WEBVTT 00:00:15.599 --> 00:00:16.862 grateful again. 00:00:16.862 --> 00:00:23.194 Can we put our hands again together for our pastor in his absence on his birthday? 00:00:23.194 --> 00:00:33.816 I was gonna sing happy birthday the way we do it Happy birthday. 00:00:33.816 --> 00:00:42.503 Well, we went viral not long ago for singing Frankie Beverly, so I don't know what they're gonna do if we sing Stevie Wonder, so we'll just leave that alone. 00:00:42.503 --> 00:00:49.170 Happy birthday, pastor Amen, and happy belated anniversary to he and First Lady Tiffany. 00:00:49.170 --> 00:00:52.951 Come on, let's put our hands together and celebrate them. 00:00:54.981 --> 00:00:59.060 I am grateful for each and every one of you that are here with us today. 00:00:59.060 --> 00:01:09.489 I'm grateful for our choir Amen, y'all, sister Brandy and our music department, these musicians God bless y'all. 00:01:09.489 --> 00:01:12.509 Brandon, brandon, marcus and Chris. 00:01:12.509 --> 00:01:16.275 Come on, let's let them hear it. 00:01:16.275 --> 00:01:19.745 That go-go swing y'all. 00:01:19.745 --> 00:01:23.507 Hit was right Boy, that was right. 00:01:23.507 --> 00:01:26.974 Amen, amen, amen. 00:01:26.974 --> 00:01:28.987 I'm grateful for each and every one of you. 00:01:28.987 --> 00:01:31.027 To my queen, I am so grateful for you. 00:01:31.027 --> 00:01:31.448 Thank you. 00:01:31.448 --> 00:01:33.262 Listen y'all. 00:01:33.262 --> 00:01:35.510 She done been pushing for over 20 hours now. 00:01:35.510 --> 00:01:43.189 She 20 hours and counting in Almost to 24 hours of being up, so I'm grateful for your labor of love today. 00:01:43.189 --> 00:01:45.588 Amen, I'm grateful for all of you. 00:01:45.859 --> 00:01:48.829 Well, one o'clock we're going to conclude the matter today. 00:01:48.829 --> 00:01:57.754 We started out this morning with the good news is the bad news was wrong. 00:01:57.754 --> 00:02:02.659 The bad news was wrong. 00:02:02.659 --> 00:02:12.143 We went to 10 o'clock with the cost of complaining, so we're going to finish off one o'clock. 00:02:12.143 --> 00:02:20.324 If you can now stand to your feet, we're going to go back to that. 00:02:20.365 --> 00:02:23.203 Numbersbers the 16th chapter, actually jump down to verse 47. 00:02:23.203 --> 00:02:24.709 We're going to make this one quick. 00:02:24.709 --> 00:02:35.205 Verse 47 says Aaron did as Moses told him and ran out among the people. 00:02:35.205 --> 00:02:44.812 The plague had already begun to strike down the people, but Aaron burned the incense and purified the people. 00:02:44.812 --> 00:02:53.015 Verse 48, he stood between the dead and the living and the plague stopped. 00:02:53.015 --> 00:02:57.205 On your way to your seat, I want you to tell three people. 00:02:57.205 --> 00:03:02.814 I'm standing between life and death. 00:03:02.814 --> 00:03:18.235 I'm standing between life and death, thank you. 00:03:18.235 --> 00:03:19.465 Shout out to our media team. 00:03:19.465 --> 00:03:20.046 Thank you all. 00:03:20.046 --> 00:03:23.689 I'm throwing y'all stuff at 12 o'clock last night and I'm grateful. 00:03:23.689 --> 00:03:26.747 Come on, let's give our media team a shout out. 00:03:26.747 --> 00:03:28.965 Amen, I'm grateful for y'all, thank you. 00:03:28.965 --> 00:04:00.127 Thank you, as we explored a little bit in the 10 am service, we talked about what happens when we complain against God, what happens when we find ourselves not being grateful for all that God has done, but we are in a perpetual, constant state of just complaining because things aren't turning out the way that we want them to. 00:04:05.800 --> 00:04:18.752 And what I'm finding is what is and I don't know if you would agree or not, but what's, deacon Joan, at the root of our complaints, or our consistent complaining is a disconnect in dependency. 00:04:18.752 --> 00:04:54.745 In dependency, there is a disconnect that we experience when we don't truly understand how to be completely dependent on God, and there are moments and times that remain in our life where we go through and sometimes you don't know how to figure something out, and it's in those moments when you have gotten so frustrated, when you've gotten so fed up, that the best thing you can do is take your hands off it. 00:04:54.745 --> 00:05:06.014 Any witnesses in here that have ever gotten to a place in life where you realize the best place I could have ever been was when I decided to take my hands off it? 00:05:06.014 --> 00:05:18.233 What happens is when you take your hands off it, as we talked about earlier, when we lift our hands, it's a place of surrender, but also what it indicates is that, god, to you I have full dependency. 00:05:18.233 --> 00:05:30.449 I'm no longer trying to figure it out of my own accord, I'm no longer trying to wrestle with how this thing is going to get worked out and, in fact, even as many of us repented. 00:05:30.449 --> 00:05:42.374 Today, god, I'm no longer complaining about a situation I can't control in the first place, so I'm just going to lift my hands and find a way to be dependent on you in everything that I do. 00:05:43.740 --> 00:05:49.985 This place of dependency, I believe, is found in the book of Lamentations, if you can get that one up for me. 00:05:49.985 --> 00:05:53.653 Lamentations, the third chapter, verse 25,. 00:05:53.653 --> 00:06:01.310 It says the Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who searched for him. 00:06:01.310 --> 00:06:18.651 So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord, and it is good for people to submit at an early age to the yoke of his discipline. 00:06:18.651 --> 00:06:26.607 Lastly, verse twenty-eight let them sit alone in silence beneath the Lord's demands. 00:06:27.750 --> 00:06:43.834 When we understand that there, that God requires total submission to his will and his plan for our life, it makes us getting to the place of promise at least a little easier. 00:06:43.834 --> 00:06:47.372 Doesn't mean that you won't have the same frustrations. 00:06:47.372 --> 00:06:53.992 It won't mean that you won't have the same challenges of wrestling in your flesh, of wanting what you want when you want it. 00:06:53.992 --> 00:07:00.172 But I like where the prophet Jeremiah said in this lamentation. 00:07:00.172 --> 00:07:21.427 He said so it is good for them to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord, I don't know about you, but one of the things that I have to contend with most is sometimes not even just my thoughts, but the words that come out of my mouth. 00:07:21.427 --> 00:07:32.653 Do you realize that sometimes you can talk your way right out of a blessing, you can talk your way right out of what it is that God was about to do or trying to do in your life? 00:07:32.653 --> 00:07:40.290 The moment you start complaining is when you start to now sabotage the things that God was trying to bring you to in the first place. 00:07:40.290 --> 00:07:49.305 But because you can't keep quiet and wait for the Lord's salvation. 00:07:51.030 --> 00:08:03.600 We see here in scripture, as we have journeyed through numbers 13 to see how they, how this journey began, and we see the uprising that happened in numbers to see how this journey began. 00:08:03.600 --> 00:08:32.232 And we see the uprising that happened in Numbers 13 because the promise of God was taken too long, that some of the other leaders felt like the leadership that Moses was giving them wasn't sufficient enough and that they too could hear from God, but only to find out that they were operating in such disorder and they were operating in such a heart of malice that God allowed them to go forth in worship, only to be consumed because of their own disobedience. 00:08:32.232 --> 00:08:45.246 The warning that we gave to 10 o'clock was we've got to be careful that we don't lose our life trying to get, uh, what god has promised when we're doing it out of disobedience. 00:08:45.246 --> 00:08:50.939 So we find now the conclusion of what is happening. 00:08:50.939 --> 00:09:07.750 These people have saw these 250 plus leaders that conspired against Moses and Aaron with their hearts saying we deserve to be in this place that you think that you own, because you think you better than we are. 00:09:07.750 --> 00:09:24.403 We deserve to be able to hear from God, and Moses gave them the instruction to go forth and and and perform your worship acts the way you think, uh, that that is going to go down, and what we see was, uh, for some, they lost their life instantaneously. 00:09:24.403 --> 00:09:30.453 The ground opened up beneath their feet and swallowed them alive. 00:09:30.453 --> 00:09:35.644 What's crazy is that when that happened, it closed right back up. 00:09:35.644 --> 00:09:46.274 Can you imagine being a place where God shows you a sign, and in such a way that that that that literally, it causes your mind to go? 00:09:46.274 --> 00:09:49.136 My God, I repent. 00:09:49.136 --> 00:10:05.766 The Bible says that the ground closed up beneath their feet and the people were petrified at the might of God, but it didn't stop there, because, believe it's somewhere around. 00:10:05.806 --> 00:10:08.614 Verse 40 of number 16. 00:10:08.614 --> 00:10:12.068 It says the very next morning can y'all pull that up, media team? 00:10:12.068 --> 00:10:12.853 I want them to see that. 00:10:12.853 --> 00:10:13.919 Make sure I ain't making up nothing. 00:10:13.919 --> 00:10:18.969 I think it's verse 40, number 16. 00:10:18.969 --> 00:10:30.829 Verse 40, I think it says the very next morning they started to complain again of everything. 00:10:30.829 --> 00:10:38.193 Try 39 for me. 00:10:38.193 --> 00:10:42.239 If it's not 39, it's 41. 00:10:42.239 --> 00:10:48.822 But this would indicate that, despite all that, god, there it is. 00:10:48.822 --> 00:11:04.341 But the very next morning the whole community of Israel began muttering again against Moses and Aaron, saying you have killed the Lord's people. 00:11:06.247 --> 00:11:15.871 We've got to be mindful that our constant complaining doesn't put us at odds with the very God that we seek for deliverance. 00:11:15.871 --> 00:11:18.639 We've got to be mindful. 00:11:18.639 --> 00:11:27.285 Our constant refute with God because it's not turning out the way that we want it to, puts us in a space that we miss the big picture. 00:11:27.285 --> 00:11:36.461 The big picture is it's not just the fact that God wants to bless you with the things that that you need and the things that you even want. 00:11:36.461 --> 00:11:41.701 It's not even the fact that that God has desired to take you into another place for you to flourish. 00:11:41.701 --> 00:11:53.125 But oftentimes what we the pieces that we miss is that we think that the blessings that God has for us are really only for us. 00:11:53.125 --> 00:12:11.710 When you begin to understand and see yourself as a vessel that God is using to bring blessings through you, it will hopefully quiet the places in your heart that really cause us to look at God and say, well, what about me? 00:12:11.710 --> 00:12:27.525 So here Israel is having yet another moment where, right after God has done another thing, they found themselves complaining again. 00:12:27.545 --> 00:12:33.061 So then we go into this place where I believe God is taking us one, a one, a one PM. 00:12:33.061 --> 00:12:34.224 What, what time is this? 00:12:34.224 --> 00:12:35.959 I don't see how Pastor Walt do it. 00:12:35.959 --> 00:12:36.461 I really don't. 00:12:36.461 --> 00:12:39.290 I don't even know what time it is right now. 00:12:39.290 --> 00:13:13.888 One PM service oh, here's the place that I believe that God is trying to take us to is to understand that the processes in the order that he set up for our life is really to get us into proper alignment so that when you speak, when you have a desire in your heart, god moves based upon your word and your desire, because it aligns with his purpose and his word that you've already understood and you begin to put into your life. 00:13:13.888 --> 00:13:20.886 This is why, when David says that the Lord will give me the desires of my heart, it's because his heart was in tune. 00:13:20.886 --> 00:13:24.179 It was aligned with God's will for his life. 00:13:24.179 --> 00:13:35.149 So, no matter what he found himself struggling in, because his heart was aligned with the presence of God, he said thou will give me the desires of my heart. 00:13:37.715 --> 00:14:12.691 So we find here that Moses and Aaron, yet again, are faced with folk that just don't get it and as a response of their continuous rebellion, rebellion, we see over five times, four times in number 16, that their immediate response to rebellion and contention is for them to fall on their face. 00:14:12.691 --> 00:14:33.685 We talked about the power of worship at 10 am, the fact that that should be our immediate response whenever we are confronted with something that is designed, that has been designed by the devil to keep you distracted and to keep you all focused from what it is that God is trying to get you to see and understand. 00:14:33.685 --> 00:14:43.069 I want for you to understand that your posture assumes, uh, whether or not you are in alignment with God's will. 00:14:43.069 --> 00:14:48.146 What posture do you assume when things go from bad to worse? 00:14:48.146 --> 00:14:55.474 What posture do you assume when things go from bad to worse? 00:14:55.554 --> 00:15:13.500 If you grew up where I grew up, all it took was a look and based on that look, ain't too many words got to be said we're going to find out, you know, if you're coming high or if you're coming low, but we're going to make sure we have good balance and then we're going to figure out how the end is going to be met. 00:15:13.500 --> 00:15:27.419 Then, sometimes our posture is the thing that indicates our willingness to stand in the face of our adversity and, in some cases, be able to hear God despite what we want to do. 00:15:27.419 --> 00:15:35.307 That's the problem with most of us today is we've used our natural tendencies to try to fix spiritual problems. 00:15:35.307 --> 00:15:39.179 So some things don't require for you to stand and put your guard up. 00:15:39.179 --> 00:15:46.079 Some things require your posture to be assumed to understand that the one that's in control can handle it all. 00:15:46.079 --> 00:15:51.763 Anything, like me. 00:15:51.763 --> 00:15:56.420 You gotta watch your tongue sometimes, but, chris, cause that old tongue. 00:15:56.420 --> 00:15:58.266 Woo, jesus. 00:16:00.212 --> 00:16:01.817 Can I testify here real quick? 00:16:01.817 --> 00:16:03.102 Can I be transparent? 00:16:03.102 --> 00:16:08.866 I'm going to be good, but something caught me off balance about a month ago. 00:16:08.866 --> 00:16:16.602 I didn't even realize that it was a distraction, but it caught me off guard and I handled it the way Chris wanted to handle it. 00:16:16.602 --> 00:16:37.125 And as I handled it the way Chris wanted to handle it, I told my wife about it in full transparency and she looked and went man, I don't even know how you even put some of them words together like, I don't even know how you got to, but I thank God that he's working on you and he's delivering you right now. 00:16:37.125 --> 00:16:59.817 You know it's bad when you can, when you can tell another cusser some cuss words, and they go whoo you, hey, you got it, like you, and I had to repent and in my quietness the Lord gave me salvation better than I could have, but I'm grateful. 00:17:00.863 --> 00:17:36.897 But how do you respond in the face of adversity, when people turn on you that you didn't expect, when people get bold and disrespectful at the same time, when people lie and they disloyal this is my favorite one when you find them folk that like to smile in your face and stab you in the back and ask you where the blood coming from? 00:17:36.897 --> 00:17:43.304 What posture do you assume in the face of your adversity? 00:17:43.304 --> 00:17:55.546 We see that Moses and Aaron continuously, consistently, faithfully, their first response to adversity was to fall on their face and worship God. 00:17:55.546 --> 00:17:57.154 Why? 00:17:57.154 --> 00:18:03.887 Because they understood assignment and order. 00:18:03.887 --> 00:18:23.325 And here's the thing that we got to get 1 pm We've got to get a level understanding of God's assignment for our lives and his order for our lives and his order for our lives, even when other folks don't understand it. 00:18:23.325 --> 00:18:32.445 You are now held to a different standard because you know that God is holding you responsible for your assignment and for order. 00:18:32.445 --> 00:18:43.946 Whether they act like they don't have no sense, when they talk to you sideways and not the side of their mouth and their neck, you understand your assignment and order. 00:18:43.946 --> 00:19:02.521 They knew that following God's order here's the part that I love, I'm almost done they knew that following God's order and staying committed to their assignment meant life and death. 00:19:04.004 --> 00:19:21.244 See, one of the reasons we are in this space today, where we are so cavalier and we're so casual with the things of God, is because we don't understand that we're actually operating in a space where we have no, no, no, no, no, no, no fear of life and death. 00:19:21.244 --> 00:19:35.634 I promise you right now, if we get back to the days of Israel, when God began to call out his wrath, at the moment, at the slightest hint of disobedience and misalignment, many of us will get our act right. 00:19:35.634 --> 00:19:47.220 But because we're so desensitized to the things of God, to the holiness of God, to the holiness of God, to the order of God, we come in and act any kind of way, even in the house of God. 00:19:47.220 --> 00:19:49.645 We come in and won't lift our hands. 00:19:49.645 --> 00:19:52.239 Somebody's got to beg you to tell God thank you. 00:19:52.239 --> 00:19:56.387 The same God that woke you up, the same God that provided for you. 00:19:56.387 --> 00:19:57.461 The same God that made a way. 00:19:57.461 --> 00:19:58.548 The same God that delivered you. 00:19:58.548 --> 00:19:59.494 The same God that healed you. 00:19:59.494 --> 00:20:00.932 God that made a way, the same God that delivered you. 00:20:00.932 --> 00:20:01.957 The same God that healed you. 00:20:01.957 --> 00:20:03.696 The same God that brought you out. 00:20:03.696 --> 00:20:08.742 Who are we to have to remind you or beg you to give God praise? 00:20:10.852 --> 00:20:17.739 The scripture says we enter with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise. 00:20:17.739 --> 00:20:36.657 We shouldn't have to be pumped and primed to give God praise, but it's an indicator that we don't understand that we're functioning in a space where there is life and death at stake to your order and your assignment. 00:20:36.657 --> 00:20:38.663 I'm almost done. 00:20:38.663 --> 00:20:54.249 If we don't accept God's order and his will for our lives there's a good one then how can he fulfill his promise? 00:20:54.249 --> 00:21:07.684 If we don't accept God's order and will for our lives, how then do we expect him to fulfill his promise? 00:21:07.684 --> 00:21:20.758 I'm gonna say that again If we don't accept God's order and his will for our lives, then how do we expect him to fulfill his promise? 00:21:20.758 --> 00:21:24.486 Israel wanted milk and honey. 00:21:24.486 --> 00:21:32.806 We want clothes, cash and cars, but we're not willing to submit to his order. 00:21:32.806 --> 00:21:38.098 We're not willing to submit to his will for our lives. 00:21:38.098 --> 00:21:44.586 They wanted the promise of God but didn't want to adhere to the plan of God. 00:21:44.586 --> 00:21:52.308 They wanted the promise of God, but they didn't want to adhere to the plan of God. 00:21:54.255 --> 00:22:07.163 All of us in here at some point have had some moments of financial struggle and strain, and I'm grateful for our financial team that's taught us over the last month about financial discipline and financial wellness. 00:22:07.163 --> 00:22:36.985 In order for us to get to the place of overflow requires a plan, and we had some folk that spent, uh, eight weeks teaching us line by line, each and every week on Wednesday, about how to establish a plan to get from where you are to where God wants you to be, and many of us because the plan is too restrictive, the plan isn't comfortable, the plan isn't as convenient as we want it to be. 00:22:36.985 --> 00:22:40.039 Why can't I just play these lotto numbers and let everything work out? 00:22:40.039 --> 00:22:46.203 Fine, god, come on, give me what I need so I can be all right, but God says I can't trust you with the dollar. 00:22:46.203 --> 00:22:47.942 How am I going to give you a million? 00:22:47.942 --> 00:22:50.140 You don't want the plan. 00:22:50.140 --> 00:22:54.161 You don't want the plan. 00:22:57.875 --> 00:23:02.120 We want the breakthroughs, but not the breakups. 00:23:02.120 --> 00:23:10.885 I wonder why I wrote this, elder Mason, we want the breakthroughs but not the breakups. 00:23:10.885 --> 00:23:20.758 There's some things that God is trying to do in your life, but there's some people attached to your life that can't go with you, to your life that can't go with you. 00:23:20.758 --> 00:23:30.299 There's some people that have been attached to you that can't get to this next place of your assignment and God needs you to be able to. 00:23:30.299 --> 00:23:32.846 And if it's not people, it might be even a mentality. 00:23:32.846 --> 00:23:45.817 We've got to be willing to have a breakup with the things that's held us where we've been in order to get to the breakthrough of where God is trying to take us, to, where God wants us to be. 00:23:45.817 --> 00:23:58.606 Then we see here that here's where a lot of our conflict comes in, elder Pierce, because we say that we want the things of God. 00:23:59.386 --> 00:24:05.211 We say even many of us, that, god, I'm willing to do whatever it is that you want me to do. 00:24:05.211 --> 00:24:12.697 You say I want to be like Jesus. 00:24:12.697 --> 00:24:14.040 Anybody ever fix your mouth to say you want to be like this? 00:24:14.040 --> 00:24:15.784 Ok, you can raise your hand if you'd be honest. 00:24:15.784 --> 00:24:17.008 Yeah, I want to be like Jesus. 00:24:17.008 --> 00:24:24.344 So here's the challenge we have and I'm almost done for real. 00:24:24.344 --> 00:24:41.262 Um, here's the test that we have to ask ourselves whether or not we are committed to the order and the alignment of god, because you do know that jesus was committed to the order and the alignment of God, no matter what. 00:24:41.262 --> 00:24:43.787 Here's the test. 00:24:45.168 --> 00:24:51.724 Do we have a heart of love and compassion for the fallen condition of our world? 00:24:51.724 --> 00:24:53.947 That's number one. 00:24:53.947 --> 00:24:55.375 That's number one on the list. 00:24:55.375 --> 00:25:04.128 Do you have a heart of compassion for the fallen state of our world? 00:25:04.128 --> 00:25:10.058 You see, in order for you to be like Jesus, you've got to be able to think about somebody other than yourself. 00:25:10.058 --> 00:25:26.438 In order to be like Jesus, you've got to be willing and able to think about those that are less fortunate, those that, that that that have needs, that, those things, those people that sit in a place of dismay and without hope. 00:25:26.438 --> 00:25:32.965 You've got to be willing and able to think above and beyond yourself to put someone else's needs ahead of your own. 00:25:32.965 --> 00:25:36.688 How do I know? 00:25:36.710 --> 00:25:48.736 The Bible says in John 3.16 that, for God so loved the world that he gave a part of himself in order to save it. 00:25:48.736 --> 00:25:55.778 He gave a part of himself to save people that he knew would reject him. 00:25:55.778 --> 00:26:03.956 Many of us uh, catch an attitude with folks because they don't like your idea and they don't want nothing to do with you, and that's fine. 00:26:03.956 --> 00:26:08.887 But the problem is we stop loving them because they've rejected us. 00:26:08.887 --> 00:26:16.068 We see here, the response that Moses and Aaron had was at the rejection. 00:26:16.068 --> 00:26:17.111 That they knew wasn't. 00:26:17.111 --> 00:26:18.294 They didn't take it personally. 00:26:18.294 --> 00:26:21.644 They knew that the people were refusing and rebelling against God. 00:26:21.644 --> 00:26:22.888 They didn't take it personally. 00:26:22.888 --> 00:26:24.634 They knew that the people were refusing and rebelling against God. 00:26:24.634 --> 00:26:31.835 They continued to worship and fall on their face because of their compassion that they had for these people. 00:26:32.494 --> 00:26:36.914 Do we have love and compassion for the fallen condition of the world? 00:26:36.914 --> 00:26:43.149 Secondly, do you still love those who reject you? 00:26:43.149 --> 00:26:44.694 Do you still love those who reject you? 00:26:44.694 --> 00:26:46.473 Do you still love those who reject you? 00:26:46.473 --> 00:26:57.617 And thirdly, here's the one I like, media team, I didn't give you this one Can you pull up Matthew 16, verse 24 and 20, verse 24 through 26. 00:26:57.617 --> 00:27:03.905 Here's the question Can you carry someone else's cross? 00:27:03.905 --> 00:27:08.599 Pull it down real quick, because I want to make sure. 00:27:08.599 --> 00:27:10.525 I want to look in the eyeballs when I ask this question. 00:27:10.525 --> 00:27:18.086 One do you have compassion, love for the fallen state of the world, can we do do? 00:27:18.086 --> 00:27:18.414 Do you? 00:27:18.414 --> 00:27:20.191 Do you still love those that have rejected you? 00:27:20.191 --> 00:27:20.136 World, can we do? 00:27:20.136 --> 00:27:20.072 Do you? 00:27:20.072 --> 00:27:21.953 Do you still love those that have rejected you? 00:27:21.953 --> 00:27:28.102 But thirdly, can you carry someone else's cross? 00:27:28.102 --> 00:27:31.118 You put it up now for me. 00:27:31.118 --> 00:27:32.738 I know they're getting sick of me. 00:27:34.123 --> 00:27:45.969 Then Jesus said to his disciples if any of you want to be my follower, you must give up your own way. 00:27:45.969 --> 00:27:50.664 Take up your cross and follow me. 00:27:50.664 --> 00:27:51.246 Hold right there. 00:27:51.246 --> 00:28:00.448 If you want to be my follower, you must give up your own way, deny yourself. 00:28:00.448 --> 00:28:03.384 Take up your cross and follow me. 00:28:03.384 --> 00:28:14.884 Twenty-five If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it, but if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. 00:28:14.884 --> 00:28:22.825 Twenty-six, and what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? 00:28:22.825 --> 00:28:26.024 Is anything worth more than your soul? 00:28:26.024 --> 00:28:29.665 I want to go back to that cross analogy that Jesus gave. 00:28:29.665 --> 00:28:33.926 He says to his disciples here's where the rubber meets the road. 00:28:33.926 --> 00:28:37.183 We're no longer talking about blessings. 00:28:37.974 --> 00:28:45.961 If you really want to walk into the promise that I've set up for your life, you, first of all, I need you to be willing to deny yourself. 00:28:45.961 --> 00:28:56.111 It's a hard place for us to be when we again are living in such an environment, society and country where we get things instantaneously. 00:28:56.111 --> 00:29:08.303 And because we get things instantaneously, it has created a mentality in us like we, we, we are, we are owed something by God. 00:29:08.303 --> 00:29:09.004 You gotta move. 00:29:09.004 --> 00:29:15.485 Because Facebook opened up real quick, or because I can get news at the touch of my button, I can watch a TV show at the moment's notice. 00:29:15.485 --> 00:29:20.101 So, whatever it is God that I want from you, you got to be able to respond instantly. 00:29:20.101 --> 00:29:23.937 But God says I don't work that way. 00:29:23.937 --> 00:29:26.861 For one, I want you to be able to deny yourself. 00:29:26.861 --> 00:29:33.163 There's a word that says for us to not think more highly of ourselves than we are. 00:29:33.163 --> 00:29:34.553 Deny yourself. 00:29:34.553 --> 00:29:40.502 Then he says to take up your cross. 00:29:40.595 --> 00:29:42.311 I thought this was interesting when I realized this I promise, one week from now, to take up your cross. 00:29:42.311 --> 00:29:44.259 I thought this was interesting when I realized this. 00:29:44.259 --> 00:29:46.316 I promised uh, one week from ago. 00:29:46.316 --> 00:29:50.969 Uh, I ain't preaching, lying, you know, preach me, tell me. 00:29:50.969 --> 00:29:52.552 I'm about to go in there and preach for another twenty minutes. 00:29:52.552 --> 00:29:54.400 No, I know, we're really about to go, uh. 00:29:54.400 --> 00:30:07.153 What I found interesting in this excuse me, was that I, when Jesus, says I want you to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me. 00:30:07.580 --> 00:30:10.710 He was giving a premonition of what he was about to do. 00:30:10.710 --> 00:30:12.787 Right, you agree. 00:30:12.787 --> 00:30:20.233 He was giving an idea, a view, a focus, an illustration of what he was about to do in this natural sense. 00:30:20.233 --> 00:30:26.671 But watch this the cross that he was taking up wasn't his cross. 00:30:26.671 --> 00:30:30.870 The cross that he took up was the cross for you and me. 00:30:30.870 --> 00:30:32.898 He didn't take up his cross. 00:30:32.898 --> 00:30:43.294 He took up our cross and he buried it on his back as he went to Calvary and was stretched wide, hung wide open and said God, fight for you. 00:30:43.294 --> 00:30:46.444 God, I commend my spirit. 00:30:46.444 --> 00:30:49.893 He didn't take up his cross. 00:30:49.893 --> 00:30:52.383 He took up your cross. 00:30:52.383 --> 00:30:55.288 He didn't take up his cross. 00:30:55.288 --> 00:30:57.331 He took up your cross. 00:30:58.072 --> 00:30:59.903 So what was he telling his disciples? 00:30:59.903 --> 00:31:07.982 If you desire to come after me, I need you to be willing to first deny yourself, but then I want you to be willing to first deny yourself, but then I want you to be willing to take up your cross. 00:31:07.982 --> 00:31:10.700 Nope, your cross ain't your cross, your brother. 00:31:10.700 --> 00:31:12.221 Your cross is your brother's cross. 00:31:12.221 --> 00:31:14.222 Your cross is your sister's cross. 00:31:14.222 --> 00:31:17.185 Your, your cross is the community's cross. 00:31:17.185 --> 00:31:21.471 Take up your cross and follow me. 00:31:21.471 --> 00:31:27.230 When I realized this is what blew my mind. 00:31:27.230 --> 00:31:29.704 One more, one more media. 00:31:29.704 --> 00:31:30.688 I promise I'm done. 00:31:30.688 --> 00:31:31.925 I'm going to stop aggravating y'all today. 00:31:33.645 --> 00:31:37.624 Jump to Hebrews 8, in verse 5. 00:31:37.624 --> 00:31:46.768 I think that's the one he said take up your cross and follow me. 00:31:46.768 --> 00:31:48.631 Watch this five. 00:31:48.631 --> 00:31:58.913 It says they serve in a system of worship that is only a copy, a shadow, of the real one in heaven. 00:31:58.913 --> 00:32:08.926 For when Moses was getting ready to build the tabernacle, god gave him this warning Be sure that you make everything according to the pattern that I've shown you here. 00:32:08.926 --> 00:32:10.370 Now listen, stop. 00:32:10.370 --> 00:32:11.232 You didn't got to show no more. 00:32:12.040 --> 00:32:18.573 What Jesus was doing was a copy, a replication of what was already being done in heaven. 00:32:18.573 --> 00:32:27.973 This is why, when we pray, when he said, father, let thy will be done as it is on earth, in heaven, as it already is. 00:32:27.973 --> 00:32:38.069 So what we realize is that every step of alignment, every step of order that God has us to walk in is a replication of what is already happening in heaven. 00:32:38.069 --> 00:32:43.546 So what Jesus was trying to get us to understand is the sacrifices that I'm making for you. 00:32:43.546 --> 00:32:47.163 If you truly want your life, you've got to be willing to lose your life. 00:32:47.163 --> 00:32:49.889 Lose your life on behalf of those that don't like you. 00:32:49.889 --> 00:32:56.220 Lose your life on behalf of those that reject you, lose your life, on behalf of those that talk about you like a dog. 00:32:56.220 --> 00:32:58.803 You've got to be willing to carry the cross. 00:32:58.803 --> 00:33:05.852 We see that as Jesus carried this cross. 00:33:05.852 --> 00:33:08.655 I want you to imagine this in your mind. 00:33:10.019 --> 00:33:23.929 Jesus carried this cross up Golgotha's hill and they begin to drive the nails in his hands, the nails in his feet. 00:33:23.929 --> 00:33:45.072 The Bible says they lifted him to suspend him in air, while this was the Romans method of torture, while this was the Romans method to crucify and to sacrifice people. 00:33:45.072 --> 00:33:56.899 What they didn't know was that they were replicating what was already taking place in heaven. 00:33:56.899 --> 00:34:05.039 Here's where we see this now, demonstrated in number 1647 and 48. 00:34:05.039 --> 00:34:09.101 You see, aaron didn't know why God told him to take the censors. 00:34:09.101 --> 00:34:14.027 And because of the plague that had started, because of people's complaints, god said I'm going to strike them down. 00:34:14.027 --> 00:34:20.373 Because here they are yet again, rebelling against my commands and rebelling against my order. 00:34:20.992 --> 00:34:29.469 Aaron, I want you to take a censor and put some coals on it, and I want you to run down in the center of those that are dying and those that are living. 00:34:29.469 --> 00:34:43.184 I want you to hold the censer as a reminder to me that I'm going to save the people that, even turned against me, I still got to redeem the people that don't even like the ways that I'm giving them. 00:34:43.184 --> 00:34:51.411 Aaron, you now have become the sacrifice to stand between the living and the dead. 00:34:51.411 --> 00:35:03.791 You want the things of God, you want the promises of God, but how many of you are willing to stand between the living and the dead? 00:35:03.791 --> 00:35:16.291 There's some people around you, there's some people in your life, in your family, on your job, that are completely against what you stand for and what you believe. 00:35:16.291 --> 00:35:18.425 You can't throw them away. 00:35:18.425 --> 00:35:30.106 You've got to be willing to stand in the middle Stand between life and death, because the sacrifice isn't about you, it's about the one that already gave us the middle Stand between life and death, because the sacrifice isn't about you, it's about the one that already gave us the example. 00:35:30.106 --> 00:35:32.487 He already gave us the example. 00:35:33.424 --> 00:35:37.427 What Aaron and Moses were doing was the Bible called it a shadow of the copy. 00:35:37.427 --> 00:35:43.489 They weren't the real thing, but they were replicating what was going to come hundreds of years later. 00:35:43.489 --> 00:35:50.527 So because Jesus, now, as he is lifted and suspended up before mankind, I want you to picture this in your mind. 00:35:50.527 --> 00:35:58.230 This cross I saw him somewhere, this cross that we see, that we wear, that we adorn in our jewelry. 00:35:58.230 --> 00:36:20.280 This cross was more than just a symbol of Romans' idea of what torture looked like, but this was truly the salvation that God had planned all along, because, as Jesus is now suspended with his arms stretched wide open, the picture that we have is that he's now standing between life and death. 00:36:23.088 --> 00:37:00.246 As we are preparing to leave today, I pray that this has become a place of conviction, that the place that we stand in, the things that we've been complaining about, the things that we've carried, that we said have been too much for us to bear, is really the place that God is trying to get you to be willing to stand between life and death. 00:37:00.246 --> 00:37:11.070 Some of you have been healed from some things that should have taken you out a long time ago. 00:37:11.070 --> 00:37:20.228 You're still here because God has given you a chance to stand between life and death. 00:37:20.228 --> 00:37:42.025 We're going to get to the promises of God, but we've got to be willing to be in alignment with his purpose and his will for our life to stand in the most uncomfortable, inconvenient, self-sacrificing place that we could ever find ourselves in. 00:37:44.029 --> 00:38:07.226 Aaron didn't want to run in the middle of a plague that he could potentially be affected by himself, but he was obedient to the word and the voice of God, and the Bible says that as he took that sensor and ran in between the clock, the crowd, as he's standing in between life and death, that God immediately stopped the plague. 00:38:07.226 --> 00:38:22.382 Here's why I want to encourage you one as I get ready to take my seat I want you to be mindful that the things that you're going through have been the thing that God is trying to use to save somebody else's life. 00:38:22.382 --> 00:38:26.208 This is why we can't complain. 00:38:26.208 --> 00:38:37.047 This is why we've got to count it all joy, because the things that we go through are the things that God is trying to bring somebody else's deliverance. 00:38:37.047 --> 00:38:48.404 Here's why, because, if somebody else can see you go through it with your hands lifted, with your arms stretched wide open, then it gives them hope and faith that they can take another step in another day. 00:38:50.152 --> 00:38:55.577 We're all standing between life and death. 00:38:55.577 --> 00:38:57.864 Come on, somebody, clap your hands and give God some praise. 00:38:57.864 --> 00:39:04.326 Come on, standing all over the building we're getting ready to go home. 00:39:04.326 --> 00:39:42.594 Need you to understand that, of all the things that we've gone through, we are exactly where God needs us to be, and I know that might not sound good, considering some of us are dealing with some weights and some burdens that are bigger than us, but here's where, as a community, as a people, here's where we become more like Jesus. 00:39:42.594 --> 00:39:48.311 The Bible tells us to bear the burdens of one another. 00:39:48.311 --> 00:39:53.570 So this cross that I'm carrying ain't just for me. 00:39:53.570 --> 00:39:59.407 This cross I'm carrying is for you, my brother, my sister. 00:39:59.407 --> 00:40:01.407 What you're going through, you don't have to go through alone. 00:40:01.407 --> 00:40:20.706 We're going to carry this cross together, because we know that, as we stand between life and death, we then now become the witness that God can still do it, that God can still deliver, that God can still heal, he can still bring us through. 00:40:20.706 --> 00:40:24.500 Come on, every head bowed and every eye closed. 00:40:24.601 --> 00:40:26.324 God, we thank you now for this moment. 00:40:26.324 --> 00:40:41.614 We thank you, god, for sealing this moment in our hearts and our minds, and we pray now, god, that you have spoken life to lifeless situations. 00:40:41.614 --> 00:40:52.472 God, that you've given strength where we've been weak, that you've given us strength when we wanted to throw in the towel. 00:40:52.472 --> 00:41:14.126 We pray, god, that everything that you've said in and through this day has been something that we take hold in our heart, to seek you further, to seek your face, for understanding your order and your assignment over our life. 00:41:14.126 --> 00:41:17.128 We won't take it for granted, god. 00:41:17.128 --> 00:41:36.393 We won't take being chosen by you for granted, god, but we're mindful that you have made us the example to the world of what your mercies, what your faithfulness, looks like. 00:41:36.393 --> 00:41:46.594 So we pray, god, that you would give us the strength to carry on to face tomorrow, to face the next day. 00:41:46.594 --> 00:41:49.605 We thank you for strength. 00:41:49.605 --> 00:41:52.670 We thank you for strength. 00:41:52.670 --> 00:41:53.298 We thank you for your love. 00:41:53.298 --> 00:42:00.365 In the matchless, mighty name of Jesus, we pray and count it down amen, amen. 00:42:01.603 --> 00:42:02.788 Family, we're about to leave. 00:42:02.788 --> 00:42:11.538 Pray that you would continue to encourage one another as we leave this place, but never his presence. 00:42:11.538 --> 00:42:12.603 Continue to seek God with your whole heart. 00:42:12.603 --> 00:42:14.086 One another as we leave this place, but never his presence. 00:42:14.086 --> 00:42:26.286 Continue to seek God with your whole heart and know that the things that God has prepared for you he will in no wise keep from you. 00:42:26.286 --> 00:42:33.302 Encourage one another. 00:42:33.302 --> 00:42:34.204 Amen. 00:42:34.204 --> 00:42:37.152 If you have not had an opportunity to give, please do so. 00:42:37.152 --> 00:42:39.686 Come on. 00:42:39.686 --> 00:42:40.487 Let us be dismissed. 00:42:40.507 --> 00:42:49.567 Father, we thank you, god, for everything that you've allowed our eyes to see, our ears to hear and our hearts to feel. 00:42:49.567 --> 00:43:01.987 We, god, that you would remind us of your word, that the words that you have spoken Holy Spirit to our hearts take root, even the things that we don't fully understand. 00:43:01.987 --> 00:43:05.288 We pray now for your revelation and understanding. 00:43:05.288 --> 00:43:14.145 In your word we read earlier where you had to open the eyes, you had to open the heart of your disciples so that they could understand. 00:43:14.145 --> 00:43:27.172 Help us to understand your will for our life so that as we sojourn through this world, others will know of your goodness and your mercy. 00:43:27.172 --> 00:43:39.139 Now may the grace of our Lord and Savior, savior Jesus Christ, and the sweet communion of his Holy Spirit rest, rule and abide with us henceforth, now and forever. 00:43:39.139 --> 00:43:44.404 Let us all together say amen, amen, amen. 00:43:44.404 --> 00:43:45.228 God bless you. 00:43:45.228 --> 00:43:49.210 God bless you, love you, hallelujah.