An Overview Of Your Future

0:00:01.520 --> 0:00:02.800 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:02.840 --> 0:00:05.840 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church, and this is our podcast. 0:00:05.880 --> 0:00:08.280 I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope 0:00:08.320 --> 0:00:10.680 this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith. 0:00:10.760 --> 0:00:12.840 Hope it gives your perspective to see God is moving 0:00:12.920 --> 0:00:13.600 in your life. 0:00:13.880 --> 0:00:18.720 Enjoy the message. Now. 0:00:18.760 --> 0:00:20.239 I want to share the Word of God with you, 0:00:22.360 --> 0:00:28.760 and I want to ask you something. Would you be terribly, 0:00:30.280 --> 0:00:33.520 terribly inconvenienced if I spent just one more week talking 0:00:33.560 --> 0:00:37.600 about functional faith? I promise you this will be the 0:00:37.720 --> 0:00:42.640 last week. After this, I will never bother you with 0:00:42.720 --> 0:00:47.720 the subject of functional faith again. But I want to 0:00:47.800 --> 0:00:50.760 use one verse today that I think is appropriate for 0:00:50.840 --> 0:00:53.440 what we've been singing about and what we're experiencing right now. 0:00:54.080 --> 0:00:57.200 And it is in the Book of Revelation, chapter four, 0:00:57.960 --> 0:01:03.000 Verse one. Give me just a moment while I set 0:01:03.040 --> 0:01:06.280 up my office. Maybe you want to open your Bible 0:01:07.360 --> 0:01:12.800 and get ready to receive the word of God. How 0:01:12.800 --> 0:01:14.919 many of you are blessed just to be in church today? 0:01:17.160 --> 0:01:17.800 How many of you. 0:01:17.760 --> 0:01:21.560 Are blessed to have your sins forgiven? I said, how 0:01:21.600 --> 0:01:23.399 many are blessed to have your sins forgiven? 0:01:28.360 --> 0:01:28.760 Me too? 0:01:29.440 --> 0:01:33.919 I'm always blessed by Mike and Brian to see you guys. 0:01:34.920 --> 0:01:40.560 Love those guys. They stand out head and shoulders above 0:01:40.600 --> 0:01:41.000 the rest. 0:01:43.400 --> 0:01:46.280 And look at this verse real quick, just one verse, 0:01:47.720 --> 0:01:53.520 just one verse, but very powerful, very powerful, John says, 0:01:53.520 --> 0:01:59.480 after this, I looked, and there before me was a 0:01:59.560 --> 0:02:05.680 door standing open in heaven, and the voice I had 0:02:05.760 --> 0:02:09.560 first heard, speaking to me like a trumpet, said, come 0:02:09.680 --> 0:02:13.080 up here, and I will show you what must take 0:02:13.160 --> 0:02:17.000 place after this. Now that's the only verse I want 0:02:17.040 --> 0:02:20.280 to read you today. I'm gonna double down on it, 0:02:20.400 --> 0:02:23.320 read it again, just to make sure we've got it. 0:02:23.360 --> 0:02:26.600 Because this thing, this thing has really been blessing to me. 0:02:27.280 --> 0:02:29.640 I have really been praying about what God wanted me 0:02:29.680 --> 0:02:32.440 to give you today, and he said to tell you 0:02:32.520 --> 0:02:35.200 after this. I looked in there before me was a 0:02:35.280 --> 0:02:38.880 door standing open in heaven, and the voice I had 0:02:38.919 --> 0:02:42.200 first heard, speaking to me like a trumpet, said, come 0:02:42.320 --> 0:02:44.359 up here, and I will. 0:02:44.160 --> 0:02:48.799 Show you what must take place after this. 0:02:50.240 --> 0:02:56.120 So, in this final installment of Functional Fate, praying about it, 0:02:56.480 --> 0:03:01.440 God said that he wanted to give you an overview 0:03:02.200 --> 0:03:03.040 of your future. 0:03:04.400 --> 0:03:06.120 Are you ready? 0:03:07.360 --> 0:03:10.560 God said that he wanted to speak to you today 0:03:11.560 --> 0:03:16.760 very specifically and give you an overview of your future. 0:03:17.400 --> 0:03:18.040 Now, I need you to. 0:03:18.080 --> 0:03:20.600 Nudge your neighbor and tell him I'm getting ready for something. 0:03:22.080 --> 0:03:25.320 I'm getting ready for something. God is preparing me for something. 0:03:25.800 --> 0:03:28.640 And today God wants to give you an overview of 0:03:28.680 --> 0:03:31.280 your future. I need you to hear me in Rockhill 0:03:31.320 --> 0:03:34.920 because Jeremiah said that he knows the plans he has 0:03:34.960 --> 0:03:38.520 for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, 0:03:39.000 --> 0:03:43.600 plans to give you a hope and a future. Paul said, 0:03:43.640 --> 0:03:46.720 in all these things, we are more than conquerors through 0:03:46.800 --> 0:03:49.160 Him who loved us. And neither life nor death, nor 0:03:49.200 --> 0:03:52.360 angels nor demons, neither the past, the present, nor any 0:03:52.400 --> 0:03:55.240 other shall be able to separate us from the love 0:03:55.280 --> 0:03:56.120 of God that is. 0:03:56.080 --> 0:03:57.080 In Christ Jesus. 0:03:57.600 --> 0:03:59.480 Jesus Christ themselves said, in. 0:03:59.440 --> 0:04:01.760 The world you will have trouble. 0:04:01.600 --> 0:04:13.240 But take heart, I have over come the world. So 0:04:13.360 --> 0:04:17.360 God wants to give you an overview of your future. 0:04:18.040 --> 0:04:20.159 Would you hug seven people and tell them it gets 0:04:20.160 --> 0:04:22.120 better from here, It gets better from here. 0:04:22.560 --> 0:04:25.680 It gets better from here. You may be seated. Thank you. 0:04:35.640 --> 0:04:38.200 I feel like the atmosphere of our hearts is ready 0:04:39.200 --> 0:04:41.680 and the word can be depositive. 0:04:42.960 --> 0:04:45.000 Let's go. 0:04:46.279 --> 0:04:51.039 To the Book of Revelation four verse one. Now some 0:04:51.120 --> 0:04:54.400 of you are expecting me to bring out my charts 0:04:56.600 --> 0:05:00.640 of the end times, because the Book of Revelation is, 0:05:00.680 --> 0:05:06.200 of course an apocalyptic book. This is the genre to 0:05:06.279 --> 0:05:12.200 which the Book of Revelation, written by John the Beloved, belongs. 0:05:12.400 --> 0:05:17.760 It is an apocryphal there's an apocalyptic book, not an 0:05:17.760 --> 0:05:20.640 apocryphal book. You know what, I'm not much of I'm 0:05:20.640 --> 0:05:22.920 not I'm not really an apocalyptic guy. 0:05:23.000 --> 0:05:25.960 I'm i tend to be more on the practical side. 0:05:26.760 --> 0:05:30.120 So I guess you could call this not an apocalyptic 0:05:30.160 --> 0:05:32.159 but in apocalyptic message. 0:05:32.800 --> 0:05:33.240 Ay man. 0:05:34.720 --> 0:05:37.880 My wife can't stand to hear people preach about the 0:05:37.880 --> 0:05:43.279 Book of Revelation and act like they know, you know, when. 0:05:43.240 --> 0:05:45.440 Which president represents which beast? 0:05:45.640 --> 0:05:49.680 And and I'm I'm kind of with her. My my 0:05:49.800 --> 0:05:52.799 oldest son, he's he's pretty sharp in a lot of ways. 0:05:53.320 --> 0:05:55.160 When where he gets it from. I was just kidding. 0:05:56.640 --> 0:06:01.400 He's a he's at a Christian school. So he asked 0:06:01.400 --> 0:06:04.680 me the other day, do you understand the Book of Revelation, Daddy? 0:06:05.200 --> 0:06:09.599 I said, uh no, I said, nobody does. Elijah, I 0:06:09.640 --> 0:06:12.120 said this, you know it's really it's a. 0:06:12.080 --> 0:06:14.039 Symbolic book in a lot of ways. 0:06:14.120 --> 0:06:16.800 A lot of what they write, what what's written there 0:06:16.880 --> 0:06:19.040 is poetic and. 0:06:18.480 --> 0:06:20.320 And so some of it is not meant to be 0:06:20.400 --> 0:06:23.919 taken literally. And I mean, it's a very it's a 0:06:24.040 --> 0:06:25.000 very serious book. 0:06:25.480 --> 0:06:27.919 And he said, well, one of my friends in the 0:06:28.040 --> 0:06:32.600 class said that his dad understands the Book of Revelation, 0:06:34.000 --> 0:06:40.200 and and he's not even a preacher. So I said, 0:06:40.200 --> 0:06:45.839 all right, well, okay, well, if it's like that, let 0:06:45.839 --> 0:06:48.200 me give you an overview of the Book of Revelation. 0:06:49.320 --> 0:06:49.760 We win. 0:06:52.320 --> 0:06:58.520 Come on, somebody, I need you to look at the 0:06:58.520 --> 0:07:01.680 person next to you and some marise the outcome of 0:07:01.720 --> 0:07:02.760 their current battle. 0:07:03.080 --> 0:07:04.839 Look them in the eye, like you know what you're 0:07:04.880 --> 0:07:05.560 talking about. 0:07:05.880 --> 0:07:09.000 Look like you're Marty McFly coming with a sports almanac 0:07:09.279 --> 0:07:12.000 from another year. Look at him and say, I don't 0:07:12.000 --> 0:07:15.400 know what you're going through, but you win. 0:07:15.480 --> 0:07:16.000 In the end. 0:07:27.160 --> 0:07:29.640 I did take a seminary course on the Book of Revelation. 0:07:29.840 --> 0:07:32.520 The professor said, after. 0:07:32.280 --> 0:07:34.960 Studying the Book of Revelation for over forty years, I 0:07:35.000 --> 0:07:41.840 have come to this overview. Evil is real, God is greater, 0:07:46.680 --> 0:07:48.480 I said man, because he told us this at the 0:07:48.600 --> 0:07:51.560 end of the whole class. And I said, we sat 0:07:51.600 --> 0:07:54.440 here for three and a half months. I paid tuition 0:07:54.640 --> 0:08:00.560 for that. You could have tweeted that and have twitter 0:08:00.600 --> 0:08:03.160 back then. Now, what I want to do today is 0:08:03.160 --> 0:08:05.640 a little bit different than kind of telling you everything 0:08:05.720 --> 0:08:09.320 that it means. I would like to use this model 0:08:10.880 --> 0:08:18.080 whereby John saw a vision of God and use it 0:08:18.280 --> 0:08:22.600 to help us approach God in our own lives in 0:08:22.640 --> 0:08:26.720 a way that He might become real and relevant to us. 0:08:27.760 --> 0:08:31.640 And within the Book of Revelation there are there are several. 0:08:31.600 --> 0:08:33.080 Lessons for us to learn. 0:08:33.280 --> 0:08:36.000 But I just want to go not necessarily to what 0:08:36.240 --> 0:08:38.880 John saw, and now I want to I want to 0:08:38.920 --> 0:08:40.760 talk first about how he saw it, and I'd like 0:08:40.800 --> 0:08:43.040 you to write down a few key thoughts today. 0:08:43.360 --> 0:08:44.760 And the first one is attention. 0:08:46.240 --> 0:08:50.760 Attention, because John says in Revelation chapter four, watch this. 0:08:52.080 --> 0:08:58.000 After this I looked, and you know, it's interesting because 0:08:58.040 --> 0:09:01.920 everything that happens after that wouldn't have happened without that. 0:09:04.720 --> 0:09:08.080 Everything that John saw after this would not have been 0:09:08.440 --> 0:09:12.079 revealed if he didn't pay attention. 0:09:13.720 --> 0:09:17.000 So I bring it up because sometimes we're asking. 0:09:16.679 --> 0:09:20.760 God to reveal his presence in our lives, his provision 0:09:21.360 --> 0:09:26.440 in our lives, his purpose in our lives, and sometimes 0:09:26.440 --> 0:09:29.520 we even pray about it, and we pray like we're 0:09:29.559 --> 0:09:34.600 trying to get God's attention. But I've come to believe 0:09:34.720 --> 0:09:39.600 that prayer rightly done is less about me getting God's 0:09:39.600 --> 0:09:45.200 attention and more about Him getting mine. See, I live 0:09:45.280 --> 0:09:49.880 my life from the foundational belief that I already have 0:09:50.000 --> 0:09:54.079 Heaven's attention. I mean, if I didn't have Heaven's attention, 0:09:54.559 --> 0:09:56.959 the Son of God certainly wouldn't have stepped down the 0:09:57.000 --> 0:10:00.480 spiral staircase of time and been wrapped in flesh made 0:10:00.520 --> 0:10:02.480 in the appearance of a sinful man to be a 0:10:02.520 --> 0:10:05.240 sin offering, so that I could approach God boldly and 0:10:05.280 --> 0:10:08.199 come before his throne with confidence because of a drop 0:10:08.240 --> 0:10:10.640 of blood on the mercy seat to make a way 0:10:10.679 --> 0:10:13.320 of access into the presence of God. So when I 0:10:13.360 --> 0:10:16.559 come before God, when I worship God, when I need God, 0:10:16.760 --> 0:10:19.200 when I call on God, I'm not trying to get 0:10:19.240 --> 0:10:22.920 his attention. I'm not trying to get him to notice me. Maybe, 0:10:22.960 --> 0:10:25.360 as I go through my life, a better question isn't 0:10:25.440 --> 0:10:28.640 is God paying attention to me? The question might be 0:10:28.840 --> 0:10:33.640 am I paying attention to him? Help me out today? 0:10:34.240 --> 0:10:40.880 Shake your neighbor awake and say pay attention. Maybe the 0:10:40.920 --> 0:10:44.920 same reason we don't experience God sometimes in our lives 0:10:45.800 --> 0:10:49.160 is the same reason that we flunk the math test 0:10:49.240 --> 0:10:54.720 in seventh grade, the same reason for that fender bender 0:10:55.840 --> 0:11:00.640 on Taivola. Maybe it's the same reason that we burned 0:11:00.679 --> 0:11:04.680 the dinner. Maybe the reason we don't experience God's presence, 0:11:04.679 --> 0:11:08.120 maybe it's the same reason that we didn't see our 0:11:08.200 --> 0:11:10.360 kids were hanging out with bad influences till it was 0:11:10.360 --> 0:11:14.839 a little too late, because we weren't paying. 0:11:16.160 --> 0:11:16.640 Attention. 0:11:18.800 --> 0:11:24.720 John says, after this, I looked, and there before me 0:11:25.880 --> 0:11:26.400 was a door. 0:11:27.679 --> 0:11:30.040 It was open in heaven. 0:11:31.679 --> 0:11:35.200 I want you to know today that you have a 0:11:35.600 --> 0:11:44.079 standing invitation to experience God's presence, but you have. 0:11:44.120 --> 0:11:44.920 To pay attention. 0:11:46.520 --> 0:11:53.280 You have to pay attention because attention creates access. Let 0:11:53.280 --> 0:11:58.960 me teach you a little bit. Attention creates access. So 0:11:59.320 --> 0:12:04.240 if emotions have access into your heart, it's because you 0:12:04.320 --> 0:12:09.440 gave those emotions your attention. If memories of pain and 0:12:09.559 --> 0:12:13.679 hurt dominate your thought life, it's because those memories. 0:12:13.480 --> 0:12:16.440 Have your attention. How can a memory hurt you It 0:12:16.559 --> 0:12:17.520 already happened. 0:12:17.760 --> 0:12:21.360 It can only hurt you if it has your ap 0:12:21.360 --> 0:12:25.160 preaching good. And there are some things that you've been 0:12:25.200 --> 0:12:28.440 giving your attention to that if you would turn your 0:12:28.440 --> 0:12:33.760 attention from them, you would take the power of them. 0:12:33.920 --> 0:12:39.560 God wants to know today, what has your attention? John 0:12:39.640 --> 0:12:41.800 said after this, I looked in There before. 0:12:41.520 --> 0:12:43.880 Me was a door. It was there all along, but 0:12:44.000 --> 0:12:47.680 I saw it when I looked. And John could have 0:12:47.679 --> 0:12:49.160 been looking at a lot of things. 0:12:50.800 --> 0:12:55.400 I mean. The guy was an exile on a little 0:12:55.440 --> 0:12:59.679 tiny island called Petmus. He had been sent there because 0:12:59.679 --> 0:13:03.319 of his testimony of the Word of God. He calls 0:13:03.400 --> 0:13:09.320 himself a fellow sufferer and a patient endurer in the 0:13:09.400 --> 0:13:14.000 Kingdom of God. It's interesting to me that God gave 0:13:14.080 --> 0:13:16.920 the greatest revelation of himself to a man who was 0:13:16.960 --> 0:13:17.760 in exile. 0:13:18.760 --> 0:13:21.080 I want to stop for a moment and announce. 0:13:20.720 --> 0:13:26.560 That God is a god of access in exile. He 0:13:26.679 --> 0:13:31.200 is a God of access in exile. It means that 0:13:31.360 --> 0:13:34.360 even if you feel like you're on a little island today, 0:13:34.760 --> 0:13:38.880 all by yourself, you still have access to the presence 0:13:38.920 --> 0:13:42.360 of God. There is nowhere that life can take you 0:13:42.800 --> 0:13:47.079 that God's presence cannot reach you. There is nothing that 0:13:47.160 --> 0:13:50.320 people can do to you to keep God from getting 0:13:50.640 --> 0:13:54.920 to you. So we see a pattern in scripture that 0:13:55.000 --> 0:13:59.280 God is a god of access in exile. Ask Moses, 0:13:59.520 --> 0:14:03.040 he was a Midian in exile running from his act 0:14:03.080 --> 0:14:06.240 of murder. But when he turned aside and saw the bush. 0:14:06.280 --> 0:14:09.600 When he turned aside and gave the bush his attention, 0:14:10.080 --> 0:14:13.400 he heard an announcement, and God said, I've come down 0:14:13.480 --> 0:14:14.760 to deliver my people. 0:14:15.120 --> 0:14:17.320 I know you've been in this desert a long time. 0:14:17.559 --> 0:14:20.080 I know you've been on this island by yourself. I 0:14:20.080 --> 0:14:22.680 know you feel like nobody hears you. But I am 0:14:22.680 --> 0:14:27.720 the God of access in exile. You're not alone. You're 0:14:27.800 --> 0:14:31.160 never alone. And the God who was, and is and 0:14:31.360 --> 0:14:32.800 is to comis with you. 0:14:36.120 --> 0:14:40.320 In this moment. Asked Daniel. 0:14:40.360 --> 0:14:44.600 He was a Babylonian exile, and he saw a revelation 0:14:45.080 --> 0:14:49.560 of Jesus Christ before Jesus Christ was born. Daniel saw him, 0:14:49.680 --> 0:14:53.840 and he saw him in exile. And I thought that 0:14:53.920 --> 0:14:59.200 might encourage somebody to know that you have access even 0:14:59.240 --> 0:15:03.680 in exile. But you got to pay attention. You gotta 0:15:03.680 --> 0:15:07.040 pay attention, he said. After this, I looked, and there 0:15:07.160 --> 0:15:11.320 was a door. After this, I looked in there was 0:15:11.320 --> 0:15:15.080 a door. The door represents the revelation that God gave him. 0:15:15.120 --> 0:15:19.160 After this, I look, and there was a door. I 0:15:19.160 --> 0:15:24.080 think it's important what the door means. But I also 0:15:24.080 --> 0:15:29.440 think it's important where the door was. Come on, y'all, 0:15:30.760 --> 0:15:32.840 because he did not say, put the verse up. 0:15:33.600 --> 0:15:37.720 After this, I looked, and there behind me was a door. 0:15:39.640 --> 0:15:46.200 See, the open door is never behind you. 0:15:46.240 --> 0:15:49.320 Who who's this for? 0:15:50.680 --> 0:15:55.560 You've been stuck in regret. You've been stuck in what happened? 0:15:55.960 --> 0:15:59.520 You've been stuck in what was John said? After this, 0:16:00.120 --> 0:16:04.680 I looked, and there before me was a door. The 0:16:04.760 --> 0:16:08.040 open door is always before you. 0:16:08.960 --> 0:16:10.720 It's before you look. 0:16:10.800 --> 0:16:14.520 Unto Jesus, the Author and perfector of our faith, who 0:16:14.560 --> 0:16:19.680 for the joy set before him endoored the cross, despising 0:16:19.760 --> 0:16:23.440 his shame, the open door is before you. The open 0:16:23.480 --> 0:16:27.000 door is not in ten years ago, the opportunity that 0:16:27.120 --> 0:16:27.600 was missed. 0:16:27.960 --> 0:16:30.320 I know there's some stuff behind you that you can't 0:16:30.320 --> 0:16:32.880 get back. I know there's some things that happened to 0:16:32.920 --> 0:16:33.280 you that. 0:16:33.280 --> 0:16:36.440 Weren't fair, But you're not gonna get access by giving 0:16:36.440 --> 0:16:40.120 your attention to what happened back there. The open door 0:16:40.320 --> 0:16:43.920 is before you, it's in front of you. Your best 0:16:44.000 --> 0:16:46.840 days are not behind you. What God has for you 0:16:47.040 --> 0:16:53.560 is in front of you. Look ahead, help me preach. 0:16:53.640 --> 0:16:57.120 Find three people say look ahead, it's right in front 0:16:57.160 --> 0:16:57.480 of you. 0:16:57.960 --> 0:16:59.160 It's right in front of you. 0:16:59.280 --> 0:17:01.720 Maybe we've been at a baseball field too much, Coach Dave, 0:17:01.760 --> 0:17:04.480 because I keep telling I keep telling Graham. 0:17:04.200 --> 0:17:05.240 What I hear you tell him. 0:17:05.320 --> 0:17:08.640 You's always telling him keep it in front of you. 0:17:08.680 --> 0:17:11.199 This is what Coach Dave tells Graham because he coaches 0:17:11.240 --> 0:17:13.399 some eight year olds, and eight year olds don't have 0:17:13.440 --> 0:17:16.280 the best attention span, and so they'll be standing out. 0:17:16.119 --> 0:17:18.240 There in the field in the fifth inning. 0:17:18.080 --> 0:17:20.240 Acting like the ball's not gonna come to him. And 0:17:20.280 --> 0:17:23.080 so then when the ball does come, the gotta come 0:17:23.119 --> 0:17:25.760 back like this. But Coach Dave said, I want you 0:17:25.800 --> 0:17:28.040 on your toes so when they hit the ball, you 0:17:28.160 --> 0:17:29.680 be it. And I've seen not every pastor can do 0:17:29.720 --> 0:17:31.640 a lateral movement with that velocity. 0:17:31.840 --> 0:17:33.720 You ought to feel blessed to come to church here. 0:17:33.880 --> 0:17:34.720 Can I do it again? 0:17:36.160 --> 0:17:38.879 He said, I want you to be ready because he 0:17:38.960 --> 0:17:42.040 got a better chance to stop the ball. 0:17:42.760 --> 0:17:46.959 If you keep it in front of you. 0:17:46.040 --> 0:17:49.119 You know you got a better chance to have joy 0:17:49.880 --> 0:17:54.320 and a better chance to have success, and a better 0:17:54.440 --> 0:17:58.640 chance to have hope if you keep it in front 0:17:58.680 --> 0:17:58.879 of you. 0:17:59.000 --> 0:18:00.360 That's what Coach Dave's. 0:18:01.840 --> 0:18:05.240 And I heard the Lord say, where one door shuts, 0:18:05.440 --> 0:18:10.160 another door opens. They might have you on an island 0:18:10.200 --> 0:18:11.720 called Pantmost. 0:18:11.480 --> 0:18:12.880 But you're not stuck. 0:18:12.640 --> 0:18:16.040 Here because if you can't find a way out, God, 0:18:16.080 --> 0:18:24.280 I'll give you a way up. Come on, tell somebody say, 0:18:24.320 --> 0:18:27.960 we're going higher. We're going higher. We're going higher. We're 0:18:27.960 --> 0:18:31.160 going higher. We're going higher, We're going higher. 0:18:31.320 --> 0:18:33.919 I might be down here on this island in my body. 0:18:34.160 --> 0:18:36.440 I might be down here on this job. I don't 0:18:36.520 --> 0:18:37.359 like it in my body. 0:18:37.640 --> 0:18:40.480 I might be in a bad situation in my back account. 0:18:40.640 --> 0:18:43.560 But you can't change my mind to the crown. I'm 0:18:43.600 --> 0:18:47.520 coming up higher. So let's talk about altitude. 0:18:47.800 --> 0:18:52.240 Altitude. The invitation is to see the. 0:18:52.200 --> 0:19:01.680 Open door before you, before you and I heard the voice. 0:19:01.880 --> 0:19:05.919 Your life is moving in the direction of your vision 0:19:07.160 --> 0:19:14.560 and your voices. So it's always what you see and 0:19:14.680 --> 0:19:23.280 what you hear that determines how high you go. John's 0:19:23.280 --> 0:19:31.960 revelation is interesting because in apocryphal apocalyptic literature, when they 0:19:31.960 --> 0:19:35.360 saw a vision of God, they had to go through 0:19:35.400 --> 0:19:39.160 an arduous journey to get to him. If you read 0:19:39.400 --> 0:19:43.040 some of the Old Testament revelations of God, usually in 0:19:43.080 --> 0:19:46.639 the Apocryphal, which is not the Old Testament, but in 0:19:46.760 --> 0:19:48.520 some of the books that we have of the prophetic 0:19:48.520 --> 0:19:51.280 imagination of the past, they would have to make a 0:19:51.359 --> 0:19:54.400 difficult journey to get to God. 0:19:55.680 --> 0:19:56.480 John's vision is. 0:19:56.480 --> 0:20:00.400 A little different because he says, I didn't get there 0:20:00.920 --> 0:20:01.560 by effort. 0:20:02.840 --> 0:20:08.000 I got there by invitation. And the invitation goes like this. 0:20:09.040 --> 0:20:12.840 It was a voice like a trumpet making an announcement, 0:20:15.359 --> 0:20:20.560 and it said, come up here, and I will show 0:20:20.600 --> 0:20:23.520 you what must take place. 0:20:24.280 --> 0:20:26.000 After this act. 0:20:26.040 --> 0:20:31.280 Once I was in the spirit, you know how quickly 0:20:32.359 --> 0:20:37.880 God can lift you if you let him. I mean, 0:20:37.920 --> 0:20:43.800 he really can't. He really can't. John didn't say that 0:20:43.880 --> 0:20:48.000 he went into a trance for forty three minutes, because see, 0:20:48.560 --> 0:20:50.840 I'm doing some practical work on my life right now. 0:20:51.560 --> 0:20:53.720 I'm just trying to be a better person, not a 0:20:53.720 --> 0:20:55.840 better preacher. I mean, I want to be a better 0:20:55.880 --> 0:20:58.400 preacher too, but I think that a better person makes 0:20:58.400 --> 0:21:03.040 a better preacher. So I'm just like working on things 0:21:03.040 --> 0:21:06.960 because I'm I'm a little on the grumpy side by nature, 0:21:11.560 --> 0:21:16.879 especially before let's say like ninety five, am I do 0:21:17.000 --> 0:21:21.920 not feel saved, sanctified, and spirit filled until about nine 0:21:22.119 --> 0:21:23.200 forty five. 0:21:23.000 --> 0:21:25.480 Am Eastern Standard time. 0:21:29.280 --> 0:21:33.040 And another thing is that not only do I kind 0:21:33.040 --> 0:21:36.359 of start my day sometimes in that grumpy place, but 0:21:36.480 --> 0:21:40.240 I notice I end my day in an anxious place, 0:21:41.920 --> 0:21:44.240 and just observing my patterns, lately. 0:21:44.640 --> 0:21:47.440 I figured that that can't be the best. 0:21:47.119 --> 0:21:51.359 Way to wake up and go into my day and 0:21:51.400 --> 0:21:53.119 then in my day. 0:21:53.960 --> 0:21:57.960 So I'm working on that. I'd like you to work 0:21:57.960 --> 0:21:58.280 on it. 0:21:58.240 --> 0:22:05.240 Too, because your altitude is going to determine your access. 0:22:07.960 --> 0:22:10.359 So where you start your day is kind of important. 0:22:11.720 --> 0:22:16.600 Where you start your day really does matter. So you 0:22:16.680 --> 0:22:22.119 got to start your day with some caffeine. The Lord 0:22:22.160 --> 0:22:28.000 said that you could. I shouldn't tell you this, but 0:22:30.359 --> 0:22:34.320 I drink a cup of coffee every morning. That's not 0:22:34.400 --> 0:22:36.360 the part I shouldn't tell you. The part I shouldn't 0:22:36.359 --> 0:22:39.480 tell you is I chase it with a diet mountain 0:22:39.560 --> 0:22:43.639 dew because I like the contrast of the warmth and 0:22:43.680 --> 0:22:45.160 the cold carbonation. 0:22:45.840 --> 0:22:46.960 It blesses my soul. 0:22:47.960 --> 0:22:55.919 Don't judge me, go away, but it helps me. It 0:22:55.960 --> 0:23:04.000 helps me think about higher things. Anyway, then I've been 0:23:04.040 --> 0:23:07.560 practicing just the voices that I. 0:23:07.440 --> 0:23:09.080 Pay attention to early in the morning. 0:23:09.800 --> 0:23:15.040 Can we talk not apocalyptic, Let's talk a practalytic. 0:23:15.880 --> 0:23:18.200 Because it's real easy to get excited. 0:23:17.760 --> 0:23:20.439 About Jesus comes on a horse and wipes out the world. 0:23:20.560 --> 0:23:24.840 But what about till he gets here? What about till 0:23:24.920 --> 0:23:28.520 that happens? Because he left us here in the meantime, 0:23:29.480 --> 0:23:31.359 so we can't do his work if we're at the 0:23:31.359 --> 0:23:32.000 wrong level. 0:23:32.720 --> 0:23:34.560 So I gotta get up in the morning, even if 0:23:34.600 --> 0:23:36.960 I'm mumbling when I first start, even. 0:23:36.760 --> 0:23:39.280 If I got that stuff in the corner of my eye, 0:23:39.359 --> 0:23:41.520 gotta flick it out when I get out to bed, 0:23:41.680 --> 0:23:42.600 I gotta flick. 0:23:42.440 --> 0:23:44.919 That stuff on the devil's head and say, I'm awake. 0:23:45.440 --> 0:23:46.920 He should have killed me. I'm my asleep. 0:23:47.640 --> 0:23:52.200 I'm awake and I'm blessed. I'm awake and I'm a blessing. 0:23:52.720 --> 0:23:56.400 I'm awake and I'm a river. I'm awake and I'm 0:23:56.400 --> 0:24:01.360 a giver. I'm awake and I'm alive. I'm awake, I'm redeem, 0:24:01.840 --> 0:24:02.480 I'm awake. 0:24:02.840 --> 0:24:05.200 My eyes are open, I'm awake, my heart is open, 0:24:05.480 --> 0:24:08.040 I'm awake, my soul is ready. I've just been trying 0:24:08.040 --> 0:24:10.679 to dip myself up to a higher level because I 0:24:10.720 --> 0:24:12.120 need some runway, because I. 0:24:12.040 --> 0:24:13.800 Don't know what I'm a run into when the day 0:24:13.800 --> 0:24:14.480 gets started. 0:24:14.680 --> 0:24:16.760 I don't know what kind of crazy person is gonna 0:24:16.760 --> 0:24:19.240 be driving in traffic trying to cut me off. And 0:24:19.320 --> 0:24:22.560 if I'm at the wrong level, I might might not 0:24:22.640 --> 0:24:25.640 pray for him. So I gotta I gotta. 0:24:25.440 --> 0:24:28.040 Get a little runway. I gotta come on up higher. 0:24:29.000 --> 0:24:31.960 Isn't that what the announcement said, come on up here 0:24:32.840 --> 0:24:34.120 to a higher place. 0:24:35.040 --> 0:24:35.240 Now. 0:24:35.280 --> 0:24:37.960 I know we don't have the same invitation John had 0:24:38.119 --> 0:24:40.720 to see the unfolding of end time events and the. 0:24:40.680 --> 0:24:42.480 History of the world before it happens. 0:24:42.760 --> 0:24:45.440 But we do have a standing invitation in Heaven that 0:24:45.560 --> 0:24:48.080 anytime we want to lift our eyes to the hills, 0:24:48.359 --> 0:24:50.879 we can look to our help. We can look to 0:24:50.960 --> 0:24:53.240 our God, we can look I'm gonna stop screaming in 0:24:53.280 --> 0:24:56.800 a minute. You gotta understand. I'm just excited about the 0:24:56.880 --> 0:25:01.080 invitation that God has given me to come up high. 0:25:01.520 --> 0:25:07.880 Does somebody say come on up? When I was a boy, 0:25:08.160 --> 0:25:09.960 they used to have a show called Price is Right. 0:25:10.080 --> 0:25:12.960 Now they still have a version of it, but it's 0:25:12.960 --> 0:25:14.280 not Bob Barker. 0:25:14.400 --> 0:25:16.720 So it's not the real show. Can I get a witness. 0:25:17.760 --> 0:25:21.880 Bob Barker had that skinny little mic, and when Bob 0:25:21.920 --> 0:25:24.520 Barker would throw it to Rod Roddy, y'all remember Rod 0:25:24.600 --> 0:25:27.520 Roddy and Rod Roddy. All these people are in the 0:25:27.600 --> 0:25:31.480 audience and the difference of prices right is at any moment, 0:25:31.760 --> 0:25:35.080 you might go from the crowd to the front and 0:25:35.119 --> 0:25:38.360 if they call your name, you might win a washing machine. 0:25:39.440 --> 0:25:42.680 You might win a vacation trip for two four nights, 0:25:42.760 --> 0:25:46.119 all expenses paid to can Coo. You might win a 0:25:46.160 --> 0:25:49.679 new car. So when Rod Roddy grabs the mic, people 0:25:49.760 --> 0:25:51.840 listen and they lean forward. 0:25:52.160 --> 0:25:54.200 And Rod Roddy had this thing he used to say. 0:25:54.200 --> 0:25:56.120 I don't know if they say it anymore, but Rod 0:25:56.200 --> 0:25:58.520 Roddy used to announce a name and he would say, 0:25:58.600 --> 0:26:04.960 Stephen Ferdick, come on down, you're the next contestant on 0:26:05.080 --> 0:26:08.919 the price is right now. Rob Roddy wasn't available for 0:26:09.040 --> 0:26:13.359 church today, but the spirit of God is here, and 0:26:13.400 --> 0:26:17.119 I hear him saying, if you want to listen in Providence, 0:26:17.880 --> 0:26:20.840 if you want to listen in Matthews, if you want 0:26:20.840 --> 0:26:23.600 to listen at Butler High School, if you want to 0:26:23.680 --> 0:26:26.840 listen at Blakeney, if you want to listen in Lake Norman. 0:26:27.480 --> 0:26:29.560 You might want to jump up on your feet for 0:26:29.680 --> 0:26:33.560 what's next. Because I hear the spirit saying. 0:26:34.840 --> 0:26:38.560 Child of God, come on up. 0:26:39.800 --> 0:26:40.639 Come on up. 0:26:40.920 --> 0:26:42.840 This is rob Roddy in reverse. 0:26:43.400 --> 0:26:48.479 Come on up, Come on up where the piece is. 0:26:49.800 --> 0:26:54.720 Come on up where the blessing is. Come on up. 0:26:55.880 --> 0:26:57.280 You see that sun. 0:26:57.200 --> 0:27:05.119 Rise, my mercies with every rising off the sun, and 0:27:05.240 --> 0:27:06.440 I wanna let you know. 0:27:08.560 --> 0:27:09.680 You get come on up. 0:27:11.400 --> 0:27:14.920 Somebody shot up coming up. Now you gotta shout at 0:27:14.920 --> 0:27:15.560 like a trumpet. 0:27:15.640 --> 0:27:19.359 I'm coming up. So I'm gonna start my day at 0:27:19.359 --> 0:27:20.600 the right altitude. 0:27:20.720 --> 0:27:25.879 And and everybody say and touch them, say but wait, 0:27:27.080 --> 0:27:30.480 there's more. Yeah. God said he wanted to talk to 0:27:30.560 --> 0:27:31.720 you today about your future. 0:27:32.480 --> 0:27:37.199 He said he wanted to give you an overview of 0:27:37.320 --> 0:27:38.000 your future. 0:27:39.600 --> 0:27:43.240 He said, come up here, and then I'll show you 0:27:43.800 --> 0:27:45.080 what happens next. 0:27:45.880 --> 0:27:50.840 I want to give you an overview of your future. 0:27:51.960 --> 0:27:53.960 I don't want you to look at your day through 0:27:54.000 --> 0:27:56.240 the lens of everything that might go wrong. 0:27:56.960 --> 0:27:58.520 I want you to get up high. 0:27:59.400 --> 0:28:02.680 See, sometimes when we travel, we take these little planes. 0:28:03.000 --> 0:28:04.840 We probably shouldn't take them, they're. 0:28:04.720 --> 0:28:07.679 Probably not safe, but sometimes we have to get somewhere 0:28:07.760 --> 0:28:10.120 real quick, and we take a little plane. And when 0:28:10.119 --> 0:28:12.760 we take that little plane, I always know that if 0:28:12.760 --> 0:28:15.119 the weather is too bad, they're going to cancel the 0:28:15.160 --> 0:28:18.600 flight because the plane isn't big enough to get me 0:28:18.680 --> 0:28:22.600 above the weather. But when I fly with Delta or 0:28:22.760 --> 0:28:25.800 US Air, I might have to go through security, and 0:28:25.840 --> 0:28:28.280 I might have to shove my bag in the overhead bend. 0:28:28.560 --> 0:28:31.600 But there's one good thing about a big plane. No 0:28:31.640 --> 0:28:35.720 matter what storm comes, no matter what turbulence we encounter, 0:28:36.240 --> 0:28:39.240 no matter how cloudy it is in the sky, I'm 0:28:39.320 --> 0:28:42.560 in something that can get above it. Now, I need 0:28:42.560 --> 0:28:45.240 to let you know that the size of the plane 0:28:45.280 --> 0:28:48.400 doesn't change the weather, but it gets me above it. 0:28:48.840 --> 0:28:51.160 No, I need you to know that the size of 0:28:51.200 --> 0:28:54.240 your faith might not change the weather, but it'll get 0:28:54.320 --> 0:28:54.800 you off. 0:28:54.960 --> 0:28:58.040 I was in the spirit on the lrdstack and A 0:28:58.240 --> 0:29:00.920 saw a visit of Him who. 0:29:01.280 --> 0:29:07.480 Is and was and is to come, And I see 0:29:07.640 --> 0:29:11.040 my future from Heaven's perspectium. 0:29:12.200 --> 0:29:14.760 That fifteen seconds of praising for your future. 0:29:16.240 --> 0:29:21.600 Come up, prison, Come on, you want to praise in Concord. 0:29:22.840 --> 0:29:23.880 You are a prison. 0:29:25.120 --> 0:29:28.400 You are to prise him up town, Come on, pras 0:29:28.480 --> 0:29:33.360 and blake me Let's get up higher. Let's lift them up, 0:29:34.520 --> 0:29:37.440 he said, if I they left it up, how tall 0:29:37.640 --> 0:29:39.080 man left him up? 0:29:40.320 --> 0:29:41.080 Let him up. 0:29:44.960 --> 0:29:48.320 I see the Lord seated on the throne, the train 0:29:48.400 --> 0:29:51.880 of his robe fills the temple. Let's get practical. I 0:29:51.960 --> 0:29:55.360 want to start my day at the right altitude. 0:29:55.080 --> 0:29:58.240 And I want to finish my day on a note 0:29:58.240 --> 0:30:00.400 of praise. 0:30:00.240 --> 0:30:02.080 I see. I figured that the way I start my 0:30:02.160 --> 0:30:05.720 day will determine how I experience my day, and the 0:30:05.760 --> 0:30:07.440 way I end my day. 0:30:07.880 --> 0:30:10.840 Will determine the way I start the next one. Sit down, 0:30:10.840 --> 0:30:14.160 I got to show you something. Everybody say, practice. 0:30:14.840 --> 0:30:17.400 This takes practice because we are used to living at 0:30:17.440 --> 0:30:19.240 a low altitude. 0:30:19.840 --> 0:30:23.200 We're not used to coming up. We're not used to 0:30:23.240 --> 0:30:23.960 the air up there. 0:30:25.280 --> 0:30:29.560 We're not used to interpreting people through the idea of grace. 0:30:30.800 --> 0:30:35.520 We're not used to coming up. We're used to having 0:30:35.560 --> 0:30:39.360 our stomachs all tied up in knots. We've learned to 0:30:39.400 --> 0:30:47.440 depend on it. Anxiety is like our needle. We need it. 0:30:48.760 --> 0:30:54.520 We need it. We're almost at the end of the day. 0:30:55.840 --> 0:30:57.960 We almost put the welcome matt out for the devil 0:30:58.040 --> 0:30:58.880 to just take over. 0:30:58.760 --> 0:31:00.160 The next one. 0:31:01.320 --> 0:31:04.720 Okay, going to bed, thinking about everything that went wrong. 0:31:04.880 --> 0:31:07.720 So I just had enough of it. And a little 0:31:07.720 --> 0:31:15.480 while back, I saw in the kitchen this this little 0:31:15.520 --> 0:31:21.320 notebook my mother in law gave me. She gave me 0:31:21.440 --> 0:31:24.200 like five of them, and they were just sitting around, 0:31:25.680 --> 0:31:30.960 and I picked up this orange one because it's the 0:31:30.960 --> 0:31:38.040 color of God. And it says that she got this 0:31:38.120 --> 0:31:41.480 notebook for seven dollars and forty nine cents. It was 0:31:41.520 --> 0:31:45.280 originally priced at nine ninety nine. But what I've been 0:31:45.320 --> 0:31:49.280 putting in here is priceless because I put on the 0:31:49.280 --> 0:31:56.400 front of it, I put g P gratitude practice, and 0:31:56.480 --> 0:32:01.720 I decided to start ending my day on a high. 0:32:02.120 --> 0:32:04.240 But it only takes me like five minutes, and it's 0:32:04.280 --> 0:32:09.000 not fancy, so you might not be very impressed, but 0:32:09.080 --> 0:32:12.320 it it's really been blessing me too. At the end 0:32:12.360 --> 0:32:15.960 of my day to fill up just one page. 0:32:16.080 --> 0:32:16.800 And I picked a. 0:32:16.760 --> 0:32:22.880 Small notebook so it wouldn't be very intimidating, just one 0:32:22.920 --> 0:32:26.480 page on this little notebook. How many of you are 0:32:26.520 --> 0:32:28.360 already planning your trip to Target. 0:32:28.080 --> 0:32:30.960 Or Walmart because you need one of these. You need 0:32:30.960 --> 0:32:31.480 one of these. 0:32:33.240 --> 0:32:35.720 I just at night. I've been doing this. It's been 0:32:35.880 --> 0:32:37.440 helping me a lot and that's why I thought i'd 0:32:37.480 --> 0:32:39.760 share it with you. Is just I write at the 0:32:39.760 --> 0:32:42.400 top of the page gratitude practice. 0:32:42.320 --> 0:32:44.440 Just to run mind myself that I don't have to 0:32:44.520 --> 0:32:47.000 feel grateful to be grateful. 0:32:52.120 --> 0:32:56.760 And sometimes the pen doesn't start writing real quick. Sometimes 0:32:56.760 --> 0:32:59.520 it takes me all of the first five minutes to 0:32:59.600 --> 0:33:03.160 even get the pin moving. But it's amazing. Once I 0:33:03.200 --> 0:33:06.760 get the pin moving, what I remember from that day, 0:33:08.160 --> 0:33:11.640 it's amazing. It's like giving me a different overview because 0:33:11.680 --> 0:33:13.560 I go to bed so focus. 0:33:13.400 --> 0:33:15.480 On what might happen tomorrow, what didn't get done today. 0:33:15.720 --> 0:33:16.880 But it's just been helping me. 0:33:16.920 --> 0:33:19.760 If you want to try it, you can and then 0:33:20.080 --> 0:33:22.360 put your picture on social media and I'll see your 0:33:22.440 --> 0:33:25.520 little journal and you can we talk about it and 0:33:24.800 --> 0:33:26.600 you can hashtag it. 0:33:28.480 --> 0:33:29.440 You can hashtag it. 0:33:29.480 --> 0:33:34.840 Come on up, you can hashtag it, you can hashtag it. Overview, 0:33:35.800 --> 0:33:39.560 because when I'm looking my day over I want to 0:33:39.560 --> 0:33:41.920 look at it from the perspective of all the things 0:33:42.360 --> 0:33:43.760 that I might have missed. 0:33:43.440 --> 0:33:45.880 And didn't pay attention to that day that God did 0:33:45.920 --> 0:33:46.200 for me. 0:33:47.480 --> 0:33:50.840 Because what that's going to do is when I start tomorrow, 0:33:51.240 --> 0:33:52.800 I'm not going to start down here. 0:33:53.720 --> 0:33:56.200 I'm gonna start it up higher. Now. 0:33:56.240 --> 0:33:59.600 If I start tomorrow here, maybe I can end here. 0:34:00.480 --> 0:34:03.280 And maybe if I end that day here, I can 0:34:03.360 --> 0:34:06.600 start the next one up there. He's taking me from 0:34:06.720 --> 0:34:09.680 strength to strength and glory to glory. 0:34:10.200 --> 0:34:12.480 So I just write down little dumb stuff. 0:34:12.960 --> 0:34:17.120 It's nothing fancy, it's nothing poetic, it's nothing they're going 0:34:17.160 --> 0:34:20.359 to publish if I die. It's nothing that anybody's gonna 0:34:20.400 --> 0:34:21.360 read at my funeral. 0:34:21.719 --> 0:34:24.879 Just little old dumb stuff. Just stuff that wouldn't mean 0:34:24.960 --> 0:34:25.560 much to you. 0:34:25.920 --> 0:34:28.920 Just stuff that I remember from the day open doors, 0:34:29.160 --> 0:34:30.359 ways that God. 0:34:30.080 --> 0:34:32.160 Made, moments that I had a. 0:34:32.080 --> 0:34:34.239 Car wreck that I didn't get in, you know, all 0:34:34.280 --> 0:34:36.880 the stuff that didn't happen. Sometimes is a good reason 0:34:36.920 --> 0:34:37.880 to praise God. 0:34:37.680 --> 0:34:39.680 Too, just little stuff. 0:34:40.320 --> 0:34:43.520 Christy brought me a coffee yesterday before I preached. 0:34:43.800 --> 0:34:45.360 I thank God for the coffee. 0:34:48.160 --> 0:34:51.600 I thank God for a new season of show that 0:34:51.640 --> 0:34:52.520 I wanted to watch. 0:34:54.239 --> 0:34:58.960 Well, why not thank him for it? Why not? I 0:34:59.000 --> 0:35:02.080 can praise him over flicks. You don't have to, but 0:35:02.200 --> 0:35:02.640 I can. 0:35:04.920 --> 0:35:07.920 Every good, imperfect gift comes from above. Maybe that's a 0:35:07.960 --> 0:35:12.440 stretch I put down. This sounds kind of cute. Some 0:35:12.600 --> 0:35:17.000 shells in the ocean that my kids brought. Amen, that's 0:35:17.040 --> 0:35:19.440 what I'm looking for. I'm looking for that all because 0:35:19.440 --> 0:35:20.359 I might have missed that. 0:35:20.600 --> 0:35:23.160 I might not be paying attention. Just to remember that. 0:35:23.239 --> 0:35:26.360 Your kids are healthy and they played on the beach today. 0:35:26.760 --> 0:35:28.960 And while I'm at it, why don't I thank God 0:35:29.040 --> 0:35:31.600 for the ocean. You know, the ocean was there before 0:35:31.640 --> 0:35:34.160 I got there. It's gonna be there when I'm gone. 0:35:34.360 --> 0:35:36.279 And while I'm at it, why don't I thank God 0:35:36.320 --> 0:35:36.920 that he's. 0:35:36.719 --> 0:35:37.360 Bigger than me. 0:35:37.719 --> 0:35:40.239 And why don't I thank God that I have windows? 0:35:40.400 --> 0:35:42.520 I just thank God for whatever you can think of. 0:35:42.719 --> 0:35:44.600 If you sit there and try to make it too fancy, 0:35:44.760 --> 0:35:47.239 it won't work. I thank thee thou, Lord God, that 0:35:47.239 --> 0:35:50.040 thou didst create the heavens and the stars, and by 0:35:50.120 --> 0:35:51.560 thy mercy was the firmament. 0:35:51.800 --> 0:35:52.440 No, none of that. 0:35:52.680 --> 0:35:55.319 I thank God for My new book that I read 0:35:55.600 --> 0:35:57.000 is called Shoe Dog. 0:35:56.960 --> 0:35:59.520 About Phil Knight from Nike. I enjoyed it. 0:35:59.680 --> 0:36:01.759 Saw put it in the notebook because I wanted to 0:36:01.800 --> 0:36:03.839 remember something good that happened that day. 0:36:04.000 --> 0:36:05.560 Amen, I could just go through. 0:36:05.440 --> 0:36:07.759 This notebook and I'm not beating the devil with some 0:36:07.800 --> 0:36:11.360 big rocket grenade lunch or you know, I'm just gonna 0:36:11.360 --> 0:36:14.719 beat them with some paper cuts. I'm ana beat. I'm 0:36:14.760 --> 0:36:18.160 a beat depression with some paper cuts. I'm ana beat despair. 0:36:18.360 --> 0:36:20.920 I'm gonna make my way up a little bit at 0:36:20.960 --> 0:36:24.400 a time. I'm gonna increase my altitude, one thought at 0:36:24.440 --> 0:36:26.880 a time. I'm gonna do it, one night at a time, 0:36:27.120 --> 0:36:30.080 one day at a time. Touch somebody say, I'm coming up, 0:36:30.320 --> 0:36:34.080 I'm coming up. I'm coming up higher. I'm coming up higher. 0:36:34.400 --> 0:36:36.839 I'm not gonna end my day as a victim. I'm 0:36:36.840 --> 0:36:39.520 gonna end it as a victor. I got an overview. 0:36:39.800 --> 0:36:43.279 I got a place in heaven around the throne of God. 0:36:43.520 --> 0:36:49.320 And I see my situation. I see my situation from above. 0:36:50.680 --> 0:36:55.000 And when I see it from a per I noticed something. 0:36:57.320 --> 0:37:00.880 I notice something about authority. 0:37:01.680 --> 0:37:04.680 After this I looked in There before me was the 0:37:04.719 --> 0:37:05.840 door you got nine minutes. 0:37:07.400 --> 0:37:12.280 That's all I need to tell you about authority standing 0:37:12.320 --> 0:37:16.720 open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard 0:37:16.800 --> 0:37:21.960 speaking to me was still speaking to me. And the 0:37:22.000 --> 0:37:24.480 door that was opened for John is still open for you. 0:37:26.160 --> 0:37:32.680 Jesus Christ opened to heavens. They haven't shut. Abby came 0:37:32.719 --> 0:37:36.919 to me the other day and said, Daddy, this door 0:37:37.000 --> 0:37:40.080 is broken. We were at a store and it had 0:37:40.120 --> 0:37:43.800 automatic doors, and she said, the door is broken. She's five, 0:37:44.760 --> 0:37:47.680 so I had to explain to her baby, the door 0:37:47.719 --> 0:37:52.920 isn't broken. You just didn't get close enough to open it. 0:37:54.640 --> 0:37:59.600 There's some censors up here, and you stopped five feet 0:37:59.640 --> 0:38:03.200 short of where you had to stand, and the doors 0:38:03.880 --> 0:38:04.880 would have opened. 0:38:05.320 --> 0:38:05.920 After this. 0:38:06.080 --> 0:38:10.000 I looked, and there before me was a door standing 0:38:10.160 --> 0:38:15.600 open in heaven. And the voice I first heard said, 0:38:15.600 --> 0:38:20.160 come on up, and I will show you what must 0:38:20.200 --> 0:38:27.000 take place after this. He saw a door because he 0:38:27.040 --> 0:38:32.440 looked ahead. He heard a voice because he got above. 0:38:33.840 --> 0:38:36.080 So preach my sermon to your neighbor. Tell him look 0:38:36.080 --> 0:38:41.919 ahead from above. As you look at your future, look 0:38:41.960 --> 0:38:48.040 at it from God's perspective. Even as you think about November, 0:38:49.520 --> 0:38:55.960 think about November from God's perspective. I'm preaching to all 0:38:56.000 --> 0:39:00.080 of you Fox News, Chunkies and MSNBC two. 0:39:02.000 --> 0:39:05.920 Because the next thing that John saw will. 0:39:05.719 --> 0:39:09.600 Set your heart free from anxiety. 0:39:11.120 --> 0:39:12.040 Can I give it to you. 0:39:13.160 --> 0:39:15.800 We're down to seven minutes, so we'll have to work quickly. 0:39:16.600 --> 0:39:19.640 But he said, I saw a door and I heard 0:39:19.680 --> 0:39:23.000 a voice, and at once I was in the spirit, 0:39:24.320 --> 0:39:32.200 and there before me, before me, was a throne in heaven. 0:39:34.120 --> 0:39:36.600 I wish I had time to tell you about this throne. Man, 0:39:38.920 --> 0:39:40.399 I do I have time to tell you, because there's 0:39:40.400 --> 0:39:43.640 a whole other group that's coming to church. I would 0:39:43.680 --> 0:39:47.319 tell you about everything that's around the throne. There is 0:39:47.360 --> 0:39:50.680 a rainbow around the throne of God that encircles the 0:39:50.680 --> 0:39:54.080 throne to represent his brilliance. I would tell you about 0:39:54.120 --> 0:39:57.320 the twenty four elders who sit on twenty four thrones 0:39:57.360 --> 0:40:01.000 around the throne little lowercase T throat around the capital 0:40:01.080 --> 0:40:04.000 T big throne, and how they have crowns of gold 0:40:04.040 --> 0:40:06.960 and gold represents dignity, and they wear robes of white, 0:40:07.000 --> 0:40:08.840 which represent purity because. 0:40:08.640 --> 0:40:10.440 The Lamb has washed us clean. 0:40:10.680 --> 0:40:12.480 And I would tell you, if I had time, about 0:40:12.480 --> 0:40:15.279 the four living creatures who are sitting around heaven one day, 0:40:15.280 --> 0:40:17.120 and one of them looks like an ox, and one 0:40:17.120 --> 0:40:18.960 of them looks like a lion, and one of them 0:40:19.000 --> 0:40:20.680 has a face like a man, and one of them 0:40:20.719 --> 0:40:23.040 has wings well, in fact, all of them have wings. 0:40:23.040 --> 0:40:25.359 They have six wings each, and they're covered with eyes 0:40:25.400 --> 0:40:28.000 because they can see God perfectly. And their job is 0:40:28.040 --> 0:40:29.959 to get around the throne. And they wrote a song 0:40:30.000 --> 0:40:31.759 for God one day and they said holy is the 0:40:31.760 --> 0:40:34.520 Lord God Almighty. And then one of them said, I 0:40:34.560 --> 0:40:37.320 don't think that's good enough. We should do holy Holy 0:40:37.520 --> 0:40:39.400 is the Lord God Almighty, because if we say it 0:40:39.440 --> 0:40:41.680 twice to get the point across, because as God we're 0:40:41.680 --> 0:40:43.919 speaking about. And they sang that for like a couple 0:40:44.040 --> 0:40:46.360 thousand years, and then eventually one of them said, I 0:40:46.360 --> 0:40:48.520 don't think we're doing it right because he's not just 0:40:48.600 --> 0:40:53.879 holy holy, He's holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty. 0:40:54.200 --> 0:40:57.640 He is and was and is to come see he 0:40:57.880 --> 0:41:01.320 is holy, he was holy, he will be holy. 0:41:01.440 --> 0:41:05.759 He's holy, Holy Holy. He is the God who stands in. 0:41:05.680 --> 0:41:11.960 Your future, redeeming your past from your present. He is Holy, Holy, Holy, 0:41:12.120 --> 0:41:13.480 the Lord God Almighty. 0:41:13.760 --> 0:41:16.200 I wish I had time to tell you about the throne. 0:41:16.320 --> 0:41:18.480 I would tell you about the seven lamp stands that 0:41:18.520 --> 0:41:21.560 are before the throne, that represent the seven spirits of 0:41:21.600 --> 0:41:23.440 God that have gone out into the earth. 0:41:23.680 --> 0:41:24.719 I tell you about. 0:41:24.440 --> 0:41:28.320 The sea of crystal that's before the throne, clear as crystal. 0:41:28.560 --> 0:41:31.680 Because God sees everything that happens on earth from his 0:41:31.800 --> 0:41:34.520 vantage point in Heaven. There's no tear, you cried, He 0:41:34.600 --> 0:41:38.040 hasn't seen there's no heartbreak you've suffered that he didn't witness. 0:41:38.280 --> 0:41:40.920 There's nothing you're going through he's not aware of. He 0:41:41.040 --> 0:41:42.400 sees it from the throne. 0:41:42.520 --> 0:41:44.799 I wish I had time to tell you about ten 0:41:44.880 --> 0:41:49.120 thousand times ten thousand angels. You'd be so excited if 0:41:49.160 --> 0:41:52.320 you could see those angels. They're not stressed out in heaven. 0:41:52.520 --> 0:41:55.000 They're looking at the future and they know that God 0:41:55.080 --> 0:41:57.160 is on the throne. I wish I could tell you 0:41:57.239 --> 0:42:01.240 about the throne. Is anybody grateful but there's still a problem. 0:42:02.640 --> 0:42:04.360 Come on, I need you to thank God. 0:42:04.239 --> 0:42:10.280 For the throne, where mercy rains, where love rooms. 0:42:14.160 --> 0:42:16.560 I'll tell you about the throne. I would tell you. 0:42:16.560 --> 0:42:20.000 About how from the throne of God, John heard the 0:42:20.080 --> 0:42:24.040 peals of an earthquake and the flashing of lightning and 0:42:24.080 --> 0:42:26.680 the rumble of thunder that came from the throne, because 0:42:26.680 --> 0:42:29.120 that lets me know that God is awesome. And when 0:42:29.160 --> 0:42:31.839 he stumps his foot and when he puts his foot down, 0:42:32.120 --> 0:42:40.520 the earth shakes. John said, I saw the future from 0:42:40.600 --> 0:42:44.920 the throne, and it changed the way I thought about it. 0:42:47.280 --> 0:42:49.360 And now I would like for you to stand because 0:42:50.120 --> 0:42:52.080 I'm closing my message. 0:42:53.520 --> 0:42:54.920 And I'm closing my series. 0:42:56.760 --> 0:42:58.479 But I want to tell you my favorite thing about 0:42:58.480 --> 0:43:04.239 the throne. And this is for all of you who 0:43:04.280 --> 0:43:08.560 have anxiety in your heart about your future. Okay, what's 0:43:08.560 --> 0:43:16.480 gonna happen to you? What's gonna happen. Faith is anticipation 0:43:18.239 --> 0:43:33.240 minus anxiety. Faith gives me the ability to say, whatever's next. 0:43:34.480 --> 0:43:37.360 I'm ready. 0:43:39.440 --> 0:43:44.960 If it's Hillary, if it's Bernie, if it's Donald, I'm ready. 0:43:46.080 --> 0:43:49.759 Because they might sit behind the desk, but they don't 0:43:49.800 --> 0:43:50.760 sit on the throne. 0:43:52.200 --> 0:43:57.080 Come on, charts. We don't watch the polls. We watch 0:43:57.160 --> 0:43:59.160 the throne. Gets their eyes up. 0:43:59.400 --> 0:44:02.399 Look ahead, get your eyes up, get a bow. 0:44:05.440 --> 0:44:07.520 And the last thing I wanted to tell you. I 0:44:07.560 --> 0:44:13.000 wanted to tell you look ahead, get a bath, and 0:44:13.160 --> 0:44:17.719 step aside, because John said. 0:44:18.000 --> 0:44:21.200 I saw a throne and watch this. This is my 0:44:21.239 --> 0:44:23.360 favorite part. This is my message. This my message, just 0:44:23.400 --> 0:44:24.120 my message. Ready. 0:44:24.200 --> 0:44:27.040 Verse two, I saw a throne. 0:44:27.520 --> 0:44:32.200 With someone sitting on it. And here's the good news. 0:44:33.560 --> 0:44:38.959 There is a throne, someone is on it and it's 0:44:39.120 --> 0:44:45.920 not you. Well, I thought you'd clap over that. 0:44:46.280 --> 0:44:49.480 You've been staying up late worrying about how it's gonna happen. 0:44:50.440 --> 0:44:53.880 But God just gave you an overview. He wanted to 0:44:53.960 --> 0:44:55.600 let you know about your future. 0:44:56.080 --> 0:45:01.239 I rule, I ray, I am, I rule, I am, 0:45:01.760 --> 0:45:07.319 I was, I am, and I will be forevermore. 0:45:10.400 --> 0:45:13.640 There is a throne, I'm not on it. 0:45:16.880 --> 0:45:21.200 And whatever is on the throne of heaven needs to 0:45:21.239 --> 0:45:28.800 be enthroned in my heart. So if Christ is enthroned 0:45:28.960 --> 0:45:33.160 in heaven and nothing that happens on earth happens without 0:45:33.160 --> 0:45:38.040 His permission and his purpose, then that means there are 0:45:38.080 --> 0:45:40.439 some things that are on the throne of my heart 0:45:40.520 --> 0:45:41.200 that have to go. 0:45:44.120 --> 0:45:48.960 So look at fear. How long has fear been on 0:45:49.000 --> 0:45:49.879 the throne in your life. 0:45:51.600 --> 0:45:53.680 You need to make an announcement to fear, and you 0:45:53.760 --> 0:45:58.120 need to do it today, and tell Fear get off 0:45:58.160 --> 0:46:05.560 the throne. This seat is taken. You got it, and 0:46:05.640 --> 0:46:10.400 don't ask nicely. This seat belongs to the King of 0:46:10.520 --> 0:46:13.040 kings and the Lord of lords. 0:46:14.760 --> 0:46:17.520 Come on, lift your hands. His presence is here, and 0:46:17.640 --> 0:46:20.279 thrown him in your praise. Some of you need to 0:46:20.280 --> 0:46:23.480 look at failure. You've been dominated too long by what's 0:46:23.560 --> 0:46:26.000 behind you. God brought you here to give you an 0:46:26.040 --> 0:46:28.680 overview of your future. I hope you're standing. 0:46:28.760 --> 0:46:31.360 The king is here. I hope you got your hands lifted. 0:46:31.560 --> 0:46:34.200 I hope you got your hotel. The King is here. 0:46:34.360 --> 0:46:37.400 We enthrone you on our praise feelings. 0:46:38.040 --> 0:46:42.920 Get up the throne, selfishness, get up the throne. 0:46:43.680 --> 0:46:49.719 He who is and was and is to come is 0:46:49.840 --> 0:46:58.880 sitting on the front, and we crowded gown. 0:46:57.080 --> 0:47:09.239 Come on, crowding gowd. Thank you for joining us. 0:47:09.520 --> 0:47:12.000 Special thanks to those of you who give generously to 0:47:12.040 --> 0:47:15.560 this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible. 0:47:16.000 --> 0:47:18.200 You can click the link in the description to give 0:47:18.280 --> 0:47:22.440 now or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more 0:47:22.440 --> 0:47:26.240 information and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. 0:47:26.520 --> 0:47:27.880 You can share it with your friends. 0:47:28.160 --> 0:47:30.440 You can click the share button, take a screenshot and 0:47:30.480 --> 0:47:32.600 share it on your social stories and tag us at 0:47:32.600 --> 0:47:33.479 Elevation Church. 0:47:33.520 --> 0:47:35.200 Thanks again for listening. God bless you.