Man Up

Now, uh, brother Sloan and brother Robinson and myself, we do go a long way back. And I won't be telling any stories because I got stories to tell, too. So, we just we keep everybody safe that way. But, uh, I was a little concerned when I came in and seen the platform. I wasn't sure have the energy to climb all those steps to get up here. But, we did we did okay. We did good. I'd have to take a rest break or anything. So life is good. Do want to say again how much I appreciate the opportunity to come. It is I never take it lightly when someone invites me to come and minister because I look at it this way. U souls can be touched and changed through the singing, the praise, the worship, and through the word. I do want to give honor to my friend Tim Robinson for the invitation to come and be a part of this and for his friendship over the years back when we were both single. We spent a lot of time together. We believe that right there also give honor to my to my friend as well, brother Raymond Sloan, pastor here and section two presenter for allowing me the opportunity to come minister to this wonderful congregation group of men that are gathered to my friend brother Winningham. I trying to uh he left the Tennessee North America mission board or committee. I'm trying to recruit him back. So, we'll see. We'll see how that works. I mean, you never know. And he did say I may say something about church planning. So, if you want to plant a church, see your pastor and we'll take it from there. There we go. That works. And I'm getting some stuff done here. I mean, things are happening around here. This is quick. I like the way section two works. Second and none. Right. And then where brother remember section two, brother Sanders was there. Second and none. second to none. But uh also a sincere thank you to all you for coming out on a Friday night on on a good Friday night. On a good Friday night. So give yourself a hand clap. Say I did good. Come on. Sometimes you got to compliment yourself a little bit. You know, I got a I got a t-shirt that I wear that says it's not polite to stare, but I do understand. So, and sometimes you got to compliment yourself. I tell my wife all the time, sometimes I go by the mirror and go, "Oh, wow. She is lucky to have me. She She don't say that. I say that. If you grab your Bibles or they may put on the screen tonight, uh John the 12th chapter verses 32 and 33. I was a little concerned about the title the Lord gave me tonight until I heard these songs and thank you so much because now I know that I won't get beat up with my title. So that that makes it all worth it. But u it says this. It says, "And I if I be lifted up from the earth will draw all men unto me." Verse 33 of course explains it. And this he said signifying what death he should die. For a few minutes tonight, I want to speak to us on this subject. Man up. It's not a popular phrase a lot because the world has said it's a it's a male egotistical comment to make. It's should not be said. It should not be talked about. But I believe the Bible will back it up. How about you? And uh I know this phrase can be sound a little bit harsh and negative, but my prayer is within the next few minutes together here that we will allow the spirit of God to actually strengthen all of us. Is that all right? I want I want us I want him to be I want him to strengthen us because we're all aware that the term man up is an informal but matterof fact way of telling one of our friends to show some courage to you know to uh to be strong in the face of difficulties to deal with stuff just handle it especially to stop complaining. Anybody like whiners? Stop complaining and take responsibility for what's going on in your life. Now I am a lot of people want to talk about generations. Now I am part of generation X. So if I'm a little offensive tonight blame on my generation. We'll go from there. All right? Because it this this title may seem a little bit offensive like I said but when a friend somebody say a friend but when a friend says something like that to us it actually encourages us hurts our fears a little bit but all all it challenges us to actually be the man that we know we can be. with us to be the man God wants us to be, the man our family needs us to be, the man the people we're working for needs us to be, to be that man. And the scripture shares it to us, shares it with us like this when it says in Proverbs 27:17, "Iron sharpeneth iron." So a man sharpeneth the counsel of his friends. Will you pray with me one more time? Heavenly Father, as I, your son, your servant, step out of the way, I do ask that you'd minister to us tonight. that you become the voice that speaks directly and precisely into our heart, to our mind, to our spirit. So that your word, your iron, your sword can sh can change us tonight. It can shape us, God, and we can become what you have destined us to be from the very beginning. I speak this into existence tonight as we go into the preaching of your word. And one more time, I pray that you'd become the speaker, the preacher, the teacher in this room. And the men say, "In the name of Jesus, amen." You may be seated tonight in the presence of the Lord. I have several things I'd like to see accomplished here tonight, but one of them is this. I mentioned this to Brother Robinson earlier. It is my goal to stop talking before you stop listening. Okay? So, uh, if I see anybody starting to not to not off, we may just shut her down and pray. I see a guy going around. I've been blessed uh to raise five children, four girls, and one boy. Now, that boy took a little more firmness to to get to get through it. Can I get a witness on that one? But it was worth it for several reasons, but but one that's kind of comical to me is the fact that uh now I get to watch him as he raises his own son. And I stand to the side just having a little trouble there, son. Little difficulty with the boy, are you? and just go about my business because I've told my kids before uh not to cross parenting theology with anybody here tonight, but uh gentle parenting doesn't work on all kiddos because the Bible says this, and I used to have my son help me demonstrate this at church just for the fun of it, but the Bible says this that foolishness is bound in the heart of a child. I say, "Son, come here. But the rod of correction drives it far from him. And so, no, seriously, there's something about taking a boy and loving him, shaping him, molding him into the man that God has destined him to be. I did something with my son that I'd never seen done before whenever he got married. Uh, brother brother Ron Phillips uh mentioned the fact that it was something that's acting the Bible and I wasn't trying to be spiritual. I just something I wanted to do. When my son got married, most of the time the father walks the daughter down the aisle, but I walked with my son down the aisle to start the wedding. We stopped right before we went to the platform where I stood on the platform and I put my hand on his head and I prayed for him and I prayed specific prayers. God, make him a make him more dedicated to you than even I am. Give him a closer relationship with you than I've ever had. and God make him a better man than me, a better father than me, a better husband than me, because I've got to I want to see him become more than what I could ever be. There's something about taking a man and turning him or taking a boy and turning him into a man. But being that being said, we as men often need the Lord to direct to be direct with us, be very direct with us. So I believe that God is calling each of us tonight to simply man up. Me included. Man, there's a place that we come to in our relationship with God where everything changes. Everything changes. In Genesis 3:11, we find God calling Adam out on what he done. He came walked the guard. Where are you? Where are you? Where are you? Finally, Adam said, I was I was ashamed. I was naked. I was ashamed. I hid myself. God called him out. Who told you you were naked? Have you done what I told you not to do? And so Adam did not confess straight out. Listen to what Adam said. Verse 12. And the man said, the woman whom you gave me, she gave me of the tree and I didn't eat. So see, it really wasn't my fault, God. It was your fault and her fault. If you not giving her to me, I wouldn't be having this problem right now. And so, as men, we have come to a place in our life where we're always hiding, hiding out from the reality of what's going on. So I believe the spirit of the Lord is calling all of us to come out of that hiding to step up and take responsibility. Stop blaming others. And do you ever notice how when that that whole story took place, he blamed God and the and the and the woman, she blamed the serpent. >> It was a blame game. It's where it started. How many times today have you heard somebody in your life the next last year or so blame somebody else for something that they did? >> Well, well, it wasn't me. It wasn't my fault. It wasn't my bad. It was this. It was that. Somewhere along the way, that has to stop. Somewhere the buck has to stop. And I believe the buck stops with men. >> I believe this is my firm belief. We have to come out of hiding. Stop blaming others. Stand on our own two feet and take responsibility for our actions. Now, I I'll get you some Bible here in just a second. So, let's let's do that. Let's get some some Bible involved in this. All right. Jacob did kind of the same thing. Several chapters later in the book of Genesis, he finally got away from from Laban. He's headed home and he hears that his brother Esau is coming to greet him with 400 men. That's quite a greeting party. And the last thing he knew about Esau was Essa said, Esau said, "I'm going to kill you." And so Esau had his way with 400 men. So Jacob sends some gifts ahead here. Go appease his anger's wrath. Not only did he send gifts ahead, but he sent his servants ahead. He sent the two his uh Rachel and Leah's uh maids ahead. He he sent the sons ahead. He even sent his own wives ahead. Everything he sent ahead of him, he did. Remember, check it out. Genesis 32:22. He rose up that night, took his two wives, his two women servants, his 11 sons, and passed over the fordbach. And he took them, sent them over the brook, sent over all that he had. >> Y'all go over there. This all took place at this place called Jbach. Jbach is a place in our lives where everything changes. We all have a Jbach. We will all have a Jbok if you haven't had one already. But not all are willing to go to Jay-B. Now listen closely. Not all are willing to do this. To travel to this place in God is a whole different ballgame. Not all things and not everyone is willing to have that Jay-Bock encounter that we're going to be talking about tonight. J-bach encounters separates those who are willing to abandon all for God to those who are not willing to give up anything and keep it all their own desires, their own idols. The word jab jbach actually means a pouring out and emptying. So Jbach is a place of sacrifice. It's a place of surrender where we have to give up. Now, we come to this story of Jacob as he's left his uncle Laban's house and is heading back home again. He hears about Esau coming. Esau's coming to to basically to kill him, it looks like. And Jacob Debbock knew that he had stolen the blessing from his brother. Now, he he kind of conned his brother out of the birthight, but he right stole the blessing, something that should have been Esau's, the oldest. With Esau moving toward him, Jacob is now at Jabbok. He's taken his family. He's taken his livestock. He's taken everything he had, sent them over the brook, sent them over all that he has was over on the other side. And now verse 24, we find that of that same chapter, chapter 32, this encounter begins to unfold because it says Jacob was left alone and there wrestled with a man with him until the breaking of day. First men, let's talk about Jbok. This is a personal encounter. My dad can't go. My mom can't go. Your wife can't go, your siblings can't go, your uncles, your aunts, your children, none of them can go because we find out that he was left alone. Jbok is a place where we have to do battle by ourselves. And the all night battle commenced. One hour turned into two and the battle raged on. Two began to unfold into four and then to six. And the struggle continued to go on and on and on. And this portion of it, we learn that at Jbach, Jacob had to surrender. Somebody say surrender. Surrender his time for this battle. This is not something that's going to happen quick. And I believe there's some people in this room tonight that you may be in a personal JBO. By the time we're done here, I pray you'll find some serious encouragement. So, so, so hear me, man. We will never prevail at Jbach unless we're willing to invest or can I say surrender our time to the encounter. We got to be willing to put some time into it. You and I listen closely will have to be willing to sacrifice one of the only uh commodities in life that we can never get back our time. You can encounter, you can invest money, make some money back. You can invest, you know, property, get some property back. But when it comes to your time, you never get to do a doover. When you invest time into this encounter, you're giving God something, giving this encounter something that you'll never be able to get back again. It's a major investment. It's a major investment, men. Time with God is the only real change agent in our present world. Let me say it again. Time with God is the only real change agent in our in our world today. There's no other change agent. There's nothing else that can get us there. Nothing else get us close to without spending time with God, we're never really going to change. We're nothing's going to become different. Nothing's going to become new. Nothing's going to begin to grow within us unless we're spending time in his presence because I can't be like who I've never been around. I can't be like who I don't spend time with. I got to see them. I got to talk to them. I got to hear them. I got to visit with them. I got to know them if I want to become like them. And the Bible tells me when I see him, I shall be like him. So therefore, I got to spend some time with him. So again, let me say it. Time with God is the only real change agent in our world. If we move on down in Genesis 32:25, it says, "And when he," talking about the man, the angel, "aw prevailed not against him." Is it okay if I kind of teach tonight? You know, do the hammer down trying to be evangelistic because I'm not evangelist. But when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh. And the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint as he wrestled with him. Here we find Jacob had to surrender one more thing. He had to surrender his strength. If you've ever been in a wrestling match, you find one of the greatest points of strength in that wrestling match is that thigh. And if you don't have it, you're pretty well handicapped. You things aren't going to go your way. So he had to surrender his strength. So therefore, because that thigh was out of joint, that hip was out of joint, it took all his body and all the strength of his body, all his abilities to make up for that weakness, for that thigh that was no longer given support. Just pain. A J a Jbok encounter is going to take your strength. It's going to sometimes take all your strength. It's going to require your abilities that you didn't even realize you had. for this encounter will touch you, alter you, make you different, but again, it's going to go have to take go beyond just your natural ability. So yes, there will also be discomfort and pain. Not popular in our world today, but discomfort and pain at J-bach. There's going to be some things change. So let me say it like this. Men, we will never possess his strength. We'll never possess his abilities as long as we're holding on to ours. As long as I'm depending on my strength and my ability to wrestle, my ability to to stand on my own two feet, so to speak, and my own ability to work things through, I'll never possess his strength. I'll never possess his abilities. As long as I'm depending on me and me alone. >> Now, you believe you just said, "Man up." Well, stay with me. We We'll get there. So, let's move on real quickly before y'all stop listening. Genesis 32:26-28. And he said, "Let me go." Again, we're talking about the man, the angel. Let me go for the day breakth. And Jacob said, "I will not let you go except you bless me." Now, Jacob is a very self-centered person. Has been his entire life. We see it here again. I'm going to I'm not letting you go till you bless me. Because in his mind, that blessing would would save his life from Esau. It was all about him. He'd already seen everything. He had a head to kind of trying to appease him. But now then he said, "Okay, God, you got to bless me. I'm not letting you go till I get something for myself. It's about me." And he said unto him, "What is your name?" He said, "Jacob." And the man said, "Your name shall no shall shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel, for as a prince, you have power with God and with man and has prevailed." So here, Jacob had to surrender. Somebody say surrender. Surrender his identity. Now back in that day when someone asked you what your name was that wasn't a statement say hey what I call you it would just say who are you I want to know who you are I want to know some more about you I want to get a real glimpse of who you are inside not not what not what I see out here but I want to know who you are and so Jacob had to come face to face with reality face to face with truth of who he really was. When he said, it seemed like a little thing to us, but he said, "My name is Jacob." What he was saying is, "I have become what they named me. I am a suppler. I'm a hecatcher. I'm a trickster. I'm a con. I'm a player. That's who I am." He said, "That's who I am. That that's my real identity. That's exactly who I am." So, he had to surrender his identity. He had to to to face the truth. And men at Jbach, it will reveal what we really are. It'll reveal our identity. And we'll have to surrender it. It will identif it will so it it'll identify exactly who we are when no one's watching, when no one's around, when we're by oursel. I can you can look at me, oh, that's a that's a that's a it's a man of God or that's a that's a brother of the church, whatever. And that may be all you know of me, but God knows a lot more about me than you know. God knows who I am when nobody's watching, when nobody's around. He knows my inner thoughts. He knows my inner actions. He knows everything. And Jbach, I'm going to have to come face to face with exactly who I am. This is who I am, God. This is my shortcomings. This is my problems. This is where I'm broken, God. This is where I need you to fix me. >> I have to come face to face with that. >> I have to can I say be exposed. There will be no deceptions, no tricks, no coverups at Jbach. And this is often where the separation begins. Some may give their time. Some may be willing to surrender their strength. But most of the time it's our identity. We struggle with being truthful about who we really are. We struggle with Allen because that truth hurts us and that truth actually only we know. So to make that public knowledge, if you would, and to make that spoken out, we have to come face to face with it. Face and not everybody's willing to come face to face with the truth of who they are. Face to face with the fact that they're not what they appear to be or they're they're what they want people to think they are. I I have a if you if you talk to about my church, you know, have a I have a real problem with social media. I I I dabble in just a little bit, but a little bit only because I have a problem with it because say social mo social social media though it has a lot of good benefits. It's also a a huge platform for self-centerness. All about me. Look at me here. Look at my selfie. Look at it's all about me. Me. Look how happy I am. Y'all see that? Y'all catch that? That that's No, but but that that's what that's what had to change at JBox. Jay-Bock is not Facebook. It's not Instagram. It's not Snapchat. It's now JBok is real. Jay-Bock, you come face to face with God. And God God don't play our games with us. Can I get a witness on that one? But if we're going to prevail at J-bach, we have to surrender our identity. Men, our identity must be surrendered in order to attain his identity. >> I don't want to be seen as me. >> I want to be able to hide the shadow of who he is. So when people look at me, they don't see me, but they see him. But that's only going to happen when I come face to face with who I am and fess up to it and say, "This is who I am, God. But I want to be you. I want to be seen through you. I want people to see you, not me. Let me hide the shadow of the cross. Let me walk behind the Messiah. Let everybody see exactly who you. And I'll never get THAT IDENTITY AS LONG AS I'M HOLDING ON TO WHO I am and who I think I'm going to be." Because me holding my identity is nothing but pride lived out. >> It's all it is. Now, if we move on down in Genesis 32:29, and Jacob answered him and said, "Tell me, I pray thee thy name." And he said, "Wherefore is it you do after my name?" And he blessed him there. Now, talking about being transparent, I have to be honest tonight. That verse always gave me a problem. It was like there was no reason for it. just like, "Oh, here's a good way to end the story." You know, what's your name? Why you ask that to mine? Here's your blessing. It didn't really click with me. But then I got to thinking one death, you know, I don't think the Lord puts things in the Bible just as a good way to end the story. There's got to be more to this. And some of you scholars out there probably know probably know what it is, but I'm going to give you my take on it, which is my two cents, so to speak. But I felt the Lord began to speak to me and allow me to see that it was at this place in the story where Jacob surrendered his desires. And stay with me on this. We saw Jacob while ago say, "I'm not let you unless you bless me. It's about me." But the word desire is when you take a need and a want and you compact it and you compile it together. You compound it. You compound it all down. You all put that all together. Need won't smash together in one big glob. That's a desire. There's a part of us a need, part of us a want. But but the need drives the want. The want drives the need. It's like this is this is what I want. No, this is what I need. So it becomes something that really lives inside of us. And Jacob came to this encounter with only one desire. It was a need and it was a want, but that was to be blessed. But somewhere in the middle of the wrestling match, somewhere in the middle of the night, somewhere in the process of it all of of it all, his desire changed. And in this verse, I believe we see that desire revealed when he no longer is asking to be blessed, but now he's asking, "Who are you? What is your name?" again. Not what do I call you, but who are you? You see, when Jacob's desire changed from bless me, it changed to I want to know you now. It's about you. Who are you? I got to know more about you. I got to I got to know more about what's changing inside of me. And you're making something change inside of me. I got to know more about that. And we see that once that desire changed, then he was blessed. Blessings only come when the desire changes. As long as it's about me, I'll never get my blessing. But when it becomes about my hunger for him, not my mouth just saying it, but a true hunger from my heart about him, then the blessings begin to come. They don't come because I say the right things. They don't come because I sing the right songs. They don't come because I stand the right time, clap my hands. They don't come because of that. THEY DON'T COME BECAUSE of anything that I do. It comes from what's inside of me. God, I want to know you. I want to understand you. I want to get closer to you, LORD. I WANT YOU to live inside of me. It's not enough, GOD, FOR ME TO HAVE THE HOLY GHOST. I GOT TO HAVE THE HOLY GHOST. THE HOLY GHOST THE HOLY GHOST HAS GOT TO HAVE ME. I SAID THE HOLY GHOST HAS GOT TO HAVE ME. THE HOLY GHOST HAS GOT TO HAVE ME. I DON'T JUST WANT THE WORD INSIDE OF ME. I WANT THE WORD TO HAVE ME. I WANT TO CHANGE ME. I WANT TO BE A PART OF WHO I AM. WHEN PEOPLE SEE ME, THEY GOT TO SEE YOUR SPIRIT. WHEN PEOPLE SEE ME, THEY GOT TO SEE AND HEAR YOUR WORD. Not because I'm preaching, but because how I walk and how I talk and how I live and the things that I do. There's something powerful when we get to the place where we can surrender these things to the Lord. Surrendering our time and our strength. Surrendering our identity and surrendering our desires. Do you think could it be that it was at the moment that Jacob gave his that this was the moment that Jacob gave his heart for the first time to God? No longer desiring or wanting his way, his will, but now surrendering it all. I'll give you all, Lord. You have my time. You have all my strength, my abilities. You can you can have you can have all of my all of my identity, who I am, who I think I am, who I ever be. And you can have all of my desires, everything that I would ever want in this life. All of my dreams, they're now yours, God. That's a huge, huge thing. And we read in Genesis 32:31 as we end the story up and as he passed over Panel, the sun rose upon him and he halted upon his thigh. Let me tell you something, man. You'll never have an encounter with God like this and leave there walking the same. You will always walk different after getting that close to him. And so the rest of his life, Jacob carried that battle with him. Jacob carried that night with him. Every step he took, he felt it. Every every time he wanted to run, he he remembered it. Every time I think his desires begin to creep up, he noticed he was limping. He, you know what? I need to go back to that night, church. There's some times in our life, we need to go back to some nights. We need to go back sometimes where God or we had a time with God in a corner somewhere, in a prayer room somewhere, in our bedroom somewhere, wherever it might have been, and we had we we got our face in the carpet and God came and met us. There's sometimes we need to go back to those points where we had a time with God and remember, you know what? I remember what that was like and I want to have that encounter again. I want to go back there again. I may have to I may I may have grabbed a hold of some some things that I need to let go of. Maybe I do need to let go of some more time. Maybe I do let go of my identity again. See what I'm saying? I need to go back to that because I want to walk away changed. Not all are willing to go to Jbach. Oh, but those that are will always leave there changed. A new walk, a new identity, and a greater desire to know him. At this point, when we leave there now, we're like the Apostle Paul when he wrote to the church of Philippi saying that I may know him and the power of his resurrection. Oh, that's great. Woo, I like that. Power of his resurrection. Oh, let's hold a second. hand in the fellowship of his suffering. Oh, that's that's God can do that. Oh, we're not done yet. Being made conformable unto his death, I must decrease and he must increase. Basically he says he went on to say being made conformed to his death if by any means I might attain into the resurrection of the dead. I can't have a resurrection unless I have a death. He will never exalt us in due season. We first have not humbled oursel under his mighty hand. Our God is a reaction God. If I repent, he forgives me. If I humble, he exalts me. If I'm baptized, he takes away my sins. If I seek him, he gives me his spirit. If I need healing and I pray for it, I get forgiven. See what I'm saying? He reacts to what I do. He reacts to my faith. Jesus also had a Jbok encounter. Not like, not like Jacob's. It wasn't it wasn't actually at Jbach. But the Jbach encounter is not a Pacific place. It's a specific situation, circumstances that arise. Let's let's just go through this one real quick. Jesus's encounter was just as real, just just as intense. His encounter happened in the Garden of Gethsemane where he went to pray. And from what we can tell, he prayed up into the night. It wasn't just a quick, "God, take this cup for me. I really don't really don't want to drink this one. You help me out. I appreciate it." go back and see his disciples sleeping, napping. Uhuh. This was intense. Pray the night. So therefore, that length of prayer and that length of time, what was Jesus doing? He was surrendering his time. His last, listen, his last few hours on earth. Where do we find him? A big portion of it in the garden praying, surrendering a time he would never get back. We should be out teaching, doing miracles, you know, get things done. He was getting things done. He was surrendering his time. And then we also find that Jesus prayed in agony. He was in deep sorrow, travailing if you would, until his sweat became as great drops of blood. I've had some intense prayer sessions, brother Sloan, but I've never got there. I've never left blood on my carpet or somewhere because I was praying so hard. But this this began to happen to him. So therefore, he was s he was surrendering his strength to this to this night of sacrifice. He was surrendering his strength. Have you have you ever prayed in in intercessory travail prayer and your whole body is tense and locked up and you and you walk away from your body's in pain. You're going, "Man, that hurts." Can you imagine that magnified? That's what Jesus came out of. And it wasn't a a 20-minute prayer. It wasn't a an hour prayer. I believe there was some time invested here. So, he walked away from that prayer weak. He had he he surrendered his strength to that prayer. He's given his time. He's given his strength. He also gave his identity. Now you say, "Wait a minute, his identity." Now, hold on. Let me let me help you with this. It's recorded that when Judas came to Jesus and kissed him, he betrayed him. But it's also recorded twice in John, the one that, you know, the disciple Jesus loved, right? I think that we always think it's funny around our church because he puts that in his own book, the disciple Jesus loves. Okay. But anyway, but when when Jesus asked or when Yeah. who they were seeking, okay, in the book of John, Jesus talked to who who you looking for? who you seeking? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. He replied to them with this. I am revealing his identity, who he really was from the Old Testament. The I am that I am. If they'd have been close, if they had been paying attention, they would have caught it. He says, "I I'm the I am the I am of the Old Testament was standing right here before you in the flesh. You looking for Jesus? I am." >> He He surrendered his identity. He didn't tell very many people who he was. Now there's others that he tried to some the demons try to share and stuff like that but but he said I am. So he surrendered his time. But you also find that Jesus surrendered and sacrificed his desires and his wants with these words of agonizing prayer when he said, "Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me." And probably one of the hardest words he ever said came next. Nevertheless, have you ever been to a place in prayer where you got to that one point and you knew you was fixing to really let go of something that you've been holding on to and you paused thinking about it, critiquing it, going over in your mind, should I do I really need to let go of this? says, "This is this is really what I need to do." I mean, I feel it eating me up, but I don't know. I believe that's where Jesus was that night. Father, I don't believe it was a simple father thy will at this pastor. Nevertheless, I don't think it went that way. I think it was slow. I think it was methodically thought out. And I think he got to that one point he paused. And I think nevertheless was some of the hardest words that ever crossed his lips. never less because I believe he knew about the nails and I believe he knew about the whip and I believe he'd already seen the crown of thorns and I believe he understood the spear was going to be in his side. I think he knew the agonizing pain of that cross. So therefore it was not an easy thing to say nevertheless. He knew his flesh was have to have to die. I said never. I've been there so many times in prayer. Nevertheless, not my will but yours but yours be done. Life altering changing prayer. Never last. You see the desires of his flesh that night had to surrender to the spirit of God that lived within him. He was both man and God. And his flesh had his desires. His flesh still had some things had to go. So that's why the nevertheless had to be in there. His flesh had to submit and surrender to the spirit of God that dwelt inside. So when you and I begin to think that we're dealing with things he's never dealt with. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Our flesh had to submit and surrender to the spirit of God that lives with inside of us. And it's not not always an easy thing, but nevertheless can say it has to be done. So again, you can call this Jbach experience if you want to. You can call it a place of submission if you want to. You can call it a place of sacrifice or whatever you want to call it. For it was where one sinless man, an innocent, the innocent, the pure, the holy one was left hanging on a rugged cross. His blood poured out. We'll all hear about it probably this Sunday. His blood poured out, but he was at this point, listen closely, he was raised in the air. He was lifted up. And he said, "And I, if I be lifted up, I will draw all men, all men unto me, church men, hear me this this evening." God may take us to a very low place, and we may be humbled down, but one day he's going to lift us up, not for our glory, not for our glory, BUT FOR HIS. AND WHEN WE'RE LIFTED UP, IT'S TO DRAW MEN unto him. So that's why I say I BELIEVE THE SPIRIT IS TELLING THE MEN OF THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH, MAN UP. MAN UP. Man up. AND I MAN UP ON MY KNEES. I MAN UP ON A IN A IN A CLOSET OF PRAYER. I MAN UP IN MY TIMES OF INTERCESSORY. I MAN UP BY GIVING MYSELF TO PRAISE AND WORSHIP. I MAN UP BY AMEN AS A PASTOR. I MAN UP BY GETTING INVOLVED IN A CHURCH SOMEWHERE. I'M MAN UP BY DOING the things OF THE LORD THAT NOT COMFORTABLE FOR ME TO DO. BECAUSE MANNING UP IS A WORD THAT SAYS NEVERTHELESS NOT MY WILL BUT YOURS be done. >> When it comes right down to it. Doing the things of God is not easy to do. remain standing with me. But it's like this. That day on the cross, a flag of surrender was waved. We say surrender. Yes, he was s his spirit or his flesh was surrendered to the spirit. A flag of surrender was waved on the cross at Calvary, signifying that our debt had been paid. >> Signifying that the spotless lamb had taken away our sins and that flag is still flying 2,000 years later, saying, "LET ALL THAT WANT TO COME COME TO ME. COME TO ME. WHOSOEVER WILL, LET THEM COME. WHOSOEVER WILL, let them come. But the question still remains >> for us. >> Are there any among us that are willing to have a J-bach encounter or maybe to go back and visit one of our J-Bach encounters? >> Willing to make the journey to surrender not just a little bit but everything. Surrender our time, our strength, our identity, even our wants, our desires, our plans, our ambitions to become a true worshipper. Because worship is surrender. We use praise and worship interchangeably, but they're not. For to truly worship means to bow down, to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, to sacrifice our will for his will, to surrender our dreams for his desires and his divine destiny. Abraham said the music to come, but he's quick. Wow. You were amazed. That's pretty cool. Out of nowhere, I didn't see him come up this side. I didn't see him come up this side. He man up. But it's like this. Abraham ascends to Mount Mariah to worship, meaning to sacrifice, to surrender. He was going to sacrifice his son Isaac. I don't know about you, but that would be a J-bach moment for me, but in the we we know the story how that there was a ram called Thicket and he he passed the test. But in the distance from that mountain, it's been said been told, I've never looked it up and studied, never been able to look for myself, but it's been said that from that mountain, in the distance, you could also see Calvary where another son would carry the wood to the top of the hill to become the sacrifice, to become the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. So Abraham had his, Jacob had his, Jesus had his, you and I have had ours. But tonight we come back to the same question. Have we come to worship? Have we come to man up? Oh, can I say, have we come to surrender our mind, our heart, our soul, our spirit, our flesh to God? Jacob's breakthrough was found at Jbok. Jacob manned up in a place of surrender, submission to God. So, I'll close with this and you can answer the question for yourself. Who will come? It's your opportunity to pray in this service. And you may not remember a song that was sung. You may not remember a word I preached. But if you'll come and spend some time with God, you will remember what God did for you in this altar tonight. So again, the question is, who will come? who will worship, who will surrender, who longs to know God in a close, intimate, personal way, beyond anything in any way you've ever known him before. Going beyond your past experiences. Going deeper into his spirit, pushing past any barrier you've ever had before. taking the lies of the adversary that says you're not worthy and hurling them aside, saying, "I'm not here because I'm worthy. I'm here to surrender my unworthiness. I'm here to give myself to the King of Glory. I'm here because of him." Is there one tonight that can say, "I'm so glad I got the Holy Ghost, but now I want the Holy Ghost to have me." Is there one here tonight say I'm so glad I can read the word and get to know the word but I want the word to have me. I don't want to be something I read or something I memorize. I want to be something that lives within me becomes a part of who I am and I become a part of it where me and his word are one. Me and his spirit are one. I want to have him living in me but also I want to live in him. I believe there's someone here tonight that you've been in your Jbok and you've been thinking you've fallen down. You've been thinking you made too many mistakes. You think you messed up because of all the stuff that you're having to give up. All the stuff you feel like you're having to surrender to to be where God wants you to be. I'm here to tell you tonight that God has sent me to let you know that you've not because of your sins. It's not because of your mistakes. It's not because of your past. God has brought you to an encounter with him where he can change you into his image and you can become more and more like him. Don't fight the j-bach encounter, but continue to surrender. Surrender your time. Surrender your strength. Give him your abilities. Surrender your identity. Surrender your desires. And let God become the God of your life, the God of your marriage, the God of your family. Don't be discouraged. Don't be discouraged. God is working on you, making you, creating you, designing you, sharpening you to be a tool, to be a sword in his hand that can be used for his glory. God, I pray tonight that you would look inside the heart of every man that's in this room and you, God, would reach down inside of them and you to pull up the very best ability they have, the very best thing you place inside of them, God. And you'd bring it to their mind. Bring it to their mind's eye and say, "This is what I put inside of you." And let them begin to sharpen that. Let them begin to to to hone that. Begin to to work with that so they can become the very best it's ever been for your glory. Whether it be music or whether it be building, whether it be greeting people, whether it be introvert behind the scenes doing work that nobody ever sees, let them do it for your glory, God. Your glory. Lord God, this tonight is your night to speak into our lives individually, personally. Do what only you can do. that kind of lay it down. Let God know exactly who you are. Let it speak to your heart and worship, worship, worship before him. Worship before him. Worship, worship.