The Arrow of the Lord's Deliverance

I believe we're just getting a taste of heaven right now could you imagine just for a moment that we're just gathered around his throne singing the praise Hallelujah a song greater than the angels can sing for one more moment as before we get into his word entertaining his presence and just maybe you're dealing with a situation where you feel that doesn't feel so heavenly but like John the Baptist just looked up and got a glimpse and said Now Behold the Lamb of God to be slain for this which would you lift up your hands just across this house and let's just get a glimpse that regardless of what situation that I might be going through whatever circumstance that I know lies ahead tomorrow let me get focused just for a moment on that Lamb of God the perfect land slain knowing that he's greater than the adversary that stands in front of me you might be in the shadow of a giant this morning but could you declare a Hallelujah right in the presence of your enemy saying God I trust you God I have faith in your word Lord I know you're leading me and father we Proclaim Victory today in this house I believe it yes Jesus I know there are Saints Among Us that may have been serving God 40 or 50 years and I know there might be even some people in the house this could be your first service but I want you to know on this day it's not that a group of people are this further down the road than you are we're locked as has been said in our prayer this morning we're locked arm and arm on this journey together and as Pastor Sloan told you if you if you heard the testimonies across this house it wouldn't be that well you know I've got it all figured out and let me tell you what to to do I wear a shirt and tie to make up for all the crazy stuff I say hopefully it it balances out it wouldn't be let me let me tell you how to do this it would be I can I can only make it I can only make it because I've I've got a relationship with Jesus Christ and I want you to know this morning here at Cornerstone Apostolic we're locked to arm and arm as we make our way to our Heavenly home and this is your first time here maybe you've been coming a few times you're a guest for about five minutes I'd say and I just want you to know welcome home and this is an awesome awesome church body would you give the Lord a great big hand across this house and what an opportunity we have this morning you can be seated thank you praise team and musicians and everyone for just ushering us into the throne room of the King of Kings and the Lord of lords and I celebrate what the Lord has already done last night and what he's done this morning through his people and I give your pastors Pastor and sister Sloan and their family and all their leadership teams just the the highest honor and I love them so much and they are just a tremendous fantastic people and again I can't reiterate enough if this is your first time here this is my first time here uh he well welcome home this is an awesome place it's a place where the the saying says that the reputation precedes itself it goes out ahead of it and it's just fulfilled and exceeded every expectation and this just uh so awesome to be here you could have asked so many different people to to minister at this back to school uh Revival and you chose me I don't know if I was your first choice I wasn't my wife's first choice either but I still made it but no I want you to know nobody nobody is more happy to be here and feel so honored than than I do Pastor Sloane was talking about our Southern quips that we say and all of those things and I I had the privilege of ministering in Saint Petersburg Russia one time and you know that saying I could probably say it nobody would ever even think anything twice about it I'm tickled to death to be here and you'd say yeah I understand what he's I understand what he's saying well there was a minister with us from uh Mississippi and he got up to preach and the first thing he said I'm so tickled to death to be with you folks and I saw the translator look at him and he said this man wants you to tickle him until he dies so I yeah oops so but but in in all sincerity I I'm highly honored to be with you folks in this tremendous uh congregation it's not an opportunity I take lightly and uh I'm from Knoxville not far uh down the road and uh it's it's just so awesome to be with you all we'll get right into it this morning if you have your Bibles second Kings chapter 13 and we'll read verses 14 through 19. I'm excited about the start of a new school year I'm excited about the the newness as we spoke about and talked about last night we celebrate the the new thing Jesus Christ who his mercies are new every single morning in my case thank God it is forgiveness is new every single day and that's what we live our life around Cornerstone Apostolic he's the Cornerstone of Our Lives to he's what we we build around because the foundation that we build for ourselves would be certainly shaky and when the storms come it would it would definitely wash out from under our our feet but we serve Jesus Christ who is our firm foundation and that's that's what we build all of our life around in our in our fellowship and uh going to church and all the activities uh all of the the our marriages are our youth uh I saw Celebrate Recovery just you know everything whatever's going on in my life Jesus is going to be the Cornerstone and I what an appropriate name for an appropriate Church body and that's that's why we're here today second Kings chapter 13. we'll begin reading at verse number 14. it says now Elisha was Fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died and joash the king of Israel and what what that first verse means is uh Elisha was on his deathbed and he had fallen sickness sick and this was the sickness that was going to take his life and joash the king of Israel so he got Elijah the prophet of God on his deathbed and Joe asked the king of Israel came down unto him to see him and we read that he wept over his face and said oh my father calling him a father an elder a great man in his life my father he says it again The Chariot of Israel the the strength of Israel he says to Elijah and and the horsemen thereof he's he's talking about the militaristic might of Israel but he's comparing Elijah to a father in his life now and that he as the strength of the mighty military of Israel and Elisha said unto him take bow and arrows and he took unto him bow and arrows and he said to the king of Israel put thine hand upon the bow so Elijah tells this King to put his hand on the bow and he put his hand upon it and Elisha put his hand up on top of the king's hands and he said open the window Eastward and he opened it then Eliza said shoot and he shot and he said the arrow of the Lord's Deliverance and the arrow of the deliverance from Syria for Thou shalt Smite the syrians and aphect tell thou haths consumed them this neighboring kingdom was coming in to invade Israel and Elisha was telling the king that shoot this arrow in the direction of your enemy and it's going to be the arrow of the Lord's deliverance and he said take the arrows and he took them and he said unto the king of Israel Smite upon the ground shoot them and he smote Thrice it says the king's shot three arrows and stayed and the man of God was rough with him he was angry with him and said you should have smitten five or six times you should have shot five or six arrows you should have shot until I told you to stop then you would have smitten Syria till thy house consumed it whereas now now shout Smite Syria only temporarily only three times and we'll break this down in a a moment but I want to preach to you for a few moments minister to a few moments this morning on the Arrow of the Lord's Deliverance the arrow of the Lord's Deliverance just right where you're at uh just uh sitting down could we pray over this word one more time mighty God we thank you for the opportunity that you have given us to assemble together this morning this is not a a gathering we take lightly and father we acknowledge that we don't haven't done so thus far as we've sang praises and lifted up songs up to heaven and Lord we felt your touch already we know that you are in this place father we know that you have the same power that that created this world the same power that hung the cosmos into existence but father we know that you have a relationship with us that you have the very hairs on our head numbered so father today you know every situation you know every detail of every situation that your people might be going through today so father today through your word we ask you to overlook the adequacies of the speaker but father we ask for your word to go into our hearts that we put it into practice that we take another step forward by faith knowing that you direct Our Lives knowing that through you there is Victory knowing that we are going to be able to defeat together whatever giant may come our way we thank you when we praise you in Jesus name could you give him a hand clap of praise just as acknowledgment that we know that we serve a god who hears our prayers the arrow of the Lord's Deliverance a man's Humanity's search for God may be spurred by various reasons for Psalm it's an intellectual quest to find answers for the origin and the purpose of life why are we here how did we come about for others it's a spiritual urge to find significance and meaning beyond the everyday grind of living a Natural Curiosity to understand the behavior of others has motivated some to begin a quest for God or maybe there was a circumstance that took place in your life that really Shook You by the shoulders and said I I have to make a change in my life and that that's when you started your walk of Faith or maybe you're here this morning and questions surround your entire life and you're here searching for an answer searching for direction or searching for your very next step and as I mentioned earlier as we started to pray could we get a glimpse of Heaven could we fill heaven in this place you might have came this morning and I all prayed up and had had fasted and maybe you had already chugged a Red Bull or two or maybe you went through and paid for an overpriced cup of coffee that that got you you were fully prayed up and fully caffeinated and you're just you're just ready to take out the giant or maybe you're on the opposite end of the spectrum and you feel like you did everything you could to to get here and it felt like the enemy opposed you and every manner to keep you from coming or maybe who knows where you were at last night you might not even know where you woke up this morning but for whatever whatever the case you feel like you might have just crawled in here but you but you got here but I want you to know this morning maybe even if you're feeling that your gas tank is at the on E or you know how your battery starts telling you there's five percent left on your phone you know it's about to die your very presence here this morning just you being here this morning is an absolute declaration to the enemy and it's saying that no matter what took place in my life I am here I am here now that might not be very profound to you but as you look through the New Testament and you look at the Miracles and the outpouring that Jesus would do in people's lives half of the battle was that they were there a woman fought through the crowd touched the Hem of His Garment some friends dropped a man in through it by means of a basket it's being here it's getting here and you are here so what that tells me oh this is going to be real prophetic here okay this is gonna be I mean this is super deep get out your galoshes don't ask me to spell that but you being here means that God can do something for you today yes we serve a god who's the same yesterday today and forever and yeah like we talked about last night oh I celebrate the Miracles of the past and what God has done to get us here yeah I look forward to tomorrow and what God can do and we can plan for the future but I do believe that we serve a God who is so powerful that he is ready to answer your questions on this day I believe we serve a God so mighty who's able to pour out Miracles today I believe we serve a God so powerful the same power that created this world the same power that Rose him from the grave the same power that's alive inside of you by means of the Holy Ghost who can work the miraculous before we exit the doors of this house today I believe that in the name of Jesus where were we what are we even talking about this morning while every so we're a Natural Curiosity to understand the behaviors of others have motivated for our quest for God but many like joash the king of Israel so we've got these two guys the prophet Elisha and the current king of Israel find themselves crying out to God only when they see no way out of a desperate situation now now listen while every attempt to touch God should be applauded and especially if it's your first attempt to to take a step forward and touch God absolutely that's not what this is talking about but it's those who seek him only as a last resort too frequently drift back into the comfortable habits of the past once the crisis has been resolved getting a relationship with God because of something horrible that took place in my life for tragic that's a good thing but then once God resolves it and we say we're all good and then we begin to drift back and then just keep coming back to him only when something bad takes place in my life this is what it's talking about only as it last resort to frequently drift back into the comfortable habits of the past once it's been resolved those who never develop a passion for the ways and things of God seemed to continually struggle to establish a lasting and meaningful relationship with him Ephesians says never putting down spiritual Roots never making a firm committed decision they're tossed to and fro and they're carried about with every wind of Doctrine and this is not just talking about faddish church doctrines of the day though that's applicable to that as well but it it's talking about you're you're being impulsive and you're being led by your emotions you're uprooted with the least disturbance you're here and you're there you'll there you'll be in church when when everything's going great or you or or you'll only be in church when everything's going though going bad and then once everything gets settled you just kind of Flatline and but you're you're not constantly pursuing or I know some people who God has blessed them so mightily that once they receive all those these blessings they're not able to to handle it and the blessings become the vehicle that drive them out of the house of the Lord my grandpa tells a story in the early days of of starting the church the church in Knoxville where he said there was this man who was very faithful and they only had about 14 in the congregation at the time and he said that this man have lost his job and needed a job and uh my Grandpa would pray with him and you know he's Praise Him in Advance and this man would he said he would come to church and shout and leap and uh declare to the enemy God's going to give me that job and they would pray and well a few weeks went by and you know what God did God gave him a great job and my my grandpa celebrated with him but the next Wednesday midweek service came up and the man wasn't there say he's probably sick Sunday came around and they had a morning service and an evening service he wasn't at the morning service but he came to the evening service I've been missing you yeah I just I've been working well praise God celebrate give him some time get affiliated with it Wednesday night rolled around he wasn't there so Bishop tells this in his younger years he was a lot my grandpa's 80 about to be 87 years old been preaching for a long time this was over 40 years ago so he says when he was younger in his ministry he was a a lit a bit more you know aggressive especially when you got 14 people in your church you can you can really check on everybody so after that Wednesday night he said I'm going to go check on him so he pulled up to his house and he said don't the blinds you could see kind of the blue glow from the TV screen just Illuminating out so he went up to the door no answer and then he could just see over at those blinds just a real big eye kind of look out so he came to the door opened it up my grandpa said my brother I've been missing you in in church I missed you last week Sunday morning I I know you were there Sunday night but I I've been missing you and the church has been missing your praise you are you are really our leader you set the atmosphere are you sick is is everything okay and he said brother Billy he said I've just been I've I've been working and I I get I get off at six o'clock church started at 7 30. I get off at six and I I've just been too tired to make it to church and my grandpa got down on his knees he said oh my God Take This Job away from him right now so he said preacher get up get up I'll be at church Sunday but this man the blessings in his life had driven him and they would and this I I laugh at this but I can look at instances in my own life where I I prayed for something and God gave it to me and now managing it takes me out of my true calling those but we can be impulsive and led by emotion those who seek to know God for the value of the relationship itself who obey his word in the good times and the bad usually develop a passion for God that casual observers are not able to understand and this passion compels them to follow the voice of God even when he demands things that seem pointless unnecessary on or unorthodox and they are able to recognize his voice right in the midst of a storm as if they say like Jeremiah who was isolated from his friends for preaching the gospel and the the pressures of the his life and the weariness and the stress of his life had made him a social cast off if you will and even in his Humanity in his flesh a prophet of God said I'm no longer going to speak about you God because it's getting me in too much trouble I I don't even have any relationships I don't even have any friends nobody likes me everywhere I go people whisper about me and I I'm not even going to speak about you anymore but as he you read he began to say this he said but I say that but there's just something like a fire that shut up in my bones that even in the midst of the isolation and even in the midst of the storm and even in the midst of the turbulence I I still hear something calling me and there's still something burning inside of me and he said I still have to let it out so don't let somebody misrepresent what it looks like living on fire for God it's not walking around up above where the air is rare with uh with angel wing dust on your shoulder Halo dust it's it's probably more like dandruff it's it's living for God every day in spite of what's going on it's not a removal of the hardships it's not a removal of the circumstances of life it's saying that even in the midst of this because I have a relationship I can still hear your voice and this passion forces you to go deeper into his presence and sometimes you don't want to go deeper if I've heard preachers say some of the most anointed and best preachers are the ones that's had to go through the most stuff I I'm content with just being a mediocre preacher you know I I don't know I don't want to have to to deal with some of those things but the things yeah you might be saying would you're not even to that yet but but those things in our life when we keep that relationship with him it drives us deeper into his presence and that's why the greatest sir thank you all right now thank you for those times Northwest and I mean let down overseas for you foreign okay exclamation mark is nice again Glory Days Sherry all right now please stop I have a boyfriend he probably is trying to butter him up he hasn't come seen him before he hadn't had a relationship with him before but now that he hears he's about to die he I better do something I I better go up there and see if I can reconcile this as he gazed into the face of Elisha the king began to weep I can't you know detail all of the reasons for his emotion but what's caused probably cause a mixture of emotions the neighboring kingdom was about to come in and and take over and declare a war on your land that would probably make me weep uh the the the mouthpiece of God that would that was responsible for leading and directing you and giving you peace and really making you a powerful King to begin with was about to die that would make me cry and uh you know all of these things together the the king is going up there and he looks over the prophet and he begins to weep although King joash had never called on Elisha for guidance or for Spiritual Direction until now he understood the prophet was Israel's connection with God's laws and instructions but he apparently received comfort knowing the source was available whenever he needed it yeah I know the prophet's there when I need it but right now I'm all good I I know the church is there when I need it but right now I'm I'm I'm I'm all good I know the word of God is there and it's there and when something bad happens I'll I'll come running to it and I please don't misinterpret me this morning you should always run to the altar you should always run to the church you should always run to God's word no matter what but what can happen is although King joash had never called on Elisha for guidance or for direction he understood that he was Israel but he and he apparently received comfort knowing the source was available to him but as joash wept down over him the reaction of the king of Israel it's probably a bit strange as we just read that he was evil and sinned however remember that Joe WESH was not a worshiper of false gods he was a false worshiper of the true God he had some respect for the true God he had grown up hearing the the stories he had grown up hearing the tradition and therefore had some regard and honor for Elisha but it's my opinion that he was as I mentioned especially convicted conveniently convicted because of neighboring Empire over strike over his kingdom and is one source of Hope was about to die but despite the Elisha's illness Elisha wasted no time and self-pity and he understood that his calling as a prophet of God was until death and even though his personal circumstances were dire they were not the object of his focus and this passion that burned in the prophet steel burned alive even as he knocked on death's dorm but both men you see from our key ticks both men stood at a critical Crossroads you have the prophet the man of God his prime time if you will had far past he could die any day and you have this young king with all of the resources that a king of Israel has all of the the riches and have the youth and the time we see these two men at a Crossroads Israel's existence was threatened in the king who had no viable solution for its preservation came to see the prophet who he didn't have a relationship with one would expect hope and encouragement to come from the younger man who had much of his life still ahead of him in all the countries resources yet the dying man was the one with the link to Hope and although death was looming over him Elisha's commitment to God's word provide a connection that even sickness and death could not serve so without as much as a gentle segue as this king who I would say was conveniently convicted and all of these emotions running through him begin to weep the prophet just kind of looked up to him and without even acknowledging the Weeping he said son I want you to grab a bow and some arrows would you know I got some bow and arrows right here then as Elisha though he couldn't get out of the the the bed probably to walk and probably had to have some assistance to eat he placed his hand he placed his hand over the king and said I want you to take this this bow and these Arrow and the prophet put his hand the prophet put his hand over the king's hand death pulling on one arm of the prophet the other hand on the King on the nation of Israel saying God is not done with you I know that you came to me at the at the at the last moment I I know you don't have a relationship with me but God is giving you a chance better be careful with this I'll keep it pointed that way it's just a soft tip on but I'm just kidding death pulling on one arm He commands the king to shoot the arrow to the east right there that's the direction from which the enemy was coming and he said as the arrow would fly the prophet would declare this is the arrow of the Lord's deliverance and the Deliverance Arrow from Syria for Thou shalt Smite the syrians and afact tell you have consumed them so he says he says take some bow and arrows and Joe asked what's concerned that the true strength of Israel was about to depart and therefore Elisha used this illustration of the arrow being shot through the window to show that God's power God's hand the prophet of God's hand literally on him and God's hand on them was still on them and all the king joash had to do all he had to do was shoot that arrow to the east in the direction of the enemy Elisha made it clear that there was a connection between shooting the hero in the direction of the enemy and it would bring Deliverance to Israel it was to be an act of obedience that had spiritual significance the window was opened Eastward toward Syria specifically at afic this was the most strategic site between Damascus and Samaria the window was open and it was ancient custom to shoot an arrow or throw a spear in the direction of your enemy this was a symbolic act it was a commencement of hostilities it says that you're not going to come in my kingdom and invade it was a defensive or an offensive measure to say that we declare war on the enemy and the prophet of God was telling the king that God's hand this is the arrow of the Lord's deliverance and what I want you to do king is should okay and Elijah's hands on him as well so the king goes up to that window it's like I was emotional a few moments ago and seeing the prophet on his deathbed really did something to me and oh yeah serious come and I came here to get some some answers I I wanted God to deliver us and he's telling me to shoot this Arrow out into an open field there wasn't an army out there yet it was a it was a something to do as with spiritual significance he just wants me to shoot this Arrow out the window okay Prophet I know he's passed his Prime and he's up in h he has to have help to eat and he's telling me that I just need to shoot this Arrow okay I got it so he King takes that Arrow just kind of I got out there pretty good see that prophet okay I I guess he wants me to she wants me to shoot another one I I don't know what this is doing I'm I'm doing it Elijah I'm over here I'm doing and just kinda two and that Sun's getting hot coming through that window I've got places to be serious coming in uh huh I came up here trying to get an answer and he shoots another one just kind of half-hearted just kind of going through the motions and we read that the prophet of God became enraged this was an emblem of commencement of hostilities this was a call to action to war this was to say the enemy is not going to come in and invade my land the enemy is not going to come in and get my nation the enemy is not going to come in and Proclaim Victory and occupy my home this was a time where he needed to be saying my dance will put Satan under my feet and I declare I've got Victory Elisha said Son you should have shut every arrow that you had and don't just go up to the window and half-heartedly shoot it he said I'm giving you the opportunity to the Lord Arrow of the Lord's Deliverance to declare war on the enemy it's not just about you it's about the whole nation it's about your family it's about your children it's about generations to come you should have been singing We declare war thank you you should have been singing a song of Praise when you let that Arrow go and now you just come up and just kind of barely let an arrow go what's wrong with you son now you're not going to have full Victory the victory you receive is only just going to be a temporary fix what kind of story could we have read had the king had a true relationship with God's word had it not been the only time that he went up to see the prophet God offering a pathway to his people but the leader the problem King joash was out of his element inside of Elijah's house as king he gave little thought to the word of God instead he followed the painful and sinful and often evil path of his predecessors and now he was inside of a room with an ailing prophet he was forced to reveal where his loyalty and Faith lay he was careful to obey the instruction Elisha gave but it was obvious and clear that he was just going through the motions as to the significance of the prophet's demands he had no clue he tried to please the man of God but his habit of living in opposition to God's word made it impossible for joash to passionately Embrace what Elisha was so desperate to impart and the act of obedience of shooting the arrow with the spiritual significance the act of going up to that window like David did in the midst of Goliath the act of going up to that window and saying I'm shooting every arrow I have just as far as I can he had completely the Bible talks of having an insensitive heart a calloused heart our hearts can become calloused we can Harbor bitterness we can Harbor anger toward a brother or sister I I'll just sit on the other side here you know I'm gonna I gotta set up some strict boundaries in in my life you know push them out we can consume so much of the entertainment of this world the conceptions of the Medias of the day whether it be with the music that we put in our ears maybe it's with the social media that we invest so much of our time maybe it's our Cinema selection or Netflix binging bombards our minds and demands our attentions and we'll open ourselves up to relationships that we would publicly preach about but we'll entertain them in the drama and entertainment of our life Maybe Warrior anxiousness or shame can work in opposition to the mercy and Grace that God has for us and these things can place a callous around our hearts and what happens is We Begin leading God we'll follow our own ideas and plans we'll make life altering decisions without receiving Godly counsel and we can be so busy or we can be so busy and sometimes this can happen to the saints of God in the church sometimes this can happen to this guy right here we could so be preoccupied with the things of the church knocking off the to-do lists and checklists of the church that like Martha in the Bible where Jesus was right in their midst that was a word for her situation right there in her house she missed it because she was too busy and what happens when our heart becomes callous by the things of this world the stressors and pressures of life we can make compromise so much easier and we can just incrementally digress from what God has called us to do mediocrity becomes the standard instead of living lives of Excellence not Perfection we become mediocre in our standards that we had for ourselves kind of shift downward this can happen to pastors musicians Tech singers saints of God for 50 years saints of God for five years saints of God for five days it can happen to any one of us and the danger as we read from the story of the king and the prophet the danger that can take place when we have a calloused heart which can take place by a myriad of different reasons as I mentioned is that a move of God can take place Miracles like you talked about earlier ready to be outpoured direction navigation that voice in the midst of the storm speaking to you the praise team can be up here singing and you'll see a brother or sister leaping for Joy or running around crying and there can be an answer for your situation and because of our lack of relationship we can absolutely Miss what God is wanting to do this can happen to Saint and sinner alike and a move of God can take place and we don't fill a thing God laid out victory but I lacked in my relationship to discern what he was saying I lacked in my relationship my heart had become so callous that a mighty word went forth and because of the bitterness that I Harbor or because of the sarcastic manner in which I communicate her because of the junk that I've been filling my ears or eyes with it's preoccupied my time and it's just I don't feel a thing that's why we don't pick and choose what services we're going to go to I I know that the cares of life and the work of life with different jobs can take us out of his house at some times and that's not what I'm talking about but that's why we must make a concerted effort every time the doors of the church are open every time there's prayer meeting every event that I can make it to because I have to keep my heart clean and pure because God wants to speak to me God wants to deliver me God wants to pour out blessings on me that I do not even have room enough to receive God wants there to be forgiveness in my life God wants there to be peace and Harmony in my relationships after commanding joash to shoot that Arrow toward the east he said he only did it three times and stopped he said you should have done it five or six or done that and went and got some more and keep shooting Elisha was convinced God would deliver Israel from the Syrian Army he was so intent on getting this message across and he ignored all of Joe Ash's flattery and placed his hand upon the king's hand despite all this even though even though Elisha couldn't get out of the bed though he probably had to have assistance to eat I believe that he had a firm grip over that King's hand and I want you to know today that this doesn't have to be the story of your life this doesn't have to be the story in your situation but like the king you have all the resources of a mighty Church a mighty Pastor a god a church body congregation that has their hand upon you the hands and feet of Christ who are saying Hey listen yeah it's just the Syrian Army but this right here is an arrow of the Lord's Deliverance and if you'll shoot it and the direction of your enemy if you'll declare a war today this is the era of the Lord's Deliverance almighty God each arrow that was shot modeled prayer and praise and each time you praise each time you lift up your voice in prayer it's communication to God who will provide the arrow of Deliverance and it will also go into the direction of whatever obstacle opposes you and when God's people begin to praise in the shadow of a giant oh and God's people begin to give God praise when they can hear the neighboring Army begin to March their way he said I got an arrow here you've got an arrow this afternoon if you've got breath in your lungs I want you to know that you have an arrow of Deliverance if you've got hands that can clap or be lifted up in the air God's given you an Arsenal this morning if you have a tongue that can cry out and say Jesus I love you Jesus directs me Jesus show me the way that I need to go I want you to know that you have an arrow that can go right into the heart of whatever giant you might be faced against oh if you've got feet and legs and you've got the ability to leap for joy and the ability to run and Shout oh God's giving you an error and I want you to know that the word of God is telling you to shoot this morning and don't just do it passively like a golf clap of God you're so good no I'm declaring war on my family and on my home the enemy is not coming into my house I will set up a prayer room in there the enemy is not coming into my school because I'm there and I'm declaring war against it the enemy's not coming into this marriage relationship the enemy is not going to take me out or I'm going to keep shooting arrows Give the Lord a hand clap of Praise at this time oh you gotta open a window this morning you've got an opportunity this morning oh would you continue to give God praise for just a moment he said do it to the east could we have some Vision this morning and get that giant in our crosshairs could we get that situation on our minds and call it out specifically Lord I know that you've given me direction this morning I've got an arrow of Praise I got an arrow of prayer I've got an arrow of worship God I thank you God I praise you and I'm letting this Arrow go foreign come on out I'm not coming with you to you with things of this world but I'm coming to you in the name of the Lord musicians of praise team please come failing to shoot the arrows hurts others when you don't praise and worship when you don't shoot that Arrow it doesn't just affect you it affects your whole family it affects your whole workplace it affects your whole school Paul and Silas in the courts of the prison locked up they begin to sing praises to God they begin to shoot those arrows and it wasn't just their jail cell that was opened but the whole jail cell no we don't worship to be seen we don't worship to create a show but my worship might set the atmosphere for somebody else My Worship might say man if they went through that and they're still giving God praise my God what what am I doing right now I I know if they're overcoming that I can't just stay in my seat thank you there's many situations where we've got to keep shooting the arrows he should have continued until the prophet said that's enough it should have continued with passion and tell those Victory sometimes it's going to take more than one Arrow my great grandpa I just talked about my grandpa who started a church he's been preaching for over 70 years and uh he started preaching at a young age and it was only by the the hand of God that he that he called him my grandpa grew up a sharecropper and his father was a sharecropper his father my great-grandfather was not a preacher but he would travel around with them just to make sure that his boys were safe my grandpa had a twin brother and they would travel around preaching and singing and my great-grandfather had a severe tobacco problem and the churches that they would go minister in they had the windows open so to let the air go in there wasn't AC and all that stuff this is over 60 years ago and one night it says my grandpa preached a sermon and his father kind of sat on the back left and he came up to the Altar and on his way up to the altar he threw his tobacco and all of his cigarettes out the window and he went up to the Altar and prayed and he began to cry and and they had a great service and after it was over his name was Davis they said Davis did God give you Deliverance tonight I know you you wanted to stop that did God give you Deliverance he said honestly I was praying that it wouldn't rain on my smokes while they were out there and he had to go get the car lots on to go find him now what am I saying the blind man in the Bible the first thing Jesus did with him he said step out of where you were at okay the village he was in was a Bethesda he was a faithless village he said the first thing I need you to do is take me by the hand I I didn't give him Vision yet he said the first thing I need you to do is step out of that Village and then we read it wasn't One Touch but it was two Touches for his vision to be restored fully what am I saying yes we serve a god so powerful that he can bring healing he can bring restoration and the snap of a finger I believe it yes he does but he also can bring restoration and healing through a process it can be a step and a touch here and a touch there it can be an arrow here it can continue to to be going to get Godly to counsel continuing to be faithful in his house and the next thing I know after a year's time after two years time it didn't happen overnight but it was the faithfulness it was God in increasing the space I had so he could pour if God would have given me all the blessings right there in that moment I wouldn't have had anything to even the Nets to capture them with but he gave me the ability to have Nets large enough stand with me so sometimes the arrow of Deliverance can be one Arrow but sometimes you've got to keep shooting you've got to get up Monday morning and declare a war you got to get up Tuesday morning and say I'm shooting another shot right into the heart right into the face of what opposes me and I want you to know today if you're at CAC that you have an opportunity to let that Arrow fly this morning I know across this house there's musicians and singers who so masterfully prepare and set the atmosphere for our services you also work all week some of you go to school you have families you practice all hours of the night you get here for sound checks and rehearsals there's high school students college students young adults you go to school and work in this world you publicly live out a life of Faith with peace and love for others some of you under the sound of my voice don't have a mom or dad that's waking you up as an alarm clock to get to church but you made it here yourself there's teachers and builders and contractors and whatever occupation that you are in maybe you're a caregiver for a family member who's no longer able to care for themselves no matter what situation you're in whether you've served God for five minutes five days five years 50 years life comes with stress but as I mentioned at the beginning of this sermon you do whatever it takes to get into his presence that relationship every day is not going to be camp meeting every day is not going to be Azusa Street but you know if I can get into his presence I can hear his voice and if you're here this morning God has given you an arrow of Deliverance could we bow our heads across this house I want you to get that situation specific on your mind this morning I want you to get that face on your mind this morning maybe it's something in your workplace maybe you're needing God's hand to provision maybe it's a doctor's report that you're needing healing over maybe there's a prodigal that's that is lost I want you to know you've got an arrow to shoot this morning if you've got breath in your lungs he's given you an arrow if you've got hands to clap and live to worship he's given you an arrow your praise your praise is a weapon your worship is a weapon now that you've prayed over that need I want to open up this altar at this time for every single person and if you've got I believe God's given you an arrow this morning an arrow of Deliverance I want you to come forward this morning and shoot that arrow and say God I'm going to worship you God I'm going to remain faithful to you God I'm listening for your voice this morning I'm declaring war my dance will put Satan under my feet and I declare that I've got Victory oh maybe there's somebody under the sound of my voice that stopped praying over a situation you said I I at a time I was exuberant at a time I was pretty aggressive that God was going to do this but I prayed one time I prayed two times I I prayed three times but still nothing's happened I wonder what would happen today if you said you know what I'm going to take another shot at it ah that window's open this morning I'm gonna shoot one more Arrow oh I believe that family member is not too far gone I believe that need is not too far gone I believe that God can still heal I believe God can still move maybe in his presence I can just begin to worship regardless of who's around me maybe in his presence with Passion half-hearted worship won't get it half-hearted commitment won't get it half-hearted praise won't get it maybe I can begin to lift my voice and say God I know you're going to do it God I know you're going to see me through it God I know you're going to make her way when there sings no way oh maybe you can declare a war right there in your space maybe you could do it with a little exuberance maybe do it with a little passion do it with the authority of the Holy Ghost yes Jesus would you worship him would you worship him would you lift your voice if you've got the Holy Ghost why don't you speak in that Heavenly language right now oh we're declaring war right now I Declare War I Declare War I am going to get my healing I am going to get my provision I am going to be victorious over this yes Jesus you are great to you everything I give to the truth Withholding Nothing I Surrender come on it's prayer time in the house of the Lord come on there is an answer to your prayer here today Reach Out Reach Out Lord I call on your name I believe you're for it Lord I believe you're for it Jesus come on that's right lift praise lift praise I'm trusting you with it today Jesus I'm trusting you with it today Jesus victory in the name of the Lord there is victory victory in the name of Jesus holding nothing yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes come on that track call on the name of the Lord call on the name of the Lord Jesus worship the name of the Lord Jesus I trust you now Lord Jesus blessed be the name of the Lord oh yes oh come on that's right the Holy Ghost is here today come on you need the Lord in your life come on give me praise I love you Jesus I love you Jesus you are worthy you are worthy that's right that's right come on reach out for it right now Jesus I Trust You Lord I trust you Jesus I honor you holy God Jesus my Savior forever I give you all of me I give you King Jesus my Savior forever I give you all of me I give you me nothing holding nothing holding oh that's right come on run into his presence right now I I love you Jesus I Trust You Lord I trust you Jesus hey yeah yeah yeah come on let's try go pray with somebody would you go find somebody pray with them come on get up close to someone pray for him right now let the Lord use you right now in the name of Jesus in the name of Jesus in the name of Jesus come on somebody pray right now pray the prayer of faith God you can make a way you can open doors you can Jesus I believe you're for it Lord I believe you for it Lord I believe you're for it Jesus I believe you're for it Jesus oh come on Mitch right come on let's try the Lord's answering prayer today I love you Lord blessed be the name blessed be the name of Jesus oh come on that's right pray Somebody Pray call on the name of the Lord we need the Holy Ghost today Jesus we need the power of the cross in our lives Jesus the name of the Lord God oh come on that's right I love you Jesus I need you Lord I trust you Jesus come on man that's right run into his presence man Jesus Jesus Jesus worthy lamb worthy Lamb of God I Trust You Lord I trust you look at some of you men come help pray right here the name of Jesus come on God's doing the work right now in the name of Jesus come on bring Faith with to God you can fill him with the Holy Ghost today you can confirm it Lord Jesus come on somebody believe the Lord right now God of Glory I'm trusting you Lord right now my faith says yes to you Jesus holy holy holy holy holy yeah that's right come on praise I ain't praying Jesus Jesus Jesus pour out of your spirit Lord pour out of your spirit Lord today the name of the Lord God loose your anointing right now in this place in the name of Jesus the name of Jesus oh come on man go to war in the name of Jesus foreign come on pray saying pray I love you Jesus Great Is Your Name Lord Great Is Your Name Lord that's right believe for it believe him for it right now Jesus I believe you're for it Lord hear a savior of my soul oh yeah oh yes I love you Lord I trust your lord I trust in you Jesus are you hungry for a move of God giving praise right now yes yes yes Jesus the name of Jesus Worthy is your name Lord God yes Hallelujah come on me and pray come on me and pray yes Lord yes Lord yes Lord yes Jesus we trust you for it Lord we trust you for it Jesus we need you we need you Lord Hallelujah that's right oh come on Matt run into his presence man that's right man open your mouth bless the Lord Worthy is the Lamb of God Worthy is the name of Jesus I love you Lord I trust in you right now the name of Jesus the name of Jesus that's right in the name of Jesus repentance in the name of the Lord Holy Ghost now pouring in the name of Jesus I love you Lord I love you Lord come on that's right I love you Lord Wash Me Lord cleanse my life Jesus bless the Lord forever and forever and forever yeah I need you Jesus I need you Jesus I trust in you great God I I trust in Who You Are your power your spirit in my life Jesus Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Jesus yeah yeah yeah yeah I agree yes I agree