This Is Our Day!

Preparation

I’ve come with a Word from God today.

The #1 cause of all paint coating failures: inadequate surface preparation!

We need to be sure our surface is prepared to receive His Word.

Text

Judges 3:12–16 (KJV 1900)

12 And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord: and the Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done evil in the sight of the Lord. 13 And he gathered unto him the children of Ammon and Amalek, and went and smote Israel, and possessed the city of palm trees. 14 So the children of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years. 15 But when the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, the Lord raised them up a deliverer, Ehud the son of Gera, a Benjamite, a man lefthanded: and by him the children of Israel sent a present unto Eglon the king of Moab. 16 But Ehud made him a dagger...

Proverbs 29:18 (KJV 1900)

18 Where there is no vision, the people perish...

I’m going to preach to you from one of the most graphic chapters in Scripture. But it was a graphic VICTORY.

And the message is this: THIS… IS OUR DAY!

Ehud and Eglon

Captive to King Eglon

If you’ve never read much from the book of Judges, the people of God in this book went through a cycle. The whole book is very cyclical.

The Israelites would fall into sin, and the Lord would respond by raising up an evil king to take them captive. Then, in their distress, they would cry out to God, and He would hear their cry. And He would raise up a “deliverer” for them. A hero; a John Wayne, if you will, who would bring them out of their captivity. But it wouldn’t be too long before they would fall into sinning against God again. A cycle...

Here they are again, having fallen into sin. And in this instance, they are found under the rule of one King Eglon. Now, this King Eglon was a very… how do I say this… a very horizontally bountiful man. …he was FAT.

Judges 3:17 KJV 1900

17 And he brought the present unto Eglon king of Moab: and Eglon was a very fat man.

The Bible doesn’t pull punches. It tells the truth.

It also tells that the Israelites sent “presents” to King Eglon (Judges 3:15). Now, that doesn’t mean that they ordered something off his wish list on Amazon and had it mailed to him. It definitely doesn’t mean that they made a trip to the local Bath & BodyWorks to gift him his favorite scent of three-wick candle.

No, no. When scripture says that they sent “presents” to Eglon, it’s referring to a yearly tribute payment that they would bring to assure him, “We are still under your rule, King Eglon. Please accept our tribute, that you might not behead us. We are submitting to you, King Eglon.” And because of the fact that it took multiple people to bring the tribute, it was most likely food or wool.

And so, we have God’s chosen people feeding the fat, evil king.

You know, a person finds out early in life that a tick will gladly feed off of you as long as you allow it to feed.

A chigger will plant itself firmly in your skin and feed to your irritation while you complain and grovel all day about an itch and do nothing to take care of the problem.

It’s a fact of history that, when someone would be battling a terrible sickness, they would often use leeches to “bleed” the “diseased blood” out of the body. As a matter of fact, that’s how George Washington died.

But at some point... you have to pull off the tick. You have to pour alcohol into that chigger itch. You have to realize that the leeches aren’t helpful, they’re hurtful.

Eglon was comfortably holding the children of God hostage, and even more than that, he was broadening himself (quite literally) off of them being captive.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I will gladly broaden myself if someone places fried chicken in front of me. As a matter of fact, produce a bowl of brown beans and cornbread in front of me, and I’ll have to loosen my belt and make room for expansion.

BUT... for the enemy to make himself fat off of my subservience… I’ve got a problem with that!

It just, you know, it sort of makes me wonder what sort of ticks we have allowed into our home, that the enemy is just happily feeding off of us. We don’t make a big deal out of it. It’s just one movie that is borderline inappropriate. But we allow the tick to stay latched on. But the longer it stays and the longer you feed it, the messier it will be to remove.

And that’s exactly what they did with King Eglon. They kept feeding him. Kept reminding him that they were servant to him, under his rule.

The Rise of Ehud

Now comes our friend, Ehud. The Lord raises him up to be a deliverer.

And the people of Israel are getting ready to send their “present” to the Big Tick-, I mean King Eglon… and they choose to send Ehud to present it to him.

“Ehud, we would love to have you be the one to present this gift to Eglon. You see, we want to make sure he knows that we are going to obey him. We are looking for someone who will be reverent and humble before him. Will you do this for us?”

But, you see, Ehud was not your average person. As a matter of fact, Scripture makes it pretty plain that he was different. He was left-handed (Judges 3:15). Scripture takes out space and time to make sure that you know that Ehud is distinctly different!

Can I tell you that God Almighty uses people that are SET APART!

You can be like everyone else - you can be “Christian” by the world’s standards of what it should be! You can be the sort of Christian that is comfortable and conformed to the ways of this world… but if you do that, you’ll miss out on being strong and doing exploits!

BUT… if you want to be strong and do exploits… you need to receive this word from the Lord...

2 Corinthians 6:14–18 NKJV

14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? 15 And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? 16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.” 17 Therefore “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.” 18 “I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”

1 Peter 2:9 KJV 1900

9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

There is a blessing to being separate!!! To being peculiar! You can’t be peculiar if your spiritually profane! And there’s a blessing to being different and set apart from the rest, as the Lord wants.

Ehud was different...

Ehud Had a Vision

As a matter of fact, he was so different from the rest of the people… that the Bible says that, while the rest of them were getting together the present - the tribute - for King Eglon… Ehud was making something else for him...

The scripture says: “But Ehud... made him a dagger!”

...

There were people in a house somewhere, who were working feverishly to get the meal right that was going to Eglon. Got to get every detail right! We want to be sure the King is happy. Don’t mind the fact that he’s the enemy and all… there’s nothing we can do about that. Just get the seasoning right. Make sure it looks appetizing!

And while they made themselves busy with the present, somewhere out back in a shed with a furnace, Ehud was hammering a dagger into shape!

{MOTION FOR THE HAMMERING OF IRON IN THE BACKGROUND}

Sharpening the edges… Heat-treating the blade!

Oh, he had a present for the King, alright! But it looked and delivered different than what everybody else had in mind!

They ALL had prayed for deliverance - but not everyone had a hot enough passion for it to make a dagger and present it to Eglon!

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Now, buckle up for a minute… I’m about to make this plain.

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There are some who are content to pay lip service about revival. There are some who will stop at praying for revival (like they prayed for deliverance).

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BUT THEN, there are some who you can find in the shed with the furnace! Hammering out a dagger!!!

There are some who you can find scheduling a Bible study with someone! There are some who you’ll find in pre-service prayer, warming up the altar before the worship team ever strikes the first chord!

I’ve got a question for you: Are you going to pray and prepare a present, or will you pray and prepare a dagger???

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Do you want to know why Ehud was making a dagger in the middle of the night??? It’s because while everyone else had it in their mind that deliverance was for a future date, he had felt and cemented it in his heart: “Deliverance is today!” He had a vision! “Today is the day! Revival is not something I’ll just talk about coming… I’m going to BE the revival TODAY!”

The potential for a great revival is not coming in the future! The potential is high RIGHT NOW! TODAY IS OUR DAY!

And I’ve come to tell my fellow brothers and sisters what I don’t just believe - but I know - in my heart: THIS IS OUR DAY!!!

This is our moment! The time is now! It’s time to become radical for Jesus TODAY!

You better get radical!

Let me tell you something… something happened to me this week. I felt something come on me that I can’t deny. I get to looking at a world that’s in trouble. And the thought popped in my head, and I felt it was the Lord pulling me: “I’ve got to become the strongest, most radical Apostolic preacher of the gospel I can possibly be!”

And I believe God sent me this morning to tell you: “YOU’VE GOT TO BECOME THE STRONGEST, MOST RADICAL APOSTOLIC YOU CAN BE!!!”

Teacher…

Singer…

Soul winner…

I’m looking for some Apostolics today who are willing to be different. Willing to put the spatula down and pick the hammer up! Because THIS IS OUR DAY!

Tell somebody: “This is our day!”

You better get a vision of the revival for today!

Proverbs 29:18 KJV 1900

18 Where there is no vision, the people perish: But he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

People who perish are people without a vision!

I remember more than once in the middle of service, Norman Shelton standing up and, with tears streaming down his cheeks, saying, “Bro. Phillip, I had a dream the other night, and we didn’t have enough room in the building to seat all of the people who had come in!”

I’m talking about getting ahold of a vision! A vision for souls - a vision for revival!

We love to say, “We’ve got the truth!” But also, we’ve got the truth so well-kept…

It has to be put into action! We’ve got to get out in the shed and start hammering on a dagger!

The Attack

Ehud finished up the dagger. And he went with the other Israelite men to give the present to Eglon at Jericho.

Judges 3:20–30 KJV 1900

20 And Ehud came unto him; and he was sitting in a summer parlour, which he had for himself alone. And Ehud said, I have a message from God unto thee. And he arose out of his seat. 21 And Ehud put forth his left hand, and took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly: 22 And the haft also went in after the blade; and the fat closed upon the blade, so that he could not draw the dagger out of his belly; and the dirt came out. 23 Then Ehud went forth through the porch, and shut the doors of the parlour upon him, and locked them. 24 When he was gone out, his servants came; and when they saw that, behold, the doors of the parlour were locked, they said, Surely he covereth his feet in his summer chamber. 25 And they tarried till they were ashamed: and, behold, he opened not the doors of the parlour; therefore they took a key, and opened them: and, behold, their lord was fallen down dead on the earth. 26 And Ehud escaped while they tarried, and passed beyond the quarries, and escaped unto Seirath. 27 And it came to pass, when he was come, that he blew a trumpet in the mountain of Ephraim, and the children of Israel went down with him from the mount, and he before them. 28 And he said unto them, Follow after me: for the Lord hath delivered your enemies the Moabites into your hand. And they went down after him, and took the fords of Jordan toward Moab, and suffered not a man to pass over. 29 And they slew of Moab at that time about ten thousand men, all lusty, and all men of valour; and there escaped not a man. 30 So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest fourscore years.

What an awesome victory!

Jericho - A City Without Walls

But, isn’t it amazing just how simple it was for Ehud to make that attack happen??? He got alone with the king so easily. It was all so accessible. The truth of it is, the enemy was foolish!

And you want to know how I know? King Eglon resided at Jericho… JERICHO… A CITY WITHOUT WALLS!

The enemy that they were up against - the battle they were fighting - was against a MAN… WHO LIVED… IN A CITY… THAT HADN’T HAD WALLS FOR YEARS!

And not only that, IT WAS A CITY THAT HAD BEEN CURSED BY THE MAN OF GOD JOSHUA, YEARS BEFORE!

Don’t you know that Ehud was sitting there thinking, “If these people only knew how simple this is going to be! If they only knew how much that THIS IS OUR DAY!”

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Do you know why the gates of hell cannot prevail against the church??? BECAUSE THERE ARE NO GATES! SATAN IS ALREADY CURSED IN HIS FATE!

This battle for revival is far more attainable and accessible than you think today...

I’ve got a friend who pastors in Tennessee. He posted this week that his wife, who is a schoolteacher, had made friends with a coworker. And this coworker, she has went to the biggest Baptist church in town all of her life. And they started talking about church. And his wife was telling about how powerful service had been last weekend. And as she talked about it, it seemed as if this lady had become starry-eyed and fascinated with the talk about the moving of the Spirit and powerful worship.

And the next Sunday, out of the blue, here she came through the doors. They started a Bible study with her and she got the Holy Ghost. Pretty soon after, her former pastor called her to ask if she was okay. She told him, “I’ve experienced something deeper that I’ve been missing in my soul!” The Baptist pastor made his way to the other pastor’s house and knocked on the door and told him - and I quote - “I’m tired of dead religion! I need what you people have!”

There are people who are hungry for what you’ve got! They’re thirsty! And they are just there waiting on somebody to reach to them!

For 18 years, Eglon dominated the Israelites from inside a cursed city without walls!

I’m telling you, this victory is more accessible than what we realize!!!

Somebody, you better get your hammer out and find a work to do for the Lord! Revival is coming, revival is coming!!! This is our day!

There are no walls to stop us or hold us back! THIS IS OUR DAY!

You need to let faith arise in you as to what God can do! What He WILL DO!

Let me ask you a real question: How many people are we going to baptize by next Easter???

Somebody ought to just jump out of their seat and shout a number in faith.

How many bible studies are you going to teach in 2022?

Come on, I’m not talking about preparing a meal - I’m talking about making a dagger!

THIS IS OUR DAY!

Conclusion

There’s going to be some mouths drop wide open when we start talking about having multiple services on Sunday because we can’t seat everybody for just one.

There’s going to be some minds blown when we start having around-the-clock prayer continually here at the church.

You might think that sounds outlandish and you might be thinking Bro. Ryan has turned into some sort of a nut. But I would to God that somebody would start widening their vision a little bit to match God’s!!!

I’ll tell you one thing I know for sure: This church is going to see a unique manifestation of the glory of God, and it’s going to be widely known.

Are we going to bring a present or a dagger to our enemy?!

It’s time to respond.

After altar call:

Now let me tell you something… I hope you got ahold of a vision today. But let me help you with what’s coming. Joseph had a dream or a vision that he was going to rule over his brethren and be blessed. But he had no idea what the road was going to be like between where he was now to the sun the moon and the stars. There wasn’t a pit in the dream. There wasn’t a lying, cheating woman in the dream. There wasn’t a jailhouse in it. And he actually lost TWO coats. The one his brother got off of him. And the one Potiphar’s wife got ahold of. But he didn’t lose his dream!!!

Bro. Ryan, you’re being negative. I am not. I’m pumping you up! When the jailhouse is there, go there shouting. If they lie on you, praise God anyway! You can take my coat - BUT I’M GOING TO KEEP MY VISION!