Some Shouted While Others Wept

when your Bibles with me into the book of Ezra Ezra at chapter number three and I want to read verses 10 through verse number 13 Ezra chapter 3 commencing at verse 10 when the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord the priests in their apparel stood with trumpets and from the Levites the sons of Asaph stood with cymbals to praise the Lord following the example of David king of Israel they sang responsively praising and giving thanks unto the Lord for he is good for his mercy endures forever toward his room and all the people responded with a great shout when they praised the Lord because the foundation of the house of the Lord was made now many of the older Levitical priests and chiefs of the father's household who had seen the first temple wept with a loud voice as the foundation of this temple was laid before their eyes though many others shouted exuberantly for joy as a result the people could not distinguish the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people since the people had raised such a loud noise that could be heard from afar off frankly you may be seated the grass withers and the flower fades but the word of our God shall stand forever some shouted while others wept yet that's what the text is some shouted while others web and that was such a cool mingling of shouting and weeping that the noise was indistinguishable they could not tell who was shouting and who was weeping because the noise could be heard afar off walk with me around the text the book of Ezra which is the companion to the book of Nehemiah is written when the children of Israel have been some 70 long years in captivity Nebuchadnezzar had brought them into Babylonian captivity and it was prophesied that they would stay there seventy years and for 70 years they are away from their ancestral homeland they are devoid of their mother country belong now for the conference of Jerusalem they look longingly - towards solomon's temple but the temple has been raised it has been destroyed it has been utterly decimated in the captivity and now this class of people is in Babylon seventy years and then King Cyrus of Persia God sends Cyrus of Persia to subdue the Babylonians and Cyrus gives Israel leave to go back to their homeland and when they get back to Jerusalem led by the priests Zerubbabel they get to their homeland and the temple is in ruin so they decide to the glory of God to rebuild Jerusalem's temple and for three years they work at laying the foundation the foundation is laid the foundation for the temple is laid and there is a shout for joy and at the same time there's weeping and lamenting I want you to get that the foundation is laid they are coming back Jerusalem is on its way back to its former glory days they are about to raise Rai se the new temple they are about to bring up the temple to the glory of God they've laid the foundation while some of them shall others well I wish I had a witness it's a beautiful sight the temple is going to come up again the foundation is laid they are going to get back in the temple to worship God like they once did and that brings from some of them an exuberant shout but from others of them comes weeping and lamenting I want you to see this brothers and sisters because it's it's applicable for us here that lily Grove this morning but there are some people in that crowd who are wishing for the past they are haunted by ghosts from the past they remember the temple in its glory days they remember the Ark of the Covenant they remember the temple built in its innate beauty gold and Cedars of Lebanon wood that is expensive silver copper Smith's brass copper gold the temple is shining in its glory days the Ark of the testimony the Covenant is there the the beautiful Draper is the the ornate pillars are there Solomon's Temple gleams in the Morning Sun and there are those in the crowd who remember the temple from his glory there that's what they remember they remember the glory they remember the gold they remember the Shekinah glory that rested on the mercy seat they long for the days when the temple was the center of their community and now they realize this new foundation is smaller than the first it will no longer be the temple it was was some shout because at least they're raising the temple and others cry because it's not what it used to be both of them remember and realize that old crowd is nostalgic for yesterday and there are some people like that at this church for them nothing will ever be right we will never be able to do anything right and the reason it will never be right for them is because it's not what it used to be but they will never enjoy singing because it's not the singing they used to hear they will never enjoy the preaching because it's not like what they are used to they will never enjoy sitting by new people because all the people they know are dead and gone the church they used to know is dead and go ahead and listen it's a good thing to reflect on the past I am the Christian I am today because of the old church I thank God for all deacons on their knees prayer I thank God for my pastor who didn't have any education but he knew Jesus Christ and he preached the gospel and I gave him my hand and God my heart I often look back in the past and thank God that I would not be Who I am right now were not for yesterday the book of Proverbs says that we ought not to forsake the old landmark I need two or three Bible readers in every once in a while we ought to look over our shoulder look in the rearview mirror of our own lives and see where God has brought us from but if you keep looking backwards you can't ever go far and there are some folk at this church who are always looking backwards nostalgically at yesterday you have to be over 45 or 50 to help me preach right here some of us still remember that stereo with a with a needle on that on a record player yeah yeah it was a 33 and a 45 I wish I had somebody to help me and and then sometime the needle was skill and you have to put a quarter on it on a call and do what while the record hypeeee was going on while the dance was going on you didn't want the needle to skip so you put a coin on that help me if you can some of us still remember what an ice tray looks like yeah and some of you older than us remember what an ice box look like that was a time and that was just three stations on the television ABC NBC and CBS and when your knob was broke you get a pair of pliers and turn the knob and then you would put some farah people on the on the antenna now some of y'all trying to act like you've been in Houston all your life but some of us remember God has brought us from a mighty long way have a got a witness here those who appeals that those churches were cracked and there was no carpet on the floor sometime the piano player was there sometimes she wasn't sometimes the microphone was working some time it wasn't do we have no stained glass they would paint the window so people couldn't peep on the inside but they would come in and get on their knees and say father I stretch my hands to thee I still remember hearing them praying Lord Here I am once more and again knee bent and body by with my head bowed to mothers dust and my heart lifted up to the throne of grace I thank you that last night my bed was not my cooling board and my cup I wish I had a witness hear my covers were not my winding-sheet I thank you for a reasonable portion of my health and strength you touched me with a finger of love and my spring wide open and I beheld a brand new day a day that I've never seen before and a day that I'll never see again we could pray right along with them but they make it in their hearts because they needed God to keep them nothing is wrong with tradition until tradition because religion there are some people at this church who only ever enjoy worship because it's not what they're used to they hate the church moving forward because that's not the way we used to do it young people coming in here with all these new ideas making all of this noise sit down it don't take all of that and a whole lot of folk here believe you got to be 60 to be spiritual you got to be on a cane to love the Lord so they hate everything new everything young everything fresh they despise it because they are nostalgic for yesterday and so when the foundation was laid they wept because it wasn't on drew Street it wasn't old Lily grow talk back to me as you can yeah they remember that Oh piano some cheese didn't play but they want his sister sore and so on the piano not his new music is getting on their nerves they clapped too much they jump and shout too much they moved too much they danced too much he preached too loud he preached too long you're getting on my nerves he sweat too much he too tall he too black he too loud Oh Lord I'll be glad when church is over I'm tired then through with that song yeah that's getting on they sing that last month when they gonna do something else the last listen look on Oak Island my seat get out of my way I want to sit down right there that's where I sit every son she know I sit right there but suddenly I'm tired of that I'm going home I got it enough of this these people getting on my nerve they make me sick I wish Reverend Power was here I wish Reverend wildest was still the best when is he gonna sit down who low they are nostalgic longing for yesterday and the good news and the bad news is is gone your children and mine know nothing about a record player and don't care they've never seen an eight-track player they don't care none by The O'Jays die a the brothers Gladys Knight & the Pips the temptations that was yesterday now is Nicki Minaj JLo Bow Wow Snoop Dogg talk back to me if you can that that old crowd went because of the new foundation but this new crowd did not look to the past they're their eyes on the future some new method some new worship salut blessing they kept their focus forward looking to the future with no notion of the past and there's some people who in this church and who leave this church because they want something new something fresh something jump in bales and whistles they want a younger pastor they wanted more moderate gospel he's too hard he's too traditional he's too strict he's too dog man he's too tall he's too black he ain't married he getting on my nerves we don't feel the love we used to feel we need to go somewhere else and so they leave tradition looking for some new method that hasn't been tried and brothers and sisters hear me I'm with I'm with the new stuff but I need some stuff that's been tried cuz when life turns on you you don't need a face that's been tested have I got a witness when you lose your job you're gonna need some preacher and that's gonna help you to make it without a paycheck I need somebody here who's going through some storms who's gone through some trials and you have to fall back on what you know really works faith is the substance of things hoped for and even though you don't have it yet it's the evidence of things not see these folks were always looking for something new we'll never be satisfied either you always want some new kind of preaching they want some preaching nets that's not doctrine on some preaching that appeals to this new crowd but my problem with this new crowd is that they're so fickle they are so fake because the next new thing that comes along they gonna leave the last new thing they just went to I wish I had some noise right here and so they shout and rejoice over what's new over against what's traditional but both crowds Misco the crowd who wept over the pass and the crowd who shouted over the future both of them miss go cuz God is not a God of the page God is not a God of the future God is a God right now the Lord is blessing me right now I wish I had a witness here thank God for what he has done and I'm hopeful for what he's going to do but I'm thankful for what he's doing right now you know the next new thing I'm looking for is the next new thing God is going to do and if God doesn't do anything new and fresh ever again I'm thinking for what he's already done I shout for what he's already done I'm not weeping over the past I'm not shouting over the future they praise God for right now and that does not only apply to the building and the erecting of the temple but that applies to our spiritual life because you make a mistake when you've been born again and you keep weeping over your past your past has been forgiven somebody should have shouted right there your sins have been washed away God has erased your past stop weeping over yesterday the mistakes of yesterday are in yesterday I oughta have some witnesses here who can help me testify that there are some decisions I wish I had made I wish I had some noisy there are some wrong roads I wish I hadn't traveled there's some things in my past I wish I could go back and undo I would not have made the mistakes I made if I had hindsight which is always 20/20 but thank God my past doesn't haunt me and follow me anymore cuz something else is following me right now surely goodness and mercy I don't have to drag my yesterday is Whitman alone cuz goodness and mercy is following me now if you haven't done anything in the past you can't shout right here if you don't have any pass to be ashamed about just sit on down go back to sleep but the rest of us are gonna praise God because God took my sins and nailed them to the cross have a got a witness here the Prophet says he threw them behind his back he drowned them in the sea of forgetfulness and they will never rise again and somebody who used to know you when you were smoking weed somebody who used to know you when you were in the street every once in a while they may remind you of what you used to be but the shout is that's what I used to be that's who I used to be if any man be in Christ you're gonna help me preach this luncheon he's a new creation old things are passing away behold all things are becoming new and then I don't shout too much over the future cuz it hadn't arrived I don't want to get ahead of myself and and and call myself pushing God to bring my future be careful what you pray for because you don't know what tomorrow is going to bring that's why we pray to ask God to give us daily bread and to meet our needs daily because we don't know what the future is going to bring I may not want what's coming up ahead I may not even be ready for what's up ahead so I don't look forward to what's up ahead because that's that's moving too fast you see you have to you have to be raised in the rural I'm gonna talk a minute to you city people here you have to be raised in the rural raised in the country to learn how to live life slowly when you were brought up hard and brought up poor you learn how to be patient you learn how to wait on some things and you learn how to make do with what you have you learn how to just be satisfied with such things as you have somehow thought to help me preach it my grandmother owned the dry cleaners and it was right next door to our house my brother John is here this morning and we and Johnny was sitting on the front step and watch the shop my grandmother was busy doing something else or she left and she leave us there sitting on the step watching it so if somebody came we could go and get an adult to come and take their clothes in so our job was to watch the shop and we sit on the step and cars would pass by and we would play a game whatever cars passing next that's mine and if a jalopy would pass I'll tell Johnny that's you if a nice Cadillac would pass I said that's mine longing wishing for a brighter day and then when we got through watching the shop we just made do with what we had we get an old broom stick or ma and ride it like a horse come on help me preach a minute and and we would take some Campbell's soup cans and put some string on it and that would be our telephone but that was an old tire that wasn't being used and I put Johnny in it and rolled him around and then I get in it and he'd rolled me around that's how we spent our days just playing outside because life was lived slowly because they made us to realize if you just trust God that's a brighter day ahead but these young children now got so much they are exposed to so much that they have no reference no frame of reference to where we've come from that's why there's no respect for authority there's no respect for tradition there's no respect for the past because they got everything right now brothers and sisters bear with me a moment it's not their fault is awful our parents and grandparents didn't go through all they went through for these children to be breaking in our houses killing each other in the streets that's not a police problem that's a community problem come on help me preach if you can I agree Michael Brown should not have been killed in the street by that policeman by Officer Wilson he should not have been left on the road for four-and-a-half hours but Michael Brown is not a role model for young black boys because he did go in that store and steal from those people and we need to tell the truth in our own community that all of our problems are not police problems many of our problems are self-inflicted pull your pants up finish high school stand in line and get a job stop having babies before you get married take care of your children once you make them that's our responsibility but these children have no connection to the past and that's why they all the people in here have a responsibility to tell these young people it hasn't always been this way somebody ought to help me here I tried to talk about it last Sunday that was a generation of the children of Israel that God in the promised land who knew nothing about Egypt and anytime you get your hands on blessings without struggle you have no appreciation you can help me close this won't you I'm not crying over the past I'm not looking into tomorrow for the future I'm thinking God for what he's doing right now for no other foundation can be laid then has already been leave and that's Jesus Christ come I got a witness here yesterday is gone yesterday is a canceled check tomorrow is a promissory note today is cash in my hand and if I trust God with my today he'll bring me into my tomorrow somebody ought to help me testify it God if I give God glory today God would bless me in my tomorrow if I raise my hand in the sanctuary today God would bless me in my tomorrow you're gonna help me close this won't you i watch these protestors on television and don't get me wrong I'm went to protest I think everything they're doing ought to be done I think the order raise their hands and say don't shoot I'm with that raise your hands on the street but raise your hands at the church stop stop acting like you don't need the church stop criticizing the church stop acting like you're gonna make it in this world without God young black man you need a Savior you're black woman you need a Savior you need a God who can walk with you in the valley of the shadow of death let the police handcuffed you call one of us over here at the church we'll come get you out of trouble but don't put your hand on the policeman that's against the law you have no business doing that don't break the law go with them downtown we'll come downtown and get you right all wrong we'll come and get you but don't let them kill you in the streets our parents haven't brought us this far for us to die on the road like animals raise your hand nothing wrong with that but then Sunday morning come to Lilly grow and raise your hand not in submission to police authority but in submission to God Almighty I am behind Oh Lord have a got a witness here God whatever you want to do with my life God wherever you want to take me however you want to bring me God I'm I'm in your hand cup of God a witness here I'm with the protester talking about I can't breathe because I can't really breathe without the Lord I'm not talking about protesting now I'm talking about I can't move without the law I can't live without the Lord in him we live we move and we have our being I need to see some hands raised in the church God brought me from a mighty long way I'm a raise in my head God made a way out of no way I'm away in my head God's been good to me i'ma lift up my head is there anybody here I said is there anybody here not crying about yesterday not shouting over tomorrow but you praise God for right now he keeping me right now he's feeding me right now he's making away from me right now he's opening doors for me right now the Lord is blessing me right now he walked me up she started me on my way is there anybody here want to give God some praise right now don't wait til 11 o'clock praise God right now don't praise him just because of what he has done praise him for what he's doing right now right now you got a house to live in right now he's putting food on your table right now you got money in the bank right now you got a job in the morning right now you got your health and your strength why don't you grab somebody why don't you shake somebody's hand tell them the Lord is blessing me right now come on preach it to the log here's blessing me right now come on preach it again why don't you hurt somebody tell her me you don't know come on tell them just like I said you don't know like I know what the Lord doing for me right now you are a peep in my window and see what God is doing right now you are to check out my closet and see what God is doing right now you ought to look in my pantry and see what God is going right now you ought to open up my bank account and see what God is doing right now you are a ride with me some time and see what God is doing right now right now right now right now right now are you happy right now are you satisfied right now is he good to you right now come on raise your hand come on give God supreme thank you right now you right now thank you right now and know he's alright if I had 10,000 tongue I would praise him with everyone but since I only have one I'm a prison right now right God was good yesterday and because of who he is if I live he's gonna be good tomorrow but I thank him for what he's doing right now there was a crowd that shouted over the future and the crowd that wept for the past and both of them miss God because God is not in yesterday God is not in tomorrow Paul Tillich says he's the eternal now he's with us eternally right now whatever God is he's all of that right now it's like he crossed the children of Israel over the Red Sea and brought him over the Jordan just like they laid the foundation but now here's the danger when you read the rest of estrous writing the foundation stayed on the ground 15 years because they took care of their houses and forgot the long we got a foundation out there that we dare not leave on the ground and take care of our stuff and forsake God because if you seek first the kingdom of God and it's righteousness all these other things will be added unto you oh yeah some folk weeping because they want the old church back and some folks shouting cuz they want to get in the new church but then they're doing nothing in the church we got life what you want with something new and you ain't praising God and what you already got going back to me and Johnny watching those cause I was I was praising God when I was walking I was praising God when I was driving that Buick Century but I had to park it where I didn't have to back out because my transmission was gone and then if I left park too long you just start taking off by itself and I had to dive in the window and try to stop it I was praising God then I was shouting when you could look in my front door and see all the way to the back door I was giving God praise then you think I ain't gonna holla right now all that God has done for me all the doors God has opened for me all the ways that God has made for me and you think I'm gonna let you intimidate me about how I praise God no I woke up this morning with my mind stayed on Jesus I came here to give God praise for what he's doing right now

Channel: lillygrovembc

Views: 83,199

Rating: 4.7589893 out of 5

Keywords: Reverend Terry Anderson Pastor Lilly Grove Missionary Baptist Church Houston Texas

Id: zZL-zAyjPrw

Length: 43min 26sec (2606 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 19 2016