Pastor Howard-John Wesley - Unshakeable Faith (2015)

will prayerfully speak teach and preach in a unfamiliar manner if you return in the old testament to the book of job if you've got a good bible and you open it in the middle that is psalms amen if you go to the left one book you'll be in job if you would turn with us to the book of job in the second chapter this word from the lord i want to read from the new king james version beginning in verse number seven job chapter two beginning in verse number seven if you have a smart device you should be there already in the second chapter of the book of job beginning in verse number seven hear the word of the lord as is read from the new king james version of the bible so satan went out from the presence of the lord and struck job with painful boils from the soul of his foot to the crown of his head he took for himself a pot shirt with which to scrape himself while he sat in the midst of the ashes then his wife said to him do you still hold fast to your integrity curse god and die but he said to her you speak as one of the foolish women speaks shall we indeed accept good from god and shall we not accept adversity in all this job did not sin with his lips i want to hang out in that ninth verse then his wife said to him do you still hold fast to your integrity curse god and die on this first night of revival i want to teach and wrestle with a thought about unshakable faith unshakable faith a recent survey was put out by christianity today to church-going christians to ascertain what their favorite book of the bible was they surveyed some 500 churches and asked the members of those churches to identify their favorite book of the bible should be no shock and surprise to anyone gathered in this place tonight that the overwhelming and largest answer was that people favor the book of psalms that we find comfort and joy and strength in those words of the psalter of the hymnal of israel we like psalm 46 the lord is our refuge and our strength he's a very present help in the time of trouble all of us at some moment in time have run to psalm 23 though i'll walk through the valley of the shadow of death i will fear no evil for god is with me who among us hasn't rejoiced in least a little bit in psalm 30 that weeping only endures for a night but joy comes in the morning and if you've ever had haters in your life you know the words of psalm 27 the lord is my light and my salvation whom shall i fear the lord is the strength of my life of whom shall i be afraid when the wicked even my enemies and foes came upon me to eat of my flesh they stumbled and fell though a host shouldn't camp against me though war should rise and this one thing have i been confident one thing have i desired of the lord and that will i seek after i may dwell in the house of the lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty of the lord and to inquire in his simple pause because in the time of trouble he shall hide me in the secret places of his pavilion he shall hide me he shall set me high upon a rock and now my head shall be lifted above my enemies all around me and then he comes in wait on the lord and be of good courage and he will strengthen your heart there's no surprise or shock that we like the book of psalms and i would argue tonight that the book of psalms may be the most beloved book of the bible but the most well-known book of the bible is the book of job and even if you've never read all 40 plus chapters of the book of job the reason you know the story of job is because at some moment in your life you're going to walk in the shoes of job i don't mean to disturb you early on a wednesday night but no matter how saved you are no matter how sanctified i know you've been talking in tongues since you were six days old and you know every verse and every chapter you know every verse of every hymn in that hymn no i come by to tell you that all of us at some moment will deal with some unexplained tragedies some unjustified struggles some irrational pain in our lives there's not a one among us in this place who life hasn't put us in a position where you bow down to god and your prayer is not one of praise and thanksgiving but it's one of anger with god asking god the question that is inescapable for any of us why can you be honest tonight have you ever been angry with god have you and jesus ever had to have a come to jesus meeting where the lord had to explain why scholars of the bible tell you the book of job is not the first book of the bible that's genesis but the book of job is the oldest book of the bible and that makes a whole lot of good sense because the book of job causes us to wrestle with the oldest question of humanity engaged with divinity why does god allow bad things to happen to good people i know they taught you in kindergarten sunday school class that you ain't supposed to ask god why but you can't get out of high school and not find some circumstance and situation that puts you on your knees with a curious heart reaching out to god simply asking god why did you let this happen why did i lose mama and daddy why was i laid off why am i sick why this struggle in this season of my life i know you don't want to identify yourself you don't want your neighbor to understand that you've been down there but if you've ever asked god why just wink at me i i see you and from the very beginning the book of job causes us to understand that there's no level of holy ghost immunity that grants you the ability not to have to go through a season of why the very beginning of the book of job chapter 1 verse 1 we get the religious resume of job he's holy he's blameless he's upright he fears god and he shuns evil and yet this brother who is blameless upright god-fearing shuns evil the bible says that this job loses everything stay with me if you will the angelic holster gathered together in the throne room of god the bible says that while the angelic hosts are gathered in the throne room of god satan shows up i need to pause pastor coats just say something i know you can say man too that whenever the angelic hosts of god get together satan always shows up that when the people of god get together to worship god satan always slip don't don't look down your pew that ain't nice that ain't satan shows up and god says to satan what you've been doing the howard john wesley version of the bible satan says just chilling doing what i do looking for somebody to mess with and god without explanation without emotion or vote says have you considered my servant job god says there's nobody like job on the face of the earth job is holy and job has got faith like no one else and the devil's response to god is the only reason job has faith is because you've got your hand on him but a double dog dare you to take your hand off of him and let me have a season in his life the devil says to god i'll make job curse you to your face god's reply is i'll take that bet because i know job there's nobody like job if anybody can endure a season of struggle and a time of unexplained tragedy it's my servant job whatever you do just don't touch his flesh bob says satan goes out you know how it goes and job in a span of one day loses everything near and dear unto him property gone servants gone business gone life savings gone then the ad insult injury in a tornado that shows up in the land of us all of job's 10 children are killed at the same time and yet despite all of his loss job still has faith in god hear him at the end of chapter 1 when he declares the lord has given the lord has taken away oh we and bless it be the name of the lord job has lost everything but his faith in god the bible says in chapter two it's not done yet the angelic hosts are gathered together again satan shows up one more time god says what you've been doing satan says chilling doing what i do god says to satan did you try job how did that work out satan says he didn't curse you god says i told you job wouldn't curse me i told you job had faith that could not be shaken i told you that job would hold on to me satan says yeah that's because you told me i couldn't touch his flesh let me touch bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh and he'll curse you and die god says go ahead i'll take that bet because i know job nobody's like job nobody can hang on like job nobody has faith like job nobody can endure like job go on but whatever you do don't take his life bob says satan goes out and afflicts job with a disease of boils that affects him from the crown of his head to the soul of his feet and according to law job is now sitting outside of the city of us by the garbage heap in the ashes wearing sackcloth looking for broken pieces of pottery to scratch himself and give himself some relief job has lost everything he has no children he has no business he's lost his reputation his body is now afflicted he's holding on by a strand of faith and in that moment when he's lost everything and his faith is fragile and he's doing all he can to keep himself together in that moment we are introduced to sister job we don't know her name she never shows up anywhere else in scripture she only speaks for one verse but she says something to job that will never be forgotten to job you ought to curse god and die do you hear the words of sister job curse god and die now before we come down too hard on sister job and you want to condemn her to the pits of hell for the blasphemy of saying that you ought to curse god and die allow me to tell you that you ought to be careful of judging how someone responds to a pain that you've never gone through come here come here she looks at the man she loves and sees his pain and believes that it might just be better for you to die than to live like this if if if you've never had to change mommy and daddy because they lost their facilities and would mess on themselves you need to be careful of judging sister job if you've never seen a loved one wither away at the hand of chronic cancer dealing with round after round of chemotherapy and radiation you might need to be quiet right around here if you've never walked into a hospital room and seen a loved one under the hand of dementia who could not remember your name and looked at you as if you are a stranger and an enemy you might want to shut up right around here because you can watch someone struggle so much that you just believe it is better for them to die than to keep living like this can i push it and all of those 10 children job lost she lost she birthed all of them and if you've never lost a child you might want to shut up right around here because there's a pain you endure when you lose a child and watch a loved one die that'll push you to a place of just believing that death has to be better than this all right i don't judge sister job believing that death is better when she makes her mistake she says you ought to curse god you ought to give up on the lord you ought to just get rid of this faith thing that there's no point in holding on to god beloved i come by to tell you that whenever you hear a voice in your ear telling you to give up on god whenever the thought runs through your mind that you ought to just stop coming to the house of god whenever something settles in your spirit that god is not worthy of you giving god praise and thanksgiving i need you to know that is not the voice of god that is the voice of the enemy can i prove it to you real quick can we have a little bible study remember when satan comes to god the second time he says to him the only reason job hasn't cursed you is because you told me i couldn't touch his flesh so satan says let me touch bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh and he'll curse you and die now you may think satan was asking for permission to touch job's body but that's not it because bible readers know that bone of a man's bone and flesh of a man's flesh according to genesis 3 that's his wife satan says let me touch her and through her i can get him to give up on you because i need to surround him with somebody who whispers in his ear that you are not worthy to be trusted that answers a whole lot for me because when i see everything that job lost i kept asking god why leave her if you're going to take everything take her but the devil specializes in using people close to you to try to discourage you from holding on to your faith in god i know you can't shout too loud because they may be sitting right next to you right now but there's somebody who knows the devil knows how to use your husband the devil knows how to use your children the devil knows how to use your co-workers he to specializes and yeah here's why i love me some job cause job looks back at his wife he says bay i love you but but i can't go for that all right that's one thing i can't do is give up on god right here job presents to us a man who is a model of a faith that refuses to let go of god somebody tonight i came by tell you the reason i want to teach this lesson is because what you need most in life is some unshakable faith more than another degree on your wall more than another comma on your check more than another powerful person on your speed dial what you need most in this life is some faith that holds on to god in the mean and the rough and the ugly seasons of life because there's a witness in this house you will reach a place where faith is all you have to hold yourself together that if you didn't have faith in god you would have put a gun to your head if you didn't have faith in god you'd be rocking in a cell with your head against the wall but somebody is a witness that faith held your life together you you need some unshakeable faith let me show you some of the faith of job that i'd encourage you because the faith i'm talking about tonight ain't that kindergarten stuff i'm not talking about some faith that just starts quoting cliches it may not come when you want them to you'll never put more on you than you can bear yes he will will god be for me who can be against me them show you the depth of some real unshakeable faith what i see in job first of all is a man whose faith is in the reality of god and not the reward of righteousness his faith is in the reality of a god not necessarily in the reward of righteousness beloved stay with me satan shows up and the basic premise of satan's argument to god is this that job only has faith in you because he's found out that if he does this you always do that that it's really not faith it's a formula job has found out that if he prays you answer if he lives right you bless him if he's holy he's rewarded for it and the devil tests job and god by suggesting that ain't faith that's cause and effect so this is what satan says to god break the formula let him do what he's supposed to do and you not do what you're supposed to do and watch him curse you let him pray and nothing change let him come to church and still lose his house let him live holy and still get cancer let him pray over his marriage and still end up in divorce court and watch how quickly he will abandon his faith because his faith was never in you his faith was in what you do for him when he does what he thinks he's supposed to do the devil understands that there are a whole lot of folk in the body of christ whose faith is directly attached to the outcome of the exercising of their faith and the minute they don't get what they expected the minute god doesn't perform the miracle the minute god doesn't say yes to the prayer the minute god doesn't remove the thorn out of the flesh the minute god allows the money still to run out the minute you still get a report that it's cancer the minute the child gets locked up the minute you get laid off they give up on god because they feel god failed them can i teach bible that coach that is the problem with the prosperity and the word of faith movement in the body of christ that has graced a generation of believers that attach their faith to what they drive attach their faith to where they live attach their faith to how much they earn attach their faith to their clean bill of health attach their faith to naming and claiming believing and receiving but you can't control god with your faith god is so sovereign that he will do what he wants to do so watch us so when job's wife says curse him and die job says you're talking foolish somebody say foolish if that's your bible i need you to know that that word foolish is the same hebrew word that is used in the psalms in psalm 14 and in psalm 53 and in both those instances the word is used like this the fool has said in his heart there is no god that word foolish is reserved for those who have an atheistic mindset of believing that there must not be a god in heaven and so what job's white has done is that she has looked at our struggle she has looked at the pain she has looked at the loss and she's come to the conclusion that there must not be a god in heaven because if there was a god how could you struggle like this if there was a god how can you be in such pain like this and you've got people in your life who are convinced by your context that there must not be a god because a god would not allow you to struggle like that so job's answer to her baby my faith is not in what god does my faith is in who god is and even when he doesn't do he still is when he doesn't give me what i want he still is and if you've got a real level of faith in god you can declare that if i'm broke he's still god if i'm sick he's still god if i get laid off he's still god is there anybody in mount enid on a wednesday night who's got enough faith in god to declare it doesn't matter where i live it doesn't matter what i drive it doesn't matter what i wear i know that i know that i know that i know that i know that god is still don't let what you go through cause you to doubt god at alpha street we put it like this don't let what you don't understand about god cause you to doubt what you do by this stage in your life you ought to know he's a waymaker by this stage in your life you ought to know he's a provider by this stage in your life you ought to know he is a healer you ought to know he's a prayer answerer you ought to know he's a door opener you ought to know he's a mountain mover you ought to know he's a mind regulator you ought to know he's a great and awesome god and no matter what i go through i know that god still is who i feel like teaching bible tonight yeah yeah it's wednesday night listen i have a faith that is not in the reward of righteousness but in the reality of god yeah ooh but then secondly watch this who would be about to get deep get deep hold your breath here it is job has a faith that does not require a praise that is removed from authenticity watch what his wife says she comes and says curse god and die now the hebrew verb for curse that is used here is really an enigmatic word in the hebrew language because it can mean two exactly different things at the same time it's kind of like the english word commencement commencement can mean to end and it can mean to begin the hebrew word that is used here for curse is the hebrew word barack everyone say barack but can mean one of two things it can mean curse and it can mean bless so job's wife comes in and says you are the rock god now the question you ought to be asking is why do we translate it as curse if it could also mean blessed well well number one because you don't bless god and die but we translated this curse because what job's wife does is she says if you still have integrity you are the burdock if you have integrity you will acknowledge that blessing ain't really how you feel if you would be real about yourself you can come in and acknowledge that giving thanks ain't high on your agenda but fussing with god is and so at the heart of job's wife's challenges this saints how real can you be with god or does coming in the presence of god require that we pretend to be what we ain't come here come here there are so many people who stand outside of the body of christ today because in the body of christ we have endorsed some sacrificed hypocrisy that makes you believe that in order to fit in every time you come in you got to act like you're blessed and highly favored and so you got to lie on your pew so that you don't seem out of place and people don't like the hypocrisy that says i can't be authentic with the fact that where i am right now i don't feel like praising what i'm going through doesn't make me want to give thanks the breaking i have doesn't make me want to shout when i get in this place that's why that's why that's why i have trouble with people who think they can make me praise god you you've probably seen them the praise and worship drill sergeants they get up to minister in song stand up put your hands together what's wrong with y'all you act like you don't know god is good touch your name sir you better stop praising god listen you can't make me praise god and what i love about the book of job is that it gives me the sanctified right to be upset with god that i don't get kicked out of the kingdom because i'm mad [Music] god doesn't turn his back on me because i don't like what god is doing and i've told folk god prefers authentic anger over pretended praise oh we listen i know everything may be good in your life and you want to shout from the call to worship to the benediction and that's fine with me but if i come into the house of god and i'm struggling and i'm hurting and i'm broken stop judging me because i don't shout like you shout boy can i deliver somebody right about here if i gotta be quiet leave me alone [Applause] cause baby at least i'm here i may not shout but i showed up i may not run i may sit but god is grateful that in the midst of my being angry in the midst of my disappointment in the midst of my hurt i'm still in the house of god and there's somebody today that ought to be a reason for you just to wave your hand god i am here i don't understand but i'm here i'm broken but i'm here i'm hurting [Music] you know somebody told me lisa i'm here stop stop judging folk because they don't holler as loud as you do sometimes when i come to church i'm in job's shoes and i don't have to pretend to praise to prove i have faith come on teach best all right all right i see the pentecostal folk just get mad at me my faith is in the reality of god not the reward of righteousness my faith doesn't require praise that's removed from authenticity but watch this thirdly job has a faith that says that the reign of god is greater than the rule of evil how is it that job has faith when satan has been at work the answer is in what job says to his wife can i wrestle with scripture can we teach bible job's answer to his wife is shall we not accept good from the lord and deal with adversity shall we not accept good from the lord and also have trouble shall we not accept blessings from the lord and deal with some pain now the way the sentence is written in hebrew which you don't correctly see in english is that the good is the possession of the lord but the evil is not under the possessive quality of god so the sins really ought to read like this shall we not accept the lord's blessings and know we also have to deal with evil what job acknowledges and i know that there's room for debate here job acknowledges that every act of evil is not the hand of god i i know we can debate that but beloved i suggest to you that every act of evil you endure and experience is not the working out of the hand or the will of god on your life the bible is clear that there is a very real presence of evil that operates on the earth an evil job that shows up in the garden of eden to pervert the perfect plan of god an evil that peter says walks around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour an evil that jesus says has become the ruler of this earth that clouds our eyes to the wisdom and the knowledge of the beauty of jesus christ an evil that jesus declares comes to kill steal and destroy an evil that statistically points our young black men from kindergarten to prison an evil that shoots down unarmed young black men in the streets and leaves them dead at the hand of police officers an evil that declares hiv shall be run rampant in the young black generation between 24 and 35 an evil that is running for the presidency of the united states of america to distort everything god has done in this land there is an evil as i look across the world i see an evil that i do not attribute to god when nigerian women are kidnapped and raped i don't put that on god when a child is killed by a drunk driver i don't put that on god when young children are molested by clergy i don't put that on god that is that evil that exists on the face of the earth and beloved we see so much evil that it's easy to become discouraged it's easy to become overwhelmed and depressed it's easy to sit back and believe there's nothing i can do but here is the good news evil may rule but god reigns okay can i just preach the bible for a minute i'm so glad scripture doesn't end with the book of job scripture ends in the book of revelation and the next time you pick up the book of revelation don't try to figure out who the antichrist is because you missed the message don't try to decipher the number 666 because you missed the message don't worry about the four horsemen of the apocalypse cause you missed the message don't try to watch and figure out when the earth is going to come to an end because you missed the message the message of the book of revelation is simple that when it's all over said and done that our god he shall reign over all the earth that god is greater than the evil god is greater than the trouble god is greater than the injustice and somebody today you ought to be encouraged to know that god is greater no somebody actually told god is bigger than that he's bigger than what you see on cnn he's bigger than what happens in ferguson missouri he's bigger than who sits in the white house he's bigger than the passage of time he's bigger than that little job you got he's bigger than the doctor's diagnosis he's bigger than the broken heart you feel he's bigger than the size of your bank account and if you had faith in god you would lift up your eyes to the heels knowing that all of your help comes from a god who is bigger and better and stronger and wiser and now unto him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before his presence with exceeding great joy to the only wise god our savior be glory and majesty and dominion and power from now until eternity cause he's greater okay i gotta go uh that's about as good as i can preach lisa will be here next week should finish it up my faith is in the reality of god not the word of righteousness my faith doesn't require a praise that's removed from authenticity my faith knows that the reign of god is greater than the rule of evil allow me to close this and real faith remembers a reason to trust god again in in in the midst of all they lost what job in essen says to his wife is this yes we lost some things but we wouldn't have had anything if the lord hadn't blessed us yes we've struggled but god has blessed us before the struggle yes we're hurting but god was good before the hurt yes it's not looking good right now but yesterday it looked a whole lot better because every now and then you've got to turn around and remember how good the lord has been and believe that the same god who blessed you back then is the same god who is able to bless you right now is there anybody in this place that does not have amnesia and can look back over your life and declare that god's been good to me the lord has made ways for me he's opened doors before he's moved mountains before he's healed sickness before and the same god who did it back then is the same god who is able to do it right now somebody holler he's able he's able he's able okay i got to go somebody said reverend how do i know he's able here it is in 2007 in 2007 tiger woods sat atop the world as the best golfer in the world hands down he was the highest paid athlete on the face of the earth in 2007 tiger woods wasn't just beating folk he was beating them bad in 2007 at the world golf championship in bridgestone in ohio by the time they got to the final round tiger wood had an 11 shot lead on the rest of the field which basically meant tiger had already won the tournament there was a rain delay and by the time the rain stopped and tiger got back on the course the sun was going down now typically when the sun is going down on a golf tournament they delay it and finish it the next day but the decision was made pastor coats because his lead was so great there was no need to delay it let's just play even though the sun is going down when tiger got to the 18th tee the sun had almost set he teased off the ball lands in the first cut of rough 167 yards away from the hole tiger looks at his lie and he grabs an eight iron and anyone who plays golf knows you can't hit a 8-iron 167 yards tiger woods squares up he swings he hits a draw that goes around a tree and over a bunker lands on the green and rolls two inches from the hole for a tap-in birdie no no no an 8-iron 167 yards with a draw that goes around a tree over a bunker lands on the green and rolls two inches to the hole for a tap-in birdie the sun has set and he takes an 8-iron and hits it 167 yards with a draw around a tree over a bunker lands on the green rose two inches to the cup for a tap in birdie in the dark when tiger woods got to the clubhouse they interviewed him and the interview asked the question how did you take an eight and hit it 167 yards with a draw around a tree over a bunker land on the green rolled two inches from the hole for a tap in birdie in the dark tiger woods looked at the reporter loosened the shirt wiped the sweat off his brow grab the mic and that's what he said cause i've done it before [Applause] somebody came in the night with your job situation and you're wondering how do you know god is going to pull you out how can you believe that he's going to make a way how do you know that it's about to get better i came by to loosen my time to wipe my sweat and to give you an easy answer because he's done it before and if he did it before he's able to do it again is there a witness in the house hasn't he made ways before hasn't he opened doors before hasn't he answered prayers before hasn't he been good before if he did it before he'll do it again somebody holler he did it before touch a neighbor say he'll do it again and he'll do it again and he'll do it again and he'll do it again and he'll do it again and he'll do it again because god is able to do it again if you believe that he's able shouty yes yes he is yes he is yes he is goodbye mount even may the lord bless your mighty good but can i ask you a question won't he make a way won't he open doors won't he answer prayer rooney open the way he's able he's able he's able hey [Applause] hey [Applause] somebody in the darkest situation you just need to remember how good god has already been you didn't come into this place without being blessed to the lord you didn't come in without the lord smiling on you you didn't come in without the lord having made a way and when you're tempted to sit and not give him what he deserves if you can't bless him for today you owe him for yesterday if you can't bless him for this moment you owe him for the last season so i need you just to turn around and remember where the lord has brought you from and give god the glory that god deserves he's worthy to be praised he's worthy to be praised from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same he's worthy he's worthy is there anybody here who knows he's worthy [Applause] [Music] foreign [Applause] you

Channel: Inspiration Station

Views: 20,773

Rating: 4.8048782 out of 5

Keywords: Howard John Wesley, Alfred street baptist church, story of job, faith, Marcus Cosby, wheeler ave baptist church, Howard John Wesley can I push it, praise break, crazy praise break, cogic praise break, td jakes, potters house dallas, serita jakes, maranda curtis, tasha cobbs, holy convocation shout, crazy shout, dance praise break, holy ghost praise break, bishop noel jones, jamal bryant, shouting, wheeler ave, cogic bump, Marcus d cosby, Terry anderson, Ralph d west

Id: fiYfLj1N_rk

Length: 50min 19sec (3019 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 01 2021