SPEAKER_00 0:02

Hi, my name is Michelle Steele. Pastor Philip and I want to thank you for listening to this message from Life of Faith Church. We have more resources available to help you build your faith and frame your world by the Word of God. From our website, lifeoffaith.net, you can connect to our YouTube channel. Watch the live stream feed from our church services. Access books and downloads in our web store. And discover more about Life of Faith Church, producing like city, state, nation, and world. Visit lifeoffaith.net today.

SPEAKER_01 0:42

You go tonight to Luke chapter 2. And we're going to continue with this that uh we've been looking at entitled The Door to More. The Lord had said to us that April was the door to more. And we've been emphasizing uh these different aspects of more and uh ultimately coming to the understanding that more is a higher standard. Uh, because one of the definitions of more from uh Psalm 115-14 that we looked at over the first few weeks of this teaching is uh basically more of the same. So what God does is more of what he's always done, uh just in a higher volume, in a higher manner. The Lord said also concerning 2026, he said, Look for me to produce new pathways and open doors. And then he said, as we prayed and prayed for our government and prayed for our nation, that through prayer doors are opened into the government. And so over and over again he uses this understanding of doors being opened. The opening of these doors is not through our ability or our strength. Revelation chapter 3, verse 7 and 8 says that Jesus is the one that holds the key of David, and that he shuts doors that no man can open and closes, uh opens doors that no man can close. And he said to the church of Philadelphia in Revelation chapter 3, he said, Behold, I have set before you an open door and nobody can close it. All right, then we went through what the Apostle Paul said about doors. He said, There is an effective door that's open to me, and there are many adversaries. And we talked last week about how so it that's not a bad confession to say that there will be adversaries because you have an adversary, the devil, and he's gonna try to stop the open door that God wants you to walk through, but he doesn't have the authority to stop you, right? Because we have all authority over him. Jesus gave us that authority, and so there are people that will say, Well, I don't want to make a bad confession and talk about the devil. Well, it's not a bad confession to talk about the devil as long as you talk about him in terms of what he is defeated and overcome. Amen. Hallelujah. The opening of these doors is not through our ability or our strength, God opens them with our cooperation, and um God will present the local church and present people with doors to fulfill his plans, and these are doors that God opens. And as we cooperate, nobody can close them as we cooperate. So each open door is a higher standard. Everybody say higher standard. See, each open door is a higher standard, and to walk through these doors, there's this element of learning to be led. All right, because every opportunity is not an open door. Every open door is an opportunity, but every opportunity is not an open door. I've got to stop and I've got to get in the spirit and determine: is this an open door for me to walk through, or is it an opportunity that might take me away from what I need to do? Amen. Hallelujah. Luke chapter 2 and verse 25. This is uh picking up the story right after Jesus was born, eight days after he was born. He was going to the temple. His mother and dad took him to the temple to be dedicated to the Lord for circumcision. And it says in verse 25, and behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, notice, and the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed unto him, notice, by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came, meaning to the temple, notice, by the Spirit. And when the parents brought in the child, Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law, then took he him up in his arms and blessed God and said, Lord, now let your servant depart in peace according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation. Now the scripture here says that the Holy Spirit was continually upon Simeon. This was very rare in the Old Testament. Very rare in the Old Testament. You can study the entirety of the Old Testament, and you only find three individuals that the Holy Spirit was on continually. Genesis chapter 41 and verse 38 talks about the Spirit being on Joseph continually. Daniel chapter 4 and verse 6 talks about the spirit of the living God being on Daniel continually. And then the 70 elders of Israel in Numbers chapter 11, verse 17, God told Moses, he said, Choose out these 70. And he said, I'm going to take a portion of the Spirit and put on them, and they'll be able to help you judge the people of Israel. So it was a very rare occurrence. And it says, according to the scripture, that the Holy Spirit was upon him. And in the Greek it's the continuous. It was the Holy Spirit, he was continually upon Simeon. Now, three times right here in these verses, we see that Simeon's is associated with the Holy Spirit. First time is the Holy Spirit was continually upon him. Secondly, it was revealed to him by the Holy Spirit. Thirdly, he came by the Spirit into the temple. Now there's a new door here being opened. All right? The Messiah is in the earth. The Christ is here. There's a new door being opened, and notice God is revealing it to a man who's listening to the Holy Spirit. He's revealing it to a man that's listening to the Holy Spirit. One of the three things the Lord told me that had to be in any, well, any believer's life, but any man of God's life, woman of God's life, is you've got to know the, you've got to have an intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit. Have to. And I'm not just saying that to be spiritual. All right? I'm saying that is a must for the believer. That's a must. And we're going to get into why. But it was revealed to a man who's listening to the Holy Spirit. It says he was a just and devout man. So this is not just prophetic leanings on his part. He's where he needs to be, he's doing what he needs to be. And it was revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die till he saw the Messiah. And what we see here is he's not a young man, he's an older man. But it was revealed to him by the Holy Spirit. Things that are revealed don't always come quickly, and they don't always happen quickly. Because there's more to the revelation than the initial statement. When God starts telling you something, don't get up and run off after the first statement. There's more. Because he's revealing something. When God starts talking to you about an open door, an opportunity that may be open to you, don't just take off and run with that first conversation. There's more to it. Patience is a fruit of the Spirit. The Bible says those that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. We'll read this verse later. It says in Acts chapter 13 that as they ministered to the Lord and fasted, then the Holy Spirit began to speak. It's those that wait upon the Lord. You know, when you go to a restaurant, the waiter doesn't bring anything to your table until you tell them what you want. What are they doing? They're waiting on you. Is that right? They're waiting on you. You go in and they come to the table and they introduce themselves and they say, What do they say? What would you like? Right? They're the waiter. Amen. That's how we've got that's how we've got to do. If we're gonna walk through open doors, we've got to go to God and say, What do you want to do about this? Which step do you want me to take here? I know this looks right, but what do you want? Amen. Because I'm waiting on you. And the Holy Spirit told Simeon that he was not going to die until he saw the Christ. And then it says that he came to the temple by the Spirit. Well, we can kind of paint the picture. I don't know how it happened, the Bible doesn't tell us, but we can kind of uh uh paint the picture that maybe he got up that morning and the Holy Spirit said the Messiah is going to be at the temple today, you need to get up and be there. Amen. So he came by the Spirit, but how did he know which child was the Messiah? By the Spirit. I don't know how many people were there dedicating children, could have been hundreds, could have been thousands. I don't know. I know Mary and Joseph were there because of the census. How many other people were there because of the census? How many other families were there? You know, Mary probably wasn't the only pregnant woman in Jerusalem, the most important pregnant woman in Jerusalem, but not the or uh Bethlehem, but not the only one. Is that right? And somehow by the Spirit he knew this is the one. And he went to them and took the baby and began to thank the Lord. He did this by the Spirit. If I'm gonna enter into a higher standard, I must come to know things by the Spirit. I've got to know it by the Spirit. I can't let natural things muddy the waters and stop me from knowing things by the Spirit. Every challenge that the enemy throws your way is an attempt to muddy the water and stop you from being able to hear by the spirit. Amen. And what many people do is they get over here and they start fighting a battle in the flesh, and you can't win that battle in the flesh. You got to stay centered and rooted and grounded in the spirit and know things by the spirit. Hallelujah. Sister Pat Harrison said on March 23rd of 25 here in our church, she said, we can stay engaged with the Holy Spirit all day, every day. It is a continuous flow. It takes practice. Practice gets you to the place that you can function in all that God has for you. So notice, we can stay engaged with the Holy Spirit all day, every day. When He's what? He's leading, He's guiding, He's directing. He's showing me what I need to do. I don't want to get ahead of myself, but we got to get to this place where we stop just doing the same flesh things over and over and over again, hoping to get an answer where we've not ever found an answer. I'm not talking about sin. I'm just talking about fleshly things. There are people that keep going to flesh to find out what's wrong. What do I need to do? What do I need to change? Here's the problem: flesh doesn't have the answer. And if I don't stop and engage the Holy Spirit, there's a door that needs to be open, and I need to hear about it from the Holy Spirit. Flesh doesn't have the answer. You learn nothing new from the second kick of a mule. You don't learn anything new. Amen. So if if, right? Picture this. So I say, Pastor Larry, you know he's got an office over here in the admin wing, and he's got a you got some files in there, right? Let's say he's looking for a file, and he goes in there and he goes through the files, and it's not there. And so he backs up and he goes through it again, and it's not there. And he goes, okay, he gets the files out and puts them on the floor. Sits down on the floor, and he's going through them again, and it's not there. What are we finding out here? What he's looking for is not there. What's that mean? He needs to go look somewhere else. Because it's not in that file cabinet. Right? Simeon went where the Holy Spirit told him he needed to be. Where do I need to be? Holy Spirit, where do I need to be? What door do I need to be walking through? What do I need to get myself involved in? Amen. Hallelujah. Constantly being led is the result of staying engaged with the Holy Spirit. I'm just, I'm staying engaged. I cannot keep going where the answer isn't to find the answer. I got to stay engaged with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit obviously is God. He's the communication arm of the Godhead. The Bible says we'll read it in a minute. The Bible says he hears what the Father says and says it to you. He relays it to you. The Holy Spirit is the only member of the Godhead in the earth. Now, God and Jesus are in us, but the Holy Spirit is in the earth, actively working. Now, why is this so important? Because he has the answers. But he's a what? He's a quiet gentleman, and he must be engaged. He doesn't go out of his way to engage me. I've got to be listening. Oh, this is important. And this may sound elementary in some areas, but listen, he's not going to fight YouTube for your time. He's not going to fight the ball game to talk to you. If he's trying to talk to you and you're going back to that natural fleshly source of information for the answer, he's not going to put a hook in your jaw and make you stop. This is important. I've got to engage him. Maybe I got to stop and say, now, Holy Spirit, look, I'm about to go back to this natural source of information for the fifth or sixth time. They don't have the answer. What do I need to do? What steps do I need to take? Hallelujah. And then just wait. Wait on him. Because constantly being led is the result of staying engaged. Now, now remember, the word engaged, when we talk about engaged, you know what comes to mind mainly is, you know, two people getting married. They, you know, they they they decide to get married, they set a date, and they he gives the the lady a ring, the girl a ring, and it's an engagement ring, and it means we are engaged. Right? In other words, we're spoken for, we are betrothed. We're going to be married. Right? And when someone looks and and and they see that ring, oh, you got engaged. Yes, I'm engaged. What does that mean? I'm taken. We're engaged. Right? But for any Star Trek fans in here, especially from the early 90s, right? Jean-Luc Picard, engage, right? That means hit it, give it the power. Right? Give, go, go, let's go, engage. Right? In other words, the power's not connected yet. Mr. Riker, engage. Right? And you so when you engage the Holy Spirit, you're hooking up to his power. You're hooking up to his wisdom. You're hooking up to his understanding and his knowledge. Amen. Hallelujah. In Luke chapter 4. And verse 1. This is a familiar scripture, but verse 1 says, Jesus, being full of the Holy Ghost, returned from Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. Now, Luke is the only writer that emphasizes the fact that Jesus was full of and led by the Holy Spirit. It's in all the Synoptic Gospels. Synoptic Gospels are Matthew, Mark, and Luke. It's in all three of the Synoptic Gospels. Matthew and Luke are long accounts. Mark is a short account. But nonetheless, Luke is the only one that says he was full and led by the Spirit. Now, most people don't think of Jesus having to be led. Because even people that come to my church, somehow they think Jesus knew everything. Well, there's some things he missed if he knew everything. He didn't know everything. He was perfect, but he didn't know everything because he was a man anointed by God. He had to be led by the Holy Spirit. He had to engage the Holy Spirit. When Jesus wanted to choose twelve disciples, he didn't just go choose them. He prayed all night about it. Prayed all night long. And then came from praying all night and chose twelve. Well, why'd he pray all night? Because he didn't know who to choose. And he had to hear. So he's full of and led by the Holy Spirit. So he didn't just decide to go to the wilderness. He was led there by the Holy Spirit. What I'm saying is, Jesus didn't just get up and go, Yeah, well, I got to go to the wilderness and defeat the devil. Okay, so Rasara, another day's work. That's not what he did. He got up and the Holy Spirit directed him. Today's the day you've got to go to the wilderness today. But notice, he was full of the Holy Spirit. Just because a person has the Holy Spirit and they speak with other tongues is not evidence that they are full of the Holy Spirit. You are full of the Holy Spirit as you consistently engage him. And I want to have my cup overflowing with the Holy Spirit. Hallelujah. The door to Jesus' earthly ministry is being opened, and Jesus is being led by the Holy Spirit. Doors are opened by God and we step through them as we are led. You know, I've had people say, oh, I can't pass up this marvelous opportunity. Oh, yes, you can if you're led to. Well, man, that thing can't be wrong. Are you kidding me? It could be wrong a million times over. Yeah, I've heard people say, well, you know, a million people can't be wrong. Yes, they can. They can listen, they can be as wrong as being an Oklahoma football fan. And that's wrong. Hallelujah. Glory to God. But we got to step through them as we're led. And remember, lead is not pulled. You don't have to beat your shins up forty-two times, trip over everything, get two or three years behind the plan of God before you finally get through that door. If you're just led. Lead requires willingness of the individual being led. I've got to be willing to be led. I am putting all of my trust. I'm putting all of my desire in the hands of the person that's leading me. Hallelujah. You know, sometimes you'll be driving down the road or walking down a road, and somebody will come by with a dog and their arms out like this, the leash is tight, and the dog's way out in front of them. The dog's leading that person. I'm going to take the dog for a walk. No, the dog took you for a walk. That's not really the way it's supposed to be. Now, if your dog does that, I'm not mad at you, but you understand. I I told you this the other week. When you break an animal to lead, there's slack in the reins, there's slack in the lead rope. When you move, that horse moves because it has been broken to lead. You can take that rein, that halter rope, that lead rope, and put it on the ground, and he won't move. Because he's been trained that when that lead rope's on the ground, I don't move. I'm not supposed to move. Pulling is not leading. And the quiet gentleman of the Holy Spirit will not jerk you. He won't pull you. Hallelujah. That's why, notice I've got to be led. I say, Holy Spirit, I want to be led. Amen. Now, this requires you stopping. Before you go after that source of knowledge, that where the answer isn't, I've got to stop and be led. Because there's wisdom out that the Bible says the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of wisdom and knowledge and understanding. Amen. He has the He is the storehouse of wisdom in John chapter 14. And verse 16. Jesus says, and I will pray the Father, and He will give you another comforter, that He may abide with you forever. So Jesus said the Holy Spirit would be another comforter, and that means one like in kind to me. So I'll give you another comforter. The word comforter is helper. Paraclete. Paracletus. One called alongside to help. So here we are. The Holy Spirit's called alongside to help me. Help me. I have to engage his help. Hallelujah. I've got to engage his help because he's called to help me. Let that sink in. He wants to help me. So he help would be giving me wisdom. Help would be giving me direction. Don't ever let your circumstances talk louder to you than the Holy Spirit is. Whatever it may be. Because I want the Holy Spirit to be leading me. That's when it becomes easy to violate his voice. When you're being led and you violate that leading, what the Holy Spirit simply does, you know, you know, people have talked about offending the Holy Spirit. Well, I mean, he doesn't get offended like people get offended, but when you violate the Holy Spirit, he just stops talking. He doesn't try to lead you in that area no more. Well, the Holy Spirit hadn't told me not to do that. You know, well, but did he lead me to go a different direction before? Because if he did, and I keep violating that and I keep pushing against it and I keep overriding him, eventually he's just gonna back up and not talk anymore. Because he's meek, he's humble. Amen. So he said he would give us another comforter, another one, another one like in kind as Jesus. Jesus said that there were seven things the Holy Spirit would do. The first one is found in John 14, 26, he will teach us. Then John 14, 26 says, He will remind us. John 16, 13 says he will guide us. Again in John 16, 13. He will hear from the Father and speak what he hears. In John 16, 13, he said he would show us things to come. Then in John 15, 26, it says he would testify of Jesus. And in John 16, 8, he would convict the world of sin. Seven things. Seven is the number of the Holy Spirit. Seven things that the Holy Spirit would do. He said he would guide us in John 16 and 13. He said, notice how be it, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth. Jesus called the Holy Spirit the Spirit of truth more than he called him anything else. And he said, when the Spirit of truth is come, that's telling that he calls him the Spirit of truth. So that means that whatever way he leads you in is going to be the right way, because it's the way of truth. It may not be a way I have gone before. It may not be something I would have ever thought about before. But here's why you're constantly engaging him, because as you're constantly engaging the Holy Spirit, you're learning his voice, you're learning his personality, you're learning how he does things, you're learning the way he speaks, and you know his voice. And so when I'm engaging him, it may be a different way. It may be a way I've never gone before. He may be telling me to stop doing something I'm doing that I think I need to be doing. But if I know his voice, what's he doing? Help me out. What's he doing? He's guiding me. He's guiding me. He's taking me somewhere that maybe I've never thought about. Hallelujah. That word guide, it carries the idea. It's like a tour guide. To lead or to guide one's way, to be a guide or show the way. Hallelujah. The flesh only knows one way, that's the way of the flesh. The ways of the spirit are mysterious to the flesh. Because they're not fleshly ways. Hallelujah. The Holy Spirit, notice, will show me the way. I'm never at the mercy of mere human wisdom and knowledge. Never am I at the mercy of mere human wisdom and knowledge. Because I have within me the divine guide. I have the one that's hearing in the throne room and relaying to me what he heard. So right now you have ears in the throne room. I'm never without an answer. I'm never without a response. Hallelujah. When you chase just mere human wisdom, you're always going to be at a deficit. Because it's limited. Well, I went there, but they can't help me. Then why are you going back? Shouldn't I stop and say, Holy Spirit, do I need to be doing something else? Now I know this sounds elementary, but if it was so elementary, why do we got so many Christians chasing their tail? Going through the same thing they've been going through five years, ten years, twenty years. Dealing with the same issues. There's a way out. That's what the scripture says, that God will provide a way out. 1 Corinthians chapter 10. He'll provide a way out. Well, how's he going to provide a way out when I stop and say, do I need to go do this again? Holy Spirit, what do I need to do? Well, Pastor, I got to do something. Yes, something would be waiting on the Holy Spirit. Can I use an example here? I got time, don't I? Yeah. I got time. I've seen this a lot where relationships are concerned. And I've watched people over the years. I've been pastoring almost three decades. And so you learn a few things. You know, even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then. So you learn some stuff just by watching. And I've watched this over the years. And and ladies, this is not a knock, but I've seen it a lot with younger women, middle-aged women, things like that. They'll come to me, Pastor, I want you to agree with me that, you know, I'll find a husband. Well, I mean, there's nothing wrong with agreeing about that. And obviously, I mean, a good godly mate's a godly thing, right? But watch, here comes the reason. Because you know, my clock's ticking. Oh. So now we see what's going on here. So if all you're hearing is the clock ticking, are you going to be willing to wait for the one God wants you to have? Or are you going to take the first good-looking fellow that comes along? Because you know the devil isn't ugly. And he never sends ugly people. This is important. Yeah, but he's so nice. And he said, Did you pray about it? Did you stop and ask the Holy Spirit? Is Junior the one for me? Right? This is important. And I've watched people over the years because what the enemy wants to do is get people involved in the heart level so he can move them away from the plan and the purpose of God for their life. Amen. If you want the person that God has for you, you want to find a person that's not in a hurry and you don't be in a hurry. And let the Holy Spirit open the doors and let the Holy Spirit join you together and let the Holy Spirit do the work. And when you let the Holy Spirit do the work, then you'll get the one the Holy Spirit heard from the Father that you needed in your life. Glory to God. When I left Kansas City the first time, I first moved to Kansas City over, well over, oh my goodness, it would have been 37 years ago, something like that. And my parents started a church in Nashville, and I went to Nashville to be with them. There's some other reasons too, but to help them. And I wasn't looking for a relationship. I could have cared less about a relationship. I'd come out of a bad relationship and I wasn't in a hurry. Remember? Because you don't learn nothing new from the second kick of a mule. And there ain't no reason to go get kicked a second time. Right? Amen. This is so important. And I went and I go to the church and I'm just, I'm a young man, you know, still a young man, but I was younger then. And uh, but the point is, is, you know, I'm just I'm gonna play music, I'm gonna play the drums, I'm gonna play the bass, I'm gonna, I'm gonna do what I do, and I'm just gonna enjoy life. I got a new start. That's my second chance, right? And I'm I'm gonna make the most of my second chance. And and I went and amen. And I I knew Pastor Michelle, I'd seen her, right? She had got saved in the ministry, but I didn't run up to her and ask her out on a date. I did not ask her, does she want to go to Shoneys? I didn't ask anything. I'm not interested in that. I'm just, I'm just mini-pearl. I'm just glad to be here. Right? Amen. And so I'm just praying, praying about my future, praying about the things of God. And it was Pastor Michelle that came to me on the porch of that church and shook my hand one night and said, You do realize that you're God's miracle in my life? I said, Well, praise the Lord. I hadn't really thought about it. But now that you're saying it, okay. But here's the thing: it didn't take me a long time, but I had to stop and ask myself and ask the Holy Spirit, am I ready to get back into another relationship? It's an opportunity. This is a good girl. This is, she loves the Lord, but is this what I need to be doing? I couldn't, I couldn't let, I couldn't let my emotions get in there and mess up the leading. Hallelujah. Because see, I have within me the divine guide. Well, of course, thank the Lord, it was his will. It was what the Holy Spirit wanted. Amen. And it's been 33 years of heaven on earth, and we're grateful. But what I want you to see is if I'm consulting natural human wisdom, and the problem is persisting, I need to stop and find out from the Holy Spirit what to do. Because there's a door that needs to be opened that's available to me, and he knows what it is. But I need to stop and ask. Walking through human doors of wisdom that hold no results will only produce frustration because there's no results there. I'm gonna try this, I'm gonna do this. And is that what the Holy Spirit said to do? In Acts 13. Acts 13 and verse 1, we'll read verse 1 and 2. It says, Now there was at the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers, as Barnabas and Simeon, that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene and Manian, that had been brought up with Herod the Tetarch and Saul. And as they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Separate me, Barnabas and Saul, for the work whereunto I've called them. When they had fasted and prayed, they laid hands on them and sent them away. Now the Holy Spirit said, The Greek, there is an imperative. The Greek is imperative. In other words, this is a strong command. The Holy Spirit said, probably through word of wisdom, word of knowledge, prophecy. But the Greek perfect tense here, notice it says, for the work whereunto I have called them. The Greek perfect tense here means an action in the past with present results. Meaning, I've already called them. They need to be released. So the Holy Spirit had already dealt with Barnabas and Saul personally. They were waiting on the Holy Spirit to tell them to walk through the door. He said, Separate them for the work I've already called them to. Hallelujah. They were waiting. The Holy Spirit told me, I remember on a Saturday morning, that I was a pastor. Yet I didn't resign my position in the local church that I was a part of and go start my own church. I kept doing what I was doing until the Holy Spirit said it was time to move into the open door of ministry that God had for me. Barnabas and Saul just kept doing what they were doing. The Holy Spirit will never lead you to harm a local church. He will never do that. He'll never lead you to leave that church in a deficit. To leave that church with a hole. That's not the Holy Spirit. Because he loves the local church. That's not to say that people don't leave the local church and that it's not God's will and God's plan for people to go. But here's what I will say: the relationship, when the Holy Spirit does it, the relationship is always preserved. Amen. Timing is everything in the kingdom where doors are concerned. Timing is everything. I remember I was with my pastor in Fullerton, California, probably five, six, maybe seven years ago now. And uh we had flown, we had flown there commercially. We went there twice, once in his plane and once commercially. And we were there, we were meeting for dinner. Sister Jeannie wasn't there. She was recovering from the brain surgery she had had. And we were getting on the elevator, going down, we're on the top floor and coming down to the bottom floor where the restaurant was. And we were talking about these type of things. And somewhere the the conversation turned to what Brother Hagin always said that it's better to be a little behind God than too far out in front of him. And you know, that's right. I mean, you know, that that that's true. Not only sounds good, it's right. But Pastor said something to me. He said, Yeah. Unless you're too far behind, then God will just get somebody else. See, here's what I'm trying to explain. There are people that say, well, you know, my personality is I'm just slow. I'm slow to make decisions. You better engage the Holy Spirit and ask him if you need to make a decision now. Because you get too far behind, there's no promise that that door's still going to be open. Because somebody else will walk through it. It's important. The word emphasizes that Barnabas and Saul were sent out by the Holy Spirit. So the Holy Spirit will lead me precisely to the door, precisely through the door and beyond the door. Hallelujah. Now, what I have to quit doing is banging my head up against those sources of wisdom that are not giving me the answer. And stop and be led by the Holy Spirit. Because being led by the Holy Spirit is the higher standard. And as I'm wrapping this up, what you hear a lot, people, well, you know, I know what I'm supposed to do. Then I need to do what I know I'm supposed to do. The Bible says, remember in Romans chapter 8, verse 14, it says, as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they're the sons of God, the children of God. It's just assumed that we will be led by the Spirit. If you're a child of God, you're supposed to be led by the Spirit. And don't be that person that says, Yeah, I didn't feel good about doing that, but you know, I did it anyway. That was the Holy Spirit trying to lead you away from that. Well, what do I do? Repent. Get on your face and repent. And tell the Holy Spirit, I'm sorry for violating you. I didn't listen to you. I didn't pay attention. And if you'll give me another chance, I'll walk through that door just as quick as I can. Was it that important? It is that important because that's the only leading I have in a world of voices. The Apostle Paul said, in the world there are many voices, and he said, none of them are without significance. None of them. Amen. You know, if if you go to whatever the the whatever it is, whatever area you're going to, medical or financial or or whatever it is, and they keep telling you they can't help you, I'm asking you tonight, why do you keep going back to them? And you know they can't do nothing for you. There's got to be an answer. There's got to be a way out of that. Amen. I got to stop and say, Holy Spirit, where am I missing it? Amen. Maybe you need to lead me to somebody else. Maybe there's somebody that knows more than this guy or this woman. Lead me there. Hallelujah. Why? Because if I keep hitting my head up again, it's just frustrating me. And here's what you can't do when you're frustrated. Hear from the Holy Spirit because He speaks to you in an atmosphere of peace, and He speaks to you in an atmosphere of tranquility, and you cannot hear His voice adequately when you're frustrated. And that's why sometimes you'll talk to somebody and you'll tell them what you're going through and you'll tell them what you're facing, and they'll hear from the Holy Spirit and give you the answer. That's how gracious he is. I've had that happen over and over and over again. Amen. Hallelujah. I've had people say, Pastor, how do how do you how do you how do you know so much about being led by the Holy Spirit? Because I've missed his leading a few times. All of us have. Only person that hasn't is the one that'll lie about it. We've all missed it. We've all missed his leading. But this, why is this important? Because those doors are open. He said the door to more is open. I gotta be willing to walk through it. I need the Holy Spirit to talk to me. I need him to teach me, to train me, to lead me, to guide me, to direct me. Because that's what he said he would do. Out of those seven things that the Holy Spirit, that Jesus said the Holy Spirit would do, four of them have to do with leading, guiding, directing, speaking, or talking to you. So the largest part of what the Holy Spirit does is in the guidance in our life. In the leading, in the guiding, in the directing. Hallelujah. And that's why I'll close here. That's why, whatever it is, if somebody talks to me about something, I say, Well, I'll pray about it. I'm not trying to be spiritual. I'm not trying to seem spiritual. I need to hear from the Holy Spirit. If somebody calls me and says, I need you to come preach at this conference, I need to know if the Holy Spirit wants me to go. Yeah, but it could be a great benefit to who? Maybe it's just going to benefit my flesh. Hallelujah. But if I go there by the Holy Spirit, it's going to benefit the people. Things are going to change. Lives are going to be changed. Things are going to happen. Oh, hallelujah. Isn't the Lord good? I had a friend of mine, and he still is a friend of mine, uh, in the Kansas City area. And uh when I first met him, they were in a building. It wasn't much bigger than the building we have here. He was having three Sunday morning services, and he had invited me over to minister at a men's meeting. And I went and ministered at the men's meeting, is packed at men's meeting. And uh they were believing God for their own place. Well, God had given them something like six acres, right off of I-435 in Kansas City. 635, actually, over by world. There's an amusement park there, Worlds of Fun, over in the Northland. And uh prime property. And here's the thing they got that land for something like some outrageous amount, like $116,000. Prime land on the on the interstate. I I do not know how they did it, just God. Well, that's what when they where they were planning to move and build, but they're they're raising the money, and it's taking some time. Everybody say time. See, it's taken time. One of the fruit of the reborn human spirit, you know what it is? It starts with a P. It's patience. Right? And and they're waiting, but it's taken time. Well, he gets in a hurry. He finds an old Best Buy, Circuit City, that's available. And he goes to the bank, and he puts up that six acres of prime land as collateral. We know the bank's gonna jump on that. And they give him his money, and he buys the building. Well, he bought the building for whatever it was cost, and then it cost over a million dollars to renovate the building. Because what people a lot of people don't understand, you move into like a retail space, the money is in the it, the the uh the sprinkler system because you can't have like uh a church service in that building. It doesn't meet fire codes like it if it's a retail space. And so you got to redo it all. So over a about a million dollars, a little over a million dollars. Amen. I preached his uh dedication service, his dedication week, is me, Creflo Dollar, and George Bloomer preached his dedication service. And boy, they were good services. And P and it's packed out, full, completely packed out, not with his people, with people that came to see Creflo and George. There's even some people that came to see me. And after all the guest speakers left, now he's left with what he had, the people he had. You following me? And now the people that he had are now loaded with a few million dollars worth of debt, and the land that they had bought and paid for is now collateral. And now I got all this overhead because I got a bigger building with two or three times the utilities. I got to take care of the parking lot. You you follow me? He used to have me come preach for him, and he always wanted me to come on a Sunday morning. And finally I had to start telling him I can't I can't come on Sunday mornings because I got my own church. And the la I remember the last Sunday I was over there, I was watching this, and I remember the last Sunday I was over there, Brother Jim, Pastor Jim, was with me, him and another young man. And uh we were in, went to his office. He said, Could you have your men step outside? And I need to talk to you. And I said, Okay. They stepped outside, and honest, everything within me, this is as honest as I remember it. I remember he looked at me and he put his head in his hand and he said, My God, Philip, I'm losing my building. And I said, Did you hear from God about this? Because he didn't ask me. So it wasn't my place to go ask him. Are you hearing from God? He didn't ask me. You know, he he couldn't answer me. You know, he got under such stress with all of that. He had a stroke, he nearly died. I saw him a couple years ago. I was there doing a meeting, and and he came and he's a good, good man and good friend of mine. But not nearly the man he was. Doesn't have nearly the church he had. Now, I'm not just telling that as a horror story. What if he would have stopped and said, now, Holy Spirit, I'm in a hurry. But I need you to tell me what to do. Where do we need to go? Right? How do we need to do this? But he just saw an opportunity and jumped at, see, every opportunity is not a door. Every door is an opportunity, but every opportunity is not a door. Lost the building, lost the land, almost lost his life. All by not being led. Amen. I'm not moving off a 116-20 rainwood till the Lord tells me where to go. I am I am spiritually stubborn, I'm just not doing it. Amen. Yeah, but there's bigger places out there, and if he tells me to go, that's where I'll go. But we're gonna be led, amen. Hallelujah. Let's stand up tonight. Praise God. Thank you for being here this evening. That's the door to more. Hallelujah. So, Father, we thank you. Thank you for leading us and guiding us and directing us. Thank you for showing us your plan. Thank you for showing us the direction that we need to go, the footstep, the steps that we need to take, Father. Your word says the steps of a good man are ordered of the Lord, directed by the Lord. And so we thank you for that in the name of Jesus.