The Next Level

Africa is an amazing, amazing place. Anyone in the house ever been to Africa? Let me see the hands of those who've been to Africa. See a few hands going up. Anyone want to go to Africa? Lead the hands up. Well, I see a few brave souls.

Uh, I heard, you know, this — uh, the preacher was just preaching away on Sunday morning, and he was preaching about going to heaven. And and um he began to preach about — when he started talking about going to heaven, everybody was excited. And he said, "How many of you folks want to go to heaven?" And nobody raised their hand. And he thought, well, maybe they didn't understand. He came back around again. He said, "I'm preaching about heaven, this glorious place we're going to. How many of you want to go to heaven?" Nobody raised their hand. He asked a third time. He said, "Brothers and sisters, I don't understand. We're talking about heaven. How many of you want to go to heaven?" Nobody's raised in their hand. And one of the faithful saints sitting on the front row said, "Pastor, we thought you was getting the load ready to go now." So I'm not talking about getting ready to go to Africa today, but i m just — so don't be afraid of that.

Africa is an amazing, amazing place. Last year, during the second year of COVID, there were recorded, confirmed 42,551 people filled with the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in other tongues. To God be the glory. 37,236 baptized in Jesus' name for the remission of sin. To God be the glory. That's a part of your ministry, Center Point. That's because of your giving, and because of your praying, and because of your sending and your participation. And again I say thank you for that.

I want to go to the Word of the Lord today in Revelation chapter 4. And as you're finding Revelation 4 in your Bibles — that almost sounds a little bit uh ancient or something to say, "if you have your Bibles, turn in your Bibles," because it's surprising, of course, we have Bibles on cell phones, and Bibles on tablets, and Bibles on i watches, and Bibles on everything today. But if you have your Bibles, however you have your Bibles, would you turn to Revelation chapter 4 today? And I'm going to read a couple of verses there.

Before I do, i uh I was thinking about this morning — I just wanted to share this with you. A number of years ago — by the way, the most beautiful lady in all of the world is in the house today. Carolyn Adams, would you please stand, sweetie? She is the love of my life, absolutely. Early, our early years in Togo — we lived in a small country in West Africa named Togo for 21 years, and as resident missionaries, and saw God do some amazing things, not only in that country, but in all of the French countries all across West Africa. And anyone ever heard of Togo before? There's a few. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You know, we're the — p I told the banquet this last night, but I want to tell the entire uh congregation: we're the people who have the special parking at Chili's, at Applebee's, at — you'll get it, you'll get it, you'll get there — the to-go parking. We don't see it as to go, we see it as Togo parking. So that's a little corny, right? Okay. All right, a few, anyway.

Our durian — I think it was during our first term in Togo — I had gone with some of our Bible school students to one of the bush villages where we had a new church, and um there to spend the weekend to preach and teach and in the local church. And this is way out be beyond electrical lines and beyond water lines, and just — this is out in the bush country. And the bush villages, you know, mud houses with grass roofs and the whole scenario. And my hotel and those in those times, my hotel was my shifts for Christ's vehicle. So thank you for giving for to she's for Christ. Move the mission nowadays, we call that — thank you for giving to Move the Missions, because sometimes those moves the Missions vehicles become the hotels for missionaries who go out in the bush country.

And was out there, and it was on a Saturday evening. The pastor — the only church in the village was the UPC church there, the apostolic church. And Saturday evening, the pastor called a prayer meeting down at the church. So we walked down to the church: red mud building, dirt floor, the whole thing. And we're having prayer meeting. You know, I learned a lot of things in Africa. But one thing I learned is, you know what, I thank God for beautiful, beautiful facilities like this facility, and and i I congratulate you folks. This is absolutely amazing and awesome, and it's all to the glory of God. Amen. I know you're thankful, and you should be. But I learned some things in Africa. One of the things I learned is God doesn't have to have carpeted floors, and God doesn't have to have comfortable seats. God doesn't have to have, you know, the nice lighting. And God doesn't have to — he's the same everywhere. Not just the same yesterday, day, and forever, but he's the same here and there, and he's still pouring out of his Spirit.

And that Saturday evening, during that prayer meeting, the building was packed — literally standing room only. It was hottest blazes. We have two seasons in West Africa: we have hot and hotter. And it was the hotter season, folks, and it was hot. And that building does have does have a nice tin roof on it, because because churches like Center Point give to help us put ten roofs on our buildings. And — uh did I tell you they put — sometimes they build the roof of the building, they put it down kind of low. Have you ever been in a in a tent under a tin roof in the hottest — the hotter season? Well, it's hot, okay?

And the pastor came to me. People are praying there. Obviously the Holy Ghost is moving. And pastor came to me, and speaking to me in French — because they they didn t they don't speak English there — and he wanted me to go with me. I mean, he — I followed him. And he took me back in the back of the church, and there was a man standing there praying, an African man, from a Togale man. And he got he has his hands in the air, and he's praying. Obviously he's having a spiritual experience. Tears are running down his cheeks, and his hands high in the air, and and he's praying. And the pastor says, "would you Would you go and listen to him as he's praying?" And i so I stepped up close — thought it was a little unusual, but I stepped up close to listen to the man. And she prayed. And to my amazement, the man was praying in English, just praying up a storm, just having a spiritual experience. And he's praying in English. And I turned back to Pastor Izidor, and I told Pastor Isidore, in French of course, I told him, "The man's — he's praying in English." The pastor became super excited, and he said i he told me in French, he said — I thought that's the language he's speaking. He said, "This man has just received the Holy Ghost. He's speaking, he's speaking in other tongues, as the Spirit of God gives the utterance."

Ladies and gentlemen, this was way out in the bush country. This wasn't in the city. And you know, sometimes we can be a little bit skeptical. And I asked him — you know, you want to be sure, you know, before you shout around and praise God — I said, "Well, maybe he went to Nigeria." That's a neighboring country; they speak English. He said, "No, no, no, he's never been to —" I said, "Maybe he went to Ghana, they're speaking —" "No, no," he said. "In fact, this man has never been to school. He's he s illiterate. He can't even read or write." But when God filled him with the Holy Ghost — when he — and the only person in that in that place who could have understood what he was saying, guess who it was? It was me. And you know what he

was saying, as he was praying in tongues, he was praying — he was saying, repeating over and over again: "God, I have received your plan. God, I have received your plan. God, I have re—" I want to know if there's anyone in the house today: you're thankful for the plan of God. Anyone baptized in Jesus' name? Anyone filled with the Holy Ghost? Thank God for this great, great plan of salvation.

Revelation chapter 4 and verse number 1. And I read: "After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither" — or come up here — "and I will show you things which must be hereafter." John was on the isle of Patmos. He heard a voice. He saw a door opened in heaven. He had a vision, and he heard a voice, and the voice spoke to him: "Come up here, and I'll show you things that must be after this."

I want to preach to us for just a few minutes on this subject: going to the next level. Going to the next level. Can I just say to Center Point Apostolic Church, you beautiful people in this beautiful sanctuary today: God has another level for you. He's ready for you to go to the next level. Could you clap your hands unto the Lord today if you believe that? If you don't, would you just clap your hands by faith and receive it today? God is calling his church in this end time to go to the next level.

Many commentaries agree that, depending on where you are — pre-, mid-, or post-tribulation — many commentaries agree that this is actually when the rapture of the church takes place. I'm not here to to split uh theological hairs with anyone here today, but it is true that after this verse of scripture — if you read Revelation chapter 1 and Revelation chapter 2, you will see the mention of the church often in those chapters. But after Revelation chapter 3, the only other time in the rest of the Bible that you see the church mentioned, the church is in heaven. Okay, so a lot of commentaries agree that this is actually the rapture of the church that's taken place. Again, I'm not here to to discuss that or to decide that today. But here's what I am here to tell us today: God is always calling his people to the next level. He never wants us to become comfortable and complacent where we are.

I want to say today that no no matter how long you have had this wonderful, precious Holy Ghost, God is always calling his church to the next level. He never wants to leave us where we are. Now, heaven is always calling us to go up to the next level. It's not about being superior. It's not about being higher physically or academically than anyone else. It's about allowing God to use us to accomplish his perfect will and his perfect purpose in the earth. It's about becoming instruments in the hand of God. It's about we being the clay and letting him be the potter, and letting him take us to the next level, because he wants to do greater things. I said he is ready to do greater things. I know you've seen great things here at Center Point in the past, and we thank God for that, but you haven't seen the greatest things yet, because the greatest days of the church are yet to come. I said the greatest days of this church are yet to come. If you believe that today, would you lift up your hands and lift up your voices, and would you give praise unto the King of kings and the Lord of lords? Hallelujah, we give you praise, Jesus.

If you walk after the Spirit and not after the flesh, you will always be preparing for the next level. You're not yet to the level where God desires to lead you. Thankful — we should be thankful for where we are. We should always remember where he has brought us from. But we should also remember that there is a next level that God is preparing us for. The choice is yours. God is ready when you are ready to join him on the journey. He wants to take you higher. He wants to take you deeper. He wants you to become stronger and more spiritual. He wants to take you to the next level.

You may not have been baptized in Jesus' name and filled with the Holy Ghost very long. God is preparing you — always preparing you — for the next level. You may be a seasoned saint of God, and you may have grown up in this wonderful, glorious apostolic church, but there is yet another level that God desires to take you to. He wants to speak through to — he wants to speak to you, because he wants to speak through you. Hallelujah. He wants to uh he wants to manifest himself in you, but he also wants to manifest himself through you, because there are a lot of people in the world today, and there are a lot of people in your community, and a lot of people that you work with, and people that you go to school with, and people that you rub shoulders with on a daily basis. They need God. They need exactly what we have here. God wants us to go to the next level in evangelism. He wants us to go to the next level in discipleship. He wants to go to the next level. I commend the praise team and the musicians today — wonderful, wonderful job — but let's go to the next level, because God is ready to pour out of his Spirit here in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, like he's never done it before. I said he's ready to do greater things. He wants you to grow. He wants you to grow numerically. He wants you to go grow spiritually. He wants you to grow in maturity. He wants you to become more effective. He wants you to become more efficient. He wants to open your eyes to see his vision. He wants to open your understanding to his Word. I'm talking about the next level. He wants to show you things to come, just as he said to John: "John, come up here. Come to the next level, John, because I want to show you the things that are going to come to pass after this."

I wish we could believe today that going forward from this service today — it could be from any service — but I would i i wish that we could believe today that when we go out of church, it's a great opportunity when we step outside of these doors, because God's going to bring opportunities, and God's going to bring people in our path, and those people need God. I said those people need God. It doesn't matter what language they speak. It doesn't matter whether they are cultured in our in our southern church culture or not. They need God. They need what you have. I said they need the Holy Ghost. They need to be baptized in Jesus' name. God is going to put people in our path. He needs us to be at the level so that he can speak to us, so that he can speak through us, so that he can draw them, and he can lead them, and he can bring them into his tender, loving care. He's the potter and we're the clay. We don't mold them. We don't make them. We don't change them. We don't perfect them. We witness to them, and they come, and God does the work. But if we will do our part, I promise you, he will do his part. The next level — he's always calling us to the next level.

I want to go quickly to the book of First Kings chapter 17, very familiar verses of scripture in First Kings chapter 17. I want to begin in verse number 2, and I'll read quickly: "And the word of the Lord came unto him" — him being Elijah. This is actually where Elijah is introduced on the pages of the scripture. He was virtually unknown. The Bible just says, "Elijah the Tishbite." He wasn t he didn't have, you know, some some nice uh uh a family background, some nice uh heritage in his background. He was virtually unknown until he's introduced to the

pages of the scripture. I'm a living witness today — was wasn't brought up in the apostolic church. I'm a living witness today that if we will give ourselves to him and place ourselves in his hand, doesn't matter what our past is. He can take care of our past. He has our present, and he can take care of our future. But if we will just step into his will, just step in to his care, and let God be God, he will change you. He will transform you. He'll make something beautiful out of your life.

I want to tell someone in this service today: God never made a piece of junk. So this whole — you know, the devil comes around to tell you you are useless, you are a nobody, you are a nothing — that's a lie from the pits of hell. God never created anyone that's useless. He never created anyone that's a nothing or a nobody. You need to find the will of God. You need to find your place in the kingdom of God, and let God transform your life, and let God make you into something beautiful.

"The word of the Lord came to him" — came to Elijah — saying, "Get get the hints" — I'm reading from the old King James Version; I'm old school, I guess, huh — "Get the hints, and turn the eastward, and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan." Watch this: "And it shall be that you will drink of the brook. And notice this: I have commanded the ravens" — that's crows. You know what a crow is in this part of Tennessee? They're a very selfish bird, very, very selfish, very rude, very uh a mean-spirited bird, if you please. And God said to his prophet, "I have commanded the ravens to feed you — where? There. Not here. Elijah, you can stay here if you want to, but you have no promise of provision — you know how — you have no promise of sustenance. You have no promise of blessing. You can stay here. But Elijah, if you will go there — Elijah, if you will just go to the next level, if you'll just go there — then I have commanded the most unlikely of birds to feed you and sustain you. Not here, but there."

"So he went and he did according to the word of the Lord, and he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that's before Jordan." And the ravens — just as God said. You know what? If God said it, he will do it. Plain and simple. I said, if God said it, he will do it. Has God ever given a promise to anyone in the bill today? If God said it, he will do it. Believe it. Hold on to it. Step out by faith on it. Because if God said it, he will fulfill it. And he said that he — there, that the — and the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and and the flesh in the evening, and he drank of the brook.

"And it came to pass after a while" — every once after a while — "that the brook dried up." You have to understand, it was during a time of drought. Hadn't — wasn't going to rain for three and a half years. And the natural course of things, you know, life happens. I said life happens. But just because life happens doesn't mean that God changes. Just because life happens doesn't mean that God is not faithful anymore. Just because life happens, it doesn't mean God doesn't love you anymore. Just because we make bad decisions and bad choices in life doesn't mean that God has changed addresses. It doesn't mean that God has forgotten you. It doesn't mean that God has forsaken you. It doesn't mean that God has turned his head away from you. It doesn't mean that God doesn't care for you anymore. We need to understand: God is the same. He never changes. He is love, and there's nothing you can do to stop that. He is faithful, and there's nothing I can do to stop him from being faithful. Even in bad times, even in difficult situations, even during challenging times, God is faithful. God is good. God is love. God is light. And God is with us. And if God be for us, who can be against us? Talking about going to the next level.

So the brook dried up. And then verse 8 says: "And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, Arise and go to Zarephath, which belongs to Zidane, and dwell there." Not here, Elijah. Elijah, you've been here long enough. Elijah, the crows, if you please, have fed you long enough. The time is up here at this level, Elijah. Now it's time to go to the next level. So here's what I need you to do, Elijah: I need you to go to the city of Zarephath. And not we're not going to the king's palace, Elijah. We're not going to the royal residence, Elijah. We're going to a widow's house. Remember, it's famine. Remember, it's drought. Remember, things are hard. Remember, times are difficult. But I want to tell someone in this service today: never doubt God's miraculous provision.

Be faithful to God. Keep a right attitude. Keep a right spirit. Continue your your obedience to the Word of God. Be faithful to the house of God. Be faithful in your walk with God. He will provide for your every need. He's faithful. "Arise and go to Zarephath. I've commanded a widow woman to sustain you." Not here, Elijah. You can stay here, but guess what? The brooks dried up. Guess what, Elijah? You can stay here, but don't expect the crows to come anymore. Elijah, it's time to go to the next level.

And I think you know the story. I don't think I need to go into my new details. Elijah in fact went to the city of Zarephath, and as he came to the entrance of the city, he confronted — he met — there was a widow woman there. And the Bible says she was gathering sticks. Later on, she uh confessed herself, "I was gathering two sticks." I don't know if you know much about cooking on an open fire, but you're not going to cook a lot with two sticks, right? But you see, it wasn't just for Elijah's benefit that God needed Elijah to go to the next level. It's not it s not obvious immediately in these verses, but there is a widow woman. There's someone else that needs Elijah to go to the next level.

I immensely enjoyed teaching the MIT class this morning, and we talked about servanthood, and and that that uh that service is what that's what it's all about. We're saved to serve. We're not saved just to come and sit. Someone needs you to go to the next level. Someone needs you to take that step of faith. It's not just about you. It's not just about me. There are other people. There are other people in your in your circle of influence. There are other people that God puts in your path. He needs you to go to the next level, because he wants to reach someone else. Can we understand that today?

The Bible says eventually she went and did according to the saying of Elijah, "and she, and he, and her house did meet eat many days." in the barrel of meal — the meal or the flour — did not run out, and the oil did not run out, until the Lord sent rain upon the earth. But it was all about getting Elijah, getting his servant, getting someone to go to the next level, so God can pour out of his provision.

Now, I want to say this morning: there's so much potential in this room today. During the worship service, during the praise songs and worship songs, I was just sitting there, just sitting there, and I could just feel so much energy in this room, so much potential in this room right now — enough energy, enough potential in this room to turn this city, to turn this part, this state, to turn this world upside down for Jesus Christ. And here's the thing, ladies and gentlemen: God doesn't need us to be the most intelligent person in the world. He doesn't need us to be the most beautiful or the most handsome people in the world. He doesn't need us to have the the greatest, the largest bank accounts in the world.

He just needs us to let him take us to the next level, so he can do what he does best, and that is change and transform the lives of people. He just needs us to go to the next level.

I won't talk about Abraham, but just let me in passing just simply say that it wasn't that God wanted Abraham's Isaac. Wasn't that — it wasn't that God wanted to make Abraham sad. Wasn't that — it wasn't that God just wanted to show his power and authority over humankind. Wasn't that at all. God needed Abraham to obey his voice. You see, there is a great, great power that is unleashed — I'm talking about a spiritual power, I'm talking about a power from heaven — that is unleashed when you obey the Word of God. It's bigger than you think. I said obedience to the Word of God is bigger than you think.

Some people see this thing of baptism, that, oh, that s that's very nice on a Sunday morning, these four people being baptized in Jesus' name, and that's, you know, that's kind of nice because it shows that they're becoming members of this local church. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You're missing something. You're missing the most important thing. It's not about becoming a member of this local church. It's about becoming a member of the body of Christ. It's about obeying the Word of God. And when we obey the Word of God, we unleash — we — it's like we release God to do wonderful, miraculous, and amazing things in our lives.

So it wasn't really Isaac that God wanted. If he wanted Isaac — he gave Isaac, he could take Isaac. Wasn't that. He needed Abraham to go to the next level, because God was preparing — he was looking so far down the road, even to our day, to day — he was — his plan was to have a people who would be obedient to him, a people who would not question his divine authority over all things. He just needed Abraham to go to the next level.

And I like what it says — and musicians can come — I like what the Bible says in Genesis chapter 22. It says this: that God — it actually says God did tempt Abraham. And this is what he said, what the Bible says. And God spoke to Abraham, and I want you to listen to this. We're not going to put the scriptures on the screen. But the Bible says that God spake to Abraham, and this is what the Bible says. And Abraham said, "Here am I." Did you hear that? Abraham said, "I'm here." And do you know what God said? "I know you're here, Abraham, but I need you to go there. I know you're here, Abraham. I know you're here on this Sunday morning, but I just need you to go to the next level." I'm just — I believe the Spirit of God is speaking to us here today about going to the next level.

And then, do you know what God said to Abraham? "I want you to go to this place that I'm going to show you, Abraham. You've never seen it before. You've never been there before. But I'm going to show it to you. And I need you to go there, Abraham. And I need you to offer your son." And God was very specific, and God said, "I need you to offer your only son Isaac." And listen to this — this is what he said — "the one that you love." Why did God say that? God wanted to be sure that Abraham understood: we're not talking about Ismail. We're not talking about Ishmael, Abraham. We're — I'm talking about the one that you love. I'm talking about the one that you waited 25 years for, Abraham. I'm talking about the one that that you are depending all of your all of your future on, Abraham. I want I want you to give me the one that you love.

And we — you know what we could say today? We could say, how cruel, how — that just — not — God has never asked anyone — because even in the Bible, uh sacrificing human sacrifices and sacrificing our children, that's unheard of. It's, it's — it's really against the Word of God. But what we don't understand — we've got to understand something. You know what God really wanted? It wasn't Isaac that God really wanted. It was Abraham that God really wanted. It was the the the unflinching, radical obedience of Abraham. That's what God wanted. "Abraham, I just need you to go to the next level. I know you're not going to understand everything. I know it's not going to make a lot of sense to you. And I know you can say, 'No one — God, you've never —' you could you know you could complain, 'God, you've never asked anyone to do these things before.' But Abraham, I just need you to trust me, and let me take you to the next level."

I feel the Holy Ghost in the house right now. I wonder if we could just lift up our hands and just pray here for just just a minute before we go any further. I wonder if we could just lift up our hands and just pray for justice. Jesus, we love you, Lord, and we thank you, God, and we praise you, and we worship you. We give you glory and honor and thanksgiving. God, you're so good, and so great, and so wonderful. We feel your presence, God. Speak to us, Lord. Open our understanding. Help us, Lord. Guide and lead us, Lord. God, you are God, and we need you. Oh, how we need you.

Would you stand, please? The last few days, I've been praying about this service, and just praying for God to give me clear direction as to what to say in this service today. And during that those few days of prayer, and just really focusing on and seeking God's will, i believe I believe God spoke to me and said that there's going to be some people in the service at Center Point Apostolic Church on Sunday morning. There's going to be some people there who are bringing with them some of the burdens, some of the baggage, if you please, that they're carrying, is old, old stuff: old habits, old hurts, old wounds. And I believe that i believe the Holy Ghost spoke to me and told me: they re going to come in they're going to come in carrying some old, old things, but if they will let me do what I want to do in their lives, they're going to leave with something new operating in their lives.

And there's a scriptural — uh uh in in in the book of uh Corinthians, the Bible says: "Now if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things have passed away, and behold, all things have become new." If it's appropriate today, I'd just like to invite you: if you're carrying some old, old hurts or wounds or habits or sins or situations or circumstances, I invite you to lay that at the foot of a cross today. You can lay that burden down. You don't have to leave with it. You don't have to carry it out. You may have drug it in, but you don't have to carry it out. I invite you to lay it at the foot of an old cross, at the feet of the cross where Jesus died, and in sincere prayer and contraction, asked God to help you to leave it where you're placing it, at the cross today. And ask God to do something new in your life, something new in your marriage, something new in your relationship, something new in your life. I invite you today. Let's spend some time in prayer today. You can receive the Holy Ghost today. You can receive deliverance today. You can see receive liberty and freedom today, in Jesus' name. Would you lift up your hands, your voices, today? Let's seek the Lord for a few minutes, in Jesus' name.