Power is in the doing - Debleaire Snell | Revival

you to catapult us into the destiny that he has called us into as we begin tonight we're just gonna begin by singing an oldie but a goodie it says that I am on the battlefield for my Lord and I promised him that I that I'd serve him till I die I am on the battlefield for my lord [Music] you can put your hands together I am on the battlefield [Music] I on the battlefield for my love and I promised him that I am on the battlefield for my again I am on I am on the battlefield for my [Music] on the battlefield for my and I promised him that would serve until I die on the battlefield for my well I was alone at night and I thinner too the voice of heaven stand there were to do so I took my master's hand and I joined the Christian I am on the battlefield for my lord [Music] on the battlefield for my [Music] I'm gonna serve him till I die [Music] on the battle [Music] I like the song to assess victory is mine victory is mine people leave it tonight victory today I told Satan behind victory [Music] is mine one more time say victory victory hate to eat victory today is my I told Satan me behind victory today now let's sing it together say joy is my joy is my joy today I told Satan Satan behind joy today one more we got peace in our hearts peace is mine in spite of all that's going on here soon is my I told Satan can't be behind today Oh [Music] stampy come on Jesus Jesus question [Music] what I'm told that whoa [Applause] [Music] be [Music] somebody put your hands together like you know you've got the victory in Jesus [Music] aim at a man won't you stand with me for our prayer and tonight with everything that's going on I was reflecting and it's kind of chaotic isn't it with everything that's going on self quarantine quarantine stay home isolation not knowing what's gonna happen can I go outside you know can I come back in without coronavirus it's kind of taken up the thoughts the concerns of the nations of the world and so tonight I just want to braid this Psalm with you because I know it was helpful to putting my mind at peace it says he who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty I will say of the Lord he is my refuge and my fortress my god in him will I trust surely he shall deliver you from the snare of the Fowler and from the perilous pestilence he shall cover you with his feathers and under his wings you shall take refuge his truth shall be your shield and buckler you shall not be afraid of the terror by night nor the arrow that flies by day nor the pestilence that walks in darkness nor the destruction that lays way wastes at noonday because he has set his love upon me therefore I will deliver him I will set him on high because he has known my name he shall call upon me and I will answer we shall call upon God and he will answer I will be with him in trouble I will deliver him and honor him with long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation father in the name of Jesus we hang on to your words and to your promise as we open this service tonight we invite your presence here to be with us we call upon the name of Jesus we call upon the hedge of protection the blood of Christ be upon our souls upon our lives that it will hedge us into safety we thank you that we can count on your word we thank you that we can trust in you we thank you that you will protect us during the time of trouble and father God we want to also lift up before you our youth program our spring into purpose our stepping into destiny that this week will begin to help us to align our will and our way with your will and your way so that we can walk the walk to talk the talk and be the world changes that you have called us to and so we pray for every young person that is on their way that is watching that is listening that is here tonight that you will plant seeds of purpose in their hearts that you will lock them into your love that you will evoke an awakened within them a curiosity and a desire to hunger and thirst after you and after your righteousness and we thank you that you will hear our prayers and that you will deliver bless your manservant tonight as he give us the word bless the participants we thank you for the organizer we thank you for everyone present here tonight and we pray God that in our faithfulness that you will reward us with the presence of your peace in our lives with a joy that calms so that the enemy will not overtake us or that we will go out rejoicing and say it was good for us to be in the house of the Lord in Jesus name Amen [Music] please be seated somebody said is getting warmer somebody said praise God that winter is over hallelujah spring is here so we're excited this spring into purpose revival to have and to host pastor Deb leers Nell he hails from the crazy state of Florida from the time he was a young man he joined the church he was always active serving in the lord's army and any capacity that he could he accepted the call to ministry at an early age and attended Oakwood college he distinguished himself as a leader and became even the USM student government president while as a student at Oakwood and from there he graduated and started pastoring in the South Central Conference he went to Andrews University got a Masters of Divinity while he was at Andrews he found his bay his boo his rib and they got married he's pastored in Mississippi in Kentucky and he now pastors the historic first seventh-day Adventist Church in Huntsville Alabama and God has used him in a mighty way to build the kingdom of God he is an author he has his books here tonight available to bless your life after service so get you one or two or three and so we excited to have him he's an author and innovator a courageous problem maker for the kingdom of God this brother is raising up the kingdom of God on this earth and so we know that God will use him once again tonight and Friday night and Sabbath as we spring into purpose so after you hear our special selection we will hear the voice of God through his manservant pastor deadly air snell hear ye him [Music] [Music] [Music] the savior is waiting to enter your [Music] don't you laugh come [Music] in this world to keep you apart is your answer to [Music] design yes wait people [Music] again [Music] [Applause] to see if you [Music] Oh he wants to come me [Music] if you take one step swore this Savior my friend you find is and why [Music] receive him endure of your darkness [Music] aha [Music] is way people [Music] waiting [Music] [Music] to see [Music] once to you coming [Music] [Music] again [Laughter] Oh [Applause] to to how he won Oh [Music] oh wow he wants to come in [Music] let's give our brother another hearty Amen God's been good to you this afternoon won't you say Amen one more time he's been real good you oughta shout hallelujah if you love him won't you say thank you Jesus and if you're glad he's coming again can you put your hands together for the King of Kings and the Lord of lords giving his name a great praise I I know there's a lot going on in the world but I'm like David I was glad when they said unto me let us go into the house of the Lord and I know that there's a lot of anxiety in the lamb but I'm just one of those people that believe the safest place you could be is in the house of God with the people of God preparing for the word of the Living God and so we are grateful and thankful just for this opportunity to gather together tonight in his name and to be able to lift up the name of Jesus Christ I want you to know that I'm really excited about being here enjoy easy this week I've been practicing my Jersey accent I ain't got it yet but I'll work on a little bit more this week but I'm excited to be here with you with this talking to our young adults and with the body of Christ by and large as we look into springing into purpose I do just want to begin by just acknowledging mister berlet stellar leadership of your pastor pastor Stoddard he is one of my favorite preachers one of the great communicators of the gospel and my prayers are for him as he does evangelism in Guyana and so we are thankful for his leadership and for his ministry can we give him a hearty amen and also thankful just for your able team and chaplain Stuart and my good buddy pastor Pierre it's been a privilege to be able to watch him grow in ministry and so God has gifted you all as a church let's give you a leadership hearty amen tonight we thank God for the leadership of this church in the spiritual direction and for men and women of that help us grow and our spiritual walk with him tonight we want to go ahead and jump right in the word is that all right and so tonight you know even as we're talking to young adults one of the things I do need kind of our young adults and just the body of Christ understand that this life is gonna be hard sometimes so I have a witness and even if you serve the Lord there's gonna be adversities and trials but that's not really the issue the issue is just making sure that you're your soul is anchored in Jesus to be able to handle what life sins this way and so I won't invite you to stand to your feet for the reading of the word tonight we're gonna begin at Matthew chapter 7 and we'll start at verse 15 and we'll kind of skip throughout but we'll kind of really settle around verse number 24 Matthew chapter 7 and we'll begin together at verse 15 when you get there just say pastor I'm there Matthew chapter 7 beginning at verse 15 again when you get there just say I'm amen amen Matthew 7 and verse 15 the Bible says beware of what false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly they are ravenous wolves and notice what he says you will know them by their what fruit do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles and he says even so every good tree bears what but a bad tree bears what a good tree cannot bear bad fruit nor can a bad tree bear good fruit and he says every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire and in verse 20 he says therefore by their fruit will you know them and then in verse 21 he says not everyone who says to me Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven but he who what he who does he who does the will of my father in heaven so he says not everybody that cries Lord Lord but the person that does his will then in verse 24 which is where we'll settle for tonight therefore whoever hears these sayings of mine and what and does them I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock and the rains descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house and it did not fall for it was founded on what but everyone who hears these sayings of mine and what does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand and the rains descended the floods came the winds blew and beat on that house and it fell and great was its fall but I want to read for emphasis verse 24 therefore whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock tonight Saints I'm gonna talk to you for a little bit under the subject the power is in doing the power is in doing let's pray together father I pray that in this little while that you would say much father you say that if just two or three gathering your name you would be there in the mist and so Lord we pray that even in this assembly for a full and dense outpouring of the Holy Ghost tonight so lord I asked Lord for permission to join my human weakness to your divine strength would you hide me in the shadows of the cross that Jesus alone might be seen that Christ alone would be heard and at the end of all things may Jesus alone be praised speak to us may our faith be multiplied exponentially we pray in the wonderful name of Jesus let God's people say together amen any man you may be seated in the house of the Lord again talking on the subject the power is in the doing some of you may remember perhaps about 13 years ago there was a fitness craze that raced across the United States fitness guru Tony horton came out with this 90-day muscle building fat-burning program and he simply called it p90x and and what made it different at least in theory was that it was holistic in nature so you would get these exercise DVDs you would become a member of a fitness community there would be a directional guide you will get access to protein shakes you can log on and listen to various testimonies and an understanding past appear that I convinced my wife that if she let me spend a hundred and fifty dollars on this program that she would see a lean shredded version of her husband now I want to be clear Saints that I watched these videos very carefully I read the directions quite intensely I listened to the testimonies frequently but I'll be honest with you I came a little short on the workouts themselves and the crazy things church is I didn't lose no weight by watching them exercise I didn't get no benefit by just having my name on the membership it profited mean nothing just to have my name on the road and the crazy thing is I saw what I was supposed to do I read what I was supposed to do I said what I was going to do but it did not give me any power because I didn't actually do it and I guess what's true in the world of fitness is also true in the world of worship because the truth is you can listen to the preacher say what you ought to do you can read in the scripture what you ought to do you can declare all day long what you're going to do but you get no power unless you actually do it and the reason Saints that worship is empty for many of us from Sabbath to Sabbath and Wednesday to Wednesday is because many of us come and watch worship we don't actually participate in worship and let me be clear when I say this that I'm not talking about your expression of worship I'm talking about your engagement in in other words when the pastor prayed we close our eyes but our hearts were far from here when the brothers saying we opened our lips but no melody came from our hearts in fact my scripture reading is the most Bible that some of us are read all day long and see the reason we leave empty and dry and morose is that when it comes down to worship our observation without participation leads to spiritual stagnation y'all not here with me tonight and see the reason sometimes we don't get none out of church it's because we don't do no pre work before we show up so the reason we leave empty is because we come to church cold but how many of us know you got to do some pre-work before you come into the house of God pre work means that I gain a God consciousness that says I'm coming before the presence of the king pre work is when I shed my self of any unsanctified dispositions because I don't come before God any kind of way pre work is when I take the time to just reflect upon the mercies of God in other words before I come to church I think of the ways God is made I think of the doors God is open I think about the sins he's forgiven I think about the prayers that he's answered and sometimes when I just think of the goodness of Jesus and all he's done for me you ain't got to tell me to say man you ain't got to tell me to shout I'm like a balloon with too much air in it I'm already ready to pop because I've done some pre-work before I've even come into the house of God are y'all with me tonight Saints and so let me bring this back here to Jesus here in Matthew chapter 7 here in Matthew chapters 5 through 7 we find Jesus preaching what becomes known as the Sermon on the Mount and understand that even though the sermon is recorded in three chapters Ellen White tells us that this sermon was the length of an entire day and yet the people sat there spellbound because the word for them was like finding an oasis in the middle of the desert and as Jesus here gets ready to bring this sermon to a conclusion he begins to make a distinction between multiple classes of believers first he makes a distinction between those that cry Lord Lord and those that do the Father's will then he makes a distinction between those that hear the word and those that put it into practice and so in summation what Jesus is saying is that there is no power in lip service declaring what you're going to do then he says that there is no power in observation alone just hearing there's only benefit when you put it into practice and the reason that Jesus does this is that he knew that there will come a time when we would gather and there would be a lot of a man's during the sermon but very little doing after the benediction but we would be stronger if there are fewer amens in church and more doing after we got home are y'all hearing me tonight Saints in sea the thing I need y'all to get Saints is that one of the things about religious folk is that we are good at hearing and affirming the truth but where we struggle is in applying and living out the truth and that's what Jesus is saying is that just to be a receptacle of information and truth that has never lived provides you no spiritual merit or virtue in other words what is it good is it for you to hear a message on forgiveness if you are hold a grudge against everybody that mistreats you what good is it for you to hear a sermon on the health message if you're gonna hit Krispy Kreme or Dunkin Donuts on your way home from work every day what good is it for you to have the message of the last days if we're gonna live as if Jesus is not coming in our time what good is it for us to hear a message on love if we're gonna be cold and indifferent to everyone that's not like us and as much power as God gives a preacher to preach the word I need you to know that only 30 percent of the power is in the preaching you don't tap into the other 70 percent until you get home and start living it and see the thing I need somebody to understand tonight is that God does not apply power to observation God applies power to activity okay let me let me say it this way I remember I was going I live in Huntsville Alabama and I was going to visit one of my members who lives way out in Pulaski Tennessee now you got to understand that Pulaski is all the way out in the sticks it is very mountainous and dark and rural terrain and so when I get to the lady's house I noticed that all of the lights are out inside of the house and on the outside so it's complete dark because there's no streetlights and Pierre I get a little nervous because as a Floridian I noticed that the grass came all the way up to my knees and I'm one of those brothers that got a bad relationship with snakes no I have at least one cousin in the room today and so it's funny because I get a little bit nervous because I called to see if there was somebody there but no one answers and so now I've driven an hour into the wilderness and so I've got to pray for somebody before I go back home and so I'm there on the edge of the driveway getting ready to move to the grass in the dark and so as I build up the courage I begin moving toward the edge of the house and then as I move toward the edge of a house a light comes on at the edge and as I continue to walk a little further another light comes on in the middle and then when I walk on the porch a light comes on on the porch and then it begins to dawn on me that she has what they call a motion-detecting system which means that they have a sensor that does not apply power until it notices the presence of activity and how many of us know that we serve a motion-detecting god that does not apply power as long as you sitting there looking he doesn't apply power until you get active and start doing his will are y'all hearing me tonight Saints and so the word says go back with me if you don't mind to Matthew chapter 7 and again let's look together here at verse number 16 Matthew chapter 7 and verse number 16 the word says you will know them by their fruit then he says do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles he says even so every good tree bears good fruit but a bad tree Bears bad through and then in verse 20 he says therefore by their fruit you will know them now for a minute here I've been talking about the need to do God's will and obey the word and put it into practice but I want to just stop short of one idea because I don't want to put you in the mode of thinking that you do obey or work your way to salvation or y'all hear me tonight Saints but I want you to look at the way Jesus frames are doing or our obedience did you notice that in the text that Jesus frames are doing or our obedience as fruit and not seed okay let me tell y'all this side he frames are doing or our obedience as fruit and not seed in other words are doing is the fruit that identifies the tree it is not the seed that produces the tree now the reason that's important is because our doing does not produce our salvation our doing simply identifies us as being saved by the master in other words the purpose of good works is not salvation the purpose of works is identification now remember what Jesus is doing he says you will know a tree by the fruit that it bears now most of us here did not grow up on a farm and most of us only know a tree bring it fruit on it most of us in this room only know an apple tree when it has apples on it some of us only know an orange tree when it has oranges on it some of us will only know a pear tree when it has pears on it because to the untrained eye all trees have leaves all of them have roots but we don't know the difference until we see the fruit now the reason that Jesus draws this line of delineation is he knew that there was going to come a time where all believers would pretty much look like trees in other words we all have leaves we all have roots and he's saying to the unbelieving culture that if you want to know my people no judge them by what they say you have to judge them by the fruit that they bear in other words he's saying don't identify or believe everybody that calls on my name that they believe in me those that belong unto me are gonna bear some fruit that separate them from the rest of the body are y'all hearing me tonight science as he is interesting because there's a reason to rejoice in Jesus talking about fruit because have you ever noticed that whenever a tree bears fruit that nobody celebrates the tree when when a tree bears fruit nobody gives props to the tree and when a tree bears fruit all the glory goes to the farmer that planted it and watered it and pruned it because the growth of the tree goes to the glory of the one who planted it the reason I'm saying this young adults is that when you begin to develop some Christian fruit and you begin to get some victories in your life don't you ever go patting yourself on the back stop looking at what you have done stop saying I've got the victory you didn't get the victory you were gifted the victory by Jesus Christ how many of us know that we don't have no fruit of ourselves jesus said without me you can't do nothing it is God that works in you both to will and do of his good pleasure so if I get any fruit if I overcome I can't look in the mirror and celebrate me I've got to glorify the God that planted me and pruned me and developed me and watered me are y'all hear me Saints and see the beautiful thing man that this teaches us beloved one of the things it teaches us about the development of crucian fruit that the development of Christian fruit is based upon connection not effort on the way all that tonight Saints listen I need you to know that the development of Christian fruit is based upon connection not hard effort what do you mean pastor have you ever seen an apple on the branch working hard to be an apple have you ever seen a pear stressing and sweating and pressing and working hard to be a pear no as long as the pear is connected to the branch that is fed from the SAP that comes up from the roots as long as it is connected then its growth becomes incidental are y'all hear me tonight Saints so that the development of Christian fruit is not based upon me working hard it's not based upon me being good it's not based on how well I perform my development of fruit it's just based on how strongly I'm connected to the true branch which is Jesus Christ remember he says if I simply abide in him and if he abides in me then I'll bring forth much for me tonight Saints in other words ain't got to work hard ain't gotta put forth great effort in other words the greatest effort I believer is not to develop fruit my greatest effort is making sure I stay connected it's making sure that the wind doesn't push me off it's making sure that life doesn't shake me from the branch I just gotta make sure I stay connected to Jesus and my fruit becomes incidental I y'all with me tonight sense if you can turn me back up just a little bit third thing that this teachers are Saints and this is really important is that both righteousness and wickedness are not the result of certain behaviors it is actually simply a byproduct of what's planted in other words both righteousness and wickedness there simply incidents are y'all with me tonight Church in other words one of the things you'll notice about soil is that soil does not discriminate in other words whatever you plant in the soil it's gonna churn and incubate whatever you plant there in other words I'm gonna be fed by the fruit of what every seed I am planting in other words the same soil that can give me a tasty apple tree is the same soil that will produce a bitter herb because the soil is not going to discriminate and the same way beloved I can't plant apple seeds and hope to get oranges the same way I can't plant orange seeds and hope to get watermelons the same way I can't plant melon seeds and hope to get cantaloupes is the same way I can't plant the flesh and hope to reap in the spirits are y'all hear me on this sense in other words the reason that we sometimes have conflict it's not because we are bad but because we are planting the wrong seed in the soil of our hearts and see the problem is we have created a faulty paradigm in church that says I can have all bad fruit and still be a good tree but the devil is a liar Jesus is a good tree cannot bear bad fruit and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit so if all of the fruit of my lips is bad if the fruit of my service is bad if the fruit of my behavior is bad it's because I am planting the wrong thing in the soil of my hearts and so I need you to get this over those because the reason that Christianity sometimes your spiritual walk can be so hard the reason it can go up and down the reason I'm hot on Sabbath and cold on Tuesday the reason I take one step forward and three steps back is because sometimes I'm trying to plant seed that's not compatible in the same soil of the heart in other words the reason we have conflict is because sometimes we'll start the day before the throne and in the day watching Game of Thrones will start the day with Kirk Franklin but then we'll end the day with Kendrick Lamar will start the day sowing living water but we end the day with the tea of gossip we'll come to church and be about the kingdom go home and watch Fox and be about Empire you're mighty quiet in this room with me tonight and see the reason we struggle is because we try to starve the flesh and feed it at the same time as he beloved what the Word of God is teaching us is that you cannot so see that's not compatible in the same heart see I live in the South where their farms everywhere and have a farmer who attends my church and he says pastor one of the things I'll never do he says I'll never sow seed that I'm not compatible to close together so he says what I'll never do is I'll never sow my melons and and put them too close to my cucumbers and he says the reason I'll never plant them too close is because of what they call cross-pollination so he says if the pollen from the cucumber's gets on my melon what will happen is they will cross pollinate and what will happen is that my melons will begin to take on the color and the texture and the taste of the cucumbers because they're not compatible and they're sown in the same ground he says I'll never sow heirloom corn which is natural corn with genetically modified corn because he says if the pollen from the genetically modified corn gets on the natural corn seed he says it will Verte the natural seed and it'll take on the texture and the taste of the modified seed what am I saying to you tonight Church of the oranges now we have been born of the natural seed of the word of God but because we are planting carnal seed close by the natural seed gets converted and even though we've been born of the Spirit we look like the world and taste like the world and have its picture because there's cross-pollination happening in the soul are y'all hearing me the night Saints and so God is calling us to make a choice and to walk in truth and uprightness can the church say Amen so the Word says to us here in verse 24 therefore whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock and the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house and it did not fall for it was founded on the rock but whoever hears these sayings of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who builds his house on the sand it's interesting beloved than what Jesus does is he gives the difference between a here and or solely in terms of results and say young folk I really need you to kind of really grasp what I'm about to tell you because he literally says those that hear my word and put it into practice I will liken him to a wise man who when he builds his house he does not build on the surface but he digs deep and he did until he strikes bedrock and he invests his money in the infrastructure of the house so that when the rain falls and when the floods come and the winds begin to blow the house is able to stand because it is built on a rock but then he says I will like him those that just hear the sermon and go home and tweet about it but don't put it into practice I will liken him to a foolish man who builds on the surface who not invest in infrastructure but makes their investments and finishes in other words this house is pretty to the look it has perfect finishes on hardwood floor it's got a high gloss paint it's got high-end finishes on the sinks and on the toilets and on the commode but the problem is they've made the investment in the finishes or the aesthetics but the issue is that one day the rain is gonna come the wind is gonna blowing the floods are gonna rise and the Bible says that that house is going to fall and great is its fall and it's crazy because the need you to understand a couple of things I need you to understand that that that that the man who builds on the Hat on the rock and the man who builds on the sand I need you to understand that the rain or the storm it does not make the houses stronger the storm simply reveals where the houses have been built and see it shows us something about trials because a lot of times we say the purpose of trials is to build character no the purpose of trials is not to build character the purpose of trials is to reveal where you have been building to let you know that you need to establish your life not on aesthetics but on a firm foundation y'all hear me tonight and see I need you to understand something really important I need you to take note of this second reality that that the man who builds on the rock has to endure the same storm that the man who built on the sand had to go through in other words building on the rock then causes the storm to pass over building on the rock simply allowed him to endure the storm that the white the foolish man had to go through and we'll give you three quick points I'm gonna take my seat the first thing this teaches us beloved is that neither your prosperity or your adversity reveal your standing in God okay you're not with me I need you to understand that according to the text that neither your prosperity or your adversity say anything about your spiritual standing go with me in the Bible can we look in the text for a minute go with me to Matthew chapter 5 and verse 45 Matthew chapter 5 and verse 45 when you get over there are two chapters of Hugh's amen Matthew chapter 5 and verse number 45 he says that you may be sons of your father in heaven for he makes his Sun to rise on the evil and on the what good he sends rain on the just and on the what unjust go with me to Psalm the 34th division the 34th division of the Psalms and here in verse number 18 Psalm 34 in verse number 17 over in the Old Testament Psalm 34 and verse 17 because I need somebody to get this principle that whatever you're going through that then we review your spiritual standing it doesn't say nothing about how much God loves you it doesn't say anything about how close you are to God some 34 and verse 17 when you get in let me hear you say man the Bible says that the righteous cry out and the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their way the Lord is near to those that have a broken heart and he saves such as have a contrite spirit but notice what he says many are the afflictions of who the righteous but the Lord delivers him out of them all are y'all catching that Saints the word says that even if you live a righteous life the Bible doesn't say you're just gonna have one trial it doesn't just say you're gonna go through something every now and then but the Bible describes a righteous life as one that is gonna have many afflictions are y'all catching that now the reason that is important is because a lot of times we will measure our spirituality by our circumstance not our connection in other words we live under the faulty assumption that if things are well and there's money in the bank and you got a man or girlfriend and that things are well on your job that somehow I'm prayerful and God is pleased and we make the assumption that if there is sickness or adversity or long trial that somehow I'm under the judgement or censure of God or that somehow I am disconnected from God and the thing I need somebody to get is simply this that God loves you as much when it's raining outside as he does when everything is ideal or picturesque in your life and the other reason I'm gonna say this to the church the reason I need us except judging again our spirituality by our circumstance is because there is a need for us to get rid of a certain judge eNOS that's still in the church in other words that there is still a judgmental spirit that tries to assess people's spirituality by what they go through in other words all of job's friends are not dead there's still some of us that when we see people go through things we kind of assume that they are will be receiving judgment for some type of private sin that somehow they are getting theirs but I need us to understand that you going through adversity that don't have nothing to do with your spirituality like how many of us have what we got long enough to understand that you can pray to your knees hurt you can study the Bible to your eyes burn you can be in here every time the doors of the church are open and there's still gonna be some hardship in your life see the problem is we try to judge everything by what people are dealing with I need you understand that wicked people get sick but godly people get sick too wicked people die in car accidents but godly people get car accidents too I need you to understand that godly people get cancer too and godly people lose jobs too and godly people miscarry too and godly people divorced too and godly people raise stupid kids too and godly people get depressed and godly people get slandered and godly people go into foreclosure and godly people have things repossessed and godly people get talked about where in the bible does it say that if I live godly that everything's gonna work out in my favor I thought my Bible said all that live godly in Christ Jesus that day shall suffer persecution and see the problem with us tonight Saints is that sometimes man we assess everything by what we're going through and then what happens is when we go through things we begin to ask the wrong question when we're going through we want to know why am I going through it but I've learned the hard way fear that when you ask the wrong questions you get the wrong answers in other words when you're going through the question is not why am I going through it the question is where does my help come from in other words see even if God came down and told you why there is sickness or why there is cancer or why you lost the job that wouldn't make you feel no better about the situation the only thing that's gonna help you is understand where your help comes from are y'all hearing me tonight says mister man remember growing up in Florida and my aunts apartment complex there was a a pool where we would go to her pool as little kids and swim in the summer and so I remember I was probably somewhere around fifth or fourth of fifth grade and I knew how to swim a little bit but I was not a great strong swimmer at the time and I don't know if many of us are old enough to remember those old school pools where like when you went down into the deep part there was not this gradual incline but on those old pools you'll be like in five feet one moment then you would just step off a big cliff and then you would be like down into the 12 feet part and so I remember one day I was there playing on the edge of the pool right there at the 5 foot line I think I was trying to impress my friends and I knew I shouldn't have been that close to the edge but before I knew it I had drifted over and to the part of the pool that was ten feet and it's crazy because I'm able to spell paddle just enough to keep my head above water but eventually I get to a point where I'm beginning to go under the water now I need you to understand that as I'm going under the water I don't stop and ask myself why I about to drown right now why are my lungs filling up with water why is there an intrusion of water in my nostrils when I'm about to drown I don't stop and ask why am i drowning I just get enough strenght to turn around and look up to where the lifeguard is because the issue is not why I just wanted to know where my help was and I guess what I'm saying is that when you're going through don't just sit around and ask why but you got to learn to look up to the hills from whence cometh your help and realize that your help and my help and our help it all comes from the Lord are you hearing me Saints second thing I need you to understand and I'm moving them I'm almost done is that when you build on the rock I need you understand that building on the rock doesn't make you storm free building on the rock makes you storm proof and see the issue with the contemporary church is too often here we're wanting God to make us storm free scene the reason we're praying for God to make us storm free is because we don't have the infrastructure of soul to be able to handle life when it becomes uncomfortable and when it becomes hard and I need you to understand that I'm never in a place where I covet trials or wish for trials to come but understand that when your soul is anchored in the Lord you don't run from them or hide from them because you know that when your soul is weighted in Jesus that you have the capacity to handle whatever the enemy puts in your path are y'all hearing me Saints and see the problem is we're praying to be storm free where God is wanting to bro your character to make you storm proof are y'all hearing me the night science man is crazy my parents they still live in Florida so that whenever there are hurricanes that come through I'll just kind of keep my eye on what's going on and and I remember about two years ago there was a hurricane heading toward the southern tip of Florida and so they sent out notices for everybody to evacuate especially from Key West and it's crazy because they sent the news to man just kind of look at the time and they noticed that there were certain people that did not evacuate and so there was this older lady that refused to leave her home and so they begin to ask her they said the warnings are out the storm is gonna be devastating why is it that you're refusing to leave and the lady begin to take the a news anchor on a tour of her home she began to point down to the bottom of her house and she began to articulate how this house was built on what they call a double foundation she began to point to the windows how the windows were not made of normal plate glass but it was a specialty glass that could withstand winds of up to 200 miles an hour she talked about how we didn't put decorative shingles on the house but we put a metal roof on the house that we could withstand a hard rain and difficult weather and she looked right in the camera and said the reason I'm not going to evacuate she says when I built this house I didn't build this house for display I built this house with storms in mind and see the question for us tonight is are you building your life for display or are you building your spiritual life with storms in mind are you building your life for display what you wear what you drive where you live or are you building it with storms in mind were you building with Corona in mind are you building with Donald Trump in mind are you building with last day events in mind are you building just to look good for those who are looking at you and say I need to understand that god his goal is not to make you storm free it's to make you storm proof but suddenly to understand that what this storm in Matthew 7 what it simply symbolizes is it symbolizes the convergence of circumstances of life it is literally situation where one element feeds and strengthens the others what I mean when I say this is that notice what it says the rain falls which causes the flood to rise which gives strength to the wind when it blows against the house in other words one problem pounds and compounds and multiplies the next in other words one of the things that the gospel is making clear is that they're gonna be series in life our seasons in life where you don't just deal with one issue at a time wouldn't life just be pleasant if you could just have one issue in one trial at a time but how many of us know the devil doesn't work that way but he's not just gonna send one thing you gonna handle he's gonna allow circumstances to converge where you're gonna be hit with one issue on top of another issue on top of another issue at the same time I'm talking about those seasons in life where when you get fired from your job it's the same month that the car breaks down is the same month that the roof starts leaking I'm talking about that season in life where your momma gets sick and because momma gets sick you have to quit your job to take care of her and the illness of mom and the financial drain is causing challenges in your marriage I'm talking about when concer consensus converged I'm talking about when the parent gets sick and then you and your family are there's nobody there to take care of mama but you but when mama dies all your siblings who weren't around when she needed to be cared for are gonna show up to fight you for the $200 she left over for you after she died I'm talking about the convergence of circumstance when one child is flunking out of school while the other child is about to go to jail while the other one gets pregnant at the same time I'm talking about where life hits you in waves and what Jesus is saying is that the rain is gonna fall the flood is gonna rise the wind is gonna blow and you would think that if there are multiple issues that Jesus will provide multiple solutions but even though there is multiple issues there is only one solution which is a strong foundation and I need us understand below that if you have a strong foundation in Jesus Christ that you can handle whatever life ends your way I need to understand it doesn't matter how heavy life gets doesn't matter how much weight you're carrying if your life is founded on the rock that Jesus and you're not building your life for this but how many of us understand Saints that young people in this thing I want to say is that so much of the stuff that we invest in don't have no eternal value like I mean we put a lot of stress in and and value and investment in what we drive in and what we wear and where we live and and don't get me wrong none of those things are wrong but we putting too much investments in things that have no eternal consequence see one of the things as a pastor I'm I'm in end-of-life scenarios with people all the time and one of the things that you see when a person is about to die and they know that death is coming and they see the off ramp one of the things I've never had somebody to end their life saying is let me go back and view my wardrobe one more time they've never asked let me go back one more time and just drive my car or on my boat let me just come one last time and sit in my fancy living room with the marble on the floor in other words one of the things that end of life scenarios does is it brings you to a barebone reality about what really matters in life and at the end of the day that if you don't have Jesus then you don't have nothing else in this world are y'all hearing me at night Saints and so I need to understand that the key to life is you gotta have a strong foundation you have to have an infrastructure of soul and you've got to build your life on the rock that is Jesus so that you can handle life when it gets heavy and when it gets hard it's crazy I've been married now November be 17 years and one of the ways I stay happily married is that sometimes against my will I have to sit down and watch HGTV with my wife any any witnesses in his room and one of the things that I have to do bro is sometimes we watch some of the different renovation shows and and I've actually kind of become quite fascinated with it but one of the things that always amazes me whenever they go into a space and they decide they're gonna revive it or renovate it before they begin tearing down walls one of the first things that they're gonna always do is they're gonna always identify which wall is what they call the low pairing wall and the way you know the load-bearing wall is that it will have metal or wooden beams that go all the way from the roof all the way down to the foundation of the house and the reason that they don't remove the load-bearing wall is because it's what's causing everything to stand up but one of the things I learned about the load-bearing wall is that from an engineering standpoint the load-bearing wall it shouldn't really be called load-bearing it actually ought to be called load shifting in other words what the load-bearing wall does is that it does not bear the weight but because the beams go from the roof to the foundation from a structural point what it does is it shifts the weight of the wall from the weight of the house from the walls to the foundation which is able to handle all the weight in other words the load-bearing wall doesn't bear the world load it simply shifts the load to the foundation that can handle the load and the reason I'm saying that tonight is that some of us have been functioning like load-bearing Christians you think your job is to bear the load your job is not to bear the load it is simply to ship the load so Jesus Christ who can handle the weight of your life so you think your job is to be strong for everybody no it ain't your job is to ship the load to Jesus you think you gotta be there for everybody no you don't you've got to learn how to ship the load for Jesus you let everybody put their burdens on you know when they give it to you you just give it to the foundation because the stone that the builders rejected has become the chief Cornerstone and he can bear what we cannot bear third thing is I take my seat is that you don't want one I need you to understand that your adversity no your prosperity is revealed in your trials number two God doesn't want to make you storm free he wants to make you storm improve but the third thing I just want to say as I take my seat is that we've got to learn how to redefine the victory what do you mean best did you notice that the victory for the wise builder was not that he was rain-free the victory for the wise builder was not that he was cloud free the victory for the wise builder was not that he was storm free the victory for the wise builder was that after the clouds had rolled away and after the Sun had began to shine again and after the weather had cleared up the victory for the wives build to the ravine that allowed him to shout the thing that calls forth rejoicing was an app of the storm and the flood and the wind ceased that when he looked upon his house the victory for him was simply that it was still standing after everything had run its course the victory for the wise Builder is not that he avoided the storm the victory for the wise builder was that after the storm had ended he was able to say that my house is still standing by the grace of the Almighty God and see the thing I want to just say to somebody in this room is that sometimes we think that we don't have the victory because there are still storms in our lives no you've got to learn how to redefine the victory see the victory for some of us in this room tonight is that even when life has compounded upon us and the enemy has hit us in ways and circumstances that were uncomfortable were permitted once the weather had cleared up some of us ought to be able to stand and rejoice and be able to say that after all I've been through I'm still standing by the grace of the Almighty God there are some of us that can say I've gone through some divorce but I'm still standing by the grace of God some have lost a spouse or a parent but you're still standing by the grace of God some of us have lost some jobs but we're still standing by the grace of God some of us have lost a home or a car but we're still standing by the grace of God some of us have miscarry or couldn't get pregnant but we're still standing by the grace of God some of us didn't have money for school this semester but still standing by the grace of God being a single parent is hard work but you're still standing by the grace of God some have cancer in the body but you're still standing by the grace of God some families have almost got divorced but you're still standing by the grace of God Donald Trump is in the White House but we're still standing by the grace of God Korona is touched this part of the city but we're still standing by the grace of God and maybe there's somebody who is saying pastor I'm not standing but I heard the word and I'm getting back up again by the grace of God because I'm gonna build on the rock which is Christ Jesus on Christ the solid rock I stand I said all of the ground I said all of our ground the ground is sinking sand I'm gonna build on the rock that is Jesus Christ how many of us believe God's Word tonight amen and amen and so tonight I just want to encourage somebody that as you have heard the Word of God tonight say I need you to understand that that your response to the word is not to just go home and say I was blessed or I was not blessed your response to the word of God is not just to be a hearer observer and Assessor your response to God's Word isn't go home and become a to word because the power is not in that I come to church I need you know like I said I mean of the sermon only thirty percent is the preaching of the word you don't tap into that other 70 cent until you go out seventy percent until you go home and start putting that word into practice and my prayer for some young adult or just some seasoned say tonight is that there are a lot of us man that are dealing with some stuff you're dealing with some stuff and you're in a world and you're your professional world and with your children with your marriage with your your health and see too often we communicate the issue as the problem but that's not really the problem so the problem is just that we don't have the infrastructure the issue is that we have not been building on the rock we've been building on sand we've been building for aesthetics but I need you to understand that no matter what brand name you're wearing when the diagnosis is cancer what you're wearing on your back don't mean anything I need to understand it no matter how many square feet you got in your house when your child is in trouble that house can't bring you no peace or no solace doesn't matter what you try when when life just comes at you in ways what you drive can't bring you no solace no contentment or joy you got to make sure that you are not building for aesthetics but that you're building your life on the solid rock that is Jesus Christ and you know how you begin building as I said earlier I need you to know that it begins with connection your greatest work as a believer is not to do good to be better to work harder no you just got to make sure that nothing in life shakes you from the true branch which is Jesus Christ and if I'm connected to the branch I need you to know that my my fruit development is incidental it's automatic if I buyed in him he abide in me Saints don't know about you man I'm as I'm looking out into this world and I know this young little conference but I'm I'm gonna place man I'm ready for Jesus to come anybody ready but he realized that before he comes Danu twelve says and it's gonna be a time of trouble we still believe that time of trouble unlike anything this world has ever seen but I need you understand that if you're not anchored if you're not building on the rock you're gonna get shaken out you don't get swept away when when the floods come man and the rain falls and the wind blows I need to understand like see even everything you're dealing with right now is necessary because what you're dealing with is trying to God is trying to show you where you're building because truth is that if you can't handle this which is very light affliction if you can't run with the souls you foot soldiers what you're gonna do what the horses come y'all hear me tonight sense ready for Jesus come but it's time for us to wake up time for us got our lamps trimmed and burning realized at the end of all things is at hand it's crazy man I had this thing God has blessed us with three wonderful kids got a ten-year-old I mean a nine-year-old at six year old and a four year old five year old and it's crazy there'll be times where we'll get in the car and we'll take long road trips together and you know how it is when you have small kids they're gonna ask you a thousand times are we there yet and on long road trip man they on saying VeggieTales to the point where I just want to throw myself out of a car sometimes they don't answer snacks they're gone you know it's crazy how we 65 runs from Huntsville to Florida I think my kids are on a mission to see the inside of every public bathroom on the highway is crazy right one of the things that what happened is you know and they they're fired up and they're talking and yelling and throwing stuff and fighting with each other so I don't even know I do it but I'll recommend to them Chapman I'd be like well you know you guys seem very anxious won't y'all take a nap and it's like the more I try to tell them to go to sleep it's like the more turned up they get right and it's crazy because they will see they will fight to sleep as if they are fighting the sleep of death the entire trip I mean they will fight sleep like they not gonna ever wake up again but without fail they will fight they were yelled they will make noise and then when we get into the outskirts of the city then when we get maybe about five miles away from the house when things get familiar without fail all of a sudden it's gonna get quiet and then I'm gonna look in the rearview mirror and it's crazy because like they will stay awake they'll fight sleep the whole time and then goes go to sleep right before we get home and so what I'll do because like that's that's the stress because not only do I have to carry the luggage up the stairs in the house now I gotta carry three kids upstairs to the house so what I'll do is and again don't don't judge me on this you raise your kids I'll raise mine when I notice that they're asleep sometimes if I'm coming to a red light or a stop sign I will hit the brakes kind of hard let's see if I can kind of shake them awake but they fought it so long that even a shaking won't weigh or sometimes if it's if it's cold outside don't judge me I'll let down the windows see if I can get some of that strong wind to blow on them but it's crazy they fall asleep so long that even the the winds won't wake them up or sometimes man in desperation man I will just turn the radio up as loud as I can and see if I can startle them and wake them up and it's crazy because like they will have thoughts sleep all that time shaking won't wake them up wind won't wake them up nothing will wake them up and it's crazy because they fall asleep right before it's time to get home and what my kids do it is simply symbolic of the disposition of the church in our time because many of us who have been in a way for a while man we have believed against belief hoped against hope held onto our faith into a trial adversity ups and downs hardships ins and outs we have seen the landscape of the culture shift radically in ways that we could not expect but it's crazy like even right now like there's no judgement but like you would think that in a time like this the house of God should be fall tonight like if we should be anywhere like we should be right here tonight and it's crazy the closer we get to being home the more spiritually we fall asleep and it's crazy because right now the winds of strife are blowing but it won't wake us up stock markets go up and crash up and down but even like when it shakes us it won't wake us up because some of us are almost any spiritual coma and we're falling asleep right when it's time for us to get home but it's okay because in the story that the convergence all of them fell asleep but you got to make sure that there's enough oil in your lamp that when the bridegroom calls you can get your lamp trimmed and burning and be ready when Jesus Christ comes I want to be ready how about you tonight that shoot is that you're designed by substitute it is we get really close on the service and I know we're young and adults young adults but I needed to preach a grown man grown woman sermon to you tonight because like we're in a stage where life it ain't gonna spare you like like as a young adult that see your parents been covering you from some stuff for a long time but now it's about to be yours and see I need you to understand that there's this belief that that we kind of have a Disney kind of expectation about Christ that if I just do good I have happy endings that's not true but what I gotta have is I gotta have a soul that is anchored in Jesus and have a life that is built and founded on the rock right now here we hit his bowed eyes closed right now I'm gonna just make a brief appeal to appeals you're simply saying first and foremost I don't want to just be a Christian through observation I hear I see I read I want to be a Christian through activity I wanna have fruit I want to be a doer of his word I'm gonna just cry Lord Lord I want to do his wail if that's your desire tonight you just raise your hands some of the same Lord I want to be a doer not a hearer I want to build on the rock I want to be anchored I want to be able to stand they'll be able to stand my second appeal is just very brief there's somebody tonight that spiritually you've been adrift you not just been nodding your you're in that coma you and the fifth phase of sleep spiritually you have not been awake I see the issue is that you know you don't even have enough oil to to be able to respond to the cry of the bridegroom and so if you're here tonight is Wednesday and and it's just normal Wednesday night but maybe there's somebody tonight that has been quickened through the word spiritually you've been revived and God is saying I'm calling you not just in the church maybe you're used to church but I'm calling you into deeper relationship I'm calling you into abiding you abide in me and I abide in you that's why you don't have fruit he's saying you you're planting soil that's not compatible and that's why it doesn't take root that's why you take one step forward and three steps back that's why he's so up and down that's why your spiritual life is bipolar because you got too much cross pollination going on in your soul and tonight young brother young sister older brother older sister you want to receive Jesus as your Lord you want to maybe go all the way you want to be baptized maybe you want to be rededicated if that's you tonight you just want to raise your hand wherever you are to simply say I need to go all the way I need to be fully committed I need to fully invest I need to receive Jesus I want to I want to be ready I don't want to be asleep when I should be awake if that's you tonight just raise your hand wherever you are it's gonna get that appeal I'm gonna make that opportunity to somebody tonight god bless you my brother there's somebody else tonight you receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior through baptism rededication if you're here tonight did you receive the Lord tonight [Music] right now I'm praying Heavenly Father tonight my prayer is very simple that when we leave this place that we would not just leave and say man we had a good time at church or he said this or they said that but I prayed that you would help us to take your word and to put it into practice Lord we got the 30 percent but there's another 70 percent of anointing that is available to us when we decide to take your word and to apply it to live it and so Lord we our desire is to be able to tap into it and so Lord my prayer for somebody tonight is that life is gonna be hard it's gonna hit us whether we righteous or unrighteous like is it's gonna hit us but my prayer is that we would build our lives not for aesthetics but that we will build our lives this evening on the solid rock that is Jesus Christ so Lord I'm praying that you would help us to remove our attention and focus from the vanities of the life of this line and they put our focus on that which really matters the most so long would you bless us would you keep us would you give us safe travel home Lord would you place a hedge of protection around your people and father the world right now is looking through a human vaccine for this virus we're just praying in the name of Jesus that you O God would just sweep this thing from our country sweep it from the heal the land you said if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways then you were here from heaven you will forgive our sins and heal our lands Lord we seek you tonight and we pray that you'll bring healing to the land o God we stand on the promise of your word would you bless and keep us anoint us anchor us we pray in the wonderful name of him who is altogether lovely let God's people say together amen let God's people give Jesus a hand clap of praise in this [Music] amen we praise God for using pastor DeBeers snail in a mighty and powerful way we want to invite you back for Friday night we will start at 7 o'clock on Friday night so be here for our power-packed experience as we spring it to purpose we want to thank you all for coming tonight thank you all for joining us online on Facebook or on YouTube and we pray that God's blessing will be upon you as we spring it to purpose together we'll see you Friday night at 7 p.m. you

Channel: The SDA Church of the Oranges

Views: 2,181

Rating: 4.8222222 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: igtnOZsDH1M

Length: 81min 30sec (4890 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 11 2020