WEBVTT 00:00:07.919 --> 00:00:12.000 You're listening to the road with Pastor Teacher Steve Holt. 00:00:12.480 --> 00:00:16.640 So, whatever you're going through, you choose your attitude. 00:00:16.879 --> 00:00:19.839 You choose what you're going to believe during those times. 00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:22.800 And when you do, you become a beacon light. 00:00:22.960 --> 00:00:28.960 You become a city on a hill because people are looking for others that stand out. 00:00:29.120 --> 00:00:38.079 Francis Schaefer spoke to this, and he said the true Christian is the most joyful person on the face of the earth. 00:00:38.320 --> 00:00:39.679 It's really true. 00:00:39.920 --> 00:00:44.640 At The Road, our mission is to empower people to change the world. 00:00:44.880 --> 00:00:48.880 For more information on The Road, visit theroad.org. 00:00:49.039 --> 00:00:53.920 We hope you are encouraged by today's message from Pastor Teacher Steve Holt. 00:01:00.880 --> 00:01:14.000 So, as you guys know, I've been on this theme of a Kingdom of God revolution, but when we were on our, we were traveling this week, last week I should say, to Nashville with our daughter, and God spoke to me that we are in the days of Elijah. 00:01:14.159 --> 00:01:15.200 And it was really weird. 00:01:15.280 --> 00:01:18.400 You know, I just started singing that song in my head, The Days of Elijah. 00:01:18.560 --> 00:01:26.400 And uh, and then I told Liz when we were driving, I said, I keep getting the sense that God's saying we're living in the days of Elijah. 00:01:26.480 --> 00:01:28.319 And then Liz starts to smile, like, what? 00:01:28.480 --> 00:01:35.359 And she goes, Oh, and then she names these people who had already said that to her as well as the same sense that she had. 00:01:35.599 --> 00:01:36.719 So I changed everything. 00:01:36.799 --> 00:01:38.079 I shared this last week. 00:01:38.239 --> 00:01:40.719 I want to talk about living in the days of Elijah. 00:01:40.879 --> 00:01:43.840 We'll get back to kingdom revolution next week. 00:01:44.079 --> 00:01:47.760 But for this week, I feel like God's given me a special message. 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:52.239 Now, write down in your journals, write down 1 Chronicles 12.32. 00:01:52.319 --> 00:01:54.159 Write down 1 Chronicles 12.32. 00:01:54.319 --> 00:02:06.719 And these are called, as many of you have heard me reference this many times, the sons of Issachar, who had an understanding of the times to know what Israel ought to do. 00:02:06.879 --> 00:02:09.199 That's what we want at the road, men and women. 00:02:09.360 --> 00:02:15.360 We want you to understand the times and know what the church ought to do. 00:02:15.520 --> 00:02:20.800 So that was that was a reference to the time of David when many had forsaken David. 00:02:20.960 --> 00:02:23.280 God was raising him up to be the next king. 00:02:23.439 --> 00:02:29.840 And the sons of Issachar, and if you look at the whole passage and the whole context, these were 200 leaders. 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:40.719 It's the only one in the references there in all of the different lineages of the 12 tribes that it speaks of a particular group being leadership. 00:02:41.039 --> 00:02:46.719 God's looking for leaders who understand the times and know what America should do. 00:02:46.960 --> 00:02:56.000 And the reason is, is because in the art of war, you have to understand your enemy. 00:02:56.400 --> 00:02:57.280 Now let me say this. 00:02:57.439 --> 00:03:01.520 What I'm about to share today is gonna bother some of you. 00:03:01.759 --> 00:03:02.080 Okay? 00:03:02.240 --> 00:03:03.680 I'm gonna bother you a little bit. 00:03:03.759 --> 00:03:05.680 Some of you are gonna say, Oh, where do you get that? 00:03:05.759 --> 00:03:06.719 What's that all about? 00:03:06.879 --> 00:03:08.159 And you're not gonna understand it. 00:03:08.240 --> 00:03:10.800 I'm gonna say this at the very beginning. 00:03:11.360 --> 00:03:13.039 Do your own research. 00:03:13.439 --> 00:03:16.319 Always do your own homework. 00:03:16.479 --> 00:03:18.479 Don't depend entirely on me. 00:03:18.560 --> 00:03:24.319 I'm just a man, I'm just a pastor, I'm just a preacher, but I just did the research a little ahead of you. 00:03:24.479 --> 00:03:27.039 And if you have a desire to go deeper, then go deeper. 00:03:27.120 --> 00:03:30.000 You guys go to websites, you can find all the stuff that I'm gonna share with you. 00:03:30.080 --> 00:03:32.319 It'll take a little bit of work, but you can do it. 00:03:32.879 --> 00:03:47.759 But it was Sun Tzu in his classic book, The Art of War, who said, if you know the enemy and you know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. 00:03:48.080 --> 00:03:49.280 Let me say that again. 00:03:49.439 --> 00:03:54.800 If you know the enemy and you know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. 00:03:54.960 --> 00:03:59.759 The problem is most Christians don't know themselves, and secondly, most of them don't know the enemy. 00:04:00.080 --> 00:04:05.439 The reality is, before I say anything else, because you're gonna, I know I'll be misunderstood, and I'll get all these emails. 00:04:05.599 --> 00:04:05.919 Okay. 00:04:06.960 --> 00:04:09.120 And by the way, I'll read some of them. 00:04:09.599 --> 00:04:18.639 Um that I'm not talking about people, I'm talking about Satan and the demonic. 00:04:18.800 --> 00:04:27.920 So I want you to I want you to get elevated up above thinking people, thinking parties, thinking politics too much. 00:04:28.079 --> 00:04:32.079 And and just be reminded that there's something behind these. 00:04:32.240 --> 00:04:35.279 And this is I was at noonday prayer on Wednesday. 00:04:35.519 --> 00:04:38.959 And at noonday prayer on Wednesday, we were all in there praying, and I had this image. 00:04:39.040 --> 00:04:40.800 How many of you remember uh Sound of Music? 00:04:40.959 --> 00:04:48.000 Okay, remember the part in Sound of Music where Maria is doing a puppet production with all the kids before Captain Von Trott. 00:04:48.160 --> 00:04:48.720 Remember that? 00:04:48.959 --> 00:04:54.480 Okay, and it's got the little, it's got the little shepherd and all that stuff, right? 00:04:54.720 --> 00:04:58.560 And you see them as the puppeteers working the puppets. 00:04:58.720 --> 00:05:07.040 And in my mind's eye, I saw the puppeteer with a black mask over, which in a typical professional puppet show, that's what the puppeteer wears. 00:05:07.199 --> 00:05:11.600 He has it black so that you don't notice him, you notice what's happening on the little stage. 00:05:11.839 --> 00:05:16.720 But I saw another puppeteer up above the puppeteer. 00:05:17.120 --> 00:05:18.879 That's God, men and women. 00:05:19.199 --> 00:05:33.120 God is actually orchestrating things, and we may think that Satan's on the move or Satan's doing something, and he is, but God's still orchestrating it, and he's still sovereign over the affairs of men. 00:05:33.759 --> 00:05:34.959 And so, how do you know that? 00:05:35.120 --> 00:05:42.560 Well, you know that because of all the prophecies about Jesus and his second coming in the Old and New Testament. 00:05:42.800 --> 00:05:47.519 Prophecies are the greatest evidence we have of the sovereignty of God. 00:05:47.680 --> 00:05:48.399 Can you imagine? 00:05:48.560 --> 00:05:50.319 Remember at Christmas when I went through all that? 00:05:50.480 --> 00:06:01.360 Like over 300 prophetic words about the coming Messiah, all the way down to the details of who he'd be born from, how he'd be born, where he'd be born. 00:06:01.680 --> 00:06:04.800 God is sovereign, right? 00:06:04.959 --> 00:06:06.000 So here's what's important. 00:06:06.160 --> 00:06:17.199 This is important because Paul says in 2 Corinthians 2 11, lest Satan should take advantage of us, for we're not ignorant of his schemes. 00:06:17.519 --> 00:06:20.560 Now let's just let's just say this a different way. 00:06:21.279 --> 00:06:27.199 Satan will take advantage of you if you are ignorant of his schemes. 00:06:27.680 --> 00:06:30.319 I see it all the time in the body of Christ. 00:06:30.560 --> 00:06:40.560 Church, people are all the time moving out in their own devices and their own inventions and their own concepts, which they're not bad. 00:06:40.720 --> 00:06:47.439 They're just not what God wants them to be doing, and then they get taken advantage of because it wasn't God's will. 00:06:47.680 --> 00:06:52.720 And yet he says, we can know the devices, we can know the schemes of the enemy. 00:06:52.879 --> 00:07:01.199 So today I want to talk about some of the schemes of the enemy, not unlike the days of Elijah. 00:07:01.360 --> 00:07:02.319 You hear what I'm saying? 00:07:02.480 --> 00:07:09.279 Not unlike the days of Elijah, because when you know the truth, the truth will set you free. 00:07:11.920 --> 00:07:14.800 Free sets you free. 00:07:15.360 --> 00:07:22.399 How many of you feel like that a lot of what you read in social media is not setting you free? 00:07:23.600 --> 00:07:29.040 How many of you in this room possibly have been censored over the last few years? 00:07:29.279 --> 00:07:30.560 Oh, a lot of hands went up. 00:07:30.639 --> 00:07:30.959 Okay. 00:07:31.199 --> 00:07:31.600 Good. 00:07:31.759 --> 00:07:33.199 That's a trophy. 00:07:33.600 --> 00:07:33.920 Okay? 00:07:34.879 --> 00:07:36.240 We should bless them. 00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:42.319 Because what happens is, listen, they they wouldn't be censoring you if they didn't fear you. 00:07:47.360 --> 00:07:52.560 Listen, church, if they can censor the president of the United States, they can censor you. 00:07:53.199 --> 00:07:55.040 Big tech is on the move. 00:07:55.199 --> 00:07:56.399 Big tech, write this down. 00:07:56.560 --> 00:07:59.360 Big tech is one of the prophets of Baal. 00:08:00.319 --> 00:08:03.040 Big tech is one of the prophets of Baal. 00:08:03.680 --> 00:08:09.279 Now, before everybody, I think I had only like a dozen people leave in the first service. 00:08:09.519 --> 00:08:09.839 Okay. 00:08:10.399 --> 00:08:12.399 So there's a few more of you in this service. 00:08:12.639 --> 00:08:15.040 Um paradigm shift. 00:08:15.120 --> 00:08:17.120 Write down paradigm shift. 00:08:17.360 --> 00:08:18.160 Paradigm shift. 00:08:18.240 --> 00:08:19.519 You know what a paradigm is? 00:08:19.680 --> 00:08:22.720 A paradigm is how you view reality. 00:08:22.879 --> 00:08:24.079 It's like a lens. 00:08:24.160 --> 00:08:31.279 It's like if you're uh far-sighted or nearsighted, you have glasses and you put those glasses on and things become clear to you. 00:08:31.439 --> 00:08:32.720 That's a paradigm. 00:08:32.960 --> 00:08:39.360 A paradigm is usually coming from the way you were raised, the kind of family of origin that you have. 00:08:39.519 --> 00:08:47.679 And so if you saw an angry father in your home, you have a tendency probably to be tempted to become an angry father yourself. 00:08:47.840 --> 00:08:50.240 If you have an angry mother, you become an angry mother. 00:08:50.320 --> 00:08:51.440 It's a paradigm. 00:08:51.600 --> 00:08:56.399 And the only thing that happens that that sets us free is a paradigm shift. 00:08:56.559 --> 00:08:58.000 Okay, a paradigm shift. 00:08:58.159 --> 00:09:11.679 Listen, a paradigm shift is not that you think differently about something, it's that you believe differently to such a degree that it becomes a reality and a new way of looking at your situation. 00:09:11.840 --> 00:09:12.720 Does that make sense? 00:09:13.039 --> 00:09:14.720 Okay, I'm about to give you some things. 00:09:14.879 --> 00:09:20.480 Maybe for some of you, I think for many of you it won't be different, but some of you, it may be, so hang with me. 00:09:21.279 --> 00:09:22.480 Don't leave. 00:09:22.639 --> 00:09:23.600 Hang with me. 00:09:23.840 --> 00:09:29.279 I'm gonna I'm gonna probably make you a little bit, some of you are gonna get a little ticked at what I'm gonna share. 00:09:29.519 --> 00:09:37.440 And um, and so hang in there because God might be wanting to bring a paradigm shift in your life. 00:09:37.840 --> 00:09:42.559 Okay, so turn in your Bibles to 1 Kings 16. 00:09:42.639 --> 00:09:45.519 So it's the Old Testament, 1 Kings 16. 00:09:46.399 --> 00:09:53.840 What we're gonna do today is we're gonna look and cherry pick some key parts of Elijah's life. 00:09:54.000 --> 00:09:55.039 And we're gonna miss a ton. 00:09:55.120 --> 00:09:56.320 We're gonna have to skip around. 00:09:56.480 --> 00:10:04.799 We'll move from uh we'll be skipping, so I would say, go ahead and read from chapter 16 on to the end of 1 Kings if you want the whole story. 00:10:04.960 --> 00:10:06.159 I can't cover it all. 00:10:06.320 --> 00:10:11.679 I'm just gonna look at some key parts that relate to days of Elijah. 00:10:11.840 --> 00:10:18.399 Now, 1 and 2 Kings, real quickly, is a is a chronological connection to 1 and 2 Samuel. 00:10:18.480 --> 00:10:21.919 So where 2 Samuel ends, 1 Kings begins. 00:10:22.080 --> 00:10:33.600 Okay, 1 Kings, first chapter, first 11 chapters are about Solomon, because this quick history lesson, you know, Saul, David, Solomon, one united Israel. 00:10:33.759 --> 00:10:44.720 But as Solomon fell into sin, as he got involved in Baal worship, as he got involved with marrying all the women that he shouldn't have married, God had told him not to do that, it split the kingdom. 00:10:44.879 --> 00:10:46.480 So we're looking at Israel. 00:10:46.639 --> 00:10:49.919 Israel's the northern part of current Israel. 00:10:50.639 --> 00:11:00.000 It's a northern province up there, like around the Sea of Galilee, all the way coming down to probably around what Samaria, they're in the middle part of Israel today. 00:11:00.639 --> 00:11:01.679 And Ahab. 00:11:02.320 --> 00:11:04.480 Ahab is the seventh king. 00:11:04.720 --> 00:11:06.559 Okay, Ahab is the seventh king. 00:11:06.720 --> 00:11:11.440 So we're gonna pick it up in 1 Kings 16, 29. 00:11:11.679 --> 00:11:13.200 1 Kings 16, 29. 00:11:13.279 --> 00:11:16.799 And I feel like it's important that you get a summation of what we're dealing with here. 00:11:17.039 --> 00:11:20.480 And where culture was at this time of Elijah. 00:11:20.720 --> 00:11:29.200 In the 38th year of Asa, or Assa, king of Judah, Ahab, the son of Omri, became king over Israel. 00:11:29.440 --> 00:11:33.679 And Ahab, the son of Omri, reigned over Israel and Samaria 22 years. 00:11:33.919 --> 00:11:39.200 Now Ahab, the son of Omri, did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him. 00:11:39.360 --> 00:11:57.440 And it came to pass as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, that he took as his wife Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians, and he went and served Baal and worshipped him. 00:11:57.679 --> 00:12:02.639 Then he set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. 00:12:02.960 --> 00:12:04.879 And Ahab made a wooden image. 00:12:05.200 --> 00:12:10.879 Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him. 00:12:11.039 --> 00:12:12.799 So four important facts about Ahab. 00:12:12.879 --> 00:12:13.519 Let me go through this. 00:12:13.600 --> 00:12:18.080 Number one, Ahab's the most evil king up to that time. 00:12:18.240 --> 00:12:20.080 So first of all, he's the most evil king. 00:12:20.240 --> 00:12:21.519 Second of all, why? 00:12:21.840 --> 00:12:37.039 Because he married a fanatical pagan queen named Jezebel that came out of a land and came out of a father and came out of a background of the express worship of Baal. 00:12:37.279 --> 00:12:37.600 Okay? 00:12:38.240 --> 00:12:45.039 So the Canaanite god, Baal, was already in Canaan, but it was strong in Jezebel. 00:12:45.519 --> 00:12:52.799 She hates the prophets, she's slaughtering the prophets, and here's what makes it really spooky is a third thing. 00:12:52.960 --> 00:12:57.039 Third thing is Ahab followed the sins of Jeroboam. 00:12:57.200 --> 00:13:03.919 So the sins of Jeroboam are this: that he took all the high places in Israel and he put altars in all those high places. 00:13:04.000 --> 00:13:13.039 But not just that, you guys, he raised up Jeroboam and Ahab and Jezebel, raised up prophets and priests of Baal. 00:13:13.360 --> 00:13:15.360 Prophets and priests of Baal. 00:13:15.519 --> 00:13:17.519 So that was unique in Israel at that time. 00:13:17.600 --> 00:13:20.159 That prophets and there had always been idolatry. 00:13:20.399 --> 00:13:25.039 But the raising up of not only prophets and priests of Baal, but also every high place. 00:13:25.200 --> 00:13:30.000 That's what the historians say is that every high place had an altar to Baal. 00:13:30.240 --> 00:13:37.360 And then fourthly, Ahab built a wooden image to Ashrah, the Canaanite goddess. 00:13:37.759 --> 00:13:43.600 The wife of Baal is what some legends believe, that they saw her as like a wife of Baal. 00:13:43.759 --> 00:13:48.559 Now here's what's important Baal, and I could go, I've got tons of notes here, but I'm just gonna hit a few things. 00:13:48.799 --> 00:14:01.679 The three major gods, write this down now, the three major gods that Israel always struggled with, and I'm gonna tell you, I believe we're struggling with in America today in the fourth dimension. 00:14:01.840 --> 00:14:12.480 They're empowering what's happening in the evil ways that are affecting especially our children of our country are Baal, Ashrah, and Molech. 00:14:12.799 --> 00:14:15.120 Baal, Ashrah, and Molech. 00:14:15.200 --> 00:14:16.399 They they continually battle. 00:14:16.559 --> 00:14:16.960 Here's why. 00:14:17.039 --> 00:14:18.480 They're all linked together. 00:14:18.720 --> 00:14:21.600 Basically, they're similar, they're similar, but they're different. 00:14:21.840 --> 00:14:24.639 No need to go into the detail here, but here's the thing you gotta remember. 00:14:24.799 --> 00:14:26.799 They're all fertility gods. 00:14:27.039 --> 00:14:28.720 They're all fertility gods. 00:14:28.960 --> 00:14:36.960 Not just fertility as it relates to, say, having children, but fertility as it relates to nature, especially Baal. 00:14:37.200 --> 00:14:39.120 Baal was known as a nature god. 00:14:39.200 --> 00:14:48.320 He was known as the thunder god, the rainstorm god, the god that brought rain and created fertility on the earth. 00:14:48.480 --> 00:15:06.080 In other words, farmers at that time, which would have been a huge part of Israel, the agrarian uh culture that they were in, they worshiped Baal for rain, for storms to come, because it would water their crops and it would give uh nature fertility. 00:15:06.399 --> 00:15:15.919 Ashra, dealing more with birthing and with childbirthing in that aspect, as well as Molech, would be similar. 00:15:16.399 --> 00:15:19.039 Now, here's the important part I don't want you to miss. 00:15:19.440 --> 00:15:26.320 That in all of the worship of Baal, Molech, and Ashrah was child sacrifice. 00:15:26.720 --> 00:15:34.639 Child sacrifice, usually thrusting the baby into a fire and burning them up, or putting them on an altar and slaying them. 00:15:34.960 --> 00:15:38.480 And don't miss this, child prostitution. 00:15:38.799 --> 00:15:44.720 So child prostitution involved with child sacrifice characterized all three. 00:15:44.960 --> 00:15:46.320 Now I want to show you a map. 00:15:46.399 --> 00:15:48.399 This is a map of Washington, DC. 00:15:49.039 --> 00:15:54.720 And if you look at that closely on the red lines, and I would just say, Liz was reminding me, you don't even need the red lines. 00:15:54.799 --> 00:16:03.519 So you could go and get an aerial photo of our capital without these red lines, and you would see it, and it is the image of an owl. 00:16:04.000 --> 00:16:05.120 Image of an owl. 00:16:05.440 --> 00:16:14.240 Owl is the main symbol of the spirit or the god, small g, of course, the god of molech. 00:16:14.720 --> 00:16:25.279 Child sacrifice, pedophilia, the sacrifice of children to their death, the killing of children is the spirit of Molech. 00:16:25.840 --> 00:16:30.480 So if you took the lines that were up there, you took it off, and you looked at it from an area of view, you'll see it. 00:16:30.639 --> 00:16:33.039 You'll see the eyes, you'll see the wings, and all that's involved. 00:16:33.120 --> 00:16:52.240 Now, here's what makes this really spooky is that when the emails of certain leaders were revealed four years ago, and then subsequent on from that, the name Moloch, M-O-L-O-C-H, or Moloch, was all through the emails. 00:16:52.960 --> 00:16:58.639 There is a spirit of Moloch in the elite of our nation. 00:16:58.799 --> 00:17:06.319 And if you're following it all, you know there's a constant revealing of pedophilia, child prostitution, and stuff. 00:17:06.720 --> 00:17:08.480 You know about Epstein and his island. 00:17:08.640 --> 00:17:10.160 Well, there's owls. 00:17:10.559 --> 00:17:13.920 That symbol of Moloch is all over that island. 00:17:14.400 --> 00:17:17.440 So, men and women, we need to know who the enemy is. 00:17:17.759 --> 00:17:20.319 And the spirit of Molech is in our land. 00:17:20.640 --> 00:17:22.640 The spirit of Baal is in our land. 00:17:22.799 --> 00:17:24.480 I want you to look at this next photograph. 00:17:24.559 --> 00:17:32.640 This is from New York City, and this is the temple of Baal erected in New York City just in 2016. 00:17:32.799 --> 00:17:43.200 So in 2016, they took the gate of the archaeological ruins that we have of the Temple of Baal, and it was erected in New York City. 00:17:43.440 --> 00:17:47.279 And it was there that Jonathan Kahn said this. 00:17:47.680 --> 00:17:48.480 He was there. 00:17:48.720 --> 00:17:50.880 Jonathan Kahn was at the ceremony. 00:17:51.039 --> 00:18:00.400 He said, if America is following in the footsteps of ancient Israel, away from God and in the judgment, which I believe they are, could there be a link to Baal? 00:18:00.720 --> 00:18:04.960 Of course, no one in America would admit to worshiping Baal. 00:18:05.200 --> 00:18:16.880 But the truth is, American culture is filled with other gods and idols like Baal, and when a civilization turns away from God, it always ends up bringing the other gods into their places. 00:18:17.200 --> 00:18:28.880 And then I want to show you another photograph, and this is a replica of the gate to Baal in Washington, DC, in 2018. 00:18:29.599 --> 00:18:35.599 That's not erected there, it was just there for a time period during Cultural Heritage Week. 00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:37.119 Men and women. 00:18:45.599 --> 00:18:50.400 A desire to destroy their innocence, take their lives, and ruin them. 00:18:50.880 --> 00:18:52.559 And that is demonic. 00:18:52.720 --> 00:18:53.599 And that is wrong. 00:18:53.759 --> 00:19:08.400 And that is why anytime you start, I dare say those that raise their hands, and there were, I don't know, half a dozen that raise their hands about being censored, when you start to move into any of this kind of stuff, they notice it. 00:19:08.799 --> 00:19:13.440 Because they know that you're beginning to understand where the power comes from. 00:19:13.680 --> 00:19:18.559 The power of the spirit of Baal, Ashrah, and Molech is in our land. 00:19:18.720 --> 00:19:26.240 And I'm going to tell you, if we don't deal with it the way God raised up Elijah to deal with it, we're in big, big trouble. 00:19:26.319 --> 00:19:26.880 And guess what? 00:19:27.039 --> 00:19:28.799 At this church, we're going to deal with it that way. 00:19:29.039 --> 00:19:31.200 We're going to come with truth that sets us free. 00:19:31.359 --> 00:19:33.039 We're not going to walk in fear. 00:19:33.200 --> 00:19:34.640 We're going to walk in joy. 00:19:34.799 --> 00:19:38.240 We're going to walk in the fruit of the kingdom of God. 00:19:38.480 --> 00:19:40.960 Righteousness, peace, and joy. 00:19:41.200 --> 00:19:41.680 Amen. 00:19:41.839 --> 00:19:42.640 That's exactly right. 00:19:42.799 --> 00:19:46.880 So now turn to chapter 17. 00:19:46.960 --> 00:19:50.960 So you're already in 16, so just go to chapter 17 and look at Elijah. 00:19:51.200 --> 00:19:55.680 And in your notes, right up, God always raises up wild prophets. 00:19:56.079 --> 00:19:59.599 God always raises up wild prophets. 00:19:59.839 --> 00:20:01.920 He loves wild prophets. 00:20:02.240 --> 00:20:04.240 Some of you in this room are wild prophets. 00:20:04.480 --> 00:20:08.160 And Elijah the Tishbite, Tishbite, he's not Jewish. 00:20:08.319 --> 00:20:09.119 Isn't that interesting? 00:20:09.279 --> 00:20:10.720 He's not even Jewish. 00:20:10.960 --> 00:20:15.119 He's a Gentile called by God to the Jewish nation. 00:20:15.440 --> 00:20:22.079 Elijah the Tishbite of the inhabitants of Gilead, way up in the northern province, said to Ahab. 00:20:22.400 --> 00:20:23.839 So he goes to Ahab. 00:20:24.079 --> 00:20:25.039 All this stuff's going on. 00:20:25.119 --> 00:20:26.400 This is the kind of guy he's got. 00:20:26.559 --> 00:20:28.160 Baal worship everywhere. 00:20:28.400 --> 00:20:30.720 He goes to Ahab, and this is what he said. 00:20:31.039 --> 00:20:34.480 As the Lord God of Israel lives. 00:20:34.559 --> 00:20:36.160 Now let me tell you why that's important. 00:20:36.720 --> 00:20:43.440 So when I was studying the Talmud in reference to Ahab, listen to this. 00:20:43.680 --> 00:20:44.559 Talmudic. 00:20:44.720 --> 00:20:55.839 Talmudic literature says that Ahab wrote on all the doors of the city gates in Samaria, Ahab hath renounced the living God of Israel. 00:20:56.720 --> 00:20:58.079 And this is how he starts off. 00:20:58.240 --> 00:20:59.359 So you don't know at history. 00:20:59.440 --> 00:21:01.200 It's like, oh, okay, well, you just said that. 00:21:01.279 --> 00:21:01.519 No. 00:21:01.680 --> 00:21:16.160 He's actually, he's he's probably been to Samaria, he's seen this temple, he's seen the gates of Samaria, and written on the gates, it's a Talmud tradition says, Ahab hath renounced the living God of Israel. 00:21:16.319 --> 00:21:18.640 Now think about that just for a second. 00:21:19.519 --> 00:21:26.720 Ahab hath renounced the living God of Israel. 00:21:27.279 --> 00:21:29.279 The dude's an idiot. 00:21:29.759 --> 00:21:32.480 I mean, that's about as idiotic as you can get. 00:21:32.640 --> 00:21:37.599 It's one thing to renounce something you don't think is living, but he's renouncing. 00:21:37.920 --> 00:21:40.720 And he even has it on the gates all over Samaria. 00:21:41.039 --> 00:21:42.079 History tells us. 00:21:42.319 --> 00:21:45.039 The living God of Israel. 00:21:45.359 --> 00:21:51.359 They would have known at this time, parted like this kind of thing called the Red Sea. 00:21:51.680 --> 00:21:56.000 You know, signs and wonders against Pharaoh in Egypt. 00:21:56.319 --> 00:21:58.880 So the guy's not playing with a full debt. 00:21:59.039 --> 00:21:59.519 So then Ah. 00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:07.680 Comes and he says what he says, possibly because he's read about it right there on the gates. 00:22:08.319 --> 00:22:24.880 As the Lord God of Israel lives, we could put parenthetic, like you have written on all your gates, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain all these years except by my word. 00:22:25.839 --> 00:22:28.720 And remember, this is the fertility God of nature. 00:22:28.880 --> 00:22:30.400 He's coming against Baal. 00:22:30.640 --> 00:22:32.960 He's called the storm God. 00:22:33.200 --> 00:22:38.000 He's the one who pours forth rain that brings fertility to the earth. 00:22:38.160 --> 00:22:40.559 He comes and he says, there's not going to be any rain. 00:22:40.880 --> 00:22:51.279 So if you you couldn't have had a more affrontive message to Baal than to come right against the thing that he's esteemed for. 00:22:51.359 --> 00:22:51.920 Here's number one. 00:22:52.000 --> 00:22:52.960 Here's my first point. 00:22:53.200 --> 00:23:00.960 For the church today, like Elijah, the true church can speak for God with authority. 00:23:01.359 --> 00:23:05.200 The true church can speak for God with authority. 00:23:05.359 --> 00:23:12.880 Last week I talked about what Jesus said, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 00:23:13.039 --> 00:23:13.759 Ecclesia. 00:23:14.160 --> 00:23:16.720 The idea of ecclesia is the assembly. 00:23:16.880 --> 00:23:19.039 It's the assembly of the saints coming together. 00:23:19.200 --> 00:23:23.039 Men and women, every time you come to the road, you're going to get something. 00:23:23.279 --> 00:23:40.960 Even if you come and you're bitter in your soul, or you're jealous, or you're struggling with your marriage, or you're going through bankruptcy, I don't care what it is, you come here, you gather together with the church, God's probably gonna download something in your heart that you need to hear because we are the ecclesia. 00:23:41.440 --> 00:23:49.519 And it's supernatural that when we come together as an assembly, God gives you strategies, God gives you wisdom. 00:23:49.759 --> 00:23:54.160 Liz and I have business on the side that we do with real estate. 00:23:54.240 --> 00:23:56.559 And when we do stuff, we seek God. 00:23:56.720 --> 00:24:04.640 Usually we fast and pray, and we do not make a move on anything with our finances without a word from the Lord. 00:24:04.799 --> 00:24:06.319 Because we're the ecclesia. 00:24:06.720 --> 00:24:12.799 And God's got a plan for our finances, and God's got a plan for your finances, and God's got a plan for your future. 00:24:12.960 --> 00:24:15.920 But if you don't seek him, you can miss it. 00:24:16.400 --> 00:24:17.599 You can miss it. 00:24:18.000 --> 00:24:20.319 I'd say most people are missing it. 00:24:20.640 --> 00:24:27.279 When we look at how depressed and defeated the church is in general in America, because we don't seek him. 00:24:28.079 --> 00:24:29.920 But God's giving you authority. 00:24:30.319 --> 00:24:32.480 You guys, you have power and authority. 00:24:32.880 --> 00:24:35.200 Listen to the message from last week if you weren't here. 00:24:35.359 --> 00:24:36.640 You're the ecclesia. 00:24:37.279 --> 00:24:53.359 Right now, even as I speak, a Pastor Al, a pastor Vince are back in a room with potential 242 community group leaders, and they're strategizing how to have house churches all over the city. 00:24:53.839 --> 00:24:58.559 So if they come and they shut us down, if the government comes and shuts us down, we're ready, man. 00:24:58.960 --> 00:25:01.119 Man, we're working on strategies. 00:25:01.279 --> 00:25:04.880 That's what the ecclesia does, and we speak with authority. 00:25:05.920 --> 00:25:08.240 We're the only ones who can speak for God. 00:25:09.200 --> 00:25:12.960 Your elementary school teacher doesn't speak for God. 00:25:13.920 --> 00:25:14.319 Listen to this. 00:25:14.720 --> 00:25:17.839 The kingdom of God does not come on Air Force One. 00:25:18.960 --> 00:25:20.880 I just want to give you some new news. 00:25:21.519 --> 00:25:25.279 The kingdom of God does not come on Air Force One. 00:25:25.599 --> 00:25:28.880 And listen, you guys, but the kingdom of God is coming. 00:25:30.400 --> 00:25:33.039 The kingdom of God is coming. 00:25:33.519 --> 00:25:35.279 There is a mighty move of God. 00:25:35.440 --> 00:25:41.599 Every person I've shared with in the last two weeks out in the community, just different opportunities to share, is open. 00:25:42.160 --> 00:25:44.640 Some of you are here for the first time. 00:25:45.680 --> 00:25:47.359 You haven't been to church in a long time. 00:25:47.519 --> 00:25:49.440 Maybe never been to church. 00:25:50.640 --> 00:25:52.559 You're hungry for truth. 00:25:53.440 --> 00:26:02.720 Because you're sick and tired of the lies you keep getting fed in the news and on the media because they're prophets of Baal. 00:26:04.000 --> 00:26:13.839 You've come to a house where I pray we speak for God, not perfectly, but as best we know how as human beings, as his image bearers. 00:26:14.079 --> 00:26:25.279 Peter said this: Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and always be ready to give a defense to everyone to ask you a reason for the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. 00:26:25.440 --> 00:26:28.480 So, you guys, we're planning a worldview conference. 00:26:28.640 --> 00:26:31.920 We'll start announcing it probably next week in March. 00:26:32.079 --> 00:26:41.440 And we're gonna have a great lineup, an all-star lineup, because as when we had Jeff here speaking several weeks ago, Jeff Myers from Summit. 00:26:42.160 --> 00:26:52.000 If you don't have a worldview that's biblical, if you don't have a Christian worldview, it's really hard to filter the lies that are coming your way. 00:26:52.240 --> 00:26:54.720 And so we want to train and equip you in that. 00:26:54.799 --> 00:26:56.240 We're starting Empower You. 00:26:56.559 --> 00:26:58.400 In the next six months, we'll launch that. 00:26:58.480 --> 00:27:01.519 If we have the finances, we want to launch Empower You. 00:27:02.079 --> 00:27:02.799 Empower You. 00:27:03.119 --> 00:27:04.480 How many know Prager You? 00:27:04.960 --> 00:27:06.160 Okay, Prager You. 00:27:06.240 --> 00:27:08.640 It's gonna be a Christian version of Prager You. 00:27:08.720 --> 00:27:10.079 And we're gonna develop that. 00:27:10.319 --> 00:27:18.160 And my hope in prayer is that over the next five years it could be the most viewed Christian website in the world. 00:27:18.480 --> 00:27:19.359 Why not? 00:27:19.519 --> 00:27:25.759 Why can't we believe that God would send people there with questions like, who is God? 00:27:26.000 --> 00:27:29.200 How does why does if God is loving, why does he allow evil? 00:27:29.519 --> 00:27:34.720 Apologetics, Christian history, biblical theology, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. 00:27:34.880 --> 00:27:39.599 We begin to develop these categories with 15-minute vignettes that we would develop. 00:27:39.920 --> 00:27:42.240 Because we speak with authority. 00:27:43.599 --> 00:27:50.400 The closer we are to, listen, guys, the closer you are as a family to this book, the more authority you have. 00:27:50.720 --> 00:27:56.079 The more you get out on your own opinions, the less authority you have. 00:27:56.799 --> 00:28:00.000 So I don't want to argue opinions, do you? 00:28:00.960 --> 00:28:06.079 Let's debate, let's be in the world of the debate as it relates to truth and falsehood. 00:28:06.160 --> 00:28:15.119 And one of the things, you know, like this guy that was in my house recently, I was sharing with him, and I think he was sharing with me more than I was sharing with him, because he had an opinion on everything. 00:28:15.279 --> 00:28:15.599 Okay? 00:28:15.839 --> 00:28:18.400 And I said, Man, you have a lot of opinions. 00:28:18.720 --> 00:28:20.079 He goes, Oh yeah. 00:28:20.319 --> 00:28:23.519 You know, some people don't like to hear my opinions, but I got them. 00:28:23.680 --> 00:28:25.519 And he was really proud of how many opinions he had. 00:28:25.680 --> 00:28:26.720 And I said, That's amazing. 00:28:26.799 --> 00:28:27.680 How do you keep up with them? 00:28:27.759 --> 00:28:29.039 Do you have them in alphabetical order? 00:28:29.119 --> 00:28:31.119 I mean, what do you do with all your opinions? 00:28:31.920 --> 00:28:33.440 And I said, You know what? 00:28:33.519 --> 00:28:34.720 I'm so sick of opinions. 00:28:34.880 --> 00:28:37.359 I'm not sick of yours, they're fine, but I'm kind of sick of opinions. 00:28:37.519 --> 00:28:38.640 Do you ever get sick of opinions? 00:28:38.799 --> 00:28:39.039 Yeah. 00:28:39.119 --> 00:28:40.000 I said, Well, me too. 00:28:40.079 --> 00:28:41.200 Wouldn't you want to know the truth? 00:28:41.279 --> 00:28:41.920 And he said, Yeah. 00:28:42.000 --> 00:28:43.519 I said, the truth that sets you free. 00:28:43.680 --> 00:28:46.240 And he knew where I was starting to go, and he wasn't sure how to answer that. 00:28:46.400 --> 00:28:48.480 And I said, No, you need the truth that sets you free. 00:28:48.720 --> 00:28:55.359 Because here's the deal, men and women, we don't need to be defensive, but we need to know how to defend. 00:28:55.839 --> 00:28:57.039 Do you guys know the difference? 00:28:57.200 --> 00:29:02.960 Here's what defensive is defensive is you get red in the face, you start stammering, and you don't know what you're talking about. 00:29:03.119 --> 00:29:04.319 That's being defensive. 00:29:04.480 --> 00:29:06.720 That's 90% of the Christians out there. 00:29:07.039 --> 00:29:16.240 But one who knows how to defend is someone who has a smile on their face, joy in their heart, because they know what they believe and they know how to communicate it. 00:29:16.319 --> 00:29:19.680 And the only way for that to happen is get trained. 00:29:19.920 --> 00:29:21.200 Get trained and equipped. 00:29:21.279 --> 00:29:23.759 That's what we're going to do with that Worldview Conference. 00:29:23.839 --> 00:29:25.200 It's going to be exciting. 00:29:25.519 --> 00:29:28.319 Now, look at chapter 18. 00:29:29.119 --> 00:29:29.759 Verse 1. 00:29:29.920 --> 00:29:40.079 And it came to pass after many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the earth. 00:29:40.319 --> 00:29:45.119 So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab, and there was a severe famine in Samaria. 00:29:45.440 --> 00:29:50.160 And Ahab had called Obadiah, who was in charge of his house. 00:29:50.319 --> 00:29:53.200 Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly. 00:29:53.839 --> 00:30:04.799 For so it was while Jezebel massacred the prophets of the Lord, that Obadiah had taken 100 prophets and hidden them, 50 to a cave, and fed them with bread and water. 00:30:04.880 --> 00:30:07.839 So this guy is really, really amazing. 00:30:08.079 --> 00:30:11.920 And so here's this person who's kind of a remnant. 00:30:12.079 --> 00:30:13.519 That's the only way I can describe him. 00:30:13.759 --> 00:30:30.559 He's this remnant of the body of Christ that, yes, he's giving lip service and he's a servant of Ahab, but actually secretly he's doing stuff behind his back because he fears God, not Baal. 00:30:30.640 --> 00:30:31.599 So here's the second point. 00:30:31.839 --> 00:30:32.960