"He Is Certainly With You" | Keep The Faith Revival | Pastor Debleaire Snell

[Music] what a mighty god we serve we are here we are at the middle of the month we are right in the trenches in the middle of our keep the faith revival and because of that we are glad about what god has done but we are looking forward with great expectations of what he's going to do we were blessed by pastor dion henry to open up things we were blessed by a pastor alexis madrid who just really brought the house down and taught us how to buy some things and now we are getting ready for an awesome celebration with the lord's manservant pastor deblie air snell we are looking forward to what he has for this weekend starting tonight friday night and again sabbath morning so we need you to pray we need for you to tell someone we need to make sure that whatever happens for you that god does for you you make sure that he does it for someone else that you know as well let them know that god is teaching you how to keep the faith with this revival if it is your desire to send up more than just prayers you decide you know what i want to send a donation i want to donate through cash out i want to donate to the adventist giving out i want to send a check or some kind of a monetary gift to the church the physical address will be on the screen you can do whatever your heart desires whatever your heart tells you but understand the most important thing is when you send that gift send it with your prayers send it up so that the lord may continue to rain down his goodness upon us with our awesome god we serve continue to pray and continue to worship with us as we celebrate his goodness tonight pastor devliere snell will bring us the word from on high worship with us enjoy our god is a good god a mighty mighty good god god bless you and enjoy the service [Music] time measured out my days [Music] year to follow god but know i'd never be so strong i looked hard at [Music] just to end where i am in vain for grace [Music] nowhere my salvation the battles i would [Music] face losing grace [Music] expressed with all my who took my place and [Music] just how much his love would cost he still went the final mile between me in heaven so i would not be lost where is [Music] is salvation oh [Music] for grace [Music] [Music] oh grace hallelujah forever [Music] for losing the race grace grace god's grace grace that will pardon and cleanse within no way grace god's amazing grace grace that is [Music] yes [Music] deep down you jesus grace that is that [Music] is [Music] praise the lord everybody i'm pastor deborah ersnell so excited to be able to bring the gospel of jesus christ right there with my brothers and sisters at the daughter of zion's seventh-day adventist church i'm grateful to be a part of this season of revival and i believe if ever there was a time that the church needed reviving that time certainly is right now and so i want to just take a moment to just say a word of affirmation for my brother my friend pastor lenny newton he was the pastor of my home church in tallahassee just a little while ago and y'all stole him and brought him on down to south florida but we're grateful for the great work that god is using him to do uh there in the greater miami area and so we're excited uh to be with you this weekend we pray that god do a great and powerful work of building your faith and reviving us as we get ready now to go into the study of god's word so today as we look to god's word i want to invite you to look with me at a couple of places in the scripture first i want you to look with me to first corinthians chapter 10 and we're going to read together verses 3 and 4 but then put your finger over in exodus chapter 17 which will provide the the meat of our sermon today first corinthians chapter 10 and we're going to look together at verses three and four first corinthians chapter 10 we'll look together at verses three and four uh the bible says all ate the same spiritual food and all drink the same spiritual drink for they drink from that spiritual rock that followed them and notice what it says the bible says and that rock was christ the rock was christ now turn with me if you don't mind to exodus chapter 17 and we'll begin together at verse number one exodus chapter 17 and verse number one i'll give you a few moments to get there so that we can study god's word together exodus chapter 17 and we'll begin together at verse number one the bible says then all the congregation of the children of israel set out on their journey from the wilderness of sin according to the commandment of the lord and camp that referred them but there was no water for the people to drink therefore the people contended with moses and said give us water that we may drink so moses said unto them why do you contend with me and why do you tempt the lord and the people first it there for water and the people complained against moses and said why is it that you have brought us up out of egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst so moses cried out to the lord saying what shall i do with this people they are ready to stone me and the lord said to moses go on before the people and take with you some of the elders of israel and also take in your hand your rod with which you struck the river and go and behold i will stand before you there on the rock in horror and you shall strike the rock and water will come out of it and the people may drink so moses did so in the sight of the elders of the israel of israel and so he called the name of that place masa and meribah because of the contention of the children of israel and because they tempted the lord saying is not the lord among us or not today saints i want to talk to you for just a little while under the subject he is certainly with you he is certainly with you let's pray together father we just prayed together today that in this little while that you would say much and my prayer this morning is that in the hearing of the word that the faith of your people will be multiplied exponentially so lord would you please allow me to join my human weakness to your divine strength and as always it is my prayer that once again that you would 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 pray this in the name of him who is it all together lovely it is in the name of jesus that we pray all things let god's people say together amen and amen again just speaking under the subject he is certainly with you when you look saints at israel's wilderness wondering it actually reads like a case study in in gratitude when you look at the entire account one of the things that becomes clear is that there is nothing that god could have done to satisfy them in other words they ask god to deliver them from egypt and when god brings them out of egypt they complain about that there were times where they asked god for food and when he gave them manna they complained about the manna they asked god for a different dietary choice and when god gave them all the quail they could desire they complained about that there were times where god asked them to give them water and when god gave them water they complained that it was not sweet enough and so their cycle had become this that they would ask god for a specific thing and when god gave them that specific thing they murmured or complained about it and it is deemed as provoking or tempting the lord and what becomes clear is that there is nothing that god can give you to satisfy you in other words there is no gift there is no material good there is no job there is no person there is no station in life that can satisfy you in fact church i need you to get that satisfaction comes not when you have everything that you want but you're not satisfied until you want everything that you have and see the thing about human nature is that there is this insatiable quality to it in fact some of the things that we complain about are the things that we actually prayed for it's amazing that some of us pray for the german automobile and then we complain about the cost of upkeep and gas for the car we prayed for it's amazing how some of us pray to have children and and then we complain about having to get up early in the morning or change diapers it's crazy how we prayed so hard to be married and now we complain about the challenges and rigors of being married we complain that we wanted to get out of our parents house and and now we complain now that all of the responsibility is on us we prayed hard lord let me be the leader of the boss and then we complain about the responsibilities of having to be in charge and see the sin of israel then is the same as the sin of israel now where we're very loud in our prayers our request but then we get very quiet about our gratitude and willingness to give thanks in fact let me say it this way i remember one time i was taking my children to the pediatric dentist or the dentist for small kids and they're in the dentist office they set you in the back where there are toys for the kids to be able to play with and at the end of your time at the dentist they give the kids a small toy to take home and there was this one little kid that noticed other kids were getting toys and he began to yell out loud that he wanted the toy he began to scream that he wanted a toy and he began to throw a fit and fall on the floor because he wanted a toy and so the mom was trying to get him under control and the nurse seeing the mom having trouble she came and gave him a toy and what the little boy did after making all of that noise he walked away without saying thanks and then the mother said son you need to say thank you for giving the getting the toy and he just muttered thank you under his breath and it's amazing how the mom began to chastise the boy she says that when you were asking you were loud everybody heard you asking but when it was time to say thank you you got quiet and said it underneath your breath and she said something that i wrote down and i'll never forget she says never let your asking be louder than your gratitude and i guess what i'm saying to somebody is that when you allowed in your asking then you ought to be loud in your gratitude if you prayed hard for the healing then guess what you ought to praise hard for the healing if you made noise about getting the house then you ought to make a bunch of noise now that you got the house if you ask everybody to pray for you to get in school you ought to tell everybody that god got you into school if you made a bunch of noise when you were asking god to give you the job then you ought to make a whole lot of noise now that god gave you the job and do i have any folk that are just grateful to god you're just so thankful that you can't say thanks under your breath you've got to make noise about the way that god has made you've got to be verbose about the doors that god has opened and i want to suggest that if you were excited in your asking then guess what you are to be excited in your gratitude can the church say amen today and so go back with me if you will to exodus chapter 17 and verse number three as we unpack this story a little bit further together exodus chapter 17 and verse number three the bible says and the people thirsted there for water and the people complained against moses and said why is it that you have brought us up out of egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock here with thirst now saints i need you to know that this brief story teaches us some very important things but the first thing it teaches us is that you've got to come to a place where you love jesus more than you hate the consequences of sin let me say that again as somebody's hearing the first thing it teaches is that you've got to love jesus more than you hate the consequences of sin and let me say the reason that the gospel has not taken root the reason that some of us have so much conflict is because we've never truly come to love god we just hate or can't stand the consequences of sin in fact what drives many of us in our religious practice is not really a love of god what drives many of us is just a fear of hell or condemnation in fact there are many of us i read an article that said 40 of professed christians would stop serving god if there were no such thing as hell or eternal separation because for many of us our walk with god is simply about the destination it's not about the company we keep along the way and let me just say this to somebody that what has to anchor your relationship it's got to be about who you love not what you're trying to avoid whenever you read the in exodus wandering account did you ever notice that whenever things were uncertain whenever things got hard there was always this lamentation that we should have never left egypt there is always this this idea that we should go back where we came from and it's a saying insane to me how often this was repeated on the journey in fact just a week before they said it here uh when they begin before god gave them manna they begin to reminisce about the certainty of food in egypt they begin to daydream out loud about the aroma of the leaks and the onions and the garlic and how well the seafood was seasoned there in egypt and they literally voiced out loud a willingness to go back and one of the things that i always wondered why is there such internal conflict about freedom why is there hesitance about going to canaan why would they even entertain going back to egypt and it's amazing that they're they're complaining about the thing that they just prayed for god to bring them out of why would they be willing to go back to bondage but let's be clear what they wanted was the pleasures of egypt they just didn't want the bondage of egypt see the reason they entertained going back to egypt is this after god closes the red sea and drowns pharaoh's army and they stand on the safe side of the red sea i need you to understand that they realize that something different has shifted once they stand on the safe side of the red sea and they realize that pharaoh and his army has been drowned and all of the firstborn males were killed at pass overnight something sinister is released in them instead of thinking how great is our god they're thinking the system of slavery has been drowned in the red sea all the first-born males have been killed and now they don't see egypt as a place of bondage they see egypt in a whole new light they see egypt as a new opportunity in other words they're at a place now where they don't need to go to canaan because they can reside in egypt and be safe in other words the reason beloved there is a 40-year fight the reason there is this constant back and forth the reason there is this contention about going back to egypt is because they didn't really want canaan they simply wanted egypt without the consequences in other words they didn't really love god they just hated the situation they were in in other words god brought them out so that he can form a relationship with them he wanted to bring them to the mountain so that they could worship and have an interaction but see they weren't really looking forward to the interaction they just wanted to get out of a bad situation but now they look at egypt with a whole new light in other words we can now worship the gods of egypt and their mind they can partake in the chemistries of egypt at this time they can engage in the libations of egypt at this time they can engage in the central practices of egypt now they believe they can entertain egypt and be safe in other words i need you to get that egypt is a type of sin and this world in other words they forget that bad it was in egypt because now they think they can go back to egypt and be safe but remember when they first went to egypt it was good when they went in as descendants of joseph they were preferred in egypt they were welcomed in egypt they were pampered in egypt see sin always starts out good but what they don't realize is that they can never be safe in egypt it may take a generation it may take two but eventually the egyptians would reveal and they would find themselves right back in bondage and understand young adults that satan's greatest deception is that you can go back to certain things and the consequences won't be as bad see the problem is some of us don't want to be delivered from sin we just want to be delivered from the consequences of sin in other words we want the cigarette without the cancer we want the old boyfriend without the old heartbreak we want the old girlfriend without the old drama we want fornication without the possibility of std or pregnancy we want adultery without broken trust we want the cake without the calories we want the weed without the paranoia we want the drunkenness without the withdrawal in other words we don't really want god we just want sin without consequences and see the thing i want some young person listening to this word to understand is that when you start walking with god you ain't missing out on nothing i need you to know that when you walk with god all you're missing out on is the drama and the heartache and the stress and the strongholds and all of the slavish bands of iniquity that accompany life in this world i just need to know do i have at least four or five witnesses that have been in egypt and now you function in canaan and you can acknowledge that there ain't no comparison and i can testify beloved that even though i want to be saved when jesus comes again i need you to know that all of my hope is not future i need you to know that i've got joy today in other words my joy won't be made full at the second coming i need you to know that my cup is overflowing now as i preach this sermon my joy is full as i preach i've got peace like a river as i peach i've got joy like a fountain in other words if there were no heaven i would still serve god if there were no hell i would still serve god because my reward is not a place my reward is not a location my reward is the privilege of being able to know jesus for myself in other words it is the joy of having him in my life it is the peace of in being enveloped in his presence it is simply the joy of knowing god now that keeps me in other words it's not about what i avoid it's about the god that i know do i have a witness today in fact let me say it this way uh there are times where my wife and i will take a a road trip together and it's crazy because no matter where we're going whether we're going to florida to destin or to orlando what happens is sometimes as we talk and sometimes as we share stories what happens is i begin to enjoy the company with my wife i begin to enjoy interacting with her i begin to enjoy sharing with her that the joy of the journey is not the destination the joy of the journey is about who i'm sharing company with in other words if i made it to destin and she was not there then destin wouldn't bring me no joy but how many of us know that even if you went to heaven and jesus wasn't there then heaven wouldn't have no joy and i need you to know that all your joy shouldn't be based upon getting to heaven it ought to be about the fact that you keep company with jesus now it's the fact that you walk with him that you talk with him that you are able to experience him early in the morning as the dew is fresh on the roses and so i want to say to somebody stop saying that old tired statement that says when i get to heaven i'm going gonna really shout how many of us know that you ain't gotta wait till you get to heaven this house you can shout right now because you're walking with jesus because your journey is not about the destination your journey ought to be about the company you keep along the way somebody ought to say amen second thing that this word teaches us beloved is that you ought not ever put complaints in the place of petition now understand i get why this scenario will bring some anxiety to the people because understand that when you are a nomadic people what you literally do is you plan the length of your trip around the bodies of water around where you can stop and be replenished and be refreshed uh refresh and see i understand that this trip is literally designed to test them because just one chapter earlier in chapter 15 and verse 27 the word says that god brought them to ilam where there were 12 whales and 70 palm trees and they were already encamped by a body of water but get that this is a radical where they go from being by 12 whales and 70 palm trees and a body of water into refidem where it is arid and dry and it is essentially a rock quarry and understand that this is not some trivial request because understand that they are traveling with their women and their children and their livestock and so they are in need for god to come through the need for water is legitimate for so for them to be frightened and anxious i somewhat understand it but see the problem church it is not that they express a need the issue is that instead of making a strong petition they make a strong complaint in other words their complaint or grievance against moses was more pronounced than their petition to god in other words did you notice that there is no call unto prayer there is no gathering of the elders to call on the name of the lord there is no meeting of the women in the camp to be again interceding odd to the lord on their behalf there is no meaning instead they murmur they complain they threaten they gnash their teeth they do everything but call on the name of the lord and see the problem with some who are listening to this word today is that your complaint life is stronger than your prayer life oh let me let me just stay here for a moment see the reason that some of us don't grow is that your complaint life is stronger than your prayer life and there are some who are listening and saying no pastor i prayed about it but the question is is the frequency of your prayers greater than the frequency of your complaints and see the thing i need somebody to get is that complaining is the devil's substitute for praying i need you to know that criticism is satan's substitute for intercessory prayer and see the question for somebody is are you persevering in prayer or are you persevering and complaining are you consistent in interceding or are you consistent in criticizing and i need you to know that i get that complaining gives an instant catharsis or a weight lifted but guess what it does not change things in the long term complaining or venting may give me an immediate relief but the problem is that when i'm done complaining and i look up all the things that i was complaining about are still right there staring me in the face and the thing i want to say to somebody is that complaining is the most useless tool in your arsenal in other words one of the reasons is useless is that the people you're complaining to they don't really care about what you're complaining about because the truth is that they're folk that got so many issues and worries and stresses of their own that they don't have time to carry their burdens and yours at the same time and the thing about complaining is that it doesn't improve it doesn't build it's not progressive it's not creative it's not transformative and the thing you've got to get about complaining is that the things you complain about the most it reveals where you're praying the least oh lord lord oh help me holy ghost see whatever you complain about the most it simply reveals where you're praying the least because see one of the things i've learned is that with your praying about something you can't be complaining about it at the same time in other words complaining and praying they are unequally yoked disciplined the two can't occupy the same space the two can't settle in the same heart so whatever i complain about the most is simply revealing what i pray about the least and see one of the things i need you to know saints is i've been around church a long time i've been around praying people and i've been around complaining people and i need you to know that they are never ever the same people in other words the folk that are always complaining about their spouse i need you to know those are not the ones praying for their spouse the ones that are always complaining about the church are not the ones that are actually praying for the church the ones who complain about their lack are the ones who are never praying about their lack the ones who complain about the pastor are the ones that are never praying for the pastor because complaining people and praying people are never ever the same people now i can sense that some of y'all are being offended by this statement or this idea but remember what philippians chapter four and verse six the bible says be anxious about nothing but pray about everything and the bible says that when you make your request known unto god the peace that passes all understanding shall guard your heart and your mind through christ jesus in other words one of the automatic results of prayer is that you get god's profound peace and that's why i can't complain and pray at the same time because the result of my prayers is a peace that settles in my heart that nullifies my ability to complain in other words i need y'all to understand it this way that peace and prayer play on the seesaw together what what do you mean see i think some of us remember on the old school playgrounds you have a toy called the seesaw where when you mash down on one side it raises up the other side and when you put pressure on the other side it raises up the other side and i need you to know that peace and prayer play on the seesaw so that whenever i go down long as i'm on my knees as long as i'm calling on god god is gonna give me a perfect peace so great and so profound that i can't be made anxious by anything that they may bring because when i got no room for complaining when i've got peace i can't form my lips to complain because i have peace i can praise even in my difficult days because peace a certain laughable of a rock in other words the obvious thing for god to do is to just make it rain really hard but understand that god gets no glory if it rains because that is simply a natural mechanism of doing things but there is there there's an absurdity there is a laughable quality that god sends water from a rock because water has no moisture traits to it rocks don't absorb water they don't store water they don't produce water and so what god does is he gives the rock the capability to do what it naturally has no ability to be able to do and see the reason we sometimes fear saints is because the miracle is not always obvious sometimes saints the miracle is embedded see i need y'all to understand this about the rock that as they enter into the valley that the rock is not painted gold i need to get that the rock does not have a light shining on it the lock rock does not stand out it is not positioned in some extraordinary fashion so that if you walk through the valley there are certain folk that are just walking by the rock there are certain people that may be leaning up against the rock there may be some kids that are standing on top of the rock in other words the rock that is going to supply the water it does not stand out it it is hidden in obscurity it is embedded amongst other common things in other words sometimes the miracle is not always obvious and see i need you to get what god does because the miracle that they seek is embedded in something that's already at their disposal let me say that again see the miracle that they seek is already embedded and something that's already at their disposal and see that's the trend of god in the book of exodus to teach us something important because notice that god speaks to moses from a burning bush now understand that in a dry arid desert that a burning bush is no obscure there's no outstanding thing it is something that moses would see on a consistent basis god takes a shepherd's rod and he causes the rod to turn into a serpent god reveals himself in a cloud something that the people would look up and see every day in fact god uses the lamb as the primary symbol of atonement and here god sends water from a rock something that they wouldn't even pay attention to something they would treat with indifference something they would see every day and assume that there is no miracle present and i guess the question for somebody today what is the miracle source that you're overlooking what is it that you are overlooking because you're judging it by the way it looks and let me suggest that there are some miracle portions somewhere embedded in your everyday life there's somebody that has some books on your bookshelf that if you read it it will equip you and give you the tools to be able to transform your life some young lady there's a dude that's spiritual that you put in the friend zone that may wind up being the spouse that helps lead you to the kingdom of god somebody has a composition notebook that when you begin to write you'll begin to write the book or write the song that is going to transform the culture there are some of you that are passing by some land every day where you're going to build your house or a clinic or the church that's going to change the world somebody has a child or a young person in your reach that with your mentorship they'll be a great citizen with the kingdom of god and i need you to know that god that takes something that looks ordinary god takes circumstances that look like they yield no extraordinary results and he has possibilities on the inside i pray somebody's hearing this word today in fact let me testify i remember as a student here at oakwood uh uh my senior year i remember in the moseley complex my wife my wife now gianna uh i would pass by her every day in the hallway she worked as a custodian sometimes she would be dressed in a smock or cleaning clothes and i didn't realize that every day i was passing by my rock my miracle hidden in plain sight this church where i'm preaching from i remember passing by this building every day on my way to taco bell it was an older church of christ building but god has set it aside just for us and in the last seven years over 800 people have given their lives to jesus christ here and i guess what i'm saying to somebody is that it may seem plain it may seem our impotent it may seem unspectacular but the same way the rock was given the capability to do what it didn't have the ability to do i need you to know that there are some things in your life that if you simply take what's in your hand god will kiss it god will touch it and god will use it to help you become what he has ordained for you to become can the church say amen fourth thing that this story teaches us beloved is it reveals the grace of the almighty god now there's somebody who's saying pastor i i just don't see the grace of god in this story no i need you to understand this chiding this frenzy against moses that it gets so severe that that moses literally renames the place massah and meribah which means to provoke or contend with the lord saints i need y'all to know that this gets so bad and out of control that moses renames this place so that whenever they came through that this their story was supposed to stand out in infamy to shame them because of their unbelief this occasion was to stand out in an awkward way in israel's history but notice when moses prays he is like okay lord what do you want me to do with this people now in other words see i need to get that they have just pushed moses to its limit he's like okay lord what do you want me to do with this people you see up until this point when it got hard moses would say lord what are you going to do for us but now moses puts some distance between himself and the people and he's like lord what do you want me to do to them in other words because in moses mind the people deserve judgment they deserve punishment they deserve calamity and moses is ready to give it to them and i need you to see how this thing plays out so god says moses listen i want you to go up to that stone there in horeb and moses is like yes lord go ahead and stone these people in other words they they need to be judged they need to be made an example of and then god says moses take the elders with you and god moses is like yes lord i want there to be a witness i want the elders to take record of this they need to take note of what happens when you mess with god's servant then he tells moses i want you to strike or to smite now understand that the word smite it is the hebrew word wahekata it means to punish it means to destroy it means to apply justice in other words moses is like yes lord i want you to punish them i want you to judge them i want you to apply justice to them let there be a witness let this serve as an example throughout all generations so he's like moses go up he's like i'm going take the elders i want to whip me he says moses smite he's ready to smite and then when god says moses strike the rock and then your boy moses is like whoa the rock didn't do anything wrong the rock is innocent the rock has no offense in it in other words when you're going to do something i want you to do something to the rock when you judge and destroy the rock i'm going to send streams of water from the rock that is going to satisfy everybody that was there and how many of us understand the grace of god is present right here because paul says that we all drink the same spiritual drink that came from the spiritual rock and the rock was jesus see we always thought that the miracle was about provision no this miracle saints is about redemption in other words when the punishment should have been applied to the people when the people should have been judged when the people should have been punished when the people should have been destroyed god says give the punishment to the rock the rock says i'll take their place the rock says i'll take their penalty the rock says i'll be judged in their stand the rock says i'll fulfill their destiny deficit see that's why when moses hits the rock a second time moses had to die because christ was only supposed to die once his one sacrifice was to be sufficient and when moses struck the rock a second time it was suggesting that the first sacrifice of the rock was not enough he messed up the typology and that's why god said to moses you've got to die and see i need you to know that when god uses moses to strike the rock and water comes from the rock it is to foreshadow what jesus said there in john chapter 4 to the woman at the whale that if you come here to drink you'll have to come back again but i want to give you some streams of living water so that you'll never ever have to thirst again i need you to know that when you strike the rock that streams of water would come from the rock that it would take everybody's place and everybody would be satisfied because the rock got destroyed and i need you to know that when jesus went to the cross he made available some streams of living water that would satisfy our souls so that we would never ever have to be satisfied again see the reason i can rejoice today is because the rock stood in our place the rock took our punishment he was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was upon him and by his stripes we are healed what can wash away my sins nothing but the blood of jesus what can make me whole again nothing but the blood of jesus how do i know he'll never leave me how do i know he'll never forsake me because he paid the ultimate price to purchase our salvation let me say to somebody who's going through somebody that's going through a difficult spot when you want to know your value to god don't judge your value by what's in your bank account when you want to know your value look at your price tag you know your value not by how much you get paid you get your value by how much was paid what was paid was the penalty of eternal transgression when jesus stood in our place and allowed us to be redeemed is there anybody that's on this line today that can just rejoice with me that he took your punishment guess what the bills may not all be paid all may not be well with your kids there may be some pain in your body but you can just take one moment and lift one holy hand you can rejoice in the goodness of the lord because he took your place and i'm thankful that the rock took our punishment and see the thing i want you to know is because sometimes we wonder when circumstances change is god really with us see the way you know god is with you is not because of what's going on around you the way you know god is with you is because he paid the ultimate price for your salvation see see the reason you know you see their times where we want jesus to come back again and we we think that maybe god isn't going to come back again because because he's taking so long see the reason i know jesus coming back again is not just because i see prophetic things happening in the world the reason i know jesus is coming back again is because he values what he left behind see john 14 he says listen let not your heart be troubled he says if you believe in god believe also in me in my father's house on many mansions if it were not so i would have told you i will go but i will come again and receive you i go to prepare a place for you and if i go i will come again and receive you to myself that where i am there you might be also in other words the reason he is coming back is not just to fulfill a certain sequence of prophetic of events he's coming back because he left something valuable here on this earth he's coming back to redeem me he's coming back to redeem you somebody ought to shout amen let me see it this way as i close uh you know i teach part-time here in huntsville over here at uh at oakwood university in the religion department and uh there are times where at the end of one of my lectures or classes my students will will rush out of the door and sometimes they will leave certain items behind and sometimes depending on what they left behind i'll i'll i'll wait and i'll stay by because i know they're coming back now you should understand that if they leave a pencil behind i'm not staying behind for that because i know they're not coming back to get a pencil if they leave a notebook or maybe a folder behind i'm not staying around because i know they're not coming back for that but guess what if they leave an iphone or they leave an ipad behind i'm gonna hang around because see i know that they paid so much for the phone they paid such a high price for the ipad they value it so much then guess what i know they're gonna come back again to receive it and see i need you to know beloved that we were not brought with corruptable things such as silver or gold but with the precious blood of jesus the reason i know he's coming back again is because he's left something valuable here on this earth he paid too much to leave you behind he paid too much to stay separated from you i know he is with me because he paid the highest possible price in order to redeem me and you so that we can live eternally with him and so i just want to say to somebody that's in a difficult spot i'm going to say that somebody that is in a difficult situation i want to encourage you not to put your complaints in the place of your petition i'm going to encourage you this morning this afternoon that that when you're tempted to to complain i need you to know that's just simply an invitation to pray i i want you to get to a place that whenever you're tempted to just vent and complain and ruminate over what's wrong i want to admonish you to just go into a prayer of thanksgiving where you just look around and begin to count your blessings and i need you to know that your blessings will always outnumber your curses i want to say to somebody who is always locked in a fear-based religious experience where what drives you is not love for god what drives you is fear of consequence so i need to understand that perfect love casts out all fear fear is eventually going to dissipate fear is eventually going to go away the same way everybody was trying to get right with jesus when corona first start but now the life is it's kind of going back to normal and the fear is gone people go right back into their old practices because fear can't keep you the only thing that will keep and sustain your walk with god is that you're in love with him and it's about the journey not just the destination and i want somebody to be able to just celebrate god's amazing grace because even if everything is not well in your world i can thank god that he was wounded for our transgressions bruised for our iniquities and that when the punishment should have been applied to the people i thank god that even in the old testament it was applied to the rock and that rock was jesus christ and so as i close i want to make a brief appeal maybe there's somebody who is watching this sermon today and and maybe you're estranged from christ maybe you've never accepted or received jesus christ i want to invite you right there in your home or on your device or whether you're watching in a vehicle as you drive down the road and right in this moment i want you to open up both doors of your heart and i want you to just take on a posture and a position of submission where you say lord i acknowledge that i need saving i acknowledge that i can't save myself and i claim by faith your grace that is more than sufficient and if you want to make it up in your mind and say you want to go all the way with jesus i want to encourage you to connect with the pastor of this church in this area and i want you to know that they'll walk with you they'll they'll join you on your discipleship journey and help you get on a path that culminates and you being saved are redeemed when the lord comes back again i want to thank pastor snell for that timely word and truly god is with us if you were blessed by this message we want to encourage you and if you're interested in possibly bible studies if you want to be in the next baptism if you're interested in special prayer just text us your information at 561-334-1972 again that's 561-334-1972 you text us your information we will get back with you and we'll assist you with whatever you need and so we want to encourage you to check us out this upcoming friday for our next message and again pastor snell will be with us and we will start that broadcast at 7 00 p.m this upcoming friday but let us end with a word of prayer heavenly father lord once again we thank you for being a god who will never leave us nor forsake us and now lord we're just asking that your spirit will lead us direct us and guide us in the ways that we should go save us in your kingdom this we pray jesus name [Music] amen you

Channel: Daughter of Zion - Delray Beach, FL

Views: 2,637

Rating: 4.7272725 out of 5

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Id: q8zkcNyaRF8

Length: 59min 5sec (3545 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 14 2021