Dwelling Place

Al Pittman: People who are out there talking about you, and this is why we don't need to overreact or get online and send out texts and tweets or whatever it is. We don't have to do that because God is your defense. And if God is for you, who can be against you? Because God sees the attacks against your ministry, against your life, and against your family. He takes it personally. And he says, "I want to know, by the way, who do you think you are attacking my servant?"

Guest (Male): Thank you for listening to Dwelling Place, a radio ministry from Pastor Al Pittman of Al Pittman Ministries. The purpose of this radio program is to encourage you, strengthen your walk with the Lord, and grow. To support this ministry financially or learn more about the ministry, visit us online at alpittmanministries.com. That's alpittmanministries.com. Your donations keep this radio ministry going. Thank you for partnering with us. Now, here is Pastor Al.

Al Pittman: God is asking you to take a step of faith, to sow seeds, and to do things that if we're afraid and walking in fear, we'll hold on to that seed. We'll hold on to that and we will not take that step of faith. But God has not given us a spirit of fear, but that of power, love, and a sound mind.

What happens when we hold in our hand and our fist and clench tightly the seed of faith and refuse to believe that God is able to do something and do a work in our situation, the expectation that we once had in God becomes speculation. Speculation becomes simply a theory. And so we sit around and we boast about what we could have done and what God might be able to do, but we never do anything.

And of course, the Bible says faith without works is dead. It's kind of like Uncle Rico. Remember Uncle Rico? Anybody watch Napoleon Dynamite? It is one of the best movies ever made in a long time. If you just want to have a laugh one night, just put it on. It's hilarious. But there was that Uncle Rico. He was Napoleon's uncle and he was always fantasizing about how great of a football player he could have been in his high school days.

Sometimes we guys do that, fantasize about our high school days. But he was a quarterback and if he could have just been put in the game, he would have won the game and then he could have played in the NFL. He's sitting on the porch there one day and he's talking and he says, "See those mountains over there? I bet I can throw a football and touch those mountains." It's that kind of guy.

I think sometimes we do that with our faith. God has given us faith and a measure of faith, but we're not taking any steps and we're just speculating and we're just theorizing about what God might want us to do. But God wants us to take bold steps of faith in him. The answer is found in our willingness. If we're going to have a faith in the Lord rather than a fantasy in the Lord, it really depends on our willingness to take a step in the Lord, to trust God.

The lack of sowing our seeds or lack of trusting God and believing God and taking steps of faith amounts to nothing. I think about this fellowship. Ed probably has forgotten, but he did ask me to come up and speak at Calvary Church many years ago when you were in the school. And I remember going up to speak and they were in the school. And then I look at what God has done here.

I remember years ago talking to Ed about them starting the radio station and all this kind of stuff. And I've just watched how God—and these are all steps of great faith. And I see what God has done here. And every time I walk in this place, I just give God praise and glory for what he's done here at Calvary Church in Aurora. But it took faith. He couldn't just hang on to, "Boy, we could have a radio station. I could do this and that." No, he stepped out and he took steps of faith.

Fear would have us hold on to our seed. I love the scripture in Ecclesiastes 11:4-5. It says this: "He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap. As you do not know what is the way of the wind, or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child; so you do not know the works of God who makes everything."

In other words, you have the seed in your hand, but you refuse to sow it because you're looking at the weather. You're looking at your circumstances and things that are going on around you. Fear says that it's too windy to sow, or it's too cloudy to reap. We can't reap right now, it might rain. There is a great harvest I believe that God has set before us now in America. I believe now is the time.

There's a great harvest for the church to be in the church now. There couldn't be a greater time in America than right now to be a pastor, to be serving the Lord because there's a mighty harvest that is coming. I believe that the death of Charlie Kirk sparked an awakening, a wave of revival across our nation.

And the young people, Gen Z—if you're Gen Z, please excuse me because I had given up on you. But I'm watching these Gen Zers rising up in the name of Jesus and serving the Lord and on these college campuses and staring the devil in the face and speaking truth. God is doing a mighty work. God didn't give up on Gen Z. And every generation he has a remnant.

Ephesians 3:20-21 says, "Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations"—even Gen Z—"forever and ever. Amen." Are we walking with a revolutionary faith or are we walking with an Uncle Rico faith?

We're just talking about and speculating, or are we truly trusting God? We have to trust the Lord if we're going to be fruitful. We can't walk in fear. In 2 Kings 18, Judah's representatives returned to deliver the Assyrian's message to King Hezekiah. And after being severely reprimanded and berated by the representatives of King Sennacherib, the response of Judah's representatives—those representing King Hezekiah—really reflects what our response should be spiritually when Satan slanders and berates us.

And some of you have come into this conference with the devil on your shoulder just saying all manner of evil things about you and against you. And what is to be our response? 2 Kings 18:36 says, "But the people held their peace and answered him"—that is the representative for the king of Assyria—"not a word; for the king's command"—that is King Hezekiah's command—"was 'Do not answer him.'"

And I would say what a great lesson that is for us when the devil is berating us. When the devil's trying to fill your heart with fear, do not answer him. And I believe this is our King's instruction, our King Jesus. His command and his instruction toward us as well. In other words, stop having conversations with the devil. Some of you may have done that. You've taken the devil out for coffee. You've had conversations with him talking about your ministry and listening to him.

He's telling you, "Don't let the Lord deceive you" and all of that, and you're saying, "Yes, devil, you're right, devil." Stop having conversations with the devil. You don't have to answer his berating. You don't have to answer his accusations. Even here today, some of you may be suffering under the accusations of the enemy, from the evil one. In chapters 18 and 19, we see two ways that we should respond.

The first one we already mentioned in chapter 18, and that is to be still. Be still, be silent. Be silent. Verse 36 says that they did not answer the devil or they did not answer the representative of the king of Assyria. Psalm 62:5 says, "My soul waits silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him." The devil can just keep selling what we used to call back in the day wolf tickets and keep talking smack.

Let him keep talking. You don't have to answer him. You don't have to answer his accusations. And the second thing that we see as a response is in verse 14 of chapter 19 of 2 Kings. It says in verse 14 that Hezekiah received the letter—this letter that his representatives brought back to Hezekiah—received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord and spread it before the Lord.

I love that. That's the second response. First response, be silent. I don't have to answer the devil. I don't have to answer the accusations of people coming against me. And then the second thing is to take what they said, take it before the Lord. He spread the matter before God. 2 Kings 19:20 tells us he revealed to God what the devil's been saying.

Again, just as I did when they said, "Hey, it's a dead church," I took that to God. I said, "God, they're telling me it's a dead church." He said they're right. I brought it to him because I knew he could do something about it. It wasn't up to me to try to figure it out, but to simply cast my care upon the Lord. And that is what you're doing. You're casting your care upon the Lord. That is what Hezekiah was doing, casting his care upon the Lord because he cares for us.

Cast your care upon the Lord, it says, and God will take care of us. 1 Peter 5:10-11 says, "But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen." That's what God's going to do for us. That's the promise of the Lord for us.

That's the promise we lean upon when the enemy's coming at us. People are berating you, the enemy's berating you, and you're like, "I got to respond. I got to get online and attack them back. I got to say—" No, you don't. Be quiet. Years ago, during COVID, some lady came out and we were starting to meet again as a church and, long story short, she went to the newspaper and said that Pastor Al was preaching telling his people that if they don't come to church, they're going to go to hell.

They demanded they come back to church or they're going to go to hell. My first response was, "Well, if it works, use it." But then my second response was, "No, I'm going to sue. That's defamation of character. That's hurting the church." My wife said, "Don't do that." And I went to the Lord and the Lord said, "Listen to your wife." And I didn't do it. I didn't get a lawyer or anything like that. God said, "Just be quiet. Be silent."

And I spread the matter before the Lord and God continued to bless the church and it wasn't even a speed bump. But it was in the major paper down there, it was online and all of this. But God is faithful. We don't have to answer the devil. We don't have to have a conversation with him or a detente, a meeting with him, but just take it to the Lord. Be silent and spread it before God.

In 2 Kings 19:20, Isaiah the prophet sends for Hezekiah. And through a second prophetic word, he reassures Hezekiah of God's deliverance. Isaiah had given the first prophetic word regarding God's deliverance from the king of Assyria to Hezekiah in 2 Kings 19:6. But here again, he now sends for Hezekiah to remind him of God's faithfulness. It's a powerful word that we find here.

For the second time, the prophet reminds Hezekiah that the attack against the king and against Judah was a personal attack against God. People are attacking you, people are coming against you. God wants you to know that he takes it personally because you are his servant. In 2 Kings 19:22-23, we read these words where the prophet Isaiah says to Hezekiah from the Lord.

He says, "Whom have you reproached?" He's talking to the Assyrian king. "Whom have you reproached and blasphemed? And lifted up your eyes on high against the Holy One of Israel? By your messengers you have reproached the Lord." Wow. People who are out there talking about you, and this is why we don't need to overreact or get online and send out texts and tweets or whatever it is.

We don't have to do that because God is your defense. And if God is for you, who can be against you? Because God sees the attacks against your ministry, against your life, against your family. He takes it personally. And he says, "I want to know, by the way, who do you think you are attacking my servant?" And people may come like an invasion with all manner of accusations against you, but in reality, they may think they are attacking you, but they're attacking God.

They're bringing a reproach against the Lord. That word reproach, it is from the Hebrew word charaph, and it means to taunt, to blaspheme, to defy. Isn't that something to take courage in, the fact that whoever's coming against my ministry is not defying me? They're defying God. Isaiah 41:10-13 has been a tremendous blessing to me all of my ministry. It has sustained me in my ministry.

It may be a blessing to you as well. I'm going to read it to you, but you can write the reference down, go back and read it, and even meditate on it. Isaiah 41:10-13 says, "Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand. Behold, all those who are incensed against you shall be ashamed and disgraced; they shall be as nothing."

"And those who strive with you shall perish. You shall seek them and not find them—those who contended with you. Those who war against you shall be as nothing, as a nonexistent thing. For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, 'Fear not, I will help you.'" God says those who are incensed against you will be as a nonexistent thing.

You'll look around for them and they won't even be there. Those people who, some of you have experienced this, who were incensed against you and done all they could to bring down your ministry, didn't know they were defying the Lord God. And now you look for those people today, you don't even know where they are. They've become as a nonexistent thing because according to God's plan, they didn't matter.

God loves them, you can pray for them, but the reality is what God was trying to accomplish through you, they had nothing to do with that. They have no effect in what God was trying to do through your ministry and through your life. In chapter 19, verse 29 and 30, Isaiah now addresses Hezekiah with the promise of future fruitfulness beyond despair. Things may look dry, they may look parched, they may look heated up.

The furnace of affliction may have you wondering if there will ever be any rain. Rain doesn't seem to be in the forecast, and yet God calls you to plant. He calls you to expect a harvest by faith. By faith to expect a harvest for years to come. Listen to the words of the Lord to the nation of Judah to King Hezekiah, 2 Kings 19:29-30.

"This shall be a sign to you." And again, I believe this is for somebody here today. The Lord is saying that this will be a sign to you. You're ready to give up, you're ready to throw in the towel. The enemy is intimidating you, the oppression has come in like an invasion, and God says, "Don't despair. Look, this will be a sign to you: you shall eat this year such as grows of itself."

Because the kingdom of Judah thought, "This is it. They're going to ravage our land. We're not going to have any fruitfulness. Everything's going to be destroyed." And the Lord says, "No, eat this year such as grows of itself, and in the second year what springs from the same; also in the third year sow and reap, plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them. And the remnant who have escaped of the house of Judah, those who have been delivered, shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward. Amen."

The fruit is coming. God is saying, "Don't give up. Don't throw in the towel. I haven't thrown in the towel on you. Continue to plant, continue to reap because for years to come beyond your ministry is going to continue to grow or to be fruitful even after you maybe have moved on from that ministry if you're faithful to continue to sow and to reap in the name of Jesus."

In other words, put down the acts of unbelief. The fig tree will bear fruit under the keeper's divine care. God is saying put down the unbelief. There's more fruit to come. Not according to our will or our reasoning, but according to his divine will and for his divine glory. In conclusion, what we have learned today is I want to point out five things.

Number one: God has not thrown in the towel. Number two: your opposition is an opportunity for God's power. Number three: Jesus is greater than the devil's diagnosis. Again, stop having coffee with the devil. Number four: sow the seeds God has given you, the vision God has given you. Begin to step out on that vision. Number five: expect a harvest. Those who have faith in God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.

I close with a popular verse we have all quoted over the years, but I think it's applicable for this conference and for us. Especially those of you maybe on the verge of wanting to quit or wanting to hold on to your seeds, the vision, in unbelief. But God is saying release it now. For the Lord God says in Jeremiah 29:11-13, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all of your heart."

Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you, dear God, that though we may feel surrounded, besieged by the things of this world or our own doubts and fears, God, that we need to look to you. For the diagnosis is clear. We see our weaknesses and our frailties. But the prognosis has always been Jesus. Be glorified through the ministries represented here, Father. In Jesus' name, amen.

Guest (Male): Learn more about Pastor Al and his ministry by visiting alpittmanministries.com. Also consider supporting us financially. You can send a check to Al Pittman Ministries at PO Box 50584, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80949, or visit us online. Thank you for your prayers and your support. Your generosity keeps this radio ministry going. Lastly, we would love to hear from you.

You can contact us by emailing info@alpittmanministries.com. That's info@alpittmanministries.com. We look forward to hearing from you. Again, thank you for joining us and we'll see you next time on Dwelling Place. God bless. Have you been wanting to hear Pastor Al teach live? Well, now's your chance.

Al Pittman: Your sanctification is under the Father's authority. How God's going to provide for you is under his authority. How God is going to strengthen you is under his authority. Faith is trusting God for his part while doing my part.

Guest (Male): Join Pastor Al at Legacy of Faith Church in Denver, Colorado, on Palm Sunday, March 29th. There, Pastor Al will be teaching a dynamic Palm Sunday message that you don't want to miss. Doors open at 9:15 AM. Service begins at 10:30 AM. Head to legacyoffaithchurch.com to get directions or get more information. That's legacyoffaithchurch.com. We'll see you there.