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We passionately pursue growth in God, so we enthusiastically receive the word of God because we have an expectation that the word that is taught is going to come to pass. So I need my. Y' all a little quiet today. I need my Amens. All right, Mark. Chapter 16, verse 17 says, and these signs will accompany those who believe in my name. They will drive out demons. They will speak in new tongues. They will pick up snakes with their hands, and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all. They will lay their hands on sick people and they will get well. I want to stop the reading of Scripture there and talk from this subject in our time together. Two words of the topic of today's teaching, very simply, access granted. If you receive that, put your hands on it. Come on. Access granted. As I was. As I was working this week, I came across a story that I feel like might be salient for today's sermon. There was a man who deeply and desperately desired to take his first cruise. This man was not in the financial position to be able to pay for the cruise immediately, so he began to save incrementally over a period of 16 months. He scrapped together, and he saved in order that he might be able to accumulate the appropriate number of resources to go on his cruise. And as a result of his resiliency and his consistency, one day he had enough resources to book his cruise. He's excited about his cruise. He's expected for his cruise. He is enthusiastic about his cruise. And he gets on his cruise and a time was had. He's very gregarious and outgoing in nature. He never met a stranger. So he's at all the phone pool parties. And he is. Y' all not talking to me, huh? What? Yeah, he's doing all the line dances. And even though he's a brother, he got his fan. Where them fans at? He is engaged in all of the activity. And so he's building relationships with people on the ship because they. That's the kind of person that he is. He's going on excursions because that's the kind of person that he is. And there is this one individual that he had developed relationship with on the ship that asked him, close to the end of the cruise, a critical key and quintessential question. He said, bro, I see you at all the events, I see you going on excursions, but I never see you in the dining room. Where are you eating every night and who are you eating with? And the brother said, dining room. Oh, no, I don't have enough money for the Dining room. I just had enough money for the ticket. And his newfound friend looked at him first of all with confusion and then with compassion. And he said to him, brother, this is an all inclusive cruise. The food was paid for in the ticket. I'm gonna say that one more time. He said, the only thing you gotta pay for is your drinks. The food. Food is paid for in the ticket. And this man was sitting in his cabin eating crackers and tuna, when he could have had access to the feast that was in the restaurant. It had already been paid for. And what happened with that man on the ship, on the sea, is what can happen with us on the ship called salvation. We can be confined to a cabin, not even realizing I got access to the whole ship. And I want to know, am I talking to anybody that's getting ready to come out of your Christian cabin and say, I want absolutely everything God put. If it's paid for, I'm taking it with me. If it's paid, paid for, I'm taking access for it. Come here. Jesus paid it all. All to him I owe. Yeah. It is possible on the ship of salvation to do what this man did. On the ship of the sea. It is possible to be confined to the cabin when you got access to the whole ship. It's possible to be redeemed, but still live restricted. It's possible to be chosen, but still live chained. It's possible to be delivered, but still live defeated. It's possible to be forgiven, but still live famished. It's possible to settle for crumbs when God has not only set a feast, but he made a promise that I'll prepare the table in the presence. Come on here. Of your enemies. Are you hearing what I'm saying? And because God is the ultimate expression of love, God will actually let you live in the cabin even though you got access to the ship, because he's a God of love. He will let you live on whatever level you settle for. You may say, pastor, how is that love? Because love leads, but love doesn't force. Love will direct you, but love won't drag you. Love will prompt you, but love will not push you where you want, don't want to go. And I want you to hear me now, because when love shows up looking like coercion, that is not love. That's control. That is manipulation. And the word the Old Testament uses to describe manipulation is a word called witchcraft. I don't hear you, Church. Yes. Witchcraft in the Old Testament is not just someone engaging in incantations. It is not someone with a broom and a hat. In the Old Testament, witchcraft is preaching predatory behavior. It is when a person recognizes the emotional fragility of a person and they use their influence in a predatory manner to exploit that individual and manipulate them into doing something. Y' all aren't talking to me. That is not in their best interest. But I, oh, my. I, I, I. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. I feel some scales coming off people's eyes right now because you think a witch has to cast a spell. Sometimes a person's engaging in witchcraft, and y' all dating. You missed it. They recognize you just came out of a relationship. They smell the vulnerability and the brokenness on you, and they come into your life saying all the right things, not realizing you, not realizing that they're taking advantage of a relationship vulnerability that you have, and they want to exploit it for their own usage. But I pray that God supernaturally sabotages every relationship sent by Satan to spiritually distract you. Somebody put a praise on that. They smelt your vulnerability, which lets you know that even though we've relegated the usage of the word witchcraft to the female gender, it is not gender specific. Gaslighting. Y' all not talking to me. It's manipulative behavior. So love doesn't force. So God says, I paid for the ship, and even though I don't want you to choose the cabin, I'll let you choose the cabin. I paid. Come on, Church. I paid for the whole ship, and I want you to choose the ship, But I'll let you choose the cabin because I'll let you live on whatever level you settle for. Did you hear what I just said? Yeah. Did you hear what I just said? Yeah. We see this all throughout Scripture. I could proof text this all throughout Scripture. I could take you to first Samuel, and I could show you where Israel was in a season where they had been guided and governed by God through judges. Yet they got trapped in the comparison trap, and they started examining and noticing the activity of other nations. And other nations had a king. So comparison infected them with discontentment. They were content until they started comparing. Y' all aren't talking to me. They were fine with their life until they scrolled and said, I went to Cabo, but they went to the Maldives. And now all of a sudden, my vacation, y' all aren't talking to me. So they get caught up in comparison. And they say, these other nations have a king, and we want a king. And God's like, you don't need a king. You got me. And they said, we want a king. And God says, you don't need a king. You got me. And they say, we want a king. And God says, you don't need a king. You got me. And they say, we want a king. And God says, you don't need a king. You got me. They said, give us a king. God said, okay. So he gave them a king named Saul. And it was toxic, it was turbulent, and it was terrible. And then they said, we don't want a king. God said, I tried to tell. I tried to tell you. They wouldn't let God teach them with instruction, so God had to teach them with experience. And this reveals that there are times when God has to give you a yes, when you need a no, so you can trust his no when you want a yes. He said, so I'm gonna give you what you asked for because you think you want it. And then once you want to get it, you're gonna see you don't need it. So I'm gonna give you a yes when you need a no. So that when I give you a no next time, you'll trust it. I wanted to lead you through Judges, but you demanded a king, so I'll let you live on. Take your time, sir. Whatever level you settle for. Therefore, our spiritual journey isn't just determined by what God is willing to give, but it is equally impacted by what we are willing to access. Your spiritual journey is actually us accessing what God has already paid for. Did you hear me? Your spiritual journey is about us accessing what God paid for. Can I prove it to you? Can I use the Bible to prove it to you? Because we teach from the book around here. Did you hear what I just said? The Bible's divided into two testaments, Old and New. The word Testament means agreement or will. Did you hear what I just said? It is an agreement or will. When the writer of Hebrews talks about the New Testament, he frames it as more than just some informal agreement. He frames it as a legally binding will. Here's the way the writer of Hebrews puts it. He says, a testament is not enforced until the death of the testator. Is that what he says? So he says, if I put some things in my will for you, you don't get access to what I put in my will for you until I transition. See, this is what makes the story of the prodigal son so insulting. He knows he's in the will. He's tired of Daddy still living. So he goes to a living daddy and said, give me my stuff because I'M tired of waiting on you to die. Y' all not talking to me on. Come on. So the New Testament. Come on here. Are y' all ready? I don't have time. Yes, I can. It's the 1230. I do have time. I forgot what service I was at. I got time at this service. Somebody say, I'm in the wheel. Say, I'm in the wheel. So when the Bible says, you have been engrafted onto the tree or the commonwealth of Israel, now, you and I are family with Jesus. We're heirs of God. Joint heirs. Y' all aren't talking to me with Jesus Christ. So now, because I'm family, I'm in the will. And everything in the New Testament is the will. He died to give me that. So peace that passes all understanding is in the will. Joy, unspeakable, full of glory. It's in the wheel. Thanks. Be unto God that always causes me to triumph. It's in the will. And the devil don't want you to know what's in the wheel. But you came to the right church today. Cause you getting ready to come out of that cabin, and you get ready to walk on the whole ship. Boy, this was revival. I tell you to start walking. I'm getting ready to walk on the whole ship. I'm not settling for a cabin when he died to give me the ship. So your spiritual journey isn't just about acquiring spiritual information. It's about accessing what you're reading in the Wheel. So I'm not impressed by what you can repeat. The devil quoted scripture, Matthew 4. Check me out. Not impressed by the scriptures you can quote. I mean, impressed by your level of access. I want to know, are you still in the cabin or has your foot touched some other rooms? My foot just touched the room of healing. My foot just touched the room of breakthrough. My foot just touched the room of joy. Your spiritual journey isn't just about exploring what's in the wheel, but accessing what's in the wheel, becoming the kind of person that can access it. I want somebody. Something. Getting ready to break off of you. Spiritual mediocrity and apathy is getting ready to break off of you. I want somebody to shout. I want the ship. Not just the room. I want the ship. I want everything that's in the wheel for me. I want the ship. All right, here it is. Here it is. Here it is. This is the essence of the conversation that Jesus is having in the text. Mark 16. This is the. This is a. This is a conversation about. Watch this not head knowledge, but experience. Did you hear what I just said? Yeah. He's having a conversation with disciples about what they can expect to experience. I want to sing, but I want to experience. After I read. I want to experience. I don't want to just quote, no weapon formed against me shall properly. I want to experience watching the weapon form and then watching it not work. Clock that tea. It didn't work. It's a conversation about access. Watch what he says. Jesus, this is a post resurrection. You can be seated. It's a post resurrection conversation. It is a conversation. It's a conversation after. After Jesus's missional manifesto, his great commission, when Matthew tells the story. Matthew Eli. Matthew ends the conversation at the commission. But Mark chronologically is actually the first gospel because Mark's gospel is Peter's story. Mark writes what Peter tells. So it's actually the earliest gospel. And so Mark, when he writes, he's not under the influence of Matthew Matthews influenced by Mark, but Mark's not influenced by Matthew. Mark's writing what Peter said and Mark lets us know. The conversation continued after the commission. After he said, go and make disciples of nations. He said these words and these signs will accompany. They ride in the car, they accompany. They coming with you. These signs will accompany those who believe. Now, when he says believe here, this is multifaceted belief. It is belief that is comprehensive in nature. It is a belief that begins Jesus person and then extends to what Jesus has provided. Those that believe, those that believe that. Are y' all ready for this, that everything that needed to be accomplished to reconcile my relationship with the Father was accomplished through Jesus death, his resurrection, ascension, gospel. The good news that life as God intended is available to every human as a result of the. The death, the resurrection and the ascension of Jesus. The good news that life as God intended is available now to every human because of the death, the resurrection and the ascension of Jesus. The gospel, the good news that life as God intended has been made available to every human because of the death, the burial and the resurrection of Jesus. When a person believes that, Paul says that belief leads to a confession. And that word confess means to say the same thing. So this is why telling somebody to Repeat what Romans 10:9 says is not a guaranteed salvific formula. Because the Bible says the heart and the mouth have to agree. Did you hear what I just said? So I can say Jesus is Lord, but my heart have not made a decision to surrender my life to his leadership. The confession with the heart man believes unto righteousness. And with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. It's when a person said, if you love me that much to send Jesus to give his life for me, then I trust you to show me how to live this life. You don't just watch this. He doesn't just save it. He can't save it if you don't let him lead it. I'm trying not to run. I said watch this. Did you hear what I just said? You can't rescue people who won't obey you. Come on, parents. You should be saying amen. Come on. Did you hear what I just. So in order to save you, you got to be. In order to save, you got to lead. Because salvation isn't just reactive. That's Savior. Proactive is Lord. So when I make a decision, I'm gonna surrender my life to the leadership of Jesus. I'm gonna receive his act as a forgiveness of my sin. I'm gonna stop trying to earn my own righteousness. Cause I can't. So I'm gonna accept that. I'm accepted. I'm gonna accept that. I'm accepted. I'm gonna accept that. Grace is, as Slymarker says, is scandalous. Good God Almighty. That grace doesn't even make sense. That we've been too bad for God to be this good. But grace will give you what you don't deserve. Hallelujah. That's why we praise him so passionately at change. We're not praising because we've been good to Him. Praising because he's been good to us. So when you make that confession, God's Spirit in the form of the Holy Spirit, comes and lives in your human spirit. Paul says, he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit. So the Holy Spirit occupies the human spirit, not the human body. The human spirit animates the human body. So when we transition from this life to the next, all your organs generally are in place. What left? The animating energy. That's your human spirit. Come on here. Paul says, this body, not the real you. He said, if this earthly house, this tabernacle shall be destroyed. I've got another building not made with hands. So the Holy Spirit comes and occupies the human spirit. And this occupation, this animation of the human spirit. So the human spirit exists without the Holy Spirit. But the apostle Paul calls it dead. You were dead, he says, in trespasses and sin. Did he not? And so the Holy Spirit come, lives in the human spirit. Listen to this. Now y' all follow me. And you become what Jesus calls born again. Now you have spiritual capacity that you did not have based on your first birth. I'm trying not to run. It means you are no longer limited by the limitations of your first birth. What you could not do in your own human strength and natural ability. When you got born again, you got capacity to do things you could not do before you stepped into your redemptive potential. So we become born again. Did you hear what I just said? So the Holy Spirit comes and lives in the human spirit and we become born again. Regeneration. Here's the issue. You got a fleshly nature that lives in a human body. So when Paul talks about your flesh and he's not talking about your body, he's talking about a nature that will be in the human body as long as the human body exists in this form. And that nature is to pull you against divine design. Now the Holy Spirit inside your human spirit wants to pull you toward divine design. But this other nature wants to pull you away from divine design. This is why you got to catch this. Me and my father in law were talking about this yesterday. When you become born again, you actually go from one nature to two natures. This is why struggle is evidence of growth. 12:30. You didn't hear what I just said? Struggle is evidence of growth because prior to you being born again, you didn't struggle. You did. We said we went, come on here. But Paul says, as he describes his own spiritual journey, he says, the good that I want to do is not what I find myself doing. And the thing that I don't want to do is the thing I find myself doing. Who will deliver me from this body of death. Oh wretched man that I am. And I want somebody who knows I hadn't dotted every I, I hadn't crossed every T. I still got some kinks that are being worked out. I thank God for the struggle. Because the struggle sometimes saying I'm growing. I didn't used to care. I didn't have conviction. But now I've got a struggle. Hallelujah. I used to say what I wanted to say and then sleep at night. And now when I said I try to lay down, the Holy Ghost won't let me rest. He starts self correcting. You don't have to have other people check you. The Holy Ghost will have you check checking yourself. Stay where we at? Stay where we at. Here it is. Are you following me? So. So I got the Holy Spirit in the human spirit. I got the flesh. Come on. Living in the human body. And both of these are fighting for influence over what's gonna make my decisions. They both fighting over influence over my soul, my mind. And what kind of day you have spiritually is gonna be based on which one of those natures is winning that day? Y' all aren't talking to me here. Come on. This is a biblical theology of sanctification. You cannot outgrow the flesh. You can outgrow its influence. You can't reform the flesh. The flesh cannot be reformed. But you can renew your mind. And so when Jesus says these signs will follow those that believe, the belief starts with that. Because if you don't understand the spiritual capability you have with conversion, the stuff he says you're capable of now won't be believable to you. Jesus said this new life should bring some new things for the believers. I got to get out of here, but can I share with you what they are before we go? He says it's in the text. This new life, first of all, will bring new liberation. Pastor, where's that? It's in verse 17. And these signs shall accompany those who believe they will cast out demons in my name. You say Pastor. No, no, no, no, no. This. This statement is about exorcisms. I don't have time, but I'm gonna teach them. Maybe I might teach on this in the fall when I come back and talk on spiritual gifts. Because there is no word in the New Testament. Greek. In the Greek. New Testament. For demon possession. That word. The word is translated possession. The word is demonization. Is that the word? It's demonization. So it is the same way. I'm sorry, The Holy Spirit influences your behavior, is the same way an evil spirit influences your behavior. And the more influence you give it, the stronger hold it has. And sometimes something gets a hold of you you can't get out of its hold of. So now you need a spirit stronger than that one to break its influence off of your will. And so demonization is about influence, not just occupation, not just occupying. What does he occupy? He can't get in my human spirit. Okay, right here. See? Y' all not. Come on. Because this biblical spiritual warfare is here. You do know strongholds is not what has a stronghold on you. That's not even what stronghold means. The word stronghold means fortress. It is the stuff that the devil sets up in my mind that keeps me trapped in the addiction. I can't get free from the addiction until I get free from the lie. I need it. But you getting ready to get free in here today. Somebody raise your voice all over this house if you believe God still sets the captives free. I said if you Believe he still sets the captive free. Free. So Jesus isn't an exorcist. Jesus is a liberator. And because he's a liberator, he will set you free from whatever has you bound, even if you are bound by the influence of an evil spirit. And I want to talk to some people that feel like your issue is like Pharaoh. He let you go and then chase you down. I pray that what God did to Pharaoh in the book of Exodus is what he will do to yours. May he drown him in the sea. May your liberation, Jesus said, I give a new kind of liberation, and my liberation lasts. When you free yourself, it don't last. I'm done with him. I'm done with her. It don't last. I'm done with this. It doesn't last. But he whom the Son sets free is free indeed. Somebody to 12:30, praise him like you're free. Y Praise him like you're free. We got to go. I'll set you free. I'll set you free. He says, I'll set you free. After you tried everything. And it did. It didn't work. Like the woman with the issue of blood, you tried everything and it didn't work. I know somebody that still breaks shackles and still breaks chains and still destroys feathers. Set you free. But that's not all he says in the text. He says they will speak with new tongues. So this new life also gives you new language. Now, everything that Jesus says in this text is supernatural in its orientation. Handling snakes, casting out devils, laying hands on the sick. So it's logically to assume that when he says new tongues, it's supernatural in its orientation also. So he's not just talking about I speak better. He's either talking about what happened in Acts 2 or what Paul talked about in First Corinthians 14, Acts 2, when they were filled with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, they literally spoke in other languages. So the Holy Spirit empowered them to remove the language barrier that gets in the way of people receiving the Gospel. See, sometimes it's not the gospel you present that's the problem. It's the way you're presenting it. And you need the Holy Ghost to give you language to articulate the truth of the Gospel to people who will only hear it in their language. And some of you, you don't even realize that God's giving you a new language, because when your friends used to call you with their trouble, you used to only give them cliches or take them to the bar. To take the edge off. But now you. In a season when they calling you, stuff start coming up out of you and you like, where did this come from? You start quoting scripture, you start speaking life, you start ministering to them. And you're like, I didn't even know all of this was on the inside of me. He gave you a new language. So it's either Acts 2 was First Corinthians 14 that we talked about last week. New life will give you new liberation, new language. But it's something else in the text. I want you to see it. Text says they will handle snakes with their hands, and when they drink deadly poison, it won't hurt them at all. Okay? Now, Jesus is not commissioning snake handling. If you read the teachings of Jesus in the Gospels, you will see he speaks frequently in metaphors. He say, if your hand offend you, cut it off. Please don't go home and cut your hand off. He says, if your eye offends, you pluck it out. Please don't go home and pluck it out. He's speaking metaphorically. So when he talks about handling snakes, he's not saying go out and pick up a snake. He is talking about how the Holy Spirit, y' all better come get me here. Will give you new longevity. You missed it. The Holy Spirit gives you spiritual immunity that enables you to survive that which is poisonous to the soul. So other people handle stuff and it killed them, but you handle it and you live because he gives you longevity. Can I prove it to you? Yeah. This is personified in the Apostle Paul's experience in Acts 28, verse 5. It says, as they were shipwrecked at Malta, they were starting a fire and a snake came out of the fire and bit Paul. And the Bible says, but Paul shook the snake off into the fire. Y' all missed it and suffered no ill effects. I know you got bit, but when you have spiritual immunity, I know they betrayed you. I know they lied on. I know they broke your heart. Some people are trying to answer why you're still standing and they have no out idea. God's giving you new longevity. You are looking at a survivor. Let the survivors make some noise in this house. I'm a survivor. I'm a survivor. I'm a survivor. I'm a survivor. I'm a survivor. I've been bitten, but I'm still here. I've been built, but I'm still alive. I don't know if you're ready for this. Verse 6 says, the people expected him to swell up and Suddenly fall dead. But after waiting a long time, somebody say, keep waiting. You watching? You watching to see if I'mma get swole and die. But keep waiting. God has given me longevity. I will outlast this bite. Keep watching. Keep waiting. You walking, Robin? You walking. I'm done. But the text says one more thing. Not only give you new liberation, not only give you new language, not only give you new longevity, but the text says they'll lay hands on the sick. And I love the niv and it says they will get well. New life gives you new leverage. When you gain new leverage, when you find yourselves in predicaments, you need to know you are no longer limited to natural remedies or restricted by human resources. You can leverage heaven's help now. This is why you never have to feel entrapped, ensnared and in bondage to what somebody else will do for you. Because now you don't have to just leverage earthly relationships. You can leverage heavenly relationships. He's saying there can be spiritual intervention through physical contact. It is not a guarantee of outcome in terms of remedying the physical malady, but it is a guarantee of wellness even if you keep the malady. And I don't care what's got you sick. Your testimony is you still well. The pain is here, but I'm well. And the grief is here, but I'm well. Whatever my lot thou has taught me to say, it is well with my soul. I want somebody that's going through something right now to raise your voice and say, it's wet. Tears in my eyes, it's wet. Pain in my body, it's wet. My heart is broken. It's wild. Well as well with my soul. Yes, yes. Raise it with my soul. Come on, make. Come on, Sa. We got to dismiss this way today. You don't quench this. You just let people go. So if you're here today, nothing I said, even though you understood it. I try to put it where you can get it, but nothing I said even if you understood it can be executed and implemented without God. You need him. And so if you haven't ever really heard the gospel put the way that I put it earlier, if you've never received Jesus as the leader, the Lord of your life and the forgiver of your sin, I want to help you make that step.