Speaker 1: Hallelujah. Stay standing. We'll pray over the word. Good to
Speaker 1: see you all in church this morning. Praise the Lord.
Speaker 1: You look beautiful. Father, we thank you for your word.
Speaker 1: We thank you that your anointing is present. That you
Speaker 1: are stirring up, restoring, reviving our hearts. Thank you that
Speaker 1: we are shedding disillusionment and running after you with a
Speaker 1: whole heart. Thank you for the pursuit, that the pursuit
Speaker 1: of you is rewarded by your presence, by revelation, understanding.
Speaker 1: We give you the praise for it today in Jesus' name.
Speaker 1: And everybody said? Amen. You may be seated. Hallelujah, hallelujah.
Speaker 1: We have heard some messages lately to address and clarify
Speaker 1: some of the woke thinking and culture. Today won't be
Speaker 1: one of those. However, every message in the Word is
Speaker 1: an anti-woke message. Boy, did you miss a good time
Speaker 1: to laugh right there. Hallelujah. God is fully awake, but
Speaker 1: he isn't woke. But today, we're going to jump off
Speaker 1: of that for a moment and dive into something. I
Speaker 1: want to talk to you about us building more fully
Speaker 1: the presence of the Lord here and in our own
Speaker 1: hearts and our own lives, because I know that's our passion.
Speaker 1: I know that's our desire. So we'll come back to
Speaker 1: some of these philosophical thoughts on wokeism. I hope it's
Speaker 1: beneficial and fun as we do those. We have nine
Speaker 1: people on the preaching team. And so I don't do
Speaker 1: all the preaching anymore. We kind of rotate through a
Speaker 1: little bit. And so each one of us are meditating
Speaker 1: and praying into what we can bring that will be
Speaker 1: biblical truth that will impact or shatter or expose unclean thinking,
Speaker 1: dark thinking, right? So that's part of what we're trying
Speaker 1: to do. And we're trying to do it in the
Speaker 1: spirit that the Lord would use and bring, not a
Speaker 1: spirit of judgment or hatred or malice or animosity, but
Speaker 1: just based on the goodness of God and what he
Speaker 1: has for mankind, for culture, Today, though, I want to
Speaker 1: just talk a little bit about building the edifice, building
Speaker 1: the house of the Lord, and how this is really
Speaker 1: what we long for. And I'm going to put like
Speaker 1: an old King James castle up here, right? But this
Speaker 1: is what we really long for. We long for more
Speaker 1: of the Lord. I think you're here this morning because
Speaker 1: you long for more of the Lord. There is a
Speaker 1: tension that we feel in the Lord. And it's a
Speaker 1: super healthy tension in that we are overjoyed with the
Speaker 1: presence we receive. There's a contentment inwardly of partaking of
Speaker 1: the goodness of God. And how many of you did
Speaker 1: some eating, snacking, or something this morning? I see hands
Speaker 1: over here. So yeah, as we press in together, so
Speaker 1: I'm talking about corporately and individually, you know, we come
Speaker 1: to feast on Him. You know, that's part of why
Speaker 1: we're coming. And we come because we want more of Him, right?
Speaker 1: We want more of His glory, more of His presence,
Speaker 1: more of His touch. more of his wisdom, more of
Speaker 1: his counsel. We want him to show up supernaturally. We
Speaker 1: want him to revive our hearts and to awaken our hearts.
Speaker 1: So there's that tension where we're appreciative of literally every
Speaker 1: drop of spiritual rain, but we also have a discontentment.
Speaker 1: There's like a holy discontentment that's healthy. And that holy
Speaker 1: discontentment is that we want more. that we want more.
Speaker 1: And it's kind of that Exodus 33 thing where Moses said,
Speaker 1: I don't want to go forward without your glory. I
Speaker 1: kind of don't want to move off of this spot
Speaker 1: without your glory. And I don't know, I think that's
Speaker 1: part of why we come. Part of why we come
Speaker 1: together is we have not fully given to disillusionment. Sometimes
Speaker 1: we press in and we don't receive all that we desired.
Speaker 1: And so disillusionment wants to come. Hopelessness wants to come.
Speaker 1: Sadness or frustration. But we're here today and we gather
Speaker 1: because we've quenched enough of that that we're still believing
Speaker 1: that there's value in getting together. There's value in the
Speaker 1: body of Christ. There's value in gathering. There's value in
Speaker 1: coming into a place where corporately we're asking God to move.
Speaker 1: We're believing for God to move. We're believing for his
Speaker 1: spirit to be poured out upon us. And there's value
Speaker 1: in that. There's power in that. There's power in that.
Speaker 1: And sometimes we come in our weakness. Sometimes we come
Speaker 1: with literally all we have is hope. But somebody around
Speaker 1: us is strengthened. And you know, if we get around strength,
Speaker 1: even when we're struggling, it's better than staying home. If
Speaker 1: we get around faith when we're struggling, it's better than
Speaker 1: staying home. There's something about getting around. The Bible calls
Speaker 1: us lively stones. And my exhortation to you today is
Speaker 1: to press, to continue to press to be that manifestation
Speaker 1: of life. A lively stone. Because him, he, and 1
Speaker 1: Peter 2, we're going to read this in a minute,
Speaker 1: but we're just talking right now. But he is the
Speaker 1: chief cornerstone. He is the stone of life. And he's
Speaker 1: building a habitation through us unto himself that contains his glory. Essentially,
Speaker 1: his glory will manifest in the midst Of the lively stones.
Speaker 1: So we want to be. We want to be. Becoming.
Speaker 1: That living stone. We want that. We desire that. We
Speaker 1: yearn for that. That's why you're here this morning. But also.
Speaker 1: If we overcome. Despair. And hopelessness. If we overcome some stuff.
Speaker 1: We'll show up. Even when we're not. feeling all that
Speaker 1: lively we'll show because we know that this is the
Speaker 1: habitation the habitation is not the building the habitation is
Speaker 1: the corporate gathering the habitation is not the building but
Speaker 1: it's so much better together where there's air conditioning on
Speaker 1: a hot day it's so much better together where there's
Speaker 1: a roof and it's raining outside but the habitation is
Speaker 1: not the house you are the house You are the
Speaker 1: habitation of God's presence. You are the house that he's
Speaker 1: dwelling in. And when we come together, we come as
Speaker 1: lively stones, stones that are made alive by Holy Spirit, right?
Speaker 1: Let's read it together. And we come together to build
Speaker 1: this habitation for his glory. 1 Peter 2, verses 4
Speaker 1: through 6. 1 Peter 2, 4 through 6. As you
Speaker 1: come to him, the living stone. Now, he's shown to
Speaker 1: us in Scripture to be the cornerstone. that builds the
Speaker 1: house of God. He's the cornerstone that builds the new habitation.
Speaker 1: And the new house or the new tabernacle or the
Speaker 1: new habitation of God is the coming together of the
Speaker 1: people of God. It's me individually. I am a living
Speaker 1: stone now made alive by him. I am a house
Speaker 1: of the Lord, but I don't exist on my own.
Speaker 1: I exist corporately in you. I've been made one with you.
Speaker 1: And together we've been made one with him. Him being
Speaker 1: the head and us being the body fitly joined together
Speaker 1: as God has called us. And so he is the
Speaker 1: chief cornerstone of the new habitation of the house. The
Speaker 1: old habitation of which is in the old habitation there's metaphor.
Speaker 1: There's beautiful understanding, illustration, parallels, and metaphor. But the new
Speaker 1: house is us corporately together. We come corporately together. This
Speaker 1: is so important that we see that coming together is
Speaker 1: so powerful and it's so important. Each of us come
Speaker 1: as lively stones. As you come to him, the living
Speaker 1: stone rejected by humans, but chosen by God and precious
Speaker 1: to him, you also, like living stones, are being built
Speaker 1: into a spiritual house. It's not in vain that we're
Speaker 1: coming together. This is super powerful that we're coming together.
Speaker 1: We're being built into a spiritual house. Now, in a
Speaker 1: spiritual house, that's where the glory comes. The glory dwells
Speaker 1: in a spiritual house where we come together in his name,
Speaker 1: by him, enlivened, made alive by him, and we come together.
Speaker 1: That's where the glory dwells. That's where the glory shows.
Speaker 1: That's where the glory comes. And we've tasted a bit
Speaker 1: of that today. And it's a beautiful thing. Like if
Speaker 1: we avoid this, if we, like there's a glory, a
Speaker 1: corporate glory in the lively stones, in the living stones
Speaker 1: that we can't get somewhere else. And there's a glory
Speaker 1: on those who are refining themselves as lively stones. There's
Speaker 1: a glory on them that can get on me when
Speaker 1: I get around them. And it's because they've been working
Speaker 1: on the structure of their stone. You know, as you're
Speaker 1: building something, you know, there's something about the quality of
Speaker 1: the stone and there's something about the perfecting of the
Speaker 1: stone that it speaks to the integrity of the building.
Speaker 1: And as we get around one another... and others are
Speaker 1: further along in their maturity in the Lord, there's strength
Speaker 1: in that. There's grace in that. There's hope in that.
Speaker 1: There's life in that. There's joy in that. We are
Speaker 1: built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood.
Speaker 1: To be a holy priesthood. Wow. Wow. This is crazy.
Speaker 1: Offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God. So we come together
Speaker 1: and we exist as well individually as a lively stone.
Speaker 1: You are one of these lively stones. And then he
Speaker 1: goes on to say you're not only a lively stone,
Speaker 1: but you're part of a holy priesthood. You're actually part
Speaker 1: of a priesthood. You have a priestly calling. You have
Speaker 1: a priestly role. The priesthood, this speaks of something very
Speaker 1: set apart. Very set apart. You are no longer ordinary.
Speaker 1: The priest, Exodus 39.30. The priest wore a plate of
Speaker 1: gold over their forehead and on the plate of gold
Speaker 1: it said, Holy to God. They were to remember by
Speaker 1: being called as a priest. We're talking about Aaron and
Speaker 1: the Levites. We're talking about those in that tribe. They
Speaker 1: were holy unto the Lord. Set apart. For the heart
Speaker 1: of the Lord, the mind of the Lord, the work
Speaker 1: of the Lord. Now we in Christ Jesus have been
Speaker 1: called into a holy priesthood. We are lively stones and
Speaker 1: these lively stones have a calling, have a place, have
Speaker 1: a role that is so separate and set apart from
Speaker 1: everything we were in the world. Look at the Scripture.
Speaker 1: Work with Holy Ghost this morning. He's not talking about
Speaker 1: those that have gone to seminary. He's not talking about
Speaker 1: those that graduated from Bible college. He's not talking about
Speaker 1: those who want to be in the ministry. He's talking
Speaker 1: about every single believer. Every single believer is now in
Speaker 1: the ministry. Every single believer has been set apart by God.
Speaker 1: Every single believer has a ministry, a first ministry, and
Speaker 1: they're in the priesthood. every single one of us, hello somebody,
Speaker 1: and the most important calling that we have in the
Speaker 1: priesthood is that we offer spiritual sacrifices. That's the most
Speaker 1: important calling that we have, is that we offer spiritual sacrifices.
Speaker 1: Not physical sacrifices, but spiritual sacrifices. Physical sacrifices are follow
Speaker 1: spiritual sacrifices. The sacrifice of serving, the sacrifice of serving
Speaker 1: in any way, those would follow the spiritual sacrifices. Anything
Speaker 1: we would do, Holy Spirit wants to enliven, He wants
Speaker 1: to animate, He wants to quicken, He wants to make alive.
Speaker 1: And that life... as we embrace our calling as priests.
Speaker 1: Does that sound heavy? Does that sound crazy? Jesus fulfilled
Speaker 1: the priestly role and Jesus became the sacrifice as well.
Speaker 1: Remember that out of the Old Testament. So out of
Speaker 1: the Old Testament there were sin offerings, there were grain offerings,
Speaker 1: There were thank offerings. There were all these pictures of
Speaker 1: atonement and sacrifice. And the sacrifice of the Old Testament
Speaker 1: era was of an animal or of blood or of fat.
Speaker 1: If you've read about the fat portions being burnt up
Speaker 1: on the altar, the fat, as it was burnt up
Speaker 1: on the altar, it would... offer an aroma that would
Speaker 1: ascend to heaven as the fat portion of an offering
Speaker 1: was being burnt up because the fat represented sin. And
Speaker 1: as the fat portions would go up being placed on
Speaker 1: the altar and then being offered by fire before God,
Speaker 1: the fat portion, a picture of sin, would be like
Speaker 1: an incense offering before God Now Jesus fulfilled all of
Speaker 1: those pictures by offering himself on our behalf. And then
Speaker 1: we're told in the Hebrews that he became the high
Speaker 1: priest of his own offering, to present that offering before
Speaker 1: the Father on our behalf. But then he's called us
Speaker 1: into a priesthood as well, where in that priesthood, the
Speaker 1: fulfillment of that priesthood is to offer spiritual sacrifices. Now
Speaker 1: there's a relationship between our offering of spiritual sacrifices and
Speaker 1: the building up of this house, the building up of
Speaker 1: the edifice. There's an interrelationship. And the thing we desire,
Speaker 1: we all desire more of God. We desire a greater
Speaker 1: presence of the Lord. We desire... We want Him to
Speaker 1: move in such a way that it blows us all
Speaker 1: away and it blows the world away. Amen? And it's
Speaker 1: interrelated to this very thing that we're reading about in
Speaker 1: our priestly calling and in us embracing that we are
Speaker 1: lively stones, that we are lively stones, and that we
Speaker 1: come together to build a habitation for His glory and
Speaker 1: for His presence. What are the spiritual sacrifices? Let's dive
Speaker 1: into that a little bit. Spiritual sacrifices. First one I
Speaker 1: want to go to is Romans chapter 12 verses 1
Speaker 1: and 2. Let's go there. Romans chapter 12 verses 1
Speaker 1: and 2. Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, in
Speaker 1: view of God's mercy... to offer your bodies as a
Speaker 1: living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, which is your
Speaker 1: true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern
Speaker 1: of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of
Speaker 1: your mind. Let's just stop right there just for a moment.
Speaker 1: I want you to see those two things as coming
Speaker 1: together as part of one exhortation to us that more
Speaker 1: than anything we do, more than anything we do in doing,
Speaker 1: God is saying that a spiritual sacrifice that pleases Him,
Speaker 1: which is the most important act of our worship, is
Speaker 1: that we present our bodies up on the altar of sacrifice.
Speaker 1: And we say, Holy Spirit, not my will, but yours
Speaker 1: be done. Are you with me today? Every desire of
Speaker 1: my body, how many of you have bodily desires? Every
Speaker 1: desire of my body, every urge of my body, every
Speaker 1: thought of my mind. He's saying that when we put
Speaker 1: our body and our mind up on the altar of
Speaker 1: sacrifice and we say, not my will but yours be
Speaker 1: done through my behavior, through my mouth, through my hands,
Speaker 1: through my feet. Hello, somebody. Hello, somebody. Now, we're talking
Speaker 1: about activity that is outside of this building. When we
Speaker 1: come together, you know how easy it is when you
Speaker 1: coalesce with all of us together? You know how easy
Speaker 1: it is to walk out some of this stuff? It
Speaker 1: becomes 100% easier to... Walk out spiritual sacrifice when we
Speaker 1: come together. Because I'm lifted by you. I'm strengthened by you.
Speaker 1: I'm helped by you. But when we walk out these
Speaker 1: doors and we're gone for the next seven days, we're
Speaker 1: making choices that either build our lively stone, strengthen our
Speaker 1: lively stone, revive our lively stone, It's like, are we
Speaker 1: partnering with the fullness of Jesus outside these doors? Are
Speaker 1: we partnering with who He is and what He has
Speaker 1: for us? This is the most critical time. The most
Speaker 1: critical time is when we go outside those doors. And
Speaker 1: everything we do with our earth suit, with our imagination,
Speaker 1: with our passions, with our desires, every way that we
Speaker 1: fulfill appetites, every way that we have expressions... through these members, right?
Speaker 1: Romans chapter 6, 13 says, no longer present your members
Speaker 1: to unrighteousness to be used by them, but present the
Speaker 1: members of your body to righteousness, to the Lord in righteousness.
Speaker 1: All of these decisions, hello somebody, all of these decisions
Speaker 1: that we're making, they are either sharpening or The stone,
Speaker 1: building and helping form, and so that we become, and
Speaker 1: no matter what we do, no matter what we do,
Speaker 1: when we come back together, the grace on our stone,
Speaker 1: the revival on our stone, the life on our stone,
Speaker 1: it's going to be somewhat evident as we come back together.
Speaker 1: It's going to be somewhat evident. Because when we engage
Speaker 1: in the priestly ministry of spiritual sacrifices, then that incense
Speaker 1: offering goes before the throne. And as that incense offering
Speaker 1: goes before the throne, Holy Spirit descends upon us individually
Speaker 1: with a glory that can't come any other way. Why
Speaker 1: was Cornelius chosen? You know, Cornelius is the first Gentile believer.
Speaker 1: So we're told about the house of Cornelius in Acts
Speaker 1: chapter 10, Acts chapter 11, both of those. Why was
Speaker 1: Cornelius chosen? Because one of the spiritual sacrifices that God
Speaker 1: is pleased with is the giving of ourselves. This is
Speaker 1: Hebrews chapter 13, verse 16. The giving of ourselves, when
Speaker 1: we give of ourselves, it's a spiritual sacrifice, right? We're
Speaker 1: actually sacrificing when you give. When you give, you're sacrificing.
Speaker 1: Because you're saying, this that I'm about to part with,
Speaker 1: I'm no longer going to retain it for me. I'm
Speaker 1: going to give it for your benefit. That's a spiritual
Speaker 1: sacrifice God's pleased with. Did you know that sacrifice is
Speaker 1: so pleasing to God that it sends an aroma up
Speaker 1: all the way into the heavens? And that's why Cornelius
Speaker 1: was chosen to be the first Gentile believer. A Gentile
Speaker 1: is a non-Jew. And so as the gospel, the good news,
Speaker 1: the message of Jesus is going out, suddenly a vision
Speaker 1: comes to Peter, and Peter is told to go to
Speaker 1: the house of Cornelius, and it says, because his almsgiving
Speaker 1: His generosity has ascended to the throne as a memorial.
Speaker 1: And that's why God chose him. It's a spiritual sacrifice.
Speaker 1: You have to see this, that when you are engaged
Speaker 1: in spiritual sacrifice as a priest of the new covenant,
Speaker 1: as a priest, a representative of the ministry of Jesus,
Speaker 1: that as you're engaged in that, you're actually releasing an
Speaker 1: incense into the heavens, and that incense is sending the
Speaker 1: glory of God into to your life. So also when
Speaker 1: you turn the TV channel, so also, come on somebody,
Speaker 1: so also when you make choices about what to think on,
Speaker 1: so also when you dismiss certain imaginations, so also when
Speaker 1: you take control of an appetite, so also Because he
Speaker 1: says this is actually spiritual worship. It's actually spiritual worship
Speaker 1: in view of God's mercies to offer your body as
Speaker 1: a living sacrifice. That's to say that as some of
Speaker 1: these thoughts and appetites come up, that you set them
Speaker 1: aside and you say, I'm not going to feed that.
Speaker 1: I'm going to put that on the altar right now.
Speaker 1: I'm going to put that on the altar. I'm not
Speaker 1: going to feed that. I'm not going to go into that.
Speaker 1: I'm not going to partner with that. I'm not going
Speaker 1: to listen to that. As you put those thoughts, those behaviors,
Speaker 1: those natural desires or those natural appetites on the altar
Speaker 1: of sacrifice before the Lord... immediately the aroma, the incense
Speaker 1: of that offering is going up before the throne, and
Speaker 1: you are choosing to increase in glory as a lively stone.
Speaker 1: You are choosing that the Holy Spirit... And so there
Speaker 1: is a trade. Dr. Craig talked about a trade this morning.
Speaker 1: There is a trade. You're trading... The sacrifice of an appetite,
Speaker 1: the sacrifice of a thought, the sacrifice of an imagination,
Speaker 1: the sacrifice of one thing for the glory of God
Speaker 1: in your life. The fullness of God. And this is
Speaker 1: what we want. We want more of God. We have
Speaker 1: a promise of the fullness of God. We have a
Speaker 1: promise of revival. We have a promise of His fullness
Speaker 1: out of Ephesians chapter 4, 11 through 13. that He
Speaker 1: has already ordained to pour out His Spirit upon us.
Speaker 1: This is what He wants to do. But when we
Speaker 1: partner with Him, He's released to do this in a
Speaker 1: full way so that we become those who partake of
Speaker 1: His glory, contain His glory, walk in His glory, in
Speaker 1: a greater way. Are you with me this morning? Hebrews
Speaker 1: chapter 13, verse 15. Praise and thanksgiving. Praise and thanksgiving
Speaker 1: is actually a spiritual sacrifice. I'm up against something right
Speaker 1: now and my mouth really wants to curse or my
Speaker 1: mouth wants to be negative.
Speaker 1:
Speaker 1: But the Word says that if
Speaker 1: I bring that to an altar, if I bring that
Speaker 1: to an altar and put it up on that altar
Speaker 1: and light it on fire before the Lord... then a
Speaker 1: sweet aroma is going to go up before the Lord.
Speaker 1: A sweet aroma. That aroma is going to attract the
Speaker 1: presence of the Lord. I'm going to carry that presence
Speaker 1: with me as I come together with you. As we
Speaker 1: coalesce as a body, I'm going to come as a
Speaker 1: lively stone who's made some choices this week to continually
Speaker 1: praise God. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. Hallelujah. Hebrews chapter 13,
Speaker 1: verse 15. Therefore, through Jesus, let us continually offer to
Speaker 1: God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that
Speaker 1: openly profess His name. Let me read it again. Through Jesus, therefore,
Speaker 1: let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise,
Speaker 1: The fruit of lips, the fruit, the fruit of lips.
Speaker 1: The picture is your lips have become this partner with sacrifice.
Speaker 1: Your lips are actually bringing to God the most important
Speaker 1: fruit of the new covenant. Isn't that amazing? So, So
Speaker 1: if you saw the picture of a grain offering or
Speaker 1: a wave offering or a first fruits offering, if you
Speaker 1: saw that picture in the Old Testament, now he wants
Speaker 1: you to see that that picture is being fulfilled by
Speaker 1: the fruit of your lips. The fruit of your lips
Speaker 1: are actually bringing, if the fruit of your lips are
Speaker 1: praise and thanksgiving, then the fruit of your lips are
Speaker 1: actually bringing a spiritual sacrifice that ascends to the heaven,
Speaker 1: that gets God's attention, that sends the glory into your life,
Speaker 1: and that will send the glory of God into an
Speaker 1: atmosphere of our gathering. How many of you know the
Speaker 1: enemy doesn't want that? The enemy doesn't want greater glory
Speaker 1: in our midst. He doesn't want greater glory. He doesn't
Speaker 1: want greater miracles. He doesn't want greater visitation. He doesn't
Speaker 1: want revival. He doesn't want an awakening. He doesn't want
Speaker 1: the presence of God here. This inner battle, in so
Speaker 1: many ways, this inner battle, it finds its apex. It
Speaker 1: finds its its central focal point right here in our lips.
Speaker 1: Right here. Right here. And if the fruit of our
Speaker 1: lips is praise and thanksgiving unto God, being made known
Speaker 1: by Jesus, through Jesus, we're abiding in Jesus. How many
Speaker 1: of you are abiding in Jesus today? If we're abiding
Speaker 1: in Jesus, we're abiding in trusting Him. Amen. If we're
Speaker 1: abiding in Jesus, we're abiding in trusting the power of
Speaker 1: the Lord. How many of you believe that Jesus has
Speaker 1: brought us into Father and brought us into relationship with
Speaker 1: Father and made us sons and daughters? How many of
Speaker 1: you believe that? How many of you believe that Father
Speaker 1: has a little bit of foreknowledge? Like Father saw the
Speaker 1: crud before the crud happened. He saw the fender bender
Speaker 1: before it happened. He saw the empty bank account before
Speaker 1: it happened. He saw the health issue before it happened.
Speaker 1: He saw the negativity at work before it happened. He
Speaker 1: sees every single calamity coming. And Christ, your covenant representative,
Speaker 1: has already... provided answers for you, wisdom for you, help
Speaker 1: for you, breakthrough for you, strength for you, grace for you.
Speaker 1: How many of you trust that? So how can we
Speaker 1: continue swearing? How can we have a mouth of profanity
Speaker 1: or a mouth of cursing? James said it this way,
Speaker 1: how can bitter water and sweet water come out of
Speaker 1: the same well? We can take all of our animosity
Speaker 1: and all of our frustration and all that wants to
Speaker 1: erupt with accusation and profanity and negativity and put all
Speaker 1: of that up on the altar because we have a
Speaker 1: high priest. We have a representative. I can be a
Speaker 1: priest of a spiritual sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving no
Speaker 1: matter what I'm going through because I have a high
Speaker 1: priest who's already presented me victorious before Father. He's purchased
Speaker 1: my victory before Father. So now we're wondering why we
Speaker 1: don't partake of certain levels of glory. We're wondering why
Speaker 1: revival wanes. We're wondering why the goodness of God doesn't stay.
Speaker 1: We're wondering why there seems to be an ebb and
Speaker 1: a flow to the goodness of God. And there seems
Speaker 1: to be an ebb and a flow to the glory
Speaker 1: of God. And we wonder why there's not more presence
Speaker 1: of the Lord in our gatherings today. but many times
Speaker 1: it's because we've separated ourselves from our priestly role. And
Speaker 1: this is one of them, that we continually use our
Speaker 1: lips to bring forth sacrificial fruit, which is praise and
Speaker 1: thanksgiving in everything we're going through, every situation. Every situation,
Speaker 1: every situation, we find that we can trust God to
Speaker 1: get us through it. God will break through in every situation.
Speaker 1: Revelation 5.8, prayer is one of these. Prayer is a
Speaker 1: spiritual sacrifice. How am I going to spend my time today?
Speaker 1: How am I going to spend my morning when I
Speaker 1: wake up? How am I going to spend my evening?
Speaker 1: How am I going to spend my drive time? How
Speaker 1: am I going to spend this time, that time, the
Speaker 1: other time? Will it be for me or could I
Speaker 1: trade some of that in prayer? Could I trade some
Speaker 1: of that for spiritual engagement, partnership, productivity in the spirit
Speaker 1: and lift up somebody Could I intercede over somebody? The
Speaker 1: power of intercession, the Bible says that when you intercede,
Speaker 1: that is when you stand in the gap for somebody
Speaker 1: else and you bring them before the Lord and you
Speaker 1: also do battle over them in the spirit realm and
Speaker 1: you begin to pray over someone and you begin to
Speaker 1: intercede for them and you stand as that representative of
Speaker 1: the voice of the Lord over them and the voice
Speaker 1: of God restoration over them, and you begin to partner
Speaker 1: with Jesus in the spirit realm, the Bible says that
Speaker 1: it is like incense. Once again, it's like a fat offering.
Speaker 1: It's like the burning up of your own, what you
Speaker 1: could do, what your choices could be. where you could
Speaker 1: invest your time. It's like laying that aside. It's a
Speaker 1: sacrifice that pleases God. And Revelation 5, 8 says that
Speaker 1: it's an incense offering before the Lord. There's another part
Speaker 1: to this. There's another part. It's not only productive, it's
Speaker 1: not only amazing, it's not only rich, it's not only
Speaker 1: wonderful that you're praying, but you've got to realize that
Speaker 1: what's happening is that as the incense goes up, the
Speaker 1: glory is being sent down. You are sharpening your lively stone,
Speaker 1: and you are actually honing a deeper glory in your
Speaker 1: own heart and on your life because you've chosen to
Speaker 1: take some of your time and to set it up
Speaker 1: on an altar. And to trade the activities you could
Speaker 1: have had, whatever that would have been. Sitting with your
Speaker 1: feet up. turning another channel polishing the boat all sorts
Speaker 1: of valid stuff by the way life is full of
Speaker 1: valid stuff if you need something valid to do just
Speaker 1: pause for a moment the enemy will show you a
Speaker 1: couple things There's a zillion valid things to do. And
Speaker 1: he's the God of reasoning, so he'll visit your mind
Speaker 1: and help you think of all sorts of valid things
Speaker 1: to do. Right? Lots of valid stuff to do. Well,
Speaker 1: that had to be done. Or you can take some
Speaker 1: of that and you can trade it for prayer and
Speaker 1: put it up on an altar of sacrifice. And maybe
Speaker 1: I'll just get to that later. Maybe I don't need
Speaker 1: to see that show. Maybe I'll polish the boat next week.
Speaker 1: Maybe somebody else could change my oil while they're changing
Speaker 1: the oil. I'll just be over here praying. When we
Speaker 1: trade our time or our stuff for some of that,
Speaker 1: not only are we changing the spiritual atmosphere of things
Speaker 1: around us. But it's a spiritual sacrifice. Father is well
Speaker 1: pleased with that kind of spiritual sacrifice. And as the
Speaker 1: incense goes up, the glory comes down. And if a
Speaker 1: bunch of us begin to do these things, right? A
Speaker 1: bunch of us begin to walk out our priesthood. Now
Speaker 1: you already are. I know you are. That's why you're here.
Speaker 1: You're here because you love him. You're here because you
Speaker 1: want this. You're here because you desire this. You're here
Speaker 1: because you're passionate about him. You're here joined with me
Speaker 1: because we have a holy discontentment. We want more. We
Speaker 1: want more. And this is how he says there's a
Speaker 1: growing consistency in his glory. a growing consistency in His glory.
Speaker 1: Revelation 5.8. Let's stand. I'm going to read it so
Speaker 1: you know I'm scriptural. When He had taken it, the
Speaker 1: foreign living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before
Speaker 1: the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were
Speaker 1: holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers
Speaker 1: of God's people. There's more to the text. There's more.
Speaker 1: But I want to pull this passage out. I want
Speaker 1: you to see it. I want you to see the
Speaker 1: value of it and the validity of it. Is that
Speaker 1: your prayers, they don't die with your voice. They don't
Speaker 1: die with you. Your prayers are partnership with Jesus, the
Speaker 1: high priest. Your prayers are powerful. Your prayers live beyond you.
Speaker 1: Your prayers ascend to where, if you follow the rest
Speaker 1: of the passage of Revelation 5, you'll see that then
Speaker 1: those prayers were actually released over the earth. And they
Speaker 1: caused spiritual things to break through in the hearts of people.
Speaker 1: Your prayers are effectual. And they're received as incense. Why
Speaker 1: would they be received as incense? Biblical, Old Testament, understanding, metaphor,
Speaker 1: priestly insight. God's trying to say that it's like that
Speaker 1: fat that was being burnt up. It's like that wave offering,
Speaker 1: that grain offering. It's like that first fruits offering that
Speaker 1: was being presented. That incense came before God. And when
Speaker 1: the incense came, the glory was sent into the temple.
Speaker 1: The glory was sent into the temple. when we come
Speaker 1: together as lively stones and we come out of our
Speaker 1: six days of living life, but we come together and
Speaker 1: we come together with these elements at the forefront of
Speaker 1: our hearts and our lives, then when we come together,
Speaker 1: we prepare a habitation for His glory. And you know,
Speaker 1: it's irresistible We literally become irresistible. Like the incense of
Speaker 1: our lives coming together is irresistible. He has to come
Speaker 1: and inhabit. How's that? Smoke and fire. We become irresistible.
Speaker 1: We become irresistible. Revival is the ongoing... Entering of His glory.
Speaker 1: Revival is the ongoing ascent into His fullness. And this
Speaker 1: is what we're going to see more and more of
Speaker 1: as our hearts are knit to Him through spiritual sacrifice.
Speaker 1: I'm going to ask the Destiny team to come this
Speaker 1: morning and prepare as we close. Heads bowed, eyes closed
Speaker 1: all across the room. You might be here this morning
Speaker 1: and you don't know the Lord or you're restoring something
Speaker 1: your life back to the Lord, you've fallen away from
Speaker 1: the Lord, maybe you were raised in church or around
Speaker 1: the Lord, and you're not sure if your heart is
Speaker 1: right with Him, I want you to know that you
Speaker 1: can leave this morning with a complete assurance of salvation.
Speaker 1: If you're here this morning and you've never applied the
Speaker 1: sacrificial blood of the Lamb to you, the weight of
Speaker 1: the sins of your own heart. The Holy Spirit of
Speaker 1: Jesus is here this morning to put a seal of
Speaker 1: salvation on you and to wash you, to cleanse you,
Speaker 1: and you will leave here knowing today that you're accepted
Speaker 1: before God, not on the basis of your works, but
Speaker 1: on the basis of the Lamb of God, the one
Speaker 1: who gave himself for you. I'm going to pray over
Speaker 1: you this morning. And as we dismiss, we're going to
Speaker 1: dismiss in worship. Just come. Just come right up to
Speaker 1: the front. Be prayed for. Be ministered to. Allow someone
Speaker 1: on the team to lead you into knowing Jesus fully. Father,
Speaker 1: we thank you for this morning. We thank you for
Speaker 1: your presence and your ministry. We thank you for the
Speaker 1: ministry of the word. That you are here watching over
Speaker 1: the word. And you've called us into a high priestly calling.
Speaker 1: And we say yes to you. We say yes to
Speaker 1: spiritual sacrifices. We say yes to bringing our whole self
Speaker 1: to an altar and saying, not my will, but yours
Speaker 1: be done. Father, would you live through us by the
Speaker 1: Holy Spirit? Would you live through us? Would you guide us,
Speaker 1: direct us, Holy Spirit, to manifest the fullness of Jesus
Speaker 1: and to take us into greater depths of revival, of glory,
Speaker 1: of fullness? We thank you for it in Jesus' name.
Speaker 1: And everybody said, God bless you, church. Let's worship as
Speaker 1: we go this morning.