# Don't Let The Attack Distract You

An episode of [Elevation with Steven Furtick](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/216015753), 11 Jan 2026, 1 h 03 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/cbb40a38-726f-4243-a86e-b0ed01477640/e989be61-b883-426b-a8f0-b3cf015a3908/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=ff9164b2-aa64-410d-9ee1-b0ed0147765c

Right when you start to feel some positive momentum in your life, an attack comes out of nowhere. Sound familiar? Pastor Steven uses the parable of the seeds to illustrate what to do when the enemy attacks and how to persevere in your purpose. If you’ve just made a decision for Christ, please respond HERE: ele.vc/tIepfr Scripture References: Matthew 13, verses 24-30, 36-43 2 Samuel 16, verses 5-12 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:04] Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick.
[0:06] Speaker 2: I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast.
[0:09] Speaker 2: Be sure to subscribe so we can get you these
[0:11] Speaker 2: new sermons every week. I hope you're blessed today.
[0:20] Speaker 3: Essay, give me my sophy, God.
[0:25] Speaker 4: Soph Yes, God, my Father born in heaven. How will
[0:36] Speaker 4: it be your name, your kingdom, Come, Your will be done,
[0:44] Speaker 4: what our bless it is in heaven.
[0:48] Speaker 5: Give us this day are vaily bread.
[0:52] Speaker 6: And forgive us our sins, as we forgive those.
[0:57] Speaker 1: Who sin against us. And lead us not into temptation.
[1:11] Speaker 1: But deliver us. Jesus is in this place.
[1:20] Speaker 6: Deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, power.
[1:33] Speaker 1: And the glory, forever.
[1:37] Speaker 6: And ever, not for five minutes, forever and ever, and
[1:49] Speaker 6: right here.
[1:50] Speaker 1: I want the whole church say Amen. A men means
[1:54] Speaker 1: so be it.
[1:56] Speaker 6: A man means I'm coming into agreement with God's plan
[1:59] Speaker 6: for my life. Amen means that no word from God
[2:03] Speaker 6: returns boy. Amen means that my Father has the final Say.
[2:08] Speaker 6: Amen means that I read to the back of the
[2:10] Speaker 6: book and I know how this ends.
[2:13] Speaker 1: Heaven wins. Amen means I'm born again. Amen means no
[2:19] Speaker 1: weapon formed against me will prosper.
[2:22] Speaker 6: Amen means I can do all things through Christ, who
[2:25] Speaker 6: strengthens me. You didn't know Amen meant all that digit
[2:30] Speaker 6: Say it again.
[2:31] Speaker 1: Amen.
[2:33] Speaker 6: If he says I'm blessed, I'm blessed.
[2:35] Speaker 1: Say amen. If he says my.
[2:37] Speaker 6: Family will be saved, my family will be saved.
[2:40] Speaker 1: Say amen.
[2:42] Speaker 6: If he said I'm more than a conqueror.
[2:44] Speaker 1: I'm more than a conqueror. Say amen.
[2:47] Speaker 6: Come on, everybody in the comments right now, even watching
[2:50] Speaker 6: this on social media, putting Amen in the comments. Let
[2:54] Speaker 6: the devil know. I agree with God. I belong to Jesus.
[2:58] Speaker 6: He's the one who never lets go on every mountain.
[3:01] Speaker 6: I belonged to him, in every valley. I belonged to him.
[3:05] Speaker 6: The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. I'm guided.
[3:10] Speaker 6: I got a good shepherd. I'm guarded. He's the gate,
[3:14] Speaker 6: he's the light of the world. He is my risen
[3:17] Speaker 6: resurrected king. And I'm getting not out of this situation.
[3:23] Speaker 6: And I came to praise the Lord. I did not
[3:26] Speaker 6: come to feel sorry for myself.
[3:29] Speaker 1: I came to praise the Lord.
[3:31] Speaker 6: I did not come to impress my neighbors with proper
[3:34] Speaker 6: church behavior.
[3:36] Speaker 1: I came to raise the Lord. If you knew what
[3:40] Speaker 1: he brought me through, you wouldn't call me crazy. You
[3:45] Speaker 1: would lift your hands and praise him too. Say, man,
[3:58] Speaker 1: what are we gonna know? How we go get out
[4:03] Speaker 1: of this.
[4:06] Speaker 3: Will be out whether I holley, but whether I that's what.
[4:17] Speaker 1: Burna mass talk messid sorry to God. Bless the name
[4:33] Speaker 1: of the Lord, for he is worthy to be praised.
[4:38] Speaker 6: Every season of my life, he's been a friend to me,
[4:41] Speaker 6: and he's worthy to be praised. I don't know what
[4:43] Speaker 6: I would do without God. I don't know where i'd
[4:47] Speaker 6: be without Jesus.
[4:48] Speaker 1: I have a kind of idea and it doesn't look good.
[4:51] Speaker 6: But look at your neighbor and say, you already look
[4:54] Speaker 6: better this year than you did last year.
[4:59] Speaker 1: Come on, tell him one more thing.
[5:01] Speaker 6: Look at him and say look at him and say
[5:03] Speaker 6: repeat after me.
[5:04] Speaker 1: Say I can.
[5:04] Speaker 6: Tell you've kept your resolutions. Tell them your skin is glowing,
[5:13] Speaker 6: your physique is lean. Happy New Year, Elevation Church. For
[5:25] Speaker 6: the first time that I've been able to say that
[5:27] Speaker 6: to you.
[5:28] Speaker 1: Our Epham around the world.
[5:30] Speaker 6: Let's celebrate our brand new campus, our twentieth location, Elevation Somerville.
[5:36] Speaker 6: Happy New Year, Happy new Campus. So many things to
[5:43] Speaker 6: tell you. We've got so much to catch up on.
[5:46] Speaker 6: God has been so good. The last time that I
[5:51] Speaker 6: stood in the pulpit, we were taking our year end offering,
[5:55] Speaker 6: and you stepped up big this year, and I told
[5:58] Speaker 6: them to wait until I got back so I could
[6:00] Speaker 6: announce to you that you gave to the Lord and
[6:06] Speaker 6: the Gospel of Jesus Christ for the building of his
[6:08] Speaker 6: kingdom and helping the poor and reaching the loss and
[6:11] Speaker 6: serving the world. Eleven million, four hundred and sixty three
[6:18] Speaker 6: thousand dollars gives.
[6:20] Speaker 1: All a cell of praise.
[6:21] Speaker 6: All right, good word, we visit together. So every year,
[6:35] Speaker 6: every year I come before you and just say, let's
[6:38] Speaker 6: do another one. Y'all want to do another one? Another
[6:42] Speaker 6: year of preaching God's word. Another year of releasing worship
[6:47] Speaker 6: into the earth that can heal broken hearts.
[6:50] Speaker 1: Another year of standing beside children.
[6:52] Speaker 6: Who don't have fathers and mentoring them. Another year of
[6:55] Speaker 6: showing up with coats and blankets for people who are cold.
[6:59] Speaker 6: Another year of reaching into prisons and recovery centers and
[7:02] Speaker 6: telling people that their life matters and don't throw it away,
[7:05] Speaker 6: and God is not done with you yet. Another year
[7:08] Speaker 6: to invite people who have been told for years that
[7:11] Speaker 6: God will never accept you, that it's not too late
[7:14] Speaker 6: for him to change your life.
[7:15] Speaker 1: If you're not.
[7:16] Speaker 6: Dead, God's not done, and God is not done with
[7:19] Speaker 6: this church yet. I'm getting ready for the next twenty years.
[7:26] Speaker 6: God is with me with this gray hair. God is
[7:28] Speaker 6: with me.
[7:29] Speaker 1: And I'm just going to take a moment right now.
[7:31] Speaker 6: If you stretch your hands toward this pulpit, Lord, let
[7:34] Speaker 6: every word that goes forth from this church this year
[7:37] Speaker 6: bring salvation, deliverance, miracles, correction, comfort, everything you want to do.
[7:45] Speaker 1: God is all about you.
[7:49] Speaker 6: I pray that even today, as I preach, that you
[7:52] Speaker 6: would see fit to use me like a woodwind instrument,
[7:57] Speaker 6: something that your breath could use to produce a sound
[8:02] Speaker 6: that would produce a melody from Heaven that would be
[8:05] Speaker 6: medicine to someone's heart. Lord, I bring before you every
[8:09] Speaker 6: person that's in this room, the nineteen other rooms where
[8:12] Speaker 6: we physically gather, every place where somebody couldn't go to
[8:16] Speaker 6: church or they were just too lazy. Speak your word.
[8:23] Speaker 6: One time a man said, I don't even need to
[8:25] Speaker 6: have you come in my house, Jesus, if you just
[8:27] Speaker 6: speak your.
[8:27] Speaker 1: Word, it's enough to heal today.
[8:31] Speaker 6: Lord, we just ask for a word from you our
[8:34] Speaker 6: daily bread, not enough so we can come to church
[8:37] Speaker 6: once at the beginning of the year, check it off
[8:38] Speaker 6: the list, and then spend the rest of the year
[8:40] Speaker 6: asking God why I.
[8:41] Speaker 1: Didn't show up.
[8:43] Speaker 6: But enough word to nourish us for the needs of
[8:45] Speaker 6: this moment. You are Jehovah Jirah, and you're in.
[8:48] Speaker 1: This place, and I give you the praise in Jesus' name. Amen,
[8:53] Speaker 1: clap your hands, everybody.
[8:58] Speaker 6: I'm going to have you seated before I read my
[9:00] Speaker 6: sure which I don't normally do, but before I do,
[9:02] Speaker 6: give out about twenty six hugs divided by two. Give
[9:09] Speaker 6: five hugs and tell somebody I'm glad you're here today. Hey,
[9:12] Speaker 6: we're sending you a big hug online to our epam
[9:15] Speaker 6: all around the world. Just remember, God is speaking this
[9:19] Speaker 6: message exactly where you need it to be. He's not
[9:22] Speaker 6: limited by time, or by space or by location. May
[9:26] Speaker 6: this message speak to your heart today. I afraid about
[9:30] Speaker 6: what to share with you for my first sermon of
[9:33] Speaker 6: the year, and the Lord led and directed me in
[9:37] Speaker 6: a powerful way. Let's thank our band, our worship team
[9:40] Speaker 6: for leading us so well in the presence of God today.
[9:46] Speaker 6: Make sure you get the new music from Elevation Rhythm.
[9:49] Speaker 6: Thank God, I'm free play it everywhere that the devil
[9:54] Speaker 6: has been trying to keep you bound, and let him
[9:57] Speaker 6: know it won't work this year.
[9:59] Speaker 1: I'm coming out of these chains.
[10:02] Speaker 6: Also, make sure that you get the opportunity to be
[10:06] Speaker 6: a part of Elevation Nights.
[10:08] Speaker 1: Now.
[10:08] Speaker 6: I know that for most of you who are here locally,
[10:11] Speaker 6: you probably won't be getting on a plane. But we're
[10:13] Speaker 6: going to be visiting eight cities, and these nights are powerful,
[10:17] Speaker 6: and these nights are miraculous, and these nights are unforgettable.
[10:20] Speaker 6: We're going to be in Hershey, Pennsylvania, Brooklyn, New York, Indianapolis, Milwaukee,
[10:26] Speaker 6: Grand Rapids, Michigan, Knoxville, Tennessee, Columbus, Ohio, and Rosemont, Illinois.
[10:31] Speaker 6: If you have any friends or family, especially the ones
[10:34] Speaker 6: who really need Jesus and smell like cigarettes and other
[10:37] Speaker 6: stuff like that, send them over.
[10:39] Speaker 1: We'll see what we can do for them.
[10:41] Speaker 6: Elevation Nights dot Com where you can get your tickets.
[10:44] Speaker 6: February twenty fourth through March the fifth. I thank you
[10:48] Speaker 6: for the privilege of being able to minister God's word
[10:50] Speaker 6: to you another year.
[10:52] Speaker 1: What an honor.
[10:55] Speaker 6: I'll be sharing today from the Parable of the Seed
[10:57] Speaker 6: in Matthew chapter thirteen, Verses twenty four through thirty Matthew
[11:03] Speaker 6: Chapter fourteen, Versus twenty four through thirty. Now this is
[11:12] Speaker 6: not the parable that's normally called the parable of the seeds.
[11:17] Speaker 6: The parable of the seeds that we hear more about
[11:21] Speaker 6: is actually the parable of the soils.
[11:24] Speaker 1: Okay, Because Jesus taught these parables.
[11:26] Speaker 6: He would go out and he would give a teaching,
[11:28] Speaker 6: and on one level it would sound simple, but you
[11:31] Speaker 6: reflect on it and you pray about it, and it
[11:34] Speaker 6: really helps you to see what the Kingdom of God
[11:36] Speaker 6: is like, and it helps you to see what you're like.
[11:40] Speaker 6: And one of those parables that has helped me so
[11:42] Speaker 6: much through the year, he talks about a seed that
[11:45] Speaker 6: was sown in four different places. One was sown on
[11:49] Speaker 6: rocky soil, so because the soil was too rocky, the
[11:53] Speaker 6: bird came and snatched it up, so that seed got snatched,
[11:56] Speaker 6: so it didn't do what it was supposed to do.
[11:58] Speaker 6: And then there was one seed that was sewn in
[12:01] Speaker 6: a place where it was scorched by.
[12:03] Speaker 1: The sun, which represents the trials of life.
[12:05] Speaker 6: So since it didn't have a root or a foundation,
[12:08] Speaker 6: the sun was too strong for it, and it got.
[12:10] Speaker 1: Cooked up before it could come forth. I said, it
[12:13] Speaker 1: got cooked up before it could come forth.
[12:16] Speaker 6: Some promises that God speaks to you, the sun, the affliction,
[12:21] Speaker 6: the heat of trial. It tests that seed before it
[12:24] Speaker 6: has had the chance to develop, and you don't pass
[12:27] Speaker 6: the test. The third type of seed that he talks
[12:30] Speaker 6: about is one that gets choked out or we could say,
[12:33] Speaker 6: strangled by the cares of this life just getting busy.
[12:36] Speaker 6: And in each of these instances, the seed represents the
[12:39] Speaker 6: word of God, and the sower is God, and the
[12:43] Speaker 6: seed is good in each of those instances, but it
[12:46] Speaker 6: is not successful because of the soil that it lands in.
[12:50] Speaker 6: One of the soils that Jesus mentions in that parable
[12:53] Speaker 6: is the good soil which produces a harvest thirty sixty
[12:58] Speaker 6: and one hundredfold. And this always encouraged me as a preacher,
[13:02] Speaker 6: because one time I realized, most of the people that
[13:05] Speaker 6: I preach to won't remember the sermon twenty four hours
[13:08] Speaker 6: after I preach it, and most of the people that
[13:10] Speaker 6: I preach to about a specific topic aren't going to
[13:13] Speaker 6: really do what I challenge them to do, even if
[13:15] Speaker 6: I give them scripture behind it, because the seed often
[13:18] Speaker 6: gets snatched, scorched, or strangled. But the one seed that
[13:22] Speaker 6: produced the harvest, watch what it did. It produced thirty,
[13:25] Speaker 6: sixty or one hundred fold. So the one seed that
[13:29] Speaker 6: was successful made up for all the ones that weren't.
[13:33] Speaker 6: God can bless you with one blessing in your life
[13:37] Speaker 6: that will.
[13:38] Speaker 1: Make every failure irrelevant.
[13:40] Speaker 6: And I came to preach that even though most people
[13:44] Speaker 6: won't receive this word, if one does, it will have
[13:47] Speaker 6: been worth it. That's what I believe these days. That
[13:52] Speaker 6: most won't fine, but if one does, it could branch
[13:56] Speaker 6: out and touch the world. If one does, what is
[13:59] Speaker 6: one's soul? What is one life worth? What is one
[14:03] Speaker 6: grandmother's prayers getting answered worth? If one does? And I
[14:08] Speaker 6: just want to kind of encourage you on the way
[14:09] Speaker 6: to my main text today. I'm not preaching about that
[14:12] Speaker 6: one believe it or not.
[14:14] Speaker 1: I studied it, but I'm.
[14:15] Speaker 6: Not going to preach it because you may be encouraging
[14:19] Speaker 6: your kids right now, or instructing your kids right now,
[14:22] Speaker 6: or working on something in your life. And most of
[14:25] Speaker 6: the things that you try, and most of the things
[14:27] Speaker 6: that you say, won't get through to them. But if
[14:30] Speaker 6: one does, somebody say, if one does. If one does,
[14:36] Speaker 6: it can change a life. If one does, it can
[14:38] Speaker 6: change the generation. If one does, it can change a bloodline.
[14:42] Speaker 6: Most won't. Don't be discouraged by the ones that don't work.
[14:45] Speaker 6: Don't be discouraged by the ones who don't call you back.
[14:48] Speaker 6: Don't be discouraged by the ones who don't say yes.
[14:50] Speaker 6: Don't be discouraged by the ones who don't get you,
[14:53] Speaker 6: because if one does. Look, I asked a lot of
[14:56] Speaker 6: girls to be my girlfriend before Holly.
[14:58] Speaker 1: Most didn't, but one look at me. Now, look at
[15:03] Speaker 1: what the Lord has done. If one does well.
[15:10] Speaker 6: This is a scripture that I want to give you
[15:12] Speaker 6: today from Matthew chapter thirteen, about a parable of two
[15:18] Speaker 6: different types of seed, Not different types of soil, which
[15:21] Speaker 6: represents the condition of our heart, but two different types
[15:23] Speaker 6: of seed. I'm gonna read it to you, and then
[15:25] Speaker 6: we'll talk about.
[15:26] Speaker 1: It for just a few moments.
[15:29] Speaker 6: Jesus is teaching many parables, and they're collected here for
[15:33] Speaker 6: us to read. And it says Jesus told them another parable.
[15:36] Speaker 6: The Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who sewed
[15:39] Speaker 6: good seed in his field. If you are the underlining
[15:43] Speaker 6: your Bible, type, just underline the word good.
[15:47] Speaker 1: It was good seed.
[15:49] Speaker 6: But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed
[15:55] Speaker 6: weeds among the wheat and went away. When the wheat
[16:01] Speaker 6: sprouted and formed heads, then.
[16:04] Speaker 1: The weeds also appeared.
[16:08] Speaker 6: The owner's servants came to him and said, Sir, didn't
[16:12] Speaker 6: you sow good seed in your field? Where then, did
[16:16] Speaker 6: these weeds come from?
[16:19] Speaker 1: An enemy? Did this? He replied.
[16:22] Speaker 6: The servants asked him, do you want us to go
[16:25] Speaker 6: and pull them up? No, he answered, because while you
[16:29] Speaker 6: are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them.
[16:35] Speaker 6: Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time,
[16:41] Speaker 6: I will tell the harvesters, first collect the weeds and
[16:45] Speaker 6: tie them in bundles to be burned. Then gather the
[16:48] Speaker 6: wheat and bring it into my barn.
[16:52] Speaker 1: I have a.
[16:53] Speaker 6: Simple message from the Lord for your heart today. And
[16:56] Speaker 6: the Lord told me to tell you don't let the
[16:59] Speaker 6: attack distract you.
[17:03] Speaker 1: That's what it is. It's a distraction.
[17:07] Speaker 6: And he told me to tell you don't let the
[17:09] Speaker 6: attack distract you. Write it down in your notebook, type
[17:13] Speaker 6: it in the comments. Don't let the attack distract you.
[17:18] Speaker 6: And I love preaching the second Sunday of a new
[17:20] Speaker 6: year because by now your new Year's resolutions have become
[17:25] Speaker 6: good intentions, which you have modified to become more realistic.
[17:30] Speaker 6: The new Year's energy has been sufficiently tapered and sufficiently
[17:35] Speaker 6: adjusted to match the.
[17:37] Speaker 1: Realities of daily life for most people.
[17:39] Speaker 6: And now we can really preach about the way life is.
[17:42] Speaker 1: New Year's resolution.
[17:44] Speaker 6: First Sunday of the year, I'm not cussing anymore. Second
[17:47] Speaker 6: week of the year, I'm cutting back on cussing. I'm
[17:50] Speaker 6: only going to say these four words this year. But
[17:53] Speaker 6: I got to have these four Lord, and you know
[17:55] Speaker 6: I do. I'm fast in this.
[17:59] Speaker 1: I'm going to fast.
[18:00] Speaker 6: It's the first twenty one days. I'm gonna fast the
[18:02] Speaker 6: first well. I'm fast from vegetables the first twenty one days.
[18:07] Speaker 6: The Lord will receive it as an offering, you know,
[18:09] Speaker 6: because we modify it in real life. You know, one
[18:13] Speaker 6: thing that I noticed about this parable that Jesus gave
[18:16] Speaker 6: in the passage, and I believe you noticed it too,
[18:20] Speaker 6: is that wherever there is wheat, there will always be weeds.
[18:27] Speaker 6: You know, Jesus isn't just giving us a little discourse
[18:29] Speaker 6: about how problems creep up in our life.
[18:31] Speaker 1: Here, he's making a bigger point.
[18:34] Speaker 6: Specifically, he's letting us know that it is not your
[18:39] Speaker 6: job to judge others. It's not your job. It's not
[18:46] Speaker 6: your job because you're not God. And if I can
[18:51] Speaker 6: say a little more directly, you suck at judging. That's
[18:57] Speaker 6: how you bought that time share. That's how you bought
[19:01] Speaker 6: that vacuum cleaner because you suck at judging. Honestly, even
[19:07] Speaker 6: when it comes to the work that I create, I've
[19:09] Speaker 6: taught myself it's not my job to judge it.
[19:13] Speaker 1: It's just my job to make it. Especially when you
[19:16] Speaker 1: write a song.
[19:17] Speaker 6: You don't know Chris Brown, you'll know Chris Brown, formerly
[19:24] Speaker 6: an R and B singer, but now the main worship
[19:26] Speaker 6: leader at Elevation Worship. Look at what the Lord has done.
[19:30] Speaker 6: I always call him the real Chris Brown. He's my
[19:32] Speaker 6: favorite worship leader in the world, always has been, always
[19:34] Speaker 6: will be since first time I heard him. But I'm
[19:36] Speaker 6: gonna t say something else. He sucks at judging whether
[19:41] Speaker 6: a new song is good or not. He called me
[19:43] Speaker 6: one Sunday. We had a new song that we wanted
[19:45] Speaker 6: to introduce, and I wasn't gonna be there to preach,
[19:47] Speaker 6: and he was leading it and he called me after it.
[19:49] Speaker 6: I said, how to go? He said, not too good.
[19:51] Speaker 6: I don't think the song is very good. The song
[19:55] Speaker 6: was graves into Gardens.
[19:59] Speaker 1: You remember, remember that cv you suck at judging.
[20:07] Speaker 6: You're great worship leader, you're handsome, you're a great man
[20:09] Speaker 6: of God. You're wonderful of being a dad and a husband,
[20:11] Speaker 6: but you suck at judging. And I chose to say
[20:15] Speaker 6: it that way because some of y'all are so tripping
[20:17] Speaker 6: and stumbling over the fact that I said the word suck, judging.
[20:20] Speaker 1: Me for that, that you.
[20:23] Speaker 6: Just prove my point, because if you think if the
[20:26] Speaker 6: most important thing is whether I say the word suck
[20:28] Speaker 6: or whether I say it more fancy, it's not your
[20:30] Speaker 6: job to judge. If you're tripping over what I'm saying,
[20:35] Speaker 6: you're making the very mistake that I'm warning you about,
[20:37] Speaker 6: thereby validating the wisdom of my point and the way
[20:40] Speaker 6: I phraised it. Now, every once in a while, Jesus
[20:45] Speaker 6: would explain his parables to his disciples after everybody else
[20:49] Speaker 6: was gone, almost like y'all can get it at a
[20:51] Speaker 6: deep level, the disciples, but the crowds couldn't consume it,
[20:54] Speaker 6: And that's why he taught in parables, so that he
[20:57] Speaker 6: could have the privilege of pulling aside his disciples and
[21:00] Speaker 6: giving them the deeper meaning. We're going to look at
[21:02] Speaker 6: the deeper meaning of this parable that Jesus shared a
[21:06] Speaker 6: little bit further in Matthew chapter thirteen. Put it on
[21:09] Speaker 6: the screen.
[21:09] Speaker 1: Please, he let the crowd went into the house.
[21:12] Speaker 6: His disciples came to him and said, explain to us
[21:14] Speaker 6: the parable of the weeds in the field. He answered, well,
[21:18] Speaker 6: the one who sowed the good seed is the son
[21:20] Speaker 6: of Man.
[21:21] Speaker 1: That's Jesus. The field is the world.
[21:25] Speaker 6: The good seed stands for the people.
[21:27] Speaker 1: Of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of.
[21:30] Speaker 6: The evil one, and the enemy who sows them is
[21:34] Speaker 6: the devil. The harvest is the end of the age,
[21:39] Speaker 6: and the harvesters are the angels. As the weeds are
[21:43] Speaker 6: pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will
[21:45] Speaker 6: be at the end of the age the Son of
[21:47] Speaker 6: Men will send out his angels, and they will weed
[21:51] Speaker 6: out of his kingdom everything that causes sin, and all
[21:54] Speaker 6: who do evil. They will throw them into the blazing furnace,
[21:58] Speaker 6: where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then
[22:03] Speaker 6: the righteous will shine like the sun, and the kingdom
[22:05] Speaker 6: of their father.
[22:07] Speaker 1: Whoever has ears let them hear.
[22:09] Speaker 6: And we read this, and we are so quick to say,
[22:12] Speaker 6: that's right. Those evil people, those sinners, those terrible democrats, republicans, independence,
[22:26] Speaker 6: whatever category that you wanted to put right there, it
[22:29] Speaker 6: exposed something about your heart, whatever you wanted to see.
[22:35] Speaker 1: The weeds as.
[22:37] Speaker 6: Tells me something about what you see in the mirror. Now,
[22:41] Speaker 6: let me explain that for a moment. Go back to
[22:43] Speaker 6: verse forty two. It says that the evil ones will
[22:47] Speaker 6: be thrown into the furnace. But watch this verse forty
[22:52] Speaker 6: three that comes right after it says the kingdom of
[22:55] Speaker 6: their father. So the furnace of judgment belongs to the father,
[23:00] Speaker 6: not the children.
[23:02] Speaker 1: The furnace of judgment.
[23:04] Speaker 6: Is not yours to put people in the furnace of judgment.
[23:09] Speaker 6: Is not your place to have a Facebook conversation about
[23:13] Speaker 6: what everybody else thinks and why they're so stupid to
[23:15] Speaker 6: think it.
[23:16] Speaker 1: I shouldn't be preaching like this. My first Sunday back
[23:18] Speaker 1: in the year I might run, y'all a law from
[23:20] Speaker 1: the church.
[23:21] Speaker 6: But notice in the parable it says that it was
[23:24] Speaker 6: his field. And I'm learning more and more in my
[23:27] Speaker 6: life that if it's his field, that means it's his furnace.
[23:33] Speaker 6: That means God has to be the one to decide
[23:35] Speaker 6: who's right and who's wrong.
[23:37] Speaker 1: God has to be the one to decide who is
[23:40] Speaker 1: on his side and who is not. I remember, very
[23:43] Speaker 1: early in.
[23:44] Speaker 6: My ministry there was a pastor that I greatly admired,
[23:48] Speaker 6: and he was mentoring me in many ways, and he
[23:50] Speaker 6: was bringing up examples of the right kind of ministry
[23:54] Speaker 6: and the wrong kind of ministry. And he brought up
[23:56] Speaker 6: one minister and he said, now, this guy, he's arrogant.
[24:00] Speaker 6: This guy, he is not doctrinally sound. This guy, he
[24:04] Speaker 6: is not theologically correct. In fact, you can watch him
[24:08] Speaker 6: preach and you can see his pride. He's arrogant, and
[24:11] Speaker 6: he's self focused, and he's fleshly. And then he brought
[24:15] Speaker 6: up another gentleman, and he said, now, this man is humble.
[24:18] Speaker 6: This man has the Greek New Testament practically memorized. He's
[24:23] Speaker 6: a serious student. This man you can tell by watching him.
[24:26] Speaker 6: He is meek, he is mild, he is christ Like.
[24:30] Speaker 6: That's who you want to be like, Not this guy
[24:32] Speaker 6: over here, that guy right there. Five years later, the
[24:36] Speaker 6: guy who knew Greek, the guy who.
[24:38] Speaker 1: Was so humble, was discovered to.
[24:41] Speaker 6: Have been having an affair on foreign mission trips that
[24:46] Speaker 6: he was taking pretending to be spreading the Gospel for
[24:50] Speaker 6: twelve years with one woman in Russia while he looked humble.
[24:56] Speaker 6: The man who was so prideful and cocky and arrogant
[24:59] Speaker 6: is still doing the ministry today that he was doing
[25:03] Speaker 6: twenty years ago. What am I trying to say? You
[25:06] Speaker 6: suck at judging, and so do I. We don't know
[25:10] Speaker 6: who God is going to be used in ten years
[25:12] Speaker 6: from now. We don't know who God is going to
[25:14] Speaker 6: raise up. So why y'all are looking at me like
[25:17] Speaker 6: you're confused about this? Let me break it down a
[25:19] Speaker 6: little bit finer. Some of the people that you dated
[25:22] Speaker 6: are proof of the fact that you are not very
[25:25] Speaker 6: good at getting past the packaging. Let me break it
[25:29] Speaker 6: down a little bit further. Some of the people that
[25:31] Speaker 6: you put in your phone that you knew you needed
[25:34] Speaker 6: to block, but you ignored that little instinct that told
[25:38] Speaker 6: you there is something about them. You cannot trust your
[25:42] Speaker 6: own judgment this year. You cannot trust your fleshly earthly judgment.
[25:47] Speaker 6: When Israel trusted her judgment, she got Saul as king.
[25:52] Speaker 6: David was a man after God's own heart. But even
[25:55] Speaker 6: David had weeds, asked Bascheba, even the man after God's
[26:00] Speaker 6: own heart didn't always do it God's way. And what
[26:03] Speaker 6: I'm trying to say it, I'm kind of going all
[26:06] Speaker 6: around the barn to say it. So let me just
[26:08] Speaker 6: land the plane. We all got weeds. We all got we's.
[26:18] Speaker 1: Say it out loud. I got we's put the asse
[26:21] Speaker 1: at the end of that, just making sure.
[26:26] Speaker 6: Tell them about the biblical kind of weeds. It's called darnell.
[26:32] Speaker 1: Darnell. It is this type of weeds seed.
[26:35] Speaker 6: The Bible says, Can I preach about this for a moment.
[26:39] Speaker 6: The Bible says that the man planted a good seed
[26:42] Speaker 6: in his field.
[26:43] Speaker 1: Everybody say his field.
[26:46] Speaker 6: I'm gonna point this out to the over and over
[26:47] Speaker 6: again as I preached today. It was his field. It
[26:50] Speaker 6: belonged to the farmer. It belonged to the man. He
[26:54] Speaker 6: planted the seed in his field. It was his property.
[26:58] Speaker 6: It was his territory to do with it as he wished.
[27:01] Speaker 6: He planted a good seed in the field. The seed
[27:05] Speaker 6: was doing what it was supposed to do. It was growing.
[27:08] Speaker 6: And since the seed was doing what it was supposed
[27:11] Speaker 6: to do and growing, an enemy noticed the growth of
[27:15] Speaker 6: the seed and said, if I don't do something about
[27:17] Speaker 6: this seed, my enemy will triumph over me.
[27:21] Speaker 1: So the Bible says that.
[27:22] Speaker 6: Overnight wild men slept, an enemy came and planted weeds
[27:28] Speaker 6: among the wheat.
[27:30] Speaker 1: Say it weeds among the wheat. Notice what he couldn't do.
[27:35] Speaker 6: He could not pluck up what God had planted. He
[27:43] Speaker 6: could not change what had already been done. He could
[27:47] Speaker 6: not cast the seed that was in the ground to
[27:50] Speaker 6: stop being what it was meant to be.
[27:55] Speaker 1: He could not destroy the seed.
[27:59] Speaker 6: The only stratage he had was to distract the harvesters.
[28:06] Speaker 1: So here's the progression of growth in our life.
[28:09] Speaker 6: We advance a little bit like the seed was doing,
[28:13] Speaker 6: and then we get attacked.
[28:16] Speaker 1: How many of.
[28:17] Speaker 6: Y'all almost have to laugh at how quickly the devil
[28:20] Speaker 6: attacked the very thing you were advancing in this year
[28:23] Speaker 6: already Just wave at me. It's almost comical, right, It's
[28:27] Speaker 6: almost like two on the nose, like really devil, like
[28:31] Speaker 6: really really like that you're going to be that obvious,
[28:34] Speaker 6: You're you're just gonna do it right in my face
[28:36] Speaker 6: like that, At least in the parable demand snuck in
[28:39] Speaker 6: and did it at night.
[28:41] Speaker 1: Some of us. The devil's just doing it in broad daylight,
[28:44] Speaker 1: just attacking things that are advancing.
[28:48] Speaker 6: So now you're advancing, the seed is growing, and you're attacked.
[28:54] Speaker 6: And when the enemy attacks you and what God is
[28:56] Speaker 6: doing in you.
[28:58] Speaker 1: You get distracted. He can't destroy the seed. It's not his.
[29:04] Speaker 6: He can't destroy the seed. It's already planted. He can't
[29:09] Speaker 6: destroy the seed. What God put in the seed is
[29:12] Speaker 6: still in the sea. He doesn't have permission to do that.
[29:17] Speaker 6: But what he can do is distract you so.
[29:21] Speaker 1: That you will destroy yourself.
[29:27] Speaker 6: And some of the things that are attacking you in
[29:29] Speaker 6: your life right now. The attack doesn't matter unless it
[29:34] Speaker 6: distracts you from what God has called you.
[29:39] Speaker 1: I'll break it down for you with a few pastoral examples.
[29:42] Speaker 1: Thank you so much.
[29:43] Speaker 6: It feels good to be wanted, feels good to be loved,
[29:45] Speaker 6: feels good to be supported. But you know, you have
[29:48] Speaker 6: to preach through all kinds of seasons. And there have
[29:50] Speaker 6: been seasons in this ministry where I have had to
[29:54] Speaker 6: preach what God gave me to preach even though I
[29:57] Speaker 6: felt attacked, and in my early years of preaching, I
[30:01] Speaker 6: would become hyper focused on any attack that was coming
[30:04] Speaker 6: my way. I don't just mean critics, I mean any attack.
[30:07] Speaker 6: Like if a staff member resigned, I would call it
[30:10] Speaker 6: an attack. Well, no, maybe they just need to move
[30:13] Speaker 6: to Florida to take care of their parents. No, it's
[30:15] Speaker 6: an attack. I rebuked the devil. Why do you rebuke it.
[30:18] Speaker 6: It's not an attack. It's a it's a it's a
[30:22] Speaker 6: it's an adjustment. You got to adapt. Life just happens.
[30:27] Speaker 6: But there have been seasons.
[30:28] Speaker 1: And I remembered one very specifically.
[30:31] Speaker 6: Well, I've been looking forward to sharing this with you
[30:33] Speaker 6: because it was so fresh and so vivid.
[30:36] Speaker 1: What was happening in our church was explosive.
[30:39] Speaker 6: And much like the seed in the Passage, it was growing, growing, growing.
[30:43] Speaker 6: God planted this church in Charlotte in two thousand and six.
[30:46] Speaker 1: I didn't plant it.
[30:47] Speaker 6: He did. And what God plants, God protects. And God
[30:53] Speaker 6: was doing all kinds of miracles for us. If we
[30:55] Speaker 6: needed a building, he opened a building. If we needed
[30:58] Speaker 6: a volunteer, he sent a volunteer. If we needed funds,
[31:02] Speaker 6: he would send people with money. God was just providing
[31:06] Speaker 6: and protecting. But in one season of our ministry, and
[31:10] Speaker 6: it was over ten years ago, this vicious attack began.
[31:14] Speaker 6: And if anybody was here at the time, you will
[31:17] Speaker 6: remember several phases of the attack.
[31:19] Speaker 1: The last phase of the attack was.
[31:20] Speaker 6: The hardest for me to stomach, because they began to imply,
[31:24] Speaker 6: on news stories that were on the eleven o'clock news
[31:27] Speaker 6: that at Elevation Church we fake baptisms. In other words,
[31:31] Speaker 6: they were saying that we have people pretending to be baptized,
[31:35] Speaker 6: I guess, just so we could put it on camera.
[31:38] Speaker 6: Not only was that not true, but it was a
[31:40] Speaker 6: direct assault against the most meaningful expression of faith that
[31:44] Speaker 6: a person can make, to be baptized.
[31:47] Speaker 1: And I felt so attacked.
[31:49] Speaker 6: Not only on my own behalf, but on behalf of
[31:52] Speaker 6: everyone who was going to work who had been baptized
[31:55] Speaker 6: at this church, hearing the lie that had been perpetuated,
[31:58] Speaker 6: the attack that had been waged, saying your baptism was
[32:01] Speaker 6: it fake? And I was praying about this one day,
[32:05] Speaker 6: and I was asking God very specifically something that you
[32:08] Speaker 6: may have been praying about a situation or an attack
[32:11] Speaker 6: in your life as well.
[32:12] Speaker 1: I prayed God make it stop, Make it stop.
[32:17] Speaker 6: By this point, there had been several attacks against our church,
[32:21] Speaker 6: and this one just felt like too much.
[32:23] Speaker 1: And I said, God, make it stop.
[32:26] Speaker 6: And I will never forget what the Lord said to
[32:28] Speaker 6: me in my spirit, not in audible words or not
[32:31] Speaker 6: in a physical impression, but in a way that he
[32:33] Speaker 6: gave me a thought that I have carried with me.
[32:35] Speaker 1: To this moment, and I share it with you today.
[32:38] Speaker 6: The Lord said, I can stop the attack, but if
[32:42] Speaker 6: I stopped the attack, I have to stop the impact
[32:46] Speaker 6: that created it. So now you have to decide do
[32:55] Speaker 6: you want the attack to stop that enough to give
[32:59] Speaker 6: up the impact that brought it? Because if you weren't
[33:03] Speaker 6: baptizing anybody, they wouldn't be making up stories about your baptisms.
[33:10] Speaker 6: But maybe what God was doing in this church was
[33:15] Speaker 6: so unbelievable that the enemy saw it and said, if
[33:20] Speaker 6: they keep.
[33:21] Speaker 1: Baptizing people like this.
[33:23] Speaker 6: There's gonna be a water shortage in Charlotte and a
[33:27] Speaker 6: people shortage in Hell. And so I got a plant,
[33:31] Speaker 6: a little lie to try to get them to stop
[33:35] Speaker 6: doing what God's started. But God said, if you want
[33:41] Speaker 6: the impact, you got a man up and button your
[33:46] Speaker 6: pants and tighten your belt. And lace your boots, and
[33:50] Speaker 6: open your bible, and open your mouth, and take your
[33:54] Speaker 6: next breath, and lift your voice, and lift your head
[33:58] Speaker 6: and swing your in the name of the Lord, and
[34:02] Speaker 6: realize that he who began a good work in you
[34:07] Speaker 6: will be faithful to bring it full circle till the
[34:12] Speaker 6: day when the angels gather the tears to be burned.
[34:18] Speaker 1: In the fire.
[34:27] Speaker 6: I wanted to tell you about that. I wanted to
[34:30] Speaker 6: tell you that. Now that I'm through it, I'm glad
[34:33] Speaker 6: they attacked me. I am iss set me free of
[34:38] Speaker 6: some ego. I'm glad that happened. I want it to
[34:43] Speaker 6: happen again. I'm not asking for another one. I'm not
[34:47] Speaker 6: saying if I went back in time, I would have
[34:48] Speaker 6: walked that path. But there is a young man on
[34:52] Speaker 6: our staff who runs my scriptures every week. As a
[34:56] Speaker 6: matter of fact, put a scripture up there, just in anyone.
[34:58] Speaker 6: I don't care which one. Just put it up there
[35:00] Speaker 6: and just put the week appeared, We circle the word appeared.
[35:05] Speaker 6: Look at that. Why did I tell him to do that?
[35:10] Speaker 6: Because he started coming to the church because he heard
[35:14] Speaker 6: about the baptisms on the news.
[35:19] Speaker 1: From the attack. Y'all don't want to mess with me.
[35:24] Speaker 6: And now he's the one helping me preach the word.
[35:29] Speaker 1: So God used their words as a weapon. Oh God,
[35:35] Speaker 1: And now let's.
[35:35] Speaker 7: Talk about you. No weapon forlved against you shall prosper.
[35:44] Speaker 7: And every time sun rise this against you, you shall
[35:50] Speaker 7: convin this is the heretage at the service of the Lord,
[35:55] Speaker 7: and their righteousness is from me. So one thing the
[36:06] Speaker 7: enemy didn't realize when he was planting those weeds is
[36:11] Speaker 7: that you can plant all the weeds you want to devil.
[36:14] Speaker 6: And let me just remind you this year, this year,
[36:17] Speaker 6: there will be weeds. There will be no weed free
[36:20] Speaker 6: week in your year this year.
[36:23] Speaker 1: Sit back down.
[36:26] Speaker 6: You know how we do these little New Year's slogans
[36:29] Speaker 6: come alive in twenty five.
[36:33] Speaker 1: You know it's gonna it's gonna well, could be.
[36:36] Speaker 6: Said it's gonna get fixed in twenty six. No, it's
[36:40] Speaker 6: not either. It's gonna be mixed in twenty six. It's
[36:44] Speaker 6: gonna be some wheat. It's gonna be some weeds. It's
[36:48] Speaker 6: gonna be some joy, it's gonna be some morning. It's
[36:51] Speaker 6: gonna be some weeping. It's gonna be some reeping. It's
[36:55] Speaker 6: gonna be some friends. It's gonna be some enemies. It's
[36:58] Speaker 6: gonna be some frenemies. You can't tell the difference to
[37:01] Speaker 6: us over But don't judge it before God's done with it,
[37:04] Speaker 6: because God might use some of this stuff in your
[37:07] Speaker 6: life that you were asking him to remove to reveal
[37:11] Speaker 6: who He is in your life. And the only problem
[37:16] Speaker 6: is if you start trying to pluck out the weeds,
[37:19] Speaker 6: you might mess around and remove the wheat. Y'all got
[37:28] Speaker 6: enough or keep going? One thing I noticed in the
[37:34] Speaker 6: text that was really powerful is that the Master didn't
[37:38] Speaker 6: panic about the attack. He was so cool about it.
[37:45] Speaker 6: Read it again, sir, Now the servants are freaking out
[37:48] Speaker 6: like we do. Sir, didn't you so good? See it
[37:50] Speaker 6: in your field? Where's come from? Who did this? What's
[37:52] Speaker 6: going on? This is the devil? Who's fault? Is this?
[37:54] Speaker 4: Only?
[37:54] Speaker 1: As so many did this?
[37:57] Speaker 6: And the mask sure because he represents God in the parable.
[38:02] Speaker 6: Look at this, He's like an enemy did this because
[38:10] Speaker 6: that's what an enemy does. That's what an enemy does,
[38:16] Speaker 6: That's what a devil does. I read about a book
[38:21] Speaker 6: that Mel Robbins wrote called the Let Them Theory. I
[38:25] Speaker 6: didn't read the book, but I like the title. It's
[38:28] Speaker 6: like people want to talk about you. Let them. Your
[38:31] Speaker 6: kids want to leave without a coat and it's cold outside.
[38:33] Speaker 1: Let them. They're not going to die of hypothermia. They
[38:42] Speaker 1: will figure it out.
[38:43] Speaker 6: Kids are resilient, they need a little frost bite.
[38:48] Speaker 1: Let them. And I wonder if we could write.
[38:53] Speaker 6: One together today this year in your life, called let him.
[39:01] Speaker 6: Don't let the attack distract you. You give so much
[39:03] Speaker 6: focus on how the devil is discouraging you, and now
[39:06] Speaker 6: discouragement is all you see everywhere. You got so many
[39:10] Speaker 6: things going right in your life, so much wheat.
[39:14] Speaker 1: But all you see is weeds.
[39:16] Speaker 6: You a little perfectionist, your little type a personality, your
[39:21] Speaker 6: little enneagram number one just always could be better. Just
[39:24] Speaker 6: oh man, I gotta get these weeds out this year.
[39:27] Speaker 1: No you don't. I'll tell you why.
[39:30] Speaker 6: If Jesus's field wasn't weed free, what makes you think.
[39:33] Speaker 1: Yours is gonna be?
[39:37] Speaker 6: Jesus couldn't have a weed free field, but you can. No,
[39:42] Speaker 6: it's gonna be mixed in twenty six. It's gonna be
[39:46] Speaker 6: mixed in twenty six. It's gonna be at eight am
[39:50] Speaker 6: in the morning, this is the day that the Lord
[39:52] Speaker 6: has made. It's gonna be by three pm. In the afternoon.
[39:56] Speaker 6: My God, My God, why hast thou forsake of me?
[39:58] Speaker 1: It's gonna be.
[39:58] Speaker 6: Wea It's gonna be weeds. And stop judging stuff before
[40:05] Speaker 6: God is done with it. Stop judging stuff before the
[40:11] Speaker 6: appointed time. Stop telling me graves into gardens in a
[40:14] Speaker 6: good song. Stop telling me I tried it, it didn't work.
[40:19] Speaker 6: And I'll just use a physical example because we can.
[40:21] Speaker 1: All relate to it.
[40:24] Speaker 6: When you work out and you haven't worked out in
[40:27] Speaker 6: a while, not that you would know. The first thing
[40:34] Speaker 6: that is going to indicate that you successfully completed the
[40:37] Speaker 6: workout is a feeling of soreness that will feel like
[40:41] Speaker 6: Satan himself brought seven spirits to your body and invaded everything.
[40:47] Speaker 6: But that just means you're growing. So now you're surprised
[40:51] Speaker 6: that you're sore, but you wanted to grow. If there
[40:56] Speaker 6: had been no wheat, there would have been no weeds.
[41:00] Speaker 6: You're praying for God to use you, but you're surprised
[41:03] Speaker 6: that you feel like you're empty on the inside. That's
[41:06] Speaker 6: so He can fill you up again. And the promise
[41:09] Speaker 6: of this year is not that it will be weed free.
[41:12] Speaker 6: I am not trying to keep a weed free in
[41:15] Speaker 6: one sense, I am, but I am not trying to
[41:18] Speaker 6: keep a problem a weed free. I'm trying to be
[41:21] Speaker 6: spirit filled this year so that whatever is planted around me.
[41:27] Speaker 6: And you got to know that the Master is very,
[41:31] Speaker 6: very methodical in what he plants, and he knew from
[41:36] Speaker 6: the moment he planted this seed that the enemy would
[41:39] Speaker 6: attack it. Now, the Master wasn't surprised. The servants were,
[41:43] Speaker 6: so they said, what do you want us to do
[41:45] Speaker 6: about it? Do you want us to pluck it up?
[41:49] Speaker 6: Do you want us to remove it? Do you want
[41:52] Speaker 6: us to do something about that? I was reading a
[41:55] Speaker 6: passage in First Kings or maybe Second Samuel last week
[42:00] Speaker 6: with Graham.
[42:01] Speaker 1: Which scripture did I give you?
[42:02] Speaker 6: Justin Second Samuel or First Kings, we're reading about David. Yeah,
[42:06] Speaker 6: one time David was running through his city that he
[42:10] Speaker 6: used to rule over from his son, Absolom, and his
[42:14] Speaker 6: son was trying to take his crown from him. And
[42:17] Speaker 6: the son's name was Absolom, and David actually had to
[42:20] Speaker 6: go flee from his own son. And as he was
[42:22] Speaker 6: leaving the city, he approached Bahiram. You couldn't pronounce it either,
[42:27] Speaker 6: a man from the same clan Asau's family came out
[42:30] Speaker 6: from there.
[42:30] Speaker 1: And so this is one of his enemies, right, And.
[42:33] Speaker 6: His name was shimmy I, son of Gera. And he
[42:38] Speaker 6: cursed as he came out, cursing at the king. Well,
[42:44] Speaker 6: he pelted David in the king's officials with stones. Now
[42:48] Speaker 6: remember David's pretty good with a stone, So this is
[42:51] Speaker 6: a bad idea. Though all the troops in the Special
[42:55] Speaker 6: Guard were on David's right and left.
[42:56] Speaker 1: In other words, he could have done something about it.
[42:58] Speaker 6: And as he cursed, Shimiyeh said, get out, Get out.
[43:02] Speaker 1: You murder, you scoundrel.
[43:05] Speaker 6: The Lord has repaid you for all the blood you
[43:07] Speaker 6: shed in the household of Saul, in whose place.
[43:09] Speaker 1: You have reigned. God's getting you back.
[43:11] Speaker 6: The Lord has given the kingdom into the hands of
[43:14] Speaker 6: your son Absalom.
[43:15] Speaker 1: You have come to ruin because you are a murderer.
[43:19] Speaker 6: Is planning all these seeds of doubt in David's mind.
[43:21] Speaker 6: Then Abishai, which one of David's guys, said to the King,
[43:25] Speaker 6: why should this dead dog curse my lord?
[43:27] Speaker 1: The king?
[43:27] Speaker 6: Let me go over and cut off his head. But
[43:30] Speaker 6: the king, David said, what does this have to do
[43:34] Speaker 6: with you, sons of zahu Ayah?
[43:37] Speaker 1: If He's cursed him because the Lord said to him,
[43:39] Speaker 1: curse David, who can ask why do you do this?
[43:43] Speaker 1: David then said to.
[43:44] Speaker 6: Abishai and all his officials, my son, my own flesh
[43:48] Speaker 6: and blood, is trying to kill me.
[43:50] Speaker 1: In other words, I got bigger problems.
[43:53] Speaker 6: I got bigger things to deal with than this dude,
[43:55] Speaker 6: and I came to remind you.
[43:57] Speaker 1: You've got bigger priorities. You've got too much to do
[44:00] Speaker 1: to be offended by them.
[44:02] Speaker 6: You've got bigger fish to fry than this guy whose
[44:05] Speaker 6: name I can't even pronounce. You're David, how much more
[44:10] Speaker 6: than this Benjamin? Leave him alone, let him curse.
[44:16] Speaker 5: You want us to do something about it, now, let
[44:18] Speaker 5: him Let him curse, for the Lord has told him to.
[44:23] Speaker 5: It may be, oh, this is an anointed verse. If
[44:27] Speaker 5: you've been under attack and the enemy is pelting you
[44:31] Speaker 5: with rocks and stones, and it may even be coming
[44:34] Speaker 5: at the expense of your own dignity, and you are
[44:37] Speaker 5: asking yourself, what do I.
[44:38] Speaker 1: Do about this attack?
[44:40] Speaker 6: David said, it may be that the Lord will look
[44:43] Speaker 6: upon my misery and restore to me his covenant blessing
[44:47] Speaker 6: instead of his curse today.
[44:49] Speaker 1: In other words, what David is saying is that he
[44:52] Speaker 1: cannot curse what God has already blessed, so let him.
[44:58] Speaker 6: He cannot just what has God's dna. He cannot steal
[45:04] Speaker 6: what God has spoke. He cannot negate what God has established.
[45:10] Speaker 6: He cannot cancel out what God is called.
[45:14] Speaker 1: How many different ways do you need me to.
[45:16] Speaker 6: Say it to get you to see it won't work.
[45:20] Speaker 6: Let him come, let the flood rage. God will lift
[45:24] Speaker 6: up a standard. It won't work.
[45:27] Speaker 1: Don't let the attack distract you. Don't let it get
[45:30] Speaker 1: you out of your character. Don't let it get.
[45:32] Speaker 6: You out of your joy. Don't let it get you
[45:34] Speaker 6: out of your peace. Sit there and whistle a worship song.
[45:37] Speaker 6: If you can't sing one, lift your toe. If you
[45:40] Speaker 6: can't lift your hands, do a body weight squad. If
[45:43] Speaker 6: you can't do a real one, do something. But whatever
[45:47] Speaker 6: you do, remember that if it's started with God, it
[45:51] Speaker 6: is sustained by God, and there is nothing the enemy
[45:54] Speaker 6: can plant. Sharreamaijah said, before I was born, he called
[45:59] Speaker 6: me and at me apart.
[46:01] Speaker 1: So that means I know the enemy has been busy
[46:03] Speaker 1: in your life.
[46:04] Speaker 6: He's been speaking to you, he's been sabotaging you. He's
[46:08] Speaker 6: been distracting you, trying to get you off your course,
[46:11] Speaker 6: trying to get you out of your flow, trying to
[46:13] Speaker 6: get you out of your calling, trying to get you
[46:16] Speaker 6: out of your nature, trying to get you out of
[46:18] Speaker 6: your kindness, trying to bring you back to bitterness, trying
[46:21] Speaker 6: to plant.
[46:21] Speaker 1: Weeds where there's wheat.
[46:23] Speaker 6: But there's one thing that the enemy should have realized
[46:26] Speaker 6: that he didn't realize, and he would have saved his
[46:29] Speaker 6: energy and realized that the weeds weren't worth planting.
[46:32] Speaker 1: Because you've got to remember, no matter what the enemy.
[46:35] Speaker 6: Plants in your life, God got there first, and he
[46:49] Speaker 6: prepares a table for you in the presence of your enemies.
[46:55] Speaker 6: So let the devil try, because it must be that
[47:00] Speaker 6: if God isn't removing those weeds, how many can picture
[47:03] Speaker 6: some weeds that are in your life as I speak
[47:05] Speaker 6: this word, Every weed free person, run to this altar
[47:10] Speaker 6: right now, because you have the weed of delusion?
[47:19] Speaker 1: Am I right man?
[47:20] Speaker 6: And the one thing about it, Graham, check this out. Gee,
[47:23] Speaker 6: the type of weeds that were growing, You couldn't tell
[47:26] Speaker 6: that they weren't wheat until they had grown a little bit.
[47:30] Speaker 6: They looked exactly the same until the head came up
[47:33] Speaker 6: and then they're like, oh no, this is not wheat,
[47:35] Speaker 6: this is a weed.
[47:38] Speaker 1: And sometimes you don't know. Sometimes you don't know. I'm
[47:43] Speaker 1: never going back to the way I was. Look at
[47:46] Speaker 1: what the Lord has done. I'm never going back to
[47:50] Speaker 1: the way. A little the.
[47:52] Speaker 6: Video and you know, the kids just screaming at the camera,
[47:55] Speaker 6: but what if they were singing it?
[47:57] Speaker 1: Like just like just for real though, like, look at
[48:00] Speaker 1: what the Lord has done.
[48:02] Speaker 6: I'm never going back, but I'm still gonna cuts.
[48:05] Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying, Look here what the Lord
[48:10] Speaker 1: has done. I'm never going back.
[48:12] Speaker 6: But I still get drunk because what we're saying is,
[48:16] Speaker 6: look here what the Lord has done.
[48:19] Speaker 1: I'm never going back, but I'm still gonna lust. You know,
[48:22] Speaker 1: just whatever y'all struggle with, the fact is.
[48:27] Speaker 8: What's really going on in our hearts sometimes doesn't match
[48:31] Speaker 8: what's coming out of our mouths. And we really do
[48:36] Speaker 8: want to grow, and we really do want to be free,
[48:40] Speaker 8: and we really do want to be more loving.
[48:43] Speaker 1: But the enemy isn't going to stand by and watch
[48:47] Speaker 1: you grow without attempting to.
[48:50] Speaker 8: Plant something alongside your destiny that will disrupt it.
[48:56] Speaker 6: I just want to remind you that the attack is
[49:00] Speaker 6: a distraction. And God knew when he planted you that
[49:05] Speaker 6: what he gave you was stronger than what would come
[49:09] Speaker 6: against you. Look at what the Lord has done in
[49:20] Speaker 6: your life. Look how far he has already brought you.
[49:25] Speaker 6: How many can say I have a testimony. God has
[49:28] Speaker 6: done so much in my life.
[49:29] Speaker 1: It's amazing. You would say that. But it came with weeds,
[49:36] Speaker 1: didn't it.
[49:38] Speaker 6: And you have been believing the lie lately that you
[49:41] Speaker 6: have got to get rid of all the weeds before
[49:43] Speaker 6: you can enjoy the weaed It's a lie. I come
[49:47] Speaker 6: against it. I break the spirit of depression off of
[49:51] Speaker 6: your soul that has been telling you that you cannot
[49:55] Speaker 6: worship while you still have weeds.
[49:57] Speaker 1: We all have weeds. It would suppor rise you what
[50:01] Speaker 1: the person next to you is struggling with.
[50:04] Speaker 6: And just because you can't see the weeds doesn't mean
[50:06] Speaker 6: they're not real. But have you come to a point
[50:11] Speaker 6: in your life where all you are seeing in this
[50:14] Speaker 6: season is the weeds? Have you got one kid that
[50:19] Speaker 6: is in trouble and you have failed to appreciate.
[50:21] Speaker 1: The two that are doing good?
[50:24] Speaker 6: That means you have become two weed focused. Have you
[50:29] Speaker 6: got nine things in your body that are working well,
[50:33] Speaker 6: but the one thing that is not working right just
[50:36] Speaker 6: causes you to obsess, and you are googling every possible
[50:39] Speaker 6: thing that might be wrong with you and taking out
[50:42] Speaker 6: every life insurance policy because you got a headache one Thursday.
[50:47] Speaker 6: Are you letting one headache really make you stop believing
[50:50] Speaker 6: that God is my healer and that God is my sustainer,
[50:54] Speaker 6: and that God is my source. I'm telling you whatever
[50:57] Speaker 6: the enemy plants in your life is not more powerful
[51:01] Speaker 6: than what God planted, because the Bible said he planted
[51:05] Speaker 6: good seed.
[51:06] Speaker 1: Somebody say I'm good seed. I'm good seed.
[51:09] Speaker 6: And all things work together for the good of those
[51:12] Speaker 6: who love the Lord and are called according to his purpose.
[51:16] Speaker 6: So this week I want you to think a little
[51:18] Speaker 6: bit less about the weeds and a little bit more
[51:21] Speaker 6: about the wheat, because when the passage starts, we've got
[51:25] Speaker 6: wheat and we've got weeds. But at the end of
[51:28] Speaker 6: the passage, one is going to be burned, and one
[51:31] Speaker 6: is going to be in the barn. And I came
[51:34] Speaker 6: to declare today the fire will not burn you.
[51:37] Speaker 1: You're going to the barn. Baby. You belong to God.
[51:40] Speaker 1: You are God's child. You are God's planting. You are
[51:45] Speaker 1: God's Oh, you are.
[51:46] Speaker 6: God's master peace. I belong to God. Try your best, devil,
[51:52] Speaker 6: it won't work. As a matter of fact, my God
[51:55] Speaker 6: might use the thing that you are using to curse
[51:58] Speaker 6: me and bless me even better. God might do something
[52:03] Speaker 6: out of this. So go ahead, hit me with your
[52:07] Speaker 6: best shot. But everything you do has to go through
[52:11] Speaker 6: the cross of Jesus.
[52:12] Speaker 7: Christ, and he'll began a good.
[52:15] Speaker 6: Word, will be faithful to complete it. Stop judging stuff
[52:23] Speaker 6: before God is done.
[52:25] Speaker 1: I asked one parent the other day. They said, the
[52:27] Speaker 1: kid that gave.
[52:28] Speaker 6: Me the most trouble ended up bringing me the most blessings.
[52:32] Speaker 6: You can't judge this thing while it's still growing.
[52:35] Speaker 1: You can't label this thing while it's still in process.
[52:38] Speaker 6: You cannot categorize your life based on the way you
[52:41] Speaker 6: feel right in hew And you cannot quit eleven days
[52:44] Speaker 6: into January just because it's mixed in twenty six. Na, baby,
[52:50] Speaker 6: the Lord is at my right hand. The Lord stood
[52:53] Speaker 6: by my side. Many deserted me, God never did. I
[52:57] Speaker 6: got battles, I got blessings, I got weeds, I got weeds,
[53:02] Speaker 6: I got goodness, I got mercy, And they follow.
[53:06] Speaker 1: Me all the days of my life.
[53:11] Speaker 6: So all I wanted to tell you today is don't
[53:15] Speaker 6: let the.
[53:16] Speaker 1: Attack distract you. That's what it is. It's a distraction.
[53:24] Speaker 1: You have been growing. You've got what it takes to grow.
[53:28] Speaker 6: You've got what it takes to make this decision. You
[53:31] Speaker 6: have got what it takes to do the job. You've
[53:33] Speaker 6: got what it takes to learn the skills. You've got
[53:36] Speaker 6: what it takes to do the inner work and get
[53:38] Speaker 6: some healing.
[53:38] Speaker 1: You've got what it takes because you've got God.
[53:43] Speaker 6: You're in the field he wanted you to be, and
[53:49] Speaker 6: God knew there was going to be a fight when
[53:51] Speaker 6: he puts you in that field.
[53:54] Speaker 1: Don't tell me he didn't. He's God. I'm built for it.
[54:01] Speaker 1: High five three. People say you're built for it, too,
[54:05] Speaker 1: built for it? Yeah, man, built for it.
[54:11] Speaker 6: You know what I almost called the message, bro, I
[54:14] Speaker 6: almost called it, Don't burn your bread.
[54:22] Speaker 1: Don't burn your bread. The wheat has the potential in
[54:26] Speaker 1: it to be bread.
[54:31] Speaker 6: If you don't pluck it up and throw it into
[54:34] Speaker 6: the fire, if you don't give up on what it
[54:37] Speaker 6: can be because of what it is right now and
[54:39] Speaker 6: what's against it.
[54:41] Speaker 1: Don't burn your bread. I didn't call it that.
[54:45] Speaker 6: I almost called the message this is my other almost
[54:48] Speaker 6: called the message look at your neighbors, say don't pluck
[54:51] Speaker 6: it up.
[54:58] Speaker 1: But I decided.
[55:01] Speaker 6: That I would just tell you stand to your feet,
[55:05] Speaker 6: don't let the attack distract you, because if you don't
[55:13] Speaker 6: let it distract.
[55:14] Speaker 1: You, it can't destroy you. The word of God is incorruptible.
[55:17] Speaker 6: See you've been born again by imperishable sea. Don't let
[55:21] Speaker 6: it distract you. You make an advance, you get attacked,
[55:28] Speaker 6: You get attacked, you get distracted, You get distracted, you
[55:31] Speaker 6: get destroyed.
[55:31] Speaker 1: But if you can.
[55:32] Speaker 6: Focus on where God is growing you put your hand
[55:37] Speaker 6: over your heart.
[55:40] Speaker 1: Say this is good soil. Say this is God's soil.
[55:45] Speaker 6: There's something that God spoke to you that you haven't
[55:47] Speaker 6: really been able to get in touch with lately because
[55:49] Speaker 6: you've been so distracted.
[55:51] Speaker 1: You have been so distracted.
[55:52] Speaker 6: It has been a long long time since you've been
[55:55] Speaker 6: able to have clarity about what God spoke to you.
[55:58] Speaker 6: And you found your broken focus leading.
[56:00] Speaker 1: To a lack of peace now, as it always happens.
[56:03] Speaker 6: But if we can get back to the God who
[56:04] Speaker 6: put it in you to begin with, you are going
[56:07] Speaker 6: to survive whatever attack the enemy sins against it. It
[56:10] Speaker 6: can't be stronger than God. It can't be stronger than
[56:13] Speaker 6: his word. It can't be better than him. It can't
[56:17] Speaker 6: be bigger than him. It's not possible that you've been distracted.
[56:23] Speaker 6: So now, Lord, our hearts are.
[56:29] Speaker 1: Turn to you.
[56:32] Speaker 9: Yes, Lord, our hearts are yours. Our lives are yours,
[56:41] Speaker 9: our dreams are yours, our plans are yours. Our future
[56:46] Speaker 9: is yours. I thank you for where you planted me
[56:49] Speaker 9: as a seed.
[56:50] Speaker 1: God.
[56:52] Speaker 6: I thank you for where you planted each and every
[56:54] Speaker 6: one of these people. I think for the gifts you
[56:57] Speaker 6: gave them, the abilities he gave them, the talent you
[56:58] Speaker 6: gave them, the personality that you gave them, the unique
[57:01] Speaker 6: struggles and challenges that have formed them and forged them
[57:03] Speaker 6: in the fire of trials to make them strong.
[57:05] Speaker 1: And ready for what they're going through now. They will
[57:09] Speaker 1: not burn. They'll be l those Hebrew boys who.
[57:13] Speaker 6: Went into the fire and said, even if God doesn't
[57:15] Speaker 6: get us out, he'll join.
[57:16] Speaker 1: Us right up in it. Because I'm good seed. I'm
[57:20] Speaker 1: good seed. Lord.
[57:23] Speaker 6: I want to pray today for the person who has
[57:26] Speaker 6: never placed their faith in you.
[57:29] Speaker 1: Would you just join me in this prayer as a church.
[57:31] Speaker 6: I'm going to pray for someone who needs to give
[57:33] Speaker 6: their life to Jesus Christ. And right now it is
[57:36] Speaker 6: very possible that the reason God brought you here today,
[57:39] Speaker 6: or the reason that you joined us online.
[57:41] Speaker 1: Is for this moment.
[57:42] Speaker 6: If you see, it's not by might nor by power
[57:46] Speaker 6: that we become strong in the Lord. No, the seed
[57:50] Speaker 6: was good because of who planted it. And it's time
[57:54] Speaker 6: for you to stop playing around with your life and
[57:57] Speaker 6: waiting on one day when it's more con to live
[58:00] Speaker 6: for God. No, now is your moment of salvation. Today
[58:05] Speaker 6: is your moment of change. And I don't want you
[58:09] Speaker 6: to face the fire of judgment. I don't want you
[58:11] Speaker 6: to live your life apart from God, and neither does God.
[58:14] Speaker 6: And that's why He sent Jesus, the perfect seed, the
[58:18] Speaker 6: one who gave his life on the cross and rose
[58:21] Speaker 6: again that you could have life.
[58:23] Speaker 1: And now, in this moment, I want to pray with you.
[58:25] Speaker 6: You know, the Bible says that if you confess with
[58:27] Speaker 6: your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your
[58:30] Speaker 6: heart that God raised him from the dead, you will
[58:32] Speaker 6: be saved.
[58:34] Speaker 1: It's not by works, it's by grace. You are saved
[58:37] Speaker 1: through faith, and right now, if you'll pray this prayer
[58:40] Speaker 1: and mean it with your heart, God will hear you.
[58:44] Speaker 6: God will save you, and you will be born again,
[58:47] Speaker 6: and this can be your new beginning.
[58:49] Speaker 1: We're going to pray out loud, repeating after.
[58:51] Speaker 6: Me as a church for the benefit of those who
[58:54] Speaker 6: are coming to Christ in this moment. Repeat after me,
[58:57] Speaker 6: Heavenly Father. To day is my day of salvation. I
[59:05] Speaker 6: am a sinner in need of a savior, and I
[59:09] Speaker 6: believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and
[59:14] Speaker 6: the savior of the world. And today I make Jesus
[59:20] Speaker 6: the Lord of my life. I believe he died that
[59:25] Speaker 6: I would be forgiven and rose again to give me life.
[59:30] Speaker 6: I receive this new life. This is my new beginning.
[59:37] Speaker 6: I am a child of God. On the count of three,
[59:41] Speaker 6: shoot your hand up. If you prayed that one, two, three,
[59:44] Speaker 6: I want to celebrate with you. Praise the Lord. Praise
[59:48] Speaker 6: the Lord. That's beautiful. Praise the Lord online. You could
[59:54] Speaker 6: just put it in the comments I received.
[59:57] Speaker 1: Jesus.
[59:59] Speaker 6: Come on, let's clap our hands all over the room. Everybody, everybody, everybody, come.
[1:00:05] Speaker 1: On, Let's thank.
[1:00:06] Speaker 6: God for all the decisions that were made today.
[1:00:10] Speaker 1: God is so good.
[1:00:13] Speaker 6: Well, campus, pastors, you can have it. Grab hands with
[1:00:17] Speaker 6: the person next to you here, Valentine, look at him
[1:00:19] Speaker 6: and tell them don't pluck it up, because God is
[1:00:24] Speaker 6: not through with you yet another day to be in
[1:00:29] Speaker 6: the presence of God. Come on, Holly, I ain't got
[1:00:31] Speaker 6: no hand to hold. It's gonna be an amazing year
[1:00:36] Speaker 6: in your life.
[1:00:36] Speaker 1: Ben. Yeah, God's gonna give.
[1:00:40] Speaker 6: You wisdom, strength, encouragement, stamina.
[1:00:46] Speaker 1: God's gonna do that for each and.
[1:00:47] Speaker 6: Every one of these people that we pastor to look
[1:00:51] Speaker 6: at your neighbor. Look at your neighbor and say, God's
[1:00:53] Speaker 6: gonna do that for you too.
[1:00:57] Speaker 1: Tell him he's gonna meet you, is gonna fill you,
[1:01:03] Speaker 1: he's gonna carry you, he's going to keep you.
[1:01:09] Speaker 6: Tell him you're gonna grow. Come on, tell him like
[1:01:12] Speaker 6: a trainer, you're gonna grow. Tell them like they need
[1:01:16] Speaker 6: to do two more reps. Tell them you're gonna grow.
[1:01:19] Speaker 6: Look at them and shall say, don't pluck it. Oh,
[1:01:26] Speaker 6: don't let the attack distract you.
[1:01:28] Speaker 1: It's a sign you're on course.
[1:01:30] Speaker 6: It's a sign your significant it's a sign.
[1:01:34] Speaker 1: God's got you. And now unto him, lift your hands.
[1:01:37] Speaker 6: Who is able to do immeasurably more than you ask,
[1:01:42] Speaker 6: think or imagine, according.
[1:01:44] Speaker 1: To His power.
[1:01:45] Speaker 6: Whose power, his power that works mightily in us.
[1:01:50] Speaker 1: To Him be glory through Christ Jesus in the Church.
[1:01:55] Speaker 6: Now and forever, Say amen, Say amen again.
[1:02:02] Speaker 1: Goodbye, See you next week. Don't plug it up.
[1:02:10] Speaker 2: Hey, I hope you enjoyed the podcast, and if you did,
[1:02:13] Speaker 2: make sure to share it and subscribe so we can
[1:02:15] Speaker 2: get you all of these new messages as soon as
[1:02:18] Speaker 2: they're available. I also want to take a moment and
[1:02:21] Speaker 2: thank all of you who are a part of Elevation.
[1:02:23] Speaker 2: Whether you support us financially, or serve with us, or
[1:02:27] Speaker 2: just share these messages, it's because of you that we're
[1:02:30] Speaker 2: able to reach people all around the world. And if
[1:02:33] Speaker 2: you want more information on how to be a part
[1:02:35] Speaker 2: of Elevation, click the link in the description. Thanks again
[1:02:39] Speaker 2: for listening. Make sure to leave a review, share the message,
[1:02:42] Speaker 2: and subscribe.
[1:02:43] Speaker 6: God bless you.

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