.329 --> 00:21:06.890
already had all the seeds of division. If I had

00:21:06.890 --> 00:21:09.049
time, I would show you those, which I don't.

00:21:09.109 --> 00:21:12.430
And so for them to sing Psalms 133, which kind

00:21:12.430 --> 00:21:15.849
of one of their Psalms of principle and promise

00:21:15.849 --> 00:21:18.869
and prophetic, because this is where the anointing

00:21:18.869 --> 00:21:21.069
was. This is where the dew of Hermon came. This

00:21:21.069 --> 00:21:23.910
is where God commanded things to come upon them.

00:21:24.009 --> 00:21:26.710
And so as they come to the temple or they come

00:21:26.710 --> 00:21:28.990
to that place of celebration, they remembered

00:21:28.990 --> 00:21:32.750
this principle. when he writes Psalms 133 we

00:21:32.750 --> 00:21:35.430
can put it up on the screen if you want the NIV

00:21:35.430 --> 00:21:38.349
translation I use a lot of different translations

00:21:38.349 --> 00:21:42.309
I like message a lot I use the translations that

00:21:42.309 --> 00:21:49.789
agree with me and so I want you to read it out

00:21:49.789 --> 00:21:52.609
loud can you is it up okay so I won't see my

00:21:52.609 --> 00:21:54.670
slides back here Steve is that the way it is

00:21:54.670 --> 00:21:57.289
I don't see them back here it would help me if

00:21:57.289 --> 00:22:02.700
I could see that you're on target I don't want

00:22:02.700 --> 00:22:05.599
to turn around and look at them, though. I just

00:22:05.599 --> 00:22:08.359
believe you are right. Steve is, I've known Steve

00:22:08.359 --> 00:22:11.420
since he was, well, for a hundred years. Okay,

00:22:11.519 --> 00:22:13.819
I want you to read out loud with everyone together

00:22:13.819 --> 00:22:18.380
how good and pleasant it is when God's people

00:22:18.380 --> 00:22:52.329
live together. Now, David writes this psalm with

00:22:52.329 --> 00:22:56.970
a background of division. His life was riddled

00:22:56.970 --> 00:22:59.910
with division, mainly because of this guy called

00:22:59.910 --> 00:23:02.390
Saul. That's the main reason. But he also had

00:23:02.390 --> 00:23:05.990
some in his house, some in his men, some right

00:23:05.990 --> 00:23:09.150
along the whole kingdom. So David is a man who

00:23:09.150 --> 00:23:13.710
has experienced the horribleness. of disloyalty

00:23:13.710 --> 00:23:16.549
the horribleness of disconnectedness the horribleness

00:23:16.549 --> 00:23:19.690
of a Saul who was like David's spiritual father

00:23:19.690 --> 00:23:22.569
in a sense and Saul was the one who drew David

00:23:22.569 --> 00:23:25.130
out of his house and and put him into the kingdom

00:23:25.130 --> 00:23:27.970
as a as a chief warrior I mean Saul's the one

00:23:27.970 --> 00:23:30.009
who promoted David Saul's the one who gave him

00:23:30.009 --> 00:23:31.769
the doors of the kingdom Saul's the one who's

00:23:31.769 --> 00:23:33.670
chose him from his father's house think about

00:23:33.670 --> 00:23:37.660
it And then Saul gets filled with jealousy. And

00:23:37.660 --> 00:23:39.700
it says in the Bible, almost with the spirit

00:23:39.700 --> 00:23:42.180
of insanity, he comes against Saul. Now, the

00:23:42.180 --> 00:23:44.759
very man that David loved, and David loved him

00:23:44.759 --> 00:23:47.720
to the day he died. He loved Saul to the day

00:23:47.720 --> 00:23:50.740
he died. Because David had heart. He was an honorable

00:23:50.740 --> 00:23:53.990
man. And so Saul got so angry with David, he

00:23:53.990 --> 00:23:56.109
threw javelins at him. He would call David into

00:23:56.109 --> 00:23:58.390
a meeting. And as David was sitting there, not

00:23:58.390 --> 00:24:00.430
even knowing what was going to happen, Saul would

00:24:00.430 --> 00:24:02.730
grab one of his spears and try to kill David

00:24:02.730 --> 00:24:04.589
right there in the office, right there in the

00:24:04.589 --> 00:24:06.910
presence of the other guys. And David would run

00:24:06.910 --> 00:24:08.930
out and hide. And then Saul would repent and

00:24:08.930 --> 00:24:11.569
then do it again. And the whole story of David

00:24:11.569 --> 00:24:15.920
and Saul is a horrible story. And again, if I

00:24:15.920 --> 00:24:18.400
had time, we could really kind of do more with

00:24:18.400 --> 00:24:20.799
this. But you get the idea that David's been

00:24:20.799 --> 00:24:23.920
a guy who understands. how horrible it is when

00:24:23.920 --> 00:24:26.900
brothers are not in unity. How horrible it is

00:24:26.900 --> 00:24:29.440
when people that are close to you are not in

00:24:29.440 --> 00:24:31.880
sync with you. David had lived that. He had walked

00:24:31.880 --> 00:24:35.400
that. And finally, when Saul died, you know,

00:24:35.400 --> 00:24:37.779
at the end of his reign, and he'd already gone

00:24:37.779 --> 00:24:40.180
to see a witch, and I mean, his life was a mess.

00:24:40.400 --> 00:24:44.519
It says in 2 Samuel 1, when David heard the news

00:24:44.519 --> 00:24:51.180
that Saul was dead, he wept and wept and wept.

00:24:52.359 --> 00:24:55.779
He never lost heart for Saul, even though Saul

00:24:55.779 --> 00:25:01.119
lost heart for him. Why? He had a heart, a different

00:25:01.119 --> 00:25:04.819
kind of a spirit. He was a man that God loved,

00:25:04.859 --> 00:25:07.079
and this is one of the reasons why. And so then

00:25:07.079 --> 00:25:09.670
when you go to... The Absalom story. I mean,

00:25:09.690 --> 00:25:11.849
how awful is the Absalom story? Everybody knows

00:25:11.849 --> 00:25:13.910
Absalom, especially those that are really into

00:25:13.910 --> 00:25:15.650
spiritual warfare and stuff. You know, they're

00:25:15.650 --> 00:25:17.470
always casting out the spirit of Jezebel and

00:25:17.470 --> 00:25:20.130
the spirit of Absalom. I don't dedicate any kids

00:25:20.130 --> 00:25:26.410
named Jezebel or Absalom. In my whole life, I've

00:25:26.410 --> 00:25:29.970
never dedicated an Absalom. Or Jezebel. But I've

00:25:29.970 --> 00:25:31.869
heard that name mentioned a lot in the house

00:25:31.869 --> 00:25:33.730
of God. Spirit of Jezebel is whatever it is.

00:25:33.769 --> 00:25:36.309
Spirit of Absalom and all this. Well, it goes

00:25:36.309 --> 00:25:38.009
with scripture because Absalom was a naughty

00:25:38.009 --> 00:25:41.109
boy. He was David's son and he was the best looking

00:25:41.109 --> 00:25:44.190
son. He was the son of promise. He was the son

00:25:44.190 --> 00:25:46.309
that everybody loved. He had personality. He

00:25:46.309 --> 00:25:49.289
probably had a lot of David in him. And it says

00:25:49.289 --> 00:25:51.730
that David loved him more than any of the sons.

00:25:51.890 --> 00:25:53.650
And so there was a lot going on with Absalom.

00:25:53.769 --> 00:25:57.009
But Absalom turned against his own father. And

00:25:57.009 --> 00:25:59.349
then Absalom... begins to do things that are

00:25:59.349 --> 00:26:02.470
horrible in setting David up to rent the kingdom

00:26:02.470 --> 00:26:04.769
and ruin the kingdom. He would meet people as

00:26:04.769 --> 00:26:08.470
they came to the temple or came to see the king.

00:26:08.549 --> 00:26:11.130
They're in the outer courts to see the palace

00:26:11.130 --> 00:26:13.130
and to come in and present their stuff. Only

00:26:13.130 --> 00:26:15.230
the heads of the tribes could do this. And as

00:26:15.230 --> 00:26:17.049
they would come in, Absalom would just slip around

00:26:17.049 --> 00:26:18.809
and meet him right at the front door. And he

00:26:18.809 --> 00:26:20.410
would just say to them, oh, you're going to see

00:26:20.410 --> 00:26:22.589
king, huh? Yeah, yeah, we're going to see the

00:26:22.589 --> 00:26:25.109
king. Well, what's the problem? Well, out of

00:26:25.109 --> 00:26:27.150
Naphtali, we got some real problems with our...

00:26:27.150 --> 00:26:28.829
our crops, and then what has happened is the

00:26:28.829 --> 00:26:31.210
king has taken our money, so we can't hire enough

00:26:31.210 --> 00:26:33.410
workers, and they would go through it, and Absalom

00:26:33.410 --> 00:26:38.230
would just simply say, if I was in charge, that

00:26:38.230 --> 00:26:41.130
wouldn't happen. But go see the king and see

00:26:41.130 --> 00:26:43.569
what happened. He did that, it says in the Bible,

00:26:43.630 --> 00:26:45.670
day after day after day after day after day after

00:26:45.670 --> 00:26:50.309
day, and he starts stealing the hearts of the

00:26:50.309 --> 00:26:55.420
people based on a false... based on his own ambition.

00:26:55.559 --> 00:26:58.839
And as he stole the hearts of the people, finally

00:26:58.839 --> 00:27:02.680
it blew up. and they came to kill David and David's

00:27:02.680 --> 00:27:04.539
men took him out the back door and hid him in

00:27:04.539 --> 00:27:06.259
the wilderness and you can read all about it

00:27:06.259 --> 00:27:08.859
in the Bible and it's quite the story as David's

00:27:08.859 --> 00:27:11.279
leaving you know you have one guy up on the hill

00:27:11.279 --> 00:27:13.640
throwing rocks and dirt at David saying you're

00:27:13.640 --> 00:27:16.640
a cursed man you deserve this everything is happening

00:27:16.640 --> 00:27:18.940
to you and one of David's soldiers which would

00:27:18.940 --> 00:27:21.480
be I think a great elder says let me just go

00:27:21.480 --> 00:27:25.660
relieve his head that's what he says he says

00:27:25.660 --> 00:27:29.059
let me go relieve that man of his head And David

00:27:29.059 --> 00:27:32.779
says, leave him alone. Who knows? God might want

00:27:32.779 --> 00:27:35.240
him to say that to me. David's heart. Just leave

00:27:35.240 --> 00:27:37.680
him alone. Don't dare. You rotten man. You deserve

00:27:37.680 --> 00:27:39.819
this. So David's knocked out in the wilderness.

00:27:40.380 --> 00:27:44.119
Then they corner Absalom. There's a war. And

00:27:44.119 --> 00:27:47.700
Joab, who's one of David's right -hand generals,

00:27:48.000 --> 00:27:51.599
David says, Joab, now listen. Listen to me close.

00:27:52.400 --> 00:27:56.579
When you go out and you find Absalom, you don't

00:27:56.579 --> 00:28:00.130
lay a hand on him. Do not touch that young man.

00:28:01.230 --> 00:28:04.069
David believes he can repent, turn around, something

00:28:04.069 --> 00:28:07.549
will happen good. Joab knows better. Joab's an

00:28:07.549 --> 00:28:09.789
old warrior, and Joab sees that David's hard

00:28:09.789 --> 00:28:12.589
at deceiving him. Joab sees that Absalom is the

00:28:12.589 --> 00:28:15.210
greatest problem Israel has. So when they went

00:28:15.210 --> 00:28:19.609
out to fight against Absalom and his guys, Absalom

00:28:19.609 --> 00:28:22.930
had long, long black hair. If you have long black

00:28:22.930 --> 00:28:25.509
hair, this sermon is for you. No, not really.

00:28:26.200 --> 00:28:30.660
He had long black hair, dark as the night, good

00:28:30.660 --> 00:28:32.700
-looking guy, and he's riding in his chariot,

00:28:32.700 --> 00:28:35.920
and his chariot takes a bump, and his hair goes

00:28:35.920 --> 00:28:38.759
up and gets caught in the tree. And the chariot

00:28:38.759 --> 00:28:41.660
goes on, and Absalom is hanging in midair by

00:28:41.660 --> 00:28:45.640
his hair in the oak tree, and Joab comes up and

00:28:45.640 --> 00:28:48.160
sees him and kills him. Shoots him through the

00:28:48.160 --> 00:28:50.160
heart with five darts. Says, you're done. You're

00:28:50.160 --> 00:28:52.700
dead. And so then the word goes back to David.

00:28:52.779 --> 00:28:55.720
And David says, how's my son Absalom? How's Absalom?

00:28:55.799 --> 00:28:58.500
What's going on out there? How's Absalom? Joab

00:28:58.500 --> 00:29:02.440
says, well, may all the king's enemies be like

00:29:02.440 --> 00:29:07.299
that man is right now. David fell out weeping,

00:29:07.460 --> 00:29:11.839
horribly hurt. My son, Absalom, my son. But Absalom

00:29:11.839 --> 00:29:17.480
was not his son in heart, only in flesh. He was

00:29:17.480 --> 00:29:21.160
a rotten son. He was a horrible boy. He was divided

00:29:21.160 --> 00:29:23.240
in the kingdom. He was not just hurting David,

00:29:23.359 --> 00:29:25.900
but he, I mean, if I told you the whole story,

00:29:25.960 --> 00:29:28.559
it gets much more horrible than this. And so

00:29:28.559 --> 00:29:32.680
I'm saying this because David writes this psalm

00:29:32.680 --> 00:29:38.440
out of experience. And he has Israel sing it

00:29:38.440 --> 00:29:42.880
with the heart of, this is what happens when

00:29:42.880 --> 00:29:46.869
there's unity. The greatest thing you can do

00:29:46.869 --> 00:29:53.049
as a congregation is have unity. The greatest

00:29:53.049 --> 00:29:57.750
principle of blessing is togetherness. And the

00:29:57.750 --> 00:30:02.710
greatest attack of the devil is always to disconnect,

00:30:02.930 --> 00:30:08.730
divide. turn against, steal hearts, gossip, say

00:30:08.730 --> 00:30:11.809
the wrong thing, behave the wrong way. He can't

00:30:11.809 --> 00:30:14.990
stop something that's together, but he can stop

00:30:14.990 --> 00:30:18.089
it if it's divided. He can pick off people. He

00:30:18.089 --> 00:30:20.589
can do things he can't do when everyone's together.

00:30:20.869 --> 00:30:25.930
So my word to you today, as you step up to where

00:30:25.930 --> 00:30:28.650
you're going in this future of this congregation,

00:30:28.690 --> 00:30:34.980
is to understand. The spiritual, supernatural

00:30:34.980 --> 00:30:42.980
necessity of unity. And wherever discord pops

00:30:42.980 --> 00:30:46.200
its head, in children's ministries, in youth,

00:30:46.380 --> 00:30:51.299
in parking lots, wherever people... have a little

00:30:51.299 --> 00:30:53.900
sideways attitude or spirit. It's not because

00:30:53.900 --> 00:30:56.400
they want to end up, an Absalom would be a deep,

00:30:56.440 --> 00:30:58.380
deep, deep, dark journey that you'd have to go

00:30:58.380 --> 00:31:00.200
a long ways to beat that. I'm not saying there's

00:31:00.200 --> 00:31:02.740
anybody here that's an Absalom, not hinting about

00:31:02.740 --> 00:31:05.319
some personality or whatever. That's a long,

00:31:05.339 --> 00:31:08.420
dark journey. But the whole spirit of division,

00:31:08.579 --> 00:31:11.119
discord, is not a long, dark journey. It was

00:31:11.119 --> 00:31:13.660
in the New Testament from day one. It was in

00:31:13.660 --> 00:31:15.460
the churches. They had to fight against it. The

00:31:15.460 --> 00:31:18.640
whole Bible talks against it. You have to be

00:31:18.640 --> 00:31:22.859
the guarder. the custodian, the warrior to keep

00:31:22.859 --> 00:31:28.079
the spirit of unity wherever you are. Unity is

00:31:28.079 --> 00:31:31.380
not something that the church somehow gets out

00:31:31.380 --> 00:31:34.880
of the spirit realm. Unity comes through people.

00:31:35.619 --> 00:31:40.099
You are the carrier of unity. And if you're not

00:31:40.099 --> 00:31:43.589
in unity with yourself, You're double -minded.

00:31:43.809 --> 00:31:47.490
You're double -moraled. You're double -financed.

00:31:47.490 --> 00:31:50.789
You're a person who's fighting with yourself.

00:31:50.910 --> 00:31:53.109
You don't accept yourself. You don't like yourself.

00:31:53.470 --> 00:31:55.690
You're divided with your convictions. You're

00:31:55.690 --> 00:31:58.589
inconsistent. You cause arguments where you go.

00:31:58.690 --> 00:32:02.549
If there's a discord in you, you won't carry

00:32:02.549 --> 00:32:06.890
unity to other people. Unity starts with an individual.

00:32:07.519 --> 00:32:09.859
With you agreeing with the scripture, you agreeing

00:32:09.859 --> 00:32:12.400
with Jesus, you agreeing with God, you agreeing

00:32:12.400 --> 00:32:17.640
with yourself. Unity starts with that heart that

00:32:17.640 --> 00:32:19.940
God wants you to have. If you're fighting with

00:32:19.940 --> 00:32:21.940
your spouse, that's what I'm talking about. That

00:32:21.940 --> 00:32:25.460
leads to the wrong thing. With your kids, with

00:32:25.460 --> 00:32:27.940
your friends, with your boss, what am I saying?

00:32:28.019 --> 00:32:31.900
Be a David. Doesn't matter how horrible someone

00:32:31.900 --> 00:32:35.119
else is, they should never make you into a different

00:32:35.119 --> 00:32:40.660
person. It doesn't matter what they do. It matters

00:32:40.660 --> 00:32:44.900
what you do. Don't let a Saul make you into a

00:32:44.900 --> 00:32:50.059
Saul. Let a David make you into a David. Guard

00:32:50.059 --> 00:32:53.880
that in yourself. This psalm, when it talks about

00:32:53.880 --> 00:32:57.200
unity, it uses four words, four descriptions.

00:32:57.500 --> 00:33:01.839
It says, David says how good it is for brothers

00:33:01.839 --> 00:33:04.480
or people to dwell together. He uses the word

00:33:04.480 --> 00:33:08.569
good. Which is, I'm going to give you just a

00:33:08.569 --> 00:33:11.849
little quickie on each one of these. From the

00:33:11.849 --> 00:33:16.849
Hebrew, he is saying valuable. That unity is

00:33:16.849 --> 00:33:20.529
valuable, delightful, precious. That's what he's

00:33:20.529 --> 00:33:23.369
saying with this Hebrew word good. He's saying

00:33:23.369 --> 00:33:26.009
it's beneficial. And the word that you should

00:33:26.009 --> 00:33:29.750
hear is the word advantageous. He is saying unity

00:33:29.750 --> 00:33:32.829
is good. He's saying it's advantageous. It's

00:33:32.829 --> 00:33:36.069
precious. It's valuable. It's something that

00:33:36.069 --> 00:33:39.609
the whole nation should stand for. He also uses

00:33:39.609 --> 00:33:42.789
the word pleasant. And in the Hebrew, the word

00:33:42.789 --> 00:33:46.009
pleasant means favor. It has the idea of the

00:33:46.009 --> 00:33:48.269
favor of God. So he says where there's unity,

00:33:48.450 --> 00:33:50.930
there's value. Where there's unity, there's the

00:33:50.930 --> 00:33:53.369
favor of the Lord. And then he says how brothers

00:33:53.369 --> 00:33:58.880
dwell together is a... Living unity expressed

00:33:58.880 --> 00:34:01.980
in relationship when brothers dwell together.

00:34:02.279 --> 00:34:04.680
And that could be the leadership team for my

00:34:04.680 --> 00:34:06.920
house. That's where it would start. I would be

00:34:06.920 --> 00:34:10.039
most concerned about my leadership team. And

00:34:10.039 --> 00:34:12.019
then I would pass that spirit on to the next

00:34:12.019 --> 00:34:15.039
team. And then the broader church, etc. And so

00:34:15.039 --> 00:34:17.820
David says, how wonderful it is. How wonderful

00:34:17.820 --> 00:34:21.239
the feeling of having relationships that are

00:34:21.239 --> 00:34:25.900
clean and bonded and flowing together and unified.

00:34:26.440 --> 00:34:28.800
heart is just a wonderful thing. I have that

00:34:28.800 --> 00:34:31.320
in my house, in our church up there, in City

00:34:31.320 --> 00:34:33.559
Bible Church. I have 27 elders. People always

00:34:33.559 --> 00:34:36.300
say, 27 elders? That must be a real bummer. It's

00:34:36.300 --> 00:34:39.820
not at all. I love my 27 elders, and they love

00:34:39.820 --> 00:34:42.440
me. We work together, and we're bonded, and it's

00:34:42.440 --> 00:34:44.760
the most pleasant atmosphere. There's something

00:34:44.760 --> 00:34:48.079
about brothers relating in relationship and sisters

00:34:48.079 --> 00:34:52.019
in relationship. Don't let anything take relationship

00:34:52.019 --> 00:34:55.710
out of your heart. Don't let anything pound out

00:34:55.710 --> 00:34:59.130
of you the preciousness of forgiveness, the preciousness

00:34:59.130 --> 00:35:03.550
of letting offense go. Offense is the trap of

00:35:03.550 --> 00:35:07.199
the devil to lead you to bondage. And so if you

00:35:07.199 --> 00:35:08.900
don't understand that, you're going to have a

00:35:08.900 --> 00:35:10.940
lot of bondage in your life. If you are offended

00:35:10.940 --> 00:35:13.400
and you hang on to an offense, the Greek word

00:35:13.400 --> 00:35:16.119
for offense is skandalizo. It's the idea of a

00:35:16.119 --> 00:35:20.099
box with a stick trap and the skandalizo is the

00:35:20.099 --> 00:35:22.380
trap. And so the animal comes in and takes the

00:35:22.380 --> 00:35:24.639
stick out and the box falls over them. The oldest

00:35:24.639 --> 00:35:27.679
trick in the world for hunting. That's the Greek

00:35:27.679 --> 00:35:32.219
word for skandalizo. It's taking the bait. It's

00:35:32.219 --> 00:35:34.460
drawn into the trap. And once you take the bait,

00:35:34.519 --> 00:35:37.440
you're going to be trapped. Take the bait. Don't

00:35:37.440 --> 00:35:39.340
get involved with offenses. Don't get involved

00:35:39.340 --> 00:35:41.880
with unforgiveness. Don't get involved with gossip.

00:35:42.099 --> 00:35:44.780
Don't get involved with debate. Don't take the

00:35:44.780 --> 00:35:48.719
bait. Can I hear an amen? Scandalism is a real

00:35:48.719 --> 00:35:52.150
thing and it destroys... People and families

00:35:52.150 --> 00:35:55.110
and business and church and the preciousness

00:35:55.110 --> 00:35:58.389
that you feel here. The oneness of heart and

00:35:58.389 --> 00:36:01.449
the joy of worship and being free. Well, you

00:36:01.449 --> 00:36:03.170
don't want to be thinking about it. I don't like

00:36:03.170 --> 00:36:05.210
him and I don't like her and she didn't eat my

00:36:05.210 --> 00:36:08.469
apple pie at the potluck. And this one came to

00:36:08.469 --> 00:36:10.369
my small group but they always come late. And

00:36:10.369 --> 00:36:12.570
that little girl broke our coffee table. And

00:36:12.570 --> 00:36:18.409
so you have to let things go. Can everyone say

00:36:18.409 --> 00:36:21.440
go? Turn to your neighbor and say, I'm letting

00:36:21.440 --> 00:36:26.179
it go. Now you asked your neighbor, are you?

00:36:28.579 --> 00:36:32.679
And your answer should be? I said your answer

00:36:32.679 --> 00:36:39.179
should be? Yes. Yes. Then he uses the word unity.

00:36:40.860 --> 00:36:44.940
Pleasant, good, precious, valuable. Pleasant,

00:36:44.960 --> 00:36:48.579
accepting the favor of God. Relationship, bonding,

00:36:48.659 --> 00:36:51.690
and what? It's unity, and he uses this word unity,

00:36:51.789 --> 00:36:57.150
which has the idea of, kind of uses the negative

00:36:57.150 --> 00:36:59.070
to make the positive. The word unity means the

00:36:59.070 --> 00:37:03.070
absence of division. So David is saying how good,

00:37:03.269 --> 00:37:06.110
how valuable, how wonderful, how precious is

00:37:06.110 --> 00:37:11.090
the absence of division. He says, I've known

00:37:11.090 --> 00:37:14.300
both sides, and David probably had. out of 40

00:37:14.300 --> 00:37:17.960
years he probably had 37 great unified years

00:37:17.960 --> 00:37:21.739
but he had probably 40 months where there were

00:37:21.739 --> 00:37:23.780
things that happened that were horrible so the

00:37:23.780 --> 00:37:25.739
whole life was in that way so David is saying

00:37:25.739 --> 00:37:29.159
I know both please let there be an absence of

00:37:29.159 --> 00:37:32.340
division here's my definition for unity it simply

00:37:32.340 --> 00:37:36.869
means harmony Agreement, that's the New Testament

00:37:36.869 --> 00:37:39.789
word and Old Testament. The slide, the definition

00:37:39.789 --> 00:37:42.809
here is working together with what? One heart.

00:37:42.909 --> 00:37:47.869
A church has to have heart together with one

00:37:47.869 --> 00:37:51.889
heart, one soul. One soul is the mind, the will,

00:37:51.969 --> 00:37:56.230
the emotions. When a church has that, it is so

00:37:56.230 --> 00:38:01.369
much fun. It is so enjoying. It is so fruitful

00:38:01.369 --> 00:38:04.829
because there's one heart. There's one soul.

00:38:05.269 --> 00:38:08.519
There's one mission. And there's one spirit.

00:38:08.820 --> 00:38:11.639
Ephesians 4, 1 through 3 identifies my definition

00:38:11.639 --> 00:38:14.400
as being very biblical. Ephesians 4, 1 through

00:38:14.400 --> 00:38:16.860
3. And so there's one heart, one mission, and

00:38:16.860 --> 00:38:19.360
there's one spirit. There's one voice. There's

00:38:19.360 --> 00:38:22.099
one mind. 1 Corinthians 1, 10 is one standard,

00:38:22.159 --> 00:38:24.119
one judgment. I mean, there's all these. In the

00:38:24.119 --> 00:38:26.619
book of Acts, you have the key word 1, 1, 1,

00:38:26.619 --> 00:38:29.099
1, 1, 1, 1, 1, all the way through the book of

00:38:29.099 --> 00:38:31.239
Acts. In one accord, when they came together

00:38:31.239 --> 00:38:33.760
in one accord, there's things that happened.

00:38:33.820 --> 00:38:37.389
So this word unity, I hope. if you just write

00:38:37.389 --> 00:38:40.449
these little phrases down as you pray, remember

00:38:40.449 --> 00:38:43.730
these. The word unity had the idea of one heart.

00:38:44.489 --> 00:38:46.929
So you want to be one heart with your team. And

00:38:46.929 --> 00:38:49.590
we're just talking specifically about church,

00:38:49.690 --> 00:38:52.690
Acts 4 .32. And the multitude of those who believed,

00:38:52.869 --> 00:38:57.550
Acts 4 .32, were of one heart. Two, one soul.

00:38:58.369 --> 00:39:03.710
Acts 4 .32. One mind. 1 Peter 3 .8. Finally,

00:39:03.730 --> 00:39:07.170
all of you be of one mind. Having compassion

00:39:07.170 --> 00:39:10.369
for one another. Love as brothers. Be tenderhearted.

00:39:10.409 --> 00:39:17.250
Be courteous. Mean people suck. That's a great

00:39:17.250 --> 00:39:22.650
bumper sticker. It's biblical. It's right. Christians

00:39:22.650 --> 00:39:26.550
are supposed to be gentle, tender, and courteous

00:39:26.550 --> 00:39:32.090
to one another. as we build the body of Christ.

00:39:32.389 --> 00:39:35.150
We speak the same thing. We're in one accord

00:39:35.150 --> 00:39:40.130
in harmony. The idea of one accord, as you go

00:39:40.130 --> 00:39:42.110
through the book of Acts, it's a big thing. One

00:39:42.110 --> 00:39:44.449
accord, one accord, one accord. Acts 2, Acts

00:39:44.449 --> 00:39:46.809
3, Acts 4, Acts 6, Acts 9, Acts 10. I mean, it's

00:39:46.809 --> 00:39:49.010
right through. It just seems like that's where

00:39:49.010 --> 00:39:52.690
they kind of rested in this truth. The idea of

00:39:52.690 --> 00:39:56.400
one accord in the book of Acts means... And I

00:39:56.400 --> 00:39:58.579
just kind of love this phrase. That's why I think

00:39:58.579 --> 00:40:00.840
the Bible is written in New Testament Greek language

00:40:00.840 --> 00:40:03.219
because it's so much more colorful, so much deeper

00:40:03.219 --> 00:40:05.599
than the English language. It has so many shades

00:40:05.599 --> 00:40:08.239
of meanings and has so many masculine, feminine,

00:40:08.300 --> 00:40:10.619
very bad stuff. Now, I mean, you can do so much

00:40:10.619 --> 00:40:12.739
with one word. American language is pretty boring

00:40:12.739 --> 00:40:14.659
compared to Greek. Not pretty boring, very boring.

00:40:14.800 --> 00:40:18.420
And so when you look at what they say about the

00:40:18.420 --> 00:40:21.739
one accord, it means this. At the moment of unity,

00:40:22.019 --> 00:40:26.150
at the moment, of unity. Now listen to this.

00:40:26.949 --> 00:40:32.929
There's a surge. A surge. So the Greek has the

00:40:32.929 --> 00:40:37.730
idea that at the moment this principle happens,

00:40:37.809 --> 00:40:41.409
activates, at the moment you find it, at the

00:40:41.409 --> 00:40:44.570
moment you believe it, at the moment you do it,

00:40:44.630 --> 00:40:47.539
what is that? It's a... Divine moment. It's a

00:40:47.539 --> 00:40:51.039
spiritual moment. It's a God moment. It's a supernatural

00:40:51.039 --> 00:40:54.619
thing because the chemistry of heaven comes together.

00:40:54.780 --> 00:40:58.420
And at the moment you do that, there's a surge

00:40:58.420 --> 00:41:01.719
into the future of good things that are released

00:41:01.719 --> 00:41:05.679
at that moment. When they came together in one

00:41:05.679 --> 00:41:07.860
accord, he says, the Holy Spirit fell upon them.

00:41:07.900 --> 00:41:09.539
They began to speak in tongues, et cetera. Why?

00:41:09.619 --> 00:41:13.460
At that moment, there was a surge, an open door,

00:41:13.559 --> 00:41:17.760
a brokenness into the supernatural realm. I want

00:41:17.760 --> 00:41:20.500
your church not to dwell in the natural, but

00:41:20.500 --> 00:41:24.400
the supernatural. I want you to have a surge

00:41:24.400 --> 00:41:28.800
of supernatural things. Come on. You need more

00:41:28.800 --> 00:41:31.489
healings. If you're sick in your body right now

00:41:31.489 --> 00:41:34.570
and you have any form of disease and you need

00:41:34.570 --> 00:41:38.190
healing, lift your hand. Just lift your hand

00:41:38.190 --> 00:41:40.329
right now. Father, in the name of Jesus, I pray

00:41:40.329 --> 00:41:43.719
for a surge. of the supernatural to land upon

00:41:43.719 --> 00:41:45.980
these people with their hands up. Lord, you healed

00:41:45.980 --> 00:41:48.539
me of cancer. Lord, you've healed some of my

00:41:48.539 --> 00:41:51.820
friends of horrible diseases. I have faith for

00:41:51.820 --> 00:41:54.119
the supernatural. We're in one accord and we

00:41:54.119 --> 00:41:56.500
are in agreement about what God can do. Lord,

00:41:56.619 --> 00:42:00.280
I speak a spiritual surge into the life of these

00:42:00.280 --> 00:42:03.260
people where faith is released, healing is released

00:42:03.260 --> 00:42:06.380
in this house, in these services, in these families.

00:42:06.460 --> 00:42:10.880
Let unity cause a surge of the supernatural in

00:42:10.880 --> 00:42:16.840
Jesus. name. The book of Acts had miracles because

00:42:16.840 --> 00:42:22.679
they had unity. You think about that. And every

00:42:22.679 --> 00:42:24.860
time the devil tempts you to do otherwise, you

00:42:24.860 --> 00:42:27.380
think about the door you're closing. Think about

00:42:27.380 --> 00:42:31.059
it. Think about the doors you close when you

00:42:31.059 --> 00:42:33.679
have the things I'm talking about that you shouldn't

00:42:33.679 --> 00:42:37.159
have. Let unity be the thing you have. Can I

00:42:37.159 --> 00:42:42.460
hear an amen? Alright. Now, I'll just hit on

00:42:42.460 --> 00:42:49.639
these just a little bit. Here's five Psalms 133

00:42:49.639 --> 00:42:55.280
stated results of unity that this church should

00:42:55.280 --> 00:42:57.739
believe for. Our church believes and we practice

00:42:57.739 --> 00:43:01.420
this and it works. Here are five things the Bible

00:43:01.420 --> 00:43:05.059
says you will have. You will have. It's a promise.

00:43:05.500 --> 00:43:09.739
If you will flow together. In unity and harmony

00:43:09.739 --> 00:43:11.860
of spirit and heart, be a David, not a Saul,

00:43:11.920 --> 00:43:16.300
etc. All that I've said. One, a continual, fresh,

00:43:16.579 --> 00:43:22.260
powerful supply of the anointing. A lot of people

00:43:22.260 --> 00:43:25.079
want the anointing, but they'd rather fight than

00:43:25.079 --> 00:43:29.199
keep it. They'd rather let little issues that

00:43:29.199 --> 00:43:33.039
are minors come in and rob them of what should

00:43:33.039 --> 00:43:36.699
be the major thing you focus on. It is like,

00:43:36.820 --> 00:43:40.360
it says in Psalms 133, it is like, everyone say,

00:43:40.460 --> 00:43:44.460
it is like. I'm teaching you Bible this morning.

00:43:44.500 --> 00:43:48.059
This is not just opinion. This is Bible. It says,

00:43:48.059 --> 00:43:55.360
it is like. What is like? Unity is like the anointing.

00:43:56.400 --> 00:43:58.940
That's what he says. He says, if you want to

00:43:58.940 --> 00:44:01.179
know what the unity is and the effect it has,

00:44:01.260 --> 00:44:05.929
well, it's like the oil upon the beard. And now

00:44:05.929 --> 00:44:08.150
that I have a beard, I believe it's a very biblical

00:44:08.150 --> 00:44:13.090
thing. Running down to the edge of the garment.

00:44:13.920 --> 00:44:15.920
The anointing oil mentioned in Scripture was

00:44:15.920 --> 00:44:18.260
used to anoint prophets and kings and priests

00:44:18.260 --> 00:44:20.400
and so it has something to do with recognizing

00:44:20.400 --> 00:44:23.300
and releasing gifts of people. It has something

00:44:23.300 --> 00:44:26.000
to do with healing because it says in James 5,

00:44:26.019 --> 00:44:28.840
as you know, anoint the sick with oil and so

00:44:28.840 --> 00:44:31.320
you have this oil thing again. The anointing

00:44:31.320 --> 00:44:34.960
releases other things in the kingdom of God but

00:44:34.960 --> 00:44:42.880
unity is like the anointing. What does that mean?

00:44:42.940 --> 00:44:48.039
The anointing finds its best manifestations in

00:44:48.039 --> 00:44:53.300
the spirit of unity. Its greatest release is

00:44:53.300 --> 00:44:55.579
when there's that thing we're talking about.

00:44:55.699 --> 00:45:01.360
Number two, what is unity? It is like, this is

00:45:01.360 --> 00:45:03.320
in your Bible, it is like the oil pulled upon

00:45:03.320 --> 00:45:04.719
a head, run it down on the beard, run it down

00:45:04.719 --> 00:45:06.900
on Aaron's beard, down on the collar of his robe.

00:45:07.059 --> 00:45:13.420
And then verse three, it is. As if it is like

00:45:13.420 --> 00:45:18.199
the dew of Hermon. What's the big deal about

00:45:18.199 --> 00:45:20.760
the dew of Hermon? Can you imagine telling your

00:45:20.760 --> 00:45:23.019
friend, I just want the dew of Hermon to be on

00:45:23.019 --> 00:45:26.480
you, buddy. Well, they'll look at you a little

00:45:26.480 --> 00:45:33.099
cross -eyed and say, yeah. Dew of who? Hermon.

00:45:33.099 --> 00:45:37.199
Who's Hermon? No, Hermon's a mountain. A mountain.

00:45:37.550 --> 00:45:40.210
So the dew of a mountain. Well, you have to understand

00:45:40.210 --> 00:45:43.510
what David is saying here when he says, unity

00:45:43.510 --> 00:45:48.650
does the same thing as anointing. Unity does

00:45:48.650 --> 00:45:53.030
the same thing as dew of Mount Hermon. Mount

00:45:53.030 --> 00:45:56.570
Hermon was the tallest, is the tallest mountain

00:45:56.570 --> 00:46:01.750
that Israel had. It's one of the only snow -capped

00:46:01.750 --> 00:46:06.099
mountains that Israel had. And so Hermon in their

00:46:06.099 --> 00:46:09.239
day had great identification because the dew

00:46:09.239 --> 00:46:12.800
of Hermon was what? Here's what it did. It was

00:46:12.800 --> 00:46:17.659
a continual supply of moisture. They had no rain.

00:46:18.079 --> 00:46:22.880
Very little. So the dew from the mountain cap

00:46:22.880 --> 00:46:26.059
peaks that came down to their valleys and their

00:46:26.059 --> 00:46:28.920
farmlands was their life. It was their productivity.

00:46:29.219 --> 00:46:32.199
It was their rescuing. That's how God... made

00:46:32.199 --> 00:46:34.860
them fruitful. The dew of Hermon to them was

00:46:34.860 --> 00:46:37.179
like saying, you will be the most prosperous

00:46:37.179 --> 00:46:39.320
person in the world because you have the blessing

00:46:39.320 --> 00:46:41.239
of God upon your field. They would understand

00:46:41.239 --> 00:46:43.139
that. You would understand that. They would just

00:46:43.139 --> 00:46:45.730
say, dew of Hermon you know what the dew of Hermon

00:46:45.730 --> 00:46:48.429
does for us the continual supply of moisture

00:46:48.429 --> 00:46:52.110
that fertilizes our land and makes our land fertile

00:46:52.110 --> 00:46:55.170
and supplies us with what we need for fruitfulness

00:46:55.170 --> 00:46:58.590
and makes our crops abundant and that dew brings

00:46:58.590 --> 00:47:01.150
our provision and it helps us in the dry season

00:47:01.150 --> 00:47:03.610
and helps us when there are no seasons it's the

00:47:03.610 --> 00:47:06.929
dew that's consistent so David is saying if you

00:47:06.929 --> 00:47:11.269
want an atmosphere that makes abundance in fruitfulness

00:47:12.380 --> 00:47:15.219
Even when it doesn't look like you should be

00:47:15.219 --> 00:47:17.900
fruitful and the natural things are turned against

00:47:17.900 --> 00:47:21.920
you, there's a supernatural moisture of the dew

00:47:21.920 --> 00:47:25.760
that comes upon your life and upon your job and

00:47:25.760 --> 00:47:30.079
upon your business that only God can give. Where

00:47:30.079 --> 00:47:35.739
does it come from? Unity. So you might be praying

00:47:35.739 --> 00:47:38.320
for open heavens and rain and God is saying,

00:47:38.460 --> 00:47:43.099
I'd rather give you some dew. Because the do

00:47:43.099 --> 00:47:47.139
is more consistent. It lays on everything. Where

00:47:47.139 --> 00:47:49.500
rain might only touch certain things, the do

00:47:49.500 --> 00:47:55.079
would blanket everything. Everything. The do

00:47:55.079 --> 00:47:57.179
of Herman, and this is what it was called in

00:47:57.179 --> 00:47:59.699
the Hebrews, the Hebrews writings, if you read

00:47:59.699 --> 00:48:04.579
this, the do of Herman was called choice do.

00:48:06.199 --> 00:48:08.480
So if you were talking to a business person,

00:48:08.559 --> 00:48:11.539
you would say, hey, do you live in... In that

00:48:11.539 --> 00:48:14.480
area where they had the choice dew? Yeah, I do.

00:48:14.579 --> 00:48:17.139
Wow, that's amazing dew that you guys get over

00:48:17.139 --> 00:48:20.719
your grapes and vineyards. It was called a choice

00:48:20.719 --> 00:48:24.239
dew from its freshness and abundance and connection

00:48:24.239 --> 00:48:27.239
to life and growth. So when you think of the

00:48:27.239 --> 00:48:31.239
dew of Hermon, I want you to think of supernatural

00:48:31.239 --> 00:48:35.559
fruitfulness, refreshing. Abundance. The blanket

00:48:35.559 --> 00:48:38.039
of God's favor. Touching every area of the church

00:48:38.039 --> 00:48:40.039
and life and people. You know what's amazing

00:48:40.039 --> 00:48:42.219
about church? I mean, I've been doing this for

00:48:42.219 --> 00:48:45.500
a long, long time. And one of the things when

00:48:45.500 --> 00:48:47.340
I had cancer, I went all the way back to as far

00:48:47.340 --> 00:48:49.480
as I can remember in my life. From the time I

00:48:49.480 --> 00:48:51.800
can remember as a child. And I had many, many

00:48:51.800 --> 00:48:53.800
hours to lay in that stupid bed and think about

00:48:53.800 --> 00:48:56.039
it. Because I'm hooked up to these chemo treatments.

00:48:56.199 --> 00:48:59.199
300 hours I did the chemo treatments. And so

00:48:59.199 --> 00:49:02.000
as I'm laying there. I took myself on a journey

00:49:02.000 --> 00:49:04.000
to say, okay, what was significant in your life?

00:49:04.079 --> 00:49:06.440
You have time now to stop and think what were

00:49:06.440 --> 00:49:09.539
the most significant things that you think happened

00:49:09.539 --> 00:49:14.340
in all of your 64 years, 65 now, I'm 64 during

00:49:14.340 --> 00:49:16.360
cancer, and so I was thinking everything through,

00:49:16.579 --> 00:49:19.219
and I shared some of this yesterday, so I'm not

00:49:19.219 --> 00:49:22.099
going to go back, but the one thing that was

00:49:22.099 --> 00:49:27.119
very clear to me, no regrets, no if I could turn

00:49:27.119 --> 00:49:30.650
the clock back in, I wish I... could have, should

00:49:30.650 --> 00:49:33.670
have, all that. The only thing that had that

00:49:33.670 --> 00:49:36.789
stamp without those could have and maybe and

00:49:36.789 --> 00:49:43.289
should was my life in church. I would never raise

00:49:43.289 --> 00:49:47.429
my family anywhere but church. I wouldn't want

00:49:47.429 --> 00:49:50.469
to marry anybody that didn't love church. And

00:49:50.469 --> 00:49:54.409
all of my closest friends and the choicest moments,

00:49:54.570 --> 00:49:57.510
the hardest moments too, some sad moments, some

00:49:57.510 --> 00:50:02.750
life, because life rains on everybody, happens

00:50:02.750 --> 00:50:06.250
with my friends in church. And so the dew of

00:50:06.250 --> 00:50:10.349
Hermon for me, that fruitfulness and that abundance

00:50:10.349 --> 00:50:14.869
happens when you find a church and you stay with

00:50:14.869 --> 00:50:20.329
it. You find your house and you live life all

00:50:20.329 --> 00:50:24.349
the way through. I'm now doing life with my friends'

00:50:24.650 --> 00:50:32.190
kids' kids. Amazing. And so you look at now where

00:50:32.190 --> 00:50:34.630
they are and they're having kids and they're

00:50:34.630 --> 00:50:39.750
in the house and wow, abundant, fruitful covering

00:50:39.750 --> 00:50:44.769
of my life. That choice to comes out of not allowing

00:50:44.769 --> 00:50:48.730
the petty thing to rob me from the major blessings.

00:50:50.510 --> 00:50:55.449
We focus on the wrong issues, church. We get

00:50:55.449 --> 00:50:59.579
upset for the wrong. things we say. Stay focused

00:50:59.579 --> 00:51:03.820
on Jesus. Love people in spite of whatever they

00:51:03.820 --> 00:51:09.940
do. Always forgive. Always forgive. You're the

00:51:09.940 --> 00:51:14.099
loser if you don't forgive. Unforgiveness is

00:51:14.099 --> 00:51:16.820
you drinking the poison and hoping they die.

00:51:20.760 --> 00:51:24.199
It's you that's the loser. Don't do it. Can I

00:51:24.199 --> 00:51:27.219
hear an amen? All right, the third thing. It

00:51:27.219 --> 00:51:31.619
says where the Lord commands is blessing. So

00:51:31.619 --> 00:51:33.559
it's 10 till. You guys are out at noon, right?

00:51:33.860 --> 00:51:39.699
Yeah, okay. So maybe Angel, Jenny, and Angelettes,

00:51:39.800 --> 00:51:45.559
why don't you come and take the platform? That

00:51:45.559 --> 00:51:50.460
way I'll be forced to finish. This is what my

00:51:50.460 --> 00:51:55.250
people do at home. They start slowly coming to

00:51:55.250 --> 00:51:57.389
the platform one at a time. And then they play

00:51:57.389 --> 00:52:02.269
the keys. Then they play a little louder. A little

00:52:02.269 --> 00:52:07.190
louder. Then someone starts singing and singing.

00:52:07.530 --> 00:52:12.409
And then I say, is this a divine hint or what?

00:52:15.269 --> 00:52:19.050
All right. Where the Lord commands the blessing

00:52:19.050 --> 00:52:25.110
is where unity. I mean, think about it. God crosses

00:52:25.110 --> 00:52:29.369
every obstacle and every intentional attack of

00:52:29.369 --> 00:52:32.750
the enemy. And when he finds unity, like a general,

00:52:32.849 --> 00:52:38.210
he commands the blessing of the Lord. And there's

00:52:38.210 --> 00:52:41.869
one thing about God. His word doesn't return

00:52:41.869 --> 00:52:46.750
void. His word cannot be argued with. His word

00:52:46.750 --> 00:52:50.849
cannot be stopped. So when it says God commands

00:52:50.849 --> 00:52:55.500
blessing, that's a pretty... big deal. Meaning,

00:52:55.659 --> 00:52:57.980
nobody can stop it. You can start doing the,

00:52:58.019 --> 00:53:07.260
you know, the spooky music kind of stuff. What

00:53:07.260 --> 00:53:17.239
I call the pre -opera show. Not that you... Yeah,

00:53:17.320 --> 00:53:28.940
there you go. A little quieter. You have to get

00:53:28.940 --> 00:53:40.019
noisier as you go. Fourth one. Where the supernatural

00:53:40.019 --> 00:53:42.980
life of God is at work, the Lord commands life.

00:53:43.260 --> 00:53:45.480
And you're called Life Bible Church. We have

00:53:45.480 --> 00:53:49.139
a lot of churches called Life. It's an amazing

00:53:49.139 --> 00:53:51.300
subject in the Bible, but where the supernatural

00:53:51.300 --> 00:53:54.320
life of God is at work, the Lord commands life.

00:53:55.599 --> 00:53:58.039
I don't know about you, but I've been in some

00:53:58.039 --> 00:54:00.219
very dead churches. They're deader than Julius

00:54:00.219 --> 00:54:04.139
Caesar. And so when you get into a dead church,

00:54:04.460 --> 00:54:08.079
I can't wait to get home to my live church. And

00:54:08.079 --> 00:54:10.559
I say, God, bless these people. Just don't make

00:54:10.559 --> 00:54:13.800
me ever have to be here. I don't want to be here.

00:54:13.900 --> 00:54:16.019
I just want to do my thing and leave. I can't

00:54:16.019 --> 00:54:18.179
help them. It's dead beyond dead. You're going

00:54:18.179 --> 00:54:20.239
to have to do something supernatural. I've watered

00:54:20.239 --> 00:54:22.139
a dead branch, but I don't know what's going

00:54:22.139 --> 00:54:26.469
to happen. And so I go home. I love to be in

00:54:26.469 --> 00:54:32.250
a place where there's life. Don't take it for

00:54:32.250 --> 00:54:36.329
granted. Don't take it for granted. There's thousands

00:54:36.329 --> 00:54:40.530
of churches that are on their way out. And there

00:54:40.530 --> 00:54:43.590
are thousands of churches on their way up. Be

00:54:43.590 --> 00:54:50.969
a church of life. Life, life, life. I speak life.

00:54:51.710 --> 00:54:54.190
To this church. And the last one. Now you get

00:54:54.190 --> 00:54:56.289
a little louder. You start now. Start building.

00:54:58.349 --> 00:55:03.489
The last point. Is it empowers the church to

00:55:03.489 --> 00:55:08.630
win spiritual battles. Where there's unity. There's

00:55:08.630 --> 00:55:12.769
power. Through the life of God. And the anointing

00:55:12.769 --> 00:55:15.610
of God. And the do of God. And all these things

00:55:15.610 --> 00:55:18.730
that make up what. It allows you to win spiritual

00:55:18.730 --> 00:55:24.219
battles together. Matthew 18, verse 19 says,

00:55:24.460 --> 00:55:26.480
if two of you agree, you know the scripture.

00:55:27.539 --> 00:55:30.420
Message translation says in Matthew 18, 19, take

00:55:30.420 --> 00:55:34.780
this most seriously. I love Eugene Peterson.

00:55:35.019 --> 00:55:38.300
I think he's the most genius today writer that

00:55:38.300 --> 00:55:41.619
is alive today. He wrote Message Bible. He says,

00:55:41.920 --> 00:55:49.699
a yes on earth is a yes in heaven. A no on earth.

00:55:50.090 --> 00:55:54.610
is a no in heaven. Take this very seriously.

00:55:54.610 --> 00:55:59.090
When two of you get together on anything, believe

00:55:59.090 --> 00:56:07.630
for the yes. Come on. I would rather, I would

00:56:07.630 --> 00:56:12.869
rather do life with yes people than no people.

00:56:13.650 --> 00:56:16.570
I want to do life with people that are agreeing

00:56:16.570 --> 00:56:20.559
for great things. walking in the spirit and heart

00:56:20.559 --> 00:56:22.860
of unity, overcoming the works of the enemy,

00:56:22.980 --> 00:56:27.090
and believing that as we agree, it's a yes. Yes,

00:56:27.090 --> 00:56:30.030
God can do this. Yes, God can supply. Yes, God

00:56:30.030 --> 00:56:32.530
will break down the gates of hell. Yes, God will

00:56:32.530 --> 00:56:35.210
deliver people. Yes, he will heal people. Yes,

00:56:35.230 --> 00:56:36.869
it's going to be a great day in the household.

00:56:37.250 --> 00:56:39.309
Yes, it's going to be a great week at business.

00:56:39.469 --> 00:56:42.250
Church should not stop at 12 o 'clock. You've

00:56:42.250 --> 00:56:43.889
got to take it right through your business and

00:56:43.889 --> 00:56:46.210
your home and have a yes spirit about everything

00:56:46.210 --> 00:56:48.630
you do with the spirit of unity. It doesn't matter

00:56:48.630 --> 00:56:50.570
who you work with, who's around you, what the

00:56:50.570 --> 00:56:52.409
boss does, the foreman does, or anybody else

00:56:52.409 --> 00:56:55.530
does. As for you and your heart, keep unity.

00:56:56.030 --> 00:56:59.590
your heart and you be that person that brings

00:56:59.590 --> 00:57:08.989
agreement harmony you be the person I want you

00:57:08.989 --> 00:57:12.190
to bow your head and I want you to do something

00:57:12.190 --> 00:57:15.289
with me just in a few seconds just bow your head

00:57:15.289 --> 00:57:18.989
we're gonna pray first first for sure I want

00:57:18.989 --> 00:57:20.849
to make sure that if there's anybody sitting

00:57:21.579 --> 00:57:23.639
in these chairs. Everybody that knows how to

00:57:23.639 --> 00:57:25.219
pray, your head's bowed and you're praying under

00:57:25.219 --> 00:57:28.260
your breath. However you pray, just pray under

00:57:28.260 --> 00:57:30.519
your breath. Just pray for God to move, Holy

00:57:30.519 --> 00:57:32.880
Spirit to touch people and heal people. We're

00:57:32.880 --> 00:57:35.280
praying now just for that last supernatural touch

00:57:35.280 --> 00:57:37.480
of God to come upon us, to do, to cover everything

00:57:37.480 --> 00:57:41.400
in this sanctuary. If you are here today and

00:57:41.400 --> 00:57:43.500
for whatever reason you got here but you don't

00:57:43.500 --> 00:57:46.840
know Jesus or you're away from Jesus and I have

00:57:46.840 --> 00:57:48.800
said something or the worship or something along

00:57:48.800 --> 00:57:52.880
today said God loves you, God is for you. God

00:57:52.880 --> 00:57:56.219
wants to forgive you. God has a plan and a purpose.

00:57:56.400 --> 00:57:59.760
You've not ended your life. You've not sabotaged

00:57:59.760 --> 00:58:02.000
your life. God's grace will take care of you.

00:58:02.079 --> 00:58:04.860
If you're here and you don't know Christ or you're

00:58:04.860 --> 00:58:07.840
away from Christ, say, Frank, I need God in my

00:58:07.840 --> 00:58:11.000
life. I want you to lift your hand up right now.

00:58:11.059 --> 00:58:13.179
Would you please just lift your hand up anywhere

00:58:13.179 --> 00:58:14.940
in the auditorium? Say, Frank, I need God in

00:58:14.940 --> 00:58:17.980
my life. Lift your hand up over there. Okay,

00:58:18.139 --> 00:58:21.889
more. Anyone else? I'm looking around. See that

00:58:21.889 --> 00:58:24.469
one? See that one? I see this one. Someone else?

00:58:24.809 --> 00:58:26.349
Just lift your hand and say, Frank, I'm away

00:58:26.349 --> 00:58:29.090
from Jesus. I need to come back. Or, I don't

00:58:29.090 --> 00:58:31.909
know Christ. Now, every service, you should be

00:58:31.909 --> 00:58:35.809
praying for the visitors to be unsaved. So that

00:58:35.809 --> 00:58:38.889
you have people coming to Christ in this atmosphere

00:58:38.889 --> 00:58:44.010
every single time you gather. Every single time.

00:58:44.480 --> 00:58:46.840
How many of you have division in your marriage

00:58:46.840 --> 00:58:49.280
or your home and the devil's found the end road?

00:58:49.480 --> 00:58:51.900
Head should be bowed right now. And you want

00:58:51.900 --> 00:58:54.659
God to come and rescue you from this mess and

00:58:54.659 --> 00:58:57.099
teach you how to walk out of it. Lift your hand

00:58:57.099 --> 00:59:00.059
right now. Your home is under attack. Your marriage

00:59:00.059 --> 00:59:02.980
is under attack. Need God. How many have a business

00:59:02.980 --> 00:59:06.000
that's under attack? Lift your hand. If you have

00:59:06.000 --> 00:59:08.019
a business or a job that has just fallen apart

00:59:08.019 --> 00:59:10.739
because there's so much division and gossip and

00:59:10.739 --> 00:59:13.789
stuff going on. And I could go on. There's hands

00:59:13.789 --> 00:59:16.090
on every one of these. Why? Because what we're

00:59:16.090 --> 00:59:18.849
talking about is something very real. And God's

00:59:18.849 --> 00:59:22.070
going to move for you and your heart to do something

00:59:22.070 --> 00:59:24.929
in your home and your business. And those who

00:59:24.929 --> 00:59:26.889
lifted their hands for Christ want to come to

00:59:26.889 --> 00:59:29.070
Christ. I want you to find one of the leaders

00:59:29.070 --> 00:59:30.869
after the service and come up. I'm not going

00:59:30.869 --> 00:59:34.050
to do anything right now. But you need to know

00:59:34.050 --> 00:59:36.110
that your heart is the first step. You don't

00:59:36.110 --> 00:59:38.050
have to get lost in the process. Just follow

00:59:38.050 --> 00:59:39.949
through. Take your heart to someone and say,

00:59:40.010 --> 00:59:42.150
I need God in my life. Even if you didn't lift

00:59:42.150 --> 00:59:45.289
your hand. Now I want everyone to stand. Stand

00:59:45.289 --> 00:59:47.670
to your feet. And I want you to take each other's

00:59:47.670 --> 00:59:50.610
hands toward the middle. So everybody on the

00:59:50.610 --> 00:59:52.570
side, just take one step toward the middle. So

00:59:52.570 --> 00:59:54.719
all the hands. you can take the hands of your

00:59:54.719 --> 00:59:58.760
neighbor right around. And I just want to pray

00:59:58.760 --> 01:00:04.539
a fatherly, apostolic kind of prayer over this

01:00:04.539 --> 01:00:08.960
church, over your future, over your homes, over

01:00:08.960 --> 01:00:13.079
your life, over your vision. Let's believe God

01:00:13.079 --> 01:00:16.679
right now for an impartation. Father, I pray

01:00:16.679 --> 01:00:19.400
in the mighty name of Jesus, there will be a

01:00:19.400 --> 01:00:23.110
spiritual impartation to Life Bible Church. Lord,

01:00:23.110 --> 01:00:25.929
I pray that you will cover them. Let the dew

01:00:25.929 --> 01:00:29.210
of Hermon blanket them this morning. Lord, let

01:00:29.210 --> 01:00:32.010
the oil of God come upon every head all the way

01:00:32.010 --> 01:00:34.809
down to their feet. Lord, I pray that you will

01:00:34.809 --> 01:00:38.010
cover their finance. I pray that you will cover

01:00:38.010 --> 01:00:40.590
their facilities and their campus. Lord, I pray

01:00:40.590 --> 01:00:42.710
that you will cover their vision and their future

01:00:42.710 --> 01:00:44.690
and their decisions and their steps and their

01:00:44.690 --> 01:00:47.550
progress. Lord, I pray that you will cover every

01:00:47.550 --> 01:00:49.650
family that got us here, Lord, that you will.

01:00:50.000 --> 01:00:52.539
Allow there to be a spirit of unity to keep us

01:00:52.539 --> 01:00:54.920
here and to keep us bonded together and moving

01:00:54.920 --> 01:00:58.000
together. Lord, wherever the enemy has already

01:00:58.000 --> 01:01:00.940
tried, because he tries all the time, every church,

01:01:00.960 --> 01:01:03.659
always beating at the door. Lord, wherever the

01:01:03.659 --> 01:01:06.340
enemy has tried to come in like a flood, let

01:01:06.340 --> 01:01:09.960
the spirit of the Lord raise a standard in the

01:01:09.960 --> 01:01:12.960
mighty name of Jesus. The devil is a liar. He

01:01:12.960 --> 01:01:15.440
has no power here, no force here. There's no

01:01:15.440 --> 01:01:18.099
way for him to enter. There's no way for him

01:01:18.099 --> 01:01:21.380
to harass the people of this church or the physical

01:01:21.380 --> 01:01:24.420
bodies in this church or the spiritual inheritance

01:01:24.420 --> 01:01:27.239
of this church. Lord, we build a hedge around

01:01:27.239 --> 01:01:30.019
this church now in the mighty name of Jesus.

01:01:30.239 --> 01:01:32.699
Lord, we thank you for the blessings of being

01:01:32.699 --> 01:01:36.400
here. profound favor you put upon them to find

01:01:36.400 --> 01:01:38.940
this land and be able to build and to be able

01:01:38.940 --> 01:01:41.019
to be in this community right here. Now, Lord,

01:01:41.059 --> 01:01:43.960
I pray that there will come anointing upon the

01:01:43.960 --> 01:01:46.679
favor of God that's on them. And Lord, they would

01:01:46.679 --> 01:01:49.539
multiply that favor. Lord, I pray that there

01:01:49.539 --> 01:01:51.539
would be supernatural growth. There would be

01:01:51.539 --> 01:01:54.519
hundreds of people saved in this building. Thousands

01:01:54.519 --> 01:01:56.980
of people that would get their lives together

01:01:56.980 --> 01:01:59.760
and heal the families and heal the young peoples

01:01:59.760 --> 01:02:02.900
and bless the business people and get jobs and

01:02:02.900 --> 01:02:06.179
help the marriages be strong. Lord, I pray that

01:02:06.179 --> 01:02:10.639
the whole dew of Hermon and all that it means

01:02:10.639 --> 01:02:14.679
will land on this property. Every inch of it

01:02:14.679 --> 01:02:18.179
will be blanketed by the dew of favor and the

01:02:18.179 --> 01:02:21.760
oil of God upon every leader, every staff, every

01:02:21.760 --> 01:02:25.440
elder, every pastor, every worker, every servant,

01:02:25.559 --> 01:02:27.840
every person that's doing anything in the house

01:02:27.840 --> 01:02:30.519
of God. every person that will be doing things,

01:02:30.659 --> 01:02:33.679
everybody that is serving you in this community

01:02:33.679 --> 01:02:38.800
and their community. Let the favor of God rest

01:02:38.800 --> 01:02:44.019
upon them, Lord. We pray in the mighty name of

01:02:44.019 --> 01:02:58.489
Jesus. interested in hearing other podcasts or

01:02:58.489 --> 01:03:02.769
contacting Life Bible Church, go to www .lifebiblechurch

01:03:02.769 --> 01:03:07.550
.org or call us at 541 -995 -8282.