From Glory to Glory

I want to talk to you today. I want to talk to you about a message called from glory to glory, from glory to glory. I want to preach from attacks I've never preached from before, which is when King Saul, or actually Saul before the King, when he's anointed to be King by Samuel, find a story in 1 Samuel 9 through 10. We're not going to go there yet.

And although Saul had a miserable end, he actually failed in his assignment. There's some things about when he was anointed to be King and when Samuel anointed him and some things in his life that I think can point to us and help us learn how we can be transformed and how God changes us. And it's always by the Holy Spirit. It's a work of the Spirit that doesn't change in us.

But I believe that there's things that the Holy Spirit uses, different encounters, that the things that we encounter, that he uses as a means and maybe a stimulant, if you will, to start that change in our lives. So I want to start with 2 Corinthians 3 verses 18, a very familiar verse. Actually, let's go to a quote. There's a great quote here by Max El-Kato.

It says, it says, say this, God loves me the way I am. But God loves me too much to let me stay that way. He wants me to be just like Jesus. So no matter where you're at today in life, God loves you the way you are.

That's a fact. God loved you when you were the worst of sinners. God loved you when you didn't know him. God loved you when you didn't even exist.

And God loves you the way you sit here today. Whatever that is, whatever way that is, He loves you that way. But He also loves you so much that He doesn't want you to stay where you're at. That He's got a plan for more in your life.

He's got a plan to continue to make you more into the image of Jesus than what you are today. And so that's God's plan for you. He just wants you to continue to become like Jesus. So this verse in 2 Corinthians 3, 18 says this.

It says, but we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord are changed or transformed into the same image, even as by the spirit of the Lord. Let's read that. We have another, oh, we don't have that up there. Okay, you guys can repeat after me.

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord are transformed into that same image just as by the spirit of the Lord. So there's this thing, the amplified version kind of puts it this way. It says, as we continually behold, we are progressively being transformed. I like that because this action of transformation, although the day you can save your change on the inside, the rest of you is a lifetime.

There's transformation that needs to take place in your life every day. And that he says that as you continue to behold, and it says as you'll be holding in it in a mirror the glory of the Lord. And that's really what I want to talk about today. It says that we're changed from glory to glory.

And so if you think about it, a lot of people don't realize that you actually have glory in you. Because when Jesus made you new, he actually put himself in you. And if you didn't have glory in you, then it would be impossible to go from one level of glory to another. Like if you don't have any, how could you go from one to another?

And so he puts his glory in you. Matter of fact, Isaiah 43, says this. A lot of times people read this verse and they think, well, God created me. So he could be, I could bring glory to him.

I think that's a reasonable assumption. But I think there's a deeper meaning here. It says this, everyone who is called by my name, whom I have created for my glory. I have formed him.

Yes, I've made him. Everyone who is called by my name, who I've created for my glory. And so when you think about it, you aren't just created to bring glory to God. You are actually created.

And he actually formed you to carry his glory. That you're actually a glory carrier. And if you look in Romans chapter eight, you know, right after it talks about all things work together for good. Paul says this, it says, it says those he foreknew he predestined to be conformed to the image of God, that he might become the firstborn among many brethren.

And who he predestined, he called, and those he called he justified or declared you righteous. And those he justified he did what? Glorified. And so that all those things were in the past tense.

He foreknew you. He knew that one day you would choose him. He predestined you. You have a destiny.

Here's the thing. You have a destiny to be conformed to the image of Jesus. You're like, what's my destiny? Well, to be conformed to him.

To be more like him today than you were yesterday. And then it says those that he predestined he called, and those he called he justified, and those he justified he glorified. Those are all in the past tense. That's done.

The day you get saved, that's finished. And so he puts that in you, but having it in you and releasing it through you and out of you and allowing it to transform is a completely different thing. And so I want to look today. It says that we are transformed from one level, another translation says from one level of glory to another.

And so that as we go through things in life, God has more for you than what you think he had. And God has more for you today than what you had yesterday. And he's got more for you tomorrow than what you have today. And so that as we go through different seasons of life, God will use seasons, God will use circumstances to actually form and transform you and take us from one level to another.

And then from another level to even another level. And what happens is a lot of times, I think, as believers, we get to a certain level and where God wants us to go to the next level, we decide that we're comfortable right here. And when God wants you to be a pioneer, you actually become a settler. And there's a difference.

The pioneers are the ones that go out into the wilderness and actually make a way for other people to come in. They're actually exploring new territory. They're gaining new ground. And a settler is one that comes in kind of behind them and just kind of camps out and resides there and doesn't move forward.

And so what God says, he says, I want you to be a pioneer, not just not a settler. Don't get to one level and stop there. See that? Excuse me.

I'm not sure. You guys awake now? I should have turned my head. Air awake.

So the great thing, so what God does, he incorporates, he actually incorporates seasons into your transformation and assignment. And sometimes what will happen, people will mistake their assignment for their destiny. And they end up making a career out of their assignment and staying right here in this assignment, which may only be temporary. These seasons have a beginning and an end.

A destiny is eternal. And so what happens is we get stuck in an assignment or a season and we fail to move farther into the destiny that God's called us. Does that make sense? See what happens is, think about an apple tree.

And let's just think about a red, delicious apple. It's like a really sweet, good red apple, right? Well, there's a time when that's just a flower on a tree. And then there's a time when it's a green apple and it's growing and eventually becomes this red apple that you can pick and eat.

Even when that's a flower on the tree, it's perfect in its season. And even when it's a green apple, the green apple is still perfect in its season. And see what happens is a lot of times we get in the middle of a season of transformation and we don't realize what it is and we try to shout our way out of a season where we try to proclaim our way out of a season. You cannot shout your way out of a season.

You can only grow out of a season. And see what happens is, a lot of times in difficulty comes, what do people do? Run. You never grow when you run.

You never mature when you run. So you only grow and you only mature when you stay put in the season that you're in and feel that season's over. And see when the season expires and God gives you a new season. And then he gives you a new season.

But you've got to grow out of it. You can't like declare, oh, I'm going to declare my way out of this thing. Well, maybe you're still a green apple. Maybe you need to grow out of the thing and be patient, wait until God continues to form in you what he's trying to do.

See, sometimes you can leave too early. And so you don't want to make a career out of your Simon or season, but also you don't want to remain there too long. You need to know when God is shifting and moving you to the next level. And so he says that we are transformed by beholding the glory of the Lord.

Beholdings in a mirror the glory of the Lord. And so for a lot of times I thought that the glory of the Lord, this isn't wrong, but I think it's only partially complete as we see the glory of the Lord in his written word, which is true. It says that the word was with God and the word was God. And then the word became what?

Flash and dwelt among us, who's speaking of Jesus? So Jesus is the word, says the word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth. So the word, Lagos, the word has a glory to it.

And the Holy Spirit will actually transform you by the word of God. But in John chapter two, it says this. You remember the first miracle that Jesus did? He changed the water into wine, John two, versus I think maybe one through 10 or 12 somewhere in there.

But verse 11, it says this, says, this was the first signs that he did in Cana of Galilee when he manifested his glory. So that the glory of God is actually seen through the miraculous too. So we're going to talk about that today. And then finally, as I said earlier, that God has put his glory in you.

Do you remember in John 17 when Jesus is praying? He's praying to the Father. He's praying for us today. He said that they may be one as we are one, I and you and me and them and all that.

He says to the Father, he says, the glory that you have given me, the glory that you gave me, I have given them. And so there's the three things I want to look at today are this, that how these three encounters change us. They counter with the word of God, they encounter with the miracles of God, and then counters with the people of God. Because there's times when we come into a community of believers that actually raises us to a new level in Jesus.

I've experienced it myself. Here you have two. So those are the three things I want to look at today as we look at 1 Samuel chapter 9, or actually 10, actually 9. We're going to start with the last verse of chapter 9.

All right, we'll read this. Anybody ever familiar with this story? So Saul, Saul Israel wants to be like all other nations on earth and they want it king. And up until that time, there's been judges and prophets.

And Samuel goes to the Lord and tells the Lord, hey, they want a king. And Samuel's pretty depressed about it. And God says, hey, pick it up. Don't worry about it.

They haven't rejected you. They rejected me from reigning over them. And he says, but nonetheless, I'm going to give him a king. And so he tells Samuel.

He says, tomorrow about this time, there's going to become a guy named Saul. And he's going to be the one that I want you to anoint as king. Well, Saul had a dad named Kish. This was in 1 Samuel chapter 9.

And Kish, depending on how to read it, he's either a really wealthy man or he was a powerful warrior. One of the two, maybe both. And so he sends his son. He said, son, take a servant and go look for these donkeys.

And after about three days, they don't find the donkeys. And Saul says, hey, we need to go back to Dad's house. Because he's going to quit worrying about the donkeys and start worrying about us. And the servant says, there's a man of God just over in the next city.

Let's go see him and see if he'll tell us where the donkeys are. So of course, God had already told Samuel that Saul was coming. So when they come, here Saul had never heard of Samuel. I don't know how, because by this time, Samuel's an old man.

He obviously had done a lot in Israel. And he doesn't even recognize him. When they come up to Samuel, he says, hey, do you know where the sear is? And Saul and Samuel says, that's me.

And he says, I want you to go ahead. I want to up top this mountain. We're going to have a feast. I've already got a place prepared for you.

You're going to spend the night with me. And he says, tomorrow, I will tell you all that is in your heart. And so sometimes there's things that we carry in our hearts that we're not even really cognizant of. Or maybe we've forgotten that.

Or maybe there are dreams, you know, Chris can say two weeks ago that when we landed in Nicaragua, God reminded her of a dream to be a travel agent that she had as a child. And that God said, hey, you just got what you wanted. And that God is restoring dreams and things that maybe you've even forgotten about that you haven't as your kids. So sometimes there's things that are in us, that it takes somebody to call out of us, to even recognize that they're there.

He says, tomorrow, I'm going to tell you all that's in your heart. And so they stay that night. They get up early the next day. And then we're going to pick up in 1 Samuel, chapter 9.

Is that better? Get there? 1 Samuel, chapter 9, verse 27. So let me read, I want to read through these 12 or so verses.

And then we'll go back. And I want to look at these three things in here. Verse 27 says this, as they were going down to the outskirts of the city, Samuel said to Saul, tell the servant to go on ahead of us. And he went on, but you stand here for a while.

Then I may announce to you the word God. Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head and kissed him and said, is it not because the Lord has anointed you, commander, over his inheritance? So here's the first time in scripture that somebody is being anointed as king. So anointing took place in a couple of different ways prior to that.

You tensile or parts of the tabernacle would be anointed, priest would be anointed. But here we have the first king in Israel being anointed. Anointed is obviously a picture. The word anoint means to smear on.

And if you were around at that time, when anybody ever been anointed with oil here, how do I normally anoint with oil? Like maybe I'll put a little dab on your head, right? Or maybe sometimes people make a little cross. Well, back then, they took the jug and they dumped it on your head.

I've had this done to me once or twice. I was at a church probably 10 years ago. And I'm preaching. We're going to pray for people at the end.

The pastor says, hey, I want to anoint you before you pray for people. And I'm thinking, well, if I'm not already anointed, then I shouldn't be here. OK, so I'm thinking he's going to put a little dab of oil in my head. I was wearing a brand.

This is why I wore suits. I was wearing a brand new suit. I just got maybe a week or a month before, brand new tie. And he doesn't dab my head.

He takes the bottle of virgin olive oil and hits my head. Oil doesn't work well. I want to suit. I had a light gray suit on.

I had oil in my suit. Whatever anointing I had just went, hmm. Because I went from being in the spirit to end of flashlight. But that's how he did it.

I've been in Africa before. And I've had people, they dump oil, and you just kind of used it. We didn't have to worry. If you get anointed here, we're just going to give you a little dab.

It's OK. Unless you want it. But anointing really represented the anointing of the Holy Spirit that was going to come on Saul. It was a symbol of him being consecrated, set apart, for a particular purpose or job.

So it says, the gods anointed you, Commander of inheritance. First two, when you have departed from me today, you will find two men by Rachel's tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zilsa. And they will say to you, the donkeys which you went to look for have been found. And now your father has ceased from caring about the donkeys and is worrying about you saying, what shall I do about my son?

Then she'll go on forwards from there and come to the Terabents tree of Tabor. There are three men going up to God at Bethel. We'll meet you. One carrying three young goats.

That was Phil. No. Another carrying three loaves of bread and another carrying a jug of wine. They will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall receive from their hands.

Hands plural. Yes, Phil. Two loaves, two hands. This is revelation as I'm preaching.

This is for you, buddy. After that, you shall come to the hill of God where the Flician garrison is. And it will happen when you have come there to the city that you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with stringed instrument, tamberene, a flute, a heart before them, and they will be prophesying. Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man.

And let it be when these signs come to you that you do as the occasion demands for God is with you. You shall go down before me to Gilgau and surely I will come down to you and offer a burnt offering. Seven days you shall wait till I come down to you and show you what you should do. So it was when he had turned his back to go from Samuel that God gave him another heart.

And all those signs came to pass that day. When they came there to the hill, there was a group of prophets to meet him. Then the Spirit of God came upon him and he prophesied among them. And it happened when all who knew him formerly.

He said that all who knew him formerly. So all that he indeed prophesied among the prophets that the people said to one another, what is this that has come upon the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets? Then a man from there answered and said, but who is their father?

Therefore it became a proverb. Is Saul also among the prophets? So here's what happens. Here's a guy that wasn't aware of the man of God.

He didn't really have a religious background. He didn't really operate in the things of God. But God changes him into another man so much so that when people see him prophesying and operating in this prophetic gift, they said, is Saul also among the prophets? Like it was such a big deal.

It was probably the biggest miracle they'd ever seen at the time. Like here's a guy that, imagine like the worst guy that you could imagine and then imagine him up here preaching the next day. Like me. No.

And then so what happened is when people saw this thing became a saying, kind of like we would say, hey, if God can do it for me, he can do it for you. It would actually be a way that they'd encourage people. They'd say, they'd be having a bad day. Hey, things are going tough and they'd say, hey, is Saul among the prophets?

Oh yeah, he is. Or somebody who went through a really rocky place in their life, is Saul among the prophets? Oh yeah, I can do it for Saul. If God used Saul to prophesy, he can fix my issue.

So this thing actually became a proverb at the time that they would use as a saying, just like we would say things today. So what I want to show you today is just a few things is that how that the Holy Spirit uses various encounters to reveal the glory of God. And by so doing that, he actually can change your life. And then it's not always just the, it's always the Holy Spirit, but he uses these various different counters to bring about the change that he wants to do and your life.

Remember, God loves you the way you are, but he loves you too much to let you stay there. All right. So the first one's this, the Word of God. Samuel says, he says, tell the servant to go on ahead of us, but you stand here a while that I am, that I may announce to you the Word of God.

Tell the servant to go on ahead. See, what was the servant representing the servant was attached to Saul's prior assignment? His assignment to go look for the donkeys. And sometimes for you to receive a word from God or what God has for you, you've got to separate yourself from people that maybe were attached to what your previous assignment was.

That sometimes you need to step away. That he says, tell your servant to go on ahead. Because there's some things I want to say to you that are for your ears only. Actually, somebody needs to hear that today.

There's things that God has for you that are for your ears only. Do you ever know people that get a word from God and then what do they want to do? They think it's God's words for everybody. God told me and he wants you.

Some things God has for you or just for you. And some things that God has for you, he has for you in this season, but then there comes another season where he actually reveals it to other people. He says, tell your servant to go on ahead and stand here for a while that I may proclaim to you the word of God. See, sometimes we get so caught up in the busyness of life.

We're running this place. We're going to this place. I got this job to do and this person to pray for it and this place to visit. I got to go to my mother-in-law's in total.

No, I don't know if I'm going to told her not. Oh my gosh. If my mother-in-law's watching, I'm winding that one back. I love you.

But sometimes we can get so busy, he says, I want you to send your servant on ahead and I need you to stand still for a minute because I want to release over you and proclaim to you the word of God. See, sometimes God has a word that's just for you in a particular season, but sometimes God gives you a word for somebody else, but you need to hold it with some discretion. Samuel knew that Saul was the guy two days prior to. He'd met him for the first time the day before.

Did you ever think, why didn't Samuel just go, vomit, you're the king? It wasn't the right day. See, there's a lot of prophets today, and I believe in the prophetic, there's a lot of prophets today that don't operate with discretion because sometimes, if not all the time, the timing of the word is as important as the word. Because if the person's not in a position to receive it, the mouth will just hold on to it.

So when you receive a word for somebody else, I've received words that I've had to sit on for years and it kills me because I'm not good at holding stuff in. But sometimes that word is for you and sometimes it's for somebody else and sometimes it's for another day. And God, with the spirit of God, will let you know when it is. He says, tell your servant to going ahead, but you stand here for a while I proclaim to you the word of God.

And then he goes on to tell him some things, which we're gonna cover here in a minute. But if you roll down to verse nine of chapter 10, what does it say, it says, when he turns back, it's back to go from Samuel, God. Who gave him another heart? God gave him another heart.

I can't change your heart. I can give you the word of God. I can give you the testimonies of God. You can hear what God did for other people.

I can show you in scripture why this and that is for today and why God, if he did it for me, he'll do it for you, but I can't change you. You've gotta be in a position to receive. You've gotta be able to stand still and receive the word, but when you receive the word, it's actually God that does the transformation. See, sometimes we put too much emphasis on the person who's delivering the word and we elevate the person above the word.

The person is never above the word. The word of God and the spirit of God is who make the change in your life. Ezekiel would say this in Ezekiel chapter 37, verses 26 and 27, prophesying about the New Testament and the New Covenant, he says, I will put in you or I will give you a new heart. I'll put a new spirit in you.

I'll remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you. It's what we today would call, and that was prophesied in the Old Testament, but thanks we're called being born again. It's when, see, the word of God actually makes you new.

The day that you get saved, Peter says this, it says, being born again not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, which is the word of God. Next slide. Which of a lives and abides forever. Having been born again on corruptible seed, but of incorruptible through the word of God, which lives and abides forever.

See, the day that you get saved, God doesn't work in you. He takes his word, which is seed, and he puts it in you, and you're actually born new, you get a brand new heart made from incorruptible seed, like that doesn't die. But what happens a lot of time, people just stop there, right? I feel like getting saved is like level one of glory.

And some people get saved, and they're incorruptible on the inside, but man, they're falling apart on the outside. And things are falling apart in their life, and they're going through every issue and every situation because they've not allowed the word of God that made them new on the inside to take them to the next level to begin to transform their actual life that they live in, to transform their mind, transform their thoughts, transform their emotions, their actions, and all those things. See the same word of God that transforms you the day you get saved is the same word that you have to plant in your heart every day and nurture it and guard it and water it so that it produces results in your life. Jesus in Mark chapter four, when he's talking about the parable of the seed and the soils, and the stowers, you guys remember that?

And he puts seed in certain different types of soil. Later in chapter four, he says this, he says the kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, right? So when you plant seed, how many know how the seed turns into a plant? We don't know.

It says this, it says it says, as a man should scatter seed on the ground, the ninth and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. So we plant this seed and you could get up and you could watch it, you could go to bed, you could get up the next day, but we don't know how that thing goes from death to life. It's a miracle, but we plant it. And what happens, it says all by itself, the soil produces green.

First, look at this, first the stalk, then the head, then the kernel within the head, and then the ripe green. See the progression? See seed of God's word planted in your life progressively produces fruit. And so you've got to wait in that season of growth in order to get to the place to where it actually produces something.

See too often we can, I've seen this work in my own life. I told you before, I had a terrible issue with my thoughts. I had an awful thought life, struggled with it for years. I bound it and loosed it and I did everything that you could do.

But one day I decided to put good seed and renew my mind with God's word, and I stopped putting bad seed in or putting weeds in the garden, you might say. I protected the garden. And it didn't happen the next day, and it didn't happen the next day, and it didn't happen the next day. But several months went by.

And just like the guy that goes to bed, gets up, goes to bed, goes to bed, gets up, gets up, guess what? The word worked. And I woke up one day and I was delivered. I was delivered to something.

I was trying to shout out of my life, but God said, I've got you going through a season of growth. I need you just to stay in the world. I just need you to stay in the season because I'm doing something on the inside that you can't see. But what's going to happen eventually, what's Jesus say is everything that is hidden will eventually be revealed.

And so the thing that I'm doing on the inside of you eventually is going to come out. You just come out, you've got to stay in the world. Stay in the world. Stay in the world.

And it'll work. The Holy Spirit all the way, but it's God's word at the same time. All right, number two, miracles of God. When these signs come to you that you do as the occasion demands for God is with you.

So what did he say? He said, you're going to leave me, and you're going to go to Rachel's tomb, and you're going to find two men. And the two men are going to say to you, hey, the donkeys that you were looked for are found. And by the way, your father started worrying about you.

And then when you leave there, you're going to go to the hill of Tabor. And there you're going to meet three men, one of them is carrying three goats, and the other one, three loaves, and a bread, and another one carrying a jug of wine. They're going to give you two loaves, which you're going to receive from them. And then from there, you're going to go to the hill of God to give you where the Philistine garrison is.

And you're going to meet a company of prophets who are carrying a tambourine, a flute, a stringed instrument, and a harp. And they're going to be prophesying. And when that happens, the Spirit of the Lord is going to come on you, and you're going to prophesy with them. That's a pretty strong word, like detail oriented.

When God gives you a legit word, when all these signs come to pass, guess what? They're going to come to pass. He says, when all these signs come to you, that you do as the occasion demands for God is with you. Here's what happens a lot of times.

Let's just take we're in Nicaragua, right? We saw some miraculous things. I've seen miraculous things here. But the purpose of the miracle is not to celebrate the miracle.

See, when we see a miracle, we're like, woo-hoo! And that's great. But see what happens is when I woo-hoo, and I walk away the same, the miracle, the glory that was released, didn't change me. See what happens is the purpose of a sign is to point to a greater reality.

When these signs come upon you, do as the occasion requires, because of what? OK, somebody read the last phrase for me. When these signs come to you, do as the occasion commands, because, for God is with you. What's the lesson?

We see the sign. Oh my gosh, I just walked into two people, and they said, the donkeys are found. Oh my gosh, I just ran into three guys. One at three goats, one at three loaves, and one had a jug of wine.

I wanted the wine, but he gave me two loaves of bread. And then I went on, and I went, and I prophesied. Oh my gosh, woo-hoo! There's a lesson in all that beyond the celebration.

It's to see that God is with you. And if God is with you, I can do anything in any situation, whatever the situation requires. See if the miracle doesn't change me. I go, yes, I just had a miracle.

And then I go to the next section. Oh my gosh, what do I do now? See if the miracle doesn't change my perception of reality, then I failed the test. When we were in Nicaragua, we went to the gates of hell.

Literally, we went to a volcano called the Gate of Hell. And so, we're up here, we're looking into the Gate of Hell. Now, we weren't there on a day where you can see the lava, but this is an active volcano. And so we're looking into the volcano, and I can't see the lava, but I can hear, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go.

Like you can hear it bubbling down there. Of course, then you start to think, OK, I see lots of lava rocks. I mean, this is an active volcano. This thing erupted a couple hundred years.

Like today could be the day. It might be today. It might be. So we start talking about what we do.

Well, we look around and we see a sign. It says, root day of vacuacium. Anybody want to guess what that means? Evacuation route.

So when the lava erupts, what am I going to do? I'm going to run to the sign and say, I found the evacuation route. It's right here. I'm going to burn up.

Is the sign real? But it points to a greater reality, which is the actual root itself. See, so often we celebrate the miracle, but fail to realize the greater reality that the miracle points to, which is Jesus. The fact that God is in me, the fact that God is with me, the fact that he never leaves me nor forsakes me.

See, the miracle, as I watch the miracle take place, I can celebrate it, but I need to allow it to change the way I view the next situation that I encounter. Because when I say it, when it says, when these miracles come to you, do whatever the situation requires. Why? Because God is with you.

The purpose of the miracle is not to do. And I like to do that. I like to celebrate. But if you celebrate and don't change, you fail the purpose of going through it.

Don't beat yourself up because I failed many times. The disciples actually fail. The disciples fail. Do you remember that when Jesus fed the 5,000?

Do you remember that story? So there's 5,000 people. They're in a deserted place. They've got no food.

They've got no money. It's late in the day. Jesus says, you feed them. And so we don't have anything.

What are two hundred and area for all these people? And Jesus says, what do you have? They said, we've got five loaves and two fish. He says, bring them to me.

And it says, he takes the five loaves and two fish, looks up to heaven, blesses them, breaks them, divides them, gives them to the disciples, and then the disciples pass them out to the people. Remember the story? They were actually participating in the miracle. As they're handing it out with two hands, I'm releasing healing over you today, bro.

You don't even know it. As they're passing out the bread, it's literally multiplying in their hands. See, they're not only fed 2,500 this way. And so that was awesome.

But they didn't learn from the miracle that they just participated in. Because later that day, Jesus says, I'm going to the mountain to pray. I want you guys to get in the boat, go to the other side. The word was go to the other side.

And they just experienced a miracle where Jesus blessed five loaves of bread, fed 5,000 women, or men, not counting women and children. And now he tells them to do something else. And now they're like, I guess we're going to sink in the boat. What's it say in Mark chapter six?

So it says he's praying. He sees them in the midst. And it says, it says, he would have passed by. Why would he have passed by?

Because he was expecting them to use the information that they had just received in the previous miracle to actually do something about the storm that they were in. But what are they doing? We're going to die. We're going to die.

And Jesus would have passed by. And they freaked out, thought it was a ghost. He steps into the boat. The wind ceases.

And what's it say? It says, then he climbed in the boat. The wind died down. They were completely amazed.

Oh, another miracle. Woo-hoo! They were completely amazed. They had not understood about the loaves.

Their heart was art. Miracles should train you how to operate in the next situation. If the miracle doesn't train you to see the reality that Jesus was with you, and that he actually did it, in the next situation you get into, whatever the situation requires, God is with you. That's what you've got to pick away from her.

Celebrations good. We need to celebrate the wind. But we don't want to walk away on change. Because there's another level of glory that he's about to reveal in the next situation, that he wants you to do it.

Now notice, he didn't let him drown, right? He still stepped in the boat. He's still going to step in. But that's not his best for your life.

His best is that you learn what to do, and then you put it into practice. Makes sense? All right, we're going to finish up. So God transforms us by his word.

God transforms us by signs and wonders, miracles. And God actually also transforms us by getting around like-minded believers. In this case, it was a group of prophets. It says, there was a group of prophets to meet him.

And then the spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them. And the word group actually means it's a cord, like a rope. And the reason you think of a rope that it's like flying together, Cara Jordan, remember, we did the rope ceremony, right? The threefold cord can't easily be broken.

Well, this is what it's saying. It's this group of prophets. And it's people from different walks of life that have come together around one common cause. In this case, they're prophesying.

And they're one. They're unified. They're a group, a company of prophets. And Saul, who has never prophesied before in his life, when he has an encounter with those people who are prophesying, the Holy Spirit comes on him.

And guess what he does? He does something that he's never, ever done before. There's some of you here that are carrying a word from God for your life, but you've never stepped into the community of believers that can help mature you to the point to where you can release that word over your life. That sometimes you need to step into a group of like-minded people to be able to realize the word that you've been carrying.

2009, November 15, 2009, how long goes that? November 15, 2009, almost 14 years ago. I got an email from a local chaplain, who I knew, good guy, real good guy, sensitive to the Holy Spirit. He sent me an email.

He said, and I got to say, he saw something in me that I didn't see in myself. He called something out of me that I wasn't aware that was even there. And he said, he said, brother Fred, he said, there's an anointing on your life that's greater than teaching Sunday school. I love teaching Sunday school.

And he said, I say this with much hesitation and sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, but God's called you in the full-time ministry. God has a call in your life to be a pastor. But guess what? I'll never walk in teaching a Sunday school plan.

I'll never be able to fulfill the call that's spoken over me until I step into a community that's able to release in me the thing that God has spoken over. See, what happens is a lot of times we have believers that maybe they get hurt. They won't come together. They say, I can do church at home.

You can do church, but you're going to be settled at a certain level in your life that you're never going to experience the next level of glory in front of your computer screen. That God calls us to come together. He says that I have the glory that you've given me. I've given them so that they might be one, and that the world may know that you love the world the same way that you love me.

See, we're never as effective alone as we are together. And when Saul walked away that day, he said the Spirit of the Lord came upon and he prophesied with them. And then he went back to being the same way that he was before. And he never prophesied again until he came into the company of the prophets again several chapters later.

The word of God that's stimulated in you in a company, in a community, is often squandered in isolation. And I'm not saying that to condemn you. I'm not saying that to make you. I'm not trying to guilt you into coming to church.

I'm just saying there's a lot of things that people experience when we come together, that when you go back and isolate yourself, you're never going to experience that again. Because God made us a body for a reason. He brought us together for a reason. He designed us to need each other, that he could flow through me and you and everybody else here, that we could function as one.

Some of you just need to find your people. Maybe it's a small group. Maybe it's a Bible study. Maybe it's Sunday morning.

Maybe it's worshiping. Let's see, you'll never know alone in isolation what God can do through you when you step into. I stepped into levels of ministry that I never knew were possible. The first time I ever preached out of the country, I'm preaching a Friday night service.

There's probably, I don't know, a thousand plus people there. I'm preaching on the power of the Holy Spirit. I've never seen anybody delivered of a demon in my life. And all of a sudden people are being delivered of demons and I'm scared to death.

I'm like, what in the world am I doing here? I've also at that point, I've never prayed for anybody and seen them fall under the power of God. And all of a sudden I walked into an anointing that somebody else carried and I was able to operate for a period of time in another level that I didn't even know was there. And if I don't steward that, I stay at the level that I walked in them.

But as I steward the thing that God's wanting to pour into me and when you steward the thing that God's wanting to pour into you, all of a sudden you carry that. And all of a sudden you bring other people into that. And you're able to release and impart into them what somebody else has imparted into you. If Paul says this to Timothy, he says, you know we all know this verse says, God's not given us a spirit of fear but of love, power and sound mind.

The very verse before that says, he says stir up the gift that is in you, that was put in you by the laying on of my hands. I think there's some things that God wants to impart into your life that you need to steward. The experiencing these things is great. But Saul failed and he didn't steward the spirit of God that was placed in and the prophetic gift that was in him.

He kind of came and went with it, but he failed miserably at the end of the fight. You're not gonna fail. You will not fail. If you connect yourself with this church, it's my responsibility to make sure you're successful and you're walking the board.

I wanna pray for you. I wanna see you be successful. I wanna see you mature in the Lord. I wanna see you walk in greater things.

When my season, when my assignment here is over, I'm not saying it is, but when it is, I want you to stand on my shoulder. See this whole thing is not meant that each generation starts over. It's meant that one generation stands on the shoulder of the prior generation and that you inherit what somebody else really worked hard to get and that you received by grace the thing and you started a higher level and you can go even farther. See, there's no limitations.

God doesn't have any. He's got unlimited possibility. He's limited. I'm not sure you'm sure where I'm at in the message, but I think I feel like praying right now.

Oh, here, let's read this verse over here. That's a good one. Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking the assembling of it together as the habit of some, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day growing. You realize that you can be a stimulant to somebody else, that the way you walk your life out in obedience to the Holy Spirit in yieldedness and submissiveness to Him actually creates a stimulant for somebody else to go out and operate in love and good deeds.

Good deeds is not just like feeding the poor. It's as important as the feeding the poor is. It's not just clothing people, but good deeds also includes the miraculous. Peter said how that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power.

He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil. Here's the case, poor God was with him. See, when you encounter that miracle, learn from it. Learn that God's with you.

Learn that God was there. He was actually the one doing it. And so the next time you face a crisis, don't be like the disciples. Ah!

Okay, I know what God did last time. I know what God delivered me from last time. He did it because he's in me. He did it because he's all powerful.

He did it because he has the ability and the desire to do it. Now when I'm walking through this tough time right now, I can be confident that he'll do it again. That he wants to do it again. That he's able to do it again.

And I'm gonna bring some people with me. We're gonna come as a community, a company, a group, a prophetic culture that actually raises the standard in this city of what's possible. Wouldn't it be cool that we can come together as city reached church? And actually, I believe other churches will join with us and we'll actually raise the standard in this city.