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SPEAKER_02Brothers and sisters, let's turn to the word of God. Wherever you are in the house, walking with Jesus, wherever you are online, walking with Christ, you know, we are living in amazing days. You know, we are living in very, very powerful days. If you're online with us, please let us know that you can hear us before we really press in. You know, thank God for everybody, the physical Christians, thank God for the I'll say the invisible Christians online, because I can't see you, but may God bless you. We know there are a terrific amount of people online wherever you are across the world. Thank God for your lives in the house, out of the house, wherever you are, you know, the power of technology. Technology is really, really amazing, but technology is really, really scary. I'm just gonna we're just gonna play a prayer that we got together. I just before we go any further this morning, I just want to let you know the scriptures we're going to. So we're gonna go to the book of Isaiah 40, verse 31, and then we're gonna go to the book of Joshua, chapter 2, verses 18. But before we do, we're just gonna play this prayer. Listen to this beautiful prayer. We're gonna play, it's only three minutes. Listen to this prayer a moment, just gather your thoughts and lock into this prayer, and then we'll we'll we'll come back to the word of God. So we're just gonna have
this prayer. God bless.
SPEAKER_00Let's pray together. Dear Heavenly Father, Creator of the heavens and the earth, the one who holds all things in your hands. I come before you once again before I sleep. As your child, I am reminded that I am never alone, never unprotected, and never without hope, because you are my fortress. There is no fear too great that your love cannot overcome, no burden too heavy that you cannot lift. Remind me, Lord, that the power that is for me is far greater than anything that could ever rise against me. Help me to see with spiritual eyes, to know that your angels surround me, and to rest in the truth that you are my defender and shield. Lord, you know the anxieties that sometimes creep into my heart. You know how easy it is to worry about the unknown, about the uncertainties of tomorrow. But Father, I surrender those fears to you. Help me to trust that every moment of my future is safely held in your hands. You are the God of yesterday, today, and forever. And there is nothing that escapes your control. If my heart is troubled, if my mind is restless, I ask for your peace to calm the storms within me. Bring change into my life, Lord. Change that reflects your love, your power, and your promises. Give me the strength to pray through my doubts, to persevere through the challenges, and to believe for victory, success, and progress through the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Lord, I welcome your presence into every aspect of my life. Just as the sunrise reminds me of your faithfulness, I thank you, Lord, that you do not leave me to face the night alone. You have been with me from the beginning of this day, and I trust that you will stay with me until its end. Your hand has been a constant source of comfort and protection, not only for me, but for my family and all my loved ones. Father, I ask that you continue to cover us with your love, to guide us with your wisdom, and to shelter us with your grace. Father, when I look at the challenges before me, they sometimes seem too many or too great to overcome. But you, O Lord, are far greater than any problem I could ever face. You are the God who created the heavens and the earth, the one who parted the seas and calmed the storms. Even when I feel surrounded, outnumbered, or overwhelmed, I know that you are making a way for me. You are my deliverer, and I trust you to fight my battles and lead me to victory. Thank you for being my refuge, my strength, and my ever-present help in times of trouble. Thank you, Lord, for the countless battles you have already fought on my behalf. Thank you for the victories I have seen, and for those that are yet to come. You are faithful, Lord, and your love for me never wavers.
SPEAKER_02Amen. Sisters and brothers, that's interesting, isn't it? What we just had there. I think you might gather. It's not real. But let me tell you something. That was created very, very quickly by Alex on AI. It's got a video if you're online, you've watched the video, you're you're listening to that right now.
But as you as you listen to that, the reason I'm mentioning that right now is there's a in Germany, you know, there's the article that's out there that's across the Christian concern, you know, they've got an artificial AI pastor. He's preaching, he's teaching, he's doing all that, the church is filled up. We are in serious trouble, sisters and brothers. We have got to hold on to Jesus Christ. The artificial intelligence is so strong and so powerful. But but we are so far down the end of technology. Imagine what the governments have got, imagine what is out there that we will never be able to grasp or get our heads around. That has just been created. As simple as that. Software that's out there, do it on your phone, you know. So there's a church, and there are many. There's just one that's been captured on online. The artificial intelligent pastor preacher. You know, you could hear a couple of little areas of that, but you know, imagine what it's like when it's polished right up. Imagine what it's like. You've got the art, it's it's out there, it's on the news, you've got the screen, got the pastor on the screen. Church is filled up. This is what where we're at. Let me tell you, you gotta keep in the paperback version. You gotta get a paperback version. You've really got to come to church or go wherever you go to church, whatever you do, get a paperback version of the word of God. Keep it in your hand and take a Bible from here. We it we are living in very powerful days of technology, and we use it to the best we can in this house to be able to stream and do what we do. But imagine what it's gonna be like. Those churches are gonna start linking in. They will have satellite churches, they'll have this church, that church, and it'll just be beamed all around, and there won't be no no pastor, there won't be no true shepherd. Artificial intelligence. I think we've had this for many, many generations. I think it started at the cross. What do you mean? Artificial. We've had that in religion, but now we're seeing it through the power of technology. We've we've already got artificial church, we've already got it, it's already here, but now we're seeing it in a different press. Sisters and brothers, I I need to encourage you to get a Bible, to get in the word of God, and just it's it's that it will be a lonely drive because the world around us is telling us that if you're not in the crowd, you're no one, you ain't got nothing. Get yourself a Bible and get in the word of God and read and read and read and read and pray and pray and pray. Keep the Bible with you at work, at home, in your life. Make it like we have our phone. You know, the phone is with us so often, so much. The phone is is is everywhere with us. We got to get the word like that. The word's got to be in our heart. So we're watching now a real big, massive press into the era of church. You know, even on the social networks, it's become so real, it's difficult without really studying and looking. If you're tired and weary and just buzzing around and you're listening to stuff, you'll you could be listening to AI messages, and we've got to be careful. And the problem with all that is it's lacking something that is so powerful. The educator side is there, but it's lacking the spirit of God because of the word and spirit have got to come together. We've had it for generations and generations and generations. Like Jesus told us loud and clear about Nicodemus. You know the law, you're Israel's teacher, you know, you are educated. You you you can lecture it, you can bring it, but it it's it's lacking the spirit. There's no spirit in it. This is what we need back in the churches. The power of the word preach with with the spirit of the Lord. But we will start to watch churches spring up everywhere now with these artificial pastors and all that. It's happening right before our very eyes. But I need to encourage you to keep in the word of God. Let's get straight into the book of Isaiah. The book of Isaiah 40, verse 1. We're going to go to that classic scripture, and then we're going to go to the book of uh Joshua. So we're in the book of Isaiah 40 and verse 31. And I want to encourage you as much as I can, all the time I'm on earth, you know, to be a Jesus follower, to follow Jesus Christ. Don't follow AI. Don't follow artificial intelligence. Don't follow religion. Be careful what you watch and what you listen to. That is why when we we pushed out over now just over 500 prayers we've recorded, and they're out, you know, across, you know, five-minute commuter prayers. They're five minutes to seven minutes long. They're on the platforms that we push them out there.
You know, we don't polish them, we don't, we just leave them as they are. Sometimes I cough or get tongue-tied. Uh, uh, you know, we keep it like that because it's real, because it's not about show, it's about being real. But you you don't get caught with with AI out there. Be careful on the social networks. I gotta encourage you, you know, get in the get in the word of God. Get in the word of God. This is that that beautiful, beautiful scripture that we're in, and we're in the book of Isaiah 40. Isaiah 40, and we we're flicking over the scriptures to verse 31. But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength, they will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. That's the first reading, and then we're going to go to the book of Joshua in just a few moments. For those that are making notes, the title of uh this service, this sermon that we're in at the moment is that there is a scarlet called in a window for you. You know, now in the in my brother's nodding, I can see you, I know where we're going with this one. There's a scarlet called in the window for you. Now, that is in the book of Joshua, chapter 2, verse 18. Now, when you understand scripture, I'm not saying that I do, I don't at all. You know, I mean that seriously. You know, I I just I just get us through, well, get me through, get you through, and you need someone in your life that can really deliver the word because I'm just a bit of a caretaker. I just get by by the skin of our teeth.
You know, but when you look at these scriptures, we've just read a scripture about hope. When you understand what hope means, now in the world, what does hope mean? It's very empty. We're hoping that it's not gonna rain today. We're hoping I'm gonna get in Asda before it closed. I'm I'm hoping, but the word hope in scripture is completely different, it means so much more in the word of God. So we got to be hopeful in God. So there's a scarlet cord in the window for you. Joshua and Caleb went out. They went out when they went out, when they went out and they had a look and they see what was out. When the spy when they went out, sorry, when the spies went out, when they went out to have a look and they see what was going on. Let's turn to the book of Joshua and you you read what it says. You read what it says for yourself. Let's turn back into or turn into the book of Joshua. We're in Joshua chapter two. Joshua chapter two. And Joshua, the son of Nun sent his uh sent out two spies. So the two spies that went out, Joshua sent the spies out in Joshua chapter two, verse one. The two spies went out and they went, they went into a fortified city. Sometimes we're not going to get out of the conventional way out of a situation. We got to get out through the window. We got to get out through the window. But but when they
was lowered out through the window on a rope, they they done a deal with Rahab. They said, make sure you tie that scarlet cord out that window. Because if that's not there, what was that representing? That scarlet cord. When you come back and you break it down in the Hebrew, when you look at what it means, it means certain hope. That there is always hope. When you look at that, what it means, it's about the promise of God. You know, when you when we understand what it means in scripture, it is divine, it is power. That that call represented so much, the scarlet cord in Hebrew, the same word translated, it says, becomes a symbol of what? A symbol of salvation. I gotta tell you, there's hope in God, there's hope today. Let's read Joshua, let's read Joshua chapter 2, and we're gonna pick it up in verse 18. It says, Uh, unless when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet cord in the window through which you led us down, and unless you bring or brought your father and mother, your brothers and all your family into this house, if anyone goes outside the house into the street, his blood will be on his own head. We will not be responsible. When you think about that, that scarlet call was representing that house. That scarlet call was representing hope. So they knew that when they go in to take that city, that when they see the scarlet call that resent that resembled hope and salvation, and it says, if anyone comes out of this house,
it's up to them. This is this is such a spiritual scripture. Powerful, we're in such a press today.
When you look at that, the spy said, if anyone comes out of the house, if anyone comes outside of the house of the Lord, the prodigal son, classic, classic biblical fact. You know, he said, Give me everything. I want to get out of the I want to get out of the father's house. I want to go and live and do what the world is doing. He was outside of the father's house. He was living
with swine. He wanted to eat what the pigs were eating. He was he was in in a destitute situation. He was at the end of the tarmac road, and he had nowhere to go, but there was only one place that he could go, and that was back to the father's house. I really believe wherever we are, there is hope like never before. Those who hope in the Lord, we're not hoping in the way the world hopes, we're not hoping the way the world hopes, because it's a different type of hope. We're hoping in the eternal God, the God of Israel. It is a different type of hope. It is a press into the covenant, it is a press into the word. We are believing and we are trusting that the God that we serve, the God of Israel, is gonna bring what he says he's gonna bring. So through your prayer time, through as you pray, never give up hope. Never give up what you are praying for, keep believing. So as you pray for what you're believing, when you pray for what you believe, and when you stand in the word of God, the Bible says the just shall live by faith. So we don't live by hope as the understanding of the world. We live by faith. But to live by faith in a world that is so materialistic, to live in a world that is that is so plastic, it will be the hardest thing that you'll ever do. And there'll be situations in your life, my life, where we'll have to get out of the window because the the conventional way to get out, the doors are locked. But God has a way out, God has a way, there's an escape route, there's a way out, and it's staying in the father's house. And we might have to be lowered down the wall, we might have to go out at the dead of night. And it's very interesting the story of Rahab. She lied through her front teeth to make sure that her and her family would get out. She was backed into a corner, she was pushed into a situation where she had to say, I don't know what you're talking about, but the spies were laying up on the flat of her roof. She hid them under the topness of the roof, under the flax, under that, up the top. She hid them, she hid them out of sight. And she said, I don't know what you're talking about. I think they've gone. Yeah, they've gone down that way, they've gone. But she knew full well that the spies were up there. And they said, Let's do a deal. We'll do a deal. I tell you what, if you get us out of here, we'll get you in.
When you look at these scriptures, they are so powerful, they are so real. And she said, Listen, I'll get you out if you get me and my family in. I'll get you out of this place because you ain't getting out without me. And she's talking to these two men, these two men that have been called to go into this enemy's territory, and she's doing a deal with two, let's say, godly men. And the godly men went, okay, you hide us up on there, we'll make sure that you get out. Let me tell you, there's a scarlet cord in a window of hope for each and every one of you. There is a way out, there is a way forward, and it's not the conventional way, it's not gonna be done the conventional way, but God has a plan for your life, and God sent these two spies out. Joshua said, get out and go and give me, come back and give me a report. Go and tell me what you find. And these two godly men, they get into the enemy's territory, and there are so many believers in the enemy's territory, and we don't know how we're gonna get out of the enemy's territory. We are so deep, we are under the flax of the roof, and we don't know what we're gonna do, we don't know how it's gonna come to a cause, we don't know what's gonna happen, but let me tell you, there's a there's a cord in the window, there's a window of hope. The window was always open because there had no glass. They had no glass in those days. The window was open, it was wide open. There is always a window open in the kingdom of God. God will get you out and God is gonna do something. God is doing unusual things in unusual times with unusual people. The way that this deal was done, it wasn't done at the pastor's table, it wasn't done through GDPR, it wasn't done through any other situation, it wasn't done the conventional way. There was a deal done. But the two spies went out. We can't get away from the fact that the two spies went out to spy the land, two godly men that had to bring back a good report, and they was being used by God. They was being used by God, and Rahab said, let's put it all on the table, son. I can get you out of here if you can get me out. If you can get me and my house out of this, I'll get you out. Because there's a window. There's a window of opportunity. Isn't it interesting that that's saying there's a window of opportunity? I wonder where that comes from. Well, I'll tell you where it comes from the book of Joshua, chapter 2, verse 18 and 19. There is a window of hope. And it's not the conventional way, because let me tell you, the God that we serve, he doesn't do things the conventional way of the world. He will take you right into the enemy's territory, he will put you right in front of the enemy, he will hide you in a certain situation, he will cover you over, he will use someone in your life that you wouldn't even spend time or a moment with. You couldn't even go into that situation because if you knew who Rahab was, you'd get labeled with a certain label. But God took them into a certain situation to tell us today there's always a window of hope. And God will get you out, God will get you through because there is always a scarlet cord. The scarlet cord represents what? Salvation. Isn't it interesting that you've got to climb through the window of salvation? Let me bring it up to the New Testament. Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, the life. There's no other way. Jesus is like a window. He says, if you come through me, guess what? There's a scarlet cord waiting for you. If you look at the scarlet cord in the window, it's very interesting that you could see that scarlet cord from a long way off in the dead of night. And if you are willing, if you are willing to go, God, I'm
gonna get out. I'm gonna break out of this situation, I'm gonna get out of the enemy's territory. It's not the conventional way, it's not the church way, it's not the way that I've been taught, it's a different way. And Lord, it's a I'm gonna get through a tiny window because God has always got a way. He says, I am the way, the truth, the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. He's the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. What did Christ do when he died on the cross of Calvary? Something that was so powerful that sometimes we don't even speak about, we don't talk about, we don't even look at, is when the temple curtain was torn into. That became access. That was the access point that stripped everything of the Old Testament that that finished what was done because there was no way to God. And there had to be a Messiah, there had to be a king, there had to be a lamb, there had to be a sacrifice. And when you look at that, it wasn't the conventional way. If the church had to do this, it'd be all done with all lovely and smooth, it'd be a completely different way. But God took his son with an intentional plan of the most brutalist plan on earth. Because Jesus Christ is the window. Forgive me, God, you know what I'm saying. Jesus Christ is the window that he will get you out and get you through, but you've got to go through the window. You've got to go through Jesus. He says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one gets to the Father except through me. There's no other way to God. You're not gonna get it through Allah, you're not gonna get it through Buddha, you're not gonna get it through the Jehovah's Witness way, you're not gonna get it through the Church of Mormons, the Church of Latter-day Saints, you're not gonna get it in any other way. The only way you're gonna get this Jesus, this God, is to get through. Sometimes we've got to get through a window when we think there's no way out. Let me tell you that Jesus is the way out. If you follow Jesus, he will get you out, he will get you through. He is the way, the truth, the life. We can't help but reference this so much this morning. There is a powerful way, but there is always hope. Let me uh read again Isaiah 40, verse 31. But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. There's a scarlet called for you, there's a window of opportunity, and that window will never close because there was no glass in those days. There was no draft excluder, stop the draft coming through, there was no double glazing, there was no secondary glazing, there was no window frame, it was an opening, and Christ made an opening. He tore the temple curtain from top to bottom. The thickness of that curtain was unbelievable. It was impossible to tear by human hands, but it was torn by the power and the blood of Jesus Christ. God has made a window for you, and it's not church. Church isn't the window, religion isn't the window, ministry isn't the window. Jesus Christ is a scarlet cord of hope for you, and his name is Jesus. He is the God of Israel, he is the father of Isaac, Jacob, and Abraham, he is the great I am, he is worthy of all praise, he is Jehovah Rapha,
He is your healer, He is the promise, He is the covenant, He is the great I Am. When Moses was sitting up that mountain and he said, Who's sending me? I ain't going until I know who you are. Who's sending me? I am that I am. That's enough. Let me tell you that the God above all gods, the king above all kings, the savior of the world has created a window and many windows for you and for me. There are many opportunities just because we're in the enemy's territory. We might be living in the enemy's territory, we might be breathing that territory, might be walking in it, we might be living in it, we might be lying in it, we might be eating from it, we might be so deep in the enemy's territory. Let me tell you this: the enemy will not allow God to stop working in your life. God might hide you, God might use an unusual situation to hide you and get you out of the enemy's eyesight. But God knows where you are. God knows you're in a situation. God knows exactly where we are. He knows your heart. He sees your pain. He knows your tears. He knows what is going on in your life. And he is telling you this morning there's a window. But never give up because the scarlet called has been placed there for you. The scarlet call is there for you because that scarlet cord represents hope. And when you break hope down, it talks about salvation. And not only does it talk about salvation, it talks about protection and covenant. Three things that it represents salvation, covenant, and protection. We got to get to Jesus. That's the thing. We got to get to Jesus. But you're in the enemy's camp. I'm in the enemy's camp. We're living in the enemy's territory. But God has hidden us. God has hidden us. And God will get you out. God will get me out. God will get us through that window of hope. There is always a hope. There is always a window. There is always an opportunity. Let me tell you this: God will never fail you. Religion will brick the window up. Religion will turn the key on the door. You won't get out of certain situations without Jesus. But sometimes God takes us into the enemy territory. What do you mean? He would never do that. Samson, what a classic that man was. What a classic story. And you know what I mean. And when I mean story, I'm talking about biblical fact more than anything. He was backwards and forwards like a yo-yo in the enemy's territory. And he got a time in his life where he loved the enemy's territory so much it was his downfall. See, his mum and dad said, What you gotta come back. Samson, you gotta you gotta what are you doing? You gotta come back. There are times when we go in the enemy's territory and we've got to know when it's time to get out. We've got to know when it's time to get out. But Samson loved it so much he he made his life in the enemy's territory. So we got Samson that made his life and he wanted everything that the enemy was offering because he loved the enemy's territory and he stayed in that area. When you think about his birthright, when you understand who he was and what he was called to, but there is one that loved the enemy's territory so much, he stayed there and he died in the enemy's territory. But then you got these two spies that was given a mission, go in and they went in and they didn't know how they was gonna get out. There wasn't a plan to get out. Do you know God will take you to certain places and you don't know how you're gonna get out? Do you know there'll be
certain events in your life where you where you go in and you go in and you think, what am I going into this for? Where what is going on? This is not real, this can't be right. I'm blessed and highly favored. I'm holy, I should be hanging around the holy joes. I should be in church, I should be prostrate on the floor, flat out all day long. I should be floating on the holy segue. I'm blessed and highly favored, but I'm finding myself in the enemy's camp. I'm finding myself on the enemy's roof. I'm finding me in a situation, that Rahab's situation. I shouldn't even be in this situation, and what am I doing? I'm being labeled with a certain color over me, I'm being labeled with a certain name over me, and I don't even know how I got here. Suddenly I shut my eyes and suddenly I'm in the enemy's territory. You know, God has a plan for every footstep that you take. Every footstep, every path, every moment, every breath, every in-hale, every exhale. And sometimes we realize in life, how did I get to this destination? Have you ever been in your life and suddenly you've been at church, you've been praising God, and you're you're following Jesus and everything's okay and everything's fine. And then suddenly you close your eyes, you open your eyes, and suddenly you find yourself in a situation, you find yourself under the roof flax, and you think, How did I ever get here? The door's locked, everything's shut down, the enemy's all around me. If they knew who I was, if anything could happen in here, my life could end. I'm in the enemy's territory. How am I gonna get out? See, the two spies didn't know how they were gonna get out. They were relying on Rahab and her understanding, but Rahab had a plan and she said, I'll tell you what, I'll do you a deal. They went, Okay, this is what the deal is. We'll get everybody out that's in the house. Does that remind you of a spiritual scripture? When you come to the prodigal son story, the son left the father's house. He wanted to go and see what the world and what the enemy's territory was all showing. Shouting about he went and done it and he lived it, but then suddenly you realize that there was something missing in his life. I gotta get back to my father's house. I gotta get back to where I was born. I gotta get back to where God brought me in. I gotta get back to the kingdom. I've got to get back to the father's house. And the Bible says that the young man came to his senses. Sometimes we come to our senses and we say to ourselves, I gotta get back to the father's house because we find ourselves with pigs, we find ourselves on the rooftop of a situation. Suddenly we find ourselves doing a deal and we're blessed and highly favoured, wonderfully and fearfully made. We're doing a deal with someone that is not even born again. We're doing a deal and we don't know what's going on, and we're we're saying stuff and we're thinking, I'm a Christian, I'm born again, I'm spirit-filled, I'm carrying the Father, the Son, the Holy Ghost, and I'm having conversations that I didn't think I'd have conversations, and I can't tell anyone that I'm standing in front of this. But Lord, what am I gonna do? There's no way out. The doors are locked, the windows were barred up, it's impossible to get out. But she said, I'm I can show you a way. I've got a place that no one knows that is open. I've got I can get you out of this city. See, God will use an unconventional situation to get you out of your fortified city. God will use an unconventional way to get you back. God will use a way that the church can't even think about. God will use a way, there are ways that God is gonna get you back, get you through, and show you a way, because there is a scarlet cord of salvation in a window of opportunity. When you thought it was about to be curtains, when you thought that you were gonna be thrown or us thrown in the cremator and they closed the curtains too early. Brother and sister, the curtains ain't gonna close on your life. The cremator has no gas. Let me tell you this: there's a way out. There's a way out through your thoughts, through your mind, through your understanding. We might not be in a situation. Everything might be all right, but our mind traps us in a situation. It might not be a physical situation, but it might be a mental situation. It might not be the physical, we might not have Rahab in front of us. We might not be in a certain area of life, it might not be a physical situation, but we can be more trapped in our mind. We can be more trapped in the mind, we can be free on the physical realm on the outside, and everything's okay outside, but internally, I might as well have 15 Rahabs. I might as well have I might as well be taught torn to pieces because we're in a situation and we've got to find freedom. Let me tell you this, there is only one way, in his name is Jesus. And there is a scarlet cord in the window, and it's never over till it's over. Let me tell you this: God will take the most godliest people into a situation just to show you that I can get you out of anything. Yeah, but God, I've gone on a mission. God, I've gone to deliver the word. God, I'm living my life. Lord, I'm at work. Do you know
that the most dangerous areas sometimes are the workplace? Sometimes, you know, getting on social media is a danger because we get entrapped and we get entrenched on by what is happening. And we find ourselves in the window, we find ourselves, not in the window, sorry, we find ourselves in a room in a space that we shouldn't be in. We find ourselves, but God has got a scarlet call tied on the outside. And God allowed two spies, two spies to be lowered out of the window on a piece of rope by someone who had a serious name after herself. Think about that. God said to Joshua, send out some spies, Joshua. He sent out two men that were called, two men that were from the tribe, two men that have seen amazing things, two men that was ready. So they was called, they was fit for purpose. They was anointed, they was called, they was chosen. Bring it to our lives. You're anointed, you're called, you're chosen. But suddenly we find ourselves on the journey of life in an area where we think, I've been to church, I've been praying, I've been worshiping, and suddenly I find myself, my life is suddenly, I'm in lockdown. That word again. Lockdown. See, the spies were in lockdown, the doors were locked, they couldn't go out a conventional way. They wasn't able to go out through the gates of the city, they wasn't able to walk with everybody else because their lives were marked, and they was being hunted down by the enemy. And your life, my life, we're being hunted down by the enemy. If you live a radical life for Christ, don't expect to be placed into a room with all the holy joes and all that rasmataz because it doesn't exist. It doesn't exist, but what God will do, he will use you, he will place you into enemy's territory, he will place you into a situation, he will get you to somewhere, and sometimes we find that we get ourselves somewhere. God knew that those two spies would end up in Rahab's house. God knew that they would end up, it wasn't by chance, God wasn't asleep, God wasn't furloughed by Boris Johnson, God was alive and well at that particular point, and God knew that those spies would walk that step, tread that tread, get into that place. God knew that they would go and knock on Rahab's door, and Rahab is someone that the world around them, you're in Rahab's house. You're under that roof. What are they doing in that situation? But she opened the door, they got in, and she said, I know why you're here. See, the enemy knows why you're here. The enemy knows, and sometimes God uses the enemy to hide us for unknown reasons. If we try and work things out, we'll never work it out. We will literally mentally wear ourselves down. This is where the scripture comes into play, very, very critical and very, very important. The just shall live by faith. Maybe there are areas in our lives, your life, my life, online, wherever you are, that we have found ourselves in situations where we're saying, God, in the name of Jesus, what am I doing so deep in the enemy's territory? He said, Don't worry, Ben. There's a window. See, we can't see what God can see. We can't see what God is doing. So we got to go by faith. The just shall live by faith. See, if I live by my eyesight, I'm gonna live by the world. If I live by the world, I'm gonna be completely covered in fear and doubt and worry. If I live by number 10 down the street, I'm gonna tear myself in pieces. I don't know who I am. You know, I I could identify to anything whenever I wanted to do whatever I want. If you live by the rules of this world, if you live by the satanic press, no wonder we got suicide so high, no wonder we got doubt so high. No wonder everything is so pressured. If I live by the way of the world, what does the Bible say? Do not conform to the pattern of number 10 Downing Street. The Bible actually says, do not conform to the pattern of the world. Do not conform to what the United Nations and all that are doing. Do not conform to what the world is saying to you. Do not conform to your culture, do not conform to your color, do not conform to the area where you live, do not conform to that pattern. There is a pattern. We live a life that is so patterned, it is unbelievable. The phone knows exactly when you're gonna wake up, the phone knows where you're gonna go, the phone knows everything about your life because we are we live by habitual ways. But when you live by faith, you're living outside of the box of normality. When you live by faith, you're living under the blood of Jesus because you know that God will take you to a place, an unusual part of territory that you've never been before. And you're when you get to that place, you're gonna say, God, what am I doing under Rahab's roof? What am I doing in enemy's territory? What am I doing on this roof? There's no way out of here. I've got people looking for me, I've got situations breaking out around me. They want to take me off the earth. But God, what am I doing under Rahab's roof? What am I doing in the enemy's territory? God, what are people gonna say? What's the world gonna know when they find out I've been in Rahab's territory? Lord, what's gonna happen? And God says, Don't worry, it's my plan. Because sometimes God takes us to a place. God has a place for us to show us his glory. Because sometimes we got to go in. If you're in, he will get you out. He knows you're in, he knows I'm in. He knows every footstep because every footstep was already ordained before the foundation of the world. He says, I know every word that you're gonna speak, Ben. Yeah, but God, you don't because I'm decided to say it. You're only saying what you're saying because I told you you're gonna say it, and I knew you were gonna say it. Yeah, but what about free will, Ben? You don't understand what the Bible talks about free will. You're on a different, different level, son. Don't worry about that one. He knows every word that I'm gonna speak, he knows every action I'm gonna do for my life, he knows every area, every territorial move. He knows exactly when I'm gonna wake every day of my life. He knows when I'm gonna go to bed and when I'm gonna wake up. Before I even do that,
he knows every area of my life, every second, every heartbeat. Because I am grafted into the vine and he is in charge of my life. He is the one that keeps my heart beating. He is the one that breathes uh life into me. It's not me, it's him. He knows every area of our lives. He knows how many times we go to school, he knows how many times we scroll on the socials, he knows everything about TikTok. He knew TikTok before even the Chinese decided to do it. He knew every he knows everything about everything because he is the great I am. And though these things are outside of our mind, they're outside of our understanding. And there are so many Christians, so many people in the enemy's territory and saying, God, get me out of the enemy's territory. He will get us out of the enemy's territory, but what does the enemy's territory do to us? It makes us faithful to Jesus Christ, it makes us faithful to the word of God because there's a scarlet called of hope. There's a scarlet called of salvation, there is a protection covering over your life. There has been a covenant made by the blood of Jesus. God cannot go back on his word. God cannot go back. It might look like we're at the crematorium. It looks like the curtains are gonna close on the situations, it looks like I'm gonna feel the heat of the cremator. But let me tell you this: God is not gonna take you through the cremator, he's gonna take you through the refiner's fire. He's gonna take you through the refiner's fire, and he takes us through the refiner's fire, and often the refiner's fire is in the enemy's territory because he's sharpening us up, he's getting us ready for something that he has in our lives, but we say, Oh Lord, I'm retired, Lord. I I'm I'm Lord, I'm it's too old, Lord. Please, Jesus, now come on, Sarah, Abram, Moses, Esther, Paul. He weren't using little whippers, he weren't using the one out of the cribs. He used people that lived and lived very difficult lives. So, brother and sister, age is irrelevant in the kingdom, color is irrelevant in the kingdom, age, color, culture is irrelevant in the kingdom. There are so many areas of life that are irrelevant to the kingdom of God. And we're coming to the table in just a few moments, and I want to let you know as we come to the table, as we break bread. As we break bread together, I want to tell you now there is a cord, there is a cord of salvation tied in a window. And let me tell you, it's not over. It's not over. Because he's in charge of your life. And he's used the most unconventional way to put the cord in the window. He didn't use the church folk, he didn't use the, he didn't use one of the big name it and claim it on social media. He didn't use anyone like that to put the cord of hope in the window. He didn't use those great big celebrity preachers to put the cord there. He used a lady who had certain things going on and a certain house of a certain color and a certain press and a certain understanding. He will use who he's gonna use. He will use someone that you would never think to give you a window of hope. So let's just remind ourselves the window of hope isn't the church building, the window of hope isn't religion, the window of hope isn't what we think it's gonna be. The scarlet cord isn't gonna come from pastor, the scarlet cord isn't gonna be tied in the window of hope by that holy one that we lift up on social media, it's not gonna be that name it and claim it preacher, it's not gonna be that person that we are looking up to and we are lifting up, it's gonna be someone because God will use someone in your life that you would least expect to get you out of a situation and back in to the homeland of God because God uses everybody for his will and his good purpose. So don't look to church, folk. Don't worry about where you are in your life because there's a scarlet call of opportunity, and the opportunity is called a symbol of salvation, it's a covenant. There is a covenant, God God cannot fail you. It looks like there's no way out, it looks, it's it's impossible. I'm never gonna get through. I can't do this, God. I'm laying on a rooftop in a situation I shouldn't be in. I found myself here, I found myself there. But God says, just wait, just wait, and as we come to the table, he's saying, be still, be still in that unconventional place, be still in that unholy place, be still, because I've got someone tying a cord in a window, and I'm gonna get you through, but I want you to trust me, but Lord, I'm deep in the enemy's concrete, Lord. I'm deep in this. Be still and know that I'm God. But God, do you know where I am? Ananias said, God, let me tell you something about Saul, Saul. He went, Ananias, be quiet. I know everything about that man, and all I'm telling you to do is pray. Yeah, but God, don't you know? Yeah, but God, are you sure? But God, God said, Ananias, shut it and just do what I'm telling you to do. Not in that way,
please. Be quiet, Ananias, he said. God said, Ananias, I'm not looking for your advice. I don't need you. Look at that character in the Old Testament when God said, Don't touch the Ark of the Covenant. If you touch that, you'll smoke. And the Ark of the Covenant got a little wobble. And he ran up and he touched the ark, and suddenly, bang, his life was gone. God doesn't need my help. God doesn't need your help with the greatest respect. God has a plan. Don't touch the ark. Don't worry about what God is doing. When God says pray, just pray. When you're in a situation, and let me remind you this as we come to a close to the table right now. God will use people that you would never think he would use to get his work done in your life. God will use people in your life that you never would believe, that they would be instrumental. And let me tell you, he uses the enemy to reveal his glory. He uses the enemy to reveal his glory. So the more enemies you got around your life, there's a sign, there's something that's gonna break out. Something is gonna break out because this isn't conventional, this is not normal, this is not normal life, and God takes us to areas, God's got a journey, and so often he takes us to the place, and he will use people that are not born again, he will use situations that are not conventional, he will use times and areas because God is doing unusual things with unusual people in unusual times. What do you mean I'm not unusual? Well, if you are a born-again Christian, if you are, the Bible actually says we're peculiar, we're peculiar people. The mold's been broke. So don't worry how your life looks with the physical. If you're surrounded with enemy, give him a shout this morning. If you're surrounded by the enemy, tell your God, Lord, you've got me hidden right now, and there is a scarlet cord on the window. I'm just gonna deliver what I gotta deliver, and I'm out of here in the name of Jesus. I'm gonna get out of this situation on a bit of rope. I'm gonna fly down the rope and I'm running back. Get ready. It's time to get out of the window. Father, in the name of Jesus, I pray right now, Spirit of the Living God, I pray for such a stirring. I ask you, Jesus, that you will make it clear to us today that you use unconventional situations, people that we would not even walk with, people that don't even go to church, people that are really out for us to get us, people that are gonna try and harm us. God has to take you to the enemy territory, God has to hold us for a while in certain situations, but there's a scarlet called this morning, and the scarlet called is salvation. Salvation belongs to God alone. So the scarlet called represents hope. Hope, he's the God of hope, he's the god of salvation. So let's come to the table. Father, as we come to the table today, we realize it wasn't by chance that Rahab had a scarlet cord. It wasn't by chance that that scarlet cord represented hope. It wasn't by coincidence that it just happened to all line up, it was by divine intervention, a divine plan of the eternal God of Israel. That God knew that he would use Rahab to get his work done. So let God do what he's gonna do. So come to the table with me. Father, in the name of Jesus, we gather our thoughts right now at the table. And Father, we thank you, Lord, for the bread that symbolizes the body of Christ. And right now, Lord, I thank you that we're in the enemy's territory. I thank you, Lord. We can't even see the scarlet called at the moment. But we know there's a window of hope. And it's not over. So, Lord, I pray. Many, many, many will see that window. Lord, I've had a few burgers and I don't know how I'm gonna get through that window today, Lord. Lord, I don't know if that rope's strong enough to get me down, Lord, but you've provided it. I'm on the way in the name of Jesus. It's very interesting how they escaped. God is greater than Houdini. He'll undo any padlock. He'll bust the doors off of any situation, he'll tear down walls of Jericho, he'll part the Red Sea for you. He'll hold back the waters of Jericho. He'll hold back those those waters right in the face of Jericho, as we know the Jordan River. He will hold all that back, he will hold everything back, but he also will do this. He will make you stand in the face of adversity, he will get you to the corner and in the corner of what? The Red Sea. And he will let you see the Red Sea, and he will let you hear the sound of Pharaoh coming behind you, the sound of their horses and their chariots thundering across the land. He will let you see the Red Sea and go, I can't go that way, that's impossible. And then you'll hear the sound of the enemy coming up. He'll hold you in a holding area and he'll say, Get ready. He'll say, Get ready, because I'm going to do something. What he will do, he will take the enemy into your blessing. And when you get through your blessing, and when you get the other side, he will drop the walls that he created and crush the enemy on your behalf. So just be obedient. When it feels like I can't swim, I can't do it. Where's the window? I can't see the cord. He will make a way in the most unusual situations. Pharaoh will be calling out your name. Pharaoh's horses are running at full stretch. The chariots were making such a noise across the land,
because this is what happens. God went quiet at the birth of the Red Sea miracle. They were in fear. They were screaming and crying. And there was silence for a while from God. But all they could hear was Pharaoh and the chariots. And when they look back, it says all they could see was dust, and all they could see was the enemy closing in. God will allow the nostrils of the enemy's horse to almost breathe down your neck. But then what he will do, he will wait till the enemy so close, so close, the horse could lick the back of your head, if you don't mind me saying that. And he will open up that sea, he will take you in, and he will get you through, and you'll think, how am I gonna get through this? And he will draw you through the only way, the window of the Red Sea, and he will take you through. And then as the enemy comes up behind you, and you put your trainer on the dry ground, the enemy is about to be crushed in your miracle. Tell yourself when you're in trouble, this miracle is gonna happen, and this miracle is gonna crush the enemy in my life. I don't know how he's gonna do it, but all I gotta do is trust because there's always hope. Father, bless this bread in the name of Jesus Christ. Bless this bread right now in the name of Jesus. Father, give me more faith to trust. Father, I thank you that this bread symbolizes the body of Christ. And as we break this together right now in the name of Jesus, we understand that it's bread in itself, but what it symbolizes is the body of Christ. Bless me. Carry me. Lord, I want to tell you in a little secret, Jesus. I've got many red seas looking at me at the minute. I might as well go and feed the horses that close. Sometimes you might as well you feel like might as well jump on this horse. It's so close. The chariots are right close. I can hear the sound of the enemy. It's very interesting, in it. You'll always hear the sound of the enemy. And God goes quiet before He's about to do something. Bless this bread in the name of Jesus. Amen. Father, we thank you for this cup, this cup of redemption. I thank you for the cup of redemption, Lord. But Lord, we might be surrounded by chariots and horses. We might hear the voice of Pharaoh. Let's bring them back. We might hear the sound of the enemy's voice in our lives again. We're gonna draw you back. You're ours. We're coming to get you. But as we take of this cup right now, I pray. And I know that God is washing us in the blood of Jesus. So from the crown of my head to the sole of my feet, wash me in the blood of Jesus Christ. Amen. Let's just take a moment, just gather our thoughts. Just reflect on life at this moment. The enemy is around us. We're surrounded. In prayer as we just pray this through. Lord, we're surrounded. Lord, there's there's a couple of red seas that I don't know how I'm gonna get through. There's a Jericho waiting for me. Lord, there's a there's a fortified situation that I can't do any. I'm never gonna do that. Lord, you're telling me that you're you're gonna give me that. You're giving me that, Lord. You're Lord, you you've dropped a vision and a dream all that time ago, Lord, and all I see are stone walls. All I see are drawbridges that are drawn back. All I see, Lord, is these high walls that I can't get over, I can't get around. All I hear, Lord, is the enemy making a noise in my life. But Lord, I believe there's a window. I believe, Father God, there's a way out. Because as we come to a close, God does unconventional things to the human being. Because he doesn't use our way, because the Bible says his ways are higher than our ways, his thoughts are higher than our thoughts. So when you're in the enemy's territory, don't panic, don't lose it. Be still because you're about to witness something that is beyond human imagination, something that is beyond church, something that is beyond science, something that is beyond life itself. Father, I pray right now that you'll bless everyone before me and everybody online. That we will realize that God is doing unbelievable things in unusual situations, in unusual times. So I thank you, Jesus. And Lord, I pray that we'll be more faithful to the word. And we will realize, we will realize how powerful hope is. How powerful hope is. So today, bless us from the crown of our head to the sole of our feet in Jesus' name. Amen. Shall we stand and say the Lord's Prayer as we as we get out of here this morning?
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