Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Get ready for.
[00:00:01] Or get your bibles ready. Sorry. 2 Chronicles, and we're going to start in 20. So this is not a polished sermon this morning. Is there grace in the house, preachers, pastors, ex pastors or whatever in this house this morning? Is there grace for me?
[00:00:18] You can come and tell me later if I've got some of my theology wrong.
[00:00:22] No, but yeah, there's a bit of grace. It's not a polished sermon, but I believe God wants to speak.
[00:00:28] Should we just pray, Lord? I pray our ears, our spiritual ears will be open this morning and our hearts to hear what you have to say to us as a church. I thank you, Lord, that you have good things for us, Lord, this year.
[00:00:42] And we want to run with all that you've got for us in the mighty name of Jesus. Okay, so here we go.
[00:00:49] We are in serious times as a nation.
[00:00:55] Anybody agree with me?
[00:00:59] Serious. We can come here on a Sunday morning and do our lovely praise songs. And they're great. It's important we praise. We're going to talk about praise this morning.
[00:01:08] It's important we praise.
[00:01:11] But the reality is our nation and the nations of the world are in absolute turmoil.
[00:01:20] I want to go as far to say, and I don't really say it too much, but our churches are in turmoil.
[00:01:28] I believe it's the hour where the enemy is trying his hardest to infiltrate not just communities and families, but the Church of Jesus Christ.
[00:01:43] And he will do his best to bring a load of trickery into our lives.
[00:01:51] He does it. He masquerades as an angel of light.
[00:01:57] That's why the church better wake up, have some discernment about her in this hour, otherwise we will go down and be hoodwinked with so many that have been hoodwinked.
[00:02:16] We're going to speak, we're going to talk about a guy called Jehoshaphat. He's one of my favorite characters. All right, but let me tell you, Jehoshaphat did not end his life well.
[00:02:26] He started exceptionally well, but he did not end well.
[00:02:33] And so we're going to talk about Jehoshaphat, and I'm going to skip a little bit because there's a lot of reading, but I want to skip most of it and get to the main points.
[00:02:41] But the thing about Jehoshaphat, he was.
[00:02:46] I'll just go really briefly so we get a bit of context. So God's people, the Israelites, some of you don't know, but God's people were brought out of slavery. They're in slavery for 400 years. God called them out and he said, you're my firstborn. I love you.
[00:03:02] You're going to be my people.
[00:03:04] And, boy, has God tried to hold on to his people through the generations.
[00:03:08] It's not God. It's us that turns away.
[00:03:11] God, through every generation, has sent warnings. He sent prophets, he sent teachers, he sent his people, and we killed them. We stoned them. Well, not us personally, okay? And God has tried to keep and lead his people throughout the generations, but the reality is, as human as we are, we keep falling back and in and out of relationship with God. I know I do it in my own life.
[00:03:44] And we fall in and out.
[00:03:46] And so when the people, you know, you've got Moses, you know, you've all these Old Testament leaders, all right? But it got to Samuel, the day of the Prophets, and the people begged for a king like the other nations on the face of the earth. They said, give us Samuel. We want a king.
[00:04:08] We want a king like all the other nations have a king. We want a leader like them.
[00:04:15] And God says, okay, give the people what they want.
[00:04:18] And so God gave the people what they wanted. And the people didn't reject the prophet, they rejected God.
[00:04:26] They rejected God as the ultimate king.
[00:04:29] And what's happened is since then, through history, the people of God have lost their way because they would not look to the king of kings and the Lord of lords.
[00:04:44] And so we get to Jehoshaphat, who is one of these earthly kings.
[00:04:49] Now, if you know your history of the Bible, you know that at some point, when God's people asked for a king, you know, at some point under the human king, it's not long before tragedy happens.
[00:05:04] I don't want to get into politics, but we know our politics is in a right mess.
[00:05:11] Humans, we make a mess of things.
[00:05:15] And so when it got to the kingdom under David, so David led so well for over 40 years.
[00:05:22] But then David's son came into leadership, and it was Solomon. And then just at the end of Solomon's reign, the kingdom divided in two became the northern territory and the southern territory. Okay, the Northern Territory had 10 tribes, and their capital was Samaria. Some of you are going to make these links when it comes to the New Testament and the Samaritans and all this and the trouble going on. All right? And then you have the other side, which was Judah, the southern territories, all right, which had two tribes in them.
[00:05:58] But you see, Judah, the southern territories, only had two tribes. They were in the minority, not the majority.
[00:06:07] But you see, the kings of Judah more or less followed God.
[00:06:15] But you see, the kings of Israel in the northern territories, the ten tribes were wicked, fell to idolatry, back. Slight, awful, wicked stuff. All right, so here's where we find ourselves. That was like a real 30 second Bible knowledge. Okay?
[00:06:35] When we get to King Jehoshaphat, he is the king of Judah at the time, all right, his father has died. He is now the king of Judah. But at the same time of him, the king of Israel is a guy called Ahab. And if you know anything about Ahab, he was a very wicked king.
[00:06:55] Let me just go this through this quickly before we read.
[00:06:58] If you want to get one, sorry, 2 Chronicles 20 ready. It says Jehoshaphat. And this is all in scripture. I'm just kind of condensing it for you. He sought God.
[00:07:08] He sought God, and it says he followed in his father's father David's footsteps. Now, this is incredible because David was not his biological father. David came a few generations before.
[00:07:21] But look at the legacy that David had that years later, generations later, a king coming up called Jehoshaphat didn't follow in the other footsteps. But David went right back to that line.
[00:07:34] So he sought God. His heart was devoted to the ways of God. He removed anything that got in the way and replaced God. He removed them.
[00:07:47] So idols, statues, he sent. Now, this is one of my favorite things in scripture. This is what Jehoshaphat did. He sent teachers of the word into every community across Judah, into every home. So he took the word of God and he said, right, I'm going to tell you, I want you to go to that home and preach the word of God. Will you go and grab your word and go to that home down there, make sure that family hear the word of God? Will you take the word of God and take it into number 14, Ferguson, and go and teach the word of God to them? And that's what Jehoshaphat did. He made sure that all of the people heard the word of the Lord.
[00:08:30] And at the time, the king of Israel, Ahab, he said to Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat, we've got some enemies come to war with me.
[00:08:39] And this is what Jehoshaphat's first kind of line or communication with Ahab was.
[00:08:46] We're going to first seek the counsel of the Lord.
[00:08:50] I want you to remember this because it's going to be important today.
[00:08:54] We're going to first seek the counsel of the Lord.
[00:08:57] Jehoshaphat continually turns the people back to God, telling them to serve God faithfully and wholeheartedly in the fear of the Lord.
[00:09:11] Wherever we are in life, whichever church you belong to, make sure it's not a church you go to that says some really nice things that you want to hear.
[00:09:22] Make sure you are planted in a church that's going to challenge you, that's going to lead you to serve the Lord faithfully and wholeheartedly. God help us to do that.
[00:09:36] He appointed people to administer lawsuits.
[00:09:42] He appointed people to settle disputes.
[00:09:46] I love it. If we've got disputes here, we just send in Jill and Gordon. No, Jill's just like, yeah, all right. But he sent in people who could go and sort out some difficulties, because difficulties happen in life.
[00:10:03] There are relationship breakdowns.
[00:10:07] And so that was the background of King Jehoshaphat. Let's just turn to the. The Scriptures this morning.
[00:10:15] All right, so go from verse 20. Sorry, chapter 20. And I'm going to skip over a lot of this.
[00:10:22] So, Joshua. Sorry. So Jehoshaphat establishes himself as king, but it's not long after he establishes himself as king that his enemies come after him.
[00:10:34] There are three enemies.
[00:10:39] Moabites, the Ammonites, and the Ammunites.
[00:10:44] Now, I am not going to pronounce these right at all, so you're gonna have to forgive me. And if I. If I can't pronounce, well, I am going to pass over.
[00:10:52] Or do you want me to try it?
[00:10:55] Yeah. And you can all laugh at me. You can all laugh at me. Okay, so after this, chapter 20. The Moabites, the Ammonites, and some of the Mayonites came and waged war against Jehoshaphat. Some people came and told Jehoshaphat, a vast army is coming against you from Eden.
[00:11:15] A vast army. Right. Can we just put ourselves in Jehoshaphat's kind of shoes for a moment? A vast army is coming against you from the other side of the Dead Sea. It is already at Hazon to marry.
[00:11:31] Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord. Isn't that stunning?
[00:11:38] A vast army coming towards him.
[00:11:43] Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord.
[00:11:46] Then this is what he does.
[00:11:48] He proclaimed a fast for all of Judah. The people of Judah came together to seek help the Lord.
[00:11:58] Indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him.
[00:12:04] Church.
[00:12:05] We have got to come together to seek the Lord.
[00:12:11] I have to say that we have not done that well over the last six months as a church.
[00:12:18] And it's not to put guilt and shame and condemnation. Absolutely not.
[00:12:23] But I believe The Lord is telling us this morning that we have got to come together to seek the Lord together as the church.
[00:12:34] Then Jehoshaphat stood up in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, the temple of the Lord, in front of the new courtyard. And then he prayed. We go right down to verse 13.
[00:12:46] All the men of Judah with their wives, their children and their little ones.
[00:12:54] So you've got the men, the wives, the children.
[00:13:02] And then I imagine the little ones refers to the newborns.
[00:13:05] They're all there.
[00:13:08] They're all there.
[00:13:10] I imagine it interrupted with some nap times.
[00:13:14] Oh, dear.
[00:13:16] I imagine it interrupted with. Well, my feeding schedule says they were all there because the situation was serious.
[00:13:30] I want to tell you the situation is serious in our nation.
[00:13:34] It's really serious.
[00:13:37] What's going on?
[00:13:40] And it says, then the spirit of the Lord came on.
[00:13:43] Jahil, the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jael, the son of the Levite, the descendant of Asaph. And he stood in the assembly and he said, listen, King Jehoshaphat and all who live in Judah and Jerusalem, this is what the Lord says.
[00:14:00] Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army, for the battle is not yours, but God's.
[00:14:12] Anyone feeling now slightly encouraged, like, oh, Esther's just told us it's serious.
[00:14:19] It is, you're right.
[00:14:23] But the battle is not yours.
[00:14:26] It is God's. Tomorrow, march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the desert of Jeruel.
[00:14:39] You will not have to fight this battle.
[00:14:47] Take up your positions.
[00:14:51] Stand firm.
[00:14:53] See the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem.
[00:14:59] Do not be afraid.
[00:15:00] Do not be discouraged.
[00:15:03] Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you. Hang on a minute, hang on.
[00:15:11] You've told us we don't have to fight this battle. I'm staying in my house. I'm having a lie in, really, like we've got to. But you've told us you're fighting it. Lord, why have we got to turn up?
[00:15:24] And the Lord says, I need you to turn up. See, we've still got to play our part, even though the Lord is going to come fight some battles.
[00:15:32] Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the Lord.
[00:15:40] I love this. Don't we appreciate our musicians in this house?
[00:15:45] God is going to do incredible things with our musicians.
[00:15:48] I pray and I know there's an anointing on you. But I pray for when the Spirit of the Lord takes over the voices and the instruments in such a way that people are saved, healed, set free in our services.
[00:16:04] Really quickly then, some of the Levites and the Korahites stood up and praised the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice.
[00:16:15] Early in the morning, they left for the desert of Decoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem. Have faith in the Lord your God, and you will be upheld.
[00:16:34] Have faith in his prophets and you will be successful.
[00:16:38] After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army saying, give thanks to the Lord for his love endures forever. Can we just say that together? Give thanks to the Lord for his love endures forever.
[00:17:02] As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah. And they were defeated.
[00:17:15] They were annihilated.
[00:17:21] I'm not going to read on. I'm just going to finish there.
[00:17:24] But it says Jehoshaphat. And all the men of Judah and Jerusalem returned joyfully, for the Lord had given them cause to rejoice over their enemies. The fear of God came on all the surrounding kingdoms when they heard how the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel. And the kingdom of Jehoshaphat was at peace, for God had given him rest on every side. I want to bring some thoughts this morning. And then I know we haven't prepared for it. Could we get the communion? We've got communion cups. Do you mind if we don't? You don't have to hand them out yet, but if we could just have those ready, that'd be amazing.
[00:18:02] So let me just bring some context to this, all right, really quickly.
[00:18:06] And then we're going to dedicate together our lives, this church.
[00:18:11] The next season of what God's got for us. God is going to speak. I'm really excited for this next season, but it started with a vast army for Jehoshaphat coming against him.
[00:18:23] Jehoshaphat inquires of the Lord. I want you to look at the stages here. He proclaims a fast.
[00:18:31] The church, the people gather together to seek the Lord's help.
[00:18:36] Men, women, children, babies, the whole lot of them.
[00:18:41] And the spirit of the Lord comes upon J. He can't pronounce it. Jay Zl the spirit of the Lord comes upon. Thank goodness for those who have a prophetic gift.
[00:18:54] He says, do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army.
[00:19:00] Jehoshaphat was in the minority.
[00:19:03] I encourage people this morning because sometimes if we don't believe the word of God, we can be so discouraged when it looks like everything's against us, whether it's relationally, whether there's breakdowns in your home, whether there's trauma that you've gone through, whatever seems to be coming against us. If we do not believe the word of God, we can believe that life is coming against us quite heavily and rapidly.
[00:19:42] We can look out and think, things look so bad, we're in the minority.
[00:19:50] You go through Scripture and it's as if God worked with minority people.
[00:19:57] Gideon, get rid of all your thousands of men. What?
[00:20:02] Esther, your whole nation are going to be annihilated by Haman. They're all going to be hanged.
[00:20:09] One woman married to a pagan king. What does she do?
[00:20:15] She prays. She. She fasts. Within three days, God brings the solution.
[00:20:24] When we're in the minority, it can look like the battle's over.
[00:20:29] It can look like it's all done. There's no hope.
[00:20:35] But God reminds us this morning that the battle is not ours, it is his.
[00:20:42] And he has already won because of the cross of Jesus Christ.
[00:20:48] It said that the people, as the people began to sing and praise God, what was happening?
[00:20:57] God was working some of us. I want to tell us this morning, we've got to step back from trying to be God.
[00:21:07] We've got to hold back from trying to provide all the solutions to the brokenness in the world.
[00:21:19] We've got to hold back, saying, God, my family's in a mess.
[00:21:25] God, this nation is in a mess.
[00:21:28] God, we have gone through so much.
[00:21:33] And I know you do it because I do it.
[00:21:35] And we try and figure it all out.
[00:21:38] And you know why we try and figure it all out? There's one word for fear.
[00:21:45] Because fear tries to control with a good heart, but it will end up getting us nowhere.
[00:21:58] Because God has said to us, do not fear, for I'm with you.
[00:22:05] Do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
[00:22:09] I will help you. I will uphold you.
[00:22:13] I will strengthen you with my righteous right hand.
[00:22:17] But you see what we do? We replace God because he doesn't work to our timing.
[00:22:23] And we go ahead and try and figure it all out by ourselves.
[00:22:29] I don't want to get political this morning, but there is a vast army in the UK rising Up right now.
[00:22:36] Do you know what this nation needs?
[00:22:39] It needs a church on its knees who will seek the Lord, who will cry out to God and say, God, the battle is yours.
[00:22:51] We have one mission as a church in Newton Abbott. We are a rescue boat.
[00:22:57] We are a rescue boat.
[00:23:01] We want to rescue as many people as we can.
[00:23:06] Amen.
[00:23:09] And you know what? God uses a bunch of broken people to do it.
[00:23:14] I look across this room and all the testimonies and you share with me. Listen. Don't look at me and think I'm perfect. I'm just as broken like that jar. And God, by his grace, has woven his grace and his love and mercy over my life to such an extent that he would even choose to use me is a miracle.
[00:23:35] And I know all of you have stories like that.
[00:23:39] Massive stories, Sam. Incredible story.
[00:23:42] And that's just not one. I know you've told me loads. And they're in the kingdom today over a milkshake, like, amazing.
[00:23:53] But we've got one mission. And I think somehow the church, we're missing the mission. We're missing the mark because we're too busy trying to fight the battles in our own strength. We're trying to come up with solutions that God. God has got. God has got it.
[00:24:13] If only the church would go and go to worship. I'm going to praise the battle belongs to him. You know, I had this wonderful picture. I was in worship and I was a bit broken.
[00:24:23] I was lying before the Lord and I just saw like it wasn't a vision, but just this beautiful picture of Jesus. And the heaviness of the cross was on his back.
[00:24:33] And I felt so overloaded by life. Ever been in those seasons you feel so overloaded? Okay. And I was on the floor, and I couldn't go any lower.
[00:24:44] And I looked above me and there's Jesus. His face with the heaviness of the cross on his back.
[00:24:52] And I felt the Lord say to me, I'm carrying the load, not you.
[00:24:59] So get up, get up, get up.
[00:25:05] Walk in the victory.
[00:25:09] Walk in the peace.
[00:25:12] You see, the mind of the flesh is death.
[00:25:17] When we try and do things in our own strength, when we think as fleshy people, it's death. But the mind governed by the spirit is life and peace.
[00:25:32] So here's some quick thoughts. And I've gone totally off my notes.
[00:25:36] It's what I sense the Lord telling us in this season, we are to come together to seek him as a church family.
[00:25:44] This is not a time to come up with plans, figuring it out I believe God is calling us together. Next month, in about three weeks, we launch a week of prayer and fasting.
[00:25:58] Some of our team, we fast on Wednesdays. Every Wednesday you are free to join us in your own homes, in your own places.
[00:26:06] But I believe the Lord is calling us together to seek Him. God is looking for a church that will call upon him and lean upon him.
[00:26:16] Will you lean upon the Lord Jesus Christ today?
[00:26:22] Will you lean upon the Lord Jesus Christ tomorrow? When the bills need paying, when there's that difficult work colleagues, will you sit there at your desk or where you're driving your car and will you say, lord, I'm going to lean on you?
[00:26:39] You know, one of the amazing things, and I've missed it out because I was on a roll, but this is what Jehoshaphat says. I think it's in verse 17 or somewhere somebody looks, Jehoshaphat said he was so terrified.
[00:26:52] Let me tell you, it's okay to be terrified.
[00:26:55] It's okay at times to feel so scared.
[00:27:00] But Jehoshaphat says, we don't know what to do, but our eyes are on you.
[00:27:09] Imagine as a church, we kind of go, do you know what?
[00:27:13] We don't know what to do.
[00:27:16] You know what?
[00:27:17] This problem's landed here.
[00:27:19] Don't know what to do.
[00:27:21] He does.
[00:27:23] But our eyes are upon you. So God is looking for a church who will lean on him.
[00:27:30] Are you going to lean on him? Church?
[00:27:33] Are you going to lean back and rest in his everlasting arms? As we come to the end of this year, Jehoshaphat was so powerless.
[00:27:50] The arm is so big. We are outnumbered, Lord. We don't know what to do, but our eyes are on you. It's time for the church to let God have full control.
[00:28:00] Full control carrying a problem.
[00:28:09] I think many of us carry problems that are out of our control. But we like to think we're controlling them because we like to feel in control.
[00:28:18] Does that make sense?
[00:28:22] What about if the church lost a bit of control?
[00:28:27] What if the church let God have full control?
[00:28:33] You know what full control is? It's surrender.
[00:28:36] It's yielding fully.
[00:28:42] If you come into the Christian life and you think it's easy and comfortable.
[00:28:47] The Christian life is costly.
[00:28:51] Please don't come here because you like our worship and music.
[00:28:55] Please don't come here because, I don't know, you like the coffee.
[00:29:05] We're here because we believe in the mission. We believe in the Church of Jesus Christ.
[00:29:12] We're here because it is costly.
[00:29:15] Because there are many times, many of Us probably would want to stay at home with the duvet covers over our heads and hide away from the world.
[00:29:25] But God told the people, I need you to go, go where the army are, but I need you to stand still.
[00:29:32] That's what losing control means. It means, okay, God, I'm obediently following you and I'm going to stand still. Oh, I could easily choose my own way now.
[00:29:43] I could easily come up with a. I tell you what, I am brilliant at coming up with solutions.
[00:29:48] Honestly, I am.
[00:29:50] I am. I'm brilliant at coming up with solutions.
[00:29:53] But after 40 odd years of following the Lord, I've realized that my solutions are really naff in comparison to God's ways.
[00:30:03] They're rubbish.
[00:30:05] Oh, I might hoodwink a few people on the way and kind of go, hey, I've got this solution. It sounds really great. Yeah. And everyone's yeah, yeah, yeah. But it means nothing if God is not in control.
[00:30:18] It means nothing. You see, the Christian life is costly.
[00:30:23] We've got a generation growing up and I feel sorry for them. We have to pray for a generation coming up where they've got celebrities putting Christian verses on their Instagram reels. And they are.
[00:30:35] But they are promoting sex outside of marriage.
[00:30:39] They're promoting, have sexual intercourse with as many people as you want. Enjoy it, but let's put for God so loved the world on our bios. It's nonsense.
[00:30:51] It is absolute nonsense. The Christian walk is costly. Jesus said, it's the narrow road.
[00:31:01] It's the narrow road and only few find it.
[00:31:04] What would it look like for a church operating under the Holy Spirit?
[00:31:10] And he's going before us and we are seeing this town absolutely won for the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, Dayo is up for an award soon. We're going, I think it's a week on Friday or whenever it is to see if it's up for award in our town. Incredible. Matt, Caroline, what you are doing, they're absolutely incredible. The conversations are brilliant.
[00:31:33] God is on the move. I can't wait for the day that local news come in and say, what is it about this church?
[00:31:42] What is happening for Jesus? Not rediscover church.
[00:31:47] Rediscover church. Won't have a sign in heaven, But for the local area to go, what is it?
[00:31:58] Who is this Jesus?
[00:32:03] The Christian life is costly. You see, it's going to cost us everything we have.
[00:32:10] Everything we have. I could give you a personal testimony, but I have run and run away.
[00:32:16] My story is the Jonah story.
[00:32:19] It is the Jonah story. Do not look at me up here and think, I have all the confidence in the world.
[00:32:25] I'll maybe do a night at Dayo and share my testimony. But it is the Jonah story, and I fight it almost every week.
[00:32:33] I'll be really honest with you.
[00:32:35] But I know the narrow road. It is costly. And we were singing this morning. We lay our crowns. There are 24 elders around the throne of God. Three throw in their crowns in worship.
[00:32:49] And when I've run my race for Christ and he gives me this crown, do you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to throw it at his feet.
[00:32:58] Because we're running for a prize that's going to outlast and live on into eternity. You know, whether you believe in the sudden rapture of the church or you believe in the. The years, the seven years of tribulation, and then Jesus returns. However you want to look at it, that's not important.
[00:33:17] The importance is that we are ready.
[00:33:20] We are ready for the return of Jesus Christ when he comes in all his glory. It is time for the church. I need to move on. Sorry. I'm going to try and finish. It's time for the church to stand firm. Are you all right?
[00:33:34] Are you feeling a bit battered? Am I beating you?
[00:33:40] Somebody's yawning over there. I better hurry up. Okay. Am I theologically, okay?
[00:33:46] The church to stand firm.
[00:33:49] We're not to roll over when life hits us.
[00:33:54] Jehoshaphat and his team, his army, had to stand firm. They still had to show up and stand firm. I encourage you.
[00:34:04] Turn up when you're broken.
[00:34:06] Turn up when life doesn't make sense.
[00:34:09] Turn up when you're navigating illnesses.
[00:34:13] Turn up because I believe God is wanting to say something to us as a church. Collectively.
[00:34:20] It's time for the church to be a worshipping church and not after a breakthrough.
[00:34:30] Time to turn up with your snotty nose, your eyes and your mascara running. Ladies, if you're wearing mascara and give your worship to the Lord.
[00:34:40] Not after the breakthrough, during the pain, during the pain, during the trauma, during the seasons that don't make sense because your deliverance is coming.
[00:34:55] God will not leave us. He will not forsake us. He has never been faithless, and he won't be faithless. In fact, he can't be faithless because it goes against the nature of who he is. He is 100% faithful all the time. It is us that's faithless. But let me tell you, he's 100% gracious and we're Going to break bread in a moment together and we come again, again at the foot of the cross. We lay our burdens down, we lay our weaknesses down. Apostle Paul said, do you know what? I've got so many weaknesses. But when I'm weak, that's when I'm strong. Because the strength of Christ comes on me.
[00:35:34] May we as a church do everything in the strength and the power of him who lives in us. I can't do this, Lord, on my own. I can't go into school tomorrow and face year nines.
[00:35:49] I can't go back to my business because something happened last week. Yes, you can.
[00:35:53] You don't need to solve anything. You just need to trust, stand still and trust the Lord.
[00:36:00] I want to say God is not interested in our style of music here. He's not.
[00:36:06] I mean, it's nice. He's not interested in how good our social media posts are.
[00:36:12] He's not interested in how polished and well groomed we all are.
[00:36:17] Okay? He's bothered about a people who are called by his name, who will look to him and follow him. Now, Jehoshaphat knew when he inquired of the Lord, when he brought the people together, when they fasted and prayed, when they handed over the reins to the Lord, that God would fight for them.
[00:36:40] The only issue is Jehoshaphat didn't know how.
[00:36:44] Who'd have thought.
[00:36:46] Who'd have thought the worshippers going out would change a situation? As the worshipers went out, the people were so confused.
[00:36:57] The other army was so confused that they actually started killing each other.
[00:37:02] You see, God has solutions that we've never even thought about.
[00:37:07] And I'll tell you why. Because he's God and we're not.
[00:37:11] They're wonderful solutions, but God wants a church who will come on their faces, say, lord, we're seeking you.
[00:37:20] Are we gonna seek him this term? Church. Finally, a church who will lock eyes on Jesus, not lock eyes on the problems or the circumstances, but. But on Jesus.
[00:37:34] You can be a majority. You know, there are people in caves, in houses, in buildings that they're hiding in, in Iran, in China, all across the Middle east, right? And they're in the minority, But they know God is for them.
[00:37:58] And as they meet as a minority, there might be just four of them, six of them, 10 of them. What's happening is people are joining them because they see a people so close to the Lord and people are joining them. And then they're having to start up another little house group and another little house group.
[00:38:18] I bet they wish they could all come together like we can on a Sunday morning.
[00:38:24] I bet they would love to enjoy what we've got at the moment.
[00:38:29] But they're hiding, but they're growing because they recognize the battle belongs to the Lord. That even though we could lose our lives, even though we could be thrown in prison and flogged for what we're doing in this secret meeting, we trust the Lord. Our eyes are on the Lord.
[00:38:50] I mean, incredible.
