Transcription
Today on John Osteen, the word of God will do you no good until you obey it. Only that scripture that you do actually do will do you any good today. Find out why you are not receiving from God as John Osteen shares on what to do when nothing seems to work. Next [Music]
Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every [Music] creature. This is John Osteen, a ministry fulfilling the Great Commission from Houston. John Osteen has established an international outreach of compassion for suffering people all over the world. His thrust is to all nations, to reach the unreached, the multitudes that need the good news of Jesus Christ. Ladies and gentlemen, John Osteen. Welcome to the program!
I'll tell you, I'm excited about the word of God. I'm always blessed when I get up and know that today is the day that I teach God's people God's precious word. Well, I know you have a Bible. I know you're interested in the word of God, or you wouldn't be viewing the program today. So, get your Bible and get ready to study with us. Let's go live into the service now, where I'm teaching the word of God.
Matthew chapter 7:17. This is a little picture out of the life of Jesus, and it's good to read about his miracles. And when they were come down, come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him and saying, "Now you see, Jesus had been up on the Mount of Transfiguration with Peter, James, and John. Now they're going back down into the valley, and this man comes running up to him, saying, verse 15, 'Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is a lunatic and sore vexed, for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and ofttimes into the water. And I brought him to your disciples, and they could not cure him.'" Then Jesus answered and said, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? Bring him hither to me." And Jesus rebuked the devil, and he departed out of him, and the child was cured from that very hour. Could I have an amen? Amen! Then came the disciples to Jesus apart and said, "Why could not we cast him out?" And Jesus said unto him, "Because of your unbelief."
Now, look up here just a moment. I want to teach you the word of God. Now, here is the picture: Jesus is up on the Mount of Transfiguration with Peter, James, and John. And there, the glory of God comes down. The glory of God is present. Moses and Elijah appear to them, and uh, and they're having a wonderful time experiencing the glory of God. But you know, after all this is over, they come down into the valley. Now, down in the valley is a father with a son full of the devil. Now, that was a real daddy and a real son and a real situation. Now, you see these uh, these disciples, they were doing their very best, and yet they were experiencing failure. This man got the very best deliverance preachers of that day to pray for his son, and he didn't get any help. They no doubt laid hands on him, they anointed him with oil, they cast out, they put in, they pulled him aside, they tried this, they tried that, and the boy was still in the same position and the same condition that he was when they started. They seemed to have absolutely no power. Everything was getting blacker and blacker and worse and worse, and defeat was everywhere, and they were in a terrible mess. How many of you have ever been there when it looks like God had gone on a vacation and you couldn't get him to hear you? Lift up your hand. I want to talk to you today about what to do when nothing seems to work. Have you been there when you've anointed with oil, you've laid hands on people, you've prayed, you've asked God, and nothing seems to work? How many of you have ever found yourself in a position where you it looked like you tried everything and nothing was working? Say amen. Amen! What about you viewing today? What about you? You tried everything, you've done this, you've done that. What about you folks here? You've done everything. How many of you have dreams that are not fulfilled? Say amen. Amen! How many of you believe in God for things that haven't showed up yet? Say hallelujah. Hallelujah! Well, I'm talking to you. You know, many times we just say, "Well, I've done this and I've done that, and I've done this and I've done that. Now, why is God not answering me?" What to do when nothing seems to work.
You know, one time I bought a new car. First of all, I'll tell you how I got that car. I went into a Chrysler place back down, years ago, when an Imperial Chrysler was really a luxury automobile. Now, you understand, I just drove an ordinary car. We raised our children driving station wagons, and uh, but I went in there and I uh, I saw this Imperial automobile. It was worth a fortune back in those days, and it wouldn't sound like much today. But something came into me that that car belonged to me. Now, it's dangerous when a Holy Ghost person has that kind of a feeling, but somehow I just knew that was my car. But no way could I ever even think about buying that car. And yet, I told Brother Bell, I said, "Brother Bell, let's walk around this car. I want to claim it in the name of Jesus. I'm going to preach the gospel in this car." I'll tell you folks, when a when a Holy Ghost person walks around something in Jesus' name, watch out! So I went to this Jewish man and I asked him how much he would take for that car. And he said, "Oh my!" He he just gave a fantastically big figure. It was out of my range, 10,000 miles. And so I I just said to him, I said, "Well, I can't pay that much, but you're not going to sell it." He looked kind of strange. He said, "Why am I not going to sell it?" I said, "Because it belongs to me. I'm going to preach Jesus in it." Now, you understand, he's a Jew. I said, "I am going to put my books and tapes and all my paraphernalia in that car, and I'm going to drive down the highway and I'm going to preach about Jesus in it. You can't sell it." Well, he thought I was crazy. So we went out and he went on about his business, and I came back in about six months, and there my beautiful blue Imperial car sat. So I went in, I said, "How much will you take for it?" He said, "Well, I'll take so much." He came down a little bit, you know, but it still wasn't in my range. And so I had an old station wagon, and so I said, "Well, no, I I can't pay that, but you can't sell it. I said, "I'll be back later. You can't sell it." Well, I came back at the end of the year. This beautiful car was still sitting there, sitting there. And so I I went in, I said, "I see my car still here." [Music] And he he got me in his office. He said, "How much would you give me for it?" And I started to say $1,300 and my old car. And Brother Bell was behind him, and Brother Bell went like this: "1100!" I said, "$1,100 and my car." Now, that's I mean, God doesn't want us to steal, but that was a steal. And so when I said $1,100 and my car, he said, "Get it and get get out of [Music] here!" In later years, about two years later, I came back in there to buy another car, and he saw me coming. He said, "Hold it, hold it!" He called his sales manager over. He said, "Look, I don't want to go through this with this fellow again." He said, "Whatever he wants, let him have it." But now you see, I took my new car. Car, I mean, it was a doozy. You know what a doozy is? I mean, it was I was Uptown. I mean, it was it was so beautiful. I'm driving down just about a mile from my house on a lonely little road going out to the freeway, and that rascal stopped dead as a doornail. I mean, it stopped, S.T.O.P.P.E.D.! It wouldn't budge right in the middle of the road. I turned the key, nothing happened. I opened the doors, nothing happened. Nothing would happen. I mean, it was dead. I mean, so dead, you ought to bury it. Now, you see, I could have said, I could have said, "Well, you know, uh, Imperial automobiles work for other people, but they just don't work for me. I see them going up and down. Everybody gets cars to work, but me. They're just not made to work for me." You see, I could have taken that attitude. "Well, you see, everybody else gets it to work, but it just won't work for me." What I mean is, everybody else gets healed, but it don't work for me. Everybody else gets a miracle, it just won't work for me. Everybody else gets a baptism in the Holy Ghost, it just won't work for me. Everybody else gets financially blessed, it won't just just won't work for me. You see, there I am with a car that won't work. I could have taken that attitude. But I knew that somebody who knew more than I could find out what was wrong with that automobile. So I got a hold of a good mechanic, and he he came down, and you know what he did? He started looking for loose connections. Everybody shout, "Loose connections!" Loose connection! Shout it out, "Loose con!" That's what I'm talking about today: what to do when nothing seems to work. Shout, "Loose connections!" Loose connection! Now, you see, I didn't take that automobile and get somebody to tow it off and throw it in the river. Why? No, perfectly good automobile. It will work if I can just find the loose connection somewhere. Power is not getting to that automobile. I want to tell you, God's still alive. Jesus is still alive. The Holy Ghost is still working, and trouble is not with God. You got a loose [Music] connection. So that that mechanic just got to fool around in there, found a little wire off, a loose connection, connected it up, and I was gone. I mean to tell you, that's better than throwing the car away. I tell you, God wants me to be your mechanic today, your spiritual mechanic, to help you find some loose connections. How many of you want to find some loose connections?
Well, what shall we do when nothing seems to work? I'm going to give you seven things to do. I'm going to give them to you very rapidly, so you're going to have to take them down. And you folks viewing, I want you to take them down, and then you study them through. And the main thing is to obey what God wants you to obey here. Number one: if you're doing everything that you know to do and you're not getting healed, you're not getting delivered, you're not getting blessed, what shall you do? Number one, check up on your own life. Check up on your own life. Actually, many of you viewing are facing a situation that you'll die early unless God does something for you. You have no option. You've got to find a connection that'll connect you with God. Number one, check up on your own life. The first thing I do when I get in trouble physically or financially or in any other area, I draw a circle around myself and say, "God, oh, the inside of this circle may be the main problem. Would you look into my life and help me to know what I'm doing wrong or what's happening in my own life?" You know, many people, they they just expect God to answer no matter how they live. God wants us to live consecrated, dedicated, separated lives. God's not going to heal you to serve the devil and drink your booze and go out and live immoral. God's not going to heal you to go out under and live for the devil. Check up on your own life. Why do you want your blessing? Why do you want what God's going to give you? Why are you asking God to do what are you going to do with it after God gives it to you? We ought to check up on our own life. Are we living right? Are we doing right? Are we living apart from the world? Are we separated? Are we consecrated? Are we dedicated to God? Check up on your own life.
Number two, check on your promises. Check on your promises. You see, some of you may not even have a definite promise that promises you what you're asking God for. Open the Bible, check it to see if there's anything in the Bible that says that you ought to have that. And just, in other words, just take and say, "God, I'm just going to check up and see if I'm right. Did you say this? Oh yes, here it is. It said, 'He healed all that were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying, "He himself took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses."'" There's my promise, Lord, you took my sicknesses. Read the promises on prosperity. Get the promises. Check up on them. Be sure you read them right. Be sure you got a promise. Be sure that you read it right, and then hold that promise up to God. Are you out there?
Number three, check up on your confession. You know, many times, as I preached the other day, we become our own worst enemy. We talk about, you know, uh, God, God's going to do this and that for, and then we go out and our confession is just the opposite of what God's word says. "Well, how are you feeling?" "Well, I tell you, I went to church and they said God was still a Healer, but I tell you, I believe I'm going to die of this thing if something doesn't happen. I just hurt all over." "Well, how how are you getting along financially?" "Well, you know, they say over there in Lakewood Church, you know, that God wants us to prosper, but it sure isn't working for me. I'll tell you, my daddy was poor, my granddaddy was poor, and I guess just guess I was born to poverty. It'll never be the same." You see, you better check up on your confession. "Well, how are you getting along with your husband?" "Oh, I tell you, God knows that I got the blast rotten apple in the barrel. I tell you, he'll never mount to anything." You say, "Where'd you ever hear this, Dodie?" No, Dodie talks good about me. I tell you, I I tell you, if she does not hit her ah head with the Bible, I told her I was going to hit her with the my book, "The Divine Flow of Love," one day. But you know, you need to check up on what you're saying, what is coming out of your mouth. If all you got is a bad report, if all you got is a negative report, if all you got is is saying something against what the word of God says, that's your loose connection. Are y'all out there?
And then, check up on the arena in which you're fighting. Oh, you say, "What does that mean?" Well, you see, there are two arenas the devil can fight you in. One is the arena of reason, and the other is the arena of faith. Now, if he can ever get you over in the arena of reason, he'll whip you. Now, the arena of reason says, "My body hurts, so I'm sick." The arena of reason says, "The doctor says I'm going to die, so I've got to die." You see, if Dodie had ever gotten over in the arena of reason, everything about her body, everything about the doctor's report, everything about uh, the symptoms, everything that her carnal mind could take in, said, "You're going to die, you're going to die, you're going to die of cancer. There's no way out." But Dodie got out of the arena of reason and got over into the arena of faith, and she just said, "God's word says by his stripes I'm healed." You see, you can whip the devil every time if you'll get over here and just stand on the word of God in the arena of faith. Check up on where you're fighting.
Number, number what? Number five. If if everything's not working for you, check up on your fellowship, where you're having fellowship. Thank you for your enthusiasm. Do you know, people visit our church, and I'm glad they visit. I'm glad you folks are viewing today. I'm glad that you have tuned in today. But you know, many people come here and they they're going to try this healing, and we pray for them, anoint them with oil, and they go back to a denominational church. And that denominational church church teaches them, "Stay away from churches like Lakewood. God doesn't heal today. It's not the will of God for you to be well. Speaking in tongues is of the devil." You know, that's strange. I served the devil for many years, and he never did let me speak in tongues. Never did. Amen! Right before I was saved, I was in the nightclubs. I was around sinners that cursed and lied and drank, and just a whole atmosphere, hellish. And not one of them said, "Hold it, I'm going to talk in tongues a while." Another one, "No!" I tell you folks, it's not the devil that gives you power to speak in tongues. It's the power of the Holy [Music] Ghost. If you're going to fellowship and give your money to support denominational ideas that deny the power of God, and fellowship with people that teach you that healing is not for today, and miracles are not for today, and the blessings of God are not for today, friends, there's no wonder you've got loose connections. You're not going to get anything from God going in that kind of an atmosphere. What's your fellowship? Check up on the fellowship where you get taught the word of God. I'll tell you, in this dark generation, I would advise everyone to find a church that teaches the Full Gospel and teaches the redemptive truths of Jesus Christ. And this is what we encourage you to do: get where you can hear the word of God and not be filled with unbelief, but be filled with faith. Amen! Amen!
Number six, check your obedience to God's word. I'll look up here just a minute. To obey is better than sacrifice. To obey is better than sacrifice. Amen! The word of God will do you no good until you obey it. Only that scripture that you do actually do will do you any good. Amen! Well, for instance, the Bible says, "Resist the devil, and he'll flee from you." Are you obeying that scripture? See, that's what I'm talking about. Check up on your obedience. Or are you saying, "Oh God, oh God, you know, I need help. Oh God, get the devil off of me. Oh God, get these demons off. Oh God, you know, I need your help. Oh God, help me, Brother So-and-So. Help me, Sister So-and-So. Help me, oh, help me somebody!" Is that what you're doing? God said, "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." Are you obeying that scripture? I like to get on the scripture Jesus said, "When you stand praying, forgive if you have ought against any, that your heavenly Father may forgive you. For if you do not forgive, neither will your heavenly Father forgive you." That's a powerful statement Jesus made. When you stand praying, you notice you don't have to to kneel down to pray. When you stand, pray, do what? Forgive if anybody has ought against you. Are you them? Because if you don't, your heavenly Father cannot forgive you. Hallelujah! And if you don't get forgiveness, you can't have a flow of God's power coming into your life. I'm convinced of this, that if all of us would forgive people, 60% of our sicknesses would disappear from our bodies. Are we obeying the word? Check up on your obedience. Why won't your life get blessings from God? Why aren't you getting something to work for you?
Well, check up on your life, check up on your promises, check up on your confession, check up on the arena you're fighting in, check up on your fellowship, check up on your obedience. And then, last of all, check up on your praise. Check up on your praise. You know what praise is? Praise is faith at work. Are you listening to me? I can't hear you. Check up on your praise. Do you have any kind of praise? Do you have any kind of a praise life? Praise is faith at work. Have you ever dared to stand in the face of unanswered questions and just praise God for it? "Oh Father, I thank you that I live and not die. I thank you, Father, that my family's together. I thank you, Father, my finances are are blessed. I thank you, Father, I'm blessed going in and I'm blessed going out. I thank you, Father, that all is well. I praise you, Father, I'm strong. I praise you, Father, I can see good. I praise you, Father, I can walk good. I praise you, Father, that I have victory in every area of my life. I praise you for it. Amen!" You see, you have to do that when the rain is falling, when the storm is raging, when the water is rising, when all things look bad. Just stand in the face of it and praise God simply because his word says so. Amen! Do you know Jesus praised God before Lazarus was raised? Did you know that? He stood in the face of that grave before Lazarus ever came out of it, and he said, "Father, I want to thank you that you've heard me." Hallelujah! That was before Lazarus was raised. Can you praise God before you see your answer? Do you know Joshua shouted before the walls fell down? Are y'all out there? I mean, the walls were still there. They shouted with a voice of triumph before the walls fell down. When they shouted, the walls fell down. Amen! Did you know Abraham praised God? It says he became strong in praise before Isaac was ever born. Actually, Abraham praised God for 25 years, walking around saying, "I thank you, Father, for my Isaac. I thank you, Father, for my boy. I thank you, Father, I've got a child." Oh, the devil says, "Sarah's too old!" And he just went on saying, "I praise you, Father, in the face of Sarah's body, in the face of my body, in the face of every contrary evidence. I praise you. You cannot lie. Isaac will be here. My child is here. The heir is coming in the name of the Lord God Almighty. I praise you for it!" And that praise brought him on the scene. [Applause] [Music]
Amen! Oh, there are those who are up on the valley, up on the mountaintop, not in the valley. They're up there with the glory of God. Oh, how they shout and how they praise God! But most of humanity is in the valley. Amen! Struggling, preachers have failed them. Nothing seems to happen when others seem to encourage them and try to help their faith. They're down in the valley when nothing seems to work, like this man with that demon-possessed child. But thank God, that doesn't mean the story ends there. Look, coming down the mountain, it's Jesus, filled with the glory of God. He's coming into that valley, and he's coming into your valley today, and he's coming into your valley today. And he's showing you where your loose connections are. If you'll obey him, and if you will check up on these things and get with it, God will begin to do things in your life that will startle and amaze you, and your dreams will come true because he wants the word to work for you. Give the Lord a hand clap, would you? [Music] Oh.