Genesis 22:1-14 Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. 5 And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.” 6 So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together. 7 But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.” So the two of them went together. 9 Then they came to the place of which God had told him. And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. 10 And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” So he said, “Here I am.” 12 And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” 13 Then Abraham lifted his eyes and looked, and there behind him was a ram caught in a thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram, and offered it up for a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 And Abraham called the name of the place, The-Lord-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”
I. INTRODUCTION
Whenever God elevates us, it usually follows a season of testing. Many see our glory and not our story.
Lots of people see successful people and want to be them, but they don’t know the story behind the success. They don’t know all they had to go through to get where they are.
If you are experiencing a test, it is time to appreciate where God is about to take you.
We need to learn to manage our mountains. We are about to experience the Elevation Exam.
God called Abraham from the land where he was living. He told him to go to a place He would show him. God made a lot of promises to Abraham. One of those was that he would make his name great.
3 faiths came out of Abraham’s bloodline. They were Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
God promised to give Abraham a son in his old age. His wife Sarah laughed because of their old age.
Abraham would have a promise on his life. When God gives us a promise, we have to trust that God is going to do what He says he is going to do.
The errors and flaws of our past do not disqualify the promise God has placed on our future.
Sarah got impatient on waiting for a son, so she told Abraham to go and have a child with her handmaiden. You would think that Abraham would have been hesitant about this, but he wasn’t. He went on in and laid with the handmaiden, Hagar.
Hagar was the Egyptian handmaiden. Ishmael was the son that was the result of her and Abraham getting together.
Sarah eventually put Hagar out.
Issac was eventually born when Abraham was 99yrs old. This was the son that God promised Abraham. 10 chapters later, God told Abraham to offer his only son Issac up as a sacrifice on the mountain.
Abraham willingly offers up his son on Mt Moriah. How do you manage a mountain, when it is so challenging?
II. READY TO PROVE YOUR FAITH
You faith must be active in all seasons. In this season, you must realize that God did this, not the devil.
We must be willing to trust God on all levels.
Our testing is not for our right now. Instead it is for our not yet.
A. When God Tests Us, It Is Always About Where He’s Taking Us
The Sovereignty of God is always in motion in our lives. This is why we can’t lean to our own understanding.
Know that it won’t make since right now, but it will later.
B. Your Faith Is Revealed In The Test
In school there are different kinds of test you can take. They are:
Diagnostic Test – Used to reveal where your strengths and weaknesses are.
Performance Based– Evaluate how a student can apply what they’ve learned. God may give you a performance test, where he wants you to apply and test your faith. Example: When the disciples couldn’t cast the demon out of the demon possessed boy, they asked Jesus why. The question is, can your faith be portable?
Oral Test – This is how you express what you know. Sometimes God will test us to see what we will say.
Standardized Test – These are test that help us get to the next level. That’s what this test is about. Sometimes the most difficult test is to set you up for where God is taking you.
Some of us have “faith until” kind of faith. It is important to give God glory throughout the entire process.
Abraham had already passed some small test in the past. An example of this was when God told him to leave his county and Abraham left even before God revealed where he wanted Abraham to go.
Now the next test is the mountain. At the foot of the mountain, Abraham asks the rest of his people to stay behind while he and his son goes to worship.
III. RELEASE CERTAIN PEOPLE AT THE FOOT OF THE MOUNTAIN
This is about how you manage your mountain. The people that were with Abraham, had always been by Abrahams side and he asked them to stay this time.
A. Everybody Can’t Handle Certain Heights
To reach new levels, you have to have a greater level of faith. Abraham asked them to stay. Some people don’t have the capacity to go where God is taking you.
Everyone doesn’t have the ability to handle the levels you are going to.
B. Let Your Faith Prophesy Your Future
Abraham said let me and my son go to worship, and we will back to you. Abraham knew by faith that he and his son was coming back.
You have to speak those things though they be not as though they were. i.e “I don’t know how I’m going to pay for it, but I know it will be paid”. Let your faith speak to your situation!
IV. RESPOND WITH PROPER FOLLOW-THROUGH
Abraham has made a promise and now he has to follow* through with it.
Issac carried the wood for the sacrifice. On the way up, his son realized that there was no sacrifice.
A. Trust Him When You Can’t Trace Him
Have you ever been to a place where God changed the rules on you? You have to get to a point where you trust God’s record. Are you willing to trust God when you don’t have all the answers?
B. Be Willing To Give God What You Love The Most
This is where it gets quiet. God wants your Issac. Are you willing to give up what you love the most?
5 reasons we don’t give God what we love the most?
We choose Convenience over Commitment.
We choose Fear of Loss over Hope of Abundance.
We choose Selfishness over Generosity.
We choose Distraction over Focus.
We choose Temporary Satisfaction over Eternal Fulfillment.
Can you give God the thing that you love the most? Abraham puts his son on the altar. He is about to kill his only son.
V. REJOICE IN THE PROVISION OF THE FATHER
Abraham was preparing to go through with sacrificing his son. At the last minute, God stopped him.
Since Abraham was willing to go through with sacrificing his son, God knew that Abraham feared him, so God had an angel put a lamb in the bush.
While you a trusting God and doing what you can, God will do what you can’t. While Abraham was on one side of the mountain doing what God asked him to do, not knowing how its going to work out, there is an angel on the other side of the mountain, bringing the lamb for the sacrifice.
A. God’s Got Angels That Prevent Things From Happening
Have you ever got to a point where everything you have is out there?
B. He’s A God Who Will Show Up Just On Time
Has God ever showed up just in time for you? Has He ever showed up Between the diagnoses and death or between the layoff and the bill being due? God will show up!
2 things to remember:
It will bless you for the rest of your life. He will not give it at this level, because you wouldn’t appreciate it. God will hold your blessing until you get to the place you are supposed to be, at the time you are supposed to be there.
After you’ve climbed for a while, you can truly appreciate the next level blessing.
God held the blessing until Abraham got there. It doesn’t matter how long it takes; God will hold your blessing until you get there!
Finally, check out the similarities
Abraham’s son carried the wood up the mountain, knowing that he was about to be sacrificed. Jesus caried a wooden cross up Calvary Hill, knowing he was about to be sacrificed.
Abraham was willing to sacrifice his only son. God was also willing to sacrifice his only son.
Remember, this is an Elevation Exam and all the test you are going through and about to go through, Is to prepare you for your elevation!!
Acts 17:16-28 16 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols. 17 Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there. 18 Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, “What does this babbler want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods,” because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection. 19 And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new doctrine is of which you speak? 20 For you are bringing some strange things to our ears. Therefore we want to know what these things mean.” 21 For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing. 22 Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; 23 for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: 24 God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. 25 Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. 26 And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’
I. INTRODUCTION
All of the gatherings that we do is to grow spiritually. The outcome that we expect is that we might grow.
As you grow spiritually, your discernment gets keener. You begin to pick up on what others can’t. This makes your relationships change.
When you get closer with your relationship with God, you become nauseous and frustrated, when you are around fake stuff.
There comes a moment that you want everything around you to be real. You want real conversations and real people. For example, if you don’t like me, I’d rather you just tell me. We want to be around real worshippers.
The world we live in is so filled with fake narratives we often desire authenticity. It is real for us.
There are people in the text that have a lot of things, but they find themselves empty. There are people that drive fancy cars and have big homes, but they are still empty inside. We see people that seem good on Facebook, but they are really empty.
The people in the text are surrounded by statues but have hallowed beliefs. We have to find what falls among all the fake stuff in our lives. Everything attached to us must be real, because God is real.
Today, you will leave here declaring everything around you must be real!
The backdrop takes place in Athens Greece. This was a hub of philosophical scholars.
There were two different types of Scholars that Paul was faced with. They were:
Epicurean: They believed in seeking pleasure and avoiding pain as the primary purpose of life, seeing God as distant and uninvolved in humanaffairs. – In other words, they are drawn to that which feels good.
Stoic: Emphasized virtue, self-control, and living in harmony with nature, believing in a pantheistic view of God. – In other words, they were always serious. No grey areas. They were stoic, having a stiff upper lip.
The scholars were suffering from Religious Purism. There was an array of idol gods. They were polytheistic meaning they believed in many gods. They even came to a place in where they have an idol named the unknown god, found Acts 17:23. They even studied and worshipped the Greek Gods like Zeus or Hades.
Athens were famous for their agriculture. Athens was a prominent place. There was a place called Areopagus Hill which was also called Mars Hill.
It is the same spot where Paul preached the word that you are going to hear today. Mars Hill became a famous place for religious debate.
How did Paul get to Athens? He was on his second missionary journey. He had Timothy and Silas with him. Remember in Chapter 16, Paul and Silas were in jail and sang hymns at midnight.
Some of the Thessalonians hated him and ran Paul out of town. He went to Beroea and they liked him there. The Thessalonians found Paul among the Bereans. The enemy has a way of finding where you are.
The Bereans told Paul to let Timothy and Silas finish the work he had started there and they sent Paul to Athens. It was a big city, so he was better able to hide there. Paul is waiting for Timothy and Silas. While walking around, Paul notices all the idols they had.
Paul is troubled in his spirit. Paul begins to preach Jesus Christ. Paul began to preach to the Jews and Gentiles alike. While in the streets preaching, the scholars sent for Paul. They had heard of his preaching of Jesus Christ.
They bring Paul upon the mountain. This is Apostle Paul, full of compassion and has been summoned by the elite.
They asked Paul what the babbler (referring to him) have to say to them? Paul said that they were making him sick. They were living out many gods.
Paul went on to say that today they would find out what is real among all the fake stuff they had going on.
II. PERSISTENTLY IRRITATED BY A WORLD OF IDOLATRY
Paul looks around and sees a world filled with idolatry. When you put your time, energy, and resources into something more than you do God, then this is idolatry.
Paul was looking at people created by God, but they were bowing down to idols that they had created. Anyone created in God’s image, is created to worship Him.
We might not have idols created of stone anymore, but there are people that have set up idols in their lives all the time. For example:
Relationships have become some of our idols. When you were praying for the relationship, your energy and time was in God. But now that you’ve hooked up with Johnny or Sue, your energy is in them.
We do the same with our careers. You prayed for that job, but now that job has all of your time and attention. You don’t have time for God anymore.
If we eep this up, we might discover that the Lord gives, but the the Lord will also take away.
A. You Can’t Conceal True Conviction
When you’re around stuff that doesn’t make sense, then your beliefs will come out. You don’t have to walk around with a bible in your hand all the time being weird, but you have a way of sharing your convictions. When you close to God, you will always know when things don’t feel right.
Your discernment will tell you when something isn’t right.
Some say they can’t share their convictions, but let someone cut you off. You will share your convictions then.
You need people around you that can understand your convictions.
Paul ended up in jail because of his convictions. When he stood before King Agrippa, the king said Paul almost convinced him to be saved.
Acts 26: 27-28 says 27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you do believe.”28 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.”
B. When You’ve Experienced What’s Real, You Can’t Tolerate Fake
Have you ever looked back and wondered why you did things the way you did in the past? You’ve grown and now everything in your life is about authenticity.
2 things about authenticity:
Alignment – Everything in your life must align with God’s word.
Accountability – We have to be accountable for the authenticity in our lives.
III. PREPARED TO INTERROGATE WOEFUL IRRELEVANCE
The keyword here is preparation.
Paul was brought to Mars Hill, because they couldn’t make sense of his Jesus message. All of the scholars assumed Paul was unlearned, but they messed with the wrong one. When the enemy pulls on you he will find out he messed with the wrong one.
Who is Paul? He was educated about Hebrew Scripture and Jewish Law under the Rabbi Gamaliel. Paul was deeply versed in Jewish Law and he understood the culture. He knew about all the Poets and Philosophers.
Paul could stand with the Athen Scholars, because he was prepared. God is not going to let you go where you aren’t prepared.
Paul let them know their idols were no match for his God.
Some people think charismatic people can’t be intellectual.
The silk-stocking church was established by those that were educated. They thought that once you got an education, you had to act dignified. They believed that all that loud acting praise belonged to the small uneducated churches.
Their grandchildren went to college, and they remember standing in the financial aid line, praying that the Lord will come through with their tuition. They saw God make a way out of no way! Now you have a generation that won’t let their intellect stop them from praising God!
The more sense I have, the more I need to be excited about God!
A. What You Know Will Always Show
When Bishop was called to be the Pastor of Mt Zion, the church grew though bible studies. When he first started, he had to spend time unteaching, before he could teach. There were a lot of traditions and superstitions that had to be unlearned.
In the text, when they asked what the babbler would have to say to them, Paul said they were too religious and superstitious.
B. There Is A Difference Between Spiritual And Superstitious
Superstitious is when things are influenced by luck and charms. This falls under the same belief of something happening when you walk under a ladder, or break a mirror, or when a black cat crosses your path.
Superstition has caused the birth of religions that are not God ordained. Paul told the scholars that they were too religious, meaning they were not spiritual. He basically was saying that they were doing too much.
IV. PARADOX OF INTELLIGENCE WITH IGNORANCE
There are some real intelligent people that are ignorant.
2 types of ignorance
Ignorant – which means they have no revelation yet.
Ignant – which means you can’t rationalize with them.
The Owl has always been a symbol of wisdom. In Greek mythology, the owl is associated with the God of wisdom.
Really owls are ignorant compared to other birds. The reason being, they have a limited understanding of their surroundings and awareness compared to other birds.
People can’t be intelligent in one area and ignorant in another.
A. You Can Know A Lot And Still Not Know
Paul said the scholars were ignorantly intelligent. You can have book sense and not have spiritual sense.
Don’t think because people have degrees behind their names, they cannot be ignorant.
B. You Can Have Religious Routine And No Relationship
You attend church, but ignorantly don’t know how to be in relationship with God.
Some people have too much denominational allegiance. Never let your denomination to get bigger than God. You can end up being more Baptist than Bible or more Apostolic than anointed.
When you go to the bank and ask for change for a $100, they will ask you what denominations you want the bills in. Denominations separate the money into bills. Just like money denominations, church Denominations separate.
God’s grace and power is greater than your denominational allegiance. When we get to heaven, we will all be giving God glory together, regardless of our denominational affiliation.
V. PROVIDE INSTRUCTION ON WORSHIPS IMPORTANCE
Paul breaks it down. He is standing before the stoic.
He looks at all the stuff attributed to their idols.
A. The Tangibles Don’t Impress God
Paul says something that knocks them off their feet. Paul says God doesn’t need to be worshiped in temples made with man’s hands. God also doesn’t need man’s hand to be praised.
God is bigger than the temple you’ve set up.
Some think God is only in church. When you get away from the church building, you think you can say what you want.
God is not limited to a building.
We want a God that is real. He is not into the stuff. He is into you.
B. You Will Never Make A Sound Until You Acknowledge Your Source
Paul says it is in Him we live, move, and have our being.
Paul underscores the revelation of worship. He asked if he could share it with them.
Worship is the only thing that can cause you to surrender.
Paul is in Athens Greece. He has been invited to Areopagus Hill, also called Mars Hill.
He is being integrated by 2 rules of thought.
The Stoics believe in no nonsense.
The Epicurean believe God, I will respond to you as long as it feels good.
Every move of God is not designed to make you feel good. When God does something that doesn’t feel good, you are mad at Him.
When the math ain’t mathing, some of us have an issue.
Real worship is when you can respond to God, even when it doesn’t feel good. You can give God glory when life doesn’t make sense.
God is looking for people that if He doesn’t do another thing, He’s already done enough!
What religion did was spoil us. If we woke up and were not in the obituary, we should be ready to give worship to God! Even if we lost everything, we would still give God glory!
When you worship, you are willing to surrender. Our problem is, we want don’t relationship, we want to be in control.
If we say lift your hands, we say we are tired of being asked to lift our hands, but when a cop asks us to do it, we will do it willingly.
God is raising up a kingdom mind set! We want something real and if it isn’t real, we don’t want it!
Part 3: If It’s Not Real, I Don’t Want It
Synopsis of Sermon 10/20/24
Delivered by Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III
Acts 17:16-28 16 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols. 17 Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there. 18 Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, “What does this babbler want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods,” because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection. 19 And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new doctrine is of which you speak? 20 For you are bringing some strange things to our ears. Therefore we want to know what these things mean.” 21 For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing. 22 Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; 23 for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: 24 God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. 25 Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. 26 And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’
I. INTRODUCTION
All of the gatherings that we do is to grow spiritually. The outcome that we expect is that we might grow.
As you grow spiritually, your discernment gets keener. You begin to pick up on what others can’t. This makes your relationships change.
When you get closer with your relationship with God, you become nauseous and frustrated, when you are around fake stuff.
There comes a moment that you want everything around you to be real. You want real conversations and real people. For example, if you don’t like me, I’d rather you just tell me. We want to be around real worshippers.
The world we live in is so filled with fake narratives we often desire authenticity. It is real for us.
There are people in the text that have a lot of things, but they find themselves There are people that drive fancy cars and have big homes, but they are still empty inside. We see people that seem good on Facebook, but they are really empty.
The people in the text are surrounded by statues but have hallowed beliefs. We have to find what falls among all the fake stuff in our lives. Everything attached to us must be real, because God is real.
Today, you will leave here declaring everything around you must be real!
The backdrop takes place in Athens Greece. This was a hub of philosophical scholars.
There were two different types of Scholars that Paul was faced with. They were:
Epicurean: They believed in seeking pleasure and avoiding pain as the primary purpose of life, seeing God as distant and uninvolved in human – In other words, they are drawn to that which feels good.
Stoic: Emphasized virtue, self-control, and living in harmony with nature, believing in a pantheistic view of God. – In other words, they were always serious. No grey areas. They were stoic, having a stiff upper lip.
The scholars were suffering from Religious Purism. There was an array of idol gods. They were polytheistic meaning they believed in many gods. They even came to a place in where they have an idol named the unknown god, found Acts 17:23. They even studied and worshipped the Greek Gods like Zeus or Hades.
Athens were famous for their agriculture. Athens was a prominent place. There was a place called Areopagus Hill which was also called Mars Hill.
It is the same spot where Paul preached the word that you are going to hear today. Mars Hill became a famous place for religious debate.
How did Paul get to Athens? He was on his second missionary journey. He had Timothy and Silas with him. Remember in Chapter 16, Paul and Silas were in jail and sang hymns at midnight.
Some of the Thessalonians hated him and ran Paul out of town. He went to Beroea and they liked him there. The Thessalonians found Paul among the Bereans. The enemy has a way of finding where you are.
The Bereans told Paul to let Timothy and Silas finish the work he had started there and they sent Paul to Athens. It was a big city, so he was better able to hide there. Paul is waiting for Timothy and Silas. While walking around, Paul notices all the idols they had.
Paul is troubled in his spirit. Paul begins to preach Jesus Christ. Paul began to preach to the Jews and Gentiles alike. While in the streets preaching, the scholars sent for Paul. They had heard of his preaching of Jesus Christ.
They bring Paul upon the mountain. This is Apostle Paul, full of compassion and has been summoned by the elite.
They asked Paul what the babbler (referring to him) have to say to them? Paul said that they were making him sick. They were living out many gods.
Paul went on to say that today they would find out what is real among all the fake stuff they had going on.
II. PERSISTENTLY IRRITATED BY A WORLD OF IDOLATRY
Paul looks around and sees a world filled with idolatry. When you put your time, energy, and resources into something more than you do God, then this is
Paul was looking at people created by God, but they were bowing down to idols that they had created. Anyone created in God’s image, is created to worship Him.
We might not have idols created of stone anymore, but there are people that have set up idols in their lives all the time. For example:
Relationships have become some of our idols. When you were praying for the relationship, your energy and time was in God. But now that you’ve hooked up with Johnny or Sue, your energy is in them.
We do the same with our careers. You prayed for that job, but now that job has all of your time and attention. You don’t have time for God anymore.
If we eep this up, we might discover that the Lord gives, but the the Lord will also take away.
A. You Can’t Conceal True Conviction
When you’re around stuff that doesn’t make sense, then your beliefs will come out. You don’t have to walk around with a bible in your hand all the time being weird, but you have a way of sharing your convictions. When you close to God, you will always know when things don’t feel right.
Your discernment will tell you when something isn’t right.
Some say they can’t share their convictions, but let someone cut you off. You will share your convictions then.
You need people around you that can understand your convictions.
Paul ended up in jail because of his convictions. When he stood before King Agrippa, the king said Paul almost convinced him to be saved.
Acts 26: 27-28 says 27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you do believe.”28 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.”
B. When You’ve Experienced What’s Real, You Can’t Tolerate Fake
Have you ever looked back and wondered why you did things the way you did in the past? You’ve grown and now everything in your life is about authenticity.
2 things about authenticity:
Alignment – Everything in your life must align with God’s word.
Accountability – We have to be accountable for the authenticity in our lives.
III. PREPARED TO INTERROGATE WOEFUL IRRELEVANCE
The keyword here is preparation.
Paul was brought to Mars Hill, because they couldn’t make sense of his Jesus message. All of the scholars assumed Paul was unlearned, but they messed with the wrong one. When the enemy pulls on you he will find out he messed with the wrong one.
Who is Paul? He was educated about Hebrew Scripture and Jewish Law under the Rabbi Gamaliel. Paul was deeply versed in Jewish Law and he understood the culture. He knew about all the Poets and Philosophers.
Paul could stand with the Athen Scholars, because he was prepared. God is not going to let you go where you aren’t prepared.
Paul let them know their idols were no match for his God.
Some people think charismatic people can’t be intellectual.
The silk-stocking church was established by those that were educated. They thought that once you got an education, you had to act dignified. They believed that all that loud acting praise belonged to the small uneducated churches.
Their grandchildren went to college, and they remember standing in the financial aid line, praying that the Lord will come through with their tuition. They saw God make a way out of no way! Now you have a generation that won’t let their intellect stop them from praising God!
The more sense I have, the more I need to be excited about God!
A. What You Know Will Always Show
When Bishop was called to be the Pastor of Mt Zion, the church grew though bible studies. When he first started, he had to spend time unteaching, before he could teach. There were a lot of traditions and superstitions that had to be
In the text, when they asked what the babbler would have to say to them, Paul said they were too religious and superstitious.
B. There Is A Difference Between Spiritual And Superstitious
Superstitious is when things are influenced by luck and charms. This falls under the same belief of something happening when you walk under a ladder, or break a mirror, or when a black cat crosses your path.
Superstition has caused the birth of religions that are not God ordained. Paul told the scholars that they were too religious, meaning they were not spiritual. He basically was saying that they were doing too much.
IV. PARADOX OF INTELLIGENCE WITH IGNORANCE
There are some real intelligent people that are ignorant.
2 types of ignorance
Ignorant – which means they have no revelation yet.
Ignant – which means you can’t rationalize with them.
The Owl has always been a symbol of wisdom. In Greek mythology, the owl is associated with the God of wisdom.
Really owls are ignorant compared to other birds. The reason being, they have a limited understanding of their surroundings and awareness compared to other birds.
People can’t be intelligent in one area and ignorant in another.
A. You Can Know A Lot And Still Not Know
Paul said the scholars were ignorantly intelligent. You can have book sense and not have spiritual sense.
Don’t think because people have degrees behind their names, they cannot be ignorant.
B. You Can Have Religious Routine And No Relationship
You attend church, but ignorantly don’t know how to be in relationship with God.
Some people have too much denominational allegiance. Never let your denomination to get bigger than God. You can end up being more Baptist than Bible or more Apostolic than anointed.
When you go to the bank and ask for change for a $100, they will ask you what denominations you want the bills in. Denominations separate the money into bills. Just like money denominations, church Denominations separate.
God’s grace and power is greater than your denominational allegiance. When we get to heaven, we will all be giving God glory together, regardless of our denominational affiliation.
V. PROVIDE INSTRUCTION ON WORSHIPS IMPORTANCE
Paul breaks it down. He is standing before the stoic.
He looks at all the stuff attributed to their idols.
A. The Tangibles Don’t Impress God
Paul says something that knocks them off their feet. Paul says God doesn’t need to be worshiped in temples made with man’s hands. God also doesn’t need man’s hand to be praised.
God is bigger than the temple you’ve set up.
Some think God is only in church. When you get away from the church building, you think you can say what you want.
God is not limited to a building.
We want a God that is real. He is not into the stuff. He is into you.
B. You Will Never Make A Sound Until You Acknowledge Your Source
Paul says it is in Him we live, move, and have our being.
Paul underscores the revelation of worship. He asked if he could share it with them.
Worship is the only thing that can cause you to surrender.
Paul is in Athens Greece. He has been invited to Areopagus Hill, also called Mars Hill.
He is being integrated by 2 rules of thought.
The Stoics believe in no nonsense.
The Epicurean believe God, I will respond to you as long as it feels good.
Every move of God is not designed to make you feel good. When God does something that doesn’t feel good, you are mad at Him.
When the math ain’t mathing, some of us have an issue.
Real worship is when you can respond to God, even when it doesn’t feel good. You can give God glory when life doesn’t make sense.
God is looking for people that if He doesn’t do another thing, He’s already done enough!
What religion did was spoil us. If we woke up and were not in the obituary, we should be ready to give worship to God! Even if we lost everything, we would still give God glory!
When you worship, you are willing to surrender. Our problem is, we want don’t relationship, we want to be in control.
If we say lift your hands, we say we are tired of being asked to lift our hands, but when a cop asks us to do it, we will do it willingly.
God is raising up a kingdom mind set! We want something real and if it isn’t real, we don’t want it!
Delivered by Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III October 13, 2024
Isaiah 2:1-5 NKJV 2 Now it shall come to pass in the latter days That the mountain of the Lord’s house Shall be established on the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills; And all nations shall flow to it. 3 Many people shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 4 He shall judge between the nations, And rebuke many people; They shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war anymore. 5 O house of Jacob, come and let us walk In the light of the Lord.
I. INTRODUCTION
There is a moment we experience a shift in our spirit. At this moment, we are maturing, and our perspective then changes.
In this moment, we have moved from trying to please people or be with the in crowd. At this moment, we are in a totally different place.
People don’t understand, because you are not where you used to be. You’re no longer the person that they remember you being. You are in a different place.
Think of a bottle Bottle of water. In a grocery store, it might cost you $2. At a game, it might cost you $4. In a hotel, it might cost you $7. In other words, the value depends on where where it is.
God is about to do something on the mountain for us. Revival and healing is coming.
There is a generation that has been praying for this to happen. We don’t have time to play games, because we are in a different place, poised for God to do something different.
The text we are coming from today, most preachers won’t preach from, because this is a difficult text to understand.
In this text, we learn that Isaiah is a major Prophet. He prophesied prophesies during a time of national crisis. The Assyrians were trying to attack God’s people. Next was the Babylonians and then the Persians.
Isaiah was trying to warn the Children of Israel that judgement was coming. Isaiah told them along with judgment, would be salvation. God doesn’t just want to punish us. It is God’s desire for us to get it right.
After all that the Children of Israel went through, they still went back to their idols.
Isiah prophesied that God would raise them up on the mountain in the last days. In those last days, they would hunger for Gods word.
Isaiah also prophesied that God was going to bring an end to some stuff. It would be a season of peace and provision.
II. OUR GOD IS SOVEREIGNLY RAISING US UP
God said he was going to establish his people on the mountain.
This represents a presidential rain of authority. In these days God is going to raise up people who love him. He is sovereignly doing this, because He will fulfill his purpose in their life.
A. This Is A Season Of Elevation
God separates you to prepare you for the next level.
Who is God going to raise up? It is the righteous. He will put his people where he wants them to be. He will put the right people at right place at right time, beause of their heart.
These are people who are transformed by the renewing of their mind. They are not people of pleasure.
They are people who have triumphed. God is going to promote people because of what they have overcome. If God is allowing you to go through stuff, you ought to be excited.
These are people that God can trust. He knows you will mange your mountain in the right way. And not use it for your own personal gain.
B. Get Use To This Altitude
Where God is taking you is going to cause you to get dizzy.
Story– Bishop tells the story of him going to New Orleans to speak. In the hotel he is staying at, he is always booked to stay on the 27th
It is very crowded in the lobby and the elevator. It is crowded on the elevator, but the higher they go, the fewer the people left on the elevator.
By the time they get to the 27th floor, it is almost empty. The reason why is people are going to step off, because they can’t handle the altitude you are going.
God is going to bring you to a different level. This level will be full of blessingand favor.
III. THIS IS THE GREATEST SEASON OF REVIVAL
When God elevates his people, all nations will stream to it.
Many people think going to God’s church is no longer Know that revival is coming!
When you see the revival in the church, know that it will happen in your house.
A. Celebrate Kingdom Diversity
All nations will be drawn to this. It shows us that God is bringing us together. It means that every tribe can find a place in Gods kingdom.
God has given us an opportunity to experience many different cultures. We don’t have to be the same, to be togethe
When revival comes, they will come from every corner of the earth.
B. Get Ready – They Are Coming
You’ve got to enlarge the place of your tent and strengthen your stakes. You can’t have a teepee mentality, while wanting a tent blessing. Rival is coming!
Start expecting God to do more in your life!
IV. THERE IS A GENERATION SERIOUS ABOUT REVELATION
God raises us up, because he can trust us. Nations will flow, because they want to see what you have.
There is a generation rising up, that is serious about There is a new wave of people that are sick of business as usual.
People are hungry for the next level!
A. People Are Hungry For The Next Level
Generation Z is coming back to church more than the others after Covid. This is the generation that has been marked. They are here, because they want a deeper church.
They want to be taught with answers.
They want to be taught also by application. In other words, how does this word apply to my life?
They want to be taught by anointing. When you are anointed, you are able to speak into people’s life.
B. When You Know Better You Will Do Better
When they learn God’s statues, they will walk in His ways.
When you grow, you have different expectations. God is putting you in elevated places.
V. THE GLORY OF SUCCESS IS IN RECONCILIATION
Gods word to Jerusalem was about guidance.
God will turn his people towards wisdom and he will resolve conflicts.
God is ushering us into a new wave of glory.
Your success is in your
A. Put Down Your Spear
The Spear is an instrument of war. Beat your swords down to instruments that you can you use to cultivate.
Some of you have been offended by people, but you have to learn to forgive the person, so that you can get to the next level.
Learn to cultivate relationships and put down being quick to go to war.
B. Praise God For The Pruninghook
John the Baptist said, “I am the voice in the wilderness” There is a wilderness crying out for a voice.
We are called to cultivate. We are going to cultivate until we learn that we have more in common than what we have apart. We will cultivate until we don’t have to be afraid of getting shout! We will cultivate until we don’t have Revival has come.
The Assyrians were ready to take over the Children of Isreal and they were about to attack. Isaiah told the Children of Israel that he needed them to reconcile.
Gods voice says in 2 Chronicles 7:14 KJV 14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
He that lives by the sword will die by the sword. God is raising up a generation that is ready to cultivate.
Remember it was prophesied at the New Year sermon:
The election won’t be like you think it’s going to happen.
Theres a war going on that is Deeper than Russia and Ukraine.
It is a time of war right now. You can’t even tell anyone who you’re going to vote for, without someone wanting to go to war over it.
Prophetic word:
All the global stuff that is happening is going to come to a head. This is when people will start running to the mountain. Negativity and hatred, all it will be gone..
They will come to the mountain, because they will realize they can’t put their trust in people. They don’t care about religion; they are looking for a revelation.
The things that divide us, is going back into the earth like a cicada and God is going to raise up the righteous. There will be people that God has ready to beat their sword into a cultivating too.
Take the pruning hook. When you take up the pruning hook and say lets build and cultivate, things change.
Children are not born racist. It is because somebody won’t put the sword down. Revival is coming.
Luke 23:46, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”
I. Introduction
On Calvary, we get a model of how we should act during harsh treatment. We also see the commitment we should have when experiencing pain, while trying to pursue our purpose.
Our words have power. They can carry the depth of our witness. It is true that the power of life and death is in the tongue. Despite this, many of us are guilty of speaking death, when we should be speaking life.
The words you speak show how you see your future. The integrity of who you are, is aligning your words with your
God is trying to reveal how we should handle mountain experiences. God gives us these words prophetically. God wants us to know that mountains and new blessings are in our future.
The more highs we have, the more lows we will have. The enemy will try to discourage you the higher God takes you.
All of us will have to deal with crosses. The words that Jesus spoke from the cross, was Him fulfilling his assignment. The words he spoke was was called cross-words.
Our crisis are not a personal attack on us. They are to cause onlookers to believe in God’s ability to deliver.
Can God trust you with trouble? If you want to know what I’m made of, then just listen to my
Crossword are words that God gives to us, that help us to navigate the most difficult seasons of our lives.
Jesus came to the earth to pay the price for our redemption. The price he had to pay was being crucified. He died for our sins.
When Roman’s crucified a person, it was supposed was done in the most gruesome way possible. They deliberately tried to make it as painful as possible. It was their capital punishment and was meant for severe criminals.
The Romans wanted to make their crucifixions so paint that it would scare others from doing the same thing you did.
Remember last week we talked about the Sanhedrin being intimidated by Christ? They brought Jesus to Pilot for saying he was the Son of God. Even though Jesus could have stopped it, he let it play out.
The same people that shouted “Hosanna” when Jesus come into town, shouted “crucify him”, when there was an opportunity to let him go.
When people say they like you, take it with a grain of salt. People will claim to like your now, but they will hate you tomorrow.
They take Jesus to a hill called Calvary. It was a terrible place to die. Jesus was innocent, but He dies between two criminals. Jesus speaks up and shows the power of our crosswords.
To manage your mountain, you have to:
II. PARDON THOSE WHO HURT YOU
Jesus said forgive them, because they know not what to do. When people offend us, Jesus said forgive them.
A. People Mishandle What They Don’t Fully Understand
Voice – When people don’t understand you, they don’t know your voice.
When people don’t understand your voice, they don’t understand your vision.
Vision – This means they can’t see what you see, regarding your future. They can’t see beyond where they are right now.
Value – With no vision, they will not value you. People that hate on you or attack you, don’t appreciate the value you bring into their lives. You have value!I
Jesus was the son of the living God and the people they had no idea who they were crucifying. People don’t know who you are, because they don’t appreciate valuable things.
For example, you go into an antique shop and kids will touch stuff on the shelf, just because it is shiny. As an adult, you know not to touch some stuff, because you realize how valuable it is. Your maturity makes you appreciate the value.
B. Release Them At The Foot Of The Cross
Real forgiveness is to be unburdened from a person’s feelings about you. Vengeance is the Lords!
Jesus is on the cross telling them to forgive them. You have to release them to the foot of the cross. Leave it at the cross. Let it go. Whatever they said about you, let it go!
You can ever get to crossword #2 (help), without crossword 1 (forgiveness).
III. PROVIDE HELP
From the cross, Jesus kept ministering through his misery. He stays on mission, and He stays on the course. He looks at his mother and says mother behold your son, son behold your mother. John wasn’t related to Mary. By saying this, He signified that a new bond of spiritual kinship was about to be born. We’re not going to allow what people did to us, change who we are.
It’s saying:
A. Your Heart Must Be Bigger Than Your Hurt
The size of your heart is based on your capacity to love. Whenever you’ve been offended, it will change your heart. It will have you afraid to enter relationships. We are not going to empower people that hurt us and allow them to stop us from being who we’re supposed to be. It’s bigger than you!
Some people get hurt and go home. You have to provide help even while you are hurting.
B. Mature People Can Cover Others While In Their Own Crisis
You will learn how to cover others, because you recognize that it is bigger than you. Even if you are being crucified, you know that you are supposed to help others. Some people are going through hell, but they still are praying for you. Some people still show up, even though things are falling apart at home.
Paul said he died, that we may live. It’s about our stewardship. Think about the healthcare workers that had to put on clothes and help others through the pandemic while the rest of us were in quarantine. They had to deal with mental health crisis, but they kept going in and helping those that did nothing to help themselves.
Think about the social worker that had to deal with dysfunctions in families, placing kids in foster homes, and trying to figure out if kids were being treated right.
How about Pastors that deal with home issues and still have to stand in the pulpit and encourage us.
In your life, you’ve got to find out who needs you and who feeds you.
Mature people can minister to others, without complaining, even while on their cross.
When you help people while you’re hurting you will:
IV. PRAY WITH HONESTY
Jesus said, “Father, why have you forsaken me?” Psalm 22:1 begins with the words, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?”.
Have you you ever asked why God has forsaken you?
A. There Is Nothing Wrong With Asking Why
Job asked why? David wrote many Psalms asking God why? Jeremiah asked God why he suffered? Mary and Martha asked why Jesus wasn’t there when their brother died.
All of us have to ask why at one time or another.
B. Remember His Will Is Greater Than Your Why
The will of God is larger than your whole life. Jesus even said, “Let thou will be done”. We know his thoughts are not our thoughts. We’ve made up in our minds to trust Him, even when we can’t trace Him.
You’ve come to realize that it was good that you were afflicted. You learn that all things work together for the good. You have to let His will be done. If you let His will be done, you will look back and realize that if He brought you through before, He can do it again!
V. PUT IT ALL IN HIS HANDS
You understand the power of putting it in his hands. It’s a statement of confidence.
It is complete submission to the Father that you trust His wisdom.
A. Whatever It Is, He Can Handle It
It’s all about whose hands it’s in. Put a basketball in some of our hands, then it results in someone shooting bricks. Put it in the hands of LeBron James, it means Put sickness in God’s hands and you get healing. He makes ways out of no way!
B. His Hands Can Hold You, Heal You, And Help You
This is a statement of security. The old folk used to say, “oh to be kept by Him”.
Hold – The son Jesus Christ is on the mountain. He’s calling out to God the father. This is similar to a child calling out to his parents. It’s like a child saying, “I need you to pick me up”, so he lifts his hands up to be picked up. At this level the child feel pain and can’t articulate it, so they need their father to pick them up.
When you lift your hands, you’re saying, “God, pick me up and hold me”. Times you thought you weren’t going to make it, but God was holding you.
Heal – His hands also healed me. His hands are healing hands. Everything Jesus touched; he healed. Jesus laid his hands on the blind and they could see. He laid his hands on the paralyzed and they could walk. Jesus puts his hand on a boy’s coffin and he got up.
When you got the diagnosis and God healed you, you can testify that God has healing hands!
Help – Those hands are also helping hands. Helping hands show up at the very moment you need help. He is a very present help in the time of trouble!
Peter was walking on the water and beginning to sink and then he says, “Master, help me”. Jesus reached out and caught him by the hand, right before he went under. These are the hands that kept you from going under! Now unto him that able to keep your room from falling.
Story: A father wants to buy his son a special gift before his performance. He is going to be in the New York Orchestra. He decides to go into the local pawn shop. He asks the Owner for something unique and different. He sees a violin in the corner, broken but unique. The Owner said he could give anything for it, because it wasn’t any count.
The Father gave the Owner a few dollars for it. The owner didn’t know that the father restored things. The father spent all night working on it, tuning, and revarnishing it. He bought a new case and put the violin in it.
Afterwards, he presented it to his son. The son began to play the old violin. It played good, but it had a different sound. He liked the new sound.
The son’s final performance came. The son played the solo on this old violin that his father gave him, because of the unique sound it had. People began to applaud him as he played. What a beautiful sound it was! After the performance, they asked the son where he got that violin. He told them that his father gave it to him. They asked his father where he purchased this violin. The father said he restored it after purchasing it in a pawn shop the night before.
The father took time with the violin, because he knew its potential. He knew if he could get it in the hands of his son, it would sound like never before. In like manner, God saw something in you. He cleaned you up and put you in the hands of His son. Some people wonder why you sound like you do. The truth is, it’s because of the hands you were placed in! Can you give God glory for whose hands you are in?
Growintheword's Blog 