Samuel Rodriguez - From Glory To Glory
Oh, wow, this, just right there where you're at, just lift up your hands. Just right there. It started, right there where you're at, just for a second, I'm gonna pivot, I'm gonna give you, I'm gonna fulfill my assignment, and I don't mean an assignment from man, but my, what the Spirit of God ordained and placed in my heart that I must share with you. But what's happening here right now, pastor Tony, who I absolutely love and that's my ride or die brother right there, and pastor Kaci and just, he was recently in our church in Sacramento. We flew him over to Los Angeles to our L.A. campus, and God just used him mightily. But right after he was there, something's happening. And I mean across America and around the world. I got a call from Russell Evans, Mark Borghese, just, Glen Barrett from UK, at Boshoff in South Africa, there's something happening.
And not like wishful thinking, you know, prophetic spaghetti on the wall, self-induced, self-fulfilling prophecy. No, something legitimately is happening. What's happening right here, it's not a coincidink, it's not a one, you know, one and done. It's, something happened. And pastor Tony referenced it, it triggered, then I was interviewed on Fox News, and we broke it down with Fox 'cause they asked me, they didn't even wanna talk about politics or culture. They said, "Pastor Sam, come to Fox. We wanna interview you. We're gonna ask you one question, what is God up to in America? What is God doing in America"? And we referenced it, even pastor Tony referenced it in Sacramento. We began with a prayer.
Damar Hamlin dies of a heart attack on Monday night football. Both teams coalesce, they begin to pray. And with medical intervention and prayer, this man comes back to life. The next day, the next day, an anchor on ESPN, live on national television for the first time, interrupts the program and says, "Whoop, I don't know if this is right, but we gon' pray". He starts praying. Shortly thereafter, all of a sudden, the same identical demographic that Gallup and pew both deemed as the most non-Christian demographic in American history, generation Z, the same identical demographic that everyone declared the most non-Christian generation, and then, God said, "Go ahead, read it again, say it again". The most non-Christian generation and God said, "What age group is that"? Eighteen to 25 year olds. And God said, "Do, say it again".
The most non-Christian gen... And God said, "Yeah, sure. Ashberry, Kentucky, let me show you my glory show up in the place". And then, by coincidink, this movie comes out called, "The Jesus revolution". It's supposed to make 7 million bucks in the box office, it's over 40 million bucks strong right now in box office receipts. And then, in the past 45 days, churches that lost 25 - 32% of their attendance, adherence, members, Sunday attendance, all of a sudden in the past 45 days, churches, not just in America but around the world, are reporting, "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, we are back. And a matter of fact, some of us have exceeded the pre-COVID numbers". What does that mean about here and now, arise conference? We are about to go from glory to glory, to glory, to glory, to glory. If you believe it, shout like you know that we are about to go... Just before you're seated, high-five your neighbor and tell 'em, "We're going from glory to glory".
That's 2 Corinthians 3:18. Tell your other neighbor, "We're going from glory to glory". Not from drama to drama, but from glory to glory. Not from problem to problem, but from glory to glory. Your house is going from glory to glory. Your family is going from glory to glory. Oh, wow, what an anointing. Just the presence of God. Wow! Pastor Tony, love you man. Love you, and you're my church's favorite preacher, you really are. We're about to move into new facilities, and for our inauguration in the month of October, you're coming in, and you're gonna release that holy Kraken, in Jesus' name. And then, you have that young lady as your wife, what can I say? Can you give it up one more time for bishop Tony Stewart and pastor Kaci Stewart, please? In the words of that great Psalmist, Tina Turner, "You're simply the best".
1 Samuel 5, here's my assignment. It's different, I'm gonna illustrate this, and there's a prophetic undergirded truth embedded in this. And it's not a hype, no, I've seen it, I'm watching it, I'm experiencing this. 1 Samuel 5. It's an interesting story about the mucho malo hombres capturing the glory of God. "After the Philistines captured the ark of God," which is, again, that should cause some sort of theological acid reflux. The fact that the bad guys were able to capture the glory of God in a box. I mean, "They took it from the battleground at Ebenezer to the town of Ashdod. They carried the ark of God into the temple of Dagon, they placed it beside an idol of Dagon. When the citizens of Ashdod went to see it the next morning," this is a Netflix series right here. "Dagon had fallen with his face to the ground in front of the ark of the Lord".
I'm gonna repeat part because that's the, this is, yeah. "When the citizens of Ashdod went to see it the next morning, Dagon," the false idol, the false God, the lie, the construct, the ideology, "Had fallen with his face to the ground in front of the ark of the Lord". Let me just break here for a moment, and get off the script, and declare prophetically that by the time you get home, every lie of the enemy will be on the floor waiting for you to climb over it in the name of Jesus. How many believe that? How many believe, even the Dagons that are occupying the space of your children and your children's children are about to come down by the authority of heaven, and you're about to step over it? "So, they took Dagon and they put him in his place again".
Of course, they did. "But the next morning the same thing happened: Dagon had fallen face down before the ark of the Lord again. But this time," somebody shout, "This time. This time his head and hands had broken off, and were lying in the doorway," in the entry port, the threshing, "Only the trunk of his body was left intact". The title of the sermon today is, "It's timber, it's coming down". When the prophetic stands next to the pathetic, the prophetic always wins. So, touch the neighbor you like the most and tell 'em, "It's coming down". Tell your other neighbor, the one that you barely tolerate, but by the grace of God, you're still seated next them, tell that neighbor, "It's coming down". And tell one more neighbor, pick one, in front of you, behind you, and just say, "Timber, it's coming down". It's coming down.
Point number, if you're taking any notes, and always, good luck with that. When hell declares victory, watch God show up. When hell declares victory, watch God show up. And real quick lesson, y'all know this, in the Old Testament, the ark of God, God's treasure chest, it represented God's presence, power, and promise. The ark of God served as the Old Testament facilitative platform for the glory of God, and the glory of God is the manifest presence of God. Whatever heaven touched, the rod of Aaron, manna, commandments, items described as glorious, occupied the ark. When the king of glory touches it, it is glorious. The Philistines believed that if they captured the ark, the glory, Israel's secret weapon, Israel will be defeated. Backdrop, here's the story.
The Philistines declared war on the Israelites. And the number of Philistines in respect to the army was much more greater than those in Israel's camp. That just common sense, simple math would dictate the Philistines should have easily have had the victory. But no, they fought, and all of a sudden, the Israelites won. The Philistines increased exponentially the number of troops. They fight against the Israelites. They even surprise them. Israelites, God's children, end up winning. The Philistines come to this inevitable conclusion.
They come, "These guys have a secret weapon. The secret weapon is this, they have the glory of God. If they have the glory of God in this box, they have the glory of God. And as long as they have the glory of God in the box, we can't defeat them. If they carry the glory, they're automatically victorious". I will repeat that for the hearing impaired. Where the glory of God is present, there is guaranteed victory. One more time. Whoever Carries the glory, Carries victory. Your family does not carry multi-generational curses. Your family does not carry trauma and drama. You need to rebuke every lie of the enemy and declare, "As for me and my house, we carry the glory of the living God".
"Let's take the ark of God". And they did. They did. They captured the ark of God. They believed they took the glory hostage. They stood convinced, they took the power of God captive. They convinced themselves they had placed a lid on the presence of God. And they were soon to discover the following, you cannot incarcerate the glory of God. You can't imprison the power of God. "The Lord God is our sun and our shield. He gives us grace and glory," Psalm 84:11. We, through the vicarious, atoning, finished work of Christ, we are Carriers of the glory. This is the reason why the enemy hates your guts. Romans 8:30, "Having giving them right standing, he gave them his glory". We carry the glory of God. "The son radiates God's own glory and expresses the very character of God. He sustains everything by the mighty power of his command," Hebrews 1:3.
Jesus is the glory of God. The enemy hates you, not because you're black, white, yellow or brown, conservative or liberal, independent, charismatic or automatic, the devil hates your guts because you carry the glory of God. If you are born again, hell comes against you because you carry the glory of God. Recently I was asked of in the past 24 hours, in a very important meeting, I was asked, "Pastor Sam Rodriguez, where do you lean"? And like, "What drives you"? And the person said, quote, "We lean left, but where do you lean? Because we Google and we have different images. Where do you lean"? And then, I was, a very important meeting, and I looked across the table and I looked at the person and said, just right there, Holy Spirit deposit. And I went, "Where do I lean"? And I went, "I don't lean". And they went, "What do you mean"? "I don't lean, I stand. I stand on God's word, God's promises, God's truth, God's yes and God's amen. Because I carry the glory of God".
It's real simple, if you go right now on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and even listen to certain influencers, it looks like right now, like the Philistines of the 21st century have once again successfully captured the glory of God. So, here's what I came, I traveled from California all the way to Tampa to tell you this. What if I tell you, the very same thing that took place in Dagon's temple is about to take place? What if I tell you the very same thing, no joke, that's why we have this atmosphere is charged, what's happening around the world. The very same thing that took place in Dagon's temple is about to take place in your family, in your finances, in your calling, in your career, in your church, in your city, in your mind. The very same thing that took place in Dagon's temple, is about to take place in Florida, in America, and in continents around the world. What is it? Four words. Somebody say, "Watch God show up".
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, we are about to see God show up like never before. I don't know if you're ready for what's next. And feel free to push back. "Pastor Sam, we're coming out of a global pandemic. What about that"? Watch God show up. "There's some new bacteria and fungus growing. People are freaking out". Watch God show up. "This country's more divided than ever before". Watch God show up. "They're about to arrest a former president". Watch God show up. "There's a balloon"! Watch God show up. "There's a war in Ukraine". Watch God show up. "China and Russia are besties". Watch God show up. "Taiwan can be invaded any moment now". Watch God show up. "The banks are closing and shutting down". Watch God show up. "But pastor, my marriage is falling apart.... My children are rebellious... The medical report came in".
I wanna make this clear. I don't think, I don't hope, I don't wish, and I don't feel, I know that God's about to show up and show off his... Does anybody in this place believe that God's about to show up and show off his glory? If you believe it, shout like you know he's about to show, I promise you. "How can you be certain? That's hype. That's wishful thinking, man". Nope! Luke 1:37, "The Word of God never fails". Hebrews 10:23, "He can be trusted to keep his promise". "Sam, you're living in denial. We're living in the last days, Samuel Rodriguez. We're living in the last days. Things will get darker. You're going around preaching, and pastor Tony, and you're all preaching about revival, and renewal, and awakening in God's glory".
Oh, you're all negating the fact that we're living in the dark days, son. And things are gonna get darker, and things are gonna get, we're fully cognizant of the very exhaustive list embedded in scripture, both in Matthew 24 and 2 Timothy chapter 3, where it's outlined about the last days. We've read it, we know it, we don't deny it. "In the last days, people will become lovers of themselves". We call that narcissism, and half the accounts on Instagram. "In the last days, in the last days, men and women will leave their natural desires". We call that the state of California. Is that too much? Should we put pull back on that a little bit? You wanna scrub that from, we're living in the last days. Wars and rumors of wars and famine. We're living in the last days. We are. These things, we don't deny 'em. But there is a last day promise. I got up at 4 o'clock in the morning to come to Tampa because of that last, that promise. Not the ones that, these are true, but the ones that really, caused me to, hmm-hmm! Is that one. And it's not even like, it's a promise, it's so important. It appears both in the old and the new.
Job 2:28 and reiterated in acts 2:17. That it's the promise. This is the promise from God in the last days. Not, "I might". Not, "I may". Not, "If you check the boxes". Not, "If you do the following three things". He said, "In the last days, I will pour out my spirit upon some flesh". I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh. If you believe we're about to see more people get saved than ever before, we are about to see more people set free than ever before. We are about to see more people filled with the Spirit of God than ever before in human history. If you really believe we're about to see it, raise one hand. We are about to see an outpouring of the power of God. Listen, we'll see people... That's how... Oh no, we're hearing it. We're hearing some crazy stuff. The number of conversions, the number of people coming to Christ like this. Something is happening. Watch God show up. We're about to see our prodigal sons and daughters come back home.
Oh, I'mma repeat that one more time. We're about to see our prodigal sons and daughters come back home. We're about to see different revival modes. Revival modes are, old school would be, there's a church experiencing revival, praise the Lord and pass the ammunition. The kind of revival we're about to see is gonna break beyond the walls. We're about to see entire cities filled of the glory of the living God. Are you hearing me right now? We're about to see Starbucks prophets emerge where you order your latte and the barista says, "I don't know you. It's gonna sound weird, but you carry something, and can you pray for me, like right now, right here, man"? Somebody shout, "Watch God show up". Tell your neighbor, "Watch God show up". The next thing to invade, to invade your atmosphere will not be demons, legions, principalities, powers of darkness, it will be the holy, righteous, powerful, transformative, life-changing, destiny catapulting, ministry-elevating, harvest-producing, joy-revealing glory of Almighty God.
And let me speak prophetically over you, the next thing to fill your family will not be more drama or trauma, the next thing to fill your family will be the glory of the living God. The next thing to capture your mind will not be more negative thoughts, it will be the glory of Jesus. If you believe it, say "Amen". Alright. So, repeat after me. Raise your right hand. Let's just make this declaration. "In Jesus' name, in my life, in my family, in my ministry, in my calling four words: watch God show up". Give God a praise like you actually believe what you just prayed. When the enemies of truth, love, and grace convince themselves that they have successfully captured the glory, watch God show up. Number two, when the prophetic stands next to the pathetic, the prophetic always wins. They carry the ark of God into the temple of Dagon, and they place it beside an idol of Dagon. I'm gonna... Permit me to illustrate this. One of, my assistant, George, I always bring Jason or George with me.
George, last time they saw Jason, so get some creatine on and, 'cause but that's... We're gonna illustrate, hence Dagon. And for illustrative purposes, only with great humility, I'm gonna be the glory of God. I say that with great due deference and humility. It could have been the other way around, but that's not in my contract. So, this idea of... There's this... Okay, let, I Googled, "Are there any Philistines in Tampa, around the city life church"? And two of them popped up. Here they are. So, give it up for the Philistines, please, the citizens of Ashdod. I'm the glory of God. I'm the ark of God. Your job is just like it happened. This really happened. You're gonna carry me. You're gonna place me right next to the statue of Dagon. Your job is to carry me.
Now, I'm just, let me, as you carry me, I just wanna, before we just begin in this relationship here right now, I just want to just give you a, like, don't drop the glory. You follow what I'm saying? Okay. So, this, hashtag #BestDayEver. Right there, place me right next. This really happened. Thank you, citizens of Ashdod. Right over there, you're gonna come back here, so go back, Philistines. You could go over there, Philistines with your big muscles and creatine and all that that you have there. And this really happened. Like no joke. This is like, legit. Here's the statue of Dagon, and right next was the glory of God, right next to him. Oh, little quick point here. If you do your biblical due diligence, they carried the ark of God. They did not drag the ark of God.