Speaker 1: Glad to be in the house of the Lord. Amen. Father,
Speaker 1: we thank you for your word today. Thank you for
Speaker 1: your ministry of truth. We welcome you to open the
Speaker 1: eyes of our understanding. We welcome you to lead us
Speaker 1: into that which is good. Holy Spirit, keep releasing heaven
Speaker 1: in our midst. We thank you for it in Jesus' name.
Speaker 1: And everybody said, Amen, Amen, Amen. You may be seated.
Speaker 1: I'm going to read to you out of Psalm 133
Speaker 1: this morning. And I'm focusing on the commanded blessing. The
Speaker 1: commanded blessing. There's this portion in Scripture where it says
Speaker 1: God commands the blessing. And that's an amazing thing. It's
Speaker 1: an amazing thing that something would get God's attention in
Speaker 1: such a way that He would command a blessing wherever
Speaker 1: that thing does exist. And Psalm 133 describes this atmosphere.
Speaker 1: Verse 1, Behold. And even the word behold, right? The
Speaker 1: word behold means take note of this. Draw your attention
Speaker 1: to this. The word behold is an exclamation that draws
Speaker 1: our attention to something of super importance. How good and
Speaker 1: pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity, and sisters too. Amen?
Speaker 1: How many think sisters ought to dwell in unity? How
Speaker 1: many think it's harder for sisters sometimes than brothers? Come on,
Speaker 1: you know I'm speaking truth right there. It is like
Speaker 1: the precious oil on the head running down on the beard,
Speaker 1: on the beard of Aaron, running down on the collar.
Speaker 1: Some translations say, you know, to the edges of his robe, right?
Speaker 1: This is the ESV. I don't know why I picked
Speaker 1: the ESV, but, okay, this is the ESV today that
Speaker 1: we're reading from. And so this is a picture of Aaron.
Speaker 1: I think this is Leviticus 26 is what I remember,
Speaker 1: but this is a picture of Aaron. Aaron is the
Speaker 1: high priest. So you remember that as... Moses was called
Speaker 1: to bring the people out of Egypt and they went
Speaker 1: into the wilderness and they were on their way to
Speaker 1: the promised land. Then they were given instruction for the
Speaker 1: tabernacle and Moses was given instruction for the tabernacle. Aaron
Speaker 1: had become his assistant because when God approached Moses out
Speaker 1: in the desert and said, I want you to go
Speaker 1: set my people free. Remember, he said, I can't talk
Speaker 1: very good. Remember that? So he said, I'm of slow speech.
Speaker 1: I can't talk. God said, who made your mouth? And
Speaker 1: they had a little argument there. And then he's like, well,
Speaker 1: can I appoint Aaron to represent me? If you follow
Speaker 1: the story a little while, it wasn't long. Moses was
Speaker 1: talking just fine. But so Aaron is his assistant. But
Speaker 1: then as we come into the tabernacle and the revelation
Speaker 1: of the tabernacle, then Aaron is made the high priest.
Speaker 1: And so when Aaron is made the high priest, he
Speaker 1: is anointed with oil. And this oil is the presence
Speaker 1: of the Holy Spirit coming upon him. So the presence
Speaker 1: of the Lord was distributed upon Aaron. As the oil
Speaker 1: was poured out upon him, he was anointed, he was enabled,
Speaker 1: he was empowered. And this oil, like it wasn't just a...
Speaker 1: We have little vitals up here. So if you want anointed,
Speaker 1: we will anoint you with a drop of oil. Because
Speaker 1: we know you are very, very conscious of your hairdo.
Speaker 1: And we know that there's not a lot of shampoo
Speaker 1: available out there. And so because there's a shampoo shortage,
Speaker 1: we don't want to get carried away. We've got to
Speaker 1: be careful about how much oil we put on your head.
Speaker 1: So we just give you a little drop of this oil,
Speaker 1: and it's shipped in from Israel. Now I'm lying. But
Speaker 1: that's what we should tell you. This is special oil
Speaker 1: from Israel, from olives that are squeezed at Mount Zion.
Speaker 1: And we can make more of this available to you
Speaker 1: after the service. For $ 1, 000 per vial. And we take
Speaker 1: credit and debit. No, we just have little bottles of
Speaker 1: anointing oil. But back in the day, when this was
Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit being distributed upon somebody, they poured a
Speaker 1: bucket of oil on them. They poured this flask of
Speaker 1: oil upon Aaron. And it came down over his hair.
Speaker 1: And he had long hair. And it came down over
Speaker 1: his beard. And he had a big beard. And it
Speaker 1: came down over his robe all the way to the
Speaker 1: edge of the robe. And now this is the song
Speaker 1: of David, by the way. This is one of the
Speaker 1: few songs that David actually wrote. And this is a
Speaker 1: song of ascent. So he actually wrote this going up
Speaker 1: to Zion. And they would sing it going into worship.
Speaker 1: Because one of the most valuable things at the house
Speaker 1: of Zion and one of the most valuable things in
Speaker 1: worship was unity. And this song is all about unity.
Speaker 1: And it says that unity is like that oil that
Speaker 1: was poured out upon Aaron. That unity will flow over
Speaker 1: the head and that unity will cause peace. the blessing
Speaker 1: and the presence and the ministry of the Spirit to
Speaker 1: flow not only over the head, and how many of
Speaker 1: you know back in those days David was the head?
Speaker 1: This is a song he sung about himself. The anointing
Speaker 1: was on David and God was showing David that as
Speaker 1: the anointing would flow upon David, and the anointing was
Speaker 1: on David in worship, by the way, which goes all
Speaker 1: the way back to the harp that he had in
Speaker 1: the pasture, and the harp and the music that he
Speaker 1: would bring to deliver Saul from evil spirits. So this
Speaker 1: anointing is on David. It's David who appointed the worshipers, 401.
Speaker 1: 47 worshippers, something like that, who worship 24-7 for 40 years, right?
Speaker 1: And God is showing David that that same anointing that
Speaker 1: is on you, that same anointing will be distributed to
Speaker 1: the entire Jerusalem, the entirety of the flock of Zion,
Speaker 1: the entirety of Israel. This anointing will be distributed where
Speaker 1: there's unity. Where there's unity. where there's unity, this is
Speaker 1: what they learned, by the way, they learned where there's unity,
Speaker 1: there will be victory in warfare. There will be victory
Speaker 1: over the enemy. There will be prosperity that cannot be eclipsed.
Speaker 1: There will be prosperity poured out upon Israel, poured out
Speaker 1: upon Zion, poured out upon the people of Zion that
Speaker 1: cannot be eclipsed. Even described, it is so amazing. The
Speaker 1: blessing of the Lord will be commanded. It will be commanded.
Speaker 1: Commanded means to be spoken with a shout. The voice
Speaker 1: of the Lord will shake the atmosphere. This is what
Speaker 1: he's saying to David. The voice of the Lord will
Speaker 1: shake the atmosphere over Jerusalem, over Zion, over the people
Speaker 1: of Israel where there's unity. where there's unity. Isn't that amazing?
Speaker 1: Isn't that good? It will be like this precious oil
Speaker 1: running down over the beard, over the beard of Aaron,
Speaker 1: running down over the collar of his robes, to the
Speaker 1: edge of his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon. Now,
Speaker 1: we love our mountain, and we love our Cascades, right?
Speaker 1: And I don't know why we don't have a lot
Speaker 1: of dew here. Do we ever have dew here? So
Speaker 1: I grew up in Bend, Oregon. And I remember we
Speaker 1: had a lot of dew in Bend. So I don't
Speaker 1: know why. We were right there at the Cascades, Mount
Speaker 1: Bachelors there, and Jefferson and all the mountains. But I
Speaker 1: remember waking up to a bunch of dew on the grass. And,
Speaker 1: you know, we'd sleep out, we'd go camping, we'd goof around. And...
Speaker 1: And if you didn't cover yourself at night with something,
Speaker 1: you'd wake up soaking wet. Your sleeping bag would be
Speaker 1: soaking wet. Well, we look at the mountains like the Cascades.
Speaker 1: Their mountain was Mount Hermon. And Mount Hermon was adjacent
Speaker 1: to Jerusalem and to Mount Zion. And Mount Zion was
Speaker 1: literally just the hill in Jerusalem. We would consider it
Speaker 1: a hill. I've been there. It's not really much of
Speaker 1: a mountain. But to them, it was a mountain to Jerusalem.
Speaker 1: But Mount Hermon was the mountain nearby. And Mount Hermon
Speaker 1: is what drew the dew near to Jerusalem. So it's
Speaker 1: another picture. He's trying to tell us that unity will
Speaker 1: be like the dew of Hermon. This dew that falls
Speaker 1: on the mountains of Zion. So the picture is that
Speaker 1: where there's unity, there's going to be a watering. There's
Speaker 1: going to be a gentle watering that will sustain you.
Speaker 1: It's not a flood. It's not overwhelming. It's not disturbing.
Speaker 1: It's not frustrating. It's not a mess. It's going to
Speaker 1: be the gentle watering that sustains you will be upon
Speaker 1: you as the dew of Hermon is upon Zion. For there,
Speaker 1: there where there's unity, the Lord commanded the blessing. The
Speaker 1: Lord commands the blessing. And then Zoe goes with it. Life.
Speaker 1: And in most translations, there's a comma there, and it says,
Speaker 1: even life evermore. He commands the blessing, and he commands life.
Speaker 1: He commands life. It's like a picture of Ezekiel 37.
Speaker 1: Can these bones live? I don't know, Lord, only you know.
Speaker 1: Command life. Command life. Command life to the bones. Well,
Speaker 1: this is God. This is God over you. This is
Speaker 1: God over us. This is God over our families. This
Speaker 1: is God over our church. This is God over our marriages,
Speaker 1: over our relationships, where there's unity. Where there's unity. Unity is,
Speaker 1: it's the absence of division. It's the absence of discord.
Speaker 1: Division is divisions. Division is more than one vision. Division
Speaker 1: is two visions. Where there's two visions, there's no unity.
Speaker 1: Where there's division, there's no unity. Division is one of
Speaker 1: the tactics of the enemy to steal unity. Why is
Speaker 1: the enemy after... What is the enemy... Oh, yeah. Okay,
Speaker 1: thank you so much. Give Hugo a thank you. He's
Speaker 1: having trouble EQing the microphone. But we have a new
Speaker 1: microphone coming, by the way. They're shipping a new microphone
Speaker 1: to us. Remember, this one broke. So somebody's bought us
Speaker 1: a new microphone. Unity is hard because our flesh feeds
Speaker 1: on this unity. Unity is hard because our flesh feeds
Speaker 1: on opinions. Our flesh feeds on gossip. Our flesh feeds
Speaker 1: on slander. Our flesh feeds on pride. And pride is
Speaker 1: to assert my opinion. Pride is... The showing forth that
Speaker 1: I'm right and you're wrong. And so unity has to
Speaker 1: be fought for. And the enemy contends against the unity
Speaker 1: of the spirit and the unity of the brethren and
Speaker 1: the unity of the kingdom and the unity of the
Speaker 1: word that we can unify around. He contends against it.
Speaker 1: Why does he contend against it? Because that's where God
Speaker 1: commends the blessing. The commanded blessing. The blessing that cannot
Speaker 1: be overthrown. The blessing that causes us to triumph. The
Speaker 1: blessing that puts the enemy under our feet. The blessing
Speaker 1: that causes victory. The blessing that causes everything to grow.
Speaker 1: The blessing that brings life evermore. The blessing is where
Speaker 1: there's unity. Unity. Where there's unity. Now I'm convinced, I'm convinced,
Speaker 1: I hope I can't be unconvinced. I'm convinced that you
Speaker 1: don't have to have perfect agreement to have unity. Now
Speaker 1: that sounds like a contradiction. Because unity sounds like perfect agreement.
Speaker 1: But unity is preserved by peace. And unity means that
Speaker 1: we can choose to unify over what we do agree
Speaker 1: upon while we patiently allow Holy Spirit to lead us
Speaker 1: into that which is excellent and true and noble and upright.
Speaker 1: The enemy wants us rushing to division And God wants
Speaker 1: us rushing to wisdom and counsel and truth and understanding.
Speaker 1: And what if, what if, what if so many times
Speaker 1: because of our flesh or whatever it is, and I
Speaker 1: could give you some good reasons, but I really think
Speaker 1: that in the midst of the kingdom, in the midst
Speaker 1: of Christianity, in the midst of the church, I believe
Speaker 1: that that unclean spirits are pushing forward disunity and division
Speaker 1: all of the time. And they're baiting us. They're baiting
Speaker 1: us to see if we will bite on those things
Speaker 1: that bring another vision. Remember, this is how Satan got
Speaker 1: Adam and Eve to fall from the greatest blessing, the
Speaker 1: commanded blessing. They were dwelling in the commanded blessing. Think
Speaker 1: about that. They're dwelling in the commanded blessing. But he
Speaker 1: came with another vision. Another vision paid attention to is
Speaker 1: the open door for division. And division brought disunity and
Speaker 1: And disunity removed them from the commanded blessing. Satan came
Speaker 1: in Genesis 3, it's recorded. Satan came and said, has
Speaker 1: God said not to eat of this tree? Remember? Has
Speaker 1: God said not to eat of this tree? What is
Speaker 1: it that the enemy is pulling us, pulling our perspective,
Speaker 1: pulling our pulling our heart, pulling our mind, pulling our attention,
Speaker 1: pulling our imagination with what is it that, what hook
Speaker 1: or what bait on that hook is he using to
Speaker 1: draw us into something that really has nothing to do
Speaker 1: with the thing itself, but it has everything to do
Speaker 1: with the enemy wanting to steal your commanded blessings. How
Speaker 1: many churches have failed, are faltering, have fallen? How many churches,
Speaker 1: how many kingdom expressions have suffered desperately because we as
Speaker 1: the body fell for the bait of the enemy that
Speaker 1: brought division? We fell for the bait that made us questioned.
Speaker 1: We fell for the bait. And it could be anything.
Speaker 1: So with Eve, it was, but doesn't this look attractive?
Speaker 1: Doesn't this look good to eat? How could something good
Speaker 1: to eat be something you shouldn't have? Doesn't it look
Speaker 1: good to eat? And so Eve looked at it and
Speaker 1: she saw that it did look attractive to eat. And
Speaker 1: so the vision introduced, right? The vision introduced caused her
Speaker 1: to ponder and to be drawn away. Isn't that interesting?
Speaker 1: Moses is mightily used of God. Moses is the called
Speaker 1: out of God. Pastor Joel just mentioned him a moment ago.
Speaker 1: He's the called out of God. He was called out
Speaker 1: by a burning bush. But at one point, Miriam doesn't
Speaker 1: like his instruction. And so Miriam says, I don't think
Speaker 1: we ought to listen to Moses anymore because he married
Speaker 1: a woman of dark skin. Now Jewish folks have olive
Speaker 1: skin anyway, but. This must have been a woman of
Speaker 1: darker skin, Zipporah, right? And so she brings this accusation
Speaker 1: against Moses, which was to result in him losing credibility
Speaker 1: with his people so that the words of wisdom coming
Speaker 1: out of him and his leadership would fall into disrepute.
Speaker 1: I'm just saying, what won't the enemy try? What won't
Speaker 1: he try? He'll try anything. He'll try anything. And in
Speaker 1: the church environment, he'll try everything to get you into
Speaker 1: disagreement with the house and with the people. He'll try
Speaker 1: anything and everything. A couple of years ago, I started
Speaker 1: talking about buying a Tesla. Remember that? Started talking about
Speaker 1: buying a Tesla. Like I was being tempted to buy
Speaker 1: a Tesla. And I kind of mentioned from the platform,
Speaker 1: we were going to go try out a Tesla. You know,
Speaker 1: like two or three people talk to me with this
Speaker 1: weird stuff about, you know, and people start talking about,
Speaker 1: can he afford a Tesla? And how much money do
Speaker 1: we pay him? And should we even pay attention to
Speaker 1: somebody who might have enough money to buy a Tesla?
Speaker 1: I mean, like weird stuff started happening around the congregation, right?
Speaker 1: And eventually I bought a Tesla. I bought an old
Speaker 1: used one. Beat up. Previously crashed. Paid cash for it.
Speaker 1: But it looks brand new so it fooled all the
Speaker 1: people who hated me for buying a Tesla so they
Speaker 1: all had to go. Because they don't know the history
Speaker 1: of the Tesla I bought. They just think it's a
Speaker 1: really cool Tesla, and no pastor should have a cool Tesla.
Speaker 1: I'm messing with you a little bit, but I want
Speaker 1: you to hear, this is how weird it gets. This
Speaker 1: is how weird it gets in churches. And the enemy
Speaker 1: knows that a little whispering here, a little slander there,
Speaker 1: a little gossip over here, a little question there, a
Speaker 1: little prayer request there, You know, the enemy brings it
Speaker 1: like a prayer request. You know, hey, hey, hey, hey.
Speaker 1: I know you're a person of prayer. I just want
Speaker 1: us to remember Frank and Angela in prayer. Frank and Angela. Yeah,
Speaker 1: they're going through something. I can't say nothing about it, though. Well,
Speaker 1: you can trust me. Oh, okay. Well, praise God. All right, well, listen. Listen.
Speaker 1: You know what I'm talking about? And well, you know,
Speaker 1: that shouldn't have been an issue. I wasn't saying nothing
Speaker 1: about our doctrines. No, no, no. To slander or to
Speaker 1: gossip or to bring disrepute against any of us is
Speaker 1: just as bad as bringing disrepute against doctrines. Because why
Speaker 1: would we listen to anyone bringing doctrines who has disrepute?
Speaker 1: And what it is, it's creating another vision and the
Speaker 1: creation of another vision is to create division. And division,
Speaker 1: division is not what the enemy is after. What he's
Speaker 1: after is the commanded blessing. He's after the commanded blessing
Speaker 1: and the way to tear down, to remove, to destroy
Speaker 1: the commanded blessing is to remove the unity. Remove the unity.
Speaker 1: The commanded blessing is something that only exists in the
Speaker 1: coalescing of brethren and sistren. This commanded blessing, this is
Speaker 1: different than like the blessing on you individually. Because the text,
Speaker 1: the context is unity together. when we unify together, then
Speaker 1: that creates an atmosphere where Father commands a blessing that
Speaker 1: is different than any blessing that is ours, respectively, in
Speaker 1: our own salvation. This is a commanded blessing that is
Speaker 1: loosed upon us when we're unified together. And it's loosed
Speaker 1: in a business atmosphere where there's unity. It's loosed in
Speaker 1: a marriage atmosphere where there's unity. But the ministry of division,
Speaker 1: the ministry of division wants to split and dilute. Wants
Speaker 1: to bring in whispering and gossip and doubt and second guessing,
Speaker 1: accusation and fault finding, discontentment. cynicism. Just remember this, remember this.
Speaker 1: I think that Adam and Eve would like a redo.
Speaker 1: Sometimes we don't realize that we're abiding in a commanded blessing.
Speaker 1: Sometimes we don't realize, sometimes we don't see the beauty
Speaker 1: of what we're enjoying in the midst of unity. And
Speaker 1: I think Adam and Eve didn't realize the depth of
Speaker 1: the commanded blessing they were enjoying, right? I think they
Speaker 1: would want to redo. And I'm just saying, when... When
Speaker 1: the enemy comes to you through someone else, if it's
Speaker 1: not you, when the enemy comes to you through someone else,
Speaker 1: oh my goodness, realize the enemy is after your commanded blessing.
Speaker 1: He's after our corporate blessing. He's after our corporate blessing.
Speaker 1: Go over to Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4. talks
Speaker 1: about how that unity is preserved with the bond of peace.
Speaker 1: I want you to see this because we can have
Speaker 1: peace in the midst of disagreement. Again, I'm saying disagreement.
Speaker 1: And something really crazy happens. Peace can supersede. In other words,
Speaker 1: listen to this. Peace can supersede your understanding. Isn't that
Speaker 1: Philippians 4? The peace of God can exceed your understanding.
Speaker 1: Because I choose peace and I abide in peace because
Speaker 1: I'm still growing in my understanding. That's humility. Humility might say,
Speaker 1: I don't see it exactly the way you do right now,
Speaker 1: but I don't need to divide from you. I don't
Speaker 1: need to be at war with you. I don't need
Speaker 1: to see you as my enemy. I don't need to
Speaker 1: pit myself against you. I don't need to bring you
Speaker 1: down because I'm still growing in understanding. I'm seeking counsel.
Speaker 1: I'm seeking wisdom. That make sense? I'm looking at Ephesians
Speaker 1: chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4 says, As a prisoner of
Speaker 1: the Lord, then I urge you to live a life
Speaker 1: worthy of the calling you've received. Be completely humble and gentle.
Speaker 1: Be patient. Listen to that. Be completely humble and gentle. Patient. Patient.
Speaker 1: Bearing with one another in love. Bearing. Bearing. Bearing, forbearing.
Speaker 1: That means you're bugging me right now, but my love
Speaker 1: for you is greater than the bug. So even though
Speaker 1: I'm feeling bugged, I'm not going to manifest that I'm bugged.
Speaker 1: I'm going to manifest love because my love is bigger
Speaker 1: than the bug. Right? This is forbearing. Because I recognize
Speaker 1: God's working on you and he's working on me. And
Speaker 1: maybe I'm the person. with the bug and maybe you're
Speaker 1: the problem. But if we keep loving one another, the
Speaker 1: bug's going to work out. We're going to work out
Speaker 1: the bugs. be completely humble and gentle, be patient, bearing
Speaker 1: with one another in love, making every effort, how many efforts?
Speaker 1: Every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through
Speaker 1: the bond of peace. So we don't keep unity or
Speaker 1: the unity of the Spirit because of perfect agreement. We
Speaker 1: keep the unity of the Holy Spirit in our church
Speaker 1: because of peace, We're choosing peace because we love one another.
Speaker 1: And peace is, no matter what happens, I'm not going
Speaker 1: to be at war with you. I'm not going to
Speaker 1: make you my enemy. I have one enemy, and he
Speaker 1: has a cohort of partners. That's the one that's my enemy.
Speaker 1: That's the one I'm against. I'm not against my body members.
Speaker 1: I'm not going to... This is not... autoimmune disease in
Speaker 1: the church. I'm not going to be attacking the body members. Right?
Speaker 1: No matter what. I'm going to love the body members.
Speaker 1: Going to choose to be unoffendable. Right? You okay? Making
Speaker 1: every effort to keep the unity of the spirit through
Speaker 1: the bond of peace. This is Ephesians 4. Ephesians 4,
Speaker 1: he starts with unity. In the middle, he talks about unity.
Speaker 1: Because he says the gifts of Jesus have been distributed
Speaker 1: to the five-fold ministry for the equipping of the saints
Speaker 1: until we all come into the unity of the faith.
Speaker 1: And then he closes this passage saying, Chapter 4, he
Speaker 1: closes this passage talking to us about how to walk
Speaker 1: in peace. Because if we walk in peace, we will
Speaker 1: be preserving unity. If we preserve unity, the commanded blessing
Speaker 1: will be in our midst. We will be receiving the
Speaker 1: same anointing that was on David and on the house
Speaker 1: of Zion. we will be receiving that gushing oil that
Speaker 1: came over Aaron and over the beard and over the robe.
Speaker 1: Here it is. I'm going to start at verse 25.
Speaker 1: End of the chapter. Therefore, each of you must put
Speaker 1: off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor for we
Speaker 1: are members of one body. Now, by the way, he
Speaker 1: says that's actually the That's actually why we're going after
Speaker 1: the peace so badly. We're going after the peace so
Speaker 1: badly to retain the unity because we are members of
Speaker 1: one another. I'm not going to bring injury to Angela
Speaker 1: or injury to Craig or injury to Mary or injury...
Speaker 1: to Jerry, I'm not going to bring injury. I'm not
Speaker 1: going to bring accusation, harm, slander, reproach, judgment, gossip against
Speaker 1: them because I wouldn't step on my toe. And even
Speaker 1: as I wouldn't step on my own body, they are
Speaker 1: a member of my body. Together we are members of
Speaker 1: his body. So we're going to make every effort to
Speaker 1: be at peace with one another. In your anger, do
Speaker 1: not sin. Do not let the sun go down while
Speaker 1: you're still angry. I think he just defined the sins.
Speaker 1: This is one of the definitions of sin in anger. Now,
Speaker 1: anger is a righteous emotion. Anger can be a righteous
Speaker 1: emotion when wrong has occurred. But if we don't seek reconciliation...
Speaker 1: Before the sun sets, we've given Satan an opportunity. That
Speaker 1: would be sin. In your anger, do not sin. Do
Speaker 1: not let the sun go down while you're still angry
Speaker 1: and do not give the devil a foothold. The word
Speaker 1: foothold there is actually topos in the Greek. Do not
Speaker 1: give place or ground to the enemy. How do you
Speaker 1: do that? By not seeking to reconcile a wrong. If
Speaker 1: you're going to process this for the next three years
Speaker 1: or process this for the next month or two. Hello, somebody.
Speaker 1: How many of us Think that processing is the method
Speaker 1: to solve our turmoil, our inner turmoil. Processing is the
Speaker 1: modern psychobabble of how to deal with inner turmoil. It's
Speaker 1: not biblical. The biblical method is to reconcile before the
Speaker 1: sun sets, so that Satan gets no opportunity. But so
Speaker 1: many times what's happening is, is we are allowing the
Speaker 1: enemy to appeal to us with carnal and fleshly methodologies.
Speaker 1: And so we feel like we need to process something.
Speaker 1: And so we haven't seen you for a while. And so, well,
Speaker 1: you know, that happened to me and I'm still processing it. Well,
Speaker 1: you know, I heard this or I heard that and
Speaker 1: I'm still processing it. How many people leave the commanded blessing?
Speaker 1: They leave the place of commanded blessing because they choose
Speaker 1: to process instead of reconcile. They run to division instead
Speaker 1: of run to wisdom, counsel, truth, and understanding. This is
Speaker 1: the wisdom of God over here. Isaiah chapter 11, the
Speaker 1: seven spirits of God. James chapter 3, 13 through 17,
Speaker 1: the wisdom from above. Are we going to run in
Speaker 1: our wisdom? frustration or our irritation, are we going to
Speaker 1: run to wisdom, counsel, truth, and understanding, or are we
Speaker 1: going to run to division? If we choose to process,
Speaker 1: we're giving place to the enemy. And most of the time,
Speaker 1: it gets worse. And most of the time, we begin
Speaker 1: to seek out others who are under the same spirit
Speaker 1: of division and To see if they've processed it the
Speaker 1: same way we're processing it. Look, I want to share
Speaker 1: this slanderous thing with you. Look, I want to share
Speaker 1: this accusatory thing with you. Look, I want to share
Speaker 1: this defaming thing with you. Look, I want to share
Speaker 1: this unclean thing with you. And just see if you
Speaker 1: would process it the same way I would. And so
Speaker 1: we seek... Hello, somebody. Don't just shout because I'm preaching good.
Speaker 1: And so we seek out others to justify our disunity
Speaker 1: and our division. No, we don't just do this in
Speaker 1: the church. We do this with our marriages. We do
Speaker 1: this with our families. We do this at work and
Speaker 1: with businesses. We do this. The whispering over by the
Speaker 1: microwave in the workroom. You've all seen it. Maybe you've
Speaker 1: been a part of it. Anyone who's been stealing must
Speaker 1: steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with
Speaker 1: their hands that they may have something to share with
Speaker 1: those in need. And do not let any unwholesome talk
Speaker 1: come out of your mouths, but only that which is
Speaker 1: helpful wow hear this we're going to preserve the bond
Speaker 1: of peace how are we going to do that do
Speaker 1: not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth
Speaker 1: but only that which is helpful for building others up
Speaker 1: according to their needs that it may benefit those who listen.
Speaker 1: This is super healthy instruction from Paul to preserve the
Speaker 1: bond of peace so that unity will be preserved in
Speaker 1: our midst so that the command of blessing will be
Speaker 1: present in our midst. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit
Speaker 1: with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
Speaker 1: The implication is when we are talking with negative speech
Speaker 1: or slanderous speech, we're grieving the Holy Spirit. Get rid
Speaker 1: of all bitterness, rage, anger, brawling and slander and every
Speaker 1: form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another.
Speaker 1: forgiving one another just as in Christ God forgave you.
Speaker 1: Let's stand this morning. Sometimes we got to talk to
Speaker 1: some things. Sometimes we have to talk to things. I'll
Speaker 1: give you a confession. She's not in the room, but
Speaker 1: there was a... I can remember it pretty good. Oh,
Speaker 1: she is in the room. There was a pretty... There
Speaker 1: was like a three-month period or something like that. that
Speaker 1: I was just growing in frustration against Joel, against my wife.
Speaker 1: And as I was allowing this to grow, I was
Speaker 1: thinking of all the ways that she did not please me.
Speaker 1: And it was getting worse, right? And, you know, you
Speaker 1: begin to, I mean, your mind just, Once you give
Speaker 1: place to it, your mind just grows, right? And so,
Speaker 1: you know, you can just make things up. You know,
Speaker 1: her hair, her nose, her toes, the way she cooks.
Speaker 1: You know, this, you're making things up, right? And so,
Speaker 1: but I'm still the man of power for the hour.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm still Mr. Holy. I'm still seeking the Lord, right?
Speaker 1: So one morning, I'm here in prayer one morning. Early
Speaker 1: morning prayer. I'm here in prayer one morning. And I
Speaker 1: don't know if I had a couple of those thoughts
Speaker 1: come into my mind. I probably did. In the middle
Speaker 1: of prayer. But all at once the Holy Spirit just
Speaker 1: spoke to me and he said, it's a spirit of discontentment.
Speaker 1: I'm like, what? How could that be? It couldn't be
Speaker 1: a spirit of discontentment. I'm very smart. I'm very wise.
Speaker 1: I know she has all these deficits. Right? It's a
Speaker 1: spirit of discontentment. So I renounced it and went into deliverance.
Speaker 1: I just started rebuking it. And pretty soon I had
Speaker 1: a little burp and pretty soon I literally I drove
Speaker 1: it out. And I'm like, what in the world? Oh
Speaker 1: my goodness, she's beautiful. What a nice wife I have.
Speaker 1: Her nose is perfect. Her toes are great. She cooks
Speaker 1: pretty good. What in the world? Listen, I'm telling you
Speaker 1: that story because I believe that these spirits attack us
Speaker 1: in our unified place where we've been called in our churches.
Speaker 1: And here we are. We're called to a church. We're
Speaker 1: called to a house. We're called to a people. But
Speaker 1: then all at once, somebody's like... And then somebody else
Speaker 1: is like... And then all at once. And we don't
Speaker 1: realize that our minds are being seeded by the enemy.
Speaker 1: And I'm just encouraging you this morning. Satan is after
Speaker 1: the commanded blessing over the house because the commanded blessing...
Speaker 1: It doesn't remain on the house. It comes over the beard.
Speaker 1: It comes over the robe. It comes to the edge
Speaker 1: of the robe, meaning every part of the house, every portion,
Speaker 1: every body in that house comes under the commanded blessing
Speaker 1: when there's unity. When there's unity. And Satan is after
Speaker 1: the commanded blessing on your life. So we agree right now.
Speaker 1: We agree right now. We will renounce right now. Division.
Speaker 1: We just heighten our discernment. We open the eyes of
Speaker 1: our understanding. We come into agreement right now. With the
Speaker 1: ministry of discernment. We run to peace and not to division.
Speaker 1: We run to counsel and truth and wisdom and understanding
Speaker 1: and not to division. We just heighten our understanding right
Speaker 1: now to know that the commanded blessing has to be
Speaker 1: fought for and protected. The commanded blessing is worth fighting
Speaker 1: for and protecting. And we will protect that commanded blessing
Speaker 1: by protecting the peace of this house and the peace
Speaker 1: on our lives and the peace we have one to another.
Speaker 1: We rejoice in this right now. In Jesus' name. And
Speaker 1: everybody said, Amen. God bless you, church. We love you.
Speaker 1: We love you. We love you. We love you. Let's
Speaker 1: worship as we go this morning.