The Weaver The Altar and the Mountain

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Short Summary
The discourse explores how fear subtly influences decisions and emphasizes trusting God’s divine plan despite life’s apparent chaos, likened to the backside of a tapestry. It urges believers to find peace by looking back with faith in the Weaver, embrace present struggles as refining through the altar’s crushing, and courageously face the future by claiming their “mountain” with faith like Caleb. Ultimately, it calls for a transformation of character through faith, surrender, and active trust in God’s purpose amid a collapsing world.

Long Summary
Detailed Summary of the Discourse: “The Weaver, the Altar, and the Mountain”

Introduction and Theme
– The gathering is an opportunity for fellowship and spiritual learning, where God provides each person with the spiritual “food” they need.
– The discourse is framed around three symbolic elements: the Weaver (God’s providence in the past), the Altar (God’s refining work in the present), and the Mountain (God’s call to courageous faith for the future).
– Opening question posed to listeners: *“What fear has been quietly shaping your decisions this past year?”* highlighting how fear often influences us without our conscious permission, sometimes masquerading as wisdom.

Current World Context and Prophetic Perspective
– The world is described as unraveling, akin to a garment coming apart at the seams, fulfilling Jesus’ prophecy in Luke 21:25:
*“There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity.”*
– The “heavens” symbolize ruling religious powers; the “earth” symbolizes societal structures—all shaking together in turmoil.
– Christians are exhorted not just to watch worldly events but also to watch their own hearts, focusing on character development rather than merely accumulating prophetic knowledge.

Prophecy’s Purpose: Character over Curiosity
– Emphasis on 2 Peter 3:11:
*“Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in holy conversation and godliness?”*
– Prophecy is meant to build godly character and holy conduct, not just satisfy curiosity or intellectual interest.
– The speaker challenges individuals personally: *“Who are you becoming?”* emphasizing transformation.

Framework for Thriving in a Collapsing World
– The threefold approach:
1. Look Backward to Find Peace — Understand the past through God’s hand (the Weaver).
2. Look Inward to Find Purpose — Embrace God’s refining work now (the Altar).
3. Look Forward to Find Power — Step courageously into the future (the Mountain).

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### 1. The Weaver — Looking Backward to Find Peace

Analogy of the Loom and Tapestry
– Imagines a large loom creating a beautiful tapestry (God’s divine plan and the story of our lives).
– The “backside” of the tapestry looks chaotic: loose ends, knots, and confusing threads symbolizing hardships, unanswered questions, and fears.
– This disorder can cause fear, but God’s perspective is from the “front side,” seeing the finished beautiful pattern.

Isaiah 55:8:
*“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.”*
– What looks like chaos to us is design to God.
– The past is an “unfinished manuscript,” prompting curiosity about God’s unfolding plan rather than fear.

Biblical Example: Peter’s Vision (Acts 10)
– Peter initially resists God’s plan to bring Gentiles into the Gospel but eventually obeys, demonstrating how God’s design may seem disorderly but is purposeful.

National Example: Israel’s History
– Israel’s 2000-year exile and persecution looked like abandonment but culminated in a miraculous rebirth of the nation in 1948 (Isaiah 66:8).
– This serves as evidence of God’s perfect sovereignty and plan even through suffering.

Psalm 138:8:
*“The Lord shall perfect that which concerneth me.”*
– Affirmation of God’s personal care and perfection of each life.

Faith Defined
– Faith is trusting God despite not seeing the full picture (2 Corinthians 5:7: *“For we walk by faith, not by sight.”*).
– The dark threads (suffering, trials) provide contrast and beauty in the overall tapestry.

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### 2. The Altar — Looking Inward to Find Purpose

The Crushing Work of God
– Trusting God with the past is just the beginning; surrendering to Him in the present is harder.
– Fear often whispers caution and self-protection, hindering forward movement.

Altar of Incense (Exodus 30:34–36)
– The incense is made from precious spices that must be crushed (“beaten very small”) to produce fragrance.
– Whole spices produce no aroma; suffering and crushing refine us to release the “fragrance” God desires.

Paul’s Teaching (2 Corinthians 4:16):
*“Though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.”*
– Outward man: self-reliance, pride, illusion of control.
– Inward man: faith, compassion, dependence on God.

Song of Solomon 4:16:
*“Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out.”*
– The north and south winds symbolize trials and challenges that are necessary for spiritual growth.

Peter’s Encouragement (1 Peter 4:12):
*“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you.”*
– Trials are part of the refining process, not punishment.

Transformation as the Greatest Miracle
– Romans 12:2: *“Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.”*
– Transformation is often invisible, like a caterpillar in a cocoon—silent but glorious.

Luke 17:20:
*“The kingdom of God cometh not with observation.”*
– God’s work is often unseen but effective.

Hebrews 12:26–27:
*“Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven… that which cannot be shaken may remain.”*
– Present worldly systems and false securities are dissolving, but God is preparing what will remain eternally.

2 Corinthians 2:15:
*“For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ.”*
– The “fragrance” comes from surrender, not from human merit.

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### 3. The Mountain — Looking Forward to Find Power

Call to Courageous Faith
– Once past and present are surrendered, the future calls for boldness.
– Question posed: *“What would you step toward in the coming year if fear no longer had a vote in your faith?”*

Biblical Example: Caleb (Numbers 13, Joshua 14)
– Caleb and the 12 spies saw the same giants, but only Caleb said, *“Let us go up at once and possess it.”* (Numbers 13:30)
– Caleb recognized the giants but trusted God’s promise; the others saw themselves as “grasshoppers” (Numbers 13:33).
– At about 85 years old, Caleb claimed the mountain (Joshua 14:12), not for ease but for opportunity, showing mature faith.

Spiritual Lessons
– Faith is not denial but correct interpretation of circumstances through God’s promises.
– Most spiritual failures come from doubting God’s power and settling for small obedience.
– Paul’s example: Philippians 3:14—*“I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”*

Prophecy’s Purpose
– Prophecy is meant to move believers from spectators to soldiers of character and love.
– True standing on what remains is active faith, not passive waiting.

Personal Application
– Identify your “mountain”: a habit, a relationship, a ministry challenge.
– Adopt Caleb’s spirit: *“Give me this mountain.”*
– Refuse a survival mindset; embrace conquering faith.

Vision for the Future
– Despite ongoing world turmoil, believers will walk steadier, love more boldly, and trust the Weaver.
– Fear will no longer dictate decisions; prayers shift from “Remove this” to “Use this.”
– Others will notice the difference and ask for the source of peace and strength.

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### Conclusion and Personal Testimony

– The speaker shares a recent personal trial: losing a job at age 65, facing ageism and uncertainty.
– This real-life pressure symbolizes the altar’s crushing work, not punishment but preparation.
– Emphasizes that God’s Spirit is *not* one of fear but of power, love, and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7).
– Encourages answering fear’s whispers with Caleb’s confidence, trusting God fully.

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Key Bible Verses Cited:

– Luke 21:25 — Signs of the end times and distress of nations.
– 2 Peter 3:11, 3:6, 3:7, 3:10 — Prophecy on dissolution of the world and call to holy living.
– Isaiah 55:8 — God’s ways higher than ours.
– Isaiah 66:8 — Nation born in a day (Israel’s rebirth).
– Psalm 138:8 — The Lord perfects what concerns us.
– 2 Corinthians 5:7 — Walk by faith, not by sight.
– Exodus 30:34–36 — Ingredients and preparation of incense.
– 2 Corinthians 4:16 — Outward man perishes, inward man renewed.
– Song of Solomon 4:16 — Winds that bring fragrance.
– 1 Peter 4:12 — Fiery trials refine believers.
– Romans 12:2 — Transformation by renewing the mind.
– Luke 17:20 — Kingdom of God not coming with observation.
– Hebrews 12:26–27 — Shaking of earth and heaven to reveal what remains.
– 2 Corinthians 2:15 — Believers as a sweet savor of Christ.
– Numbers 13:30, 13:33 — Caleb’s faith and others’ fear.
– Joshua 14:12 — Caleb claims his mountain.
– Philippians 3:14 — Pressing toward the high calling of God.
– 2 Timothy 1:7 — Spirit of power, love, and sound mind, not fear.

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Summary Statement:
This discourse calls believers to acknowledge and confront the fears quietly shaping their lives, to trust God as the Weaver who lovingly crafts a beautiful tapestry from the apparent chaos of history and personal trials, to embrace the refining altar of present suffering as God’s preparation for deeper faith and character, and finally to courageously claim their spiritual “mountain” by faith, pressing forward in God’s power and love despite the shaking world around them. It is a call to active faith, enduring hope, and sacrificial love rooted in God’s promises and sovereignty.

Transcript

Brethren, it’s a beautiful opportunity to get together in fellowship and learn from each other, and the way God works when he teaches us, as he gives us each the amount of food and the type of food that we need. If we listen carefully to the word of God and He speaks to us, maybe not through the mouth of somebody else, but because those ideas bounce off things in our mind that we’ve been thinking about, and I’m continually impressed with how God works with us. The title of our session today is the Weaver, the Altar, and the Mountain.

So I have a question for you. What fear has been quietly shaping your decisions this past year? What fear has quietly been shaping your decisions this past year? Without ever asking you for permission?

In my life, some fears announce themselves loudly, but other fears whisper. They whisper so softly they sound like wisdom.

I would like you to think about that question and leave it before the Lord. What fear has been quietly shaping your decisions this past year?

We stand together on a precipice, if you haven’t noticed. The world feels like a garment that is unraveling at the seams.

Now, Jesus told us that this would happen. He told us this in Luke 21, verse 25.

And this is what Jesus says. He says, there will be signs in the sun and in the moon, and in the stars, and upon earth, distress of nations with perplexity. Now, that’s been characteristic of the world throughout the ages, but right now it seems to be particularly acute and it’s accelerating at a blithering pace. Now, we understand from this scripture that the heavens are a symbol or a type of the ruling powers, the religious ruling powers, and the systems of authority are the earth, and all of them are shaking together.

So the earth is society itself. It’s restless, it’s angry, it’s confused, and it is afraid, and as Bible students, we are not called to merely watch the headlines, but in addition, we are called to watch our hearts.

And prophecy has this twofold understanding as we try to understand it. Prophecy, it was really never just given to satisfy our curiosity.

Prophecy was given to produce character, and the Apostle Paul tells us this. He actually makes it unmistakably clear, and actually the APostle Peter in second Peter chapter three, and this is what the Apostle Peter says in chapter three, verse 11, second Peter three, 11, he says, seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in holy conversation and godliness?

And I think holy conversation has to do with your behavior. So, so what are. How are we going to act now? I love Second Peter Chapter three, because it’s the one chapter that I use to explain the chart of the ages. Second Peter, chapter three, verse six talks about the world that was.

Verse seven talks about the world that now is, and then verse 13 talks about the world that is to come. That’s a beautiful scripture that talks about the dispensations, and I’d like to point your attention to this interesting phrase right in the middle of this. These verses.

It says in Second Peter, chapter three, he says, seeing that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be? Wow. He’s talking about character. Notice that Peter does not ask what charts do you understand? He does not ask what dates have you memorized.

I think what he’s telling us here is that the end of knowledge is to produce character.

Peter asks Todd, who are you becoming? Robert, who are you becoming? Terry, who are you becoming? Heather, who are you becoming?

Gary, who are you becoming? This is what Peter says. So today I want to offer you a framework. I would like to offer you a framework for thriving in a collapsing world, and I think that’s one of the things that’s always on our mind.

And I think that’s the fear that is always kind of in the back of our minds. How do we thrive in this world that is collapsing?

So today we’re going to have a framework. We’re going to look backward to find our peace with what’s happened in the past. We’re going to look back and find peace. We’re going to look inward to find purpose, and we’re going to look forward to find our power. So we’re going to look in the past to find peace with our experience.

We’re going to look inward to find our purpose, and we’re going to take a forward look to find our power, and that’s why I named this session the Weaver, the Altar and the Mountain. Because we are going to see the Weaver, we are going to stand at the altar, and we are going to claim that mountain. First, to look backward, I’d like to you to imagine a big loom in the middle of this room.

It’s a huge loom, and it’s the kind that would actually fill this room. When we were over in Poland, we would see these beautiful tapestries on the wall that would actually explain stories. They could be from the Bible, they could be from the kings of the time. But they were beautiful tapestries, and this is how they communicated with oral tradition to the young people.

In the old days, they would look at these tapestries and Explain the stories, and let’s take a look at a loom. Let’s consider a loom that’s actually doing that work, creating a huge tapestry. But what do we see when we look at this loom that’s creating this tapestry? We don’t see beauty.

We say. We see chaos. We see loose ends dangling with unanswered questions. When we see the knots on the back are of dull brown and jaggedy gray, and the threads on the back of this tapestry seem to start nowhere, and they seem to end abruptly in confusion.

And if that is all that we saw of this great loom that was building a beautiful tapestry of God’s divine plan of the ages, and that might be really confusing, and we might say, hey, you know, this weaver looks like he’s lost control, and that may be how the last year or several years have felt to you. Now, as you look back on last year, what fear are you still carrying? What fear are you still carrying that God never asked you to hold?

Now, this is might not be a fear that you chose deliberately, but one that kind of slowly crept up on you and took residence as you tried to make sense of something, and I think this reminds us of the back of the tapestry. The great weaver’s work looks disorderly, and sometimes that turns into fear, that translates into fear in our daily life. You know, we. We see loss, we see illness, we see relationships that did not heal.

We see plans that dissolve. We see institutions, once solid, they are cracking before our eyes. We had some experiences like that last year and actually the last few years, and we might think that, you know, shouldn’t these experiences look a little bit cleaner in our walk, in our daily life? But I think here is the truth that actually steadies our heart. As God is not working from the backside of the loom, He.

He is working from the front side of that loom. He’s the great weaver, and he’s building a beautiful tapestry. Not only a tapestry of the fulfilling the Abrahamic promise that will look beautiful for all mankind, but for us, he’s building the tapestry of our life, and he’s building something beautiful. Now, Isaiah reminds us of something in Isaiah 55, verse 8, and this is what Isaiah tells us in Isaiah 55, verse 8.

He says, My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways. My ways, saith the Lord. I think one of the things we can take from this scripture is that what appears to be disorder from our perspective is actually design from God’s perspective.

Now, when we look back on the past, it teaches us to reinterpret our past with the principles of God, not in chaos, but as an unfinished manuscript, and those questions that linger in our life, they. They don’t produce fear. They produce a profound curiosity in saying, hey, what’s God going to do now? And a great example of that is found in Peter’s vision on the rooftop of Simon the Tanner at Joppa.

He saw this vision of God redirecting the Gospel towards the Gentiles, and Peter wasn’t. He didn’t say no. Well, he did say no, God, what you have said is unclean, shall not be made clean, and eventually Jesus convinced him to go to the house of Cornelius.

And it was a great blessing. But I think what Peter thought was disorder from his perspective, was actually designed from God’s perspective, and I think we can take that same anxiousness that we have in our daily life and apply it and trust God. Out of curiosity, hey, I wonder what God’s going to do with this. Hey, I wonder what’s God.

What God is doing now?

Because God is weaving that tapestry as the hand of a perfect author. Now, I really like Brother Gary Johnson’s discourse on Chariots of God, and I kind of was leaning over, telling Marilyn and giving her a running commentary saying, hey, this is a great introduction to my discourse, because Brother Gary talked about that these chariots are. Will carry you to the very heights of victory that you have longed to reach. But they come disguised in trouble and difficulties and struggle.

But they will demonstrate power. They will demonstrate divine intervention. They will demonstrate God’s sovereignty. They will demonstrate God’s divine intervention. Intervention and protection.

But there’s another visual proof that we can look back on and find great encouragement. It’s actually a visual proof of the front side of history. We have standing before us an opportunity to look at this beautiful tapestry that’s almost finished, and we can look at it from the front side of the loom, not the backside of the loom with all the knots and the dead ends. So if you ever doubt what the weaver, know that the weaver knows exactly what he is doing, turn to the loom of history around and look at the front side.

Consider the tapestry of the resurrected nation of Israel, and consider this. If you have questions in your life about what he’s doing, consider this. For 2000 years, Israel’s story, seen from the backside of the loom, looked like divine abandonment. Consider this exile to Babylon.

They were exiled to Babylon. They were scattered by Rome. There were centuries of persecution, ghettos, pogroms, unjustness, holocaust, and if you consider the nation of Israel in the year 1900, you would have said, you know, this cannot be the divine design of God, and yet, 1948, a nation reborn in a day, just as Isaiah foretold. He says this in Isaiah 66, verse 8.

He says, shall a nation be born at once?

And I think we can look at this as proof that this great weaver has a divine plan, not only for the world of mankind, but for us, and he’s soon finishing his unfinished mystery.

In Israel. We see the fulfillment of Scripture. We see Isaiah 35, one being fulfilled, the desert blooming as the rose. We see a language resurrected. We see a people regathered, The loom turned.

In 1948, we no longer looked at the backside. We looked at the front side. There was a beautiful tapestry that appeared before our eyes, and we see this tapestry more clearly as the year passes, and suddenly these dark threads, they made sense.

And that exile, as we look in retrospect, was not random. The suffering was not wasted. The weaver never lost the pattern, and brethren, if God can weave 2000 years of exile into a living, breathing miracle that we can see with our own eyes in 2026, he has an unfolding plan for the thread of your life. Isn’t that beautiful?

Now, David said this with quiet confidence in Psalm 138, verse 8. The Lord shall perfect that which concerneth me. Wow, that’s a really great introspective. The Lord shall perfect that which concerneth me. Isn’t that beautiful?

One of the things I liked about the book of Psalms is that King David seemed to process the national joy and the national grief of the nation of Israel, and he did it all within kind of an introspective look. He was a great grand philosopher, idealist, that while he had many strengths, he had some faults, and. But he said this beautiful statement, the Lord shall perfect that which concerneth me.

He didn’t say that God might do this. He didn’t say, God possibly shall do this. It says, God shall perfect that which concerneth me.

But our faith in our own life, our faith in our future, is not pretending that those knots of confusion, of dead ends are not there on the backside of the tapestry. I think what we have is faith. Faith is trusting the weaver, despite those knots. Now, the apostle Paul tells us in 2nd Corinthians 5, verse 7, we walk by faith and not by sight.

And the backward look as we look back on our life. It’s not denial that these things happen, but it’s interpretation. We tell ourselves a new story about the facts in the context of God’s divine plan, not only for the world of mankind, but for us. We choose to believe that our awesome God who kept his promises to Israel precisely, patiently, unmistakably, is the same God that’s weaving your story right now.

Those dark threads become contrast, and those dark threads are for the beauty of the pattern, because the pattern requires depth of shadow. So we should trust that weaver.

Have you ever tried to grab the weaver’s threads by yourself and do something? We get all tangled up in them, don’t we? When we try to enforce our own will in our life and walk outside of God’s will, Brother Gary Johnson recommended that we find meaning in your chariots from God. What looks like trouble will actually transport you. These adverse conditions, they turn the storm clouds into a chariot, Brother Gary says.

So this backward look that we considered gives us peace. Not because the past suddenly makes sense, but because we know who is in charge of our past, and once the heart is steadied by the weaver, once we have that steadiness in our mind, it’s finally ready for the altar. Part two of our service is the crushing work, the work that God is doing within us. So we looked back at the weaver to understand our past.

Now we’re going to take a look at the altar to understand our present.

Once we stop wrestling with that past, the spirit gently guides us inward.

Because trusting God with what has been is only the beginning. The harder work is trusting him in the present. What’s happening now, and the now often hurts. It hurts us as we try to apply the principles of righteousness, as we try to do the right thing.

It’s like a never ending story. We can’t ever get things done on our own will, and we have to trust God, and this inward look actually demands. I think it demands surrender.

And there’s a beautiful picture that I’d like to share with you about this. But I have a question first.

Has fear been whispering in your ear this year? Pretending to be wisdom, not shouting, not panicking, but quietly advising caution, self protection retreat when God might be pulling you forward in his trust.

Let’s consider the tabernacle, not the brazen altar where the fire consumes the sacrifice in a moment, but a little deeper and a little quieter. Let’s consider the altar of incense.

In chapter 30 of Exodus. So it’s Exodus, chapter 30, verse 34 through 36, it says, and the Lord said unto Moses, take unto thee sweet spices and thou shalt make it a perfume beaten very small. Now notice that Phrase beaten very small. The ingredients of the incense stackedy anika. I don’t know if I’m pronouncing these right.

Galbanum and pure frankincense. These were rare, they were precious, they were costly, and each spice had a value in itself. But Scripture is explicit. They were not acceptable to God whole.

A whole spice has no fragrance. You could place those beautiful resins of spices on the altar intact and they wouldn’t result in anything. Heaven would remain silent, so to speak. The release of the aroma that that came from those spices had to be done by a priest with a pestle. That priest had to grind those spices in the pestle.

He had to crush them, and only then did the sanctuary fill with fragrance.

I think many of us feel that pestle today, and for those of you who I’ve seen your testimonies of patient understanding. Thank you, thank you for your testimonies. Your testimonies that I can see in living color.

You feel that constant pressure, the repeated strain, the sense that something is pressing down on you without explanation, and you might be asking, lord, why is this so heavy? Why does this not let up? And I think the answer from God is not that he’s displeased. The answer is that the fragrance is in the breaking.

And the Apostle Paul explains this invisible process when he writes this. Though our outward man perisheth, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.

So what was this outward man that perisheth in the Apostle Paul’s experiences? And what was this inward man that was renewed every day? Well, I think the outward man that perisheth is the self reliance. It might be self confidence, it might be pride, it might be the illusion of control, and what is renewed?

What’s that inward man that the Apostle Paul was talking about? Well, I think it has to do with faith, compassion and dependence on God.

And I think this is what the pastor talks about in Volume 6, the discipline of the new creation. It’s not punishment, but it’s preparation. God is not interested in whole spices. He does not seek Christians who are polished, who are self sufficient and untouched by suffering. Those lies might look impressive, but they don’t carry the aroma that God is looking for.

And I really like the scripture. I think it’s in Songs of Solomon Force, verse 16, and it says something like this. Come north wind, blow upon the my garden, and come thou south wind, and I, I actually should read it because I can’t remember it from memory, but it’s beautiful.

And.

I think it’s Psalms of Solomon 4, 16. Awake, O North wind, and come thou south. Blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out and let my beloved come into his garden and eat his pleasant fruits. Isn’t that beautiful? I think those north winds are the difficulties that we have in our life, that the challenges that we have to deal with.

Those winds that blow from the north are probably cold, and then we have the south winds that blow, and those winds are a little warmer, and we need both of them to create that contrast in that tapestry, those knots that look like confusion from the back of the tapestry, but actually look beautiful from the front of the tapestry.

And I think this struggle with applying the principles of righteousness results in empathy. Empathy. Empathy is born in crushing. Patience is learned under pressure, and love deepens when it costs something.

Love deepens when it costs something, and I think this is why the Apostle Peter writes in First Peter 4:12, he says, Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you.

These trials are only strange if we forget the altar of incense. These trials are only strange if we don’t understand the crushing experiences.

I think the greatest miracles of the gospel age, they’re really not visible. Now. The world is trained to learn for a spectacle, maybe fire from heaven, the seas parting, the diseases vanishing instantly. But the harvest work is not about spectacle. The harvest work is silent and it’s happening in the background, outside of the view of the world of mankind.

And the greatest miracle of the gospel age is about transformation of the new creation, and the Apostle Paul urges us. In Romans chapter 12, verse 2, he says, Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, and that transformed comes from metamorphosis.

When you see a caterpillar going into that cocoon, it doesn’t really look dramatic while it dissolves when it dissolves into that cocoon. But something glorious is happening, and this is an invisible miracle. It’s invisible to the world, but it’s not invisible to us because we see all of our trials, we see all of our experiences, we see all of our crushings, we see the. The texture of God’s tapestry that he’s doing.

And we see the confusing knots behind the tapestry.

And we some see something glorious. It’s an invisible, visible miracle. There’s no headlines, there’s no applause, but our heavenly Father is watching and he notices, and this is how God works. Jesus said this in Luke 17, verse 20.

The kingdom of God cometh not with observation.

And even in the tabernacle, the altar is quiet. The Crushing is unseen, but the fragrance rises.

Now, the Apostle Paul told us, or the Apostle Peter told us, that the world itself is dissolving. In second Peter 3:10, he says, the elements shall melt with fervent heat, and the Greek implies of a breaking apart apart.

What do we see happening? We see the world in confusion. We see the world in trouble. We see the church, the church that is in the world of mankind right now, this nominal church, it’s dissolving. This whole pattern of the Western world, this whole economic system that’s built in our world today is built on the union of the kings of the earth with global religious powers.

Earthly securities are dissolving and false hopes are dissolving, and sometimes our own carefully constructed plans, they dissolve with those that dissolving system. But this is good. Now, this is a very personal to both me and Marilyn. Right now, at our stage in our life, we’re going through a very interesting transition where we’re in a kind of a gap period right now where we’re looking for God’s will.

But this is good. This uncertainty is good. This confusion is good. These knots that look confusing on the back of the tapestry in our personal life, these are good. Why?

Because God is separating the eternal from the temporary. He’s separating the eternal from the temporary, and the Apostle Paul tells us this. Yet once more I shall not. Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.

And why are they shaking? Well, in the very next verse it says Hebrews 12:27, it says that those things which cannot be shaken may remain my brethren. This altar, this incense altar, is where what remains is revealed to the world.

And you are protected under the sanctifying power of God.

Sometimes we’re ground down by a difficult experience. Maybe it’s continual battle with the flesh. Maybe it’s a lonely home. Maybe it’s a failing body. Maybe it’s an unrelenting responsibility.

But your heavenly Father is watching. He’s orchestrating, he’s weaving, and he’s looking for the precious fruit.

Remember this. The great high priest is preparing incense, and the Apostle Paul told us this in 2nd Corinthians 2, verse 15. For we are unto God a sweet smelling savor of Christ. Not someday, but now.

And this fragrance, it does not come from our talent. It does not come from success. It does not come from surrender. Oh, no. It comes from surrender.

And once this incense is prepared, once the heart has been softened, once the human will has been yielded, we are ready for the future.

We are ready not to retreat.

We are Ready to advance, to climb, to claim, to claim the mountain.

This is where our heart turns forward into the future.

The question of our life is no longer about understanding the past and enduring the present. It becomes a question of courage for the future.

So I have another question for you. What would you step toward in the coming year if fear no longer had a vote in your faith? Do you ever let fear have votes in your faith? If you knew that you could accomplish anything that God willed in your life, what would you try to do if fear did not have a vote in your faith?

Once our heart trusts the weaver, as we look back in the past, once our heart has yielded to the altar, as we understand our present, there is only one direction to face, and that’s forward.

Our consecration is not meant to be passive. It was meant to be courageous. As we battle the flesh, as we take the land and battle the Hittites.

But looking forward always reveals a mountain, and there’s a beautiful passage in numbers, chapter 13. Numbers chapter 13. This is where 12 men enter the land of promise. They walk the same terrain together.

They see the same cities together. They face the same giants together. But what do they do? They return with two different stories.

They return with two different spirits. Ten of them say, we are not able. But Caleb says, let’s go up at once and possess it, for we are able. We are well able. Numbers chapter 13, verse 30.

Notice this. Caleb does not deny the giants, and our faith is not denial of what’s before us. Faith is interpretation.

The 10 spies interpreted the giants through their weakness. But Caleb defined the giants through God’s promise.

Numbers 13:33 says this. These 10 people said we are grasshoppers in our own sight.

And that phrase is devastating because it says in our own sight, and this is where fear, it always begins in our own sight. Grasshoppers flap. Grasshoppers scatter. Grasshoppers survive by hiding from the predator.

But God did not call eagles to flap. He called them to soar. Now, 45 years after this moment, the wilderness years are over. The land is being divided, and most of the men of Caleb’s generation are gone.

And Caleb is now about 85 years old. Well, let that settle in your heart. Caleb is about 85 years old.

That’s 20 years from now. In my life, what will I be trying to do? And when I’m 85, I’ll probably be looking for comfort. I’ll probably looking for stability, and I love that chuckle, young lady.

I’ll probably looking for flat land, near water, kind of a place to Reminisce. But what does Caleb do? He steps forward and he points not to the valley, but to the high country, the rugged terrain, the fortified cities, the dwelling place of the Anakim giants, and this is what he says in Joshua 14:12. Give me this mountain.

Give me this mountain. Not because he is reckless, not because he is certain. He continues this in Joshua 14, verse 12. If so be the Lord be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out. Boom.

Wow. Isn’t that beautiful?

Now, brethren, this is not youthful enthusiasm. This is mature faith.

Caleb, he doesn’t ask for ease. He asks for opportunity. Why? Because the bigger the giant, the greater the glory when it falls. I love this new program called the Chosen, this new movie called the Chosen.

But there’s another series out there called the House of David, and it’s where David. The scene where David slays Goliath. He tries to get the Jewish army out of his way, and he says, doesn’t anybody believe the old stories anymore? And that’s what we have the opportunity to do. We have the opportunity to believe the old stories, because the bigger the giant, the greater the glory when it falls.

So here’s the truth that we must face.

Most of us fail spiritually in those moments when we realize we’ve had a spiritual failure. Most of us fail spiritually, especially when. Because we doubt God’s power, because we. We fail. Because we settle for small obedience.

I’ve done this. I’m the poster child of this. I get those side, side eye looks from some of you people right now. It’s great, and we pray for relief instead of refinement.

We ask for valleys instead of victory, and we hope to endure rather than to conquer. I’m convicted. I’m guilty as charged, your honor. But Paul did not say I limp toward the mark.

He said this in Philippians 3:14, Philippians 3:14. He says, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. You know, I think Paul is one of my favorite biblical characters because he had a. This huge pot of sin that was in his past that he was trying to re. Get rid of.

And, and by killing the Christians, by persecuting the Christians. He dedicated his whole life to unity, and he talks about the unity of the body 36 times, and I gotta believe that was his way of trying to overcome that weight that was behind him by pressing forward and claiming that mountain.

The high calling is not found in the valley. It’s found in the mountain, and the mountain always revolt. Re involves resistance.

So I think what something that I said earlier today. Prophecy was really never meant to create spectators in the scriptures. It wasn’t really meant to. It’s not a spectator sport. It was meant to produce soldiers of character.

And if understanding the prophecies of the present time does not make us braver than it has stalled in our heart, we’re bumping our gums. We’re just enjoying the dissecting this word of God. But it has to settle in our hearts. If the understanding of the harvest message does not move you towards sacrificial love, I think it’s missed its purpose.

One of the difficult things we have to move is we have to depart from the things of this world.

And we have to make sure that we do not cling to those things which are dissolving.

We were clinged to. We were called to cling in what remains, and that standing is not passive. It is an act of faith. So I ask you this.

What is your mountain?

Is it a habit that has defeated you for years?

Say it with Caleb’s spirit. Give me this mountain. It is. Is it a relationship that requires more patience than you think you possess? Say it with Caleb’s spirit.

Give me this mountain. It is. Is it a ministry that you’ve avoided because it exposes a weakness?

Say it with Caleb’s spirit. Give me this mountain.

Sometimes we approach the future with just a survival mindset and we might say, hey, just help me make it into the kingdom.

Yeah. If the. If the market’s going to crash, please wait until my 401k is, you know, in good shape.

But Caleb, he was not just trying to make it, he was trying to claim it.

Now, let me give you a vision. Picture yourself one year from now. The world has not calmed down. The noise has not stopped. The shaking has intensified.

But something is different in you. You walk steadier. You listen deeper. You love more boldly. You no longer try to grasp at those threads behind the weaver’s w. Weaver’s loom.

You’re trusting the Weaver implicitly, even amidst the confusion.

You yield at the crushing of the altar.

And now you do not avoid the mountain. You walk toward it in the spirit of Caleb, give me this mountain.

Your prayers are no longer, Lord. Please remove this from me. They are, Lord. Use this.

Others will notice.

We have a kind of a rich neighborhood of group. Not rich in money, but rich in spirit. Lots of people taking care of each other as neighbors, and we have some really great relationships. My wife Marilyn has a walking buddy that is a really Sharp Bible student in her own right, but she’s just one that doesn’t want to come to meetings.

But when, whenever we have studies with her. She knows that there’s something different in our home and she sees it in her own home, and I think that’s the secret. People will notice. Other people will notice you and they will say, hey, how, how are you doing this?

How are you standing amidst all of this trouble? How do you respond to all of these difficult situations? And you will answer quietly because I know who is weaving my past, I know why I am being shaped in the present, and I know where I’m going.

So let’s stop asking for the valley. Let’s stop settling for the easy territory. Let’s look the Lord in the eye and say, give me this mountain.

The weaver is at the loom, the incense is on the altar. The mountain is waiting. May the Lord bless you and trust as you trust in him and surrender to him, and advanced with him all the way home.

Now it’s easy for me to say these things if I know some one thing for sure and that is that God lets me eat my words and whatever I speak from the platform, I have to deal with now. We’ve had some interesting uncertainty in our life recently and it’s been rather exhilarating on one point and rather embarrassing on another point and rather difficult in another area. I got fired from my job on November 6th and it’s been an interesting three month ride. Right now nobody wants to hire an old 65 year old man, and ageism is real.

Even though I have a lot of powerful experience and I’m very talented in some specific areas, people don’t usually want to take a chance on me. But let’s, and this is kind of where this discourse came from. It came from my own personal experience. So at the beginning of this discourse I asked the question, I said, what fear has been quietly shaping your decisions?

What fear has been quietly shaping your decisions without ever asking your permission?

That’s a big idea, and when we sit here and we have this spiritual idealism before us and we understand what’s happening in the prophetic future, when all of these things begin to dissolve man and it affects us, it affects our bank account, it affects our livelihood, and we get embarrassed about things because of how we look in other people’s eyes, we get to see it more clearly on a visceral level, and these difficulties are really the crushing of the incense for the altar.

Sometimes we look back on our previous life and I can look back on this in the last 18 months. Look at how my wife’s smiling over there. Marilyn. She’s really good, taking care of me a lot. But we can look back and we might think that the weaver is absent, but he’s never absent.

We might look back and feel that pressure, and we must realize that that pressure is not punishment, but it’s preparation.

And now we can look forward at the mountain and see that it’s not a threat, but it’s a calling.

The Apostle Paul said something to Timothy, and he said this. He says that God would not give him. God has not given you the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and a sound mind. That spirit of fear was in Timothy’s life without permission. That spirit of fear came into Timothy’s life without permission.

And the Apostle Paul was trying to train him to take over the church at Ephesus, and I think the Apostle Paul gives us an interesting insight here. That fear shrinks us. Fear shrinks us into something very small in the corner. Could be in the corner of a room.

It shrinks us, and the whole world looks overwhelming. But the Apostle Paul said that faith stirs us.

So when fear whispers again, and it will, when it whispers again, we can answer with quiet confidence of Caleb and say, give me this mountain and move forward in faith and in power of the word of God. God bless you all.

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