Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 speak about satan. There are supernatural and natural forces both active in the world. What we see in the natural also has supernatural components, from a hidden realm of information, a supernatural realm. The bad supernatural entities do not want us to know that they exist. The want us to think they are good.
Ezekiel 28:11-13 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: the sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created.”
In this case the king of Tyre was a evil spirit, and Tyre was where he manifested. There are many governments that have had evil entities behind some of what they did – think of Adolph Hitler, Idi Amin. It is evil to kill masses of people. In Tyre, satan was behind the scenes. The physical ruler of Tyre is referred to as the Prince of Tyre, the king of Tyre was lucifer. Notice that satan was beautiful, covered with precious stones and his timbrels and pipes were prepared for him – he was the worship leader in Heaven. Music was used to accomplish what he did.
Ezekiel 28:14 You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones.
Cherubs are not the little cupid figurines we see today. The devil is happy to have us believe such lies though. God established lucifer, but then lucifer got proud and rebeled against God.
Ezekiel 28:15-16 You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you. By the abundance of your trading you became filled with violence within, and you sinned; therefore I cast you as a profane thing out of the mountain of God; and I destroyed you, O covering cherub, from the midst of the fiery stones.
The trading for power caused lucifer’s downfall, he was created perfectly, but he traded to magnify himself over God. What is God’s picture of this?
1 Peter 2:13-16 Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men— as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.
God gives us free will and we can choose to either follow God or follow lucifer. lucifer can’t take our liberty, he needs our will to cooperate in order for him to subject and oppress us.
1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring usf]’> in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. There is also an antitype which now saves us—baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
The answer of a good conscience is TOWARD God, through the resurrection of Christ.
1 Peter 3:22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him.
The angels, and authority were subject to Him. Jesus went to hell and preached to those in hell.
2 Peter 2:4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;
Jesus did not spare the angels who sinned. Why? We operate in the realm of the “seen” what we can see. We don’t see the Father sitting on a throne, but the angels in heaven do. Dr. E.B (who died and was restored to life), came back and spoke of heaven, saying that no matter which direction you look in Heaven, you see the throne. Saved or forgiven, you are not accountable for what you didn’t know but angels had all the information. Those who disobeyed and sinned did so knowing what they did.
2 Peter 2:5 and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly;
2 Peter 2:8-9 (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)— then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment,
When things are so bad, people need to be delivered. There is no problem that is too big for God to deliver us from. But what will prevent our deliverance is if we are unjust, and refuse to obey God, preferring lawless deeds to the truth of God.
2 Peter 2:10 and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries,
This gets heavy, presumptuous and self-willed. Love cannot exist where there is no free will.
2 Peter 2:11-12 whereas angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord. But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption,
They need to be caught and destroyed.
2 Peter 2:13 and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you,
Carousing in the daytime and in their own deceptions while they feast.
2 Peter 2:14 having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children.
Their eyes are full of adultery, they cannot cease from sin and can’t stop what they are doing. They listen to the voice of evil and can’t stop.
2 Peter 2:15 They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness
They will do anything to trade for power and might, including enticing believers to sin.
2 Peter 2:16-17 but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet. These are wells without water, cloudsa]’> city ceased!“
This is the spiritual Babylon, Babylon behind the scenes the whole time. We have a spiritual heritage that is behind the scenes in our lives, although it may not be apparent in our physical. That is what some speak of as generational curses. But when we get saved, we can interfere with that program that is messing up our lives and then we won’t let anger, hostility, bad decisions mess up or destroy our lives and what we are trying to accomplish.
There is hope for our kids, when we get saved and we get changed, or children can look at our lives and realize, “Mom’s not like that anymore. I don’t have to be like that.”
Pastor Don shared how his father saw his grandmother punch his grandfather in the face, and Pastor Don’s father purposed in his heart that that would not happen in his marriage. It didn’t. He killed that evil spirit and uprooted it.
If we don’t commit our sinful things to the Lord, we often will return to them like a dog returns to its own vomit. God had mercy on Jacob, but BY FAITH ISRAEL.
The King of Babylon is a spiritual king behind the scenes.
Isaiah 14:5 The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers;
The rulers are the people who sit on thrones with a spiritual authority, and they have the scepter which represents power, but it is a power granted to them by satan, not God.
Isaiah 14:6 He who struck the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he who ruled the nations in anger, is persecuted and no one hinders.
The enemy will attack us with a CONTINUAL stroke. We often ask ourselves, why doesn’t the devil stop? Even Jesus had many attacks from the enemy.
Luke 4:1-13, the last verse is the key verse for our purposes, I have made the words bold. Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit intob]’> “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.’” Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Hime]’> Forb]’> son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ”I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north;”
PRIDE
Isaiah 14:14 “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.”
PRIDE, ARROGANCE, JEALOSY, REBELLION, WANTING TO TAKE THE PLACE OF GOD.
The number one attribute of leadership is RESPONSIBILITY. We may not be the smartest, strongest, wisest but we need to take responsibility for what went wrong in our ministry no matter who is at fault. Never say it is so and so’s fault. You should have seen it coming and if you missed it take responsibility or you are not leadership.
You may know right from wrong, but do you have discernment to know you were pushed off course? In verse 13 we see that satan’s intention was to take the throne of God and pull Him down.
If your child is getting in your face thinking he will tell you what to do, you do not accept it. Pastor Don said that one time one of his sons was very rebellious and he said, let’s pack your bag for you will not disrespect me under my roof. The son left for a few minutes and then came back crying, realizing that he had to obey his father.
We cannot be like the MOST HIGH, neither could satan.
Isaiah 14:15 Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the Pit.
He was brought to the lowest depths of the pit for he did the worst.
Isaiah 14:16-17 Those who see you will gaze at you, and consider you, saying: ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, who made the world as a wilderness and destroyed its cities, who did not open the house of his prisoners?’
Pastor Don asked us, “Is the devil a man?” How did he manifest himself to world leaders? He was able to take over Judas Iscariot, and then after Judas betrayed Jesus, Judas came to his senses. The enemy’s desire is to make the world a wilderness and destroy it’s cities. He did this once before.
Genesis 1:1-2 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ***(2) The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was
I want to open our study in the book of, the book of Mark. And I want to ask you a question today, just a very simple question. Who is the Christ Child to you? Who is He to you? Have you figured it out? Let’s go to the book of Mark, I’m going to go to the fifth or sixth chapter, somewhere in there. Well who is He to you? It was interesting that earlier today someone was speaking and they were trying to figure out who someone was to them. It started out you know, trying to figure it out. Who are you to me and are you my sister? My brother? Are you a friend? What are you and who are you? Go to Mark, Chapter 6. The sixth chapter of the book of Mark… I want you to see that you have to answer the question who the Lord is to you. You have to answer it definitively and with assurety that you know who He is to you. It’s like going to a family reunion and you walk into the room and you see all of these people – some have your hair tone, your eye color, some are your height and look like you. But as you go to a family reunion, you do walk up to people and you say, “Now who are you to me?” [laughter] Come on now, anybody ever been there? Who are you to me? What is our relationship? Are you my third uncle’s cousin’s kid? Are you the illegitimate one from Georgia [laughter] that everybody talks about but nobody confesses that we know you? Who are you? Are you my brother’s uncle’s cousin’s kids or my daddy was a rolling stone, are you one of the pebbles he dropped along the way? [laughter] What is it? Who are you to me? What is your relationship? And you go up to one of the old guys or one of the old gals and say, “Excuse me Ma’am, but who are you to me?” And she looks at you and she says, “Hold on sonny, what’s your name?” And then she asks you the question, “Who’s your daddy?” [yeah] “Who’s your daddy?” Do you know who your daddy is? Have you figured out who the Christ Child is to you? What is His status in your life? Does He have a name for you? Is He important? What is the relationship? Because it’s the answer to that question that will determine whether or not miracles will work in your life. It’s the answer to that question that will determine whether or not healing is available for you. The answer to that question will determine what your life will amount to. The Bible says that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. [amen, alright now] And to those who believe that He is, He will manifest to those who diligently seek Him and believe He is a rewarder of those who have that. You’ve got to be going after God to get God to manifest. [amen] But if He’s a tree, [laughter] He ain’t showin’ up. If He’s a car, He ain’t showin’ up. If He’s a baseball score, He ain’t showin’ up. And guess what, Colby Bryant can’t help you. [laughter] Colby can’t help you. Nice jump shot but he can’t help you. Let me call, the Bronx, James, what’s his new nickname? The King? The King? The King. His decree will not save you… Won’t happen. And so we have to be careful about promising that God’s going to do miracles for people who have no faith and don’t believe in Him. Can you prove it preacher? You all know I can, don’t you? [laughter] God is good, Chapter 6, Chapter 6 in the Book of Mark… “Then He went out from there and came to His own country, and His disciples followed Him. And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue. And many hearing Him were astonished, saying, “Where did this Man get these things? And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands!”" In other words, they heard about the things that Jesus could do… but they hadn’t figured out that this thing is based on relationship. They hadn’t figured out who He is to them. And so, they began to be offended and ask offending questions. “”Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?” So they were offended at Him.”" Have you ever noticed how, with unbelievers, you can say anything. You can say, “God.” You can say, “The Higher Power.” You can say, “The Supernatural One.” You can say, “The tree.” You can say any of that stuff, but the minute you say, “Jesus,” the whole atmosphere changes. [yes sir] I mean, have you noticed? Just wave your hand if you’ve noticed that that is the name that people will get offended at quickly. You can go to an ecumenical thingamajigabobba and shake hands with all the great people. But the minute you say Jesus, the room divides. It’s like the miracle of the parting of the Red Sea, you know what I mean? [laughter] You start talking about Jesus at the Mall, they all start doing the Moon Walk. [laughter] Away from you. You know. I was playing basketball the other day, and this young man used the name of Jesus improperly. And I just very quietly, I try not to be too obnoxious about it, but I said, “Yeah, He died for your soul.” [laughter] You know, in a polite way, but I noticed that the atmosphere changed. We are talking about a name that is so impactful in our culture that we have to realize that that Name is a Name of power. And we must speak it with respect and honor because it is the Name that above that, no other name, no other name, no other name in Heaven or earth, can do what that Name can do. [amen] And at that Name, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that that Name, Jesus… I don’t care how you say it, Yehashua, Youshua, Meshua, Heshua…[laughter] But people figure out right away you’re talking about Him. Isn’t it great to think that one of the convincing things to let you know as a believer that you are right…. is the response of the people that are wrong. [amen] You need to think about what I just said. That’s one of the ways that you know you’re right. So, let’s go a little bit further here. Are you with me or again’ me? [with] Well, alright, then. Verse 4. “But Jesus said to them,…” Look at this. “…A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.“…. Now, let’s break that down and make it simple. You ain’t about to get no honor, no respect, in your own country among your own relatives, and in your own house. [hallelujah] Forget about it. Oh believing wife who is waiting for your husband, forget about it. That’s a Jesus thing. Only Jesus can change that man. [that's right]… Jesus said, leave him alone. Let Him work with him. I was trying to beat my wife to the Lord, [laughter], I mean, I wasn’t laying a hand on her, but I was, you know. I was playing tapes, [laughter] leaving books around, [laughter] I was putting pamphlets and fliers. I was even so bold that you know, in those days, how many ever heard of cassettes? You all know about cassettes? I would put the cassette in her tape recorder, in her car, on the right verse she needed to hear. [laughter] She’d get in the car in the morning, vroom…, “And the Lord said…” [laughter] just screaming right at her, you know. I’m telling you, you know. And you just, Lord have mercy, aren’t we obnoxious sometimes? [laughter] There’s nothing worse than a Christian on a crusade trying to, trying to beat the people in his house down. [amen] You know why? We totally forget, what do we forget? We forget that we were just like them, we were just on the other side of the fence not too long before that. [amen] And so, you know what the Lord told me? “Leave her alone.”… And I was, “But Jesus, You need my help.” [laughter] Leave her alone! umnh umnh umnh. Leave her alone. Wouldn’t it be nice to go to the, do you know, do you realize that if you have family reunions, they already are waiting for you? They know you are coming. [oh yeah] Here come Mr. Holy. [laughter] Here comes Sister Righteous. [laughter] And you know, they practice all their lines for you. I believe, you know what I think? I think that before the reunion they email each other to say, when she gets here [laughter] you know, we’re going to say… They figure out what they’re going to say. How they’re going to treat you. What they’re going to do. You know, now we have the opposite problem in my family. We had a praying Grandma. Both my Grandmothers were praying saints. And both my grandfathers were praying people. So we are now in the third or fourth generation of free black people in America. And everybody, this is very strange to say this, but everybody in our generations are saved in our family. [Praise God!] So don’t tell me this prayer thing doesn’t work. Everybody, all of my cousins, all of my nephews, all of them, we, the heathens have a hard time being in our family. Cause we don’t have to talk about Jesus. They just walk in the room and they go,… [laughter] Oh, Lord. So you need to realize that prayer is, that prayer is the key that will do it, but expecting to be honored, forget about it. Expecting that they’re going to go, “You know, you got to the Lord before me, that means that, you know, you’re what?” No it doesn’t. It just means that Jesus moved that way first. You lucked out. I said, “You lucked out.” [amen] I said, “You lucked out.” [amen, glory] It was just the grace of God that brought you in, but guess what? Bringing you in first doesn’t mean you’re going to run the race the longest. Bringing you in first doesn’t mean you’re going to stand the greatest. Bringing you in first doesn’t mean that you’re going to do anything that He tells you to do, because obedience does not come by the opportunity of time. Obedience comes by wisdom, what you learn. And then you obey. Somebody say, “Amen.” [amen] So Jesus realizes that He’s not going to be honored in the town, but that’s not what bothers Him. Listen to me. That’s not what bothers the King of kings, and the Lord of lords. Let’s read the next part and we’ll figure it out here. Verse 5, let’s read it together. Come on. “Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them.“ Let’s read it again. “Now He…” Who’s the He here? [Jesus] Jesus – “Now Jesus could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them.” … Well, what are they saying? He could do no mighty work there. In other words, He laid His hand on somebody that had the common cold, and they were healed. He laid His hands on somebody that had a headache. It couldn’t have been a severe migraine, or thing running through, you know, series and series of years in their lives, but they might have just had a little, you know, a headache, a little minor headache. And He laid His hands on them. A few minor things. You know, somebody might have had a little, a little soreness in their elbow, and He laid hands on that and they were good to go. But He could do no mighty works there. In other words, He couldn’t open blind eyes there. He couldn’t unstop deaf ears. He couldn’t get the crippled up. He couldn’t get someone who had a death sentence on them, and do anything about it. He couldn’t help anybody that had leprosy. He couldn’t help anybody that was demon possessed. He couldn’t help anybody that was what? Off in the corner, by themselves, lost in the darkness of mental illness. He couldn’t bring them out. All He could do was help somebody that had some minor kind of thing going on… And we have to ask ourselves, whose fault was that? Well, who is the Christ Child to you? [alright now] Who is He to you? Because that’s going to determine what He can do in your world. Let’s look at the next verse. Look what it says in verse 6. “And He marveled…” Let’s read it together so you get it now. “And He marveled because of their unbelief….” He what? [marveled] “…marveled because of their unbelief.” And then it says, “…Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching.” Well, what does it mean, in a circuit teaching? Here’s what, Jesus realized something. He said, “Wait a minute.” He might have done like I do sometimes. Sometimes, you know, when I pray for people and they don’t get better, sometimes I question the anointing on my life. Can I just be honest? I say, “Lord, was it something I said? Or something I did this week? Or, you know, it’s what? What’s wrong here, Lord? Was it something that I didn’t teach them properly? Was it something that I didn’t get down from in their brain down into their heart for them to understand so that they could receive their healing? What, Lord, was it me?” And I throw myself on the altar of self examination. And I begin to peel back the thoughts in my mind. Where did I let my mind go? Maybe I strayed too much in my thinking and didn’t have command. Lord, what was it? Maybe, maybe I just didn’t have enough compassion for them. Maybe I just didn’t just love them enough this week and maybe they should show up next week, or the week before. Maybe, maybe it’s me. Maybe there’s something wrong with me… And then I marvel. Maybe it was them… And I thought to myself, here’s Jesus, who’s He to you? I know who He is to me. As the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, He marvels. Well what does it mean when somebody marvels? It means that he does the same thing I did. He stepped back and said, “What in the world just happened here?” Jesus said, “What in the world just happened?” But, unlike me, the minute He asks the question, He’s got the answer. Aren’t you glad Jesus already has the answer? [yes] I’d be looking for it for a week, but He’s got it instantly. But Jesus knows the answer, because the Divine Spirit of God rests and resides upon Him because His anointing has no limit on it, and so, therefore, Jesus knows what the problem is. And He goes immediately to do something about the problem. What did He say was His problem? … [unbelief] …say it like you’re not ashamed to be wrong. [unbelief] He says what? He says, “The problem here is unbelief.” … Unbelief…. Unbelief in what? You’d have to say, the question isn’t in what. The question is, in Whom. I’m going somewhere today. I want you to come with me. Our problem isn’t in believing in what. Our problem is believing in whom. Can you say, “whom.” [whom] Now say it like I’m saying it. “Whooooom” [Whooooom] The question is, Whom. He said He marveled at their unbelief. Not their unbelief at what He could do because a few scriptures before it says they wondered about the marvelous, wonderful things He had done. What Jesus had done was not in question. They knew that He had done what the people said He had done. Their question was, they were offended at who He is. [right] And the question was, Whom… Whom. Let’s go through it again because I can see, I can see you know, confusion trying to get in here. And we’re not going to permit that. Look at verse 5 again… Oh hold it, let’s go to verse 2 1/2. 2 1/2 “..And what wisdom is this which is given to Him…” They didn’t question that He had wisdom did they? [no] There’s no question that He had the wisdom, and they say this is given to Him, “…that such mighty works are performed by His hands!” They didn’t question that He’s done these mighty works, but what are they offended at? They’re offended at the fact that they know His momma. They’re offended at the fact that they know His brothers and sisters. In other words, watch this now. They treat Him as a common thing… They treat Him as a common thing. All the religions of the world have one thing in common concerning Jesus Christ. Do you know what they have in common? They all say He’s a great teacher. [yeah] But they don’t believe what He taught. [right] They say He was a great prophet, but they don’t believe what He prophesied. They say He was a great man. But they don’t believe in His ultimate character. That what He said was true. That it had some veracity, that it had some meaning that when He says, “I am the light of the World,” Lord have mercy. “I am the light of the world.” When He said, “I am the Son of God.” When He says, “When you look at me you’ll see, you’ll see me coming in power and might.” Coming from where? “From where I am from.” He says, “I came from above and I’m going back to above.” Well at some point, Jesus realized the problem was not that they couldn’t believe that He could do what He could do. The problem was they did not believe that He was who He says He was. Who’s the Christmas Child to you today? Maybe we can step up in your mindset who He is, so that the Whom can be answered at a more true level that would line up, not with what you know He can do, but would line up with whom He is. Whom He is. I used to like it when my kids were little and Mom would come to visit. My mother and father would load up the car and they’d drive from New York City up here. And my kids would get excited. And if you’d ask them, “Well why are you getting excited?” They’d say, “Grandma and Grandpa are coming. Yeah, Grandma and Grandpa are coming. Yeah, Grandma’s comin’. I’m excited about that, Grandma’s comin’.” Well, why? Because Grandma to them significantly meant the best fried chicken in the world was coming to our house. [laughter] They realized that there was no, no separation between who Grandma was, and what Grandma did. If Grandma showed up, everything that she is, everything that she could do, was going to be busting loose at our house. Because why? That’s who she was. And when she showed up, all of her capability, all of her grace and power, all of her wonderful fried chicken was going to be in the house. [laughter, yeah] … When you show up, who’s showing up?… When you go to visit, who are they expecting? When you stride through the door, do they go, “Uh, oh, trouble’s here?” [thank you Lord] Or, “Old stingy showed up.” [laughter] Or somebody in the kitchen bows their head and goes, “Oh, what’s she want?” [laughter] Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Jesus is disappointed because He is showing up, and the people are offended at who He is. Huh. Verse 5. “…He could do no mighty work there….” Verse 6 “…He marveled because of their unbelief.” … I thank God that our God tells us what the solution to the problem is. Anybody wanna see it? [yes] Do you want to see the solution to the problem? [yes] One beautiful thing about Jesus is when He comes, He will not leave you the same. Even if you reject Him, He will not leave you the same. [amen, Thank you Jesus] Even if you don’t know who He is, He will not leave you the same. But He will do something about the problem. And so, in order that He will not have to run into this problem again, the end of verse 6 tells us, what the solution to the problem is. “…He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching.” In a circuit, teaching. What’s it mean, in a circuit? It means that He’s going around in a circle, doesn’t it? Doesn’t it mean that He’s going to go to a place, and then go past that place, and then to another place, and another place, and then come back to the place that He just left? Come on somebody. Can we see that? Does anybody see that? He’s going around in a circuit. So He’s not just going to go to Kingston, and if they reject Him, and there’s no signs, wonders, and miracles, He never comes back to Kingston. It says that He’s going in a circuit, teaching. In other words, He is going to permeate, listen to me, He’s going to permeate the area with His Word. [amen, whooo] Lord have mercy! [amen] That He’s just going to go around and permeate His Word, His Word is going to be expressed in the area around the Galilee, and He’s coming back again… He’s coming back again. In other words, my brother and my sister, Happy Holidays and all of that good stuff. But the holiday is meaningless unless you answer the question: Who is He to you? Who is He to you? And if we be honest, He’ll come back in a circuit and teach us. [amen] He won’t leave us in our ignorance and our pride. How many of you know that? I’m so glad He came back to me, and taught me the next time around. [amen] I’m so glad that when I missed Him, when I misunderstood Him, when I rejected His love and I didn’t know how deep His love ran, I’m so glad, He came back around again in a circuit teaching. That the things that I didn’t understand back then, He was so kind to me. So merciful to me that He says, “Oh I remember you. You didn’t get this last time. But let me tell it to you another way. Let me demonstrate it to you another way.” And He didn’t give up on me. When I wasn’t the best husband in the world, He gave me another chance. He says, “No, that’s not how you speak to the queen of your life. That’s not how you, that’s not how you minister to her. You’ve got to cover her in the Word.” He says, “Wash her in the Word of God.” And then I began to realize that there is no way that the washer who is washing something, or someone, there is no way that he stays dirty. [yes, amen, hallelujah]… That if you will get into the water to wash someone else, there is no way that you stay unclean, even the dirt under your fingernails will come out. [yeah] … Lord have mercy! And the suds of Jesus, the suds of Jesus, will just roll over you, if you will get in the Water of the Word. The Word of God is the Water. Have you visited lately? Who is Christ to you? He says, “I am the Living Water.” It won’t help you if you’re not drinking it. It won’t help you if you’re not washing somebody in it. What does He mean to you? Who is He to you? Is Jesus Christ just a nice suggestion, or is He Santa Claus, who is He to you? But to me He’s the King of kings and the Lord of lords. His Word is to be obeyed the instant that it is spoken. He’s Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. All of that and more! And He’s coming around in a circuit to teach us again, and again, and again until we figure it out. If He’s just a teacher, He’s not enough. If He’s just a prophet, it’s not enough. We have to receive Him as who He is: The Son of God. The Word of God. The Ever Clean, Ever Worshipful, Ever Sanctified, All Powerful, Undefeated, Mighty in Battle, Gracious in Love and Kindness, His name is Yeshua, because He comes to save the people. That’s who He is! And He’s worthy to be praised. That’s who He is. [applause]
