09/19/2021 | The Strength of Resistance | Pastor David Myers

turn your attention this morning to the book of romans chapter 5 and we begin reading in verse 19 this great book paul wrote church at rome when he appealed unto caesar he felt a desire to go to rome he got there he found out there were already believers there i'm going to tell you what god's got a church in every nation tribe tongue nationality [Music] what a great god aren't you glad the lord is a personal savior it doesn't work through governments he works through individuals you can find god in any situation any crisis god comes near he doesn't distance himself from you when you go through trial or a struggle he comes close romans 5 19 for as by one man's disobedience we know this is adam many were made sinners that's when sin came into the human race so by the obedience of one this is jesus shall many be made righteous moreover the law entered that the offense that being sin introduced into the human race might abound the law kind of defined it and gave it the teeth to have consequence to the offense or to the sin the law entered that the offense might abound but where sin abounded grace did much more about oh hallelujah [Music] that's what jesus life death burial and resurrection what that means to us that as sin hath reigned unto death some would say then that sin is more powerful than grace because sin reigns or is in control even unto death even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by jesus christ our lord even in death grace does much more abound it doesn't matter how bad things get god's going to have the final say grace is going to have the final say i want to speak this morning on this subject the strength of resistance the strength of resistance you may be seated thank you for standing it's not an uncommon thought or even a principle that's unfamiliar to us that we need resistance in the natural world to function properly as human beings the resistance of gravity keeps us from floating away and keeps our muscles from deteriorating we we struggle um just with the resistance of gravity pushing against us you know we hear these sayings like what goes up must come down and all of these natural laws and principles that came because of the ever present force of gravity if you've ever watched people you know video clips or whatever about folks that have stayed in the space station for maybe even weeks or months in a zero gravity environment they have to they have to spend several eight hours a day working on stationary bikes and and uh just you know with make believe resistance because they don't have resistance in the atmosphere and uh it's pretty cool to watch like when they eat you know the little morsel just kind of goes floating by and sometimes when you see that you're like that looks like that's so cool but actually a prolonged period of time in that environment can be very destructive so they have to work at bikes they got to do all of this to keep their muscles from collapsing because we were made for resistance we get strength from resistance it's the struggle of childbirth that causes a baby to develop the necessary strength to survive outside the womb it's proven that people that work harder live longer even endorphins that are released in humans as they are committed to bodily exercise you feel better when you're exercising it's better for you physically and mentally and emotionally because these bodies in this natural world were designed to thrive in resistance so all through nature this natural world that we live in communicates to us through one example after another that we need resistance well we know that the physical world illustrates to us the spiritual world so this principle is also true in the spirit realm there is something about resistance that makes us stronger spiritually speaking the story of joseph in the old testament tells us about the strength of resistance early on we see that joseph is is favored even when he was a boy and his younger brother benjamin was not yet born he was favored by his father because his mother rachel was who joseph really loved and when he joseph um we we see was the only child at this point of rachel now later on his younger brother benjamin was born but his mother died even in the childbirth of his younger brother and and and we if we go all the way back and we trace it back we'll see that that jacob whenever joseph's father jacob who was a twin esau was his twin brother and they had that conflict because he uh you know wanted his father's birthright he was the younger one and the older brother always got the birthright but jacob was hungry for it and esau really didn't care a whole lot about it so he tricked his father into getting that blessing from the father and of course esau then said i'm going to kill him jacob takes off running he's out in the wilderness he's got to go find his cousins his aunt and uncle and try to find another group that he can live with and live in peace but god meets with him and says i'll be your god you'll be my he has a he has that dream he lays his head down on the that stone and he sees that ladder that we refer to as jacob flatter angels ascending and descending and god tells him i'm going to be with you and he goes and he starts to find you know his aunt and uncle and laven all them and then he falls in love with uh rachel he says i want to marry your daughter rachel and of course laban b and her father said that's great but you're going to have to work seven years to be able to get her hand in marriage and so he worked for seven years he was so in love it just seemed like a day it just like went by like that and uh he's so excited he's you know he's caught up in the uh intoxicated environment of love and then you know after he gets married he pulls that veil off he realizes that it's not rachel it's her older sister leah and he says to the dad hey what's up with this you know i worked seven years for rachel remember we had a deal and he said yeah but the older sister has to be married first well the bible is pretty clear even when it's not flattering and the bible says that leo was not fair to look upon and apparently the dad didn't think she could ever find a husband so he pawned her off on an unsuspecting jacob and jacob's like yeah but i don't care about leah i work seven years for rachel he's like well you can have rachel but you got to work seven more years well he was a trickster that laban was he they really had met their match because jacob was named jacob because it literally means the deceiver and he even in the womb he was fighting and tugging and hanging onto his brother's ankle and there was there was a lot that was happening in jacob's life even as an infant and so he worked several more years for rachel leah was able to have children rachel was not and so it was a it was a miracle that she even had a son when she finally did have a son of course joseph and joseph he was so loved by his father because he came from rachel who he really loved and so you know it comes time for finally after all these years for him to go back and be reunited with his twin esau and he's very fearful of this moment and he goes and puts the family in a safe place and he wrestles with the lord appeared in the form of a man this is commonly referred to as a theophany in the old testament the lord would appear in the form of a man and so he did it he wrestles with this theophany this physical physical image as it were of the presence of god as an angelic being and he says lord i want you to i want to know that you're going to bless me and you've got to protect me and keep me in these struggles and you know and all of this oh my friend there's something powerful that happens in the struggle of a prayer room there's something powerful that happens when you've got to push through in the spirit there's some things folks spiritually you can't microwave it you can't internet it you you can't google it you got to get a hold of god and grab the horns of an altar and say i'm not going to let go until you bless me you say oh pastor that's like that's old time pentecost now we're in 2021. we're crazy if we don't think we need the struggle of a prayer room there's times you got to just get alone with god and say god if you don't bless me i don't know what i'm going to do there's a strength that comes in that struggle i hope we're not raising a generation of people that doesn't recognize the value of the struggle the value of saying god i've got to have your help i'm not going to let go i'm not going to stop until i know that you're going to bring me through this dilemma you're going to bring me through this crisis you're going to make a way where there seems to be no way you got to sometimes get on the floor get on the carpet you have got to get your head down you have got to say lord i need you and get a hold of god for yourself you can't get it from your parents your grandparents your youth leader or your pastor you got to get a hold of it for yourself you got to say god you're my god hallelujah you're the one i go to in a time of need i've got no plan b i've got no other options it's either you nor it's nothing jacob got to that point and finally the lord through this image of a theophany touched the hollow of his thigh changed his name to israel you're not going to be a deceiver anymore you didn't try to finagle your way out of this you gotta hold i'm gonna change your name to israel you're a prince now the people are still called by that name all of these years later because of the strength that came from the struggle of one man that said i've got to have a touch from god so the next day they get ready to meet esau and this is interesting this is something i saw this week i never had seen before it communicated even to the family the level of priority and importance that jacob put on his family now we know that jacob had 12 sons and we know that those 12 sons came from his wives but it wasn't just leah and rachel there were also sons that he had from their handmaids as was the custom of that day there would be multiple sons and of course there were the ladies the wives in this case he had two wives and and they had handmaids so there were there were sons of the handmaids they were sons of leah and there was one son from rachel well he lines them all up and as they gonna go and approach esau he didn't know if esau is still mad esau was like very wealthy very affluent very uh he was a leader he had servants and cattle and he had his own army his own militia and jacob was never a match for his twin in a physical realm and he knew that and this is why he fought with god all night to make sure there was going to be that covering on his life when he met his brother again they've been separated for years and so when they get ready to go as is jacob's strategic mind he places his family in importance and he takes the handmaids and their sons and puts them in the front i guess they were the most expendable he sends them forward first and then second in line comes leah and her son's second level of importance and then finally the third group that goes forward is rachel and joseph because if esau is still mad maybe he can take his anger out on the handmaids and their sons and if it's lingering he may take out lee in them but i'm not putting joseph out front and rachel my beloved they gonna be in the back of the line because maybe his anger will be appeased by them but what happens we know what happens esau says your land is my land is your lane this is like you know a reunion he loves them god had already gone before you know in our minds sometimes we can make something to be a big dilemma but god said i've already gone ahead of you and taken care of it you're in strategy mode you're in self-preservation mode you're trying to make sure you've thought it all through and god has already gone ahead oh i feel like telling somebody today that that dilemma that that obstacle that you see out there that you think is lingering oh my friend when you got a hold of god the night before god already had made a way he'd already turned the heart of that person he's already at work you don't have to live in fear god's got your back god's gonna make a way where there seems to be no way he can change the heart of your employer he can change the heart of your neighbor a family member it doesn't matter who it is god is at work and so this order of importance was not lost on the family all the other brothers saw it they knew that he loved joseph moore they knew that he and rachel coming up the back meant that they were the prized family members nothing had to be said it was obvious and if that wasn't clear then after they live in peace and prosperity and god blesses them he gives joseph a coat of many colors now back then a coat that had many colors was a coat that was very expensive because every color had to go through a different dye process and all of that was an expense and so the more colors you had in your garment the more expensive that garment was and jacob didn't get one of these coats for every son that he had he got it for one son joseph and joseph wore it proudly do you guys see this coat you know dad got it for me yes we know little pipsqueak boy when we get you away from dead we'll squish you like a grape you could just see them just talking to each other and just now here he comes and if that wasn't enough then joseph would show up at the dinner table and tell him all about dreams that he had had in his coat of many colors hey you guys i had a dream last night who cares no i want to tell you about it i had a dream and there was this really bright star and all the other stars all bowed down to that really bright star joseph joseph joseph the brothers the jealousy just kept growing and it became anger they knew what he was saying he was saying that one day all of his other brothers would bow down to him you really think you're something dad loves you more than us we know that but that's not enough you're going to rub it in our face oh man and so when he was 17 years old his brothers were out attending the herds and he had and his dad sent him out there to be with the brothers and he had to go find him and they said no they're not here they've moved they're in total and he had to ask around finally he got to where they were at they were way over there and the bible said they see the brother seen him coming a long ways off and they said oh here comes the dreamer boy you ain't got daddy out here to protect you now oh isn't that something he wore his coat out here to meet us to rub it in again and the bible said as they watched him afar off they plotted to kill him when he gets up here we're going to take him out we ain't got to worry about this guy no more because daddy ain't here to save him and i've had about all him i can handle and the brothers all plotted to kill him but reuben the oldest one said no no no no let's not do that let's not do that let let let's just take him in and just put him down here in this in this pit the bible said there's no water in it so it was an old well that had dried up let's just put him down in this vacant well and we'll just we'll just hold him for a little while he was just trying to appease the anger of his brothers i mean we're getting ready to eat anyhow we're getting ready to break bread that was about time for lunch and and let let's just put him in the pit and i'll just teach him a lesson that'll humble him so the brothers were like yeah that's fine so they caught him oh come here joseph oh we love you oh and that beautiful they ripped his coat off and then they like arrested one he couldn't overcome they were all stronger and him older than him they outnumbered him put him down in the bottom of the well and then they all sat down to eat lunch reuben had to go take care of some herds so he was out of the way for a little bit and so after reuben was gone they all started saying now here's what we're going to do kill him he's gonna die a slow death and then we're gonna take and put blood on his garment and take it back to dad until dad some wild beasts overtook him and while they're plotting and killing them there's a band of ishmael lights that are on their way to egypt to sell their spices and ointments and they're coming down the road and judah one of the other brothers interesting because judah means praise judah says wait just a second let's not kill him there's no profit in that what if we just sold him to these ishmaelites we'll make money they can take him as a slave into egypt we'll never see him again and we'll tell dad that he died but then his blood won't be on our hands it's it it will make money it's the perfect solution we'll never hear from him again he'll be gone and we'll make some money we'll tell dad you know the same thing you all came up with so reuben wasn't there they listened to judah judah did that to spare his life also and so they did that they came to the israelites they bring him up on the well here he is a strong young 17 year old boy they're like yeah we'll give you 20 shekels they're like soul they taking behind his hands put him in the back of the caravan they make their way on down and joseph sitting on that back of the caravan with his legs hanging off the back looks at those faces of his brother betrayed by his own family and their faces and the looks are seared into his memory as a 17-year-old boy and he goes down the trail all he had known was the love of his mother and father all he had known was the careful embrace of his savior that was given him dreams and visions as a young man but early on he learns the pain of betrayal the pain of resistance and it's in his spirit in his heart how are you going to react now joseph you're going to get a victim mentality here's what's interesting about this story they do they take the garment back to the dead they're like we don't know we came across this garment they put on their best acting deal we don't know if it's joseph's or not but it looks like it was that one you bought for him and there's blood and his dad just crying because he loved joseph and they all tried to console him the family the daughter everybody tried he was inconsolable because he loved joseph so much and he's like i'll go to the grape where they might kill him and they look at all of that and the brothers are just reaffirmed in their position that they they see how much their dad grieves over him and it just bothers him because they don't feel the love like he had for the brother but over time jacob has to turn loose because he just knows that joseph is dead some things that you think are a dead end street god is working on the other side oh i feel the holy ghost in this place and even though he had been betrayed by his brothers even though he had been sold into slavery god was still at work because joseph at 17 years old begins to experience resistance the pain the struggle of betrayal but when he gets to egypt and they put him up on the auction block and they're selling him into slavery he is purchased by potiphar potiphar is the captain of the guard of all of egypt's armies egypt is the most powerful nation in the world at that time they have the biggest army navy military in the world and potiphar is in charge of the military and he's down there i could use an extra hand at the house i wonder who thousands of people being put up on the auction block but god directs him to a 17 year old boy puts something in his heart that says i'll buy him right away joseph sees that when one door closes god opens another door the adversity of his brother did not break him and my friend what does not break you will make you sometimes you hurt because someone close to you scarred you so deeply a family member a spouse a son or a daughter it hurts so bad you're not sure you can go on but you do and god gives you an opportunity in the wake of that hurt to go to the next level oh my friends sometimes you have to suffer hurt to be able to grow they're just growing pains but god still got your back god's still making a way where there is no way god is still going ahead hallelujah oh joseph what are you gonna do you're gonna have a bad attitude from here on out or you're going to learn that there's strength in the struggle there's strength in the resistance later on many years later when he's reunited with his brothers and they're fearful for their life because then fast forwarding now many years later when he's now vice president of egypt he's in charge of all the corn being sold the whole world is in a seven year famine and they don't know him but he knows them he sees his brothers they come and kneel down just as his dream had told him they kneel down before him because they have to go before joseph to get permission to buy grain to bring back to their dad and bring to their families so they can survive and it's only egypt now that has the storehouse because only egypt had a joseph oh my friend don't you know that god hallelujah is gonna bless a society a culture and a country where the church hallelujah can rise up and say this is what thus saith the lord he reveals himself to them he knew them because their faces had been when they got pulled away from that caravan and he watched their faces he knew many years later they don't know him but he knows them and they all bow down before him to ask for permission for food he has to remove himself he's crying all the hurt and the pain comes flooding back all of the emotions but when he finally reveals himself to him he says you meant it for evil but god meant it for good ladies and gentlemen there's something about pain that produces purpose and passion hurt is the fertile ground for healing and it provides help for many others even jesus was betrayed by his good friend judas but that betrayal led to the crucifixion and that crucifixion provided salvation of mankind oh my friend what you may be going through it may not even be for your own personal strength you're going through a test but it's going to give you a testimony and that testimony is not going to just give you victory it's going to give victory to a lot of other people it's going to give victory to your friends it's going to give victory to your family i know it wasn't easy to go through but god sent you ahead to prepare a way proverbs drives at home with this short statement in the 24th chapter and the 10th verse if thou faint in the day of adversity thy strength is small we know that statement is true so the counterpoint is also true if you rise up in the day of adversity your strength is great it may be the loss of a relationship it may be a report from a doctor it may be the hand of fate but make no mistake about it my friend adversity is born in the furnace of affliction but i rise today to remind you that in the furnace of affliction that's the place where god calls his chosen people isaiah 48 10 behold i have refined thee but not with silver i have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction he said it's in the furnace of affliction that i looked down and said i can use her for my kingdom i can use him for my kingdom if you'd have never gone through the struggle you'd never been able to catch the eye of heaven and god said i need him or her for my kingdom if you had never gone through the pain and the betrayal you'd never got the strength that you needed to rise up and to say i can be victorious oh my friend that betrayal that affliction that resistance it was there for your own good because it was there where god finds his chosen ones [Applause] after the furnace of affliction comes the tempering of trials joseph made the most of his opportunity he could have got a bad attitude and i got to go work i wasn't made for this i'm going home with my dad i'm used to the comforts of my father's love and now i'm working as a slave he could have had a bad attitude but he didn't in the midst of adversity he rose up he didn't just survive he thrived he made the most he worked day and night before long he worked his way up to being the master of potiphar's house he was in charge of all the other servants so much so that everybody admired him including potiphar's wife who sees this young strapping man this man with leadership abilities and qualities and she has a husband who's on the road all the time running around fighting armies he's gone and she looks at joseph and says i want you big boy is like what is up with this woman he's trying to avoid awkward situations and working his way around and trying not to be in the same room but she keeps getting closer and closer and she's not used to being told no she's potiphar's wife everybody says yes to miss potiphar she finally grabs joseph and he once again loses his coat leaves it with her and flees runs some things you gotta just get away from some people say well i think i'll teach her a bible study you need to let somebody else teach her a bible study joseph could have said now let's sit down and study together let me tell you why i can't do this there's some things you got to just get out of dodge you got to just leave the environment you stand around and try to spiritualize a fleshly situation you got to just flee and joseph said i can't do this sin against my god and she went to him again and tried to get a hold of him tried to convince him and she and he said no but she said i'm gonna make you pay for that i'm not used to rejection boy you're gonna pay young man you're gonna see and when potiphar comes back she makes up this big story that joseph tried to rape her and and and lie with her and all this stuff and potiphar's mad and jealousy and i put everything in charge i gave you everything you try to take advantage of my wife my he throws him into prison all joseph was trying to do he told potiphar's wife i can't do this sin against god sometimes you're just trying to do the right thing and it seems like everything's being thrown at you but ladies and gentlemen it was the trials of joseph that prepared him for the palace every trial makes the resistance stronger and sometimes you'll even begin to question yourself and it's not enough that it's just the furnace of affliction by now it seems like it's a pile on situation it's the the tempering of trials we read about it in genesis 25 21 because even if we go back to jacob's mother who also was barren and bible says that isaac her husband entreated or got a hold of god for his wife because she was barren and the lord was entreated of him and rebecca his wife conceived so now rebecca who can't have children she conceives and she has children but this is something different she's talked to her friends and in her time of preparation is different than everybody else there's a struggle there's a fight going inside of her they don't have sonogram they she don't know that she's got twins she went from having a barren womb to having twins that's how god works he said i'll give you a double for your trouble god hallelujah when he can make a way he doesn't just level the playing field he puts on blessings on top of blessings but because you can't see you don't know she's like there's something wrong with me i there's a fight going on i talked to my friends my neighbors and they never had this something's not writing me and and the bible said and she started talking to god in genesis 25 and 22 and the children struggled within her and she said if it be so why am i thus what why am i going through all of this it wasn't enough that i was barren and now when i finally have kids i've got a pregnancy unlike all of my friends there's a struggle there's a fight there's constant turmoil and she went to inquire of the lord and here's what the lord told her verse 23 two nations are in thy womb and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels and the one people shall be stronger than the other people and the elder shall serve the younger you wonder why you're dealing with an internal conflict can i tell you why because the devil wants you the devil sees the hand of god is upon your life the devil wants to steal your future the devil wants to steal your destiny he wants to take every virtue out of your body every shred of decency and destroy you on the heap and the pile of buried burned destroyed lives but god said not so fast devil and god is fighting for you too and you feel that internal conflict that doesn't mean that god is not present that doesn't mean that your promise is aborted that means that there's life in you oh rebecca this is not going to be a still birth these are not calm waters if that was that would be danger but no what you feel is life what you feel is a struggle that's the evidence of the miracle of god in you oh my friend you wonder why you feel the struggle and the pain you won't tell you why because god's got something special for you god's got a double blessing for you there is a fight for your soul but you're going to come through the struggle you're going to come through the resistance and you're going to be stronger and you're going to have a test and the testimony is going to come [Applause] [Music] the promises of god do not come to fruition without a struggle they're born in the trial the resistance is not an indication that god is absent it's proof that the promise of god has come into life the struggle is evidence of the miracle the prison is the path to the promise oh joseph now you're thrown into prison it's not enough you were sold into slavery but now you're thrown into prison but joseph the dream does not die in the dark dungeons of potiphar's prison it's just the promise getting in position that dream that was born in you at a young age you don't see the path but you got to go through the prison before you can get to the palace if joseph is never thrown into the prison he never gets in the position in the palace to be the savior that god sent him ahead to be if joseph falls into the temptation of potiphar's wife he never goes to prison he never gets in the position oh my friend the struggle the betrayal the prison it was just to get you into position for the miraculous it's the resistance but that's where the strength is going to come from that's where god's gonna begin to work if you've never gone through that trial you'd never be where you are now oh that's why joseph says to his brothers you meant it for evil but god did it for good there is a process to get to the fruition of the promise and many times that process involves a prison it involves resistance the challenge was given to america by its president the time john f kennedy to put a man on the moon and to get him back to earth in 1961 the dream is born from that date forward 400 000 people had 21 000 organizations begin to work to make the dream come true but on january 27 1967 apollo 1 the very first of 17 missions apollo 1 catches on fire just 40 miles up the road on the launch pad during a training mission and burns killing all three astronauts in that oxygen-rich environment before they can get the hatch off they burn to death and i flash fire inside that capsule the furnace of affliction the dream that is born put a man on the moon has to go through the furnace of affliction what are you going to do america you're going to give up now america says no to honor these astronauts we're going to go forward they gave their life for a cause bigger than themselves but then as they go forward it's not without the tempering of trials they nearly lose three more astronauts on apollo 13 but a nation and even a world comes together and begins to pray after there's an unexpected explosion in the command modules engineers are working around the clock trying to figure out how to get them home as oxygen is slipping away from the spacecraft because there was an explosion in the o2 oxygen tank jerry bostic the flight controller of the mission thunders from the control room when the engineers wanted to give up and mission control had done all they could and every filter that was made and boxes that were made out of duct tape and cardboard and flight manuals and everything to try to figure out how to get them home we can't lose anybody else they're exasperated they're working day and night without sleep and they don't know what to do and they just about ready to give up and jerry bostic thunders his voice out of the control room and says failure is not an option we may have had an unexpected explosion in the oxygen tank of human beings in the last two years through a virus called covet 19 but i rise today to remind you that for the church failure is not an option failure is not an option ladies and gentlemen the church was not designed to fail it was born in the furnace of affliction it has been tempered by trials much bigger than coven and god is telling his church it's time to push through the pushback it's time to lean into the wind it's time to not just survive but to take this opportunity to thrive because ladies and gentlemen there's a revival in the resistance [Music] [Applause] after the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand men besides women and children jesus tells his disciples to get in the boat and go to the other side of the sea that's the sea of galilee jesus not on the boat this time goes up in the mountains and prays and stays behind and the disciples were going across the sea in matthew 14 as the story is told to us the bible says that they encounter a contrary wind the wind was needed they were fishermen they knew how to harness the wind and to put the sails out and the fullness of the wind would push them across that sea but this was a contrary wind this was a wind that they could not get a hold up it blew this way in that way and coming behind and in front it was contrary it didn't have a systematic approach it was all over the place and they didn't though a professional fisherman they didn't know what to do with this thing it was all over the place in the sea and the tempest and the waves then the bible says that jesus comes walking on the water in the fourth watch which means it was between three am and 6 a.m fear grips the heart of these professional fishermen if the contrary wind was not enough now when they see jesus they think they've seen a ghost and they cry out hardened fishermen with calloused hands and rugged lives they cry out the bible says for fear they think they see in a ghost this must be it this must be what you encounter when you're about to die they see jesus but they don't recognize him they they think it's just a ghost they had to learn a valuable lesson and here's the value wins bring the miraculous it's the contrary winds i love the imagery here because jesus comes walking on the water that's why they thought it was a ghost because they never seen nobody else walk on water this man's walking on the water he's not just walking on still water he's walking on troubled waters with a contrary wind i love the imagery of that even if you look at mary magdalene when she gets to the tomb that stone that was in front of the tomb the bible said it was rolled away that thing that had separated jesus from his followers that thing that appeared to seal his death was rolled away and the bible said the angel was sitting on top of the stone oh my friend the bible said heaven is his throne and earth is his footstool it doesn't matter what's happening on this earth god's in charge of it all i say god has got his foot on it god's not surprised by anything in your life god's not surprised by anything that this earth just faces i've come to remind you that god's got his foot on it we may be facing contrary winds i rise today to remind you that this is just the season that jesus is going to come walking on the water now i love what he says to his disciples the first thing he says to him is be of good cheer the second thing he says is it is i and the third thing that he says is be not afraid so let's examine those three things the three four minutes that we have first of all be of good cheer i love that that's the same thing paul told all his fellow sailors in acts 27 when they were in the storm be of good cheer say what we're in a storm we're gonna die be of good cheer here's the principle rejoice in the resistance everybody else would react by ringing their hands for those of us that know what it is to be filled with his spirit gonna rejoice in the resistance that's what peter and john did after they beat him and flayed their backs with the cat of nine tails and told him don't you ever preach they all went back and gathered with their little fellow brothers and sisters in the house and had their little church there and they counted themselves blessed that they were worthy to suffer shame for his name they couldn't steal their joy oh my friend hell's never so weak as when they can't steal your joy though you've gone through some resistance and some betrayal and the furnace of affliction and contrary with you still gotta praise in your mouth you still gotta shout in your heart you still rise up to say this is the day that the lord hath made i will rejoice and be glad in it why i'm gonna rejoice in the resistance come on apostolic pentecostals it's in time to of the struggle i still got hands that i can raise i still got a voice that i can lift i still got ability to say god you are the mighty god second thing he says it is i because not only are we to rejoice in the resistance we are to get a revelation in the resistance it is i oh my friend do you realize who your savior is he's not some puny god it is i i think god's trying to tell us all that right now it is i i know the doctor's report is bad but it is high i know the betrayal and the pain hurts but it is high i know the report is not good but it is i i know you can't explain what you're going through but it is i you got to get a revelation that jesus is the mighty god in christ he's the everlasting father he's the lamb slain from the foundation of the world he's the wonderful counselor he's the prince of peace it is i it is i you got to get a revelation you're not going through this storm by yourself jesus is on your side and jesus is on top of the water [Applause] and then finally be not afraid because there's reassurance in the resistance be not afraid be not afraid joseph be not afraid it wasn't long and joseph now rises to the point where he's in charge of all the other prisoners it doesn't matter where you put this guy he rises to the top because we're sin abounds grace does much more of that he was an old testament type of christ it don't matter what you put them through they're going to come up to the top of the water and like a bobber it don't matter how high the seas get or how much the waves thunder there's still god walking on the water he's still going to rise up to the top he's in charge of all the other prisoners the hand of god is not absent in adversity it is revealed in resistance it becomes clear in the contrary environments resistance brings reward resistance you think all them people flying across the line first in those olympic races you think they're standing there with gold medals around their neck because they just rolled out a bed and put on some fancy sneakers don't you know they got out of bed thousands of times while it was still dark when they didn't feel like it and they got out there and went through the trials and went through the temptations and sometimes in adverse weather they ran and ran and ran and ran and their stomach is hurting and their side is crying out but they push through the resistance why because you get stronger here's the resistance one day he's gonna say to you and i well done now good and faithful servant and you're gonna walk on streets of gold but i come today to tell you it's not going to be without a struggle you're going to have a struggle you're going to go through pain and heartache but oh my friend god's going to have a people and there is a reward that's going to come from the resistance [Applause] a couple more trials joseph has sent to the palace to interpret someone else's dream and by doing that his dream comes true because sometimes you have to invest in someone else's dream before your own dream will come to pass that's why the bible says rejoice with them that rejoice well i can rejoice with her i've been warned the same thing all my life seemed like she just stumbles into blessings why don't you go ahead and rejoice with her because it may be god's watching you and if you can rejoice with someone else's dream he'll bring your dream to pass my god that's a word for somebody right now you're gonna die of jealousy or are you gonna step up what would happen if joseph's brothers would have just bought into his dream they wouldn't have spent all those years dealing with the pain of betraying their father the hurt they saw him every day and the weight that he carried wasn't just him they had to carry the weight to the pain of the heartache they couldn't buy him in somebody else's dream what are you going to do joseph you're going to get up there and say well i'll tell you the interpretation of your dream but first i want to know what you're going to do for me would have never happened payroll here's what it means there's going to be seven years of famine but before that there's going to be seven years of plenty here's what it means when the seven skinny cows came up out of the nile river and ate the seven fat cows famine is going to overtake us but for seven years there's going to be plenty so here's what you do you store up for while there's seven years of plenty because when we go through the famine the storehouses of egypt will not only bless this nation but they'll come from every other nation they'll come to our storehouses pharaoh says and i'm putting you in charge of it all season that is coming upon egypt and the rest of the world will bring them to their knees but it's a man with a relationship with god a man that has been tested by trials forged in the furnace of affliction that can lead them through seven years of famine ladies and gentlemen the season that we are in is not the season for the church to die or to shrink back this is the day that the lord hath made he has brought us to the kingdom for such a time as this this is the season for the church to come forth not to retreat not to live in fear this is our moment this is time for us to lean into the wind people are going to come from all over the world saying what does this mean in the church that's got to rise up and say let me tell you about a man named jesus he can walk on the water he can turn the stones into bread he's a god that can do anything at any time he can heal your body he can deliver you from sin and addiction oh my friend it's the church hallelujah that's gonna rise up at this moment because victory is our business victory is our business in the wake of pearl harbor the president at that time franklin delano roosevelt addressed the nation with the famous declaration that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself his emulation of confidence in the final outcome permeated everything that we did as a nation at that time general motors was one of those companies that went from standing still in the area of war munitions to converting almost 90 percent of its 41 operating divisions into making a war machine that could compete with germany and all of its futuristic planes jets tanks cutting edge technology general motors they start working around the clock their war product sales shot from 406 million in 1941 to 3.5 billion in 1943. they started building trucks and tanks for the army growing fighter torpedo planes for the navy they made 546 avengers and 5 920 wildcats before the war was over in addition to what they were making for sales in this nation they built 20 380 trucks for allied nations and when it was all said and done they built and manufactured ten percent of everything america made during the war was made by one company called general motors how did they do it they harnessed the american workforce with a slogan that hung in every factory those four words victory is our business victory is our business a great generation of hard hard-working americans brought victory once again to our nation through the sheer determination that failure was not an option now here we are ladies and gentlemen in 2021 we are not nasa and we are not general motors we are something greater we are the church of the living god and victory is our business not because of who we are but because of who he is revelation 12 11 says and they overcame him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony it was a combined effort it's the blood of the lamb that gives us forgiveness of sins but it's also human beings going through trials and tests and adversity and resistance that gets a testimony and they overcame him who's him that's the enemy that's the devil by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony they got up every day and said i've been through persecution but i'm still standing because victory is our business and i'm gonna come through this and when i do i'm gonna have a praise in my mouth on church what are we going to do they love not their own lives unto the death you say pastor that all sounds great but i don't even feel like i can conquer my own addictions much less change the world you may be right but if you choose to serve god if you choose to give your heart to a cause that's bigger than yourself you're in the business of victory because that's the business that jesus is in need i remind you today that he's never lost one battle the bible says that jesus conquered death hell and the grave where sin abounds grace does much more abound you're on the winning side and if jesus is for you who can be against you who can be against you as i close you can stand to your feet in our text from the book of romans paul says i am persuaded he didn't say he hoped for the best he didn't say he was praying for a favorable outcome he said i am persuaded i'm convinced nothing can separate us from the love of god he was convinced of victory the condition was not in his ability the confidence was not in the environment was pleasant [Music] without conflict in fact it was quite the opposite his confidence was in a savior that would not allow anything to come between him in his people not even our own mistakes no height no power no principality nothing present or anything to come can separate me from the love of god not even our own fear perhaps the greatest battle that joseph faced is when his brothers came before him and asked for food not knowing it was their brother they had sold in slavery they didn't recognize him but he knew them he was just a 17 year old boy they sold him into slavery what are you going to do now joseph you're going to forgive you're going to trust again or will you remain a hostage to the hurt it was a bigger battle than the prison it was a bigger battle than potiphar's house but sometimes when you don't have any choices it's an easy decision to make but he's got a choice now but you're gonna do joseph within your power to do whatever you wanna do he says to his brothers i'm joseph your brother never lost his identity [Music] just to remind him he says who you sold into egypt [Music] but then it's clear joseph said god sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on this earth to save your lives even though he's in this powerful position joseph sees that it's not about him he was just an instrument that god used to preserve his family god sent me ahead to preserve you and dad and mom in your families so then it was not you who sent me here he tells him you got to forgive yourself don't beat up yourself it wasn't you that did it but it was god and then he says something that blows my mind he says to his brothers he made me god made me father to pharaoh not like a son he made me father to pharaoh he recognized that in the spirit realm god had positioned him above the most powerful man in the world do you realize where god is trying to position this church in 2020 what not even subject to nations but in a place where god speaks to his people and his people give direction to the world oh you think i'm just making this up you'll never be a part of it then but if you can get a revelation good god jesus [Music] [Music] i am gone i am greater than all i am in the heavens i rule from on high i am not subject to man i am not subject to nations i am not subject to sickness i am not subject to death i am above all i reign from on high do you not look unto me do not look around but look to me because i'm god yes because i'm above your below i'm above your belongs yes i'm above your beloved look to me because i rule you don't they don't i do jesus [Applause] [Music] [Applause] ah [Music] jesus [Music] jesus something powerful is taking place right now in the spirit world there's a transformation that's taken there's a shift in the spirit realm right now somebody's going to get out of the boat and walk toward jesus and put your eyes on the storm put your eyes on the savior somebody's going to come close he doesn't distance himself in the contrary he beckons unto you come [Music] come unto me [Music] some trust in chariots and horses but we shall remember the name [Music] come on [Music] jesus [Music] yes jesus in the name of jesus [Applause] [Music] oh yes [Applause] when i am yes [Music] i have this [Music] confidence because [Music] i trust the power of the world [Music] i i will not feel [Music] declaring victory

Channel: Eastwind Pentecostal Church of Palm Bay, Florida

Views: 439

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: first, pentecostal, apostolic, sermon, pastor, david, myers, palm bay, melbourne, brevard, county, florida, upci, upc, bishop, j., e., jackson, ellis, Eastwind, Eastwind church

Id: 7zB4bl_EwQ4

Length: 66min 52sec (4012 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 20 2021