Participants:
Series Code: BOLS
Program Code: BOLS000039S
|
00:07 Sermon #S021 - Standing On The Lord's Side - Part 2)
00:20 Welcome to The Breath of Life Television Ministries broadcast with Pastor Debleaire Snell. 00:25 In today's episode, Pastor Snell will share part two of the message entitled 00:29 "Standing On The Lord's Side" Now, lets dive deeper in the word of God 00:39 Pastor Snell: Saints, Elijah calls for a congregational gathering. 00:45 Now, the issue he's about to confront is the issue of idolatry or idol worship. 00:51 Now, let me just pause and say this. Idolatry, friends of mine, is not just praying or paying homage to a block of wood or stone. 00:58 Idolatry is anything personal situation that I prioritize above God. 01:09 The prophets of Baal are present. Ahab and his people are present. 01:16 Most importantly, the people of Israel are present. 01:20 Notice, my friends, the question that is posed. 01:25 He does not ask, "Why have you forsaken, God?" 01:31 The question he asked is, "How long will you halt between two opinions?" 01:38 In other words, he's saying your problem is that you are conflicted people trying to form a merger 01:45 where there ought to be a divorce. He's saying, "You're trying to merge that which is, 01:51 by nature, incompatible." Are you with me today? 01:56 Notice that the Bible says that they don't even respond to the prophet's question. 02:03 There is no repentance. There is no contrition. There is no sorrow. There is no remorse. 02:10 Why? Because in the people's minds they have not tried to abandon God. All they did was supplement God. 02:23 In other words, in their minds, there was no theological conflict. While when we're in a situation, well, guess what? 02:30 We serve God some of the time, 02:31 but all they've done is they've instituted an additional 02:35 belief system to help sustain them in the event that God does not come through. 02:43 In other words, they've kind of entered into this very gray space of their religious experience, 02:50 where it doesn't really matter what they did Saturday night as long as they were in church earlier that morning. 03:00 They have a religion that does not require full devotion to God. 03:04 They have ascribed a belief system that allows them to participate in every facet of culture. 03:10 Eventually, church, what they've developed this segmented religion that puts God in a box where God does not inform the other 03:20 areas of their life as long as God stays where I placed Him. 03:25 There are people of conflict just like some in our time. They pray to God and they pray to Baal. 03:37 Just like in our culture, we have some that pray to God and to the universe. 03:45 We have some that ask God for direction in the morning, and then they're reading their horoscope in the afternoon. 03:54 We ask God to fight our battles while simultaneously planning our own personal retaliation. 04:06 Where we start Sabbath morning with Kirk Franklin, but we finished Saturday night with the weekend; 04:15 where I ask for strength from heaven and from Hennessy; where I asked God to help and I still seek the hemp. 04:24 You are all mighty quiet in this place with me today. 04:27 It's funny because the worship of Baal and the worship of God is so interwoven and so interlaced in their life, 04:37 so that when God moves and blesses, they don't even know which God to glorify 04:43 because they are so interwoven in their life. This is why God says, 04:49 "I've got to break the bowl of Baal over their belief system," 04:54 because He's about to end the drought that has been over the land for three and a half years. 05:00 If they don't know who stops the drought, then they will not know which God to praise. 05:08 See, it's all woven together in one little happy religious experience without any conflict. 05:13 Okay. Let me say it like some of you will hear it today. 05:16 In other words, what they want to be in is they want to be in an open relationship with God. 05:25 In other words, spiritually, they want the Will and Jada kind of arrangements. 05:31 [Congregation: Laughing] 05:34 In other words, they want other parties to be able to come in and come out, and they wonder why they have so many entanglements. 05:41 Oh, God. Oh, God. Are you all hearing the pastor today, church? 05:47 See, the funny thing about Baal is you realize that Baal appealed to their flesh. 05:54 Why? Because Baal didn't mind sharing. Baal didn't get mad if you serve other Gods. 06:04 But understand, there was a reason that Baal did not mind sharing. Are you all still with me, church? 06:09 The reason he didn't mind sharing is because he couldn't meet all their needs. In other words, Baal, in some adaptations, 06:20 was just a fertility God who also was a sky God who made it rain. The reason that Baal did not mind sharing was 06:28 because he had a number of limitations that would keep him from requiring absolute and full devotion just unto himself. 06:36 Baal did not mind if you wind up worshipping Chemosh, which was the god of War. He didn't mind if you also shared with Dagon, 06:45 which was the god of grain or the god of the harvest. He didn't mind if you also worshipped the god of Astaroth, 06:51 which was the god of love. He wouldn't also mind if you start worshipping the god of [inaudible], 06:57 who was the god of war or protection. The reason he set it up in such a way is that you would have to go to one god for water, 07:04 another god for food, another god for protection, another god for this, and another god for that. 07:10 The people felt that god, that Baal didn't mind sharing, when the truth is he was just outsourcing. 07:18 In other words, he's outsourcing what he is unable to do 07:22 because he knows that there are limitations in what he is able to provide. 07:28 See, this is why God says, "I am a jealous God, that you shall have no other gods before me." 07:36 See, the problem is, in our minds, jealousy connotes in a very negative way. 07:42 But the reason God says, "I'm jealous, 07:44 you don't need any other gods," is because we serve the God that does not have to outsource our needs. 07:51 He doesn't have to refer you to anybody else. We serve the God that says, "You can get your protection from Me. 07:58 You can get your provision from Me. You can get your redemption from Me. You can get your blessings from Me. 08:06 Your food comes from Me. Your redemption comes from Me. Your protection comes from Me. 08:13 I'm the God that shall supply all your needs according to My riches and glory." 08:22 [Congregation: Applauding] 08:25 See, Baal has to be in an open relationship because he can't satisfy everything. 08:32 See, I need somebody to understand, friends of mine, that Baal is the god that cannot do it all. 08:38 But God is the God that does all things well. Are you all hearing me today, saints? 08:41 See, Baal said, "Okay. Let me send them over here because all I can do is this, but I can't do that over there." 08:51 See, this is the thing about the Baals that we worship in our time. They could get us through moments, 09:01 but they can't keep us in seasons. Guess what? Your weed will get you through the next 10 minutes... 09:15 [Congregation: Applauding] 09:17 but it can't get you through a season of hell. Your alcohol will make you black out until the next day, but guess what? 09:25 Those problems are still waiting for you in the morning. That your covering partner will help you sleep through the night, 09:31 but guess what? The troubles of that night season are going to still be there the very next day. 09:35 I need you to understand that your problems and issues will numb you, but guess what? They will never ever heal you. 09:43 But God is saying, "I don't have to outsource it. I won't just get you through moments, 09:48 but I will get you through the seasons of life." 09:51 Is there anybody that knows that God is the God who says, "I'll get you through the season of your divorce. 09:57 I'll keep you in the season of infertility and miscarriage. I'm the God that'll keep you when you lose your mother or your spouse. 10:05 I am the God that will keep you when your world gets turned upside down. I don't have to send you anywhere else. 10:12 I don't have to outsource my grace. I can have all your needs met in who I am."? 10:17 [Congregation: Applauding] 10:19 It's funny because this thing about Godly jealousy is we don't even realize it's a good thing. 10:25 See, the reason that Baal doesn't mind you sharing your attention with others is because he's sharing his attention with others. 10:36 That's why Elijah mocked them and said, "Maybe he's doing something else. He ain't got time to focus on you." 10:41 But see, I need you to understand that God says, "I am the jealous God. Thou shall have no other Gods before me." 10:47 Watch this. Not only guys, God is willing to require a covenant of undivided attention. 10:53 He himself keeps the covenant and gives you his undivided attention. 10:58 [Congregation: Applauding] 11:00 Psalm, the 8th division. Remember what the Psalmist says? He says, "Man when I consider all the works of your hand 11:05 and the heavens and I see the works of your fingers..." Notice what he says. "What is man? That thou art mindful of him, 11:14 or the son of man that you visit him." In other words, the psalmist is saying, "Man, I'm impressed by the theory of the sun. 11:20 I'm impressed by the infinite nature of the stars. I'm impressed about what you spoke and it was done. 11:26 It commanded and it stood fast. Yet, you spend all your attention focusing on man. That what is the man that you visit him, 11:34 and the son of the man that you focus on him?" 11:36 See, the thing I love about God is that not only does He require my full devotion, 11:43 but He is the God that also gives us His full devotion so that we lack no good thing. 11:52 It's crazy, friends of mine, that, essentially, what they do is they create a supplement for God, in the event, 11:59 that God doesn't come through. Do you know what Elijah does? He calls them to a place of decision. 12:05 Understand that this is not like this just reformed rebuked thing. 12:09 See, understand that you can never enjoy certain things until you commit to it. 12:17 See, the reason for some of us that religion is a burden is because we never committed to it. 12:23 The reason for some of us who are young adults, the reason religion seems hard is because you never really chose it. 12:28 You inherited it. 12:32 The reason marriage is hard is because you're vacillating between two lives, single life and married life, 12:37 but it ain't going to get good until you just commit to it. 12:41 What I'm saying is that God is calling some of us to a place where we stop halting between ideologies, 12:47 but make a decision to follow after Jesus. Are you all hearing me today, friends? 12:51 God is saying, "It's time for you to get off supplements and get on the real thing." Are you all hearing the word today? 13:01 Have you all ever met somebody who refuses to have a good diet? And so, they got a cabinet full of supplements. 13:09 I mean, it's crazy. They got vitamin C and vitamin D. They got to take this for iron, and this for that, and this for the other. 13:15 It's so funny because sometimes just eat right. Get on a good diet, eat some oranges, you'll get Vitamin C. 13:22 Go outside, let the sun hit you, you'll get some vitamin D. Eat some protein and you won't have an energy loss. 13:28 If you just get on some good meat, guess what? You won't need all the supplements. 13:33 Do I have anybody that has tasted and seen that the Lord is good? If I have a diet of His word, 13:40 if I'm drinking living water, I won't need all these supplements. 13:45 [Congregation: Applauding] 13:47 Won't you get a real diet? Are you all hearing me today, friends? 13:50 Third thing this teaches us, friends of mine, 13:53 is that sometimes what God will do is He will create a circumstance designed to expose the impostors in your life. 14:03 Now, friends, this situation is so foolish. Do you realize the purpose of the drought? 14:17 It is because they have chased after Baal who is the god who sends rain. 14:27 They're going to stubbornly follow the god of rain after three and a half years of no rain. 14:36 See, the purpose of the drought was simply to turn their attention to the God who created heaven and earth. 14:43 Are you all with me today, friends? It just shows how committed we can be to stupid sometimes 14:55 because we're trying, like the piece of gum, to get full over something that cannot provide fullness. 15:06 God says, "Okay. I mean, three and a half years." After three and a half years, 15:11 when you see brooks dry up at some time, somebody ought to be calling a prayer meeting. 15:18 God says, "Okay. I can't just expose them in a gradual way. I've got to publicly embarrass your belief system." 15:29 He says, "Okay. You get a bull. I'm going to get a bull. You make a sacrifice. I'm going to make a sacrifice. 15:36 Guess what? The God who answers by fire..." Now, Baal is the sky god. 15:42 He sends rain and he should be able to send lightning and fire to come and consume the sacrifice." 15:48 Are you all with me today, friends? 15:50 Understand that he sets up his sacrifice, and guess what? They go and call on the great name of Baal. 15:58 They come out with their calls, with their amulets, with all of their vestiges of witchcraft, 16:04 and they call on the name of Baal, and nothing happens. They're like, "Okay. Let's turn up a little bit. 16:12 Let's do a little dance around noon. Let's shake. Let's gyrate. Let's get the tambourines. 16:20 Let's praise him a little bit harder." Guess what? At noon, still no fire. 16:28 See, your boy Elijah's like, "Maybe he's taking a nap." 16:31 [Congregation: Laughing] 16:33 "Maybe he's focusing on somebody else. Maybe you don't have his undivided attention like I do with the true and living God." 16:41 They call upon Baal from the time of the morning to the time of the evening sacrifice. In fact, this joint gets so vile. 16:49 In fact, they're just things that they do that I don't even want to speak in the hearing of children in order to get Baal to 16:54 make it rain. But they get so vile that they begin to try to add something to the offer altar. 16:59 They began cutting themselves to the point that the Bible says that blood gushes out of them. 17:06 The only reason that they stopped praying is, literally, they're out of voice and if they keep moving, 17:14 they're going to bleed to death. 17:19 See, God creates a scenario and the situation that exposes the impotence of what they've been believing in. 17:29 Can I suggest, friends of mine, that sometimes God has to allow some things, 17:33 some circumstances to come into being to expose the things that you've been putting trust and hope in? 17:38 In other words, friends, 17:40 I need somebody to know the reason certain relationships 17:43 have unfolded in such a way is to let you know that you cannot draw strength and happiness from people. 17:49 You've got to get it alone from Jesus Christ. Sometimes things have unfolded in such a way financially, 17:56 so that you stop trusting your 401(k), and start trusting your 316. 18:02 [Congregation: Applauding] 18:04 Okay. Some of you all, John 3:16, for God... Okay. Amen. Are you all with me today? 18:08 In other words, God has allowed some people to show you who they really are, so that you realize who's for you 18:15 and who's actually against you. Sometimes God has allowed some people to walk out of your life 18:20 because sometimes it is in the triflingness of man that you come to discover the faithfulness of God. 18:26 It is only then that you realize when mother and father forsake you, God is going to take you in. 18:33 Hear me, young folk, in the balcony. When you won't listen to the preacher, when you won't listen to your parents, 18:39 when you won't listen to a counsel, God makes your circumstance start preaching to you. 18:45 [Congregation: Yes.] 18:47 See, be careful about being that person that says, "Oh, I don't want nobody always telling me what to do. 18:52 I just need to learn some stuff from experience." Experience is a good teacher, but it's a cruel teacher. 18:59 It's better to learn from instruction than from experience 19:02 because the experience will leave some scars on your behind to let you know don't come down this road anymore. 19:13 [Congregation: Applauding] 19:15 Give me a few more minutes. Elijah goes to the top of Mount Carmel. Understand that Carmel is not just a mountain top. 19:26 It is a ridge that extends over with some autonomy from the mountain. 19:32 It is one of the most visible places in the whole plain so much so that the people of Israel are able to see it at the bottom 19:39 and they're able to see it all the way in Jezreel. Your girl, Jezebel, can look out of the tower and see what's going on. 19:49 Elijah brings about some heavy conviction as he picks up the 12 stones from the altar of the Lord that was torn down. 20:01 He puts together the 12 stones that represent the 12 tribes of Israel, 20:08 and their heads dropped low as they are reminded of the Covenant that God made with the descendants of Jacob. 20:16 As they see it go from one to 12, they are chastened in their hearts. 20:23 God gets a sacrifice. He gets a sacrifice and puts it on the altar. He gets a sacrifice that had no offense. 20:33 He makes a sacrifice that does no wrong. He's got a sacrifice that has no mal-intention, and he puts it on the altar. 20:47 It's crazy because man, like Malcolm, like the eschatology and the soteriology, man, is got my theological mind exploding. 20:58 Guess what your boy Elijah does? He says, "Listen, I want you to take some pots of water. Dig a ditch all the way around it. 21:07 I want you to fill it with water, not just one time, not just two times, but I want you to fill it with water three times. 21:16 In other words, I want you to fill it once for the Father." 21:19 [Congregation: Laughing] 21:21 "Fill it again for the Son, and fill it a third time for the Holy Ghost, that was going to show up in the form of fire." 21:29 But then not only does He say, "Fill it three times, [inaudible]." He says, "Each time, I want you to take four pots of water 21:37 and fill it each time." So, you got four pots of water filling it three times and four plus three equals seven. 21:49 It is the number of God's perfect deliverance, so that after six days, God rested on the seventh day. 21:57 That [inaudible] six times, but he got delivered on the seventh time. 22:02 That the three Hebrew boys were delivered when he heated the furnace seven times hotter." 22:08 I know I'm geeking out. Stay with me. I'm going to get back to you in a minute. 22:11 But not only does he have three plus four, which equals seven. Three times four equals 12. 22:18 Twelve is the number of the kingdom. You got three times four equals 12, then you got 12 stones, and 12 times 12 equals 144. 22:30 The 144,000 represents the complete total of God's Kingdom. 22:38 Your boy Elijah literally begins to just pray a simple prayer. 22:42 He ain't got a dance. He ain't got gyrate. He ain't got a cut himself. 22:46 He just says, "God, I want you to make and vindicate yourself so that they know that I'm acting on Your commands." 22:54 The word says that from a distance, they see fire penetrate the sky. It comes down with so much authority, 23:08 that not only does it consume the sacrifice, it consumes the altar. It consumes the stones. 23:16 It consumes the water. It didn't even leave dust behind. The Bible says, "They all fall on their faces 23:25 and they declare that the Lord, He is God, the Lord, He is God, the Lord, He is God." 23:34 [Congregation: Applauding] 23:38 Hey, hey. He is the God that answers by fire. Now, I've been taking my time just to get to the good part. 23:48 [Congregation: Laughing] 23:50 I believe, Lewis, that for too long, when we read the story, we've been shouting over the wrong thing. 24:00 We don't shout until we see fire. Should we be shouting that the God who spoke and it was done, 24:12 and commanded and stood fast? Should we be impressed that God sends fire? Are we shocked that God sends fire? 24:22 But you know what I'm talking about today is what the fire represents. See, when God sends fire on Elijah's sacrifice, 24:35 the consuming of the sacrifice is an indication that the sacrifice has been accepted by God. In other words, 24:45 it is the proof of the outward demonstration that the sacrifice has been accepted by the Most High God. 24:54 In other words, the people are not going to be consumed because God had put it on the sacrifice. 25:03 [Congregation: Applauding] 25:05 Pastor Snell: Hey, watch this. Do you know what I love about the sacrifice? Do you know who the sacrifice represents? Oh, God. 25:15 I need to go preach this out of town. You all don't want it today. Listen. Do you know who the sacrifice represents? 25:22 It represents Jesus. Where do you see Jesus? Because you realize they didn't repent until after they saw the fire, 25:33 but guess what? The sacrifice had already been made. The bull had already died, not knowing if they were going to repent, 25:43 not knowing if they were going to turn around, not knowing if they were going to get right. 25:48 In other words, he foreshadowed the Christ who says that God commended His love toward us. That, while we were yet sinners, 25:57 the Bible says that Christ died for the ungodly. He didn't wait to see what you were going to do. 26:06 He didn't wait to see if you were going to turn around. He loves you so much that He died on credit. 26:13 He made the guarantee that He just wanted to make a provision just in case you got it right, just in case you turned around, 26:25 just in case you repented, there would be enough grace of available for those who turned unto Him. Are you all hearing me today, 26:36 friends? 26:37 [Congregation: Yes.] 26:39 Watch this. See, I need you to know, at first, why they fell to the ground. 26:45 In fact, put this quote up here. Prophets and Kings 1:52. Let me show you how good God is. 26:52 Listen. She literally says that the people on the mountain prostrated themselves in all before the unseen God. 27:00 They dare not continue to look upon the heaven-sent fire. They feared, they themselves. Hey. 27:14 Do you know why they fall to the ground? Do you know what they're scared of? 27:17 It's that the fire is going to lit the sacrifice, and after it was done with the sacrifice, 27:26 they thought God was going to send it to the people. Why am I rejoicing today? 27:31 Because the fire never left the sacrifice. It stayed on the sacrifice. 27:38 The people got pardoned because it went to the sacrifice. 27:43 In other words, we are forgiven because it wasn't just a sacrifice. It was a substitute. 27:49 He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. 27:54 The chastisement of our peace was upon Him. By his stripes, we are healed. 28:00 Is there anybody thankful today that the judgment never came our way? He never pointed His wrath at you. 28:08 He never pointed his anger at you. He kept his fury on the sacrifice. He kept the second death on the sacrifice. 28:18 We are free because Jesus made the sacrifice. 28:24 [Congregation: Applauding] 28:26 (Breath of Life Theme Music) 28:49 [END] |
Revised 2022-10-19