Speaker 1: Well, we're gonna get to the message in just a moment,
Speaker 1: but I wanted to make sure you knew about Elevation Nights.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be amazing eight cities October twenty sixth through
Speaker 1: November fourth. You gotta go to Elevation Nights dot com
Speaker 1: to see if we're coming to a city near you.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be me, Elevation Worship, a few friends, and you.
Speaker 1: I want to see you there. I want to see
Speaker 1: you and everybody that you know there. Go to Elevation
Speaker 1: Nights dot com. I can't wait to see you soon.
Speaker 1: Here's the message. You're ready for a righty today? Or what?
Speaker 1: Come on? Kart? All you're ready? All you're ready? Are
Speaker 1: you're ready? All you're ready? I think God about to
Speaker 1: meet us in a mighty and a powerful way. I
Speaker 1: am fired up about today. Thank you so much, gentlemen
Speaker 1: for bringing that out. Are you going? I hope you're
Speaker 1: filled with faith at every location, those even sitting at
Speaker 1: home eating eggs. Right now, every single person, I hope
Speaker 1: you are ready for God to touch your heart exactly
Speaker 1: where you need him to touch your heart. I mean,
Speaker 1: today is just not a normal Sunday. This is the
Speaker 1: day of resurrection life. This is a day of victory,
Speaker 1: this is a day of hope. It's the day of breakthrough.
Speaker 1: So whatever you might be carrying on your shoulders today, no,
Speaker 1: the God of Heaven is greater, he's bigger. He's ready.
Speaker 1: If you're ready, he's ready, if you're open, he has
Speaker 1: more available to you. This could even possibly imagine. So, church, family,
Speaker 1: and every location. I want you to have your heart
Speaker 1: wide open today. I don't want you to have minuscule
Speaker 1: fate just thinking this is gonna be a normal, just
Speaker 1: another day. Another another ball guy getting up here talking. Now,
Speaker 1: this is the day that God knows you by name.
Speaker 1: He knows everything that you're walking through, everything that you're
Speaker 1: dealing with, everything that's on your mind and on your heart.
Speaker 1: He has not forgotten about you. And today will be
Speaker 1: a day of victory in Jesus' name. Why don't you
Speaker 1: clap your hands one more time? Give God praise at
Speaker 1: all of our locations, even though it was at home
Speaker 1: in the chat. Go ahead and give God thanks and praise,
Speaker 1: and give somebody a kiss on the cheek or a handshake,
Speaker 1: and you may be seated. I'm excited about today. I
Speaker 1: am so excited. Hey, you'll already know this, but I
Speaker 1: just gotta say it. You got the best pastors on
Speaker 1: the planet, right, You know that, right man? I am
Speaker 1: so incredibly honored to be here today. I met the
Speaker 1: Verdex number of years ago. But I remember this one
Speaker 1: interaction I actually had with Pastor Holly. We're actually over
Speaker 1: in another country. We're all at a conference together, and
Speaker 1: I was gonna be speaking the next year, and she said, Hey,
Speaker 1: you're gonna speaking next year. I sad yea yeh got'a
Speaker 1: be speaking. She was, let me give you some advice. Yeah,
Speaker 1: give me the advice right now. She was so leaned
Speaker 1: and poured so much wisdom into me in that to
Speaker 1: help set me up for the next year. She and
Speaker 1: Pastor Stephen have They have the type of heart that's
Speaker 1: an other's oriented type of heart. It's not about here
Speaker 1: I am, It's about a there you are kind of
Speaker 1: spirit that they have. And I love that about the Verdicts.
Speaker 1: They have been a source of inspiration and strength to
Speaker 1: me and my whole church family, my personal family. Our
Speaker 1: churches are nine years old, and I remember reading Sun
Speaker 1: Stands Still right before we're about to start launching our
Speaker 1: church I remember seeing the baptisms, I remember hearing the stories.
Speaker 1: I remember all that God was doing in and through
Speaker 1: Pastor Steven and the team, and how my heart was
Speaker 1: filled with so much faith. There is a mark on
Speaker 1: my life, and all of you who are a part
Speaker 1: of the EPAM or any of our campuses, you have
Speaker 1: been a part of that. You are impacting people all
Speaker 1: over the world. But I got to say a huge
Speaker 1: thank you to pass Steven and his amazing wife and
Speaker 1: his kids for paving the way, taking the step, not quitting,
Speaker 1: not giving up. When people are turning their backs, they
Speaker 1: keep on putting one foot in front of the other.
Speaker 1: They could have quit a long time ago, but they
Speaker 1: saw you on the other side of their yes. So
Speaker 1: thank you so much God for the beautiful verdict family.
Speaker 1: The songs that have been written in this house. Come on,
Speaker 1: I'm still singing, come to the altar every opportunity I get. Man,
Speaker 1: the atmosphere is changing now. My life has been marked.
Speaker 1: My family has been marked. So I'm thrilled to be here.
Speaker 1: Speaking of my family, I do have a picture of
Speaker 1: my family. I gotta show you this picture because they're
Speaker 1: amazing and beautiful. The first picture I think I have
Speaker 1: is a formal picture. This is our formal picture. There's
Speaker 1: a formal picture. Yeah, that's why my head looks all
Speaker 1: jacked out. I don't know. You know when you're taking
Speaker 1: those family pictures. No, no, no no, put your head down.
Speaker 1: It up, okay, now squat, Yeah that's natural. So that's
Speaker 1: what I look like in that picture right there. But
Speaker 1: the rest of my family looks perfect. That's my beautiful wife.
Speaker 1: Her name is Onika. We've been married twenty four years now.
Speaker 1: It has gone by so fast. She's my sexy piece
Speaker 1: of dark chocolate. That's what I call her. You can't
Speaker 1: call her that, but I can call her that. She
Speaker 1: is my best friend. Incredibly gifted and talented. I mean
Speaker 1: everything from leading to speaking. I mean, I'm just riding
Speaker 1: on her coattails. I'm so incredibly thankful for her. We
Speaker 1: have our sixteen year old son. His name is Parker.
Speaker 1: His neck is getting really thick, his pockets are still
Speaker 1: kind of empty. So he has a job right now.
Speaker 1: He's working at Jesus Chicken Chick fil A and he
Speaker 1: is learning my pleasure and had the first customer that
Speaker 1: was rude to him the other day. I was like, good, son, Now,
Speaker 1: you know how we feel dealing with y'all. No, he's
Speaker 1: a great young man. He wants to get a car,
Speaker 1: and he was buying a lot during COVID. You know,
Speaker 1: we're all locked up for a while, and he was
Speaker 1: using all his money for door dash and I'm like, son,
Speaker 1: you need to save your money for your car because
Speaker 1: I'm buying it for you. So we're just doing half
Speaker 1: on his car. But he decided to do get a
Speaker 1: whole lot of subway and a whole lot of Chick
Speaker 1: fil A. But now he's saving his money. He's saving
Speaker 1: his money so he can get that car. So he's sixteen.
Speaker 1: Love him so much, incredible young man. Then Grayson is
Speaker 1: our middle he's eleven years old. My wife calls him
Speaker 1: Wonder in a bottle. This guy is so creative, so
Speaker 1: much fun, so full of life, loves Fortnite and all
Speaker 1: things creative. He's an engineer. He is an absolute blast.
Speaker 1: And then our daughter, who is a star on our
Speaker 1: Christmas tree, as my wife puts it. Her name is
Speaker 1: el Grace. She is six years old and just the
Speaker 1: best little girl on the planet as far as I'm concerned.
Speaker 1: I think she knows it. To you. There's not a
Speaker 1: chance that any she's gonna I don't know if she's
Speaker 1: ever gonna work. I don't know when she's got brothers
Speaker 1: and a dad and she's the baby girl. She's not
Speaker 1: being set up for success right now. I don't even
Speaker 1: know if she does not to tie her shoes yet.
Speaker 1: We're doing everything for her. But we love her so much.
Speaker 1: So that's a stuffy picture. But I think I got
Speaker 1: a fun picture when we dressed up one year too.
Speaker 1: Do have a fun picture as well. Yeah, this is
Speaker 1: a family. I guess we were the Harlem Globetrotters or something.
Speaker 1: I don't know what we were, but we all threw
Speaker 1: on our afros and had a great, great time going
Speaker 1: to a little costume party. But today we're gonna open
Speaker 1: up God's word together. You already, you're all ready for this.
Speaker 1: I know. I'm fired up. I am fired up. I
Speaker 1: am throw if you have your bibles. If you have
Speaker 1: your bibles, turn with me to First Corinthians chapter fifteen.
Speaker 1: First Corinthians chapter fifteen. Am excited about today. First Corinthians
Speaker 1: chapter fifteen. We're gonna look at verse number fifty seven.
Speaker 1: If you did not bring your Bible, we'll put the
Speaker 1: words on the screen so you can follow along with us.
Speaker 1: Make sure we're not making anything up. First Corinthians, chapter fifteen,
Speaker 1: verse number fifty seven, it says, but thanks be to God,
Speaker 1: he gives us the victory. He gives us the victory.
Speaker 1: He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1: The title for today's message is really simple. It's just victory.
Speaker 1: And this was just the word that I kept hearing
Speaker 1: wrigging my heart over and over. I wanted something cooler,
Speaker 1: I wanted something a little bit more elaborate, but this
Speaker 1: was just what came to me. Victory, victory, victory, victory, victory, victory, victory, victory.
Speaker 1: This is all I could hear in my heart when
Speaker 1: I knew I was coming to Elevation Church. All I
Speaker 1: could hear was victory. For people in the chat, All
Speaker 1: I could hear was victory from moms and dads. All
Speaker 1: I could hear was victory for teenagers. All I could
Speaker 1: hear was victory. For college students. All I could hear
Speaker 1: was victory. For those that have been divorced. All I
Speaker 1: could hear was victory for those trusting God from miracles.
Speaker 1: All I could hear was victory. For artists. All I
Speaker 1: could hear was victory. For those that are facing bills.
Speaker 1: All I could hear was victory. For those in the
Speaker 1: hospital rooms right now. All I could hear was victory
Speaker 1: for those that have weights on their shoulders that they're
Speaker 1: not sure how they're gonna get through. All I could
Speaker 1: hear was victory, victory, victory, victory, victory, victory. Not just
Speaker 1: for the person next to you. I'm talking about victory
Speaker 1: for you. Victory for your family, victory over your past,
Speaker 1: victory in your future. This is not just for others.
Speaker 1: It's for you today. Family victory, victory over every hurt,
Speaker 1: over every habit, over every hang up, over every bit
Speaker 1: of disease, over every bit of doubt, over every bit
Speaker 1: of discrimination, over every bit of fear, over every bit
Speaker 1: of insecurity. Oh, I need you to know this is
Speaker 1: for you. I'm not just talking to somebody else. God
Speaker 1: had an assignment for me today, for you. Victory. Victory.
Speaker 1: I'm new to church, victory, I don't know much about
Speaker 1: the Bible. Victory, I ain't been on a date in years. Victory,
Speaker 1: But thanks be to God. But thanks be to God.
Speaker 1: There's a lot of people I can think I'm thankful
Speaker 1: for my mother. I'm thankful for my wife. Shoot, I'm
Speaker 1: thankful for Pastor Stephen. I'm thanking for the worship team.
Speaker 1: That's a lot of people, I can think. But in
Speaker 1: this moment, right now, when I think about his goodness
Speaker 1: and all He's done for me, I've got to thank
Speaker 1: God in this moment. I never even knew I would
Speaker 1: be in this spot. I should have been paid, I
Speaker 1: should have been parried, I should have been Thanks be
Speaker 1: to God. I'm already too fired up. I'm already too
Speaker 1: fired up here. Thanks be to God, who gives, who
Speaker 1: gives us, it gives us. He gives you, He gives
Speaker 1: us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Go with
Speaker 1: me to I gotta add another verse. I gotta this
Speaker 1: is an important verse. Go with me to Colossians. And
Speaker 1: as you go in there, you need to know that
Speaker 1: this victory, this victory is for, is for the scene
Speaker 1: and the unseen. It's for the now and the not yet.
Speaker 1: Come on the top of victory, for the scene, in
Speaker 1: the scene and the unseen, in the now and in
Speaker 1: the not yet. Your eyes will play games on you,
Speaker 1: try to make you think that you lost because of
Speaker 1: what you see. And I'm just telling you this victory
Speaker 1: and what you see and in what you can't see.
Speaker 1: Oh man, Colossus, chapter two. What verse verse thirteen I
Speaker 1: think is that right? Let me look at my screens. Yeah,
Speaker 1: verse thirteen it says, when you were dead in your sins?
Speaker 1: I like this, The Bible is really clear. So I'm like,
Speaker 1: when you were you know, a halfway decent person. And
Speaker 1: I was like, no, you were dead. You're dead. You're
Speaker 1: dead in your sins. I was dead in my sins,
Speaker 1: and the uncircumcision of your flesh God made you alive.
Speaker 1: With Christ. He forgave us all our sins. This is
Speaker 1: good news. This is good news. You can't outsind his grace.
Speaker 1: Jesus even died for the things you did on purpose,
Speaker 1: not just the accidents. You know, sometimes you stumble into stuff,
Speaker 1: but sometimes if you're texting somebody at two thirty am,
Speaker 1: what you're doing, that in an accident. But he even
Speaker 1: died for the things you and I did on purpose.
Speaker 1: He forgave us our sins. Having canceled the charge of
Speaker 1: our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us.
Speaker 1: He has taken it away, mailing it to the cross.
Speaker 1: And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a
Speaker 1: public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
Speaker 1: I love this passage of scripture right here. Can we
Speaker 1: just break it down just a little bit. There's a
Speaker 1: number of different words in here. In Verse number fifteen,
Speaker 1: I want us to look at it says and having disarmed.
Speaker 1: The word disarmed there means to take off and or
Speaker 1: strip off clothing. The powers there the word signifies like
Speaker 1: first in rank. The authority here signifies someone that has
Speaker 1: like a state of control or authority over something. The
Speaker 1: public spectacle is when you would make like a public
Speaker 1: shaming of someone. In our house, I got my two
Speaker 1: boys I was telling you about, and my two boys
Speaker 1: don't do this. If you're looking at other parts of
Speaker 1: the world, you might not do this. In America, we
Speaker 1: do this thing called pantsing. It's not all in America,
Speaker 1: but in my house we do it. You're not allowed
Speaker 1: to do this outside the house. With my boys. We
Speaker 1: do this to each other all the time. Okay, So
Speaker 1: if you're just you know, hey, get the dishes done,
Speaker 1: all right, and somebody's doing the dishes, you come up
Speaker 1: behind them. I'm not saying it's right but we're just
Speaker 1: keeping our family alive. Right, So our sixteen year old
Speaker 1: to our eleven year old, it's pandemonium all the time. Right.
Speaker 1: I'm in another room and I can hear in gracious
Speaker 1: like Parker, I know my son just got pants. I
Speaker 1: know his shorts are down by his ankles in that moment.
Speaker 1: So we're getting each other all the time. You're not
Speaker 1: allowed to do this in public. We've made that very
Speaker 1: very clear to our sons a man in the house,
Speaker 1: and sometimes it happened with some guests over when you're
Speaker 1: not supposed to do it when guests are over the
Speaker 1: house either. You know, parents, we got all these random
Speaker 1: rules that our kids are supposed to know. But there's
Speaker 1: nothing like. There's nothing like when I walk up behind
Speaker 1: my sons at the cross, it's like what Jesus did
Speaker 1: to the enemy and all of his imps pants them.
Speaker 1: This is biblical pants them, public shaming, public disgrace. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna do this in front of everybody. I'm gonna get
Speaker 1: on this old rugged cross in front of everybody. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna take the sin and the shame of the world,
Speaker 1: and I'm gonna put it on myself. And when he
Speaker 1: puts it on himself. There's something powerful that happens. Everything
Speaker 1: is nailed to this cross. This triumphing word. It carries
Speaker 1: with it the idea to like display a triumph openly.
Speaker 1: It's like, I'm not keeping this hidden. It was a
Speaker 1: word that they used for for Roman generals when they
Speaker 1: came back from a victory, and they have won a battle,
Speaker 1: and this Roman general would be on the chariot being
Speaker 1: carried into the city. Maybe he would have his kids
Speaker 1: or his friends in the chariot with him, and they
Speaker 1: would be heading towards the capital, and his arm would
Speaker 1: be behind him, and those he had defeated would be
Speaker 1: chained to the chariot, and his soldiers would be shouting triumph, triumph, triumph, triumph.
Speaker 1: Here is the imagery that the writer gives you and
Speaker 1: I when he talks about what happened at the Cross.
Speaker 1: He says, Jesus at the Cross was this Roman general
Speaker 1: on the chariot, and every single bit of disease and
Speaker 1: darkness and fear and doubt was chained to that chariot,
Speaker 1: and his sons and his daughters and those who have
Speaker 1: been following him are coming behind him shouting. That's the
Speaker 1: man right there. That's the one who got the victory.
Speaker 1: That's the one who's in charge. But you know, what
Speaker 1: has happened. It seems as if it seems as if
Speaker 1: we've changed the story. It seems as if we're starting
Speaker 1: to think that maybe that didn't really happen, that maybe
Speaker 1: what Jesus did on the Cross was just good for
Speaker 1: those two thousand years ago, and we'll just kind of
Speaker 1: walk around in bondage and we'll just wait for a
Speaker 1: day when we get to Heppen. I know, we got
Speaker 1: campuses all over the place. But for those who are
Speaker 1: in North Carolina, there is a football team in North
Speaker 1: Carolina called the Carolina Panthers. You all know about the team.
Speaker 1: You all know about this team. You don't even know.
Speaker 1: You don't even know about this team. Y'all don't care
Speaker 1: about the seam. Well, I don't. I can't say I'm
Speaker 1: mad at you. Okay, I can't can't say I'm mad
Speaker 1: at you about that, because remember Super Bowl fifty. Sorry
Speaker 1: to bring this up, google it. You know, the part
Speaker 1: of the world googled this. In Super Bowl fifty, the
Speaker 1: Carolina Panthers made it to the Super Bowl to play
Speaker 1: against the Denver Broncos. Oh man, WHOA, Well, they didn't win. Okay,
Speaker 1: they didn't win. Sorry to spoil it. They didn't win.
Speaker 1: But you know what happens is they don't know who's
Speaker 1: gonna win the game before the game starts. So what
Speaker 1: they do is they print shirts and hats that will
Speaker 1: say who the champion is. So there are shirts printed
Speaker 1: right now that say Super Bowl fifty Champions, Carolina Panthers.
Speaker 1: There's a hat right now LP that says super Bowl
Speaker 1: fifty champions Champions Carolina Panthers. Now, they didn't win, so
Speaker 1: they had to send those shirts somewhere. I don't know
Speaker 1: where they win, but somewhere around the world. I don't
Speaker 1: know if it's Europe. I don't know. If it's Africa.
Speaker 1: I don't know if it's Australia. Shoot, maybe they sent
Speaker 1: them to Antarctica. There might be an Escabo somewhere right now,
Speaker 1: walking around like Panthers for Life? Has the hat? Has
Speaker 1: the shirt? Maybe got some shoes, I don't know what
Speaker 1: they got, some Air Force ones that are baby blue.
Speaker 1: They are walking around as if the Carolina Panthers won,
Speaker 1: But the Carolina Panthers did not win. I feel like
Speaker 1: there's too many followers of Jesus walking around with the
Speaker 1: wrong hat and the wrong jersey on. We're walking around
Speaker 1: as if what happened at the Cross is not good
Speaker 1: for us today. We're walking around as if what Jesus
Speaker 1: did back then was only good for back then, but
Speaker 1: not good for my bills, and not good for my kids,
Speaker 1: and not good for my business, and not good for
Speaker 1: my mind, and not good from my body, and not
Speaker 1: good for my community, and not good from my nation.
Speaker 1: But I'm letting you know if you've been wearing the
Speaker 1: wrong hat and if you've been wearing the wrong jersey,
Speaker 1: the day is the day where your eyes are open,
Speaker 1: where you can know that Jesus Christ is who he
Speaker 1: says he is, he did what he said he did,
Speaker 1: and not cross. That cavalry is still working today. I'm
Speaker 1: shouting victory. I'm shouting tryumph. Some of y'all still aren't
Speaker 1: believing me. You're still not believing me. But what I
Speaker 1: know is if the enemy can distort our view of them,
Speaker 1: he can distort the truth of them. If the enemy
Speaker 1: can distort our view of what happened, then then he
Speaker 1: can distort our truth of now. So if you are
Speaker 1: thinking my prayer wasn't answered, so God must not be
Speaker 1: all powerful. We had the funeral and we prayed that
Speaker 1: they wouldn't die. Maybe God does not work. I asked
Speaker 1: for forgiveness, but I'm still feeling shame. Maybe what Jesus
Speaker 1: did is not for me. What ends up happening with
Speaker 1: all of us at different times is we can start
Speaker 1: second guessing what happened back then. I just fellowed a
Speaker 1: little bit of an assignment to open our eyes back
Speaker 1: up because COVID has tried to mess with us. Man,
Speaker 1: I know, we got some folks in Florida and COVID
Speaker 1: is not down there, you know at all, God bless you,
Speaker 1: rolled right through it. It was like I'm from Texas Street.
Speaker 1: We were like, oh no, no, you ain't. You ain't.
Speaker 1: Don't shut out, you ain't shutting nobody down over here.
Speaker 1: Started messing, started messing with, started messing with people, started
Speaker 1: messing with us. Locked away in the house, going to
Speaker 1: the refrigerator thirty eight times, still feeling that one but
Speaker 1: God's good victory. So I started messing with, sort of
Speaker 1: messing with our vision, started messing with our understanding of
Speaker 1: who God is, started messing with the power of the
Speaker 1: Gospel started making us think that maybe maybe science is
Speaker 1: what's in charge, maybe governments what's in charge. Maybe my
Speaker 1: feeling or what is in charge. Maybe maybe the pundits
Speaker 1: or what's in charge. Maybe all these other individuals. What
Speaker 1: they say, what they say, trump's what God's word says.
Speaker 1: And I want you to know, whether you listen to
Speaker 1: CNN or MSNBC or Fox News or MPR, wherever you go,
Speaker 1: every single one of them, their words will fail. But
Speaker 1: the words that will never fail, it's the words that
Speaker 1: are in this Book of Life right here. So I'm
Speaker 1: thankful for the Word of God. And I'm thankful for
Speaker 1: a church like Elevation that keeps preaching the word of God.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure if pastors even of felt this, but
Speaker 1: I know I discovered I thought I was people's pastor.
Speaker 1: Then I found out that Tucker Carlson was their pastor.
Speaker 1: I found out that Rachel Maddow was their pastor. I
Speaker 1: found out that these other pundits were their pastor. And I, hey,
Speaker 1: you can go get your news wherever you want to
Speaker 1: get your news, but when when you come to church,
Speaker 1: when you come to the House of God, you're not
Speaker 1: trying to get our opinion. We're trying to give you
Speaker 1: the word, the inspired word of God, written by God
Speaker 1: through the hands of men. And this word of God
Speaker 1: is alive and active, sharper than any double edged sword.
Speaker 1: And some of us gotta wake up out of our summer.
Speaker 1: We still carrying the residue of the mess of this
Speaker 1: past season. But God is trying to let you know, chirt,
Speaker 1: the day is the day of victory for every single
Speaker 1: one of us. What God says is still true. It's
Speaker 1: still true. Okay, go with me. Let's let's go old
Speaker 1: test Let's go old Testament. Let's go old Testament. Isaiah, Isaiah,
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna talk to your ear off. I'm not
Speaker 1: gonna talk your ear off, Isaiah. I say a Chapter six. Look,
Speaker 1: I'm just slipping all these pages. I say it, Chapter six.
Speaker 1: Look at this, verse number one. Okay, I say it,
Speaker 1: Chapter six, Verse number one. I needed the TD Jakes hanky.
Speaker 1: I'm sweating a little bit. Look me out, God, I
Speaker 1: need to take you. Okay. In the year look at this,
Speaker 1: I say yah, Chapter six, verse number one. In the
Speaker 1: year that King Usiah died, I saw the Lord High
Speaker 1: and Exalted, seated on a throne and the train of
Speaker 1: his robe filled the temple. Okay, so I know some
Speaker 1: of y'all still homeschooling your kids. My daughter, my six
Speaker 1: year old, right now, is on about adjectives and nouns
Speaker 1: and she don't care because she's like, brothers, do this
Speaker 1: homework for me. So but but but but but those
Speaker 1: who are English, mador just for a quick second, you know,
Speaker 1: the word train can mean a lot of different things.
Speaker 1: Can be a verb, okay, be a verb, come on, nerds,
Speaker 1: work with me for a second. Can be a verb
Speaker 1: to train, like to teach someone to behavior or a skill.
Speaker 1: A train can also be a noun, right, okay, person,
Speaker 1: place of thing, and this you can be like a
Speaker 1: train like railroad cars. Well this train here, we're not
Speaker 1: talking Thomas. Okay, somebody's talking the train. Here's a Thomas
Speaker 1: a train reference for those years of people googling right now,
Speaker 1: so he's not talking railroad cars. This train that he's
Speaker 1: talking about, this is the train like that's connected to
Speaker 1: a garment, like a bride. I know some brides are
Speaker 1: still upset about twenty twenty. Right, had this perfect wedding plan,
Speaker 1: couldn't wait, you know, shut it down? Hey, you still
Speaker 1: go ahead and do you all right, you go ahead
Speaker 1: and have your wedding. We celebrate every single bride that
Speaker 1: feels like their heart was broken, just so you know,
Speaker 1: God has not forgotten about you, and he cares about
Speaker 1: all of your dreams. Okay, and he is going to
Speaker 1: cross every t and dot every eye. You'll have that precious,
Speaker 1: beautiful moment that you're looking for. But we're talking now
Speaker 1: about the train like that's connected in a wedding. And
Speaker 1: he says, here the year the king Uziah died, I
Speaker 1: saw the Lord saw I'm high and exalted, seated on
Speaker 1: a throne, and I saw the train of his robe
Speaker 1: fill the temple. Now, now some of y'all Bible scholars
Speaker 1: you already know this. But but like Egyptian and Assyrian
Speaker 1: monarchs back in the day, as one writer puts it,
Speaker 1: they have these really elaborate thrones. Think think Game of Thrones, right,
Speaker 1: Game of Thrones, If you watch that, I don't. I
Speaker 1: don't watch Game of Thrones. I only watch Jesus things, okay,
Speaker 1: squid games in the name of Jesus. So they've got
Speaker 1: these really elaborate thrones. And with these elaborate thrones, they
Speaker 1: would have I mean like any elaborate throne should have.
Speaker 1: They would have these robes, massive, long, flowing. Whenever they
Speaker 1: had a battle, they would go and they would beat
Speaker 1: that king that camp. They would cut off the train
Speaker 1: of the defeated king and they would sew it onto
Speaker 1: their train. Okay, this is like weaves for trains. Work
Speaker 1: with me, Work with me, Work with me, Work with me,
Speaker 1: Work with me, work with me, work with me. They
Speaker 1: would they would attach it. In every battle that they
Speaker 1: had that they won, they say, give me that, cut
Speaker 1: it and attach it. It was a sign to everyone
Speaker 1: else that what this king and who this king is,
Speaker 1: that's a bad man. Right there, the length of your
Speaker 1: train spoke to the number of battles that you had won.
Speaker 1: So in this passage of scripture right here in Isaiah
Speaker 1: chapter six, let me give you some context how the
Speaker 1: Gospel of John tells us what's actually going on here.
Speaker 1: In John chapter twelve, verse number forty one. This is
Speaker 1: what it says, John chapter twelve, verse forty one. When
Speaker 1: Isaiah saw this, he saw Jesus's glory. When Isaiah saw
Speaker 1: this in Isaiah chapter six, and he sees the Lord
Speaker 1: how and lifted up what he sees in that moment
Speaker 1: is Jesus his glory, and the train of Jesus' glory
Speaker 1: actually filled the entire temple, signifying that our Savior has
Speaker 1: victory after victory after victory after victory after victory after
Speaker 1: victory after victory. That's attached thing. It was such a
Speaker 1: large train that it filled the whole temple. So I's thinking, wait, wait, wait,
Speaker 1: wait wait, that's Old Testament. That's Old Testament and New Testament.
Speaker 1: There's a temple and the New Testament. The temple is yes.
Speaker 1: So I saw the Lord high and lifted up seated
Speaker 1: on the throne, and the victories that he had filled
Speaker 1: filled the temple. So that now means everywhere you walk,
Speaker 1: you've got the train of his glory that has filled you.
Speaker 1: Every step you take, victory comes with you. Every meeting
Speaker 1: you walk into, victory walks in there. Every single paddle
Speaker 1: you face, victory is there. So that's why, daughter, you
Speaker 1: don't have to have your head held down. I want
Speaker 1: to encourage you right now. Remember the victory that's on
Speaker 1: the inside of you. And I know he said this
Speaker 1: about you and she said that about you, But living
Speaker 1: on the inside of you is the very victory of
Speaker 1: our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So you can lift
Speaker 1: joy head up, put your shoulders back, and remember who
Speaker 1: God called you to be. The train she was rode
Speaker 1: phil right fill the temple. I'm not sure what to
Speaker 1: do with my kids, but I'm so thankful that the
Speaker 1: train of His glory and victory fills my temple. I'm
Speaker 1: not sure what to do with this business, but I
Speaker 1: do know that the train of his glory has filled
Speaker 1: my temple. I'm not sure what's school to go to,
Speaker 1: but I know the train of his glory has failed
Speaker 1: my temple. I've got bills that are stacking up, but
Speaker 1: I do know this, the train of His glory has
Speaker 1: filled my temple. I'm in a hospital room right now.
Speaker 1: I got diagnosed with cancer. But I do know this.
Speaker 1: The train of His glory fails my temple. In the
Speaker 1: year in the year, in the year that King Usiah died,
Speaker 1: in the year he died. In a year of difficulty,
Speaker 1: in a year of pain, in a year of confusion, Yeah,
Speaker 1: in a year of why God, I don't understand, cause
Speaker 1: anyone else is man. You look through my journal in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty, I'm like, Okay, Lord, what the heck is
Speaker 1: going on. You might even have cussed a little bit
Speaker 1: in your journal, you know, just a little bit, just
Speaker 1: a little bit like Jesus goussing like darn. But some
Speaker 1: of y'all went all the way m f you got,
Speaker 1: I mean, just going all the way through. If that's
Speaker 1: too much for some of you all, I apologize. But
Speaker 1: but but every now and then you're like, man, God,
Speaker 1: what is going on here? What's what's happening? What is
Speaker 1: taking place right now? I dont has everyone lost the money?
Speaker 1: Does no one have any common sense whatsoever? And like,
Speaker 1: is it all gone? There's nobody? Are people not even
Speaker 1: thinking anymore? Lord? Please take me. Let it be peaceful, Lord,
Speaker 1: let it be peaceful for your glory. In the year
Speaker 1: that King Usiah died, I like that the Bible doesn't
Speaker 1: try to make everything squeaky clean. My God only does
Speaker 1: good stuff when good things are happening. It's like, no,
Speaker 1: you can see the Lord high and lifted up, seated
Speaker 1: on the throne. In the year that somebody dies, you
Speaker 1: can see the Lord high and lift it up, and
Speaker 1: the train of his glory filling the temple. When you're confused,
Speaker 1: you can see the Lord high and lift it up
Speaker 1: and the train of his glory filling the temple when
Speaker 1: you're not sure which way is up, my friends, is
Speaker 1: why I know. So if you're part of the Epham Beautiful,
Speaker 1: you're at one of our campuses, that is so great,
Speaker 1: But don't disconnect yourself from the House of God. Matter
Speaker 1: of fact, some of ya might be watching right now
Speaker 1: you're like, I'm not sure if I'm coming back. Come
Speaker 1: on back, Come on back, because you need it. We
Speaker 1: need you, and the victory that Jesus put on the
Speaker 1: inside of you is not just for you. It's for
Speaker 1: people around you. So go ahead and get back in
Speaker 1: your group, go ahead and get back on the serve team.
Speaker 1: Go ahead and start giving again, because we got a
Speaker 1: world to reach for the cause of Jesus Christ. This
Speaker 1: is not about us. This is about him and his
Speaker 1: glory and his name and his fame. And he did
Speaker 1: not give us these songs and this victory for us
Speaker 1: to keep it to ourselves. In the year King Usiah died,
Speaker 1: Yes he died, but stop thinking that everything is dead
Speaker 1: just because that's dead. Everything's not dead just because that's dead.
Speaker 1: Matter of fact, there's still victory on the inside of you.
Speaker 1: And I can't tell you how to deal with your pain.
Speaker 1: I can't tell you how to deal with your divorce.
Speaker 1: I can't tell you how to deal with your shame,
Speaker 1: or I can't tell you how fast you need to
Speaker 1: get through it. But what I can tell you is
Speaker 1: that what Jesus Christ did for you is bigger than
Speaker 1: every single thing you and I are facing right now.
Speaker 1: And at some point in time, we've got to get
Speaker 1: our eyes off of ourselves, and we got to see
Speaker 1: the Lord High and lift it up seated on the throne,
Speaker 1: and the train of his glory fill in the temple. Okay,
Speaker 1: go with me. I'm about done. I'm about done. I'm
Speaker 1: about done. I'm about that. First Corinthians, go back, Go
Speaker 1: back to First Corinthians with me. First Corinthians, Chapter fifteen,
Speaker 1: verse number twenty six. First Corinthians, Chapter fifteen, Verse number
Speaker 1: twenty six says this the last enemy, the last enemy
Speaker 1: to be destroyed. The last enemy to be destroyed is
Speaker 1: what is death? Yeah, last enemy to be destroyed. It's death.
Speaker 1: See Death is currently defeated, but it's not yet destroyed. Okay,
Speaker 1: follow me here for just a second. It's currently defeated,
Speaker 1: but not yet destroyed. The last enemy to be destroyed
Speaker 1: will be death. There will be a day there will
Speaker 1: be no more death. There will be a day. Right now,
Speaker 1: it's defeated, but it's not destroyed. I don't know. You
Speaker 1: go to a football game or soccer for those in
Speaker 1: other parts of the world, soccer to US football, to you,
Speaker 1: basketball game, whatever it is like the championship game. And
Speaker 1: at a championship game or a UFC fight, a tennis match, whatever,
Speaker 1: it's a championship match whenever. Whenever there is a battle
Speaker 1: and then someone wins, the match is over, right, it's over.
Speaker 1: But then there's always this this next little party, and
Speaker 1: the next party is like the official official announcement. We
Speaker 1: all saw the knockout, Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder, we saw
Speaker 1: the knockout. But there's going to come a moment when
Speaker 1: there is going to be an announcement, and the announcement
Speaker 1: is just confirming what we all already saw. We know
Speaker 1: that the fight is over, but there's an announcement coming.
Speaker 1: I need you to understand right now, what we are
Speaker 1: living in is we are living in the time in
Speaker 1: between the knockout blow and the final announcement. Come on,
Speaker 1: follow me here. What Jesus Christ did on the cross,
Speaker 1: and when he got up out of that grave, that
Speaker 1: was the knockout blow. But there is a time coming
Speaker 1: when the heavens will part and the trumpet will sound,
Speaker 1: and then that in Christ will be raised first. And
Speaker 1: when that happens, that's Bruce Buffer. Come on, that's Bruce
Speaker 1: Buffer say, I know you already know what happened. It
Speaker 1: happened on the third day after Calvary, that the Son
Speaker 1: of God, the King of kings, Lord of lords, the
Speaker 1: lover of humanity, the bright in the morning star, the
Speaker 1: one who redeemed God with skin on, who became flesh
Speaker 1: and made his dwelling among us. He was on that
Speaker 1: old rugged cross, and everyone thought he was down. But
Speaker 1: on the third day he got up out of that crave.
Speaker 1: And when he got up out of that crave, he
Speaker 1: defeated death, Hell, and the crave and the devil, and
Speaker 1: every single thing that has been broken or will be broken.
Speaker 1: It's now done in his mighty and matchless name, victory
Speaker 1: now and forever. So this is why he says, watch this,
Speaker 1: watch us, watch this. This is why he says. This
Speaker 1: is why he says the verse fifty four, when the
Speaker 1: perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, Oh Man, and
Speaker 1: the mortal with immortality. Then the saying that has written
Speaker 1: will come true. Death has been swallowed up in victory.
Speaker 1: Where old death is your victory. Where old death is
Speaker 1: your sting. The sting of death is sin, and the
Speaker 1: power of sin is the Lord. But thanks be to
Speaker 1: God He gives us the victory through our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1: Can you clap your hands, Elevation Church? Come on, can
Speaker 1: you clap your hands, Elevation Church. Can you clap your
Speaker 1: hands and say, thank you God for the victory? No,
Speaker 1: thank Him for the victory. Gotta I gotta be quiet.
Speaker 1: I gotta be quiet. Well, look at this, Look at this,
Speaker 1: and I'm done. I'm done, all right, I'm gonna pray
Speaker 1: for you. I'm about to be done. Therefore, therefore, my
Speaker 1: dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Stand firm, Stand firm,
Speaker 1: stand firm. Let nothing move you. Let nothing move here,
Speaker 1: Let nothing. I speak this into your heart. I speak
Speaker 1: this into your spiritual backbone. Right now. Therefore, dear brothers
Speaker 1: and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you, Let nothing
Speaker 1: move you. He always give yourselves fully to the work
Speaker 1: of the Lord, because you know your labor and the Lord.
Speaker 1: It's not in vain. They the grace and the power
Speaker 1: of our Lord. Jesus be with you always. If you
Speaker 1: wouldn't mind Church family here in this room, online, even
Speaker 1: at our other campuses, but just a moment, bow your heads.
Speaker 1: If you're under the sound of my voice, and you
Speaker 1: got weights on your shoulders, fear gripping your heart, doubt
Speaker 1: running through your mind, stop shaming yourself. You are in
Speaker 1: a place of freedom. You're in a place of vision.
Speaker 1: You're in a place of hope, You're in a place
Speaker 1: of life. I know the verdicts have prayed for you.
Speaker 1: I know your campus pastors have prayed for you. I
Speaker 1: know the team has prayed for you. And more importantly,
Speaker 1: Jesus himself is at the right hand of the Father
Speaker 1: interceding on your behalf right now. And I speak hope
Speaker 1: and life over you in the Mighty name of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1: And where weights and pressures have been weighing on your shoulders,
Speaker 1: where your eyes have been dim, where your heart has
Speaker 1: been heavy, I pray for resurrection life to feel you.
Speaker 1: In the mighty name of Jesus Christ. I pray that
Speaker 1: demonic strongholds would be broken off of you. I pray
Speaker 1: that you would see yourself the way God sees you.
Speaker 1: And I pray you would see God for who he
Speaker 1: actually is. That He is the great I am. He
Speaker 1: is the lily in the valley. He is the bright
Speaker 1: and the morning star. He is the creator of all things,
Speaker 1: and he is for you and on your side. And
Speaker 1: right now, Oh God, I pray that you would pour
Speaker 1: out your spirit on all flesh in the mighty name
Speaker 1: of Jesus. Not today be a day of breakthrough. Let
Speaker 1: today be aday of victory. Let today be a day
Speaker 1: where chains are broken, and your sons and your daughters
Speaker 1: move fully into who you call them to be. In
Speaker 1: Jesus Day, we pray, Amen and Amen, lift our head.
Speaker 1: Let's cop our hands at every location and give God
Speaker 1: some praise for who he is. Well. If you enjoy
Speaker 1: today's podcast, there are a couple things I'd love for
Speaker 1: you to do. Make sure to subscribe, rate, and review
Speaker 1: this podcast. You can also help us reach others by
Speaker 1: investing today at Elevation Church dot org. Slash give and
Speaker 1: thanks again for joining us on the Elevation Podcast.