Transcript of message from TV Broadcast 803 -- taken from Closed Captioning Text

-- Brother Phil Enlow: I pray that God will give me and everyone in here a holy dissatisfaction until we possess those wonderful things that we were singing about when we sung the song, "Jesus Won It All." I'm tired in my own spirit of having so much "fine print." I hear the promises of God or I hear about something that's happened somewhere, and God has powerfully moved by His spirit, and I hear about it and I say, well that's wonderful, but.... We are so easily talked out of what the Lord would have for us. We look around and say, well everybody else is content...everybody else is satisfied. Yeah, everybody else is in the same shape you're in. We need God.

( congregational amens ).

This church has in the past experienced some amazing things, and it's not that we want to just try to conjure up miraculous things, that's not the point. But we need the reality that Livera was talking about that was in that service. I believe that we had a measure of it this morning! Thank God! God is moving. God is awakening our freedom to praise Him...our freedom from things that have bound us and hindered us.

But I tell you, God wants to come by the Spirit and inhabit His church and fill it full of His power. Why should other people some place, some other time, some other place experience the things that they do and we just sit here and okay, praise God, and let's go back to our lives now? Is anybody getting what I'm saying this morning?

( congregational amens ).

We need God. We need to actually believe the promises of God and not let ourselves be satisfied. Oh God, I want to know what it means to be filled with Your Spirit.

( congregational praise ).

I want to be so full of the Lord that I won't have to preach to people, they will know...they'll come into my presence and they'll know that God is real. They'll come into our services and they'll know that God is real. We won't have to try to convince and try to struggle and strive to get people to do things.

( congregational praise ).

God will do it through us. God will do it. We can't just say, oh, that's the preacher's job. Oh, it's just some general thing. We need individually to say, God, give me a holy dissatisfaction that will cause me to say, oh God, what I see in these pages was not just put in here to fill up space and talk about a great and wonderful time that we can never have. It's just not for us. Whatever God has ever done is for us.

( congregational amens ).

It's just like the Lord saying, I've given you the land, Israelites. What you put under your foot, I've given to you. I just pray that God will just work in my heart and work in us to the point where we will just hunger and thirst to have what we don't have right now. God help us not to settle for, and think we've got so much. We are nothing apart from what Jesus Christ is in us.

That's what made Jesus what He was...it was the Father living in Him freely...able to express Himself without any hindrance from Jesus. What the Father said Jesus did and power flowed from Him. When there were people that needed to be healed, He was able...there was power to heal. When there was a matter of dealing with devils, most of the time the devils didn't wait for Jesus to come, they were screaming just because He walked up to them. God was so real in Him.

That was the same thing the early church experienced right after Pentecost. God's power was so real. There was one time when Peter was walking through the courtyards of the temple and people were trying to get under his shadow so they could be healed. You think those things are not for God's people, that He didn't put them in there to make us hungry and say we can have the reality. It's not, like I said, that we want to just conjure up a lot of miracles and glory in that. We want to glory in the cross.

( congregational amens ).

We want to glory in the One who died on that cross. But I'll tell you what He has given to us is ours. And I'm angry at the devil who would talk us out of it.

( congregational amens ).

I'm angry at the devil when I see him taking hold of people's lives, and making them miserable, and bringing them into bondage when we have freedom that's been purchased at the cross!

( congregational praise ).

But where is the army that's gonna rise up and say, it's ours and we will not have less than what He has given to us in the cross. Oh God, help us. God help us. Praise God!

'Course you know what happened in the next chapter...this same Peter that had been such a wishy-washy, impetuous guy such a short time before...Peter and John were going into the temple and this beggar had been there...everybody knew him. I think it says he was over forty years old, doesn't it? I haven't stopped to read this but I know he was not a young fellow. This was somebody that all his life he'd never walked.

There he was begging. What else would you do? In that time they didn't have welfare. He had his little tin cup and Peter said, look at us. And of course he looked expecting...okay you're gonna put some money in my...coins in my cup. He said, I don't have silver and I don't have gold, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus get up and walk.

Was Peter any different, humanly speaking, than any of us? I don't...he wasn't! But God was with him that day. Somehow we just imagine that other people that we read about or hear about, whether in the pages of Scripture or some other place in the world right now where there's miraculous things happening at times, we just think they're different--they're different. I'm not like that. I couldn't ever be like that. Where does that wisdom come from?

( congregational response ).

It comes from the devil. It comes from the liar who will do everything he can to undermine and undercut the faith of the church of Jesus Christ, water it down, make it powerless...cause it to feel like we're something, when God has got mountains of things that are ours. Oh, I pray that God will fill us with His faith.

Now I know there's no magic experience like I said so many times, where we can suddenly go from this level of faith to that, but God wants us to climb. God wants us not to settle down and just...oh well, it's gonna always be like it is. I got excited but now we're going back to the way it's supposed to be. Oh no! God help us to move from faith, to faith, to faith, to faith...because it's not us.

You know what trips me up more than any other single thing in this? It's that I'm not worthy. There's something in me that would cause God not to respond to me. I'm lacking in some way so I can't really believe God. That's a lie from Satan. Jesus has made us worthy.

( congregational amens ).

Now I know I'm not...you know it's a different thing. Now if you're out and you're living in something you know is wrong, that's another story, you need to repent. God will forgive you. But I mean just being what I am as a natural human being, I'm never going to measure up. That's the reason Jesus died, because I never could do it. My hope is not in me. My confidence to ask God for what He has given me in Christ Jesus is not based upon what I am!

I confess to you I have fallen in that trap so much in my life. But I'm just praying that God will help me. I'm believing that God is helping me to recognize that trap and that hindrance of the enemy. That's a wicked voice that would paralyze me and cause me say oh God, it's wonderful what you did over there, oh the miraculous things that you're doing over here, oh these great things...the power that flows through people to do your work! But I could never do that, because of me. I'll tell you, God just wants us to be given to Him. All the things that are wrong with us...don't you think He can take care of that?

( congregational amens ).

Don't you think He can heal broken hearts. Don't you think He can strengthen and empower us to live for Him? That's what the cross is all about. That's what the gospel is all about! It's not about what we can do! It's about what Jesus did for us and is willing to do in us to change us into His image.

( congregational praise ).

Praise God! It's our faith that fails to lay hold of what He has given to us in Christ! But He has called us to possess our possessions. Praise God! Praise God! And you know how these people went on...Peter went on and preached and...I'll tell you the church grew and the time came when they arrested 'em and brought 'em before the council and said, what are you doing? And they recognized, hey these are fisherman. They didn't go to our schools. Where in the world did they get this authority? I'll tell you what, where they got it, they got it from the One who has it all.

( congregational amens ).

Does Jesus possess all authority in heaven and earth or does He not? I'll tell you to the extent He inhabits His church and His church is obedient and believing and yielded to Him, there's no limitation to what He can do. Praise God! We're so full of unbelief just to hear something like that, aren't we? What was your reaction when you heard that? Yeah, yeah...I know but...yeah. You recognize what's going on here. God is looking for people who'll say, there are no "buts."

( congregational amens ).

Lord, help me to learn today to believe you and take a stand in my spirit, to trust and not be afraid like Isaiah 12:2 says, and to say Lord, what You have said, I am looking to You to help me to believe. I'm not looking to jump here, not looking to be somebody great. I just want You to live in me. I want to be a vital member of the body of Christ. I want my life to be about more than me. I want to be part of what You want to do in the earth.

( congregational amens ).

What is life about? What was the life of Jesus about? It was about one thing, serving God! And allowing God through Him to accomplish what He wanted to accomplish. That's what the church is about. It's not about coming to church and hearing...singing a few songs and going to heaven one day when you die, and otherwise living your life. It's about serving Jesus Christ.

I'll tell you God has a purpose for this church, and I believe with all my heart we can enter into it. We don't have to be reading about great things someplace else! God can do whatever He needs to do here if He'll have a people who will believe Him.

( congregational amens ).

I praise Him today. I praise Him for his goodness, and you know how they went and they were threatened. I think they beat them, threatened 'em, and they finally just let 'em go because they couldn't gainsay the miracle. It was something God specially did to get their attention.

It says, "On their release..." in chapter 4:23 (NIV). "...Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said them. When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God...." Boy, there wasn't any intimidation, there wasn't any backing down! They were saying, we serve the King of kings, the Lord of lords, we're doing what He's told us to do! We're not going to bow down to anybody when it comes to doing what God says. They went right to the source of all the power that they needed.

They didn't say, Lord, pour your judgments out upon these wicked men! God, fight these people! Oh God, look at the mean things they said and did to us! Oh God...you know, thunderbolts from heaven, Lord! They didn't do any of that. They recognized the real spirit that was behind what was going on. They quoted the Psalms where it says, "...Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One?"

That's what's going on. The spirit of this world is never going to willingly give in to the authority of Jesus Christ! But I'll tell you, there are captives that Satan holds behind those gates that we've heard about recently, but Jesus said, "...The gates of hell shall not prevail...." (KJV). I believe God has called us to do more than sit here in a comfortable Christianity behind our nice little walls. I don't know what that means, but I pray that God will open our eyes and empower our faith and be in us what we need to be. Praise God!

Pray for Don and Holly as they're getting ready to go to Florida that God will go with them and make them a light where they go. They're gonna be the church in their house. Pray that God will go with 'em and help 'em. They can't do it, just to be frankly honest...to use Jim Johnson's expression...they're not smart enough! But then neither are you and neither am I.

( laughter ).

We don't know what to do and we don't have the strength, but we've got One who knows everything and has all power. I'll tell you, just as Jesus was able to do what He did because He let the Father do it.... What would happen if we actually believed God...if we believed Jesus to be who He is in us. What would happen? Well let's see what happened.

So they are crying out! It says, "Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen." (NIV).

Oh, you see the sovereign hand of God even in that, don't you? "Now, Lord, consider their threats..." and pour our thunderbolts...no wait a minute, it didn't say that. "...Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness." There was a rising up to meet the challenge. The devil has challenged us. What are we gonna do with it? Are we gonna rise up and do something about it and take our stand, and call on God to empower us? Or are we gonna say, okay, sorry...didn't mean to step on your turf, devil. I'm not worthy to do anything about this. God help us to cry out to the God who hears prayer and answers prayer.

So what happened? They cried out "Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus. After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were..." The leaders were all filled with the Holy Spirit and the rest of them all went back to work. It doesn't say that, does it? "... The place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly." Is this just history or is this available? Is this something that Jesus won for us?

( congregational amens ).

Then I would just challenge us today to covenant together to call on God, and say God, we want Your reality. We're not trying to put on a show. We don't want to do anything just to draw attention to us. We want You to live in us. Show us what You want. God, help us to be able to have a burden and the ability and the knowledge to reach lost people that need You and to have a Word of power when people come in that can deliver captives.

And because God has given us these wonderful opportunities to broadcast to send forth a Word that will just be filled with Your Life. God, we don't have any knowledge, it's not just a bunch of information that we can put out there. We need the power of God's Spirit in the Word that's preached. God, come upon us as You never have before. Help us to cry out to You.

I thought of a scripture I read just this morning. Praise God! Mark chapter 4, I think. This is Mark's account of a scripture we've used, I think, in Luke on other occasions. Verse 24...He's talking about the parables and how He talked in parables. But then He says to the disciples, "Consider carefully what you hear...with the measure you use, it will be measured to you--and even more. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him."

What's He talking about? He's talking about the measure we have when we listen, when we go to God. How big is your measure? You come in with a teacup and say Lord, I'm here for Your blessings today. Take my little teacup and go...or do we come in with the biggest bushel basket we can get and say, oh God, I'm needy. Help me to hear everything that You have for me. Lord, my faith is weak. But where does faith come from? From hearing and from hearing the Word of God.

I'll tell you, I hope everyone here is praying. I know many are...are praying as we come to these services that it won't be just another service. Okay, we had a good service, isn't that great? Let's go do what we're gonna do. But you'll pray, oh God, come and speak, in spite of human vessels, come, give us what we need Lord, for this occasion. You know, You've got exactly what we need. But Lord when we come, help me to come with the biggest bushel basket I can find, expecting You to fill it Lord...expecting You to come because that's what You promised, with the measure you use.

What measure do you use? What measure do I use? Do we expect God to fulfill His Word? "With the measure you use, it will be measured to you--and even more." I'll tell you what, you're gonna have a hard time getting it out of here if you really believe God. It's gonna be overflowing. Maybe that means to somebody else, it'll just spill right over and touch their lives.

( congregational amens ).

Praise God! I Praise God! You think there's any limitation in the power that's available to Christ's church? Where's the limitation, where's the hindrance? Read about the Israelites that limited the Holy One of Israel. I just pray that God will work in my heart and in yours to create that holy dissatisfaction. Oh God.

There is no excuse, we cannot make any excuse for not having God's presence and God's power in greater and greater measure, can we? Is there any excuse? Can we say Lord, it's Your fault? It's not His fault. Nor do we have any right to wallow and say, oh poor me, I'm just gonna be this way. Jesus won it...how much?

( congregational response ).

All of it. And I pray that God will just so come upon us that we will--we will take hold and possess our possessions because they have been given to us freely by the grace of God through Jesus Christ. And I'll tell you who'll get the glory. It won't be us. It'll be the One who did the giving.

( congregational amens ).

It'll be the Lord Jesus Christ and the cross will be lifted up before the world. That's all that can help 'em. There's nothing we have that can help them. But we have Jesus who died to rescue people from a certain destruction under the power of Satan. But I'll tell you, it's gonna take power. It's gonna take the same power that fell upon the disciples on the day of Pentecost if we're gonna have the power to do the work of God. But that power is available. It's not just for them somewhere else, some other time. It's for us here if we'll dare to say, oh God, I ask You for Your Spirit. What was the promise? Those who ask Him for His Spirit, what's He gonna give us? A stone?

( congregational response ).

No! "...How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask...?" (KJV). Do we really want the Lord to come and to possess us? That's the problem a lot of times, we don't really want that? We're kind of comfortable, we're kind of settled in our ways, and that's gonna mess things up. Oh God, help us to be willing to be messed up. That's a wonderful way to be messed up, praise God! To actually have the joy of seeing God work. I'm seeing Him work, aren't you?

( congregational amens ).

This is not just, oh God, we're so terrible...no, God is working but let's not back down for one second. Until we have what they had at Pentecost, we don't have everything God has for us. Have you ever thought about it that way? That's real and it's not just for then and them, it's for us and now. So let's pray that God will help us to possess our possessions this day. Praise God! Does that sound like something we can agree on?

( congregational amens ).

Well let's do it. Praise God!

Return to Transcripts Page

---

---