Elevation with Steven Furtick - The War of Whispers

Episode Date: November 9, 2025

Ever feel like there are too many voices telling you what to do and who to be? The enemy whispers fear, doubt, and distraction, but God’s whisper brings peace, purpose, and direction. When you stop agreeing with the enemy’s lies and start trusting the whisper of the One who sent you, you’ll find confidence in where — and who — you are. If you’ve just made a decision for Christ, please respond HERE: ele.vc/tIepfr  Scripture References:John 7, verses 1-16Isaiah 54, verse 17John 6, verse 66See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation Church, and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your fate. Hope it gives you perspective to see God is moving in your life.

Enjoy the message. I do want to say welcome to our worldwide church family. Let's welcome our EFAM one time. Come on Elevation Valentine. Let's thank God for all of those who are joining us online. Also, since his Veterans Day weekend, I want to thank all of you who have served our country in any branch of the service. Thank you so much.

We can do better than that. I know you're holding your Bible, but kind of get those hands free. I thank the Lord for each and every one of you. I'm excited about what he will speak today. John chapter 7, verse 1 through 16. The Bible says, after this, Jesus went around in Galilee. He did not want to go about in Judea because the Jewish leaders there were looking for a way to kill him.

But when the Jewish festival of Tabernacles was near, Jesus' brothers said to him, leave Galilee and go to Judea so that your disciples there may see the works you do. No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world. For even his own brothers did not believe in him." Verse 6, therefore Jesus told them, my time is not yet here, for you any time will do. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil.

You go to the festival. I am not going up to this festival, because my time has been. not yet fully come. It's a good thing to know that you're right where God wants you to be. And it's a good thing when you know that not to move, no matter what anybody says to you about it. He said, my time has not yet fully come. After he said this, he stayed in Galilee. However, after his brothers had left for the festival, he went also, not publicly, but in secret. Now, At the festival, the Jewish leaders were watching for Jesus and asking, where is he? Among the crowds, there was widespread whispering about him.

Some said, he's a good man. Others replied, no, he deceives the people, but no one would say anything publicly about him for fear of the leaders. Not until halfway through the festival did Jesus go up to the temple courts and begin to begin to teach. The Jews there were amazed and asked, how did this man get such learning without having been taught? Well, that's an ironic question. The one who is wisdom is being questioned as to where he got it. But verse 16 is where we're going to begin our sermonic journey today. Jesus answered, my teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me.

I want to give you one more scripture from Isaiah chapter 54, verse 17 in the new King James. No weapon formed against you shall prosper. And every tongue which rises against you in judgment, you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord. And their righteousness is from me, says the Lord. I want to talk to you today about the war of whispers. the war of whispers. Father, I thank you for what you spoke.

Help me to give it to them like you gave it to me. Not watered down, not weakened, but just like you gave it to me. And I know that it will bless them because you blessed me with it. If there is someone today who needs this word online, block out all distractions. I pray that their kid would just fall down and take a nap right now so they can focus on this word in the name of Jesus. If there's somebody who's focused on something else that's going to happen tomorrow, we block it out right now. The Lord is in this place. We ask you to speak a word.

We are listening in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. The War of Whispers. I want to talk to you from four dynamics from this Bible story that represent four different pressures that Jesus was under in his life. We will definitely get to the first three and the fourth is a maybe. depending on time. I'm going to give them all to you right now so you can fill in the blanks as we go along. In this passage, there are four pressures that Jesus is under. Jesus, the son of God, was under

tremendous pressure as he fulfilled his purpose in the earth. And I think he serves for us as a model of what to do for the pressure that we feel in our life. And so I'm going to give you all four things, all four pressures as we begin our sermon. They all start with the letter A. They will be easy to remember. Number one, amazement. Amazement. Number two, abandonment. Abandonment. Number three, arrival, arrival. And number four, if we get there, agreement. These four, these four pressures and more. I mean, Jesus, the Son of God, who took on the weakness of sinful flesh, not because he was sin, but he became sin so that we might become the righteousness of God, who had then only three years to fulfill the mission of his ministry, which would lead him

ultimately to the cross where he would die and pay for the penalty of our sin, experienced tremendous pressure. Not only on the cross where the pressure, where the pressure was so great that it actually caused his lungs to collapse from physical exertion. But even before that in the Garden of Gatsimony, as he prayed such a heavy prayer that his sweat became like drops of blood. That's pressure. And I know you're going through a lot too, but your capillaries haven't burst like blood yet, have they?

And so it helps us in times of our humanity when our weakness is great to know that we have, a high priest named Jesus, who is not unable to be touched with the feelings of our infirmity, but one who is tempted in all points, just like we are, yet without sin. Now, that's the difference between me and Jesus. He was under pressure, and I'm under pressure, but he always stays focused on purpose, and I don't. I get distracted when I'm under pressure. I start reacting rather than responding when I'm under pressure. I start eating things that I said.

I wouldn't eat under pressure. Speaking things that I said, I wouldn't speak under pressure. Texting people that, anyway, in my pressure state, I am often vulnerable. And so this moment in the life of Jesus is very interesting, isn't it? The Bible says he went to Jerusalem for one of the feasts, the Feast of Tabernacles. when he got there, they were amazed at the way he taught. They were amazed. I don't know if you noticed that in verse number 18. It says, the Jews there, excuse me, verse number 15, they were amazed and they asked, how did this man get such learning without being taught? They didn't teach

him, so they couldn't understand how he could have learned so much outside of their system. I told you this a few weeks ago, but my son Graham, who wrestled for three years in high school, was say, Dad, when I look back on when I used to start wrestling, I'm amazed how much you taught me with how little you knew, which is a compliment, kind of. He means it's not like you were some kind of great wrestler, but somehow you were always coaching me. And when you were coaching me in the early days, I thought you knew so much more than you did. But you were basically just yelling the same three things over and over again, weren't you? And I thought to myself, yes, and that is my parenting strategy as well, just to keep saying,

the same three things over and over again. There's something about this moment in your life that if you're honest about it, even though there are some pressures that you're under and some problems that you're facing, it's amazing that you're doing as well as you are considering where you've come from. How many of you would say, Pastor Stephen, you would be shocked how loud I sang today if you knew how hard my week has been. Well, look at you just feeling sorry for yourself. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. I bated you for that. The fact of the matter is, in Jesus' case, he came from heaven. And so he had the knowledge

that came from being at the right hand of God eternally. He was the word of God. He didn't just speak the word of God. And so the knowledge that he had reflected the place that he came from. Yet the Jewish leaders were very amazed, keep that word in your mind, that he could know so much when he had been exposed to so little of their system. It's ironic, I know, because in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and all things were made by Him and through Him and for Him. We're talking about Jesus. And when they see Him, they are amazed at Him, and they are amazed about the things that they are hearing that he is doing.

Jesus at this point in his ministry has been doing amazing ministry in the region of Galilee. He has been turning water into wine at weddings when his mom told him to do it. Yeah, that's John Chapter 2. When they ran out of wine, he would just somehow make it flow. That's amazing. Anytime you have somebody who can create overflow where there was one scarcity, it's amazing. Everybody say it's amazing. One time a centurion needed a healing for his little boy, and Jesus was busy so he didn't go to his house.

he just sent his word and healed him. He didn't even go to his house. He just sent his word and heal him. Maybe the word of God is going to beat you home today too and deal with some things that you've been going through because of the word that you heard while you were here. You always make a wise decision when you come to church because God can speak something in one whisper

that can do more than all of your human wisdom. You could spend the next five years trying to figure out something God could fix in five minutes if you could hear from him. That's why I value the Word of God. That's why when I come to church, I'm not checking to see who just buzzed me in my back pocket. They can buzz me all they want to buzz me. But while I'm in here, the Bible is buzzing me. God is speaking to me.

I've got a text message alert from heaven. There may be something God wants to say to me about why I'm stressed out. God might want to speak to me about the root of my bitterness so I can let this thing go. and move on in my life. God might actually want to give me a strategy to break through to my wife because maybe we've been going through a difficult time, and maybe he's going to show me something that I haven't been thinking about how I can reach out and bring the love back. God might give me a date-night idea while Pastor Stevens preaching. God might show me the song to play that's going to make the silent treatment stop when I get home. I'm trying to say that God can speak something

in a whisper that is greater than all of the human wisdom combined. So stop trying to figure everything out on your own because Jesus can do something so amazing and he doesn't even have to raise his voice. He can do it in a whisper. It's interesting because I almost had to have somebody else preach this message this weekend. Around Friday I woke up and I had no voice. I could only speak with and the Lord said, well, if a whisper, and I took some medicine and my voice feels all right right now. And I might not be able to speak like I normally speak today. I feel like I'm doing pretty good so far, but I am trying to use wisdom for this.

But sometimes the Holy Spirit and the adrenaline kicks in and I forget all my wisdom and I just start screaming. But I told the Lord, well, maybe I shouldn't preach. And the Lord said, no, maybe you should teach them the whisper. Because some of them are making decisions in their life right now and it's so noisy with what everybody else thinks they should do. I want to give him a whisper. You know, the Lord can give you a whisper and save you seven years of a bad relationship?

The Lord can give you a whisper and show you a new way to see the situation that turns the regret into a lesson. I've had it happen before. I was feeling so bad about something, so down about something. And the Lord just whispered a different way to see it. And that little whisper that he gave me completely reframed the situation. And you know what's crazy? The situation didn't change.

way I saw it did. And the whisper God gave me, reframed the situation. And I went from worry to worship. Jesus is going to the festival. He's going to the festival. And he's going to amaze the people with his teaching. But his brothers are pressuring him to do something at this time that is not appropriate to his assignment. I want to say to you today that not everything that God has given you to do needs to be run by a committee. Not everything that God has given you to do will align with what everybody else is doing. Not everything that God has called you to be will align with what you see reflected in the environment around you. They were amazed by his teaching because he didn't come from their synagogue. They were amazed by his teaching

because he did not teach like they taught. He taught with authority. When he spoke, storms listened. Jesus' voice was so powerful. He could sleep through a storm. And when he woke up, he could tell the storm, shh. He didn't even have to say a word, just shh. And the storm would say, uh-oh, Jesus is talking. The word just spoke. Peter could holler every cuss word he wanted to holler. The storm didn't stop because Peter cussed. The storm stopped because Jesus said, If I could give this sermon a subtitle, it would be called. So just turn to your neighbor. Don't breathe on them too much and say, when Jesus says,

the storm shuts down. When Jesus says, the wind and the waves die down. When Jesus says, everybody else sits down and listen because he teaches with authority. And it's amazing. Somebody say it's amazing. It's amazing. I look at some of your lives, and I think about the fact that you were in rehab this time last year, and you're still doing good, and you're here today, and I think that's amazing.

I mean, you didn't even see a path for this life. You didn't have this model for you. I know people sometimes come to church, and they're so beat down by what they need to change. But can we take five seconds and at least be thankful that it makes no sense that we're even doing as good? as we're doing when you consider where we came from. Remember when they said that Jesus was from Nazareth and they were surprised because they said, can anything good come from Nazareth? They were surprised that something so powerful came from somewhere so small. They were surprised that something so wise came from somewhere so remote. They were surprised that something so wonderful

and so amazing. And I think we need to stay surprised and stay amazed because if you actually look at your life, it makes no sense that you should be married today. If you actually look at your life, it makes no sense you should be in a mental institution today. All the weapons that were formed against you, it is a wonder that you're paying your bills. It's a wonder you're living indoors. It's a wonder you're standing upright. It's a wonder you're sane. It's a wonder you're here. It's a wonder you're praising. Some of you had a health issue and you didn't even know if you'd be alive to see the end of 2025, but it's amazing. High five, three people say it's amazing. It's amazing. It might not mean much to you, but it's amazing to me. It might be little to you, but it's a big

thing to me. I'm praising God for my smile. I'm praising God with the teeth that are still in my mouth. I'm praising God that I had food to digest. I'm praising God. It's amazing. Now, the fact that it's amazing doesn't mean that everything is going great. Jesus is going to a festival, but he's in the middle of a fight. It's a festival and a fight in the same passage. I told him I was going to whisper. Look what a hypocrite I am. And not only is he going to a festival where his brothers are trying to pressure him, but

he is in a vulnerable moment himself. A pop quiz. What comes before John chapter 7 in the Bible? Bible? Yeah, John Chapter 6. So see how amazing that is? Look at that Bible knowledge you stored up. And you think John Chapter 6 is a happy chapter, and do not even make a 6-7 joke right now. I don't even want to hear one. You will not slow down the momentum of my message with that silliness. But he fed the 5,000 with a little bit of food in John Chapter 6. Remember, Jesus has been doing miracles, and that's why they're persecuting him.

Jesus has been working, and that's why they are forming the weapon against him. Write this down. No work, no weapon. If Jesus doesn't do anything, they don't do anything. If Jesus doesn't threaten the establishment, there will be no reaction from the establishment. If Jesus is not moving, there will be no resistance to his movement. The devil does not attack you when you're doing nothing for God. The devil attacks you when you're advancing. So Jesus is doing amazing things.

Not only turning water into wine, not only healing a royal official son, he actually healed Peter's mother-in-law. Many scholars believe that's why Peter denied him. doing amazing things. But the big one that's in all four of the Gospels that everybody likes talk about, he turned a little boy's lunch into enough to feed a multitude. And he did that. That's amazing. How could he do so much with so little? It's amazing. How could he know so much when he was exposed to so little religious tradition? It's amazing. That's how God gets glory out of your life. When he does so much with so little, when he takes a little bit of oil and fills every jar you bring him. When he takes a little stone and knocks down a big

giant, when he takes a little staff and splits a big sea, when God takes the little bit that you do know, the little bit of clarity that you do have, the little bit of strength that you do have, the little bit of time that you do have, the little bit of wisdom that you do have, the little bit of experience that you do have. When he takes a faith, the size of a mustard seed and moves a mountain with it, and people say, that's amazing. And when he takes a little boy's lunch and breaks it and blesses it and gives it to the people, and they all go home with leftovers. And the disciples are like, wow, that's amazing. You know, the Bible says in John chapter 6 that the crowds followed him the next day, expecting

him to do it again. And he didn't. Because the pressure of being amazing is that you have to sustain it. And we all know what it feels like, to feel like that what we do is taken for granted. I don't want to call her out, but I think about Holly all the time. I think about how amazing it is just stuff that she does naturally for our family. It's absolutely incredible. I'm trying to convince her to not cook for us for a month, just to make us appreciate how amazing

her food is. I'm like, just put us on a fast. Just put us on a 30-day fast. We are not grateful enough. You know how I know that? we invite other people over to our house and they're like, ah, this is amazing. This is incredible. And we're all sitting there like, yeah, yeah, I guess it is. It is amazing. I don't anybody to out compliment my wife. It's amazing. I'll tell you it's amazing. And sometimes

it takes someone else to come in and taste it to realize how amazing it is, especially when the kids bring over somebody and their mom doesn't cook. My mom hasn't cooked for us in six months. I'm like, maybe you should try that. I think of that the other day, I was like, maybe I should just be a bad dad for like a year. You know what I mean? Just like lower the bar for a little while. And then they'd be like, Dad, that was amazing how you actually texted me back.

I think about sometimes I should come preach and not study for like a month. Just get up here and go, what y'all want to talk about today? You don't talk about the Panthers? You don't talk about the teddy bears at Starbucks? What you don't talk about today? Y'all got anything? Maybe we can make that a sermon. I'm sure we could preach that.

Somebody give me a Bible verse. Revelation? Ah, let's try something else. But see, it shouldn't have to go away to get me not to take it for granted. I should be mature enough to be able to say, thank you, Lord, for this meal. Thank you, Lord, for this breath. Thank you, Lord, for this day. But the crowds were never like that, see.

Jesus could have, by the way, provided bread for them every day. He is the bread of life. So he didn't refuse to repeat the miracle because he was incapable of performing. He refused to repeat the miracle because he didn't want them to get addicted to that particular miracle. And so when they came and said, do the bread thing again, that was awesome. This time, could you make it even softer? This time, could you bring butter with it too? This time, I appreciate the pescatarian miracle,

but this time, could we get a rib-eye, Jesus? Could you find somebody with a hamburger and touch that? And Jesus said, no, I'm not doing it. Eat my flesh and drink my blood, or you have no part in me. You came because you had the miracles and you got your fill, but the work of God is to believe. And look at one of the saddest verses in the Bible. This is one of the saddest verses in the Bible.

after one of the happiest miracles. John chapter 6 verse 66. Look at this. From this time Many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. So Jesus was amazing, but he was also abandoned. Abandonment as amazing as he was there were disciples who said we don't want to follow you where you're going next. Now, this is the question I want to ask you. If Jesus had people leave his life and he was perfect, if Jesus had people leave his life and he was all knowing, if Jesus had people leave his life and he was the Savior of the world, how do we expect that we're going to make it through our life without ever being betrayed,

Abandoned, rejected. And I know this really hurts to put it here, but I felt the Lord speaking to me that there is a whisper he wants to give you about the people who have abandoned you. Now, as I step on this, I tread tenderly because it's one thing to talk about the people who were in your life in high school that are not in your life now that you're 73. It is one thing to talk about abandonment in a theological capacity that will help you to understand how it relates to God who will never leave us or forsake us. But there are sometimes where the fact that people are leaving you causes you to feel

as if God did too. And we don't say that, but we begin to feel that way. Uh-huh. Think about Jesus. bread multiplying, water to whining, healing Jesus, who was trying to be killed by the leaders. So he's got leaders that are trying to kill him. He's being consumed by the crowd because they only want what he has to give, not what he has to teach.

He's trying to be killed by the leaders, consumed by the crowd. But verse 5 really got me, it said, even his own brothers did not believe in him. So he's got a crowd trying to kill him. He's got leaders that are trying to crucify him. He's got disciples who don't really get him. The disciples never fully got Jesus. I'll prove it to you. Lazarus died.

Jesus said, he's sleeping. I'm going to wake him up. He was speaking in code. The disciples said back, well, Lord, if he sleeps, he'll get better. And the Bible says then Jesus told them plainly, Lazarus is dead. Have you ever had to explain things to people more than you should at this point? That's John Chapter 11. By John Chapter 11, I should not have to tell you everything.

But Jesus has got a leadership team that's trying to kill him, a crowd that's consuming and taking from him, and disciples who don't get him. And even his own brothers don't believe in him. So I share it with you like this. When I was preparing for ministry, they prepared me to preach the Bible and how to take a text and how to get the history of it. They taught me how to even grow a ministry and how to have strategic initiatives so that you get out ahead of the plateaus and create new growth surges. And you get out of this and you get out of that. I even had one professor who took us to a church.

taught us how to baptize. He made us do it in the water. He made us get in the tank. He was like, this is important. This is somebody's life that's being represented. You don't need to be practicing on somebody. So practice on each other. And when I did, I did the first one and I dropped the guy in the water. And I never dropped anybody again in any baptism because I learned so much that if I'm baptizing you, you are coming up out of this one way or the other. If I have to knock the tank over, I am not dropping you in this water. They taught me how to baptize. They taught me how to contextualize.

They taught me how to theologize. They taught me all of that. But one class I do not remember getting is this. They never told me what to do when the people who are supposed to believe in me, be leaving me. I used to think that if they left me, they were leaving the Lord. I don't think that anymore. I think that God moves people along.

I also learned that sometimes I allowed the fact that they left me. I'm going to say like this. The Lord said, don't let them leaving you keep you from believing in me. It's significant to me that at this moment in Jesus' life when his brothers are like, hey, you need to go do something. You need to show how powerful you are. You need to go to Jerusalem at the festival and make a show because, you know, you want to to be this big public figure. You want to be a big deal. Isn't this something that they're

trying to teach Jesus how to be a big deal? They're trying to teach the Alpha and Omega how to make a statement. They're trying to take the one who published the Sunrise, how to run a PR campaign. They're trying to teach the one who was in the beginning with God how to make a splash when he gets on the scene. They're trying to get the one who chose to descend from a throne to a cross, to die for our sin, how to be more like the people, and how to be amongst the people, and how to make a statement. They are trying to teach the Word of God how to make a statement, and they do it at his most vulnerable time. Remember this. The enemy will come to try to push you out of your position at the times where you feel lonely and vulnerable. And he will use those moments

when you feel abandoned to get you to feel bitter and to get you to start doing things that aren't even you. And if possible, the enemy will be able to be able to be able to be able to be able to me will use people who disappointed you to cause you to doubt the God who never will. Who am I preaching to? I refuse to just preach this like it was just for me and Jonathan Joseph's. Who am I preaching to? The other day we were out on Elevation Nights tour and the Lord really gave me this beautiful picture that I wanted to share with you.

I was watching one of our sermons from back when the church was pretty empty during the pandemic. I was looking at how back in those days I felt very abandoned. by you during that time. You're like, it's your fault. You wouldn't let us come to church. I know, but it was still lonely. And yet in the middle of that preaching, now listen, get this picture. In the middle of that preaching, I looked up there on that stage and I was just going for it like if it was a, you know, 2,000 people in the room. But up on the stage was, you know, you had Chris and Jenna and John Sal and L.J. and Scotty and all the team. And we went out there, we were about to go minister. This is crazy. We're about to minister to 20,000.

people or 15,000 people or however many people were there that night. And I realized that the same people that were about to go out there and minister with me in that big arena were the same people that had my back in an empty room. Now the Lord really checked me on this because he said sometimes you get so sad about who left that you start missing who's left. I know that they left you, but God didn't let go of you. I know that they should have treated you better, but God has treated you better than you could have ever deserved.

I know that they didn't give you what you needed or what you could have rightfully expected from them, but you have got to release that now in order to receive that in this season of your life, your wisdom is coming from God. And it's going to be amazing. Because even though many left Jesus, the ones who stayed ended up building the church that we're a part of. I can't wait to see what God is going to do through what is left in your life. I can't wait to see when you finally forgive the fact that it's not like it used to be.

When you finally forgive the fact that they were a jerk, when you finally admit the fact that you were sometimes too, when you finally forgive the fact that they did not stay for the whole journey, when you finally make peace with the fact that not Not everybody was meant to be in the whole movie. Some people were there for a scene. Some people were there for a lesson. Some people were there for a blessing. Some people needed to be released because God has something else for them.

And when you release that, when you let that go, when you let God be God, and you just follow Jesus with what you have left, you will realize the greatest truth that I ever realized. is that wherever people leave a space, God does a miracle. Wherever people leave a vacuum. Wherever people leave a need, God steps in to meet it. And I can stand before you today, honestly, by the grace of God, and say that some of the greatest times that I have felt his presence in my life is when people were absent.

Some of the greatest times that I have felt his favor over my life and really experienced this deep thing with him was in the secret place. Do you know about the secret place? It's when people stop calling you, and people stop texting you, and people stop checking on you, and you can either get bitter about it, or you can get blessed about it, and realize that this is a season where God is drawing me closer to himself, and when they go quiet, he speaks.

And sometimes he lets it get real quiet so he can whisper. And Jesus says something all so powerful. What he says to his brothers, he says, you go, I'm good in Galilee. Somebody shout, I'm good in Galilee. Oh, that's the greatest thing you can ever decide in your life, is that where God has me right now is where I want to be. Because if he had wanted me to be somewhere else, I'd be somewhere else. If he'd wanted me to be someone else, I'd be someone else.

I'd be somewhere else. So somebody declared they say, I like my life. I like my life. I like all the banged-up little things on my car. I like all the scratches on my car. I love all those little marks all around my house where we need to repaint it. I like my life. I like my crooked second toe.

I like my life. I like my male pattern baldness. I like my life. I like my gray's in my beard. I like my life. I like my free time. I like my life. I like my life.

I like my busy. I like my life. Say it. I like my life. Tell your neighbor, I like my church. Tell them, I like my pastor. I like my son. I like my wife. I like my wife. I love her cooking. It's amazing. Can I talk to you for a moment about arrival? It's our third point as arrival. Because see, they're trying to get Jesus to go somewhere. But he already is. what they're trying to be. Look at verse four. Let me teach this. Say, I like my life. Maybe we'll make that the title of the sermon when we put it on YouTube. I like my life. Clickbait everybody, you know? Rage bait them, you know? I don't like my life. It's easy for you to say. If you had my life, you wouldn't like it either. You know, people want to try to make you be miserable like

they are? Say, I like my life. No, Jesus, Jesus had every reason not to like his life. Jesus had every reason to feel bitter, but he didn't. He is tempted in every way like how you get bitter, how you start thinking, man, that's not fair how they're doing that for me. Jesus had every reason to think that too, but he was tempted in all points as we are and yet without sin. That's why he's our example. And in verse four, what the brother said to him, I've got to show you this so powerful how it's worded.

They said, no one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Jesus, you need that blue checkmark anointe. But for real, though, the key word to that, no one who wants to become public figure, is not secret, it's become. Can I say it with bad grammar? Jesus doesn't need to become nothing. He was and is and is to come. So when you know that you've already got,

what they're trying to get you to chase, the temptation isn't so great anymore. He's like, no, I'm good. Y'all go, I'm good. Because Jesus knew what he was, so he knew what he didn't have to do. Jesus knew. John's gospel gives the seven I am statements of Jesus. I am the bread of life. I am the true vine.

I am the gate. I am the good shepherd. I am the resurrection and the life. I am the door. I am. I forgot the seventh one, but y'all can look it up later. I am. Somebody shout, I am.

But I think one of the most powerful things Jesus said in John wasn't one of the seven I am statements. It's in verse eight, and I want to show it to you so you can say it too. Because when you know who you are, Jesus said, you go to the festival. I am not going. Just encircle that phrase. Because Jesus said, I am the true vine. I am the good shepherd.

I am the resurrection and the life. I am the door. I am the way, the truth, and the life. I got the seventh one too. I am all that. But since I know who I am, I also know what I am not. And sometimes the power of knowing your purpose is being able to say, I am not going.

Watch this, teenagers. I am not going to that party. I know everybody else is going to be at that party, but I don't care about where everybody else is going. Because I am not going. Because I am a child of God. I don't care if everybody is talking nasty on Facebook. I am not going to talk like the world when I'm a citizen of the kingdom of God. I am not.

I don't care if everybody else is having sex before they get married. I am not giving something that was blood fought for something that is girt cheap. I am not. I am not. I know the devil wants me to complain and lay down and die. But I am not going to I am not going to quit I am not going to give up on this

I am not going to bury my dream I am not going to become a cynic I am not going to drink the pain away I am not going to drum it with another drug I am not going We can have a whole E group off of this one point Just tell somebody I am not going I am not going

I'm good in Galilee. I'm not going to try to prove it. I'm not going to try to make you believe it. I'm not going to try to make you accept me. I'm not compromising my values. I am not. Uh-oh. I feel political anointing.

Not going to do it. You don't remember that. You were in Canada. But tell somebody, I am not. I am not. I am not. You know, the Lord sees what you do in secret, don't you? You know the one who sees in secret rewards openly, don't you?

You know, you might already be there, but you just don't have anybody to tell you how good you're really doing. So let me be that one today. You're already there. And if you were supposed to be further along, God would have sent you a faster car. You're already there. I know you got a long way to go. The Bible says Jesus went, but he went when he was supposed to.

He went when he was supposed to. And when he got there, look at verse 12. It says, there was widespread. red, and there always is. There always is. Some said, and others said, hmm, we've seen this show before. He's a deceiver. But what's crazy to me is Jesus didn't respond to either, because both were limited. He wasn't a good man. He was the God man. And Jesus did not answer to their whispers because he walked in his father's will. So what I realized about everyone I'm preaching to today is there is a war happening in your heart.

It's not loud, there's no bombs going off, nobody can see it, and you look really beautiful in your church clothes. But underneath that purple sweater, underneath that beautiful smile, underneath those lifted hands that you raised sincerely because you love the Lord and you worship him, there's a war going on. And there's a whisper. A while back, Holly was giving me some affirmations. That's my final point.

I want to talk about affirmations and agreement. You don't need to sit down if you're standing up. It'll just make me think I need to talk longer. But something very strange happened to me, and it took me a few days to analyze it, and then it's taken me several months to process it so that I could share it with you. But it came back to my mind when the Lord told me to talk to you about the war of whispers. When I preach, by the way, there are the words that I'm speaking, and then there is the whisper that comes after that word that either moves you from the word that you heard or tells you to obey it. And if you obey it, if you obey the word, peace will be the product. But if the enemy whispers it, the Bible talks about how sometimes the devil will snatch

a seed of the word of God that is sown because the enemy will whisper. And so cognizant of this fact that as I'm speaking, the enemy is whispering and so is God. And it's a war of whispered. There's two whispers, right? They'll think I'm weak and they'll take advantage of me. It's a war of whispers. You don't say that stuff out loud. It just goes on in the night. And the reason I know it is because it happens to me too.

When I finish preaching to you, I am in a vulnerable place. Why? Well, you run around a room screaming at the top of your lungs for an hour and see how you feel afterwards and talking to people about abandonment and deep issues and then just come off the stage and try to eat a pancake. The devil comes in behind it and he discourages. So Holly was sharing with me one time in a particularly vulnerable state. Some affirmations.

She was saying things to me that were so kind and so rooted in Scripture. Very soft voice, your man of God. You shared what the Lord gave you to share today. God is proud of you. Now as she was speaking, I was having thoughts. I believe they were from the enemy. I believe they were from the enemy, but they didn't sound like the devil's voice. In fact, it was a thought that came as the exact opposite of everything she was saying to me.

So she would say, you're a man of God. And while she was pausing to let that sink in, the enemy was answering it. And everything that would come back through my mind, it wasn't an out loud voice, it was just the space between her words were filled by whispers from the enemy. So if she said, you are a man of God, the thought would come back that was the exact opposite of that. And I won't tell you what those thoughts were, because honestly, they were so raw and so terrible, I would not repeat them to you. Okay? So they're coming back to me, and she's saying, God delights in you. And the answer that would come back as a thought or an impression or an argument with what she just said would be the exact rhythm of what she just said.

It was almost like it was a songwriting session. It was like, ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-da. And it matched it almost exactly, except it was the exact opposite. And it was intense. I've never had anything like this happened before in my life. The next day I was reflecting on it because I didn't even know how to tell her what happened because it was honestly so, it was so dark to feel something like that, you know? And I was praying about that and asking God, what was that?

What was that thing that was going on in my mind while my wife was speaking such beautiful words over me after I just preached your words to people? He said, it was the enemy's whispers, and it's not important that you get it to go away. It's just important that you never agree with it. It's a war of whispers. One is saying, God's got you right where he wants you. It's going to be okay. Hold on.

The other is saying, you screwed up so bad. There's no way that God can redeem this situation in your life. You might as well give up. One whisper is saying, you slipped up. Let's get back on track. Come on, we can get this back together again. have to go all the way down just because you slipped a little bit. Another is saying, well, you've already blown it now and you've already broken the street and you might

as well just go all the way. It's a war of whispers. But what was true of Jesus is true of you and me. Because in verse 16, Jesus says, you're amazed by my teaching and you want to know where it came from? My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me. to the whisper of the one who sent you. Because God who sent you into this assignment for your life, God who sent you to be the leader of that family, God who sent you into this city, God sent you here, God sent you into this church, God sent you to be the teacher in that classroom, God sent you to be the manager of that division. The God who sent you can whisper, and he can whisper to you a word that can pivot your whole life. It's a war of whispers right now. They were whispering

about Jesus, and they will always be whispering, and the voices will always be speaking opposite things, and one voice will always be telling you you're not going to make it, and another voice will be telling you, come on, God has seen you through this far, and it is not important which voice is the loudest, it's important which one you agree with. And the one that you lean into is the one that will lead you forward. I'll know who I'm prophesying to right now, but it's so strong on me right now, because it's been back and forth in your mind, and you're like, what is this? And you came to church today, and the whisper has been there the whole time I've been preaching, and you just turn this on, and you're like,

maybe God can speak to me. I don't know. It's chaotic in my mind right now. I can't make sense out of it right now. And God is saying, go with the whisper of the one who sent you, the one who knows you, the one who died to save you, the one who intricately knit you before you were formed in your mother's womb. whose words spoke your life into existence. Listen to. When I get done in a minute, the enemy's going to whisper to me, you shouldn't have told them that story at the end. That was too personal. I said it for somebody who has been dealing with it in your own life. Maybe we just thought I called the sermon, God is whispering over my life. I cannot afford to get distracted by other people's

opinion right now. I cannot even afford to be distracted by my own shame right now because the grace of God is whispering a better word. I want you to stand and I want you to be still in this moment. And I want to be quiet so you can listen for the whisper. It won't be the only voice you'll hear because one voice is going to be telling you, oh, there's your stomach growling. stomach, we're going to eat. We're going to eat. You're going to get filled in a few minutes, but right now I need my soulful. It's not important that you get that other whisper to go away. It's important that you don't agree with it. So, Lord, fill the space. Some people that are listening to me preach today, they've been left by others because they ate the loaves and had

their fill, and they left. And now they've been believing the whistle. And now they've been believing the You're all alone. That's the whisper you agree with. God is with me. If I'm feeling, he's with me, if I'll see him, he's with me, if I can't prove it, he's with me. If it doesn't work out, if it doesn't get better, he's with me. That's the whisper that I agree with.

I want to speak to the whisper that's been telling you it's too late. Too late. Maybe your kids are grown now, or maybe you're about to graduate high school and you didn't really live for the Lord. It's not too late for anything. God can save the best. save the best to last. And God can give you a fourth quarter last two-minute victory that will shock you.

God can knock the devil out and make the last five rounds insignificant. You listen to this whisper. I want to come against the whisper that's telling you that you'll never change. Who you've always been is who you're going to be. I declare over you that greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. And not only are you where you're supposed to be, you are who you are supposed to be. You're not too much, you're not too little.

You are just right for this assignment. Somebody say, hi, I am. Now this week, Lord, we're going to listen for your whisper. We're going to resist the whisper that's telling us that this is all ridiculous. We're going to resist the whisper that tells us we might as well stay down. We're going to resist the whisper that tells us that our past is greater than our future. We're going to listen for your whisper. Today, Lord, I believe that as I'm preaching, you are drawing somebody to be saved.

This is their day to give their life to Jesus. I believe that you stand at the door and knock, like Revelation 3 and 20 says, that if anyone will open the door, you will come in, and you will sit down, and you will make your throne in their heart. Right now, if you're here today, and you've never really given your life to Jesus, Or maybe you used to be close with the Lord. And lately you've been very far away. And you hear that whisper.

The Lord is saying, come back to me. The Lord is saying, give me your life. Give me the broken pieces. Give me all the broken dreams. I see all of it. I'll make you new. I'll turn all this clay and this broken vessel. And I'll turn it into something amazing.

Today, if that's you and you're ready to give your life to Christ, I would love to lead you in a prayer. This prayer is not magical. But if you'll pray it from your heart, the Bible says that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart, God raised him from the dead. You will be saved. It's a promise. So right now, as a church family, I want you to repeat after me for the benefit of those who

are coming to Jesus for the first time or coming back to God. Repeat after me. Heavenly Father, today is my day. salvation. I am a sinner in need of a Savior. And I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of the world. And today I make Jesus the Lord of my life. I believe He died, that I would be forgiven and rose again to give me life. I receive this new life, this is my new beginning. I am a child of God. On the count of three, if you prayed that, shoot your hand up. One, two, three. I want to celebrate you. God bless you,

man. God bless you, ma'am. God bless you, sir. God bless you in the back, the black shirt. God bless you. Come on, let's thank God for them. Thank you for joining us. Special thanks to those of you who give generously to this ministry is because of you that this ministry is possible. You can click the link in the description to give now or visit elevationchurch.org slash podcast for more information. And if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe, you can share it with your friends. You can click the share button. Take a screenshot and share it on your social stories and tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks again for listening. God bless you. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.