In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of offering a sacrifice of praise to God, even in difficult situations. He highlights the verse from Romans 8:28, which states that all things, both good and bad, work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose. The preacher encourages believers to trust in God's plan and to seek revelation in times of trial, understanding that God brings them into difficult places to fulfill His purpose in their lives. The sermon concludes with a reference to the story of Jacob's dream, where God promises to be with him and bless him and his descendants.

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. Other tapes are available by writing WORLDCHALLENGE P.O. BOX 260 LINDALE, TEXAS 75771 or calling 903-963-8626. None of these messages are copyrighted and you are welcome to make copies for free distribution to friends. Genesis chapter 28, if you'll turn there with me please. Genesis chapter 28, pouring oil on your pillow. Pouring oil on your pillow. Now this is a message for Christians, for people who have come to God. Maybe you have been saved only a short period of time and others may have been saved for quite a period of time. But you find yourself in a very, very difficult place. I'm going to believe that God is opening a doorway today to show us where that place of victory really is in the midst of difficulty. And I believe that people are going to be set free this afternoon. Now, Father, I thank you for the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, you have already moved in a powerful way in this gathering time today and you have released captives. Lord, you've given hope to those that were discouraged and cast down. And now, Lord, you're going to come with your word and seal the work that you have done in this house today. Father, I ask for an unction, Lord, that you would go forth through my life. God, that you would bless the people that you have gathered here today. Lord, I ask it in Jesus name. Amen. Genesis chapter 28, a story about Jacob, man in the Old Testament, beginning at verse 10. And Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. And he lighted a pond or he came to a certain place and tarried there all night because the sun was set. He took up the stones of that place and put them for his pillows and laid down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed and behold, a ladder set up on the earth and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God descending and descending on it. And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham, thy father, the God of Isaac, the land whereon thou liest to thee will I give it and to thy seed. And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south. And in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And behold, I am with thee and will keep thee in all the places where thou goest and will bring thee again into this land. For I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. And Jacob awaked out of his sleep and said, Surely the Lord is in this place. And I knew it not. He was afraid and said, How dreadful or awesome is another word for dreadful there. How dreadful is this place. This is none other but the house of God. And this is the gate of heaven. And Jacob rose up early in the morning and took the stone that he had put for his pillows and set it up for a pillar and poured oil upon the top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel. In other words, for Bethel is the house of God. He called the name of that place the house of God. Now, Jacob was in a hard place. Jacob had deceived his father. He had stolen the blessing from his brother Esau. And now, because of Esau's anger and his wrath, he was forced to flee for his life. Jacob was in a very, very difficult situation. And that night he laid down and took a stone from that place that he was in and he put it in place for his pillow. Now, certainly that stone was a nagging all night reminder of his predicament. There are many, many people who go to bed at night in hard and difficult places. Sleep is infrequent and uncomfortable as the pain of past failure and present disappointments and fears sometimes make the dark times seem as if they will never end. And folks, I believe that there are some people here that are in that place right now, a place like Jacob was in. And maybe it's because of some past sin. Maybe it's because of something that you need to turn away from today. And maybe it's just a circumstance that's come your way. You have no control over it. You don't know what to do about it. And no matter how you try to fluff up a stone at night, it's still a stone. And even though you may go to bed at night and you put your head down on a pillow, that pillow is a hard place because in that place there's pain. And there's a cry in your heart. And you say, God, will I ever get the victory over this situation? Will the pain that I'm experiencing ever end? Has anybody ever been in a place like that? But it's in this dark and difficult place that God begins to reveal himself to Jacob. Folks, the dark places are only dark if we don't see God in the midst of it. If we fail to understand that sometimes His purposes are being worked out in places for us and through us and in us, in places that we're not aware of and places we'd rather not be in. But it's in those places sometimes that we have the greatest revelation of Jesus Christ and the greatest growth as a Christian begins to take place in us. It was in a place like this that the Lord revealed himself to David. You remember in Psalm 18, verse 5, David said, The sorrows of hell compassed me about. The snares of death prevented or confronted me. And then he goes on to say, In my distress, I called upon the Lord and I cried unto my God. He heard my voice out of his temple. My cry came before him, even into his ears. He bowed the heavens, in verse 9, he says, and came down and darkness was under his feet. Now, in verse 12, in this place, Jacob lays down in this place of difficulty and God begins to reveal himself to Jacob in a dream. In verse 12, he says, And he dreamed, and behold, a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God ascending and descending upon it. Now, what God was showing Jacob is simply this. He was revealing himself to Jacob as a father who is not indifferent to the daily happenings of his creation. Rather, he is in complete control and he is actively involved in the affairs of man. One of the very first things the devil will try to do when you're in a hard place is he'll try to come to you and say, somehow God has forgotten about you. God doesn't care about your situation. God has turned his back or turned his face away from you and he's not interested in what you're going on. You're just going to have to go through this all by yourself. And certainly the enemy may have been coming to Jacob and talking to him about some forebodings that were coming his way. But that night, in that place of difficulty, heaven was open. And God began to reveal himself to Jacob and said, I am not indifferent to your circumstance. I'm not indifferent to the plight of those who are on the earth. I created it and I am still in absolute control. And every day I am actively involved. There were angels ascending and descending from that place where God was. Psalm 34, verse 15 says, The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and his ears are open to their cry. The writer of Hebrews chapter one, verse 14, speaking about angels, he said, Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation? God showed us the depth of his love by sending his son, Jesus Christ, his only begotten son. And through him, he made us for us a way to escape the penalty of sin and to make an entrance for us into heaven. In John chapter one, verse 51, when Jesus was talking to Nathanael, he showed that he indeed was the fulfillment of what God had revealed to Jacob in that hard place. Because he said to Nathanael, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He said, Hereafter, you shall see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the son of man. Jesus Christ is God's absolute fulfillment of his caring for you and I. He sent his son, Jesus Christ, and it's in him. It's through him. It's because of him that we have hope in dark places. It's because of him that we have life. It's because of him that we have light. He was saying, You'll understand that I am the fulfillment of God's caring for you. All you need will be found in me. And folks, I want to tell you something. No matter what kind of a situation you might be going through this afternoon, all you need is found in Jesus Christ. If you're going to cry for something, don't cry necessarily to get out immediately of your situation, but say, Lord, show me yourself in the midst of my situation. Give me a revelation of yourself. Give me an understanding, O God. You spoke like Jacob knew the promises that were given to his grandfather Abraham and then to his father Isaac. He knew that there was a promise that I'm going to bless you and you are part of a seed that through you, I'm going to bless all of the nations of the world. But yet he was in a difficult place. And many of us come to Christ and we open the Bible and we see all of the magnificent promises that God gives to us. And then before you know it, it seems like we've got our head on a stone and we're in a place of such difficulty, such incredible pain, such a misunderstanding of even the purposes of God. And we say, God, how is it possible that you can be in this thing? And Lord, what good could come from this thing? And instead of belaboring the situation we find ourselves in, we need to begin to pray, Lord, reveal yourself to me in the midst of this. You have a plan. You have a purpose, God. Show me. And as Jacob was dreaming now in verse 13 in Genesis chapter 28, he saw the angels ascending and descending, showing that God was actively involved. There was a plan that was unfolding. God was saying, I'm not a distant God. I'm not far away from your situation, Jacob. I know exactly where you are. And I'm showing you that I have a plan. And right now where you're sleeping, right in your hard place, this plan is going. You see angels ascending and descending. My plan is moving forward just as I ordained that it should move forward. And then in verse 13, he saw God standing. And behold, the Lord stood above it. And he said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, the God of Isaac, and of course, the God of Jacob. He was Jacob. And he says, in effect, he was showing him, I am above your circumstance. I'm standing higher than anything that can come against you. I'm higher. Jacob, I've got a plan for your life. The enemy will come against you on this side, but I will counter him on this side. I am higher. Jesus Christ, this very afternoon, no matter what circumstance you're in today, he has risen from the dead. He triumphed over the powers of darkness. He sits now at the right hand of power and authority. He ever lives to make intercession for you. He has not forgotten about you. He is not unaware of your pain. As a matter of fact, the scripture says he touched with the feelings of your infirmities and has said to you, come into my presence, walk with confidence and assurance and right before my throne. I'm there to help you in your time of need. I'm higher than your circumstance. I'm more powerful than all of your enemies. Trust me, even when your natural mind can't reason what is going on in your life. Then he says, the land where you lie on, he said, I'll give it to you. To thee will I give it and to thy seed. In other words, he's saying, I'm going to give you victory over the place of your trial, both to you and to your children. Hallelujah. I thank God for that with all of my heart. I remember the day when the enemy came against me and tried to tell me that he was going to take my children. He tried to tell me, Carter, you're going to preach the gospel and maybe hundreds will get saved. He said, but I'm going to take your children. I'm going to take them away from you. But then God opened up to me a promise. Just let me read it to you in Psalm 112, a promise that the Lord made so very, very real to me. He says, Praise you, the Lord. Verse one. Blessed is the man that fears the Lord, that delights greatly in his commandments. And I know that I walk in the fear of God and I know that I delight greatly in every word that's written in this book. And so every blessing that's written in Psalm 112 is a promise for my life. God began to speak to me in verse two. He says, His seed shall be mighty upon the earth and the generation of the upright shall be blessed. Hallelujah. His seed shall be mighty. In other words, it doesn't mean that they will govern nations, but it means my Holy Spirit will be upon your children. Not a mightier pathway, not a mightier plan than to have your life a channel of the living God working through you, giving life to those who sit in darkness, giving strength to those that are weak. And based upon this particular verse of scripture, I have the authority now to sit at my table in my house and say to my children with a loving heart, You will not be mediocre people. God has promised me because I love him and I walk with him. God's promised me that you are going to be mighty upon the earth, that he's going to use your life, that he's going to flow through your lives and you're going to be a channel of blessing. That's what God said to Jacob. He said, In that hard place that you're in, He said, The land that you're lying on right now with your head on a stone, I'm going to give it to you. I'm going to give you victory over your circumstance and your situation, and I'm going to give it to your seed too as well. God is so faithful. God is so faithful. Folks, it doesn't matter necessarily if your children are still at home. I've shared this here from this pulpit before. I know there are some men, some women here. You say, Pastor, how can this apply to me? I've lost my children. My marriage broke up long ago. I don't even know in some cases where my sons and daughters are. Folks, that promise that's here is not conditional on that. God says, You fear me. You walk in truth. You love this book and I'll do this for you. Folks, there's a natural desire in your children's hearts to turn, especially to the fathers. Isn't that what the prophet Malachi said? Before the day of the Lord comes, the spirit of Elijah is going to come and turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children back to the fathers. Lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. It's in the heart of children to want to follow their fathers. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. And then in verse 14, He says, Thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth. And thou shalt spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south. And in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. He says, I'm going to bring you through your trial. You will grow in grace and knowledge. And many will be blessed through what I am about to do in your life. Hallelujah. Verse 15, he says, Behold, I am with thee and will keep thee in all places where thou goest and will bring thee again into this land. I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. You talk about an incredible promise. Now he's giving this to Jacob by revelation. Even though you're laying in a strange place, you've got your head on a stone. He said, I am with you. I will not leave you. I've made you a promise. And I'm going to bring this promise to pass in your life and in the lives of your children. Hallelujah. I will keep you in every place that you go. And Jacob awaked out of his sleep in verse 16 and said, Surely the Lord is in this place. And I knew it not. In other words, he's saying, Lord, I failed to see this as part of your plan for my life. You were in this place. Lord, you brought me to this place. You see, God brought Jacob to this place because he had to deal with some things that were in his life. His plan was unfolding. And there are many, many people when they get into trial and difficulty, they begin to cry out and even, in fact, blame God for something that's going on in their life. But if they would really take a moment and say, Lord, give me revelation of what it is that you're doing. The Lord would say, I brought you into this place. I brought you into this place to fulfill my plan in your life. I have a plan for you and I'm going to teach you something and I'm going to bring you into some hard places and I'm going to press you sore. Like the Apostle Paul said, you're going to be pressed down, sometimes even despairing of life. Those who say that you come to Christ and it's just a great big party from the time you get saved till you go to heaven don't know God. They've never walked with God. They don't understand the principles of God and the ways of God. You know, God will take you if you really want him with all your heart. God will take you into some hard places. There will be nights when your pillow seems like a stone. There will be nights of confusion and nights of isolation, nights and times when you don't understand what God is doing in your life. But if you have entrusted yourself to him, if you have come to him and say, Lord, I surrender my life to you. There's a plan that God's unfolding. He is the potter. We are the clay. He knows what needs to be done. He knows our pressure points. He knows where he has to press, how he has to mold, how he has to form us so that we can be a vessel of honor for his name. So that we can come through refined, purified by the very touch of the master's hand. That we can stand not with our own strength, but in the strength of the risen Christ. Having in ourselves something that is not given to those that walk in self-will and in self-effort. Jacob awakes and the time of true victory for the Christian who's in trial is the time that faith awakens in your heart and in your life. Oh folks, Jacob says, God, you were in this place and I knew it not. Folks, I want to tell you something. There is a faith that God is looking to birth in our hearts. Folks, anybody can walk with God when things are going good, can't they? When there's fair sailing. But there's only a few apostle Pauls around that when the storm comes and the ship begins to fall apart, can stand in the midst of all the confusion and say, I have been with the Lord. And an angel of God has talked with me and this is what we're to do. You see, because Paul was not a man who walked by his sight anymore. He walked by faith. And folks, that doesn't come unless we go through trial. It doesn't come unless God puts us in places where we can't see his hand, but we have to believe that he is doing something. Oh Lord, Jacob says, I see now that you are in absolute control of everything. You love me. You will never leave me. You will never forsake me. Give me the eyes of faith to understand what it is that you're doing in my life. In verse 17 says he was afraid and said, how dreadful or how awesome is this place? This is none other but the house of God. This is the gate of heaven. This is the way to eternal life. This isn't the revelation that God was giving to Jacob. Lord, I am on your pathway. Folks, because you're in a time of trial this afternoon doesn't mean that you are off the pathway of God and don't for one minute. Now, if you have willful sin in your life, that's a different story. But I'm talking to Christians. I'm talking to people who love the Lord. I'm talking to people who want to walk with God. And all of a sudden, it seems like everything is dark all around you. It seems like you're fleeing and seems like you're sleeping in such a hard place. And all of a sudden, heaven begins to open and say, God, this is an awesome place that you have me in right now. You are forming your character within me. Your hand is upon my life. Even though you press me sore, even though I can't understand it, God, something is happening in my life. And I know in my heart that I'm going to come out of this a different man, a different woman, a different person, a different father, a different mother, a different employee. Thank you for the hard places. Folks, I want to tell you something. I believe that I have grown and measured over the years as a Christian, but I have not grown in the easy places. I have grown in the hard places. I have grown when God has pressed me sore. I've grown in places where I've despaired even to be able to go on another day. I've gotten to a day, a time in my life when the Holy Spirit would speak to me. I'd tell him I can't go on anymore. I can't do it anymore. And he'd say to me, can you do it for one more day? And I'd say, Lord, one more day. He says, then do it for one more day. The next day he'd say, can you do it for one more day? I'd say, God, in your strength, one more day. I didn't understand the trials. I didn't understand why it was pressing me down, but I understand a little bit more of it today. And it's given me hope for the future because every time a hard place comes, I say, Lord, I know that I love you. I know that I'm in your hand. If you're trying to show me something in my heart that I can't see, I trust you. I trust you. I trust you. I believe that I am in the Father's hand and no man can take me out of that hand. I believe that with all of my heart. How awesome is this place? Lord, how awesome is this place? Hallelujah. It can be dreadful too at times. Maybe that word is more appropriate sometimes. How dreadful is this place? How dreadful. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life. John 10, 9, he says, I'm the door. By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved and go in and out and find pasture. In John chapter one, two of the disciples of John began to follow him. And as he turned to them, he said, what do you seek? What seek you? They said, where do you live? Where do you dwell? He said, come and see. Come and see where I live. There's something in the heart of all of us. Say, Lord, where do you dwell? Where do you live? He says, come and see. Come and follow me. Now, in Luke chapter nine, verse 57, a certain man said to him, Lord, I will follow you wherever you go. I will follow you. And he replies to him saying, foxes have holes, birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head. Will you really follow me everywhere I go? He was saying, this is what in effect he was saying. I have no certain dwelling place that you can see with the natural eye. You can't see where I live. He said, my dwelling place is in the care, the custody, the will and the keeping power of my father. If you want to know where that is, you have to come and follow me and see for yourself. You have to go to places where there's nothing more than a stone that you can lay your head on. But in the midst of that stone, you're going to begin to understand in the midst of your trial. I don't dwell in houses made with hands. Jesus was saying, come and see where I live. I live under the care of the father. I live out in the open field. I live in the garden with my friends. I live in whatever house will have me. I live in wherever place they open the door and say, come in. That's where I live. Come and see. Come and see. Come and learn about the faithfulness of my father. Come and walk with me and see that even in the midst of trial and difficulty, he's still with me. Even when I have to go into a garden and die to my own will, he's still with me. Angels came down into that garden and ministered unto him. Just like God showed to Jacob, the plan of God was unfolding through his son, Jesus Christ. There's angels ascending and descending, coming down into the garden and saying, this is my beloved son. Hear him. This is my son. Hallelujah to the Lamb of God. Come and see where I live. Come and see where I dwell. He dwells in the hard places. He dwells in places that nobody else will go. I remember one day just turning to a chapter of scripture and just matter of factly, the writer of the New Testament just records. And Jesus was found in Simon the leper's house. I want to ask you, folks, how many people went to eat at Simon the leper's house? I would bet you they're not too many. And Jesus said, I go and I dwell where nobody else will go. I live in the hard places. Come and see. Come and see where I live. Come and follow me. Come walk with me and I'll show you some things. I'm going to lead you into some hard places and you're going to learn what I had to learn. Though he were a son that says yet learned obedience by the things which he suffered. Come and learn of me. I'm meek and lowly of heart. You shall find rest for yourselves. You come and walk with me and you begin to see that I dwell in a place of absolute protection. I dwell under the loving hand and guidance of my heavenly father. Now, Jacob was about to be taken on a journey. On that journey, he was going to learn some things. See, Jacob was a swindler and he was about to meet up with Uncle Laban, who was a greater swindler than he was. He was about to find out that there's a little bit of pain associated with the things that he thought were just natural for him to do to others were about to be done to him. He was about to experience God's protection, too, in that place of difficulty, because when he got up and said, I've had enough of this, I'm going home. And he started heading back. Uncle Laban came after him to do him harm. But God met him and God said, you're not going to touch him. You don't touch that man. He's chosen. He's a chosen vessel of mine. He also knew was going to be led to a place where he was going to be purified. He had a river he had to cross in order to come back home to meet up with his family again. And that place was called Jabbok. He had to come to that river. And it was at that place that he wrestled with God. And he said, and then God looks him in the eye. He won't let him go. He began. He said, Lord, I can't go back until you bless me. I can't go back to you. Change me. And he wrestles with the messenger of God. The messenger of God looks him right in the eye and says, what is your name? What is your name? I love that portion of scripture. And he says, Jacob. He says, Swindler. That's what my name is. He says, now you're on the right road. You're beginning to deal in truth now. He says, your name is no longer going to be Jacob, but your name is going to be Israel. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. You have prevailed and you have power with men and with God. Now, as the journey begins. The journey begins verse 18, when we take our hard places and turn them into an altar. Folks, we can't follow Christ until we're willing to do that. Now, listen to me carefully. Jacob rose up early in the morning and took the stone that he had put up for his pillows and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. He called the name of that place Bethel. The journey begins if we want to follow Christ and learn about him and have informed in us when we take our hard places and we turn them into an altar. We don't try to get out of them. We don't blame God for being in them. We don't look around to blame somebody for what's happening to us. But we say, Lord, I've given my life to you. Your hand is in this. Surely God was in this place. And I didn't know it. Jacob said, your hand is in it. And so you say, I dedicate this place to you. I surrender it to your purposes. He took oil and poured it on the stone that had been his pillow. And that oil represented simply this. Lord, you have a divine appointed purpose in it that I may not understand. But I submit it into your hands and I release myself to your care. This is where we begin to learn about Christ. This is where the nature of Christ begins to be formed in us. It's when faith comes alive and say, God, I'm going to go home. I take this marriage situation and I'm going to pour oil on it. Now I'm talking about a spiritual application. I'm going to pour oil on this. And God, I don't fully understand. But Lord, I'm trusting that you're going to bring your purposes to pass in this situation. Some situations are as varied as the number of people that are here this afternoon. But I want to tell you, you begin to walk in Christ and begin to understand Christ when there's a willingness to take that situation and dedicate it completely to God. That's what a sacrifice of praise is all about. That's why many people come into the house of the Lord and are unable to worship God. It's because you haven't taken your hard situation and given it to him. And so you come into the house of the Lord and all that's before you is why, God? Why, God? And you can't worship him when you're saying, why, God? Or how, God? How am I going to get out of this thing? How am I going to get away from this? And we come in and we can't bring that sacrifice of praise because we have not taken that situation and built an altar around it and said, Lord, I give it to you. And then we can come into the house of the Lord and say, faithful God, all powerful God, majestic God. I don't understand it, but I don't have to. I know there's a purpose in it. This is the end of side one. Chapter 8, verse 28 says these words. And we know that all things, all things, all things, good things, bad things, easy things, hard things, things we understand, things we don't, all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose. Now, look at verse 35. He says, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? Now, there are some people that are experiencing some of these things today. As it is written, he says, for thy sake, we're killed all the day long. We're accounted as sheep for the slaughter. In verse 37, he says, nay, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. I am persuaded, are you persuaded today? That neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present or things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Nothing shall be able to separate us. Absolutely nothing. Now, here in verse 19 in Genesis 28 again, says he called the name of that place Bethel or the house of God. In verse 22, he says, in this stone, which I have set for a pillar shall be God's house. He called it the house of God. He was saying, in effect, this hard place shall be one more testimony throughout eternity of your faithfulness, your provision, your keeping power, your delivering power, and your love for me. I'm dedicating this to you. And through all of eternity, my life and testimony shall be one more stone added to the millions that will be assembled in your name. To be your dwelling place for all of eternity. God doesn't dwell in buildings. He dwells in people. And he is assembling a church, a bride unto himself. And that bride who loves him, that bride who knows him, takes every hard place and says, Lord, I am going to trust you through this. And I'm going to trust you in this. And I'm going to believe with all of my heart that you are in absolute control of my life. You have a purpose for what you're allowing into my life. It didn't happen by chance. You have allowed it to come into my life. And I don't understand it. But I believe, I believe that all things work together for good. Because I love you, Lord. And I know that I'm called according to your purpose. And so I take this and I dedicate it to you. And through all of eternity, this is going to be one more stone in your house. One more word of praise before your throne. Maybe there's a million giving words of praise to you. But I'm going to be there too. And it's going to be one more stone. And say, listen, I was in a hard place. My head was on a stone. It seemed like death was all around me. I thought darkness was going to swallow me. I didn't understand what was going on. But God was in that place. And he was faithful. I took that hard situation. I offered it up to him. He brought me through in victory and changed me. And he formed his nature in me. I went in one kind of a man. I came out a different man. God had touched my life. And the longer I walked with him, the less afraid I became of the hard places. I began to understand that sometimes the hard places are my friend and they're not my enemy. Sometimes it's not the devil after me at all. Sometimes it's the hand of God working in my life and forming his plan in me and through me. Oh, folks, if you can lay hold of that. Jacob woke up and said, God is in this place. And I knew it not. There are folks here today. You're in hard, hard, hard places. This is a hard time, a hard era, a hard generation. It's a hard city, hard family situations, hard life situations. But if you will take that situation and pour oil upon it. Say, God, you have a purpose. And make that a life pattern. Not to question him, not to accuse him, not to look for people to blame. But to say, God, you have a plan in this. And even if I may not like it and I may not understand it. But Lord, I know I'm coming through it. I'm going to come out the other side and I'm going to be a different man. Every time I go through a different woman, a different person. Every time I go through, there's going to be a change in my life. Hallelujah. And your house is going to be built upon this principle of faith. You see, this house is being built, God's house. By people of faith on a principle of faith. It's faith, it's trust and belief in Christ. Not walking by what we see, but what we know. And what he has revealed to our lives through this precious book. Hallelujah. There are some hard times that some are going through. There are some hard times that are coming for others. But I want to challenge you with all my heart. Pour oil on those hard times. If you offer it up as faith. You talk about a time of worship. Pastor David said today, I believe God's trying to open a door to us. And I believe that's what the door is. To understand that I am the door. You trust me with every circumstance. Trust me with every situation in your life. And you come into this house and the worship. The roof won't be able to contain the worship that's in this house. Hallelujah. When I can find the people who will trust me. That will let me touch their lives. That will let me form them and mold them. That will let me take them through darkened places. So that I can lead them into righteousness and lead them into truth. One day, folks, we're going to stand before God. And I'm going to praise him for every hard time in my life. I'm going to praise him for coming back from Eastern Canada. My house was burnt to the ground. I'm going to praise him for every time I've gone through things I couldn't understand. I'm going to praise him for every time he presses me down. And presses me so that I have to seek him and preach out of relationship. I'm going to praise him for the hard times. And the confusing times. Because his hand has been in all of it. And every time I've come through. I've not been the same as when I went in. Oh folks, let that be a pattern for your life. One day, we're going to stand before him and sing with all the choirs of heaven. Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father. There is no shadow of turning with thee. Thou changest not. Thy compassions, they fail not. As thou hast been, thou forever will be. Great is thy faithfulness. Great, great, great is thy faithfulness. If you're in a hard place, let's stand together in this house. If you're in a hard place this afternoon. I'm going to ask you to come to this altar today. And give it to God. Just give it to him. Place of confusion. Place of despair. Misunderstanding. Whatever it is. Would you come and would you give it to God? We're just going to pour oil on it. We're going to offer it up to the Lord. And when God brings you through. I want to tell you folks. You're going to be able to praise him and love him. Listen to this. Those that have come to this altar today. Revelation chapter 21. I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth were passed away. And there was no more sea. I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem. Coming down from God out of heaven. Prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. I heard a great voice out of heaven saying. Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men. He will dwell with them and they shall be his people. And God himself shall be with them and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. There shall be no more death, neither sorrow, no more crying. Neither shall there be any more pain. For the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, behold, I make all things new. He said unto me. These words are true and faithful. It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to him that is a thirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcomes shall inherit all things. I will be his God and he will be my son. There's a day coming. When all sorrow, all trials, all difficulty, all tears are going to be gone. Until that day, we are in the palm of his hand. And it is a wise thing. It is a good thing to take everything that comes into our lives. And offer it up as a praise offering to God. Say, Lord, I don't understand, but I know that you're in this. I know that your purposes are being worked out in my life. I know that good's going to come from it because I love you. And I want you, I desire you as my savior all the days of my life. I know that you're going to bring me through. I know that you're going to keep me. You have said I will never leave you and I will never forsake you. And that's the truth. I know that when I come through, I'm going to be a different person. Something is going to have been worked in my life. God, I thank you for this. Now, let's pray that together. Let's take our situations today at this altar and we're going to offer them up to God. Then we're going to praise him for a moment. We're going to just tell him we love him. Precious Lord Jesus. I take my situation, my hard place. I don't understand what you're doing in it. But it's as if I've awakened. And I understand today that you are in the midst of my circumstance and you are doing something to me and for me. You are changing my life. You are teaching me. You are molding me. You're forming me into a vessel that will bring honor to you. So today, Lord, I take my circumstance, my hard place, and I pour the oil of Christ on it and I offer it up to you as a sacrifice of faith. Lord, thank you for your goodness. Thank you for your goodness. Just thank him now. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Father. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Father. Thank you, Lord. Say with me, I believe, I believe all things, all things, all things work together for good for me because I am called. I love you and I'm called according to your purpose. I thank you, Jesus, for your faithfulness to me. This is the conclusion of the tape.