The Purpose of Sifting | Bishop C.M. Wright

[Music] I got a couple of different directions to go and we will just see where the flow Texas that's all right with you I didn't really plan on continuing well I had just had a burden to share a few things the last session and that went places I really I felt but really didn't have in my mind it was in my spirit and on my mind and so right now I'm not I'm not predicting where we go but I do want to talk to you about this a little bit and and I really kind of feel the same flow even though when I start you're probably not going to recognize that it's the same subject but it kind of is there's a lot of things we talked about that are obvious to the intellect but the understanding of those things have never made it into our heart just let you dwell a little bit over the years so many times I've asked somebody well how about this do you know that oh yeah yeah I know that and you listen to them they can explain it to you but the problem is the knowledge the understanding of what we're talking about never got out of their heads what you know does it change you until it gets out of your head into your heart and that's called understanding and the two things that are so prize so highly and talked about so positively in the book of Proverbs is understanding and wisdom knowledge a lot of people have knowledge but they don't have understanding and they don't have wisdom and and and probably this is oversimplifying it but if you don't mind I'm just going to oversimplify it for a second not really going to get into some great depth on this because I this is not where I expect to stay but knowledge deals with ahead understanding deals with the heart wisdom it's when all of that finally gets into your spirit now again that that's oversimplified it's not quite that cut-and-dried but in basics the basic of all of this that that's a really simple way to understand that so we know a lot of stuff we know stuff we can even talk about stuff that we don't understand and the stuff we know doesn't doesn't affect our lives doesn't affect our conduct or attitudes or whatever but when it becomes understanding it begins to change us and when understanding gets into our spirits and becomes wisdom now we walk in a completely different realm than we've ever walked in before when it gets to wisdom we understand things and so if I make the statement to you what's called the golden rule do unto others that you'd have them do unto you every last one of us would say I know that yeah I know that but let's find out if we know that because if you know that then that defines how you treat other people so the question is do you do unto others like you would have them do unto you as you want them to do unto you or do you do unto others like they've done unto you just just a little bit of a change at first listening it sounds exactly the same even though it's exactly the opposite one is proactive the other is reactive in the reactive I do to others like they've treated me you're going to treat me like that that's how I'm treating you that's reactive which is never of God never it's never of God to treat others like they've treated you in the negative not obvious if somebody's treated treated you well because they're practicing doing unto others as you'd have them do unto you then that should be an encouragement for you to treat them in the same way but of course it's not really a response to how they've treated you what it really is is you treating them like you want to be treated I've caught heat over the years for how you know a lot of folks think I pastor like i minister in the pulpit i've had people say well I've heard people say I don't want to go talk to him how you minister to a crowd is completely different than how you minister to an individual it's completely different with a crowd you have to be direct and with a crowd you have to preach at the lowest common denominator and I'm not talking about intellect I'm talking about spirituality but 101 we minister to people right where they are and we can be much kinder and much long much more so long-suffering and I have people who have who are upset with me today one particular case that from long ago where the wife didn't like how the husband was treating her and when I tried to help her understand her part in it that I didn't agree at all with what he was doing but there the Bible says a soft answer turneth away wrath and I simply was trying to share that well I became a horrible person because I would not I I didn't take this person out of leadership I didn't take this man out of leadership because I didn't agree with what he was doing I don't agree with what she was doing either why why do I do that why did I do that why have I done that many many times because my first rule is if if you allow me to do this with you if you allow it and I'm not gonna I'll leave that up to your interpretation if you allow me to respond like this I want to treat you exactly like I would like to be treated if I was in your situation that's why if somebody comes to me with sin and they're all distraught and upset over their sin most of the time they're very shocked with the fact that I want to deal with it but keep it covered not it's not hypocrisy it's not embarrassment I just I want to treat them like I want God to treat me I don't want all of my faults and failures broadcast to the world I don't tell you what you know the scripture says some men's sins go before them the judgments and judgment and other men's sins follow after them I want all of my sins to get to judgment before me so they can all be covered by the blood because when I get there and he plays the recording of everything uncovered everything that has not been covered by the blood for all of all living resurrected beings and we have with time you understand there's plenty of time it's eternity and he plays the recording of all of my thoughts and actions and all of that stuff I've left uncovered it he he lets the whole world hear how I've lived and what I've thought and how I treated people the uncovered stuff I really want I would really want that tape to be blank except for the good stuff I want his recording to be blank except for the good stuff and so therefore blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven whose sin is covered the scripture says in the New Testament quoting another verse in the old said love covers a multitude of sins so over the years the policy has been my practice and policy has been if God hasn't exposed your sin and you and I are talking about it this is where it's gonna stay right here if he's exposed it then we'll deal with it as something exposed if he hasn't exposed it this is stated this staying right here with us I started to say this to first session about the couple that I was counseling sometime in the recent past somewhere on the North American continent and and I said to them you know when you're when you're when someone is ministering to you in these areas of difficulty God gives them special grace because I I know people think it's the case but it's not the case I don't stand in the pulpit or still on the platform and look at people and remember all the stuff I know about him that's the grace of God I don't look at that because why should I look at something why would I even want to look at something that Jesus has covered with his blood sin look and say well I know all the stuff you've done no no no no no I know this is really simple it's really really simple in the brain but it's not real simple for the heart to treat somebody like you want to be treated not as a response to how they're treating you and if you don't believe that your heavenly Father loves you enough to let you have many opportunities to test to see how far along you are in that then you just don't know very well you don't know me very well it's very difficult when you know something that's going on and you see it destroying lives and you'd love to get right in the big middle of it and fix it and God says nope leave it alone I'm testing hearts boy that is really hard especially when people find out what's going on they won't know why you didn't do something about it the Lord never stops testing your heart not because he doesn't trust you but because he helps you because no man knows his own heart no human being knows their own heart and if God doesn't let you go through things where you can look at your attitude your actions your thoughts your desires and compare that to the Word of God then you have no idea if we're really where you are in all this I don't know my own heart I don't know my own heart just what if I don't know my heart you don't know my heart either never ceases to blow my mind when people do things or react to things based on what they think somebody else's motive is motive is not of the head motive is of the heart and most of the time we don't know what our motive is it takes some uncovering uncovering it takes them and the Lord doesn't uncover it we uncover it we uncover it's uncovered to us by our reaction and what we do with things that come our way some that are major and some not so major but our reaction to things pulls the cover off our hearts so we can go huh look at that it was 1984 and in fact it was February of 84 and I was sitting in my office and the building that used to be it was about a half-hour for Sunday night service and I'm feeling uncomfortable and I I don't know what's going on about 20 minutes before church I had my wife get sister Peggy Holston she walked in the office she said what's wrong I barely got out of my mouth I'm I got some pains in my chest I don't know what my face looked like it no well my color looked like but she absolutely just grabbed the phone and call 9-1-1 and i'm protesting no no no no I'm not that bad off she didn't just ignore what I said call the ambulance so here I am it's 20 minutes to church there's nobody else expecting to plan to preach and I'm real out of here on a gurney into an ambulance and rushed to the hospital so during church I'm not in the pulpit I'm in a hospital bed hooked up to IVs and EKGs and they're checking all this stuff I didn't know what was going on with my heart after they allowed me to go home later that evening I went back two days later for a stress test on a treadmill and the the cardiologist said to me after reading the results he said Reverend he said you got the heart of an athlete let me tell you what you do have wrong I'm ready now okay he said you got stress and he said stress will kill you just give you a heart attack kill you're just as bad as heart disease will he said I don't know where all this stress is coming from but you got you need to do something about that stress I didn't know what was going on in my heart I needed I needed situations and expertise to diagnose what was going on with me you and I don't know what's going on in our heart naturally or spiritually we don't know a few years ago I got a helicopter ride they came to the house try to get the pain under control couldn't they gave me a nice listen tablet and put me in the ambulance and I still had pain and they they gave me a shot of nitroglycerine I didn't bring it under control took me the emergency room and they were checking stuff and you know I just had pain and they ran all these tests next thing I know I'm being wheeled to a helicopter and taken to Washington Hospital Center for a heart catheterization pushed me ahead all the schedule people put me in there and of course they cut me open down here and ran that line up through my body and into my heart and got a good look around and I remember you know you're kind of out of it and thank God but I was awake I can hear him talking and I heard that doctor say this is amazing for a man his age he has zero buildup in his arteries so after I came out of that and you know and back then you had to lay absolutely boards flat in that hospital bed for 24 hours because they didn't want that start bleeding and you bleed to death before they could do something better or whatever so twenty-four hours had to lay there after that heart catheterization I had a lot of fun my entertainment was I would watch the pulse and blood pressure monitor and see how far down I could get it to go I slowed us I was able to get able to get my pulse to go down my absolute total calmness was down to 46 that was my record I got below fifty several times but that was just it was as low as I could get it I got my blood pressure down to like 95 over 50 one-time dose as low as I could get that but that's my entertainment all I had to do is just think a little bit and it all back up to normal but I I just laid there and watched it and just just slowed my breathing way down I got really relaxed just see how far down I could take it and that really was my entertainment but when he came in the next day he says to me that the cardiology said Reverend you didn't have a heart attack but we know where the pain came from he said this one your arteries it's the small capillaries in this part of your chest they were spasming they were spasm II well had chest pain I had it I didn't know what was in my heart you don't know what is in your heart and this is going to be a strong statement and I'm trying to help I'm not trying to be a smart aleck or be a hurtful but only a fool believes they do so the Lord lets us go through things to bring stuff out I mean some of you you're not going through through this particular trial but others of us we we have for some of us for many years it's called marriage marriage all by itself is capable of bringing stuff out of your heart that you have you could hide from everybody else marriages able do that nobody can get closer to you and nobody then your mate and it's not it's harder to hide yourself or your mate than anybody else because you can't really do that because we tell our mate stuff that we don't even know we're telling them it's bad look I remember years ago I'd say to my wife what's wrong nothing's nothing well I was young and stupid so I made that a big deal I know something's wrong what's wrong nothing so that would become an argument which only made whatever was wrong worse finally we found a way to have peace and said look when I know something's wrong and you tell me nothing I feel like you're lying to me because I know something's wrong so rather than saying to me nothing which is not true I can accept the answer I don't like it but I can accept the answer if you'll just say I'd rather not talk about it that's true and it expresses your feelings and you have a right to your feelings and I may not like the fact you don't want to talk about it but at least you're acknowledging that what I'm saying is true I'd rather not talk about rarely rarely rarely rarely rarely do I like what I see when the Lord brings stuff out of me that I either didn't know was there or thought I had dealt with rarely I mean that's it's wonderful sometimes to see the progress you've made in some areas that's that's that's great but if you you know the Bible seat says guard your heart with all or keep your heart with all diligence that Hebrew where as guard protect keep your heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life so if if if no man knows his own heart and the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked who can know it I the Lord I searched hard I try the reins and David prayed this way in Psalms 139 search me O Lord and know my heart try me and know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me well I understand what David prayed in but you have to interpret what he was praying not what he was actually saying the Lord doesn't have to test him to know what's in his heart the Lord knows what's in our heart so what he was really praying was Lord get this now here's a man after God's heart he said test me Lord so that I can know about me what you know about me I may not like it but I can't deal with what I don't know about so David was saying search me O Lord help me to know my heart try me and help me to know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting so my question to you is what is your attitude about the situations and circumstances that the Lord puts you in where you begin to see your thoughts to see what's in your heart because out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh you know I don't know about you but I've been around people and I've had some times in my life where when I what what came out of my mouth was the most powerful message ever preached to me because he got me really praying I go where did that come from I didn't know I felt like that I didn't even know that was in me where did that come from and after you after that's kind of your mouth kind of projectile vomited it out you ever been in that situation I'm talking about with words not physically but it's just like that it's just you thought you were just a little sick and you begin to regurgitate words out of the abundance of your heart you didn't even know your heart had that kind of abundance and it's just a projectile vomiting of words and you go whoa I remember when Esther was a little baby and Joel was holding her he was still a teenager and we didn't know she was sick it's funny now I wasn't funny then what they was she projectile vomited on him and just covered him from head to toe I was just well I've had people do me that way but wouldn't with vomit vomit when you can clean off vomit leaves a little smell but you wash the clothes and you you take a shower and use enough good smell or whatever and you can kind of get get the smell of that out of your nose but when somebody projectile vomits words on you they don't stay on the surface and now I've got to deal with them in here I've got to deal with them in here because it's bad enough to have stuff in my heart that's me but for me to allow you or give you permission to take your stuff in your heart and you put that stuff in my heart now I've got a real problem it's hard enough from a human standpoint to believe for God to help you with the stuff that's in your heart but they have to try to let him help you with stuff that somebody else has vomited into your life that's a completely different story and excuse the language I'm not trying to be crude I'm just it's just not a very pleasant illustration but a very effectively I've been in some very awesome situations here this year some things I've been really privileged to be a part of I've I have personally officiated in the ordination of three bishops so far and I've got six more to do before the summer's out and it's just it's just a really an amazing thing to experience that just amazing I thought I had that volume turned off oh it is your iPad volume is not the same as your volume volume volume yes mute do you hear my notification okay I've been really privileged to be a part of that and it's very humbling and a great honor to be asked to do that and be able to experience that and feel the tremendous a tremendous witness of the Holy Ghost and all that it's just amazing thing and I have I have said to every one of these bishops so far in my message before the laying on of hands that when you become a bishop it changes everything changes everything and it just shocked me when this was coming out of my mouth and and after I thought of what came which came out I I I realized it was really true I really realized looking back on my life how true it was that the number one thing that changes after you're ordained a bishop is it now the number the most significant thing God focuses on in the life of a bishop is him dying just dying dying dying dying dying you've heard me say it more than likely it's one thing to be saved but most people all they do is focus on their own salvation other people want to be used people pray and fast and seek God to be my the use of God but the the greatest challenge that God has in the life of any human being is to save them after they've been greatly used because when you've been greatly used there's all kind of stuff happens and people are people they don't they mean well but you know most of the time it's difficult for people people are either gonna blame you or give you the credit and 99% of the time neither one of those is true honestly so and and I'm communicating with these bishops that because God is so amping up a greater impartation of authority in your life and he's going to do things through you that are just absolutely amazing to keep you saved he is gonna focus on leading you through paths to help you die and die and die and die if you want to be used of God you can't resist the situations that God's put you in to help you die scripture says Paul said I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not i but Christ liveth in me and the life that I now live in the flesh I live by the faith that son of God who loved me and gave himself for me here's the problem you can't crucify yourself Peter preached to the crowd on their Pentecost you have murdered you've killed you've murdered the just one crucifixion was murder so God didn't crucify the man Christ Jesus because God's not a murderer that's the devil he's the father of murder lies and murders and if crucifixion was murder then if I crucify myself that's suicide so I can either crucify myself nor is God going to crucify me so therefore what is he going to do what's he going to do he's going to let me walk through circumstances and situations that if I submit to them they will crucify me if I resist them I will die you hear what I said if I submit the crucifixion I will live if I resist crucifixion I will die no no brother writes the other way around if you submit the crucifix you're gonna die if you resist it you live oh no no no no because if you save your life you lose it if you lose your life you save it so if you submit the crucifixion you live if you resist crucifixion you die hello I know this is probably not the most popular topic I could have talked about but that's only because we have knowledge here we don't have it here yet I resisted there were times situations you know for everyone of us we've all been in situations at some point I walked with God when things were so bad that we we really did we either had to just walk away from God or we had to come to the end of ourselves enough to allow God to work it that thing out in our lives so were there days were there times that I died out to Christ over the years absolutely many times but I was never dead I died out to a situation I died out to a circumstance I died out out of desperation because I needed God's help or because I really wanted to go to the next level in him and and whatever but when when Jesus said it this way I have come that you might have life and that you might have it more abundantly those are not the same thing if those are not two degrees of the same thing those are two different things when you come to the Lord repent of your sins go through the death Brella resurrection of Jesus Christ which is the gospel he gives you life but some point of the process to live in that life you have to die again to have abundant life Paul said I travail in birth again for you till Christ be formed in you so in this first go-around of the first being born again I was taken out of sin I was brought as a spiritual infant into the body of Christ and now I'm living in the body of Christ but there comes a point as I'm growing in God as it comes to point as I'm maturing in God as God is teaching me things and doing things in my life there comes a point where I've got to go through another death Brella resurrection so to speak I've got to go through another death I know exactly when mine took place was on the third Friday night of August 2003 in a little Church in Attleboro Massachusetts I died many times God had used me the Lord had used me I you know I mean that's no secret that's not overstating and understating it the Lord had used me for years there'd been many great things God had done here in other places and used me as the earth and vessel for his treasure to operate but but there's something else needed to happen something else needed to happen in my life there needed to be some kind of crisis that took me to another level altogether and of course the evidence of that crisis over there what I'm not saying all of that happened just for me but the part the way it applied to me is this way when we couldn't get out of our house and by the way they came and picked my wife and I on Joel up and we couldn't get up the road we parked down in the parking lot of the the post-office and walked up old Frederick Road and when we got up high enough the trees on the snow along the road of course as you know it's down in a down embankments is an old road when we got up far enough we could see that building collapsed the first thing that happened was I went into shock and just began to do what needed to be done but after a couple of months when everything I could do was done and I couldn't stay busy enough I went into deep deep depression discouragement the Lord was merciful enough when it was time to lead preach that the spirit of non Lord and anointing would come and help me but during that period of time boy it was it was really difficult it was I had never been through anything like that in my entire life they was just the whole future everything looked bleak just all looked bleak to my humanity in the spirit I had faith but in my humanity my emotions it was all bleak and this went on May June July and there was a manifest meeting that I'd agreed to do in Attleboro Massachusetts for the New England and I I was a good excuse to get out of town excuse me but I just I had I don't believe I'd been out of town before then and so here we go and brother chat well and brother Franklin Howard were gonna participate with me in that meeting and I was so down I said to myself I'm gonna go to this meeting and I'll MC it but I am NOT preaching I don't want to preach I don't feel like preaching I don't know what to say I don't I don't want to do it and I get there and for better for worse they talk between each other and they new how about off I was and so they made up their mind they weren't preaching and that I was going to do all the preaching I huffed and puffed and couldn't blow the house down I fussed and they both said to me you can you can do it one of two ways either you can do the preaching and we'll stay here to support you encourage you or if you refuse to listen to us we're gonna go get on the airplane leave here by yourself your choice which is gonna be what choice there's no choice you don't call that a choice you know now if it's the choice between chocolate ice cream or chocolate cake now that's a choice but they didn't give me a choice there was no choice so I at this meeting I refused to speak at I spoke seven times and what was really irritating because the only way I know to minister is here and repeat to stand there while the Lord talks to you and you preach to yourself out of your own mouth because that's what you're hearing and now that's what you're saying that wasn't that's just I mean he's just beating my brains out because I just you know he is working me over so on Friday night after the last service after all the teacher was done all that ministry was done I I you know how it doing those had a little stand down here and I walked over in the corner of this little building got down on my knees and said okay Lord you've just been all week talking to me and right now it's you and I here we are what's going to happen here it was that night in that spot on that floor that if was the first time I could truly say I was crucified with Christ Paul knew he was crucified with Christ that night I knew I was crucified with Christ and rather it being this horrible thing I thought it was going to be it was the most awesome thing to ever happen to me and it made me mad when mad at God I was at mad at me and mad at the devil because he had been trying to make me believe all these years that being crucified with Christ was a very undesirable thing that it wasn't desirable it was not desirable because if I if I just gave up to God and gave him complete control wherever you're sending me I'm going whatever you tell me to say I'm I'm saying whatever you tell me to do I'm doing I'm not going where you don't send me I'm not saying what you don't tell me to say I'm not doing what you don't tell me to do I'm Yours I don't belong to me anymore I'm yours take the result of that was a manifestation of abundant life like I didn't even had no idea was possible from that night to this day I do not live with pressure in my life absolutely I got that revelation that night that pressure was proof I was still alive and I listened to that pressure proves I'm still alive pressure proves I'm still trying to handle my troubles and problems myself if I feel any pressure in here now talking about circumstances that are pressurized but if I don't allow any of that to be internalized in here then I'm dead dead to self crucified with Christ but if I feel any pressure in here I'm not dead so anytime since that day the last Friday of the Friday of the third we of August of 9 2003 since that day at any moment I began to feel pressure over situation I immediately began to pray and cast it on him because I'm not in control he is here this here this Lord here it is I'm in control you are I cast it on you what brought me to that point were circumstances that kept showing stuff in my heart life and and and losing that building was something I could not shake spiritually I went out when I had to I could function spiritually forever long I had to function spiritually but when the anointing would lift I would go right back into this deep hole that it didn't feel like there was any way out of and yet God used all of that to bring me to the place that I could truly be dead and therefore truly live and you have to be patient with the process you can run but you can't hide you can run but you can't hide I say that to you again you can run but you can't hide because trust me if you can run and he lets you run he's done with you my spirit will not always strive with man if God lets you run and everything works out for you and life gets good you've just been rejected by God because you can run from God but if he's determined to work with your life if you if he still has any hope of saving you you can't hide and he's really a persistent person he's very persistent he's far more persistent than we have any any ability to be ourselves why because He loves us that much he loves us that much but let me at least say to you this way it's not just about love I've been in situation several times in my life where the Lord trusted me to be an instrument to save a ministry for the purposes of his kingdom yes I love the people that were in trouble I love them I love them spiritually I loved them naturally friends brothers sisters whatever and I not only wanted to help him naturally but I wanted to help them spiritually I had a spiritual compassion for him and the Lord allowed me to be involved in their lives and I wanted to see their marriages or their personal salvation work out I wanted them to be saved but in several situations I've been involved in the number one goal I had wasn't just the salvation of a human being soul it was a ministry I wanted to see that ministry I believe God trusted me to be an instrument to see that ministry preserved for the kingdom because if things went the way they were going the kingdom was going to be deprived of that very critical ministry and you have to understand that he called you he prepared you he brought you to him he called you he prepared you he brought you to him no man comes to the Father except the spirit draws him you can't take the credit for being saved he draws you he created you he prepared you he gave you a certain personality he gave you certain talents and giftings you may use them for your own benefit and that's okay as long as that's secondary to the purpose of the kingdom it's okay to to use your talents for the benefit of your wife and your child or your husband and your children it's okay to use those talents and abilities to to make an income sufficient to be able to take care of your your needs of your responsibilities and that to be able to be able to give that's okay but God gave you all of that first and foremost for his eternal plan and purpose he gave all that to you first and foremost for his kingdom sake and so while he wants to save you that is by far not the only reason he works in your life and he leads every one of us through very deep valleys and difficult things at times not trying to break us not trying to destroy us not because he doesn't love us but because he does love us but I said to a person just yesterday I don't know why you think what you're going through is so unusual of the Son of God himself the book says though he were a son and might I also add a sinless son yet learned he obedience through the things which he suffered so I'm asking you if the sinless son of God had to learn obedience through suffering then why would you question God's love in what he's allowed you to go through the circumstances and situations that he's allows you to be in well he's not the one that made this one do that this one do that the way it's affected me no he may not be the one that did all that but he did he know in advance it was coming your way absolutely he did no he's not the one that did it but he's the one that allowed it well I don't like that I'm sorry you don't like that sorry you don't like that let me tell you something every deep valley I walked through every difficult time ever every desperate hour I live through I promise you that will be a day that he will use that work in my life if I allow it to bless and help somebody in the kingdom there is nothing I go through as a child of God that doesn't have Worth and value as long as I on to him nothing no matter how painful is it at the time no matter how convinced you are you can't make it through this no matter how much you're sure that your life is over there's nothing he allows you to walk through that he doesn't intend to take that experience of what it works in your life to use for the glory of his kingdom and for the for the the edification his kingdom of glory of his name sometime and if you don't understand that and you don't see that and you can't receive that then you have no way to explain what's going on in your life because trust me I said to a lady sitting in her chair today while she cut my hair I said what taste something right now God orchestrates things to give every one of us a chance and to give people a chance through us you orchestrates it even when you have no idea he's behind it even when you didn't hear her still small voice you're not feeling leading the direction of the Spirit you're not feeling peace God is involved because ultimately he wants to see his kingdom edified and his name glorified and that's not because he's an egomaniac that's because he's God and he deserves every bit of that so he what what a god that can take even my failures no matter how public they may be and do something awesome for the kingdom out of that two guys both failed God in the same situation but their eternity --hz were determined by their reaction to their failures in that situation one that has denied the Lord and betrayed him the other denied the Lord and repented and one hung himself and he went to hell Judas and the other repented and was the preacher on the day of Pentecost not even fifty days afterwards they both denied the Lord they both fell they both both did something that would be considered terrible Peter with all his boasting he walks away out of self-preservation because he is not willing to risk whatever he thinks may happen at that point it ends up weeping bitterly and when Jesus shows up on the shore and they've been fishing all night didn't catch anything and he said children have you any meat no we fall all night caught nothing and he says cast down your nets for a great draught and they did and the moment Peter saw those Nets full he left them with his fellow sailors dove in the water and swam to shore to get there to fall down on his knees in front of the Savior and say depart from me I'm a wicked man I'm a sinful man and the Lord didn't say you're right get out of here I'm done with you no no no no no no no because What did he say Oh somebody listened to me What did he say before all that started before he was taken and crucified What did he say Simon Simon Satan hath desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat but I have prayed for you that your faith fail not and when you are converted strengthen your brethren that's a lesson you could teach four weeks off that one verse right there but the point very briefly is in my last few minutes of this lesson the point very briefly is the Lord knew what was coming before it did it wasn't prophecy it wasn't spared I said I despite I'll never deny you Peter before the crows twice you the mountain deny me three times the Lord knew what was coming why because he allowed it but he didn't it's the Lord no respecter of persons if he prayed for Peter you know you don't think his prayers worked for us if we will allow them to I pray for you that your faith fail not wait Peter denied the Lord he abandoned him and his hour of need is it that his faith failing no that was his flesh failing his faith didn't fail how do we know his faith didn't fail because when he came to himself he went and repented Judas's faith failed Peters did not and he said when you're converted and that word convert there doesn't mean being saved from being lost in this context but when you come to yourself and you change your direction and and you get back in accordance in a line with me I want you to strengthen your brother wait a minute the guy who failed like that is now going to be the conduct for strengthening his brethren yes yes so you can wallow in your failures all you want that's your choice well let me tell you something wallowing your failures no matter how bad they are is never going to help you or anybody else but if you allow the Lord to open your eyes in your heart and see you in all those situations brings your heart to the surface there will be a point where when the trial is over where the test is done when the message has been delivered and you've gotten it he turns that all around and now it's going to be a blessing to you I go places in preaching I don't need notes why don't I need notes well they think it's because I'm so smart I've had people oh brother right I just don't have a brain like you really you mean you've never had an experience that's so vivid you couldn't forget it if you wanted to that's how that's why I don't eat notes because the Lord is speaking through me out of my experience to other people I don't forget this stuff I don't have to make notes on this and I have to make notes I'm experienced this these are the answers I'm giving you these the answers he gave me so I could make it I've been in situations where I'd go now and have two hours and it's just just spewing the stuff out there just just one thing after another you can see people's eyes roll back in their head and they're they're just overloaded and and and they don't know how they'll ever listen to all that and I'm thinking to myself you have no idea how expensive each one of those little statements was that you dismiss and cram mall together you have no idea you can't ever there's no way to communicate somebody how expensive it was to learn that statement and and how expensive was to go through that so that you got this out of what you went through there you can't explain that to people so you don't try you just understand that everything you're sharing you received so you can't boast in it because you received it and why did I receive it I received it because I needed it I needed it and once I've received it freely received freely give so that's all you do but in the process you find your place in the kingdom and God uses you for his purposes and there's just it's like pieces of a puzzle all falling into place and you go that's what all of that was about that's what all of that's been about it you let all this and this and this and this happen to bring me to this place and in that situation you cannot only give thanks in everything but you learn to give thanks for everything if you can't learn to give thanks in everything you will never learn how to give thanks for everything if you're bitter upset you know doing others you'd have them do unto you I guess God's not another right I want to treat God like I want him to treat me I want to give him some trust I want to give him some credit I want to give him some benefit of the doubt I'm hoping I receive the same coming back don't you Father we thank you tonight for your goodness mercy for your love your graciousness we thank you Jesus we thank you we thank you for all you've done for all you're doing we know you're in control we know your hand is on the fan and you're thoroughly purging your floor we know that everything is up in the air because you're in control we know that this is only a prelude of great things to come because of that we thank you for all of that father we thank you for it we thank you for it commit every person in this place to you and everybody that is hearing this message or will hear this message at some point the future I commit them into your hands I commit the word being son in their hearts into your care I trust you father to protect that until you're able to create the right circumstances to cause that the germinate grow and be fruitful through the edification your kingdom the glory of your name in Jesus name I bless these people by the authority that's been entrusted to me in the name of Jesus I bless this people I bless this church I bless these families I bless the ministries of this church to fruitfulness I speak Grace and peace from the father upon you grace mercy and peace from the father upon you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ god bless you thank you for your patience you

Channel: Apostolic Iron

Views: 2,343

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Apostolic, Apostolic Iron, Jesus, Prayer, Pray, Praying, C.M. Wright, Bishop Wright, Pentecost, Pentecostal, UPCI, Call To War, God, Lord, Preaching, Apostolic Preaching

Id: EJbMiTLfRb8

Length: 65min 5sec (3905 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 12 2018