Sunday Evening Worship Service

come on and lift up that praise in this house oh it's so sweet when he sends provision in the most unexpected way be thankful to enter into a service when maybe it just seemed like another Sunday night and realize that this would be the night something happened when you lifted up something you've been praying for something that you had been seeking him diligent for just all of a sudden on that Sunday night is when he decided to deliver his promise to you are you thankful for Honey in the Rock are you thankful for the provision that he is providing an eye Proclaim to you tonight that whatever you have need of that is Pastor McCool preached about this morning chosen generation living by faith that tonight at a fuel if you will believe and you'll have trust and faith in his name that he can answer it tonight that is our hope and that is our prayer I want to give him a great big hand clap of praise and keep that same Spirit as you return back to your seats and you can be seated across this house I welcome each and every one of you all of those two [Music] and a dream our online congregation we welcome you the same I got a text just a few minutes ago from brother Dustin sister the niece and their son Dax are traveling and while they travel they're watching the live stream uh right there in the vehicle what a day that we live in to have such a resource and a a great blessing such as that and I say we miss you but please be safe and all of those that are tuning in online we welcome you the same this is one big happy family I have some not so great news tonight but because we never we never hate we always hate to lose anyone but we've been so blessed the past few months the blast the past few School semesters to have uh brother Christian here in in Knoxville and he is going to be transferring to the University of Memphis so he's still in Tennessee but that's on the other side of the state but he just stepped right in from day one and has helped us so much with campus ministry and witnessing I want I just want to let him know on behalf of fac Knoxville what a blessing it's been to have you here and that you always have a church home here so if we could give him a great big hand and we love him and we're for you and wish you wish you all the best and maybe it doesn't work out you come back I really wish you all the best if you have your Bibles turn with me to the Book of Luke we're going to look at chapter 19 and go through a few scriptures there I give honor to her Bishop Pastor McCool and Pastor Whitley just amazing sermons over this past week that I hope kind of thread in to what I even preach about tonight I honor them and honor this great congregation Luke 19 we'll begin reading at verse 12 and then we'll skip around a little bit and it'll just probably be a little bit more confused than when we started verse 12 Jesus speaking he said therefore as he presented this Parable as certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself Kingdom and to return and he called his ten servants and delivered them 10 pounds and said unto them occupy till I come but his citizens hated him and sent a message after him saying we will not have this man to Reign Over us and it came to pass that when he returned having received the kingdom then he commanded these servants to be called unto him to whom he had given the money that he might know how much every man had gained by trading by investment then came the first saying Lord thy pound hath gained 10 pounds and he said unto him well done thou good servant because thou has been faithful in a very little thou have authority over ten cities the second came saying Lord thy pound hath gained five pounds while you were away and he said likewise to him be thou ruler over five cities and another came saying Lord behold here is thy pound which I have kept laid up in a napkin for I feared thee and he begins to speak a little bit manipulative to him because Thou Art and austere man you're a very disciplined man so I wanted to protect it thou take us up with thou laid us not down and reap us thou what you did not sow you did not invest what I gave you I gave you a special treasure I gave you a piece of monetary exchange for you to invest for you to advance this Kingdom while I was away and you wrapped it up and tucked it away and he saith unto him out of thine mouth will I judge thee and he calls this servant this administrative staff in his kingdom he calls him Wicked thou knewest that I was an austere man taking up he turns his words back on him that I laid not down and reaping that I did not sow we'll get into this a little bit more as we go but I want to preach to you on the subject title tonight occupy till I come occupy till I come let's bow our heads in prayer of the sermon mighty God we thank you tonight we thank you for the outpouring of your spirit that has already manifest itself in this place Lord I Thank you individual who's taking on your name tonight in baptism Lord we know that this is the greatest miracle and we will celebrate it tonight Lord during the context of this the duration of this sermon in your Parable Lord let us be encouraged tonight to know that while when you return we are going to be found waiting and occupying and using what you gave us to advance your kingdom we thank you when we in Jesus name we pray amen and I must also always say anytime they're here I have the greatest in-laws on the face of planet Earth I will forever be indebted to them obviously for my beautiful wife Kelly but let's give brother Keith and sister Angela Gardner a great big hand and I love you all so very much in a Harvard Business review article it states are you strapped for time and everybody said amen do you have a hard time finishing things that you need to get done it's time to examine how you spend your time that's intimidating right and it's also something that if we truly begin to write down we might be convicted with the results everyone gets 24 hours every single day and that's how much time we own to do what we need to do and the article asks are you making the most of it you might ask don't I need to live a balanced life I'm I must make time for my family my friends my Recreation I got to have some me time you know to to recharge the batteries but it seems like there is never enough time and we constantly Even in our culture today we constantly evaluate our time and our smartphones Will Keep Us reminded of that I used to wear that Apple watch in it oh man it would drive me crazy and if I was in a group message it would just keep digging and then I would get so upset and then I would look down and it says breathe and I'm like if I have to wear something that tells me to breathe and I I don't know what happened to it I I swung it away somewhere no no offense to anybody that wears them it would but I found it just frustrating me so to see how you compare to the average American the bureau the the American time use survey from the Bureau of Labor Statistics lays out these results the average person will sleep 229 906 hours in their lifetime and some of you are thinking right now I know some people in my life that supersede that and will but that's approximately one third of your life that you will be I won't be on because they'll say they're contagious asleep the average American spends 67 minutes per day eating and drinking beverages that's 32 098 hours eating and drinking and Harvard Health watch says that you Americans spend an average of 101 minutes per day driving in a lifetime Pastor McCool talked about Karen's this morning so no offense to anyone named Joe but the average Joe it states 37 935 hours behind a will that's one thousand and 580 days approximately four years of your life and that's the time that we pray that God doesn't come back because those can be some of the most frustrating times when we do pray after it but it's usually a time of repentance in that time you'll drive around 789 000 miles which is approximately the distance it takes to go to the Moon then back and then back to the Moon again that's a lot of time spent driving 90 360 hours of your life working on average people spend three hours and 15 minutes a day on their smartphone with an average of checking it 58 times a day and some of you are about to knock down that earmark in my introduction William Penn once said time is what we want most but what we use the worst Jesus gave this Parable for a specific reason for the giving of the parable was expressly stated in the scripture Jesus knew that there were some who thought the kingdom of God should immediately appear who thought the blessings of God should immediately take place who thought that the promise from on high should happen in the step of a finger and what they needed to realize as Jesus was trying to point out in his Parables as there was going to be time so spent advancing the kingdom and while you were spending this time advancing the kingdom there were going to be a lot of things that compete for your time Bishop TD Jakes in a sermon said if somebody steals my car I can just get another one if somebody breaks into my home I can replace the stuff and get a new door but he said if somebody steals my time it's something that you can never get back and all of us at different points in our life and especially as you get older and out of high school and those early years of the adulterish age when you're going to college or you're working on a vocation or you're trying to navigate the different Paths of life it seems that the uh The Hourglass has been turned upside down and you can feel the speed begin to pick up is is this the right decision that I need to make in this instance is this where I need to spend my time do I need to walk through this particular door and then as you get older maybe you maybe you start thinking about getting married or or and then you have kids and then you're every second of every day is essentially just about planned out and you're evaluating everything in your life asking is my time worth it in this particular situation am I using my time wisely am I being a good Steward of the blessings and the talents and the resources that God gave me and even in the kingdom of God as we work we can mismanage time and maybe that's not the the right terminology or we can involves our involve ourselves so much to a certain capacity or or be so involved in a particular season that we can experience a sense of burnout as we manage all of these different facets of our life and each and every person is different yes the things that I I named earlier we we have to sleep and we have to eat and yes there's times of rest and there's times of leisure and yes we'll get on the interstate and there's traffic and then we have to uh pray even harder but all of us can think of those times where maybe we're engaged in a particular activity or maybe there's a certain streaming Network that you know there's I just watched one episode and it just said skip to the next one and then I did that and the next thing you know I'm I'm halfway through season two and there's three more seasons and I I think I could watch the rest of it before I go to work the next morning or maybe it's it's reals that you're continuing just to swipe up on or maybe your Amazon cart you've got all of these things in if I don't like it I'll just send it back in the the next thing you know and I don't know what that looks like for you and your situation but we can all think of those things in our life where we start to think and if I get to heaven and God begins to give account of he prayed this much you you did this and then wow you must be an expert in cinema or you know all things Netflix you know we can we all have those things in our life but Jesus was now as he gave this Parable on his way to Jerusalem and he knew that these people would expect him to take action and overthrow the Roman government and establish the prophetic Messianic Kingdom now it was the time he began to give these Parables and this one in particular gave an explanation which would show that he was not going to immediately take over a visible Kingdom and oftentimes The Parables of Christ can be misinterpreted and often the meetings are read as they were not intended and it seems even the disciples and we don't want to beat him up too bad we've got 2 000 years later we can you know see how everything unfolded but right here in this moment they were kind of missing the importance of what Jesus was saying because as as as recent as the in the book of Acts chapter 1 verse 6 they're still asking that question Lord will thou at this time restore again the Kingdom of Israel and it's important to note us as a group of Believers when we when we delve into this this great gospel this Living Word that there are two aspects to Christ's Kingdom so if you've spaced out up until now you're still caught up on how much time you spend sleeping just get these two points the first which was not understood by Jesus disciples until after his death had to do with the Unseen the spiritual movement within the world this Kingdom of his was talked about in the following scriptures Luke 16 16 says the kingdom of God has preached and every man must press toward it Luke 17 20 the kingdom of God cometh not with observation the kingdom of God is within you the kingdom of God is Not meat and drink it's not a physical literal they had this imagery of King David who United the Israel Federation and had a a centralized government if you will in Jerusalem and sat with the stereotypical depiction as we see a king sitting on a throne ruling that particular region and and Jesus is trying to get across to them that there is going to be a literal Kingdom established one day but but right now you're going to have to to to use what I give you until you return but I'm going to send my power from on high he said but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost he said except a man be born of water and of spirit in John 3 5 he cannot enter into the kingdom of God so there is a literal Kingdom that's our blessed hope that watch what we that's why we call ourselves pilgrims on this Earth waiting for the return of Christ but there's also the spiritual Kingdom the Holy Ghost living breathing inside of you that gives you the empowerment the resource the investment from the the king if you will to be used to advance the kingdom until he returns so it's necessary to understand that there is one a spiritual Kingdom he gives us his spirit gives us Authority and Dominion on this Earth and then there will be a literal Kingdom and the second our literal phase of the kingdom is the time when the Lord shall be king over all the Earth you see this prophetic instance in Zechariah 14 9 in the Kingdom of this world shall be the kingdoms of the Lord and of his Christ in Revelation this was the kingdom that the Jews were expecting every time Jesus began to give a parable they would kind of want to cut out all the minutia of what Jesus is talking about like yeah yeah yeah but yeah when do you sit on the throne and maybe I'm you know second in command you know opening the door for you when you walk into the castle you know they they just they kind of disregarded everything else and wanted to hear what they wanted to about the literal Kingdom they expected Jesus to take the throne and Rule as an Earthly King in that instance and in answer to this expectation and desire Jesus gave them this Parable he spoke of a certain nobleman who went out to a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and he was going to return and he knew they knew the the staff knew not when he was going to return and in this veiled language Jesus was revealing that it would be necessary for him to go away before the visible Kingdom would appear he used this image of a certain nobleman and it is possible and I believe so he was referring to an actual occurrence which was very familiar to his listeners and this modern day political happenstance being used to hopefully reconcile to his disciples and the other listeners of what it was going to look like perhaps for the nobleman to go away and then return When Herod the Great died he left Provisions in his will for his kingdom to be distributed to his sons one of them was arcelius and he was become the ruler of Judea since Rome was the world power at this time Achilles journey to Rome in order to receive his kingdom from the hand of the Roman Emperor they he didn't go to the he wasn't going to go to the Tel Aviv airport at this time and then just take a direct flight to Rome it was going to take some time to go there and then come back travel wasn't like it is today and if he was going to leave where he was he gave and I would have kind of Switched the words of servants instead use the term like administrative staff or supervisors those who he had appointed in his kingdom while he was away he didn't want some coup to take place or he didn't want someone else to establish their Authority in that region or he didn't want a neighboring Army to take advantage while he was on his journey to become officially commissioned by the Roman Emperor and receive all the accolades and pageantry that the Roman Emperor would give and Authority would give to this King Herod the Great son Hercules so he took some of his staff and it is believed he gave them a large Financial endowments Monetary Exchange cattle horses promises inheritance and he did this as a diplomatic strategy to have their influence and for them to also Rule still under him while he was away he gave them Authority he gave them an inheritance he gave them a place to stay he made them financially he made them wealthy in order to obtain their favor and you know this was you know to the the King's son he had his own legacy that he wanted to to take on so he didn't want to just be a weak link and live off his daddy's name so he said hey while I'm gone I don't want this to just be a stagnant Place either I I want you to advance this Kingdom I want you to advance your influence I I want you to make me look good while I'm gone and none of this is in scripture so if you want to just disagree with me like what's that got to do with anything that's that's totally fine but this was all accounted by the Jewish historian Josephus and it's believed that all of the listeners and all the disciples would have been very familiar with what was taking place so Jesus began to give these accounts in Scripture and the parable of the nobleman called his ten staff members and gave them each a pound and he said occupy till I come one translation renders use this money to trade with until I come back so the meaning of the command is seen from the end of the parable was not that they were simply to hold on to what they had received but they were to use the money that had been given them as an investment to gave money to gain influence for the nobleman who would come back as a fully commissioned King and it was the obligation of the staff to employ themselves with the duty that had been delegated to them by the master and Future King and we can imagine the disappointment to The Devout disciples when they learned that Jesus when it finally set in and they start nudging each other he's not going to set up a literal Kingdom immediately is he it's almost as if we've got to use what he gave us to go out and make him no and if you look over the landscape of the disciples that he chose he he picked a very diverse group of individuals start off with the Apostle Peter and you think well he's just a fisherman but think about it for just a little bit this fisherman who could make a living first off which is a very good thing have food to eat know how to survive he could also probably speak other languages in trade he had a vast knowledge of navigating all of the waters and we see him he picked out by Jesus as the one who would have the keys to the kingdom who would eventually preach on the day of Pentecost we know that he was greatly influenced by Jesus as well because the saint Jewish Sanhedrin marveled at him before the court they said this man's been with Jesus he has such spiritual Insight so he had developed all of these skills and talents that he had and he was to use them until the king came he looked at the Apostle Paul and obviously you could say a laundry list of uh grew up as a chief Rabbi could speak many different languages so very educated and then he goes to travel and we see him going right into the the home place of what we refer to as Western thought into Athens Greece and he begins to have dialogue with the epicureans and the stoics and he's talking to these philosophers and trying to trying to appeal to them in a philosophical manner that they could understand and you know Jesus he knew what he was doing and then only a chapter later the Apostle Paul is sitting there putting the tent together Dr Paul putting an attempt together with somebody hey they had all these talents and then the physician Luke and it's it's thought that uh Philip had a great gift of economy he was the one that kind of rationed out all of the disciples goods for them to uh for for them to progress and for them to sustain themselves with the uh with with the food and the money given to them so all of these diverse gifts and talents were to be used to occupy until he came and we look at this Parable and what's the meaning of these mysterious pounds of the parable and some if you read commentaries they'll say it's the word of God that was given and absolutely or gifts given to us by God and I say absolutely and we can begin to compare those things in our life that we have been given and we can begin to recognize the spiritual blessings that we have received as part of that which we are not responsible in First Corinthians tells us we are stewards of the mysteries of God and stewards of the manifold's grace of God and not only are the members of the body receive various charismatic endowments given to us in First Corinthians 12 8-10 but we have received great truths and gracious opportunities and special privileges only at the hand of God and these are in addition to that wonderful gift of Salvation itself so if you sit here tonight like I don't really know what God's called me to do he hasn't really given me any time balance I don't know what the next step is he's given you the greatest gift the gift of Salvation the song says and I'll take it out of context if I know one thing if you know one thing you can witness to somebody you know that's a that's a tremendous gift that he's given to us and in addition to spiritual blessings from on high the gift of the Holy Ghost as I mentioned earlier and all of those traits that go with it there are certain natural inclinations and abilities that are god-given special abilities and endowments which are not the result direct result of spiritual intervention intervention but simply a part of the individual investment that God has made in each person's personality and makeup some women and men have an instinctive ability and financial affairs as some have a natural facility for music and Harmony others what I would call have such an engineering intelligence the ability to construct the ability to create just something about them when they see how something operates they can sit there and Ponder or get to work on it and it interests them and they have such an Acumen for how things function the list goes on whatever the gift opportunity these are a part of God's gifts for us to use to advance his kingdom so let it not be supposed in the parable that the use of money just means a strictly Monetary Exchange it's the possessions it's the abilities it's the endowments as well as time and opportunity now I I know here tonight as the cliche goes you're preaching to the choir I'm preaching to people who are at church on a Sunday night probably not the tenor of the uh of the conversation needs to be me singing man somebody's going to get to work and you gotta you gotta go do it and you look at over this audience and there's there's teachers that's taught for 30 and 40 years there's the accumulation of an infinite amount of hours given in service with the from in the church to the school to the community all across this place what can happen the enemy can whisper wisp into our ears and say what you're doing isn't worth it what you're doing is it making a difference what you're doing is foolish and in the climax of activity when you're juggling all those things that it's necessary for us to spend time on and also doing the service of the work of God that he's called us to do we can find ourselves frustrated we can find ourselves discouraged disappointed and maybe even in a season of waiting to hear an answer from God when we thought it was going to be an immediate literal Kingdom and an immediate promise we can find ourselves just wanting to put our hands up and ask is what I'm doing even worth it what's the purpose God is the source of all and though he is not present to chide us at the misuse of our talents we are aware of the fact that one day we must give he will give an accounting and our responsibility to work for God begins right now service once begun is not enough there is no discharge in this war so I hope somebody will hear me tonight on this statement time spent in Waiting upon God for direction is not wasted time amen time spent in working for God in in serving God is not wasted time invested as you as a teacher over a Sunday school class a technician Hospitality staff a Christian School teacher a choir member a musician maybe you're a hard worker who gives of their time and their talents and their finances whatever the case every single individual under the sound of my voice that lives a christ-centric life time spent using your talents and resources for the Lord is not wasted time will there be different directions sometimes will there be different seasons of ministry absolutely but every second of every minute of every day and no matter what you've done you might not directly see the results in this life but I promise you there is going to be a day where every second that you spent aspiring to do the will of God you will be rewarded those who are working waiting and watching for the return of the Lord can go with assurance that he said I go and prepare a place for you and when he returns it will be with a remuneration for those who have Faithfully discharged their responsibilities he said I behold I come quickly and my reward is with me to give every man and every woman according as it shall be and this is our blessed hope this is one of the two things that I spoke about in terms of the dual citizenship if you will of the kingdom of God the literal Kingdom and we have one to be baptized tonight and I want to go ahead and dismiss them in the parable the nobleman had to go away so a little theology behind it as well it's necessary to have an understanding of the Dual nature of Jesus Christ in order to understand how he received a kingdom even though he was God manifested In the Flesh since Jesus Christ had a human nature since he was a partaker of Flesh and Blood it was a neces it was necessary that God shouldn't dwell his person in order for him to have power if Jesus Christ had been only man he would not have been able to perform Miracles or have the power within himself so God raised as Bishop talked about Wednesday now you need to go back and listen to that God raised the son from the dead in order for his flesh not to see corruption and God glorified and defied the man Christ Jesus in order for him to receive the kingdom that was promised and the God who performed these things which was dwelling in the body of Christ Jesus it was in this sense that Jesus the son of God received the Kingdom from the father in the far-off country and when he shall return in power and great Glory he will return to rule and Reign not only on the throne of David as king of the Jews but the Lord shall be king over all the Earth and we know Revelation tells us in that day there will be one Lord in his name one Jesus Christ will be the Lord of Lord and the king of kings and that let me reiterate is the blessed hope of scripture that literal return that literal Messianic age of the kingdom of God and when he returns it will be like the nobleman he will reward those who if invested in what he gave them and there will be a sifting away for those who did not use what he gave them so two thousand years away from the scene of the parable we are we are awaiting the Return of the King and as Jesus was leaving Jericho to go to Jerusalem he gave this Parable to those that said he's going to have an immediate Kingdom but he purposed to show them that he would not immediately overtake and take over the Throne of David but he must go away and be gone for a Time and he will return in glory in the power of His Kingdom so the lesson is plain kingdom of God spirit of God in this age preparation to advance the kingdom of his literal return so as I mentioned earlier as I speak to people of God who are here on a Sunday night who have all of this different accumulations of diversity of time of service and so many different areas yes we will preach and and try to motivate to uh we can't become lazy in this last day and we've got to be found uh working and that's when the anointing comes and if anything fac Knoxville personifies a group of people who is ready to roll up their sleeves and take on whatever Challenger whatever giant may come their way absolutely we all would say a hundred percent amen but you see this two different types of kingdom of God in this in the word of God and Revelation draws to the same concept and it's an illusion to literal happenstance that would take place in Deuteronomy Revelation 16 15 states behold I come as a thief talking about he's going to come or that nobleman's going to come when you least expect it and it says blessed everybody say blessed blessed is he that watcher and keepeth his garments lest he walk naked and they see his shame now if you're just picked up the Book of Revelation and you read that verse you're like what in the world is that I like how it starts but blessed but then after that what is it even talking about this is speaking about in the Old Testament that they fire on the altar was to burn day and night and this fire was given by God but the priests the people of God were responsible for kindling that fire and this included not just during ceremonies not when uh not when morale was high at all times but it also included those who had to keep the fire burning in the night time and what this verse is talking about he's going to come like a thief in the night talking about the return of Christ but in this context he's talking about the return of the high priest because of the high priest would put another priest in charge of keeping the Night Watch and if that priest fell asleep on the job that high priest would take some of the coals from the fire on the Altar and he would put it on His Garment and it would engulf the Garment and the uh the priest would go running out obviously and that would be the highest form of Shame you know I'm not talking about staying awake to you know protect the Smithsonian Museum or or some kind of expensive painting or maybe even not watch at a bank with millions of dollars in the vault I'm talking about the presence of God so that would be the highest form of Shame is for you to be assigned to keep watch over the over the presence of God and he said occupy until I come and this language of the thief in the night is used that that they wouldn't know when the high priest would come and check it out and sometimes that high priest would just kind of slip in because ultimately he was responsible for making sure that you know that that the priests were were staying awake on the job you know like Bishop McCool this morning different uh during all uh offering you know he's he's ultimately responsible like the the people are they are they hear in this living breathing word of God in his army not trying to offend anybody but we've got to keep it our Paramount at the it's the most important thing in our lives and and yes we have fun in the house of God and and yes we Fellowship but we have to maintain that sacredness because we're protecting his presence so that high priest would slip around at all hours of the night and you know he couldn't stay away from the presence of God either even if he he knew somebody was in there watch I just want to go keep watching it it might even be like Bishop with these security cameras if you if you want anything from Bishop the evaluation process and brother Justin be familiar with this if he said hey I think we need another camera he'd say absolutely let's do it so because he can just see over the whole the whole campus and that high priest is kind of the same way and he'd come in and a Christian come here he'd come in and you're assigned to watch this fire right here it's there don't get too close you'll burn yourself but you gotta you gotta stay awake and he knew this was he knew this was going on so the the high priest would come at all hours of the night and just make sure that the priest the person in charge of protecting the the presence of God I mean that fire that fire was the the literal manifestation of God when you saw it it was proof that Miracles had taken place it was proof of provision it was it was proof that there was a god watching over them and protecting them it was a proof they served a God who never slumbered or slept and you're in charge canceled and if there you go and if that priest fell asleep that cold would go on him he and it would engulf His Garment and you talk about the highest form of Shame there you go you're doing good looking good still intact but this same verse we see this same imagery this same concept being played out there's going to be a time when the high priest comes and he sees his people and he's there's he's going to come and leave we've all heard that with the end time messages and it's absolutely true that he's going to come like a thief in the night and that's what they would call that high priest you don't know when he's coming he can come like a thief in the night and he he's going to take those who've been occupying till he comes but it also has a literal meaning as well for in this day in this life because when he went to night watch it wasn't something that you were just always accustomed to he that high priest would say now listen sometimes you know I've called you to be the protector of his presence now when you get into night shift you're not always going to you feel like keeping watch through the whole night there's there's going to be some times when you come in and you're you're sick in your body but you you've got to stay awake it might take you you know leaping a little bit uh to stay away but you're going to have to do that and and sometimes you might come in and all of your friends are out out there doing something else all of your co-workers oh they're living the high life you see on the social media they're they're making they're dropping six figures now they don't have to show up at church on Sunday they got an extra day and if she'll be the only one that's going to be the protector of his presence not always easy and and sometimes this can cause you to get discouraged and sometimes this can cause you to kind of disappointment and you can you can have your eye on on things that are are in the temporary but even in these times you might have to clap your hands just a little bit to to stay awake or or maybe you've got a family at home and if you've got kids maybe a three and a one-year-old and I love them but sometimes you might be kind of tired while you're protecting uh the presence of God you you might clock into work on Monday morning at 8 A.M and and watching a group of kids you might be kind of tired but whatever you do you have got to stay awake you have to occupy till I come because it's not just about you it's the presence of God you're protecting and musicians could come on up and and yes we're talking about a literal time when he's going to come and yes I I want to and yes it's going to be a time of judgment and that's that's all true but the first part of our verse says blessed is he who stays awake and just remain standing blessed is he who who keeps watch because in that time when the high priest would come around and he knew everything about those priests he knew he might be leaping for Joy when he had some he was suffering lost in his life he knew he might be clapping his hands when all of his family he was the only one in his household living for God he knew he was worshiping when he was the only one in his college campus being the example and the protector of the presence and that high priest couldn't stay away any longer and that high priest would come in and said you're doing a great job and it wasn't a time of condemnation but it was a time of refreshing it wasn't a time of judgment but it was a time of blessing and he said you're doing a great job that high priest would come in and say don't be discouraged I see it every second I see every minute and what you're making a difference this presence is going to go on from generation to generation and you're doing a great job and I want to tell each and every one of you tonight whatever Ministry that you are in whatever your calling is in God see every second he sees every minute he sees every hour and it is not time wasted and in this day on this night we have a high priest when you might think you're by yourself there's a high priest that is the Holy Ghost the comforter that will come down into you and it will refresh you and it will Empower you oh I feel the Holy Ghost in This House and he sees every second and every day and it's not a time of condemnation but it's a Time of rejoicing I'll give my testimony a little bit it's not much to it I grew up in this church and I grew up in this school and been invested I'm the product of hours of of dedicated staff members and hours of investment by coaches and and teachers and all kind of of fantastic people and it's the highest honor to to preach in this church to this congregation and like I said yeah I'm going to get up and tell you all about getting to work and all that stuff I don't know how well that's gonna I don't know how well that's going to go over but in 2010 after going through college I was I did my major in political science and I'd gained entry into grad school and I have the the privilege and I I'd worked on a mayor I wanted to be a comms director communication director and political campaigns I worked on a gubernatorial campaign a mayoral campaign and then I worked in the U.S Senate Office here and I had the the privilege to go work in Washington DC and that's what I wanted I wanted to do that I was going to intern for the first three weeks and then had a full job where they paid you money so I did all that and it was offered to me on on July 4th and Christian I don't want you I don't want you to get burnt there you're doing a great job on July 4th I was going to go to church on that Sunday and I went down and the July 4th in Washington DC it's you know there's a few things going on there you couldn't even get close to the Rail stations and I was supposed to go to church and I just remember like feeling kind of man that's kind of disappointing so I I got went back to my apartment turned on the live stream of our church and the internet was kind of if in there wishy-washy and with the capital and the U.S capital in the background and people were gathering in it's called the mall area there and there was going to be a concert that night and it was Reba McIntyre the one time I had a chance to go to a concert you know and get by with it it was Reba McIntyre no and some people are walking out right now all right but you know us could have been Bruno Mars or somebody else but it's Reba McIntyre but anyways it got started turning on the live stream and I I've y'all heard me preach I probably error on the on the side of being pragmatic and maybe overly practical sometimes to have faith but I I I'm not one to say God told me this and God told me to tell you that I I don't ever do that unless you know he actually uh he did but I if I've ever heard an audible voice from God I heard it on that day and he said you're not in the right place and that this isn't the story that you hear of the testimonies at conferences and stuff where you know some guy gets up and he'll they have his testimony about playing basketball or something and he turned down the NBA to serve God that's and that's not that's not what I'm I'm telling you I didn't turn down anything but he said you're not you're not where you're supposed to be you're not all I could see is that my I had a Sunday school class of eight and nine year old young men and their teacher wasn't there on that Sunday and then that class was Braden and Ryan [Music] and they're here tonight and I said God if you'll just get me through this I'll get back home and I'll I I he didn't say go preach the gospel or go back to Nineveh it wasn't anything like that but he just said this is not where you're supposed to be and I've never felt so convicted in my life and just as recent as tonight as it came in I see this whole row of young men from uh from Isaac to Madden and Rogan and Brady and Blake Gary now look I I posted a picture a few days ago for Blake Wilson's birthday I had I got to baptize him in a fountain and his brother in the fountain I look over Alex Cross I got to baptize him at National youth convention at the Opryland hotel in the swimming pool and I look up here Braden and Ryan and Brent they're in the choir they're serving God talk about a rich wealthy you've talked about a return on an investment [Applause] my message is this tonight yes we are all tempted to evaluate our time but it's it's compared to things that that is going to corrupt it's not going to last and I want the people of God tonight to know whatever capacity of work and Ministry that you are in the high priest the nobleman the king he sees every second of investment he sees every hour and if you find yourself tonight juggling your schedule constantly frustrated over recent events even experiencing that term burnout I'm not saying that you don't have to set boundaries in your life and there's different seasons of ministry that's not what I'm saying but I want you to know that whatever you are facing tonight yes we await day and night for the literal King Jesus to return the Rapture but don't discount that tonight as well the high priest is going to visit you and it's not a time of judgment behind celebration so with every hand bowed I don't know who this might be pointed at tonight but if you're determined that you're going to occupy until he comes I want you to take a step forward out of your pews and to this altar and maybe you feel in a season or a moment of frustration or discouragement or or feeling the weight and the pressure of a current ministerial role or or maybe something going on in your family I just believe the high priest is ready to visit you tonight and he wants you to know that he sees every second he sees every minute and time waiting on God time investing in his kingdom is not wasted time because I believe he's going to give you a blessing tonight he's going to give you encouragement tonight it is going to give you hope tonight he's going to give you an answer tonight and he's going to give you power hi I've been I believe let me pray with somebody next to you maybe encourage somebody next to you I agree maybe when you feel isolated those are those times I gotta stay awake the most