A Nation In Distress (2 Chronicles 15:5) | Dr. Tony Evans

Good morning. [applause]

On behalf of my wife Carla and I, we are honored, privileged to be at this great church with this great history and this great ministry, this great impact. And

uh I'm privileged to be here. I was here in 2013 for a men's conference.

And um I've been a little bit upset that it took me to this point to be invited back.

I called Pastor Mike. I said, "Look, y'all haven't invited me back."

He said, "Well, you okay, but they've they've really gotten used to me now."

And between me and David Platt, you know there's we have a certain standard.

We operate at a certain level and for for where our church is and for what our church needs, I don't think you're quite ready yet.

So, I was a little bit evangelically ticked off when he told me that. And I

said, "But I really want to come back.

You know, it's a great church. I really

want to come back." He said, "Send me a CD."

CD." So, I sent him a CD and he listened to it.

He said, "We know you're definitely improving. You you're moving in the

improving. You you're moving in the right direction, but this is McLean Bible Church, and you know, it just you're just not where we need you to be

for for for our our membership."

I said, "Well, I really want to come back. I I I'll practice." And so, you

back. I I I'll practice." And so, you know, I practiced a little bit. I said,

"Can I send you another CD?" He said, "Okay, I'll I'll listen. But I just, you know, me and David Platt, we I just don't know that you're quite there yet.

[snorts] So I sent him another CD and he listened to it. I called him and see what he thought. He said, "You're trying. You're you're definitely trying,

trying. You're you're definitely trying, but for this church, you're you're just not ready yet."

ready yet." I said, "I'll come for free." He said, "Now you're ready." So

I am grateful.

to be here. Thank you so much. I got to meet uh uh Mike and Ashley and it's just a a great great privilege and of course have followed the ministry of this

church and the impact you've had through your leadership over the years. And so

thank you for allowing me to be be part of this uh great gathering today for these these two services and of course the uh other campuses as well.

In Europe some years ago, they had a interesting way to determine whether someone who was confined to a sanitarium

was cognitively healthy enough to leave to be set back into the general population.

And the crude way that they would seek to do that back in years gone by was to put an inmate in a janitor's closet.

They would put the inmate in the janitor's closet and put a stopper in the sink and run the water until it overflowed the bowl.

As the water overflowed the bowl, they would give the inmate a mop and tell them to mop up the mess that was overflowing

from the bowl with a stopper in it. The

supervisor would leave the inmate in the janitor's closet for a few moments and then return.

If when they returned, the stopper was still in the sink, the water was still overflowing, and they were mopping, they knew that they were not cognitively well

enough to leave because they hadn't figured out the root of the problem.

The stopper was still in the sink. The

water was overflowing. And they were still trying to mop up the mess, which means they could never solve the dilemma because [snorts] they hadn't gotten to the root.

I'm sure when you look in our world today, there is a lot of mess to be mopped up.

Amen. There a lot of chaos, confusion, calamity conflict.

And there are a lot of mops being slung to mop up the mess.

There are economic mops and social mops and political mops and racial mops all trying to mop up the mess. and the mops

have been being slung for years only to see that the mess continues to accumulate.

So if you would allow me this morning, I'm would like to talk to you without a mop.

I want to talk to you about a stopper because if we can remove the stopper, we can stop the mess. Which means we don't have to spend all of our time with

a mop.

Oh, I got one here in the front. I I got one in 2 Coronicles chapter 15

verse 5 reads this way.

It says, "In those times there was no peace to him who went out or to him who came in.

For many disturbances afflicted all the inhabitants of the lands, nation was crushed by nation and city by city.

It says many disturbances afflicted afflicted everybody. Everybody was being

afflicted everybody. Everybody was being disturbed. First of all, individuals to

disturbed. First of all, individuals to him to the individual there was no peace.

They were living in personal conflict.

And if you can't live with you, anybody around you is going to be in trouble too. Because if you are in

trouble too. Because if you are in conflict with yourself and when we look at the lack of [snorts] continuity of life today, people

struggling to live with themselves. I

mean, if I didn't do what I do for my responsibility in ministry, I would be a secular non-Christian psychiatrist. cuz

then I could charge people $300 an hour to tell them why they need to come back next week.

Because people are living in conflict with themselves.

But he says not only were they living in conflict with themselves, they were living when they came out and when they went back in. That is when they went

home. There was not only personal

home. There was not only personal conflict, there was familial conflict, family instability.

When you look at the divorce, when you look at the conflict, when you look at the abuse, when you look at the family rebellion, you see households that are disturbed.

When you look at what's happening with our teenagers who are running wild and running loose all over the nation and it's clear that the home is not

functioning effectively.

It is clear that there is no peace to the individual.

And when they go home, when they go back in, there's conflict there.

IT SAYS CITY ROSE UP AGAINST CITY. I'll

call that urban conflict.

Community instability.

When you look at the racial divide, the political divide, the class divide, the gender divide, you see instability

in our centers of communal living.

It says nation rose up against nation.

That's international chaos, confusion, and instability. And of course, we're in

and instability. And of course, we're in the midst of that worldwide today.

So whether it's individual or familial or communitywide or international, it says many disturbances afflicted all the

inhabitants of the land. Everybody was

in trouble.

But then we're hit with a phrase, a phrase you wouldn't expect because the end of verse six says, "For God troubled them

with every kind of distress." I would have thought with all of this confusion, it would have said the devil troubled

them with every kind of distress. BUT

THAT'S NOT WHAT WE READ.

WE READ GOD SAYING, "YOU SEE ALL THIS CHAOS, blame me, for God troubled them with every kind of

distress." Now,

distress." Now, IF GOD IS YOUR PROBLEM, it doesn't matter who you elect.

IF GOD IS YOUR PROBLEM, it doesn't matter what program you institute.

IF GOD IS YOUR PROBLEM, IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT strategy you inculcate.

IF GOD IS YOUR PROBLEM, only God is your solution.

It says, "For God troubled them with every kind of distress."

In the Old Testament, when God was dissatisfied, there would be the active wrath of God.

He would come down and bring judgment, the flood, or destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, or the opening up of the earth

where God uh uh uh incarcerated Kora and his family, or the 10 plagues of Pharaoh, God would directly bring

judgment. However, with the DEATH OF

judgment. However, with the DEATH OF CHRIST IN HISTORY, 2 Corinthians 5 tells us that THE DEATH OF CHRIST RECONCILED

the world to God. So that now you AND I DON'T HAVE THE active wrath of God. We

have the passive wrath of God. That's

explained in Romans chapter 1. Because

people no longer wanted to keep the knowledge of God. Verse 24, verse 26, verse 28 says God turned them over. That

is God released man to life without him.

Since you don't want me, you don't have to have me. Let's see how life works without me. So he turned them over to an

without me. So he turned them over to an abandonment of departure from him. So whether it's the active wrath of God in the Old

Testament or the passive wrath of God in the New Testament, the chaos is the result of THE DISTRESS THAT GOD EITHER

causes Old Testament or allows New Testament. But it is the dis it is a

Testament. But it is the dis it is a description of his displeasure with men having abandoned him. SO

THERE IS CHAOS IN THE LAND. You and I are seeing chaos in the land. Life,

family community nation same situation, different method of expressing God's wrath. So the question

then is what was the cause of the crisis? the crisis you face, the crisis

crisis? the crisis you face, the crisis families that you know face, the crisis our community face, the crisis that the

world faces. If God is the cause or or

world faces. If God is the cause or or if the basis of the crisis, what were the ingredients that led to the wrath of

God that allowed the discontinuity to take place in these spheres of living?

Well, verse three tells us there were three reasons why there was all of these disturbances and chaos in the world. It

says the first reason in those days it says for many days an extended period of time Israel was without the true God.

So the first reason why there was chaos is that the true God was missing.

It did not say God was missing. It said

the true God was missing. When you don't have the true God, that means you have false gods.

False gods ARE CALLED IDOLS. AN IDOL is a noun, a person, place, thing, or

thought that you look to as your source.

An idol is any noun that becomes your source.

IDOLS WERE NOT JUST looked to for something to worship. Idols were looked to and worship for something they could produce for you. So people would look to

idols to help it to rain. People would

look to idols to help crops to grow.

People would look TO IDOLS FOR HEALING IN THEIR BODIES. People look for idols for the thing that they idolize to produce something for them that would

benefit them. Which is why an idol

benefit them. Which is why an idol became an object of worship. In Western

civilization, we don't worship rocks and stones in the sky. And we we have American idols. These are sophisticated

American idols. These are sophisticated idols of worship. We worship skin color,

so we have racial idolatry. We worship

politics, so we have political idolatry.

We worship money, so we have materialistic idolatry. WE WORSHIP

materialistic idolatry. WE WORSHIP STATUS, SO WE HAVE identity uh uh uh idols. And we are looking to those as a

idols. And we are looking to those as a source of value and significance.

When you look at anything other than the true God as the source of life, that person, place, thing or thought becomes

an idol which means something else has taken the place of God even while you may go to worship. So he says that the

true God was missing. We have the name God while we worship idols.

So that the true God is missing. I had

to go to Walmart some time ago to buy some things. And you have to understand I hate anything with Mart in its name.

IF MART IS IN ITS NAME, I DON'T WANT TO FOOL WITH IT. BUT I HAD TO GO TO WALMART TO GET SOME THINGS. And I WANTED TO BE THE FIRST ONE IN and the first one out

because I don't like to deal WITH MARTS.

WHEN I DROVE UP TO WALMART, THE REST OF DALLAS HAD beaten me there. THE PARKING

LOT WAS JAM-PACKED with cars. I'm trying

to figure out why are all these people here so early. So, I go in, I get in this long line. I'm in Walmart. Get my

goods. I'M STANDING IN LINE. AND I'm

trying to figure out why are all these people here so early. And then I discover that this Walmart was having a store-wide sale. So everything was on

store-wide sale. So everything was on sale. So everybody had showed up to get

sale. So everybody had showed up to get their goods at reduced prices. As I

stood in line, it dawned on me, that's our problem. Everybody wants God. They

our problem. Everybody wants God. They

just want him on discount.

As long as God will come on discount, WE'LL SHOP THERE. THE MOMENT HE comes at full price, we'll shop elsewhere. So,

people don't want the true God. They

want a God they can control. They want a God they can define. They want a God that that that that that they can influence. THEY DON'T WANT THE GOD AS HE

influence. THEY DON'T WANT THE GOD AS HE REVEALS himself to be. They want the God that they want him to become. And the

moment THAT YOU HAVE THAT GOD, you don't have the true God. And when you don't have the true God, you place yourself in

an idolatrous situation. AND THIS THIS FALSEENESS OF GOD KNOWN AS idolatry is showing up in so many ways. THAT'S WHY

WE HAVE ALL OF these illegitimate divisions because we're worshiping false gods. THE GOD OF POLITICS, FOR EXAMPLE,

gods. THE GOD OF POLITICS, FOR EXAMPLE, AS THOUGH GOD rides the backs of dunkeys or elephants because we have confused uh

uh uh God's house with the White House.

WE'VE REFUSED GOD'S house with the House of Congress, NOT UNDERSTANDING THAT GOD HAS A WHOLE another agenda. REMINDS ME

OF JOSHUA CHAPTER 5. Joshua [snorts] is doing reconnaissance around the walls of Jericho. And he's walking around the

Jericho. And he's walking around the walls of Jericho. He sees this captain over here leading this big army.

Joshua's mama didn't raise no dummy. He

goes over to the captain and said, "WHOSE SIDE are you on? Cuz if you're on our side, then you're going to help us against Jericho. If you're on Jericho's

against Jericho. If you're on Jericho's side, you're going to help Jericho against us." SO BEFORE I GO OUT HERE TO

against us." SO BEFORE I GO OUT HERE TO BATTLE, whose side are you on? The

captain looked at Joshua and said, "I think you're confused. I'm neither on your side nor am I on their side. I'm

captain of the Lord's army. I did not come to take sides. I come to take over.

You see, when you have to understand who God is, [applause] then the systems of this world don't become your idolatrous definition. When

you look at the issue of the idol of race, which is divided and continues to divide the country, we we we we we get

confused when when when Peter was eating pork chops with the Gentiles in Genesis chapter 2 cuz he found out they knew how to cook. And and uh he finally was told

to cook. And and uh he finally was told it's okay to eat pork and pork chops and chidlins and pig feet. And he found that out in in Acts chapter 10. Don't call

unclean what I call clean. So he crosses over, goes to the soul shack, finds out how they cook pork, AND HE'S SITTING OUT EATING with the Gentiles, tell his homeboys, the Jews showed up. When the

Jews showed up, he was so intimidated by them. He left the Gentiles sitting

them. He left the Gentiles sitting there. Paul said, "When I saw that, I

there. Paul said, "When I saw that, I condemned Peter before them all. And I

told Peter a verse we like to quote. I

am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless,

I live yet not I. It's Christ who lives in me. the life which I now live. I live

in me. the life which I now live. I live

by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20.

That great verse is not a verse just out there hanging. That's a verse that Paul

there hanging. That's a verse that Paul quotes to Peter to tell them, Peter, you have forgotten your identity. You're not

black first. You're not white first.

You're a follower of Christ first. And

everything submits to that.

[applause] Yeah.

But because we've allowed the culture to tell us our self- definitionf and we ALLOWED THAT TO DEFINE US rather than placing that definition under the

authority of our Christian commitment, we've allowed race to become an idol.

And that means that God has been reduced and pushed to the sidelines in the significance of skin color. AND ALL OF THAT MEANS THAT THE TRUE GOD is missing.

He says there was no true God. So why

was there no true God? Well, verse three tells you because the second thing that was missing is he says there was no teaching priest.

He didn't say there were no preachers.

He just said they weren't talking about nothing.

He said there was no teaching priests.

There were plenty of priests, but what they were SAYING AND WHAT GOD was saying was not the same thing. There are TWO ANSWERS TO EVERY QUESTION. GOD'S answer

and everybody else's and everybody else is wrong. When their view disagrees with

is wrong. When their view disagrees with God's view, what we have to do is have a radical to take a book title. We have to

have a radical return to the authority of scripture. There was no teaching

of scripture. There was no teaching priest. They were not communicating

priest. They were not communicating biblical truth. They were communicating

biblical truth. They were communicating cultural truth. They were communicating

cultural truth. They were communicating uh uh uh you know true uh information with a little Jesus sprinkled on it.

They were not returning to the authoritative word of God. You know when the Cowboys beat up on the Red Redskins

or the Commanders, whatever you want to call them, there are there are three teams that come on the field. Okay? You got the commanders, you got the cowboys, which

means you're going to have three hours of conflict. That's going to be three

of conflict. That's going to be three hours of conflict because those two teams are never going to get along.

They're always going to have a different perspective because they have different goals they're going toward. One team is going this way, another team is going that way, which means conflict is

inevitable.

In the midst of this conflict will be seven officials. Every NFL game has

seven officials. Every NFL game has seven officials. Those seven officials

seven officials. Those seven officials are clearly identified cuz they got black and white jerseys on. They don't

have the jerseys of this team or the jerseys of that team because they don't belong to either team. They belong to 345 Park Avenue, which is where the NFL

offices are located. Each one of these officials has been handed a book. This

book gives other all the governing guidelines by which all decisions are to be made on the field of play. Their

personal opinions must be subject to that book. Whichever team they prefers

that book. Whichever team they prefers is irrelevant cuz they have to make all their decisions based on this book. They

understand sometimes they going to be booed and sometimes they going to be cheered. But how people respond to them

cheered. But how people respond to them is inconsequential because all their decisions must be made based on the book. THERE'S GOING TO BE CONFLICT on

book. THERE'S GOING TO BE CONFLICT on the field, but their decisions are based on the book. We got too many Christians who've joined teams and have traded in

their jerseys cuz they're no longer operating based on the book. IT IS THE WORD OF GOD, THE BOOK THAT is to be the

basis of all decision makingaking by the people of God. BUT BECAUSE THERE WEREN'T teaching priests, a mist in the pull pit

becomes a fog in the pew. And when the pullpit has compromised the word of God, you can't expect the pew to compromise the word of God. He says there was no

teaching preached. If you said, TONY

teaching preached. If you said, TONY EVANS, MY LIFE IS IN CRISIS. What should

I do? I'm going to try to understand what you're going through. I'm going to identify the biblical principles that address what you're going through. I'm

going to give you practical steps to apply those principles to your problems. And then I'm going to ask the Holy Spirit to bless your obedience to those

principles to rectify what is happening in the crisis of your life. If you bring your family to me and said, TONY EVANS, MY FAMILY IS FALLING APART. I'm going to

seek to identify the issues that are your family are facing. What are the biblical principles that speak to that issue? What are the acts you should do

issue? What are the acts you should do to apply those principles to your situation? Then I'm going to pray that

situation? Then I'm going to pray that the Holy Spirit empowers your obedience to those principles to bring healing to your home. If you brought the church to

your home. If you brought the church to me and said, "My church is in conflict."

I'm going to take I'm going to understand what the issues are. I'm

going to identify the biblical principles that speak to that issue. I'm

going to give you practical steps to apply those principles. I'm going to ask the Holy Spirit to bless your obedience to those principles to bring healing to

your ecclesiastical structure. If your

nation is in trouble and the Congress says that our nation is falling apart, WHAT I'M NOT GOING TO DO IS change books because we got too many people changing

books. It's the same book cuz God is the

books. It's the same book cuz God is the author of government. And I'm going to identify the problem. I'm going to look at the biblical principles. I'm going to give the practical steps to apply the

biblical principles. I'm going pray the

biblical principles. I'm going pray the Holy Spirit blesses the obedience to those principles TO BRING HEALING TO THE NATION. YOU DON'T CHANGE BOOKS. THE WORD

NATION. YOU DON'T CHANGE BOOKS. THE WORD

OF GOD IS THE standard by which decisions are to be made. AND THAT'S WHY BELONGING TO THIS church where there are teaching priests who are going to INSIST

THAT THE WORD OF GOD IS THE FINAL AUTHORITY by which all decisions are to be made is THE BASIS BY WHICH YOU GET

THE INVOLVEMENT OF God to override the chaos that people are facing. So the

first thing that was taking place was THERE WAS NO TRUE GOD. The reason there was no true God is because there was no teaching priest. And the RESULT NUMBER

teaching priest. And the RESULT NUMBER THREE OF verse three is that there were there was no law. People made up their own rules. Cuz when you don't have a

own rules. Cuz when you don't have a divine standard, people become their own standard or they go on Tik Tok to get a standard or they go on Instagram to get

a standard, you know. So, so, so they go to Twitter to get a standard. And so you go all over the place because you have not locked yourself down to the fixed

standard. So there is no law. There is

standard. So there is no law. There is

no standard that is the governing standard by which all decisions are to be made. My son Jonathan who has taken

be made. My son Jonathan who has taken over the daily responsibilities at our church now uh he he played for the Red uh Redskins

for for one year and um he was um a fullback and so yeah. Amen. Okay. So,

so when he was 11 years old, he came to my office. He said, "Dad,

my office. He said, "Dad, come on. I got to show you something." I

come on. I got to show you something." I

said, "What?" He said, "No, you got to see this." So, he takes me over to the

see this." So, he takes me over to the church gym. I go over to the church gym.

church gym. I go over to the church gym.

I said, "What? Why you bring me over here?" He said, "Because I want you to

here?" He said, "Because I want you to see me dunk the basketball." Now, he's 11 years old. He's this high. I said,

"Say what?" I you I want you you got to see this. I said, "Okay, let me see

see this. I said, "Okay, let me see this." He takes the basketball. He

this." He takes the basketball. He

dribbles the basketball. He then runs up to the hoop, jumps up. Boom. 11 years

old, this high, dunks the basketball.

Before you get too impressed, he got the custodian to lower the rim from 10 feet to six feet.

So what he did was change the standard.

He brought it from 10 feet down to six feet, dunked it and impressed HIMSELF AND TRIED TO IMPRESS me with a lower

standard. See what the culture does is

standard. See what the culture does is lower the standard. THEN WHEN YOU DUNK AT THE LOWER STANDARD, you think you done something. The idea IS FOR US NOT

done something. The idea IS FOR US NOT TO BRING DOWN GOD'S STANDARD but to grow up to his standard so that his standard

SETS THE GOVERNING guidelines by which all decisions are to be made. [applause]

It says there was no law. People made up their own standards, their own rules and as a result there was chaos in the land.

There was confusion in the land. You

know [snorts] my favorite fruit is not apple. I know

an apple a day keeps the doctor away. I

know that's the saying, but I'm not into them apples. I'm an orange kind of guy.

them apples. I'm an orange kind of guy.

A banana kind of guy. I'm not an apple guy. Well, I'm kind of not an apple guy

guy. Well, I'm kind of not an apple guy except at the Texas State Fair. I love

them apples cuz them are candy apples at the Texas State Fair at the Texas State Fair. Them are candy apples. And I love

Fair. Them are candy apples. And I love them apples cuz those are apples dipped in liquid sugar. Okay. So So those are those are those are sweet apples.

My doctor told me once you dip that a apple in liquid sugar, you have nullified its effect

cuz you done dipped it in liquid sugar.

The the apple is nutritional nutritional but you've dipped it into something that's going to nullify its benefit.

What a lot of people do is they come to church for the word then they leave and dip it in human opinion. preaching.

They dip God's word in secular thought.

They dick they they they dip God's word in cultural acceptability.

And then they wonder why the word DOESN'T WORK. IT'S NOT THAT THE WORD

DOESN'T WORK. IT'S NOT THAT THE WORD DOESN'T WORK. IT'S JUST IT'S BEEN

DOESN'T WORK. IT'S JUST IT'S BEEN COMPROMISED.

It's been compromised by secular thought and and and and cultural acceptance and racial identity and political commitment. And it's been nullified. And

commitment. And it's been nullified. And

therefore the word is not doing what the word was created to do because you do the Bible says nullify the word of God with your tradition.

You can cancel the word of God from doing what the word of God is designed to do because it's been dipped into the secular culture. And he says as

a result there was chaos everywhere all over the land.

So there's crisis everywhere and God says blame me.

There is a reason for the crisis. No true God, no teaching priest, no law.

So is there a cure for the crisis in your life, in your family, in a church, in a society? Is there a cure? Now, of

course, we all know that the greatest cure is the return of Christ, okay? Because then we we don't have to

okay? Because then we we don't have to deal with this anymore. If Christ comes back tomorrow, we are cur we we we we are we are fine

if we've trusted Christ.

But what if he doesn't come back for another hundred years or 200 years?

Well, you better worry about that because that's your children and your grandchildren and your great-grandchildren and they're going to grow up in some kind of world. [snorts]

You you never use the rapture as an excuse for inertia.

You never lo use the return of Christ as an excuse not to make things better.

If he comes back, fine. Don't worry. If

he doesn't come back for a while, you better worry because you still are living in a world of crisis. So the

question short of the return of Christ is, is there a solution to the chaos that God himself allows? Verse four

tells us, we read in verse four of 2 Chronicles 15, "But in their distress, they turned to the Lord God of Israel,

and they sought him, and he let them find him."

find him." Oh okay.

In their distress, what distress? The distress that God

what distress? The distress that God caused. See, verse six says, "God caused

caused. See, verse six says, "God caused the distress." Verse four says it was in

the distress." Verse four says it was in their distress, the distress that God himself caused.

When things got bad enough, long enough, low enough, deep enough, then they wanted to return to God. Ah,

then they wanted to get God back on the front page and out of the editorial section.

It says when things got bad enough, in other words, God will let things keep going south until we look up.

God will let things get worse and worse and worse and worse and more distressful and more distressful and more pain and more difficulty until there is a return.

It says, "In their distress," the distress that God himself caused, they sought the Lord God of Israel. Oh,

don't read that too fast.

They didn't seek God.

It says they sought the Lord God.

Ah, we have an additional name for God.

The distress was caused by God. verse

six go but the return was to the Lord God. Now

there are 85 names for God approximately in the Old Testament. Every time God gives a name, he's giving you some new information about himself. So the names

of God, one of my books is called the names of God. And and and when you walk through the names of God, each name is giving you new information because God

is inexhaustible. But when you go to

is inexhaustible. But when you go to heaven, by the way, the reason you're going to live in heaven forever is it's going to take forever to discover all that God is. So it's going to take you

have to live that long in order to discover all he is because he's infinite. So when God wants us to

infinite. So when God wants us to discover something new about himself, he would attach name to it. So go O D God

is the name Elohim.

Elohim is the name in Genesis 1. In the

beginning, God g Elohim, Hebrew name, created the heavens and the earth. All through Genesis 1, that's the only name you'll see. You

will only see Elohim, G O D, because God in Genesis 1 is showing you his power.

He's creative genius. That's his power name. Elohim is his power name. It's his

name. Elohim is his power name. It's his

his ex Neilo name. He can create things out of nothing. And so, so that's all Genesis 1. That's all you'll see. Power,

Genesis 1. That's all you'll see. Power,

the power of God to create.

But in Genesis chapter 2 verse4, God adds a name to his name.

Capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D. Beginning in Genesis 2:4, you read

D. Beginning in Genesis 2:4, you read the Lord God. And from then on down, you see the Lord God, the Lord God, the Lord God, the Lord God, the Lord God. NOT

JUST GO. WHY IN Genesis 2:4 and following do you see the Lord God and not just the God that's in Genesis 1?

Because the Hebrew word for capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D is the Hebrew name Yahweh or you and I would

say Jehovah. The Hebrew name Yahweh is

say Jehovah. The Hebrew name Yahweh is his covenantal name or his relational name. So the reason he adds capital L,

name. So the reason he adds capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D in Genesis chapter 2:4 is because he's creating man. And when he creates man,

creating man. And when he creates man, he doesn't create man just for power. He

creates man for relationship. So when he creates man, he says, I'm not only the powerful God, I'm the powerful God who exists in relationship. Which is why in

Genesis chapter 3 when Satan shows up, he says half God said, not half the Lord God said. Because Satan doesn't mind you

God said. Because Satan doesn't mind you wanting God's power as long as you don't have God's relationship. So in Genesis chap in 2 Coronicles chapter 4, it says

when they returned to the Lord God, they didn't just want to see what God can do.

They wanted to have a relationship with the God who could do it. If you want to see God enter into your distress, you have to pursue a relationship and not just his deliverance. See, everybody

wants his power, but they don't just they don't necessarily want his relationship. And God says it's when

relationship. And God says it's when they return to the Lord God. When they

return relationally to him, then they could experience him intervening and he lets them find him. YOU WON'T FIND GOD when you're only looking for his power.

You find God's power when you're pursuing the relationship, when you want Lord God. And so when they return to the

Lord God. And so when they return to the Lord God, it says he let them find him.

Okay? Uh

I had a problem in my garage. My garage

door would not open.

I pushed the button. I'm pushing the button. Pushing the button. Pushing the

button. Pushing the button. Pushing the

button. Nothing's happening.

Everything's plugged in. So, you know, I'm plugged into the to the carrot. It's

not working. I go to try to lift the garage door. It's too heavy.

garage door. It's too heavy.

All that means is I'm stuck. My car's in the garage. I can't drive. I can't go to

the garage. I can't drive. I can't go to my meeting because I'm trapped.

And I'm trapped in a situation I can't fix cuz I'm pushing buttons. I'm trying

to lift it up. trying to use all my strength, but nothing is working.

So, I pick up my phone and I call my garage guy and I say, "Help.

I need to be delivered FROM BEING TRAPPED IN MY GARAGE. Deliver

me. I need you to come OVER HERE. I'VE

GOT TO SEE MY SITUATION CHANGE. I GOT TO GET OUT OF HERE. DELIVER ME.

my garage guy. He says, "Well, will you do me a favor and hold the phone in your ear? I keep

talking to me, but walk over to the garage door." So, I got the phone in my

garage door." So, I got the phone in my ear and I'm walking over to the garage door. He says, "Look down to the right."

door. He says, "Look down to the right."

I look down, look down to the left. I

look down. Say, "You see those two little square canisters?" I said, "Yeah." He says, "Where are they

"Yeah." He says, "Where are they pointing?" Well, I said, "The one on the

pointing?" Well, I said, "The one on the right is pointing to the one on the left, and the one on the left is pointed straight ahead."

straight ahead." Oh, he says, "That's your problem.

They're out of alignment."

He says, "The one on the right is pointing to the one on the left, but the one on the left is not pointing back at the one on the right. So, they're not communicating."

communicating." He says, "You don't need me to leave from where I am to come the way you are to fix your problem. You just need to

get things in alignment. And if you get things in alignment, I think your problem will be resolved." So I took the one over here that was out of alignment,

turned it to the one over here so that they could talk to each other. Went over

and pushed THE BUTTON AND VOILA, A MIRACLE, the door opened up. YOU KNOW

WHY THE DOOR OPENED UP? IT OPENED UP BECAUSE THINGS GOT in alignment. See, I

wanted him to come over and deliver me.

He said he don't need to leave where he is to come over to deliver me. If I get stuff in alignment, then I have positioned myself for a deliverance. I

have positioned myself for a change.

See, a lot of us want God to leave heaven and come down here and fix our problem. He says, "It's okay to

problem. He says, "It's okay to communicate with me, but when you communicate with me, I don't have to change my my location. All I you got to do is get in alignment with me. And when

you're in alignment, then you'll see the intervention that can bring harmony to the chaotic situation you may be in personally in your family, in your

community, or in your nation. Our

problem is we are operating out of alignment. And when we're operating out

alignment. And when we're operating out of alignment, we don't see the movement of God. We

don't see the presence of God, the power of God. That doesn't mean there won't be

of God. That doesn't mean there won't be crisis. It means the crisis will no

crisis. It means the crisis will no longer define you. It will no longer dictate to you. Because you're now in

alignment. It says, "And when they got

alignment. It says, "And when they got in alignment, because of their distress, he let them find him.

You ever played hide and seek with your kids and you play hide and seek and they getting tired of looking?

Okay, it's fun at first, but after a while if they can't find you, they they get a little ticked off and they'll scream, "MAMA, DADDY, WHERE ARE YOU?"

And when they get DESPERATE AND CRY OUT, you make yourself locatable. You'll make a little noise or

locatable. You'll make a little noise or you'll peek out a little bit. You'll

make yourself locatable because they're desperate to locate you. [snorts] The

question God wants to know is how desperate are you to locate me? How

desperate are you from me? Because he

says he let them find him. And then the next chapter, verse 15, says, "And God gave them rest."

We're living in a time of crisis. We're

living in a time of chaos.

We're living in a time of confusion.

But Christ be not come. This only sets us up for an opportunity to see heaven's intervention in history. You know, 911 will will be a day that we will remember

as a day of infamy.

19 men from halfway around the world came over here and shut down the most powerful country in the history of America.

19 men from halfway around the world.

Oh, in the name of their God, came over here. And you'll never travel like you

here. And you'll never travel like you used to travel before 9/11 because of terrorism. They forever changed how we

terrorism. They forever changed how we move about because 19 men in the name of the wrong God came over here and changed the whole trajectory of a nation. So, help me do

the math.

[snorts] If 19 men in the name of the wrong God can change how a nation operates, what do you think all these Christians in

this house in the name of the true God can do when we go public for Jesus Christ? This is not a time for secret

Christ? This is not a time for secret agent Christians. This is not a time for

agent Christians. This is not a time for for spiritual CIRA representatives. This

is not a time for covert operatives.

Everybody else is coming out the closet.

We might as well come out too in this time to make your VOICE HEARD FOR THE name of Jesus Christ so that it is clear

there is a people OF GOD WHO WORSHIP the true God BASED ON HIS AUTHORITATIVE WORD using his rule BOOK AS THE STANDARD AND YOU GOT TO DEAL WITH OUR GOD WHEN YOU

DEAL WITH US BECAUSE WE'RE UNAPOLOGETICALLY AND YES RADICAL FOLLOWERS OF Jesus Christ. FATHER, BLESS THIS HOUSE as

Christ. FATHER, BLESS THIS HOUSE as these saints serve you in Jesus' name.

Amen.