Speaker 1: Are you glad to be in the House of God today?
Speaker 1: I want to do something real quick. But my name
Speaker 1: is Robert Madou. I bring your greetings from the great
Speaker 1: country of Texas. And I didn't lift up my hand
Speaker 1: when they said first time guest. I am not a
Speaker 1: guest here. I'm a part of the Elevation family. And
Speaker 1: I love this church. I love this church. I love
Speaker 1: this church because it is a true reflection of your pastors,
Speaker 1: who are dear friends, and my wife and I. And
Speaker 1: before I say anything else, I want us to give
Speaker 1: honor to where honors do. Help me. Thank God for
Speaker 1: Pastor Stephen thirty, for Pastor Holly. Come on, you uncle,
Speaker 1: do better than that. Would you let them know how
Speaker 1: much you love them? Come on, would you let them
Speaker 1: know how much you appreciate him. Pastor Stephen is my brother.
Speaker 1: He is my brother from another mother. And I'm just
Speaker 1: thankful for him. There's so many things I could say
Speaker 1: about him, his brilliant mind to declare the word of
Speaker 1: the Lord, the incredible songs that he's written. But I'm
Speaker 1: just thankful that he is a brother. When I tell you,
Speaker 1: there have been Sundays before I get up to preach
Speaker 1: I'll get a text from Pastor Stephen saying you're anointed,
Speaker 1: You're a man of God. You can do it. Preach
Speaker 1: the gospel. That's that's just the heart of your pastor.
Speaker 1: We have a church called Social Dallas, and the first
Speaker 1: church to sow into us when we got ready to
Speaker 1: plant just a year ago, was your church. Your pastors,
Speaker 1: and my wife and I are just incredibly grateful for
Speaker 1: this house. And I want you to stay standing because
Speaker 1: oh my right toe is tingling. I feel like preacher.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go straight to the word of God. I'm excited.
Speaker 1: I'm excited about what God has given me to share
Speaker 1: with you today. And I don't want to waste another
Speaker 1: second or another moment. But can we thank God for
Speaker 1: the incredible worship team that just let us so beautifully
Speaker 1: into the presence of God. Also, because I'm with family,
Speaker 1: I mean as well show you my fam you know,
Speaker 1: I got to give you the family update. This is
Speaker 1: my bride and my three little humans right there. That's
Speaker 1: the Madou crew. We did good. We did good. So
Speaker 1: y'all pray for us. That is an eight year old,
Speaker 1: a seven year old and a five year old. Amen, Yes,
Speaker 1: pray for your boy. Pray for your boy. But that's
Speaker 1: my family. But I have a word, and I want
Speaker 1: you to stay standing because I want to jump straight
Speaker 1: into it. Did you come to get a word from God? Oh?
Speaker 1: If y'all feel like hearing it like I feel like
Speaker 1: preaching it, something's going to happen in here today, go
Speaker 1: with me to Acts Chapter sixteen, Acts sixteen, And for
Speaker 1: the benefit of brevity, I want to look at verses
Speaker 1: sixteen through eighteen. Acts Chapter sixteen started verse sixteen, and
Speaker 1: will land at verse number eighteen. When you're ready to
Speaker 1: read it, say yeah, you're not ready. You need some times.
Speaker 1: Hold up. I heard that. Hold up. Come on, hurry up.
Speaker 1: They gonna put it on the screen. You're good, You good.
Speaker 1: Shout out to all the campuses and the Epham everybody.
Speaker 1: Acts Chapter sixteen, starting in verse number sixteen, and it
Speaker 1: says once when we were going to the place of
Speaker 1: prayer that we is Paul and Silas. We were met
Speaker 1: by a female slave who had a spirit by which
Speaker 1: she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of
Speaker 1: money from her owners by fortune telling, and she followed
Speaker 1: Paul and the rest of us shouting, these men are
Speaker 1: servants of the Most High God, who are telling you
Speaker 1: the way to be saved. She kept us up for
Speaker 1: many days. Finally Paul became so I was falalsing for
Speaker 1: you to say it annoyed that he turned around and
Speaker 1: said to the spirit, in the name of Jesus Christ,
Speaker 1: I command you to come out of her. At that moment,
Speaker 1: the spirit left her. Can you say amen? Spoiler alert
Speaker 1: that girl's liberation led to their incarceration. But they found
Speaker 1: out at midnight that even in change, you can still
Speaker 1: have church. And they started singing worthy, you were worthy,
Speaker 1: and the chains broke. You know the story. You bet
Speaker 1: at church the doors flew open. But none of that
Speaker 1: is what drew me to The text is verse eighteen,
Speaker 1: where it says Paul finally became so annoyed. I want
Speaker 1: to preach for about six and a half hours today,
Speaker 1: but I want to do something. I want to do something.
Speaker 1: I'm at home so I can do this. I want
Speaker 1: to do something that I've never done in a sermon before.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna give you part of my title right now,
Speaker 1: and then the other half of it I'm gonna give
Speaker 1: you at the end of the message. Is that cool? Okay?
Speaker 1: So if you leave early or epam you log off,
Speaker 1: You're gonna be lost. Okay it. I'm only giving you
Speaker 1: half of the title right now, but here's the half
Speaker 1: I want you to get. I want to talk to
Speaker 1: you from this thought. I'm annoyed. I'm annoyed. I'll give
Speaker 1: you the second half later, but for right now, look
Speaker 1: at your neighbor, whichever one you like the best, and say, neighbor, Oh,
Speaker 1: come on, don't be afraid to talk to your neighbor
Speaker 1: in church. You know I can see you. Come on,
Speaker 1: say neighbor. Can I be honest? I'm annoyed. Look at
Speaker 1: your other neighbor, say other neighbor. You're my second option.
Speaker 1: And I gotta tell you this title. Say I'm annoyed.
Speaker 1: If you believe God's going to speak, would you give
Speaker 1: us some praise? Right now? Father, I have your way today. Amen,
Speaker 1: you may be seated in the presence of the Lord.
Speaker 1: I'm annoyed. I forgot to mention that I am not
Speaker 1: here by myself. My father is here with me. Robert
Speaker 1: madeu senor Dad. Would you just stand up real quick?
Speaker 1: Do I love it? Because he hates it. He is
Speaker 1: annoyed right now because I made him stand up. But
Speaker 1: traveling with him actually gave me a flashback. He gave
Speaker 1: me a flashback to a ministry moment that is indelibly
Speaker 1: etched in my mind. I'll never forget this moment. It's
Speaker 1: years years ago. I was just starting off in the ministry,
Speaker 1: just starting off preaching, years years ago, just a young
Speaker 1: buck preaching the gospel. I was preaching and working at
Speaker 1: Banana Republic. Yes, yes, yes, working at Banana during the weekend,
Speaker 1: preaching on the weekends. Yes, I had a ministry of
Speaker 1: folding khakis during the week and preaching the gospel on
Speaker 1: the weekend. And I'll never forget I got invited to
Speaker 1: this church to preach their Sunday morning services. I'll never
Speaker 1: forget it. I was elated. I was excited because I
Speaker 1: had primarily preached just to the youth group and to
Speaker 1: the youth camps of this church. So when they called
Speaker 1: me to preach Sunday morning, I said, oh, how at
Speaker 1: your boy, I have made it to the big leagues
Speaker 1: from moving on up And uh, I got the itinerary.
Speaker 1: I got the itinerary before I got ready to go
Speaker 1: preach there, and I noticed something on the itinerary and
Speaker 1: immediately arrested my attention. It was my accommodations where I
Speaker 1: was staying while I would be preaching there. And it
Speaker 1: said that I would be staying who at a motel?
Speaker 1: Mo mo hotel, Not a hotel, but a motel. I
Speaker 1: wasn't too alarmed at first. I said, hold on, don't
Speaker 1: judge a book, bise cover. Wait till you see the
Speaker 1: motel first. Robert and Pastor picked me up. I'll never
Speaker 1: forget it. And we pulled up to the motel and
Speaker 1: oh it was a mo. It was a mo. Tell
Speaker 1: everything about the exterior of this motel. Let me know
Speaker 1: what the interior was going to look like. I will
Speaker 1: never forget. The pastor handed me the key to my room,
Speaker 1: said I'll pick you up tomorrow. I had to meet
Speaker 1: the key to my room. The key to my room,
Speaker 1: not a card, a physical key to my room at
Speaker 1: the motel. I said, you know what, Lord, I said,
Speaker 1: if you can use anything, you can use me. So
Speaker 1: I'm cool and open the door. Open the door to
Speaker 1: the motel. And as soon as I opened the door,
Speaker 1: my goodness, the room looked like a scene from CSI.
Speaker 1: The pungent odor that was permeating from the carpet hitting
Speaker 1: me in the face, said, singed my nose here there
Speaker 1: was stains on the bed and stays on the carpet
Speaker 1: and stays on the dress. So I said, this is ridiculous.
Speaker 1: What happened in this room? I looked to the right.
Speaker 1: The roaches were looking at me like, you're gonna stay here?
Speaker 1: For real? Are you gonna slave here? Never forget it,
Speaker 1: I'll never forget it. And uh, I said, boy, it's
Speaker 1: gonna be rough. It's gonna be rough, rough, rough trip.
Speaker 1: And so I was stinking to myself. I said, I
Speaker 1: can't stay here. I can't stay here. And I noticed
Speaker 1: that down the street from the motel was a hotel.
Speaker 1: What's a hotel, you know, nothing, nothing fancy but a
Speaker 1: few stars above this one. I said, you know what,
Speaker 1: I can go to that hotel and go to that
Speaker 1: hotel and I can just stay. I'm like, I'll pay
Speaker 1: for it. I realized, you know, I ain't even ask
Speaker 1: anybody to pay for it. I'll go. And the problem
Speaker 1: was the pastor dropped me off and he was picking
Speaker 1: me up in the morning. So I was in a conundrum.
Speaker 1: I said, wait a minute. If I go to the
Speaker 1: hotel and leave the motel, what am I gonna do
Speaker 1: in the morning when he comes and picks me up.
Speaker 1: I'm either gonna have to go to the hotel then
Speaker 1: come all the way back to the motel for him
Speaker 1: to pick me up in the morning. So I was like, oh,
Speaker 1: I said, is that gonna look bad? I don't want
Speaker 1: to be rude. This is my first big Sunday. I
Speaker 1: don't want to miss this. Up, I was like, is
Speaker 1: that gonna be rude if I switch hotels? So I
Speaker 1: call my father who was here with me, and I
Speaker 1: should say my Nigerian father, and I call him up.
Speaker 1: I will never forget this. I called him and said, Dad,
Speaker 1: I don't know if you can smell this through the phone.
Speaker 1: I said, but they got me out here at the
Speaker 1: motel and I want to switch. I want to switch
Speaker 1: to the hotel. Dad. I'm gonna pay for it. I
Speaker 1: want to switch to the hotel. But I don't know
Speaker 1: if it's gonna look bad or look rude if I switch.
Speaker 1: Do you think it would be bad? Dad? If I
Speaker 1: switched from the motel to the hotel, I will never
Speaker 1: forget for this, Nigerian man said to me. First words
Speaker 1: out of his mouth were, oh, my goodness, oh my God,
Speaker 1: what didn't look bad? Wood did look bad if you switch,
Speaker 1: of course, it would look bad if you switch to
Speaker 1: a different hotel. Son, you are only death for one night.
Speaker 1: You are death for one night. You are not there
Speaker 1: on vacation. You are there to preach the gospel of Jesus' Christ.
Speaker 1: You adare foul one night, he said, it's the apostle.
Speaker 1: Paul can be shipwrecked and beaten and witch for the gospel. Charlotte,
Speaker 1: you can't stand I did motel found one hung up
Speaker 1: the phone. Will never ever forget that moment. I was
Speaker 1: so annoyed. I was annoyed then, but in retrospect I
Speaker 1: realized the wisdom of my father. He said, I thought
Speaker 1: that he wasn't feeling me. I thought he wasn't being
Speaker 1: empathetic to my plight in my situation. But upon further reflection,
Speaker 1: I realized not that he wasn't being empathetic to my situation.
Speaker 1: It's not even that he was advocating for me to
Speaker 1: stay in nasty motels. For what he was doing in
Speaker 1: that moment was trying to get me to look at
Speaker 1: my circumstance through the lens of my purpose. He was
Speaker 1: trying to get me to look at my circumstance through
Speaker 1: the lens of my purpose. That's why he kept saying
Speaker 1: one night, you are just there for one night. He
Speaker 1: was trying to get me to see that my stay
Speaker 1: at that motel was temporal, but the gospel that I
Speaker 1: was preaching is eternal, and if I can focus on
Speaker 1: the purpose, it ought to give me clarity for the circumstance.
Speaker 1: I don't know who this message is for today, but
Speaker 1: I felt like God wanted me to remind you that
Speaker 1: if you could learn to look at your circumstance through
Speaker 1: the lens of your purpose, if you could look at
Speaker 1: the frustrations and the agitations in your life through the
Speaker 1: lens of your divine assigned that would change everything for you.
Speaker 1: As a matter of fact, there is nothing more powerful
Speaker 1: than somebody that is learned to look at what they're
Speaker 1: going through through the lens of what they are called to. Oh.
Speaker 1: If you want to see somebody that's unstoppable, look at
Speaker 1: somebody that knows who they are and they know the
Speaker 1: mission and the call that is on their life. Nothing
Speaker 1: can stop that person. Every obstacle will turn into an
Speaker 1: opportunity because they know there's a greater story there's a
Speaker 1: greater call than what I say right now. A matter
Speaker 1: of fact, the Apostle Paul could write a master's class
Speaker 1: on what it's like to look at your circumstance to
Speaker 1: the lens of your divine purpose. I'm telling you, the
Speaker 1: Apostle Paul could do a ten hour ted talk on tenacity.
Speaker 1: Who else but the Apostle Paul. Who else but the
Speaker 1: one who said, I glory in my sufferings, the one
Speaker 1: that said, oh that I may know him in the
Speaker 1: fellowship not of his success, but in the fellowship of
Speaker 1: Christ's suffering and his resurrection. Who else but the Apostle Paul,
Speaker 1: that tenacious tent maker from Tarshiss, that gospel globe trotter
Speaker 1: who was full of tower and authority. You know, Paul
Speaker 1: was unstoppable. He was off the chain. Every city he
Speaker 1: went into, he would turn the city upside down because
Speaker 1: he knew there was a greater call, there was a
Speaker 1: greater mission on his life. They could not stop the
Speaker 1: Apostle Paul. Everywhere he went. He was effective in ministry.
Speaker 1: They said, Paul, we gonna kill you. He said, that's
Speaker 1: cool to die? Is game? They said, okay, then, Paul,
Speaker 1: we're gonna let you live. He said, that's cool too,
Speaker 1: to live as Christ. They said, all right, then, Paul,
Speaker 1: were gonna make you suffer. He said, that's cool too,
Speaker 1: because I already know that the present sufferings of this
Speaker 1: world are not worthy to be compared to the glory
Speaker 1: of God that's gonna be revealed down on the inside
Speaker 1: of me. Paul. He was absolutely off the chain. And
Speaker 1: no wonder my dad said if the Apostle Paul could
Speaker 1: be shipwrecked, and surely you can stay there for one night,
Speaker 1: we'll get to my Texas. In Acts chapter sixteen, Paul
Speaker 1: is on his second missionary journey. But let us not
Speaker 1: forget how he stepped into his purpose. Acts chapter nine
Speaker 1: lets us know the conversion and the commissioning of the
Speaker 1: Apostle Paul the Artist formerly known as Saul. I love
Speaker 1: Paul because Paul was actually not waiting to be converted
Speaker 1: to move at the speed of his purpose. He was
Speaker 1: already headed somewhere. You know that church planner used to
Speaker 1: be a Christian killer. He was on his way to
Speaker 1: kill more Christians when all of a sudden, God just
Speaker 1: interrupted him on his journey. A bright light came from
Speaker 1: heaven and interrupted him. He wasn't seeking after God. God
Speaker 1: wasn't on his radar. Oh, but he was on God's radar.
Speaker 1: I'm want to pause right there. I thank God that
Speaker 1: sometimes when you're not thinking about him, he's thinking about you.
Speaker 1: I thank God that sometimes when you're not even having
Speaker 1: an appointment with him on your schedule, God will have
Speaker 1: an appointment with you on his schedule. Somebody watching this
Speaker 1: right now, you don't even know. God is interrupting your
Speaker 1: regular schedule program because He has a call on your life.
Speaker 1: He has a purpose for your life, and you might
Speaker 1: be headed in the wrong direction. But buckle up your
Speaker 1: feet out because when God wants to get your attention,
Speaker 1: he will get your attention. Somebody came to church today
Speaker 1: because God is trying to get your attention. Got Paul's
Speaker 1: got Paul's attention in next chapter nine, But in next
Speaker 1: chapter sixteen, let us not forget that this is Paul's
Speaker 1: second missionary journey. It's a secure missionary journey. And he's
Speaker 1: got his homeboy Silas with them. He's got Silence. He's
Speaker 1: even got this young cap by the name of Timothy
Speaker 1: with him. And you can't even really appreciate the connection
Speaker 1: between Paul and Silas until you first understand the separation
Speaker 1: that occurred between Paul and Barnabas. This is his second
Speaker 1: missionary journey, and Silence, believe it or not, was Paul's
Speaker 1: second choice. Oh yeah, he didn't pick Silas first. He
Speaker 1: actually had a missionary journey Acts thirteen to fifteen and
Speaker 1: he was with Barnabas. Barnabas Barney. I love it because
Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit separated Paul and Barney put them together
Speaker 1: to accomplish a call. Proof positive that whenever God has
Speaker 1: a call on your life, he will make sure that
Speaker 1: you are connected with somebody to do it. There are
Speaker 1: no lone rangers in the Kingdom of God. All of
Speaker 1: y'all up in here talking about I don't need nobody,
Speaker 1: I don't need the church. It's me myself and I no, no, no, no,
Speaker 1: no no. If your dream and your vision only affects you,
Speaker 1: it is not from the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom
Speaker 1: of God will always cause a divine collaboration with somebody.
Speaker 1: You need, somebody else hardwired for connection and community. So
Speaker 1: wouldn't it be just like the Holy Spirit to connect
Speaker 1: Paul and Barney to go plant churches and preach the gospel.
Speaker 1: Can you see Paul and Varney go on out, They're
Speaker 1: planting churches, They're preaching the gospel. It was an effective trip.
Speaker 1: It was so effective. Paul said, let's run that back again.
Speaker 1: Let's do it again. Barnabas was like, cool, I'm cool
Speaker 1: with that. Let's run it back again. And then Paul says,
Speaker 1: all right, let's go. And then Barney goes, well, let's
Speaker 1: bring John Mark, my nephew with us. And Paul said,
Speaker 1: oh no, no, no, no, no, hold on, we can
Speaker 1: bring a whole lot of people if we are not
Speaker 1: bringing your little stinky nephew, Sean Mark. Don't forget due
Speaker 1: your due diligence and read Joe Bible. You remember John
Speaker 1: Mark was their assistant who abandoning them halfway in the journey.
Speaker 1: And Paul still felt some type of way about it.
Speaker 1: He said, no, no, no, we can bring a whole
Speaker 1: lot of people, but we are not bringing John Mark.
Speaker 1: I got beat and whipped stones hitting my head on
Speaker 1: that last missionary journey. And John Mark left because he
Speaker 1: had a little tummy age because he was sea fig
Speaker 1: and went back to Jerusalem. There is no way he's
Speaker 1: coming back. See, I like Paul I'm actually on Paul's side.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah. They got into a heated disagreement because Paul
Speaker 1: is a builder. He is ride or die, And Paul said,
Speaker 1: if I'm gonna build with somebody, I need to build
Speaker 1: with somebody who's faithful. I need to build with somebody
Speaker 1: that will show up. Is anybody like me. I like
Speaker 1: people that are dependable. I like people that when they
Speaker 1: tell you they're gonna be there at seven o'clock, they'll
Speaker 1: be there at six thirty five. I won't Sarada die
Speaker 1: people in my life. I'm on, Paul said. Paul said
Speaker 1: that boy is not coming with us because he abandoned us.
Speaker 1: Problem with Paul's he's a builder who Barnie is an encourager.
Speaker 1: You know how them encourage us are. He's like, come on, Paul,
Speaker 1: give him another chance. Didn't God give you another chance?
Speaker 1: He's the one killing Christians, don't act brand new? How
Speaker 1: come you can't give him another chance? And they keep
Speaker 1: going back and forth. It was a heated argument between
Speaker 1: the two and all of a sudden there was no resolve.
Speaker 1: They disagreed and they win their separate race. They had
Speaker 1: a disagreement that made them go their separate ways. Paul said, cool,
Speaker 1: I'm out. John Mark said cool, and I'll take Barnabas
Speaker 1: with me. They went their separate ways and just agreed
Speaker 1: to disagree. Do you know what's from with our culture
Speaker 1: today is we have lost the art of civil discourse.
Speaker 1: We have lost the art of just agreeing to disagree.
Speaker 1: We live in a society that anybody that doesn't agree
Speaker 1: with you, anybody doesn't think like you think, talk like
Speaker 1: you talk, walk like you walk, vote like you vote.
Speaker 1: You got an issue with you want to demonize that person.
Speaker 1: But we don't know how to just agree to disagree.
Speaker 1: And you go your way and I'll go my way.
Speaker 1: And here's the powerful thing. The gospel of Jesus Christ
Speaker 1: was still preached. With Barnabas going his way and Paul
Speaker 1: going his way. Oh God said, I know how to
Speaker 1: turn division and to multiplication. I know you went just
Speaker 1: separate ways, but the gospel is still don't be preached
Speaker 1: in the way. Y'all don't like that. You want to
Speaker 1: demonize the people you disagree with. But can I tell
Speaker 1: you God reserves to right to use people that you
Speaker 1: disagree with. God reserves to write to use people that
Speaker 1: you don't like. You use them and not even check
Speaker 1: with you. It was still effective. John Mark and Barnabas
Speaker 1: were still effective, and Paul said, I'm gonna be effective
Speaker 1: too because I'm rude or die, He said, I got
Speaker 1: to get me somebody else and picks up silence with them.
Speaker 1: Can you see that interview? He's already feeling some type
Speaker 1: of way because John Mark quit on him. He's like, oh,
Speaker 1: silence or you ride or die? You sure you can
Speaker 1: roll with me? Sounds like of course. He's like, all right,
Speaker 1: let me just check punches them in a gut. You
Speaker 1: use my epogetical imagination. Sounds like, oh, what's that for?
Speaker 1: He's like, it's real out here in these church playing
Speaker 1: the streets. I'm just trying to make sure you can
Speaker 1: take a looking to keep on ticket. By the way,
Speaker 1: can you sing? Can I sing? Yes? Can you sing? Yes?
Speaker 1: I want to know somebody pop off at midnight. I
Speaker 1: want to know if you still got to praise in
Speaker 1: your belly saying something right now? Silence is like right now,
Speaker 1: right now, I'm gonna see y victory. I've gotta see you. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you're off key, but you're good. Come on, let's go
Speaker 1: look at him. He's got Silas with him. He picks
Speaker 1: up Timothy along the way, who follows not playing first
Speaker 1: thing he does with Timody, another young youngster, just like
Speaker 1: John Mark's like, oh you call. Timothy's like yeah, you call,
Speaker 1: all right, let me cut you. Circumcises them on the
Speaker 1: first day, just trying to make sure you're ready to roll.
Speaker 1: And uh. They start moving into Figuria. They're effective. They
Speaker 1: start moving, guided by the Holy Spirit, into Galatia. They're effective.
Speaker 1: The ministry is thriving. Paul says, you know what, how
Speaker 1: about we go to the Province of Asia. This is
Speaker 1: modern day Turkey. And they get ready to go to
Speaker 1: the Province of Asia, and the Bible says something that
Speaker 1: we have yet to read in the Book of act
Speaker 1: It says the Holy Spirit forbid them from going to
Speaker 1: the province of As. I said, okay, maybe not, hey,
Speaker 1: sul let's go to Bithynia. So they start setting sell
Speaker 1: getting ready to go to Bithynia, and the Bible says
Speaker 1: again that the Holy Spirit forbid them from going into Bithnia.
Speaker 1: I'm confused. It's not like they're going to sell drugs,
Speaker 1: they're going to plant churches, They're going to go preach
Speaker 1: the gospel. She would think that if my motive is
Speaker 1: right and I'm going to do something that I know
Speaker 1: God has called me to do, that I would always
Speaker 1: have an open door. I can understand what God closes
Speaker 1: a door if I'm about to go do something bad,
Speaker 1: like I get that. If my car don't start before
Speaker 1: I go to Chrispy Kreme, I get that because it's
Speaker 1: not good for me. But what do you do when
Speaker 1: you're called to do something and you're running to a
Speaker 1: closed door? That is annoying. It is annoying when you
Speaker 1: set out to do something that is your divine call,
Speaker 1: it is your mission, it is your mendate, and you
Speaker 1: keep running into closed door after closed door. I don't
Speaker 1: know who this is for, but somebody knows what it's
Speaker 1: like to walk into a closed door. The Holy Spirit
Speaker 1: forbid them to go. See, this is where I got
Speaker 1: annoyed with doctor Luke. Because doctor Luke is writing the
Speaker 1: Book of Acts, and he's a doctor. Doctor's a thorough Luke.
Speaker 1: You could have told us how the Holy Spirit forbid
Speaker 1: them to go. That would have been some helpful information.
Speaker 1: Let me know, how did the Holy Spirit forbid them
Speaker 1: from going? Did the Holy Spirit just show up in
Speaker 1: physical form and say, y'all, don't go with the boat,
Speaker 1: not start. Tell me how did Paul get a stomach ache?
Speaker 1: How did the Holy Spirit stop them? But but but
Speaker 1: Luke doesn't give us those details of how. He just
Speaker 1: lets us know that the Holy Spirit, the one that
Speaker 1: empowers us, is the same one that guys us. And
Speaker 1: if the Holy Spirit is gonna guide you, the Holy
Speaker 1: Spirit will sometimes let you hit a closed door. The
Speaker 1: Holy Spirit will sometimes let you walk straight into a No.
Speaker 1: I want to pause right now and thank God for
Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit. I want to thank God for the
Speaker 1: Holy Spirit that doesn't just empower me and give me empowerment.
Speaker 1: I'm thankful for the Holy Spirit that gives me discernment,
Speaker 1: that'll speak to me and say no, don't go there, No,
Speaker 1: don't go there. I need the Holy Spirit to guide me.
Speaker 1: Is there anybody that can relate to the fact that
Speaker 1: life is above you'll pay grade and you need some
Speaker 1: divine direction. God, show me which way I'm supposed to go. God,
Speaker 1: close every toy that needs to be closed, and open
Speaker 1: every door that needs to be opened. Show me what
Speaker 1: job I'm supposed to take, and show me where I'm
Speaker 1: supposed to land, show me who I'm supposed to marry,
Speaker 1: and if I'm not giving me a no? When was
Speaker 1: the last time you praise God for a no? When
Speaker 1: was the last God that you thank God because he
Speaker 1: gave you a shut door and a big old no.
Speaker 1: I know you want God to give you a yes,
Speaker 1: but I want to pause and thank God for all
Speaker 1: the times He's given me a no. No, don't do it, no,
Speaker 1: I want to thank God for his no. God will
Speaker 1: often guide you, not just with his yeses, but with
Speaker 1: his nose. Would you just say no, I'm won't say
Speaker 1: it with your chest, say no? Have you ever done that?
Speaker 1: Have you ever had the Holy Spirit just hit you
Speaker 1: with a come on you on the date you ain't
Speaker 1: even order the advertisers, and all of a sudden, the
Speaker 1: Holy Spirit is like, all right, I guess they see.
Speaker 1: I wouldn't much rather have a no than to have nothing.
Speaker 1: I need his discernment. As a matter of fact, I
Speaker 1: don't know how God speaks to you, but I'll tell
Speaker 1: you how he speaks to me. Sometimes his nose are
Speaker 1: louder than his yeses. Sometimes I'll be getting ready to
Speaker 1: open the door and yeah, okay, all right, and then
Speaker 1: the yes will be like yes, but God on you
Speaker 1: sho like hold a sudden again. Have you ever been
Speaker 1: there before, whether the yes was just quiet but the
Speaker 1: no was so loud and the yes yes just a
Speaker 1: little mini mouse yes, and you have to go like
Speaker 1: on a five day fast and start praying like God
Speaker 1: that I'll hear you or no. Oh see, some of
Speaker 1: y'all don't like this because some of y'all want the
Speaker 1: direction before you go. But I'm telling you, God won't
Speaker 1: always give you the yes or the no before you go.
Speaker 1: Sometimes it's not until you take that step and you
Speaker 1: actually start trying to open the door that you find
Speaker 1: out whether they say yes or they tried to go
Speaker 1: and they got to know. And I've learned in my
Speaker 1: life to embrace the know. I've learned that sometimes it's
Speaker 1: not until i'll go then I'll get to know. I've
Speaker 1: learned sometimes that if my steps are going to be
Speaker 1: ordered by God, then my stops must be ordered by
Speaker 1: him too. Sometimes he'll hit you with an hour so
Speaker 1: they couldn't go to Bithynia, they couldn't go to the
Speaker 1: province of Asia. What do you do when you've gotten
Speaker 1: no and you don't know where to go. You pause
Speaker 1: and you wait to hear. See. God is not playing
Speaker 1: games with you. He wants you to know his will
Speaker 1: more than you want to know his will. But some
Speaker 1: of us have sensory overload. You got too many things
Speaker 1: going on. No wonder you can't hear God. You always
Speaker 1: scroll left, you always on Netflix, You're always talking to
Speaker 1: other people about it. But if you could ever quiet
Speaker 1: your soul to hear, he will speak. All of a sudden, Paul,
Speaker 1: he gets a vision at night of a man in
Speaker 1: Macedonia that says, come here and help us. He gets
Speaker 1: a vision, don't miss this of a man in Macedonia.
Speaker 1: This says, come here and help us. Can you imagine that?
Speaker 1: Next morning, the clarity he got, He's like, y'all out,
Speaker 1: I got the clarity. I saw a man in Macedonia saying,
Speaker 1: come help us. We're going to Macedonia. Don't you love
Speaker 1: it when God speaks and you got the clear vision
Speaker 1: he said, we got to go. There is a man
Speaker 1: in Macedonia that needs the gospel. Who they sailed to
Speaker 1: Macedonia pull up on the shore. Don't forget it was
Speaker 1: a man he saw in his vision saying come help us.
Speaker 1: After getting the vision of the man, they walked straight
Speaker 1: into a women's Bible study. There are a group of
Speaker 1: women by the riverside having a prime meeting. He was thinking,
Speaker 1: he's gonna go to the synagogue, but there was no
Speaker 1: synagogue because you had to have at least ten Jewish
Speaker 1: men in the city to have a synagogue. So the
Speaker 1: fact that these women are gathered by the riverside is
Speaker 1: that you know, thuk aren't even ten dudes in the city.
Speaker 1: And here he got a vision of a man saying,
Speaker 1: come help me, and walk straight into a women's Bible study.
Speaker 1: Who I'm gonna bring it right home to you. What
Speaker 1: do you do when your reality looks contradictory to the
Speaker 1: vision that God gave you. Have you ever been there
Speaker 1: before when God gave you a vision you were sure
Speaker 1: about a God set moved to Charlotte and you said,
Speaker 1: all right, you move and you walk into a situation,
Speaker 1: and all of a sudden, the reality looks completely contradictory
Speaker 1: to the vision that you God. What do you do?
Speaker 1: He got a vision of a man and saw a
Speaker 1: women's Bible study. I'll tell you what you do when
Speaker 1: your reality is contradictory to your vision. Here's what you do.
Speaker 1: You stick to the mission. Stick to the mission whenever
Speaker 1: your reality is contradictory to your vision. Paul had been
Speaker 1: given a mission and a mandate to declare the gospel
Speaker 1: of Jesus Christ. And Paul had to learn by the
Speaker 1: riverside that I can still preach this gospel at a
Speaker 1: women's Bible study. I don't have to be in the synagogue.
Speaker 1: I gotta stay on my mission. Never your situation seems
Speaker 1: contradictory to your vision, stick to your mission. There he
Speaker 1: is preaching at a women's Bible study, and I'm glad
Speaker 1: he got the preaching. Because there was a business woman
Speaker 1: named Lydia who who was a baller and a shock
Speaker 1: collar sister girl owned the tsarra that all they sold
Speaker 1: was purple cloth. She was a wealthy businesswoman that knew
Speaker 1: about God, but hadn't had an encounter with this God.
Speaker 1: And all of a sudden, not only does she get saved,
Speaker 1: her whole household. God saved. Because if God can just
Speaker 1: find somebody who is available and will stick to the mission,
Speaker 1: you have no clue the ramifications of what would happen.
Speaker 1: Lydia gets saved, her whole household gets saved and Lydia
Speaker 1: begs Paul to come stay at her house. Can you
Speaker 1: see Paul and Silas and their whole crew walking into
Speaker 1: Lydia's six bedroom house, Marble everywhere. Paul's like, wooo, it's
Speaker 1: a good thing to preach this gospel. Oh can you
Speaker 1: see him? You know, Lydia had a good house. I
Speaker 1: can see him sleeping on that beautiful down feather pillow,
Speaker 1: going off, Oh, thank you Lord for Lydia. I'm just
Speaker 1: being obedient. This ain't a motel right here, this is
Speaker 1: this is nice. Slept real good, woke up the next day,
Speaker 1: started staying on mission again, preaching the gospel. He goes
Speaker 1: to preach, probably by the riverside it said this day.
Speaker 1: Right before he gets up to preach, probably behind him,
Speaker 1: he hears his voice, These manservants are the most time.
Speaker 1: Did that said service is about to start? He's like phrase.
Speaker 1: Guy goes the next day to preach again, same woman,
Speaker 1: same voice, These man of service in the most time. God,
Speaker 1: all right now, just trying to preach the word appreciation.
Speaker 1: Day three, getting ready to preach these man of serves
Speaker 1: in the most time. Don all right, sister girl, thank
Speaker 1: you can you post it on my Instagram page. I'm
Speaker 1: trying to preach day four. This man is saved the
Speaker 1: most I got day after every time he got ready
Speaker 1: to preach, this girl is shouting out, these man are
Speaker 1: savings in the most time. Guy. Day twenty three. She's
Speaker 1: still going these not silence if you don't take her out.
Speaker 1: I'm about to take her out. This man heavy. I
Speaker 1: don't know how long it happened, but I know it
Speaker 1: happened for a long time, a long time. Give us
Speaker 1: subscripture for it. Look at it at chapter sixteen, verse eighteen.
Speaker 1: It says, look at this, it says, and this she
Speaker 1: did for many days. I don't know how long many
Speaker 1: days is, but it was a long time. Finally, Paul
Speaker 1: got so annoyed that he turned around and he looked
Speaker 1: at her. Hold on before I say what he said.
Speaker 1: I find it intriguing that this woman is possessed by
Speaker 1: a demon, but she's saying something that was right. This
Speaker 1: is why you need the Holy Spirit, not just for empowerment,
Speaker 1: for a discernment, because most of us would have listened
Speaker 1: to what she said, and yeah, we would have been
Speaker 1: over saying, well, least she's saying the right thing. At
Speaker 1: least she's saying the right thing. But paul On understood discernment,
Speaker 1: and the Holy Spirit began to speak to him as
Speaker 1: he was out administering the Gospel. But she was saying
Speaker 1: the right thing. And that's actually how the enemy works.
Speaker 1: In fact, when the Bible says she has the spirit
Speaker 1: of divination, it was actually the spirit of the Python.
Speaker 1: And that's what the enemy does. He loves to deceive, Hugh,
Speaker 1: and he will rap a truth with a lie. You'll
Speaker 1: rap a truth with deception. But I'm thankful for paul
Speaker 1: who was full of the Holy Spirit, who was able
Speaker 1: to look past the deception and saying, you're saying the
Speaker 1: right thing, but it's coming from the wrong spirit. So
Speaker 1: he spoke to the spirit, because we rush so knock
Speaker 1: with flesh and blood, but with principalities. So finally he
Speaker 1: got so annoyed and turned around and said, in the
Speaker 1: name of Jesus Christ, I command you to come out. Oh,
Speaker 1: I came to tell somebody you better start speaking to
Speaker 1: the spirit. He just speak to the woman. He spoke
Speaker 1: to the spirit. I'm faithful for sermons, I'm faithful for counselor,
Speaker 1: but every once in a while, you better get some
Speaker 1: authority and some determined and speak to that spirit. Speak
Speaker 1: to the spirit of depression, speak to the spirit of anxiety.
Speaker 1: Speak to that spirit and say you, in the name
Speaker 1: of Jesus, I command you to come out. Oh, I
Speaker 1: need somebody that still believes in the delivering power of God,
Speaker 1: just to take fifteen seconds and give him some place
Speaker 1: like you know, he still has power to deliver people today. Hallelujah.
Speaker 1: He didn't speak to the girl, He spoke to the spirit,
Speaker 1: and in an instant, this girl was delivered and said free.
Speaker 1: You gotta be careful sometimes when you're doing what God
Speaker 1: has called you to do, you gotta be careful of
Speaker 1: the ramifications of it. Because this girl had owners that
Speaker 1: were using her gift for their financial gain. They didn't
Speaker 1: care about her. They only cared about what she could
Speaker 1: do for them, how her gift benefited them. In that
Speaker 1: what the enemy does. He didn't care about you, but
Speaker 1: he wants to use you. Not just the enemy. Some
Speaker 1: of you are connected to people who you think care
Speaker 1: about you, but they don't. They care about what you
Speaker 1: offer them. They care about the benefit that you are
Speaker 1: to them, and they actually don't want you free. They
Speaker 1: want you to stay co dependent and connected to them,
Speaker 1: since this girl completely free. But the ramifications of it,
Speaker 1: it tored the city up. They took Paul and Silas
Speaker 1: and they beat them. A crowd gathered around them and
Speaker 1: stripped their clothes and beat them and kicked them and
Speaker 1: punched them. Understand that even the Jewish law had a
Speaker 1: restriction on how many times you could whip and beat somebody.
Speaker 1: You had to stop at thirty nine. Forty was a limit.
Speaker 1: But they said stop at thirty nine because you could
Speaker 1: get caught up as you're mad and rage and lose
Speaker 1: your count. But they are in a different province. The
Speaker 1: Romans didn't have that rule. They kept beating and kicking
Speaker 1: and punching them. They took them from the beating into
Speaker 1: an inner prison. There was three levels to the prison.
Speaker 1: It wasn't the outer part of the middle part. It
Speaker 1: was the inner part of the press. And it was
Speaker 1: a dungeon where they're bleeding, flesh lacerated, perhaps coughing up
Speaker 1: blood bruised in the inner part of the prison, a
Speaker 1: dungeon where it is dark. Everybody shouts about at midnight.
Speaker 1: They didn't know what time it was. This is Luke
Speaker 1: writing this when you're in a dark place, you don't
Speaker 1: know whether it's sunlight or whether it's midnight. And there
Speaker 1: they are bleeding and bruised. And the thing I kept
Speaker 1: asking myself is what got them in the inner prison.
Speaker 1: It was not their disobedience, It was their obedience. Their
Speaker 1: obedience got them beat Their obedience got them punched and kicked.
Speaker 1: Their obedience got them in the inner part of the prison.
Speaker 1: What do you do when you're calling has become a crime?
Speaker 1: What do you do when you obeyed God and you
Speaker 1: still ended up in a dark place. Most of us,
Speaker 1: if we're honest, we cry out to God when our
Speaker 1: disobedience got us in a dark place. Isn't that something
Speaker 1: when you just you know it was your bad decisions
Speaker 1: and your disobedience got you in that place. You're like, God,
Speaker 1: I know I messed up. It was me. It was me.
Speaker 1: I'm reaping the consequence of what I did. Most of
Speaker 1: us cry out to God, then, but what do you
Speaker 1: do when your obedience got you in a dark place
Speaker 1: and you're bleeding and your bruised. That's annoying. It's annoying
Speaker 1: to be in a dark place. It was your obedience
Speaker 1: that got you there. I wish I could tell you
Speaker 1: that every time you obeyed God, you'd be in beautiful,
Speaker 1: bright places. But this text is proved positive that you
Speaker 1: can do the right thing and still end up in
Speaker 1: the wrong place. You can be fully obedient and still
Speaker 1: have pain in your body and be in a dark place.
Speaker 1: And maybe you're in this room or watching online and
Speaker 1: your obedience has gotten you in a dark place. And
Speaker 1: God told me to tell you that He can still
Speaker 1: show up in a dark place. And just because it's
Speaker 1: a dark place doesn't mean that God can't do a miracle.
Speaker 1: Just because you're in a dark place doesn't mean God
Speaker 1: is done with you. Yet they were bleeding, they were
Speaker 1: broken because their obedience got them there. What do you
Speaker 1: do when you're in that place? I tell you what
Speaker 1: you do, what will come out of you is what
Speaker 1: has always been on the inside of you. No wonder.
Speaker 1: Paul and Silence decided to lift up their voice and
Speaker 1: worship and pray He's God. They weren't doing it at midnight,
Speaker 1: they didn't know what time it was. But when your
Speaker 1: disobedience and your obedience has got you in a dark place,
Speaker 1: and you know God is the one that got you
Speaker 1: in it, if you want to make the enemy man
Speaker 1: start crying out to the very same God that got
Speaker 1: you in the situation. Oh, this is why the enemy
Speaker 1: wants you to keep your mouth shut. The enemy wants
Speaker 1: you to be mad and be offended and be hurt
Speaker 1: and stop talking to God. But I came to tell
Speaker 1: you don't stop talking to him, even if your obedience
Speaker 1: to him got you in their place. Oh that's where
Speaker 1: the enemy messed up. See, the enemy shackled their feet,
Speaker 1: the enemy shackled their arms, But he should have shackled
Speaker 1: their mouth, because whenever you opened up your mouth and
Speaker 1: crawled to God, he has to come in the situation.
Speaker 1: Oh I need somebody to exercise this right now, and
Speaker 1: just begin to open up your mouth and give God
Speaker 1: some place, even in the dark, even in the place
Speaker 1: where you can't see, and your old pede has got
Speaker 1: you there, preached this all the time. The magic wasn't
Speaker 1: at midnight. They were in the dungeon. They couldn't see
Speaker 1: what the time was. They weren't even praising God so
Speaker 1: he could send the earthquake. Come on, think about this.
Speaker 1: It's not like we have any scriptural evidence that people
Speaker 1: that praise got an earthquake. It's not like they were singing,
Speaker 1: going Okay, if we just sing long enough, he's gonna
Speaker 1: come on the third stands of the Here they didn't know.
Speaker 1: They weren't praising for deliverance. They were praising out of devotion.
Speaker 1: They were doing what they had always done. They were
Speaker 1: doing what was always hit them. They said, God, I know,
Speaker 1: obeying you got us here, and this don't look nothing
Speaker 1: like Lydia's house. It's looking alive, like a little motel.
Speaker 1: But you are still worthy of the praise in spite
Speaker 1: of how I feel. I know my obedience got me here,
Speaker 1: but I gotta look at this circumstance through the lens
Speaker 1: of my purpose and ask their praise God. An earthquake
Speaker 1: came in the foundations of the prison were shaken, and
Speaker 1: everybody's chained God loose. Oh right, y'all. Don't like that
Speaker 1: right there, I'm trying to tell you, you think you're
Speaker 1: praise on a Sunday is just for you. What would
Speaker 1: you do if I told you that your praise had
Speaker 1: the power to set somebody else free, that your praise
Speaker 1: had the power to reach your child who's not even
Speaker 1: in service, that your praise have the power to act generations.
Speaker 1: If you get praise them in a dark you know
Speaker 1: the story. I'm done. The doors are open, the chains
Speaker 1: are loosed. Anybody in their right mind after you've praised,
Speaker 1: when it was your obedience to God that got you
Speaker 1: in the situation. And he finally shows up and the
Speaker 1: doors are open, anybody in their right mind. He said,
Speaker 1: this is my time to go. You did it, Lord,
Speaker 1: your waymaker, promise keep a miracle worker. The door's open.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna run. But they stayed. They stayed. What would
Speaker 1: make Paul and Silence stay in the prison when the
Speaker 1: doors have been opened and they could run free. They
Speaker 1: saw the jailer pull a sword and get ready to
Speaker 1: kill himself, and Paul says, hold on, don't do it.
Speaker 1: All of us are here. Don't do it. Don't kill yourself.
Speaker 1: Stop because this jailer knew that the consequence of letting
Speaker 1: all of them prisoners free would been his own murder,
Speaker 1: so he said, I'd rather just do it myself for
Speaker 1: Paul in the middle of the night, says hold on,
Speaker 1: hold on, don't do it. Why did Paul and Silas
Speaker 1: refuse to leave. I don't know why they stayed, but
Speaker 1: I do know that up until this point in the text,
Speaker 1: all he had run into were women. Remember the vision
Speaker 1: that he got was not of a woman in Macedonia.
Speaker 1: It was of a man in Macedonia. And as soon
Speaker 1: as he got there he saw Lydia, and he opened
Speaker 1: up his mouth. That Lydia's household got saved. Then he
Speaker 1: kept on preaching and stayed on mission, and all of
Speaker 1: a sudden the slave girl got set free, and she
Speaker 1: got saved. But he still hadn't ran into a man
Speaker 1: until after he praised in a dark place and prison
Speaker 1: doors were open. And maybe the reason he couldn't leave
Speaker 1: is because that jailor looked a lot like the man
Speaker 1: that is tall and his vision, and said, you're the
Speaker 1: reason why I'm here. Don't you care of yourself? We
Speaker 1: are still here. That Jaela put down his sword and
Speaker 1: said the most powerful words perhaps written in the New Testament.
Speaker 1: He says, sir, would you tell me what must I
Speaker 1: do to be saved? He got saved, His whole family
Speaker 1: got saved because Paul understood, Oh, I might be annoyed,
Speaker 1: Can I get you the rest of my title? I'm annoyed,
Speaker 1: but I'm a signed. I'm annoying, but I'm a sign.
Speaker 1: I was called to you. You're the one I signed
Speaker 1: my vision. I had to be in this trick, whole household.
Speaker 1: God saved this jailer, Lydia and this slave girl would
Speaker 1: be the first members of a church at Philippi. That
Speaker 1: Paul would write a letter to later and say, I
Speaker 1: thank God every time I think of you. That Paul
Speaker 1: would write out of the joy remembering them because he's
Speaker 1: looking back, going, oh yeah, how was annoyed? I didn't
Speaker 1: like it when doors kept shutting, and I like it
Speaker 1: when she kept getting on my nurse saying the right
Speaker 1: thing but from the wrong spirit. I didn't like getting
Speaker 1: beat in and whipped when I was just being obedient.
Speaker 1: I was annoyed, But I'm a signed And when you
Speaker 1: understand your assignment, you can stay in a motel or
Speaker 1: a prison one night, because it is the assignment that
Speaker 1: puts the annoyance in perspective. I don't know what's annoying
Speaker 1: you right now, but can I tell you you're assigned,
Speaker 1: signed to that family, sign to that job. Don't you
Speaker 1: let that annoyance make you walk away from your assignment.
Speaker 1: You're annoyed, but you're assigned. You buy your heads. I
Speaker 1: want to pray for you, Father. I pray for my brother,
Speaker 1: I pray for my sister. God, I'm not denying the annoyance.
Speaker 1: I'm not denying the pain. God. We're not denying being
Speaker 1: in a dark place. Lord, I thank you that You're
Speaker 1: able to use all of the pain and the annoyances
Speaker 1: for your divine purpose. Though the vision waits, though the
Speaker 1: vision tearies, God will wait for it to come to pass. So, Lord,
Speaker 1: I pray strainths over my brother, over my sister, to
Speaker 1: look at every annoyance through the lens of their divine assignment,
Speaker 1: knowing that He who began a good work in us
Speaker 1: will be faithful to complete it until the day of Christ. Jesus, God,
Speaker 1: give us strength and give us grace for the divine
Speaker 1: assignment that you placed on all of our lives in
Speaker 1: Jesus a mighty matchless name. Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen. God
Speaker 1: bless you Elevants. Well. If you enjoyed today's podcast, there
Speaker 1: are a couple of things I'd love for you to do.
Speaker 1: Make sure to subscribe, rate, and review this podcast. You
Speaker 1: can also help us reach others by investing today at
Speaker 1: Elevationchurch dot org. Slash give and thanks again. For joining
Speaker 1: us on the Elevation Podcast,