Behold!

we're going to talk about

behold how many of you have heard that

word before

behold

okay when

uh let tell you about word the word

behold go to the next slide

Mikey the word behold in this case the

Greek word is pronounced e

day and what it means is to look and

see but it's means look and see with

great emotion and

exclamation It's used 200 times in the

New

Testament

1527 times in the entire Bible and this

is what it says when when you see that

it's

behold okay I'm going to give you an

example of that was that too loud for

you I'm sure you all heard me right

nobody missed that one

you go to John chapter 1 turn your

Bibles there if you have

them verses 29 and

30

Jesus go to the next slide

Mike so Jesus comes to John the Baptist

to be

baptized and John go to the next slide

Mikey John 1:29 and3 these are the

scriptures we're going to be looking at

today so go back on Mikey so when that

word behold is used it's to signify

three things either a spiritual

Insight God's Mighty works are being

proclaimed or it's a revelation of God's

character when that word behold is

used this is what John says and the next

day John seeth Jesus coming unto him and

saith behold

the Lamb of God who taketh which taketh

away the sin of the world this is he of

whom I said after me cometh the man

which is preferred before me for he was

before me now there's a re really

significant

reason that John used behold here do you

know what it

is it's because he was ful that when

Jesus showed up to be baptized was the

Fulfillment of a prophecy that was 4,000

years old at that

time do you know what I'm talking about

Genesis chapter 1 or chapter 3 I'm sorry

after Adam and Eve fell when God cursed

the

serpent he told the

serpent that her seed would bruise his

head and he would bruise his

heel in John chapter 1 when John the

Baptist says behold

the Lamb of God that taketh away the

sins of the world he was proclaiming

look and see here's the Fulfillment of

this 4,000 year old prophecy that was

given to Abraham or given to Adam and

Eve now if you're not sure about it it

was 2,000 years from the time of Adam to

the time of

Abraham and it was 2,000 years from the

time of Abraham to the time of Christ

it's 4,000 years it's 2,000 years from

the time of Christ to

today God

proclaiming his mighty

works and that it's a significant

spiritual Insight because it was

announcing this thing we've been talking

about and if you read through the Old

Testament

1327 times God used the word behold look

and see

it's almost as significant as the word

sh because whenever you hear

sh God is telling you that this cannot

fail it has to accomplish whatever I

said it's going to now remember the

first time Jesus was announced is all

the way back to Adam and

Eve he says a savior is coming he tells

them a savior is coming the Messiah will

come to deliver you from the bondage

that this serpent put you under because

you believed in him rather than

believing in me we're talking this

morning in Sunday school brother Tim was

all over my message this morning the

songs were all over my message this

morning how many times has God said to

you

behold that's my question to

you because he's Jesus said

I will never leave you or forsake you he

said all these promises I are given unto

you right these are God's promises to us

how many times has God said

behold so when we go through

there I want to read you something and I

want you to keep in mind now when John

says Behold the Lamb of God what is

Jesus doing he shows up to be baptized

to John right that's what

happened

now what happened after he was

baptized a dove an image in the form of

the dove the Spirit came down in the

form of a dove it lighted on him it told

John this is the Christ this is him this

is the the Messiah and what did Jesus

do it says he knelt down to pray and

Heaven opened up and God

spoke audibly for people to hear this is

my beloved Son in whom I am well

pleased now this is this is John saying

behold and then God confirm him yes this

is who I

promised now what happened happened at

this

point is Jesus gets up and he goes into

the Wilderness and we all know what

happened in the wilderness he's in the

wilderness 40 days 40 night Satan comes

to tempt him with bread with wealth and

with trying to get him to deny that God

is

God and then we automatically think that

when he comes out of the when he comes

out of the Wilderness automatically he's

calling disciples right that's not what

happened remember he was at

Jordan and it says he left where John

was and he goes into the

Wilderness and when he leaves the

Wilderness he doesn't go back to where

John's at he goes back home he goes back

to Nazareth where he was from and that's

where I want to pick up and this is in

Luke 4 it says and Jesus returned in the

power of the spirit into

Galilee and there went out a Fame of him

through all the region round about and

he taught in their synagogues and

glorified of

all and he came to

Nazareth where he had been brought

up and as his custom was he went into

the synagogue on the Sabbath

day and stood up for to read

and there was delivered unto him the pro

book of the Prophet Isiah that means

Isaiah and when he had opened the book

he found the place where it was written

now I want you to listen to what he's

saying because he's he's making a behold

statement here listen very closely to

what Jesus said he said the spirit of

the Lord is upon

me because he hath anointed me to preach

the gospel to the poor he had sent me to

heal the brokenhearted to preach

Deliverance to the captives and

recovering of sight to the blind to set

at Liberty them that are

bruised and to preach the acceptable

year of the Lord and guess what guys

we're still in that we are still in that

time that message that Jesus proclaimed

that behold applies

today Mark chapter 6 16 says these signs

shall follow them which believe they

shall speak with new

tongues they they shall do they'll heal

the

sick what else does it say no deadly

thing will hurt them if they drink any

deadly thing it shall not hurt them hurt

them they shall take up serpents and and

they won't strike them Paul proved that

when he's on the island of Malta out of

the fire came a serpent he clamped on

his hand he shook it off back into the

fire and they were watch and wait for

him to die and he didn't

die and they thought he was God and he

had to correct their thoughts and he

taught them about who the truth of God

was Jesus

Christ so what is it that we're why is

it we need to be aware of these behold

moments because when he says behold he's

trying to get your attention look and

see that's what it means look and

see I have something I want to teach you

significant spiritual

insights I have something I want to do

through you God's Mighty works or I want

to share part of myself with you a

revelation of his

character how many

times we come to church and brother Tim

touched on this and we come tearing into

to church at the last

minute and and I'm not picking on

anybody I'm trying to get you to realize

that there is a spiritual truth here

when you get any place how many of you

ever worked a job and you had to punch a

clock what happens when you're

late if you're late more than a certain

number of times what happens you get

kicked well sister lvon she's she's the

boss in the office over there how many

how many Chan do you give him sister

Leon okay all right uh when I was the

executive chef and they had to report to

me guess how many chances they

got

three they had one chance they came in

late okay second time they came in late

especially if it was like day right day

after day they got a they got a write

up and I would tell them if you show up

late to work one more time you don't

longer have a

job and they would go that's harsh and I

says if you're not here I have nobody to

do your

work everybody here is important

everybody here has a job to do everybody

here needs to be here ready to go to

work when they get here and I also had a

guy that used to come to work punch in

on the clock and go to the bathroom with

the

newspaper for the first 45 5

minutes he was in the bathroom reading

the

newspaper I finally told him you know

what you showed her up to work 45

minutes early with that newspaper and go

use the bathroom and read that newspaper

because I'm not going to pay you anymore

to come to work and go use the restroom

and read a newspaper on my

dollar I paid you to come to work I

expect you to come to work because go

well that's not fair and I said you know

what there's a whole bunch of jobs out

there go get

one he liked his job he stopped bringing

the newspaper to

work

okay

sometimes we need some correction

sometimes we get so used to doing things

certain ways we forget that what God has

called us to do as a church can started

out with the word behold look and

see and we lose Lo our fire we lose our

passion we get lulled into these places

where it becomes something we just do

out of habit it becomes

religion and it's not supposed to be

it's supposed to be a way of life it's

supposed to be a changed life and what

do we do we have to stir up the gifts

within us to make it work if you read

through the Book of Judges you read

about Samson right the strong man went

out he did all these crazy things

between doing each one of those Miracles

he would drift off into sin he liked

loose women and he chased

them and it says he would have to go and

Shake

himself to see if the anointing had left

him and it eventually cost him it cost

him his

eyes and his

strength until he come to this place his

very last prayer was God grant me this

strength one last time that I can

glorify you and he pulled down the

Temple of

Dale but he'd spent over a year grinding

somebody else's corn because he was

blind and bald because he couldn't stop

sinning and I think maybe just

maybe we ought to pay attention to that

story because as

Christians when we get

lukewarm we get

complacent when we stop looking at the

look and

see we fall into these places where we

are dangerously

close just imagine if you're in that

position

where you pulled so far back on God that

you can't tell the difference between

the Super Bowl and going to

church and you get in an accident and

die without

repentance it's not a place I want to be

I'm sure it's not a place you want to be

either it's absolutely

important of how we put our

priorities now I'm not saying you can't

go on vacation I'm not saying that

missing an occasional Sunday because

you're doing something is wrong or that

you're in danger of losing your

salvation I'm saying that when you

become

lukewarm you're in danger of it because

Jesus said either be hot or be cold

because if you're lukewarm I'm going to

spew you out of my mouth in other words

I'm going to vomit you

up Jesus gave the warning not only there

in Revelations he gave it back to people

he said there'll be you'll in that day

in that day you'll come to say to me and

say Lord look at all the things we've

done in your name and he will and he

says and I will say to them I knew you

not you workers of iniquity depart from

me I don't want to be part of that crewp

I want to know that when I my time's

done whether I go by the Rapture or I go

by the grave when I stand before Jesus

he says

well done my good and faithful servant

enter in that's what's most important to

me and that's what Jesus came to do to

set us

free from the things that weigh us

down the problem is they feel

good David said that the pleasures of

sin for a

season could destroy you

Moses

said I would rather be a

servant in the house a gatekeeper a

doorkeeper in the house of the Lord than

to experience the pleasures of sin for a

season that's a pretty bold

statement what does it

mean it means separating

yourself separating yourself there's

nothing wrong with football games

there's nothing wrong with baseball

games there's nothing wrong

with a lot of things that we can do now

there are things wrong with some things

and you shouldn't get involved with them

but as a rule there's a whole lot of

stuff we can do without worry

about separating ourselves from

God it's like that song that Alan

Jackson was singing about uh washed in

the blood of the

Lamb have you ever thought about that

song If you really look at that song

it's telling you to separate yourself

from the

world that's what washing in the blood

of the Lamb is

about and if we do

that we separate ourselves we don't fall

into those

places and Jesus warned us Paul warned

us he says no you're not you're a holy

people separate yourself come out from

among them Jesus said it

repeatedly Paul said it all through his

teachings James Peter John in his

letters all of them calling God's people

to come out from among them separate

yourselves now it doesn't mean you turn

into some kind of weird wackadoodle

craziness it means you separate yourself

you don't enjoin in other words you

don't get in and follow follow along

with all the things that these other

people are doing because they will drag

you down they will separate you from God

they will put you in a place where you

can't even feel God and I do know what

I'm talking about because I allowed it

to happen to me I've been

there I also know just how hard it was

to get

back and that's one of the

issues is when you go down down that

road if you go to go too

far there is no way

back and that's a sad place to

be God said my spirit will not always

strive with man you can send away your

day of Grace you can go so far that God

turns you over to a reprobate

mind to fulfill whatever the lusts of

your flesh

are but I want you guys to grab a hold

of behold just stop and think about that

1527 times in the Bible to used more

times than fear it's used more times

than

Faith look and see

behold because it's that

important it is so

important that he starts out his public

Ministry with the word

behold so I want you guys to keep that

in mind we're going

into our celebration of the death burial

and resurrection of

Christ lent starts on Ash Wednesday most

Christians don't celebrate went lent

most Catholics

do um I should say most Protestants

don't celebrate lint Catholics and a few

smaller groups do do I think there's I

and I talked about this on a Wednesday

night do I think there's anything wrong

with it no I don't

I think it should be year round and not

just 40 days because what lent is is

you're setting aside your own selfish

needs for the needs to pray to read your

Bible to fast and to seek God now wait a

minute that's exactly what Jesus said to

do every day

right to dedicate ourselves to them so

no I don't have a problem with lent I

just think it should be year round it

should be 40 days set aside special and

then the rest of the year you live like

a

Helen

okay but at the same time when you see

somebody who's in Lent encourage

them encourage them to go deeper

encourage them to get beyond the

holiday into a

relationship with

Christ rather than a religious

observance

so you guys with me on this is it time

to understand behold and you know what

you're supposed to be proclaiming that

too I said on Wednesday night when Josh

was here that

um if you tell 10 new people a week I

want you to listen to this if you tell

10 new people a week about Jesus and

invite him to

church you're going to get one of those

people in the

church if you only have one person doing

that that means you're going to have 52

visitors in a year and of that 52

visitors you'll get five to

stay now think about it this way if you

have 22 people well let's make it not so

difficult on the math if you have 20

people who are doing that and every day

that means they're inviting 200 people a

week to come to church and out of that

200 they're going to get 20 to show up

and out of that 22 are going to stay and

if you do that 52 weeks

in you just added 104 people to the

church in a

year now I'm basing that on statistical

averages that when you the Nationwide

statistic and this is non-

denominational that means it it's across

the board it's inter denominational all

churches if you invite 10 people to

church one will come if you invite a 100

people to church one will

stay 10 will come but one will

stay so it's important when I encourage

you guys to go out and witness when I

encourage you guys to tell people about

Jesus I there really is a reason for it

because that's how you get people into

church and on honestly how many of you

see those little signs up there there

will say things like that like this if

you believe in God whether you go to

church or

not say

Amen my question to you is how do you go

to church or how do you believe in God

and not go to

church he tells you Hebrews 10:25

forsaking not the assembling of

yourselves together after men are some

and and so much more so as you see the

day

approaching how do you not go to church

if you actually believe in God they put

you onto the same playing field as a

demon demons believe in God but they

know him personally they were in heaven

with him okay they don't follow him they

don't obey him but they know

him we have to be able to explain that

to people when we invite them to come to

church and they come back to you why

should I go to church I believe in God

why do I need to go to church can you

tell them why slap and behold on them

look and see he says in his word and you

need to know where to find it because

they'll challenge you on it this is one

of those you need to know where it's at

in the Bible Hebrews

10:25 he says forsake is not the

assembling together of yourselves after

the manner of some is it's telling you

there are people people who believe you

can believe without going to

church and you

can but you're not going to have a

Victorious Life In Christ you're not

going to have you're not going to be

overcoming all the powers of the enemy

because we draw from each other it's

called edification when you show up to

church and we lift each other up and we

sing and we pray and we praise together

community

corporately whichever word you want to

apply to it as a

congregation we are working together for

what God wants and it's huge and it's

important and it's why you need to be

able to invite people to church and tell

them why when they say I believe in God

I just don't believe in going to

church but the Bible says you need to be

there says not to forsake that because

you need that strength you need to draw

from other

people because we all have bad

days even pastors have bad

days and when you don't

have a group of Believers that you meet

with on a regular basis who can pray for

you and you can send them a message and

say you know what I really need prayer

today I am

struggling so they can respond back to

you that they're pray

praying that they're seeking God on your

behalf that's why it's so

important so look for the look and sees

look for the

beholds look for the ways that you can

share a behold with somebody how many of

you saw the double rainbow the other day

when we had the the hell storm was that

beautiful did you tell somebody look and

see did you see that rainbow

that's exactly what Jesus wants you to

do about

him he is that

rainbow

so as you go through your week this week

I want you guys to

realize that there's a whole lot of

things we can

do that are exciting and

amazing and

uh I want you guys to have a blessed and

wonderful week so let's

pray I'm going to pray for you

specifically