Transcription
2 Samuel chapter 13. Y'all be seated, please. I want us to start reading at verse one. If, if I'm going to read NIV for reading comprehension. Okay.
2 Samuel 13. Verse one. In the course of time, Amnon, son of David, fell in love with Tamar, the beautiful sister of Absalom, son of David. Amnon became so obsessed with his sister Tamar that he made himself ill. She was a virgin and it seemed impossible for him to do anything to her.
Now Amnon had an advisor named Jonadab, son of Shammah, David's brother. Jonadab was a very shrewd man. He asked Amnon, "Why do you, the king's son, look so haggard morning after morning? Tell me."
Amnon said to him, "I'm in love with Tamar, my brother Absalom's sister."
"Go to bed and pretend to be sick," Jonadab said. "When your father comes to see you, say to him, 'I would like my sister Tamar to come and give me something to eat. Let her prepare the food in my sight so I can watch her and then eat it from her hand.'"
Verse six. So Amnon laid down and pretended to be ill. When the king came to see him, Amnon said to him, "I would like my sister Tamar to come and make some special bread in front of me so I can eat from her hand."
David sent word to Tamar at the palace. "Go to the house of your brother Amnon and prepare him something to eat."
So Tamar went to the house of her brother Amnon, who was lying down. She took some dough, kneaded it, made the bread in his sight, and baked it. Then she took the pan and served him the bread, but he refused to eat.
"Send everyone out of here," Amnon said. So everyone left him. Then Amnon said to Tamar, "Bring the food here into my bedroom, and feed me. Feed me with your hand."
And Tamar took the bread she had prepared and brought it to her brother Amnon in his bedroom. Are y'all with me so far? Y'all reading this? But when she took it to him to eat, he grabbed her and said, "Come to bed with me, my sister."
Verse 12. "No, my brother," she said to him, "don't force me. Such a thing should not be done in Israel. Don't do this wicked thing. What about me? Where could I get rid of this disgrace? And what about you? You would be like one of the wicked fools in Israel. Please, just talk to the king. He would not keep, uh, you from being married." But he refused to listen to her. And since he was stronger than her, he raped her.
Verse 15. Then Amnon hated her with intense hatred. In fact, he hated her more than he had loved her. Amnon said to her, "Get up and get out."
"No," she said to him, "sending me away will be a greater wrong than what you've already done to me." But he refused to listen to her. He called his personal assistant and said, "Get this woman out of my sight. Lock the door behind her."
Verse 18. So his servant put her out and bolted the door after her. She was wearing an ornate robe. For this was the kind of garment the virgin daughters of the king wore. Tamar put ashes on her head and tore the robe she was wearing. She put her hands on her head and went away crying aloud as she went.
Verse 20. Her brother Absalom said to her, "Has Amnon, your brother, been with you? Don't say nothing for right now, my sister. He is your brother. Don't take this thing to heart." And Tamar lived in her brother Absalom's house, a desolate woman.
Last verse, verse 21. When King David heard all this, he was furious. And Absalom never said a word to Amnon, either good or bad. He hated Amnon because he had disgraced his sister Tamar. And to this gory word, let all of God's people say, "Amen."
>> Woo, what a heavy word on a Sunday morning. But we do believe all scripture is given by inspiration. And we know that there's nothing new under the sun. So, as heavy as this scripture was this morning, some of you had to take some breaths through it because it may not be as foreign for you as it is for everybody else. I want to speak to you this morning from a subject entitled, write this down, discerning the chaos.
>> Discerning the chaos. So, to discern, we, we say a lot of church words and oftentimes we do not have, uh, great definitions. So, I want to make sure we interpret it right. To discern means to identify, to recognize something. It means the ability to distinguish one thing from another, to discern. You know, we look in the book of Corinthians, uh, chapter 4, 1 Corinthians chapter 4, and 1 Corinthians chapter 2, and we talk about the gift of discernment, the ability to be able to tell what's holy and what's unholy, what's good and what's, what's bad. A demonic spirit from the Holy Spirit, a demonic spirit from your human spirit. Because sometimes some of you are rebuking the devil when it's not a devil to rebuke. It's a discipline you need to operate in.
>> Yes, sir.
>> Yeah. You need discernment because all of your dreams don't come from God.
>> You need discernment because all of your dreams don't come from God.
>> You need discernment because all of your dreams do not come from God. Just because you dreamed it does not mean God put it there. Right.
>> But I had this dream, so I know. No, just because you had that dream, you need to be able to discern what's the source of that dream.
>> It's easy for you to think God gave you a dream against somebody that you don't like.
>> And you're going to finally get to a place where you realize that all of your enemies are not God's enemies.
>> Just because you dislike somebody does not mean God has chosen not to use them. Somebody shout, "We need discernment."
>> I know everybody wants to prophesy and everybody wants tongues, but we need spiritual discernment.
>> Because many of us have ended up in chaos, not because we didn't have a dance. It's because we lack discernment.
>> And you don't need discernment just for the streets. You also need discernment for the church.
>> 'Cause everything that's loud is not God. Amen.
>> And everybody who's spiritual is not holy.
>> Glory be to God. Hallelujah. I'ma sit in that right there for a second. You hear me? This hour we're coming in, y'all got to be careful. And this hour that we have stepped in is a very spiritually charged hour. And just because people are accurate with their gift does not mean God is using them. A witch can tell you your future.
>> Yes, sir.
>> Yes, sir.
>> Glory be to God. A sorcerer, glory be to God, can tell you about your makeup and a, and your, and your horoscope can reveal to you your characteristics and attributes. Accuracy doesn't mean it's holy.
>> A demon can follow you long enough to mimic your movements. Scream at somebody. Tell them you need discernment in this hour, in this AI hour that we're operating in.
>> Don't you realize that's enough information about you online right now that they can create a whole profile on you?
>> Glory be to God. Once you walk through the airport one time, they have your image a thousand times over. Somebody recently, uh, shared with me, uh, a conversation that they had been having supposedly with me. They sent me, my office, the audio of a conversation I had been having with them. And we had to let the person know that although it sounds like me, it's not me. My voice is out there enough that people had downloaded the intonations and the reflective sound of my voice and they were able to put their own words to my sound to make people think it's me. I want to hear you. I want you to hear me now. This is why you got to stay close to the Lord in this hour. Because just because it sounds like God don't mean it's God. Somebody shout discernment.
>> Discernment.
>> The word chaos means complete disorder.
>> Chaos means confusion and dysfunction. I want to talk about this because I want you to know that order is of the Lord. Now, some of you, because you're so accustomed to chaos, order is boring for you. Some of you need drama to feel at home. That if you came into a good relationship, you would have to mess it up with jealousy just so you could feel loved. You need somebody to fight for you. I know it's Sunday morning. I'm just going to walk just like this.
>> Look at your neighbor. Tell your neighbor, "I know you want to be blessed, but," tell her, "but can you handle being blessed?"
>> See, some of y'all can't even shout unless it's a shout based upon you getting a breakthrough. I mean, have you ever cried in the presence of the Lord because of the presence of the Lord?
>> Oh, come on. You better praise him 'cause you're going to get a check in the mail. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Come on and praise him 'cause he's going to heal your body. Yes. Yes. Yes. Come on and praise him 'cause he's going to touch your family. Yes. Yes. Come on and praise him 'cause he's God.
>> Isn't it something that some of us always need an emergency to be passionate about God? To the point you'll start creating situations. You'll start pursuing circumstances just so you'll feel at home. Touch somebody on the left and the right, or you tell them, "Get well soon."
>> I mean, to the point, some of you are so accustomed to being rejected that even if people supported you, you wouldn't believe it.
>> Oh, I'm coming as a prophet this morning. I mean, if, if people says, "Oh, we're so happy for you." She really not happy for me.
>> Somebody shout, "Chaos."
>> You have to discern it. Some of us are always surviving the chaos. And because we're always surviving the chaos and not discerning it, we find ourselves in a cycle consistently with dysfunction and chaos. That was a gory text for me to read this morning. I just want to unpack it just for a few moments. Um, as we're in 2 Samuel, I call a lot of names, but we would all agree that the protagonist of the book of 2 Samuel as a whole, not just as a chapter, is our beloved David.
>> 23rd Psalm, the Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. David coloring book animation David and Goliath. But how many of y'all know that David is a little bit more dynamic than the story of David and Goliath? Because anointed people are complicated people. See, you like 23rd Psalm David, but you also got to deal with the Bathsheba David. Tell your neighbor, "I am anointed."
>> And tell them, "And very complicated."
>> Did y'all know y'all? Did you? Did you know you're complicated? If you don't, if you don't know you're complicated, ask the people that you live with. Ask the person that you're in a relationship with. Anointed people are complicated people. But I want to speak to you while we're all preparing to reign. All of you that are like David, you're going to reign in business and you're going to reign in education. You, you, you're going to overtake the kingdom of this world. You're going to reign. Hear me. While you're reigning, don't let the enemy get in your house.
>> David is anointed, but his life and his family is surrounded and engulfed in chaos. See, one of the hardest things I ever have to wrap my mind around with is that you can be forgiven and still have to walk out consequences.
>> No, really. I, I grew up with a man by the name of Chief. His name was Odell Hall, but we called him Chief. Actually, was Bishop Hall's, uh, uncle. Chief was, was, was an alcoholic ever since I came in the world. He drank all the time to the point. I'll never forget one day it was raining and Chief had blacked out in the ditch and my grandma said, "Come on, help me go down here and get Chief out the ditch. Chief just drank all the time." But Chief finally got saved. I mean, he showed up, got saved. And when he got saved, he did not miss a church service. He didn't miss a revival, a prayer meeting. He was at everything, right? And then Chief went to the doctor one day and the doctor says, "Your liver is totally destroyed." He had been forgiven and still had to walk out the consequence.
>> This is why every once in a while, we don't need to shout for harvest. We need to shout for crop failure.
>> Come on. I want you to take five seconds and thank God that you didn't have to reap everything you sow. Do it now. Okay, look at y'all. You, you let it be told you've been the victim to every situation. But if you be honest, there are moments in your life you weren't the victim. You were the villain. And you better thank God because if everything you ever sowed had to come back on you, you may as well shut down shop right now. Because of what David did, there was a prophecy that said, "The sword will never leave your house."
>> I need you to look at your neighbor and tell your neighbor, "I know you are saved."
>> Okay, y'all. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Y'all got to bring your voice up to where I am. Tell them, "I know you're saved."
>> But it matters how you live.
>> Yes. By grace, not by works, lest any man should boast. But he says, "Therefore, glorify God in your mortal body." You can shout, you can't shout, preach, and sing and live like the devil all week and think God blesses it. It matters how you live. Oh, I didn't come to beat you up this morning. I came to encourage you to tell you just because you're young, hallelujah, don't let the devil trick you and tell you you're young, live your own life. Do like you want to do. Don't let them trust people try to control you. See, you see it as control when really God is trying to preserve you. He's trying to say, "Anybody other than me." You look back over some days of your past and you wish you would have listened to somebody because it matters.
>> 'Cause if you sow into the flesh, you reap in the flesh.
>> You sow corruption, you reap, you reap corruption.
>> Tell your neighbor, "I can't do anything about the past." But tell her, "I'm pursuing holiness right here in my, in where I'm now." See, I'm not trying to figure out what I can get away with. I'm trying to figure out how I can please God. See, at some point, you need to stop trying to find out what you can do and still be saved. Find out what you can do to glorify God. I want to glorify him in my conversation. I want to glorify him in my relationships. And I know somebody here right now wishes you didn't come to church on this Sunday. But I want you to know God wants you in this place. And you won't be able to unhear what you're hearing right now. There's a trumpet that's being blown in this room. And I hear the Lord say to you in this room, "If you let me recalibrate you, you will never have to repeat the season you just came out of. If you let me reset you." I need somebody in this room. If you're hearing the Holy Ghost, open up your mouth and shout right now.
>> Tell somebody, tell them, "Don't let the enemy in your house. Don't let the enemy in your house." And I'm not just talking about your physical house. Don't let the enemy get through your ear gates. Don't let the enemy get through your eye gates. Scream at somebody. Tell them, "Protect your house. While you're making money moves, protect your house. While you've been walking up the corporate ladder, protect your house. While you're becoming a ministry wonder, protect your house. Come on, married people. Find another married person and tell them, 'Protect your house.' Sometimes you got to come off of social media and protect your house. Sometimes you need to pull over the phone and find out what your children are looking at and protect your house. Go to the, I feel the Holy Ghost on me. Send word down and tell them, 'Protect your house.' Cover what God has given you. Come on, elders and leaders, protect your house. God gave you hard the city. He didn't make you an elder just to be a wonder. He didn't make you a deacon just to think about the church on Sunday. Sometimes you got to get out of your bed in the morning and say, 'Lord, cover the city. Lord, cover my pastor.' Oh, you see, it's not about your personal destiny. We got a corporate destiny we got to protect." Scream this to protect the house. Come on, worship team. Protect the house. Come on, leaders. Protect the house. Don't let the enemy in. Protect the house because what's happening? David is reigning, but the enemy is coming in the house. The Bible says, let me do this real quick. Y'all be seated real quick. The Bible says Amnon, David's son, loved his sister. Hear me. He loved his sister, but then it sat on him and it turned into obsession.
>> And then love turned into lust.
>> Lust is not a craving, it's an unmastered craving.
>> It's one thing for you to have desire, but you better make sure you master those desires. You can't always control the way you feel, but you can control how you respond to it. Why was he obsessed with her? 'Cause the Bible said she was a virgin. And you have to realize that there's some people who don't want you. They want what you have.
>> Hallelujah. And while you're struggling with your proclivities, while you're struggling with your weaknesses, you have to be very careful who you have company with. Glory be to God. Some of you only hang around people that got your same problem. And if the people you hang around that got your same problem, they can't pull you out no further than they didn't pull themselves out. You don't need to be around people that got your problem. You need to be around people who got your solution. Come on, married people. You need friends with married people. You can't keep on hanging around single people and think you're going to have a healthy marriage. You need to be around married people who like being married. Come on, some, oh, y'all not saying nothing to me. You need. Come on, saints. Come on, single people. You don't need to hang around fornicating single people. You need to hang around single people who are trying to wait. At least they're trying to be celibate. At least they're not people who are trying to make excuses for sin. The Bible says Amnon has this lust, this lustful, unmastered craving, but he's hanging around Jonadab, his cousin. And his cousin Jonadab says, "What's going on with you? What's wrong?" Listen, I want you to write this down. Everyone who picks up your weakness is not there to help you get delivered.
>> The reason why I want to say this, and I feel this in the Holy Ghost, I feel this in the Holy Ghost. And Pastor Russell hadn't said nothing to me about this, but I feel this in the Holy Ghost. Even in this house, because of where God is about to bring you to, you need to be mindful about your associations. Because some of you will always think it's the enemy on the outside that tries to lure you away. But some of us church babies who grew up in church, we can say some of our biggest hindrances were not people on the outside of the church. It was people on the inside.
>> Jonadab picks up his weakness, but he says, "What's going on with you?" and he revealed his struggle to his cousin. And his cousin says, "Well, I tell you, it's simple. You know your daddy won't hold nothing back from you." He says, "Act like you're sick and then tell your father to send your sister to you to handfeed you." Hear me. What I'm saying to you people of God, if it's secretive, if it's deceitful, if it's manipulation, is not God. I want to talk to all of you. I want to expose the enemy that will get in your inbox but won't speak to you in public. I want to expose the enemy who always has something to whisper. I want to expose the enemy of people coming into your life always saying, "It's just between me and you." Why is it that it's always just between me and you? At some point, if it's honest, if it's holy, if it's true, it don't have to be secretive. And I want to speak to somebody in this room. You're too valuable to be anybody's secret in this season. I know it takes a while to know where y'all stand. But ain't the devil a liar. It don't take six months to find out what we're doing and who we are and where we're going. I want to expose the enemy because he's not just talking to you. He's talking to her and him. I want you to get a revelation.
>> Scream at somebody. Tell them, "I'm nobody's secret."
>> Hear me what I'm saying to you.
>> He, he lured her in. And when he lured her, are y'all, y'all with me? Right? Y'all with me? He lured her in and he started pretending to be sick. I want y'all to know, I feel the Holy Ghost here.
>> I want you to have discernment in this hour because some of you all are being lured in by your good intentions.
>> People will stay sick for your attention. They will stay broke for your attention.
>> They'll stay wounded for your. They don't really want to be healed.
>> They just want the attention that comes with sickness.
>> They want the attention that comes with being broken.
>> Hallelujah. You got to be very careful because some of y'all will stay up to two and three o'clock in the morning counseling people. You're sitting up to two and three. You can't, you haven't done your work. You're being distracted by the enemy. You got, oh, you didn't. Oh, so you thought warfare? You thought warfare was just somebody climbing up a wall and speaking with a deep voice. You done watched too many horror movies. No. The Bible says in Daniel 7:2 that the spirit of the enemy will come to wear out the saints. And that's what the enemy would do. He will lure you in with good intentions trying to help everybody while you're not paying your own bills. He'll try you helping everybody else and now you're depressed. You're helping everybody else. You're dealing with anxiety. You're helping everybody else and you haven't taken the time to feed your own soul. Scream at somebody. Tell them, "All them people are not your assignment. Some of them people are not your assignment. They are your distraction." The enemy has used it. The devil knows he can't get you with drugs. The devil knows he can't get you with alcohol. But he'll try to get you with your good heart. Let me tell you something. Your heart will trick you. Your heart will deceive you. Now I need all the honest people just shout, "I've been there."
>> I'm going to give you a sign.
>> Well, you know they are not your assignment.
>> It's after you have spent time, you've invested your energy and they still haven't followed through with the last set of instructions you gave them. When they call you, "I ain't, I don't have nobody. You're the only one I can talk to." Tell them, "Read the whole book of 2 Samuel and then call me back." When they call you back the next time, "Yeah, I just need to talk to you 'cause I'm still going through." Did you read 2 Samuel yet? No, I hadn't had a chance to. All right, click up my 'cause I, 'cause I see who you are. If you really want to be healed, if you really want to be whole, take the medicine. Somebody said, "I wish you would have went to Brazil." No, I'm here right now. This is what the Lord wants you to know. Screaming somebody, tell the devil, "Just got exposed."
>> Listen. When she started feeding him, she said, "First of all, he finally said, 'Put everybody out of the room.'"
>> And then the hour you're standing in, you need to protect yourself.
>> And the way you protect yourself is with accountability. All of your movements, all of your decisions need to be weighed out by proven voices in your life. I said proven voices. So, not somebody who just came into your life 30 days ago.
>> Who are the proven voices in your life? See, proven voices are people who have an investment in your life.
>> I was sharing with P, uh, Brother Rico, uh, yesterday. We were talking about church structure and protocol and about how, how people vote for certain things at certain times, uh, in church history. And I told him, he said, "How are, how, how is our church set up?" I said, "Well, there's certain things that the congregation could vote on, but in order to be a voting member, you have to be a tither." Like, because we don't give voice to people who haven't made an investment.
>> And sometimes we give too much weight to the opinions of people who don't have an investment in your victory. Yes, sir.
>> So whether you fail or whether you succeed, they don't really care because it's not a reflection of them. But I want you to find somebody and grab somebody and tell them, "I want you to win. I may not always say what you want me to say, but I want you to win. We may not always agree, but I want you to win." Come on, somebody tell them, "I really, really," tell them, "I'm not your competition." Tell. Come on, "I'm not in competition with you. I'm not jealous of you." Tell them, "I really want you to win. That's why I warned you about him because I, I don't want him. I want you to win. That's why I warned you about her because she was saying all the right things, having you smile, and now you tried to dismiss us when we were with you when you had nothing. I want you to win." So the Bible declares that, um, he, he got everybody out of the room and that's always a problem.
>> It's always a problem.
>> No accountability.
>> And I want to be sensitive when I say this and I, I know this is a gory Sunday morning text, but, but the Bible says, um, he took advantage. He grabbed her and even when he grabbed her, she tried to talk him out of it. He, he was. She was like, "Don't do this." Because how would I handle this disgrace? Then she says, "Not only me, you'll be seen as a fool. Don't, don't do this." But that's what happens when you get intoxicated off of your lust. You start not making good decisions. That's why the Proverbs say kings don't drink because of decisions they have to make.
>> Look at your neighbor, tell your neighbor, "Stay sober."
>> See, 'cause when you get intoxicated, you end up putting permanent things in danger by temporary emotions. Screaming. Somebody tell them, "I've done it before." Stay sober because you'll get, you'll get advice from people who have nothing to lose and you have everything to lose. Come on, tell your neighbor, "Stay sober. Don't get drunk off of your emotions." I'm not, I'm not diminishing your emotions. I'm not telling you that your emotions are not real. I'm not telling you your emotions are not valid. I'm telling you your emotions are not always right. Don't follow your emotions. Follow God. Scream at somebody. Tell them, "Stay sober." You're going to get ready to come into one of the greatest seasons of your life and the enemy will offer you something to lure you away. I come to tell you that an Ishmael always comes before an Isaac. So God told me to tell you, stay sober. I know you're going through the winter season and it's coming season, but let me tell you something. Don't reach back for something that had you in captivity. Stay sober. Stay sober.
>> And he forced himself on her. See, you need to be able to discern that there are some people, they don't want you. They just want what you have.
>> See, this is one of the hardest things for me because I love people. Loving people is my strength and my weakness. And then I have people who will say, "Oh, I'm serving you. I, I'm, I'm right here for you." And they'll pretend as though they want my mantle. When they don't really want my mantle, they want my influence.
>> There are some people, if they can't be you, they settle for being next to you, hoping you fail so it would give them an opportunity.
>> So, you can't, you can't say you want my mantle, but you don't have a heart for the people I have a heart for. See, serving the leader is not just serving the leader. It's caring about what the leader cares about. And so, if you say you love the pastor, that means you speak to the people, too. Come on, somebody. If you say you love, if you love the leadership of the church, that means you care about what the leadership cares about.
>> See, when people come into your life, they don't try to separate you from your family. They don't try to separate you from voices that have fought for you and voices who have served with you and voices who have interceded for you.
>> Oh, I feel the Lord. Elder Mariah, I feel the Lord here. Glory be to God. And so the Bible said, this is how you know. The Bible says after he forced his way on her, hear me. She said, "Let me stay." She said, "What? Let me stay." Tamar felt that she had more value in staying with someone who hurt her than leaving by herself. There's somebody in this room, you feel like it's better to be in a toxic relationship than to be a whole person by yourself. That's what the enemy does. He will always romanticize the past to the point. Let me, let me, let me tell y'all what happened 'cause y'all read it, but you may not have paid attention to it. Not only did he put her out, he locked the door behind her.
>> That's a sign when you're under demonic oppression. It's when the person who afflicted you and the person who took advantage of you, they got to block you.
>> Oh my God. I almost want to come out and point at seven people in this room and tell them I'm talking to you, but I don't want to embarrass you. Hear me. A sign that you're under strong manipulation is when they make you feel guilty for what they did to you. You're under a strong spirit of manipulation. When they got you feeling guilty and they're telling you, "Don't call me," and they, they block you on social media when the truth is, you should be blocking them. I need everybody who's been there before. I need you to get free. Just, just jump up and shout, "I've been there," and just sit back down. I've been there. I've been there. And when I look at the person who I was, I said, "That was a broken person." And I made up my mind, I will never be there again. I will never play that fool again. If I'm going to be a fool, I'm going to be a fool for Christ. But I'm not begging nobody to love me. I'm not begging nobody to like me. I'm not trying to force myself in your little group, in your little clique. I'm whole now.
>> She, she, she tried to get back into a place that broke her.
>> He, he had to lock the door. Ain't that something?
>> All of a sudden it shifted. He got what he wanted. And this is why I'm telling you the place that God has brought you into now in this reset in any relationship, do not allow intimacy to precede commitment. Clap your hands so you don't look guilty. Because once they get the prize, there's no, there's no race. There's no pursuit.
>> Don't, don't elevate people in your life too quickly.
>> The Bible says, "Lay hands on no man."
>> Suddenly. All right.
>> She goes to her brother Absalom. Now, this is what's crazy. When you all read back in 2 Samuel, oh, thank you for the graphic. It looks like my prayer wall. Wow. When you, uh, look in 2 Samuel in this chapter, the Bible says Amnon calls her his brother's sister. She calls him her brother.
>> When you read the scripture, Absalom calls Amnon her brother.
>> Somebody said, "What's the point of that?" He rearranged the relationship to try to redefine it so he felt more comfortable to do what he wanted to do.
>> If Absalom is your brother and it's Absalom's sister, that means it's your sister, too.
>> And I know we're a new church culture and I'm thankful. I'm looking at y'all here. Y'all look comfortable. That's not the way we came to church a long time ago.
>> You know, everybody had on a hat or head covering and the men had on suits, shirts, and ties.
>> I love how comfortable you are. And I want you to stay comfortable. Just be holy.
>> You know, just be modest still. Amen.
>> You got your baseball caps on and stuff, you know, just stay, you know. I ain't, I don't come to fight anybody. I'm not trying to take y'all back to the 50s and the 60s, but there's something that the old church had that we do not need to leave.
>> It's when we called each other brother and sister. If we saw each other in Walmart, it was, "Praise the Lord, Brother Ralph." "Praise the Lord, Sister Cindy." We have become so common with each other that it becomes easy for us to cross the lines. We become so familiar with one another. And now a place we supposed to feel at home now feels like corruption.
>> Now the place that was supposed to heal me has become complicated.
>> Now we got to be mindful that we don't put y'all on the praise team together. It's become complicated now.
>> We got to rearrange people because lines have been crossed. See, you think when we call each other Elder Derby, that you're lifting them up. Pastor Friend. See, all these titles. All, yeah, yeah. I know some people get drunk off titles, but titles are healthy.
>> I'm going to tell you why. When I say Pastor Darius, I'm first of all, I'm doing it for me. I'm reminding myself that although I might have went to school with Darius, I'm reminding myself although we didn't play basketball together, although we have shopped together, I'm reminding myself that after all of that, he's a pastor. He's one of my pastors. And I don't just do it for me, I'm also doing it for Darius. So if Darius is somewhere else in his mind, when I say Pastor Darius, I've reminded him of what he's been called to be to me. So you ain't got to say that. Yes. Call me pastor. Call me elder. I need to be reminded of my assignment because sometimes my mind wanders. Sometimes my flesh wants me to forget my title. Forget my assignment. Glory be to God.
>> Oh yes. He said, "Oh, it's Absalom's sister. Negro, it's your sister."
>> Oh, I'm sorry. I got caught up. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. See, Sunday morning, I usually got a more interracial congregation. I just looked out here and saw y'all and I just felt good and I just went on. It just lines get crossed.
>> You need to remind yourself of who they are and remind them of who they're called to be.
>> All right. Thank y'all for your patience.
>> Let me tell you what happened. The Bible said that she ran to her brother. That means she found a safe space in her brother. I want to encourage you all. Be the person to people that you would want to have if you found yourself in an ugly situation. There's some things that you need to keep with you.
>> Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
>> See, some people are. When we're training people to work in ministry, we don't need to just train them with gifts and talents. We need to train them with our capacity.
>> Hallelujah. Can you, can you bear one another's burdens? Are you a safe? Ask your neighbor, "Are you a safe space?"
>> Hallelujah. Can I share? I know I can share with you my trophies, but can I share with you my wounds? No, no, no. Can, can I tell you where I've been and the condemnation I'm dealing with and you get up under me and you tell me, "That's what you did, but that's not who you are." Because there's some people who are living in secrecy, not because that's where they want to live. It's because the question is, "Who can I trust?" You got plenty of people who want to be in the picture with you as long as it looks like you're winning. But can you catch me in my drunken state and grab a cloth and come and you ain't got to ask me no questions while I'm drunk, but you can cover me until I get sober again? I didn't say cover up for me, but can I, can I trust you to sit with me and say, "I've been there before. Can I trust you? Can, can I trust you for you to open up and share with me your journey? I know I see the glory on you. I see the shine of your resurrection. But are you willing to lift up the side of your blouse and the side of your shirt and show me where you were wounded in your sight?" Hallelujah.
>> Are you willing to open up your hands and show me your scars?
>> 'Cause I don't want, I don't want to just focus on Amnon and not talk about Absalom. Because y'all, let you tell it, you can't trust nobody. But that's why you got to have the sermon because God will never leave you without a witness. I, I want you to, I, I want you to just go in your mind. Is there somebody who have fought with you in times in your life where you didn't have the strength to fight for yourself? Is there somebody in your life that you sat with when you wanted to quit and you made up your mind you were going to quit and they looked at you and they grabbed you, says, "No, you're going to make it past this." Is there anybody in your life that you were crying and you couldn't even get out what you were saying and they didn't ask you no questions and they just wrapped their arms around you? That was God. He uses people. And the Bible says Absalom said nothing.
>> He said nothing. He said, "Uh, is your brother." "Don't take it to heart." It's kind of a little strange. The Bible says David knew about it and he was disappointed. The Lord told me to tell Harvest City Church and you that are watching online, before you go into 2026, I'm coming for the residue. Just because Absalom didn't say anything did not mean he didn't know anything.
>> It sat on him. Amnon was thinking about his sister and it kept sitting on him. Absalom thought about what Amnon did and it sat on him. David knew what his son did and it just sat on him. And let me tell you something, things that sit on you unresolved, they begin to pollute your spirit.
>> Things unaddressed. Amnon did not address his lust and he ended up doing something he could not reverse. Absalom did not address his brother. Oh, okay. So, we're in a good place. See, you think we're in a good place just 'cause I didn't say anything, right?
>> You think we're in a good place because I didn't walk up to you and snatch the ponytail off of the back of your head. Oh, you think we're in a good place because I still speak to you.
>> But tell, let me tell you something. Suppressed emotions leak out into other areas of your life.
>> Absalom, y'all, this. Are y'all okay? This Bible is something. It's in the Bible. Absalom waited for three years. He waited for three years and then he says, "Oh, I'm going to have a party. Everybody come to my house. I want all my brothers to come." He says, "Daddy, King David, why don't you come?" He said, "Oh, that's going to be too much. Why you want all of us to come? If all of us come, you got to feed all of us. Don't worry. You just have your own party." He said, "Well, will you at least send Amnon?" He said, "Why you want Amnon to come?" He said, "Well, since you can't come, let Amnon come." He said, "Oh, sure." What do you think happened when Amnon got there? He had his men to kill his brother because that anger had sat on him.
>> I'm coming for somebody who's been dealing with an undercurrent of rage. That undercurrent of rage because you got betrayed and you're trying to get past it by ignoring it. You got done wrong and now it's making you something and somebody that you're not. You become snappy. You become brash and now the person that hurt you is not paying the bill. You're making your family pay the bill. You're making your friends pay the bill because of what somebody else did to you. He killed him. He had him killed. And when, when he killed his brother, you know what the other brothers did? They ran. They ran back to their daddy's house. And somebody got the news. Somebody got the news. Says Absalom had a party and killed all of your sons. And David said, "What? All of my sons? What? All of my sons?" And the Bible says there was a man standing by. David said, "No, no, not all of them. Just Amnon." You know who that man was that said that? Jonadab. Do you remember Jonadab? Jonadab is the cousin that told Amnon to rape his sister. Now, how in the world is Jonadab sitting beside the king telling the king everybody did not die, just Amnon? How does he know? There are no cell phones. How is he beside the king? And he knows the only person who died was Amnon because Jonadab fed Absalom the assignment.
>> And we always rebuking Jezebel. Jezebel is not secretive. Jezebel hates the prophets and Jezebel lets it be known that she hates the prophets. Y'all need to stop just praying against Jezebel. You better pray against Jonadab. That spirit that is secretive. That spirit that's whispering. The one that'll sow a seed and then stand back and watch it manifest. The one that gets in people's ear and turns people against each other. The person who will send group chats and snapshots and talk to one person and then go over there and tell the other person. Jonadab is the one that always escapes to tell you what everybody else said and they never tell you what they said. That spirit of Jonadab, you better discern the chaos. You better discern the chaos that the enemy has been weaving in your life, trying to break up your marriage. He's been weaving in your life, trying to break up your relationships. Hallelujah. And now the one you hate is not the one that started it. Glory be to God. Hallelujah. Are y'all ready to pray?
>> Come on, stand. I'm finished now.
>> Come on, intercessors, open up your mouth. Oh, open up your mouth. Get this key right here. Oh, just say right there. Come on now. Go with it. Come on. In the name of Jesus. Wa. I got a frequency in the Holy Ghost. I got to get to. I feel the discomfort. Oh, but there's something about to come upon you. And your first sign of breakthrough and deliverance is acknowledgement. And there are some people in this room. You understand now that you've been under a strong oppression where the enemy has been trying to keep you in a cycle. I want you to get to this altar right now because deliverance is coming to this house. Hey, hey, hey, hey. The Lord says, "I'm about to take it off of you." Hey, you've been blinded by the enemy. You've been lured in by the enemy. But I feel the power of the Holy Ghost. Come on, press in to this altar. You got somewhere you need to be. So the Lord says, "I'm coming for the residue of the last season. You survived what happened, H, but you never got over it and you never got past it." Oh, sh. I'm coming for the spirit of lust. Hallelujah. That hasn't been subdued by the Holy Ghost. I'm coming for the activity of the enemy, the spirit of whispering and division. The Bible says the six things that the Lord hates and the seventh is an abomination. Those who sow discord among the brethren. I'm coming for the root system, the spirit of dysfunction, the spirit of toxicity. I'm coming in the name of Jesus. Hallelujah. For that demonic pattern in the name of Jesus. I'm coming for the seed that was sown that somebody walked off from you and they left you broken. They walked off from you and they left you confused. And I declare in the name of Jesus that healing is the children's bread. I declare in the name of Jesus that wholeness is your portion. God delayed my trip to Brazil to tell you today that this is your hour of wholeness. I need you to open up your mouth and I want you to get ready because deliverance is coming. He's coming for the seed. He's coming for the seat. Some of you that are standing around this altar, it did not start with you. You're dealing with things that did not start with you. You inherited dysfunction. You inherited cycles. And one of the strongest things you did today is that you left your seat and you came to this altar 'cause you said, "I don't have an image to upkeep. I'm not worried about what I look like. I'm just determined that I will not keep repeating this cycle. I'm determined. There's a call on my life. I got somewhere I need to be. I can't go through the rest of December with this on my chest. I can't go through the rest of December with this down in my spirit. I'm tired of being in the same place. I'm tired of feeling the same way. I'm tired of dealing with this depression. I'm tired of dealing with this anxiety. I'm tired of playing the scenario over and over in my mind." And I hear the Lord say, "While you're standing at this altar, there are two things that I'm going to lift off of the people that are standing at this altar. I want you to lift up your hands." He says, "I'm taking shame off of you." He said, "I'm taking shame off of you. I'm taking guilt off of you. Some of you have been trapped in regret. You've gone back and forth in your head. You've been going back and forth in your head. But the Lord says as you submit at this altar today, I'm taking regret. Some of you have been living in the cemetery. You've been trapped in the past, the past relationships. Hey, hey, hey. The past rejection and the past hurt, but I need you to open up your mouth. I want to be better, Lord. I want to be better. I want to be better. I want to be better. Create in me a clean heart and renew a right thing. I want to be better. Come on. I want to be better. Break that in me. Break that in me that every time I try to go forward, I get pulled back. Break that in me. Break that in me. Come on. Break that in me. Oh Jesus. Oh Jesus. Yes. Oh Jesus. The Bible says, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God." I pray that something was spoken in this message today. It spoke to your heart and spoke to your spirit. It was not by accident that you landed on this video. May it be an expression that God is mindful of you. He sees, he knows, and he cares. I want you to stay connected. There are social media pages where you can like and follow and you can stay connected to what we're doing and where we're going to be. And also, if you want to continue to get these messages, make sure you subscribe to our YouTube channel. It's free of charge. All it costs is an open heart and an open spirit. If you feel led to sow into our ministry, uh, to connect and sow into what we're doing and internationally, there are ways to give. And remember, when you sow, that seed may leave your hand, but it will never leave your life. This is Bishop Younger saying, "I know what it feels like to want to stop and want to quit. But whatever you do, don't stop here. Keep going."