Joshua 1 verse one. If you're there, say, "Amen. " Now, after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spake unto Joshua, the son of nuns, Moses, minister, saying, Moses, my son, is dead.
Now, therefore, arise, go over this Jordan. I forgot to say, it's good to be here with my preacher friends. Amen.
Aren't you thankful for these mighty men of God that have taken us to great depths of revelation and understanding? Amen. Arise, go over this Jordan, thou and all this people into the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel.
Every place that the soul of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses, from the wilderness and this Lebanon, even unto the great river, the river Euphrates. All the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast. There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life.
As I was with Moses, so I will be with thee. I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. So be strong, and of good courage, for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land which I swear unto their fathers to give them.
Amen. I want to preach to you for a few moments and title my remarks, Access the Promise. Access the promise.
Look at your neighbor. Say, we going to take it. We going to take it.
I'm glad I got a promise. I'm going to take it. Hallelujah.
Lord, we love you and I thank you for your word, your people. I thank you for this place. I pray you would anoint me to preach with clarity which you've given to me.
That I would not lean to my flesh, but to your spirit. I pray and ask you, Lord, that between the space of my mouth and their ears, that you would lace your word with anointing that it would revive something within them. I pray Lord with fertile soil it would be planted and when we leave this house it would bear fruit beyond this place that we can all leave changed by the power of your timeless and eternal word we will always give you praise and as one people we say in Jesus name if you love him why don't you just put your hands together one more [Music] time hey if you don't love him you ought to just put your hands together one more time I'm thankful Thank you for standing.
Thankful for brother Chandler driving me and my son Lewis. He's incredible. See some Vidorians.
Amen. I see the lenders here. I'm so thankful we got some Eastgate people in the house.
Amen. They know what to do. Joshua chapter 1 is an introduction and it brings us to a time where the people of God have been waiting and wondering for 40 years on the promise of God.
This is a promise that the Lord has made to Abraham saying you will possess the land of Canaan. He had made this promise to Isaac, Jacob, Moses, the children of Israel. Seven times God has repeated the promise and said, "It is yours to possess.
" Seven times. However, the problem that arose was was not with the with the promise that God had made, but with the people he made it to. They arrived to the the banks of that opportunity of the promise, but hearts filled with fear because of the size of the promise.
I've learned that when God makes a promise, it comes in giant size. And sometimes it's going to startle and scare you. And their fear cause them to disobey.
And because of their disobedience, God put him in in a position of waiting. God put him in a position of delay. Today I I found that that normally I'm not just waiting on my promise.
I found that many of times the promise is waiting on me. It is our text this evening that that we find that's really the position in the condition. Joshua has received the news.
He says you're going to go into promise. God said Joshua and Caleb the only two saints that of that generation that understood that that the delay is linked to the disobey. And so, uh, it is the truth that they had been tested of the Lord.
And, and there's times you're going to be tested of the Lord. There's times that that there will be delay because the devil's tempting you. But I have learned in my life that most of the delays in my life are linked to the disobey.
Normally, the problem with me getting to promise ain't the devil. It ain't my wife. It's me.
It's It's me. But while they had disobeyed and they had been delayed, they could still give God praise because they had not been destroyed. I I know I know I'm with perfect people, but over inviter, we get excited that God does not destroy us when we disobey.
I would rather have a delay than a destroy. Now, there's some of you got to have golden leaves falling from the ceiling and revelatory facts about truths you believed in your whole life to get up on your on your feet and clap praise God. But then there's some of us that can just stand up on our feet and say, "I've got to praise him.
I'm just Why are you I'm praising him because I'm here. I'm praising him because he didn't destroy me. He just delayed me.
Uh I'm thankful he pushed pause and come on. He didn't push cancel. So I'm I I'm just got to I wonder if I could get somebody that could give him praise that all you had was a delay.
He been good. He's been good. But it gets better.
Not only did he not destroy me, he just delayed me. The the Bible says that every place Joshua 1:3 that the sole of your foot shall tread upon that have I given unto you as I said unto Moses. He said, "I delayed you, but I'm still going to give you the promise.
" Th this is amazing to me. And and I'll be honest, it don't really make sense because I'm a dad and I have some kids. And there's some times, pastor, that I've got some promises laid up for them.
I'll go to the store and they see something I'm like, I'm going to buy that, put it under the bed. I can't wait to give it to them. I'm waiting on that right moment.
Or there's a trip we got planned. And then they get to run in their mouths. I see y'all got some kids too with mouths.
Now, Louis, he's perfect. the other. We talking about the ones that ain't here.
Amen. And I'll be like, you know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna go under that bed.
I'm gonna get that present. I'm gonna take it back to Walmart, wherever I bought it. I'm getting a refund on the trip.
And you know what? Your mouth just got you out of that trip. I'm I'm seeing some I finally got some parents to bob their heads.
There's like people about ready to run the alis right now. Bless God. He's preaching now.
You're poking your kids. But but God and and if I was God, I'd have been like, "All right, that's how you want to do it. Hook y'all.
I'm going to find me some other people. But God, God, he still gives them the promise. And I'm scratching my head saying that don't make sense cuz I'm kind of made in the image of God sometimes understanding him.
Me and him have some things in. Why are you still going to give them a promise? Uh after they've done disobeyed you.
And it's in the text verse six. He says uh he says, "Be strong and of good courage. " He said, "For thou shalt divide for an inheritance the land which I swear unto your fathers to give to them.
" Why? Hey, we Hey, you can take your scuba gear off. We ain't going deep.
It's going to be real shallow. All right. He wh why why are you still giving it to them?
The answer's right there. He says, "Because I swear to their fathers to give it. " Here's the reason you're going to get the promise.
Because I put your name on the promise. Uh he doesn't just give a promise to come on to this church. He didn't just give a promise to this man of God.
He customized the promiseh and put a name on it. Now I I I was blessed to be a missionary but the Lord's blessing fit that I could return to Vider and my father has retired. He's this year matter of fact we'll return to the Nellas to c celebrate 50 years of ministry in missions.
And so but my parents now live there my father. So he retires and and God has blessed me and uh he shows up and so they they call him elder and bishop and and he's he's he's all blessed and I thought well now bishop I told him I said now daddy a bishop and elder and you come into my church now I got to go get you one of these fancy suits tailorade. So we went down there and got a tailor made suit.
Now this is one of the ones where they put they put your name on it. You know what I'm talking about is ML Tuttle. And you get to pick.
You can put it on the inside and put it on the collar all put on your shirt sleeves and and so I got it. I I got it and you know they got to send it off. They probably make it in China.
I don't know. But it came in a big old box and and uh I opened the box and when I opened the box there was a little little policy the return policy popped up out of that box and I took a little picture of it. They should have it on my screen.
I did my own graphic design work tonight. Uh you got my return policy on the screen. These screens.
All right. This is the return policy. Due to the custom nature and permanent process of personalization, all monogrammed items cannot be returned, refunded, or exchanged.
He said, "Some of y'all a little slow. " I said, "He put a promise on your He tailor made the promise with your name on it. It can't be refunded and it cannot be exchanged.
" So, I've got a promise, but I got more than a promise. I got a promise with my name on it. Weeping may endure for a night.
got my name on it. You are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus. It's got my and I've disobeyed and I should have been destroyed, but I had a tailor made promise.
I wish I had a mama with a promise. I wonder if I got a church with a promise and the devil said you did this and you can't be blessed. But the devil is a liar.
You ought to say the promise has my I said the promise has my name on it. Come on, West Monroe. You've got a promise from heaven that you're going to possess the land.
God spoke it. He prophesied it and your name's on it. Come on.
You ought to praise him if you've got a promise with your name. I've got a promise. I'm going to possess the land, but how do I access the promise?
Having a promise is of no value if you don't possess it. So, we got to move into possession of promise. We've got to enter or access the promise.
And that's the introductory text tonight in this first book of Joshua, the book of conquest. Now, after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spake unto Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses, minister, saying, uh, Moses, my servant, is dead. This one's hard, but God walks in and you can't, you know, here in the south, I've had to kind of get used to it.
You got to put sugar on top of the sugar on everything you say. And I've had to tell some people that daddy was dead or mom was dead. And let me just tell you how you don't do it in the South.
You don't knock on the door, ring, and be like, "Hey, uh, your dad's dead. Come on now. I'm changing churches.
" He came here. He was not very sensitive to my feelings and I just have emotions that I need to process and I feel like he should have been a little more gentle when he delivered that. He could have brought some flowers when he came but God just shows up and said he's dead.
I know you love Moses but Moses is dead. And the Bible says in Deuteronomy 34:6 that that God had buried him. Moses is dead.
God buries him. There's no grave. This is crazy because Abraham's got a grave and Isaac's got a grave.
Rebecca's got a grave. Jesus had a grave. Lazarus has a grave.
And Joshua's standing at the base of the mountain looking up saying saying, "Where's the body? I I I or or where's the man? I I don't I don't have I don't have anything.
" But but but God does not give Joshua a body. He don't give him a tombstone or a death certificate. There's no proof of passing.
There's no flowers to memorialize and celebrate the life of this great and incredible man of God. All he got is a word that said, "Moses is dead. " But but I didn't but I didn't see the body.
How am I going to move on? I don't have a tombstone. How do I move forward?
I didn't have a chance to say goodbye. It's just over. I've learned to move to promise.
You have to allow some things to die without the proof of their passing. Well, I need closure, preacher. But your desire for closure holds you captive in a place.
And you going to have to leave some things without closure. Not everybody's going to come back and say they were sorry. Not everybody's going to come back.
Come on. Not everybody going to come back and make it right. You may never know why they walked out and why she left you.
But you cannot hold your future hostage waiting on closure of the last chapter in order to move on uh to where God is taking this church. There's got to be some of you that say, "All right, I don't know how and why that happened. I don't have a body.
There's no tombstone, no death certificate. I don't know where they're at, but I refuse to hold it. Prisoner, there's a promise and I'm going to access the pro.
I've got to move on. I've got to move on. " Moses was amazing.
What a might mighty man of God. He was an anointed man of God. And in his calling in Exodus 3:10, God says, "Come now, therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh that thou mayest bring forth my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.
" Moses was anointed to bring the people of God out, but not anointed to bring the people of God in. I'm not disparaging the man. He was incredible.
Without him, we never come out of Egypt. Without him, there's no blood, water, and fire. Without him, there's no tabernacle plant or relationship intimately with God.
He taught us about morality. He taught us about her, oh Israel, the Lord our God is one. He taught us to take off our jewelry.
He taught us to live in holiness. He taught us how to love the law. He upheld the standard.
But we stand at the door. I said we stand at the door. And the word of the Lord says it's time to possess.
Come on, y'all staring at me. You were shouting with the preacher. I've come with a word.
It ain't a song. It's a word to tell you that the promise lies ahead of you. The be it begins tonight.
We're going to possess the promise. Moses is dead. And the truth is there's some ministry things where you served, you ain't going to ever serve again.
There's some powerful moves in the history of this church and it's going to be different than it's ever been. They're gone. But I refuse to stand staring at a mountain wondering when yester year will come back down and hold my children's future captive because I'm sentimental.
David, you got to move on, dude. You got to move on. And you going to have to bury.
You're going to have to bury old Saul. But find a grave and bury those bones. I'm going to tell you that's easy cuz I don't like Saul.
I I'm all about There's some funerals I'm happy to go to. Praise God. I were going to see at Saul's, you know, a sucker was trying to kill me.
He said, "But I also want you to bury Jonathan. " And and you know what? You know what old David did?
He took Saul and Jonathan. He the memories that he hated and the memories that he loved. He took both of them together and put them in the ground and covered them up.
He said, "Because I can't be a prisoner to the pain, but I also cannot be prisoner to the past and my pleas. " Come on, the pleasure in my past. I know some of you like the chairs and the pews in the building, but don't you fall so in love with this place that you hold the promise cuz I've come from with a word.
And the word is this isn't Arc's final destination. I know you're trying to get 1. 5 million, but I came with a bigger word.
There's another building. Why? Cuz there's a whole lot of people in West Monroe that need the truth.
I say possess the land, Ark. Possess the land. possess the [Applause] [Music] land.
Own it. You've conquered. Now you must possess it.
You conquered it in praise and prayer. You must possess it in holiness and righteous living. Uh it is the generation before us uh that took the territory, built the tabernacle.
And we're not going to give back what Moses handed us. We're not going to give back the blood of that lamb on the doorpost. We're not going to give back coming through that Red Sea baptism in Jesus name.
We're not going to give back that fire of the Holy Ghost. Uh we're not turning on separation. Come on.
We're not but we're out of Egypt, ladies and gentlemen. I said we're out of Egypt and we've got to move forward. Come on.
Some of you got it on pause and you spiritualize this. Well, I'm just standing still to see the salvation of the Lord. That that that that ain't a word from God.
I know. I know it don't fit in with all your fancy songs that we write songs to plate us and make us feel better about being stupid. Well, I'm just going to stand here.
That wasn't God's word. That was Moses word. God God never said stop.
Only 12 times in the Bible does it say stop. And eight of them it says don't do it. But 1,544 times it says go.
Come on. Moses said, you know why Moses said stop? Because he was afraid.
They got an army behind him and a red sea in front of him, mountains on either side. And the preacher's like, "Hold on just a sec. Y'all just stand still.
" And then he goes and praise to God. And God said, "Why'd you tell him to stop? I've come with a question.
Why do you have stop on the agenda? It's time to go like you've never gone. Dram like you've never dreamed.
believe like it. I wish I had 13% of you that stand. I said I said I said it's time to look at your promise and say it's go.
But there's a red sea in front of me. Put your foot on it. It'll part.
But there's a giant in my way. Sling a rock that man and fall. But don't you ever stop.
Don't you ever quit. Don't you turn around. Come on.
I tell everywhere I go, I can't remember what I preached there, but I tell everybody, it's it's the most weary the most tired generation I've ever ever lived in, I think, of all time. You got these 15year-old kids drinking 16 Red Bulls just to get to school in the morning. And I got couples in their 20s.
Oh, pastor, we're just tired. And I'm like, tired? What?
I'm 43 years old. I got a donkey, a pony. I got three chickens.
I had eight, but it's they're getting killed by these raccoons or something. I don't know what's getting them. It's killing my egg.
Killing my egg business, which is on fire right now, by the way. Here. It's coming down in prices.
I'm hoping not because I'm making a killing. I got a goldfish, two dogs, I got two cats, four kids, pastoring a church trying to figure out how to comb hair I don't even have. You talk about tired, baby.
You don't even know what tired is. You You y'all don't even know what tired is. The Well, preacher, I'm just a little tired.
I'm going to tell you why you're tired. It's scriptural and I've preached it probably to you before, but the Bible says that they shall run and not grow. The reason you're so weary is cuz I've been watching you sit there all night long.
You You're sitting and sitting is how you get tired. But if you want to get some strength, get up out of there. Well, my heart is overwhelmed.
And I go, "If your heart is overwhelmed, lead me to a rock that get me higher, not lower. You don't take time off. When you're going through hell, you don't lay down your ministry, your praise, or your shout.
You go, oh, I wish I had somebody that would revive an hour runner that would come on. That would shout, "I shall walk. I'm about to faint.
" Well, then you ought to get to walking. They shall walk and not They shall walk and not faint. And if you're going to possess and access promise, you got to be willing to say goodbye to some things without closure.
And you got to be willing and understand, I've got to I've got to keep going. Some of you could step into promise. But your problem is you can't step cuz all you do is sit.
That's why they said, "Why sit we here until we I'll say it again. Why sit we here until we You're going to die sitting. Ask Eli.
You'll die sitting. You got to get up it, baby. If you going to do something, it's time for you to revive your faith.
Uh revive your hallelujah. Restore your amen. You need to get your clap, your dance, your shout, your hallelujah, your spin and your twirl and your run.
You've got to get it back. [Applause] I'll tell you the demon of the multigenerational Pentecostal church that you have to fight. I've pastored all first generation.
I now pastor church almost 100 years old. I got people eighth generation. I'm sixth generation.
But but but I look at Jesus when he came out of the m the water into his ministry. He was tempted. I'm told he was tempted of the devil three times.
But I I actually found a fourth one. The first one he was tempted in his flesh and he said, "It is written. " He's flip he's tempted with money.
He says, "It is written. " He gave him a sermon. Devil tempts him.
He says uh with power and he says, "It is written. " He preaches, preach, preach. But then he comes up on down that mountain and he goes right into church and the devil's up in church.
You know, devil comes to church and there he is on a fourth temptation and he's there and the devil starts to talk, but it ain't got to do with power or money. It ain't got to do with with with with worship. It's I he says he says this.
He says uh Luke 4:34 he says we we know who you are. We know, we've got the revelation of Jesus Christ. He said, "So just leave us alone.
" The fourth demon of temptation is the demon of complacency. And when you come on, somebody. And you could preach to greed and you could preach to lust and you could preach to that stuff, but to complacency to the Pentecostal that comes to church and has to be preached with revelatory facts to get them to stand up and say, "Wow, that was really good.
But don't mess with me. We know who Jesus is. I'm sixth generation Pentecost.
My greatgrandfather has got books written in the himnel. Who do you think you are, you little preacher? Nobody.
" And you sit there and the the Bible says that Jesus did not preach to him because to complacency there is no discussion. The Bible says he cast him out. And I've come to preach with a bonus to tell you that if you don't like something on fire, you ain't going to be around too long cuz the things moving.
I said the church is moving and it's time that you get up and possess the land. Come on. I rebuke this chill out spirit.
Take it easy. Cancel church services. Lay off on prayer meeting.
The devil is a liar. I said the devil is a liar. Let's go like we've never gone.
Let's preach like we've never preached. Let's praise like we've never praised. Let's be the church and possess the promise.
If your neighbor's not on their feet, you ought to grab them by the hand and say, "You better get up cuz he's preaching to you. " Sitter, get on up. If you can Come on, somebody.
If you can stand with the praise team, you ought to always be on your feet with the preacher. I don't think it takes all that. It does.
I don't think it takes all that shouting and dancing. You're wrong. It does.
I don't think it takes all that praying and screaming. It does. What do you think got us here?
It was blood that got us here. It was fire that got us here. It was Holy Ghost prayer meetings that got us here.
It was our running and pew jump and devil stomping. It was all night praying in the spirit. That's what got us here.
and your revival, your revival. I feel in the Holy Ghost for this generation that the revival of this generation will not come from fancy songs but from fervent prayer. I could have iterated that other differently.
I could have said, "It's not going to come from praise. It's going to come from prayer. " But my my language was intentional.
I said fancy songs because it fits with what really is needing to be said. Fervent prayer. I didn't just say prayer.
But if we're going to have revival, I said if we're going to have revival, we have to learn how to pray. I said, "We're going to have to learn how to pray. " I said, "We're going to have to learn.
" Let me tell you what Pentecost is. Pentecost, the first sermon at Pentecost was an explanation of a prayer meeting. Let me just say that again.
What he got up to explain was what happened in the prayer room. We are not praying apostolic unless the preacher has to get up and tell them what just happened in the prayer room. They supposed them to be drunk was not how they praised with the track in the loop.
It was how they prayed in the prayer room. Do you want to go into promise? Then you're going to have to learn that it's more than just it's getting in a prayer room saying, "Pour out your spirit.
Pour out your spirit. Pour it out, oh God, day after day after day until suddenly there came from heaven a sound as of a mush rushing mighty wind and it filled. That was the result of prayer.
I'm going to prophesy that you'll see the supernatural when you bypass song services. Walk in this broom drunk in the Holy Ghost and the man of God gets up and says, "They are not drunk as you suppose. This is that.
Lift up your hands and receive the word of the [Applause] Lord. The pacivity, the complacency in our crying out has to die. It has to die.
I don't know. I I don't Well, I mean, you believe in that loud praying. I don't believe in all that.
I don't We're in the Bible. Well, how loud? There's a there's actually there's actually a way we can measure the proper decibel level of a prayer meeting.
Uh, it'll it'll take a little church science experiment. Y'all good with that? All right.
Paul and Silas. Y'all know Paul and Silas? The preacher and one lady.
God almighty. It's going to be long. No wonder they've been preaching an hour and a half.
Y'all don't know your Bible. Paul and Silas up in the prison. I think now you're lying because you don't want me to preach an hour and a half.
They they up in they up in the in the prison cell. Their backs. Well, give me a Paul and a Silas.
Come up here, Paul. Come up here, Silus. Come on.
Do do All right. You're bound up and and and you're thrown up in a prison cell, so you have to be on the ground. I can either we can make this easy or hard, but okay.
You want to be easy or hard? How do you want to be delivered on the ground? Hard.
Okay. Get down on the ground. There it is.
He's he he asked for it. Hands bound, feet bound. And the Bible says, Acts chapter 16 25, they sitting up in prison, backs beat, and and and and here they are with their arms tied up together.
That means they can't clap or dance. But now they ain't just in the prison. They're in the inner prison.
The inner prison walls are 9 ft thick. Nine ft. Look at your neighbor.
Say, "He said nine. " He said nine. He said 9 ft.
If you're from Europe, that's 3 m. Where? Where?
I got a p. Where's Chandler? Chandler, you be a prisoner.
Where you at, bud? You supposed to be here. He drove and left.
Well, I hope he comes back quick and in a hurry. Oh, hey, there he is. I need you to be a prisoner.
I want you to be Come on. Where you going to go? All right.
go in the prison. He up in the prison. Now, this really isn't a good measuring stick because it was 9 ft thick.
But all we've got is what? A 4-in door separating us. But now two dudes, here's the decibel level of an apostolic prayer meeting because I know that your Sunday school teacher said that they praised God, but the Bible says they prayed.
I I I'm not trying to hurt your Sunday school's feeling. She was a good lady. They did do the praising, but the first thing you do is the praying.
And the way that they were praying was not [Music] this. Come on, somebody. They weren't crossing and counting beads.
They were praying. Now, here's the decibel. We going to find the decibel level of an apostolic prayer meeting.
Y'all ready? You have to pray loud enough without amplification in order for the dude in the for you to hear. Can y'all do this?
All y'all be quiet. 1 2 3 [Music] go. Goes.
It's not loud enough. It obviously was louder than that. Geared up.
Come on. Well, that's not the prisoner. Louder.
[Music] There he is right there. There he is right there. Now, let me ask you this.
What if you would get your neighbor's hands and there would be 600 of them? I'll tell you what would happen. We wouldn't have to have a track, a loop, or a fog machine.
We wouldn't have to have somebody change an octave or somebody preach a revelatory fact about a truth we believe since Sunday school. We would say the supernatural. How you going to possess it?
I'm going to possess it with my mouth. I'm going to possess. Don't you miss the prayer room.
Don't you miss the prayer room. Don't you miss the prayer room. Go possess the land.
Yay. Yeah. Then they turn that praise into a prayer.
Can you that prayer into a praise? That ain't going to cut it. That's not how we possess.
We possess the land by moving by moving forward. Oh, preacher. Oh, preacher.
I just I think we should just try to protect what we've got. We got a good little thing going in the wilderness. Devil is a liar.
No. No. I feel it.
I I I'm telling you on the way here as I was praying, I wrote it in my notes. I said, "This is not the final building for this church. And everyone that's clapping will probably get to see it.
Cuz that's how it went down. Everybody that said amen got to go in. Everybody that said was silent died.
These Bible says their their carcasses fell. Flesh fell from their carcasses and they died in the wilderness. You ought to learn how to say amen.
When the man says we going to take it, you ought to get up and say, "Hey, man. Hey, because we are here to take and possess the land by faith. " They did a lot of cool things, but the coolest is they subdued kingdoms.
That wasn't in the air. They subdued the land in which they dwelled. That where they put their foot, West Monroe doesn't belong to the devil.
West Monroe doesn't belong to the Republicans. West Monroe doesn't belong to the Democrats or the Independents. West Bel Monroe belongs to the Apas.
I know you going to have a a missions conference and possess the world, but possessing the world starts with possessing West Monroe, Louisiana. You ought to drive down your street and put your feet on it and say, "This is mine. The city is [Applause] ours.
" I said, "The city is mine. West Monroe belongs to the apostolic church. I speak it in the name of Jesus.
In the name of Jesus, city council members uh are coming from this church. Uh the school board ought to be run by the apostolic. The commissioners ought to be apostolic.
Uh the state representatives ought to be apostolic. We're going to subdue the land. We're going to subdue the land.