Dr. Jeffrey Johnson

that's the Lord O my soul and all that is within me bless His Holy Name my soul will make his boast in the Lord the Saints were here and be glad o magnify the Lord with me let us exalt his name together if you know God is worthy to be praised will you give God some kind of praise in this house hallelujah what a mighty God we serve what a joy it is to be here in Shreveport and equipping the Saints for the work of ministry and thank you moderator Hudson for allowing me to be a part of this thank you for your leadership and your guidance and to pass the maize and again to partner up with moderator Hudson to be able to do something this awesome and of course our wonderful coordinator pastor Ellison will you all help me thank God for the big three for putting this together and all of us are are better because of this equipment the Saints for the work of ministry and of course to pass harry blake god bless you thank you for your service your sacrifice your work your leadership thank you for being a model of ministry and a prototype for preaching and i have so much respect for you and in all that you've accomplished and all that God is going to accomplish through you and and thank you for writing that book too so we can know how to get it done and I appreciate your work and I'm just excited to be here and on this the unofficial Bishop college day of equipping the Saints my roommate from Bishop college pastor Denny Davis did an amazing job this morning and just to see God take him from faith to faith in glory to glory has been amazing and then of course pastor Frederick Douglas Haynes the third at lunch as we honored the scholarship recipients what a gift he is to the body of Christ and now me and that's kind they got it inverted I should have been first and then they come after me but I'm honored to be a part of this unofficial Bishop College date one of the members of our church from Indianapolis is here and his name is David PAC he is the CEO and president of Trinity financial consultant David would you stand please and I'm I want I want y'all to know who David PAC is because I get a lot of credit for some of the successes of the Eastern Star Church and David PAC has been such a blessing to us in the area of Finance that the last but we've built several buildings but the last one we built was an 18 million dollar facility on 30 acres of land well over a hundred thousand square feet it seized three thousand people and not one financial institution would loan us the money to build the building and our church is 99 years old and never faulted on a loan banks have made millions of dollars off of us with the interest payments and david pack interceded for us and helped us to secure that financing for that building and then a few years later went back had them renegotiated with the covenants and and the interest and that kind of thing that building is gonna be paid off next year matter of fact we will be debt-free on 62 million dollars worth the real estate and facility and all of that at the end of next year and david pack has been a part of that we had to step outside my comfort zone a couple of years ago and we built something called Sunstone apartments in Arlington woola's in Indianapolis and it's a major facility it has one in two-bedroom Apartments on the second and third and then on the first floor we have businesses that bless our community we have behavioral services they got psychiatrists and psychologists and counselors there's a Federal Credit Union there to deal with low-income families there's Christian attorneys that help those that wouldn't have the resources to have those kind of attorneys an employment piece we have a market there for healthy affordable food options and the building cost three point seven million dollars to build and we didn't go to a bank we didn't go to a financial institution David Peck helped us to put together something called social impact investing where the members of our congregation invested at three point seven million dollars below market rate in terms of the interest so that instead of a financial institution making the money our members are making the money we get blessed because we get a facility that we would not have been able to have had we not done it the way we did it david pack was one of the leaders to help make that happen i'm bringing all that up because he's here this week and any pastor anybody that's over an on for property you're trying to figure out how to get these finances right at our minute in our ministry how do we get financed for the facility we trying to build or renovate he's here this week and you don't want this opportunity to pass he's been such a blessing and the only is he a member of our church he's a tire in our church he gives over tube of that tithe and I want you all to thank God for a black businessman that's handled his business and going around the nation helping churches to accomplish their vision that God is good thank you David for being with us and thank you for what you've meant to me and my family into our ministry all right please open your Bibles to the book of Exodus Exodus chapter 33 verse 18 is where we're going Lord let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts let them be acceptable in thy sight Lord you are our strength and our Redeemer in Jesus name we pray a man Exodus chapter 33 verse 18 listen to what God's Word says and he and that's a reference to Moses and he said please show me your glory and that's what I want to preach today please show me your glory dr. Frederick Douglas Haynes pointed me to this Museum it's Williams Museum near Cambridge and they had on display back in 2006 this expensive porcelain Chinese vase from the 17th century Qin Dynasty very precious very valuable vase that was on display at the Fitz Williams museum there was a man that was walking through the museum and he was looking at the things that were on display he slipped and failed hit the vase and broke that expensive vase from the 17th century Qin Dynasty the vase broke into a hundred and thirteen pieces they called the authorities the man got arrested put him in jail the curator had to close off that portion of the museum all because somebody slipped and fell into something they had no business falling into and left something of value fractured left something that is precious broken and ended up in bondage and more than likely I'm preaching to somebody like that tonight that has slipped and fallen into something you had no business slipping and falling into and now have left something of value fractured and shattered and broken a broken home a broken heart a broken family broken financially a broken community a broken ministry all because you slipped and fell into something that you had no business somebody even tonight is dealing with some type of bondage no let me do it this way some type of depression an inner anxiety and inner worry because you broke something that never should have been broken matter of fact that's what's happening in our nation this is a I'm where depression is on the rise inner inner anxiety on the rise suicidal thoughts on the rise pastor Robert Smith in all 50 states of the United States of America there has been an increase percentage-wise in depression in all 50 states in 49 of the 50 states there has been an increase in suicides in 49 of the 50 states in the United States of America and the state that did not have an increase in suicide already had a high percentage of suicides and I submit unto you that this depression and this inner anxiety is not just taking place in the world but it's coming to our churches it is affected the body of Christ and I know you don't want anybody to know your Christian leader and you at the equipping the Saints conference and and you got on your church clothes and what would Jesus do bracelet and cross around your neck and you don't want anybody to know that you're in great depression enter anxiety worry trying to figure out how to deal with life here's what the Lord told me to tell you he told me to tell you this that when you find yourself down don't beat yourself down that when you find yourself down don't get down on yourself you're not the first Christian leader to go through depression you're not the first child of God or faith leader to have to deal with inner anxiety when you find yourself down do not get down on yourself because that's what a whole lot of us as Christians do especially Christian leaders pastor Thomas so many of us as Christian leaders when we go through a season of depression we start beating ourselves down we say to ourselves you're supposed to be a Christian you supposed to be a child of God you supposed to be filled with the spirit you're supposed to be stronger than this and here we are in depression finding ourselves down then getting down on ourselves you're not the first Christian leader it's great Christian leaders that have accomplished many things in life and in history and had to deal with depression and I could go through a litany of names but I don't want to spend time giving you a parade of people that went through this problem I really want to get to the solution but I will mention CS Lewis most of us know CS Lewis we studied his preaching read his book some of us preached his sermons not knowing that CS Lewis had to deal with depression and he was in so much depression consider one of the greatest preachers but there be times he lock yourself in his room at his house sitting in darkness and wouldn't even come out for weeks on one occasion there were thousands of people that had already gathered waiting on CS Lewis to come out from his office to come to preach to these thousands of people and he has so much enter anxiety so much depression that he never even came out to preach you're not the first one to deal with depression and worry and inner anxiety people like mother Teresa we all know Mother Teresa that great woman of God that went around the world dealing with poverty not only does she deal with poverty on an international level but encourage many of us to address poverty in our communities and to come alongside those who are going without and we didn't find this out until mother Teresa had been dead for ten years that most of her adult life she had to deal with depression and mother Tim we didn't find that out till somebody had to she had been in glory for 10 years started pulling all her journals together and she used to write letters to God and if somebody was going through those journals and the letter she had written to God come to find out that she had been in depression no here's what she called it her darkness matter of fact they took those writings and they put it in a book the book is entitled come be my light cuz they felt like that was what Mother Teresa was asking God and the mists of her depression and darkness to come be my light and mother Teresa here's what she says that she says loneliness and the filling of not being wanted is the most miserable of poverty we've all dealt with poverty in terms of physical resources but she says no the most miserable of poverty is loneliness and the feeling of not being wanted and I guarantee you I'm preaching to somebody tonight lonely and a feeling of not being wanted depressed inner anxiety and darkness but you're not the first Christian you're not the first faith leader you're not the first one to go through that matter of fact the text I read to you and in in in Exodus 33 and 18 and he said that he is Moses please show me your glory you know this is a season in Moses life that he's depressed that he's going through this season of frustration where he is down and dismayed and disillusioned and I gotta admit I was amazed by that because I'm thinking if anybody ought to have joy and delight it ought to be Moses y'all my man was born a Hebrew slave but raised an Egyptian Prince if anybody ought to have joy and delight born in poverty raised in prosperity that when other boys and and his age they were sinking and drowning and here he was selling and being delivered in the same situation if anybody ought to have joined the light it ought to be Moses he was exposed to black African culture and black African lifestyle and black African education and black African languages if anybody ought to be delighted and joyful it ought to be Moses and I know he made some mistakes he had issues but he did meet God on the backside of that mountain and got his life together and got converted with that bush that caught on fire it was burning but it wouldn't burn up and it wouldn't burn out if anybody ought to be on fire for the Lord it ought to be Moses y'all catch my play on words later but you would think that Moses would have joy and delight the here is in depression here he is in with inner anxiety this the same man that married that fine black African sister named Zipporah then they had those two wonderful sons and they got that split-level home and the suburbs of Midian with that white picket fence and those two Shetland Sheepdogs if anybody ought to have joy it ought to be Moses and here he is in depression here he is dismayed here he is down here he is in the words of mother Teresa in darkness and I'm trying to figure out how did he come to this pastor Chris dave has been trying to tell us this week that whenever you deal with a text you got to deal with it in context you can't just take a text and make you say whatever you want you got to deal with it in the context so in the context of what's going on here this is Exodus chapter 32 and 33 the children of Israel have been out of bondage now for three months I told Moses go tell Pharaoh I said let my people go Moses brings them out they've already been through the Red Sea the Pharaoh's army is drowned behind them they've already been to Marah bitter waters turn sweet they already got some manna from on high water out of a rock God has lent them with a pillar of cloud by day fire by night and and this has been three months there at Mount Sinai now in chapter 32 and 33 of X's and at Mount Sinai now Moses goes up into the mountain where the people at the foot of the mountain Moses now is going up he's going up to get the ten commandments that God would write with his own finger to give them some some standards and some structure and principles and precepts and concepts on how to live life they didn't know how to live as a community as a faith community they've been in bondage as a people for 430 years they don't know how to live as a faith community so Moses is up in the mountain listening to God God is pouring into Moses now Moses is coming down the mountain in chapter 32 with the commandments of God God has been pouring into him now he comes down to pour into the people of God as he comes down that mountain Moses here singing and shouting he sees dancing but the issue was they weren't singing and shouting and dancing for Jehovah they were singing and shouting and dancing and worshiping a golden calf a graven image a small G God and when Moses saw that going on he went into depression frustration enter anxiety dismayed disillusion he went into a dark period it is like here's what brought him to that and that is at the God poured into him then he comes to pour into the people but the people God gave him to pour into have decided they're getting ready to change gods you got to be careful when when God is poured into you and it's time for you to pour into somebody else but the people God gave you to pour into to my changing gods if you're not careful it'll push you into depression changing gods that's what they talking about they're worshiping a graven image they working a small G God changing God and look at them talking about change of God this is after he brought you through the Red Sea and after he brought you out of 430 years of bondage and after he had your enemies to drown behind you and after he fed you with some what is it from heaven y'all do know that's what manna means what is it bread of heaven bread of heaven feed me till I won't know more and after God has done all of this for you now you talking about changing God's I'm always intrigued when I hear black folk who grew up in America through the judo Christian tradition talking about changing God's here you've been exposed to Christ and Christianity and church and the causes of God folk led you to Christ with your faith in his death burial resurrection and now black folk living in America talking about I've been researching other religions I'm thinking about changing God's changing gods after he brought us through the Middle Passage after he brought us through slavery after he brought us through lynchings after he brought us through Jim Crow laws after he brought us through going to the backdoor of everything after he brought us through the civil rights movement now you tell my change in God's after he died on the cross for your sins after God raised him from the dead after he saved you and took care of you and brought us safe thus far now you're talking about changing God's yo if you're not careful after God is poured into you and now you've got responsibility whether it's your church or ministry or community or family or children and they talk about changing God's if you're not careful that'll push you into a dark place and not only that you want to know what pushed Moses into depression is is the people that God gave him to serve went on the internet in chapter 32 and found a minister that told them if you give me enough money I'll shape God it or whatever you want him to be which has some Bible readers in here that's what happened at chapter 32 there's a preacher by the name of Aaron and Aaron told them if you give me your gold gives me enough gold I'll shape this God into whatever you want him to be that's where their little golden calf came from and we live in that time right now that here's what my pastor's wife said to me that this is the first generation of black people that don't get their theology and counsel and guidance from their own elders they go to folk that don't look like them and folk they never met to get their theology and counsel and and and get their guidance from them and now we going on the internet trying to find some preacher who will shape God into whatever I need him to be and y'all might as well admit there are those out there that if you give them enough money they'll make God whatever you want him to be and if you're not careful that'll mess you up and push you into depression trying to come to grips with that because here's the thing for these people they wanted a God with no restrictions they wanted a God with no restraints they wanted a God with no discipline dr. Blake they wanted a God that would let them do anything they wanted to do and have no consequences behind it and Jehovah's not like that Jehovah got restrictions Jehovah has restraints thou shalt and thou shalt not who was it Fred Sam sit with Fred Samson say dr. Samson also a bishop college grad he's in glory now used to pastor Tabernacle Church in Detroit he said that the greatest mistake in human history was not humanity's disobedience of God but it was humanity's attempt to displace God watch what dr. Samson said he said that the greatest mistake in human history was not humanity's attempt to disobey God but their attempt to shape God into what they wanted him to be so rather than allowing God to shape us after his own image that we want to shape God into whatever we want him to be and when Moses saw that happen it pushed him into inner anxiety and I guarantee you I'm preaching to some Christian leader tonight I'm preaching to some mother or father I'm preaching to somebody there's over some non-for-profit I'm preaching to some social justice leader and you're dealing with an issue of people who have sought to change gods who have sought to live a life with no discipline no restraints no history chins and trying to make God something he never will be that'll mess you up if you're not careful and here's how Moses tried to deal with that in chapter 32 verse 19 Moses comes down he sees the the dance and he hears the singing and the shouting then chase of this bowl g-god and Moses says I got to get this thing right and he takes the commandments in verse 19 chapter 32 and he throws the commandments down and the text says he broke them and here's what he's doing he's trying to fix this but he's trying to fix it without the commandments he knows it's a issue this is a problem the people of God have turned their back on God they're chasing after Idol gods and images and I got to get this thing straight they're trying to live a life with no restrictions at nor'easter I got to get this right and he threw the commandments down and broke it cuz he's trying to fix it without God's Word all of us in here know that we're living in a time of apostasy a time of a falling away falling away from Christ a falling away from the church a falling away from the calls as a crisis of falling away from Christianity I was talking to a pastor earlier and he's dealing with that in rural America and and I'm dealing with it in urban American and suburban America because this is a time of apostasy and all of us are trying to figure out how to fix this that's why we here this week to equip the Saints and we're trying to fit how to fix this apostasy and here's the issue though some of us are trying to fix it without the word gimmicks games tricks treats these religious lotteries that we have make sure you put your name on your offering envelope let me pull one out you just won something cuz we trying to figure out we got to fix this we got to get these people back to God trying to do it without the word and that's why I appreciate this conference so that you can help us to refocus cuz this is not gonna be fixed without God's where God's Word is a lamp to our feet it's a light Tyler pathway how can a young person cleanse their way psalm 119 by taking heed to the Word of God David said God hide your word in my heart that I might not sin against you your heaven and earth will pass away before one jot or tittle of God's Word don't let the enemy make you think that somehow you're gonna correct this without God's Word you gotta take your stand on the Word of God and preach and teach God's Word in order to get this thing right but not Moses he threw those commandments down and broke now I tell you this every time I read this I actually get encouraged and this is not to try to degrade somebody else to upgrade me not that but it's just my thing is the reason I get encouraged because I know that if God can use Moses I know he can use me that's why when I get down I don't get down on myself cause if God could take somebody like Moses and get him the regroup and give him those Commandments again and Moses did finally get those people to the brink of the Jordan River and the promised land of God if he can use if God can use somebody like that y'all you ought to know he can use you too cuz you know what however messed up I am I'm not as messed up as Moses okay y'all don't say oh I know what it is y'all want to argue with me because I said I'm not as bad as Moses are you thinking wait a minute preach I know about Moses he's a type of Christ he's not Christ but he's a foreshadow of the Christ it is to come and and Moses led all these people now you try to say you're better than my I tell you this the reason why I say that is because I have broken more than one of the commandments now I ain't gonna tell y'all which ones but I've broken more than one of them and you ain't got to be looking at me all holy and sanctimonious like you ain't never broken you broke more than one of the commandments but Moses broke all the commandments at the same time and as jacked-up as I've been it has messed up as I bigger and I've had some interesting nights in my life but I never broke all the Commandments at the same time if God can use somebody like this is there anybody that know God can use us too here he is in depression inner anxiety he's in a dark place he's dismayed he's disillusioned and then we get to chapter 33 and verse 14 God says I'm with you I love that you broke all the commandments but I'm still with you you're in depression but I'm see it's a trick of the enemy to make you think that somehow you've done something to make God forsake you and God says no no I'm with you my presence is going to go with you and some of us think that something that's not right for me to be going through all of this it means that no no God says I'll never feel I'll never leave you I'll never forsake you here's what he says that when you pass through the floors I'll be with you he never said you wouldn't get in over your head and be overwhelmed he said but when you do get overwhelmed I'll be with you he said when you pass through the fire I'll be with you he never said you wouldn't get in a hot predicament in the heated situation he just said that when you do I'll be with you I'm so glad that the presence of God despite my own frustration and inner anxiety despite the fact I've broken Commandments he's still with me and verse 14 of chapter 33 he didn't just say I'll be with you he said and I'm gonna give you rest it's a trick of the enemy to make you think you're gonna always be tired you're gonna always be exhausted because it is exhausting trying to minister to people who've turned their back on God it's exhausting trying to minister to folk trying to shape their own God and not open to the word I've got that cadet can wear you out and some of y'all worn out right now but God said I'm gonna give you rest the enemy is making you think you can always be tired you can always feel like this you're gonna always be down no you're not in the Book of Psalms Psalm 127 says and and God gives his beloved sleep and then jesus said come unto me all ye that labor the heavy laden and I'll give you yeah and even when I don't have enough sense to rest on my own he makes me wish I had a Bible reached to lie down when I won't do it on my own he says I'm gonna give you rest I'm gonna be with you then verse 17 says this and I know your name he says I I know your name I'm not sure not your label your name names the Hebrew people were indicators of nature and destiny and character attributes not your not your title not your label I know you know I know who you are I know your character I don't know here it is I know your heart that even though you broke all the commandments at the same time even though you're going through a dark period I know your heart some of our theology is so messed up that we think that that God is the kind of God that gives us Commandments and then sit back and wait on us to mess up so he can show up and punish us that's not the kind of God we serve God doesn't just see when you mess up God sees how long you held out y'all missed it I know your heart I know you messed up but I didn't just see your mess-up I saw how long you held out see somebody right now you a couple of days ago you smoked so much weed so much blunt and you've been down on yourself ever since then and all that kind of stuff and God didn't just see you smoke weed he's so how long you held out it's been three weeks since you smoked you ain't never going in long without smoking it the next time it'll be eight weeks God didn't just see I wish I had some help with this he's I know your heart I know who you are I'm gonna give you rest I'm with you and then here's what Moses said god this is all in chapter 33 god I get that I know you're with me I know it's not gonna always be like this God I know you know my heart these people are dogging me but you know me but God what I'm dealing with right now I ain't gonna make it unless you show me your glory god I haven't faced anything like this before I'm leading 2 million people trying to get them to the promised land they're acting a fool trying to live in a way that doesn't reflect the relationship they have with you after all the sacrifice I made for them God if I don't see your glory I'm not gonna make it I gotta I gotta see the purity of your majesty I have to see the essence of your being and doing god you got to show me who you are in your essence and I need to see the awesomeness of your attributes and God if I don't see that I'm so depressed I'm so out of it I've been crying myself to sleep and unless you show me your glory I'm not gonna please show me your glory the reason I'm slowing us down right now because that's where somebody is what you're dealing with what you face it that's your prayer God I need to see the purity of your majesty the sickness in my home my financial situation my ministry is stagnant the people that I have sacrificed my entire life for are the main ones coming at me the breakdown of my family they injustice in my community the poverty that I had to see every day without the resources to address it I'm not gonna make it unless you show me your glory and here's God's response no one can see the purity of my majesty and live God said no one can no man or woman can look at me face to face to see the essence of my being and doing operating in your situation Moses if I showed you that you wouldn't be able to survive it I wish y'all were getting this today if you taught my god show me your glory I said if I saw if I showed you what I was working in your life right now you wouldn't make it about if I showed you what I was navigating behind your scenes you wouldn't if I showed you that in its purity you wouldn't survive it no one can see my glory and live but imma bring you out of that depression here's what I want and I'm gonna give it to you real quick I'm almost done give me about eight more minutes and I'm through here it is if you want to come out of your depression this dark place that you're in here's what God told him in verse 21 he said you can't see my you can't see my glory you wouldn't be able to survive that but that there's a place near me it's a rock and I need you if you want to come out of this funk you in if you want to come to another level with stand on this rock dessa near me here's what God told him to stand on Christ who's the rock of our salvation I know some of y'all never see Jesus in the Old Testament but I do this is a foreshadow in the Old Testament of the rock Jesus is in the New Testament and what he's saying to you and I if you want to come out of what you're dealing with then stand on Christ who's the rock of our salvation y'all don't just trust him to save you but trust him to sustain you Paul said that that G that God who has given us his son will he not freely give all things to us you mean to tell me you think God to save you but won't pay your bills and won't forgive your sin and won't heal your body and open the door don't just trust him to save you trust him to sustain you stand on Christ the rock of us well y'all just had in five minutes to the sermon because you're looking at me like y'all don't know he's the rock the Apostle Paul wrote to the believers at Rome and he told them that God said I lay in Zion a rock of stumbling a stone of offense but everyone who believes in Him will not be disappointed in the Old Testament and New Testament it says that the rejected stone has become the chief Cornerstone y'all still ain't getting this jesus said upon this rock I'll build my church and the gates of Hell shall not prevail and I know we argue all these years about what did he mean when he said upon this rock I'll build my church and some you know our Catholic brothers and sisters say that when he said upon this rock he was talking about Peter cuz I Catholic brothers and sisters believe Peter was the first pope and that upon Peter the first pope that's the rock that Jesus built his church and of course I know y'all argue with that all day know some say that that he's talking about the confession Peter made thou art the Christ and on that confession that's the rock in which he builds his church others say no no it's the it's the stones coming together that make the rock all these little stones coming together to make their even Paul say it we are the living stones and when we as living stones come together we become the rock upon which Jesus built his church but I like the way my childhood pastor put it my childhood pastor saying when Jesus said upon this rock I'll build my church then he started pointing to himself that he is the rock of our salvation then my childhood the pastor said when you hit rock bottom you don't have to go into depression because Jesus is the rock at the bottom when I was a kid we used to sing about that rock not so much now but we used to sing about Jesus being that Rock Rock of Ages cleft for me let me hide myself in oh Christ solid rock I stand all of the ground is sin we used to say where can I go when there's no one I can turn to who can I talk to when no one wants to live who can I lean on when earth all around is unstable I go to the rock I know he's able I go to the haggle to the rock of my salvation I go to the stone that the builders rejected I run to the mountain and the mountains stand by me when earth all around is sinking sand on Christ the solid rock when I need a shelter when I need a friend is there anybody that runs to the rock I'm rushing this but we got to wait you got to stand on that rock oh this was in in heed more mission it's a rural area in the Midwest in Michigan and this man back in 1988 bought a farm in add more Michigan when he bought it there was a strange-looking rock twenty-two and a half pounds that was on the farm strange-looking rock so his family and his friends kept telling him man you got to go get that rock checked out I ain't seen no rock like that so he took the rock use it as a as a doorstop just to hold a door open on the farm but 30 years they bit me you need to go get this rock checked out finally at the 30 years of prompting and pressure he just did it so his family of friends would stop asking him so he took that unusual Rock to to Central Michigan University to a geologists and the moment she saw it she said oh the reason why this rock looks so strange is because it's not from Earth this is a meteorite and the reporter say it it's a meteorite that came from outer space I don't call it out of space I call it the heavens where the Sun the moon and the stars are the heavens and and they said this is a rock from the heavens and come to find out this meteorite is 88% iron 12% nickel is worth more than $100,000 the Smithsonian in DC wants to take it from the Midwest put it in their Museum so the rest of us get to see it I'm trying to show you something my man has had a rock from the heavens for 30 years and had no idea of the value of the rock that he got from the heaven and all he used it for was a doorstop because he didn't know the value of it and you and I can't be judgmental cause some of us don't know there's another rock from heaven I'll come on now he's the rock of our salvation and we just want to use him to open the door of opera no he'll save your soul you'll forgive your sins you lift your is there anybody that know he is that rock I'm rushing this you want to come out of depression stand on Christ the rock of our salvation God said you can't see my face and limb what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna have my glory pass over you then I'm gonna put my hand over you so you can't see my glory when it's passing I'm gonna move now when I move you can't see me I'm gonna put my hand over and and and then then here's here's what I'm trying to get across to you you want to come out of your depression just know God has got you covered I know you depressed I know you're going through I know the folk God gave you the minister to faint acting right God said you can't see my glory so what I'm gonna do I'm gonna have it pass by but just know I got you covered oh I wish y'all were getting this Psalm 121 looking to the hills from whence cometh your help your help comes from the Lord he that keepeth he that watches he that covereth Israel neither sleeps nor slumbers you've been up crying and weeping every day all night am I going through how you won't be up all night and God never sleeps he never some y'all God can't sleep I'm going to sleep and I discovered that while I'm sleeping God is working well I'm sleeping God is working y'all and just because you don't see him working doesn't mean he's not working because while he's moving he's got you come oh boy I wish y'all every now and then God will move but won't let you see the move he's making y'all missing it he's got you yo God ain't never blessed you behind your back have you ever got a blessing you weren't looking for have you ever got a blessing that that you didn't ask for that you didn't seek and it still came cuz I serve a god that'll bless you behind your back here I'm preaching at the equip of the Saints for for ministry for the work of ministry and three years ago only knew one preacher in Shreveport that's Harry Blake and his son I guess Joseph walk here here no more and Here I am on the night cuz god bless me behind my back he was moving I just didn't see him moving and I guarantee you right now that God has got you covered I'm rushing through this so stand here on the right God has got you covered last one am i and I'm done he said you can't see me face to face I'm a pass-by I got you covered don't sweat none of that and then he said now after I pass by I'm gonna let you see my back can't see me face to face you wouldn't be able to take it I'm a pass by I got you covered and then I'm gonna remove my hand and I'm gonna let you see the back okay I know it y'all got the same problem I had with it I didn't know what that verse meant verse 23 on back I didn't know what back meant here's the deal with the back because God is a spirit and I know he ain't got a back come on now Jesus said that he's the spirit II gotta worship in the spirit of truth as a spirit God has no bad but the text says I'm a pass-by and i'ma show you my back your back and so I you know I went on and I knew I was coming to all these theologians and all that so I started looking it up in English translation Bibles I know the Old Testaments written in Hebrew so I went to 25 different English translations of the Hebrew Scriptures to get some help on what it meant when it said back and all 25 of the English translation scriptures of the Hebrew texts translated it back I got no help in that regard on that so this time I went to the Holy Spirit and that pastor Douglas I went to the Holy Spirit shake what does it mean with this back here's what the Holy Spirit said Jeffrey Johnson whatever back means it means that God is always ahead of you I'm preaching but showing saying a man like I'm preaching that no matter how great we think we are we always behind God the best we can see is his back see some of us are so arrogant and conceited we think we can walk ahead of God some of us so caught up in pride we think we can walk beside God and then some of us are so messed up we think we can walk without God the best we gonna do is to see his back and since he always goes ahead of us that means before something gets to us it's got to go through him and if it goes through him and gets to us he's get ready to work that bad baby out for good and we know all things work together for our good I'm gonna pass by I'm not gonna let watch this I'm not gonna let you see me face to face I'm gonna let you see my back god I need to see your glow please show me your glory no I'm a pass by let you see my back here it is when I'm done I'm not gonna let you see everything you want to see but imma let you see everything you need to see see our problem and our depression is tied in with the fact that we God won't let us see what we think we want to see but if you open your eyes God is showing you what you need see he says I watch this you think you need to see him face-to-face all you really need to see is his back you just need to see the residue of his glory you just need to see the trail of his glory you just need to see the aftermath of his glory sometime with floods and earthquakes and wildfires they so messed up that the media can't even get in there and they got to get out because if they saw the storms in the midst of it they wouldn't survive so we never get to see the storm at its worse what we get to see is the aftermath and I know I'm preaching to somebody there's live long enough to see the aftermath of the glory of God to see the trail of his glory sometimes y'all we don't know what God is up to till we go through it come out of it then look back on it but I'm old enough now that I can look back on what God has done in my life and when I was going through it I thought God had forsaken me but now that I come out and look back on all he hadn't forsaken me he had to take me through that to get me to this do I have a witness in here I gotta close I'll just try to bring you out of your depression stand on the rock God's got you covered not gonna let you see everything you want to see but if you open your eyes by faith you assure you everything you need to see and some of y'all been up for 40 minutes some of y'all ain't said Amen yet and I'm trying to preach you with some joy knowing God has got you may have messed up but he forgives you getting you another chance still use you and I've been up here for 40 min know a man no praise the Lord no thank you Jesus of mitches of exhortation God is watching over you God goes ahead of you and I'm trying to figure out why you have not said Amen then it dawned on me I did a Freddie Haynes on you a homiletic cliff hanger I started with a story and I didn't finish it about a man slipping and falling hitting an expensive break break it at 100 13 pieces like my man up put him in jail roped off the museum then I went on to preach the sermon you ain't said a mangle you trying to figure out what happened to my man what went on with the face closed by finishing that story up they went on let that man out of jail they just wanted to make sure he didn't do it on purpose and he didn't and then the curator called in an expert restore Earth and the expert restored the curator gave them all 113 pieces of the shattered and broken vase and the expert restorer was able to put it back together again now the vase is worth more now than it was before it got broken and the expert restorer said this the reason why I could put it back together again is because they brought me all 113 of the broken pieces here's what I'm trying to tell you I don't care what you slipped into I don't care what you fell into I don't care what you broke if you give it all to God God is an expert restorer yeah out there no II look God is already restored my soul do I have a witness in it can I get a witness in case you falling by the wayside of life and all your dreams and visions are now out of sight to stay in the shape that you're the father to put you back together I want to put you back together do I have a witness in here somebody didn't glory for what he's doing in your life [Music]

Channel: Equipping The Saints Conference Shreveport

Views: 2,163

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Equipping the Saints Conference 2019, baptist, christian, Shreveport, Pastor Jeffrey Johnson

Id: RxomHiIVHu8

Length: 52min 47sec (3167 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 18 2019