If you would, take your Bibles and turn with me this morning to Numbers, the 11th chapter. Numbers chapter 11. I'm sorry, our book wasn't ready here. Some of the topics within that book, To Hell with the Devil, were simply chapter subjects that I had dealt with in the past, and some you haven't heard. I dealt with the imprecatory Psalms. Those are the prayers of David under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, where he prays what I call dirty, hairy prayers. He says, break the teeth of the wicked, oh God. That ain't now laying me down to sleep. Go ahead, make my day. Amen. And one of the subjects I put in there is the will to war. How many of you know that a man who has no weapon, but he has a will to fight, will beat a man who has a weapon, who hasn't got a will to fight. and the church has had all the legal weapons given to it by the Lord Jesus, but it hasn't had a will to fight, and it has been dominated and afflicted by an enemy stripped, but who has a will to fight. We've been living in cabin and glory, mansion over the hilltop, mile fly away. Now it's time to kick the hell out of the devil and take some nations and lands. Amen. Now let that religious spirit manifest. That's okay. But God said in Numbers 14, 21, as I live, like he's going to die, as surely as I live, all this earth will be filled with my glory. And that outranks any prophecy teacher or any apostle or anybody. And God says, you can write what you want, preach what you want, but you ain't going nowhere till I fill this earth with my glory. And that's going to be through a generation that believes him and does something about it. And we have the privilege to be part of that generation. And I want to be part of that generation. Well, I'm not going to preach on that, but it sounds pretty good. I'd like to go for that one. You get Numbers chapter 11. I want to speak to leaders this morning. If you're not part of leadership, you'll still, I trust, glean some helpful information. But I want to preach what I feel is to be very vital to those in supportive ministry roles and those who are senior ministers. And I want to start in Numbers chapter 11. I'm preaching this morning on the subject of catching the spirit of the leader. catching the spirit of the leader. Numbers, the 11th chapter, and I'm just going to read some selected verses rather than to read it all. Verse 1, and when the people complained, it displeased the Lord. I don't even know it still does. And the Lord heard it, and His anger was kindled, and the fire of the Lord burnt among the people and consumed them that were in the outermost parts of the camp. Now, that's a good motivation to sit in the front of the church. because judgment always starts in the back. And I sit in the front. I figure I can get right with God before the plague gets to the front. Amen. And have you ever noticed when people get bad, they always move to the back little by little. That's just by the way, I just thought you might enjoy that. And the people cried to Moses. And when Moses prayed for them to the Lord, the fire was stopped. And he called the name of the place Tabara, because the fire of the Lord burnt among them. and the mixed multitude that was among them fell a lusting, and the children of Israel wept again, said, who shall give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish we did eat in Egypt freely, the cucumbers, the meloks, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. If you didn't know what a Jew was, you could smell him when he came, all right? But now our soul is dried away, and there's nothing at all beside this man of fire. That was just funny. That was not anti-Semitic, okay? That was just funny. All right. Now, go down to verse 11. And Moses said to the Lord, Why have you afflicted your servant? And why have I not found favor in your sight that you lay the burden of all this people on me? I haven't conceived all this people. I didn't ask for this job. Have I begotten them that thou should say to me, Carry them in your bosom as a nursing father bearing a suckling child? Verse 14, I'm not able to bear all this people alone because it is too heavy for me. And by the way, Lord, if you're going to deal this way with me, I pray you just kill me. It's great to be in the purpose of God, isn't it? Are you with me? I wonder how many of you and me have prayed this. But if I found favor in thy sight, don't let me see my wretchedness. The Lord said to Moses, get 70 elders of Israel whom were voted in at the last nomination. who were there from a previous flopped pastor. No, he says, you get 70 elders whom you know to be elders of the people and officers over them and bring them to the tabernacle of the congregation that they may stand there against you or with you. And I will come down and talk with you, Moses. and I will take of the spirit which is upon you, Moses, and put it upon them, the elders, that they shall be able to bear the burden of the people with you, that you bear it not yourself alone. If you don't have the spirit of the leader, you cannot work effectively in the vision of the land given to the leader. Now watch. Moses is in a predicament. He doesn't want the job to begin with, and he's trying to lead the children of Israel alone. God is trying to show us that the day of one-man ministry is finished. It is never biblical. One man, regardless of his uniqueness, gifting, talent, and anointing, or revelation, cannot fulfill the will of God in and through the church. It's going to take a team. There will be plurality, but there will be a senior among the plural. this is not a democracy. The church is not a democracy. This is a theocracy. It sounds good to be democratic, but you won't find it in the Bible. Maybe we could talk about that if it comes out in a few moments. But God is putting team ministry together. All right, now watch. You have to have the spirit of the leader if you're going to work effectively in the house. Now, there are many individuals who come into the house of the Lord. baptized in the Holy Spirit, gifted in the Holy Spirit, but who do not have the spirit of the leader whom the Lord chose. Now, anytime you have more than one vision in the house, you have division. And Jesus said a house divided against itself cannot what? Stand. But where the vision of the house is supported, there is always provision. amen and we got a lot of eldership trying to impose multiple vision into the house and it's divided against itself all right so god says to moses you go gather 70 men you know bible says a man who finds a wife finds a good thing reason god wants you to find her is you got to live with her you The reason God wants me to pick the elders is I got to live and work with them. I don't, I mean, we have been taught such absolute rubbish. When a president of the United States goes into office, he has every cabinet member from the past administration submit letters of resignation. Now he doesn't have to accept them, but they're there. And he's able to appoint men who can help him get to his goal. But when a new man comes into an existing church, He is forced to stay with, in many times, the existing leadership that didn't get that church to its goal, or a leadership that was called originally to another man. Now, the whole point is you will never be effective together with an unequal yoke, even though all of the men, let's say for the sake of an argument, are gifted and morally qualified and biblically qualified. That isn't the issue. God may have raised those men for the man that now is dead or gone. and that new senior man is whom God chose. God called the eldership to minister to and for the vision of the senior man whom the Lord chose. He did not get an eldership to impose its rule or its vision on the senior man. He chose Moses first. Then Moses chose the elders he wanted to work with. And if you find eldership you cannot work with, you have every biblical right to release those men. and select those that you can. And if each man's heart is righteous, it can be done without strife and a division or any kind of a fracturing of the body. Tragically, that's not the case because we are so unspiritual and so carnal and so insecure, we demand our position. But the point is, God chose a man. he didn't choose a committee, but a man will not get the work done alone. So God calls other men alongside of the senior man to get the vision accomplished. Moses, you're going to die. You can't do it. And Moses is screaming, kill me, kill me, kill me. Have you ever felt like that? See, we've got a wrong concept. of pastoring. Now, I am not talking about dictatorial rule. Did you hear that? But we are definitely talking about senior headship. We are talking about accountability, and we're talking about plurality, but we're also not talking about equal authority. There is nothing in the Bible that lends itself to that doctrine at all. We do not have equal authority as eldership in a church. Now, let me give you a simple principle. Your authority only extends to the limit of your responsibility. To the degree you have been given and accepted responsibility, to that limit, you have authority. If you have no responsibility, you have no authority. Are you okay? Now, I don't have responsibility over my neighbor's wife for one reason. I don't have authority there because I don't have any responsibility. You don't have any authority over my children if I had my two daughters sitting on the front row because you don't have any responsibility for them. But if I bring them and delegate to you and I say to Andrew, I say, Andrew, would you keep Chrissy and Alicia for the weekend for me? And he says, yes, I just tagged him with responsibility. And automatically, he got a measure of authority. And the only person that outranks that authority is the guy who has final responsibility, and that's daddy. So I'm the only one that outranks him. So that authority he has is gone the moment his responsibility's up when I pick the children up. You understand that? That's why there's no such thing as a democratic vote or a laity voting in a church and having a business meeting. There is no such thing. The only business meeting called in the Bible was to elect a leader who would do what the people said, which was go back to Egypt. The carnal always dominate in a democracy. That's why God never rules through a democracy. And how can you have an equal vote when you don't have responsibility? How can you have authority when you don't have responsibility? If you men want authority, then you take responsibility. Marry a wife, have some children. And if you'll pay the bills, and if you'll come home, and if you'll take responsibility, you get authority. But if you don't come home and won't send any money and won't pay any bills, that woman does not have to submit to your authority because you forfeited authority when you dismissed responsibility. You okay? All right, this ain't no Shondai stuff, but this is for leaders. All right? Believe the organ, Shirley. The Spirit of God is here. All right, now watch. Sorry, I don't know what came over me. Now let's read on here. Verse 17. By the way, Moses got to select them. He said, know them who labor among you. How many of you know that the most discourteous thing charismatics do is for somebody unknown to come into another charismatic church and get up and give a tongue, get up and give a prophecy, and nobody knows who you are? Well, brother, I've got the word of the Lord. Well, wait a minute. He says, know them who do any labor among you. That's not a handshake. That's intimate relationship. I don't care so much just about your gift. You pay your bills. What else are you going to impart to us besides that tongue? and it's discourteous. What you should do would be to go to the eldership and say, I feel the Lord is saying so and so. May I be released to give it? If they say no, don't puff up, shoot off anyway. Go sit down and shut up. You discharged your responsibility. You did what the Lord said. Now you're not under the authority to overrule the senior man in a church in which you're not a member. You go shut up. You're dismissed and relieved from any accountability. You did it. Now, if there's anybody at fault, it'll be the eldership that said, no, it's their problem, not yours. You don't have to blow off. but we go in some place, nobody knows who you are or what you are, and you just shoot off because you're charismatic. Charismatics know the least of government of any group on the face of the earth. More out of order, more out of control than anybody. In fact, they can't ever be quiet. God might say something. watch. If Ray says, be quiet, we'll have somebody bring a tongue instantly or a prophetic word. Can't stand it or the insecurities there and they want to be heard. Well, where'd I take you? Verse 17. All right. He says in verse 17, Numbers chapter 11, he said, I'll come down Moses and talk with you and take the spirit that's on you and put it on the 70 elders that they shall bear the burden of the people with you, that you bear it, not yourself alone. Now, these men, here's a key, these men could not bear the burden of the vision God gave Moses till they had Moses'spirit. Now watch, when you have the same spirit, you can flow in the same anointing as the leader. Look in verse 24 and 25. And Moses went out and told the words, the people the words of the Lord, and gathered the seventy men of the elders of the people, and set them around the tabernacle. And the Lord came down in a cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the spirit that was upon Moses, and put it upon the seventy elders. And it came to pass that when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied and did not cease. So, they got to flow under the same anointing, but it wasn't their anointing. And a lot of young men will come into a church that are gifted, are called by God, and they get to work under the anointing of the senior man, and after, because of their immaturity, lack of understanding of servant submission and discipleship, they think it's their anointing, so they blast off and they went, having not been sent, and they lose it. because it wasn't their anointing. They were working under a borrowed anointing. It is the wonderful grace of God that he allows all of us in a family team ministry to share in that same anointing, but it ain't yours. It belongs to the leader, okay? Now, when the apostles laid hands on the deacons, Philip and Stephen went out and worked miracles, but they weren't apostles, they were deacons, but they had the same spirit, okay? Just because you prophesy, you ain't a prophet. See, in the church you have government offices. The people do not occupy government, and deacons do not. Now I come out of a Baptist background, Southern Baptist ordained and trained, and we were ruled by deacons. But there's no place in the Bible, we Baptists in America go to the Southern Baptist Convention every year and argue over the inspiration of the Bible. We want to defend it, and the moderates want to attack it, and those who defend it never do it. We just want to argue it's inspired, but we ain't going to do it. And God doesn't even come to the meeting. The whole issue is it's better to obey the word than to sacrifice. and you won't find deacons with government. Now, if you're not really clear, if you study the epistles, you find that a deacon and an elder have 13 of the same qualifications. But there are 15 for an elder, 13 for a deacon. And the two that separate the deacon from the elder are the ability to govern, rule, manage, and teach. But all elders are not preachers. keep most of them off the platform. They will kill the church. They have a skillful ability one-on-one to relate truth, to rebuke the scorner, and to take the truth of God to rebuke heresy. But they are not preachers because they're elders. Some may be, some are not. It is not automatic. But those two giftings, that's why that if you don't have the ability to manage a rule in the natural, you have no right to do it in the church no matter what anointing or gifting you have prophetically or in some power gift. there are a lot of power gift laities that have no government in them at all. And there are high revelatory words of knowledge that we make people prophets, and they don't know how to govern anything at all. Everything they touch is a wreck. So don't throw your life under somebody who gets prophecy or high revelatory knowledge if he has no government in him. Are you all okay, folks? I know Shundi is better. Come on, I know that. But we're talking to leaders this morning. That gets a lot worse in just a minute. Now watch this. Let me ask all of the leaders a question silently. Who are you called to serve? See, now many people think they are called to serve the people first. but the Bible indicates that you have been given to a senior man to serve him first, and if that is met, the needs of the people get met. Now, I have to make another assumption, that you understand you didn't pick a jerk or a crook or a criminal as a senior man. Now, if he's worthy enough for your membership and worthy enough for you to come on staff, then you are to submit to him first, except to sin. Is that all right? Well, I think we need to prove it. That didn't sound like it was full of faith. 1 Samuel chapter 15, verse 24. Saul got in trouble because he broke this rule. His spiritual authority was Samuel. God gave Samuel to the nation of Israel. And his words to Saul were, hey, boy, kill all those Amalekites. Don't take any prisoners. Don't take anything. Kill everything, the animals and all the people. but it says he hearkened to the voice of the people and he lost his kingdom. He didn't listen to his senior authority. He listened to the people and lost everything. Anytime your loyalty is greater to the people than the person God gives the vision to, you will always miss it. There are things God will show the senior man that he does not have to show you as the servant man. And a lot of times the senior man doesn't understand God either. I don't know why God's doing what he's doing either. Sometimes that's true, fellas, isn't it? How am I going to tell you when I don't even know? And I'm simply saying what you have to know if you're called to serve is that God put you here. That's all I have to know. God put me here. And I'm going to walk by faith. Now, listen to this one. Joshua was a servant to Moses. Exodus 24, verse 13. And Moses rose up and his servant, Joshua. and Joshua, by serving Moses, the senior leader, remained pure and usable. But in Exodus 32, verse 21 through 24, you find Aaron hearkened to the voice of the people and made a stupid golden cow, got half of them naked, and killed a bunch of thousands of people and was nearly killed himself until Moses interceded for him. Is that what happened? It ain't good to listen to the folks, folks. it's good to listen to the man God chooses. Now, if the man's a jerk and a criminal and a fool, what are you doing there? But if God's chosen him, then you have to trust that that's how God's going to work through a headship. Now, turn to 2 Kings 2. Here we've got a prophet by the name of Elijah who's getting ready to be taken up. But before there's a departing, there has to be an imparting. Elijah is going to receive the spirit of Elijah. 2 Kings chapter 2, beginning in verse 1. Watch how this young prophet-to-be serves an apprenticeship under Elijah. And it came to pass when the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. Now, Gilgal means around in a circle and place of circumcision. There are times when you're serving a senior man that in our training, you feel like you're going in a circle. But it's not wasted time. It's all preparatory in God's training for reigning in your life. And it's there he will expose your flesh in the circle where he will cut it off. all right, at Gilgal. And Elijah said to Elisha, stay here. Here comes the test. Stay here, I pray thee, for the Lord has sent me to Bethel. And Elisha said to him, as the Lord lives, as thy soul lives, I will not leave you. Watch how many times this occurs. I will not leave you. So they went to Bethel. Bethel means house of God. Now there are two kinds of prophets. There are in-house prophets and there are out-house prophets. An in-house prophet is the young man who serves his stewardship under the set man and the eldership of a local church and has his gifting proven there through servanthood. And at a set time, an appointed time, he is released by that eldership and sent from that body to bless other bodies. Out there is the outhouse prophet. And he isn't sent, he went. He's under nobody's authority. He chooses what he will do. And like an outhouse, which is the little restroom outside the big house, it stinks and he stinks. And everywhere he goes, he leaves a stink. Amen? That's deep theology, isn't it? Ray's helping me get simple. All right, now watch. We got a lot of outhouse ministries all over the place. Before Paul took Timothy, he saw the gift of God in him and the power of God on him. And he inquired about the elders. He didn't inquire about how many people fell down or how many people got healed or how accurate his revelatory word was. First thing he did is he seized the gift of God on this man and the call of God on this guy is lost prophetically, and he goes immediately to the elders. Tell me about that boy. And it says that Timothy had a good report of the elders in that church. and before anything else happened, that happened. Then Paul took him and laid hands on him with the elders and prophesied and took him as a son in the ministry, and Timothy again continued to serve. He had no prophecy newsletter. He had no tape of the month, and he wasn't doing any mighty men conferences around the country. Isn't this wonderful, folks? Either you're in absolute shock or you don't know what I am talking about. What is going on with you? see that we don't obey any of these rules and charismatics. I don't know why everything's so messed up. I look at verse three, the sons of the prophets, that word Bethel came to Elisha and they said, Hey, did you know the Lord's going to take your master away today? He said, yep, I know it. Hold your peace. Verse four. And Elijah said to Elisha, stay here. Test number two. The Lord has sent me to Jericho. He says, nope. As I so lives, as I so lives, I will not leave you. So they came to Jericho, place of the curse. And God will bring you into some places where there's devastation and a curse and use you through servanthood and the gifting of God within you to bring it to a place of fruitfulness and productivity, again, to prove your ministry and the fact that God's making your rod to bud to give you favor with others in order to launch your ministry. And the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho came to Elisha, and they said, did you know the Lord's going to take away your master today? He said, yes, I know it. Hold your peace. And Elijah said unto him, stay here for the Lord has sent me to Jordan. But Elisha said, as the Lord lives, as thy soul lives, even though I've got an anointing, a mantle and a gift, I ain't going to run out and start a church. I will not leave you. and the two went on. Jordan's place of death and separation, and allegorically, it's at this place Elisha dies to himself, and he's separated to his ministry. You with me? See, God's got a plan in everything he's doing in your life, and not one day is wasted. When you think ain't nothing happening, he's wasting no time. Are you with me? He's got something in plan, and the 50 men of the prophets went and stood. They were Pentecostals, 50 of them. and the two stood by Jordan. Elijah took his mantle, wrapped it together, smoked a Jordan, divided it hither and thither. I don't know what hither and thither is. It's split wide open. All right? They went over on dry ground. Verse 9, it came to pass when they were gone over that Elijah said to Elisha, ask what I shall do for you before I'm taken away. And Elisha said, could you get me an interview in Charisma magazine? Could you get my ministry launched? would you sign an endorsement on my book? He said, I want a double portion of the spirit on you. I want a double portion of the spirit that's on you. Now, folks, this is not preached in church, but let me give you a little by the way. When we preach this in seminary, it ain't preached right. Bless God, I want twice what he's got, so I'll look even better. You missed it bigger in Dallas, Texas. Listen to this. what did that boy see? The greatest enemy and the arch enemy of an Elijah was Jezebel. Jezebel is an occult spirit. It's a whore spirit. It's a witchcraft spirit. It's an illegitimate government and authority spirit. It's not a girl with too much makeup. It's some guy sitting there in an Italian suit driving a BMW. At least girls you could help me, right? All right, now watch. She defeated Elijah. Put him on the run. God partially restored Elijah, but he never went back to the cutting edge of his ministry. But there was something in Elijah that God so loved that in Malachi 4, he said, in the last day, I'm going to restore the spirit of Elijah, not Elisha. Now watch this. Elisha had watched Jezebel do a number on Elijah, who's a great man, and had seen fire come down from heaven, and beat him. And he said, my God, if you're leaving, I haven't got a prayer. If all I get is what you've got, I've got to have twice an Elijah anointing to defeat Jezebel. And he took a double portion anointing, laid hands on Jehu, and Jehu threw Jezebel down and destroyed her. So God says it's a double Elijah ministry, an apostolic, prophetic, fathering ministry that will bring the destruction of illegitimate authority and that which is occult and whorish and Babylonian to a death. And God wants to bring it to the forefront in the last day. And then you go on down to verse 12. And Elisha saw Elijah go up. And he said, my apostle, my apostle. What did he say? Until you receive your spiritual leader as a father, you cannot receive his spirit. He's not a biological father. He's a spiritual father. And Paul said, we don't have too many fathers. We've got 10,000 teachers from Tulsa, but we ain't got many fathers. A father is a life source. The outer court ministry was the ministry of Jesus. The inner court ministry is the ministry of the Holy Spirit. But this last decade is going to have the ministry of the Father. And God is going to restore fathering ministry to the body of Christ. He's the one that brings order. He's the one that brings the family together. He's the one that walks in, the kids have stolen toys, and the house is in a mess and a wreck. And he says, hey, Chrissy, you apologized to us. Give that back. Put this back. And brings the home back into order. He's not threatened by the success of his son. If his son preaches better and has a higher gifting, he's excited and filled with adulation that his son is doing better than him. A man who's not a father is jealous of the young Timothys that God's given to him and suppresses rather than releases them. That's how you know you're not a father. you can build a church of 10,000 and it doesn't make you a father. The guy running 1,200, 1,500 can be the father in the city across town. You have the biggest church, but there ain't no son around you. And if you come to America, look at the mega churches and I dare you to find me one son in the wing who will take it when he dies. It'll fragment seven ways. Why? There's no father. A great man, a great leader, but not a father. David was a great leader, but not a father. Are you okay? Now, that's a separate message, but you can get the idea. So he received him as father. He said, my father, my father, the chariots of Israel, the horsemen thereof. And he grabbed the mantle, verse 13, went back to the bank of the Jordan, says, well, we're going to find out if I got any calling or not. He slapped the water and it split. And notice the testimony. He didn't send out his business card, I'm a prophet. He didn't send out his new publicity tape promo asking for partners because he's got Elijah's ministry. It was acknowledged by others. It says, verse 15, when the sons of the prophet saw him, they said, the spirit of Elijah rests on Elijah. And they came to meet him and submitted themselves to him. Amen? It takes more than your public announcements to make you anything. Amen? Okay, I don't feel like I got much people with me here this morning. All right. All right, now watch. The Holy Spirit is testing our commitment in this hour. Are you a lever or are you a cleaver? I'm serious, folks. Commitment is not known until it's tested. Neither is covenant. So to get the spirit of Elijah, Elijah had to cling to him. I will not leave you. Ruth said, I will not leave you, Naomi. Your God will be my God, your people, my people. Where you die, I'll die. But I'm not leaving you. Or if I went back. And Ruth married Boaz, a type of Christ, our kinsman, redeemer, and got a great inheritance because she claimed to Naomi, right? Now, folks, listen. I hate to give you some doctrine, but listen. One thing the charismatic church needs is a brain. Are you with me? Now, listen to this. We're high on show, but very stupid. Now, I want to show you something. Loyalty is not known until it's tested. Adam was made innocent, but not righteous. He had no sin, but he wasn't righteous until tested. And when he was tested, he flunked. Jesus was born out of the womb of a physical mother without sin. but he wasn't righteous. He was innocent, sinless, perfect, and deity, but he wasn't declared righteous until tested. And when tested in all points, like as we are, yet without sin, he was declared to be righteous, right? You're not honest if you ain't had a chance to steal. Some of you guys love to throw rocks at Ray or somebody else or an Ed Ray, but if somebody's got 5,000, you got 20. Let's see what happens when things shift in your life. I'm going to tell you something. Whatever you sow, you're going to reap it. If you're disloyal, you'll reap a group of men who will do to you what you did to them, and it never fails. In Acts 28, Paul's gathering firewood. He also picks up a snake, but he thinks it's firewood. And when he throws it in the fire, the serpent manifests and bites him on the hand. And he says, well, what elder was that? Now, the fire exposes the serpent nature. Loyalty is not known. Covenant is not known until it's tested. so be sure those closest to you in leadership team have been through the hottest fire, and if they haven't, build some. Amen? That be okay? I need to run you through something here real quick. I'll give you the address, because we don't have time to look all this up. David is coming to power. And in 1 Chronicles chapter 12, over about 21, 22 following, some of the men and mighty men are coming to David. Now here's typically how we do. David goes out to meet them and says, thank God you're here. Boy, we need somebody to lead the worship. Thank God you're here. We need this, we need that. We're just getting the church started. We're so glad to have you. That's typically the way we do it. but David confronts these mighty men, and he says, excuse me, and David is in his greatest need. Excuse me, why are you coming? And he asked three major questions. Are you coming peaceably? Are you a strife maker? Are you coming to mend and build relationships? are you coming to cause turbulence? Because if you are, I don't want you, regardless of your gifting. Number two, senior men, please hear this, and those called to serve them, hear this. David said, have you come to me to help me? Well, I just love God and want to help the body of Christ. Sorry, you can't work here. We love you. We bless you. Have you come to me to help me? Well, no, I was here for the other pastor, actually, and I'm stuck with you. You got in here. So, no, I'm not calling you. Actually, I have ambitions to get my own ministry going. I'm not here for you. You'll be surprised why people are on a team or in this church, my church, your church. Sometimes we ought to try a little experiment. Well, bless God. Wonderful to have you here this morning. How many are visiting for the first time? Great. Stand up. Wonderful to see you. Listen, we're going to give you a visitor's card, free tape, new Ferrari, and we'd love to invite you to join our church if you're not a member. Why would you say something that stupid? How do you know you want him? Why don't you walk out and say, excuse me, what's your name? Well, it was Bill James. Well, Bill, why have you come? Well, they threw me out of the other church over there. Don't tithe. I've got five women and 14 babies, and I haven't married any of them, and I stole, and I'm in rebellion. And I just figured I'd come over here and see if I could do it in your church. Are you with me? Now, I'm exaggerating, but sometimes you ain't exaggerating much. Or somebody comes in, you say, what's your name? Well, Bill, Bill, what are you here for? Well, actually, I've got this revelation, and I need visibility, and your church is the biggest in town, and you seem to be on television. So I figured I could probably get a little visibility if I kind of knit in with you to get myself launched. Okay. None of these people can come. have you come to me to help me? See, there can't be two visions. There can only be one. You can't impose your vision on the ministry team. If Tim Story has a vision and some guys are gathered around him on his ministry team, they can't impose their vision on him. They have to leave and say, we love you. It's come time. We're going to split amiably and righteously. We believe it's the will of God. We'll bless you and we'll go out, but we won't produce strife in the team. or at Rhema, or at Eagle's Nest, or at any Baptist church, or anybody else. You can't come unless you've come to help me. You better know whether God put you here or not. That's the whole bottom line. Did God call you to serve? Well, I'm broke, I'm unemployed, and I just need a job. And you know, you've got a vacancy and I can fill it. Then I don't want you. I'd rather just give you some bread and some food money and not have you. And if you can hire somebody from somebody else, somebody else can hire him from you. How many of you know we have a lot of hookers in the body of Christ? And they'll turn a trick for the highest dollar. But if God called them to be with you, they won't leave for any money. Well, brother, you ought to get your own ministry going. We've been watching you working there at Raymond. You're not getting the visibility and the preaching time you need. We've got this open, and part of our country needs puff the flesh. Puff the flesh. God wants that sucker oppressed because he has what you saw. and that's not going to hold him. He's got to submit to an authority, and the higher your gifting and future, the more oppressive will be the senior authority he puts you under. David, who's going to be a type of Christ, gets under a demonized saw, and God saw it all and liked it. I told a couple of our men one day that I frustrated. I said, I'm exactly what you need. That's why God put you here. That does not give any clearance to me or a ray of... Well, he's just in his temper and... Hold it! He's just what you need, South Africa, for your culture and your temperament. And if you can handle that, you can handle any demon in hell. Amen. Well, it may not be quite that strong. All right? All right. And then he says, if you've come to betray me, God get you. Because my hands are innocent. Now the word betray, they would take a dagger, fold it in the cloth. and come in, hey, brother, hallelujah, shundai, good to see you, my brother. And as soon as you were not looking, they'd pull that dagger out and stick you. See, have you come to me with a hidden agenda? Or have you opened up your cloak? Have you come to me and said, well, I've had this prophecy from Brother Bill Hammond, and I've had this word, and I feel in my heart maybe this, and you've laid it all out before me. nothing's hidden. And then you say, I just, I choose to lay, I choose brother Rick to lay all that down. That's what's in my heart. That's what's been settled. I won't choose no secrets. I think one day I may have this. I may have that if God wills, but you lay it aside to serve him. And he says, now there's no hidden agenda. I know exactly where he's coming from. Are you with me? Nothing's hidden right there. And you lay it down. But how many come with a hidden agenda? and you try to impose that, and it works disruption, strife, contention, and division, in that church, ultimately, it will come to pass, and there'll be a split and a division, and there'll be hurt people and feelings and grieving of the Holy Spirit, and it doesn't have to be so. Somebody say amen. Amen. All right, now watch. David says fourth, then if your heart is to me, my heart will be to you. If you'll lay it all down, then I will see that every weapon, resource, and provision I have access to and all influence is for you to go as high in God's purpose for you as is possible. You back me first, I'll back you. All right? But it's me first, you second, if it's the senior man. So it's not just you just doing everything. David pledged his heart. Now, are you aware that any of these gifted men could have played their own ministry anywhere? I mean, think of the dudes that came to David. They're not intimidated with David, and they're not impressed. David killed Goliath in a bear. Hey, one dude is just feeling a little frisky one day, and he goes down in a snowy pit and kills a lion. Didn't have nothing to do. That's a bad dude. You know what I'm saying? I don't mean meeting that dude in New York City in a ghetto at about 11 at night. and then another guy kills 600 Philistines with one sword alone. Didn't even break a sweat. And he's intimidated by David? No. These guys could have their own TV ministries. They're captains of thousands. It is. Here's what happens. They say, boys, we're not intimidated, impressed, and David hadn't gotten more than us in some areas. He may have least. God chose him. He didn't choose us. Chose him. Tell you what, we can run right out here in this desert with all these guys, kill all the lions out here, and kill off a whole bunch of Philistines, and never establish the kingdom. You know what, guys? Why don't we just lay down our right to be head of our little armed guerrilla force out here, and join David, and we can have one heck of a big move of God, and establish a kingdom. So they laid down their right to be head when they realized God chose David, and they submitted to David, and for all of his reign, there was no division, no separation at all. They had rank and order, and every man walked. is one man, and they brought in Zion and killed the Jebusites, and nobody since Joshua went in has ever done it. They made covenant. Are you with me? Amen. One other thought. If you back up one page in my Bible, 1 chapter 11, 1 Chronicles, verse 6, David makes a stupid statement. He said, whoever smites the Jebusites first, I'll make him captain over my army. Just a stupid fleshly kingly thing he shouldn't have said. and Joab says, I'm going to have that title and that authority, and I'll risk my life to get it. And he does, and he gets it. But here's the tragedy. The mighty men are listed in the scripture by name. One man is not named, and he is commander over all of them. His name is Joab. They came to David and gave commitment, covenant, loyalty to David. Joab said, I'm in this for me. And I want a job and authority and position. He's not serving David. He is a professional hireling. And he betrayed David three times. Right to his deathbed. And David said to his son Solomon, Son, when you get to church, kill Joab. and I'm going to tell you spiritually, until we slay all these professional hirelings in the church, we're not going to see any kingdom established. God's looking for men in relationship. See, if I lived in South Africa, I know where it's happening. It's not to intimidate you. You've got your gift, your anointing, if God's called you. But I also know apostolically who's controlling the flow in the heavenlies in your country. You'd have to at least say one of those men would be Ray McCauley. Another one that splashes would have to be an Ed Raybert, who are certainly working together. And if you're going to be successful in Pretoria, you're going to have to meet Ed Raybert and get some blessing. He doesn't have to agree with your eschatology or everything you believe, but you have to acknowledge him in a respectful way and have the blessing, or you ain't establishing anything but pay the light bill, draw a salary, drive your little motor car until you die and ain't do nothing. And if you're going to do anything in Johannesburg or the country, you're going to have to get to know Ray in a respectful way. You don't have to kiss him. You don't have to go to bed with him, but you got to honor him because he's the one God chose. Otherwise, you can be head of something dead or you can be second or third in something great. And I'm just saying it's time to wise up and it's time to understand government and kingdom. Well, I'll leave that alone. I see that sucker's just dying faster and faster. All right. Now, look in 2 Kings 3, verse 11. Elisha was not known for his prophetic ministry. Every time somebody came to meet with Elijah, he didn't get them out and say, now listen, brother, the Lord would have a word for you and say, my son, he didn't prophesy over anybody. He didn't write any articles. He didn't put out a prophetic newsletter. Let me show you something. A godly king of Judah, Jehoshaphat, needs a word from the Lord. In verse 11 and 10, he says, hey, is there a prophet around here of God? I need a word. And they said, we don't know. We ain't seen any brochures. Ain't seen any telecasts. we really don't know. Hey, we know a man who poured water on the hands of Elijah. What's his name? Elisha. And Jehoshaphat said, bring him to me for the word of the Lord is with him. Now that's awfully fast. So he must have understood a principle we don't. that if that man had been a faithful servant to Elijah to his departure, that man carried the mantle and spirit of Elijah. And his only claim to fame wasn't the accuracy of his prophecy. He washed the underwear and socks of Elijah. He made the hotel reservations. He made sure the credit card for the entertainment of the preachers was signed. Made sure that Ray didn't forget his coat and notebook and pen and shirt and pants and everything else when he walked out of the restaurant. And that's all. Grow up. That's all he did. See, Elisha was known for his serving. God doesn't make leaders. He makes servants. All of the apostles, the five-fold ministry, and any leadership ministry in the body of Christ is a servant ministry, or it ain't nothing. And Jesus became a servant. He said, you guys want to be great? I'm God. And if I bow down to wash your stinking feet, you wash one another's feet, big shot. If you want somebody to blow sunshine up your nose, you're in the wrong business. Help me, Jesus. Before the 12 apostles of the Lamb enter their ministries, they had to stay put and minister to Jesus. What'd they do? They were ushers. They sat people down in groups of 50. They kept the multitudes off Jesus. There are men who hang around the speakers and different men in all churches. You say, well, brother, who does he think he is? Got that entourage over there. No, you don't understand something. Jesus had them. Because every snowflake and granola flake and weirdo in town rolls towards the anointing. And if it's valid, the men will know it, get a word, and that man's need will be met. If it's a waste of time, they protect him. What makes you too big to do it when Jesus had it done for him? Are you too big to usher? You too big to help get him in and get him out? These people always wanting to grab onto Jesus. They were chauffeurs. They got the boat out, got it around. Said, boys, get that boat out. Get the air conditioner running. This crowd's going to jump when I get through here. I'm about to get to the benediction. Get the boat out. We're going on the other side. He's finishing bringing the meeting to a close. They got that thing ready to go. And Jesus gets in it and leaves the crowd behind. Now, they didn't have no car. They had a boat. But if they'd had a car, the air conditioner or the heater, depending on the weather, would have been ready. And it would have been something to whisk him away. See? And they were waiters. they distributed bread to the people and they stayed behind to pick up the fragments, straighten up the chairs. These are mighty Holy ghost apostles doing this for Jesus. Are you with me? They were servants. If you want to watch the individual God raises up in the house, it's not the prima donna. It's the individual with a servant's heart. Everybody that's young sees you. Maybe you drive a nice car by now. Maybe you got a little money in the bank by now. And maybe you're wearing a nice clothes or got a nice church by now. Well, I want what he's got. I'll tell you the non-glamorous part of my ministry is that for 90% of it, it was the pits. That's where God puts all of his prophets in training. P-I-T, prophet in training. A pit. A pit. Amen? That's exactly what he does. I had great jobs. I used to walk around. I was working with James Robinson for a long time. Four o'clock in the morning, the call comes to me in Charlotte, North Carolina. He's got diarrhea, and I've got to go find milk of magnesia. And so here I am in my car driving around looking for a 7-Eleven, 24-hour market, milk of magnesia while the prophet of God's on the john with diarrhea. This is really great. Yeah. Yeah. Hey, where was TBN then? Where was Charisma Magazine? Where were Champions for Christ then? Ain't nobody want my autograph. I didn't have no Rolex. I didn't have no gold bracelet. I had milk of magnesia and a diarrhea prophet. That's all I had. Water, bread, abuse, insults, overlooked, rejected, not getting enough credit, not this, not that. God said, that's right. This is the way to greatness. Isn't it good? You like it, huh, son? And the greater your destiny, the worse it's going to be. Okay. See, we say in Texas, if you want to sit on a throne, you got to be willing to clean it. Should I define that or should I just leave that? I think I'll just leave that. So you got to ask yourself, do I have a servant's heart? Being loyal means I'm willing to change my plans to meet the needs of the one God has called me to serve. You can say to your neighbor, that's tight, but that's right. That is right. Now I want you to see, maybe just, let me just give you a couple of little quick things here. You have to be careful at different stages to watch for a number of things in disloyalty. Number one, an independent spirit. A person with an independent spirit views his service as a stepping stone for personal achievement. He serves only for recognition. Loyalty can be tested by one's ability to change his agenda to serve you. Let me read from Bill Gothard's character sketch, volume one. Loyalty is adjusting my schedule to meet the needs of those I'm serving. Two, loyalty is being a reliable messenger to those I'm serving. Three, loyalty is knowing and following the wishes of those responsible for me. And four, loyalty is standing with those I am serving in time of need. I don't need you when the ram's pouring in and the crowd's pouring in and I ain't got no problem. You're sucking off me. I need you when I got problems. That's when you earn your stripes. and if I got to tell you everything to do, you're not a servant. A servant anticipates. Where is he going? What's his style? What makes him tick? What makes him ticked off? What is he looking for? And I'm always a step ahead to fix it. Now, he can change it, but I'm there to anticipate. He's hot. I'm hot, and I'm just watching him. He's going to need water when he's through. I bet this, and you're anticipating. That's a servant. That's the servant God looks for. But if I have to order you, order you, order you to get you to move, you're not a servant. See, the way up in the kingdom is down. Now, the major key to destroying an independent spirit is repentance. and allowing the Holy Spirit to put you in a position where making others successful becomes a great joy to you, even if they get more than you. How many of you know Joseph's dream didn't come to pass until he worked on the dreams of others? Joseph had dreams. God put him in Potiphar's house. And when he was put into prison, the charismatic church would have prayed him out. And God said, I don't want him out. I want him right there. He wasn't out of the will of God. He was in the will of God. in jail. And in jail, he's got this prophecy. Now, brother so-and-so prayed over me and prophesied, and la-la-la-la-la, and it's been 17 years, going on 21. And the butler and the baker had a dream. So Joseph worked on their dreams. And then he worked on the dreams of Pharaoh. And when he worked on the dreams of Pharaoh, his dream came true in an hour. He went from a bath, a shave, and a Versace coat to the throne. That didn't fly at all. All right. If you want your dream to come true. you work on the dreams of another. And if you'll fulfill the dream and vision of the one God's called you to, your dream, your future, your purpose, your destiny can't be stopped. See, the secret to it is let me work like these mighty men with David, lay down my agenda, lay down what I think may come for the future and say, until God comes for me, until I'm promoted, not me by myself, but till God does it, I'm your servant. and I'll work on your dream. God says, your dream will come true. Some of your grandchildren will be saved because of the work done in this house. Some of your mates are going to come into the kingdom because of where this house is going. And some of your destinies are locked up in this house and the house where God put you. And if you blow it there, you blow it everywhere else. If you're not proven in this house, why should I have you in another house? Number two, desire for personal recognition from the spiritual leader. A person's spirit who's not focused on God's approval works for man's approval. And when a person cannot separate his self-worth from his performance, he becomes devastated when corrected. Let me give you a couple of things to watch out for as our time's gone. Murmuring. Murmuring is always born in the context of a bad report or wrong interpretation of circumstances. A murmuring spirit is quick to jump to conclusions. Murmuring is the pathway to beguilement. Beguilement is the sin of sharing false conclusions. Beguilement plants seeds of mistrust, doubt, confusion, and destroys character. And the reason God hates the slander is that it destroys three people in one act. It destroys the person it's about. It destroys the person you're telling it to. And it destroys you. It is poison. And God says, mark those, not pray for them, mark those that cause divisions. How do you mark them? Point them out. when Chernobyl blew, the sheep farmers in England marked with red paint the sheep that had an extra high radiation count and monitored them so that if they got worse, they were taken away from the flock. Some destroyed. Mark them who cause divisions. Why? Because division has no place in the house of God. in this room, there are men who pastor churches in the same city, in this nation and other nations, and you won't speak to each other. And you will wait till hell freezes over to see your destiny fulfilled. And you will not see the kingdom come into your city. You jealous... ...in...