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well hello family i am so glad that you all are here we are here for another uh time of studying god's word and i don't want to delay any longer let's get right to it god we thank you for this day that you have blessed us with we thank you for the love that you have shown in our lives god we are so grateful for all that you continue to do god we thank you even for the blessings you are preparing that we will walk into one tomorrow for lord you said your mercies are new every morning and great is your faithfulness and so god we stand in anticipation for what you're going to do not just for us but through us not just uh in our lives but through our lives to be a blessing to others for certainly um we are blessed to be a blessing now god we lift up those who are still um trying to recover in their lives from the ravages of hurricane ida and then oh lord we also pray for those who are in florida who are preparing uh to encounter hurricane tropical storm mindy god we ask that you will protect them and keep them that you would allow them to find safety and shelter and uh to be able to say that the lord has brought me through a storm yet again and so god we celebrate you we thank you and we bless you now god be with us in this time of study that we might learn that we might grow that our eyes might be enlightened that we might uh become more like your son jesus who is the christ and that our passion for your kingdom would burn even brighter so lord we thank you we bless you in the mighty matchless and phenomenal name that is above every name the name that is here that has healing in its name the name uh in which there is hope and rescue and help god we pray in the name of jesus let us all say a man a man and a man i'm so excited for our bible study of course we continue in our series miracles do uh miracles still happen right miracles still happen uh with faith and that is because it takes faith in order for god's miracles to manifest in your life because god responds to our beliefs god responds to our belief god responds to the faith that we have in him and so let us turn in our bibles on today to uh luke chapter five we'll be looking at verses 18 to 25 i may read 26 but i don't i'm not sure that i'll be able to get to it but luke chapter 5 verses 18 to 25. luke chapter 5 verses 18 to 25 i'll be reading from the csb version it reads on this wise says just then some men came carrying on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed they tried to bring him in and set him down before him since they could not find a way to bring him in because of the crowd they went up on the roof and lowered him on the stretcher through the roof tiles into the middle of the crowd before jesus seeing their faith ah so jesus saw their faith seeing their faith he said friend your sins are forgiven then the scribes and the pharisees began to think to themselves who is this man who speaks blasphemies who can forgive sins but god alone oh that's gonna be good right there but perceiving their thoughts right they didn't have to say it they just started but perceiving their thoughts isn't that amazing to know that god knows our thoughts that god knows our inner yearnings and desires and uh god know perceiving their thoughts jesus replied to them why are you thinking this in your hearts right jesus said listen you are the unbelief is not just in your mind but this is a deep rooted unbelief that you have in your hearts say why are you thinking this in your hearts which is easier to say your sins are forgiven or to say get up and walk but so that you may know that the son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins he told the paralyzed man i tell you get up take your stretcher and go home oh we know the kjv says rise take up your bed and walk immediately he got up before them picked up what he had been lying on and went home glorifying god then everyone who was astounded and they were giving glory to god and they were filled with all and said we have seen incredible things on today right we have seen incredible things on today yeah so god's word is already blessed i want to um i really don't have a uh title for this tattoo we'll just go with what the uh the section that the bible titles it that the son of man that's important to know jesus the the son of man designation for jesus christ jesus it seemed loved to be called the son of man more than any other title for we see the son of man is listed in the gospel record at least 82 times at least 82 times um and i i believe that it's important because jesus wanted to us to realize that he was associated with or familiar with our humanity that we serve a god who knows and is familiar with our humanity and so now the son of man forgives and heals uh sins let let me um by way of introduction into this text verse 17 says one of those days while he was teaching pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there who had come from every village of galilee and judea and also from jerusalem and the lord's power to heal was in him talking about jesus so let me just talk about pharisees uh because it's here in our text and you'll hear about it on sunday too that the pharisees right these religious officials or religious leaders of the day they had come from every village as they say to hear jesus talking now this was their right to do so right and this was part of their duty because the pharisees were part of those who were um the pharisees were part of those who were the um uh uh the they they were the keepers right they they're the original uh task or the original the original role of the of their position was to make sure that they prevented false prophets from leading the people astray right if you look back in deuteronomy chapter 13 and deuteronomy chapter 18 we'll see that the original role of the pharisees was to prevent the people from listening to false prophets and being led astray by them however over time um the pharisees uh this uh this um the practice of the pharisees became very legalistic it became very by the law it became very you know there was no grace in there it was strict you know this this and not only were they strict on the teachers but they also created a code of laws and the midrash and the talmud that be that made it a real strict for the people so now the teachers and uh the people were under these strict human engineered laws um uh you know because the pharisaical um uh legalism the pharisaical legalism had overtaken them and so what was once god ordained had been perverted and so by the time we see it here in the gospels where jesus christ is um these people these pharisees with their legalism were put in burdens on the people right and these religious leaders jesus rebuked them right jesus rebuked these religious leaders all throughout the gospel i mean they jesus came down on them because they were so focused on the law that they had uh forgotten about god's love they were so concentrated and and and just laser on we got to obey this law we got to do it like moses said that they had lost the love of god and so jesus rebuked these religious uh leaders and these leaders in the church at that time because they were operating um and and and by the law they were operating very legalistically um and they had left out god's love and the grace therein and so i'm glad i mean you read chapter if you really want to see how the lord rebuked them you read matthew 23 right where he talks about um don't jesus says don't even listen to these religious leaders these church leaders because they don't even they so hypocritical they don't do what they preach they don't practice what they preach rather sound like barry right they don't practice what they preach and um and so he said you know they put all these burdens of the law on you but they're not even willing to do it themselves right i mean jesus was real harsh on these religious leaders because god and jesus um despises the hypocrite right and whenever you try to be so legalistic um and so by the book and so line by line that you don't leave space for god's love or that you don't have the grace that god gives you for other people then the lord is not pleased with your life and your living and so um and and here you know though let me say this the word pharisee means um to divide and to separate right to divide and self-separate so initially the word pharisee um what meant to divide and separate people from uh to separate those who obeyed the law um from those who did not obey the law right um but i tell you when we translate that over 2000 years later um those who still serve in those positions um and those who still have this very fair sale called legalistic uh uh approach to church and everything else um they don't just uh separate they don't divide and separate people uh who who obey the law and people who don't obey the law but they divide and separate churches divide and separate uh pastors from churches they divide and separate uh our ministries and and and everything else and so divide and separate the church from the blessings of god right by the way that they operate and so um we have to be mindful of pharisees right that uh we know now that if you're if your leader is not spirit led if your leader is not guided by the spirit of god if you like and we'll talk about this later if their faith cannot be seen right it's not just what they say but if their faith cannot be seen then um some evaluation needs to take place on whether this is the place for them or whether they're in the play or serving in the place where they ought to serve amen so i wanted to say that um and it's because it really struck me because this is if you read the gospel of luke chapter 5 in this verse now on these verses of the first time chapter 5 verse 17 is the first time the uh pharisees are mentioned in the gospel of luke and so um uh that makes it the law of first mention uh or made something always important when we think about it so the pharisees are there they are jam-packed in this house right the house uh jesus was in capernaum and a house in capernaum was no larger than 18 feet right when they did the excavations the largest they would find the house is 18 feet and so this house was packed then that means that there were probably about 50 people in capernaum there about 50 people in capernaum who were um you know 50 people in capernaum uh that were uh jam-packed in this house including the pharisees and the scribes who were there with him and so we have these uh folk who were jam-packed in this house the friends of this man they see this guy and they said uh man you need to get healed right so we see in verse 17 it says that the pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there um but we really know i mean if they were jam-packed in there they're 50 people maximum but it says that they were sitting there which means that they were probably jam-packed in this house you know you maybe no more than 20 25 people and so they were sitting there who had come from every village of galilee but watch the last sentence and the lord's power to heal was in him right god's power to heal was in him that jesus was healing people there and so one of the things that we notice here is that this power to heal that that means that the people who were in the house were receiving healing right they weren't just there they weren't there sitting if jesus was not healing right and so um they were there having you know watching and witnessing jesus heal them and that connects verse 17 to verse 26 where it says that we and they were filled with all and said we have seen incredible things today right not just uh what happened in the story with this man being low through the roof but things is plural which means that jesus had been healing uh multiple times multiple people in various ways and so i just want to pause for a moment to let each that lets each of us know that we serve a god who is more than able to heal us right in all of our various ways that god's power did not start the power to heal did not start in luke 5 and it sure did not end in luke 5 and the amazing thing is that god's power to heal was not only relegated to jesus christ but it was relegated to those of us who have jesus christ on the inside of us right that we are the ones jesus was talking to and about when he said greater things than these will you do and um when he said that uh he was talking about his the jesus's disciples and since they're greater things right the greater is the amount the number of things not the quality of the things um if the the amount of things that we can do that means that miracles can still happen that's why miracles can still happen with you uh through you and through me as long as we are operating in faith all right as long as we're operating in faith so let's start going through our um text because what we see here is that the the men of the friends of this man had some great expectations that the lord who was in the house healing these other folk were also able to heal our friend right and so uh it says uh so these men they were like okay the house is packed we can't get in there but we still have this great expectation that god that the lord who is able and has proved himself as able will we we set this great expectation that god is going to heal our friend and so we are going to make sure that our friend gets healed and um what our text does is give us uh some key lessons to learn about how we go about uh seeing the fulfillment of great expectations in our lives our texas taylor to teach us some key lessons for how we can seek the fulfillment of great expectations in our lives and so the first uh two one is that we must have an interest in solving the problem right i know this stuff is not rocket science but you really have to uh point this out that if we are going to see great expectations fulfilled in our lives then one we have to have an interest in solving the problem that if you are expecting to solve a problem or to meet a need then there needs to be an interest or a concern to solve the problem if these men did not want to see their friend healed then they would not have um tried to get him here they'd say hey man you know maybe you catch them at the next house right maybe maybe you catch them on the way out you know they like ah you know we really don't know but no these men were concerned about helping their friend they were concerned about making sure that this friend that their friend uh needs were met right and so they had an interest in solving the problem of his infirmity and let me tell you you want people around you right don't you want friend people who you can call friend who when you have a need or interested in finding out how they can meet that need now it may be that all they can do to meet that need is to pray that's all right at least they are interested enough in you and then god meeting your need that they will pray about it and so um if we're going to see great expectations fulfilled in our life if we're going to see miracles happen we have to have an interest in solving a problem and let me let me say this too let me put this as another sub bullet point to an interest in solving a problem it is that we have to make sure that um that that when we have an interest then we can know that god will give us strategy that god will give us guidance that god will give us resources because when we have an interest in solving the problem and we realize that can't nobody do it but jesus then the lord's like well since you believe in me i'll make sure that you're that your belief is founded in your that that your faith rather uh finds proof and and god will give a strategy god will give us guidance god will give us resources human financial and other physical and otherwise that we might fulfill the uh the that we might meet the need that we are interested in solving we always say god is a problem solver amen and so when we have an interest in solving a problem and we and we are partner with god to do so god will make sure that we that that problem gets solved then it says then the second um lesson i believe we learn here is uh is involvement and investment of time and energy right involvement and investment of time and energy if you want to see a great expectation fulfilled in your life then there must be involvement um in your life to accomplish this problem or expected goal right that that nothing will if you do nothing you will get nothing but if you do something you'll get something right um uh remember the bible is written agriculture terms that you can only reap what you sow and you can and you will uh sow what you reap i mean then you will reap what you sow which means that i can't i can't plant one thing and expect another or i can't plant nothing and expect something to grow if you plant nothing in some dirt you're going to get that dirt if you plant a seed in some dirt you'll get whatever fruit or flower that that is contained in that seed so there must be involvement of investment of time and energy what does that mean two things that it requires that great fulfillments in our lives requires inconvenience and sacrifice right somebody will put that in the chat for me that it requires inconvenience and sacrifice two key reasons why many christians do not accomplish anything for the lord is because they want to do whatever they need to do to avoid inconvenience and sacrifice but how many of you know that our that our god demonstrated inconvenience and sacrifice uh through the example of jesus christ and we ought to you know demonstrate inconvenience of our willingness to be inconvenienced and to sacrifice for on the sake of the lord because here's the amazing thing that whenever we are inconvenienced and whenever we shall sacrifice um on the sake of god for the sake of god god always has a way of replenishing us and restoring us in ways that are just absolutely remarkable and so i want to encourage you uh my brother and my sister that when it comes time to see great fulfillment in your life when it comes time to see miracles happen when it comes time to do things for god that if inconvenience or sacrifice is needed do it right just do it walk out in faith and believe that god will take care of you amen god will take care of you so let's look at what else if we're going to see great um expectations fulfilled in our lives then it is also going to require ingenuity in creating alternative solutions i love i love this story right i love um what they had this says verse 18. they tried to bring him in and set him down before verse 19 since they could not find a way to bring him in because of the crowd they went up on the roof and lowered him on the stretcher through the roof tiles into the middle of the crowd before jesus right so they they they said you know what we can't make it one way so we're going to find another way and that's what it that's what happens when we're working with god right when you're doing things for god you came and you want to see greatness but nothing great comes just because it's laid out right before you know you've got to be creative and god listen let me and and and people talk about i'm not creative in this listen let me let me dispel that right now genesis 1 says in the beginning god you know created and then we have this whole list seven or six days of creation god created the whole universe right in six days well there days are defined or whatever the length of those days were but in six days uh incense in six lengths of time god created right and uh and on the sixth day uh it said that god created this is genesis chapter 1 verse 26 god created mankind in his image and his likeness right which means that like god we too have the creative gene in our body we too have the creative dna and so if you can't find one way then you got to find creative all the creative alternative solutions which means that we dishonor the god in us when we do not exercise the creativity of our minds because if we are made in the likeness of the creator then that means we who are the creation in his likeness are also creative and so uh my brother and my sister i just want to tell somebody don't quit don't give up don't throw in a towel find a way listen to god's voice be determined and i told you just a few moments ago that if you pray the holy spirit will give you the strategy to to do whatever god calls you to do never ever ever never ever ever never let one blockage one obstacle one know get in the way of you saying or or get in the way of you doing what god has called you to do i don't care what somebody say i don't care what uh certifications or human credentials you have or don't have i don't care how it looks you just need to push forward say if i can't do it that way i'ma find another way that this no doesn't mean no forever it just means no to that way right and we're often told about the story of thomas edison when creating the light bulb and um and you know and it says i've heard different numbers but they say thomas edison tried 9 000 ways uh to create a light bulb before he was able to figure out the tungsten filament and all that was needed for that and so they asked him you know tom you know they asked him he said well i feel it uh they asked and said uh you know how does it feel know that you tried all of these ways to get here and they said and thomas edison replied to him he said i just found 9 000 ways not to do it right and so he realized that just because it did not happen one time uh um a thousand times or nine thousand times that nothing that all of these things were learning processes all of these were learning opportunities that got him to his goal and so whatever blockades whatever obstacles whatever things you run into are up against whatever people or negative thoughts or comments or disparaging uh discouraging words you may hear whatever it is that may even come from yourself the enemy that is enter me no matter what it is remember you are the creation created in the likeness of the creator which means we are creative and so we can find alternative solutions even if we got to keep looking at it got to keep uh trying a different way got to keep going at it because if god says you can do it then you can do it if god says you're going to accomplish it you are going to accomplish it never give up or never give up hear this never give up on god's dream for you oh my god that just hit me never give up on god's dream for you we may have dreamed for ourselves but if god is commissioning you god is sending you god has gifted you for something never give up on god's dream for you find an alternative solution seek god's face god how else can i get this done god i know you called me to it but how else can i get get it done i this way hasn't worked that way it hasn't worked god what's the next way right there's always a next way in god there's always just like there's never hopelessness in god because god always is i love how um reverend dr lk curry who passed it in chicago illinois but is one of our great living legends and sages um in the in christendom and and definitely amongst preachers uh dr lk curry says that god when he says whenever you find your back up against the wall you always know that god leaves some space behind you and the wall right that god always leaves space behind your back in a place where you can't see it but in a place that you can believe it in a place where you can't see it but in a place that lets you know that all hope is not gone because there is space for opportunity there's space uh for new uh and creative ideas and so get to it don't give up don't give up uh don't throw in the towel um be be determined and know that with god there is a way with god there is a way oh my god i just felt like somebody needed that and i see i see it uh uh i see you uh i see uh those who are expressing that i just felt the spirit of the lord saying to somebody uh and maybe it is you dawn and and a whole lot of other folk and sister can it don't give up they are there is another way to do what god needs what god has called you to get done the only thing that there's not another way for is salvation right there's there's not another way to get there except for salvation right i mean there's a you know jesus is the way the uh truth and the life right there's no other way that you can be saved there's no other name by which you shall be saved right that's uh acts chapter 4 verse 12 but for all the other things god calls us to do there are alternative solutions when you come up against a blockade so these men they saw that there was a crowd in there and they could not get their friend to jesus because of the crowd so what did they do they found an alternative solution they climbed up to the roof right and so typically at this time the roofs were about uh the roofs were crossed there were temples laid in a cross pattern and then they um were stuffed with twigs and leaves and all types of brush and then they were packed down with mud about um about a foot of mud or so uh to keep the rain and at a slight tilt for the rain to just roll off of there and so these men they weren't just digging this wasn't like oh let me just rip off a piece of towel like i'm ripping off a band-aid and all these men had to dig they had dirt under their fingernails they had their hands were dirty the dust and debris was falling into the house where these people were sitting and the amazing thing was that the bible doesn't say that anybody left it the dirt can you imagine imagine just in your house where you are wherever you are right now building break room at the mall in your car if the roof started coming in what's the first thing you're gonna do i know the first thing i do run [Laughter] i'ma run get out the way but the bible doesn't say anybody left it just says that these men begin to open up the roof and they went up on the roof and lowered him on the stretcher through the roof right into the uh through the roof tiles into the middle of the crowd before jesus into the middle of the crowd before jesus so they had this you know um they they were like listen it's gonna it's gonna happen and so what's the second thing here or really our fourth thing uh fourth key lesson for great fulfillment in your life is to have the insight and irrefutable faith in god's ability the insight and irrefutable faith in god's ability watch this verse 20 says seeing their faith he said friend your sins are forgiven seeing their faith he said friend your sins are forgiven right and so these men knew that that and so when these men opened the roof while the people saw the man being lowered through the roof jesus saw the faith of the men who brought him to the roof to lower him down right and this lets us know that jesus sees our faith right that jesus sees our faith um they had absolute confidence that god would meet this need these men knew that they were irrefutable they were determined they they said we know that we know that we know if we can get our friend to jesus then god will heal him god will take care of him if they say we know all we got to do is get this man before the lord and if we get it before the lord we know that god will take care of the rest and so that's what they did they got this man before the lord they had absolute confidence that jesus would meet his need so they were men of faith and i want you to know this never under hear this too never give up right they're always alternative solutions here's here's another thing never underestimate what god can do when you have faith in the lord never underestimate what you can do when you have faith in the lord somebody put that in the chat for me because when you have faith in god you will cause there to be moving some shifting and some shaking because when you have faith in god jesus said though if you have faith you can cause the mountains to be moved right he said you can tell a mountain to hop into hop into the into the uh atlantic ocean right and it shall do it if you got the faith to believe it and so we've got to have faith my brothers and my sisters in the lord that we got that faith in the lord that um that you know never underestimate what your faith in god will be able to accomplish miracles still happen you know why because people believe that they do a miracle still happen i'll never forget when i went to one of my beloved members at my church in oklahoma she had colon cancer did not know or she knew it but nobody else did colon cancer well actually she she knew something was wrong finally went to the doctor diagnosed colon cancer i went to the hospital um i felt just a a strong urge of the lord saying go to the hospital and she was talking about she had had the surgery and she was talking about how you know she'll be able to go home and she'll be a whole lot better once um she's able to uh make a bowel movement i know it's gross but hey that's part of it right that one should be able to make a problem but she had been constipated for days and she was not able to move it and so god right in that moment god said pray for her pray that this will happen and i believe i prayed in faith i said let us pray in faith typically i say let us pray together let us look go before the lord but that day i said let us pray in faith and her her husband and myself were in that room we join hands and by the power of the lord um we believe by faith and uh as soon as i said in the name of jesus amen uh she didn't say amen she said i got to go to the bathroom and and i left the room immediately to give them their privacy but uh about you know but a little while later her husband called me and said tony just had a bowel movement and the doctors are relieved they are impressed and she is doing better than ever and i just want to tell you family that we can never underestimate what faith in god can do that faith in god is still able to heal to deliver to provide to protect to keep to bring forth to shut down uh to summon angels god is able uh when we believe by faith to do anything right we just got to believe by faith the life we got to have faith in god we got to have this irrefutable faith in god's ability to do what god is able to do god wants to cause miracles to happen through us god says i still i've got some dead people that can be raised if you believe if you believe it if you believe that i can do it god says i've got some blind people whose eyes can be uh whose eye sight can be restored if you believe that it can happen god says i've got some people uh suffering with covet who can find who can be healed lungs lungs restored like it never happened before if you believe that it's possible and we know that through our own sister jamila joseph right who gives all the credit to to the prayers of faith and the god who heard those prayers of faith right and so we've got to believe that god is able we've got to believe that god is able we've got to believe somebody needs to hear this that god is able i don't care whether you feel in the blank god is able to you fill in the blank and that's what god is right that's why i believe when god when moses asked well who who do i tell pharaoh that you are god said just tell them i am that i am basically i am everything that you need when you need it how you need it and the way that you need it i am perfection at all times my lord god is perfection at all times my god from zionist ah thank you lord for that and so um whenever we need and whatever we need we just have to have faith in our god we got to have faith in our god amen and so uh one one example uh i had an example uh for that i just want let me put it up just for um just for a minute um from the senate chaplain peter marshall who served only for about a year 1947 um he prayed a prayer of faith um that is still resonating uh but i don't even have time uh to go through it but i do want to point well let me just read it he said listen to this listen to this because i love it it says god of our fathers and our god give us the faith to believe in the ultimate triumph of righteousness no matter how dark and uncertain of the skies of today we pray for the bi focus of faith he said we pray for the bifocals of faith that see the despair and the need of the hour but also see further on the patience of our god working out his plan in the world he has made let me please say please forgive um the grammatical not the is the grammatical i think grammatical errors of the lowercase g when i translated the font i uh font style i i had to do some adjustment and did not catch all of the uh references to god but i am very sensitive to that and so um i see that i didn't do that and i want to make sure that you all know that is not a little g a little g god by any uh uh by stretching imagination um so so uh he says second paragraph so help thy servants to interpret for our time the meaning of the model inscribed on our coins make our faith honest by helping us this day to do one thing because thou has said do it or to abstain because thou has said thou shall not how can we say we believe in thee or even want to believe in thee when we do not do when we do not anything thou tell us the do tell us may our faith here it is be seen in our works may our faith be seen in our works through jesus christ our lord amen right james the half brother jesus says faith without works is dead it is not a either or but it's a both and and it is a priority that faith comes before works that the work you do uh for god ought to come out of the works right we have this hymn um uh uh may the work i've done speak for me right it is not that your work's defined it is not that your work say that you believe but it is your works that show how you believe and so it is this this faith we live is not about um all that we say but this faith we live is about what we show right what we show and i love it that god we have these bifocals of faith that sees the need and seeds further on i love that love that so that's peter marshall and that's what these that's what we see in this text right these men had uh uh these men had uh you know the irrefutable faith in god that god was much was more than able to do it right and so faith and absolute reliance on christ enables all of us to overcome the obstacles that we face in our lives and see the fulfillment of great expectations so let me quickly quickly go through what are some of the obstacles that we face on today right here's some of the obstacles that we face people right people let me say that one more time people right there's some of the obstacles that we face to their people some people oh people can be cruel people can be demeaning and people in and sometimes we have to include ourselves and the people can be so discouraging to us right so what are some of the obstacles we faced people but the bible says in proverbs 29 25 the fear of man or humans bringeth a snare but whoso puts their trust in the lord shall be safe right that you get caught up trying to believe in human in human beings but if you put your trust in god you shall be safe what's another obstacle we face possessions right that sometimes people will not get close to the lord because they base their happiness on things or money right their wealth which is to be a tool of blessing becomes an obstacle and a curse that some of us and hear this some of us are not financially blessed or materially material materialistically blessed because we would not be able to handle keeping god first who i know that's tough to hear if you can't say a man say ouch that some of us have yet to be blessed by god financially and materially because we would have issues keeping god first instead of it being a tool of of blessing and using the finances and resources and whatever we materialistic things we get um to be a blessing to somebody or to somebody's it will become a curse and an obstacle for us and so sometimes god and so some of us have yet to be blessed financially and materialistically because we would have trouble keeping god first look at first timothy chapter six verse nine but they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lust which drown men and women in destruction and perdition right that that uh if you want to be blessed we have to learn the to keep god first jesus says in the sermon on the mount uh but seek ye first and primary uh the kingdom of god and his righteousness and then all these things money cars houses promotion on your job you know increasing family all these other things will be added unto you right and so we have to and then he also jesus also says when you're faithful over the few things gotta make your ruler over many not go too deep into this but also some people have not been that's financially materialistically because you've not been faithful with that which you do have right that's what you do have and so those are some of our i think of our obstacles on today i got some what are some more obstacles today perceptions that are false right perceptions that are false um uh you know when we the the another obstacle that keeps people from getting close to christ and also keeps people from seeing these great expectations fulfilled in our lives is the belief that they will not be happy if they are dedicated to the lord or they will not have any more friends right people think lord if i get saved if i start doing what you want me to do i won't be able to have these friends nobody hang out with nobody talk for me you know but listen our responsibility in our responsibility is to be faithful and obedient to god knowing that god is more than faithful and here's my here's my declaration that if your friends don't like you why you are uh uh when you get saved and your life improves then they weren't really your friends anyway right what's that saying misery loves company and so they if they're not cool with you protective of you love you and uh uh why you as you get better then they're really not your friends in the first place right and so um you know our responsibility is to trust the lord cast and uh trust the law by faith cast all our cares upon the lord and then remember casting is not um casting is not just giving it all to god and thinking we don't have to do anything just sit back kick back and wait till it comes but we have to cast the words and anxieties of the work and the call that god has called us to right but we put our dependence on the lord and watch god fulfill our expectations in god's time and in god's way right in god's time and in god's way so another obstacle that gets in our way is a passion or love for sin now let me say this because you know this for the holy rollers that if sin wasn't fun nobody would do it but sin is fun sin is sin feels good but sin is not profitable for the christian believer right uh john 3 19 says and this is the condemnation that light is come into the world and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil jeremiah 17 i believe let us know that our heart is deceptive right so at our root we come up we are eat we have evil deeds we have deceptive hearts and they are changed as we allow the holy spirit to change us and so um we have to switch the love and the passion that we have for sin into the love and the passion that we have for god and if we have the same love and passion for god as we do for sin then i guarantee you there will be so much more that we would do there be so many more prayers answered there be the fulfillment of so many more great things in our lives if we could take this passion or love for sin and apply it to our god right if we can do that apply to our god then there will be a whole lot more let me give you one more uh obstacle that we face and that is prejudice right another obstacle is prejudice the main prejudice is against the bible against jesus against jews against christians right that causes them that causes people to reject the truth of the gospel listen to what voltaire said voltaire is reported to have said if a miracle occurred in the marketplace of paris and in the presence of two thousand men hear this i would rather disbelieve my own eyes than the 2000 volt and and we say this and we read this and be like oh my gosh i can't believe that it's not true or that he will say that but that's so true for so many of us and for so many people right that they will see god work they will see the evidence of god's mighty moves happening in our lives they will see the evidence of god's hand upon somebody to do a certain thing to lead a certain charge to um to to pastor a church to uh to lead a ministry to start a ministry to lead a business they will see god's hand on their lives they will see the miracles and the unexplained things and the supernatural operating but they will still not believe right they will still not believe let me go i think my next slide yes because there's a difference between doubt and unbelief doubt says i can't believe right i just can't believe because it doesn't make sense to me it doesn't i can't see it right i can't believe that a mountain would move would just jump into the water so i had doubt that that would happen but unbelief which god despises is i won't believe that's somebody that is stubborn that is somebody who is rebellious that is somebody who is uh prideful and and operates in hubris that says i won't but i see god saving people i see god healing people i see god keeping people's mind in peace in the midst of a storm i see the miracles that god is doing in people's lives yet i won't believe it to be true like voltaire said i'll disbelieve my own eyes just so that i don't have to believe those other two thousand men right how you know and and so i would challenge here i'm about to switch flip it on you our challenge then is to speak to people both who doubt and say i can't believe and who those who have unbelief that say i won't believe right that these are those people who see the difference in your life but still say i'm not gonna believe in that i'm not gonna believe in the miracles i'm not gonna believe that god is real i'm not going to believe that jesus is the only way to salvage i'm not going to believe right that this that healing from this sickness or this uh is possible i'm not going to believe that that god can deliver me from this situation and so we have to find a way to speak to those people who won't believe and the way that you speak to people who won't believe is by saying absolutely nothing say what that's right the people the way you speak to people who don't believe is who won't believe rather is by saying absolutely nothing in other words keep living your life so in faith so that your witness the witness of your life causes other people to believe let me put some bible on and i'm right here in our chat yeah i didn't lose my spot here we go verse 21 then the scribes and the pharisees began to think to themselves thought to themselves who is this man who speaks blasphemies right jesus just performed a miracle and these pharisees are saying i won't believe it who can forgive sins but god alone right so they're saying listen it well here jesus oh jesus is slick and smooth watch this jesus says but perceive but perceiving their thoughts jesus replied to them why are you thinking this in your hearts which is which is easier verse 23 to say your sins are forgiven or to say get up and walk jesus is saying listen it's easy for me to say um your sins are forgiven but you really can't but but but when if i just say it you can't see what god is doing on the inside but he said but if i can show it to you then you're gonna have to exercise either belief because now you see it or unbelief because you don't want to believe it right and so watch this he says in verse 23 uh verse yeah say which is easy your sin to save your sins are forgiven or to say get up and walk verse 24 jesus says but so that you may know that the son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins he said so that you can see the inner workings of god in this man's life i tell you nice switches he said i tell you rise this king james take up your bed and walk right and he me uh oh oh it says here i tell you get up take you uh take your stretcher and go home this man did not say anything to these unbelieving scribes and pharisees these unbelieving religious leaders these religious leader church leaders who lack faith and unbelief he didn't say anything to him jesus talked to him say rise take up your bed and walk and so what do we say to people who don't believe absolutely nothing we let god speak to us and let our actions our deeds let our movements the way we respond let that utter to life's crisis let that let what you show them speak to them right let what you show them speak to them verse 25 immediately he got up before them picked up what he had been lying on and went home glorifying god right that he went home glorifying god and so uh that's what we've got to do right that we have got to make sure oh i didn't show you let me give you the scripture i want to put some bible on this stuff right uh john chapter 3 john chapter 3 verse 36 it says they that believe on the son has everlasting life and he that believes not the sun shall not on the son shall not see light but the wrath of god abideth on him so if you don't believe it right not the doubt but if you just say refuse with your stub and rebel yourself to say i'm not going to believe it then you shall encounter and and and what not not just encounter but it says the wrath of god abides can you i mean it's bad enough to experience a wrath of god one time anytime for any short moment of time but to know that the wrath of god abides right that's that's uh i wouldn't want to do that so let's not not believe uh let me leave you with this one thing jesus says this man his friends opens up the roof dust debris falling down there's hole in the roof they stop friends stop the people rather stop in the house guess who else stops jesus i'm pretty sure that with these people's attention diverted towards what was happening with the roof that jesus looked at that roof too and so i just want to leave you with this point that your faith ought to be so radical it ought to be so bold it ought to be so dogged and persistent that your faith ought to catch god's attention that's how we ought to live that our faith catches god's attention yes it's going to catch other people's attention too right everybody else in the house was looking up and see what will happen but your faith ought to be your faith ought to be so bold and dogged and persistent and determinate and determined that it causes god to it causes god's attention to be focused on you and whenever god has his attention on you i can guarantee you that you will be blessed you will see miracles happen in your life and you will see a great fulfillment of the blessings that god has for you for you and for you and so let us continue to live out our faith strong bold persistent creatively creatively right doggedly with determination let us live out our faith in that man and all that wise and watch god fulfill great things in our lives amen amen and amen i'm so grateful for this opportunity to share this lesson with you uh let us pray lord we thank you we bless you because we know that god when we believe by faith that it will catch your attention and so o lord i ask that right now that you help us to increase our faith lord help us in our weakness god to strengthen the and and embolden the faith that we have in you to believe that it can happen it shall happen it will come to pass for god you are more than able so god we're believing for healing today god we're believing for breakthrough we're believing for answers to prayers we're believing for deliverance we're the we're believing for new strategies to do what you called us to do we're believing oh god that you won't move the obstacle out the way but you'll cause us to go another way to still get what you would want done in our lives so god we thank you right now have your way lord let this lesson not just be for our hearing tonight but let it be uh seek down into our spirits and our heart our soul that we might live better and more like your son jesus who is the christ lord we thank you and we love you in jesus mighty manchester and phenomenal name we pray let all god's people believe and shout a man a man and a man well listen family it's been a great time i want to remind you we have worship on sunday morning but then september 19th we have our outdoor worship experience so please please please plan and pray pray with us that god gives us great weather dry partly cloudy and plan to be there with your chair and a friend amen it's going to be a wonderful great time in the lord i i just believe it to be so and so uh we definitely look forward to you doing that let us continue to keep our friends and family in prayer also every evening at 6 30 every evening at 6 30 p.m uh every evening at 6 30 p.m we are we will uh uh we have our daily prayer line and you talk about 30 minutes of inspiration and um and reflection and restoration you want to be on those prayer lines um as we boldly approach god's throne in faith with faith believing for the miracles to happen in your life amen amen well family i love you and there's absolutely nothing you can do

Channel: Second Baptist Church of Asbury Park

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Id: 52tIAT90tqI

Length: 70min 0sec (4200 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 08 2021