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Series Code: BOLS
Program Code: BOLS000038S
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00:05 Sermon #S021 - Standing On The Lord's Side - (Part 1)
00:19 Pastor Debleaire Snell: Today, friends, we want to go ahead and jump into the Word. Is that all right? 00:23 Do me a favor. I invite you to stand to your feet as we go to the scriptures this morning. 00:27 I want to invite you to go with me in your Bibles to 1 Kings 18. We will begin together our reading at verse 17. 00:36 We'll have a good bit to read, but we want to look at it in its entirety today. 00:43 1 Kings 18, and we will begin our reading together at verse 17. When you get there, just say, "Pastor, I'm here." 00:52 [Congregation: Pastor, I'm here.] 00:54 1 Kings 18:17. Amen. Again, when you get there just say, "Amen." 01:02 [Congregation: Amen.] 01:03 A very familiar text to us, 01:06 and our prayers that God would show us that which is fresh through those things which are familiar. 01:12 The Bible says, "Then it happened, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, 'Is that you, O troubler of Israel?'" 01:24 It's funny how when you don't just go along to get along, folk will call you a troublemaker. 01:31 "And he answered, 'I have not made troubled to Israel, but you and your father's house have, 01:35 in that you have forsaken the commandments of Lord and have followed the Baals. 01:40 Now therefore, send and gather all Israel to me on Mount Carmel, the four hundred 01:46 and fifty prophets of Baal, and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table.' 01:53 So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together on Mount Carmel. 01:59 And Elijah came to all the people, and said, “How long will you falter between two opinions? 02:06 If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people answered him not a..." what? 02:17 [Congregation: Word.] 02:18 "...not a word." They didn't even say anything. 02:20 They did not even respond. "Then Elijah said to the people, 'I alone am left a prophet of the Lord; 02:27 but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men. Therefore, let them give us two bulls; 02:34 and let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, 02:40 but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other bull, and lay it on the wood, 02:45 but put no fire under it. Then you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord; 02:53 and the God who answers by fire, He is God.' So all the people answered and said, 'It is well spoken.' 03:03 Now Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, 'Choose one bull for yourselves and prepare it first, for you are many; 03:12 and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it.' So they took the bull which was given them, 03:18 and they prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying, 'O Baal, hear us!' 03:25 But there was no voice; no one answered. Then they leaped about the altar which they had made. 03:32 And so it was, at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, 'Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, 03:43 or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened.' 03:50 So they cried aloud, and cut themselves, as was their custom, with knives and lances, 03:58 until the blood gushed out on them. And when midday was past, they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. 04:11 But there was no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention. 04:16 Then Elijah said to all the people, 'Come near to me.' 04:19 So all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. 04:25 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, 04:30 to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, 'Israel shall be your name.' 04:35 Then with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord; 04:39 and he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold two seahs of seed. 04:45 And he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood, and said, 'Fill..." How many water pots? 04:55 [Congregation: Four.] 04:56 "...four waterpots with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood.' 05:01 Then he said, 'Do it a second time,' and they did it a second time; and he said, 'Do it a third time,' 05:09 and they did it a third time. So the water ran all around the altar; and he also filled the trench with water. 05:17 And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, 05:21 that Elijah the prophet came near and said, 'Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, 05:26 and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, 05:34 and that I have done all these things at Your word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, 05:44 and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.' 05:51 Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, 06:02 and it licked up the water that was in the trench. Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; 06:08 and they said, 'The Lord, He is God! The Lord , He is God!' And Elijah said to them, 'Seize the prophets of Baal! 06:17 Do not let one of them escape!' So they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the Brook Kishon and executed them there." 06:28 But again, for emphasis, I want to just have us go back here, and look to verse 21. 06:36 And Elijah came to all the people and said, "How long will you follow between two opinions? 06:43 If the Lord is God, follow Him, and if Baal is God then follow Him." 06:49 Today, saints for just a little while, I want to talk under the subject Standing on the Lord's Side. 06:56 Let's pray. Lord, in this finite space of time, would you communicate eternal truths? 07:10 Lord, I just want to express my need for you in this hour. Lord, would you make your spirit so dense? 07:21 Overwhelm us so much that it would smother all rivaling principalities. 07:28 Hide me in the shadows of the cross that Jesus alone might be seen and that Christ alone would be heard. 07:34 At the end of our time together, may we say, like Israel, that Jehovah alone, He is God. Bless us to this and we pray. 07:43 In the wonderful name of Jesus, let those that believe say together, "Amen." 07:47 [Congregation: Amen.] 07:48 Amen. You may be seated, in the house of the Lord. Saints, a few years back, 08:04 I boarded a particular flight expecting an immediate departure, but for some combination of reasons, 08:13 our flight got stuck there on the tarmac. 08:16 The delay we thought would be just a couple of minutes turned into almost two and a half hours. 08:23 Because I had not eaten, my hunger had begun to get very intense. The longer we waited, the more intense my hunger became. 08:35 Because no meal had been served, I began to scrounge through my bag to see if I had any snacks. To my surprise, 08:44 I found a box of chewing gum that I had not eaten. 08:49 Now, I learned on the plane that day that the worst thing you can do when you're hungry is to begin chewing some gum 09:00 because when you chew gum, the flavor causes you to salivate. 09:05 It releases gastric juices that cause your body to anticipate food that the gum never delivers. 09:14 The gum poses as food. It imitates food. It prepares the body for food, but it does not deliver food. 09:24 Because I'm getting hungrier, subconsciously, I begin to chew the gum harder and with more force, 09:32 as if chewing it harder was going to help me get fuller. I'm not aware that the harder I chew, the hungrier I become. 09:42 Chewing makes me frustrated because it brings flavor, but it brings no fullness. While my stomach is irritated, 09:54 my facial muscles are fatigued. 09:56 This is all happening because I'm trying to get full off of an empty source. 10:03 It's incapable of giving me what I'm hoping it's able to give. I did not get any relief until I spit out the gum 10:13 and got some real food. The fact is, friends, that Jesus refers to Himself as the bread of life. 10:22 Christ introduces Himself as living water that ceases us from ever thirsting again. 10:28 The problem is that, spiritually, we are laying aside the Bread of Life for the bubblegum problems of this world 10:37 or features of this world. We live with a certain hollowness and emptiness 10:43 because we're trying to get full based upon an empty source. 10:48 Like gum, we pursue these things with more force, 10:52 but all they do is they heighten anticipation but they never deliver any satisfaction. 11:00 The truth is, friends, that accomplishment will pose as joy, but it will never deliver real joy. 11:09 That money will pose as a security, but money cannot make you secure. In fact, you thought he or she would make you happy, 11:18 but happiness ultimately comes from God. You thought peace was in your weed stash, but it cannot deliver any peace. 11:28 You thought healing was in the therapist's office, but they are facilitators. They cannot bring healing. 11:35 See, we are created with certain voids that cannot be filled outside of Christ. 11:42 The overarching message for the people today is that you're going to live with frustration 11:49 and disappointment as long as you're trying to get joy from things and accomplishments and people. 11:57 God needs us to understand that real joy and peace can only be found in Him. 12:06 The larger principle, friends, is actually one of priority. Hear me, saints, 12:11 because understand that gum is not bad. Gum is just for full people. 12:18 [Congregation: Laughing] 12:19 You all didn't catch it today. 12:21 In other words, the gum is only a problem if your belly has no bread or drink on the inside. 12:28 It only becomes a pain if there is nothing on the inside. What I'm saying is, 12:34 that some of these things that I'm talking about are not bad, but they only benefit if you're filled with the living bread 12:42 and the living water. In other words, relationships are not for people who are looking for happiness. 12:49 It's for those that have already been made happy in Jesus Christ. In other words, titles or positions won't make you secure. 12:58 It only works if you've got security in the Lord. 13:02 How many of us know that financial blessings won't help those that don't have an identity? 13:08 It's only a blessing for those who know who, and whose they are. 13:13 In other words, the word for somebody is, today, realize that gum is dessert. It's not the entrée. 13:20 That's why Jesus says, "Seek ye first the kingdom and its righteousness." Guess what? "Every other thing will be added unto you." 13:30 What I'm saying to the church is that if you seek God first, then you will lack nothing good in this life. Can you say, amen? 13:39 [Congregation: Amen.] 13:40 Friends of mine, as we go deeper into the text this afternoon, 13:44 I need you to know that there are number of things that are imperative for our understanding. 13:50 The first thing that this story teaches us is the difference between positional power and spiritual or personal power. 14:02 In other words, friends, have you ever noticed the very awkward relationship dynamic between Ahab, the king, 14:11 and the prophet of God, Elijah? Have you noticed the way that he interacts with the king? 14:19 The way that he deals with the king is not congruent with their positional dynamic. 14:26 Did you ever notice the restraint that Ahab shows toward one that he deems as a troubler of Israel? 14:36 In fact, even if you were to look at the physical scene, it would suggest that there is a power imbalance at work. 14:45 In other words, notice now that Ahab shows up on his exalted steed. 14:51 He is accompanied by a retinue of soldiers that are clad in armor with weapons in their hands, 15:00 clothed in shining vestiges, and juxtapose that over against Elijah who is a balding prophet who stands in nothing 15:11 but the strength and the power of God. 15:15 Notice, when you read earlier in the text that when Elijah tells Obadiah, 15:21 "Go and tell Ahab that I am here," that Obadiah begins to panic. He says, "Elijah, Ahab has sent men north and south, 15:31 near and far, that he might be able to hunt you down." 15:36 He's afraid to tell Ahab because not only does he think the king will kill the prophet, 15:43 he thinks that the king will kill him for just being a part of the announcement. 15:48 But notice that when he comes upon the prophet of God, that the man of God is insulated by a barrier that cannot be seen, 16:01 that the man of God is protected by a hedge that cannot be detected by empirical means. 16:10 Did you notice the one that acts with authority in this particular scenario, 16:16 that it is the king that has the position but it is the prophet that has the power? 16:23 In other words, he tells Ahab where to summon the folk. He tells Ahab when to show up. 16:30 He tells Ahab how it's about to go down. He tells Ahab what God is going to do. 16:37 It shows us, friends, that sometimes there is a difference between the one that has the position. 16:43 As long as you've got God, you've got to know you've got the power. 16:49 [Congregation: Applauding] 16:51 Oh, it's going to get good. Is there anybody that knows that when you have the anointing of God on your life, 16:57 that God gives you the power and an authority that is greater than the position that you hold? 17:05 In other words, Elijah speaks with a command. He speaks with authority. 17:12 He speaks with a force that literally causes the king to come under his jurisdiction. 17:20 The thing I need somebody to get is that titles don't make leaders. 17:26 Titles just affirm leaders. Has anybody ever been in a church or in a boardroom 17:34 or an office complex where there is one person that has the position, but there's somebody else that has the influence; 17:44 where there is somebody that has the power, but there is somebody else operating with the position? 17:51 Let me just say to those who work in a secular environment, or even those who want to lead in the church, 17:59 I want to encourage you to pray less about having the title. I want you to pray more about having an influence that comes from God. 18:10 In other words, tiny people seek after titles, but big people have an influence 18:16 and an authority that is only born of one that is walking with God. Are you all with me today, friends? 18:24 Let me just say that I believe that there are two primary things that give us influence. 18:30 You see, the first thing that gives you influence is productivity. Somebody say productivity. 18:35 In other words, friends, I need you to look with me in your mind's eye to Joseph in the land of Egypt. 18:42 Understand that as he is a minority in the larger majority culture, that his personality will not speak for him. 18:54 His charisma is not going to assist him. The only thing that's going to keep him is his productivity. 19:02 In other words, the word literally said that God caused everything He did to prosper. Are you all with me today, church? 19:10 In other words, it was his work that made him so indispensable, 19:15 that all those in Egypt who vied for his position could not get the title that had been reserved for Joseph 19:24 because he did what no one else could do. I guess what I'm saying to somebody is that when you are a competent 19:32 and spirit-filled person, I need you to know that God will separate you in the workplace, not because you politic well, 19:41 not because you rub shoulders, not because you do favors, but the Bible says that "If you see a man who is diligent in his work, 19:50 he will serve before kings and not obscure men." Are you all with me today, friends? 19:56 In other words, I need somebody to know that productivity is its own witness. 20:04 See, that's why the apostle says, "Whatsoever, your hands find to do, 20:11 do it with all your might as if working for God and not for men." That's why my work environment dosen't dictates my work ethic. 20:24 In other words, I'm accountable not just to the boss, not just to the company, and not just to the brand. 20:31 I'm accountable to the unseen witness of whom I'm responsible as a steward of the gifts 20:38 and the resources He's given me. Are you all with me today, friends? See, friends, 20:42 the reason that productivity needs to speak for you, let me just talk about myself, 20:47 is I need my work to speak for me because I'm not one of those folks that do the politicking game very well. 20:54 In other words, I need my work to just speak for me. Because if you're one of those folks that is always scrambling, 21:01 wanting somebody to speak a word on your behalf, and you always need somebody to make a recommendation, 21:07 how many of us know that if their word can put you there, then their word can take you away from there? 21:15 But when God establishes you and God positions you, guess what? There is nothing that they can do to take you down. 21:26 [Congregation: Applauding] 21:28 See, the other thing that gives you influence, friends of mine, and we talked about it Wednesday night, 21:33 is that if you have a consistent morality. Are you all with me? You see, one of the things that set the boy Daniel 21:43 and Elijah and Joseph apart is that they had unbending characters. In other words, 21:53 their character was of such a nature that it stood for them. In other words, 21:59 look at your boy Joseph when there was a power imbalance, when the accusation of sexual assault came into being. 22:08 In other words, Potiphar had observed Joseph's character with such consistency, 22:15 that even though Potiphar's wife who had the power made the accusation that he had raped her, 22:22 his character was so consistent that Potiphar put him in jail instead of killing him because he knew the character of the man, 22:32 and he knew the character of his own wife. 22:36 See, friends of mine, this is why I said on Wednesday night, you ain't got to worry about folks slandering you 22:42 and talking about you because your character is going to always testify for you. In other words, 22:49 slander is going to spread quicker, but the character is going to last longer. 22:54 [Congregation: Amen.] 22:57 See, watch this, because see what your boy Joseph had? He had moral authority. 23:06 There was just something about the way he carried himself that set him apart, that gave pathos through his words. 23:14 What I'm saying today, friends, is one of the overlooked things in the church and in our culture is the power of moral authority. 23:23 In other words, people are not going to follow you because you have a title. 23:27 They're going to follow because they believe you are a person of credibility. Am I preaching the truth today? 23:33 [Congregation: Yes.] 23:35 Listen, young pastors, realize that there was a time when folk used to submit because you have the title of pastor. 23:41 But now, you got to be a man or woman of substance, or else you won't be able to lead them 23:46 because you have the title. Are you hearing me today? 23:49 [Congregation: Applauding] 23:51 We got to have a moral authority. Can I say this to our parents? 23:54 That you've got to operate with such consistent spiritual conviction. 23:58 Because the one thing you should never compromise is your moral authority, so that they'll listen to you. 24:09 I listened to my parents until I was 17 because they had parental authority. I listened to them in my 40s 24:15 because they have moral authority. Okay. You all are still not hearing me. In other words, husbands, 24:23 you got to stop trying to lead out of gender authority. How many of us understand that your headship, my friends, 24:32 is not based on your maleness? It's based on your anointing. Oh God, you all don't want to hear the word today. 24:40 In other words, it is a spiritual headship. In other words, if you walk around demanding submission, 24:46 and saying, "You've got to do it because I'm the man," guess what? If you have to say, "I'm the man," then guess what? 24:56 You ain't really the man. You all mighty quiet in here. 24:59 In other words, if you love her like Christ loves the church and she sees you meeting with God, 25:06 then the submission is not a requirement. It's just a byproduct of being with a man that walks with Jesus. 25:15 [Congregation: Applauding] 25:17 Are you all hearing the word today? In other words, teachers, the students will listen to you in class 25:21 because you have classroom authority, but they come to you after class because you've got moral authority. 25:29 See, friends of mine, one thing about the favor of God is that the favor of God will make you stand out. 25:35 Is there anybody hearing me today? It will set you apart. It will make you distinct. It will make you unique, 25:42 but the one thing I love about the favor of God is that it'll keep your enemies at bay. 25:49 Listen, I'm going to have fun all by myself up here today. 25:53 The one thing about God's favor is that it puts a boundary around you, that says to your enemies, "Come here and no further." 26:03 Is there anybody that knows that you got a hedge around you that you can't see, but guess what? 26:10 The devil knows where the limitations are. See, I need you to know, friends of mine, that because the hedge is around you, 26:19 there have been some weapons that have been formed, but they've never been able to prosper 26:25 because the hand of God has been all over your life. 26:30 [Congregation: Applauding] 26:32 Do you realize that there were some folks that wanted to fire you a long time ago, but the hedge was around you? 26:38 That there were folks that wanted to send a nasty email in the office, 26:43 but they didn't get the courage to press send? That there have been some robbers that are casing your house, 26:50 but the angel of God showed up one night? Is there anybody that's thankful today that God has a hedge, a wall, 26:59 and a seal that says, "Enemies, you can come, but only come so far."? 27:07 Thank you so much for joining us for the Breath of Life Television Ministries broadcast. 27:12 With Pastor Debleaire Snell. 27:14 We hope and pray that you have been blessed through today's message. 27:18 Join us next week for Part Two of "I'm Standing On The Lord's Side” You don't want to miss it! 27:25 (Breath of Life Theme Music) 27:49 [END] |
Revised 2022-10-14