In the Middle of it All

thank you lord how many is thankful to be in the presence of the lord today what a wonderful opportunity and thank you for uh thank you to the worship team for leading us into the courts of the king we certainly certainly do not take for granted that not everyone can feel what we feel not everyone is partaking of what we are partaking of and we're so grateful for that i'm grateful to be with you this morning it has been a few years since we've been able to be together with you i certainly give honor to pastor sloan his wife their family and the ministry staff ministry team here it's been an interesting year for all of us and the the uh temporary facility what what a painful place what a beautiful place right the lord knows how and it just came to me i thought of course the situation that led to the to the current location a painful situation the enemy is good at breaking things down and tearing them up and the lord said yes and i'm good at resurrections too so can't have a good resurrection without a good crucifixion so this this is fixing to be something good right so we're grateful for that we're grateful for what the lord has planned in our time together today we certainly appreciate the invitation and glad to have my family with us today as a part of the ministry team in the middle of it all god is up to something i want to the next few moments turn your attention to the book of isaiah chapter 6. and in the book of isaiah chapter six verse number one it reads as fall as in the year that king josiah died i saw also the lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up and his train filled the temple above it stood seraphims and each with six wings with two covered his face with two covered his feet and with two he did fly and cried one to the other saying holy holy holy is the lord of hosts and the whole earth is full of his glory father thank you today for your presence for your mercy for your grace for your healing for your deliverance for your watchful eye for your help lord we bless you today we bless you today and we thank you today for your goodness to us ask you today touch your servant and touch us lord that as your word goes forth that it would empower us that it would change us lord we bless you in jesus name somebody shout that name clap your hands to the lord with you amen you may be seated it was an interesting backdrop to the text that we have just read it was an interesting season in human history politically socially emotionally climates and conditions at this particular time in history that we read the prophets speaking the conditions were quite tense and intense it was the death of one of the most notable characters of that point not only in location but in biblical history and the death of this particular king filled the headlines troubled the hearts of the people confused many uh there were a lot of things going on at that moment it's interesting that the prophet the spiritual man the one connected to heaven uses a political point to reference a spiritual situation he uses the death of a political character to reference or to lead into something divine he uses a a social event if you will to lead into something and to use it to pivot into the divine king usaiah in the year king uzziah died the prophet said i saw the lord who was king isaiah and how did this man gain such notability in the world at that particular time we understand quite a bit about him just through studying scripture and then of course history recorded itself it was at age 16 that isaiah became the king of of the nation and he was there in what we would call uh judah's monarchy for 52 years 52 years he reigned as a statesman as a nobleman politically known and his prosperity and the prosperity of his uh establishments and his procedures were known throughout the world he was a chief executive they say and prosperity was enjoyed in the world during his tenure and during his time uh politically as a leader his success has resulted in many victories his armies were victorious his projects and programs were successful and the world benefited from not only this individual but the social programs that overflowed the science the the arts that continue to to develop and overflow at that particular time uh his military leadership was superb it was excellent he had an amazing military mind he was organized he was prepared he was inventive and many students came and studied his maneuvers and learned his brilliant strategies of warfare on a personal level isaiah represented the fame of development that had spread throughout the world he was famous for his strength and his power and came to represent the strength and the power of the people we would call that uh the human ego the strength the pride the power of the people but desire was a man of renowned the world held its hope in him the world held its future in him and the world at that time had enjoyed five decades of progress and hope and strength and in one moment it all fell when the king died isaiah's prophecy isaiah's vision if you please is more valuable and powerful when we read it and interpret it and look at it through the eyes of modern humanity and consider the things that not only we have been through in this world over the last several months but what we have been through as a church over the last several months and then again what we have been through as individuals over the last several months this prophecy becomes more powerful this vision becomes more powerful and we begin to see that in the middle of it all god is working and god is speaking despite circumstances there's a prophet that will speak and a voice that will go forth and things that will come into divine alignment somebody thank the lord for what he's about to do remember that no matter what somebody say that with me no matter what no matter what is going on there's always a word of the lord no matter what is going on in the world god will always speak the lions can roar but god's word declares and overpowers the roar of the lion in the middle of it all he is at work god can work despite what's going on in your house god can work despite what's going on in the nation god can work despite no matter how hopeless it may look the story is told and the prophet said the year the king died the headlines were full of it people's hearts were full of it but i saw the lord i don't have to get caught up in what's going on in the world i don't take my cues from what's going on in this world i saw the lord now isaiah acknowledged the reality of his time the reality was the king died we cannot ignore the realities of our time we are pressed in by the realities of things that have happened we cannot ignore it but it does not have to steal our energy it does not have to steal our attention it does not have to steal our worship it does not have to steal our joy we've got to acknowledge the realities that have pressed in against us but we also have to acknowledge that at the end of the day god is in control he knows what he's doing and i'm thankful to be at peace in knowing that he knows what he's doing because i don't know what i'm doing i'm glad somebody's in control the psalmist and and it just so was a wonderful picture isaiah said the year the king died i saw the lord high and lifted up his train filled the temple i love it the answer is in the temple the peace is in the temple in the presence of the lord where is that where two or three of you are gathered together in my name there's the temple buildings buildings come and go the temple you that's what paul said to the church he said what don't you know that your body is the temple of the holy ghost you the holy of holies the church the people and isaiah recognized them all hell may break loose in the world but i've gone into the temple and saw the lord high and lifted up there's something about being together in the presence of god there's something about being the church and the people of god two or three of us gather together coming into agreement there's more than a hundred reasons why it's good for us to be together here today there's more than a hundred reasons why it's good for you to be a part of this local assembly because when we get into the temple when we get together there's things that we receive from god that we will not receive from this world this world will press torment this world will push its agenda and its ideologies but in the presence of the lord there's fullness of joy and at his right hand there's pleasures forevermore i'm glad to be in the presence of the lord that no matter what the doctor may have said that no matter what the headlines may have said there's fullness of joy i'm a child of the most high god i don't take my cues from what cnn is talking about i don't take my information from fox and friends i don't take my information by what's going on on social media i get in the presence of god and there's fullness of joy i can be healed today i can be delivered today it's in his courts oh somebody shout somebody give him praise i'm trying to stand still so i don't run out of the camera frame but i'm thinking to shout all over this place i'm telling you there's something about being together in the courts of the king isaiah said the year the king died and yes he died and it was awful there were riots in the street and people were losing their every loving mind but i i saw the lord i didn't get caught up in all that mess i saw the lord yeah my bank account's empty the house is falling apart and my family's a mess but i saw the lord high and lifted up oh somebody give him praise you you've got to that no matter what's going on you have to have a change of perspective you got to get in the presence of god and you have to do like the psalmist said i will lift up my eyes unto the heels from which cometh my help my help comes from the lord who makes the heavens and the earth he won't let my foot be moved the lord is my keeper the sun won't burn me by day and the moon won't mislead me by night the lord is my keeper you've got to get a change of perspective don't cry over dead kings don't cry over dead things it may be bad we have to face the reality but our focus is not the pressing reality there are two realities that we must contend with ours and his heirs says but jesus elijah's has been dead now for days surely his body has begun to deteriorate his says move the stone out of the way i want to talk to this thing ours says there's a storm out on the ocean and it's coming our way he says be still and the waters become calm there's two reality that's why the prophet said whose report will you believe because you'll always get two of them so you must choose a change of perspective god spoke of our time it was similar to isaiah's time but god spoke of the pressure of the culmination of time he said there would be distress in the land wrath upon the people many would fall by the edge of the sword the temple courts be trodden under the feet of the gentile signs in the sun and the moon and then the stars and distress of nations upon the earth with perplexity the waves the seas roaring men's hearts failing them for fear of looking after the things that are coming upon for the powers of heaven would be shaken but then they will see the son of man coming in the cloud with power and great glory when you see these things begin to come to pass lift up your head readjust your attention it's so easy to get caught up but don't do it lift up your head your redemption draweth nigh that's what we need a recalibration of our whole mentality and mindset lift up your head let me tell you something spiritual people and church folk are not exempt from getting caught up in mess they're not jesus when he walked on this earth his biggest contention was with church folk his biggest contention were with people who thought they had it all together he came to one of one day the lawyers the doctors described he said y'all think four months and harvest is coming i'm telling you lift up your eyes and refocus it's ready to happen right you all think once we get the church built and put back together then we can have church he said i'm telling you you're having it right now you don't have to wait for a building to have revival i saw the lord in the middle of it all oh somebody ought to shout and just pray god open my eyes let me see let me hear he said it well my thoughts are not your thoughts my ways are not your ways my thoughts are they're what higher than your thoughts my ways are what so don't try to bring him down here to get him figured out you get up there and start figuring it out let's get in the presence of god and let's allow god to speak to our times i've never oh i just want to let you know try to be as careful as i can because we'd like to come back not every seven years but like we're not locusts we're preachers right we're we're trying i'm trying to be as kind as i can but people getting so caught up in this mess that has gone on in the world over the last several years church folk argued about politics are you kidding me family member people that used to be i used to look at them as intelligent and composed but now family members fall apart over people's opinions hey everybody's got a right to be wrong everybody's got a right to speak your mind some of it doesn't last very long the conversation everybody's got a right but when it's all said and done what needs to happen is for you and i to get into the courts of the king you want to fix things in this world get in the presence of god you want to turn things around in this town let's get in the presence of god let's lift up our eyes let's lift up our hearts and let's not allow ourselves to get overwhelmed i'ma prove to you it's a spirit i'll prove because as i started talking about it the atmosphere changed you get nervous interacting with it i ain't nervous interacting with it it's a spirit and i am not beholden to anything but the spirit of god you do not be nervous talking about this stuff any more nervous than you have to do thrown into a fire there's a fourth man walking with us and it's not this doesn't have anything to do with policy and judiciary operations and proceed it has nothing to do with what people think it's a spiritual thing and god is bringing us into his court and he's waiting for the prophets to say again i saw the lord in the middle of it all i saw the lord they they want us and we should we should be kind but they want us to be politically correct which means we want you to fall in line with what we have made culture okay now we can be kind and we have to be respectful of everyone their background their influence where they come from what they're going through we have to be respectful of that but we are not beholden to this world's culture we are not beholden to the mentalities of this world everybody else was crying over isaiah what are we going to do now the whole world is falling apart the stock market's crashing people are killing themselves the world is falling apart there's rioting and all that was going on even at that time and isaiah said it was bad but i saw the lord high and lifted up and his train filled the temple it's a wonderful one of my favorite stories in the new testament and it's a little bit odd that it's a favorite story but it's where stephen is preaching and they catch him and they're killing him and i mean they're in it's in the middle when you read the text they are in the process of taking that boy out hitting him with stones and somewhere in the middle of it right before the last rock knocked him out he said y'all all have said but he said i see the lord and he said i see him standing now every other time in scripture when you see god he's sitting down which means right when you sit down you're comfortable where you are who you are what you're doing well he's seated at the right it means i'm comfortable i know who i am if he's standing up it means y'all hold on wait a minute something special is happening right here this is god don't you all get excited you get up out of your seat he's standing which means wait a minute this is something i got to look into so steve in the middle of it all said i see him and i'll just see him i see him standing up i see him connecting with us i see something different than i've seen at any other point in history in the middle of it all saw the lord high and lifted up and his train filled the temple kings of the earth would calculate their success and when they accomplished their successes among the celebrations among the accolades among the trophies one the kings would uh as they began an ancient practice would uh take a role for the occasion a special vesture for the occasion to celebrate you've won another battle instead of wearing all the the robes or the vestures that they had won through the battles or the different procedures and the different political advances that they made basically they would take these robes and they would add them to a garment it would become when the king came into his courts it would be like a train that followed a piece of continuing cloth that followed them and so isaiah had quite a train if you please he had quite a line of accomplishments that followed him into the courts and i'm sure that it was impressive and i'm sure that was wonderful and probably had to have several servants to help carry the train as he took his position in the courtroom or in the throne room but isaiah said i got in the king's courts the king of kings courts and i saw his train and literally it filled the temple it was overwhelming it absolutely filled the atmosphere i also saw the lord in addition i saw the lord to everything else that was going on in addition to this i saw the lord and his train filled everybody say it filled the same term the same idea is used in the new testament when the children of the most high god gather together by 120 in an upper room and they begin to pray they're under political pressure they're under religious pressure they are fearful of their own lives there was 500 of them many of them left walked away or were scared out of showing up at that meeting but there was and 120 of them in that room and suddenly there came a sound from heaven and tongues of fire sat upon them and they were all they were what filled and it filled all of the house are you hearing me this was what isaiah saw he said i see a time coming that despite what's going on there's an answer coming from heaven that will fill the courts and there will not be a power in the earth that will be able to oppose it it's the power that comes from god himself that in the middle of it all there will be a people a victorious people a holy ghost filled people a worshipping people a shouting people a serving people in the middle of it all i know it might look bad but i see the lord high and lifted up i want to tell your adversary today i see the lord high and lifted up i want to speak to my opponents today and tell them i also see the lord high and lifted up somebody stopped just a moment and let's give him praise the power to witness the power to overcome the power not just to push back but to overtake the spirit of this world the spirit of the adversary that has tried so vehemently a year ago this week in nashville massive tornado toured not only through nashville all the way into putnam county across the state and a month later right here and then of course during all of this we have this international pandemic now conveniently placed in a political year and aren't we getting to like those conveniently placed in the middle of a political year conveniently placed in the middle of our lives and all the other stuff that's going on that has captured or vied for the capture of our attention but in the middle of it all god is working a miracle i'm sure of it i'm thankful for it and i can sense his wonder work in power here today as we're gathered how many of y'all can feel that stand with me and we're going to pray if you need a miracle today well god can provide it he has laid out his word and to confirm his word he will perform that miracle so here's what to do just like the prophet isaiah it looks bad lord you know the report you know the finances you know the condition you know whatever it is i'm gonna lay it out before you but i'm gonna i'm in your courts so i'm gonna stand before you and i'm just gonna say in the middle of it all i see the lord i'm gonna lay that other stuff down i see the lord i need a miracle i need him to maybe fill me or refill me with his presence i see the lord so whether it's physical whether it's spiritual whether it's emotional no matter what it might be i see the lord i also see him high and lifted up and he's got the power to conquer this thing he's got the power to perform the miracle that power is here right now so with our hands lifted with our hearts not only attuned to him but if you'll open your mouth and if you'll just begin to pray you don't have to have a king james english to pray you don't have to have right words or preachers words to pray just open your mouth and say god right where i am right where my need is right where my anxiety is right where my fear is right where all of these things are i also see you in the middle of it all and i repent for allowing things and situations to capture my joy capture my attention but god today you you have captured my attention you've captured my heart you've captured my soul lord and so right now standing in your presence i also see you high and lifted up healer of my body deliverer of my household rescuer in my situation that's it with our voices lifted right now you need a miracle you could step out of your seat you can come into this altar area and pray and we'll pray with you all right where you are reach around pray with somebody let the virtue of the cross flow through you today let the virtue of the cross flow through you today let's let the lord in the middle of it all let him work while you're praying while your voice is lifted toward the heavens believe in god miracles are happening today let's pray right now for somebody's let's pray right now god this precious family god this precious family in jesus name today right now god