The Consuming Kingdoms

I do feel like I have something from the Lord here tonight. I want to turn your attention to Matthew chapter 13. And we're going to begin at verse number 33, just one verse tonight. I say this and I pray that you understand my spirit when I say this, but I really feel like the Lord has shown me a revelation for the hour that we're living in right now. And I want to do my best, my best to pull from this scripture the Word of the Lord here and try to just talk to you tonight from my heart. Matthew chapter 13, verse number 33. It says, another parable, spake he unto them, the kingdom of heaven is liken unto leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of male till the whole was leavened. I want to talk to you tonight simply on this thought.

I want to talk to you on the consuming kingdoms. There are kingdoms in this world and they're trying to consume you. And there's a kingdom that we should let consume us. And that's the kingdom in this parable. And I want to try to talk to you a little bit about that tonight. So I know we've prayed, but before we go any further, would you just pray that God would allow revelation to flow here tonight and that he would anoint me to deliver it correctly. Lord, I love you. I thank you for your word. I thank you for this beautiful congregation that has come together to hear your word, God, that on a Wednesday night in a busy life and a busy schedule, they have set aside their time, their effort, their energy to hear from you. Now I ask God that you would anoint me to deliver your word correctly.

Pray God that you would flow through me. I lose the gifts of the spirit into this atmosphere and I pray you would confirm this word with signs following. Minister to your people tonight, God. But there'd be a deep, deep flow of ministry in this house. Encourage your body by your word and let everybody say in Jesus' name. Jesus' name, amen. I think the first thing that we need to look at here is that this parable is about the kingdom of heaven. And I don't know about you. I am excited to be a part of the kingdom of heaven. There's a lot of writing throughout the testaments of the kingdom of heaven. And when David talked to us about the kingdom of heaven, he said it was an everlasting kingdom. And there have been many kingdoms that have come and many kingdoms that have gone. But I'm thankful to be a part of a kingdom that has no end.

It's an everlasting kingdom. Isaiah said that this kingdom and its government, that it's increased, that there will be no end. And I'm thankful to know that while here in Palm Bay and in Brevard County, governmental lines can only go as far as county lines, city lines, state lines, national lines. But this kingdom's government is increasing. And it is not bound to the lines of Palm Bay, Melbourne, Vero Beach, wherever you are at. It is simply a kingdom of which government is beyond city lines, state lines, county lines. Oceans can't confine it. Cosmos can't confine it. The Milky Way Galaxy can't hold it. This is the kingdom whose government shall know no end. And then you read in Hebrews and it begins to tell us that everything is going to be shaken. But this kingdom cannot be shaken. So you want to be a part of this kingdom.

And Jesus tells Nicodemus very clearly, he said that the only way you can even see the things of this kingdom is you've got to be born into it. And I don't know about you. I'm glad to be born again of water and of spirit tonight. He said, unless you're born again of water and spirit, you cannot enter into the kingdom of God. And I'm glad to be baptized in Jesus' name and filled with the gift of the Holy Ghost. Amen. And when you get that Holy Ghost and you get that name applied to your life through baptism and you are buried with Christ, that's when Jesus tells Nicodemus, he says now you can see the things of the kingdom. And it is in Corinthians that Paul tells the church there, he says the natural man, receiveeth not the things of the spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him,

neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned. I want you to know tonight, when you're praying, you're not just praying, but something spiritual is happening. Amen. When you clap your hands, you're not just making noise with your hands, you're worshiping and something spiritual is happening. When you decided on a Wednesday night that although you have worked hard today, you have put in man hours, you have labored hard to say, you know what? Even though it's been a long day, I'm gonna get in my car and I'm gonna drive to church. You did not invest in a natural kingdom when you made that decision. But you being here today, you invested in something spiritual. You invested into a spiritual kingdom. And though you may not be able to see your investment here and now, there's a day coming, friend. We're gonna get to see a heavenly kingdom.

Whoo! My, my. I feel like I can't even get behind a pulpit lately without talking about heaven. Because I am so excited to one day get to be with my Jesus. Whoo! I cannot wait, I cannot wait to look upon that throne and see him as he is. Oh, I want to see him look upon his face. Whoo! Praise God. And so the kingdom that it is talking to us tonight about this text, it's not an earthly kingdom. It's not a kingdom that is bound to the here and now. But it is a kingdom. And I know that we are red -blooded Americans, but it's gonna go beyond the good old U.S. of A. Amen. And this kingdom it shall know no end. And he says that this kingdom is liken unto leaven. It says that this leaven which this woman took and hid in three measures of male to the whole was leaven.

The best way that I could describe to you the work of leaven is it's a transforming agent. And so when he says that the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven is liken unto leaven, he's saying that it's something that when it's put in your life, when it's put into the world, it's gonna transform everything it comes in contact with. And I don't know about you, I'm glad to testify that the kingdom of heaven will transform your life. Amen. Leaven throughout scripture as a symbol is simply something that influences and it spreads whether it spreads good or bad. A lot of times leaven is liken unto sin. But leaven can be more than just sin. And when you study the scriptures, you'll find Jesus one day says beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. And this evidently calls the disciples to be a little confused

because they're going, what is he talking about? The bread of the Pharisees with leaven in it. But Jesus, through revelation, and they finally get what he's talking about in Matthew 16 and 12, it says they understood how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine, the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. And so here, when it's talking about leaven, I don't think that it's talking about sin or anything like that. I think he's trying to teach us something about leaven. Leaven is also doctrine. And when doctrine gets in your life, just like leaven, it'll transform you. It'll consume you if you let it. Now you have to let it, but if you let it, it'll get a hold of your life. This doctrine should consume you. It says that the whole was leaven. Three measures of meal was the whole was leaven.

Why is that important? Because when this thing gets a hold of you, it shouldn't just touch one point of your life. It shouldn't just touch one avenue of your life. It's a consuming agent. That's why in Deuteronomy 6 and 4, when he begins to tell them, here, oh, Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. He didn't just say, hey, you should go around knowing here, oh, Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. He says, and you're going to love him with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words which I commend you this day, they're going to be in your heart. And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children. He said, this doctrine's got to get a hold of the future of your children. He says, talk to them about it. When you're sitting in your house,

this doctrine should not just be something that is heard from a pulpit, but it's something that should be heard at the dinner table. It's something that should be heard. Come on, that's your living room. It says that teach this unto your children when you're in your house, talk about hero Israel the Lord, our God is one Lord. When you're walking about your way, now that's talking about your daily travels. When you're going to get water from the well, when you're going to tend to the sheep, it's talking about whatever they did in their daily routine. All of us have a daily routine where we get up, we go to work, or we go get lunch somewhere. You can go to the same place. They know your name when you show up at Chipotle. I like Chipotle. I'm glad they're building another one. Praise God. But the point is, as he was saying,

when you're in your daily routine, hero Israel the Lord, our God is one Lord. It's got to be more than just something that you know. It's got to be a part of your life. It's got to be a part of your kid's life. It says that when you're rising up and when you're going down, it says bind them for a sign upon nine hand, the work of the hand. It says you should put this wherever your hand goes. You ought to see hero Israel the Lord, our God is one Lord. Whatever your hand touches, whatever your hand is to do, do it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. It says bind it to your frontlets. Right here. Put it between your eyes. Think hero Israel the Lord, our God is one Lord. Because when you're focused on Him, everything else just gets a little smaller.

Let it become a part of what you think about. Write them upon the post of thy house and on the gates. Those gates there, it's dealing with government. He's saying you need to let this be a part of everything that your kingdom does, Israel. And you have to just indulge me. I'm sure I've told this here before, but this whole dad thing is new to me. I'm only almost two years into this and I got another one on the way and I'm excited about my son coming this December. But I don't really know how to do this, other than what my dad showed me and what I read in the scriptures and all the books that I was told to read and read half of each of them. But one of the things that I did, Brother Richie, is I took this scroll, Hero Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord.

And off of Amazon they sold these little scrolls and I tightened them up and I super glued it onto the top of the doorpost in my house. I don't want you coming into my home unless you come through the word of the Lord. In my daughter's nursery for you to enter into her nursery, I took the word of God, Hero Israel. And I glued it to the top of her nursery because we come in contact with a lot of spiritual things and I said, I don't want anything walking into her nursery unless it walks through. Hero Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. Because if you'll let this doctrine will become a part of who you are. It'll become a part of who your kids are. I tell her every day, well, that's a lie. I try to tell her every day, I'll sit her down

and I'll say, Harlow, say, Hero Israel. She's not even two yet and she'll just blabber. She thinks she's saying something profound. But I'm teaching her. I'll say, how many gods are there? She'll say, one guy. I'll say, what's his name? She'll say, Jesus. Why? Because this has got to be more than something that we entertain on Sundays and Wednesdays. It's got to get in your bones. That's why the apostle Paul likened the new births, these new converts. He said the word of God, he said it's like milk. He said it's milk and it strengthens your bones. If you let the word of God, it becomes like milk to a baby. It'll grow you. It'll strengthen you. It'll build your immune system. It'll teach you. It'll help you understand. You've got to let this become who you are. I love Acts 238. I love baptism in Jesus' name.

I love, I love the necessity of receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in an unknown tongue. I love living a holy and separate lifestyle. I love everything there is to love about this wonderful apostolic doctrine. And then he says that this woman is supposed to take the leaven. Now, you have to understand that Scripture uses things like this and it'll say the woman. And Jesus uses a lot of this when he's talking about parables. He also said that there was a woman who had, you know, those coins and she lost one. And when you look at the woman, when it just says the woman, a lot of times it's referring to the church. And so you have to start studying the women throughout Scriptures to realize what he's talking about. And here he's saying that the church should take leaven

or doctrine or the kingdom and it should implant it into something. We're not meant to just let this transform us. We're supposed to take it and put it into things and let it transform the things that it comes into contact with. One of the things that I love when you begin to study the women through Scriptures that all three matriarchal figures in the Old Testament, when you go to Sarah, Rachel, and Rebecca and you study these women, all three of them were barren. All three of them. Why is it that when God gets ready to establish his covenant with a man and his wife, that all three matriarchal figures begin in barrenness? I believe you find the answer in Genesis 18 and 11. It says, now Abraham and Sarah were old and well -stricken in age and read this with me. And it sees to be with Sarah after the manner of women.

Now you have to remember that Sarah is the image of the church in the Old Testament. She is the image of the church amongst all of these other pagan ideologies, pagan theories. And it says of her that she's not like every other woman she's around. And it's talking about the church. So you have to understand that God's church was not meant to be like everything else that it's around. We're not like other churches. And we, you know, it's interesting that the only way that the three matriarchal figures begin to have children is that there's got to be something supernatural that takes place. And all three of these women are talking about you and I, friend, because the only way that this church grows is not by the work of man. The way that this church grows is by somebody having a touch from God. It's supernatural things that causes God's church to grow.

And so when it says she's not like the other women, you got to understand this church isn't like other churches on this street and like other churches in this city and like other denominations. We are not just another religious persuasion who found something out of the Bible and built a doctrine upon it. We are the original church. And we are not like other women. We are not like other churches. We preach what the Bible says preach. We believe what the Bible says believe. We practice what the Bible says practice. My, my. That's why Paul told that church in Galatia. He said you better be careful that that which you begun in the spirit you do not fulfill in the flesh. He said you were born in a supernatural church. You got to finish as a supernatural church. We better not try to do things in the flesh that we

started doing in the spirit. Can I make it, can I make it plain? Each of you represent Sarah. Collectively we are Sarah but also individually we are Sarah. You're not meant to be like every other woman. And I know I've said this before but men we got to be the bride and I don't like it. Ladies you got to be sons. You don't have to like it. This is just biblical terminology. You don't, you're not supposed to be like every other woman and you don't need to start doing things in the flesh trying to figure things out in the flesh. God didn't call us to figure it out in the flesh. When you try to figure it out in the flesh you'll grab a haggar and produce an ishmael and cause an ishmael's generational wars that were never meant to happen but when you just stay in the spirit,

work in the spirit, live in the spirit, do things after the spirit. I promise you there will be life, the supernatural touch of God. Wheels show up. I got to hurry. I'm already 20 minutes, 19 minutes and 18 seconds into this thing. I got to get the wheels on this bus going. But we got to remember that we are God's church and we're not meant to be like other churches. Now, you have to understand that if there is the real woman who's supposed to take the leaven and put it in to the measures of meal that Satan and everything that he does, he's not an original. He's a copycat and so his kingdom is mirrored and it's really, it's just one big copyright. And so if God has a church, Satan's going to try to set up his woman and his, now I'm going to try to get into this tonight,

his, I'm not going to call it the anti Christ but the anti church. And so if God's church is a woman, then Satan's going to have a woman. That's why you read in Revelation 17 verse one and there came one of the seven angels which had seven vials and talked to me saying, come hither I will show thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters. Verse number five and upon her forehead was a name written mystery, babble on the great, the mother of harlots and the abomination of the earth. This is the world's woman. This is, this is the anti church. This is the church of Satan if I could put it that way and I just need you to go with me just for a minute because if God's church has a woman, if we are that picture, then Satan's going to try

to mirror that and manipulate that and create something that is like that but it's not that. It's going to have a form of godliness but it will deny the power thereof. It's going to try to look like the church but it won't be the church. And he says that this woman, it's written in her head that she's like babble on and so for you to understand the anti woman you've got to go to who she is like. So now you've got to start looking at babble on and you have to understand that this woman represents the spirit of this age. This woman represents the ideologies of this age and where she gets her thought process. What spirit she represents goes back to Daniel and he goes back to a king by the name of Nebuchadnezzar and so for you to understand what we are going through now

and you understand the spirit of this woman that is at work now, you have to understand him. So you go back and you read about Nebuchadnezzar. You read about how he brings the choice men from Israel and he trains them and he tries to change their appetite and he tries to feed them the things that are going to supposedly make them look better and Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they say no, no, no, we're not going to give into that. We're going to have our own diet. And they oppose this image and this ideology and they astound this Prince of Unix and they say, boy, we don't understand how you're so fair looking and on the diet that you're on and they don't realize the favor of God is upon them and then they're brought before the king and while they're standing before the king,

he says, man, you all are better by 10 times, 10 times than anybody else that's around here and God gives them favor amongst this wickedness and amongst this exile and amongst everything that's going on. But then one day this king goes to sleep and he has a dream and it's this weird dream and he calls all of his magicians and all of his astrologers and he brings them in and he says, I want you to interpret this dream and this is interesting, I'm not going to tell you what the dream is, you got to tell me what the dream is and what the interpretation of it is. I want to know if you're the real thing or not. And they couldn't do it. They said, oh king, this is weird that you would ask this of us, why in the world would you ask us

to do something like this? We've never been asked such a strange thing. He says, I knew you guys weren't the real deal and he issues the execution of all of the wise men in his reign and Daniel goes, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up, why are y 'all doing this to me? And he organizes a prayer meeting between him, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and they have this little prayer meeting and he says, I got it, I'm going to go in there and I'm going to tell the king the interpretation of the dream. I'm going to tell him what he dreamed and he rolls up in there and he says, Nebuchadnezzar, this is what I dreamed, I dreamed that there's an image and this image is of gold and it's of iron or it's of gold, silver and brass and then iron and iron and clay

and he describes the descending kingdoms of the world and he tells him all of these amazing things and he's like, wow, I can't believe that you were able to figure this out and then he tells him something interesting. He says, you are the head of gold. He says, that's you, you're that beginning, you're that thought process, you're what's going to have the mind or the thoughts of this image. Now, isn't it interesting that when Daniel is interpreting this image, he sees it as the image of a man and he's saying that this is like a man that's many members but it's one body, it's many kingdoms but it's one body and then you fast forward to the apostle Paul and you start reading in Romans chapter 12 and you have the church and the anti -church and now you've got the apostle Paul saying that there is this many members but one body

and he's describing the church and he's saying the head of this church is Christ and it's amazing to me that you have these two images that are representing two separate kingdoms and they're both trying to consume the three measures of meal. Everybody still with me? Am I getting too far out there? And so Daniel is seeing this picture and you have to see it. He's seeing many members but one body, many kingdoms but one body but he tells him, he says, you are the head. What is the head control, what you think? What is the head control, what you see? The head, it's the thought process of the kingdoms of the world and so while there might be other kingdoms they're all gonna think how Babylon thought and so they're descending kingdoms and then you have the church and the head of this church is not like the head of anything else,

the head of this church is Christ and that's why he said you ought to put on the mind of Christ because we aren't meant to think like the world thinks and operate like the world operates but we're to have the head of Christ. We are to think like God thinks. That's why in Romans 12 it says you better renew your mind. And so you have these church and anti -church images. Everybody's still with me so you see it and now you see the spirit of Nebuchadnezzar the spirit or the mentality of Babylon. What is the mentality of Babylon? Daniel tells him, he says, you're that image of gold he said but your kingdom is not forever. You're only for a short time and then another kingdom which is not as good as you is coming after you. But watch the next chapter after he acknowledges

oh Daniel your God is the great God of all the gods that he puts a big G on all the little G's and says your God is a great God. Watch what happens the very next chapter. What does he do? He defies the word of God and he creates an image and what is the image? It's of himself and it's all gold. He says I know your God says I'm gonna reign but for a short time but I'm gonna show you how the thought process of the systems of the world thinks right now. Are you ready? I don't care what God's word says this is what I will be and this is who I am. And so the spirit of Babylon the spirit of the woman in Revelation chapter 17 the spirit of the anti church and the spirit of anti Christ is this whatever God's word says we defy.

Whatever the word of God is declaring we declare the opposite. God's word says that this is what marriage is supposed to look like. We defy that. God's word says there's only two genders we defy that. God's word says this we defy, we defy and the spirit of this age is exactly Revelation 17 and the woman in that place and what is it doing? It is defying the God of heaven and earth and his word. So this is the images. This is what's happening now watch. Remember God's church has doctrine, right? God's church has leaven, God's church has the agent to transform but if God's church has it so too does that anti church have it because remember what Paul warns Timothy he says you better beware of the doctrine of devils and they're going to preach their doctrine and they're going to try to get their leaven in you

and it's going to try to consume you and it's going to try to overtake you and it's going to try to overcome you and so you have the opposing kingdoms and what are they doing? They're both fighting to consume the leaven they're both fighting to consume the meal now they're at this fight and they're at this war and they're trying to come against each other and that's why Paul said you better beware of those seducing spirits in this age. You better be careful why because it's two kingdoms and they're both trying to consume you. They're both fighting for you and so you have the image of the two and then you have what they are after and that's the meal and I can get into there's multiple meanings that I feel like I have found of the three measures of meal the first is body, soul, and spirit

the trichotomy of man of which Paul talks about body, soul, spirit and I know that there's some that believe that there's a dichotomy those are just big words that I don't really understand but when you start studying body, soul, spirit which I think that that's what the three measures of meal could mean it's talking about that it's trying to consume all of you and then I read one commentary on it that says that the three measures of meal represents Shem, Hem, and Japheth which were Noah's three sons which represents all of mankind and so it's this war for you and it's this war for the world and it's two kingdoms that are trying to just get you but this is what I think the three measures of meal really represents now to understand it this is just what I feel like remember I feel like this is just a revelation

the Lord's been showing me lately you got to go back all the way back to Genesis chapter 18 now this is what you have to understand three measures of meal is one ephah a flower that's the same thing so when you go back to Genesis chapter 18 you have this understanding that Abraham how long have I been going for I got just like 10 minutes alright you have Abraham and the Bible says he's sitting he's sitting in his tent and it's the hottest part of the day which means he's just trying to get a little shade and a little cool from how hot it is he says that the angel of the Lord and two other angels are walking towards him and he gets up and he runs to them he gets to him as quickly as he can he doesn't care how hot it is

he doesn't care how uncomfortable it is he doesn't care that it's the heat of the day if God's moving towards him he's moving towards God so he runs and he goes over there he says hey hey hey I'm so glad y 'all are here he says do you mind just staying a little while and this is what he offers he says stay here and let me fetch you a morsel of bread brother Richie now a morsel is not a lot but then he runs back to his bride Sarah he says prepare me three measures of fine meal now three measures of meal one e -faw of flour the best estimation that I could come up with that that would have produced in that day was somewhere between 27 and 28 loaves of bread that's a lot of bread especially if you're watching carbs I don't think the angels were worried

about their carbon take though so three measures of meal Abraham is having this divine encounter and he says I'm gonna get you three measures I'm gonna make my wife put a spread out of some 27 loaves this is what he was really trying to do because it was not just about feeding them and getting through the moment he was saying this is what I want this moment to be all about I want this to be about a divine encounter and I want to create a spread that's so large you just have to stay here a while it was about relationship it was about creating something to where God says I will not leave I just want to hang out for a while it was about creating something where God says you've created an atmosphere so conducive for me to stay I'm not going anywhere for a long time

I got a lot going on in my head with all of this and I'm trying to, if my wife was here she'd say don't chase the rabbit trail right now honey but you have to understand that this is about entertaining the divine and I feel like we have begin to make church about the divine entertaining us and this is why you have a hard time showing me anywhere in scripture you're gonna have a hard time showing me anywhere in scripture where it was about God entertaining man but I can show you the tabernacle was designed that man would move God I can show you place after place after place after place where it was all about man getting God to move towards him but I think we've kind of manufactured church to a point now where it's we're just gonna wait on God to move us

now remember this is about divine encounter and so if the three measures of mill and everything really means it's about a divine encounter and it's about the leaven of God and it's about the doctrine of God and it's about these things so if the church is supposed to be built on this ideology of God we're gonna praise until you show up we're gonna worship until you show up we're gonna pray until you move because we were put here on this earth to entertain the divine what's the anti -church's goal? I'm here to entertain you I'm gonna step on some toes I'm gonna move quickly because I don't want to hurt nobody's feelings because I love y 'all and I hope y 'all love me I know we got this cool relationship I've been here a little while now that's why everything in this world has been manufactured now

to entertain you that's why algorithms for social media now are created to find out what you like and manufacture a scroll that keeps you entertained for hours the structure and the system of this world has made everything about I'm going to feed you I'm going to entertain you I'm going to keep your attention and now when we come into the presence of God we are expecting God to image the world entertain me God move me God let's see what you can do for me God let's see how you can make me feel my goose bumps on a Wednesday night or on a Sunday I'm not moving until you move me I'm not doing anything until something happens that you get me up and so we come to God with the counterfeit kingdom mentality saying I'm here for you to move me because that's what the anti -church's kingdom does

is it entertains you it entertains me that's what we like I'm on now just follow, just follow marketing it's not very difficult it's the same thing they just put it in a new wrapper and we all got to have it it's marketing entertain me, move me create something that excites me and really this whole thing is about having a divine encounter with God we don't need God to move us we are so enamored with the God of heaven and earth that whether we're wild with the revelation on Wednesday or Sunday whether they sing the song that we like or we don't like whether we feel like it or we don't whether we want to or we don't want to we remember he was wounded for my transgressions he was bruised for my iniquities the chastisement of my peace was upon him we remember everything he did for us

and we say Lord I don't care how I feel today this is all about me creating something that causes you to linger a while now notice notice this in the lingering while they're having this meal while they're eating bread while they're enjoying each other's company the angels and Abraham watch what the angel says hey Abe where's your wife she's over there I'm gonna open up her womb and I'm going to let you have the child you've been wanting to have and old Sarah is in the tent starts laughing and the Lord nudges Abraham he says is that your wife laughing no and he says is anything too hard for me you see I've heard a lot of people including me ask this question where's the miraculous I'll tell you where the miraculous is at it's in a divine encounter but our divine encounters have gotten so lopsided

it's all about God moving us now that we have quit creating an atmosphere where God hangs out so long where God spends so much time with his people he says hey brother Richie what you need hey man what can I do for you I heard let me go ahead and just heal your wife real quick while I'm here hanging out I believe that's my God so we have to get church realigned to what church is supposed to be about it's not supposed to be a production where God is trying to move us but it's a enter into his courts with Thanksgiving could you imagine what Sunday would be like could you imagine what this Sunday would be like if just this group right here just this group did not care what pastor preached did not care what song they sang did not care how rough the work week is

but when we walked into this place on Sunday we came with this mentality I've got an e -fall flower 27 loaves of praise 27 loaves of worship 27 loaves of I don't care what you're preaching I don't care what you're singing if God's moving towards me let me set the table and create a spread that's so enticing whoo he just got to hang out a little while and while he's hanging out and he's just dining on our praise and he's just dining on our worship and he's just dining on what we offer him well he's just dining on what we have to offer he says hey what you need from me what's going on in your life did I hear that you're going through something oh let me show you how powerful I really am let's just worship him right now the Holy Ghost is moving in this house

I want to say this I'm going to hit this and then we'll be done I know I'm going a little while tonight is everybody alright just for a few more minutes I promise I won't be long alright so the Bible says that that woman set on many waters Revelation 17 says she set on many waters but the Richie verse 15 of Revelation 17 reveals what the many waters is it says it's the nations it's every tribe every tongue the Bible says she set on the many waters I remember she represents the spirit of Babylon so what did Babylon do when he erected his image of gold when he put that up he put pressure on the children of Israel he said bow he said if you're under my reign when you hear the sound of music entertainment bow to it bow to it but there was three young men

three measures who said nah I don't care what you do I don't care how pretty you play that fiddle I'm not bowing here's what I found like I said this is what the Lord is showing me is where I feel like the church is at right now the Bible said she set on many waters and the Bible says that he commanded them to bow this is what the spirit of this age is doing is it's putting pressure on the church pressure I don't know if you had brothers but I do and I'm the runt of the litter that's not a joke but you ever sit in your brother's chair after he said I'm you know saves his spot and gets up and he just plops down on top of you in that chair and just sits there and takes the wind out of you I know y 'all don't have weird brothers

like I do but I'm telling you man my big brother if I I mean he would just sit right on top of me and I'm sitting there trying to breathe I'm sitting there trying to just function and I can't because there's so much pressure from my big brother on me you might know what I'm talking about nobody else had brothers I guess I'm the only one nobody else had that happen that's okay I don't mind being weird that's fine I'll be the weird guy here but it was the pressure they put on me that made me uncomfortable it didn't hurt there was pressure if I could just diagnose the hour that we're living in there's pressure and it's that Revelation 17 it's that pressure of the woman on the waters and he said the waters is the nations it's you and I where we just have pressure on us

pressure sometimes it feels like you can't even get out of bed pressure sometimes it feels like you can't even catch a spiritual breath because there's just so much pressure there's just so much pressure when the pressure comes on us and I'm telling you if there's ever been a time where there has been pressure and I'm hurrying and I know we could have just went off and moved in here just a few moments ago but I feel very led to the Holy Ghost to just talk about this there's only one thing you can do to combat pressure and it's the most simple Revelation that I can give you when you have done all you can do to stand stand it is not time to quit it is not time to throw in the towel eternity is closer than it has ever been and the spirit of this age

it wants to isolate it wants to make you feel like you're all alone it wants to put you in a corner but that's when you have to do just like Shadrach Meshach and Abednego they're going to bind things and throw you in the fire but they're going to keep us together when they bind us and throw us in the fire and so in this age where the spirit wants to drive you out of the church and it wants to put so much pressure on you to quit and throw in the towel it wants to baptize you with such anxiety and such fear and just pressure that's when you got to link arms with the body of Christ that's when you've got to find solace with this wonderful church that God has given us and you link up and you hold on fast and you say I will not bow

I will not cave when I've done all I can do to stand I'm going to stand there for I am not going to quit this is not the time to quit this is not the time to stop this is not the time to wave the white flag and throw in the towel this is the time for the church to come together it's not time for there to be division it's not time for there to be me versus you it's time for us to say there's enough pressure from the world I'm not going to put pressure on my brother or on my sister we're going to link arms and when the king of this world when the spirit of this age starts putting pressure on us you know what we're going to do we're just going to stand we're just going to stand stand with me all over the house

praise God I challenge this church I'm challenging you tonight don't let this just be something that you hear please please please hear me tonight when you come to church this Sunday I'm charging this body I am challenging east wind right now combat the spirit of the age that wants to force us to come and be entertained and cave into the pressure and just give in to the conditions of this world we're just going to come we're just going to be entertained we're going to hear a good message because you know pastors going to bring the fire I don't even know if he's preaching Sunday let's just assume that he is whomever is preaching Sunday if he puts them behind this pulpit they're going to come with a word from God amen but when we come into his presence on Sunday just like Abraham if I seek God moving towards me

I'm moving towards God this ought to be the easiest atmosphere a preacher has ever preached in on Sunday this ought to be the easiest atmosphere for somebody to receive a miracle that we've ever seen come this Sunday this ought to be the easiest atmosphere for somebody to get baptized and filled with the Holy Ghost we have ever seen this Sunday why? because we're coming to set the table for God with our praise, with our worship with our admiration can we practice that right now in closing could we just worship him right now I'm done I just want you to worship him right now Lord I love you I thank you for your word I thank you for what you have spoken I'm thankful for what you have done I stand against the spirit of this age God that wants to try to push us that wants to try to put pressure on us

to throw in the towel to quit to cave I stand Lord against the spirit of this age and I say there is a church right now of which the gates of hell shall not prevail Lord we come into your presence right now and we entertain you God we are not asking you to entertain us move us we are not asking you God to stir us up we are here God to stir heaven right now change the mentality of the ages God that we would begin to worship you in spirit and in truth in ways and means we have never before we worship you Jesus we magnify you Jesus we glorify you God one more time give the Lord a hand clap a praise amen amen amen I want to send you out of this place today with a charge and a challenge in the Lord

when you wake up tomorrow set the table your daily devotion make something so delicious God can't resist it I know that sounds weird but set the table with worship in the morning set the praise the table with your praise in the morning set the table come Friday morning and Saturday morning when you walk in here you and God been hanging out all week anyways hallelujah Jesus amen your dismiss go in the name of the Lord let's wake up tomorrow and let's have a devotion like we've never had before in Jesus name