FULL SERVICE: Stephen McWhirter Leading Worship & The Dark Night of The Soul | Pastor Shane Idleman

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the the the the the the the the the the The crown before the name of God, and say, worthy of it all. Come on, lift your voice. You are worthy of it all. You and your love, Jesus. For from you, less than to you, oh, things you deserve to grow. Day and night, night and day. Day and night, night and day. Leading sins, lord, rise to you. Day and night, night and day. Leading sins, lord, rise, Jesus. Day and night, night and day. Leading sins, lord, rise. Day and night, night and day. Leading sins, lord, rise. Day and night, night and day. Leading sins, lord, rise. Day and night, night and day. Leading sins, lord, rise. Day and night, night and day. Leading sins, lord, rise.

Day and night, night and day. You're worthy of it all. Jesus, you're worthy of it all. All my hopes and dreams, God, fall from you only. And to you only, you deserve it all. Don't just say it, mean it, right? You're worthy of it all. We crown you, Lord. You're worthy of it all. There is no other God, for from you only. And to you of all things, you deserve the glory. Oh, your name is the highest. Your name is the greatest. Your name, yes, stands above them all. Come on, yes, Jesus. All thrones and dominions, all powers and positions, your name stands above them all. And the angels cry, and holy. All creation cry, and holy. You are lifted high. Holy, holy forever. And your people sing, yes, holy. Joy to the world, sing, yes, holy. You will always be, Lord, holy. Holy forever. Sing, your name is the highest. Oh, your name is the highest. Your name is the greatest. Your name stands above them all. All thrones, Jesus.

All thrones and dominions, all powers and positions, your name stands above them all. They're bawling, the angels are crying Holy, all creation crying Holy, you are lifted high Holy, holy forever Hear your people say Holy to the King of Kings Holy, you will always be Holy, holy forever Holy, holy Are you Lord God almighty Worthy is the Lamb You are holy, holy, holy Are you Lord God almighty Worthy is the Lamb Amen Holy, holy Are you Lord God almighty Worthy is the Lamb You are holy, holy Not if you see the one who is holy And you see the full width and the depth and the breadth And the awe of looking upon his holiness This is why the angels sing day and night Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty If we could get a glimpse of what we're singing And not just look at him as words We're literally saying his character, who he is Completely other, right?

You don't have to clap Just see him in his holiness Jesus, let us see you in your holiness The kind of holiness that makes us stop Everything we're doing in life And see how you are all that has ever mattered You are all that will ever matter Nothing is above you Holy, holy, holy Are you Lord God almighty Worthy is the lamb, worthy is the lamb, you are holy. Ah, John weeped when he saw that there was no one to open the scroll. He weeped because there was no one that they knew that could open the scroll that would be the blood that would cover the sacrifice that would cover every sin. Jesus, holy, holy, are you Lord God Almighty. Worthy is the lamb, worthy is the lamb, you are, worthy is the lamb, you are holy, holy, are you Lord God Almighty. Worthy is the lamb, you are, worthy is the lamb, you are holy, you are holy, holy, are you Lord God Almighty. Worthy is the lamb, worthy is the lamb. I'll bless you and we will make room for you to do whatever you want, just do whatever you want. And we will make room for you. Oh God, do whatever you want. Do whatever you want. And I will make room for you. Do whatever you want. Do whatever you want. As the spirit was moving over the water, spirit come move over us. Come rest on us. Come rest on us. As the spirit was moving over the water, spirit come move over us. Come rest on us. Come rest on us.

We will make room for you. Do whatever you want to. Do whatever you want to. We will make room for you. Do whatever you want to. Do whatever you want to. Fire and wind, come and do it again. Open up the gates, let heaven on earth. Come rest on us. Come rest on us. Fire and wind, come and do it again. Open up the gates, let heaven on earth. Come rest on us. Come rest on us. I will make room for you. Do whatever you want to. Do whatever you want to. Just do whatever you want to. Do whatever you want to. Do whatever you want to. ♪ Oh, sing ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit come rest on us ♪ ♪ Rest on us, you're all we want, hey, hey, hey, hey ♪ ♪ You're all we want, Lord, Holy Spirit come rest on us ♪ ♪ You're all we want, all we want, you're all we want, Lord ♪ ♪ You're all we want, Lord, Holy Spirit come rest on us ♪ ♪ You're all we want, you're all we want, hey, hey, hey, hey ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit come rest on us, you're all we want, you're all we want, Lord ♪

♪ You're all we want, yeah ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit you are welcome here ♪ ♪ Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere ♪ ♪ Your glory, God, is what our hearts long for ♪ ♪ To be overcome by your presence, Lord, Lord ♪ ♪ Let him just have his way ♪ ♪ We set our eyes to you, Jesus ♪ ♪ We set our eyes to you, Jesus ♪ ♪ Holy Spirit, you are welcome here ♪ ♪ Come flood this place and fill the atmosphere ♪ ♪ Your glory, God, is what our hearts long for ♪ ♪ To be overcome by your presence, Lord, Lord ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ And we will make room for you to do it now, yeah ♪ ♪ Do whatever you want to, do whatever you want to ♪ ♪ And we will make room for you to do whatever you want to ♪ ♪ Whatever you want to ♪ ♪ And we will make room for you to do whatever you want to ♪ ♪ Do whatever you want to, do whatever you want to ♪ ♪ And we will make room for you to do whatever you want to ♪ ♪ Oh, yeah, do whatever you want to, do whatever you want to ♪ ["Do Whatever You Want"] ♪ I've only thought of you, only thought of you ♪ ♪ Thought of you ♪ ♪ Do what you wanna do, do what you wanna do ♪ ♪ Oh, well you get what you want, do what you wanna do ♪ ♪ Do what you wanna do, do what you wanna do ♪ ♪ Sometimes I fall to my knees and pray ♪ ♪ Come Jesus, come, but stay beside me ♪ ♪ Everyday, sometimes I feel like I'm gonna break, oh ♪

♪ But I'm holding on to hope it won't fade, oh ♪ ♪ Come Jesus, come, we've been waiting so long ♪ ♪ For the day you return to heal every hurt ♪ ♪ And right every wound, we need you right now, oh ♪ ♪ Yeah, come and turn this array, deep down I know ♪ ♪ This world isn't warm, come Jesus, come, come Jesus, come ♪ ♪ Oh, come Jesus, come, there'll be no war ♪ ♪ There'll be no change, oh, when Jesus comes ♪ ♪ When Jesus comes, let today be the day, yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ Come for the weak, Lord, and the strong just the same, oh ♪ ♪ And the strong just the same, oh, and all will believe, yeah ♪ ♪ In the power of his name, yeah, come Jesus, come ♪ ♪ We've been waiting so long, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ For the day you'll return to heal every hurt ♪ ♪ And right every wrong, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ We need you right now, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ Come and turn this around, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ Deep down I know this world isn't home, come Jesus, come, come Jesus, come, come Jesus, come ♪ One day he'll come And we'll stand face to face He'll come at late or time Cause it might be the day The time is right now There's no need to wait The past will be washed on Rivers of gray Come Jesus come We've been waiting so long, so long For the day he'll return To heal every hurt, right every wound We need you right here Come and turn this around Deep down I know this world isn't old Come Jesus come Come Jesus come Come Jesus come Come Jesus come Oh, may not the Lord fail Come Jesus, come Jesus I'm going to talk about something tough this morning, but it's needed.

And the title is The Dark Night of the Soul. The Dark Night of the Soul. And it is unapologetically topical. The Dark Night of the Soul. And this phrase has been around for about 500 years in church history. And last week I talked about Peter being imprisoned. He probably saw or heard about James being killed, being martyred. And guess who's up next? I don't know if you've had a Dark Night of the Soul like that before. But that's pretty overwhelming. And I'm excited. I'm already ready for next week to get into more about Peter's prayer and Peter's imprison and how God delivers him and he goes to the church and the church doesn't believe it's him when God delivers him. And that's so important. And I think the title of that message is, in case of emergency, break this. And it's going to be about prayer. But this week, God was just pouring so much into my heart on this topic. And we'll probably leave Isaiah up there for many of you to just focus on. If you need to focus on something up on the screen, how about this one? Fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. So here we go, buckle up. You ready? The Dark Night of the Soul refers to a period of intense spiritual desolation. It's a crisis of faith. It's a profound purification where one feels abandoned by God.

No doubt Peter did. Ultimately intended to deepen our spiritual union with God. And I think why this is so important, too, is I want to get it in, you know we're in the prisons in the Pando app, 500,000 views last year of prisoners throughout America watching this and needing that encouragement. And there's people here that need that encouragement. There's people watching live and on radio. It's such an important topic. The dark night of the soul. It's a time where you feel God is not listening. Anybody ask those why questions? Where are You, God? Why am I going through this? More importantly, why is my child going through this? Oh, it's one thing to go through something, but it's something else to watch or lose a child. It could be a destination prison or a diagnosis. Anybody had those dark nights of the soul? Everything's going good and the doctor says, I need you to come in. Or you get that news about someone else. It could be an intense struggle. Maybe you're doing great in all these areas, but there's an intense struggle. Spiritual warfare is real. Or a great catastrophe. I'll tell you what, when you're going through it, the book of Job comes alive.

Get out the highlighter. Man! I don't even know what to say about that story. If you think you're going through it, just read the first chapter or two. It's incredible. And any other speculations, is it real? The Bible quotes it. I think God used it as one extreme example to show that we can get through things. And here's the takeaway I'm really wanting to help you out as well. God's got this. Something happens outside of His sovereign control. Actually, God said, have you considered My servant Job? And I prayed that. Lord, do never, never say, have you considered My servant Shane? It's been a while since there's been affliction. Everything's going great. And as you know, when that happens, pride comes in. Comfort can be the enemy of Christianity. And this dark night of the soul, it is a battle that breaks you and it is warfare that shapes you. It deeply challenges your faith and it tests every fiber of your spiritual being. And you don't choose it, it chooses you. You grope through the dark looking for the light

and everything you trust in, hope for, and counted on completely falls apart. That's the dark night of the soul. And this is the time the enemy, his number one weapon without a shadow of a doubt is discouragement. Because I can get through it if I'm encouraged, kind of joy-filled, God's in control. I can get through it. But when that discouragement comes in and that fear comes in, that's when depression sets in. He loves to discourage the believer. And I'm well aware today's topic may not apply to some of you. You might be doing great. There's not a care in the world. And thank God for that. I thank God for the mountaintops, don't you? I do not just want to live in the valley of the shadow of death for the rest of my life. Thank God for that. But comfort and ease won't sustain you. They will destroy you. You can look this up when the great sequoias are here, you know, a couple of hours away. They've studied the soil. And trees and things don't grow when it's a nice, sunny, calm day.

They grow when the wind beats upon the branches and the trunks, and that's when they have to dig down and get those roots very strong. They have to strengthen themselves through the storm. And guys, I love comfort. I love vacation and the lakes. There's just not a care in the world. But it does make you spiritually lazy, doesn't it? It can. So the dark night of the soul, here's the benefits though, it intensifies intimacy with your Savior. It can intensify that intimacy you have with God. It can strengthen your trust in God. It can build faith. It develops humility and it shapes a worshiper. Many of those, most I know who are worshipers, let me tell you their story. And it leads to deep repentance. Now, the negative side to that is it can take you away from intimacy. It can hurt your trust in God. It can hurt your faith. It can lead to pride. It can force you to walk away from worshiping. I've met so many people who are mad at God decades later. And I understand it, but you can't live there. I mean, the prophets would ask, Isaiah would ask,

why? Why do the wicked prosper? And they would go on some, I mean, some, wow! David, or was it Psalm 71? I mean, the dark night of the soul, man! But you know what? They never leave it there. But it had not been for the Lord on my side, yet His mercies are sustained every day. Nevertheless, oh, you need a nevertheless in your heart sometimes. Nevertheless, the Lord is my strength. And you turn that fear and that frustration, that failure, you turn from that and you turn back to God. It doesn't mean all that's fine, but it means now you're building your house on the right foundation. Let me tell you, the problem with pity parties is that they weaken you instead of strengthen you. We love pity parties, don't we? Nobody cares. Nobody cares. Nobody cares about me. Nobody's concerned. They're living their life. Look at what I'm going through. And that's hard, isn't it? But realize people will let you down every time. Your spouse will let you down. Because you're going through hell, but they're trying to live in heaven. You're living this hour by hour.

They've got a life to lead as well. People have got things to do. It's hard, especially pastoring, it's hard when you try to be gripped by so many things going on. It can really wear you down if you begin to feel the pain and the passion of what people are going through. And that's one thing that comes from stress of ministry is feeling the pressure of that. And we hear that, you know, the church has let me down. You ever said that? I've said it many times. Leaders will let you down. Everybody will let you down. And that can actually be really good if it draws you closer to the one who will never let you down. So you've got to get rid of the pity party. I love the pity parties to myself sometimes. Because you can eat whatever you want. There are parties around. Now here's the good news too, the light of revival. Everything we've been praying for, you'll hear that talk a lot in America. Oh, revival's here, revival's here. Revival doesn't come by a superstar worship leader and a superstar speaker coming together on a platform. That's not revival, that's an event. Revival comes from humble, broken believers

crying out for more of God. We will not let go until we find you. I will not let go. I will not let go until you bless me. Lord, I'm going to seek you with all of my heart, with all of my strength. I'm going to cry out to the one true and living God and that he revives. And often that light of revival comes from the darkest hour. I mean, I don't know of any revival, and I've got books this high probably, going back to the 1700s of the Welsh revivals, New Hebrews revivals, Duncan Campbell, Evan Roberts, Hal Harris, Griffin Jones, Daniel Rollins. You get into the First Great Awakening and Wesley and Whitefield and Edwards, and you get into many of the revivals you've never even heard about, the camp revivals. They had revivals during the Civil War in America, and none of them happened without first pain and darkness because that drew them to their knees. That is what sparks revival. The flame of revival. So don't immediately pull someone out of the flames and become an enabler. God might be wanting to break them and break them and break them. I remember, I think it was Lancaster, you know, guys up at the... Altar is just weeping, it's a deep thing,

and somebody's like, hey pastor, aren't you gonna go pray for them? I'm not stopping that. Uh-uh, God's dealing with them. God, let God, let God do it. I go, hey, you okay, Pastor? Oh, yeah, I'm sorry, Pastor. You just ruined that moment. Now, there's a time and a place for that, of course. But when God breaks you, only He can make you. Words of men fall on deaf ears. The light of revival often comes out the darkest hour. I just saw this week in CBN News, Christian revival is taking over the Middle East. Isn't that amazing? Why don't we read that here? We hear about Epstein files and all kinds of junk and the debauchery. Super Bowl halftime show, some guy's gonna be, I guess, dressed up as a woman, like, oh, this is wonderful. My Lord, America needs to repent. And here's a great reminder for you, corporate revival, what we're praying for, never begins without personal revival. Does it not? What we need is personal revival in your hearts, and then watch what God will do. I often wonder, and Stephen can relate to this too, I'm sure, at that moment, 1999,

hungover, if I said, you know what? God hasn't helped me out of this. And I became a bitter alcoholic. We wouldn't be here. My family wouldn't be here. You plus God is the majority. Watch what God does with one person, on fire for him and your family. And you might not reach a lot of people. Can I just be honest? I am the whole morning, but you know. Kids, this might be good for you guys, golly. And when you're young, you think, that if I could just make it, if I could just have that 100,000 followers, 500,000, if I could be as, it will destroy you. It will bring you more stress than you've ever felt in your life. One post I did a week ago has got 2.2 million views, and I have never been called the F word more in my life. My whole day is block, block, block, block, block, block, block, block, block, block, block, block, block, block, block, block, block, block, block, block, block, block, block, block, block. You shouldn't do that, it's my page. Go do something on your own page, you clown. Sorry, I told you, I don't speak perfectly for an hour. Sometimes the flesh gets in there a little bit. But you think that, oh, if I could just get this, and the higher you go, the deeper you better go in humility.

That's why you're saying ministry, this person falls, this person falls, this, this, this. It's because you're not humble enough. You're not humble enough. This person falls, this, this, this. It's because they don't have the foundation of character, and they're trying to build the name instead of build Christ. It's hard to fall when you're on your knees a lot. And I've heard it, and you've said, God has forsaken me. God has forsaken me. No, He's trying to awaken you. Big difference. By the way, He never forsakes. He's there, it just feels. He's trying to awaken you. But what do you do if He doesn't deliver you, or heal you, or fix you, or those you love? What do you do then? Because that's why we're sometimes joyful and encouraged, like God's going to do this, He's going to heal me, He's going to fix this, He's going to, and then you kind of realize, you know what? This isn't happening like I thought. Anybody think a certain way, and God's not really inclined to follow your way of thinking? And guys this is so important. I want to get this point across. I did, I know, a little bit last week. Especially the older you get, you've got to trust in His sovereignty. You've got to trust in His sovereignty. Now, trusting in His sovereignty, it's not just an intellectual exercise. Ah yes, I know that.

Trusting in His sovereignty, it's really a life grounded in belief, it's anchored in faith, and it's sustained by worship. Sovereignty, trusting in sovereignty is not just a one-and-done. It's a lifestyle pursuing Him and seeking Him. So the sovereignty of His hand of sovereignty gets anchored into your life. That's the anchor. Because of worship, because of prayer, because you've been seeking Him, because the Word, that's your anchor. That's the anchor that holds everything in place. Now let me drop some truth bombs. It does not mean that things will go as planned. I learned the lesson the hard way on that one, because I thought when you become a Christian, God's sovereignty, my plans, yes. I will truly have my best life now. Retire by 40, have a bass boat, go to the mountains, God's sovereignty, yes. But the reality is people become sick and pass on to glory. Some careers and marriages don't work out. Some calls to ministry never materialize, and some dreams do die. Guys, I'm not trying to be a negative Nelly. I'm trying to shoot you straight, because when you're prepared for life, you get through life. And also here's one of my big concerns, especially in what they call charismatic churches. You can always, you cannot always blame a demonic attack, blame something on a demonic attack when it may be God's sovereignty. His sovereignty. And we start to say things like this, I've heard, God always wants to heal you. Always. So the problem's not on his end, it's on your end. I've seen people with much better faith than me pass away, and then these people, their life gets rocked because this genie in a bottle called God, this butler, isn't answering the prayer the way they thought. Sovereignty is, Lord, I trust, I know you can heal. I have no problem, I believe, but help my unbelief. But Lord, I trust in you. Because often we pray for that healing to get us out of the fire. Let's be honest. But sometimes God allows us to stay in that fire. Not everything is a demonic attack, you can't name it and claim it. You can't speak it into existence if you just have enough faith. What about all the people healed in the Bible who didn't have a lot of faith? Now, Jesus says because of their unbelief, I could not do many miracles there. So that obviously plays a role of a grumbling,

complaining, woe-is-me Eeyore. Charlie Brown fans, that's not good. Was Eeyore in Charlie Brown? Oh, Winnie the Pooh. Winnie the Pooh. Yeah. This is supposed to be a serious message, guys. Here's, you know, I probably shouldn't tell you this, but I liked Eeyore. I remember as a kid, I wanted to watch Eeyore, not some big, big, big teddy bear put his hand in honey. Eeyore, Eeyore. Everything's negative. But we can't, we can't always blame something challenging on a demonic attack. Or no, no, no, no, no, God doesn't want this. What about, what about if Jesus said that in the garden? Father, take this from me. Take this from me. Nevertheless, nevertheless, not my will, but your will be done. Lord, take this from me. Fix this. But what about if it's gonna leave my... Kids to the Lord. What about if it's going to lead to a very deep and intimate relationship with God? Sometimes He might leave that thorn. You might get that diagnosis you have to live with for the rest of your... What about the God who heals? What about the God who uses that to break you? What about that God, too? See, this whole thing on healing has got me upset sometimes. Because it sounds good, but then when it's applied, it's not working out, and then they lose their faith. Their kids walk away from the Lord. You've got to get that into your soul just like Daniel. My God will deliver me. But even if He doesn't. Can you say that? Is that not the key? You're going to throw me into this fire. God's going to deliver me.

But guess what? Even if He doesn't, I'm not bowing to you. I'm not walking away from my Creator. Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. He said, take this cup from me. What about on the cross? On the cross. Father, why have you? We don't know who holds the future. That's why sovereignty is so important. What if God extended 15 years on your life and you birthed a Manasseh? Let me fill you in. God gave the king warning. Put your house in order. Time's up. And he cried out to God. God said, OK, I'll give you 15 more years. And in that 15 years, his wife gave birth to the most wicked king that Israel had ever known. Again, I'm not preaching doom and gloom. I'm trying to prepare people for the dark nights of the soul. Because when you're prepared, you can get through the storm. You guys remember, we probably still do it with our kids, but I remember when I was little, and storms would come. If my parents were good, I'm good. Oh, we see this, Jane, when I was younger, it's no big deal.

Or like me, I don't know if I should tell you this either because I'm being vulnerable, but I like to sit in a plane up front and then I can watch the airline, the stewardess. How are they doing right now? If they're talking, they're on their phone, OK, good. But if they're like... Preparation. And pastors don't always have the answers. We're supposed to point you to the one who has the answers. Here's the key. Don't ask why. I'm preaching to myself, by the way. Don't ask why, ask what. What are you teaching me? What do you want me to learn? How can I grow from this? Because the whys are never-ending. Whys are never-ending. And here's why, maybe you're different than me. I want to know why so I can fix it. Correct? Lord, why am I feeling this way? Because you need to fast. Oh, OK, I'll fast and fix it. I need to be carnivore. That will fix it. I need to be plant-based. That will fix it. I need to know why.

Do I get on this medication again? Why? Lord, tell me why is this happening to my kids so I can fix it. And rarely will He show you the why. Maybe later, but it's the what that we need to unpack. This is from Dr. David Jeremiah's book, When Your World Falls Apart. And if you want to listen to part one of what I'm giving now, it's not really part one, but it goes in line with this. Listen to last Sunday. But he did this, Dr. David Jeremiah. He wrote a book, When Your World Falls Apart. And this is a letter, he kind of said, like you could see it being from God. And he said, my child, I have a message for you today. Let me whisper in your ear that it may overcome any storm clouds. that may arise in your life. The smooth. And smooth out the rough places upon which you have to tread. It's short. It's only five words. But let them sink into your innermost soul. Use them as a pillow upon which to rest your weary head. And the five words are this thing is from me. This thing that you're going through is from me. Nothing can get to us without going through God.

Are you passing through a night of sorrow? This is from me. I'm the man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. I have let earthly comforters fell you you turn to me unconditionally. This thing is from me. Boy, that's a perspective change, isn't it? I've meditated on that all week. Because if we're not careful, we think this is from the enemy. This is from this person. This is from this. And we get scared because God, what's going on? Is the enemy stronger than you? Even if the enemy attacks you, God first has to allow it under His sovereign control. And again, I've got a lot of why questions myself. But if you look at things, or at least say God allowed this. God, You allowed this for a reason. Hopefully for a season. Because I've seen this many times too, guys. On this topic of healing, we forget that sometimes it's time to go home. It's time to go home, the Lord says. Yet we pray healing. We claim healing. No, no, no, Lord. But we all die. So you get healed at 65. It's time to go at 70. I mean, let me tell you, heaven's a lot better from 65 to 70. From now, a million times better.

So just be very careful on this topic. We forget that it's time to go home sometimes. And we can rest in that. Oh, no, no, you just have enough faith. I want to go home. I want to go home. I remember, I want to say their names in case their husbands are watching, but I went and I prayed, and I said, Pastor, don't pray for me, I'm ready. Whoa. Pray for comfort. Pray for my spouse. But I'm ready. Anybody sign those don't resuscitate orders? Hello? Yeah! Let me go! But the reason many don't want to is because of fear. So you need to settle that this morning. Fear's normal. We all fear it. I actually don't fear death. I'm ready to someday be with my Lord. I don't like the process of what that involves. I don't like leaving my family behind, things like that. That's good. That's a good thing. If we didn't feel that, we'd just say, oh, I'm going to jump off the cliff. I'm ready to go. So there's a little self-preservation involved, obviously. And don't overanalyze. Church, oh, my goodness.

Any overanalyzers there? Oh, my goodness. Well, if this is going on, then this could have caused it. This might have back then over there. That's what, that'll fix it. Yeah, yeah, okay, well, maybe because of... And what does? It robs you eventually of peace and joy. It will rob you of peace and joy. Did you know that disruptive moments are often divine appointments? Ron Mel said about these disruptive moments, they always leave us with a list of things to clean up and to fix. Isn't that true? You know, as a believer, you get some bad, you know, something's going on in your life, you're fixing things. Just in case it's causing it. I'm fixing it. I'm getting my... And God, we need those little recharges sometimes. Because everything's going good, and everything's going great, and then pride comes in. And I'll be... is to spank us and level us. And actually, He chastens those He loves. He disciplines those He loves. There are times when God restores to us the things we lose through negligence and ignorance

and rebellion or sin. And there's times we just have to trust in Him. But I do know what He does restore, intimacy. Intimacy. Wouldn't you rather want that than good health? A big bank account? Some of you maybe you don't because you don't know what that is. Is that right, Lang? You don't know what that is, yeah. Intimacy. Intimacy. Man, that relationship with God, there's nothing better. That's what keeps everything together. That's what keeps everything together. I mean, I've heard of people almost committing suicide when Bitcoin dropped. Last couple of weeks. What's their trust in? We have to get our trust anchored in God. And trust in God's sovereignty, Lord. Trust and obey. Trust and obey. Worship leader by the name of Jason Upton released a fairly new song. Talks about Jesus being the good, good shepherd. And he said, if you let me in, Jesus said, if you let me in, I'll lead you out. I can't tell you where you're going, but I can tell you this, little lamb, you've got a good, good shepherd. Whew! Little lamb, you've got a good, good shepherd. Who's going to protect you when the darkness settles in?

I don't like it, but I prefer preaching through pain. Because there's a special anointing on the service. The message seems to bring life into others. And to be honest with you, that's the problem with many preachers, many teachers today, myself included, I can fall into this camp as well. They preach from pride and not from pain. They preach from pride and not from pain. Same thing you could say with worship leaders. If you lead through pride, you might be gifted. And the people might say, oh, not bad. But you preach through pain. You'll be touched. The tears keep you tender. Pride is replaced with passion and arrogance with kindness when you allow the hammer of God to continue to break you. And we have to say like Paul, God, I'll bear this thorn if Your grace floods my heart. I'll carry this thorn. I'm so glad, aren't you, that we don't know what Paul's thorn was? Because we would say, well, yeah, Paul, but you don't know what I'm going through. Have you ever been there comparing? Paul, whatever it was, a messenger of Satan was sent against Paul. And Paul said, take this away, take this away, take this away. And God said, no, my grace is sufficient. It means it's enough. You don't need more than God's grace.

And that intimacy upon a person's life, that deep relationship they have with their Savior, that's what keeps them steadfast. So Lord, we've got to say, I can bear this thorn if Your grace will flood my heart. I can bear this thorn if Your grace will come upon my life. And I'm going through pain. I'm going through this difficulty. I don't understand. I've got a lot of whys. But Lord, let Your grace flood my heart. It's through that brokenness and that dependence and that crying out to God that He begins to fill you with His Spirit. I love what John Wesley said. He said, our people die well. The Methodists. And the Methodists of then are not the Methodists of today. By the way, just to let you know, we sing about the goodness of God. Have you heard that song? I've had it on Rewind. What's her name? C.C. Wyans? Did I pronounce that right? Just on Rewind, on Rewind, the goodness of God. We sing about it, but have we lived it? We lived it. You have led me through the fire in the darkest night. You are close like no other. You can only sing that with emotion and understanding and let it get down deep into your heart when you've experienced, when you walk through the fires. And like the Bible says,

when the floods overcome me, it will not hold me down. The God will hold me up when the fires come against me. I will not be scorched by the flame. Then you can sing those songs, church. Won't be the person who's never went through anything. They're like Napoleon Dynamite who needs to hit the weight room. That's how you build spiritual strength. That's how you go. You get the report. You get the diagnosis. You go through hell. You've been given this news. You lose somebody. And you say, though he slay me, yet will I trust him. I will keep my, where does my help come from? My help comes from the hills, from the Lord. He who holds Israel will not slumber. Oh my goodness. I feel like preaching this morning. Whether you're incarcerated or incapacitated, his sovereignty will rule in your heart. Whether it's a diagnosis or a disaster or distress, you have led me through the fire. In the darkest night, you're close like no other. Oh, the dark night, it rebuilds the broken. It rebuilds the broken. It fills the empty. It restores the fallen. It returns joy to the lonely. It comforts the fearful. Yes, it's a battle. It's a battle. It's a battle for trust. And it's a battle for truth. Have you ever, have you ever cried out or thought, Lord, nothing is working? Have you ever been there? Nothing is working. What's going on? Everything makes, is going, going down. Nothing is going good. Lord, what is happening? Nothing is working. Man is, these, these people have let me down. The doctor told me this, nothing is working. Like I said last week, you're almost there church. If you get to that point, you're almost there. The deeper the pain, the deeper the relationship with Christ. Those who have a powerful intimate relationship with Jesus have been through hell and back and he's pulled them from the flames. That's why they have that deep and abiding relationship. That's why. It's through the pain, not around it. I want to go around it. I need your love more than I need water. I need your love more than the breath that fills my lungs. When all else fails, worship. When all else fails, worship. Well, what about prayer? What do you think I'm doing when I worship? I, and I thought about like, I don't know how you, how will you separate that? I'm worshiping, but I'm not praying. No, worship is a form of prayer. That's what it is. Prayer actually, petition prayer, we can get technical.

Yes, we're saying, we're saying something, but do you know what it really is? The heart. Do you know, I cannot say a word and just weep at this altar, not saying a word, just weep at this altar and that prayer reaches heaven. More than, more than words. When all else fails, that when you're going through that, that night of darkness and the darkness of the soul, I forgot what I called it. Oh yeah. The dark night of the soul. Choose worship. We see that throughout the Bible, don't we? That the woman who came in Jesus, my daughter is severely vexed with the devil. Have you ever seen that before with your kids? I hope not. It's terrible. It's terrible. You can't sleep. Your home is like a raging volcano. We need help. Lord, we need help. Lord, help me. Help me, God. My daughter severely vexed with the devil, but she ran to Christ and the Bible says she worshipped him. She worshipped him. My son is possessed, but he worshipped Jesus. Like I said earlier. What about Job the pain is unbearable the pain is that what when your wife tells you to curse God and die The pain was unbearable, but what did the Bible you can read it Job fell and he worshipped He can you imagine he's going through all this instead of getting mad at God. He fell and he worshipped Naked have I come into this world and naked I shall go back blessed be the name of the Lord He giveth and he taketh away. The Lord is my shield though. He slay me yet Well, I trust him all these all we love to quote these scriptures, but they went through hell in order to get us those words in Church, we are no different. Oh And I feel for Jarius. I remember Jarius He goes to get Jesus and they said don't trouble the teacher She's already gone All the pain Don't trouble the teacher he's all she's already gone and That same Jesus you follow today He said don't worry Don't worry. Just have faith Don't worry just have faith He went for see how can you forsake me God to raising people from the dead

He had the full scope of that Eli Eli Lama's a botch and he my god my god. Why have you forsaken me? I'm on the cross Alone, and then he'll go and he raised people from the dead Sometimes we need to say like the prophet Micah do not rejoice over me my enemy When I fall I will rise and when I sit in darkness the Lord will be my light and Get get get that deep within your soul like Paul. Oh Death, where is your sting? How many of you can say that to death? Oh death Where is your sting when you go in the doctor gives you that really bad news? I don't care. Oh death Where's you it's lost that sting. It's lost that that cutting. I'm not gonna die twice I'm gonna die once and be in in eternity with my Savior. The second death is what gets you watch out for that one Watch out for that one That one there is no return That's why for the believer I'll leave you with this closing statement for the believer The dark night of the soul is temporary But for the unbeliever, it's eternal But I want you to think about that the dark night of the soul for a believer At some point There's light at the end of the tunnel, isn't there? But but but for the unbeliever, there's only darkness There's only darkness There's no hope there's no dark the dark night of the soul just keeps going Yeah, but haven't you heard Kirk Cameron's view and let me know well, I just don't want to find out I Don't want to are you annihilated years from now? Are you? The Bible is clear. You don't want to find out You do not want to find out Where eternity there's gnashing and weeping of teeth and I only say this I don't like to scare people But the Bible does not me But the Bible does not me The Bible says these things did you know Jesus spoke more about hell than heaven Jesus said do not fear man. Do not fear man, but fear the Living God

So maybe some of you need to make that decision that morning or you need to fully surrender That's where I was at in 1999. God had to get me get this prodigal son home It was a battle and I look back why was it so hard Why are we fighting God? So what was wrong with me my 20s? You know, it's actually very simple. It's a it's a five-letter word Yeah, you some of you I heard it starts with a P I'll help you Pride is that not true? That's the only reason That's the only that's what's keeping you away from a deeper relationship with the Lord even as a Christian Pride I've got as much of God as I Want and if you don't know him the Bible is clear. You have to repent and believe That Christ will save me. I need to trust in him Maybe maybe you've been a Christian for a while. You want to get baptized? Let me know we'll be next door in the prayer room If you're new, I'd love to meet you. Just let the ushers know you're new I've met you before and what we'll get you in their Balcony as well. We want to we'd love to pray with you even if they're There's a line, sometimes there's a line down the hallway. Don't let that intimidate you. We've got a lot of prayer team people there to help you. And if you want to be baptized, I became a Christian today, I became a Christian last week, or I've been a Christian for years, but I've never made that decision, you can change that today. Sound good? All right, guys, hope my voice lasts for the next service. But let's pray. Lord, I pray in advance for that second service. People are going to be competing with staying home and getting ready for a game versus getting ready for you. So Lord, I pray you would get them here.

You get them here. You draw them here. The broken, the lonely, the lost, and the hurting. Lord, that's the only reason why we're here is because of you. Strengthen your people this morning. I pray this message hits hard, but also encourages and strengthens. In Jesus' name, amen, amen. So again, the balcony, balcony, you guys can come down. Prayer room, I'm going to be over in the prayer room. Let's go ahead and stand. If you'd like to stand, you don't have to. You can stay seated. But the front will be open as well. OK? So front area is open as well. In the name of Jesus Christ, my King, what a powerful name He is. Nothing can stand against Him. What a powerful name He is, the name of Jesus. What a powerful name He is. What a powerful name He is, the name of Jesus Christ, my King. What a powerful name He is. Nothing can stand. What a powerful name it is, the name of Jesus. Death could not hold Him. The veil torn before Him. The silent scoopers of sin and grave. Heavens are rolling, praise of Your glory. For You are raised to life again.

You have no rival. You have no equal. Now and forever, God, You reign. Yours is the kingdom. Yours is the glory. Yours is the name, oh, name. What a powerful name it is. What a powerful name it is, the name of Jesus Christ, my King. What a powerful name it is. Nothing can stand against Him. What a powerful name it is, the name of Jesus. What a powerful name it is, the name of Jesus. There is power in the name of Jesus. There is power in the name of Jesus. There is power in the name of Jesus. To break every chain, break every chain, break every chain. Oh, there is power in the name of Jesus. We believe it. There is power in the name of Jesus. There is power in the name of Jesus. To break every chain, break every chain, break every chain. Oh, change the faith. Break every chain. Break every chain. Break every chain. Yeah, there's an army rising up Yeah, there's an army rising up We believe it There's an army rising up Break every chain

Oh Lord Break every chain Come on, yeah Break every chain There's power in your name, Jesus There's power in your name What a powerful name it is What a powerful name it is The name of Jesus Christ our King What a powerful name it is Nothing can stand against What a powerful name it is Oh, the name of Jesus And I just wanna speak the name of Jesus Over every heart and every mind I know there is peace Within your presence, Lord I speak Jesus I just wanna speak I just wanna speak The name of Jesus Every dark addiction starts to break Declaring there is hope There is freedom I speak Jesus Your name is power Your name is healing Your name is love Everlasting love Break every stone

Shine through the shadow Of life Shout Jesus Shout Jesus from the mountains Jesus in the streets Jesus in the darkness Over every enemy Jesus for my family I speak the holy name Jesus Shout Jesus from the mountains Jesus in the streets Jesus in the darkness Over every enemy Jesus for my family I speak the holy name Jesus Shout Jesus from the mountains Jesus in the streets Jesus in the darkness Over every enemy Jesus for my family I speak the holy name Jesus Your name is power Your name is healing Your name is my life, I know Break every stone Shine through the shadow The light of God

To every soul held captive by depression Hey, I speak Jesus Let's break it, come on Jesus, yeah Shout Jesus on the mountains Jesus in the stream, oh Jesus in the darkness Oh, for every enemy, yeah Jesus for my family I speak the Holy Name Jesus, yeah Your name is power Your name is healing Your name is love, yeah So yeah Break every stone Shine through the shadow Your name is my life, I know There's power in His name It's not just a nice lyric or a nice idea It's true, it's true I know because I hated Jesus, I hated Christians I was a meth addict, I was in addiction for years Would have cussed you out or tried to knock you out I say try because I told you I was a meth addict So I weighed like a hundred pounds So if I threw my whole body at you You might have got a paper cut, you know what I'm saying? But somebody, you know, people were praying for me In the name of Jesus

In the name of Jesus Long story short, I had a radical encounter With the presence of God at three o'clock in the morning In a bedroom with drugs on the side table next to me Nobody playing softly and quietly like this, right? Making everything sound more spiritual But it was real, like I knew He was there, right? Like I knew the presence of the living God Was in this room with me And I was like, Lord, I want to give you my life I want to quit all this addiction, all this anger All this darkness, all this depression My life had been a dark night to the soul I was like, God, I want to But there's absolutely no way I can do it I can't imagine being anyone else This is all I've known for so long And in a thought more powerful than words The Holy Spirit spoke something into me That changed me for the rest of my life And it's this, Stephen, you won't do it, I'll do it Now, you can clap, but I'd much rather you believe it Than clap, right? You can clap, that's great If you can do both, that's awesome But I'd rather you believe it because it's true And in that moment, I didn't know it then But it was Ephesians 2, 8, right? You're saved by grace This isn't something you can boast about

But it's a work of God He does it But there's something you and I get to do And it's this, Jesus says in John 6, 29 The only work the Father asks of you is to believe And that's what I did, I believed Him Like I believe I'm breathing air right now And I fell to my knees and I gave my life to Jesus I called on the powerful name of Jesus And I went from addiction to redemption From meth addict to worship leader From death to life Because God is real There's actual power in His name Jesus Jesus There's power in Your name Jesus Yeah What a powerful name it is What a powerful name it is The name of Jesus Christ, my King What a powerful name Nothing instead What a powerful name The name of Jesus What a powerful name The name of Jesus are you ready to call on that name name? The name of Jesus If you don't know him yet, are you ready to find out what you look like fully alive?

In Jesus the real you The real you is the you that calls on that name The real you is the you that turns from death to life The real you is the you free from depression and anger from despair From addiction The real you is the you that calls on the name of Jesus is filled with his spirit If you're ready today and you want to give your life to him because there is no life without him There is no life you are going to blink and be in the presence of Jesus And you will look back on this life and you will say why did I care what anybody fought? More than you you were all that ever mattered every good thing I ever want could only ever be found in you because you're the source of goodness God It's not what you do. It's who you are So we love you and I pray this morning that you would soften hearts God that you would break down Spiritual strongholds that you would tear apart lies that have told people don't be tricked The lies that have told you this is just who you are give up They would begin to hear your voice Jesus saying come to me Come to me And I will give you life you will drink deep Come Oh Come on just like Bring in your broken All your hurts and scars come to cheese Oh His arms are open wide in his embrace you'll find Everlasting Come Oh Oh

Father we thank you for your presence We thank you for your spirit Just continue to move in the space God, we pray that again anyone that needs healing anyone that needs you would come Did you just put in them you would remove the fear actually remove The fear of man, the spirit of the fear of man, break it down in Jesus name. But they care more about what you think than what any person thinks. Often the size of your destiny is seen by the size of the attack on your life. You matter. Jesus, just begin to stir in these people's hearts today. We thank you for what you're doing. We bless you. We thank you for the message this morning, God. We thank you. We pray that you would sow it into our hearts, God. Sow it into our hearts. I'm going to be honest. This is probably one of my favorite churches I've been to in all my years of doing this. I mean it. I do not get extra money for that. I don't get commission. I don't get Jesus bucks, copyright Steve McWhorter 2026. But I do. I mean it. I mean it for real. There's something special. It's genuine. It's real. And believe me when I say that, because I've been around. We were talking about it earlier. You know, this isn't a brag.

It's sad. We've been 20,000 people, stadiums and stuff with huge artists. And you don't see this kind of presence of the Lord. And to me, that's sad. You want that. You want that space for him, right? You want to trust him enough to let him do what he wants, right? You want to trust him enough to where if you look stupid because he didn't show up, that's fine, right? I trust in God, my Savior, the one, the one who will never fade. He will never fade. I trust in God, my Savior, the one, the one who will never fade. He will never fade. Blessed is your name. Jesus is my name. He's been my fourth man in the fire, time after time, yeah. Born of his Spirit, washed in his blood. Thank you, Lord. And what he did for me on Calvary is more than enough, yeah. I trust in God, my Savior, the one, the one who will never fade. He will never fade. I trust in God, my Savior, the one, the one who will never fade. He will never fade. Perfect submission. And holy is their breath. I know the author of tomorrow. It's all in my stead. So this is my story. This is my song. Oh. Praise is my reason.

King and singer all the day long. I trust in God, my Saviour, the one who will never fail, He will never fail. I trust in God, my Saviour, the one who will never fail, He will never fail. It's not like man that he will lie, no, no. Every promise he's made, he will never break, yeah. Oh, we take you where you're welcome. I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered. That's why I trust Him, that's why I trust Him. I sought the Lord and He heard and He answered. My Saviour, the one who will never fail, He will never fail. I trust in God. Thank you, Lord. Oh, the one who will never fail, He will never fail. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord.