Pastor Walter Pearson ~ Decisions

so when you get close to the lord somebody ought to get rattled you ought to make a wave somewhere you ought to appear on somebody's radar screen somebody ought to frown when you come around if you're like jesus praise the lord let's just praise the lord [Applause] this is the breath of life television broadcast with pastor walter l pearson jr when god gets ready he can deliver you if [Music] [Applause] but the power of god will lift you up [Applause] i'm reading tonight from first kings chapter 18. there is only one verse that we actually require to get us to the point of the sermon for this occasion and that one will be verse 21. here's what the bible says and elijah came unto all the people and said how long halt ye between two opinions if the lord be god follow him but if baal then follow him and the people answered not a word i've entitled our study for this occasion decisions decisions let's bow together as we pray father in heaven we are grateful for the truth that is in the word of god now as we open thy word we pray for power that is beyond ourselves for these are troubled times and in times like these we need to hear the voice of our god so we have not come now to hear opinions from humankind we have come now to hear truth from heaven give it to us father and our souls shall be satisfied this is our prayer in the name of jesus amen we come to this discussion because of our theme if god before us who can be against us i will tell you that i believe from the very fiber of my being from the core of who i am that if you are on god's side and if god is on your side there is no power on the face of the earth that can overcome you and tonight as we look in this experience you will see one man standing in the power of god against everything that can be arrayed against him and he will make it because god is with him in times like these we must understand because there seem to be powers arrayed against us every demographic in society can claim it there there are people who don't like you there are systems that seem to be canted against you there are problems that rise up to face you and everybody seems to have some challenge that is unanswerable but the fact is that even now god is able and if you are on god's side god on your side there is no problem that can overcome you watch as elijah shows you that if you've got faith in god then god will never let you down the fact is that warnings had already gone to the house of ahab ahab's wife is jezebel i do not intend to seem sexist when i say that jezebel's name gives me shivers because the fact is that jezebel is married to ahab and something happens when you get married if you are not alike when you get married you will be alike pretty soon think about it before you get married jezebel's name has the ring but ahab is evidently too weak or he perhaps is the same as she is so that this family that should be standing for god is instead encouraging worship of baal those very leaders who should have been saying stand for god jehovah are instead bringing the priests of baal 450 par the prophets of baal 450 and the priests will be all 400 taking care of them so that the nation is not encouraged now to stand for god the nation is pushed towards idolatry and the question comes how will you decide where will you be which side will you be on some of them say the scholars were inclined to straddle the fence now that's not new there are always people who want to be on both sides they want to be on god's side just in case and they want to be with everybody else just in case so they either go from one side to the other or they hide one side when it's appropriate and hide the other but the fact is that at some point in your life you've got to come to the decision that you either for god or against him god does not share well if your heart belongs to god he is not inclined to share your heart he wants all of it because he gives you all of him and so there are people who have played back and forth just as some of these folk did the setting is interesting in the natural world there were some events that made people perhaps want to go for bail some of the historians say that they all one of the the most intimate gods of canaanite society was the one who brought rain they all was allegedly according to the mythology killed by his enemy but then when he was resurrected in the spring or perhaps the fall the rains would come so the folk would pray to baal for the rain to come now the fact is that god is the one who gives ring but there is a slight controversy possible if you uh study the bible you will discover in ephesians chapter 2 and verse 2 that god has given satan a limited power over the elements the prince of the power of the air he's called now when i'm flying i rehearse that text to myself and i also rehearse another text psalm 24 says the earth is the lord's and the fullness thereof so evidently this power that satan has as the prince of the power of the air is not a permanent exclusive power it's limited and temporary so when i'm flying i'm always talking to god saying lord let him have all that other space but the space that i'm flying in would you take it over please the fact is that while the devil may have been able to accomplish through beyond some kind of rain that came at seasons god in fact has the power and the control of the earth and only gives a little away temporarily in fact if you would read in matthew you will discover in chapter 5 and verse 45 that god allows the rain to fall on the just and the unjust that doesn't even sound like the devil so god does in fact take back control of the rain but all through deuteronomy it's interesting that it's back there deuteronomy would would have us to believe that when god gets disturbed at people and their disobedience that one of the things that god can do is to hold back the rain deuteronomy chapter 28 and verse 23 god says if you disobey me i'll make the sky like brass and the ground like iron that means nothing will get through the rain falls from the top the dew rises from the bottom but if you disobey me i'll cut them both off and there'll be nothing and then you read in deuteronomy chapter 11 and verse 16 that god can shut up heaven so watch what god does god says oh you think it's behalf who brings rain well then i'll turn it off and see if you can get beyond to turn it back on and so because of the recalcitrance of the house of ahab god calls this elijah from his mountain retreat and says go now travel down to the palace of ahab and when you get there tell him that it won't rain for three years now let me explain something about what god does when he commands things god sometimes commands things that don't make sense to you god doesn't have to make sense because god made sense [Applause] god doesn't have to be logical god made logic if he chooses he can go beyond what is logical he can do things that are illogical he can make things heavy light or things like heaven make feathers fall and elephants float if it serves its purposes so god tells a prophet travel through the well-watered lands into samaria while elijah is traveling he's looking at the brooks running over gurgling with water he's looking at the trees that are filled with leaves he's looking at plants that are flourishing he sees no sign at all that there will be a drought but god told him to go deliver a message and he walks past the plants that are well watered going to tell the king that there'll be no more rain see when god tells you to do something don't wait until it gets logical just do it just do what god says so now he passes gets somehow into the palace of ahab past the gods that must have been there he did not stop for state craft did not have any introduction that we can read evidently was not summoned did not write letters there was nothing exchanged on the level that you would expect it to be because when god makes an appointment all you got to do is keep it so now he's there he appears in the palace and says to ahab it will not rain for three years and before ahab can think to react the prophet is gone after you've done what god says you don't have to hang around for socializing the job is done and now this man finds himself hated for telling the truth oh you mean that was happening way back then the bible says they that live godly shall suffer persecution some people think that when you get right everything gets right well because satan has that limited control then sometimes when you are living closest to god you have the most problems in your experience beware when all men speak well beware when things are going too well because if you represent jesus the people who hate jesus will hate you if the people who hate jesus love you something is wrong with this picture so when you get close to the lord somebody ought to get rattled you ought to make a wave somewhere you ought to appear on somebody's radar script somebody ought to frown when you come around if you like jesus because you can read it if you want to some of us read selectively in the bible and we want to think that wherever jesus was it was peaceful and he meandered over the undulating hills and meadows but if you keep on reading you will find jesus coming to situations that are charged with hatred because if you stand for something somebody will dislike you so now the man of god has done what god told him and now everybody gets angry this doesn't make sense when the sin of a nation rises to the level that it causes god to turn the water off should you get mad at the one who came to announce it or should you be disturbed after sin that caused it the fact is that these people should have understood that some trials come to wake you up some problems come to give you a wake-up call some things happen in your life god allows them so that you can see yourself trials are not to tell god about you god already knows about you trials ought to tell you about you but instead of getting angry at the sin and the sinners instead of turning to god and and calling on him for mercy they turn instead on the man who came and made the announcement and they began to search for him and try to find him so that they can take his life as though taking his life would change what god decided it's ridiculous you can kill all the preachers and god will still be god [Applause] in fact the one thing i love about this book is that the book does not care who reads it the bible says the same thing to the high and to the low if you've got every credit card available it says the same thing to you if you couldn't get a credit card on your best day it says the same thing to you huh if you drive a used car that's all the name has dropped off it says the same thing to you or if you drive a car that's recognizable anywhere says the same thing the bible does not change because of who you are it does not cut corners because of your socio-economic condition it's plain so truth does not change because you get angry at the bearer of truth the bible doesn't change god does not change because you get angry at some preacher in fact i've kind of made it my rule if i don't get somebody upset what's the use in preaching you ought to cause a little ripple something going to happen i do not preach to disturb folk but if you tell it like it is somebody ought to get a little worried it just ought to be so now they are angry at elijah now that should not have been the response in fact i challenge you there's a text that we read all the time in second chronicles chapter seven and that should be your response now most of us don't read verse 13. we read verse 14. and in fact let me read verse 14 because you'll love it you know it you'll probably be able to say it with me if my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways then will i hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land you know that one look at verse 13. it's amazing if i shut up heaven that there'll be no rain or if i command the locals to devour the land or if i send pestilence among my people part of the problem that leads to repentance god says if you go against my will one of the things that i have an option to do is to shut up the rain turn it off turn it off and if you come to me with a humble heart and if you confess your sin then i will hear from heaven and i'll heal your land so what israel should have done was to pray but instead they have said the problem is that preacher where is he had people out looking for the preacher if you want to hide let god hide you god made a little place for elijah down by the brook cherith and fed him there by raven now you know that's interesting somebody's in here tonight trying to figure out where your breakfast is gonna come from trying to know how you're gonna eat how you're gonna make a way for yourself god can make a way out of nowhere i am not certain that i would choose to be fed by a bird but if i got hungry enough i'd take it from a bird ah i read a story the other day about a man who got hungry and a cat brought him bread now i think i'd have to be pretty hard-pressed to eat bread delivered by a cat the only way the cat can deliver the bread is in the cat's mouth and if i had to pick up the bread with the teeth marks in it i'd have to think a long time but hunger would eventually overcome my predilection for food that had not been offered to cats and i would be excited to get the bread what i'm trying to tell you is that god can make a way out of nowhere if if god be for you who can be against you do you see it then when when the the brook dried up because remember god said i'm going to turn off the rain and when the rain gets turned off eventually everything dries up then god sent him over to the the coast of phoenicia and there he came to the widow of zarapath love the story little widow is out in this drought feeding her child and gathering up sticks to make the last cake of bread in fact the cake of bread sounds like something we used to eat in the housing project where i grew up some of you folk are too wealthy to understand this but let me let me acculturate you there was a time long ago before microwave cooking when things got hard when things got tough you could get a little meal a little oil and one of those big ugly frying pans you know big black frying pan put that thing in there and let it sizzle a little bit and you know when you get down that far it doesn't take much to get you excited i can remember when my mother would do that and i knew times are rough but you know we'd stand around and watch that thing mom is it ready yet you know the lady got her last little cake a little boy and the sticks gathered and she says i go we're gonna eat one more meal and we're dead and the preacher shows up come on now let's let's get real here and the preacher shows up and says if you give me the last cake then the lord will make a way for you [Applause] now you know you talk about us preachers all the time about that kind of thing if you let me ride the lord will let you ride if you take care of me first the lord will then take care of you and folk talk about that all over the place what in the world is wrong with these preachers they think you're supposed to take care of them first well i don't know about now but this is in the bible folks i don't know you figure it out for yourself but the man of god comes and says look you give me something to eat lord take care now the lady must have been dedicated to god because only god listen the question is will you take care of your child god requires that you take care of your child but now god requires a new priority i believe that when god talks to your heart there are times when god will require of you something that is not traditional all you gotta do is make sure it was god i don't know we read nothing about what the little boy says i remember one time a preacher came to our home and uh my brother and i were about to eat some ice cream and this preacher had read something recently that said that there was a certain element in ice cream that was unhealthy and he and my father had a long discussion and he said the only way to find out whether it's in the ice cream or not is to melt it if you think about it once ice cream has been melted it's no longer ice cream something disgusting my brother and i looked at each other without a word but our hope was that our father would say no our father said yes and we sat there and watched our ice cream melting because of a preacher can you imagine what we thought of that preacher i'll never tell but he what did the little boy think we never read that he objected evidently there must have been some training that occurred before this event because the little boy never says mom what you give him your half let me and the preacher you have faith this child must have been trained amen the woman says take it and and you you've read it after that every time the lady would go back she'd find a little more meal in the middle container and a little more oil in the oil container i like the way god did that see some of us want a full supply when god gives me something give it all you know god if you can't give me a lexus give me nothing [Applause] i don't know about you but i'll take a toyota same car anyway few bells and whistles here and there same car but some of us want it all the fact is that sometimes god brings blessings in increments so you learn how to trust him every day but watch this god hides elijah so that ahab can't find him feeds him by a raven then by a widow and god keeps him separate and aside so that nobody can harm him i believe that if you stand for what's right that god will protect you you may have hardship nobody nobody believes that elijah enjoyed necessarily this beyond measure i don't know about you i'd kind of enjoy god deliver me food by river see sometimes it's not what you're eating but how god delivers it but but he did not deliver food that was exorbitantly expensive these were the bare necessities but it was god feeding his prophets there is a miracle in that that is perhaps greater than the quality or the taste of the food god delivering god making a place and my friends i tell you that in this year that seems so far removed from that the same god the same god if you trust in him will still stand for you so now we have the man of god hidden and no rain think about it the rain is not coming the people are praying to behalf but god wants them to see it's not bihal who brings rain if you think he can keep praying to him let him be resurrected in your mythology but there will be no rain then there were those who for political correctness believed in they are since the king and queen trusted in maya they said well i don't really believe in they are but in order to get a little favor with the powers that be i will believe too now you know those are the folks who disturb me most you're not doing what you really believe you're just trying to be accepted shame shame on you i i don't really see i have this little thing here this little trinket but i don't really believe it it's just that you know in our society uh ahab and jezebel believe in in bell so i kind of you know just it's a cultural thing you know i don't really believe in it please i'm not into it but i just kind of keep it around in case somebody would have come by you never know i believe that that we as god's children ought to try as best we can to get along with people you know we we don't want to seem strange so we kind of friends of mine when when it comes to doing wrong forget political correctness so these folk are calling on behalf or maybe somebody's secretly calling on me out or maybe somebody calling on god for a while and then beyond for a while but whatever they're doing in their strange little mixed up lives there is no rain ahab is looking for elijah but can't find him now god says after the three years have passed go tell ahab it's gonna rain now watch this the same prophet who went with the brooks flowing overflowing with the trees full of leaves to say the rain will stop now travels through a barren land to say it's going to rain so the same topography that was verdant before is barren now it looks like fire has scorched the earth trees look like skeletons they are so bad but now the prophet goes to find the man who would take his life and goes to obadiah the keeper of the palace now let me take a little look with you at this man obadiah this must have been one who believed that if god before you nobody can be against you because while he was the keeper of the palace when jezebel started killing the priests of god jehovah he hid a hundred of those priests 50 and 1k 50 and another at the risk of his own life so that he could keep god's priests alive now that's a man see if you want to prove who you are it's not in these little peripheral matters it's who can stand for what they believe this man knows that here he is keeping the palace ahab is right there every day and still he stands and hides the priests of jehovah so now when when elijah shows up he finds obadiah and they're out looking for water and that's something you're a king but you can't command water powerful but you can't command water only god can command water so we have this out with obadiah he says over here you go that way i'll go this way and let's look for some water while obadiah is out there looking elijah shows up how you doing obadiah how are you go tell ahab i want to talk to him you know that that's some power you know they may look at that looking for you trying to kill you and you go tell him i'm here if god be for you he said well if i go tell him you're here god is so powerful he'll make you disappear while i'm gone then when i come back with him and you're gone he'll kill me no don't worry about it tell them come on so here comes they have with all of his pomp and circumstance because he's scared now think about it man got an army man he's got all this power all of these trappings of power but the only real power is god so now he comes with his army think about it a king with an army coming to meet a prophet in the woods where they were looking for water and comes to him now and elijah says to him brings him a message but before the words can escape his mouth ahab says i are you he that troubles israel trying to conjure up a little courage now you would think that elijah might have tried to ameliorate the king's anger you know how you do and i do sometimes well let's let's not speak harsh words you know he could have said how are you king ahab it's we're very sorry for the things that have had to happen but when you when you speak for god you don't have to put the sugar coat on it you have to try to be mean but you can go ahead and talk he says are you the one who troubles israel he says no you in your father's house because you disobeyed you're the trouble huh i came to tell you that there's going to be rain get your priests and your prophets together and meet me on carmel the little lonely prophet speaking like a king and the king speaking like a god forsaken nobody if god is on your side you can have more power than those who have apparent power because god's power is transcendent so now ahab goes back with all his army jezebel we got to meet ahab i wish i could have been there but he got to tell jezebel that who you met who said we got to meet get all the prophets together and get all the priests together and let's we got to go up on carmel now and all of israel those who have turned their backs on the god of heaven 450 prophets and 400 priests stand with ahab in front of them a king with all of his power and all of his army he's armed men and they all stand on mount karma and one man stands alone and commands them and you're sitting up here worried about your job why don't you let god handle it why don't you let your life be faithful to god and let him take care if god lets you lose that job it's because he's got another one huh god owns big blue god owns general motors god owns the stock exchange he's got dow jones and the nikkei he owns them all [Applause] sometimes he allows lapses to come in our lives so that we learn how to have better quality prayers but god is able to make a way out of nowhere he can hide you from your enemies until he gets ready and then he gives you power to stand if you must stand alone one plus god is a majority so now elijah stands and says how long will you be indecisive how long will you lean towards beyond so that you can curry favor with this king why don't you stand on god's side but because the people had nothing to say in their own defense but they were not willing to say that they were wrong it just stood there and the silence was deafening now elijah says let us choose bullocks and the god who answers by fire let him be god now think about it this this this isn't following a normal pattern he should have said the god who answers by rain remember what they're looking for is rain they're not looking for fire the last thing you want in the middle of a drought is fire but god will answer as he chooses for god is a god of light you can look all the way through the bible and you find the symbol of light the shekinah glory the pillar of fire that followed israel god is a god of light and fire is a part of the sacrificial system that represents his decline towards man his love for man is shown in the system of sacrifice that brings fire and so he says prepare a sacrifice you folk have sacrifices for beau choose a book you have sacrifices for him you you get ready and let him bring fire if your god is so great let me tell you something the greatness of the god of heaven is amazing because while god is so great that he can do anything he is omnipotent yet god cares enough about human beings that from time to time he will display his power in a way that you and i can tell that the only god is god jehovah the god who rules heaven and earth in fact god does not have to prove anything to us god did not have to come down on carmel to show who he was he would have still been god had he not come but he came to show us to show israel who he was in fact when elijah declared it he said he will show you he will show you that he is god of israel and then when he prayed his prayer you remember he said god of abraham isaac and israel abraham isaac and jacob he went through those promised those promised loved ones who had been their progenitors it was god's promise to abraham to isaac then to jacob and he went back through the promises to prove that when god makes a promise he keeps god is the god of israel god is the god of this people god damns to come down and to interface with humankind so take a bullock and i'll take one and the god who answers by fire let him be god and the folks with baal did what he told him took a bullet cut the bullock put him on the altar started screaming and streaking and cutting themselves i could stretch it out for dramatic sake but i don't need to because the fact is that all day long with all the noise and the cutting and the shrieking and the gymnastics nothing think about it if you were a priest of maya wouldn't you have tried to start a fire tell me there wasn't some pretty soon they all need a little help one of my favorite writers says that while elijah was a man of faith he was also a man who understood human nature so he did not go away while they were doing their strange acrobatics he kept an eye on him huh excuse me what's happening over here because the devil with a love for some fire in fact that same writer suggests that if the devil himself could have got some lightning remember prince of the power of the air if the devil could have but while elijah was watching god's angels huh do you believe this i believe in the power of god i believe when god's angels set their watch nothing can penetrate so the devil may have had a thunderstorm somewhere but he wasn't going to have one here one of them may have come close got a little cloud trying to move god's angel not here not today not now we we kind of got a little special something happening up here we're gonna let beyond bring the fire on this mountain and if he can't bring it you can't either so there's no fire i suggest to you that god is not only great for what he does but for what he prevents and at the end of the day when all of their feverish efforts were exhausted and when they were cut and horse and mangled and frustrated and tired beyond belief elijah says come near israel and watch what happens now took up those stones 12 of them for the 12 tribes of israel put them back altars that had been torn down that needed to be built back cut the animal for a sacrifice to the god of heaven then did something strange after the wood had been in place bring a little water no no no no you're not supposed to bring water when there's going to be a fire but if you are god you can do it if you choose the reason why god has to do things in a miraculous way is because if he continued always to do them in a normal way you and i would never give him credit if he always let your cousin come through with the loan you would always give your cousin the credit so sometimes god pours water on your cousin's bank account at the same time he pours water on yours so that when the blessing comes it will not come through a normal way it will come in a super normal way and you will know that it was god who did it [Applause] so now they pour four barrels of water once four barrels of water twice four barrels of water three times twelve barrels of water the water gushes over and runs into the trenches and the people who are now resting up from their day-long struggle to bring bayal must have said good this will never happen but one man on one mountain with one god looks toward heaven god of abraham isaac and jacob prove that i am obedient to you here i stand alone against thousands but for the people who live now for the people who will live then for people who are worried about their future way down in the future answer now and as soon as the amen was said in another language fire not only came down from heaven but fire poured down according to one commentator so that it not only showed that it was there but it showed the trail of where it came from [Applause] so fire pours down so that you can see that not only is it fire that touches the mountain but it's fire that came from god and it burns up the sacrifice and it burns up the wood and it burns up the stone and it burns up the water and it laps up the very earth around and it is proven now that it's time to stop hovering in between and make up your mind in this new post-modern era there are some people who think that information is everything i am on the internet i i was on the today and i i'm there browsing the internet friend of mine the internet is yellow pages with pictures when you get off the information superhighway a broken heart will still be broken the lonely inside will still not be filled and unless you meet the power of god somewhere on the internet you'll be the same one when you sign off as you were when you're signed on there is no power in the modem there is no power on the internet unless you meet god there if god before you who can be against you the challenge is simple will you hedge your bet will you lean a little bit on the world and a little bit on god a little bit of baal and a little bit of god jehovah because those who halt between two opinions live their lives out in foolish confusion make up your mind can god be trusted that's the question elijah says let me show you something i stood alone in fact when you read the story of the transfiguration i love it because there on that mount you remember that there was jesus praying lord let them see me let them see me as i was and all of a sudden there were with him those two moses and elijah i believe that the reason why god allowed elijah to come down and meet with jesus on that mount is because on another mounts elijah had proven for all the world that if god is on your side you don't need anybody else [Applause] and so jesus facing the ultimate test might have been encouraged there by the words of one who stood on carmel all along there was jesus about to go to mount calvary and there was elijah saying i was on mount carmel and i'll tell you this that if you take everything you've got and trust it in god's hands he'll never fail you now the other side of that must be understood some of us want god to give us everything but we don't want to give him all that we have we say god i need i need i want i want our prayers are like laundry lists what if your prayer could be a dedication father all that i have all that i am i give to you i put my life in your hands i trust the god of abraham isaac and israel and if i have to stand alone let me stand by myself i don't know what your trial may be tonight but i tell you this that if you can trust god with all you have god will give you all he has and it is an unequal bargain for what god has supersedes what you have by proportions that are beyond your imagination if god puts everything he has on the table and you put everything you have on the table you can't lose because god has much more than you will ever have so what i want to say to you [Applause] why why don't you stop with the indecision recognize that it takes everything to really serve the lord the bible when god makes a promise you can rest assured he'll keep that promise for our offer this week we give you a choice god's promises for men or god's promises for women men will discover that god listens to a man's prayer when the responsibilities of life overwhelm him women will discover that god gives freely to women power to defeat fear get your book today by calling our toll-free number 877 bol offer that's 877-265-6333 either book is yours for a gift of five dollars or more or you may write and ask for the book just write to breath of life p.o box 97192 washington dc 2007 remember to include your gift of five dollars or more get your promise book today if you'd like an audiocassette copy of today's program call the number on your screen or write walter pearson p.o box 97192 washington dc 2007 for your love gift of any amount we'll send out your copy right away and if you have a special prayer request write us walter pearson wants this ministry to be a blessing in your life walter pearson believes that jesus christ is the answer to every problem you face [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] is [Applause] [Music]

Channel: True Education 1844

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Keywords: Pastor Walter Pearson, Walter Pearson, Walter Pearson sermons, Present Truth, Breath of Life TV, SDA, SDA sermons, Seventh-day Adventist, Adventism, Protestant, Protestantism

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Length: 53min 48sec (3228 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 30 2020