Great Things Happen Along The Way | Debleaire Snell

we want to go ahead and get ready to go right into the word of god and we're going to continue our series doctrine is not a dirty word and we've been talking for the last six or seven weeks about how to merge jesus back into the doctrines of the church so do me a favor real quick as we do each week do me a favor uh just be an electronic evangelist a digital disciple an apple or android apostle do me a favor share this message with somebody on facebook if you're on youtube listen just copy the link text it to somebody and today as we talk about sanctification uh if you got somebody that's just dealing they're just struggling in their spiritual journey or maybe you know somebody that's carrying a lot of church hurt they've been wounded by things that have happened in the body of christ i want you to send this message to them today as well so do me a favor if you don't mind go with me in your bibles to the book of saint luke chapter 17. saint luke chapter 17 and we're going to begin together at verse number 12 luke 17 we'll begin at verse 11. luke chapter 17 and we'll begin together verse number 11 as we talk in a very spirit-filled and christ-centered way about the doctrine of sanctification again luke chapter 17 and we'll begin at verse 11 when you get there let me hear you say amen luke chapter 17 and we're going to begin together at verse 11. bible says now it happened as he went to jerusalem that he passed through the midst of samaria and galilee and then as he entered a certain village there met him ten men who were lepers who stood up far off and they lifted up their voices and said jesus master have mercy on us so when he saw them he said unto them go show yourselves to the priests and so it was that as they went they were cleansed and one of them when he saw that he was healed returned and with a loud voice glorified god and he fell down on his face at his feet giving him thanks and the bible says and he was a samaritan and jesus answered and said we're not ten clans but where are the nine where they're not any found who returned to give glory to god except for this foreigner and he said unto him arise and go your way for your faith has made you well but again i want to just read for emphasis uh verse number 14. the bible says so when he saw them he said unto them go show yourselves to the priest and so it was that as they went they were cleansed today saints i want to talk to you for a little while under the subject great things happen on the way great things happen on the way let's pray together this afternoon father i pray that in this little while that you would say much and i'm praying that you would just take these doctrines that at times seem high and lofty and that you would put them in plain language and make them simple for us to discern and so lord i am praying to god that the power of the holy spirit would be released to to to provoke and be a catalyst for a radical and permanent change in somebody's life today so lord would you please hide me in the shadows of the cross that jesus alone might be seen that christ alone would be heard and at the end of our time together may jesus alone be praised we ask this in the name of jesus who is the christ let god's people say together amen and amen and so again today saints i want to talk to you about what it means to be sanctified now it's interesting when i was growing up whenever i would hear somebody say with conviction how they were saved sanctified and filled with the holy ghost as a young person i would be a little bit intimidated because some people talked about being sanctified like it was a personal superpower in fact as a new member it was somewhat intimidating because sanctification for me the way they talked about it seemed unattainable and so today what i want to do is i want to remove some of the mystery around the idea of what it means to live a sanctified life in fact the word sanctified in the greek is the word hagiaso and it simply means to purify to make holy or to set apart and so saints if i could give you a simple definition of sanctification sanctification is simply the lifelong process of jesus reproducing himself in you let me say it again sanctification is the process of christ reproducing himself in you and so understand saints that to be sanctified is to over time be so filled with the spirit that after a while you talk like jesus after time you walk with jesus after a while you love like jesus over time you pray like jesus over time you respond like jesus watch this sanctification takes jesus out of the bible and puts him inside of us let me say it again sanctification takes jesus out of the scripture and it puts him inside of us and so saints before we go to our story i want to give you three quick notes about sanctification see the first thing you need to know is that sanctification is the work of a lifetime in fact to a certain extent it is an error to say i've been sanctified when the truth is we are daily being sanctified in other words sanctification is where we shed our sins we mature our faith we develop our character and we are established in agape love and the thing somebody needs to know is that the work of sanctification does not stop in fact philippians 1 6 says he which has begun a good work in you shall continue it until the day of jesus christ and it is important that we don't see sanctification as an event but you've got to see sanctification as a journey and see there are some that get discouraged that sanctification takes a long time we are discouraged that it takes a lifetime but i need you to know that that lifetime journey is good news because what it means is that it doesn't matter how many mistakes it doesn't matter how many missteps it doesn't matter how often you fall down the good news is that if you don't give up on god guess what my god will not give up on you the second note about sanctification is somebody needs to know that sanctification is not always comfortable in other words saints there are many things that edify but not everything sanctifies there are three primary things that bring about sanctification number one we are sanctified through the word and john 17 17 jesus says sanctify them through thy truth thy word is truth in romans 15 16 the bible says that we are sanctified by the holy spirit but guess what saints we are also sanctified by trial and adversity it is why romans 5 3 says that tribulation work of patience and patience worketh hope and hope at the second coming maketh us not ashamed and the crazy thing is we're okay being sanctified in the word we good being sanctified by the spirit but we feel a certain way that we are sanctified by trial and this is critical in the journey of faith because if you don't understand that trials sanctify you'll see god as one who punishes not a god who perfects let me say it again god is not a god who punishes god is in the business of perfecting your character and i think the mature amongst us will understand that you will never understand faith if you can always see how everything is going to work out you'll never develop patience if you've never had to wait for what you need you'll never get unconditional love if you're only around people that you like in other words you've got to stop interpreting everything as an attack stop seeing everything as persecution stop worrying about what you're missing and maybe you ought to start thanking god for what you're gaining is there anybody in the journey of faith that can testify that sometimes it's hard sometimes you lose some stuff along the way but is there anybody that can praise god that what you've gained in christ is greater than what you've lost in christ in fact let me say it this way you realize that in your house sanctification takes place every day in your laundry room and your kitchen do you realize that in order to clean clothes you put them in the washing machine so they go through the agitation cycle in order to iron clothes you apply heat to get rid of the wrinkles when dishes have stains that have hardened you get a scrub brush and you apply pressure in other words in order to purify it you apply heat you apply agitation you apply pressure and understand you're not punishing the clothes you're perfecting the clothes you're not punishing the dishes you're purifying the dishes and i guess what i'm saying if the dishes and clothes will endure you sanctify maybe we ought to learn to sit still long enough to let god do a work of sanctification in us are you hearing me today third note that i want to share briefly is this is that sanctification watch this it is god's work in us in fact the bible says it is god that works in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure and the truth is thanks that we get to live out the fruit of god's work in us but guess what we don't get to take any credit for the work that he has done in other words i cannot do any boasting about how i've grown i can't boast about what i've overcome i can't boast about where i am because it is god's work in me are you hearing me saints in other words boasting about spiritual growth is as foolish as boasting about genetic traits you were born with in other words is as foolish as a tall man boasting about being tall you didn't really make yourself tall you got it through somebody else's dna it's like me boasting about this wonderful dark skin i i didn't develop this this was somebody else's dna it's like somebody with long hair boasting about your good hair you didn't do it on your own you borrowed somebody's dna in other words you didn't work for it you didn't earn it through dna you were born with it and how many of us know that when you are born again you get brand new spiritual dna in other words saying sanctification is simply where i borrowed jesus dna so that through rebirth i can develop traits that i could never harness or develop on my own and this is why there can be no boasting in myself it is why the bible says whatsoever you do whether you eat or drink do it all to the glory of god because any good fruit was not developed by my goodness it is the work of god in us are y'all hearing me today in other words if i overcome something that's just his dna in me when you see my faith that's just his dna in me if you see me being patient that's his dna in me in other words we don't get to boast we don't get to brag we just borrow the dna of jesus when we are born again can the church say amen and so if you don't mind with me go back in your bibles to the book of saint luke chapter 17 and i want us to look at verse number 11 and again i'm going to move quickly through the word of god today luke chapter and i want us to look together in verse number 11. when you get back over there let me hear you say amen the bible says now what happened that as he went to jerusalem that he passed through the midst of samaria and galilee then as he entered a certain village there met him ten men who were lepers and the bible says they stood afar off now saints i need you to know that there are about three brief ideas that i want to lift from the pages of scripture today but the first thing our text teaches us is that with jesus that jesus does not require social distancing you see the first thing it teaches is that jesus doesn't require social distancing in other words right here in our text we find jesus in route to jerusalem and the bible says that on the way he maneuvers between galilee and samaria and he goes through a number of outposts and as he enters into a certain city the bible says that he is confronted by ten men who are lepers who make their need for mercy known to jesus now i need you to note beloved that the bible says that these men stand afar off now what i need somebody to get is that social distancing is not a new thing in fact it is an ancient practice so that even rabbinical law required that if you were struck stricken with any type of plague or infectious disease what you would have to do was keep your distance in all of your interactions in an attempt to protect the well-being of the community and as a carrier of leprosy one was required to stand between 20 10 and 20 feet away and announce or declare themselves unking and see you know the difficult part of leprosy friends was not just that it was physically debilitating one of the worst things about it was this enormous stigma that was attached to it you see leprosy back then was actually called the stroke some literally referred to it as the finger of god it was seen as a moral judgment against somebody that had some type of sin that had not caught up with them and see one of the reasons that people would avoid a leper was not just because they didn't want the disease they would avoid a leper superstitiously because they didn't want the lepers curse or bad fortune to rub off on them in other words they would avoid you because they didn't want your bad luck to touch them and so this incurable disease friends it didn't just harm the body i need you to get that this disease harmed your fellowship you see this incurable disease would distance you from your family it would distance you from your friends it would distance you from your community and it would distance you from gatherings like church so a leper would avoid contact with other people not just as a medical restriction but to avoid all of the shame and the stigma that was associated with his sickness and i need you to know beloved that even though we don't require this type of distancing there are still some members of the community of faith that we've given a certain stigma to you see there are some that have a hard time associating with the church because we've made them feel like jesus requires social distancing because of the mistakes that they have made and what i need somebody to get is that we have this way of applying shame to certain things and not to others and do i need somebody to get that you'll never be able to shame somebody to jesus christ see isn't it amazing church how we attach saying to certain things in other words we attach shame to people that drink we put shame on the girl that gets pregnant we put shame on the person that's been to jail we put shame on the young man with gender identity confusion we put shame on the person that's been divorced and remarried we put shame on the person with infidelity we put shame on people that give but the crazy thing is that we have this list of socially acceptable sins in the body that we're okay living with week in and week out and it is amazing that these same sins are just as destructive and they bring just as much yeast to the body it's amazing how real shame the girl that's gotten pregnant but in all of our churches we've got people in good and regular standing that lie and they gossip and they create dissension they so discord they tear down pastors they want to rape new members and yet they sit on boards and on committees and they're considered members in good and regular standing and see the problem is we've applied a stigma to certain things and as a result we've lost our children and our grandchildren because some of us think that in order to hold a high standard that we've got to shame people when they fall but i need you to know saints that you can't shame anybody to jesus and somebody's asking the question is there a time to reprove somebody yes there is but how many of us know that reproof is to be done in am i preaching to anybody today that reproof is to be done in love in other words the purpose of reproof it is redemption it is not condemnation and loving reproof there is no condemnation there is no badgering there is no singling out in real reproof what we do is we throw our loving arms around that brother or sister that has made a mistake and guess what we love them back into right relationship with jesus and let me say this beloved i believe that they're in the standards of the church there are times where a censorship is warranted or maybe in a worst-case scenario disfellowship is called for but the problem is we've used them the wrong way see the problem is we use church discipline as a tool to punish bad behavior when it was designed to be a response to an unrepentant heart so y'all didn't get that because we all got bad behavior we've all fallen short of the glory of god but it is not designed to punish behavior it is designed to deal with a disposition are you hearing me today saints and see because of the way we have handled some of the standards of the church some of us are some of our young folk are some that are disenchanted with christ feel like they've got to approach jesus cautiously there are some that feel like they've got to approach jesus timidly there's some that feel like they've got to be socially distanced like they've got to approach jesus with a fearfulness and this is why the writer of hebrews says no matter what your issues are today that you don't have to become timid or afraid but the bible says come boldly before the throne of grace that you may obtain mercy and find help in your time of need and what i need somebody to know is that jesus does not require any social distancing see i need you to know that the bible says in mark chapter 1 and verse 40 that there was another leper that came to jesus and guess what jesus did he doesn't keep him at a distance but he touched the man in order to heal him in matthew chapter 8 the bible tells another story of jesus laying hands on a man that had leprosy and what i need somebody to know is that when these lepers came to jesus his disease didn't rub off on jesus his goodness rubbed off on them and can i suggest to somebody that's got some stuff on them today that you ain't got to stand at a distance to jesus but when you come to jesus your badness doesn't rub off on him but his goodness rubs off on you are you hearing me today and see what i need somebody to be aware of is how jesus introduces himself look at the metaphors that are used in scripture he introduces himself not as a closed door but as an open door jesus says i am the way the truth and the life no man cometh to the father but by me remember he said all that come unto me i will in no wise cast them out it is why he says to john in revelation that the spirit and the bride say come let him that is a first come that whosoever will come in other words jesus wants to be a bypass not a roadblock you you know how in the major cities they have a bypass that goes around the city it helps you avoid traffic it helps you avoid congestion it takes you past so you can get to your destination but the problem is that sometimes in the church we've got too many roadblocks and not enough bypasses that clear the way so that somebody can get over to jesus christ are you hearing the word today and i need somebody that's watching this thing today to know that in christ there are no restrictions in christ there are no hidden fees in christ you don't have to qualify all you've got to do is just come as you are and he receives you and transforms you into who he has called you to be are you hearing me today saints in fact let me say it this way i remember when when the kids were just a little bit younger uh when they were around two and three and four years old i remember there were days where i would come home uh from work or from a trip and if i had on a white dress shirt i would pick the kids up in my arms and if they had been playing outside or eating some cheetos you know how when you hold kids what they do is they just wipe their little snotty nose all over your shirt man and they put their little dirty hands all over your collar and all over your back and it's crazy i need you to know that when they were small i didn't say stay back until i put on something else i didn't say stay at a distance until i get on the right garment in other words i was willing to put them in my arms even though they were gonna wipe the nose on the garment and put their fingerprints on the back of my shirt y'all didn't know i was preaching with a shirt that had been washed still had fingerprints on the back but the reason i didn't mind getting the shirt dirty is i'm willing to sacrifice the shirt just so i can hold the kids y'all didn't get it i'm willing to sacrifice the shirt so that i can hold the kids in other words i need you to know that we serve a father that is much greater than i who's saying i'm not going to sacrifice the shirt but i'll sacrifice myself just to hold the kids in fact he didn't just let it get dirty but the bible says he that knew no sin became sin that we might become the righteousness of god and he says i'll sacrifice myself just that i might be able to hold my children are you hearing me today saints first thing this teaches us is that jesus doesn't require social distancing but the second thing this teaches us stay with me saints is that sanctification it authenticates justification let me say it again i need somebody to get that sanctification what it does is it authenticates justification now this is interesting to me because there were times where when somebody who was a leper or had some kind of disease came sometimes jesus would just speak a word that would bring healing right there on the spot there are times where jesus would put his hands on somebody and all of a sudden the leprosy would go into remission but but when these men come to jesus and they cry lord have mercy upon us notice what jesus does he does not pronounce an instant healing jesus literally says this is what i want you to do i want you to go and show yourself to the priest you know what somebody's got to understand that if somebody was a leper and if they believed they were healed from leopard leprosy or even if they were misdiagnosed in other words they didn't have leprosy but maybe they had eczema or psoriasis and once it was healed they would go to the priest and and the priests would would inspect them and the priests would declare them clean in other words i need you to get this that only the priests could do the inspecting only the priests could give them entrance to the community only the priests could authenticate the cleanness only the priest was able to give them access it didn't matter what doctor said you were clean it didn't matter what your family thought it didn't matter what your friends thought the only opinion that mattered was the opinion of the priests now let me just pause and say this to some of us the reason that some of us are so miserable is we got too many people in our lives whose opinions matter too much in other words i can't stay here long but the reason that some of us are miserably unhappy is because we're trying to gain validation and approval we're trying to get affirmation from people whose opinions don't don't matter can i just say this saints that you'll never get any peace any contentment until you get to a place where you just live for the approval of your high priest some of y'all still didn't get that yet in other words there are some of us that are living with a whole lot of church hurt and let me be careful and real as i say this because there's this whole church hurt movement that some just use as an excuse not to be connected with the body of christ but the fact is that there are a lot of us that are living with some very real wounds that have been inflicted by some in the body of christ and i guess what i'm saying is the only way you're going to come out of that is if you stop worrying about the opinions of people and deacons and elders and you live for the approval of your high priest in other words he is the only one who matters in other words only the priest could validate only the priest could inspect you only the priest could make a judgment only the priest could get you in y'all not getting this only the priest could open the door only the priest could give you access so why are you worried about somebody's opinion who can't give no judgment who can't open the door guess what if you can't get me into heaven and you can't keep me out of heaven then guess what your opinion don't matter i'm living for the approval of my priest and i need you to know saints that even as i pastor him first church it's good when somebody says pastor i was blessed by that word but i'm preaching for the approval of my high priest i'm cool when people say pastor i like you you're cool that's straight but i'm living for the approval of my priest i love when my wife says you're a good man or my kids say you're a good dad but i'm parenting until the approval of my high priest and is there anybody that just wants to know the freedom of not worrying about what he's saying you ain't got to worry about what she say you ain't got to be concerned with their opinion but you live for the approval of your high priest to hear him say well done good and faithful servant you've been faithful over a few things i'm gonna make you ruler of many things so so i need you to get this thing sent so there is a tremendous tension in this story so not only does the priest have the power to inspect and authenticate that you are cleansed and let you in but understand that if you roll up to the priest and you still got leprosy and you come into the vicinity of the larger community unclean he's also got the power to invoke a stoning penalty because you put the whole community at risk so when jesus says go show yourself to the priests he's essentially declaring them clean let me say it again when jesus says go show yourself to the priest he is simply declaring them clean in other words he's declaring and saying you're good he's making declaration that you're fit he's making a declaration that you're straight now i need you to get that there is an amazing tension because jesus has declared them clean but they still got scales on their arms and they still got lesions on their feet and they still got boils on their body and jesus is saying go you're clean and there's a part that wants to go in and there's a part that's conflicted because jesus has declared them clearly but the fact is they're still unclean in other words there is this experience that he declares them good when they know they ain't no good he declares them straight while they know they steal cricket he describes them good while they know they're still bad he declares them clean even while they're still unclean and do you realize that beloved that when jesus declares them clean he installs in this miracle a parable of justification the bible says friends of mine that we are justified by faith so that when a person comes to jesus broken and wounded and unworthy of the presence of jesus i need you to know that at that moment you justification where you are simply declared clean even though you're not clean you're declared righteous even when your actions are still unrighteous and this is why salvation requires faith because i can't even see what jesus has said about me so that when i first came to jesus christ and i came and i submitted my life to him and i said lord i'm yours i need you to know that i experienced in the heavenly justification where jesus declared me righteous even though i was still unrighteous jesus says i was good even though i knew i was bad jesus said you've been made right even though i'm still doing wrong he said you're perfect even though i know i'm imperfect i still got wrong in my heart and lust in my eyes and violence in my spirit i've been declared righteous and it doesn't make sense but like i said earlier that if sanctification is borrowed dna justification is borrowed righteousness so that his righteousness is simply accredited to the sinner are you hearing me today thanks so we receive justification simply when we say lord i receive your sacrifice lord i accept your substitution lord i'm willing to let you stand in my place but notice that the word says that they were cleansed as they went so that what jesus declares at the beginning is justification but what happens on the journey is sanctification so so i need you to get this because the justification is invisible but sanctification ought to be visible justification can't be detected but sanctification ought to be obvious in other words they don't end the journey oh help me lord the same way that they start the journey so when jesus says and declares you righteous i need you to get this that when jesus declares him righteous it is not just when he declares us righteous it's not just an atonement process it's a prophecy [Music] when jesus declares you righteous this is not just an act of atonement it is a prophecy when jesus declares you righteous he is simply foreshadowing the work that is about to be completed in your life in other words saints have you ever noticed that whenever god showed up and dealt with somebody he did not call them by their name he called them what they would become in other words when he shows up to sarai he doesn't call her sarai he changes her name to sarah which means mother of nations even though she ain't got no kids he calls jacob no longer supplanter he calls him israel which means prince while he's living as a vagabond and a nomad he calls simon peter which means stone or stable rock even though he's unstable in his faith he shows up to gideon and calls him mighty man of valor while he is hiding in the winepress he changes saul's name to paul before he ever won a soul because he's declaring what will be even though it's not yet and see this is why you got to understand this about sanctification this is critical that's why in the disciples prayer jesus said pray like this thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven what is the will that needs to be done on earth as it already is in heaven i need you to know these are not just sovereign principles it is the outworking of salvation in the lies of god's people in other words the declaration the will of righteousness that has been done in heaven it's gonna also be done on earth or what jesus said about you in heaven is a lie and that's why sanctification has to authenticate the fact that you've been justified in glory so that the proof friends of mine that you've been made righteous in heaven is that little by little you live or develop a fruitfully righteous life here on earth or y'all hear me today saints and see this is why you gotta take the journey because when they started the journey what jesus declared was not the truth he says i need you to go show yourself to the priests i mean these boys they they shot they trying to figure this thing out like they're like man man if i don't go i don't get healed but if i go and i don't get cleansed i might get killed in other words i'm dead either way well let me just say this if you're gonna die either way if i gotta go then then i'm gonna go in jesus name no i have a witness here today and the word says that as they go they get healed that great things happen along the way now watch this y'all i need y'all to get that this is not a five-minute walk to jerusalem some people say that this journey depending on where they were around samaria and galilee that it may have been a six to ten mile journey over damned to the temple where the priest was gonna believe gonna be and i need y'all to understand that as they go the bible says they are healed now what somebody needs to get is that they are not healed in the first step but they are healed with every bobby brown says little step where they take in other words they are not healed in one step but they are healed i'm praying somebody gets this one step at a time they are not healed in the first step they are healed as they take continuous steps y'all not hearing me in other words i wish i could tell you that it was going to all happen in one day but the healing and sanctification takes place one step at a time are y'all hearing me today saints and i need you to know beloved that as they stay on the journey there are some powerful things that happen i need you to get that these boys are full of leprosy it is at a point where it cannot be contained and it's amazing how when they begin this journey they look like the living dead but by the time they get to the priest they look like they have been born again now i need you to know that if at any point they stop the journey guess what their cleansing is going to stop see if any point they stop the journey guess what the healing is going to cease in other words they're not healed after the first quarter mile they got to keep going they're not healed after half a mile they got to keep going they're not healed after one mile they got to keep going so i need you to see this thing taking place it is a miracle that is happening gradually in real time as long as they stay in the journey guess what scales begin to fall off as long as they stay in the journey boils begin to get healed as long as they stay in the journey lesions go into remission as long as they stay in the journey tissues begin to regenerate as long as they stay in the journey bald hair begins to grow again as long as they stay in the journey the ceneus begin to reattach as long as they stay in the journey their back begins to straighten up as long as they stay in the journey their eyes begin to get white as long as they stay in the journey teeth begin to grow back in as long as they stay in the journey their limbs regain their bounce as long as they stay in the journey their skin begins to redevelop as long as they stay in the journey they are healed now watch this beloved notice that they don't heal themselves they don't better themselves the bible simply says that as a result of obeying the word their development is the incidental byproduct of following an example or life of obedience to jesus christ and so what i want to say real quick is somebody listening to this word today it doesn't matter how you look today it doesn't matter how you look on the first leg of your mouth it doesn't matter how you look halfway through in other words you will never know the power of god until you stay on the journey and let me just say to somebody that's messed up this week see we love to talk about how we used to mess up a long time ago but can i just preach to somebody that messed up this week let me just say that maybe you slipped and failed this week but just stay on the journey maybe you got mad and cursed this week but just stay on the journey maybe you rob god this month but just stay on the journey maybe you visited the wrong website but just stay on the journey maybe you got mad and lost your temper but just stay on the journey maybe you did the wrong thing but just stay on the journey maybe you ain't praying in a couple days but just stay on the journey because jesus says if you just stay in the process what i said about you when we first met will be true by the time you meet the priest oh it might not be true today but by the time the priest shows up it's going to come to pass it will be done it is what john says it does not yet appear what we shall be but what we do know is that when he shall appear we shall be like him and we shall see him as he is it doesn't matter how you look today but god is going to keep working on you he's going to keep developing you he's going to keep sanctifying you oh just keep looking in the mirror some of the spots are falling off some of the growth has taken place but if you just stay on the journey by the time the priest shows up and you look at him he'll look just like you because the work of sanctification will have been completed in your life are you hearing me today thanks she reminds me like this i think i've shared with you before like one of the things that i i love to cook at the house and i'm a softener because i love to cook a good pot of grits come on save me now i told you you don't want to eat my grits these are not the good kind they got butter and salt they may take a few years off your life pray for me on this but one of the things that happens when i make grits is that sometimes i often make too much and the reason i overcook and make too many is when you put that one cup in the big pot it don't look like enough it don't look like it's going to feed enough people but one of the things i always forget is that once you add water and once you add heat and once you begin to stir the grits begin to expand and they begin to multiply and though it starts out looking like it ain't enough by the time it's done it's more than enough do i have any great christians out there today who can testify i might not look like much today but god is stirring me he put a hot water he's applying pressure and i might not look like much today but by the time the priest comes i'll be more than enough if you know that one day you'll be mourinho say hallelujah say thank you jesus give him a praise at this place today thing i am done i'm done go ahead and play something softly for me third thing this teaches watch this that sanctification sanctification doesn't create immediate change but what sanctification does is it produces permanent change see you know when the lepers came to jesus you know what they wanted they wanted a pronouncement [Music] just [Music] they they wanted the consequences the pain of the disease taken away that's all they wanted they wanted instant gratification but jesus says no today i'm not going to give you something immediately i want to do something for you permanently and it's interesting because i believe really only one of the men truly experienced justification and sanctification because see you can tell what the nine came for they just came to get the immediate relief of certain issues and consequences taken away that's why after they finished their journey and got what they wanted they didn't come back but you notice that the samaritan he started out socially distance but by the time he completed the journey he wound up at jesus feet and i need you to know that there's somebody that you've been functioning in a socially distanced way and you've just been wanting a pronouncement that takes away the consequences and the bad part and the heart out of life and what god is saying is what i want to do is i want to bring you on a journey i want you to have the samaritan principle where you may have started out a long way away but where i want you to end up it's not just having the consequences removed or the hard part taken away i want you to wind up permanently sitting at my feet and see there's somebody today that jesus wants to take you on a journey he wants to take you on a journey that it is not immediate but i need you to know that the change that god is going to make in your life that change is going to be permanent i want you to know that god is gonna do a change in you that is so thorough that is so powerful that is so pervasive that somewhere along the line it'll feel like it ain't gonna ever happen like the chains will never fall off like the slavish bands of iniquity will always hold you but i need you to know that if you just take one step at a time if you just stay in the journey that that whether you've grown up around religion or whether you have lived the most hellish life possible when you come into the light i need you to know that my god is able to make a change second corinthians 5 17 says therefore if any man be in christ he is a new creation all things are passed away behold all things are made new if there are any brand new creatures on the line today just put it in the chat say i'm made new i'm a new creation just shouted give him glory today if god has done a new thing in your life today hallelujah my prayer for somebody today i don't want this to just this whole service to sound like preacher talking church talk what i preached and what they sang was simply a testimony of an experience that those that have been made alive in christ it is this is this is this is not a performance [Music] this is the reality for those who open up their hearts to christ and say yes and this is the thing i want to say about the change that comes over you it's not a mystical thing that happens without your consent it begins with your decision there's somebody today listening to this word and you experience a lack not for anything financial or anything material but there is a hollowness and emptiness that is hunting you there's some that [Music] you've been transformed into the image of your church hurt and god says i want you to be transformed into my likeness and god is saying three brief things there's no social distancing doesn't matter what you've done my grace is sufficient god is saying to the person with church hurt you got to stop worrying about everybody else's opinion the only one that matters is your high priest to the body and to those who are believers i want to just say this to those you have settled into some destructive patterns and your lack of being sanctified calls into the into question the credibility of whether or not you've been justified your sanctification proves it it authenticates it god's will in heaven has to be done here on earth it ain't talking about no no sovereign principles is talking about the outworking of salvation in the lives of his people and there's somebody who's saying i need more than improvement i need more than modification i need the more to just change my behavior uh the whole thing is i just want to be the best version of myself no that is not who we are in christ we have to become a new creation and it begins with surrender it begins with saying yes saying i want to go all the way with jesus christ and and submission is simply why i simply i throw up my hands and say lord i'm giving you control of my mind my thoughts i follow in your way actively and maybe there's somebody in huntsville or the greater tennessee valley area and you want to go all the way in a committed relationship with jesus you want to experience this change we we want to walk with you down the journey of discipleship and you want to begin by saying i want to go all the way through you want to begin with bible studies and you want to go all the way to being baptized maybe you want to become a member through baptism you want to become a member first church or transfer or profession of faith if that's your desire today do we do one of two things just email us at prayer at firstchurch.com right now just on your device right now don't put it off don't delay don't say later don't say next week no while the spirit is moving prayer at first sdachurch.com to make your decision known to say i need prayer but more specifically you need to be baptized maybe you need to start over again you need to get in the word of god so you can be settled or maybe you're watching on facebook or maybe you're watching on youtube and right there in the comment section there is a link coming up that is called type form you can click directly on that link and you can make known the decision for baptism or or bible studies whatever you need and somebody by tuesday of this week from our staff is going to get in touch with you to begin that journey now maybe you're in another city maybe in another state or country and you need to get connected to a good bible believing advent fellowship close to where you are we'll connect you with a pastor a bible instructor so that you can continue your faith experience email us just the same we just want to be that that first person to hold the baton to pass it on to the next person in the race that'll help you get to the finish line but i need you to know that god man god is i need to know god has done something in me i need to know that that i'm being sanctified god brought me just even as i was preparing this message he clarified some things to help me make another step this week and i need you to say to that person that even in your falling and you mess up even when you follow the bible says a just man falls seven times but he rises up again but the crowd of somebody is just stay in the journey just keep taking steps one day at a time and god says if i began a good work in you i will continue it until the day of jesus christ listen sanctification is not an event it is a journey that goes to the day you die until the day the trumpet blasts and jesus comes to carry us home let's pray father in heaven we thank you for your word your word is lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path and my prayer simply this is that the word was plain i pray that it was simple i pray that the oldest down to the youngest would be able to understand the truth of your word and walk therein and father i want to pray for that person that needs to make a decision to say yes to you today i pray that they were not hardened i pray that they will not withhold or or delay or hesitate or say later but i pray that right now as your spirit is revealing and and conceiving new birth inside of them will they act on it jesus i pray for the lost sheep of the house of israel whether they've been wounded through church hurt or just caught up in the in this life or living unto themselves i make this appeal that your spirit will do a work of drawing all men unto yourself lord we have prayed unto salvation we have preached unto the base and these people they our ministers have sung unto salvation and our prayer is that right now heaven is able to rejoice because at least one center somewhere in huntsville or somewhere in in the virtual space has said yes and it's hard and has yielded to your divine invitation this lord is our prayer this lord is our prayer our plea we pray it all in the matchless name of jesus christ let god's people say together amen and amen

Channel: First Seventh-day Adventist Church

Views: 9,895

Rating: 4.8888888 out of 5

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Id: C0oSsDOKjVU

Length: 55min 52sec (3352 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 24 2021