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Shabbat Shalom everybody.

You know the acoustics in this room are so weird.

Because it's like you said Shabbat Shalom and the Shalom just kind of died right there.

So let's try that again.

Shabbat Shalom everybody.

Very good.

If you wanted to make it all the way up here you got to project a little.

Otherwise it kind of goes "Emp-Emp".

I'm glad you're all here today.

I was just checking, took time just to look at the radar.

And because you know that the Channel 4 radar is always spot on.

We canceled church Wednesday night at our north side church.

And yeah the storms didn't show up until about three hours after the fact.

So we never know.

But we trust that we're going to be able to get through this service.

And get you home in time to be protected and ready for the rains that we desperately need.

I went outside yesterday and took a picture of a brand new rose that had blossomed.

And I posted on Facebook because it's November 1st.

And it just seems like the whole world, at least in Oklahoma, is seriously confused about where we are on the calendar right now.

So anyway I am glad to be here this morning.

This morning Chris sent me a text.

And said that he was sitting on the beach looking at the dolphins and what a great view he had.

Well let me tell you something Pastor Chris.

I've got a great view here too.

Alright.

And we're glad to be here with you this morning.

If you have your Bibles either on your app or on your lap.

Open to Matthew chapter 8.

You know, Tony and I have a television show that we like to watch.

And everybody, sometime back we announced that we had this kind of go to show and we haven't told you what it is.

And no I'm not going to tell you what it is now.

But this one show that we watch called Leverage every once in a while.

It will start the story by kind of jumping to the end of the story showing you some dramatic moment.

And then take you back and have you trace all the things that happened up to that moment.

That's kind of what I want to attempt to do today.

I want to take you to the end of the story.

Or at least to the end of what we're going to be using as our text today.

It is a dramatic summation of all that Jesus was doing following the preaching on the Sermon on the Mount.

Which ends in Matthew chapter 8.

Matthew chapter 10 verse 1 says this.

Now Jesus summoned his 12 disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to cast them out.

And to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.

That's the moment that Jesus has come to with his Talmudim, with his disciples.

But what led up to that moment?

What a moment that must have been to go from hearing the kingdom declared and taught.

And watching its power manifest in so many different lives in so many different ways.

That now Jesus is going to deputize, if you will, his chosen 12 to send them into the harvest to do the kingdom.

To proclaim the very same message that he has been proclaiming.

The good news of the kingdom of God.

And also to do the very things that Jesus had been doing that they marveled at.

I mean can you imagine if you're seated with those 12 and Jesus suddenly looks at you and says, "Oh by the way, if you've been amazed at me doing this, guess what's about to happen?

You're going to go do this."

Can you imagine these 12 men looking at each other and the enthusiasm and the excitement.

But also probably some fear and trepidation which must have been going on in their lives.

All of this was first prepared, they were prepared for this by Jesus.

Were they ready for the kingdom harvest ministry as disciples of Christ?

Well I don't know how prepared they were but I would ask today, are we as disciples of Christ ready for kingdom harvest ministry?

Because that's what being a disciple is really all about.

Will you pray with me?

Abba Father we come to you in the name of Yeshua the worthy one, the Messiah, the anointed one.

And Father I just, I thank you for the worship of our children today.

It just kind of lifted my soul, their joy, their bounce, little jealous Lord, their energy.

But I thank you for it.

And I thank you for these who have gathered here.

I thank you for our pastors Chris and April and their family.

And just pray an anointing and a blessing on them in the time that they're away from us.

But right now Lord my prayer is simple.

Open our hearts and minds to prepare us as you prepared your disciples long ago to go into your kingdom, to go into your harvest for the sake of your glory.

I pray this in Yeshua's name, amen.

So this morning we're going to do an overview of Matthew 8 and 9.

And the goal is basically to understand what Jesus was teaching them and showing them and to make them ready for the Kingdom Harvest ministry.

Now you'll remember that the sermon on the mount is Matthew 5 through 7.

And I'm going to be referring to a new sermon that's going to cover Matthew 8 through 13.

And we're going to call this the Sermon on the Go.

And you're going to understand why in just a moment.

As Jesus concludes the Sermon on the Mount, He begins to show them what His heart is all about.

But let me jump ahead again to the end of Matthew chapter 9 before we go there and let us just see Jesus' heart.

He says Jesus was, it's kind of a summation of all of the things that we're about to look at in Matthew 8 and 9.

It says Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the Kingdom and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness and seeing the people, He felt compassion for them because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.

Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.

Therefore, beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest."

Now as I said, chapter 5 through 7, this is the Sermon on the Mount or the Sermon on the Kingdom.

Here Jesus blows the minds of the people while He angers and wounds the egos of the scribes and Pharisees who saw themselves as the keepers of Torah truth.

With every correct, fulfilled and fulfilling interpretation, Jesus not only shows His disciples, those who were in the crowd, who were going to become more than just the crowd, they were going to become true followers of His.

He began to show them how to interpret through the eyes and the heart of the Spirit what God was always trying to reveal in the Torah.

And with every one of those interpretations and those applications, while it was wonderful for those who were ready to receive, it was a very hard word for those who knew they were the illustration.

The scribes and the Pharisees were the illustration.

They were the juxtaposition of everything Jesus was teaching.

Now Chris and I have talked about this and we want to go back sometime in the early part of 2025 and go through the Sermon on the Mount.

So we're kind of jumping ahead after all of that amazing teaching to look at the Sermon on the Go and that's followed by the Sermon on the Sea, which are the parables.

So this sermon was taught not by lecture, but by lab work.

Real world encounters with the King of the Kingdom and powerful manifestation of the Word of God.

But church, please hear me.

Every miracle, every healing was a Kingdom message.

While they were being done because Jesus had real compassion and a real heart for the people who needed his healing touch, there was also a Kingdom discipleship message that was being taught.

Chapters 8 and 9 tell the story of what the Kingdom of God looks like when it manifests.

Let's begin in Matthew chapter 8 verse 1.

We're not going to take time to read all of it, but we're just going to kind of outline it really quickly.

Matthew 8 verse 1 says, "When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed him."

Now why do I call this the Sermon on the Go?

Because remember, when Jesus goes up on the Sermon on the Mount, he goes up and what does he do?

He sits down.

"And the disciples came to him."

Now it's time to get up and now it's time to go.

So chapters 8 and 9, they are going to be on the go throughout their time.

So the first thing that happens is that a leper comes and bows down before him and says, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean."

And Jesus says, "I am willing."

He then sends the leper to the temple in Jerusalem to offer the sacrifices and to present himself to the priesthood as a testimony to them.

You see, every miracle had a purpose even beyond just the person the miracle was helping.

So Jesus sends the leper to Jerusalem, and this is going to be an incredible moment.

We'll get into this later on.

But this miracle, because later he's going to send 10 lepers, this is going to be a dynamic testimony and really an explanation for why in Acts chapter 6 verse 7, after the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, we find out that many of the koanim, many of the priests are going to come to faith.

Why?

Because while they're serving in the temple, they don't get to go out and hear everything else that's going on.

They are hearing about it secondhand.

But Jesus is going to send the testimony to them, and so he sends the lepers to be declared clean.

Why?

Because the miracle is also a message.

So this is followed in Matthew 8 verses 5 through 13 by the healing of a Roman centurion whose servant was paralyzed, and Matthew describes the servant's situation as fearfully tormented.

We don't know exactly if this was a physical paralysis or what exactly was going on, but what we know is this Roman centurion servant who may have been Jewish, we don't know, was in serious torment.

And he comes to Jesus and he asks him to heal his servant, but he also explains that he fully understands that Jesus doesn't have to go to his house to do it.

If Jesus just says the word, it will be done, because he is a man under authority.

He has men under himself as authority, and he understands how that works.

Why is that so important for us?

Because the disciples are learning what we also need to learn about authority.

That when you are called and chosen and set apart, you are equipped and you are given the authority to go and do what the master or the authority over you has called you to do.

Jesus is getting ready to deputize, to authorize these men to go in his name and do the things he did.

What a powerful lesson and how ironic that they have to learn it through a Roman centurion.

A man who lives in their town and is a part of the occupying force, yet he manifests a faith that Jesus says, "I haven't found such a faith in all of Israel."

Jesus also uses that moment to remind them that in the kingdom at the harvest, at the celebration, there will be people that will come from the east and the west and the north and the south to sit at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

He begins to teach them that others are coming outside the context of physical Israel.

This kind of points to a couple of teachings that Jesus is trying to get into their hearts and minds.

First, don't be shocked when those who should receive the kingdom won't.

Those who you thought would reject the kingdom will accept it.

Church, let me ask you a question.

Have you ever had that experience?

Have you ever seen the person come to Christ that you thought was the last?

You didn't think it would ever happen.

Anybody know anybody like that?

I had a high school buddy like that.

He blew my mind and he became a significant part of my family's life and even our ministry.

He was the last person in the world that I thought I would one day look to as an example of what it meant to be a faithful minister in the harvest of the Lord.

Jesus was also preparing them for a time when the kingdom message would go into the nations.

Again, the disciples are learning, expect the unexpected.

Don't predetermine who is going to accept and who is going to reject.

It's not your harvest, is it?

It's his.

Jesus continues the sermon on the go in Matthew 8, 14-17 when he enters the home of Peter and heals his mother-in-law.

Then Matthew makes sure that we understand that this was not just a record of amazing actions of one man, it was the fulfillment of God's word because he quotes Isaiah 53, "He himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases."

Remember that point in the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus said, "Think not that I have come to nullify the law and the prophets where I have not come to fulfill."

You know that verse?

Yeah, with our origin you've heard that verse a few times, haven't you?

You know the funny thing about that verse in the context of some of our origin story is that everybody treats that verse as if it says, "Think not that I have come to nullify the law."

Is that what he said?

No.

He said, "Think not that I have come to nullify the law and the prophets, for I have not come to nullify but to fulfill."

And so he goes about doing both, fulfilling not only the Torah but also the prophets.

And Matthew, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wants to make sure that we understand that the activities of Jesus are not just the miracle workings of a man, they are a part of God's entire redemption plan that he has already foretold.

He is literally fulfilling the word of God by doing this kingdom ministry.

Now please hear me, because I want this next few weeks to be very practical.

I want you and I to begin to understand that when we go into the kingdom harvest, we are going into a harvest that is not our own.

That we are going into a harvest and we are doing things that the Bible said those who would follow Jesus would do.

We are talking about fulfilling kingdom prophecy.

How many of you woke up this morning and thought of yourself as the fulfillment of a prophetic word?

You know, you are brushing your teeth going, "You look like Joel chapter 2."

No, you probably didn't think that.

But remember the sermon on the go is shifting the thinking of these disciples that he is getting ready to send.

They are beginning to learn, "Expect the unexpected."

Don't predetermine who is going to accept the message because the ones who will receive it are probably going to blow your mind even though the ones who should receive it won't.

And by the way, that happened to Jesus too.

Do you think Jesus ever preached a boring sermon?

No.

Sometimes my wife will nudge me just humorously before I get ready to preach.

Don't be boring.

And I get done and I am kind of judged.

All right.

My frequency is just, you know, it's at megahertz 777.

You know, and this thing just this little thing, this little box, it just can't handle it.

That's what it is.

My point is that the sermon on the go is not just a series of random miracles.

It's a series of very specific messages for those who would enter the kingdom harvest as disciples.

You are going as a fulfillment of the Word of God.

Why is that so important?

Because if we will not see Jesus as the fulfillment of God's prophecies, how in the world are we ever going to accept what God says about us as his kingdom disciples?

When he says, "And it shall be in the last days," God says, "that I will pour forth of my spirit on all mankind.

Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams.

Even on my bond servants, both men and women, I will prophesy, they will prophesy and I will pour out my spirit.

Both I will pour, sorry, I will in those days pour forth of my spirit and they shall prophesy."

And all God's people who believe that said, "Amen."

You want to be a fulfillment of that prophecy?

I think that's what being a kingdom disciple actually is.

Disciples must come to the place where they not only recognize that what Jesus was doing was the fulfillment of a divine Word of God, the divine plan of God, but that is exactly what we are called to as disciples.

That we are chosen for a purpose.

How can we go into the harvest of God if we don't believe that God has planned for this moment in this time with this people to fulfill His Word?

HFF, you are, how do I say this, unique.

He's like, "Now, what does he mean by that?"

We're unique.

We meet on Saturday instead of Sunday.

We're not opposed to Sunday, it's just we meet on Saturday.

Which means there's a whole host of people in this city who probably could meet here on Saturday but can't meet on Sunday.

There are a whole host of people in this city who've never had the kingdom of God manifested or taught to them.

And this is our moment, our place, our time.

And if you think for a minute that you did this, you don't understand the Sermon on the Go.

Because the Sermon on the Go is Jesus teaching by example, God planned this for you, for me in advance.

That's what you're a part of in the kingdom harvest.

Oh, I've got to get moving.

Matthew chapter 8 verses 18 through 20.

And Matthew 8, 21 through 22.

First, a scribe, an expert of the Torah comes to Jesus.

A man whose position has afforded him respect and provision.

And he says, "Lord, I want to follow you."

Now, you have to understand, the scribes and the Pharisees were narcissists.

This man isn't just saying, "Hey, I want to be a part of the crowd."

This man is saying, "I want to be a part of the inner circle."

There's no doubt in my mind that's what his intention is.

I mean, hey, Jesus, you know what, you want to add some street credibility to your ministry?

You need a guy like me.

I'm a Torah scribe.

Jesus says, "You really want to sign on with me?

The son of man doesn't even know where he's going to lay his head tonight."

You really think you're ready for that?

You think this is a ministry that's going to bring you accolades and prosperity?

That's not what this is about.

Another man who was just described as a disciple, probably just one of the followers, comes and says, "Lord, I want to follow you, but first let me go bury my father."

And Jesus says, "Let the dead bury the dead.

You follow me."

Here is a man who has not understood what the miracles he is seeing actually mean.

Here is a man who does not understand that every miracle is a restoration of life, and that is the good news of the kingdom of God.

Here is a man who doesn't understand that Jesus, when he sends people out, when he's preaching and declaring the good news of the kingdom of God, he is preaching life and the value of life.

His priorities are messed up.

There are many in the body of Christ who follow Jesus, but do not understand the message of the primacy and the sanctity of human life, that Jesus came to preserve and restore life.

How do I know they don't know that?

Because we align ourselves and participate in far too many ways with a culture of death.

And Jesus is looking for disciples who will see what he's doing and understand this is a ministry about life.

Matthew 8, 23 through 27.

Jesus gets in the boat and they begin to go out and a storm approaches.

And the wind and the waves are about to overthrow the little ship that they're on, the little boat that they're on.

And Jesus wakes up and says, "Where's your faith?

Peace be still."

These men who watched him heal the leper, heal Peter's mother-in-law, heal so many.

And now he stands up and they begin to wonder, "Who is this man that even the winds and the waves obey him?"

The winds of heaven and the waves of earth obey this man.

When you go forth into this, when you leave this place, when you go forth it sounds so, feels like we should play pomp and circumstance as you go out.

Maybe we should.

Maybe we forget that when we are born again, when we're disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, when we're authorized, deputized, and called and chosen to go into the kingdom harvest as his disciples, we are going in the authority of the man who could calm the wind and the waves.

So why do we get to that door and suddenly become a bunch of wimps?

Sorry, I had to step alone.

What happens to us?

You see, this is why the sermon on the go is so important in training kingdom disciples to go into the harvest.

With every miracle there's a message.

Jesus says, "When I send you out in my name, you had better remember you're going in the name of the one who said, 'Peace be still!'

And the wind and the waves calmed.

And I'm guilty of this.

We have friends or family that find themselves in some kind of relational or emotional conflict.

And rather than remaining and standing strong in the strength of who we serve and knowing what he can do, we take on their worry, we take on their anxiety, we take on their emotions, and we implode with them."

Come on.

That's not what they need from you.

They don't need you to emotionally implode with them.

They need you to be the anchor in the midst of the storm.

They need you to remember you are a commissioned disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ.

You are commissioned to go forth into the harvest where there are a lot of people whose storms are wrecking their lives.

You don't go running out there, "That's right, dun-dun-dun."

You know, we need a theme song, don't we?

No.

But we go out with the conviction, "Hey, the one I serve can calm that storm."

Chapter 8 concludes with Jesus going across the sea to the Gentile side and getting out and casting out a demon and sending the demons into a herd of pigs.

And rather than the Gentiles coming out of their cities to celebrate the deliverance of this man, what do they do?

They come out and they implore him to leave.

In the Sermon on the Go, the disciples are learning a desperately valuable lesson that Jesus first taught in the Sermon on the Mount, "If they hate me, they will hate you too.

If they reject me, they will reject you too."

You know, I know I've had times in my life in my ministry when, you know, I've had my own little pity party because a ministry or a moment didn't go the way I wanted or someone didn't receive what I wanted them to receive or they took what I said and flipped it and made it exactly opposite what I received.

And I get so frustrated and I get so, like, "Oh, Lord."

And sometimes I just think Jesus is sitting up there going, "Yeah, never saw that happen.

Wow, that's completely unique to you, Brent."

If it happened to Jesus, it's going to happen to you.

And that's a life lesson you learn on the go, isn't it?

You can adopt the truth that you go forth in the power of the Lord, but even the power of the Lord is not going to force someone to receive what they do not want to receive, whether they're Jew or Gentile.

And church, if we have ever from the pulpit made it sound like supernatural ministry or gifting will automatically bring overwhelming acceptance, please forgive us.

It did not bring overwhelming acceptance for Jesus.

It will not bring overwhelming acceptance for you.

So why does Paul tell us to pursue the gifts of the Spirit?

Because you have a ministry not just to the world, but to the body of Christ.

But we serve in the context of the giftings that we have, the opportunities that we're given, understanding it may just go nowhere with those people.

Oh, the word won't return void.

If it comes back and that person has rejected it, the word has already told us that will happen.

Matthew chapter nine, Jesus calls Matthew and then dines at his house with many other that followed him.

Actually, forgive me, I jumped over Matthew nine, two through eight.

Jesus returns to Capernaum and once he's there, he heals a paralytic and then irritates the scribes and Pharisees by saying, this is to show you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.

Church, when you go out in the name of Jesus, there are a whole lot of people with broken lives and they don't just need to hear, they need to repent, they need to hear you can be forgiven.

You know, sometimes we want to preach their need for repentance and they don't really feel before they really feel the love that would, if I do repent, what happens?

You run into the arms of your father who's been waiting for you the whole time.

I can tell them everything they need to repent of, but they're not going to run to the father until they understand his arms are wide open.

Amen.

Then Jesus does something amazing.

He calls a tax collector.

Now, if you remember from previous messages that the scribes and the Pharisees are always juxtaposed, they're supposed to be the good guys, the scribes and the Pharisees are always juxtaposed to the tax collectors and sinners.

The ones nobody, the ones these guys don't expect to even have a place in the kingdom.

Don't underestimate the significance of the calling of this tax collector.

He is the one who is penning the words of this kingdom gospel narrative.

He is literally a juxtaposition.

He is the poster child of everything they hate and Jesus chooses.

You know, the TV series, The Chosen, has tried to amplify Matthew's uniqueness by showing him as someone with Asperger's or somebody on the autism scale.

It's an interesting take on the, you know, his attention to detail.

But the real amazing detail about Matthew is that he is a living, breathing example of what they never expected to happen.

The kingdom of God changed that man's life.

Matthew 9, 14-17, John's disciples question Jesus about why his disciples don't fast.

And Jesus responds by helping them understand.

You see, they understand or they're beginning to understand who they're with.

They're with the groom, they're with the king, and you don't fast in the presence of the groom.

When he's gone, you'll fast, but they don't fast right now.

Matthew 9, verses 18-19, Jesus is asked by a ruler of the synagogue to come and raise his daughter that he says has died.

On en route, Matthew 9, 20-22, en route to the synagogue ruler's house, a woman reaches out and touches the hem of his garment, you know, the seat seat, the fringes, and she's healed.

And Jesus acknowledges her faith.

When he arrives at the ruler's house, he raises and heals his daughter.

Then the story goes on that Jesus heals two blind men.

Isn't that interesting?

You have all the scribes and Pharisees and those who can see and hear and understand, and yet they are more blind than these two men who say, "Lord, we know you can do it."

Again, expect the unexpected.

Later, Jesus cast out a demon from a possessed man who had been mute, made mute by the demon.

And the crowds are so amazed that they say nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.

Take note of that.

What they're saying is that his ministry is exponentially more intense and powerful than any of the past prophets, including Moses and the prophets.

Now, churches, this is, you know, church on the go, this is sermon on the go.

I love every aspect of the history of creation in Israel and Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the way down to the patriarchs and David and Moses and all of them.

But if you find your faith, you find the majority of your time being focused on them and not him, something is wrong.

Something is off.

It amazes me how we want to dive into every jot and tittle and meaning of this letter and that letter and how it was written and what it meant in Paleo.

And then like, and here's the Son of God, the manifest Word of God.

And we're like, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, but this squiggly line on this letter, wow!"

Now, don't misunderstand.

Everything that comes from the mouth of God is inspired, and I love diving neck deep into it.

Any word nerds in here?

Yeah, me too.

Greek, Hebrew, I love it all.

But I don't love those words more than I love the Word who became flesh.

Jesus is amazing, these men.

And then it happens.

Matthew 9.34.

He cast out another demon, and then the Pharisees accused Jesus of doing all these things, everything that we've read from the beginning of chapter 8 up to here.

All of these miracles, demons and leprosy and paralysis, all of it.

This is what they say.

They accuse Him of doing it by the power of the prince of demons, by the power of fallen angels.

Please take note of this accusation, because it's pretty significant.

Jesus has preached and proclaimed and taught the kingdom of God in the Sermon on the Mount, and people knew they had never heard anything like it before.

Now in the Sermon on the Go, He has not only proclaimed the kingdom to His disciples, He has manifested, they have seen it, and they know nothing like this has ever happened in the history of Israel.

And the religious leaders, they come to the conclusion that it's all been happening by the power and the ministry of fallen angels.

How offensive is that to you?

Well, it should be, because it's what's called the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.

The Pharisees see the goodness of God as the work of the devil.

Now here's where I'm going to surprise you.

Good for them.

Wait, what?

No, I'm not saying good for them for accusing Jesus of doing this work by the power of the devil, but good for them for recognizing what we often forget.

That ministry couldn't be happening in the flesh.

It had to be happening by the host of heaven's involvement.

They just had the wrong host.

They had the lost ones.

They did not understand, they did not deny the supernatural nature of what they were witnessing.

They rightly understood it was beyond normal human capacity that another power had to be in play.

And I ask you, how could they be so wrong?

How could they see and hear the ministry of Jesus and utterly miss its profound significance?

You might want to pull your toes in for just a moment.

Because I have to ask us, and not just HFF, but the body of Christ at large, how is it possible that we at times do the same thing in a different way without realizing it?

Is it possible that we also falsely attribute the power of the kingdom to something other than its actual source?

You say, "Brent, I would never do that."

Okay, here it comes.

How many of you have ever said, "Well, but I wouldn't know what to say."

Come on.

Well, they might not accept what I'm trying to do.

You're awfully quiet.

Church, let me ask you a question.

What is the difference between attributing the power of the kingdom to Satan and attributing the power of the kingdom to ourselves?

Are you with me?

When we don't do what we're called to do as disciples because we're looking at what we have in the flesh instead of what He has given us in the Spirit and the authority of which He has sent us out to do His will.

When we won't go and do the sermon on the go, it's the same thing as denying the source of the power and the authority and the calling in which we walk.

So fun throwing stones at the Pharisees.

So easy.

Until those stinking things boomerang and hit you right between the eyes.

At least they saw a kingdom truth that this couldn't be happening just by the works of a mere man.

And though they grossly and blasphemously attribute it to fallen angels, sometimes we in the congregation of God, the church, whatever you want to call it, fail to remember that we're not alone in this process.

What I'm saying is that Jesus is preparing His kingdom disciples to be sent out into a kingdom harvest by revealing heaven's participation in that process.

A few things and then we'll close.

A few lessons from the sermon on the go.

The harvest is not mine, it's God's.

And the only way I'm going to reach those who are part of the harvest is to stop being afraid of their death culture and stop being afraid of their darkness and start walking in the power of the light that is within me.

And if I don't do that, then throw down your stones and leave the Pharisees alone.

Because if it's all about what you can do, you have missed the point that Jesus was teaching His disciples in the sermon on the go.

They will not be going alone, nor will they be going in their own power.

I just want to jump down and read a passage from Matthew chapter 9.

Actually, Matthew 13.

This is at the end of, toward the end of the sermon on the sea, one of the parables.

And Jesus is explaining the parable and He says, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man.

And the field is the world.

And as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom, and the tares are the sons of the evil one.

And the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels."

Did you hear that?

Worship team, you can come back.

You know, I have to be real careful here.

Because I am in no way, shape, or form asking you to pray to angels.

Nor in any way, shape, or form am I suggesting that what they do should become the focus of your life.

What I am going to suggest to you is that if we're going to do kingdom work as kingdom disciples, it's time to stop asking to see them, feel them, or experience them and start believing they're here.

Amen?

I believe they're here in this room right now.

They're doing whatever the angels are supposed to do.

I didn't get a handbook from God on that.

I don't know how they equip me.

I don't know how they, you know, work with me.

I'm 100% sure they've nudged me right and nudged me left when I needed to without realizing it.

I have had experience where I felt their presence and knew of their presence.

But what I'm trying to say is if the angels are the reapers of the harvest, if God has an angelic role for them, surely we can begin to go into this harvest and begin to go with the confidence that whether I see them or not, they're right there.

They're right there behind me.

They're encompassed about me.

And I am filled with the Holy Spirit, authorized by God to go into the kingdom harvest and do the unexpected.

Amen?

It's not about praying or wanting to see angels.

It's about believing what God has told us about the harvest.

Matthew 9 concludes this way.

"Therefore, beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his kingdom."

Beseech, it's not a word we use very much, is it?

It means passionately, emotionally, intentionally ask him.

When I was a teenager at one of the many youth conferences, I remember a pastor.

I don't remember exactly which one it was or where it was.

And he was preaching from Isaiah chapter 6.

And that amazing scene where Isaiah is taken into the throne room of God, and the train of his robe filled the temple, and you began to see and sense the presence of the angels.

And Isaiah is overwhelmed with this as he lifts up his eyes and he sees God.

I believe he sees the Son of Man.

And he says, "Woe to me, for I am ruined, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips."

He understood the culture of death that even he was living in.

And he looks into the face of God and he just wants to repent.

And rather than hearing a message of condemnation from God, an angel takes a coal from the altar and touches his tongue and sanctifies him.

And then he hears the voice, "Whom shall I send?

And who will go for us?"

And this man who was just broken and ruined and realized he had no right to be in the service of the Most High.

Let me let you in on a little secret.

There's no man or woman that stands on this stage, whether they're in worship or in preach.

And none of us deserve to be in the service of He who sits on high.

And yet Isaiah cries out, "Here am I, Lord!

Send me!"

You see, in that moment when he saw the truth of who God was, when he saw the truth of Jesus, he knew he could go into the harvest and do what God had called him to do.

And that's what Jesus was communicating to his disciples with miracle after miracle after miracle.

He was saying, "Men, look what's going on.

It's never going to be about you.

You keep your eyes on me.

I'll send the angels.

I promise they'll be there whether you see them or not.

I'll fill you with the Ruach HaKodesh.

I'll give you words that are not your own.

I'll put light and countenance on your face that is not yours.

And I will send you into my harvest.

Where some you expect to receive will reject, and many, many more who you expect to reject will receive."

Jesus said, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few."

My friend, the harvest is not pitiful.

It's plentiful.

The question is, what have we learned in our life in the Sermon on the Go?

What miracles, what blessings, what things have we seen and experienced in Jesus?

Are we ready to go?

You know who He's going to send?

The ones who cry out, "Here, my Lord.

Send me."

Abba Father, as we enter this time of response, I know there are those who are here today who are dealing with fear.

There are people they desperately want to reach, but they've taken their eyes off of what you can do and who you are.

They've spent too much time looking at themselves or looking at the hardness of the person's heart, and they've grown discouraged.

I pray, Father, that they would remember the Sermon on the Go and all the things that they have learned when they look at Jesus, and that you would equip them.

And so, Lord, in this time of response, I pray that there will be heard in heaven prayers ascending like incense from the people in this very room saying, "Here, my Lord.

Send me into your harvest for your glory."

Amen.