Sunday Morning Worship & Word! | Special Guest: Rev. James Wilson

well praise the lord everybody are you excited about being in the house of the lord on a sunday morning amen i'm excited about being in the house of the lord and thanking god that no moths have flown into my ear why y'all looking at me weird that never happened to you guys i was at oklahoma camp and uh the lord has a way of humbling you you know when you you get arrogant sometimes y'all are looking at me real weird right now like you don't ever have a moment where you're just kind of i did i did a pretty good job there and we were playing the campers versus staff game and i just went down and hit a jump shot in one of those fourteen-year-olds mouths i began to feel pretty good about myself so i went back down the court and uh came back again and went to take another jump shot get a little heat check in and the moment i touched the ball a moth flew into my ear now when i say into my ear i don't mean he just kind of hung out on the outskirts of my ear i mean this thing flew into my ear and so i began to try to shake long story short i went to the er they could not get the entirety of the moth out they got parts of the moth out but uh they just told me listen we can't do anything about it we're we're just gonna have you have to give you antibiotics and let the moth dissolve in your ear over the next two or three days and so that's what happened and uh i might have a little bit of moth remnant left in my ear i don't know haven't been back to the doctor since but it has not affected my preaching too bad i just preach about an hour longer since then but uh we'll just we'll see what happens today but it's great to be back in knoxville i hate that my wife could not be with with me yet again i told someone a couple of weeks ago i said believe it or not i do have a wife she is she is a real person and i think you guys realize that because she was here with me this time last year but she could not make it again this time and certainly do miss her but i am honored to be back with you at fac knoxville and it's just so great to see what god is doing is anybody excited about what god is doing in your church amen he's worthy of the praise for all the great things that he is doing we give him praise and honor amen we'll go to the word of the lord if you turn your bibles to first samuel we'll be reading verse number 16 first samuel verse 16 amen while you're turning there let me say it is an honor to be here honor your leadership honor bishop and sister mccool pastor mark his wife brother anthony brother nate they're entitled the entire mccool family can we just give them a round of applause amen love and appreciate them so much and they're just doing a great job they're some of the greatest people on the planet i i mean that sincerely i've always been so kind to my wife and i and we just honor them amen they might be a little bit crazy to keep having me come back and preach so i don't know this might be a slight bit of crazy there but hey man that i fit right in with a slight bit of crazy because i'm slightly crazy hey man praise god if you have a little bit of crazy in you you might not be human i don't know amen first samuel chapter 16 verse 11 bible says and samuel said unto jesse are here all thy children and he said there remaineth yet the youngest and behold he keepeth the sheep and samuel said unto jesse send and fetch him for we will not sit down somebody say we will not sit down till he come hither we will not sit down till he come hither amen i like to preach for the next few moments on this simple topic you may not be seated i want you to turn to your neighbor i want you to tell them you may not be see now y'all are already seated so we're going to have to figure something out here but in your spirit if you want god to do something in your life can i tell you there is some decision that you have to make that i will not allow for myself to become discouraged i will not allow for myself to be weary and well doing for in due season i'm going to reap if i faint not i'm going to keep at it i want you to lift up your hands one more time and let's pray together god we thank you for your presence thank you for your spirit that's already moved so beautifully in this room we pray right now in the name of jesus that you would continue to move in this place speak in this place let that seed of your word find good ground and good soil we give you a praise and we give you glory for it in the name of jesus everybody said amen one more time clap your hands unto the lord [Applause] amen have you ever stopped to consider what life would be like without sitting down have you ever just thought about that again i told you i got a little bit of crazy to me so my brain kind of thinks about things like that sometimes what would life be like if you made a decision for the rest of my life as much as possible i will not sit down can i tell you that it would have a greater effect on you than you really realize because when we sit the electrical activity in the muscles drops leading to a cascade of harmful metabolic effects your calorie burning rate immediately plunges to about one per minute a third of what it would be if you got up and walked insulin effectiveness drops within a single day and the risk of developing type 2 diabetes rises so does your risk of being overweight and over a lifetime the unhealthful effects of simply sitting begin to add up alpha patel an epidemiologist at the american cancer society tracked the health of 123 000 americans between 1992 and 2006 the men in the study who spent six hours or more per day of their leisure time sitting had an overall death rate that was about 20 percent higher than the men who sat for three hours or less the death rate for women who sat for more than six hours a day was about 40 percent higher and patel estimates that on average people who simply sit too much shave a few years off of their lives this grave truth that research has exposed about the simple act of sitting calls for dan coetz a writer editor and podcaster from the new york times magazine to make a drastic decision that he would not sit down for an entire month i said it right mr dan said for an entire month i will not sit down as a matter of fact the only time that i'm going to sit down is when i'm in my bed going to sleep when i'm driving my car or when i'm sitting on the throne of glory somebody said amen y'all didn't get that did you some of you'll get it in a minute then said the only time that i'm going to be seated is when i'm in my bed driving my car are sitting on the throne of glory and for an entire month dan would do this and he would recall how oddly people would look at him i want you to imagine this everyone is going into the restaurant for a nice family dinner a night out and they go and they they go everyone else in the restaurant is seated and everyone sits down and here comes dan and his family they're seated and yet here stands dan in the middle of the restaurant standing for the entire meal i mean people were looking him looking at him like he was crazy and and he recounts just kind of sitting having family nights with his wife and their kids and everybody else would be sitting down watching a movie together and here's dan on the side of the couch just standing up but dan was determined to see how does sitting really affect me and for an entire month he would do this and the results of dan's decision to not sit down were astounding at the end of his month dan lost five pounds gained drastic muscle definition and cut his wasted time down drastically and also walked more than 92.5 miles without trying all because he made a simple decision to not sit down i feel in my spirit today to liken this story of dan coast to many of us tonight in our spiritual walks we are standing on the cusp of results that we've so desperately longed for revival that we've so desperately hungered for and the spiritual depths that we've cried out to god for yet the enemy knowing all that god has planned has convinced us not to give up on god not to backslide no not not that not to commit some grave sin or transgression but to simply sit down to become lacks in our approach to god and the things of god go to church but don't you worship too hard pray but don't you get too excited with your prayers give here a little and there a little but don't you dare give sacrificially just relax take it easy and sit down how innocent it seems not to not to stand and and just to sit down and relax for a little bit but can i tell you sitting is not as innocent as it seems when we sit in our spirit we are at risk to become spiritually overweight when we sit the muscles of our faith and belief in god begin to wane away and atrophy when we sit our spiritual man is much more at risk to die before seeing the fulfillment of every promise that god has made for us and to us but when a child of god makes up their mind that i will not sit down that's when things begin to happen in your life when you make up your mind i might not see any light until right now but god i'm still going to trust you i might not see things getting better for my family but i still won't worship you i might not see things getting better in my life but god in spite of what i'm facing in spite of what i'm going through i'm making a decision i will still praise you i will still trust you i will i won't relax i won't take a break i won't just check my i won't just check my religious box but god i'm going to be faithful i'm going to be engaged until i see you fulfill your promise in my life oh is there anybody in this room that would say i don't have any sit down in me come on i'm telling you if you want to see god's hand really work in your life you may not be seated yes there's a temptation to give up but if you want to see god move don't you give up don't you give in stay faithful keep believing for god oh i need about 10 people in this room to give god praise in this place if you're going to say i'm going to be faithful until i see god do everything that he said that he was going to do her i will trust him and i will not link to my own understanding i will worship him and i won't care what happens i my trust my hope is in the lord turn your neighbors so you may not be seated you want god to do something you don't have a choice in the matter oh but i want god to do everything that he said that he will do in my life i want god to do everything that he said he's going to do in my but i just kind of want to just wait until it happens and then i'll praise god i just kind of want to wait until it happens brother mccool i know you've been preaching about me me coming to a a deeper level of commitment and and dedication in my walk in my relationship with god but to be honest with you i need god to do a few things for me first and then when i see god do a few things then i'll begin to kind of stand and get engaged can i tell you if you're waiting for god to do something before you do something you might be waiting a long time can i tell you a better option a better option is to get in right now a better option is to say god until until i see you move i'm going to stand i'm going to be faithful god i'm going to be right here i'm going to wait on you because you're going to renew my strength i'm gonna wait on you because you're not slack concerning your promise but everything you said it will come to pass everything you promised it will be fulfilled in your time what are you preaching brother james my message this morning is very simple it's this your posture while you wait for the promise matters what you do in the meantime matters how you wait in the meantime no i just i'm going to kind of wait until god heals my body and then i'll worship him can i tell you something if you wait until god heals your body to worship him you might not ever see him heal your body but there's something about someone that says until he heals my body with all that i have i will worship him there's something about that that gets the attention of god you know what the bible says he's a rewarder of them that diligently seek him god says if you're just kind of on the sidelines coasting that's not the type of person i'm inclined to reward but those that come after me with intensity those that come after me with hunger and passion i'm going to reward them those that say i'm standing i'm anticipating [Applause] those are the ones i'm not saying god won't ever move if you're sitting down that's not what i but i am saying this you will always get the attention of god if you determine in your heart in your mind that while you are waiting for god to do that thing that you've been waiting for him to do that you will wait with expectation faith and belief that god will do it god works in the medium of exchange of faith you want to see god do something you have to give him faith he'll move beyond that faith sometimes we've all seen him do it when you don't have any faith you don't have any belief that god is going to do it and yet he still moves beyond that in spite of us it moves but can i tell you you'll have greater success if in spite of how hopeless your situation seems you still make a decision that in the meantime god i still will trust you i still will serve you i still will be faithful i will still pay my tithes even though i don't have a lot of money in the bank right now i'll still be faithful even though i don't you have to make up your mind until i see god do what he said that he was going to do i'm not going to be seated we find samuel in our scripture text is in a very similar predicament we all many of us at least know the story of samuel and saul saul has been anointed as the king of israel god warns samuel before he anoints saul that there is a day coming where saul will disappoint him there is a day coming where saul will turn his back on him and on god but in spite of that the children of israel desire so badly to have a king that samuel still anoints saul as the king and sure enough just as god promised saul makes a decision i will not live for god any longer he makes a decision that this whole serving god thing is not for him and so saul in a rebellious streak begins to leave the things of god and we find that as saul leaves god and the anointing of god god's spirit god's approval is removed from his life that samuel begins to weep the bible let's just know that samuel is crying can i tell you plain and simple samuel was depressed he was depressed he was crying he was weeping because someone that had told him that they wanted to live for god someone that once lived for god has now made a decision that they will not live for god how painful how agonizing it is when something like this begins to happen in our life and in our world can i tell you it is completely normal when bad things happen to us for us to weep and to cry and to mourn it is completely normal when you lose a loved one that is close to you that that you begin to weep and cry it is completely normal when things happen in your life and in your world for you to weep and begin to cry it is completely normal when someone walks away from god and you know that they're living a life that is not conducive to their mental health and their spiritual health for you to weep and mourn that loss but can i tell you sooner or later you have to make a decision am i going to weep over what they've done forever am i going to mourn my loss forever or am i going to make a decision to move forward in my walk in my relationship with god that is the predicament that is the situation that we find samuel in in first samuel chapter 16 the lord speaks to samuel and says samuel i know you've been crying for a while samuel i know you've been on your bed of affliction for a while but samuel there's got to be a point in time in your life where you make a decision that i will no longer weep over what has happened i will no longer cry over those that don't want to live for god but i make a decision that this is going to be a day that i'm going to get up and march forward into what god has for my life the bible says the lord speaks to samuel and says samuel if you'll just get up there's there's an anointing that i'm getting ready to pour out on israel i know right now it seems as if i have forsaken israel i know it seems as if those have forsaken me that you've put faith and trust in but samuel if you will just get up from your crying and begin to move forward just along the way just ahead of you there's gonna be an anointing that i'm getting ready to i've come to preach to somebody in this place weeping may endure for a night but your joy is coming in the morning you just gotta get up and you just gotta begin to walk i know you've been weeping for a long time i know it's painful and it's hurtful and that's completely normal but you got to make up your mind then i'm going to get up i'm going to get up out of my depression i'm going to get up out of my heart i'm going to give god a chance and i'm gonna come on somebody there's an anointing ahead of you there's divine destiny ahead of you but you'll never see it as long as you're seated you'll never see it as long as you're wallowing in depression and doubt and fear but if you'll get up and say god i believe that there's an anointing coming god will begin to kind of begin to strengthen you god will begin to uphold you and you can march forth can i tell somebody in this place god has a plan for your life but you got to get up god has a purpose for your life but you got to get up i know you've been knocked down a long time but can i tell somebody if you'll get up enough courage to get yourself up god will reveal himself to you and i don't know this for a fact the bible is not this explicit but here's what i believe and i believe we have a scriptural pretty good scriptural interference to believe this i believe that when samuel got up when samuel made a decision to quit crying when samuel made a decision i will not weep over what has happened i will not weep over the the decisions that others have made that are contrary to god and contrary to what i believe to be true when he made that decision to get up i believe samuel determined in his heart and in his mind until i see god do what he promised me that he would do i will not sit down again until i see god fulfill the promise until the anointing oil is being poured out on the next king of israel and god fulfills the promise that he's made to me i will not sit down i've been sitting down for a long time i've been crying i've been weeping i've been worrying over everything that's not been happening right in my life i've been worrying over everything that's been going wrong in my world but those worrying days are over and until i see it you won't catch there you won't catch there being any type of worry i will not get so overwhelmed that i will sit down again until i see it happen i will not sit down and so samuel begins on his journey he embarks on the journey towards jesse's house when he gets to the house of jesse the bible lets us know that jesse has seven sons that are in the house they are there he goes through each one of them god is this the one on whom the anointing would be poured out god says no that's not the one is this the one no not the one third fourth fifth sixth seven sons come and none of them are the one upon whom the anointing would be poured out and at this point in the narrative i would imagine that samuel only being human begin to think god what are you doing in my life i get up from my bed of affliction i get up from my bed of depression i've been crying i've been mourning i've been weeping over everything that's happened in my life i get up and i march into the house of jesse anticipating god that you will do what you said that you will do and lord i get up and there's number one son and nothing happens lord there's number two son and i every time god i mustering up faith anybody ever been there before god said that he was going to do something you're like god this is the time and it seems like that's the timing nope that's not it god i've been praying for my son for a long time you have a conversation with him on a saturday night says you know what i just might show up next sunday i might just be in church tomorrow you get all ready you get your clothes on you get your best suit on your best dress zone you walk into the house of the lord and he's not there you have a meeting with him on saturday night he's weeping he's crying he's praying oh lord i i know i need to get right why don't you come to church on sunday you're expecting and again nothing happens or or perhaps it's been three or four months and you have not struggled with that depression or that anxiety and you think lord this is the moment i'm finally free from this thing i'm finally free from this depression and anxiety you go to sleep one day fine you wake up the next day all of a sudden depression and anxiety is hanging over your head and you're thinking god what are you doing i'm tired of the false alarms i'm tired of you doing something and then seemingly not doing anything in my life that's where samuel was at god you could have done it the first time but you did it the second time the third time the fourth time the fifth time and i can imagine after seven sons samuel is just worn out i just want to sit down god i said i wasn't going to sit down but to be honest with you after seven false alarms seven times of me trying to be everything and and and believe you for everything and nothing happened i just want to sit down but in the midst of that samuel musters up enough faith to begin the probe samuel just begins to probe a little bit and the bible says that after all these sons passed before jesse there's no now i want you to get this samuel does not know jesse samuel does not know jesse's family so according to what samuel could deduce and see at the time every son in the house is gone every every ounce of hope is now gone most of us at this point in the narrative will pack our things and go i mean god we went through all the hope that we could see seven sons went through all of them there's no there's no more hope there's no use in us staying around we might as well leave there's no hope but you see samuel was so determined and full of faith to see the promises of god fulfilled in his life that samuel begins to probe for hope samuel does not there's nobody in the house samuel is looking around and samuel i began begins to think it cannot be over god made me a promise and if god made me a promise it must come to pass it i know it looks like it's over right now i know it looks like there's no hope in the house right now but god said it and god said it i believe it and i made a promise to god i wasn't going to sit down i wasn't going to relax i wasn't going to go through them i wasn't going to lose faith i wasn't going to lose heart and so the bible says that samuel asked a question and and i've glossed over this perhaps you have before you think of of course he asks is there any more children that's a hard question to ask because it seems like he doesn't have any if he would just have taken things at face value he would have never answered that question but there was something or asked that question but there was something in samuel's heart that said there's got to be hope and so the bible says he turns to jesse and says jesse are here all thy children is there any hope god is there any hope there's got to be somebody else there's got to be something that you're doing i know right now i can't see it but there's got to be some see that's what happens when you're determined not to sit down even when you don't see hope you still probe for hope even when you don't see a way that god is going to move there's something on the inside of you that says god you must be i might not understand your ways your thoughts must be higher than my thoughts but god i believe you are moving i believe you are doing something right now although i can't see you i trust that you're moving i hear all thy children and i love the response of jesse jesse says i mean yeah there remaineth yet the youngest jesse what does that have to do with anything i'll tell you what it had to do jesse was simply saying i mean surely not this one you ever met anybody like that you're excited you got all the hope in the world you go to them and say man god is moving in my life and this is how he's moving they look at you like that's how god's moving you know what i'm talking about man i had a conversation with that person they told me they're getting ready to get i don't know i've seen what they've done oh i've been delivered i've been set free i don't know i mean that's a pretty tough thing for god to deliver people from you know what i'm talking about listen i don't want to be a jesse i don't want to be someone that when when someone begins to pro for hope and begins to exercise a little bit of faith that i kind of look at them and say i don't know how god is going to move no i want to be the person that says yes i believe that god is moving i i know it doesn't seem likely right now but i'm going to join with you in faith my brother i'm going to join with you in faith my sister i believe god's moving i believe that is the hand of god in your life i believe there is hope for your family i believe there is hope for your situation come on huh it might be impossible with man but with god all things are possible and until we see it i'm going to join with you i'm going to believe with you is there anybody that would join with their brother and say come on we're going to see this thing happen we're going to see the hand of god move in your family we're going to see the hand of god move in this church i know it doesn't seem likely right now but i'm going to join with you i'm going to believe with you i'm going to trust god with you come on i need i need some people in this room that would be the antithesis to jesse and say i'm going to be with somebody i'm going to join with somebody come on it's not over for you it's not can i preach to somebody it's not over for your family it's not over for your situation it's not over for your world god is still in your life he's still moving and it will happen [Applause] i wonder i just wonder i don't know this but i wonder i wonder if elijah when he sends that servant out to go and see if it's about to rain if that servant saw that cloud the size of a man's hand the entire time but when he sees it he looks at it and says ah that can't be it walks away elijah what do you see i i didn't see anything elijah says go back and look again goes back and looks finally something gets a hold of him well there is there is there there remaineth yet the youngest i mean there is a cloud the size of a man's hand elijah said that's all the hope that i need i don't need for there to be some big grandiose thing all i need is just a little can i tell somebody if you just got a little glimmer of hope this morning that's all the hope that you need if there's just a little bit of daylight that's all that you need to sink your faith in because sooner or later your faith will be rewarded sooner or later your god's going to show up in your life come on the devil is a liar god is not done god is not finished just stay faithful just stay faithful just stay faithful and sooner or later it's going to rain sooner or later the anointing will be poured out in your life bible says at this point after jesse says yeah they remained yet the youngest and he keep it the sheep a little bit of a little bit of doubt samuel is not at all the term he says send and fetch him and this is what i've been preaching about the entire time i love what he says he says sin infection for we will not sit down till he come hither we're not sitting down scholars have have talked about perhaps why they were trying to get samuel to sit down some believe that perhaps the prophet samuel being up in age people knew that he perhaps was weary in his body and they had prepared a table a feast for the great prophet samuel to sit down and partake of but samuel says you guys can sit down and eat if you want to i've made a decision that until i see the anointing of god poured out i will not sit down you guys can sit down you can relax you can do what you want to do but my posture is going to be that of expectation and belief can i tell somebody in this place it may seem like a simple thing but just simply you making up your mind to not sit down there's power in that there come on somebody when you make up your mind i'm going to stand with faith i'm going to stand with expectation i'm going to stand and believe that god is moving up it is something about that that gets the attention of god there's something about that that gets [Applause] till i see it i will not sit down i can imagine like samuel just just sit down just just just for five minutes just five minutes i mean david's gonna be coming in sooner than sooner they no no no and here's the thing we don't know how long it took david to get there it could have been hours i mean who knows it could have been a day's journey for david to get there probably unlikely but we don't know we don't know if it was five minutes 30 minutes five hours 24 hours before david arrives samuel says it doesn't matter i've already made my my decision until i see god do what he said that he was going to do i'm standing samuel let's not be that big of a deal just sit down no no no it is a big deal my posture how i wait is a big deal samuel just no you don't understand i know what it's like to sit down i know what it's like to be depressed i know what it's like to be overwhelmed and i'm determined i'm not going back there again i will not let the pressure rule my life again i will not let anxiety rule my life again until i see it i will believe until i see it i will stand until i see it i will not sit down i wonder if there's somebody in this room right now that would stand on your feet come on it's declare her i will not sit down i will not move i will trust the lord come on i need you right now i know it's been a long time since you've seen god move but i need you to stand up on your feet right now with a little faith i need you to muster up a little bit of courage this morning and say god you're still moving in my life you're still moving in my home oh lift up your hands and your voice right now and begin to pray oh lift up your hands in your voice right now and begin to worship the lord [Music] in the name of jesus hallelujah musicians and singers you can come come on i want you to lift up your voice i feel the holy ghost in this room i feel the power of god in this room right now i feel somebody's strength being being in in being uplifted in this room i feel somebody's strength coming in this place here's here's the thing here's the thing your posture matters how you wait matters oh brother james i'm just going to kind of relax i'm going to kind of go through the motions and then when i see god do it then i'll really no no no i've seen it time after time the lucky ones the fortunate ones are the ones that are still remaining when god does what they said that they were going to do but they've been sitting down the entire time that's the exception to the rule usually what happens is people who sit down become so overwhelmed by their fear their depression their lack of faith surrounded by hopelessness that eventually they decide you know what i'm leaving i'm done what did they do they just sat down a little bit did they did they do some grave sin or transgression no they were great people they loved god they were faithful to god they just sat down oh brother james i like you don't understand like i don't do anything bad i don't i'm faithful i like i i try to do all that i can but i mean i just kind of relax and just kind of sit down a little bit and like i don't ever get you know seen it time and time again people who just simply it's not that big of a deal i'm just sitting down but just as it does in the physical same things happens in the spiritual when you sit down your muscles begin to atrophy your spiritual man begins to atrophy and wayne away here's the thing i believe that there might be some of us and say okay you're preaching to me brother i'm preaching to me i'm preaching to myself because we've all been there or we just sat down but here's here's what's interesting about sitting down it is really hard for god to speak to you when you're sitting down [Music] brother james the reason that i'm i'm sitting down is i haven't heard god speak or deal with me in a long time and i've just gotten depressed well let me tell you this it's gonna it's very unlikely that god is going to speak to you while while you're while you're down god god's a reward of them that diligently it doesn't work that way chances are and i've seen we've all seen god do it reach for people that that that that don't have the ability to reach for him we've all seen god do that but but you'll have much more success you'll it's much more likely that you'll hear from god and that you'll experience what you want to experience from god whenever you make up your mind god i i i don't i don't know where you're at right now i can't see you i can't feel you i can but i'm going to stand up we find in ezekiel the children of israel are in a very similar situation ezekiel the prophet is there and it's been a long time since god has spoken to the children of israel israel as a nation and as a society have collectively made a decision to sit down collectively they made up their minds we don't want anything to do with god as a matter of fact god we're just gonna sit here we're done with you and the bible says that the lord speaks to ezekiel and says ezekiel i'm wanting to do something i'm wanting to pour out my anointing just like i did in samuel's life i'm wanting to speak into your heart and to your life but samuel or ezekiel rather before i speak to you i need you to do one thing he speaks to him in ezekiel 2 and verse 1 he says son of man stand upon thy feet and i will speak unto thee whoa lord what's the big deal why can't you speak to him while you're why he's why he's sitting down why can't you why can't you speak to him while he's just kind of relaxing on the bed of affliction god says no no no because your posture matters you're not going to really hear me if you're seated in your doubt and your depression in your fear if you're just this if you're seated with others that are speaking doubt and and unbelief into you you it doesn't matter what i say you're not going to hear me but son of man if you'll stand upon your feet again son of man if you get up enough strength to stand again i will speak unto you but here's a very interesting thing about sitting down the longer you sit the harder it is to stand anybody ever been there before perhaps this is your first time in an atmosphere like this in a church like this and you may say brother james i've never been around anything like this and so i guess technically i maybe i'm just kind of sitting and i'm just realizing it and it's kind of hard how do i stand i don't know how to stand how do i stand but here's the thing god is in the business of helping those that first make an effort to help themselves and here's what happens in ezekiel chapter 2 ezekiel doesn't have the strength to stand anybody ever been been sick before and you've been in a hospital bed for a week isn't it amazing what happens whenever you haven't been able to exercise your muscles to be able to walk and stand in a week i mean i was talking to someone the other day and they said man i was in the hospital for a month that uh for something that happened i laid in a bed for a month didn't move he said i tried to get up and stand and the moment i tried to stand i collapsed and felt this was a young guy he said i hit my face what happened he just didn't stand for a month there wasn't anything crazy that happened to him he just he just didn't stand and his muscles became weak but the lord speaks to ezekiel says ezekiel stan i will speak to you but here's what's happened what happens after this something very interesting happens after this and i believe this is what the lord would do for everyone that would make a decision to stand this morning the bible says after god speaks that to him stand the bible says after then the spirit entered into me when he spake unto me now here's the thing if the spirit entered into him yet god told him to stand [Music] that tells me this ezekiel had to have made an effort to stand or else god would not have said stand but the moment that ezekiel makes an effort to stand the bible speaks and says that at that point the spirit enters into ezekiel and gives him the strength to do what he could not do on his own and the bible says the spirit entered into me when he spake unto me and the spirit set me on my feet listen that i heard him that spake unto me can i tell you the way that you hear the voice of god is for you to begin to make an effort to stand and when you make an effort to stand even when you don't have the strength to stand god will see that and his spirit will enter into you and set you on your feet that you might hear what he's speaking unto you can i tell somebody you might not have the strength to stand try to stand anyhow you might have not had the strength to stand stand anyhow man with the withered hand lord comes up to him and says sir do you want to be healed he says yes i want to be healed he says okay stretch forth your hand god my hand is withered how in the world can i stretch forth my hand lord you see i can't do i'm physically incapable of doing it but you know what happened in that man's mind he said hand you better begin to move and when he made that effort to move the spirit entered into him and did what he could not do on his own and he stretched forth that hand completely healed can i tell somebody you got to stand you got to stand up you might not feel you have the strength but make an effort and when you do the spirit will enter into you that's what i want us to do you say i want the spirit to enter into me i want god's spirit to touch me today but i've never received god's spirit can i tell you you're in the right place with the right god jesus is in this room and to everyone that would want to stand you're in the right place god through the power of his spirit wants to enter into but here's the thing you have to first make an effort just like ezekiel did son of man stand his ego said okay i've got to stand the moment he tried to make an effort to stand the spirit entered into him and did what he could not do on his own if you want god to minister to your life if you want god to touch your family if you want god's spirit to enter into you and give you strength like you've never had before it must first begin with you making an effort towards god so if you've never received the baptism of the holy spirit before [Music] but you would like to receive it today you say brother brother james i want to stand i've been seated for long enough i've i've allowed the the voices of this world long enough to speak but today i i want to stand i would ask you to join us at the front right now [Music] if you've never received the baptism of the holy ghost before if you've never received god's spirit before can i invite you to the front right now what are you doing this is you making an effort this is you doing what the what the prophet ezekiel did when he made up his mind i'm going to start walking towards god i'm going to stand and whenever i stand god is going to give me the strength to do what i could not do on my own and cause me to stand upon my feet this is beautiful we have people coming all from all across the room right now this is can i tell you the hand of god is moving in this place right now oh this is beautiful i know for some of you this is your first time and it takes a lot of courage to do what you're doing right now but can i tell you god is going to reward it [Music] here's what we're going to do i want to be very intentional in this moment all right if you've never received the baptism of the holy spirit before you've never spoken in a heavenly language as they did in the bible in the book of acts chapter 2 but you would like to receive the power of god's spirit because everyone that was filled with the spirit of god in the scriptures just like ezekiel was feel the bible lets us know that they spoke with other tongues so if you want the spirit to enter into you and cause for you to stand you have to be filled with if you've never been filled with god's spirit before can i tell you it is a great day every day every moment every hour is a great day great moment great hour to be filled with the baptism of god's spirit can somebody say amen so here's what we're going to do you say how do i what's how do i make that effort what's what's the effort look like now how do i stand can i tell you standing in the 21st century looks a lot like kneeling and saying god i ask you to forgive me and cleanse me standing in the spirit looks a lot like kneeling and saying god i need your help i need you to forgive me of every sin every mistake so right now just like they did in acts chapter 2 and verse 38 where the bible tells us that that they're saying peter we want to be filled with the spirit like like like you've been filled with the spirit what do we need to do peter says first you have to repent you got to get down standing up looks a lot like getting down and so right now all across this room i want to make this one gigantic altar and i want you to begin to repent of your sins all across this room listen everybody's sinned in this place for the bible declares all have sinned and come short of the glory of god so there ain't no perfect people in this room right now there's a whole bunch of sinners in need of grace from the front to the back from the platform to the floor come on i want you to lift up your voice and i want you to ask god cleanse me this is the first step to you receiving what you need from god is saying god i want you to forgive me god i want you to cleanse me i want you come on would you just open your mouth and with your heart and your mind would you just begin to ask for god to cleanse you and wash you right now that's it god i want you to cleanse me and renew me that's it pour your heart out to the lord this is a moment of repentance right now this is a moment of opening your heart to jesus and saying jesus this is me doing what i can do this is me making an effort this is me doing what samuel did and standing on my feet and as i begin to stand i'm believing that you're going to give me strength to stand cleanse me lord forgive me lord wash me lord that's beautiful i know i know we're taking some time but just for a few more moments right now hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah [Music] now i want everybody to listen to me really quickly i know a lot of people are praying and i don't want to be disrespectful to your prayers but i just want you to just for a moment to listen to me i promise you we're going to pray again have everybody's attention now that we've taken a moment we've repented we've asked god to forgive us here's what we're going to do we're going to begin to pray in the name of jesus that god will fill you with his spirit now in the bible when when people were filled with the baptism of god's spirit in the new testament the new testament the new birth the infilling of the holy spirit the bible lets us know that they begin to speak in other tongues as god's spirit gave them the ability now for some of you you've never seen or experienced anything like that before and that is really really weird what i just said can i tell you can i be honest with you it is a little bit strange but it is so awesome when the power of god's spirit begins to speak through you it's not anything that a man can make you do it's not anything that that that somebody can force you to do no it is real and when god fills you with the baptism of his spirit you begin to speak with other tongues as this spirit gives you the ability how many believe that god wants to do that for somebody for the very first time in this room right now i believe it [Music] i'm excited about it so here's what i want us to do are you listening to me this is what i want us to do we're going to pray we're going to join together the musicians and singers are going to begin to sing and worship the lord but here's here's what i want you to do and here's what i want you to understand in order for you to receive god's spirit you have to begin to praise and worship him because here's the thing god is a gentleman god isn't going to make you speak in some heavenly language you say well i want to receive god's spirit just kind of that's beautiful that's awesome i know you're praying and meditating on the lord but god god isn't going to make you do anything when you begin to give god something to work with and you begin to use your mouth begin to speak words of praise and worship to god god will begin to take what you're giving him and he'll begin to change that and you'll begin to speak in a heavenly language as his spirit gives you the ability to speak so very important if you want to receive the holy spirit you've never received it before you got to begin to speak somebody say speak you got to begin to use your mouth and as you begin to speak and worship and praise god god will begin to fill your mouth with a heavenly language and you'll begin to speak is there anybody that can testify that the holy ghost is real hey you've come too late to tell me that the holy ghost isn't real i've already spoken in other tongues you've come too late to tell me that god can fill people with the spirit i've seen thousands of people receive the gift of the holy ghost and that's not now i understand that's not a boast that's not me being the person that's up praying for any in the pew in the in the pulpit everywhere over the course of my life i've seen thousands of people receive the baptism of the holy ghost and god's done it before he can do it again i said if god's done it before he's no respecter of persons he can do it again right here in this place in knoxville tennessee so here's we're going to pray i'm going to pray a simple prayer of faith i'm going to pray in the name of jesus they're going to begin to pray and uh play and sing and some people are going to come and pray with you you may feel somebody place their hand on you on your on your head they may place their hand on your shoulder they may pray for you we're not doing anything weird we're just we're just being obedient to what the word of god says where the bible says that they laid hands on them and when they laid hands on them they began to speak with other tongues as god's spirit gave him the ability so here's what i want you to do all across this room lift up your hands and when we say in the name of jesus i want you to begin to lift up your voice and open your mouth using your words and begin to pray and the holy spirit is getting ready to fall in this place god by the authority of your word and the power that is in the name of the lord jesus christ i pray right now let every single soul that soul desires be filled with the baptism of the holy ghost just as it fell on the day of pentecost i pray let it fall in this room let there be a sound of a rushing mighty wind that would fill this room right now i pray it in the name of jesus christ now lift up your voice he shut down the vehicle lift up your voice and begin to pray right now come on the holy ghost is moving in the name of jesus in the name of jesus that's it that's it that's him praise him that's it praise him that's it worship him that's it praise him come on the holy ghost is moving right now that said the holy ghost is moving right now