Transcription
That's about the best advice you'll ever hear from the mouths of human beings. Turn your eyes upon Jesus.
So Father, we thank you today >> [music] >> that you've given us eyes to turn upon you. And I pray that in our gathering, this family gathering, >> [music] >> that you will show yourself strong and real [music] and faithful to us.
Uh as I've said earlier this morning, everything is changing. Since this morning, when we got up, the whole world has changed. Everything is in constant flux except you. You are forever the same yesterday, today, and forever. For those who have seen their situations worsen, may they be reminded you are still God on the throne. For those who have seen their situations get better, may they still keep their eyes on you. I thank you, Jesus, for your unchangeableness, your faithfulness. And may you show it strong in this service today. In Christ's name I pray. Amen.
And everybody that's saved and happy about it, say praise the Lord. Thank you. You can be seated. This is Family First Sunday. First Sunday of every month, we bring everybody in, all the kids come in with us and worship with their families. And we're happy to see uh lots of you today. We have a number in the choir singing. And I I just enjoy the uh the differences in age. And I want to tell you that as I was praying and preparing for this, I I believe the Lord laid these these passages on my heart, especially for younger people and maybe even for new believers. So, let's get with it.
I'm going to go to an old passage of scripture. Well, they're all old, but they're but they are new every day. Great is thy faithfulness. In Jeremiah chapter 31, I have a feeling in my heart, a tender place in my heart, for parents who find themselves so distressed about their children. I had more than one come to me this week. I had a new members class, and of course, since last Sunday, I've run into different people, and they said, "Would you please pray for us? We're so disheartened about our children. We didn't bring them up this way. Help us pray that God will save them." I don't forget those things. Those aren't light requests to me. And as I prayed about it, the Lord brought me back to this Jeremiah 31 passage, beginning with verse 15.
Thus says the Lord, "A A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping." Anybody ever done that? Rachel weeping for her children. Sounds like you don't weep as much if you don't have children. >> [snorts] >> Refusing to be comforted for her children. Refusing because they are no more. Now, that is an Old Testament prophecy that took place when Jesus was born and when Herod tried to find the Christ child and kill him by going into Bethlehem and wiping out all of the children. Uh two year The boys, I should say. Two years old and under. That took place. That misery really happened.
But then in verse 16, thus says the Lord, "Refrain your voice from weeping. Now, he's talking to me and you right now. Refrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work shall be rewarded, says the Lord. That was about Bethlehem. This is about you and me right now. You don't have to cry anymore. Your voice doesn't have to tremble, and you don't have to be weak-kneed, for the Lord is going to reward your work, your faithfulness to him. And they shall come back from the land of the enemy. Wow. Your children, the ones you were weeping for. Your children, your offspring, your flesh and blood, the ones that tear your heart out and keep you unnerved and upset all the time. "I've watched your faithfulness," the Lord said. You don't have to weep anymore. They will come back from the land of the enemy. He didn't say when, and he did not say how. He said they will come back. Don't know why they would have gone to the land of the enemy. They had a wonderful home. They had great parents. Uh they had a great church to go to. Can't understand why anybody would want to go to the land of the enemy, but it happens. And we suffer for it, and we cry about it. But even in the Old Testament, the Lord says, "I've been watching. I've been watching you weep, but I've also been watching you work. And I saw that while you were weeping, you were still working for me. You didn't quit. You didn't give up.
Verse 17, there is hope in your future. I'm going to preach the rest of that verse, but I just want everybody to hear what the Lord said. There is hope in your future. In fact, you ought to make it personal. Everybody in here ought to say, "There is hope in my future." Say it. And that's not pre- what preacher Lorraine said. That's what God almighty said. There is hope in your future. There is something to look forward to. There is a promise that will come to pass that your children shall shall come back to their own land, to their own border. Ah, for brokenhearted parents, what a promise. For young people, what a promise. There's hope in your future. If you watch enough of this world, you might wonder, you know, where am I headed? What's going to happen in my life? Well, I just read it to you. God, who does not change, said that even though everything changes, he already has a hope established for your future. Let's not rush over that. That's a beautiful golden promise from God. There is hope in your future. Oh, if I could see people up there, I can't because of the lights. I'd go to every section and say, "There is hope for your future. There is hope. There is hope. There is hope. There is hope. There is hope for your future." We ought to rejoice this morning that God said, >> [applause] >> "Go ahead. Rejoice." >> [applause] >>
And I want to say something very practical. I don't know how this will be uh parsed out by the theologians, but I'm This is what I saw yesterday. I go again to Genesis chapter 21. And if you remember, God promised Abraham and Sarah they were going to be parents. And so much time lapsed that they panicked and said, "Maybe we ought to help God out." And so, Sarah said, "You take my handmaiden, and you go into the tent, and you go ahead and do what God said he was going to do. Help him out. And so they had a son named Ishmael. Uh his mother was Hagar. And there's a it's a great long story and it has a beautiful biblical history and even today you can see the effects of that uh decision to help God out around the world, but I want to pull it back down to a more practical place if you don't mind.
One day uh Sarah saw Ishmael making fun of her real son, the one she finally got. God's way. And she said to her husband, "I'm not putting up with this. I want that woman and that boy out of here right now." And it tore Abraham up because Ishmael was his son. Now, I want you to try to get this. He had to go. Abraham had to go to Hagar and his son Ishmael and say, "You can't live here anymore. You're out. I've got some bread and I have a jug of water. That's all you get. Now leave." And the Bible said she and her son left. And they wandered in the wilderness. To me that seems utterly cruel. I don't know how you could do that to anybody. And as I mentioned last week they wandered and wandered, no place to go. Where do you go? And they drank all the water and they ate all the bread and they had nothing left and now they were about to die. The Bible says she put the boy under a bush. Try to get a little shade from the sun. And then she went on past so she wouldn't have to watch the boy die. Then she went and sat down across from him at a distance about a bow shot. For she said to herself, "Let me not see the death of the boy." So she sat opposite him and lifted her voice and wept. That's a pitiful scene to me. And God heard the voice of the lad. Amazing. The boy must have been crying, too. He'd been kicked out of his house. His own father had said, "You got to go." Uh his stepbrother he he would not see him again. They were isolated from everybody and everything. They were cast out. But God was still with them. Keep this in mind. God heard the voice of the lad. The angel of God's called to Hagar out of heaven and said, "What ails you, Hagar? Fear not for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is." May I just stop and say there was hope in her future. There was hope in his future. "Arise, lift up the lad and hold him with your hand for I will make him a great nation. My hand is on him." Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water.
So here's what I want to tell you if you're a new Christian trying to figure this out. If you're a young person trying to figure God out. >> [snorts] >> You are going to be victim of a victim of things unplanned. You will become the victim of people's emotions and hatred. You did not cause it but you'll suffer because of it. She didn't do that. Somebody else did that to them. They didn't decide to leave. They were forced out. Sarah's jealousy and all of it's in God's plan, but Sarah's jealousy caused her to find herself in a wilderness with nowhere to go and no hope. Listen to me, young Christian. There will be times when you will say, "How did I get here? I didn't do this. Somebody else did this to me. I'm suffering because of the decisions of somebody else. I've been pushed out and left out because other people had whims and fancies and they didn't like me. What do I do now?" There is hope in your future. Because God hears crying and God sees sorrow. And God will never cast you out. God will never push you out. And God will never victimize you because he's a whimsical God. When you find yourself in a situation as we all have, any adult will tell you, and you say, "This this was not of my doing. I didn't cause this. Somebody else did this and made my life this way." You just remember there is hope in your future. God knew you would be in this place before you were ever born. And God is faithful. When they're back at the house dancing and eating and drinking and having a big family party and you're out all by yourself, just remember the same God that was watching you when you were there is watching you when you are here. There is hope in your future. >> [applause] >>
I want to give you another illustration. I don't know why I'm I This sounds really weird to a lot of people, but as I'm preaching I feel drawn to this right this area right here. I don't know why. I feel pulled in that direction. There's another thing you need to understand. While there is hope in your future and when unpleasant unwanted, unplanned things, bad things happen to you the best thing you will ever learn is to take it to God. Take it to God. I read this long story in Isaiah chapter 37 about Sennacherib, a wicked king who was threatening a good king, Hezekiah. And he sent messengers and said to the king, "We're going to invade you and we're going to destroy you. The best thing you can do is just give up. No sense in fighting it. We're much stronger than you. We outnumber you. So don't be stupid. Don't be stupid and try to fight us or negotiate. Just give up." And when he heard that he went to the house of God. Well, the wicked king sent Hezekiah a letter. And he said essentially the same thing. "We outnumber you. Nobody can stand against us. We've conquered every nation we have confronted. You are nothing. You don't even matter. You're so small and insignificant so you might as well just give up." And then in verse 10 he says, "Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you. Don't let God trick you. Don't let this God you say is almighty put you in a bad place. Don't ask your God for something he can't deliver." Wow. What an insult. What an arrogant guy to say, "We're coming and we know you serve this God you say is mighty, but don't don't put yourself in a place where he can trick you. Don't talk yourself into the the idea that God can deliver you from us." And when Hezekiah got that letter and read it, the Bible says he received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it. And Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord and laid it down in front of the Lord. I won't ever tell you anything better, young Christian, young believer than what I'm about to tell you right now. You're going to get bad news. And the devil is going to bluff and blow up and intimidate and overpower and try to make you see how big the enemy is, how strong the enemy is, how weak you are. He's going to do everything in his power to make you think God is not able. He will even insinuate in your mind even when you get down to pray, "Can God do this? Will God do this?" He's The devil has not changed. He's simply saying, "Don't trick yourself into thinking God is able to do this." So, he took it to the house of the Lord and he laid it before the Lord and he read it to the Lord. Then the Lord said to him, "Because you have prayed to me, because you brought it to me, this is the word of the Lord concerning your enemies. And all of these passages right here are things God said he was going to do to their enemies. All these verses is God saying, 'You honored me by bringing it to me. I'll take care of your enemy. I'll shred him to pieces. I'll put a hook in his nose and in his jaw. I'll make a fool out of him because nobody intimidates my children. When anybody comes to me with a need and they believe that I am able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that they can ask or think and that there is nothing impossible to him who believes and that God is the mightiest force in this world. All the nations bow before him. All kings are subject to him. When you believe that and take your problem to the Lord and lay it before HIM AND CALL ON HIM, GOD HIMSELF STANDS UP AND SAYS, "I'LL HANDLE THIS FROM HERE ON OUT." WHAT AM I SAYING? >> [applause] >> I'M SAYING IT A DIFFERENT WAY. THERE IS HOPE IN YOUR FUTURE. SATAN TAKES AWAY YOUR HOPE. SATAN DENIES THAT THERE IS HOPE. PAUL SAYS, "BUT IF HOPE IS THE ONLY THING WE HAVE IN THIS LIFE, WE ARE OF ALL MEN MOST MISERABLE." LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING. GOD ALONE GIVES HOPE. EVERY ONE OF US IS SITTING HERE TODAY IN HOPE, IN HOPE OF THE RESURRECTION, IN HOPE OF THE COMING OF JESUS, IN HOPE OF THE POWER OF GOD, IN HOPE THAT WE THINK WILL ONLY ENDURE FOR THE NIGHT, BUT JOY IS COMING IN THE MORNING. THERE IS HOPE IN OUR FUTURE. >> [applause] >>
OH, and there's one more. This is the one I just almost every time I read it, I I cry. When Habakkuk heard about bad news coming, he said, This is Habakkuk chapter [clears throat] 2. I'll stand my watch. I'll set myself on the rampart and watch to see what he will say to me. And what I will answer when I'm corrected. I'm waiting on God. I'm ready to hear from God. Then the Lord answered and said, "Write the vision. Make it plain on tablets." In other words, write it down. What I'm about to tell you will not be erased. Did you get it? Write it down. It's so sure, it's so true, you can write it down and put a date on it. WRITE THE VISION. MAKE IT PLAIN ON TABLETS. THAT HE MAY RUN WHO READS IT. He may hold it in his hand and run and say, "God is faithful. God has spoken. God will bring it to pass. You don't have to hide. You don't have to hide it. You don't have to say, 'Well, I'm not going to tell anybody just in case it doesn't happen. I don't want to be embarrassed.' No. God says, 'If you believe what I say, write it down and run with it.' Speak it with your mouth. Say it like the the the prayer has already been answered. Don't weep about it. Rejoice about it. BECAUSE THERE'S HOPE IN YOUR FUTURE. HUH? For the vision is yet for an appointed time. That means it may not come right now. But at the end it will speak and it will not lie. It's coming. Though he tarries or though it tarries, wait for it. Because it will surely come. It will not tarry. Because the just shall live by faith. Here's what he's saying. God is slow. God is methodical. God has assigned everything an appointed time. God will not do it until that time comes. But you can shout about it, rejoice about it before that time comes because it will indeed come. It will not tarry. Nobody can slow it down. At the appointed time God will bring it to pass. What does that say to me? There is hope in my future. I've got something to look forward to. I don't care what it looks like now. I don't care how dark and dismal it seems right now, how hopeless, how how distant GOD MAY FEEL. LISTEN TO THE PREACHER cuz the preacher's preaching out of the book. WRITE IT DOWN. HOLD IT UP. SPEAK IT OUT BECAUSE THERE IS AN APPOINTED TIME. It will not tarry. IT WILL NOT be delayed. WHEN THE MOMENT COMES, GOD WILL SAY, "IT'S TIME." THAT'S WHY I'M standing here telling you there IS HOPE IN YOUR FUTURE. YOU'VE GOT SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO AND WHEN IT'S ALL SAID AND DONE, GOD WILL GET ALL THE GLORY. >> [applause] >>
SO, I WANT TO TAKE 5 MORE minutes for this. I prayed, "Lord, should I bring this part of it into the message today?" I I I can't I can't explain everything in the Bible. I can't make it work. I just There's some things I can't make work. I don't understand it. I trust it. That doesn't mean I can't preach it, either. Well, Pastor, you really understand that? No. But he said it, so I'm supposed to proclaim it. And I want to tell all of the parents a that your children have been blessed by you. Paul teaches that if there is a believing wife in the house, even though the husband is a devil. Well, I shouldn't have said that. It says unbelieving. Listen. Really, it says unbelieving. Her very presence a believing wife's very presence sanctifies that house. Whoa. You mean they get saved? No. A blessing accompanies believers. And in a home where the husband, the head of the house and ought to be the spiritual leader, is not. Paul said, "If If you've got a believing wife, there is a grace, a force, a presence and a power in that home because she's there. And because of that grace and that presence, there is more opportunity for the gospel and for that heart to be touched than if that house had no believing wife in it. So, I want to say, the best I know how to every believer, you have a presence about you. You have a blessing on you. And your house may not be saved. You might be the only one. But God has promised that your very presence, because you're filled with the Holy Spirit, because the glory of Christ is upon you, it has an effect upon those who are in that house. I could go for a while and talk about the scriptures that talk about somebody getting saved and their household. I'm about to Acts chapter 16. Again, Lydia. She was a seller of purple and she came to hear the words of Paul and God opened her understanding. And the Bible says when she heard the words of Paul, she believed and she was baptized with all of her house. And when you get down a few more verses, when the Philippian jailer saw the Lord deliver Paul and Silas from the jail house, and he fell at their feet and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" They said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ with all of your heart, and you WILL BE SAVED AND YOUR HOUSE." AND YOUR HOUSE. AND THE BIBLE says right after that, THEY TOOK PAUL AND SILAS IN AND they washed their stripes and made a meal for them and says, "Immediately they were all baptized." I don't understand it, but something happened to one man and his whole house got saved. And then I went to the 10th chapter of the book of Acts, and I saw Cornelius, an Italian guy who was a worshiper of God was what what was not yet saved, and God sent Peter to HIS HOUSE TO TELL HIM ALL THE THINGS THAT WOULD BRING SALVATION TO him and HIS HOUSE. HALLELUJAH TO GOD. THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT A HOLY WOMAN LIVING IN AN UNHOLY HOUSE. THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT THE HEAD OF THE HOUSE GETTING SAVED THAT DOES SOMETHING IN THE HOUSE. AND THAT'S WHY IT MEANS A LOT TO ME WHEN I HEAR JOSHUA SAYING, "YOU DO WHAT YOU WANT TO DO, BUT AS FOR ME AND MY HOUSE, WE'RE GOING TO SERVE THE LORD." >> [applause] >> HALLELUJAH.
HERE'S WHAT I'D LIKE TO DO. I'D LIKE for the heads of every house in here to stand up right now. If you're the head of a household If you have children nearby and you can just lay your hand on them, why don't you do that? If you can't you can just call their name. But I want to finish the way I began. Ready? There is hope for your future. Do you believe this? Do you? What if we decided this week we're not going to cry this week about it. I'm not going to weep this week. We're going to rejoice cuz there's hope in our future. God's going to reward us for our works. We don't get saved because of works, we get blessed because of works. God has seen you work for him. God has seen you do those minimal menial things for his name's sake. God watched you come to church when you didn't feel like it. God watched you practice. God watched you minister when you had no strength left, and God says, "I've seen it. I heard the lad cry. I've seen your tears. I will reward you for your works. Now rejoice because there's hope in your future." So I want all of you heads of houses Sandra ought to come up and join me cuz we're still Well, I got two grandkids in the choir now. We got kid grandkids all the time everywhere. They eat us out of house and home. They they show up and disappear and get dressed and took a pair of my socks this morning and and they borrow ties that they don't bring back. And just all you know, it's just the way it is. It's family. But I'm going to stand here today and I'm going to thank God that every member of my house will meet us in heaven. Why? CUZ THERE'S HOPE IN MY FUTURE. HOPE IN OUR FUTURE. Anybody else believe it with me? Father in heaven, I join with Sandra we're Poppy and Granny. I join and I call our children's names in prayer. Not right here, not right now, but you've heard it before. Lord, we bring our grandchildren to you. Lord we have no hope outside of you. The enemy has threatened the enemy has shown himself tried to intimidate to intimidate us. But we bring his threats to the house of God and we lay them at the feet of Jesus. And instead of weeping with remorse and doubt we remember that Habakkuk said the just shall live by his faith. And my faith says there is hope in my future. And our faith says our children are going to be saved. And our faith says that our grandchildren will be saved and spirit-filled. AND ALL OF OUR FAITH says we're going to HAVE A GREAT REVIVAL AT CENTRAL CHURCH, AND CHILDREN ARE GOING TO COME BACK FROM FOREIGN LANDS AND ENEMY LANDS AND COME BACK TO THEIR OWN BOUNDARY AND TERRITORY AND SERVE THE LORD GOD THE REST OF THEIR LIVES. PRAISE HIM. >> [applause] >>
Anybody believe it? I may sound weak but I'm a bad fella. See, the Bible teaches when you're weak, you're strong. You see, you operate in grace, then you operate in authority and power. So I just want to say the Lord rebuke you, Satan. I DON'T. THE LORD REBUKES YOU, SATAN. You move your filthy talons off my family. You get out of OUR HOUSE. WE ARE SAVED, SANCTIFIED MEN AND WOMEN OF GOD. WHERE WE LIVE IS A HOLY PLACE. WHERE WE LIVE IS A BLESSED PLACE. HALLELUJAH TO JESUS. AMEN. And the whole church said, "Praise the Lord." Say one more time. There is hope in my future. And there is hope in my children's future. Yes, amen. Stand up with with me, everybody. What y'all want to sing? We ought to sing something happy. The Lord has heard every prayer. The Lord counted every tear. The The Lord saw the lad under the bush. The Lord heard the woman in the wilderness. HALLELUJAH. I don't want to use up all this left, but I I tell you I could run down that aisle right there. Hallelujah. I I take IT TO THE LORD. YOU SAID IT, I BELIEVE IT, IT WILL COME TO PASS. YOU SAID IT, I BELIEVE IT. HALLELUJAH. Did you while singing those words, did you actually hear those words? Speak, Lord. God is here to break every yoke. Speak, Lord. And the amazing thing I never get used to this is that God is here to break the yoke to heal the heart to settle the case. God is here. I do not take that lightly because the answer to all of our problems is here and is waiting on someone to ask and believe. God is here. So Lord as we go into this part of the service where your word is preached and we have already asked you to speak to us I pray, Lord, that you approve of the words that I'm going to say. If I can please you, that's all that matters today. I'm asking you, Lord, as always to let us have ears that hear you. You are talking to me today. You, almighty God, are speaking directly to me about me. And so now as we open your word I pray that we will receive the word of God with all humility. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Amen. Um I tell you what I want to do for a moment is nothing. Since we're we're already in high gear, the tendency of my flesh is to stay in that gear because I think you expect that. You're in that gear. So sometimes we just need to settle and listen. Yeah. It's not killing the spirit, it's waiting on the spirit. Let's wait on the spirit. I promise you this day that God is going to touch somebody's heart. You're going to see something you've never seen before and you're going to be to be >> [snorts] >> faced with a decision that will determine how you're going to live the rest of this day and maybe the rest of your life. Today, that's how important this is. So all of our brothers and sisters in Gastonia, stand there for just a moment. Good morning to you. We love you. We're with you. And all of you down in Wilmington, just take it easy for a moment. Good to see you. Good to be with you and down in Lake Park. Um I imagine it's been a little unsettled there this morning with people coming in and trying to find seats, but it's all right. It's all right. We wait on you, Lord Jesus. We quote it so often that it's too commonplace. They that wait upon the Lord get stronger. They mount up. They rise above. They can run and not need to rest. They can walk and not pass out if we wait on you. Waiting on you opens us up to you. So now, Lord, here are our hearts, our hands, our heads. We are here. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Smile at somebody on the way down.
I suppose every uh pastor, prophet, preacher, school teacher, drill instructor, coach, anybody in leadership knows that warnings are a vital part of any instruction. Warnings. The Bible is a book of warnings. It doesn't only tell us about the good grace of God, the shed blood of Jesus, the resurrection, heaven, who we are, the power of prayer. It It's not only about that, it's filled equally with warnings. Not to take any of that for granted. Not to become slack and loose and prayerless. Not to mix and mingle with the world. Not to become discouraged, weary in well doing. Don't do it. He The Bible warns. Hebrews is a book of warnings. While it tells of the great priesthood of Jesus Christ, an unending priesthood, and it speaks of our being able to approach the mercy seat, it also tells us be careful. Be warned. Do not drift back. Do not put your eyes on others. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Be warned, he says.
Wednesday night in our prayer meeting, I did a little study out of uh Acts uh chapter 20. And as Paul is departing from the church at Ephesus, as he's kneeling by the river with the Ephesian elders, here's what he said. This is not all of what he said, but this is what I want to emphasize today. He said, "Remember this, that for 3 years I warned you night and day with tears." I don't know if I've had a verse affect me as a minister as much as that one. Remember this, that for 3 years night and day, with tears streaming down my face, I have warned you. Of course, we live in a world, a church world today that doesn't want to be warned, thinks that warning is unnecessary, thinks that preachers are just being mean, they don't have anything else to say. They want the preacher to tell them about the good life, the deeper life, the the abundant life, the life of prosperity, but don't do that warning stuff. But no preacher is called of God who does not warn the congregation. He's called himself to the ministry, but anybody called of God will follow Paul's example as he warned night and day with tears.
That brings me again to the book of uh Hebrews chapter 12. And uh this says pursue peace with all people. Can I get an amen to that? Mhm. All people. Follow after. Go for it. Look for it. Make peace with all people and holiness. Strive to walk perfectly before God. Don't give yourself permission to sin. Don't feel sorry for your temptation your your temptations and the struggles you endure. Don't give yourself a vacation from the spiritual fervor and battle. Fight it. Pursue holiness. And you won't see the Lord unless you do. Looking carefully. Look at the words. The reason I I don't pass quickly over these cuz every word matters. Looking carefully with great concern, with a almost a nitpicking mindset about the life you're living, a hairsplitting mentality about everything you do that it might please the Lord. Cautious, careful, committed to holiness. Looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God. Meaning, when you see someone stumbling and struggling, remind them that it's God's grace that will lift them up again. God's grace saved them. God's grace will keep them. And he said, "Remember that yourself because there's coming a day when you won't hear it, see it, or feel it. But you can stand on the grace of God."
Then he says, "Lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble and by this many become defiled." See that looking carefully also applies to this. Always examining to see if there is an under the surface problem, a relational or emotional or spiritual problem in your life that will at the right moment, given the RIGHT CIRCUMSTANCES, SPRING UP. AND that anger, that bitterness begins to poison not only you, but everybody around you. Now, you can tell people that have a root of bitterness. It just takes the right word or the right circumstance for them to lose it. That's not a Scotch-Irish temper. Hang on. That's not a an Italian uh mentality. That's not a uh How should How should we say? Latin drive. It's It's sin. Well, you know how Latins are. We You know how Italians are. You know how Irish people are. They'll fight at the drop of a hat. No. That's sin, you see. And when that sin is allowed remain under the surface unchecked without being removed by the Holy Spirit, it waits it it is a it is a latent sin about to poke its head out of the ground and when it does, everybody's going to be ill affected by it. You've heard the saying, "He has a chip on his shoulder." Chip on his shoulder, you know where that came from? It was a saying that originated in the early 1800s. They found out that there was a way to avoid being taken to court if you get in a fight. You take a little piece of wood, you put it on your shoulder and you walk around and say, "I dare you to knock this off my shoulder." And the person that does has agreed to fight, therefore he cannot therefore he cannot take you to court later. He just puts the chip on his shoulder and says, "I dare anybody to knock this off my shoulder." And you just walk around waiting on the person to take the bait. And then you feel justified in the flying off the handle and flying into someone's face. And ladies and gentlemen, I have to tell you from my heart that the church is full of people with chips on their shoulders. They have had a relationship with Jesus and a degree of surgery from the word of God that will keep that root barely below the surface, but that chip is still on their shoulder and you can find out when the right word is said or someone is ignored or a situation arises, you will find out that the chip is still there.
As you may or may not know, about 9 and 1/2 weeks ago I had to go to surgery. I had to have my gallbladder removed. I did not realize I would learn such great lessons from this. What I realized first of all was I had been sick a long time and had gotten used to it. For years I was miserable, but thought that's the way it's supposed to be. I could eat and in a little while it's like kerosene. You know what I'm talking about. Just comes up and you choke to death. You'd be asleep at night and have to sit straight up in the bed and grab your throat. You're choking on acid reflux. You can't take a nap cuz as soon as your head bobs, acid comes to the fore. Every time you eat, it is a miserable experience. And pain, Lord God, pain and it just built up and built up. You get used to the misery and you don't realize you're acting the way you are. And it begins to build up so so much on the inside. I was bloating and hurting all Even Sandra said, "Something's got to be wrong with you. Look at you." And I would take my shirt off and just it was just I I was a barrel-chested guy. Nothing I ate settled. I was miserable all the time. And I couldn't take it anymore. I thought I was going to die. I knew I was in trouble. Went on vacation in May. I walked the floors all night long with Gaviscon in one hand and ginger ale in the other doing this, trying to get some relief. And finally, praise God for Anthony Coven, the doctor in the choir, he got me in and had surgery. And I thought when I was coming out of Well, praise God, maybe this will fix thing. I probably lost about 5 lb when they took that out. I found out that it weighed 2 oz. And it's 2 in long. 2 oz, 2 in, made made me miserable. That one little tiny thing way down behind my heart, right above my stomach, was making life miserable. The first meal I had after surgery, the food tasted awesome. There was no heartburn, no reflux. It settled. I thought, "This is great." Everything changed. I can honestly say, and Sandra's in there, it made a new man out of me. And I will also say this, there are plenty of people sitting on church pews who have spiritual reflux and a bad spiritual bladder. And you won't let anybody deal with it. You won't take it to Jesus. You think this is the way it's supposed to be. You That This is just normal for you. But I want to explain something to you. This root of bitterness, this spiritual gall, can hide itself. Oh, I wasn't miserable all the time, only when it flared up, but God, when it did, it was horrible. Other times I thought, "Well, maybe this is gone now. This is great." But all it took was a pepper. All it took was fried chicken. I'm not kidding you. Took something like that and all of a sudden I'm grabbing and thinking I'm going to die and wishing I could die. You see, this spiritual root of bitterness doesn't come above the ground and wave at you all the time. It stays just below the surface. And then somebody calls you a name. Somebody cheats you out of some money. Somebody bumps into you the wrong way. And all of a sudden, reflux from the bad spirit on the inside. And you can be in church and be that way. The church is full of people that way. As a matter of fact, I found one. I thought I'd talk to you about him. It's in the book of Acts, chapter 8. They'll put the verses we'll deal with on the screen there. Is everybody listening to me this morning? Uh Paul and Silas have gone into Samaria. They're preaching the word. A revival is taking place. The spirit is being poured out. It says they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, men and women were baptized. Then a man named Simon also believed. And when he was baptized, he continued with Philip and was amazed when he saw the miracles and got in church services. His name is Simon. The Bible says he believed. The Bible says he was baptized. And the Bible SAYS HE WAS AMAZED AT WHAT GOD was doing. But then the apostles come down from Jerusalem and lay their hands on all those people that are getting saved and they get the Holy Spirit. And they speak in tongues as the scriptures imply. And the Bible says when Simon, that same fellow, saw that through the laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money and said, "Give me this power that on anyone I lay my hands, they may receive the Holy Spirit." And you wouldn't think that a precious man of God would respond the way Paul did. There's no kindness at all. Here's what he said. I'm sorry, Peter. Peter said to him, "Your money perish with you." The literal translation is, "Your money and and you can go to hell." Because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money. You have neither part nor portion in this matter. Listen now. Listen. Your heart is not right in the sight of God. This is a preacher, an evangelist. Instead of being kind and compassionate and understanding to a new believer, he said, "No, there's something wrong inside of you, buddy. Your heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this your wickedness and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. Look, for I see THAT YOU ARE POISONED BY BITTERNESS and bound by iniquity." You see? He believed. He was baptized. HE WAS IN CHURCH. BUT THE RIGHT stimulus caused the real fella to come to the surface. >> [clears throat] >> It had only gone to the top of his soul. The Holy Spirit was not allowed to get down into the recesses, the cavities of his being. And he thought that just because he liked the preaching and liked the music, BECAUSE HE WAS BAPTIZED IN WATER, AND WAS FOLLOWING THE PREACHERS AROUND, AND believed that Jesus was the one that that's all it took. But Peter is saying, "Oh, no, sir. If you really want to follow and know THIS JESUS, YOU GOT TO LET HIM GO DOWN DEEP. You got to get all your prejudice out of your heart. You can't hate anybody. You see, bitterness comes when we allow somebody in our past, or something in our past, to make us mad, and to give ourselves permission to resent, and to take up for ourselves, and live a defensive lifestyle. As long, brother, as you STILL GOT A FIGHT LEFT IN YOU, and you'll take anybody on, as long as you're walking around with a chip on your shoulder, you've got a root of bitterness down in your soul. You are full of poison. There's a spiritual gallbladder that's making everything you do miserable. You're never going to have peace and joy until some kind of heavenly surgery TAKES PLACE, WHERE GOD DOESN'T JUST CUT IT DOWN TO THE GROUND, BUT HE GOES DOWN AND DIGS IT UP AND THROWS it away, SO THAT YOU'RE NOT LEFT. NO PART OF YOU IS LEFT. YOUR PAST DOES NOT AFFECT YOU. YOU'RE NOT ANGRY ANYMORE. YOU'VE REALIZED GOD TOOK CARE OF EVERYTHING. YOU REALIZE HE SAVED YOU. HE BLESSED YOU. HE DELIVERED YOU FROM THE PAST. YOU DON'T HAVE TO LIVE IN IT. YOU DON'T HAVE TO LIVE WITH IT. YOU CAN BE FILLED AND THRILLED AND CLEANSED AND BE DELIVERED from this horrible root of bitterness that you've gotten used to. It affects everything you do. Is anybody hearing me today? Everybody has something that affected you, that made you what you are today. Everybody's had bad things happen and bad people. Everybody. The world is full of racism and hatred. Not only do the races despise one another, but the sexes despise one another. In this city today, uptown, will be thousands of people marching with a root of bitterness. They won't know where it came from, how it happened, but it's just there. Everything you see happening in the world results from a root of bitterness, a bad spiritual gallbladder. And you see, the longer you live, it doesn't get better. It will kill you. If you have appendicitis, don't you ever say, "I'll just ride it out. IT'LL GET BETTER." NO, IT WILL BURST AND YOU WILL DIE. YOUR GALLBLADDER WILL NOT GET [screaming] BETTER. IT WILL BECOME MORE ROTTEN, and it will kill you. But before it kills you, you will think you are dying. My surgeon said, "Pastor, that thing, that little thing right there, was so full." I hate to use these terms, but I got to get somebody's attention today. So full [snorts] of sludge from your past. Your past eating habits, sludge, stones, poison. And he said it was so bad it had begun to affect all the little glands around. You know wonder you were miserable. Soon as he said that to me, I saw myself standing up telling you this one day. Cuz I don't think God wants anybody to be miserable. I'm not talking about gallbladder now, physical. I'm talking about spiritual. God doesn't want you to come to church and believe and get happy for a while with a root of bitterness. He doesn't want you to have gall and aggravation and irritation all the time. Jesus died and rose again so you could be cleansed, so it could be removed, so you could live like a child of God, not a sinner trying to act like a child of God. The Lord just told me to stop. Stand with me, please. Oh, Jesus. Can you look at me for just one moment? Bitter people pass it on to their children. Bitter people model anger and temper to their offspring. Listen. Bitter [snorts] people infect everybody around them when when one of those episodes takes place, it spreads poison and affects everybody around them. Did you see that verse? Be careful lest a root of bitterness spring up in you defile many around you. You young parents, dads. Dad, listen to me. Is the pressure of the business getting to you, and you find yourself losing it? Do you, as a Christian, find yourself using language only lost people would use? Moms, is motherhood, the stress of trying to make ends meet, and trying to pay bills, wearing you down so that you you're just angry when you see others who don't seem to be struggling? Do you find resentment every time you meet somebody that has a new car, a new house, a new home, a husband, a baby, a job, and you don't even want to be around those people because they remind you of what you don't have? That's a root of bitterness. That's gall. You need gallbladder surgery. So, here we are. If I could right now, I would run out. I feel so exposed in front of you right now. Is there anybody that is tired of hurting all the time? Tired of the spiritual reflux that chokes and burns you every time a
situation arises? Is it your mother that you can't stand? Is it your dad that was never there?
[music] Is it a husband that walked off with a much younger woman? Is it your wife who seems to have no affection for you whatsoever? Is it a business partner that stole it, and there's no way to get it back? What is it? Was it a hurt in another church somewhere? After you'd given so much, you got replaced. What is that it? Is it that you never got a thank you?
Folks, there's something much more important than getting a thank you, being recognized. And that is that you get healed. That you get set free from this bitterness, this poison, this gall. And may I say this? I I I assume >> [music] >> people are feeling free to come to the altar.
The church service is never going to be full enough, loud enough, or exciting enough to get rid of your bitterness. It wasn't for Simon, and it won't be for you. You can go down into the water, come out. You can go to counseling, you can go to Bible school, you can do it all. But none of that is sufficient until you let Jesus Christ surgically remove that tiny little irritant that is messing up your whole life. Anybody want to come?
>> Sure.
>> [snorts]
>> Sure. I know it. God knows it. What in the world do you have to lose? And to come down and say to God, "Can you help me?" Jesus who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. No poison in his spirit. And he knew who was going to kill him and crucify him. He knew who would do it. No poison, no bitterness. No gall. This is the best appeal I got, brother. This is all I got. If you can't read Acts 8 and see that Simon was a typical church member operating thinking he's hiding his bitterness, then you don't really understand what this is about. I guess I just have to say what's on my heart. I can't fight it. If the white man is your irritant you need to be down here. If the black man causes you any degree of consternation, you need [music] to be down here. And I do not have the sociological knowledge to pick out all the people groups in the building that don't like each other. If you got an old boss and you heard he died and you wouldn't care a bit if he did. If If when something bad happens to somebody who did it to you and you are all but rejoicing I'm afraid you got a little bitterness left in you. And I can tell you right now after what I've been through I can't believe what I put up with for years and years when I can feel like I feel now. So, here we are. Got to deal with it.
>> [clears throat]
>> This may come out really bad, but I'm going to try it. I feel it and I can't I don't know how to say it. Far too many times we want something come down but God's wanting to bring something up. Yeah, that was right. That was good. Thank you, Lord. You May I say it again? It's It's not what's going to come down to you. It's what's going to come up inside of you. The filling the healing the surgery, the burning away so that Christ is all in all. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hey, we're very informal. Nobody has to feel uncomfortable. This is unformal informal. Praise God. Praise God. Do not let somebody in the past control you anymore. Do not let something that happened be an anchor around your ankle. Be done with it in Jesus' name. Move on. Get away from it. Oh, Jesus. Amen.
Does anybody see what's happening here? There really does come a time when you can't gloss over it and have church anyway. You got to stop. And you got to say, "I'm not well. Too much bad stuff. I'm not well. Something's really bad in my heart." Until you do that, you will never get an appointment with the great physician. Cuz he's waiting on you to come set it up.
>> [snorts]
>> Heal your people, Lord. Heal your people. Lord, I found out I cannot heal myself. I couldn't do surgery on myself. Somebody [music] had to do it for me and do it to me. I had to lie there. Somebody had to invade my body. Put something in me that was foreign. Give me something to knock me out so that I could be healed from the surgery. Oh, Jesus. As we lay before you right now may we give you the permission to go in and get it out so that we don't have to deal with this anymore. So that we don't use it for an excuse anymore because as long as we do, we'll have church but still be the same old person. I need some help praying right now. I need some help praying. Can somebody pray today that the delivering healing spirit of Jesus will begin to do something in everybody's heart? Oh, God. Oh, God. In Jesus' name. In Jesus' name. I don't know any other thing to do except be healed. Be healed in Jesus' name.
No, I know what I'm going to do. This is between me and God. I'm going to walk by and touch everybody that came down with oil. This is what I feel like doing. If you need to go, just go. If brunch is that important to you just go get it. But I'm dealing with souls who are wrestling and this is church and this is what it's all about and this IS NOT A BROADWAY SHOW. THIS IS WHERE GOD'S PEOPLE COME TOGETHER AND GOD BEGINS TO DO GREAT AND MIGHTY THINGS among them. Do I have counselors and elders down here, Pastor Greg? Hallelujah. Who came down? Raise your hand. Yes, I'm going to start way back here. In Jesus' name.
>> [music]
>> Hallelujah. The church ought to be praying right now. People filled with the Holy Spirit. Oh, Jesus. Oh, Jesus. Touch my brother here today, oh God. In Jesus' name. Here we stand, oh Lord. Your children who do not know how to help ourselves. We have no strength. We have no under brother. The [snorts] Lord loves you. You know that. He [music] does. He loves you.
>> [snorts]
>> I feel like the devil's been trying to beat the life out of you. I don't even know who you are. But I feel like the devil has put the slam on you. And you are believing what he said. But I want to remind angels. I want everybody to understand. The man wouldn't be here if the Holy Ghost were not at work pulling on him and working in him. Receive. Receive the forgiveness and the grace of God. Receive it in Jesus' name. Receive it in Jesus' name. God's spirit is here. God's spirit is upon you. Hallelujah. Who did I miss? Hallelujah. My brother Jesus Christ heals you. Sister Jesus Christ heals you. There is no other healer. And I can't make anybody get healed. All I can do is agree that he is a healer and he is a helper and he is a father and he is a friend and a savior and a deliverer. Oh, HALLELUJAH. OH, IF SOMEBODY WOULD HELP ME praise God right now. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
Lord we are as weak as lambs. We don't know how to help ourselves one bit. We can't pick ourselves up out of the ditch we dug. We can't deliver ourselves from the demons we allowed to come against us. So, in the name of Jesus, I pray right now. Oh, God, I pray for this brother. What's your first name? Richie. Lord, I PRAY FOR RICHIE. RICHIE, LORD. I KNOW YOU'RE NOT DEAF, BUT I FEEL LIKE CALLING IS THAT RICHIE. ALL THE WAY FROM HEAVEN HEAR THIS PRAYER right now, GOD. ONLY YOU can see what's IN HIS HEART. ONLY YOU know what's there. I pray for him in the name of a risen Jesus. And there's nothing he CAN DO, LORD, EXCEPT LET YOU CUT ON HIM. CUT ON HIM. CUT ON HIM AND TEAR IT OUT. CUT ON HIM AND HEAL HIM, JESUS.
[cheering] OH, LORD, here's my brother. He's already tried so much, he's tired of trying. Tell him today he doesn't have to try. Just believe. Just believe the Holy Spirit will do the supernatural. Hallelujah. In the name of Jesus. Oh, hallelujah. Who's down here? In the name of Jesus. Those that have already been anointed, you ought to have your hands up. You ought to be thanking God. You ought to show the dark powers that you know where your strength comes from. That you know that that name is above every name. That you wouldn't be standing down here if you didn't believe that God was able to do more than you can ask or think. I anoint my brother with oil. I believe the risen Jesus is able to do this. I believe even now, as I anoint this sister with oil, that the strength and power of God. Well, Lord, here we stand. We recognize our own weakness, but may she recognize that there is no weakness in God. There is nothing but strength, help, and healing in God. I pray that this morning in Jesus' mighty name. In Jesus' Go ahead and cry. I know you're all tore up inside. Hold that for me, Lisa. Brother, let it go. Quit fighting this thing. You know, it's like you're in a spider web just trying to pull it off. You can't get it off. But there was a God in heaven. And I feel the Holy Spirit right now. Hallelujah. Lift your hands up. Lift your hands. That's right. Go ahead. They They won't break. YOU LIFT THEM UP, GOD. HE'S RECOGNIZING THAT YOU ARE in heaven above everything and all power in heaven and in earth. Show this brother today, Lord, that it's still not by might, nor by power, but by your spirit. He'll never understand it. He'll never be able to fix it, BUT THERE IS A GOD IN HEAVEN WHO KNOWS no limits to anything. In the name of Jesus. This is in the name of Jesus. That name makes darkness flee, and that name makes devils go, and that name brings light and life and peace and hope, and that name REMOVES BITTERNESS, AND THAT NAME drains poison out of our lives. It is the name of Jesus. Hallelujah. Give me just a little bit more. In the name of Jesus. And I see the tears. But you can't fix it. You know that. You guys can't fix [music] this. You started right now by standing down here and saying, "Can't do it." But God can. Nothing is impossible with God. Do you believe that? Do you Do you believe that?
>> [applause]
>> Nothing is impossible with God. See these hands? [music] Not a bit of power in them. But they represent power. In the name of Jesus, may the power of the resurrection come into these this brother and this sister, into this marriage, whatever. Hallelujah, Jesus. It is in the name of Jesus that I anoint my brother with oil in the name of the Lord. It is in the name of Jesus that your word that you gave through this mouth today has taken effect in his heart. I'm praying right now that the root of bitterness or whatever he's down here for this moment, this day, will be dealt with by the power of God's spirit today. Let it happen while he's standing here right now. Lord, I don't believe you wanted me to say anything about a process today. No, I think you came to do something immediate right here, on the spot. And I'm asking you to do that right now. Immediately, on the spot, right now in the name of Jesus. Lord, far too many times we go out wondering what happened. I don't want anybody to go out today wondering if anything happened. I want them to go OUT KNOWING THAT THEY TOUCHED JESUS. THE HEM OF HIS GARMENT WAS TOUCHED TODAY. THAT JESUS STOPPED DEAD IN HIS TRACKS AND SAID, "WHO TOUCHED ME?" BECAUSE HE FELT FAITH AND VIRTUE RUN OUT OF HIS BODY. I'm praying that that same faith and virtue WILL BEGIN TO FLOW THROUGH THIS MAN and this WOMAN RIGHT THE HEALING VIRTUE OF JESUS CHRIST. OH, LORD, I thank you for YOUR FAITHFULNESS TO ALL GENERATIONS. I PRAY FOR YOUR faithfulness to be right now evident in front of this sister. Your faithfulness. Had it not been for the Lord, where would she be right now? AND THE SAME GOD THAT BROUGHT HER HERE IS GOING to take her home. I bless you. I praise you. And if I'm the only one in this big old room to do it, I'm going to do it ALL BY MYSELF. OH, SURELY, SOMEBODY IN HERE TODAY CAN THANK HIM. HE'S GOD. THERE IS NO GOD LIKE OUR GOD.
>> [music]
>> HALLELUJAH. HALLELUJAH. HALLELUJAH. HALLELUJAH. HALLELUJAH. OH, HALLELUJAH. LORD, FOR ALL OF those that did not come down, there's no penalty for it. You're not going to beat them up for it. Sometimes people ARE JUST TOO WORN OUT. BUT SO, I'M GOING TO PRAY THIS. MAY THE SPIRIT OF JESUS THAT RAISED JESUS FROM THE DEAD, MAY THE PEACE OF OUR FATHER, WHO BROUGHT AGAIN JESUS FROM THE GRAVE, BEGIN TO FILL YOU, COMPLETE YOU, DELIVER YOU, SATISFY [screaming] YOU, CAUSE YOU TO KNOW THAT THERE IS A BETTER life to live than the one YOU'VE BEEN LIVING. LET YESTERDAY BE GONE FOREVER. AND NOW ALL [screaming] WE KNOW IS JESUS. JESUS. JESUS. PRAISE HIM, CHURCH. PRAISE HIM, CHURCH. HALLELUJAH.
>> [music] [singing] [singing] [music] [music and singing] [music] [music] [singing] [music]
>> Sing that ONE MORE TIME. JUST BECAUSE HE'S GOD.
>> [music] [music] [music] [music] [music]
>> HALLELUJAH. WE PRAISE YOU, LORD. HALLELUJAH. [screaming] WE BLESS THE NAME OF JESUS. HALLELUJAH. HALLELUJAH. HALLELUJAH. Glory to GOD IN THE HIGHEST. HALLELUJAH. HALLELUJAH. You take what you ask for. You take it. You take your deliverance. You take the surgery. Walk out with it and say, "It's mine." WHEN THE ENEMY TRIES TO BRING IT BACK, SAY, "NOPE. YOU CAN'T PUT A GALLBLADDER BACK IN."
>> [music]
>> YOU CAN'T PUT THAT BITTERNESS BACK IN. IT'S ALREADY BEEN CUT CUT OUT AND [screaming] SEWN BACK TOGETHER. YOU CAN'T PUT IT BACK IN.
>> [applause]
>> Let the words OF MY MOUTH AND THE MEDITATIONS OF MY HEART be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength AND MY REDEEMER. AMEN.
>> [cheering and applause]
>> GO OUT REJOICING. JESUS IS LORD.