Through The Fire | Relentless Church

[Music] [Applause] [Music] zechariah chapter 13 zechariah chapter 13 starting at the ninth verse I will bring the one-third through the fire will refine them as silver is refined and test them as gold is tested they will call on my name and I will answer them matter of fact everyone stand for the reading of the word I'm a little weary of how casual many of us have become with the holiness of God including myself the reason why the worship team is dressed the reason why I'm dressed is because it occurred to me that many people still do not know me don't know my heart don't know me and my wife and because many news outlets are trying to define who we are I think I was I'm gonna take the power back and let y'all know who we are we love Jesus we serve Jesus we lift up Jesus we are pastors of a local church we're human beings we have feelings and emotions we take our kids to the same play places you take yours we're not supernatural we're superhuman just like you the only thing is we got cameras on us and you don't the reality is I'm not gonna let the devil try to break me without letting the devil know he'll lose every time because I will give all the glory to Jesus Christ and this the first Sunday of the year I wanted to make sure that we came in and gave God something different so I asked my leadership I said let's dress let's let's put something on to let the Lord know this is our first fruit for the year so I might not do this every week but I'm gonna do it today and I told our team to do it because I wanted God to know that some of the traditions of the church that I grew up in are good there's a level of reference when you get dressed for church you carry yourself differently when you some of us have become too casual and I become too casual God needed to refine some things in me I'm gonna preach it like I feel it because I feel something in the atmosphere and I'm gonna break it by the power of the Holy Ghost I will refine them as silver is refined and test them as gold is tested they will call on my name and I will answer them I will say this is my people and each one will say the Lord say it like you mean it the Lord is my god now go to Daniel chapter 3 Daniel chapter 3 Daniel chapter 3 starting at the 13th verse Daniel chapter 3 starting at the 13th verse Holy Ghost give me my joy then Nebuchadnezzar in rage and fury gave the command to bring Shadrach Meshach and Abednego so they brought these men before the king they weren't men they were boys very important they were boys they were young they were teenagers very important back then you could be a man and still be a teenager that's why you can have a 14 year old man and a 50 year old boy because you can have the the look of a man but not the heart or the responsibility of a man and you could look like a boy but have had to live like a man because you had to take responsibility manhood is not puberty or the presence of hair or the ability to reproduce manhood is accepting the responsibilities connected to your calling brought these men before the King Nebuchadnezzar spoke saying to them is it true tell somebody is it true it's a lot of stuff being said is it true is it true Shadrach Meshach and Abednego that you do not serve my gods or worship the gold image which I have set up now if you are ready at the time you hear the sound of the horn the flute the heart the leer and the sultry and symphony with all kinds of music and you fall down and worship the image which I have made good but if you do not if you do not worship if you do not bow down you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a fiery burning furnace and who is the God who will deliver you from my hands the devil has overestimated his power elder I want some church in here today I'm gonna say it again the devil has overestimated his power Shadrach Meshach and Abednego answered and said to the king o Nebuchadnezzar we have no need to answer you in this matter if that is the case our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace and he will deliver us from your hand your delivery your deliverance is here today he's delivering you from enemies I need this to get in the spirit whatever's been attacking you God's about to attack it whatever's been plotting against you God is about to plot against it God's coming after it because it came after you because you belong to him so whoever's attacking you is not attacking you they're attacking him if you don't believe me check the New Testament when saul was bringing christians out of synagogues and jesus kicked him off his horse and said hey saw you're attacking me I need you to understand that anybody that would seek to push against you is actually pushing against the God who you serve he will deliver us from your hand O king but if not somebody say but if not it's something powerful about a but if not praised you know the promise you know what the devil's trying to do you're not moved by you already declared what it's going to be but if not let it be known when you say let it be known you just drew a line in the sand and I'm gonna let the whole world know let it be known see when you come to church you let me know I'm a Christian I believe in Jesus I believe the word let it be known to you O king that we do not serve your gods nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up y'all know what happened next he said bind him up hand and foot I'm putting them in the fire the title of my message is through the fire I don't have a church you got your Bible in your hand I need you to put it down and I'm gonna say it again the title of the messages through the fire I need somebody to get it in your spirit because you're coming out of the fire but you had to go through the fire you had to go through it so you could speak to it father speak through your word and be glorified in Jesus name Amen you may be seated I'm a terrible host I've neglected to honor our 1st 2nd and 3rd time visitors if you are here visiting relentless Church would you please wave or stand so we can honor you we want to honor our 1st 2nd and 3rd time visitors come on let's celebrate our visitors and to our relentless online community let's celebrate our relentless online family I meet them me and my wife meet them everywhere we go we love you so much so very grateful for you I'm glad 2018 is over I only want to talk about it I don't want to see it again I'm I'm sick of it it's so it's so over it's it's done but I will say that I am affected by it too to go through something and not learn the lesson from it as a tragedy and what I've come to know is that when you are a believer God does not allow you to walk through anything without purpose pain has a purpose challenges have a purpose failure has a purpose everything that you walk through has a purpose and so 2018 had multiple purposes and many of them were painful lessons I cannot speak for you but it was a culmination of things that had never been addressed in my life many places that still linger that not at me places of unspoken pain heard Bishop Jake's say something that resonated with my spirit it shook me he said my father died before he told me who I was I find myself lingering waiting for my father to speak identity because you do know according to Scripture the father speaks identity to the children it's real quiet in here maybe that's because we're listening and I believe that it is let me say it again that the identity of the child is in the mouth of the father and if the father is not there then of course we know that God through his supernatural power becomes Abba Father or daddy God and I'm grateful for that but it does not negate the reality of the power of the family in the way that God intended for it to be structured in a society that says that fathers are optional I am here to the Claire that they are not we need men in position speaking life to the children and I don't need your applause to tell me it's right we're in a different moment in the world where we can just do what we want but scripture is still right and even science makes it clear that when a father is there spiritually emotionally and and and educationally to to push in and to promote the dreams of their children the children thrive they are healthier there's something to be said about the father in the picture why am I saying that when that thing is not there when that affirmation is not there it leaves a void and you run through your life looking for someone to validate you and the danger of external validation is that it oftentimes rings hollow because no matter what they say is still not dad I say that because those are just a few of the things that I had to address in my 20 18 it was a fiery year I don't know about you but at the intensity of the heat the intensity of the attack the intensity of the focus and what I realized is I asked God I said why is all this going on I didn't ask for any of this I didn't ask to be a preacher I didn't ask for no church I didn't apply I didn't go begging I didn't call up here and as y'all looking for a preacher y'all need somebody to move over here I didn't ask for none of that I was minding my business nursing my pain living in mediocrity even though people thought it was great but the truth is most things come easy I'm gonna go ahead and be honest since y'all can sit there i'ma let y'all stare at me while I tell the truth and many of the things that have come to me God handed it to me not because I was good but because it was a part of the purpose for my life and I wish there were a couple people in here that realize you're not where you are because you're good you're there because God wants you there to push his kingdom forward none of us deserve what we have we're here because God wants to do it and as will is going to get accomplished whether you want to or not I need a four-second praise break the intensity of the heat I said God why don't you leave me alone why is everything happening to me he said cuz you don't know who you are I was functioning like a man who didn't know who he was the greatest tragedy of the body of Christ is a lack of identity I need somebody to write this down and I feel something in the atmosphere I need a couple of prophets to pray me through I need a couple of elders to intercede because this word in the next 15 minutes has to get out I got to break through the atmosphere and I need somebody praying me through the greatest attack and the body of Christ is a lack of identity because if you don't know who you are you'll do anything the fire of 2018 it almost consumed me but it wasn't designed to consume me it was designed to burn some stuff off me the first shift in the message just occurred there are some things that had to happen you need to tell somebody it had to happen don't tell somebody else it had to happen because fire fire is on its surface destructive on its surface you can smell where a fire has been anybody ever been where a fire was whether you're trying to barbecue and you can't barbecue fire leaves a mark what I want is a church that's on fire I want a Holy Ghost filled Church but a Holy Ghost filled Church requires people who know who they are know who God is and know who they were so they know where God is taking them know who you are know who God is know who you were so you can know where God is taking you that means you got to be honest with what you used to be fire is uncomfortable because it burns away everything except the core there's a couple types of fire and I need you to write these down because if you're gonna go through it you might as well get the benefit of it there's a fire of inspection there's a fire of identification there's a fire of communication there's a fire of refining there's a fire of identification a fire of communication as a fire of inspection fire of refining I believe the first part for many of us to understand is that God was inspecting us in 2018 God was looking to see not only if you knew who you were but he was looking to see what you would be able to give her if you knew that you had a gift that was worthy of use because the devil has lied to many of us and said you have no value in the kingdom and so we stopped trying to be the thing that God intended for us to be but there were some of us who pressed through and said even though I'm not exactly sure what it is I'm supposed to be doing I'm going to do something I'm gonna get to the house I'm gonna stay online I will lift my hands in worship I will press through I'll stay in fellowship and I need you to know that God was observing your behavior during this time of question during this time of journey during this time of wilderness because many of us felt like we were in a wilderness moment in 2018 nine of us nine of 10 of us there's a fire that inspects in Genesis 15 17 through 21 there was a moment the Bible says it came to pass when the Sun went down and it was dark that behold there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between the pieces of the sacrifice Abram had made a sacrifice to God and there was an oven and a torch and here's the thing 20-18 was the oven God's presence was the torch because he wasn't microwaving you in 2018 he was cooking you [Applause] when you microwave it's intense for a moment but then you can get out but when you cooking you can't push the oven door open no matter where you go it's just burning no matter where you go there's somebody right there no matter where you go somebody else says this somebody else says that and why God are you allowing this to happen I'm not bothering nobody I don't hate on anybody I'm always kind I got a good heart I'm doing the best I can why don't people leave me alone I didn't bother anybody it's because you're in the fire because it's almost time for you to come out and when you come out the aroma of who you are it's going to draw other people to the kingdom of God and any good cook knows you don't put the dish on the table just because the surface looks done I'm gonna come over here where my good cook set you got a cut into the center to make sure that the heat has transferred and translated all the way across the dish not just the surface cuz we got a lot of surface Christians and you look real good you look like you're done just but if I cut in the middle you still sauce [Applause] [Music] so God had to inspect to make sure that we were thoroughly matured so that we could finish the work till somebody finished the work it's important for you to understand that we have work to do Jesus has given us a work I love Nehemiah he said I cannot come down from the wall but they hatin that they're saying crazy stuff I know and I want to say something so bad but the Lord said let me fight it you gotta be quiet hold your peace let the Lord fight your battle but god they lie they lyin and I want to say something because I wasn't always saying can I please go back to my before Christ days I don't mind if they telling the truth I'll admit the truth but when you lie I want to let you know I'm from the hood I'm from Cincinnati I got I got cousins but either you fight or gods fight I need somebody in the back of somebody online to hear what I just said cuz here's the truth the people that know you know and the people that don't want to know they already have made up their mind it don't matter you give them everything they want it won't change what they think because they thought it anyway [Applause] the maturity of the believer says I cannot move or come down from my assignment for any reason help me God help me God there's a fire of inspection God is making sure that you understand what he's invested in you do you realize the reason for the attack is because of the investment that God has made in you all right there's a fire of inspection number two there's a fire of identification there's a fire of identification do you know who you are do you know who you are now Moses Exodus chapter three verse one Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro the priest of Midian quickly going down and the aims of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire somebody say fire from the midst of a bush so he looked and behold the bush was burning with fire but the bush was not consumed it was on fire but it wasn't consumed this is very important for you to catch this because you came from God and God has allowed the fire but look at you you're not consumed if anybody was gonna shout that would have been a great time because yes the fire came but you're not consumed help me Holy Ghost the only stuff that burned off with stuff that you didn't need anyway Bible says Moses said I'm gonna turn and see this strange sight to see why the bush is burning but it's not consumed and then God spoke from the bush it said Moses Moses don't come any closer take your sandals from off your feet for the place where you're standing is holy ground what you didn't know it looked like hell but it was holy it looked like it was on fire but it was holy everything you went through it looked like hell but it was holy and what it did is it burned off everything including your shoes shoes are symbolic of your path your walk your understanding your limited sight line God said take your sandals from off your feet I'm getting ready to walk you down a different path the place where you're standing is holy ground was the ground holy before God got there no the ground wasn't holy God is holy and because God's on the ground the ground is now holy what you thought was hell was actually holy I wish I had a praise are in here it burned but you are not consumed there's one praiser there you were on fire but you're still alive they tried and you're here they wanted to see if this would be the thing that would break you and here you are burning but not consumed fire there's a fire of communication I said there's a fire of communication see in this season I don't want to hang with people who haven't gone through the fire when I asked the Lord nah I should have thought about this pastor aventure I said Lord I only want you to send me people that are gonna run at my pace because I could tap dance up here and say all kinds of stuff that the Lord didn't tell me to say and draw a big crowd oh I'm sure that I could figure out a way to draw a crowd but we're trying to build a church and since you're trying to build a church you build a church by the truth of God's Word and the presence of the Holy Ghost so you might have a crowd in the beginning but you keep preaching this word the people that are playing games aren't staying if you hear right now is because you know God is here God is moving God is doing something so when you have a real move of God you must expect the attack so I mean some people that are fireproof [Applause] there's a fire of communication Acts chapter 2 verses one through four they were all in one room on one Accord and suddenly tongues as a fire what did it do its sat upon them elder when you stood up I saw I saw the anointing sit on your shoulders see this this is for it didn't say it got in their mouth I could understand it for tongue got in your mouth the fire didn't get in their mouth the fire got on their shoulders because the fire comes as a mantle when you wear a mantle that means you occupy an office when you occupy an office it's not just a moment where you speak in tongues you're full of the Holy Ghost when you're at Whole Foods you're full of the Holy Ghost when you're at Publix you full of the Holy Ghost when you're at the gas station see if it's just the tongue you can turn it on or off but when that thing sits on you how many people want the Holy Ghost to be seated on the throne of your life I need somebody to get that in your spirit I need everybody to focus I want my leaders to hear what I just said we're not gonna be an in-and-out burger Church you're not gonna drive through here get what you want and then leaves no this thing is going home with you it's gonna sit in your house miracles and then there's a fire communication which means when you're a believer you speak to believers on a different level I'm trying to surround myself with people who are speaking Kingdom who are thinking Kingdom who are moving Kingdom I need Kingdom minded people I need you talking about expansion and taking territory I'm not talking about being ugly to somebody and texting and tweeting and all of that foolishness I don't have time for that did you see what they said on TV about such-and-such no I don't have time for that Jesus is coming back I need some people that are serious about the things of God I want to talk about God I want to talk about the holy things of God I want to talk about building the kingdom of God I want to talk about casting out Devils I want to talk about building families [Music] there's a fire of inspection one of identification I love that in the fire of identification God said Moses Moses he identifies that don't don't come any closer to place where you're standing is holy ground and then out of that God didn't identifies himself Moses saying who are you lord I am Who I am he identified himself and in doing so he also identified who Moses was because Moses needed identity he had dual identity because he was he Egyptian was he Hebrew he was raised as an Egyptian but he was better at his core he was a Hebrew and some of y'all don't know if you're Egyptian or Hebrew because sometimes the egypt comes out of you but then you got that hebrew thing so half the time you ain't saying than the other time you are saying so the devil tricks you and makes you wonder in my egyptian and my hebrew cuz i cuss if you mess with me but i worship if God blesses me and I'm not sure and I love I love this I love God over here but I'm still struggling with lust over there are you Egyptian are you Hebrew so God comes and announces who he is to ratify who you are then there's the fire of refining I know that I'm going into overtime I don't know where all the time where but I'm gonna preach it like I feel it Zechariah 13 and 9 there's a refining I will bring the 1/3 through the fryer say one one out of three so every third person on the road you can expect that God is gonna put you through the fire unless of course all of y'all collectively are the 1/3 and the 67% are the ones in your family that don't get it yet maybe the reason why you're going through hell is for the 67% of people in your family that aren't thinking about God could it be that the Lord is putting you through the refiners fire so by the time he's finished with you and you shining people are gonna ask what in the world changed how did you get to where you got you don't look the same you don't act the same you don't talk the same you don't sound the same everything is different about you when you've been through hell something should change when you barely made it something should change when you weren't sure if you were gonna keep your mind something should change when you almost died from cancer but God healed you something should change when you've been beaten to a point of no return but God delivered you from that relationship something should change [Music] just somebody is a test no scream it's a it's a test he said I'm gonna refine them as silver but I will test them as gold silver is second place I'm gonna refine you but then I'm gonna test you as gold because when you get to that level when you're on the platform I gotta make sure there's nothing on you that will cause people to think that you think you got there by yourself so I'm gonna burn your pride your ambition your insecurities your fear i'ma burn at all I'm a burn everything off for you I'm gonna burn it I'm over tell somebody let it burn now tell him let it burn see and here's the thing every place that I saw in scripture where I was searching is the enemy was not looking just to kill he was looking to meet worship the first time we see Jobe attack a man or the devil attack of Managed job and he said to God I guarantee you if you let me get to him he'll curse you to your face which is the opposite of worship the enemy was coming after worship what you need to know is the attack of 2018 was designed to see if you'd stop worshiping because when you're on fire you better learn how to worship because worship gets God on the scene and he's the only one that can put the fire out I'm wondering if there any worshipers in here who understood that the fire was designed to perfect your worship the enemy is after your worship and he attacks you because he's trying to distract you the things I went through in 2018 I wouldn't wish on any single human being I would never wish it on anyone but what I realized is that the enemy wasn't trying to kill me because if he could he would have and if God wanted to kill me he could do that easy so there was a purpose in what I was going through so the purpose is all wait a minute he can't kill me so what he's doing is to distract me from the thing I was designed to do which is worship so let me get back to the thing I was created for so that God could stay in the midst of it because he inhabits the praises of his people so if I worship he shows up that gives me peace of mind somebody needs to know your worship is your weapon your worship is your weapon now I need a couple people to use your weapon right now [Applause] [Music] here's what I learned the enemy because he can't kill you he wants to kill you but since he can't he bet he can't kill you but he wants you to kill you how many people thought about suicide last year at one point I didn't say you wouldn't got a gun but it crossed your mind it'd be better to be dead than alive let me see those hands matter of fact stand up so so people in the world could know that that they weren't the only one under attack look at look at this I'm standing too by the way remain standing for a second why would the enemy tell you it's better that you weren't here now I need you to look because my executive pastor is standing up too he attacks leadership strike the head the sheep will scatter why in the world would the enemy wants you dead so bad you got a hundred million dollars in Tibet you you a billionaire why why does he want you dead so bad why would he lie to you and tell you you have no value unless of course your value is so crazy that if you ever knew who you were you'd shake an entire nation a region a state you take a country you can shake a continent if the enemy told you it's better that you weren't alive I need you to worship right now just to let him know not only did you fail but I spotted July I need you to get this in your soul there is a praise that draws a line in the sand that tells the enemy he can't come any further the enemy was after Shadrach Meshach and Abednego what did he want their worship Nebuchadnezzar said you better worship me everybody made you crazy you're out of your mind never gonna worship you put me in the furnace I'm cool wrap me up you can make me an enchilada wrap me up do whatever you want to do I'm not I'm not worshiping you God will deliver me and if he does it guess what I'm still not worshiping we're the ones that even though you had a moment where you could have gotten released you stayed in the fire where's my jacket you stayed in the fire I need a shadrach come on stand with me right see cuz when you go through the fire this is what's important now you can't tell who made the jacket all you can tell is that the jacket has been through something it's been burned but it still has its form the only thing you know is the parts that are gone what you don't know is that whatever is gone I didn't need I still got my mentor I've been burned I've been through the fire but what you don't know is I was in bondage but the ropes are gone I might have some scars but I can still lift my hands go and lift see because what I went through doesn't stop me from worshiping God all it does is draw attention to the goodness of God because when you see me in my mantle you gonna ask me what happened and I'm gonna tell you I was in the furnace I was in the fire I had no hope but God delivered me but you got burns but that's all right this is this is scar tissue from battles you don't get out of battles without scars [Music] everybody wants victory nobody wants scars [Applause] it says he threw three of them bound I need one more give me one more just somebody get up on stage I need one more thank you he said there were three of them bound but I see a fourth one I [Applause] see three minutes I threw three of them in there bound but now four I've been walking I need a fourth one where's my fourth come on Big Boy come on Big Boy the Bible says I threw three of them bound but now all four of them are walking go ahead and just walk I'm walking through the fire they were still in the oven but they're walking their fire walkers one of them looks like the Son of God I don't know who this is for but why you were going through the fire Jesus stepped into the fire with you y'all just walk around just walk around just do whatever you want I need somebody to walk around real quick I need a couple people to walk [Music] [Applause] tell somebody go through it tell somebody go through it [Music] tell somebody else go through it and then tell somebody come out of it I'm gonna try to walk out there I need to tell somebody come out of it you've been through hell now come on out you have a testimony now you have authority now you have power now stop fighting for yourself God is fighting for you you worship don't worry about what they say you worship they're gonna do what they want you worship [Applause] [Music] I gotta let y'all go tell somebody go through it [Music] Oh help me Holy Ghost I want to shout and I want to throw this microphone [Applause] there's something called a fire line when when firefighters are battling one of those out-of-control blazes they set a fire line which means they burn a certain area because fire needs fuel that's why the Lord saying be quiet cuz your mouth is oxygen if you speak to it it gives it fuel tell somebody shut your mouth let the Lord fighter tell them be quiet it's so important for you to hear this don't give it fuel don't give it oxygen but you need to set a fire line and what a fire line is is before the devil can burn it I'm gonna set it on fire I'm gonna set my past on fire i'ma set my sin on fire I'm gonna sacrifice at all but when you have a fire line that means you need somebody next to you you need a couple people next to you you need a couple people next to you you need a couple people next to you when you have a fire line you need some people that will worship with you see because if you get a line of people that are worship with you then that means the devil can't get through all of y'all he might hit one of y'all but he can't get all of us he might hit one of us but if I worshipping and you worship Him and you worshipping and she's worshiping and we're all lifting up God we just set a fire line come here Pass happens when you set a fire line you let the devil know it may hurt and that may look like I'm about to be consumed but this far and no further I will fight fire with fire the fire of attack will be met with the fire of my worship the fire of the lie will be met with the fire of the truth and imma fight fire with fire I need a couple people on my fire line to worship God [Music] 10 seconds if you in the balcony don't sit there with the adidas shirt stand up you've got a friend [Applause] [Music] I feel the Holy Ghost listen at 30 seconds if you're here and you need and don't change the music if you need to get saved if you need to give your life to Jesus rededicated you want to be a member of relentless church get all your stuff run to the all-terrain wait you got 30 seconds and nobody tell my fireline to leave nobody told my fireline to leave nobody told my fireline to leave if you need to give your life to Jesus rededicate your life to Jesus or become a member of relentless church look at that welcome you're welcome to the author if you come through the fire you're welcome to the altar if you've come through the fire you're welcome to the altar if you've come through the fire I said you're welcome to the altar if you come through the fire that's right go ahead and worship this is a different altar call today this is church unusual we don't start the next service just a little late but we don't fight fire with fire welcome home [Music] the Bible says Jesus feet were like polished brass his eyes were like fire that's revelation 115 everybody goes through the fire is what remains after you go through the fire that counts I said it's what remains that when you go through the fire that counts tell somebody hold every now and then the enemy will push against you tell them hold don't let the enemy in don't let him break through tell him hold y'all too far away get over here is a big old hole look like the gap band get on there tell him hold the enemy is counting on the line to break tell them hold hold on to your marriage hold on to your family hold on to your children hold on to your dream tell somebody home now y'all y'all playing with it yeah yeah I know about time but something had to break in here it's the first Sunday of the year tell somebody through the fire [Music] there are some people who are victims of arson and there are some that are victims of self-inflicted flames doesn't matter how the fire got to you just know the Lord is putting it out that's for the real judgmental people God's putting out the flame welcome home to all of y'all welcome home [Applause] [Music]

Channel: John Gray Ministries

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Id: HiKbI38FIHk

Length: 46min 46sec (2806 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 08 2019