It is Better to be Miserable and be Saved, than to be Comfortable and Lost - Wayne Huntley

this room Luke chapter 16 verse number 19 is where we will read Luke 16 and 19 I'm waiting to see where I'm gonna read from there it is I can read back there very good a passage of Scripture that we don't even allude to much anymore because it's got a bad word in it it's got a word that most pulpits have forgotten most Saints have forgotten most churches don't hear much about it the word hale is in this text and by the way it's still there it's still there there was a certain rich man which was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day and there was a certain beggar named Lazarus which was laid at his gate full of sores let's start over again for a point of emphasis let me do this again let's start over just for point of emphasis there was a certain rich man which was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day everybody say comfortable say comfortable all right now we'll continue and there was a certain beggar named Lazarus which was laid at his gate full of sores continued and desire to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table moreover the dogs came and licked his sores everybody say miserable that's miserable continue please and it came to pass that the beggar died and was carried by the Angels into Abraham's bosom the rich man also died and was buried notice the comparison of their departure the poor man died the beggar died he was carried by angels the rich man died and the Bible said and he was buried and in hell he lift up his eyes the rich man being in torments and seeth Abraham afar off Lazarus in his bosom and he cried and said father Abraham have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger into water cool my tongue for I am tormented in this flame but Abraham said son remember that thou in thy lifetime receive us thy good things and likewise Lazarus evil things but now he is comforted and thou art tormented I was recently just reading the scriptures and this thought leaped into my heart that I want to share with you today by the way of remembrance Paul told Timothy in first Timothy 4:6 if you'll put the Brethren in remembrance you'll be a good minister you'll be a good minister I'm not gonna reveal anything this morning I'm simply gonna try to remind you of something that I think is very important and that is simply this it is better to be miserable and saved than to be comfortable and lost it is better to be miserable and be saved than to be comfortable and lost now I'm referencing everybody say flesh I'm not talking about your soul if you're saved you're in the comforts of the Holy Ghost but we don't always fully live in the power of the Spirit we're tabernacled in flesh so I want to emphasize today that it's better to be miserable and be saved than to be comfortable and lost which you lift your hands to thank God for salvation in your life this morning Father we praise you today for your mercy your grace and your greatness we thank you for your love and your blessing to us and your kindness to us we exalt you this morning Lord let the minority that's in this room that I will preach to today find strength comfort assurance and encouragement by the power of the word of the Lord and before you sit down lift your hands and say Lord there may be one or two here today that desperately need this word help me to bear the burden let's help them this morning god bless you you may be seated clap your hands that give God praise right now when we condense this context we will discover it is one of great contrast between time and eternity and I think all of us need a fresh revelation of the significance of the difference in time and eternity it is better to realize as Christians no matter what's going on in our lives this is exciting I've come to tell you this morning ladies and gentlemen you are as close to hell as you're ever gonna get I would expect somebody clap your hands to thank God for that if you're a child of God you're filled with the Holy Ghost and you're living for God right now you are as close to hell as you will ever get and that is only in time we're headed for a place of eternal bliss and blessing and glory too much of Pentecost and Christianity today is sitting around Monday morning thank God for what we get in church on Sunday that helps us on Monday but what we're getting here today is going to live on through the ages of time and eternity and that is our salvation so we want to look at our takeaway from this great story in the Bible what is that the Lord wanting us to take away from this parable it is a word picture of a man that is death angels would be dispatched to escort him into what is called Abraham's bosom now I haven't even really taken the time yet and I need to I need to study what the Bible means by Abraham's bosom I don't know what Abraham's bosom is but I got a good feeling it's where you want to be I really don't know what it is but I know what the alternatives are and I know that that's got to be a better place than the alternative here's a poor insignificant man of poverty and pitifulness who had his death angels come to take him to a blessed place what a powerful person let us observe just a little closer this narrative as to who is the good guy and just who is the bad guy who is the one that's right and who is the one that's wrong who is the one that saved we might say and who is the world the one that is lost in today's modern now I'm going to preach to you right here in today's modern fairytale tight Disneyworld and they lived happily ever after presentation of the gospel and Christianity most people in today's religious world would erroneously conclude that the rich man represents today's believer the same man and Lazarus the poor beggar would be the lost unbeliever the rich man had everything the Christian is improperly promised by psycho-cybernetics positive think & Grow Rich preachers reading this text of the erroneous thought is almost like here in some well-known celebrated TV evangelists expensive clothes were on the rich man full bank accounts community a gated community full refrigerators full garages with life's grandest and greatest toys that's what we would figure to be the Christian the same men however in reality the buy in the Bible it was the beggar that was the same man notice him now lonely homeless no health insurance the dogs are licking his sores he's unhealthy he's hungry he's begging for the crumbs that fall from the master's table however in contradiction to modern-day prosperity rich Grow Rich and think positive doctrine I'm rise to preach to you today it was the poor beggar who was escorted by angels out of this world we must not allow ourselves to be depressed discouraged or disdained because we don't match the recipe of the grow rich prosperity doctrine and think there's something wrong with God or there's something wrong with our walk with God or that we're not even saying I'm a preach to you it's better to be miserable and be saved than it is to be comfortable and be lost contrary to what you may hear a lot of places being miserable does not mean you're not saved being lonely doesn't mean you're not saved being afflicted doesn't mean you are not saved let's break it on down even more to help somebody being poor does not mean that you are not saved this church that we're in today I've been privileged as your pastor to travel the world and preach the gospel and I preached the abject poverty but I want you to know when those people who are so poor they're barely clothed who scratched out a crumb to stay alive and their death angels are going to come and pick them up and escort them into a city where the lamb is the light not having the huge home doesn't mean you're not saved not having an expensive car doesn't mean you're not saved now preach a little more not having the perfect family does not mean you are not saved not having the fancy clothes does not mean that you are not saved there are too many in the Apostolic movement today that is leaving the church leaving holiness and when you ask them why you know what their answer is I am looking for happiness I'm looking for happiness I'm looking for satisfaction but mind you that is only fleshly gratification that we are talking about ladies and gentlemen it's better to be in this church today and have all kind of problems and live in a world of turmoil and be a part of the Apostolic Church it's better to be miserable and be saved than to be comfortable and be lost clap your hands to the Lord what I want to emphasize is just because you're st. does not guarantee you a life of exemption a life of distinction or even a life of elevation you are not wrapped in bubble wrap and protected from the world when you receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost some would like to present a position that as soon as you can say all your problems are over there's no more valleys there's no more challenges hallelujah there's no more situation I want to preach a little different here today and say this you know why God gave you the Holy Ghost because he knew at the end of time there was gonna be misery that was going to be pain there was gonna be sorrow there was gonna be disappointment and of all the attributes of the baptism of the Holy Ghost which we don't preach as much as we ought to preach the Holy Ghost Jesus said it's not coming to just give you power not just give you spiritual toys not give you just spiritual trinkets but the real purpose of the Holy Ghost he said is to be a cop Fatah more than anything you're gonna need is a comforter you're gonna need something to encourage you you're gonna need something to comfort you somebody shut him in to be apostolic or Pentecostal does not guarantee healing every time for everyone second Timothy 4:20 all the great apostle said trophimus have I left at my lead us sick Paul you left this man sick with all of your spiritual piler with all of your giftings that was a man that was left sick I want you to understand that does not guarantee financial prosperity for everyone acts three six I know a lot of folks that need to read this verse today the Apostle Peter set the premiere preacher of the Apostolic Church the gifted orator of Pentecost the man that Jesus gave the keys to said silver and gold have honor no mansion in the Bahamas no private jets no TV show no celebrity stylist huh he said silver gold have I none we must never judge the success of ministry by possessions or by things the app the apostle said silver and gold have I none somebody needs to know we don't need to get in the church just to have a bigger bank account we don't need to come to Jesus just that drive a bigger car or get a larger house we come to Jesus because our sins need to be remitted our sins need to be delivered from us and we need the hope and the trust of a better place called heaven as a matter of fact in Acts chapter 12 Acts chapter 12 shows us that James was killed by the sword and he was in prison it does not guarantee deliverance every time as a matter of fact Paul didn't get ahead by coming to Christ he lost his head I'm trying to balance the equation this morning that there's some folks sitting here depressed discouraged and downcast because you're not the SCAR testimony of the church because you're not the hero and the trophy of God's grace as far as yourself fleshly advancements are concerned but you don't need a shout about that you need a shout about the fact that your name is written down in the Lamb's Book of Life it's easy to shout over what we got but we need to shout over what He has given us that's what Jesus meant when he said don't shout because the demons are subject to you but he said shout because your name's rejoice because your names are written down what he was saying is don't rejoice over what you've done for me rejoice over what I've done for you I have written your name down in the Lamb's Book of Life I'm trying to get somebody to be encouraged this morning to come up out of those pews today and say I may be poor but I'm saying I may be lonely but I'm saying I may have marital problems but I'm saying I may have children that are rebellious but I'm saying and it's better to be miserable and be saved than to be comfortable and be lost over a unique verse of scripture in Psalm 73 1 & 2 sets the stage for my message today very clearly this is what the writer said truly without doubt without question without controversy God is good to Israel even to such as of a clean heart but verse 2 says but as for me my feet were almost gone my steps had all well nigh slipped you know what he's saying the rule is God is good but I seem to be the exception to the rule God is good but as for me my steps well nice slipped and then he went on to moan and groan and to whine in the rest of that chapter a sorrowful woeful tale of how things were not good in his life he said I know God's good everybody I know God's good but every once in a while you're gonna feel like the exception to that rule and a lot of times you're gonna say god is good when you're struggling when you're in battle when you're in conflict now one play no preaching this this morning but let me just throw this in in passing if you could pick up the last verse of the other chapter before 73 if you could pick up the last verse in 72 I want to tell you why some people get in that shape and I'll just drop this and move on so I'm 72 in the last verse of Psalm 72 if you could pull that up the prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended and the next chapter starts God's good to everybody but to me and then he started talking about how much better it was to be a sinner than to be saved they started talking about how the sinners don't suffer like I suffer they got all these blessings and I'm trying to live for God and I don't have that you know that's what happens when you stop praying that's the way you start talking when you are not praying adequately if you're struggling if you're lonely if you're discouraged if you're doing despair if you've got a broken heart if you got rebellious kids I remind you you're still saved if you just lost your job you're saying if you can't hardly pay your rent you're saying but this is what you need to do you need to pray you need to pray and keep your spirit fill with a Holy Ghost he said I seem to be the exception to the rule until we come to some 73 and verse 28 but it was good for me to draw near to God I'll put my trust in the Lord and I may declare all his works and he said later on in one of those verses there he said until I saw there in when I saw the end of all of those that seem to be getting ahead of me when I saw the end of those that seemed to have things I can't have when I saw the end of all of those that seemed to be living in dimensions and I'm trying to I don't have but he said when I saw therein then understood I that this is the right thing to do we are too consumed with our presence we keep our faces in our moments when we need to be people of eternity and realize it ain't always gonna be for me like it is right now it ain't always gonna be like it is right now someday the angels are gonna come and they're gonna escort you out of this world there'll be a trumpet to sound and you're gonna rise it's better to be miserable and be saved than to be comfortable and be lost what we need is the resolution of the three Hebrew boys our God is able but if not don't ever serve God ultimatums nobody has a right to give God an ultimatum I'm gonna live for you but if you don't do this if you don't do that you have no right to serve God and ultimatum you didn't need to be like the Hebrew boys and say but if not we know our God is able somebody shot I know he can do it I know he can do it but this is where the victories had but if he doesn't it's not gonna change one thing in my life it's not gonna change my prayer it's not gonna change my faithfulness it's not gonna change my commitment it's not gonna change my love because I know he can but if he doesn't I'm talking about when our prayers seem to be not heard when what I thought would be a bless would be blessed turns into a mess when what you thought you would be kept from you now have to live through when life is just factually unfair everybody say life is just unfair even then it's better to be miserable and be saved than to be comfortable and be lost it is better to have problems poverty and personal problems and be saved then to have comforts conveniences and cash and be lost it is better to cry at the altar alone and be sane than to dance with the multitudes at the bar you see I passed her people and have pastor them for years who most of the congregation didn't know much about the other person's personal life I pastored people who live on the very basics of life their income was the very lowest you could be paid it was the bottom of the line and every day that they did without they knew that by dark tomorrow night their pockets could be filled with cash but the method of obtaining that was criminal and sinful all they had see I've got I've got drug dealers that are in our church that are born-again and reformed and set free but don't ever think about it every day that they live in a little trailer house with somebody else because they can't get a job cause they've been to prison and they can't they say how many finances because all they knew to do was sell drugs and now they're in the church and they're financially embarrassed and impoverished and every day the devil says tomorrow night you could be rich by the time the Sun Goes Down three days from now you could have a pocketful of money but I salute those in the church who say although I know I could be rich although I know I could have cash although I know I can change my financial status it's not right it's criminal and it's sinful therefore I'd rather be miserable and be saved as to be comfortable and be lost I'm talking about your flesh if I said flesh it is better to struggle in resistance than submit to seeing it's better to be miserable and be saved than to be comfortable and be lost my wife's mother is one that was one of the greatest Saints that I personally have ever met amazing wonderful saint of God and the story so relates to her because she washed other people's clothes to buy food for her kids or she would or she would be a waitress at a restaurant to feed her boys because her husband had backslidden left the family destitute this little mama dug out a living for that family whatever she had to do to feed her children she did it one of the most moving stories ever heard her tell or someone told it of her I'm not sure I heard it out of her mouth was the fact that when she was a waitress in a restaurant when people would get up to leave if they left a stake on the table or a half of a piece of meat she would take a knife and carve off the part where they were eating and put the rest in a bag and take it home to give meat to her boys because she was striving to serve God and raise her family right after years of that poverty after years of the humiliation a man of means came by and fell in love with her and wanted to marry her a man who had money who would take care of her but he was not saved he was not apostolic he was not Holy Ghost field she had to make a choice she could have easily given herself to fleshly convenience fleshly satisfaction fleshly elevation in life to have things she could never have on her own but she chose to say no to that she said I'd rather be miserable and be saved has to be comfortable and be lost I want somebody understand you don't need to be deceived by the doctrines of mercenary prophets today that your life is not worth living because you're not a star of prosperity or riches or that your family's not going to be paraded as America's greatest family or you're not going to be shown to be the person of entrepreneurial skill that you financially advanced in this world had great elevation because you came to the Lord I'm trying to preach this somebody today who's miserable but it's better to be miserable and be saved than it is to be comfortable and be lost I want you to bow your heads right now with the spirit to single out whoever they are wherever they are in that strong 99 and would you pray with me right now for that one or two for that young lady that a sinful man is making his play for right now who promises are all kind of stuff but that promise does not include salvation that promise does not include the church that promise does not include a life of holiness for that person's being offered all these things but those things will separate you from the Lord and yes you might be happier and yes you might be more comfortable but I remind you this morning it is better to be miserable and be saved then they've comfortable and be lost would you lift your hands and let's pray for that one or two or three that's in this room right now that the Good Shepherd has come to find the Good Shepherd has come to love the Great Physician has come to heal it may not be the majority it certainly is not the whole but those are in the minority the exception to the rule but as for me but as for me truly God is good to Israel but as for me [Music] I want sister honey to sing right now one of the greatest verses of encouragement about heaven is simply this David said but as for me I shall be satisfied when I awake in his likeness I don't know all that heaven is gonna hold I don't know all the beauties of it I don't know know all about the magnificence of it all I need to know about it is David said I'll be satisfied in other words no one's gonna be saved and disappointed no one's gonna make it to heaven and complain no one is going to say well I thought it was I thought it was this I thought it was no David said when I awaken his likeness I'll be satisfied and you need to realize this morning there's nothing in this world that can satisfy you it may appease the flesh it may gratify the flesh it may make the flesh comfortable but heaven is where we really will find our satisfaction I want you to know it's going to be worth it all we don't sing about that much anymore but it's gonna be worth it all no matter how deep the valley is you have to walk no matter how high the mountain is you have to climb no matter how dark the night is that you have to live in will be satisfied when you awake in his likeness let us all stand right now lift your hands and let's play together as I said earlier it's only one or two two or three and you may not even know what's going on in their minds you may not even recognize what's happening in their hearts but they're questioning I don't understand why this is happening and understand why I don't have that other people have it I don't have it other people do this and I don't have that other people have hippie homes and I live in misery it's better to be miserable and be saved [Music] reach over lay your hand on somebody beside you let's pray right now we're just a lowly we're reaching for that one or two that the enemy is warring in their minds because they don't have greatness because they don't have riches because they don't have one others have they feel like there's no use of me serving god oh yes there is it's better to be miserable and be saved than to be comfortable and be lost let's everybody pray together right now Lord we ask you to see in the Holy Ghost we ask you to strengthen the weak we ask you to encourage those that are struggling this morning we pray for those that are paddling today those that are in conflict those are in contradiction those are in loneliness and frustration and fear we pray for them today that the Holy Spirit will empower them [Music] why don't some of you step to the front right now bring somebody with you you know that's in the battle bring somebody with you knows in the struggle you know who they are in this room this morning you know who they are in this building right now they're in the conflict there in the contradiction they're in the battle spiritually visually they are impaired they're not seeing real clear right now they're not seeing real straight right now the adversary is trying to discourage them to bring them into despair to make them give up go out surrender when I want you to understand it's better to be miserable and be saved than it is to be comfortable and be lost if you know this course Church lifted up with us right now it's an old one it will be worth it all it will be worth it all if you have to walk by yourself if you have to walk in affliction if you have to walk in poverty if you have to walk in rejection if you have to walk in loneliness it's better it's better it's better to be miserable and be saved [Music] to be comfortable and be lost reach over lay your hand on somebody's shoulder right now pray form it's a moment of decision it's a moment of destiny it's a moment of determination oh God I'm gonna resolve today I'm gonna renew today I'm gonna recommit this morning that it's better to be miserable and be saved than it is to be comfortable and be lost let the Lord lead you this mornin reach over pray for somebody right now near you I know in this room there are folks that are struggling mentally they're struggling in their attitudes they're struggling because it doesn't seem to be working out for them it doesn't seem to be coming to them it doesn't seem to be getting any better for them you got to hear me today it's better to be miserable and be saved than to be comfortable and be lost let your voice loud church let's pray for everyone in this room right now god I pray for every person on the sound of my voice they're struggling this morning the enemy is lying to them their own flesh is lying to them I'm asking you today to streak from them I'm asking you today to encourage them I'm asking you today to empower them cause of the leave this place this morning and on every turn of the road say to the devil it's better to be miserable can be saved than to be comfortable and be lost I feel the spirit ministering right now [Music] that's it throw your hands up and praise him for salvation right now throw your hands up and bless it right now and he brought you out of a world of sin saved and it's worse it's better than lost at its best don't ever let me forget that don't ever let the devil deceive you it will not be better outside the church it will not be better if you quit Church it will not be better if you leave God it never is and never will be throw your hands up right now and tell the Lord I'd rather be miserable and be saved and to be comfortable and be lost

Channel: Capital Community Church

Views: 40,233

Rating: 4.8757515 out of 5

Keywords: capital, community, church, fredericton, nb, new, brunswick, canada, upc, upci, united, pentecostal, international, apostolic, christian, preaching, sermons, sermon, raymond, woodward, jack, leaman, matthew, bible, study, biblical teaching, wayne, huntley, it, is, better, to, be, miserable, and, saved, than, comfortable, lost, It is Better to be Miserable and be Saved, than to be Comfortable and Lost

Id: yfKtL2fNDdE

Length: 38min 15sec (2295 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 18 2019