Fresh Fire Virtual Experience: "It's All Good!" Howard-John Wesley

beloved grace and peace be unto you from god who loves us as a father and jesus who alone is our resurrected our risen and our reigning returning redeemer this is yet another day that the lord has made and regardless of the circumstances and situations in which we find ourselves we vow that we've come to rejoice and to be glad in it how grateful we are to god for this season of revival where we gather together for these next few nights to engage in the hearing the reading the preaching and the living out of the holy word of god i am thankful as always to father in ministry and mentor reverend dr bishop walter thomas singer for not only the calling together but the invitation to gather in this space believing that god is still doing a new thing in our lives i must say to you that there's always a joy coming to new psalmist even when your face is not in the seat there's a spirit here that reminds me that we are still on holy ground and i'm grateful to god to stand in this place where bishop preaches and teaches the word of god even during this pandemic i'm grateful to god to join alongside my brothers and brother bill curtis and walter thomas jr in my prayers that as they would come on these next few nights the holy spirit will move in mighty ways to encourage us to believe that our god is yet undone in the midst of all we experience and see god's hand is still at work won't you bow and be in prayer with me as we prepare our hearts and minds to hear a word from the lord our god lord we bow before you today thankful for another day that you've granted us thank you for grace that has been sufficient and mercy that has been brand new thank you for love that is unconquerable and inseparable thank you oh god for brothers and sisters connected in this virtual space and we declare that i was glad when they said unto me let us go into the house of the lord lord we ask now that you would invade this worship we invoke your presence and your power speak lord for your servants are listening in the name of jesus our christ we do pray amen beloved i think it goes without saying that this year has been a rough and a difficult year as a matter of fact to say that 2020 has been difficult it's probably the understatement of the year this has been a year when we've had to learn to make constant adjustments in the midst of uncertainty a year when questions exponentially outweigh answers a year when we've had to navigate in waters that we've never sailed through before we've seen businesses close and bankruptcy shut down industries that will never be reopened again we've struggled with online education and ways to make certain that our children still form and develop while sitting in front of computer screens at home we've had to deal with an inescapable presence in the very valley of the shadow of death covet 19 has claimed hundred more than thousand lives in this nation alone from january to now we've been bombarded with the constant killing of unarmed black and brown bodies at the hands of those called to serve and protect we've sat by and we've watched legends and icons and figures of our faith and our movement pass on to go home to be with the lord on high this has been a difficult year and even now in november we come to the end of this year bishop almost asking the same question that gideon asked god when the lord calls gideon in judges chapter 6 it says god has an assignment on your life gideon looks back at the angel and says if god is with us why is all this happening to us and beloved none of us are immune from that question life can put you in such a bind dealing with so many uncertainties struggles and suffering that you begin to wonder if god is with us why is all this happening in the midst of these uncertain days in the midst of the struggles of our season in the midst of the valley of the death that we find ourselves navigating through i come today on this night to share with you a word from the lord that prayerfully will encourage us to know that god is yet on the throne i would encourage you to turn to your bibles with me but but i'm afraid you don't need your bible for this verse if you've been raised in church if you've been around the body of christ for any amount of time my gut feeling is you already know this verse you don't even have to open your bible this verse is right up there with the lord is my shepherd this verse is right up there with weeping only endures for a night this verse can be compared with no weapon formed against you shall prosper this is the verse that holds his head with they that wait on the lord shall renew their strength in the book of romans in chapter 8 and verse 28 you hear these words of paul that that echo in our hearing tonight in romans 8 and verse 28 paul declares this for we know that all things work together for good for them that love god are the called according to his purpose for we know that all things work together for good for them that love god and are the called according to his purpose one more time for good measure for we know that all things work together for good for them that love god and are the called according to his purpose do me a favor if you would you're taking notes if you're chatting if you got someone nearby just tell them these words it's all good it's all good beloved romans 8 28 one of those verses that holds you together when it seems like life is trying to pull you apart romans 8 28 is what you remind yourself up when bad news catches you off guard romans 8 28 that's what you speak over your life when you find out that your friends are fake and your enemies are real romans 8 28 is what you tell yourself when you wake up in the morning and you look in the mirror and you know it's about to be a rough day romans 8 28 is what you quote when it seems like everything in your life is going from bad to worse romans 8 28 that's what you meditate on when you're anxious about the unknown on the uncertain and you don't know when and how and where things are going to work out romans 8 28 that's what you quote when you're watching election results come in and at the beginning of the news cycle it seems like things are not going to go favorably in your way but yet you hold on and you remind yourself of this we know that all things work together for good for them that love the lord and are called according to his purpose beloved there are a few passages in scripture that give you as much assurance and hope and faith in god as these words paul writes to this young church in rome as they are preparing to face a season of persecution under the emperorship of nero and paul sends them these words to let them know we know that all things work together for good for them that love god and are the called according to his purpose if you would hang out in this one verse with me tonight and let's explore some of the bounty of its beauty paul says beloved we know now before you rush on too fast and before you skip over that bishop that seems to suggest that this verse is not universally applicable to all people in all places it seems like this verse is written to a group called we we know and one of the very first questions we must ask as we begin to dig into the beauty and bounty of this scripture who is we who are the we that paul is addressing who is it that knows all things work together for good who are the we that paul is addressing well it seems to me that the question of the we in the beginning of the verse is really answered at the end of the verse because the end of the verse paul says it works together for a particular group of people for them that love god and are called according to his purpose who's the we the ones that love god and are called according to his purpose if you begin in that very first passage about them that love god that is a direct reference to paul's jewish heritage that phrase love god comes out of deuteronomy chapter six and it is part of the israeli religious ritual called the shema let the church say shama s-h-e-m-a the shama was critical to the jews it came out of deuteronomy 6 which told them that they are to love god and bishop as you know the shema was so critical that the jews to this day recited twice a day in the morning and in the evening they start their day by saying we love god they end their day by saying we love god the shema identified them by their religion and their ritual and their routine the shema identified them as the people of god the shema was what they whispered in their mouths so that everyone would know we believe there is a god somewhere the shama was what they spoke so that when people saw them they knew they were the people of god as a matter of fact the shema is so critical that if you ever encounter an orthodox jewish male he's probably wearing something called a phylactery a phylactery is a box that is bound around his forehead and in that box are the words of deuteronomy which says you shall love the lord your god the shama was what identified them it was their ritual it was their routine it was their religion it would let the world know they believed in god but what i find very interesting is that paul says the assurance that things work together for good is not limited to those who simply know how to say they love god but you must also be those who are called according to his purpose if you've been following paul in romans you know that when paul speaks about the purpose of god he's speaking about salvation in and through jesus christ and what paul is declaring listen my beloved it is not simply enough to have it bound on your forehead it is not enough to have it come out of the words of your mouth it's not enough for just to be in your lips but you must also have accepted and believed in salvation and new life that is only made available through jesus christ our lord and savior paul wants the church to understand that you cannot simply go through the rituals and the routine of religion and think that that's enough to claim the promise of this verse you must also believe in your heart that in jesus christ new life is made available in jesus christ the grace of god shines on us in jesus christ god is doing a new thing in your life you can't claim it without knowing christ lord i came by to preach that tonight because the world is filled with folk who can check the first box but not the second the world is filled with folk who can utter god on their lips but have no christ in their heart the world is filled with folk who can talk religious and sound religious and look religious but don't have the love of jesus christ in their heart anybody can say they believe in god anybody can call on god when they need something anybody can thank god when they get what they want anybody can act like they walk with god when they need god to deliver them out of something but brother paul declares it is not enough to simply say that you love god you must also belong to god and believing in god does not mean you belong to god anybody can get on stage at an awards show and say first of all giving honor to god who is the head of my life that is not the criteria paul says the criteria is do you know jesus beloved believing in god does not mean you belong to god devils believe in god demons can come to church demons can hold bibles upside down outside of church buildings and act like they're religious when it's politically correct to do so but paul asked the question do you know christ in the pardon of your sins have you denied yourself and taken up your cross and followed him have you believed in your heart and confessed with your mouth that jesus christ is lord to the glory of god the father do you believe in him and do you follow him so i came by to ask you before you run into romans 8 28 and start shouting that all things work together for the good i came to ask you a question are you part of the we are you one who simply says you love god or are you also called according to god's purpose and walking in the new life that only christ can make available to us paul says we we know we know bishop i'm amazed that paul does not say we believe paul does not say we wish paul does not say we hope but paul says here's what i want you to know we know that all things work together for good but paul how can you say that with all that's about to happen in the roman empire with all that's about to go down as nero now comes to the throne with all that the christian church is about to endure how can you look into the future and say with certainty and assurance that we know all things work together for good how can you look at a cancer diagnosis and know it's going to work for your good how can you look at a pending divorce and know it's going to work for your good how can you get a pink slip and know it's going to work for you good how can the bottom of your life drop out and you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that it's going to work out for your good i had to wrestle with this because it seems to me that this is wishful thinking it seems to me that this is just the power of positive thought seems to me that this is just some hope that things will work out until i began to do a little research since i knew i was coming a new psalmist i looked up that word to know in greek there are several verbs that can be used for no and the greek verb that paul uses here is a greek verb idol e-i-d-o somebody say idle and although idaho can be translated as to no bishop it is better translated as to see because idol knowledge is knowledge that is acquired through observation don't miss this idle knowledge is knowledge that is acquired by observation let me give an example so i can say to you i know the sun rises in the east and sets in the west and if you ask me how i know it rises in the east my idle knowledge says i know it rises in the east because i've seen it rise in the east how do i know because i have seen how do i know because i have seen so when paul declares that we know all things work together for good this is not some promise about the future it's more a testimony about the past paul is not making a promise of tomorrow paul is primarily testifying about yesterday how do i know things will work together for good because i've seen it before i've seen god make a way out of no way i've seen god answer prayer i've seen god go exceedingly and abundantly above all that i could ask or think i've seen god turn a life around i've seen god open a door no one can close i've seen god turn weeping into joy i've seen god do great things in my life what have you seen god do beloved i came by to tell you that the advice of brother paul is this that when you look at your future uncertain of what will be when you're worried about what tomorrow will bring when life is not moving according to your dreams and desires don't be anxious about what you don't know in tomorrow but take a moment to pause and remember your yesterday and claim what god has already shown you he's already shown his hands strong he's already shown that he can deliver he's already shown that he will answer prayer he's already shown that he will move mountains he's already shown that he's a healer and every now and then you've got to remember what god has shown you we know we who love the lord and are called in jesus christ we know what we have seen now now as you know as a student of bible that paul's original letter to the church in rome is not written in english it's written in coin a greek which means that any english translation you read someone has taken the greek and translated it for you for it to make sense for you and one of the things i encourage you to do as you study romans 8 28 is read it in different translations when you read it in the new international version it reads differently than any other one the new international version reads like this for we know that in all things god works together for the good of them who love him and are called according to his purpose notice the subtle difference in the new international version the new international version identifies the subject of the verb if you remember your grammar the verb is the action the subject is the controller and the new international version says this we know that in all things god the subject works the verb all things together for good the new international version makes certain that you know who the subject controlling the verb is that god is in control the things working together for good that and just accidental that isn't just random that's god exerting divine control over your circumstance and your situation the new and irrational version makes it clear god is in control now the problem with that is that in the original koine greek manuscript paul does not name god as the subject as a matter of fact in the original koine greek there is no subject to match the verb it's almost grammatically incorrect in the original greek reads like this we know all things work together for good there is no mention of fails there is no naming of god paul does not identify that god is in control paul how can you write this promise this assurance and not identify that god is in control how can you write a grammatically incorrect sentence and leave out the subject of the verb how can you simply say all things work together for good but never give god the credit for god working it out i was wrestling with brother paul and i heard paul say this to me the reason i did not name god as the subject of the verb the reason i did not say god works it all together for good the reason i did not name god as being in control is because howard that's something you ought to already know i should not have to tell you who made a way out of no way i shouldn't have to identify who opened the door for you i shouldn't have to name the god that answered your prayer when you look back over your life and you see the things you've come through only a fool would think you made it by yourself only a fool would think your degree got you where you are only a fool would think your money made a way when you look back over your life it ought to be clear that god was in control god was making a way god was answering prayers god was moving mountains god was lifting your head god was giving you strength god held your life together i came by on a monday night to say shame on any christian who needs someone to translate for you how you got where you are shame on any christian that needs someone to give you some commentary that god made away shame on a christian that needs a preacher to remind you that if it had not been for the lord on your side you would not be where you are right now is there anybody watching on a monday night who knows that god made a way is there anybody watching who knows the lord answered my prayer is there anybody watching knows that god put his hand on my life and god made a way do me a favor testify something it had to be god it had to be god it had to be god for we who love the lord and are called according to his purpose we know because we've seen that god works all things together for good good good good good good is this greek word agathos it is the rooting of the name agatha and agathos doesn't just mean good agathos means beneficial agathos means it's it's doing something in me and on me agathos means it's developing me agathos means it's strengthening me agathos means it's making me better agathos means that whatever my thing i'm going through it's strengthening me and developing me and maturing me and changing me and making me what god wants me to be now now i've got to wrestle right here for a moment because paul seems to suggest that until god gets involved it may not have been good until god puts god's hand on it it may not have been beneficial it may have been destructive it may have been malicious it may have been destroying me until god put god's hand on it that it did not start good but it ended good but how to preach right there it may not have started as a blessing but it'll end as a blessing it may not have started strengthening me but it'll end strengthening me it may not have been making me better but at the end god will use it to make me better here's the good news that it doesn't matter how it starts all you need to do is put it in the hands of god and the god we serve is able to work it together for my good it may have been killing me but god used it to strengthen me it may have been casting me down but god used it to build me up it may have been wrecking my mind but god used it to give me wisdom is there anybody here that can look at how it started and compare it to how it ended and say god must have showed up and god turned it around for my good somebody holler good good good [Music] it works together for good listen i'm almost done it god can turn it around but but it's got to work together for good [Music] that that word for is a greek word uh ice eis and ice doesn't just mean for good it means into good and part of what paul argues is that when you love god and are in the purpose of christ you've seen what god can do he'll take what started one way and change it into another but it's got to work into good into suggests that it might take some time this is where it becomes frustrating because it doesn't work into good immediately it doesn't shift overnight romans 8 28 is not some verse you can quote in a prayer say amen and then demand that things change the next moment paul says it works together into good it suggests that every now and then i've got to give god some time i've got to let the lord work it out in his way in his will at his time can you give god some time can you trust god for a few hours can you try god for a few days can you walk with god through a full season can you hold to his unchanging hand if it doesn't change on monday if it's not over by friday if it's still happening next week if you're still walking through it next month if you're still dealing with it next year can you still give god some time i know i know i know i know somebody you're frustrated you're saying if god is god if god is omnipotent why does it take time why can't god fix it overnight and the answer is simple because what god is doing for you is not limited to you here's the problem with the saints we're so selfish that we think god only works on our behalf and god is arguing with someone the reason it's taking time it's because i'm not simply answering your prayer i'm trying to do some other things around you so that when your prayer gets answered you aren't the only one that's blessed okay okay okay i see some of you ain't feeling me uh let me help you right here so so you're praying for god to make your job a little better but the reason you're unhappy on your job is that you've got a co-worker who's mean and evil but the reason your co-worker is mean and evil is because her spouse is abusive but the reason her spouse is abusive is because her spouse is an alcoholic and the reason her spouse is an alcoholic is because he hasn't gotten a raise on his job and the reason he hasn't gotten a raise on his job is because his supervisor doesn't respect him but the reason his supervisor doesn't respect him is because his wife is cheating at home and so god says watch this in order to answer your prayer i've got to break an adulterous affair between a wife and her adulterer i've got to reconcile a husband and a wife i've got to make a supervisor value his employee i've got to let the employee get a raise after the employee gets a raise i've got to deliver him from alcoholism and then i've got to restore his heart for his wife and then his wife will be better on the job and so by the time your prayer gets answered a marriage has been restored an addiction has been broken an adulterous fear hasn't ended a race has been given a life has been changed and god says it took some time but now that i'm done everybody around you do me a favor testimony tell them give god some time give god some time trust in him wait on the lord and be of good courage because they that wait on the lord shall renew all of their strength they shall mount up on wings as eagles trust in god her bishop i'm done i i thank you for the invitation we who love lord and are called according this purpose we know what we've seen that god works all things together for good no matter how it started if we give him some time but the one word that messes with me most in this passage is that paul says all things work together for good together for good together for good that one word seems to imply that god takes what we don't like and god doesn't remove it he just reorders it so that it works for our good god doesn't keep us from it god blesses us in spite of it god doesn't remove it from our lives god just adds some other things to it that god doesn't keep you from the struggle he doesn't keep you from the sickness he doesn't keep you from the pain he doesn't keep you from the agony but he uses it in spite of it to work it together for your good now god i would rather you take it from me i'd rather you keep me from it i'd rather you remove it from my life but god says that's not omnipotence omnipotence works in spite of it omnipotence works in the midst of it omnipotence works together with it that god is so much god that god doesn't have to take it off your plate god can leave it on the plate and still bless you in spite of it okay i gotta go i see someone ain't feeling me the way i want you to uh let me see if i explain it like this uh my church knows that i love to cook it's therapy for me to get in the kitchen and and to cook and whatever i like to eat i've learned to cook a little while ago my louisiana roots began to spring up in me and i decided that when the weather changed i wanted some gumbo my louisiana kicked in and i wanted some gumbo with some andouille sausage and some shrimp and oysters and some chicken i sat down to make gumbo but i decided i wasn't gonna make it by myself i was gonna teach my sons how to cook and make gumbo so we started by making the roux that's the the flour and the butter and bishop you can't rush uru you got to take your time making the rule a rush to rule doesn't make good gumbo it takes some time to make it right and after we made the rue and we're starting to put the ingredients in i let my sons add some of the seasonings i told one you put some salt in i told the other you put the garlic in i told one of them now you put the crushed red pepper in and after we had made all the ingredients and had finished the roux and had made the gumbo i tasted what we made and bishop it did not taste right there was too much crushed red pepper it was too spicy it did not taste right there was too much salt in it it was overly salty it did not taste right the roux was too soupy and too watery and i thought for a moment that i had to throw the gumbo out but then i remembered because i learned how to cook that if it doesn't taste right and if there's some stuff in the pot that i wish wasn't in the pot i don't have to throw it all out i know how to add some stuff in it that can make it taste better so because it was too spicy i sprinkled some sugar in it because the sugar takes down the heat because it was too salty i dropped a potato in it because the potato pulls out the salt because it was too watery i added some roux to it because i know how to thicken it up i may not be able to take the pepper out but i know how to work it for good i may not be able to take the salt out but i know how to work it for good i may not be able to take the water out but i know how to work it for good and god who sits on the throne and seize the gumbo of your life he knows how to add some stuff and make it work for your good is there anybody here who knows god added some stuff he added some joy he added some grace he added some favor he added some mercy he added some love and didn't he work it for your good trust god for we know that all things work together for good for them they love god and are called according to his purpose goodbye new psalmist may the lord bless your mighty good but is there anybody here who knows god is able he's able he's able to work in form

Channel: New Psalmist Baptist Church

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Id: ZY12m6q2y6w

Length: 39min 21sec (2361 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 16 2020