Elevation with Steven Furtick - He’s Still The Shepherd

Episode Date: August 22, 2022

God wants to get you back on track.   In “He’s Still The Shepherd,” Pastor Steven Furtick teaches that, no matter how far you’ve gone off course, God still has His hand over you. If you’ve just made a decision for Christ, please respond HERE: http://ele.vc/tIepfr To support this ministry and help us continue to reach people all around the world click here: http://www.elevationchurch.org/giving/ Scripture References: Galatians 3, verses 3-5 Psalm 23, verses 1-4 1 Chronicles 21, verses 1, 12, & 17See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hello, EFAM. Especially our West Coast family. We have an announcement for you. Elevation Knights, 2022, West Coast. Are you ready for this? October 25th through November 3rd.

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Elevationnights.com. Let's see you there. Let's go to the message. If you're in the chat, put a clapping emoji. How about that? Now, don't sit down after you do this, but turn around and high-five people and say, you're in the best section in the church right now. You're sitting in my section.

Thanks, y'all. Stay standing. Stay standing for the Word. Stay standing for the Word. Stay standing for the Word. Stay standing for the Word. Stay standing. Like you're on your front foot, ready to receive what the Lord is going to speak to you today.

Clap your hands if you're ready for what the Lord is going to speak to you today. Open your heart. Thank you, Jesus. Yeah, that feels better with you playing. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. So I'm going to give you this scripture, and it's jumping in right in the middle of the middle, so it's not a little abrasive, but we'll ease into it. And get to do my favorite thing today.

I'm going to take a New Testament scripture, and then I'm going to, after a little while, put an Old Testament story behind it. it to illustrate what we learn. I love doing that, kind of bringing the principle together with a picture. Then we can really get it. And that's my desire for us that we really get what God wants us to have. So I'm never just trying to fill 50 minutes, y'all. What a sorry goal that would be, but to really impart faith to your heart today. And I believe the Lord is going to do that. Galatians chapter 3, verse 3, the Apostle Paul speaking. Watch how this one starts. Are you so foolish?

It gets better from there. After beginning by means of the spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? What a question. Maybe that's why I'm tired. that's why I'm discouraged. Maybe that's why I'm worn out. Maybe that's why I can't think clearly. Maybe that's why I can't sleep. Because I'm trying to finish by the flesh what began with the spirit. And then verse four, have you experienced so much in vain if it really was in vain? And then here's the fourth question. There's been three. Here's the fourth. So again, I ask, does God get

you his spirit and work miracles? We're singing about miracles. Does God give you his spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law or by your believing what you heard? Are you trying to finish in the flesh what began in the spirit? So the Lord sent me up here to remind you today. This is a reminder for some, a revelation for others. He wanted me to remind you, he's still the shepherd. He's still The shepherd. Put my title in the chat if you're watching online, he's still the shepherd. If you're standing next to somebody on your way to your seat, tell him he's still the shepherd.

And you may be seated. God bless you. He's still the shepherd. If Paul sounds unpastoral in this letter, he's really not. He'd write into a group of churches in modern-day Turkey. They're not just one church. spread out. He started several of them on a missionary journey. And he's like trying to get them back on track. And so he does it in a way. He's having a conversation with this church that every parent has

with their kid every once in a while. And the conversation goes like this. Are you crazy? Ask the person next to you. Are you crazy? Because this was not meant to be a person. conversation, just a rhetorical question. Somebody y'all finish that question with an answer because you know them, because you live with them, where they are in Christ, but they're still crazy. And not the kind of crazy that we often associate with people who are getting off track, not crazy on drugs, crazy having sex, crazy in strip club, none of that.

But crazy because they've had a Jesus experience. But they're trying to put a Jesus experience on top of a Jewish identity. And in the process of doing that, in those two words, I chose them on purpose, experience and identity. The Jewish identity was the cultural one. That was the religious identity. That was the social identity. And it was signified by circumcision, which for most of us, men, is a medical procedure that in case all the kids didn't go to eat kids to morning, I'm just going to let you Wikipedia all of the different benefits of circumcision

later. To them it was a badge. It was like saying, I'm in. And that was the custom. So then comes Paul preaching Christ and Him crucified to let them know that it is in Christ. Everybody say in Christ. Next time somebody asks you where you are, say in Christ. No, don't do that.

They'll think you're weird. I can't stand people who get real spiritual just out of nowhere. But just know it inside of yourself. In Christ. Put it in the chat. In Christ. In Christ. In Christ. So you're in church today, but you're in Christ when you leave church. When you're in the grocery store, you're still in church because you are church and you are in Christ and Christ is in you. And that never goes away. That's your identity, identity, in Christ, identity. Now, you've, you've been. will have experiences every single day of your life that will seem to contradict that identity. Because being in Christ doesn't exempt you from any of the normal challenges of life.

We've got to stop telling people Jesus will make it all right. Because what they assume when they hear that is that my experiences, now that I'm a Christian, will always align with my picture, my preference, and really my own. I don't want to tell you this, but we try to shape God like our own personality. And all of those things have to be subject to Christ for us to be a true disciple. Let's go a little further. You ready? Once you get an identity ingrained and you think that's who I am, it is very difficult

to receive any experience that is different than that identity. I learned that where I grew up shaped me in amazing ways. Small town. So it taught me how to be good with people. Because in a small town, you have a certain accountability socially. What's considered polite and what's considered rude. When I grew up, if you didn't wave at people, even if they were strangers, that was considered rude. in Monk's Corner, where I grew up.

Where Holly grew up in Miami, Florida, it's perfectly acceptable and maybe even safer to not make eye contact. But see, now, marriage is this merger of... We're walking down the street, and she's saying, Who is that that you just waved at? And I say, I don't know. And she said, well, why did you wave?

Because that's what you do. How many from the South? That's what you do. That's what you do. You eat grits. You never put sugar in them. I rebuke you, Satan. And you wave.

And she thought that was so silly. So now we split the difference. I only wave, you know, about everyone out of three times. But, you know, you can take the boy out of Monk's Corner, but you can't take Monk's Corner out of the boy. So I might see this one day in the mall and I just wave at you. It's not because I know you go to this church. I was just trained to wave at everybody. Just waving at everybody.

And then we've kind of come together. So why do I bring that up? Because it is a perfect example of what's happening in Galatians, right? Paul is no longer in Turkey. This is central Turkey we're talking about if you want to get a modern picture. He's no longer here in the flesh with the people, but he's still the shepherd. He still sees himself not as an influencer, not as a modern guru like how we have people who give us advice. But he sees himself as their pastor and their shepherd, even when he's

writing them a letter. And he really never stopped being a shepherd, no matter where his travels took him, no matter how much of the known world that he went to evangelize, no matter how many Gentiles that he preached to, he always loved these churches. You could take Paul out of Galatia, but you couldn't get Galatia out of Paul. Every parent who is called a so-called impalachial empty nester understands what I'm saying. I'm not one yet, but I imagine if they come back after I send them away, I'll have to open the door. And I'm pacing myself for that, right?

This thing is a marathon. I will still think you're doing something dumb when you're 50. You could be worth a billion dollars, and I'll still be like, are you sure that this is the job that has job security for you? Right? Don't you need something to fall back on? Because you can take the kid out the house, but you can never take the love out of the parent. Your kid can disgust you, but you're still going to be devoted to them.

You're cussing them out, but you're cussing them out in love. You ever cussed somebody out in love? And now we're back to Galatians 3. Are you so foolish? Falls in that high voice. Are you crazy? Are you crazy? Holly's scary voice is her quiet voice.

We tremble because she's loud all the time. She's just a natural loud talker. When it's quiet, it's real bad. Are you so stupid as to really go back to circumcision, the outward sign, and think that that's going to get you to the end? The foolishness of trusting in the flesh. The foolishness. And so just answer your question that your neighbor asked you a few minutes ago. Tell them, yes, I'm that crazy.

Tell them, yes, I'm that crazy. I'm that crazy. In my flesh, I'm still crazy. How many still crazy saints are honest enough to raise your hand and say, catch me at the wrong moment, hit the right button, trigger the right reflex? I'm still crazy. Okay, you look crazy. Sit down.

She stood up too quick. It was just too quick. Me too. to. I'm still crazy. And I know that. And I'm glad that I know that. Because God delivered me from so much, but there's some stuff that's still in me that he's dealing with. And now it's all coming together because they're in Christ, but they're still crazy. Paul is not in Galatia physically, but he's still the shepherd. And he is doing something that shepherds. do. He is directing the sheep, and he's directing the sheep, realizing sheep are not dolphins.

Dolphins are smart, especially the bottlenose dolphin. I was reading about the ten smartest animals in the world. The bottlenose dolphin was number two. That dolphin is so smart, can recognize itself in the mirror. Smarter than me? Sometimes I don't even know who I am. And yet, the Lord didn't talk about a dolphin. He said, He said, you are my sheep, and my sheep know my voice. And Jesus said, I'm the good shepherd. And so Paul is realizing, watch this. If I am a shepherd, sometimes I have to direct the sheep where to go, assuming that they don't know where to go.

Are you so foolish? Yes. The moment you answer no to that question, you're in danger. The moment it's like, you're so foolish? No, man, I'm actually, you know, pretty much, pretty much got. some stuff figured out, I'm praying for you. I don't mean not being confident. Yeah, you know things, you know skills.

I'm not talking about being insecure. I'm not talking about downplaying yourself. Those people are the most annoying people in the world. You know, I'm not good at anything really like that, and I can't really do anything like that. Just shut up. What God gave you, he gave you. What you're good at, you're good at.

You know, you're seven foot two, and I'm like, you're tall. Well, not really, you know the Lord, you know. Yes, you're tall. There's nothing worse than false humility. It's awful. It's not really humility. It's just drawing more attention to yourself through an act of humility. But you're just acting.

You're just acting. You just acting. You sing a solo. And you say, oh, that was good. You sang good today. No, no, no. It wasn't me. It was the Lord.

And see, you're wrong about that because it would have been much better if it was the Lord. It was just good. I didn't say it was perfect. I just said it was good. Let's bring it down to nudge. Anyway, it's the power of realizing everybody say, in Christ, still crazy. This side do in Christ, this side do still crazy. This side do in Christ, spirit.

This side do still crazy. Flesh. This side do in Christ? Spirit. This side do still crazy. Yeah. Faith? Faith.

Flesh, both inside of me. Doesn't that explain a lot? That makes a lot of sense? How some of y'all will road rage even before you get off the church property today. And it's all right. And you can keep your elevation church sticker on the car. You don't have to take it off because I'm still crazy. Well, I think we have the right as the children of God.

not in an entitled way, but in an expectant way, that if Jesus lives in us and we are in him, I expect God to direct me. I expect God to direct me. You say, well, he's God. How can you tell him what to do? No, no, that's what he told me he wanted to do for me. So I expect God to direct me. When I'm getting ready to preach, I expect God to lead me to the passage.

He wants me to preach. I don't come to this Bible thinking I've got it figured out, and I don't come to the passage thinking that I know what it means. I expect God to direct me. Everybody say, I expect God to direct me. Now put it in the chat and say that loud if you're here. I expect God to direct me. I expect him to direct me in my relationship. I expect that he's going to bring the right people in my life in this season.

I not only want him to be the bouncer at the entrance, but the exit. I want him to decide and direct in my life who gets in and who goes out. And I expect God to direct me. I believe that every good and perfect gift comes from above. So I expect God to bring opportunities into my life. You say, that sounds cocky. No, no, no, I'm crazy. So I expect God to give me the opportunity because I know that it wasn't by my own power.

It wasn't by my own strength. Nothing in my life makes much sense. When I wrote the lyric, I think it over and it doesn't add up. That's the math. When I think of what God has done, how many have the same testimony. And when I know how crazy I am, how crazy I can be, how many ways I've wandered along the path, How many left turns were a part of God getting me to the right place? You don't understand.

I expect God to direct me in my future because the only reason I'm here right now is because of his faithfulness. So when something comes in my way, I don't stick my chest out. I bow my knee and I say, God, thank you for another gift. Thank you for another opportunity. Thank you for another reason. Thank you for another level. Thank you for another harvest. Thank you for another breakthrough.

Thank you for another open door. Thank you for another open road. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. I expect some of you all came to church needing to hear from God today. Well expected. He's a speaking God. He's a talking God. He's a waymaking God.

He'll show you something you didn't even know to ask him for. Now unto him who is able to do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine. I expect a blessing today. I expect God to be good to me. I expect my needs met. I expect them abundantly supply. Good measure. Press down.

Shake it together. Running over. I expect it. I'm ready for it. I'm stretching my hands to heaven. I expect it. I expect it. Touch three people.

I expect it. I hadn't had you all touching each other lately because COVID. But we need to touch somebody right now so it can be contagious because somebody next to you lost their expectation because of their experience. I don't come to God off an experience. I come to him because I know who he is. He said I'm the bread of life. And so if he's the bread, I expect to be fed. He said I'm resurrection.

So if he is resurrection, I expect him to raise me. I expect it. I expect it. And I'm bracing for it. And I'm believing for it, and I'm trusting for it, and I'm grateful for it. I expect it. He said he was divine, so that means if I'm in him, he's in me, and I will bear much fruit. I expect it.

I expect it. And since I expect the good shepherd to direct me, I have to be willing to accept when he corrects me. Yeah, sit down on that one. Some stuff you stand up about. Oh, no. The Lord just set us up, didn't he? Why'd you do that to us, Lord? It felt so good.

But see, you know, the expectation of direction from God without the acceptance of correction from God is delusional. I can't expect God to direct me and then not accept when he corrects me. Oh, we love Paul. Paul's preaching the gospel of Jesus. Paul is so awesome. Paul's so amazing. Let's go over here and let's continue to trust in the old stuff. Let's continue to be justified by faith. And then maybe we can have both. And then maybe we can have our Jewish identity and our Jesus experience instead of having a Jesus identity and a Jewish experience. We're not conformed to the world. My experience is not the definition

of my potential in Christ. So if I try to make it about something that it's not, like the hymn writer said, the arm of flesh will fail you. This side of the room, flesh, you fail me. And so salvation starts with this, spirit. You can't complete or finish in the flesh what God started in the spirit. And Paul's bringing correction to the Galatians and correction to us. Because we're not running around talking about circumcision, but we're running around counting followers, thinking how popular you are, how many likes something

get. I want to teach a Bible study one day. It won't work on a Sunday because it take about three hours. I would do it over a series of weeks, but you forget everything by the time I get back to next week, so that doesn't work either. And one day I'll just turn on the camera one day and I'll just teach it in my, I'll teach it on, I'll teach it on, I'll record it on my phone. How to be led by the shepherd in a culture of like and subscribe.

How to be led by the shepherd in a culture of like and subscribe. We like to be led. Doesn't it feel good every once in a while for somebody to take charge and it doesn't have to be you? How many of you are over your company or over your division or you're over your small business or you're over your family? You're over something. Don't you just love it sometimes when somebody's like, here's what we're doing? Here's when we're doing it. Don't ask about it.

You're like, that's kind of cool. You'll marry somebody like that. I'm serious. It just feels good sometimes when you're over alive, and somebody will just decide. How many of you like to be led? Like to be led. Now, you have a mental model of what it means to be led, and it's based on technology. Your mental model of God, in a modern context, is the woman on the GPS, who makes suggestions.

If you don't do what she tells you to do, she doesn't stop the car. But God will, because he's a shepherd. A good shepherd. What's a good shepherd? That's what Jesus said in John 10, 11, if you want to look up the reference. He said, I am the good shepherd. All that other stuff, he's that too, but he is a good shepherd. So that must mean that he knows something I don't know and that he's going to get me there,

sometimes against my own human will, or my, sorry, y'all, fleshly desires. It just had to be one side or the other. I just chose, y'all. There is no spiritual significance to that. Everybody on this side of the room looks so hurt, y'all. Maybe we'll switch it up next week or something. I don't know. And I thought about would it be a good GPS system in my car if when I made the wrong turn, it was like, okay, cool.

Would it be a good GPS? And then I thought about, would it be a good physical trainer? If when you came in and you said, I don't feel like it, they were like, great. I don't really feel like training you either. Let's eat. And let's eat sugar. And let's eat crap. Because I really don't feel like counting your reps today either, so we're both on the same page.

Let's go. Would it be a good God if he didn't put conviction alongside comfort? And is what you're going through in your life right now a correction, not from the devil, but from the good shepherd? Do we give the devil credit for the shepherd's directions? Everything bad that happens is the devil. Not necessarily. He's a good shepherd. Now that we've had that New Testament perspective, let's go to the Old Testament.

The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. You know that song? I was at a funeral recently, and of course, that was the Psalm that was shared. for most of us it's our favorite. And even if only by process of the fact, it's kind of the only one we know, that's our song. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He's going to direct me. You remember all the things that says green grass, still waters, restoreeth my soul. His rod and his staff, they comfort me. That's verse four. Put up verse four real quick. His rod, thy rod, talking to God, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. I love comfort and I need comfort. And sometimes I need God to hold me because I won't let anybody else touch me. I'm serious.

Sometimes I'm defensive in ways that God's the only one who can get in. And I love that he can and he can comfort me. And sometimes there's a gap when I'm like, I don't get this and I'm glad God can comfort me. And sometimes I'm nursing my own wounds and I'm licking my own wounds and I'm making it worse as I'm doing it. So I need the balm of Gilead to come and comfort me, and I'm thankful that he comforts me. But in the passage, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. That means I lack no good thing.

That means the shepherd knows the difference between what feels good and what is good. The next part is the part that most of us struggle with. Because the first thing that God does as the shepherd, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Verse two, you won't like this part now that you look at it this way. He maketh me. He makes me. I don't like anybody to make me do anything. You can suggest, but don't make me. You can plan it, but don't make me.

That's why I went back and read all these books about 10 summers ago that I was assigned in school and I enjoyed them. But if you tell me I have to read it, I'm not reading it. I did. I read Great Expectations by Charles Dickens at the pool for fun. In 11th grade, I didn't read it. I got the cliff notes because they were making me read it. I don't like you to make me. I don't like you to make me. And yet the first thing that he says the shepherd does, he makes me lie down. Hold on, God. I want you to be my shepherd. I want to be led where I want to be led. because my mental model of God is GPS.

So I'll tell you the destination. If I get off track, then put me back on, but take me another way because God, the Lord is my Alexa. The Lord is my Siri. The Lord is my... A what? A good shepherd. That means he's not going to see you doing something that he knows. where it leads and not say something to you about it. That means he's not going to let you

sabotage yourself and your future without bringing correction. But see, we don't really like that side of the shepherd. It's like, no, no, no, I expect God to direct me. So here's what I want opportunities. Okay. What if a part of the opportunity God is going to bring you in two years is the character development of a disappointment that he takes you through right now? Is he still your shepherd? When you don't like what he says, is he fire your trainer if they never tell you something to do you don't like. Fire your friends if they'll never tell you the truth when you're making a fool of yourself. You ever look back at pictures of stuff you wore and say, where were my friends?

I had no friends. It's scary. Nobody told me. That was so tight. It wasn't flattering. He'd tell you, it was tight, and I wasn't toned, and nobody said anything about that contrast. He makes me. His correction.

I used to teach leadership a lot more than I do. Now, I don't know why I don't teach it as much anymore, but maybe I should start back because I would teach when somebody corrects you, that's an investment. Now, I don't mean people that don't know you, people that just insult you, people that just are spouting their opinion. Get that out of your mind. The Lord is my shepherd. When you are led by somebody and they love you enough, yes, Jesus loves me, yes, Jesus loves me, yes, Jesus loves me. How do I know this?

I know he loves me not only because the Bible tells me so. I know Jesus loves me because Jesus leads me. And when he leads me, sometimes he uses a staff to bring me back. That staff doesn't feel good around the sheep's neck. Why you always associate God with a good feeling? Sometimes you've got to sit in something you don't like to get to something that you want. Whether that's peace or joy. All my shouts went out the door, Lord.

They were shouting so good ten minutes ago. New song just came to me. Because when he brings you back, that's kindness. It's the kindness of God that brings you. brings me to repentus. Because I expect to be led by somebody who knows what's out ahead, and I don't. Because I'm crazy. I'm crazy. I will get so in what I want to feel right now, that I will reach for something now that I'm going to regret later, unless I have a shepherd. So I might as well tell you, I need Jesus.

No apologies. I need Jesus. Yeah, yeah, me too. I need Jesus to forgive me, so I'm going to heaven when I die. Uh-uh. I need Jesus way before I get to heaven when I die. The Lord is my... Talk to me.

He's my shepherd. Oh, I love green grass, but do you like when he makes you lie down? I want to get the green grass. All right, so I give you for my own life. When I preach about things for my own life, I don't want you to think that's because I think my life is so important. It just makes it more real to me. If I open a sermon illustration book and say, okay, in the year 1,376, a guy said this. I don't even know if he really said that or not.

That's just in the book. This is what I know is real. Okay, and maybe you can relate. Two or three times in the last, I would say, in the last couple of years, I felt like the Lord was saying inside of me. It's never out loud for me. I have never heard God speak to me out loud, ever. And I've asked him to before, because then I would know, especially if he said it like Morgan Freeman on Shawshank Redemption.

I'd be like, oh, that's God right there. That's Morgan Freeman. That's the voice of God. So inside, there is a few times. And I'll tell you what they were, because I think it helps to flesh it out a little bit. When I started doing what Paul said in Galatians, trusting in the flesh, that's my own human strength. Remember, they weren't going off snort and coke. That's not what Paul is correcting.

They weren't going off and worshipping Satan. That's not what Paul was correcting. He was saying, God started something in your life. And then you're like, oh, thanks, God. I'm good. I've got it from here. That's what we do with the Lord. I call it divinity on demand.

We're like, God, I want you for season one, but I'll take season two, season three, season four. I got it from here. And you don't got it from here. And you don't know you don't got it from here until the plot twist happens that you didn't see because you didn't write the script. But God did, and he's the shepherd. And that's why you have to trust him. Not only to save you, watch this, but sustain you. There is a saving faith.

I throw myself on the mercy of God. I throw myself on the grace of the cross of Christ, and that saves me, and it's done. But that same grace, don't think that you get that grace and then just grind it out the rest of your life. Don't think you just pray to God parents and say, God, give us a healthy baby. Okay, we got it from here. We'll raise them from here. No, you won't. You're crazy.

You're crazy. If you really think you can do this whole human experience without Jesus, You're crazy. Are you crazy? Are you crazy? You stopped tithing because the economy was bad? Are you crazy? No, I got it from here. God, you blessed me with this, but God, I'm going to keep it now. Are you crazy? So God gave it to you, and now you want to grind it out. Are you crazy? So here's where the Lord showed me. I was making a sermon, and I was figuring out what to call it. and I know that the Lord gave me a title. I can feel it when the Lord tells me what to call it.

So if he tells me to call it, he's still the shepherd, I call it that. And you're like, okay, because I know I could do sexier than that. I know I could do better clickable than that. You know, how to navigate seasons of regret to lead to breakthroughs, more sex, more money, and fat loss. That would be clickable. And that's fine. There's a time for all of that. There is a time to be strategic.

There really is. There is a time to dial it in. There's a time technically to figure all of that out. But all that comes after, after. But when I'm preparing to preach to you, see, I can't do that in my flesh. I need the spirit. And God gave me something, and I said, I can't call it that. It won't get clicked.

And this is not a conversation. I'm trying to make it a conversation, because I can't say it. to you how God speaks on the level of spirit, not the level of flesh. So we're trying to tell you how it went. It felt inside of me like God said, is this what we've come to? Clicking. Is this what we've come to? So you won't preach what I tell you is going to help people and set them free that you really know in your spirit. You're talking about clicks. You're talking about practice. And I really felt like God didn't like it. In fact, I almost felt like God said, I hate this. I can't bless this.

I can't work with this. If we're going after clicks, you ought to go make porn. That'll get way more clicks. You're going to try to figure out in the flesh what can only be done through the spirit. So, well, I don't do that. I don't put sermons on YouTube. I think you missed the point. I think we all do it all the time.

We try to figure out what people would like. Are you crazy? Because they're crazy. Now you're trying to base your life around crazy people and what crazy people will like will lead to a level of crazy that is crazier than your original crazy than made you try to impress crazy people. And then you forget who you are. You forget who you are.

You forget, man, I'm not up here to be a performer. I'm a preacher, baby. And the Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He has anointed me to preach good news to the captives and recovery of sight for the blind, and the breaking of chains and the liberation of those who are oppressed, and the acceptable year of the Lord's favor. Now, do you want favor or flesh? You want to do it? God's way.

I preached this last week. God's ways seem weird, but they work. It works to trust God. It works to give it to him. It works to step out in faith. It works to stay in faith. It works to speak faith. It works to hear faith. Faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word, and then you get stuck

in the space of trying to figure out in the flesh what God started by the Spirit. Here's another time the Lord said, I don't like this. Somebody asked me, will you go do this certain opportunity to share the gospel? And I start thinking of all the reasons that I would not be good at doing it. And the Lord said, I don't like this at all. Because you you act like you were so good to get here to start with. I don't like this at all. You're getting this thing backwards now. Because what started by faith, you're trying to finish in flesh.

I got it, God. Thank you for the house. I got it from here, God. You don't got it from here. Because that house is not a home unless God's spirit is in it. So you need God to fill what he helped you build. Did you hear me? I'm scared it. I'm scared it got missed. You need God to help you fill or to fill what he helped you build or what he gave you the strength to build or what he built for himself.

That was David's thing. He said, he said, the Lord is my shepherd. David wrote that because of his experience. He was a shepherd himself. He was a shepherd. a shepherd who showed up to the battle lines just in time. How many of you have a testimony? God put me at the right place at the right time for certain things in my life. It was not coincidence. I was thinking about Joel. He was up here singing Million Little Miracles, and they don't even know.

They don't even know that when you recorded that song in this empty room during the craziest time in the world, and we're all COVID testing to record. And you weren't even supposed to be here for the recording. But I said, stay around just in case. There's a song, Million Little Miracles that we wrote. And I think you sing it. And you said, I love that song. I heard the demo.

I said, stay around just in case. And he sang that song and the glory of God. And you can download it now on YouTube, but don't turn off the sermon. Do it after the sermon. And it's just amazing how David had this perspective. Watch what he said to Goliath. Holy Spirit, lead me now. I need to get this in.

This is the most important part of the story. the message because now I'm giving you the picture. That's the principle. You can't finish in the flesh, your own power, your own strength, your own delusional desires that will lead you astray. The heart is deceitfully wicked. Can't trust that. I need the spirit of God. I got to stay in touch with him. I can't finish in the flesh what started in the spirit. But here's the picture. When David saw Goliath, the commentaries vary. He was at least, what did I say earlier? He was at least seven foot two. He could have been as tall as 9 foot 9. The measurements aren't exactly the same.

So let's just all agree that's tall. Can we get consensus on that? Okay, okay, okay. Too big to beat. And David's like, perfect. He's too big to beat. That means God will have to do it. That means God will get the glory, and I'll grow in my faith.

So give me my shepherd tool. Wait, David. We're not talking about sheep here. We're talking about a Philistine warrior with a sword. David's like, uh-uh, uh-uh, uh-uh. I know these weapons. God has used these weapons. I've been keeping my father's sheep. And so he takes the instruments of shepherding, applies them to the strategy of warfare. And it worked for his advantage because Goliath never even got close enough to use his weapon. and David knocked him out.

You know that story, don't you? I can tell you. You look kind of bored. Like, really, David and Goliath? Okay. I got to give you that because that's how David started. He was so full of faith, he said, I'm going to come at you without a sword so that everybody will know it was the Lord.

And some of you all had that kind of faith or have that kind of faith have experienced those types of moments. I'm doing this because God told me. I'm doing this because God told me. I'm doing this because I believe God is with me. I'm 55 percent sure God told me to do this. And that's as good as this going to get. So here we go, Jesus.

That's old Peter getting out there in that boat. He's like, I think so. Oh, no, falling down. Jesus has picked him up. Moving in the right direction. That's David. David becomes a king. He deals with a crazy king.

Crazy king, crazy king Saul tries to kill him, can't kill him because he can't kill what God's crown. at it, but if it ducks, God can't kill it because David was full of the Spirit of God, and he was anointed by purpose, and he was the eighth brother, and he was left out, but God anointed him anyway through Samuel, because when God has something for you, it doesn't matter what people say about you. So stop trying to impress people, get voted in by people. People have no final say.

Only God has final say because he's the shepherd, he's king, whatever he says is going to happen. He's now the king, and he does the craziest thing that we ever see David do. And everybody listening to this right now who grew up in church thinks I'm going to talk about Bathsheba, but I'm not. That is David's most famous sin. He slept with a woman that wasn't his wife and had her husband killed on the front lines of battle because he saw what he was, and the king in the time when the kings go off to war, David was walking around his roof and he saw a beautiful woman bathing and he said,

bring her to me and he slept with her and then he had her husband killed to try covered up, but you can't cover it up because Nathan came and confronted him. That wasn't the dumbest thing David ever did. For the Bible records that all that cost one man his life and David his own baby, there's something else David did that I have done that cost much more. I want to show you that. In 1 Chronicles 21, we're a long way from where we were last week when David was bringing the ark, which represented the presence of God, back to Jerusalem, the city of peace. Stay with me. He's now in a position of power, and God has given him victory

from his enemies. What he does next is so dumb that it seems smart. It's so dumb that it seems smart. The Bible says in 1 Chronicles 21, verse 1, that Satan, this is where it started, rose up against Israel. And watch this, not what you expect Satan to do, attack them through the Philistines. No? He incited David to take a census of Israel. What's so bad about a census? That's not one of the seven deadly sins. What's so bad about taking a census? What's so bad about David saying, hey, I want to know how many people we have so I can

be ready for whatever, and he tells Joab, go through and count all my subjects. I'm just going to tell you the story how it goes down, and then you can figure out what's so bad about it. He says, hey, Joab, who is his military advisor and wages the wars for him on the ground. He's like, I want to know how many men I have that are good with a sword. So go count all the fighting men. And so Joab says, I don't think you want to do that, David. Are you crazy?

Respectfully, king, sir, David. Are you crazy? If you need more, God will give you a hundred times more. May God multiply your troops times a hundred king. But don't do this. Because God had commanded there's only two times where a king is supposed to take a census. One is if you're taxing people and one is if you're putting together army for a battle, and neither applied. So it lets me know that now David has moved from power

of the humility, of trusting in the presence of God, to the pride of saying, how many do I have? Find out, because I might have to fight. And if I have to fight, I want to know how many fighting men that there are. But see, now he's measuring flesh. And David didn't get to be king by measuring flesh. In fact, he was the one that his brothers didn't even think should be in the room. So how did the king, who got to the crown, by trusting God's spirit and taking a sling in his hand against a big, tall giant, how did he come to this point where he's being led by his senses? Senses, senses, senses. If he He used his senses when he was up against Goliath, he would have run. If you would have gotten to this point by your senses, you would not be in church.

You wouldn't. It was God that snatched you. It was God that led you. It was God. Come on now. It was God that helped you. This is the moment where you affirm the word and confirm the word with your own praise. It was God.

He breathed on it. It was God. He stepped in it. It was God. He cleared the path. It was God. He made them lie down in green pastors. So you came this far and now you're counting?

You came this far by faith and now you're trying to figure it out. And listen, hear the word of the Lord. You've got to stop trying to figure this stuff out in your flesh and then praying for God to give you direction. You got to stop sizing up. You know, I heard a country preacher. What's his name? Ty? We talk about them all the time. Pastor Charles, what's his name? Pastor Charles, the guy we talk about all the time. Charles Randolph, Pastor Charles Randolph.

He said, the rest of the nation looked at Goliath and said, he's too big to kill. David looked at Goliath and said he's too big to miss. Amen. So how'd you go? No, question, question, question for you. How'd you go from God's grace being the fuel and the strength and the hope and the joy of your life. And now you're like, no, God, I got it from here. I got it. Thank you, Lord, for put me on this path. I can do it now. You can't. And you don't have to because he's a good shepherd. And he leads you, but not by your senses. So then when you're sitting there all night long, this is what worry is about. We're taking a census. We're listing problems. And then in our lowest moment, Satan incites you. And he says, start thinking about what you have.

Start thinking about how strong you are Because if I can get you to see how strong you are I can get you to believe how weak you are Because if I can put you in the flesh I can kill what started in the spirit And then I can get you to leave your kids And then I can get you to quit your ministry And then I can get you to leave your church

And then I can get you to stop praising and stop rejoicing Because if I can get you in the flesh I can make you fail Joab said don't do it And David did And the numbers were impressive, man. The numbers were impressive. Men love to measure, by the way. Joavs came back and said, you got $1.1.000 and then $470,000 in Judah that are part of the $1.1 million.

There you go. But he didn't even count two of the tribes because he hated it so much what David told him to do. He knew it was a bad idea, and he wasn't even the godliest guy in the world. He was like, this is crazy. Are you crazy? Even the world looks at us in the church sometimes and says, You say you trust God. Anyway, oh, the third time the Lord told me I don't like that. The third time, I was telling Holly that sermon didn't go good. And she said, how do you know?

I said, the people didn't respond. The Lord said, I hate that. You preach from revelation, not for response. I hate when you use your senses. God hates when you use your senses to try to figure out what he wants to reveal by faith. He hates it. He hated it so much that he allowed a plague to bring David back. 70,000 people died after Joab came back with the count. And we love to measure. We love to measure. We're especially men. I don't mean to be sexist, but the reason I think men love to measure the most, I was in a prison preaching a few years ago doing a Bible study with some seminary students into prison. They were doing a seminary program into prison. I said, I'll teach a little than we can do Q&A. And a guy raised his hand. The first guy, He said, I've been wanting to know this.

I read your books, and I've been waiting for you to get here so I can ask you this. We're talking about it before. How much do you bench? Not the return of Christ, none of that. You know, not the book of Daniel. Just not much bench. And I said, well, we'll go out on the yard and find out after, you know, just messing around. But I was like, isn't that hilarious?

Like, of all the things, we're still 15. We are still 15 years old. The problem with that measurement isn't that God doesn't want you to be strategic. But sometimes you have to repent of being rational where God has given you revelation. Repent of trying to be rational about what only the spirit can reveal. The census. The sin of the census. Nobody in here today was going, God, forgive me of the sin of counting.

forgive me of the sin of trying to figure out apart from you what you said you would help me do. And after that plague swept through, the Lord said, I'm going to give you three choices, David. This is how I'm going to punish you. He spoke through the prophet. The kings would have a pastor, a prophet to the king. His name was Gad, not God, but Gad. Gad came to correct David. Be very open that God will use people to correct you.

Not everybody, but God speaks to me the most through my wife. The most. The most. And I have to be open to that. So the prophet says three choices. You can have three years of famine. You can have three months of your enemies invading you and you can't stop them. You can be on the run.

Or you can have three days of a plague. And David said, I'll take the third option because the plague comes from God's hand and he's merciful. I would rather be in the hands of my shepherd than be open to the attack of my enemy. And David got serious about it when he saw the sword over Jerusalem, the sword over Jerusalem, the sword over the city of peace. David got serious about it. And if you don't respond when God speaks to your conscience, you will have to respond when he speaks through the consequence. And David said, verse 17 is to me, is to me the key for all of us who are guilty of trying to finish. in the flesh, what God started in the Spirit. David gets down in sack clothed in ashes and

watch this in verse 17. You got it on the screen for me, guys? He said to God, was it not I who ordered the fighting men to be counted? Was it not I who ordered the fighting men to be counted? Now watch the next part. I, the shepherd, have sinned and done wrong. That spoke to me, church, that spoke to me that David is a king with 1.5 million swords under his command. But he's still the shepherd. He's still in this moment. Watch this. He remembers who he really is.

It was I, the shepherd. It was I, God, the one that you raised up. He has a flashback to the pastor. And he remembers it's not my might, it's not my strength, it's not my goodness, it's not my righteousness, it's not my wisdom, it's not my intelligence, it's not my finance, it's not my resource. I'm still the shepherd, Lord. I'm still that boy that you raised up. I'm still Jesse's son who was left out, but you brought me in.

I'm still the one you called. I, the shepherd. It's me, God, the shepherd, not the king. me, God. I'm not a parent right now. I'm a child. You're my father. I'm the shepherd, God. I remember what you did for me. Some of you need to go back to your shepherd instruments. Some of you need to go back to your shepherd's faith. God raised you up. God set you high. God gave you blessing. God gave you influence. God gave you opportunity. God gave you time. God gave you leisure. God gave you space. God gave you breathing room.

Still the shepherd. Get back to that radical root faith, man. That good kind of crazy that you have that says, Hey, Goliath, I don't need a sword. I come against you in the name of God. Now, go down before I make you go down. Lay down before I spin and head kick on you. He's still the shepherd. He's still the shepherd. God said you still are. You still are. When you sin, you're still a Christian. That's your identity. Sin is the experience. Child of God is the identity. You still are. I need whoever I studied this to help to receive it by faith and say, I still am. I still am. I still am. I still am devil. I still am. Back up off me with that shame devil. I still am. I still am. I still am. I still am. I was his child. I am. I still am. I still am. I was this child. I am. I am as child. I was beloved. I am beloved. I was mighty and God. I am mighty and God. When I remember, remember, remember, remember, remember, remember, remember, remember. I,

the shepherd. And the plague stopped when he made a sacrifice and remembered. But then I see something else in the text. One more time and I close with this. Everyone's standing, every location, everyone's standing. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you. Jesus. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord for this word. He said, I, the shepherd. I believe he had a flashback to that pasture, but I believe he also had a flashback to Psalm 23, where he remembered not only that he's still the shepherd, but that he's still a sheep. And the Lord is my shepherd. So you got off track.

He's still the shepherd. So you did some dumb stuff. He's still the shepherd. So you're crazy. He's still the shepherd. So you smell bad. He's still the shepherd. So you have no sense of direction.

He's still the shepherd. So you don't know what to do now. He's still the shepherd. Is true in the valley? He's the shepherd. It's true in the palace. He's the shepherd. And one reason I knew that God wanted me to preach this word, he's still the shepherd.

It's because there's nobody in this room that doesn't need to hear it. If you're in a valley right now and feel like nobody, he's still the shepherd, and he will leave the 99 to find the one. He's still the shepherd. If you got 1.5 million fighting men like David and God has made your dreams come true, don't get cocky, he's still the shepherd. He's speaking to you and he's calling to you. He's trying to get you out of your flesh into the spirit so he can sustain you. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me lie down in the place that he made me for. Oh, that staff doesn't feel comfortable, but I'm glad that he'll bring me back.

Aren't you glad that God will bring you back? No, y'all, we praise God for the wrong stuff. We've got to learn to praise him when it's like, oh, he's bringing me back to the heart of worship. He's bringing me back to my shepherd's staff. He's bringing me back to my first love, to my childlike faith, to my dependence on him. No more substitutions. He is my shepherd. No more being led by my flesh.

Devil, you're a liar. He's my shepherd. No more condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not. Why? Close your eyes, lift your hands. The shepherd is here.

He brought you here, and he's going to lead you out every step in between. He's still the shepherd. Say it, he's still the shepherd. He's still the shepherd. Even after all the mistakes I've made, he's still the shepherd. He will reroute you. He will redirect you. He will reinvent you.

He will revive you. And ask Lazarus, he'll resurrect you. Because even if you've been dead four days, he's still the shepherd. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Come on, there's no praise in this place. You've got to give God a praise to him. Not clapping, praise him with your mouth.

Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Do it online. Do it in Lake Norman. Come on. Jesus, the Lord is my shepherd. And I don't live by senses. I live by the Spirit.

I've been in each service the last few weeks with some of those old hymns. Some of those old hymns speak about faith and faithfulness. To bring some continuity to your spirit in a changing time. To know that he's the same God that delivered you from the lion and the bear. to get you out of your senses and into the Lord is my shepherd. We don't live by senses. With your eyes closed now, eyes close so you're not looking around with your senses. One of my favorite hymns is called Blessed Assurance.

Jesus is mine. It was written by Fannie Crosby. When she was six weeks old, she was born in 1820. When she was six weeks old, she developed a condition in her eye and the doctor was trying to fix it, but he made it worse since she went blind. Annie Crosby went on by the age of 10 to memorize the first four books of the Bible and all four Gospels. She was so gifted that she went on to write 8,000 songs.

She was quoted as saying, If I could go back and find the man who operated on my eyes and made me blind, I would say thank you, thank you. For had I not been blind, if I had had my sight. I may not have had. I think we need to thank God for all of the things in our life right now, that according to our senses, according to our sight, according to our minds make no sense. But in the spirit, come on now, come on. I think that key is too high for me to sing, L.J.

Maybe you should go to something lower. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine. What a forte. taste of glory divine. This is who I am. Air of salvation. This is whose I am. Purchase of God. Listen. Born of his spirit, washed in his blood. How about this first? Perfect submission. Was it lead to? Perfect delight. Visions of rapture now burst out of sight that a blind woman wrote about visions of rapture lets me know it is by faith.

Come on, it is by faith. It is by faith. I don't care if you can see it right now. It's real. It is by faith. This is my story. This is my song. Praiseing my safe.

All the day long This is my story This is my song Raising my Savior All the day long Lift your hands, worship him by faith now Well if you enjoyed today's podcast There are a couple things I'd love for you to do

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