Transcription
Hey, welcome to the Vive Church podcast. I am so glad that you found us. I trust that what God brings into your life today through this word is going to bless you, expand you, and grow you as a result. I pray that God equips you. I pray that God mobilizes you after hearing this word. Enjoy.
Uh, if you are taking notes, the title of my sermon today is "Rob the Grave." Rob the Grave. And I want all of you guys to know that God has called you all to do something. He has called every last one of you to rob the grave. Now, why did God call you to rob the grave? God called you to rob the grave is because the grave wants to rob you. The grave wants to rob you. And the reason why the grave wants to rob you is because you have seed inside of you. You have anointing inside of you. You have purpose inside of you. You have an assignment inside of you. And when the grave robs you, it actually strengthens the grave. The grave gets strengthened when it robs you. That's why Jesus had to take the power and the keys to death, hell, and grave because grave had power. And grave got power by your gifts and anointing being deposited inside of it.
I want you to know something about the grave. The grave is greedy. The grave is greedy and it wants to eat your potential. It wants to eat your capacity and it wants to eat your anointing. But here at Vibe Church this morning, we're going to rob the grave. It will not have my anointing. It will not have my potential. It will not have my calling. It will not have my business and it will not have my Ministry. I'm going to rob the grave.
And every last one of us, we will go to the grave one day. And you will have a tombstone. And the tombstone will have your birth date and your death date. And in between that, there's going to be a hyphen. And that hyphen, that dash, symbolizes your life. And when we look at your hyphen, what will we see? Will we see gifts being unearthed? Will we see potential? Are you going to leave behind something that's going to change the way we do life? Are you going to leave behind technologies, ministries? Are you going to leave behind encouragement that's going to change the world long after you're gone? When we look at your hyphen, what will we see? Because that hyphen represents you. And I want to encourage you with your hyphen. Rob the grave. Be all you've been called to be. Do all God has called you to do. You wasn't called to be ordinary. No, you was called to be extraordinary. You wasn't called to be average. You was called to be exceptional. You wasn't called to be natural. You was called to be supernatural. And God wants you to rob the grave.
And the reason why you can rob the grave is because your God has robbed the grave. When he got up after three days, he robbed the grave. The grave wanted to hold our King. The grave wanted to hold Jesus. But he got back up in resurrection power. He robbed the grave. And because my God robbed the grave, I can rob the grave too. Oh, let's give him a shout of praise on a Sunday morning.
So if you have your Bibles, go to Genesis chapter 2. Genesis chapter 2. We're going to go to verse seven. And it says, "And the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being." So the Bible is saying that when God created us, we were, we were clay. And then the Lord came and he breathed into our nostrils the breath of life. My question for you is, when you live, are you breathing out what God has breathed in? Are you exhaling what God has inhaled inside of you? Because God has given you breath, and you're to use every single breath you got to give God back glory, praise, and honor with the breath he's put inside of you.
And the thing you have to know is this: you have the ability to do something nothing else in creation can do. You have the ability to give God a breathtaking worship because you're the only thing in creation that took God's breath away. So our job is to become all that God has called us to be. And when we become all that God has called us to be, we give God glory.
And when I read this verse, I was really excited about that. That God has blew his breath inside of me. He has given me life. The abundant life. The Zoe kind of life. I was really excited about that part of the verse. But the other kind of part, the other part of the verse was kind of offensive. I didn't like it when I first, first read this verse. And the thing I didn't like about it is that God created us from dirt. God made you from dirt. When you look at the grandeur of the creation, when you look at the Milky Way, when you look at the stars, the galaxies, the planets, the Grand Canyons, the mountains, the trees, the oceans, and all the beautiful elements, and you see all the things that God has at his disposal, sapphire, gold, topaz, and he has all these great elements. Why would he make his prize possession from dirt? Why would he make us from dirt? He could have made us from anything, but he made us from dirt.
And to make you feel a little worse about that, when you go to heaven, there's streets of gold. And you just walk on those. There's gates out of pearls. And they just keep things out and let things enter. There is all types of beautiful elements. The oceans was made out of water. The mountains was made out of rocks. But you were made out of dirt.
In Ezekiel 28, it talks about, it talks about Satan. And it talks about how he was beautiful. And how he had pipes inside of him. And he was made out of every precious stone. He was made out of gold, topaz, sapphire, emerald. He was made out of all these beautiful things. So you mean to tell me that the devil gets to be made out of gold, sapphire, topaz, and all these beautiful things with musical pipes on the inside of him? And then when you get ready to create me, you use dirt? And I was offended by that. And some of you guys was never offended by it. You on Instagram talking about #selfie. You should be saying #dirty cuz you was made from dirt. Like God literally did us dirty.
So I'm like, God, I don't like the fact that we came from dirt. And then the Lord began to speak to me about it. He said, "You will always undermine what you don't understand. You will always reject where you lack revelation." He said, "The reason you're angry to be made from dirt is because you don't understand the power of dirt."
Do you know there is no substance or element on Earth more powerful than dirt? Do you know dirt is the most powerful substance on planet Earth? Okay, prove it to me. I'm gonna prove it to you. Do you know dirt is the only thing on Earth that can create life? Nothing else on Earth can create life, but dirt can create life. If you put a seed inside a goat, nothing happens. You put a seed inside a platinum, nothing happens. You put a, you put a seed on this stage, nothing happens. But the moment you put a seed inside of dirt, dirt taps its potential. Dirt begins to uncover what's on the inside and it gives birth to a harvest. And because you're made out of dirt, now you can have harvest. Now you can be fruitful and multiply. Now you can have children. Everything that can reproduce is made out of dirt. And here's why. Because in Genesis, the Bible says, "Let the Earth bring forth." Only Earth can bring forth. Only dirt can bring forth. Everything that's made of dirt can bring forth. But everything that's not, can't. Goat can't give birth to goat. Oh, but man can give birth to man. Plants can give birth to plants. Fruit can give birth to fruit. Why? Because it was made out of dirt. And God says, "I know you think dirt is lesser, but dirt is really greater. It's greater than anything else."
And in translation, God said, "I made you out of dirt because I put seed in you. I put seed in you." I want you to know God has put seed on the inside of you. And he made you out of dirt because there's seed on the inside. And something you have to know about the dirt is, God made you out of dirt strategically because he was using agriculture. He was using agriculture as an analogy. Whenever you have a seed, there's four things your seed needs. The first thing your seed needs is dirt because it has to be planted in dirt to reproduce. The second thing your seed needs is water. Ephesians five says that God's word is water. So as you're nourished by the word of God, it's your water. So now you can be fruitful. The third thing that a seed needs is oxygen. That's why God breathed into your nostrils the breath of life. He was giving you the oxygen that your seed will need. And the last thing a seed will need is the sun. And God said, "I sent my son, my son, to die for your sins, to resurrect for your sins, to restore you, heal you, redeem you, deliver you, and make you whole." So now you would have the sun that your seed needs. In other words, your seed had everything it needed to reproduce. God says it had everything it needed to be fruitful. God has created you to be fruitful.
If you have your Bibles, go to Genesis 1, verse 28. And it says, "So God created man in his own image. In the image and in the image of God he created him. Male and female he created them. Then God blessed them and said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the Earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.'" So you know, you, you go some places and they tell you, you know, you're nothing. You're not created to do nothing. You'll never be nothing. Just sit there, say nothing, do nothing, think nothing, be nothing. This is not the kind of house you're in. You're in an empowering house. You're in a pioneering house. But I'm gonna tell you, you have a God that empowers. And he also pioneers.
In this verse, he did not tell you to sit up and do nothing. He said, "Be fruitful, multiply, fill the Earth, subdue it, and have dominion over it." In other words, he says, "You're the head and not the tail above only and not beneath." He created you to be on top of some things. He created you to move some things and to pioneer some things. And not only did he create you to do it, he blessed you to do it. But the thing is, the blessing doesn't make you fruitful. God blessed them, but then he instructed them to be fruitful and multiply. Now, being fruitful doesn't just mean having babies. Because he said, "Be fruitful, multiply, fill the Earth." If he wanted you to have babies, he didn't have to say it three different ways. He's talking about some other things. So he blessed them, but he instructed them to be fruitful. Why did he instruct them to be fruitful? It's because God didn't make you fruitful. He made you seedful. And it was your job to take the seeds that God has put inside of you and plant those seeds into good soil. And when you plant those seeds, those seeds will become a harvest. Those seeds will become fruit. He's made you seedful. And God says, "Don't reject what he's given you in seed form." Because if you stay faithful, you will see it in tree form.
So God is saying, he made you from dirt because there's seed inside of you. Let me prove to you there's seed inside of you. Genesis 1:11 says, "The seed of everything is inside of itself." Do you know your seed is in you? God didn't leave your seed into no one else. Do you know your seed is not in this economy? Your seed is not in this city? Your seed is inside of you. Which means you have no excuse to be to not become what God has called you to be. You have no excuse to not go where God has called you to go. You have no excuse to step out of the ordinary and step into the extraordinary because you have seed. It's inside of you. That's why when you crack open an apple, there's seeds on the inside. When you crack open an orange, there's seeds on the inside. And when you're open up, there's seeds inside of you as well. And if you lived right, those seeds will become fruit. And that fruit would put seeds in other people that were long, that will live long after you're gone. God has put seeds on the inside.
If you have your Bibles, and we're going to dive into this a little bit, go to Ecclesiastes chapter 9. Ecclesiastes chapter 9. And it says, "Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going." Wow, this is so profound. So the Bible is saying that you're headed to the grave one day. And when you get to the grave, there is no knowledge, no wisdom, no books, no tech companies, no businesses, no church plans. There's nothing at the place you're headed to. So while you're here on Earth, everything you do, do it with all your might. Do it with all your strength. Do it with all your zeal.
Do you want to know one of the greatest keys to greatness? One of the greatest keys to greatness is to do your absolute best. One of the greatest keys to greatness is to do your absolute best. If you want to grow, if you want to grow, do your best. Because every time you reach and touch your ceiling, it becomes your floor. Every time you reach and touch your ceiling, it becomes your floor. Every time you use all your might, you become stronger. Every time you use all your wisdom, you become smarter. Every time you serve, your capacity expands. It expands. So if you're not growing, it's because you're not stretching. Things that stretch, grow. Things that stretch, grow. And it's important to grow because the moment you stop growing is the moment you start dying. The moment you stop growing is the moment you start dying. So you have to always be growing.
And your job is to rob the grave. So here's what you want to do while you're on Earth. You want to live full. You want to become everything God has called you to be. You want to go after everything that God has called you to go after. So when you get to the grave, you go to the grave empty-handed. There's no anointing left. There's no passion left. There's no power left. There's no businesses left. There's no churches left. Why? Because you lived full. And now you're dying empty. But many of us live empty and die full. So you want to go to the grave and you don't want to take anything on the inside of you. There's only one thing you want to give the grave, and that's its dirt. You can have the dirt. But you can't have the treasure. You can have the dirt, but you can't have the treasure. Why? Because the Bible says, "I put my treasure, treasure inside of earth and vessels." Inside of an earth and vessel. God puts treasure inside of earth and vessels. God puts his treasure inside of earth and vessels. Jesus was inside of earth and vessels. The Holy Spirit was inside of earth and vessel. You're inside of an earth vessel because God puts treasure in dirt. He puts treasure in dirt. He puts treasure in dirt.
And I'm gonna tell you something. I'm gonna tell you where the wealthiest place in the world is. Where the wealthiest place in the world is? What would you think would be the wealthiest place in the world? The wealthiest place in the world is not the diamond mines of Africa. It's not the oil fields of Iraq. It's not the technology discoveries of Silicon Valley. No. The wealthiest place in the world is the graveyard. Because in the graveyard, you have everything that was supposed to be but never truly came to be. In the graveyard, you have books that have never been written. Movie scripts that have never been mentioned. You have sermons that have never been preached and worship songs that's never been released. You have businesses that have never made it. Antidotes to diseases that have never been created. You have inventions that has never been revealed. Gift, knowledge, and wisdom left concealed. You have touchdowns that have never been caught. Free throws, layups that have never been shot. Because so many people died with their wealth in them. So many people died with their wisdom in them. So many people died with their calling in them. So many people die with their anointing in them.
But I want to encourage you to live full and die empty. When you die empty, you rob the grave. When you become all you're called to be, you rob the grave. When you go after your, your destiny, you rob the grave. When you become what God has assigned you to be, you rob the grave. But most people don't rob the grave. They rob by the grave because of fear. And fear tolerated is faith contaminated. Fear tolerated is faith contaminated. And the reason why we have fear is because we don't have the right connections. We don't know the right people. We don't have the right experience. We don't have the right education. But I want to tell you, you don't need the right education. You don't need a G.O.D. You don't need a Ph.D. You got a G.O.D. and he is all you need. If God be for you, who could be against you? Because God said, "I, the Lord, will make it happen." God says, "I can bless you in front of who cursed you. And I don't have to ask for permission to promote you."
In other words, God said, "I can take a nobody and make him a somebody right in front of everybody. And I ain't got to ask nobody." He said, "I could take a nobody and make them a somebody right in front of everybody. And I ain't got to ask nobody." That's the God you, you serve. That's the God you serve.
And I'm gonna tell you, you are in the house that has robbed the grave. Pastor Adam, Pastor Kira, you guys have truly robbed the grave with the songs you've released, with the campuses you've planted, with the ministries. You guys willing to leave everything that was convenient and comfortable. You truly robbed the grave. Think about all our lives that wouldn't be impacted if you didn't have the courage and the bravery to leave what was familiar and to go to the unknown. You guys have robbed the grave. You robbed the grave. And following the examples of your pastors, you too can rob the grave. You too can be great. There's more inside of you. And I don't care where you come from. I want you to know something. Some of us don't step out because of who we came from. I want you to know something. You didn't come from your parents. You came through your parents. You came from, from God. You came from God. And your God is omnipotent, which means he has all power and potential. And he's put the same thing inside of you. Your seed is untapped potential. And your job is to make sure you don't leave this earth without every seed being tapped and every gift being unwrapped. You have to rob the grave. You have to rob the grave.
And on your journey to rob the grave, you will go through hardships, pain, betrayal. You will be stabbed in the back. It will be many tears, many fights, many wars, spiritual warfare. It will cost you something to rob the grave. When Jesus got ready to rob the grave, there was a crown of thorns. There was a cattle, nine tails. There was a cross. He was crushed. Why? Because he was robbing the grave. Every time you get ready to rob the grave, the grave will hit back. But I want you to know something. The grave can knock you down, but it can't knock you out. Because greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. Rob the grave.
The Bible says something so powerful. It said, "God will give you beauty for your ashes." Beauty for your ashes. And the thing you have to understand is this: he didn't say he would give you beauty because of your ashes. He didn't say he would give you beauty despite your ashes. He said he would give you beauty *for* your ashes. Which means, in order to get beauty, you have to exchange ash. Ash is the currency of beauty. Ash is the currency of beauty. So if you want beauty, you have to exchange ash. And where ashes come from? You get ashed when you've been under fire. You get ashed when you've been under fire.
And me and a bunch of pastors, as we sat around Vive Conference and Amen Conference, and we just looked at the beauty of this house, and the beauty of the worship, and we looked at the splendor and the majesty, and just all the eloquence of this house. We all sat there like, "God, we would love some beauty like that. God, we would love that. God, do that. God, do that in Texas." I know California got the best weather, but do it in Texas. And then, as I prepare for this message, the Holy Spirit reminded me. He was like, "Yeah, you want the beauty, but do you want the ash?" Do you want the ash? It's, do you want what Pastor Adam and Pastor Kira had to go through to get to this point? The pain, the betrayal. They had to keep pioneering when no one believed, when no one saw the vision. They had to keep going and keep pioneering. You want the beauty, but do you want the ash? You want the blessing, but do you want the burden? You want the breakthrough, but do you want the breakdown? You want the greatness, but do you want a great mess? Because you will have a great mess before you ever see greatness.
Vibe, they want overflow, but they don't want the no, no, no. You had to undergo to build overflow. And if you will love the ash as much as you love the beauty, you will see the blessing and the favor in the hand of God. Because every time Jesus blesses something, when he was feeding the multitudes, he'll bless it, then he breaks it. And the reason why he breaks it is so he can multiply it. So when God blesses you, he will break you so he can multiply you. So he can not just benefit you, but benefit everyone that's connected to you. Beauty for ashes.
So then I'm like, okay, Lord, where does ashes come from? Where does ashes come from? Ashes come when something is under fire. Whenever the ground is burnt or something is burnt, it produces ash. And I'm not a farmer, guys, so don't hold me to this. But I was reading about a farmer. And he says whenever ground becomes barren because the soil isn't good, they set the field on fire. And what happens is, when they set the field on fire, a couple of things happen. The first thing that happens is it kills all the parasites in the soil. See, sometimes God will set you on fire not to destroy you, but to burn everybody off of you that can't go with you.
Then another reason why he sets the field on fire is because the ground lacks nutrients. So when he sets it on fire, by the combustion of elements, when the ashes come, there's all kind of nutrients in the ash that goes back into the ground to make the ground good soil. So when you plant a seed inside of it, it will produce 30, 60, and 100 fold. And in the parable of the sower, we saw that the farmer threw out good seed, but there was some ground that couldn't contain the seed. And whenever you're ground that can't contain the seed, God will allow you to be burned so you can be neutralized, fertilized, and you can get the nutrients that you need so you can become good soil, so you can become good ground.
I want you to know something. Where you're planted is important. This house is good ground. Your pastors are good ground. And there are certain things that grow in houses that don't grow in other houses because the soil is different. And God says, "I allowed you to go through fire, and I allowed you to get ashes so I can bring new nutrients to your soil. So when I get ready to plant your seed, plant your business, plant your ministry, plant your product, it will produce a crop."
So I just want to encourage you, Vibe Church, don't get mad when people throw dirt on you. Because they're throwing dirt on you because God knows that you are seed. When they threw dirt on you, they wasn't ostracizing you, they was fertilizing you. The betrayal fertilized you. The failure fertilized you. The pain fertilized you. The broken heart fertilized you. It was fertilizer. God says, "What you've been through was fertilizer." Some of you guys didn't grow up with your parents. It was fertilizer. Some of you guys didn't make it through college. It was fertilizer. And God says, "I'm going to use all of that. All the bad, I'm going to turn for your good. Because all things work together for the good of those who love." Come on, somebody. God says, "I'm working it all together for your good." He's working it together. He's working it together.
And I want you to know something. He didn't say all things will be good. He says he will work everything together for your good. See, I remember my mom, she used to make this strawberry cake. And I love some strawberry cake. She made the kind of strawberry cake you can't eat with your shoes on. And as she's cooking this strawberry cake, I'm like, "I need some strawberry cake." So I would run to the kitchen. And she's mixing eggs. And I put my finger in. I'm like, "Uh." She's mixing flour. I'm like, "Uh." She's mixing cake mix. I'm like, "Uh." She's putting milk in it. I'm like, "Uh." Every ingredient was, "Uh." But then when she put it all in the bowl, and she began to mix it together, and she put it on the fire, and took it out the oven, it was a great strawberry cake. And maybe the betrayal was, "Uh." Maybe the pain was, "Uh." Maybe the failure was, "Uh." Maybe the rejection was, "Uh." But God said, "I'm in heaven, and I'm cooking some up. And when I mix it together, the rest of your life will be the best of your life. Your future will be greater than your former." Gosh, he's in heaven. He's cooking some on your behalf. He's working something out on your behalf.
I'm gonna say this, and I get ready to close. There is only two places that you can take your seed. Two places. And they both have dirt. You can take your seed to the, to the grave, or you can take your seed to the garden. You can take your seed to the grave, or you can take it to the garden. One is designed to retain you. Another is designed to release you. One is designed to kill you. One is designed to birth you. One is designed to hold you, and one is designed to launch you. And I got a question for you, Vibe Church, this morning. Are you taking your seed to the grave or the garden?
Because I want to tell you something about your king. You probably didn't know. Your king wasn't in a grave. He was in the garden. If you read John, it says his grave was inside of a garden. Because Jesus was prophesying to you. And he was simply saying, "I turn graves into gardens. I turn graves into gardens." Well, how do you know it was a garden, not a grave? It's because graves hold things, and gardens release things. I knew it was a garden because he would rise again. I knew it was a garden because he would live again. I knew that Jesus wasn't buried, he was planted. And I don't know what you're going through on a Sunday morning, but I come to tell you, you wasn't buried, you were planted. You were planted. God says, "I know it looks dark, but you're not buried, you're planted." I know you feel like you failed, you're not buried, you're planted. I know they said no, you're not buried, you're planted. You're not buried. You have been planted. And God is about to grow you and release you. And being buried and planted looks the same at first. Oh, but in the end, you'll win. In the end, you rise. In the end, you will live.
So I want to encourage you. Simply rob the grave. Live full. Die. Write the books. Make the music. Plant the churches. Build the organization. Release the products. Rob the grave. Rob the grave. Ecclesiastes said this. It says, "He that watches the wind will never sow." In other words, if you're the kind of person that's always watching the wind, always watching the stock market, always watching the news, always listening to media, you will never plant your seed. And then it says, "He that watches the clouds will never reap." If you keep watching the sky, yeah, looks like it's going to rain. Yeah, it's raining. And you will never reap. And that's why the Bible says, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few." Because you don't want to go labor because you're looking at clouds.
And I want to encourage you. Stop watching wind. Stop watching clouds. Start sowing and start reaping and harvesting. You are a part of the kingdom of God. You're not limited to this economy. You're not limited to this nation. No, no, no. You serve a king that has unlimited resource. You serve a king that has all power. You serve an omniscient God. And he don't need permission from this nation to bless you. Don't watch the wind. Don't regard the clouds. Go and rob the grave. Go and rob the grave. Be all that God has created you to be. You get one life to live. You get one. You get one opportunity to do this. You get one opportunity to unearth everything that God has planned inside of you. Don't blow it. Don't waste it. This is your moment. This is your time. Heaven awaits you.