Transcription
[Music] Brother Jeff Arnold, we love you. Come, say what the Lord has spoken to [Music] you. Praise God! Praise God! Directing your attention to the word of the Lord, Genesis 15. Acts chapter 2. Thank you, brother Bustard. Yes, thank you for courage. When I was a honky-tonker and a gambler and a pool shooter and a card shark, we had a saying among us gamblers: "No guts, no blue chips." That went right past all you sanctified [Music] [Applause] folks. You got Genesis 15. I was going to say all those nice things, but they've all been said. Genesis 15, beginning please with verse 12. And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, shall serve them, and they shall afflict them four hundred years. And also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. Thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again. Yeah, okay, okay. Acts chapter 2. I got more notes than you got time. Give us minutes. Acts chap 2:22. Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible, would you say that with me? It was not possible that he should be holden of it. But David speaketh concerning him, I forsa the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved. Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. It wasn't possible, but hell gave it a good shot. Yeah, it just ain't impossible. Hell can't hold me. You got it. You got it. I'm going to preach for a little while tonight on the subject: "I Will Not Die in My [Applause] [Music] Dilemma." No, you didn't hear me. I'm going to try to send you home with, but I think God quickened my heart. I will not die. That's good. In my dilemma. Okay. Why? Because my destiny is greater than my disaster. Jesus, thanks for coming. Thanks for manifesting Your presence. Thanks for the grand sermons and messages and gifts of the Spirit that have operated in mighty waves of Your power. Thank you for these great people, Lord. You know better than I do. I have no business up here. I need to be someplace else. I'm grateful for the people that You've let walk into my life that have loved me and prayed for me. Thank you for my home church and my home family that are fasting and praying for me. Help me now, Lord, to say something worth listening to in the wonderful name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I pray. And everybody said, Amen. Now, wait a minute. Before you're seated, I want you to turn and look at somebody and say, "Now, it ain't possible for me to stay quiet." Stand by what I know. I know. So give me some room, Bubba. Come on, you can be see. Need it. I will not die in my dilemma. You don't want to know why? Because my dilemma was divinely fixed. Now, you didn't hear me. You just pull my whatever thing. Pull when I'm finished, 'cause I ain't never going to get done, but I'm going to help somebody here. You got to stop giving the devil all the credit for your [Applause] fiasco. Hell ain't in charge of you. Hell ain't in charge of no child of God. Hell ain't charge of your destiny. You've got a destiny that comes from the Throne of Glory. And all God's going to do is let some disaster and disappointment and setbacks just purify your spirit so that you end up where God wants you to go. Oh, you're not hearing me. We are on our way somewhere, folks. We are on our way to the wealthy place. Well, I'm going to try it one more time. I, I should have used my other subtitle. Turn and look at someone and say, "I'm in hell right now, but I'm not staying." Not the scripture says, "Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell." The devil didn't take Jesus to hell. Hell, his destiny took him to hell. But his destiny was so powerful that it could override death. It can override demons. It can override disaster. He said, "I may be down, but I'm coming out of this." Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell. No, you're not hearing me yet. He, he, he led me to hell, but, but he ain't going to leave me in hell. Well, I'll try again. The devil is a liar. He's going to try to tell you that he can keep you. The dirt bag doesn't even have the keys to his own house. He's not going to keep you in hell. He ain't got the power to keep you in hell. I, I don't mean to mess with you. Yeah, I'm sorry. Yes, I do. I mean to mess with you. Look at someone next to you and say, "In spite of what you see, what you see, I'm coming out of this." I said, "I'm coming out of this." I won't be in this disaster much longer because I got a resurrection baptism inside of me. I'm not going to stay down forever. My destiny is calling. Now, now, you can be seated. Now, I've heard all you precious, brilliant men, and you blew my socks off, and I want to mail my card in and get an honest job. But I, but I tell you, I am hell's biggest headache tonight. Oh, yes, I am. That dirt bag has punched me and slapped me and spit on me and kicked me. Here I am because there's more to me than money. There's more to me than winning. There's more to me than church folks. Hey, if God lets hell strip you, will there be anything [Applause] left? God may let him strip you, but if you got anything, he can't stop you. No, no, no. I'm going, I'm going to parade my stuff tonight. That sucker's been beating up on me for about 18 months. I'm the first member in my family has ever become a millionaire in reverse. I owe enough money right now, I'm going to have to be reincarnated as a banker. You hear me? And I know what it is to be afraid, and I know what it is to be anxious, and I know what it is to have my back up against the wall. I know what it is to run out of options. But that's what God wants to happen to us. So you run out of options and you run to the omnipotent One, because as long as you've got an option, you're going to credit yourself as being your own savior. Can I preach a while here? Just, just sit down just a minute. You see, that's our problem. We got enough money to pay the bills. We got enough sermons to get by. We got enough folks to make some music and noise. But God's want to take this church, this whole conference has been about taking us to a new level, to another dimension. But guess what? The higher you go, the less stuff you have to drag. Oh, you know, see, you folks got a condominium at the bottom of the mountain. You don't understand what I'm saying. You ain't got to take a lot of stuff. You think you got to take. The higher you want to climb, the more you've got to drip down for the journey, because God doesn't need our stuff. He wants us. You, you, you see. Now, just write me off. I need therapy. I need therapy. I do. I need therapy. Not psychological therapy. I wouldn't let some unregenerated bimbo take a walk through my [Applause] mind. You're going to let somebody who lives in darkness try to walk through a head full of light? I'm not going to let no psychoanalyst psychoanalyze me. I'll let God take a walk through my head. Let Him throw out what I don't need. Let Him clean out anything I don't need. Friend, you got to be, you got to get to a place where you're not afraid to be naked and transparent and open with God and let Him just walk through your soul and let Him discern what's good and what's bad. We want to go, but we want to take our stuff with [Applause] us. You, and you be seated. I don't know what time I started. I don't have my watch. I'm just going to try. Now, now, now, wait a minute. You got to understand something. Our problem and our frustration flows from what we know about God. If we didn't know all that we know about God, when He lets all the hell and chaos keep going, it wouldn't bother us half as much. I'm not bothered so much when I got pain in my body if I didn't know He was a [Applause] Healer. I wouldn't be frustrated like I get sometimes, except for the fact that I know that He's a very present help in the time of trouble. I wouldn't have a corner of rest in my spirit every once in a while, except for the fact that I know that He knows where I am and He could fix it. And the fact that He chooses not to fix it frustrates my faith sometimes. God is so awesome. He could walk. You don't want to let Jesus go in the graveyard. Every time He walked in, He had a resurrection. Now, you, you didn't hear me. There's hope for you, bud. He goes by anything that's dead and makes it come alive. He's got so much power in His mouth. Listen to me. He's got so much power in His mouth. All He's got to do is open His mouth, and it becomes what He says. Said, "It is impossible for God to lie." That doesn't mean He couldn't tell something that wasn't right. Listen to me. I'll mess with your theology. It means that He's got so much power that if He says it, and it's not, that when He said it, by the time it clears His lips, it is. Are you not hearing me? We are the righteousness of God. It has nothing to do with what you feel like and how your performance has been and whether you've had a bad day. I am the temple of God. I am the house of God. I, I am the body of Christ. So you got to pick up. You are what God says you are. Said, "I'm more than a conqueror." How come I feel foo hooves all over my face? I'll find you. Yeah, see, we can blow and go or we want to, but, well, I'm this and I'm that, and the devil goes kung fu. You just name it and claim it and blab it and grab it and quote a few more scriptures, and you, you cha-cha all over your chest. You're more than a conqueror, huh? Well, take that sucker there. How that there? You go, dirt bag. Yeah. Poof. And it just kicks you and stomps on you, and you keep grabbing scriptures out of the air and just holding on to them and holding on to them, and you're bleeding and you're wounded and you're alone. Listen, you may feel alone, but you've never been abandoned. All right. You didn't hear me. God has not turned His back on you. Do not read into the silence of God the absence of God. God does not leave us just 'cause He stops talking for a few days. Am I preaching good [Music] yet? You see, sit down. You see, uh, sometimes when you're in trouble and you're in pain, you're filled with anxious stuff and frustrations. You cry out, "Well, why haven't You delivered me?" See, my faith gets frustrated because I know of what He can do. And when He doesn't do what I know He can do, I'm trying to find out, maybe He's ticked off at me, or I did something wrong, or I turned off the wrong super-spiritual highway on the wrong exit, or I tried to do something for Him and everything blew up in my face. Oh, God. Now, all you folks that's had stuff blow up in your face, you just look straight ahead and don't blow your cover. But I'm going to tell you something, Bubba. I've had enough hell for my, for me, in this whole conference this last year. You hear me? I'm bleeding. I don't have the answers. I don't know how it's going to work. I don't know how God's going to fix it. But I'm still here. And I don't know when God chooses the time, but I'm here to tell everybody under the sound of my voice, I'm coming out of this. I will not die in my dilemma. I will not die in my disaster. See, see, see, we just have a problem. We just have a problem 'cause we know right now, God could. I know I owe a million dollars, a million dollars. And God could. He don't need to print money. My dad's so awesome, He makes gold. And He could right now just go. In fact, He zapped the Pharaoh and all those wackos in Egypt and let all those that free labor go. And then when they left, He turned around and said, "Listen, give him some stuff for the journey." And I know you're trying to inspire me, but some of you cats that tell me about all the money you got, stop telling me that. Yeah, somebody told this sinner lady, and she gave us $30,000. Somebody told this guy, gave me 50. I know you're trying to build my faith. Every time you tell me that, I go, "Come, come by here, Lord. It's old Jeffrey standing in need of a pile of [Applause] [Music] gold." And see, I get frustrated 'cause I know He could snap His fingers and fix every marriage in our church. He could get every kid off drugs. He could put morals back in the people. He can kill all the insurrections in my assembly like that. He can walk in and just open it up. Goodbye, Cor. Now, you just smile, laugh like you don't think that, and it frustrates me why He doesn't use His power when I need it, because somehow God says, "You need more than deliverance, Bubba." And that's the curse of my church. They think I'm a giant escape route. I am not an escape for reality. I am not an escape and an emancipation from problems. I'm going to bless them in their trouble. I'm going to anoint them in their problems. I'm going to use their adversity to help them advance into the things of God. He told Abraham, "You're going down, and they're going to afflict [Music] you." You know how God could go right now and just go, and your church could grow? But you, you'd pose for a picture and take the credit. I don't want to hurt you people. And I thank God for your sister Tenny and the wonderful work God's used you about. And I don't want to mess up any of your, you know, nifty stories and all that stuff. But, but let me tell you a little Bible here. Contrary to what we preach and teach all the time, in Acts 12, how the church was praying and agonizing before God, and that prayer meeting got him out. That is not the truth. That has never been the truth. It preaches good. It sounds good. We can sell tapes over it. But that ain't the truth. The dude got delivered because his destiny said, "You got to come [Applause] out." I'm not saying that God didn't use prayer to open a door and let an angel be dispatched. But long before that preacher ever got his carcass handcuffed in a jail, Jesus had said, "When you're old..." You got to hear me. All I'm trying to give you tonight is just a word from God, because if you can get a word from God, it can so orchestrate your destiny that devils can't stop it, demons can't stop it, disease can't stop it, church splits can't stop it. You need to be locked into your destiny and stop paying attention to your dilemma. He said, "When thou art old..." Uh, he wasn't old. That just happened a few months before. He felt his head and his arms and looked to see. He had a mirror. Look, I ain't old. I might as well get a good night's sleep. Me? Is God going to stay up all night? You folks stay up all night. You must think God fell asleep. He that keeps Israel never slumbers nor sleeps. Well, if He's staying up, why are you worried? Uh-oh. I'm going to get hurt in friendly fire here. He told us. See, here's what our problem is. We can't hardly grasp God's ways or His greatness, and therefore it frustrates our faith, and we're so easily shaken by situations and setbacks. See, God would have us to understand purpose, and then problem wouldn't drive us crazy. Boy, H. Is there anybody from the English-speaking people here? Let me try it again. Watch Romans 8. We know. Let me get over here in the cheap seats. We know that all things work together for the good to them who are the called according to the purpose of God. Hallelujah. So the purpose supersedes the problem. And if you know the purpose, the problem cannot rape your faith. It, that cannot steal your vision. It cannot kill your hope. If you know that the purpose of God was in place before, before the problem [Applause] arrived. You see, hell's after something tonight, and so is heaven. Hell's after your faith, and and heaven's after your testimony. But you don't want to go through the test, and that's what it takes to have a testimony. I'm going to try it again. Rejoice not against me, oh my enemy, for when I fall, not if I fall, when I fall, not if I fall, when I fall, I shall arise. And not if, when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be my light. Would you turn and look at someone again, please? You're making me nervous. Say, "I'm coming out of this." Said, "I'm coming out of this." Said, "I got more stuff in me than against me." "I'm coming out of this." You see, I need the hell, and I need the pressure, and I need the chaos, and I need the affliction, and I need the adversity. Why? So that I can become great. Oh, try it again. Sit down. I was going to preach a long time. I'm, I'm going home. You hear me? This is scary. See, see, you want to kid in bugaloo and have all this great preaching, just run back, take all the programs, tapes, and just. But you don't want no devil saying, "And then when he slaps you," and you turn around and say, "Why would God let him do that?" Let me help you with it. 'Cause he works for God. That's right. That's right. No, you didn't hear me. He's a puppet on a string. He's not the Majesty. He's an ex-employee who got fired for nonperformance. Are you hearing me? He can't come to your house unless God gives him permission. And if God gives him permission, it means the purpose wasn't in place before the problem came around. So no matter how much you're bleeding and how tough it seems to be, strap your shoulders back, put your feet down, and say, "I will not die in my disaster. I will not die in my dilemma. I will come out of this." Am I making sense here? Let me try my subtitle. "My trouble is not [Applause] terminal." I'm going to die. No, you ain't. This thing going to kill me. No, it ain't. If God's ever begun a work in you, according to Philippians 1:6, that He that has begun a good work will will complete it and finish it until the day of Jesus Christ. If you've got any kind of royalty, move it in your carcass. I dare hell to try and stop God's destiny that He's got down for your life. He may mess with you, but He cannot overtake you. He cannot overcome you, for greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. Can I preach a few more [Applause] minutes? I know what I just want to act polite. See, my des- destiny is not disaster. That's kind of one of them pull-off rest areas on the interstate. I pull in and just get beat up. Pull out. That's right. Job said, "I wasn't doing nothing bad, and trouble came." Jeremiah said, "I was minding my own business, and trouble just beat me half to death." We got to get away from this little immunizing Christianity, this little make-believe foolishness that turns around and says, "Once you get in Jesus Christ, it's some kind of cruise ship." You're on a battleship, bud. You ain't on a cruise ship. This ain't our trip to Nassau. We're going to New Jerusalem. And between us and there is the Indians. John Wayne never could get to California without killing a few thousand Indians. You ain't going to get to New Jerusalem without fighting some devils, without fighting some setbacks, without dealing with stuff that God doesn't explain. That's all I'm trying to do. You hear me? No, no weapon formed against you. Didn't say it wouldn't be formed. It just said wouldn't be fulfilled. Oh, no, you're not here. No weapon. See, we don't want to quote that 'cause all the charismatic cowboys quote that. But it was in the Bible before us and them got here. No weapon formed against you. Watch shall prosper. Didn't say it wouldn't smack at you. Wouldn't say it wouldn't trip you once in a while. Didn't say it wouldn't make you discouraged. It just said if it knocked you down, there's a spirit inside you says, "Get back up, Bubba. Fight one more round. You've got resurrection power." Your destiny is not disaster. Your destiny is not defeat. Your destiny is not distraction. Just a few more minutes. I'm doing the best I can. God tells him, He says, "I'm going to send you down to Egypt. I'm going to send you into trouble so I can make you great." Oh, wish I had time. I'd like to preach on that scripture. That, that angel said about the baby Jesus, "And he shall be great." Never said he was great when he got here. Well, that messes with your little Pentecostal theology. The angel said, "He shall be," future tense. What was going to make the man Jesus great? The crud He dealt with. The temptations He overcame. The diseases and the devils He had to deal with. Human failures. He had to mess with religious bigots and biased food rules. He had to overcome. What would make Him great? He wouldn't let that poison get in His spirit. And the trouble that we have, and the terrible temptation, is that we can let that poison get in our spirit, and instead of being better, we become bitter, and we lose the blessings of God. I'm sorry. I, I, I've heard myself preach better. I know, I know. Just, just bear with me just a minute. I'm, I'm nervous in front of big crowds here. You just, no, I'm, I'm trying to help you. Isn't it amazing that Jesus called Judas friend? We'd call him foe, fiend, fiasco, freako, wacko, dirt bag, liar, cheat. Watch this. Ambassador from hell. No, he wasn't. Comes walking, "I'm going to betray Jesus." Oh, I'm going to mess with your minds here. And Judas became the greatest blessing to Jesus' fulfilling of His ministry of any apostle, 'cause you need, and I need, people in our lives who cheat us and lie to us and deceive us and betray us and cut us deeply. Why? They help the crucifying of my flesh, and they let me step into resurrection turf. Resurrection. 'Cause I, there is a place you can step over when you come out of the tomb after you've been crucified, after you've been betrayed, that once you resurrect, the Bible says, "I am He that was dead, and I am alive forevermore." You know how He could say that? He had a testimony. But you can't have a testimony if you don't pass the test. Isn't it funny? You said, "Now, that Simon Peter, his buddy with the keys." He calls him a devil. Calls Judas friend. Why? Let me help you with it. Any bimbo that you meet in this Pentecostal movement that tries to stop you from killing your flesh, he's not your friend. That's a devil trying to save you from entering into a higher ministry. Uh-oh. Uh-oh. When's the last time you and I embraced somebody that sucker-punched us, picked your wallet when you held him? God bless you. [Laughter] [Applause] Brother. Oh, I need somebody to betray me because that betrayal will step me into a level of blessing that I could not get without betrayal. I got somebody in my life that has to cut me so I can bleed like I would never choose to bleed, so that when the wound heals, I have a testimony and said, "I was cut, but I'm whole now. I was hurt, but I'm whole now. I was beat up, but I'm okay now. I was lied on, but I'm okay now. He hurt me bad, but I'm not bitter now. I'm greater than my opponent, but I thank God for my opposition because, oh, because my opposition catapults me into a realm that I cannot get by myself." Am I making sense? Just, just bear with me just a few minutes. I want nobody snoring. Just hold on. Says, "Are you ready to read, Reverend Mike?" You would, sir. I just got the Reverend. Just help me for a few minutes, okay? Yeah. Oh, I have to tell you something. Job said, "No, I'll let you read." No, you don't. That scripture. Job said, in Job 23, "He is of one mind, and I am another, and the things which He desireth, He appointeth unto me." And many such things are with Him. So what you call a cosmic accident is a divine appointment. Listen, the Bible tells very clearly that God is jealous about who gets the credit for His stuff. Stop giving Satan so much credit for stuff. He may use that pawn and puppet to do his policy work, but he didn't do it by himself. He's on a long chain. I have cried myself to sleep this past year. I have been financially raped. I have been humiliated in my city. I've had to go around the businesses with my hat in my hand and apologize for debts I couldn't pay that I didn't incur. We got into a lousy business deal, it all backfired. I'm still paying off the bills. I owe $400,000 of unpaid bills. Now, listen. I'm going to confess. I have no business preaching here. I'm not a good man. I want to be a good man, but I'm not a good man. But I have awakened many a night this past year with sweat running down my face, and my teeth clenched, and my fist tight, and dreaming I would have killed him if I could. I wanted to go to this place where I had these problems and beat the living fire out of that dirt bag. Now, you just go, you just smile 'cause you all got the Holy Ghost, but you're sitting there. When's the last time somebody stole $800,000 from you? When's the last time you've given every dime you have, you have no retirement, you have no savings, you have nothing, you've given it all to this project, and then have men walk up to you and say, "You know, you shouldn't really take care of the ties. You're not a good businessman. You're out of control. You're a whacko." And people leave your church over something you tried to do for God. And knowing all the while that these people that have taken advantage of me are living great, laughing, playing games, lying on me. You just sit there and stare. 'Cause I'm almost done. This is, I won't preach no more this century. But you, you just listen. You just watch me. Take me apart. Go ahead, Reverend Mr. Clean. Just take me apart. That's fine. But I have borderline hate. I spent my life. I spent my life trying to be clean and pure, moral and honest. Spent my 17 years in the church as pastor. I never stole a dime on a dollar. I never took advantage of anybody. I haven't flirted with any women. I haven't had any moral escapades. I just tried to be honest. And the only thing I had for myself was a name. Arnold may be ignorant, he's crude, he's an animal, he's great, but he's honest. And then all of a sudden, this dilemma hits, and I'm agonizing, and I'm saying, "God, God, why? Why? Why?" And then have men walk up to me and say, "Did you pray about this? Are you sure you heard from God? Are you on some ego trip?" And I have to walk to my pulpit with shame on my face and try to encourage people to live for God and do right. And bombs are going off in my spirit, and I'm angry, and I'm hurt, and I'm bleeding, and I'm, and I'm ashamed because I want to retaliate, because I want to clear my good name. And so I go to the church and I fall at the altar and I pray, "Oh God, all I have is my name." And then God says, "Good. Lose it." You said you wanted to be like me. I said, "I do." But see, Martin, mine was walking on the water and casting out devils and healing the sick. But Jesus said, "No. How about being lied on and being called a devil and being misunderstood and being run out of town?" You want to be like me, but you still want to maintain your cute little image. One of them's got to go. And it's taken me almost seven months now. I have no hatred anymore. I have no bitterness. I pray for the people that did this thing. I've asked God to save them, grant them repentance. They've just got diluted, they've got deceived, they made a mistake. But I will not let them hold me hostage. No, I'm not going to die in my dilemma. I'm going to come out of this. I don't know when. I don't know how. But I'm coming out as sure as Israel came out of Egypt. I'm coming out. Tell it. Tell it. Tell it. Not I'm. Please sit. I'm, I'm trying to finish. I'm not, I'm not crying to my root beer elder. We've talked. I've talked with different men here that had things that have happened. I'm not using the pulpit to take a cheap shot at anybody. Cheap Jeep. I was on my way to the plane. Come here. My lawyer called me in the car. Got to talk to you. Preach when you're coming back Friday. Got two more lawsuits. They're trying to foreclose on your building. Getting sued for another $7,000. Another $62,000. Getting sued for another. They put another lean against you. Okay. I'll be back. We really need to take care of it now. I said, "I ain't taking care of it now." I wanted to just jump up and said, "See, but if God is drawn to empty, I'm His target, my friend. If God is drawn to need, I'm." You think I'm kidding? You know God's going to give me a miracle. You know God's going to come to our rescue. You know we're going to have revival. You know we're going to finish our church. You know we're going to be better people for the things that we went through, because trouble and adversity gives you a good photograph of [Applause] yourself. Please be seated. I'm trying to finish here. I'm, I'm sorry. I'm not preaching really good like I wanted to preach. Trying to help somebody here. Listen to me. You would be amazed what kind of puss and vness can come out of you if God squeezes you in the right place. You can say, "I love the Lord, and I don't have no harboring for anybody." You let him steal from you. You let him humiliate you. You let a situation, I don't care who's building a building or buying a car or investing in a stock or having friendship with somebody. You let that thing blow up in your face, and God will reveal an aspect of you to yourself that you had no idea was there. But it wasn't to damn you. It wasn't to condemn you. It was to bring a revelation to you. And I, so that we can get over that, and we can step up a little higher and be more like Jesus. I will not die. I will not die. I, I will not die. I will not. In fact, I'm going to say something else, and I won't go away either, and I ain't going to lay down and play dead either, and I'm going to take this to every pulpit that let me have in Pentecost, and I'm going to tell every pulpit across Pentecost, "You can get the victory." I'm not talking about damning, condemning folks that hurt me. That's their problem. That ain't my problem. But I'm going to tell you what, I'm going to get better because of this. I'm going to get better because of this. I'm going to use this adversity to make an advancement in the apostolic realm. Oh, yes, I am. God could have stopped this. God could have cut this thing off. God could have forewarned me. He didn't do it. Why? Because He's answering my prayer. I want to be great for You. I want to be mighty for You. I want to be used of God. I want to impact my world. You cannot argue with the potter on what thing He does with the clay. I'm, I'm almost there. Few more minutes. I'm almost there. Yeah. Says, "I'm going to make you great while you're in Egypt." Watch what else He says in this verse. He says, "What are you reading, Mike?" "What, what do you got?" Samuel 2. I like it. Read it. Watch this. Listen to this. This is good. "The Lord killeth." Wait a minute. See, that's why we have a problem. Either we're backwards or He is. You missed it. See, He don't play like us. He says, "The only thing I can use is when I first kill it." Now, let me try it again. "In the evening and the morning with the first day." He always works from darkness toward sunrise. And I don't care how terrible the darkness is, there ain't no darkness can stop sunrise. I don't care how horrendous the career is that some of us are climbing through right now, we are moving toward sunrise. Wait a minute. Just bear with me. "The Lord killeth and maketh alive." Okay. He kills first and He makes alive. Reads and out. He, He bringeth down to the grave. Ah, no. "Exalt me." "I'll humble myself and You'll exalt me." God says, "No. You humble yourself too carefully. I notice sometimes when you kneel down, you make sure you don't wrinkle your drawers." No, I'll bring you down. I'll roll you in the spit. Oh, yes, I will. I'll put you down where people start to wonder whether you're even saved. Oh, yeah. I'll give you wounds in the house of your friends. I'll, oh, you just smiling now. You're having fun at my expense, aren't you? He said, "He bringeth down and and He bringeth up." And He brings up. Keep going. "The Lord maketh poor." I'm going to the head of the class. No, no, you're not. Hear we should have shouted just now, 'cause some of you cats thought it was the devil. It wasn't the devil. The purpose. It was my daddy. It wasn't the devil. It was my Father, 'cause He's going to take me to a higher place. But He's got to empty me out to fill me up. He's got to bust me up to fix me up. Can I have a few more minutes? Few more, please. Read for me, Brother Williams. Thank you. "The Lord maketh poor, and He maketh rich." Yeah. Well, now, wait a minute, Michael. He maketh poor, but I have a right to the other side. And He maketh rich. And if the thief be caught stealing from the righteous, the scripture says he must return sevenfold. Watch me next year, Bubba, or the year after. All I know is I got 700% coming my way. If it doesn't come my way, God's lying. And God can't lie. I'm trying to help somebody with some trouble. Don't give the trouble credit to the devil. The devil ain't that smart. Your Daddy's letting the trouble happen so that He can develop you and take you to a higher place. Few more minutes. I'm [Applause] done. Read, sir. "He raiseth up the poor out of the dust." Yeah. "Lifted up the beggar from the dung hill." That's us. "To set them among princes." Oh, my. "And to make them inherit the throne of glory." Oh, my. "For the pillars of the earth are the Lord, and He hath set the world upon them." Oh, that's all I want. Now, I want you to go to the next scripture. I think you got Psalms, uh, 50 or something like that. Listen, this verse 14 and 15. Chapter 15, verse 14. "Offer unto God thanksgiving." Now, watch. "And pay thy vows unto the most High." And call upon me. Now, wait a minute. And's a conjunction joining two thoughts together. You cannot misquote that scripture and try to misuse that principle to get yourself a Mercedes-Benz. It don't work that way. It said, "Offer unto God thanksgiving and pay your vows first, and call upon me." Call upon me in the day of trouble. So that means trouble is sure. You're not a dummy. You're not a substandard saint because you've got trouble. It's divinely orchestrated for our lives because adversity is what produces advancement. Right. Strength comes from struggle. Yeah. Muscles come from resistance. Trouble drives you to God. Comfort drifts you to the devil. Some of you right now, the greatest need in your life is not spiritual gifts. It's not talking in tongues like a Chinese loner. What you need is a good trial. There are many great men and women that have never reached the climax of their greatness for the want of a test or a trial. You see, God is smart enough and great enough that He can cause stuff to come into our lives that you can't control. As long as I could pay those bills, as long as I used the CDs and my investments and my so-called business, whatever I was just going through. But somehow God must have looked at that, said, "Jeffrey, I know you. You think I think you got it together, but I know you better than you. If I let you pay this building off and you come out debt-free, you're going to get your picture taken." And I swore, "No, no, no, no, no, no. Not me. I love You, Jesus. I love You. You're my Daddy. I love You. You're my Papa. I love You. I wouldn't do that to You." And God looked in my heart and said, "Uh, yes, you would. But I'm going to save you from it. Now, it's out of your control. What you're going to do right now, I'm going to get my picture taken, or nobody's picture gets taken." And so now I'm standing naked. I'm busted. I'm broke. I can't fix it. It's out of control. Now I got to see whether I can live in life what I'm talking about in the pulpit. God will make a way where there is no way. God puts them up against the Red Sea, so they're out of options. So God, God's got to show up, or they're going to get killed. See, God wants to put this whole movement into a place where our back is against the wall, so we got nowhere to go but face God. You're still not hearing me. I'm not busting through this barrier yet. You think that somehow it's some kind of financial prowess you have? Oh, no, it's not. You need to just get rid of all your control. You need to get rid of what you think you can fix with your resource and let God come to your rescue so that when you're dancing on the other side of a cross Red Sea, you can say, "The Lord brought us out, and the Lord made a way, and the Lord be praised." And nobody will even remember your name. Few more minutes. And I'm done. Please, please. I'm sorry. Just bear with me. Read for me, Reverend. Said, "I call upon me in the day of trouble." That means God knows you're going to have trouble. "And I will deliver thee." And wait a minute. And God promised you, "I'll get you out of it." Deliver. Now, now, now, wait a minute. You can't have deliverance if you ain't got a disaster. You can't have the miraculous until you're smacked up with a mess. The reason why a lot of us don't have more supernatural in our lives, we got enough natural to take care of it. Whoops. Whoops. But I'll tell you, God's smarter than Jarus. And I don't care what kind of job you got, the temple, Bub. And I don't care how many CDs you got. I tell you what, God's big enough that He can bring something in your family that'll get you out of your comfort zone and bring you to the feet of Christ. And I see that man running down the street and said, "My daughter's dying." Well, take care of it with your money. Take care of it with your investments. Take care of it with your ability. Use your intellectual stuff on it. God, no. God delights to get us out of our comfort zone and take the control away from us until, to finally, He can bring us flat to His feet. And Jesus will never turn anybody away who falls flat to His feet. He said, "I can't fix it." The natural. He said, "That's okay. I'm the Lord of the supernatural. I'll go home with you. Let's go." And He goes back there and He raises that child from the dead. Friend, there's a lot of dead stuff in our life that God would like to raise back up. But we're trying to fix everything by our mental intellect and our ability and our investment. Well, I'm going to say for the last time, God has got to give us a program in this movement where missionaries don't have to go around with their hat in their hand. We got enough money in this movement to finance the whole world. And your faith level and my faith level will never reach where God wants to take us as long as we can fix [Applause] it. Oh, I thank God for all the money you took up today. We should have had 10 times that. Right, right. I don't know anybody in this whole building, Doc, can afford $525 any worse than me. Give Old Uncle Billy $2,000 to him. Go jumping around in Ethiopia someplace again. I got $2,000 like I got polio. I can afford 520. I owe a million dollars. Well, I just signed up. How come you took all my stuff away from me? This is your bill. And when God pays it, I'm not going to get my picture taken. I'm going to stand flat-footed and say, "Look what the Lord has done for our church." And our church is going to grow, and it's going to be blessed because we're going beyond our ability, living in a comfort zone. Five more minutes. Five minutes. Five, okay. Five minutes. He said, "Five minutes." Just read for me, Rev. You mean to finish the other one? Yeah, just that verse. "I will deliver thee." Here it is. "And thou shalt glorify." Now, there it is. That's what God's wanting. You shoot your mouth off when all hell breaks loose, and then after heaven fixes it, you kind of walk around like you did it. And I, on a 10-day fast, and I was caught away in the spirit. I wish he'd catch you away and you wouldn't come back for a couple of years. Getting rid of your ignorant attitude. I thought the Bible said, "It is God who worketh in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure." We couldn't do anything if God didn't start it in us. We couldn't do anything if God didn't give us the power to accomplish it. It's not us. Please, please be seated. He said, "You hear what Brother Williams?" Go to 66. Hear what Brother William said. "For thou, oh God." Wait a minute. No, you're at 66. I'm in chapter 66. Stay right there. He says, "I'm going to deliver you." And in the last part of that verse says, "And thou shalt magnify me." I just said, "I know," but I didn't expose on it. He.
Said, "And thou shalt magnify me." Now, how are you going to glorify and magnify God if you ain't been through a bunch of hell and crud and junk? Right? That's right. When are we going to get rid of this little make-believe Pentecostal testimony stuff? When's the last time you had a real testimony service where people talked about what God delivered them from? You probably wouldn't sit next to some of them guys next service. Sure, we got that little Pentecost: "I thank the Lord, the Lord brought me out of darkness into light. Liv me from trinitarian charismatic stuff, and and I used to smoke and drinking, but I'm here." Walk that, that's your church testimony. Let's hit a nasty one: "I used to be a whoremonger and a child molester and a drunk, and I was a whacko and a thief, and I watch dirty movies and the red girly magazines." Hey, put that man in charge of the children's ministry! You see, you don't want to blow your cover. See, we haven't learned yet to be transparent among the brethren. We still got these shields up. We still got these blocks up. We still hire our little communities and our little groups. We still have our little isolation walls where I can't ever tell you my heart because I'm afraid you're going to spill the beans. The wonder backsliders don't want to hang around us. Be able to walk in and say, "Brother Anthony, you're my friend, and and I trust you, and I've got a problem in my life about whatever this, this, this is, and I know it's embarrassing, and I'm supposed to be some kind of big-time preacher, but I really have a problem with anger or lust or greed or or emotion or something. I don't pray good or something." And I would be able to have him pray for me and lock hands, and then I walk away, and that thing's buried. That thing's buried. That's right. Buried. We're not even, we're not even comfortable to share stuff with people we sit on the pew with. Only to a guarded moment. "Oh, I'm messing. I'm so sorry. I, I just hold." Just sit down a second. I'm, I'm closing for the last time, I hope. Now, you got to hear me. We're, we're on our way somewhere, brother Michael. We really are. Your friendship has meant so much to me. You've been honest with me. You've been a friend to me. Little Ten, you've been such a pal to me. I mean, I just reread this verse: "10, 11, 12. For thou, O God, hast proved us. Yeah, you proved us, Lord. Thou hast tried us, yeah, as silver is tried. Right? Thou broughtest us into the net. Yeah." And I see the net wasn't a devil. It was God. God tripped me and trapped me. Why? Because he wants to work with me. He's just as sick of you and I living at this little Pentecostal level as we are. Read, sir. "Thou latest affliction upon our loy." God did it. "Thou has caused men to ride over our head." You let men take advantage of us. We wait a minute, and we were trying to do it from our heart unto the Lord. There's nothing any more devastating without out of an honest, sincere heart. You try to do something for God, and you get the family of God to bash you. Read. "We went through fire." Here it is. "We went through fire. We went through water, and we went through the water, but thou broughtest us out." Here it is. "Into a wealthy place." That's why we're going through all the hell and the chaos. We're on our way to the wealthy place. But the highway goes through the fire, and the highway goes through the water, and the highway goes through the furnace, and the highway goes through setbacks and disappointments. But you did bring us out into the wealthy place. Oh God, I didn't, didn't get this done. Okay, you sit down one more time. I got it, brother Morton. I thank God for you. I do. Everybody wants to have Samson's fame. Nobody wants to fight the dogs lying. I got people all over Pentecost, young kids. You don't want me for a role model. I'm just a slob. But I get kids all the time say, "How do you get that stuff? How do you, how do you get this? Where did you find it in the Bible? How do you, how do you study? What books do you read?" But, but let me tell you something. You can't have my anointing if you don't fight my devils. No, you didn't hear me. You can't have my gifting in my gracing if you don't fight with stuff that frustrates me. You got to conquer things in your own life. The anointing is expensive, my friend. It takes a crushing. It takes an abandonment. It takes loneliness. It takes a willingness to be misunderstood and maligned and talked about and laughed at. Can't have my anointing. You want to sit on David's throne? Kill Goliath. Well, I wish I had what you had. Or want. Don't you go through some of the hell I went through to get what I got? What do you think we going got this way? Just by coming to these conferences? We're going home tomorrow. We're going to look at all the dirty laundry. We're going to try to figure out how these fantastic messages you guys preach is going to work. This one's got the morals of a roach. This one's had two legitimate kids. This one couldn't tell the truth standing on the Bible looking at Jesus. This one needs a driver's license for a tongue. And I'm going to bring them sermons back and preach them to the people. They're going to go, "Oh, you've been to one of those conferences again where you get all hyped up?" Well, we're going to kill that. Oh, I tell you what, even the adverse condition in your home church is a gift from God. It'll boast to your faith. It'll cause you to desire. It'll make you tenacious in your effort to try and make it happen. Cuz God doesn't love these brethren anymore than he loves you. And what work for them will work for us. Yeah. Okay, stand. Stand up. I'm sorry. I've taken too long. I didn't get to preach. I just, let's sit down one more time. Okay. One, one more time.
Don't curse your situation. Thank God for it, even when you don't understand it. Believe that God has orchestrated this. God has allowed this in your life. Most of you sweet people haven't even seen Patty. You've seen Patty. She used to travel with me for years. That's my wife. Sit down. She's a doll. But I'm going to tell you, talk about someone who never really, I've never seen Patty shout. Now, if that's a citerior, she's lost. I never see a boogaloo and shake and carry on. I see her talking tongues. I see a cry, but I don't, I don't ever see. You know, she's just there. And I'm walking in, I'm this great conference preacher man. I'm walking on my tongue, man. I'm dragging my tail between my legs. I've been hanging sheetrock for 10, 12 hours. I hope they don't have none in New Jerusalem. I've mudded all. I'm going to mud. I was up on the lift a few weeks ago. I've been there 12 hours doing sheetrock. I'm supposed to be a big coa. I'm doing shrock. I'm tired, man. My bib overalls is covered with mud. I'm tired. I'm tired because I'm angry of what's happened to me, and it's draining me. It's not hanging the sheetrock. I'm angry, and it's stripping from me energy because I'm being forced to do something that I paid to have done, and it wasn't done. And I'm angry, and I'm, I'm doing sheetrocking. This bimbo walks in, and I'm up there 40 feet in the air on the lift. I've, I've done sheetrock from that wall all the way over to that wall. Big conference preacher, old Jeffrey Wayne. And this bimbo down under the lift says, "How you doing, brother AR?" "Hey, how you doing, bud?" "Are you sure I've got a lot done?" "Yeah, yeah, I have." "What?" "Here's the one. How much longer till our church is done?" I don't know, but one more remark and you ain't going to be here to see it. And while I was ticked off about it, even God let him come by to deal with my spirit. You hear me? I'm on my way to greatness. I'm on my way to being a better person, a greater preacher, a better individual because of the things I'm having to deal with. They were going out to dinner. That's what he said. He said, "You sit down a second." He said, "He said, well, I, I'd like to help you, Pastor, but me and the wife got to go to dinner." The Lord bless you with polio. Now, you wouldn't say that. You're all saved. But sometimes I battle it on, and I'm walking in 10, 12 hours. I'm tired. I'm ticked. I'm seriously ticked. I ain't got no money. Everybody's calling. My wife has me a stack of things. This one's suing you. This one, you got to be in the court here. You got to go to the judge here. This one's suing you. That one here, $40,000 more unpaid. Oh, Jesus. I'm just. And then I go in with my faith burst out. What's going on here, God? Why you let this happen? Why didn't you stop this? I wish to God I had never started this building. Faith. And little old Patty walks up and says, "Uh, didn't you, you, you've taught our church that God is sovereign and he knows all things and he lives inside of time and outside of time, and he knows the end from the beginning, the things that are not as though they were?" "Yeah," I said, "I know that." She says, "You're acting like a fool. You're acting like an atheist. Yeah, you're acting like the devil's in charge here. Yeah, you told us that he can't do nothing unless God lets him." "I said, that's right." She said, "Well, listen to yourself." Hallu, Apostolic atheist. Oh, I thank God for it. I mean, I just. She don't shout. She don't give messes in tongues. She's just there. "Jeffrey, come on. We got to thank God." "Of course." "You know me." "Thank God for what?" "Because he's going to turn this around." "Oh, Patty, you're talking like a Christian." I just laugh and have all the fun you want to. But a lot of you been sucking your thumb. You're about ready to shoot yourself in the foot spiritually. But I'm here to tell you, the stuff that's happened to you has been ordained of God that you and I might be catapulted into a level in the Holy Ghost that nothing else could take us there with. Okay, stand up here. Stand up. Stand. Stand. I'm just going to close. I ain't done. I ain't near done. I ain't near done. You just. If you want a testimony, you got to have a test. If you want a triumph, you got to have a trial. If you want to overcome, you got to have an obstacle. Listen to me. If you want to be mighty for God, you got to deal with stuff that you can't fix and you can't control. God is trying to take the Pentecostal movement out of their little church comfort zone. I finish with just one little statement. I'm not done. I didn't even preach my sermon. I'm just here to tell you, bubba, God is so awesome. If he puts you into something, he's big and bad enough to get you out of it. He told him, he said, "Look, I'm fixing to bring you out." And buddy, let me tell you, said, "When I bring you out, I'm going to bring you out so fast, you better have your bags packed." Yeah. Yeah. Because he said, "You're coming out on eagle wings. You ain't coming out on a sparrow." When God, and I don't care, boy, I wish I had time. The Bible says that when they got ready to come out, brother Gleason, you know what it says? "There arose another Pharaoh that knew not Joseph." That's where we are right now. There's a new devil. There's a new problem. There's new diseases. There's new craziness that doesn't respect our church, our religion, our doctrine. But I don't care what kind of new something is in your life. When God gets ready to bring you out, he'll just speak a word, and you'll come out so fast. And so my Bible says that if you're going to be victorious, you're going to have to overcome some things. Yeah, brother Foster. You and I going to have to transform our trouble into a testimony. My Bible tells me that Jesus has prepared a city called the New Jerusalem. It's got 12 foundations. It's got 12 gates that are made of pearls. Nobody's life was that great to ever produce a pearl that size. But Jesus Christ himself. Listen carefully. Jesus dealt with the nuisances and the aggravations and the hurts and the lies and the misunderstandings like an oyster does a piece of sand. You got three options. The irritant comes into your life, and you can spend your life trying to flush it out. Some oysters are victorious. Or you can let it stay and let you live an agitated life, always a chip on your shoulder, always recalling some crud that somebody did to you. Or you can secrete nectar, a solution that wraps itself around the irritant with coating after coating after coating until it creates in it a pearl. Now, the pearl is not appreciated by the oyster while it's making it, because the oyster doesn't understand that by transforming its trouble, it has just enhanced its value 100 fold. And when the person who rakes the oyster comes up and opens it and finds a pearl, what the, what the oyster did with the aggravation now brought joy to somebody else. My Bible tells me there are 12 gates of pearl, three for each direction. You know what that means? Because Jesus transformed the trouble in his life, the transformed trouble now become gateways for people to get into the presence of God. If you and I do not transform the trouble that comes into our lives, we'll either let it be a barrier or a blessing. Right? It'll either grid on you or it will become a Gateway. What would happen as we go home if every one of us would make a sincere, spiritual, honest effort to transform the irritations and the out-of-control situations until it became a pearl that would attract the lost? People aren't attracted to your gripe, even if your gripe is validated. But if they can look in our lives and say, "How in the world did you go through that and have that kind of spirit?" And the pearl iridescent attracts them. And you and I, brother Anthony, through struggles and problems, transforming the trouble, we now become a gate of pearl that allows somebody to find the presence of God through what we've become victorious over.