What Happened To The Other Half? | Pastor Chad Erickson

amen I believe I got a word for you I believe that's what the song said in the bridge I got a word I believe for every single person in this house today are you ready for the word today believe God wants to talk to you personally Come on talk to me Lord talk to me oh God turn with your Bibles with me to Joshua chapter 1 and verse one amen and I want to read in your hearing a little bit longer of a passage but I believe it's going to set up for what the Lord would have us speak if you're not already standing if you would stand for the reading of the word uh so glad to have the May family with us today from Indiana we're thankful we're going to have a Revival in fac severville today and Tuesday two-day Revival and the May family is going to be ministering great friends of ours uh we got a lot in com and they love Christian Schools they administrate in Christian School and around here we love Christian School amen thankful for likeminded amen just uh unifying of people that believe that our future is important enough to educate Amen in an Apostolic school we believe that don't we that's where our heart is around here and we love the May family been friends for years and years and so thankful to have you uh Becca May uh she if if you go to competition you hear Becca sing a lot she is an amazing singer sang at Strong Tower and she's GNA be singing with the choir tonight I'm excited about that but the whole family they're all they're singers They're musicians they're talented and God has blessed them with his anointing and they're going to be blessing both campuses both campuses and um if you can if you're not a part of a kids camp and Kids Quest Camp get to sever on Tuesday and it's going to be an awesome going to be an awesome service amen Joshua chap 1 And1 says now after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord it came to pass that the Lord spake unto Joshua the son of nun it was Moses's Minister and said Moses my servant is dead now therefore arise go over this Jordan thou and all this people unto the land which I do give to them even to the children of Israel every place that the soul of your foot shall tread upon that have I given unto you as I said unto Moses skip down to verse 5 there shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life as I was with Moses so I will be with thee I will not fail thee nor forsake thee be strong and of good courage For unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land which I swear unto their father s to give to them skip down to verse 10 then Joshua commanded the officers of the people saying pass through the host and command the people saying prepare you food for within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan to go in to possess the land which the Lord your God giveth to you to possess it and to the reubenites and to the gites and to half the tribe of Manasseh spake Joshua saying remember the word which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you saying the Lord your God hath given you rest and hath given you this land your wives your little ones and your cattle shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side of Jordan but you shall pass over your brethren armed all the Mighty Men of Valor and help them now look with me in Joshua 3 and verse 13 kind of move ahead and the story and Bible says it shall come to pass as soon as the souls of the feet of the priests that bear the Ark of the Lord the lord of the Earth shall rest in the water of Jordan that the Waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above and they shall stand upon a heap verse 17 and the priest that bear the Ark of the coming of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan and all the Israelites passed over on the dry ground unto all the people until all the people were passed clean over Jordan and I read all that just to go back to verse 12 of Joshua chapter 1 it says in the reubenites and the gadites and to half the tribe of anasse spake Joshua my title this morning is simply this what happened to the other half that's my title what happened to the other have put your Bibles down come on let's pray together let's ask God to open our hearts for the word today Father Lord our minds and our hearts oh God are open before you today I believe as that song says there is going to be a word for every person in this house that will listen they will hear Lord they will allow themselves to understand they will learn and Lord apply this message to their heart today I believe there's a people that stands before me Lord that's hungry it's ready for Revival Lord let your Holy Ghost fall Among Us and Lord I pray that the the altar service of this message Lord will be a response to the word of God that's preached today and that every heart Lord God would be changed and rearranged in this house today if you'll believe that with me clap your hands unto the Lord before you're seated come on why don't you lift up your voice and give God praise in this place just a little bit louder just a little bit louder come on give God praise in this house today oh we bless your name Jesus amen and amen you may be seated in Jesus name brother ASA if you could give me a little more monitors I Need Just A I'm just a little bit shy of being where I need to be amen so good I looked out and saw just so many other guests that are in the house amen I saw the guzin family so good to have them amen if you're a guest here today and I know we've already welcomed you but we're so glad we're so glad that you're here amen I I see uh I I just see just just just a h I believe uh brother Johnstone was texting our our our guest feed he said he said we got 46 guests he said no I'm sorry no we got 47 guests now he got I'm sorry scratch that we got 48 guests they keep on coming in thank you for making this your place of worship here at First Apostolic it means so much to us amen that you are here today well I want to give just a little history and I I guess I enjoy I enjoy so much the story of the Israelites coming out of EG Egypt because it it reminds me a whole lot of my walk with God and I'm sure it reminds me of your walk with God because all of us have been at one time or another in the land of Egypt and better yet we've gotten out of the land of Egypt and the Bible talks about that when the Israelites left Egypt the Bible says they left with a high hand and when that simply means is they left Victorious they did not leave with their heads down they did not not resemble what we saw after World War II with the with the concentration camps and and those that had been kept as slaves and had been worked to death they didn't look like that coming out of Egypt when they came out of Egypt the Bible says they came out with a high hand with a hand of authority because when you come out of the world we don't escape the world the Bible says we are delivered out of the world and when God begins to deliver his people we ought not come out with our head down we come out with our shoulders back and our head up with our chest down and we say hey I am not ashamed of where I'm going to I may not be I I may be ashamed a little bit of where I've been but I know where I'm going and I know my God is able to bring me out of where I've been and I'm not who I used to be I'm leaving out of here with a high hand Deliverance you you remember what Deliverance felt like Deliverance feels good you're not going to meet anybody happier than a new convert that's been delivered you're not going to you're not going to meet anybody that's more excited about God and want to talk more about God than somebody that just got baptized in his name and filled with his Spirit sobody who who come up out of Egypt and when they got out they got out good I'm talking about when they got out they came with a smile on their face to church because all they can think about is I'm so glad I'm not where I used to be I'm so glad I don't do what I used to do and hang out with who I used to hang out I don't have to be on the same bar stool this come on somebody help me I know I I've heard testimonies such as brother Kenny Johnson who come up off a bar stool and is here today decades later saying God has been so good to my family no longer on drugs Brother Thompson I love you your testimony of being on all kinds of drugs and God delivering you and setting you free I don't know if I've ever seen somebody more happy than Brother Thompson because for somebody who's been delivered out of much we ought to be excited you can't tell me that that after over 400 years of bondage those people coming out of Egypt they saw woo here we go we're finally set free we're F we're we're redeemed we're set free we're getting out of all the stuff that we've been stuck in one week later they find themselves at the red seat but thank God the Red Sea parted they found themselves walking through on dry ground the next morning day number eight they wake up to see all of their captors all of those Egyptians all those task Masters all those slave Ms you know the story they wake up to see them washed up on the seashore and to the people who once struck them and the people that once mocked them and required a song of them to those people that listen my God is able to deliver matter of fact it was miam that got the tambourines if you were at camp on Friday night we got our tambourines out and we were celebrating the fact that we've been set free and the enemy is defeated he set me free yes he set me free he broke I hear y'all some of y'all some of yall Like Me grew up on that song risen for me I'm Glory bound my Jesus to see glory to God he set me free right woo song talks about like a bird released out of prison we've been released I I just want to make sure we understand we've got a testimony and although we've been maybe some of us have been set free for a long time we still got to look back over our life and realize we've got a testimony I love the song as I look back back over my life and I think things over I can truly say he's brought me all the way I've got a testimony oh brother PR some of these songs we don't sing them enough anymore and it has nothing to do with genre I I'm thankful I like that new song I like that new song about Revival because we got to keep the Revival fire burning but sometimes you do got to look back and see where you came from because you can't tell where you are until you know where you've been you can't tell where you're headed to Until you realize where you are so here we are the children of Israel they make it through the Red Sea they see their captives drown they see their captives lying across the beach they they're celebrating they're singing songs the Bible even says that Moses sang I bet y'all didn't know that Moses was a singer Bible talks about Moses began to sing along with this history and all the people they took up timberl they began to dance oh but on day number 21 let me tell you about number 21 because three weeks later somebody say three weeks they find themselves in the wilderness of sin this Wilderness the name of the Wilderness was sin and I ask you do you think anything good can come out of the Wilderness of Sin Sin here they are 21 days 3 weeks after they're celebrating and singing songs about the horse and the rider drowning in the sea and now the Bible talks about they begin to complain matter of fact in Exodus 16 and two the Bible says and the whole Congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness and apparently finding yourself in the wilderness of sin causes you to have shortterm memory loss it causes you to have spiritual Amnesia and you can't remember that just three weeks a four weeks ago you were walking out with a high hand four weeks ago the people of Egypt were were throwing their gold in silver and their Jewels at you 21 days ago 3 weeks ago you're walking through a red sea on dry land 21 days ago here you are you're celebrating the fact that you're set free and you're free at last but now you find yourself murmuring and complaining and you find yourself and the Bible says the whole congregation everybody had issue everybody had forgotten of what God had done for them everybody woo my God help us not have spiritual Amnesia where we can't remember the good and all we can remember is the negative and the bad and the woe is me come on somebody in this place today I don't want to be like a child of Israel who finds themselves in a hard place between a rock in a hard place and all the sudden they can't come up with any of the blessings of God the Bible says in Genesis 16:3 and the children of Israel said unto them what to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt when we sat by the the the flesh pots and doesn't that sound good and we did eat bread to the fo said to to Moses you've brought us forth into this Wilderness to to kill this whole assembly with hunger you come out here to to starve us to death and I I cross reference that with with numbers 11 and 5 the Bible says they said we remember the fish which we did eat in Egypt freely y'all see that right there there's nothing free in Egypt everything's going to cost you something in Egypt this world Bible talks about Moses said there's pleasure of sin for a season when nobody could understand why why he decided to be with the children of God instead of in his own uh I guess you would call it his adopted mother in Pharaoh's home he said listen there's pleasure there in Pharaoh's Palace for a season but there comes a time in Egypt when you are your sin is going to find you out there's only pleasure of sin for a season but then comes death and destruction he said he said they said we we did eat the fish freely we ate the bread freely the Cucumbers though the melons the leaks the onions and the garlic isn't it funny what what triggers some people to think about the world oh this world has triggers but it blows my mind at what some of those triggers are you know what I'm talking about people people are addicted to stuff and and man I'm telling you they work hard they come clean they're clean for for weeks and then months and and it and the the weirdest things trigger people and I think to myself what is it that people would go back to this world for what is it that would trigger people to want to return back to Egypt because I've heard brother brother Schnitzer I've heard some of the craziest things I I've heard people man I think to myself you're GNA take your your kids out of the school for that you're going to get out of the choir for that you're going to pull your family out of the church for that I'm not preaching a negative message I promise you we're going to go somewhere with this it's going to get positive really quickly but before it gets positive we got to understand the mindset of the people of Israel because they were in a bad place they were in a place to come against their pastor and said pastor why did you bring us out here I guess you and God just brought us out here to die in this wilderness and that was never the intent of God God wanted to set them free but he had to prove them and I I'll prove it to you right here because in Exodus 16 and4 God said okay all right all right you want bread I'll give you bread he said unto Moses he said before behold I will re bread from heaven for you and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day that I may prove them whether they will walk in my law or not Mana was simply man the word Mana means what is it they didn't even know what they were eating they stuff fell from heaven they walked around I could see the first day them them bending down and picking it up and and saying what is it hey guys let's call it what is it brother Copeland for 40 years they ate something that didn't even know what it was Bible talked about that they tasted it was like a wafer that that tasted kind of like honey what what is this and God God provided listen God provided but it was just simply provision it was not the promise if you get nothing else out of this message we cannot settle too soon because if we're not careful we can get into a Wilderness state of mind and we begin to settle for a provision there was never God's promise it was never God's will that they would live on Mana it was just there because they were complaining because they were crying because they were whining because they were discontent so God said hey I don't want to lose you out here in the wilderness because I've got a plan for your life I've got a promise for your life so I'm going to send just enough of something to keep you alive life to prove you here with but for 40 years for 40 years their lack of faith caused them to depend on the provision and forget about God's promise it was a man of lifestyle and let me tell you something a man of Lifestyle a man of Lifestyle will cause you to be Idol because no longer do you have to work for your food no longer do you have to hunt for your food no longer do you have to provide for your family because every day Mana falls from heaven and you become content with the life that you're living and all the sudden you are now living a plan B for your life plan a for you was to get across the Wilderness and to get into the promised land plan a for your family was to fulfill the will of God for your life plan a for your marriage was to fulfill the will of God for your marriage but here people are and they're now they're seeing themselves and and it's caused them to be content with their life and just say you know what I guess good is good enough God wants to give you his best but people in their minds they get in this man of mentality and they decide you know what I guess good is good enough God has promised a land flowing with milk and honey but instead they're content with eating a wafer that tastes kind of like honey come on think about this people who are in marriages that God meant for your marriage to prosper and it's not prospering but somewhere along the way you're like well I guess this is just good enough and and listen brother may I'm I'm not listen I'm not condoning anybody to get out of their marriage that's not what I'm saying but you can make your marriage better you don't have to be content where your marriage is God God's thoughts are good towards you Bible talks about for an expected end God wants his people God wants his the husband and wife to reflect Christ in his church Jesus said look at how I treat my bride look how I treat my church that's husbands how I want you to treat your wives I want there to be love there I want and not just love but there ought to be something in the eye of the Bride that looks towards her husband hband and says man I love him oh the groom ought to look at that bride not just on the wedding day not just when she's coming down the aisle but I'm talking about 20 years later founding founding myself man I love my bride we're celebrating 20 years next week 20 years come can some of y'all believe it a lot of y'all are at our wedding Tony can you believe that's been 20 years I can't believe it I still feel like I'm 25 20 years there ought to still be that sparkle brother Preston there got to be the sparkle in the eye and something's wrong when we can live in a home and we can live in the same home but not have a happy marriage can live in the same home but not have a a marriage filled with joy and contentment you say well you're describing my marriage right now when you talk about being content and and not having a lot of Hope and and just having questions and and thoughts going through our minds come on you got to do something with it you can't be content to live off provision there's got to be a promise you got to be you got to be looking toward a go and say God I want my marriage to be so much more than it is God I will not be content I will not be Idol in this marriage but God I'm going to work hard for this marriage you might have to read a book come on I know I know some of the last things you want to read is some of you guys last thing we want to read is a book about love and emotion and affection if you're like me listen I I bottomed out in real colors I bottomed out in blue my wife right away my wife said I see what's wrong with you we were in Singapore we in Singapore I don't know 5 seven years ago however long it's been and they did the real colors test with us they're like the first thing they did we got off the plane the first thing that picked us up follow me here this is this is brother and sister Lee right Timothy Lee pick us up at the airport and they say first thing we got to do is find out what color you are I was like last I knew I was kind of pasty white sometimes a little too pasty like no no no no no we got to find out your personality I'm like oh boy personality man so we went the first thing we did the first I'm talking about the first thing they did is they brought us to their church and they set us they set us down and they they brought us through and a lot of us have been through the real colors training right and man went through our colors and began to explain this is why you think the way you think and and and you're you're deficient in this color you you're good here you got a lot of gold you can organize but woo when it came to Blue I realized right away babe I was like I got to work on my blue but I been listen don't judge me I've been working on it I realize that's the first thing you got to do is when the Mana falls from heaven you got to say God I'm thankful for provision but this is not what your promise is for my life so some of us some of us are Ministry wise we're sitting on Ministries and we're sitting on talents and and God has given you abilities and skill sets to do great things for God and you're sitting on that skill set you're sitting on that ability and you're content where you are you know why because it's easy and there's no work involved you found out all you got to do is open the tent flaps every morning and whoa lo and behold there it is what is it sitting on the ground all I got to do is collect it from my little family bring it back in the tent I don't know if they cooked it fried it bow it I don't know what they did with it they might have ate it I don't know if it was like a honey sandwich or if put it on the grill or put it on the fire rotisserie I don't know what they did with it but whatever it was it was easy and some people have been called by God into Ministries and I'm looking out over people we got so much talent to fill these PE pews and I'm not just talking about music cuz a lot of times when you think of talent you think of Music you're like brother ericon I don't sing I don't play an instrument I'm not talking about that a lot of you have skill sets God has blessed you even in the work field he's blessed you with a career he's giv you knowledge and wisdom how to put things together how to organize things how to build things how to perfect things how to add value to things and he's saying hey here you are in my house why don't you do in here what you do out there why don't you why don't you take your skill set that I've given you the talent that I've given you and use it in the house of God and I think of people that are just content just to show up to church and God God's want to make a disciplemaker out of you he's want to do great things through you but you got to come to the place unlike these Israelites that were just eating this Mana for 40 long years settling God help me never to settle one of the worst one of the things that I fear most one of the things that I fear most in my life is to be on my deathbed and think to myself how much potential did I waste come on think about it to be at a place where I no longer have the strength to worship and to think to myself brother L Sage I sure wish I would have worshiped more when I had the strength to worship back when my legs worked and I could actually get my arms above my shoulders and above my head I wish I would have woried and I wish I would have lifted my hands a whole lot more I wish I would have done more God has given me the ability and the vision to to start camps and to start conferences and and to work and and start training centers I wish that I would have done more with the potential that I had because there can't be anything worse than to be on your deathbed and think to yourself I could have done so much more but do we realize that these people that God brought out of Egypt that that everybody that was over the age of 40 they never saw the promise they had to live in the place of their contentment how sad because the lack of faith because that's what Mana does when you become content where you're living all of a sudden there's side effects to Mana and that is you start to lose Faith you lose faith in your God and you lose faith in self because why we understand that if you don't work for a living if you don't work to support your family if you don't do everything you can as a husband or as a wife over time you lose confidence in yourself we see that happening all the time we see a we see a people we see listen I'm so thankful for welfare I'm so thankful that our government has programs to help those people that have needs because there are people out there that have legitimate needs yeah we pay taxes and I'm I'm proud I'm proud to pay taxes and know that I'm helping people that are in need but if there's ever a dependency for people that have the ability to do something for themselves then all of a sudden those same people that once had a need that no longer have a need maybe they were recovering from a disease or a sickness or an illness and couldn't work and so they needed they needed funds and they they needed help but now all a sudden they can work and they don't work what happens to those people self-esteem bottoms out depression oppression settles in why is it because they're not doing for themselves what they can do for themselves so I think to myself God I don't want this man of mentality and this Mana lifestyle but instead I want to oh I want to get to the Jordan and I want to cross the Jordan and get to where the promise is uh I don't want to be content uh good is not good enough and God has promis greatness for my life our opening text described the excitement within the tribes when the word began to spread it's time to pack your bags it's time to collect enough food because in the next few days we're not going to be on this side of Jordan anymore we're going across Jordan and we are going to receive the promise there was promised way back to Abraham it was promised to Moses it was promised to Joshua and Caleb it was promised to Moses is his brother Aaron it was promised all this we finally get to cross into the promised land and as our text read did you read it God promised power and God promised Authority uh you're going to have authority over the enemy nobody's going to put their hand against you when you go into the promised land every city is going to belong to you you're not going to have to build cities you're not going to have to build walls you're not going to have to plant Vineyards or fields and the crops in the field everything is going to be ready for you to walk into your promise and to receive your promise and so we love the story finally oh finally the Israelites follow the Ark of God that's being carried by the priests and follow those priests and as the priest stepped into the water of Jordan the Bible says and it had to be a beautiful thing the waters just stopped it was like a wall it wasn't like the Red Sea the Red Sea was parted but the Jordan was a river the Jordan was flowing and so it was similar but it was like a wall the water was coming down from the mountain stopped and and a wall was formed and there was no water you got to think about over well over a million people crossing a river the water it became dry land all the way down through the riverbed and over a million people walked across the Jordan they made it The Wanderers made it across oh all except two and a half tribes for two and a half tribes and and here it is these same two and a half tribes they'd heard the same promise they anticipated for over 40 years the same promise they were so close to the same promise but because they got accustomed to eating mana and because they saw the grass was green on the east side of the Jordan they came to they came to Moses and they said Moses can we please stay on this side of the Jordan and y'all you you got to read read read through man the book of Exodus is beautiful because Moses became irate because he said your fathers because of the lack of faith of your fathers your fathers didn't want to go into the promised land and here you are now here you are just like your fathers you're not going to go he became irate but finally he cooled down because here's the thing nobody is going to force you to receive the promise M most Moses was not going to force them to receive the promise and so he said I don't like it I wish you would go into the promised land like it's been promised us I wish you would go into Canaan with us but because you want to stay on the east side of the Jordan because you want to stay in the wilderness oh let me ask you a question how green is the grass have to be for you to stay in the wilderness even though the Ark of God think about this right here the the Ark of God the presence of God God hit me with this this week the presence of God is Crossing Jordan into the promised land the tent the Tabernacle come on follow me with this the the altar the Brazen altar the place of repentance the place where your your sins are forgiven is crossing over the Jordan into the promised land that that that that beautiful the the the Looking Glass the place where they went and the priest would go and wash and the labor and would look at themselves it was crossing the Jordan into the promised land what about the altar of incense what about worship it was crossing the Jordan into the promised land what about the Candlestick the Revelation woo the spirit of Revelation was passing through the Jordan into the promised land oh the showbread the word of God was passing through the presence the Ark of God was leaving these two and a half tribes but I don't want to focus on them because I'm going to tell you about them in just a moment but but the whole idea of my title my title is what happened to the other half manasse you know who Manasseh is you know who that tribe is they're The Offspring they're the children of Joseph they they're the children of the of the original one who saved his family and brought his family to Egypt you know the story I'm not even going to tell you you know the story it was because of Joseph it was because of Joseph that they lived through the famine and the Very I don't I I don't understand that that half the tribe of Manasseh The Offspring of Joseph why they would choose to stay but I don't want to focus on them what happened to the other half I'll tell you what happened to the other half the other half went into the promised land the other half made a decision I know I'm gonna have to leave some family behind I know there's some cousins I know I got some aunts and uncles and maybe even some brothers and sisters and God forbid parents I'm G to have to leave in the wilderness but half the tribe of manasse said I choose the promise I choose to receive the promise if you're giving me a promise if you promise it to me and to my children I cannot stay in the wilderness I can't be content of where I am I don't care how green the grasses I don't care if somewhere along the way moms and dads we got to come to the place I don't care what anybody else thinks or says I've got to get my kids into the promised land I got to do whatever I have to do as a parent to get them into the promised land I got to move I got to move quickly but please understand there oh if you stay in the wilderness too long if you stay in a content stay tooo long the oh I began to research I thought what happened to the people east of Jordan you want to know what happened to them because I don't know why I just I just moved on with the children of Israel that went to the promised land and I just kind of forgot about the two and a half tribes but if you reach your Bible you're going to realize that 20 years before anybody else before the Israelite people were conquered Syria Rome before anybody else was conquered 20 years prior the people on the east side of the Jordan were conquered and not only conquered not not only taken captive they were annihilated matter of fact the people that remained I began to research I thought what what about today what's going on today in that land well today that land is called it's a country of Jordan and it wasn't too long it wasn't too long after the children of Israel settled there that that word works right there when they settled there there it wasn't very long after that that that that that the Arabs began to come in and Islam in the Muslim religion began to come in and people they were once the people of Isaac now the son began to marry into the people of Israel and so here we have today the country of Jordan is predominantly Arab it's Muslim in faith how does that happen oh it's very simple because if you allow the presence of God to go across the Jordan and you stay in the wilderness where was their protection where was their spiritual covering where did they go to sacrifice where did they go to worship oh my God there's nothing like the house of God why do we come here multiple times a week because we cannot be saved uh without the church uh the church house is the place where we come uh to make sure the Bible says as we see the day approaching we got to assemble ourselves together even more often because oh there's protection within the church there's protection with in the church stay in the church because I've got news for you the promise is in the church which you know where I'm going you know where I'm going I got to go to New Testament because the more I preach about promise the more I think about the promise that's been promised to us and to our children and to all those that are far off and let me tell you something if I go New Testament and this right here bores you or you say to yourself oh Lord have mercy he's about to go through the Plan of Salvation there's something wrong with you apparently you need to I like how pastor says you need to readjust your angel wings in your Halo because obviously you've been out out of Egypt so long that you don't remember the plan that you had to follow to get where you are today but maybe I'm maybe I'm preaching to people here today maybe I'm just preaching to people here today that you're new around all this and you're you're saying okay what is this Plan of Salvation you're talking about well I got good news and I got bad news there's still a half tribe of Manasseh that's still alive today it was in in Jesus's day man matter of fact think about this right here the Bible says that that Jesus showed himself alive to to around 500 people before he ascended to heaven so from the time his death his burial and then his resurrection there's like 500 people that witnessed his resurrected body 500 people that saw nail scars I I say nail scars they were not nail scars they were nail prints I mean it wasn't scar scred yet he'd only been he'd only been risen for a little time they saw the wounds in his hands they they saw he wore he wore sandals he he wore Jesus sandals they they saw his feet right they they they knew who he was they had heard the testimony they they understood what had happened so here he is and I wish I had time to read the the whole passage but I don't but here he is and he he's about to ascend to heaven and he's gathered people together and some some believe all 500 were right there on the mount before he ascended and he's saying go to Jerusalem wait on the promise of the father I like that word promise it's going to fit right there wait for the promise of the father go to Jerusalem woo not many days hence you're going to be endued with power from on high you're going to receive power of the Holy Ghost going to make you a power to be a witness it's going to give you power and authority it kind of reminds me a whole lot of God telling the people to go across the Jordan right go across the Jordan I'm going to give you power when you get into the promised land I'm to give you Authority when you get in the promised land wo and I got to think about this today I thought to myself oh here we go because Jesus is still giving promises there's still promises oh I've already said the promise is unto you and to your children it's not just me but it's to my daughters it's just not my daughters but my future son-in-laws and my future grandchildren and the promises for me so why in the world when I not pass over Jordan and receive the promise that's been promised to me oh some of y'all way ahead of me because you know that that half the tribe didn't show up to the upper room can you imagine Chris can you imagine watching Jesus ascend to Heaven Come on y'all this was before hot air balloons and hang gliders watching Jesus Bible says that that he had to sent angels to tell them to leave the mount because they're and they're going and you can't judge them after seeing that are you kidding me they didn't obey the pro they didn't obey Jesus's words to go to Jerusalem only 120 show up to the upper room on the day of Pentecost because come on let's let's review coming out of Egypt that's repentance right you're leaving the world that's repentance is more than just being sorry for sin repentance is leaving behind sin it's a beautiful thing repentance I know people a lot of times you'll see them in in the Altar and they'll be crying when they repent that I get it woo I get it there's some sorrow there's some shame but man when you truly repent that's when Joy takes place that's when you see people with a smile in their face cuz like I ain't going back there I don't have to be bound by that anymore that's leaving Egypt and and the Bible the Bible tells us the B the B very clearly states Paul clearly stated that just like the Israelites went through the Red Sea and went through the water that's how baptism doth now save us you got to get through the water that's that that's that's that's letting a sin not only are you sorry for it not only are you leaving it behind but you got to get it washed off you you got to go through the Red Sea you got to get that sin washed off AIA but that's not where salvation ends that gets you ready for salvation because now here you're in the wilderness and I know a lot of people get confused because they feel like the Wilderness is Earth and the promised land is heaven no no no no no because in the promised land there were giants in the Pro in the promised land there was sin right in the promised land there was death in the promised land uh there was a certain time when when when when the earth opened up and people were consumed by the Earth that's not what heaven sounds like to me oh no no the promised land Canaan is the promise receiving the promise when you go across the Jordan woo that's when you receive the gift of the Holy Ghost you leave Egypt you repent oh come on Peter preached about this on the day of Pentecost he said repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Jesus for the remission of your sins and then you got to cross in you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost but just like Moses didn't make the two and a half tribes go across God's not going to force you to receive his Spirit oh no if you're going to receive the spirit of God in your life today if you're going to receive the spirit and the Bible says when they receive the spirit on the day of Pentecost and it's still happening today they begin to speak in another tongue W that something began to happen on the outside that was telling people that something was happening on the inside the most unruly part of the body the most unruly organ the tongue was taken captive and taken over because they gave themselves to God they crossed over Jordan and God said I will turn that which is the most unruly part of your body into something that's going to prove that my spirit has filled your body and they began to speak in another tongue a tongue they didn't understand it was tongues like as of angels it was a tongue there was the evidence of the Holy Ghost and today here we go and this is where my altar service it begins right here because today there are people in this room and you have listen I I take nothing away from the relationship you have with God some of you for years and years have had a strong relationship with God you've accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and I have too when I came out of Egypt I said God I want you to be my savior it wasn't accepting him as in like like I was like doing him a favor it was me saying the world is no longer my home Satan is no longer my father I I'm accepting I want a new father I want a new savior I want somebody that can deliver me oh let me tell you something if you've accepted the Lord God as your personal savior thank God because faith is where it all begins belief is where it all begins but that's not where it ends oh no because you got to get through the Red Sea you've got to go down in the water in Jesus name if you're here today and you've been wondering should I do it oh please I beg of you don't be so content in your walk with God that you don't realize you got to take another step you got to get through the Red Sea you're not safe on the other side of the Red Sea it's too easy to get back to Egypt on that side of the Red Sea but if you'll say God I'll do whatever your word says if the book of Acts if Acts chapter 2 Acts chapter 8 Acts chapter 10 Acts chapter 19 if they were buried in water in the name of Jesus if they were immersed that signified the death of Christ and the burial of Christ if they were immersed I'll be immersed if they did it I'll do it I will not be content with my walk but I'll cross the Red Sea I'll be baptized in Jesus name because there's remission in baptism remission means removal you don't have to stay in that come on this is this is the the joyous thing about salvation is those that baggage that weighs you down you don't have to keep itth you don't have to hold on to ith it doesn't have to slow you down you can be anything God wants you to be if you can get the baggage off you and that's where remission comes in but then oh you call out the name of Jesus over your life and now all of a sudden this is where Authority comes into your life because we got to be in Christ and then when we cross the Jordan Christ becomes in US woo in Christ Christ in us in Christ Christ in us I want to listen everything if we're to be joint ears with Christ we got to have his name it's all about sunship it's all about having the name of Jesus applied to your life uh it becomes if you will your Sur name your last name becomes Jesus because now aren't we the family of God because why we share the same name but that all takes place when you cross over Jordan please whatever you do don't be content where you are God I don't want to wake up like I said on my deathbed and wonder to myself have I done everything that I needed to do to be right with God to be ready to see God matter of fact stand to your feet because in the very closing of this message I asked my wife and and family if you if you'll get our team ready oh I asked there's a song we sing around here that talks about breakthrough because sometimes you get in a spiritual State of Mind where you get stuck where you are anybody ever been there I've been there you get stuck where you are and although you've heard the promise come on somebody I I'm looking out here I know those people here that that have had Bible studies and and you've been taught and you've you've seen it you've read it for yourself you you've nodded your head in agreement but you're stuck where you are oh I've got good news because we call that a breakthrough there's got to be a breakthrough of the Mind a breakthrough of the heart a breakthrough of the Spirit uh a breakthrough of the Soul because you got to say God I'm ready to listen to your words H I've been listening to the voice of the adversary too long he's telling me just to remain happy where I am content where you are you don't have to have a happy marriage all you got to do is stay married you don't have to have kids that are living for God you just got to keep your kids in your home you don't have to have a ministry that's filled with Revival and filled with fire you just got to have some sort of ministry but I'm here to tell you today God if you'll let us break through oh every one of those thoughts and every one of those lies I don't want to be idle because idleness is the Devil's Playground I don't want to be in a state oh God where I don't know where I am and don't know who I am and lose my identity but God I need a breakthrough come on somebody I wish you would close your eyes and lift up your hands to heaven and begin to pray this prayer with me God give me a breakthrough God I don't want to be a murmurer I don't want to be a complainer but God I want to see you Lord God as a God that provides not for 40 years of eating the same thing but God that you provide for me a way to get to the promised land uh you provide me with a pathway you're light to my path you're lamp to my feet Lord your word I'm going to hide it in my heart that I might not sin against you and when I hide it in my heart it's going to reveal to me Lord God that I've got to cross the Jordan I wish the saints of God right now would begin to pray with me for every person who has not made a decision to seek for the Holy Ghost and receive receive the promise come on S of God if you've got the Holy Ghost uh if you've got the Holy Ghost by the evidence of speaking in tongues uh I wish right now you would join together with me in a loud prayer come on I need Apostolic Pentecostals to join me right here I believe there's people in this room who are hungry who see the need and maybe just don't know how to do it but come on somebody I wish you begin to pray for them pray for them that they would repent pray for them they see the neede to be buried in the water in Jesus name uh pray for them that understand the need to cross over the Jordan and receive the promise uh come on saints of God help me right here in Jesus name every person under the sound of my voice who has not taken a step uh oh that they find themselves content where they are God I pray that you would shake up their life a little bitth that you would stir inside of them something Lord God a hunger that they've never felt before a hunger for your word uh a hunger for your spirit uh for Above All Else uh I must be saved uh for above all else I must be saved whatever you have to do to me God whatever you have to do to me Lord God I must be saved come on come on keep this prayer going I open this altar breakthrough in my heart breakthrough in my mind I need a breakthrough in my spirit a breakthrough in my soul uh a breakthrough in my weakness a breakthrough in my struggle come on the song says you are the God you are the god of the Breakthrough I need a breakthrough in My Worship I need a breakthrough in my praise uh oh I need breakthrough when I LIF when I glorify your name come on somebody you need a breakthrough in your dance you need a breakthrough in your shout I want you to know you serve A God Called breakthrough uh his name is GRE uh his name is power he is for you not against you and if he's for you who can be against you who can be against you come on somebody begin to praise Him begin to worship Him begin to pray for a breakthrough let the Holy Ghost fall let