You know, I'm telling you, we are not going to buckle to the agenda of Satan in our lives. We are not going to buckle to it. The Bible says that Jesus came to destroy. Now, either you believe the Bible or you don't. He came to destroy. He didn't come to slightly harm, to bruise, or maybe fracture it. The Bible says He came to destroy the works of the devil.
Let me tell you what that means. There are works of the devil all through this city, and there are works that the devil is trying to do on you, against you. I'll give you a practical example, some imagery. I was going through a battle in my life in one season. It seemed like the enemy was coming after me, just pounding away at me, against my mind. I was riddled with anxiety and fear, and I felt like I was condemned. There was so much that was going on.
But a friend of mine called me, and he said, "I've had a vision. God showed me there was a... I walked into a conference room. There was a long table, and at this table sat a host of dark figures. There was a plan on that table, and I saw on the table the plans that had to do with your life. But while I was observing this figure of darkness and this group make plans on how to try and destroy your life, I saw a bright light come through a door. I saw it grab that piece of paper and shred it to pieces and cast out every dark figure that was at that table, and instead rolled out a brand new plan for your life."
I've come to tell you, when the Bible says that He destroyed the works of the devil, He destroyed them all. Every plan that the enemy has contrary to the will of God in your life, Jesus already destroyed that. You don't have to fear the devil. I said it last week: the devil fears you. The devil fears you. Thank you, Jesus.
Can you just lift your hands again right now and just say, "God, baptize me with the confidence to walk in your plans for my life"? To walk in your plans for my life. Yes, we walk in your plans for our life. That's right, that's right. Every plan of the adversary must be canceled in the name of Jesus. Every witchcraft assignment has to buckle in the name of Jesus. Every word that has been spoken against you, the Judge, the Most High God, is going to rebuke it and cast it down in the name of Jesus.
This is the hour for the people of God to walk in boldness. This is the hour to not fear. Everybody else is going to be shaken and full of fear, but the people of God will not fear. There will be something distinctly different about the people of God in the coming days. While the world is shaken and rocking back and forth, and wars and rumors of wars, and earthquakes in diverse places, and all the signs in Heaven and Earth are pointing toward the end of the world because the coming of the Lord is coming soon, the world is going to be gripped in fear. But there will be a people who uniquely do not fear, and they will be the people of God because they have the Holy Ghost inside them and they have a revelation of who they are.
We do not fear. We don't share the same hope that this world shares. We've got a different kind of hope. We've got a hope that goes beyond the grave, beyond this life. Thank you, Jesus.
If you've already noticed, tonight's service is a little bit different than normal, but that's okay. We're going to wait on the Lord tonight, and God is going to speak to us as He sees fit. While we wait for God, can we just pray right now? Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus.
Let the will of God be done. Let the will of God be done. Let the will of God be done. Let the will of God be done in Jesus' name. Let's continue to pray right now all across this place. There's a deep move of the Spirit in this room right now. God is doing a work. Jesus, we worship you. Jesus, we praise you. God, we exalt you. Jesus, we exalt you. Jesus, rule and reign, oh God. Rule and reign.
Pastor Justin just said this, but this has been my prayer since prayer started: that God would restore confidence in the church. God would restore confidence in you, that you don't have to walk around in doubt or a lesser-than version of what God's called you to be. Completely don't let the enemy talk you out. Don't let people talk you out. Don't let culture talk you out.
There is such a pushback, and I feel it right now. You don't need to be that spiritual. You don't need to let control. I bind and I take authority over that right now in the name of Jesus. It has no place here. I pray that you would destroy that right now. There is a pushback that says you will never be better than what your parents were. There is a pushback that says you will never be what God's called you to be because of the mistakes in your life. I rebuke that in the name of Jesus.
There is a freedom that's going to happen in this place. Some of you have been consecrating for the last few weeks and even before the coming weeks, and you're looking for God. I want to remind you that He's right there. You're looking for purpose, and I want to remind you you're in it. You're looking for more, and I want to tell you you're stepping into it. Do not stop. Do not quit. Do not quit.
There is a confidence that God is going to bring. There is a strength God is going to bring in this room, and nothing can stop it. Only you. Only I. It's only our flesh. And so, Lord, right now, we lay ourselves on the altar again. God, we want to live as Paul said. We want to die to our flesh. We want to die daily, oh God.
There is a deep outpouring that you're wanting to do, God, and I pray that you do it here. I don't want to get in the way of what you're doing right now. I don't want the cares of this life that will fade when I am dead and gone to consume the eternal impact of what you're doing in this church and in my life. Lord, I don't want anything but what you have for me. I don't want to find my peace in the things of this world. God, I want to find it in you.
Lord, I pray that would be our prayer. I pray that would be the prayer of this church. Lord, you spoke to this church three weeks ago and said that there was a purity, and your word says that blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. It doesn't matter who's singing. It doesn't matter who's preaching. It doesn't matter what the color of the lights are or the color of the chairs. All we want to do is see you.
And so I pray that a spiritual purity would be restored in this place. I pray that we would long for the pure things, the simple things of your kingdom again. Oh God, take us back to your first love. Take us back to that place where all we desire is you. Take us back to that place where we first encountered your Spirit, where we first encountered you, oh God.
Lord, don't let us get settled. If you have to wake us up in the middle of the night to let us know that you're there, whatever you have to do, God. God, all we want is you. All we want is you, Jesus.
There's a difference between the presence of God and the glory of God. While I love the presence of God, I love the presence of God. It's wonderful, it's special, it's peaceful. I want to be in the glory of God because the Bible says that when Moses was in the glory of God, he was changed.
I'm so grateful for the moments that we have in the presence of God, but I feel that God wants to take us as a church into the glory of Him. That starts with us getting to a place of being spiritually pure. It starts with us getting to a place where we are pure in Him.
God, wash us in you right now. Make us new in you. Make us new in you. I feel such a peace of God in this room right now, such a restoring peace of God right now. God, I pray that it would go with us. I pray that it would lead us. I pray that it would guide us.
You know, as a church, we're in this season of consecration, and it's prayer, fasting, and withholding from carnal indulgences. I grew up in church, and I'm sure a lot of you did as well. When I heard that, it always seemed like, you know, I get it. It's just music, it's just a show, it's just a whatever. It can't hurt me. I'm not going to walk away from God.
But the Bible says that the carnal mind is enmity against God. This literally divides you between God. I think what God's wanting to do is He's wanting to restore our minds to a place where we can't help that we live in this world, but that we desire a spiritual mind.
You can get to a place where when you wake up in the morning, your desire is for the things of God. And I know it's tough. I know it's tough. I'm a die-hard U fan, and I felt last Saturday—not this Saturday, but last Saturday—I felt like God told me to turn it off. And I'm going to be honest, it was tough.
You may be like, "Why in the world would God tell you to turn off a football game?" Because if I'm going to be all that God's called me to be, I can't let myself get lost in the things of this world. I can't let myself get lost in the desires of this world. And if I am going to take it seriously, God is going to have to push me to a place. I'm going to have to push some things aside and say, "God, I want more."
And so whatever you're asking of me, that's what I'm going to do. Everything you're asking me, that is all that I want to do. There are some marriages in this room that are going to be restored in this season. I feel that so strong in the Holy Ghost right now. There are marriages that will be restored. There are some families that are going to be restored. There are some fathers and mothers who are going to lead their family in a deep spiritual way coming out of this season.
The enemy wants to destroy the home. The enemy wants to divide the home. And why you, as a couple, for those of you that have children—and I'm being very careful because I do not have any—but for those of you that are a couple and have children, the reason the enemy has been coming against you so strong is because he knows that if he can destroy you, he can destroy your children.
And I believe that God is going to restore families. [Applause] I believe He is going to take families to a place they have never been in God, and your children will walk in the glory of God. Your children's children will walk in the glory of God because of this season right now. [Applause]
Now, I know I'm talking, and I have a Bible and a phone up here, but I just feel like God is wanting to speak some things right now. I pray that He looses my tongue to be His oracle right now. But this is a deep place right now that God is wanting to take us in.
And maybe this is—maybe you're new to the things of God. Maybe you're new to this church, and you're like, "What in the name of God is going on? These people are w-we for Jesus in here right now." But it is because I believe what God is doing.
I say this in our neighborhood all the time: if you made a decision to be a part of Apostolic Church—and we're so glad you did, and I'm so glad you did—but you didn't just make a decision to be part of a church. You're a builder in what God is doing. And so just as much as you're growing, this church is growing.
And what a great opportunity, what a great opportunity to be a part of the King. Yes, to be a part of growing in an area and in a location that needs the presence and the truth and the word of God. [Applause]
I'm just going to flow right now, and we're going to hopefully get there together. And if not, we'll all go eat and have a good time. But Nehemiah chapter 2, I believe verse 8—I'll show my Bible; it's right in front of me.
Nehemiah chapter 2, starting in verse 5, says this: "If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my father's graves, that I may rebuild it."
Then jump over to verse 17. "Then I said to them, 'You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer suffer.' And I told them of the hand of God that had been upon me for good and also of the words that the king had spoken to me. And they said, 'Let us rise up and build.' So they strengthened their hands for the good work."
And when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite servant and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they jeered at us and despised us and said, "What is this thing that you are doing? Are you rebuilding against the king?"
Then I replied to them, "The God of heaven will make us prosper, and we His servants will rise and build, but you have no portion or right or claim in Jerusalem."
I just want to talk to you for a few moments about the heart of a builder. Nehemiah is a really interesting chapter of the Bible because Nehemiah is not a prophet. He's not a priest. But he's wedged in a really interesting time of the children of Israel. Leading up to this, the children of Israel have been in captivity for 70 years because of the mistakes and the sin they had made.
So the Babylonians had kept them captive, and now they're in a place of the prophecy being fulfilled where they will be free. And here's Nehemiah. You know, nothing—let me back up. There were a lot of things special, but from our standpoint, there's nothing special. He wasn't a Paul. He wasn't a Jeremiah. He wasn't an Isaiah who prophesied great things. He was just a man who actually was working a normal job. He was the cupbearer for the king.
The king of Persia, in just a little context, represents—and if you go through all the scripture, the king of Persia and Persia itself represents the carnal darkness that was really fighting against what God wanted to do. But he was a cupbearer for the king.
We start in Nehemiah, and he's talking to the king, and he's a cupbearer. He knows what has happened because the children of Israel are now free, and now they're heading back to their land of Jerusalem. But the land is absolutely destroyed. The walls are torn down. It's all burnt up and destroyed, and he is sad and praying and fasting and just brokenhearted that the place that he heard about—his grandparents and his fathers and their grandparents talked about where the glory of God was and where God moved—is now destroyed.
He is distraught knowing that they're coming, but they have no place to come. So Nehemiah is distraught, and he had a good relationship, surprisingly, with the king of Persia. He had a great relationship with the queen. He comes, and he's distraught, and they noticed. They said, "Man, Nehemiah, what's wrong? You know, you're not normally a sad guy. What's going on? Why do you look so sad, or why do you look so frail? What's going on?"
And Nehemiah tells them, "You know, my people are now free, and the place that they are coming to is destroyed." The king asks, "Well, what can I do?" And he says, "Well, if you allow me to leave, I would love to go back and rebuild the walls."
And because of the favor that God gave Nehemiah with the king, he not only said, "Of course, go," but he sent soldiers. He sent an army with them. He sent a group saying, "Go rebuild the wall. However I can help you, let me just pause and say this."
Nehemiah, in our context, is probably just the blue-collar good old guy. I think a lot of times—let me be really careful here—it always really confuses me when I see Christians and followers of Christ and apostolics that want the massive great things of God but won't steward the mundane. Nehemiah was a cupbearer for a king and for a people that hated what he was doing, but he was faithful.
I don't understand people that say, "Oh, I want to go see the glory of God," but won't commit to waking up early to fasting every day or praying every day. They won't commit to the small things. Oh, I feel like God's calling me to go do missions work, but you can't stay faithful to your job that God's given you, and you won't steward it. And you're wondering why God won't call you to the great things, but you're not handling the small things He's given you.
I've never understood that. So here's Nehemiah. He's stewarding what God has given him. God's given him favor, and the king says, "Go, go do that. You know, take your—I’m going to send some guys with you to help out. You're going to be all right, whatever I can do for you."
And so Nehemiah gets to Jerusalem, and he walks around, and the Bible talks about he was on a horse, and he was walking around, and it was destroyed and messed up. He got some more guys together, some fellow Jews and some fellow people, and they begin to work on rebuilding the wall. They begin to rebuild the wall.
You know, Matthew 6:33 says this: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added." Can I just be honest? I think the reason a lot of us are really tired and burned out is because we're building things God didn't call us to build. Yes, sir.
We're building lives God never intended us to build. Yes, sir. I think a lot of the reason a lot of us are tired is because we're carrying things that God didn't give us the grace to carry, and we're wondering why we're frustrated, upset. "Wait, I thought this was how it was supposed to be. I thought this was what I was supposed to do." That's what you thought you were supposed to do, but that's not what God thought you were supposed to do.
Yes, sir. I think a lot of times we get in this cycle of just frustration, burnout. It's not working, it's not working. "I got to try this, that, no, no, I got to do this, there, there," and we never pause to say, "God, what do you want me to do?" That's right.
"God, what are you calling me to do? I'm tired, exhausted all the time. I try to eat right. Well, I need to eat better." I'll be honest, clearly, you know, I'm trying to live on a regimented schedule. I'm listening to the right podcasts. I'm reading the right books. I'm waking up early, but I'm tired and exhausted all the time.
And you're wondering why your soul wants to go in this direction, but your flesh wants to go in this direction, and you're wondering why you're tired. It's because you're not putting first the kingdom. I am in this place. I need to put the kingdom first.
And Nehemiah said, "I will put God first, and God will give me all that I need." Amen. I'm going to put His kingdom first, and all these things will be added. What are those things that will be added? It's the needs you and I have. That's right.
I think a lot of times what we think is what we need is really what we want, and God's saying, "No, I'm going to give you what you need when you seek my kingdom first." Yes, sir.
So here's Nehemiah, and he's building. He's trying to get a group together, and he's trying to salvage what God is calling them to build. And here come two guys that are often in—you'll see them throughout scripture—wild names: Sanballat and Tobiah. No idea what those names are. Sanballat and Tobiah.
And here they come, and these guys are governors of the prince or of the king of Persia. And here they are, and they see what he's doing, and the Bible says they begin to laugh and mock and then press him. "Wait, why are you building here? We live in this area. Why are you pushing? You have no reason or right."
And Nehemiah says, "This is my land. You have no place here. This is what God's given me. You have no place here." Can I be honest? A lot of what I feel like we are pressing up against right now is that same spirit of Sanballat and Tobiah that says, "You don't need to be that spiritual. You're fine. You don't need to cut the carnal things of your life out. You don't need to live in a spirit of humility. You don't need to fast like that. Why are you doing that? All you are is just a good old saint of God that shows up on Sundays, and you tithe, and you're doing a great job. You don't need to go there."
And I, by the word of God, have come into this place to say no more to that spirit. It will not have rule and reign in this church. Can I be honest? I feel—can I be honest? I think a lot of times the voices of Sanballat and Tobiah—I think, and I'm guilty as well—I think we open ourselves too. You know, we talked about the carnal mind being enmity against God.
I think a lot of times we're trying to press forward in God, but we're not willing to cut out some voices. And I'm not talking about people, and sometimes, yes, it may be relationships in your life, but a lot of times the things we are indulging are—we're allowing to speak in our life are saying, "Hey, you don't need this. This is what you should be pursuing. This is what you should be going after."
And we got to cut out the voice of Sanballat and Tobiah and say, "No more. No more. God's called me to build something, and I'm not going to stop until it is built." I'm not going to stop. Yes, the Bible says that it took them 52 days to rebuild that wall, and that it was by the supernatural power of God.
There's a lot of people—and you can read all this—that believe that there were angels that were helping them because there's no physical way that a group that small could build a wall that great. Yes.
Anybody any Ikea fans? Okay, all right. Well, I mean, a lot of feedback on Ikea, clearly. You know, have you ever gotten—me and my wife got a couch from Ikea. If you've ever bought anything from Ikea, you know what I'm about to say. We bought a couch from Ikea a few years ago, and it was an option to deliver and assemble.
And my wife was talking to the dude on the phone, and she was like, "Hey, do you know it's a couch? Like, how much do we need to assemble?" And he was like, "Oh, it's fine. Just, you know, we'll deliver it. There's only like three or four pieces. It's okay." And so we were like, "Great."
I got home from work and realized I need a PhD to put this daggum couch together. You know that if you've shopped at Ikea, it doesn't matter if you're buying a water bottle. It's 75 million parts put in a little baggie with the worst instructions ever that are in Swedish, and you're like, "I don't know what to do. No idea what I'm doing, how this is supposed to work."
Can I be honest with you? I think we sometimes—and I've been there as well—we often look at the state of our lives and say, "God, I'm trying to pursue you, but my life is in so, so many different pieces. I have trauma from my childhood I've never worked through. I have a really bad relationship that I'm going through. I have a lot of addictions that I'm really stuck on. I have a lot of things that I really am just held to, and I don't know how to piece it all together. I don't know how to rebuild all this."
But the reality is, is God didn't call you to build it on your own. He just called you to be faithful. That's right. The Bible says that when God returns, will He find faith? A derivative of faith is faithfulness. Faithfulness to wake up every day and say, "You know what? Before I do anything, God, I'm going to meet with you."
Yes. Before I look at my phone, before I encounter the day, God, I'm going to get in your word, and He will put the pieces together. We are the builders. You and I are building something. Evangelist Land was here four weeks ago or something, and he said something that has rang in my ear: it does not matter the home you were born into. It matters about the home you're building.
Yes. It matters about the things that you're going to prioritize in your life. And Nehemiah got to a place where he said, "I'm sick and tired of being here. God, I've been faithful. If you're calling me, I'll go, but I am going to build. Sanballat and Tobiah aren't going to stop me. The cares of this world aren't going to stop me. I'm going to build what you've called me to build."
I look at, you know, a lot of people in my life who have been builders in the kingdom, and I think you probably could think to yourself right now of people who are heroes in your life who have been faithful to what God has called them to do. My parents—let me talk about my mom and my dad. My mom was born into a really unique situation. Her parents were, I think, 18 or 19 when they had her, and they were hippies.
And when I'm talking about hippies, I'm not talking about like they drink coffee at Bonnie, you know, listen to Bon Iver, and they were hipsters. No, they were like Beatles, LSD—whatever it's called—LSD, yeah, LSD, tripping, pot-smoking, bona fide hippies. Like, like that generation hippies. A few months or weeks after my mom was born, my grandfather left, moved to California, lived on Sunset, and played in bands.
And so her home life was not ideal. She's pretty much raised by her grandparents. She was exposed to a lot of things she was never supposed to be exposed to, and the only really thing she saw of God was within a Catholic church. And later on in her early adult years, she came to the—or teenage years, she came to the Lord.
And then, in adult years, she met my dad. And going to my dad's side, my dad had a really interesting childhood. He was basically—my grandfather on his side was kind of in and out. He was an alcoholic, and sadly, until he was an alcoholic until he died when me and my sister, I think, were about 14 or 13. And then he came to God later on in his early adult years.
And statistically, their marriage and them building a home is bound for failure. It's bound for failure. You know, my parents aren't perfect, but one thing that they have dedicated their lives to is making sure their children and their home is a place where God dwells.
Yes. I can remember at night hearing my mom down in her room late at night and early in the morning, speaking in tongues, praying that God would keep me and my sister, that God would save her family. Yes. And let me tell you, we didn't grow up with a perfect childhood. We didn't grow up with a perfect home. But they said, "There's no voice that's going to stop me. I'm going to build what God's called me to build. I'm going to build a home where God dwells. I'm going to build a life that God is pleased in."
And you may be looking at your life saying, "It's a wreck. I don't know how I'm going to get out of this. I don't know how I'm going to do this." And God's saying, "Don't try to figure it out. Just be faithful. Just be—just steward faithfulness to the house of God and to prayer and His word, and you will build a life that He has called you to build."
As we stand all over this place, what took a long time to destroy, God restored in 52 days. And I believe God's going to restore, and He is restoring people in this place. And you may think, "Well, I'm serving God. I'm living for God." He's going to restore us to a deepening hunger and love for the things of Him. Yes.
And tonight, it's our decision to say, "I'm not just going to live in this place. I'm not just going to enjoy the simple things, but God, I want everything. I'm going to be a builder. I have the heart of a builder. God, you're calling me to build a home. God, you're calling me to build your kingdom, and I'm going to put it first in my life. I want so much more than where I've been. And so God, take my life, lead me, and guide me."
As we lift our hands all across this room, Lord, I pray that you would search us right now. Search our hearts, Jesus. Lord, forgive us if we have built our own kingdom, if we have built our own lives, oh God. Lord, restore us to a place of the heart of a builder.
on Nov 05, 2023
