2819 Church - WISDOM AND WONDER | The High Price of Truth | Matthew 14:1-12 | Philip Anthony Mitchell

Episode Date: January 4, 2025

In the Season 3 premiere of "WISDOM & WONDER," Pastor Philip Anthony Mitchell unpacked the lessons and history found in Matthew 14:1-12. Welcome to the official Youtube channel for 2819 Church. This channel features powerful and life-impacting messages from Philip Anthony Mitchell and guest communicators. As you listen to these sound biblical messages you can expect to be challenged, stirred, matured and inspired in your faith and walk with God. For more information about us visit 2819Church.org.

I guess we want to welcome you to 2819 Church. For everybody watching me live right now across Atlanta and across this country and around the world, we want to welcome all of you, our digital disciples who stream in every single week. Thousands of you who are part of our family. We're so thankful that you get to join us through that camera and the spread of the gospel. And if you're in the room right now

and you're not a follower of Jesus Christ, you are still an unbeliever. You're still exploring the claims of Christ. If you're watching me in the overflow, everybody sitting in that overflow room right now, we want to welcome you sitting in that overflow room.

We welcome you to 2819 Church. And for the unbeliever, we know that you're in the room. There's probably an unbeliever or maybe you're not a follower of Christ you're sitting in that overflow room you're watching me across this camera you're still trying to figure out the claims of Christ

we're so thankful that you are here you can you can belong before you believe. We hope you hear something today that speaks to your heart. Today is the beginning of season three of our brand new series, Wisdom and Wonder, in which we are walking through the gospel of Matthew together, specifically Matthew chapter 12 through 20. And I don't want to presume that you know who Matthew is. Matthew was an outcast Jew who lived in the first century A.D. He was converted to Christianity by the Lord Jesus Christ. He went on to become an apostle and

an eyewitness of the life of Jesus and the ministry of Jesus. He wrote for us the gospel that bears his name, preserved in the New Testament and placed first in the New Testament. It was his book that was used for over a thousand years to crown the Christian church in discipleship. And we are walking through that book together as a church, a two and a half year journey. And I want to say during that journey, although we were nervous about launching into it, God has added to his church, sons and daughters, servants of the Lord. And we thank the Lord Jesus for what he is doing. He is the builder of the church and we are stewards of his grace. For all of our note takers today we will be in Matthew chapter 14 we'll unpack together

verses 1 through 12 we're going to tag a title to this text. I'm just going to call it the high price of truth. Would you pray for me as I pray for you? Eternal God and ever wise father. Lord, we humble ourselves right now before your mighty presence. We feel your power in this room. We feel your power in that overflow.

I know people can feel you across that camera. Lord, I am praying right now in these last days of the church age that there would be an outpouring of an awakening on the sons and daughters of the kingdom in this hour Lord I am asking you for an outpouring of repentance on the sons and daughters of the kingdom in this hour I am asking you you, God, that you would trouble us in our souls, that you would open our blinded eyes, that you would unstop our deaf ears. Lord, I am asking you this very morning that you would throw down from heaven something like coals of fire, God, to burn us in our lips and burn us in our hearts. Father God, I pray, God, in this moment that we spend together, apathy would be driven out of this room. Lethargy would be driven out of this room.

Lukewarmness would be driven out of this room, out of this moment. In the name of your son, Lord, I pray. In my weakness, God, Lord, you would be made strong. In my sickness, God, you would be made strong. I pray not the heat of this room, not the sickness in my body, not any demonic force would hinder the proclamation of the spread of your word in this moment. Lord, I pray some way, somehow you would cultivate now in this room, across that camera, in the overflow, hearts of good ground. That the word, God, would not be stolen by the adversary, would not fall temporarily, God, and be lost from the cares of this life. But someway, somehow, I pray it would fall on the good soil of receptive hearts. And that God, in our lives, in our posting, in our words, in our actions, someway, somehow, what would come from this message is a fruit of boldness.

Some 30, some 60, some hundredfold. Jesus, you be glorified in this moment. Yes, it is hot, but we thank you we have a place to gather.

And we thank you that at the right time, in the right place, you would open that right door. We believe. We believe. Now, Lord, have your way. I ask the Spirit of the living God, move throughout the aisles and have your way I ask the spirit of the living God move throughout the aisles and have your way I pray right now in the mighty look up that word

and the majestic look up that word and the matchless look up that word name that is above every name. The name of the Lord Jesus the Christ. And with all the sons and daughters wherever they are.

If you agree with this prayer. Would you just shout me down and say amen. And amen. And amen and amen. The high price of truth. Be glorified, Lord. Family, when I was praying and reading over this passage, I was reminded by the Spirit of God that there was a

time when this English version of the Scriptures was not available to me, where the English versions of the Scriptures that sit on your lap and on your devices was not available to you, for they were held bound by the papacy of Roman Catholicism, who had the Scriptures chained in secret places in Greek and Latin, and it was not available for common people who did not have access to the Word of God. It was the Roman Catholic Church who had a monopoly on the scriptures, who exercised the secrecy of the Bible to exhort their authority and dominance over the people of God and the church at that time. And in the secrecy of the scriptures, they filled the church with heresies and lies and man-made doctrines to exert their power and dominance over men and women who loved Christ but was ignorant of the word of God. It was during this time in the 1500s

that God raised up an educated man in the scriptures, a man of God who had studied the word in its original language from the beginning of the Old Testament to the new. God raised up that man in the 1500s and put inside of him a righteous indignation against the Roman Catholic Church. And when he saw the abuse of the Roman Catholic Church, when he saw the abuse of the papacy, when he saw the abuse of the popes and the bishops, he was grieved in his heart because, man, they were living in vanity, and they were exercising authority that the scriptures had not given them, and they exalted themselves above men. And he was grieved in the scriptures had not given them. And they exalted themselves above men. And he was grieved in his heart when he saw them.

He even said he thought that all of the troubles in the church was a direct result of the fact that the common people did not have access to the word of God. And so in his frustration and in his righteous indignation, he began, watch this, to speak out against the papacy and speak out against the Roman Catholic Church. And he began to call out their errors and their false doctrines. He would reason with people in his home and reason with people in the streets as he tried to show them this is what the word of God says, which is antithetical to the things that you have been taught. When opposition against his outcry began to grow,

he moved out of England and went to Germany. And it was in Germany he found a place of hiding, and it was in that place he made a decision that he would give his life to translate the entire scriptures from the Old Testament to the New Testament in English and in a common language so that the common person can have access to the Word of God. He set out on that project to do that because he cared deeply about the church. History tells us that on one occasion, he was traveling the sea and in a shipwreck he lost all of his documents and his manuals. And when he got back to his home he had to start all over again but he was determined to give the world an English copy of these holy documents. He would go on, listen to me family, to translate the entire Old Testament into English. He translated the entire Old Testament into English. He translated the entire New Testament into English, and he will go on to write a summary introduction of every chapter of the Old Testament

so the common person can pick up the Word of God and understand it for themselves. Because it's very important for you to have knowledge of the Word of God. For the more word you know, the more error you will discern. And there is a lot of us who listen to heresies. We listen to men preach heresy eloquently because we don't know the scriptures. We can't discern lies from the pulpit. And this is why I keep encouraging you, man, to don't just listen to me and believe me. Man, go behind me. Go behind your false prophets and your apostles, man, and read and study the word of God for yourself.

Man, the more knowledge you know from God's word, the easier you will be able to discern lies. You would hear things that are not true, and it would be like static in your soul. So this man spread the first English copies of the Bible. They begin to show up in England and on the streets of London. And when the papacy heard about what he was doing, they was angry. And so the powers that be set in motion a plan to have this man killed. So they arranged for a person to befriend him. You better be careful about your associates. They arranged for a person to befriend him. This person got access to his heart. He started to trust this person. He brought this person into his home. Now they knew where his hideout was. And then this person who the

papacy arranged led this man out of his home, and this man of God was captured, and he was placed in prison for the spread of the gospel. Although a revival or revolution was breaking out at the time because people are now seeing the Bible for themselves. Man, he's sitting languishing in a prison, but he was not dismayed. History tells us he preached the gospel to the jailers, so much so that even the jailer and members of his family converted to Christianity. And when the enemy was furiated with this man of God, on October 6, 1536, in a small town in the Netherlands, man, the papacy brought that man of God out. They dragged him down to a place of execution.

They strapped him to a stake. They choked him within an inch of his life. And he looked down as they set his body on fire. As his body burned, he shouted from the top of his lungs before he died, Oh Lord, open the eyes of the King of England. It would be no accident that sometime later we would get in our hands the King James Version, the first English copy of the Bible. That reformer,

his name was William Tyndale. He was a hero of the faith that you and I belong to. And he was God's first vessel to translate the scriptures into English. It was men like William Tyndale who was a voice against evil in the church. And if you check the church history, our history, the people of God, our history is replete with men and women of God who stood 10 tones down against corruption in the church and foolishness in the church and against

persecution, against opposition, against being rejected. They stood and spoke up against evil. They spoke out against heresy. Men like Martin Luther who nailed the 95 Theses to the Wittenberg Church. So all throughout our history, there were men and women, men, who stood up against evil. Many of them died for the faith that you and I have right now, that every time you pick up this English Bible, I want you to remember a man named William Tyndale gave his life for you to have a copy of the Word of God. The copy you don't read, the copy that's dusty, the copy you won't open up for yourself, the copy you got sitting on the floorboard of your car, a man died to translate this into English. So every time you read it with understanding, remember a brother in the faith before you gave his life for you to have an English copy of the Bible.

Friends, this is the kind of conviction, man, the people of God should have. This is the kind of conviction the people of God should live with. Men, the people of God should be known for having convictions about holiness and righteousness and what is right in the sight of God. For the only alternative is compromise, and compromise is the default of the flesh. It is the life of the Christian coward who is afraid to take a stand for the Lord Jesus Christ. And what God needs in this hour more than any other time is for the people of God to rise up and be a voice for him in this land that we're living in right now. Listen to me. convictions around righteousness, holiness, character, integrity, fidelity to the scriptures. This should be common testimony of the people of God. This should be your testimony. This should

be my testimony. Listen, this is the testimony of the man of God at the center of our text. Matthew writes in Matthew chapter 14, and beginning in verse 1, Matthew says, at that time, what time? At the time that Jesus' ministry was growing, his fame was growing, he had just began speaking in parables as a judgment against the Pharisees and the religious elite and the people who rejected his doctrines. At the time, the ministry of Jesus was flourishing, and at the time, the ministry of Jesus was headed towards the cross, for the back half of Matthew would take Jesus to the cross. At that time, Herod the Tetrarch heard about the fame of Jesus,

and he said to his servants, wait, this is John the Baptist. He has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him. This is John the Baptist. And so now I want you to see that Matthew is writing in reflection. He was reflecting on a time when Herod realized that he had done something wrong. He is reflecting on a time when King Herod realized, man, who was this man Jesus? Why is he performing all these miraculous deeds? He must be John the Baptist, the man that I killed, the man that I put to death. The cousin of Christ. The forerunner of Christ.

The person who was raised around Christ. The person who God raised up to be the first voice to prepare a nation for the ministry of Christ. The person who God raised up to be the first voice to prepare a nation for the ministry of Christ. The man who came preaching repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The man who came preaching repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The man who came preaching repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. That man John is who he's talking about. So Matthew Watch is writing, reflecting on Herod's heart being troubled about this man that he had killed. Now, I want to draw your attentions to a few things in the text. First, who is this man, Herod? If you read the New Testament, you will bump into this name many times in the New Testament.

The first time we see the name Herod in our study is at the beginning of the book of Matthew, where we read a man called Herod the Great. It was Herod the Great who was in power during the days of Jesus when he was born. Herod was an evil man. Herod was a murderous man. Herod was a man drunk on power.

It was King Herod who, according to history, killed his wife. It was King Herod, according to history, who killed two sons. It was King Herod, according to history, who killed political opponents because he did anything he needed to to maintain his power. Listen, it was this Herod who was called the king of the Jews who ordered the genocide of little children two years and older boys because he heard from the announcement of the wise men that the real king of the Jews had been born. And so he ordered the slaughter of all children, Baal children, two years and older, in an attempt to kill the Lord Jesus Christ.

When that Herod died in 4 BC, his kingdom was divided between three sons. To one son was given, his name was Herod Archelaus. He got half of Herod Great's kingdom. To one son was given, his name was Herod Archelaus. He got half of Herod Great's kingdom. To another son was given some territory, his name was Herod Philip. He was married to a woman named Herodias, who was his niece. To another one was given Herod Antipas. That's this Herod we see right here in the text. This was the Herod that ruled over Galilee and Perea during the ministry of Jesus. It would be this Herod who Jesus stood before on the day that he was executed.

And I want you to see that this family, you will continue to run in Herods. They love to name people Herod in their family. If you keep reading the New Testament, you'll bump into another Herod in Acts. Herod Agrippa, who the apostle Paul stood before and gave a gospel account. Now, Herod Philip was married to a woman named Herodias. She was his niece.

But Herod Antipas, this Herod, left his wife, did not divorce her, left his wife and seduced the wife of his brother and took Herod and took Herod Philip's wife and brought Herod wife back to himself. So Herod Antipas seduced Herod Philip's wife and he took that wife for himself. So one uncle married a niece, another uncle stole that niece, and married that niece for himself. So one uncle married a niece, another uncle stole that niece, and married that niece for himself. So you see that the Harris was a dysfunctional family. They're drunk on power. They're marrying relatives.

They call themselves Jews. Now, I want to draw your attention to something in the text. I want you to notice in the text that Herod is troubled by the ministry of Jesus. He fears that this man Jesus is John the Baptist who he killed, risen from the dead. Now, this is very powerful to me as a student of the word because what is troubling Herod right now? Herod is battling the guilty conscience of murdering a man of God called John. Now this is powerful to me that Herod is battling a guilty conscience because Herod is not a follower of Christ. Watch. He is not filled with the spirit and yet his conscience is troubling him

because he murdered an innocent man. Now this is very powerful to me because it speaks to all of the atheists and all of the people that deny God, that God hardwired into every human being a conscience that communicates the existence of God, the moral code of God, and communicates what is right or wrong. That God has given every man a conscience a C O N science the word con means with the

word science means knowledge that God has given every human being a conscience a with knowledge that he exists and there was a moral code that operates in them that came from an authority above them. This is why even in lands where they don't have the gospel, people feel guilty for murder. You feel guilty for lying. You feel guilty for cheating. You feel guilty for doing wrong. Where is that guilt coming from?

It's coming from the conscience. it's coming from the with knowledge the moral code that god has written on the hearts of every person so man i say to an atheist that says well god doesn't exist have you ever felt bad for something you did yeah but where did that morality come from how is it that ungodly people feel bad for murder or feel bad for doing us wrong why because god has proven himself even to man even in the conscience that he was written in the hearts of man a moral code that they know intuitively what is right and what is wrong and that that communicates that there is an authority above man. A creator above man. That wired into man a conscience. That's why when you mature, you should always be thankful when you feel convicted by sin.

Because some people, man, you cry over conviction. And you feel guilty over conviction. But I'm going to tell you what's worse than feeling convicted.'s worse is what Paul alluded to the church at Rome that some people man in order to do evil you have to suppress that conscious you have to suppress that inner voice on the inside of you and when you suppress that inner voice man you have to do that in order to put to produce sin and the worst place you can be is not feeling convicted of sin the worst place you could be is when you feel nothing at all that where you don't want to be is when God says you love your sin so much you love your idolatry so much let me just give you all of what you want

man that's why man I'm so thankful every time God punches me in my soul I feel thankful that I'm so thankful every time God punches me in my soul. I feel thankful that I'm still in the hand of God. I feel thankful that I can still feel the conviction of God. Is anybody in the room thankful that you still feel the conviction of God in your heart? I'm telling you right now, what you don't want is for God to take his hand off of you. And so if you feel convicted, if you feel your conscience dealing with you, man, that means you're still in a place where your heart is sensitive enough to be convicted, challenged, and changed. So I think it's so powerful in the text that Herod is dealing with a guilty conscience.

It testifies of a creator. It testifies of a moral code. It testifies of an authority above mankind. Verse 52. Verse what? I'm just testing y'all to see where y'all at. There's no iPad up here. I'm just testing you to see where you're at verse three for herod had seized john and bound him and put him in prison for the sake of herodias his brother philip's wife because john had been saying to him, John had been saying to him, John had been saying to him,

John had been speaking out against his idolatry. John had been speaking out against his adultery. John had been speaking out against his sin and his lawlessness because John did not turn a blind eye to sin. So he bound him and put him in prison for the sake of herodias his brother philip's wife because john had been saying to him it is not lawful for you to have her and though he wanted to put him to death he feared the people because they held him to be a prophet now there are four things i want to draw your attention to in this text.

I want you to notice first that John did not stay silent when he saw a man carrying himself in an evil way. Now you say, but why would John speak to a pagan king about morality? But this pagan king claimed to be Jewish. He claimed to practice the laws of Israel. Well, since you want to hold yourself to a standard, I need to confront you when you fall short of that standard so I want you to notice that John saw King Herod commit something that was not lawful in the word of God and he did not remain silent listen to me he did not turn a blind eye to sin he did not make a habit of turning a blind eye to sin man I want to awaken some of you in this room. I know you feel uncomfortable about what I'm saying, but we got to get to a point

where we stop turning a blind eye to sin. No, I'm serious about this. Don't patty cake me. I'm serious. We got to get to the point where we have a righteous indignation first about the sin in you. You got to be angry about the sin you see in you. I don't want to keep lusting this way. I don't want to be jealous all the time. I don't want to be judgmental. I don't want to be critical. You can't keep turning a blind eye to your sin. Something in you got to be angry about the sin in you and then as the people of god as the image bearers of god something about us in the church gotta be have a righteous indignation about the sin of Herod but John saw evil he saw somebody doing something that was antithetical to the word and he stood 10 toes down and he confronted that king and said

what you're doing is not lawful and for that he was thrown in prison now I want to tell you Mark's account of this same incident tells us something. It tells us that Herod respected John. He actually enjoyed listening to him talk and at the same time he hated him and wanted to kill him. They have this strange relationship. It's like I like listening to you but I hate you. Man I like the doctrines but I hate you you man you tell truth but i hate feeling convicted so it's like man i don't know what to do with you i don't want to kill you so in my attempt to silence the preaching of the word i'm just going to imprison him but i think john sets an example for you and i and and it's moments like this, like we don't want to

hear, and I don't care if you feel convicted, and I don't care if you feel offended, my brothers and sisters, man, we see examples in the word of God of how we ought to live, man, John the Baptist did not turn a blind eye to sin, listen to he said something and man if the people of god don't start saying something if we don't speak out against evil if we are not the heralds of truth who is going to be the heralds of truth if we don't speak out against ungodliness in our nation if we don't call out idolatry if we don't challenge people to live in holiness if we don't carry that who's gonna carry that you say well pastor when should i speak when should i do something i think when you are led by the spirit or when you are led by the word

or when a moment demands a voice to rise up. We need to speak out against hypocrisy in the church. We need to speak out against compromise. Can I go deeper? We need to speak out against fake orthodoxy. That's not Christianity, that's American. We need to speak out against that stuff. And it doesn't always have to be aggressively negative. It could be just preaching the truth so that somebody is a herald of what is right in every circumstance. So like John,

I think the people of God has a moral right and obligation, man, to speak up, to speak truth, to speak truth and to understand, man, that people come and say, oh, that's your truth and that's my truth. You don't have no truth. I get tired of people saying,

well, that's your truth. No, it's not. You don't have no truth. Well, I'm going to live my truth and you live your truth. No, we live one truth. Jesus said, I am the way, the life, and the truth. Definitive article. There is no your truth

and my truth there is one truth and there are lies that masquerade as truth no I'm serious look at me if we the people of god are not heralds of truth and posters of truth and speakers of truth who is going to stand for truth in our generation

so like john look at me we can't turn a blind eye to sin and we got to know when times call us to step up and say something about it like there's a sister in our church i won't call her name god has given her a unique burden to call out the idolatry of organizations and people persecute her for that every single day and they can't silence her and they can't shut her up and she just continues to call out the idolatry of these organizations she will not shut up god gave her a burden to be a herald of truth in a times when we have idolatry where we got people kneeling before other altars what y'all talking about you got people kneeling before other altars you What y'all talking about? You got people kneeling before other altars. You

setting up high places in your heart. And these things are behind the guise of brotherhood Don't you know Satan is a seducing spirit? He will feed on your insecurity to lead you away from God into idolatry of things that's anti-Christ. Man, take this off of me. Take this off. Take it off. Don't you know the devil is a seducing spirit?

He will dance in front of you and hypnotize you and lead you right to an altar away from God. Y'all got to give me grace because I don't use these. It's mad uncomfortable. now I want to draw your attention to something else that is not explicit but is implicit in the text where is John when Matthew is thinking he's recording what happened in the past John was sitting in prison.

And history tells us that John, after he was imprisoned by Herod, he sat there for about a year. Now what happened to John when he was sitting in prison before he was executed? I want to show you in Matthew chapter 11. Can we look there for a second? In Matthew chapter 11 and verse 1, this is a message I preached to you earlier in our study. It says, when Jesus had finished instructing his 12 disciples, he went out from there to teach and preach in their cities now when john had heard in prison when john had heard in prison when john had heard where in prison about the deeds of christ he sent word by his disciples and said to him this is insane to me Are you the one who is to come? Or shall we look for another?

Pause. John the Baptist. Watch. Watch. Oh, my gosh. Who was raised around Jesus. Watch. Who knew that he was the son of God. Watch.

Who preached to people, there is the lamb who takes away the sin of the world the one who baptized his cousin the one who said i must decrease so he could increase the one who said all of that now is sitting in prison and in a moment of discouragement he starts to deny the identity of christ Christ. You do the same thing when God doesn't move the way you want him to move or some door doesn't open the way you want it to open or some relationship failed or some marriage failed or some prayer he didn't answer, some loved one he didn't spare something you've been believing for that hasn't happened for a long time some thorn he won't take out of your flesh man as we get agitated with our misplaced expectations of god

we have a tendency to be angry at him because of our misplaced expectations. I know what it is. Me personally, Philip Anthony Mitchell, to feel pain and frustration and even be mad at God because I'm believing him for something that's disconnected from the word of God. So my expectations of him are based on some sermon I heard, some prophet I heard, some prophetess that told me this was the year of fill in the blank and a year later go by and I'm still in the same situation and now I'm mad

at God. So John, while he was in this prison, got discouraged and disillusioned because his expectations of God was wrong. He thought the Lord would come with a military kingdom, overthrow Rome, free him from prison. They'll be rocking together. No, John, you must decrease. That I must increase. Your ministry ends where mine begins. Why am I showing this to you? How?

Everybody watch. Because you've been here where a prayer is not answered. You feel discouraged. You feel disillusioned. You feel like God is not coming through for me. You've been there. Look at me.

You've been there. How did Jesus encourage John John everything is gonna be okay no John I'm coming to get you out no John I'm gonna send angels to break you out of prison no how did he encourage John look at the next verses I don't know this is on the screen because i didn't i don't know if i sent it to them or not um and jesus answered him go and tell john what you hear and what you see this is powerful the blind receive their sight the lame they walk. The lepers, they are cleansed. And the deaf, they hear. And the dead are raised up. And the poor have good news preached to them.

And blessed is the one who is not offended by me. What is Jesus quoting? The prophet Isaiah. He said, preacher, I don't get it. He comforts John with the word. God. He uses the preaching of Isaiah to say, you see the things that I'm doing? That's evidence that I'm the Messiah.

I am the man that you preached about, John. So he did not comfort John with cotton candy and false platitudes. He comforted John with the scriptures. He comforted John with the word of God. Because when your heart is bruised and when your soul is bruised, thank God for a tweet and a post. But you need to know how to get comfort from the word of God. You need to know how to carry your heart into the presence of God and get comfort from the word of God. Some of you would get false comfort from bad sermons and bad doctrines.

So you've got unrealistic expectations of God. You saved thinking you're never going to have problems when Jesus promised you in this life you will have tribulation. You saved thinking everybody's going to like you when Jesus said to you, if they hated me, they will hate you too. Man, I wish somebody would just give god praise for the word of god the word can i go deeper he did not tell john you're getting out and we know he did it because herod killed him so even in a circumstance that god was not going to change i am not going to change this but i will change you in this through the

through the word that i gave so watch sometimes you can't pray yourself out of a circumstance but you can pray yourself into peace in the middle of the circumstance i need to say that's why i i turned off i'm tired of hearing these little fluffy jesus loves me this i know for the i'm tired of hearing that little fluffy stuff in the middle of my hurt i don't want you to keep telling me about how i'm gonna get out of everything all the time listen it was david who said it was good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your ways. The Lord may not change everything the way that you want it. He may not heal my ear, but he can comfort me in his word, although I still struggle with a damaged left ear. I prayed for my father to be healed from cancer so he would see what became of his son.

My father died three months after we started this church. But I am comforted in the word that he is in the presence of almighty God. That he received his crown. That he is freed from his labors. I'm telling you, you need to start training yourself, watch, to deal with your hurts through the word of God, your confusion through the word of God, your

expectations through the word of God, your pain through the word of God. Man, that brother ain't going to praise by himself. thank you Lord hallelujah man that brother ain't going to praise by himself let's give God praise for his word somebody praise God for his word his word his word

his word his word, his word. Where Kiosha at? Kiosha in here rave at me where you at though they slay you though they slay you though God allows them to slay you yet shall you trust him.

Man, I gotta finish, but I feel something in my spirit, like what do I feel? I feel gosh, I gotta take a pause. I feel I feel gratitude for the word of God. When they persecute you, man, we take our heart to the word of God. When the devil try to persecute you, we carry our heart to the word of God. Is anybody thankful for the word? I'm sorry this

man this it transformed my life you don't know where I came from and how the word transformed my life. It is my shield, my strong tower and hiding place. I'm sorry you gotta give me a second

I'm sorry I feel this in my heart man you have no idea how many tears I've shed on the pages of Bibles in dark times in the midst of betrayal in the midst of Bibles in dark times in the midst of betrayal in the midst of great pain

great loss great confusion you have no idea how many tears I've shed on the pages of these sacred documents Glory, glory, glory, glory. Glory, glory, glory, glory. Thank you. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Hallelujah! Thank you. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. not man-made doctrine not empty prophecies not sermons full of heresy the word of God has pulled me out of so many dark nights pulled me out of depression pulled me out of suicide

pulled me out of grief and pain has given me guidance has protected me from bad decisions have helped me determine what type of relationships I need to have in my life. It has shown me the boundaries I need to set around my life. It has shown me things that are dangerous for my life and my marriage and my family.

It has delivered me. for my life and my marriage and my family. It has delivered me. Some of us, I've got to continue. I'm about to finish. I know especially in the black context, you love deliverance ministry. I know. And you think everything is a demon. Some things is discipline because of the word of God.

You don't need deliverance. You need discipline with the word of God. Everything is not a demon. Some things are bad character that needs to be transformed by the word of God. I don't care. I don't care. That's a cop out to blame everything on a demon. No, some things you need character transformation by the absorbing Of the word of God. I don't care. I don't care. Y'all can send me hate mail all you want.

I don't care. Stop blaming everything on a demon. No, you got bad character. That's why you keep dealing with all these problems. It's not the devil's fault. It's your fault. Because you have bad character. And it needs to be's not the devil's fault. It's your fault because you have bad character and it needs to be transformed by the word of God.

My character has to be transformed by the word of God. Now let me finish. No, I can't take my time. I'm sorry. I'll take my own praise break after the gathering in the future. No, I'm serious. This thing transformed my life.

All right, let's let's finish the text i'm coming for all you parents now verse six but when herod's birthday came the daughter of herodias her name was Salome she danced before the company and pleased Herod so that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask and prompted by her mother she said give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter stop so I want you to see what happened Herod is afraid of the people because they say John is a prophet watch so instead of killing him he puts him in prison to try to silence him now Herodias the bible says in Mark chapter 6 had a grudge against John because she was mad that John was preaching against her illegal marriage because sometimes we be mad at the messenger but the messenger is bringing

you truth right so because she had no power to kill John, watch, she manipulated her 14-year-old daughter, watch, to dance before Herod, and the scripture says it pleased him. That word pleased here is speaking of something sensual, sexual. Herod was aroused by the dance. Your children belong in children's ministry. Herod was aroused by the dance, watch, Watch. He was aroused by the dance. So this woman manipulated her own child. She, watch, used her own child as a pawn to get what she wanted. And many of us, we do this right now. Why is your five-year-old, why does he have bad credit? Why does your seven year old have bad credit? Why are we using our children and manipulating them for evil things that's in our heart?

Why are you using your child as an enemy against your ex-spouse? Why are you filling their minds with lies? Why do some of us manipulate our children we use them as pawns for our evil instead of protecting them we incentivize them towards evil to protecting them children need to be protected not used they need to be loved not used they need to be protected not used they need to be loved, not used. They need to be protected, not used. They need to be trained, not used. She used a 14-year-old to beguile a king to get her wicked ways, a man's death. Now pay attention. This man was so aroused by the dance that his logic got trapped by his loins

his logic got trapped by his loins his logic got trapped by his loins his logic got trapped by his loins his logic got trapped by his lust and because his logic got trapped by his loins when he was aroused he said girl I'll give you anything you want if you see how dangerous it is for your logic to get trapped by your loins that's why lust has to be controlled because it will lead you to make bad decisions. Don't nobody want to say amen. I don't care. This is a struggle in me. The lust of life, the lust behind females behind females pornography all these things I

was bound by and I had to train myself in the Word of God for them to not control my mind so my logic don't get trapped by my loins I'm talking to women too I'm talking to ladies too your logic can get trapped by your loins I know he tall dark and handsome and his pipe game is tight but he's no good for you you confuse because his pipe game is tight When he's no good for you God did not send him

He is a son of the devil He's a son of the devil His pipe game got you dizzy and confused Let me tell you something I'm about to close Some of you And some of us Let me tell you something. I'm about to close. Some of you and some of us keep asking God for clarity, but you won't let go sin that's blocking you in confusion.

You confuse because of iniquity. You'd be amazed what happened when you turn towards holiness how you sense God's presence at another level how you have clarity at another level how your prayer life goes to another level how the word opens up to you at another level. There's a clarity that follows holiness this is terrible parenting

here is a terrible parent and here's a man whose vices led him astray. Verse 9, and the king was sorry, but because of his oaths, because he was a people pleaser see sometimes we make bad decisions because we're people pleasers he did not want to kill john but he was a people pleaser see and when you're a people pleaser you can't live in freedom there's a freedom i encounter there's a freedom that i stand up here with because i got delivered from being a people pleaser i want to be able to stand up here and say thus says the lord even if it offends you i want to preach the truth whether it fills up a room or clears out a room and there are too many of god's people man can't stand for truth

because we handcuffed by people pleasing and the king was sorry i'm closing but because of his oats and his guests to his guests he commanded it to be given and he sent and had John beheaded in the prison and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl she brought it to her mother. I want to read you something that was written by a Jewish historian. His name was Josephus. Can y'all put Josephus quote up on the screen for me. Josephus was a man who lived in the first century. He was not a bible writer. He did not write any of the 40 books but he was a historian who lived during the times of Jesus. So if you read the writings of Josephus you would hear writings from a person

outside of the scriptures who was narrating and commentating on things that were happening during the life of Christ. Josephus, a Jewish historian, he wrote this about John. Now, this is outside the scriptures. Watch history. The Bible is not a fairy tale book. Now, some of the Jews thought that the destruction of Herod's army came from God as a judgment. And that very justly as a punishment of what he did against John that was called the Baptist. For Herod slew him who was a good man and commended the Jews to exercise virtue,

both as to righteousness towards one another. That is, John preached righteousness towards one another and piety towards God. And so to come to baptism, he called them in for that the washing with water would be acceptable to him if they made use of it not in order to the putting away or the remission of some sins only but for the purification of the body supposing still that the soul was thoroughly purified beforehand by righteousness that comes from Christ this is Josephus now when many others came in crowds about him John for they were greatly moved and pleased by hearing his words what was his words repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand herod who feared less that means for fear of less the great influence of john had over the people might put into his power

a inclination to raise a rebellion against herod for they seem ready to do anything he would advise because he was a righteous man so he had credibility they thought it best by putting him to death to prevent any mischief he might cause and not bring himself into difficulties by sparing a man who might make him repent of it when he should be too late. So Josephus writes, accordingly, it was sent a prisoner out of Herod's suspicions temper to Machairos, that's where John was held, the castle I before mentioned in other writings and it was there put to death. Now the Jews had an opinion that the destruction of this army, Herod's army, was sent as a punishment upon Herod and a mark of God's displeasure against him. That Herod lost his army after he slew John so Josephus wrote maybe as a judgment against Herod's murder he destroyed his army because he crucified John and verse 12 the last verse says

and his disciples came and they took the body and they buried it and they went and told Jesus now I just want to draw your attention to two things in that last verse, and I'm done. Herod dishonored John by taking off his head. The disciples of John honored him by burying his body. It says after they buried his body, they went to go see Christ. Now, the scriptures does not tell us why they went

to see Christ so I could only posit a few things one thing that I know they had to been hurting they had to been bruised they lost their leader they was discouraged and in the middle of their pain and their hurt what direction do they go in a one to the one who is called the word my family listen to me i want to say this to you before you leave this room hear my heart and i'm serious when i say this you can silence men but you cannot silence the gospel and i want you to notice in this verse, we see the teachings of Jesus manifested. You remember the parable of the weeds? That God plants the son of righteousness and Satan plants the sons of the devil?

Look what happened to John. The sons of the devil rose up and they worked against a holy man to have him put to death because of the sons of the devil. They are agitating the kingdom of God. There it is, the parable of the weeds on display. The word of God preaching the sons of the devil they are agitating the kingdom of god there it is the parable of the weeds on display the word of god preaching the word of god and i want to say to everybody in this room listen to me i'm serious everybody watching me across this camera everybody in that overflow listen man we need i i would get down on my knees and beg you we gotta wake up and

realize man we're living in the final hours of the church age family time is running out hear me can you not see how the devil is filling our society with heresies, filling our society with bad doctrines, filling our society with lies and mockery against God. And if the people of God, the sons and daughters of God, are not the voices of God, who is going to be the heralds of truth? If we're not posting about truth and

preaching the truth and standing for the truth man who is going to do that in our society yes there is a high cost there is a high price to truth it may cost you some friends to take a stand for righteousness it may cost you some circles it may cost you some relationships some people may not call you to preach or speak it may cause you some influence but i would rather lose favor with men than lose favor with God. That we, the people of God, got to start taking a stand for truth in our campus, in our schools, in the locker room, on your teams, in your job, in the gym, on social media. If we are not the heralds of truth, if we are not spreading the word of God, if we are not taking a stand, who is going to do that?

Man, I am pleading, pleading, pleading with God that what the Lord will baptize you with is a spirit of righteous indignation. A holy anger against all that is wicked and evil and sinful and ungodly. I want you to hate sin. I want you to hate idolatry. I want you to hate mockery of Jesus. And I want you to not be afraid to take a stand for truth. Man, if we don't post about the word, if we don't exalt Christ, if we're not preaching sound doctrine, if we're not confronting the false prophet, man, the devil is going to run rampant in our nation man you heard the old adage man evil flourishes when good people do nothing

lies flourish when the people of god don't proclimate and don't spread the truth of god's word so listen to me man christ came lived a perfect life died a sacrificial death was rose in power and became a proclaimer of truth to this day proclaiming his truth to us to his word and we who calls ourselves followers man we got to follow after him what good is it going to do us family man i what good is it going to do us if we keep crowding into this room? And when you leave from here, there is no witness, no evidence of Christianity, man. Man, I'm serious, man. Come on. What good is it going to do if it's just a service, man?

It's just a service? It's just a little two hours on a Sunday? I mean, that's so small and so bottom shelf is that all your christianity is is there anybody under my voice who has a righteous indignation against evil against sin against idolatry against mockery of Jesus I wish I had 800 people that would take a stand for Christ and the hour that we're living in right now for you. Father, in the name of Jesus. No, this is a serious moment. Don't move.

Don't move. Father, in the name of your Holy One, in these last hours of the church age, I pray now, Lord, for all the sons and daughters that something like scales would fall from their eyes. I pray you would pour out from heaven a spirit of righteous indignation against sin and idolatry and lawlessness in the earth.

I pray you would burn us in our hearts like you did Isaiah. Recoil the fire from heaven, God. I pray, God, you would ignite us right now with fire, God. Set the hearts of your sons and daughters on fire, God. Let us hate everything that you hate. Let us love everything that you hate. Let us love everything that you love. Let us turn from our worldliness and our iniquity and our idolatry, God.

Let us be freed from our vices, Lord. Lord, let us be filled with your word and filled with your spirit. Filled with your love and filled with your fire, God, in the name of Jesus. Lord, I pray you would burn the sons and daughters of the kingdom, that we all would be like the sons of Issachar, who rightly discerned the times and knew what to do about it. Lord, awaken your children in this hour, Lord. I pray a spirit of boldness would come upon us,

that we would speak out and pray out and stand up for righteousness in this hour. Do it, Lord. and stand up for righteousness in this hour do it Lord now in our hearts in the mighty and the majestic and the matchless name of Jesus don't move don't move don't move please don't move don't move please don't move there men and women in this room we don't got time but there men and women in this room you feel God working in your heart right now you're being pulled into the kingdom by the power of the Holy Spirit you feel something supernatural happening on the inside you you're passing from death to life you you feel your eyes were open something on the inside of you feels alive you you're responding to God in a way you've never

felt before the Lord is drawing you to himself you were a sinner and I was too you've broken God's laws and so have I and the scripture says if anyone dies in their sin they're going to be separated from God for all eternity but the Lord not wanting anyone to perish sent his son the Lord Jesus who died a sacrificial death exchanging his perfect righteousness for your unrighteousness. That he snatches you from hell, snatches you from the kingdom of darkness. He makes you a son and daughter. If you feel the Lord is doing that in you right now, I want to pray for you. If that's you, say, preacher, I feel something happening.

Like there was a young woman who felt that as the word was being proclaimed, she was being burned in her chair. If that's you, you feel like Jesus is winning you to himself. He's calling you out of darkness. He's leading you into the kingdom. He is changing your eternal address. Hell was your home and heaven is your future. The eternal state, the eternal state will be your destiny.

If that's you, I want to pray for you on the count of three i just want you to wave your hand at me one the lord jesus is working in your heart to respond to the gospel when you hear it three throw your hand in the air if i'm talking to you i see that hand i see that hand i see all those hands I see all those hands. I see all those hands. Listen to me. Don't nobody move. We about to shame the devil right now.

If you lifted your hand for that prayer, I want you to come down here right now. I want to talk to you. Come on, run down here right now. Run. If you're in the overflow room, I want you to leave the overflow room and run over here right now come on run down here run down here run down here run down here come on run down here run down here get Get close. Get close. Get close. If you're in the overflow room and you felt God moving in your heart,

I want you to run over here right now. Come on. Get close. Let them in. Let them in. Get close. Let them in. Get close. Somebody celebrate! Celebrate! If you're watching me in the overflow room, we want you to run across here right now. And from my heart to the head Jesus It's all up

yes it's from my Jesus be the it's all about yes it's all about yes it's all about from my heart to my

head Jesus be the center it's all about yes it's all about from my heart to the Yes, it's all about you From my heart to the heavens

Jesus, be the center All about you Yes, it's all about you From my heart to the heavens Jesus, be the center All around me This is all around me From my heart to the heavens

Jesus be the center All around me This is all around me Jesus be the Savior. All about you. This is all about you. Everybody at this altar, please don't look at me. Please don't look at me. I'm not important. God is catching these tears. It's okay.

He's catching those tears. It's okay, my sister. Let that out. Let that out. He's catching those tears. It's okay, my sister. Let that out. Let that out. He's catching those tears. Let that out. It's okay, my sister.

Let that out. He's catching those tears. You're being brought into the kingdom. It's okay, sister. Let that out. He's catching those tears. Let that out. Let that out.

Yeah, let that out. He's catching those tears. Let that out. Let that out. Yeah, let that out. He's catching those tears. Let that out. Oh, he's catching all these tears. Let that out. It's okay. Cry. That's called repentance.

Those are the tears of joy. He's brought you out of darkness into the kingdom of light. He's made you a brand new creature. Your names have been recorded in the Lamb's book of life. Go ahead, cry. Let that out. Let it out. He knew you would be here on this day. Today is the beginning of the rest of your life and he knew you would be here.

Cry. Let it out. From my heart out from my heart From my life to the heavens, Jesus be the Savior. It's all about you. Yes, it's all about you. Father, I pray over all of these. The ones, I don't know what's going on in their heart, only you know. You know who has truly passed from death to life you know those that you have regenerated and rescued i pray god you would catch all the tears falling at this altar

tears of repentance tears of sorrow tears of joy tears of surrender that's what i see on you it's about that time tears of surrender that's right yes right here on this altar that's surrender surrender you've been running for too long i pray over them god i thank you that according to ephesians 1 you are filling them with your spirit sealing them as your children for the day of salvation i thank you that according to revelation they blames have been written in the lamb's book of life I thank you that according to Revelation they blames have been written in the Lamb's Book of Life I thank you that according to the letter to the Corinthian church you've made the brand new men a brand new women

you've separated them from their sin as far as the East is from the West and you've made them brand new creatures and now Lord you said when one sinner repents all of every rejoices So we rejoice right now Rejoice