20190406 | From Ridicule to Revival | Pastor John Lomacang (tvsdac)

bow your heads with me as i pray loving father this morning we thank you that in the midst of life's storms that there is still jesus this morning lord as we open our hearts and as we open your word we pray that your holy spirit will come and speak to our needs that we may be encouraged and strengthened and nourished that whatever discouragement might try to grip us will find our anchor in christ and i pray that you'll take me as your servant use my heart my mind and my lips and may all the courage and glory and honor be given only to you in jesus name i pray amen the scripture reading this morning is luke 8 53 a short short but powerful verse let's turn in our bibles to luke 8 and verse 53 and if you don't have it it will be on the screen it is so short i'd like you to read it with me are you ready let's read it together luke chapter 8 verse 15 the bible says and they ridiculed him knowing that she was dead matthew mark and luke repositions the spotlight on jesus after what seemed to be an intentional act on his part not to respond to the request of the synagogue ruler by the name of jairus we find that request in the book of luke chapter 8 and verse 41 and i read as we follow along the word of god behold there came a man named jairus he was a ruler of the synagogue and he fell down at jesus's feet and begged him to come to his house for he had an only daughter about how old 12 years of age and she was dying but as he went the multitudes thronged him you know time is a great teacher and i've learned that as i get older and i'm getting older if you're getting older you could say amen to that too we're all getting older that that clock is not slowing down but time is a great teacher and i've learned as i get older that that when i look back on where i was and i look at those moments that came into my life that seemed to be moments that were interrupted by delay that means my prayer wasn't answered when i prayed it it wasn't answered immediately it wasn't answered within a month or maybe a couple of months or maybe six months but it eventually became clear as to what god's purpose behind the delay was and i learned i learned in a very real way ramona that what seems to be a delay for us is not really a delay for god because everything that happens happens within the time frame and the context of god's timing it always happens according to god's plan for example a person may be praying for a job and they may say lord i need a job in west frankfort in this particular field but the company is not even open yet and so the company opens and i remember praying a prayer in california when i received an invitation to be the pastor in the fairfield seventh-day adventist church i prayed lord i don't really want to pastor another church i just want to go right into evangelism i really don't want to go that route after my experiences with people that could be sometimes unruly and cantankerous and unkind i said i don't really want to pastor another church i just want to go ahead and go into evangelism i just want to preach and leave and i remember sitting there at a little ice cream shop anybody know what i'm talking about sometimes you just want to hide sometimes you just don't want to deal with the stresses of life and i remember sitting at that little diner between the church that i was invited to pastor and the church that i was pastoring and i was smack dab in the middle in a small town called isleton my wife and i stopped after the church interviewed us and we sat down and i ordered an ice cream sundae and i was sour i was miserable because the interview went so well the church said when could you come and i said to my wife i don't want to go i don't i'm done with pastoring churches and so she said to me so now you're telling god what you're going to do i said no i'm not telling god what i want to do but i'm just not going to pass to that church she said have you asked him if that's the church he wants you to pass i said no i just don't i'm done after what we went through i'm done so i just ate my ice cream sundae and i just humbled myself and said okay lord so i prayed this impossible prayer but i've learned that there are no prayers that are impossible to god and i said okay lord because now what had happened was i was interviewed by amazing facts and i was already hired and the conditions were as soon as we come to california you can join us and become one of our evangelists and i was so excited i said no no more no more headaches no more mean folk that get mad because i take a stand for what's right no more people running away because pastor said do this or don't do that i'm just done with that but i said okay lord if you want me to pastor this church stop amazing facts from coming to california because i knew that they had already picked the place they were moving in a couple of months they said it's just a couple of months before we're there we already found property and they told me where because i said this is a prayer god ain't going to answer because they're already coming that was i prayed a prayer to set myself up to not go to that church you know what i got a call on monday morning from pastor doug batzler you know what he said and i quote something happened and the property deal fell through and it's going to be a couple of years before we even get to reconsider whether or not we're coming to california and i said god you know that that was not fair that was just not right and the lord said anything else you ever been there you prayed that kind of prayer god interrupt what is about to happen i don't want that and he said now what else you gonna ask me i went to that church and i want to tell you that church restored my joy of pastoring that and i say this and no i don't i don't i don't intend to be mean but that church restored my joy of evangelism baptizing of going out in the community it was a city church it was the only one in the town of 153 000 people and it was jam-packed every sabbath we had music we had we had a band we had a huge choir we had all kinds of ministries he had full-time counselors on staff that church thrived we dealt with every issue that was hindering the church from growing and the church is so full if you didn't come by sabbath school's end there was no place to sit and it was in the midst of that thriving church that god called me to come to 3abn but he did it by calling me to go to saint louis first and i prayed the prayer again so st louis called me they said we have a church in st louis we'd like you to consider pastoring and i said no and they called me again and i said bonnie no and they called me again the ministerial director he said i said no not at this time i mean i wasn't rude i wasn't like no but that's what i thought of my mind you know young people say no and then the president called and said please do not say no until you at least come out and see what we have in mind i thought okay free trip to st louis whatever so my wife and i went to st louis sat down with the church got an interview and once again when could you come and they showed us the house that we were supposed to move in little dinky looked like an altered garage it just looked like something that i wouldn't even consider inviting somebody to live in and i thought that's the reason i ain't coming that house the steps are too short my feet had to turn sideways and walk down the steps the master bathroom i had to walk in sideways and it was a small sink that i couldn't even lean forward because the wall was right behind me i had to go like this to brush i thought i envisioned the whole thing i said i am not coming for this reason but god was saying you hardheaded aren't you so somebody sitting on somebody had come to fairfield church about a year and a half earlier and he was on the executive committee for the iowa missouri conference and i didn't know how it happened until i got the call one sunday evening we were in um down in concord california or having some indian food and um i said angie i am not going i am we are not moving in that house we have a nice house in california did you see that house we are not moving in that house i got a call from a good friend of mine who's the ministerial director and he said john are you sitting down i said i'm at a restaurant i'm sitting down he said you would not believe what just happened i said what just happened he said somebody on the executive committee made a motion that they put aside 340 000 to buy you a house what he said i've never seen anything like like that i've never seen that happen before so they went ahead and picked seven houses in the greater st louis area west st louis east st louis all that they picked and so they said come on out come again and we picked seven houses but we want you to pick the one that you like and we went out to a place called wildwood beautiful out west st louis ritzy area high class and i picked the same house that they picked and i heard the lord say anything else you keep on fighting with me and i'm trying to do something in your life we went to st louis and we were there for only nine months and i said lord why would you take me from a thriving church in the north bay packed every sabbath to this and i asked lord what do you want me to do with the rest of my life two days later danny shelton called and i didn't know him like that and here we are and i sat on the edge of my bed and i said what do you want us to do with the rest of our lives two days later and now i know when i look back that god's timing and our timing are not the same you see isaiah the prophet says there is no delay and there is no haste with god isaiah 55 verse 9 god's timing and our expectations are not the same for as high for as the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways what higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts and i want to tell you now it is humbling and i say this realistically it is humbling it is humbling god had this plan for my wife and me we had this plan god had this plan he says in about 15 years and i give him all the glory and i'm telling you what it's really like your name will be a household name for my glory and don't you ever forget it's from my glory not yours your ways are not my ways your thoughts are not my thoughts so i've learned that when i pray and a prayer is not answered it's not because god don't get it it because he gets it so well that he's waiting till we get it so that his plan could become a reality paul the apostle says in galatians 6 9 let us not grow weary in doing good for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart or as the king james version if we do not faint and sometimes we faint we are living in ridicule but we don't know that god is about to take your ridicule and turn it to revival and we are fainting because we are not allowing patience as james verse one james chapter one verse four says but let's let patience have its perfect work that you may be perfectly and complete lacking nothing today my brothers and sisters we are going to learn that god's purpose is no no haste and no delay god is never late god is never ahead of the pro he's always ahead of the program but he doesn't make anything happen in your life before he knows that you are ready for it and he matures you sometimes through the trial that he will allow to interrupt your life he'll bring an interruption to remind you of what you may have forgotten that's why when the bible said in luke 8 and verse 42 the text ended when jairus invited the lord come to my house my 12 year old daughter is dying the text ended with but the multitude thronged him i want to make a point of that the insinuation is when you read the text the insinuation is this are you listening the insinuation is if the multitude didn't get in the way jesus would have answered jairus's request immediately if the multitude didn't get in the way jesus would have answered his request immediately but the multitude thronged him that means the multitude while jairus is requesting jesus come and my daughter's dying she's 12 years old she's my only child the multitude surrounded jesus and it made it look like the multitude is the reason why jairus did not get his prayer answered immediately and i could tell you very few things of as frustrating as watching someone else get their prayer answered while your request seems to be pushed aside the multitude thronged him because when you read the story from that verse from the end of verse 42 another woman enters the picture a woman that had been bleeding for 12 years remember that and when she all she wanted to do is to touch the hem of his garment and the reason why that story is inserted there is because that was the last journey jesus was taking through that region and this woman that had been bleeding for 12 years was waiting for a moment to get in touch with christ so it wasn't it wasn't it wasn't that he wanted to ignore jerish but this woman had been waiting 12 years for that moment and some people have been waiting for a moment to touch jesus and we get beside ourselves and think that our moment is more important than theirs god said i got it jairus but there's a lady been waiting for this moment for 12 years and when you read that story the woman that had been bleeding had seen jesus down by the seaside but she was bleeding so badly that she didn't even have the strength to get to him she was the kind of person that she was bleeding so badly that she come to church last and because of the stench that preceded her she would sit in the back far from the congregation and when it was out she'd leave first and having to deal with that for 12 years she saw jesus when he was at the house of one of his disciples but she couldn't make her there because they wouldn't even let her in so here she was dragging with the weakness of her life to the moment where jesus is in the crowd and she says if i could just touch the hem of his garment i'll be made whole and the multitude got in her way too but you know what there are times when you don't care about the multitude you'll do everything you can to get in touch with christ in spite of the crowd that seems to prevent you from your blessing she got our blessing but when you read the story to add to the frustration in jairus's life verse 41 said he didn't just ask jesus he fell down at jesus feet and begged him have you ever begged the lord before have you ever begged the lord before come on sleepy saints have you ever begged the lord before some of you come to church to become this is not saint mattress cathedral stay awake for a while don't be like peter james and john falling asleep while the lord is trying to speak to you have you ever begged the lord before lord my health my property my children i'm begging you he fell down at jesus's feet and begged him but to make matters worse not only did he beg him he was an arrogant ruler he felt that as a ruler he can tell people to do things and they'll do it immediately the lord had to break down his rulership and let him know and i'm the ruler i decide what to do and when to do it but to make matters worse jared implores jesus by saying look look lord she's my only child she's only 12. and she's dying and we recite sometimes to god our circumstances we try to paint this picture lord it's my only job this is the only car i have my house is about to be taken away i can't sell my property my children are just moving away further and further from the lord lord these are my this is my only daughter this is my only child this is my only hope and somehow we think that god is ignoring us when in fact everything happens according to god's timing there are moments in life when the best of us face the worst of life and the only one that can make a difference in our minds seem to be indifferent look at psalm 83 and verse 1. sometimes we face those moments in our lives that seem to be indifferent god seems to be indifferent he seems to be aloof he seems to be building another galaxy while our lives are falling apart but i'm going to tell you today that's not the case and there are others other than us that had the same feeling a young man by the name of asaph he's called the the psalms of asaph here in a in pro in psalm chapter 83 verse 1 we read these words when the israelites were being pursued by their enemies there was a young man that understood just like some of us those moments when god choose not to respond notice what he said in verse one he's empl he's pleading to god he says do not what do not keep silent oh god do not what hold your peace do not what be still do something you ever been there do something god i remember getting off the exit once down to marion it's about 13 years ago i was going through another difficulty in my life and while i was driving i was crying while i'm pastoring this church see you don't know the pain i go through i know what you go through because you call me but i can't call you i call on the lord my wife and i gotta sometimes get in our own position and pray and plead before the lord i was so torn up by the devil attacking my life i was getting off the exit and marion and i was crying i couldn't even see and i pulled off of the side of the road and a song came on that i never forget to this day in the waiting in the waiting while you're waiting for god to move he's still god you see when god is silent i've learned when god is silent he is still god when god chooses not to answer now he is still god when he decides when he decides not to move yet he is still god i've learned that so as i get older i want people to see my gray hair because i've been through stuff you don't get gray hair just because you're getting older you get great you get gray hair because all the stuff that kept it black is draining out of you am i am i telling the truth some of your folks like ah i can't move your hair's gonna turn gray next because we get life wears you out am i right life will wear you out and it will wear you out for god's glory so he's got to work hard on some of us like one of my preacher mentors he said god put some of us in the ministry not to save you but to save us we're pastors not because he didn't send me to save you he said this is where you need to be john so i could save you and y'all benefit while he calls me but i've learned that trials cannot cancel the promises of god but you've got to go through stuff to remember that he is god look at isaiah 43 and verse 2. look at this trials cannot cancel the blessings of god but sometimes one of the reasons why we can testify as lorraine has often testified one of the reasons why we testify is because when we go through stuff we can tell how god brought us through it isaiah 43 and verse 2 look at this got to remember this when you pass through the waters what does he say together i will be with you and through the river is what they shall not overflow you when you walk through the fire what you shall not be burned nor shall the flame scorch you amen somebody but here's the point how will we testify about the power of god unless we pass through the waters unless we bend through the rivers unless we walk through the fire we could never say i didn't get burned i didn't drown i didn't slip you got to go through stuff we don't know we got to go through stuff that's the lot of this life in this world you will have tribulation that's what jesus said and if he had it what makes us an exception to the rule you will have it but sometimes we get lacks a days ago we get docile we get inoculated to the life and we think uh whatever but i want you to know today god did not send jesus to cancel the challenges of life he didn't send jesus to prevent the grave he sent jesus so that we can come out of the grave he didn't send jesus to keep the rain from falling he says it's going to fall on the good and the bad that's life that's life that's just how it happens but sometimes all we get is the ridicule of life and we remember the dark side when things happen and then the lord brings us through we talk more about what happened than how god brought us through that's why he put us through it again he said you didn't get it the last time so we're going to go through this again so you can change your testimony until you get to the place where and everything give thanks for this is the will of god in christ jesus concerning you amen but some people complain rather than give them thanks that's why the apostle says don't think it's strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you as though some strange thing happened but rejoice to the extent that you are a partaker of his suffering so that when he is revealed he will be glad got to go through stuff if this world were heaven nothing would happen but can i say it like the new yorkers it ain't heaven this is earth it's secluded as we like to be out here in the green fields stuff happens in the green fields it happens in your green fields house in your green green fields family you might say we don't live in the city no gun violence nobody getting dry by shootings but stuff still happens that's just how it is but we must not forget that while god did not send jesus to cancel the challenges of life when jesus came the guarantee was in his introduction to the world when matthew 1 21 says call his name jesus the bible says call his name jesus for he shall save his people amen that's what he came to do and not only that matthew 1 23 call his name emmanuel meaning god with us meaning what so the question is not whether god is with us the question is whether we are with god that's the problem he said i'll never leave you no forsake you but in the moments of challenges do you forsake him do you default to complaining do you default to talking about oh you know like the song says you took a fine time to leave me lucille somebody once said if you play country music backward everything that left comes back the cat died the dog got run over your wife left you the house fell down you lost your job that's how we live sometimes even as christians how would we expect somebody who don't know jesus that you're sitting at work and you claim to know jesus but all you do is complain about life circumstances they say i don't want to be whatever they are and so god says you know what they haven't been cleansed yet so i got to put them through another trial so that on this time they'll come out saying god is good all the time all the time we don't get to that place but now i'm getting as i get older i don't want the storms to come but when they do come i said god kept me through the last eleven this ain't no new storm that god has not met before we've got to remember that you also have to remember as solomon wrote to everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven a bulletin every christian will face a season say that together every christian will face a season but i got some good news and this is the perfect time of the year come on seasons change you don't like the winter as well here in southern illinois if you don't like today wait it's going to be different in a few hours it could be winter spring summer or fall at any given moment in southern illinois a couple of months ago we had 71 degree weather in the next two days snow that's how it is down here life is that way everybody will face a season but praise god seasons change jairus had to face his season to understand what many of us forget let's pick up the story in verse 49 of luke chapter 8 verse 49 because remember there was an interlude between verse 42 seven verses came now we're back to the story the woman that was bleeding for 12 years she got her prayer answered and jairus is like standing on the side watching this whole thing play itself out and he's watching her healed and the crowd is saying praise the lord and the woman has given jesus hallelujahs in jerusalem but what about wait did didn't you ask him first yeah i did i think he didn't hear me i don't know what happened but she got her prayer answered but aren't you the ruler of the synagogue i thought i was evidently he don't think that everybody's excited about this healing for the woman that was bleeding for 12 years she's on her way home testifying and meanwhile at a distance this young girl is dying 12 years old this father's heart is breaking he seems like god just don't care about him and the man named jesus seemed to put him to the side and then verse 49 happens while he was still speaking someone came from the ruler someone came from the ruler of the synagogue's house saying to him your daughter is dead do not trouble the teacher mark says it why trouble the teacher any further mark 5 verse 35 in other words if jesus was going to make a difference hear me today church if jesus was going to make a difference we say and jared said he would have done so already but any opportunity for jesus to solve this problem is over because she did don't even don't even ask let's don't trouble the teacher any further he's busy with other people's stuff he don't care about my stuff i want you to know today god doesn't have to look at you to know you're there if you think he forgot you all he has to do is open his hand and his your name is inscribed on the palm of his hand what a big hand some people say i got big hands god's got big hands he's got all of our names tracy written right in there and i don't know how he does it but when he goes ramona tracy jorge gary he just opens his hands and glory be to god our names show up right robert e our names are show up because god is that kind of god what a connection i think about when you think about that the problem is too great and god has forgotten can i borrow a phrase from jeremiah the prophet today jeremiah 32 27 when you think that it's too late and your problem is no longer solvable and any chance of reversing what's happening is past remember what jeremiah the prophet says behold i am the lord the god of all flesh is there anything too hard for me and what's the answer no i know see i'm not talking this i'm beyond theory i'm talking about experience if i spent the next two hours just telling you how god has stepped into my wife and i's life and saved us from stuff just recently in the philippines we left the hotel on our way to the airport on our way to the airport i'm looking around the cab and i said to my wife where's your backpack and we realized she left her backpack ladies you can work see guys we're okay because this is in our wallets are small but if a woman loses her backpack or her purse her life is over because everything that identifies who she is is in that bag laptop my wife ipad wallet and everything in her wallet including you know money from all the countries we visited her identity her mother's name and her credit cards and she's in the cab ladies you can understand she's going through a conniption and we asked the cab driver is there an exit can you get up the next exit well the next exit is 11 miles and this is a different language and i'm trying to communicate see when we were at the college they spoke perfectly good perfectly good english but that's not the case with this cab driver because he can't understand me and i can't understand him so i get so frustrated that he gets frustrated and he throws me his phone and says you make the call he said you call the hotel i said i know you call your friend at the hotel and they said they couldn't find i said no i didn't call my friend i called the hotel he said no you call him and i call him it's black yeah it's black it's black leather black leather yeah it has this on it yeah it was in the it was in the lobby hold on sir and you know that seems like like nine years when they say hold on and in their language they said we've got it we found it you don't think i'm thinking what does he say and your mind is so messed up you're so stressed you can't even hear that we got it we found it what did he say would you tell me what he said we got it we found it oh okay and my wife is swallowing like she's drinking like a gallon of water and she's looking behind the window you know how you go through that stuff i want to tell you if i could just testify about how god came into my life and saved us so many times stuff left on the airplane stuff left on the curb in st louis bag left in the airport for five hours and it's still there purse left on the curb outside of the miami airport and god protected it god is watching out for his children but sometimes we don't know that that's why i love when when hezekiah thought that any chance of him being healed was past i love the story god pressed nature's breaks and put nature in reverse and the bible says god brought the shadow back 10 degrees our god can turn the sun backward if he needs to do that for us but hezekiah he turned 10 degrees backward only god can do that so i'm getting old and i'm learning stuff when it gets difficult don't call other folks i just say how bad is it it's bad it's real bad like how bad it is really really bad like how bad oh this is like the worst this is irreversible it's only irreversible if you try to reverse it but it's not irreversible when it's up to god come on say amen that's why in luke 8 and verse 50 the lord said but when jesus heard it he answered him he said to jairus saying to him do not be afraid only what believe and she will be made well you see in every challenging situation of life the question is do you still believe christians are called not members but believers not believers in something but believers in someone we've got our beliefs in something mixed up with our belief in someone it's quite different mark 9 23 jesus said to the disciples if you can believe all things are possible to him who believes you see when we know that the answer when we know that we can believe in god the answer to every dilemma is jesus right but let me put a pen in this there's quite a difference between belief in god and believing god you get that i've met people that are not christian oh i believe in god i i believe in god you believe i'm a i believe in god well you know what james says the devils believe and tremble you know what i call that i call that demonic faith the devils believe they are so convinced that god is real it makes them tremble the thought of god makes them tremble but are they converted no are the demons converted no but they believe that there is god and so for those that are atheists go where atheists don't exist in hell there are no atheists among the demons isn't that a bulletin there's not an atheistic demon on earth summer not a single atheist among the demons they know god is so real it makes them tremble so don't fall for darwin when even a we and even a demonic angel don't believe that foolishness that's why when you understand who god is you must have the testimony of the apostle paul look at this acts 27 verse 25 look at this testimony i love paul's testimony i said there's a difference but between belief in god and believing god notice what he said when the when the ocean was tough when the boat he was on was about to sink and the even the sailors and the captain lost all hope of being saved listen to what he said in the midst of the storm listen to what he said therefore take heart men for i believe in god what did he say what did he say he didn't say i believe in god he said i believe god that it will be just as it was told me when you read god's word we got to get to the place my brothers and sisters that we believe that it will be just as god said it that's why he said to us don't you add anything to the might and don't you take anything out there are those that add stuff that is not in there there are those that take out stuff that needs to stay in there he said i believe that it will be just as it was told me so the difference is not what you believe the difference is not just what you believe but the difference in every trial of life is who you believe i'm trying i'm getting to the place where thank you lord you know when you praise god for good stuff you kind of have the very same breath to say please don't send any more challenges anybody know what i'm talking about you say thank you lord for that last delivery but please make it the last delivery because you don't want to keep going through stuff you don't want to know if if if you had if you fought against a cat and you won then it was you went from a cat to a garden snake from a garden snake to a bear from a bear to a lion from a lion to goliath you say please if is it going to be bigger than goliath please don't sin it but i want to tell you no matter how big it is god is bigger than it all so in those moments of life another thing that's another caution we've got to stop placing too much weight on people when people can come through for us when we ask people to come through for us and they can't somehow we believe that god has the same problem ah man i was hoping they came through for me and in our psyche the devil plays on that it says see they let you down and in your mind you make a connection between people letting you down and god letting you down and we think well god's got the same problem but look at mark 10 27 look at mark 10 27 these words are so vitally important to us today but jesus looked at them and said what did he say what did he say with men it is impossible but not with god for with god together all things are possible all things are possible amen rosemary all things are possible how many things okay so now fit this into romans 8 28 and we know that all things work together for good to those who love god and those who are the called according to his purpose the text never said and we know all good things work together and we know all that no matter what it could be funky it could be hate it could be your family could be your friends your job all things that he allows will not cancel his agenda no matter what it is all things will work in behalf of the saints if you don't believe it remember the israelites they left egypt they got out he brought him out with a mighty hand but the egyptians pursued them and when they thought that they were about to be crushed by one of the mightiest armies in existence at the time god said they are mighty look at their chariots they got the best fighters the best horsemen they got the strongest soldiers they're coming at you but you know what here's a wall and they couldn't pass that wall no matter how they tried a wall of fire to the enemy but a wall of comfort to the saint god knows how to fight our battles that's why the next action that jesus took reveals a powerful truth let's get back to the story look at verse 51 of luke chapter eight god is always in charge i'm so glad he could sleep and still control everything and by the way the one who keeps israel does not sleep i was referring to jesus in the back of the boat in the midst of the storm look at verse 51 of luke chapter 8 this next action is a powerful truth when he came to the house that is to jairus house this is powerful he permitted no one to go on how many no one to go and accept peter james and john and the father and mother of the girl this is powerful when i read that i said lord what does that mean he said you know john the people that you invite into your space will either help you or hinder you and when it said he let no one go in except peter james and john i'm going to say this now and i'm going to reiterate it he only wanted those to go in that had a connection with him and those that were invested in the well-being of that child like a mother and a father would be like his closest allies were peter james and john fullest absolutely not but they had a connection with jesus he made sure that in this moment i don't want anybody in this room that has an attitude that this can't work and i learned in anointing services the servant of the lord said when jesus prayed for people he always put the unbelievers out of the room he said i don't want anybody in here expressing watch it let's see if this works remember the example of alan white when she was up in battle creek michigan we went to the very church where this experience happened there was a very evil doctor that thought that he could interrupt her vision because he said i know she's just faking it he said if i'm in the room and ellen white is in vision i can tell you what i could break her out of that vision so he was in the room here in battle creek we just went to the church he's standing in the back of the room and the congregation knows this doctor to be a very strong and upstanding man and they heard through the grapevine that he said he could interrupt her vision when she's envisioned and the only way in that church was through the front doors one door was where the men came in one door was where the woman came in and the doors were right behind the pulpit so when they came in they had to walk past the pulpit there were no back doors they have a back door now because of fire hazards so he's in the room and watch this ellen white is caught up in vision and they turn to dr know-it-all so you said you gonna prevent her he's trying to hide because he's about he's he's encountering what he never thought could happen so they put a piece of paper under her nose they put a mirror to see if she's breathing no breaths coming out they they touched her she has her pulses very very slow ha ha they they said doctor doctor dr mike come on up front check her out dr mike came up they made him come up checked him out checked her out found a pulse he said what is happening here is not human and he ran out of that building faster than you can light a fox on fire because he was an unbeliever in the room there was another instance where ellen white was invited to speak at a church and on the roster was a man who was living a double he thought nobody would know about his life and she's praying and as she's trying to pray her prayer got interrupted she said there's something wrong here there's some there's some wrong spirit up here and she turns to the man and says what has happened in your life that you are preventing god's prayer this morning this man stood up towering over allen white and he revealed the sin in his life and then walked out of that place and then her prayer was unhindered that's what god was doing here he was making sure that there were no unbelievers in that room only peter james and john and so don't forget this friends the people you invite into your life will either hinder your blessing or help your blessing don't invite ungodly people into your relationships and think that god is going to bless that the apostle paul in first corinthians 15 verse 33 he says do not be deceived evil company corrupts good habits you cannot create an alliance with an evil person and expect god to bless it god don't buy into that kind of white-washed righteousness he doesn't buy into that we cannot set up lord this is how it's going to be you're just going to bless me because that's what i'm asking for he ain't going to bless you he's not going to cower down and bow down to our conditions of blessing we will be blessed if what we do is right in his sight that's why the attitude the attitude of people around you will discourage you or empower you and all some people are good for is to remind you of how bad your situation is i just don't like people like that they come around instead of coming around to pray how long has it been going on been like this for how many months and they have no encouraging words all they want to do is talk about how bad your situation is and you see them coming and instead of pausing to pray that's why i at least appreciate the friends of job when they came to job in the moments of his trial you know what they did they sat down for a long time and said nothing sometimes all you got to do is be there don't feel the need to say anything just be there and when the time come to say something say let's just talk to the lord because i found that so many people have have dishonored god by trying to figure out why you go through what you go through and they've come up with reasons that are not in harmony with god's sovereignty and they sometimes say you know if you weren't living like that you wouldn't be going through that and then sometimes they say this is just a test and you've gone through the worst trial of your life and what you don't know is there was a conversation this morning between the devil and christ and the devil said give me tracy i guarantee you i'll get her to deny you and she doesn't know that this is a trial from hell god did not appoint her life to be broken but he'll put a wall between how far the devil can go in your life amen tracy we're going to be tested sometimes there's going to be conversations between hell and heaven and he say and the lord would say have you considered my servant donna berg oh donna huh you mean the one that just got a new husband that spiritual man yeah that's spiritual but watch this and he'll take you within an inch of your face and said devil that's enough praise the lord donna god will not let you go beyond what you can bear but make no mistake about it everybody's got to go through a season but seasons change look at verse 5 38 and 39 of mark chapter 5. because the story is in matthew mark and luke i chose this part because it brings out how irritating people can be when god is trying to bless us look at mark 5 verse 38 and 39 look at this it says then he came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue and he saw a turmoil and those who wept and wailed loudly what what they did back then is they paid people to cry i heard you got i'm i'll make a phone call is this the crying agency yes could you send me 16 people to cry in front of my house yes send me your good criers look i want some loud folk so the lord could understand how displeased we are since he didn't answer our prayer so a whole bunch of people file out of a van crowd all these crying people [Music] they don't know the girl they got prayed to cry so the lord says shut up cut all this noise out what's all this noise about look at the verse verse 39 when he came and he said why make this commotion and weep she's not dead she's just sleeping that's why when you look at situations to the christian death is just asleep death is just asleep my mother is resting she's just sleeping she ain't in the grave saying oh man how long is i'm gonna be in here it's gonna can't do anything she's sleeping i went to bed last night mike i didn't know what happened until this morning my wife said time to get up and my my my watch said it's 7 00 a.m i don't know what happened and i looked at my watch and you were sleeping for six hours and 55 minutes if you asked me what happened i can't tell you to the christian death is asleep amen somebody but because of jesus we have a hope of the resurrection that's why those that turn christ away they don't have hope all they look forward to is the second death a death from which there is no reprieve no reprieve whatsoever that's why luke 8 in verse 53 says this when he put him out because they were making all this noise the bible says and they ridiculed him knowing that she was dead these professional mourners say he don't know what he's talking about we we went in the house the girl's dead they all get amongst themselves we got paid to come in and cry because we know she did he don't know what he's talking about and who is he anyway that's jesus who what he's supposed to do i mean let's get real what are you supposed to do she did is this the man wait okay i know he is he's the man that ignored jairus four hours ago right thought he had time he don't got no more time she did let me say it grammatically correct he doesn't have any more time she's dead i want you to know that when death comes jesus is the resurrection and the life but i want to make a point right here this is huge the miracles of jesus are never in conflict with the truth because it would not have been a miracle will if she had not been medically dead it would not have been a miracle jim if that girl was not medically dead checked it out no pulse no breathing no respiration she's getting cold she's starting to turn blue she's dead jesus likes to step in thank you he likes to step in noelia jesus likes to step in when nobody else could do anything so what you gonna do ron good what you gonna do what you can do gary hey jay what are you gonna how are you gonna help this situation so move out the way it's my turn i love it when the lord says in my life it's my turn right pastor ryan it's my turn he steps in when it's my turn that's why this is where divinity always has the last word only jesus has the right and the power to determine how long a person is going to die amen romeo oh man my wife just ipad had a young lady that died she was declared dead my brother's wife she died she was declared medically dead for 15 minutes they unhooked all the life support some of you heard the story before 15 minutes after she was declared dead they disconnected everything 15 minutes after they took her glasses off disconnect all the tubes all the leads pull out the intravenous feeds and she was just laying there dead and they said okay the last few minutes with with her before we called the coroner 15 minutes after she died she stood up in that bed seven family members including all catholic and one of my brothers there the nurse said i've been a nurse 28 years i've never seen anybody pull this off she stood up and said these words she looked across the room at the clock without her glasses the mother said how can you see the clock your glass is not on she said i see it perfectly clear she said if everything happens according to god's plan i could be out of here in 15 minutes she said mom do you have anything against my my husband dad anything settle it now she said give me a piece of paper i want to tell you about my funeral i want pastor john i want jimmy's brother to do my funeral i don't want my funeral at the catholic church and she called the family together and prayed to my brother with tears in his eyes said but i thought that god was going to answer my prayer and she said 15 minutes after she had died she said he did answer the prayer she said god knows that if i was healed i might go right back out there and lose my salvation so she said don't worry about me this catholic young girl who didn't get a chance to be baptized she's going to be in the resurrection the first one she said to her family i'm gonna go to sleep and i'm gonna rest until jesus comes and i'll see you in the morning and she laid down and that was it so don't tell me you see god through jesus is the only one that can determine the power and the duration of death her father who did not like me he didn't like the sight of me because i was teaching her the advent message and they told her get rid of john get rid of jimmy get rid of them and come back up the hill come back up to the catholic church he said i'm not going back up that hill the devil lives up there so get rid of that man that's lying to you when he heard that situation and she said to him i want john to do my funeral when i did that funeral that man came to me and said i have never been to a funeral like that in my life you know what she said when you do my funeral at my funeral i want you to do a slide presentation on what happens when you die there i am telling all these baptists and catholics and pentecostals and presbyterians and all these people that don't know the truth of god's word telling them what happens when you die and then i said for the sake of peace let's go ahead and have a funeral up the hill just go ahead and have it up there even though they wouldn't let me sing let's just go ahead and have it for the sake of the family they had at the hill they had a funeral at the catholic church and when that funeral was done her father came to me outside of my brother's house sitting on the chair she said he said john what you did for my daughter was honorable what happened up that hill was a joke let me tell you something you stand with god he'll give you honor the glory went to him i told him of god's word so divinity at that moment divinity knows what needs to be done in order for all the challenges of life to be reversed look at mark 5 and verse 40. look what he did look what he did mark 5 and verse 40 the bible says and they ridiculed him but when he had put how many of them when he put them all outside he took the father and the mother of the child and those who were with him he will never choose those that are not with him and entered where the child was can i tell you today some of you sitting here the lord wants to change your situation but in order to change your situation there are some people in your life that he has to put out to change your life to change your situation to change your circumstances don't get upset when they disappear because to change your life there's some people that the lord said they don't need to be in your life so he's going to put anyone who's not in your life anyone in your life that is not in harmony with god's will he's going to put them all outside as my good pastor c.d brooks was resting in the lord somebody once said if i joined the adventist church what's going to happen to my friends he said don't worry about your friends they'll get rid of you don't worry about what happened to people they'll get rid of you when you do right and they don't want to do right they'll get rid of you the people that jesus chose were people that were invested in a positive outcome family and those that were with him that's why he said in luke chapter 11 verse 23 he that is not with me is where against me he who does not gather with me scatters abroad only those with jesus and this is powerful only those that were with jesus can support you when the lord removes the things in your life that have robbed you of life when you get to that place where your walk with christ is dead he's going to remove everything in your life everyone in your life that cause your spiritual walk to die so when they start disappearing don't get upset god is about to do a new thing and there's another powerful powerful truth contained in this very verse when your circumstances seem final i'm going to say that again when your circumstances seem final only jesus who did i say only jesus can restore and put breath back in your life there's some people that don't know how to read the bible they can't figure the bible seems to be a dead book to them they can't pray they have no spiritual walk they're dead if you turn to jesus and say lord bring the life back into me let me tell you my brothers and sisters he will do it he will do it but there's another powerful story here you may be so dead that you can't do anything for yourself and god's got to call the troops it's got to get people to surround you because you are so spiritually dead that he's got to call in reinforcements first himself and then people that will surround you that are invested in your well-being why because they are with him look at verse 54. every christian will face a season but seasons change look at verse 54. but when he put them all outside got rid of all the distractions when he put them all outside took her by her hand and called saying and i want to make this the way that it was he didn't say little girl get up he said little girl rise jesus don't have to scream because there's power in his voice there's power in his words remember about creation he spake and it was done he commanded and it stood fast by the word of the lord were the heavens made in all the hosts of them by the breath of his mouth he said al white and desire of ages said he said it in such a soft tone he said little girl wake up and she says those sullen frozen lips were replaced with a smile and her eyes that have been shut in finality opened and twinkled to see the face of jesus her limbs that were forever stilled moved for the first time and the mother and father was so moved because in one sweeping statement a situation that was ridiculed turned out to be revival from ridicule to revival you see the reason is what you see and what jesus envisions is not the same thing your conclusion and god's plans are not this she's dead god says that's what you think there's no more future for that person wait till i'm done i love it jeremiah i know the plans i have for you says the lord declares the lord plans to prosper you plans to give you a future and a hope i'm not going to harm you i'm going to give you a future and a hope but people look at our lives and they say there's no hope for that person look at their life look at how they live the lord says remember that question when the ezekiel when ezekiel was down on the valley of dry bones he asked the question lord can these dead bones live and the lord said and the lord said to ezekiel in answer to ezekiel's question the lord said to ezekiel can these dead bones live and ezekiel said lord only you know that you're the only one that knows that why is this sermon important to me because i have been envisioning i've been seeing the devil attack our church and i've been seeing death reigning in the lives of our young people and our older people alike i've seen them become victims of circumstance and situation and hell is ridiculing us thinking there's no chance that there will ever be a reversal but i'm here today to tell you when jesus is in the mix he can turn anything around not by program but by prayer not by new initiative but by new life not by some new program but by a breath of fresh filling from the kingdom of god and too often we think that the answer is another program we often think that the answer is another initiative we often think that we didn't do this yet so let's try that remember the disciples had the same problem they were fishing all night on the wrong side of the boat until the masses said do it this way and some of us who either experiencing or seeing it what we need to do more than anything else is we need to pray that god will get the stuff out of people's lives that are killing them and surround them with people that care about them and pray for him to restore their lives amen somebody that's why when jesus said little girl little girl you'll never see this is something else that's like you'll never see any of the miracles of jesus especially the resurrection when he gave people life when he called the dead to life he never said come back to life he always specified he said lazarus come forth little girl you know why because if he did a general call everybody would have got up he was specific see the general resurrection is coming so he said for today it's the little girl a couple of weeks from now it's going to be lazarus but i praise god that the same voice that called her to life will one day call my mother back to life but there's a deeper story it's not just about the physical resurrection but it's about the resurrection of your belief your walk with god let's finalize the story verse 55 verse 55 verse 55. then her spirit returned and she arose when immediately and the bible says the spirit returned it was not a ghost that returned it wasn't a soul that returned she was in the presence of the life-giver jesus is the resurrection and the life amen what returned it said her spirit returned her spirit returned the very spirit that jesus breathed into the nostrils of adam when he created him is the very same spirit that was given to her to bring her back to life when ezekiel was given the vision in ezekiel 37 verse 5. look at that as i wind up i'll invite someone to come i'll invite summer to come in just a moment i'm going to have her play you see we have to understand this before we let the story go because this point alone could mess up the entire story if it's unclear it was not a ghost that came back or soul that came back it was not some force waiting outside the house to return into a body no jesus is the resurrection and the life so what happened at this moment well the lord told ezekiel exactly what happened look at ezekiel chapter 37 verse 5 when he saw all of israel dead and trespasses and sin notice the promise he made thus says the lord god to these bones surely what's the next two words i will cause breath to enter into you and you shall what live look at verse nine and ten verse nine and ten also he said to me prophesied to the breath prophesy son of man and say to the breath thus said the lord god come from the four winds o breath and breath and breathe on these slain and they may live so i prophesied as he commanded and breath came into them and they lived and stood upon their feet an exceedingly great army let me make a point today and let me make a divine observation when you think that spirituality is too dead to be reversed i want to tell you god has a future for every one of us this girl 12 years old why 12 years old a number of hidden messages 12 years old 12 is the kingdom number why a little girl because this is the picture of how god looks at his children and he sees the condition amongst his children children of the kingdom 12 years old little girl you read the stories in the book of john he continually says my little children if you sin you have an advocate my little children i find no greater joy than than that you walk in truth we are the children of god amen someone he looks at us in our condition and he says it's not hopeless it seems permanent but everything that seems permanent to man is temporary to god when he is in the mix jesus is the only one the only answer to death that's claiming the spiritual life of his children jesus is the only one that can reverse a spiritually dead life jesus is the only one that can take an inactive life and give it purpose he's the only one that surrounds us with those invested in our lives but as i end there's one very powerful truth i must end with when jesus restored her life do you know tim that was only half of the miracle when he gave her life as big as it was that was only half of the miracle you know what the other half was he commanded them he commanded that she be given something to eat he said i gave her life now you feed her i gave her life but little girl you better eat this is powerful you see we are excited that we have life in jesus but you know what the problem here is in thompsonville we don't like to get together and eat we got every excuse when the table is set but you know it's not new because the jews did the same thing we are reversing we are reliving what did not benefit the jews that had the truth they had the sabbath they had the right day of worship they had dress reform they had health they had everything right but when the preacher said it's time for bible studies i got a cow that i need to take care of i just got married i got to go with my wife i bought a piece of land and you know what there's a famine coming and the bread is right here play softly for me summer the bread is right here and god is saying if she doesn't eat that life i just gave her is going to slip away from her he can give us life but our responsibility my church family i'm not a visiting pastor i've been here 15 years and maybe that's why you can't hear me because my voice is so familiar mark finley might come and you might respond to mark finley or maybe dwight hall dwight nelson or whatever but don't ignore the voice of your shepherd your undershepherd i'm saying when the word of god is going forth please do not excuse yourself from the table the bread of life and think that somehow you're going to survive the famine that's coming he said give her he commanded he didn't say well peter if you'd like to he commanded that she'd be given something to eat today what's the responsibility the life of god will never be lived out within us if we can't get the word of god from here to here he commanded that she be given something to eat father forgive me where i failed but i'm calling you when if it's me or pastor ryan or jd or shelly or pastor denzie whoever it is when the word of god is going forth do not dismiss yourself from the bread of life and think that your life will be sustained he told her that i can give you life i can revive you but if you don't eat you're going to die and the last death will be your fault not mine there's a famine coming not a famine for bread or for water but for the hearing of the word of god and the devil has got us so busy he's got us so busy that he makes bible study and eating from the word of god optional let me tell you i don't know if this is your church if this is your church to call us to hear if you're watching or listening to the program it may be in your church or your community or your your household make time in your life in your home first for the word of god if you can't eat at home you're going to die at home when you die at home a dead person can't come to church they can't come to church that's why they're falling like flies because they're dying at home the television is killing them the ipad the iphone the devices they're killing them and the word of god it ain't going to scream at you but i tell you what happened when the electricity when the electricity dies there's only one book that will never die the living word of god don't ignore my brother insisted that the famine's coming it is our responsibility while god's purpose is no no haste and no delay he puts the final outcome of our lives in our own hands i'm going to invite you today if you want to recommit your life to the lord and you want to say father yes yes you're calling me to life you're calling me to revival and i want that i need that i'm dying slowly everything about my life is pressured to make money to make it work to make life happy to get my children an education to keep my house payments up to keep my car going to keep my job it's all pressuring and the devil is saying that's right solve your own problems and forget about the life but if today you hear the lord saying i want to live out my life within you i'm the bread of life but i can't force you to eat if today you want to rededicate your life to the lord i'd like you to stand and sing this song with me the song of rededication live out thy life within me live out thy life within me oh jesus king of kings be thou thyself the answer to all my questionings and as we sing the song i'm going to have prayer at the end of this song 3 16. as we sing the song we're going to pray at the end because i believe that you may be in a moment of ridicule that brings such joy to the powers of darkness but the lord is going to say to the powers of darkness by your invitation what looks like ridicule now is revival in the making young folk leaders husbands wives children single or married wherever you are the answer is right here he can revive you he can give you life but he's not going to force feed you you got to eat [Music] just before the last stanza is there somebody here today that wants that prayer for their own lives lord revive me let me eat the only thing that can sustain me yes you've given me life but i feel it's slipping away because everything else is grabbing for my time early in the morning late at night my children my family my job my career i'm i'm trying to hold it all together i'm trying to make it work and he's saying here i am just like he said to the little girl rise he said to you here i am i'm right here just turn around i'm right here as we sing the last answer if this is it together but restful come and ply and from bending by us notice what he's waiting awaiting thy decision when thou has need of me live out thy life within me oh jesus king of kings be thou the glorious to all my questions as the music plays softly in our heads about loving father in heaven we live in a pressure cooker of a world and the devil is steam cleaning blasting our righteousness away he's not doing it without our permission though he sees that for whatever reason we have chosen to put your word way down on our list if we have time if we can fit it into our schedule and as we're putting god's word aside the forces of hell in heaven are fighting for the mastery over every soul and all what rejoicing there is in the kingdom when somebody yields to the voice of god but how the enemy rejoices when he sees the negligence of your children lord she's laying she's dead put out of our life whatever is hindering the belief that you are about to start a new thing in us surround us with people that will be there for our new season our season of life these people will help us to be fed will help us to be nurtured will help us to grow these individuals like peter james and john will help us be discipled to keep our lives alive i pray for our leaders that they will eat first if they expect the members to follow their examples i pray for the husbands that they will lead their wives and their children to the altar where the food of god in spite of the pressured challenges of life and work and career and schedules help them to say no to the world this is our time this is our word time only then can be we be revived i pray for the singles here the marriage here the relationships everybody who's trying to hold it together help us to digest imbibe to masticate chew on the word of god every day that when it is all over the word that we have digested will appear before us in the clouds and the word of god will call us to our final reward lord take us from this place today but not from your presence as we fellowship and lunch as we pray for the needs of those amongst us as we pray for those who could not be here today challenged by health or illness or maybe experiencing their own gradual death we pray that you will find in us a willingness to unite with you in their revival thank you lord for hearing and thank you for answering this prayer may all the glory go to you in jesus name and for his sake and all of god's people said amen

Channel: Thompsonville Seventh-day Adventist Church

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Length: 83min 28sec (5008 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 07 2019