In this sermon, the speaker reflects on his failure to address certain topics during his recent services. He shares his personal challenges and confesses that he will change his behavior in the future. The speaker also discusses the importance of not being deceived by temporary pleasures and urges young people to live according to God's principles from an early age. He emphasizes the need to think generationally and make choices that will impact eternity. The sermon concludes with a powerful message about living in light of eternity and finding true fulfillment in the present moment.

Open up, if you would, to Proverbs chapter 13. Proverbs chapter 13 on the front of your bulletin, the title of the message today is, um... Heh. It's living for generations to come. Living for generations to come. The verse that I want to start off with today is Proverbs chapter 13, verse 22. Proverbs 13, verse 22. I'm just going to read the first part of this verse, probably a couple of times. A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children. A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children. I think one of the great challenges in the world today, and in the church today, is that we are a people who tend to not think generationally. We think about ourselves, we think about our well-being, without ever contemplating the inheritance that we're leaving for our children's children. We're in a me-centered society. Everything revolves around me. We get a raise, and we spend the money on me. We come into something, and we spend the money on us. What we consume, rather than produce, we take things into ourselves, because we don't think generationally. And God is a God of generations. When God spoke blessing, He spoke blessing not just to Abraham, but to his children's children's children's children. Are you following me? God doesn't think about just blessing for the sake of blessing. He thinks about blessing for the sake of generations to come. A good man, a good man leaves an inheritance for his children's children. Now before I get going, I want to smash what many of you may be thinking right now, where inheritance is concerned. I think it's wonderful when parents can leave a monetary inheritance for their children. However, I would trade a monetary inheritance any day for the Spirit of God generationally being built into our families. My mother and father left a lifestyle that would have provided me a very nice inheritance. The people with whom my father was working back in the early 1970s today are making between half a million and three quarters of a million dollars a year. I might have had everything this world could ask for. We lived in a beautiful home. We had nice everything. We were at parties, we were at Broadway plays, we were at nice restaurants in New York City, New Haven, Connecticut. Then my dad and my mom found Jesus. And do you know what they did? At the call of God, they sold everything they had, and they moved to northern Minnesota. We went from a beautiful home to a trailer. We went from having money to having nothing this world could afford. We had eternal life. I look now at my cousin, my cousin Michael Volk, whose father, the oldest Volk in my father's family of three children, successful attorney, New York City, then moved to New Jersey, practiced in Freehold, New Jersey for years. Actually, when my grandfather died, he left a significant amount of money and sold, and he had an upstairs-downstairs apartment thing in Brooklyn, New York. God knows how much that thing sold for. And do you know who got the inheritance? My dad's older brother, who was an attorney, and because of my dad and my dad's younger brother following Jesus, they were written out of the will, and the earthly inheritance went to my Uncle Norm. Now, I have his son, Michael, my first cousin. My Uncle Norm has left this life. I only pray that in his dying days and last minutes of life, he remembered the words that my father spoke to him for the last 30 years. So my cousin Michael has been left with this inheritance from his grandfather, but do you know what? He does not know the Lord Jesus. There is an inheritance that we are destined and called to leave to our grandchildren and their grandchildren. And you might say, Scott, I don't have children. I'm 10 years old. I'm 80 years old, and I don't have children. Listen, it's a mindset that God wants us to be living in that we're not just thinking about this generation, but generations to come. And it's a God way of thinking. When we think like God does, we have eternity in our view. When we think like the enemy does, we have right now in our view. And there is a destiny and an inheritance that God is calling His people to pass on to generations. Because if we live only to make fire church comfortable for us in the few short years that we may be here, without thinking about what this congregation is going to look like for our grandchildren, can I just say something? We are selfish. If we set our family structure up just for us, and we don't think about our grandchildren, we are selfish. If we live our lives just thinking about who we are and what we can get, we are living without the generational mindset that God desires us to live with. That will change everything. How many of you are living and even thinking about your grandchildren's children? Think about this. How differently would the church look? How differently would our families look? The divorce rate in the world, 50%? I read this stat online. 25% of all married men cheat on their wives. You know why? Because they're not thinking generationally. They're thinking about now. I want pleasure now. I want my life now. The things that we indulge in for our own satisfaction, it's for right now. Do you know that as we do those things, we can very easily forfeit the inheritance that God destined us to have? I'm going to do this again. I want to leave an inheritance for my children. If money has anything to do with it, that would be great. God will have to change things rapidly for that to be the case. But that's okay. The other night, I'm putting Olivia to bed. Care if I brag on my 16-month-old daughter for a minute? Is that okay? Those of you who don't know, I've got five kids, 21, 20, 18, 16, and 16 months. That's right. It's because I'm a generational man. I'm just going to keep on having children. All right. So it's pitch black in the room, and I'm going to put Olivia down to sleep. Three nights ago. And for whatever reason, what I try to do is I want to speak into my kids' spirits. So I'll sing to them. I'll declare the word of God over them. So for whatever reason, I don't usually do this. I took my phone out. It's pitch black in the room, and I've got Olivia on. And I just hit the voice record button because I wanted to just tell her the story of Noah and how Noah protected God's animals on the ark. So may I indulge for a minute and 57 seconds? You guys have got to hear this. Here we go. So Livvy Daddy's going to tell you a story about Noah. Can you say Noah? Noah. Noah built an ark. What, Liv? Noah, that's right. Noah built the ark. And do you know what, Liv? Noah, that's right. Noah built the ark. And do you know what he put in the ark, Olivia? He put animals. Can you say animals? Animals. That was animals. What, Liv? Noah put animals in the ark to protect them from the rain. Yeah, Noah. And inside the ark were all sorts of animals. Can you say giraffe? And zebra? Say zebra. And lions? Can you say lions? What does a lion say? And then there were owls. What does an owl say? Jojo? And camels and horses. So the man who built the ark, his name was Noah. What, Liv? Noah, that's right. So the man who built the ark's name, what, Liv? Noah, that's right. Are you going to let me finish the story? Yeah. Okay, good. So the man's name who built... What, Liv? Noah, that's right. Are you going to let me finish the story? Yeah. Livy, you're so funny. Okay. So the man's name who built... What, Liv? Noah. How many times are you going to ask me? What, Liv? Noah, that's right. So the man who built the ark, his name was... What, Liv? Oh, you stinker. There's Olivia. You know, actually, it so perfectly ties into what I want to share today. Because there is something that Olivia is going to remember. Do you know what she does now? I'll pick her up in the morning. And I'm not even talking about Noah. We'll go, come on, you want to go get some milk? Dada. What, Liv? Noah. In the turkey, she remembers everything. I am called as a father to pass life down to generations to come. Folks, we're not called to sit in a comfortable church and hear messages week in and week out only to say, I go to the greatest church in town. My church is growing 28 people every quarter. My church is growing 2,800 people every quarter. Who gives a rip? We have got to... I can't believe I just said that. We have got to... We have got to be thinking not about how big our church is getting. We've got to be starting... We've got to start thinking about generations to come. Are we affecting generations to come? Jesus didn't come just so that we could fit him into our lives and say we're church goers. He came so that the world would be changed through us. We've got to start thinking when we start thinking generationally. We start thinking in a way that affects and changes society in the world. It's an amazing thing. Just as I was preparing my heart for the message, I was thinking just about Mike Brown. Look, Mike Brown could be a very wealthy man living in a very large house all by himself with his wife Nancy and a huge international ministry. He could do that. But instead, and speaking on revival and Jewish stuff, Mike Brown is the foremost Jewish apologist in the world, bar none. Every secular orthodox rabbi and religious orthodox rabbi will say the number one enemy to Judaism as they know it is Mike Brown. Enemy number one. You go to any of these anti-missionary websites, Mike Brown is on them. We've got to shut this guy's mouth, they say. But do you know what he's doing? He's writing a book that's going to be released either this week or next week. Exposing the homosexual agenda. I'm like, come on, Mike. Why don't you write some book on prophecy? Get invited to some large churches. Get some big name publishers just to endorse the book. You know why he's doing it? Not to be popular. He's thinking about generations to come. Picked up the phone on Friday to call Flip Benham. Some of you may know Flip, some of you may not. Flip's a great guy, way different than I, with a calling, when I say way different, in a good way. We're just very, very different. But he's got a calling to see abortion ended. His call is to do everything he can to fight the abortion battle. So I called him on Friday because I just wanted to ask him, what in the world, why are you giving your life to this? So I called him up. Hey, Flip, this is Scott Volk. Scott, how are you? Good. I said, I'm preparing a message for Sunday. I just wanted to call you. Do you have a minute? He goes, yeah, one second. He starts talking to somebody. He goes, Scott, you're not going to believe this. I'm at the abortion mill. And some woman's about ready to unleash her dog on me. I'll call you back. And I was like, that's all I needed to hear. That's all I needed to hear. You want to avoid conflict? Start thinking about just you. You want to avoid persecution? Just start thinking about you. Think about your well-being. Just think about living life comfortably. You'll be fine. You want to see the enemy start attacking? Start thinking generationally. Because when you do, that's how you affect eternity. I got a text message from Gina Gladstone after the morning meeting today. I just want to read this to you because she said it so succinctly in her text message. If I could just quickly pull this up. Okay. 1154 AM. This just came in. Scott, the Lord put this on my heart this morning. When you try to satisfy the desires of this present moment, you forfeit eternity. When you live in light of eternity, it sanctifies this present moment and brings true fulfillment to the now and to the future. Come on, Gina. Amazing. So I was sitting in a prayer meeting on Wednesday with pastors. Flip over to Genesis chapter 25. I was sitting in a prayer meeting this week, Wednesday. The prayer house in Concord, pastors and leaders from the city of Concord get together every week to pray. And I'm sitting up there, and I'm struck with a phrase that I never thought of before. And that phrase is this. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Esau. That's what I thought of. I've never heard that phrase before. This is not even a biblical phrase. But can I tell you something? The firstborn is the one who gets the inheritance and the double portion. That's how it goes. Read Deuteronomy. God's blessing is on the firstborn. He's the one who gets the inheritance passed to him. He's got the birthright. He's got the lineage. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Esau. No, that's the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Yeah, it is. But do you know why? Do you know why? Because Esau forfeited his right to be in the lineage of the Messiah. I mean, you want to talk about staggering? Abraham, Isaac, Esau, David, Jesus. That's not how it goes, folks. Listen to this story. Genesis chapter 25. And as you listen to this, oh, I want to implore you. We've got to get generations into our thinking and into the way we live. Because if we live for the now moment, we will be destined to be a people who are only satisfied temporarily and miss out on all that God has for us individually. And if you're part of fire, I'd have to save for fire corporately. That might sound selfish. I want you to live for eternity so that I can be blessed. I want to live for eternity so that you can be blessed. How's that? I want us all to live for eternity so that God can be glorified in this city and in this region. Genesis 25, verse 24. Speaking of Rebecca, who was barren when she married Isaac. The Lord came to her, spoke to her, opened her womb. When her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. Now the first came forth red all over like a hairy garment. And they named him Esau. Afterward, his brother came forth with his hand holding on to Esau's heel. Think about this. Twins. Twins. The first one's coming out. Doctors are standing around. And connected to the heel is an arm. It's almost like Jacob's saying, you get back in here. I'm going to be the first one out. There was a struggle even in the womb for the blessing. He's hanging on. So his name was called Jacob. And Isaac was 60 years old when Rebecca gave birth to them. When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter. A man of the field. But Jacob was a peaceful man. Living in tents. Now Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for game. But Rebecca loved Jacob. When Jacob had cooked stew, Esau came in from the field. And he was famished. And Esau said to Jacob, please let me have a swallow of that red stuff there. For I am famished. Just stop right there for one second. I want to give you a warning. Be on guard of the decisions you make when you are famished. Be on guard when you're going through a wilderness season. Of the decisions that you make. Because they have the potential of causing you to forfeit what God's intents and plans are for your life. I do not like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I was reminded while I was speaking earlier this morning. Of a time that I ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I never make them for myself. I don't like them. I'm going to make a meal. I'm going to make a meal. Peanut butter and jelly, I'm sorry, is not a meal. Amen. Amen. It must have been about 15 years ago. I was on a fast. Because God called me to fast. Beth had prepared these peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. They were sitting on the counter of our home in Phoenix, Scottsdale. And I walked through and I was famished. Kind of a wimp too. I was a famished wimp. And I thought, oh my gosh. Look at those sandwiches. I mean peanut butter and jelly. It's like, whoa. I would die for one of those things right now. I broke my fast. Great man of spiritual valor that I am. A lousy peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Look, I could have gone to the refrigerator and maybe got some meat or something out of there. And like chomped on it. It's like if you're going to do something, you may as well just really do it. Why bust your fast on a peanut butter sandwich? Go to some steakhouse or something. That thing, it was almost like it had a voice calling me from the counter. Oh, come to me. It's amazing what people do when they're really hungry. It's amazing what we do and the decisions we make when we feel famished. And I'm telling you, God wants to warn us today. Do not be like Esau. Check this out. Esau said to Jacob, please let me have a swallow of that red stuff there. I'm famished. Therefore, his name was Edom. But Jacob said, first, sell me your birthright. Esau said, behold, I'm about to die. So of what use then is the birthright to me? Jacob said, first, swear to me. So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew. And he ate and drank and rose and went on his way. Thus, Esau despised his birthright. McLaren, who's the author of a commentary series that I have, said this. I wrote it in the margin of my Bible. The lesson of this story is the sin and folly of buying present gratification at the price of giving up far greater future good. The folly and sin of buying or obtaining present gratification at the expense of forfeiting future good. Folks, your futures are bright. Jeremiah, I know the future I have for you, right, says the Lord. How does that go? Prosperity, hope, and a future. That's God's destiny for us. But we so easily get stirred by a stupid peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Who knows what could have happened if I walked out my fast like the Lord wanted me to. I'm not living in condemnation over that, at least, or I hope I'm not. No. We blow it. I blew it. But you know what God wants? He wants sons and daughters who live for their grandchildren's grandchildren. Do you think this way? Look, I'm looking at the Pruitts over here. And I'm thinking to myself, these guys, from what I understand, had a very nice life in Texas. Is that right? Money, cars, nice life. You know where they're going in a couple of months? They're going to the Philippines. To give their lives for the next season of their life? To work? Is it okay that I said that? Okay. I'm trying to think if that was one of the things you made me promise not to say to everybody. To give their life? To see children saved out of a sex trade? To take in orphaned children? To live on an island in the Philippines? What are they thinking? You know what they're thinking about their children's children? You know what Esau was thinking about himself? Period. I want to be satisfied now. Proverbs says this. Don't look at wine when it's red in the cup and it sparkles ever so nicely. In the end, it goes down like wormwood, I think. It's bitter to the end. I'm not here to tell you whether it's okay to drink wine or not. But here's what I will tell you. There's nobody that's lying in the streets of their city as a drunkard who ever said when I grow up I want to be a drunk lying in my own vomit in the middle of the streets. It started off by looking at something that was just sparkling in a cup. You know what's amazing to me? Esau wasn't tempted by some beautiful woman that was somebody else's wife. He wasn't tempted by some gross sin. It was a little thing. It was a choice he made. Ah, it's just a bowl of stew. And he lost the lineage rights. Oh, I think if Esau could do this all over again, I believe his decision might have been somewhat different. I believe in the sovereignty of God. I'm not here to discuss the blessing of Jacob and all that stuff as one who comes from the loins of Jacob. I know all that. I'm telling you this. Esau forfeited his birthright to his younger brother and lost the privileges that come with it. God says, because he's a generational God, that the sins of the father are passed down, what, to the third and fourth generation? Is that right? Is that what it says? I can't tell you how many people I speak with who come into the office who are going through some marital difficulties only to find out that their parents went through these things and their parents went through these things, or people who are struggling with addictive behaviors. Yeah, my dad was an alcoholic. My grandfather was an alcoholic. I'm an alcoholic. You know what Jesus came to do? Set the captives free. The Spirit of the Lord's on me, Isaiah 61, which he quoted in the synagogue, because the Lord's anointed me to preach good news, to bring freedom. That's what Jesus does, folks. We don't have to live generationally because of the curses of our parents. My goodness. I can't tell you how many weddings I perform. I'll stand up here, and I'll look, and there's mom and stepdad, and dad and stepmom on one side, mom and stepdad, dad and stepmom on the other. I mean, two sets of parents on each side is normal. Who's thinking about the children? Who's thinking about the grandchildren? Now listen, there are people I know in this room, I mean, because of the number of people there are, there's a percentage of you in this room who have gone through horrific situations. I'm not minimizing your situations. I'm not telling you you're bad because you've been through these things. Here's what I am telling you, that the devil wants to rob, kill, and destroy, not just you, but your children and your children's children. And we have the ability to break that thing off and set something up for the generations to come that will glorify God. God is a generational God. He thinks not just about this, but he thinks about the end of things. What is the end? Mike Brown speaks this message called Aharit, which means the end. Oh my goodness. That scripture about wine, don't look at wine when it's red in the cup. In the end, it bites you like a viper. In the end, in the Aharit, there's an end, folks, and the devil tries to blind us from the end and makes us think that whatever it is that we're indulging in now, it's okay, because when the time comes, I'm going to change my life. Teenagers that are in here, young folks, I want to implore you, don't buy into the lie that says just live how you want to live now because when you're older, you'll change. That's not what happens. You live the way you live now, and when you're older, you're not even sensitive to those things anymore. My Uncle Robert, lost Jew. Whenever I talk to him, Scott, when are you going to get a real job? He really builds me up. He tells me, he goes, you know what? If I'm ever going to accept this Jesus, you know when it's going to be? It's going to be when I'm on that deathbed. Maybe I'll remember some of the things, and that's when I'll ask. When I don't have another breath to waste on Jesus on this life, then I'll accept him, and I'll just kind of slip into eternity. Folks, that's not how it works. He's going to be so far from God when his last breath comes, if he doesn't change, that that's going to be the last thing on his mind. The Bible says today, if you hear his voice, don't harden your heart. I implore you young people, live for eternity. Leonard Ravenhill, he used to pray, Lord, stamp eternity on my eyeballs. You know, the book of Psalms says this. It says, turn my eyes, Psalm 119. I think it's verse 37. It's a prayer that David prays. Turn my eyes from looking at vain things and revive me in your ways. Revival has everything to do with what we're looking at. You know, we pray for revival while we indulge our eyes on things that have no eternal value at all. We can change the tide of fire's future. We can change the tide of your family's future. Your grandchildren do not have to go through what your parents went through. The destiny of God and the inheritance of God on our life is unspeakable. What does it take? A man, a woman willing to step in and to refuse the pot of stew and to go hungry an extra day until God provides rather than to make something happen in our flesh and end up cutting short God's purposes. You guys hearing me? Flip over to 1 Kings chapter 21. 1 Kings 21. I'm going to be studying a little bit about Naboth in the future. I haven't even considered him until this week. I've read over this countless times. But man, it popped out at me this week. 1 Kings 21 verse 1. Now, it came about after these things that Naboth, the Jezreelite, had a vineyard which was in Jezreel beside the palace of Ahab, king of Samaria. Imagine you own a field in Washington, D.C. next to the White House. In London, England, next to Buckingham Palace. You've got the queen of England and you've got Scott's Vineyard right next door. That's a cool thing. Verse 2. Ahab spoke to Naboth saying, Give me your vineyard, and I may have it for a vegetable garden because it is close beside my house. And I will give you a better vineyard than it in its place, if you like. I'll even give you the price of it in money. Think of the pressure that Naboth must have been under when the king of Samaria comes to him and says, Dude, I want your little plantation here. And I'll give you more for it than you could ever get if you ever wanted to sell it. And a nicer vineyard. And I'll even give you the money for it. Check out my new hero Naboth's response. Verse 3. But Naboth said to Ahab, The Lord forbid me that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers. Wow! A man who thinks generationally, who probably could have set himself up with some kind of financial security that he wouldn't have had to worry another day in his life, rejects that offer from the king? Why? Because it was his inheritance. He wasn't willing to squander it. Know what it cost Naboth? His life. Old Jezebel shows up. Naboth loses his life within days. Ahab gets the vineyard. But Naboth died. A man who was not thinking for himself, but for his children's children. Because a good man leaves an inheritance for his children's children. Armintha called me this week. Are you still here, honey? Where are you at? Come on up here. Armintha called me this week. Actually, she called me two weeks ago. She said she had a dream that she felt like was from the Lord. I tried to get with her a couple weeks ago. It didn't work out. Then I got sick last week. This week it worked out for her to come in on Thursday. She came in, told me the dream. I asked her if she would just share it because I was blown away with how much this dream coincides with the word that I felt kind of percolating in my heart that I wanted to give today. Listen, I believe God is just shooting out a wake-up call to bring hope and empowerment to you to change the destiny of your children's children to grab onto something of God that will secure the next generation with such amazing blessing. Folks, if we lived with a generational mindset, we would not have a $13 trillion national debt. Come on. This is just so ludicrous and crazy. $13 trillion, I can't even imagine it. I mean, if we put dollar bills in this building, it wouldn't even come close. Build it to the brim. I don't know how many buildings. That would be a good little illustration. How many buildings of dollar bills would we need to have $13 trillion? That's selfish people living for now. God says, no, you live for the generations to come so that your children's children don't have to live under the curse or the bondage that your father lived under. I had lunch this week with a graduate from fire school. His name is Brian Boone. Just recently moved down here from the D.C. area. He was selling golf balls in Pensacola the last time I saw him. And then the first service mic reminded me they were used golf balls from coal mining country in Virginia. And I go to see him on Friday. We have lunch in downtown Charlotte, uptown. He's on the 39th floor of Bank of America building. I have to go in. I get a picture ID, go up to the 39th floor, walk into this huge law firm with beautiful stuff everywhere. And the secretary, I'm sorry, I'm at the one second idea. Oh, you're here. Secretary's behind the desk. I said, I'm here to see Brian Boone. And out walks Brian Boone with like this slick, nice suit on and his cell phone. And this guy is like, Brian, whoa. We're sitting at lunch. He takes me out to the Capitol Grill for lunch. See, I don't mind if my dad moved us into a trailer as long as I have some like really rich friends that take me to the Capitol Grill. It's like, that's awesome. So I'm saying, dude, what are you doing? How did this happen? And he said this. He said, Scott, I had a choice when I graduated high school in Virginia. I could have been like every other kid who turned into a coal miner or I could have broken the cycle and I chose to become a lawyer. This man, I mean, I was so impressed with him. He's done work with the Supreme Court. He served in high places in D.C. The guy's amazing. He loves God. But he broke the cycle. He did something naturally, but by the unction of God. His children, I flat out guarantee you this, none of his kids will ever be coal miners, I promise you. That's a natural decision. How much more in the spirit? Some of you may have walked in hopeless thinking your life was going nowhere today. Can I tell you? You have the ability to change your children's future and yours. Sorry, honey. Go ahead. So about two weeks ago, two or three weeks ago, I had a dream. And it was like I thought I had woken up because it was like everything in the room were exactly the same. I was dressed the same. And my baby brother was still sleeping next to me. But I realized I was still dreaming when I felt a presence in the room. And it started speaking to me. And I immediately knew that it was the devil himself speaking to me. And he basically in an angry voice told me, so, yeah, the end is near. But what do you think you're doing? Like who do you think you are? It doesn't matter what you're doing because I'm going to drag you all down with me. And that you, I knew it wasn't specifically speaking about me specifically, but it was us like all of us. And he was so angry and there was so much hatred in him. And in the Holy Spirit in the dream made me feel his hatred for us. And just like the love of God overwhelms us, the Holy Spirit made me feel the way his hatred for us like overwhelmed me. Yeah, the devil's hatred for us overwhelmed me. And also like the Holy Spirit reminded me of a high school teacher that I had that was like, even if the devil was to ask for forgiveness from God, God would have never forgiven him. And the Holy Spirit made me, like showed me, was like, here, you go feel it yourself. The devil is never going to turn from the way he is and feel the hatred he has for you. So I actually tried to, so I started trembling, like not just trembling, but shaking in the dream, literally shaking so hard that I couldn't speak. And near me was my baby brother. So in the dream, I grabbed him and make my way out. And as I'm walking out, I start to have strength. And I still hear him speaking. The devil is speaking in the room. And I leave him and I start to have strength and I start praising God and saying hallelujah. As I'm walking away, more strength is coming. And I'm speaking louder and louder. I make my way up the stairs in our house with my baby brother in my hand. And behind me, there's a family member that follows me up there. And this family member is like, tries to stop me and like, hey, what's going on? Like, why are you praising God like this? And immediately, I stop them like, stop, don't talk to me. I have to do what I have to do right now. It's not the time for me to stop to explain to you why I'm praising God in this moment because it was just, I had to do it. So I continue to praise God. And this family member follows me in my room and still trying to insist like, hey, what's going on? And it's like the, just similar to like children's plays with the way you see there's costumes with the sun and a cloud and everything. Instantly, on that family member, there was a cloud, that costume that showed up on them. And on the cloud, it was written, this is a distraction. And then the Holy Spirit kind of made me, like, revealed to me that similar to like when it's cloudy outside, you can't see the sun. So this person, although it wasn't anything like wrong, they were trying to stop me to, for me to explain to them what was going on. But similar to when it's cloudy outside, you can't see the sun. And it's similar that these subtle distractions will stop you from seeing like the son of God. So, and the Holy Spirit also revealed to me that the enemy's tactics of how he's going to be tempting us is going to be different. It's not going to be with like adultery and alcoholism as before. It's going to be subtle distraction just to take our attention, like slowly away from God, just like a busy schedule. Like for these past few weeks, I've suddenly become extremely busy with my phone constantly ringing, unlike before. And it's like the Holy Spirit wanted me to also share this with the church. So like, don't let your attention, like your eyes be taken off, like the son of God for not even a moment because his return, we don't know when he's returning, the hour and time. And when I woke up now in the natural, he also showed me Matthew 25 with the five virgin brides. And he revealed to me all of them were brides, you know, but five of them were considered foolish and five were considered wise. Five were prepared and five weren't. And during our Friday prayer, my younger brother asked me, so why didn't they stop and share their oil? And the Holy Spirit showed me it was similar to your dream. When it was time for you to praise God, you had to do what you had to do. You were already on the journey, the path to go. It was not my time to stop and explain to you like, hey, this is what's going on. If you want to join in to help me, I was already on a path. And also to that question you asked me of earlier in the first service, how to tie it in with your message. I was kind of thinking about it one way, but then it's like, it showed me that the way I am now, the question of how to tie in my dream with the inheritance of generation, though what I'm experiencing now in my walk, if it wasn't for my parents, you know, spiritually, the way they were touched by God for me, for them to pass that on to me, for me to now be able to have these experiences with dreams and visions and all that kind of stuff before. I mean, when I first started walking with God like five years ago, these things did not happen to me. And most of the time, if I had a dream like the one I've just explained to you all, I would have been scared and kind of like, hey, I don't want to get too involved. But now it's like God strengthened me to like whatever things he shows me, like I'm okay with it. Awesome. So you feel specifically where distractions are concerned, that that was one of the key things, the cloud represented distractions. And the God, Jesus return, which is near. And I, from what we're seeing in the news these days, we earthquakes all over. It started with Haiti and then it moved all over the globe. And with these natural disasters and these wars going on. So his return is very near. And this message is not like to scare anyone for fear, but it's actually a message of encouragement. Awesome. Thank you so much, Armin. I had, you know, it's really funny speaking in two services in succession. You never remember what it was that you said. I mean, I remember I said this, but I can't remember whether I said it in the first service or if I've already said it. So, so open up to Proverbs 13. No, I'm only joking here. Oh Lord, help me. Did I tell you about my breakfast with Clinton Garcia? Okay. Listen to this. We had, we had breakfast together with, with, with a gentleman from our church. Clinton is now serving God in Thailand. Been there 10 years, but brought his kids over. His kids are more Thai than American. He's adopted Thai kids. He's birthed a child in Thailand. Well, his wife birthed a child in Thailand. But you know what I mean. He's sitting there and Jim, the older gentleman with whom we're eating, says, so tell me your story, Clinton. Clinton's like, let me just tell you something. I cheated on my wife. I was shooting or taking drugs as a teenager. That's who I was. But God came and I got saved. You know, as I was sitting there, I thought to myself, God's a generational God. The sins of the father are passed on to the third and fourth generation. But through Jesus, he empowers us to stop that and then start passing things on to generations to come that totally spit in the face of what the devil did and gives you back more than you could have ever imagined. No situation is hopeless. Listen, some of you guys are going through stuff that is horrific. I'm not in your shoes. I'm not minimizing anything that you're walking through. But can I tell you this? There is power and ability in the love of God and the saving grace of God to take your situation and turn it into a testimony for generations to come. That's because God's generational. All right. Last scripture. Hebrews chapter 12, verse 14. Hebrews 12, 14. Make every effort. Everybody say effort. Say it again. If the Bible says to make an effort, you know what we're supposed to do? Make an effort. I'm not talking about praying about something. I'm talking about making an effort. Unless you think I'm talking about a works mentality. Here's what I'm talking about. All too many of us are praying into things without actually putting legs to our prayers and doing something. Do you want to avoid the trap that Esau found himself in? Here's the key right here. Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy without holiness. No one will see the Lord. I'm going to read on in a minute because it talks about Esau. But let me tell you something. This current generation has some kind of crazy discussion going on between the difference between holiness and grace as if they're opposed to one another. Oh, my church preaches holiness. Can I tell you something? Heaven preaches holiness. Angels sing day and night. Holy, holy is the Lord of hosts without stopping around the throne. Thousands and thousands of angels. Holiness is not a dirty word. And it's not a legalistic word either. Are you telling me I can't smoke and drink? I'm telling you God wants us holy. I don't care what you do. I actually do care what you do, but I'm not going to tell you what to do. I've got four older kids and one who says Noah over and over and over again. But the four older ones are starting to experience life and maybe have friends that have slightly different ways of thinking than I do. I have friends that have different ways of thinking than I do. And somebody will come up to me and say, Come on, don't live in that legalistic rut. What's wrong with doing this? Ah, don't look at wine when it's red in the cup, when it sparkles. Is it OK to do it? Probably. What does Corinthians say? All things are permissible, but not all things are profitable. Make every effort to live holy. Is it an effort? You better believe it. Can you do without God's grace? Absolutely not. That's the paradox. Some people, unfortunately, are not making every effort. And I'm finding that they're settling for the stew rather than going after the inheritance. Good people. Make every effort to live in peace with all men and be holy. Without holiness, no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. Here's the key right here, verse 16. Look at this. Esau made it into the New Testament. See that no one is sexually immoral or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. Sexually immoral? Did we read anywhere in Genesis about Esau doing anything sexually immoral? Can I tell you that the same spirit that is a sexually immoral spirit is the exact same spirit that will get you to settle for a taste of stew. It's the same thing. Selling out for now pleasure as opposed to cashing in for eternity is an immoral spirit. Satisfying yourself. Pursue. Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy. Without holiness, no one will see the Lord. Stand with me, will you? I feel... I actually jotted four things down before the service this morning. I got to neither of them in both of the services. That was the way I thought I was going to close. So I just want to put this before you. I have been challenged this week. Challenged in the way I look at things. And I'll tell you, I'll confess to you the next time I eat a peanut butter sandwich and break my fast, I promise you I'll do that. But that's not going to happen too many times. Again, because I've spoken it out. My dad's not leaving me a whole lot in this life. As a matter of fact, all they've got is a house and I think it's upside down on their mortgage anyway. If they go home to be with the Lord, I might have to pay for their house. But can I tell you what my dad gave me? A Lisa. My kids, my dad's grandchildren. My wife's parents, God fearing people who pray. And look at their grandkids and see the inheritance of God in them. Because they loved eternity more than now. My dad could have been making a truckload of money. But I would not be standing here. But for the grace of God. He saved us. If you're here today and you do not know Jesus. You've never given your life to him. Today, you can break the pattern from generations. And start a godly heritage that will spend eternity with the God who created you. And came and died for you so that you might have life. Will your life get easier? No, I can't promise that. But you will be fulfilled like never before. Because you will be living for something bigger than yourself. If you're in this place today. And you've never accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior. I want to give you that opportunity right now. Is there anybody here who would say, Scott. I recognize that Jesus came and died for me. And I want to give my life to him. And serve him all the days of my life. Would you unashamedly just raise your hand so I can see it. The Bible says today if you hear his voice do not harden your heart. I'm not sure you'll have another opportunity. I pray you do. But I don't want you to walk out of this place without responding to this opportunity. If your heart is being tugged. I just want you to indicate it to me by raising your hand so I can see it. Anybody? Here's what I want to do. I'd like our life group leaders and our leadership team to come on up. Staff folks come on up. I just want you to line the front here. If this message today has struck a cord in your heart. There is freedom and deliverance for you. Today is the day that you can break the generational negativity. By making that decision to say I'm not going to live like Esau any longer. I'm going to live with eternity in my heart. Eternity in my heart. That will secure the destiny for your daughter. That will secure the destiny for your son. And your grandchildren. And your children's children. There will be a godly lineage and a godly heritage. So Lord I thank you. I pray King Jesus look down on this congregation. And be glorified. Father I pray for those that are struggling with addictions today that are in this place. Way more than one King Jesus I pray. Tug their hearts. Today is the day folks. This thing can be broken once and for all. Because you're looking past the bowl of lentil soup. And you're looking to eternity and the lives of your children and your grandchildren. Broken homes can be mended. Your children do not have to live in divorced homes. Your grandchildren do not have to say my mom and dad were divorced. Sexual immorality. Your kids will not have kids who say my dad dealt with this and now I'm dealing with this. No. You can break that today. So Lord our trust is in the God who empowers and gives grace. We love you and bless you. And even as you bless your people King Jesus. I pray that the blessing of God would be over this congregation in this house. Lord that we no longer live for the pleasures of this life. But God our eyes would be fixed on eternity. For your glory in Jesus name. Here's what we're going to do. We're going to close. If you don't mind just playing gently. These folks are going to be up here to pray. I just want to encourage you to leave quietly today if you would. And respectfully for the people who are coming up to pray. Don't let this opportunity go by. I really feel an urgency to just implore you. Break that thing today. Break it today. You're visiting with us. I'd love to meet you. Our guests are going to be meeting over there shortly after the service. I know only one person raised their hand. But I think there's more than one that is a guest today. Just come on over and meet with us over there. I just want to invite you. Come on up. Our leaders here just want to pray with you. Thank you Lord. In Jesus name. You're dismissed.