WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:11.980 I asked Josh to re-speak the message he gave at Chief Cornerstone. The Sunday evening we were up there with the culmination of the prayer and fasting time and so forth. 00:12.760 --> 00:25.260 What he had to share so resonated with my spirit on what God has asked us to do and why he's asked us to do it. 00:26.720 --> 00:38.120 And he just has, the Lord has given him some insight on what God does when he plants churches and how God looks at it. 00:38.740 --> 00:55.240 And we have to understand that because he's asked us to take on a big project and it would do us well to get the insight of how God is seeing them. 00:56.680 --> 01:05.560 So that's what I asked him to do this morning and I know you have to be up there by six and it's three and a half hours and you have children who are going to need to eat. 01:05.700 --> 01:09.580 So say four and a half hours and you might have to stop for the biffy. 01:12.720 --> 01:18.760 So he has to be out of here by one o'clock at the very latest. It'd be better if he left earlier than that. 01:21.120 --> 01:27.160 But just realize I want him to give the full meal deal here and not cut chunks out. 01:28.160 --> 01:31.800 So you can go past 12 and we're all good with that. 01:37.210 --> 01:38.550 That was your spot. 01:39.510 --> 01:44.530 Let me just throw in a side thought, the new print or the most recent prints for the building. 01:44.530 --> 01:51.710 There's four of them out in the four year if you want to get up to date on the most recent layout that we have and this is the one we're going with. 01:52.910 --> 02:00.090 And the other thing I want is this is a little prophetic piece. I have been feeling this for about a year, year and a half. 02:00.850 --> 02:12.530 And the deeper we get into this little chunk of time, something major is going to change from my, what I'm sensing right now, something major in this world is going to change around 2030. 02:14.490 --> 02:17.330 There's something big coming down the pike. 02:17.950 --> 02:22.930 I don't know what it is yet, but something big is on the horizon. I just got that gut level feeling. 02:24.030 --> 02:31.310 And I think that the Lord wants us to get as far on that building as we can before 2030 shows up. 02:33.830 --> 02:37.930 So that's just a little prophetic side thing to throw in there. 02:38.930 --> 02:41.990 So Pastor Josh, would you come and join me? 02:42.750 --> 02:49.690 And I'm going to have you help me unveil our picture. After that message at Red Lake, Mary found a picture. 02:49.870 --> 02:53.310 She says it all. This just describes everything he was saying. 02:53.990 --> 02:57.350 So come and we'll pull the sheet off of this and they can put it up on the screen. 03:03.070 --> 03:05.110 You get to see it for the first time too now. 03:12.980 --> 03:17.680 So this will all become very plain with his message. 03:18.200 --> 03:23.620 So I'm going to trade mics with you and you jump right in and do what God wants done here. 03:23.960 --> 03:28.140 Thank you. God bless you. Thank you, Pastor Vern. 03:30.280 --> 03:34.200 It's an honor and a privilege to be here. It is not a small thing. 03:35.120 --> 03:46.940 When a man of God of Pastor Vern's caliber opens his church and ministry and pulp it up to somebody to minister. 03:47.240 --> 03:50.160 So I consider it a high honor to be here. 03:50.820 --> 03:57.140 I'm here with my lovely wife. She is, as the Bible describes, great with child. 03:59.000 --> 04:05.040 So if you see her coming down the hallway, just give her a little bit of room. 04:06.140 --> 04:13.500 She's got number four in the oven. We have three precious little boys with us. Justice, Jericho and Judah. 04:15.180 --> 04:22.240 There's a theme, can you? And we have number four. It's another boy. Praise God. 04:22.240 --> 04:30.580 Amen. We need men of God in the world, don't we? Women of God too, but we're excited about number four. 04:30.680 --> 04:35.640 He's coming here in a couple weeks and we look forward to holding him and loving on him. 04:38.920 --> 04:41.840 Man, are you sure you guys can handle anything more this morning? 04:43.660 --> 04:50.380 If you're not already full, if you don't leave here this morning full, you are that guy that goes to the buffet. 04:55.140 --> 04:59.560 And just gets a cup of lemonade or something. Like, what are you doing? 04:59.840 --> 05:04.960 If you don't leave here full this morning, something's wrong with you. Because God is in this place. 05:05.320 --> 05:11.820 I got to tell you, I was ministered to by the worship. That's wonderful. 05:12.500 --> 05:18.440 Especially the prophetic message that came out when that young gal started singing. 05:18.440 --> 05:23.600 Man, I knew that was God talking to people. Hallelujah. 05:25.160 --> 05:34.260 And about a month ago up in Red Lake, I had an opportunity to minister a message that I felt like was prophetic specifically for that body. 05:35.180 --> 05:41.080 And it seems as if it also has prophetic elements for what God is doing here at Word of Life. 05:41.080 --> 05:53.720 Prophetic not in the sense of foretelling, as in predictive in a fashion, but prophetic in the sense that it was foretelling. 05:54.440 --> 06:05.820 Sometimes the function of a prophetic gift has to do with giving the people something to believe, something to say, and something to do. 06:07.460 --> 06:18.840 And a prophet, not describing myself as that, but when the function of prophetic gift is in motion, it usually points a finger in a direction. 06:19.900 --> 06:27.080 And says, this is what God says. This is what God says to say. And this is what God says to do. 06:27.860 --> 06:32.900 And there's usually a call for direction. There's usually a call for reordering or reorganization. 06:32.900 --> 06:43.240 There's a call and a draw for repentance, if that's necessary, in order to get in line and get directed with what God wants to do and where he's wanting to go. 06:44.440 --> 06:49.720 And so I'm going to begin. I'm just going to do my best, not try to re-preach a message per se. 06:50.260 --> 06:55.780 I'm going to, by the Holy Spirit, allow him to tailor fit it for here. 06:56.660 --> 07:02.360 And there will be a lot of overlap. And I'm going to begin in Genesis chapter 11. 07:02.600 --> 07:06.960 If you have Bibles, or you guys throw it up on the screen, however you do that here. 07:07.260 --> 07:12.100 Or you can just listen as I read. But I'm going to go to Genesis chapter 11. 07:12.420 --> 07:16.120 And this is where we find the story of the Tower of Babel. 07:19.370 --> 07:24.690 We're going to start here and just see how the Spirit of God moves this morning. 07:26.750 --> 07:30.290 Genesis chapter 11, I'm going to read verses one through four. 07:32.030 --> 07:36.550 Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. 07:36.750 --> 07:42.430 And it came to pass as they journeyed from the east that they found a plane in the land of Shinar. 07:42.630 --> 07:46.330 And they dwelt there. Then they said to one another, 07:46.530 --> 07:49.030 Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly. 07:50.070 --> 07:53.350 They had brick for stone and had asphalt for mortar. 07:53.350 --> 08:02.130 And they said, Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower whose top is in the heavens. 08:02.890 --> 08:09.750 Let us make a name for ourselves lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth. 08:10.950 --> 08:21.490 Now this story is indicative of the framework of the ancient world and how they viewed worship. 08:21.490 --> 08:25.490 How they viewed their interaction with the supernatural world. 08:26.210 --> 08:33.310 Now, if you would just for a moment, let's just set aside perhaps what we perceive as the validity 08:34.150 --> 08:37.990 as to how they perceived the supernatural workings of the world 08:37.990 --> 08:42.810 and just look at how they looked at the supernatural workings of the world. Are you with me? 08:43.990 --> 08:48.710 Sometimes we look at the ancient world in the way that they worshiped, 08:49.570 --> 08:52.970 the way that they did things in family and agriculture and life. 08:53.130 --> 08:59.850 And we say, oh, what a bunch of superstitious, archaic people that they thought this way and they did these things. 09:00.090 --> 09:06.890 Well, in actuality, I would say, I would argue that there are some things the ancient world understood 09:06.890 --> 09:12.290 about the nature of the working of the supernatural world that we do not understand. 09:13.450 --> 09:19.470 You have a particular sliver of the mountain New Testament Christian 09:19.470 --> 09:24.250 as far as the dynamics and complexity of the supernatural world, 09:24.330 --> 09:30.470 but there is far more going on in the heavenlies than you could possibly wrap your mind around. 09:32.330 --> 09:37.850 And so the Bible probably with intentionality leaves some of those things open 09:37.850 --> 09:44.210 because it is dealing with a particular sliver of human life and redemption 09:44.210 --> 09:48.590 and not dealing with everything because the book's not big enough to hold all of it. 09:51.230 --> 09:54.190 And none of you are going to get through this in a lifetime anyway. 09:54.770 --> 10:00.010 In fact, it's going to take all of eternity for us to digest everything that's in this book 10:00.010 --> 10:01.270 and everything that God created. 10:01.270 --> 10:08.470 Now, with that being said, the people of the ancient world viewed high places. 10:08.610 --> 10:12.590 Everyone say high places. High places as significant. 10:14.070 --> 10:21.510 You'll see that all throughout the Old Testament were when the people of Israel came into the promised land in Canaan, 10:21.870 --> 10:25.530 they had to go in and deal with high places. 10:25.530 --> 10:31.690 And throughout Israel's history, they even got wrapped up and involved in pagan worship, 10:31.970 --> 10:34.710 which involved high places. 10:34.970 --> 10:37.190 And that was not just a metaphoric term. 10:37.330 --> 10:41.430 This is talking literal geography, mountains, and hills. 10:42.330 --> 10:48.490 And in the ancient world, the perception was that high places were significant 10:48.490 --> 10:52.310 because they were seats of geographical authority. 10:52.310 --> 11:03.130 And those high places represented where ruling beings would rule that geographical location, 11:04.350 --> 11:07.390 whether man-made or natural. 11:08.490 --> 11:09.450 You follow me? 11:09.770 --> 11:15.530 So what's taking place here in Genesis chapter 11 is they have this theology 11:15.530 --> 11:21.290 that if there's a mountain or a high place in a geographical location, 11:21.290 --> 11:28.210 that is where the gods come, sit in that place, and lead and rule from that place. 11:29.130 --> 11:32.870 So they had in mind, we're going to build a tower all the way to heaven. 11:33.170 --> 11:38.730 And the god of our choosing is going to come and we're going to build an altar up there. 11:38.830 --> 11:44.410 We'll be able to worship him or them, and we'll have connection with that deity. 11:44.750 --> 11:46.090 That's what's happening right here. 11:46.670 --> 11:51.970 Now when they got close to finishing the tower, we're not sure how far they got along, 11:53.050 --> 11:54.210 a god came down. 11:56.230 --> 11:59.390 But it wasn't the god of their choosing or the god that they expected, 11:59.570 --> 12:02.010 it was Yahweh, the one true god. Whoops. 12:05.500 --> 12:06.780 That's not the god we wanted. 12:11.270 --> 12:13.010 So they had this theology. 12:14.190 --> 12:18.190 If you build a mountain or you can get to one, see, they were in the plain of Shinar. 12:18.750 --> 12:21.230 No mountains, no hills around. You know what we need to do. 12:21.330 --> 12:24.570 We need to build a mountain so that a god can come down and rule over us. 12:26.150 --> 12:33.830 So mountains are significant because they represent points of geographical authority. 12:34.830 --> 12:44.010 And so it was common for in the ancient world, at the top of mountains, people would build altars. 12:45.670 --> 12:52.350 And that is where you would go to be closer to god and to worship him, 12:52.570 --> 12:59.410 and hopefully commune with him because he would come down to that mountain 12:59.410 --> 13:01.470 and meet you there at that location. 13:04.950 --> 13:06.630 Genesis chapter 28. 13:07.830 --> 13:13.470 So begin to hold these pieces in your mind, and we're going to attempt to 13:13.470 --> 13:17.730 put them together like a puzzle. 13:18.610 --> 13:20.090 Genesis chapter 28. 13:22.590 --> 13:24.170 And I'm going to begin in verse 10. 13:26.590 --> 13:29.970 Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. 13:30.570 --> 13:34.770 So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night because the sun had set. 13:35.410 --> 13:39.250 And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head 13:39.250 --> 13:41.190 and he lay down in that place to sleep. 13:41.190 --> 13:49.110 Then he dreamed and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth and its top reached to heaven. 13:50.190 --> 13:55.570 And there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13:56.570 --> 13:59.590 And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, 13:59.670 --> 14:04.450 I am the Lord, God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac 14:04.450 --> 14:06.590 and the land on which you lie. 14:06.770 --> 14:10.050 I will give to you and your descendants. 14:12.990 --> 14:16.970 You know what Jacob's looking at in this dream, in this visitation? 14:17.870 --> 14:19.690 He's looking at a mountain. 14:20.190 --> 14:24.650 It's described as a ladder, but this is in the supernatural, in the spirit. 14:25.010 --> 14:29.710 This is a mountain with steps leading toward heaven. 14:30.630 --> 14:37.590 If you've ever been to a place in South America or Mexico or seen in pictures, 14:37.590 --> 14:40.590 I know I can remember back to sixth grade social studies class 14:41.440 --> 14:47.410 where they showed us pictures of Tagusa Galpa and Mochipichu 14:47.410 --> 14:49.350 if I'm pronouncing those places correctly. 14:49.670 --> 14:52.110 Have you guys ever heard of those names or seen those places? 14:52.530 --> 14:59.050 They are giant pyramid type structures built by people on different continents 14:59.670 --> 15:02.870 who spoke different languages separated by thousands of years. 15:03.110 --> 15:05.150 They all built similar structures. 15:06.070 --> 15:07.710 Isn't that interesting? 15:08.310 --> 15:09.410 Must be a coincidence, right? 15:11.190 --> 15:16.710 There are pyramid type structures with steps leading up, going up to the top 15:16.710 --> 15:19.750 to the precipice of this man-made mountain 15:19.750 --> 15:23.930 where there are altars and blood sacrifices made at the top. 15:24.810 --> 15:28.330 That is probably what they were constructing at the Tower of Babel, 15:28.650 --> 15:31.290 a tower that looked like it's called a ziggurat. 15:31.750 --> 15:32.890 Have you ever heard that word? 15:33.930 --> 15:35.890 That's probably what was being constructed 15:35.890 --> 15:38.070 and probably what Jacob saw in his dream. 15:38.790 --> 15:40.110 Where did they get the idea? 15:40.230 --> 15:44.430 Where did the ancient people get this idea to build something that looked like that? 15:44.530 --> 15:45.630 Because it was a real thing. 15:47.130 --> 15:50.390 And Jacob saw into the spirit world and he saw the real thing. 15:51.650 --> 15:55.690 And it was at this place that he calls Bethel. 15:56.830 --> 15:57.910 You know what that means? 15:59.050 --> 15:59.950 House of God. 16:01.230 --> 16:03.510 He saw the mountain of God and he says, 16:03.710 --> 16:06.470 Surely the Lord is in this place and I didn't know it. 16:08.230 --> 16:11.230 And the next morning, why don't we just keep reading. 16:12.310 --> 16:14.690 I'm going to jump down to verse 16. 16:15.470 --> 16:17.530 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, 16:17.710 --> 16:21.070 Surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it. 16:21.570 --> 16:22.910 And he was afraid and said, 16:23.010 --> 16:24.430 How awesome is this place? 16:24.770 --> 16:26.930 This is none other than the house of God. 16:26.930 --> 16:30.190 And this is the gate of heaven. 16:30.470 --> 16:32.990 Mountains were perceived as gateways, 16:33.550 --> 16:37.510 open doors, portals into the supernatural world. 16:40.770 --> 16:43.570 Then Jacob rose early in the morning, verse 18. 16:43.570 --> 16:46.470 And he took the stone that he had put at his head, 16:47.090 --> 16:48.670 set it up as a pillar, 16:49.610 --> 16:51.990 and poured oil on the top of it. 16:52.330 --> 16:55.190 And he called the name of that place Bethel. 16:55.190 --> 16:58.150 But the name of the city had been loosed previously. 16:59.090 --> 17:01.770 We're going to come back to this picture, this idea. 17:01.970 --> 17:04.210 He has his head on a stone that he pours oil on. 17:05.010 --> 17:08.350 He pours the anointing on top of this rock 17:08.350 --> 17:10.470 that his head was resting on. 17:10.790 --> 17:13.470 But we see this idea, this framework, 17:13.650 --> 17:15.910 and it wasn't just unique to pagan cultures. 17:16.470 --> 17:21.010 It was amidst the people of God as well 17:21.010 --> 17:25.690 that they saw high places as significant 17:25.690 --> 17:27.870 for worshiping God. 17:28.710 --> 17:31.450 And that's going to be important as we move forward here. 17:32.290 --> 17:34.110 Exodus chapter 3, go with me. 17:34.410 --> 17:37.050 We're just going to cut through some scriptures here. 17:37.190 --> 17:39.250 Exodus chapter 3, and this actually brings us to 17:39.250 --> 17:43.330 the picture that's behind me, this beautiful picture. 17:45.930 --> 17:48.850 Exodus chapter 3, and I'm going to begin in verse 1. 17:48.850 --> 17:52.670 And then Moses was tending the flock of Jethro, 17:52.810 --> 17:55.270 his father-in-law, the priest of Minion. 17:55.990 --> 17:59.230 And he led the flock to the back of the desert 17:59.830 --> 18:03.430 and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 18:05.810 --> 18:06.050 Hmm. 18:08.030 --> 18:12.210 Moses leads his flock out of the way 18:12.850 --> 18:16.370 to the backside of the desert to this place 18:16.370 --> 18:20.010 that undoubtedly, you see, his father was Jethro, 18:20.170 --> 18:23.110 the priest of Minion, who worshiped Yahweh. 18:25.190 --> 18:28.850 And I bet his father-in-law had conversations with him 18:28.850 --> 18:30.110 that said, you know what, boy, 18:30.190 --> 18:31.790 when you see smoke on top of that mountain, 18:34.450 --> 18:35.610 that's the mountain of God. 18:37.850 --> 18:39.350 And if there's smoke up there, 18:40.230 --> 18:43.110 if you see fire up there, God is there. 18:46.660 --> 18:49.240 And I bet Moses was just curious enough 18:50.000 --> 18:51.600 to say, let's take the flock over here. 18:51.640 --> 18:52.800 I just want to walk around this mountain 18:52.800 --> 18:54.420 and just see what I see. 18:55.900 --> 18:57.200 And he got close enough 19:00.280 --> 19:03.320 that he sees fire up on this mountain, 19:03.740 --> 19:05.140 the mountain of God, verse 2. 19:06.660 --> 19:09.240 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him 19:10.120 --> 19:13.540 in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. 19:15.980 --> 19:17.640 Don't just run past this. 19:17.760 --> 19:21.120 There's an angel of the Lord in the middle of this bush. 19:21.720 --> 19:24.960 That expression is always in reference 19:24.960 --> 19:27.500 to the pre-incarnate Christ in the Old Testament. 19:29.600 --> 19:32.340 There's a man in that bush, and he's on fire, 19:32.500 --> 19:33.700 and he's not being consumed. 19:34.480 --> 19:35.620 This is Jesus. 19:37.360 --> 19:39.280 This is the man of fire. 19:39.920 --> 19:42.220 This is the baptizer in fire. 19:42.220 --> 19:46.020 Standing in a bush on the mountain of God, 19:46.380 --> 19:49.880 and he calls to Moses and says, come up here. 19:53.200 --> 19:55.180 The angel of the Lord appeared to him 19:55.180 --> 19:57.240 in a flame of fire from the midst of the bush. 19:57.580 --> 19:59.200 So he looked and behold, 19:59.540 --> 20:01.380 the bush was burning with fire, 20:01.620 --> 20:03.500 but the bush was not consumed. 20:03.740 --> 20:07.740 Then Moses said, I will now turn aside 20:07.740 --> 20:09.980 and see this great sight. 20:09.980 --> 20:11.840 I'm going to stop doing what I'm doing, 20:12.380 --> 20:14.960 turn from what I'm doing, turn towards God, 20:15.280 --> 20:16.880 and watch what God does in his life. 20:17.120 --> 20:21.080 I'm going to see why the bush does not burn, verse 4. 20:21.600 --> 20:24.060 So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, 20:24.180 --> 20:26.560 God called to him from the midst of the bush 20:26.560 --> 20:28.960 and said, Moses, Moses. 20:29.700 --> 20:30.940 And he said, here I am. 20:31.500 --> 20:34.600 Then he said, do not draw near this place. 20:35.340 --> 20:37.360 Take your sandals off your feet 20:37.360 --> 20:39.380 for the place where you stand. 20:39.380 --> 20:43.120 Is holy ground. 20:46.720 --> 20:49.000 See, there is a reality 20:49.520 --> 20:51.800 that you can find God anywhere. 20:55.330 --> 20:57.510 But there is also a reality 20:57.510 --> 20:59.530 that God chooses places to be. 21:03.460 --> 21:07.920 And it's incumbent upon the believer, 21:08.380 --> 21:09.580 the person of God, 21:10.120 --> 21:12.120 to be where God is. 21:15.060 --> 21:17.980 You've probably all heard this preached and teached before, 21:18.180 --> 21:20.980 that there were 500 people that Jesus appeared to 21:20.980 --> 21:23.220 after the resurrection, right? 21:24.160 --> 21:25.920 Taught for 40 days and 40 nights. 21:26.060 --> 21:27.480 And he said, don't leave here, 21:27.760 --> 21:31.280 but stay in Jerusalem until you receive the promise. 21:33.400 --> 21:35.520 Well, the day of Pentecost comes, 21:35.680 --> 21:38.020 50 days after that first Saturday of Passover, 21:38.020 --> 21:40.620 and there's how many in the upper room? 21:41.860 --> 21:42.460 120. 21:42.980 --> 21:44.760 Where's the other 380? 21:47.560 --> 21:50.160 Being at the right place at the right time 21:50.160 --> 21:53.640 when God shows up is significant and is important. 21:54.160 --> 21:55.780 You can get God in your kitchen, 21:55.880 --> 21:58.340 but you can't get him like you got him this morning 21:58.340 --> 21:59.940 when we were all worshiping together 21:59.940 --> 22:04.100 in corporate anointing and unison. 22:06.200 --> 22:08.840 Being at the wrong place at the wrong time 22:08.840 --> 22:10.900 is, as they say, no bueno. 22:12.940 --> 22:16.100 There is something to being in the right place 22:16.100 --> 22:18.120 at the right time when God is there 22:18.120 --> 22:20.480 and God is moving that makes all of the difference. 22:21.960 --> 22:25.660 And Moses happens to be at the right place 22:25.660 --> 22:30.240 at the right time, encounters Jesus in a burning bush 22:30.240 --> 22:33.120 and gets directives that change the course 22:33.120 --> 22:35.020 for his whole life in ministry. 22:35.940 --> 22:37.440 You see, at the age of 40, 22:37.660 --> 22:39.940 he had this thing probably working in him. 22:40.000 --> 22:42.800 We see this as Stephen preaches in Acts chapter 7 22:42.800 --> 22:44.780 that he was the deliverer, 22:44.880 --> 22:47.440 the one sent to set Israel free 22:47.440 --> 22:48.960 from their bondage and captivity. 22:49.420 --> 22:50.820 And by the arm of the flesh, 22:51.040 --> 22:53.440 he killed an Egyptian taskmaster 22:53.440 --> 22:55.640 thinking surely the people are going to be like, 22:55.840 --> 22:56.840 hey, this is our guy. 22:57.960 --> 22:59.560 The people of God look at him 22:59.560 --> 23:00.880 and say, who do you think you are? 23:02.420 --> 23:04.320 I'm like, ah, that just crushed him. 23:05.280 --> 23:09.040 So he runs away from his calling 23:09.040 --> 23:10.200 at the age of 40 23:10.200 --> 23:12.780 and spends the next 40 years 23:12.780 --> 23:16.700 in the wilderness tending sheep 23:16.700 --> 23:18.360 and goats 23:21.520 --> 23:23.140 following dirty animals. 23:24.360 --> 23:27.280 And I imagine it took all of those 40 years 23:27.280 --> 23:30.300 for that thing of ministry 23:31.020 --> 23:33.300 to die on the inside of him. 23:36.580 --> 23:38.540 And at the age of 80, 23:39.400 --> 23:42.360 he's thinking, my best years are behind me. 23:44.400 --> 23:47.200 Time to wind it up, time to wind this thing down. 23:49.620 --> 23:51.260 Entering into my golden years, 23:51.520 --> 23:53.960 I never did what I thought God wanted me to do. 23:56.140 --> 23:58.620 God says you're ripe for the picking now, boy. 23:59.760 --> 24:02.320 Now that that thing is dead on the inside of you, 24:02.500 --> 24:03.820 you were going to do it by your flesh. 24:03.940 --> 24:05.260 Now I'm going to bring it back to life. 24:05.440 --> 24:06.700 I needed it to die 24:06.700 --> 24:09.340 so that I could put resurrection life in you. 24:09.920 --> 24:12.060 And now you're going to do ministry my way. 24:12.640 --> 24:15.220 Now you're going to lead the people out of slavery my way. 24:15.340 --> 24:18.060 Not on your timetable, not with your wisdom 24:18.060 --> 24:18.820 and your know-how. 24:19.100 --> 24:21.260 Now it's going to be me working through you. 24:21.400 --> 24:23.820 I needed you to get weak and feeble 24:23.820 --> 24:27.120 and unable to do it in your natural strength. 24:27.280 --> 24:28.120 Now I can use you. 24:28.840 --> 24:30.560 Now you're not so full of yourself. 24:30.780 --> 24:31.920 Now I can use you. 24:32.120 --> 24:33.640 You've emptied yourself of yourself. 24:34.060 --> 24:35.300 Now let me fill you with me. 24:36.760 --> 24:38.460 And so at the age of 80, 24:41.040 --> 24:43.600 for the first day in his life, 24:43.720 --> 24:46.240 he steps in to the ministry 24:46.240 --> 24:48.820 and calling that God had ordained 24:49.500 --> 24:50.840 before the foundation of the world. 24:51.560 --> 24:53.560 And one of the most significant men 24:53.560 --> 24:54.860 in all of human history, 24:54.960 --> 24:56.820 one of the most significant men 24:56.820 --> 25:00.460 in God's plan and vision and purpose for ministry. 25:01.020 --> 25:02.580 He didn't start until he was 80. 25:04.820 --> 25:05.260 Wow. 25:06.180 --> 25:09.580 And he has this encounter on this mountain. 25:09.960 --> 25:11.640 The mountain that the Bible describes 25:11.640 --> 25:14.040 as the mountain of God. 25:15.440 --> 25:18.320 And he says, this place is so significant. 25:19.300 --> 25:21.520 My life is revolutionized. 25:21.700 --> 25:23.160 I'm going to take the word of God 25:23.160 --> 25:24.800 and he told me to go back, 25:25.120 --> 25:26.160 lead his people out. 25:26.420 --> 25:27.680 I'm going to go get them 25:27.680 --> 25:29.440 and I'm bringing them back here. 25:29.860 --> 25:31.960 I'm not taking them anywhere else. 25:32.280 --> 25:34.220 That wasn't God's final plan, 25:34.280 --> 25:37.000 but he said I've got to get those people 25:37.000 --> 25:39.740 to this place so that they can see, 25:40.080 --> 25:42.740 worship and know that God that I have seen 25:42.740 --> 25:44.220 worshipped and known. 25:44.900 --> 25:45.380 Amen. 25:47.380 --> 25:50.480 Because of an encounter on a mountain top. 25:57.470 --> 25:58.810 Isaiah chapter 2. 26:01.610 --> 26:02.930 Isaiah chapter 2. 26:04.490 --> 26:07.010 Man, the presence of God is really good in this place. 26:09.390 --> 26:11.010 I don't feel like I have to rush. 26:11.170 --> 26:12.830 I don't feel like I have to... 26:13.970 --> 26:15.890 I could read the phone book up here. 26:15.890 --> 26:23.980 And everyone under 25 is like, 26:25.780 --> 26:27.100 what's a phone book? 26:32.710 --> 26:34.810 Isaiah chapter 2 and verse 3. 26:37.370 --> 26:39.470 Many people shall come and say, 26:41.330 --> 26:43.410 come and let us go up 26:44.210 --> 26:46.430 to the mountain of the Lord, 26:47.810 --> 26:50.870 to the house of the God of Jacob, 26:51.530 --> 26:53.230 he will teach us his ways 26:53.230 --> 26:55.030 and we shall walk in his paths, 26:55.230 --> 26:58.310 for out of Zion shall go forth the law 26:58.310 --> 27:00.530 and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 27:02.490 --> 27:05.070 Now, I'm not going to go through... 27:05.070 --> 27:07.630 I'll give you a couple other Scripture references 27:07.630 --> 27:09.210 that you can look up in your own time. 27:09.610 --> 27:11.570 But I think we have established 27:11.570 --> 27:13.430 that there is significance 27:14.210 --> 27:16.470 to mountains and high places, 27:16.650 --> 27:18.570 that the people in the ancient world 27:18.570 --> 27:20.990 at least saw them as significant. 27:22.170 --> 27:24.250 You see, in Revelation chapter 22, 27:24.430 --> 27:25.650 chapter 21, excuse me, 27:26.010 --> 27:29.770 when John sees the new heaven and new earth 27:30.990 --> 27:34.590 coming down and landing on planet earth, 27:35.650 --> 27:36.830 you know what he's seeing? 27:37.290 --> 27:39.670 He's seeing a city that is a mountain. 27:42.550 --> 27:44.110 It's described as a mountain. 27:46.370 --> 27:48.010 If you've ever looked at pictures 27:48.010 --> 27:49.510 or if you've ever been to Jerusalem, 27:50.190 --> 27:51.250 the whole city is a mountain. 27:52.930 --> 27:55.470 That's why it's not just metaphoric speech 27:55.790 --> 27:57.810 when in the Psalms or other places 27:57.810 --> 27:59.030 and here in Isaiah, they say, 27:59.050 --> 28:01.250 let us go up to the house of God. 28:01.370 --> 28:03.070 Let us go up to Jerusalem. 28:03.310 --> 28:05.770 This is not just folksy speech. 28:06.130 --> 28:08.290 This is literal, geographical. 28:08.730 --> 28:09.930 We have to travel up. 28:09.990 --> 28:11.410 We have to traverse up a hill, 28:11.750 --> 28:13.310 up a mountain to get to Jerusalem. 28:13.570 --> 28:16.310 Because from Jerusalem, it's a mountain 28:16.310 --> 28:18.830 and it's down in every direction. 28:19.070 --> 28:21.350 There's valleys on every side of Jerusalem. 28:22.290 --> 28:24.870 It's situated on a mountain. 28:26.210 --> 28:28.170 God's city, where he put his name. 28:29.430 --> 28:31.990 You can write down this passage of Scripture. 28:32.330 --> 28:34.630 Haggai chapter 1 verse 8 28:34.630 --> 28:37.550 talks about going up to the mountain. 28:38.290 --> 28:39.990 Let's turn there. I'm sorry. 28:41.010 --> 28:42.090 This is significant. 28:43.370 --> 28:44.530 Haggai chapter 1. 28:46.310 --> 28:46.950 Verse 8. 29:04.650 --> 29:05.790 Situated right between 29:06.770 --> 29:08.170 Zephaniah and Zechariah 29:08.170 --> 29:08.810 and the Old Testament. 29:10.130 --> 29:11.830 Haggai chapter 1 verse 8. 29:14.290 --> 29:15.470 Go up to the mountains 29:15.470 --> 29:17.270 and bring wood 29:18.530 --> 29:19.910 and build the temple 29:19.910 --> 29:21.970 that I may take pleasure in it 29:21.970 --> 29:23.370 and be glorified. 29:25.810 --> 29:27.910 Now, we're... I don't want to get 29:27.910 --> 29:29.110 too far ahead of myself, 29:29.130 --> 29:31.050 but that's what's taking place 29:31.050 --> 29:32.070 Am I oriented right? 29:32.290 --> 29:33.490 That the new building is 29:33.970 --> 29:36.390 just like where I was pointing right over here. 29:36.950 --> 29:38.390 That's where the new building is. 29:41.150 --> 29:42.050 That's going to be 29:43.050 --> 29:43.910 a mountain 29:45.290 --> 29:46.170 for the Lord. 29:48.850 --> 29:50.790 Where people go and find God. 29:54.020 --> 29:55.940 And we're going to connect those things. 29:56.100 --> 29:57.720 And here we see in Haggai 29:57.720 --> 29:59.040 and the book of Haggai is describing 29:59.040 --> 30:01.720 Listen, you live in your nice house 30:02.540 --> 30:04.540 while my house, God speaking, 30:05.320 --> 30:06.120 is in shambles. 30:06.540 --> 30:07.520 Shame on you. 30:10.220 --> 30:11.120 Now go up to the mountain 30:11.120 --> 30:14.100 and build my house. 30:17.320 --> 30:18.240 Frankly put, 30:19.000 --> 30:20.960 his house is more important than your house. 30:24.340 --> 30:26.540 It seems to me that somewhere in 30:26.540 --> 30:28.340 Matthew, perhaps chapter 6, 30:28.340 --> 30:30.440 maybe verse 33, that Jesus 30:30.440 --> 30:32.380 said something along these lines. 30:32.920 --> 30:34.940 Seek first your business. 30:35.460 --> 30:35.940 No? 30:36.780 --> 30:37.960 Sorry, mess that up. 30:38.560 --> 30:41.360 Seek first your marriage 30:41.360 --> 30:42.200 and family. 30:42.840 --> 30:43.320 Hold on. 30:43.960 --> 30:44.700 It'll come to me. 30:46.600 --> 30:47.860 Seek first 30:49.040 --> 30:50.720 his kingdom. 30:53.320 --> 30:55.840 And nothing else will be added to you. 30:56.960 --> 30:58.160 No, I messed it up again. 30:59.440 --> 31:00.700 Seek first his kingdom 31:00.700 --> 31:01.720 and guess what? 31:03.220 --> 31:03.860 All things. 31:04.320 --> 31:05.640 Which means the very provision 31:05.640 --> 31:07.240 that you need to build his kingdom 31:07.680 --> 31:08.340 comes to you. 31:09.200 --> 31:10.480 And then the very provision 31:10.480 --> 31:11.900 that you need to build your life, 31:12.060 --> 31:14.460 your family, your business, your kids 31:14.460 --> 31:16.380 also comes to you. 31:17.140 --> 31:18.420 It says it will be added to you. 31:18.760 --> 31:20.680 There's an implication that it follows you. 31:20.780 --> 31:21.500 It tracks you down. 31:22.360 --> 31:24.420 But if you're facing the wrong way 31:24.420 --> 31:26.040 and you're chasing things, 31:26.540 --> 31:27.980 if you're chasing money, 31:28.460 --> 31:29.920 stuff, provision, 31:30.900 --> 31:32.740 a claim, you'll grasp 31:32.740 --> 31:33.900 and you'll never reach it. 31:34.100 --> 31:35.540 But if you're chasing the kingdom, 31:35.820 --> 31:37.700 all of those other things are chasing you. 31:37.940 --> 31:40.060 And when you're pointed in the right direction, 31:40.360 --> 31:42.440 chasing his kingdom, all of the things 31:42.440 --> 31:44.300 that you thought you wanted 31:44.300 --> 31:46.100 and needed end up finding you, 31:46.400 --> 31:48.740 tracking you down, finding themselves 31:49.420 --> 31:50.360 in your life. 31:51.180 --> 31:53.260 But the person that chases money 31:54.000 --> 31:54.880 and provision 31:55.460 --> 31:57.500 that chases satisfaction 31:57.500 --> 31:58.780 outside of God, 31:59.180 --> 32:00.580 when they get to the end of their life, 32:00.660 --> 32:02.420 guess what they have? Neither God 32:02.420 --> 32:03.540 nor satisfaction. 32:04.620 --> 32:06.640 But the person that chases God 32:06.640 --> 32:09.200 and his desires, his wants, 32:09.400 --> 32:10.820 when they get to the end of their life, 32:10.920 --> 32:12.780 guess what they have? They have both God 32:12.780 --> 32:15.040 and all of the other stuff that the world chases. 32:15.920 --> 32:16.980 But all of the other stuff, 32:17.080 --> 32:17.820 it doesn't mean anything. 32:18.400 --> 32:21.040 It's just icing. It's just comfortability. 32:21.580 --> 32:23.520 But if you're chasing a comfortable flesh, 32:23.620 --> 32:25.160 it's going to be tough to find God. 32:30.420 --> 32:32.100 Micah chapter 4 verse 12, 32:32.180 --> 32:33.060 you can write that down. 32:34.100 --> 32:35.540 And I'm going to go to Genesis 32:36.920 --> 32:39.080 chapter 12, Genesis chapter 12. 32:39.320 --> 32:41.040 But you can write down for a scripture reference. 32:41.540 --> 32:43.300 Micah chapter 4 and verse 12. 32:50.780 --> 32:52.000 Genesis chapter 12, 32:52.020 --> 32:54.080 and we're going to do a small 32:54.080 --> 32:55.080 survey here of 32:55.780 --> 32:56.920 Abraham and his 32:56.920 --> 32:57.580 family. 32:59.920 --> 33:00.620 Journeys. 33:03.160 --> 33:05.500 You can also write down First Kings 33:05.500 --> 33:06.940 chapter 14 33:07.580 --> 33:09.000 and verse 23. 33:12.760 --> 33:14.960 And go study those in your 33:15.620 --> 33:16.560 spare time. 33:18.080 --> 33:19.780 Genesis chapter 12, 33:20.200 --> 33:21.760 beginning in verse 1, 33:22.500 --> 33:23.100 or excuse me, 33:23.700 --> 33:24.900 let's jump down to verse 4. 33:25.800 --> 33:26.760 So Abraham 33:26.760 --> 33:28.900 departed as the Lord had spoken 33:28.900 --> 33:30.560 to him, and Lot went 33:30.560 --> 33:32.600 with him. And Abraham 33:32.600 --> 33:34.520 was 75 years old 33:34.520 --> 33:35.920 when he departed from Heron. 33:36.660 --> 33:38.320 Then Abraham took 33:38.320 --> 33:40.720 Sarah, his wife, and Lot, his brother's son 33:40.720 --> 33:42.280 and all their possessions, 33:42.580 --> 33:44.420 and they gathered in the people 33:44.420 --> 33:46.820 whom they had acquired in Heron 33:46.820 --> 33:48.380 and they departed to go 33:48.380 --> 33:50.220 to the land of Canaan. 33:51.700 --> 33:52.700 So they came 33:52.700 --> 33:53.780 to the land of Canaan. 33:54.360 --> 33:55.660 and Abraham passed 33:55.660 --> 33:57.080 through the land 33:57.080 --> 33:58.520 to the place of Shechem 33:59.520 --> 34:01.300 as far as the terribent tree 34:01.300 --> 34:03.640 of Mora and the Canaanites 34:04.380 --> 34:05.580 were in the land. 34:05.800 --> 34:07.300 We'll pause right there for a moment. 34:08.100 --> 34:09.980 Abraham was not born 34:09.980 --> 34:11.900 into a godly family. 34:13.400 --> 34:15.680 He was born down in what 34:15.680 --> 34:17.640 would become the land of Babylon 34:17.640 --> 34:19.860 and the land of the Ur of the Caldians. 34:20.920 --> 34:22.180 And they worshiped 34:22.740 --> 34:23.980 other deities. They looked 34:23.980 --> 34:26.040 up at the sun, moon, and stars 34:26.040 --> 34:28.300 and worshiped those heavenly bodies 34:28.300 --> 34:30.500 and built idols to them 34:30.500 --> 34:32.420 and had their own high places 34:32.420 --> 34:34.400 in Babylon where they would go 34:34.400 --> 34:35.580 and they would worship 34:35.580 --> 34:37.440 these false gods. 34:39.560 --> 34:40.980 And sometime at 34:42.160 --> 34:43.500 in his life, 34:43.740 --> 34:44.440 his father 34:45.800 --> 34:47.640 has this unction 34:47.640 --> 34:49.740 to pick up everything that they have 34:49.740 --> 34:51.380 move his whole family 34:51.380 --> 34:53.200 and start journeying 34:54.100 --> 34:55.930 towards the promised land. 34:57.500 --> 34:59.520 Different family events take place 34:59.520 --> 35:02.120 along the journey. One of Abraham's 35:02.120 --> 35:03.360 brothers dies. 35:03.700 --> 35:05.120 His father says, that's enough. 35:05.420 --> 35:06.960 I'm going to stop right here. 35:08.160 --> 35:10.040 And it seems like at that moment 35:10.040 --> 35:10.540 Abraham 35:11.680 --> 35:12.940 hears a call 35:13.920 --> 35:15.080 from Yahweh. 35:17.640 --> 35:19.640 Pick up, leave your family 35:19.640 --> 35:21.900 and go to a place that I will show you. 35:24.060 --> 35:25.680 So at midlife 35:25.680 --> 35:27.380 he's 75 years old. 35:27.500 --> 35:29.640 That's a little, maybe a little past midlife. 35:31.100 --> 35:32.760 Seems like God has a 35:34.540 --> 35:35.580 hankering or a pension 35:35.580 --> 35:37.760 for using people that think 35:39.180 --> 35:40.160 they're too old. 35:43.680 --> 35:44.700 Just let that sit. 35:46.740 --> 35:47.680 Yeah, too old. 35:48.660 --> 35:51.060 Nudge your neighbor and say, you're too old. 35:53.840 --> 35:55.560 Just right for God to use you. 35:56.320 --> 35:58.140 Just right for God to use you. 36:00.260 --> 36:02.180 So at the tender age of 75 36:02.180 --> 36:03.460 he hears this calling 36:03.460 --> 36:04.500 from God. 36:05.060 --> 36:06.500 Who he does not know 36:06.500 --> 36:08.480 and has not previously worshiped 36:08.480 --> 36:10.800 in any capacity. So this is why 36:10.800 --> 36:12.300 he's described as the man of faith 36:12.300 --> 36:14.220 because he worshiped other gods. 36:15.220 --> 36:17.320 And now he hears this voice. 36:17.900 --> 36:19.000 And we're not sure 36:19.000 --> 36:20.820 in what capacity, whether he saw 36:20.820 --> 36:22.220 in physicality, 36:23.280 --> 36:24.840 whether he heard a voice 36:24.840 --> 36:26.680 from the sky, or whether he just had 36:26.680 --> 36:28.280 an internal knowing. 36:28.620 --> 36:29.700 We're not exactly sure. 36:30.740 --> 36:32.420 But he's told by God, 36:32.800 --> 36:34.000 pick up, leave your family 36:34.000 --> 36:36.040 and go to a place that I will show you. 36:36.260 --> 36:38.120 And guess what? He's just crazy enough 36:38.120 --> 36:39.060 to do it. 36:41.580 --> 36:42.680 But he has 36:42.680 --> 36:43.780 a theology 36:44.520 --> 36:46.120 about the nature of where 36:46.120 --> 36:49.020 and how God is to be worshiped. 36:49.560 --> 36:51.040 And watch what he does. 36:52.280 --> 36:53.960 Picking up here in verse 7, 36:54.160 --> 36:55.840 then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, 36:56.260 --> 36:58.400 to your descendants I will give this land. 36:58.860 --> 37:00.120 He's in Canaan now. 37:00.580 --> 37:02.660 To your descendants I will give this land. 37:02.840 --> 37:04.800 And there he built an altar 37:04.800 --> 37:05.680 to the Lord 37:06.460 --> 37:07.620 who had appeared to him. 37:08.380 --> 37:10.140 And he moved from there 37:10.140 --> 37:12.140 to the mountain 37:12.140 --> 37:13.760 east of Bethel. 37:14.460 --> 37:15.660 And he pitched his tent 37:15.660 --> 37:18.460 with Bethel on the west and AI on the east. 37:18.920 --> 37:20.180 There he built an altar 37:20.180 --> 37:22.460 to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord. 37:23.780 --> 37:25.780 So what's taking place here 37:26.680 --> 37:28.500 is that he goes 37:28.500 --> 37:30.440 into what would become 37:30.440 --> 37:32.840 known as the promise land. 37:34.160 --> 37:36.020 And he seeks out, 37:36.120 --> 37:36.820 guess what? 37:36.820 --> 37:38.240 Mountains. 37:40.340 --> 37:42.300 And it seems like, 37:42.380 --> 37:44.340 because we're going to follow Abraham's story here, 37:44.640 --> 37:47.080 that he is moved strategically 37:47.080 --> 37:49.900 by God to certain mountains. 37:50.380 --> 37:51.800 And on those mountains 37:51.800 --> 37:52.720 he builds 37:52.720 --> 37:54.140 an altar. 37:54.940 --> 37:57.220 And he worships 37:57.220 --> 37:58.860 God at those places. 38:01.120 --> 38:02.720 This is so big. 38:04.000 --> 38:04.900 In Shechem 38:08.190 --> 38:09.370 this is 38:10.050 --> 38:11.710 these two mountains 38:11.710 --> 38:12.950 here in Shechem 38:12.950 --> 38:14.230 from verse 6. 38:14.350 --> 38:16.130 He passed through the land, the place of Shechem 38:16.130 --> 38:18.530 as far as the terribent tree 38:18.530 --> 38:19.110 of Mora. 38:19.630 --> 38:21.510 And the Canaanites were in that land. 38:22.150 --> 38:24.150 The Canaanites were probably 38:24.150 --> 38:24.950 giant people. 38:27.330 --> 38:28.010 And 38:28.450 --> 38:30.230 the trees were significant 38:30.230 --> 38:32.690 because the trees at the top 38:32.690 --> 38:34.050 of mountains is where they would 38:34.050 --> 38:35.330 basically have church services. 38:35.850 --> 38:37.290 Under a sprawling tree 38:37.830 --> 38:39.950 that's where they would go, sit down, 38:40.890 --> 38:42.310 be taught or instructed 38:42.310 --> 38:43.890 and worship and sacrifice 38:43.890 --> 38:44.690 to their God. 38:46.410 --> 38:47.290 So this mountain 38:48.050 --> 38:49.770 these mountains, Garazim 38:49.770 --> 38:51.330 Mount Garazim and Mount Ebel 38:51.330 --> 38:53.230 you can go research that. 38:53.490 --> 38:55.330 We don't have time to get into their significance. 38:55.690 --> 38:57.450 It's phenomenal if you go study 38:57.450 --> 38:58.190 these things out. 38:58.710 --> 39:01.050 But these mountains 39:01.050 --> 39:03.430 were already being used 39:03.430 --> 39:04.750 for worship. 39:07.170 --> 39:08.850 But they were being used 39:08.850 --> 39:10.830 for the worship of other Gods. 39:12.250 --> 39:13.110 So when 39:13.110 --> 39:14.750 Abram comes in 39:15.810 --> 39:17.410 climbs the mountain 39:17.410 --> 39:19.190 and builds an altar 39:19.190 --> 39:20.910 to a different God. 39:21.070 --> 39:21.750 You know what he's saying? 39:22.630 --> 39:24.710 You remember how I described a mountain 39:24.710 --> 39:27.870 spoke of geographical authority. 39:28.290 --> 39:29.670 Where that God 39:29.670 --> 39:31.050 who lived on that mountain 39:31.330 --> 39:32.350 ruled that area. 39:33.590 --> 39:35.090 So when Abraham 39:35.670 --> 39:36.830 walks in 39:37.670 --> 39:40.030 to a place, to a geographical location 39:40.030 --> 39:41.370 climbs a mountain 39:41.370 --> 39:43.250 builds a different altar 39:43.250 --> 39:45.430 and worships Yahweh. 39:45.710 --> 39:46.430 You know what he's saying? 39:47.650 --> 39:49.850 This mountain belongs to Yahweh. 39:50.650 --> 39:51.990 This location, 39:52.190 --> 39:53.750 this land is now 39:53.750 --> 39:55.750 property of God. 39:56.970 --> 39:58.350 It's a declaration 39:58.350 --> 40:00.950 of war against the false Gods 40:00.950 --> 40:02.050 who had occupied 40:02.050 --> 40:04.830 and ruled that geographical location. 40:05.710 --> 40:06.750 And altar 40:06.750 --> 40:08.030 on the top of a mountain 40:08.030 --> 40:09.250 spoke, hey! 40:10.190 --> 40:12.050 Every false God, every deity 40:12.050 --> 40:14.510 that's listening under the sound of my voice 40:14.510 --> 40:16.470 that can see this smoke and this fire 40:16.470 --> 40:17.770 coming up from this altar. 40:18.150 --> 40:20.390 This land and these people now belong to God. 40:23.030 --> 40:25.010 That's exactly what's taking place. 40:29.070 --> 40:30.190 Jump down to 40:30.190 --> 40:30.930 to verse 40:34.000 --> 40:35.840 or excuse me, chapter 13. 40:36.020 --> 40:37.480 Genesis chapter 13. 40:38.080 --> 40:39.320 So we see Abraham 40:39.320 --> 40:41.140 build two altars there. 40:41.360 --> 40:43.140 One at Shechem and one at Mora. 40:43.280 --> 40:44.180 Both on mountains. 40:44.760 --> 40:46.940 Chapter 13 and verse 18. 40:49.120 --> 40:51.180 Then Abraham moved 40:51.180 --> 40:53.240 his tent. You'll notice at the first place 40:53.240 --> 40:54.540 he pitched his tent there. 40:54.640 --> 40:56.660 He built his house, 40:56.660 --> 41:00.140 his life there where he worshiped. 41:00.320 --> 41:02.260 Chapter 13, he moves again. 41:03.160 --> 41:04.800 He moved his tent and went and dwelt 41:04.800 --> 41:06.300 by the terribent trees 41:06.300 --> 41:07.800 of Mamre again. 41:08.640 --> 41:10.880 These trees are significant. These are the trees 41:10.880 --> 41:12.100 where people went 41:12.660 --> 41:14.880 and worshiped underneath these trees 41:14.880 --> 41:16.080 false Gods 41:16.860 --> 41:18.840 which are in Hebron 41:18.840 --> 41:19.980 Mount Hebron 41:19.980 --> 41:22.140 and built an altar there 41:22.360 --> 41:23.200 to the Lord. 41:23.200 --> 41:25.820 Now, it's interesting 41:25.820 --> 41:27.020 if you take these places 41:27.020 --> 41:29.260 and you begin to dot them out on a map 41:29.260 --> 41:31.160 you'll see Abraham is going 41:31.160 --> 41:32.040 strategically 41:32.920 --> 41:34.740 and he's taking geography 41:34.740 --> 41:36.320 for Yahweh. 41:39.370 --> 41:41.190 I don't even know what Abraham 41:42.210 --> 41:42.790 knew 41:42.790 --> 41:44.450 conceptually what he was doing 41:44.450 --> 41:46.570 but I do think he had a theology 41:46.570 --> 41:48.610 that understood mountains are 41:48.610 --> 41:50.830 significant. That is where 41:50.830 --> 41:52.550 people go and build altars 41:52.550 --> 41:53.830 and worship their God. 41:54.750 --> 41:56.390 And if I'm going to move into 41:56.390 --> 41:58.510 a place I'm not competing with other 41:58.510 --> 42:00.910 gods. I'm going to climb that mountain 42:00.910 --> 42:02.790 I'm going to go right to the devil 42:02.790 --> 42:04.350 I'm going to punch him right in the face 42:04.350 --> 42:06.570 I'm not messing around, I'm not wasting time 42:06.570 --> 42:08.230 I'm going to go up to that mountain 42:08.230 --> 42:10.670 build an altar and worship Yahweh 42:10.670 --> 42:12.330 and declare that soil 42:12.330 --> 42:14.390 that geography belongs to God. 42:19.310 --> 42:21.750 And then if you go over to chapter 22 42:21.750 --> 42:23.630 in verse 9 you know that 42:23.630 --> 42:25.550 on the top of Mount Moriah 42:26.870 --> 42:27.790 he took 42:27.790 --> 42:29.990 his grown son Isaac 42:29.990 --> 42:31.650 up to the top of that mountain 42:31.650 --> 42:33.550 and he was going to sacrifice him 42:36.180 --> 42:37.100 and he has 42:37.100 --> 42:38.960 him tied up with the wood 42:38.960 --> 42:40.920 and he has the sword or the 42:40.920 --> 42:42.920 dagger, the knife drawn 42:42.920 --> 42:44.720 and he's about ready to 42:44.720 --> 42:47.140 sacrifice his son 42:47.140 --> 42:48.400 the promised child 42:49.000 --> 42:50.600 having reasoned within himself 42:50.600 --> 42:52.780 that God could raise him from the dead 42:54.400 --> 42:55.000 and 42:55.000 --> 42:56.380 a voice came from heaven 42:56.380 --> 42:58.780 in chapter 22 it describes it as 42:58.780 --> 43:00.360 the angel of the Lord 43:00.360 --> 43:01.440 called to him 43:01.440 --> 43:03.040 that's Jesus 43:04.600 --> 43:06.640 saying don't harm the boy 43:06.640 --> 43:09.320 just a few short years from now 43:09.320 --> 43:11.320 it's going to be me on this mountain 43:11.320 --> 43:12.740 hanging on the wood 43:12.740 --> 43:14.580 sacrificing myself 43:14.580 --> 43:16.180 for the sins of the world 43:19.980 --> 43:26.320 That's not the sun to be sacrificed, but I needed to see that you are willing. I'm the sun that will be 43:26.320 --> 43:40.920 sacrificed here. On a mountain, Abraham built altars in the future promised land, declaring it to be 43:40.920 --> 43:53.320 property of Yahweh. Every church is an altar and a declaration of war that this territory now belongs 43:53.320 --> 44:02.920 to God. Every true church is an altar where people go to sacrifice their lives, their finance, their 44:02.920 --> 44:08.860 time, their all that they have and all that they ever will be to sacrifice that to the one true 44:08.860 --> 44:21.300 living God. Now let's get to the mountain. Go with me to Matthew chapter 16. Matthew chapter 16. 44:24.680 --> 44:35.480 Every real church pokes the devil in the eye. It's a declaration of war. And when a church 44:36.420 --> 44:43.060 either by necessity or by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit decides this is no longer big enough, 44:43.560 --> 44:51.300 this mountain is not big enough for the God that we serve. We need a bigger altar. 44:53.560 --> 44:59.320 It is describing, it is telling Satan and all the false gods in the neighborhood 44:59.320 --> 45:08.060 that your influence is shrinking. The kingdom of God is expanding and your influence is shrinking. 45:08.520 --> 45:14.480 It's a declaration of war. And that ought not scare you. 45:16.620 --> 45:19.500 Because you've been made more than conquerors in Christ Jesus. 45:21.440 --> 45:26.800 Which means that He does the conquering and you do the enjoyment. 45:28.700 --> 45:32.740 Which makes you, not the conqueror, more than the conqueror. 45:38.020 --> 45:45.520 You see when I heard, any of you know R. W. Shambach? Years ago I heard him give this 45:45.520 --> 45:51.020 illustration of more than a conqueror. And he had somebody come up and say, 45:51.100 --> 45:54.860 what's more than a conqueror mean? He says, let me describe it like this. 45:54.960 --> 45:57.620 I don't know if I can do his voice. Let me describe it like this. 45:58.320 --> 46:03.920 A prize fighter, heavyweight fighter gets into the ring for a championship bout 46:03.920 --> 46:10.380 and they trade blows for 15 rounds. And that one, the other guy punches his face repeatedly 46:10.380 --> 46:15.600 pounding his flesh into an omelet and he's got bloody eyes and they're swollen clothes. 46:15.880 --> 46:19.660 And at the end of 15 rounds, he lifts his hands up and declares, 46:19.920 --> 46:25.560 he is the champion, he is the victor. And at the end of all of that, 46:25.560 --> 46:32.320 he walks home with his championship belt and his check in hand and hands it to his small wife. 46:34.120 --> 46:40.340 It says, there you go baby. It's all for you. That is more than a conqueror. 46:40.900 --> 46:43.900 She did none of the battling but enjoys all of the benefits. 46:45.340 --> 46:49.740 That's you as a believer. You didn't have to shed your blood, he did it for you. 46:53.920 --> 47:00.480 Where was I? Matthew. Matthew chapter 16. 47:02.740 --> 47:13.260 Hallelujah. And I'm going to pick up in verse 13. 47:17.410 --> 47:22.830 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples saying, 47:23.430 --> 47:29.650 who do men say that I, who do, who do men say that I, the son of man, am? 47:32.170 --> 47:40.030 So they said, some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. 47:40.650 --> 47:49.350 He said to them, but who do you say that I am? Who do you say that he is? 47:52.460 --> 47:59.660 Simon Peter answered and said, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. 48:02.180 --> 48:08.160 Jesus answered and said to him, blessed are you Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not 48:08.160 --> 48:16.000 revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter 48:16.840 --> 48:25.660 and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades or hell shall not prevail against it. 48:26.840 --> 48:32.100 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on earth will 48:32.100 --> 48:39.820 be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. So we see here 48:40.960 --> 48:51.240 Jesus drawing out of Peter the revelation that he is the son of the living God, the Christ, the Messiah. 48:52.500 --> 48:58.620 And Jesus says something very interesting. He says on this rock I will build my church. He says 48:58.620 --> 49:04.640 Peter, you are Peter, not his real name. That was the name that Jesus gave him. He was Simon. 49:05.500 --> 49:11.920 But he renamed him Peter, which in the Greek if you look it up really refers to pebble. 49:14.000 --> 49:20.960 Little rock. And he says on this rock, not you little Peter, you are a little rock. 49:22.320 --> 49:28.200 Which is why Peter later writes we are all living stones being built into the house of God. 49:29.280 --> 49:32.660 He had a revelation of that from here when Jesus was talking to him. 49:34.300 --> 49:42.460 Peter is not the rock on whom the church is built. There are large portions of the 49:42.460 --> 49:49.160 church or the body at large that believe that. That's not what Jesus is saying. Jesus is saying 49:49.160 --> 49:56.980 you are a pebble. And on this rock I'm going to build my church. What's that rock? 49:58.080 --> 50:04.400 It is Jesus, but it's not just Jesus. It's the revelation that he is the Son of the living God. 50:07.650 --> 50:14.530 What's he describing? He's saying, this revelation that I am the Son of the living God, 50:14.750 --> 50:20.130 that I am the I am, that spoke out of the burning bush to Moses, and I am the I am, 50:20.310 --> 50:26.170 that spoke out of heaven to Abraham as he was getting ready to sacrifice Isaac. The revelation 50:26.170 --> 50:32.250 that I am, the Son of the living God, is the revelation on which the New Testament church will 50:32.250 --> 50:42.070 be built. And if you have this revelation indoctrinated in the believers, the gates of hell 50:42.070 --> 50:50.950 won't be able to stand against it. A true church has the revelation that Jesus is the way and 50:50.950 --> 50:58.270 the only way. And he is the truth and the life and nobody comes to him but by, nobody comes to 50:58.270 --> 51:07.890 the Father but by him. He's the only gate, he's the only door of entry. That revelation is the 51:07.890 --> 51:16.810 rock. Speaking of, there's a new mountain in town. You don't have to travel to a geographical 51:16.810 --> 51:23.650 location because what I'm about to do, that Jerusalem can't contain it. There's not enough 51:23.650 --> 51:30.910 geographical space for everybody who's going to believe in me to gather in this town to worship God. 51:32.090 --> 51:40.230 So I need a new mountain that is mobile, that lives on the inside of people in the heart of 51:40.230 --> 51:50.190 man. And that new mountain will be the revelation that I am the Son of God. And on that revelation, 51:50.450 --> 51:58.210 I build my church. And the gates of hell won't prevail against it. The imagery that's being 51:58.210 --> 52:06.610 painted there, the gates of hell not prevailing against the true church is this. The gates 52:06.610 --> 52:18.320 are not mobile, they're stationary, and they're defensive. I had this picture probably hearing 52:18.320 --> 52:23.080 this verse when I was growing up, when I was a child, and I would hear this verse. I used to 52:23.080 --> 52:28.580 think I had this picture in my mind, which I now understand is wrong, that when Satan attacks, 52:29.040 --> 52:35.120 there's protection, and God protects me and he fights against the devil for me. That's true, 52:35.830 --> 52:43.200 but that is not what he's describing here. What he is describing here is the gates of hell, 52:43.800 --> 52:51.180 those are stationary, and those are defensive. And when the church moves into new geographical 52:51.180 --> 52:58.370 territory, it tears down the gates of hell, rips them open because they can't stand against the 52:58.370 --> 53:05.510 true church. It's speaking of the church taking territory and ground for the kingdom of God, 53:07.610 --> 53:14.510 and establishing new mountains, which is the revelation of Jesus as the Christ, 53:14.770 --> 53:25.800 the Son of the Living God. The church is the altar built by men on the mountain of God 53:29.670 --> 53:39.930 for that city, for that geographical location. It declares war on the forces of darkness and 53:39.930 --> 53:53.470 is a place to come and worship God. Mark chapter 11. Mark chapter 11. Praise the Lord. 53:58.160 --> 54:02.390 I think when this becomes alive on the inside of you, it excites you about doing 54:02.390 --> 54:09.270 anything and everything for God, and especially the great high privilege of building him a house 54:10.130 --> 54:21.210 where his presence can come. Moses never entered the promised land, did he? 54:22.510 --> 54:25.430 But he paved the way for the people of God to get there. 54:27.090 --> 54:31.290 And so there's an element of your life, and you need to recognize this, 54:31.290 --> 54:38.090 that whether you see it or the next generation sees it, it doesn't matter. It's all to the glory of God. 54:40.110 --> 54:45.570 And one of the fundamental natures of the church is that it's a generational institution. 54:46.890 --> 54:53.610 And the reason that you're here is because there were men and women long ago before you were 54:53.610 --> 55:00.290 born that were willing to pay a price through prayer, through study, through giving, 55:01.610 --> 55:07.790 so that this very building can exist, so that you can even have this Bible in your lap this morning. 55:08.570 --> 55:13.990 There were people who paid a dear price to have this translated in English and printed 55:13.990 --> 55:21.530 all over the world. And you enjoy the benefits of that. The church and Christianity 55:21.530 --> 55:28.110 is a generational institution, and you must have a generational mindset that what I am doing 55:28.110 --> 55:32.410 is setting the table for people, for my posterity, for children and grandchildren, 55:32.810 --> 55:40.050 and great-grandchildren who come after me. And I am so sure of this, I am so confident 55:40.050 --> 55:46.670 that Jesus is the Son of the Living God. Whether I touch any of the benefits, whether I touch 55:46.670 --> 55:54.290 any of the comforts of this life, it means nothing to me. But I will lay it all down so that they 55:54.290 --> 55:59.690 have a better, something better than what I ever touched or knew in this life. 56:02.010 --> 56:06.190 I am not willing for my children to start from scratch where I started. 56:09.070 --> 56:12.250 But your life, you ought to deem your life a springboard, 56:13.130 --> 56:20.470 a trampoline for the next generation to jump off of, and go exponentially further than what you 56:20.470 --> 56:29.630 ever did. That's selfless living that you give it all so that somebody else can gain. 56:31.570 --> 56:39.090 Mark chapter 11, let me pick up here in verse 12. 56:53.750 --> 57:03.270 Now the next day, they had come from Bethany. He was hungry. And seeing from afar a fig tree having 57:03.270 --> 57:09.690 leaves, he went to see if perhaps he would find something on it. And when he came to it, 57:09.730 --> 57:15.590 he found nothing but leaves. For it was not the season for figs. In response, Jesus said to 57:15.590 --> 57:21.210 it, let no one eat fruit from you ever again, and his disciples heard it. 57:23.630 --> 57:29.730 Jump down to verse 20. Now in the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried 57:29.730 --> 57:36.250 up from the roots. And Peter, remembering, said to him, Rabbi, look, the fig tree which you 57:36.250 --> 57:44.610 cursed is withered away. I want to give you a reference point for what's taking place here. 57:44.610 --> 57:49.970 There's layers of truth being revealed. Do you remember in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve 57:49.970 --> 58:00.910 sinned? They realized their nakedness and they hid from God. Their first instinct, they felt shame 58:00.910 --> 58:07.990 and guilt, which is appropriate when you sin. And they hid from God, and their first instinct 58:07.990 --> 58:15.430 was to find a covering. Do you remember what they used? They sewed fig leaves together. 58:17.570 --> 58:25.070 And fig leaves, you could say in this context, is emblematic of man's own attempt 58:26.750 --> 58:32.270 to cover shame, guilt, and sin. It's man-made religion. 58:34.430 --> 58:43.090 It's a picture of man-made religion. And the fig tree, without getting too far down that road, 58:43.210 --> 58:48.830 because it maybe steers us away from where we're going, the fig tree represented the priesthood, 58:49.250 --> 58:54.610 and Jesus is bringing an indictment on the ministry that's taking place in his day, 58:54.810 --> 59:00.770 but he's also bringing an indictment on man-made religion, because it's fruitless. 59:02.270 --> 59:07.090 It produces no fruit. So, as he walks by, he says, 59:07.950 --> 59:16.230 may no man eat fruit from you ever again, and it withers from the roots. It loses its capacity 59:16.230 --> 59:25.110 to draw substance from the soil and live any longer. And within a 24-hour period, they walk 59:25.110 --> 59:30.630 by. This thing is withered from the roots, and it's dry. And they walk by, the disciples 59:30.630 --> 59:36.830 having heard what Jesus said, they look at it, and Peter says, Master, man, your words work quick. 59:37.570 --> 59:40.310 Look at that thing. It's withered from the roots. It's dried up. 59:41.770 --> 59:48.730 So, the backdrop here is Jesus is describing, he's dealing with man-made religion. 59:50.090 --> 59:55.850 In verse 22, Jesus answered and said to them, have faith in God. Probably in Greek, 59:55.850 --> 01:00:03.430 it would be rendered more accurately, have the faith of God. Believe like God believes. Did you 01:00:03.430 --> 01:00:10.550 know that God actually functions in the realm of faith? How do you think he created the world? 01:00:12.930 --> 01:00:15.910 It was dark, and God looked out and said, man, it's dark out here. 01:00:18.330 --> 01:00:23.810 No? It was dark, and he looked out and said, let there be light. He called those things into 01:00:24.410 --> 01:00:29.510 that should be as though they were, right? Even God functions in the realm of faith. 01:00:30.090 --> 01:00:34.710 Even throughout all of eternity, Christian, after you die and leave this earth, you're going to function 01:00:35.350 --> 01:00:42.490 in faith. Right now, this 100 years of life, whatever you have here on planet earth, this 01:00:42.490 --> 01:00:50.170 is training ground for how you will deal in the kingdom of God into eternity. And if you 01:00:50.170 --> 01:00:59.200 don't learn faith here, you'll have to learn it there. Just poking at you just a little bit. 01:01:01.000 --> 01:01:04.860 See that the next life is not just a relief. There's still work to be done, 01:01:05.400 --> 01:01:11.880 and it all still gets done by faith, by grace through faith. Jesus answered, have 01:01:12.840 --> 01:01:18.660 God's kind of faith. For assuredly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 01:01:18.660 --> 01:01:24.520 be removed and be cast into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes those things 01:01:24.520 --> 01:01:30.120 which he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. He's dealing with man-made religion. 01:01:31.520 --> 01:01:38.460 Are you getting a picture? He's talking about a mountain. He says, when you encounter a mountain, 01:01:39.020 --> 01:01:44.000 listen, fellas, when you encounter a mountain and you speak to it in faith and tell it to 01:01:44.000 --> 01:01:50.700 be picked up and removed, it will obey you. What's he talking about? A mountain that's been 01:01:50.700 --> 01:01:58.000 set up and established to worship other gods, other ideas, false deities that are not God 01:01:58.000 --> 01:02:04.040 himself, that are not Yahweh. You can walk into geographical locations where man-made 01:02:04.040 --> 01:02:12.180 religions have been set up and say, mountain, be removed. Yahweh is taking over this 01:02:12.180 --> 01:02:18.580 geography in this location. The mountain of false deity be picked up and removed. 01:02:19.380 --> 01:02:22.200 You're no longer welcome here. This place belongs to God. 01:02:24.740 --> 01:02:32.800 It works when you do it in faith. That's what Abraham was doing. He was walking through 01:02:32.800 --> 01:02:39.980 the promised land, walking up mountains, establishing altars by faith. He probably 01:02:39.980 --> 01:02:45.240 didn't have everything all figured out, but if you just obey, if you just go and do in faith, 01:02:45.500 --> 01:02:54.360 watch what God does in your midst. Watch what God does in your midst. Our nation is hurting. 01:02:56.880 --> 01:03:07.410 Our nation is dying on the vine. We no longer need revival. We need resurrection. 01:03:11.100 --> 01:03:17.100 Because the Christian principles and the biblical standards upon which this 01:03:17.100 --> 01:03:21.340 nation were founded upon, man, if we brought them back today, 01:03:22.480 --> 01:03:28.920 80% of the country wouldn't know what to do. Did you know that the original 13 colonies 01:03:30.380 --> 01:03:36.900 had the 10 commandments at one time or another in their written law, in their codex of law? 01:03:41.770 --> 01:03:47.430 Can you imagine living in a society where it's illegal to dishonor the Sabbath? 01:03:52.530 --> 01:03:56.770 Where if you do it too many times, the police show up at your door and say, 01:03:56.790 --> 01:03:58.810 listen, we noticed that you haven't been going to church. 01:04:01.430 --> 01:04:09.350 You laugh, but there was a state of time in our nation where that was considered normal 01:04:09.350 --> 01:04:23.490 and right and appropriate. And we have built mountains to other gods in this nation. 01:04:24.570 --> 01:04:29.570 And we put up a billboard in front of that mountain and we say Jesus. 01:04:31.130 --> 01:04:35.090 We paint a cross on it and we think that makes it Christian. 01:04:36.290 --> 01:04:41.710 What makes it Christian is the revelation that Jesus is the only way 01:04:41.710 --> 01:04:48.390 and his word is the standard by how we live, worship and treat one another. 01:04:51.740 --> 01:04:58.410 We have become culturally Christian while leaving Christ out of our culture. 01:05:02.140 --> 01:05:09.130 We have built mountains of convenience, of comfort, of seeker friendly. 01:05:11.750 --> 01:05:13.430 And God hates it. 01:05:15.370 --> 01:05:23.250 And he needs real churches like this one that will plant their flag in the ground for God. 01:05:23.930 --> 01:05:29.570 And say, we don't have authority everywhere, but we got authority here. 01:05:31.530 --> 01:05:33.330 Because God gave it to us. 01:05:34.070 --> 01:05:39.130 And so we're taking this physical geography for God. 01:05:40.390 --> 01:05:47.950 We're describing this literal soil as property of Yahweh and it is no longer in the hands of 01:05:47.950 --> 01:05:55.310 Satan or the kingdom of darkness anymore. And to the extent that he allows us to expand 01:05:55.310 --> 01:06:01.270 our influence and build the kingdom, we will go, we will do, we will run and we will run hard 01:06:01.270 --> 01:06:07.530 with all that we have and all of our lives and all of our resources. Isn't that what God wants? 01:06:07.650 --> 01:06:14.770 You know that's what he wants. But it's difficult in a dirty perverted world where you don't see it 01:06:14.770 --> 01:06:20.070 being done everywhere around you. You need a roadmap that doesn't come from what you see 01:06:20.070 --> 01:06:25.550 around you. We're on Christian TV. You need a roadmap that comes straight from the Holy Spirit 01:06:25.550 --> 01:06:30.290 and from this book. Come on, that's how Abraham had to live. He didn't have a roadmap. 01:06:30.290 --> 01:06:33.790 He didn't have somebody telling him, this is how you worship God. This is, 01:06:33.830 --> 01:06:37.230 this is the seven steps to hearing from the Holy Spirit. He had none of that. 01:06:37.770 --> 01:06:42.190 He had to just go and he learned along the way and he made mistakes. 01:06:44.170 --> 01:06:49.590 So to you with you word of life, you just got to go. You got to pick up and run 01:06:50.510 --> 01:06:56.850 because the time is short. I said the time is short in Revelation 01:06:58.210 --> 01:07:05.550 chapter 22. Jesus talking to John says 2000 years ago, the time is short. 01:07:07.450 --> 01:07:17.060 We're so close. We're so close to the end. We're so close to the end. And there's, there's 01:07:17.060 --> 01:07:27.940 hmm. When the millennium, the millennial kingdom comes, Jesus is going to rule 01:07:29.240 --> 01:07:36.020 from the throne of David. I'm talking about a real chair in Jerusalem. 01:07:38.140 --> 01:07:49.140 And for 1000 years, the law of God is established, justice, peace, righteousness, reset on the earth. 01:07:50.140 --> 01:07:55.760 And the manner in which he gets things done outside of Jerusalem. How's he going to get 01:07:55.760 --> 01:08:06.200 something done in central Minnesota? Through a church. Because you got natural people still 01:08:06.200 --> 01:08:12.480 being born on planet earth. And they need to be taught the word of God. This is how you behave. 01:08:12.660 --> 01:08:17.060 This is how you treat others. This is how you worship. This is how you come and present your 01:08:17.060 --> 01:08:22.140 tithes and worship God in this fashion. Where do you go to learn those things? You go to the 01:08:22.140 --> 01:08:28.100 altar on the mountain of God. That's called a church. There's going to be churches built. 01:08:29.080 --> 01:08:33.080 And I want to encourage you. I feel like this, this is, this is good for you. I want 01:08:33.080 --> 01:08:40.660 to encourage you. If Jesus comes back three years from now and you are just wrapping up 01:08:40.660 --> 01:08:45.420 that building project, you haven't lost anything, that building is going to get used for 1000 years. 01:08:48.620 --> 01:08:59.500 Can I prophesy that? I just did. Sometimes we look at life with such a narrow 01:09:00.060 --> 01:09:08.000 short view. And I'm telling you that there's things on the other side that are coming. And what 01:09:08.700 --> 01:09:14.600 there are true churches being built, established, and expanded right now on planet earth that Jesus 01:09:14.600 --> 01:09:19.840 has in mind. The time is so short. It's only going to be used for two, five, ten years 01:09:19.840 --> 01:09:25.140 before I come back. But it's going to be used for a thousand years when I'm ruling out of 01:09:25.140 --> 01:09:32.860 Jerusalem. And I need places that I can send people to go get taught, to go get trained. 01:09:34.680 --> 01:09:41.900 What you're doing here is not a small thing. You are participating with the living God and 01:09:41.900 --> 01:09:49.140 what he is doing on planet earth right now. What a special treasure to be called worthy, 01:09:49.280 --> 01:09:54.380 to be called significant enough to partner with what God is doing on planet earth. 01:09:55.160 --> 01:10:01.580 So I just want to implore you as somebody who is not from around here, not from within your midst 01:10:01.580 --> 01:10:06.800 that I see what God is doing in your midst. And just keep going and move and give everything 01:10:06.800 --> 01:10:11.920 that you have. Run with all of your might and give it all for God because he's doing 01:10:11.920 --> 01:10:15.460 something wonderful in your midst. And the world around you needs it. 01:10:17.620 --> 01:10:18.980 Never slow up. 01:10:24.920 --> 01:10:30.880 Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Isn't God wonderful and mighty? 01:10:33.360 --> 01:10:34.000 Hallelujah. 01:10:37.100 --> 01:10:37.620 Hallelujah. 01:10:40.220 --> 01:10:45.300 Is that keyboard player still around? Did he go home? Did he hit the buffet too? 01:10:51.370 --> 01:10:56.010 Hallelujah. What's your name? Brian. God bless you. 01:10:57.550 --> 01:11:10.560 Go and lift your hands towards heaven. Oh God, we want to be sold out for you. 01:11:12.960 --> 01:11:15.420 Father, in those areas where we've been selfish, 01:11:16.760 --> 01:11:41.790 short-sighted, or we ask for your forgiveness, God, I ask now for an impartation into these people 01:11:43.890 --> 01:11:52.730 of strength. The days ahead 01:11:55.590 --> 01:12:02.830 will be rough for the world, but glorious for the church. And it will take 01:12:02.830 --> 01:12:13.490 supernatural strength to stay connected to the vine. Strength beyond what is physical or emotional. 01:12:16.530 --> 01:12:18.290 Holy Spirit, touch your people now. 01:12:23.570 --> 01:12:26.510 Supernatural strength imparted to them. 01:12:27.730 --> 01:12:31.610 Divine connection to the body. 01:12:34.330 --> 01:12:39.770 That while others fall by the wayside, these stay planted. They stay rooted. They stay connected. 01:12:42.090 --> 01:12:47.930 Connected to the word. Connected to the anointing. Connected to the leadership. 01:12:49.850 --> 01:12:53.070 Rightly connected to you through your body. 01:12:57.420 --> 01:13:05.040 Father, I speak to provision from the north, south, east, west. 01:13:06.960 --> 01:13:13.040 Come, but don't just come in any old-fashioned finances. You come through the hands of these people 01:13:13.610 --> 01:13:21.790 in Jesus' name. Pass through these hands in Jesus' name. 01:13:25.840 --> 01:13:33.000 Use your people to be ministers of finances to your house. 01:13:34.420 --> 01:13:41.640 God, this brings you great pleasure. This brings glory to your name. That it doesn't just fall out 01:13:41.640 --> 01:13:50.500 of the sky, but it passes through the hands of your people. And it simultaneously builds your 01:13:50.500 --> 01:13:58.000 kingdom and becomes seed that multiplies back to them. I speak to businesses in this place. 01:14:00.900 --> 01:14:09.380 Business owners be multiplied. Business be multiplied. Increase in Jesus' name. 01:14:10.800 --> 01:14:13.400 Supernatural increase in Jesus' name. 01:14:15.760 --> 01:14:18.340 Supernatural increase in Jesus' name. 01:14:22.440 --> 01:14:27.180 Wisdom, discernment, wisdom, discernment. 01:14:35.120 --> 01:14:39.280 There are some people that need to be hired and some people that need to be fired. 01:14:40.480 --> 01:14:46.140 There's expansion that needs to be done. Building projects for businesses that need to take 01:14:46.140 --> 01:14:55.820 place. You need supernatural wisdom. There are problems that only have solutions that come 01:14:55.820 --> 01:15:05.020 from God in this room. There's no natural solution. There's no man-made, invented idea out 01:15:05.020 --> 01:15:14.560 of your mind. You need God-inspired solutions. Holy Spirit, I ask that you release that into your 01:15:14.560 --> 01:15:40.120 people now. Prophetic dreams, be released into your people. Hallelujah. I feel God moving in this place. 01:16:29.600 --> 01:16:32.300 All that is in your heart to do, Lord God. 01:16:34.820 --> 01:16:47.260 Plant it in our hearts now. All that is in your heart to do, plant it in our hearts now. 01:16:48.240 --> 01:17:07.990 So seamlessly that it's almost like it was our idea. And at the end of all things, at the end 01:17:08.710 --> 01:17:11.910 Jesus be magnified and no one else. 01:17:14.710 --> 01:17:24.310 God be exalted and no one else forever, forever. 01:17:27.390 --> 01:17:35.480 Oh, we worship you, Lord. We thank you. We thank you and we praise you. 01:17:39.090 --> 01:17:48.330 That you've chosen this place and you've chosen this people. What a high privilege, what a high honor. 01:17:53.280 --> 01:17:59.500 And we're not running alone. There's other true churches that are building altars towards you 01:18:00.680 --> 01:18:08.780 all over this globe. And there's going to be a time in heaven when we touch people from 01:18:09.200 --> 01:18:20.160 every other nation and language. And we hear stories that describe what God did through them. 01:18:22.260 --> 01:18:37.670 And it will sound like our story. Glory to your name. 01:18:53.150 --> 01:18:55.950 Now, Holy Spirit, move through this place. 01:19:00.110 --> 01:19:03.810 Breathe through this place and bring refreshing to your people. 01:19:06.370 --> 01:19:08.030 Refreshing in Jesus' name. 01:19:10.750 --> 01:19:16.490 Refreshing for the weary souls. Refreshing for weary bodies. 01:19:21.260 --> 01:19:26.940 Tormenting spirits in Jesus' name. You'll be mute and you'll be silenced. 01:19:27.360 --> 01:19:31.860 Your assignment's done. You can move on. You're done. Leave. Go ahead and leave now in Jesus' name. 01:19:34.020 --> 01:19:43.220 Spirit of oppression and anxiety. You leave in Jesus' name. I speak sweet sleep. 01:19:44.820 --> 01:19:48.500 Sweet sleep to your people in Jesus' name. 01:19:56.420 --> 01:20:00.620 Refreshing in Jesus' name. Refreshing in Jesus' name. 01:20:03.820 --> 01:20:05.840 Go ahead and drink it in. Drink it in. 01:21:30.880 --> 01:21:37.440 After Pastor Josh was done speaking at TBO last night, I mentioned to your dad. 01:21:40.420 --> 01:21:43.960 I said, wow, what a gift for Red Lake. 01:21:49.410 --> 01:21:51.630 And the Lord corrected me this morning. 01:21:53.250 --> 01:22:00.070 He said, this is not a gift. He said, this is part of my strategic plan. 01:22:02.590 --> 01:22:12.730 He said, there is a gateway that will open not only for this side but from the other side 01:22:12.730 --> 01:22:19.070 because it's been prophesied revival will come into this nation from Canada through the north. 01:22:21.590 --> 01:22:32.510 He said, I need these two people to be where I'm sending them, to not only prepare 01:22:34.410 --> 01:22:41.790 but to hold that gateway because I'm going to come through it. 01:22:48.430 --> 01:22:51.510 So it's much, much, much more than a gift. 01:22:53.530 --> 01:22:59.210 It's a plan that goes right along with your message this morning. 01:23:06.110 --> 01:23:09.650 Do you know what they called this area where we're in right now? This, 01:23:10.250 --> 01:23:13.650 you know where the church is? When we... 01:23:16.450 --> 01:23:21.830 I'm a guy, I'm trying to do two things at once. So work with me. 01:23:44.340 --> 01:23:48.640 Give me a second. I'll get there. I've got something important to say. 01:23:49.400 --> 01:23:53.400 I'm looking for word of life production 5G so I can screen mirror. 01:23:55.220 --> 01:23:56.920 And it's not coming up. 01:24:02.260 --> 01:24:07.800 And I don't think I have the password. I do not have the password for word of life production. 01:24:10.740 --> 01:24:12.370 So I don't know if the... 01:24:16.020 --> 01:24:18.980 If the guys change things on me, Matt, are you in here? 01:24:19.760 --> 01:24:23.060 Can you help me so I can screen mirror? 01:24:26.680 --> 01:24:29.600 Make that work for me. If you can. 01:24:33.000 --> 01:24:37.040 If you can't hand it on to your son, he can probably do it. 01:24:40.540 --> 01:24:48.220 This area where we are in right now, when we decided to buy this property and refurbish it 01:24:48.220 --> 01:24:57.820 and make it a church, this area east of west of 47 to Princeton is known as the dead zone. 01:24:59.780 --> 01:25:06.000 That's who we were told. You're moving into the dead zone. Nothing lasts there. 01:25:07.860 --> 01:25:12.920 Isn't it just like God to say, watch this, 01:25:15.040 --> 01:25:23.880 watch this. I'm going to take a stubborn German Jew and his radical wife 01:25:28.320 --> 01:25:32.060 and we're going to plant the lamp stand right here. 01:25:34.500 --> 01:25:40.380 That's going to be an altar to me. Now you've heard me say this. Now you understand why I 01:25:40.380 --> 01:25:44.780 said you got to speak that here, man. You've heard me say the short version of this. 01:25:44.780 --> 01:25:52.060 The short version is the reason we're here is God needs a spirit-filled, full gospel, 01:25:52.300 --> 01:25:57.680 penny-costal, charismatic, practicing church in this area. 01:25:59.800 --> 01:26:07.600 Because there is none. There's some who say they are, but you'll get run out of church 01:26:07.600 --> 01:26:10.580 if you start speaking in tongues in a Sunday morning service. 01:26:13.820 --> 01:26:23.380 Well, that's verbiage only. He said, I want a real one here. And we planted our flag 01:26:24.880 --> 01:26:29.900 and he is about to take that altar 01:26:32.940 --> 01:26:39.880 and expand it into a spiritual mountain. If you go to Hebrews 12 verse 22, 01:26:39.880 --> 01:26:46.360 he starts talking about the mountain of Zion, the mountain of God, where people come to receive 01:26:46.360 --> 01:26:56.920 spiritual things. And he's about to plant. He's got an altar here and he's going to enlarge it. 01:26:58.440 --> 01:27:04.880 And he's about to turn it into a mountain, not just for this area. 01:27:04.880 --> 01:27:09.000 Yeah. Did you make it work? Kind of? 01:27:11.640 --> 01:27:19.280 Okay. That'll work. All right. Let's see if we can make this work. This'll be exciting. 01:27:24.350 --> 01:27:26.830 Let's see. Where was I? I was right there. 01:27:30.650 --> 01:27:31.910 Let's see if that helps. 01:27:37.010 --> 01:27:40.310 He's not planting. Now, all of a sudden, it makes sense. 01:27:42.230 --> 01:27:46.330 He's not planting it for this area. He's planting it for that area. 01:27:53.390 --> 01:27:58.330 He's planting it for that region, which this week, Mary and I are going to go and 01:27:58.330 --> 01:28:03.550 level out the east side there below Lake Superior. Get it even with Thunder Bay. 01:28:03.550 --> 01:28:13.900 And what I needed you to see is what we are pouring ourselves into. 01:28:16.740 --> 01:28:24.460 Is a statement. See, now I know why he said, you need to do the fasting and prayer thing. 01:28:24.820 --> 01:28:29.540 You need to speak to the region. You need to deal with witchcraft in the region. 01:28:29.920 --> 01:28:34.880 You need to put up that building. You need to do this. It started way back in 01:28:34.880 --> 01:28:45.040 2008 because I am planting my church and declaring I reign here. 01:28:47.140 --> 01:28:54.460 That's what God is saying. I reign here. That's why this building is too small 01:28:55.570 --> 01:29:01.380 because when we were in the modular middle of a Sunday afternoon, about four o'clock, 01:29:01.960 --> 01:29:08.840 Jim starts prophesying and saying they're going to come from a long ways 01:29:10.360 --> 01:29:16.440 far and near where the exact words... well that ain't... this building ain't going to hold that. 01:29:19.060 --> 01:29:24.260 See, you got to see it from God's side. He's saying, I am taking this region. 01:29:24.820 --> 01:29:30.300 I am destroying witchcraft in this region. I am taking this region as mine 01:29:30.300 --> 01:29:35.020 and we're not the only ones. There's going to be a gateway to the north right up where those two 01:29:35.020 --> 01:29:41.320 lakes are and there's going to be others and it's all going to work together and I am planting 01:29:41.320 --> 01:29:50.420 myself here and raising up a mountain to Almighty God. That's what we're doing. 01:29:52.880 --> 01:30:04.860 That's what we're doing. It takes years for things to play out 01:30:05.680 --> 01:30:08.500 and as the years go on you start seeing it. 01:30:10.840 --> 01:30:17.180 That was no coincidence that we spoke to that region and dealt with witchcraft 01:30:17.180 --> 01:30:23.640 and close it up the same night you spoke this message. That was no coincidence. 01:30:24.800 --> 01:30:29.580 That all ties together in the big picture. 01:30:33.380 --> 01:30:38.820 So now the word ministry means to serve God at your own expense. 01:30:39.420 --> 01:30:42.360 So I'm just going to throw something out there and let the Holy Spirit touch you. 01:30:44.220 --> 01:30:46.300 These two people are moving to Red Lake 01:30:47.760 --> 01:30:54.160 where the service number can vary anywhere from 15 to 40 at this point. 01:30:55.680 --> 01:30:58.960 The building's there. The building's not paid for yet. We're still working on that. 01:31:01.440 --> 01:31:04.480 There's definitely not enough money to support them. 01:31:06.500 --> 01:31:13.020 Definitely not enough money to support them. They're missionaries going to a reservation 01:31:14.980 --> 01:31:22.200 to plant a flag and saying this is no longer going to be for that God. This is going to be for 01:31:22.200 --> 01:31:33.460 our God. They're part of that. They're going there willing to not only serve the church 01:31:34.640 --> 01:31:42.100 but pay their own way. Kind of like we moved up here. That's what it was like when we moved up here. 01:31:43.180 --> 01:31:46.620 God tells you to do something you don't say I can't afford it. You step out in faith 01:31:46.620 --> 01:31:52.640 and God will make a way. If God drops it on your heart at all 01:31:56.190 --> 01:32:02.690 to help support so they can spend more time ministering and less time working. 01:32:05.830 --> 01:32:11.150 Please do that. We can run it through the church. We can do whatever. 01:32:12.510 --> 01:32:14.410 Run it through chief corners still and I don't care. 01:32:16.670 --> 01:32:23.710 But there's a link here. There's a link here. If for no other reason you're parked in our 01:32:23.710 --> 01:32:36.560 region. You moved in our backyard. I wanted you to get the picture what we're doing. 01:32:37.160 --> 01:32:48.380 God is making a statement. Talk to a general contractor a week or two ago. 01:32:49.480 --> 01:32:54.920 Show them everything we're doing. I said you know I know it's going to cost us extra money 01:32:54.920 --> 01:32:59.160 but I prefer that when the shell goes up we have a general contractor doing it so that after 01:32:59.160 --> 01:33:03.520 two three years it stays standing there and doesn't start sagging on one side and things like that. 01:33:04.720 --> 01:33:06.360 So we need a general contractor. 01:33:08.800 --> 01:33:12.900 The thing that God laid on our heart as a congregation not one person was against 01:33:12.900 --> 01:33:18.220 this. The thing that God laid on our heart he looked at that and he said whoa that's big. 01:33:19.480 --> 01:33:25.480 I said I know. I said we could have either done a little piece meal you know here building 01:33:25.480 --> 01:33:29.680 there building and piece it together and eventually end up with that or we're going 01:33:29.680 --> 01:33:33.840 to put up one big building and then put it all inside. He said well this is definitely 01:33:33.840 --> 01:33:39.520 the wiser route to go. It's way cheaper. In the end he said this way cheaper than if 01:33:39.520 --> 01:33:47.560 you put up five buildings. He said but I'll tell you this. This is the biggest thing 01:33:47.560 --> 01:33:56.200 in this whole area. Wouldn't it be God to do that? Wouldn't it just be God to say hey by the way 01:33:56.200 --> 01:34:06.140 I'm taking this area for me and in the dead zone I am going to plant a lamp stand that everybody 01:34:06.840 --> 01:34:16.560 will go whoa there's a church here. That's God. He's asking us to step up in our faith and say 01:34:16.560 --> 01:34:25.520 yeah we're with you. We're with you. Have no clue how this is going to happen but we're going there 01:34:26.920 --> 01:34:33.860 and it's going to take sacrifice on our part. This can't be the leftover change we throw at 01:34:33.860 --> 01:34:40.320 this. This has to be sacrifice on our part that we throw at this because our eternal, 01:34:40.320 --> 01:34:47.720 our reward is eternal. He's making a statement to this area 01:34:49.680 --> 01:34:57.220 and he's asked us to be part of it. That's crazy. You got anything you want to say? 01:34:57.980 --> 01:35:02.080 Josh I'm going to ask you to close this because I know you got to get north a few miles. 01:35:02.940 --> 01:35:07.220 I want you to close it by praying over us and bring your wife with. 01:35:08.180 --> 01:35:10.180 I think she's a good agreeer here. 01:35:13.900 --> 01:35:16.620 And I want you to pray over us as a body 01:35:18.760 --> 01:35:23.900 and I'm not even going to give any direction. You're well capable of following the spirit. 01:35:24.600 --> 01:35:26.440 You call some things right now. 01:35:28.540 --> 01:35:41.330 Hallelujah. Let's agree together. God we thank you for what you're doing in this place. We 01:35:41.330 --> 01:35:48.190 thank you for your mighty, mighty word that cuts through like a sword and cuts the enemy down. 01:35:48.810 --> 01:35:56.350 We thank you for your spirit living in us, breathing through us, speaking through us 01:35:56.350 --> 01:36:07.710 in Jesus mighty name. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That building well be, well be, well be, well be. 01:36:07.710 --> 01:36:13.590 We call it into being. We call it done, finished, paid for, debt free in Jesus name. 01:36:14.450 --> 01:36:23.490 Hallelujah. In the name of Jesus I come against division. The spirit that would try to splinter, 01:36:23.910 --> 01:36:30.550 break off, cause disunity, disharmony in Jesus name. You be cut down at the knees. 01:36:30.850 --> 01:36:36.810 You be removed from the midst of this place. You have no place in this body. This place 01:36:36.810 --> 01:36:45.170 is anointed, unified, cohesive, attached to the same vine, which is Jesus. And there is no place 01:36:45.170 --> 01:36:53.690 for gossip, backbiting, disharmony, unsubmitted hearts, unwilling vessels. You be removed, 01:36:54.150 --> 01:37:00.770 plucked up in Jesus name. We thank you that this vision is from God. It's a heavenly vision. 01:37:00.770 --> 01:37:07.650 Therefore no man, no devil can stand in front of it and stay standing. But in the name of Jesus, 01:37:08.030 --> 01:37:15.730 it moves forward without hindrance, without delay. In your perfect timing, it will be done 01:37:15.730 --> 01:37:23.270 just as you say it. Now Father, I pray over the congregation in Jesus name that they would have 01:37:23.270 --> 01:37:28.150 cues from the leadership from Pastor Verne and Mary that they would know what to say, 01:37:28.150 --> 01:37:33.910 what to pray, and that their faith would combine with theirs. And in the name of Jesus, 01:37:34.530 --> 01:37:41.750 exponential miracles will take place to bring this about. Not the faith of just the pastors, 01:37:42.030 --> 01:37:51.070 but the corporate unity of faith combined, moving thousands, tens of thousands, millions of angels 01:37:51.070 --> 01:37:58.390 at once, millions of dollars at once in Jesus name. Is there anything too hard for our God? 01:37:58.770 --> 01:38:06.230 Surely there is nothing too hard for our God. And everyone within sight of this building will know 01:38:06.230 --> 01:38:15.090 it. Hallelujah to the glory of God. Is there anything too hard for our God? Surely there 01:38:15.090 --> 01:38:23.150 is nothing too hard for our God. And everyone will know it. Every person and every demon within 01:38:23.150 --> 01:38:31.610 sight will know this building is not done by human wisdom, human intellect, and human finances. 01:38:31.950 --> 01:38:44.480 Surely there is supernatural power behind these people. Now a building is not finished until 01:38:44.480 --> 01:38:52.040 there is flesh inside. I said a building is not finished until there is flesh inside. 01:38:53.260 --> 01:38:57.760 Because the glory of the Lord does not just come on a building, it comes to fill flesh. 01:38:58.160 --> 01:39:04.760 It comes to touch flesh. So God, in the name of Jesus, we ask that this building not just be 01:39:04.760 --> 01:39:11.200 done, paid for, debt free, but it be filled with people. As you prophesied years ago, 01:39:11.200 --> 01:39:17.740 from near and far, you draw people, you draw people, you draw people. 01:39:19.060 --> 01:39:26.260 People with hungry hearts, hungry hearts for the word, hungry, hungry spirits for your spirit. 01:39:27.540 --> 01:39:33.360 And they come, they come, they come from far and near, and they will be filled in Jesus' name. 01:39:34.280 --> 01:39:40.800 They'll get just what they came for and more. And it will become a launch place. 01:39:41.560 --> 01:39:48.760 It will become a launch pad for ministers into other nations, other languages, other continents, 01:39:50.320 --> 01:39:57.200 taking the gospel of Jesus Christ to the nations of the world from this place in Jesus' name. 01:39:58.180 --> 01:40:07.490 This has always been your desire. And God, we give you praise, we give you thanks for it now 01:40:07.490 --> 01:40:13.490 in Jesus' name. We lift our hands and we tell you, thank you, thank you in advance. 01:40:14.610 --> 01:40:19.650 The building's not up, but we call it up in Jesus' name. It's not done, but we call it done in 01:40:19.650 --> 01:40:25.210 Jesus' name. It's not paid for, but we call it paid for and debt free in Jesus' name. 01:40:25.850 --> 01:40:35.330 We get our words in line with your words. We say what you say. We agree with you, Lord. 01:40:35.870 --> 01:40:43.950 We agree with you, Lord. And no devil in hell can stop it. We call it done and thank you and 01:40:43.950 --> 01:40:48.210 Jesus' name. Amen. Hallelujah.