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00:00 Go with me to Hebrews chapter number 12. Hebrews chapter number 12. Because our word for the year comes out of the word of God. Remember I told you this is the scripture we're going to declare every single Sunday. No matter what text I'm preaching from, we read in this passage right here by the end of this year, you're going to have this scripture memorized.
00:24 Hebrews chapter 12, the message translation. Hold up before I even read it, can we welcome our social global family one more time? Can we welcome all the inmates that are watching this on Pando?
00:40 And we almost there, let's just practice. Can we welcome our echo location that's watching this live, starting Super Bowl Sunday, the Super Bowl that the Cowboys will not be in.
00:55 We will be one church in two locations. Am I healed from it? No. Pray for your boy. But let's look at it. Hebrews chapter 12, starting at verse 28. Do you see what we've got?
01:13 An unshakable kingdom. And do you see how thankful we must be? Not only thankful, but brimming with worship, deeply reverent before God.
01:26 For God is not an indifferent bystander. He's actively cleaning house, torching all that needs to burn and he won't quit until it's all cleansed. God himself is fire. Can you say amen?
01:44 And then the text from which we're going to be teaching today, second Kings chapter six, second Kings chapter six. And I want to start at verse number eight. Such a powerful passage of scripture.
02:00 I pray for your boy. I got more sermon than I got time. Second Kings chapter six, starting at verse number eight. And it says, now the king of Aram was at war with Israel.
02:14 After conferring with his officers, he said, I will set up my camp in such and such a place. The man of God sent word to the king of Israel. Beware of passing that place because the Arameans are going down there.
02:30 So the king of Israel checked on the place indicated by the man of God time and again, Elisha warned the king so that he was on guard in such places.
02:41 This enraged the king of Aram. He summoned his officers and demanded of them. Tell me right now, which one of y'all is leaking information?
02:53 Which one of y'all is on the side of the king of Israel? And some brave officer in the back said, none of us, my Lord, the king, but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel tells the king of Israel, the very words you speak in your bedroom.
03:11 Oh, you thought like your phone could hear stuff. You thought Alexa and Siri could hear stuff. Look at the prophet of God who was telling folks business in their bedroom.
03:25 So the king said, go find out where he is so I can send men and capture him. The report came back. He is in Dothan. Then he sent horses and chariots and a strong force there.
03:39 They went by night. They went by night. They went with. I might talk about that later and surrounded the city. When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city.
03:58 Oh, no, my Lord. What shall we do? The servant asked. Don't be afraid. The prophet answer those who are with us are more than those who are with them.
04:15 Did you hear what I just read? Verse 16 was worth you getting up in the cold and coming to church. Somebody can leave right after that right there. I need a word from God. There it is in verse 16.
04:27 Don't be afraid. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them. And Elisha praying, open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see. Then the Lord opened the servant's eyes and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
04:51 Can you say amen and give God some praise because that is some good, some good scripture. I want to preach today. Not not long, you know, maybe about 2 hours.
05:04 Just just using this as a title. It was there all along. It was there all along. Look at your neighbor for what might be the last time. I'm not making any promises. Just look at your neighbor. Say neighbor.
05:20 It was there all along. Some of y'all still waking up and some of y'all kind of bougie. So find another neighbor. Come on, say other neighbor. It was there all along. Come on, give God some praise. You can be seated.
05:38 Relax. It was there. All along. Do you see what we've got? An unshakable kingdom.
05:58 If my mobile church math is right, and I think it is being here in this building at Fair Park is our ninth venue since our church's inception.
06:15 Our ninth venue since we launched Social Dallas. Absolutely. It is real out here in these church planting streets. We have been in nine distinctly different venues, y'all, in just three years.
06:33 Not only that, to be even more specific, this is our sixth time that we've had service right here on these iconic Fair Park grounds.
06:46 As a matter of fact, I vividly remember when we did a walkthrough before we ever had service here. I remember when we had a walkthrough right here to see if this facility would necessitate us gathering on Sunday morning.
07:00 I remember the walkthrough. I was not with the team when they did the first walkthrough. I was actually deep in prayer, reading the book of Obadiah, as I often do.
07:12 But they were walking through Fair Park for the first time, and they were so excited.
07:17 My phone started blowing up. The team was like, "PR! PR! You gotta come to Fair Park. This is it. This is the spot. I'm telling you, we know where we're gonna set up the stage. We know where we're gonna set up the screen. It's gonna be incredible. There's a lobby. We know where we're gonna put everything."
07:32 They were so hyped. PT and Pastor Michelle with Social Kids, they called me. They were so excited. Like, "Oh my gosh, you've gotta see the kids' area. There's this cute little auditorium to the side. It's gonna be perfect for the kids."
07:46 I mean, Walter and the team was going crazy. They said, "PR, we know how we're gonna do the parking. Fair Park is it. Fair Park is it."
07:52 Our creative director, Mr. Frank Del Corral, who knows me too well, he knows which buttons to push. And he said, "Ooooh, you ain't gonna believe it. The building's name is Embarcadero."
08:05 He said, "PR, Embarcadero means landing place. I bet this is our last landing place before God actually gives us our own building." I mean, they were going crazy.
08:17 So they were so excited about the walkthrough that I wasn't at that I closed the book of Obadiah and said, "Let me pull up to Fair Park and let me see what it's all about."
08:28 So I came to these Fair Park grounds and I did my first walkthrough and I'm walking through the Fair Park grounds and oh, when I walk through, I saw what they saw during my first Fair Park walkthrough.
08:43 But it wasn't until later that day that I was hit with the reality of something. I was hit with the reality that my first Fair Park walkthrough was not my first Fair Park walkthrough.
09:00 Y'all, I am Texas born, Texas raised. I did my first Fair Park walkthrough when I was like eight years old. Matter of fact, every single year my school would give me a free ticket to do a Fair Park walkthrough.
09:20 Walkthrough. Y'all, I did a Fair Park walkthrough to find me some Fletcher's corn dogs. I did a Fair Park walkthrough to find me some turkey legs. I did some Fair Park walkthroughs to find me a funnel cake.
09:34 I did a Fair Park walkthrough to look for big techs. I did a Fair Park walkthrough to throw a ball up against a rigged game that wasn't going to get me a prize anyway. My first Fair Park walkthrough was not really my first Fair Park walkthrough.
09:50 I had been here several times before. What's crazy is when I came before, I wasn't looking for a building that would be a house of prayer and a house of presence and a house for people.
10:08 Isn't it crazy? The very grounds that I walked on before, I didn't realize that this building was there all along. It was right here the entire time. This building was sitting right here.
10:28 It's interesting that I didn't see it because I wasn't looking for it. I wonder what you are walking through and walking by in your life right now that could actually be the answer to the problem that is in your life.
10:44 That could actually be the miracle that you've been hoping and believing for. What are you walking through and walking by and you don't even realize it's right there in front of you and it has been there the entire time.
10:58 Oftentimes when we talk about being blind to something, we think we are blind because we are unable to see it. But I came to tell you more often than not, the reason we are blind to some things is not because we are unable to see it.
11:12 It's because we weren't looking for it in the first place. If you're not looking for it, you're going to be blind to it. It's hard to find a building when you're looking for a funnel cake.
11:25 It's hard to see an opportunity for maturity if you're looking to be offended. It's hard to see how you can serve people if you're looking for people to serve you.
11:43 It's hard to see a wife if you're just looking to sleep around. It's hard to see your calling if you're just looking for compensation.
12:01 Because sometimes the thing that God calls you to, you won't necessarily get compensation for it. But if you're called to it, the calling is the compensation.
12:15 It's hard to see the thing that you aren't looking for. And if you're not looking for it, you will inevitably be blind to it. See, there are a whole lot of people that are part of the blind community even though they have their natural eyesight.
12:32 The question is not really what do you see. The question is what are you looking for? What are you looking for? And some of the hardest things to see are the things that were there all along.
12:47 Some of the hardest things to see are the things that were right in front of your face and they were there all along.
12:56 You ever thought you lost something and of course immediately you went, "Oh, who stole my wallet?" As soon as you see it's gone, you think somebody took it.
13:03 Then you realize, "Oh, wait a minute. It was right here. Calm down. Don't call the police." It was right in front of your face. It was hidden in plain sight.
13:11 Sometimes the hardest things to see are the things that were there all along. Let me see if I can really make my point clear.
13:19 Y'all, do you know how many times I've been to FedEx? You know how many times I've sent packages, picked up packages at FedEx?
13:28 For years your boy was in FedEx and had no clue that right in the middle of that E and that X was an arrow. It was there all along.
13:43 Do you know how many times my mama who was in the service would take me to Baskin-Robbins and there I'd be leaning over the glass trying to pick what flavor I wanted to get from Baskin-Robbins?
13:54 Do you have a Baskin-Robbins graphic? Praise the Lord. Do you know how many times I leaned over there trying to pick out what flavor and had no clue that right in the middle of the B and the R there was a 31, letting me know there were 31 flavors.
14:10 It was there all along. Somebody get a revelation right now. Do you know how many times your boy went to Super Bowl parties and said, "Pass the Tostitos," and was eating Tostitos, dipping it in salsa and guacamole,
14:25 and had no clue that right in the middle of the Tostitos were two people with some chips trying to put it in the salsa. It was there all along.
14:38 Let me just speak prophetically because this one ain't come to pass yet. Do you know when we get our own building and we turn our current headquarters into Social Coffee House and it's coffee with a cause and we're able to give people employment and bless our community
14:53 and they're going to walk in the coffee shop and go, "How come everybody at Social Coffee, they're just different? How come all the workers there have a smile on their face?"
15:02 It's like I sense the presence of God in Social Coffee shop. Do you know when that comes to pass? Do you know how many people are going to get their cup of social coffee and they're going to think that that little logo is just a mug and the seed, but they ain't even going to know that it's an SD and that Social Dallas has social coffee.
15:21 And they're going to be sipping. It's all about y'all. It was there. It was there all along. It was there all along.
15:35 The biggest prayer you can pray this year is God open up my eyes to see the things that were there all along. God don't show me what to look for. Open up my eyes to see the things that were there all along.
15:54 My text today in 2 Kings chapter 6 is a powerful passage of scripture. In fact, to me, it should be a major motion picture. I love 2 Kings chapter 6, especially the text that we read earlier.
16:08 Because when we read this text, we find out that the king of Aram, really the king of Syria, is at war with the children of Israel.
16:16 And when you find out that he is at war with the children of Israel, it is very clear as to his militaristic strategy. We know how he is attacking the children of Israel.
16:26 He does not choose to attack them at an appointed time. He does not say, "Hey, y'all want to fight? Let's fight at 3 o'clock and let's put all our men on the battlefield and we're going to fight in hand-to-hand combat."
16:38 That is not his militaristic strategy. Matter of fact, whenever you read the Bible, you ought to look at the militaristic strategy of the enemies of the people of God.
16:47 It will actually give you insight into how the enemy attacks you. Let me back that thing up a little bit more.
16:53 Do you remember when the children of Israel were at war with the Philistines? And it was a very strategic strategy.
17:00 The way they came against each other, it was a battle of representation. Rather than having all their men get on the battlefield, they said, "How about you send your best soldier and I'll send my best soldier and we don't have to have all this bloodshed.
17:15 Let's just have two people representing both armies fight each other and whoever gets the victory is going to get the victory not just for them, but for the entire army."
17:27 This is the battle that you step into when you read David and Goliath. It was a battle of representation.
17:33 And so that's why Goliath was their best warrior. And every single day he taunted the children of Israel and said, "Bring me your best warrior because we can end this thing right now."
17:44 That's why they were nervous and scared. It wasn't just that Goliath was big and big enough to eat hay and looked like he was dumb enough to enjoy it.
17:52 They were nervous to fight because if you lost, you were putting the entire army in jeopardy.
17:58 And that's why for 40 days they were all shaking in their boots until one day a young little shepherd boy named David said, "I don't know what y'all scared for. I've been in the presence of God on the backside of the mountain.
18:10 Is there not a cause? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that dare defy the armies of the living God?"
18:17 You know the story. You went to Sunday school and here comes David with his slingshot, got five stones and knocked him out.
18:24 And when he got the victory, everybody got the victory because David was standing in proxy for the rest of the army.
18:33 Can I just parenthetically pause right there and just praise God for Jesus? Because you know he is the son of David.
18:40 That's what he did for you and I. There was a giant called Sin that had taken all of us out and nobody could fight the giant of Sin.
18:49 Nobody was man enough to take on the giant of Sin. And here comes Jesus that says, "I'll do it if nobody else will.
18:56 Y'all sit back and stand there and let me fight this battle. And when I get the victory, all y'all gonna get the victory."
19:03 I don't know why you sitting down. He didn't get five stones, but he was pierced five times in his right arm, in his left arm, in his right foot, in his left foot.
19:13 And they pierced him in his side and he died and got up from the grave. And because he got the victory,
19:22 I can walk with my head held high because Sin and death has been defeated.
19:30 So I'm just saying, you gotta know what kind of battle the enemy is waging war against you.
19:39 So you gotta know that the king of Syria, the king of Aram, has a strategic fight.
19:46 He does not say, "Let's fight at a certain time." He's fighting through ambush. Secret ambush.
19:57 He's trying to creep up on the children of Israel and catch them when they're not looking.
20:03 He's trying to attack them by surprise. He's trying to hit them when they least expect it.
20:11 He doesn't say, "Let's fight at a certain time." It's an ambush. Elbow your neighbor and say, "It's an ambush."
20:16 Have you noticed in your life that the enemy does not send you a text message when he's going to attack?
20:23 Don't you wish? See, I would know how to fight if he was going to tell me, "Hey, guess what?
20:27 On March 31st, this person is going to betray you. Get ready for it. They're going to stab you right in the back."
20:33 He does not let you know. He does not tell you, "Hey, be careful in the summer of this year.
20:38 You're going to get a diagnosis that's going to rock your way." He does not let you know the attack.
20:44 He's trying to be in secret. It just hits you out of nowhere.
20:48 Have you ever had something just hit you out of nowhere? It was a surprise attack.
20:55 This is the strategy of the enemy. This is why the enemy comes to do what? To steal, kill, and destroy.
21:02 What is the law of first mention? He comes to steal. Nobody steals something from you while you're looking at them.
21:12 They generally wait until your back is turned, until you're preoccupied with something else, and then the enemy comes in to steal.
21:21 And so the king of Aram says, "Here's what we're going to do. We're going to ambush them, and we're going to attack."
21:27 The only problem was Elisha, the man of God. All throughout 2 Kings, the Bible calls Elisha the man of God.
21:37 He was the prophet of God. Elisha starts getting insight as to where he's going to attack.
21:43 Elisha, this powerful prophet, Elisha, this powerful man of God, starts getting insight as to where he is going to attack.
21:52 And he tells the king of Israel, "Hey, don't go here. Don't go there. He's going to show up.
21:58 Hey, don't go to this city. He's going to show up."
22:01 How many are thankful for somebody that heard from God and had intel on the inside to warn the people of God where to go?
22:12 I'm telling you, if I was the king of Israel, I would have been saying, "Thank you, Elisha,"
22:17 because obviously the king of Israel didn't get any insight, but Elisha was getting the insight.
22:22 And Elisha would tell them, "Don't go to this place. They're coming there."
22:24 And sure enough, they would go to that place, and they wouldn't find the enemy.
22:28 Don't you wish you had somebody like that? Don't you wish you had intel on the inside?
22:34 Don't you wish you had a spirit on the inside of you that would give you insight as to what to...
22:42 Can I tell you, this is the power of the Holy Spirit that you do have inside,
22:48 that if you would quiet your life and listen to the leading of the Holy Spirit,
22:53 how many of you know there's some things that you won't even step into?
22:56 There's some attacks that you're going to slide right past?
22:59 See, this is why at the beginning of the year we pray and we fast,
23:02 because I'm trying to shut down all the noise of my flesh so I can open up my ears to hear the Spirit,
23:08 because I don't want to miss out on information.
23:11 You have somebody on the inside that will speak to you, that'll let you know,
23:16 "Hey, don't even reply to that text. Don't go out with them.
23:21 Uh-uh, it's a good pay, but don't take that job.
23:25 Uh-uh, don't go out there. Don't do that."
23:27 If you would listen to the voice, you actually have inside information.
23:32 But let's think deeper on the text.
23:35 Elisha would tell the king of Israel, "Don't go to this place."
23:40 This happened several times.
23:42 And then the king of Israel would just tell the soldiers.
23:46 So can you imagine being a soldier?
23:48 And here you are, booted and suited, got your sword,
23:53 and all of a sudden you get directions to go to one place.
23:56 All of a sudden they say, "Ah, never mind. We're going over here."
24:01 Then the next day, you're getting ready to go somewhere else.
24:04 "Ah, never mind. We're going somewhere else."
24:07 Can you imagine being a soldier, especially if you did not get privileged to the information
24:13 that is coming from Elisha?
24:15 Don't sit up there and look at me like that.
24:17 You know how frustrated and annoyed you would be after about the fifth time.
24:21 You'd be like, "Oh, it looks like we need to fix the communication here in this army
24:26 because y'all saying going over here and now you changing and saying go over here.
24:30 Can y'all get it together because there's no clarity?
24:34 Can we just get clarity of communication?"
24:36 Here they are, frustrated because the plans have changed,
24:40 not even realizing perhaps that the reason the plans are being changed,
24:44 the reason you have the redirection is for your protection.
24:48 It's not to frustrate you.
24:51 Oh, God, it is to protect you.
24:53 I'm trying to help some of y'all type A people that it seems like God keeps redirecting you
24:58 and God keeps changing the channel.
25:01 Can I tell you the redirection is for your protection.
25:05 Sometimes God will change the plans.
25:07 Sometimes that wasn't even his plan anyway.
25:09 That was your plan.
25:11 But sometimes God will shift some things and close some doors
25:14 because he's trying to guide you to a place that's best for you.
25:18 This is why I can praise God when people walk away.
25:22 This is why I can praise God when I have rejection.
25:25 This is why I can praise God even when I lose some things
25:28 because how many of you know he has prophetic insight into my future
25:32 and there's some things that I can't see in my future.
25:35 So thank you, Jesus.
25:36 Whatever plans you got to change to keep me protected, feel free to change the plans.
25:47 The redirection wasn't for their frustration.
25:52 It was protection.
25:55 Yeah, I know we said we were going over here yesterday, but the plans have changed.
25:58 The enemy's trying to attack.
25:59 Now we're going over here.
26:01 Are you okay with God changing the plans?
26:05 In order to protect your life.
26:08 Are you okay with God giving you a detour on the route to your destiny?
26:15 Because he's trying to protect you.
26:18 He's trying to guard you.
26:20 So this happened time and time again.
26:25 And I'm sure even the children of Israel who were in the army,
26:28 they were getting frustrated.
26:30 But you know who was frustrated the most?
26:33 The king of Syria.
26:36 The king of Syria is so mad.
26:40 Big mad.
26:41 Because every time he got ready to attack them, they weren't there.
26:47 Every time he got ready to ambush them, they disappeared.
26:51 So we read it in the text.
26:53 I love it.
26:54 He calls a meeting.
26:55 Say, "I want all my soldiers in here real quick.
26:58 All y'all come in here."
27:00 Say, "What is going on?"
27:02 Say, "I've been trying time after time to defeat the children of Israel,
27:07 and it seems like we got somebody in here who's leaking information.
27:12 Because every time we get ready to attack them in a certain place,
27:15 they just happen to not be there.
27:16 So I want to know who's the traitor, who's leaking information."
27:21 And a hush falls over the meeting until one officer in the back says,
27:27 "Uh, ain't nobody leaking information.
27:30 Let me tell you what's going on.
27:33 There's a prophet named Elisha, king, who God speaks to him,
27:40 and he knows the very words that you say in your bedroom."
27:44 Hold up. Hold up.
27:47 Who called the meeting?
27:49 The king of the enemy army.
27:54 He's trying to figure out where's the leak of the information.
27:59 And a soldier not in the army of the children of Israel,
28:05 a soldier in the army of the enemy has supernatural vision and insight
28:14 as to what is going on.
28:16 This is going to mess some of y'all up.
28:18 There are people in the world that have more spiritual insight
28:22 than some people who are soldiers in the army of the Lord.
28:25 There are some people who have been coming to church for years
28:28 and are still blind to what God is doing.
28:31 And there are some people who aren't even in the Lord's army
28:35 who are in the enemy camp, and God is doing a work on their life,
28:39 that God is still speaking to them.
28:41 That's why you got to be careful who you turn your nose up at.
28:44 You don't know what God is doing in the depths of somebody's heart.
28:47 And look at this person on the enemy's side.
28:49 They say, "I know exactly what's going on.
28:51 There is a man of God that hears from God.
28:53 He knew."
28:55 That's why the Bible says sometimes the children of the world
28:58 are even wiser than children of the light
29:01 because sometimes the most blind people in the world
29:05 are the ones that know all the Scriptures,
29:08 are the ones that have been coming to church since the third trimester
29:10 of their mother's pregnancy and just blind.
29:15 Ain't Mr. Church Service blind to spiritual reality?
29:19 Can quote the first five books of the Old Testament
29:22 and blind to spiritual reality.
29:25 Well, I don't know if that sounds right.
29:26 Do you got scriptural proof for that?
29:28 I sure do. The Pharisees.
29:32 The Pharisees knew all the Scripture,
29:35 knew how to tithe, were in the synagogue,
29:39 and when the word that they had been studying showed up in the flesh,
29:45 they couldn't see it.
29:47 They couldn't see the reality of who he was.
29:50 And isn't it crazy?
29:52 All that time in the synagogue, they were still blind,
29:56 and it was there all along.
30:01 This keeps happening time after time.
30:05 Elisha frustrates the plans of the enemy.
30:11 So finally, when he finds out that it's Elisha that's doing it,
30:18 this is what he does.
30:20 He says, "All right, well, if it's Elisha,
30:24 somebody tell me where he is."
30:26 He said, "Well, he's in Dothan."
30:28 He said, "Great. Here's what we're going to do.
30:31 Y'all, this made me laugh.
30:36 Elisha is spoiling the sneak attacks of the enemy.
30:43 Elisha, one man, is spoiling the sneak attacks of the enemy."
30:50 And so the enemy, the king, finds out where Elisha is,
30:57 and his plan is to do a sneak attack on the dude that has spoiled the sneak attacks.
31:10 Y'all, if this ain't the dumbest thing,
31:13 this man has called a meeting with all of his horses and all of his chariots.
31:18 I can see him with a pie chart and a graph saying, "Uh-huh, January 31st,
31:23 he jacked up our sneak attack. Uh-huh, yeah.
31:25 March 22nd, he jacked up our sneak attack. Uh-huh.
31:28 Look at this. April 21st, he jacked up our sneak attack.
31:32 You know what? Look at this. May 13th, jacked up our sneak attack.
31:37 June 15th, Pastor Robert's birthday, turning 40, going to run a marathon.
31:41 He jacked up our sneak attack.
31:45 We got to do something about him. He's the problem.
31:48 Can you still hear the soldiers? "That's right. What are we going to do?"
31:51 I'm so glad you asked. We're going to do a sneak attack.
31:59 We're going to do a sneak attack on the guy who keeps doing the sneak attacks.
32:06 Now, watch this. They say that they go and surround the city, and they go at night.
32:14 They go at night. Y'all, I have to believe that if Elisha had enough prophetic insight to know
32:21 when he was about to attack the children of Israel, he had to have enough prophetic insight to know,
32:28 "Oh, they coming for me." Y'all, Elisha knew they were coming.
32:35 The Bible said he did it many times.
32:38 And then they chose to come with the force of their army, and they come when?
32:46 They come at night. So Elisha knows they're coming, and they're coming at night.
32:55 And according to the text, it's not until the servant wakes up the next morning
33:00 that he goes in and says, "Elisha, we surrounded."
33:04 But he already knew. And he knew they were coming at night.
33:10 And the servant had to wake him up the next morning.
33:16 You know you're a part of an unshakable kingdom when you got a whole army coming for you at night.
33:27 I had to bring this to show you. I had to be this extra.
33:31 You know you're a part of an unshakable kingdom when an entire army is coming to you at night,
33:38 and you got the nerve to know they're coming, to hear the chariots surrounding you,
33:48 to know that it's a full force of an army, and you got the nerve to sleep at night when you're being surrounded.
33:58 You know you're a part of an unshakable kingdom when you know they're gossiping about you
34:02 and talking about you behind your back, but you still sleep at night.
34:07 You know you're a part of an unshakable kingdom when you got the bad doctor's report,
34:11 but because you know he is a healer, you're going to sleep at night.
34:16 You know when you're going through hell, it got all kinds of turmoil in your life,
34:20 but because you fix your eyes not on the things that you can see because they are temporary,
34:24 but you fix your eyes on the things that you can't see because they are eternal, that you can.
34:34 I'm sorry, y'all. 2024, I'm on my Elisha.
34:40 When I hear the armies coming, I'm sleeping.
34:44 When I see them circling, I'm going to bed. I am not going to waste my life worrying.
34:50 Worrying is worship in reverse. Since worry can't do anything or add another day to my life,
34:56 I refuse to have a panic attack. I refuse to let anxiety take over my life.
35:01 He gives sleep to those he loves, and no, I don't know how he's going to work it out,
35:06 but I do know our God is faithful, and he will work it out, so I'm going to go.
35:14 I'm going to sleep. Look at your neighbor and say, "Go to bed."
35:20 Go to bed. Look at Elisha. He's surrounded, and he's sleeping.
35:34 The chariots are circling around him, and he's sleeping.
35:43 He knows they're coming. The weapon is being formed,
35:50 but he knows it won't prosper, so he's sleeping.
35:57 What is this text trying to teach us?
36:02 That unshakable faith can be surrounded and still go to sleep at night.
36:10 That unshakable faith can be surrounded and still rest.
36:17 Oh, you know what Elisha sleeping reminded me of?
36:26 The only time we see Jesus sleeping in the Gospels,
36:34 the only time you see your Savior snoring in the Gospel is in a storm.
36:43 Why would the Bible only choose to show us our Savior sleeping
36:49 when he's in the middle of a furious storm?
36:54 He's trying to teach us a lesson that you can sleep,
36:59 that you can rest when you're surrounded,
37:04 when you know you're a part of an unshakable kingdom.
37:09 You do not respond and react like people who have a kingdom that can be shaken.
37:17 You can sleep. I declare over you right now,
37:21 this will be the best sleep of your life this year.
37:25 You are going to rest this year.
37:31 I'm not going to be tossing and turning, worrying.
37:36 I can sleep even when I'm surrounded.
37:41 It's so funny because Jesus is in reality what Elisha foreshadows.
37:52 So the behavior of Elisha's servant is congruent with the behavior of the disciples.
38:01 Because when Elisha is chilling, here comes a servant the next morning, panicking.
38:08 "Master, what are we going to do? What are we going to do?"
38:14 And when Jesus is sleeping, do you remember what the disciples say?
38:18 Mark chapter 4, "Don't you care that we're about to drown?"
38:25 Matter of fact, I want you to see it.
38:27 These two questions are connected.
38:32 What shall we do? Don't you care if we drown?
38:39 The servant asks a question and the disciples ask a question.
38:43 Two different questions but are connected by one emotion, fear.
38:50 Fear will always make you ask, "What am I going to do?"
38:57 If it stays long enough, it'll go to, "Do you even care?
39:04 What am I going to do? I don't have enough money to pay this bill.
39:11 Do you even care? I've been singing Jehovah, Jireh, my provider. Do you even care?
39:18 What am I going to do?
39:21 The person I thought I could trust has now betrayed that trust.
39:26 God, do you even care? Have you ever had fear make you ask one of those questions?
39:33 What am I going to do? And Lord, do you even care?
39:40 Fear will not only paralyze you, it'll make you ask those questions.
39:46 And it's funny when you start talking about fear in the church because,
39:49 how many of our church people are quick to give you a one-liner?
39:52 "Fear and faith cannot occupy the same space.
39:56 Oh, come on. Don't be afraid. Faith over fear."
40:00 And they'll quote some scriptures on you.
40:01 "Oh, God has not given us a spirit of fear, but a power of love and a sound mind."
40:06 Absolutely necessary.
40:09 But understand that that verse that is powerful is just letting you know the source of fear.
40:14 That fear does not come from God.
40:16 But just because I know the source of something does not mean that sometimes my humanity is going to feel that emotion.
40:25 Oh, anybody tell you, "I was never, and fear has never come to my door." You a liar.
40:32 Fear is a real emotion.
40:35 And you can feel the fear.
40:38 But here's what I've learned when it comes to fear, is that I can feel it.
40:43 Matter of fact, fear, you can knock on my door.
40:47 Fear, I'm going to keep it 100.
40:49 You can peek your head in the door, and sometimes fear will get about a foot or two in the doorstep.
40:55 But you know what I refuse to let fear do?
40:57 You can't move in here. You can't take up a residence in my life.
41:01 I can feel fear, but I'm not going to live in fear.
41:05 I'm not going to be controlled by fear.
41:07 The reason that fear can't live in me is because of who's with me.
41:11 Greater is he that is in me than he who is in the world.
41:15 So yes, I can feel the human emotion of fear, but I refuse to be controlled by that fear.
41:22 I refuse to live every single day with that fear.
41:31 I can't live with it because of who's living with me.
41:36 You see them two questions?
41:38 The servants and the disciples.
41:42 The servant and the disciple didn't even know your answer is in your question.
41:50 Because look at what they said.
41:52 The servant runs to Elijah, "Master, what shall?"
42:00 You got it. We do.
42:03 The disciple says, "Jesus, don't you care if?"
42:10 Trial.
42:11 The only word that is the same in both questions is the "we."
42:20 They didn't realize that the one that you are running to is in the same position as you.
42:28 And if they're not panicking, since you are a servant and you are a disciple, it is your job to mimic the behavior of the one you're following.
42:37 That servant should have looked at Elijah and said, "Elisha, how come you ain't stressing?"
42:42 I guess I shouldn't stress.
42:44 The disciple should have looked at Jesus and said, "If you can sleep in a storm, you must be showing me it's possible to sleep in a storm."
42:52 That's why you got to keep your eyes fixed on your master.
42:55 Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, because Jesus has never been afraid.
42:59 Jesus has never had a panic attack.
43:02 Jesus has never been scared of anything.
43:05 So if I can just watch what you're doing.
43:08 Since you're not going to go down, I'm not going to go down.
43:11 We are in this together.
43:18 Oh, if you're by yourself, you ought to be scared.
43:21 If you're alone, you ought to have your knees knocking.
43:24 But if you know he is with you, if you know it's we, there's no way I'm going to lose.
43:35 I don't know how he'll do it, but I have to come out because he's with me.
43:42 Can I get a few more moments? Watch this.
43:45 With the disciples, what does Jesus do?
43:50 "Peace. Be still."
43:55 And the storm immediately stopped.
43:59 Stay with me.
44:02 That is the outcome that all of us want.
44:06 We always, when we're surrounded and we've got a storm, we always want him to stop it.
44:14 And he can stop it.
44:16 But typically, we want what the disciples got.
44:20 Lord, just make it go away.
44:22 Lord, just stop it.
44:24 Stop the storm. And he can.
44:26 And he will, if he wants.
44:29 But he didn't just come to earth to stop storms.
44:33 He came to save souls and establish his kingdom.
44:38 So watch this.
44:40 If I take on the logic of how he did it for the disciples,
44:44 the scenario with Elisha should play out different.
44:48 Because once the servant wakes up Elisha,
44:52 and says, "Hey, what are we going to do? We're surrounded."
44:56 Elisha should have told him, "Don't be afraid."
45:00 And then he should have prayed this prayer.
45:03 "Lord, make these armies and these chariots disappear.
45:11 Stop the storm."
45:14 And then the servant should have opened his eyes and gone, "Huh, never mind. They're gone."
45:20 That was a close one.
45:23 He should have prayed, "Lord, reduce this army to one."
45:31 The servant opens his eyes, "Oh, my bad. We're not surrounded.
45:36 It's two versus one. We got it. Come on. Bad boys, bad boys.
45:39 What are we going to do? Come on, let's get them."
45:42 That's not what he did.
45:44 This is the craziest but unshakable prayer.
45:49 "Lord, open up his eyes to see.
45:57 There are more with us than there are with them.
46:02 I'm not stopping the storm.
46:05 I'm letting you see what's available to you while you are in it.
46:10 I'm not removing the storm.
46:13 I'm showing you the help that was there all along."
46:19 The Bible says that this servant opened up his eyes after Elisha prayed that prayer.
46:25 And when he opened up his eyes, he saw in the hills chariots and horses of fire.
46:32 Did you hear what I just said? When he opened up his eyes, he saw in the hills chariots of fire.
46:40 And they were surrounding Elisha.
46:42 When he opened up his eyes, he saw in the hills chariots and horses of fire surrounding them.
46:51 Y'all still didn't get it.
46:52 When he opened up his eyes, he saw in the hills chariots of fire and horses of fire surrounding.
47:00 When he opened up his eyes, he saw in the...
47:03 Where? And where?
47:06 That means whenever God opens up your eyes, the first place you're going to look is up.
47:12 That's why you've been scared.
47:14 You've been looking at your situation.
47:16 You haven't even looked up to the hills from which cometh your help.
47:21 My help comes from the Lord.
47:25 I refuse to look at the enemy that's surrounding me.
47:28 I'm looking up to my God who will never leave me, who will never forsake me.
47:33 I got help that I couldn't even see.
47:39 I got help that was there.
47:46 The help was there all along.
47:51 Y'all, the chariots of fire and the horses, they never did anything.
47:58 Read the rest of it when you get home.
48:01 Elisha called for the army to be blinded and then led them right into their territory.
48:06 All the chariots and the horses of fire did was go.
48:15 They stood there. The servant needed his eyes open to see the help that was there all along.
48:27 The army didn't disappear, although God could have done that.
48:31 He could have made all of them pass out.
48:33 But sometimes God just has to open up your eyes to see the help that was there all along.
48:42 What is your help? I'll tell you what your help is.
48:45 His everlasting presence.
48:50 That is your help.
48:53 The fact that he is with me.
48:58 That's what makes me unshakable.
49:01 He's who's with me, not who's coming against me.
49:06 Would you stand to your feet all over this place today?
49:13 Father, thank you that you can stop storms.
49:21 Thank you, God, that just by speaking a word, the storm can stop.
49:32 But Lord, I thank you, you did not come to earth just to stop storms.
49:37 Lord, you came to redeem our souls.
49:42 You came to set at liberty the captives.
49:47 To preach the good news to the poor.
49:50 And to give recovery of sight to the blind.
49:56 Father, this is the predicament of living in a fallen world is we don't see the things we should see.
50:07 So Lord, my prayer for my brother and for my sister is the prayer that Elisha prayed for this servant.
50:14 Lord, open up their eyes.
50:17 Open up their eyes to see.
50:21 Not just the pain of the person that left, but open up their eyes to see your residing presence that is still with them.
50:29 Open up their eyes to see.
50:34 The opportunity, even in the financial lack to truly lean on you and see your supernatural miraculous provision.
50:45 God, would you open up our eyes to see our help, your everlasting presence.
50:53 Father, you never promised us that we wouldn't have heartache or suffering or trouble.
50:59 So matter of fact, you told us in this world we will have trouble.
51:04 But Father, I thank you for this promise that you will never leave us.
51:09 You'll never forsake us.
51:12 And because you're with us, it makes us unshakable.
51:17 Heads are bowed, eyes are closed today.
51:21 To be so honest to say, Pastor Robert, I know this is for me.
51:27 I believe there's maybe something that you were blind to.
51:31 And even in this message, God's opening up your eyes to see.
51:38 See where your help is.
51:40 You've been looking at the situation.
51:42 You haven't looked up.
51:45 When the servant's eyes were open, he looked up and saw where his help was.
51:52 Even after Jesus calmed the storm, the disciples were blind.
51:58 They thought he was just a teacher, but when he calmed that storm, their eyes were open.
52:02 They said, "Who is this man that even the wind and the waves obey him?"
52:09 They began to see him for the way that he truly was.
52:12 He wasn't just a teacher. He was a Savior.
52:18 So if there's an area of your life you say, "God, I need you to open up my eyes."
52:24 Would you just lift up your hand as a sign to say, "Lord, I give you permission to help me see what I need to see.
52:30 Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, God."
52:32 Hands are going up all over this place today.
52:34 "Father, my hand is lifted. Help me see. Open up my eyes to see. Thank you, God."
52:44 I want to be real specific.
52:46 If you're here today and you've never surrendered your life to this Savior,
52:52 he did not just come to calm storms.
52:54 He came to call dead people back to life.
53:00 If you're here today and you've never surrendered your life to this Savior,
53:03 I would love to give you that opportunity right now.
53:05 I don't care if it's just one person. You'd be worth it today.
53:08 But if that's you, you say, "Pastor Robert, I need to give him my life.
53:11 I've not surrendered all that I am to him."
53:13 Your life has been so shaky.
53:15 And when you put your faith in Jesus, it does not make your life perfect.
53:19 But you are unshakable because of the kingdom we have received.
53:24 If that's you today, would you lift up your hand and say, "I need to give him my life today."
53:27 Just lift up your hand high enough and long enough to where I can see it and say, "I need to give him my life today.
53:32 Thank you, Jesus." Yeah, I see that hand.
53:34 Keep it raised. Keep it raised. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord.
53:37 Anybody else, I see that hand. Thank you, Jesus.
53:40 Here's what I want to do. These altars are going to be open after this service.
53:43 But right now, I just want you to pray this prayer from your heart.
53:46 We're all going to say it, but especially those of you who responded.
53:48 Would you say this? Say, "Jesus, I need you.
53:54 Lord, I can see that I cannot do life without you.
54:01 Lord, today I surrender.
54:05 I give you my heart. I give you my mind.
54:10 I give you my soul. Lord, I give you all of me.
54:15 Forgive me of my sin. Make me brand new.
54:20 From this moment forward, I'm walking with you.
54:25 Father, I thank you that even when the shaking comes, I will be secure.
54:33 Because today I receive the power of your unshakable kingdom.
54:41 In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
54:46 If you meant what you prayed, would you give God praise today?
54:50 Come on, you could do better than that. Would you give Jesus praise today?