Mike Bickle emphasizes the necessity of persevering faith in inheriting God's promises, drawing from the example of Jesus and Abraham. He explains that while God's promises may seem delayed or impossible due to circumstances, believers are called to actively engage their faith and not become passive. Bickle highlights that the process of waiting and enduring is part of God's preparation, and encourages believers to remain steadfast, looking to Jesus as both the model and source of strength. He reminds the congregation that true faith combines belief in God's promises with active obedience to His commands, urging them to run with endurance and not succumb to weariness.

Months I've been talking on the subject of intentionally cultivating faith, growing in faith according to how Jesus taught the necessity of faith, that when God's promises are given to us in the word or in a particular personal way related to our circumstances by the Holy Spirit, sometimes he'll give us a word about our life circumstances that are peculiar to this moment of our life, and he'll give it to us and confirm it by the Spirit. But Jesus taught us that if we engage in faith in an ongoing way with that promise, we will experience a greater measure of that promise. And if we are passive about that, and we just think, well, praise the Lord, we have a promise and we leave it at that, we will actually experience less of the benefit of that promise and the good of it. Now the issue is what happens when circumstances emerge that make the promise of God look impossible, or what happens when there's a delay, so the promise of God looks unlikely. Those are the two things that every believer has to face, that we've got the promise in the word, or again, a particular promise for our specific circumstances, and the Spirit has given it to us clear, when obstacles make the promise look impossible, or a time delay make the promises appear unlikely, how do we respond? It's very, very important that we respond the way Jesus taught, that we lay hold of it with faith, we don't back away, no matter what the obstacles are, no matter what the time delay is. Here in Hebrews chapter 6, it says in verse 12, that you do not become sluggish, but you imitate those who through faith and patience, or perseverance, inherit the promise. Now notice, that we are to inherit the promise when we combine faith with perseverance. Now often in the New Testament, the word patience and perseverance is used interchangeably. Now what happens when the delay comes? What happens when the opposing circumstance comes? Well the Lord uses that to prepare us, but the devil uses that to attack us. He comes and accuses us, and he tells us that God's word isn't true, he tells us we're disqualified anyway, tells us it's just our own imagination, we're living in fantasy. But God's preparing us through the time of delay, while the enemy is attacking us. Verse 12, Hebrews 6 says, that our tendency is to become sluggish in our faith during that time of waiting. The writer of Hebrews says, don't be sluggish, don't be passive in your faith, don't draw back and be casual. Have a vibrant, engaged, active faith that you're continuing on with the Lord, believing particularly for that promise. But he said imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promise. Then three verses down in Hebrews 6, verse 15, Abraham is given as the example of the one that we should imitate. It says in verse 15, that Abraham patiently endured. We'll look at that in a few moments, that he waited 25 years, he patiently endured. Now delay has, has pressure and pain in it. When the promises are delayed, I mean there's, it's a, it's a real challenge, and, and it really is something that we have to work through. Hebrews chapter 4 tells us the principle, verse 2 particularly, that when we receive the word of promise, Hebrews 4, verse 2, we receive the word of promise, it says it won't profit you unless you mix it with faith. Beloved, you can receive a word of promise, but if you don't have an ongoing faith engagement with the Lord on that promise, that promise won't profit you. Now that's a, that's tragic to me. I mean look at that, I say Lord, I'm gonna, I'm gonna be a man of steady, consistent faith, and I know that you feel the same as well. Second Thessalonians 3, verse 5, Paul prayed that the Lord would direct our hearts into the ocean of God's love, that's how I like to say it, that vast ocean of God's love, but equally important, which is often neglected, the second part of this prayer, that God would lead us into the perseverance that Jesus walked in, in His humanity. Now we don't normally think of Jesus having perseverance, but in His humanity, He endured many things. Now we know He endured the cross, that's the ultimate. I mean He had the ultimate, most challenging, difficult ministry assignment conceivable to endure the cross. He endured hostility, He had not just the cross and the anguish of it, but throughout His ministry, tremendous hostility for, to the, by the very people He was serving. But Jesus also endured waiting for the promise. He had to wait. Paul prays that the Lord would direct us into love, to encounter love, but direct us into that strong steadfastness that Jesus had, that we would learn from Jesus, but also that by our abiding in Christ, that we would be energized in our heart to have that very same steadiness, that endurance, that perseverance, patience, you could use those words interchangeably. He endured resistance, He had pressures, He had many obstacles, He had hostility, but He had waiting for the promises as well. And that was something as a man He really had to do. Hebrews chapter 12, let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Run with endurance, perseverance, endurance, interchangeable, looking to Jesus, who for the joy that was set before Him, He endured the cross, verse 3, for consider Him, Jesus, who endured hostility, lest you become weary and discouraged in your own souls. So in chapter, Hebrews 6, we're exhorted not to become sluggish. Hebrews 12, we're exhorted not to become weary or discouraged. Now I believe that the number one temptation that the enemy brings against every believer, I believe it's the number one temptation, is the temptation to quit. And what I mean by quit, I don't mean to renounce our faith, but to draw back and quit pressing into God with all of our heart and all of our strength to walk in our full destiny in God. The enemy is constantly coming with a barrage of reasons and attacks so that we draw back and we don't press in, we don't engage ourselves fully so that we walk in our full destiny. He'll throw Bible verses at us. He'll put discouraging circumstances. He'll accuse us. He has many different ways. He wants us weary and discouraged so that we quit. Let's read this verse again, Hebrews 12. Run with endurance. Run with perseverance. Don't be passive. Don't be passive. Be persevering. We are to persevere or have endurance in our faith that we believe God for the promises and we're to be, have endurance in our faithfulness to obey the commands of God. So we have faith in the promises and we have faithfulness towards God's commands. That's the issue of endurance. And it says here in verse 2, look to Jesus. Now when we look to Jesus, we look at Him in two ways. Number one, we look at Him as a model, an example. We look at the Gospels and we get most information from the Gospels, though the Word of God has insights into Jesus's life and personality outside the Gospels, but we get most information from the Gospels. So we look at His life as a model, but we also look to Jesus relationally as we abide in Christ by the indwelling Spirit and He's a source of strength. So we look to Him as a model and we look to Him as the source. And by looking to Him, we reconnect with that vibrant faith and we recommit to endurance. We cast off weariness and a temptation to sluggish, to be sluggish in our faith. And we say, yes, we're going to go all the way. We're going to believe for everything God told us and we're going to be faithful to obey all that He's put before us. That's the intention of our heart. Paragraph D, persevering faith. That's the issue. If I had to just put it in one phrase of what it means to run with endurance. Again, it's to be in faith for promises and to be faithful to obey the commands and the assignment God's given us. To be faithful in the assignment and faithful to obey the commands. We do this as we believe God's Word. We seek His face. We wait for His promises. We serve the Lord in small things. Sometimes in the delay, people get in so much pain over the delay, they let go of being faithful to serve the Lord in small things. I've seen some of the most diligent believers, but they get really captured with a promise that's not happening and they let everything else go. But running with endurance, we hold on to the promise, but we stay engaged faithfully in the things the Lord's put before us. Well, let's go to Abraham, Romans 4. He's the premier example given in Hebrews 6, verse 15. So, we'll see what Paul said about Abraham. Now, you know the story of Abraham. When Abraham's 75 years old, God makes a promise to him. Genesis 12, he says, Abraham, I'm going to make you a great nation. Okay? In order to be a great nation, he has to have a descendant. He has to have offspring. Abraham and Sarah, they have no children. Sarah's barren. Abraham's 75, Sarah's 65. God speaks audibly from heaven and says, I'm going to make you a great nation. You're going to have a more offspring than you can count. Well, I'm 75, Lord. My wife's 65. That seems impossible in the natural. Well, on top of that, not only was the current circumstance seemingly impossible, added to that was a 25-year delay. I mean, he was 75 when he received the promise, but the child, Isaac, didn't come till he was 100. So, he begins with impossible circumstances, and then the delay makes it highly unlikely. I can imagine the conversation. Abraham says, honey, we're going to have a child. Really? He's 75, she's 65. And then, now he's 80. Now he's 90. She's saying, uh, where, what about the child? He goes, well, the child's coming. God spoke it. And here's what Abraham, here's what Paul says about Abraham's process internally. Verse 19, he didn't become weak in faith, meaning he stayed engaged with the Lord about that specific promise. He did not consider his own body already dead and the deadness of Sarah's womb. Verse 20, he did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but he was strengthened in faith, I'm going to add the word, by giving glory to God, being fully convinced that what God had promised he was able to perform. So, let's look at this passage again. Verse 19, Abraham was not weak in faith. Now, it means in faith for that particular promise. It's not talking about his general relationship with the Lord called, you know, being strong in the faith. But it meant particularly related to that promise. Abraham wouldn't acclimate to life without that promise coming to pass. Some people, you know, the circumstances seem impossible. The delay makes it so, so unlikely. They just acclimate to the promise isn't going to happen. They readjust and they let go of it. Verse 19, he didn't do that. Stayed engaged with the Lord. He didn't consider his own body that was already dead related to childbearing, or he didn't consider the deadness of Sarah's womb. In other words, he said the circumstances, I'm not going to consider them as more powerful than the promise of God. Because I realize in the natural, the circumstances are impossible. But I have more confidence in the authority and the power of God's Word than I do the opposing circumstance. Verse 20, he didn't waver at the promise. Now again, this is a particular promise. This isn't just a promise of Jesus will forgive my sins. I'm going to go to heaven when I die. That's ultimate. I mean, that's huge. That's foundational and ultimate. But I'm talking about even using this principle, applying this principle in our everyday life as well. I mean, it does apply to getting our sins forgiven, obviously. But Abraham was strengthened in faith, and here's how he was strengthened, by giving glory to God. Now what does that mean? That's important, that phrase. It doesn't mean that he just said, oh God, you know, I had a worship service. I love you. I love you. I love you. He certainly did that. But giving glory to God meant something very specific here. He said, Lord, in his dialogue with the Lord, this went on for 25 years from age 75 to 100. He said, Lord, looks impossible, but I trust the reliability of your word. Looks impossible. I believe your faithfulness. It looks impossible, but you can't lie. You're God. You're reliable. You're faithful. You're true. I don't care what it looks like. I glorify you, meaning particularly, I give honor to the word that you gave me. I won't back down from it. Beloved, he would not acclimate to his life without that promise being fulfilled. That's a remarkable reality. He's called the father of faith. Paragraph F. Sometimes we may need to believe God for decades for some promises. Some of these promises will require a miracle intervention. I mean, these circumstances are impossible. The time delay makes it so unlikely. One example in addition to Abraham is Joseph. He went age 17 years old. He receives a prophetic dream from the Lord. Genesis 37. You can read it. And in this dream, God shows Joseph how he's going to have a, be used in a powerful way in God's purpose. I'll just summarize it like that. He's all excited. He tells his brothers. They get jealous. They sell him into slavery. This young Jewish boy is sold into slavery in an Egyptian prison. So from age 17 to 30, the majority of that time, he's in an Egyptian prison. Well, he's got this great promise, but he's in prison. Well, he gets a little bit of favor in the prison. So things are looking up and then something goes wrong. He gets another prison sentence. He gets two prison sentences in his twenties. Both of these prison sentences are diametrically opposed to what God promised would happen in his life. Verse 19 says that Joseph was a slave until the time that the word was to come to pass. There's a timing for the promise to come to pass. There is a timing for the promise to come to pass. And our active engagement in faith plays into that timing as well. Some folks say, well, it's just whenever God wants. And the Lord says, I have a timing, but I'm a relational God. So I have an interaction with you together. We're involved in this together. And I don't know the mystery of how God works all that, but our faith really matters according to Jesus. And God has a timing that he set, but they work together. Now notice this, the last part of verse 19, and the word of the Lord tested Joseph. What does that mean? He's sitting in prison, two prison sentences in his twenties. A Jewish boy in an Egyptian prison, this great promise, a prophetic dream from when years ago when he was 17. And the Lord whispers in his heart, do you believe my promise? Well, Lord, it doesn't look like it's coming to pass. Do you believe my promise or do you believe the circumstance in front of you has more authority than my promise? Will you let go of my promise or will you hang on to it? The word of God was testing. The promise of God is what this means. The word of God being the prophetic promise was actually testing Joseph's faith in relationship with the Lord. Would Joseph believe that God was true and God was able and God was watching? Or would Joseph give up because the circumstance was impossible and the time delay just made it almost unbearable to him, undoubtedly? Beloved, I want to encourage you to write your promises down. I mean, there's biblical promises. Write down the ones you're really engaging with. I want you, I encourage you to write down those ones the Lord gives you related to your personal circumstances in a unique sense that this will happen or that will happen and engage with the Lord. Don't just say, well, I'll write it down and put it on the back shelf. Engage with Him. We all have the promise of God for all of us. We would walk out our full destiny in the Lord. I want to walk out my full destiny in God. Another promise that's very important to me. I want the, I want to experience the anointing of the Spirit to walk out the first commandment as first in my life. That's my highest life vision. I have several things in my life vision. That's absolutely number one. I want to walk out the anointing of God so I can actually walk in the first commandment literally for years. Lord, that's a promise I'm taking hold of. There's promises of the full breakthrough of God's purpose and power in your ministry, your family, for the release of the provision, the release of the favor, the open doors. There's many types of promises like that. There's the promises of the spiritual revival in your family. Every family member walking with the Lord. Those that are away from the Lord. Lord, we're not letting go of this until they come in. Maybe reconciliation of a family relationships or very important relationships. I'm not letting go. I don't care how many years, Lord. Or some folks, it's, they've had a parentheses where they walked in compromise, knowing compromise for a few years, and they're believing God for the full recovery of everything that was lost and stolen by the devil and by their own yielding to sin. Lord, I'm believing you for the recovery of everything. Those are promises that we need to be engaged in, laying a hold of in a very, very specific way, not in a kind of casual way, but I mean really writing those down and going after those. Top of page two. Well, let's go to Isaiah 49. Now, this is a really special chapter. It's a, it's one of the premier chapters in the Old Testament, giving us insight into the human process that Jesus walked out while he was waiting for the promises. You know, Jesus had to wait for promises. Jesus had to face obstacles, resistance against him, hostility, circumstances that were opposite of what the Father promised him. Well, Isaiah 49 is really remarkable. We're going to look at the first seven verses just real briefly. Isaiah is reporting a dialogue between the Father and the Son, between the God of Israel and the Messiah. Now, Isaiah doesn't know his name is Jesus, but we know now the Son is Jesus. So, he's, he's listening to the servant of the Lord, the anointed one, the Messiah, talking to the Father, the God of Israel. Now, we know Jesus is fully God, but it's in his humanity that this dialogue is being focused on and carried out. Now, the reason you care about this, besides we marvel and love Jesus, and we want to understand his heart more, that's a good enough reason to know Isaiah 49. But another reason is Jesus is the pattern Son. He's the model. Whatever principles God used in him, in terms of giving promises, and then the delay of the promise, or the, the time waiting, and the obstacles, those principles are true to you and I. Hebrews 2, I mean Hebrews 12, we just read it, look unto Jesus as the example. Jesus is the model and the source, because again, as we interact with him relationally, our hearts get encouraged and strengthened by the Holy Spirit. Well, Isaiah 49 gives us Jesus, the model, insight into how he interacted with the Father. Well, it starts, verse 1, Jesus makes a declaration to the nations. He goes, I have a message for you, and I want you to pay close attention to it. And he's talking to the Gentiles. He says, I'm not just talking to Israel, I'm talking to all the nations, that includes us. He says, listen, O coastlands, listen to me. Take heed, pay attention. I'm going to give you a very important message. You peoples, you nations far away, we're a nation far away. We're far away geographically, and we're far away. It's 2,700 years after Isaiah wrote this. We're far away in time as well. So he's talking directly to us. He said, here's the message. It's a two-fold message that I want to highlight two messages that we are to take heed. Number one, the Father has made my mouth like a sharp sword. Now, this is a very, very powerful promise that he would have total victory over all of his enemies. That's what that promise means. When you put about five other verses with it, it's real clear what it means. Jesus would give this man, I mean, Jesus is fully God, but as a man, as the anointed Messiah, he would have such power in his words that he would have total victory over all of his enemies. I'm talking about on the earth. I mean, he won the victory on the cross and in the resurrection, but I'm talking about in his second coming. He will speak, and he will vanquish all of his enemies. He will speak. The Antichrist will be destroyed. The devil will be thrown into prison. The planet will be cleansed of evil. He will speak by his own words, and it will give evidence that he has victory over his enemies and that he's the premier leader of the earth because he speaks in his mouth is like a sword. Again, there's about five other verses that give the details of this, and it's when Jesus returns. He has that bright countenance, but he has his word. By the word of his mouth, the earth is cleansed by the very speaking. Beloved, his words are so powerful. When he comes back, it says in John 5, he'll utter the word, and every grave will open from all of history. Those who said no to God, they will be resurrected to a resurrection of judgment. That's where they're going, to judgment, and those that believe a resurrection of life, but by the words of a man. You know, when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, John 11, Lazarus had been dead four days. Jesus comes on the scene. He says, Lazarus, come forth, and four days later, a man walks out of the grave, and everybody was awestruck. You are so powerful. I could imagine Jesus saying, well, it's not that much power. It's a day I'm going to speak. It won't be four days. It'll be 4,000 years. It won't matter. All of history. It won't be one man. Every grave will open by my word. He goes, that was just a little down payment. I mean, they were awestruck by him, and he was thinking, no, you know, it's a little bit. It's a little bit of Isaiah 49. Not exactly. You got a whole lot more than I just showed you right now by raising one man from the dead. I mean, I think one of the great miracles of Jesus's life is by the power he restrained. I mean, when he raised Lazarus from the dead, he had to say, come forth, Lazarus. If he didn't say Lazarus, all the graves would have emptied. I mean, he had to really tone this thing down. I mean, that's the kind of authority this man has, really. So he says, I want you to know, verse 1, I mean, verse 2, my mouth is like a sharp sword. It will vanquish the enemy. I'll have total victory. I'll be the premier ruler of the earth is what that comes down to. And it says it more explicitly later on in Isaiah 49 in verse 6 and 7. But he goes, I have this great promise, but I want you to give message number two. God the Father gives me promises. That's message one. I'm the ruler of the earth is what that really means. But message number two, this is a real different message. He says, in the shadow of God's hand, he's hidden me. He made me like a polished arrow. And in his quiver, he has hidden me. Now, what? I mean, does your mouth shift human history and direct the future of the human race and all history? Yes. What do you mean? You're hidden in the shadow of God's hand. He says, in my father's hand, he is going to hide me and conceal me, though he's giving me promises of full victory. There will be delays. There will be a waiting time. There will be the hiding of the promise. He'll hide me. He goes, Oh, nations, verse 1, remember, take heed. Are you listening to me? Oh, Gentile nations. Yes, I have promises of victory. I am the king. My word will govern everything. But number two, I will endure waiting, hiding. My promise is concealed, not open for all to see for various seasons. Then as I become that polished arrow, that useful arrow in the Lord's hand, that useful tool, that instrument, he uses the word arrow because it's in the conflict of the spiritual warfare, waging against darkness, the mighty weapon in the Father's hand. Here I am to bring righteousness to the earth. He said, but even then, though I'm hidden first in the Father's hand, there's another season I will be hidden in the quiver as a fully polished arrow used in battle, but then tucked away in the quiver again. Now this is Jesus talking. He says, I won't appear immediately with all of my promises openly displayed. Now why is God telling the nations this message? Why does Isaiah by the Holy Spirit communicate for Jesus, the Messiah, this message? Well, for a number of reasons, but one of the reasons, this is how God works with us too. He gives you a promise. Then he goes, Oh, I also remember there are seasons of withholding, seasons of hiding, where I will hide you in the palm of my hand, and that which I promised you won't be apparent to you or the folks around you. Look at paragraph C. Let's look at verse 4. The dialogue continues. Jesus continues to talk. Now he says something very unexpected. Everything he's saying is so unexpected here in this dialogue. This is the next unexpected thing. He goes, I've labored in vain, and I've spent my strength for nothing. At least it looks that way in the eyes of man. I've spent my strength for nothing, yet surely my reward, my promises, they are with the Lord. For I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord. Now what does this mean? I mean, this is a very powerful statement. This is part of the message that Jesus said, verse 1. Listen, O coastlands. Listen, distant nations. Listen to what I'm telling you. This is how my father runs his kingdom. This is how my father trains his servants. This is how it works under his leadership. I am the Messiah. I'm the mighty one whose word will be supreme over all, and this is even how I come forth in the Father's purpose. How much more you? Well, verse 4, there's a contrast going on. Jesus is first describing what he looks like in the eyes of men. What the people in his nation, and even some that were near his family, thought about him. And then he contrasts that wrong view of his life and his choices with the right view, God's view. Let's read verse 4 again. Let me add some words to it. He said, I know the men around me. I'm talking about, I don't mean his disciples, those in the nation. They think I've labored in vain. I've spent my strength for nothing. That's what it looks like in the eyes of man. I've obeyed God, and I've believed his promises, but I have nothing to show for it. Beloved, when you make godly choices, and you believe God for his promises, it's not always evident immediately to the eyes of those around us that that was a good and a godly choice to make. What you're believing for, and what choices you're making of value, the people around you that said, you're throwing your life away. Your life has come to nothing. I mean, look at Jesus. 33 years later, not just the three and a half years of ministry, the 30 years before of obedience. I mean, we're talking about perfect obedience to God. Three and a half years of ministry, what happens? Number one, his disciples deny him under pressure. Number two, the massive crowds that gathered, only 120 of them made it to the prayer room some weeks after his death and resurrection. This massive movement of thousands and thousands of people excited about him for a moment, the movement fizzles out, and only 120 make it to the upper room, to the prayer meeting in Acts chapter 1. They could have been in there 120. Where are the thousands, the throngs? I mean, they saw the blind eyes, the paralytics healed, blind eyes opened, the dead raised. They didn't make it to the prayer room. They didn't follow through at all. So his disciples denied him, and there is no crowd. The crowds have all left him. The nation, we find out in verse 6 and 7, verse 7, abhors him. It says in verse 7, the nation of Israel, they abhorred him. They thought he was a false prophet. So after 30 years, then three years, his disciples fell away, or at least in fear, abandoned him. 120 people is all he has left, and the nation thinks he's a false prophet, and they abhor him and despise him. Well, I thought you had these great promises. He goes, I do, I do, and I know it looks like I've labored in vain. I've spent my strength for nothing. You know, that young man at the carpenter shop, he did such good work in that carpenter shop, and he would have stayed with it. He could have had three or four more shops by now, but he went on that religious thing and sewed into a bunch of young people, and the young people under pressure, they abandoned him, and nobody followed him at the end. The leadership of the nation, the religious leaders mocked him, called him a false prophet, poor guy, what a wasted life, and he died. Jesus said, oh, that's what it looks like, but the promises are for yet surely, verse four, my reward, the full promises are in God's hands. He goes, the circumstance looks impossible. The time delay makes the promises unlikely that they're going to happen, but he goes, I want to tell you one thing, the promises are true. The promises are reliable. The promises are sure. I won't back down. Now, I'm looking at Jesus in the big picture, the ultimate example, but this principle applies for the promises that will be released in this life, and the promises given to by God to you in the age to come. So, the same principle applies in this age, in the age to come, in terms of your life. Verse five, Jesus said, for I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord. He goes, my choices to obey, God says they're glorious. Man says they're vain, and they produce nothing. He says, my believing the promises, men wrote me off and said it was for nothing. God says, me believing him was glorious in his eyes. Now, remember Jesus, verse four, I mean, verse one, he said, guys, I'm giving you a message. Gentiles in distant lands, I'm telling you how God is going to raise you up and train you and prepare you to be a vessel in his hands. Are you listening? He could have said. Paragraph E, verse five, Jesus continues. He says, I know it doesn't look like much, but look at verse five, he continues. He says, but the Lord, it's going to, he's going to fulfill all of his promises, though there's a delay. The Lord formed me, talk about the God, the Father. He formed me in my mother's womb to be his servant, to bring the whole nation of Israel back to God. He goes, I know the nation of Israel rejected me. I know my words were not like a mighty sword. Matter of fact, when I spoke my word, the nation, he came into his own, his own received him not. It says in John one, his own received him not. But Jesus said in verse five, but I'm going to turn the whole nation to God before it's over. Well, the whole nation thinks you're a false prophet. He goes, well, the story's not over. My father's word is the final word on every situation. My father's word is the final issue on every promise, not the circumstance, not the delay. Beloved, that's true for the promises for this age and the promises for the age to come. Now the father speaks up. He says the father in verse six, he goes, yes, you're right, Jesus. Verse five, you are going to turn Israel back to God. Verse five. But in verse six, the father says, but that's too small of a thing. He goes, it's not enough that you would turn Israel back to God. You're going to turn the whole earth back to God. Every nation. You're not just the king of Israel. You're the king of the nations. You're not just going to save Israel. You're going to save the nations. The father said, it's not just that the promises were delayed. The promises are far bigger than you saving Israel. Then in verse seven, paragraph F, the father says to him, goes on to one more dimension of the conversation. This is amazing. And the father says to Jesus, to him who man despises. I mean, what a statement. Jesus is called him who man despises. He was despised, but the promise was that he would be honored. Goes on in verse seven says to him whom the nation of Israel abhors. Well, he's supposed to be loved by Israel. He's going to turn Israel to God, but they abhor him. Beloved, when the circumstances look impossible, the time delay looks unlikely, the promise of God is sure. The nation abhorred him. But the father said, let me tell you one thing, son. The kings one day will see the truth about you. They will arise and come and pay homage to you, do your name. The princess, their sons will worship you. The whole world will be filled with your glory. Yes, I know the promise is delayed and Jesus, that's verse one to seven, could look back at you and I and say, remember verse one, he starts off with, listen and take heed, oh Gentile nations. I have a message for you. This is how my father runs his kingdom and prepares his servants. I'm his premier servant and even I am prepared in this way. How much more you? Don't become weary. Don't be sluggish in your faith. Don't draw back. Look to me as the model and the source and run with endurance. I mean, what a remarkable thing. Top of page three. We'll just go just a couple more moments here. We're going to go back in Isaiah 49 back to verse two. We look at verse two for a moment. We're going to look at a little bit more detail and apply it to your life. So what happens when God's given you a promise and there's a delay? Again, I'm going to believe God. You want to believe God. I want to walk in the full destiny in my life. I don't want to fulfill half of what God put before me. I want to fulfill my whole destiny. I want to walk in the anointing to love God with all my heart. I want to see my whole family walking with God in full commitment to the Lord. My whole family. I mean, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews. There's a whole lot of us. This will surprise some of you, but we had a little count the other day last year and folks that I'm related to by blood or marriage, there's 70 of us in about a five or ten mile radius of IHOP. 70 of us. I mean, Christmas gatherings are intense. I'm believing for every one of them on fire, prophesying, speaking about Jesus, walking in purity, every one of them. Well, let's look at one facet of the message Jesus gave about perseverance right here in chapter 49, verse 2, in this next three or four minutes. Verse 2, he goes, now remember, I got all these promises. The kings will love me. My word will shift the nations. I'll turn the earth back to God. He goes, all those are in place. But remember verse 2, in the shadow of the father's hand, there are seasons where he will hide me. The promises won't appear to be happening. And the message to you and to me is, there will be seasons when the promises are not apparent to you or to the folks around you. And some of the folks around you will say, you've spent your life in vanity. You've come to nothing. The choices you've made have ruined your life. But you can say, if you've obeyed the Lord and believed his promises, in verse 4, I mean verse 5, as Jesus said, I am glorious in the eyes of God. The choices I've made move the heart of my father, no matter what men say. Well, in the shadow of his hand, he hides us. It's God's hand. It's in the devil hiding us. The devil's attacking us in this season. The devil's accusing us. The devil's trying to get us to buy lies and to give up and give in and just quit. But it's God. It's in his hand. He's made me a polished arrow. In his quiver, he's hidden me. Now, each one of you that's committed your life to the Lord, you're like a unique, you're being uniquely prepared as an arrow for the Lord's use. And the Lord is aiming that arrow at a very specific target, and he might have several targets in every season of your life in one sense, but he's preparing you to shoot you in the service of the king. To launch that arrow to be an effective tool or weapon in his kingdom against the kingdom of darkness. Now again, in different seasons, there might be different targets. It's the assignment he's given you. Paragraph B. Now, to understand what happens in our life during the waiting process, there's three parts of an arrow. There's the shaft of the arrow, the long part, the long wooden part. There's the arrow head at the top, and there's the feathers. And each one of the three facets of the arrow have a very specific purpose, and there's many spiritual truths that we can glean by the preparation of an arrow, because that's the analogy that Jesus used for his own life. And that's the message he gave us. I'm prepared like a polished arrow, but so are you. Listen to me, oh Gentile nations. Catch this message. This is for you to understand is the idea. And we can't push the analogy too far, and every detail of an analogy doesn't have a corresponding point to it, but analogies give us the general picture. Every believer being prepared as a polished arrow will go through these stages. Before you're that straight and polished arrow design, I'm ready to hit the mark. Now remember this, time and pressure alone don't change you. Some people think, I've heard the statement, time heals everything. That's not true. Sometimes time just makes people more bitter and more angry. It's not time that heals. It's time, but making godly choices and engaging with the Lord in faith. That's what heals through time. Paragraph C, the polished arrow, that speaks of our character. Now the shaft of the arrow goes through quite a rigorous, grueling preparation process. Look here in paragraph C, just real quick. There are several stages. First of all, the arrow starts off as a branch in a tree somewhere. They cut the branch off, okay, ouch. They strip the bark off the tree, off the branch, okay, ouch again. They straighten the arrow. That really is intense because they immersed it in boiling hot water in the old, in the ancient days. They applied various types of pressure to straighten the arrow. That's not fun. Then they sand the arrow. Then they polish the arrow. Now if the arrow isn't straight, it's not useful. Can you imagine a guy in battle shooting an arrow that's crooked, right to the ground like, well pull another crooked arrow. I mean there'd be no point in going to battle with a crooked arrow. God is about making you a straight, polished arrow. He has promises and some of the delays of the promises, he's in a preparation process. Now if you don't know for sure, it's not so cut and dry. Am I in hiding season, preparation season or is the Lord shooting me as an arrow? I find that I'm being prepared and I'm being launched at the same time. Both of them are happening. He's using me as an arrow and he's preparing me. He's hiding me but he's releasing me. It's like, I don't know which it is, it's a little of each. I wish it was more cut and dry. The arrowhead. Now it was Terry Virgo, it was 25 years ago I first heard this teaching and I was so touched by his analogy of the arrow that I determined 25 years ago, I said I'm going to, this passage became very dear to me after I heard him teach on this. He talked about the arrowhead being a picture of the anointing. You can read the details there in paragraph D. Then the feathers are important for an arrow to fly straight. You have to have feathers because when they have feathers, the arrow can be guided and stable in flight and he likened that to being grounded in the Word of God. Let's go down to paragraph G. We're hidden by God in two different ways. We're hidden while he's polishing us as an arrow, then after we're useful as an arrow and used in battle, he hides us again in the quiver. Well I thought when I was young and I was being hidden and polished and prepared before I was ever used, the hiding was over. Jesus is now, there's the hiding in his hand, there's another season of hiding in the quiver after I've been used in battle. There will be a time, a dimension of hiding because even after his death and resurrection, even for 2,000 years, the nations have not worshiped him worthy of who he is. They still don't get who he is, the majority of the nations. There's still a dimension of hiding. Paragraph H. The quiver carries the arrows. The quiver protects the arrows. The quiver looks like a big, dark, empty shaft. The quiver season is often more difficult than the polishing of the arrow season. You say, well Lord, I've been used, I've been trained, I've been launched, I've been used in battle, what's going on? The Lord says, yeah, I'm putting you in the quiver, then I'm pulling you out, then I'm putting you in, I'm pulling you out. Well, Lord, which is it? Well, I'll just end in saying, let's stand and prepare to receive ministry from the Lord. I want to invite all of you to stand. The Lord's word to us, he says, persevere in faith. Run with endurance. Don't be sluggish. Don't be sluggish and don't be weary. Stand true no matter how impossible the circumstance, how long the delay. Believe for every promise. Believe for your family, your destiny, for the provision, for the anointing of power, in a greater measure, for a release of revelation. Believe for all those, the full restoration of whatever's been lost or stolen by the devil. Believe for all of it and know that if there's delay, God's preparing you, even as he prepared his own son. Father, we say yes to you. Lord, we love your word. Jesus, we love who you are and the way that you endured. I want to be like you. I want to look to you. I want to invite folks to come forward that would like prayer. You say, I'm being really hit with that sluggish. I'm being tempted for my faith to be sluggish. I mean, the wait is so long. I don't know. I haven't hardly seen anything. I need to see some stuff. Others of you, similar, you're saying, no, I feel weary. I need to be, I need a jumpstart or something. I need to be bolstered. I feel weariness. You want to have someone stand with you and pray. Beloved, we're all tempted with sluggishness and weariness, but we re-sign up. I find in my own life, I re-sign up regularly because then I tend to sluggish, then re-sign up, tend to weary, re-sign up, looking to Jesus. I'm going to ask others to come and stand with them and pray for them all over the room. A bunch of you, anyone in the room would come up. You know, if you need healing for your body, I want to invite you to come forward. Anybody that needs physical healing, I want to invite you to come forward. Father, I want to be faithful to the end. Maybe there's someone in this room, you haven't given your life to Jesus yet. I want to invite you to come forward. You can receive the free salvation of God today, literally today as a free gift, totally forgiven of all your sins. I want to invite you to come forward. When somebody prays for you, tell them, I want that free salvation. I want to go to heaven when I die. I don't understand it. How's it work? Beloved, you can leave this room knowing you're going to heaven when you die. Father, I break the spirit of weariness off of people right now. I say the devil is a liar. The devil is a liar. I take authority over weariness, the spirit of heaviness. I want to ask for encouragement. I ask for the spirit of glory to be released right now on the human heart. I take authority over the dullness that's creeping in that dulls the mind and the heart. God, we believe you to heal sick bodies right now. We ask you for full recovery of physical sick bodies. Release healing in Jesus name. The grace for endurance. We want to enter into the perseverance of Christ Jesus. Father, we want to walk in the fullness of what he promised us in this life. Everything, the full anointing, the full provision, the full calling, the full breakthrough of our heart. God, I want to walk in the first commandment. I want to love you with all of my heart. We believe your word, Father. We believe your words are just and true. We give glory to you. We believe your word.