"Your Royal Illness"- Pastor Easton G. Marks

one [Music] [Music] lord o my soul and all that is within me bless his holy name [Music] [Music] oh is cause me [Music] [Music] yes [Music] oh [Music] amen amen bless his holy name amen we will exalt you lord for you lifted us out of the depths and did not let our enemies glow over us [Music] lord our god we call to you for help and you healed us sing the praises of the lord [Music] you his faithful people praise his holy name for his anger lasts only for a moment but his favor lasts a lifetime weepin may stay for night but rejoicing comes in the morning you turned our wailing into dancing you remove our sackcloth and clothe us with your joy that our hearts may sing your praises and not be silent lord our god we will praise you forevermore oh gracious father we are truly thankful that you have allowed us to survive this week we are thankful dear god because there are survivors among us today and we came to give you thanks and praise be for those who have survived the breast cancer and many other forms of cancer this week we are grateful their god that those who are tuned in online those who are here in person international and local we want to give you praise for the survivors that you have brought through the midst of their health issues and god be with us as we worship you today in the beauty of holiness amen maybe season good morning church happy sabbath it is such a pleasure to be here today to see all of your wonderful faces we are so grateful to come together once again to worship god and to give him all the glory and all the praise that he so richly i am just so happy to be standing in front of you today because so many went to sleep last night and didn't wake up i just want to thank god for his grace and for his mercy and for his goodness as the song says his goodness is running after me i want to extend a warm welcome to all of you worshiping with us here in the sanctuary and a special sabbath greetings to our faithful online viewers who tune in every sabbath wherever in the world you are if you are a regular or if it's your first time welcome we appreciate you and we thank you for choosing flatbush i can tell you from experience this is a great place to be as we know october focuses on breast cancer awareness and yes both males and females can be affected who is a survivor according to both dr mary reed director of cancer screening and the national cancer institute clinically defines a person as a cancer survivor from the day of their cancer diagnosis onward for as long as they live i'm sure that we have all been touched by the effects of cancer it could be from a family member a friend a colleague a neighbor a pet and even yourself i lost my grandfather to lung cancer and right now one of my very dear friends is fighting stage 3 colon cancer kids are fighting cancer i see the brave stories of the little children of saint jude's who battles cancer on a daily basis because cancer is a friend to no one and fighting cancer is a battle that is not just one by medicines chemotherapy a great team of doctors becoming cancer free also requires a constant stream of strong will power faith hope love and most importantly a positive attitude so today we just want to celebrate not only breast cancer survivors but to give god thanks for all of our cancer survivors whether you are still fighting or you're in remission or you're cancer-free remember how far you've come not just how far you have to go you may not be where you want to be but neither are you where you used to be you are braver than you think stronger than you seem smarter than you think and twice as beautiful as you've ever been so never be ashamed of a scar it simply means that you are stronger than whatever tried to hurt you because even broken crayons still color so never give up and never give in because it is often in the darkest skies that we see the brightest stars according to galileo i have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night so if you loved your life before cancer do not be afraid of light after cancer for you will find beauty again so i leave with all my survivors jeremiah 29 11. for i know the plans i have for you declares the lord plans to prosper you and not to harm you plans to give you hope and a future god bless you all and now a few announcements thank you to everyone who attended last night's prayer service the funeral for pastor cameron bowen will be on sunday october 10th at community worship center in springfield gardens new york viewing will be at 2 30 p.m to 3 30 p.m with the service at 4 pm a happy happy birthday to sister coggins from her children grandchildren and great-grandchildren in trinidad her eldest daughter called the church yesterday and asked if we can do this for them god bless you sister cogans and your family happy birthday again the nominating committee will be in session at 9 30 a.m tomorrow as pasha said last week october is a beautiful month so next sabbath afternoon will feature a virtuous pastor appreciation event participants will be able to express their appreciation for pastors who have been a blessing to them and their families join us on zoom on october 9th for that on october 16th we will have a lay preacher's preach out the morning service will be in person here at flatbush with a person teared flatbush with six preachers including our very own elder marcel evans the afternoon session will be on zoom we'll have six preachers from the caribbean union barbados grenada guyana st lucia and trinidad and tobago the flatbush sda school has a vacancy for kindergarten teacher interested persons should contact the school at or the 718-922-6390 at nine one seven eight seven three six five zero six or the school's chair board mint at three four seven two three two three seven 3701 now i'll hand it over to sister ingrid pierre for a special report god bless you all everyone thank you happy sabbath church this morning i will be reading to you the report from last sunday's quadrennium session at that session new officers administration directors and an executive committee committee were voted for the northeastern conference i will first read to you our new administration and our directors followed by the executive committee for the quadrennium of 2021 to 2025 the president of the northeastern conference is dr abraham jules executive secretary eldin king treasurer robert chandler communications director dudley francois community services director mario agustav family life director samuel and andrea blair franco-haitian ministries director serge lamore health ministries director joshua deonarine hispanic ministries director hector ramos ministerial director dedrick blue portug portuguese director marcos cipher personal ministries director walton rose religious liberty director alan martin savage school director easton marks stewardship director clifford manny trust services director farron francis women's ministry director donette blake youth ministries director paula olivier associate youth directors javier alcon and dudley francois the executive committee of the northeastern conference for the quadrennium of 2021 to 2025 is as follows president abraham jules executive secretary eldeam king treasurer robert chandler ministerial director dedrick blue trust services director feren francis youth director paula olivier haitian coordinator serge lamore hispanic coordinator hector ramos portuguese coordinator marcos cipher late individuals include jada senghor latoya benjamin ingrid pierre vincent goth vesper barnes hugh carrington james stewart janella peters brian mcdonald paul houghton christopher mcdonald samuel cruz thomas rivera manuel cabral nahum o'malleer emmanuel two saints michael noekma pastors rafael solano jude lors nicardo delahaye sednak yankson keith arbury edsel cadet michelle mota and denominational employees paula pauline evans and juliet cerapio that is the report at this time i will call up our pastor easton marks for some pastoral remarks good morning everybody i know this is stretching out the service a little bit but uh i think it is appropriate for me to say a few words right here before we think we sing our our hymn of praise our church was well represented at the session which was held technically over three weekends the organizing committee met and chose the nominating committee they met the following sunday and then all the delegates gathered last sunday in bridgeport connecticut for the general meeting to receive among other things the report of the nominating committee which had met like i said on the sunday before sister pierre was elected secretary of the nominating committee which gave flatbush a certain degree of prominence at that forum because every time there was a report flatbush was on the platform reading the reports and i think it would be correct to say that she didn't stumble at all in her delivery nor her walk on high heels to the platform some of us were rooting for you with fingers crossed that those heels didn't embarrass the flatbush church present or those at home dr houston sister brown uh all the delegates who are here today would you please raise your hand you were a delegate of the session on sunday you attended over on my left we had some hands and down here they are not all here today but we were we were well represented everybody deported themselves well and the session began and came to a conclusion sometime sunday night and uh we are back here as some of you heard before we got here and before just now i guess a few people heard for the first time just now that the big surprise of the session was the election of pastor marx as the uh sabbath school director i'm not even sure what i'm elected that's just the map as i look at you but it is a sabbath school director it's not a position i sought i thought of but i will give it a shot with a lot of prayer and your prayers as well and hope that in some way we move sabbath school into a better place over the next year 2 3 and 4. what that means for uh us as a church together pastor and members is there will be a new pastor there will be a new pastor i i'm i i believe in january the likelihood of a new pastor coming between now and january is is really close to zero because i don't think the executive committee will address any such matter before maybe november and at any rate some of the directors are going to carry their churches when i was asked if i would accept that nomination i asked if i could keep my church because i'm having a good time i'm not feeling like i need to go so that was my question i was told no i asked if i could have a church i was told maybe later a smaller church but flatbush would require someone who is not in the office to give it adequate attention and quite honestly in all fairness to the church i don't think this church should be pastored by someone who is also carrying responsibilities in the conference office which means around the conference from new england to new york including western new york so it is with some ambivalence and mixed feelings that i will give up the pastorate of this church and pastoring a church for the first time since i entered ministry which is uh quite a while when i was in the department last in guyana i had a church a smaller church than flatbush and i was able to do that for about 18 months until i left for barbados i hope i could have done that but sabbath school needs a lot of attention including our own sabbath school and i hope by god that as the pandemic wanes down and goes away we will restore more and more presence in sabbath school more and more of what sabbath schools should be which is not just the church of study even though a few of my friends have begun calling me just that church at study and i i told them to back off i'm not church at study i'm eastern marx so over the next quarter i will be here i will be here i believe less because on some weekends i will need to be elsewhere but i'm not going to be moved before january and before we get to january i will talk with you very specifically it is something i've always done about how to receive your new pastor and make sure that he gets a nice landing and a great start and my membership is here i expect it to be here now that it's here for a while so some of my offerings will come here and when you have business meeting i wouldn't show up as long as you have another pastor but my heart i'm telling you will be here and i particularly want to see this church rehabilitated and i want to see this church united as we worship and as we get the work of the lord done and move towards the kingdom at this time i think we should sing a song and the song we will sing is wait the song of joy and gladness hither bring your nobles liz banish every thought of sadness pouring forth your highest praise sing to him whose care has brought us once again with friends to meet and whose loving voices taught us of the way to jesus would you please stand and sing as sister granger leads us [Music] [Music] every thought once again [Music] wake us up [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] breathe away [Music] [Music] [Music] for the mercy [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] good morning church today's reading comes from matthew 4 verses 23 to 25 i will he i will read in your hearing jesus went throughout galilee teaching in new synagogues proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease with the sickness among the people news about him spread all over syria and people brought to him who all who were ill in various diseases those suffering severe pain and demon-possessed those who have seizures and the paralyzed and he healed them large crowds from galilee the decapolis jerusalem judea and the region across jordan followed him this is the reading of god's holy word [Music] so [Music] i will [Music] oh trust me [Music] trust me and i'll [Music] yes [Music] oh talk to our god in prayer loving food in heaven this morning we are so grateful that we are in contact with a god that will fight or battles not only that you will fight our battles but we know from the onset that you will win [Music] loving pod in heaven this morning we are so happy that we as christians [Music] have prayer at our disposal [Music] we are so happy that when we engage in prayer lord we as christians are energized [Music] father we are thankful that [Music] when we consistently seek your face that the powers of heaven are released [Music] and so this morning lord jesus we we lift you up this morning we adore you this morning we magnify your precious name because lord there is none like you we are thankful this morning that we are still alive to come into your house to come into your courts and to lift up your holy name [Music] some of us did not know how we made it through this week but we're thankful to god that you blocked some things that were placed into our path and it was feasible for us to come into your courts today to lift up your holy name and so lord we're we're happy that today you could have blocked sickness we're happy today that you could have blocked some accident that came our way we are thankful today that you could have blocked that gunshot lord [Music] we're thankful today that you could have blocked burglary and and and covet 19 and all manner of evil thing that would place in our path this coming week and we are happy that we are in your presence we're happy that we're in your courts today to lift up and to magnify your precious name loving father we don't deserve this we don't deserve your goodness we don't deserve all that you've done for us coming here and dying on calvary's course but this morning we recognize it's all because of your love towards us that's why today we are standing in the land of the living and lord because of that we say thank you as a church collectively today [Music] we are as a church lifting up the name of all those who were ravaged by the disease of cancer in particular breast cancer sin has caused this to raise its ugly head amongst us this morning and we know this morning it's only because of you there are some here that can testify of your goodness there's some here that can testify that you have brought them through and so we give you all the praise and all the glory that is due unto your holy name dear god in heaven [Music] we pray in a special way that this worship experience this morning would be a high and a holy one we've come and we've we bring our sorrows we've bring our joy we bring our everything and we lay it all on your footstool lord and we ask in a special way that you'll stop by this church and when we leave this place today may we all leave this place rejoicing knowing that it's all done with a special way would like to mention sister dorian jenkins suffering with the problem of intestine problems we lift up the name before you and ask that you do what you do best at this time we place before you or pastor pastor eastern marx as he bring a word from from you to us we pray that today's message today's sermon may be one with a difference that would cause us to wise up that would cause us to stand up and proclaim you as lord and savior and jesus christ may this place today be saturated with your love and with your kindness and with your blessings and may we all leave this place rejoicing knowing that we've been with you and lord to this end to this end as as we seek your face reacts to chance you put in your appearance that we all hear in the hearing of my voice would have a place in your eternal kingdom and so lord this today we ask that your seal our decisions for heaven seal or everything and may this experience today be one with a difference we commit everything into your hands we ask that you agree with the musicians we ask that you will be with us singing and may we have a wonderful experience today in jesus name we pray amen and amen [Music] i will deliver trust me [Music] trust me trust me to trust me [Music] let us pray before receiving the days tides and offerings heavenly father fill our lives with spiritual nourishment and give us unquenchable thirst for your words we thank you lord for bestowing blessings upon us that money cannot buy lord we ask you to bless our feeble efforts to say thank you with the tithes and offerings that will be received today in jesus name we pray amen the acronym new start plays an important role in the seventh day adventist health message the w in new start stands for water we know that water is important after all most of the world is made up of water here are some amazing facts about water that you may not know number one research tells us that drinking eight to ten glasses of water a day can significantly reduce pain for almost eighty percent of the people who suffer from back and joint pain number two 75 percent of all americans are chronically dehydrated number three a mere two percent drop of water in the body can trigger fuzzy short-term memory trouble with basic math and difficulty focusing on a computer screen or on a com a printed page number four the thirst mechanism is so weak in 30 37 of americans that it is all often mistaken for hunger and finally number five drinking just five glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45 percent plus it can slash the bris the risk of breast cancer by 79 and it can make a person 50 percent less likely to develop bladder cancer it is obvious that our bodies need water and plenty of it we can live a few days without food but we can't live long without water jesus told the samaritan woman at the well that he was the living water as she was drawing water from the well jesus explained that he could provide a water supplement that could last throughout eternity now come with me to the book of isaiah where we will find a long-standing open invitation for all who are thirsty to come to the waters to buy and eat without money and without cost our god is so good that he gives us more than a physical drink to quench our thirst he offers us the refreshment of eternal life all free of cost the living water that jesus provides cannot be purchased with our money our dollars cents pounds or euros have no value when it comes to purchasing that living water so with grateful hearts let us faithfully return the tithe and give generous free will offerings to the lord you may choose to give in one of the following four ways you may mail your checks or money orders to the flatbush seventh day adventist church 261 east 21st street brooklyn new york 11226 or you may use the flatbush you may give to the flatbush website at flatbush sda.org or you may find it more convenient to give through cash app or by using zell by dialing telephone number 347-2800 now in the words of john the beloved disciple church i pray above all things that you may prosper and to be in good health even as your soul prospers enjoy the rest of the service [Music] in a time when so many people are dying from sickness from cancer we can be assured that we don't need to be afraid because the bible said that he has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind and we know that no matter what happens that he has the final say [Music] is [Music] no matter foreign my life [Music] [Applause] tell me [Music] no matter what your doctor [Music] [Music] i have no [Music] the lord is my life [Music] just tell me [Music] no matter what your sickness [Music] [Music] the lord is [Music] i have no reason the lord is [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] the lord is [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] is [Applause] [Music] is [Music] he is [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] our lord is my light the lord is my light the lord [Music] is my life [Music] hallelujah we have no reason to fear because god is on our side he's our help in ages past and our hope for years to come my help all of my help cometh from the lord i will lift up mine eyes through the hills from whence cometh my health [Music] i will [Music] my help coming from the lord the lord which made heaven and earth he said he will not suffer thy foot thy foot to be the lord the lord [Music] is upon my right hand [Music] shall not smile [Music] forever [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] my help coming from the lord the lord [Music] [Music] he will not know [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] even forever [Music] me [Applause] [Music] from foreign [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] forever i [Applause] am [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] all of my help [Music] lord [Music] [Music] [Music] happy sabbath church it is indeed good to be in the house of the lord to give him all the praise and all the glory because he truly is a good god amen amen what a mighty god we serve you know as i sing this song i ask that you pray for me we are there's much suffering going on in this world today but we still serve an awesome god he is still god no matter what is happening he is still god and if we are faithful he will come and bring us home to that land he has prepared for us don't you want to be there i know i do so let's be ready for that great day [Music] when i come into his presence i humble myself i lift up both my hands and i begin [Music] here i [Music] [Music] thank you lord [Music] oh for me [Applause] [Music] because he's gone [Music] i lift up both oh yes i do [Music] into his ground [Music] praise you lord [Music] oh [Music] he set me free [Music] [Applause] [Music] me [Music] uh peace me [Applause] these [Applause] [Music] [Music] so [Music] sometimes you really get up here and you don't know what to say but i just want to thank god for showing us his present [Music] and that we don't have to wait for the sermon to know he is here he is speaking he is calling he is here thank you sister lawrence uh i believe we booked you a year ago or maybe more than that for today and i'm glad you're here with us today you and your family it's good to see you all [Music] and welcome again everybody thank you very much to our praise team today you started the fire and uh we appreciate that i don't know if you know that our praise team doesn't rehearse anymore uh they they just basically come here and sing we don't want to expose them to all of the hazards and so we sort of ruled out rehearsal so when you when you hear them know that you know they're just they just got here and the holy spirit helps them because he knows they can't rehearse and when we can't rehearse i think god helps us when we can rehearse you know i think we are we are we are risking if we don't rehearse so thank you again for your ministry today and uh thank you very much our musicians i want to welcome everyone to this time and place of worship this time and place of preaching uh we have come to that point in our worship service today to our friends who are not here physically who can't be here we welcome you we cherish the fact that you are joining us from many many places far from new york city beyond the bronx across all of our bridges and you are still very much a part of our fellowship we cherish your presence here today for those who are here worshiping in the sanctuary with us of course we are glad that you are here it gives us an opportunity to interact albeit carefully until this pandemic is truly behind us we shall be cautious but we shall not do less than we do during the week i i'm so glad that you are here because you know you went to the supermarket this week you went to school this week you went to work this week do i have a witness you traveled on the bus this week so so don't don't don't give me that one that's a six for a nine that you're so scared of covet 19 that that all you do is not come to church i'm not buying that anymore i see you on on the road and and you have the temerity to say hi pastor and then i don't get to see you in church what are you talking about let's let's change the dynamic a little bit here now i know there are some people who should probably stay in and we totally support that we want you to do that because we want you to be here when this is over while we are here please retain your masks and do so fully ensuring that except you're upfront ministering and you need to communicate in prayer or in an appeal whether by prose or song we want you to keep your masks on after almost two years of doing this i promise you uh you're not you're not gonna die before i get done preaching and again we thank you all for being here i have a very special thank you for sister chantel cash who uh spent our own money on the the uh breast cancer awareness momentos that greeted us at the door this morning i truly appreciate the initiative the foresight the willingness to to give that as an offering and we hope that all of us during this month take some time to think about breast cancer since this is breast cancer awareness month but let's go beyond breast cancer and be just aware of what our roles and responsibilities are in staying well we can't keep ourselves alive we are mortal we're going to die if we keep on living we will die and i know you're going to do your best but let's recommit to not just eat right and exercise but pay attention to your body pay attention to your body and and be prayerful and trust in god that's what this is about 20 years ago i lost i believe my first relative to breast cancer my father's sister just after 9 11 in fact next month will be 20 years and since then i've lost so many friends i have lost so many friends to this terrible terrible disease and all i can say to the ladies first and foremost who are hearing me in person and of course if you are virtual is be attuned to what's going on in your body get screened and do all you can to be healthy that may require changing your diet and your lifestyle significantly but man it's it's worth it it's better than a casket don't you think yeah it is certainly better than the suffering we will put ourselves through if we can avoid it and our loved ones today we want to pray for those whose names we had on last night last night we had a prayer session and we want to pray for all of these individuals i have about 15 or 20 names here and we will take all to the lord in prayer momentarily this evening we have a church board meeting i just want to say that since it wasn't said on tomorrow we have our nominating committee meeting returning to its schedule father we turn to you now you are here we know that you are speaking your blessing your healing you are in this place and yet you are elsewhere you are all across the country in synagogues and churches and in homes where people are gathered sometimes all alone but in virtual chapels to worship you on this day we pray your presence and your peace in their hearts your rest your special rest more than a day off rest divine rest for our restlessness thank you god for hope beyond the tomb thank you for hope of living a good quality life right here right now because the life in jesus is abundant it is blessed and free and we reach out for life right now life from the cross i pray for hearts that are broken i pray their god for hopes that have been dashed and dreams that have become nightmares i pray for the sick and their loved ones i pray for every sick person hearing this prayer and those whom we all bring on our hearts who are not necessarily tuned in to this service hearing this prayer we all have loved ones in our hearts friends and relatives neighbors colleagues associates some people who just shared with us and they are living on our hearts now we lift them up in prayer bring them into your throne room lay your hand on them god rebuke the devourer for our sakes cast out the four deliver us from the entrapments of the enemy and the fear and anxiety he ignites in our spirits keeping us awake worried about the outcome of our treatment worried if it will hit us next worried about loved ones dear god deliver us from the spirit of fear and then give us an infusion of faith today i pray for everyone who is in treatment i pray for those who aren't being treated perhaps can't be treated at this stage and for those who cannot afford the treatments that may be available many of them right here in this country and we think of thousands more around the world living in poverty dying in pain give them hope we pray i lift up heather and nancy and chanel and selma and pam and louvella i lift up michelle i lift up haynes and valerie and michael who is battling brain cancer i pray for leona and radica and kim i pray for brumnell dear god those are a few names they are those who don't announce they cherish their privacy it's not that they don't have faith and i think of them today because we all go there sometimes we need the blessing but we don't raise our hands we don't step forward we trust your all-seeing eyes and your all-knowing mind and today you know where they are the zip codes the blocks the street the house the apartment the bed you know god visit with them we ask rest remain and abide with them thank you for the testimonies we are hearing during this month as well of those who have beaten cancer those who are back the devil thought he had them for good but mercy said no and they're back some are in this house today bless in your name may their stories encourage our faith and now as we open your word god speak we pray speak may our technology stand up so that those who are not here would hear the joyful sound in jesus name we pray let everybody say amen and say it again if you're happy and you know it say amen somebody say amen somebody amen amen amen so [Music] if you've been watching netflix's the crown you know that queen elizabeth's father king george vi died while she was overseas representing him he was not well enough to travel king georgia sixth had a history of peripheral vascular disease add to that heavy smoking and you get lung cancer in his case added to his list of medical problems his left lung was removed but the cancer had already spread to the right and king george was dying he died on the 6th of february 1952 at age 56 his daughter was rushed back home to assume responsibilities and to carry the crown the sermon title is your royal illness the kennedys were the closest to a royal family in these united states john f kennedy the first of them to be enthroned was afflicted with addison's disease for president franco franklin delano roosevelt it was polio william taft was clinically obese his appetite is blamed for the 340 pounds with which he left the white house at the end of his presidency president taft's death is linked to heart disease and high blood pressure your royal illness presidents grant grover cleveland lyndon johnson the 96 year old jimmy carter and ronald reagan all battled cancer for ronald reagan it was colon and skin cancer your royal illness for disregarding the authority and its limitations king uzziah became a leper when he entered the temple of god and burned incense on the altar limitation of authority says even though you are king you can't do everything the burning of incense on the altar is for the priests and king though you are watch your steps he never recovered king jehoram who murdered his brothers to inherit their father's throne died from what some scholars believe was intestinal cancer in second chronicles chapter 21 verse 19 the bible says he died in great pain king ahaziah fell off a balcony in the palace as elijah had predicted he never recovered from the your royal illness since most of us here today most of you watching the live stream will experience an illness that is serious enough to be labeled your royal illness we ought to give this subject immediate and ongoing attention [Music] in this calendar year invasive breast cancer will be the royal illness for more than 281 000 women in the united states for another 49 000 it will be non-invasive breast cancer but it will be their royal illness more than 2 500 men in the us this year we'll have as their royal illness invasive breast cancer our sermon your royal illness will probe the illness of a king of judah essa asa the third king of judah fifth from the house of david he followed rehoboam and abidjam but he was david's great great grandson asa his reign was longer than david's and solomon's the bible says he reigned for 41 years isa was a terrific leader he had a commitment to yahweh worship yahweh and yahweh only upon becoming king isa demolished the high places on which the idols were worshiped left right and center knocking them down and criminalizing the worship of idols king asa beyond that modeled what without fear or favor looks like some of us only know what it sounds like without fear or favor but asa demonstrated it he didn't care if your friend or best friend if your loved one or relative right is right and wrong is wrong his own grandmother had sponsored the worship of the canaanite goddess asherah and for that he deposed her she lost her privileges she lost her status asa in addition to the spiritual reforms he led fortified judah against the enemy the bible indicates that he repaired the infrastructure and he upgraded the military a fantastic leader proactive leader i read that he built fortified forts wherever they were needed he assessed judah's military preparedness and where they were not prepared he made them ready if king asa had a flaw on floor one foible if he had an achilles heel it was self-reliance this great man his achilles heel was self-reliant the text shows that he came to trust his arsenal he trusts his armor i don't know where he was when they were teaching the history of the kings who preceded him his own great great grandfather dramatized what reliance on god looks like when david confronted goliath david did not go unarmed one day i thought to myself i should keep a piece of wood right here like a little club a baseball bat so anybody comes running up here you know i get my little thing right there but i'm unarmed well not really i see a chain here so don't mess with me during the service david did not go out on arm david went with a sling [Music] and except you don't know the role of slings in ancient military warfare you would think he was mismatched against goliath david was armed and david had a strategy david knew there is only up to so far even goliath can throw a javelin can't you remember goliath saying today if it come near he wanted an inside fight but david wanted an outside fight because he knew from a certain distance he could take out any fool like goliath what goliath should have done was close the distance but he wanted david to play it to his rule i'm saying david was not unarmed and yet brothers and sisters although he was not unarmed he told goliath you are relying on your sword and your shield they've never said anything about his sling and his stones he said i come to you in the name of the lord god of hosts i hope i wish his great-great-grandson was in class when the history professor dealt with that subject he came to rely on his arsenal i don't know what you're relying on but don't trust your resume too much don't trust the people you know incorporate america too much don't trust your money too much don't trust the scale you step on and feel good about the numbers don't trust your current blood pressure too much in a moment in one moment everything could come tumbling down everything if he had one floor one foible it was self-reliance not only did he trust his arsenal he came to trust his alliances this king king he asa paid big money big money to the king of syria the bible says he went into the temple treasure house and he brought out lots of gold and silver to pay the king of syria to help him out in a time of trouble he was buying military backup for trusting his alliances rather than god asa was reprimanded by the prophet hanani that's what prophets do for trusting his alliances instead of god the prophet reprimanded him that's what prophets do [Music] prophets speak truth to power like moses spoke to pharaoh like samuel spoke to saul that's what prophets do like nathan spoke to david truth to power like elijah to ahab truth to power jeremiah to zedekiah daniel to belshazzar danielle to nebuchadnezzar prophet speak truth to power john the baptist herod marx the flatbush truth to power i don't always feel good coming up here saying some of the things i say in fact some of them are self-rebuking you may not know that you probably think i'm having fun lecturing you but i've got to speak the truth even if it cuts me too annoyed that the prophet reprimanded him he had him locked up imprisoned pray with me today for prisoners of conscience across the world around the world prisoners of conscience they're languishing in prison today many of them for their faith for their religious beliefs and i am not talking merely about christians or seventh-day adventists our commitment to religious liberty should transcend denominational branding we should be concerned about the religious liberty of muslims they have a right like we do to worship god according to the dictates of their conscience and their understanding of his revealed will i will fight and speak and teach that everybody in this republic should stand on the same common ground i don't want more rights than the hindus have and that is why i confuse people when i say i don't believe we should have prayer in public schools period end the story and i'm not trying to distract from my sermon i'm just trying to say that's what religious liberty looks like whose prayer are we going to pray in the public school a seeks prayer or are we going to start praying all of these prayers the people who are arguing for it are arguing for the christian prayer but hey buddhists pay taxes hindus pay taxes if you want prayer in school send your children to a school of faith [Music] serious jews send their children to yeshivas we want to duck and run send the kid to awkward to andrews he'll get some worship but if he's going to ps i don't know they're going to work it out i'm not crazy this is what religious liberty looks like when nebuchadnezzar told the people of babylon after he saw shadrach meshach and abednego walk out alive when he told the babylonians all of you must worship the god of shadrach meshach and abednego he was wrong he was just as wrong as when he told shadrach michigan abednego bow down you can't force worship it's never right and this morning in savage school we talked about the freedom god gives us and the freedom god gives us gives us cost him jesus annoyed that the prophet had reprimanded him he had him imprisoned today there are thousands of prisoners of conscience in dark dank jails around the world let us not forget let's appreciate the freedoms we have here in this country while we have them the freedom to assemble the freedom of conscience the freedom of religion while we have them let's appreciate now according to rabbinical literature not bible rabbinical literature according to rabbinical literature king esa had perfect feet f-e-t they were sandals then mostly so i guess you got to see everybody's feet more than you do today so essa had perfect feet i was interested in that once i read it because at one time i started world war iv in my house by saying i have the best feat in this house the prettiest toes in this house and war broke up i don't know i managed to still live in that house but i went there and since then i heard some horrible adjectives about my toes a little short too but i'm only five five what do you want long toes but they said king aisa had the best feet maybe you already know i didn't know until i started working on this sermon that according to the golden racial equation i didn't know what that was but i kept on reading according to the golden ratio equation elder davis guess who has the most beautiful feet in the world today the duchess of sussex meghan markle they said she has the perfect arch and perfect toes i don't know who these people are who make these judgments but ladies and gentlemen i'm here to let you know that meghan markle has the most beautiful feat in the world for absalom it was here those of you follow me on facebook maybe saw my picture out on facebook this week as proof that i go to the barber periodically it was all out attacks why are you wasting your money pastor i go to the barber kendrick because i have here like everybody else legit what do you think skin only no well essa had this these feet while absalom had this head of hair and guess what happened to absalom when he got caught he got caught by the hair he started this revolution and joab was deployed by david to end that thing to bring an end to that thing and they went out trying to get these revolutionaries to round them up and absalom was on the move in the forest with this tremendous head of here and he got hooked up and his men left and he couldn't get out let's come back to king asa my man with these beautiful feet the bible says something went wrong with his feet in fact the rabbi said his feet were as beautiful and strong as adam's i don't know they got that but they said his feet were as beautiful and strong as adam's let's just call that what it is rabbinic speculation because we can't compare anything really with adam adam just went off his way after 930 years and the rabbis weren't in town but ironically the illness of which essa died affected his feet now that told me to be a little careful with the things that i cherish and want to brag about and exhibit and display the things that give me points and edge i better be careful and better walk humbly about them if i do have some gifts and talent and ability i probably should turn it down a little bit rather than turn it up because you never know he had this hair absalom and ultimately the same here brought on his demise man asa with the most beautiful feet in the kingdom ranked number one when it comes to feet he got sick not in his arm but in his feet first kings 15 23 says his feet became diseased second chronicles 16 22 says it was in his 39th year so you know he suffered for two years with these bad feet these diseased feet those who study these matters have opined that asa probably had dr houston peripheral vascular disease others say maybe it was goat others suggest degenerative osteoarthritis i don't know what any of those mean so i i googled peripheral that's what you do when you don't know vascular disease and i i read elder that it is a problem with circulation and and they could have said it just as simply but they got to show off these medical people peripheral vascular diseases like the guys from my club who like to come up and preach and tell you the greek says you know so peripheral vascular disease is what the majority opinion rests on that was the culprit they see but i i don't know i'm just a preacher and as such it is my job to remind you that something is going to get you i don't know what but something is going to get you and i don't mean the rhythm is going to get you i mean some disease is going to get you whether you die from your head down or from your feet up ask not for whom the bell tolls we are all going to be dead if jesus doesn't come soon we are all terminal not only people who are told so by the doctors i'm telling you so here today we're all terminal before your doctor tells you you heard it in church your terminal job says we spring up like flowers job 14 we spring up like flowers but you know even that isn't really true anymore this morning somebody made a reference to saint jude's hospital it was sister cash saint jude's children's hospital these kids didn't even get a chance to spring up it's called pediatric cancer in 2012 president obama quite appropriately proclaimed september childhood cancer awareness month we just got out of september childhood cancer awareness month more than 10 000 children on the 15 under 15. they are now springing up we'll be diagnosed with cancer this year they didn't spring up like flowers man they didn't get a chance many of them and if it's not pediatric cancer or as if pediatric cancer isn't enough we are now giving them kovid and i said we are giving them coving we are giving them kovi asa was an adult he wasn't a child he was in his 39th year as king when he began feeling unwell asa i'm not sure because the bible doesn't tell us but i was thinking to myself maybe he noticed something was a little off maybe a rash maybe mild swelling some discoloration maybe some discomfort in stepping on his feet the first symptoms generally aren't biggies and we are tempted to dismiss them if it's a chest pain and you're from the caribbean you know you're supposed to just drink some hot tea but it could be a heart attack in progress and they're telling you it's gas i grew up all my life thinking every pain around here is gas now i know and i hope you know initial symptoms generally don't jump out at us the lesson is ladies and gentlemen brothers and sisters pay attention to your body medically more than you do cosmetically and if it's your foot the podiatrist should be way ahead of the pedicures because you need help you need an intervention don't disregard signals god you know made us this way we feel dizzy before we fall very often signal we feel nauseous signal that's the genius of god cold sweating precedes that's the genius of god i remember one time i was trying to fight the flu i was passing in the bronx and i just didn't feel like stopping i just did not feel like taking this flu on so i kept pushing pushing pushing went over to the bronx i had meetings i had a you know i just feel i knew it was something coming on and i should have stopped when this thing really got a hold of me i ran up to my doctor in mineola and i said to her you know i was i was trying to fight it off she said mr marx you cannot fight off the flu i felt like a fool you cannot fight off the flu when you have the flu you need to rest and have fluids so since that conversation if i feel it i pull in because i can't win fighting the flu at some point at some point the royal physicians must have been consulted in fact the text says verse 23 his disease was now severe his disease was severe second chronicles 16 23 so this thing progressed and if you could put up that verse to me i'll appreciate it second chronicles 16 23 though his disease was severe stop there and it's hard for you to stop there because you're reading the rest anyhow but his disease was severe but watch this guy the bible says even after the disease had gotten severe in his illness he did not seek help from the lord only from the physicians i don't know what you call that but that's crazy this guy was a believer in yahweh this guy demolished the idols this guy deposed this grandmother who had sponsored asherah worship a canaanite goddess this guy knew who god is this guy was a believer but somehow during his royal illness in this crisis this guy with all the sense and all the knowledge with all the years on the planet the bible says he did not seek the lord only his physicians i told you this guy had a tendency to be self-reliant and in this case it seems like he relied on his physicians it seems like he decided that these men and i'm sure they were men these men in that age women sat down now women are leading not enough yet but he in this situation decided that he was going to talk to his physicians he was going to consult them and he was going to trust them by this stage he probably had gangrene the disease was severe you know the bible doesn't talk about physicians a lot just a few places you'll find the word physician in scripture when jacob died joseph told the physicians in egypt to embalm him his father job called his friends who came by worthless physicians it may not mean they were actually physicians job probably told them y'all are playing like your doctors and you got no sense it could have been that way the verse in jeremiah 8 that asked is there no bomb in gilead also asks is there no physician there well king asa brought out his physicians and they the palace physicians did all they could have done after all he's the king but he did not try the great physician second chronicles 16 12 says he did not seek help from the lord today i came to tell you very simply that's the long way to this point when your moment comes i hope you will consult your physician and also consult the great physician because he's greater than the greatest he's better than the best he's wiser than the wisest jesus the great physician it doesn't mean you can talk to an earthly physician god doesn't have a problem with physicians with human agents he employs and deploys human agents to finish his work around the world but he still stands higher than the highest he stands stronger than the strongest and when dr hostin and the other physicians can't go further he can go further remember he is from everlasting i said everlasting to everlasting he giveth wisdom to us so he knows he does not research he does not read he does not go to school he just knows what a god in exodus chapter 15 verse 26 he said i am god your healer somebody needs to hear that today somebody needs to remember that today somebody will need it tomorrow exodus 15 26 god speaking to you not to the congregation to you he says i am god your healer your healer think of the things god has done think of all the wondrous things the astounding things he has done when he wanted wine in cana he didn't go looking for sugar and color he he just looked it seems one preacher said at the water and the water saw his face the face of its creator and blushed and water became wine in the midst of a storm when able-bodied sea men feared for their lives jesus not a fisherman not a seaman but jesus he is jesus the christ he stood up in the boat and said to the winds and waves peace be still god is in your boat today he is not an abandoning god he is not a forsaken god when all alone you stand i remember sister samuels i met sister samuels at the end of my first year in college my good friend pastor ashton o'neil and i were caught portering dung in la brea trinidad and i went in and as soon as i got in i realized she was 70 adventure she introduced herself to me and she said to me brother marx you see this wardrobe you know many years ago that was i remember all the details it was right near her bed it was a moving moment she said when the cancer pain begins at night this is a rock of ages i hold on to it and pray and pray and pray i never saw her again but i never forgot the intensity of what she shared with me some of you are here today and some of you clearly are not here but you're watching this service today who have those nights those nights of physical pain and nights of mental anguish but you have a god we have a god i went to visit my doctor last year and she said to me just out of the clear blue she said you know this is my last visit with you man i love my doctor she kept me on my toes and she said you know i'm leaving the practice after like 18 years you're doing that to me i felt so down she said i'm going to give you a good doctor new doctor i met him a couple of weeks ago seems all right and watch and see how that goes but i told myself the other day i said you got to get over her and that wasn't a crush i meant i just said you gotta get over her she's gone you gotta you gotta deal with this guy and he seems quite personable he called me a couple of days ago and talk told me about my numbers i'd done my check my tests i'm only telling you that to tell you get yourself up and go get your checks because i don't want no funeral with you in the casket that's reckless to the men who are here over 40 get your psa check trusty you know people stop dying of prostate cancer yeah people stop dying of prostate cancer except people who don't go get checked it's not like breast cancer i have a friend who is a big time surgeon he told me about that he said people are supposed to die of prostate cancer it is the slowest move in cancer in the body but if you just want to walk around the world five six years you know so come on brothers do i have a witness do i have a amen amen i know terrifying this thing is but let's live man let's go on and worship god and live inhale exhale live he said i am god you're healer when you don't raise your hand when you don't testify when you don't ask for prayer he is still god your healer you just tell the pastor and if you add i don't want you to tell the church he will not tell the church i'm talking for me you don't have to carry all of life's burdens by yourself i always ask can i tell the elders not yet pastor or go ahead you don't have to walk alone it's keeping you up at night you need to talk to somebody if you're waking up thinking just thinking reach trust somebody there are good confidential people still left in this world today i'm sorry some people disappointed some of us they let us down i know what you're talking about i know what you're talking about people betrayed my confidence so i'm not here in some unique situation i've shared things with people and they have reported but they're good people left in this world you don't have to carry all of life's crosses alone i remember i got in trouble in another church i told the parents if your teenage child tells me something and says don't tell my parents i told the parents you will never know they were so livid these caribbean people that went straight over the cuckoo's nest they don't understand what i'm talking about your 15 year old says don't tell my mother i got no right telling you period when i tell you and you go home and act up she's done telling anybody and maybe we have a casket i promise them to assure them if she says she's contemplating suicide or she's thinking of killing you in your sleep i'll let you know those two i'll let you know other than that i will work with her but beside me beyond ministers and counselors and physicians and aunties and grandparents besides all of us there is god he says i am god your healer you know what it is to have a god to have a god a great god a big god a good god a wise god he said i am god and then on top of that he says your healer gracious father bring us back to center center center we go off to the right the far right the far left bring us back to center i pray for those who are carrying heavy burdens this afternoon and it's not all cancer but the concerns are real the burdens are heavy help them jesus in this moment of prayer to extend their arm of faith and turn things over to you help me to do it myself and stop stressing myself [Music] about all the things that i probably can't fix but to trust in god [Music] and let him lead me into green pastures forgive our doubting forgive our fears and anxieties you know our humanity give us faith for today and hope for tomorrow anoint our heads with oil healing oil and direct our past we pray with thanksgiving let the church say amen sister kathleen please sing for us this song is a dedication a dedication so don't go away if you're online hold on this is a dedication sister kathleen probably will talk about it i asked her to do something and dedicate it to those of you who are battling today babbling god bless you as you sing [Music] they heard god said have you considered my servant he has been faithful [Music] job lost his head job's cries could be heard from the ashes where he lay [Music] is [Music] is [Music] it could be a week a month or maybe two the cancer had spread we'll find its way [Music] as tears fill his eyes [Music] i will trust in him [Music] is [Music] i am sure [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] my hope is in the lord if that's where you're placing your hope this afternoon raise your hand where you are god bless you keep faith keep hold god bless you let the words of our mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in thy sight o lord our strength and our redeemer amen the praise team would lose us now in the trifold amen [Music] [Music] he's joining us then ah [Music] you

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Id: KnyH_Vsol0g

Length: 135min 23sec (8123 seconds)

Published: Sat Oct 02 2021