Transcription
Foreign. [Music] To the sixth chapter of the Book of Joshua, chapter 21, chapter 22, verse 25. And I'm going to be reading it out of the NIV, and you follow along with us as we go into the word of God. Glory to God. I'll give you a minute to find it. Minutes up. [Laughs] I hope you feel good tonight. Glory to God. I'm feeling good tonight. Thank you, Jesus. I walked in here and didn't have to roll. Thank you, Jesus. I came in here, nobody had to carry me. I'm feeling good tonight. Thank you, Jesus. I'm standing on both my feet tonight. I'm feeling good tonight. I can see you. I can hear you. I can feel you. I'm blessed. Glory to God. See, you don't call that a blessing till something compromises it. And then you're on your knees praying, "Oh God, if you just give me my sight back." But while you got it, you ought to give God the praise for what you've got right now. Oh, bless His name. We are in the sixth chapter of the Book of Joshua, standing on the precipice of a revolution. We are standing right on the apex of an invasion where the people of God are getting ready to invade and take over territory. Look at your neighbor and say, "I'm getting ready to take over territory." Glory to God. I'm not just going to occupy, I'm going to take over territory. I'm getting ready to go into expansion. I'm getting ready to go into increase. I'm getting ready to take over territory. Glory to God. Can you all handle that? Let's start at the 20th verse and see what thus sayeth the Lord. When the trumpet sounded, the army shouted. Listen at that closely. When the trumpets sounded, the army shouted. Never heard of a shouting army before. Normally, when you got troops, they fight. But when the trumpet sounded, their army shouted. And at the sound of the trumpet, when the men gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed. Glory to God. I wonder what's going to collapse tonight. [Applause] My God, something is getting ready to collapse tonight. You might need a hard hat on tonight, 'cause something is getting ready to collapse. Your faith is going to do some demolition, some deconstruction, some disruption is getting ready to go on. Walls are coming down. Look at your neighbor and say, "Walls are coming down." If you're watching online, type it on the line, "Walls are coming down." Walls are collapsing. They're giving way. Things that have been standing for decades and centuries are collapsing now in the presence of the Lord. They are coming down in the name of Jesus. So everyone charged straight in and they took the city. They didn't give it to him, they took it. Glory to God. They devoted the city to the Lord and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it, men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep, and donkeys. Say, "Destroyed every bit of it." Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, "Go into the prostitute's house and bring her out." Now, the last time I saw them bring out a woman of ill repute in the Bible, they were going to stone her. But not here. Going to the prostitute's house and bring her out, and all who belong to her, in accordance with your oath to her. Ah, this is unusual in the Holy Bible that God has, the Holy Bible is talking about a hooker. So the young man who had done the spying went in. They were young men. See, I didn't know that they were young men. So they weren't old men. I ain't gonna bother that. The young men who had gone, who had done the spying, went in and brought out Rahab, her father and mother, her brothers and sisters, and all who belong to her. They brought out her entire family and put them in a place outside the camp of Israel. Then they burned the whole city and everything in it. But they put the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron into the treasury of the Lord's House. Good God of mercy. That's a transfer. You didn't hear me. That's a transfer. The entire wealth of Jericho is transferred to the treasury of the house of the Lord. But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute. Why? Y'all keep telling a business like that. Just be quiet. You call her Rahab. No, no, they tell her occupation, her profession, so that we can understand clearly the oxymoron of this text, the power of this text, the flamboyant grace of this text, the God's mercy in this text. That of everybody in the city, not even a goat escaped, not a pigeon, not a turtle dove escaped. But of all the people in the entire city, Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who belong to her, because, because she hid the men. Joshua had sent spies to Jericho. Because she did God a favor. When was the last time you did God a favor? I just believe tonight that if you do God a favor, God will do you a favor. And he sent it to Joshua. Had sent the spies to Jericho, and she lives amongst the Israelites to this day. Now, I'm going to talk about purpose. Isn't petty. Purpose isn't petty. Now, this is a warning. All the petty people need to leave. This is not going to be a good night for you. And I'm telling you right now, before you get your feelings hurt, all petty people, go to the exit door and leave now. Because purpose isn't petty. Spirit of the Living God, fall fresh on us as we endeavor to unveil the integrity of the text and to put it in context and to extrapolate from the context of the text, truth that morsels of bread that are relevant to our contemporary society. Take the logos and turn it into rhema and let it be cut to the continuity, tailor-made to what I'm going through right now, that I might hear the word of the Lord. I thank you in advance for what you're going to do. Have your way in this place in the name of Jesus. With a loud voice, like you're hollering at your kids, shout, "Amen." Poor children, y'all may be seated. I want to back up for just a few minutes and put in context the, the distinctive of the Book of Joshua itself. I talked about it last week. I won't go into all of the elements that I talked about last week. You can go on YouTube and you can really get a fairly thorough exposition of the purpose of the Book of Joshua. Yahshua, the Book of Joshua, a shadow, a type of the ministry of Yahshua, Jesus, in the Old Testament. I talked about that last week, so I won't even go into that. But what I do want to tell you is that in the Book of Joshua, it starts out telling Joshua, "I have given you the land." "I have given you the land." Now, it doesn't seem practical to me that God would have to say, "I've given you something if it was obvious." Most of the time, I've given people something, I didn't have to come back and tell them I've given them something. But because he feels the necessity to tell Joshua that he has given it to him, that means that it is not obviously a gift. Because that would make no sense. If I hand you a hundred dollars and I put it in your hand, I wouldn't have to say, "I've given you a hundred dollars." You say, "Yeah, I know that. I got that." But this is the kind of declaration that is revelatory from the perspective of the fact that you have it, but you don't know it. My God, could that be possible that I could have something that I don't know? Could it be possible that the word is excavating out of my life things that are already intrinsically inside of me, but I am oblivious to it? And I cannot use what I do not know that I have. God said, "I have given you the land, but you got to possess it." This is the collaboration between the human and the divine. I don't have time to exhaust that, but all throughout the Bible, we see the collaboration between the human and the divine, that God works through people. "I have given it to you, but you still have an obligation to possess it." If you don't possess it, they're going to keep living in your stuff. "I have given you the land to possess it." "I have given you peace, but you got to possess it." "I have given you joy, but you have to possess it." "I have given you spiritual gifts, but you have to possess it." "I have given you the baptism of the Holy Spirit, but you have to possess it." It is already given. You're praying, "God, fill me with the Holy Spirit." He's already given it to you, but you have to possess it. Because God is collaborative, and he wants your involvement in possessing what is yours. Oh, we used to tarry around the altar for hours, and we said we were waiting on the Holy Ghost to come, like he was riding on a tricycle. And we would just, we'd wait until midnight, waiting on the Holy Ghost to come. And all the while we were waiting, he was already there. He was already there. The Bible said, "At midnight, Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God, and there was an earthquake." I hate to bust your bubble, but it could have happened at 10:00. It could have happened at 9:15. There's nothing magical about midnight. It just so happened that it took them midnight to possess what was already there. God says, "I have given you the land to possess it." Now, this is a process. We talked about the moat last time. We talked about the Jordan River, where he talks about the topography of the Jordan River. We begin to understand how God removed the moat so that they could cross over on dry land. The moat was the first defense that separated them from any onslaught or attack. And God allowed them to be able to enter into Jericho because he stopped it and dried it at the same time. Stop and dry. Stop and dry. Stopped it so you wouldn't have to swim across it. Dry so you wouldn't get muddy. So that when you got out of it, there would be no residue of what you've been through left on your feet. Some of you have some testimonies in this room that you can't hardly even share with anybody because they won't believe what you've been through. You don't even look like what you've been through. You don't have no mud left on you because God stopped it and he dried it so that you could cross over onto dry land. Are you hearing what I'm saying? And then when he did that, the only thing left was the wall. You're down to the last thing that's gotta fall. The waters have been parted. The land has been blown dry. And now you're down to the last obstacle that stands in between you and victory. I want to talk to some people that are close. [Applause] I got about 10 people over there. I got about 15 over there. I got about 50 over there. I want to talk to some people that know, you're nor I am close. I'm right on the verge of something. And that's why you can't give up right now. That's why you can't quit right now. You survived the desert. You've made it through your dry place. You've crossed over your Jordan. You want to cross on dry land. You've tasted of the fruit of the promised land. The manna has ceased. You've entered into new territory. Your spirit knows that something is about to happen. Look at your neighbor and tell them, "I'm close." I don't have time to argue with you because I'm close. I don't have time to get into no debate with you because I'm too close. I don't have time to worry about whether you like me or not because I'm too close. I'm too close. I gotta focus right now. I'm too close. Don't bother me. I'm too close. She thinks she's something. I won't even respond to it. I'm too close. He thinks he's so much. No, I won't respond to it. I'm too close. 20 years ago, I'd have let you have it. But where I'm at right now, I'm too close to even just respond to you. You can't distract me because something is about to crack in my life. Something is about to crumble in my life. Something is about to collapse in my life. I'm closer than I've ever been in my life. Who am I talking to today? [Applause] [Music] And now they have come. They have come. They have come. They have come to the final obstacle. The land that flows with milk and honey is on the other side. The gold and the silver of the Jericho of the people of Jericho is on the other side. Most importantly, the obedience that must be proven to God is on the other side. You see, Jericho was the first city. And the reason they had to offer up the city to God is because it was a first fruits offering. God said, "If you give me the first city, I'll give you every other one that's coming after it." That's the first fruits. Bring the first fruits unto God. That's why the Bible says in the New Testament that Jesus is the first fruits of the resurrection. Glory to God. Do you remember when Jesus died on the cross? Dead men were seen walking the streets of Jerusalem. The reason they were walking is they couldn't go up ahead of him. He was the first fruits. He had to go up before they could go up. And he led captivity captive and gave good gifts to men. And so, even though the dead men were resurrected and they were walking around, they couldn't go up because the Bible said that Jesus is the first fruits of the resurrection. So whenever God does a new thing in your life, he says, "If you give me the first fruits, I'll give you everything that comes after it." That's an important principle. Glory to God. The first fruits, the first corn that comes up, the first wheat that comes up, the first paycheck that comes in, the first fruits, I give it to God. When Hannah had her baby Samuel, he was the first fruits. She had many children afterwards, but she gave the first one to God. And because she gave the first one to God, all the rest of them she was able to keep for herself. God said, "I'm going to replace whatever you give, but bring me the first fruits and give it unto me." All of that is in Joshua. Glory to God. Glory to God. Safety first. The kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. The Hittites, the Jebusites, the Gerasites, all of them, the Ammonites. Say, "All will be added unto you if you bring me the first fruits." So Jericho, in essence, was a first fruit offering. It was a first fruit offering, and it determined the next victory. If they didn't do this right, they would be defeated. And if you know your Bible, you already know that one, that Achan stole some of the things that should have been given to God, and they were defeated at Ai. A little bit of the old Ai. Something you should have been able to overcome. But because of disobedience in your life, many battles you don't win because of the disobedience that preceded the battle. Anytime the enemy knows that you're about to get into a fight, he'll tempt you with disobedience so that you won't have the strategic advantage to be able to move in and get the victory. And I want somebody that's under great temptation to hold out a little while longer. You can stop it. Hold it back. Because if you do this and get this right, everything else that's coming after it, God's going to open up the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing you won't have room enough to receive. Am I talking good? And so we have come now to understand this. And what we must understand about this is that God is not giving them the land because they are hungry. Because he had fed them all through the wilderness for 40 years. God is not giving them the land because they are in need. Because he has supplied all of their needs, even in the wilderness. God is giving them the land according to his purpose. The companion book to the Book of Joshua in the New Testament is the book of Ephesians. And both of them start out with giving him, "Blessed be God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who have blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places." They're both talking about the gifts that God has given unto us. And so when Ephesians starts out, it starts talking about, "As He has purposed in Himself, He has given it unto you." Glory to God. Somebody shout, "Purpose." "As He, God, has given to me." "As He has purposed in Himself." So don't be mad. It's not my fault. I didn't give it to me. He gave me what I was supposed to have. My brother was over there singing a minute ago. He was singing his face off. I'd like to sing like that if I could sing like that. I said, "Notes in and request myself to say, glory to God, I would, I would send an anonymous note in and said, 'We need Bishop Jakes to come sing a solo.'" Glory to God. Hallelujah. And then when they call my name, I say, [Applause] "Okay." But God didn't give me that, so I can't possess that. If I get envious, I become covetous because God has not purposed to give that to me. He purposed to give me something else. And anytime you become envious of other people, you become covetous. And the Bible tells us not to be covetous of that which He has purposed to give to someone else. Because God might not have given you that, but He gave you something, and you need to explore what God has given you. Oh, somebody bring me a dump truck and somebody bring me a backhoe, 'cause I'm getting ready to do some excavating in here. Because there's somebody sitting here thinking that you don't have anything. The devil is a liar. There's not a person in this room that God has not purposed for you to have certain gifts that exist down inside of you, and He has given it to you. But are you going to possess it, or are you going to murmur and complain and become petty and religious and sanctimonious? Some of the most bitter people are sanctimonious, always judging other people because they have no appreciation for what God has given them. They sit in the seat of judgment. God has a purpose. He has predestined everything according to His own will. I looked up purpose. Purpose is, uh, it literally means the reason for which something is done or created, or for which something exists. The reason, the reason for which something is done or created, for which something exists. That's its purpose. The purpose of this black box is to be an instrument that produces sound so that as I am speaking, I can hear myself. I could use it for a lot of things. I could sit on it. I'd probably crush it, but I could sit on it. But that's not its purpose. I can stand it up sideways and eat dinner on it, but that's not its purpose. What I must do is find its highest and best use because it was designed for a purpose. And if I use it correctly, I am using it for its highest purpose. And if I use it for anything else, I am abusing it. Yeah. So all the people that contorted you into what they needed rather than what He had purposed. [Applause] [Music] They abused you. The reason for which a thing exists or was created is its purpose. So purpose is not about what happened. It's about why. It's about why. And I have noticed the funniest thing about most people. Most people, when they call you and they say, "I got something to tell you," you know. And then generally, you know, there's some gossip. And if you're a gossiper and you're petty, you say, "Child, what happened?" Nobody says, "Child, why did it happen?" Because petty always wants to know what. [Music] Purpose always wants to know why. I don't, I, I don't know why my son is two inches taller than me. But God purposed it to be so. I eat my Wheaties. I went to bed at night. I grew as tall as I could grow. I didn't expect him to outgrow me. I started out, he was just a little bundle in my hand, and now he's kissing me on the top of my head, which kind of gets on my nerves sometimes, just a little bit, because he wants me to know he's taller than me. But for whatever reason, he needs to be 6'4" and I need to be 6'2". God purposed it. Got purpose for me to be born at the time that I'm born, to live in the era that I'm in, in the generation that I'm in. So why should I be jealous of somebody older or younger? Because I am called for such a time as this. This is my hour right now. This is my time right now. The meanest, pettiest people are people who miss their time. Saul wanted to kill David because he missed his time. You'll never be jealous of anybody if you maximize your time. Oh, I'm preaching good. I'm about to raise saying, and until I'm preaching better than you shouting, let me tell you something. God created you for such a time as this. He didn't mean for you to be born any earlier. He didn't mean for you to be born any later. He created you for the time you are right now. Stop despising your age. Stop despising your stage. God has equipped you for the hour that He created you to shine in. Because God had a plan from the beginning. He had a plan. He had a purpose. He had something for you to do. God had a purpose for your life. [Music] And when you stop worrying about what happened and start seeking why, then you begin to understand that all things work together for the good of them that love the Lord, who are the. Come on. Who are the? Who are the called according to His. Yeah, yeah. So even if it wasn't good, it's gonna work for my good because it's working according to His purpose. Even if I had to relocate, even if we had to move five times when I was growing up, even if my father didn't raise me, even if I didn't know my mother, even if I was adopted, God has a purpose for my life. And when I stop crying about the what, then I can explore the why. I am attempting to get around the fringes of describing the psychology of God, the mind of God. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Your God is a mastermind. He has determined the end from the beginning. Glory to God. He has fixed the last before He started the first. God's mind is so infinite that before Adam fell, the lamb was slain from the foundations of the world. That means before the question was formed, God already has the answer. Come on. Before the sickness came, the cure was already there. Before the problem arose, God already had the answer. Jesus says, "I am the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the Father, save me." Come by me. God already has the answer. He's given it to you. But are you going to possess it? Purpose gets into the mind of God, the, the strategy of God. But God never reacts. He only acts. Whenever you react, you are the person who acted first is in control, and you are responding to them. God isn't responding. He acts. He's sovereign. He's absolute. He, he causes all things to work according to His will. He has never been surprised. He said, "I saw you when you were up under the tree. I saw you in the dark, in the blackness at night, with all the lights off. I saw you. I know what's in you." All things are naked before Him, with whom we have to do. So why are you trying to impress God with your religious phony self when you are naked before Him? I know your thoughts are far off. While you're getting your plan together, God said, "I already heard it before, before you ever even thought it." I'm God. I work things after the counsel of my own will. I called it the psychology of God. The, the more theological term would be omniscient. God is all-knowing. Seeing where we get sighing. God already knows. He already knows everything from the very beginning of time. You cannot teach Him. You cannot inform Him. He only asks you to pray so you can come into agreement with Him because God already knows. Okay? Do you hear what I'm saying? Now, the reason I'm talking this way is because I want you to understand the purpose of God. I tell people, and Adam, in no way comparing myself to God, but just for a purpose of illustration, I hardly do anything that isn't connected to the next thing. That's a strategy. I hardly do anything that isn't connected to the next thing, that isn't connected to the next thing, that isn't connected to the next thing. That's why there is a continuum in the scriptures. What starts out as redemptive in Genesis ends as redemptive in Revelation. It starts out with the blood of an innocent animal, and all through the Old Testament, we keep seeing the trail of blood running through Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Numbers. It runs all the way up to the Book of Revelation through the New Testament without breaking its properties, its influence, or its purpose. Because God had determined it from the beginning. And everything led to the next thing, to the next thing, to the next thing, to the next thing. And you're just a part of the continuum. You, you're just a link in a chain of events. Are y'all getting what I'm saying? And so He meant for you to be born. He meant for you to come at this time. He meant for you to be broken in a certain place. He meant for you to have certain needs. It's part of His plan. It was part of Jesus' plan that when He took the two fish and five loaves of bread, He knew when He took it, He was gonna break it. He couldn't bless it if He didn't break it. Because the blessing was in the breaking, and the breaking was in the blessing. And God determined, "I'm going to multiply it by breaking it." All the broken people ought to shout me down. He sits on the circle of the Earth. Heaven is His throne, and Earth is His footstool. God's got all things up under His control. Give you another word. He's sovereign. He's sovereign. He completely reigns. He's never out of control. He's got complete control of everything going on at all times, in all places. He is not just Lord in the earth. He's Lord under the earth. He's Lord above the earth. That the name of Jesus should be exalted above everything. That at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth. He's Lord of all, or He's not Lord at all. Lord, I can't hardly get off my first point. I'm still stuck on my first point. Somebody shout, "Purpose." When you know the purpose of God, you stop struggling. You stop struggling. You stop crying. If you got to go, go. You're gonna leave me. See, all that left me couldn't stay. All that stayed couldn't leave. What God has purposed for me is for me. You can't get it. You can't take it. You can't rob it from me. It's mine. I'm gonna get it. It's mine. It's mine. It won't open up till I get there. When I get there, the door will open. When I get there, the way will be made. When I get there, the waters will part. When I get there, I'll walk across on dry ground. When I get there, the wall will crumble. This wall has been waiting on me to walk up to it. As soon as I walk up to it, it's gonna fall. Like open sesame, it's gonna move out of my way because it's for me. Somebody shout, "It's for me." When you start understanding the why. And let me tell you something, ministers, you cannot help people if you are focused on what they did. If you focus on what they did, you are petty. Ministry begins when you start praying about why [Music] they did it. The problem with the world today, we have too many "what" preachers and not enough "why." They know principles. They know when you broke a principle. They know that your disciples shouldn't be eating corn on the Sabbath day. They know that you shouldn't be healing this woman on the Sabbath day. Don't you know the sun has gone down? They know what. They don't know why. What will make you bitter and petty? What will make you miss your purpose? You want to know why? Greatest question is why. Everything begins with why. And until you start asking why, you'll never be a great pastor. You'll never be a great preacher. You'll never be a great orator. You must ask why when you read the text. You must ask why when you face the people. You must ask why when you hear the news. You must ask why. Because you can't get in there where the surgery needs to occur to make them better if you don't know why. If you're walking, if Mephibosheth comes stumbling up to you, and you don't know why he's stumbling, you'll make fun of him. But if you understand why that somebody dropped him, you'll be able to minister to him more effectively because you understand why. When you understand why, you say, "It was good for me that I was afflicted. Had I not been afflicted, I would have never discovered the purpose of God for my life." Am I talking to anybody tonight? So we're studying the purpose of God, which He hath purposed in Himself. Oh, I live and stop. God, let me stop. Which He had purposed in Himself. He has purposed it in Himself. He didn't meet with the board. He didn't talk with the committee. He didn't give the legislators to vote on it. He didn't ask Congress to pass a law. Everything that God ever set out to do, because He's sovereign, He purposed it Himself. When He said, "Let there be light," there was light because He purposed it in Himself. When He said, "Our servant, separate the firmaments above the water from the firmaments beneath the water," because He purposed in Himself. When He got ready to make man, He didn't need a woman. He said, "Let Us make man in Our likeness and in Our image," because there's nothing in the Godhead that God needed to complete Him. [Applause] He purposed in Himself. If He purposes me to live, I'll live. If He purposes me to die, I'll die. If the car wreck wasn't meant to kill me, I don't care if it's a head-on collision at 90 miles an hour, I'll get out. The plane can crash and I'll walk away. What God has for me is for me. I'm talking about the purpose of God. You can't have faith till you learn this. This is what your faith is built on. This is a recipe of your faith. Your faith must rest in the purpose of God. Jesus didn't teach half faith. He said, "Have faith in God." [Applause] Oh, you hearing what I'm saying? [Applause] Stop. He didn't mean for Abraham to have a son when he was strong and burrowed, because who wants to write about that? Everybody does that. He waited till his body was good as dead and his wife was past childbearing. Hey, she had gone through the change and she couldn't have had a child before she went through the change. And when it was impossible with men, God purposed, "Now I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna put my signature on it. You're gonna know it was me that did it." As soon as you discover that you can't do it, you're gonna find out that it was me that did it. You still got to go in the tent, but it's gonna be me that did it. You, you still got to spend the night, but it's gonna be me that did it. Don't you walk out the tent with your chest all stuck out, old man, because it was me that gave you power. Oh, it is God that gives us power to get well. It is God that gives us the power to get wealth. He doesn't give us a wealth, He gives us the power. Glory to God. [Tumbles] [Applause] Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Tell your neighbor, "I got the power to get well." "I got the power." He's already given me the power. God's already given me the power to get well. I have the power to get well. I have the power to preach the word. I have the power to pass through this church. I have the power to raise my children. I have the power to be my wife's husband. He's giving me the power. Glory to God. I feel the power right now. Somebody shout, "I got the power." You better not walk out on this stage and not know you got the power. This stage will beat you to death if you don't know you got the power. You got to walk out of here and know when you get out of here that you have the power. You got the power because God has purposed you to be in a place for such a time as this. Am I talking good tonight? [Applause] Let's talk a little bit about petty, because purpose isn't petty. And you have to understand what it means to be petty. To be petty literally means of little importance, trivial, as in both groups are known to be petty. And I want, I want you to think about this. He didn't say that petty meant non-consequential. It didn't say that it didn't have any value. Just little value, trivial matters. Doesn't mean that it's not, that it doesn't matter. It's trivial. Petty people always focus on trivial things, small-minded, spiteful ways, as in, "He was prone to be petty revenge on friends and family." Narrow-minded, of secondary or lesser importance, lower rank, smaller scale, minor, a petty official. Now, what I want you to understand about this, that just because they are petty doesn't mean it doesn't have any merit. It just means that it's minor, small, trivial things. Petty persons, showing or caused by meanness of spirit. A petty revenge is a petty person. You'd be surprised. Now, this is gonna rock some people's world. You'd be surprised at how many people who are saved, are saved. [Applause] But they're still [Music] petty. They're still petty. The, the reason I said purpose isn't petty is because most religious people who were sanctimonious and would read this text would never see that the gateway to possessing the first city would be a prostitute. In fact, most people would never believe that God, who you just got through saying about is holy, holy, holy, holy, would designate a hooker, hooker, hooker [Applause] to be the host, host, host for the prophet, prophet, prophet. Write me a song about that. Write me a song about of all the people in Jericho that God would use a harlot and place her house on the wall. [Music] He placed the prostitute on the wall, positioned her in a particular place to be the gatekeeper to His promise. Petty people couldn't see past what she was. Oh, I'm gonna preach before I leave here. They couldn't see His verse, what she was, to see why she was. Petty people would never ask, "Why has God put her on the wall?" They didn't know that she was on the wall not just so she could turn tricks, but so the spies could escape, so that she could drop a scarlet cord down the wall and establish her bloodline. [Applause] Purpose isn't petty. And you won't really begin to fully get God till you understand that God is a God of purpose and not a God of petty. That's why God uses people you don't like. Come on, come on, somebody be real. Has there ever been somebody that you didn't like, and God used them anyway? And you tried to sit on them, and they got on your nerves, and you knew they owed you some money, and they still ain't paid you the money back, and there they are shouting all over the church, and you don't want to get with them because they two months behind on the rent, and the check they wrote you bounced, and all the while you hating on them about the check, they just falling out up under the anointing, and you can feel the anointing, but you don't want to accept the anointing because you still seeing the check. Come on, come on, come on, come on. You must understand that God exalts nothing above His purpose. So I'm not saying to you, "See petty." It doesn't mean that you don't have an issue. It means that it's menial in comparison to the purpose of God. Oh, I'm a mess with your head a little bit. To accomplish His purpose, He will speak through an ass. I know I'm in the Bible. To accomplish His purpose, He will use prostitutes and hookers and idolaters and whoremongers to accomplish His purpose. Because God does not exalt the petty above the purpose. [Applause] That's why He uses you with your nasty, crazy self. How dare you sit there and not praise God? I think I'm talking about Rahab. I ain't talking about Rahab. I'm talking about you and all your nasty stuff. And yet God blessed you, and yet God used you, and yet God raised you, and yet God perfected you. You ought to shout the whole house down because you know, you know, you know, if it were not for the purpose of God, you would be swallowed up right now. Forget what you did. Let's talk about what you're thinking. Let's talk about what's running through your mind. Let's talk about what's going through your head. If God put your thoughts on loudspeaker, what nobody want to ever hear you testify ever again in your life. But because God didn't petty, He keeps on blessing you. And then you can't give Him a praise. You ought to praise Him more than anybody in the whole house. You know you got a house on the wall. You know you got a house on the wall. [Applause] Oh, I'm gonna mess with you a little bit. I'm gonna mess with you a little bit. I'ma mess with you a little bit. But if you don't understand this, you will never understand grace. If you don't understand grace, you will be self-righteous and look down your nose at other people. If you don't understand grace, it'll be hard for us to get you to praise God. It shouldn't be this hard to get a praise. You, it shouldn't take somebody who thinks that good to get a praise. I came up at the church where nobody in the whole church could sing like that. It'd be a bunch of old scratchy voice, old church mothers beating on a snare drum. Sometimes the drum didn't have no stand. The drum would be sitting in a chair, and they beating in the chair, and everything. I get joy when I think about what it does for me. I get joy when I think about what He's done for me. I get joy when I think about what He's done for me. I didn't join when I think about it. [Music] Please don't come home. You didn't get a riff. You didn't get a run. They didn't change a key. They weren't melodious. You didn't want a CD. You didn't want an album. You didn't want an MP3. But the Holy Ghost fell. [Music] And the reason the Holy Ghost fell is because we were caught up into the purpose and not the petty. Now we're so busy listening at how good they sound that we can't hear what they're singing about. [Applause] Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Joshua 6 messes up all my theology. I knew God used priests. I knew God used prophets. I didn't know God used hookers. [Applause] Priests, prophets, prostitute. [Music] I intended to go to no strip club. That's not what I'm saying. Don't misquote me. That's what I hate about TikTok. They'll take one little phrase and put it on TikTok, and everybody'll be fighting and arguing about one little phrase because they heard what you said. [Music] [Applause] They didn't hear why you said it. Not only was she a prostitute, she was a liar. God used her life. When they was looking for the spies, she said, "I ain't seen none of them. I don't know where none of them are." See, God couldn't have used no church mother. God this done because the church, they in the kitchen right now. They sit by the sink right now, going in there and get them. God needed her to that wasn't a friend. [Applause] She lied to protect the spies. Now, what we're talking about, get this. I want you to write this down. What we're talking about is a struggle between principles and purpose. It's not that the principles are bad. It's just that anytime your principles become more important than your purpose, you have missed who your God is. There is a struggle between principles and purpose. And when it comes down to a choice between principles and purpose, God will always choose His purpose. The law was principles. And the Bible said, "What the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin condemned sin in the flesh, that we might be the righteousness of God." If God was more concerned about principles than purpose, then the law would have saved the world. The law was nothing but principles. You can only walk so far. You can only move so much. You can always say when the sun goes down. You can't do the woe unto the neighbor. Do not mix this fabric with that fabric. The law was nothing but principles. So we struggle between purpose and principles. Should we disregard the principle? Absolutely not. It's just that we cannot exalt our principles above His purpose. Because sometimes God uses people that you wouldn't approve of to accomplish His purpose in your life. Are you hearing what I'm saying to you? Let's go a little deeper because I want to, I want to unravel this. Look at Amos 3:1-2-3-4. Minute. Amos chapter 3, verse 1-3. "Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying, You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities." God is talking to His people. He says, "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" How many times have you heard that third verse? But you didn't hear those first two. So we use that to walk together. Say, "They agree to talk about human relationships." Well, Lord have mercy. If that's true, I'd have got a divorce the first year I was married today. Because we got two cars. We ever get down to one car? I don't know. I don't know. I'm just saying, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. But we don't agree. I'm packed for next week. My wife don't know what she gonna wear tomorrow yet. We've been married 42 years. We walk together through life, through death, through sickness, through health, for better for worse, for richer for poorer. But it wasn't because we always agreed. Right in the middle of the worst places, we've had some of the worst arguments because I thought we ought to do this, and she thought we ought to do that. So when we take this scripture that is about God's relationship with His people, and He says, "If you're going to walk with Me, you got to be in agreement with Me, even if you're not in agreement with each other." And when you take the text out of context and apply it to people, [Music] what are you doing at Rahab's house? How can two walk together save their grief? It don't look right for you to be up there. Truth out of context is a lie. God wasn't concerned about it. I'll show you another. Second Corinthians chapter 6, verse 15-18. Take a look at this. "And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? Come on. And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Come on. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." Did He say it? Absolutely. Did He mean it? Absolutely. Who was He talking to? Why did He say it? He was talking to Corinth, who was establishing new converts. They were new converts in the middle of orgies and idolatry and evil and wickedness. And He told them to come out from among them and be separate. You're not ready. You can't.
Handle it. You get drunk off of communion. You're committing incest in the house. You're not ready to witness to these people. Come out from among them and be ye separate, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people. Because I see you, you're worshiping me and Belial.
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Why would God say to all of the church, "Come out from the world and be separate," and then turn around and say, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every living creature"? I can't go into all the world and come out at the same time. Anytime the text is taken out of context, you destroy the validity of the text. I'll show you one more. Proverbs 13:22. Take a look. "A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children: and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just." Take a look at this. The wealth of the sinner is laid up for the if it's laid up for the just, how you gonna pull it down if you don't touch them? If you don't talk to them? If you can't be seen with them? If you can't go anywhere with them? If you don't have no business with them? If you're supposed to remain separate from it, how is there going to be a download of wealth? In our text, there is a download of wealth. The wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just. But in order to get it, you had to go in where sinners go. In order to get it, in order to get it, you had to go in the rehab's house. In order to get it, you had to be entangled with people, and it didn't look good. But in order to get the download, God didn't promise to bless you through church folk. I'm gonna say it again for the people in the back. God didn't promise to bless you through church folks. I see Christians say some crazy stuff. "My, my, my physician, my surgeon was a Christian." That's nice, but can he operate? All right. "My pilot is filled with the Holy Ghost." But can he fly?
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What are you doing with so and so? And they've been on my Twitter all the time. What are you doing with sons of? What are you doing with social? You with sinners all the time? You got on the plane, you didn't ask the pilot was he saved. You go to the family reunion, it was your drunk uncle, and you still at the family reunion, and you brought potato salad. But the moment you see somebody else, you turn up your nose because you heard something about them. Now they're untouchable. Suppose they said to the spy, "Don't stay in her house." If you that, in fact, that's what the disciples did with Jesus. They said, "If Jesus knew what kind of woman that was that washed his feet, he was tougher." How could Jesus not know that she was a sinner woman? Glory to God. And yet Jesus took his feet out and let this woman wash his feet. Some of you are more religious than God. And I hope you're watching tonight so I can tell you to your face, because you're two-faced and you're phony. You'll work with sinners. You're married to sinners. Your children are sinners. They smoking dope in the attic. And there you are, turning up your nose, talking about other people. How can the love of God dwell in you? You're petty. You're petty. You're petty. You're petty. You're petty. You're petty. You don't see purpose.
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God used Rahab's platform to take the whole city. He didn't use a believer. He used the prostitute. Rahab saved the spies, and in the 20th to the 21st through the 25th verse. Now, because she saved the spies, now they saved her. Come on, go with me. Read it again. See if I'm wrong. Wait a minute. They didn't just save her. They saved her whole family.
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They say they saved her father. They saved her mother. And then about him says, "They saved all them that were with her." Who were they? They wasn't children.
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Can I spend three minutes on this? Sometimes you get blessed just because of who you connected to. Her daddy didn't do anything to deserve to be saved. Her mother didn't do anything to deserve to be saved. And they that were with her, show didn't do nothing to deserve to be saved. But because they were connected to one person, God saved everything in the house. Because of one person. You didn't get here by yourself. When God gets ready to deliver you, God will deliver you. Her brothers got saved. Her sisters got saved. And everything that belonged to her got saved. They brought the entire family out and saved everything that was in her house because of one woman. While you chewing on that, let me throw something else at you. If you happen to be one of Noah's kids, you never drowned in the flood because of who your daddy was. Glory to God. They didn't do anything. They just happened to be in the right house. And when God saved Noah, he saved everything in his house. News flash. God said, "I want to save everything in your house. Everything connected to you. Everything born out of your loins. Everything adopted in your family." When God gets ready to bring you out, he's going to bring out people who didn't earn it and didn't deserve it, but he's going to pull them out. That's how I got saved. I got connected with Jesus. And when I got connected with Jesus, when God saved him and raised him from the dead, I got up with him. Not because I'm good, but because I'm connected. Slap somebody and say, "You need to be connected."
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I'm almost finished. Can I go a little deeper?
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Joshua 6:20-25 is a profound, prolific, articulate depiction of the grace of God because it proves to us that God kept his word to a prostitute. Because the text says, "As they, as the wall came down, the text said, 'Go find Rahab and save everybody in her house according to your oath.'" And God saved everybody in the house because he kept his word to a prostitute. Now, here's my question for you. If God kept his word to a prostitute, then what makes you think that God won't keep his word toward you? If God kept his word and was careful to separate her from the wrath to come, and the Bible said they pulled her whole family out and set her outside the house of Israel, so that when the city was burning down, Rahab didn't burn up. Oh, at the times I should have burned up, but I didn't burn up because God set me aside and saved me. And I'm not praising him because I'm good. I'm praising him because I'm not. I'm not praising him because I'm worthy. I'm praising him because I'm not. Let me say it like my old folks used to say, "When I think of the goodness of Jesus and all that he's done for me, my soul cries out, Hallelujah! Thank God for saving me!" Somebody give him 30 seconds of crazy praise. Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, come on, and feel the anointing of the Holy Ghost in here and praise it. You came so close that you could smell the smoke, but God delivered you. You came so close that you shouldn't cut on fire, but God brought you out. And you all kind of praise for everything he's done in your life. Somebody shout, "Yes!"
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Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Slap somebody and tell them, "I'm not on fire. My neighbors are on fire. My classmates are on fire. My next-door neighbor's on fire, but God saved my life. He set me aside. He made a way out of nowhere. He delivered me from all of my transgressions. To God be the glory." I bet Rahab was outside the city giving God a praise because she knew she should have been in the fire, but because God delivered her, she said, "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I was one last time, but now I'm proud. I was blind, but now I see." I need a rest to praise him. I need a rest. I'm done. I need a drug addict. I need a drug dealer. I need a drunk, a wino, a whoremonger. I need somebody to bring the hell and back to give God the praise. Praise them in the smoke. Praise Him in the storm. Craving in the flood. Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord.
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All right.
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I'm gonna be hate myself. I wanna, I wanted to read just a little bit. Can I read you a little something? The Bible did. The Bible. No, this time disruptive thinking. I wrote, uh, this little phrase. History provides another potent example of the power of unlikely alliances. God's about to give you some unlikely alliances. In 1955, the Montgomery bus boycott. After Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a city bus, leaders in the black community called for a boycott of the Montgomery public buses to demonstrate their unified protests of segregated seating. But that led to enormous logistical problems, as they would have, as they would have to provide somewhere around 20,000 rides per day for black laborers who had to get to work. Having a car was out of the financial reach of many black families in 1955. Car owners were among the wealthiest people in town. Martin Luther King Jr. and other leaders had to call on these wealthy folks to lend their vehicles to the boycott effort. King was shocked when more than 150 car owners signed up to hand over their cars at a public meeting in December. Y'all don't hear me. At the start of the boycott, the automobile was still among the prime status symbols of the United States, and therefore to volunteer one's car as public transportation was a radical act of togetherness. Taylor Branch wrote, "Imparting the Waters America in the King Years." 1934. The fractious classes of Montgomery Negroes now promise to blend their daily lives. The boycott was sustained for an astounding 13 months.
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13 months. One of the most impressive displays of alliances in American history. It ended with the Supreme Court ruling that segregation on public buses was unconstitutional. In the Bible, Cyrus the Great is mentioned more than 30 times, even though Cyrus is a Persian who doesn't even believe in Jehovah. The pagan king is important in Jewish history because it was under his rule that the Jews were first allowed to return to Israel after 70 years in captivity. In one of the most amazing prophecies of the Bible, the Lord reveals Cyrus decreed to free the Jews to Isaiah, and he says 150 years before Cyrus lived, the prophet called Cyrus by name and gives detailed tales of Cyrus' benevolence to the Jews. This is what the Lord says to his anointed, he calls Cyrus his anointed, whose right hand I take hold on to subdue nations before him. I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honor, though you do not acknowledge me. Isaiah 45 and 1. Do you hear what I'm saying? Also 41:2-23 and 42 and verse 6. Evincing his sovereignty over all nations. God says to Cyrus, to Cyrus who didn't believe in Jehovah, "He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please." I'ma stop reading there. God will use people. If you stop turning up your nose, God will raise up people that you never expected to accomplish his purpose in your life. And don't be petty and don't be narrow, because God's got something he's going to do in your life. He's going to make your enemies your footstools. He's going to raise you up. He's going to make you the head and not the tail, above and not beneath. Let me show you one scripture and I'm gonna close. I'ma finish after this. Don't you cut me off till you get this, because you gotta understand the purpose of God. They set Rahab over to the side, and Jericho was burning down. They sent her to the side, not just because she kept the spies, not just because she lied, but according to Matthew chapter 1, verse 1 through 6, Rahab was to be the mother of Boaz. Wait, wait, wait. Rahab, the harlot, is the mother of Boaz. Boaz is the one that Ruth married, and through them they begot Obed, and Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David. So when Christ was born, Rahab, the hooker, is in the lineage of Jesus Christ because God had a purpose for the woman who was a prostitute. And if you're watching me tonight, I don't care what kind of sin you're in. I'm not condoning your sin, but I am condoning your purpose. God has a purpose for your life, and if you give your life to him, he will set you aside and raise you up and give you an opportunity to do things that will blow your mind. I know this is disruptive thinking. I know I'm messing with your head. I know they told you you were cursed and there was no way God was going to use you, but the devil is alive. Jesus died so that you could be saved, so that you could be free, so that you can be delivered. And if you don't believe me, believe all of these witnesses in the church right now that have been washed in the blood of the Lamb. If you're in here, open your mouth and give God a prayer.
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Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
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Yes, yes, yes, yes. I said, open your mouth and give God a praise. I said, open your mouth and give God a praise. Let me tell you something. As I prepare the quotes, I was in my house and I was listening at a movie, and when they started playing music to the movie, I got a woofer, and the woofer always makes the bass sound louder than it is. Where my woofers turned up so loud that when they hit a certain bass note, I could feel my heart vibrate. And I start thinking about how the decibel of sound moves objects. And even though my heart wasn't near the woofer, the sound that came out of the woofer made my heart start trembling. And when I thought about that, I thought about the walls of Jericho. And the Bible said that when they blew the trumpet, that the people opened their mouth and begin to shout. It wasn't the trumpet, but it was the sound of God's people. And if we reach a certain decibel, every wall in your life is going to come down. Things that have been standing in your life for years and years, God said, "I'm gonna bring it down." But I'm waiting on you to open your mouth. "Behold, I have given you the city to possess the land." You don't need a sword. You don't need to see. Yeah, you need to open your mouth. Jesus said, "Speak to the mountain, and the mountain will get out of your way." For the next 45 seconds, I want you to open your mouth and, like you lost your mind, shout, shout, shout, shout, shout.
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Till God makes a way out of no way. The power is in your mouth. The power is in your mouth. Open your mouth and shout.
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Oh, can I tell you something? The reason some of you don't get a breakthrough is because you always give him that same old petty praise. But if you would get away from your petty praise and giving him a praise of purpose, everyone in your life is about to come down. If you open your mouth, it will come down. Good.
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Ness.
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Hear me good tonight. The glory of the Lord is in this place. The anointing of God is here. The thing that I noticed about Rahab, her life was all wrong, but her heart was so tender. She might have been a heathen. She might have been a hooker. She might have even been a liar, but there was something in her heart that was tender toward God. Maybe there's somebody watching online or in this room, you don't have no spotless record. You've done some horrible things, but there's a soft spot in your heart for God. Purpose isn't petty. If you come to him, he will set you aside.
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And save you from the wrath to come. No, no, he's not going to save you in your sins. I don't read where Rahab ever turned another trick in her life. I do read that she became a great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandmother to Jesus. And Jesus was not afraid to claim her in his bloodline. And he claimed Bathsheba, called her Uriah's wife, and he claimed Tamar, and he claimed Ruth from Moabitus. And if you come to him tonight, whether you're in this room or not, whether you've been dealing drugs or in sin or in trouble or done some things or had some things done to you that made you feel filthy the rest of your life, set you aside because the purpose of God isn't petty. Your neighbors might be petty. There might be even some people in this room that are petty. The purpose is not petty, though. You are sin is red like crimson.
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God said, "I'll wash you white as snow. I'll let you in my family tree."
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And nobody can put you out.
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