Participants:
Series Code: BOLS
Program Code: BOLS000014S
|
00:13 Sermon #S008 - Faith Isn't Invisible (Part 2)
00:19 Welcome to the Breath of Life Television Ministries broadcast! 00:24 In the previous episode, we learned that having unrealistic faith requires complete trust in God. 00:31 We will continue learning about what that looks like through Part Two of the message entitled: 00:36 “Faith Isn't Invisible” by Pastor Debleaire Snell. Let's go to the Word of God. 00:43 Pastor Snell: I need somebody to get that there is a devastating consequence to presumption. 00:52 When God allows presumptive behaviors to fail, 00:57 the purpose of the failure is actually designed to teach you to not move ahead of His Word. 01:04 Are you all still with me? Sometimes, our takeaway is not that we shouldn't move ahead of his Word. 01:12 What happens is the consequences of presumption create some deficits, 01:19 but the problem is we try to withdraw from our faith account to cover the deficits that presumption creates. 01:28 In other Words, I suffer some wounds because of presumption, but I try to borrow from my faith in order to heal it. 01:36 The issue is we lose so much in presumption, that now, we ain't got no courage when it's time to walk in faith. 01:45 The crazy thing about it, friends of mine, is that instead of distrusting ourselves, 01:53 when it's time to operate in faith, we then began begin to distrust God. 01:58 Because most of us don't have the humility to say, "Lord, you didn't tell me to do that. 02:05 We don't have the humility to say, "This was my idea, not Yours." We don't have the humility to say, 02:12 "I moved ahead of you." What we try to do is spiritualize and rationalize our failures. 02:18 What we do is we drag God down with us when the truth is that it was us that moved ahead of the hand of God. 02:27 Are you all with me today, saints? 02:30 This is the crazy thing about it, church. You all going to get quiet. It's okay. 02:32 I'm going to stand in hear this today. Ain't that amazing how our fallen nature gives us courage for everything, 02:41 but faith? You all are going to get mad when I say this. 02:48 Ain't that amazing how your flesh will give you courage to try weed. 02:54 Oh, you all are going to get quiet. 02:57 Ain't that amazing how your flesh will give you the courage to sit in front of a stranger with a needle 03:04 and tattoo your body up from head to toe? Come on. It takes courage. 03:09 Come on and say, "Amen." I mean, ain't that amazing how your flesh will give you the courage to lay down with a 03:16 stranger? Your flesh will give you the courage to fight somebody in a bar. 03:23 Your flesh will give you courage to get a vaping pen. 03:26 Isn't that amazing how we have so much courage when we're walking with the devil, 03:31 but we ain't got no courage when it's time for us to start walking in faith. 03:37 The problem is that we use so much courage for the world, 03:41 that we ain't got no courage when it's time to stand on the Word of the living God. 03:47 Are you all hearing what I'm saying to you all today, saints? 03:51 The problem is we have borrowed so much faith and emptied it into presumption that, 03:57 now, we ain't got no surplus when it's time to operate according to what God said. 04:04 What happens is we get in a relationship with God and what happens is that relationship suffers 04:10 because of what happened in our previous relationships. Anybody ever knew somebody that... Ain't it that. 04:21 Anybody ever been somebody that was in a relationship with a lying, manipulating, abusive man or woman? 04:31 Ain't it crazy how you give so much of yourself to that lying, cheating, abusive man or woman, 04:39 that it did affects the next relationship you get into? Okay. You all go brand-new on me today. 04:47 Okay. You are like it ain't never been you, right? Help me, Holy Ghost. 04:51 It's crazy because you got lied to so much over there. They didn't keep their promises over there. 04:57 They abused you over there. So even when you get a good man or a good woman, guess what? 05:03 You're checking their emails. You're scrolling through their text messages. 05:11 You're smelling their clothes when they ain't around. 05:14 In other Words, what happens is because you gave so much to them, 05:19 you distrust the person that you're in a good relationship with. 05:22 You all didn't catch it. In other Words, 05:25 you bring those deficits from the last relationship into a good relationship. 05:30 The problem is when we were in relationship with the world, the world lied to us. 05:37 The world manipulated us. The world abused us. Now, you got a good man in Jesus, 05:44 but the problem is, now, you're questioning Him because the devil didn't keep His Word. 05:50 Where are you all at today, church? Is there anybody that knows that God is saying, 05:55 "Don't bring my Word into suspicion because you trusted yourself too much in the past." 06:01 Is there anybody that knows that the bridegroom is going to keep his Word? 06:06 The Word says that he cannot lie, that he cannot change his mind. The Word says he cannot fail. 06:14 So don't bring the baggage from presumption into the relationship that's based on faith. 06:21 Are you all hearing the world today?Third thing this teaches, friends of mine, is that real faith is not experimental. 06:33 Are you all tired? You might as well get your second wind. I'm going to be here. 06:38 Come on and say, "Amen." One of the things I like about Peter is that when Peter steps out onto the water... 06:54 You know what I like about Peter? It's that Peter didn't reach out and try to test the water. 07:03 He didn't try to see if the water can hold him. 07:09 The thing I like about Peter is that first step is a step of conviction. 07:14 When Peter gets out of there, he doesn't try to test the water. He puts all his weight on the water. 07:24 Now, friends of mine, I don't know if that's so much of credit to Peter. 07:28 It may some of it be a credit to Jesus. Why do you say that, Pastor? 07:31 As I look through this story for the last two weeks, I keep trying to figure out, 07:36 Pastor McCoy, why Jesus doesn't just stop the storm. 07:43 One of the reasons I believe that Jesus doesn't stop the storm is because if the water was calm, 07:51 Peter might have tried to test the water. Remember, Peter is not looking at calm water. 07:58 Peter's looking at water that looks like this. Oh, you all didn't get it. 08:04 In other Words, if the water was too calm, he might have tried to test the water. 08:09 But because the boat is being rocked to and front, because the water is so hostile, 08:15 because the water is so volatile, it essentially creates a scenario where he can't test the water. 08:22 In other words, it's so volatile, that he ain't got no choice, 08:27 but to just put all his weight on the water and trust what God said. 08:33 In other words, friends of mine, Peter is in such a situation that he ain't got time to experiment. 08:41 He's got to commit to it. 08:46 Why am I saying that? 08:49 Because there's some there's some language in the vernacular of the church that's got to change. 08:59 The problem is we've gotten too comfortable with this experimental religion. Even if it's wrong, 09:07 we say it to try to help people get across the line. We say stuff like "Why don't you give God a try?" 09:17 In other Words, what we're giving them permission to do is to test the water. 09:23 How many of us understand that it ain't going to never work as long as you're trying God. 09:31 It ain't going to work until you commit to God. The reason you've never moved from faith to miracle is 09:42 because you're testing the water. 09:45 I need you to know this kind of stuff doesn't happen until you put everything you got into the hands of Jesus. 09:54 Some of us have the temerity to say, "I'm going to test the water." 09:58 The problem with testing the water is basically saying, "God, I don't think you're worthy, 10:03 so I need you to audition for me. I'm going to walk with you as long as you're proving yourself. 10:14 "How many of us know that in this relationship, there's only one that's got to prove themselves, 10:20 and it ain't Jehovah. Are you all hearing what I'm saying? 10:25 The problem with an experimental approach to God is that you stay with it as long as everything goes 10:33 like your want. But God is not looking for experimental believers that come up with a hypothesis. 10:41 He is looking for some folks that have a commitment to Jesus who will say, "I'm going to walk with You, God. 10:48 Come hell or high water. Come up, come down. Come winter, spring, summer, or fall. Come sunshine or rain. 10:57 I'm not going to change my mind about You, Jesus. 11:03 The problem is we say, "Just go ahead and try giving your tithes and offering." 11:13 That means you're only going to do it as long as you're getting an abundant return. 11:17 How many cheerful givers know that every and then, it's going to be lean in the land, 11:22 but God is still going to be faithful? In other Words, young people, it's, right now, 11:27 we've told you why don't you try abstinence. No, that's only going to work until you get lonely. 11:33 Am I preaching to anybody? Or until they call at the right time? Are you all hearing what I'm saying? 11:38 When we say, "Why won't you try prayer" No, you can't experiment. 11:44 Jesus says, "I wish that all men would learn how to pray and not faint." They're going to be some things, 11:52 friends of mine, where you've got to commit yourself to it until God sees you through it. 11:58 Are you all hearing what I'm saying? This is crazy. I'm blessed. You all heard me kind of share my testimony. 12:04 We've been blessed with three kids, but I need you to understand that before that, 12:08 we had gone to a place where we had lost one child in miscarriage. We thought to ourselves and to every life, 12:14 some rain must fall. We got our faith back up. And then, we believe the game. My wife got pregnant, 12:20 and then she lost another child in miscarriage. I said, "Okay, this is our test. 12:24 We're going to handle it like a champ." We get our faith back up. Then we lost another child in miscarriage. 12:30 By this time, I need you to understand that I'm preaching a faith that I'm not necessarily sure that I have. 12:36 One of the things that we learned through this experience is that, sometimes, 12:40 if your prayer is based upon an experiment, as soon as the experiment doesn't go the way you want it to go, 12:47 then guess what? You give up on your petition. I need you to know that we learn how to persevere in prayer. 12:55 Is there anybody in the room that's been praying for the same thing for a month? 12:59 You've been praying for a couple of months. You've been praying for about a year. 13:03 Anybody who have been praying for some children for about 10 years? I want to encourage you today. 13:09 Don't give up on your petition right now. 13:13 I got three miracle babies sitting right here on the second row of the church as a reminder that He might not 13:21 come when you want him,but guess what? He'll be there right on time. 13:28 You've got to learn how to hold on to your petition. 13:36 Fourth thing this teaches us. I'm almost done. Not yet, but I'm almost. Come on. Friends of mine, 13:46 I like this because what I need you to get about real faith is real faith is sustained by the Word. 13:54 What did I say, church? Real faith is sustained by the Word of God. 14:03 Now, I don't know if we really understand the miracle that takes place on the lake that night. 14:15 Matthew says Jesus came walking to them on the water. 14:22 Now, I need you to get that this is simply an eyewitness account. 14:25 This is not inspired scripture. Matthew is in the middle of a storm. It's dark outside. 14:31 He came to get the full picture. He's just giving you his best description or what he sees. 14:38 One scholar, Malcolm, says something that blew my mind. 14:41 He says what Jesus does here is simply a reset of what He did at creation. 14:54 Remember the Bible says, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth 15:00 and that the earth was dark and void, and without form, and how the spirit of God hovered above the water. 15:11 No, you all didn't get it. The Bible says that the Spirit hovered above the water. 15:16 Understand that the spirit that hovered above the water wasn't necessarily the Holy Spirit. 15:22 It was Jesus without a body. In the beginning, Jesus hovered above the water. How do I know it was Jesus? 15:32 John says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." 15:40 The Word became flesh and the Word dwelt amongst us. Jesus simply does, with the body, 15:49 what He did at creation without a body. I don't believe that Jesus is walking on water. 15:57 I believe Jesus hovers above the water, so that when Jesus speaks the Word, 16:05 the Word then settle beneath the waves. The Word hovers above the water just like it did at creation. 16:14 I don't even believe Peter's feet get wet. 16:17 What do you mean, Pastor? Because when Jesus says "Come", He wasn't walking on the water. 16:24 He was walking on the Words of Jesus Christ. It is the Word that sustains him. 16:34 It's the Word that holds him up. It's the Word that gives him balance. 16:39 It is the Word that keeps him. Watch this, all saints, 16:43 that the Words of Jesus become Peter's bridge over troubled water. Hallelujah. 16:52 [Congregation: Clapping] 16:54 Pastor Snell: Watch this. I still don't think we get it because the Word is mobile. 17:02 Every time Peter makes a step, he's held by the Word. But the Word don't stay behind Peter. 17:11 Every time his foot moves, the Word gets in front of it, and his foot lands on the Words. 17:18 Every time he raises his foot, the Word moves and it lands on the Words. Every time he raises it, 17:26 the Word moves and it lands on the Words. 17:30 Have you ever wondered why certain folk never sink? Because no matter where they are, 17:36 as long as they stand on the Word, the Word is going to hold them up. Watch this. 17:47 It's going to get a little good. Guess what? Jesus doesn't even speak a whole paragraph. 18:06 He doesn't even speak a polysyllabic word. He speaks a single-syllable word 18:15 and He has sustained by one word "Come." If come is able to hold him in the storm, 18:32 how much more power will be there if Jesus added a little bit more to the word "Come"? 18:41 Did you notice, saints, that some of the best promises in the Word start with the word "Come". 18:48 To all the sinners, He says, "Come now, and let us reason together. Though your sins be as scarlet, 18:56 I'll make them white like snow." Remember, he says, "All that come unto me, I will in no wise cast them out." 19:05 It is why the spirit and the bride say, "Come, let him that is first, come." 19:12 It is why Jesus says, "Come unto me all ye who labor and are heavy laden, 19:19 and I will give you rest." It is why Acts 1:8 says, 19:25 "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit shall come upon you." 19:32 But you realize that the best promise in the Word begins with the word "Come" because he says, "Behold. 19:41 I come quickly. My reward is with Me to give to every man according to his Words." He says, "I've go to go. 19:54 I will come again and receive you unto myself." 20:00 Is there anybody that's worn out by the war in Ukraine? You're tired of coronavirus. 20:09 You're sick and tired of police brutality. Can I encourage you? Don't cast away your faith? 20:17 Why? Because my Jesus is going to come with clouds. He's going to come with power. 20:28 He's going to come with interruption. He's going to come with immortality. 20:35 Don't stand on the news. Don't stand on the stock market. Don't stand on the job report. 20:43 Don't test the waters. Stand on the Word, on Christ the solid rock. I stand,I said,all others. 20:55 I said all others. I said all others.Ground is taking stand. Somebody say yes. Say yes! On Christ the solid rock, 21:14 I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. Hallelujah. 21:24 [Congregation: Clapping] 21:29 Choir Leader: How many believe that on Christ the solid rock we stand. All other ground is sinking sand. 21:35 [Band Playing] 21:42 Hallelujah. Let's sing this together to Him. It just says, "My hope is built." Come on. Sing it out. My hope... 21:48 Choir: My hope... 21:51 Choir Leader: Is built. Hallelujah. 21:52 Choir: ... is built... 21:55 Choir Leader: On nothing less. Hallelujah. 21:56 Choir: ... on nothing less. 22:03 Choir Leader: It says, "Then, Jesus." 22:04 Choir: Then Jesus. 22:11 Choir Leader: And righteousness... 22:13 Choir: And righteousness. 22:20 Choir Leader: It says, "I dare." 22:21 Choir: I dare... 22:23 Choir Leader: It says, "I dare not trust." 22:25 Choir: ... not trust. 22:27 Choir Leader: The sweetest frame. 22:29 Choir: The sweetest frame. But wholly... 22:40 Choir Leader: Wholly... 22:41 Choir: Wholly... 22:43 Choir Leader: On Jesus' name. 22:45 Choir: On Jesus' name. 22:49 Choir Leader: Hallelujah. Let's pick it up right here, so "On Christ." Sing it up. 22:52 Choir: On Christ... 22:56 Choir Leader: The solid rock... 22:57 Choir: The solid rock. 23:03 Choir Leader: The solid rock, I stand. 23:06 Choir: I stand. All other ground is... 23:18 Choir Leader: Is sinking sand... 23:20 Choir: ... sinking sand. 23:24 Choir Leader: On Christ... 23:25 Choir: On Christ... 23:28 Choir Leader: The solid rock. The solid rock I stand. 23:33 Choir: The solid rock I stand. All... 23:40 Choir Leader: All other ground... 23:45 Choir: ... other ground is... 23:50 Choir Leader: Is sinking sand... 23:53 Choir: ... sinking sand. 23:55 Choir Leader: On Christ... 23:56 Choir: On Christ the solid rock. 24:07 Choir Leader: I stand... 24:08 Choir: I stand. On all other ground... 24:19 Choir Leader: Sinking sand. 24:20 Choir: ... is sinking sand. 24:27 Choir Leader: On Christ. 24:28 Choir: On Christ the solid rock I stand. All... 24:47 Choir Leader: All other ground. 24:48 Choir: ... other ground is... 24:53 Choir Leader: Is sinking sand. 24:56 Choir: ... sinking sand. 24:59 Choir Leader: On Christ. 25:00 Choir: On Christ... 25:04 Choir Leader: The solid rock. 25:05 Choir: ... the solid rock... 25:10 Choir Leader: The rock I stand. 25:12 Choir: ... I stand. All... 25:18 Choir Leader: All other ground. 25:20 Choir: ... other ground is sinking sand. 25:31 Choir Leader: Is sinking sand. Hallelujah. Sing it. 25:40 Choir: Is sinking sand. 25:47 [Congregation: Clapping] 25:48 (Breath of Life Music) 28:40 [End] |
Revised 2022-04-27