In this sermon titled "Breaking the Strongholds in Your Family," the preacher emphasizes the unity of the gospel message. He highlights the central theme that God sent His son, Jesus Christ, to die for the sins of humanity, offering new life and cleansing to those who believe in Him. The preacher encourages believers to live in the power of the Holy Spirit and to overcome strongholds in their families. He draws inspiration from the story of Caleb and Joshua in the Bible, emphasizing the need for strength, courage, and faith in claiming the promised land. The sermon also references the story of Jesus healing a blind man in Bethsaida, illustrating the importance of obedience and faith in following Jesus.

This message is one of the Times Square Church Pulpit Series. It was recorded in the Sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. None of these messages are copyrighted, and you are welcome to make copies for free distribution to friends. My message tonight is entitled Breaking the Strongholds in Your Family. There is only one gospel. You hear it spoken through different personalities, but there is still just one gospel, and that is that God had a son, and he sent him to die for us, that we were sinners, and Jesus Christ died on a cross. And when he did that, whosoever believed in what he did, he gave new life to them, and he cleansed them from their sin. And then he said, now you're to live a new life in the power of me, that I would fill you with the Holy Spirit, because you're cleansed by my blood. And now I want to live my life through you. And all the world will stand amazed and know there is something divine in his followers. And so when we hear that gospel and we surrender to it, we say, Lord, that's truth. My heart is recognizing truth, and I surrender to it. And he comes into our hearts. That truth is designed to set us free. And either we are getting more free, or if we are not getting more free, then something serious is happening in our lives. Because the Bible says truth sets us free. We have an enemy who is the father of lies. And truth is so potent, and truth is so powerful, that anything and everything he can do to take truth out of our heart, to confuse us, to keep darkness in areas of our heart and mind, he will do. Because the power of truth is so incredible. We are born into the kingdom, all of us, as cripples. We come with holes. We are newborn babes with a lot of needs when we come into the kingdom. And when we come into the kingdom of the Son, we come very needy. And when we first get saved, it's like we know we're needy, and we rely on Jesus for everything. That is if you're saved. But then we begin the heart of man, aided by an enemy, will try to take us off a path that is for every believer. Beloved, that path is to follow Christ fully. When Jesus Christ walked on this earth, he did the will of the Father, and he walked to a Gethsemane, he walked to a cross, and then resurrection life. And it's going to be the same for you and I. Because the God who made us and sees deep into us, sees that he made us, and we're before him now as his children with two natures, a lower nature and a higher nature, a sin nature, a flesh nature, and a spirit nature. And he knows that in order for him to be seen in the way he desires to be seen in his people, there needs to be a death worked in us. We need to learn from his hand by the Spirit a crucified walk. Now we shy away from that because we don't understand that many times, we don't hear it spoken many times. The ironic thing is that today in this house, I'm amazed at how God has been speaking in all three messages the same thing. And we will be wise if we say, Lord Jesus, let me lay truth, this truth to heart. Teach me it. The crucified life is when our wants, our desires get submitted to God and say, is that what you would have for me? If he says yes, we rejoice in it. If he says no, we lay it down. As a body of believers, God wants to get us to the point where he speaks to us, we believe him and we do it. When he speaks in his word, we believe it. We don't act like spoiled children, always wanting to know why or when or where, because really that's just a procrastination. You know, why did this happen? Why did that happen? Well, beloved, you can ask those questions if you want, but it's just stalling. We would get farther in Christ with a fuller revelation of him. He could bring us to that promised land of complete trust and abiding in him in an abundant, like we've never known if we would just for a season, lay the wives down. I heard Elizabeth Elliott speak yesterday to the women. She said, you know, five minutes of radical obedience will change a lot of things. And I believe that. And the crucified one lives in us and he is going to show us what that walk entails. He knows that in us, there's a longing to be whole. And in order to be whole, we have to become holy Christ. You know, that word w H O L L W H O L L Y holy. And the word holy H O L Y have the same root. And anyone who truly is holy H O L L Y is having by faith, the holes in them filled by the person of Jesus Christ, not by answers, not by psychology, not by good fortune, but by Christ himself. If the holes are being filled by anything else, you're not getting whole and you're not getting free. If Christ is not feeling the ache in your heart is not removed, exposing the sin and filling it with himself. We are still staying a people full of holes. Holiness is so far from being a long face, heavy spirited religionist. A holy person is a person getting the holes filled with Christ and moving into a joy in him that the world doesn't understand becoming whole inside, not where you're grasping for people to do something for you that people can't do. And that's living an unsatisfied life. It's possible to be saved, but not satisfied, but Jesus wants us saved and satisfied. Beloved that comes through submission to him and his will. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live yet. Not I, not my wants, not my desires, but Christ lives in me. And he's going to give us a whole new set of wants and desires that are going to be holy. They're going to be full of life, abundant life. We're going to get a taste of what it is to be forgiven and walking clean of what it is to walk daily, hearing his voice of what it is to know the pleasure of being obedient, the power of our thinking being changed to receiving the mind of Christ. But I'm not talking pie in the sky. This is the gospel. This is not a radical thing. What I'm speaking to you is what Christ wants for every follower, every child of his that they be whole. That means when we say, Lord, teach me that walking with you is a crucified life. That means it's not what I want. I submit to what you would have for my life. Whatever. I don't reserve a part that Lord you and I share. I don't reserve a part to say, Lord, that's too hard. You can't expect me to give this to you right now. No, it's starting right now, saying whatever you want for me in my life, whatever. Lord, you'll give me the grace to pray that prayer to mean it. And when you take me up on it, Lord, you're going to nail my foot to the floor and I'm not going to run away from it. The desiring to be whole person embraces the cross of Christ and says by faith, I am no longer going to live to please myself or Jesus. I'm going to live to please you and lead on. Hell will throw everything. It's God at a believer like this. Hell will throw everything against a person who's starting to have a cry formed in their heart like this, because a heart cry like this is the greatest threat the kingdom of darkness ever hears. And one man or one woman who determines in their heart to say, I live for Jesus Christ and him alone, that person will break through every stronghold. That person will in the power of Christ, break the prison cell doors. Every chain will be soaked off their wrist and will set off a nuclear reaction in their family. The hardest place for it to happen will happen there. I want to show you a story of a man very unique in his generation who had the grace upon him that when God spoke to him, he believed every word. I'm sure the devil fought him every step of the way, but the more that he chose to believe the word in spite of his feelings, in spite of the circumstance, the more his faith grew, the greater his influence, the greater if we can hear the way he would speak to us tonight through his life, we will see hope for our family. Hope. I know I speak for so many tonight as we've been sitting, being fed God's word week after week. If you're truly a child of God, you're getting a heart for your family. You're getting a heart for the unsaved. There's a longing in you to want to see mother, brother, sister, spouse, in-laws be saved. Yet when we get around them, we get shut down so many times. It's like that is the hardest wall to penetrate is that inner circle around us. Christ experienced it too. But I want us to turn to Numbers 14. I want us to look at an Old Testament man. His name is Caleb. Numbers 14 and verse 24. It says, verse 24, but my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him and it followed me fully him, will I bring into the land where into he went and his seed shall possess it. Now, who is this man that fully followed the Lord and hence received the land, the promised land? Who is this man that everything God had promised, he received it and was able to pass it on to his seed? What kind of man that he can pass on this kind of inheritance? You know, it's one thing to have a faith in Christ. It's another thing to pass it on. After a lot, he was not able to do it to his children or his generation, but there is a man here who can. It says here, he's a man of another spirit and followed me fully. Caleb was one of the, there were 12 spies sent into the promised land by Moses. Many of you know the story. 10 came back with an evil report and said, it's a land surely flowing with milk and honey. It's everything you ever said it was, but it's still with giants and we can't have this land. But two came back with a report and said, no, this is a land God has given us. We are well able to take it. And in numbers 13, just one page over, we hear the voice of Caleb and in voice 13, verse 1330, he says, let us go up at once and possess it for we are well able to overcome it. In numbers 14, eight, this man speaks again. And he says, if the Lord delight in us, then he will bring us into this land and give it us a land, which flows with milk and honey, only rebelled, not against the Lord. Neither fear ye the people of the land, for they are bred for us. Their defense is departed from them. And the Lord is with us. Fear them not. But the congregation, all the congregation, they stone them with stones. Here's a man, here's another spirit speaking. He says that God has said we can have this land. He goes to the, he goes to that promise land. He sees it all. And what is burning in his heart is that God says we can have it. Then we can have it. Then he comes back and these are princes of the tribes of Israel. And they're absolutely overcome by what they see. And so Caleb begins to, his heart is stirred because he can believe when God speaks to him. He can believe it when God speaks to him. And he says, don't rebel against the Lord. He's saying, let God be God to us. He said we could have it. Now we can't get in ourselves. So let's let God be God to us and let him give it to us. If he said he would, he says, do not rebel against the Lord. Neither fear the people of the land. He's saying, you're looking at them and you're fearing them. But he'd be actually, what he was saying was, and in the midst of the men standing with me, there's a fear in them and the imprint of their fear. Yes. We want to come against him. And so he's turning to them and he's saying, they're fearing you when you look at them, but we do not need to fear these people. We do not need to take this imprint of people. God has spoken. And if we will cling to God, he's going to give us a spirit of faith. He was saying, we don't have to fear them. He was rejecting the imprint of those that were unbelieving around him. He was rejecting the imprint of what he saw with his eyes in that promised land. He says, I see with another set of eyes. He says they are bred for us. He's saying these enemies are for us to consume. They're saying their defenses departed from them. 10 men could not see that. But because this man had determined in his heart, when God speaks to me, I will choose to believe him in spite of what I see. God gave him a set of spiritual eyes. Our faith gave him a new set of eyes and a new set of ears. He could see something men that were fearful and trembling when it was bringing a dishonor to God for them to fear and tremble. He refused it. And he said, because of that, God is giving me something to see. You see the 10 princes that went in, they were not novices in the things of God. They had been brought from Egypt. They had been brought to a wilderness. They had seen God work in their midst miraculously time after time after time again. And it came a time for that people to have faith. It came time for that leadership to say, God has been so faithful to us. God has done nothing but deliver us. It is time to look what we see with our natural eyes, declare him to be true, declare him to be faithful to his word and not fear. These men were sinning by fear because they were not novice. Caleb was given a new set of eyes because he chose to believe God. And finally he said, the Lord is with us. What more guarantee can we have? What more can be said, take the rest away, but leave God is with us. Just see Caleb believed that. Caleb laid that to his heart. If we do not lay the words of God to our heart, we will get a hardened heart. How many times must God speak to us? And we don't believe before we run the risk of a hardened heart. Oh yes, it is easy to doubt God, but there's a choice that you and I that are well taught have to make. Say, I refuse the feelings, the circumstances. Lord, when you speak, I'm going to crucify the doubt. I'm going to choose to believe you. It will cost me to follow you in these words you are speaking because many times I just don't want to enter that land. But if you are my God and you say that you are to lead me, then go, I will. And that's what Caleb did. And he was now becoming a man in their midst with another spirit. Of course, his contemporary said stone him with stones. That's the religious world's response to faith. That is your family's response to your faith. Many times, shut you down, shut you up, and give you such a fierce look that you'll turn away and you will not speak to them. Give you such a fierce countenance that you tremble before them. Stone them with stones. Joshua and Caleb urged and encouraged, but those brethren would not hear. Interesting enough, those 10 men, those 10 princes of Israel died by a plague right before them. And all the nation of Israel went back into the wilderness of sin for 40 years. God could not believe his people, his own people that he loved, that he lived among, that he died, he fed, he directed, he watered, could doubt him. And he knew how infectious unbelief was. So that generation died. All those men, 20 years old and up, that received into their heart an evil report about him. Really, the evil report was about him. God can't deliver us. The giants are stupid. The giants were their God. He was not. So he says back into the wilderness and they went. And any male, 20 years old and over, died in that wilderness and a new generation was risen up. And now God leads them back to the promised land. This time with Caleb and Joshua in leadership. Men now that had to go back into the wilderness with that group, though they were believing, though they were faithful, though they trusted God, though they believed with everything in their being, that God could have given them the promised land that time. They went back and wandered with them. Beloved God does not toy with our lives. That generation under their leadership now had a heart to fight. Their faith, their light, ignited hearts around them. Now God is giving a new word to a new generation under the leadership of Caleb and Joshua. If you would turn with me to Joshua 1, we'll read this new commission. He says in Joshua 1, starting at verse 3, every place that the soul of your foot shall tread upon that have I given unto you, as I said, unto Moses, verse six, be strong and of good courage for unto this people shall thou divide for an inheritance, the land, which I swear unto their fathers to give them only be thou strong and very courageous. First nine have not. I commanded these be strong and of good courage. Be not afraid. Neither be thou dismayed for the Lord. Thy God is with the weather. So ever thou goeth, nothing had changed. The heart of God still longs to be, to grant an inheritance to his people. He was determined to give to his people the inheritance that he had promised way back in the days of Abraham. He longed to give this land to his people. He said, be strong in me, be courageous in me for the Lord. Thy God is with thee wherever thou goeth. He said, wherever your foot walks, I have given it unto you. I'm not. I will give it not. If you're win, I will give it not. If you're good enough, I will give it. I have given it to you. So be strong and be courageous, be strong and be courageous. I am with you and I have given you the land. Now the land that they went into was inhabited by the enemies of Israel. They did not just cross over the river Jordan and walk into a land empty. They were going into a land inhabited by their enemies. There were strongholds in that land. There were people who had dwelt there for generation, had tilled it. There was wells, there was cattle. They were going to fight to the death for that land. The enemies of Israel, the Jebusites, the parasites, the Hivites, the Amorites, the Ammonites, they were there. And when they first crossed the river Jericho, they fought together under the leadership of their general Joshua, and they took down the city of Jericho. And eventually they took the city of Ai. But over time they were to divide up the 12 tribes of Israel, and they were apportioned a piece of the promised land. So they never, no longer fought as a unit, but they were now to go and claim their inheritance, each tribe. And they would have to fight whoever the enemy were of that area. They would have to fight for that land. And the interesting thing is that when they divided up now and they had to go and fight for their portion, their inheritance, each tribe, you know, some of them had to fight in high country. Some of them had to fight in low country. Some of them had to fight the ground across the coastal land on the seas, some the plains, some the mountains. It required different styles of fighting, different tactics. Beloved, I'm reminded today that for us, when we go in to claim our promised land, that is very similar. For some of us it's a stronghold of pride. For some it's a stronghold of fear. For some it's rebellion. But the Lord said, be strong and courageous. I have given you this land and you will possess it in me by faith. Now, Joshua in chapter 14, because Caleb, when he had first gone in to spy out the land 40 years earlier, when he had gone in there, he had seen a mountain. And the Bible tells us that after that first tour through the promised land, he wanted that mountain. He wanted that piece of land for himself. And the Lord had said he could have it. And when the tribes went in and Caleb was leading the tribe of Judah, he reminded the leadership that God said he could have a mountain to himself. And the Bible says in verse 12, in Joshua 14, it says now, therefore Joshua declared, give me this mountain. I'm sorry. Caleb said, now, therefore give me this mountain. And it tells us in verse 11, he says, as yet, I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me. As my strength was then, even so is my strength now for war, both to go out and to come in. And he was saying, I was a threat to the enemy then 40 years ago. I'm still a threat today. That's what a man of faith is. He does not diminish. He does not lose ground in God. He may not understand the ground God takes him through in winning his promised land, but as he followed, he goes from strength to strength. And here's this man, undiminished, still a man of war at 85 years old. The Bible says that on that mountain, it was inhabited the giants of the giant, the giant of the giant, the Anakins. And there were three fierce brothers. And the Bible says that Caleb was able to take that mountain. He won it completely. He possessed that mountain. Faith arose in him. He says, give me this mountain. It was a sense of saying, give me the highest place. Give me the hardest place that all may see how awesome and faithful my God is. Give me the highest place so that all can see it's not about me. But when I believe his words in me, look what he can do for me. And so in this huge mountain in the land, all those that could look to the mountain and see Caleb's mountain could see it was the mountain God gave Caleb, a man burning for God's glory. Now the tribes entered the promised land and they divided up and they were told that they were to fully possess the land. They were to make no peace with the enemy. They were not to make allegiances. They were to drive them out of the land that was God had given them. They were to demolish the enemy. They were to throw down their altars and cleanse the land. They were to fully possess their inheritance. I want us to quickly go to judges chapter one and see how they fared out. The next book over judges one in judges one, starting at verse 19 says, and the Lord was with Judah and he drove out the inhabitants of the mountain, but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley because they had iron chariots. So we see that Judah had a partial victory verse 21 and the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabit Jerusalem. Verse 27, neither did Manasseh drive out the inhabitants of Bethshean. Verse 29, neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites that dwelt in Giza. Verse 30, neither did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron. Verse 31, neither did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Achal. Verse 33, neither did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Bethshemesh. Verse 34, and the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountain, for they would not suffer them to come down into the valley. Beloved, I was stunned one day in my reading coming through this. It was like I did not realize how little the children of Israel possessed when so much had been promised to them. I did not realize in the face of all God had said to their fathers and to them, when everything at their disposal to take the land promised to them, they took so little. And then the tribe of Dan, not only did they just partially dwell in the land, the Bible says that when they went into their inheritance, they were so overpowered by their enemy. They were forced up into a little corner of the land, shut up, very prophetic to what was to happen to that nation. Beloved, they did not obey. They did not believe all they needed to drive out the enemy. And they did not do it. The Lord in chapter two answers this people. He says, an angel of the Lord, Judges two, verse one came up. I made you to go up out of Egypt. I brought you unto the land, which I swear unto your fathers. And I said, I will never break my covenant with you. And you shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land. You shall throw down their altars, but ye have not obeyed my voice. Why have you done this? Wherefore, I also said, I will not drive them out from before you, but they shall be as thorns in your side and their God shall be a snare unto you. It's like God was striving with a people he loved. It was what more could he say? What more could he do? He said, I'm your God. I am with you. Be strong and courageous. I will go with you. I have determined to give you this land. Beloved. The land is the Lord Jesus Christ in the new Testament. The Bible says in the psalm that it says, Jesus Christ, he is my portion. The Lord is my portion in my cup. The land is a full possession of Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ fully possessing us. This is the land in the new Testament. The North, the South, the East and the West. It's all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, all our strength. God says, it's my will that you possess all of me. And I possess all of you. But beloved, this whole Testament story has a new Testament application. In spite of all the promises that we receive and we hear, why do we not believe him? Why are there still strongholds? Why is there no freedom in our lives? Those that say we love the Lord. In this group here, it says here, God says, finally, he says, I will not drive them out. I have told you the land is yours. You don't know what it is when you make peace with the enemy. You do not know what you're bargaining for. He says, there are going to be thorns in your side. That means there will never be a comfort in your walk within your religion. There will be an anguish and beloved for many, many. That will not walk the way the Lord Jesus is asking us to walk. He is saying, I want you to learn to deny yourself and take up your cross. Then I'll bring you into freedom. And they say, no, I want to be a Christian on my terms. And God says, fine, then you'll live with an enemy. You'll live with thorns in your side. I will not drive them out. You will live with anguish and the God that you say you do not serve will be a snare to you. You will be a captivated people proclaiming you're free. And we'll call it a Christian walk. Then we'll say to our loved ones, oh, come to this light. Jesus said, if the light be in you, darkness, how great is that darkness? The light we're offering our family or those that know it's the most have to be the pure light. If we have settled down, we have not taken possession of the land. If we have made peace with our enemies, if now we live with thorns in our side, there's an anguish in our spirit. And if there's no peace, and then we tell them, come to this light, it is a wonder they don't come. I could see in this generation, the leadership coming together, having church, a captivated leadership of these tribes. They could reassure themselves that what was pervasive must be permissible with God. If everybody around that they look was captivated, partially captivated, it must be God's will. In religious conferences, they could have titles like living with your realities should be subtitled living with your rebellion, how to maintain peace with the enemy, sharing false alters. Is this really abomination? But I'll tell you what was never said, make peace with the enemy and your children will live in bondage. I would say, live with it. Live with the reality of letting the enemy settle down with you. Settle down in your heart, make a stronghold. God knows you've been hurt. God knows you've been betrayed. God knows there's a pain. The enemy wants you and I on a treadmill of why God, why God, why God? Because we sound religious. But believe it, beloved, it's truly called living in disobedience. God says, I'm giving you the land. I will give it all to you. But you come my way. You fully follow me. Because I'll tell you something, when we see disobedience for what it is, beloved, there is an accompanying price tag that we don't want to pay. And Jesus knew that. How much more difficult it was going to be trying to set our own way, our own Christian walk, not led by the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, they would have, Caleb was in their midst in a high mountain while they lived in captivity with an empty, with a promise ringing in their ear. But I could hear what they would say, Caleb is not reality. I mean, he's a super Christian. He has something, you know, we don't have. Which was true. He just simply chose to believe when God spoke to him. It was that simple. The mountain for us in our generation, I believe, is the cry, give me my family. Let me lead my family to Christ. Let the light in me overcome the darkness. That's a Caleb cry. That's a Caleb call. If you're here tonight and it is Lord Jesus, I would be the light in me to even break the darkness in my own Jerusalem, the place closest to me. Beloved, it's going to take more than just a promise of God. It's going to take more than you and I being a forgiven Christian. It's not, it's there comes a point. It's not enough to be forgiven, but we must become a forgiven and a free people to reach our family. That's the promise land Caleb. It tells us in numbers 1424, it says Caleb, my servant, he had another spirit and he followed me fully him. Will I bring into the land? Beloved, we can apply that directly to our lives. There's a call going out tonight by the spirit of God. It's saying, I've given you the land. I would that you possess all of Jesus Christ in his fullness. And he wants to possess all of you, all of me. Don't let the devil tell you that's a pie in the sky. Unreality. It is a shore up promise as the ones made to the children of Israel. It is. But if we have to say, Lord Jesus, lead your way, lead through the past, I don't understand, but don't let me be fine. Be found carrying how far behind you saying, why this way? Why through the rocky road? Why through these boring coastal land? Why this? Why that we should settle it in our heart tonight. Lord Jesus, give me the heart that when you speak, it is enough that Caleb, my servant, that's what servant is. That's when he was described, Caleb, my servant. This is the first, first entrance way into a faith that can smash strongholds found in our heart and subsequently in our family. When he said my servant, that's someone who constantly bows their knee and their head to their Lord, his will, not ours. And it's as simple as that. When the Lord speaks, we learn the first reflex is to bow the knee. It's as simple as that. But if you walk with them any length of time, God has asked you stuff you don't want to do. He has asked me things I have not wanted to do. And there have been times I have not done it. And then I get entangled in the land. Then all of a sudden this Christian walk becomes hard and complicated. It just took obeying him. That's a crucifixion. We have a stronger will than you and I know. But when we learn to say, when you speak, I will bow my knee, that's a crucifixion of our will. But beloved, it resolves in a life that we know so little about when we live a disobedient life. It's a daily dying. It's saying your will, not mine, if we have to say it a thousand times a day. The Holy Spirit is going to learn to teach those that want to possess Jesus Christ. That's an automatic response. Caleb had another spirit. It was a cleansed temple. The Holy Spirit filled this man. Beloved, if you belong to Jesus Christ, that means his blood has cleansed you. That means you are a fit place for the Holy Ghost to dwell. And the Holy Ghost, if we're saved, we have a measure of him. And it is our privilege every day to lift our hands up and say, fill me Holy Spirit and give me the mind of Christ. We don't have to flounder around all the time. Is that God speaking, the devil speaking or my flesh speaking? We just submit the thought to the Lord and ask him to show us. And you know what he does? We live in constant touch with him because we ask every day for a filling of the Holy Ghost. And when the Holy Ghost begins to come and give us the mind of Christ, he does something incredible. The Bible says that in Romans 5, 5, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. If you have trouble receiving the love of God for you, if you have trouble truly believing an awesome God that loves you and gave himself for you, died for you, longs to cleanse you, longs to give you his heart, longs to show himself strong, longs to be your father, longs to be your brother, longs that you be his cherished bride. And you have a hard time receiving that. You ask for a daily filling of the Holy Ghost because the Bible says it's the Holy Ghost that sheds that abroad in our heart, makes it real, makes it clear, makes it full, makes it abundant, another spirit. Hallelujah. And finally, the Bible says that this man Caleb, a man full of faith with a servant of God, he had another spirit. And the Bible says he fully followed, he fully followed. If Jesus had stopped short of the cross, not followed the will of God fully, but if Jesus had stopped short of the cross, where would you and I be tonight? What would our lives look like had he not fully followed? Beloved, we determine with our will, I will follow you fully in the power of the risen Christ, but we determine in our will, I will follow you fully wherever you lead. There will be a grace for me to follow. There'll be rocky places, flat, boring places, places we don't understand. But if we commit to follow him, something incredible is going to happen. And I want to show you, if you would just quickly turn with me to Mark nine, Mark chapter nine, fully following is something we determined to do. Through the good times, through the bad times, when it makes sense, when it doesn't make sense, when it's fun, when it's not fun, when we cry, when we laugh, nothing deters us. We make a determination in our heart that we will fully follow him. In Mark nine, chapter two, sorry, verse two, chapter nine of Mark says, and after six days, Jesus taketh with him Peter, James, and John and leadeth them up into a high mountain apart by themselves. Now, Jesus had 12 disciples. Yes. The interesting thing is it says he leadeth three of them up. And I had to think just for a minute, when Jesus made it known he was going to a mountain, he was able to lead three up. Did he say he was going there? And for the rest of them, was it a hot day? Was it going to look like an arduous trip? And a lot of them just, you know, they loved him, but it was those who love his presence, got up and went with him. Those that love his presence can be led. Those that want him can be led. And so what happens? They go up the mountain. Going up a mountain is going up a mountain. That means it was not always easy going. They get to the top. And what happens? Those that follow get the revelation. And all of a sudden, Jesus Christ begins to transfigure, begins to change before them. It's like they're seeing him like they've never seen him before. The Bible says that all of a sudden his raiment was a white on that no white on earth can be seen or found. And his presence in his countenance was changed. And the Bible says that cloud overshadowed them. And a voice from heaven said, this is my beloved son. Hear him. And they got this incredible revelation of Jesus Christ, that God in heaven spoke and said, I have a son. This is him. Hear him. I'll tell you something. I know they had doubts. I know they had doubts all the way up the mountain. But I tell you something for one glorious moment, all the doubts were gone. And it was so glorious. Peter wanted to stay there. But Jesus said, no, you got to follow me down the mountain. So they got up and they follow him back down. And when they go down in the valley, they meet a family in total disarray. Family with a demon possessed boy and the darkness and the horror of having a demon possessed child that paralyzed everyone in that group. And the disciples that had not followed him up the mountain were now the same people dealing with the demon possessed boy. Or should I say not dealing? Because when that blackness and that horror comes into their midst, there was nothing they could do. And they knew it. In fact, they never knew anybody who could do anything about it. And Jesus comes and he's coming down the mountain. He turns to those three men and he says, say nothing of what you've seen. And then they come down into this situation of family and disarray. And the father comes and you know the story. He says, do something with my boy. And Jesus said, if you can believe all things are possible to them that believe. And then he cries out, if I could paraphrase it, well, that's the point. I believe, but only to a point. Now and then I end off believing. And beloved, this is the point now where Jesus Christ is leading. Jesus Christ in our walk with him will lead us to the exact place in our walk where our belief ends and unbelief takes over. Because he loves us. He knows the areas of our heart where we really don't believe where we want to, but we don't fully follow him. Because the Bible, he takes us to the point. And now these three disciples that know like they know that he is the son of God can see themselves and the other apostles who look totally overwhelmed at this whole situation. But it's like these three disciples now can see, this is what I look like before the mountain. Now I've come down the other side of the mountain. I know who he is. And now we begin to see that Jesus will bring us when we fully follow him to a point where our belief ends and unbelief starts. That's what was happening with the other disciples, that they may believe that he may reveal himself. He's so gracious to us. And he cast the demon out of that boy. Beloved, when we fully follow him, he will reveal himself to us in ways we need to do it. Then he'll take us back down to the mountain. He'll put us in places where we can't believe him. We only have our faith runs out. He leads us to that point because then he's going to reveal himself as the only one who can come up against the devil and win every time. Don't sit there tonight and say, I don't have the faith of Caleb. That's all right. You keep following, keep following, but you fully follow him. Don't stop halfway. Don't look at the situation and say, I'm overwhelmed. It is Jesus Christ leading you and I to the point where we are overwhelmed that he may take us to the next place, a complete faith in him. Hallelujah. When that man cried out, Lord, I believe help my unbelief. I'll tell you something. It was a cry of the spirit. When he cried, help my unbelief. When we fully follow, we get past the cries of the flesh. Oh God, why? We push into a cry of the spirit. I don't believe help my unbelief. You're the only one who can give me belief for this journey. You're the only one who can confront the devil and win every time on your turf. Lord, help me believe and we'll see a faith grow beloved and following fully. He's going to take us by the hand and he's going to teach us a lesson of obedience. Mark nine. No. Yeah. Mark eight. Sorry. Mark eight. Jesus in verse 22, there's a blind man in a town of Bethsaida and the Bible tells us that Jesus leads this blind man out by the hand out of the town. Verse 23. And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. And when he had spit on his eyes and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw it. And he looked up and said, I see men as trees walking. And after that, he put his hands again upon his eyes and made him look up. And he was restored and saw every man clearly. And he sent him away to his house saying, neither go into the town nor tell it to any in the town. Now, beloved. Jesus leads him out of a place. He did not heal him in that town. He very pointedly led him by the hand as a blind man out of that town. And the Bible says he spit and he and then said, what do you see? And he said, men as trees walking. Now, the one who made the eye to see did not have a temporary miracle disconnect. The one who made the eye see. Did that on purpose for that man's sake and for our sake, he touched him again and then he said, now, what do you see? And he said, it's restored. I see clearly. Then Jesus said to him, don't go back in that town. And he said, and don't talk to the people in that town and don't have anything to do with those in that town. Beloved, I'll tell you something. That miracle was about those last instructions. Because when you and I, so many times when we get in a spot and we say, Lord, by faith, I want to walk with you, I want to learn a walk of faith. And he takes us by the hand because we're blind without him. We're blind to what's in our heart. We're blind to the situation. So many times we need to be led. But when we're led out of a situation, he says, I want to show you a principle. What happens if you take matters back into your own hands? If you do not learn a walk of obedience with me? He put his hands on his eyes and said, what do you see? He says, I see men as trees walking. I could see. Beloved, tell me something. Is that man blind? No. But does that man see? No. He's not blind, but he doesn't see. What is he? Jesus put his hands back on and now he can see again. And then he said, now I've got a direct command for you. And he was showing him if you disobey me, if you go back into those places that I have led you out of, if I am taking you by the hand because you want to learn a walk of faith and only I can bring you through this walk of faith and I begin to ask you to do things. Obey me, because otherwise I'll tell you what will happen. We'll become Christians who say we see and we see nothing at all. We will become people blinded, going to our relatives and going to our families. They don't you wish you could see like I see and we will be a reproach of the gospel. You see obedience, beloved. This is how we love him. We obey him. That takes a crucifixion. That's a crucified walk. But beloved, when we decide, yeah, Lord, I will fully follow you. I will fully follow you. And in that following, that is going to mean I'm going to have to trust you and I'm going to have to obey you. But as he takes us through that crucifying of our flesh, when our will is crossed and we learn to bend our knee first, ask the question second, and we learn that kind of walk with him, I tell you something, the strongholds in our heart are going to be smashed wide open. We're going to start to be a people filled with the spirit of God. We're going to start to be truly free. And do you know something? Our family is going to know it. This doesn't mean you and I never fail. This does not mean that there's not times that we don't doubt, but we make a determination in our heart. Lord, when you speak, I remember this is God speaking to me. I put my hand out and I trust you. I obey you. I follow you fully. And believe that the stronghold in us are broken. And that was what Caleb did. That is the story of Caleb's life. And that's why in the midst of a backslidden apostate religious group that he could say, give me that mountain for all of those thorn stricken God and little G God ensnared people would look up and he would be a thorn to them. That God is real and God is able to give us the mountain. God is able to give us the inheritance when we follow him. But as we live, as we become more and more free people, I'll tell you something. That's when our family says there is something to this because they know us. They know who we are. They know what we're made of. But will we begin to turn truly and submit to the Lord Jesus Christ? You know what? He lives his life through us. They cannot confound the words of Christ. They cannot dispute the miracles that will happen in our lives because Christ's working through us. They will begin to see and hear about the mind of Christ and a wisdom that we never had. An understanding we never had. A way of dealing with people. We didn't have to be right all the time. Now there's a softness in us. There's an understanding heart and we love like Christ loves. Beloved, we so often are the ones that block our families from coming to Christ. But if we would determine in our hearts to be a free people, that's our inheritance. We can be a free people, fully following him, taking up our cross, denying ourselves, taking up our cross and following him. We will be free. Our seed and those around us will see it. And we will pass on a living legacy because they'll say, I want that. People who sit in darkness want light. People who are abound want freedom. They want reality. They want the real thing. And when Jesus Christ is seen in a light, he is irresistible. He is longed for when he is seen in us. Caleb was just an ordinary man. He was no different from you and I. He ended up far above where most of the church is today. A man of flesh and blood making a surrender, believing God when he spoke to him. Beloved, there are many, many in this place tonight. God has been speaking to you. God has been speaking something to you repeatedly. We do not set the terms of the relationship. When Israel thought that they could ignore God, they paid a very high price. Beloved, tonight, God is telling us it is possible for you to have such a radically different life, to be free in him as never before. It is possible. It is possible if we will believe him. For those of you that you know the Lord has been after something and speaking to you about something and you have been resisting him, there is an altar here saying, Lord, I realize I have been blocking the block in my family because I have been full of holes that I have not let you fill with yourself. I have been preaching Jesus but not living Jesus. For some, you just really don't believe it, that you can have the fullness he offers because you have tried and not a lot changes. I say to you, fully follow. The work is not over. We cannot see with our finite mind what he is doing and the steps that need to happen. Fully follow. The son of God will see us through. We determine in our heart, God, you will be God to me. For many, the call to have a community lighthouse is an exciting thing. It is an exciting thing. But you will reproduce after your own kind. If the walls are down in a certain area, there is a stronghold of unbelief, there is an untamed lust. As much as you love Jesus, the enemy will punish you for stepping out in faith. And any access he can gain, any and every access he will take. Those that want to step out in faith and say, Lord, use me. When you begin to step out in faith, you say, Lord, use me. But the first prayer is, Lord, search me. Show me where you are not in control of. Because I will tell you something, the enemy plays dirty and he plays for keeps. And if he can punish you, if he has access to you, he wants to blow you sky high and ruin your testimony and your family everywhere. You know, I am not saying this to scare us. I am telling you something. We have an enemy who can take the truth of God and twist it. He wants to lead us out into a place of a false presumption where there are areas he knows we have not surrendered. There is a stronghold of unbelief in us. We have not surrendered a certain area. God knows it and you know it. And when you step out, the devil will push in there. But it doesn't have to be so. Because God says, will you believe me if I say I will give you the land? Will you fully follow me? Will you bow your knee to me? Will you let me take you through a crucified walk because you will be a free person? When your lusts, your wants get crucified, you get Christ instead. That is life. And everyone around you will know it as the real thing. It is so worth it. We live in a generation of counterfeits and phonies. The world is desperate to see a true Christianity. And anyone who will say, Lord Jesus, I believe you. It doesn't matter my failure record. It doesn't matter how many times I have tried. It is just tonight I am hearing you. And you are saying to me, you will give me a new start when I believe you. You are going to set me free. You are going to take me right into the promised land by the hand. We are going to confront every enemy that owns territory in my heart, in my mind, in my life. The enemies tell me it is too hard. I tell you, he is a liar. You tell him he is a liar. What is harder is trying to live a double standard Christianity. Let's just lift our hands up. Those that say I make a glad surrender tonight. Those that say, Lord Jesus, I surrender. Lead me the way you would have me go. Set me free. Let me possess all your heart. All your mind. Lord, take all of me. No part borrowed from you. I thank you, Lord Jesus, that you want me. And that you will change me. And that I will be a light in my family. I will be living water to my family. And I will give you all the praise and all the glory in Jesus' precious name. Amen. Now, beloved, we believe that. We, by faith, rejoice. We, by faith, leave this place knowing we put our hand in a crucified hand. Knowing that the God will lead us through right to the enemy gates and give us those gates. Give us that land. He said, be strong and very courageous. Every place your foot trods, I will give you. If your foot trods all over your house, he will give it to you. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. The key to the victory in our home is us. One surrendered life. One committed life. One life fully following. One life fully surrendering. One life saying, your way, not my way. And the land is ours and to our seed. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. This is the conclusion of the tape.