Happy Memorial Day. It's Memorial Day. But did
you know it's also Pentecost? About six of you
knew that. That's good. Pentecost Sunday. Welcome.
Are we sounding okay? Okay. Yeah, Pentecost,
we... are here to celebrate the outpouring of
the Holy Spirit. And you have to, just a fair
warning, okay? Just a fair warning. I was in
India, well, last week or whatever, ten days
ago or something. And we did four sessions. No,
no, four days, two sessions a day. Four or five
hours each time. Sunday service was 9 a .m. to
3 p .m. So if you look back and it's like 12
.05 and you feel that we're wrapping up, just
know that the way maker is in the house and a
miracle has happened. And with Jesse being gone,
we can get a little leeway. But no, awesome to
be here this morning. get the honor and opportunity
to share the word on Pentecost Sunday. We, you
know, it's Pentecost Sunday. Ironically, the
Pentecostals on Pentecost Sunday were the ones
outside of the upper room. Just a fun fact for
you. Everyone celebrating Pentecost was outside
the upper room. The only non -Pentecostals were
the 120 in the upper room. You understand? So
we don't celebrate Pentecost today. We celebrate
the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And in my
mind and humble opinion, I believe it's just
as important as the resurrection. Just as important
as celebrating the resurrection, right? We celebrate
Easter or Resurrection Sunday. I believe Pentecost
Sunday, where we celebrate the outpouring of
the Holy Spirit, is just as important. Because
without the Holy Spirit, We can't be born again.
We can't know the power of the resurrection without
the Holy Spirit, right? So, hallelujah. What
a day to celebrate. What a thing to celebrate.
And so it just so happens also that we're in
our year of supernatural kingdom expansion. And
so if you're visiting with us, this has kind
of been our theme for the year. So today, we're
going to marry the two. supernatural expansion,
plus the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and by
God's special grace, I believe we're just going
to go on a journey through the Word this morning.
And I believe we're here together. We're here
in the presence of God. Our lives are going to
be changed forever. I'm here for that reason.
Amen? So, are you hungry for the Word? Amen?
Let's do this. Put your hand on your heart. Close
your eyes. And just pray with me as we get started.
Father, I'm hungry for the Word. Father, restore
my appetite for the Word. Come on, we're praying.
You can say it with me. Father, remove everything
from my system that doesn't have an appetite
for Your Word. I'm hungry for your word. I receive
your word today. I want the word, and I receive
it with my heart. Amen. It's just a little spiritual
check up there, right? Okay. Let's open the Bible
up to the book of Genesis. Genesis chapter 8.
A few years ago, I was in the great nation of
Cuba. And one fine, hot, muggy morning, I was
sitting in the church. We were there ministering
in the church in Amancio, Cuba. And we've been
together, a few of us. And it was before service.
Now, they can't really build like big church
structures like we can. They don't have that
liberty. So I'm sitting there in this like lean
-to that's built onto a house. So there's no
walls. So you can just see out. You get a little
breeze, but it's hot and humid under this thing.
It's early one day. We're having like a day session.
In Cuba. And so people are starting to come and
I'm just sitting like sitting in the pew, sitting
in the chair. And of course, you know, Cuba been
under communism for so long and the people, you
know, without goes without saying they're living
in a level of oppression. Commodities and things
are scarce. So I'm sitting there. And the Lord
begins to speak to me and show me some things
about the power of the church. and the importance
of the church. And the fact that this church
there in the midst of this impoverished culture
and society was opening their doors to bring
people in to worship God in this community. It's
like in the middle of a neighborhood and people
are just coming in to have church, have service,
right? And we're worshiping, we're hearing the
Word, and the Lord began to show me that If that
church was not there, it would be like taking
away these people's opportunity to experience
what God had for them, in a sense. Because the
divine institution that God has established on
the earth to bring about His blessing and His
glory is the church. And He began to show me
this. in scripture from that time to this and
i've just been working through this i've never
shared this before but let's take a journey and
look at these three things okay you're going
to find this pattern it's very powerful number
one is encounters so this local church right
in the middle of this city in cuba opened their
church up for people to encounter the living
god Whether through the Word, whether through,
you know, worship, whether through just a spontaneous
moment with the Lord. So, encounters, altars,
and anointings. These three things. Can you just
say them with me? Encounters, altars, and anointings.
One more time. Encounters, altars, and anointings.
This divine structure, this divine system. And
we're just taking off, okay? So just bear with
me. The plane is just taxiing. We're just taking
off. And we're going to see how this feeds into
the depths of Pentecost, the depths of the outpouring
of the Holy Spirit. And we're going to peer into
the mind, the brilliant, genius mind of Almighty
God as He set these things up in place. You ready?
Look at Genesis chapter 8. Look at verse... Are
we going to get Scriptures on screen? Genesis
8. 15. Awesome. What translation you got? I didn't
hear you. It's okay. 8 .15. Then God spoke to
Noah, saying, Encounter. You see it? Right there.
God spoke to Noah. Encounter. Make note of it.
Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your
sons and your sons' wives with you. Bring out
with you every living thing of all flesh that
is with you. birds and cattle and every creeping
thing that creeps on the earth, so that they
may abound on the earth and be fruitful and multiply
on the earth. Now take note of that language
also. Blessing, fruit, multiply. Does that sound
familiar? Isn't that the word that came to Adam?
Okay. 19, every... So Noah went out and his sons
and his wife's sons with him and every animal,
every creepy thing, every bird and whatever creeps
on the earth according to their families went
out of the ark. Note here. Then Noah built an
altar to the Lord. So Noah encountered the Lord.
What happened? The Lord showed up and spoke to
him. There's your encounter. What was Noah's
response? Alter. Encounter, alter. And then what
was the anointing? Be fruitful. Multiply. You
get it? You guys are going to have to just feed
back a little bit today. Okay. Encounter, altar,
anointing. So that's the very first place in
the Scripture where the word altar is used. So
Noah just like spontaneously got this idea of
altar. He was so moved by the encounter that
he just said, I have to do something. I have
to worship. I have to build something to worship
God, to put a sacrifice to the Lord. Very important.
Remember that. Alright, let's flip through here
because we have several of these. I'm building
my case. Genesis 12. We're going to talk about...
Big Daddy Abe. Abram. Genesis 12, verse 7. Then
the Lord appeared to Abram and said, Encounter.
Right? The Lord appeared to him. He encountered
him. Abram, to your descendants I will give this
land. And what did Abram do? He responded by
building an altar. Encounter. Altar. Now, let's
go up a few verses here in that same chapter.
Because this is important. Actually, let's read
verse 1. Now the Lord had said to Abram, get
out of your country from your family, from your
father's house to a land that I will show you.
I will make you a great nation. I will bless
you. I will make your name great and you shall
be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you
and I will curse those who curse you. And in
you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
Hallelujah. Does it feel like God's trying to
get a message to Noah? And then to Abraham? something
about blessing, something about multiplying,
something about making someone great. And then
he comes down in verse 7 and he appears to him
again and he says, to your descendants I will
give this land. And then Abram somehow says,
I have to build an altar. And he responds. And
then, of course, the Lord... encounters Abraham
many times from this. He tells him, you know,
your descendants will be like the sands of the
sea, like the stars of the sky. He just really
hammers this vision home for Abraham. And Abraham
builds other altars and builds other places of
worship to God. Does everyone understand what
an altar is before we move on? Let me give you
a definition of altar. Or what an altar is for.
And this is why. You know, you go around the
world, you go to other cultures and societies
that have more history, the concept of altar
is there. Like many other nations, like you drive
down the road and they have an altar built to
a stone. Or an altar built to a tree. Or an altar
built to a cow. You understand? Now, when you
get into the West, the concept of altar gets
a little bit lost on us because we are sort of,
now not us, okay? I'm just saying in general,
a little more materialistic, right? These ancient
spiritual structures and systems are foreign
to us. But biblically and spiritually, they're
very real. The concept of an altar is very real.
It can be very powerful or it can be very dangerous.
Because altars will open you up or people up
to the realm of the Spirit. Okay, just with that,
you see how important this is, can you? You see
how vital this is that we understand this concept
of altar. Has anyone ever heard of an altar call?
Does anyone ever know what in the world that
is supposed to be? Come to the altar. Well, okay.
Is that where we just come up front and Miss
Susie cries a little bit and we go back and don't
really know what happened? What's an altar? What's
an altar call? It's a very powerful thing. It's
a very, very, very powerful spiritual system
that God has set up. An altar is for worship,
for sacrifices, and for memorials of encounters
with Him. Altars mark places of consecration,
thanksgiving, covenants, atonement, and divine
intervention. So in other words, an altar is
a place and a moment. Where the divine and the
natural meet. It's a place of invoking the divine
into the natural. Are we learning? So you see
these old saints of God. They understood this
concept. This idea where. hey, God encountered
me, so what am I going to do? I'm going to respond
by building a structure of worship where I, now
this is the key, where I make a sacrifice. And
there's something about a sacrifice that is irresistible
to the Spirit of God. Can you see it? It's so
important. I promise if you just stick with me
today, this will absolutely shift the culture
of your heart, the culture of your home, and
hopefully the culture of our church. And I don't
mean our church, but just the church. Okay, let's
fast forward to... Book of Genesis. We're staying
with Abraham here. We said Abraham had many other
encounters with God. He built many other altars.
There was many other sacrifices that Abraham
made upon the altars that he built. And Abraham
was so convinced of this system. Look what happens.
He was so convinced. Now God spoke to him and
said, I'm going to make you the father of many
nations. Your seed is going to be mighty in the
earth. I'm going to use your lineage to bless
the whole entire world. And of course, Abraham
was like, I don't even have a kid. And then God
supernaturally brought him two kids. So now he's
starting to see the fulfillment of the promise
of God in his son, Isaac. But then God speaks
to him and says something very crazy one day.
After he'd already told him, through your seed,
I'm going to bless the world. Then he'd given
him the fulfillment of the promise of a son.
Then in Genesis chapter 22, let's start in verse
8. Genesis 22, 8. He prepares his stuff. He's
going up onto the mountain to make a sacrifice,
to build an altar. Are we there? Abraham said,
God, my son. So he's with Isaac. He's got Isaac
on the mountain. And he says, what are we going
to sacrifice, Pop? And Abraham says to Isaac,
My son, God will provide for himself the lamb
for a burnt offering. So the two of them went
together. Then he came to the place of which
God had told him, and Abraham built an altar
there and placed the wood in order. Then, hey,
what are you doing? He bound Isaac, his son,
and laid him on the altar. Now think of it. Abraham,
the father of our faith, was so persuaded that
this system of altar and sacrifice would bring
multiplication and blessing that this son of
his, who is the fulfillment of the promise, he
was willing to take him and put him on the altar.
Because he knew, listen, whatever goes on this
altar, the anointing will come upon and cause
it to explode with blessing. He was so convinced.
He said, I know God told me that my seed would
inhabit the earth and fill the earth. He said,
and I've got two sons, and this son was the son
of promise. And I trust God knows what he's doing,
and I'm going to fulfill my obligation to this
system. Can you see it? Can you enter into what
he might have been thinking there? He was convinced
of the system. So powerful. And of course we
know the rest, we'll just read it. Abraham stretched
out his hand, took the knife to slay his son,
but the angel of the Lord called to him from
heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham. So he said,
here I am. And he said, do not lay your hand
on the lad or do anything to him, for now I know
that you fear God since you have not withheld
your son, your only son from me. And I think
spiritually we could say that... actually he
did put his son on the altar. In fact, Hebrews
11 shows us he actually put his son on the altar.
And that was a moment where the anointing came
upon that moment. The Spirit of God was so pleased
with that sacrifice. He said he's willing to
give, even give me the promise. You understand?
Even give me the promise, promise seed on the
altar. So much trust, so much faith, so much
Belief in this spiritual system. Amen? Alright,
let's fast forward. We're just taking off. We're
at 5 ,000 feet and rising. Genesis 26. So here's
that same Isaac that was on the altar that came
off the altar. So it was Abraham. Now this is
Isaac, his son. God prospered in many ways. You
can read from that Genesis 22 to here. You can
see where God just prospered him. God just blessed
his socks off. He was so prosperous in calves
and goats and sheep and all these things. By
the way. Our church in India is doing great.
Hallelujah. If you didn't know, you guys and
we planted churches. We now have over 40 churches
in India using these principles. I'm telling
you today. So this is not just something that
we just theory out in the stratosphere. These
are spiritual principles that work. And they
have a... So I was just there at our mission,
our church in Rajasthan. It's actually in Banswara,
Rajasthan, India. Last week was the hottest place
on earth. It was like 150 ,000 degrees. We landed
and I stepped outside. We had all day. We gathered
our pastors and leaders. We have like 50 pastors
and leaders that we support. And we stepped out
into the heat. We traveled, you know, you travel
like a long time to get there. And we finally
got there after a four -hour car ride from the
airport, and we stepped out, and the sun hit,
and we knew, I mean, they don't have air conditioning,
or, you know, they have a big pink tent in the
field, you know, that's what we had. And they
were all gathered, banging their drum, and we
stepped out, and the sun hit, and I said, Lord,
I don't, this may be it. Talking about altars,
this may be the one. that ends it for me. I'm
putting myself, but if I go, I'll go out doing
what he wants me to do. But we ended up having
great meetings, and it was just fine. I made
it. Here I am. But we went back to dinner, and
I've never seen this. I've been there many times.
Michelle's been there. They have a vat of wheat
that they actually harvest. you know, the wheat
berries. Correct me if I'm not saying it right.
I don't exactly know what I'm talking about.
But it's a big thing of wheat that they harvest
and they make bread. Chapati and paratha and
all those different kinds of bread. And so I'd
never seen it, but the guy that was with me was
very inquisitive. And he noticed things that
I didn't. So we said, what is this? So we opened
it up and said, this is our wheat. The Indian,
our main pastor, Pastor Lazarus. He's probably
watching. So they have all these herbs and stuff
in this vat of wheat that they put in there to
keep bugs and stuff away. You know, they've got
it down. This is like thousands of year old,
you know, crunchiness. Their ultimate crunchy,
organic and all that. And so they harvest this
wheat they put in there and they said, well,
when do you harvest it? Oh, we harvest it a few
times a year. I said, well, how long does it
last? They said, well, what do you mean? I said,
how long does it last? It never runs out. Well,
who all eats it? Everyone. Everyone from our
tribe and village come. We never even think about
it. They just reach in and grab the wheat and
it never runs out. Isn't that awesome? Miracles
of biblical proportions. They don't even think
about it. It just keeps expanding in there. Because
it's... They live on the altar. They live with
the anointing. The Spirit of God is on everything
because everything they do is on the altar of
sacrifice. So it opens the channel for the Holy
Spirit to come and hit their lives and expand
and increase and grow everything that they do.
This is real. It works. How could Jesus multiply
the bread and the fish? Why was He even interested
to do it? He was the Bethel. Open heavens over
him. His life. Here I am, God, to do your will.
That's what he said. And maybe we'll get there.
Into the New Testament. Genesis 26, right? Okay.
I don't want to leave you hanging. I'm trying
my hardest to stick to this because I want to
just journey through this with this. Genesis
26 and 12. We're on Isaac. I'm sorry, 28, 28.
28, 12. Oh, see, you guys got me off telling
this story. 2624. If you were on Life 360 right
now, navigating through the Bible, it'd be like
this, just all over the place. 2624. This is
Isaac. And the Lord appeared to him that same
night. Encounter. Say encounter so I know you're
awake. The Lord appeared to him that same night
and said, I am the God of your father Abraham.
Do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless
you and multiply your descendants for my servant
Abraham's sake. So he built an altar there and
called on the name of the Lord and pitched his
tent there. And there Isaac's servant dug a well.
Encounter. The Lord encountered him. Isn't that
interesting? The Lord encountered him and he
said virtually the same thing. The same thing
he said to Adam. The same thing he said to Noah.
The same thing he said to Abraham. I'm going
to bless you. I'm going to make you great. I'm
going to prosper you. I'm going to show forth
my glory through your life. And Isaac responded,
I guess. His daddy Abe taught him how to respond,
I guess, to build an altar. Now let's look at
Genesis 28. Breathe in. Okay, I can handle this
much Scripture, right? Okay, now we're on Jacob,
right? Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. Let's see what
happens. 28, let's start in 10. Now Jacob went
out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. So
he came to a certain place and stayed there all
night. I love this story so much. because the
sun had set. And he took one of the stones of
that place and put it at his head, sleeping on
a rock. And he lay down in that place to sleep.
Then he had a dream, and behold, a ladder was
set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven.
And there the angels of God were ascending and
descending on it. And behold, the Lord stood
above it and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham,
your father, and the God of Isaac. I love how
God identifies himself that way. The land on
which you lie, I will give to you and your descendants.
Also, your descendants will be as the dust of
the earth. Multiply, right? Blessing, multiplying,
expansion. You shall spread abroad to the west,
to the east, to the north, to the south. And
in you and in your seed, all the families on
earth shall be blessed. Isn't that awesome? Have
you ever seen that before? Oh, I guess all of
you have seen that. Okay, well maybe it's just
new to me. Alright. Verse 15. Behold, I am with
you, and will keep you wherever you go, and will
bring you back to this land, for I will not leave
you until I have done what I have spoken to you.
Then Jacob woke up. He wipes the sleep out of
his eyes and says, Whoa! I remember Grandpa telling
me that God showed up to him this way. I remember
Papa. telling me that God showed up to him this
way. Now look, he shows up to me. I think that
was a happy day for Jacob. I think that was a
great moment. You know, because Jacob was a rascal.
His name was Subplanter. You know, he was kind
of a real fast guy. He was a little juking jiver.
So he might have been a little worried. Is God
going to continue this promise with me? This
thing that he's done where he's encountered grandpa
and dad. And he wakes up from this dream. In
verse 16. And he says, surely the Lord is in
this place. And I did not know it. And he was
afraid and said, how awesome is this place. This
is none other than the house of God. And this
is the gate of heaven. Then Jacob rose early
in the morning. Now look what he does. And took
the stone that he put his head on. And he set
up as an altar or pillar. And then he does something
different. What does he do? Pours oil. Where
did he get that? What is the oil representing?
The anointing. He has an encounter. He builds
an altar. Then the anointing. And he called that
place Bethel, which is house of God. Now let's
do one more, okay? In Genesis. One more. We're
just kind of having a Bible study today. This
is good. I probably haven't even gotten above
20 decibels with my voice. That's how you know
I can sustain four or five hours when there's
not much shouting. The record is 14 hours. 14
hours with a tea break. you know and you don't
even know it's it's so wonderful it's like what
else would you do you guys i can tell you're
getting really worried right now i got you right
where i want you my dad used to preach and and
me and valerie had this joke where he we would
be sitting back there and just you know there's
a lot to overcome in church right to like to
really get blessed and and between social awkwardness
and you know uh the music and uh and not liking
things and not having donuts there's a lot to
overcome right i'm gonna just be honest us americans
there's a lot to overcome a lot of times it's
like you're trying to worship and then brad sings
a bad note and you're like oh man i was just
kind of getting in the pocket and uh one thing
that you shouldn't have to overcome is like The
utter cringe factor of the minister. And my dad,
bless him, he's not watching, thankfully. We
would sit back in the back and just, Valerie
and I, just endure. And we were hostages. It
was like, 911, we got a hostage situation. And
that was not, you know, that was like 45 minutes.
Is that true, Valerie? We stayed married through
a lot. That was one of our biggest trials. And
some of you know. So I will not have you as hostage
today, okay? I promise. But nevertheless, we're
navigating through some important scripture here.
Genesis 35, 11. This is still Jacob. Oh, let's
go 9, 35, 9. Then God appeared to Jacob again
when he came from Paddan Aram and blessed him.
Yes, thank you, Lord. And God said to him, your
name is Jacob. Your name shall not be called
Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name.
So he called his name Israel. Also God said to
him, I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply.
There it is again. A nation and a company of
nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall
come from your body. The land which I gave Abraham
and Isaac I give to you, and to your descendants
after you I give this land. Then God went up
from him in that place where he talked to him.
So Jacob, what does he do? Set up a pillar. And
that place where he talked with him, a pillar
of stone, and he poured a drink offering on it,
and he poured oil on it. And he called that place
again, or that place was called Bethel. So you
see there, once again, God encountered him. He
said the same thing, virtually. Blessing, multiplication,
expansion. So there was the encounter. There
was the altar or the pillar. Then there's the
anointing right there. Encounter, sacrifice,
alter, anointing. Encounter, sacrifice, anointing.
Encounter, alter, anointing. You see that pattern
over and over again. And always coupled with
this, be fruitful, multiply. Isn't that pertinent
to our year of expansion? Isn't that pertinent
to our lives? So what is he saying? What does
this mean? What does it mean for us? What was
the message from that little church in Cuba?
That we create a space. The church is the entity
where we create a space, an environment, for
God to encounter His people. For there to be
encounter. For God to show up. For God to meet
with you. This is not just, you know, sing a
few songs and hear some scripture. This is a
place where you encounter God. Where God speaks
to you. Where you meet with the Almighty. That's
the idea. Where we open our doors, we open our
arms, we open our hearts, and we just say, here
we are, Lord. Come meet with us. Come show yourself
strong in our lives. Speak to us. I have nothing
else to do except for just encounter you. And
then when He comes and He inevitably will come
encounter you, He'll speak to you. He'll reveal
Himself to you. Then you need to know how to
respond. We need to know how to respond to the
encounter. When there's something... There's
something from heaven that hits your spirit and
you know that you've come in contact with the
divine. There's a breath of life on something.
And it doesn't have to be here in the church,
right? It can be in your home. That's what I
said. This can shift the culture of your home,
of even your workplace. Imagine you back there
in your cubicle on your knees just praying, making
a little altar. Starting a little fire back in
the cubicle. And then the next thing you know,
there's a blessing that comes on the business.
And your boss says, I don't like you, but you're
staying. I don't know what's happening. What
happened when the ark was in, was it Obed? I
just went blank. Obed -Edom, right? What happened?
Blessing, blessing, blessing came, right? Why?
Because He was some holy person? It's because
the presence was there. God was there. So we
can encounter God. We can encounter His Holy
Spirit. We can encounter His presence. Be looking
for. So what does it mean to seek the Lord? You
know, He's a rewarder of those that diligently
seek Him. What does He reward you with? Encounter,
presence. A moment in time where you meet with
the living God. I mean, imagine Jacob. He met
with God. Abraham met with God. Isaac, have you
ever met with God? Jesus said, you search the
scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal
life, but it's them which testify of me. And
you won't come to me that I might give you life.
It's not worshiping a Bible. It's worshiping
the living God. It's encountering Him. He's a
living God. He's a risen, living Christ. He's
alive. He's in this place. We have to tune ourselves
up with Him. Look for Him in the sanctuary. Seek
His face. Listen for His voice. You see, Paul
the Apostle, He was on the road, right? He was
zealous for God. He was seeking God. He just
didn't have the knowledge to seek God rightly.
But he was zealous for God. He was so zealous
for God, he was killing those he thought were
opposed to God. Everybody know? And what happened?
I mean, he had an encounter. But what was interesting
about his encounter was, he saw Jesus. In fact,
he said, this gospel that I received, I received
from the revelation of Jesus. In other words,
he didn't receive it from Jesus sitting with
him and telling him everything. The message that
Paul preached, the Pauline revelation that we
call, the message of the new creation, he received
from seeing Jesus. The whole message was, I saw
the risen Christ and he was revealed to me. My
encounter gave me the message that I now preach
to you. But what was interesting about his encounter
that really stands out to me, because he had
a heart for God. He said, I'm the Hebrew of the
Hebrews. I sat at the feet of Gamaliel, you know.
He had all these credentials in God. Which, by
the way, he said, I count them all as dung in
comparison to knowing him. To encountering him
and the power of his resurrection. It's all fluff
and dung is what he said. But he was hungry,
he was zealous, he was seeking the Lord. I can
just picture him riding down the road to Damascus,
you know, with a smile on his face because he
just killed another Christian. He was happy with
himself because he knew he had a real zeal. And
then Jesus, bam, Paul, Paul, actually, Saul,
Saul, why do you persecute me? Why do you kick
against the goads? And he said, who art thou,
Lord? That was his born -again moment, by the
way, because he confessed Jesus as Lord. He recognized
his moment, his encounter. He said, I don't know
you, but I know your Lord. Who are you, Lord?
Obviously, he didn't know him because he was
working against him, but he said, I know this
is the God I've been seeking. I keep saying this,
but this is what was interesting about his encounter.
He heard the voice. He saw Jesus, but there was
people with him that didn't, See Him? And they
heard something, but they said, what? It has
to be thunder. We heard something. What does
that tell you? They weren't ready. They were
spiritually sleeping. They weren't seeking God.
They weren't seeking that encounter. Amen? Let's
not be like those. Let's be... Seeking. Let's
be ready. Let's be tuned up and ready to meet
with the Lord when we come into the house, when
we come in anywhere, any moment. You know, He
can just meet you in any moment. What if God
showed up to you and started revealing destiny
to you? That's what He wants to do. He wants
to give you vision for your life. He wants to
reveal purpose. He wants to give you a specific
word. A sharp, pointed word. But see, now when
that happens, and maybe it's happened already,
but when that happens, what we can do is respond
how? What are we going to do? We're going to
build an altar. Now does that mean we're going
to go to Home Depot, get some wood, we're going
to have our goat ready so we can... It's a spiritual
structure. It's a spiritual thing. The altar
is the heart posture that follows the encounter.
It's a response of sacrifice. Because what did
he say? We all, let's put 2 Corinthians 3, the
last verse. Are you feeling equipped a little
bit? I mean, come on, just be honest. You feeling
ready to encounter? Okay, I'm starting to see.
I know what to do. The church is for equipping.
Very last verse, please. But we all, with unveiled
face, behold it. Can we go one verse before?
Because you've got to see this one. This is good,
too. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the
Spirit of the Lord is, there's freedom. But we
all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror
the glory of the Lord, encountering, right, are
being transformed into the same image from glory
to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
So he's saying that you encounter the glory.
You encounter God. You encounter His glory. Even
more than what Moses experienced. You can encounter
the glory in this way. And when you see His glory,
when you behold His glory, when you have that
revelation of God, then there's a consecration.
That's the altar. Right? There's a consecration.
You say, I see you, Jesus, like Paul. Now, this
revelation that you've given me, I consecrate
myself to this revelation. I put myself on the
altar, the sacrifice to this God that I've just
encountered. But you're not going to encounter
the fullness of His glory. You're going to go
from glory to glory. Right? So with each glory,
that's why you should be so excited to come to
church. Be so excited to wake up and pray tomorrow.
Be so excited to read my Bible. Why? Because
I'm going to encounter the glory of God. I'm
going to meet with the Lord. Meet with Jesus.
Yes. What else is there? How exciting. When I
die, if you're still alive, put on my tombstone,
here lies a man who loved Jesus. That's all I
want. I don't care. You know, some place they
call me doctor, some place they call me apostle,
some place they call me trash. I don't care.
Just put my title as this man loved Jesus. Because
I love him. And we get to encounter him, encounter
his glory. And what he's saying is the transformation
comes with when we encounter this glory, whatever
it is, whatever it is, then we place ourselves.
In consecration to this revelation. Then there's
a new revelation. Right? Because he's Jehovah
Jireh. He's Jehovah Nisi. He's Jehovah Shalom.
He's provider. He's healer. There's a new revelation.
So then that requires what? A new response. A
fresh. A fresh consecration. Are you seeing?
The power of the altar. Are you seeing why we
want an altar? Why we want a response? It's not
to coerce you to some emotional thing where everybody,
you know, come up front. No, it doesn't matter.
It's between you and God. But at least we get
an opportunity for you to encounter God and an
opportunity to consecrate yourself. To give yourself
once again. And the question is, you know, okay,
I'm a gospel preacher, okay? I am grace, grace,
grace to the max. So, you know, don't hear what
I'm not saying, right? This is not a works -based
thing. This is just unveiling mysteries of the
Spirit and mysteries of the kingdom because there
are systems and principles that we can... Get
into the flow of according to the scripture that
will enact certain things because jesus said
my people Well, he he said you will know the
truth. The truth will make you free So what we
don't know is our problem and the scripture says
My people god's people are destroyed because
what we don't know So we need to know that there's
things like this that God has set up. There's
spiritual systems that God has set up that are
there and in place for our edification, for our
blessing, and ultimately for His glory in this
earth. We're going to get there. Just a moment.
So, while we're there, Romans 12. You know this
one. Romans 12, 1 and 2. I beseech you therefore,
brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present
your bodies. Present your bodies. Living sacrifice.
What does he mean? What we've just been talking
about, right? Present your bodies. He's talking
about, and then look at verse 2. Don't be conformed
to this world, but be transformed. That's the
same word that he used in 2 Corinthians 3 at
the last verse. He says, we are being metamorphosed.
We're being transformed. We're changing state
from glory to glory. How? We can't surpass the
glory of God that we behold. And to behold the
glory, we have to encounter the glory. Right?
Are you seeing? So you encounter that glory.
And he said, then you present yourself. Just
put your body upon the altar as a living sacrifice.
That is your reasonable service. That in your
mortal flesh, the life of Jesus may be manifested.
Put yourself on the altar so that the death of
Christ and the life of Christ can be manifest
through you. So you can be transformed. You can
be morphed, changed into another person continually
by the revelations of God. Amen? And what's going
to happen as you place yourself upon the altar?
Look at this. Oh, we're about 15 ,000 feet. No,
no, no, no. We may be 20 ,000 feet. Cross -check
for all call. What is it? Oh, that's when you
take off. One time I said that, and I was totally
wrong how I said it. What is it? Cross -check
for all call? Yeah. Two of you know what I'm
talking about. That's fine. Look at this, okay,
Acts chapter 1. Are we digesting the Word a little
bit? Are we, you know, one, we have doctors in
here, so I can't, you know, I can't, I've got
to be careful I'm not wrong, because I'm probably
wrong, but one thing that, you know, that your
doctor will ask you, Well, how are you feeling?
Oh, I don't know. I feel okay. Well, are you
eating? How's your appetite? What does that mean
if your appetite's not great? Oh, you could have
something going on. Then you go back for a checkup.
Oh, how have you been eating? How's your appetite?
Oh, it's great. I've been eating everything.
Well, then you're healthy. Good. Well, it's the
same with the Word, you know. Sometimes if your
appetite's less, you may want to check your spiritual
system. That's why we prayed at the beginning
because you've got to have an appetite, right?
We've got to eat the Word. Let's be voracious.
That's what we're doing today. Acts 1 and verse
8. Let's go 7. Okay, this is Jesus talking. I
want to go to Luke. He said, all right, we'll
just start here. And he said, It's not for you
to know times or seasons which the Father has
put in his own authority. This is Jesus. Okay,
close it off, close it off, close it off. Because
you'll start reading and you won't listen. This
is, Jesus rose from the grave, and then what
is Pentecost? 50 days, right? 50 days after the
resurrection was the day of Pentecost. So there
was 40 days where Jesus showed himself. Now the
Bible says, if there's no one that's been saved
in here today, just listen. The Bible says that
Jesus showed himself to over 500 people after
he rose from the grave. He said he also did many
undeniable signs. After he rose from the grave,
such as walking through walls, and he even fed
the Pope some fish, Peter. And he did many, many,
many miracles for the span of 40 days after he
rose from the grave. And then he told his disciples,
he said, now, here's what's going to happen.
Go to Jerusalem. And Terry, wait until you be
endued with power from on high. Now they thought,
I don't even know what this is. Never heard anything
like it. There's no precedent like this. But
I promise you, if you see a man rise from the
grave and then you see him walk through walls
and then he does other miracles, you're going
to be listening to what he has to say. And he
said, go to Jerusalem and wait until you be endued
with power from on high. So, right after he says
this, we're going to pick it up, okay? In Acts
1 -7. Luke, the physician who wrote Luke and
he wrote the book of Acts, he also records this.
He says, he said unto them, now this is like
day 40, okay? Of the 50. It's not for you to
know times or seasons which the Father has put
in his own authority. But you shall receive power.
A reiteration of what he says was recorded in
Luke. When the Holy Spirit has come upon you.
Now listen to this, okay? You may not have ever
considered this. You shall be witnesses to me
in Jerusalem, Judea, all Judea, Samaria, and
to the ends of the earth. Now, I can skim over
that, but question. Does it sound suspiciously
like what he said to Noah? And he said to Abraham,
and he said to Isaac, and he said to Jacob? Can
you pick the same spirit up of what he's saying?
Yes, no, or I want to sleep. That's choice three.
Can you see it? He said, the Spirit is going
to come upon you. You'll be endued with power
from on high. Why? To be witnesses of the resurrection
all over the world. Now, to me, it sounds an
awful lot like a reiteration of what he told
Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. And not only that,
but a power to get it done. Yes? Go into all
the world. What else could it mean? Go into all
the world. Make disciples. Preach the gospel.
Be witnesses. Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and
to the uttermost parts of the world. This is
a restitution. In fact, this is the word that
came to Adam was meant for you. The word that
came to Noah was meant for you. The word that
came to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob was meant for you.
Don't look at me like that. Come on. The word
of expansion was meant for us. God has a dream
of the whole earth will be filled with my glory.
As the waters cover the sea, the whole earth
will be filled with my glory. And he says, I'm
going to give you power to witness, to testify
to the glory of the risen Christ. And I want
you to do it in all the world. Start where you
are, then go out a little, out a little, out
a little, until you just fill the earth with
my glory. And he said, it's not just going to
be your efforts, it's going to be my power. Because
was anybody there when Jesus rose from the grave?
I know the scripture says we were risen with
Christ. I know. That's not what I'm asking. Did
anyone see Jesus rise from the grave? Now, we
go out into the world and we tell them, Jesus
is alive, right? It's a message that's hard to
understand. It's hard to believe unless you have
the power. of the witness right so you weren't
there but who was there this holy spirit who's
going to come and fill you up he's going to be
with you he's going to help you he's going to
guide you he's going to empower you to be a witness
he's going to empower your life to be a living
epistle of the reality of the resurrection he's
going to do what you can't do he's going to make
I want to prophesy. He's going to make your business
prosper. He's going to make everything you put
your hands to, to be blessed. He's going to make
intangible things happen in your life. How did
this contract come? How did this opportunity
come? It can only be explained by this blessing.
Oh, I have to show you this. Galatians 3 .14.
Just stick with me, okay? I promise you, this
is so good. This is not just... I said it's Bible
study, but it's not. I promise you, something
is unlocking in your life. I promise you. If
ever there was a question about... I will quit
the ministry if something amazing doesn't happen
in your life. If you just stick with this. This
is unto something. Look at Galatians 3, 13, 14.
Now remember what he said to Abraham, Isaac,
Jacob. Remember that, okay? Go back and meditate
that. Then he said, the Holy Spirit's going to
come upon you and empower you. And now look what
he says here in Galatians 3, 13, 14. Christ has
redeemed us from the curse of the law. having
become a curse for us, for it is written, cursed
is everyone who hangs on a tree, that the blessing
of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ
Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the
Spirit through faith. Now do you see, he marries
the two. The encounter, the altar where the Spirit
of God comes. Then the blessing that's going
to take this thing throughout the whole world.
You see it? What was the blessing? Be fruitful.
Multiply. Your seed is going to be a blessing
everywhere you go. Last time I was ministering,
I don't remember where it was, but I was praying.
I'm not a professional preacher, if you can't
tell. I'm not interested in that whatsoever.
I just want to help people. That's all I wanted.
I just want to help people. Live the life that
God has for them. And I was standing, getting
ready to minister, and I didn't know, you know,
many times I have no idea what I'm going to say.
Sometimes I know where we're going to take off,
and I know where we're going to land, but, you
know, we're going to take a lot of this. But
I said, Lord, I cried from my heart. I said,
Lord, help me be a blessing to these people.
It wasn't here, it was somewhere else. Help me
just be a blessing. And the Lord spoke to me
and said, I have blessed you that you will be
a blessing. And it goes right with this, right?
The same word that came to Abraham. That you
will, you know, all these wonderful things, fruitful,
multiply, all these things. And then he sends
the Spirit of God to empower us. And he says,
Jerusalem, Judea, all over the world. And then
he reiterates it and makes it clear for us that
the same blessing. that was on Abraham, that
caused him to, you know, fulfill everything that
God wanted him to, is now the same promise, the
same spirit that we receive. Amen? Isn't that
wonderful? Oh, okay. It's not 12 o 'clock yet.
And I want to read you one more scripture, and
then I promise you will close, okay? I'm going
to leave you with this because I think this is
going to invoke some further study for you. The
book of Ezekiel. Matthew, Mark, Luke, Ezekiel.
Chapter 28. I'm going to read this. We're going
to work through it for like two minutes, and
then we're going to pray, okay? And we're going
to receive something this morning that's going
to make a huge difference in our lives. I mean
it, a huge difference. We're going to receive...
Something from God. Okay. Ezekiel 28, verse 12.
Son of man, take up lamentation for the king
of Tyre and say to him, thus says the Lord God.
Now, this is talking about Lucifer, okay? So
just relax. You were the seal of perfection,
full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were
in Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone
was your covering. The sardius, topaz, and diamond,
beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise,
and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your
timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the
day you were created. Now listen to what he says.
You were the anointed cherub who what? Covers.
Now, God wants the whole earth to be covered.
You were the anointed cherub who covers, literally
spreads. Think of it like the foliage on the
ground that just covers, it grows and just covers
the earth. Now this is talking about Lucifer.
The anointing that Lucifer received was not an
unholy anointing. It was a holy anointing. But
he corrupted his anointing. He received an anointing,
which is a grace. It's a dimension of the Holy
Spirit and a grace for a specific task. He received
this anointing to cover, to spread. That means
there is an anointing to cover. Are you with
me? Or have you gone home? There's an anointing
to spread. That means the anointing of God. that
we thought was just for casting out demons and
preaching the gospel, is much, much bigger than
just that. The anointing that God has for us,
if we want it, and the anointing that came at
Pentecost was the anointing to spread. Can you
see? Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria. It's the same
anointing, the anointing to spread. There's no
other, this is what's interesting here, there's
no other time that this Hebrew word is used.
It's the word mimshak. So I want you to remember
that. Write it down. Mimshak. The mimshak anointing.
The mimshak anointing that covers, that spreads.
Theologians believe that Lucifer's task was worship,
which is what? Spreading the glory of God. The
worship would come to heaven or whatever, and
he would be the administrator of the glory. You
understand? So his task as worship leader was
to literally spread and cover the earth with
the glory of God. Because he had the anointing
to cover and spread. That's why when Beyonce
drops her greatest latest, what does it do? Come
on, what does it do? Like a wildfire. It covers
the earth. They'll be singing that in rural China.
To the left, to the left. Is that the latest
hit? I don't know. Don't laugh at that. Because
Lucifer, he understands one thing. Covering the
earth. This is something God's children, we have
to get. For too long we've settled for an anointing
to preach or to cast out demons or heal the sick
or whatever. An anointing to administrate anything.
But there's an anointing that covers. There's
an anointing that spreads. And God wants us to
receive that anointing to spread His glory throughout
this earth. Spread His power. Witness to Him
all over. It's not dependent upon our ability
to administer and organize and do things for
the Lord. It's dependent upon the anointing that
spreads. Because those songs aren't any good,
right? No, it's because there's a supernatural
element to it. We can receive that supernatural
element for our business. You may have a little
kiosk, but if you receive the anointing to cover,
it can cause that thing to grow. You're thinking
of examples right now. How does someone... You
were here yesterday and now you're here. The
thing just covered, just exploded. Right? It's
an anointing. It's a grace. It's an anointing
to cover. It's an anointing to spread. Is anyone
at all interested in that? Has anyone at all
been frustrated with the speed and efficacy of
their life? Has anyone felt stifled and like
maybe things just ain't growing like they should?
I want to do something for the Lord, but it's
just not working. Anyone? Has anyone wondered,
why is the church not taking more ground, doing
more? We started in India four -ish years ago
with 27 pastors and maybe a hundred person tribe
or so. Now we have about 5 ,000 people. That's
about 1 ,000 people a year. And I promise you
it has nothing to do with any good organization.
Nothing good about, am I right? This is not like
good planning and look what we've done. We've
hit this mile. Nothing. It's all about this memshack.
It's like that vat of wheat. It just, something
hit it. It was placed upon the altar and something
hit it. And there's an intangible power that
just causes it to spread. How do you explain
life? How does a tree grow? It's the same intangible
force in the anointing that causes whatsoever
you do shall prosper. Is that what the Word says?
You will be like a tree planted by the rivers
of water and everything that you do shall prosper.
The blessing of Abraham. We have to not settle
for small, small in this year of a kingdom expansion.
We have to not settle for small, small. We need
to go for it. I was with my father, not my hostage
-holding father, which you might be accusing
me of that here pretty soon. But this guy I consider
a spiritual father. I've been with him for several
days and just seen amazing things happen. He
stopped time. He healed people with his shadow.
Jesus is alive, you know, in that place. And
I was just going to tell him bye. I was heading
back home. And he was sitting in the chair, and
I just knelt down just to shake his hand and
say thank you. And he's got this Reinhard Bonnke
voice, just deep. I wish I had a preacher's voice
like that. Just deep and strong, you know? And
he looked at me. He was tired. He'd been preaching
all day. And he looked at me and he said, Brad,
go for it. Oh, it hit me so hard. Go for it.
I said, yes, sir. I stood up like a man, you
know, and I just started crying. Okay, I'm going
to go for it. I'm going to go for it. But we've
got to go for it. Anybody, let's just close our
eyes right here. We're closing. Let's pray. Let's
go for it, guys. Let's encounter the living God.
Let's respond with... putting ourselves upon
the altar with each passing revelation of God
and build from glory to glory. And then let's
experience the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
Let's expect the anointing, the anointing to
spread, the anointing of God that breaks yokes,
the anointing to build, the anointing to grow.
Would you just hold your hands out right now
in this moment? We're not going to have any atmosphere
music. We're not going to have anything fancy.
But something is going to come upon your life
as you're genuine and authentic with the living
God in this moment. And you say, Lord, I want
to encounter you. Lord, I want to put myself
on the altar today. And Lord, I want a fresh
anointing on this fine Pentecost Sunday. I want
a fresh memshak. Mimshack. I want it, Lord. And
then you're going to go from this place and there's
going to be doors of opportunity that open for
you. There's going to be things that happen where
heaven and earth... Your eyes are closed now,
okay? We're receiving. Where heaven and earth
will shift out of the way. Just like that one
fish that Jesus said, come get on my hook. And
there was money in its mouth. The things are
going to move out of the way for your life. as
you dedicate yourself to live for His glory,
His glory will be seen and expressed through
your life. So right now in this moment, receive
the anointing for Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria,
and the uttermost. Receive. You say, what does
it mean? I'm just a homeschool mom. Receive the
anointing, the memshak, to send your arrows.
Think spreading. Think growth. Think life. We're
praying, okay? We're still praying. Give us 30
seconds. And just you're receiving. Something
is soaking into your spirit right now. New dimensions
are opening in your inner man right now to receive
something from the living God. You're going to
leave this place changed. And I speak and pray
that something in your future, there's things
waiting for you because of your choice to be
here this morning and hear the word of God. And
I pray that you begin to expect, expect those
contracts, expect those things, expect that growth,
expect that spreading. Not by power, not by might,
but by the Spirit, says the Lord. Amen. Thank
you guys so much for being willing and open to
receive. I'm going to just stay up here. If you
guys desire any further prayer or ministry, I'm
open, but we are formally dismissed. I love you.