Lightly edited for readability while preserving the speaker’s meaning and substantive statements.
whenever i step up here we know that um go ahead and turn to daniel all right and we're just going to start we're going to start in daniel 1. anybody that says that the bible is boring has not read the bible because yeah i've been going back through some some you know bible stories that you hear as a kid and just looking at them i i'm every time i read a new one i'm like wow god can you believe he did that can you believe they did that oh my goodness you know i mean it is so exciting and i was reminded this morning when i was thinking about that just in the first section of daniel like daniel one through five there are some of the most incredible god things you know ever i mean it's just stories that just blow your mind and i think we've heard them so much that we lose some of the power that's in them kind of like the whole moses and the red sea god reminded me of that one this this past couple of weeks faith started watching prince of egypt which is not completely accurate with the bible but the just the incredible amazing miraculous power of god to do what he did to the sea you know to dry up that land and move it back we need to be remembering that god we heard a scripture i'm just going to read this when you don't have to turn to it but we've been talking about praying for mercy and we received a scripture out of habakkuk 3 habakkuk 3 2 that says oh lord i have heard thy speech and was afraid o lord revive thy work in the midst of the years in the midst of the years make known in wrath remember mercy well we've been you know focusing on mercy lord you know we know wrath is coming it's already begun we've been praying for mercy mercy mercy but the first part of that god reminded me of this morning is revive thy work right well we need to go back and we need to remember who god is we need to get in the into these stories and go look what god did look what he can do he's the same yesterday today and forever so that's part of going back into even the old testament and and seeing how powerful and mighty our god is and how it just doesn't usually make sense it baffles the minds of the world and that's what's going to happen when we do great exploits in the end you know and it talks about those who know him will do great exploits this is going to be us this is going to be us in these stories now so you young people get in there and start reading about who god is bible is not boring by any means at all
ever okay um that's just a side note that has nothing to do with the message this morning so um daniel and i have i'm like my husband i haven't even turned there um daniel 1. we're just going to kind of peruse through some of these these scriptures i'm not going to read all of it but you know the story of king nebuchadnezzar and he takes the um these certain young people out of israel and he starts training them up and and teaching them his ways and and going to make use of them and that's where the stories of daniel and you know shadrach meshach and abednego come from and so that's where we're starting um in chapter one that's basically it is he comes in he gets these these guys and they start training them but even in the midst of all of that you know daniel says well we're not going to eat your stuff and do your stuff let us be you know loyal to our god and so they end up having favor and being able to you know not eat the king's meat and do the things like the like the world you know so to speak so then we go on down um and i'm using my my notepad in my little iphone here so bear with me we go to chapter 2 of daniel and we see where the king has a dream he doesn't tell people what it is he wants people to come to him because you know he knows there's some shady cats around him that they're going to just throw their own spin on it of course that happens today still but he daniel ends up coming in telling the king nebuchadnezzar what his dream was and what it means right so he impresses the king um with god's power the king realizes that that um daniel has something different all right and i'm getting all this background to a point so nebuchadnezzar basically has you know a run-in with god and god's power and he experiences it um then you go on to daniel 3 and here's the famous story i love this story because i know a lot of you that have been on facebook have seen me post about you know jesus being with us in the fire but the thing about this is um daniel i mean shadrach meshach and abednego they end up not bowing down to the idol that the king had made they end up not worshiping the pagan gods and doing what everybody else was pressured to do and this you guys you teenagers this is important okay they didn't do what the world was doing or expected them to do or was pressuring them to do they stood up for god almighty and what did he do
he was with him through it he was with them through the trial he was with them through through the fire they throw him into a fire that stoked hotter than a normal fire because the king got so irritated with them it's so hot that it burns up the guys that are the soldiers that are throwing them in and the king comes back and he looks and what does he see he sees the three people but there's one more isn't it and it's jesus jesus walking with them in the fire so this king has already experienced god's power but then he comes back and he actually sees jesus let's go to the um to the verse here uh daniel 4 25. and he answered and said and this is the the king i see four men loose walking in the midst of the fire and they have no hurt in the form of the fourth i'm sorry i did that oh i'm sorry 325 i confused you i was looking at my top thing 325 everybody's flipping around going what yeah pause okay you there and so he answered and said lo i see four men loose walking in the midst of the fire and they have no hurt in the form of the fourth is like the son of god so this king and you know he's obviously not a godly king he's a king he's babylonian and he is he's he's not a great guy but here he is again having another experience and actually seeing the son of god i mean that's pretty powerful experience and seeing once again god's power right work through these people who are loyal and who do not compromise and who do not live like he lives and do not bow down to his decrees they obey god and only god so he has an experience there and then we'll go on down and read what his reaction is to it in verse 28 of 3 chapter 3. verse 28 he said it says then nebuchadnezzar spake and said blessed be the god of shadrach meshach and abednego who hath sent his angel and delivered his servants that trusted in him and have changed the king's words and yielded their bodies that they might not serve nor worship any god except their own god therefore i make a decree that every people nation and language which speak anything amiss against the god of shadrach meshach and abednego shall be cut into pieces and their houses shall be made a dunghill because there is no other god that can deliver after this sword
and then he promoted the the three boys so he recognizes and he he makes a decree that there is no god like this all right so he has a this really life-changing experience here um and then on in chapter four like i said just bear we're kind of getting the background here and then we'll move on um chapter four and verse ten so king nebuchadnezzar gets a dream right and remember he's not a godly man he gets a dream from god verse 10 of chapter four says thus were the visions of my head in my bed i saw and behold a tree in the midst of the earth and the height thereof was great the tree grew and was strong and the height thereof reached unto heaven and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth the leaves thereof were fair and the fruit thereof much and in it was meat for all the beasts of the field had shadow under it and the fowls of the heaven of the heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof and all the flesh was fed of it i saw in the visions of my head upon my bed and behold a watcher and an and a holy one came down from heaven he cried aloud and said thus hew down the tree and cut off his branches shake off his leaves and scatter his fruit let the beast get away from under under it and the fowls from his branches nevertheless leave the stump of his roots in the earth even with a band of iron and brass in the tender grass of the field and let it be wet with with the dew of heaven and let his portion be with the beast in the grass of the earth let his heart be changed from man's and let a beast heart be given unto him and let seven times pass over him this matter is by the decree of the watchers and the um and the demand by the word of the holy ones to the intent that the living may know that the most high ruleth and ca in the kingdom of men and giveth it to whom whomsoever he will and settle setteth up over it the basest of man basis meaning humble lowly all right so this is the the dream that god gives nebuchadnezzar and we'll move on over flip on over to verse 24. and daniel steps in to give of course god's interpretation
this is the interpretation o king and this is the decree of the most high which is come upon my lord the king that they shall drive thee from men and that dwelling shall be with the beast of the field and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen and they shall wet thee with the dew of the of heaven and seven times shall pass over thee till thou know that the most high ruleth in the kingdom of men and giveth it to whomever whomsoever he will and whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee after thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule wherefore o king let me let my counsel be acceptable unto thee daniel's saying listen i'm giving you some advice here break off thy sins by righteousness and thine iniquities by showing mercy to the poor if it be if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquility all right so nebuchadnezzar gets a warning right so you think oh he he's obviously experienced god i mean he's seen jesus walking in the fire he's seen his power here and there he's watched these guys live their lives and be used by god constantly so of course he's going to turn of course not what hap what rises up in him is pride right in verse 29 it says at the end of 12 months so within a year he walked in the palace of the kingdom of babylon the king spake and said is not this great babylon that i have built for the house of the kingdom of the kingdom by the might of my power for the honor of my majesty while the word was in the king's mouth there fell a voice from heaven saying o king nebuchadnezzar to thee it is spoken the kingdom is departed from thee and so what happens to him it's one of the craziest stories in the bible i think he ends up an animal i mean you go through and it says in verse 33 the same hour was the thing fulfilled upon nebuchadnezzar and he was driven from men and did eat grass as oxen the king is eating grass like an oxen okay like oxen and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hairs were grown like eagle's feathers and his nails like bird claws okay i'd say that was pretty a pretty serious judgment on this king who was high and mighty right and then you go on through and he ends up at the time that god had said he repented and you see um
you can read on down and it talks about him repenting um at the end of the day he's lifted up my eyes under heaven and mine understanding returned unto me so he got his understanding back and what it does first thing that he does i blessed the most high and i praised and honored him that liveth forever whose dominion is an everlasting dominion and his kingdom is from generation to generation he his first step he gets it right he's like i bless him you know i i was wrong i lifted myself up he's the one that puts people in power he's the one that set me up here with all this and so i'm i'm going to be humbled and returned to where i need to be realizing he's it he's got everything in control and you go on to verse 37 he says now i nebuchadnezzar praising stole and honor the king of heaven all whose works are truth and his ways judgment and those that walk in pride he is able to abase or humble um and that's i know a lot of you were here it was november 14th i think was the date of our our prayer meeting and it was before thanksgiving and we have the probably the biggest crowd we've had for prayer and the word that god gave us through pastor dean was humility and at that point he said we need to study it out we need to focus on it we need to read about it we need to pray about it right we need to get it in us so i started doing that um and we'll we'll move on um the chapter five tells about you know nebuchadnezzar being gone and you would think once again that something that powerful would have an impact on all the people around but we see in chapter 5 his son belshazzar takes over his king and he's just totally wicked he's partying it up i mean he's living it up he's doing says he he did what was evil in the sight of the lord this guy saw all of these mighty things you know he heard the stories you know that he knew about his dad eating grass and coming back and praising the lord but what happened again is that pride that is in people that just rises up and if it's not if we don't control it god will you know and so if you go on through this story it talks about him you know nebuchadnezzar had gotten the the silver and gold and the things from the temple and had them to himself but he wasn't using them well belshazzar goes as far as in verse two he says of chapter five belshazzar while he tasted the wine so he was drinking and partying it up commanded to bring the
golden and silver vessels which his father nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in jerusalem that the king and his princes his wives and his concubines might drink therein yeah okay this is serious so now you're not only going to pride but you're taking the things of god very lightly you're not honoring god and you're you're taking his stuff lightly and that's what when i was reading this you know you go on and you see where um they drank and then in in verse five of chapter five it says in the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall and the kings of the king's palace and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote so this is like god's hand coming down and saying on the wall can you imagine we're standing here that happens the k then the king's countenance was changed and his thoughts troubled him yeah i bet because he's probably holding one of god's cups right there watching the the hand right on the wall going uh-oh so he says and his thoughts troubled him so that the joints of his loins were loosed and his knees smote one against another his knees were knocking right he was scared that's the fear of the lord right there when his hand shows up and writes you a little message on your wall so he of course who do they call it's always where's daniel something god's god's doing something where's daniel what's going on here so he calls daniel in and if you um let's say skip on over let's see to 21 well verse 18 it says o thou king the most high god gave nebuchadnezzar god gave nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom even though he was ungodly god gave him the kingdom right and a kingdom and majesty and glory and honor and for the majesty that he gave him all the people in nations and languages trembled and feared before him whom he would he would slew and whom he would he kept alive and whom he would he set up and whom he would he put down but when his heart was lifted up now this is again talking about nebuchadnezzar and his mind hardened in pride he was deposed he was deposed from his kingly throne and they took his glory from him and he was driven from the sons of men and his heart was made like the beast and his dwelling was the wild with with the wild donkeys
they fed him with grass like oxen and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till he knew that the most high god ruled in the kingdom of men and that he was a he appointeth over it whomever he will so he's just reminding him about what happened to his father and thou his son obelisar has not humbled the unheart though thou know knewest all of this so he's saying you knew everything that happened but you still rose up in pride but has lifted up thyself against the lord of heaven and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee and thou and thy lords thy wives and thy concubines have drunk one in them and thou has praised the the gods of silver and gold of brass iron wood and stone which see not nor hear nor no and the god in whose hand thy breath is and whose whose are all thy ways hath thou not glorified then was the part of the hands then was the part of the hand sent from him and this writing was written and he he tells what's written and he interprets it and he says in verse 26 this is the interpretation of the thing and it's mene i guess is what that word is god hath numbered thy kingdom and finished it tackle thou art weighed in the balances and art found wanting peres thy kingdom is divided and given to the medes in persian so we go on down to verse 30 and it says in that night was belshazzar the king of the chaldeans slain so it was a really quick thing there that happened to him you know i was reading this and the thing that really stuck out is number one all the chances that these people had you know and yet that pride that is it's in all of our hearts you know this message is about humility and i like the saying that i don't know where i heard it it's one of those unknown quotes you know but if you think that you're humble you're not you know if that's what you think of yourself then that's a clue that you're not right we've all got this pride that wants to rise up in us we're human you know this message applies to me applies to my husband applies to everybody in this room applies to the youngest child you know those haughty looks the the huffy um responses it's all pride and rebellion rising up in us and we've got to get a hold of that um but as i was reading the interpretation here and it said you were found wanting right god checked you
and you were found wanting and the thing that just resounded in me is will i be found wanting will i be found deficient is what that means wanting deficient which means not having enough of a specified quality or ingredient you know when it comes down to it i mean all of us think well we're saved we're going to heaven we're all good but when it comes down to it are we going to be found lacking in humility which is such an important quality or forgiveness or you know that whole thing check yourself before you wreck yourself we need to be in a constant state of check um and and the other thing that that hit me was how they took the things of god lightly you know they saw the power of god they knew that this was a the mighty god the one that nobody else could match but bow shazar came in and he took it lightly what are we doing with what god has given us are we taking it lightly you teenagers you have an opportunity you kids you teenagers have an opportunity to grow up in a church that speaks the word and is teaching you exactly how to how to make a difference in the world around you are you are you taking it lightly you know are you like these guys the the prince belshazzar that's just drinking from the lord's cup like it's not a big deal are you coming to church and drinking and and then going out in the world and being just like them you know we we don't have time for this we don't have time for this we've got to get it right right we're not going to be perfect but we have to be moving towards lowering ourselves and pleasing the lord more than we please ourselves more than we please the people around us and i know all of us can can attest to that we have not pleased some people around us by following what god has has said for us to do um turn with me to first corinthians eight yeah it boils down to either we listen to the word god gave us on november 14th and we humble ourselves or we'll be humbled first corinthians 8 1 now as touching things offered unto idols we know that we all have knowledge knowledge puffeth up but charity edifieth and if any man think that he knoweth anything he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to yet as he ought to know but if any man love god the same is known of him and that's that's the question that we have to ask because i praise god that we
have a pastor that has so much knowledge and that he is constantly i'm constantly learning things from you know heading the word and doing these things but what is the attitude that i have about it you know do i take it and do i throw it at people or do i take it and do i apply it to myself first you know and my sister used to have a say that she used to talk about when you hear a truth or when you get knowledge of something our general reaction is to pick up that rock and throw it at somebody i mean that's usually it when you're sitting i mean even probably this message you're probably sitting here going mm-hmm i wish so-and-so was hearing this boy i need to get a copy of this cd because so-and-so needs to hear this but we need to be applying it to ourselves right um and then we do need to preach it to others but we need to be led by the holy spirit in all that we do it doesn't matter if it's a truth in god's word if it's the wrong timing or the wrong attitude then it then it just gives power to satan you know um let's go to galatians galatians six [Music] galatians six we'll read in galatians 6 verse 1 start at the beginning says brethren if a man be overtaken in a fault ye which are spiritual restore such a one in the spirit of meekness or that's you know being being humble being quiet and patient and humble meekness but then it says considering thyself lest thou also be tempted bear ye one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of christ for if a man think himself to be something when he is nothing he deceiveth himself uh i just i all capitalize considering thyself i know i say this a lot but as christians i think so many i mean you go into churches and you talk to christians and it's always pointing the finger and we really we just we've got to point it back and we've got to get our hearts right it says considering thyself all right and if you don't what does it say down here if you think more of yourself you're deceiving yourself you're setting yourself up for deception so go on to titus 3
and i hope you don't mind i love scripture scripture scripture it says it a whole lot better than i can and it means more than me and titus 3 verse 2. let's see i'm gonna turn says to speak evil of no man to be no brawlers but gentle showing all meekness unto all men for we ourselves and this is what we need to remember you know what my husband i've heard him say this many times about other people it's like you know i was there and i'm only a breath away from being there again without god's strength and mercy and grace right so that's what this is saying for we ourselves also were sometimes foolish disobedient deceived serving diverse lust and pleasures living in malice and envy hateful and hating one another but after that but after that the kindness and love of god our savior toward man appeared not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to his mercy he saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the holy ghost which he shed on us abundantly through jesus christ our savior that being justified by his grace we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life that this is what we need to keep in our forefront we're nothing you know we came from from junk we still have junk in our life so we don't need to think any more of ourselves than even if we have knowledge about the end times or knowledge about once saved always saved or knowledge about deliverance these are special tools that god has blessed us with to help people but we don't need to think just because we have these tools that we're anything special i mean we're god's children he loves us we're special to him but we don't need to be puffed up about it and we need to watch the way we especially things are going to get heated up in these end times there are going to be people who are very hostile if you try to share the truth and we've got to guard the way we respond the way we approach we have to be once again i repeat and repeat and repeat led by the holy spirit that's why praying in tongues for long periods of time and building up your spirit man woman is so important because that's how you are led by the spirit if your spirit is weak you're going to have a hard time tuning in to god's radio
so um let's go ahead on to i'll just read second corinthians three verse four and such trust have we through christ to to godward not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything of ourselves but our sufficiency is of god who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament not of the letter but of the spirit the letter killeth but the spirit giveth life that that's it god has made us ministers all of us every one of us children teenagers all of us young adults and all of us older people you know i'm messing with my husband god has given us these gifts once again i repeat the holy spirit is who will lead us in using them let's go to luke luke 18. i i first i remember reading this parable that jesus gave um i don't know if anybody's read the book by andrew murray humility but i remember reading that book while i was going through a divorce not a good time to read a humility book it wasn't what i really it was a good time according to god but not a good time according to my flesh and so you know i ended up definitely getting humbled during that process of you know pretty much losing everything but i remember this this parable just flashed at me you know i mean it just kept blaring in my face because i found myself having this attitude because of the issues that i was dealing with with the other person all right luke 18 verse 9. and he jesus spake this parable unto certain which unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others so they they looked down on some other people two men went up into the temple to pray and the one the one a pharisee and the other republican which was a tax tax guy tax collector the pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself god i thank thee that i am not as other men are extortioners unjust adulterers or even as this publican i fast twice in the weak i give tithes of all that i possess and the republicans standing there standing a fall off or off would not lift up so much as his eyes into heaven but smote upon his breast
saying god be merciful to me a sinner i tell you this man went down to his house justified rather than the other for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased and he that humble humbleth himself shall be exalted i had this this experience on facebook it's been an ongoing experience and i kind of tried to convey this to the person because they were upset that people weren't recognizing them it was a woman um in another country um and apparently there's a big issue with prejudice about women and definitely no women in ministry you know and i'm blessed we're blessed here because i mean some people don't like women in ministry but obviously my husband's okay with it and so i was kind of trying to just explain you know but don't try to push your way and exalt yourself and try to take on titles you know didn't go over that well but but that's that's the thing is you know we don't need to be putting ourselves up as as this and i know i'm being repetitive of this but there's so much in in the word about this i mean i had to just knock out about half of of what i had just for time's sake because there's so much that encourages us to seek humility clothe ourselves with humility humility humility humility pride is bad god opposes the pride prideful um but this is this is what i found myself even in a situation where you okay if the person's a drug addict you kind of get this feeling like well you know he's this way and i'm this way even that's even if it's the truth it's it's a wrong spirit it's a prideful spirit that has to be cut off and thrown in the fire okay i mean because this pharisee probably thought well you know he did fast he did try he did this and that and this and that and this guy was a tax collector but the other guy walked in humility he knew he was a sinner you know he knew he didn't deserve anything from god and i think that's where we get off also is that we think just because we have been saved we deserve it all and that's that american mentality you know we deserve it all we we've been saved we're god's favorite right well what was jesus jesus was it all right and he is our perfect example of this let's let's go ahead and skip on to to jesus our example um what does it say about him in philippians 2. if anybody had a reason to be you know pretty confident and prideful it was god who came to earth
right but it says in philippians 2 verse 5 let this mind be in you which was also in christ jesus who being in the form of god thought it not robbery to be equal with god but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men and being found in fashion as man humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross which was a horrible shameful death back then wherefore god also hath a highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name that at the name of jesus every knee should bow of the things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth and that every tongue should confess that jesus christ is lord to the glory of god the father that word humble is a the word t-a-p-i-n-o and it means to depress press down to humiliate in condition or heart abase or bring low humble yourself jesus who was god came to earth and stripped himself of everything that he deserved you know and made himself uh it he went to the cross and and the cross was a i mean it was just for thieves and robert i mean he was on the cross with these people who were definitely not his level right but he did it he was humble and he was a servant while he was here a lot of times we think in ministry it's you know being a minister la di da you know put on the suit and and put on the dress which i don't do that but you know and it makes you think you look at all these especially in america these ministers on tv whoo they're the bigwigs right well let's put jesus up to these ministers on tv and see how they compare you know he didn't fluff himself up he didn't beg for money he didn't do all these things that you see in america it's just filled and and i i sit here and i go no guess what ministry is it's serving it's being a servant a slave you're saying you know and ministry and i say ministry meaning we're all in ministry as christians right preaching the gospel and loving people it is a very humbling thing and if it's not then you're not in the right spirit when you're doing it um let's see i'm just going to read james 4 we've all
heard this one james 4 verse 6 through 10 but he giveth more grace wherefore he saith god resisteth the proud but giveth grace unto the humble submit yourselves therefore to god resist the devil and he will flee from you draw nigh to god and he will draw nigh to you cleanse your hand ye sinners and purify your hearts you double-minded be afflicted and mourn and weep let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to heaviness humble yourselves in the sight of the lord and he shall lift you up first peter 5 5-7 you can just jot these down likewise you younger and it's not just meaning in age it's you know in maturity of being a christian likewise younger submit yourselves unto the elder yea all of you be subject to one another and be clothed with humility for god resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble humble yourselves therefore unto the mighty hand of god that he may exalt you in due time casting all your cares upon him for he careth for you but you know we all hear that other part you know about uh casting all your cares upon him for he cares for you but what's the part before you gotta humble yourself we like to pick out these nice verses you know i don't cause you know you could put a verse on facebook oh casting all your care upon him for he careth for you and you get 50 likes but you put this other part about humble yourselves but you may get maybe a couple of our church members and that's it you don't get any other likes but this where it says be clothed i think that's a neat way to think about it be clothed what are we supposed to do we're supposed to clothe ourselves with humility it says be clothed with humility and that word and i'm there's no way i could dare say it it's e g k o m b o o m a i um and it means to and girdle oneself for labor all right getting ready for labor um and it also means the apron as being a badge of servitude this is our badge of servitude this is our servant's badge right here we all need to have it um and then you go to colossians 3 12-15 once again i'm just gonna read it it says put on so once again we're putting on therefore as the elect of god holy and beloved bowels of mercy kindness humbleness of mind and that's that's something to know this
is something you got to work at in your mind it really is you know that battle that goes on in your mind this is a this is an intense one you know when somebody mouths off or when somebody thinks something of you or does this or that you got to defeat it in your mind but so it doesn't come out of your mouth you know still working on that one forbearing one another and forgiving one another if any man have a quarrel against you even as christ forgave you so also do ye and above all things put on charity which is the bond of perfect perfectness and let the peace of god rule in your hearts to which also ye are called in one body and be thankful we always have that let the peace of god rule in your hearts that's another one of those verses i'll let the peace of god rule in your hearts but then you've got this whole list of stuff you're supposed to be putting on and if you put these things on you're probably going to have the peace of god ruling in your hearts but if you don't you're not you know it's one of those if things romans 12 16 be of the same mind one toward another mind not high things but condescend to men of low estate be not wise in your own conceits and where it says high things that's lofty in place or character or high esteem things let's see this is what i in isaiah 66 it says for all 66 2 i'm sorry for all those things that hath mine um handmade this is god and all these things have been saith the lord but to this man will i look this is the one god's looking for he's looking at i'm pleased with even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit and trembleth at my word okay let's go on down this will be one of the last ones first john 2 16. for all that is in the world the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the father but is of the world so think about this when you're applying it to ministry you can be a great minister you can have lots of great you know things going on for you but if you're doing it with pride it says it's not of the father you don't want to be you don't want to be ministering to people outside of the will of the father or what he has for you or the way and spirit and attitude that he has for you um so we go back and look at what happened in nebuchadnezzar and belshazzar and in second chronicles these will be my closing little thing here in second chronicles 7 13 14
we probably can all say this this is the the famous verse where it talks about if god shuts up the heavens and if i shut up the heavens that there be no rain or if i command the locust to devour the land or if i send pestilence among my people that's funny too because you always hear this next part if my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways saying it says turn from their wicked ways that's god's people in wicked ways not pointing the finger at other people's wicked ways right um then i will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land people quote that one a lot more often than they note that it was god that did all this right he was the one that didn't send rain and commanded the locust to devour the land and all that stuff so it says here if we humble ourselves we repent and everything that he he hears right and he'll forgive our sins and heal our land but does that mean let's take for example the obvious illustration would be where we are in the united states now does that mean that things are going to change for what's about to happen to the u.s you know i got a second kings 22. y'all go ahead and turn there because it says if we humble ourselves right he'll heal our land and while you're turning there i'm just going to read daniel in verse in chapter 9 5. i think it's interesting to note how he prayed for mercy nehemiah did the same thing he said in verse 5 of chapter 9 he said we have sinned and have committed iniquity and have done wickedly and have rebelled even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments and it goes on in verses 20 and 21 and says and while i was speaking and praying and confessing my sin and the sin of my my people israel and presenting my supplication before the lord so this is the heart that the way that daniel and nehemiah i noticed prayed was not you know oh god our land is horrible you know these people are horrible it was lord forgive me i'm a sinner lord forgive this country you know we're all wicked we don't deserve you know your mercy but lord please have you know mercy remember mercy in in wrath and i think that's important to just kind of note when we're in our prayer time or when we're in our corporate prayer on wednesday nights that we need to to be saying lord forgive us you know lord forgive my sins lord you know forgive our country lord forgive our church lord
forgive us all because we're all wicked i didn't even turn here either i was going to turn here second kings [Music] this this king you know you have few and far between that were did right in the sight of the lord you have a lot that say did evil in the sight of the lord did evil in the sight of the lord but josiah he had it going on um he not only he found out what the lord's commands were they found the book of the law he he has it read to him and he realizes oh no we're so not doing all this we're in trouble we better correct our our mistakes we better repent we better get it right he goes throughout the country i mean it talks about him burning and smashing things to powder the idols in the high places where they were worshiping you know the idols and it even talks about him going and destroying um where the sodomize he cracked down on everything um let's see because it says in in chapter 22 of second kings it says and he did that which was right in the sight of the lord and walked in all the ways of david his father and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left let's say 22 and then you go on i'm sorry i'm jumping around so he did all of this he got his land cleaned up he prayed he repented he got them in order he got the priest doing what the priests were supposed to do and what does god say in verse 19. he says because thine heart was tender and thou hast humbled thyself before the lord when thou heard us what i spake against this place and against the inhabitants thereof that they should come become a desolation and a curse and has rent thy clothes and wept before me i also have heard thee sayeth the lord behold therefore i will gather thee unto thy fathers and thou shalt be gathered into thy grave in peace and thine eyes shall not see all the evil which i will bring upon this place so it didn't change what god was going to do because of his great grandfather manassas just pure evil acts but what it did was it impacted his life right so you know i say this not to discourage but we all know what's coming to the u.s i mean we've had dreams we've heard the biblical prophecy we've we've had all of that and we know
but the humility is going to impact how we're affected by what's coming not just you know with other people but in our own hearts and in our own lives and god spared and and i was telling i was telling dean i really think i don't know how many of you know david wilkerson the ministry of david wilkerson but he died not to i guess it was a year or so ago and he was he has been in new york city for many many many many many years preaching and crying and weeping over those people and when i read this i thought that's what god did you know something bad is going to hit new york city horrible you know we all have seen it we all know we've had dreams visions all this stuff something bad is going to hit it and god took him out of it this is just my theory here so that he didn't have to see what happened to those people that he cried and wept over that didn't turn i mean because he had such a heart for evangelism and for the people of new york not just new york but that was you know where his heart was and so when i read it it was just like oh wow you know i think it just seems like that god is loves his people and he knows that this wrath is coming he's gonna do it it's it's set in motion but there are certain ones i think like that that you know god said you've you've worked hard and long and i'm going to let you go in peace you know i'm going to just share real quick in keeping with that thought about what's about to come i'm hoping that this will kind of motivate our church to not that we're in a horrible place but to really get on our faces you know really lower ourselves and get on our faces while there's still time and and get these things purified so that we'll be set and ready to go when things happen so i just i saw these um a couple of dreams that this guy that i don't even know on my facebook but i've seen his stuff and it's consistently you know on target a pastor that he knows had these two dreams and i'm just going to read them and then i'm going to close out with two other scriptures and i know i know that this first one it came from um december of 2011. all right so and part of it has already come to pass so we know that this this dream is you know as a prophetic word says i had a dream last night and again it's december of 2 28 of 2011 in my dream i saw myself going across america as if i was floating but with no fear
the land looked like it was bombed totally destroyed i saw people standing out around their homes weeping holding on to each other there were a few that laid dead i heard someone say this should never have happened this should never have happened over and over national destruction had hit america no food no water babies crying grown-ups men all crying holding on to their families begging god for mercy as i moved along the way i saw people running looking for loved ones missing totally out of their minds quickly came over a large city that looked like columbus ohio possibly as i came close there it was the riots we've all heard about store windows busted grabbing what they could get could get but i could tell they were not too concerned about tvs or ipads they were grabbing food water chips things to survive on riots fighting i even saw one man shot to death as i left that place going like a speed of light i was standing on the back side of the white house i looked up and there was president barack obama on the balcony holding a shotgun i heard a loud scream really loud and i turned my head to see where the scream came from flying high in the air was an eagle majestic flying around washington i saw barack point that shotgun to that eagle and shot it dead and it fell to the ground i looked up at him and he just had a smile on his face a smirk these words these were the words i heard i've done it and i won't have to deal with this in my administration i was it was dead silent and at that moment i heard a voice that said tell the people this is my will this is my hand both upon the generation of the righteous and upon the curse the righteous will find their way and know what to do the curse will wander around with with no compass the cup is full from that point on i knew that we were coming to a showdown it was going to be between us and them good versus evil i saw people gathering in some some homes that were not destroyed i saw people having prayer meetings just praying in the spirit to my servants and handmaidens and this is a word from the lord in the dream to my servants and handmaidens a special anointing will reside on you in these last days hold back not thy voice but speak your hearts for out of them are issues are the issues of life pick up the mantle of prayer cover yourself with it and find you a secret place to cover my servants who stand for truth in prayer i see their hearts and the desires to understand and know more their eyes have been anointed with a special anointing to see others are blinded to my word
that's something that's really powerful we need to keep in mind it's not always a personality issue sometimes there's a literal blinding going on with people and we might get frustrated with the person but we need to be praying spiritually that those blinders be taken off and not make the battle flash against flesh um let's see all things will be revealed in their due course a supernatural wave of my spirit will come over this generation soon the final voices are in the land to speak one last time think it not strange the happenings around you they must and will come to pass but i have placed in your hands the food to sustain you in the months ahead i have spoken and shown that showed that matter tell my servants saith the lord there is coming harsh days ahead and as i stood there hearing the voice of god i saw a table very old as it as if it was a table that had many documents signed in the past of great importance i saw a voting ballot ballot laying there as i looked i saw two names on the that ballot barack obama and mitt romney it was checked beside obama's name i looked at the bottom of the ballot and these words were written for this is the will of the lord and then they woke up it's a pretty powerful dream um you know but that's the the thing in that dream that really of course stood out is they were meeting in their homes and they were having prayer meetings praying in the spirit and that they they were gonna you know they were gonna be the ones to press through and make it you know because that the people out there that have no compass they have no you know the things of the spirit are foolishness to them and we've got that and we're the ones that are gonna have to just depend on the things that we know he says that he's given it to us right he's given us the food that doesn't just mean the natural food you know everybody's all freaked out about 12 21. gather up your mres and all of your water and everything but it's not just the natural food he's giving us the food that we're going to need of the word that we're going to need to make it because that's all we're going to make it on is his word you know man does not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of god so then we have another dream and i hope you don't mind me i know this is going along but i just felt that it was important to share this this one was almost a year later that this same pastor had november 24 2012 and they said he says i was immediately standing in front of the desk in the oval office standing in the oval office
i was in front of the president a voice came forth and said weep and howl for the misery that shall come come shortly there on the floor of the oval office was the eagle i saw him shoot back in december he walks from behind the desk with the same smirk i saw in his face and puts his foot on the neck of the eagle at this point he picks it up by its head and twist it three times until the head came off from the body at that point the voice said let's see the spirit of rebel on which this guy says he knows what that means and but he doesn't go into that the president of the united states was dressed in total black black suit tie shirt shoes pants total black as i was standing in front of him looking directly at him all of a sudden his chest cavity began to open and his heart was exposed as i was looking at his heart thick black dark mist was swirling around it at this point he picked up a gavel in his hand which was part wood and part stone the handle was wood and the head of the gavel was stone he hits a document on the desk and when he did an earthquake hit washington all of a sudden i was standing above the white house and saw the earth open and it went toward the washington monument then towards the jefferson memorial at that point an odd color rain started falling it was the color of fire and it started slowly coming down and intensified little by little until the water started rising the starting point was washington dc as the water started rising i went up a little higher into the atmosphere and saw the map of the united states the waters left washington and began to flood across the nation i saw it hit maryland west virginia ohio michigan kentucky indiana south carolina and on and on until it covered america on the document on the desk of the president was written the final abomination i began to hear screams across the nation and it was a mournful sound i thought of noah and what it must have been like for the people outside of the ark as the flood waters came in and they knew they had not listened to noah or the voice god gave to them to speak the screams were as if their lives were over and there was no hope as i was still in the air and i'm going to try to explain this the best i can i saw america in the state of being covered with flood waters and then all of a sudden i saw beams of light quickly coming out of the flood waters like a speed of light quickly going up into the air millions it looked like but at that moment i was taken above the earth and i saw it all around the world these were possibly the prayers of the saints and i'll pause i had heard i've heard this before someone who um
had an actual death experience and they talked about being in heaven and this beam of light shooting up and god explaining that it was the prayers for her to you know because she had just passed away and so i i it kind of was confirmation to me because i'd heard that you know way of describing the prayers before um after this point now i was back to the earth and as if i was back to the beginning of all this i heard a voice say the shifting has begun at this point i was looking over the top of mega churches and like a flash a voice said a breeding ground for sin the people know not me but play around their calf i know that as we enter into the time of the end it will not be large churches but homes home meetings of where the saints will gather in secret where god will abide and speak in the last days because of the persecution that will come upon this generation then at this point i was looking again at the homes of people i knew that loved and served god i saw the homes of men and women that were gathered together praying in deep prayers across the nation and a voice that said the season is upon the nation because you have set the abomination before my eyes i will set judgment before yours and i asked when will this happen and i heard after he will be sworn in and then they woke up of course that's january like january 20 20th 21st something like that um but i read this not to depress you but to draw out of it the power that was happening through the prayers of the saints right even in the midst of the flood the prayers of the saints and the fact that you know there's a reason we're not a big huge church god god orders our steps you know a lot of people look down on the home churches but i do believe you know there's a lot of corruption there's a lot of junk that happens when you go into that world of build a bigger church build a bigger church build a bigger church and in the both of these dreams the thing that was happening was the saints were gathering in homes you know they weren't in these big mega churches no i'm not dissing them or anything else but the saints were in their homes and they were praying and they were crying out to god and those prayers were going up um i think it's a powerful thing just to think about the the place that we're going to be in and i think that's also why god spoke that word on november 14th to our whole church humility get it now because you're not gonna have to you're not gonna have time to learn it later you know it it could mean the difference in some very serious stuff
one last well it's actually two last things in isaiah 57 verse the end of verse 13. and this is just to encourage you after that very heavy heavy two dreams that i just shared but this is to encourage you but he that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land and shall inherit my holy mountain and shall say cast you up cast you up prepare the way take up the stumbling block out of the way of my people for thus saith the high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity whose name is holy i dwell in the high and holy place and with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite dwell that word dwell is the word s-h-a-k-a-n means to reside or permanently stay abide continue remain and rest all right a humble person is a person that god will rest with and that's what we really really want to to move into is having god abide and rest with us bring us rest he i think that's a cool thing even a picture to think about god finding his rest in us and this is my last scripture everybody knows it i think i probably give it to us every time that i preach and it's psalm 139 23-24 search me o god and know my heart try me and know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting i think i'll probably close out unless god changes it any message that i ever do that's that's where we need to go back to god do your work in me so that i can do your work out there you know because if we if we don't have our hearts set on him and if we're not humble and able to take what's coming and it's coming you know if we lash out at people when they lash out at us if our pride rises up when they call us crazy then we're not going to be able to do what we need to do for the lord so that's that's it my pastor amen humility good thing in it not to think of ourselves too highly as we ought to think