Don't Make the Mistakes of the Past

1. 0:00Are you ready? I can tell you this, what the Father is doing in this house right now, what He's speaking to us and what He's releasing to us is absolutely important for you and for me to hear and to at least consider. Now, whether or not you receive it is up to, every individual has to choose for themselves what they receive and what they don't.
2. 0:24Every single person has to decide for themselves, is this going to be a truth that I will lay my life in or on or build my life upon or not? And every person has to decide for themselves. This is what I know to be true. I have a responsibility. And my responsibility, when the Father called me to come to Central Florida with my wife and our children and to begin the ministry called The Rock of Central Florida, when He called me to shepherd this house...
3. 0:56He didn't say, lead them into the places I've prepared for you when you want to. And he didn't say, lead them into the places that I've prepared for the Rock of Central Florida when you feel like it. He said, I want you to lead them and I'm going to release things to you that are going to require you to lead them into places that are known and unknown. And that's a journey that we've all taken over the years. In 27 years, we've taken these journeys that are both known and unknown. So...
4. 1:31This is one of them. And even though Holy Spirit has spoken to me, and I'm sorry, I'm going to pause for just a second. Can we turn those lights down just a little bit? That thing is so bright in my eyeballs, I can't hardly see the faces. Over the years, he has released specific words in this house or given me instruction and direction to lead this house into places he's prepared for us that have been two things. One, specific to this ministry.
5. 2:04geographically. I'm saying that on purpose. Specific to the people of this house. But then there's also been other things that are body of Christ wide that he has released in this house. And I won't get into all of those things, but I'll share this example of a local present body, this house, teaching that he released in me. Not every church has to be accountable to this. In fact, they don't.
6. 2:37They need to do what the word of the Lord is to them. But one of them is, we don't use titles in this. I'm just using a simple thing. We don't use titles here. I'm not Pastor Steve, Teacher Steve, Apostle Steve, Evangelist Steve, Prophet Steve. I'm none of those things and none of the people here. Now, we may refer to someone as Pastor this or Pastor that just for the sake of understanding, but we don't use titles as a formal identification. And the reason that we don't do that is because Holy Spirit shared with me some years ago
7. 3:06Excuse me. Hold on a moment there. Every now and then that twitch will get my face, and we're going to get through this. So I came to the realization that what Holy Spirit was saying at some point in time, this has been years ago, regarding this particular local, to me, revelation, word for this house,
8. 3:33It's not something that can be imposed on any other. They have to do it by word and by spirit. But Holy Spirit showed me. He said, made me aware of this. Simply as this. Where in Scripture do we ever, when we pray or read, find ourselves reading or praying and saying, Pastor Jesus, Prophet Jesus. When's the last time you prayed and at the end of your prayer or in the middle of your prayer or whatever point you said it, did you say, in Pastor Jesus' name? Yes.
9. 4:07In Apostle Jesus' name. In Evangelist Jesus' name. And the more I begin to consider that, and the more I begin to think about that, and I couldn't help but come to the conclusion that Holy Spirit was awakening me, Dyle, to this point. The point being, if He doesn't require it, who am I to require what He doesn't? Because I am never greater than He.
10. 4:36So that was a word here. Now it was a challenge for some. We had to get through that season because we, and I'm using this as a point of reference, but we as a people, not just this local body, but church-wide as a body of Christ, people come to this place where we've done things the same way for so long. If anyone kicks the tire, it disrupts the whole function of
11. 5:04Of the process. We have a hard time with people kicking tires. The church doesn't like people to stand up in the boat. It just doesn't like it. But the problem with that at the Rock of Central Florida is we like to stand up in the boat and we enjoy kicking the tires. Now, sometimes this is true. We will kick the tires and find they don't need any air.
12. 5:41All is well. Nothing needs to change. Sometimes we'll stand up in the boat and find out it's steady on its course. Nothing needs to shift. But then there's other times we'll kick those tires or stand up in the boat or whatever reference you want to use. But there's other times that we will do something and Holy Spirit will say, I'm taking you somewhere. Are you ready? Sometimes the only way you can see it is to stand up and the only way you can understand it is to kick it. Is that okay? Yeah.
13. 6:17So with that, I use that as a reference point to this same idea and thought, and that is this, that even though I can apply all that I just said simply to this local body, I want you to know it's also applied to the worldwide church and can also be applied not only to the worldwide present church, but the historical body of Christ or people of God as well. Let me give you an example.
14. 6:51Often, many times, too many times, as we've said over the last few weeks, people find themselves agreeing, believing, accepting, continuing rowing that boat, not checking the air in their tires. They keep doing it the same way over and over and over again because all is well only to find out if you don't check the air in the tires every now and then, they're going to wear wrong. They're going to have to be prematurely replaced. The tread is going to fail.
15. 7:30You keep rowing the boat without ever considering, should I have gone down this tributary? Was this the way it was taking me? You're going to find out you're going to go over a waterfall that didn't lead to life. Is anybody hearing me today? So over time, the Holy Spirit has, in this past season, really began to
16. 8:00Awaken in me something that I have questioned for many, many years, a long, long time. And for some of you, especially if this is the first time today that you're part of this series that we've been teaching, this is the third week, plus branches is four. But if you are new to what I'm talking about today, I'm going to tell you that the tires I'm kicking, and I said that the country way, kicking, in the boat I'm standing in,
17. 8:29is the one that we've grown so custom to accepting as is, and that is the coming of Jesus Christ, the end of the age. Its attire should have been kicked a long time ago. A boat should have been rocked a long time ago. And now, what I will say before I jump into this full on, is I'm not imposing what I am sharing with you today upon you.
18. 9:10What I am doing is I'm going to teach and ask Holy Spirit to awaken that part of you that needs to hear what's being taught. And if for any reason today is not the day that He wants to awaken it to you, I just need you to understand that's okay. Is that fair? That's okay. But we don't grow if we are not learning. We don't become more mature if
19. 9:47When we ignore the opportunities placed in front of us to mature us. So Father, stand with me if you would please this morning. I want to pray for our mind. I want to pray for our eyes. I want to pray for our ears to hear. Father, I lift my voice over this people today. And my heart is to teach what you put in me.
20. 10:13What you are actually teaching me. I still don't know all the answers. I still don't have all the... I can't respond to every single question every single person will have. But Father, what I do know is if I don't start walking, I will never arrive at the place you're trying to lead me. And nor will this people. So we've chosen to walk. We've chosen to take a journey. Show us what we need to see. Speak to us what we need to hear. And in our heart,
21. 10:49Prepare every heart, every person today to receive everything. Father, you want us to receive so that we can mature in you becoming the bride you are looking to be joined to. Father, I thank you for your word. I thank you for Holy Spirit that you sent to lead us into all truth, not away from the truth.
22. 11:15but into. The very idea that Holy Spirit was sent to lead us into is present tense. There's a constant walking. There's a constant need, an ever-present need for us to pay attention to whatever it might be that Holy Spirit is trying to reveal to us. Help us, Holy Spirit, to be faithful over what you want to reveal, what you want to show. Help us today. I pray that not one person will walk out of this room today in confusion, in doubt, in
23. 11:47Not one person will have the valid ability to question whether or not I am in pursuit of you or this people is in pursuit of you. But I pray that when we all walk out of this place today, one thing will be certain. We are hard after you and your truths. Be glorified in Jesus' name. Amen. And amen. You may be seated.
24. 12:11So, I'm going to subtitle what we're talking about today, The Present Christ. This is the third part of this particular series that we've been teaching. But I'm going to subtitle this what I did on branches the other night. And by the way, I apologize. Branches was so bright. I want to make sure and remove that blame off of Joshua because...
25. 12:30I did that. That was all me. So when you turned it on and all of a sudden there's this big bright white light, that was all me and all my fault. I hope you could ignore that and listen to the words instead. But it's the glory of the Lord. That's right. That's right. The glory of the Lord has risen upon me. So I want to subtitle this the same as I did in branches, avoiding the mistakes of the past. Everybody say that with me, avoiding the mistakes of
26. 13:00of the past. And I want to say to you, if you are finished before I'm finished today, no offense, you can get up, you can go. We love you. Thank you for being here. I don't anticipate that I'll be long, but there's some things I definitely want to say today, and I want to make sure that we get to. So again, avoiding the mistakes of the past, doing that in the present.
27. 13:24So, you know, a construct of the mind is that it's what we wrap our understanding of a particular subject, at least in this, the way I'm going to reference it. We approach a subject, we approach an idea, whether it be something that is secular or a theology or a doctrine. And remember, theology is what we believe about God. Doctrine is how we enforce it, how we enforce what we believe.
28. 13:52So a construct of the mind is simply how I wrap my mind around, how I come to a place of believing and accepting that this is the way, whatever that way is, whether it's of the church or not of the church, this is what we've come to accept, this is the way.
29. 14:11So what's happened in the church or in the body of Christ over time is, and I'm going to share quite a few scriptures this morning to help make the point. But what's happened over the process of time, and I'm not talking about time like in three weeks. I'm talking about time like in history, all of history, from the beginning of the age. And
30. 14:30What's happened is these constructs of mind have happened where we read something and we interpret it and then we form our ideas, we form our beliefs around that. The reason that there are so many denominations, so many theologies, so many types of churches, so many
31. 14:46So many beliefs in the world today is because everybody forms their own construct of mind regarding particular subjects. If you ask 10 people, what is the rapture of the church? 10 people will give you 10 different answers. They will say it's pre-trib, post-trib. They have 10 different answers about what the rapture of the church is and nobody actually knows. None of them are right. But they're going to say it like they're right. And that's okay because that's all they know to do.
32. 15:16Their theology, their idea of that is what it is. You talk to 10 people about speaking in tongues, you're going to get 10 different ideas about speaking in tongues. It is, it isn't, it was, but not no more, whatever. And there will be all these different approaches to that and none of them will be right. Let me tell you what is right. What is right today is what was right yesterday and it is what will be right tomorrow. And that is whatever the present word of God is. Amen.
33. 15:52And if I can put my confidence in the word of Yahweh and know beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is speaking and he is doing today, I want to tell you today, we will not miss whatever it is that he will do, whether it's today, tomorrow, the next day, or a thousand years from now. So the theologies and the doctrines that believers around the world adhere to today are nothing more than a construct of the mind of leaders within the church that have decided
34. 16:22that their interpretation of specific subjects takes precedence over everyone else's, whatever that is, whether it's a group of people that made that decision or a single person that made that decision. Even still today, though, I want to point this out. Even still today, the Israelites, in the same way that the Israelites were told, were given a clear picture of what the Messiah would look like,
35. 16:57The Israelites, I mean, and we'll read some scripture in a minute, but given a clear picture, this is what you can expect when what they were told they could expect showed up, they denied him because he did not fit within the construct of their mind and theology.
36. 17:21The Jews rejected Christ because their theology did not describe Him or His coming as they saw Him. So let me say something about this teaching that I'm doing right now. And I'm going to add a disclaimer. There were some things that I wanted to include today I'm not going to be able to include simply because I couldn't sit down at a computer because I couldn't type. Since I couldn't, I just had this thing going on. But I'm going to share with you what I had already prepared.
37. 17:52And I want to make this point very, very clear this morning. I would rather be guilty of teaching a message of a present Christ with whom we can all walk with right now than continue the theology of a future Christ that all must wait to see and dwell with. I will say it again.
38. 18:21I would rather be guilty. I would rather the Father find me guilty of teaching a message of a right now present Christ with whom everyone can walk with right now than continue the theology of a future Christ that all must wait to see and dwell with.
39. 18:46We can either talk about a present Christ or we can talk about a sweet, sweet by and by Christ. I want to tell you a sweet, sweet by and by Christ will not do for me right now what a very present Christ wants to do in this moment. Now I know probably people within my own family that might be watching today from other places probably struggle with what I'm telling you right now because all their hopes are in one of these days. Amen.
40. 19:19Jesus is coming soon, morning or night or noon. I want you to know what I believe today. And you don't have to, but I'm going to tell you what I believe. And the anointing of God has not lifted from me. I believe Jesus Christ is not coming soon, morning or night or noon for Steve Parker, but he has come for Steve Parker and is very present. He'll be to those who can receive him right now.
41. 19:50In discipleship class, I do discipleship, this group, every Wednesday morning in Sanford. And a question was asked this last Wednesday morning by Trevor Moots, and I want to repeat the question that he asked. And he said this, he said, brilliant question. You know, it's simple in its deliverance, in its delivery, but it's profound when you begin to interpret it.
42. 20:20the way I think it should be. He said, why do people believe they have to die to go to heaven and why do they believe they have to die to go to hell? Especially when Jesus said, I've come that you have life and have it more abundantly. I don't find anywhere, he said, I can't wait till you die so you can be with me. So why do people believe they have to die to go to heaven? Why do they have to die to go to hell? Let me say something about heaven and hell real quick. You know, again, I say what I'm saying today because I'm hoping to wake up the
43. 21:03neurons in your mind wherever neurons are i'm hoping to wake them up make them come alive make you start considering some things maybe you haven't before and so that you can find a life you've never experienced before in him but i'm going to tell you what i believe about hell i believe there are people in hell right now probably even in this room oh what do you mean where's the fire where's the gnashing of teeth where's the brimstone where are all these things
44. 21:37I'm going to tell you what hell is. And when you study it in Scripture, you're going to find out hell is simply wherever the absence of God is. Where there is no God, it is hell. I want to tell you there are lives all around you. You work around people that are in hell every single day because there is no presence of God in their life. Wherever the absence of God is, there is hell. Now what's heaven? Wherever the presence of God is. And if I am where God is present...
45. 22:07Right now, I will be where God is present tomorrow, and I will be where God is present the next day, and I will be where God is present the day after that if I will continue to hear and obey and trust His voice. Amen.
46. 22:19Is anybody hearing me today? Now, there might be people listening to me right now. You're comfortable with the idea that heaven is somehow in the clouds or it's in the air. And listen, you've got to understand when we read 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, in that word clouds and air, the Greek word for clouds and air is aor. And aor means atmosphere. It's not a distant place. It's where you are where the presence of God is. It has nothing to do with leaving an earth and finding yourself out there somewhere in space. Right?
47. 22:47Clouds and air has nothing to do with space. It has to do with being in the presence of God. So he asked the question, why do they believe they have to die to go to heaven? Why do they believe they have to die to go to hell? I'm going to tell you what. No matter where people are right now, there are people, I don't know, AJ, sometimes it's hard for me to say what I'm really thinking because I don't want people to think I'm being ugly. I don't want to come across as mean. But sometimes saying things sharply, man, it just jars people out of a stupor.
48. 23:26And I want to jar people out of a stupor. I believe there's people right now who believe you're headed to heaven. You're more in hell than the people all around you. Because your whole relationship is dependent on a future Christ. Therefore, you can't dwell in and receive His present anointing that is the deliverance, the healing, the salvation.
49. 23:57So let me jump in. Nothing's changed. So the church today rejects this present Christ in the same way that the Israelites did, that the first people of God did, and then even the early body of Christ, when they were beginning to be formed, there was this difficult moment, different ones, as Paul spoke to the Thessalonians, as Paul spoke to the Corinthians. There's these moments where there was this difficult moment
50. 24:22They were having a hard time wrapping their mind around what do you mean when you talk about the end of the age? What do you mean when you're talking about a present Christ? What do you mean? I want to share something with you.
51. 24:37As I said a moment ago, the teaching that we do here, that I've done many different things in this house, but the one I referenced about titles, and we don't use titles in this house. That's a word for this house. See, I can talk about that today, and it makes sense to you. But if I go to the church down the street, and I stand up in front of them, and I just said, we're not using titles anymore, that's going to freak them out, because that's not a word to them.
52. 24:59See, I can talk about it here because it makes sense to us. That's part of the language in the conversation that God has released, Yahweh's released, Holy Spirit's released in us, in this house. And in the same way, all through Scripture, when you read, especially in the 2nd Testament, what you're going to find is, when you read the 2nd Testament or 1st Testament, and you're going through there, constantly, constantly,
53. 25:23All the time, Holy Spirit is speaking to a people and he's talking to a people within the context of their understanding. What will make sense to them where they are? So let me say this about where we are in this present Christ and then I'm going to jump into some scripture. When I consider, and I'm going to talk about myself, my wife, my kids. When I consider where we are in the Father, I'm not doing, I'm not about to say anything that Moses didn't say or Paul didn't, Paul said it in a way that I think if I said it
54. 26:03I couldn't say it the way Paul said it because he didn't mind saying it more straightforward than me. But I walk in a favor today. And my family walks in a favor today of God. We walk in the favor of God. I'm not talking about financial favor or whatever people, prosperity type favor.
55. 26:27I'm talking about the favor of God where all our needs are met. He answers our prayers. We have peace in our home. My children are honoring him and my grandchildren are growing up in him. We walk in the favor of God. You know why though? But it's not because we're special. We're not any more special than anybody else in scripture. Let me tell you something. Moses wasn't special. David wasn't special. The apostle Paul wasn't special. The disciples, they weren't special.
56. 26:58Do you know what separated them? Gideon. They weren't special. Do you know what separated them? Faith. They believed beyond where they currently were and believed that there was more to receive in their presence. They were willing to see. They were willing to believe that this isn't just something for the sweet, sweet by and by, but there's something you want to do right now. We don't have to wait for Israel to be delivered from the Philistines. Why not now?
57. 27:38Or, David, I don't have to let my men starve to death. There's bread in the showroom. Why not now? Well, wait a minute. Theology says if you go in there, you're going to die. Well, hunger says it's there and I'm going to eat it. Provision has been made. Is anybody hearing me this morning? They were favored because of their faith to see and receive what was not received by others. And I'm going to tell you, I believe that the favor of God rests in my life and in your lives because if you have a willingness to see and receive what others reject...
58. 28:15Why would I hold in a dream the hope of Christ when I can hold it in my hand? Why would I hope for fullness in Him in some future day when I can walk in fullness and in favor right now? So let me read some scriptures to you that I read the other night. Let's just jump in and I'm going to have some things to say about it. So in Genesis 49, 10, Jacob, I don't know, I don't want to share these scriptures because they point to a coming Christ to them. He was preparing them. He was letting them know, hey, something's coming and
59. 28:57Holy Spirit was using these folks to prophesy, these men to prophesy, and he was letting them know something's coming. So in Genesis 49.10, Jacob is prophesying to his sons, and he says this. He says, This is in the English Standard Version, but that statement, until tribute comes to him in Hebrew, means until Shiloh comes, which in this reference is prophesying.
60. 29:22peace until peace comes, until the Messiah comes. It's a reference to the Messiah. So let me reread it. It says, the scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet until peace comes, until Shiloh comes, until the Messiah comes, and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. Now, so what we know now is already way
61. 29:47way, way, way, way, way back about almost 6,000 years ago. Here we have Jacob already prophesying, declaring to his sons, get ready because somebody's coming to deliver us from whatever oppression is around us right now. Whatever's going on that's not according to his word and purpose. You hearing me today? Stay with me. Jeremiah 23, 5 and 6 says this, behold, the days are coming declares the Lord. Everybody say declares the Lord. So everybody say Yahweh said it.
62. 30:16Not some bozo with a book. The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and he will execute justice and righteousness in the land. Amen.
63. 30:36And in his days Judah will be saved and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called. The Lord is our righteousness. The Lord is our fulfillment. To walk in righteousness, complete righteousness, is being fulfilled. Fulfilled.
64. 31:03So let me say it again. And this is the name by which he will be called. The Lord is our righteousness. So let's look back again at verse 5. And he says, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous branch. He will reign as king and deal wisely and will execute justice and righteousness in the land. So what they get stuck on is what we
65. 31:25in our minds get stuck on little words like king and when we see ruler and king we immediately jump to the conclusion that it means secular, it means physical. King or ruler over this land or over this people
66. 31:42and it jumps to that. We do not go to first outside of Christ. We do not first go to this interpretation. King and ruler isn't about a geographical location but it is about a people being raised up to rule and reign in all of God's creation. So they were foretold. So Jeremiah let them know, hey, get ready, get ready, get ready, get ready, get ready because don't miss him when he comes. Don't miss him when he's present. Amen.
67. 32:13And then in Micah 5, 2, it says, But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel. Remember that word ruler and king in the mind of men and women that read that and the natural we read that king and ruler. We immediately apply that definition to what we understand to be king and ruler at the moment.
68. 32:39When we were getting ready to build this building 20 years ago, the one that you're sitting in currently, there was a particular fire marshal inspector that was at the county and he
69. 32:51Right before we were supposed to move in, we were supposed to be in the building on April the 7th of 2007. That was our first Sunday. And we were getting ready to move in. Well, just a few days before that, this fire marshal, this particular guy, comes in and decides he's going to make things difficult for us.
70. 33:10I go down to the county with a builder and we sit in front of the builder committee. So all the inspectors are sitting. There's 13 of them. There's 13 inspectors with a building commissioner. So I'm sitting at the table with all of them and the fire marshal sitting across from me and the builder. The builder's sitting to my left. So I ride with a builder over there and the builder says to me, he says, hey, listen, he said, I just want you to know that you just need to just don't stir the pot.
71. 33:37These guys, they can decide whether or not you get in or don't get in and blah, blah, blah. So I go and we're down there and I had no intention of stirring any pots. But I get down there and we're sitting at the table and one by one, each inspector, because they have our certificate of occupancy that they've all signed off on except for one, the fire marshal. So he's sitting across from me.
72. 34:03right across from me, and he's like this the whole time. He's just a grumpy dude, and he's sitting there, and he's staring at me. So each one signs off, this one signs off, this one signs off, and then gets down towards the end. Well, this particular fire marshal, some of you have heard this story about 100 times, but this particular guy says to me, he says, Preacher, before I sign off, I want to ask you something. Now, the way he approached that, I already knew he wasn't getting from me the answer he was looking for.
73. 34:38Preacher, I want to ask you something. Before I sign this thing, I want you to tell me what kind of church the Rock of Central Florida is. Man, I saw the devil in that. And I said, I'm not going to tell you. Well, if you don't tell me, I will not sign that certificate of occupancy and you will not get in the building. I said, you have no choice. Because if we've jumped through all the hoops and we've done everything legal that is required, you have no choice but to sign that certificate of occupancy.
74. 35:20Then one of the other inspectors is there and said, Mr. Parker, why don't you just tell him what kind of church the Rock of Central Florida is? I said, I'll tell you why. Because if I tell him we're Baptist, he's going to assume we're like every Baptist church he's ever dealt with. If I tell him we're Pentecostal, he's going to assume we're just like every Pentecostal church he's ever dealt with.
75. 35:53If I tell him we're Methodist, he's going to assume we're like every Methodist church. Now, he's sitting right across from me. Like every Methodist church he's ever dealt with. And we are none of those things. We are nothing like any church that you have ever dealt with. He sat there and he looked at me for a second. I mean, just grimaced. The builder, meanwhile, is hitting me under the table. His way of saying, shut up, shut up.
76. 36:29He finally signs off on it, slides it across the table. Meeting's dismissed. We get up. He walks out of the room. I don't even get to talk to him. We're walking to the truck with a builder. I'm on my way. I rode with him. I'm walking to the truck. I hear this voice behind me. Preacher! I obviously recognize the voice. I've been hearing it all morning. I turned around. He said, what time does your church start Sunday? I said, are you coming? He said, maybe. I said, 10 o'clock. Sunday morning, he showed up in the back row about halfway, not quite halfway through my teaching. He said, I'm going to the church.
77. 37:05sat there, sobbed his eyes out through the entire teaching. When service was over, those of you that were there that day will remember this. When I gave the appeal at the end of the service, he was the first one down, ran down as fast as he could. I've never been squeezed more hard in my entire life from a man who recognized God is real. God is real. He was with us for, I don't know, maybe a year or two, and then moved out of state to take care of his mother. But it was a powerful story. But I point that out for this reason.
78. 37:38I knew if I tell you we're this or I tell you we're that, you're going to judge it by what you understand about that particular thing. And that's exactly what was going on here. He's a king and a ruler. So they judged it by what they understood to be a king. They put him into the category what they understood to be a ruler. And all the while, he was nothing like the king. He's a king and a ruler, but not a king and a ruler like they had interpreted.
79. 38:04And then in Isaiah 53, I can't help but read that, so you're going to have to go there with me in your Bible. There's just a lot there, and I want to read that. Isaiah chapter 53. And I know there's quite a few verses here. There's 12 of them, but I'm going to read all of them because I want you to hear. It doesn't get any more clear than this about Jesus is coming soon, morning or night or noon. Are you ready? I'm not trying to tell you that he's not coming soon. He might be coming soon to you. He might have already come to others.
80. 38:39I'm not taken away from the fact that there are still some. He's waiting to call upon his name to bend the knee. It's what it says. Isaiah said, Who has believed our report and to whom the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of my dry ground. He has no form or comeliness. And when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from him.
81. 39:09And that is so true still today. It can't be the Christ working in me because he hasn't come back yet.
82. 39:21He was despised and we did not esteem him. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray. Listen to this. Let's back up. And by his stripes we are.
83. 39:49I wonder if the reason some folks aren't healed is because they're still waiting on a coming and haven't yet received the appearing. Just a thought.
84. 40:01Verse 7, he was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter and his sheep before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare his generation? For he was cut off from the land of the living for the transgressions of my people he was stricken. And they made his grave with the wicked, but with the rich at his death, because he has done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
85. 40:29Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He has put him to grief. When you make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed. He shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
86. 40:43Verse 1.
87. 41:01And he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors. I'm going to tell you something. It doesn't get any more clear than this. Isaiah is prophesying. He's declaring. Here's the word of the Lord. He's prophesying. He's declaring exactly what it's going to look like when he showed up what they do. When he showed up on the scene, what did he do? What did they do? You can't be the Messiah because you're the son of a carpenter. You can't be the Messiah because you don't look like we thought you'd look. You can't be the Messiah because
88. 41:35because of whatever the reasons, all the many reasons, you can't possibly be. So what we're going to do is we're going to say you're blaspheming, and we're going to put you on a cross, and we're going to shove a spear in your side, and we're going to put a crown of thorns on your head, and we're going to put vinegar in your mouth when you're thirsty.
89. 41:55Then we're going to pull you down. We're going to rip all your clothes off and humiliate you in front of everybody. We're going to do all of those things. Why? Because we think you're blaspheming against the very one that Isaiah was prophesying about. They missed it when he came. I just wonder how many people today are missing it. Not because he's off in the distance, but because he is present right now and we keep looking right past him.
90. 42:212 Peter 3.18 says, For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit. Then Proverbs 3.5 and 6. I want to point this out to you. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not lean on your own understanding. What makes sense to you, don't lean on that just because it makes sense. Holy Spirit, shake me up. If you aren't having to think about what you believe, stop believing it. There are three inarguable truths.
91. 42:54I'm going to say it every time and I'm going to say it again. Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He is our access to the Father. God the Father, Yahweh God, is the creator of all things. And Holy Spirit is that part of God that leads us into all truths. Those three things are inarguable. Everything else is pictures and symbols and shadows pointing. See, I'm going to tell you what we don't do. We do not find Christ through theology.
92. 43:31And we do not find Christ through doctrine. We find Christ through bended knee and repentance. When he comes to us by Holy Spirit and he awakens us, we find him. Not because someone preached a great message. Not because someone broke it down in three beautiful points. We find Christ because he appears right now in this moment to those who will receive him.
93. 44:00Matthew chapter 15 beginning with verse 1 says this, Then the Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat. I mean, the things people argue over. I mean, there's about 12 different things I was going to read and I'm not going to. I'll stick with this one. He answered them. He said, Why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? I love that. He's just kind of snarky sometimes and I like that. For God commanded...
94. 44:33Honor your father and your mother, and whoever reviles their father or mother must surely die. But you say, if anyone tells his father or his mother what you would have gained from me is given to God, he need not honor his father. So for the sake of your tradition, you have made void the word of God. You hypocrites. Well did Isaiah prophesy of you when he said, This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts far from me. In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. Now I'm going to say this.
95. 45:06I'm going to talk about the end of the age because that's one of the questions some people have asked me over these last couple of weeks. But I know this. I believe that when people teach, and even what I'm teaching today, what I've been teaching these last few weeks, is evolving as Holy Spirit shows us. We don't have all knowledge. We need Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth. We should only speak of what He releases to us and nothing more.
96. 45:42we shouldn't add to it, nor should we take away from it. So we have to understand we don't have all knowledge yet, but he's releasing it to us. When we're faithful over this little bit, he'll give us more, and we're faithful over that little bit, and he'll give us more. But he asked them, why do you teach as doctrines
97. 46:06The commandments of men. And all of these people throughout time, all these, whether it's a denomination or non-denominational, and all the things that we've taught and we've created and we've created these ideas. I mean, the church, can I just be honest? The body of Christ is more confused about who Jesus Christ is and what it is he wants to do in their lives than anything at all. They don't know. The church knows less about the church than the people who aren't part of the church. Right?
98. 46:39Why is that? Because we would rather get stuck in theologies and doctrines. We would rather, because we feel like, because in mankind, there's this need to know. There's a need to have an answer dial for every single thing. There's a need. I have to have an answer. And the Father says, sometimes you don't, because if I gave you all the answers, you could not comprehend it yet.
99. 47:18But I'll give you a little here, and I'll give you a little there, and I'll give you, and you need to be faithful over each one that I give you. But see, these people that, when they start, when people start, just like me today, my intention, my motivation today, my heart, is to start correctly. Now, what can go wrong is if I stop listening to what Holy Spirit wants to say about what we're talking about right now. If I say, you just gave this to us.
100. 47:46And I'm, you know what, I'm going to build our whole theology around this. I'm going to create a new belief, a new system, a new doctrine, a new denomination out of this message. I'm going to build something new and man, we're going to change the whole earth with this new understanding. And the father would say, and I just left. I just left the building. Because you only know in part.
101. 48:15And the little part that you know pales in comparison to the rest that I want to release to you through the presence of my Christ. So let's talk about the end of the age just for a second. And then I'll try to wrap this up today because I'll give you enough to think about. Matthew 24, verse 36, starting there, says this. But concerning that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah. Everybody say, as it was in the days of Noah. So will be the coming of the Son of Man.
102. 48:53Everybody say it again. Say, as it was in the days of Noah. So it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Okay, thank you. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the
103. 49:19Again, I'm going to back up. So in the days of Noah, Noah built the ark in obedience to the word of the Lord. It was a message people weren't ready to hear. But he built the ark. Who were removed from the earth? The unrighteous. The unrighteous.
104. 49:49The unrighteous. As it was in the days of Sodom, so shall it be in the coming of the Son of Man. In the days of Sodom, who were removed? The unrighteous. Who remained? The righteous. I need you to hear me today. I want to talk about what the end of the age means. Because we make it so complicated. The church has made it so complicated for so long, it's ridiculous. I taught this, what I'm about to say, years ago. I don't know if anybody remembers it, but it's been years ago.
105. 50:24But I want to address it again. Nobody knows the day nor the hour of the coming of the Son of Man. Why? Because it is different for every single person. Do you know when He came to me? On July the 8th, 1985. And do you know what that was? Let me point something out. Do you know what July the 7th, 1985 was? The end of an age. Amen.
106. 51:14I need you to listen to me now. Get outside your theologies and doctrines of men. Listen to what Holy Spirit wants to show you today. Receive what He will release to you, what He's prepared you to receive. But July the 7th, 1985 was an end of an age for me. Let me compare it to something that makes sense to everybody. I just had one of my little grandbabies just had a birthday. She went from age 4 to age 5.
107. 51:44Age 4 on her birthday, I mean on her birthday on October the 7th when we celebrated her age 5 birthday. Do you know what that was? That was the beginning of an age and the end of another age. She's never going to be age 4 again. That is gone. It is past. It is by and by. She will be age 5 until the end of that age. And whatever Holy Spirit wants to do in that age 5 year...
108. 52:14As her parents continue to lead her and guide her, as she continues to grow in her ability to listen to the voice of the Lord, just like you and me, those of you that are 29 and holding, I'm going to tell you, that age is coming to an end. Now, when you keep adding to it and adding to it, just keep in mind you're developing your own theology and doctrine. But the end of the age that comes, he's referring to, is the end of this time and the beginning of another. And the end of the age for every single one of us is very different.
109. 52:55It's very different. The beginning of a new age. The end of one, the beginning of another is when we said, Father, I come to you. I receive your Son, Jesus Christ, to be ever present with me. I receive his Spirit into my life to forgive me, to redeem me, to sanctify me by Holy Spirit. As he's making intercession and Holy Spirit's teaching me, I position myself to be changed from age to age, glory to glory.
110. 53:35Matthew 24 reads like this. Let me make this the last, well, maybe the last bit I read. Beginning with verse 1 reads like this. Are you bored yet? I want you to learn. I want you to hear what I'm teaching today. I also want you to listen to this over and over again because I want you to get this in your spirit and find out what Holy Spirit is saying to you. Don't take my word for it. You find out what Holy Spirit is saying to you. Jesus left the temple and was going away when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. But he answered them. He said, you see all these, do you not?
111. 54:04And Jesus answered them, He said,
112. 54:26And you will hear of wars and you will hear of rumors of wars so that you are not alarmed. For this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.
113. 54:41then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake and then many will fall away and betray one another and they will hate one another and many false prophets will arise and lead many astray and because lawlessness will be increased everybody say lawlessness will be increased the love of many will grow cold you don't have to say that but the one who endures everybody say this now but the one who endures to the end will be saved
114. 55:11Let me continue reading. And this gospel and this gospel, this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations and then the end will come. This is where churches and theologies and doctrines get tripped up.
115. 55:27They have a hard time with this because they believe every single person is going to have an opportunity at a given moment to receive Christ. I'm going to tell you they believed that when there were only...
116. 55:4110 million people on the planet and they're still trying to make us believe that when there are however many billion people on the planet. It's getting harder, not easier for everyone to know who Christ is. I want to point something out with that. Don't get confused by what I'm saying. So I'm going to read 14 again.
117. 55:56This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations and then the end will come. So let me explain again we can get stuck on then the end will come when all of this happens as though it is an event that encompasses all.
118. 56:17Again, this is individual. So as the end comes to each one, keep in mind, I wish I had brought up a whiteboard, but try to get this visual with me. So here's the whole world. And let's say there are a hundred dots that are representing people in this map that is on this invisible whiteboard. So there's a hundred people.
119. 56:39Now let's say in the beginning there are only 10 of those dots that are serving Christ. There are only 10 that have received Christ. So there are 90 that have not.
120. 56:48So with each person that comes to Christ because of the testimony that we read about and we'll read about again, because of the testimony of the ten, with each person that comes to Christ, it's the end of an age for them. Then the next one, it's the end of an age for them. So now we're at 12. Then the next one, it's an end of an age for them. And the next one and the next one, now we're at 15. So what's happening is the whole world is beginning to be transformed into the righteousness of God. There are more individuals.
121. 57:15in him than there are at some point out of him but the end of the age isn't an all in all it is a one at a time moment does that make sense but in order for that to occur there has to be the testimony of the righteous that rises up and begins to declare that it isn't something that's happening down the road right now the righteousness of God is arising before you amen
122. 57:50So the end of the age of lawlessness and unrighteousness is not what we think it is. But it is simply because, not because we are removed from the earth, but because lawlessness and unrighteousness through the testimony of a present Christ is being diminished and supplanted. We are right now. I'm telling you this message right now is supplanting.
123. 58:16Is overruling theologies and doctrines in people's minds and hearts right now that you built everything on. And this message right now is currently a testimony that is supplanting a theology and a doctrine that has kept you waiting for something that is right in front of you. So listen to this. Let me wrap it up with this. I'm going to try to wrap it up with this. Man, it's hard because I have four more places. But I'm going to read something that's common to all of us.
124. 58:53Matthew 28, verses 19 and 20. We know it is, or the church, the body of Christ knows it is the great commission. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. This is another thing, man. There's so many theologies about what baptism means. Nobody knows whether to be sprinkled. Nobody knows whether to be dunked, thrown in, drug in. Everybody's trying to figure out, did you get completely wet or just a little bit wet?
125. 59:24So we got all these theologies and doctrines that get it all confounded, and people are feeling like, man, I don't know, man. I mean, I just, I'm not sure if I did it right. Man, where's your heart? So he says, go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you, and behold. And then he said, everybody say, Jesus said, and behold. In other words, pay attention. Listen, right in front of you. He said, I am with you. I am with you.
126. 59:59For how long? To the end of the age. What age? This age. The next age. The next age. The next age. I'm with you when you walk away from sin. I'm going to be with you in righteousness. I'm going to be with you in this glory. And I'm going to be with you in that glory. And I'm going to be with you in the glory after that.
127. 1:00:23And every time you take a step towards me, every time you keep moving towards me, I want you to know you are my bride. And I am leaving my father and my mother to be joined to my bride. I am coming to be present with you. I am present with you. Not sometime in the sweet, sweet by and by, but I am present right now. And if you can receive that, it will change your life. Not just in the future, but now and forevermore. If you can receive that.
128. 1:00:55Matthew chapter 24 verse 44 says that you must be ready because he's going to come at a time that you don't expect, meaning stay the course. That's what that means. Stay the course. And we wrap our minds around these things and sometimes even in that we interpret this as, man, it's a bad thing. Well, I'm going to tell you something. There's times that he comes to me unexpectedly.
129. 1:01:16different times of the day. There's times I'll wake my wife up because it's not often that he wakes me up in the middle of the night. I think he's very gracious with me. But every now and then he will. And I'll reach over and I'll grab my phone and I'll do a note into my phone because I'll wake up and have a thought. And I know if I go back to sleep I won't have that thought when I get up in the morning. So I'll reach over and grab my phone, turn the light on, do a voice text and a message. And he comes. And he shares. And he speaks. And he releases because he's a present Christ who
130. 1:01:47present Holy Spirit working at us. The Holy Spirit leads us into all truth, leads us into the presence of Christ. Now he is certainly in body. He is standing beside the right hand of the Father making intercession for you and me. But in spirit, I want to tell you the anointing of Christ is present in you right now. Can we be a people who stop kicking the can down the road? I wonder how much damage we've done to the body of Christ or to the world today.
131. 1:02:17Because we keep telling people, soon and very soon, somewhere down the road, and because they stop waiting, they get tired of waiting, they grow weary in it, they stop believing, and they walk away. How much more effective? I mean, we don't serve a Christ that wants to be walked away from. He makes himself present so that we can be with him now. What if we told people, who cares how he does it in the future? What matters is what's he doing right now?
132. 1:02:51What is he made available to you right now in this moment? Those other things are irrelevant. What matters today, and I'm going to say this to you so you can at least sink your teeth into this. What matters right now is have you received Jesus Christ right now? Have you received a present Christ? If you will receive a very present Christ, I want you to know the Holy Spirit of God
133. 1:03:17That part of him that leads us into all truth will allow you to have a relationship with Christ that will change everything, not only about where you are right now, but about where you will be tomorrow. Can you receive that today? I pretty much preach myself right through a twitch. But I'm teaching this message. Why? I'm teaching this message because it is absolutely important that you get what I'm talking to you about. There's a song. There's a song. How's it go? I need Tim and Liz again.
134. 1:04:13There's a song that goes something like, Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today. Let the Savior bless your soul right now. Y'all don't know that? Right now. Right now. Let the Savior bless your soul right now. It's old. Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today. Let the Savior... Why are y'all looking at me like you've never heard that song before in your life? But the word...
135. 1:04:46But the words are true. The words are true. Can I somehow encourage you today not to accept at face value everything that I've taught you today? Don't let it become a fly in your suit. But be willing to kick the tires of what you believe and stand in the boat that you have put all your theology in. And see, Father, what do you want to shake up? Because what I'm telling you today, the gift box...
136. 1:05:22That so much of the church believes that they can't receive until another age is so ready to be opened right now, this moment, today. So that all of heaven can be released out of a Christ that the Father sent to change everything about who we are. Do you hear me today? I'm going to tell you what you do. You repent. So the pastors are going to come in a minute. I'm going to step out and I just need to take care of myself for a minute.
137. 1:06:10But the pastors are going to come, but I'm going to ask you to come. Because what you need to do is you need to ask Jesus Christ to be your present Christ. Not your future Christ. Not your down-the-road Jesus Christ. But your present Christ. And I'm going to tell you something. If you allow Him to be your present Christ, what He will do in you right now. And I know some of you, I've been saved a long time. Well, that's good. That's good. But I don't want you just saved into the future. I want you saved into the present. So I'm going to have the pastors come. Come now.
138. 1:06:46And I'm going to ask you to come today and I want you to come and I want you to stand before them. I want you to let them minister to you and pray for you. So stand with me this morning if you would. Father, I lift my voice over these men and these women.

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