 Good evening. Good evening. Look at your neighbor and say it's good to see you in the house of the Lord tonight Are you happy to be here? Amen. Have you had one of those days like I've had? That you worked on something almost all day and then you realize you were doing it the wrong way and you had to rip It up and throw it in the trash and start all over again. Can I get a witness? That was my day So I've been really excited about coming into the house of Lord because I need to have a word How many of you need a word tonight? You know it was such a refreshing time to come into the house of Lord on a Wednesday night sometimes we have to drag ourselves to church and We eat real quick or we don't eat we get here and then we sit down and That feels good doesn't it and then you add the word on top of that. It's just like icing on the cake So I'm expecting God to speak to us tonight in a tremendous way I'm expecting God to do miracles in the house even on a Wednesday night. How many of you need a miracle Have you need some God to do something that you have no control over and you can't do anything about it But but God let's all stand and let's have a word of prayer to open up the service Because I know God can do a miracle on Wednesday night and I'm believing it He can do a miracle for me and just you to also and I believe it now We have a prayer list that you got when you walked in the building tonight So if you get that prayer list out real quick There's many names that are on the prayer list that we need to pray for and I just read the effect The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man or woman of Valeth much and When you think of the word fervent that means to be passionate It means to be enthusiastic so the effectual enthusiastic person the passionate person That prays God will hear it doesn't matter if you're praying soft or you're praying loud Just if you're passionate about your praying that gets the heart of God Look at your neighbor on the left and right and just get their face in your and in your mind Look at somebody different besides your spouse Because you know they need prayer They need a lot of prayer and we're gonna go to God in prayer And as we pray over the knees that are listed on here You just put your hand on you might not know who they are But they need some prayer and look at the person next to you and get that face in your mind and pray for your Neighbor that's with you and let's ask God to come into this service and bless us right now Let's all pray together their heavenly father We thank you for this opportunity to come into your house Lord we might have come in here tired and weary We have a lot of things on our mind, but right now God arrest our minds Bring us into the atmosphere of your presence because we lift you up and we praise you We know you're a God that heals you save and you deliver and Everyone that is on this prayer list I ask you Lord that you would meet their needs whatever it is God We believe you Lord and we trust you in the outcome and for my neighbor that's standing beside me God I ask you Lord that whatever he or she needs in the service tonight Let God and put it in their heart meet their need tonight through his word and we thank you for it And we praise you for it in Jesus name and we all said Amen, okay get out from your seat go meet somebody you haven't met before smile at them love on them Let them know you're glad they're in the house of the Lord and those that are watching us live stream Tonight you are welcome to the house of the Lord here at Pace assembly We're so honored to have you and we're gonna get into the word get your Bible out get ready to study His word and those that are in Texas. I want to give a special Howdy of those that are in Texas that are watching us. I love y'all I love everybody that's watching us if you're in a hospital room Know that God's there with you and we welcome you into the house of the Lord. Amen. Amen Let fellowship be in the house tonight Thank you Jesus. Okay, we're gonna do something a little different tonight We are not going to physically take up an offering But I am we're trying to streamline some of our services so that we can get right into the word But I don't want you to forget that as you're walking out the door Tonight there are buckets that are on the tables on the outside tables here They're on the tables on the back and there's probably some in the four year Maybe that you can give your offering tithe and offering you can give it in multiple ways and they're showing you right now So after the service tonight when you're leaving obey God look at your neighbor say obey God Don't forget about your offering because the Lord will bless you for what you give and we appreciate it All that you do and we pray that God will bless you I want to give a couple of announcements this Sunday It's gonna be a really exciting Sunday. We have amen We have Kelly Crabb and her daughters that are going to be in service with us now We have guests that come to our church Musical guests a lot a lot of times that come and they really just want to sit and hear the word and They like coming here because they love the church. They love the people of the church And they love the word of God So Kelly and her girls are going to be singing the pastor is gonna be preaching and he's gonna be preaching another message on the altar He'll tell you all about it. I'll let him do it. He's been preaching to me today since I got home about he's really excited So we'll have the special music from Kelly Crabb and her daughters and the AM service and the pastor will preach Now the nighttime is going to be really special too because Jason Crabb is going to be coming through with his whole band on Sunday night, so be here Sunday night football's over Football's over. I know you're really sad about it a football's over So you can come Sunday night six o'clock and Jason Crabb will be here now He's gonna be singing with his band But he's also has a guest with him and this guest is a comedian. So it's going to be a entertaining fun night But yet the Spirit of Lord is going to meet us in the song So y'all make plans to come come as you are Sunday night and we'll have a great time together I do want to push a special event that's coming up because I am gonna have to have some help I've already some of the ladies have already told me how many ladies in the house loved to shop Okay, not many hands now men. Does your wife like to shop? Wow, does anybody like to shop? Raise your hand if you like to shop girls. My goodness. Okay. Good. Okay. Now this doesn't this Saturday March the 11th. It's just for you now What I wanted to explain it on a Wednesday night real briefly because Sunday mornings We don't have a lot of time But we have a semi truck that is full of clothes that have been donated brand new clothes from a K toes that closed K toes all over if you've ever shopped a K toes you might like them you might not but they have It's not just clothes. It's purses. It's shoes. It's glasses. It's sunglasses. It's clothes and We're gonna set it all out and have it in the gym on Tables all the clothes every item will be three dollars a piece And so it's just gonna be we need to get it and get it out and get it back in the ministry Do I hear an amen? I heard something. Oh, I think there are some men clothes in it. Aren't there I? Think so we were I can't get hardly in the boxes because they're they're on crates I we opened up a few of the boxes So on March the 11th ladies starting at 8 o'clock until all the clothes are gone We are having the sale, but I will need some help the week before because we're gonna set it all now This isn't like a rummage sale. These are news the new clothes. Okay, so don't call me and say Hey, I've got some clothes in the closet. Can I bring them? No, I don't I'm sorry I really can't handle all that but This day, I want you to come out, but I'll need help to set all this up So ladies if you can help me call the church, let me know we'll kind of get together It'll be during the daytime that we'll be setting the tables up laying the clothes all out and then We'll need people that day to take money and to make sure everything is nice and neat for the next lady That walks through and that's it. God bless you. I love you. I hardly ever get up here or say anything to you I was gonna help you downstairs here Otherwise, I'll get letters and cards and crayon. How y'all doing out there? Pull me down Amen, good to see you in the house of the Lord tonight Take me out of the monitor fellas I'd like for you to open your Bibles up to the book of James chapter number five And while you're doing that I Just certainly echo all that you've just heard and please make note of it Go ahead and mark your calendars and all of the things that you need to do to Steve I think I'm in the subs or something. I don't know but I'm getting a roar up here. Okay The Events that are coming up we there's several of them and of course on the right on the backside of that will be Easter can you imagine We're already planning for that and getting ready for that to take place and so I just want to encourage you to Invite your friends load up your car Someone called me today and said hey, do you have? Buses going in certain locations and had to tell them we don't have that particular ministry anymore Except for everybody's car that is the bus ministry. I got four people on that one Okay, so if your car breaks down because you're not bringing somebody to church I'll just say Use an opportunity. There's plenty of opportunities. Let me just tell you there is People that are Wanting to come to church. They're just looking for an invitation. I Had to be at a car dealer or a tire dealership a little bit today this past earlier part of the week and You know just doing some business there and and the guy that we introduced myself taylor and I were there and and He said yeah, what where's the church? I've been I just came into town and I'm looking for a church 24 years old I'm looking for a church I said the doors of the church are open come down the road Amen, he said well, can I bring my friend right here who works with me? I said abs you blow the bus Amen, listen all people are waiting on is an invitation by and large And if you'll if you won't be afraid listen Do you know you're a christian first made in the image of god called with purpose for that right there? All right, that's not Your job is your job. That's wonderful. But you're encounter with people on a daily basis for me I'm looking for that opportunity. I want you to be looking for that opportunity as well. Look for an opportunity You're not you may not bow down right there and lead them to the lord. That's not the point You'll just put some seed in their life. It will spring up. Amen So I just want to encourage you to do that and I want to encourage you also as we met yesterday Uh Taylor and I did with principal shell at pace high school Three suicides in the past several weeks And we shared that with you this past weekend and these students that were on the platform that you were praying for And I just want to encourage you to keep on doing that We have offered our services offered our church for whatever that it may be We've offered to make contact with Uh Reggie dabs to come in and do a school assembly whatever it takes To be able to reach to young people and students in this time that we're in this is a desperate time And we need to be uh About the lord's business in prayer And I want I assured principal shell and the members of the faculty That were there we came in contact with that this church is praying earnestly for them continually and believing god To help them have understanding know what to do. I want you to know in the in the school system their borders and their perimeters are held intact by The the laws of the land and most of the time all they're able to do is um You know, we're going to serve in a mental health way and I I understand that and that's wonderful to be able to have Somebody to counsel with talk with about situations, but as I assured principal shell Yesterday, uh that the answer and the hope is in is in jesus christ at the end of the day And and if we don't have that then that's that's why the suicide is happening because they don't have hope uh that there's going to be a future and a and a uh an opportunity to be able to Have something in front of me that I can hope for And so I just encourage you to keep on praying believe in god And I know that you will you're that kind of a church God bless you for that in your bibles in the book of james chapter number five I want you to look with me in james five and 17. This is kind of a point text for us here It's not the only one, but it kind of gives you a little bit of an overview of Of what we're going to be talking about and i'm just going to say to you Because you're here tonight because you're watching online You make sure you're here this coming weekend You're getting a head start In fact, you're going to have a whole lot more context in the background of this message this coming weekend I'll only be able to deal with a with a portion of it as the lord is directing my heart But you're going to have a uh really good uh background and a context of entirety Of the life of elijah when we get through at least a hope and some principles to live by some life lessons some leadership That's uh if there ever was a leader in the word of god, it is elijah Uh and he's not through leading Amen now y'all don't get all excited and jump start swinging from the chandeliers Settle down out there all right Amen, so ushers as you come by to shoot everybody with a b12 shot Uh, I want to say this again elijah is coming back All right prior to the coming of messiah the lord elijah is coming back And that's the reason why studying his life and what took place gives you insight into what's going to happen in the future So when we talk about droughts and and and prophesied droughts and fire and and all kinds of miracle signs and wonders happening These are the same activities that are going to take place in the last days When elijah is down on this earth walking around with what I believe will be enic The only two that have not seen death And the point is is that they will be performing and doing the same thing as the book of revelation says that they That happened during their time here on this earth. And so it's a powerful lesson for us tonight I want us to get it in our spirit. Are you alert? Are you ready to study the word of god? All right shake your neighbor by the arm and tell him you better wake up now Tell him you need this word right here Amen Amen Father thank you for the privilege we have to be able to worship you in the word and we ask you right now Let this word be food for our soul. Let it be bread For us tonight. Let it be drink and we give you praise lord for all that you're doing in this church in jesus name Everybody said a good amen Incidentally, I'll bring some more to the to you concerning this I haven't given you a little bit of a bible prophecy on wednesday night and quite some time but Just as a nugget here for you this evening I've told you for a number of years. In fact, you've heard me repeat it before that whenever the supreme court Adjusted for themselves. They literally went against the law of god in same-sex marriage that it would unleash a lying spirit Upon the united states of america and we have seen that time and again I mean at this moment. We don't know if it's a weather balloon or an object or aliens All right, so we're all over the page with that but more than that It was confirmed so much more today in the newspaper or in the news. I should say Um, I just dated myself in the news All right for all of you that get your news by way of twitter. Hang on all right Um a judge said today that It is not Not only not chargeable, but it is not against the law And i'm paraphrasing this if a politician says something about another politician that isn't true During the election period of time It is it is okay for you to lie It is okay for you to lie In the middle of that whole situation because it is free speech So now we have the endorsement of a judge. I want you to understand this the the person who rules on the law Is saying it's okay to lie because that would be free speech And someone shared with me today a little bit and said well, they could sue them for defamation of character I said by the time they got through the lawsuit and the court the election would be over Hmm My friends it it behooves us to stay closer to the law than we ever have before And closer to the truth of god's word the only thing that is truth today is the word I I appreciate the fact that people would share things with you news media all that kind of stuff And i'm just telling you everything must be filtered through the word of god. Can you say amen to that? So in the book of james chapter five, this is just a point scripture for you here this evening as an overview It speaks of elijah elias elijah verse 17 was a man subject to like passions as we are that is a powerful enveloping statement for us A man we're talking about the prophet elijah that called fire down from heaven is a man subject to like passions As we are and he prayed Earnestly that's that effectual fervent prayer. She was talking about a few moments ago That it might not rain and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months And he prayed again and the heavens gave rain and the earth brought forth her fruit Point is that I want you to get a hold of and you'll hear this probably again on sunday Is that elijah Because even though he's the prophet of god and a powerful man of god and a powerful figure in the word of god The bible makes it clear. He is subject to like passions such as we are In other words, he was just a man or a woman such he's not a woman Such as we are in humanity. Okay. I made that clear for you. Thank you. I just I have to make it clear today So the meaning of elijah's name sets the course for the whole thing It means his name means yaway is god Yaway is god. My god is yaway. That's another way to say it. He um He is a tishbite according to the scripture and he is of the tribe of benjamin Very interesting correlations going on there his father Jeroham Recorded in first chronicles eight and 27 He was from the northern tribe of israel that had already in this particular occasion Uh had already split that the israel had split in the northern and the southern kingdom he's from the northern kingdom of israel and um Uh Israel the northern side the southern side would do the same thing But they had already been steeped in apostasy and idol worship by this time for quite some time And you'll hear more about this this coming weekend, but the overarching General name for the idol worship was bail Bail was not just one god That he represented that title represented multiple multifaceted god and because of that um The influence of bail worship of all different kinds I mean worship in trees and everything else and they planted the groves around the altar We'll talk a little bit about that this coming weekend lord willing. Uh, it was introduced and Injected into society into israel, uh in idol worship by Jezebel Jezebel Jezebel Does not mean you wore more makeup than anybody else Jezebel I won't take time to talk about her too. Not too much tonight But the point is is that jezebel spirit is still very much in operation in a controlling spirit today. That's what that is She controlled ahab wherever you have an ahab. There's a jezebel wherever you have a jezebel. There's an ahab Someone is the master puppeter and the other one is the puppet Okay So elijah's name means yawai is god the lord is my god and that alone Names mean something that made him stand out of the crowd Uh Whenever they just said his name yawai is god because in this get the picture of this Uh, the people have totally turned themselves towards bail worship They're worshiping and and it is It is so undescribable The the the sins of bail worship that I could not I will not do it from behind this pulpit. It is that grotesque And uh and and more than that it's grotesque because it was totally against god But when when they say oh here comes elijah They're saying here comes the representation of yawai the god that we are supposed to be worshiping but are not This is going to get tight. I can already tell it So there is not any real info About him in his background There's no mention of the training or anything like that per se that he got There is some that we'll again share with you on this coming weekend But we can tell a few things from the habits of elijah. I'm just giving you a little background here So you can get some understanding Because when you when you just read about elijah Here's a man who speaks and and god says Tell everybody it's going to dry up. It's going to be a drought for three and a half years and it happens That's power That is a powerful investment of power into elijah So this is not someone to be trifled with And it will happen again in the last days as I told you So we can tell from some of elijah's habits that he had a little bit more about him He's the outdoorsy type. We find that Found in second kings first kings as well He dresses kind of strange in his appearance according to second kings verse one and Chapter one verse number eight. We do know that he's a fast runner under the anointing of god According to first kings chapter 18. We know that he has a very He has the ability to survive In the middle of a famine Of course god is sustaining him But when you're talking about everybody's starving And you're surviving that's a big deal He also dwelt in caves. So he was not somebody was sitting in an ivory tower somewhere calling himself profit I want to make sure you understand this We got more profits today In name than we have ever before And I just want to let you know We're not the only non-profit corporation. I hope you got that There's a lot of other non-profits out there And there's a way to judge the prophet's word. Are there real prophets? Absolutely There's no doubt about it But I can assure you that there's not as many and as as what you would think that are Genuinely hearing from the word of god or hearing from god You know, I thought about it. Please forgive me, but I have these strange thoughts that go through my head I thought about it. Why hasn't anybody prophesied the ashberry? revival going on Has anybody prophesied 41 000 souls plus that have gone out into eternity through a turkish earthquake. No hear me You you might get all you want tonight because sunday it's going to be red hot in here and fire But i'm just going to tell you Uh, Elijah didn't play He was a man of subject to like passions But when god spoke he spoke And you didn't mess with him and a real prophet when they speak their word comes to pass So israel or rather, uh, elijah is one of the most important and most respected prophets in all of israel With an expectation of him coming back again I keep reiterating that but the fact that he is is a for me is very exciting I don't know. I hope god will give me a screen like this And I can just watch what's going on because it's going to be most exciting Uh, so god used him to bring about a revival into the northern kingdom and accomplish a number of miracles as you well know and um In malachi chapter this is not on your paper But in malachi chapter four just to let you know behold the bible says I will send you elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the lord And he shall turn the hearts of the fathers get this To the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers lest I come and smite the earth with a curse We realize that in james chapter five here that he's not only subject to like passion, but whenever he speaks um They fall under this curse of the drought for three and a half years So in your on your paper right here, I want you to look at first kings first kings chapter number 16 verse 33 The bible says an ahab made a grove All right, uh, there's a certain kinds of trees that well, they would use different trees for different idols even But they would plant these groves of trees around idle altars For a lot of reasons The bible says one is they they like the shade and they like the shadows Because it hid them from what they were doing that was so grotesque and horrible in idol worship Uh mulek is one of them that they would The the priests of mulek would beat their drums and scream In their songs beat their drums and lay the babies in the red hot arms of the statue Of mulek and burn the child until it fell into the belly of mulek This is how far away from god people can get when they don't serve the lord Now we're talking about human beings sacrificing their own babies Are you hearing and I don't have to go far for you to understand what I'm talking about So Asteroth was another portion of the bale worship an additional god And they would make these totem poles and these plant these groves and trees around For a lot of reasons But a couple of them is that any bloody sacrifice that would take place on that altar would be covered up by the trees And the smell of that burning flesh or that blood and everything would be covered up by the fragrance Of the trees What you need to know is that's the reason why god commanded in the book of deuteronomy in the very beginning To cut down the groves And cut down those poles to asteroth and to bale and all of that clear the place because god wants as a type and shadow Of the cross of jesus christ, there were no groves around the cross of jesus You saw the naked raw Sin of which was our sin not his sin the shame the guilt the pain the smell of it everything I I as a firefighter I had one occasion that I went into a fire and after it was over with investigating the situation and I could smell Because the person had gotten burned in that fire And and and there was the smell of burning flesh And it is something that I could not get out of my smeller For quite some time. I want you to know This is the occasion that you're seeing here in the atmosphere where elijah is stepping into An ahab king ahab made a grove And ahab did more this is I'll probably get this one on sunday, too But I want you to emphasize get this ahab did more verse 33 to provoke the lord god of israel to anger Then all the kings of israel that were before him And let me just stop right here and say if you wanted to do a study on something to find out Look and see what ahab did And then ladies and gentlemen lay that right beside what's going on in our society today And if god destroyed ahab and everybody that was with him you can rest assure And the thing that people do not want to hear from prophets today They want prophets that scratch their ears and tickle their ears and tell them what they want to hear But I want you to know something when a real prophet is going to speak. It's going to smite your heart Did you hear what I said I'm trying to hold back from preaching my sermon first King 17 and 1 then elijah the tishbite who was of the inhabitants of gilead Set an ahab as the lord god of israel liveth Before whom I stand there shall not be do look at this not do nor reign after these years But according to my word three and a half years they would step into this now Who in the world would prophesy something like that and furthermore? The one thing we don't want to do in our society today Is correlate anything like this Drought with god's judgment upon a society And the moment a preacher does that Uh, he's held up as a heretic He's ostracized and mocked and all that but ladies and gentlemen read the book You need to know that god uses these things as judgments to get the attention watch this not necessarily the world But of his own people to turn them back to him So you're talking about a leader We're looking at leadership and life lessons that we need to apply to our own heart And here's the first one leaders step into the crisis at the right time You want to know when leaders step up when the crisis hits and you'll find out who the true leaders are Those that are not true leaders will run Those that are not true leaders will blame other people I was looking at the news before I got here online and and i'm looking at At you know, you got this horrible I wish you had time for prophecy files right now. You got this horrible event Catastrophic event in east palestine, ohio right now Now I worked in the fire service. I do know you don't just walk up in there and start blowing stuff up. You got hazardous materials But what I've seen and this is what people that are not leaders do They blame other people For what they should be taking responsibility for it's not my fault. It's my predecessor's fault It's not my fault. It's their fault Leaders always step up in a crisis at the right time. The one thing you're going to find out about elisha or elisha is that When in in first kings chapter 17 you have no like lead up to elisha coming on the scene He just steps into the court of ahab opens his mouth and declares Judgments coming by a drought and then he dismisses himself for three and a half years Now that's some power right there just stop by to tell you there's going to be a drought And it and it dried up like crazy Okay, so leaders step in into the crisis at the right time leaders No success takes time and preparation As I've been studying preparing for this message for this coming weekend And and for this particular message i'm finding out more and more about elisha How that While he you see him step in in chapter 17 and he proclaims this prophecy of drought and judgment That is judgment because they were worshiping bail and not god And and let me let me make sure you understand something The you've heard this before but we don't take it serious it rains the bible says on the just and the unjust righteous people and unrighteous people wind up suffering In the judgment to get the in the judgment of god to get the attention of people And turn them back to god And that's hard to swallow for a lot of people, but didn't we not wall walk around with masks? Did we not shut our churches down did we not do all this stuff? They weren't parsing it out saying okay all you christians go ahead and as a matter of fact they so they oppressed it What's the point Everybody dealt with that nine eleven. They didn't just say okay all you that are islam Uh that that follow islam get out of the buildings. We're flying No They were people of muslim faith in there and all kinds of faiths made no difference because evil amalek If you were here this past weekend evil is evil And evil could care less whether you're righteous or unrighteous just want to wipe it doing much like much like what took place I'm sorry. I'm I'm pinging here 900 million dollars given to the plo just a few days ago and terrorism in israel is going straight up You don't pay to get goodness Are you hearing what i'm saying? You can't pay somebody to get them to turn their hearts around and in fact it only makes it more evil So what's happening here leaders? No success takes time. Here's elijah And what happens he steps into the court. He says here's three and a half years of drought Just wanted to stop by and touch base with you. We'll see you and he disappears for three and a half years He goes into hiding God hid him God takes him through a time of preparation You'll want to be here this weekend takes him through a time of preparation Because that was not going to be the time they Israel as a whole the king the queen jezebel everybody all of them had to suffer The prophecy that came from elijah and the judgment of god So as a result of that he goes into hiding and he's being prepared for the time when he will return back on the scene In some ways that's the long suffering of god and other ways is the judgment of god One thing about elijah he goes down to the to the brook and hangs out and gets some water because god showed him Where to get some water in the middle of a drought So elijah appears on the scene We don't have any back story of his family or anything like that But he just shows up ready to take on bad kings and evil queens god give us a profit In america today come on somebody That's not afraid to speak the truth and quit fooling around tickling people's ears and telling them It's going to be all right. Everything's just going to be wonderful when we all know things are going down to two So he slowly learns how to trust the lord for this three and a half years that he's in hiding and elijah Whose name means my god is yaw way Get this he can't be he can't be out like going to the 7 11 and getting him some bread Because he's a hunted man by the king for one thing But he is every time somebody says hey, there's elijah. They're saying hey yaw ways yaw way is god That's going against the grain. Oh, let's say elijah might have been a a Might have been the product of cancel culture He might have been he might have been taken off of facebook Because yaw way is god I'm trying not to preach he might have been silenced from twitter Because his name means yaw way is god and it's not just his name. He knows that yaw way is god Are you with me? So what are you saying as a leader? Never attempt to achieve success overnight whatever that success may be You will not have overnight success As a leader you're prepared a little bit at a time the bible says that we're to acquire wealth a little bit at a time The bible says we should acquire authority and all that a little bit at a time as we're growing into it The last thing you want to do is have the title before you're anointed to do it That means it's some experience Come on somebody You need some experience behind your behind your words So i'm gonna go to the doctor. Okay What kind of doctor are you i'm a general physician But i feel like the problem is in your head So i'd like to take a saw and Cut half your scalp out and dig my fingers in around there Now this is my understanding of this particular story, but how many of you ever heard that cliche ignorance is bliss You know the the backstory of that Dr. Bliss was the doctor Who was on the scene when president abraham lincoln was shot in the head by a small derringer and that that Lead bullet went into the back of his skull and lodged into his brain They took him out of ford's theater on a On a door ripped a door off the shingles and he was too long for that ran him across the street Into the house and put him in the back bedroom and put him in the bed had to put him had to put him Caddy corner in the bed because he's way too long way too tall And there he is bleeding out on the pillow people are coming in All kinds of people politicians and everybody's coming in there and then In comes this guy as i understand the story his name is dr. Bliss He comes in and puts his finger down in abraham lincoln's skull Where the bullet is feeling around for the bullet Consequently shoving it further down into his brain And by the next morning abraham lincoln is dead The headlines read ignorance is bliss That's the guy you don't want working on your head Come on somebody I don't need a false prophet. I need a true prophet I don't need a false preacher. I need a true preacher. Come on somebody I don't need a false doctor who stated the holiday in express last night I need somebody who knows and has got some experience behind them In a few days that we We have it on our callers a constant reminder 12 years ago. Rita had open heart surgery and that's the one thing I asked dr. Bailey. I said how many of these things you've done If he said two I said we're going somewhere else When he told me he had done hundreds and hundreds of them with great success. Okay Let's go Come on somebody We we we don't think about that in with our spiritual selves many times But i'm just going to tell you it behooves you today to know the word of god and know what people are saying to you Are you hearing me the bible says know those who labor among you This man elijah had experience and he knew that it took time to prepare What's that success? Well, he had seven different kings that he had to deal with That's been going on before he got there and and while he's there Jeroboam, whatever you do, whatever you do never name your children bohem Rhea or jero Just stay away from it all the way around nadab and Beisha and ilai who was a drunker and a murderer. He was the king Zimra which is guilty of treason We think some of this stuff that's going on today is just brand new What's happening right here in the bible y'all Amri and then ahab who is the most wicked king who is married to the most wicked queen What a combination So the worship of the true god Had all but ceased under their administration ahab and jezebel I'm amazed I said i'm amazed That we are where we are today And bail worship had become the national religion of the nation of israel Remember this is the same group of people or descendants thereof Who were brought by the hand of god out of egypt? Into the promised land And now they're worshiping everything but the true and living god So in first kings chapter 19 verse 18, here's this flood tide of adultery and superstition and evil And it is overwhelming the nation Never had there been such an irreverence Of god almighty jahovah god and a nation sunk so low spiritually and morally And into that comes elijah Who knew that at some point he was going to have to face the king now get this He's walking out of the woods And here's the king with all of his stuff and all of his regalia and the palace and the whole bit But elijah was not intimidated by that Elijah called the judgment down of the drought By the word of the lord and of course it made the king mad They were already in a mess it made the king mad if you know anything about ahab He's a puppet on a string all he does is want to whine and cry over naibos vineyard and oh baby baby jezebel Get that one back for me. Oh, don't you worry, sweetheart? I'll get it back wherever you see that manipulation spirit going on Whether it's in a marriage or in a business or in a church or anywhere else ladies and gentlemen You better have eyes open and you better be getting away from it It's a seductive spirit Are you hearing me? So elijah faces his opponent And that's part of being a leader is having tough conversations with people Many times we put off those conversations Uh because It's uncomfortable and we don't want to be seen as the bad guy And i'm just going to tell you i've had to have those kind of conversations enough that i don't like being the bad guy But somebody's got to step up and do something When there's an injustice or something that needs to be corrected. You can't sit there. Come on somebody You can't sit there and let fentanyl kill all your kids And not step up to the plate and start making some noise about it Come on now So What's going on? Leaders are not afraid to confront another leader with truth Don't go on your own but go with truth speak the truth and love but speak the truth Don't think that because elijah's prophesying drought that he didn't love god's people Because he wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't for god's call upon his life So let me take this out of the prophet realm and put it into yours At some point you're going to have to step up and and speak the truth in a situation And it's coming faster than what you think And you better be prepared With the heart of elijah That breaks for the people of god But you're not afraid to speak what the word of god has to say Because we have we have homogenized it and and and massaged it down until We've got such a quagmire of mess today That we're watching generations take their lives And drugs and everything else that the bible prophesied would take place in the last days is happening in our world right now And it's not about trying to be holier than thou It's about trying to bring some salt and light into a situation that is desperately needed I wish I had an amen out there, but i'll just say amen to myself So the problem is that the longer we let problems fester and I have to remind myself of this The longer we let things fester the likelihood of that person becoming unmanageable at that point Uh really rises to a whole new level So you can't just sit it to the side blame somebody else or keep keep uh keep things all to yourself and bottled up First kings chapter 17 verse 1 remind you as the lord god of israel liveth elijah says before whom I stand there shall not be Dune or rain these years, but according to my word So he's saying to them listen. I know this is going to be hard for you, but this is what god's word says boom So god's word watch this god's word calls homosexuality sin So what we've got a problem with is that we try to we try to We try to lump the sin and the sinner together And it comes out as what we would what the world would call hate speech But let me tell you something and make it very simple for you You hate the sin that god hates and you love the sinner that god loves Realize why what does paul tell us realizing that you and i There go i but by the grace of god Please don't think that you can't be deceived in the hour that we're in That's the reason why sometimes you need to have the tough conversations with yourself in the mirror Hey you Come on somebody You're the problem that's going on right here So what happens leaders then need to Well, let me get this to you elijah lived in a day of such spiritual decline and apostasy that it was off the chart Completely and my friends I would say the same thing of the times that we're living in right now And and the only the only remedy Is a spiritual awakening and a revival And a return back to the god of abraham isaac and jacob Whose name is jesus christ I was coming back from pencecola today And there's that great big billboard Jesus I said man if i had a hundred of those And still of seeing call me alabama on the side you can see jesus You know what i'm talking about You know Why is that so important because that's the only hope we have And i didn't i respect the principal principal shell that we prayed right there in the office. He was welcoming that But i know he's in a boundary of just mental health and that's the way we got to go But i had to make it very clear the only hope that for these kids here or anywhere else is the hope that is found in jesus christ Period and if we don't get that to them somehow That's the reason why we we said hey look we'll call we will pay for regi dabs to come in here and do your school assembly Whatever that it takes because it does matter who's speaking to you We don't need drag queens in the high school We need someone who'll step up and say thus sayeth the lord And i'm not talking about even having to preach i'm talking about bringing the love to them That lets them know your valued god loves you just like you are you're made wonderful in the eyes of god And there's a plan for your life and if you have it come on down here and we'll talk about it Several months ago in a missionary that we support to this day. They're involved in and trying to in rescuing and they are rescuing Kids and girls from human trafficking They had a school assembly in Pensacola and while that assembly was going on He does what he calls a brown paper and so all the kids come down and they write on this brown paper What their thoughts are and and maybe even something that's going on that they want to reveal gives them a very Innocent and safe place for them to do that One of them wrote it down that my friend is in a van on the way down interstate 10 right now as my information As i understood it. This was a few years ago. They were able to rescue that girl because the girl spoke up I had a parent out of this church tell me just past few days that their seven-year-old child was exposed To pornography by another kid in the school It's not a matter of if it's a matter of when That's the reason why you got to sit down with your kids and you got to talk with your kids And you got to bring them the word of god and i've offered it to you before I did just that same thing with this parent I said look we've got a set of books that can help you talk to your child from from the smallest of their Intelligence all the way up to teenage and and help it be systematic do whatever you got to do by the books You got to buy talk the word of god to them make sure you're speaking to them and know what's on their phone come on somebody Somebody told me today pastor our son walked in he was weeping and crying and said mom and dad I think i'm having trouble with youtube. I need you to help me get that off of my phone They took it right off right then ladies and gentlemen. This is a generation that's crying out saying help us We don't know which direction to turn we don't know what to do and you and i in this building and you watching right now Have the answer and if we'll open our mouth we can prophesy to another generation And say live and not die So elijah is in this spiritual decline and he's in this apostasy and ladies and gentlemen You know sometimes people want to beat him up for saying i'm the only one serving the lord and then god speaks to him Said look i got seven thousand others that are hiding out too But you got to realize and i say this for myself And i say it for you when you're serving the lord in the environment that we're in right now Where you don't know if your kid is going to be exposed to something or whatever that it may be and you got all kinds of stuff That's going on swirling You're praying lord protect him and keep them protect me You can get to the place where you feel like I think i'm one of the only ones who's got this conviction anymore We're talking about the prophet of god Leaders Are not afraid to display the sovereign authority of god through their life In other words When god begins to use your life don't make excuses for it Give the glory to jesus christ and do what god's called you to do Come on somebody if they're going to be as bold as they are out there in that world We must be bold with the power of god So what did god do god commissioned elijah To do things that were unprecedented and very difficult on I need you to walk into the president of the united states and tell him that there's because of the idol worship That's going on in this nation that we're going to shut it that the rain is going to stop for three and a half years And i'll see in three and a half years How many you know that can be very intimidating If you get past the secret service Right that's the equivalent of what he did We're talking about Walked into the office of the king and prophesy and the queen was in hearing distance He announces a drought He challenges then we see in the overview of abraham or elijah's life. He he confronts ahab and the and the 800 false prophets on the top of mount carmel That's a difficult thing We we get the we get the opportunity to look in hindsight At a situation and we go glory to god the fire of god But imagine being the prophet elijah down there When everybody's staying around gent you got 800 to one Anybody taking those odds down there in vegas? I don't think so 800 to one But i'm telling you i'd rather be the one with god Than to be the 800 without god So this great display that takes place on top of mount carmel And then he declares the the righteous judgment upon ahab and jezebel In in in the action that took with nabos vineyard and you find that in first kings chapter 21 i'm going to just tell you in the time we're living in we need to pray god give us the courage of of elijah Give us the courage of elijah His his ministry was characterized by so much supernatural activity. I'm just going to hit a few of them for you Here he is god says go down by the brook charath and i'm on feed you there And he sends ravens down with meat in their mouth and feeds him every day twice a day He goes to the widows house and gets Gets a cake when she's about to die and request a cake first As a result the miracle of the oil and the meal are stayed The sun is raised up. There's fire that's called down from heaven. He's fed by angels He divides the water at jordan he gets in a chariot of fire and rides off in a blaze of glory at the end of his life on this earth Now i'm just telling you it don't get any better than that That's awesome I said that's awesome If you're not impressed by that probably nothing would impress you right That's pretty impressive anybody done that lately anybody wrote out a fiery chariot. Well horsemen coming down out of heaven No, all right, so be impressed right Be impressed That's very impressive. That's a supernatural event of god Look at first kings First kings right there. It's on your paper first kings chapter 18 verse 17 and 18 then it happened I love this passage of scripture then it happened When ahab saw elijah here he comes back Elijah comes back up to three and a half years. Is that you old troubleer of israel friends When they see me coming I want them to say here comes trouble Come on somebody And then the prophet don't even clear his throat and turns around and said Ain't me that's troubling Is you and your whole family that's troubling israel because of the idol worship that you're in Come on somebody See look at this passage of scripture today. They want to blame christians For what's going on? It's you right wing fundamentalists And they lump us together with every evil that there is And they blame the christians just like nero blame the christians when rom burned to the ground Come on somebody go back and check it out Nero lights the fire underneath christians hanging on crosses for his entertainment nero Turns the christians loose in the coliseum and the lions at the same time for the entertainment of the masses because the christians are the problem Keep on with your bad self Any second now Any moment now God's gonna say i've had it Go get my bride And you ain't gonna have to worry about no more christians on this earth Because every one of them are going to be gone in a moment in the twinkling of an eye for this mortal shall put on immortality And this corruptible shall put on incorruption and when this mortal has put on immortality and this corruptible is put on incorruption Then shall be brought to pass the saying death is swallowed up in victory. Oh death. Where is thy sting? Oh grave. Where is thy victory? Ladies and gentlemen, we will be gone in a moment in the twinkling of an eye We they won't see us like like elisha saw elisha They will be here and boom we're going to be there now You may not believe that and you might and you might be the ones today that are going Well, that must be aliens flying over montana, but you won't believe in the rapture of the church I don't know what to tell you all I can tell you is the book said it's gonna happen And i'm speaking it to you tonight to remind you keep ready get ready stay ready. Jesus is coming You troubler of israel Ah my god, see some of you would would jump out of here right now if they started calling pace assembly the trouble church That church down there believes in signs wonders and miracles Come on somebody Yeah, well, we believe it I believe the bible so much. I believe it from genesis to the maps how you like them apples Many times great victories now watch this because people focus on this Many times after great victories leaders default to a place of great distress So what happens? I'm gonna save this for you for sunday. So it's a nutshell right here The Elijah goes on top of mount caramel has this tremendous victory fire Comes down from heaven Licks up all the water I mean consumes all the all for the whole thing That's awesome Elijah said y'all better get down the hill. It's about to rain He tears off and under the instrument under the supernatural power of god outruns the horses To get down to jezreel and in his mind revival has come to israel and things are gonna be great But about the time he gets halfway down the mountain Another runner is coming from jezreel with a letter in his hand Elijah Fedex He opens up the letter. It's a letter from jezebel By this time tomorrow what you did all of my prophets. I'm gonna do to you. I'm gonna kill you elijah and elijah syncs into despair Pardon me and starts running for his life Now if you don't think that you can get into a place Where you're here And then all of a sudden you're here Am I talking to anybody here? I'm doing all this mighty works for you god And i'm seeing the hand of the lord and your blessings being upon my business and upon my family and upon my church All this is going on. It's great. Isn't it great everybody's great You get a letter from the devil Has anybody here or watching online ever got a letter? I'm not talking about your ex-wife. I'm talking about a letter from the devil I've gotten letters from the devil before I've had them email. I've had them in crayon. I've had them anonymous I've had them written out in pen pages And when I read them to start with early in my ministry They affected me big time No, that's right over a period of time any minister that knows That this is part of it We'll stop reading Now that's a hard place, but even in the middle of elijah's depression God was going to teach him to trust him Are you hearing me? That's that's not an easy place. We're living in a time period right now where depression Is taking people's lives taking people's income taking people's families all of that It's wiping them out because There is a spirit loose of fear And torment behind it And it's affecting the lives of people to such a degree that they feel like there's no hope and that's Listen to me. I'll deal with this on sunday, but that is what the That is what the base Of bail worship is all about Is to get you to question god And have a heart of unbelief towards god And if there is no hope my friends then you sink into a depression Come on somebody America is the most most blessed nation that there is in the world and we are the largest consumers Of antidepressants in the entire world Hear me now Why is this so important for us to get a hold of? because leaders Are going to go through times of isolation fear despair even depression As they believe and when I say leaders i'm talking to all of you Let me go ahead and give this one to you leaders will often feel like failures despite their success It's got mighty quiet in here Because you're thinking about your own self right now And you're wondering why you are here it is you're wondering Why is it that i'm serving the lord and yet it seems like It seems like Me serving the lord is of no value It's not helping me it doesn't seem I don't know why my prayers aren't being answered I've lost friends My belief system is against my co-workers and I could run down the list And and and the more you listen to that little voice on your shoulder talking unbelief and you're here If you're not careful Why is it so important that you're in this building tonight and i'm not just talking about Watching it online and i'm thank god for watching it online I'm glad that you can't but if you can physically get up and be here You know why because you are commanding you and disciplining your very body To hear the word of the lord and ladies and gentlemen the word of god is the seed It is the fruit it is the water it is the bread of life come on somebody It's everything I have need of and whether or not I get it all or not Is not the point the point is somewhere along the way faith is coming Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of god and what I need is faith because on the other side I'm getting hit by depression anxiety despair. I feel like i'm no good I feel like i'm a failure every time I feel like i'm doing something right Everybody's telling me i'm doing it wrong and on and on I can run the list and the devil has got plenty to run the list with But I want you to hear me tonight christian leader You must I don't know how else to say this you must Ingest invoke The word of god At every moment of the day Turn it on in your car praise and worship and i'm not talking about just any songs I'm talking about that that edifies your spirit and builds you up and draws you closer to god Come on somebody Because in the time we're in you never know when that hit is going to come Elijah had just had the greatest victory of his ministry Are you hearing me? Listen now don't don't don't drift He just had the greatest Miracle of his ministry If if he was a self promoter guy, this would be the guy he'd be on fox news He'd be everywhere they'd be writing him up in cbn and everything else under the sun But he didn't carry anything about that All he knew is I've done this for you god and now i'm running for my life Boy, there's so much there. I don't have time get this Elijah live In the conch in god's presence and relied upon his strength over and over again Even though he was going through this what happens he runs down he get what is what does he do? God said go down there and take you a nap Now i'm just going to tell you for everybody's against naps I personally am for naps. I am for naps if I got anybody who will shout me down on naps Come on. Can I get an amen out of naps? Can I get a witness for a nap? See That's what god told him to go down there and rest and he woke him up me fed him Got something to drink and he put him back to sleep. Why he was exhausted Friends, I'll just tell you there have been times when I walk out of this pulpit And I've given just like sunday when I've given everything I've got there's nothing left Physically physically exhausted mentally Spiritually depleted. I've given everything I've got I have to be careful at that moment To not open the gate You hear me Now I know i'm talking about me, but i'm talking about you You get a prayer answer You better be you better soak yourself into the presence of god listen to listen to something that's going to build your spirit up You need your spirit rebuilt. What does elijah do quickly? He goes down god puts him to sleep. He wakes him up. He feeds him. He puts him to sleep He wakes him up. He feeds him because he needed nourishment. He needed physical mental and spiritual Please don't think that just because we're talking about spiritual things that god's not concerned about the body soul and spirit He made it all So right here is a classic example Of everything that anybody learns when they go to counselors counselors is happening in the life of elijah And he gives us the pattern on how to come out of it So what does elijah do? Just listen just the threat Was enough she couldn't kill the prophet of god Only the threat Let's see if I can make it real for you. See if I can make it real Here it is We have the possibility of another amicron variant coming from covet and there could be multiple kinds of that news at 11 don't do barney don't touch nothing Don't be around anybody and the enemy Is using the same negative emotion of fear That he used in the beginning in the garden of eden to run God's people away from god and his presence Are you hearing me fear Is what is holding you back from doing what god's called you to do? That's it fear fear of rejection fear of whatever run the list fear and and I know that they say oh covet is over And then I go preach friday night up here and a pastor and his wife Say they got covet I'm using his microphone Come on. I'm in his green room I go into his oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah, some of y'all are nervous right now You won't talk you won't get within 10 feet of me right now because he might have it The devil is alive I said the devil is a liar I'm gonna eat me some mullet in spite of the mercury that's in it I'll pray god kill the stuff and let me eat some fried mullet because I survived come on somebody I'm gonna eat me an apple I don't care if they sprayed it with raid I'm gonna wash that dude off until it shines all the way down And then I'm gonna sink my big fat teeth into that thing. Come on somebody I can't be walking around in fear in some hazmat suit the rest of my life if that's it then take me out of here But ladies and gentlemen Sanctify that food and say god help me right here and let me live in the conscious presence of god so much That my mind will not be filled with what they want to fill it with But it will be filled with faith and hope and love and joy and peace And long suffering and all the things that's necessary for me to survive in the life that we're in right now How many of you are with that tonight? How many of you are going to stop being afraid of what the the devil and the news media is telling you and politicians getting on there It's oh pastor. Well, you're the one who's telling us. It's bad all the time, of course I'm giving you a reality and gut check, but that does not mean that you sink into despair I'm letting you know that Jesus is our hope And by you being here tonight your literal physical body and your mind is saying to the lord lord I trust you help my unbelief I'm believing as far as I can. He said that's fine. You bring it to the edge You bring it right to the edge Lord, you told me to get out of this boat. I sure did now walk Don't turn your eyes Keep your eyes on me and you'll be fine Come on somebody God's trying to help a rem listen Elijah and The hundred ministers that obadiah was hiding in the caves Feeding them bread and water surviving in a famine surviving in a recession We're going to raise the rates another Quarter percent And all the people's got 401ks go And everybody's got a variable payment on their house and car go. Oh, no If Elijah teaches us anything He teaches us how to survive in the hard times of life That god will never leave you and god will never forsake you I conclude with this right here tonight Elijah gets up from where he'd just been eaten and taken care of and getting his physical mental spiritual bodies Refurbished and he gets up and keeps on running in the opposite direction He goes down and gets in a cave He goes to the back of the cave And god said i'm not coming into that depression with you Elijah the bible says god stands in the door of the cave and says Elijah I'm sorry What are you doing here? I did not call you to hide in the cave And that voice of god reaches in the back of that cave and gets a hold of elijah the prophet man of god calling fire down from it He comes up out of that cave and what does he do? I'm about to tell you. Thank you He comes out and runs all the way back to jezreel Which is in the land of juda? Which juda means praise So if you want to come out of the cave Run towards your praise And when you get there on the way praising going and praising coming in and lift up your voices in praise And the depression and the heaviness and the pain and the guilt and the shame and the mocking and the rejection And all that kind of stuff will shed off because suddenly out of your mouth you're speaking what your heart believes I've heard the voice of the lord and i'm no longer going to stay in this cave. I'm coming out of the cave covid put us in the cave Politicians have put us in the cave preachers have put us in the cave But god is standing at the door of your cave tonight saying come out. I didn't call you to be here Don't you worry. I've got seven thousand who have not been a knee to bail You're not in this fight by yourself get on your feet before I preach this thing here tonight Father we thank you tonight for the goodness of god We thank you for the conscious presence of god and you're anointing that is able to lift us up Lord in the struggles and in the and in the attacks and in all that's taking place You are still god and I want to declare We are still your people hallelujah with all of our faults with all of our failure With all of the blessings and everything else we claim you jahovah Yahweh is our god jahovah is our god and we will remain faithful to you In the mighty name of jesus and everybody believes a shot a great big amen Turn around to somebody and tell them yahweh is my god Don't miss sunday man. It's gonna be fire