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[ Music ] King Jesus is listening when you pray. King Jesus is listening when you pray. Waiting to hear you, comfort and cheer you.

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King Jesus is listening when you pray. When you pray. King Jesus is listening when you pray. King Jesus is listening when you pray.

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Waiting to hear you, come forward and cheer you. King Jesus is listening when you pray. If I hold my peace, my Jesus will be coming for me one day. King Jesus is listening when you pray.

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He's got power in his hands, and he's taking me away. King Jesus is listening when you pray. ♪ When you pray ♪ ♪ If I hold my peace, my Jesus ♪

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♪ Will be coming for me one day ♪ ♪ Him, Jesus, is listening when you pray ♪ ♪ He's got power in his hands ♪ ♪ God, he's taking me away ♪

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♪ King Jesus is listening when you pray ♪ ♪ Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa ♪ ♪ King Jesus is listening when you pray ♪ ♪ Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa ♪

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♪ King Jesus is a listening when you pray ♪ ♪ He's a power in his hands ♪ ♪ And he's taking me away ♪ ♪ King Jesus is a listening when you pray ♪

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♪ King Jesus is a listening ♪ ♪ King Jesus is a listening ♪ ♪ King Jesus is a listening ♪ ♪ King Jesus is a listening ♪

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♪ King Jesus is listening ♪ ♪ King Jesus is listening ♪ ♪ Listening, listening, listening ♪ ♪ King Jesus is a listening ♪

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♪ When you pray ♪ - Amen. (audience applauding) The passage of Scripture around which the message is woven is

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found in the book of the prophet Ezekiel, the first chapter, verses 14 through 16. The vision of the wheels, the vision of the God moves in history. He does not remain still and static. He moves. The civil rights struggle is often referred to as the movement, which means that it is going somewhere. It has a

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destination, a purpose to achieve. This experience is expressed in the Prophet Ezekiel's vision of the wheels. Wheels have to do with movement, travel, transportation. Young people today They often refer to their car as wheels. Ezekiel is in captivity, but through the vision he is transported in the spirit to the temple

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in Jerusalem. Where there is life, there is movement. We're not placed on planet Earth to embrace a static existence. We're expected to be on the move.

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One of the wheels in Ezekiel's vision is that of a man who represents the human race. We're called upon to be like a wheel. And a wheel turns. A wheel whirls.

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The wheel Ezekiel sees has four faces and has the color of beryl. The wheels are on the move. Where the spirit directs, the spirit goes. The wheels are on the move.

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may I to respond to the prompting of the Spirit. African American spirituals, among them have this spiritual, every time I feel the Spirit moving in my heart,

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I will pray. The four wheels are accompanied by four creatures. One has the face of a man, as I indicated a moment ago. Another has that of an ox.

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Another has that of a lion. Still another has that of an eagle. Four faces. Man, ox, lion, and eagle.

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And these symbols have been used in Christian history for many years. We have them represented here in a different way, but still religious symbols in the windows of our church. catastrophe has come to God's people. They have been uprooted.

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Many have been transported to Babylon. But God is in the movement. God is in the wheels of history. No matter what may happened, no, how things seem to turn. God is in the movement. The wheel is an expression of his presence. It's a mystery,

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but it's a manifestation of the divine presence. So, the wheel that Ezekiel sees is not a wagon wheel bogged down in the mud. It's a wheel that is high and lifted up above all and this wheel is a wheel that has not only the divine presence, but the divine power and the divine control. So no matter how

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things may seem, God is in control. The fact that it is high above everything has to do with the transcendence of God. God is above everything. Don't forget that. He is above everything. All of us are under Him. He is above all. He is that wheel which is above the transcendence

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of God. And that's a rather comforting thought when we recognize, isn't it, whatever happens to me, my sickness, my disappointment, my discouragement, all of it, God's above all that. This is my Father's world. No matter how strong they seem to be the enemy,

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this is my Father's world. Oh, let me never forget. Although the wrong seems all so strong, God is the ruler yet. That's comforting to the believer to know that above all that may happen, God is present and his presence is a mystery. Huill, of all things, why would it be a huill?

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But this is symbolic language. Ezekiel uses this language in connection with the situation, symbolic because it's a time of persecution, nation is in captivity. And so he communicates the thoughts and the experiences by using this analogy of a wheel.

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So it's not a wagon wheel that's bogged down in the mud. It's a wheel that's high up in the air. A wheel represented in four creatures. God is in our history.

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He's in our history. We may look and we may seem to forget many times. We may think that evil is in control, but God is in our history. God is moving. Another spiritual that our ancestors sang, "I'm a-rolling." I'm a-rolling!

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I'm a-rolling through this unfriendly world. I'm a-rolling. So when God is present, there is movement. Still stay where you were, but on the move. That Ezekiel gets a vision of being transported to Babylon. God is in our history. So the wheels Ezekiel saw were high above everything. The wheels represent the transcendence of God, for God is so high that

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We can't get over Him. He is transcendent. He is above all that we can say or think. Isn't that something?

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That God is above all that we can say or even think. He is transcendent. So that's the vision of the wheels. They turned again at the spiritual

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that we're familiar with. Ezekiel saw the wheel high up in the middle of the air. Ezekiel saw the wheel high up in the middle of the air. Little wheel turned by faith

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and the big wheel turned by the grace of God. Ezekiel saw the wheel high up in the middle of the air. So keep the faith. No matter how heavy the burden is,

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no matter how dark the night is, keep faith. Because by the grace of God, we can make it. By his grace. So it's above all that is happening around him.

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So God's servant, even in Babylon, is granted a vision of Jerusalem. Temple is in ruins. People have been scattered, uprooted, transported, all of that, and yet God is in control. God's servant is granted a vision of Jerusalem even in Babylon.

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And all of this is a manifestation of the glory of God. Did you hear what I said? All of this, even when we are suffering, even when we are enduring pain, even when we are faced with hardships and impossible circumstances, God is getting his glory. All of this is to

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the glory of God. So through the vision of the wheels, God's servant may be transported In the Spirit. In the Spirit. You see, with all of the things that may go contrary in our lives, there is always the

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gift of His Spirit. And that's the most wonderful gift you can have, if you have the gift of His Spirit. Because His Spirit can lift us when we fall. His Spirit can heal us when we are sick.

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His Spirit can change the course of our lives. So as we look at the wheels, many of the wheels that we have, and Ezekiel goes on and describes those wheels that he saw. And the rims, the young people are quite concerned about the shining rims. But he's equal to these rims that are far more shining than the rims of

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this world. The rims that are bright, glittering, outshine the noonday sun. Precious are they. This is what Ezekiel sees in his vision. He sees the rims that are there with great brightness And this is to let us know that what God has for us, what he has for his people, far outshines anything that this world provides.

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So the rims are attractive beyond comparison. So there is a glory. There is a glory that comes. Sometimes it's very difficult for us to fathom, but there is a glory that comes in suffering.

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Glory in suffering. And God permits suffering and even permitted the crucifixion of his only begotten Son in order that we might see the glory in suffering. Oh, we complain and we wish it was not ours to experience,

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but God has a way of getting glory. Glory out of suffering. They're now in captivity, but God, through His Spirit, lifts them up, causes them to see beyond the darkness

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the defeat that they've suffered under Babylon, God comes through His Spirit and lifts His people and gets glory out of suffering. Glory out of suffering. When I was younger in the ministry, I remember visiting some sick members that were up in years,

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and yet they were rejoicing on that sick bed. They were crying and rejoicing. Rejoicing over the goodness of God and the presence of God in the midst of their suffering. And I was young and confused. I didn't see how that could happen. How they could be so happy. Happy in the Lord, but through life's experience, through the

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vision of the wheel, through knowing, through having the assurance that God is with us, not just when things are going well, not just when we're feeling good, but God is with us in all circumstances. And he's above all of these little things.

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I complain about my arthritis, but he's above all that. And when we really get close enough to him, we forget about those sort of things and become involved in the power of his spirit.

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So it's above all. And then the next thing about the wheels, this wheel in the middle of a wheel, not only the transcendence of God, but the eminence of God. The eminence of which means that God is with us, He's in us. Not only above us,

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but He is in us. So, you've got some of God. Be careful about how we treat one another. Because every person has a spark of the divinity. Babylonians may think that they have the right to enslave the Jews, but not so.

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There is a wheel that's a turning. It's a wheel that has to do with freedom. A wheel that has to do with comfort in the midst of suffering.

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So this wheel, Evichusor, is a wheel in the middle of the wheel, that's way up in the middle of the air. A wheel that has brilliance greater than that of the sun.

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Ezekiel saw the wheel. And then, not only does he see, but he hears. He hears. And this hearing, says the writer, of the wheel

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is like the sound of many waters. Nothing like it. Sound of many waters. So more than that, it's a wheel in the middle of a wheel

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that just keeps turning. No matter how things may go, the wheel continues to turn. It's not like our situation. We encountered a man yesterday, he said he was out of gas

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and he just needed a dollar, he'd run out of gas. But you don't run out of gas in this kind of journey. It's a long journey, but there is one who is able to provide us with fuel to complete the journey.

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(audience applauding) He lifted up and takes this journey to the temple and God is in the midst of it. So this wheel is a wheel of faith, faith.

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Some of us run out of faith. You know, when we get a few disappointments, we run out, we give up. But this passage suggests to us that even in the darkest hour,

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that there is this experience, this vision of the wheel. Wheel in the midst of humanity. God has so many ways to do this, you know. He can have people just stationed along your journey who Step in and do certain things.

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And I'm not talking about what I heard, but what I've experienced. Just at that moment, just step right in and lift your spirit when you wonder how it's going to happen. That's that wheel, and that's that wheel of faith, and you just keep on trusting in God.

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Keep on believing. Keep on traveling on this upward way. Ezekiel saw the wheel way up in the middle of the air. Ezekiel saw the wheel, little wheel turned by faith.

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Yes, faith. Faith that will move mountains. Faith that will enable you to walk through troubled waters. Faith that will give you strength in the midst of your weakness so that you'll be able to

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say as Paul said, "When I am weak, I'm strong. I'm happy in the Lord." Faith. A little wheel turned by faith and the big wheel by the grace of God.

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So the realms that are there are attractive and God helps us to see, to hear, and to feel his goodness which is upon us. So Ezekiel had this experience, but I'm so glad that it is an experience that is accessible to every one of us in every time.

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This story that he tells about the wheel wouldn't mean much if we have to leave it back to some hundreds and hundreds of years in Babylon, but it does mean a great deal when it's an experience that we share in the present, in this moment, where we can say, "Lord, I know what the minister is talking about because I have this wheel inside my life,

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a wheel that just keeps on turning." "Up hills and through valleys, it keeps on turning." Ezekiel saw the wheel, but I'm so glad I have experienced those wheels in my life and that you've experienced them in your life. And as we come to the hymn of meditation, we extend the privilege to identify with the

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people of God here at Ebenezer that this wheel of faith and wheel of grace might be reflected in your life each day of your life. [BLANK_AUDIO]