Come on, give Jesus some praise in this place. Now, know some of y'all going to be turning up in about a few hours, so before you do one more time, get some practice in and give Jesus some praise.

Yes,

There's a lot of red in here. I don't see no blue though man. We're praying for 'em. We've been praying for a couple decades and we know that God is a prayer answering God. Some of y'all are sad, but there are a lot of people that are going to be partying here in just a moment if they haven't already started. And I just want to say how thankful I am that you're in this house, that you're in this place. If you're a guest with us, we want to say welcome to Embassy City Church. We are delighted that you're here. Truly delighted you could have chosen a thousand different places to be you decide to be here. Those that are watching online, thank you so much for being with us. I believe the Lord's going to do something special here today. Lemme tell you, if you took the time to wake up, get ready, get out. It is cold, wet, gloomy weather to get to the house of God. Let's make it count. If you're here, I dare you to give God 100% of everything that you've got. Some of y'all are waiting for me to preach. You may be waiting for a word, but this is your word right now. I'm giving God everything I got.

Lord have mercy. I come with a message today. I don't even have a sermon. I got a message. I don't even have notes. I just got a Bible. I got a word for somebody today and here's the thing, I'm not going to preach very long, so if y'all going to help me preach, y'all got to start now. We going to go right into it. All right? But before we do, I want to say big shout out to Katie Kadi last week,

Bringing that word and then you know the Lord's doing something by the response that happened in the room. Just what God did in the moments after and then prayer night that night was just absolutely phenomenal. Lemme tell you, if you have not been to prayer night, got to get in the house, God is doing something. Jesus even said when he looked at what was happening around the house of God, he said, my house shall be called a house of prayer. Isn't it interesting? He didn't say a house of miracles. He didn't say a house of signs and wonders. He didn't say a house of lights. Cameron action. He didn't say a house of smoke and LED walls and I like all those things, but he said, my house shall be called a house of prayer. Prayer is so important for you and your life and your Christian walk and we get to do it together. So be sure to roll through here the next time we do a prayer night. I promise you, I promise you, you are going to love it. Next week we have baptism Sunday, which is one of my favorites that we do, and they're going to be lots of people that are going to get water baptized. If you have not been water baptized, I encourage you to sign up, register online, and you can get water baptized. If you for some reason have not, or you're contemplating and you show up here next week, not to worry, we will still baptize you. We got shorts. Ain't nobody wore brand new T-shirt and a towel and is the best part warm water

And we will baptize until every single person that wants to be baptized gets baptized. Somebody gives some praise to God in that advance. Okay, grab your Bibles. We're going to first Samuel chapter 16, the book of First Samuel chapter 16, and we're going to start reading at verse number 10. First Samuel 16, verse number 10. In the same way all seven sons, as all seven of Jesse's sons were present to Samuel, presented to Samuel, but Samuel said to Jesse, the Lord has not chosen any of these. Then Samuel asked, are these all the sons you have? There is still the youngest. Jesse replied, but he's out in the fields watching the sheep and goats send for him. At one Samuel said, we will not sit to eat until he arrives. So Jesse said for him he was dark and handsome with beautiful eyes. So when some of y'all are saying that you want someone as tall, dark, and handsome, you're just being biblical. I am just looking for my David. I'm looking for my king. And the Lord says, this is the one

Anoint him. So as David stood there among his brothers, Samuel took the flask of olive oil. He had brought and anointed David with the oil and the spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David from that day on. Then Samuel returned to Rama. Alright, let's go to chapter 17 and let's look at verse number 28. But when David's older brother eab heard David talking to the men, he was angry. What are you doing around here? Anyway, he demanded, what about those few sheep you're supposed to be taking care of? I know about your pride and deceit, you just want to see the battle. What have I done Now, David replied, I was only asking a question and then you know the rest of the story, how David then ends up fighting Goliath. But for the next little while, my topic for the day for words, I can't go back. I can't go back. I can't go back. I can't go back. I can't go back. I can't go back. I can't go back. If there's nothing else that you hear today, I pray there'd be something down in your spirit, down in your heart that when you leave this place, you walk out of here with your chest out and your shoulders set back in a confident stance walking out of here saying, I can't go back. Somebody say with me, I can't go back. Look at your neighbor and tell him I can't. Go back.

Look at your other neighbor and tell him. You may go back, tell him, Hey, you may go back, but I'm not going back. I've come too far. I've seen too much. I fought too much hell, I paid you higher price. I've been in this thing too long. I've sacrificed too much. I said goodbye to too much. I can't go back. Somebody shout and give God some praise in this place. Am I talking to anybody in this place? You can't go back. Dear God, we thank you so much for your goodness and mercy. Thank you for drawing us into your house. I pray that in the next few moments, God, I would get out of the way and you would take Soner stage. I pray, Lord, that you would do something special in this place. If there's any doubt in anybody's mind about where they are or where they're going, I pray that it would be assured today that you got a purpose, you have a plan, you've got an anointing on their lives and that they can't go back. Give us ears to hear a heart, to receive a mind, to understand what you're getting ready to do. We give you name, all the praise, the glory and the honor because you're worthy of it in Jesus' name and everybody shout. Amen. Amen. One more time. Give Jesus a praise in this place.

I can't go back. Have you ever thought back over your life over some of the things that you've done, that you've said that you've worn and thought to yourself, what in the world was I thinking? You may have looked cool in your yearbook, but when your kids saw it, they clowned you. Because here's the thing, it may have been cool back in your day, but this is a new day. If you think about it. There are some people, if you look at pictures back in the day or videos of you several years ago with your bell bottoms and your butterfly collar and your jerry curls, you were a ladies man. You were the player, you were cool, but you know goodwill. If somebody walked through this door right now wearing them outfits, we would be like, who's calling the police? Because things changed. I grew up in the nineties and early two thousands and for us it was baggy pants and JCO jeans and some of y'all like JCO jeans, echo.

Yeah, come on somebody. Did you wear some fubu? The stuff that you can only get at Ross dress for less now for $5 on sale, $3. The thing is, there are some things that we have done or been involved in or said or places that we went or friends we used to hang out with that was cool at certain points in our life. But as you progress and as you grow and as you mature, the things that used to be cool ain't cool no more. The things that used to fit don't fit no more. Go ahead and give that dress to the Salvation Army. Them days was over and we used to do this with food too, right? Because think about this, your pallet, even your pallet has changed. I remember growing up in a youth group, you didn't have to have a ton of money, but I'd get like $5 from our parents and they'd say, Hey, you better make it work. And after church, we'd go to Bennigan's. Anybody remember Bennigan's? We'd go to Bennigan's $5. I order a baked potato soup for 3 49, a glass of water, a bowl of lemons and a side of sugar.

Some of y'all know we used to make that homemade lemonade. And then it would come out to like 3 89. I'd hand the server, the $5, keep the change. I thought I was mixed up, but then I enjoying meals like that. But then if you really wanted to show out and you really wanted to take it up a notch and get you some premium freshly grilled steak, you know we'd go to Ryan's Steakhouse. You could get a buffet and a fresh steak for 5 99. Anybody remember Ryan's steakhouse? Yes. Oh yeah. And then if you were dating, man, you really want to impress your date. We're going for some fresh seafood, red Lobster. Some of y'all going there after service today. I know you are. All you can eat shrimp 7 99. Lemme tell you, if you can get all you can eat shrimp for 7 99, you better stop by CVS and grab you some Tums and Pepto as well because that stuff's going to work right through you. But what ends up happening is what used to taste good and be good. When you grow a little older and you taste that food, you realize they're hiding a lot of that stuff with the abundance of salt.

Your blood sugar is spiking. When you go eat garlic, biscuits and stuff like that, what ends up happening is your body starts telling you don't do this anymore. It is not just your mind, it's your body. As you get older, your body is telling you Don't go to Taco Bell, you're too old for it. Stop going to Jack in the box. Yes, that stuff is tasty with a tear. Your insides up, don't do it. And as you get older and you get a little bit of money in your pocket, you are taste buds changed. Am I lying? No. Next thing you know, you're starting to go to what Nick and Sam's Ruth, Chris del Frisco's. You start getting the accent. I go to the show, ponchos ain't cutting it no more. You know what I'm saying? You want to go get craft steaks. You want to be able to pick your steak. Dry aged, right? You walk right past all the choice steak at Target. You go into the counter at Central Market where you got to pull a tag and wait for them to call your number and then you bougie with it. I'll take the third. No, the third one. I love the marbling on that one.

I'll take the bone and ribeye two TMA hawks. You look nice now buddy. It used to not be that way, right? We look nice and we come to church and we got a little bit of money out fire. We drive a little nice car, but you know good and well, you used to grow up and have to roll the window down. That was your air conditioner right Now all of the cars, we got electronics and stuff like that. But back in the day, man, it was a struggle to order through the drive-through with a hand winding window. Yeah, two double cheeseburgers and fries. What was that? Two double cheeseburgers and fries. I'm reminiscing. Now this ain't got nothing to do with my sermons, but the reality is, back in the day there were things that we tolerated that we would pay for that we would do because we knew no better. But as you grow and mature and you are around the right person, they let you have a taste of something that's better than what you've had. And next thing you know that you have a taste of something that's better. It exposes what's lesser.

When you get exposed to something that's greater, it also exposes that which is lesser. So now that you've tasted something better, you don't want to go back and taste something that's subpar. When I've tasted a craft homemade tortilla, I don't want to go back to Taco Bell. I don't care how good that Frito Burrito was.

I don't want to do it no more. Why? Because now I've got a taste of something that is better. This is the same in the kingdom of God. That's exactly why the Bible says taste and see that the Lord is good. God is so confident that what he has is better than what you've had that he don't even need to give you the five course meal. All he says is Come get you a little sample of what I got. I promise you, once you've had what I have to offer, you won't want to go back. This is exactly what Jesus told the woman at the well. She said, you are drinking this water, but if you ever get a taste of this water, you will never thirst again. Why? Because once you've tasted of something that is new, it's very hard to go back to something that is old. That's the experience in the kingdom of God. God is so confident that when you encounter him, your life will be so drastically changed that you can't go back. In fact, you can try to go back, but it will not work. Too many people, so many people have come into the house of God, they've gotten saved, and then at some point in their life they're like, well, let me go try the club again.

Go ahead. They're not giving you free drinks anymore because something is different about this person. They've had an encounter, something has changed. What has happened to you, Martha? What's changing you? Earl Earl's back.

What's changing you? They've had an encounter with God. God is so confident that when you've encountered him, everything that you had before him pales in comparison. That's how confident God is. The reason why I read you this story in First Samuel, the story of David is because I want to give you a little bit of context what gets us here. Saul is the first anointed king of Israel. Now, God did not want Israel to have a king. God wanted to be their king. God did not want them to subscribe to the earthly formulation of monarchies. Why? Because God said, I'm king of kings. I'm Lord of lords. You actually have direct access to the king of kings. I want to be the one who is your king. But we know that the Israelites, they were wanting to be like the cultures around them. And so they demanded, they asked for an earthly king. And so God being a merciful God and being a kind, God goes, all right, I'll give you what you asked for. So God calls a man by the name of Saul and says, he is the guy that I want to anoint as king. So Saul comes into the picture, he becomes the king of the Israelites, and Saul is doing a decent job. They're starting to conquer things. A lot of people like to give Saul a hard time, but Saul, he wasn't always tripping.

He was doing the will of God. Not everybody that falls has always been bad. Sometimes we want to rewrite somebody's history based on a mistake that they made.

That ain't my notes, but I got to say it. We got to stop doing that to preachers and teachers. Sometimes we want to write off somebody because they genuinely made a mistake and God is going to he'll judge that. Don't you worry? But we can't erase all the lives that they affected in the time that they were doing the will of God. Anyways, so here Saul is doing the will of God. He's fine, but then they get into this battle, Samuel's taking this time. He doesn't come. Saul's like, Hey, we need to make the sacrifice so we can go into battle. And he knows good and well because he's not anointed as a priest that he shouldn't do it. He's anointed as the king, but not as a priest and prophet. So Saul is not supposed to make the sacrifice. He's waiting on Samuel, but he becomes impatient because Samuel's taking his time.

So he says, you know what? I'm just going to do it and I'll deal with the consequences. When he does, God is upset. God says, listen, I'll let you do all kinds of foolish stuff, but one thing you ain't going to do is play with my stuff. You can play with other people's stuff. Don't play with my stuff. So God in that moment says, you know what? I'm ripping the kingdom away from Saul and my spirit is going to come off of him. And God takes away the anointing from Saul and puts on him a troubling spirit. That's why you want to be very careful not to play with the anointing of God, right? You got to be respectful of the presence of God. You can't just come in any old way and offer up any old sacrifice. God don't play. So God says, listen, I'm taking away the anointing and the kingship and I'm putting the troubling spirit. So now

Saul is troubled by a spirit, and God speaks to Samuel and who's the prophet at the time says, Samuel, I want you to go anoint another king. So Samuel says, all right, where's it? God says, Jesse, he's a bethlehemite. He has a son and he is the one that's going to be the next king. So Samuel ends up going to Jesse's house, and when he is at Jesse's house, he says, Hey Jesse, you got any sons? Because the Lord spoke to me and I'm supposed to anoint one of your sons. And Jesse does what anybody would do. He brings his best kids.

I wouldn't do that. I'm just saying all my kids are best. But he brings the first, the oldest because in Jewish tradition, the oldest is usually the one that gets all the inheritance and the blessing and all that He brings them. And then he starts going down the line. He's bringing all of these sons before the Samuel and Samuel begins to try to anoint them, and it's none of them. And God speaks to 'em and says, Hey, listen, Samuel, you are looking at their broad shoulders and you're looking at their abilities and you're looking at their looks. But here's the thing, God does not look on the outward appearance of man. God looks at the inside of the heart and God says it's none of those. There's another one. So Samuel has to look at Jesse, go, Jesse, are these all of your sons? And Jesse has to finally admit, no, they're not. I've got one more who's tall, dark and handsome.

He's out in the field somewhere. We'll send and get him. And Samuel says, alright, we won't even sit down and eat until you go grab that one. Now, a lot of people think that Jesse didn't recognize David as a son. I've heard this narrative spoken about before, that Jesse was ashamed of David. He wasn't recognized by his father. But my assumption when you look at the scripture, I believe that the reason why Jesse didn't want to bring David is because David was actually his favorite. When you look at the scripture and how Jesse treated David and the youngest was generally the favorites of the house, he was trying to protect him. He didn't want him to be king. Why? Because it was enough. He had enough trust in David to put him on a backfield with all of his sheep and goats. You ain't putting all of your stuff in a bank you don't trust.

He had so much confidence in David that he said, David, I trust you enough more than I do your brothers to take care of all of my money, all of my possessions, all of my legacy, all of your inheritance. You go take care of that. Listen, don't get weary when you are in hidden places. Sometimes it's not that the father is ignoring you. In fact, it's not that. It's the fact that God trusts you enough that he will put you in places that are hidden to protect you. That's a message right there. So he says, go fetch David. And I know Jesse's like, please don't be David, man. David's the one that keeps my sheep. You ever had such a great employee and you're like, please don't anybody, but damn, we love all our employees here. So nobody, we would offer nobody up. But that's how gesture was feeling. God, no, not David. That's my boy. That's my favorite. He's taller I and handsome. He's keeping my sheep. So to get David, David comes, he stands before Samuel, and as he's walking up, God says to Samuel, that's the one anoint him.

Can you imagine what the brothers of David were thinking? This joker, first of all, our dad trusts him. He's tall, dark, and handsome. Now this joker is going to become key, and the Bible says in the midst of his brothers. Now remember, anytime the scripture is giving us a narrative and it's specific, you got to pay attention to it. So as David stood there among his brothers, Samuel took the flask of oil and he poured it on him and he anointed him. Now, when we think depending on your church background, when we think of anointing, we think that it's some kind of thing that happens in the moment. And I just got anointed it.

We hear somebody hit that certain key and we're like, that is anointed. They preach it with a certain cadence that's anointed preaching. And especially if you grew up Pentecostal, you know when something's anointed, if you sweat enough, it was anointed and you will label things anointed. But here's what you got to understand. In the Old Testament, there were only certain people that were anointed kings, priests and prophets. They would be anointed with oil. And you come into the new covenant, anyone who receives the baptism of the Holy Spirit is anointed by God. Here's why. Because anointing simply means consecrated. It means set apart. It means to take out of it means to place a spotlight on. It means that you now are called and marked meaning that from that moment forward, anywhere that David went, he walked around with the anointing of God on him. Meaning that when he went back to go watch the sheep, he didn't just go watch sheep as David, but now he went to watch sheep as the anointed. David when he was called into Saul's service to go play the heart for this joker who was tormented by spirits and he was trying to soThe them, he was playing the heart anointed. Let me tell you something. When God places his anointing on you, it doesn't matter where you are, you anointed to do what you're doing.

Some of y'all think you're not anointed because you're back at your job and you're just in front of a computer. God, when he anoints you, while you're typing them keys, you're typing them consecrated, called out marked. And sometimes God will have you in a position that seems insignificant, that nobody sees that's hidden and you're still anointed. Your exposure does not define your anointing. Let me say it again. Your exposure does not define your anointing. God is the one who defines your anointing. So now we see the narrative continue. David. Now he's the anointed one. Saul doesn't know about it, but Saul is so tormented that he says, listen, I need somebody just to soothe me with some music. So somebody says, listen, I heard that Jesse's got a son who plays the harp, and I think when he plays the harp it'll soothe you. Let's call for him. So they bring David unbeknownst to sa. David comes into his courtroom, gets to experience what it's like to be in the kingdom that he is anointed to lead prior to leading it. God has jokes. Sometimes God will put you at a job to work for a person that's going to end up working for you.

The question is, can you humble yourself and play a heart to soothe them? Can you get their coffee? Can you go wash their car? Can you go file their paperwork knowing that you're going to replace them? Because how you treat them as how those that are following you are going to treat you? Oh Lord, that's a free, that's a freebie right there. So he's playing the heart. Saul is soothing. Now Israel is in a confrontation with their arch enemies, the Philistines and the scripture says that Israel is on one side of a mountain and the Philippines are on another side of a mountain and there's a valley between them. And the scripture says that every day there is a man by the name of Goliath who is a giant who is coming out and he is defying the armies of the living God, which is Israel. And the agreement that they had was if you send me one person to have a battle with me and they win, we all become your servants. But if that one person defeats Goliath, then all the Philistines become your servants. Now here's the problem. Everybody on Israel's side was a regular person. Goliath was not a regular person. He was a giant that came from a family of giants. In fact, if you stay in scripture, I don't have time to get into it, but it seems as though he had brothers that were giants. We will see that later on in scripture. But here we are, somebody who is battle worn, who knows how to fight, who's an enemy of Israel, he is so angry that he is like, I want to eat your flesh. I want to tear you up. So he is taunting Israel and David, the anointed one isn't even at battle. He's been playing the heart for Saul. He has up going to Jesse to go watch the sheep for little bit. And Jesse says, won't you go take some bread to your brothers and some cheese? And so he brings bread and cheese to his brothers, and when he gets there, he hears Goliaths taunting the children of Israel and something within him.

And it's like, what did he just say? What did he just say? He's so curious about it that he starts asking some of the soldiers, yo fam, are you Israelite? Yes. Do we not believe that God is with us? Yes. Then why does this uncircumcised Philistine feel like he has the right to talk to us recklessly? And the Israelites who worshiped the same God, who had experienced the same miracles, who heard about the same stories, the Bible says they're shaking in their boots or their sandals. That may have been a problem right there, they're shaking and one of the brothers of David overhears him and says, yo, David, go back home. You don't even know how to fight this battle. You've never been here. You've never done this. We've been out here, we've done this. We've had to deal with this. We've been camping for the last 40 days. We know exactly what's going on. Listen, just because you think you're anointed

Don't mean anything to me. I was right there. I was right there. I saw it happen. It ain't your time yet. Go home and something rose up within David and I just can't help. But if David started to think back and he smells, man, that anointing oil, it's still on my face and it's still on my clothes. I can't help but think if David didn't start going through all the examples where he knew that God was with him when he had to fight a bear by himself, when nobody was looking to protect the sheep, when he had to encounter a lion, when nobody was looking and he had to defeat a lion over some sheep where he had to fight off a wolf where he had to be in the backwoods of somewhere and he's working for God. Why? Because he's annoying. And now God brings him up to a precipice of having to make a decision. Do I go back to what's comfortable to where I've always been, to where people expect me to be? Or do I square my shoulders back, accept the fact that God has anointed me and go out to defeat the enemy that's trying to destroy me? David decided I'm not going back. In fact, David said, I can't go back. You know why I can't go back? Because I've been anointed to do what I'm here to do and because I'm anointed to do what I'm here to do, then there's no Goliath. There is no enemy. There's no brother of mine. There's no family member that can make me go back. Why? Because I'm anointed. I'm concentrated, I'm marked. I'm called to move forward. I'm here to preach and tell somebody here today, there is anointing on your life and the enemy's been in front of you, taunting you to go back, and some of you have been stepping backwards. But I'm here to preach and tell somebody it's time to stop moving backwards and it's time to move forward. God has a call on your life, and just because you haven't seen it happen yet doesn't mean that he's lifted his hand off of you. Somebody. You need to square your shoulders back and say, I cannot go back.

I may just be preaching to myself. I'm preaching to some people here today. When I started thinking about what am I here to preach today? I felt like the Lord said, you need to go tell somebody who's considering going backwards that it's time for them to stop dead in their tracks and move forward. You cannot go back to that club that God delivered you from. You can't go back to those friends that you used to run with. You can't go back to that job that God told you to quit.

Amen. I know it feels safe. I know it feels secure. I know that people are telling you, maybe you should consider going back to where you were. Maybe you should consider going back to your father sheep. Maybe you should consider going back to what's comfortable and what's normal. But let me tell you something. When you get the anointing of God, you'll be troubled. If you go backwards, you will be out of place. If you go backwards, if you got the anointing of God, you can try, but you won't fit in. Peter tried to do this after he denied the Lord. He tried to warm himself by the fire. He tried to fit in with everybody else right back where he used to be, right there in the fire with everybody else trying to warm himself. And somebody looked at him and said, man, I don't know what it is, but there's something different about you. You ever went through the mall and somebody says, you look familiar, and it means you're like, please God know where do you know me from? Church? You look familiar. They looked at Peter and said, something is different about you. There's something about you. I know we're at the same fire. I know we're from the same place, but there's something about you that's different. And Peter got so upset. He wanted to fit in so bad that he started cursing.

You ever heard of Christians first try to curse and they get the curse words all wrong and you know, ain't used to doing this? Just stop. He's sitting there trying to cuss him out, trying to fit in, but he can't fit in. Why? Because he's been marked as I'm praying about what the Lord wanted to say. I was going to start a new series, but I felt like the Lord said, you need to go in there and tell somebody that it's time for them to make up their mind that they're not going back. You may have entertained the idea of going backwards. You may have flirted with the idea, get rid of that phone number. Well, I have no intention of calling them, but just in case we're going to do a business deal, erase his number, get rid of his T-shirt, throw away her toothbrush. You can't go back. You know why? Because God has done too much in your life for you to try to erase it by going backwards. You can't go back. The road is closed. The door is closed. I don't care what anybody says. Family can't match what God's done in your life. Your job can't match what God's done in your life. Money can't handle it. You've been marked.

One more story. I got to tell you the continuation of the story that Katie told us last week of Elijah. Elijah goes through the scenario of Mount Carmel and the fire coming down. And then he says to Ahab, Ahab run party. Why? Because there's a sound and an abundance of rain. And then while they're partying, he goes back up to Mark Carmel and he's praying for an explicit sign to verify that he actually heard. Right? Just because God said it, don't mean that you ain't got to pray it. In some of us, we hear a word and we're like, dope. Lemme go get my wine and bread and wait. Some of us, we ain't got a charcuterie board. We're praying. God, show me a sign. So he goes, and he prays for a sign. And then we see the cloud coming the size of a man's hand, and then there's the cloud. Elijah says, sweet, it's coming. He runs, tells ah, Ahab done reported everything. The Jezebel. Jezebel says, I'm going to kill this dude. Elijah who stood in front of 450 prophets of Baal with knives, is deathly afraid of one woman named Jezebel. So much so that he runs away and he goes to a place called Mount Sinai. And there he tells God, God, I'm done. I won't do this no more. I done been a prophet. I done. I don't want to do this anymore. I'm done. God says, okay, cool. I'm sure he probably thought that God was going to be like, no, no man. Stick around bro. And God says, no, you're done.

And God says, Hey, but before you're done, you need to go anoint a new king, a new servant, and you need to replace yourself. So you're going to anoint a man by the name of Elisha. Scripture says, Elijah's walking. And he sees Elisha plowing a field, and he's one of 12 teams of oxon. He's the last one. Elijah goes to walk by Elisha and he takes off his mantle. And Katie talked to us about what the mantle represented. It was prophetic authority. And he takes that hairy mantle. He throws it over Elisha, and then he just keeps walking. Now, if I'm in my job, minding my own business, and someone comes and throws a jacket over me, I got questions I may throw hands lovingly. But Elisha knew what it meant because in that day when somebody would cloak you with their coat, it represented a transference of their authority to you. And whatever the coat represented, that's what was being transferred. So when Elijah placed the coat over Elisha, he was without any words necessary, he was telling Elisha, you are now anointed, consecrated to walk in prophetic authority. And Elijah recognizes it. He runs after Elijah and says, Elijah,

I accept the assignment. I accept the assignment, but just let me go back one more time and bid farewell to my parents. That sounds reasonable, right? Because think about where Elisha's at Elisha is between safety and security. He's got a job. He knows his people. He's got his oxen, he's got his plow. It's safe, it's secure. There's not much to it. Every day you're just, that's his job. And now I was minding my own business. You interrupt my life by telling me I'm now anointed to be a prophet. I unseen your face on a wanted poster and you want me to join you. Elisha has the decision to make. Do I accept the call? Because with miracles comes trouble. I accept the call or nah, fam, I'm good. I'm going to be right here. Sometimes people think that going back means that you're going back to sin and a ridiculous lifestyle. No. Sometimes people just move backwards into what's safe. It's not that they're a bad person, it's that they're safe. But safe may not be for you. So Elijah says to Elijah, Hey, I'm down. I accept the call. I'm ready to go, but let me just say bye to mom and them. Elijah says, go ahead. Go back.

But don't forget what I did to you. Don't forget what I did to you. And Elijah goes back, you know what he does? He kills his oxen. He doesn't sell them. It would make sense to sell the oxen, get the money. It helps you on your mission. He goes back and slaughters the oxon. Then he says, I'm not just going to do that. I'm going to break up my plow and use that as the firewood to grill the oxon. I slaughtered. I want you to notice my title. I can't go back. Notice that I didn't say I won't go back because if I say I won't go back, that's dependent on your willpower teach.

And what I can tell about your willpower is that it's weak. Your willpower naturally wants to go back. Elisha knew that about himself. So Elisha said, I'm not even going to give me an option to go back. He could have kept, Hey, hey, Tiah, look after the oxen. I'm going to sell the plow. That way if I go back, I still got the oxen, I'll just buy a new plow. Or he could have said, listen, y'all, go ahead. Sell the oxen. I'll keep the plow in case I come back in case this doesn't work out. I'll come back, I'll buy a couple of oxen. I got the plow. I'll go right back to work. But Elisha had it in his mind. I can't go back. And in order for me to make sure that I don't go backwards, I'm going to have to kill everything that pulls me back. So my question for you today is that, will you accept the call of God on your life? And if you do, you got to kill the thing that pulls you back. You have to get rid of those people. Well, I'm just going to give us some time. No, they got too much power over your life. They will pull you back. Well, I'm just going to drive around. I'm not going in. I'm just going to drive around and I just want to feel I'm going to be nostalgic. Get out, kill it.

Because there's a draw tries to get you to go backwards. Some of you, the Lord told you to leave that job, but it was a comfortable job. It was a great job. You got money. Now you're not getting any money. You want to go back. But if the Lord told you to leave, kill him. Kill every possibility to go back. Why? Because Elijah was willing to kill the thing that had the opportunity to draw him back. He became Elijah's assistant. And when Elijah ascended and dropped his coat on Elisha, the Bible says, from then forward, Elijah walked in a double portion of Elijah's anointing. He saw twice the amount of miracles that Elijah ever did. Why? Because he did not go back.

What is pulling at you right now to go back?

You made it through January, February comes, you're like, God, I'm fighting some serious stuff that's trying to draw me back into some bad habits that I had in 2023. Don't go back.

I can't go back. I've tried it. Anybody testify? You try to go back. Some of y'all being oh, super holy. No, no, no. Some of us try to go back. It ain't for you no more. You're marked. You're anointed, you're set apart. You're consecrated. When you said yes to Jesus, the rest is history. Try as you may, you can't. I can't go back. Heavenly Father. Oh, I know this word is for somebody.

It's a contemplative word. It's a word that causes all of us to stop and reflect and pause for a moment and think about where we've been, where we are, and where we're going the last couple of weeks. Lord, we have considered being all in. And we know that when we make the decision to go all in with you, that there is an adversary standing in front of us, taunting us, prodding us to go back to what's comfortable, to what's easy, to what's familiar. But we know that the walk of faith is a walk that is full of uncertainty. It is full of mystery. And so, Lord, as we prepare to walk out of this place to turn off online, I pray, Lord God, that you would put it deep in our hearts, a tenacious, powerful, confident, determined attitude, empowered by the Holy Spirit, not to go backwards for you even said in your word that only a fool will return back to his own vomit.

Jesus, you replied to someone that asked you if they could go bury their go, say goodbye to their family. You said, anyone who puts their hand in a plow and looks back is not fit for the kingdom of God. These words are convicting to us, but we know that there are life and their truth. And so right now, God, I pray, Lord, help us to make progress moving forward because you're a God that moves forward. We give you name the praise, the glory, the honor because you're worthy of it in Jesus' name. And everybody say amen.