WEBVTT 1 00:00:06.980 --> 00:00:19.579 Hallelujah. You lived through the fireworks hangover. Hallelujah. This is wonderful. 2 00:00:19.679 --> 00:00:22.300 It's so good to see you. How many of you 3 00:00:22.339 --> 00:00:26.820 got five hours of sleep? How many of you got six? 4 00:00:28.050 --> 00:00:32.170 If you got six, okay. Amazing people. How many of 5 00:00:32.250 --> 00:00:37.070 you got seven? Seven. Some of you got seven. Wow, 6 00:00:37.130 --> 00:00:40.869 you were in a cave somewhere. That's good. How many 7 00:00:40.890 --> 00:00:45.890 of you use earplugs? That's my technique. That's my technique. 8 00:00:47.270 --> 00:00:51.020 Pastor Joel, she has an amazing pillow. Her pillow is 9 00:00:51.060 --> 00:00:57.179 like soundproof. And so she buries herself under a pillow 10 00:00:57.380 --> 00:01:00.689 every night. And it must be a powerful pillow because 11 00:01:00.770 --> 00:01:04.629 she has ears like an eagle. She can hear me 12 00:01:04.650 --> 00:01:09.890 a mile away, right? But that pillow is so effective 13 00:01:11.650 --> 00:01:14.189 that she actually can go to sleep while the bombs 14 00:01:14.230 --> 00:01:19.019 are going off. And I'm telling you, the bombs were 15 00:01:19.060 --> 00:01:23.719 going off. Debbie Lewandowski made it this morning with three 16 00:01:23.760 --> 00:01:27.000 hours of sleep. She said that it didn't stop at 17 00:01:27.060 --> 00:01:31.689 her house until four in the morning. Can you believe that? 18 00:01:32.670 --> 00:01:38.230 The Chinese are rejoicing. They made a billion dollars last 19 00:01:38.290 --> 00:01:45.819 night off of American freedom. It's just amazing, isn't it? Hallelujah. 20 00:01:45.879 --> 00:01:48.799 They rejoice over American freedom. If they didn't have American freedom, 21 00:01:48.819 --> 00:01:54.299 where would their economy be? What in the world? Anyway, 22 00:01:54.359 --> 00:01:58.230 so good to be here today, praise the Lord. We 23 00:01:58.269 --> 00:02:03.079 didn't lose any limbs. We made it through. And so 24 00:02:03.159 --> 00:02:06.140 we're rejoicing. I want to talk to you a little 25 00:02:06.159 --> 00:02:13.389 bit about answers from heaven. And maybe more appropriately, the 26 00:02:13.449 --> 00:02:16.930 reliability of the word of God. The power of the 27 00:02:16.949 --> 00:02:20.370 word of God. And the reliability of the word of God. 28 00:02:21.509 --> 00:02:26.560 At my current house, we have Puget Sound Energy. It 29 00:02:27.909 --> 00:02:30.280 used to be called Puget Power. Remember that? How many 30 00:02:30.300 --> 00:02:33.590 of you are old enough to remember Puget Power? All right. Okay, 31 00:02:33.599 --> 00:02:36.949 a couple people in the room. So it's now Puget 32 00:02:37.009 --> 00:02:41.490 Sound Energy. And how many of you, your bill has 33 00:02:41.530 --> 00:02:45.949 been increasing? Have you been noticing? Anybody been noticing? Who 34 00:02:45.969 --> 00:02:49.689 pays attention to the money in your house? My bill 35 00:02:49.750 --> 00:02:52.449 is up, you know, our bill is up like 20 36 00:02:52.449 --> 00:02:54.219 to 30%. They said it was only going to go 37 00:02:54.280 --> 00:02:57.800 up 12%. It's like 30% because they've got all this 38 00:02:58.060 --> 00:03:00.419 stuff they're throwing on there. They got the cap and 39 00:03:00.500 --> 00:03:04.259 trade carbon thing they're throwing on there. So if, you know, 40 00:03:04.539 --> 00:03:11.080 I don't know. Somehow we've got to stop the cows 41 00:03:11.139 --> 00:03:13.590 from fluffing. If we can do that, we can get 42 00:03:13.650 --> 00:03:20.909 rid of this carbon thing. Did he just say that 43 00:03:20.949 --> 00:03:29.110 on national TV? I can't believe it. But we have 44 00:03:29.129 --> 00:03:33.789 fugitive sound energy at this house. So here's the crazy thing. 45 00:03:33.810 --> 00:03:38.000 At the house before, we had underground power. We lived 46 00:03:38.060 --> 00:03:40.259 in the same house for 28 years on South Hill 47 00:03:40.319 --> 00:03:44.580 in Puyallup. We had underground power, and we never lost power. 48 00:03:44.639 --> 00:03:47.240 In 28 years, maybe once, we lost power. And that 49 00:03:47.259 --> 00:03:49.400 was probably an accident. I don't know how it happened. 50 00:03:50.199 --> 00:03:52.319 Even here, in 22 years, we've lost power one time here. 51 00:03:56.650 --> 00:04:00.689 and I attribute some of that to underground power. But 52 00:04:00.729 --> 00:04:06.500 at the new house, people in our neighborhood lose power 53 00:04:06.520 --> 00:04:10.199 all the time. Like if a little gust of wind 54 00:04:10.240 --> 00:04:13.419 blows through the neighborhood, a tree will knock over a 55 00:04:13.479 --> 00:04:16.139 power line somewhere, and they've got the power lines running 56 00:04:16.199 --> 00:04:20.500 through trees. Like if a branch falls, you could lose power. 57 00:04:21.300 --> 00:04:23.519 And so when we first moved in, I saw this, 58 00:04:24.139 --> 00:04:28.199 you know, it was a, This was a distressed sale. 59 00:04:29.350 --> 00:04:32.930 And so the sellers didn't want to tell us anything 60 00:04:32.970 --> 00:04:36.069 about the property because it was under duress. You know 61 00:04:36.089 --> 00:04:38.750 what I'm saying? They were getting a divorce. He held 62 00:04:38.810 --> 00:04:41.000 a gun to her head. It was a bad thing. 63 00:04:43.680 --> 00:04:47.000 But there was a plug out in the carport. And 64 00:04:47.019 --> 00:04:48.959 I'm like, what in the world is that plug? Well, 65 00:04:50.060 --> 00:04:52.870 I found out what the plug was pretty soon because 66 00:04:52.939 --> 00:05:00.649 everybody in the neighborhood has generators. and a branch falls, 67 00:05:00.750 --> 00:05:04.930 everybody loses power, I found out there was a generator 68 00:05:04.990 --> 00:05:10.089 plug wired into my home. Isn't that wonderful? And so 69 00:05:10.129 --> 00:05:14.920 we could just plug that thing in. And so right away, 70 00:05:14.939 --> 00:05:18.500 I had to go buy a generator. I'm talking about 71 00:05:18.560 --> 00:05:24.250 things we take for granted. Like, we take power for granted. Right? No, 72 00:05:24.290 --> 00:05:28.889 not the power bill. But we take power for granted, 73 00:05:29.269 --> 00:05:32.709 and yet it's there. We've got 240 volts flowing into 74 00:05:32.769 --> 00:05:34.389 our home. You have a lot more power flowing in 75 00:05:34.410 --> 00:05:37.410 than you actually use, right? Most of the time. Unless 76 00:05:37.430 --> 00:05:43.550 you're baking Jasmine's cookies. There's a cookie advertisement right there. 77 00:05:44.870 --> 00:05:48.129 But we've got 240 volts, you know, flowing into our homes, right? 78 00:05:49.170 --> 00:05:54.149 And we take it for granted. But taking it for granted... 79 00:05:54.220 --> 00:05:56.819 doesn't mean it's not there. It doesn't mean it's not active. 80 00:05:56.839 --> 00:05:58.759 It doesn't mean it's not alive. It doesn't mean it's 81 00:05:58.800 --> 00:06:03.839 not working. You follow what I'm saying? What I mean is, 82 00:06:04.079 --> 00:06:08.949 most of the time, you don't spend any time meditating on, 83 00:06:09.029 --> 00:06:14.550 staring at, focusing on, channeling your inner psyche at the 84 00:06:14.589 --> 00:06:18.680 light switch. Most of us don't. Most of us don't. Now, 85 00:06:18.689 --> 00:06:20.540 there might be a couple in the room that are 86 00:06:20.939 --> 00:06:25.720 struggling with this, but most of us We just take 87 00:06:25.759 --> 00:06:29.620 for granted that there's power somehow connected to that switch. 88 00:06:29.660 --> 00:06:31.920 And when we walk in the room, we just flip 89 00:06:31.939 --> 00:06:34.839 the thing on and go on about our day. We 90 00:06:34.860 --> 00:06:40.550 don't even get deep in rejoicing. Right? Because the power 91 00:06:40.670 --> 00:06:43.829 is there. And I want to talk a little bit 92 00:06:43.870 --> 00:06:46.350 today about the power that is in the Word of God. 93 00:06:46.910 --> 00:06:49.829 The power that is in the kingdom message, the kingdom 94 00:06:49.850 --> 00:06:53.629 of heaven message. the power that is in the word 95 00:06:53.769 --> 00:06:58.889 of God. And I wanna start by talking a little 96 00:06:58.910 --> 00:07:04.879 bit about how that our forefathers knew this, that our 97 00:07:04.949 --> 00:07:10.420 forefathers knew about the power and what we enjoyed yesterday 98 00:07:10.620 --> 00:07:17.279 in Chinese fireworks, what we enjoyed yesterday is actually the 99 00:07:17.519 --> 00:07:22.000 outgrowth of the word of the kingdom in our nation, 100 00:07:22.939 --> 00:07:27.019 and that's what brought the revolution, and that's what brought independence, 101 00:07:27.079 --> 00:07:30.459 and that's what brought the Constitution, and that's what brought 102 00:07:30.560 --> 00:07:32.980 the liberty and the freedom that we have. That's what 103 00:07:33.019 --> 00:07:37.639 brought the abolition of slaves. It was the working out 104 00:07:37.959 --> 00:07:40.920 of the Word of God. And a lot of us 105 00:07:41.000 --> 00:07:44.350 don't know the framework that led to 1776. We don't 106 00:07:44.430 --> 00:07:52.300 know that there were thousands of crazy, crazy preachers crisscrossing 107 00:07:52.360 --> 00:07:57.019 the entire 13 colonies, pouring out their hearts and lives 108 00:07:57.220 --> 00:08:01.300 in the 13 colonies, sharing the gospel, preaching the word, 109 00:08:01.439 --> 00:08:05.250 preaching the kingdom of heaven on earth. This was the focus. 110 00:08:05.350 --> 00:08:10.290 The focus of the early preachers was the kingdom of 111 00:08:10.350 --> 00:08:13.509 heaven on earth. It wasn't the rapture, though the rapture 112 00:08:13.529 --> 00:08:16.670 is a wonderful word. We are going to be caught 113 00:08:16.769 --> 00:08:20.220 up to be with the Lord. He is coming back. 114 00:08:20.240 --> 00:08:24.680 That's a beautiful thing. But the focus of those early 115 00:08:24.839 --> 00:08:28.480 preachers was not on getting off of the planet. It 116 00:08:28.540 --> 00:08:31.319 wasn't a pessimistic word. Let me say it that way 117 00:08:31.360 --> 00:08:36.169 as well. It was an optimistic word. They believed that 118 00:08:36.190 --> 00:08:39.149 they were living in the kingdom of heaven on earth. 119 00:08:39.539 --> 00:08:43.039 they believed that the word of the kingdom of heaven 120 00:08:43.379 --> 00:08:47.740 was theirs to dispatch and to give. And they were 121 00:08:47.940 --> 00:08:52.330 filled with optimism over this nation and over the land 122 00:08:52.350 --> 00:08:59.529 and over the future of our nation. Um, let me just, 123 00:08:59.610 --> 00:09:03.009 and there's, there's some stuff that I just discovered this weekend. So, 124 00:09:03.450 --> 00:09:06.559 and I'm like, I am an old geezer. Did you 125 00:09:06.600 --> 00:09:10.450 know that my, my, uh, facial hairs have turned white. 126 00:09:11.529 --> 00:09:14.289 I mean, that means I have come into a mark 127 00:09:14.860 --> 00:09:22.960 of ancientness that is absolutely significant. And even though I've 128 00:09:23.000 --> 00:09:26.159 got that mark of ancientness, I didn't know some of 129 00:09:26.200 --> 00:09:32.409 what I was discovering. So George Whitefield was the, we 130 00:09:32.429 --> 00:09:34.889 could say he was the fountainhead of this crazy preaching. 131 00:09:35.669 --> 00:09:40.250 And out of George Whitefield, there were thousands of preachers 132 00:09:40.289 --> 00:09:44.980 raised up, and the body of Christ, the laity, was 133 00:09:45.100 --> 00:09:51.200 completely animated in preaching and sharing the gospel message in 134 00:09:51.240 --> 00:09:54.850 a powerful way. But George Whitefield was just kind of 135 00:09:54.889 --> 00:10:00.539 an iconic guy, inspiring all of the 13 churches colonies 136 00:10:00.620 --> 00:10:05.230 in a crazy way. His evangelistic preaching in American colonies 137 00:10:05.809 --> 00:10:08.129 spanned a total of 32 years, beginning in 1738 with 138 00:10:08.149 --> 00:10:19.000 his final tour in 1770. He made seven distinctive tours 139 00:10:19.080 --> 00:10:22.679 across those 13 colonies just time and time and time again, 140 00:10:23.500 --> 00:10:27.799 absolutely devoted to the message of the kingdom of heaven 141 00:10:27.940 --> 00:10:30.169 on earth. That was what they were devoted to. And 142 00:10:30.210 --> 00:10:33.049 I want to read to you out of Isaiah 61 143 00:10:33.049 --> 00:10:37.409 because Isaiah 61 is the fountain. It's the wellspring of 144 00:10:37.470 --> 00:10:40.259 the kingdom of heaven on earth. And it's interesting in 145 00:10:40.480 --> 00:10:45.370 Matthew 10, 7, he tells the disciples, he sends them out, 146 00:10:45.769 --> 00:10:49.129 and he tells them, go and declare that the kingdom 147 00:10:49.289 --> 00:10:54.250 of heaven is at hand. We have to recognize that 148 00:10:54.649 --> 00:11:00.799 he wasn't sending them out with swords, guns, and weapons 149 00:11:00.899 --> 00:11:04.059 to kill people to say you're going to heaven, and 150 00:11:04.100 --> 00:11:08.919 that's at hand. He was telling them to go and 151 00:11:08.970 --> 00:11:14.549 declare that heaven is about to invade earth. Heaven is 152 00:11:14.629 --> 00:11:19.570 about to invade earth. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. 153 00:11:20.029 --> 00:11:23.419 Heaven is about to invade earth. That was the message, 154 00:11:23.539 --> 00:11:28.200 Matthew 10, 7, that they were to preach. Isn't that amazing? 155 00:11:29.580 --> 00:11:31.490 And before I forget it, how many of you think 156 00:11:31.519 --> 00:11:34.169 I shouldn't forget something? I could forget it, so I 157 00:11:34.190 --> 00:11:39.049 should mention it now. But I'll mention it now because 158 00:11:39.110 --> 00:11:41.110 it came to me. So I should mention it now. 159 00:11:41.730 --> 00:11:47.509 Mark 16, 20 says that as they preached this word, 160 00:11:47.529 --> 00:11:51.090 that the Lord worked with them. We could pull it 161 00:11:51.149 --> 00:11:54.549 up if we were really fast. The Lord worked with them, 162 00:11:55.210 --> 00:11:59.200 confirming the word with signs and wonders. How many of 163 00:11:59.220 --> 00:12:01.389 you know that scripture? How many of you heard that 164 00:12:01.409 --> 00:12:04.639 scripture before? All right, three of you. How many Christians 165 00:12:04.679 --> 00:12:08.059 in the room? All right, 10, 10 Christians. Praise the Lord. 166 00:12:08.419 --> 00:12:13.240 I'm feeling good about this morning. I want you to 167 00:12:13.279 --> 00:12:15.940 see this, though, because we're going to hover here in 168 00:12:15.960 --> 00:12:17.960 a moment. We don't want to hover there yet, but 169 00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:20.370 we'll hover there in a moment. We're going to hover 170 00:12:20.970 --> 00:12:25.750 over this element of understanding is that the Lord works 171 00:12:25.850 --> 00:12:31.309 with the Word. That the Lord confirms the Word. No 172 00:12:32.149 --> 00:12:35.490 word out of your mouth, no Lord working with the Word. 173 00:12:38.909 --> 00:12:45.080 Mouth closed, mouth distracted. Mouth turned away. The Lord doesn't 174 00:12:45.169 --> 00:12:48.580 work with your word. The Lord works with His word 175 00:12:48.720 --> 00:12:52.080 in your mouth. The Lord works with... Now today I 176 00:12:52.220 --> 00:12:54.399 might talk about the boat. Today I might talk about 177 00:12:54.460 --> 00:12:56.700 waves and water. We have a birthday party at the 178 00:12:56.720 --> 00:12:59.289 house today. I'm sure I'm going to celebrate some child. 179 00:13:00.730 --> 00:13:03.549 Hallelujah somebody. But there's no anointing on that word. There's 180 00:13:03.629 --> 00:13:07.049 no anointing on those words at all. And you could 181 00:13:07.090 --> 00:13:09.169 bring a word somewhere. You could bring a word and 182 00:13:09.629 --> 00:13:10.929 And you could bring a word. If you bring a 183 00:13:10.970 --> 00:13:13.710 word that is just of your own word, it may 184 00:13:13.789 --> 00:13:17.340 have relevance with wisdom or understanding, or it may be 185 00:13:17.399 --> 00:13:20.120 that you're trying to bring some kind of word of 186 00:13:20.559 --> 00:13:23.519 wisdom and understanding that isn't related to the word. There 187 00:13:23.559 --> 00:13:25.940 won't be any anointing on that at all. It'll be dry. 188 00:13:27.820 --> 00:13:29.480 Have you ever tried to teach something and it was 189 00:13:29.519 --> 00:13:32.360 dry because the anointing wasn't present? But then when you 190 00:13:32.419 --> 00:13:35.889 teach or share something that's kingdom, that's kingdom of heaven, 191 00:13:36.330 --> 00:13:40.100 it's not dry. The Holy Spirit's present on that word. Why? 192 00:13:40.139 --> 00:13:44.639 Because the Holy Spirit watches over the word. The early 193 00:13:44.720 --> 00:13:51.070 preachers knew this. These people were not like springing up 194 00:13:51.230 --> 00:13:54.250 out of some cave of darkness somewhere. We're talking about 195 00:13:55.029 --> 00:13:59.850 These people in the 13 colonies that loved the founding 196 00:13:59.929 --> 00:14:03.549 of our nation, that loved this nation, that loved what 197 00:14:03.590 --> 00:14:07.539 God was doing, they had a God-centered vision. And in 198 00:14:07.600 --> 00:14:12.720 their vision, they saw God through Isaiah 61 meeting every 199 00:14:12.840 --> 00:14:15.940 need of society and culture. This was what they saw. 200 00:14:18.559 --> 00:14:20.909 You don't have a heaven on earth message if you 201 00:14:20.950 --> 00:14:24.799 don't see God is able to answer every need in 202 00:14:24.879 --> 00:14:27.710 society and culture. That's not a heaven on earth message. 203 00:14:32.129 --> 00:14:34.970 They have this understanding and we'll get there in a 204 00:14:34.990 --> 00:14:37.950 moment out of Isaiah chapter 61. But first I wanted 205 00:14:37.970 --> 00:14:39.409 to drill down on the thing I didn't want to 206 00:14:39.450 --> 00:14:41.409 say I was going to drill down on. And that 207 00:14:41.610 --> 00:14:45.909 is that God's word in your mouth and not just 208 00:14:45.950 --> 00:14:48.490 God's word of repent or God's word of turn or 209 00:14:48.529 --> 00:14:51.389 burn or God's word of Jesus loves you or God's 210 00:14:51.429 --> 00:14:54.370 word of God, Jesus wants to save you. So many 211 00:14:54.409 --> 00:14:58.129 times when we think of evangelism, when we think of evangelism, 212 00:14:58.210 --> 00:15:06.700 we've allowed religiosity and the enemy to cook this, you know, 213 00:15:06.889 --> 00:15:11.700 this isn't the word I want, but to pigeonhole, that's 214 00:15:11.720 --> 00:15:17.240 the word I want, to pigeonhole us into just sharing 215 00:15:17.419 --> 00:15:22.450 that somebody needs Jesus. But the word they were sent 216 00:15:22.570 --> 00:15:27.389 to preach wasn't just that everyone needs Jesus, and it 217 00:15:27.429 --> 00:15:31.149 wasn't even the word that they should repent. The word 218 00:15:31.210 --> 00:15:35.620 that they were sent to preach, though all of that 219 00:15:35.700 --> 00:15:39.980 has appropriate times and seasons, was the word of the 220 00:15:40.019 --> 00:15:44.960 kingdom of heaven on earth. That's the word. The word 221 00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:50.490 of the kingdom of heaven. That's the word. And so 222 00:15:50.549 --> 00:15:53.480 encapsulated in that word is a lot more, and I'm 223 00:15:53.500 --> 00:15:56.360 going to get to that, because there's an anointing on 224 00:15:56.399 --> 00:16:00.960 that word that's powerful, and Holy Spirit doesn't want you 225 00:16:01.179 --> 00:16:08.129 thinking about sharing or living out, sharing verbally or sharing 226 00:16:08.190 --> 00:16:11.809 by pen, anything to do with the kingdom of heaven, 227 00:16:12.009 --> 00:16:17.139 and then staring at it with unbelief, or even hesitating 228 00:16:17.700 --> 00:16:23.860 and wondering, and being cautious about it, wondering if there's 229 00:16:23.919 --> 00:16:28.120 any power to it. Hello, I'm making a parallel here. 230 00:16:28.139 --> 00:16:33.549 I'm making a parallel here. The Word of God is 231 00:16:33.669 --> 00:16:37.649 so energized with power, you don't need to doubt that 232 00:16:37.710 --> 00:16:42.830 when you flick on the Word, the power will be 233 00:16:42.909 --> 00:16:48.840 released to make that that you're sharing alive and powerful. 234 00:16:55.909 --> 00:16:58.629 So George Whitefield, I want to go back to George 235 00:16:58.669 --> 00:17:02.070 Whitefield for a moment because we don't have this context. 236 00:17:02.129 --> 00:17:07.049 We don't understand this. We don't know this. We're so 237 00:17:07.250 --> 00:17:11.670 distant from the contemporary moment of what was happening in 238 00:17:11.710 --> 00:17:16.900 those 13 colonies that we don't see how... I mean, 239 00:17:17.019 --> 00:17:19.539 it was so energized and so powerful. Listen to this. 240 00:17:20.519 --> 00:17:24.400 In his second tour, this was the most famous tour ever. 241 00:17:24.849 --> 00:17:29.490 It spanned 15 months. He went from New York to Charleston. 242 00:17:29.950 --> 00:17:33.950 And during this period, he preached nearly every single day 243 00:17:34.069 --> 00:17:40.900 to crowds as large as 30 to 80,000 people. Every 244 00:17:41.000 --> 00:17:47.220 single day for 15 months, crowds 30 to 80,000 people. 245 00:17:47.700 --> 00:17:50.220 And out of that, and it wasn't just this, George 246 00:17:50.259 --> 00:17:53.779 Whitefield's message was a message of kingdom of heaven on earth. 247 00:17:54.059 --> 00:17:59.150 His message was centered around Isaiah 61, which I'm going 248 00:17:59.170 --> 00:18:03.710 to read in a moment. But this spawned thousands of preachers. 249 00:18:04.170 --> 00:18:08.750 This raised up thousands of churches. And many of those 250 00:18:08.809 --> 00:18:11.190 churches would have been brush arbor churches. They would have 251 00:18:11.210 --> 00:18:15.910 been what we talk about in Africa. You know, Pastor 252 00:18:15.930 --> 00:18:18.859 Joel was showing the videos in the month of May. 253 00:18:18.880 --> 00:18:22.579 Do you remember the church in Nakapirit, where they were 254 00:18:22.660 --> 00:18:26.930 gathered around a tree? That's a brush arbor church in 255 00:18:26.990 --> 00:18:33.019 America in the 1700s. People would just gather wherever and 256 00:18:33.140 --> 00:18:37.759 form a church and be turned to the word of 257 00:18:37.819 --> 00:18:41.599 God in a new and a fresh way. Isn't that great? 258 00:18:41.619 --> 00:18:46.200 I want to read a little bit more about him 259 00:18:46.220 --> 00:18:49.660 because this is back in the notes a little bit 260 00:18:49.680 --> 00:18:52.960 that I've got. In the early days of America, the 261 00:18:53.000 --> 00:18:55.710 preachers and the churches had a great role in shaping 262 00:18:56.210 --> 00:19:00.549 the thinking of our nation. Preaching in America fundamentally shaped 263 00:19:00.670 --> 00:19:05.309 the nation's founding by popularizing the philosophical and moral arguments 264 00:19:05.890 --> 00:19:12.359 that fueled the revolution. Pastors synthesized biblical theology and championed 265 00:19:12.480 --> 00:19:18.750 ideas like unalienable rights and government by the consent of 266 00:19:18.789 --> 00:19:23.349 the governed, and resistance to unjust rule. And again, this 267 00:19:23.710 --> 00:19:27.990 was springing up out of the liberty of Isaiah 61, 268 00:19:27.990 --> 00:19:33.099 the first sermon that Jesus ever preached. The profound influence 269 00:19:33.140 --> 00:19:37.880 of the American pulpit manifested through several key movements and events. First, 270 00:19:37.900 --> 00:19:44.160 the Great Awakening, traveling preachers like George Wedfield ignited widespread 271 00:19:44.220 --> 00:19:50.420 spiritual revival. by emphasizing the individual believers were equal before God. 272 00:19:50.980 --> 00:20:02.940 That movement broke down hierarchy and hierarchical speech therapy coming 273 00:20:02.960 --> 00:20:08.230 this week. religious structures, and paved the way for democratic 274 00:20:08.289 --> 00:20:13.190 thinking and questioning of absolute authority. And then the black regimen. 275 00:20:14.769 --> 00:20:18.410 A term was coined for thousands of patriot pastors who 276 00:20:18.450 --> 00:20:22.480 became staunch defenders of the American cause. They delivered political 277 00:20:22.539 --> 00:20:27.079 sermons that interpreted pragmatic historical events through political theology and 278 00:20:27.609 --> 00:20:31.130 often serving as the primary source of news and civic 279 00:20:31.250 --> 00:20:38.349 instruction in the colonial communities. Remember the Johnson Amendment of 280 00:20:38.349 --> 00:20:42.069 1964 to shut the church up and tell churches and 281 00:20:42.109 --> 00:20:45.410 pulpits and pastors that they can't influence the nation or 282 00:20:45.450 --> 00:20:48.190 the political agenda? How many of you know that was 283 00:20:48.269 --> 00:20:53.569 the devil? Hello, somebody. Yes, I said it on video. 284 00:20:56.319 --> 00:21:02.259 the Black Robe Regiment, these sermons, so they were thousands 285 00:21:02.299 --> 00:21:07.160 of pastors, preachers, and those in pulpits, but those sermons 286 00:21:07.380 --> 00:21:10.960 were widely reprinted and distributed by the Sons of Liberty. 287 00:21:11.400 --> 00:21:16.319 The Sons of Liberty were hundreds of thousands of laity 288 00:21:16.759 --> 00:21:21.490 across the 13 colonies who took those printed sermons and 289 00:21:21.529 --> 00:21:26.349 distributed them to nations the public all across the 13 colonies. 290 00:21:27.329 --> 00:21:30.970 And then there was the educating of the framers. Prominent 291 00:21:31.009 --> 00:21:35.759 clergymen actively shaped the architects of the Constitution. For instance, 292 00:21:36.299 --> 00:21:40.519 John Witherspoon, a minister and the president of the College 293 00:21:40.579 --> 00:21:45.279 of New Jersey, now Princeton, tutored James Madison, Aaron Burr, 294 00:21:45.380 --> 00:21:48.990 and numerous other founders, shaping their views on civil government 295 00:21:49.109 --> 00:21:55.160 and civic virtue. So this is crazy stuff. Most of 296 00:21:55.200 --> 00:21:57.700 these guys, and I don't know that it matters to you, 297 00:21:57.740 --> 00:21:59.420 but most of it mattered to me. I thought it 298 00:21:59.440 --> 00:22:04.150 was interesting. Most of these theologians were post-millennials. They believed 299 00:22:04.190 --> 00:22:07.950 that they were living in a millennial period where God 300 00:22:08.009 --> 00:22:12.470 was leavening the earth with the gospel, where Isaiah 61 301 00:22:12.470 --> 00:22:15.019 was coming to pass, and that the second coming or 302 00:22:15.059 --> 00:22:17.400 the rapture would come at the end of some kind 303 00:22:17.420 --> 00:22:21.740 of a period. And crazy enough, like Trump, they called 304 00:22:21.779 --> 00:22:26.329 it the golden age. It's here. It's here. You can 305 00:22:26.369 --> 00:22:28.750 find it. I'm reading this off of the internet. I 306 00:22:28.769 --> 00:22:31.069 just looked it up on the internet. So I'm not 307 00:22:31.109 --> 00:22:36.630 this smart. Here was the vision of the future. The 308 00:22:36.690 --> 00:22:41.579 vision of the future that these pastors and preachers and 309 00:22:41.640 --> 00:22:46.160 the sons of liberty had. Number one, the global triumph 310 00:22:46.200 --> 00:22:48.440 of the gospel. That the revivalists believe the Holy Spirit 311 00:22:48.460 --> 00:22:52.059 will continue to sweep across the nation's eventually converting the 312 00:22:52.079 --> 00:22:54.839 vast majority of the world to Christianity. Now, this is 313 00:22:54.880 --> 00:22:57.680 only 250 years ago, folks. This is just a short 314 00:22:57.720 --> 00:23:01.240 time ago, and God has been working, and he's not done. 315 00:23:01.269 --> 00:23:05.130 He's not done. 316 00:23:05.150 --> 00:23:09.529 He's still leavening the earth with the gospel of the 317 00:23:09.569 --> 00:23:13.970 kingdom of heaven. Number two, they believed that America was 318 00:23:14.029 --> 00:23:18.109 the cradle of of this outpouring of the Holy Spirit. 319 00:23:18.309 --> 00:23:24.210 Jonathan Edwards, you know Jonathan Edwards became the president of 320 00:23:24.309 --> 00:23:27.529 Princeton College as well. Jonathan Edwards, do you remember him? 321 00:23:29.130 --> 00:23:32.690 Jonathan Edwards and his contemporaries harbored a pro-nationalistic view that 322 00:23:32.730 --> 00:23:36.670 God had chosen the American colonies as a specific staging 323 00:23:36.710 --> 00:23:45.380 ground for global transformation. No wonder Satan's mad. No wonder 324 00:23:45.480 --> 00:23:50.619 Satan's mad. Hello, somebody. We are a special called out 325 00:23:50.700 --> 00:23:58.059 people of God. We are a special nation. And this birthing, 326 00:23:58.119 --> 00:24:01.150 the revolution and the birthing of the nation and the 327 00:24:01.269 --> 00:24:04.609 writing of the Constitution and the liberties, it was birthed 328 00:24:04.849 --> 00:24:07.710 out of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And as they 329 00:24:07.809 --> 00:24:10.349 shared and as they preached, they didn't wonder if the 330 00:24:10.390 --> 00:24:14.099 light would come on. They had a tremendous confidence that 331 00:24:14.130 --> 00:24:17.880 God was better than Puget Sound Energy. That when they spoke, 332 00:24:17.940 --> 00:24:21.099 the anointing would be present. When they ministered, the anointing 333 00:24:21.140 --> 00:24:22.000 would be present. 334 00:24:23.220 --> 00:24:26.690 Number three. They believed in a restored society because Whitefield 335 00:24:26.730 --> 00:24:31.049 and other preachers emphasized that everyone needed the born-again experience 336 00:24:31.109 --> 00:24:36.329 regardless of class, wealth, or race. They envisioned a future 337 00:24:36.789 --> 00:24:42.960 with a vastly reduced social hierarchy where walls were torn down. 338 00:24:43.019 --> 00:24:48.420 They saw a society where spiritual equality translated into civic 339 00:24:48.519 --> 00:24:54.450 equality and harmony. They saw a nation where where the 340 00:24:54.690 --> 00:25:03.200 efforts of revival would transform the values of darkness. And 341 00:25:03.240 --> 00:25:07.279 it was their preaching to black Americans and native Americans 342 00:25:07.940 --> 00:25:14.089 and to the Anglos across the colonies that inspired the 343 00:25:14.180 --> 00:25:19.289 abolitionist movement. Isn't that awesome? Number four, the rejection of 344 00:25:19.369 --> 00:25:26.150 dead institutionalism. These guys sound like us. 250 years ago, 345 00:25:27.349 --> 00:25:32.299 the rejection of dead institutionalism, Whitefield and his allies expected 346 00:25:32.339 --> 00:25:36.319 the future of the church to be dynamic, decentralized, and 347 00:25:36.400 --> 00:25:40.539 driven by individual faith rather than rigid state church hierarchy. 348 00:25:41.160 --> 00:25:44.119 By traveling across boundaries and preaching in open fields, Whitefield 349 00:25:44.160 --> 00:25:48.829 bypassed traditional parish systems, creating a blueprint for future American 350 00:25:48.880 --> 00:25:56.230 religious landscape defined by volunteerism. free choice, and interdenominational cooperation. 351 00:25:57.990 --> 00:26:03.279 Isn't that amazing? I want to tell you the word works. 352 00:26:04.400 --> 00:26:09.180 Let's go over to Isaiah chapter 61. Isaiah chapter 61, 353 00:26:09.180 --> 00:26:10.940 and I want to read it to you out of 354 00:26:11.000 --> 00:26:15.490 the New Living Translation. This is the sermon that Jesus 355 00:26:15.589 --> 00:26:19.930 preached as he was launching the kingdom of heaven on earth. 356 00:26:20.069 --> 00:26:24.609 This is This is his first sermon. He's baptized in water. 357 00:26:25.029 --> 00:26:28.849 The Holy Spirit comes upon him as a dove. The 358 00:26:28.950 --> 00:26:31.690 voice from Father comes and says, this is my son 359 00:26:31.750 --> 00:26:35.150 in whom I am well pleased. He goes into the 360 00:26:36.069 --> 00:26:40.450 wilderness for 40 days. He comes out and overcomes the enemy. 361 00:26:40.849 --> 00:26:44.230 He goes into the synagogue and this is his first sermon. 362 00:26:44.789 --> 00:26:47.369 He says, hand me the scroll of Isaiah. They hand 363 00:26:47.410 --> 00:26:51.390 him Isaiah. He turns and to chapter 61, and this 364 00:26:51.450 --> 00:26:53.730 is what he reads, and he says at the end 365 00:26:53.769 --> 00:26:58.230 of this, today, these words are fulfilled in your hearing. 366 00:27:01.009 --> 00:27:04.650 This is his first sermon. This is the launch of 367 00:27:04.710 --> 00:27:07.700 the kingdom of heaven on earth. This is the beginning 368 00:27:07.779 --> 00:27:10.720 of what he told the disciples, go and say this, 369 00:27:11.400 --> 00:27:15.069 in Matthew 10, 7, go and declare the kingdom of 370 00:27:15.109 --> 00:27:17.589 heaven is at hand, this is the beginning of that. 371 00:27:17.670 --> 00:27:21.390 And this is why later, at the end of his ministry, 372 00:27:21.450 --> 00:27:24.609 three and a half years after he read this from Isaiah, 373 00:27:24.930 --> 00:27:28.190 at the end of his ministry in Matthew 16, 19, 374 00:27:28.190 --> 00:27:32.839 he says, behold, I give you the keys to the 375 00:27:32.920 --> 00:27:38.059 kingdom of heaven. And he's loosing them now. He's declaring 376 00:27:38.240 --> 00:27:43.509 them to be keys his representatives, and he's releasing over 377 00:27:43.549 --> 00:27:48.970 them ecclesiastical power to every believer that as they bind 378 00:27:49.029 --> 00:27:52.849 the enemy, he shall be bound. As they loose heaven, 379 00:27:53.109 --> 00:28:00.140 heaven shall be loosed. Here's what he said. The spirit 380 00:28:00.160 --> 00:28:02.259 of the Lord is upon me because the Lord has 381 00:28:02.339 --> 00:28:07.740 anointed me. The Lord has anointed me to bring good news. 382 00:28:09.039 --> 00:28:18.079 Now remember John 20, 20 through 22. Jesus said, as 383 00:28:18.180 --> 00:28:24.650 the Father sent me, so send I you. As the 384 00:28:24.690 --> 00:28:29.230 Father sent me, and then he breathed on them and said, 385 00:28:29.329 --> 00:28:32.730 receive the Holy Spirit. This is John 20. Everybody say 386 00:28:32.769 --> 00:28:35.970 John 20, 20. What kind of vision do you wish 387 00:28:36.009 --> 00:28:41.829 you had? 20, 20 visions. 2020 vision. What kind of 388 00:28:41.869 --> 00:28:45.130 vision do you wish you had? What kind of vision 389 00:28:45.190 --> 00:28:49.779 do you have in the spirit realm? He breathes on 390 00:28:49.819 --> 00:28:53.220 them and says, receive the Holy Spirit. He says, as 391 00:28:53.299 --> 00:28:57.220 the Father sent me, so send I you. That means 392 00:28:57.799 --> 00:29:01.039 that this passage is real and relevant for us. 393 00:29:01.440 --> 00:29:04.569 This is the passage we carry in our spirit man. 394 00:29:05.049 --> 00:29:08.579 This is the passage we carry in our heart. As 395 00:29:08.660 --> 00:29:13.940 he was anointed, now we are anointed. Now the anointing 396 00:29:14.000 --> 00:29:14.640 is a different thing. 397 00:29:14.660 --> 00:29:17.519 The anointing, that means that when you open your mouth 398 00:29:17.599 --> 00:29:23.099 with something, there's actually a power that comes on the 399 00:29:23.160 --> 00:29:27.039 breath of your words. A power comes on the breath 400 00:29:27.079 --> 00:29:29.180 of your words. Whether you feel it or not, you 401 00:29:29.220 --> 00:29:31.279