Participants:
Series Code: BOLS
Program Code: BOLS000029S
|
00:06 Sermon #S016 - (Claim Your Benefits 2 Part 2)
00:20 Welcome to the Breath Of Life Television Ministires Broadcast with Pastor Debleaire Snell. 00:26 In today's episode we will continue Part 2 of the second episode of the series titled "Claim Your Benefits". 00:34 Let's Learn more about having faith through the word of God. 00:39 Pastor Snell: Let me tell you this, 00:41 beloved, that whatever relationship you don't bring to Jesus is going to 00:44 become so painful that that same relationship is going to take you out to Jesus. 00:50 Let me say it this way, that you need to take the job offer to Jesus because if you don't take the job offer to Jesus, 00:59 the job experience is going to take you back to Jesus. Yeah, folks, 01:04 you need to take the little girlfriend or boyfriend to Jesus because if you don't, 01:09 that relationship's pain is going to push you back to Jesus. The married folks, 01:15 we need to take these marriages to Jesus because if you ain't got that married in front of Jesus, 01:21 that same marriage is going to push you back to Jesus. Are you all hearing what I'm saying? 01:26 See, there are some of us that are so tied up in relationship issues that God, 01:33 literally has to use the pain of the relationship in order to bring your back in close connectionship with him. 01:41 So, whatever is causing you to be lost, God uses that very same thing to help you get saved. 01:51 See, we have to get to a place, beloved, 01:53 where we realize the reason Jesus has to be in control of every relationship whether it is parent and child, 01:59 whether it is husband and wife, is because Christ is the author of all relationships." 02:05 Do you realize that marriage is not a human idea? It was God's idea, 02:10 and it does not work outside of Him. Do you realize that family was not just about biological processes? 02:17 It was a part of God's design to keep humanity and fellowship with Him. It ultimately, does not work apart 02:24 and are autonomously from Him. God is saying, "Any relationship that you don't bring to me is going to ultimately bring 02:32 back to me. What I'm saying to somebody today, I want to say to the church that, 02:38 there has to be a rebuilding of the family altar. 02:46 [ Congregation: applauding] 02:48 There's got to be a rebuilding of the family altar where we don't just pray before meals where mommy 02:55 and daddy and kids open up the word of God together. We go line upon line and precept upon precept, 03:04 we've got to get back to a place where we raised our Ebenezers and get rooted in the things of God. 03:12 There are ever been time where you're watching the church online and the kids are playing Roblox in a whole nother room? 03:20 We got to know that if the family prays together, then the family is going to stay together. 03:26 Do I have any praying mothers in the church that are up in the watches of the night while the kids are still sleep, 03:35 you walk into the house with your hands raised, praying for their protection? Praying for their innocence. 03:42 Praying that they'll be mighty in the land. 03:45 Do I have any spiritual fathers who are saying, "I'm willing to say to my kid, "I don't care what your friends' 03:53 parents do. I'm going to stand in the mind[?] of Joshua and say, "As for me in my house 04:01 [ Congregation: Applauding.] 04:03 we will serve the Lord. Church ain't optional. The game might be optional. 04:09 Sports maybe optional, but guess what? The one thing you don't know is you don't know Jesus. 04:15 Are you all hearing me today, saints? 04:18 [ Congregation: Applauding] 04:23 It's crazy here 'cause I'm looking at this thing, and I wanted to just step outside with the text for a moment 04:30 and make a pastoral observation 'cause this is amazing to me, Louis, as this woman intercedes for her child, 04:41 how much faith she has. I want to do this much, but I want to step outside of text 04:46 and just make a pastoral observation to make a question. I just wonder as much faith does she has praying for the girl, 04:53 I wonder if she would have that same kind of faith if she was praying for herself? 05:04 You know this when the things I've even noticed even in this series own faith is that there are some of us that got 05:10 mountain-moving faith. Whenever, we're praying for somebody else, 05:18 but we ain't got no faith when it comes down to praying for ourselves. 05:25 It's strange because when you look at some of the greatest miracles of Jesus, 05:30 do you realize that they were the result of intercession? Do you remember the blind man that Jesus healed in Bethsaida. 05:38 The Bible says that the blind man don't even say a word. It's his friends that do all the talking on his behalf. 05:46 Remember the paralyzed man, he didn't even utter a syllable to Christ. 05:50 It was his friends that just let him down through the roof. 05:54 Remember the centurion, he came to Jesus interceding on behalf of the sick servant. 06:02 Do you remember it was Jairus that came to Jesus on behalf of the sick child? 06:08 Even folk like the bent-over woman or the man by the pool of Bethesda, they didn't make a request to Jesus. 06:16 Jesus rolled up on them and said, "Do you want to be made whole?" 06:21 I guess, what I'm saying is why are we so timid when it comes down to praying for what we need. 06:33 I see some of you are still bound. You all will receive this word today. It's crazy because man, 06:38 some of you have prayed for healing for other folk. But you ain't ask God to do nothing about your arthritis. 06:49 You pray for healing and reconciliation into other folks' marriages, 06:54 but you just accepted the brokenness in your marriage. 06:58 You prayed for promotion over your kids and over your grandkids and over your cousins, 07:04 but you just accepted the status quo in your own life. It's crazy because some of us has admitted, 07:11 still got some bad theology. It's crazy because sometimes I hear somebody say, 07:17 thinking they were impressing me as the pastor. They say, "Pastor, listen. I don't ask anything from God. 07:22 I just give thanks and I just pray for other people." I said, "Where do you get that from?" 07:28 See, I need to know that intercession is not wrong. Intercession is just incomplete. 07:35 Jesus said, "You have not because you ask not." But He says, "Ask and it shall be given. 07:46 Seek and it shall be found. Knock and it shall be opened unto you." 07:52 He said, "If you being able know how to give good gifts to your children." 07:58 Anybody got any bad children? You still give them good gifts, 08:03 how much more will the holy ghost or your father in heaven give good things to them that asked. 08:12 Guess what? When God answers your prayers for them, you are not stopped. 08:20 It only just makes you bolder to know that if God can do it for them, guess what? 08:29 God can do it for you. Are you all hearing me today, saints? 08:32 [ Congregation: Yeah] 08:35 So, the word, says here in verse 24, this is going to trip you out. 08:42 This [inaudible] He said, and He answered and He said, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." 08:55 Now, why is this? In order to have unrealistic faith, number 3, not only must you know who He is, 09:02 you got to know who you are in Him. I don't know, saints, He says, "I'm sent, hear me, 09:16 to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Now, friends of mine, this is impressive in so many different ways 09:25 because He says, "Listen, I would do this for you." He said this testing her faith because remember, 09:32 He's put Himself in her path. He came to bless her, but He says, "I'm going to test her faith," 09:40 and shows something to the disciples. So He says, "I would do this for you, 09:44 but I've been sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." 09:49 All right, you all still are not getting this. I've been sent to the scattered sheep that are descendants of Abraham, 09:56 Isaac and Jacob. He says, "These benefits, I've reserved for the lost sheep." 10:06 See, some of us are so religious that we run by things that are going to bless us. 10:14 He says, "I've got blessings that wee not just reserved for those who stayed in the sheep-pen. 10:25 [ Congregation: Applauding] 10:27 I've got some blessings that I didn't just keep for those who stayed close to the shepherd, 10:35 but I've got some blessings that I specifically, laid aside. Listen, if you stayed with the shepherd, 10:43 you're going to show enough and get some blessings, you go and function in the overflow, 10:47 but Jesus says that even if you strayed from the good shepherd, even if you got outside of the fold, 10:55 even if you're left outside of the sheep gate, 10:59 I've got some blessings that have been reserved just for those that lost their way. 11:09 [ Congregation: Applauding] 11:15 Jesus. See, I need somebody to understand the essence of the gospel is this, 11:20 that even when you lost sight of the shepherd, the good shepherd never lost sight of you. 11:28 See, there's somebody who's not feeling this. Remember, Jesus says, "Which of you, having a 100 sheep, 11:36 and one of them strays, would you leave the 99 and go after the one that was lost? 11:44 But the reason some of us don't rejoice when we read the parable is we see ourselves as the 99, 11:51 but how many of us understand that it doesn't matter if you are born in the church until you are born again. 11:59 At some point, you are the one that strayed. Are you all hearing me today, saints? 12:07 [ Congregation: Yeah] 12:09 This is the gospel in a nutshell, friends, because even when you change your mind about the shepherd, 12:14 the shepherd never changes his mind about you. So, He tests the woman, 12:20 He says, "I've been sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." 12:25 He says, "These blessings are for the ones that have messed up along the way. 12:30 These blessings are for those that have done the unthinkable. 12:34 That I've got some blessings for those who don't even deserve it." "So, why are you preaching this, 12:45 Pastor?" Because see, there are some of us that have come back into the fold who are still living under 12:52 this merit-based theology that says, "Because I messed up back in the day, that I'm disqualified from God's blessing 13:03 and His favors for the very rest of my life." But God is saying to you today, "It didn't matter who you used to be, 13:12 it didn't matter who you used to be with. It didn't matter what you used to smoke, what you used to drink, 13:19 where you used to lay, where you used to party, when you come back home, 13:24 I've reserved some blessings with your name on it. 13:29 [ Congregation: Applauding] 13:34 Pastor Snell: See, I need somebody to understand something fundamentally that God cancels sin, not sinners. 13:47 God cancels errors not heirs. Oh God, let me praise somebody on this side. He cancels sin, not the sinner. 14:00 He cancels errors, not the heirs of His promise. Now, there's somebody, I know you're bothered by this. 14:09 I see you thinking. You're saying, "The pastor is lowering the standard. 14:12 The pastor is saying that you can do however you want and experience the blessings of God." 14:17 No, you simply have not understood the magnitude of God's grace. 14:23 [ Congregation: Applauding] 14:25 Do you realize, beloved, that your behavior doesn't change your status in God? 14:36 No. No. So, let me say it. I want to be clear because remember, because you said, "No sin separates you from God." 14:41 Yes, the Bible says, "Sin separates from God, but to be clear, sin didn't make God pull back from you. 14:49 Sin makes us pull back from God, and what happens is we pull so bad far back 14:56 and we get so deep in our own mess that we get to a place where we just feel like we are undeserving of His grace. 15:07 So, what am I going to say, Pastor? You're still going too far." "Okay. Stay with me." 15:12 Remember when the prodigal son came himself. He was like, "Man, 15:20 my father's servants live better than what I'm doing right now. I'm going to go home." Notice what he said, 15:29 "I'm going to go home and try to make myself and station myself with the servants." 15:40 So, remember when it gets to the Father, literally because of his guilt, because of his shame, notice what the boy does, 15:49 he tries to demote his own status. He says, "Daddy, I'm not going to ask you for nothing." He says, "Daddy, 15:57 I know I don't deserve nothing." He says, "Daddy, just make me like one of your servants. 16:03 I'm not worthy to be called your son." But notice that the daddy does not honor the son's request to be demoted. 16:11 The daddy says, "Go, get the best calf. The one we've been preparing for a celebration. Don't get a servant's robe, 16:21 but get a royal robe and put it around his neck, and put a ring on his finger." 16:27 What God is trying to teach us is that a servant can be demoted because of behavior, 16:34 but a son can't be demoted because of bad behavior. 16:38 A son's place is guaranteed. 16:41 A son's place is set in stone that as a son or daughter your place does not have to be earned. 16:49 It is gained by birth in Him, and I just need to know, do I have at least 8 16:55 or 9 saints that are just thankful today that your status has not been demoted? 17:00 You're grateful that where sin abounds, grace stuff much more abound. 17:05 You're thankful that we serve a loving Father that looks beyond your thoughts, 17:10 and He sees your needs that lets us know who He is, but we know who we are in Him. Are you hearing me today, saints? 17:23 [ Congregation: Yeah] 17:27 So, remember now, Jesus is testing the woman. He said, "Enjoy your own sermons as this much." 17:42 His face smoked to me this week. I know. Pray for me. So, I need you to get - see, 17:50 I need you to understand what the woman understood so you have the kind of faith she had. 17:56 So, He says, [crosstalk] he said, "I would love to do this." But I'm only sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 18:05 " Jesus says, "I've only been sent to those who are the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He says, 18:15 "I've only been sent to those that are the descendants of Israel." 18:20 Now, have you ever noticed that the woman's response was not congruent with what Jesus replied. 18:31 Jesus says, This is reserved for the lost sheep of Israel." The Bible says, she doesn't get mad. 18:39 She doesn't get an attitude. 18:41 The Bible says, "She started worshipping Him." 18:44 [ Congregation: Applauding.] 18:46 She started getting happy. She gets to the pasture to receive and she says, 18:53 "Lord, help me." But remember I said, faith has to be informed and not only must you know who he is. 19:03 You got to know who you are to Him. Can I give you one quick verse? Go to Exodus chapter 6 and verse 15. 19:12 Exodus chapter 6 and verse 15. Exodus chapter 6 and verse 15, over there in the Old Testament. When you get there, 19:17 let me hear you say, amen. Exodus chapter 6 and verse 15. Are you all still with me, church? 19:28 [ Congregation: Yes] 19:30 David: The Bible says, " sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar, and Shaul. 19:42 The son of a Canaanite woman. You all didn't get it, and Shaul, the son of a Canaanite woman. 19:52 These are the families of Simeon, the Bible says. See, some of us still didn't get it. 20:00 What we just read in Exodus chapter 6 are the genealogies of some of the 12 sons of Jacob, 20:10 which comprised the 12 tribes of Israel, of the house of Israel. Are you all hearing me, saints? 20:18 But what you just read was one of Jacob's sons was a boy named Simeon. 20:26 Simeon had a baby, the bible says, with a Canaanite woman. 20:32 So, there are some Canaanites that are long lost descendants of the sons of Jacob. 20:43 Even though the Canaanites don't stay in the fold, they leave the shepherd. 20:50 They don't stay in the circumcision. That's why when Jesus said, 20:54 "These blessings are for the lost sheep of the house of Israel," 21:00 that's why the woman got happy. That's why she start waving her hand. 21:06 That's why she got a tambourine happy. That's why she got ready to take a lap because when He says, 21:16 "I'm sent to the lost sheep," she's saying, "I qualified." 21:22 [ Congregation: Applauding] 21:24 "I'm eligible because I'm one of the lost sheep of the house of Israel. I know not just who you are. 21:35 I know who I am in you." I just need to know, do I have some saints who know who you are, not just in theology, 21:46 but to know who you are in a relationship to Christ. There are some that are not shouting yet 21:53 because you're saying I can't trace my ancestry to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But remember we read in Galatians 3:29, 22:05 that if you are in Christ, you are Abraham's seed. You become an heir to His promise. 22:14 So, because I'm bound by the blood, everything he promised to Abraham, I qualify for because I'm of faith. 22:26 I can claim the benefit." 22:28 So, when God says to Abraham, "I'm going to bless those who bless you, and I'm going to bless those that bless you, 22:33 and I'm going to curse those that curse you. Guess what? I can claim that particular benefit. 22:41 When He says to Abraham's kids, "That I'm going to make you a great nation and you can claim that benefit." 22:49 When He says to Abraham's descendants in Deuteronomy 28, when He says, "You will be the head, and not the tail." 22:58 He says, "You're going to be above and not beneath." Guess what? You can claim that benefit. 23:05 When He says, you're going to be a lender and not a borrower. Guess what? You can claim that benefit. 23:12 He says, "Your enemies are going to come in one way, but they're going to flee in seven ways." 23:18 How many know you can claim that benefit? 23:21 He says, "The blessings of the Lord, I go chase you down and overtake you." Is there anybody that says, 23:30 "I'm going to claim that benefit." He promised Abraham's descendants, "I'm going to send you to the land of Canaan. 23:39 They're still fighting over an earthly Canaan. 23:42 But I'm claiming an earthly Canaan for the Bible says, "We are seated in heavenly places." 23:50 Is there anybody that's going to claim that benefit? In other words, I'm not an outsider. 23:56 I'm not on the outside looking in. In other words, the veil has been torn. There is no Jew. 24:04 There is no gentile. There is no Greek. There is no male. There is no female. There is no circumcision. 24:14 We are all one in Jesus and we are heirs to the promise. Praise Him. If you don't claim everyone of your benefits. 24:25 Are you hearing me today? 24:30 [ Congregation: Applauding] 24:34 Pastor Snell: God is saying to somebody, "That you got to stop acting like you don't belong. 24:41 You got to stop acting like an outsider. You got to stop acting like a trespasser. 24:47 You better start acting like you are a family because if you're in Christ, you're already Abraham seed. 25:03 See, some of us know who He is, but the reason we're lacking is because we don't know who we are in Him. 25:19 I want to say to every prodigal son and daughter, stop demoting yourself. A son, a daughter, is a son or daughter forever. 25:36 This is crazy. Going up in a house, one of the things my dad said even though we have chores left 25:40 and right, he never says, "Son, you got to do this chore. You got to earn your keep." He never said that. 25:48 Why? because I'm a son. Sons don't earn their way. Oh, God. Sons and daughters 25:56 don't have to earn their way into the family. Through birth or in our incense, 26:05 rebirth we gain access to God and fellowship with Him, and as long as we never pull back from Him, 26:18 God will never ever pull away from you. 26:21 [ Congregation: Applauding] 26:25 Pastor Snell: Sinners, stopped demoting yourself. Stop beating yourself up. Stop reliving your yesterday. 26:33 Stop confessing the same sins as if His grace is not sufficient. Stop going back the way you came. 26:46 I don't know about you, I'm a son. I'm a child of God. I know who I am and I know who I am in Him. 26:56 So, I'm not perfect, Guess what? I still make mistakes. I mess up along the way, 27:01 but I've made one decision that no matter what comes, I'm not going back the way that I came. 27:09 I'm abiding in Him, and He's going to abide in me. That same promises true to every blood-wash saint-sinner. 27:17 A blood wash saint of the most high God. So, friends of mine, it's pretty simple I want to just minister. 27:23 I want that word to just get reinforced consistently in your soul, to know you don't have to go back the way you came. 27:29 To know who you are and to know who you are in Him. Hallelujah to the land. 27:36 [ Congregation: Hallelujah] 28:29 [END] |
Revised 2022-08-09