Pastor Erik West: [00:00:00] Well, we better settle down because someone might get preachy. If you don't. If you don't do that, praise God. Well, if you have your Bible like Joe Morris said, just turn to where you think. Let's see if you're flowing. You can go to Isaiah 40, if you will. We're ready to go. Okay. Well. Good evening. Welcome. On this Wednesday Wednesday afternoon Gracelife church. Glad to see all the smile on the faces that's here tonight. Praise God. Glad that you're joining us here tonight. Uh, we're going to give this a title for whatever reason. And I just love it because no one knows my title except Elliot. Just a few minutes for service, and I just. I told them, I told my wife, I says, I said, see these songs we're singing. I said, yeah, I said, watch the message. When we don't talk no more. Confinement is no more confinement. Confinement in your life. No more confinement. Yes. Now, the way this started for me this morning was I didn't have I didn't have a message called no more confinement. I wasn't thinking about no more confinement. I was sitting on my desk and he said. He said, get your phone or dictionary out and look up three words. And, uh. And one of the words I looked up, I've never looked up.
Pastor Erik West: [00:01:15] Ever. And it's the word define. Usually go to the dictionary to define something, he told me. He looked up the word define. So anyway, we'll get to that in just a moment. But Isaiah chapter 40 and I and I'm in the am PC that's amplified classic. You see. Well I don't like that one. We'll just like it for just a minute or I'll get out of it and then you'll be okay. But Isaiah 40 verse one in the amplified classic says, comfort, comfort. My people says, comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to the heart of Jerusalem, and cry to her that her time of service and her warfare are ended, and that her punishment is accepted in her iniquity, is pardoned, and that she has received punishment from the Lord's hand double for all her sins. Now, a little history. I should have said this before. Uh, Isaiah speaking prophetically of the Messiah that's coming. Jesus is not here, but he's speaking prophetically, you know, of the coming Messiah, and he's telling him and he's telling them. He says, here's what you need to know. The Messiah is coming. So comfort, comfort not fear, fear, but comfort, comfort. And he says, uh, he says to his people, speak tenderly to the heart of Jerusalem, and cry to her that her time of service and her warfare are ended.
Pastor Erik West: [00:02:37] That her punishment, her because of their sins, is accepted in her iniquity, is pardoned. Don't you just love it? God has a prophet speak, and he says, comfort, comfort, peace, peace, joy, joy. Your sins have been pardoned and Messiah's not even been born on the earth yet. Wow. I think the Lord's ahead of us just a little bit, don't you? Now, I've been studying a little bit, and I've come to this conclusion not ready to quite preach it yet. So don't take me real serious about this, but it looks like he knows the future. He might know just about everything. I know that I was kind of out there, so y'all don't. I might get some cards and letters in the mail. That's a bad joke, right? Well, he says, your punishment is accepted and her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received punishment from the Lord's hand. Double. Jesus didn't just pay for your sins, he at least doubled it says the Lord's hand double for all her sins. Verse three. A voice of one who cries, prepare in the wilderness the way of the Lord. Clear away the obstacles. You don't know what obstacles are. You won't ever had an obstacle in their way. Don't, don't, don't, don't you know.
Pastor Erik West: [00:03:50] Don't give any names. Clear away the obstacles. Make straight and smooth in the desert a highway for our God. Well, what do you build a highway for? Travel on it. Are. And I guess, you know, if you had if you if you was a hanger for an airplane, you'd have to have a long highway, wouldn't you? Because something's about to land. Verse four. Every valley shall be lifted and filled up, and every mountain and hill shall be made low. And the crooked and the uneven shall be made straight and level. And every rough places a plain. So if you have any places that need to be cleared away with the obstacles, here's good news. The Lord says, get ready for smooth and straight. Amen. Get ready, he says. He said, go ahead and put a highway out. I'm ready to land. He said all those, all those places, he says they're going to be lifted and filled up all the gaps. Every mountain hill shall be made low, he said. All the crooked and uneven places. I'm going to make them straight and I'm going to revel. I'm going to level the rough places like the plane. I'm just reading the Bible, so don't get too excited now. It's just the Bible, verse five, and the glory, here it is.
Pastor Erik West: [00:05:08] And the glory. The majesty and splendor of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. Well, we could take that to the bank and spend it coming, because the mouth of the Lord is spoken. Now here's the three words, and here's the order that I got them and had no idea what I was going to minister tonight. This early this morning, I was sitting in my office and he said, look up these three words. And I said, okay, well, here we go. I just love it when it works this way. He said, look up the word confined and confinement. So I looked it up and if I can, I'm going to give you this actually three definitions, three different words. You won't have time to write them all down, but they're there on the website. If you do Facebook, you do Facebook. If you do YouTube, you can go to YouTube. You may have to wait a few days. You can go to the website. There's a transcript of every service that we do. So if you ever want to go back and just read it, sometimes I don't get it quite right because it's artificial intelligence and I'm not artificial. That's right. But artificial sometimes can't ma'am.Huh?
Pastor Michelle West: [00:06:11] She said, "Amen."
Pastor Erik West: [00:06:11] Oh, Amen. I knew I liked her. She's from the north, so I'm used, you know, in the north. They like to mess with you. Just a little bit of fun. So. Yeah. Yeah. For years, we moved from Michigan. I thought y'all are some rude people. I said no, or just our yeas or yeas and nays or nays. I just need an answer. Quick. You're taking me all around the mulberry bush, so to speak. So anyway, confinement. It means to keep someone or something within limits. Now remember, I don't even know where this is going at this point. I'm just looking up the word. He says, look up the word confine or confinement to keep someone or something within limits, to prevent someone or something from going beyond a particular limit. Number three. To keep, to restrict. To enclose, to incarcerate, to hold captive, to imprison, to bind or to cage. Anybody want confinement in their life? Well, there's a lot of people there in some measure or degree that may not even know it. They might have got used to it. They might have adjusted their life to it. I think if we be, if we would be honest with ourselves, some level of confinement is working in all of our lives somewhere. In other words, is anything here? Have you ever felt imprisoned? Have you ever felt captured? Have you ever felt like there's limits all over your life? I can't do this.
Pastor Erik West: [00:07:47] And I can't do that. And I can't afford this. And I can't afford that. Uh, I can't my body. This, my health, this. My kids, this. My family with that. Well, all these are confinements. Then the next word he said, he said, look up definition. And I thought that I said, I said, Lord, would you say that again? He says, look up the word definition. And I said, okay, this would be the first time in my 40 years of life plus a little bit more that I've ever looked at the word definition. So here's what it means. It says what is meant by a word, concept or action to give meaning, to make something definite, to make it distinct, and to make it clear. Now get this to give meaning, to make something definite and make clear to describe the meaning of something. In other words, a definition explains through clarification what someone is trying to say with one or a few short words. So now I have that. Then he told me, he said, look up the opposite of confinement. In other words, I want a clear definition of the opposite. Here's what it means. Some of these are now some of these are verbs and, you know, synonyms and stuff like this but set at liberty. This is the opposite of confinement. Set it.
Pastor Erik West: [00:09:11] Liberty. Liberation. Freedom. We just got through singing about freedom. Unlimited. Unrestricted. Unrestrained. I like this one. Unshackled. You ever felt shackled. Unshackled. Unfettered. Acquitted. Released. Set free. Discharged. Loosened. Lose control. Gosh, you look like you have your control. Reveal, allow, increase. Exceed, promote, enlarge. Extend. Stretch. Widen. Expedite. Set at large. Having the ability to move freely. Release from constraints and limitations. That's the opposite of confinement. Anybody here like the opposite of confinement? Better than confinement. So this is where I was at this morning. I didn't have Isaiah 40 until later on the day. I just had these definitions. And then just as soon as I wrote this, thank God, the spirit of the Lord said, now go to Luke chapter four, and I'd like you to go with me to Luke chapter four in verses four through 18. A little context here. Jesus been in the wilderness not 40 days or four hours, not four days or 4 hours or 4 minutes, but 40 days. Tempted of the devil. He's in an astral body. He's tired, he's hungry, and there was no light on its quality in. He hadn't had any biscuits and gravy. No. And I know you know, no red eye gravy, no grits. Mhm. No. He had, he had fellowship with the Lord. That was better. But he's in a physical body. And so the devil comes to him. At the weak.
Pastor Erik West: [00:11:13] At the weak place. See? The enemy picks his time. The reason he picks his time is because one. He's a coward. That's the biggest thing. He's a coward. Two, he knows if you know who you are in Christ, he can't come out. He can't come at you head on because he can't win. You see, he knows he can't win. But you may not know that he can't win, but he knows it. So he never comes at you head on. Especially if you know who you are in Christ. Because even though he knows, as soon as you say something to him for this word, you're going to slap him in the next Thursday. If you wake up thinking, you know, what plan am I on? Hello. But Luke, chapter four. So we'll pick up the story here 14 through 18. So Jesus is dealt with him, the temptation, the the scriptures. The devil ended the temptation for a season. The angel showed up, ministered to him. He's fed. He's ministered to. He goes to the temple in verse 14 says, And Jesus returned in the power of the spirit, oh, he, he, he comes in here with power after 40 days, the power of the spirit. The power of who? Spirit. Spirit of the church. Down there at Shady Grove Methodist. No. He comes. He returned in the power of the what? The spirit unto Galilee.
Pastor Erik West: [00:12:28] And there went out of fame of him throughout all the region about. And he taught in the synagogue, being glorified of all. And he came to Jerusalem, where he had been brought up, and as his custom was, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, which is really interesting, because, you know, one, it's either his time to read or he asked to read. We don't we don't really know. I've read all different accounts, but I don't think if we need to know, he would have told us. But we know that he's the reader. And they delivered him the book of Isaiah, and it says he found the place where it was written. Now we know it wasn't in chapter verse like it is now, but but it was scrolls, right? And it's kind of big because Isaiah is a pretty large book in, you know, you know, when you when you think of other books in the Bible, 66 chapters and he doesn't have divided by chapters and verses. So he found the place. What what does he find it he's finding because he knows something's about to happen today. He knows there's some people being confined.
Pastor Erik West: [00:13:39] He know there's been people been set up in the trap? He knows. He knows that there's people that have reached their limits. He knows that there's people all around that's restricted, and they're as if they're incarcerated in prison and they're held captive. He knows that. But he knows his time has come now. And. He's going to speak of something concerning him. So he's looking in the scroll in Isaiah for a place that he knows they don't, but he knows this is speaking of him. That's right. Do you know when you read the Bible that you can find, even though your name may not be in there? I mean, I know my name's not in there. If it is, I never read it. Some of you have biblical names. But I. But I know that the Word of God is God speaking to me. I know that I'm in the family. How about you? Yes, I know that I'm a son of God, son and daughters of God. So it's always speaking to us. But here, here he says he found the place where it was written. And this is what he said. Um, if y'all got your Bible with, you know, I don't know if I'm in the King. Yeah, I'm in the king. James, you may have something different. Why don't you just read this with me? I'm. I'm in the King James.
Pastor Erik West: [00:14:58] But you do what you got. The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of the sight to the blind, and to set at liberty them that are bruised. Now the New Living Translation said this to set the oppressed free. So we know after he says that he hands it, but he hands the scroll back and he hands it to the minister. And he said today. And they looked at him like, I thought you through reading. Well, he's through reading the scroll, but he has a little something to add to it today. This scripture, these sayings are fulfilled in your ears. And they were so excited because they understood that what that what he was saying to them and who he thinks he is. Yeah. And if you go on to read it, we don't have time to go there. And it's not our it's not what we want to minister tonight. They were so excited. They took him to the cliff and tried to throw him off. That's right. And that's always worried me about being in the ministry. That's the reason I found some really flat ground, you know, right here. So anyway, I never wanted to be a church on the hill because I know I could be confrontational.
Pastor Erik West: [00:16:16] My personality already leans that way. So I'm not going anywhere on the bluff and building. No church. Church on the. No. I'm going to stay on low ground. Amen. So you could say. He unrolled the scroll and said, it's time to let the good times roll. Yeah, maybe that should have been my title. Yeah. He unrolled the scroll and said, let the good times roll. Verse 19, though it said. And he told them, he said, I'm here to tell you and to preach to you. This is this is the acceptable year of the Lord. It's the year of Jubilee. Now, I hope that you'll factor into this when I tell you I had no idea what I'm doing at this point. I mean, I mean, I just got three definitions. You know, when you're a minister and it's Wednesday night, you're looking. I mean, you're listening, but I have no idea what we're doing here. And I saw I got three definitions and he's building his own thing. So you can you can see how they connect, you know, with the definitions. Because, you know, we started off with confinement and then we, then we, then we defined define definition. And then he said, now look up the opposite of confinement. Well, you know, part of that part of that was to acquit, to unshackle and unrestrained and uh, uh, to, to set to set free, to set it large.
Pastor Erik West: [00:17:37] Well, he came to set the captive. What free now the passion translation and in verse only 18 and 19 says, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He has anointed me to be hope. Man, I like that. Amen. Amen. You know, it's one thing to have hope. It's another thing to have the anointing to to preach hope. Amen. Yeah. I mean, the anointing has no restrictions. It's the supernatural power of God, right? So you and I both, if you can read and if you believe we we have a mandate and we have the authority to preach this year of Jubilee. Well, you say, well, well, when's Jubilee? Well, now, in the New covenant. It's every day, man. I mean, well, we we don't have to wait 50 years. I'm not going to wait till I'm 50 years old. Oh, anyway. Uh, no. Or you have to wait for another 50 years. Not that that doesn't mean things. And it does biblically, but we're in the new covenant. Mhm. This this is the time that the, the, the free favor of God profusely abound. Every time that you read it, every time that you need it, every time that you're in a situation that you feel like you're confined, praise the Lord. In other words, if your life is not matching this book, which is all of us in different areas, then there are some area of confinement.
Pastor Erik West: [00:19:06] Yeah, well, that means it's time for a realignment. Amen. By a new assignment? Yeah. Right, because we're not going to have any more confinement. So just factor into the into this message tonight that. These weren't things. I looked up and built a sermon. He's talking about confinement. He says, what is the opposite of that? And what does he said? What does even definition mean? Does it mean anything? In other words, clearly he says, let's get clear about this. Wow. About ten minutes before I walked out the house and I walked in and out three times, I got this and I said, I'll be back. I forgot this, and and I got back. Now I hit the code, you know, and I locked the door and I got, you know, halfway to the truck. I was like, I forgot this. And I was like this. Anyway, no, no one's ever done that. I couldn't get my hair just right. But anyway, no, he said, tell the people not just for tonight. It's not about just this service. He said, tell the people, he said, he says, tell my people and this. And if you just go, well, we know that. He should tell my people, starting the moment they hear this, begin to believe me. This way he should tell them to expect the unexpected.
Church Members: [00:20:28] Amen. Amen. Amen.
Pastor Erik West: [00:20:29] Because everything's changing now.
Church Members: [00:20:31] Yes it is. Hallelujah.
Pastor Erik West: [00:20:32] He's telling me. He said. Tell each one of them to expect the unexpected. Now you're going to remember that tomorrow.
Church Members: [00:20:40] Yes.
Pastor Erik West: [00:20:41] You think you will? You can remember a week from now. Are you going to think about it the next? Are you going to think about it? If the watch tears up tomorrow, which it won't. But if if it goes sideways, are you going to begin? No. Expect the unexpected.
Church Members: [00:20:59] Amen.
Pastor Erik West: [00:21:00] He said, tell them. Do not expect me to do things in a usual manner or the way that they're used to me seeing doing it.
Church Members: [00:21:07] Yeah.
Pastor Erik West: [00:21:08] He said, look for it to come every which way.
Church Members: [00:21:11] Amen.
Pastor Erik West: [00:21:12] Well, I'm believing for a certain thing to do in this building. I mean, to share what I shared with, you know, a handful of people. It's like you want us to do what? No, I want you to agree with me. But I want you to agree with me. Right?
Church Members: [00:21:25] Yeah.
Pastor Erik West: [00:21:26] You know, I mean, I don't expect First Baptist to come here and do it. I mean, that's not their thing, but but but we've already done that in a way of building churches in Africa and homes and support missions. We, we we, uh, we gave close to $70,000 last year out of into missions. Amen.
Church Members: [00:21:44] Praise God.
Pastor Erik West: [00:21:45] Out of here. We get well over 10% of our total income to outreach into missions and to. To reach the world. To preach the gospel. Amen. And you got fruit abounding to your account. Amen.
Church Members: [00:22:02] Amen.
Pastor Erik West: [00:22:02] Well, just so the Lord told me, you know, a few weeks ago, he says, some things are going to really begin to shift and change, and you have to be ready. And I said, and there was a spiritual side of that. There was a natural side to it. And he said, and even in the facilities, he said, the facilities aren't ready for what's for what's going to happen. And I said, okay, so let's go. Amy. So he wants you to begin to expect the unexpected. Now, have you ever heard people say, well, I lived on a I live on a fixed income. Generally that means, you know, either on Social Security or disability or both or whatever when people say that. But if you're paid the same, they fixed it. I mean, you know, unless you're on commission. Totally. Then it could vary. But if you work for $15 an hour or $150 an hour and you work the same amount of hours, then it's fixed there. You say, well, I just got a situation and I get paid based on this. Well that's good. Because all that can change. Any. Everything in your life is subject to change. Say that we say everything is subject to change, subject to change. And I expect.
Church Members: [00:23:20] And I expect.
Pastor Erik West: [00:23:21] The unexpected tonight. Okay, here we go. Now, I only have a few scriptures actually. And then we're going to quickly do something. All right so Isaiah Isaiah 50. The next scripture I got was Isaiah 58 six. And verse 11, not 6 to 11, six and 11, and I'm reading both of them in different translations to the sixth verse is in the New Living Translation. Verse six says, it's not this kind of fasting that I've chose to loosen the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and to break every yoke. To break every yoke. Not not every other, not some, not 10% of them. To break every yoke. In other words, if the Lord was going to come visit you tomorrow, he might as well fix all your problems. I mean, how many of you say, Lord, I don't want to ask you for too much, just just do about 30% of why is in the room. I'm going to be really greedy and say, what do you need? So I'm going to say a thing. Robert Scales. You say everything I need, everything. I need everything, right? I mean, when blind Bartimaeus come, did he ask for one eye? Let me just give me one. I mean, the man is a gate. Beautiful. He just just just give me one foot. I'll hop around on the other. Does he ask for that? No, he didn't ask for that. So we. So he said, uh, to set the captive free now and verse now, verse 11, ESV says, and the Lord will.
Pastor Erik West: [00:25:02] This is awesome. The Lord will guide you continually. This is Isaiah 58, verse 11 ESV translation says, and the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places. And he's going to make your bones strong. And you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail. Now this is something you're receiving. But remember this. Remember, we read the spirit of the Lord is upon me. So this is something you're also imparting and giving. It's good to receive. You have to receive. Actually, usually you have to receive first before you can give out. You can't give what you don't have. If you put if you put me in a plane and I have to teach somebody else how to fly it, we're in trouble. I don't know how. I know you need to be at the front of the plane instead of the back, because the cockpit. And I don't know. And I think there's drinks back here in sprite in the back. But I can't help you past that. I don't know anything. Well, you know, no man or woman trapped and drowned in quicksand has ever pulled somebody else out of quicksand. At the same time, you can't help people like that. So we have to have help now. Isaiah 61, verses one through three says the Spirit of the sovereign, this is the new living. The spirit of the sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor, and sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, and to to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness the prisoners.
Pastor Erik West: [00:26:43] Now remember this started off with look up three words, and in the words look up the word confined. Uh, look up the word. In other words, he said, look up confinement, look up defilement, and look up the word confinement, the opposite of confinement. So we see here that we've been he's he's anointed to set the captives free. And now we understand that we are. So the spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon me. He's anointed us to proclaim good news to the poor. Sent me to bind up the brokenhearted. To proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness from the prisoners. Verse two. To proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. And this is Isaiah 61. This is what Jesus is proclaiming in Luke chapter. We know Luke chapter four to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor in the day of vengeance of our God, to to comfort all who mourn and provide for those who grieve in Zion, to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes. The oil of joy. Ha ha! The oil of joy. Well, I know they might have worked you today, but the oil of joy. Holy ghost, we need some oil changes right now. That. That ten minutes or less. We don't have ten. We only have ten minutes. Holy ghost, we need. We need the express Holy ghost oil change right now. He said instead of ashes, he says, you get a crown of beauty instead of ashes. Confinement. Opposite confinement. Yeah.
Church Members: [00:28:30] Amen.
Pastor Erik West: [00:28:32] A garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. And I will call you the oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. Ain't that good.
Church Members: [00:28:47] Amen.
Pastor Erik West: [00:28:48] Now, so here we see there's been a strong, uh, confinement of the people of God and confinement in their home and family and their family, their finances, their health, you know, their, uh, every way we do life. These people have had confinement. It is not the will of God. And he said, The Spirit of the Lord is upon us, and the anointing will break, release, remove. Begin to expect tonight the unexpected to happen. Amen. Amen. Begin to believe God for some suddenlys.
Church Members: [00:29:21] Amen. Yes.
Pastor Erik West: [00:29:22] Know that this is always the time for your breakthrough.
Church Members: [00:29:26] Yes. Amen. Amen.
Pastor Erik West: [00:29:30] If you on the back row, it's the same on the front row. If you on the front row, you still on the front, wherever you are. You're a child of God. Amen. Well, I don't know if it's my time. Yes, it is right. The acceptable year of the Lord is here.
Church Members: [00:29:43] Thank you Lord. Amen.
Pastor Erik West: [00:29:44] He said, What's God going to do in 20 2024? I just told you the acceptable year of the Lord. The acceptable year of the Lord. You've been accepted.
Church Members: [00:29:52] Yes.
Pastor Erik West: [00:29:53] The favors of God are profusely abounding over you. Amen. That means everything that's confined in you, in your life. Huh? Yeah. I was reading the book yesterday. I mean, there's the one. It's one of the. It's one of the few books I've ever read in my life that I had to read. The first time I read it, I had to read it all the way through. It was years ago that I got it. And some of y'all probably remember in Clanton we had a man named Drummond. Tom. He came. I was with him twice or three times, but we had him once and no one would really know who he was, but he was from South Africa. But if you knew who his father was and his his father was, uh, was an alcoholic and had a big story. And so the book's kind of hard to get, but you can still get it's called the new wine's better if you ever read it. Uh, it's hard to stop reading it's paperback, but it's hard to stop reading it. Every page, there's some kind of miracle. It's just amazing. So, I mean, this guy's not in the ministry at the time, and he's in the military. He's bound by alcohol and all this kind of stuff. But God changed his whole life. Uh, he, you know, he ends up coming to America.
Pastor Erik West: [00:30:58] Uh, after he's born again, saved, filled the Holy Ghost in the ministry. Uh, and he, he preaches with F.F. Bosworth, who wrote Christ the Healer. He preaches with William Brannon. Droman was his son. And I didn't realize I was reading the book yesterday. I just happened to pick it up and read it and I stayed up. It was past midnight and I was reading this book, and it's like I had just about that much left. I said, I got to go to bed. I mean, because because tomorrow will be here. And I got things I got to go do, and I somehow I just looked up Jerome and. And Drummond. Drummond, his son, which is the man we had, which is his oldest son. They had eight children. German was the oldest, and he, uh, he passed February the 6th, the day I was picking up reading the book. Uh, 2011. And so this man had so many miracles. Uh. I mean, profusely abounded. He had he had wild, crazy stories. I mean, uh, he he needed a certain car in a country that wasn't cars because of war, and he wanted a Chevrolet. And the guy said, well, we can make that happen. He says, no, but but I got to go out and I got to have a generator. And the Lord told him how much the generator was going to be and what color it was going to be.
Pastor Erik West: [00:32:12] And then he's believing God for a certain car and, uh, a Chevrolet. He'd seen it before, and his wife said, you want what color? She said, well, they call it mustard. Mayonnaise. It's two tone. And they said, well, most ministers, if they can even afford one or drive one, they get a black one, he said. I know what most of them do, but I ain't most of them. He says God wants me to have desires of my heart. He says I'm hitchhiking everywhere I go, but I can't take this generator and set up a tent with no car. So it goes out. And long story short, a man called him and said, could you come by here when you come back? Uh, ten weeks. He said, well, he said I could come back here. He said, why, sir, I just need to talk to you. I got something I want to help you with. He didn't tell him. Nothing else. Anyway, ten weeks later, he come back to his house, spent the night. He don't go out there in the garage. And there was that Chevy mustard, mayonnaise with the generator. And Bosworth, when he met him, he says, I'm. I'm supposed to help you and train you. I. I want to help young men like you.
Pastor Erik West: [00:33:13] He says there's a time you'll know when to come to America. And you come look for me and we'll spend some time together. But this was just the kind of thing the Lord would tell him. You know, he said it was time to go to America. Well, he didn't have no money, so he said, go down to the ship. Ship believes it so and so. Go down and just wait. And and I've. I have someone who's going to pay your fare. So he he just packed his luggage, you know, like he's actually going to go somewhere. He's just sitting down there like he's got good sense and he's just waiting. And of course this happens the the whole books like that, the new ones better. Um, I think I think Eric Jones, he has some printed in Peru. I talked to him. He had 1000 more printed. Mine's all yellow on this, but it's a it's a fabulous story. And so while he was out on, on the field, uh, his wife called him and she said, you'll have to come. She said, our son, they don't know if he's going to live. He said, what's happened? This is he's I don't know which, but one of the oldest one the youngest. He had firecrackers. He had a pack of 60 of them in his back pocket. Yeah.
Pastor Erik West: [00:34:20] He was so bad, he he got home as quick as he could, flew home, didn't give him much hope. And so real quick story. So what he did was he he went in there and, and they said, we can't even move him. We're going to have to do surgery in the room and we're running out of time. We don't even know if he's going to live. And he said, well, I need to pray for him real quick. Doc said, I need you to sign the form and get out of the room. You don't understand. I mean, we're down to. I don't even know if you'll live. He says, well, I have to pray. He says, and made the doctor really mad. And he says, you're not operating until I pray. So the guy went out. He said, I'll give you two minutes. He went out just, you know, hollering and screaming and his son's all blown to smithereens. And the backside is all messed up, you know, and they're I mean, they can't even get him into the operating room. He's that bad. They're bringing the operating room into his room. So he said, son, it's like this. It's going to be okay. He put his hands on him and then the guy says, get out. So he got out and they got going down the hallway, and they was in the waiting room. And the guy come out two minutes later and he said, uh. Well, no, I don't know how to say this, but we're ready to operate. We took the we took the bed sheet covers over and. We can't find out where he was injured at the whole books that way. So you're like his. His two two got blown up, and now they said they just had one little bit of scar. He was just a mass of blood and bones and all whatever. And the Lord just put everything back.
Church Members: [00:35:53] Praise God. Hallelujah.
Pastor Erik West: [00:35:56] The way he got free from alcohol is some Holy Ghost woman. He said, you know. He said, well, I thought someone told you you could pray for me and help me. And said, she. She jumped on him like a duck on a June bug, and she grabbed his head and she said, you come out, you you devil, you alcoholic, you know, a little wiry Pentecostal woman. And then she would turn him loose. She went. He never drank again. He said he went to bars. He was so mad at that woman for a while. He said, I went there and he couldn't stand the taste of alcohol. He hated it. He he he wasn't looking for that. She said, well, you told me you want to be free. What do you want to be free from? Well, okay, let's finish right here. All right. Now. So the day of confinement is over. Y'all ready?
Church Members: [00:36:42] Amen.
Pastor Erik West: [00:36:43] Matthew 1128 Jesus said, come unto me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I'll give you some more to do. Oh. I'm sorry. No, that's the that's the reverse translation, not the revised coming to me. All that you are weary and burdened, and I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Learn from me. For I am gentle and humble in heart. And you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is. Light. The passenger said, ah, you were carrying a heavy burden, or I must make a song of that appeal to your emotions. Are you are you worried? And I are you carrying a heavy burden? Jesus said, come to me. I'll refresh your life. You ever had to do on a computer, you ever had to refresh it. Yeah, it had hit refresh. Well, now listen to this. Are you weary, carrying a heavy burden? Come to me. I'll refresh your life. For I am your oasis. I'm about. I'm about to have a West Coast, West Texas Pentecostal Brush Harbor meeting and Jamison on a Wednesday night. She might as well go get some marshmallows or some sticks. He says, simply join your life with mine. Jesus said, learn my ways and you'll discover that I'm gentle, humble, easy to please. I didn't know that growing up he was easy to please. You will find refreshment and rest in me, I. I went to an assemblies of church, which means we always watch Jimmy Swaggart before we went there. So I was scared before I even went there, because I knew I'd done wrong, you know? And after listening to this while I was 30 minutes on the way there, I went to church, scared every Sunday, every Sunday, for all that I require of you will be pleasant and easy to bear.
Pastor Erik West: [00:38:43] Now let me finish right here. Acts three, verse nine. Repent, repent, repent then, which means turn to God. Change your mind, right? So that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord. Anybody need refreshing? I know you do, because the Lord told me we're going to dismiss the service in two minutes, and we're going to let you go. And those of you who want to be refreshed, those of you who need prayer, those of you who feel like you're bound, those of you who feel like that you're constrained. Uh, that wasn't the word confined or constrained. And you're ready for the opposite of it. We're going to have the men pray for the men and the women for the women. If you want something. And if that's you, we're agreeing with you right now that this is the day the confinement is out of your life. It's over. That season is gone. This today is the day of salvation. And we're expecting the what? The unexpected. We're expecting the unexpected. Now. So the amplified and this this is my real closing right here. So repent, change your mind and purpose. Turn around and return to God that your sins may be erased, blotted out, wiped clean. The time to refreshing. Now listen to this. The times of refreshing, of recovering from the effects of heat. Of reviving with fresh air.
Pastor Erik West: [00:40:15] May come from the presence of the Lord. You ever been hot? Needed some air conditioning. Any sweaters in here? Roger. He used to be. Roger and I took a stage before we moved to this building. We took a stage apart downstairs. Do you remember that? You and I took a stage down there. Which part of it's right here. And? And Roger was pulling nails out. Scott built the stage downstairs for the youth group down there, and we was trying to get all these nails out, and we were saving all the wood. It was in good shape, and we were going to bring it here. And Roger said, and I forgot this day I told Scott this one time he said, if I ever build a house. And I said, yeah. He said, I'm going to get Mr. Scott to build it. I said, why? He said, because if he builds it, he said, there's no wind. I don't even think a wind could take it apart because the man is not scarce on using screws. I mean, he builds it. It's together. Amen. So praise the Lord. You thought I didn't think about that, but I thought that was so. But I remember looking and he has sweat just coming out. We was down there in the air conditioning. He was still just a sweat, still the sweat, still the sweat, still the sweat. He says, yeah, if I ever build a house, I'm going to get that man to build my house. He said he'll spare no expense to do it. Amen. So? So get ready to change your mind.
Church Members: [00:41:30] Amen. Amen.
Pastor Erik West: [00:41:32] That's part of repenting. And return back to God's way. And everything's going to get blotted out, wiped out and cleaned. And you're going to get refreshed, you're going to be revived. And all the effects of the heat is turnaround time. I said it's turnaround time. Amen. Anybody ready for turnaround? I'm ready for my turnaround. Tell your neighbor. Say get ready for your turnaround. Tell your neighbor. Say expect the unexpected. Look them in the eye. See if they're really doing it. If they're just playing church with you. And some people just play church, you know, they just like, you know, we just say stuff at church and go home. Watch Gunsmoke and Nanner sandwich. No, I'm talking about now. We want to see if you actually believe it. I'm believing for the unexpected things. Amen. I like the wild, crazy, far out stuff when it happens, those miracles can't nobody explain when Jesus did it. Or when you read the Gospels and it says, we have seen some unusual, extraordinary things today. Hard to understand. You ever read them in the gospel that said that we have seen some unusual, extraordinary things. No one hardly goes to church today, sees that at all. They said he's there for two hours. I don't know anything that happened. No. It's time for those times to come back. And today is the day. Today is the day. The free favors. Jesus rolled up the scroll and they said, let's get on the road.
Church Members: [00:42:59] Amen.
Pastor Erik West: [00:43:01] Get on the road. Amen. Well, we bless you in Jesus name. We're going to leave here. But if y'all want change, rearrange. You stay. Someone's going to pray with you. We'll work it out just fine. Until then, we'll see you Sunday. Amen. Now, uh, if you need prayer for anything, or if you would just help someone who does need prayer, I would like the men to pray for the men and the women to pray for the women. That's how I heard it. So if you're a woman and you should know if you are, and if you're a man and you should know if you are, if you don't really know that, wait in the foyer and I'll have someone talk to you. I don't have that kind of energy, but I'll have someone get to you. I'm past it. I have really no tolerance for that. So. But we would like to. How about the women stay on this side? And the men? Let's come on this side. Hallelujah. Or let's just say the men come over here and you ladies go over there. And remember, we're going to bless. We're going to impart we're going to cast out. We're going to call in, we're going to proclaim and change. So if you have something that you need change. You look if something's out of order and you want it in order. Tell the people that you're with, you say, well, I got an unspoken prayer request. Then you'll have an unanswered prayer. Because there's no faith in unspoken, an unspoken. I mean, could you could you see Genesis chapter one? And the Lord said, let there be. He said, well, I can't say it's unspoken. No, you wouldn't have an earth, a creation. Is it just us?
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