Now Turn North

0:00:05.000 --> 0:00:06.280 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. 0:00:06.280 --> 0:00:09.360 I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. 0:00:09.520 --> 0:00:11.840 Be sure to subscribe so we can get you these. 0:00:11.680 --> 0:00:13.720 New sermons every week. 0:00:13.880 --> 0:00:21.200 I hope you're blessed today. We are just a few 0:00:21.280 --> 0:00:24.400 days away from Elevation Nights Fall Tour. 0:00:26.239 --> 0:00:28.880 Go to Elevation Nights dot com right now. 0:00:29.600 --> 0:00:38.960 I want to see you in Miami, Florida, Tampa, Florida, Knoxville, Tennessee, Atlanta, Georgia, Birmingham, Alabama, Lubbock, Texas, Dallas, Texas, 0:00:39.560 --> 0:00:43.160 or Houston, Texas October third through the twelfth. 0:00:43.880 --> 0:00:45.240 We are excited. 0:00:45.360 --> 0:00:48.880 Clap your hands for Elevation Nights. 0:00:53.680 --> 0:00:54.680 We had a good time here. 0:00:54.720 --> 0:00:58.240 Me and ten thousand ladies had a good time here. 0:00:58.320 --> 0:00:58.960 Friday and night. 0:01:01.720 --> 0:01:04.600 We heard a word from the Woman of God and 0:01:05.240 --> 0:01:07.320 put us on the right path. I told Holly, I 0:01:07.480 --> 0:01:13.520 only want to preach to women. After being here, I 0:01:13.520 --> 0:01:15.760 think I'm going to put a no men allowed sign 0:01:15.800 --> 0:01:21.240 at the door. There's just a receptivity and a responsiveness, 0:01:21.240 --> 0:01:24.720 so get ready for that. Starting twenty twenty six, Elevation 0:01:24.920 --> 0:01:25.640 Church will be. 0:01:27.720 --> 0:01:30.920 Man free. 0:01:31.920 --> 0:01:36.759 It's good to see you today. I have a word. 0:01:37.040 --> 0:01:40.600 Last week I preached on. He was the one. He 0:01:40.760 --> 0:01:44.920 was the one. Well, this week, there's a scripture in 0:01:45.080 --> 0:01:47.400 a story in John chapter five that the Lord brought 0:01:47.440 --> 0:01:50.040 to my mind. Stay standing for just a moment, and 0:01:50.080 --> 0:01:53.160 I'm going to share this this story with you, and 0:01:53.160 --> 0:01:57.920 then one other scripture from the Old Testament to get 0:01:58.000 --> 0:02:01.000 us ready for what God wants to speak today. Let 0:02:01.000 --> 0:02:03.000 me actually do it from my iPad so I can 0:02:03.040 --> 0:02:07.480 make sure I have the right version. In John chapter five, 0:02:08.840 --> 0:02:12.960 verse one, a story that may be familiar to you, 0:02:13.880 --> 0:02:16.480 the Bible says, sometime later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem 0:02:16.680 --> 0:02:18.280 for one of the Jewish festivals. 0:02:18.680 --> 0:02:20.040 Now there is in Jerusalem, near. 0:02:19.880 --> 0:02:21.680 The sheep Gate, a pool which in air make is 0:02:21.720 --> 0:02:26.440 called Bethesda, and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 0:02:27.200 --> 0:02:29.600 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie, 0:02:29.639 --> 0:02:33.040 the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there 0:02:33.080 --> 0:02:36.120 had been an invalid for thirty eight years. When Jesus 0:02:36.160 --> 0:02:37.960 saw him lying there and learned that he had been 0:02:38.000 --> 0:02:40.919 in this condition for a long time, he asked him, 0:02:41.360 --> 0:02:41.600 do you. 0:02:41.600 --> 0:02:42.320 Want to get well? 0:02:43.400 --> 0:02:45.359 Sir? The invalid replied, I have no one to help 0:02:45.360 --> 0:02:48.600 me into the pool. When the water is stirred. While 0:02:48.600 --> 0:02:51.680 I'm trying to get in. Someone else goes down ahead 0:02:51.720 --> 0:02:54.480 of me, and then Jesus said to him, get up, 0:02:55.200 --> 0:02:58.679 pick up your mat, and walk. And I watched this 0:02:58.840 --> 0:03:02.760 at once the man was cured. He picked up his 0:03:02.880 --> 0:03:11.919 mat and walked. Thank God for miracles. Yeah yeah, whether 0:03:12.000 --> 0:03:14.799 you need a miracle, whether you've seen a miracle, or 0:03:14.840 --> 0:03:20.200 whether you are a miracle, Thank God for miracles. Now 0:03:23.040 --> 0:03:27.640 go to Deuteronomy two, verses two and three. Then the 0:03:27.680 --> 0:03:33.480 Lord said to me, you have made your way around 0:03:33.600 --> 0:03:41.800 this hill country long enough. Somebody shout long enough. Now 0:03:42.840 --> 0:03:47.800 turn north. And that's the title of my message today. 0:03:48.480 --> 0:03:54.119 Now turn north. Just look at three people and say, 0:03:54.160 --> 0:03:59.680 now turn north. When you've told three, you can be seated. 0:03:59.800 --> 0:04:07.800 Now turn north. Oh yeah, got a word for somebody, 0:04:07.880 --> 0:04:09.120 Now turn north. 0:04:11.840 --> 0:04:13.200 And you tell me to turn north. 0:04:13.240 --> 0:04:15.680 It means absolutely nothing to me because I have no 0:04:15.800 --> 0:04:16.599 sense of direction. 0:04:19.440 --> 0:04:20.640 Me and Holly were on a walk a. 0:04:20.640 --> 0:04:23.280 Few months ago, and she thought it was an adventure 0:04:24.720 --> 0:04:27.320 and we had no idea where we were going, and 0:04:28.040 --> 0:04:29.840 I looked at her. We turned around about three or 0:04:29.839 --> 0:04:32.120 four different times, and I said we need to go 0:04:32.200 --> 0:04:35.720 back because we were at that point where we could 0:04:35.720 --> 0:04:38.720 turn back and I knew where the car was or 0:04:38.960 --> 0:04:41.279 if we kept going, which she thinks is fun. 0:04:42.839 --> 0:04:45.480 She said, oh, this is a part of the experience. 0:04:47.720 --> 0:04:49.320 And I looked at her and I said we both 0:04:49.360 --> 0:04:52.520 laughed when I said this. I said, Holly, I love you, 0:04:53.320 --> 0:04:55.159 but I'm not going to be lost much longer. 0:04:56.360 --> 0:04:57.000 Can't take it. 0:04:58.279 --> 0:05:02.159 For her, it's fun, but for me it's frustrating, slightly 0:05:02.160 --> 0:05:09.000 fearful because I have no sense of direction. Me pre 0:05:09.160 --> 0:05:15.560 GPS was a very anxious me. And I thought about that. 0:05:15.640 --> 0:05:18.839 How because she has a better sense of direction than me, 0:05:20.000 --> 0:05:23.560 she can tolerate uncertainty for a longer period of time. 0:05:24.760 --> 0:05:28.800 She kind of knows where she is, generally speaking, and 0:05:28.839 --> 0:05:32.760 it enables her to enjoy the journey more. And for me, 0:05:33.360 --> 0:05:36.840 since I have no clue where I am, I set 0:05:36.839 --> 0:05:38.880 my GPS every time I'm driving over to the church, 0:05:39.000 --> 0:05:43.600 just in case. We've been in this building since twenty sixteen, 0:05:44.560 --> 0:05:46.680 just in case I start thinking about the sermon and 0:05:46.760 --> 0:05:49.520 forget the turn because I need help. And if the 0:05:49.560 --> 0:05:52.960 GPS just stopped and said, you know, turn north, i'd go. 0:05:53.440 --> 0:05:57.560 You got to talk to me and right or left, okay, 0:05:57.800 --> 0:06:01.839 and show me a picture in real time and so 0:06:02.040 --> 0:06:04.520 you know, but it's not like that for people who 0:06:04.560 --> 0:06:05.559 kind of know where they're going. 0:06:05.800 --> 0:06:08.480 You can, you can. I guess this is a principle. 0:06:08.520 --> 0:06:11.920 I'm trying to illustrate to you that, like it was 0:06:12.000 --> 0:06:13.919 for me on the hike, and like it is for 0:06:14.000 --> 0:06:21.159 me in the car, your ability to trust depends on 0:06:21.720 --> 0:06:27.679 your orientation to truth. We've all heard the phrase true 0:06:27.720 --> 0:06:32.440 north meant to describe your core values, the things down 0:06:32.440 --> 0:06:35.520 in you that don't change even though everything around you 0:06:35.600 --> 0:06:40.080 might call that our true north kind of what we 0:06:40.240 --> 0:06:45.600 point toward the north Pole geographically, I guess, but you 0:06:45.600 --> 0:06:49.200 know we have now taken that term to business, and 0:06:49.240 --> 0:06:51.680 what's the true north for this company? What's the true 0:06:51.680 --> 0:06:54.520 north for a church? A church needs to have a 0:06:54.560 --> 0:07:02.680 true north. Jesus be the true North, and each family, 0:07:02.760 --> 0:07:07.360 each individual, those things inside of you. And when you're 0:07:07.360 --> 0:07:13.000 in situations that are uncertain, how much you can tolerate 0:07:14.200 --> 0:07:18.680 and navigate uncertainty. We'll have a lot to do with 0:07:18.800 --> 0:07:23.200 how much truth you've hidden and how much truth you know. 0:07:24.400 --> 0:07:25.200 So write this down. 0:07:25.240 --> 0:07:29.080 How much trust you have depends on how much truth 0:07:29.120 --> 0:07:34.560 you've hidden. How much trust you have depends on how 0:07:34.600 --> 0:07:39.320 much truth you've hidden. If you're having a hard time 0:07:39.320 --> 0:07:41.840 trusting God in an area of your life right now, 0:07:42.520 --> 0:07:45.000 it may be a sign that you have not hidden 0:07:45.160 --> 0:07:49.120 the truth in your heart deeply enough for that situation. 0:07:50.600 --> 0:07:52.920 And so when we haven't hidden the truth in our heart, 0:07:53.520 --> 0:07:56.880 we always have to cling to traditions and certainties and 0:07:56.920 --> 0:08:00.880 old ways of doing things. But if we be more 0:08:00.920 --> 0:08:04.000 like Holly and get a good sense of where we're going, 0:08:06.280 --> 0:08:09.720 we can be in situations that are very strange but 0:08:09.840 --> 0:08:13.520 still have a very deep, solid sense of faith. 0:08:13.840 --> 0:08:16.200 Well, I've already preached a whole sermon today. I feel 0:08:16.200 --> 0:08:17.160 like that was pretty good. 0:08:18.480 --> 0:08:20.240 But I want to talk about this man in John 0:08:20.320 --> 0:08:24.440 chapter five that I read to you about because the 0:08:24.480 --> 0:08:27.200 Bible says that he was hanging out in a place 0:08:28.160 --> 0:08:35.360 in Jerusalem near the Sheepgate, a pool where occasionally the 0:08:35.400 --> 0:08:40.040 waters would stir, and when the waters were stirred, there 0:08:40.120 --> 0:08:43.200 was a superstition that if you could get into those 0:08:43.240 --> 0:08:46.520 waters before anybody else did, you could be healed of 0:08:46.559 --> 0:08:48.800 whatever had happened to you. 0:08:49.679 --> 0:08:50.880 The Bible says that. 0:08:50.800 --> 0:08:54.480 A great number of people used to lie, the blind, 0:08:54.520 --> 0:08:56.479 the lame, and the paralyzed. 0:08:56.960 --> 0:08:59.960 And you know this verse is what really got. 0:08:59.720 --> 0:09:04.200 My tension, where in verse five it said one who 0:09:05.120 --> 0:09:11.240 was there, which made me wonder, of all the people 0:09:11.320 --> 0:09:12.280 that Jesus could have. 0:09:12.240 --> 0:09:16.280 Healed that day at that pool at that time, why 0:09:16.320 --> 0:09:19.120 this one one was there? 0:09:20.280 --> 0:09:24.960 Last week I preached on he was the one, And 0:09:25.000 --> 0:09:26.720 I guess that's what got me into study in John 0:09:26.800 --> 0:09:31.840 chapter five, because I wondered, why this one. You know, 0:09:31.880 --> 0:09:35.560 I'm kind of expecting this great moment of faith, like 0:09:35.679 --> 0:09:39.440 zach Chias who climbed up in a tree so he 0:09:39.440 --> 0:09:41.560 could see Jesus, and Jesus is like, all right, if 0:09:41.559 --> 0:09:46.480 you're gonna if you're gonna go climbing up trees, I'll 0:09:46.520 --> 0:09:47.280 have lunch with you. 0:09:47.280 --> 0:09:51.520 Come on down, I'm going to your house. Or like 0:09:51.760 --> 0:09:52.959 the woman with the. 0:09:52.920 --> 0:09:55.079 Issue of blood who pressed through a crowd even though 0:09:55.120 --> 0:09:58.960 she was ceremonially unclean, to get to Jesus. Or like 0:09:59.160 --> 0:10:02.800 those men who it out shouting Jesus son of David 0:10:03.200 --> 0:10:09.600 have mercy on Us, like screaming out of need for Jesus. 0:10:09.640 --> 0:10:12.200 Since all of those factors were absent from the man 0:10:12.240 --> 0:10:16.120 in John chapter five, it left me wondering, after all 0:10:16.160 --> 0:10:21.760 week of studying, why this one. In fact, if you 0:10:21.800 --> 0:10:24.679 go on to read about this guy. He had a 0:10:25.320 --> 0:10:26.559 very damaged past. 0:10:27.720 --> 0:10:31.480 He had a little bit of a. 0:10:32.080 --> 0:10:33.880 I don't want to say this in a in a 0:10:33.760 --> 0:10:35.520 in a bad way that makes you think that the 0:10:35.520 --> 0:10:37.200 things that we go through are always the result of 0:10:37.200 --> 0:10:38.000 the sins that we commit. 0:10:38.080 --> 0:10:40.679 But he had something to do with his illness. 0:10:42.080 --> 0:10:44.480 Because Jesus when he when he tracks him down a 0:10:44.520 --> 0:10:46.960 little later, tells him, hey, you need to stop sinning 0:10:47.080 --> 0:10:51.400 or something worse is going to happen. And even in 0:10:51.440 --> 0:10:53.880 the passage like if you if you read this, when 0:10:53.960 --> 0:10:57.680 Jesus says do you want to get well? The guy 0:10:57.920 --> 0:10:59.880 kind of comes back at Jesus and doesn't really end 0:11:00.000 --> 0:11:02.720 the question, Sir, I have no one to help me 0:11:02.760 --> 0:11:05.120 into the pool when the water is stirred. While I'm 0:11:05.160 --> 0:11:07.320 trying to get in, someone else goes ahead of me. 0:11:07.520 --> 0:11:13.480 So he's kind of blame me. It's not like he 0:11:13.559 --> 0:11:16.040 threw himself at the feet of Jesus when Jesus said 0:11:16.040 --> 0:11:17.160 do you want to get well and say I'll do 0:11:17.200 --> 0:11:19.440 anything anything, I worship you, Lamb of God. 0:11:19.280 --> 0:11:20.040 Son of David. 0:11:20.679 --> 0:11:28.800 None of that. So why this one last week? I 0:11:28.880 --> 0:11:31.960 shared that there are two lies that the enemy tells you. 0:11:32.040 --> 0:11:33.760 These are not the only two lies. 0:11:33.800 --> 0:11:37.000 The enemy is the father of lies, so he has 0:11:37.120 --> 0:11:44.280 a lot of babies. They the enemy has way more 0:11:44.320 --> 0:11:45.040 than two lives. 0:11:45.080 --> 0:11:45.960 But there are. 0:11:45.840 --> 0:11:48.000 Two that I want to deal with today, and I 0:11:48.040 --> 0:11:51.240 dealt with them a little bit last week. But he 0:11:51.360 --> 0:11:55.840 tried to tell you sometimes two things. You are no 0:11:55.920 --> 0:12:02.200 one and you have no one. Either of those two things, 0:12:02.200 --> 0:12:04.200 if you begin to believe them deeply in your heart, 0:12:04.800 --> 0:12:09.320 will keep you stuck in a belief of insignificance or 0:12:09.360 --> 0:12:13.839 a state of isolation. Watch how they work together. I 0:12:13.880 --> 0:12:17.719 am no one, I have no one. Since I am 0:12:17.840 --> 0:12:20.960 no one, I have nothing to offer. They wouldn't want 0:12:20.960 --> 0:12:23.480 to hear from me. They wouldn't want to be with me. 0:12:23.920 --> 0:12:26.480 They wouldn't want to do that with me. They wouldn't 0:12:26.480 --> 0:12:30.680 want to accept me. I am no one, I have 0:12:30.800 --> 0:12:36.080 no one. I am no one. I have no one. 0:12:36.720 --> 0:12:38.760 In walks Jesus. 0:12:38.880 --> 0:12:43.440 To one of the festivals and finds a man, and 0:12:43.480 --> 0:12:49.480 the Bible simply says about him one who was there. 0:12:49.640 --> 0:12:52.560 That's the only label. Well, his other label is he 0:12:52.600 --> 0:12:57.360 couldn't walk. He was one who was there who couldn't walk. 0:12:57.400 --> 0:13:00.840 He was one who was there who had fallen behind. 0:13:01.040 --> 0:13:05.520 He was one amongst many who could not do what 0:13:05.679 --> 0:13:06.680 other people could do. 0:13:07.640 --> 0:13:10.120 Why this one? 0:13:10.600 --> 0:13:13.400 We've already examined that it was no great faith that 0:13:13.440 --> 0:13:17.040 he exhibited or demonstrated. We've already examined that there are 0:13:17.120 --> 0:13:20.640 probably things that would have kept the other people from 0:13:20.720 --> 0:13:22.199 thinking he was worthy of help. 0:13:23.800 --> 0:13:26.640 Why this one? 0:13:26.800 --> 0:13:29.000 And you wonder that about yourself sometimes? 0:13:30.160 --> 0:13:36.520 Why would God use me when there are so many people? 0:13:36.600 --> 0:13:39.240 I love what the man said, because we think about 0:13:39.240 --> 0:13:42.839 this sometimes. He said, every time I try, someone else 0:13:42.880 --> 0:13:47.040 gets ahead of me. This man is prone to comparison. 0:13:47.760 --> 0:13:51.560 This man is prone to excuses. And the Bible says 0:13:51.640 --> 0:13:58.000 verse five, one who was there. Jesus didn't stay and 0:13:58.040 --> 0:14:00.119 heal everybody at the pool that day. 0:14:00.640 --> 0:14:02.800 Jesus didn't call for a line of people. 0:14:02.920 --> 0:14:07.280 This is a particular miracle that Jesus performs at a 0:14:07.320 --> 0:14:10.880 particular time for a specific person. 0:14:11.520 --> 0:14:14.959 One who was there. 0:14:16.080 --> 0:14:18.160 Now, touch your neighbor and ask them, are you the one? 0:14:18.200 --> 0:14:20.800 It's the obvious question, are you the one? 0:14:21.320 --> 0:14:22.680 Because it's a lot of people. 0:14:22.440 --> 0:14:24.840 In church today, it's a lot of people online today. 0:14:25.680 --> 0:14:26.680 But what if you're the one? 0:14:26.800 --> 0:14:27.200 Ask them? 0:14:27.200 --> 0:14:29.200 What if you're the wy? 0:14:29.960 --> 0:14:32.120 What if you're the one who needs to hear this 0:14:32.200 --> 0:14:38.040 message today more than anybody else in the room. What 0:14:38.120 --> 0:14:40.400 if you're the one that God gave Pastor Stephen this 0:14:40.520 --> 0:14:44.440 message for What if you're the one who takes this 0:14:44.560 --> 0:14:47.320 word and walks out of here different than you came in? 0:14:48.200 --> 0:14:55.920 Ask them again, what if you're the wie one was there? 0:14:57.120 --> 0:15:00.800 He was there in a place that he did want 0:15:00.840 --> 0:15:03.960 to be. He was there in a place where he 0:15:04.120 --> 0:15:07.880 probably had contributed to being himself. A lot of times 0:15:07.960 --> 0:15:10.640 we think God will get us out of situations if 0:15:10.680 --> 0:15:12.520 we didn't get ourselves into them. 0:15:13.000 --> 0:15:14.200 This is a miracle. 0:15:14.240 --> 0:15:17.680 They should encourage all the ones who have done dumb 0:15:17.720 --> 0:15:20.680 stuff and you need God to deliver you from your 0:15:20.720 --> 0:15:23.160 own hand, your own decisions. 0:15:25.440 --> 0:15:26.680 Clap if you screwed. 0:15:26.440 --> 0:15:28.240 Up a time or two and you need God to 0:15:28.280 --> 0:15:29.400 do something about. 0:15:30.600 --> 0:15:32.120 The situations you created. 0:15:33.720 --> 0:15:36.800 I love y'all. Y'all are such a real church. I said, 0:15:36.840 --> 0:15:39.160 clap if you screwed up. That was the loudest you 0:15:39.280 --> 0:15:49.320 clapped all Sunday. I pass the Elevation Church. And he 0:15:49.520 --> 0:15:55.760 was the one that was chosen out of all the others. 0:15:57.480 --> 0:16:04.160 But there is one little detail in this verse that 0:16:04.280 --> 0:16:05.800 stood out to me as. 0:16:05.560 --> 0:16:09.720 Being maybe a little irrelevant at first. 0:16:10.640 --> 0:16:16.000 Then I realized God doesn't waste any words, and so 0:16:16.120 --> 0:16:20.560 I found why he was the one in the same 0:16:20.680 --> 0:16:23.640 verse that said he was the one verse five one 0:16:23.680 --> 0:16:32.560 who was there had been an invalid for thirty eight years. 0:16:33.000 --> 0:16:35.240 How many think that's a long time to suffer like that, 0:16:38.000 --> 0:16:43.960 thirty eight years. How many think thirty eight is old. 0:16:52.280 --> 0:16:54.440 Bible don't say he was thirty eight years old. I 0:16:54.480 --> 0:16:56.640 said he'd been in that state for thirty eight years. 0:16:57.720 --> 0:17:01.000 And the crazy thing about it was when Jesus heals 0:17:01.040 --> 0:17:03.680 this guy. Look, you expect people to be happy when 0:17:03.760 --> 0:17:10.000 God does something in your life. You got to understand 0:17:10.000 --> 0:17:13.720 that sometimes people want to think like that their God, 0:17:13.840 --> 0:17:16.520 and they should get to decide who God blesses and 0:17:16.560 --> 0:17:21.400 how God does things. So this man in verse nine 0:17:21.760 --> 0:17:23.480 is cured, picked up his mat and walked. 0:17:23.480 --> 0:17:24.639 But look at verse nine part p. 0:17:25.080 --> 0:17:27.000 The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, 0:17:27.240 --> 0:17:29.520 And so the Jewish leaders said to the man who 0:17:29.560 --> 0:17:34.160 had been healed, you can't do that. It's the sabbath. 0:17:35.280 --> 0:17:40.359 The law forbids you to carry your matt. The law 0:17:41.160 --> 0:17:45.440 won't let you do that. Not God's law, their law. 0:17:47.080 --> 0:17:49.760 There's nothing in the Bible that says you can't carry 0:17:49.760 --> 0:17:52.960 your mat after you get healed on the Sabbath. That's 0:17:53.040 --> 0:17:56.680 just something they added to it after the law came 0:17:56.720 --> 0:17:57.480 through Moses. 0:17:58.440 --> 0:17:59.560 Do you'll remember Moses. 0:18:00.480 --> 0:18:03.120 He's the one who brought down the ten Commandments from 0:18:03.119 --> 0:18:03.560 the mountain. 0:18:04.480 --> 0:18:05.520 He brought Yeah, Yeah, he. 0:18:05.520 --> 0:18:07.680 Was the wine. He's the wine. 0:18:08.800 --> 0:18:10.520 Oh that was Will saying that. I don't know who 0:18:10.600 --> 0:18:10.919 said that. 0:18:11.760 --> 0:18:13.520 Yeah, he was the one who came down with the 0:18:13.880 --> 0:18:17.600 with the with the tablets from the mountain. And one 0:18:17.640 --> 0:18:20.520 of them was to honor the Sabbath, right to honor 0:18:20.560 --> 0:18:21.320 that God. 0:18:21.119 --> 0:18:23.480 Wrested from his work by resting from yours. 0:18:24.280 --> 0:18:25.600 But he was not the one. 0:18:26.080 --> 0:18:29.600 There was no part of that commandment, no clause of 0:18:29.600 --> 0:18:32.520 that commandment that said that if you are healed from 0:18:32.520 --> 0:18:36.280 a crippling disease on the Sabbath, don't carry your mat around. 0:18:36.560 --> 0:18:38.200 That's just stuff they added on later. 0:18:39.480 --> 0:18:40.560 It was their law. 0:18:41.440 --> 0:18:44.080 So now we've got an interesting dilemma going. 0:18:43.920 --> 0:18:45.240 On in John chapter five. 0:18:45.800 --> 0:18:52.400 It is their word versus God's word. It is men's 0:18:52.520 --> 0:18:57.080 law versus God's law. I'm just about ready to preach 0:18:57.240 --> 0:19:02.160 right now. And they said to the man, you can't 0:19:02.200 --> 0:19:06.680 do that. The law forbids you from doing that. On 0:19:06.720 --> 0:19:11.760 the Sabbath. You can't carry your matt you can't do that. 0:19:12.200 --> 0:19:15.160 And I love verse eleven because the man looked back 0:19:15.200 --> 0:19:19.600 at them and said, that's nice to hear what you 0:19:19.760 --> 0:19:23.840 think I can and can't do. But there's one thing 0:19:23.920 --> 0:19:26.639 I've noticed. Every day i've been coming to this pool. 0:19:27.119 --> 0:19:30.399 I've been coming to this pool every day for years now. 0:19:30.920 --> 0:19:34.080 I've been laying in my spot every day for years now. 0:19:34.480 --> 0:19:37.520 I've been asking for help every day for years now. 0:19:37.960 --> 0:19:41.480 I've been waiting for a change every day for years now. 0:19:41.880 --> 0:19:44.720 I've watched these festivals come and go every day for 0:19:44.840 --> 0:19:48.720 years now. I've watched Pilgrim's stream in and out of Jerusalem, 0:19:48.800 --> 0:19:51.760 in and out of the Temple for years now. And 0:19:51.880 --> 0:19:54.640 for every day I sat here, and for every year 0:19:54.720 --> 0:19:57.359 I came here, and for every prayer I prayed here, 0:19:57.600 --> 0:20:01.119 and for every request I made here, never told me 0:20:01.200 --> 0:20:04.520 to get up and walk. So guess what, if you 0:20:04.600 --> 0:20:07.840 don't have the power to give, you don't have to 0:20:07.880 --> 0:20:11.919 give the permission for me to do it. Now. Now 0:20:16.240 --> 0:20:21.520 I love it, because watch this, he said verse eleven. 0:20:21.560 --> 0:20:24.719 Give it to me again. The man who made me 0:20:25.040 --> 0:20:33.040 well said to me. So, I hear what you're saying 0:20:34.160 --> 0:20:39.720 to me, but I know what he did for me. 0:20:43.160 --> 0:20:48.480 And now watch this. What you said I can't do 0:20:49.600 --> 0:20:52.280 is in conflict with what he told me that I 0:20:52.320 --> 0:20:52.840 could do. 0:20:56.200 --> 0:20:58.520 I hear God saying, take it up with the one 0:20:58.520 --> 0:20:59.159 who made me. 0:21:03.880 --> 0:21:09.399 I see in this text every person in this room 0:21:09.760 --> 0:21:14.400 in a certain situation in your life where the law 0:21:14.480 --> 0:21:18.560 is powerless to raise you, an effort is powerless to 0:21:18.680 --> 0:21:22.000 raise you, and people that you have depended on have 0:21:22.080 --> 0:21:25.359 been unable to raise you because they're human too. 0:21:26.040 --> 0:21:27.320 So I'll tell you what. Let's do. 0:21:28.160 --> 0:21:31.760 Let's take just a moment and then just about fifteen 0:21:31.840 --> 0:21:37.280 seconds and see if we can worship the one who said, 0:21:38.040 --> 0:21:40.919 let there be life and there wants. 0:21:43.600 --> 0:21:46.400 Let's see can we worship the. 0:21:46.440 --> 0:21:53.680 One who was there, the one. 0:21:53.119 --> 0:21:58.879 Who was there in the beginning. What's the word? And 0:21:59.119 --> 0:22:00.639 the wordless with God? 0:22:01.480 --> 0:22:05.800 And the word was God, and everything that was made 0:22:06.320 --> 0:22:10.320 was made through him. 0:22:10.960 --> 0:22:14.280 If he made it, he can change it. If he 0:22:14.480 --> 0:22:16.320 made it, he can race it. 0:22:16.640 --> 0:22:20.720 And if he made it, he gets salamling, thank you me, 0:22:20.840 --> 0:22:26.199 so one. 0:22:27.480 --> 0:22:33.000 I love this word. I love this word. Five five, 0:22:33.200 --> 0:22:34.320 five people. 0:22:34.000 --> 0:22:39.840 And saying, get up right down, you've been. 0:22:39.760 --> 0:22:44.560 Laying down long enough. You've been laying down long enough. 0:22:45.520 --> 0:22:48.520 All right, everybody's still sending you that fifteen minutes to 0:22:48.560 --> 0:22:49.280 write notes. 0:22:49.600 --> 0:22:54.280 Get up and give him praise. You gotta love him in. 0:22:54.480 --> 0:22:59.800 Sight of those lines, you get up and get up, 0:23:01.359 --> 0:23:08.040 Get up, Get up, Get up. 0:23:09.040 --> 0:23:14.000 Get up, Get up. Yet I want a key change. 0:23:14.160 --> 0:23:21.280 Get up, Get up, Get up, Get up, Get up, 0:23:22.280 --> 0:23:24.359 Get up, get up. 0:23:25.280 --> 0:23:31.520 That's what he said. 0:23:44.760 --> 0:23:47.680 The man who made me well said I could do it, 0:23:50.720 --> 0:23:53.560 So you got you gotta you gotta get this attitude right, 0:23:54.400 --> 0:23:58.280 like I hear my fears saying I can't. But the 0:23:58.359 --> 0:24:06.520 man who made me well, well, I feel like that 0:24:07.600 --> 0:24:12.200 the man who made me If it's a conflict between 0:24:12.240 --> 0:24:16.320 the people who didn't make me and the man who 0:24:16.400 --> 0:24:23.080 made me well, is that what he said, the man 0:24:23.119 --> 0:24:28.679 who made me well. You heard about the woman at 0:24:28.680 --> 0:24:33.920 the well. She's in John chapter four. This is John 0:24:34.000 --> 0:24:37.160 chapter five. Reflect is over, Holly. This is the man 0:24:37.200 --> 0:24:44.560 at the well. And by the way, I'm not talking 0:24:45.080 --> 0:24:45.920 about the well. 0:24:45.840 --> 0:24:47.960 That he thought he needed to get to to get well. 0:24:51.160 --> 0:24:53.919 I'm saying, y'all sit down. I gotta teach now. 0:24:55.359 --> 0:25:01.280 That you have been lying here long in the how 0:25:01.320 --> 0:25:05.000 long is long enough? It depends on what you're talking about. 0:25:05.320 --> 0:25:07.200 If you're talking about a sermon, you probably like that. 0:25:07.359 --> 0:25:09.760 You're probably good right now, past Dirk, you probably if 0:25:09.800 --> 0:25:11.440 we will wrap it up, send us home right now? 0:25:12.320 --> 0:25:20.119 About long enough? How long is long enough? 0:25:20.600 --> 0:25:22.280 When Jesus learned that he was lying there for a 0:25:22.320 --> 0:25:24.520 long time, I wanted to use a familiar textas week, 0:25:24.520 --> 0:25:26.280 because even though everybody hasn't heard it, a lot of 0:25:26.280 --> 0:25:28.560 people having last week. We're talking about a very obscure 0:25:28.680 --> 0:25:30.480 king that you may have never heard of, named Yusiah. 0:25:30.640 --> 0:25:33.119 And he was the one who rebuilt and restored, and 0:25:33.160 --> 0:25:35.639 he was the one who took Philistine's down, and he 0:25:35.800 --> 0:25:39.000 was the one. And you know, as many times as 0:25:40.040 --> 0:25:46.080 I've heard the story in John chapter five, I never 0:25:46.160 --> 0:25:50.320 knew why he was the one Jesus chose. It mystified 0:25:50.320 --> 0:25:54.080 me because I don't even like the guy. I don't 0:25:54.080 --> 0:25:58.560 even like him, he'd say, thank you, I don't even 0:25:58.640 --> 0:26:04.159 like him. And you know, you don't have to like 0:26:04.200 --> 0:26:11.840 the people for God to lift them. You have to 0:26:11.960 --> 0:26:13.680 like You don't have to like me for God to 0:26:13.720 --> 0:26:16.600 lift me. If I humble myself under his mighty hand, 0:26:16.640 --> 0:26:17.800 he'll lift me In do time, and he'll give me 0:26:17.800 --> 0:26:19.520 everything I'm supposed to have and everything I'm supposed to be. 0:26:22.520 --> 0:26:24.399 Just so you don't run around trying to win popularity 0:26:24.400 --> 0:26:27.399 contests with people and find out they don't have a 0:26:27.400 --> 0:26:30.680 prize to give when of you be bad to win 0:26:30.720 --> 0:26:36.680 a whole popularity contest and there was no prize. When 0:26:36.720 --> 0:26:40.560 we read about the one that Jesus chose to heal 0:26:40.600 --> 0:26:44.960 that day, and the Bible says that he was thirty 0:26:44.960 --> 0:26:47.719 eight years old, and that the religious teacher said today, 0:26:47.960 --> 0:26:48.800 you can't do that. 0:26:49.640 --> 0:26:50.760 The law forbids you. 0:26:50.840 --> 0:26:53.080 It was not the law of Moses that was recorded 0:26:53.119 --> 0:26:55.760 that forbade the man. So a lot of the things 0:26:55.840 --> 0:26:58.560 you accept as limitations come from man, not from God, 0:27:00.880 --> 0:27:03.359 come from flesh, not from spirit. And so it's a 0:27:03.400 --> 0:27:04.959 good thing to ask every once in a while. Is 0:27:05.040 --> 0:27:14.480 this limitation self imposed? Is it socially imposed? Or is 0:27:15.000 --> 0:27:18.920 God okay? Is God saying to you what he said 0:27:18.960 --> 0:27:21.520 to Moses in Deuteronomy to verse two. Let's go back 0:27:21.560 --> 0:27:24.800 there for a moment, because after they had wandered in 0:27:24.840 --> 0:27:29.840 the wilderness, does anybody remember why the Israelites ended up 0:27:29.880 --> 0:27:37.399 wandering in the wilderness for decades? I didn't hear an 0:27:37.400 --> 0:27:44.040 answer in that not they couldn't go in. They wouldn't 0:27:44.080 --> 0:27:49.520 go in. Not, they couldn't, They wouldn't Moses in the 0:27:49.520 --> 0:27:51.199 delegation of spies in to check out the land. They 0:27:51.240 --> 0:27:53.359 came back, and they were very, very focused on what 0:27:53.400 --> 0:27:57.760 intimidated them. So they did not receive the promise. After 0:27:57.760 --> 0:27:59.960 their wilderness period had ended. In all of that generation 0:28:00.119 --> 0:28:02.320 that had doubted and not believed had died in the wilderness. 0:28:03.320 --> 0:28:05.480 Moses is recounting in Deuteronomy chapter two, verse three. 0:28:05.480 --> 0:28:09.440 He says that the Lord said, you have made your 0:28:09.480 --> 0:28:10.960 way around this hill country. 0:28:10.960 --> 0:28:13.639 Now would a minute who said that? Go back to 0:28:13.720 --> 0:28:14.080 verse two. 0:28:15.480 --> 0:28:19.000 Then the Lord said to me, I want to give 0:28:19.000 --> 0:28:20.680 you a scripture memory verse for this week. 0:28:21.520 --> 0:28:22.640 Deuteronomy too too. 0:28:23.359 --> 0:28:28.119 Then the Lord said to me, and I want that 0:28:29.440 --> 0:28:33.080 to be the thing that becomes your true north. 0:28:34.359 --> 0:28:34.800 This week. 0:28:36.760 --> 0:28:38.920 We live in a time of a lot of noise 0:28:38.960 --> 0:28:43.320 and not a lot of signal, a lot of static 0:28:43.360 --> 0:28:45.320 and not a lot of songs. So if you get 0:28:45.320 --> 0:28:48.560 a Deuteronomy to to frequency going this week, then the 0:28:48.600 --> 0:28:51.800 Lord said to me. Then the Lord said to me, 0:28:52.680 --> 0:28:55.080 and this is what the Lord said to Moses. 0:28:55.360 --> 0:28:58.240 You have made your way around this hill. 0:28:58.080 --> 0:29:05.520 Country long enough, I hear God saying, long enough, long enough, 0:29:06.880 --> 0:29:13.800 Now turn north. The wilderness of kate Eshbarnia where they 0:29:13.840 --> 0:29:17.400 made a bad committee decision to stay in what was 0:29:17.440 --> 0:29:20.280 comfortable but miserable to them instead of progressing into what 0:29:20.360 --> 0:29:22.840 was uncertain full of battles. 0:29:24.160 --> 0:29:25.320 That decision was. 0:29:25.280 --> 0:29:30.000 Made in a southeastern part, and God said to Moses, 0:29:30.080 --> 0:29:36.040 now turn north. And I think that until what God 0:29:36.160 --> 0:29:40.240 speaks to me becomes my true north, I will always 0:29:40.320 --> 0:29:45.880 be lost in my life. The law forbids you to 0:29:45.960 --> 0:29:50.560 carry your mad You can't do that. Your anxiety is 0:29:50.640 --> 0:29:54.720 always going to tell you what to do, until God's 0:29:54.760 --> 0:29:58.000 word becomes your true north, so that you realize that 0:29:58.080 --> 0:30:01.120 He's greater than any storm of fear that you feel. 0:30:05.640 --> 0:30:10.000 Is your true north your feelings, or is your true 0:30:10.040 --> 0:30:13.960 north your faith. We live in a time where people 0:30:14.000 --> 0:30:19.160 do not know the difference between truth and belief. 0:30:20.640 --> 0:30:23.160 Belief is not necessarily truth. 0:30:24.720 --> 0:30:27.920 When you say the phrase that's my truth, you would 0:30:27.920 --> 0:30:33.320 be better served to say that's my belief, because it 0:30:33.400 --> 0:30:36.120 might be your belief, but it might just have been 0:30:36.440 --> 0:30:38.480 what you believe based on Did you notice what the 0:30:38.520 --> 0:30:40.320 Bible said about the man who was lying down on 0:30:40.360 --> 0:30:42.000 his mat is, said that he. 0:30:42.520 --> 0:30:51.520 Had been lying, had been past tense. His situation changed. 0:30:52.360 --> 0:30:59.000 Soken yours, His perspective changed, soken yours. If anyone is 0:30:59.000 --> 0:31:01.320 in Christ, he is a new creation. The old is gone, 0:31:01.800 --> 0:31:05.160 the new has come. And part of belonging to God 0:31:05.480 --> 0:31:08.040 and part of becoming what he has called me to be, 0:31:08.480 --> 0:31:14.160 is realizing that sometimes I have circled around something so 0:31:14.480 --> 0:31:19.120 long that it seems to me like my natural habitat. 0:31:20.200 --> 0:31:22.680 But the wilderness was not meant for you to live in. 0:31:22.760 --> 0:31:27.160 It was meant for you to pass through. There come 0:31:27.480 --> 0:31:30.720 moments in your life that God will call you out 0:31:30.800 --> 0:31:36.560 of wilderness, thinking out of wilderness, living out of isolated patterns. 0:31:36.560 --> 0:31:38.160 You had to do that for a season. 0:31:39.000 --> 0:31:41.320 Let's praise God for what he gave you to survive 0:31:41.480 --> 0:31:45.160 in the wilderness. But then God will speak to you 0:31:45.240 --> 0:31:50.760 and say, now turn north. Whose word is this today? 0:31:51.240 --> 0:31:54.240 God is saying, where I've had you is where I've 0:31:54.240 --> 0:31:54.600 had you. 0:31:55.440 --> 0:31:57.080 Where I put you is where I put you. 0:31:57.840 --> 0:31:59.960 And thank God that you made it as far as 0:32:00.000 --> 0:32:02.160 you did, as long as you did without what you had. 0:32:02.920 --> 0:32:06.080 But what the man said in John chapter five, I 0:32:06.160 --> 0:32:16.520 have no one to help me is no longer true. 0:32:16.680 --> 0:32:22.760 It had been true for thirty eight years. For thirty 0:32:22.840 --> 0:32:25.400 eight years, it was all he could do is wait 0:32:25.520 --> 0:32:28.000 for somebody who never came to help him. 0:32:28.200 --> 0:32:30.040 And that's all you can do with the law. 0:32:30.400 --> 0:32:33.720 You fall, you get up, You fall, you get up, 0:32:33.920 --> 0:32:36.480 you fail, you feel ashamed, you try to. 0:32:36.400 --> 0:32:37.360 Make it through another day. 0:32:37.360 --> 0:32:38.920 You cope, you hide it, you numb it, you do 0:32:38.960 --> 0:32:41.120 whatever you can to get through it. That's all you 0:32:41.120 --> 0:32:44.840 could do. Because I have no one to help me. 0:32:46.360 --> 0:32:53.080 Moses can only take you so far. The law will 0:32:53.160 --> 0:32:57.960 always have its limits. And that is what the man 0:32:58.000 --> 0:33:01.760 in the text did not realize, yes, is that while 0:33:01.800 --> 0:33:05.680 he was saying I have no one and feeling like 0:33:05.880 --> 0:33:09.800 I am no one, standing right in front of him 0:33:10.480 --> 0:33:15.720 was the one who singled him out, who picked him out. 0:33:16.440 --> 0:33:18.200 Who of all the people, Now, you gotta get this, 0:33:18.320 --> 0:33:20.400 you gotta get this. Of all the people that God 0:33:20.440 --> 0:33:22.560 could have put in that family and that business and 0:33:22.560 --> 0:33:25.240 that job and that rule, in that season, in that church, 0:33:25.480 --> 0:33:28.080 in that ministry, in that seat, of all the people 0:33:28.120 --> 0:33:30.760 that God could have put there, you were the one 0:33:30.840 --> 0:33:31.560 he put there. 0:33:33.120 --> 0:33:41.320 Yeah, that is my true north that I'm called and 0:33:41.440 --> 0:33:44.280 chosen by God regardless. 0:33:43.560 --> 0:33:51.600 Of what I feel. Now turn north. That's the direction 0:33:51.720 --> 0:33:56.400 of the Promised Land. Because you've circled around this long enough, 0:33:57.960 --> 0:33:59.520 you have convinced. 0:33:59.000 --> 0:34:00.640 Yourself that you are alone. 0:34:01.560 --> 0:34:08.279 Until your loneliness has become a lie. I know the 0:34:08.360 --> 0:34:12.520 feeling of loneliness is real, But sometimes, just like the 0:34:12.560 --> 0:34:15.880 man in John five, you can't see what's right in 0:34:15.920 --> 0:34:16.560 front of you. 0:34:18.000 --> 0:34:20.000 Because of pain you carry inside of you. 0:34:24.320 --> 0:34:31.960 And Jesus when he learned it had been thirty eight years, 0:34:32.600 --> 0:34:33.760 I think he took a survey. 0:34:34.000 --> 0:34:34.319 I do. 0:34:34.520 --> 0:34:37.440 I think he asked around, how long you've been sick, 0:34:37.760 --> 0:34:38.760 How long you've been there? 0:34:38.960 --> 0:34:42.160 How long? Seven years not long enough? How long? Ten? 0:34:42.360 --> 0:34:43.120 Not long enough? 0:34:44.160 --> 0:34:48.600 Eighteen not long enough, twenty five not long enough, thirty 0:34:48.600 --> 0:34:52.440 two not long enough, thirty seven not quite long enough, 0:34:53.120 --> 0:35:00.000 thirty nine too long. It had to be thirty eight. 0:35:00.000 --> 0:35:02.640 Somebody say it had to be thirty eight. It had 0:35:02.640 --> 0:35:04.719 to be thirty eight. It had to happen right when 0:35:04.719 --> 0:35:06.680 it happened. It had to happen right where it happened. 0:35:06.680 --> 0:35:09.560 It had to happen through whom it happened. Because if 0:35:09.560 --> 0:35:16.600 you read down to Deuteronomy, chapter two, verse number thirteen, 0:35:16.680 --> 0:35:20.600 Moses goes on. Somebody say now turn north, and the 0:35:20.680 --> 0:35:25.800 Lord said, now get up and cross the Zared Valley. 0:35:26.280 --> 0:35:29.560 So we crossed the valley. They're moving forward into the 0:35:29.560 --> 0:35:30.239 promised land. 0:35:30.320 --> 0:35:30.560 Now. 0:35:30.800 --> 0:35:33.680 They've been in the wilderness for so long. They've been 0:35:33.719 --> 0:35:36.239 in the wilderness a long time. They've been living off 0:35:36.280 --> 0:35:39.600 of manna and water from rocks for a long time. 0:35:40.000 --> 0:35:43.640 They've been bitten by snakes for a long time. They've 0:35:43.640 --> 0:35:46.320 had shoes that didn't wear out but never got replaced 0:35:46.640 --> 0:35:47.399 a long time. 0:35:47.480 --> 0:35:48.840 It's been a long time. 0:35:49.280 --> 0:36:00.360 How long Verse fourteen thirty eight years past, from the 0:36:00.520 --> 0:36:05.560 time we left Kadish Barneah until we crossed this arid 0:36:05.680 --> 0:36:11.520 valley thirty eight years passed. 0:36:13.080 --> 0:36:16.120 Jesus walks up to the pool. 0:36:16.840 --> 0:36:20.839 And he says, I need somebody to use as an 0:36:20.880 --> 0:36:27.040 illustration of what I came to do, because my people 0:36:27.080 --> 0:36:32.320 are lost in a wilderness of religion, and my people 0:36:32.360 --> 0:36:36.480 are paralyzed under what the law is powerless to do, 0:36:37.520 --> 0:36:41.080 and they keep trying and falling short, and trying and 0:36:41.120 --> 0:36:44.600 falling short. And they are slaves to thinks that they 0:36:44.600 --> 0:36:47.759 are supposed to rule over, and they are servants to 0:36:47.840 --> 0:36:50.680 think that they are supposed to be masters over, and 0:36:50.760 --> 0:36:55.000 so I need somebody I can use as a tool 0:36:55.680 --> 0:36:57.439 to show what I came to do. 0:36:58.239 --> 0:37:01.000 How low thirty years. 0:37:01.320 --> 0:37:05.080 You're a perfect illustration because I'm about to show you 0:37:05.120 --> 0:37:08.399 what I can do to bring you out of a wilderness. 0:37:08.800 --> 0:37:13.239 With one word, get up with one word, pick up 0:37:13.280 --> 0:37:17.840 your mat with one word walk. I came to declare, 0:37:18.160 --> 0:37:21.480 when God gives you one word, you can walk in 0:37:21.560 --> 0:37:25.000 it for the rest of your life. One word from 0:37:25.120 --> 0:37:28.359 God can get you up. One word from God can 0:37:28.440 --> 0:37:32.200 make you whole. One word from God can turn it around. 0:37:37.520 --> 0:37:40.440 Now turn north. 0:37:41.560 --> 0:37:44.840 The man is sitting there, lying there one moment and 0:37:44.960 --> 0:37:46.240 walk in the next moment. 0:37:46.440 --> 0:37:47.240 And the only. 0:37:47.080 --> 0:37:48.840 Difference was what he looked to. 0:37:51.520 --> 0:37:54.319 As long as he was looking at what was around him, 0:37:54.640 --> 0:37:59.640 he stayed stuck in what he had. But now turn north. 0:38:00.120 --> 0:38:03.560 I lift my eyes to the hills. Where does my 0:38:03.760 --> 0:38:09.759 help come from? My health comes from the Lord. Do 0:38:09.880 --> 0:38:15.440 y'all know that scripture? The maker of heaven and earth. 0:38:15.960 --> 0:38:18.880 So God is saying, you've turned to everybody. You've turned 0:38:18.880 --> 0:38:21.640 to everything. You've turned to drugs, you've turned to sex, 0:38:21.840 --> 0:38:24.880 you've turned to compulsive work ethics. You've turned to success, 0:38:25.000 --> 0:38:27.520 you've turned to status. You've turned to buying stuff you 0:38:27.560 --> 0:38:29.799 don't need to impress people you don't like, who aren't 0:38:29.800 --> 0:38:35.800 paying attention anyway. You've turned to everything else. Now turn north. 0:38:36.400 --> 0:38:39.440 You've turned to self help and you couldn't help yourself. 0:38:39.719 --> 0:38:41.520 If you could have helped yourself, you would have been 0:38:41.520 --> 0:38:41.799 in the. 0:38:41.719 --> 0:38:42.640 Pool by now. 0:38:42.960 --> 0:38:44.960 But I see you trying to get to the pool, 0:38:45.120 --> 0:38:46.560 and you couldn't get to the pool. 0:38:46.840 --> 0:38:48.240 So I got good news. 0:38:48.600 --> 0:38:51.479 Summer is over, but the pool is coming to you. 0:38:51.840 --> 0:38:52.880 The pool is open. 0:38:53.239 --> 0:38:58.560 You can come to this water and drain from this SOUTHA. 0:39:00.520 --> 0:39:04.160 I don't know who needed to hear it. What's your 0:39:04.239 --> 0:39:14.320 wilderness season? He's over to God. Come on, listen your. 0:39:14.200 --> 0:39:16.320 Hands and worsop for twenty seconds. 0:39:16.680 --> 0:39:26.520 Now, lords no, I released you from regretting the spirit. 0:39:26.880 --> 0:39:30.600 I release you from the bondage of yesterday's decisions. I 0:39:30.760 --> 0:39:34.280 release you from inferiority calls by the patterns of sith. 0:39:34.800 --> 0:39:48.880 I release you now, sird not gonna be lost forever. 0:39:50.440 --> 0:39:54.440 God gave me grace to get out. Now turn north. 0:40:00.239 --> 0:40:07.200 When they asked, oh, God showed me. I'm telling you, 0:40:07.239 --> 0:40:10.480 while I was praying, God showed me somebody. You are 0:40:10.520 --> 0:40:15.120 going to walk in a completely different direction and manner 0:40:15.400 --> 0:40:27.040 of life because of this word. Today, you know something 0:40:27.120 --> 0:40:33.320 interesting happened when Jesus healed that man. The religious leaders 0:40:33.360 --> 0:40:37.640 didn't like it, and the man didn't really even understand it, 0:40:38.760 --> 0:40:42.879 because the Bible says that when they asked him verse twelve, John, 0:40:42.960 --> 0:40:46.560 chapter five, who is this fellow who told you to 0:40:46.560 --> 0:40:50.759 pick it up and walk? The man answered, I have 0:40:50.920 --> 0:40:56.719 no idea, for Jesus had slipped away. 0:40:58.000 --> 0:40:58.800 Into the crowd. 0:41:01.000 --> 0:41:03.600 Sometimes God is trying to bring you back to your 0:41:03.640 --> 0:41:05.160 north and you don't even know it. 0:41:05.760 --> 0:41:07.880 You don't even know it's him. 0:41:09.280 --> 0:41:14.480 God uses certain seasons in your life, even certain setbacks 0:41:14.480 --> 0:41:18.200 in your life, and yes, certain blessings in your life, 0:41:18.800 --> 0:41:24.440 so that you will know your north, so you won't 0:41:24.440 --> 0:41:29.799 be like me with no sense of direction, just going 0:41:29.840 --> 0:41:35.200 through your life. And I'm grateful that Jesus didn't just. 0:41:35.200 --> 0:41:39.200 Let that man walk away. 0:41:38.719 --> 0:41:41.120 Because it was one thing for the man to see Jesus, 0:41:42.280 --> 0:41:45.560 but it was another thing for the man to look 0:41:45.560 --> 0:41:50.280 at verse fourteen to see why Jesus had seen him, 0:41:52.080 --> 0:41:55.640 because later Jesus found him at the temple and said 0:41:55.640 --> 0:42:00.360 to him, see you are well again. 0:42:01.920 --> 0:42:03.200 I gave you a second chance. 0:42:05.200 --> 0:42:06.759 I'm going to give you five seconds to praise God 0:42:06.800 --> 0:42:12.240 for every second chance he's given you in your life. 0:42:19.080 --> 0:42:26.640 One six, five four. See you are well again. Stop sinning, 0:42:28.840 --> 0:42:35.000 or something worse may happen to you. I love that 0:42:35.000 --> 0:42:39.080 the passage didn't end when the man got up and walked. 0:42:40.640 --> 0:42:45.120 I loved that before Jesus let him go, he told 0:42:45.160 --> 0:42:51.000 him why he raised him to begin with. He told 0:42:51.040 --> 0:42:55.640 him you were lying in your excuses, and now you 0:42:55.680 --> 0:43:00.560 are risen by my power. Now that you know the truth, 0:43:01.880 --> 0:43:05.960 now that you know you're north, I want you to 0:43:06.040 --> 0:43:10.080 head in the direction of your future and never come 0:43:10.120 --> 0:43:11.040 back to your past. 0:43:14.920 --> 0:43:15.719 Who's this forth. 0:43:15.880 --> 0:43:16.800 You can't go back. 0:43:18.280 --> 0:43:19.160 You can't go back. 0:43:25.840 --> 0:43:27.920 So I don't want you to hear a word from 0:43:28.000 --> 0:43:31.120 God that turned the direction in your heart and then 0:43:31.200 --> 0:43:33.600 you just go right back to the same patterns of 0:43:33.640 --> 0:43:35.080 sin and isolation. 0:43:36.080 --> 0:43:38.359 That you came from. 0:43:38.560 --> 0:43:40.640 That's why Jesus told him to take up your mat 0:43:41.600 --> 0:43:43.160 because I want you to make a statement. 0:43:43.880 --> 0:43:52.680 I won't be back. Turn north, Turn north. 0:43:55.520 --> 0:44:00.440 Everybody gets discouraged, man piano, please, everybody gets discos urged. 0:44:01.280 --> 0:44:06.600 Everybody has moments of believing lies. I am no one, 0:44:06.840 --> 0:44:09.720 I have no one. 0:44:08.680 --> 0:44:12.680 Even the great prophet Elijah one time he had seen 0:44:12.719 --> 0:44:17.759 a great revival and an outpouring of the demonstration of 0:44:17.800 --> 0:44:21.440 God's power. And because of the threat that he received 0:44:21.480 --> 0:44:25.759 from a woman named Jezebel, he ran forty days and 0:44:25.920 --> 0:44:28.120 forty nights south. 0:44:28.400 --> 0:44:30.800 To the Mountain of God and hid in a cave. 0:44:32.120 --> 0:44:34.120 And the word of the Lord came to him in 0:44:34.160 --> 0:44:36.480 a cave, like the Word of the Lord is coming. 0:44:36.280 --> 0:44:37.719 To you today in your situation. 0:44:39.080 --> 0:44:44.719 And he told Elijah in a whisper, leave here and 0:44:44.880 --> 0:44:50.879 go back the way you came. You've gone so far 0:44:51.120 --> 0:44:56.319 south that you have forgotten who you are, and you've 0:44:56.360 --> 0:45:00.440 lost yourself. But when the word of the Lord comes 0:45:00.520 --> 0:45:05.680 and says, now turn north, you turn. 0:45:06.840 --> 0:45:07.279 You turn. 0:45:08.800 --> 0:45:10.440 And I want to say to somebody who feels like 0:45:10.920 --> 0:45:13.200 this word can't be for me because I don't deserve it. 0:45:14.280 --> 0:45:17.040 God did not pick the person at the pool that 0:45:17.160 --> 0:45:19.839 day that deserved it the most to do. 0:45:19.760 --> 0:45:27.160 It, for He picked the person I got to give 0:45:27.160 --> 0:45:28.040 you this and I'll go. 0:45:29.040 --> 0:45:32.279 He picked the person that he could use what they 0:45:32.320 --> 0:45:35.640 had been through to demonstrate what he could do. 0:45:37.640 --> 0:45:38.520 Can God use you? 0:45:45.360 --> 0:45:49.160 We all have a met we all have a mess, 0:45:50.360 --> 0:45:54.480 we all have a mistake. But God can work through 0:45:54.520 --> 0:45:57.319 that too. I want to pray for you right now 0:45:57.360 --> 0:46:01.319 because God is saying, now turn north. He's saying to 0:46:02.520 --> 0:46:05.839 obey what he's speaking. And you know you might have 0:46:05.880 --> 0:46:08.320 to do this sometimes, just many times a day, because 0:46:08.360 --> 0:46:11.920 I think I don't know about you, but my soul 0:46:12.040 --> 0:46:20.080 can get southbound real fast and pulled down to the 0:46:20.160 --> 0:46:26.279 level of feelings and preferences offenses. So I just want 0:46:26.320 --> 0:46:28.640 you to hear the voice of the Lord like Moses did. 0:46:28.960 --> 0:46:31.960 Now turn north. One greater than Moses is here. His 0:46:32.040 --> 0:46:35.399 name is Jesus. And every time you look to him 0:46:35.400 --> 0:46:37.560 there's living water. Every time you drink from him, you 0:46:37.600 --> 0:46:42.319 will be filled. Now turn north. You see it. He 0:46:42.520 --> 0:46:46.440 is the higher power. He is the one who gives permission. 0:46:47.600 --> 0:46:51.200 He is the one who is present in this moment. 0:46:52.120 --> 0:46:56.360 He is the one who was there. 0:46:58.600 --> 0:46:58.880 Father. 0:46:59.000 --> 0:47:07.040 I pray over every stigma, every insecurity, over everybody who's 0:47:07.040 --> 0:47:09.520 in this room, kind of wondering either why am I 0:47:09.560 --> 0:47:11.640 the one going through this hardship or why am I 0:47:11.680 --> 0:47:14.319 the one chosen for this pressure. You know, we come 0:47:14.320 --> 0:47:18.239 from many different directions, but we all need the same thing. 0:47:20.920 --> 0:47:24.560 Spirit of Christ, I thank you for opening my eyes 0:47:24.600 --> 0:47:26.759 to the mystery of thirty eight years this week, when 0:47:26.800 --> 0:47:31.440 I study, I realized that what the man did at 0:47:31.440 --> 0:47:33.480 the pool when he got up, is what Moses did 0:47:33.480 --> 0:47:36.560 in the wilderness, when they got up and crossed over 0:47:36.600 --> 0:47:41.279 the valley and faced forward into the promise. We thank 0:47:41.320 --> 0:47:44.120 you for your exceeding, great and precious promises toward those 0:47:44.120 --> 0:47:44.680 who believe. 0:47:44.880 --> 0:47:45.319 This house. 0:47:45.360 --> 0:47:50.200 Today I proclaim those promises over your children. I thank 0:47:50.239 --> 0:47:52.040 you that we are citizens of the Kingdom of light, 0:47:52.200 --> 0:47:56.880 not darkness. Now we turn north. I thank you that 0:47:56.920 --> 0:48:01.480 we are shielded from the fire. Darts of the wicked win. 0:48:01.560 --> 0:48:01.960 And when the. 0:48:01.960 --> 0:48:03.920 Enemy comes in like a flood, the spirit of the 0:48:03.960 --> 0:48:08.200 Lord will raise up a standard. We turn north. Our 0:48:08.239 --> 0:48:09.839 eyes are on you. We don't know what to do, 0:48:09.920 --> 0:48:13.399 but our eyes are on you. We will be worshippers 0:48:13.640 --> 0:48:18.040 in this battle. We now turn north. You take what 0:48:18.080 --> 0:48:21.440 the enemy meant for evil, and you turn it for good. 0:48:21.560 --> 0:48:26.480 We now turn north. We don't look to the east 0:48:26.560 --> 0:48:28.960 or to the west. Where our health comes from. Our 0:48:29.000 --> 0:48:32.080 health comes from the north. Our health comes from the Lord. 0:48:32.440 --> 0:48:35.440 Our health comes from the maker of heaven and earth. 0:48:35.680 --> 0:48:41.279 And we give you praise and honor and glory. And 0:48:41.320 --> 0:48:44.080 we make a declaration to the places where we've been lying. 0:48:44.760 --> 0:48:49.000 We will not be back. We will not revisit these 0:48:49.040 --> 0:48:50.440 things over and over again. 0:48:50.920 --> 0:48:51.400 We will not. 0:48:51.520 --> 0:48:55.560 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are 0:48:55.600 --> 0:48:56.120 in Christ. 0:48:56.280 --> 0:48:59.040 Jesus. Now turn. 0:49:01.200 --> 0:49:03.800 And as we clap our hands, and as we celebrate 0:49:03.880 --> 0:49:08.960 your word, we expect a visitation of power at the 0:49:09.000 --> 0:49:12.680 pool of a testa. This week, power and grace under 0:49:12.719 --> 0:49:17.880 the fives covered colonnades. This week, power and a demonstration 0:49:18.040 --> 0:49:19.080 of your authority. 0:49:20.080 --> 0:49:22.640 You are God, and we've. 0:49:22.440 --> 0:49:27.080 Got the grace to get up hoigh five. 0:49:27.160 --> 0:49:28.520 Everybody you can reach. 0:49:28.440 --> 0:49:32.400 Us, say, get up by grace, Get up by grace. 0:49:35.239 --> 0:49:36.320 Thank you Jesus. 0:49:37.719 --> 0:49:43.040 Come on, Clap those hands and celebrate his word. Clap 0:49:43.160 --> 0:49:50.040 those hands and celebrate. Go on, head's bowed eyes close. 0:49:51.920 --> 0:49:54.880 I want to lead somebody into a relationship with Jesus 0:49:54.960 --> 0:50:00.560 right now, nobody moving. The Bible says that if you 0:50:00.640 --> 0:50:02.600 will confess with your mouth and believe with your heart 0:50:02.600 --> 0:50:05.480 that God raised Jesus from the dead, you will be saved. 0:50:07.960 --> 0:50:14.160 That sounds like turning north to me. The word repent 0:50:14.400 --> 0:50:16.359 does not mean to feel bad about what you've done. 0:50:16.440 --> 0:50:20.879 It means to turn and change your mind. It means 0:50:20.880 --> 0:50:24.480 to come back to your Father for somebody who's been 0:50:24.480 --> 0:50:28.520 going south today and God is turning you in a 0:50:28.560 --> 0:50:32.600 new direction. I want to remind you that the Cross 0:50:32.680 --> 0:50:35.480 was the turning point of human history, the resurrection was 0:50:35.560 --> 0:50:39.879 the proof that Jesus was God's son, and today will 0:50:39.920 --> 0:50:43.120 be the defining moment of your new life in Christ. 0:50:44.239 --> 0:50:46.960 With heads bowed and eyes closed all over this room, 0:50:47.000 --> 0:50:51.440 all of our campuses, watching online all over the world, 0:50:52.040 --> 0:50:54.680 I'm going to lead you in a prayer. This prayer 0:50:54.719 --> 0:50:58.720 is not magical. It's a connection point for you and God. 0:50:59.800 --> 0:51:02.840 And if you will mean this with your heart today, 0:51:03.560 --> 0:51:06.879 God will hear from heaven, heal you of your sin, 0:51:07.360 --> 0:51:10.439 forgive you and redeem you for your wrongs, and give 0:51:10.440 --> 0:51:13.640 you a new beginning. Heads bowed, eyes closed, all over 0:51:13.680 --> 0:51:17.640 the church, repeat after me, Heavenly Father, I am a 0:51:17.719 --> 0:51:23.120 sinner in need of a savior, and I believe that 0:51:23.280 --> 0:51:27.880 Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior 0:51:27.920 --> 0:51:33.200 of the world. And today I make Jesus the Lord 0:51:33.239 --> 0:51:37.080 of my life. I believe he died that I would 0:51:37.080 --> 0:51:42.080 be forgiven and rose again to give me life. I 0:51:42.200 --> 0:51:48.279 receive this new life. This is my new beginning. On 0:51:48.320 --> 0:51:50.200 the count of three, if you pray that, shoot your 0:51:50.200 --> 0:51:52.640 hand up one, two, three, all over the room. 0:51:53.920 --> 0:51:57.680 Put it in a chat. I receive Jesus. I receive Jesus. 0:51:59.120 --> 0:52:00.480 We're celebrating right now. 0:52:00.520 --> 0:52:05.319 We're celebrating right now, every turn and around life. Come on, 0:52:05.480 --> 0:52:10.439 celebrate every new beginning, every new future. Hey, I hope 0:52:10.440 --> 0:52:13.399 you enjoyed the podcast, and if you did, make sure 0:52:13.440 --> 0:52:15.960 to share it and subscribe so we can get you 0:52:16.120 --> 0:52:19.040 all of these new messages as soon as they're available. 0:52:19.400 --> 0:52:21.560 I also want to take a moment and thank all 0:52:21.600 --> 0:52:23.839 of you who are a part of Elevation. Whether you 0:52:23.840 --> 0:52:27.560 support us financially, or serve with us, or just share 0:52:27.600 --> 0:52:30.239 these messages, it's because of you that we're able to 0:52:30.239 --> 0:52:33.200 reach people all around the world. And if you want 0:52:33.360 --> 0:52:35.880 more information on how to be a part of Elevation, 0:52:36.440 --> 0:52:39.800 click the link in the description. Thanks again for listening. 0:52:39.800 --> 0:52:43.120 Make sure to leave a review, share the message, and subscribe. 0:52:43.440 --> 0:52:52.840 God bless you.