Jump in the Pit - Spring Series pt. 2

That is a glorious thing. Right. And where death is a death has been arrested. That's something to be joyous about. Come on, church when death was arrested. Now we're free. Now we're able to live. We don't have to be condemned by the sin and the death Lord. Death has no victory of victory over us anymore. First Corinthians chapter 15 verses 54 to 57 it says, but when this perishable will have put on the imperishable and this mortal will have put on the immortality, then will come about the saying that is written.

Death is swallowed up in victory. Oh, death. Where is your victory? Oh, death. Where is your sting? Come on now. The sting of death is sin. And the power of sin is the law. But thanks to God who gives us the victory to our Lord Jesus Christ. That right there means we don't have to be. We don't have to feel less than we don't have to feel weak.

We don't have to feel that we can't get through what we're going through. Because of what Christ did on the cross. We are free and death has been arrested. God, we just thank you. We praise you or we thank you for today. Lord, we thank you for bringing us together in this place Father. So right now, God, I ask that you everything that's on our heart is a man's Lord, that we lay it at your altar.

Father, that you give us ears to hear you and ask to see you, Lord. And in everything we give you all honor, glory and praise in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Good morning, Church. How are we doing this morning? Good. Oh, man. I see. We have fields now. Passes when you have heavy rain. Come on now.

Good morning, Church. How are we doing this morning?

I'm so again, I'm just a little bit about myself. Um, I've. I've met some of Yorkville relations with somebody on something. You just seem me. You seem like. Who's this guy walking around? Doesn't ever talk to me or just says hi. Well, my name is John Williams. A little bit about myself. I'm married to my beautiful wife. Niecy will be 19 years and may I have three children.

Have a 25 year old son named Eric. I have a 23 year old daughter named Tasia and I can see it now. You're like, man, he has kids in his mid twenties and he still looks good. So I thank you. I appreciate that. And then I have a younger daughter. She's eight years old, so a big difference there.

Name's Ariel. So we were born and raised in Pittsburgh. I mean, we lived there all our lives. My wife had some family members moved down here. We would come to visit on holidays and things like that. And so we like to so much when we ask God, can we where can we move? He said, No, not yet. Then eventually in June of 2019 he said, Okay, you can move.

So we packed up all our stuff. We moved down to North Carolina High Point. That was June 20. 19. One thing I asked God when I moved, I said, God, you got to, you got to connect me to somewhere and get a connection somewhere. I mean, I was doing good things. I'm in Pittsburgh. You got to connect me and he was like, I so we came down here being covered here and I could use an excuse but also took a break.

I go lie. I was tired, man. Working at the church I was out doing everything. I was tired, so I took an extended break. The guy was like 2021 to begin the year. He said it's time to find a church. And I was like, I meant, but there's so many churches down here. He said, just found one church.

So I go online, go online and Google charges in half point First thing that comes up is one church. Oh, cool. So little little did I know. Little did I know that you were just starting as well. So I looked online. I'm looking. I'm saying, okay, like the message. I like what they're about. I see. I see a guy, a couple of guys with ball.

He has a beard again. Got okay style. I can fit in. I fit in, you know, so I said this might be the place, but I bookmarked and it was March and then got to August Guy was like his time. So me and my wife and family came and we've been here ever since. So that's a little bit about me.

I don't know what else I'm a Leo. I like, I like walks on the trail because if you're anything else you want to know, just see me after church or whenever you stop me, I'll be glad to share. But today the word won't come out a second. Samuel Chapter 23 verses 20 and 23 if you have your Bibles, you found it in there on your phone.

I mean, I believe they're going to put it up on the screen yeah. I come out to NASB whatever translation you have. That's okay. Second Samuel, chapter 23 versus 23 23 and I'll give a little precursor if I mess up any of these names. I apologize in advance. So yeah, so, so it goes then. Ben Banana, the son of jihad, the son of a valiant man of KB Zoo who had done Mighty Deeds kill the two sons of Ariel of Moab.

He also went down and killed a line in the middle of a pit on a snowy day. He killed an Egyptian, an oppressive man. Now, the Egyptian had a spear in his hair, but he went down to him with the club, snatched desperate from the Egyptians hand and killed him with his own spear. These things. Ben, Ben, the son of Joe, I did.

It had a name as well as the Three Mighty Men. He was honored among the 30 but he did not attain to the three. And David appointed him over his guard, focusing on. He also went down and killed a line in the middle of a pit on a snowy day. I would like to speak to you today about jumping in the pit.

God is prison time. Peace is not easy, but is made easy by your Holy Spirit. Father asks that I decrease and you so that you may increase. And then at the end you get all the honor, glory and praise in Jesus name. Amen. So to give you some context on this passage of Scripture verses like eight 39, your Bible, my title title it His Mighty Men, this is refer to David the his is referring to David.

This is David's Mighty Men. And this section of Scripture describes Davis brave this warriors and his most outstanding soldiers. They're memorialized here. These these men help David become king. It speaks of his name, Joshua Bass, a Beth call the dean of the night because he killed 800 men at one time. It says he's he was chief of the captains.

We hear of Eliza, one of the three mighty men that was with David. He struck the Philistines until his hand was weary and clung to the sword. Oh, come on now. That's that's a sermon in itself right there. It talks about three mighty men who stand out among all the other mighty men mentioned in this passes. These are men who, among other great acts, broke through the camp of the Philistines and to get David some water from the whale, Bethlehem.

Now, we eventually get to the two, the one I want to focus on this morning. But now it says he's a value man. It says he who did Mighty Deeds. And again, I'm focusing on that scripture of he also went down and killed a line in the middle of a pit on a snowy day. What I mean, what I read that was like, what?

Come on, now. It said it said he went down and killed a light in the pit on a snowy day. I mean, when I first read it, that sounds crazy. And I mean, it was still sounded remarkable. He just said he killed a lion but but as stated in detail, he went down in the middle of a pit, killed a lion on a snowy day.

This sounds unbelievable. Remarkable. And crazy all at the same time. So how many of you aware of the video game pitfall for us all, folks? Here you go. Right for us. Oh, folks, that was a game on Atari and Calico Vision, not on PlayStation or PS4. Whatever you play now, it's a game or a safari guy. He runs, he jumps and swings over rocks, alligators and pits.

The object of the game was to avoid any and everything, especially the pits. Any cars to get to the end goal, I guess you could say you had to avoid the pitfalls of this guy's life to win. And how many of us live our lives the same way today? We go about each day trying to avoid pitfalls, thinking that if we do that, we had a successful day or that we were better off.

But according to our Scripture, it seems better now would not be good at this game. He does a total opposite. He doesn't avoid the pitfalls he jumps into, though. Come on now. There has to be some near every word in this passage of Scripture has an underlying meaning. The picture it paints is symbolic of how we should have the courage, faith, and belief that we have the power to go pick jumping and slay the predators in our lives.

Come on now through Bennett. But now God mentions a section of Scripture to show us that are the in our lives. There comes on occasions and essences don't know Mr. Plural. On that occasions and instances where we must chase that line into the pit spot, that line in the pit and kill it. The lab whatever has a hole on us, whatever is controlling us, whatever is keeping us from the coal or lies, whatever separating us from God, be it past pains, your unforgiveness depression, addictions, to roam the loss of the flesh, whatever your stronghold is, we must go into that pit on a snowy day and kill it.

Too many times we sit at the edge of the pit underside that have been afraid too many times. We accept our strongholds as they belong in our lives. Too many times we spend too much energy on keeping our skeletons in our closet. Come on now. Too many times we see nothing wrong with having an anger issue and attitude or being in our feelings.

Am I speaking to anyone this morning who has some who has some issues and too many times. But as children. But as children of God, saved or not. We cannot sit back and expect God to handle all of our problems or all of our sickness without some help from us. We have to have we have a responsibility to act.

We need to take the fight of our issues and problems, those of our own doing, and those that arise from the enemy. Those of us who are parents. We get this concept. We will do anything for our children. But there comes a point in time when they become adults, we want to see that they care as much about themselves as we do.

We don't mind helping them grow Being a consultant, walking with them. But we want them to take as much interest and interest and more in their lives as we do. Yeah, this is what God expects from us as our father. This is what happened, and that shows us. So with that said, the first point I want to bring up about the Scripture is that God has built this up, right?

Oh, God has built a so now the name Ben, and that means the law bills and the Hebrew because it says Yah has built up something in the name. Right? But then I recognize who he was. He understood that Yah has built him up no matter what came against him or was in it was in his way. He knew his foundation was in the Lord.

His Creator and architect was God. So He didn't know how to sit back and be a punching bag and wait to be attacked. He took the fight to the things that threaten or was a threat in his life. What we seen, it was a the line in the pit. The two sons of Ariel Mohammed, the impressive Egyptian villain Benard, took the fight to them.

He didn't back down from those obstacles in his life. He was built up by yah. And I'm here to tell you, you are too. You don't believe it with Scripture. Say, Let us make man in our own image and likeness. God breathe life into form. Dust and gave us life. Jesus is our cornerstone upon this rock is what Jesus said.

I have given them everything you have given me. I will send you a helper this is all things that we have been given back. God is this. This is our foundation. This is our DNA. These are the things we have been given by God to stand or to walk on, to go and battle with. And we I'm talking to me to had the nerve to walk around here.

Did we walk around here powerless? We walk around here with the weight of the world. Apollo upon us. We cry. I blame every everyone else and everything for our problems. We give the enemy too much credit for our strongholds. We condemn our sales for our sins, sinful ways of thought when we could recognize that God has built us up and chased that one down in our lives.

We can go into that pit with confidence, power, and faith. We will pray that we can go to the pit with the confidence power face. We inherit it through the shedding of the blood of Jesus on that cross and kill those things that torment us. Until we get this, we will stay defeated. It is like having the key to the jail cell, but we decide to stay in prison.

Well, unless you're Paul and Silas and they might want to stay a little bit longer, we had to strengthen where we thought to withstand the fiercest of challenges is in the name. Ja has built you up so So, Eugene, tell me, slow down. So I'm sorry. I will slow down for you. They make it difficult working you out today.

The second point I want you to know is God will lead us to a face to face encounter with our things. This is we'll see this in our Scripture. I've been speaking of. The line in our lives is strongholds, these imprisonments, the chains we're tied to. But the thing is, the land is passage has a dual rule. We had the physical depiction of the line, you know, where it's a dangerous animal.

If we came across one, we were considered a threat to our lives. I mean, we probably would consider ourselves good as dead. The depiction is our sin. This is fiction is of our sin, our shortcomings, our strongholds, our weaknesses. Whatever is keeping us from the call on our lives. Then there's this spiritual depiction of the line, the line of Judah, which is the Jesus himself out of Judas, like King David Rowe and a descendant of David as Jesus was Revelation five, five, Caesar's.

And the one of the elders said to me, Stop weeping, behold the land that is from the tribe of Judah. The root of David has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals so. So we see that. We see that depiction of the line is Jesus. But also the Hebrew word for line is and I asked Hunter this earlier area, which means land, but the root word of that word is RA, which means to gather and pluck.

I know someone likes to pluck us from death and move and move us and gather us in life. So so we had these to this door, ruled his line in his scripture. I'm not sure what caused Benni to go into the pit to kill a lion. I don't know if he chased the pit, I mean, the lion into the pit or he came across land in the middle of the pit.

Either way, he knew the lion was in the pit and he went in, you know, God will allow us to go through things and suffer to get us to a point where we're ready to face the lion in our lives. He gets us to the point where we have no choice but to hit rock bottom in order to turn to him, be rejuvenated and restore.

But how many of us don't jump in the pit? How many of us don't jump in appear? We run from our problems. We turn our backs to the sin. We push it in the closet is like, I don't know, it's not there, but it's really there. We we are. We stay stuck on the edge of the pit. We stay we'll stay sick.

We stay bound for these things that we profess that we don't like. Come on now. But God can't tell. And if we're honest with ourselves, we can't neither. We continue to pacify this thing that eats, eats away at us daily, steals our sanity is chokes us spiritually. How many of us ask God to help us deliver us from our addictions?

God deliver me from our sinful ways only in the next breath to hit rock bottom right at the bottom of a pit. And then we'd be like, what really got my ass you to deliver me? I ask. I ask for you to deliver me. But I didn't mean delivery to my death. I didn't mean uproot my life and make me feel uncomfortable.

I didn't mean bring that person back into my life. I didn't mean take that person out of my life. Come on now. I didn't mean test my patience. I don't mean put me in a hospital with a minor stroke. Oh, that's my story. That's for another day, though. I want to ask God will use a line. Remembers that depiction of a bad thing and in God himself to draw us to a place, the pick to face what we have been shaped.

We will be chained to for too long. We find ourselves at the edge of a pit, staring down a line in this pit so we can all see this pit if as large as it is. Pretty deep, right? I mean, we think about what we're talking about. How does this pit had to be deep? So this leads me to about the third point in the depths of the pit is where we obtain power and freedom, and the depths of the pit is where we obtain power, freedom.

So in keeping with our theme for the year deeper, let's talk about the pit deeper is sometimes scary. You know, it requires a lot from us, especially if we're following or searching for God. It requires us to go places we have never been. It's been it can be daunting. You can feel inadequate and not worthy. But in our weakest moments, we are our most powerful.

I think I've heard that before, somewhere in scriptures, somewhere I don't know about you, but most of the time I don't feel powerful. My weakest moments, I feel powerless, but is at that moment where God has led us to the edge of the pit at our weakest moment. And we have a choice to continue to sit at the edge of the pit, feeling hopeless, unworthy, condemning ourselves, filling our love in brokenhearted or we can decide to jump to the bottom of the pit.

Our power sources come face to face with our thing and kill it. Yeah, that's why I said it at the bottom of the pit where our power source is and I know it kind of sounds like it doesn't make any sense, but at the bottom of it, literally rock bottom is the power I need is that perfect power.

That power God tall Paul is perfected and weakness. The only perfect power I know is Christ himself. And what did Paul say that say after you, after gods, all my power, your power is protecting your weaknesses, is perfecting the weaknesses. Paul said, I will boast about my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may dwell on me. That's that perfect power.

Now. I now know I'm going somewhere. Just now. Check this out. The Hebrew word for pit is bore below. Ah, it means pit. Well, sister is sometimes it's translated to death. And now I can see in a pit. At the bottom of pit is death, especially if there's a there's a line in it down the right. But here, that's not nice.

I want to play on me. I said one of these definitions was Sister back in those days, a sister and is known to be a place where water was filtering cleanse from its impurities and was essential a water management water management techniques in dry land and communities. Now, come on, I'll get that. Maybe, maybe on Wednesday. But check this out with us.

Maybe. But I'm going to bring it home for you. All right. A sister was known to be a place where water high, where water was filtered in class from its impurities. It was essential water management techniques in dry, dry land and communities and places. A system was used to bring fresh water pure clean water to dry places. And of you need some fresh, pure, clean living water.

Wash your diet, dear places. So in the pit, we have our land. That's our sin. Our stronghold, those things that keep us separated from God and to death that those things brings to us physically and spiritually. And we have pure clean water in the same place. Water purification to assist us with our dry places. Come on, now. So now is your fear down in the pit now only is your lack of self esteem down in the pit?

My desire for acceptance is a nappy. But the one who built you up yard line of Judah, the true living water, a perfect power down here to the strong and mighty are ready to assist you in battle. How's the Scripture go? Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, even though I jump in the middle of a pit with a line in it, I fear no evil.

I don't fear my weaknesses. Our transgressions for you are with me. The line of Judah living water. How do I know that your ride, your staff come from me. Come on now. Church yeah.

He's waiting for you to jump in the pit and slay the beast of your life. Jump in the pit now. Now, now I hear myself. I mean, I'm here telling you. Oh, we got these lines in our life. We have. We have our sins. We have our transgressions. We have our weaknesses. Oh, jump in the pit. Yeah. If, like, those things.

Yeah, God's built you up. It's one thing, for one thing for me to tell you that. But there's another thing. This does have an example. It is okay. So I told you about my family. Okay, but I wouldn't want that. When I described my church, I didn't tell you that when me and my wife came together, we had children from previous relationships She brought our son Eric.

I brought my daughter Tasa. So for the first ten years of our marriage, we tried to have a child of our own. We in the natural way. Believe you. We tried the natural way. Okay. And we also went to Doctors Medical, the site to produce more eggs and artificial insemination, things like that. And so and I'm just going to say this to when my wife was pregnant with Eric here, they found a cyst on one of her ovaries.

So they said they had to take one of her ovaries when when when she was pregnant with her. But even though we went there, doctors say everything was good. She was producing enough eggs. I was cool, man. But whatever we tried, it didn't happen. It's now ten years month after month, year after year, no child. So at this ten year, ten year, 11 year mark, we were part of a church that was starting up we had like a core ten to 15 people, and we didn't have a church home.

So those first months and days we would we would have our church functions at somebody's house. So this, this ten years and this this week it was at our house or Tuesday night, we would call Tuesdays nice praise and worship. So we would just come together in and just pray and worship God and praising. And we watch the spare moves and you know, in our living rooms.

Friday nights will be Friday night Bible studies and then on Sundays we would just have church at the local hotel. And in our conference room. So this one Tuesday night was at our house and we're all praise and worship in and you can feel the spirit of God. He I will say he was in the place because he's with us.

So he's always there. But he we create an atmosphere for him to move freely. And you could feel his presence. You could feel the heaviness of the Lord flowing through the place And so on these Tuesday night praise and worship, sometimes our pastor would he would have a word. And if the God letting he would share that word to the collective group, which the individual person. So I don't remember where for about eight years ago, but one of the points he made was that sometimes our lack of transfer inside with God puts a wall up, hinders him to apply the fullness of what he wants to have for us all our lives, because we're not transparent when he we're, we're not being honest with you.

We're man, I mean, we're not telling we're man. If we're disappointing, that's only disappointing. We're we're not something we rehearse. We're putting up these walls calling is causing the separation and and what he wants to do for us in that time we can't do it because we're there's there's a separation. There's this gap. So the pastor gives his word and all of a sudden I hear I Tenisha she's she starts going in, God, I'm mad at you.

I'm angry. Why why can't I why can't we have a child? Am I not worthy enough for you? I feel less there. Am I not woman off? What am I doing wrong? I'm doing all these things for you, Laura. Party's new church. I'm out here spreading your word. I'm out here ministering to people, and I care a child.

What's going on and so. So what we do, we we lay hands on her. We prayed over. We ask God to hear. Hear your children's cry. We ask God to open up her womb.

So that was Tuesday. Tuesday night. Wednesday, Thursday. Friday. It's Friday morning. I get a call I'm asleep. I get a call. Says it says wifey like it's early. She's still out there saying leave to work. Yeah. Why is he calling me? So I'm like, hello? Like hearing her voice, he said, I need you to come down. We need to talk.

I'm like, oh, man. I'm like, all right, I'm coming down. I ain't got a lot of first thought. The first thing I thought was like, I'm going to my head. I do anything wrong. I was cool. Come on, come on. Think. Johnny, would you do you think I'm saying then I came to realization. Now I'm a good husband.

Oh, perfect. Right now. No. So I'm like, I said, I'm not, and I'm cool. But as I'm starting to walk downstairs, I'm thinking like, man, it's that time of the month. We've been through this before. So I knew I could hear the voice, and I'm. So I'm sitting here saying, bad guy. We just had this breakthrough on Tuesday, and this happened.

I'm like, oh, my God, please give me the compassion, the comforter, you know? So I go downstairs and see, like, what's going on? She says, Well, you know, it's that time of the month, and I just decide to take this pregnancy test. Man here, it's just like this in my heart. So I grab it, I look at it, and I look back at her and I look back at this thing again to glance, come on.

That I look back her I mean, we start praising God. We didn't need to go to a doctor to confirm it because we knew because what he just did on on that Tuesday in three days, we couldn't happen to two years. He may happen in three days. So, so, so what's the so what's the point? I'm trying to make the point.

I'm trying to make is look look at this. This Tunisia just didn't have these skills. And I'm not putting it all her because I had my I was full of myself, too, even though I felt I came to a realization I got a son, we got a daughter. Even if I'm not the back, we're not the biological, we're still family.

So I'm cool with that. But deep down, I wanted a child, too. But but Tunisia, this is didn't happen after two years of trying out the baby, guess what? Each month, each year is grabbing hold on her is her not facing it. The stays stronghold is holding her tighter and tighter. Now, what is it causes more separation between her got in this moment.

And the more she keeps ignoring it, the more she keeps like our ancestors walking around in the wilderness, not facing our problems, not recognizing the things that we're being that that our relationship got broader to this point. Ten years down the road, God was like, I'm done. I'm tired of you ignoring this. I'm tired. I got stuff for you.

I got blessings for you. I got power for you. I got life for you. You got to face it this Tuesday. So so look at it in the context of what I'm talking about here. God, let her to this place on Tuesday night, she she spirit's movement. God's dear. I told you guys at the bottom of the spirits in the place we're praising and worshiping.

Is that what you're going to do? Gave her to where would you go and do so tonight? She decided to take the veil off, jump into a bottomless pit with God, and take the fight to those things that will bother her. So she took out the veil and she started tag with God on her anger tag team and with God on her disappointment tag teaming with God on her feeling of loneliness, tag teaming with God on her low self-esteem, tag teaming with God and her lack of self-worth.

And that's what happens at the bottom of the pit is you, God. And what are we finally what is where? It's all right here. It's all right. Everything that you need, the promises, the power, the tools, the weapons is right here. No saying what former God put on that breastplate. Priceless. The helmet, salvation, the shield of faith and the soul right here.

Take the fight. So you think what this does is to want to know so that you may be healed? These things only come out with fasting and praying they will lay hands on sick. What do we do? We will. They will lay hands on the sick and they will recover. Speaks it up. Now, don't try to climb over it.

Tell it to move and get out your way.

With Romans eight 31 and 32 sayings What dance shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? Come on now, who? Who did not spears? Oh, son, but delivered him over for us all? What? How are we not also with Him freely? Give us all things. The God who gave us one and only sight to bring us from from death to life will also do the same thing for us.

Yes, who will be bring a charge against God's elect? Come on now. Come on. And you run away from you running from the enemy. Oh, who's going to be with the guy who was going to bring charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies who's the one who condemns Christ? Jesus. He died. Yes, rather. Who was raised, who was the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.

Come on, now. Come on. Our God has things for us to do. And we cannot do the walk around here day and defeat it. All right, come on. I mean, I could, I could probably stop right here.

But I got one more point. And up into here, one more point. And fourth thing I want you to know, God exalts those who press relentlessly into the kingdom of God. All right? It's like us out if we if we notice what the Scripture is said, I don't want you to miss it. Said it was a snowy day.

So the conditions were not the best, especially the groping is alive. I mean, the visual visibility was probably low the footing had to be slippery. I mean, I come from Pittsburgh, so I could tell you about some snow, some ice and slippery stuff I'm sure Benard didn't have on no timberlands. Tell you it was cold and wet. The lab was better suited for these conditions, and Benard took it to the land.

And how about us in these conditions? Is it just me? But whenever, whenever I'm at the point of having to face my thing, the conditions are never just right. Maybe it's only me. I mean, my demeanor below my anxiety be through the roof. My worry, man gives me to bubble guts. Hey, come on now. Only Ali. Me, only me.

You know what? You worry a lot. You ain't got no appetite, but your stomach's gurgling. Oh, okay. I'll be the only one you ain't you ain't eating time. But you got to go to. You got to go to the bathroom. Come on. Maybe I'm sorry. Too much information. Come on, Soph.

In these conditions, we're snapping out on everyone we come into contact with. Our patient is short. We're turning to every Tom Dick, Hairy Teresa Pam pill and drink to satisfy our flesh. Anything to keep us from jumping to stand pat. When we say we're comfortable, I mean, we think. We say, I don't think I can overcome these things.

I mean, our life looks like that Blizzard's snowy day. And we'll see. We'll say to ourselves, I tried to overcome it, but the last we tell ourselves, did we come face to face? With our thing? With nowhere to go was either you or it. And you may feel your thing is not a threat. You may feel the conditions are are not optimal for you to face your thing.

And that is the difference between some of us and benign. There's no for there's no perfect conditions in combat. Mr. Perfect, speaking to myself if you're if you're waiting for these perfect conditions, you might as well lock yourself in. Not saying throw away the key and continue to be imprisoned and tortured. We can't wait for sunny skies and gentle winds.

Nine times out of ten, that means we're avoiding the fight. The line may not have been bothering banana, but he knew it was or will become a threat you get that he knew it was or become a threat solely to entertain it or allow it to roam freely in his conditions, his state he was in. He jumped into the pit, whatever, whatever his or our struggles are.

But now understood I ain't got time working for can afford to be in these conditions with the rat line running loose. Eventually the line will get hungry and come for me and nope, not today. And I'm going to take it by force. Matthew 11, 12. Jesus says From the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence in the violent man.

Take it by force. The parallel scripture, Luke, Luke says everyone is pressing into it is the kingdom. Now, I don't know where I read this before, but this statement stuck with me. It says The kind of compartmentalized East. Those two parts of scriptures, the Matthew, one in the Luke the Kingdom presses ahead relentlessly and only the relentless press is their way into it.

The kingdom presses here relentlessly, and only the relentless press is their way into it. Jesus is letting us know that the Kingdom of Heaven has opposition and spiritual warfare. We will have haters. We will have our spiritual strongholds. We we will have the systematic oppression, but we must relentlessly press our way through it. The Kingdom of God is where our wholeness is.

It's where our power is. It's where we can we can not only do these things, but the greater is we're 12. People can change the world and turn it upside down. It's where communities are returned to their former glory, where kids can not only dream, but believe they can be anything and whatever they want to be. It's weird.

Love thy neighbor. Whoever your neighbor is, as you love yourself, is not just a scripture in the Bible, but it's lived as is supposed to be. The Kingdom of God is that hand is here, right? If we if we are to relentlessly press our way into the Kingdom of God that means we must press through and over the things that's pressing against us.

That means jumping into a pit on a snowy day and killing your life. God has built us up to overcome our unforgiveness or hurt. Mom and Dad's rejection are lustful eyes. Whatever you think is the violent, take it by force and only the relentless press is their way into it. Why? I keep saying that. I want you to check this out.

If you could put the main scripture back up on the screen I think when reading this passage about Bill Nye says he killed the lion in the pit, the two sons of Ariel of Moab. Now that's translating into to land like heroes. So that's three lions in total. I can't make this up. And with it says with a club in hand walked up to an impressive looking Egyptian with a spear in his hand, snatched, desperate out of his hand and killed him with it.

But what I want you to focus on, what does it say next? It says he had a name as well as the Three Mighty Men in the OC. Yet has he had a name as as well as the Three Mighty Men? That's mighty reputation. Dennis says he was honored among the 30. That's recognition I understand he's gaining a mighty reputation and recognition from the king, David.

He's getting exalted by the king. Dennis says he did not attain to the three mighty men. All right, quick aside, real quick. You are you. God made you. There is only one you Every promotion or elevation is not for you to be like someone else or to attain with someone else. Has. It is for you to get what God is called and predestined for you.

Don't attain for what someone else has, but what God has for you.

And lastly, watch this. It says David appointed him over his ga he bin that press relentlessly. It made it into the kingdom. He jumped in the pit to kill and kill to land like he rose and an oppressive Egyptian with his own spear. And he became commander over Davis, Ga. And if you read further, he eventually became commander in chief of Solomon's army.

Come on, now. Come on. God is not a man that he should lie His word is true. But now relentlessly pressed his way into the kingdom. And we see God honored that. But now the one who has built up operate it in the fearlessness and power he was created in and removed all obstacles and threats in his life.

And David, the King Exalted Hill, promoted him, placed him right in the position where he needed to be. Once he took the thing to his lands, once he decided, I'm a defeat, these things that are a whole medium of defeat, these things that stop me from to call my life, I'm going to defeat these things that that are that that are keeping me separated from God as the worship team comes up So we talked about the hope.

So again, those four points that God has built, you are understanding who we are, who we are, Christ and what our DNA is, and that God is always when it's talked about God will lead us to a face and face encounter with our things that, you know, we can we can keep playing around with God. We can keep running and running away.

But eventually God's going to get us to face those things because he has something for us. I said in the desert, the pit is where we obtain power of freedom. We don't have to be scared to go into that fight. We got to understand that that God is with us. I will never leave, you know, forsake you. We have all we have the perfect power.

We need to see any and everything in our lives. And God will exalt those who profess relentlessly into the Kingdom of God. We ain't got to worry about exalting ourselves or trying to show off all we need to show up and do what God asks us to do. And He'll places where he where he needs us right in the kingdom for that, for his purpose and glory.

So I asked the congregation today, do you believe that we obtain victory over all things? Because Jesus Jesus a sacrifice on the cross? Do you not know who you are? Christ, the only reason the enemy runs wound or lies is because we have forgotten who and who we are. Yours built us up. We act like shame and guilt, or anything we do, for that matter, is greater than the sacrifice on the cross.

Stop wallowing. Yesterday, in our past living less stand and grab hold of the new creature we were creating in Jesus. You want everything the kingdom has for you. Jump in the pit. You want to be whole jump in the pit. You want to overcome forgiveness. Jump in the pit. You want to put the alcohol down. Jump in the pit.

You want to laugh again. Jump in the pit. You got obedience issues. Jump in the pit. Marriage is crumbling. Jump in the pit. You got control issues. Jump in the pit. Financial woes. Jump in the pit. You're diagnosed with cancer or some other other health element. Jump in pit depression overtaking you. Jump in the pit. The churches that jump in the pit.

There's a spiritual stronghold in our community. That's all. Jump in the pit together and defeat that day. Come on now. Come on now.

And going into the pit is not having a death wish. It's choosing to live and live life more abundantly. And Ezekiel there's this passage of scripture where God is speaking in Jerusalem. He says, Live. Yes. I said to you while you and your blood live. This is when he was watching over us and them in our in our sin, in our rebellion before commitment to him.

Even at that time, you wanted us to live. That is why we made it. Or we are making it. What do you think he wants for you now? So I say jumping in the pit is not a death wish. You have a live wish. Come on. As the church stands, your understanding of who you are, Christ gives you power, the power to go in the pit with God and your thing and eradicate those demons.

Spiritual man made to come our whole lives, life and live life more abundantly is spreading the gospel in the kingdom. Of God don't continue to set the edge to peace. Looking at the light skin through a royal priesthood, we are his work mission. Nothing is separate from the love of God. No matter how hard you try, God is going to still love.

You guys will be there ready to restore you to. To pick you up, to build you up. And man, sometimes we just need a hug and he wants nothing more to see you see more than to set you free and make you home. Now Now, I believe the worst things about saying do it again. I love this song because a lot of times we go through life and we forget what God has done for us.

We forget just like like the Israelites did. God just open, split the sea. It made it come on. Their enemies in that ten steps into the wilderness they're talking about, Oh, where's God? I'm hungry. Why, we should just left us in captivity. In slavery in Egypt. Come on now. Do you not remember what God has done for your life?

Now, I don't care what He is. What he's done in your life might not look big to me. And what he's done in my life. I leave big to you. But as long as if it's big to you, if it's a miracle in your life, don't forget it. Because I guarantee you he will do it again. And people ask me and he sighs.

Ask me, John, you seem like you're. Why are you not here just right? Because in three days he gave me authority. Well, it didn't happen in ten years. That's my we see moment and I'll never forget it. So I don't know what you came in his church in the sanctuary with weighing heavy on you. I don't know if you would what problems you may have but I implore you, do not leave the same way.

You came here several times. You have whatever. Since you have no health ailments, you have bring it to the altar. This is the edge of your pit right now. You bring it to the Lord. And I promise you He is right here with you. And you can radic hate those things. Just as I say to my wife, you can tag team.

Whatever is going on in your life. Right here is Altar, and he will handle you. I promise. You God was nothing more to restore his children.

Do not wait, not hesitate. Because the longer you wait, when he does finally snatch you up and grab you your love that you all want, that so God, we just thank you, Lord, and praise you be exalt. We magnify you, Lord, we love you. Thank you for your work, your promises Father we just ask you to hear our hearts will hear cries heal thus far, no matter what it is, we know that we are taking a victory in you because newsflash we win, we win the sorry told we win so we don't have to walk well here, Dad, no more Father.

So we give you all honor and glory in Jesus name. Amen.