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Obtaining the fullness of the blessing of Christ.
I want you to go to Romans, the
15th chapter, please.
One verse I want to read.
15th chapter of Romans, verse 29.
Paul speaking.
I hear the rustling of leaves.
And in the annex, do you have it?
No overflow rooms?
All right, Romans, 15th chapter, verse 16.
Paul speaking.
I am sure that when I come unto
you, I shall come in the fullness of
the blessing of the gospel of Christ.
I'll read it again.
And I'm sure that when I come unto
you, I shall come in the fullness of
the blessing of the gospel of Christ.
Heavenly Father, I thank you for the power
of your word.
Lord, how it corrects us, how it encourages
us, and how it teaches us.
And, oh God, I ask you to do
what you choose to do by your Holy
Spirit with the word this morning.
I know, Lord, that you have touched my
heart and convicted me by what I'm preaching
this morning.
This is birthed out of my walk with
you and out of my talking with you.
And this is what you laid on my
heart.
I have no way of knowing who was
brought here by the Holy Spirit this morning.
I don't know where they sit.
I don't know what the need is.
But, oh God, you chose to take this
day and this message for this particular congregation.
Lord, I pray that you put your words
in my mouth.
Lord, keep me from speaking anything that is
unlike you or unworthy of you.
Lord, let it be anointed, and I pray
it find its mark and bring change and
bring healing quick in my body as I
speak it.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Now, Paul writing to those believers in Spain,
he said, I anticipate coming to you after
I go to Jerusalem to deliver a gift
that is given for the saints in Jerusalem.
But he said, but when I come, I
know.
He said, I am sure.
There's no doubt in my mind that I'm
going to come to you, and I shall
come in the fullness of the blessing of
the gospel of Christ.
Now, immediately that implies that there are degrees,
there are measures of the blessing of Jesus
Christ.
There are measurements.
Some have a full measure.
In fact, that's the goal, Paul said, is
for us to come into a full measure
of the blessing of Christ.
Others have a mediocre.
Some are just entering into a small measure
of the gift of Christ.
Paul said, but unto every one of us
is given grace according to the measure of
the gift of Christ.
In other words, all of us have been
given a measure.
That's how you were saved.
You were given a measure of the gift
of Christ through faith.
He said, until we all come into unity
of faith, the knowledge of the Son of
God, to a perfect or mature man, unto
the measure of the stature of the fullness
of Christ.
Under the measure, what he means, of the
magnitude of the blessing of Christ.
He said, there's such a magnitude to it.
There's such a fullness in Christ that's available
that you have to pursue it.
And to know the love of Christ, which
passes knowledge, that you might be filled with
all the fullness of God.
Now that's the goal, Paul said.
That you and I, all of us, may
be filled.
God's no respecter of persons.
He said, I want you to have the
fullness of the blessing of Jesus Christ.
Paul writes, now that word fullness there means
to complete the task of filling up to
the full.
In other words, fill it up.
There has to be a task.
God has given us this task that we
pursue the fullness of Jesus Christ.
Paul writes, there's one Lord, one faith, one
baptism, one God and Father of all, who
is above all and in you all.
God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost alike
abides in all His people.
If you are saved, God Father, Son and
Holy Ghost abides in you.
He said, we will come and make our
abode in you.
All God's children have been given grace according
to their faith.
Paul the Apostle is saying, there should be
a continual increase in the knowledge and the
blessing of Jesus Christ in our lives.
He said, the Apostle says in Ephesians 3
.19, to be filled with all the fullness
of God.
Paul said he had a conscience void of
offense toward God and man.
He said, when I come to you, you're
not going to hear a message from a
man.
You're not going to hear a sermon.
He said, my conscience is clear.
There is no controversy between me and God.
My life is an open book.
And I have been shut in with Him.
And when I come to you, you're going
to know that you're hearing from God's throne.
You're going to know that you're hearing from
a vessel that has understood and known and
experienced the fullness of God.
He said, I've not arrived yet.
I've not attained.
But there's a fullness in me.
And I come to you.
And I am sure, I am positive.
There's no doubt about it.
When I come to you, I'm coming in
the fullness of the gospel and blessing of
the Lord Jesus Christ.
He said, there's no hidden sin in my
life.
There's no dark part.
So that I know that there is a
flow of the blessing of God.
Oh, I love to be around people who
are living that kind of life.
And you can tell there's an aroma of
Christ.
They speak only of Christ.
They're full of Jesus.
And it's an amazing thing to be around
them because there's evidence that the blessing of
God is resting upon them.
The blessing of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And it's ever increasing.
The fullness of blessing has little to do
with materialism.
I'm not talking about houses and cars and
lands.
We're talking now about God's commendation.
God's well done.
In other words, God looks upon this child
that is pursuing the fullness of Christ.
Wanting more and more of him.
Never satisfied.
Never.
There's a divine dissatisfaction because he's always reaching
out for more of Christ.
More of intimacy.
More revelation of his love and his power.
And of his severity also.
Because there's also severity about Christ.
Those who disobey purposely never heeding the call
to repentance.
Now the God of peace that brought again
from the dead our Lord Jesus.
That great shepherd of the sheep.
Through the blood of the everlasting covenant.
Make you perfect in every good work to
do his will.
Working in you that which is well pleasing
in his sight through Jesus Christ.
To be glorified forever and ever.
That's the blessing.
The well pleasing unto Christ.
That Jesus can look on your life.
And you know in your heart that he
is saying well done.
There is a sense that God gives you
the Holy Spirit.
I am well pleased with you my son.
I'm well pleased with you my daughter.
Because there's nothing between us.
There's nothing hindering.
Those whose lives are well pleasing unto God.
Those that have certain characteristics that they share
with the Apostle Paul.
The Apostle Paul had this aroma of Christ
through his intimacy with the Lord.
These people that I'm speaking about that have
the blessing of Jesus Christ in their lives.
They enjoy life.
There's joy in their hearts.
But there's no foolishness.
They don't talk the conversation of the world.
They have set their mind they will never
quit.
They will never give up the work that
God has called them to do.
There's no sense of giving up.
There's no sense of despair.
Now Paul said there's a despairing but there's
never a quitting.
There's never giving up.
There's always the resources there because of the
time spent with Christ.
And the desire and hunger for him.
There's always resources that are flowing.
It's a constant flow.
It's the blessing flow.
Now the blessing flow of the prosperity preachers
today is not the blessing of Jesus Christ.
God loves to bless his people materially.
Yes.
God delights it.
God's not jealous of the kind of car
you have or the house that you live
in and all the blessings.
But I've known very poor preachers.
I've known poor people who have great blessings
of Christ.
Marvelous blessings and revelations of Jesus Christ having
nothing to do with materialism.
The purpose of this message this morning is
to expose that which hinders a believer from
coming into the fullness of the blessing of
Christ.
What hinders?
Paul said to the Galatians, you did run
well.
Who did hinder you that you should not
obey the truth?
This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth
you.
Because a little leaven leavens the whole lump.
He's talking about some kind of doctrinal belief.
He's talking about some kind of theology.
He's talking about some kind of mindset that
has come into the church that he's addressing.
And he said, what's happened to you?
There's something now that's hindering you.
You were doing well.
He's talking to a praying people, a believing
people, those who are doing good works.
These are not unbelievers.
These are not wicked people.
These are praying people.
These are those who've known a measure of
the blessing of Christ.
But Paul comes to them and said, something
is wrong.
You're not growing.
He said, you're leaning now on the flesh.
You're going back to things of the flesh.
And I don't sense the aroma that I
once sensed.
There's something going on in your life.
Paul said, you were doing well.
Who hindered you that you should not obey
the truth?
He's saying, what is this that has crept
into your life?
This persuasion.
Because this persuasion means a convincing argument.
He said, you've been convinced by an argument
that's not of God.
There's something of a gospel alteration.
There's something of falseness that has crept into
your spirit.
And now you can't grow.
You cannot increase in the knowledge and the
blessing of Jesus Christ.
He said, in other words, you labor diligently,
but the fullness isn't there.
The certainty is not there anymore.
That clarity, that clearness, that fullness is not
there.
Beloved, there are so many godly praying saints
that have been so mightily used of God
in the past that something happens.
A hindrance comes.
And the Holy Ghost is saying this to
you.
Who has hindered you?
What is this?
Who and what is it that has come
to hinder you from going on into fullness,
into the flow of blessing, where you live
without guilt and without condemnation and without fear?
You can look any Christian in the eye.
You can look a prophet in the eye.
You can look Christ in the eye.
And you know, you know that you know
that I come to you in the fullness
of the blessing of the gospel of Jesus
Christ.
I come in fullness.
It's often this one besetting sin.
There's been victory in every area of life.
There's been victory over one thing after another.
You have seen, you've witnessed God's hand.
You've seen His forgiving grace.
But something has crept in and it's there
and you've made peace with it and it's
there.
And usually, oh folks, I've seen it in
the ministry.
I've seen it among pastors who have been
mightily used of God.
But something creeps in of leaven and it
leavens the whole lump and it stops the
spiritual growth.
And it brings fear and condemnation and guilt.
And usually it's, if there was victory in
this one area, in this one thing, and
usually it's that unwillingness to go all the
way and deal with this one issue, this
one matter, this one bit of leaven remaining
that keeps multitudes and pastors from entering into
the fullness of the blessing of the gospel
of Christ.
Elijah was a godly praying prophet, a mighty
voice in the land.
He shared the grief of God's heart.
He's one of the prophets that I so
enjoy reading about his life.
But I believe that Elijah was hindered from
coming in to the fullness of the blessing
of God.
Now, I'm not saying this man had sinned,
but he failed in his mission.
There is no possible way to justify the
actions of Jeremiah, I mean Elijah.
I'm speaking of Elijah the prophet rather, Elijah.
I'm not going to rehearse the whole story.
You know it on Mount Carmel, how he
called fire down out of heaven.
They consumed to sacrifice, and they slew all
of the prophets of Baal.
And he prays, and the rains begin to
come.
And you remember he tells Ahab to rise
up, eat, and get to Jezreel because there's
the sound of abundance of rain.
And the Spirit of God comes on Elijah,
and he outruns the chariot to Jezreel.
And I want to pick up the story.
I want you to go with me, if
you will, to 1 Kings, 19th chapter, 1
Kings.
We're talking about that which hinders coming into
the fullness of the blessing.
19th chapter, 1 Kings.
Folks, Israel has repented.
They've turned to the Lord.
And I want you to know they had
not yet probably arrived back in Jezreel.
That's the capital.
And that's the home of Jezebel.
In chapter 19, begin to read verse 1.
And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had
done with all how he had slain all
the prophets with the sword.
Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying,
So let the gods do to me, and
more also, if I make not thy life
as the life of one of them by
tomorrow about this time.
And when he saw that, he rose and
went for his life, and came to Beersheba,
which belonged to Judah, and left his servant
there.
And he himself went a day's journey into
the wilderness, and came and sat down under
juniper tree, and requested for himself that he
might die, and said, It is enough.
Now, O Lord, take away my life, for
I'm not better than my father's.
Now, I want you to know the Bible
says the hand of the Lord was on
Elijah.
The hand of the Lord means the leading
of the Lord.
So we know that the Spirit of God
was hurrying this man to the capital city
where Jezebel was reigning, over all idolatry, the
idolatry of Baal.
Now, all of her priests had been slain.
So, we know that he's on a divine
mission.
He stood on Mount Carmel, remember, he said,
Lord, let them know that everything I do
is at your word.
At your word.
What I do, you told me when I
was in prayer.
And so, we know, there's no question that
God sent him to Jezreel.
Jezebel threatens to kill him, and he arose
and fled for his life.
Now, I disagree with almost all the commentaries
I've read on this.
Some of them say that God really never
intended him to face Jezebel.
He'd already accomplished his purpose on Mount Carmel.
Others say, well, he ran, not because he
was afraid, but he ran because God was
going to take him into the wilderness and
teach him lessons.
That misses the point entirely.
I'm telling you now, God sent him to
kill Jezebel.
He was to kill Jezebel.
Why kill all of her children, her priests,
and not kill the mother of the sin?
Why not get to the heart, get to
the issue?
Why take off the branches and not get
to the root?
God was not about to let Jezebel raise
up another body of children of Jezebel.
Now, Jezebel, now listen closely, please.
Jezebel is a symbolic name.
In Hebrew, it means chaste, with a question
mark.
In other words, chaste means not clean, evil.
And God was not about to have a
revival up on the mountain and then just
drop it.
He had a man that was on fire,
he had a mountain that was on fire,
and no question about it, had he marched
into that city after a night of prayer,
he would have had thousands of those around
him.
Jezebel could have never gotten to him.
And a man who opened the rivers with
his mantle, a man who called fire from
heaven, a man who has fed Meraxes, lived
in miracles, would have seen another miracle.
That God was trying to get at the
mother of the sin.
He was getting to get to master bosom
sin.
Otherwise, she raised up another core of priests,
and the revival was in vain.
God sent Elijah to cast down the priests.
Who were these priests?
These were not imported immigrants.
No, no, no, no, there's no proof of
that anywhere in the Scripture.
The Bible said they were seduced.
I'm going to prove to you they were
seduced.
These were people of Israel who were seduced
by her gospel of promiscuity.
Some writers, a number of writers, don't believe
that Ahab's wife was really named Jezebel, but
that was an epitaph, a degrading epitaph, because
of her hated actions.
The Bible's full of these epitaphs, like Sodom
represents, even today, Sodom, you get all of
these words that are evil, represented by this
epitaph.
Also, Antichrist, there's not an individual alone, but
a spirit.
Jezebel is a spirit.
It is still, she is still, Jezebel is
still, this spirit is still at work in
the church of Jesus Christ.
This spirit is still there.
Elijah had a history with the Lord.
He'd been trained to hear God's voice.
Amazing authority this man had.
Then he appears on the scene and tells
the servant of Ahab, Go tell your king,
Elijah's here.
Or when I read that.
What authority, what power this man had.
And now he's running for his life in
fear.
He's running in fear.
Now folks, Elijah wasn't God.
He wasn't divine.
He was human.
And the Bible never tries to whitewash the
failures of even his chosen servants, like David
and Moses and all of those chosen men
because they were human.
And these are lessons we're to learn from.
He sure hasn't hidden mine until I die.
Mine are opened before the eye of the
Holy Ghost.
And all those things in our lives, unlike
him, have been opened.
And God is opening something to us here
now.
I want to prove to you that there's
an issue here.
There's an issue.
God says if you're going to come into
the fullness, you've got to kill Jezebel.
You have got to get to the heart
of the issue of anything that is of
idolatry.
Anything that is of sin.
Jezebel is wickedness, uncleanness.
And it speaks primarily of fornication and adultery,
both spiritual and physical.
I want you to go to Revelation 2.
Revelation 2.
Beginning at verse 18.
And unto the angel of the church at
Thyatira write, These things say of the Son
of God who hath his eyes like unto
a flame of fire, and his feet are
like brass.
Now, folks, listen.
When we talk about these churches of Asia
that God is addressing, Christ is addressing, we're
not talking just about dispensations.
We're talking about churches.
We're talking about individuals.
The body of Christ is made up of
members or individuals.
And so you have to narrow it down
to the individuals who are members of every
church.
And it speaks to me.
It speaks to you.
It speaks to all of us.
To the angel of the church.
And he comes now with his eyes on
fire.
And his feet, like fine brass, have just
come out of the fire.
I know Thy works in charity and service
and faith, patience, works, the last to be
more than the first.
In other words, what you're doing now is
far greater than that which you started.
You're increasing in works.
Notwithstanding, I have a few things against thee,
because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth
herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce
my servants to commit fornication and to eat
things sacrificed unto idols.
And I gave her space to repent of
her fornication, and she repented not.
Behold, I will pass her into a bed,
and them that commit adultery with her, to
great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.
I will kill her children with death, and
all the churches shall know that I am
he which searcheth the reins and hearts.
And I will give unto every one of
you according to your works.
I will give unto every one of you
according to your works.
Now, Jezebel was not just some female prophetess
standing up in church and teaching the ways
and means of fornication and ten ways to
hide your adultery.
That's not what the Bible is saying.
There's a spirit.
There's a spirit right out of hell, a
Jezebel spirit.
And the spirit is teaching people to eat
the filth served to idols.
Now, folks, this is speaking of indoctrination.
It's something that has been put into the
mind, and it's not coming from God.
It's in the church, but it's not of
God.
And I want you to listen closely to
me now, please.
There's no greater source of indoctrination than television
and internet on the face of the earth,
worldwide.
You say, oh, here Pastor Dave goes again
on television.
God's saying something here.
He said, every church is going to know,
every individual in my church is going to
know where I stand.
He said, I'm going to make it clear.
I'm coming to you with eyes of fire,
and I've loved you, and I'm a man
of God of grace and mercy.
This is Christ speaking.
This is not an Old Testament prophet speaking.
This is the red letter.
This is Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
speaking to His church, speaking to you and
speaking to me.
And I say the church of Jesus Christ
today, from the ministry on down, is being
corrupted.
I mean corrupted to the point where God's
people can come to His house and sing
and shout and talk in tongues and go
home without any shame and watch Sex and
the City and The Sopranos.
I've never seen them.
I don't have television, but I read about
it.
The filth, incredible filth.
That which is absolutely incubated in hell.
And when I read the letters of those
who write and confess of the stuff and
the filth they're watching on the Internet, an
interview in New York Times with one of
the most famous young actors in America today
did a movie called Titanic, and I've not
seen that.
And they asked him, are you into pornography?
And his answer summed up like this.
He said, no, and I'll tell you why.
Because those who are involved in pornography, they
can't think anymore because it takes over your
mind.
And he said, anyone who has an actor,
any professional person, they've got 200 films raging
and pictures and scenes in their mind and
they can't think.
He says, I'm not into that.
Can you say that?
What kind of movies do you bring home
and put into your little box?
And you see, it begins to wear down
the mind.
It's the spirit of Jezebel of seduction.
He said, seducing my children into fornication.
And you can't get away from it.
In the original Greek, it means fornication includes
adultery.
Adultery, fornication.
And Jesus said, if you think in your
mind and you look with lust, you are
guilty.
He said, you do good works.
You're full of charity and service.
You have faith.
But I have something against you because you
allow that woman Jezebel, which called herself a
prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants
to commit fornication, to eat things sacrificed to
idols.
He said, I gave her space to repent
of her fornication.
She repented not.
Folks, understand this.
Get it.
God is speaking so clearly to my own
heart.
And he's saying, look, this issue that you're
not dealing with, if there's an issue there,
he said, I've been patient with you.
I have sent prophets.
I have sent messages.
How patient I've been with you.
Remember, ten times he was so patient with
Israel.
Ten times they provoked him.
How God spoke and how God even sent
signs of judgment and experiences of judgment, dealing
with them kindly and loving and all.
We have a loving, patient, heavenly Father.
We have a Christ who endures and endures.
But he said, I gave you space.
I gave you time to deal with this.
And the reason I want you to deal
with it, is because I want you to
come into my fullness.
I don't want you to live like paupers.
I want you to have my resources.
And I don't want you to be overcome
by the powers of hell and darkness in
this last day.
I want to use you.
I want to make you effective in the
kingdom of God.
But I can't do it.
I have something against you.
There's a controversy between you and me.
And I can't do it until you deal
with it.
How many times has God told you to
deal with what you watch?
And what you hear?
And what you do?
How many times has the Holy Ghost in
love put his finger on something?
He says, put his finger, and he says,
this is the one thing.
Just this one thing.
And if you stop, you can't even think
of anything else that it could be.
But the Holy Ghost, because he loves you,
will put his finger on it.
He will show you.
He will expose it.
I've been in the presence of the Holy
Ghost at times when I couldn't think of
anything.
And I sit there and say, Lord, I
sense that there's something hindering.
I don't have that flow of revelation.
I don't have that aroma in me.
I don't have it.
There's something, Lord, show me.
And then the Holy Ghost will lead me
in his scripture and show me.
Just like my son Gary in this pulpit
last Tuesday.
He said, there's something missing in my message.
All afternoon he said, Lord, there's something wrong.
This is just a sermon.
I want it to be a message.
And the Lord said, yes, Gary, there is
a controversy.
You're 30 pounds overweight, and I've told you
to deal with it for your health's sake,
for your testimony's sake.
And I've told you I want you to
do this.
And God had been dealing with him for
eight months.
In fact, he stood in front of his
whole staff months before and confessed that God
had told him.
And then he'd come in eating these sugar
pops and lollipops and ice cream bars, and
he said, well, God's given me a license
to do this.
That may sound light to you.
And I'm not speaking against anyone who is
overweight.
God forbid.
But this is an example that God will
show you.
The Holy Ghost will show you that one
thing that keeps you from entering into the
fullness of the blessing of Jesus Christ.
You see, he was called to be an
instrument.
Elijah was called to be an instrument.
To bring down the very heart of this
matter that held back the full blessing on
Israel.
You allow that Jezebel woman to teach and
seduce my servants to commit fornication, eating things
sacrificed to idols.
Now consider the awful consequences of allowing Jezebel
to live.
Jezebel is that one issue.
The one bosom sin.
He said, I'll cast her into a bed.
And that root means, the root Hebrew word
is, I'll put you to flight.
And you'll wear down.
You'll always be running in fear.
You will wear down.
I'm going to cast you into a bed
of weariness.
There'll be fear of exposure.
There's this, I'm going to cast into a
bed, Jezebel's bed of fear.
And folks, that's the consequences of not allowing
the Holy Spirit to take you all the
way in to a total victory through the
covenant of Jesus Christ.
He said, in great tribulation, in the Greek,
rather, pressure, trouble, depression.
And I will kill her children with death,
except they repent.
You see, when you make a covenant with
your sin, you won't deal with it, and
you've made peace with it.
You see, if you allow yourself to indulge
in something, and you don't get convicted now.
You're not convicted by it.
Comfortable.
And the Jezebel spirit comes to you and
says, well, you've got to have some recreation.
You've worked hard.
You deserve a little recreation.
And this is a day of grace, and
God is not that hard.
He's not as hard as David Wilkerson.
It's a day of grace, and if you
do sin, you could run to the cross,
run to the blood, and quickly, you know,
Jesus, forgive me, go to bed.
No, you see, there's a seduction taking place.
Being seduced by Jezebel's spirit.
Jezebel's spirit.
God said, you're being hindered from coming into
the fullness of the blessing of God.
And God tells us why he's speaking so
severely.
That all the churches shall know that I
am he which searcheth the reins in the
hearts, and I will give unto every one
of you according to your works.
Let's go back to Jezreel and Elijah.
The Bible says in the New Testament, you've
suffered Jezebel to live, and this is exactly
what Elijah did.
He suffered or allowed Jezebel to live.
I told you, I consider Elijah one of
the greatest prophets in the Bible.
And God loved this man.
But I'm wondering if you're getting the point
of my message this morning.
The God, listen closely, the God who saved
you by his power through faith.
The God who gave you power over many,
many sins of the flesh.
The God who's done so many miracles for
you in the past.
It's the same God who has the power
right now to deliver you from all the
power of the enemy.
You say, well, what was the failure of
Elijah?
Where did Elijah fail?
Elijah failed in attributing to Jezebel more power
than to God.
And he runs in fear.
And there are Christians sitting here right now,
and you don't have victory because you hear,
you say what I hear so often.
This is too big for me, I've got
a habit in my life, I have a
sin in my life, I just, I pray,
I fast, I do everything, I don't have
the power.
It's overwhelmed me, I give up, I can't
make it.
Giving more power to that spirit of Jezebel
that holds you or threatens you and says
you're going down, you're not going to make
it.
You're going to fail in spite of all
of your faith, in spite of all your
prayers, you're going to fail, you're going to
fall.
And the word of God to you is
no, my word says sin shall not have
power or dominion over you.
Jezebel has no power, her power is just
in your mind.
And Elijah runs away.
Have you ever thought of running away?
Oh, there should be an amen from everyone
in this building.
You see, most people who run away don't
go anywhere.
Because running away is a frame of mind.
It's what the David said, oh that I
had wings like a dove and I'd fly
to some wilderness and hide.
Jeremiah said that same thing, but he said,
oh that I had a cottage in the
wilderness.
That I could escape this people.
He was tired of people, he'd given up
on the church.
God help us never to give up on
the church or his people.
And here's Elijah running in fear.
And folks, the scripture is clear, David said,
I will fear no evil.
And the only way your habit holds you
or sin holds you or this one issue,
this hindering thing in your life, is because
of fear, because you will not trust what
the Holy Ghost has said, the Holy Ghost
says, and this is the new covenant for
everything I demand of you, this walk of
purity, this walk of love, where you are
free to grow, you're free to come into
the fullness of Christ, the Holy Ghost has
promised you all the enabling power that you
need, and the only thing that you lack
is faith.
Faith to believe that what God said is
true, that if you would take it in
and say, God this is bigger than me,
I'm not going to sit around and cry
about it anymore, I'm not going to weep
over it, I've had enough tears, my tears
didn't wash away anything.
You have no inner strength and power in
yourself, but God will not do it without
you saying, I want to be free, I
want nothing standing between me and the Lord,
nothing between me and the fullness of the
blessing of Jesus Christ in my life.
And that's when the Holy Spirit comes with
amazing strength and power, amazing resources, and God
said, I've never asked you to do anything
unless I have promised to fulfill all the
strength, the authority and power you need to
overcome.
And you have it, if you'll just trust
Him and believe God for it this morning.
Hallelujah.
You know, I find this story before I
close, I find in this story, some of
the greatest compassion and love of God anywhere
in the Bible, he's running, and he finally
ends up in the wilderness under a juniper
tree, he falls asleep, he's depressed, asleep of
heaviness, and the angel of the Lord, God
sends an angel and wakes him up, and
he says, Elijah, get up and eat.
And there on hot coals, fire, there's a
baked cake, and there's a cruise of water.
He eats and drinks, goes right back to
sleep.
I would think of an angel, if I
woke up, there's an angel talking to me.
Hard to go back to sleep.
But this man is so down, so depressed,
he goes right back to sleep.
The angel wakes him again, and there's another
mill, and these kind words from the Heavenly
Father, Elijah, this is too much for you,
the journey is too much, eat.
And in the strength of that, he goes
for 40 days and 40 nights, and he
winds up in a cave on Mount Horeb,
and I can't go through it all, but
folks, when he gets to Mount Horeb, there's
an issue.
And God's not going to sweep it under
the rug, so to speak.
Elijah's down.
He's not a proud man, he's not thinking,
he's saying, I'm the only one, but he
really believes that because he has not been
in contact, this man walked alone.
Not a proud, arrogant man, a man who
loved God with everything in him.
But he missed the fullness of seeing God
complete the mission that he was called to.
And God says to him, very quietly in
this still, small voice, Elijah, what are you
doing here?
And Elijah gives his excuse, you know, I'm
the only one left and they're trying to
kill me.
And the Lord didn't buy it.
The Lord didn't buy it at all.
He said again, Elijah, what are you doing
here?
In other words, why this depression?
Why this fear in you?
Why this resignation?
Why this quitting?
Why this giving up?
Why?
What's this all about, Elijah?
Say about it.
It appears to me God accepted his resignation.
You see, if you want to quit, God
loves you.
And you can go on existing with the
measure of Christ.
You see, the love of God is not
an issue here at all.
It's not an issue at all.
We're not talking about God sending you to
hell because you're in a struggle.
Not at all.
And he says, Elijah, in so many words
it's saying, alright, Elijah, you want to quit?
I'm not going to force you.
But I want Jezebel dead and you're going
to go anoint Jehu and Jehu's going to
kill her.
And I want you to anoint Elisha in
your place.
And you don't hear much of Elijah from
then on other than a sentimental journey to
past points of blessing where he had been
used.
And he's going to go home on a
chariot.
He's going to go home in victory.
And he's allowed to get the last word
because the last thing you read of Elijah
other than the chariot is that he goes
to Naboth's vineyard where Ahab is coming.
And God says, now I want you to
prophesy.
And he prophesied.
God gives him the last word.
And he says, Ahab, the dogs shall eat
Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.
In other words, right where he failed, God
says, she's coming down in the very spot
that you stood.
And I'm going to kill her and the
dogs are going to eat her.
God always gets the last word.
Folks, he said, we're more than conquerors.
That's his last word.
Hallelujah.
The devil's defeated.
He doesn't have power.
He's holding it only on the lie.
Don't believe the lie.
No, no, no.
Listen, this man goes home in a chariot.
Moses and Elijah are allowed to come back
and see Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration.
Oh, what glorious men these were.
But folks, it's possible to be so righteous
and holy and used and still miss the
fullness.
Moses wasn't allowed to go into the land.
He never came into the fullness.
That's how important it is to kill Jezebel.
To kill her.
And some of you, with this, I suppose,
some of you have been sitting here so
comfortable.
You say, oh boy, there's no lust in
me.
No thoughts of adultery, fornication.
But let me tell you where Jezebel can
creep in.
Because you see, you've been praying about things
and God's blessed you.
You have been in prayer.
How many times you know God has heard
you.
You've been a man or woman of prayer
and God has been using you.
You've trusted God in everything.
But now you're up against the worst battle.
You're against everything Jezebel can throw at you
in lies.
You have a problem you're praying about right
now.
And see, the enemy's coming in with fear
now.
He's coming in with this thought that you're
going to fail.
And God's going to let you down.
And this time you run.
No, no, no, no.
God says you stand up and fight.
And that's what this message is about.
That you stand up and fight in faith
by the Holy Ghost.
Say, I am not quitting.
I'm not going down.
I'm not going to listen to this seductive
spirit of Jezebel.
Jezebel, you're finished.
God's going to help me deal with everything
in my life.
I'm coming into the fullness of Jesus Christ.
Will you stand please?
Now church, I'm in the annex.
And here, please hold steady.
I am dead serious.
And God's dead serious.
And I'm asking God to give me word
for word what He wants me to say
to you.
Jezebel, this spirit of seduction.
This bit of leaven.
As in many that are hearing me right
now in this church.
There's an issue.
There's a hindering force.
God says, my desire for you and my
goal for your life is that you come
into a fullness.
That you can come to this church.
You can walk on the job.
You can go anywhere.
And you have an open heaven.
There's no guilt.
There's no fear.
There's no condemnation.
I'm right before God.
My conscience is clear before God in that.
For Jesus, I thank you for what you've
done.
But I know what it is.
Is it your temper?
I don't know.
Is it something God told you to do
and you've refused to do it?
Obey Him.
You take that step of obedience.
And you believe God for a victory over
that one last issue.
And I'm telling you everything in your life
changes.
Everything.
The Spirit of God begins to work in
your behalf.
And you will see a flow of blessing.
I'm not talking just financial, material blessings that
follow.
But you will see and hear things in
God's Word you never saw or heard before.
You'll have that hunger and thirst that you
once had.
But then you let it slip away because
you've been sitting in front of an idol.
You've been feeding your mind on stuff that
you know is from hell.
God says no.
He's not threatening you.
But He's warning us.
In His love.
I have the power to set you free.
But you don't take the step.
If God's speaking to you by Spirit, I
want you to come.
And we're going to pray diligent prayer.
We're going to pray prayer from the very
gut.
God, I want to come into the fullness
of Jesus Christ in my life.
You have to understand that God's not mad
at you.
I'm not talking about the love of God
is not in question ever.
The love of God is always, always here.
I'm talking about a desire in our hearts
to be more like Jesus.
And to have that flow.
That flow that nothing hinders.
That channel is not blocked.
That channel is not hindered.
Look at me for just a minute.
You could not know, unless the Holy Spirit
shows you, how much God desires for you
and for me.
That nothing stand between us.
Nothing stand.
Even in your marriage, you don't want anything
to stand between.
You don't want anything that would block the
respect, the love from flowing.
And God wants to pluck those things out
of our hearts.
Because He so desires for the fellowship and
the love.
And you don't have to scream.
You don't have to beg.
You bring your desire.
Lord, I know what it is in my
life.
I know what it is.
Some of you, it's been a total neglect
of prayer.
Total neglect of God.
You've had time for everyone and everything.
But you haven't given Him any quality time
lately.
You've been slipping away.
And that's become a failure in your life.
And something in God says, hey, you're not
only not coming into the fullness, but you're
draining.
There's something draining the life out of you.
Because you're not coming into the source of
power.
If you're ready to repent of this, He's
more than willing to come now.
But it has to be from the heart.
God wants to dig deep in us today.
In me and in you.
Now, I'm going to lead you in a
prayer.
But I want you to think of what
you're praying.
And it has to come from the innermost
part of your being.
Now, you have to stand and say right
now, I know I am loved.
God's not mad at me.
He's not trying to judge me right now.
I'm not under judgment.
I'm under conviction.
And that's good.
Pray this prayer with me right now.
Right out of your innermost being.
Dear Lord Jesus.
I want no hindrance.
I want no controversy with you.
I want no hidden sin.
I want to be an open book.
And Lord Jesus, thank you.
That you came to me this morning.
With your heart full of love.
With your eyes on fire.
Looking into my heart.
At that one issue.
That has to be settled.
And Lord Jesus.
I want it settled.
Right now.
I come to you now.
To receive mercy and grace.
For this matter.
Forgive me.
Cleanse me.
Break the power of this.
This matter.
This issue.
That you're dealing with.
I believe you now.
That the Holy Ghost.
Has been promised.
To enable me.
To live.
Victorious.
Over all sin.
And the dominion and power of it.
In Jesus name.
I believe.
That God.
By his spirit.
Is delivering me.
Right now.
And by faith.
I receive it.
And I set my heart.
And my mind.
To walk in obedience.
Right now.
Raise your hands and give him thanks.
Lord.
We give you thanks.
We give you praise.
We are faithful.
In the annex.
The same.
Same thing.
Look up and say thank you Jesus.
Glory be to God.
Hallelujah.
Would you thank him for loving you?
Would you thank him for being merciful to
you?
And his grace?
Hallelujah.
This is the conclusion of the message.