John Gray - Angel School
I'm John Gray and welcome to my world. Right at the start, I want to let you know that we're going in on the subject of worship. We're going to squeeze out all the revelation we can in the time we have today. I'm telling you, the more I studied this subject and saw how it impacted my life personally, I had to share it with you. There are so many benefits afforded to those who worship God. One of those is that worship has the power to fill any void you may have in your life and causes your joy to be restored. I don't know about you, but I've had a lot of destructive voids in my life that held me back until the power of worship broke those bondages. So get ready and I'll see you right after today's message.
Today I would like to endeavor to encourage each one of you that's gathered here and those that are watching online around the world. Because one of the hardest things to believe is the love of God for you. Sometimes you can believe that God loves somebody else or believe the best for someone else, but it's hard to believe the best when it comes to you. Perhaps, because of the mundane repetition of your life, you would assume that you are just another one of the 6.8 billion nameless faces that make up humanity, but you are much more than that. You are much more than a conglomeration of cells. You are much more than a personality and a job. You are much more than someone's wife or someone's husband or someone's child. You are much more than the product of family planning. You are much more than a chance encounter of an egg and seed. You are the intention of God.
This life is not easy, and it would be very easy to become discouraged if you keep watching the news. They never have just a good news channel. You never see top story, they found the kitten. It's always something terrible. There's four tornadoes, and they all tore up one place, and they can't find the dog, and the dog is in the tree, and there's an amber alert over here, and they can't find somebody's grandmother. And it's all kinds of foolishness going on, and they crashed into the cvs pharmacy 'cause somebody wasn't supposed to be driving. And there's always something negative going on to instill fear and to instill drama and to cause us to believe that we shouldn't expect for the best, but we should expect the worst.
If you look at the world news and you look at what's happening globally, it would be very easy to become afraid based on what you see with rising tension in the Middle East and crisis all over the world: tension mounting in Russia and china and the Ukraine, not to mention the deep political divides within our own nation and the quiet cultural war that is tearing at the fabric of this nation. This is not an easy time to be a believer, but it is in these moments, in the crucible of conflict, in the deepest places of our psyche, where God begins to seed the very thing that he intended for the earth to see. Right now, like never before, this can be the church's finest hour. And in spite of any news story to the contrary, God is still in control.
I want to talk to some people in the balcony that braved traffic and walked four blocks in the hot sun to be in this service today, and I want you to know that God is in control. I don't know if you're a first time visitor or never heard of this place, you came to see the nice man with the good hair with the six pack, that's not him. I'm me, I don't have a six pack, I got a 40 ounce, but I want you to know that God is in control. I came to talk to somebody in the middle of a marriage that looks like it's on the rocks and your children won't act right and there's other things going on and your job is not working and your business is shaky, but I want you to know that in spite of what it looks like, God is in control.
I'm talking to anybody that it cost you something to be here this afternoon, it cost you something to get here and some of your family and even some of your friends don't understand your persistence. Why do you keep coming here? And why do you keep showing up? And why do you keep praising God? And why are you so faithful when nothing changes? But you keep lifting your hands even though you cried last night. And you keep praising God even though everything's not working out. I want you to know that heaven has been watching your response and God is about to show up with the answer to your prayer and the answer to your tears. I want you to get your faith up in here this morning. That God is in control. You can give him a praise at the 11 o'clock service.
Pastor Nick was all up in my message when he was talking about God watching you. And I want you to know that he is watching, but he's not the only one watching. In fact, in the book of Ephesians 3:8, and I'm reading from the New King James version, it says this, this is Paul the apostle speaking. "To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Christ Jesus to the intent that now now, the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places".
Let's take a pause for the cause. This scripture says that God has some things that have been hidden for generations, for thousands and thousands of years until this very moment, to teach, not people, but principalities, powers in heavenly places. That means that there are angels who have been observing the way we handle the earth and God is teaching heavenly beings more about who he is by the way we interact with God. This is real quiet in here because you all are like, "What are you talking about"? Let me help you to understand, there are two realities. There's the life that we live and then there's a supernatural spiritual realm right beyond our physical eyesight that is more real than the world we are living in.
If you are a believer than you know that earth is just where we passing through but we're going back to our father in heaven. I do not belong here, I am a stranger here and when I'm finished here, I'm going back to be with my father and I'm going to reunite with my grandmother and my aunties and my cousins and the people who went on before me who believed that Jesus is Lord. And I believe that there is something beyond these 80 or 90 or whatever, how many years God gives me, there is more to life than suffering in tears and pain and paying bills and wondering if my credit score is going to be up enough to get a mortgage. There's more to my life than bad relationships and bad decisions, at some point God is going to turn it around in my favor. And I'm going to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living and when I finish here, I'm going to see him face to face. There is something beyond the clouds.
The Bible says that in that unseen realm, even the angels need to learn. And today I want to talk to you from the subject, angel school, angel school. See, 'cause you're over here saying, "Oh I wish I could learn more about heaven". And God says, "I need to teach the angels something about the earth". See, because a lot of times we get caught up looking at our lives and it doesn't make sense. But we are a unique creation of God. You do know how much you matter to God or maybe you don't. See, 'cause you just thought you just drove here this morning, right. You got up and you brushed your teeth and you put your clothes on and you got in the car and you just drove here. But what you didn't see is that you only got here because the contract says in Psalm 91.
By the way for those who don't know, the Bible is a 66-book contract signed by the blood of Jesus, and when you are a believer, this contract is in force in your life. And so you can refer to the contract for all of the promises that pertain to your life. You didn't just get here on your own, for Psalm 91 says, "And he will give his angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways, lest you dash your foot against a stone". If you tripped getting out of the bed this morning, your angel has to file a report in heaven for not doing their job. That's how much you matter to God. I'm trying to get your faith up in the balcony and all the way in the back and somewhere online and down here in the front, that you matter to God. You must be some bad somebody for God to have angels assigned to your life. You better square your shoulders back and walk like you know who you are. You're not just some average person.
Anybody grateful for the protection of God? Anybody grateful for the covering of God? Anybody thankful that you got an angel that's watching out for you because you matter to God. The Bible makes it clear that we matter to God, stop walking through life like you don't matter, stop walking with your shoulders down like you don't have value, singing all them sad songs and woe is me. Not woe is you, oh is you. You need to understand, when you get up in the morning, God says, "Oh there's my baby. Oh, look at my son, boy he looks just like me", because the Bible says in Genesis 1:26, "Let us create man in our image according to our likeness". And you need to understand he didn't make you first, he makes you last, 'cause he always saves his best for last.
I feel like praising in here at an 11 O'clock service. I'm trying to act right, but I'm not going to be able to hold it much longer. I'm just letting you know, I feel it, right there. Feel the robot. Do you understand how amazing you are? How much you matter to God? Have you looked up in the sky and seen all of those stars? Have you ever studied geology and science and astronomy? Have you noticed that there are trillions of stars? Have you noticed the countless planets? Have you understood the incredible laws that govern our universe? And every molecule and every atom and every creation? Can you imagine that the God who spoke stars and who spoke planets and who spoke animals and living creatures and angels and cherubim and Seraphim and four and 20 elders and other things that we could never understand. He spoke all that but the only thing that took his breath away was you.
The Bible says that God tore man from the dust of the ground, and he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. We are the only creatures that took his breath away. I need you to know that when you get up in the morning, you take his breath away. When you walk through trial, you take his breath away. When you worship on faith, you take his breath away. And when you begin to worship back, you give him the breath he gave you back to him in a form that he couldn't give it to himself, because God can't worship. God can't praise, because in order to worship and praise, you got to have something higher than yourself. God is waiting on you to give him what nobody else can give him. He needs you to give him a worship that the angels can't give him. Oh yeah, you matter more than angels 'cause angels, angels were made for God, we were created from God.
I'm trying to help you. The Bible says that principalities and powers are watching and learning about God based on what's happening with the church in the earth. Do you know the power of your worship in faith? Do you know how much my obedience matters to God? See, 'cause angels they're good, they're servants. But they don't understand our relationship, because their relationship with God is based on obedience, mine is based on faith. See, whether you know it or not, you only get one chance if you're an angel, ask Satan.
The Bible says in Ezekiel 28, that he was the anointed cherub who covers. That means he was basically the angel in charge of worship. He had instruments on the inside of him, but one day instead of the worship coming through him, he wanted it to come to him. And in that moment the Bible says God cast him out of heaven as a profane thing.
Oh, I'm trying to help you in here. Here's what's funny. The Bible says that he said in his heart, I will ascend to the mount of the north, I will be like the Most High. He didn't even say it out loud, he thought it and God kicked him out. Now, I know the Bible says in revelation there was a war in heaven, but I need you to understand it ain't like war the way we think because the war lasted about the time it takes for lightening to strike. Cause the Bible says in Luke 7, Jesus says, I saw Satan fall like lightening. So that's how long the war lasted, however long it takes for lightening to strike. God's heaven was never under attack. God was not up there saying, you all close the doors, that mean old devil tryin' get my throne, I's don't know what I's going to do, sir. He's God, he ain't worried about no devil, he just cast him out.
And then God said, let me make man to handle the devil. Listen, the Bible says your adversary the devil. God says, "I'm not even going to fight, I'ma make a man and that'll be his light work". The devil is our light work. I need you to get encouraged that the devil is not badder than you, you badder than him and he knows it, that's why he keeps attacking you. See, the Bible says in revelation 12, that Satan is the accuser of the brethren, night and day. He goes before God and he always has evidence as to why God should quite fooling with you. "Most High, I got a case here, I got all this stuff John Gray been doing and I need to read the list, first of all"... Don't worry about what's on my list. See, what you need to do is worry about your list. And what you've been doing nasty. Don't be judging me, waiting for me to tell you what I'm walking through. What you walking through?
And he says... And he also... And everything that he presents is true. And God says, "You're right, he did all those things". And here's Satan's response, "By law he should be dead. The law says he should be cut off". And God says, "But he's not under the law". Did anybody catch it? Because seated at my right hand is an advocate, who was in all points tempted but was without sin, and took John's sins and the sins of the whole world and said, "I'll trade my life for his death. And so everything that he did was covered on the cross and so my grace is sufficient for him". "But I don't understand, he did all of this". "Yes, but he paid for it. And his name is Jesus".
I need somebody to thank God for Jesus this morning. Will anybody thank God for Jesus? I know you're comfortable up in the balcony and it took a long time to walk up all those steps but do you mind giving Jesus a praise if he ever saved you, if he ever healed you, if he ever covered you, if he ever protected you, if he ever kept the hand of the enemy from taking your life. Has Jesus ever done anything for you? Then, give him a praise.
The angels don't understand how we praise. See, because angels have a different song from us, they say "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, which was and is and is to come". That's how they know him, they know him as the Most High, I know him as dad. They got to be formal, I get to be personal. I need you to understand that you carry the very breath of God, the very life of God. You carry sonship privileges, you are the daughter of a King. What are you doing dating a peasant? Do you know who you are? You are a woman of God. Why are you settling for less than heaven's best? Honey, you better delete that zero and wait for God's hero. You better know who you are.
See, angels worship from fact, they see him. We worship from faith, we believe him. And angels are fascinated by how we worship. Anybody ever worship when it didn't make sense? In spite of the news you got, in spite of the doctor's report, in spite of the tears you cried that hit your pillow when nobody could see. In spite of your questions about the future. In spite of the pain you're currently in, in spite of all your family situations. Somehow, someway, somewhere on the inside you still had the nerve to sing. "I will bless the Lord, oh my soul and all that is within me bless his holy name".
That worship confounds the principalities, because they don't understand how you can keep worshiping even though things in your life are falling apart and in spite of the evidence that says one thing is true, you're believing God for something invisible and even in the midst of your pain, you still have the nerve to sing the next part of the song. "He has done great things", even though it hurts, "He has done great things", and then you get real bold, "He has done great things bless his holy name". Anybody feel like blessing the Lord this morning? Through your tears, through your pain, through your questions, through your broken moments? You still believe God?
Do you know the enemy wants you to put your hand down? "Put your hand down". I can hear the devil saying, "Shut up with your praise. Why do you keep coming here"? Every time the doors of this church open it gives hell another black eye. Because it ain't a black church. It's not a white church. We got white next to black next to Mexican next to Asian next to Swedish next to Namibian next to Nigerian next to Ghanaian next to Eritrean next to Ethiopian next to Russian next to Brazilian next to Argentinian next to Korean next to Chinese and every nation of the world and Muslims and Hindus and atheists and non-believers and every type of sin and brokenness and yet we still lift our hands. It gives God a great praise when all of us, in spite of where we come from can still bless God. The angels are fascinated.
"How do they worship like that and they've never seen him"? Because I believe what Jesus did. I believe Jesus is the Son of God. I believe he died for my sins. And because he died and I received on faith his death and resurrection, that makes me an heir and a joint heir, which means I went from nothing to a son in a moment, and I went from less than nothing to now, I'm going to be judging angels one day. I've got a praise on the inside because he took me from darkness into the marvelous light. Has God ever done anything for anybody in this place? I know you can't act up because you got somebody next to you and you don't want 'em to think you're crazy. I respect that but, God has been too good to me for me to worry about what somebody next to me thinks.
I don't deserve to be saved. I didn't deserve it but he made me worthy. How valuable are you? You're to die for. Oh, oh, you're to die for. You don't believe me? Romans 5:8 says, "But God demonstrates his own love towards us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us". Oh, you're to die for, honey. "But you don't know what I did last night". Don't care, doesn't matter, it's not my business. It's under the blood. You're to die for. You don't think Jesus knew what you and I would do? And he stayed on that cross until the debt was paid. I don't care if you sinned two hours ago. It doesn't matter. It's under the blood the moment you confess Christ and give him your life and trust on faith that the price is paid, your life is over.
"But I used to drink. I used to smoke. I used to dance for money. I still do". I don't care. At least you're in here. Welcome home. You're a part of the family. There's no judgment here. And I bind any person and every devil that wants you to walk around in shame because of your current situation. If you're in here that means you're fighting. If you're in here, that means you believe. If you're in here, that means you got a praise that God wants to hear. The devil wants to stop you from clapping your hands because it reminds him of his ultimate failure. He wants you to be quiet because your voice replaced his voice. He wants you to remain seated because the moment you stand, you take your rightful position as a child of the king. The devil wants to remind you of your past, but your praise reminds him of his future.
"My chains are gone, I've been set free. My God, my Savior has ransomed me. And like a flood his mercy rains, unending love, amazing grace". I feel the Holy Ghost in here. Whoa Jesus, oh Jesus. The devil always wants to discourage you. "No way God loves you. Why you keep your hands lifted. You know how you're living. You know what you're struggling through. You know what you're doing". I want you to know that the devil keeps trying to mess you up, but you need to remind him the devil failed when there was no devil. At least you have an enemy. He didn't even have an enemy and he couldn't do what you do. The reason why he only got one chance is 'cause he was face-to-face and he fell. The reason why we get multiple chances is because we are going to see him face-to-face and we believe him.
I haven't seen him but I still worship. I don't understand it all, but I still clap my hands. And my worship informs heaven. And my worship teaches angels. If my angel is having his final exam, then let him be astounded by my praise to my God. Let him be overcome by my faith in my God. If my angel is taking his finals exam I need him to go ahead and be like, "God, you can trust him 'cause no matter what the devil tries, he wont' stop praising. He won't stop serving and he won't stop believing. God you can trust her because in spite of everything that's happened in her life, she still comes to church. She's still faithful. She still gives tithe and offering. Despite what they're going through, they bring their husband. They bring their wife. They bring their children".
And one day, when you least expect it, your life is going to turn around in a moment and miracles are going to break out and I declare that that day is today, and that moment is right now. Do you believe that God is meeting you right now with your miracle? Do you know your chains are gone? Do you understand that? We'll sing it again. "My chains are gone, I've been set free. My God, my Savior has ransomed me. And like a flood his mercy rains, unending love, amazing grace".
Father, in the name of the Lord Jesus, in this atmosphere of faith, cause us to take the angels to school, showing them that we don't have to see you to believe you. Cause our faith to rise up beyond our doubt, beyond our fear, beyond our failure. We trust you at your word and know that the Word of God is a contract, sealed in the blood of Jesus. And I'm a son because you declared it and because of what Jesus did. Thank you today that new life begins and every promise comes to me and no devil in hell can stop it. I'm a child of the king and there's nothing he can do about it. In Jesus' name. Amen.