Vision Beyond the Visible
Evangelist Ethan Elms 4/27/2025
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Summary
Evangelist Ethan Elms challenges the church to look beyond physical circumstances to see the heavenly reality of God's power already at work. Drawing from the story of Elisha and his servant, he encourages believers to buy into a God-sized vision for revival that flows from the spiritual realm into the natural world.
Key points
- •True biblical vision is not a wish or a dream, but a revelation of a heavenly reality that already exists in the mind of God.
- •God's work flows from 'top to bottom'-from the heavenly realm down to the earthly realm-signified by the tearing of the temple veil from top to bottom.
- •Vision is costly and requires personal buy-in; working toward someone else's vision leads to burnout, but embracing God's vision for yourself provides endurance and fire.
- •God does not overlook 'the day of small things' and uses faithful, ordinary people to accomplish supernatural growth that surpasses human ability.
Scripture
Vision
Revival
Faith
Spiritual Sight
Church Growth
Life application
This week, identify one 'small thing' you can do to act on God's vision-such as inviting a neighbor to church or starting a 10-minute daily prayer habit-trusting that God will multiply your small step into a supernatural breakthrough.
Reflection questions
- In what areas of your life are you only seeing the 'visible' problems rather than the 'invisible' heavenly help available to you?
- Is the vision you have for your life or ministry possible to achieve without God? If so, is it big enough?
- Are you experiencing burnout because you are carrying someone else's vision, or has the fire of God's vision truly become your own?
- What are the 'small things' in your hand right now that you might be despising instead of offering to God?
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Full transcript
0:00helped me form me, helped form me to the
0:00man I am today. I'm thankful.
0:00Proverbs chapter 29 and verse
0:0418 says this, "Where there is no
0:08vision, the people
0:12perish, but he that keepeth the
0:15law, happy is he."
0:19Where there is no
0:22vision, the people perish.
0:27for a few
0:28moments. I want to preach on the subject
0:30vision beyond the
0:35visible. Won't you pray with me? Lord, I
0:38thank
0:40you. God, you've already done more than
0:43I could
0:45do. I trust your word, God. I don't
0:47trust in myself. I know I can't preach
0:50it good
0:51enough. I can't preach people to
0:53repentance. I can't preach people into
0:56miraculous blessing. But your word can
0:59do it. Your word can prick hearts. Your
1:02word can heal minds. Your word can
1:04deliver
1:06souls. Lord, I ask that you'd anoint me,
1:09God. Help me do more than I'm able to do
1:12on my
1:13own. Bless this
1:15service in the name of Jesus Christ. And
1:18everybody said, "Amen."
1:21You may be blessed on this beautiful
1:23Sunday
1:38morning. Proverbs 29:18 tells us
1:41plainly, "Where there is no vision, the
1:45people perish.
1:47But vision is more than just a dream. It
1:51is a
1:52revelation from God. It's a window into
1:55what already exists in the mind of God
1:59even before we see it with our own eyes.
2:02And I want to tell you today that if God
2:05has given you a vision, it's not just a
2:08wish or a hope. It is a reality waiting
2:12to be revealed.
2:14Let's anchor this today because when
2:16when God gives you a vision, he is
2:18letting you see what already is. He is
2:23not just giving us permission to
2:26wish. He's granting us access to a
2:30heavenly reality that he has already
2:34spoken. I I want to give context to the
2:38section of scripture we're about to
2:39read. The story in 2 Kings 6. here.
2:43Israel and Syria are at war. And the
2:46Syrian king is upset because the prophet
2:49Elisha keeps ruining his plans. He goes
2:54and and and plans these attacks
2:56strategically to destroy Israel. He
2:59plans to meet them at a crossroads while
3:01they're moving or tear down the
3:03different strongholds they've built, cut
3:05off a command post. But every time he
3:08goes to uh uh in action for this plan,
3:12the Lord speaks to Elijah. And then
3:14Elijah talks to the king of Israel,
3:18tells him, "Don't go there. Don't do
3:20that. They're waiting for you." And so
3:23Syrian king is furious, as I would
3:25expect he'd be. He meets with all his
3:28adviserss in one place and he says, "Who
3:31is the mole? Who's the one telling the
3:33enemy our plans? Because every time we
3:36go to attack without fail, Israel is
3:39nowhere to be found. But the men tell
3:43him, "King, I it's not us." But Elisha,
3:48the Lord, tells him even what you say in
3:51your own bedroom. And he tells the king
3:53of Israel.
3:55So the king of Syria is furious and he
3:58sends his men to go forward and and spy
4:02out to see where the prophet Elisha is.
4:05And so they do. And this is where we
4:08pick up in scripture in 2 Kings chapter
4:116 beginning in verse 14. Therefore sent
4:15he thither horses. This is the king of
4:16Syria. And chariots and a great host.
4:20And they came by night in secret and
4:23compassed the city about the city where
4:26Elisha is in here. And when the servant
4:29of the man of God was risen early, this
4:32is Elisha's
4:33servant. And gone forth, behold, and a
4:36host compassed the city both with horses
4:40and with chariots. And his servant said
4:43unto him, Alas, my master, what shall we
4:46do? And he
4:49answered peculiar answer, an answer of
4:52faith, but an answer that seems pretty
4:54bold and daring and maybe even foolish
4:56to the servant who's seen the enemy with
4:59his own
5:00eyes. He says, "Fear
5:02not." For they that be with us are more
5:07than they that be with them.
5:11And that's our hope today. That no
5:14matter what the enemy has done to
5:16surround us,
5:18There are more that be with us than that
5:20that be with them.
5:23And Elijah prayed and said, Lord, I pray
5:28thee, open his
5:30eyes that he may
5:32see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the
5:35young man, and he saw, and behold, the
5:39mountain was full with horses and
5:43chariots of
5:45fire round about
5:47Elisha. And when they came down to him,
5:50Elisha prayed unto the Lord and said,
5:52"Smite these people, I pray thee, with
5:56blindness." And he smoked them with
5:58blindness, according to the word of
6:00Elisha. Now, I I don't want you to miss
6:02this today. The heavenly army did not
6:06appear when Elijah
6:09prayed. It was already
6:11there. The vision did not create God's
6:15help, but it it it merely revealed God's
6:18help. God's provision, God's victory,
6:22and God's answer was already in place.
6:29The servant just needed the eyes of
6:31faith to see it. And this this is the
6:36power of God-given
6:38vision. When God imparts vision to your
6:42heart, he is not making up a story to
6:45keep you encouraged in dark times. No,
6:48no, no. He is he is inviting you to see
6:52into the reality of the spirit. a
6:55reality that's more true and more
6:57lasting and more powerful than anything
7:00in your natural eyes that you can
7:03behold. Think about this. When Abraham
7:06was called to be the father of many
7:08nations, the promise was already settled
7:11in heaven even when he was childless on
7:14earth. When Joshua was told that I have
7:17given Jericho into your your hand, even
7:21while the walls were still standing, the
7:25victory was already a reality in the
7:28spirit. When Jesus said to the
7:31disciples, "Lift up your eyes and look
7:34to the fields, for they are white and
7:36ready for the
7:37harvest." The outward conditions did not
7:40change. The Roman government didn't stop
7:43persecuting them. And Jesus suddenly was
7:46not uh loved by the
7:48Pharisees, but the harvest was
7:52there. God just needed laborers that
7:55could see
7:56it. And I believe that God has purposed
7:59me today to pray the prayer of Elisha
8:03over the Cathedral of Pentecost.
8:06Lord, open our eyes
8:09that we may see what already is.
8:15If God has given you a vision for your
8:17family's
8:19salvation, for a prodigal's return, for
8:22revival to shake the city, for healing,
8:26for deliverance, for
8:29restoration, it's not mere hope or
8:32wishful thinking. If he spoke it, it's
8:36already done. You may not see it with
8:39your physical eyes. You may not hold it
8:42in your hands yet, but it is already
8:45established in the
8:48[Applause]
8:50spirit. You'll
8:52notice when God opened the eyes of his
8:55servant, it was not merely just for
8:59him. But God answered Elisha's prayer
9:03not once but twice.
9:05Not just to open the eyes of his
9:07servant, but to blind the eyes of the
9:10enemy. You know what throws the devil
9:13for a loop? It's when you're
9:16surrounded. And when hope has been taken
9:19from you and when grief hits harder than
9:22it's ever hit and when addiction
9:25scratches at your mind again and you
9:29still believe.
9:33It's when hope feels lost and and you
9:36feel like there's no answers coming from
9:38the heavenlies, that's when you blind
9:42hell because you just keep walking.
9:49It's although you've walked through
9:50hell, you're still taking another
9:53step. Vision is not just for your
9:57survival.
9:58It is for your victory.
10:01And it is God's will that we have vision
10:04because without vision the people
10:07perish.
10:10Although there are moments like what we
10:12see in 2 Kings 6 where God immediately
10:16gives you vision, there are moments also
10:20where vision comes
10:21gradually. You see this story in Mark
10:24chapter 8.
10:28blind man is brought to
10:30Jesus and and there's two different
10:32accounts of it. We get different details
10:34from both. But what we understand is
10:37they were asking him who sinned that
10:40this man was blind. Was it his father?
10:43Was it him? Was it somebody else?
10:44Because that was the perspective of the
10:47men of that time is if you're you're not
10:50fully well, if you're sick or you have
10:52an infirmity, you're blind, you can't
10:54walk, you can't hear something, it must
10:57be because of
10:58sin. But Jesus said, "It's not about
11:03that." He walked through this so that my
11:06glory could be revealed in him.
11:09What a deep understanding of the
11:11sufferings we face.
11:13Maybe your suffering is not because of
11:16you. Maybe it's not because you made a
11:19wrong mistake in your teen years or
11:21because you made a mistake when you had
11:24a a family. No, no, no. It may not be
11:26that. It might be that somebody else
11:28gets to see the glory of the Lord
11:30through your
11:33healing. It may be that your testimony
11:36is going to bring glory to God. And this
11:39is what the Lord said, "Let your light
11:41so shine before men that they may see
11:44your good works and magnify the Father
11:47which is in
11:49heaven." Jesus goes to to heal this man.
11:52He does it in an unconventional way. He
11:55spits in the ground and makes a a
11:58miracle mud out of the dirt. Kind of
12:02nasty. I'm sure the blind man was
12:05wondering what was going on.
12:07He thought it was just regular. It
12:09smelled a little off like fish and
12:14bread. He just heard, you know, he can't
12:16see, but he hears
12:21a I I've read in commentaries people try
12:25to explain away the miracle of God, say
12:27that there was a certain mineral in the
12:30ground. He wasn't blind. He just had a
12:32thick crust and it just wiped it away.
12:34when Jesus applied friction. No, my
12:37God's a miracle worker.
12:40And it may not come the way I want it,
12:42and it might take me being humble enough
12:44to let him do it, but if it's going to
12:46heal me and give me vision, then do it,
12:49Lord. Open my eyes that I may
12:53see. So God in flesh puts this this
12:57miracle mud on his eyes. He wipes his
12:59eyes over and he says, "What do you see?
13:03We're not ignorant. If God healed us, we
13:06want the proof. That's why if you feel
13:09like God's healed you, don't flush the
13:11medicine down the toilet. Go to the
13:13doctor.
13:15God's not afraid to be proved. If he
13:18healed you, it'll show.
13:21So he says, "I I see men as trees
13:25walking." Now, here's the question.
13:28A man that's been blind from his birth,
13:31how can he
13:32know what a tree looks
13:35like? How does he know what it looks
13:37like for trees to be walking? And and
13:40let me just tell you what I believe.
13:43When you're blind, you you you can't
13:44see, but you feel. And many times, I'm
13:47sure he sat by a tree asking for alms. I
13:51need a little money. I can't work. Many
13:54times he probably leaned against trees
13:56and and and and tried to cry if tears
13:59could come out of his eyes and and
14:01sought the Lord. Why is this fallen on
14:04me? But all he knew what to do is to
14:08describe what he's felt
14:09before. And there are moments when we
14:13need a miracle from God and and we don't
14:15know what we're seeing, but we feel
14:19something familiar.
14:21And that's often how God does it. It's
14:25when you receive the Holy Ghost, it's
14:27it's strange. It's something you've
14:28never seen before, but it's a familiar
14:31feeling of love. It's a familiar feeling
14:34of warmth. And you don't know what it
14:36is. It's it's like men as trees walking.
14:39But but if you lean into what you feel,
14:43if you let God work with what you're
14:45feeling, you might just leave different
14:48today.
14:50[Applause]
14:54Sometimes it comes gradually. God had to
14:57touch his eyes again and he got his
15:00perfect
15:01vision. And that's how he did it.
15:05Sometimes it's
15:06immediate. Sometimes you've been coming
15:08to church for five years seeking it. But
15:11God will give it if we're faithful to
15:17respond. Last week we celebrated
15:20Resurrection
15:21Sunday. Could be a little
15:25obvious. And we had a a great service in
15:29Cincinnati. I watched every minute of
15:31Easter here and it was fantastic from
15:35beginning to end. The the
15:36thoughtfulness. I know how much time and
15:39effort goes into everything. Although,
15:40I'll tell you what, this is a little bit
15:42less effort than typical. Usually, you
15:44have to do a million small things to
15:47decorate. If Sister Elms has asked you
15:50to do that usually late Saturday night,
15:53you understand what I'm talking about.
15:56Unless it's like we had ribbons,
15:58thousands of ribbons and
16:01origami
16:02swans. Remember the chains? Remember
16:04when we cut strips of chains? Oh, if you
16:08came to church after that, that was the
16:10Lord's blessing over
16:11you. We made these chains out of paper.
16:14And my mom's a genius at making
16:16beautiful things in budget.
16:19So, we just bought a bunch of paper, cut
16:20them in strips, made chains out of them,
16:22dipped them in glitter, dipped, we
16:24sprayed them. That glitter stayed for
16:27years on this
16:29platform. It was a beautiful service,
16:31though. I praise God for the good
16:32report. I love the worship. I loved
16:35Aren't you thankful for what God did
16:37last
16:38week? I'm
16:39thankful the spoken word, the word given
16:43forth from the pull pit. But I uh last
16:46week in Cincinnati, I I preached on
16:48Wednesday
16:49night and you know I I wanted to preach
16:52an Easter message, you know, at least
16:54keep with the the theme of Holy Week. So
16:56I'm reading through all of it and Lord
16:59didn't let me preach that. I preached
17:00something else. But I I was reading in
17:03Matthew 27 and
17:0751. And this is after Jesus has already
17:11gone through the entire brutal
17:12crucifixion we learned about last week.
17:15And I won't go into any further detail.
17:17You understand what he did for
17:19you? But it's afterwards they give him
17:21vinegar to
17:23drink. Says, "My Lord, my lord, why hast
17:26thou forsaken me?" And he gives up the
17:28ghost. And and this is what happens soon
17:31as he does. And behold, the veil of the
17:35temple was rent and twain from top to
17:39the bottom. And the earth did quake, the
17:42rocks rent.
17:44And I read that verse and I I wish I was
17:48more spiritual than I am, but God does
17:51not speak to me like a bro. It's not
17:54audibly. It's not every day. It's not
17:57even often, but it's subtle and it's
18:00it's often what happens. This is just
18:02me. Maybe different for some of you.
18:05When the Lord speaks to me, it's like a
18:06sentence and and I got to figure out
18:08what it means.
18:11And I was reading
18:12it and I I just felt the Lord tell me
18:16that's how I always do
18:19it. Now I didn't know what that meant.
18:21So I I studied it out. I began to unpack
18:25what I
18:26heard and I I began to with the Lord's
18:30help kind of understand what he
18:33meant. The veil was ripped in
18:36two from top to bottom. And it's it's
18:38not an unnecessary
18:40detail. It
18:42signifies that that's how God does
18:45it from top to
18:49bottom. That the work of God flows
18:53downward. Our prayers rise but the
18:56answers
18:58descend. Like Jesus is sitting with his
19:01disciples and they come to him and they
19:03say, "John the Baptist teaches his
19:05disciples to pray. Lord, teach us to
19:08pray. He says, "All right, when you
19:11pray, pray like
19:13this. Our
19:14Father, which are in heaven up on
19:19top, hallowed be thy
19:21name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done
19:25on earth as it is in
19:28heaven from top to bottom."
19:33And when the anointing oil in the Old
19:35Testament was poured out over kings, you
19:37have to understand the kings was not
19:39God's idea. It was the idea of the
19:41people. God said to Samuel, "Don't worry
19:44about it. They're not rejecting you
19:46because they don't want to uh judge.
19:48They're rejecting me." And and we see
19:50that with the first king. It's it's a
19:53reflection of the wrong will of the
19:55people to have a king because they
19:57wanted to be like the other
19:59nations. And so this was the
20:03tradition when the king was
20:05anointed. The oil was poured over his
20:08head. It was all over the top of
20:11him. But Jesus,
20:14the King of Kings,
20:16he came down to earth and his head was
20:20not anointed with
20:21oil, but rather a prostitute came and
20:26anointed his
20:28feet. And Jesus, the King of Kings and
20:31the Lord of Lords, did not come to pat
20:36everybody on the top of their head. No,
20:38he came to wash their
20:41feet. It was man's idea that kings
20:44should be anointed on their head. But
20:46God said true anointing from heaven
20:50comes from top to
20:52bottom. Falls on the feet of those. Oh,
20:55how beautiful are the feet of those that
20:57share the gospel.
20:59And this is why Jesus said that in this
21:02kingdom the last shall be the first and
21:06the first shall be the last. And the
21:09greatest in this kingdom is the servant
21:12of all. Because when God does things, it
21:16it happens from top to bottom.
21:20Even with your
21:22salvation, there is no
21:24salvation unless the God of all heaven
21:27comes down to the bottom.
21:30Not born in a throne room. Not born in a
21:34palace, but born in a barn, the very
21:38bottom, laid in a manger. The God of all
21:41heaven came down in flesh. He was not
21:44just the son of God. He was God in
21:47flesh.
21:48He knew what it was like. He was tempted
21:51in all ways like we are. Not like a king
21:53who doesn't suffer with the peasants.
21:55No, he knows what it's like to be beaten
21:59and bruised. And we we hit our faces as
22:02it was before him. And we did not esteem
22:05him. You stricken, smitten of God and
22:07afflicted. We hid our faces. That's what
22:11he knows what it's like to be in your
22:14shoes. Because the God that created the
22:17heavens and the earth that spoke to the
22:20winds, be still. They knew that voice.
22:23That's why they responded. They had
22:25heard that voice before. When that same
22:28voice spoke to the waters and said, "Be
22:30divided from the firmament of the
22:32earth." And and it separated. When that
22:35same voice spoke and said, "Let there be
22:37light." That's why the winds responded
22:40because he had all authority.
22:45Responded because it was from
22:48top to
22:50bottom. We can't get that order wrong.
22:54That's what happened when the people
22:55started building this tower of
22:58Babel was out of order. They wanted to
23:02build a tower that could reach heaven
23:04and God had to confound their language
23:08so that they would never accomplish it
23:10because it won't be right if it's from
23:14bottom to
23:16top. It is our duty
23:19then to prepare things down here
23:23so that it can fall down from heaven so
23:27that when God pours it out, it's in the
23:30right order. It must be that what we're
23:33doing down here gets heaven's attention.
23:37It has to be like in the book of Acts
23:40where God gives Peter a vision. this
23:43this table before him with all sorts of
23:45delicious meals but things he couldn't
23:48eat. He said, "God, I've I've never
23:50eaten an unclean thing in my life." You
23:52know, Peter, he's, you know, a little
23:54shoulders cocky. Stands a little too
23:56straight. You know, I've never done
23:58anything wrong in my
23:59life. God said, "What I've cleansed that
24:02call not thou common. For there's a man
24:05named
24:06Cornelius. He's a Gentile. And as of
24:09right now, you don't believe this
24:11salvation's for him.
24:13But his
24:16prayers, they've come up before me as a
24:18memorial.
24:21No, he can't get the answers from the
24:23bottom up. But he just keeps getting my
24:28attention. And so I'm going to send the
24:31answer the way I do from top to bottom.
24:33But Peter, I need you to go and and show
24:36and and I will answer from heaven and
24:38pour out. So, no, I can't do it on my
24:42own down here, but I can set up a space
24:47where the answers flow from heaven from
24:50top to
24:52bottom. So, why don't we pause right now
24:54and do that? Why don't we establish an
24:58atmosphere where God can pour out from
25:00heaven and we can receive what he has
25:04for us?
25:06Hallelujah.
25:08Hallelujah.
25:12It must be done from top to
25:15bottom. So I I've got a difficult
25:19question for you today. Question I've
25:22wrestled with
25:25myself. Is my vision possible without
25:29God? Is the things I want on my
25:32own? Am I able to network my way there?
25:37If I show up and smile
25:39enough, am I able to achieve it on my
25:43own? If I clock in and clock out enough
25:46times, is my vision able to come to
25:51pass? If that's true, it's too
25:54small because God's vision requires
25:59supernatural intervention
26:02and it can only be fulfilled from top to
26:05bottom. not the other way around. And
26:09there are some prayers only God can
26:12answer.
26:14And there's some dreams only God can
26:17fulfill.
26:20So I ask tonight,
26:22Lord, open our eyes that we may see
26:27what you would have for us.
26:31There are
26:33nearly two million people in Broward
26:37County. Pardon me. I'm trying to hold
26:40back
26:41my passion for
26:43this, but I'm just asking, do you see
26:46what I
26:49see? We run 300 on a really good
26:53day, but there's almost two million in
26:55this city.
26:58God, open our eyes.
27:00that we would
27:02see. Give us vision we can't accomplish
27:05with fancy sermons and with great music
27:09and good
27:11greeters. Give us vision, Lord, that
27:14only can be
27:15accomplished from top to bottom. Lord,
27:20that only heaven can do.
27:24Isaiah had a
27:26vision in what was maybe the darkest
27:29year of his life. In Isaiah chapter 6,
27:33we read
27:34it. I'll read it for you today. 6 verse
27:37one says, "In the year that king Uzziah
27:40died, I saw also the Lord high and
27:43lifted up. The train of his robe filled
27:46the temple." I'll summarize it,
27:48but there are saraphim there in the
27:51temple. Two wings they're flying. Two
27:53wings they're covering their eyes. Two
27:55wings they're covering their feet. And
27:58they cry one to
27:59another, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord
28:04of hosts. The whole
28:07earth, it's full of his
28:11glory. This
28:13earth, this world we're living
28:16in, it's just another headline of a
28:19shooting.
28:21Just another headline of a of a woman
28:23crashing with children in the car. Just
28:26another day fighting through grief. This
28:29earth full of his
28:31glory. How come you're preaching this,
28:34Isaiah? We'll never see this on our own
28:38hands. But something we so often look
28:41over, I've preached it before. I've even
28:44said it
28:45here. It's that the beginning of the
28:48entire
28:50vision, he says, "In the year that King
28:53Uzziah
28:55died, I saw
28:58also
29:00also also the Lord."
29:04This was a year of tragedy for Israel
29:06because Uzziah was a great
29:08king. But he had this moment towards the
29:10end of his life where he thought he
29:13could be a prophet also and a priest and
29:16because of this he's God gives him
29:19leprosy. It's a stain on what was a
29:21great life and what was going so strong
29:25going so good.
29:27And it was so devastating that the year
29:31he died, that's what it was known as. We
29:34have this 2020 is the COVID
29:38year. That when we say, "Oh, that was
29:40during COVID." You You know the year
29:42we're talking about. I don't have to say
29:43it. It was the year King Uzziah died.
29:47That's what it was labeled as. That's
29:49what it was known as. That's what was
29:51written in the history books.
29:54And Isaiah is saying, "I'm I I I know I
29:57see
29:58that, but I
30:01also I saw something
30:04else. I know what we're going
30:07through. But I also see a vision from
30:10the Lord. And I've come to tell you the
30:14vision for God of the Cathedral of
30:17Pentecost. I know how expensive it is to
30:20live here.
30:22I know that sometimes it's harder to get
30:25a job than it is to just get money on
30:27the street some way. But I also see that
30:32the train of the Lord's robe fills this
30:35temple. And that means when you're
30:37standing in the victory in the in the
30:39temple, you're standing in his victory.
30:43I know that sin is so abundant, but
30:46where there was sin, there was far more
30:48grace is what Paul said. I know what
30:51we're facing in South Florida and the
30:54sin that is in these streets, but I know
30:57the gospel is
31:00stronger. I saw also the Lord and the
31:03train of his robe filled the temple. I
31:06saw the angel singing, "Holy, holy,
31:09holy. The whole earth is full of the
31:12glory of the Lord."
31:15Hallelujah.
31:17You got to buy into this vision today.
31:20got to make it your own.
31:24There's the least said about Isaac of
31:26all the
31:27patriarchs, but one thing is evidently
31:30clear. He dug the wells of his fathers.
31:34Again, you don't need to know much about
31:37Isaac. All you need to know is his dad
31:41had a
31:42vision. God spoke to him, so he bought
31:45into it.
31:47And that's what you have to do if you
31:49want to keep yourself from that super
31:52famous hot topic word right now,
31:57burnout. You got to make this vision
31:59your
32:00own. When you're trying to accomplish
32:02the vision someone else has, you quickly
32:05run out of vision of energy and love for
32:07it. Motivation and kind words can only
32:12get you so far in someone else's vision.
32:15But when you buy into the vision, when
32:18you make it
32:20yours, it will keep you going.
32:24There's no
32:25motivation. There's no
32:27endurance. When somebody else's vision
32:30is what you're working
32:32towards. When it belongs to another,
32:36it'll put you to sleep. But when it's
32:38yours, it'll keep you up at night.
32:41When it belongs to someone else, it will
32:44drain you.
32:45But when it's yours, it will push you
32:48and and fill you until your cup is
32:50running over. That's why the scripture
32:53moves it one step further from just
32:56knowing the truth. But it said, "You
32:59shall buy the truth and sell it." Not.
33:03You've got to buy into this thing
33:05yourself. It can't be something you sit
33:08through on Sunday and you forget about
33:11on Monday. But if you will make it
33:14yours, it will keep you
33:16going. A vision from the Lord is like
33:20fire. And if you don't buy into it, it
33:23will burn you out.
33:26But if you buy
33:28in, if you pray, God, give me
33:32vision that I may see,
33:36it won't burn you out.
33:39It'll be like Jeremiah said, "The word
33:42of the Lord
33:44was like a
33:45fire shut up in my bones."
33:50[Applause]
33:54And I'm preaching to the choir today. I
33:58know you're here because you bought in,
34:02but I want to remind you, vision is
34:04costly.
34:07It takes
34:09sacrifice, faithfulness, hard work, both
34:12the fruit and the gifts of the spirit.
34:16It'll mean that when this altar call is
34:19given, you might just have to fall on
34:21your knees or turn in your chair and not
34:26leave till God gives you vision.
34:30It will mean that you may not have to
34:32get up from prayer until that revival
34:35fire crawls up inside of you again and
34:39God restores what was
34:42lost. It'll mean that if you have any
34:46bitter rivalry with the church member,
34:50you're going to have to apologize
34:54and
34:55reconcile. Vision's costly, you know.
34:59We are the light of the world. A city
35:01that's set on a hill. But what good is a
35:04city on a hill if there's a civil war in
35:07that city?
35:10There's a split in the church. This
35:13side, that side, they took my seat.
35:19Come on. It starts that simple.
35:22I've been in this my whole life. They
35:25lied about me.
35:27I told them that in confidence.
35:31I know you can't fake me out. I've been
35:33there.
35:35Listen, Jesus told Peter, he said, "The
35:39gates of hell themselves cannot stand
35:43against the church.
35:46There's no weapon formed against me that
35:48shall prosper that the enemy sends my
35:51way." Oh, you're clapping now. Wait for
35:53the curveball. But I've watched sour
35:56saints destroy a church.
36:01And I'm sounding mean. I need to calm
36:03down. I don't want to be mean. I just
36:05know what it does.
36:07I've seen churches that have so much
36:10potential never get past
36:1375 because that one family member just
36:17kind of usurps authority.
36:21And that one bitter
36:23person comes to
36:25church and saps
36:29everybody. Lord, help
36:32us. We can't have vision like
36:35that. We can't see what God wants to do
36:37in this church like that.
36:44God's going to give us a building.
36:47We've got vision to build it and
36:50exponentially grow and but it's going to
36:53take me it's going to take you to
36:57swallow a few sticks crossways
37:01to get there.
37:04Yeah, it's it's going to be tough cuz
37:06cuz vision is
37:09pricey. To see vision come to pass,
37:13we'll have to
37:15give. This is not some name it, claim
37:18it, blab it, grab it kind of prophecy.
37:21I'm I'm I'm telling you. But it will
37:24mean writing the check and seeing God
37:27multiply it back to you. It will mean
37:30finding an usher after church today and
37:32say, "Please get this to the church
37:35office. I can't leave with this weight
37:37in my
37:39pocket." What about those that have
37:41already given so much?
37:44There's so many people here. You've
37:46already given so much time and money and
37:49effort and some cases blood, sweat, and
37:52tears. And I commend you for your
37:55efforts. I pray God stir you up to
37:58produce more because we need you.
38:03We need you today.
38:07And I'm sure there's some already burnt
38:10out.
38:12Check out the moment you walked
38:14in. You used to light up, but now you're
38:17just kind of silent. You stopped
38:20altogether. I pray you'll find the
38:23healing you need in this place from
38:25burnout because it is real. I've seen
38:28it. I know. I pray that God will wrap
38:32his arms around you and change your
38:34thinking.
38:36The the strange thing about burnout is
38:39that sometimes it it feels worse to quit
38:43and so you just do such a bad job you
38:45hope somebody takes you
38:50off. But I pray the Lord's love and
38:53mercy would wrap around whoever needs to
38:56hear
38:57this. That you'd find that fire again.
39:01Take the time you need to heal, but
39:03don't give up. Jump back on the saddle.
39:07There's more
39:10today. We need
39:12you. And there may be people here today,
39:15it's your very first Sunday. You're
39:18wondering, why does this preacher keep
39:20shouting and and
39:21crying? I know I I do it a
39:25lot. But I I I don't want you to leave
39:28because God has great things for you
39:31today. And you might be wondering how
39:33can you buy into this vision? It's very
39:36simple. You take the step that we all
39:39took to buy into this vision. You be
39:42changed by the beautiful and wonderful
39:45process of
39:47repentance. You can leave here free from
39:50your sin and and the chains that are on
39:53you when you get baptized in Jesus'
39:56name. Anybody witness today that there's
39:59nothing like it. There's no liberty like
40:03that moment you come out of the water
40:06and you feel like you're 100bs lighter
40:08and you didn't do no Weight Watchers,
40:11but you know your sins have been
40:13remitted and you know your dirt has been
40:15washed off by the blood of the lamb.
40:18There's no moment like that moment when
40:21you hear yourself speak in a language
40:23you've never spoke before and you know
40:26for sure that God has filled me with his
40:29spirit.
40:32There's nothing like it and God will
40:34change your life through it.
40:38I don't want to be much longer. We read
40:40about the prophecy given to Ze in to
40:43Zechariah and
40:45Zechariah he he this this time there's
40:48trying to build a new temple. They've
40:49been taken out of their land. Their
40:52temple was destroyed by
40:54Nebuchadnezzar. And these are the things
40:56the enemy is telling Zerubabel, the man
41:00who's trying to oversee
41:01this. Why bother? You'll be destroyed
41:04before you build it.
41:06It will take far too much work, far too
41:11long. How are you going to afford it,
41:14Zerubable? You'll never see the end of
41:17what you're doing. You'll die before
41:19it's
41:20finished. And while the walls of the
41:23temple are still so small you can step
41:26over
41:26them. While there's only a gravel road
41:29to show for the
41:31saving. And while there's only little
41:33changes to the platform to show we're
41:36trying, the word of the Lord goes out
41:38from Zechariah's mouth. Zechariah
41:42chapter 4 verse 6. Then he answered and
41:45spake unto me, saying the word unto the
41:48the word of the Lord unto
41:50Zerupabel. Not by might,
41:55not by power. Can I just say not by
41:58man's ability, not by talent, not by
42:03skill, but by my spirit, saith the Lord
42:06of hosts. Not from what we can per bring
42:10about on the bottom, but what comes out
42:13from the top. Who art thou, great
42:16mountain, before Zerubabel, thou shalt
42:19become, can I change that? before the
42:22cathedral of Pentecost. Thou shalt
42:24become a plain, and he shall bring forth
42:27the headstone thereof with shoutings,
42:30crying, grace, grace unto it. Moreover,
42:34the word of the Lord came unto me,
42:35saying, The hands of Cathedral of
42:37Pentecost have laid the foundations of
42:40this house, and his hands shall finish
42:43it. Thou shalt know that the Lord of
42:46hosts has sent me to you. For who hath
42:50despised the day of small things, for
42:54they shall rejoice, and shall see the
42:57plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with
43:00those seven. They are the eyes of the
43:03Lord, which run to and fro through the
43:07whole earth.
43:10What I want you to be convinced of
43:11leaving here
43:12today, heaven doesn't overlook small
43:15things.
43:17Heaven doesn't overlook just the
43:19offering you you wish you could give
43:20more, but it's been hard. Heaven doesn't
43:23overlook that small thing. This is the
43:27day for small things because God doesn't
43:30need incredible people. He needs
43:33faithful people.
43:36God doesn't need the greatest thing you
43:38can afford. He needs the small things
43:41you can bring together. What do I mean
43:44by small things? It's it's just what you
43:46got. It's just a little bit of of of
43:49meal at the bottom of the barrel that
43:51you scoop up, but it it just seems to
43:54keep coming. It's the little bit of oil
43:57that you have left, but you pour it and
43:59it it it just it just keeps
44:02pouring. It's lunchtime. who you sit
44:05with. It's your smile to a stranger who
44:09looks depressed. It's 10 minutes of
44:11prayer to start the day. It's the
44:14boldness to ask a friend, "Can I pray
44:17for you?" You have a church you're going
44:20to. It's the money you scrape
44:23together, hoping that God can bless it.
44:27Musicians, come quickly. I'm closing.
44:30I believe
44:32God gave me a
44:35revelation. I've been eager to share it
44:37with this church. I found it to be true
44:39in my own life and within the
44:42scriptures. I've heard it testified.
44:44I've seen it myself. And now I'm asking
44:47that God will reveal it here.
44:51I found what the requirement
44:53is for us to see 10, 20, 30 people
44:57filled with the Holy Ghost in this
44:58church in one service. You want to hear
45:00the revelation?
45:03If we want to see 30 people get the Holy
45:05Ghost, we need to have 30 people who
45:08don't have the Holy
45:14Ghost. And I say that tongue and cheek,
45:16but hear my heart today.
45:18We've got to be radical about inviting
45:21people and sharing this gospel. We pray
45:25about it, but what do we do to see it
45:28happen? God, give us vision
45:32today. Open our eyes that we may
45:37see. We pray for God to send revival,
45:40but we won't invite the employee we
45:42always see at the drive-thru.
45:45We pray for God to fill somebody with
45:47the spirit, but we won't ask the guest
45:49if they know what it
45:51is. We've been investing and
45:54intercessing for a new
45:56building, but hear my heart here. I'm
45:59not trying to be
46:01cruel, but how much do we really need
46:05one? Sure, we're packed on Sunday on
46:08Easter and we have to do two
46:10services, but it's still a little
46:12comfortable when it's
46:14packed. We're not sardines in a
46:18can. If somebody's willing to scoot into
46:20the middle, the ushers can find a
46:22seat. We can show up five minutes before
46:25service and we know our special seat
46:27won't be taken because we always sit
46:30there. Please hear my heart today.
46:34I'm not one to say we can force God to
46:37act. I don't know how true that is. But
46:40I do stand on the word of God. And God
46:43himself said, "Try me and see.
46:48Test me and see if I won't open up the
46:52windows of heaven and pour out a
46:54blessing that you cannot comprehend."
46:58So, it may be packed today, but let's
47:02bring a guest next Sunday.
47:05God forbid we get comfortable with the
47:08house full enough that we feel like a
47:10big church, but comfortable enough that
47:13we don't feel the need to invite
47:15anybody. No,
47:17God, open our
47:19eyes that we may
47:22see what you want to do in this city.
47:27Let us see the vision that's already in
47:29place.
47:32I just want to see how fast God moves
47:36when we've got so many people on a
47:38Sunday that we've got to keep the doors
47:40open and set out folding chairs in the
47:43foyer. I want to see how fast God moves
47:46when when we've got so much revival.
47:49We've got to start having services
47:51outside on the grass.
47:54God, give us vision that we can't do it
47:58on our
48:00own. A vision that must be accomplished
48:03from top to
48:06bottom. What if everybody brought one
48:09person next
48:11week? I'm no mathematician, but I think
48:14that means our church would double.
48:17[Music]
48:20What if we grow so fast and so great
48:23they got to park at Walmart and walk
48:25across the
48:26street? What if we what if we grow so
48:30fast and it it becomes so packed that
48:32the city approaches us and says, "This
48:35is a a fire violation. We can't let this
48:39happen anymore. So here's what we'll do.
48:42We're going to give you a loan so you
48:44can build and you can pay us back over
48:47time, but we want those people in our
48:49city. I know some of you just rolled
48:52your eyes. You know how cities
48:54work. But God did it for
48:58Zerubabel. The Syrian king paid for the
49:01temple. I've got vision that God can do
49:05anything. He can do above all I can ask
49:09or think. He can do
49:12abundantly. And if I give to God, I just
49:16believe he'll give back. Pressed down,
49:19shaken together, and running over. I may
49:22be rejected when I invite that Chipotle
49:25employee. But they may say, "You know
49:27what? I've been praying for someone to
49:31just tell me who Jesus
49:33is." Stand with me today.
49:37[Music]
49:42This city is hungry for the real
49:45thing. It's hungry for
49:47truth. It's hungry for
49:50fire. I thank God for our wonderful
49:54worship. I praise God for our beautiful
49:59decorations. For the money we invest to
50:01have good sound, and I'm thankful for
50:03the work that's done there.
50:06I'm thankful that we do our best to have
50:08a great excellent live stream. That we
50:11do our best to have excellent lyrics
50:13projected on the screen and our media
50:15and our slides good. That we've got
50:18people walking around with phones so
50:20that we can reach our community on
50:21Instagram.
50:24But that doesn't separate us from
50:26another
50:29church. I thank God for the lights.
50:33But you can find better likes at another
50:35church.
50:37Doesn't take long to find it's five
50:38minutes away. You can even find better
50:41singing at some churches. I disagree
50:43with you, but you
50:45can. I'm certain you can find more
50:49enthusiastic and better worded sermons
50:52somewhere
50:53else. But there are broken people in
50:56this city that are fed up with the
50:58things we do to attract them.
51:02They're hungry for the real
51:05thing. They want truth when all they've
51:08been fed is lies. They need
51:12fire. They need
51:14vision. And this is the church where
51:17they can find it. But it's going to take
51:21us saying, "God, open our eyes that we
51:24may
51:26see." It has to be today.
51:30I feel that the burden is falling here
51:32today. It's not just me. It's you. I
51:35know. I see it on your
51:37faces. If you've got Godsized
51:41vision, if you're hungry to see what
51:43only God can
51:45do, I welcome you to come forth
51:48today. If you want God to expand what
51:52you can't see into what you want to see,
51:56why don't you come to the front this
51:58morning?
51:59Pray for your family that you never
52:01thought you'd see come to the truth.
52:03Pray over yourself cuz you never thought
52:06you'd get out of that addiction. Pray
52:08for yourself that you get a revival in
52:11your spirit when you've been dead. Pray
52:14that God will send you the hungry.
52:17Lord, open our eyes that we can have
52:20Godizion.
52:22Revival.
52:25We're going to see revival.
52:28Oh, we're going to see
52:33revival in our days. Oh, we're going to
52:37see. We're going to see revival. We're