Fallen From Fatigue

praise God Don't Stop on my account he's worthy of all of praise and all the glory and all of the honor that we can give him Hallelujah all the presence of the Lord is great nothing that will ever replace that so thankful the writer of the Hebrews said God Sunday times and diverse manner spake in time passed to the prophets hath in these last days spoken by his dear son I'm just glad God speaks I don't know how he speaks to you some people you know I'm I'm not like some people God doesn't wake me up at two o'clock or three o'clock in the morning he just understands he would be totally incoherent you know but I can be cut in the grass or taking a walk and and he speaks and I have conversations with God and I'm so glad that he speaks and he puts up with my inanities sometimes some of the challenges and stupid questions that I ask him I this message was born of that I just asked the Lord one day do you really know as I was watching the struggles of people saints of God who have been living for God for a long time do you really know what you have what treasure there is in the people of God and his response to me almost buckled my knees it was simple he said I know I bought the field just to get the treasure I bought the entire field paid the price for the whole thing I know what a treasure I have I know I preach this is not for anointed academics not for Sanctified Scholars I'm going to disappoint you tonight if you came just expecting a lofty lesson not going to happen but a message just a message I've come to deliver what God has given to me for you and someone who may be watching online from the second chapter of Revelation and then I'm going to Hebrews the fourth chapter in Hebrews the second chapter but from Revelation chapter 2 and verse 1.

John wrote unto the angel of the Church of Ephesus right these things saith he that holdeth the Seven Stars in his right hand who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks I am so glad sister Amber mentioned it about Sunday service but it is a it's a continuation of many other services it's just something that we don't need to take for granted because it doesn't happen everywhere I'm glad that he walks in the middle of the candlesticks the churches he says I I want you to read this second verse with me I Know Thy works and thy labor and thy patience and how thou canst not bear them which are evil and thou has tried them which say they are Apostles and are not and has found them Liars everybody say I know I know I want to drive that message home tonight he knows he doesn't have to surmise or guess he knows Hebrews chapter 4 verse 15 says this for we have not and high priests which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin Chapter 2 Verse 18 for in that he himself you're not alone It's Not A New Path in that he himself has suffered being tempted he is able to secure them that are tempted he knows he knows God bless you you may be seated in the name of the Lord my message tonight is going to be titled Fallen from fatigue ironically you know it's the hand of God I believe sister Amber mentioned at the very onset of this service about Saul seeking his father's donkeys and he grew tired he was fatigued from that from that Journey there was a project that was begun in New York City by the port authority in the late 60s a project that was would put two towers called the World Trade Center in the in the 70s this project was begun and they anticipated that this project would eclipse the Empire State Building the man that they hired for this project as a structural engineer was a man by the name of Leslie Robertson he had to answer a lot of questions a few years later about what had happened but Leslie Robertson headed up a team of Structural Engineers and they planned for an infrastructure that could withstand a bomb attack at which it did at one time a bomb was uh ignited in the the parking garage of the the the towers of the World Trade Center that he he had to plan for uh something that would withstand an accidental now we don't think about these things but he had to think about these things withstand an accidental impact from a slow flying 707 airplane which years ago one ran into the Empire State Building and it still stood so this man Leslie Robertson planning a larger project had to determine whether this building was able to withstand the impact of an airplane a 707 which was at the time the largest airplane flying the planning was expansive to design structures that could withstand winds storms lightning strikes fires and all kinds of attacks and then on 9 11.

2001.

the unthinkable happened that paradoxically both paralyzed and galvanized the United States of America and was a rude wake-up call to all of us if you've ever stood at the World Trade Center the sight of that you've seen the beams the Twisted beams that represent a building that once stood there it was made from steel as thick as the the span of the a man's hand it doesn't exactly show it quite as large as it is on there but these beams are thick with steel they were made to support one million tons of steel and concrete and glass and as those two airplanes came ramming into that building the impact of two 767 Jets weighing no more than 400 000 pounds of peace and the metal you can see it there the metal began to fatigue and stress they tell me that when a building like that begins to collapse you can hear it almost grown as the metal gives way and begins to develop those stress fractures that spread and that unshakable metal gave way to fatigue it just could not support the stress that was placed upon it and those two Twin Towers 110 stories high over 1360 feet tall if you add the antenna on top of the North Tower it was 1888 feet tall They Came Crashing Down and we watched in horror as they came smashing to the ground and all of those lives were lost the lesson that I want us to take away from this tonight is that you can plan as much as you will you can amass your wealth you can have your money stashed in several Banks you can acquire houses and property and make all of your plans for the future you can tear down your Barns and build bigger barns to house everything that you possess you can build your resume you can enhance your skills you can increase your education but hear the words of this old guy up here life will eventually take a toll on you and me it takes a toll on all of us and it begins to wear us down they say that in the major leagues to make it there anybody can hit a fastball but if you're going to make it in the big leagues you've got to be able to hit the curveballs in life everybody can hit the fastball one that's tossed straight down the middle no matter what the velocity we acclimate ourselves to situations but brother sometimes life throws us some curves that we are not able to handle on our own sometimes life gives you stresses that you never planned on and you couldn't ever foresee but thanks be to God there is somebody who knows tonight we walked in some low valleys I'm looking into the faces of dear children of God who have walked in some Low Places I personally as have you I've stood by the gravesite of of with young people who are lowering up casket that's no bigger than a cooler an ice chest into the ground and I've seen their heartbreak as they never got this life off the ground really I've seen people struggle single moms through their lives who have struggled to make ends meet somebody in a marriage where the spouse just walks away and said I've had enough of this I've seen people lose their jobs and their livelihoods as the stresses of Life take place on them I've watched the Heartbreak in the heartache and sometimes in life you just need to hear some reassuring words before you're falling from fatigue sometimes you just need somebody to come alongside of you and say I know what you're going through but even if there is no one else I am going to give you a message tonight that there is one a high priest that we have who was tempted in all points like as we are and he is able to secure them who are being tempted I taught Revelation for years I've taught it practically every which way I could teach it you ever hear the phrase you can't see the forest for the trees I looked at the tree so closely brother Williford I saw the details of Revelation I've dissected these seven churches so many ways you can't imagine all that preaching and teaching about the seven churches of Revelation in chapters two and three but I missed it what I missed was the overarching and common theme to every church and it still applies today this theme is a message to the battle weary to keep the fatigued from becoming the Fallen Act listen nobody in the world wants your success more than him nobody in the world in your life wants to see you make it more than he wants to see you make it him and so when you begin to get weary under the stresses of Life there is somebody who will come alongside of you and say to you I know what you're going through in Revelation it is repeated here eight times to these seven churches I know brother I want somebody to get the impact of that tonight somebody needs to hear this message that he knows where you are he knows what you're going through he knows this was not just a message for the early church but across the centuries and and Millennia of time this message is as fresh and new to me tonight as it was when John wrote these words of from the Isle of Patmos somebody needs to hear the savior's Voice tonight saying I know you thought you stood in isolation you thought you stood in abandonment you thought everybody had fled from you but there is a friend that will not abandon you he says I'm closer than your family members I know eight times he says I know and in each time he reveals an intimate detail about each situation he said I know your works and I know your patience I know your tribulation and I know your poverty I know where you live and I know about your faithfulness oh my God you thought nobody was taking note of that but there's somebody that's seeing everything and he knows all about it he said I know your love I know your service and laodicea I know about your failing strength and the fatigue that's setting in and the lukewarm condition that is setting in upon you but there's the message tonight before your fatigue causes you to crash and burn and fall hear the voice of the Savior just one more time he wants you to know that he knows exactly what you're going through just worship him a minute here thank you Lord because you know exactly where I am Hallelujah I remember JT Pugh talking about it as a pastor in Texas going to the map brother Williford pointing to the map brother you get that feeling sometimes nobody knows where I am and nobody knows who I am but he went to the map and pointed out God this is JT and this is where I am brother I don't care how high or low you are we all experience those times of isolation and abandonment we just need to go to one and who knows of somebody that we can call upon who will answer and respond to us and reassure me in my heart I know exactly where you are and so he speaks to these churches he gives them these words of encouragement to keep them and counteract the battle fatigue you ever get tired you ever get weary this is not a battle for the faint of heart it's not one that ends ever in life I remember one of the first funerals I ever preached was an elderly man 80 years plus he was in his upper 80s he had lived for God for a lot of years we used to have conversations about the Bible but I could see and he would tell me the pain that he was in and the isolation that he felt I remember getting the call one morning you've got to come he had taken a rifle put it under his chin he had convinced or the enemy maybe had convinced him I don't know but he had convinced himself that even if he did this that he would not be separated from the love of God the enemy has all kinds of twists and tricks of to get us in his grasp but brother let me tell you something if that can happen to somebody who's walked with God for a long time I must be on my guard against The Wiles of the enemy Hallelujah and here's the messages as he unfolded them to these churches in Revelation he said you have left your first love but I want you to know somebody hear me tonight I have not abandoned you you walked away from me somebody online needs to hear this message of you walked away from him but he has never abandoned you he is still appealing and calling to you and letting you know that wherever you go David said if I take the wings of the morning and I fly off to the uttermost parts of the sea if I Ascend to the Heights or I make my bed in hell that you are there he says I've not abandoned you to the church that's going through the persecution that is going to take their lives he said to them I've conquered your greatest fear I am he that liveth and I was dead and behold I am alive forever more to a church that's in a battle he says I'm right here with you to fight for you he says to those who are walking in the fire look at my feet they're like burnished brass I've been in the fire and so I can walk with you in the fire don't think that just because you're in the fire you're by yourself there's somebody that fourth man that was with the three Hebrew children he's in your fire tonight go ahead Hallelujah you thought things in your life were dead you say I can't feel him anymore he says to you I have the power to resurrect things that you thought were dead I can bring them back to life again I can do things that you thought were impossible he says to the church at Philadelphia I'll open doors for you that you didn't even know existed he sits before them an open door but to the church at laodicea he says to them I don't just have the final word I am the final word I am the amen and the faithful witness somebody hear me tonight when you think it's over it's not over not until the amen is pronounced and steps into your situation Hallelujah every Temptation that you face is designed to tear it the fabric of faith and reinforce your doubt and your unbelief and just aware you down as a matter of fact in the Book of Daniel he talks about that man of sin that ultimately will rule the world and he said he will wear out the Saints of the most high God he's going to try to wear you down he's going to try to make you become fatigued he wants to to make you just wary but my Bible tells me be not wary in will do well in well doing because you are going to reap if you don't faint just keep the faith don't let go of the faith when you feel yourself starting to go down for the last time just call on a name that is above every name and he comes to your Aid to secure you recent times have taken a toll on all of us the rapidity with which events have have occurred in the last few years are just shocking they are amazing they have worn at us they have eaten away at us they have tried to weaken us they take the toll on us and what the years don't devour circumstances want to ravage and take away from us and I see the saints of God you great people of God living in a culture that is completely hostile to your way of life and and I see people getting weary under the load and the burden that they have to bear as they walk through this world of the bread just living from day to day will take its toll on you but I've got a message for you he knows it's simple I know but if we get a hold of that message up he knows he's been there you don't have to worry about it look at Isaiah 54 with me we quote the next scripture a lot but look at this what prefaces verse 17.

he said I have created that blacksmith that blows in the coals of fire that brings forth the instrument for his work I have created this is a hard Truth for us God has got everything in control he that enemy that's come against you he's just a creative being the weapons that he brings against you God says I created that blacksmith that created those weapons somebody ought to shout about this he said I've created him I got him on a tether don't worry about it the next one is what we quote a lot verse 17.

because of that because I've got everything in control he says no weapon that is formed against thee shall weak in the Hebrew say that one with me celiac he says it's not going to reach the target it's never going to make it to where it's supposed to go it's not going to prosper you keep that in mind as we go along okay in verse 55 or chapter 55 here's the Contra point to all of that so shall now he just told us back there that the weapons that's formed against us are not going to prosper will what will so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth it shall not return unto me void but it shall accomplish it shall accomplish that which I please what's going to prosper it shall prosper the word is going to prosper the weapons won't Prosper but the word will prosper the weapons won't Prosper but the world will prosper the weapons will prosper but the word will prosper oh Hallelujah somebody grab a hold of that tonight the weapon's not gonna harm you it's not gonna make it but the word is going to grow in your life and it will accomplish brother Williford preached a while back and I I mentioned to him after the service I would to God that a Revival of the word would take place in such a way that we would accept the authority of the word of God just like we have the word of the doctor I have watched children of God go to the doctor and at the word of a doctor they begin a steady decline just because a doctor told him something just because the doctor gives a pronouncement that's evil I would to God tonight that the people of God would accept the authority of the word of God like we do that of a doctorate or of a banker or of a loan officer or of a hiring manager or of anybody else who has been verbally abusive and has told you that you are worthless and you are no good I'm here to tell you tonight it will not Prosper because there is a word that supersedes the word that is evil are you hearing me tonight he knows everybody say he knows I'll say it again he knows he knows where you are the enemy listen the enemy knows he can't defeat you but he can wear you out he can wear you down to a frazzle yeah and if he can't defeat you 'll wear you down till you defeat yourself are you hearing me we beat ourselves more often than the Devil beats us all he's got to do is plan a thought or bring an evil report and it will utterly defeat Us in chapter 31 of of first Samuel look at this and the battle went sore against Saul and The Archers hit him and he was sore wounded of The Archers the enemy if he can't wear you down he'll wound you but there's something that you possess as a child of God he can wear you down and he can wound you but he cannot take the life that God has placed within that Born Again Holy Ghost baptized Spirit-filled child of God he can wear you down he can wooja but it can't take that Spirit out of you if you don't surrender to him and so verse 4.

then said Saul to his armor Bearer draw thy sword and thrust me through there with lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through and abuse me now listen to me he needed an armor Bearer that needed to tell him as long as God is on our side the enemy cannot defeat us the armor Bearer says I'm not going to take your life therefore Saul took a sword what the enemy couldn't do he got Saul to do for him what the enemy couldn't steal and take he couldn't have beat him but Saul did it to himself he fell on his own sword he wants to convince you that you are without help and you are without hope but I am here to tell you again tonight I know where you are I know where you're living I know what you're going through and I am here to save you the enemy would have you fall on your own sword this sword is meant to save you never to kill you but friend if we don't respond correctly to the enemy with this sword it will end up being our judgment don't fall on the sword that is meant to defend and win victories for you at that time what some of us need tonight is just somebody like me telling you that no matter where you are in your situation that you are not alone you haven't been abandoned I know I've said it more than once but it Bears repetition God wants you to know that he is for you and if God be for us then who can be against us be like rather Eliezer II Samuel chapter 23 and 10.

this was one of David's Mighty Men the unlikely name he had to go through life with this Eliezer the son of dodo so it made him tough Like A Boy Named Sue I guess it made him tough and we when he was set upon by the Philistines and he was in the little barley patchum and he grabbed a sword and he began to fight and he wouldn't put the sword down he kept on fighting he arose and smote the Philistines and until his hand was weary and his handclaved to the sword can you imagine finding Eliezer coming up to him and he's still fighting like a madman and all the enemies are already wasted and you gotta pry his fingers from around the sword God give us the spirit of an eliaser that says I'm not giving up I've invested too much in this it may look like just a barley patch to the world it may look for foolish to the world but I am not giving up you'll have to pry my fingers from around this thing I'm in it until the end ah Hallelujah I'm gonna quit our high priest the writer to Hebrews says our high priest he's been there and he's able to secure I got blessed myself as I began to study this this word boy Theo it means to run to a cry or a call he is able to secure he will run to a cry or a call when you're down at your lowest level and all you can do is whisper broke out the name of Jesus all you can do is call upon that one thing that sustains you through your entire life you just call on the name of Jesus and the Bible says he will come around in that it's not like he took leave of us but it's just a a kind of an expression to let us know that when we Call On Him He will draw very nigh to us foreign has been there Elijah remember Elijah he just faced down 850 prophets of Baal hire down from heaven and he's on the heights of Carmel and then he finds himself in the depths of a cave because Jezebel said I'm going to kill you she prophylied she couldn't kill him God had his hand on him but from the heights of victory to falling in fatigue he said I'm just wary I'm the only one of my kind I'm in this cave and they're pursuing me to take my life and God says I want to take you somewhere get up on this mountain I want to show you something he said there was fire that fell there was lightning that came around there was an earthquake that shook the place but then there was a still small voice I can just imagine this old prophet with the scars of battle upon him as this voice speaks to him I'm just going to speculate here but I believe that God was somehow communicating to him I know Where You Are I know what you've been through I just want to let you know that I haven't abandoned you I will not leave you we have a promise from the lips of the Savior who says I will never leave you or forsake you in times like that when we're at our lowest point that's when God draws the closest because in order for Elijah to hear a whisper you've got to be really close we see the spectacular moves of God's spirit but in those times when you are at your weakest point when you've got no energy left and life has just worn you down he pulls you close gets right in your ear and Whispers I am with you always and I know what you're going through right now let's stand I want to open this altar just for a season of Prayer there are people here who have gotten evil reports from doctors there are people here who are suffering financial crisis the Lord says I know all of that I know your works I know your tribulation I know your poverty I know your strengths I know your weaknesses and I love you anyway I know all of that I think what I want to close this service with is for those of you who are feeling just a fatigue it gets us just living we come into this place and someone's aptly phrased it like this the spirit of God just kind of washes away from the soul the dust of everyday living still that kind of spirit in this place tonight that you just need to have some of the Dust of everyday living washed off and a refreshing to take place maybe you just need somebody to come alongside you and say I know I know what you're going through I know where you've been I I can't help you but I know somebody who can would you begin to come even when we don't think he knows brother Fred your testimony is precious don't ever lose it because when you picked up that phone he knew he knew exactly where you were he knows he knows what you're struggling with with that doctor's report he knows what you're going through when when you're living from paycheck to paycheck and you can't pay the bills he knows he knows oh God I just want to impress somebody tonight with the fact it's a simple message but he knows he knows he wants to come alongside of you and he wants to touch you in the depths of your spirit he wants to embrace you and pull you close and just whisper in your ear I know exactly he knows thank you Lord thank you you know exactly you know what name of Jesus by your spirit Lord you're able to secure you're able to comfort you're able to strengthen Lord God the fatigue that comes with daily life foreign foreign He Knows My Name he knows my everything he sees each tear that falls and he hears me away He Knows My Name foreign please I have foreign He Knows My Name he knows my everything foreign me away when I call he knows my name is foreign and it hears me when I call Galatians chapter 6 and verse 9.

this would be not weary and well doing for a due season you will reap if you faint not we're not going to faint we're going to fight we're going to continue to trust we're going to continue to lean on the God who knows it was a Wednesday night several years ago I just got back from the hospital one of those visits for the Cardinal and the Lord brought me back to this moment I was in a youth service in the back I was tired I was not teaching that night I just stood off to the side and if I'm honest I was I was having a hard time lifting my hands and worshiping like some in the room probably face tonight I remember a message in tongues came and the Lord spoke to us and he said I now I know how far you can bend and I know when you'll break he said I'll let you bend but I'm not going to let you break I'm not going to let you fall apart I'm not going to let you fail but I I'm going to be with you and I knew in that moment he knows he knows and he knows so much on a Wednesday night God can step into any Wednesday night he wants and strengthen us and he knows so much and he paused and he'd allow for this time he'd send with a carton with a word to strengthen someone if you need strength lift your hand right now if you would and we're going to pray and we're going to speak strength in you to continue to fight you see him across the room stretch your hand towards him reach over and pray right now in the name of Jesus we've got brothers and sisters who need strength tonight Lord and the only thing we need to do now to do is come alongside them and pray and speak strength into their life Lord in the name of Jesus and we know to remind them that you know that you're with him that you won't let them fail or falter Lord and even if they do stumble in their weariness you will come alongside and you will pick them back up Lord that falling won't be final you're going to help and strengthen someone who is fatigued and weary tonight and help them not to faint Lord but I believe that they're going to reap the reward of that faithfulness you're going to honor it Jesus you see us tonight and you know where we are oh would you clap your hands together or worship Him in whatever way you feel a God who knows you a god of strength the God is our help we thank you Jesus we thank you Jesus thank you for your help Lord