WEBVTT 00:00:19.600 --> 00:00:26.059 and Sabrina Watanate. Thank you. Thank you so 00:00:26.059 --> 00:00:34.479 much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. 00:00:35.140 --> 00:00:38.840 You may be seated. Thank you, Mike. Thank you 00:00:38.840 --> 00:00:42.920 for that warm welcome. What you said is true, 00:00:42.920 --> 00:00:45.840 actually. I don't know how I missed the target. 00:00:47.259 --> 00:00:50.500 But it was a great time yesterday. This is my 00:00:50.500 --> 00:00:53.079 wife Sabrina, and we've been married for 20 years 00:00:53.079 --> 00:00:57.979 now and We have three children Two girls and 00:00:57.979 --> 00:01:00.759 one boy, and I wanted to say hello to you before 00:01:00.759 --> 00:01:16.620 we open the word of God I thank the Lord for 00:01:16.620 --> 00:01:20.260 my husband. We don't usually travel, but every 00:01:20.260 --> 00:01:23.819 time we travel, he wants me to be with him. And 00:01:23.819 --> 00:01:26.200 I thank the Lord because this time he brought 00:01:26.200 --> 00:01:29.379 me with him and I've been able to meet all you 00:01:29.379 --> 00:01:39.780 wonderful people. Please clap for him. I want 00:01:39.780 --> 00:01:43.480 to encourage you today. I want you to know that 00:01:43.480 --> 00:01:49.099 you're very special. And the Lord loves you dearly. 00:01:49.519 --> 00:01:53.099 We've been having people confirm what my husband 00:01:53.099 --> 00:01:58.819 and many preachers have said to you. God knows 00:01:58.819 --> 00:02:04.299 you. God understands you. God has within you 00:02:04.299 --> 00:02:09.300 a treasure. And sometimes the devil comes and 00:02:09.300 --> 00:02:12.439 whispers that God doesn't know us. That God can't 00:02:12.439 --> 00:02:15.319 use us. But I've come to encourage you that if 00:02:15.319 --> 00:02:19.259 God can bring preachers, even one, all the way 00:02:19.259 --> 00:02:22.860 from Uganda, to confirm to you that he wants 00:02:22.860 --> 00:02:25.080 to use you, that you have the treasure, you have 00:02:25.080 --> 00:02:27.560 something that he wants you to do in this nation 00:02:27.560 --> 00:02:35.259 of America. You have to take it by force. I want 00:02:35.259 --> 00:02:38.819 you to claim that song, I will not be denied. 00:02:39.520 --> 00:02:42.199 Sometimes you're dry, sometimes many things come 00:02:42.199 --> 00:02:45.000 to try and cause you to lose focus, but today, 00:02:45.289 --> 00:02:48.669 and even starting from today onwards, tell the 00:02:48.669 --> 00:02:55.469 devil, hallelujah. Amen. Amen. Thank you. Amen. 00:02:58.870 --> 00:03:03.990 Hallelujah. Let's bow our heads and have a short 00:03:03.990 --> 00:03:06.750 word of prayer before we start. Father, we thank 00:03:06.750 --> 00:03:09.830 you so much for this wonderful group of people, 00:03:09.969 --> 00:03:12.050 your children, your sons and your daughters. 00:03:12.600 --> 00:03:15.000 Father, I pray this morning that your voice will 00:03:15.000 --> 00:03:18.259 be heard clearly. With God, you give me clarity 00:03:18.259 --> 00:03:21.719 as I present your word to your people. And your 00:03:21.719 --> 00:03:24.840 word will come with anointing. And God, you confirm 00:03:24.840 --> 00:03:26.960 your word with signs and wonders in people's 00:03:26.960 --> 00:03:30.759 lives today. Lord, in everything, God, be glorified. 00:03:30.900 --> 00:03:35.919 We pray in Jesus' name, amen. Amen. This morning, 00:03:35.919 --> 00:03:38.159 I want to bring to you a message that I've entitled, 00:03:38.259 --> 00:03:43.520 God's Agenda. God has an agenda. God has a program. 00:03:44.159 --> 00:03:48.280 God has a schedule. God is working towards something. 00:03:48.780 --> 00:03:52.280 God is moving history towards a final point of 00:03:52.280 --> 00:03:57.340 destination, a point of finality. God has a plan. 00:03:57.939 --> 00:04:00.419 And this morning I want us to understand where 00:04:00.419 --> 00:04:03.419 we fit in. So please turn with me to your Bibles 00:04:03.419 --> 00:04:09.360 to the book of Isaiah chapter 54. Isaiah or Isaiah? 00:04:09.949 --> 00:04:13.629 whatever you want to call it, Isaiah chapter 00:04:13.629 --> 00:04:16.730 54. And what I'm going to share with you in this 00:04:16.730 --> 00:04:21.170 passage, I've been told by some people that other 00:04:21.170 --> 00:04:24.910 pastors have come here and preached the same 00:04:24.910 --> 00:04:28.389 message. And I think you should open your ears 00:04:28.389 --> 00:04:31.029 this morning because God might be confirming 00:04:31.029 --> 00:04:34.129 certain truths and principles that he has already 00:04:34.129 --> 00:04:36.209 revealed to you as a congregation, something 00:04:36.209 --> 00:04:41.769 that you need to take note of. Chapter 54, the 00:04:41.769 --> 00:04:45.689 Bible says, sing, O childless woman, break out 00:04:45.689 --> 00:04:49.470 into loud and joyful song, Jerusalem, for she 00:04:49.470 --> 00:04:52.649 who was abandoned has more blessings now than 00:04:52.649 --> 00:04:56.790 she whose husband stayed. I'm reading from the 00:04:56.790 --> 00:04:59.670 Living Bible. Let me read also from the King's 00:04:59.670 --> 00:05:04.029 Version. Sing, O barren, thou that didst not 00:05:04.029 --> 00:05:07.149 bear, break forth into singing and cry aloud. 00:05:07.449 --> 00:05:11.350 thou that didst not travail with child, for more 00:05:11.350 --> 00:05:13.889 are the children of the desolate than the children 00:05:13.889 --> 00:05:16.810 of the married wife, saith the Lord. Enlarge 00:05:16.810 --> 00:05:20.089 the place of thy tent. Let them stretch forth 00:05:20.089 --> 00:05:23.230 the curtains of thy inhabitations. Spare not 00:05:23.230 --> 00:05:25.689 lengthen thy cords and strengthen thy stakes, 00:05:26.329 --> 00:05:29.009 for thou shalt break forth on the right hand 00:05:29.009 --> 00:05:32.750 and on the left, and thy seed shall inherit the 00:05:32.750 --> 00:05:37.240 Gentiles and make desolate cities to be... inhabited. 00:05:38.220 --> 00:05:44.920 God is going to bring a time of revival all over 00:05:44.920 --> 00:05:48.500 the world. God is going to speak against the 00:05:48.500 --> 00:05:51.879 spirit of barrenness in his church. There is 00:05:51.879 --> 00:05:54.920 a barrenness that has been there in many churches 00:05:54.920 --> 00:05:58.139 and many churches have stunted. They don't grow. 00:05:58.720 --> 00:06:02.579 We hardly see people come to Christ and God is 00:06:02.579 --> 00:06:06.189 coming to a time when He's telling his church 00:06:06.189 --> 00:06:10.069 to enlarge the place of their tent, because God 00:06:10.069 --> 00:06:12.750 is about to bring in a mighty harvest in his 00:06:12.750 --> 00:06:16.769 house. Someone say amen. God is speaking against 00:06:16.769 --> 00:06:20.629 the speed of barrenness. And in the Bible days, 00:06:20.889 --> 00:06:23.250 to be barren was something that was shameful, 00:06:24.370 --> 00:06:27.449 something that was looked upon as a curse. When 00:06:27.449 --> 00:06:30.269 a family didn't have children, they were looked 00:06:30.269 --> 00:06:34.279 down upon. First of all, it was not good for 00:06:34.279 --> 00:06:37.379 that family not to have children because in the 00:06:37.379 --> 00:06:41.720 Bible days, children also helped to form a line 00:06:41.720 --> 00:06:45.660 of defense around a family. The scripture says 00:06:45.660 --> 00:06:48.439 in the book of Psalms, I'm going to read, it 00:06:48.439 --> 00:06:51.860 says, as arrows are in the hand of a mighty man, 00:06:52.519 --> 00:06:55.980 so are children of the youth. Happy is the man 00:06:55.980 --> 00:06:59.339 that has his quiver full of them. They shall 00:06:59.339 --> 00:07:03.129 not be ashamed. but they shall speak with the 00:07:03.129 --> 00:07:07.610 enemies in the gate. Children formed a line of 00:07:07.610 --> 00:07:11.170 defense. When parents grew old, children will 00:07:11.170 --> 00:07:14.790 be there to take care of them, feed them, defend 00:07:14.790 --> 00:07:17.889 them. You remember in the times of Jacob when 00:07:17.889 --> 00:07:21.930 his daughter Diana was defiled by a certain prince, 00:07:22.529 --> 00:07:26.149 and when Diana came back in the home, the Bible 00:07:26.149 --> 00:07:29.730 says Jacob would not utter a single word. He 00:07:29.730 --> 00:07:32.850 waited for his sons to come back. When the sons 00:07:32.850 --> 00:07:36.170 came back, hell broke loose. You read the Bible. 00:07:36.649 --> 00:07:39.009 You know what happened. You know how they tricked 00:07:39.009 --> 00:07:42.209 the people and circumcised them. Then they came 00:07:42.209 --> 00:07:45.149 back later and killed all the men and all the 00:07:45.149 --> 00:07:49.170 women and only kept the young virgins. So in 00:07:49.170 --> 00:07:52.250 the Bible days, children were precious. They 00:07:52.250 --> 00:07:55.149 were warriors. And when you invested in your 00:07:55.149 --> 00:07:58.670 child, He became like an arrow prepared to hit 00:07:58.670 --> 00:08:03.750 the mark. Children became a source of strength. 00:08:04.689 --> 00:08:08.629 And I was teasing my brother David. David has 00:08:08.629 --> 00:08:11.550 got six children. David is an African in white 00:08:11.550 --> 00:08:18.089 skin. Six children, that sounds African. I came 00:08:18.089 --> 00:08:21.149 from a family of, my mother gave birth to 11 00:08:21.149 --> 00:08:24.009 children. My father had other children with other 00:08:24.009 --> 00:08:27.310 women. We were probably about 18 plus children. 00:08:28.610 --> 00:08:33.389 So God is coming to a time right now where I 00:08:33.389 --> 00:08:36.470 believe he's about to usher in a mighty revival. 00:08:36.889 --> 00:08:40.990 And he's telling his church to stretch, to lengthen 00:08:40.990 --> 00:08:44.409 the cords, to extend the place of their tent. 00:08:45.049 --> 00:08:48.440 God is coming back for a victorious church. is 00:08:48.440 --> 00:08:52.460 coming back for a strong and vibrant church. 00:08:53.000 --> 00:08:55.179 And the Church of Christ is going to have all 00:08:55.179 --> 00:08:58.379 kinds of people. You'd be amazed. I was speaking 00:08:58.379 --> 00:09:01.580 to a man a few days ago who's been working in 00:09:01.580 --> 00:09:05.399 Muslim countries. He told me, there are thriving 00:09:05.399 --> 00:09:09.299 churches in Iraq. There are churches springing 00:09:09.299 --> 00:09:13.460 up in Iran. Can you believe that? Believe us, 00:09:13.580 --> 00:09:15.659 people coming to Christ in these Muslim countries, 00:09:16.139 --> 00:09:19.539 these Muslims. have dreams and they see Jesus 00:09:19.539 --> 00:09:22.279 coming to them. I don't know why many of them 00:09:22.279 --> 00:09:26.279 get saved through dreams. Christ comes to them 00:09:26.279 --> 00:09:30.860 in a dream, and many of them confess and accept 00:09:30.860 --> 00:09:34.139 Christ in their lives, and they become Christians. 00:09:34.720 --> 00:09:37.059 I know there's a thriving church in Egypt. I 00:09:37.059 --> 00:09:40.759 met one man in Egypt who told me about their 00:09:40.759 --> 00:09:43.720 believers praying, and the church underground 00:09:43.720 --> 00:09:47.470 is growing in these Arab countries. Why? Because 00:09:47.470 --> 00:09:51.529 God is working. He has an agenda. His agenda 00:09:51.529 --> 00:09:55.529 includes all nations, all tribes, people from 00:09:55.529 --> 00:09:58.509 every religion, people from every color. God 00:09:58.509 --> 00:10:02.029 has a program. God has an agenda and He's speaking 00:10:02.029 --> 00:10:05.389 to His church today. He's telling us to expand 00:10:05.389 --> 00:10:09.570 the place of our tent, to lengthen the course. 00:10:10.049 --> 00:10:14.029 Somebody say Amen. And I believe this church 00:10:14.029 --> 00:10:18.889 is strategic. When the Bible speaks of codes, 00:10:19.129 --> 00:10:21.669 you probably all know that is speaking about 00:10:21.669 --> 00:10:25.009 relationships I believe God is going to give 00:10:25.009 --> 00:10:29.870 you an opportunity to get ties with many churches 00:10:29.870 --> 00:10:32.870 that you don't know of you're going to get tired 00:10:32.870 --> 00:10:36.870 with churches in India and Africa and God is 00:10:36.870 --> 00:10:39.529 trying to give you an opportunity to work with 00:10:39.529 --> 00:10:42.970 him to bring in the harvest He wants to give 00:10:42.970 --> 00:10:46.220 you opportunities to send the missionaries to 00:10:46.220 --> 00:10:50.659 send teams of young people to give so that you 00:10:50.659 --> 00:10:54.059 can work with God to bring in the mighty harvest. 00:10:54.860 --> 00:10:58.159 And these codes are going to stretch across nations. 00:10:58.559 --> 00:11:02.419 These are long codes that God is going to tie 00:11:02.419 --> 00:11:06.220 to you and connect you to other groups and other 00:11:06.220 --> 00:11:09.110 people. People that you don't know of right now, 00:11:09.110 --> 00:11:12.690 but God knows he can trust you he can use you 00:11:12.690 --> 00:11:16.210 he can use your resources He can use your expertise. 00:11:16.389 --> 00:11:19.529 He can use your young men and young women to 00:11:19.529 --> 00:11:24.049 bring in the harvest Hallelujah, but also God 00:11:24.049 --> 00:11:27.490 told me to warn you that there are Tires you 00:11:27.490 --> 00:11:32.970 need to avoid there are people with lying Lying 00:11:32.970 --> 00:11:36.279 spirits There are many false prophets out there. 00:11:36.620 --> 00:11:39.500 There are many groups that have got another agenda. 00:11:40.139 --> 00:11:42.220 There are people who will come in and pretend 00:11:42.220 --> 00:11:45.340 to be men of God or women of God. And I'm praying 00:11:45.340 --> 00:11:47.539 that God will give it to some men to know who 00:11:47.539 --> 00:11:50.379 to work with and who not to work with. Because 00:11:50.379 --> 00:11:52.759 sometimes you don't want to get messed up with 00:11:52.759 --> 00:11:56.299 them. But there are opportunities coming your 00:11:56.299 --> 00:12:01.230 way. And I'm excited for you guys. I also believe 00:12:01.230 --> 00:12:03.289 in my own church the full gospel church that 00:12:03.289 --> 00:12:06.250 I passed in Kampala We're looking at going to 00:12:06.250 --> 00:12:09.769 the force to done looking at going into Zimbabwe 00:12:09.769 --> 00:12:13.289 Zimbabwe has had a difficult time and God has 00:12:13.289 --> 00:12:16.230 spoken to us as a local church Because there 00:12:16.230 --> 00:12:20.090 is an agenda going on God is working mightily. 00:12:20.090 --> 00:12:23.669 He's bringing in a harvest Now we're not a very 00:12:23.669 --> 00:12:27.210 wealthy nation, but we've got young people on 00:12:27.210 --> 00:12:30.480 fire for God And we have plans to send them in 00:12:30.480 --> 00:12:34.240 these countries to do evangelism, to go on short 00:12:34.240 --> 00:12:37.360 -term missionary trips. We are a third world 00:12:37.360 --> 00:12:39.700 country, but that's what God has told us to do. 00:12:39.960 --> 00:12:44.039 We are stretching the cords. We are lengthening 00:12:44.039 --> 00:12:47.960 them. We have a young man in Burundi who sent 00:12:47.960 --> 00:12:50.720 out a young man, his wife and five children. 00:12:51.000 --> 00:12:53.120 And they've been there for about two, three years 00:12:53.120 --> 00:12:55.059 now. And they have planted a wonderful church. 00:12:55.179 --> 00:12:58.059 Next time you come, Mike and David, I need to 00:12:58.059 --> 00:13:00.519 take you down to Burundi. We have a church there 00:13:00.519 --> 00:13:04.299 that we have been privileged to start in us across 00:13:04.299 --> 00:13:07.620 the border. And I'm excited about that because 00:13:07.620 --> 00:13:10.200 God is telling us to lengthen the course. We 00:13:10.200 --> 00:13:13.679 hope to go into Congo because they need the gospel 00:13:13.679 --> 00:13:16.440 there. They've had very difficult times. Why? 00:13:16.779 --> 00:13:20.700 Because... God in the end times is bringing in 00:13:20.700 --> 00:13:24.539 a harvest. He's against the spirit of barrenness. 00:13:24.980 --> 00:13:28.539 The times of churches not growing is over. God 00:13:28.539 --> 00:13:32.120 wants the church to produce, to have children, 00:13:32.340 --> 00:13:36.320 to raise up sons and daughters, a people that 00:13:36.320 --> 00:13:40.019 will go on warfare against the kingdom of darkness. 00:13:40.279 --> 00:13:44.710 Remember children in the Bible days help In times 00:13:44.710 --> 00:13:48.870 of war, they provided a line of defense. They 00:13:48.870 --> 00:13:53.870 would provide manpower in war. When a man had 00:13:53.870 --> 00:13:57.370 his quiver full of children, he could speak with 00:13:57.370 --> 00:14:00.590 his enemies in the gates. Are you following me? 00:14:01.149 --> 00:14:03.029 He could speak. It would not be a shame. The 00:14:03.029 --> 00:14:06.169 Bible says he would speak boldly. God is looking 00:14:06.169 --> 00:14:09.929 for a people that he can entrust to do spiritual 00:14:09.929 --> 00:14:12.750 warfare He wants us to invent the kingdom of 00:14:12.750 --> 00:14:18.830 darkness and bring in the loss Hallelujah now 00:14:18.830 --> 00:14:23.330 the Bible says also that we should Lengthen the 00:14:23.330 --> 00:14:26.870 cords and he speaks about stakes. Let me read 00:14:26.870 --> 00:14:31.610 that to you. It says here strengthen this by 00:14:31.610 --> 00:14:36.440 sticks Strengthen thy stakes. Now, you probably 00:14:36.440 --> 00:14:38.620 have heard this before. The stakes would speak 00:14:38.620 --> 00:14:44.659 of leaders. Every tent, every church, every congregation 00:14:44.659 --> 00:14:48.620 depends upon leaders. When you have a tent, you 00:14:48.620 --> 00:14:52.940 have to have pegs and stakes put in the ground 00:14:52.940 --> 00:14:57.980 and you tie cords to them. Stakes are extremely 00:14:57.980 --> 00:15:00.980 important. But I believe we have come to a time 00:15:00.980 --> 00:15:05.220 when God wants to examine the stakes. God is 00:15:05.220 --> 00:15:09.279 coming to check on his stakes. Every local church, 00:15:09.480 --> 00:15:12.559 I believe, every Bible -believing church, we 00:15:12.559 --> 00:15:14.759 are living in the time when God is examining 00:15:14.759 --> 00:15:20.159 the stakes. Some stakes have begun to rot from 00:15:20.159 --> 00:15:23.200 the bottom. They've been in the soil for so long, 00:15:23.379 --> 00:15:27.419 and they have become weak because of rot and 00:15:27.419 --> 00:15:31.850 decay. He wants to pull them out, clean them, 00:15:32.230 --> 00:15:35.230 sharpen them again and put them in the ground 00:15:35.230 --> 00:15:39.669 again. That's why God has allowed many ministries 00:15:39.669 --> 00:15:43.029 now to be exposed. There's been a lot of rot 00:15:43.029 --> 00:15:46.409 in the church, a lot of decay, a lot of hidden 00:15:46.409 --> 00:15:49.789 sin, but those days are over with because God 00:15:49.789 --> 00:15:56.049 wants to strengthen the stakes. Hallelujah. And 00:15:56.049 --> 00:15:58.409 I'm speaking to every leader in this house. You 00:15:58.409 --> 00:16:01.409 need to check your life this morning. Do you 00:16:01.409 --> 00:16:04.950 have any rot in your life? Is there any termites 00:16:04.950 --> 00:16:07.730 eating you? Because when you have stakes in the 00:16:07.730 --> 00:16:10.470 ground for a long time, sometimes termites and 00:16:10.470 --> 00:16:14.309 ants begin to gnaw and eat on the stakes. And 00:16:14.309 --> 00:16:17.090 that is dangerous because when the wind comes, 00:16:17.570 --> 00:16:21.389 if the stakes are not strong, it will lift the 00:16:21.389 --> 00:16:25.230 tent and cast it away. So the stakes must be 00:16:25.230 --> 00:16:29.309 firmly planted in the ground. hallelujah and 00:16:29.309 --> 00:16:32.590 I believe that we as leaders we need to check 00:16:32.590 --> 00:16:35.570 and make sure there's nothing hindering us the 00:16:35.570 --> 00:16:39.610 Bible says to run the race lay aside everywhere 00:16:39.610 --> 00:16:43.950 that besets us you know I can I can run with 00:16:43.950 --> 00:16:48.769 20 pounds in my hands I can run but I'm gonna 00:16:48.769 --> 00:16:50.889 be able to break the world record I'm gonna be 00:16:50.889 --> 00:16:56.309 able to do very well in that race If I laid aside 00:16:56.309 --> 00:17:00.690 that weight and trained, maybe I could, you know, 00:17:00.929 --> 00:17:04.829 do something, you know, but same thing is true 00:17:04.829 --> 00:17:12.089 spiritually. Many of us serve God, but we are 00:17:12.089 --> 00:17:15.849 not effective or maximum in serving God because 00:17:15.849 --> 00:17:19.730 there are some ways that beset us and we are 00:17:19.730 --> 00:17:23.339 leaders. God is saying lay aside every weight. 00:17:23.339 --> 00:17:27.200 I want you to run that race and break your own 00:17:27.200 --> 00:17:31.160 record. I Know what you're doing may not look 00:17:31.160 --> 00:17:34.680 like something bad not something not very serious 00:17:34.680 --> 00:17:37.799 It might be stuff you read or stuff you see on 00:17:37.799 --> 00:17:41.160 TV It might be the kind of friends you have or 00:17:41.160 --> 00:17:44.539 the kind of job you do you say pastor? It's not 00:17:44.539 --> 00:17:48.539 a big deal. I'm not robbing a bank. I'm not I'm 00:17:48.539 --> 00:17:52.180 not Sleeping with somebody. It's just a few small 00:17:52.180 --> 00:17:56.519 tiny things, but those are extra weights that 00:17:56.519 --> 00:18:01.059 Drag us and prevent us from running arrests and 00:18:01.059 --> 00:18:04.900 those are termites that eat at the sticks and 00:18:04.900 --> 00:18:07.740 This morning God is saying to us if you want 00:18:07.740 --> 00:18:12.180 to Be a lead and sub God check yourself because 00:18:12.180 --> 00:18:16.259 it's time to excel Hallelujah, it's time to run 00:18:16.259 --> 00:18:19.740 our race and run with all our strength Let nothing 00:18:19.740 --> 00:18:22.720 hinder you from excelling in the work of God. 00:18:23.079 --> 00:18:26.660 Praise the Lord. Now, the other thing I see here, 00:18:26.859 --> 00:18:29.839 and this is where I want to take some time and 00:18:29.839 --> 00:18:35.779 study, when you enlarge the tent, when you expand 00:18:35.779 --> 00:18:39.900 the place of the tent and make the tent bigger, 00:18:40.839 --> 00:18:43.579 you may need and you may have to provide new 00:18:43.579 --> 00:18:48.470 stakes in the ground. The old Stakes may not 00:18:48.470 --> 00:18:52.910 be enough anymore. You may need to wait to plant 00:18:52.910 --> 00:18:58.750 some new ones and you know, I have traveled Wherever 00:18:58.750 --> 00:19:01.529 I've gone. I'm amazed at the new crop of leaders. 00:19:01.529 --> 00:19:05.710 God is bringing up today Here in your country. 00:19:05.869 --> 00:19:08.690 There are people that we didn't know of say ten 00:19:08.690 --> 00:19:13.369 years ago But now they are among the most effective 00:19:13.369 --> 00:19:16.359 and powerful national leaders in the church There's 00:19:16.359 --> 00:19:20.259 a new crop of leaders God is bringing up. A new 00:19:20.259 --> 00:19:24.700 crop of people, both men and women. Someone said 00:19:24.700 --> 00:19:29.180 some of God's best men are women. That's what 00:19:29.180 --> 00:19:37.440 somebody said. God is raising up a new crop of 00:19:37.440 --> 00:19:40.920 leaders today, brothers and sisters. Young men, 00:19:41.019 --> 00:19:44.359 young women who are on fire for God because God 00:19:44.359 --> 00:19:48.140 has an agenda. He's anointing them. He's empowering 00:19:48.140 --> 00:19:52.799 them. And some of us who've been in this work 00:19:52.799 --> 00:19:55.819 for a while wonder now who in the world is that? 00:19:55.880 --> 00:19:59.700 Where did he come from? And they have growing 00:19:59.700 --> 00:20:03.119 churches. They are preaching powerful messages. 00:20:03.619 --> 00:20:06.440 They are touching cities. They are affecting 00:20:06.440 --> 00:20:10.240 their generation. Why? Because God is enlarging 00:20:10.240 --> 00:20:15.619 the tent. And he needs new stakes. He needs people 00:20:15.619 --> 00:20:18.720 who are on fire and are willing to be used by 00:20:18.720 --> 00:20:23.839 him because this gospel must be preached and 00:20:23.839 --> 00:20:27.660 People must hear about Jesus and people will 00:20:27.660 --> 00:20:30.740 get saved friends They will get saved and people 00:20:30.740 --> 00:20:33.180 there will be a time when people will come through 00:20:33.180 --> 00:20:36.339 that door Without you preaching to them and say 00:20:36.339 --> 00:20:40.460 can I find? Anyone here to pray for me. I want 00:20:40.460 --> 00:20:43.549 to become a Christian those days are coming when 00:20:43.549 --> 00:20:45.630 people will come under the conviction of the 00:20:45.630 --> 00:20:49.009 Holy Spirit. Because God is against the spirit 00:20:49.009 --> 00:20:52.809 of barrenness. He says, sing, O barren woman, 00:20:53.029 --> 00:20:56.089 your days of being barren are over. The days 00:20:56.089 --> 00:21:01.190 of revival are here. And God needs stakes. A 00:21:01.190 --> 00:21:04.990 people who are willing to hold up the tent. Now, 00:21:05.349 --> 00:21:08.809 in the book of Daniel, I wanted to see what kind 00:21:08.809 --> 00:21:13.519 of new stakes God has in mind. The book of Daniel 00:21:13.519 --> 00:21:17.039 chapter one, please kindly turn there with me. 00:21:17.299 --> 00:21:28.519 The book of Daniel chapter one. I've been told 00:21:28.519 --> 00:21:33.619 that you're reading the Bible as a church and 00:21:33.619 --> 00:21:36.240 you're studying the book of Daniel, is that right, 00:21:36.680 --> 00:21:40.740 Ellie? Okay, interesting. Okay, chapter one. 00:21:41.279 --> 00:21:43.240 Let me read from verse one. The Bible says in 00:21:43.240 --> 00:21:46.500 verse one, in the year, in the third year of 00:21:46.500 --> 00:21:50.319 the reign of Joachim, king of Judah, came Nebuchadnezzar, 00:21:50.359 --> 00:21:53.819 king of Babylon and to Jerusalem and besieged 00:21:53.819 --> 00:21:57.359 it. And the Lord gave Joachim, king of Judah, 00:21:57.500 --> 00:22:00.299 into his hand with part of the vessels of the 00:22:00.299 --> 00:22:03.000 house of God, which he carried into the land 00:22:03.000 --> 00:22:06.420 of China to the house of his God. He brought 00:22:06.420 --> 00:22:08.900 the vessels into the treasure house of his God. 00:22:09.279 --> 00:22:15.779 I'm going to skip to verse... Verse four. Children 00:22:15.779 --> 00:22:19.559 in whom was no blemish, but were favored and 00:22:19.559 --> 00:22:22.359 skillful in all wisdom, cunning in knowledge 00:22:22.359 --> 00:22:25.859 and understanding science, and such as had ability 00:22:25.859 --> 00:22:28.900 to, in them to stand in the king's palace, and 00:22:28.900 --> 00:22:31.400 whom they might teach the learning and the tongue 00:22:31.400 --> 00:22:35.380 of the Chaldeans. When I was reading my Bible 00:22:35.380 --> 00:22:38.539 a few days ago, God showed me something that 00:22:38.539 --> 00:22:44.210 was so powerful. You see, God will always be 00:22:44.210 --> 00:22:47.250 in control of what happens in the world. God 00:22:47.250 --> 00:22:50.589 will never lose control of what is going on in 00:22:50.589 --> 00:22:55.190 the world. The world belongs to God. The earth 00:22:55.190 --> 00:22:58.410 and the furnace thereof belong to God. God has 00:22:58.410 --> 00:23:01.569 never said, oh, I'm losing control. What's happening? 00:23:01.970 --> 00:23:07.230 No, God all the time is in control of what happens 00:23:07.230 --> 00:23:13.539 in the world. Now, When Israel sinned, God shifted 00:23:13.539 --> 00:23:19.220 the center of political power, economic power, 00:23:19.660 --> 00:23:23.839 military power from Israel and took it to Babylon. 00:23:27.440 --> 00:23:32.859 When he did that, he had to have an inside man 00:23:32.859 --> 00:23:38.119 in Babylon to continue to influence the world. 00:23:39.599 --> 00:23:43.720 God had to put an insight. In fact, there were 00:23:43.720 --> 00:23:47.519 four guys that we know Daniel Shadrach Meshach 00:23:47.519 --> 00:23:51.579 and Abed Nagor. He took those four Hebrew children 00:23:51.579 --> 00:23:56.700 Because he was shifting the center of power the 00:23:56.700 --> 00:24:01.180 center of influence For many many years the center 00:24:01.180 --> 00:24:05.259 of political military and economic power shifted 00:24:05.259 --> 00:24:09.490 from Israel and resided in Babylon and later 00:24:09.490 --> 00:24:13.190 on Nineveh, the capital of Middle Persian Empire. 00:24:14.170 --> 00:24:21.130 And all those years, God has his own men placed 00:24:21.130 --> 00:24:25.049 strategically in the corridors of power in those 00:24:25.049 --> 00:24:31.069 kingdoms. Oh, hallelujah. You know, because of 00:24:31.069 --> 00:24:36.579 sin, some churches are going to crumble. Some 00:24:36.579 --> 00:24:40.200 churches are going to die That's not good news, 00:24:40.220 --> 00:24:43.680 but it's a fact God is not tied to any group 00:24:43.680 --> 00:24:49.240 of people When we mess and sin against him he 00:24:49.240 --> 00:24:54.240 can decide to leave us on our own God shifted 00:24:54.240 --> 00:24:58.039 the center of power and influence from Israel 00:24:58.039 --> 00:25:03.299 because he now Had a powerful Emperor called 00:25:03.299 --> 00:25:05.970 Nebuchadnezzar whom he had called And this man 00:25:05.970 --> 00:25:10.049 was not influencing the entire world. But God 00:25:10.049 --> 00:25:14.950 sought to continue to influence the world through 00:25:14.950 --> 00:25:18.670 a man he put there. And remember, God always 00:25:18.670 --> 00:25:21.869 has had this agenda of walking through Israel. 00:25:22.710 --> 00:25:26.390 He had to have somebody there to help preserve 00:25:26.390 --> 00:25:31.410 and restore Israel, someone that was inside the 00:25:31.410 --> 00:25:35.759 corridors of power in Babylon. God used Daniel 00:25:35.759 --> 00:25:39.900 to preserve the nation and help restore the nation 00:25:39.900 --> 00:25:44.559 of Israel You see but but then God had to relocate 00:25:44.559 --> 00:25:49.119 Daniel and his three friends from Jerusalem over 00:25:49.119 --> 00:25:54.619 to Babylon and God showed me That there's going 00:25:54.619 --> 00:25:58.099 to be some shifting It's going to be some shifting. 00:25:58.259 --> 00:26:01.950 It's going to be some shaking Get ready for some 00:26:01.950 --> 00:26:06.049 changes. Changes in your economy, not just United 00:26:06.049 --> 00:26:10.009 States, but all over the world. All over the 00:26:10.009 --> 00:26:13.130 world. God is going to bring about changes in 00:26:13.130 --> 00:26:17.849 the economy and the military balance in the different 00:26:17.849 --> 00:26:22.369 countries of the world. That change is going 00:26:22.369 --> 00:26:28.109 to come. But in the midst of all that, God wants 00:26:28.109 --> 00:26:33.960 to continue to influence the world. And he needs 00:26:33.960 --> 00:26:37.740 some Daniels. Some of them are women. I said 00:26:37.740 --> 00:26:42.279 to you, some of God's best men are women. Women 00:26:42.279 --> 00:26:48.799 say amen. Because God has no... God will use 00:26:48.799 --> 00:26:53.359 a man, a woman, no problem. If he can't find 00:26:53.359 --> 00:26:54.900 a woman, he'll use a man. If he can't find a 00:26:54.900 --> 00:26:56.880 man, he'll use a woman. No problem, because God 00:26:56.880 --> 00:27:02.710 is not limited. God wants to have a new breed 00:27:02.710 --> 00:27:08.029 of leaders Place strategically in certain places 00:27:08.029 --> 00:27:13.450 so that his agenda may continue And I sense that 00:27:13.450 --> 00:27:18.490 it's not just preachers Not just pastors, but 00:27:18.490 --> 00:27:22.250 God may give you a political office like he did 00:27:22.250 --> 00:27:27.170 with Daniel Yes, he can God may give you a pulse 00:27:27.400 --> 00:27:30.579 Something in something you do in business. Maybe 00:27:30.579 --> 00:27:33.720 you're in your own field your own industry whether 00:27:33.720 --> 00:27:37.359 I don't know business or farming, but it will 00:27:37.359 --> 00:27:41.539 place you in a strategic place So that he may 00:27:41.539 --> 00:27:45.019 continue to influence your world through you. 00:27:45.059 --> 00:27:53.019 Oh hallelujah You've got a crop offering Yes 00:27:53.019 --> 00:27:57.079 We We live in that their brethren we live in 00:27:57.079 --> 00:28:01.539 those days God is going to raise up ordinary 00:28:01.539 --> 00:28:06.579 people ordinary folk Ordinary people some young 00:28:06.579 --> 00:28:11.400 some old and it's going to be shifting But God 00:28:11.400 --> 00:28:14.119 has never he will never lose control of the world 00:28:14.119 --> 00:28:17.819 he will never That's why he needs you and he 00:28:17.819 --> 00:28:21.480 needs me and everybody here is a candidate for 00:28:21.480 --> 00:28:26.029 that position. Can you say amen? Now, let me 00:28:26.029 --> 00:28:29.269 show you what kind of man or woman God is seeking 00:28:29.269 --> 00:28:33.490 for. In verse 7 of the book of Daniel chapter 00:28:33.490 --> 00:28:37.990 1 verse 7, the Bible says there, unto whom the 00:28:37.990 --> 00:28:43.390 prince of the eunuchs gave names. Now, a few 00:28:43.390 --> 00:28:47.029 years ago I read this and I said, whoa, Daniel 00:28:47.029 --> 00:28:53.380 became a eunuch? Daniel lost his manhood? You 00:28:53.380 --> 00:28:58.099 mean they cut off the I don't want you you can 00:28:58.099 --> 00:29:02.880 compete that sentence But they he became a eunuch 00:29:02.880 --> 00:29:09.500 How could God do that? Daniel lost any hope of 00:29:09.500 --> 00:29:15.279 being a father He lost any hope of being having 00:29:15.279 --> 00:29:20.380 a family That was gone like smoke went through 00:29:20.380 --> 00:29:25.759 the window But then God showed me That if he's 00:29:25.759 --> 00:29:29.960 going to use a new breed of leaders a new breed 00:29:29.960 --> 00:29:34.759 of people and warriors They must have their sex 00:29:34.759 --> 00:29:42.420 drive in check You cannot become a man or a woman 00:29:42.420 --> 00:29:46.279 Like Daniel if you've got an honest unrestrained 00:29:46.279 --> 00:29:51.839 sex drive The devil has used this area to bring 00:29:51.839 --> 00:29:56.900 down more people than I can count. It's one avenue 00:29:56.900 --> 00:29:59.940 that the enemy has used to oppress, torment, 00:30:00.799 --> 00:30:04.539 destroy. I mean, from the Bible days, you look 00:30:04.539 --> 00:30:07.680 at the story of Reuben. Reuben was the firstborn 00:30:07.680 --> 00:30:12.279 of Jacob, a young man full of potential and promise. 00:30:12.799 --> 00:30:15.779 Jacob said, you're the strength of my life. You're 00:30:15.779 --> 00:30:21.839 my firstborn. But Reuben, you are unstable. You 00:30:21.839 --> 00:30:26.299 will not excel because you went to bed with my 00:30:26.299 --> 00:30:31.819 wife Ruben lost his birthright Ruben lost his 00:30:31.819 --> 00:30:35.420 position of influence Ruben lost the birthright 00:30:35.420 --> 00:30:38.240 of being the first born that was gone Goodness 00:30:38.240 --> 00:30:41.720 me. I can give you example upon example. This 00:30:41.720 --> 00:30:47.779 is one area that if we're going to keep our places 00:30:47.779 --> 00:30:51.700 as a new crop of leaders We have to put this 00:30:51.700 --> 00:30:58.880 under control hallelujah Solomon is another story 00:30:58.880 --> 00:31:03.279 Solomon was a great man smart wise intelligent 00:31:03.279 --> 00:31:06.740 But the Bible says he married many women and 00:31:06.740 --> 00:31:11.660 they turn his heart away from God David Samsung 00:31:11.660 --> 00:31:17.019 I can go on and on and on And this morning I'm 00:31:17.019 --> 00:31:21.410 speaking to you. I'm speaking to myself If Daniel 00:31:21.410 --> 00:31:25.769 hadn't lost his, you complete the sentence, if 00:31:25.769 --> 00:31:31.150 Daniel, you know, if he had come in the palace 00:31:31.150 --> 00:31:36.589 and messed with the king's wives, if Daniel had 00:31:36.589 --> 00:31:39.990 tried to seduce and play around with, he would 00:31:39.990 --> 00:31:42.829 have lost his head and Cadenza would not take 00:31:42.829 --> 00:31:46.369 that well. He would have his head chopped off. 00:31:47.339 --> 00:31:50.680 But he had no problem because he had no more 00:31:50.680 --> 00:31:56.180 sex drive. That helped him to be stable, to be 00:31:56.180 --> 00:32:01.759 solid, to be focused. He had no attachment to, 00:32:01.759 --> 00:32:07.859 you know, gathering wealth and building a big 00:32:07.859 --> 00:32:12.650 family and getting a nested. He was focused on 00:32:12.650 --> 00:32:15.470 doing the will and purpose of God in his life 00:32:15.470 --> 00:32:18.089 now I'm not saying you should go out from here 00:32:18.089 --> 00:32:20.450 and go and see a doctor and ask him to remove 00:32:20.450 --> 00:32:23.910 your I'm not saying that I'm not saying that 00:32:23.910 --> 00:32:28.029 please don't do that. Don't do that But my point 00:32:28.029 --> 00:32:32.769 is this My point is that you need to put in check 00:32:32.769 --> 00:32:38.099 to bring under subjection to control Your normal 00:32:38.099 --> 00:32:41.279 and natural sex drive because if you don't you 00:32:41.279 --> 00:32:45.720 will not be able to serve God like Daniel did 00:32:45.720 --> 00:32:50.180 Hallelujah Now the other thing that God is seeking 00:32:50.180 --> 00:32:53.240 for in today's leaders and people that God is 00:32:53.240 --> 00:32:58.579 going to use it is endurance endurance endurance 00:32:58.579 --> 00:33:05.039 tenacity perseverance Fortitude hanging in there 00:33:05.259 --> 00:33:13.180 If you look at verse 7, he says, for he gave 00:33:13.180 --> 00:33:17.400 unto Daniel the name of Belshazzar, and to Hananiah 00:33:17.400 --> 00:33:21.299 of Shadrach, and to Michelle of Meshach, and 00:33:21.299 --> 00:33:27.500 to Azariah of Abednego. The name Daniel was changed 00:33:27.500 --> 00:33:32.019 to Belshazzar, which means Bell's Prince. The 00:33:32.019 --> 00:33:37.059 name Hananiah, became Shadrach, which means command 00:33:37.059 --> 00:33:40.640 of Akku. Akku is one of the gods in Babylon. 00:33:41.519 --> 00:33:45.359 The name Michelle became Meshach, which means 00:33:45.359 --> 00:33:50.440 who is like Akku. The name Azariah became Abednego, 00:33:51.119 --> 00:33:54.539 which means servant of Nebo. There were three 00:33:54.539 --> 00:34:01.680 gods of Babylon that the Babylonians, Gave names 00:34:01.680 --> 00:34:04.819 they they linked up these Hebrew children with 00:34:04.819 --> 00:34:08.699 their gods That may look like something innocent 00:34:08.699 --> 00:34:12.820 something without any ill motive But the Babylonians 00:34:12.820 --> 00:34:16.960 had an agenda They were trying to destroy their 00:34:16.960 --> 00:34:22.380 identity as Jews They're trying to to baptize 00:34:22.380 --> 00:34:26.179 them immerse them in the culture of the Babylonians 00:34:26.179 --> 00:34:30.369 and What I like about Daniel and his friends, 00:34:30.449 --> 00:34:33.989 we don't have any record of Daniel campaigning 00:34:33.989 --> 00:34:37.710 and asking the king whether he could keep his 00:34:37.710 --> 00:34:43.389 name. What we see is they simply endured their 00:34:43.389 --> 00:34:50.110 new names. They just hang in there. Some things 00:34:50.110 --> 00:34:52.829 we're going to go through in life, in these last 00:34:52.829 --> 00:34:56.929 days, we just have to have endurance. somebody 00:34:56.929 --> 00:35:02.090 say amen in the days to come I don't know about 00:35:02.090 --> 00:35:06.050 your country but I know in Africa we sometimes 00:35:06.050 --> 00:35:11.369 get tyrants we have oppressive laws oppressive 00:35:11.369 --> 00:35:15.849 leaders we have people who come up and hate the 00:35:15.849 --> 00:35:21.829 Bible we had a man called he attacked our church 00:35:21.829 --> 00:35:26.679 one time we There were Christians praying and 00:35:26.679 --> 00:35:29.719 he sent in soldiers with big big machine guns 00:35:29.719 --> 00:35:32.019 Mike not the ones were using yesterday. These 00:35:32.019 --> 00:35:36.400 were really big things big gum and These were 00:35:36.400 --> 00:35:41.199 unarmed believers people women men children worshipping 00:35:41.199 --> 00:35:44.840 I mean had been given money by Arabic countries 00:35:44.840 --> 00:35:50.460 to make Uganda Islamic The agenda was to make 00:35:50.460 --> 00:35:54.199 the whole of sub Saharan Africa, right from Sudan, 00:35:54.420 --> 00:35:59.179 way down, and make it a Muslim part of the world. 00:35:59.760 --> 00:36:02.760 Amin was doing well. He shut down many churches, 00:36:03.639 --> 00:36:06.860 and he killed pastors, he killed bishops, he 00:36:06.860 --> 00:36:10.940 imprisoned people. And I remember the time he 00:36:10.940 --> 00:36:13.559 attacked our church, I wasn't a Christian yet. 00:36:14.010 --> 00:36:17.809 I was somewhere playing basketball and we looked 00:36:17.809 --> 00:36:21.809 over beyond and we saw smoke and we had gunshots 00:36:21.809 --> 00:36:26.010 and we went and looked and we saw the whole church 00:36:26.010 --> 00:36:29.190 surrounded by armed men and they were shooting 00:36:29.190 --> 00:36:33.809 everywhere up over people's heads. It was horrible. 00:36:34.590 --> 00:36:37.730 We saw women and children running, crying, falling 00:36:37.730 --> 00:36:42.949 over each other and these armed men. began to 00:36:42.949 --> 00:36:45.449 tell them to lie on the ground and with my own 00:36:45.449 --> 00:36:48.849 eyes I saw them count them by stepping on them 00:36:48.849 --> 00:36:53.769 one two they told uh trucks that were passing 00:36:53.769 --> 00:36:58.349 by to stop and they began to load them with people 00:36:58.349 --> 00:37:02.610 take them to prison you know friends that was 00:37:02.610 --> 00:37:07.989 the day I began to think to myself what do these 00:37:07.989 --> 00:37:12.090 people have that will cause them to defy Decree 00:37:12.090 --> 00:37:16.309 by idiom in how was the Christian yet? But that 00:37:16.309 --> 00:37:19.829 got me to begin to think what do they have that 00:37:19.829 --> 00:37:24.909 we don't have they can stand up to idiom in and 00:37:24.909 --> 00:37:29.750 Say we will not stop to pray to worship and we're 00:37:29.750 --> 00:37:32.250 waiting to die for our faith I mean all of us 00:37:32.250 --> 00:37:36.010 were scared of idiom in but this bunch of believers 00:37:36.010 --> 00:37:40.670 Well, I think they were either fools or crazy 00:37:40.730 --> 00:37:45.829 both How do you dare defied a mean you don't 00:37:45.829 --> 00:37:50.250 give him a chance to kill you but they did and 00:37:50.250 --> 00:37:54.829 amazingly God spared them because just after 00:37:54.829 --> 00:37:58.750 that I mean was overthrown but here's my point 00:37:58.750 --> 00:38:02.230 believers in these countries have had to endure 00:38:02.230 --> 00:38:06.210 and God is looking for a people of endurance 00:38:06.210 --> 00:38:09.949 They might call you names in your school They 00:38:09.949 --> 00:38:12.010 might think because you're a Christian. You are 00:38:12.010 --> 00:38:15.630 a fanatic. You are crazy. You are dumb You are 00:38:15.630 --> 00:38:18.650 out of place. You must be a fool. How can you 00:38:18.650 --> 00:38:22.530 say believe in Jesus? What do you do? Well do 00:38:22.530 --> 00:38:27.469 what Daniel did and do Hallelujah Daniel did 00:38:27.469 --> 00:38:31.170 not try to fight back He didn't try to tell them 00:38:31.170 --> 00:38:34.050 stop calling me those names. I'm not Belshazzar. 00:38:34.050 --> 00:38:37.670 I'm Daniel I made you didn't waste time telling 00:38:37.670 --> 00:38:42.800 them that He only endured he knew he who he was 00:38:42.800 --> 00:38:46.239 he believed in his God. He believed in himself 00:38:46.239 --> 00:38:49.139 He was strong in his belief in his conviction. 00:38:49.139 --> 00:38:54.480 He just kept on serving the Lord Endurance endurance 00:38:54.480 --> 00:38:59.260 There's a lot of people today who are wishy -washy 00:38:59.260 --> 00:39:02.980 spineless They they they they buckle under easily 00:39:02.980 --> 00:39:05.550 under pressure and threats But if you're going 00:39:05.550 --> 00:39:08.469 to be one of the key leaders, one of the key 00:39:08.469 --> 00:39:11.110 people, one of the new stakes that God is putting 00:39:11.110 --> 00:39:14.409 in place as He stretches His tent, you've got 00:39:14.409 --> 00:39:23.409 to have endurance. Hallelujah. Now, I also believe 00:39:23.409 --> 00:39:28.429 that sometimes the most hardest thing to do is 00:39:28.429 --> 00:39:32.909 not to stop someone calling you names, but stopping 00:39:32.909 --> 00:39:38.440 your mind For mutilating your identity Yeah, 00:39:38.719 --> 00:39:42.199 yeah, yeah, I can easily fight back someone who 00:39:42.199 --> 00:39:45.559 may call me a derogatory name I can you know, 00:39:45.760 --> 00:39:49.820 I can swing if you put now won't pass But you 00:39:49.820 --> 00:39:52.420 know, you can answer back that anyone can do 00:39:52.420 --> 00:39:59.219 that but the most difficult part is Maintaining 00:39:59.219 --> 00:40:04.280 your own self -esteem in your own mind Knowing 00:40:04.280 --> 00:40:09.539 that they may call me names But I know I'm loved 00:40:09.539 --> 00:40:14.420 I am blessed. I Am a Christian. I'm not crazy. 00:40:14.739 --> 00:40:19.519 I am handsome. I'm beautiful Hallelujah, I'm 00:40:19.519 --> 00:40:24.139 important, you know, I am not crazy They are 00:40:24.139 --> 00:40:31.889 crazy. I'm not crazy Endurance endurance Now 00:40:31.889 --> 00:40:34.489 the last thing that we see that God is going 00:40:34.489 --> 00:40:38.730 to do with this new breed of leaders is The area 00:40:38.730 --> 00:40:41.730 of intimacy that's going to be something very 00:40:41.730 --> 00:40:45.449 special with this new breed of leaders God is 00:40:45.449 --> 00:40:48.929 raising up a people who love him with all of 00:40:48.929 --> 00:40:52.570 their hearts and all their strength Look at what 00:40:52.570 --> 00:40:57.929 happened in verse In verse 8 the Bible says in 00:40:57.929 --> 00:41:03.619 verse 8 But Daniel purpose in his heart that 00:41:03.619 --> 00:41:06.639 he will not defile himself with the potion of 00:41:06.639 --> 00:41:10.360 the king's meat Nor with the wine which he drank 00:41:10.360 --> 00:41:13.500 Therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs 00:41:13.500 --> 00:41:18.920 that he might not defile himself now I got to 00:41:18.920 --> 00:41:23.000 thinking When Daniel refers to eat the food offered 00:41:23.000 --> 00:41:26.900 idols. What was the problem? I know the issue 00:41:26.900 --> 00:41:31.530 is not the level of cholesterol in the food It 00:41:31.530 --> 00:41:35.510 wasn't the grease in the food. It wasn't the 00:41:35.510 --> 00:41:39.110 amount of alcohol in the drink. It wasn't the 00:41:39.110 --> 00:41:42.730 eating habits of the Babylonians. But the problem 00:41:42.730 --> 00:41:45.730 was simply that the food had first been offered 00:41:45.730 --> 00:41:52.170 to idols and to any Jew. When you eat food offered 00:41:52.170 --> 00:41:55.889 first to idols, you are participating in idolatry. 00:41:58.110 --> 00:42:01.989 And Dan did not want anyone. Anybody or anything 00:42:01.989 --> 00:42:07.510 to affect his fidelity with God? his it messes 00:42:07.510 --> 00:42:12.250 God His relationship with God He said look I 00:42:12.250 --> 00:42:15.369 have obeyed you up to this point. I have gone 00:42:15.369 --> 00:42:18.030 to your schools. I've taken your courses You've 00:42:18.030 --> 00:42:21.869 called me names. I haven't answered back But 00:42:21.869 --> 00:42:26.130 on this one, I will not eat food offer to idols. 00:42:26.170 --> 00:42:28.929 I will not participate in the worship of idols 00:42:29.289 --> 00:42:32.670 I am a worshiper of one living god the god of 00:42:32.670 --> 00:42:37.070 israel The new breed of leaders god is going 00:42:37.070 --> 00:42:41.269 to raise up are people of who have a strong intimacy 00:42:41.269 --> 00:42:45.730 with god And you know I When I read that this 00:42:45.730 --> 00:42:50.010 morning, by the way what i'm preaching now God 00:42:50.010 --> 00:42:53.329 woke me up at one in the morning pastor. You 00:42:53.329 --> 00:42:55.909 wouldn't believe it I I preached a different 00:42:55.909 --> 00:42:58.639 message last night But God this morning told 00:42:58.639 --> 00:43:02.320 me, no, you better give them this word. He woke 00:43:02.320 --> 00:43:06.739 me up and God told me, he showed me, Daniel was 00:43:06.739 --> 00:43:10.559 different because Daniel was able to see beyond 00:43:10.559 --> 00:43:15.460 the facts. He was able to see beyond the dreams. 00:43:16.000 --> 00:43:18.559 He was able to see the reason and the meaning 00:43:18.559 --> 00:43:23.300 of what appeared to be. You know why? Because 00:43:23.300 --> 00:43:26.710 Daniel had an intimacy with God. God was able 00:43:26.710 --> 00:43:31.070 to explain to him the reason behind whatever 00:43:31.070 --> 00:43:34.610 was going on. And the new breed of leaders God 00:43:34.610 --> 00:43:37.030 is going to raise up are people who are going 00:43:37.030 --> 00:43:41.210 to be so intimate with him that God will explain. 00:43:41.449 --> 00:43:45.010 He will reveal to them. He will give them meaning. 00:43:45.590 --> 00:43:49.190 They will have revelation. They will have inspiration. 00:43:49.909 --> 00:43:53.449 They will have a knowledge that is supernatural. 00:43:54.220 --> 00:43:57.400 Because they will walk in that close it miss 00:43:57.400 --> 00:44:01.480 it God will share his secrets with them. Oh see 00:44:01.480 --> 00:44:06.500 man There are things God will reveal to them 00:44:06.500 --> 00:44:13.119 he will not reveal to anybody else I Remember 00:44:13.119 --> 00:44:17.159 what happened to Paul? Paul was in his way to 00:44:17.159 --> 00:44:20.980 Damascus. He meets the Lord. He struck blind 00:44:20.980 --> 00:44:24.690 and he says Lord, who are you? And the Lord says, 00:44:24.849 --> 00:44:28.389 I'm Jesus. And he says, Lord, what would you 00:44:28.389 --> 00:44:33.889 have me to do? Paul was seeking a roadmap, a 00:44:33.889 --> 00:44:37.190 blueprint about his future. He wanted to know 00:44:37.190 --> 00:44:40.369 the will of God for his life. And listen, he 00:44:40.369 --> 00:44:46.050 just told him, Paul, you go to the city and wait 00:44:46.050 --> 00:44:49.630 there. Oh, I love that. Because you know what 00:44:49.630 --> 00:44:54.369 happened? When Paul asked for Road map his life 00:44:54.369 --> 00:45:00.250 God gave him a relationship From relationship 00:45:00.250 --> 00:45:05.909 came forth the road map. Are you following? It 00:45:05.909 --> 00:45:11.570 is everything springs from a relationship Everything 00:45:11.570 --> 00:45:15.050 comes from an intimacy with God There are people 00:45:15.050 --> 00:45:18.349 here wanting to know God's will for their lives 00:45:18.349 --> 00:45:22.139 God is saying No, what you need is a relationship 00:45:22.139 --> 00:45:26.420 with me. You get to know me and spend time with 00:45:26.420 --> 00:45:30.059 me, and I'll reveal to you my will for your life, 00:45:30.440 --> 00:45:33.800 step by step, step by step. Because when Paul 00:45:33.800 --> 00:45:37.440 was waiting, praying in the room, after three 00:45:37.440 --> 00:45:40.900 days and three nights of prayer, God sent a man 00:45:40.900 --> 00:45:44.500 called Ananias and said, Paul, rise up, because 00:45:44.500 --> 00:45:47.340 God has called you to be an apostle to the Gentiles. 00:45:48.260 --> 00:45:52.340 God wants to have the people of intimacy. That's 00:45:52.340 --> 00:45:55.019 why it on that that worship service is powerful 00:45:55.019 --> 00:45:58.599 God wants to have a people of Intimacy people 00:45:58.599 --> 00:46:01.920 that will value that more than anything else. 00:46:01.920 --> 00:46:04.139 You will be willing even to give your life for 00:46:04.139 --> 00:46:09.139 it You wouldn't just to give up everything even 00:46:09.139 --> 00:46:14.980 your job Because no one nothing should ever touch 00:46:14.980 --> 00:46:17.820 that and take that away from you That's your 00:46:17.820 --> 00:46:22.840 lifeline that is my lifeline and I believe that 00:46:22.840 --> 00:46:27.199 we're coming today when God yes, we need to pray 00:46:27.199 --> 00:46:31.659 together but there is a ministry of Shutting 00:46:31.659 --> 00:46:34.940 the door going in a closet. We need to develop 00:46:34.940 --> 00:46:39.340 a time where you can be you alone with God alone 00:46:39.340 --> 00:46:43.099 with God Get those moments where you can spend 00:46:43.099 --> 00:46:46.539 time alone with him build that intimacy with 00:46:46.539 --> 00:46:49.699 just between you and him. Oh Praise the Lord 00:46:49.699 --> 00:46:52.820 Can I pray for you as we close this morning? 00:46:52.980 --> 00:47:03.250 Let's bow our heads and what a prayer If you 00:47:03.250 --> 00:47:06.190 are interested in hearing other podcasts or contacting 00:47:06.190 --> 00:47:09.949 Life Bible Church, go to www .lifebiblechurch 00:47:09.949 --> 00:47:14.769 .org or call us at 541 -995 -8282.