From Generation To Generation

I'm thankful to be a part of a church. I am, I'm thankful to be a part of the Church of Jesus Christ. I'm, I've been blessed in this respect many ways, but specifically what I'm talking about right this minute is I've been blessed that I've been in church my, my whole life. And what I mean by the inserts, it doesn't mean I've been perfect, I live, always live for God, because that's not the truth. I've always been in search from, from my earliest days, just to babe, my mom and dad brought me to church, and I was raised in a church atmosphere. And as a teenager, when I didn't appreciate it very much, I'm now looking back as a 46 year old man, and I'm thankful that I had an opportunity to experience the presence of God.

Now, just because I was in the presence of God didn't guarantee me anything; it was just that I was there, I was exposed to it. I'm glad that as I grew up I was able to witness and see multiple generations around me, and I was able to have a front row seat of watching God work in their lives as they begin to live according to God's word. I've seen that myself, and again, it takes a lot of us, you know, that are slower in the process of learning, a little time to figure out just how good things really are. You know, the goodness in life isn't always in stuff, and with age wisdom comes for most of us, and you begin to reflect on that. And I, I have a message just very near to my heart today. It's, it's not a new thought, and his Solomon says there's really nothing new under the sun, but it's something that I feel like the Lord has for us at this moment in this season that we're in as a church.

I want to preach from the topic: From Generation to Generation. There's something important about what we live and how we live has a bigger impact than just us, that, that God, in, in his wisdom of how he, how he desires to lead us, there's, there's more at play than just me. And you know, I make decisions; oftentimes those decisions affect more than just me. Um, most of you know I've, I'm married and I have three daughters. Um, I have a mom and a dad that are here, have a brother that's here, I have a family, and I can go on. My wife has family. We, and, and often I make decisions in my life that ripples out through those that are around me, and so do you. You don't have to have the, the family dynamic that I have; the, the truth is that as we live life, we make an impact around us, both for the good and the bad.

And what I want to hopefully show you tonight, or this morning, in, in this, in this verse of scripture — I'm going to read actually two verses and then, and dive into what I feel like God has for us — is, is maybe that we can grab a hold of the importance of living every moment with intent. 5 19, to me, one of the most sobering verses of scripture in the entirety of the Bible, and I pray that God gives me the ability to deliver it today. He says: "Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the god of Israel, Johanna dab the son of wreck of shall not want a man to stand before me forever." Shall not want a man to stand before me forever. And then, then going into the New Testament, one verse, Luke chapter 1, Mary speaking here, she says this: "And his mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation."

I'm too thankful for the god of generations. He didn't just stop with a generation, but he, he continues on through time, always wanted his purpose and plan to be known. I'm thankful for him. I just, will you, will you help me pray for a couple things? We, we, help me do this: number one, my voice is giving me a little trouble today; will you, will you, we pray that my voice can just last through the message? And then number two, that, that this will come across as the way God intends for you. Will you help me pray real quick for that? Jesus, God, you're here right now in this place, and I pray, Lord, that I could be obedient to the movement of your spirit to deliver, God, the word that you have for your church. Your word is already anointed, God, but I pray that our minds and our hearts will be anointed right now to receive it and apply it into our lives. Got to pray my voice, but hang on, in Jesus' name, amen.

As I said while ago, this isn't a, a new thought for today, but this passage in Jeremiah has been one that I've revisited for the last many years. I don't know, I ran across it eight or nine, ten years ago, and it just stood out to me, and it stuck with me, and I've found myself going back to it time and again, just to see if there's something maybe I haven't fully unpacked yet. And every time I go there, there's a new richness and a depth in this passage. And the, the, the, the Bible is a book full of promises, and it doesn't take someone being a deep

Theologian to see that God's word is full of things that are for us, and that's because we have a god who's for us. He's on our side. And man, what, what an amazing thing that is, is to know who is for us. Oftentimes it's easy to know who's against us, right? But did you ever stop often and think about who's for you? Yeah, and a lot of times we have friends and family that are forced, and those are all great, and I'm thankful for my family, my friends, but, but I don't mean any offense by this, but it is a whole lot better just knowing that God's for me. The one who spoke the worlds into existence is for me. The one who, who set things in motion long ago just by speaking, he's for me.

Then when I read the word of God, I read the Bible, I see that there are a lot of stuff there that God has for me, promises that are just for me, if I'll understand what the promise means and what my responsibility and obligation is to that promise and to my God. I read about that there are promises that are to priests and prophets, and promises that are into entire nations, and promises that are through certain people, and promises that are to families. But I believe that his promise I just read to you today, in Jeremiah 35 verse number 19, may be the best promise that is there in the book that is given to any one person. I'll read it to you again. It says: "Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the god of Israel, Johanna dab the son of wreck up shall not lack a man to stand before me forever."

I want to read it to you in the New Living Translation, because it's a little bit more modern language. This says this: "Therefore, this is what the lord of Heaven's Army, the god of Israel, says: Johanna dab, son of reckon, will always have descendants who serve me." I don't know about you, but there's something about that promise right there. Maybe it's because I'm a dad, maybe it's because family is important to me, but when I read that verse of scripture, something inside of me gets excited about the fact that Johanna dab did something that got God's attention, and God said, "I like what you're doing, Johanna. Therefore I'm going to make this promise to you: you're always going to have a descendant, you're always going to have someone in your family who's going to worship and stand and serve before me, always and forever."

What a good God we have, that's able to make a promise like that to a man. From generation to generation, God's promised his people that they would be blessed. But I'm afraid that that message has been perverted and tainted in modern Christianity and, and turned into something that it was never intended to be. He made promises that he would heal. He made promises that he would restore nations, that they would be victorious in battle. He made promises that the hungry would be fed. He made promise that the sick would be May hold. And I stand here today in this Apostolic Church, standing deep in a pile of promises that belonged just to you and I. And you might not be a king and you might not be a priest, but church, let me tell you something this morning: you need to reach out and take a hold of the promises that God has given to you, and remind God, "This is what your word says, and God, I'm going to stand here holding this promise until I see it fulfilled in my life." Foreign, to grab a hold and grasp the promises and wrap yourself in them, and just to claim that that's going to be mine, it's going to happen for me in my life today.

Men, you're to be the priest of your home, here to lead your family and guide them into a deeper walk with God. You're not meant to be a passive participant, but you're meant to be actively involved in your family. Ladies, you're to love and nurture and feed your family, support your husband, and the teaching instruction of your children in the way of God and in Apostolic truth. I cannot think of a better promise in the book than the one I just read to you, that your children and your children's children will serve the Lord, that they will always stand before God.

There's a lot of things in life, when I was a younger man and before I got married, that I had dreams and aspirations of what I wanted to do and accomplish with my life. But through time, and a deeper understanding of God's word and his purpose intent for my life, I've learned that there's a lot better things than just stuff going on, but there's seeing that there's some part of me, some piece of me, is living on in another generation. Not only that, but that generation is understanding that they need to have their own walk with God, that there are a lot of things I can do for you, but there's one thing I can't do for sure: I can't walk for God with you. I can't. This is, that's a, that's a decision you have to make on your own.

Anyone here want to claim that promise for your family today? Anybody here want to claim that promise for your family today? Look, there's not a qualifier

that he comes and says you have to do all of these things. He just simply says, Ah, I'm going to always make sure that your descendant is going to stand before you. Why? Because, because Johanna dab made some decisions long ago. And if you'll give me just a minute, I'm going to unpack what it was the Johanna dab did.

There's a greater promise in wealth, health, and prosperity. There's a lot of situations going on, a lot of circumstances in our life that are just outside of my control, and that's tough for someone like me, because I like being in control. I like thinking through and being ahead of the game. I like being proactive instead of reactive; that's me. And if given the choice, I'm always going to choose to drive, steer, direct, whatever the case may be, versus waiting on somebody else to make that decision. That's, that's part of my personality, it's part of my nature. But I realize that there are some parts of life that I simply cannot control, but I can control my reaction. I can control me. I may not can control you, I mean I can control the weather, I may not control the economy, I mean I can control the government, I may not even be able to always control my health, but I can control my reaction. I can't control my response, I can control how I will live in that moment and what I will do.

And too many people today believe that they are entitled to all of the promises of God, but I'm here to tell you not all those promises are something that you do because just simply say, "I want that." A lot of the times they are if-then promises. It doesn't matter if you have a t-shirt or a bumper sticker that says every promise in the book is mine; that doesn't mean you're going to get all the promises. I hate to break the news to you today, but, but they're not all there. The vast majority of God's promises or conditional promises: "If my people," "if you hearken to me," "if you turn from your wicked ways," "if you will humble yourself," "if you will pray, then I will hear from heaven." See, there's the if-then. See, God's saying, "Hey, I got something for you, but I'm requiring something of you. I'm not going to simply just give it to you, but I want to see: are you going to be committed to me in my ways?" I know that is an unpopular sermon that gets preached in Christianity today, but I'm here to tell you it doesn't negate the truth that's in this book. There's a lot of stuff that's there for you if you're willing to engage and do your part. It's not just going to simply happen to you, but if you'll make your mind up, if you'll determine to study it out for yourself, there's a lot of stuff in there that will keep you, and not just keep you, it has the ability to keep your family too.

I'm preaching to somebody today, and I wish you'd grab a hold of the fact that you have a part to play in making sure your family makes it. Johanna dab, I believe, if we can find the prerequisite for the promise in this little obscure story in the Bible — I asked myself, what would make God give such a boundless and timeless promise to Johanna dab? This is a promise that doesn't have any kind of condition placed on it. It's like a covenant that God gave him and his descendants. And to get a better understanding of this promise, we have to go back to the scriptures and get the back story behind the promise. And to do so, we, we go back to a very interesting time of history in Israel, and we see that God was fed up with the wickedness and the idolatry that they were living in, and he was fed up with King Ahab and Judah's king, and he uses Elijah to pronounce judgment on Tim, upon them and their sons, and up on the false prophets. And it's during this time that he has declared that there was going to be a drought and no rain was going to come. And this happens for a period of years, and it gets really, really dry. And King's looking for him, and, and it's interesting, all the pieces that all of a sudden are set in motion, because one man of God stands up and declared just not going to reign anymore. All of a sudden this campaign comes down and there's going to be a, a showdown, but not at the okay Corral; it's going to be on Mount Carmel.

And we see the, the old prophet get up there, and he says, "You get all your profits, and you get everybody that's got some kind of title and something important in their life, and you tell them to meet me up on Carmel, and we're going to do this. We're going to see if you're a God or my God is going to answer by fire." And that was the terms that were laid out: we're going to, we're just going to see what's going to happen there in First Kings 18. And here's where the story of the promise begins. To understand why the Prophet Jeremiah talks about the story of Johanna dab, you got to go back to First Kings 18 and understand the story, because the word of God says this: It

says all of Israel was there. Now, now how much of Israel was there? All of Israel was there. If all of them were there, then a young man named Jay Hugh and a young man named Johanna dab were there, watching the Prophet Elijah as he was calling down fire from heaven. They would have been there when Elijah asked the question in First Kings 18, verse 21: "And Elijah came to all the people and said, How long will you halt between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow him, but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word." They're waiting to see what's going to take place in this moment. The line has been drawn in the sand, and we're going to see what God answers.

And it appears that something happened to Johanna dab that day, that he was truly changed by the preaching of Elijah. He was moved to change by the demonstration of Holy Ghost fire that fell from heaven that day, as not only did the prophets of Baal prove that they were incompetent and unable, because they were serving a God that didn't exist, but when Elijah, in a very simple prayer, called down fire from heaven, something powerful happened in that moment. And something, something inside of Johanna dad was settled that day.

Now let's go forward a bit. It's been a few years since Mount Carmel, and Elijah's mantle has been passed on to Elisha, and we find Jehu being crowned as king. And Jehu is on a mission to purge Israel of all of the idolatry that lies within. He's on a mission from God that doesn't make somebody laugh. Jay Hugh was annihilating anyone who stood in his way, and is now on his way to Belle's Temple to slay the worshipers rebel. We pick up this story in Second Kings chapter 10: "And when he was departed thence, he lighted on Johanna dab the son of wreck of, coming to meet him, and he saluted him and said unto him, Is thine heart right, as my heart is with thine heart? And Johanna dab answered, It is. If it be, give me thy hand. And he gave him his hand, and he took him up into the chariot. And he said, Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord. So they made him ride in his chariot."

Jay he was on a mission. God has told him what his instructions are, and he's going to live it out and do every little bitty part that he knows he has to do. He's going to rid Israel of Baal's worship, and he's going to partner with Johanna dab in this moment, if Johanna dab is willing. But first of all, Johanna dab has to pass Jehu's test: "You cannot ride in my chariot unless your heart is right. Now, you may say your heart is right, but I'm really going to check you out and make sure that you're living the life you're supposed to be living." Up until, up until this moment, the life had been a little bit different. But until you get behind what God's doing, until you get behind what's going on, until you understand that God has a plan for your life, you can talk a lot of talk, but as they said before, talk is cheap, honey. You can say a lot of stuff, but that doesn't mean that's what you're doing; it doesn't mean how you're living.

And Jehu, in this moment, says, "I want to see if you're actually the man you say you are. I want to see if you can prove it. You can talk all you want, but get up in the chariot and show me this: your heart is right. Johanna debut with me on Carmel. I know you were there. We've seen the fire fall from heaven, we've seen what was proclaimed. We know that, that God declared himself in that moment. Oh, I'm going to get this down to where we are right now. I know some of you have made some declarations in your life. Some of you have been to, to camp meeting, you've been to Because of Times, or you've been to youth camp this year, and you made some changes and made some declarations. We've all been in those services, in the altar time, when God was moving in a powerful way, and we said, I'm going to give you everything I got. But we've walked out and we haven't kept our promise. This is what Jay Hew is looking at Johanna dab in this moment, saying, I want to know: is your heart the way my heart is? Are you still living the way that we said we were going to live when we were back on Karma? I want to know if something's changed, because I have a mission to take place in Johanna depth, I want you to go with me, but I'm not sure you're right. I need to see something out of you."

Listen to me today, church: if our families are going to survive, we have to stir up a zeal and passion for truth and righteousness in the name of Jesus, and the Oneness of God, and holy separation unto him. Jesus has to be our highest priority. Does anybody remember your caramel moment in your life? Do you remember the moment when you, when you got down before God and said, "I'm willing to give you everything I have, God. I'm willing to declare that I belong to you. I'm not going to live

by, by my own accord anymore, but I'm willing to make some changes in my life. Does anybody know what I'm talking about? Because there's a trend going on right now of passive Christianity, and I'm telling you it's a lie from the pit of hell. There's a little bit of sprinkle of truth here or there, but it doesn't call us to be separated and dedicated and set aside under the one true God. And when I look at this verse of scripture, I ask myself, what was it about Johanna death that God said, "You're never going to lack for a man to stand before me forever"? What I've seen is somebody who determined a long time ago, "You're the one true God, and I'm going to live separated and holy unto you." Remember the day he filled you with his spirit. Do you remember making a commitment to God and following his plan for life? God is needing men and women to stand up and take a stand for this Apostolic truth and this Apostolic lifestyle in this day and age that we're living in. We need to not only to be separated from this world, but we need to be separated in a dedicated to our god.

This world is continually on a Daniel spiral. He's, you've heard me teach this and preach this before: it's not just me keeping an arm's length away from the world, because the world keeps falling further and further away. That means if I'm just only keeping an arm League's distance, I'm also falling further and further away from God. It's not about me getting only an arms linked away; it's about me pulling into something. It's about something that's drawing me, something that's pulling me, something that is wanting me to be closer, and it's our God. His desires for a deeper and a better and a stronger relationship with him. As time passes, I shouldn't be satisfied with the same experience in the same place where I am, and the same worship songs, and the same little, little "now Lay Me Down" honestly prayer. There should be something growing inside of me, that this year I'm spiritually deeper than I was last year. And when I look back across the last five years of my life, I can see a trend, that I have been drawing in closer to God, not bones stagnant and just being the same. Remember, I'm preaching about from generation to generation.

It's so easy for us to become very self-centered and self-focused. So easiest for us to come up with reasons and excuses why. And we are the masters at shifting blame. If I want to, I can find someone to blame for every inconvenience in my life; it's not hard. A lot of times I'm even given help, of those that is somebody else's fault, and, and that society has been wrong, and I've been mistreated by this and all that. I'm gonna, here's, here's the deal: it's easy to buy into that, but it's still a lie. There have been things done to me just like there have been things done to you, and if I'd have given the choice, I wouldn't have wanted to have those things done to me. But it doesn't give me the right to use that as an excuse for how I can misbehave. There's a lot of stuff that I would have never, I would have never signed up for willingly. But here's the deal: I cannot change my past. That means I cannot change the past decisions I made, and I cannot change the past decisions others made for me. But what I do have is the moment I'm in now. I have the right now. I'm not guaranteed the next minute, but I have the right now. So that lets me know, for someone who likes to be in control, which is me, that what I only have really control over is the right now.

Some of y'all getting nervous, because I don't feel like we got this yet, so I got to get down here where we get it better. Now, I can't control you. I can encourage you, but I can't control you. I can admonish you, I can give you instructions, I can do my best to present the word of God in a way that hopefully is, is appealing to you, but I can't force you. Because here's the deal, guys: if I could force you, this would be a lot easier for me. It would be a lot less frustrating for me. I would be a happier man. You, however, would not be happy. You would be very frustrated with me, because I was forcing you to do what I know you need to do. Okay, so I can't control you. I've had to come to terms with that and have, you know, a little bit of peace with it. Here's the truth: I don't give, I'm gonna bring it down to where it's even a little bit more personal. I can't even control my wife. I can't. That sometimes I think that would be a good thing. I have the fleeting thought every now and then. I, I can't control her. I, I'm, I'm in the same boat with her as, as I am with you. I can encourage her, I can admonish, I can hopefully, uh, instruct and guide us as much as she will let me, but at the end of the day she will make her own decision. So where I'm going with this is, knowing that I can't blame my lack of

relationship with God on my spouse. I can't blame my lack of relationship with God on my kids. I can't even blame it on my mom and dad, all right, because I can't control any of those things. But what I can do is control me. I'm not always able to control the outside around me, but I can control what's going on here, and what's going on here, and what's going on here.

The world around us is crazy; have you figured that out yet? It's losing its mind at a rapid pace. And now it's not only just being disobedient to God's word and his commands; now the enemy has become really effective about throwing in confusion and dissolute disillusion in people. And now we're, we're, we have reached the point to where we are confused about who we are. Did you see what he's doing? That's why at some point you have to, to tell yourself, "I can't control what's out around, but I can't control what's here in now." What are you allowing God to be for you? I want to ask that; it's a question you have to reflect. What are you allowing God to be for you? Are you allowing him to be Lord of your life? Because there's no way you read this book and you walk away from any other conclusion than this: he's either Lord of all, or he's not Lord at all. What I mean by that is, he's not going to take part. He doesn't want part. He declares really plain, black and white: he's jealous. He will not be replaced. He will not come in second to anything.

Now here's the deal: he's, he's very much — in the best way I know to say this, even though this word seems to come under some, some, some, some fire now, some scrutiny, but the best way I know to say it, so forgive me if I own fashioned — is that he's a gentleman. What do I mean? He won't force himself on you. He's just sitting there saying, "I'm here if you want me." But, but here's the deal: either take all of me or not. "I don't want to just be Lord of your finances but not Lord of your life. I don't want to be this Lord of your health, I don't be this Lord of your, of your family. I want to be Lord of all." So I, I want him to be Lord of all, and it comes with a lot of benefits to it. But here's the deal: it's, it's an all or nothing thing. There's no part. I can't just be part. I can't just give a little bit.

So what are you allowing God to be? What are you bowing down to? Because here's the deal: there's a lot of false gods around us. There's a lot of things that become idols in our life. Sometimes we're not even aware of the idols that are there, until all of a sudden something highlights the fact that it's got too much control over me. I just completed a fast with a few guys. We were, we were, we were doing, doing some stuff, and, and part of what we were doing was we, we committed to a fast. And then I was talking about the fast ones over, and I said, had anybody, anybody have any heightened senses about things that maybe had a little bit more control over you than others? Of course, you know, everybody's like, "Well, yeah," because it only takes you a few days into that to realize that, that my flesh likes a lot of stuff. Yeah, it used to be a gentleman that attended this church; he passed away a few years ago. His name was Herman Robinson; it was Tim Robinson's dad. He said, "You know, that fasting stuff ain't too bad, but I get a lot of, I get really get hungry." Yeah, yeah, well, it's kind of the point. Let's get in there, is because it reveals areas in my life where I need to pay attention to, because sometimes, if I'm not tuned in, my flesh has a way of ruling the day.

Are you guys still with me? I'm talking about from generation to generation. I'm setting something up on purpose here, because we have a lot of stuff sometimes we're unknowingly bow down to. And when it gets taken away from us, it's a good way to know, is when it gets taken away, how does it make you feel? Like, for example, what if I said this, what if I said this, you know, what if I said that you need to not be on social media for the next month, you need to not watch any movies for the next month, and have any, any, what if you don't need to watch any news for the next month? Now, for some of you, like, it's no big deal, but for some of you, you're just already itching. Some of you got your phone out just to check something right now on social media, just because I mentioned that. And I'm, again, I'm not anti these things. I don't talk about a lot, because it has a lot of power and influence in our world today. How much control does it — what if I said, what if I said, you don't need to eat any sugar for the next week? Something like, "I'm out right now, I'm done." Yeah, nope, not today. Some of you are changing your lunch plans right now. I'm gonna go by and get a pie

just in case. So you said it: it slips in unknowingly. What if I told some of you, you don't need to watch any sports for the next month? What if I told you, some of you, you don't need to do any shopping for the next month? What about no hunting, no fishing? Yeah, somebody like, "Pastor, you didn't went to Midland now." So you need, all I'm saying is that there's, there's things that can creep in unaware. Now again, I'm talking about from generation to generation. There's something about settling some stuff and purposing in your heart and your mind, "I'm not going to let this have too much control of me," because if I do, it's going to compromise my relationship with God. And at the end of the day, what is the most, what is it, what is paramount, what is, what is — yeah, it should be the relationship with God. Yeah.

I, I, I, I don't know. Johanna dead was a man who had given clear direction to his family. The passage of scripture opened with you, and as I read this message, I'm going to fast forward about 10 to 12 prophets from Elijah to this, to the story I told you on Mount Carmel. But some 200 years later, we find in the chapter I read, I'm opening text, that God is looking for the sons of John adab. Why is he looking for them? So it's been over, the best I could tell, it's been over 200 years since, since Mount Carmel and Jay Hugh and that all, everything's transpired, fired down, he's riding the chariots, he's doing — it's about 200 years later that Jeremiah's writing this, and God's looking for Johanna dabs kids. See, I believe he wanted to test Johnny Depp's descendants, to see if they really could keep a promise that he gave their father, Johanna dab. And if so, God would give them something special.

Jeremiah 35, verse number one: "The word which came into Jeremiah from the Lord in the days jehokum, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, saying, Go into the house the requites, and speak unto them, and bring them unto the house of the Lord, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink." Interesting: man of God says, "Go get them," or God says to the man of God, "Go get them, and then bring them in there," and he's going to present to him with wine. First number six: "But they said, We will drink no wine, for Johanna dab the son of wreck up, our father, commanded us, saying, You should not drink no wine, neither you nor your sons, forever."

So God, he tells Jeremiah, "Go get the descendants. I want you to go find them." And he doesn't tell them all he's going to do, but when he gets them there, he says, "Put them in a chamber, and then I want you to go get some wine, and I want you to offer them wine, and I want to see what they're going to do." So the prophet's off reminding the house of God, but when the prophets offer them, this is what they say. I'm gonna read verse six again; I'm going to go through verse number seven. It says: "But they said, We would drink no wine, for Johanna dab the son of wreck of, our father" — their great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather — "said to us, You shall not ring no mind, neither sell your sons, forever. Neither say you build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor have any, but all your days shall dwell intense, that you may live many days in the land where you be strangers." 200 years later, they had it memorized, word for word. When they were put on the spot in the moment, his descendants had it memorized, word for word, what Papa jahanadab had told them, and it had been passed from one generation to another generations.

The prophet offered, and immediately they were made with the answer: "No, we're not going to do that, because Papa jahanadab told us not. He told us we're strangers in this world. He told us, don't get too comfortable with your environment and what's around you. Don't be building no houses, don't, don't be planting no vineyards. This isn't where you're going to be." I look at that, I'll translate that in today's world, that sometimes I believe too many of us apostolics are comfortable in our environment, and we forget this fact: we're strangers in this land. What are you saying, Pastor Kevin, you want me to build a house? No, I'm not talking about building a house. I'm talking about putting down roots in something that's other than what God's plan and promise is for your life. Don't get so captivated with Babylon that you forget the truths that are in this book. There are some things I just cannot participate in. There are just some things I'm not going to involve myself in, because it has the ability to ensnare and entangle me. And I'm living for something bigger than just me, because I got a generation behind me that's watching what I'm doing. They're watching the decisions I'm making. I got those girls paying attention to everything I do. I've got to live for more than just me.

Papa Johanna dab had made some things obvious to his kids. He'd sit down, clear and concise objectives about who they were and who they were not. I look back in my own life, and again, I told you I'm very

blessed. It doesn't make me any better than anybody else, but I'm thankful for the heritage that was lived out before me. I'm thankful that I, I've seen — now, please understand my heart when I say this, but if you, if you follow my upline, if you go up to my parents, and you go up to my grandparents, and you go up, and if you go up, there's been no divorce. Okay, does that mean they're perfect? No. I knew some of them; they weren't perfect, no. But there was a commitment that was made. Now again, you can look at offshoots — I got, I got aunts and uncles — and again, it isn't just because there's been a split on it, doesn't make us any better than anybody else, but I'm thankful that something was lived and there was commitments that were made. I don't know where I would be today. I don't, I don't know where I'd be. My mom and dad are here, and I know it hasn't always been easy for you guys to live, but can I say to you, thank you for — I'm so thankful that you stayed together, and I'll answer for him too; he's thankful too, aren't you? Yes.

If you look at my wife's family, it's the same way. We're unique, and the fact if you go up through her family line, there's not been any divorces. If you, if you drift left or right, you see it, yes. And then, please understand, they're my family, I love them, I'm not saying they're bad people. I'm just trying to make an example about the fact that you can establish some stuff in your life, and you can say, it will not always be easy, and it may not always go according to plan, but there's something about saying there's more involved than just my happiness in this moment. Sometimes I'm willing to put up with some stuff that may be a little bit unpleasant, because there's somebody else coming up after me that I don't want them to live through what I'm going through. So I'm going to stick to what I know to do, because I want something special for them.

We are pursuing a promise, and God has never broken a promise, but there are choices to make in order to receive the promise. Not everyone, unfortunately, makes the right choices when it comes to themselves, and they don't realize the influence it has in their family. This story is such a unique story in the scriptures, and to me it's an encouraging story, that there's a possibility that if I can stay committed and do all that I need to do, that it may be will help my kids. It's not a guarantee, okay? They're their own individuals; they're going to make their own decisions. It's not a guarantee, but I'm going to make sure I'm doing everything I can.

But there's also another story in the scriptures. There's, there's another here, another, another tale, another father, where man did not do well when it came to leading his family and encouraging them correctly. The man I speak of, his name is Eli. He had two sons named Hoffman Phineas, who behaved wickedly by taking for themselves all the prime cuts of meat and sacrifices, by committing adultery with the women who served at the sanctuary entrance. Eli was aware of their behavior, but he rebukes them too lightly. He doesn't go in and say, "Boys, we can't do this; this isn't who we are." All indications is he, he just says, "You know better," and walks away. And again, we can't force our kids, and there's a fine line between being so, so rigid with our kids that we push them away, and at the same time loving them enough that we bring them close enough that they can still be in the presence of God. But Eli, Eli stands as an example.

This is what the word of God says in First Samuel chapter 2: "And there came a man of God unto Eli, and he said to him, Thus saith the Lord, Did I plainly appear into the house of thy father, when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh's house? And did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priests, to offer up mine altar, to burn incense, to where the ephod before me? And did I give unto thine house all that thou father's offerings had made by fire of the children of Israel? Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and my offering, which I have commanded in my habitation, and honor is thou sons above me" — whoo, listen to me, moms and dads, your kids can be idols — "to make yourself fat with the cheapest of all the offerings of Israel my people? Wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me forever. But now the Lord saith, Be it far from me, for them that honoreth me, I will honor, and they to despise me shall be lightly esteemed. Behold, the days come that I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father's house, and there shall not be an old man in thy house. And thou shalt see an enemy in my habitation, and in all the wealth which God has given Israel, and there shall not be an old man in thy house forever."

To me, I see two examples of things that are similar in fashion: one, Johanna dab — I don't, well, you don't know

all the particulars, but somehow, someway, he was able to live in such a manner, in such a fashion, that his kids, seeing the life and the dedication, and it was appealing to them, that he was able, through the relationship, to encourage and admonish them, and say, "This is who we are, this is what we do. Listen to me: we're not going to drink that, we're not going to build that, we're not going to be a part of that, we're different than that. I know there might be a lot of influence out there, and your friends may not understand everything we do, and they may scoff at our lifestyle convictions, but I'm here to tell you, we can't do that, because our God has asked us to be this way." And somehow, some way, he had such a relationship with those kids, the 200 years later, when they were put on the spot, they were able to spit back out what Papa Johanna dad said, word for word, in that moment. That caused God to say, "I am so happy with what is going on here. I'm going to establish something special with you, because of jehanada, you will not lack for a son to ever stand before me forever."

Then I see Eli, who was lit — listen to me, please — who was living in the blessing and promise of God. He was a part of the priesthood, things that had been established and said in order. And somewhere along the way, it became common to him. Somewhere along the way, he thought he didn't have to tell his kids how important it was to live it all out. I was giving him some stuff, I was giving him some slack, I was giving them some benefit. I don't know, I don't know all the particulars, I don't know how it all worked out. All I know is what I read. And somewhere along the way, God shows up and says, "You have dealt casually with the things that I don't deal casually in. They're important, and they belong to me, and they should be holy and separated. But you're treating them as something that is common, something that's not worthy of attention. And because of that, because of your lack of responsibility to the next generation, there's not going to be an old man in your family forever."

Something grips me. We serve a god of grace and a god of mercy, and I'm so thankful for it. I'm so thankful that I get up every day and it's new right there for me. But when I read these stories, it has awakened inside of me an understanding that my decisions cause a ripple effect to those that are around me, that I'm not an island unto myself, that I got to be careful, and I got to be sure that I'm spending time with my kids to make sure they understand why we do what we do.

Heard this said, and this was a quote, and I think it was my wife was talking about this, and it just resonated in my spirit. It was Francis Chan that said it, that if Jesus started a church in Murfreesboro, there would be people who would leave it, because it would be too hard for them to live up to his expectations. And I'm afraid, in our modern interpretation of grace, we have taken away any responsibility for us to make decisions. We're supposed to do that: if it's inconvenient, or makes me uncomfortable, or I just don't like it, then I can opt out of it, when God is plainly given his preference on what we should do.

I know this is a heavy sermon. I, I realize it's one that you have to think on. But here's, here's what I know: I am not just making decisions that only affect me, but I'm making decisions that affect those around me. And when I see those two examples, I can't help but be drawn to Johanna dab. I can't help but say, "I don't know what all it's going to cost me, but I'm willing to pay whatever the price is, because there's a whole lot dependent on me getting this right." And even though sometimes it can, it can be a little bit cumbersome, and maybe even burdensome some days, for some of the stuff that I feel like God's pointing out in that scripture, it doesn't necessarily take the responsibility away. I'm not going to be able to stand before God and say, "I think it was too hard." How can I stand before the one who they nailed to a cross and say that live in an Apostolic life was too hard?

So as they get ready to close, to me, this is a message you can't just sit on. This is the kind of word that causes reflection of where I am. Because here's the deal, ladies and gentlemen: I don't know every story in this room. I don't. I know a lot of the stories in this room, but I don't know every story in this room. I don't know all that's been done to you. I don't know all that you've experienced. I don't know all that has led you to this moment you're in right now, I don't. But here's a couple of things I do know: you have this moment. This moment right now belongs to you, and it's a gift. I also know that your decisions have consequences that go along with them, for the good and for the bad. I know that's a truth, and

here's the third thing I know: you're not living life by yourself in a bubble. At some way, some level, the decisions you make affect those that are around you. So I want to know the decisions you're making, because they affect from generation to generation. They do, for the good and for the bad. From generation to generation, what kind of decisions are you making now? Because here's the beautiful thing for me, is I'm released from what I felt like God wanted me to preach to you, but I'm not released from my obligation for myself. What do I mean by that? As God laid this on my heart to bring to this church, to deliver today, because I know, I know, I know, there are individuals here that you have not been thinking about your decisions. You have been living in a very selfish way, a very self-centered and very self-focused mood for a long time, and your refusal to deal with some things is causing a ripple effect to those that are around you. And I'm telling you, from generation to generation to generation, it's going to make an impact. Are you going to be positive in that impact? Are you going to be negative? It's the only two options we've got.

So as I close this message today, I think this is a time for all of us to examine where we are, for all of us to ask some questions: Am I doing, am I living, am I being what I can be? Am I being like Johanna dab, that I'm in such a way, that I got such a relationship with those around me, such a, such a relationship with my family, such a relationship with my friends, that I'm making a positive impact that will last for generations, and then generations later they will remember my name and say, "Oh, it's because of so and so that I'm here today. It's because of ant, it's because a cousin, it's because a sister, it's become a mother, it's because of brother, it's because of uncle, whatever the case may be, it's because of my friend that I'm here today, because of what they did." Or are they going to say, "Well, they, they never lived, or they always had a bad attitude, now they always made such a poorer. I don't know why I would ever want to live for God that way"? They were always, from generation to generation, the generation, we make an impact. What impact are you making? What impact are you making?

This altar's open. I'm going to pray and invite you to evaluate where you are, and ask God to reveal to you the things that you need to work on. Will you, will you bow your heads with me, close your eyes? Heavenly Father, I have delivered the burden you laid on my heart. I pray, Lord, your church will receive it today. God, we all are living for more than just ourselves. I pray we would see the areas we need to make adjustments in, the changes we need to make, so that we can have a positive impact on those around us, from generation to generation. God, if we need to establish our relationship with you, I pray, God, you give someone the courage to step out and meet you. I pray, God, you would feel someone with your spirit today. God, if we've drifted away, if we allowed ourselves to, to run off course into an area we shouldn't be, Lord, I pray that you would help us make a course correction today, that we could find a place to repent. Because God, I know your word says, if I, if I will ask, that you were faithful and just to forgive and cleanse from all unrighteousness. Pray, God, we would have the ability to find a place to make that change in our life. I pray your drawing Spirit, Lord, would bring us to where we need to be in you. Help us, help us make a difference for the good, for all those around us, in Jesus' name.

I invite you to come spend some time with the Lord today. I invite you to come, if you desires salvation to come, God will meet you here today. I invite you to come, evaluate where you are, and let God illuminate the area you need to make a change in your life.