THESE SIGNS SHALL FOLLOW....

wow it looks so cool ((music playing)) come on get to your feet ((music playing)) man's empty praise and treasures and faith i me back together ((music playing)) is ((music playing)) he calls you ((music playing)) is mercy ((music playing)) better than you ((music playing)) nothing is better ((music playing)) you know ((music playing)) is ((music playing)) dancing ((music playing)) beauty ((music playing)) foreign ((music playing)) ((music playing)) the ((applause)) ((music playing)) ((music playing)) nothing is better ((music playing)) is ((music playing)) you ((music playing)) ((applause)) ((music playing)) ((music playing)) ((music playing)) come on there's no one like jesus the only way to warm up this year is to get to praise him he is jealous loves like a hurricane i am a tree bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy ((music playing)) afflictions eclipsed by glory and i realized ((music playing)) how he loves us how he loves us oh ((music playing)) he is ((music playing)) ((music playing)) these ((music playing)) for me oh ((music playing)) ((applause)) ((music playing)) oh ((music playing)) uh ((music playing)) ((music playing)) ((applause)) is ((music playing)) is ((music playing)) babies uh ((music playing)) ((music playing)) yes ((music playing)) yes ((music playing)) oh ((music playing)) he loves us ((music playing)) yes he loves us ((music playing)) come on ((music playing)) ((music playing)) drawn to redemption by the grace in his eyes if grace is an ocean we're all seeking so heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss and my heart grows violently inside of my chest i don't have time to maintain these regrets ((music playing)) ((applause)) ((music playing)) is right where we are he loves us no matter who we are he loves us every day oh ((music playing)) oh he knows you and he sees you and he will not forget oh because he knows ((music playing)) come on let's give him a shot of praise that's how he loves hallelujah ((music playing)) hallelujah hallelujah we'll actually go a little bit back into that song i want you to remain standing just for a moment because i told you that beginning tonight and every wednesday night for the foreseeable future we're going to celebrate communion together as a body of believers as a church family there's nothing in the new testament that brought about unity more than the lord's table there's only two ordinances that the lord left behind for the church to actively follow and participate in baptism of the lord's supper one of them we do hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of times all the time but one of them we want to make sure that we put at the forefront the focal point of our mind and our heart and our faith because i'm telling you nothing else will weed out the problematic areas of your life as well as weed out the problematic individuals their inner congregation for the wrong reason like the lord's table you know why because god said don't you come to the table and drink of the wine and eat of the bread unworthily right and so it's not a salvation issue we do it because we are saved it's a remembrance of the lord's death until he come again and take his bride home and he's coming back for a spotless bride not for a corrupted wicked cultural bride amen and so the thing about the lord's table is this and i won't rehash this every single week i'm gonna read some verses in a moment after we get the elements before we pray the thing about the lord's table is this if you are not seeking the lord if you're not in any space of grace whereby you want to see god if you're living in active open rebellion i would suggest you not just take it for the sake of saving face tonight but i would also suggest as a believer that you ultimately get right with god because according to the bible you have to eventually take it or it'll bring about judgment in your life as well so the only way i can say it for you to understand it is damned if you do damned if you don't there comes a point where you will be under the judgment of god as a believer if you do not repent forsake the idolatrous ways of your heart and partaking the lord's table but if you are in a space tonight where you're not willing to repent listen don't walk the aisle and grab an element just so you can save face with your friends because you can disappoint me big deal you disappoint god you're in a whole new ball ballgame for him and there's something about unity in the local church that's brought about in the body when we partake of the lord's supper so we're not going to pay attention to who does we're not going to pay attention to who don't this between you and god not you and your spouse not you and your friends i always leave children young children at the discretion of their parents the bible says that if you are saved and that if you are doing some inventory and you're wanting to move forward and you're wanting to grow spiritually then you're a candidate for the lord's tables here's what we're going to do in a moment i'm going to read the text we're going to pray and go into our normal prayer time but while we go through some of that song again all of the elements it'll change a little bit from week to week we have some different things coming table wise but right over here to my right your left are the elements we're not going to pass them out we're going to let you come if you want one of the elements then go ahead and get the grape juice and the cracker take them back to your seat hold on to them during worship and then we will partake together here in just a few moments so let's pray and then monica and the band will continue to lead us and then i'm just going to let you come from all walks of life just all over and i'm not going to pay attention who does who doesn't right you just come down here and you get both elements take them back to your seat keep worshiping and then we will partake together father we come to you right now in jesus name and because of your shed blood and because of your broken body we have life and life more abundantly so lord right now as we partake in communion i pray that we would understand the severity the power the unifying factor of this beautiful local church ordinance what an element what an opportunity tonight to enter into your presence into your courts with thanksgiving into your house with praise so lord i pray that you would help us to understand as did the early church in the book of acts that this was a powerful moment when god's people came together and they broke bread together lord help us to search our hearts help us to confess our sin help us to not walk in open rebellion and disobedience to the clear teachings of the will of the word of god so bless tonight as we worship and as an ongoing part of our worship we partake of these elements tonight in the presence of these our friends these accountability partners in the gospel and lord certainly in your presence tonight you said if we would agree as touching anything you would hear us you would meet with us in this place tonight and we pray that you would do just that in the mighty name of jesus and all of god's people said let's worship tonight you can begin to come from all over the building just right down here and get the elements and take them back to your seat we'll partake together in just a moment ((music playing)) and ((music playing)) ((music playing)) and i realize just how beautiful you are your afflictions are for ((music playing)) he me us ((music playing)) how he loves us ((music playing)) ((applause)) ((music playing)) is ((music playing)) ((applause)) ((music playing)) ((music playing)) us ((music playing)) oh ((music playing)) ((music playing)) ((music playing)) so heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kissing goes ((music playing)) ((applause)) hey ((music playing)) ((music playing)) oh ((music playing)) oh ((music playing)) oh ((music playing)) oh ((music playing)) thank you jesus ((music playing)) ((music playing)) love jesus just as i am ((music playing)) just as i am ((music playing)) thank you jesus ((music playing)) oh thank you jesus thank you jesus ((music playing)) thank you jesus just ((music playing)) jesus just as i am ((music playing)) well what a blessing that on a wednesday night it takes that long on the first opportunity of having communion together as a as a body in a while that that many people line up to celebrate the lord's table i think that's a beautiful thing i think it's indicative of things that are to come because we have to institute the principles of revival if we want to flow in the rivers of revival amen and i believe this is going to be a beautiful opportunity uh at least it will show our our our servants and our workers and our volunteers we might have to start having two stations and one on either side of the platform and that's a great problem to have this is a great crowd i know it's cold in here we got these little you know half doodle restaurant heaters going i promise you we're getting the big diesel heaters and all the duct work ordered but doesn't look like you're too worried about it tonight amen we're here for the presence of the lord and i believe god's going to meet with us in a beautiful beautiful way the bible says for i have received of the lord that which also i have delivered unto you that the lord jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread and when he had given thanks he break it and he said take and eat this is my body which is broken for you this do in remembrance of me and after the same manner also he took the cup when he had sucked saying this cup is the new testament in my blood this do ye as oft as ye drink it in remembrance of me ((music playing)) for as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup you do show the lord's death till he come and all of god's people said amen and amen you may be seated all over the house just for a couple of moments we'll maybe have uh somebody can come by with a big trash barrel or something here in a moment so you can place your little cups we don't want to be picking those out of the sawdust for months on end amen so dispose of them properly if you would i know on wednesdays it'll add to the the overall lengthiness of our service and that's that's an explanation not an apology because sometimes we just need to get in god's presence we just need to sit and soak it in and we need to do the things that invite the blessings of god into our homes and into our life and certainly into our our faith fellowship and so every week and and there may be times we do it at different times in the service and we do it differently in the service but we want to have an opportunity individually and collectively as a faith family because we're a family of faith amen we want to have an opportunity to celebrate the lord's table together well we do want to go into a time of prayer before our final song tonight and we get into the word of the lord and so we don't apologize either that we have extra moments of prayer on wednesday night because it's called a prayer meeting in a bible study so if we're going to study the bible and still call it a prayer meeting then we ought to pray because we have thousands of people all over america and literally around the world that entrust this church this campus this tent family with their prayer request and we have a lot of them a whole lot of them so there's two things we always do we have people that will line up and come to my wife and my daughter and get the cards and disseminate all through this carpeted area and we we bow before the lord and we read these names out loud and these requests outlined and if they're anonymous guess what god knows who they are before we even call them out but also like for you that are here tonight that maybe need prayer you need something from the lord you need a touch from the lord you need some encouragement from the lord then i'm going to have some of our prayer team some of our guys and gals just come right over here and stand to my right your left as they do every single week and if you need somebody to lay hands on you tonight pray over you tonight pray with you pray you through a situation that i want you to slip out here in just a moment when people begin to line up i know we've already been up and we've walked and we'll figure out a way that we're going to do that from here on out but at the end of the day there's a lot of requests a lot of people are wanting us to pray for them matter of fact our folks online right now by the thousands are watching and i want them to put their prayer requests right now drop them in the comments section on facebook and youtube and our streaming platform so that we as a church body around the globe we're called global vision not just local vision we can pray for you just drop your comments right there your prayer requests in the comments section and we'll pray for you but if you need prayer tonight i want you to begin to slip to the front right now as many of you are coming to the front to grab some of these prayer requests so i want you to come you don't have to participate if you don't want to but i highly encourage you come grab one of these cards lift up these names to the lord it's time to pray tonight it ain't time to play it's time to pray it's time to get in god's presence and intercede on behalf of others this is where revival has begun in our church this has been the the flow if you will and i think that the institution and implementing of the lord's table is just going to continue to take us to the next level and so just because we add a little bit of time to the service on the front end we're not going to slow our roll when it comes to praying for others and praying for ourselves and praying for a continued zeal and spirit of revival i believe it's so very vital it's so important so you come tonight and you pray just kneel all over you take about your seat if you're in your seat you can't make it for whatever reason our ushers can bring you one of these prayer cards if you want to pray for one but again right over here if you need prayer tonight as some of these need right now just come let them just love on you tonight in the name of the lord let them pray over you and with you and for you tonight so come on ((music playing)) so ((music playing)) hallelujah a lot of prayers being prayed a lot of people being prayed for a lot of folks online praying for and with us right now right now thousands of people that will never see right now they're praying for the manifested work of god ((music playing)) and ((music playing)) ((music playing)) amen ((music playing)) a lot of people praying tonight and take your time we'll get back into singing in a moment get into the word in a moment this is important time ((music playing)) ((music playing)) lord we thank you so much that we're able to gather together tonight lord that we could partake in the lord's supper together as your church what a beautiful time that was together god we thank you so much for a church that comes together and bears the burdens of others father lord we know that you know every single request on these cards but it's such a beautiful sound to hear your children crying out to you and lord we don't take that opportunity for granted lord i know this week even in the context of our own church father lord there's been some loss this week lord we just ask that you would surround the family with your peace and your love and your presence loss is never easy father but lord we rest and find comfort in knowing that when our loved ones know you when they have accepted salvation through your son that they are in a much better place worshiping you casting crowns at the feet of jesus and lord we thank you that we have that hope we have an eternal life to look forward to with the everlasting one so lord we just bring that family before you tonight god lord and we ask that you would bring healing to them that you would meet them exactly where they are god in the middle of their grief and that you would reveal yourself to them lord we thank you that we are able to do life with each other to be able to come here and to know that we have a family we are blood bought children of the most high king and lord we thank you for this family father tonight as we sang a moment ago what a beautiful reminder it is to know that we are loved by you we are chosen by you we are seated in heavenly places with you father and lord we thank you for that truth lord we thank you that it doesn't matter where we are right now that we can rest in who you are because god you are faithful even when we are not faithful and lord you are good even when we are not good so lord tonight would you remind us of your goodness would you meet us exactly where we are in our lives god and remind us of who you are because it is so easy to be distracted is so easy to be caught off guard by all of the noise and all of the chaos around us lord would you bring us to your place of peace would we come into your presence and lord would anxiety flee us would depression flee us god lord would we come into your throne room and obtain grace in our time of need lord we thank you that the veil has been torn that god we can come to you that we can fill your presence and know that you are with us and that it doesn't matter what we're walking through because you are with us you are emanuel you are god with us and we thank you for that truth you are our wonderful counselor you are the good shepherd the alpha the omega the beginning and the end you are yahweh yeshua you are jehovah ((music playing)) you are the everlasting one you are the morning star ((music playing)) father we thank you that everything that we have ever needed you are because you are the great i am and lord we just thank you and we praise you and we give you honor and we give you glory in jesus name amen amen hallelujah amen i want to do something just quick before we continue in worship and uh i hope i'm not putting them on the spot too much i sent the team in the room over there a video that i wanted to show quickly for our church just to show you the impact financially that we're able to have in the lives of other ministries in the lives of other people around the world and even though our dear friend josh paul with anchor ridge ministries in the mountains reaching the appalachian folks and i want you to see this video if it's going to pop up here of what he just sent me tonight before service on my phone maybe it doesn't come through that's fine we can we can have it ready i threw it to him super super quick so we can have it for this weekend basically they're just now just this week using the community center that our church purchased for them amen and i mean there are people everywhere that they are feeding and clothing and blessing and helping and it is a massive massive operation and it's a beautiful thing to know that we had a uh a seed showing opportunity into the kingdom for that oh there we go family man you guys are so awesome today we are giving out our very first distribution at the community center that you guys helped us purchase up here in west virginia this is amazing and uh so we have we've got all the groceries we got the hygiene supplies we've got uh you know insulation we've got flooring for the families we have over 45 000 pounds of supplies to give away this thanks to you and thanks to god man he is so good he's on the move up here in these mountains i just wanted to say thank you so much global vision bible church because you guys are making big things happen not only here at anchor ridge but all around the world it's amazing so um thank you so much and i just wanted to give you a glimpse of what it looks like you know in in in in real life you know these families coming to pick up the supplies and making a difference in their lives so god bless you guys and thank you from the bottom of our hearts from everybody at anchorage we love you amen isn't that beautiful and that's the second one that we help them purchase man they're helping hundreds of people all over those mountains what a beautiful thing that is well let's stand to our feet let's worship one final opportunity with the band and then we're going to get for a few moments into the word of god tonight ((music playing)) come on guys we're going to speak jesus over our circumstances ((music playing)) ((applause)) ((music playing)) i just want to speak the name of jesus over very hard in every mind cause i know there is power in your presence so i speak jesus ((music playing)) i just want to speak the name of jesus till every dark addiction starts to break declaring there is hope and there is freedom i speak jesus cause your name ((music playing)) is healing your name is love ((applause)) break every stronghold shine through the shadows ((music playing)) cause i just wanna speak the name of jesus ((music playing)) jesus ((applause)) ((music playing)) cause your name is ((music playing)) ((applause)) break every stronghold shine through the shadows come on your name is ((music playing)) shine through the shadows ((music playing)) shout jesus from the mountain jesus in the streets and jesus in the darkness home for everything on me and jesus for my family i plead the holy name jesus ((music playing)) jesus ((music playing)) ((music playing)) name is ((music playing)) your name is ((music playing)) shine through the shadows ((music playing)) i just want to speak the name of jesus over every heart in every mind cause i know there is peace within your presence oh i speak jesus ((music playing)) oh i speak jesus oh always speak jesus over every situation jesus healing in your name jesus from the mountains jesus in the streets and jesus in the darkness ((music playing)) jesus and the streets ((music playing)) she's ((music playing)) ((music playing)) ((music playing)) hallelujah jesus jesus shout amen all right our students be dismissed at this time out to the back sixth grade all the way up through twelfth grade they can be dismissed tonight with their crew and they're gonna have a wonderful time and while they find their place out of the tent you find your place in the final chapter of the book of mark if you'd go there tonight please mark and chapter number 16 in the good word of the lord and so again in-house online we welcome everybody and i'm excited about the text tonight and i'm really just going to give you an overview not just for time's sake but for understanding sake there's a lot here that we need to develop and a lot here that we could talk about we could make a series out of this and so i promise you tonight i'm just going to give you the 50 000 foot flyover version and at some point we'll live it out and we'll go back revisit this text and others and we'll bring it down to the tarmac and perhaps give the plane a better landing but i've just got some things on my heart again this is one of those messages that i never would have preached years ago and so this is a growth message for me okay not not just a growth message for the church it's a growth message for me so that my wisdom and my knowledge and my understanding of the bible has has increased not that i'm some great individual but the bible says my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge right not for a lack of finances not for a lack of facebook friends not for a lack of opportunity for a lack of knowledge and so we have to increase in biblical knowledge second peter 3 18 grow in grace and in the knowledge of our lord and savior jesus christ so if you're going to grow spiritually how many of you know that means that your understanding of the bible has to deepen your experience with god has to deepen you cannot stay the same there is no neutral gear in christianity you are reversing or you are moving forward that is it even when you fail and you fall you fail forward right forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth under those things which are before so mark 16 is where we are and we have several verses we want to deal with so let's pray and we'll jump in father help me tonight as i teach the scriptures i pray that you should captivate our heart our mind our soul our imagination lord even for those watching right now and those that will watch later maybe even many days and weeks later i pray that the bread of heaven would be fresh to them as they hear this message speak to us move us and i pray that you would teach us in jesus name and all god's people said now mark chapter 16 is a very interesting passage because it's just before the ascension of the lord jesus christ it's one of the several times in the bible that jesus gives what we call a great commission and might i say it is becoming the local church the great omission because it's not what we do it's what we refuse to do you see we think church is just showing up and it's the lights and it's the screens and it's taking an offering church is when people come into a building like this into a situation like this and they learn how to go out and share the gospel with their friends and the bible says that we preach and we teach and we baptize and we teach people to observe all these things whatsoever jesus not greg whatsoever jesus has told us so every time i approached for years mark chapter 16 i would read verse 15 and stop because somehow or another the red letters of verse 15 were what jesus said but everything else was just extra some man added no it's still red letters in the text it's still the same passage it's still the same thought it's still the same flow it's still the same context so then i have to ask myself why is it then not the same power it is okay if it's the exact same scented structure then why was i always taught to stop at verse 15 because we believe go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature we do that we love doing that okay we are called global vision for a reason because we want to get the gospel to the world we want to get the gospel to every tribe every tongue every nation every language every background every ethnic group because the gospel is the power of god unto salvation to everyone that believes to the jew first and to the greek romans 1 16. the gospel is the magic sauce to everything that we do the gospel what is the gospel first corinthians 15 1 through 4 it is the death the burial and the resurrection of jesus christ right he died according to the scriptures he was buried according to the scriptures he rose again according to the scriptures so here in verse 15 watch this these are the final words of jesus from mark's experience he said unto them go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature now i don't have time to develop all of this one verse because we have more than we want to say because this whole passage as spurgeon said is pregnant with truth and about to give forth some birth right but i want you to notice something he says he says go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature it's interesting that he tells us who right he tells us what he tells us why he tells us where he tells us when but he never tells us how you know why because every generation has to figure out how to preach the gospel to their culture and make it engaging and understanding so he tells us everything but how to do it so at the end of the day the methodology is not what we ought to be fighting over we want to keep the purity of the message and just use the methodology that's going to work to reach the people in that culture you understand that that's why paul said i can be all things to all men that by all means i might save some he's not saying i'm going to be a compromiser he's saying i will use methodology as long as the message remains pure as long as the message remains pure so my question then is how come verse 15 is so jesus-like but the rest of it is so ignored i'm telling you something is wrong with the lens that we use to approach the bible i mean for years buford obviously never said the bible is the word of god every word every john every tittle it's god's word it's god's word the grass withers the flower thereof faith away but the word of our god abideth forever it's not a butter knife it's not a letter opener it's the sword of the spirit the word of god is quick and powerful sharper than any two-edged sword and i would say all of those things and in a rock-solid sincere way believe all of those things but then leave out some of the bible because it made me uncomfortable and i quickly found out that's a very dangerous thing to do because i do not want to be in a situation where i stand before god and god says well you did a good job preaching most the truth you just didn't preach all of it so if i'm going to be known for being bold and controversial then why not be biblically bold and biblically controversial and smash some of the religious denominational idols that have destroyed people traditionally and made them stop at verse 15 and not read the rest of the text the rest of the text is in red letters too okay so to all my friends that i grew up with this one's for you this is for you check this out verse 16. watch this i got to explain it because i'm going to preach the bible the way the bible's intended to be preached he that believeth okay he says go preach to the world so when they hear the gospel here's what they do they believe he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved and everybody's like oh wait a minute he just taught baptismal regeneration no he didn't water does not wash away your sins the blood of jesus christ washes away your sin the water is a public profession that you've been born again by the grace of god because if you're saved you will get baptized there's no way around that so we don't believe in baptismal regeneration we believe in the blood of jesus regeneration but if you don't believe check out this part this is this is the part that seals the deal he that believeth not shall be what but he doesn't say he that believeth not or is not baptized right notice what the text says right he that believeth and is baptized and so the baptism as a result of the belief shall be saved it's proof but he that believeth not shall be damned so the emphasis is not on the work of baptism the emphasis is on the work of belief if you don't believe you go to hell it's what the bible says but because you're not going to hell because you're not damned you get baptized so people know publicly what you've done inwardly does that make sense it's simply that simple i make a great shirt simply that simple paul told the galatians i fear unless some of you fall through the simplicity that is in christ people make the bible convoluted but it's really easy to understand because the holy spirit is the greatest teacher on the planet i like to teach the bible but i can't hold a candle to the holy spirit he teaches you correctly in context so he says when people believe they should be baptized if they don't believe they're damned it's that simple okay we can handle that until we get to verse 17. and then when we get to verse 17 people have a little bit of a fall down the steps moment or two or three or five or 12. and check this out and you know what the word and is in the english language it's a bridge building word it takes you from one thought to the next it's a continuation of the same narrative right and these signs say these signs these signs he says the signs that he's about to regulate the signs that he's about to show us in discovery these signs shall that's affirmative not hope so think so maybe so no no these signs that i'm going to give you he says shall follow them say them that believe now wait a minute he just talked in a previous verse about the people that believe but here's what i've always been taught and again i'm not demonizing my past i'm just helping you and freeing me i choose my words wisely look here's how i was taught to approach this passage number one i was taught well this was not in the original manuscripts it was added okay that's bunk because they like verse 15 but the rest of them they don't like oh that okay if i do not believe that man tainted the word of god i believe that god is big enough to inspire and preserve his word for us and he's done that and so i believe in the perfectly complete willing word of god but here's how i was taught to approach this well he's talking only to the apostles therefore he gave them apostolic power by the way there's whole denominations built on what i'm telling you right now and so there's a lot of people that believe this there's a lot of people that are are baptized into this there's a lot of people that are sunk on this and i was one of them for a long time well he gave the apostles apostolic power so when all the apostles died the apostolic power died with him and we would say that in our meetings and everybody was like yeah rah-rah this cumball that's what the bible says no i didn't no it's not he says these sons shall follow them that believe that means if a plumber believes if an electrician believes if a preacher believes if a stay-at-home mom believes he's not talking to apostles he's talking to disciples followers of jesus christ and these signs shall affirmatively follow those that believe what the gospel so the gospel is the power of god unto salvation that releases the power of god after salvation because there's no power without the gospel i was really going to take like 12 or 15 minutes and be done but i'm so stirred up in my spirit i'm about to come out of this calf praise god he says these signs shall follow those that believe not those that preach not those that are ordained not those that go to seminary these signs follow people that believe normal everyday ordinary people that are made supernatural by the power of the holy ghost ye shall receive power after the holy ghost has come upon you acts 1 8 that is said to the whole church not just to the apostles which by the way i will say this i find it interesting that i not them i blame myself that i used to preach that after the apostles died there were no more miracles that dog only hunts if you don't read the bible or then i'd say well only the apostles had that power really there's a lot of people in the book of acts that were not apostles and they laid hands on people and recovered them from sickness cast out devils and did all manner of miracles amongst the people church history is filled to overflowing with historical accuracies of people's testimonies eyewitness testimonies of those that have the power of god's spirit in their life but it makes us uncomfortable so it's easier just to gloss over them and put them in another dispensation now that's just another time period god don't work like that really malachi 3 6 says god changed not hebrews 10 says that i am the lord i change not right jesus christ the same yesterday today and forever so the principles of god's word does not change so why is it that we can easily quote and tout and love verse 15 and easily ignore the rest of the text when it's the exact same text it's the exact same context so he says here's the signs that are going to follow the people that believe now here's the important next three words in my name see it don't work when you're doing your name it ain't about greg locke's name it ain't about global vision's name it ain't about the pentecostal name it ain't about the baptist name it ain't about the church of god in the church of christ it's about his name that's where the power's at in the name of jesus as the song says i just want to speak the name of jesus your name don't work but his name works his name just works so he says here's what you do you believe and here's the evidence that you have believed you get baptized these signs follow you you do this in my name in the name of jesus watch this shall that's affirmative they cast out devils now look i know i know there's people out there that fake it till they make it there's people out there that have fantastical eyes things in the bible and they've tried to do things for money i get it but that does not mean that this is not still a biblical new testament reality there's a lot of people that do things stupidly there's a lot of things that do people out of do things out of context and do things for the sake of money but that does not change the narrative that he said in my name you will cast out devils you say well i've never been to school to cast out devils me neither i don't know if i want to go to school to learn to cast out devils i just know i've got the power when i need to do it in the name of jesus that's what the bible says in my name they shall cast out devils i know i know i know even in the tent right now good sincere people probably thinking whoa we're going a little bit too far people online are like no no no it can't be true okay don't tell me verse 15 is true if the rest of it's not true he does not shift the narrative and the time span there's not a different dispensation it's the same breath it's the last words of jesus before he goes to heaven so we're like all the time well you know jesus ascended up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of god we see all of that we're like wow that's good except for that one part that he said before he left that wasn't so hot that goes against what granny taught me and so i feel uncomfortable when i read that you ought to feel uncomfortable when you read the bible it's a sword that sucker cut you going in and cut you coming out and god don't care about your feelings and he don't care about what your grandmama taught you he cares what does the bible say that's what god cares about right and so he says look these are the signs that will follow people that believe that have the power of god in jesus name they will cast out devils i love how he says in my name in red letters right jesus talking about himself not greg letters red letters he said in my name these believers shall cast out devils and yet we've been taught that either number one that no longer happens or number two only a certain select group of ordained individuals have that kind of power you know why you believe that because you watch silly movies when you're growing up like exorcism and we got this idea some catholic priests come walking up in here hey old man full of grace notre dame first place bunch of nonsense come walking up you know got a big vampire cross that's nonsense they're coming in the name of the pope they're coming in the name of the catholic church i come to you in the name of the lord jesus christ that's what matters that's what shakes hail that's what makes demons flee now i know some people like well do you really believe in demonic possession have you ever looked around mount juliet tennessee you ever walked the streets of nashville telling you people are demon possessed they can't think that way apart from a spirit and the bible says that we have the power to call the devil on the carpet in the name of jesus now don't walk in all big bad you know too big for your britches kind of like those uh seven sons of skeva did and said oh yeah devil come on out in the name of jesus that paul preaches you got to have a personal relationship with jesus so you can experience that personal power and i'm telling you when you call them devils out they have to listen because it's not your power it's god's power in you our problem in the church is we've let everybody walk on the authority that we clearly have given to us by god we have authority from god that we've abdicated and given away to everybody else because we're afraid of what people are going to call us well that's cool you can call me anything you want to but there is no devil in hell that has more power than the name of jesus christ so i know some people they get all crazy and fantastical and they do these youtube videos of a bunch of nonsense look i know they give everybody a bad taste in their mouth but i'm telling you it still happens there are people that are demonically possessed that will never be delivered any other way but through the power of the name and the blood of the lord jesus christ and he said for an average everyday ordinary if you will church going person if you have believed the gospel you have the power in your mouth through the name of jesus to call devils out of people that's what the bible says it's what the bible says so we either believe our heritage or we believe what jesus said and jesus said that we have authority over devils and it's not our education that gives us the authority it is the name and the power of jesus christ and he says those that believe have the authority to cast out devils now watch this into verse 17. and furthermore the idea the comma they shall speak with new tongues right they shall speak with new tongues now understand this this has a double-edged sword has a double-edged meaning because we know that tongues means languages and we know in the book of acts 18 different languages heard the word of god in their own language paul could speak 25 languages some people have that type of a language gift some people have that type of gift they can get on a jumbo jet they could fly to swahili right now jump off an airplane and have never taken a class in swahili and understand everything they're saying because god gave him a new tongue gave them that ability supernaturally but he also gives people supernatural abilities for the gift of tongues i can't believe i just said that from the platform now i will say this there's a difference in that you have to say there's a difference in speaking in tongues and praying in tongues there is a difference there is a difference and i'm not talking about people that use it so they can be seen of themselves you read first corinthians chapter 12 through 14 and you will find out that it is for the purpose of the edification of the body it's not for the purpose of confusion it's not for the purpose of confounding people it's not even for the purpose if you will of letting people walk in and be like oh wow look how super duper spiritual they are because at the end of the day did you know outside of the book of the book of acts the only church that spoke in tongues were the corinthians and they were the most carnal people in the world so at the end of the day you can walk in here and talk 50 different languages but if you're not right with god i don't want to hear it but the bible says god gives them new tongues so i don't care how much that scares us how much is that how much is huh how much that bothers us at the end of the day he said here's the signs that'll follow them they'll be able to communicate in ways that you couldn't imagine they'll be able to understand things in ways that you could not imagine and so it's beautiful because it's the same red letters as verse 15. and everybody's like well you know that's not what the bible means oh it's clearly what the bible means and then the first fulfillment was on the day of the pentecost 50 days at the resurrection it happened bam they're like these people are drunk and peter jumped up on a hickory stump bought his back like a banner rooster he said they're not drunk as you suppose this is that this is that this is that which was spoken by the prophet joel this was that which was spoken by the prophet joe and i'll tell you one thing our churches need some this and that preaching not fluff and fat preaching right we better get some this and that preaching so he said you'll cast out devils they'll speak with new tongues verse 18. this will get you they shall take up serpents now look let me help you out i'm just praising god it don't say they'll take up spiders i'm out on that deal right there right got my limitations now this is not this is not a biblical justification for backwoods hillbilly snake handling churches i'm sorry it's not okay there have been people deep in whatever type of denominational weirdness you want to be involved in to say well what the bible is saying that we should take up rattlesnakes to prove that we have faith no no you should leave them alone to prove you got wisdom this ain't a snake handling verse he's just saying when things come against us they're not gonna destroy us because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world and no weapon formed against you shall prosper the bible says and even paul in acts chapter 28 he put some sticks in the fire and a snake came out fastened on his head and he shook it off shook it all shook it off into the fire so god says look when you get filled with the holy ghost somebody latches on you shake them off ((applause)) shake them off he said they'll take up serpents animals creatures will come against them and will not destroy them now there's a broad application but you have to understand something and i know this about to sound crazy but i've been crazy all night so look did you know i believe this with all my heart i really i believe as a believer that you and i are invincible until god's done with us i really believe that listen i don't have a spirit of fear i don't fret i don't worry about all these death threats i ain't worried about nesting below he's hit list i ain't worried about none of that stuff you know why because i will do what god called me to do until he takes his hand off me until then i'm invincible and you can't do nothing about it ((music playing)) i'm in a blessed bubble until god removes his hand from me no weapon formed against me will prosper the serpents don't win and he said those that believe shall take up serpents it's not an invitation to do it he's saying when it happens you're going to be fine don't let them serpents scare you don't let people talk you out of what the holy ghost talked you into now this is the part that gets me and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them now let me tell you why that uh ministers to me you think poison was on the menu who sits around drinks poison right had a woman a while back said i'll tell you one thing if you use my pastor i'd feed you rat poison i said if you was one of my congregants i'd eat every dime of it i guarantee you every bit of it so it says if they drink poison then they won't die of it so you've got to ask yourself the question in context what were these dudes sitting around drinking poison for they're not they were being poisoned because of the truth of the gospel that they were preaching their life had come under scrutiny their life was being threatened and jesus said when these people come against you and try to kill you try to poison you try to drug you try to jab you say amen right there facebook he said you will overcome you can drink that deadly poison and it will not harm you in the name of god's what he said so it's not like they were going to a restaurant in jerusalem saying uh i'd like your new poison please no it's when they were eating and drinking in public somebody was breaking open the street night trying to poison these individuals because they were powerful for the gospel and when the devil knows you're powerful he's going to try to take you out but god's already promised if you believe if you trust in the name of the lord jesus christ he says you can drink deadly poison and won't even get sick it's still red letters in it it's almost like he hadn't even taken a breath i know i ain't since we started so it's not that they're sitting around ordering poisoning it's that the people had come against them because they were a threat to the culture and anybody that's a threat to the culture is going to be threatened by the culture you understand that anybody that's a threat to the culture is going to be threatened by the culture the only problem is i just can't be bullied i don't mind looking crazy i don't mind looking stupid it doesn't bother me i sleep okay at night regardless of what you or anybody else thinks about me it just doesn't matter right so i'm not worried about their poison i'm not worried about their threats i'm not worried about their vandalism i'm not worried about their list i'm not worried about it i'll let security take care of it and i'm gonna just be fine with jesus because he said you're gonna drink some poison cause people gonna try to kill you and take you out but it's not gonna hurt you but then watch this i love the end of verse 18. they now wait a minute who's they same people that believed same ones exact same ones they not preachers not just apostles no the believers they shall affirmative lay hands on the sick and they shall recover they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover and by the way the definitive understanding of the text is all of this is done in jesus name not in your name not in medicine's name in jesus name they believers shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover now let me tell you how we how i got around this for a long time i'd pray for people i'd say now lord if it be your everlasting heavenly will to heal this individual we pray in the mighty name of jesus if it'd be your will if it only have fifth and a limb if it'd be your will that lord we would we would see them healed in in the name of the lord and then when they're healed we're like shocked we're like oh my goodness i can't believe that worked know what's interesting i can't find one place in the bible that jesus ever prayed for somebody's healing not once but i can show you a bunch of times where he commanded their healing he never said well you know father i hope this works but just in case it doesn't i'm going to say you know if it be your will no it's his will by his stripes we are healed isaiah 53 says it is his will the problem is we don't have the faith to believe it in the name of jesus he said if you lay hands on the sick they shall they shall they shall recover and by the way a lot of times we say well that individual laid hands on that sick person and they walked away sick well everybody you tell about jesus don't get saved i can't give you my faith i can just give you my blessing in the name of the lord jesus christ it's on you to receive it but he said you shall lay your hands on the sick okay i'm sorry american compromised jezebel cowardly church it does not say that you shall stretch your hand six feet away from them while you wear fifteen masks and call over them the name of the lord in hopes that maybe they might get he said they laid their hands on top of sick people and they recovered that's what the bible says they laid their hands on them jesus touched lepers never freaked out about it i was on this radio show today and they weren't friendlies but they were discussionary it's cool stephanie said he'd take 30 minutes about an hour and 15 minutes later right and i'm thinking to myself i mean they were all over it and they want to talk about what corona corona that's all they're going to talk about corona why you say this why you say why you say and i said look here's the problem churches used to invite sick people to get healed now we discourage sick people from showing up because we're afraid everybody else gonna get sick right so so here's my here's my whole stick and then i'm gonna keep reading we're done here's what gets me let's just say all the church is open tonight let's say this weekend every church in america opens and not all of them should open because corona did not make any problems in the church it only exposed the problems that were already there some of them were nothing more than coffee drinking social clubs and insurance sales calls and amway and ponzi schemes and they don't need to reopen right they don't need to reopen because they weren't preaching the bible to begin with but let's just suppose every church that's been closed and you know there's some in this area still closed tonight still closed this week it's still closed biggest church in nashville biggest one 22 000 people just opened a month ago you got to sign up wear a mask six feet apart and all that bunch of nonsense but anyhow that's on them not me every bucket says on its own bottom let me say this if all of them opened this weekend here's my question what are they going to preach on they've already shot their testimony i mean you think about a church that's been closed for months and months and months and months and months over a pandemic what are they going to preach on when they open faith i ain't listening to them we mean faith you've been baptized in fear for 18 months you're going to talk about faith where are they going oh well they gonna open up this week and say we gonna have a healing service what you've been scared of the flu for 20 months and you're gonna have a healing service there's nothing for them to preach they've lost their credibility they've lost their message and that's why a lot of them aren't reopening because they're like man we reopen and we look pretty stupid we don't know what to say you have nothing to say you have nothing to say but we get to rejoice in the strong name of the lord because we still believe in laying hands on sick folks amen we still believe in packing this place out no social distance we still believe that god has power to set people free we still believe that our message hasn't changed our message has intensified it's only deepened ((applause)) so i'm digging my heels in and just letting people know if you believe you got power in jesus name to lay hands on sick people and they shall recover so when they get to all this nonsense and they let you back in the hospitals go up down the hallways and get some people out in beds praise god for jesus sake i always wondered why people that believed in healing didn't go about healing folks some of these guys on tv with a bad two paying a bible under their arms never been called by the holy ghost a day in their life all they want's 1995. all they want is 29.95 on your major credit card if you believe in healing lay your hands on some sick folks not just a few that you knew were already in a situation and you got the information before i don't want no fake it to you making stuff i ain't talk about no ernest ainsley hey put a bug in my ear let me know so no no i'm talking about speaking a word right from god to somebody's heart because god told you not cause somebody in the back told you hallelujah ((applause)) you ought to circle how many times the word shall is you shall shall shall shall shall it's just going to happen because god said it shall recover verse 19 so then after the lord had spoken unto them he was received up into heaven and sat on the right hand of god so it's like we go from 15 to 19. we're like man 15 whoa that's good 19. wow that's good rest of it that's dangerous oh it's not dangerous that's kingdom authority right there that's kingdom works what that is so we went up to heaven set down the right hand of god and check this out i love this as a fulfillment of what he just said and they went forth and preached everywhere all over the place you see the bible says be instant in season out of season there's only two times i should ever preach when i feel like it and when i don't in season out of season they went forth and preached everywhere watch this the lord working with them and confirming say confirming the word with signs following which means that the signs did not contradict the word they confirmed the word they validated the word they didn't contradict the word they preached they didn't go against the gospel they preached they fulfilled the gospel that they preached and the word was confirmed with signs following following what following the word so why is it that we believe in preaching the word but we discourage the signs that follow the preaching of it i mean god says in the last days i'm going to paul my spirit upon all flesh your sons and daughters shall prophesy your young men shall see visions your old men shall dream dreams how many old men dreaming some dreams amen right there right it happens it happens milo told me about one this morning he's raising his bible and you ain't an old man but nonetheless at the end of the day god said these things shall follow them that believe and so what happened they went out and the signs followed them that believed but he did not say the signs are just going to follow us those that follow those that believe because they have a great education and they have a doctor before their name or pastor or reverend or father or no no just every day ordinary average people that believe there's power in the name of jesus so why is it we believe in the power of the gospel in verse 15 but not the results of the power of the gospel in the remaining chapter so it says they went everywhere preaching the word and god confirmed the word with signs following and then he says amen amen i guess that's where we end right amen that means so be it that means settle in think about this sit soak up in that for a little while like a sponge he's like they preached the word and guess what happened results followed some plant some sow some water but god gives the increase god gives the increase god gives the increase god does he shall give the increase so we should expect when we come to church that miracles happen we should expect it you know we i used to think well you know we we prayed for sister so-and-so's cancer to be healed and you know maybe in about you know six months she'll give a report on some wednesday night oh you know the doctor said i got a clear scan no no we should see miracles happen in every service and i don't just mean healing manifest i mean we should see more salvations than we've ever seen we should see more baptisms than we've ever seen we should see more marriages put back together than we've ever seen we should see people healed we should see people set free bondage falling up we are gonna reach a level where demons are gonna flee from this tent at the name of jesus because there's power in the blood ladies and gentlemen there's power in the blood and we cannot proclaim verse 15 if we do not believe the rest of the text so at the end of all of it from 15 all the way down to 20 he ends one simple way and we in tonight amen amen father thank you for the word of god tonight thank you for letting me shepherd the hearts of my friends and these folks in our church thank you for shepherding me for teaching me for correcting me rebuking me even at times lord there's power in the name of jesus this power in the holy spirit we have authority based on the bible that we have rolled over and given away i pray that we would walk in that authority we'd throw our shoulders back and walk in that god-given gospel-filled authority that you have given us and lord in doing so it won't make us arrogant it'll make us humble because we're unworthy for the power of god to flow through our veins and dwell within us but god i pray that you would use the weak things of the world to confound the strong the poor things to confound the rich the ignorant things to confound the wise and the educated because at the end of the day nobody can say they did it he did it she did it no no to god be the glory great things he hath done thank you for teaching us tonight as a body in jesus name everybody shout amen and amen i love you guys thank you so much for being here we look forward to seeing you this weekend and we're going to have a great time in god's house we'll get some heaters i promise we love you you are dismissed be safe out there god bless you