WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:08.720 What a weekend. Everyone perky this morning? How many of you are up till midnight? Well, it 00:08.720 --> 00:12.000 might have been because you were blowing stuff up, but then it might have been that everyone 00:12.000 --> 00:18.040 else was doing that and it was loud and you couldn't sleep. So, while this morning we 00:18.040 --> 00:27.320 are going to pray for our country and I think it's very fitting for Dale's going to be 00:27.320 --> 00:33.240 here this morning and be able to share on some things. But I want to go ahead and 00:33.240 --> 00:38.820 show a video as they shut the doors. This morning I just think it's both 00:38.820 --> 00:45.300 educational and it's just something that's very inspiring. So, I'll wait till 00:45.300 --> 00:49.640 they're ready to roll that. I kind of surprised you. 00:59.130 --> 01:04.690 Americans the how and the why of our beloved Republic are so much better 01:04.690 --> 01:09.850 known and understood than the who. The United States of America was born in 01:09.850 --> 01:16.410 1776 but it was conceived 169 years before that. The earliest settlers had 01:16.410 --> 01:21.510 watered the new world but much sweat. They had built substantial holdings for 01:21.510 --> 01:25.330 themselves for their families and when the time came to separate themselves 01:25.330 --> 01:30.350 from a tear in the ocean away at best it meant starting all over again after the 01:30.350 --> 01:37.550 ravages of war. Researching what you're about to hear gave a whole new dimension 01:37.550 --> 01:43.970 to my reverence for our nation's first citizens. All others of the world's 01:43.970 --> 01:48.340 revolutions before and since were initiated by men who had nothing to 01:48.340 --> 01:56.060 lose. Nothing to lose. Our founders had everything to lose and nothing to gain 01:57.320 --> 01:59.280 except one thing. 02:09.760 --> 02:16.240 Hello Americans, I'm Paul Harvey. You remember the cherry tree fiction a long 02:16.240 --> 02:19.800 time after you have forgotten the more earth-shaking history making episodes 02:19.800 --> 02:23.860 in the life of George Washington. You have misplaced in your memory the details 02:23.860 --> 02:29.060 of Ben Franklin's statesmanship but you remember his flying a kite. Joyce 02:29.060 --> 02:33.540 Kilmer was a great military hero but the only thing you personally recall 02:33.540 --> 02:39.020 about him is his poetic tribute to trees. Maybe of this current decade that 02:39.020 --> 02:43.080 which will be remembered best will not be its wars and its moon rockets or 02:43.080 --> 02:47.160 its crumbling frontiers or the giants who lived and died. Maybe all that will 02:47.160 --> 02:51.300 survive to linger in the day-by-day vocabulary of generations yet unborn 02:51.300 --> 02:59.140 may be the songs of a Memphis minstrel or the reincarnation of electric 02:59.140 --> 03:07.400 automobiles. But for any eve of the Fourth of July, I, Paul Harvey, do here 03:07.400 --> 03:12.580 with bequeath unto you something to remember. You may not be able to 03:12.580 --> 03:17.440 quote one line from the Declaration of Independence at this moment. Henceforth, 03:17.560 --> 03:22.560 you'll always be able to quote at least one line. It's in the last paragraph 03:22.560 --> 03:26.260 where you will recall when I remind you it says, we mutually pledge to each 03:26.260 --> 03:32.540 other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. In the Pennsylvania 03:32.540 --> 03:36.400 State House that's now called Independence Hall in Philadelphia, the 03:36.400 --> 03:41.220 best men from each of the colonies sat down together. This was a very 03:41.220 --> 03:44.700 fortunate hour in our nation's history. One of those rare occasions in the 03:44.700 --> 03:48.700 lives of men when we had greatness to spare. These were men of means, well 03:48.700 --> 03:54.100 educated, 24 were lawyers and jurists, nine were farmers, owners of large 03:54.100 --> 03:59.040 plantations. On June 11 a committee sat down to draw up a declaration of 03:59.040 --> 04:02.340 independence. We were going to tell the British Fatherland no more rule by 04:02.340 --> 04:06.680 redcoats. Below the dam, a ruthless foreign rule that stream of freedom was 04:06.680 --> 04:11.460 running shallow and muddy. And we were going to like a fuse to dynamite that 04:11.460 --> 04:16.800 dam. This pact, as Burke later put it, was a partnership between the living and 04:16.800 --> 04:22.980 the dead and the yet unborn. There was no bigotry. There was no demagoguery in 04:22.980 --> 04:28.980 this group. All had shared hardships. Jefferson finished a draft of the 04:28.980 --> 04:33.100 document in 17 days. Congress adopted it in July in so much as 04:33.100 --> 04:38.740 familiar history. But now King George III had denounced all rebels in America as 04:38.740 --> 04:45.480 traitors, punishment for treason was hanging. The names now so familiar to 04:45.480 --> 04:50.920 you from the several signatures on that declaration of independence, the 04:50.920 --> 04:58.520 names were kept secret for six months for each new, the full meaning of that 04:58.520 --> 05:04.000 magnificent last paragraph in which his signature pledged his life, his fortune 05:04.660 --> 05:13.120 and his sacred honor. 56 men placed their names beneath that pledge. 56 men knew 05:13.120 --> 05:19.520 when they signed that they were risking everything. They knew if they won this 05:19.520 --> 05:22.460 fight, the best they could expect would be years of hardship and a 05:22.460 --> 05:29.100 struggling nation. And if they lost, they'd face a hangman's rope. But they 05:29.100 --> 05:34.160 signed the pledge. And here is the documented fate of that gallant 56. 05:37.320 --> 05:41.600 Carter Braxton of Virginia, wealthy planter, trader, saw his ships swept 05:41.600 --> 05:45.720 from the seas to pay his debts. He lost his home and all of his 05:45.720 --> 05:51.040 properties and died in rags. Thomas Lynch Jr., who signed that pledge 05:51.040 --> 05:56.020 was a third-generation rice griller, aristocrat, large plantation owner. After 05:56.020 --> 06:02.660 he signed, his health failed, his wife and he set out for France to regain his 06:02.660 --> 06:05.660 failing health. Their ship never got to France, was never heard from again. 06:06.780 --> 06:11.240 Thomas McKeen of Delaware was so harassed by the enemy that he was 06:11.240 --> 06:15.360 forced to move his family five times in five months. He served in Congress 06:15.360 --> 06:20.960 without pay, his family in poverty and in hiding. Vandals looted 06:20.960 --> 06:24.860 the properties of Ellory and Clymer and Hall and Gwinnett and Walton and 06:24.860 --> 06:29.880 Hayward and Rutledge and Middleton. Thomas Nelson Jr. of Virginia raised 06:29.880 --> 06:34.900 it two million dollars on his own signature to provision our allies, the 06:34.900 --> 06:38.760 French fleet. After the war, he personally paid back the loans, wiped 06:38.760 --> 06:44.560 out his entire estate and he was never reimbursed by his government. In the 06:44.560 --> 06:49.060 final battle for Yorktown, he Nelson urged General Washington to fire on 06:49.060 --> 06:53.580 his Nelson's own home, which was occupied by Cornwallis. It was destroyed. 06:54.500 --> 07:02.980 Thomas Nelson Jr. had pledged his life, his fortune and his sacred honor. The 07:02.980 --> 07:08.860 Hessians seized the home of Francis Hopkinson of New Jersey. Francis Lewis 07:08.860 --> 07:13.100 had his home and everything destroyed, his wife imprisoned. She died within a 07:13.100 --> 07:17.700 few months. Richard Stockton, who signed that declaration, was captured 07:17.700 --> 07:23.560 mistreated. His health broken to the extent that he died at 51. His estate 07:23.560 --> 07:28.940 was pillaged. Thomas Hayward Jr. was captured when Charleston fell. John 07:28.940 --> 07:34.560 Hart was driven from his wife's bedside while she was dying. Their 13 07:34.560 --> 07:38.640 children fled in old directions for their lives. His fields and grist mill 07:38.640 --> 07:42.340 were laid waste. For more than a year, he lived in forests and caves and 07:42.340 --> 07:46.920 returned home after the war. To find his wife dead, his children gone, his 07:46.920 --> 07:51.020 properties gone. And he died a few weeks later of exhaustion and a broken 07:51.020 --> 07:57.900 heart. Lewis Morris saw his land destroyed, his family scattered. Philip 07:57.900 --> 08:02.700 Livingston died within a few months from the hardships of the war. John 08:02.700 --> 08:06.260 Hancock, history remembers best due to a quirk of fate rather than 08:06.260 --> 08:10.840 anything he stood for, that great sweeping signature attesting to his 08:10.840 --> 08:14.940 vanity. Towers over the others. One of the wealthiest men in New 08:14.940 --> 08:21.260 England. And yet he stood outside Boston one terrible night of the war. And 08:21.260 --> 08:28.500 he said, burn Boston, though it makes John Hancock a beggar, if the 08:28.500 --> 08:38.720 public good requires it. So he too lived up to the pledge. Of the 56 08:38.720 --> 08:42.760 few were long to survive. Five were captured by the British and 08:42.760 --> 08:46.920 tortured before they died. 12 had their homes from Rhode Island to 08:46.920 --> 08:52.100 Charleston, SACT, Looted, occupied by the enemy or burned. Two lost their 08:52.100 --> 08:56.960 sons in the army. One had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 died in 08:56.960 --> 09:02.740 the war from its hardships or from its more merciful bullets. I don't 09:02.740 --> 09:10.140 know what impression you had had of the men who met that 09:10.140 --> 09:14.340 summer in Philadelphia. But I think it's important that we remember this 09:14.340 --> 09:20.500 about them. They were not poor men. They were not wild-eyed pirates. These 09:20.500 --> 09:24.600 were men of means. They were rich men, most of them, and had enjoyed 09:24.600 --> 09:29.400 much ease and luxury in their personal living. Not hungry men. 09:30.160 --> 09:38.840 Certainly not terrorists, not irresponsible, malcontents, not 09:38.840 --> 09:43.560 men who are prosperous men. Wealthy landowners. They were 09:43.560 --> 09:47.440 substantially secure in their prosperity. They had everything to 09:47.440 --> 09:53.220 lose. But they considered liberty, and this is as much as I shall 09:53.220 --> 09:59.180 say of it. They learned that liberty is so much more important than 09:59.180 --> 10:05.420 security. That they pledge their lives, their fortunes, their sacred 10:05.420 --> 10:13.680 honor, and they fulfilled their pledge. They paid the price, and 10:13.680 --> 10:14.640 freedom was born. 10:22.580 --> 10:28.620 That was very eye-opening. That came from talking to Bill 10:28.620 --> 10:33.900 Gertz and I know Gary Lance, if you're wanting to participate in 10:33.900 --> 10:36.980 their prayer group, that's going to be happening once a month on 10:36.980 --> 10:42.140 Sunday nights at TBO. It'll be the first Sunday of the month, five 10:42.140 --> 10:45.700 o'clock. Please contact him. Remember I said, as far as 10:45.700 --> 10:50.100 prayer, when we're intercessors, we can pray for anything, but 10:50.100 --> 10:53.960 then God will call certain people to a specific things and 10:53.960 --> 10:57.820 praying for our country and the elections and all that, whatever 10:57.820 --> 11:01.400 y'all deal with over there. I think it'd be great to get a 11:01.400 --> 11:07.140 hold of him and see if you can connect into that. So that's a 11:07.140 --> 11:12.160 sacrificial prayer is different than, you know, shooting up a 11:12.160 --> 11:17.700 hallelujah prayer, you know, rejoicing prayer, asking prayer 11:17.700 --> 11:22.020 or what. Sacrificial prayer is like, I don't feel like doing 11:22.020 --> 11:25.300 it, but yet I have an assignment and I'm going to 11:25.300 --> 11:30.160 sacrifice that part of me to take the time out of my day to 11:30.160 --> 11:34.000 go and do that. And there is a great reward for that. God uses 11:34.660 --> 11:38.120 intercessors that are sacrificial. So the word 11:38.120 --> 11:42.020 sacrifice means the act of giving up or losing something of 11:42.020 --> 11:48.000 value for the sake of something else. So that's what 11:48.000 --> 11:51.400 Jesus did. And have you ever seen the videos or you've 11:51.400 --> 11:55.620 studied it yourself on what the disciples went through? It's 11:55.620 --> 11:58.000 very similar. You know, you could go, well, this one 11:58.000 --> 12:01.800 was beheaded and this one was, you know, crucified upside 12:01.800 --> 12:06.780 down and they all sacrificed. Jesus did the ultimate 12:06.780 --> 12:10.360 sacrifice and then they were just like their master. And to 12:10.360 --> 12:14.060 get something to move ahead, somebody has to sacrifice. 12:14.700 --> 12:18.440 That's the power of the word martyr. That's the power of 12:18.440 --> 12:21.560 being in a spot where you're holding the line on 12:21.560 --> 12:24.740 something, even if you spiritually are sacrificed, 12:24.740 --> 12:28.120 even if you're physically sacrificed, you're saying, 12:28.240 --> 12:31.640 I'm willing to go to the end. And so all these men 12:32.400 --> 12:36.560 bought us something. Jesus bought us something. And it 12:36.560 --> 12:39.960 is the habit of the flesh to go, yay, we have victory. We 12:39.960 --> 12:42.260 got something. We don't have to worry about that anymore. 12:42.500 --> 12:46.300 Well, we're in a whole different time now that 12:46.300 --> 12:49.020 says, this is what I got out of watching that, it's like, 12:49.160 --> 12:52.780 who's in a sacrifice now for what's ahead of us? 12:54.120 --> 13:00.300 Who's going to be written down now for our children when 13:00.300 --> 13:02.480 we're gone? Are they going to say, you know what, they 13:02.480 --> 13:07.500 did, they said, they gave away, they went from rich to 13:07.500 --> 13:13.160 poor just to make this happen. And I was just like, 13:13.320 --> 13:17.620 whoa, God, that's intense. Because in America, we 13:17.620 --> 13:20.000 have freedom and then we love to be, and in the 13:20.000 --> 13:22.360 church, we have freedom because of Christ. And we 13:22.360 --> 13:26.640 love to ride that wave, but there's waves of 13:26.640 --> 13:30.260 sacrifice to maintain that and to gain more 13:30.260 --> 13:34.640 ground. So to maintain it, we have to sacrifice 13:34.640 --> 13:37.820 and stay in a sacrificial mode. Somebody's got to 13:37.820 --> 13:43.800 give something up, right? Some churches will put 13:43.800 --> 13:45.620 that on their pastor, like, we'll give something 13:45.620 --> 13:48.840 up. And if you don't, we'll take it away from 13:48.840 --> 13:51.000 you on top, whatever you do have. I've seen 13:51.000 --> 13:53.960 that. I've seen preachers in the pulpit just 13:53.960 --> 13:56.840 poor. But it's the congregation that moves 13:56.840 --> 13:59.580 together. It's the body of Christ that moves 13:59.580 --> 14:01.980 together, like, whatever the sacrifice, we're 14:01.980 --> 14:04.740 going to accomplish this. So what is this that 14:04.740 --> 14:08.860 we need to accomplish right now? See, that's 14:08.860 --> 14:11.340 where he's going to hone us in in this year. I 14:11.340 --> 14:14.220 just really believe this is a marking year. 14:14.300 --> 14:16.440 This is a prophetically marking year, the 14:16.440 --> 14:21.220 250. There's something about now. This moment is 14:21.220 --> 14:24.100 like, yeah, this is this is great. And we need 14:24.100 --> 14:27.020 victory. And to get victory, there has to be 14:27.020 --> 14:31.860 sacrifice. So it's not it's not owed to us. 14:31.980 --> 14:34.540 It's not what's the word where people think 14:34.540 --> 14:37.640 everything's just owed to them. Entitled. We 14:37.640 --> 14:39.400 don't get to be entitled in the church when 14:39.400 --> 14:43.660 it comes to the gospel, you know. I didn't 14:43.660 --> 14:45.940 have to do anything, but God owes me all 14:45.940 --> 14:49.500 this stuff. Or the freedom of our country. I 14:49.500 --> 14:51.260 didn't have to do anything, but this 14:51.260 --> 14:53.900 country owes me. I was born, and that's 14:53.900 --> 14:56.920 enough. I didn't even have one young lady I 14:56.920 --> 14:58.100 saw in a video. She goes, I didn't even 14:58.100 --> 15:01.480 ask to be born. So she's like, whoa, you 15:01.480 --> 15:04.440 really have a sacrifice. You put up with 15:04.440 --> 15:06.640 a lot just because you're here. You 15:06.640 --> 15:11.780 know, it's like, wow. And he's going 15:11.780 --> 15:13.980 to bring us back. You know, he's been 15:13.980 --> 15:15.700 working on the church through the 15:15.700 --> 15:17.200 threshing floor, through the great 15:17.200 --> 15:19.840 shaking, through the opening of our eyes 15:19.840 --> 15:22.420 2020 was the year of vision. So we could 15:22.420 --> 15:25.320 see wickedness has been being unveiled 15:25.320 --> 15:28.360 in front of us. And so before we were 15:28.360 --> 15:31.220 comfortable. And now it's uncomfortable. 15:31.820 --> 15:34.220 And in order to get comfortable, we 15:34.220 --> 15:36.240 realize I don't know, I don't know if 15:36.240 --> 15:37.700 my generation is going to get 15:37.700 --> 15:40.420 comfortable. We're going to be the 15:40.420 --> 15:42.520 ones that sacrifice for the 15:42.520 --> 15:45.120 comfortability of the next generation. 15:46.100 --> 15:47.800 And I think we need to face that. When 15:47.800 --> 15:49.640 Bob Jones, the video that we showed, 15:49.920 --> 15:51.400 we're going through the vision booklet 15:51.400 --> 15:54.860 and things like that. Coming alongside of 15:54.860 --> 15:56.600 the next generation is so important. 15:56.880 --> 15:58.960 But guess what? That means we sacrifice 16:00.280 --> 16:03.720 time, money, energy, prayer, whatever 16:03.720 --> 16:06.400 it's going to take. Because if we don't 16:06.400 --> 16:08.340 sacrifice now, then they're going to 16:08.340 --> 16:10.600 have a greater sacrifice. And by the 16:10.600 --> 16:12.320 time it gets to the next generation 16:12.320 --> 16:15.000 down, that's already here, they're in 16:15.000 --> 16:17.900 big trouble already, right? For what's 16:17.900 --> 16:20.720 coming against them. So it's like, 16:20.980 --> 16:23.200 yay, our country, we're free. Yay, we have 16:23.200 --> 16:24.920 the freedom of the gospel. Then you 16:24.920 --> 16:28.040 realize, oh, it's going to require 16:28.040 --> 16:31.740 great sacrifice. And he will 16:31.740 --> 16:35.100 require of us individually. He'll 16:35.100 --> 16:37.020 require of us that certain people be 16:37.020 --> 16:38.800 called to early morning prayer. Some, 16:39.120 --> 16:41.160 some, you know, will be called just 16:41.160 --> 16:42.620 regularly, two o'clock in the morning. 16:43.440 --> 16:46.100 That's sacrificial prayer. And really, 16:46.640 --> 16:48.760 compared to losing your whole house and 16:48.760 --> 16:50.080 all of those things that were named 16:50.080 --> 16:52.080 this morning, it's like, I'll do the 16:52.080 --> 16:54.580 two o'clock in the morning prayer. I'm 16:54.580 --> 16:57.100 good. I mean, I can, I can do that. But 16:57.100 --> 17:00.120 to have the attitude of a martyr is 17:00.120 --> 17:02.940 to be seen and heard at all costs. The 17:02.940 --> 17:06.160 whole purpose the Holy Spirit came was 17:06.160 --> 17:09.000 to empower us in a way where we have 17:09.000 --> 17:12.520 ability, efficiency, and might. So it 17:12.520 --> 17:14.880 says in Acts chapter one and two. It 17:14.880 --> 17:17.140 leads up to that this is, this is why 17:17.140 --> 17:18.880 they waited for. This was what Jesus 17:18.880 --> 17:22.740 died for and then went home, right? Set 17:22.740 --> 17:25.260 up, set up where we're going to go. You 17:25.260 --> 17:26.600 know, in my father's house, there's 17:26.600 --> 17:28.820 many mansions. For we're not so I 17:28.820 --> 17:31.240 would not have told you. And so he's 17:31.240 --> 17:32.700 working on the project he needs to be 17:32.700 --> 17:34.620 working on now. And he said, it's 17:34.620 --> 17:36.560 pertinent that I go and I send the 17:36.560 --> 17:39.780 Holy Spirit. Why the Holy Spirit? So we 17:39.780 --> 17:42.020 could just have nice prophecies and we 17:42.020 --> 17:44.300 could have all those benefits. Yes, he 17:44.300 --> 17:47.180 had to sacrifice to get that kind of 17:47.180 --> 17:52.020 power to be left here on the earth. You 17:52.020 --> 17:54.560 see it that way. It's like he died for 17:54.560 --> 17:57.480 all. And then that gave the ability 17:57.480 --> 18:00.160 for the Holy Spirit to come and come 18:00.160 --> 18:03.420 up on us, like it says upon us, up on 18:03.420 --> 18:07.680 us and through us, so that we can become 18:07.680 --> 18:13.560 living sacrifices that will serve. And he'll 18:13.560 --> 18:16.440 give us the ability, the efficiency, and 18:16.440 --> 18:20.800 the might, which is dunamis power. Can you 18:20.800 --> 18:22.760 see that picture is kind of missed in 18:22.760 --> 18:25.120 the body of Christ? It's like we missed 18:25.120 --> 18:26.940 that memo by a thousand miles. You know, 18:27.160 --> 18:29.380 I see it when I travel and church is 18:29.380 --> 18:32.020 like, I'm up in the pulpit and I 18:32.020 --> 18:35.280 think, you guys don't even know. It can be 18:35.280 --> 18:37.680 a hundred-year-old church and they don't 18:37.680 --> 18:42.020 know the purpose that we are here. The 18:42.020 --> 18:43.900 more we see the purpose we are here, 18:44.040 --> 18:45.980 the more it requires us to humble 18:45.980 --> 18:48.220 ourselves before the Lord. The more 18:48.220 --> 18:53.280 requires us to be dead in Christ. These 18:53.280 --> 18:56.180 men knew something was going to go down, 18:56.900 --> 18:58.660 right? They might have had some fluffy 18:58.660 --> 19:00.760 life. I'm sure they worked hard to 19:00.760 --> 19:02.480 get their business to the point that it 19:02.480 --> 19:04.760 was, otherwise they wouldn't have been, you 19:04.760 --> 19:07.880 know, like the one guy millionaire. And 19:07.880 --> 19:12.360 back then, that's a lot. And so, but yet 19:12.360 --> 19:15.100 they looked at all of that and literally 19:15.100 --> 19:17.620 sacrificed the whole thing. Their houses, 19:18.120 --> 19:20.980 their family members, their own lives, 19:22.280 --> 19:23.800 imprisonment, all of that type of 19:23.800 --> 19:25.500 stuff. And that's what's, that's what 19:25.500 --> 19:27.440 we're founded on. And isn't that 19:27.440 --> 19:32.040 interesting that this, this piece of 19:32.040 --> 19:35.860 paper that was signed was a covenant. And 19:35.860 --> 19:38.480 when Jesus died on the cross, what did he 19:38.480 --> 19:41.340 make a way for us to be in covenant 19:41.340 --> 19:46.100 with him? He wars on our behalf and we 19:46.100 --> 19:48.740 were on his behalf. And we do it many 19:48.740 --> 19:51.300 times through sacrifice. That's part of 19:51.300 --> 19:53.620 the war. It's like, I will show up, I 19:53.620 --> 19:55.520 will take the persecution, we will do 19:55.520 --> 19:56.880 the thing. You know, whatever it is, 19:56.880 --> 19:59.880 you're pushing into that sacrifice and 19:59.880 --> 20:03.420 that's the price you're paying. And he 20:03.420 --> 20:06.920 paid the price for our sin. He did his 20:06.920 --> 20:09.800 part and then he's empowered us to 20:09.800 --> 20:11.900 prosper and have success down the road. 20:12.260 --> 20:20.120 And success can be sacrifice. Yeah? When 20:20.120 --> 20:21.920 you go without things to save for 20:21.920 --> 20:24.100 something, that means you sacrifice 20:24.100 --> 20:25.780 something else so that you would have 20:25.780 --> 20:28.200 the finances to purchase this thing. 20:28.760 --> 20:31.060 There had to be a sacrifice to gain the 20:31.060 --> 20:34.120 thing you're really after. So we have 20:34.120 --> 20:36.520 to identify in this year and in the 20:36.520 --> 20:38.660 services and in our prayer time, what is 20:38.660 --> 20:40.720 it that we're really after? Because 20:40.720 --> 20:43.320 there's so many things going on all 20:43.320 --> 20:44.600 over the place and we're like, well I 20:44.600 --> 20:46.300 want the government to stop doing this 20:46.300 --> 20:47.880 and we want that we want a lot of 20:47.880 --> 20:50.620 things. But it comes down to an 20:50.620 --> 20:54.440 umbrella of righteousness and justice. We 20:54.440 --> 20:55.920 want the will of God, which the word 20:55.920 --> 20:58.360 will means his precepts, his commands, 20:58.940 --> 21:01.060 his ways of doing things. And we have to 21:01.060 --> 21:03.820 move over to his ways of doing things 21:03.820 --> 21:05.760 with the church. I'm talking the body of 21:05.760 --> 21:07.520 Christ has felt they've been doing his 21:07.520 --> 21:10.980 way of doing things this whole time. If 21:10.980 --> 21:14.960 that was true, there'd be more fruit. If 21:14.960 --> 21:16.480 that was true, we wouldn't have gimmicks 21:16.480 --> 21:17.860 to try to get people to come to 21:17.860 --> 21:20.320 church. If that was true, a lot of 21:20.320 --> 21:21.880 different things would be taking place. 21:22.800 --> 21:25.360 So we can just measure that. It's common sense 21:25.360 --> 21:27.100 to look at it and go, yeah, we're not 21:27.100 --> 21:31.220 where we're supposed to be. Amen? So we 21:31.220 --> 21:33.660 celebrate. We celebrate last night. We 21:33.660 --> 21:36.200 blew some stuff up. Clarify for online 21:36.200 --> 21:38.760 fireworks, you know, in case there's 21:38.760 --> 21:40.720 any. But he's looking for somebody who 21:40.720 --> 21:43.440 blew up the building. It wasn't us. So, 21:43.840 --> 21:45.200 you know, we blew some stuff up. We 21:45.200 --> 21:47.460 celebrated. It was a, you know, you 21:47.460 --> 21:49.200 could you could feel even, yeah, 21:49.280 --> 21:51.760 you're blowing up fireworks, but it's 21:51.760 --> 21:56.140 in recognition to the freedom that 21:56.140 --> 21:59.500 someone actually sacrificed for. And 21:59.500 --> 22:01.920 there's people sacrificing right now in 22:01.920 --> 22:05.700 the military. But here's what's also an 22:05.700 --> 22:08.340 immaturity. The immaturity is when I 22:08.340 --> 22:10.080 hear people talk, it's almost like, and 22:10.080 --> 22:12.980 that's their job. Like, you know, 22:13.980 --> 22:16.240 Ashley's son is in the military. Well, 22:16.260 --> 22:18.200 that's his job. That's, that's, I do 22:18.200 --> 22:20.980 my stuff. You know, I clean at the 22:20.980 --> 22:22.980 church and some things like that. And 22:22.980 --> 22:25.260 then he's got to sacrifice. If there's 22:25.260 --> 22:26.300 going to need to be a life 22:26.300 --> 22:30.180 sacrificed. Where to take this America 22:30.180 --> 22:34.300 back for Christ, there is going to be a 22:34.300 --> 22:38.980 greater sacrifice required. We got to 22:38.980 --> 22:41.360 stop looking for the people who are 22:41.360 --> 22:44.500 willing to be sacrificed. Really, 22:44.520 --> 22:46.760 sometimes that's how we vote. We'll have 22:46.760 --> 22:48.200 speakers come in or whatever and we'll 22:48.200 --> 22:50.260 look and we'll go, you know, he 22:50.260 --> 22:52.060 could be a guy that would sacrifice 22:52.060 --> 22:55.960 himself for us. I think he would. I think, 22:56.060 --> 22:58.500 you know, you ever think of it that way? 22:58.720 --> 23:00.760 It's like we're voting for someone else 23:00.760 --> 23:02.620 to get in there and go do it. Go 23:02.620 --> 23:05.400 sacrifice yourself. And God is looking 23:05.400 --> 23:07.240 at the church and he's saying the body 23:07.240 --> 23:09.920 of Christ needs to come into 23:09.920 --> 23:17.980 sacrificial thinking. We are at war and 23:17.980 --> 23:19.680 it isn't the leaders of the church 23:19.680 --> 23:22.660 who are at war. The whole body is at 23:22.660 --> 23:25.980 war. And there will be people, this is 23:25.980 --> 23:28.600 very prophetic, there will be people in 23:28.600 --> 23:31.840 this time that they will lose their 23:31.840 --> 23:34.840 life or lay down their life. We think, 23:34.940 --> 23:36.240 you know, battle like, you know, they 23:36.240 --> 23:38.060 got shot or something like that. No, 23:38.160 --> 23:40.500 they may go home to heaven as a 23:40.500 --> 23:43.320 sacrifice. They may have pushed through 23:43.320 --> 23:46.140 some things and they took on the 23:46.140 --> 23:50.780 demonic realm. Hmm? Everything of that 23:50.780 --> 23:52.640 way? There's people who have been at war 23:52.640 --> 23:54.780 and they have laid down their life for 23:54.780 --> 23:59.060 a principle, for a way of thinking to 23:59.060 --> 24:02.540 fulfill a command. Here we are this 24:02.540 --> 24:05.840 morning. What is it that God is 24:05.840 --> 24:08.660 calling us to as a body? What is he 24:08.660 --> 24:11.600 calling us to when it comes to 24:11.600 --> 24:14.080 sacrifice and our measurement of 24:14.080 --> 24:17.320 sacrifice? So I had a person share 24:17.320 --> 24:20.740 with me, oh, it's been a lot. What we 24:20.740 --> 24:23.540 sacrifice is the degree of pain that 24:23.540 --> 24:25.540 we're used to tolerating or used to 24:25.540 --> 24:28.840 enduring. Right? So if you fast one 24:28.840 --> 24:32.380 day, oh, it's killer. Because you never 24:32.380 --> 24:34.060 fasted one day before, you're just 24:34.060 --> 24:37.200 gonna die. You know? I tell you what, 24:37.240 --> 24:39.100 we went through the 40-day fast. It 24:39.100 --> 24:40.780 was like about days, you know, around 24:40.780 --> 24:43.560 the 30 market was like, what are we 24:43.560 --> 24:45.960 doing? You know, you didn't feel 24:45.960 --> 24:48.060 hungry, but your brain was like, what 24:48.060 --> 24:52.080 are you doing? So there's a sacrifice. 24:52.400 --> 24:55.940 And that's such a small sacrifice to 24:55.940 --> 24:58.220 the person who's being persecuted right 24:58.220 --> 25:02.660 now in Nigeria. Our measurements of 25:02.660 --> 25:07.340 sacrifice are off. And God is wanting 25:07.340 --> 25:09.560 us to come to a place where we're 25:09.560 --> 25:11.420 seeing it so real. Because you can 25:11.420 --> 25:12.560 talk to the average person on the 25:12.560 --> 25:14.700 street, and it's so far over their 25:14.700 --> 25:16.400 head. They don't understand sacrifice. 25:16.700 --> 25:18.260 They don't understand covenant. They 25:18.260 --> 25:20.260 don't understand I can receive 25:20.260 --> 25:22.360 everything he is, and he needs to 25:22.360 --> 25:23.960 receive everything I am. That's 25:23.960 --> 25:28.060 covenant. That's coming together. It 25:28.060 --> 25:29.700 isn't just like, thanks God. And then 25:29.700 --> 25:31.340 we move on with our little life and 25:31.340 --> 25:33.540 see if he's proud of us. And that's 25:33.540 --> 25:37.400 not covenant. That's religion. Covenant 25:37.400 --> 25:39.300 is whatever you ask me to do, I will 25:39.300 --> 25:42.740 be seen and heard at all costs. I will 25:42.740 --> 25:46.160 be, I will go without if I have to. Now 25:46.160 --> 25:48.080 he's made provisions so I don't have 25:48.080 --> 25:53.640 to, but there are times I have. Right? And 25:53.640 --> 25:55.320 so when I look at that, it's like 25:55.320 --> 26:00.100 whatever I went without is so lame. I 26:00.100 --> 26:02.640 just saw another video of a thousand 26:04.000 --> 26:05.620 Nigerians. They just, they're going 26:05.620 --> 26:06.700 through and finding out who's 26:06.700 --> 26:09.360 Christians. They dig a big hole and 26:09.360 --> 26:10.420 they shoot them, or they bury them 26:10.420 --> 26:13.640 alive. But they will not back down on 26:13.640 --> 26:16.200 the gospel. That is a martyr's 26:16.200 --> 26:19.080 sacrifice. We know not how that works. 26:20.500 --> 26:22.100 This is, and how you know it, if it 26:22.100 --> 26:23.620 touches every area, like for instance, 26:23.800 --> 26:26.420 if, I don't know, if we had to 26:26.420 --> 26:28.760 purchase a new drum set. And we're 26:28.760 --> 26:33.180 like, I gave 50 bucks toward that. It 26:33.180 --> 26:34.900 might feel to some people like, 26:35.580 --> 26:37.640 that was a big sacrifice. And then 26:37.640 --> 26:39.960 you lay your life next to the real 26:39.960 --> 26:41.520 martyrs, and you're like, never mind. 26:43.240 --> 26:44.640 That's what he's going to do this 26:44.640 --> 26:45.880 year. All the way through open 26:45.880 --> 26:47.920 heaven. He's going to show us what 26:47.920 --> 26:49.740 does it mean to truly lay it down 26:49.740 --> 26:51.200 our lives. So let's stand this 26:51.200 --> 26:56.120 morning to obey is better than 26:56.120 --> 27:00.240 sacrifice. But when we obey many 27:00.240 --> 27:02.420 times, that's a sacrifice. Isn't 27:02.420 --> 27:04.720 that interesting? How that works, 27:04.820 --> 27:07.780 it's, let me get, I just want to 27:07.780 --> 27:10.520 read a couple more. Here's my, my 27:10.520 --> 27:14.800 phone's freaking out. It's just, 27:15.600 --> 27:17.500 offer your bodies as a living 27:17.500 --> 27:20.560 sacrifice. Holy and pleasing to God. 27:21.200 --> 27:24.000 This is your true and proper 27:24.000 --> 27:25.800 worship. If we just took that one 27:25.800 --> 27:28.000 scripture and put it as a 27:28.000 --> 27:29.720 measurement stick on the body of 27:29.720 --> 27:32.700 Christ, there's not a whole lot of 27:32.700 --> 27:36.360 that going on. And then a trick that 27:36.360 --> 27:37.900 we will do is we will find the 27:37.900 --> 27:39.700 people who are doing that and 27:39.700 --> 27:43.060 they're our heroes. We lift them up 27:43.060 --> 27:44.860 as, those are our heroes. Those are 27:44.860 --> 27:47.280 the, you know, the lieutenants, the, 27:47.340 --> 27:49.120 the ones. See, we put them in that 27:49.120 --> 27:50.800 spot. We did it whatever and God's 27:50.800 --> 27:51.880 just like, oh my goodness. 27:53.980 --> 27:57.000 I want the whole body, the whole 27:57.000 --> 27:59.340 body in moving. Offer your bodies 27:59.340 --> 28:01.640 as a living sacrifice. Holy and 28:01.640 --> 28:03.800 pleasing to God. This is your true 28:03.800 --> 28:07.020 and proper worship. Do not forget 28:07.020 --> 28:09.760 Hebrews 13-16 to do good and share 28:09.760 --> 28:12.400 with others for with such sacrifice 28:12.880 --> 28:16.080 God is pleased. So even to do good 28:16.080 --> 28:18.260 can take a sacrifice. It pleases 28:18.260 --> 28:23.500 God. So let's begin to just worship 28:23.500 --> 28:27.580 him now and move into a simple 28:27.580 --> 28:30.100 request prayer. See sometimes we can 28:30.100 --> 28:32.340 pray for an hour and sometimes it's 28:32.340 --> 28:34.420 just a specifically saying God 28:35.100 --> 28:37.960 reveal something to me. And that's 28:37.960 --> 28:39.500 what's important here today, 28:40.040 --> 28:44.600 revelation. A great revealing of our 28:44.600 --> 28:47.580 own hearts and what it is like. So 28:47.580 --> 28:49.180 Father, we just come before you and 28:49.180 --> 28:51.200 we worship you. You are the all 28:51.200 --> 28:54.700 and all. You are the great I am. 28:54.980 --> 28:57.200 I am means you are complete and we 28:57.200 --> 28:59.300 are complete in you. There is nothing 28:59.300 --> 29:01.640 lacking in you. We cannot add to you 29:01.640 --> 29:04.060 nor can we subtract away from you. 29:04.780 --> 29:08.840 You are the I am. We honor you, your 29:08.840 --> 29:11.400 will and your ways. In Jesus we honor 29:12.040 --> 29:15.820 what you did as a sacrifice for us. 29:17.380 --> 29:20.900 You paid for it all. Now you're 29:20.900 --> 29:23.500 asking us to step forth in 29:23.500 --> 29:26.040 sacrificial giving and sacrificial 29:26.040 --> 29:28.840 thinking and sacrifice with our bodies, 29:29.100 --> 29:31.780 our life, whatever you would ask us to 29:31.780 --> 29:35.060 do Lord God. Our request here this 29:35.060 --> 29:38.400 morning is that you would give us 29:38.400 --> 29:41.260 revelation on the word sacrifice. 29:44.940 --> 29:47.580 We don't hide here in this church 29:47.900 --> 29:50.860 in America while others are laying 29:50.860 --> 29:57.580 their lives down. They're being 29:57.580 --> 30:00.300 Lord God give us the true picture of 30:00.300 --> 30:02.380 what sacrificial life is. 30:05.220 --> 30:08.300 Hallelujah. We don't hide here from this 30:08.860 --> 30:11.160 thinking oh America is a sanctuary 30:11.160 --> 30:13.820 away from all of this stuff. It is here 30:13.820 --> 30:16.920 now. It's requiring sacrifice. 30:18.220 --> 30:20.380 There are people losing their lives. 30:20.560 --> 30:22.160 There's children losing their lives. 30:22.440 --> 30:24.280 There is so much going on behind the 30:24.280 --> 30:26.720 seeds here in our America. 30:29.520 --> 30:32.860 Show us Lord God how to finish strong. 30:34.280 --> 30:36.940 Show us how to leave a deposit on this 30:36.940 --> 30:40.280 earth. A martyr's deposit. Whether we 30:40.280 --> 30:42.720 physically die or not, our attitude is 30:42.720 --> 30:46.140 a martyr's heart. We will be seen and 30:46.140 --> 30:48.940 heard at all costs. Righteousness 30:48.940 --> 30:52.380 and justice come upon us. Come upon 30:52.380 --> 30:55.020 this place and help us to bring it to 30:55.020 --> 30:57.720 this nation. Help us to prophesy it 30:57.720 --> 31:00.720 into this nation in the mighty name of 31:00.720 --> 31:04.280 Jesus. In the mighty name of Jesus. So 31:04.280 --> 31:06.800 we honor you Lord God as we go into 31:06.800 --> 31:07.320 worship. 31:10.140 --> 31:13.360 We honor you as the greatest sacrifice 31:14.540 --> 31:18.600 of what you did. We've received the 31:18.600 --> 31:19.180 benefits 31:19.180 --> 31:23.400 and now we want to leave benefits for 31:24.500 --> 31:25.840 those coming behind us.