Get Out Of The Cave

If you have your Bibles, I'm going to turn to 1 Kings chapter 19. 1 Kings chapter 19. It's where I'll be preaching from today. I'm going to read nine verses here at the beginning of the chapter. I will say this, this word today I I I've been feeling it for some time and I I don't know who it's for, but I know it's for somebody. And it may just be for me. Maybe today I'm just preaching to myself and you're just here. But I do believe that I have a word from the Lord for us today. 1 Kings chapter 19 verse number one, it says, "And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done." Getting Elijah in trouble. "And with all how he had slain all the prophets with the sword." "So Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah saying, 'So let the gods do to me and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by tomorrow at about this time.'" "And when he saw that, he arose and went for his life." He was afraid. "And he came to Beersheba, which belonged to Judah, and left his servant there.

But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a juniper tree. And he requested for himself that he might die and said, 'It is enough now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.'" "And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him and said, 'Arise and eat.'" "And he looked and behold, there was a cake cooking and then a cruise of water above his head, and he did eat and drink and lay down again. And the Lord or the angel of the Lord came again the second time and touched him and said, 'Arise and eat because the journey is too great for thee.' And he arose and did eat and went in the strength of that meat 40 days and 40 nights into Horeb, the mount of God. And he came thither unto a cave. And he lodged there at the cave. And behold, the word of the Lord came unto him and said unto him, "What doest thou here, Elijah?" And it's from this ninth verse that I want to get my message title today.

And the title was this, "Get out of your cave." The angel of the Lord found Elijah when he was in a cave, dwelling in a cave, and he said, "What are you doing here? It's time to get out of the cave." I believe with the Lord's help today, somebody's going to get out of their cave. I believe with the Lord's help today, somebody who's been in their cave too long is going to find a way of escape from their cave. Amen. I'll be honest, before I started really prepping for this message, I I didn't really think about caves often. I don't know, maybe that's something you do. You think about caves a lot. But caves is not something that I am particularly interested. I don't remember when I was in middle school, we took a trip to Mammoth Cave. Anybody been to Mammoth Cave before? Yeah? It's in Kentucky. I think it's the the world's largest known cave system. So, that's pretty cool right there in Kentucky. At least Kentucky has something to hang their hat on. But uh love you, Brother Wilson. But caves is just nothing I you know, a place that I really particularly want to go to.

I I don't wake up and think, "Man, it's been a long time since I've been to the cave." You know, I I like the mountains, sure. I like the beach, but the caves and just not really appealing to me. I I did find that the Mammoth Cave has about 500,000 people every year that visit the Mammoth Cave. So, that's impressive. Somebody out there likes the cave. So, but I don't like caves. I don't like caves probably because I don't like bats. I just don't like bats. I They I mean, have you ever just seen a picture of They're ugly. Terrifying. There's a lot of creatures in caves that I just honestly don't want to hang out with, be a part of. I decided a long time ago that I don't like any animals or insects that end with ats. So So you got bats, rats, gnats, cats. I'm just joking. Rats aren't that bad after all. But uh I you know, I just living in a cave does not sound appealing to me. Being in a cave for any length of time does not seem like a great experience.

I I know that there are times when you're in a cave, it's you know, wide open, everything's nice and breezy. I don't know, but then you get to those places where like you have to like really crawl through it like a small narrow passageway and to me, I'm just I'm I'm skipping that. Like at that point, I'm walking right back out of the cave. But you know, people like caves and I get it, but to me, a cave just doesn't sound very homey. Caves are dark. Caves are cold. Caves are damp. I'm going to use this word carefully here. Caves are moist. That's a terrible word. But they are. Cave is not a place that I would want to be or want to live in, but caves are mentioned throughout the Bible. In fact, the first time the the word cave is brought up, it's in Genesis chapter 19 where we have Lot leaving Sodom and Gomorrah and he is afraid for his life and he is afraid of this place called Zoar, so he instead settles at a cave. It's the first of many examples in the Bible where a person either being terrified for their life or scared or nervous or just dealing with anxiety or stress find themselves in a cave.

And that's exactly where we find Elijah here in 1 Kings chapter 19. Fear has gripped his life. He's worried. He He feels like he's about to die. And so he finds himself at a cave. I'm just going to give you a little bit of a backstory, but Elijah had confronted King Ahab in 1 Kings chapter 16. It says or he had confronted him in in 1 Kings. In 1 Kings 16 it says that Ahab did evil in the sight of the Lord above all the kings that were before him. He's not a good guy. In verse 33 it says that he did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger more than all the kings of Israel that were before him. King Ahab, not a good guy. King Ahab makes the Lord mad. In fact, he makes him more mad than anybody. That's not a good thing. That's not something that I want to be known for. But King Ahab, he's like, "You know what? I have I need to take it up another notch." They all say I'm bad, but they just don't know how bad I am yet.

So he says, "You know what? I need a wife." Adam had Eve. Who can I find? Who is out there more evil than me? And so he goes and he searches all the lands and he finds the most evil person in the world, Jezebel. And he says, "Jezebel, I would like to marry you." And so together they are the most evil couple in the world. Not a good thing. Look at your neighbor and say, "That's not good." It's not good. And so he marries Jezebel and Jezebel brings in this worship of the the the false god Bell. And it's so now you've got them worshipping in false gods. And Jezebel's really her first thing in in being a leader, she decides that it's time for all the prophets of the one true living God to be killed. Sounds nice. She's like, all right, they're all going to die. And so God sends Elijah to tell Ahab in 1 Kings 17 that for the next 3 years because of their wickedness, because of the evil that they had, it's not going to rain one day in Israel.

There's not even going to be dew on the ground. And so for 3 years, no rain. Everything's looking bad. Every you know, King Ahab, I mean, the deal is if it's not raining, it's going to be miserable. And that's where they find themselves. But in the third year, 1 Kings chapter 18 tells us that God tells Elijah it's time to go back to Ahab to inform him it's about to rain. Now, I'm going somewhere with this, I promise. I wrote the notes. We're getting somewhere. But for the sake of time, I want to just keep giving you a quick synopsis so that we can really understand what's going on here. You see, so when when Elijah's going back to Ahab, he gets there and as he's wondering to get to Ahab, Ahab at the same time, he's sending out this cat called Obadiah. Okay? Obadiah fears the Lord. Obadiah, for the most part, seems like is a good guy. The Bible says that he's such a good guy that when Jezebel was killing all the prophets, he hid 100 of them in caves. 50 in one cave, 50 in another cave.

And Ahab commands Obadiah in the midst of this 3-year, he sends him out and says, "Hey, I want you to go find grass for the livestock." It's like, King Ahab, it hadn't rained in 3 years. He's like, "Go to the brooks. Go to where all the water's at and find some grass." And Obadiah's like, "Bro, there's no grass. Like none. We've done this before. We did this last week. Do y'all like busy work? When your boss at work gives you busy Do y'all enjoy that? This was like the the the definition of busy work. You've got nothing better to do, Obadiah, go find some grass. So, he's out there looking for grass and he's wandering around trying to figure out what in the world he's going to do to basically waste the time. And as he's out there looking for grass, he sees Elijah in the in the distance and he he has like this celebrity sighting experience. You know, when you see a celebrity, you just like lose your mind. You don't You're like You act like you've never met somebody before. I don't even know who I am, but I know who you are.

And so you go up there and you just kind of make a fool of yourself. And I feel like that's kind of what Obadiah is doing here. He's going up. He's really excited to to meet Elijah. He's like, "Are you Elijah?" And Elijah's like, "Yes, I'm Elijah." That's kind of how the conversation starts. But Elijah says to Obadiah, "Hey Obadiah, I'm here to see King Ahab." And Obadiah's like, "What in the world's wrong with you? Why in the world would you want to go see Have you not heard that he's been killing prophets, him and Jezebel? Like why in the Why would you want He basically says it, "Why would you want me to die? Like do you not like me already? Like me saying hi to you, did that offend you so much that you now you want me to die? That's like a terrible first impression right there. I don't know, but that's basically what's taking place here. He says, "Hey, you cannot go see uh King Ahab. You cannot go see Queen Jezebel because they will kill you and they will kill me for taking you because they've been looking you for you for now for three or so years." But Jezebel or excuse me, uh Elijah says, "No, I need to see King Ahab today." You see, there's certain things in life you shouldn't run from.

There's certain things in life that are worth fighting for. There are certain things in life that are worth standing up for. There are certain things that you don't need to wait till tomorrow to get what God has for you today. And so Elijah, he's at this point in his life. He is sick and tired of waiting to see King Ahab. He's been waiting for this meeting for now 3 years now. And he's saying, "Today is the day that I'm going to go talk to this king. Today is the day that the Lord is going to do something in the land of Israel. To I don't have to wait till tomorrow. Today is going to be the day where something happens. I I think it's a good thing when we make up in our mind that today is the day of salvation. That today is the day where something is going to happen in my life. Maybe you've come in this place and you have a need and a situation that you need God to work something out. Why don't you stop pushing that off till tomorrow?

If you need a miracle in your life, this is the place to get a miracle. I you know, here's a maybe we've seen too many miracles we don't get excited anymore about miracles. I'm telling you right now if you need a miracle and if you are desperate for something, our God is here and he is able to do far and above anything that we can ask or think. So Elijah he gets to Ahab and he just tells him he's like, "Hey look, right now I want you to get your posse. I want you to get the 450 false prophets. We're going out to the Mount Carmel. We're going to get this thing over with right now." I don't think there's pleasantries. I don't think it was like, "Hi, how are you doing?" It's like, "Hey, go get your guys. Let's go." So they go up there and and when they get there, you know, Elijah he has just a lot of fun. He's mocking for a while and he basically says this like, you know, he's mocking them and he says, "Let let the true living God answer by fire." And then we know that the fire came down from heaven when Elijah prayed and and the altar was consumed.

There wasn't even dust there. God took every bit of that and and I there's a statement that I I don't know if I really it's really stood out to me before until I was working on this message but there's a a statement that Elijah makes in 1 Kings 18:22 that I think is incredibly interesting. He says here in the in verse 22, "There are 450 prophets of Baal, but I even I remain a prophet of the Lord." In other words, what he is saying is there's 450 of you but I am the only prophet still left. Now I when he's making that statement, I'm just thinking in my mind's eye, Obadiah is somewhere losing his mind. Because he just told Elijah, "Hey, I've got 100 prophets hidden in a cave. They're over there. They're safe. They're being quiet. They're not disturbing anybody. They're safe. They're still alive. Why in the world would you say that you are the only prophet? Could it be that Elijah was making a statement then that day, but also to us to now, that a silent church is just as good as a dead church?

That a silent church that's sitting on the sidelines doing nothing for the kingdom of God might as well be a non-existing church? I I I I'M I'M JUST GOING TO KIND of shoot you straight right now. If you're a silent state saint, you might as well be a dead saint. If you're a silent preacher, you might as well be a dead preacher. If this is going TO BE A SILENT CHURCH, WE MIGHT AS WELL NOT EVEN COME TO CHURCH. BUT WHEN WE COME HERE, WE ALL EXPECT FOR SOMETHING CALL ME OLD-FASHIONED, BUT THIS IS WHAT I BELIEVE. I BELIEVE EVERY TIME WE COME INTO THE HOUSE OF THE LORD, SOMEONE OUGHT TO GET THE HOLY GHOST. I believe every time we come INTO THE HOUSE OF GOD, SOMEONE OUGHT TO BE BAPTIZED IN JESUS' NAME. I BELIEVE EVERY TIME WE COME INTO THE HOUSE OF THE LORD, SOMEBODY OUGHT TO COME TO THE ALTAR AND REPENT FOR THEIR SINS. I need somebody to hear this today. IF YOU'RE SITTING BACK WAITING FOR GOD TO INVITE YOU TO DO SOMETHING FOR HIM, YOU'RE GOING TO BE WAITING YOUR WHOLE LIFE.

BUT ELIJAH SAYS, "I'M THE ONLY ONE, BECAUSE I'M OUT HERE CONFRONTING THE PROBLEM." IF YOU'RE A SILENT SAINT, YOU MIGHT AS WELL NOT EVEN BE A SAINT. I KNOW THAT sounds harsh, but I I don't want to have church just just to have church. I don't want to pray just to TO GET IT OFF MY TO-DO LIST. I WANT TO LISTEN, WHEN I GET INTO THE THRONE ROOM, WHEN I PRAY, I WANT TO SEE THINGS HAPPEN. I WANT TO SEE MIRACLES TAKE PLACE. I WANT TO SEE SIGNS. I WANT TO SEE WONDERS. I've come to TELL SOMEBODY TODAY, YOUR ADVERSARY has been keeping you quiet for too long. Your dilemma, your problem, your situation has BEEN KEEPING YOU SILENT FOR TOO LONG. IT'S TIME FOR SOMEBODY HERE AT CENTER POINT TO GET OUT OF THEIR CAVE. Come on, somebody needs to get out of their cave today. Somebody needs to take a step of faith and say, "I have been labeled in this cave for too long." Maybe your cave is called a poor attitude. Maybe your cave is called a past hurt. Maybe your cave IS CALLED FEAR.

MAYBE YOUR CAVE IS CALLED CORONAVIRUS. MAYBE YOUR CAVE IS CALLED JOB LOSS. MAYBE YOUR CAVE IS CALLED BITTERNESS. MAYBE YOUR CAVE IS THAT YOU HAVE TRUST ISSUES. I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOUR CAVE IS, BUT I'VE COME TO TELL YOU TODAY, IT'S TIME TO GET OUT OF THE CAVE. I GET I GET WANTING to find a cave from time to time. Listen, 2020 has been tough on us all. Every single person in our world has been impacted this year. There's no way to avoid it. There are days where I I'm totally stressed out by life. Where the only thing I want to do is go home, throw on my PJs, open the freezer, grab some Blue Bell ice cream, find a blanket or something, go on the couch, and I'm vegging out for a few hours. Don't talk to me. Don't call me. You know, I'm not checking Facebook cuz I don't care that much about you right now. I do care about y'all. I got I get wanting to be in a cave every once in a while. I get wanting to to have some It's biblical to get solitude.

There's nothing wrong with saying every once in a while I need to withdraw I need to Jesus did that. Every once in a while he said, "Hey guys, y'all stay here. I'm going over here to pray. I'm going over here to have some alone time." There's nothing wrong with a little bit of isolation. The problem comes in when your cave mentality becomes a lifestyle mentality. When each and every day you think to yourself, "There's nothing better for me to DO THAN TO HIDE IN MY CAVE." CAN I TELL YOU YOU'VE GOT STUFF TO DO. YOU'VE GOT THINGS TO DO FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD. YOU CANNOT BE A CAVE DWELLER YOUR ENTIRE LIFE. CAVES CANNOT BECOME YOUR permanent residence. There's two Oh. There is too much danger if you are always alone in a cave. When you're the only Joshua chapter 10, let me show you this real quick. Joshua 10 it says this. It says, "But these five kings fled." They were afraid and they hid themselves in a cave. That's normal. That's That's what happens. When we're afraid we go hide. We That's That's a reaction that's okay.

But in verse 17 it says this. It says, "And it was told Joshua saying, 'The five The five kings are found hidden in a cave.'" Here's Here's the first issue if you are hiding in a cave. Your problem eventually is going to find your cave. Some of you think you can run away from your problems your entire life. You think your problems won't find you if you keep hiding. Can I tell you and maybe it's just my personal experience, my problems have a good good chance of finding me if I'm staying in the same spot all my life. Joshua said, "Hey, we have found these five kings." You can't stay hidden from your problems your whole life. But it goes on to say this in verse 18. Joshua said, "Roll great stones upon the mouth of the cave and set men by it to keep them." Here's the first big problem with living in a cave. Your cave will eventually turn into a prison. Your cave called bitterness, if you stay bitter too long, that bitterness will become a prison for your mind. If you stay hurt for too long, that hurt, it may be a temporary cave, but if you stay hurt too long, that hurt is going to eventually be a prison.

That misunderstanding, that mistake, that failure, if you let it, it eventually will TRANSFORM FROM A NICE LITTLE cave with maybe a couple sparkling lights in there to shine on the ROCKS TO EVENTUALLY BECOMING A PRISON FOR YOUR LIFE. I KNOW TOO MANY PEOPLE WHO HAVE been hurt either in ministry or by ministry, and now they are defined by that cave which has become a prison for THEIR LIFE. BE CAREFUL, SAINT OF GOD, not to stay in a cave for too long, because it may just very well become your prison. I know too many people. You probably know too many people who are stuck in a prison in their mind. They fester over one thing for way too long. They they're willing not willing to forgive that person, and because they're not willing to forgive that person, they're holding on to that bitterness, they're holding on to that anger. Let me tell you, it's there's a book called The Bait of Satan. There's a reason they called it that. That's exactly what Satan wants you to do. He wants you to hold on to it. But here's where it really gets scary, because in Joshua chapter 10 verse 27 it says, "And it came to pass at the time of the going down the sun that Joshua commanded and they took them down of the trees, the people that they killed, and cast them into the cave wherein they had been hid." One day, they they took those kings out of the cave and they slew them, the Bible said.

And they hung them on the tree. And after they were hung and after they were dead and before THE SUNSET, THEY GRABBED those men and they THREW THEM BACK INTO THE CAVE. WHAT'S TAKING PLACE HERE? The cave that transformed to a prison eventually transformed into their grave. CAN I TELL SOMEBODY TODAY THAT IF YOU'RE NOT CAREFUL WHEN YOU STAY IN A CAVE TOO LONG, THAT CAVE WILL BECOME A PRISON. AND IF YOU STAY IN THAT PRISON FOR TOO LONG AND YOU DON'T BREAK FREE, IT CAN EVENTUALLY BECOME THE GRAVE THAT YOU ARE BURIED IN. Too many PEOPLE RIGHT NOW, YOU'RE TOO STUCK IN A CAVE. YOU'RE STUCK THERE. YOU NEED TO GET OUT OF YOUR CAVE. AND I'VE COME WITH GOOD NEWS TODAY BECAUSE IF YOU'VE BEEN IN A CAVE FOR FOR SOME TIME, THERE'S STILL AN OPPORTUNITY FOR YOU TO GET OUT BECAUSE PAUL SAID, "ALL THESE THINGS WE ARE MORE than conquerors. WE ARE MORE than conquerors through him that has loved us." I maybe THIS SOUNDS TOO SIMPLE TODAY, BUT THIS IS WHAT I BELIEVE. All you need TO DO TO GET OUT OF YOUR PRISON AND ALL YOU NEED TO DO TO GET OUT OF YOUR CAVE is to I start having faith in your Jesus that his love is greater, that his love is deeper, THAT HIS LOVE IS WIDER THAN ANY CAVE THAT YOU FIND YOURSELF in today.

Paul says, "I'm persuaded." I'm persuaded that death, life, angels, PRINCIPALITIES, POWERS, THINGS PRESENT, THINGS THAT'S GOING ON RIGHT NOW. AND THINGS THAT HAVE HAPPENED AND THINGS THAT ARE GOING TO COME, THERE'S NO HEIGHT OR DEPTH OR ANY CREATURE THAT CAN SEPARATE YOU FROM JESUS. SOMEBODY I I DON'T KNOW WHERE YOU'RE AT RIGHT NOW. I DON'T KNOW WHERE YOU'VE BEEN right now. I I DON'T KNOW WHAT CAVE YOU'RE INSIDE RIGHT NOW, BUT WHAT I KNOW ABOUT YOU IS THAT YOU ARE A CHILD OF THE KING. AND BECAUSE YOU ARE A CHILD OF THE KING, YOU ARE MORE THAN A CONQUEROR. God has not given us a spirit of fear. That's not a spirit he If you have the spirit of fear on you right now, what I would recommend is that you give it back to the devil today at the altar. You just lay it down at the altar and say, "Devil, that's not my That's not my spirit to keep. I don't have to hold on to that fear anymore. I don't have to hold on to that anxiety anymore. I don't have to hold on to that DEPRESSION ANYMORE BECAUSE OH, THERE'S A LOVE THAT'S GREATER.

THERE'S A LOVE THAT MAKES ME A CONQUEROR." MOSES, he's a prime example of someone who should have known better than to stay in a cave. Moses, from the very beginning, Brother Freeman, he had God's hand on his life. There was a hand of protection on him. Think about the chances that one day they and the all the Egyptians say, "You know what? Let's kill all the the Israelite babies." But Moses is spared. Then he floats down the river, he's picked up, he He lives in Pharaoh's home, but Pharaoh's home, but he's raised by who? His mom. The chances of that? Very slim, probably. But God's keeping his hand on Moses's life. One day Moses realizes his call and he accidentally murders an Egyptian. He stepped out on his call too early, and that's a whole different message right there for somebody to preach. There's There's timing when it comes to your ministry. There's timing when it comes to your ministry. You step out too early without God's hand on your life, you will make mistakes. And that's what happens to Moses. Moses makes a mistake.

He He accidentally kills an Egyptian and he gets labeled by two Hebrew men as a murderer. And because of that label, he runs. He flees to a cave. For 40 years, Moses dwelt in the cave. In Exodus chapter 2 verse 21, it says, "And Moses was content to dwell." I don't mean this harsh today. But the word of God spoke to me so early when I read that scripture this morning that there are too many people in this room you have found contentment on a pew. You've been in a cave so long that you feel content there. Moses, he's content in a cave, content to be a dweller there. But God BUT GOD'S NOT CONTENT WITH WHERE Moses is at. Some of you need TO REALIZE TODAY GOD'S NOT CONTENT with where you are. You know that call of God that's on your life. You know THAT PURPOSE. YOU YOU CAN TAKE ME TO THE ALTAR WHERE HE CALLED YOU. BUT TODAY YOU'RE NOT FULFILLING IT BECAUSE YOU'RE IN A CAVE and you're CONTENT THERE. GOD SAW MOSES AND SAYS, "MOSES, I'M NOT CONTENT, SO I'M GOING TO SEND A FIRE YOUR WAY." I'm going to s- Has anybody really thought about the fact that Moses one day was just walking around and a a bush started speaking to him that was on fire, not consumed.

Kind of crazy, right? It's amazing what God will do to get our attention. He's talking to Moses. Says Moses, it's time to go back to where I've called you to be. I pray that today the Holy Ghost fire would fall on somebody afresh. Mhm. I pray that Holy conviction would fall down on somebody. Some of you, YOU'VE BEEN CONTENT FOR FROM BY SITTING ON YOUR PEW for too long. You've been there day after day, month after month, year after year. And I'm praying today THAT THE HOLY GHOST GRABS A HOLD OF YOU BECAUSE THERE IS SOMEWHERE, some place for you to be in the ministry of God. Moses, he was letting his cave keep him from his calling. And I'm afraid that too many of us in this room were the same way. But again, I've got good news. God can call you while you're in a cave. Mhm. Today in this place, somebody you can be liberated from your cave and step right into your promise. Step right into your purpose. Step right into where it is God wants you to be. When When God called Gideon, the Bible says that Gideon, he was afraid of the Midianites.

He was hiding in a cave. He found Gideon in In Judges 6:12, it says, "And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him and said unto him, the Lord is with thee." Somebody needs to be reminded today that the Lord is not distant from you. Somebody needs to BE REMINDED TODAY THAT YOU HAVE MORE POWER IN YOUR PINKY THAN THE DEVIL HAS ALTOGETHER. Some of you, YOU NEED TO GO INTO YOUR WORKPLACE TOMORROW AND START GO AHEAD AND START SAYING, "SATAN, NOT TODAY. NOT TODAY. NOT TODAY, BECAUSE THE LORD IS WITH ME." THE LORD TELLS GIDEON, "I'M WITH YOU AND YOU ARE A MIGHTY MAN OF VALOR." GIDEON, HE'S AFRAID FOR HIS LIFE. He's hiding. He's He's nervous. He's in a cave. And God starts to speak to him. But this is the problem with Gideon's response. He responded with a cave mentality. He said, "Lord, you haven't been with me lately. I haven't been feeling you lately." Some of y'all y'all make excuses cuz the Holy Ghost hasn't touched you lately. Mhm. Ooh, I got to be careful here. But maybe, just maybe, if you tried something different than just sitting on a pew, the Bible says he inhabits the praises of his people.

I've said this before, but I'll say this again. What that tells me is the more praise I get, the more presence I get. If it's been a long time since you have felt the Lord, I WOULD ASK YOU, HAS IT BEEN A WHILE SINCE YOU LIFTED YOUR HANDS? HAS IT BEEN A WHILE SINCE YOU DID A DANCE? HAS IT BEEN A TIME WHILE SINCE YOU GIVEN GOD YOUR VERY BEST IN WORSHIP? I will TELL YOU RIGHT NOW, I DON'T CARE WHO YOU ARE. I DON'T CARE WHERE YOU'VE BEEN. I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU DID LAST NIGHT. IF YOU COME INTO THIS HOUSE TODAY AND YOU LOSE ALL ABANDON AND SAY, "GOD, YOU ARE STILL ON THE THRONE. YOU ARE STILL A GOOD GOD. YOU ARE KING ABOVE ALL KINGS AND LORD." WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO GET IS YOU'RE GOING TO GET THE PRESENCE OF GOD. GIDEON SAYS, "IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE THE LORD'S BEEN WITH ME." I WOULD SAY, "GIDEON, WHEN'S THE LAST TIME YOU MADE A SACRIFICE OF PRAISE?" Gideon says, "My family tree is too weak." How many times have you used that excuse?

Well, my family's not in ministry, so I can't be in ministry. Find me that in the Bible. Where it says your grandpappy has to be a bishop for you to do something for God. He says, "I'm too insignificant." That's probably the one I hear most often. I don't have talent. Let me tell you what your best talent is, your availability. Let me tell you what God wants, your time. He doesn't need your skill set. He doesn't need what you think is not your talent. What he needs is you to be obedient to him. Gideon was special because eventually he made up in his mind, "I'm just going to be obedient what to what it is God is asking for me to do." Gideon gives all these excuses, which are all of his present problems. But this is how God works. When he calls you, when he puts ministry on you, when he speak things into your future, he does not let your present problems dictate what it is he's putting on you. YOU AND I, WE LIVE IN THE PRESENT. We are captured by this thing called the present.

Maybe your cave is just where you are presently right now. Meaning, you've got excuse after excuse after excuse, reason after reason after reason. I don't I don't have the availability or on the time. Whatever. I don't know what your excuse is. BUT WHEN GOD CALLS YOU, and he's called each and every one of us, HE'S NOT LOOKING AT YOUR PRESENT PROBLEMS. HE'S NOT EVEN LOOKING AT WHAT YOU'RE PRESENTLY DOING. WHAT GOD DOES, HE HAS THIS ABILITY to look into the future. Because he's God. Y'all follow me right now? Is this okay? When he calls you, he's calling you to something greater than you are right now. He's calling you to something greater than you've ever been before. Why don't you stop looking at your resume as reasons why you can't do something for God? And why don't you start believing in the supernatural that flows through him? WHY DON'T YOU BELIEVE IN THE FACT THAT HE CAN MAKE YOU SOMETHING THAT YOU'RE NOT RIGHT NOW? GIDEON LOOKED AT HIS PRESENT problem and said, "God, I can't." And God says, "YOU HAVE NO CLUE, GIDEON. YOU HAVE NO CLUE.

I'M NOT TRYING TO BE MEAN to somebody today, BUT YOU HAVE NO CLUE WHAT GOD CAN DO THROUGH YOU. NO EYE HAS SEEN. NO MIND CAN UNDERSTAND THE THINGS that God has in store for them." Gideon was in the cave. He could not see properly. But Jesus is the light. God is the light. He can always see the potential that's there. In Judges 7, Gideon finally gets out of his cave and he faces the Midianites. He's got 32,000 men. Midianites, 100,000 plus. It's an unfair battle. Taking some of you back to Sunday school here. You're welcome. God tells Gideon, "Gideon, tell your men that if they're afraid or timid to go home." I'm If I'm Gideon, I'm thinking, "God, I'm terrified. The Midianites already outnumber us. Like, I'm already nervous." But I think what God was saying here was that if your men believe more in their adversary than in me, they need to go. Let me tell you what fear is. Fear is having faith in your enemy. The ugliness of fear is that that fear really is faith, but it's faith in your enemy.

I wonder today, where is your faith really aligned to? What do you really believe? Which report do you really believe in your life? Do you believe what the adversary is saying about you, or do you believe what God is saying about you? The enemy was 100,000 plus. Gideon drops 20,000 men right there. But then it gets better. God says, "No, that's still not too many. Got too many people, get rid of them." So he does. He gets all the way down to 300 people. Now, I'm not a great mathematician, but I do realize this. 300 versus 100,000 plus is not a fair fair battle, right? But this is why I really love this story. This is kind of where I want to sit for a second. When God tells Gideon it's time to attack, he gives Gideon three weapons. None of them are a sword. None of them are a shield. There's not like some secret bazooka weapon that they're going to use like He gives them this. A trumpet. I know I I wasn't in band, but I don't know what effectiveness a trumpet is in battle.

Now, if I was playing the trumpet, maybe that would be painful for people. I had not think about that. He gives them a candle. So so far we've got a brass instrument and a candle. Maybe they're going to like play some smooth jazz for them. Create an ambiance. Lull them to sleep. And then he gives them a jar pot to hide the candle in. In Judges chapter 7 verse 18, it says, and this is right before they attack, "When I blow with a trumpet, I and all that are with me, then blow you the trumpets also on every side of the camp, and then say, the Lord the sword of the Lord and of Gideon." Now, I just told you all their their weapons. But when they are to scream, they are to scream that we HAVE THE SWORD OF THE Lord and of Gideon. Does anybody see a problem here? Gideon does not have a sword. He has a lamp or a candle. He has a trumpet. He has a clay pot. None of these things are a sword. I can't even make a sword out of this.

What in the world are we talking about here? I was thinking about this today. What does the Bible say that the word of God is? It's quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged Now, I could be wrong on this, and Pastor, if you're watching right now, I'm sorry. You can correct me on Wednesday night with in front of all these people. The Bible says it's a two-edged sword. One edge is God's word. It's forever settled. It's always sharp. The other side is when we speak the word. Let me tell you what makes it a double-edged sword. It's not when it's sitting on your your your your in your house somewhere collecting dust. Let me tell you when it becomes a double-edged sword, when you pick up the word of God. YOU LOOK AT YOUR PROBLEMS and you say this, "I don't know how, I don't know where, BUT THIS IS WHAT THUS SAITH the word of God. I'M GOING TO GO ON ATTACK WITH WHAT this word SAYS. I MAY NOT SEE IT YET, I MAY NOT FEEL IT YET, I MAY NOT BE EXPERIENCING IT, BUT THUS SAITH THE WORD OF GOD.

THAT'S WHY THEY COULD SAY THE SWORD OF THE LORD AND OF GIDEON. WHAT THEY WERE DOING IS THEY WERE PROCLAIMING TRUTH. Death and life are in the power of the tongue. That's what the Bible says. You and I have more in our capacity than we know. But only when we pick up the word of God and let it do the fighting for us. Whenever they're sitting there fighting or not even really fighting, they let the Midianites fight themselves. It was unconventional warfare. No one said, "You know what? We learned this in military school. This is exactly No, it was different. But that should not surprise the people of God. Because we don't wrestle flesh and blood. And we don't do warfare like everybody else does. Paul said in 2 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 3, "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. FOR THE WEAPONS OF OUR WARFARE are not carnal. THEY ARE NOT FLESH. THEY ARE NOT YOU AND THEY ARE NOT ME. THEY ARE SPIRITUAL THINGS AND IT SAYS THEY ARE MIGHTY THROUGH GOD TO THE PULLING DOWN OF STRONGHOLDS, CASTING DOWN IMAGINATIONS, AND EVERY HIGH THING THAT EXALTETH ITSELF AGAINST THE KNOWLEDGE of God.

And what does it do? It brings into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. If you find yourself today in a cave, if you find yourself today battling anxiety, and I believe I'm speaking in the Holy Ghost right now. If you're battling depression today, if you're if you're battling self-worth, if you're IF YOU'RE BATTLING UNFORGIVENESS, WHATEVER YOUR CAVE IS, IN A ROOM THIS SIZE, I I'M SURE THERE IS A PLETHORA OF DIFFERENT SIZES AND SHAPES of caves that we find ourselves in. BUT CAN I TELL YOU WE ALL GET OUT OF OUR CAVE, NO MATTER HOW UNIQUE IT IS, DOING THE SAME THINGS. AND A VACATION IS NOT GOING TO GET YOU OUT OF YOUR CAVE. A CAR, A NEW CAR, A SHINY RED CAR IS NOT GOING TO GET YOU OUT OF YOUR CAVE. A NEW HOME WITH ALL THE BELLS AND WHISTLES IS NOT GOING TO GET YOU OUT OF YOUR CAVE. BUT CAN I TELL YOU YOU CAN PRAY YOUR WAY OUT OF YOUR PROBLEM. YOU CAN READ THE WORD AND APPLY IT TO YOUR LIFE AND IT WILL GET YOU OUT OF YOUR SITUATION.

You can Oh, YOU CAN PRAISE, YOU CAN WORSHIP, YOU CAN I don't know about you, but I came in came in tonight with a couple of caves keeping me back and I've made A DETERMINATION IN MY MIND THAT I'M NOT GOING TO LEAVE THIS PLACE THE SAME WAY I came in, but I'm going TO WORSHIP, I'M GOING to praise, I'M GOING TO PRAY MY WAY OUT OF MY CAVE. I'm tired OF WRESTLING WITH FLESH. I'M TIRED OF DOING THINGS MY WAY. WHAT DOES GOD SAY that I should do? Today I want to come out of my cave. I'm coming to a close. Musicians can come. I want to come out of my cave. I I want you to come out of your cave. I want you to get some liberty. I WANT YOU TO GET SOME FREEDOM. Can I tell YOU HOW YOU'RE GOING TO GET IT? You're not GOING TO GET IT BY DOING GOOD. There's not enough good deeds you CAN DO TO SET YOU FREE. BUT MY BIBLE SAYS IT IS THE TRUTH. IT IS THE TRUTH THAT SETS THE CAPTIVE FREE.

JESUS IS THE TRUTH. He is the way. If you're going to get out of YOUR CAVE, IT'S ONLY going to be through ONE WAY, AND THAT'S THROUGH JESUS CHRIST. Our world today, they're wrestling, trying to figure out how to do things the right way, HOW TO DO ENOUGH GOOD IN THIS WORLD. THE DEAL IS IS WE DON'T KNOW ENOUGH GOOD. WE DON'T ONLY KNOW TRUTH. Truth is the only thing that's going to help us. For some of you today, you've been sitting on me, and I understand. I believe everybody in this room, you have an opportunity today. But some of you, you've already convinced yourself, right when I started preaching about caves. You've told yourself, I'm in my cave. I've been in my cave all year. Some of you have convinced YOURSELF THAT YOU'RE ALWAYS GOING TO HAVE TO LIVE in that cave. THAT YOU'VE ALL YOU'VE DONE TOO MUCH WRONG. THAT YOUR PAST IS TOO LITTERED with mistakes to do something for Jesus. Some of you, you feel like your cave is already your grave, and there's no coming out. BUT IN JOHN CHAPTER 11 VERSE 38, Paul Jesus came to a grave.

It said in John 11:38, Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. For it was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. And inside of that cave was his friend named Lazarus. Lazarus' sisters, when they saw Jesus from afar, THEY SAID, "IF YOU WERE ONLY HERE, HE WOULD STILL BE ALIVE RIGHT NOW. WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG?" Some of you in this room, you've been waiting for your MIRACLE FOR SO LONG. YOU'RE CONVINCED THAT IF Jesus had only come earlier, then you would have never gone into that cave in the first place. But Jesus, his ways are higher than our ways. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. He knows what he's doing. He looks at that at that cave which had become a grave. He said, "LET THE STONE ROLL AWAY." AND HIS SISTER SAID, "NO, DON'T DO IT. HE stinks now. He's been in there too long. He's too far gone." Some of you, you're convinced you're too far gone. That you stink too bad. That you've made too many of those mistakes. BUT JESUS, AGAINST ALL ODDS, LOOKED AT THAT CAVE.

AND HE SAID IN JOHN CHAPTER 11, VERSE 30 43, it says he cried WITH A LOUD VOICE, "LAZARUS! LAZARUS! YOU'RE IN A CAVE, BUT I'M ON THE OUTSIDE. AND I'VE GOT ALL AUTHORITY. AND I CAN SPEAK TO THIS CAVE AND SAY RELEASE WHATEVER IS INSIDE OF IT." HE SAID, "LAZARUS, COME FORTH." AND LAZARUS GOT UP AND HE WALKED OUT OF THAT CAVE. But listen to this. WHEN HE CAME OUT, he still had the remnants of being in. AND SO JESUS SAYS, "LOOSE HIM AND LET HIM GO." I BELIEVE THIS WITH ALL MY HEART. God told me this morning THAT IF PEOPLE WILL LISTEN TO HIS VOICE call out their name, YOU'RE ALSO GOING TO HEAR THE WORD LOOSED. And that loose, IT MAY BE FOR YOUR MARRIAGE. IT MAY BE FOR YOUR JOY. IT MAY BE FOR YOUR HEALTH. IT MAY BE FOR YOUR MINISTRY. IT MAY BE FOR YOUR PROMISES. I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE CAVE HAS BEEN KEEPING FROM YOU, BUT I PROMISE YOU JESUS IS HERE AND HE'S CALLING OUT YOUR NAME. There's power. There's authority in this room right now. Jesus, he looked at that grave AND HE SAID, "LAZARUS, COME OUT." BUT WE DON'T GET OUR POWER TODAY BY HIM CALLING LAZARUS OUT.

WE GET OUR POWER TODAY BECAUSE JESUS FOUND HIMSELF IN A CAVE. HE WAS IN THERE FOR 3 DAYS. BUT JESUS, ON THE THIRD DAY, SAID, "STONE, YOU'VE GOT TO ROLL AWAY BECAUSE I AM COMING OUT." But when HE CAME OUT, HE DIDN'T COME OUT THE SAME WAY HE WENT IN. HE CAME OUT WITH KEYS TO HELL AND THE GRAVE. I don't know where YOU'RE AT TODAY, BUT I WANT YOU TO KNOW JESUS HAS THE KEYS. JESUS HAS THE KEYS. JESUS HAS THE POWER. JESUS HAS THE AUTHORITY. WHEREVER YOU'RE AT, WHATEVER CAVE YOU'RE IN, WHATEVER GRAVE YOU FIND YOURSELF IN, Jesus can speak to it. Come on right now, let's all make our way to the altar. There is something God wants to do in this place in the supernatural. God is desiring to move. God is desiring to minister. God is desiring to set the captive free. God almighty.