Walter L. Pearson “Jesus First”

[Music] so [Music] you [Music] do [Music] so [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] so [Music] [Music] uh [Music] hello [Music] time [Music] oh [Music] ah [Music] cheers oh you're supposed to be down flat on your face but the power of god will lift you up and now let's go live to the miracle temple worship center where our service is in progress praise god tonight we're going to matthew chapter 6 everybody can find that and we're going to look at putting jesus first everybody says it everybody would say it if you ask them but how do you prove it what do you do to put jesus first there's a text that many people know i'll read it first to the king james and then i'll read it in the niv let's see if there are any differences this is matthew chapter 6 and verse 33 and here's what it says but seek ye first the kingdom of god and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you would you pray with me father in heaven how grateful we are we have been showered with your blessings today all around the country all around the world you have touched hearts the wonderful touching story of jesus and his love has made differences now tonight we come again lifting our empty cups asking that you would fill them to overflowing empty us of self and teach us to put jesus first in his sweet and holy name we pray amen all right let's look at it in the new international version it says this but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given you as well it's an amazing text and it is not something that we find easy to do everybody knows that in the world the name of the game is he who dies with the most toys wins oh you didn't know that huh well let me bring you up to speed the fact is that all through your life you are supposed to be gathering things you're supposed to watch what everybody else gets and you got to be real careful your neighbor shows up with a new car you got to go and see if you can find something better you know how the game goes somebody shows up with one of those little models that comes at a low price but it's new and what you do is go out and get one that came at a bigger price and it's new and if you can go and park close to there running and hey look uh did i borrow something from you the other day oh i must be confused it wasn't you okay well let me get in my car and leave and they look out green with envy because they just got a new one but yours is better and then somebody goes out and breaks the bank they find a way to finance the car of their dreams you know the ones i'm talking about you know all the names and when you drive home with that one everyone's head turns and their eyes are focused on you and when you turn into your garage and push the button oh you got to have that before you get the luxury car then they're shocked because look at what you got they don't know the pain you went through to get it they don't know that you'll eat beans for a few days of the month now so that you could do it because it's all about beating out somebody else it is so exasperating to live like that because the fact is that somebody is always going to upstage you huh besides cars get dense i've seen people i've seen them when it happens you know you've got the new car [Music] you gotta back away and look at it you drive it so that you can get near store windows see yourself going by drive the other way so you can see the other side but but one day it happens you come out and there it is and you can't really believe it i don't believe i don't believe i don't believe somebody no that's got to be like a reflection or something somebody's is a mirrorism and there it is so now your your heart is crushed because all of your your inner thoughts and dreams were reflected in a car how can you let your life get so low that who you are is determined by a piece of metal hey who you are should not depend on what you drive or what you wear or where you live and what jesus wants to do for us is to separate us from the thought pattern of the world that says you are pegged by your possessions because that will make you frustrated for most of your days so here is what god says if you put jesus first if you make him the prime consideration of your life he says when you make me and my righteousness priority one i will handle what you need huh listen the question is simple do you think jesus can be trusted to give you what you need who feeds the birds who feeds wild animals who have never seen a human being god has arranged to care for birds they have no worries they don't worry about where the next meal is coming from somehow with just instinct they're able to determine that god has it all under control and you can tell the difference between people who are in the rat race you know because the rat race will mess your face up if you really want to look nice and you don't if you can't afford an extreme makeover why don't you let jesus handle your future put it in jesus hands put his concerns first and he says if you put me first i'll take care of your business the only question is do you know him well enough to trust him to give you what you want and what you need he says delight yourself in the lord the bible says so and he'll give you the desires of your heart the question is how much do you need there are people who spend their lives looking for things that they couldn't handle if they had them oh i'm getting too deep for you forgive me i apologize i've seen people who got what they wished for sometimes the very thing that you hoped for all your life is the last thing you need huh you know that house thing now that's different and of course we are in a new era aren't we so all of us know that you shouldn't put the car first you shouldn't put the clothes first the first priority ought to be the house but let me tell you something about this house deal they will check everything if there's a freckle on your credit they'll know it when you go in that room it's way different than buying a car you know they might let you ease out with a car with mediocre credit but when you come to the house they want everything we need more records could you bring your w-2s could you bring all of your tax forms all of them i'll bring everything [Music] we need to take a hard look at you and i've seen people who thought their nerves were cold at steel i've seen them quiver because they are now going to get the house and they have formulas that are supposed to keep you from buying more house than you can afford but if you tweak it a little just tweak it you can end up with more house than you ought to have the problem is that it tells on you because in the neighborhood where you're going to live you can't just pay the mortgage your lawn has to be manicured you can't do it you know that lawnmower you brought with you no no you you have to have a gardener now and things have to be you have to have a few flowers artfully placed the colors of the flowers are to match the ambiance of your house inside it can't be empty not for long people will look into your windows and talk so there's a lot that comes with it but if that's your dream you will one day find that you are trapped in your dream and what jesus is trying to say to you tonight is that we've got to stop being caught up in other people's priorities don't let the media decide who you are act like something that fell out of a jello mold put jesus first and when you seek him first things will change in your life because you don't have to be locked in to what other people have well there are other texts that i could read to you john chapter 6 and verse 27 says that you ought not look for the meat that perish it what that means is that if you don't put jesus first what you get will disappear john chapter 4 verse 13 you ought not look for the water that once you have imbibed it you become thirsty immediately again what jesus said to the woman at the well is that i've got water that when you drink it you will never search again but you can't get that kind of water from an ordinary well you've got to get that water from jesus he'll make you a well of water he'll make you so full of his blessed water that your water will spill over into the lives of others and they too will be blessed but you can't have it by looking for surface things isaiah chapter 55 and verse 2 says why would you spend money for that is not which is not bread or labor for that which satisfies not the fact is that too many of us are caught up in things that are insignificant we major in minor i'm not angry at nice cars i'm not angry at nice houses i believe that my jesus owns the factory at single thing in germany you know that one that's the one that causes those automobiles with the hyphenated name to come out but jesus owns them he says the cattle on a thousand hills are mine the silver and the gold is mine the earth is mine and the fullness thereof i think that includes the factory in germany that people are so concerned about huh there's one called bearish modern virgin i know i'm down your street now you're making right noises and so people think that when you get one of those you can act different you know well you don't have to worry about locking it you have those keys that lock it when you walk away but one day you'll go and somebody will park next to yours but theirs will be longer the word is crestfallen that's what you'll feel when you see one bigger than yours and what jesus is saying is why do you worry about things that don't matter i'm asking you to start thinking in a different way i'm asking you to trust me enough to put me and my righteousness first and let me determine where you live what you drive what you wear sometimes god will surprise you by how low he takes you there was this gentleman by the name of job he had much to be thankful for until the devil bragged on him i i have an interesting conversation with jesus about bragging on me i like the theory of him bragging on me but i'm not sure i can bear the reality of him bragging on me because should he brag on me per adventure the devil should come and say i understand why walter pearson serves you so much look at all you've given him and you know what comes next i love to be the one who jesus could brag on but i would not necessarily want to go through what job did but i'll tell you what job did say when he had lost everything not just possessions but family members not just family members but health lying on a garbage heap so swollen with what some physicians say was elephantiasis that he had to take pieces of pottery to scratch because his fingernails had been covered up by the swollen skin of his fingers and on that ash heat he said no he's slaying yet will i trust in him because it's not about stuff it's about the relationship that we have i i went to visit a man who who had a strange automobile outside of his house he had a brand new old cadillac [Music] that's what i meant to say the car was so new that it still had the sticker in the window but when i went up when i went up to the house it had been in the driveway so long that it was covered with dust and silt the tires had gone down because it had not been driven and as i walked up with one of the brethren from the church they said you know something we ought to go in and say it's a shame you can't get out and drive that brand new car and when we went in he said it he said my brother i know you've been sick for a long time this man had been ill from a very serious disease and when the brother said he only meant to lighten up the atmosphere he said don't you wish you could get out and drive that new car the man sat up in his bed he said brother you can take that car you can have it because what i've learned since i've been sick is that the car doesn't count the house doesn't count the clothes don't count the bank account doesn't count the only thing that counts is my relationship with jesus he said because if i die before i get up off of this bed i want to know that i've got a relationship with him that will get me into the kingdom of heaven i don't care about those things anymore i hope it doesn't require your getting sick to understand what's important because let me promise you there are illnesses that can reset your clock you'll find out what matters well look look at what god promises if you just stay with him third john two you know it already but you haven't looked at it carefully lately third john 2 it says beloved i wish above all things that thou must prosper and be in health even as thy soul prospered what this means is that jesus wants you to be successful incidentally not only does he want you to be successful he can help make you successful if you were to return a faithful tithe and give a faithful offering he would open the floodgates of heaven and pour you out a blessing he would make it so that nothing could touch your business to decrease your profit he would make it so that nothing went before its time that everything went in a way that would bring blessing to you god can do that through jesus christ he can do it if you trust him enough to return to him what he asks and he can do it in a way that will bring you prosperity with no bitterness the lottery will bring you prosperity i imagine that all it at all my downlink sites somebody is very quiet but let me tell you what happens should you win the lottery and incidentally i should advise you i have talked to a a statistician who says that your chances of winning the lottery are about the same if you play the lottery or not but if you should win there are things that you would discover you see when god gives you wealth it has no bitterness it has only blessing it it does not bring a curse with you in fact what god gives you from the floodgates of heaven does not bring any penalty but if you win the lottery and i've seen them haven't you seen them there's a man i remember from years ago he won so many millions of dollars and he was so ecstatic on the day you know they are so excited what will you do how i'm gonna go i'm gonna quit my job buy five cars buy a house for me my mother wife my cousin brother sister by all of my house and then i'm just going to go somewhere and just just lay out something but what they don't know is that they are relatives who you've never met and they saw you on television before they saw you win the lottery they had no inclination to call you but as soon as you do here they are and then they're the people who want to buy stuff and sell stuff and get you involved in schemes i saw the man who had had all that money he came down to nothing in fact i know that he was broke because he decided to become a preacher that's a good indication but what god says is that i will give you success how many believe that he can he says not only that but i will give you good health let me tell you something if i had to choose if i had to choose between being penniless and healthy or wealthy and sick i would be the happiest broke man on the face of the earth and then finally here's what the lord wants you to have he wants you to have a fulfilling spiritual life let me tell you something the reason why my job is so great and that doesn't mean everybody should become a preacher but my job is so great because i get to experience the power all the time i get to share it and and that my friends is is wealth in a very real sense because even if you don't have a dime if you've got the promises of jesus you know that he's watching out for you you know that one who sees the sparrow fall and his move bite is watching over you you know that the one who dresses the lilies of the field and you know you can get clothes without money god can arrange it god can make people grow too thin for their clubs and send you by at the right time god can make people grow too large for their clubs and let you happen to go visit at the right time god is able to give you things above what you are able to ask or imagine and what i'm telling you is that god invites us up into this different way of thinking romans chapter 12 you knew i was going to go there and i am romans chapter 12 and verse 2. you got to go there because there's something there that people try to escape you can't here's what the bible says and be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of god the fact is that there are too many people who are conformed let me tell you what it means exactly to conform oneself to another's pattern in other words you you fall into the pattern like everybody else and how do we discover what is the norm it's that ubiquitous box in our homes the window on society you don't know whether it's correct or not but you assume that what you see on television is the norm so you conform to the north and what you don't know is that the things that are on television are not necessarily true on television you can eat all the junk food you want and stay slim on television you can sleep away the pounds you can go to sleep having taken some strange admixture in a pill and wake up thinner than when you went to sleep it's miraculous you can do it without dieting sleep away the pounds some of you have tried it on television you can use drugs you can smoke cigarettes you can drink alcohol and never get sick it doesn't bother you you are impervious you can do that on television but in reality none of this is true on television you can watch a music video where you start out impoverished and in 12 minutes you have a bentley a rolls royce a house on the hill a yacht and people following you in crowds everywhere on television but in reality you got to work for what you get why do so many people allow television to change who they are the bible says don't be conformed to someone else's image i say it all the time in order to be a good christian you got to have a brain and a backbone should i say it again god is not about to people heaven with a bunch of followers where are you going going over there okay let's go oh i forgot to ask you why are we going i'll tell you later okay then let's go you don't stand for anything so you fall for everything that's not what jesus is looking for christians evaluate things they don't fall into somebody else's pattern they are not conformed to the thinking of this world but they are transformed well let's look at transform in fact i did a study just last week and when i when i checked this word transform it took me to matthew chapter 7 and verse 2. some of you have read this where jesus had become so in need of a fresh hold on divinity that he took three disciples and said let's go up on a mountain to pray and they went with him at the end of the day in fact one writer says that it got so dark that they couldn't see the path anymore they could only see jesus moving but if you can just see jesus moving and follow that that's enough you don't need to see the path if jesus is moving in your life forget the path follow jesus they got to the summit of this of this mountain when they got there jesus said would you pray with me for a little while they couldn't they fell asleep but while they were asleep jesus prayed and asked his father would you give me a new lease give me a new hold on divinity up in heaven you forgive me but i've read past earth and i know that when that prayer was heard in heaven there must have been angels that that began to move reflexively because they heard jesus say i need a threshold on divinity and everybody was prepared to go and give him what he prayed for but jesus needed perhaps a human being more than an angel so god decided send moses send elijah and on that mount here's what one of my favorite writers says happened jesus stood looking up towards heaven he was always god clothed in humanity but at that moment his divinity began to shine towards heaven at that moment god pulled back the veil that separates earth from heaven and divinity from god began to shine down to where the mountain was where jesus was standing so you got divinity shining up divinity shining down what kind of light must there have been i have been near those big lights that they put out when they're opening a brand new store and the light is so powerful that it makes a buzz but that's just regular light what does divine light sound like when god shines light down when jesus shines the light up and the bible says he was transfigured he was changed before them and when the disciples finally awakened from their trance they looked over and saw three beings talking to each other there was moses saying you hold on jesus i was out there in the wilderness with the israelites bob i could not make it but you were always with me so i never failed so just like you held me up god your father will hold you up elijah said hold on moses let me talk a little bit when i was on mount carmel i thought i was all alone they were out there trying to start fires but i knew that the only one who could start a fire was god of heaven i had to keep watch because they would try to do something sneaky one of my favorite writers says that there were angels up there watching the devil's angels to keep them from starting an illicit fight so when an emp would try to start something god's ain't hey hey hey [Applause] he said you know jesus you know who was with me then remember when no fire could come from anywhere but finally at the end of the day i began to pray and you rolled fire down out from heaven in a way that it had a trail showing where it came from and on that day your name was glorified just as you helped me your father will help you and in the midst of all of that there was a light that was so bright that when the disciples looked it almost blinded them that same kind of transfiguration is what jesus promises to those of us who will not be conformed to this world but ask god to transform us in fact that's my experience the power moment for the night because i can tell you that though you think your life is plain and mundane if you trust god if you ask god if you tell him i don't want to be conformed i want to be transformed the same god who transformed jesus can transform you there are people who go from day to day wishing at most for an epiphany you've heard it the guy with the deep voice and epiphany an epiphany is simply to see something that's amazing that's different that kind of changes things for you what i pray for is not an epiphany i pray for a theophany because i believe that on an ordinary day on my ordinary knees on my ordinary carpet i can pray an extraordinary prayer to an almighty god and what i see in that place will not be just an epiphany it will be a theophany for god himself will place power in the place that i pray and i will find myself bathed in power but i can't have it if all i do is conform myself to the world so tonight here is what i say to you and it's rather simple we've got to get out of the normal thought patterns corrupt colossians chapter 2 and verse 18 says you can't trust your fleshly mind first corinthians chapter 2 please turn there with me first corinthians chapter 2 what we must do is to expand our minds too many people live out their lives in quiet desperation thinking that nothing will ever change when the fact is that just a little talk with jesus i'm happy to report to you that when you call heaven there is no long menu punch one if you need help immediately punch two if you're having electrical problems punch three if your gas says folk god doesn't need an answering machine he doesn't need you to go through infinite infinite infinite options to get back to the original place i've had it happen haven't you you punched option number one option number six option number 32 option number 12 and then all of a sudden it takes you back to option number one when you call jesus you don't get a recording you get somebody who can make a change in your life but you got to change your expectation and change your thought pattern this is first corinthians chapter 2 start with verse 13 and here's what the bible says which things we also speak not in the words which man's wisdom teaches but which the holy ghost teacheth comparing spiritual things with spiritual but the natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of god for they are foolishness unto him neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned so if you don't have spiritual vision you will never see spiritual things verse 15 but he that is spiritual judgeth all things yet he himself is judged by no man the fact is that with the power of god your vision can change you can look back at the same situations that brought you sadness and god will give you new eyes and you'll see old things with new possibilities people who walk with jesus are excited on the whole journey you can go back home tonight when jesus has changed the way you look remember that young man who worked for the prophet went out one morning just gathering wood heard something strange wait a minute boss doesn't have a horse here's a twig break as though some hoof has stepped on it and that's when you got to use all your senses so you got to look without acting like you're lucky excellent love sees an army turns calmly and goes back in the house and as soon as he closes the door yes son i know but you haven't been out there now horses everywhere i know but you only saw half of the picture because you don't have spiritual eyes now come here a minute let us work window he said lord open his eyes now come here son look right back out there where you just left and tell me what you see what what son if you keep in touch with god he'll tell you the end from the beginning not only did god tell me that that that army was coming but he said before that army gets there i'll have another army out there some of you think that god sends his help after you get in trouble but i read that before you call lands so you keep on thinking that god's army came after the army that was around the house i believe that god's army arrives first i believe that your problems have got to squeeze by solutions to get to you i believe your questions have to squeeze my answers to get to you i believe that if you had spiritual eyesight you go back to the house you left an hour ago and get excited about what god can do in your house all you need to do is have spiritual vision but people who are carnal can never understand what you got to do is ask god to help you think in a new pattern are you with me well look at philippians chapter 2 and verse 5. and here's what it says let this mind be in you which was also in christ jesus who being in the form of god thought it not robbery to be equal with god but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men and being found in the fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross wherefore god also have highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name why because jesus trusted his father to sink down lower than you can imagine because he knew that god handles issues in a different way than anybody on earth if you can trust god enough to do whatever he asks he will exalt you for having that trust well i have only one other verse well let me get to can i do colossians chapter three colossians chapter three and look at verse one if ye then be risen with christ seek those things which are above where christ sitteth on the right hand of god set your affection verse 2 on things above and not on things on the earth we got too many people looking at too many things on the earth god is not un unaware of what you need he says i know what you need but if you seek me and my righteousness first i'll add all of that to you and believe me god will add more than you had anticipated but we've got to get people who stop thinking on the short term lord i need i gotta have just some you know if you just give me and lord i gotta have and your whole prayer is a baited breath laundry list here you are talking to the god of heaven asking him for things that a person could give you why don't you stop treating god like a red cap stop treating god like one of those people who pushes your luggage to the plane and puts it on the belt god handles amazingly miraculous things god can give you more than you ask or think if you would just stop asking for you and start asking for what will bring glory to his name he would send you things that would shake your world apart and just after he finished surprising you he would send you more than you could ever have imagined for your own personal use his side stream blessings are more powerful than what you can get for yourself but you've got to put him first my last text for night is easy proverbs chapter 3 and verse 6 in all thy ways acknowledge him and he will direct thy path there are too many people who think they know too much i know you took that course at the university you will never let us forget it i know that you have been trained in finding the key log in the law of jam i know your specialty is allocating resources i know that you have a sensitivity that is born both of education and experience i know that you are seldom at a loss because you have an uncanny skill but god will send problems that you cannot solve even with your university education because what he wants you to do is to stop thinking like the world set your sights on things above in all your ways in every plan of your life in every thought that you plan to implement acknowledge him and he will direct your path until tomorrow night may god hear you when you call may god lift you if you fall may god bless you as you stand walter pearson believes that jesus christ is the answer to every problem you face [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is jesus is

Channel: TOPraiseSDA

Views: 17,632

Rating: 4.8649788 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: hio6y2DV09g

Length: 51min 25sec (3085 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 01 2020