Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] I'm excited to preach. If we could bring up the sermon notes, we use a Bible app, and I upload the notes there. You can see all the verses and all the scripture that I use. You can scan that. I think there's close to 800 people that are following us on youversion. So mark us as your church. And then when we upload these notes from week to week, you can always get them. You'll get notified when they are there.
[00:00:26] Would you stand as we honor the reading of God's word. And I want you to turn to John chapter 4. John chapter 4 and verse 46.
[00:00:37] I actually had this in my heart a couple weeks ago when I preached on the fire of God.
[00:00:44] But I ran out of time. I didn't even get to what to me was the whole inspiration and the heart behind the message. But we'll get it today. John 4:46. Follow along as we read. So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee, where he had first met water to wine. There was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.
[00:01:03] When he heard Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to him.
[00:01:09] He implored him to come down and heal his son.
[00:01:14] His son was at the point of death.
[00:01:17] Jesus said, unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe.
[00:01:23] That seems harsh.
[00:01:25] No. Then said to him, sir, please come down before my child dies.
[00:01:32] Jesus said to him, go on your way. Your child lives.
[00:01:36] So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went on his way. As he was going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, your son lives.
[00:01:49] He inquired of them of the hour which he had gotten better. And they said, yesterday at the seventh hour, the fever left him. So the Father knew it was the same hour which Jesus had said to him, your son lives. He himself believed and his whole household. Ooh, that's awesome. This, ladies and gentlemen, is God's word.
[00:02:13] We believe it to be true. You may be seated.
[00:02:20] A couple weeks ago, I shared a message about dreams and visions.
[00:02:26] Actually a message that was born out of a dream that I had.
[00:02:29] And the Lord really put it in my heart to minister on the fire of God.
[00:02:34] The fire of Pentecost. I want to build on that today.
[00:02:39] Just a very quick recap. The main idea that I covered was the fact that in the upper room, the spirit of God was poured out and everyone received a fire.
[00:02:51] Everyone received a fire. Come on, look at your neighbor and say, you got a fire.
[00:02:57] Everybody gets a fire. It wasn't just for the ministers or the preachers or those with degrees in, you know, theology, or those who had been personally discipled by everybody got a fire that day.
[00:03:09] And the thing is, you watch this, this movement goes from 120 to 3,000 and then the next number you see is 4,000. And then by Acts chapter five, they completely lose count. There's so many people being added to the church every day. And what you begin to learn about the fire of God and the fire of Pentecost is fire spreads.
[00:03:33] Fire spreads.
[00:03:35] I learned this from a very young age.
[00:03:39] I was six years old.
[00:03:42] My mom would go to work, she'd drop me at daycare.
[00:03:47] And there's a kid at daycare who thought he was cool. He would show us little kids, I mean, this is a young adult, and he would show us fire tricks. He'd take out a lighter and make fireballs in his hand. And we thought it was pretty cool. I'm six, I'm watching this, like, wow, this is pretty amazing. And one of the things that he did is he took out this lighter and he took out a sock and he touched the flame to the sock and it burned all of the lint around the sock. And I just thought that was the coolest thing I'd ever seen.
[00:04:21] And so go home. I wake up very early the next day and I think I'm gonna show my four year old brother this cool fire trick.
[00:04:31] And so I find my mom's cigarette lighter and the sun's not even up yet, it's very early in the morning, she's still sleeping. And I don't have a sock with lint on.
[00:04:42] So I take the next best thing that I can think of. I grab this very large teddy bear that we had won at a fair, and this thing's about as tall as I am. And we take the bear and I'm showing my 4 year old brother this. I have trouble getting it lit. At first. I can't understand how the lighter works. But eventually I get a spark and the spark catches the bear on fire. And very much like the sock, it began to consume the entire bear. But unlike the sock, it didn't just go over and then go out. It began to consume the entire bear.
[00:05:22] Now I'm a kindergartener and the firefighters had visited our school and they taught us, if you ever catch on fire, what do you do?
[00:05:31] Stop, drop and roll. That's right.
[00:05:33] And so my logic, I'm a smart six year old, I think bear, stop, drop and roll. So we begin to roll this bear across the Carpet in the thinking, there's young people here. This is not what you do. Your parents will teach you, don't play with lighters. That's what you do.
[00:05:53] And so we begin to roll this bear, and flaming stuffing and patches of hair are now leaking out all over the carpet. And around this time, my mom comes out. This is a true story, by the way. I had people asking me, did that really happen? Yes, this really happened.
[00:06:08] Flaming stuffing everywhere begins to consume. The carpet begins to run up the walls. And my mom comes out, panics. She grabs the stuffed animal and throws it into the tub. But by then, the fire has spread throughout all of the living room now up the walls, now into the ceiling. And next thing I know, firefighters are kicking down our front door. We are being rushed out of the house. And we watch from our neighbor's front porch. Our house burned to the ground.
[00:06:45] So the moral of the story, Fire spreads.
[00:06:57] Everybody say that fire spreads.
[00:07:00] You're going to remember that.
[00:07:02] A couple good things came out of that story. By the way, my mom quit smoking that day.
[00:07:09] For that, I'm very thankful. And I got a good sermon illustration out of it, one that'll help you remember the message. But the fire spreads. And I think this is part of what the Lord had in mind as he poured out fire on the day of Pentecost. You watch the work of God begin to multiply. You watch what happens. But one of the beautiful things about the fire of God, you see this from the very beginning with Moses, the burning bush.
[00:07:36] What was amazing about it, it was a bush that was burning, yet it was not consumed. It's not like a teddy bear. It's not like that rental house that we had. Yes, it was a rental house. And my mom did lose her deposit.
[00:07:53] What's amazing, though, is that same renter rented us another house. I don't know why he did it.
[00:07:59] And I didn't share any of this. The first service, my mom, the only thing that survived in that fire is the beginning of the year. And she had just gotten her annual tax ref.
[00:08:08] And the only two things that survived that fire was her Bible.
[00:08:12] And on the inside of the Bible, she had put that refund check. So she had that ref. So she had a little bit of money. The Bible survived.
[00:08:22] There's probably a tithing message in that somewhere. I don't know.
[00:08:26] In any event, fire spreads.
[00:08:30] I shared that idea and I talked about the fire of Pentecost and I talked about how Jesus on the throne, there's so many depictions of fire. You know, his eyes are like flames of fire. His radiance is, is like the sun, which also is fire. And I had a young man message me. It's a guy who traveled with me while he was a student at Christ for the Nations. He became a Marine, was in the Marines for 10 years and got married. He's got a couple kids in him and his five year old daughter were watching my sermon from a couple weeks ago.
[00:09:05] And so he sent me a question that his daughter had. She is hearing the message and union with Christ and walking with Jesus and all of these things. And so his daughter's question was, dad, can I see Jesus?
[00:09:20] So he sends me the question.
[00:09:22] My response to him was, well, Paul, the Bible says in Galatians Chapter 1, was trained for three years in the deserts of Arabia by Jesus, the resurrected Jesus. Even our teaching on communion, it's kind of a mystery because he says, that which I receive from the Lord Jesus himself, I teach you. And the reason that's interesting is Paul was not one of the 12 who traveled around with Jesus. He came later, after Jesus had already resurrected. But Jesus himself instructed the apostle Paul.
[00:09:57] We know that later in Paul's life, at the end of 2nd Timothy, 2nd Timothy 4:17, Jesus himself stood by Paul while he was in prison and encouraged him. In a moment where everybody else had abandoned him, he had encounters with Jesus. We know that Stephen saw resurrected Jesus. Acts chapter 7, verse 55. He's being stoned to death. He looks up, heavens are open, and he sees Jesus resurrected, sitting at the right hand, standing rather at the right hand of the Father Heaven.
[00:10:30] All of these passages we've exhorted on the last number of weeks. Union not with carpenter Jesus or teacher Jesus or prophet Jesus, but union with the ascended resurrected Christ. That's where you and I can live. The Bible says that we have access to the throne room of God through the veil of Jesus flesh. You don't have to go to temple or synagogue or through a priest or a minister. We have a high priest and mediator in Jesus Christ. And you and I have a access to Jesus himself. In fact, the Bible says Hebrews 4:16, that we can come boldly into his presence. And we are invited, Ephesians 2:6, to sit in heavenly places with Jesus.
[00:11:17] And so I responded to Braden, my friend, and his five year old daughter. Yes, we can see Jesus.
[00:11:26] And I believe that we can. I believe that we can meet God. I believe that we can encounter the resurrected Christ. I believe that we can see Jesus. And there's a number of people in the Bible, who did?
[00:11:37] John, who was known as John the Beloved, later John the Revelator. He saw the resurrected Christ.
[00:11:46] John knew Jesus better than most. But when he saw him in Revelation chapter one, what he saw in the resurrected Christ was so much more than the man that he had walked with for. For a number of years on the earth. It absolutely overwhelmed him. He hears this declaration, I am the Alpha and the Omega. And the Bible says that he turned to see the voice that was speaking and what he saw just about killed him.
[00:12:15] He said his eyes were like a flame of fire and his countenance was like the sun shining in all of its strength, and fell at his feet as if dead.
[00:12:28] Jesus reaches down and he touches John and he says, do not be afraid. He was strengthened and he rises up and he goes on to describe him. His clothes are as white as lightning. His hair is white and glorious like wool. His eyes are like a flame of fire. His feet are like brass, and his voice is like many waters. His face is as bright and radiant as the sun.
[00:12:56] Later in the book, towards the end of the book, in Revelation 19, in verse 12, he sees Jesus coming again, riding on a white horse.
[00:13:05] And this time he only gives one description. He doesn't describe his hair or his feet or his voice. But the one descriptor that he cannot avoid talking about is those eyes that burn like fire.
[00:13:22] In fact, that's what I want to talk about today, is what I've entitled this message. The Fiery Eyes of Jesus.
[00:13:29] The fiery eyes of Jesus. And I believe that you and I can see Jesus. I believe we can see him in the Word. I believe we can see him in moments of worship like we had before. I believe that we can encounter him in a place of prayer. I believe that we can see him reflected in the lives of his sons and daughters. That's you and I. In moments like this, we can encounter. And so the question for the day is, what will happen if you get a vision? For Jesus talked a lot about vision over the last number of weeks. But I believe that which is supreme is that you and I need to get a vision of Jesus himself.
[00:14:12] There was a man In John 4 we read about a moment ago who found out what it is to get a vision of Jesus. We'll read again the first couple verses. Verse 46. Jesus came from to Cana of Galilee, where he had turned water to wine. He'd already worked miracles here, had a reputation. There's a certain nobleman, means that he was a wealthy individual. His son was sick at Capernaum when he heard Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Jesus and he implored him. He begged him, come down and heal my son. He's at the point of death.
[00:14:50] One thing that you'll notice about this man, we already read the story. You know, he receives his miracle. He was willing to come to the Lord.
[00:15:00] He was willing to go to where Jesus was and where Jesus was moving. If you're taking notes, I want to write this down. If you're believing for a breakthrough, if you're believing for a miracle, if you want to encounter the living God, you must be willing to come to Jesus.
[00:15:16] Come to Jesus.
[00:15:18] This is a big deal. This man had money. He was a person of influence, probably could hire doctors and physicians to come and tend to his son. But he knew that Jesus was a miracle worker. And so he left his home. He left his family. He left his wife and his other children. He left his son, who was on his deathbed, and he traveled 20 miles to where Jesus was.
[00:15:47] This may not be a big deal to you. Some of you drove 20 miles to come here to church today. But imagine making that trek on foot.
[00:15:55] That would take about eight hours if you were walking at a consistent pace without any breaks. But he's dealing with the hill country of Galilee.
[00:16:05] You've got mountains and you've got. You got this heavy changing terrain that he's walking through. 20 miles. This is a day's journey easily for him to meet Jesus.
[00:16:17] But he was willing, for the sake of his Son, to go to where Jesus was. He pleads, jesus, if you're willing to come, please come and heal my son.
[00:16:31] You'll notice this about people who receive great things from God consistently. They go to where God is. They seek the Lord. They cry out to the Lord. They are persistent in their pursuit. And I need you to hear me today. Church. There are moments in God.
[00:16:50] There are moments where God is doing something and you must get to where he is doing something.
[00:16:59] See, even this two weeks ago, the Lord was moving in the altars.
[00:17:06] We're praying for people. God is touching people. And we go through and we pray. And I'm about wrapping up the service. And then there's a lady who grabs me and my wife and she's like, this is my husband. And I'm like, okay, great. And she's like, the power of God was moving here. My husband wasn't even here. But I told him, you need to get to church right now. So he left as we were beginning the altar call. And Got here before the altar call was done and God missed. Ministered the word of the Lord to them. They're both weeping powerfully, got touched by God.
[00:17:38] He got to where God was moving something that. That helped me in my understanding because I. I'm like many of you. Maybe there's times I pray at home and I'm just, why do I need to go to an altar? Why do I need to get in the revival meeting? God can touch me right here.
[00:17:53] But I saw a teaching from the Puritans quite a long time ago. If you don't know the Puritans, they're the guys like, on the oatmeal box with the, you know, cool hats and, you know, they wear their belt on their hat.
[00:18:05] This Quakers. Quakers were Puritans. And if you ever wonder why they called them Quakers, this is true. At the founding of our nation, there were these group of passionate revival believers at the founding of. The reason they left England and came to America 250 years ago. We're celebrating this year. Part of the reason they came was they wanted a place where they could go after God without, you know, ties to the state, freedom to worship, going after God, able to have their powerful meetings. And they did.
[00:18:37] The power of God would come down, and the reason they called him Quakers, it was actually a critical term. People would come into their services and they would see people who had been touched by God falling on the ground, quaking and shaking under the power of God. And they would. They'd make fun, oh, look at these Quakers. But they liked the title and they kept it. And so that's how we get today. Quaker Oats. Hallelujah. Go eat you some Quaker Oats and have a revival meeting.
[00:19:06] And so, but the Puritans, this is what they taught about the. Because they were watching these dramatic moves of God and they're like, this is different than the God that I experience in my prayer closet. This is on a different level than what I experience when I'm just walking through nature. And so they would teach three types of presence. They would teach, first of all, what we call essential presence.
[00:19:27] And this is true. This is the idea that God is everywhere.
[00:19:32] God is everywhere. So, yes, you can go to the beach and experience God.
[00:19:37] Yes, you can be at a soccer game cheering for your favorite team and experience God. You can be in a worship service, or you can pray in the woods, or you can whatever, be hugging your wife and all of these things. It's like, now I feel God in this moment, and you do. And that's Wonderful. That's essential presence. God is everywhere. The second type of presence is what we would call cultivated presence.
[00:20:02] And this is beyond essential presence. This is where you intentionally begin to seek the Lord. I'm gonna pray, I'm gonna worship, I'm gonna get in the secret place with God. I'm gonna commune with him, I'm gonna speak to him, he's gonna speak to me. He's working things out. I'm of my life, he's planting things in my life. And I'm growing in the image, in the likeness of God.
[00:20:24] That's what happens when we cultivate a relationship. It takes intentionality. I'm going to seek the Lord, I'm going to find the Lord. I'm going to engage the Lord. I'm going to pray, I'm going to worship, I'm going to love him as cultivated presence.
[00:20:39] But then there's moments, and this happens almost exclusively in corporate gatherings, what we would call manifest presence.
[00:20:49] Manifest presence.
[00:20:52] These are the moments where the glory of God shows up in a meeting.
[00:20:57] Glory is when God's invisible attributes become manifest physically in the earth. This is where healing takes place. We know it's available in heaven, but all of a sudden, glory, now it's made manifest. We know that there's, you know, you may be walking in bondage and all of a sudden something supernatural happens and it changes your life and it changes your mind. That's glory. God has just shown up when his presence fills the place. This is manifest presence.
[00:21:32] I want all of it.
[00:21:34] I want all of it.
[00:21:37] But one thing that I know is there is a difference between what I've cultivated in the secret place and what I can have. Just God is everywhere in these moments where God's glory shows up.
[00:21:50] We experienced this even this last Wednesday.
[00:21:53] We were in our prayer time right next door in the annex. We pray every week at seven o'. Clock.
[00:21:57] And we were in this time. We had the corporate prayer gathering worship. It was awesome.
[00:22:03] But afterwards we're praying for a number of families who came for personal prayer. And my wife and I were there and prayed for one couple. Oh, it was powerful. Felt like God ministered to him. And then I prayed for a friend of mine personally and prayed for his business and man. It was powerful. I felt the Lord did something and then prayed for another couple. They prayed for us, we prayed for them, just blessed them. And oh, I mean, the glory of the Lord was there. I was so stirred and God was speaking.
[00:22:29] So after we finished praying for that third couple, I grabbed my wife and I say, leah, let's stay and let's pray.
[00:22:37] She's like, okay. And we just grab. And everybody else has already walked out of the room. It's just her and me and the glory of the Lord.
[00:22:45] And I put my arm around her and we just begin to engage the Lord. And I prayed and she prayed, and before you know it, she's crying. I'm crying. We're worshiping the Lord and thanking him for our family, and we're honoring Jesus and God is meeting us.
[00:23:00] It is powerful. There are moments in God.
[00:23:04] There are moments in God. And the reason this is important, friend, understand. My wife and I pray together all the time.
[00:23:13] There's hardly a time where we're driving somewhere, going grocery shopping, going to the park, coming to church. We are constantly praying together. People send us messages. Will you pray for my nephew? He's in the hospital. And we stop in those moments and we pray. We pray every night when we're just before we go to bed. We often pray in the mornings together. We pray together constantly. But even we recognize that there are moments, Whoa, God is here and he's doing something right now. And this is different than our personal prayer time. This is different than essential presence. I know God is. This is a moment of God's glory here on the earth, earth, and I'm not going to let it pass me by. We need to pray. We need to lay hold right now.
[00:24:02] There are moments, moments in God.
[00:24:08] Well, God can touch me right here, maybe, but maybe not.
[00:24:13] You realize 500 were invited into the upper room, but only 120 got it because they were where God was moving.
[00:24:22] And I could point you to other occasions. There's moments. You know how many people in need Jesus walked by, but then he walks by one blind man who cries out, jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.
[00:24:35] He keeps on walking, but persistently he pursues Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stops and he calls him and he receives his sign.
[00:24:48] I could tell you story after story of individuals. Jesus walked by pool of Bethesda. Plenty of sick people all around. There, one man received his miracle.
[00:24:58] There are moments in God and we can't sit at home and just assume. Well, I prayed one time, and so Jesus knows if he really cares, if he really loves me. Friends, stop it.
[00:25:11] Humble yourselves and seek the Lord. Go hard after him. God, I know there's moments in you. And yes, I prayed, but I'm going to pray and I'm going to pray and I'm going to pray and I'm going to pray and I'm going to pray until I see that which I know you promised me, until I lay hold of that promise you gave me in Scripture. I'm going to seek the Lord until I find him.
[00:25:37] Oh, this is point one, and I'm getting too excited already. Hallelujah.
[00:25:41] The nobleman implored. Jesus begged him, come heal my son.
[00:25:48] Jesus said, now watch how he responds. Verse 48, John, chapter 4. Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe.
[00:25:59] But the nobleman persists, and he says, sir, come down before my child dies.
[00:26:07] You realize this is the type of prayer that Jesus says is answered in Matthew, chapter seven. In verse seven, he says, ask and keep on asking.
[00:26:17] Seek and keep on seeking. Knock and keep on knocking. You will find the door will be opened.
[00:26:27] I will answer you. And this man is practicing this? He asked Jesus says something contrary to what he's believing for. And he continues to ask and he continues to seek. And it got the attention of God. But one thing you must know. Part of the reason why maybe you had a delay in your answer to prayer. One of the reasons that maybe you haven't had your breakthrough yet is God does not always give us what we ask for. He gives us what we need.
[00:26:58] This man doesn't even know what he needs yet. And God's about to do more for him than what he's even asking for.
[00:27:06] And he's about to do it in a way that is unlike every expectation that he has.
[00:27:13] God doesn't always give us what we ask for. He gives us what we need. So we, like this man, must be persistent in our pursuit of Jesus.
[00:27:21] You know what this man is doing?
[00:27:23] He's waiting on the Lord.
[00:27:26] I want you to write this down again. We're learning from this nobleman who did receive his breakthrough and received a miracle for his family. We must learn to wait on the Lord.
[00:27:37] Now, you may look at this text and wonder, how is he waiting on the Lord? Well, you need to understand, waiting, according to the Bible, waiting is not sitting around doing nothing until you hear a voice from heaven. It's not sitting around doing nothing. In fact, waiting on the Lord is much more like, I'm going to serve you. I'm going to tend to you like waiting tables, right? I'm going to honor you and I'm going to serve you as I wait on you.
[00:28:07] I even thought about, like, sitting in a waiting room.
[00:28:10] You're not just sitting in a waiting room forever. You've got an appointment. And you know that you're about to step into a meeting. And yes, you're waiting, but you're waiting with expectation. I'm about to have a meeting. I'm about to have an encounter. This is what it is to wait on the Lord. In fact, Psalm 25 and verse 5 says, you are the God of my salvation. On you I wait all day and wait is the Hebrew word kava. Now watch this. Oh, this will change your life is a primitive root meaning to bind together, perhaps by twisting so literally. The idea is to braid together, to collect, to expect, to gather together, to look patiently, tarry. There's another Bible word to wait for, to wait on, to wait upon.
[00:28:59] This is what it is to wait on the Lord.
[00:29:01] So it's not just, I'm gonna sit around and do nothing until God answers the prayer that I lifted up six months ago.
[00:29:09] No, it's a braiding together with the Lord. It's a union with his vision in his heart. It's a waiting with patient expectation. I'm full of faith, and I know that God is about to move.
[00:29:26] In fact, one of the best examples that you have of this was on the day of Pentecost. In Luke 24:49, Jesus instructs his disciples, behold, I send the promise of the Father upon you.
[00:29:39] Tarry in the city of Jerusalem. Wait on the Lord, Tarry in Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.
[00:29:50] Then Jesus spends 40 days teaching them about what this would look like. He's giving them vision. This is what happens when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. This is the instructor who's about to come to you. He's going to help you. The things you've seen me do, you're going to do. And even greater, this is what this new era of the kingdom of God on the earth is going to look like. The power of God is going to come upon you. And you're going to do mighty exploits for 40 days. He's expressing to them what this is going to look like.
[00:30:27] Then he sends them into the upper room. They didn't sit around, weren't just hanging out eating cheeseburgers.
[00:30:37] They were tarrying, waiting on the Lord being braided into his vision, whittled, tied together with him with patient expectation. That which Jesus promised is about to come. And in Acts, chapter one, in verse 13, we see what it was for them to tarry. They had entered. They went into the upper room where they were staying. Peter, James, John, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James the son of Alphaea, Simon the Zealot, Judas, the son of James, watch this. They continued with one accord in prayer and supplication with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with Jesus brothers.
[00:31:19] 10 days in a prayer meeting.
[00:31:22] 10 days focusing homothumadon.
[00:31:27] One accord, same fire, same passion, same vision.
[00:31:32] Looking to the promise that Jesus had just given them. For 40 days he's instructing them. And for 10 days they are looking with patient expectation. Jesus is about to do what he said he was going to do.
[00:31:46] And they are praying and they are seeking and they are looking. They are unified in their vision. They are becoming one in their vision. You understand? Unity does not mean uniformity, doesn't mean that they all look the same. There were people from different backgrounds. Some of these were disciples of Jesus. Some of these were secondhand disciples. You had Samaritans and you had Jews, you had men and you had women, all very different.
[00:32:12] But they were in unity, different backgrounds. Some had been raised in synagogue, some had been disciples.
[00:32:21] Some had been trained under the elite religious leaders.
[00:32:25] Others had been demonized prostitutes. But they're all together in one place and they're in perfect unity because they're looking towards the vision that Jesus has given them. And they're looking and they're praying and the prostitute is praying and the tax collector is praying and the disciple is praying and the miracle working apostle is praying and they're all looking at the same thing. And they're being braided together with him. And they're being braided together with one another.
[00:32:53] One accord.
[00:32:55] And all of a sudden the spirit of God is poured out.
[00:32:59] Mighty rushing wind. The place they were assembled was shaken. And everybody that day got a fire.
[00:33:07] And Jesus, I'm sorry, Peter, steps out on the balcony.
[00:33:12] Mass of people is now gathered around. What was this wind?
[00:33:17] What was this noise? We hear the good works of God being declared in our langu. And he says, this is that which was prophesied by the prophet Joel. Now wait a minute, wait a minute. I know you've heard a million and one sermons about that text right there.
[00:33:36] Consider for a moment the audacity of Peter.
[00:33:42] Consider for a moment this man's assumption that what him and a hundred people just experienced in a little prayer room was the fulfillment of an 800 year old prophecy.
[00:33:59] Who does he think he is?
[00:34:02] That would be like me, like we had a good prayer meeting on Wednesday.
[00:34:05] But imagine me coming into here today and saying, you guys would not believe what God just did on Wednesday. We're praying with about a hundred people and God did this thing. Remember that prophecy from a Thousand years ago, God just did it with me and my little prayer meeting. You'd be like, yeah, right.
[00:34:24] How did Peter know that what had happened that day in that upper room was the promise?
[00:34:31] Because for 40 days Jesus gave them vision.
[00:34:35] And for 40 days Jesus said, this is what this is going to look like and this is what's going to happen to you and this is how the kingdom is going to advance and these are the things that are going to happen and this is how I'm going to use you and this is how the world is going to change. And for 40 days, and then for 10 days they're looking for it and they're praying. Jesus, you said this was coming. God, you said you were going to do this. Lord, we're waiting for your spirit to be poured out. And then all of a sudden, after now 50 days combined Pentecost, after 50 days, the spirit of God comes and there's not a doubt in their mind. This is what we've been looking for. This is what we have been seeking. Friend, we need the vision of God.
[00:35:14] They got a vision from Jesus. They saw and they heard what he was saying. And they were braided together waiting on Jesus.
[00:35:23] And they saw that promise come.
[00:35:25] I believe that you and I can too.
[00:35:28] We must learn that lost skill of waiting on the Lord.
[00:35:34] Reminded of our all night prayer meeting.
[00:35:37] And I'm watching like Mom Fellows. I don't know if she's in this service or was in the first service, but Mom Fellows, you guys all know Mama Fellows. Is she in this service?
[00:35:46] She's in the first service. She's probably somewhere praying right now.
[00:35:50] I'm watching. We start this all night prayer meeting. I'm watching the young people, they're gung ho, excited, going after God.
[00:35:57] Start at, I don't know, six or seven o' clock and then hours go by midnight, they're all taking naps, they're goofing off in the foyer. I need coffee. I'm watching people like Mom Fellows going after God hour after hour, hour after hour, hour after hour. I mean, she went the whole time. And I did not see that lady doze off. I did not see her go for a nap. I didn't even see her step out for coffee though she may have. I watch her. There's something.
[00:36:27] You go talk to some of these senior saints.
[00:36:30] You guys will talk about things like praying through.
[00:36:35] I got around some older people, they taught me how to pray and they taught me push.
[00:36:41] Anybody know what push means?
[00:36:43] Pray until something happens.
[00:36:46] Pray until something happens. This is the reason these guys saw these healing revivals. There's a reason these guys saw Azusa Street. There's a reason these guys saw breakthroughs that you and I read about in textbooks. Because they knew how to pray until something happened. We just. Well, I tried to pray. It didn't work.
[00:37:05] I tried. That wasn't the time for it, friend. We need to learn, like this nobleman, how to wait on the Lord.
[00:37:16] How to seek and knock and ask and seek and knock and ask and seek and knock and ask and seek and knock and ask until we get our breakthrough. Come on. We will see the glory of the Lord. We will see the vision that God has. You will experience this for you and your household.
[00:37:39] We're gonna learn like this guy did. And Jesus responds. He says, don't get discouraged by this. He didn't get discouraged. Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe.
[00:37:53] Jesus is highlighting something here.
[00:37:56] First of all, you should notice that he's not directing this to the Father alone.
[00:38:03] In fact, several translations you can look at. You'll notice that he's addressing the entire crowd. It's plural. You all want signs and wonders. You're not gonna believe. And it may seem harsh, but then you begin to read the Gospel of John and you realize that every encounter Jesus had, it's like beating his head against the wall.
[00:38:23] He's encountering the Jews, and the first thing he's having to do is flip tables because they've turned the house of God into a marketplace. This is supposed to be a house of prayer, a place of worship. What are we doing? You're not even permitting people to come in. They come in with perfectly good offerings, but you're turning them away. And he rebukes them harshly. He's working miracles, Cana. And then you've got people like the Samaritans, and this is a whole racial tension that was going in, that these guys are half breeds. They're not the right. Right bloodline. They don't worship on the right mountain. They don't. I mean. And it was petty kind of divisions, you understand? It's not like he was identifying a cult or something like that, but it's just like us saying we've got it figured out. The Baptists have no idea what's going on. That's a false religion. No, it's not. They're a little different, but they love the Lord even if they don't let women preach. Hallelujah.
[00:39:20] And so anyway, I don't know where that came from, But you Understand?
[00:39:30] They're looking. And Jesus is addressing this like, you guys are showing up. You've seen me work miracles, but all you want me to do is prove to you who I am.
[00:39:38] Do your miracle stuff. And they're all looking at Jesus through this veil of familiarity. We know who this guy is. We know his dad. He's a carpenter's son. He's not the Messiah. We heard that he did miracles over here. Do it again. Prove to us who you are. Multiply the food. Work a miracle right now. Jesus and all of these guys, through all of their veils, religion and preconceived ideas, and veils of unbelief and veils of outright hatred and racism, they're all testing Jesus.
[00:40:11] You guys won't believe unless you see a miracle and then he does something that seems contrary.
[00:40:18] He's challenging this father. He's challenging the crowd. And I believe because it's in scripture, he's actually challenging every one of us.
[00:40:28] Do we believe in Jesus as he is or in a version of Jesus that we've created for ourselves?
[00:40:38] I rejoice in what God is doing in Hollywood. You'll see these celebrities, you see these athletes. You can't hardly watch any of these post game interviews without seeing somebody give glory to God.
[00:40:48] But every once in a while you'll hear something stupid.
[00:40:52] I know that I live a life like this and I know that the Bible says that, but I think God has changed. I think God is like us.
[00:41:00] You ever heard this kind of stuff?
[00:41:02] I think God is like us. God's not. God's not like that judgy person that we see in the. God's like, God's like us. Like, like he's conformed to our American model of Christianity.
[00:41:13] No, he has not.
[00:41:15] We were singing earlier about the holiness of God. You know what holiness is? It doesn't mean like works perfect, you know, clean living. No, holy means that he is completely unlike us.
[00:41:27] He's not conforming to us. Even you on your best day, you do not compare. Isaiah, prayer prophet, man of God. I'm unclean.
[00:41:37] The moment you see the holiness of God, the moment you realize we all fall miserably short of his high and holy standard and we're all in need of a savior.
[00:41:48] So we cannot conform Jesus into the image that we like. Well, I like these teachings, but I don't like this. And so, you know, I like blue eyed, white Jesus, European Jesus. I like African Jesus, I like Mexican Jesus. Jes. He's none of that friend.
[00:42:05] Right now you're seeing pride flag Jesus. He's definitely not that friend.
[00:42:11] He is holy.
[00:42:13] He is unlike any image. In fact, one of the defining characteristics of God is that he is immutable. He is unchanging the same yesterday, today and forever.
[00:42:25] Come on.
[00:42:30] He's not changing to us to pacify us. In fact, he's demanded that we be transformed into his image and likeness.
[00:42:44] So he's challenging all of these guys, this crowd, this father.
[00:42:47] Are you just seeking me as the miracle worker? Do a trick for us, Jesus, or do you really want to see me for who I am?
[00:42:59] The crowd is looking at his hands as he works.
[00:43:05] Looking through veils of religion, prejudice, familiarity.
[00:43:09] Yet all of them miss the Holy One of Israel.
[00:43:13] But here's one man pleading with Jesus.
[00:43:17] Looking fear, my son.
[00:43:23] Anxiety, expectation that bad things are happening.
[00:43:27] Desperation, unbelief. Can you imagine what that 20 mile walk probably felt like for that father?
[00:43:35] He leaves his house, son, high fever, about to die.
[00:43:42] And he leaves because there's a rumor that the miracle worker is 20 miles away. A day's journey for him by foot.
[00:43:50] Could you imagine the anxiety, the fear, battling unbelief. Am I wasting this trip? Am I going to miss the moment where my son dies? I don't want to miss that. He's probably wringing his hands. He's probably anxious and fearful and unbelieving. And after a day's journey he finally arrives here and he finds Jesus and he begins to beg him once again. Look at this. In verse 49, John chapter 4, he continued to plead, you have to come with me, Jesus. You have to come to Capernaum before my little boy dies.
[00:44:27] And look at what Jesus says.
[00:44:30] Verse 50.
[00:44:32] Jesus looked him in the eyes, Looked him in the eyes and he says, go back home now.
[00:44:45] I promise you your son will live and he will not die. And the man believed in his heart the words of Jesus and he set off for home.
[00:44:57] This man received something better than he could have ever asked for, my friend.
[00:45:03] He wanted a visit from Jesus the miracle worker.
[00:45:08] But he locked eyes with Jesus eyes of fire and all of his unbelief went.
[00:45:17] All of that fear went. When he looked into those fiery eyes of love, that pleading desperation, it all goes.
[00:45:28] He saw those fiery eyes and there was a miracle.
[00:45:35] The last thing he saw at home was not good.
[00:45:39] But when he saw those fiery eyes of Jesus Christ, it was so good that he believed every word that was spoken.
[00:45:50] It was so good.
[00:45:52] He believed what Jesus said.
[00:45:55] I don't know if you've ever had those moments I understand what Kamal was talking about when he talked about wanting to avoid the prophet. I know. What's that like, what that's like.
[00:46:09] I remember when prophets started coming around and I was far from God and I did not want them looking into my eyes and seeing into my soul because I knew I had filth in my soul.
[00:46:24] I remember what it was like first time Leah and I locked eyes and it was like something, like it's indescribable. But many of you know what I'm talking about. It's like I saw into her soul and she saw into my soul.
[00:46:42] And something transformed in that moment.
[00:46:45] Jesus taught that the eye is the. I've got the verse here.
[00:46:52] He said that the eye is the lamp of the body, and if the eye is good, the whole body is full of light.
[00:47:03] Can you imagine what this man saw when he looked into those eyes?
[00:47:10] You've been shocked sometimes looking into the eyes of a prophet or somebody that you love or a friend that you care for deeply. But imagine looking into those eyes.
[00:47:20] Fire.
[00:47:21] Something that is beyond description. It is holy. It is indescribable. It is enough to make people fall down as though they were dead. And that's the reason why this man looks into those eyes. And though his situation at home is dire, he sees into those eyes and he believes every word of Jesus.
[00:47:45] I want to see those eyes.
[00:47:48] I want to see his eyes.
[00:47:50] Jesus did not travel 15 miles home with that man, but Jesus went home with that man.
[00:47:56] He believed in his heart. And here's what we must understand. He didn't need Jesus in his house.
[00:48:02] He needed Jesus in his heart.
[00:48:06] If Jesus went home the way this man wanted, Jesus would leave.
[00:48:11] But when that man, what that man received, Jesus never left.
[00:48:16] And here's what we can learn.
[00:48:20] You may be contending for your breakthrough. Wait on the Lord. Ask, seek, knock, pray until something happens. Look to him. Wait on him. Be braided together with him. This is your word and this is your promise. And this is what I receive from you. And I'm going to believe and I'm going to. To pray, and I'm going to be braided together. And you wait, and you, Terry, until he looks your way and you look into those eyes of fire and you realize, God, you've been working in me. I've been praying for this for months. I've been praying for this for years. But what you have worked in me in this process is so much more than I could have ever asked for. You've brought me so much further. And you're doing so much more in the waiting than if you just would have done it the first time. I prayed.
[00:49:16] Believe everything this man says.
[00:49:21] And Jesus sent him home.
[00:49:24] Imagine how his walk home was.
[00:49:27] I don't think he was wringing his hands and worrying and frustrated and fearful.
[00:49:34] I just pictured this man skipping, whistling, greeting people. He probably didn't see anything on his way there but picturing his son and picturing Jesus.
[00:49:46] But on his way home, my goodness, I just imagine him worshiping and thanking God. He hasn't even seen the miracle yet, but I just imagine his attitude was so different as he went home. And I'm just here to tell you today I have faith that you may have come in here with fear and anxiety and worry and a broken situation, a sick body, somebody in the hospital, a marriage that doesn't function and you're worried and you're anxious and you're unbelieving. Is God even able? Does he even hear me? I believe you could walk out of here whistling and skipping and praising Jesus because you have confidence that God sees you and he knows you. He's going to meet you where you are and he will intervene on your situation. Situation.
[00:50:28] Worship team, will you come? I'm going to close.
[00:50:32] Oh, it's early. You want me to preach for another 20 minutes?
[00:50:36] No, I won't. I won't do that.
[00:50:41] Jesus sent this man home. Important idea for us to understand is when Jesus sends you, he goes with you.
[00:50:49] When Jesus sends you, he goes with you. He didn't send this man home alone. He carried him in his heart. And here's. I want you to write down this last idea. Number three. We must walk with the Lord. This is what this man did. He didn't leave the presence of Jesus. He walked with the Lord.
[00:51:06] He walked with Jesus.
[00:51:09] And his son received a touch from God, his servants, some of the people, workers in his house ended up meeting him on the road and said, master, your son was healed.
[00:51:20] He inquires, when did this happen? And the father knew, verse 53, that it was the same hour which Jesus said, you son lives.
[00:51:28] And he himself believed. And watch this and his whole household.
[00:51:37] I love this whole message, but this may be my favorite part. This is the icing on the cake, friend.
[00:51:44] That Father could have prayed from home.
[00:51:47] The son got a little fever.
[00:51:49] God could have taken it right then and there and they probably would have gone on their life without faith in Jesus, not a second thought.
[00:51:59] But what happens is this whole journey and this whole testing of faith and this waiting on the Lord and All that this man walked through.
[00:52:07] Jesus didn't walk with him to his house and leave later on.
[00:52:11] But faith came into this man's heart.
[00:52:15] And he gets home.
[00:52:16] The Son is restored, the power of the Word, and the entire household comes to faith.
[00:52:25] The entire household comes to faith.
[00:52:30] Let me tell you about this man Jesus I met.
[00:52:33] Let me tell you about what I saw in his eyes.
[00:52:37] Let me tell you what I what I heard him address this crowd.
[00:52:40] He's better than I could have ever expected.
[00:52:42] He's not just a miracle worker.
[00:52:45] He is the Messiah.
[00:52:47] He is the savior of the world. Oh, what I saw in those eyes, indescribable.
[00:52:55] He received much more than a miracle for his boy, his entire household. You just imagine today they're worshiping the Lord in glory in heaven because Jesus didn't give him what he asked for.
[00:53:12] He gave him what he needed.
[00:53:15] You need more than a miracle, friend. Y' all are lost.
[00:53:18] But I'm the Messiah.
[00:53:21] Believe in me, and the whole household got it.
[00:53:28] When I got saved, July 6, 2004, I was making a decision. For me, it was just about me.
[00:53:40] I was a drug addict, far from God, running from his call.
[00:53:45] God radically transformed my life.
[00:53:48] Came here as a student, Christ for the Nations.
[00:53:53] Next thing you know, my friends start following me.
[00:53:57] Some of them dropped degrees to come and pursue. I'm going to get to Christ for the nations where God is moving in.
[00:54:05] I met this woman sitting on the front row.
[00:54:10] Had beautiful kids.
[00:54:13] My siblings, two of my brothers, my sister, they all followed me down. And I'm watching God work in my entire family. I thought it was just about me.
[00:54:23] But now almost all of my family are preachers.
[00:54:28] Now my wife is on fire, doing amazing wonders for God, my kids. I mean, I'm just watching my son on his knees worshiping the Lord. I didn't think when I was Getting born again 22 years ago, I did not think about, one day I'm gonna have a son who loves Jesus because of what God's doing in my life.
[00:54:49] But this is legacy.
[00:54:52] My siblings are saved. My parents are on fire for God. They're helping with a church plant right now. My brother's pastoring. He's playing. He helped us plant three churches in Hawaii. Both of us broken family. Dad would start new families every couple years. God has so redeemed it.
[00:55:09] I'm watching spiritual sons and daughters.
[00:55:14] I get to minister in places like this. We planted churches. God has done so much more in and through my life than I ever could have imagined. When I was getting born again 22 years ago.
[00:55:27] God did so much more for this father.
[00:55:30] He just wanted a miracle for his boy.
[00:55:34] But instead, the whole family came.
[00:55:38] This is the heart of God for you. I want you to know this.
[00:55:41] This is God's heart for you. You may have unbelieving children, prodigal children, grandchildren away from God. You may have an unbelieving spouse here today.
[00:55:52] You may have somebody in need of a miracle, parents that don't believe.
[00:56:00] God's desire is that you and your household be saved.
[00:56:06] This is part of what he prophesied in Malachi, chapter four.
[00:56:10] I'm going to turn the hearts of fathers towards children, and children to fathers.
[00:56:14] This is what he prophesied about this era that we're living in.
[00:56:18] Everybody wants a microphone, but I'm going to raise up fathers, not just teachers, fathers and mothers in the faith, building the family of God.
