Don't Limit God

because if you got some secret thing that you hold it on to that is studying your spiritual growth you can't be all God wants you to be with some stuff you still hiding here to gain is one of those strange and enigmatic Old Testament stories that involve this mysterious miracle-working prophet of old named Elijah for he has been Elijah's understudy Elijah's apprentice Elijah's student and he has been mentored by this elderly man of God which which is an aside from the sermon but I need to just throw in here parenthetically that every Elijah needs and Elijah that that's not the sermon but every old man needs to find a young man who's messed up and on the wrong road and helped get him straightened out because somebody had to help straighten you out every roof Oh to have a Naomi every John mark needs a Barnabas every Timothy ought to have a pole because you need somebody to help you in your faith walk you need to be around a godly people they can give you some experiences of their faith that can help you build it your face talk back to me if you can you build your faith not only with experience but by hearing the stories of other people that God has been good to and when I hear about miracles in somebody else's life it encourages me that God is still able to work a miracle in my own life when I'm discouraged I need somebody to come alongside me to encourage me that weeping may endure for a night but joy comes in the morning that that kind of talk wakes up my face it stirs my faith to know that no matter how dark my situation God can work it out there is Elijah who has happened upon by this widow whose husband was a son of the prophets he's dead and now she and her two sons are bereft of income they are left destitute by his perhaps sudden passing and they are in debt to their creditors they have nothing with which to pay so she finds the man of God and she pours out her complaint to Elijah Elijah says what do you want me to do and upon the heels of that question Elijah says whatever I'm going to do is going to require your participation somebody gonna get with me here in a minute I'm going to do what I'm going to do but you need to do what you need to do you need to participate in your own breakthrough you need to have a hand in your own miracle you need to join in with me to participate in your own coming out don't don't pray and ask God for a job and you're not looking for one come on help me preach a minute don't pray and ask God for deliverance from some situation and you are not in an active participant if you if you dislike somebody that this lack has turned to bitter hatred you can't hate somebody you praying for stop doing the opposite of what you've been doing and see how God will bring you out of that situation it's hard for you to hate somebody you're praying for when you participate in your own deliverance God will do what God will do but you have to do what you can do you need further proof of that Peter was in jail he had been put in jail because he was preaching the gospel and the Bible says in the book of Acts that Peter had fallen asleep and he was sleeping so soundly that God was ready to deliver him and God sent an angel and Peter was sleeping so hard the angel had to wake him up because when you know you're doing the will of God and you in trouble for doing right you can go to sleep fret not because of evildoers I wish I had time to stay right there but the angel shook him and woke him up and the angel brought Peter to the outer our gates of the prison and when Peter got to the gate that he couldn't open the angel opened it for him and the Bible says when Peter got to a place where he knew where he was the angel disappeared from sight because God will do what you can't do but when you can handle it he'll disappear from your sight don't ask God to do what you can do sometimes our prayers are full of errands that we want to run God on that we can do ourselves you go to the hospital talk back to me if you can you help those who are poor and needy you can do that you don't need God to do that God has given you the wherewithal to do that the Holy Ghost is not just for shouting on Sunday but it's the enable you to get work done on Monday deliver me from somebody who's all Church and no obligation all hand clapping and foot stomping that's good I love that we ought to celebrate in church but the Holy Ghost is not concerned about how high you jump when the Spirit comes but how straight you walk when you come down how many lives have you made better because of what you heard me preach Sunday morning the man of God says what do you have she said your handmaid has nothing but this jar of oil and here's what the Prophet tells her to do the Prophet says to her now get your son until your boy is to go around the neighborhood go everywhere he can get all the vessels that they can find bring them to your house but now listen don't limit your blessings borrow not a few that's what I want to preach about this morning don't limit God God has so much that he wants to do in your life but you limit God and God's being able to work in your life when you don't bring God everything see I cried you got right there because there are some things in your life that you're not ready to turn aloose there are some sins you're not ready to get rid of talk back to me if you can there are some issues and some hang-ups that you are still harboring to yourself and the Lord says give it all to me because if you've got some secret thing that you're holding on to that is studying your spiritual growth you can't be all God wants you to be with some stuff you still hiding and and you can hide it behind a choir role you can hide it behind that little thing you put on your head on the first Sunday night you can hide it behind a title at the church have a got a witness here but when you bring it all to the Lord and give it all to the Lord he can do more with it than you can because God is waiting for somebody this morning to bring it oh now the choir sing that a moment ago but I want to know if that's really true are you truly sold out I mean are you really sold out does God have your money does God have your mind does God have your heart does God have your property does God have your issues does God have your problems does God have your hangups if not then you are half sold out almost sold I see that's why you can't shout in this kind of preaching and that's why you can't get happy on the truth because you know you still got some stuff that you haven't sold out yet but the reason I praise God with such enthusiasm is because I give God all my problems all my sins I'm not lying about anything I don't have anything in my breast pocket I don't have anything up my sleeve God knows everything about me that's wrong I have no secret faults or sins I give it all to the Lord so that he can honor it with his power so I can preach to you with a clear conscience and if you know something about me so what I told a lot about it and he forgave me and if you got a problem with it that's not my problem stop letting people smother you're a means stop letting people drown you hallelujah God's brought you out let me let me let me let me try to make this mixer your life she said not now if you want to come out of this the way you need to come out of this let me tell you what you do go borrow some recipes and however many you bring that's how bless your gonna be if you bring a little bit or you don't get is a little bit but if you get everything you can get your hands on however much you want to be blessed that's how much you got to bring and I want to tell somebody in this chest this morning if you want to be blessed however much Holy Ghost you brought with you because the oil represents the Holy Ghost however much of that you brought with you that's how much you gonna get but if you're holding something back you will leave this worship unfulfilled nobody can teach you face big thick they can teach religion they can teach Church work they can teach you how to act and respond to the Welcome they can teach you how to say giving honor to God to the pastor his absence and to Jesus who's ahead in my life it's easy to learn church talk but you got the lives face am i doing all right you got to go through some things in order for you to get faith you've got to have some life experiences under your belt so you can talk about how strong your faith is cuz if your faith has never been tested you can't brag on how strong any I need somebody here who's have to cry in the midnight hour cover got a witness here I need somebody here who had to laugh to keep from crying and then when all the company left you within the room and cried all by yourself but the Lord dried your tears the Lord opened doors the Lord made a way your faith is strong and you're not just talking about it I used to I used to foolishly believe that you had to be old to have faith we use the laughs at old people in church you know those of us who were raised in church we used to play church after church because we would laugh at howls old people would shout and and how the preacher would preach we wouldn't mock how the Deacons prayed and laugh at how he fell out in the choir stand and the Russia had to grab somebody and they used to put smelling salts under their nose and fan him and try to calm him down and we would act like that when we got home because we were playing truth but some of us have been through enough that we are not playing anymore because God has brought us through some stuff I wish I had a witness God has brought us through enough now that we don't have to act like nobody else we know how to praise God for ourselves because our faith is getting stronger and stronger because of what we already been through through many dangers toils and snares I have already come he said go go borrow some vessels and borrow not a few now the vessels the allegory in this text the vessels represent a body a flesh and blood body and the oil represents the Spirit of God and Elijah is saying to this woman what I want to say to members here at Lillie grow that that when you have the vessel with no oil in it you can experience restoration without revelation you can get needs met without revelation and when MIT needs are met without divine revelation you go get in trouble again somebody can help me preach it I mean in other words when you get done what you need to get done in your flesh without the revelation of the Holy Spirit you will start bragging on yourself and you will crave other people's recognition and you will be heard if others don't pat you on the back but when you get divine revelation I wish ahead of witnessing you don't care who likes you or who does not like you who's on your side or who's not on your side who's with you or who's not with you just like God brought you out before you got confidence spiritual confidence that God will do the same thing again you thought it was over when you got your divorce but look at you now you thought it was the end of the line when you walked off that last job but God never closes the door unless he's getting ready to open a window you thought when those friends got out of your life that you would be miserable but you're so happy now you can't even wait to get up in the mall haven't got a witness here because sometimes God's got to separate us from what we think we can't get along without to let us know that he was there all the time sometimes you got to hit rock bottom before you can shout about the rock who is at the bottom come on got a witness here sometimes God got to get you out of a certain crowd God got to get you away from a particular condition God's got to deliver you from us particular circumstance for you to recognize that all you need is God I'm gonna ask you a few questions and I'm gonna give you the answer the first time and then the next time I ask the question I need you to just follow up with the answer you got it I'm asking a question and then i'ma give you the answer then the next question I answer I'll ask I need you to follow up with the answer all right when Jesus was born of a virgin the present behind that was God that's the answer who put Jesus in the womb of Mary that's the question the answer that God you got it you look you already on it who turn that water into wine through Jesus who raised Peters mother-in-law through Jesus who got Lazarus up out of the grave through Jesus who raised Jesus from the dead you got it you got it now when you got in trouble who delivered you when you were down to your last dime who came to your rescue when your friends got you and you needed somebody to come and talk to who whispered in your ear have a got a witness here God is the answer to every one of our problem but without the holy ghost you can experience restoration without revelation he told her get some vessels fill it with oil because if there's no oil in the vessel not only will there be restoration without revelation but there will be Reformation without revival Reformation without revive I want you to get this nature forms us sin deforms us environments conform us schools inform us prisons reform us but only Christ can transform if any man be in Christ I wish I had a witness he is a new creation and if you experience Reformation without revival you will be empty in showing how much you love God when you don't have revival in your Reformation all the sermon you heard me preach you forget it about time you get to the car you'll cut somebody out in the parking lot you'll gossip in your Sunday School class that's Reformation without revival talk back to me if you can the Holy Ghost won't just make you happy he'll keep your holy the Holy Ghost is not just good for Sunday morning worship it's good for dealing with people on your job Monday morning it's good for handling your children on the Wednesday night have a got a witness here I've had to call on the Lord in recent days to help me with my daughter because naturally I want to kill us some time but then when I realized the mess I got myself into that my Heavenly Father was patient with me I've got to ask God to give me the same power that the Holy Ghost can give me to deal with my situation because I'm not always right now I want to talk to some of your super Saints in here who don't put all get it wrong who don't make no mistakes who always doing it right and you're so spiritual that you answer your phone praise the Lord and and and your email is so-and-so God calm when I'm not that spiritual now some days when I blow it big time there are some days when I mess it up and I need the Lord to come and forgive me anybody he'll want to be honest this morning there are days when I mess it up so bad and I don't even look like a Christian but thank God I don't have to look like it I don't even have to feel like it I just got to know in my heart that he saved me by his precious Holy Spirit so that I need to feel my vessel every time I get a chance with the oil of the Holy Spirit thank you for tuning in to a call to joy it is our prayer that the Word of God has brought joy strength and faith to your life we would love to have you as I guess that little grow of Missionary Baptist Church where we are exalting the Savior equipping the Saints and evangelizing the center for your convenience we have a 7:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. worship service every Sunday morning and 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday nights lily Grove is located at seventy thirty forty Westar Street Houston Texas 77021 or feel free to visit our website at www.teamclarke.org

Channel: lillygrovembc

Views: 241,778

Rating: 4.7473488 out of 5

Keywords: Reverend, Terry, Anderson, Pastor, Lilly, Grove, Missionary, Baptist, Church, Houston, Texas, Call, To, Joy, Religion

Id: sT7GetTFVdY

Length: 28min 30sec (1710 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 29 2012