Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: Why don't we stand on our. Oh, we do have the notes. Did you. Did you. They already put that up there. If you guys use the Bible app, you can go ahead and scan that QR code. You can see the notes. We send an email out if you'd like to get all of the sermon notes for the date. There it is. Why don't we stand as we honor the reading of God's word, We over the last months have been on a theme dealing with promises, talked about man a month ago, two months ago, about promises that you can receive. Promises we can stand on in scripture.
Pastor preach a great message about how there are promises that are connected to places and every place has a promise. There's destiny, there's words. Over this house, over this region, over various areas, we've stood on haggai the idea that the glory of the latter house will be greater than the glory of the former.
And so we have stood on a number of prom promises. But this Christmas season, of course, brings us into a whole new time. I want you to look with me at Luke chapter two.
You're going to see a lot of promises as we look at the scripture today. Luke chapter two and verse one. And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. The census took place while Quinarius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.
Joseph went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea, the city of David, which is called Bethlehem because he was of the house and the lineage of David, and went to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child.
So it was while they were there the days were completed for her to be delivered. She brought forth her firstborn son, wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.
Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them and the glory of the Lord shone around them. They were greatly afraid. The angel said, do not be afraid. For behold, I believe I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all the people. There's born to you this day in the city of David a savior who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you. You will find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly Host praising God and saying, glory to God. Maybe we ought to say this part together. It's there at the bottom line of the screen. Can we all say it together? 1, 2, 3, go. Glory to God in the highest and on earth, goodwill towards men. And this Trinity Church is God's word.
We believe it to be true. You may be seated.
[00:03:04] Speaker A: I'm going to be the first, as we open this new series to wish you Merry Christmas.
[00:03:12] Speaker A: And if you don't like that, you know, have you ever faced the controversy? It was a really big deal. And please, if somebody wishes you Happy Holidays, don't do the passive aggressive, hostile Christian.
[00:03:26] Speaker A: Thing. You know, Merry Christmas. You know, they say Happy Holidays and you respond aggressively. No, Merry Christmas. That's not a good witness. But I have actually a solution for you that I think, well, I've just determined I'm not gonna say Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays. This.
I want to avoid the controversy. I don't want to be offensive to anybody. So this is what I've decided to do. You can use this if you'd like to. What I'm going to tell people when they greet me with Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays, my response to them will be, may the birth of the one true God, Jesus Christ, bestow favor and blessing upon you and your household to the belittlement of every other religion.
[00:04:14] Speaker A: False religion.
Amen.
So you feel free to use that if you'd like. You just. You'll avoid all the controversy. You don't have to talk about Starbucks cups or anything.
It's gonna be great.
[00:04:29] Speaker A: How many know God keeps his promises?
God keeps his promises. What's fascinating about Luke 2, and you ought to read this before you get to Christmas this year. What's amazing is you'll see promises that were given to shepherds. We just read the account.
They, you go here, you'll meet the Savior. And they went and the promise was fulfilled. It was an immediate promise that they saw the Lord do. An instant promise fulfilled. You'll see promises that were given to Mary and Joseph that were about a year in the making. Angelic visitation word. She becomes pregnant. Miracle.
They carry the child to term. It was about a year in the making. So there's a promise there that took a little bit of time to see it fulfilled.
We saw a video that represented Simeon. We're gonna look at him. We're gonna look at Anna. And these were seniors who received promises they were believing for. And they waited an entire lifetime before they saw that fulfilled.
Now, God's promises come at different speeds. But they all do arrive.
Some are immediate. Others are a lifetime in the making. But God's promises are eternal and his word is true.
So in this season, as we talk about, and we talk about the promise, I want to be very clear on this because you'll see the verbiage on, on. On banners and on social media. What is the promise that we're talking about?
If I'm. I just want to make it abundantly clear. The promise we are talking about is Jesus the Savior, born into the world, the King of kings, the Prince of peace, the wonderful counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father. This is the promise that you and I have the joy of receiving and celebrating and honoring. In fact, even as I give various points today, I'm going to talk about kind of the timeline for promises.
But an easy way for you to remember is really every one of my points today.
If you don't remember the application, they all point right back to Jesus. So if you can remember Jesus, you ever walk out of Sunday school and like, what'd you guys learn about today?
Jesus, right? That was always the answer that you could. In fact, my son, he said that when he was in school, it was a couple years ago, and he was taking a test, he didn't know what the answer was, so he just wrote Jesus.
It was a math test, didn't know the answer, writes down Jesus. And thankfully the teacher was a Christian and Jesus is the answer to everything.
[00:07:05] Speaker A: So she passed him and it worked out. So I don't know if that works in DeSoto High School or where you guys go, but try it. If you don't know the answer, that's actually not good advice. Don't listen to me on that one.
Unless you just don't know the answer. Then try it for fun. We'll see.
[00:07:24] Speaker A: So every personal promise you're believing for is fulfilled in and through Jesus. Now, every Jew in Israel had received a promise some 700 years before the account in Luke chapter 2. 700 years. Isaiah gives a word, and this is what it is. Isaiah 7, verse 14.
You probably know this. Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son. Son. And shall call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us.
Anybody thankful that Jesus has come in the flesh? And lo, he is with us always, even to the end of the age, that Jesus can visit us right here in this room. Today, we're not just looking back 2000 years and wow, what a neat manger. And what a great time of no God. Wants to visit us and encounter us today. Right now. Someone say thank you, Jesus.
Isaiah continues. Isaiah chapter 9 and verse 6. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. Which if you think about the clarity of this prophetic verse, 700 years before Jesus is born, a child is born. They didn't know in what form the Messiah was going to be born. They had been waiting for him. But he would come as a child born of a virgin in a manger.
And unto us a capital S. Son is given. The Son of God in the flesh. This prophetic passage was speaking to both of these reality that he was born in the flesh and he was the Son of God.
Wow.
The government will be upon his shoulder and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Come on. That is our Jesus. That's our Jesus.
[00:09:17] Speaker A: So picture this with me.
700 years go by.
Shepherds are out in the fields outside of Bethlehem. I've actually been to this very spot. There are caves and this is where the shepherds would take their sheep by night. They would go in. And there's this little valley that overlooks the city of Bethlehem. And you can go, you can walk outside of the cave. And I stood out there with a group of pastors a few years ago and I just imagine this scene right here.
An angel in a blaze of glory appears there before the shepherds by night.
And his declaration is, do not be afraid. You know why they say that this wasn't a baby with a harp that appeared before him. Angels are terrifying figures in scripture. You ought to realize that God's army is a lot more intimidating than the devil's army. You see the devil in scripture, they're little imp demons. You just flick them, they go away.
But angels, every time they show up, they need to don't be afraid. Why? Because you get a 20 foot flaming sword. Cherubim literally means burning ones. You see this guy show up in your bedroom at night?
You better. He will tell you, don't be afraid. And you'll need to hear that.
This guy shows up over the valley and says, don't be afraid. I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people. For is there. There is born to you this day in the city of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord.
So they have this encounter and then they receive instruction. You will go into the city, go to the manger, you will find the baby. And they respond. They obey.
This is what we would call if you're Taking notes. I want you to write this down. This is a suddenly promise.
[00:11:07] Speaker A: This is a suddenly promise. There was an encounter, there was a promise. They responded, and God did what he said he would do, and it happened quickly. Now, I don't know about you, but I'm a Pentecostal. I think most of us in this room are. I like the suddenly miracles.
I like, like Rodney was talking about, you find yourself in trouble, you need a miracle, you need a breakthrough. You pray and then there's breakthrough. Man, that is the best.
I don't know, it's like we. I'm okay to be a part of the McDonald's generation.
Like, I'll go and my wife and I will enjoy a nice meal. You sit and take your time and they come and you know, I'm okay with doing an hour long deal, but sometimes it's just great to go through the drive through and just get your stuff in like 30 seconds. Hallelujah. And you can just enjoy. Anybody like that? Anybody like the fast stuff?
No? Okay. That's okay.
[00:12:09] Speaker A: You're more chick fil a than I guess.
[00:12:15] Speaker A: I like the.
I like these promises that come quickly. You receive the word, there's moments. This happens in church all the time. You receive a word, preaching comes forward, God's speaking to your heart. You come down to an altar, you make a decision, you respond, and God touches you and you receive immediately. One of those suddenly breakthroughs. This is a suddenly promise that comes to you. In fact, we have people all the time, people surrendering their lives to Jesus. And I'll talk with new believers or people that are literally just getting right with God. And very often they'll ask the question, well, how do I stay in the will of God? I'm repenting today. I'm surrendering my life to Jesus. I want him to be my Lord. Now, how do I know what the will of God for my life is? My favorite verse to quote to them is Psalm 37:23, which says that the steps of a man are ordered by the Lord.
Very simple. The fact is, and this is what I encourage new people in, like the fact that you came to church, you heard the word, you obeyed the word, you're already in this process, whether you know it or not. You're already hearing from God and obeying. And now you're experiencing the blessings that are connected with these present promises.
These are powerful moments.
And I love this. This is, in fact, how. This is actually how I think most of our life is supposed to work.
Every day I drive to the Church and I pray God, would you lead my conversations?
Would you lead my every text message, every email, every meeting that I have, every interaction that I have? Would you lead me? Would you direct me? And I don't always hear the audible voice of the Lord or feel, you know, here's what I'm about to do today. An open vision while I'm driving to work. But most of the time, I simply walk with an assurance that he is ordering and orchestrating my steps. I have the right conversations at the right time. This is simply, I'm receiving of the Lord, and I'm responding as he speaks.
These are suddenly promises. It's beautiful. You can pray and see God move.
You can give. We've watched this over the last 13 months. People begin to give, and immediately their debt gets eradicated. I mean, people give like crazy. And then you'll hear these tests. I got a pay raise. I have this back tax thing. Money came to me. Hallelujah. I have this military. I mean, we hear these stories all the time of great breakthroughs and blessings. These are suddenly promises that are coming. You watch people not speaking to you. I need to repent. I need to apologize. I need to get right with God.
And you watch the moment that you talk to the Lord. You feel him wash over you. You feel that guilt and condemnation. That's a suddenly moment that you begin to access what God has made available to you. And immediately you're cleansed, you're forgiven.
These are suddenly promises. Everybody say suddenly.
That's quick obedience.
[00:15:18] Speaker A: The next promise you'll see is connected to Mary and Joseph.
They brought Jesus to be dedicated in the temple.
Luke, chapter 2 and verse 21, it says when he was. When the eight days were completed for the circumcision of the child, his name was called Jesus. Everybody say Jesus.
There's power in that name. The name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. Now, in the days of her, purification according to the law of Moses were completed. They brought him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. They brought him to Jerusalem, to the temple, to dedicate him to the Lord.
This is secondly, a positioned promise.
This is a positioned promise. Everybody say positioned.
You'll notice that there are locations all throughout this story.
Jerusalem, house of David, Bethlehem, Galilee, Judea, the inn, the temple, on and on and on. Every one of these promises was connected to a location. There was a position. The shepherds, they want to meet Jesus. Listen, if you'll go here, they have an encounter with God.
I mean, you just imagine you're Having your quiet time. An angel appears to you and you go over here, you're gonna meet the Savior.
Now, if you were dealing with modern day Christians, I think half of these guys probably would have said, well, God can touch me right here.
I'm just gonna catch the live stream a little bit later, huh?
But that's not what they did. Jesus was in a location.
You wanna meet the Savior, go here.
This is where Jesus is. Now, listen, I'm not dogging on, you know, I went and visited with a, with a precious brother this last week who's homebound. He had a stroke. He watches online and praise God.
[00:17:18] Speaker A: Brother Daniel, I'm glad that you're able to watch online and I pray for you and I'll visit you and that's wonderful. Praise God that we have that. But I'm just telling you there is something special that happens when the people of God come together and there's no exchange for it. I mean, when God. Watch this. When God sends a promise, he also sends directions.
The promise comes with coordinates.
And this is good. This is how you can discern what the Lord is speaking to you. By the way, I have people ask me, like, you know, I feel like I'm being condemned. I just feel guilty over all the things that I've done. You want to know how you know the difference between condemnation and the conviction of the Holy Spirit?
Conviction, you'll feel bad for the things that you have done.
But God gives you coordinates. Listen, just apologize, repentance, ask me to forgive you. And he does.
Condemnation will feel the very same way.
But you can repent, you can apologize. You can, you know, beat yourself with a whip. You can do all the things that you can imagine and it will never lift because you're operating under condemnation. And that's not God, that's the devil and that needs to be rebuked.
So the difference is, you'll notice when God speaks to you, he'll give instruction. He'll give you. He'll give you a solution. Listen, I'm speaking to you right now and I want you to respond to the altar in a moment. We're going to have time like that. And some may sit in their seat and think, well, God can touch me right here if he really wants to touch you. No, God says, I want you to come down. And we're going to do this according to scripture. We're going to call for the leaders of the church, we're going to anoint you with oil. And the prayer of faith will save the sick.
[00:18:59] Speaker A: There's an order to things. There's a place for the encounter. There's a place where we can receive the promises of God.
I have a friend.
He tells a great story.
I won't say his name because many of you know him, but his name rhymes with. No, I'm just kidding. If I said it, you'd know it. But he was telling a story about. He was attending a service, and he said that an altar call was being given. And the pastor gives this altar call. And he says, listen, if you're dealing. Some of you are dealing with pride.
And I need you to get down here to this altar. And God's gonna forgive you. He's gonna wash you, he's gonna cleanse you. And the Lord began to speak to my friend.
You need to respond to that. You've got pride in your life. So he's wrestling with God. I don't want to go down there. Everybody's gonna think that I got pride. Well, yeah, you do. And that's why you need to go down. I don't want to go down there. And so he's arguing with God until finally, finally he. He responds. And he slowly begins to walk down the aisle. And. And he gets about halfway down to the aisle, and then the pastor gets up and he gives another call.
Some of you are struggling horribly with immoral thoughts of lust and immorality.
Your mind is plagued with perversion. You need to get down here right now.
He's already walking down, and he's like, oh, great. This is what I get for delaying in my obedience.
But now if I don't go, then I'm like, doubly giving into this pride. So this is what he did. He walks down to the altar and he just lays hands on. On the next guy who's down there.
[00:20:30] Speaker A: And it'll work.
[00:20:32] Speaker A: Actually, that doesn't. He didn't repent, did he? That's still pride, isn't it?
[00:20:38] Speaker A: Well, there's a place.
I'm thankful that we have a place we can gather and worship.
My wife and I were sitting in the parking lot on Monday night, and we're watching just dozens of young people come into the service for tya.
And I'm just. I'm watching this. We're actually sitting out there eating McDonald's. Praise God.
[00:21:00] Speaker A: We're watching the young people. And Leah's like, don't you remember what it was like being a single young person going and wondering if there's going to be anybody cute there that you could go?
I'm like, no, I went to worship Jesus. That's what I went to.
But she found me. So I guess it worked out. It both worked out.
[00:21:23] Speaker A: I'm feeling a little ornery today. I better tone it back.
[00:21:28] Speaker A: But why?
I'm just watching these young people flock to the church. I'm watching 40s and 50s. I mean, just dozens of people gathering. And like, every time the doors are open, there are people gathering together, gathering in homes. I think something shifted around 20, 20, 20, when the whole world went into lockdown. I. I remember you guys in Texas. You barely shut down. I mean, it was less than a month, and you guys were right back here in church. But in Hawaii, we felt this thing, man. We were restricted for a long time. And I remember it was about a month and a half into that, that whole lockdown season.
And I'm just like, I hate this.
[00:22:08] Speaker A: I miss hugging people.
I miss if I got pain in my body. I miss someone laying hands on me to pray for me, to see me recover. I miss shaking hands. I miss sitting across the table from a friend to share a meal or to have coffee together and to talk to one another and look each other in the eyes, not through a computer screen.
[00:22:29] Speaker A: There's some things that I feel like we've learned in that season, and it's a joy. I feel like once again it's been this renewed vision, like we get to come together, and it's a privilege to come together and to pray and to go after God and to worship alongside some fellow people and to burn together. And it's a joy.
That's a good lesson that we have learned through that season.
That in hand washing. I think that was a good lesson that many of us learned as well. You ought to keep on doing that. Praise God.
[00:23:01] Speaker A: There are positional promises.
[00:23:07] Speaker A: Disciples needed to be in the upper room to receive the Holy Ghost.
Bartimaeus needed to be where Jesus was to receive his sight.
David needed to meet Goliath in the valley to battle the giant. And the Lord was with him. Daniel in the lion's den. Jacob at Bethel. Abraham sacrificed that angelic encounter on a mountain.
Moses receiving the tablets on a mountain. Noah, his ark landed on a mountain. Jesus transfigured on a mountain. There's something about mountains. And I've got a good word for you. Do you know that you came to a mountain today?
The Bible says that the closer we get to Jesus. Hebrews 10:25, it says, do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together, as is the manner of some.
But all the more as we See the day approaching. We must prioritize the assembling of ourselves together so it doesn't matter what of the end time. Plagues we're watching happen, earthquakes or famine or pestilence or whatever. Fill in the blank. Doesn't matter what we're seeing all the more. We need to come together, not go our separate ways. And this is what the Bible says. Do you realize all of these promises in the Old Covenant you'd read about going to Mount Zion and all the promises and all the blessings that were there at Mount Zion? Go to the mountain. You'll be blessed. The temple of God was built on a mountain. It was called Mount Zion. And they would go. That's where they would offer sacrifices. That's where they would bring their offerings. That's where they would pray their prayers. That's where the atonement, their sin was offered. That's where they would go to meet God.
But Jesus, the promise through the veil of his flesh has given us access. Now this is so cool because Hebrews 10 it starts talking about how we're not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together.
And then he launches into two chapters of exhortation, the blessings and the benefits that are connected when we come together.
[00:25:17] Speaker A: Hebrews 12:22 says, you have come to Mount Zion.
Because of what Jesus has done, you and I can come to Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels. You want to know why it's powerful. When we come together, this is what's going on in an innumerable company of angels to the General, the Assembly and the Church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven to God, the judge of all, and the spirits of men who are made perfect. Another translation says, as members of the church, your name has been registered in heaven.
[00:26:02] Speaker A: There's something powerful when, and I know I'm preaching to the choir, you came to church on this cold, foggy Sunday, but there is something. Do you understand that when you come to the house of worship, you step into a blessing. You stepping in into an inheritance, you step into promises. You come under this canopy of God's anointing and his grace. There are protections, there are graces that are being released. Listen, you can pray over your own home, but the moment that you come into this place, you are stepping under faith. 50 years of men and women of God who have worshiped and prayed and served and contended. It's a multiplied blessing that is released as we come to the church.
This is Powerful.
So stay connected and get around the right circles. I grew up in a non spirit filled atmosphere.
I grew up in a. I mean, people who loved God, but it was a cessationist church, didn't believe that Holy Spirit gifts were operating today.
And I'll never forget when a missionary from the Philippines came and shared at our church where I grew up.
He showed us a video of a crusade that he had just done.
And there were testimonies of blind eyes being opened and paralyzed walking. And I remember as a young person, I think I was in junior high school watching that video and hearing those testimonies and thinking, well, God doesn't do that kind of stuff in the United States. I guess I got to go to the Philippines or I need to go to Gulu, Uganda, or I need to go somewhere overseas where the real stuff is happening.
[00:27:39] Speaker A: So I went to Christ for the nations, desiring to be a missionary so I could get to where God was moving.
And I'll never forget I was in a men's orientation.
One brother on the piano playing, singing, people begin to pray in the Holy Spirit. And I'd never been around that kind of stuff.
I remember feeling like the wind was just whipping around me. The presence of God began to move into a men's orientation.
I remember going in my first semester and an evangelist by the name of David Newman.
He's not maybe a very well known evangelist, but boy, he impacted me. I remember he was calling people down and students were down receiving prayer and he'd take a microphone and what's going on with you? Well, I've had crippling back pain for the last three months. Okay, Lord, I ask you to heal his back pain in the name of Jesus. I was sitting in the back of the room, but I felt like this wave of God's anointing sweep down and touch that young person where he was. And then he began to testify. My back doesn't hurt anymore. Go on to the next one. What's wrong with you? Share their issue. I pray for that issue in the name of Jesus.
[00:28:54] Speaker A: And I began to realize there's a blessing connected to the house of God.
I'd just been in some of the wrong places. I didn't know that prophets could still operate today until I came to Trinity Church, began to hear people like Tommy and Miriam Evans and these guys, they begin to teach. Oh, anybody can prophesy. And I'm like, I don't know about that.
[00:29:16] Speaker A: And then sure enough, somebody that I don't know, somebody doesn't have a ministry no. 501c3. They begin to prophesy so accurately over my life. And I'm like, oh, my goodness. Goodness.
Oh, my goodness.
The word of the Lord.
Every Wednesday night, we hear testimonies of God's healing power. And it began. I just began to realize I had a precious lady come up to me. She's in a church, sounds like the church that I grew up in. And she's like, I come to Trinity Church because here I experience miracles. Here I hear about prophecy. Here I go. And I just want to say to anybody, you haven't yet maybe committed to this church, or maybe you're watching online and you're in a dead church. Friend.
Get where the spirit of God is moving.
That may seem harsh, but get where the spirit of God is moving.
I used to hear pastors all the time. Listen, if you're not being fed, that's your own fault. I think that's stupid.
I think that's stupid.
Listen, you can come to Trinity Church to be filled.
I've never once pulled into a gas station and been rebuked because I was low on gas.
[00:30:22] Speaker A: Been driving, and I'd been moving. And when I pulled up, I needed to get filled again. And so that's why, listen, if you're out in the world and you're pouring out and you're being alive, you need to come together and be refreshed. You'll show up on Monday and show up for the prayer meeting and show up to youth meeting and go to your Bible study and show up on Sunday.
Are you hearing me today?
Come on. There's a blessing that's connected with this. This place.
Positional promises. There are suddenly promises. There are positional promises.
Oh, my. I spent too much time on that one. I need you to listen a little faster, okay?
Luke 2:25. And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And this man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation. It means he was waiting for the saving, the redeeming of Israel.
And the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit. He would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
In verse 36, we see another Anna, a prophetess, a daughter of Pha Noel, the tribe of Asher. She was of great age. She lived with a husband seven years from her virginity. The widow. This woman was a widow of about 84 years. She did not depart from the temple, but she served God with fasting and prayers night and day. And coming into that instant, she gave thanks to the Lord and spoke to him, spoke of him to all those who were looking for the redemption in Jerusalem.
There are positional promises.
There are. What was the other one suddenly? Promises.
And thirdly, there are someday promises.
[00:32:02] Speaker A: Now I don't want to, I don't want you to take this as a like. I'm going to position myself as a lack of faith. Oh, one day God's going to do this.
[00:32:12] Speaker A: We're going to learn to faithfully.
[00:32:17] Speaker A: Expect God to move like these two precious senior saints did.
There are things I don't know about you, but there are things that I'm believing for and we as a church are believing for.
[00:32:32] Speaker A: Someday.
We do see cancer healings on occasion, but someday we're going to see a completely cancer free zone in the name of Jesus.
Someday you may be saying, I want to own my own home. That was my cry, my wife's cry for about a decade. One day I'm going to own a home. This last year, God allowed us the opportunity to do that. Maybe that's your prayer. Someday I'm going to own my own home. Someday I'm going to experience jubilee. I'm going to be debt free. Someday my business is be going to, going to be all that God told me it's going to be. Someday we're going to see an outpouring of glory that is historic in nature. Someday. Oh, come on. This is a promise for all of us. Someday we're going to see Jesus split the sky as he returns to call his church back home.
There are someday promises that each and every one of us are believing for. Do you have some someday promises?
Some of you had great breakthroughs in moments. Some of you went to the right meeting at the right time. God visited you.
But some of you sitting here today have been faithfully believing God for five years. In 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, maybe 84 years believing. I know what God spoke to me and I know that he's going to do it.
What did these two, Simeon and Anna, do to see the blessing of God, the promise of God revealed?
Well, firstly we see that they lived right before God.
In verse 25, Luke chapter 2, it says that Simeon was just and he was devout.
Just means that he was righteous, that he was pure hearted and he was devout. That means that he was steadfast, he was committed, and he was sincere in his worship. He wasn't just casually waiting around for God to do what he had promised.
He was faithful to the house of God. He was faithful to serve. He lived his life with integrity, even when nobody was watching. Over a lifetime, he was faithful to God, pure in heart.
Secondly, we see that they waited with expectation.
Everybody say expectation.
[00:34:45] Speaker A: He wasn't just hanging around.
[00:34:49] Speaker A: There was a prophetic drought. God had not spoken for many years. But he had a word that he was carrying in his heart. And he was living with expectation. You will see the Messiah, you will hold and see salvation. Some promises require patient expectation, not passive endurance.
To wait on the Lord is not just to do nothing and wait for God to show up.
It's for you to show up and to be faithful with the areas that God has called you to. I'm going to be faithful to pray, faithful to serve, faithful to give. I'm going to be faithful to take steps of faith. And I'm going to live with an expectation. God, you will fulfill your promise to me.
[00:35:38] Speaker A: Thirdly, we see that he was led by the Spirit.
[00:35:43] Speaker A: Verse 26 says, Holy Spirit was upon him.
And then it says that that day he went into the temple, he was led by the Spirit. I want you to imagine this, put yourself in this, in this situation.
[00:35:56] Speaker A: He'd prayed for many days.
He showed up many days.
He waited many days.
[00:36:08] Speaker A: But this day was different.
This was not a routine. This was not religion or ritual for him. He came that day led by the Spirit.
And on baby dedication Sunday, he walked in at the exact moment the promise of God walked into.
[00:36:29] Speaker A: When you live led by the Spirit, your steps sync with God and with his Spirit.
And this is the place that I want to live. Not just I. I want to be in this place. Maybe today is the day the glory of God is poured out. Maybe today is the day that your chronic illness you've had for 20 years. Maybe today's the day that that gets lifted off of you. Maybe today's the day your prodigal shows up to church. Maybe today is the day where God does something historic in nature or something you have been contending for your entire life.
[00:37:05] Speaker A: So we're going to live, we're going to walk led by the Spirit. And lastly.
[00:37:13] Speaker A: This is predominantly what we see with Anna.
But boy, this is powerful.
[00:37:20] Speaker A: We're going to serve the house of God. What do you do while you're waiting for your lifetime promises, your one day, someday promises?
Serve the house of God through fasting and prayer.
[00:37:34] Speaker A: Serve the house of God with fasting and with prayer. We see this in verse 37, Luke, chapter 2. This woman was a widow.
[00:37:46] Speaker A: Of about 84 years.
She did not depart from the temple. She lived at the house of God. You know, people like this, you know, we got people like this. Every time you show up, oh, you're here again. You're here on Monday and on Tuesday. You're not a young adult. Why are you here? But we know there's people, they live at this church, don't they?
That's what Anna was. She was there all the time. She did not depart from the temple, but she served God with fasting and prayer, day and night.
Worship team, if you come, I'm closing with this.
[00:38:21] Speaker A: She served God.
[00:38:25] Speaker A: Through fasting and prayer.
[00:38:29] Speaker A: Think about that.
[00:38:31] Speaker A: She served God.
[00:38:35] Speaker A: Through fasting and prayer.
[00:38:40] Speaker A: Sometimes we feel like I'm only really doing something if I'm working with my hands, if I'm setting something up, if I'm.
[00:38:49] Speaker A: Giving of my time or giving of my finance. You know, we get our minds set on certain things. This is what it is to serve God and all of those are important. Don't get me wrong.
She served God as an 84 year old woman through fasting and prayer.
[00:39:08] Speaker A: If God has put it on your heart, you wake up in the middle of the night and he puts it on your heart to pray for this church.
That's not a little thing.
[00:39:16] Speaker A: Maybe you're 84 years old or beyond and you can't show up to the workday. You can't, you can't show up for the manual labor kind of serving. But God has put it in your heart to show up to the prayer meeting or to drive through this parking lot and to pray for the pastors or to pray for the ministry that's going on in a particular time. That is not a little thing. You are serving God and you are serving his house. As you operate in that high and holy call of being an intercessor.
[00:39:45] Speaker A: This is important. In fact, I believe that we could make a case. You realize this even connects to what pastor was preaching last week talking about Nehemiah. I mean, Nehemiah was a politician who had a burden to see Israel rebuilt, rebuild the walls, then rebuild the temple. Why did that need to happen in the first place?
Why did they need to rebuild? Well, they had been attacked. The city had been overthrown. Most of Israel had been taken into captivity.
Over time, God released them.
But about a hundred years before Nehemiah, there was a prophet named Ezekiel.
[00:40:29] Speaker A: And God for 24 chapters is telling Ezekiel, listen, if things don't change in the nation, judgment's going to come.
If things don't happen, judgment's going to come. But I'm giving you a word. Ezekiel, go tell the People, go warn the people. He didn't want to judge the people.
[00:40:50] Speaker A: In chapter 22, towards the end of Ezekiel's first prophecy.
It's a powerful passage, one that speaks to my heart powerfully.
Ezekiel 22:30. This is the Lord speaking.
I sought for a man among them who could make a wall and stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it.
[00:41:17] Speaker A: But I found no one.
[00:41:24] Speaker A: You've probably heard that term, stand in the gap comes from Ezekiel.
[00:41:30] Speaker A: And it's twofold in nature.
On the one hand, there was a very literal sense in when a portion of the wall would come down, you needed somebody who would go. Pastor talked about this. A sword in one hand, a hammer in the other, ready to build and ready to war.
I'm ready to do the work. I'm ready to give. I'm ready to serve, and I'm gonna pray, and I'm gonna war, and I'm gonna push back darkness.
[00:41:56] Speaker A: Standing in the gap is also the picture like when Israel was coming under judgment. They were just coming out of the promised land.
They're going to get wiped out in the desert. Moses went and he prayed on their behalf. Lord, you can't let these guys die in the desert because that's going to make you look bad.
Okay, all right, we'll let him go. He was standing in the gap. Abraham praying on behalf of Sodom and Gomorrah. If you find 50 righteous, you find 40 righteous. He's standing in the gap. He's contending in the place of prayer to see God's blessing rather than his judgment.
And in the day of Ezekiel, judgment was coming, and God saying, the city doesn't need to be destroyed. I just need to find somebody who will pray.
[00:42:39] Speaker A: But he could find no one.
[00:42:43] Speaker A: So the city's laid waste.
[00:42:46] Speaker A: 100 years later, he uses a priest and a politician. Ezra and Nehemiah put it in their heart to build to war, to pray, to worship.
You want to know why they received so much pushback?
Wasn't just something in the natural.
But do you realize this temple needed to be rebuilt so that Jesus could come to the earth?
I believe it was a direct opposition from Satan himself. I cannot let this wall be rebuilt. I cannot let the house of worship be built. Because if it does, that Savior is going to come. He knew those prophetic words.
[00:43:27] Speaker A: They rebuilt that temple. They found some people who would pray. They found some people who would give. It's not a little thing when you give to a giving campaign.
It's not a Small thing when you show up to faithfully serve in kids ministry.
It's not a little thing when you drive this property and pray or show up on Wednesday night and pray.
[00:43:47] Speaker A: I believe what began to happen from the time it was rebuilt.
God found faithful intercessors who would stand in the gap and who would pray and I'll stand here and I'll pray even if nobody else will.
They were not going to repeat what happened with Ezekiel.
And I believe he found faithful intercessor. Faithful intercessor. Faithful intercessor.
It came down to somebody like Anna, an 84 year old widow.
Who's gonna pray, who's gonna stand in the gap?
There's one.
He found Anna who would serve the house of God, who would serve God with fasting and prayer.
[00:44:32] Speaker A: Realized she was making way.
[00:44:35] Speaker A: For the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords to be born into the world.
[00:44:41] Speaker A: I'm looking at some Anna's today.
[00:44:45] Speaker A: I'm looking at some people. You realize that our story is not unlike theirs.
[00:44:50] Speaker A: We oftentimes come into Christmas, we look back at the manger and we say, thank you Jesus for what you did 2,000 years ago. Thank you for coming, thank you for saving us.
[00:45:02] Speaker A: And rightfully so.
[00:45:05] Speaker A: But I got this picture as I was in prayer this last week.
[00:45:12] Speaker A: There's a moment in the book of Acts where Jesus has completed his mission. He's raised his disciples, he's brought his teaching. He died on the cross atoning for sin. He was raised from the dead. And then the Bible says that he ascended before the eyes of all people. He raised his hand, he blessed the disciple. That's why, by the way, at the end of a service, we'll lift our hands, we'll pray a blessing. That's what Jesus did as he was going, lifted his hand, spoke a blessing, he ascended to heaven where he is to this very day seated at the right hand of the Father.
[00:45:44] Speaker A: But an angel appears to the disciples as they're watching him go up into the clouds.
In Acts chapter 1 and verse 11, it says, Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing into heaven?
The same Jesus who is taken up from you into heaven will so come in like manner as you saw him go into heaven.
[00:46:07] Speaker A: Jesus will one day return.
[00:46:10] Speaker A: I feel like myself and I know there's many who are with me on this. I feel like I'm a modern day Simeon.
He was sure that he would see the coming of the the Messiah.
[00:46:23] Speaker A: I don't say this as like popular rhetoric of the day. In fact, you don't hear many people talking about the return of Jesus or the rapture of the church or these end time topics.
[00:46:33] Speaker A: But I'm standing here today like a Simeon, saying, I believe with my eyes and in my lifetime I will see the return of Jesus Christ.
I believe that.
I believe that.
