A Dove, a Devil, and a Demonstration

And everybody say, "Praise the Lord." Come on, clap your hands and let's give that to the Lord in this house right now. I just feel like something good is about to happen. I just feel like something good is on its way. I feel like there's going to be breakthrough in this house tonight. I feel like something supernatural is going to happen in this place. We're not here to give you a pep talk or a speech. We're here to see a move and a demonstration of the Holy Ghost. Somebody could get healed tonight. If you're here and you don't have the Holy Ghost, tonight be a good night to get the Holy Ghost. If you're here and you need a fresh touch of the Holy Ghost, tonight would be a good night. Turn around, shake your neighbor's hand, say, "I'm glad you came to movement. What an honor to be back in Marville and to be a movement for yet another year. I'm very, very thankful for that. While you remain standing for just a moment, we want to give honor and I think it would be just appropriate for us to give a hand clap of appreciation to the Carpenter family, to this staff, and to this church for doing such a great job hosting us. Brother Carpenter, I don't know what we did to deserve such a great connection with your beautiful family, but I thank God for it every every day. and he mentioned my crew is here tonight. If they got a picture, throw up throw up that was 30 years ago about right now. Look at that. For three decades, she has put up with me, tolerated me, most importantly stood beside me. >> And I wonder where I would be without my wife. I love Renee. I love you. Thank you for spending your life with me and I'm thankful for all that God has done. And I told you if you stick with me I'd take us somewhere. And here we are at the Taj Mahal of Pentecost, the Vatican of the Apostolic World. Here we are 30 years. Our success to marriage is very simple. I'll give you some advice. Somebody said, "How'd you stay married so long?" I told him I said, "Well, we go dancing twice a week. She goes on Tuesday and I go on Thursday." And then to my daughter and son-in-law, my grandbaby's here tonight. And Caitlyn, I love you. You're a gift. >> You're anointed. >> You're holy. >> I appreciate it. You've always loved ministry. And I thank you. And thank you for giving us a good son-in-law. Amen. Somebody we can be proud of. Caitlyn and Caleb work and do so much for our church. And I thank God. I thank God for them. I thank God for my family. And to some of my church that's here, thank you so much for being here. And I've got some that's watching online. So I thank you for allowing me to be your pastor. And I tell our church and I tell this everywhere I go. I do not have a doubt in the world that Gainesville could have got a better pastor, but I also don't have a doubt in the world that we could not have gotten a better church. And I love our church so very, very much. I need you to help me preach tonight. Can you do that? >> Brother David Jennings, you're a gift to the body of Christ. And I'm going to take advantage of this little public statement right here. But just so you know, I pray for you often because you're anointed and you're doing something that God wants to use in a greater, greater way. And the devil would love to destroy you, but you got people praying for you and you're going to help us and lead us. And I thank God. I thank God for your spirit. I thank God for who you are. I got a lot of friends in this room. It's a little intimidating to preach in front of friends because they they know a little bit about everything about you. But I do think the Lord has spoken to me. I've not preached what I'm going to preach tonight. I've not preached it out anywhere. To be honest with you, I've probably did more teaching of this and little nuggets of this from just uh a home Bible study. Could I get that little table up here? Uh I probably got more of these nuggets from just teaching a home Bible study. Some of my some of some some of the the most revelatory sermons that have helped people have come out of just teaching a home Bible study. And I would just say something and look at whoever I was teaching and go, "Hold on, let me write that down. I'm going to probably preach that." I'm not going to read a text to you tonight, but I will get to passage of scripture. But I I need you to help me preach tonight, okay? Because I have never preached this. I don't know if there's any good points or not. And I've got a great church. And my great church, they they help me preach every service. And they make me think I'm a good preacher. And they make me think that every sermon I preach is good until I go out and preach that sermon somewhere else. And I realize it wasn't a good sermon. It's just a good church. And I hope I'm in a good church tonight because I I need your help. >> And I don't want to scare nobody, but I'm I'm going to take my time tonight. I'm not in a hurry. I'm not going to belabor a point, but I'm I'm not I'm not going to try to just rush through this. >> I I want to preach on this thought. A dove, a devil, and a demonstration. I I love to use props. Usually, as brother Hammond alluded to, bad sermons need good props. And so I thought, man, this would be great because tonight I could use my daughter Caitlyn as the dove and I could use Lauren as the uh And so tonight I I I brought my dove. Tonight I brought my devil and I'm hoping by the end of this that God will bring the demonstration. >> Amen. If you going to help me preach, would you shout amen? >> You may be seated. Noah and the ark. His name means rest or comfort. His father was Lamech. His grandfather was Methuselah and his greatgrandfather was Enoch. Noah was born, 146 years after Adam had his first son. Adam lived about 800 years after having his first son. So Noah was born only about 200ish years after Adam died. But innocence had been sacrificed on the altar of disobedience. And now Noah lived in a time known as the dispensation of conscience. According to Genesis 6 verse 5, God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, "I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth." What a unique time in human history. It was exceedingly evil and corrupt. There were no human governments to act as restraints against the immorality and perversion and sin of mankind. And because of that, people acted and responded and did according to what was right in their own eyes and what was pleasing to their flesh and what was justifiable in their hearts. Every imagination of the thoughts was only evil continually. >> What a sad epitap, a horrible obituary, and what an incredibly disturbing way to be remembered. The world had descended into a cesspool of wickedness and filth. It was so bad that it grieved God in his heart. And this holy God had to do something about these unholy people. And then on the eve of destruction, on the brink of disaster, at the edge of calamity, as almost a beacon of hope, a lifeline, >> a phone of friend, a lastditch effort, a man by the name of Noah is introduced on the scene. Genesis 6:8. But Noah, the man whose name means rest. >> But Noah, the man whose name means comfort, but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. >> And I don't know about you, and I liked what brother Hammond preached, and I liked what brother Jennings exhorted about, but I am thankful for grace. I appreciate the 15 of you that's in the same league that I am, but I am truly thankful for grace. Brother Mcool, I appreciate your stories last night. That's called grace. >> I could have went home last night after that. As a matter of fact, it's hard for me to run across that word grace without hitting pause and reflecting a little bit over my own life. This is the first time grace is written in your Bible. And it is written right after the worst verse that could be written about anyone. The Lord said, "I'm going to destroy you." And the very next verse, grace makes its way onto the world scene. >> Now, we know the word is eternal >> and in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. And and it was as if this eternal word had to jump off the yet unwritten page of Romans chapter 5. and had to travel all the way through time back to Genesis chapter 6. And right after the most horrific verse in the Bible, grace showed up cleared its throat and said, "Where sin abounds, wherever sin abounds, grace does much more abound." Oh, I am thankful for grace. I am thankful for grace. >> The phrase in Romans 5:20, sin abounded means to make increase. But the phrase much more abound means exceeding the other. So ever how big and bad sin is, >> grace will always exceed that. >> And in the midst of a sinful society, grace showed up and exceeded the sin. >> Now, I don't know how you got here. >> Some of you may have got here on your looks. Some of you may have got here on your talent. Some of you may have got here because of your income or maybe even your heritage. Some of you may have been born into this. Some of you may have came out of the womb speaking in tongues and never had a bad thought in your whole life. But I wouldn't be here had I not found grace and had grace not found me. And so I can't read that verse. Can Can you put up verse eight again? I can't read that verse. But Noah found grace >> without also reading. But Jimmy found grace, >> but Renee found grace. But Caleb and Caitlyn found grace. As a matter of fact, let's read it out loud again. Except you don't say Noah. >> You just say your name. >> Can we do that? >> But found grace. >> Let's read it again. But >> found grace. >> But found grace. But Oh, I wish I could sing cuz I hear that old Mississippi Mass choir song in my head right now. Your grace and mercy. >> Take some notes, Brother Jennings. Brought me through. >> Anybody remember that one? I'm living this moment. >> Because of you. >> I want to thank you. And I want to praise you too because your grace and your mercy, if grace ever brought you through, you ought to give him praise right now. If mercy ever pulled you out, you ought to give. Thank God for every blessing. Thank God for every abundant great favor that God's given us. But we need to go back to the very beginning. Had it not been for grace and had it not been for mercy, we would have died in our sin. But how many's thankful? Oh, you ought to clap your hands and make some noise right now. I want to praise him and I want to thank him. >> Nudge your neighbor and say, "You look better in grace." >> God's not going to let the devil get the last word. >> God's not going to let the world get the glory. >> God's not going to stay hid backstage somewhere. While the enemy has the upper hand, >> where sin abounds, >> increases, >> grace does much more abound, exceeding the other. >> No wonder the Bible says, "Greater is he >> that's in us." >> No wonder this book says, "He that hath begun a good work in you shall perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. No weapon formed against me shall prosper. God sent me here to tell somebody, "Quit thinking that it's over. Quit thinking that our best days have come and gone." Uh, quit thinking that our biggest churches have already been built or that people don't want the truth or that people don't want to live holy and righteous and godly in this prison world. The devil is a lie. God's going to give somebody a dove this week. Uh, this is our time. This is our season. This is our time. Hey, let's get rid of the excuses. Let's get rid of our doubt and unbelief. And let's just believe if God be for us, who can be against us? And he we're going to be able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we could ask or think. Do I got any believers in the house? Do I got any preachers? Do I got any saints that's believing that the best is still to come? We got churches to plant. >> We've got buildings to build. >> We've got missions to support. >> Yes, sir. >> Can I just say a few things? >> No time for territorialism. >> We're racing the rapture. >> Let me add to that. No time to be fussing and cussing about organizations. As a matter of fact, I think it's time there's a coming together. I don't mean us all just becoming one big or that's not what I'm saying. But I am saying let's love one another, help one another, support one another. Are you ready? And preach for one another. Somebody help me right now. We're racing the rapture. Our best days are still in front of us. But Noah found grace >> in the eyes of the Lord. >> And in the midst of perversion and promiscuity and perilous times, grace showed up >> in the midst of God's anger and fury. And in the middle of man's worst moment where sin was prevalent, imaginations were perverted and hearts were dark, grace showed up >> right then >> and right there. >> This teaches me that grace doesn't show up when things are perfect, >> but grace shows up when it is needed. >> And Noah found grace >> in the eyes of the Lord. God's answer to the turmoil of the day. His solution to the sin situation, his prescription for the perversion was to allow grace to find a man who represented rest and comfort and for that man to build a boat where people could find safety in the boat. And so allow me to jump ahead for a moment. But if that was his plan to save that sinful world, >> then it might still be his plan to save this sinful world. >> Grace, rest, >> comfort, >> and a boat. >> That's why the Holy Ghost is symbolized as a dove. And no wonder the Bible speaks of the Holy Ghost as the rest >> wherewith the weary are rested. And no wonder the Bible makes reference of the Holy Ghost as being a comforter. And then Jesus prophesied that upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Because in the midst of our sinful society, in the middle of our world that's going crazy, in a time when perversion is rampant, grace shows up. The dove shows up and declares that the Holy Ghost is still real and the church is still the answer. And if you want to be saved, you got to get in the boat. I'm going to act like I'm at a home Bible study right now. And there's still only one door on the boat. And there's still only one way to get in the boat. And there's still only one plan of salvation. And I want to encourage every preacher in this building tonight. Keep building that boat. Keep preaching grace and keep proclaiming truth. As a matter of fact, you ought to thank God for your pastor right now. You ought to thank God for every evangelist. You ought to thank God for every God called man and woman of God that's doing the work of God. And I want to talk and help every saint of God in the house. Stay in that boat. Do everything you can to help your pastor build that church. >> Let's peel back another layer. And to every parent, >> you keep getting those kids up for Sunday school. >> You keep taking them to the house of the Lord. I don't care how much of a hassle it is. I don't care how much of a inconvenience it might be. You keep making sure they're at youth service. You keep making sure they're there every time the It don't matter if it's a special service. It doesn't matter if it's not going to be your normal service. If the doors are open, we're in the house of the Lord. You keep paying your tithes. You keep giving your offerings. You keep supporting missions. Uh you're doing more than helping our church attendance. You're doing more than helping our our our bank account. You're saving your house. You're building an arc to the saving of your house. And that's why every time God gives you a dove, >> the devil shows up >> to distract you, derail you, discard you. But devil, >> we are not ignorant of your devices. And we are more than conquerors uh in Christ Jesus. And yes, we've got a dove. Uh and yes, we're fighting some devils. But you hear me? There's going to be a demonstration. There's going to be something miraculous. There's going to be something supernatural to baptize this campus this week that we're going to take back home and see God help us build an ark. Nudge your neighbor and say, "Keep building. Keep building. Keep building. Keep building." Let me remind you, grace doesn't show up when everything is perfect. Grace shows up when all hell is breaking loose. >> When it seems like there's no hope. Grace shows up when you're about to give up. >> When your sin is too great and all of a sudden grace, >> knocks on your door, clears its throat. Remember me? >> Anybody glad grace showed up? That ought to be an encouraging word for somebody. Cuz right now there's some preacher in this house and your your your life is not perfect right now and things seem out of place and there may be even a little dirt on your floor. But I promise you, you're the perfect candidate for the grace of God to show up in your situation. And Noah built a boat. >> And I wish I could tell you he built it fast. And I wish I could tell you that he attracted a lot of people to his boat, but neither of that would be true. I read once where some rabbis believe that Noah had to first plant the trees that he would need in order to build the ark. >> That was interesting to me as a church planter at heart because the ark is a type of the church and sometimes before you can build, you got to first plant. And you're familiar with the story. It rained for 40 days and 40 nights. And then the rain finally stopped. And Noah opened the window that was on the boat. And he did two profound things. Verse seven says, "And he sent forth a raven which went forth to and fro until the waters were dried up from off the earth. And he also sent forth a dove to see if the waters were abaded from off the face of the ground. But the dove found no rest for the soul of her foot. And she returned unto him in the ark. For the waters were on the face of the whole earth. Then he put forth his hand and he took her and he pulled her in unto unto him into the ark. And we know the dove represents the spirit of God. But I just want to throw this out there. This hit me early this morning that while he was going through the storm, the dove was in the boat with him. >> They didn't get it. Let me come over here. When he was going through his worst storm, he didn't have to open the window to let the dove in. The dove was already there. And while you're going through your worst storm, yay, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Why? For thou art, I'm not by myself. You're not going through that storm by yourself. You may you may look around and feel like there's nobody there, but you hear me in the Holy Ghost. You are not going through that storm by yourself. The presence of the Lord is there. And the raven did not come back, >> but the dove did. >> The little homing pigeon came home. >> The raven represents false doctrine of our day. >> The raven was sent out had no standard or concern about where to land or what to eat. As a >> matter of fact, a raven, it'd eat anything. The dead corpse and carcasses that was left behind after the flood, that did not bother the raven. They would plant their foot right on that dead surface and they would just eat and content. No need to go back. >> But on the other hand, the dove, >> the dove that represents a spirit. And when Noah, what if I just threw this and it started flying? Wouldn't that be crazy demonstration? I would be impressed by that. When Noah released that dove, the Bible said it had it had to return because it found no place >> to rest its feet. >> Why couldn't it find a place to rest? Because there was water. Why was there water? Because there was sin. The spirit will never land when sin is prevalent. That is why it is a major it is of major importance that a person truly repents. >> Repenting. Repenting is having the waters of sin in your life abate or leave. And when the waters leave, the dove can land. >> And I want to show you something. Because the waters didn't leave overnight. Genesis 8:3, "And the waters returned from off the earth continually." Verse 5, "And the waters decreased continually until the 10th month." Repentance has to be a continual thing. It's an ongoing process. Paul said, "I die daily." >> And he wasn't talking about his hair. I'm just looking to see if that's a place where it can land or not. >> The reason why some haven't received the Holy Ghost in your church is because there's nowhere for it to land in their life yet. >> The reason why some of you going through problems and you don't understand why the spirit hasn't come through, it's because you have not prepared a place for the spirit to land. But I pray before we leave this meeting that we would begin to prepare a place for the dove to land. We need a Holy Ghost landing strip. We need to make sure that we got a place where the glory where the glory of God can land and where the glory of God can dwell. And so the dove came back. He took it in. He waited till next Sunday, seven days later. And I want you to look at what happened in verse 10. And again, he sent forth the dove out of the ark. And the dove came into him in the evening, and lo in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off. So Noah knew. Somebody shout, "Noah knew." >> Noah knew that the waters were abaded from off the earth. This time the dove came back with an olive leaf in its mouth and Noah knew. Somebody say, "Noah knew." >> There was proof now that the water was drying up. >> I want you to grab this. When sin begins to diminish in our lives, then we can expect the dove to land. We can h we can have a place for it to h where its feet can rest. And the proof of the dove's landing to to Noah was found in the dove's mouth. >> An olive leaf in the mouth. Olive is where the anointing comes from. It's also a symbol of the spirit of God. The proof of the dove's landing. And the way that Noah knew the dove had landed is because it came back with something in its mouth. And the proof of the Holy Ghost landing and the proof that the Holy Ghost has found a place to to dwell is because something's going to happen in him. For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. And they all be to speak with other tongues uh as the spirit of God gave. Has a dove ever landed on you? And you knew. Noah knew. You knew. You can still know. In Acts two, the dove landed >> and they spoke in tongues. >> In Acts 8, the dove landed >> and the witch said, "I've never seen nothing like this in my life." And it doesn't say they spoke in tongues. But it does say that Simon saw. >> See, all you playing Simon says. We knew. I want to see what Simon saw. And Simon saw that through the laying on of the hands that the Holy Ghost was given. And he said, "I'm willing to pay money for that." You know what he saw? He saw something in the mouth. Cuz when the dove lands, there's going to be something in the mouth. In Acts 10, when the dove landed, they spoke in tongues. In Acts 19, when the dove landed, they spoke in tongues. Uh when the spirit lands, there's going to always be something in your mouth. That's why you can't sit in service and keep your mouth shut. That's why you can't sit in church and just say, "Well, I'm not feeling good. That's just not my style of music. That's not my favorite preacher." No. The dove hasn't landed. Because when it lands, something's going to be in your mouth. Can I tell somebody tonight, God's looking for a place he can land? >> That dove wants to land in your city. >> That dove wants to land on your church. >> That dove wants to land on your ministry. >> But he will not land on anything that has the stench of sin and death on it. God's looking for new life. Why seek ye the living >> among the dead? >> God can't dwell on dead worship >> and dead praise >> and dead choirs, >> dead preaching, >> and dead church services and dead prayer meetings. But the dove is looking for a church that's alive. Do I got any lively stones in the house? The dove is looking for a place that's holy, a place that's clean and pure and without wrinkle or spot or any such thing. Uh a church that's separate. A church that's holy. A church that has a standard. A church that's not dead. A church that believes in the spirit. A church that believes in the supernatural. A church that believes in the mira. The dove is going to land here this week. I promise you, there's going to be a demonstration. It may be tonight. It may be tomorrow. It may be But I pro before we leave, uh, there's going to be a divine demonstration of the Holy Ghost and you may have came in burdened, but the dove is going to land on you. And when he does, there's got to be something in your mouth. >> As a matter of fact, let's take 30 seconds and just put something in our mouth right now. Why don't we go ahead and prepare a landing strip, Lord? Let your glory settle here, God. Let your power settle here. Oh, there's going to be a breakthrough tonight in the Holy Ghost. There's going to be worship tonight that breaks chains and shackles. And there's going to be foundations of prisons that shake tonight. And everybody's bands are going to be loose. We're coming to movement different tomorrow because of a demonstration tonight. You ever watch them call in a plane before? >> That kind of looks like worship, don't it? >> Why do you do this? I'm trying to let them know you can land here. I've prepared a landing strip. Ought to throw a pot at you. I've prepared a landing strip. I prepared a place for the glory to land. Let there be a demonstration here. Let there be glory here. Let there be power here. Let there be a breakthrough here. Because if we can get him to land, if we can get the dove to show up, there's going to be miracles. There's going to be signs. There's going to be wonder. Yeah, but you don't understand. We're just a little old Pentecostal church. We're just little bitty Apostolic Church. We're justah. >> Noah >> went in that boat as the minority. >> But he came out as the majority. He went in that storm and not many people believed like he believed. He came out of the storm and everybody believed like he believed. Quit feeling sorry for yourself. God's got a dove. You may go through one storm and that storm can shift everything in your city. >> And you may not be a big church right now, but there can be one landing of the dove and before it's all said and done, you might be the biggest thing in your city. And that storm, somebody shout, the storm. The storm took his boat from the valley and it rested it on the mountaintop. Sometimes in order to get from here to there, you got to go through a storm. But I promise you, if you will endure, if you will endure, if you will, oh, I feel the Holy Ghost now. If you will endure, weeping may endure for a night, but if I can just hang on a little longer, joy is coming in the morning. weeping uh may have lasted last week, but if I can preach revival one more time, if I can do outreach one more time, if I can cast my nets one, >> so just keep preaching truth. >> Just keep conditioning yourself. >> Just keep getting keep opening up that window. >> Keep letting it out. >> See what happens. Let it out. See what happens. Keep preparing a place. >> Look, I I I know I'm simple. I get it. I'm a weird dude. I get it. My brain is goofy. I get it. But I see now, yeah, I'm just taking you through my little Bible study. I see Acts 2:38 spread throughout the whole Bible. >> If you're a really good preacher, you can preach Acts 238 off anything. You can find X238 on a cereal box. >> You can find X238 on a shout bottle. >> A windchime. I mean, you can find it in anything. The first thing God did was separate light from darkness. >> You see, I call that repentance. >> The second thing God did is he divided the waters from above >> from the waters beneath. >> Well, I call that baptism. And the third thing he did was cause the earth to come up out of the water. Well, I call that resurrection. I call that new life, repentance, baptism, Holy Ghost. Acts 2:38. >> And we're still in Genesis chapter 1. >> Noah repented by getting in the boat. >> He was cleansed through the flood waters. Baptism. God sent the dove with something in its mouth. Repentance. Baptism. Holy Ghost. Acts 2:38. The Passover was when they left Egypt. They walked through the Red Sea. A cloud led them by the day and a pillar of fire by night. Repentance, baptism, Holy Ghost. Acts 2:38. Again, I know my brain is messed up. Gideon Gideon preached a little message that said, "If nobody wants to live right, you can leave right now. If you don't if you're too scared to join in the battle, you can leave." And and and the vast majority left. >> And the next thing Gideon did was he took him to the water. That's right. >> And depending on what they did in the water, if they did the right thing at the water, then the 300 got torches of fire. >> Repentance, baptism, Holy Ghost. Acts 238. Jesus was crucified. Jesus was buried. Jesus was resurrected. Repentance, baptism, Holy Ghost. Acts 2:38. No wonder Peter answered their question when they said, "What must we do?" He said, "Repent and be baptized." every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Can I tell somebody the truth is woven through the whole Bible and we would be a fool to water this thing down to a sinner's prayer or to baptism being optional or the Holy Ghost as a luxury and not a necessity. The devil is a lie. I need the dove to land here. I need a demonstration. I need a baptism of the Holy Ghost to hit my church. I want truth to fill my city. I don't care who you are. I don't care how many friends I've had. I you go crazy. I I will move on >> because though I or an angel from heaven >> preach any other gospel >> than that which was delivered, let him be a curse. There's still only one God and his name is Jesus. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father above all, through all and in you all. And there's still only one plan of salvation. You got to repent. You got to get baptized in Jesus name. And you got to let the dove land on your life. That is the gospel. David said, "Oh," in Psalm chapter 55, he said, "Oh," everybody say, "Oh, >> oh, that I had wings like a dove." I don't see, boy, I'm gonna get in trouble with this, but I'm going to say it anyhow. It's not in my notes, but I'm going to say it anyhow. >> I don't see David wishing for Abraham's mantle. I'm not trying. >> I don't I don't see him praying, God, give me Moses's mantle. >> It's almost like David was looking ahead to something that was yet to come. Oh, that I had wings like a dove. If I could just have that spirit, if I could just get the Holy Ghost. Jesus said, "Don't you leave Jerusalem until you are endued with power." That word endued means to be clothed. The only mantle I want >> is the mantle he died to give me. I'm not You chase every other mantle you want to, but God, if I can just get the dove to land at this place, then I believe there would be a demonstration. And I believe we can see the supernatural. And I believe we can see the miraculous without being goofy or weird. >> We ain't got to sell no mess. >> We don't have to chip off no splinters off the old rugged cross and sell them before somebody can get healed. That's foolishness. That's sorcery. That's idolatry. That's witchcraft. That's me telling God, "You need my help." That is a farce. What I need is to prepare a landing strip so the dove can land. And when God shows up, we get out of the way. It is not by might. It is not by power. There's other there's other things I want to say, but I want to come back next year. >> But you know, I can't just talk about the dove without al also letting you know that there will be a devil. >> As a matter of fact, for every dove, there is a devil. For every move of the spirit, there is a counter move of Satan. >> For every advancement in the kingdom, there is resistance from the enemy. It's a constant tug of war. Battle between right and wrong, flesh and spirit. I would to do good, but I do bad. And that wish that that I wished I wouldn't do, that's what I end up doing. For every tree of life, there's also a tree of knowledge of good and evil. for everything God has promised us. The devil has a cheap substitute to replace it with. >> And the target of the enemy is not so much you and me. The target of the enemy is the demonstration that is to follow. >> That's it. >> So, I hope that doesn't bother you, but it's really not about us. >> We may not even be on his radar. >> But it's that move of God. It's that demonstration. It's that pulling down stronghold stuff. It's that Holy Ghost revival stuff. That's what he doesn't want to happen and that's what he's trying to stop. >> A dove, a devil, and a demonstration. So Noah comes out of that boat. He builds an altar. He worships God. And the Bible says in Genesis 8:21, "And the Lord smelled a sweet savor. Dead animals everywhere, dead bodies everywhere, disgusting decay everywhere." I can't even imagine the stench. Yet one man's worship >> changed the whole atmosphere. No wonder the devil doesn't want you to worship. No wonder he doesn't want you to break that alabaster box. No wonder he doesn't want you to get lost in his presence. >> And so after he got off the boat and after he had the experience with the dove and after he had built an altar, temptation shows up. The devil shows up. The enemy appears. And the Bible says in Genesis chapter 9 20, "And Noah began to be a husbandman, and he planted a vineyard, and he drank of the wine and was drunken. A dove and now a devil, a test, and now a temptation, >> a storm, and now a satanic situation. He just came out of the greatest miracle of his life, and now he's tempted to do something he's never done before. It appears that some people cannot handle the blessings of God. God keeps them through the storms. God prever preserves them during floods. He blesses them with fruitfulness and multiplication. And they get drunk on it. >> A dove and a devil. Not only is this the first time you're going to find grace in this story, this is the first time you're going to ever find vineyard mentioned in your Bible. And so it is also the first time that someone drank and has gotten drunk that we have record of in scripture. And when drunkenness is mentioned, nakedness is also mentioned again for the first time since God fixed that problem in Genesis chapter 3. Drunkenness will always undo what God has already tried to fix. >> And instead of enduring, Noah caves. Instead of withstanding, he fails. Instead of looking for a way of escape, his flesh prevails and he gets drunk. And some weird things happen with his sons and forfeits what could have been. And now they end up at the Tower of Babel. And God's got to come down and confuse everyone's language and split the people up. A demonstration nonetheless, but not what should have been >> or could have been. I'm wondering how many demonstrations we have forfeited because we did not persevere or endure the trial and the test that we were going through after we had our greatest move of the Holy Ghost. >> You see, we can't shout about the dove and then lose the battle when the devil shows up. And before we condemn Noah, let me remind you, >> he did just come through a building program. I'm not saying I agree with it. >> I'm just saying I understand. We just came through a remodeling program of a new church and we did so much work in four months and in full disclosure and I hope this is a safe place and I hope brother Bernard isn't watching right now but he probably is because he always enjoys watching me preach. But in full disclosure, he didn't want me to tell everybody, but in full disclosure, in the last four months, I may have drank a little bit. Matter of fact, I might still be a little tipsy right now. And you know good and well that brother Carpenter did not build this building >> without my point is this God God will give you a dove. of but that doesn't mean we're exempt from the devil or temptation or from severe testings. And I just basically come I had a 40minute introduction but I just basically come to preach to somebody you got to endure. Somebody shout endure. >> If you don't learn how to endure then you're never going to stick around long enough to see a godly demonstration. Somebody shout endure. >> Don't quit. Don't give up. Don't throw in the towel. Rejoice not against me, oh my enemy. When I fall, I'm not giving up. I'm getting up. Uh when I sit in darkness, I'm not giving up. Keep enduring. Keep fighting. Don't let the devil win. Get back up. There's demonstration in your future. There's supernatural on the horizon. >> The last thing we need is less endurance. Yes, sir. >> If we can't walk with the footmen, what are we going to do with the horsemen? >> Jesus said, "He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved." Salvation is not complete without a side of endurance. >> You shall reap if you faint not. >> You want to know how you build a church like this? I'll tell you, you endure >> and you keep enduring and you take every dove that God gives you and you shout about it and then you fight every devil that comes your way and you just keep enduring and you go through that season and God gives you a dove and all of a sudden here comes a devil but you wait on a demonstration and then you go through that season and God oh I feel the Holy Ghost sweeping in this place and God gives you a dove uh and you're going to fight another devilh But the next thing is a demon. You got a sword in one hand and a trial in the other hand. You have prayer meetings. You have revival. You bury people. You lose people. People come. People go. But you open the window and you let the dove uh and then you fight a few devils. Uh and you say, "God, now only you can do what you can do." Let's all stand. I just want to preach to you. Keep enduring until you see the demonstration. >> For the Lord himself >> shall descend from heaven >> with the shout, with the voice of the archangel, with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain. The word remain means to survive. Somebody shout, "I'm gonna survive this." A dove, a devil, and a demonstration. But I'm not quitting. I'm not giving up. I'm going to survive this. I may be going through the fight of my life, but I am a survivor. Paul said, "But I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost. For there's a great door, an effectual door that's open unto me. But there are many adversaries." Somebody needs to make up your mind. I've got a dove and a devil, but I'm not leaving until I see a Pentecost. I'm not going anywhere until there's a demonstration. I'm not leaving until there's a breakthrough. Remember when Jesus was baptized, Matthew chapter 3:16, Jesus when he was baptized went up out of the water, and lo, the heavens were open and saw the spirit of God descending like a dove. >> And lo, a voice from heaven saying, "This is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased." And the dove showed up. And we usually stop reading there because that's the end of the chapter. But if we go on, you know, say, "Well, man, the the dove showed up. We go on with our lives. Everything's good now. We got baptized. The dove is here. I got a ministry. I can now enter into the promises of God. I'm now exempt from the devil. I can now have revival because we stop reading prematurely. But if you just read one more verse, even though it's the next chapter, it is still the next verse. And it is in context as to what happened immediately after he was baptized. And this is what the next verse says. Matthew chapter 4 verse one. Then right after he was baptized, then right after a dove descended, then right after there was a voice from heaven, then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. It's hard to have a moment with the dove and not also have a moment with the devil. >> He went from a dove in the water to a devil in the wilderness in just two verses. Charles Spurgeon said, "Consider how precious a soul must be when both God and the devil are after it. A dove and a devil." >> And it's the same with us. God's going to give us a dove this week. Our faith is going to be renewed. Our dreams are going to be resuscitated. Our hope is going to be revived. We're going to get what we're looking for. We're going to take something back and it's going to ignite a fire in our church. And we're going to go home freshly baptized with the Holy Ghost. But you hear me, and I'm not trying to talk out of both sides of my mouth, but there's going to be a devil waiting on you when you get back home. But if you endure whatever he might throw at you, if you'll just keep enduring, I I'm not going to read it all, but Matthew chapter 4, the devil takes him up and tempts him with this. And Jesus said, "It is written." And the devil takes him up and tempts him with that. And Jesus said, "It is written." And the devil takes him up and says, "Hey, if you'll worship me," and Jesus, it is said, "Get thee behind me, Satan. It is written, thou shalt worship thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." Now listen to this. Then the devil leaveth him, and behold, angels came, and there's a demonstration. There was a dove in chapter 3. There was a devil at the beginning of chapter 4. But then there's angels and miracles and supernatural manifestation in verse 11. If you will stay in the word and every time the devil comes at you, it is written. It is written. It is written. If we can endure, if we can keep the faith, if we will not compromise, if we will not give in, then the devil will leave and the angels will show up and there will be miracles and there will be a supernatural demonstration. I'm going to prophesy and say it one more time. There's going to be a demonstration. Something supernatural is going to hit this place. There are going to be angels that are sent to do what only angels can do. Uh Paul said, "I did not come with enticing words of men's wisdom, but with power and a demonstration of the Holy Ghost." So when you go back home, uh look for a dove. Uh open up the window and preach on the Holy Ghost. But understand, you're going to fight some devils. But just keep enduring. Keep enduring because there's demonstration in your future. There's supernatural. I want you to throw your hands up all over this place right now. Hallelujah. glory. >> If you believe in God for a visitation, I wish you'd step out of where you are right now. I wish you'd come to this front. I wish you'd throw your hands up and ask God, "Land right here. Dwell right here. Settle right here. and make up your mind for every devil I'm going to keep enduring until there's a demonstration until there's a breakthrough come hell or high water come trouble or trial come testing or temptation. There's going to be a dove. There's going to be a devil. But there's going to be a demonstration. Come on. And I want you to begin to lift up your voice. And I want you to begin to worship God all over this place. God sent a preacher here to tell you, "Keep enduring. Keep enduring. Keep believing. Keep praying. Keep fasting. Keep worshiping. Keep doing outreach. It is written, Satan. It is written, Satan. It is written, Satan. in the name of Jesus. Come on. I want you to lift up your voice all over this place. Thank you, Jesus. God's calling you to make a difference in your city. God's calling you to make a difference in your church. God's calling you to make a difference in your department. The weapon may be formed, but it won't prosper. >> Don't give up. You're close to a demonstration. >> It won't brea. >> Don't go get drunk. Don't go do anything crazy. >> Holy triumph. >> Oh my God will never fail. Oh my God will never fail. So I'm going to see a victory. I'm going to see a victory. For the battle belongs to you, Lord. I'm going to see our victory. >> But I'm on Terry until Pentecost. see our victory. >> I'm not giving up. >> For the battle belongs to you, Lord. >> There's a demonstration in your future. >> The weapon may be prosper. >> I want you to reach your hand over and pray with somebody next to you. >> Let the dove land here this week. >> The God I serve. God, you see every devil we're fighting, but let there be a demonstration. >> Oh my god. >> Strengthen the hands of my brothers and sisters right now.