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Series Code: BOLS
Program Code: BOLS000051S
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00:11 Sermon #S027 - Save The Best For Last - (Part 2)
00:19 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 powerful message titled "Save The Best For Last". 00:34 Now let's go on to the Word of God and learn more about His transformational power. 00:41 Pastor Snell: This story is one that always kind of confuse me, DJ, 00:46 because Jesus does a miracle. 00:48 His first announcement to the world that he is the one of whom they waited is to turn water into wine for a wedding. 00:58 Now, the reason I messed up, it's because this occasion in my opinion, and maybe I'm thinking as a Westerner, 01:05 or maybe it's just a male, this doesn't really require that type of intervention. In other words, nobody dies. 01:13 If he doesn't turn the water to wine, nobody's going to perish, if he doesn't turn water into wine, 01:18 but it shows something about our savior, that Jesus is concerned about every aspect of our Lives. 01:25 [Congregation: Yeah] 01:26 But I need you to understand what is it working in this story 01:29 and I need you to not be so Adventist that you don't spend the whole sermon trying to figure out if the wine was fermented 01:36 or unfermented grape juice- 01:38 [Congregation: Clapping, laughing, and cheering] 01:45 -- that who miss out on the larger points that we are trying to share today. 01:54 Now, I need us to understand what wine did at a wedding. See, what wine did, friends of mine, 02:03 is that wine brought strangers and made them friends. When you drink wine, it will cause you to put down your defense systems. 02:13 You would lay down some of your suspicions, that wine would be the conversation piece. Wine would drive conversation, and dialogue, 02:23 and fellowship. It would get us to a place where the meetings just come in and look at one another as strangers across the room. 02:30 But what wine did in this context is it brought different parties 02:35 and put them in the same space so that if someone was without wine and someone was, guess what, 02:40 they would be kind of off in their spirits, but if they both had the same wine, it would put their spirits on the same page. 02:49 And I need you to get, friends of mine, that what wine was to the wedding, Jesus is that to marriage. In other words, 02:58 what Jesus does is he makes strangers and makes them friends. Jesus is the bonding agent. Jesus allows us to be mixed 03:09 and put on the same spirit. Jesus is what drives the conversation in the same way when the wind runs out. 03:16 You just got a room full of strangers in the same way when Jesus runs out of the marriage, 03:23 you've got spirits that are not on the same page, guards go up, suspicions begin to multiply 03:30 and then all you've got is two strangers occupying the same room. 03:38 And see the question should become for us today, how is it that they run out of wine so quickly? 03:47 And I want to suggest briefly just a couple of reasons as to why they run out of wine, maybe they ran out of wine, 03:53 and this is a little bit conjecture, maybe they run out of well wine because they planned the wedding too fast. 04:01 In other words, maybe they're in such a hurry to get to the altar that when you're in a hurry, guess what, you miss some stuff. 04:11 When you're in a hurry, your overlook some things. When you're in a hurry, your calculations are a little bit off 04:17 and because they're in such a hurry to get to the altar, 04:22 that they don't have sufficient provision to endure the length of the celebration. 04:29 And can I suggest, friends of mine, the reason so many marriages are running out of wine is 04:35 because we were in such a hurry to get to the altar that we didn't build up the fortitude that we needed to make sure we can endure the Long 04:45 Haul. Are you all hearing what I'm saying? In other words, I need you to get, don't be in a hurry for a wedding day. 04:50 A wedding day is one day, but the marriage is the rest of ... Are you all hearing the pastor today? 04:59 And what I want to just admonish really briefly is to all of our young adults or singles who are contemplating this decision, 05:08 I want to teach just a moment because I need you to know that you don't need to be in a hurry, 05:13 because being in a hurry will cause you to be deceived. 05:17 So you can't make your decisions, friends of mine, just based on two or three good months. 05:24 See, I don't believe in love at first sight. Now, you can be in lust at first sight. 05:32 But see, I need you to understand this about love. See, love is not ignorant. 05:38 Love is informed. God. See, what some of us do is because we are operating according to infatuation 05:47 and we're blind and we don't have all the information, we hurry up to the altar. 05:52 When we get married and the true character emerges, what we say is, man, we got married and they changed. The devil is a liar. 05:59 [Congregation: Laughing] 06:01 I need to know, they didn't change. All that happened is those traits that you are so blinded by by infatuation and lust, 06:07 they just became permanent in your situation. 06:11 See, one of the reasons you want Jesus to be in every part of your courtship is that Jesus will be your interpreter. 06:19 [Congregation: Yeah] 06:21 You see, there's no such thing as good liars. They're just bad listeners. 06:29 So when they speak a lie the holy spirit will catch it in mid-air, interpret it, 06:38 so that by the time it hits your ears, it's the truth. 06:43 [Congregation: Cheering and clapping] 06:44 So when he says, I'm in between jobs, what you hear is, I don't really want to work. 06:50 And because you make good money, I'm going to sit on the couch and wait for you to bring your check home. 06:57 [Congregation: Clapping] 06:59 When he says, I just got a lot of female friends. What you hear is I'm going to have competition all the days of this relationship. 07:08 When you ask him, is he married, and he says, it's complicated, what you hear is that you need to run in the opposite direction. 07:19 [Congregation: Cheering and clapping] 07:20 You see the Holy Ghost won't let you be deceived. He won't let you be led astray. 07:25 He will interpret so that you understand the truth of what God wants you to hear. Are you all hearing me today, friends? 07:33 Second reason, friends of mine, that perhaps they run out of wine is because they don't quite count the costs. 07:45 You see, a Hebrew wedding will last, man, this thing is rough, I mean, you have to feed for between three and five days. 07:53 And they ran out of wine the very first day of the wedding. And see, because they're in a hurry, guess what, 08:01 they don't quite know how to rightly provide. They're not sure how many folk to account for. 08:07 In other words, they don't properly count the costs of entering into this union. 08:16 And can I just pause to say this quickly, before you jump in, you better count the cost. 08:21 [Congregation: Right] 08:24 It's more expensive than you think. And one of the things I want to say to the married couples, really briefly, is stop saying... 08:33 See, I need you to know, this is the devil... when the devil tells you it ain't supposed to be that hard. 08:42 Talk to anybody must been married each 30, 40, 50 years, you've got to witness, raise hand. 08:47 Can anybody a test that there ain't never been no hard in your relationship? In other words, friends, 08:53 I need somebody to get beloved that those who endure in marriage and thrive in marriage are not the ones that get to bypass hard. 09:02 They're the ones that endure hardness like a good soldier. 09:07 [Congregation: Clapping] 09:09 So, sisters, don't jump into this thing just because you want a wedding day. 09:15 Come on, married ladies, testify that being a wife and a mother is hard work. 09:22 Listen, being a wife and a mom is basically having people dependent on you 25 hours a day. 09:33 Don't just jump down and propose brothers 09:35 because your friends got married. Brothers, can I testify that there is a weight to being a husband. 09:41 There is a responsibility that comes along with headship. There is a never-ending stress. 09:47 There is a sense of always being overwhelmed because not only are you worried about the mortgage for this month, 09:53 you're thinking about college tuition, you're thinking about retirement, you're thinking about what its gonna be like in 10 years. 09:59 You're wanting to make sure the family is going to be well off and cared for. 10:03 And let me just pause and say this to the brothers that if you're going to manage the weight well, 10:08 you got to have a strong prayer life. 10:11 [Congregation: Clapping] 10:13 You've got to learn how to cast your cares upon Him, because, you know that he cares for you 10:17 because if you don't know how to manage the weight, eventually you'll drop the weight and abandon the Covenant, 10:25 or you'll begin to embrace unsanctified habits just to help you make it through the end of the day. 10:31 In other words, when you see a brother that smoking and drinking and clubbing and still running around like he's 12, 10:37 it ain't nothing that something's wrong with him, it just means he's not ready for the weight. 10:43 It means that Jesus is not his spotter. 10:45 [Congregation: Cheering] 10:47 See, how many of us know you got to let Jesus be the spotter so that when you get to a point where you can't handle it no more, 10:53 the long arm of Heaven reaches down and carries what you cannot carry for yourself. 11:01 [Congregation: Clapping] 11:03 Are you hearing what I'm saying? Who says it is not supposed to be hard? The reason it's going to be hard is 11:09 because of what it represents and because of what it represents, it's going to be resisted. Do you realize, friends of mine, 11:16 that marriage is supposed to be a daily parable of God's love for the church? 11:23 The way the world was supposed to know the love of God was not just in tent meetings and revivals and Evangelistic efforts 11:35 and door to door, it was when somebody who did not believe, look at a man love on his woman. 11:41 It was to be a role play of the love of God for mankind and that's why it's resisted 11:48 and tested and pushed because the world devil does not want the world to see the role played out. 11:57 Are you all hearing what I'm saying? 12:00 Stop saying it is not supposed to be that hard. Yes, it is, because of what it represents, 12:04 because in a healthy marriage and see, in order to really get this, you got to understand the purpose of marriage. 12:17 See, some of us think the purpose of marriage is to make you happy. I'm gonna wait for you. 12:29 How many of us know that if you wait until you get married to get some happiness? 12:34 You all better help me tell him. You in for a rude awakening. 12:39 [Congregation: Cheering] 12:42 Because marriage doesn't solve problems, it just makes them permanent. You better get you some joy while you standing in Jesus. 12:55 Are you hearing what I'm saying? 12:57 [Congregation: Clapping] 12:59 So the purpose of marriage is not to make you happy. Thank you, Gary Chapman, it's designed to make you holy. 13:06 [Congregation: Yeah. Clapping] 13:10 Because guess what, what marriage is, it's like looking in the mirror for the first time. 13:14 See, there are certain traits of character that can go unaddressed by yourself, 13:19 but in marriage, there is nowhere to hide, there is nowhere to get away. 13:22 There's going to be somebody on the other side of that bed that's going to function as a mirror of your deficiencies of character. 13:33 And see, the problem is you get mad and what you see in them and you're mad 13:39 because all they're doing is mirroring the parts of you you have never seen before. 13:45 [Congregation: Yeah] 13:46 Am I preaching to anybody today? 13:48 [Congregation: Yeah] 13:50 Listen, third reason they run out of wine is maybe they have some uninvited guests. Ushers, lock the door. 14:04 [Congregation: Laughing] 14:06 Maybe they got some, in other words, they got like, you know, they got 50 on the wedding list but they got like, 85. 14:16 You know, how we do it a black wedding. You ain't gonna have no invitation. 14:20 You just got to know somebody that knows somebody, and they're giving away free wine. Man, it's about to be happy hour. 14:27 Are you all hearing what I'm saying? 14:29 [Congregation: Clapping] 14:31 In other words they got too many people in the business and as a result, they run out of wine prematurely. 14:40 And see, I need us to understand something, friends of mine, that when you form a covenant, married folk, 14:45 are you all listening to the pastor today, that God creates a circle that only has room for three, husband, wife, and God. 14:53 [Congregation: Yeah. Clapping] 14:55 Since you're all mad, let me stand in it, not husband, wife, and his mama? 15:00 [Congregation: No] 15:02 Not husband, wife, and her friends. Not husband, wife, and your boys. Not even her husband, wife, and your children. 15:11 See how many of us know that we advocate for a marriage first approach to Parenting? In other words, 15:20 you don't put your marriage on hold to make sure that the kids needs go before your marital needs. 15:26 In other words, you invert the order and you bring disaster upon the entire union. Understand that the kids are not fed 15:34 because husband and wife starve, but when husband and wife are well-fed and they're operating in the overflow, 15:41 marriage becomes like a fountain and when the top cup overflows, everything underneath gets well-fed. 15:49 [Congregation: Clapping] 15:51 Are you all hear what I'm saying? So stop saying, man, we can't never go out on a date cause we got kids. 15:56 Oh, we can't put on nice clothes because we got kids. The Devil is a Lie. 16:05 And we ain't got time to come together. You got to make some time. Are you all nervous now? 16:12 [Congregation: Yeah. Laughing] 16:15 I'm scared about what I'm going to say. I'm going to be sanctified, but what I'm saying today, friends of mine, 16:19 is we got to get to a place where we prioritize the right things. Every time you hear the truth, let me hear you say, Amen. 16:23 [Congregation: Amen] 16:25 Let me just say this game real quick to my brothers. I know that a lot of the large portion of our community 16:28 because Dad was not there, mama has been everything to some of us. She's been the first, 16:33 she's been the last, so that when Daddy left, mommy was there. When other girls left, mommy was still there. 16:38 We kind of made it up in our minds that no matter what comes, mom is going to always be the queen of our hearts, 16:43 but understand that when you get married, there's got to be a shift in the order. In other words mama at some point is, 16:52 she's not getting a demotion but she's going to be realigned. I mean, you still love her. She's still Mama. 16:59 But how many of us know that when you get married, your Allegiance is to your wife? 17:03 You share your heart with your wife, you share your secrets with your wife, you share your stories with your wife, not your Mama. 17:10 [Congregation: Clapping] 17:12 Are you all hearing what I'm saying today? That's why Genesis 2:24 says, for this reason, 17:18 shall a man leave his father and mother's house and he shall cleave unto his wife and the two shall become one flesh. 17:26 In other words, at some point, Mama got to have to get a man or a ministry- 17:31 [Congregation: Clapping and cheering] 17:35 -- so that's your house can thrive. Are you all with me today? 17:39 [Congregation: Clapping and cheering] 17:49 Since this husband, wife, God, not husband, wife, and your girlfriends. Can I just say this again? This goes both ways, 18:01 but especially since you got to stop letting your single girlfriends council you about your marriage. 18:06 [Congregation: Clapping and cheering] 18:10 In other words, they can't lead you where they have never been. They live in a world where they can get mad and call it quits, 18:17 they can start over tomorrow, you're in a covenant. In other words, 18:21 why you taking advice from somebody who have not been where you trying to go? 18:25 All right, let me ask it this way, ladies, if you saw a sister and her hair is busted, 18:32 are you asking her who does your hair? 18:37 [Congregation: Laughing] 18:40 I want to go and see them. In other words, if they don't got it, they can't give it. Oh, you're all mighty quiet here today. 18:52 See, marriage, friends of mine, see, the visual ought to be like a good pair of scissors so that when the two sides come together, 19:03 it punishes anything that gets in between the two. 19:07 [Congregation: Clapping] 19:12 So one of the things we've got to do, friends of mine, is we got to go back to the source. Are you all hearing what I'm saying? 19:19 [Congregation: Yeah] 19:21 Can we go in the Bible's real quick? First John 4:8. First John chapter 4 in verse 8, when you get there, let me hear you say amen. 19:28 Over there toward the New Testament. First, John chapter 4 and verse 8, I promise you, I'm not gonna keep you much longer. 19:33 First, John four and verse 8. When you get this a pass from here. Not St. John, First John, 19:40 Some of you all struggling for this first John. 19:43 [Congregation: Laughing] 19:45 We got to get some new Bible study class is going back up in here. You got to get Sabbath school started again. 19:49 First John 4:8. When you get there say I'm here. 19:51 [Congregation: I'm here] 19:53 The Bible says, he who does not love does not know what? 19:56 [Congregation: God] 19:57 God. For God is what? 20:00 [Congregation: Love] 20:01 God is love. And I know it seems cliché, friends of mine, 20:04 but we got to get back to the place where we're taking these marriages back to the source. 20:08 Notice the word didn't say God is loving. 20:17 See, love is not just one of the traits of God. Mike, the Bible says God... he is love, he is the source, it emanates from him. 20:29 It is renewed and replenished in him and because he is the source, whenever I feel like I don't have enough, 20:39 all I've got to do is go and plug back in to the source which is God. 20:47 So there was somebody says to me, Pastor, you know, I just feel like I've just fallen out of love, you know. 20:51 I just don't have no more love to give. What you're actually is announcing is that you're no longer connected to the source, 21:00 because if I'm connected to the source, guess what, my well never runs dry. 21:06 It's crazy, I remember probably about 10, 11 years ago, man. I had a long day at church, you know, is that second weekend in February, 21:12 All-Star Weekend game, and I had preached and taught and visited, and I couldn't wait Malcolm to get home 21:17 and watch the game that night and I get there to the TV on a press the remote, 21:20 but it does not come on. And then, you know, I hit it manually and it still doesn't come on, and it's crazy 21:25 because like, man, I'm frantic. The dunk contest is about to come on. I mean, it's crazy 21:29 because I started doing all kind of histrionics. I'm looking at the TV, I'm yelling, I'm yelling at the TV. 21:34 I mean, I'm the pastor, I'm yelling at the TV, and it's crazy because now I start shaking the TV, star trying to hit the TV. 21:40 I'm trying to do all these things to manipulate the... into giving me some picture on the screen and eventually, it dawns on me, 21:47 go and see if it's plugged in. 21:50 [Congregation: Laughing] 21:52 And because it wasn't plugged into a source, it didn't matter how much I hit it, our spoke to it, or shook it, 21:59 it could not give me what I needed if it was not plugged into a source. And the reason we're struggling, 22:05 it's been trying to hit it and speak to it and shake it, when all we've got to do is get plugged in to the source of love, 22:16 which is Jehovah. See, friends of mine, we've got to stop experimenting and start becoming. 22:29 You say, we spend too much of our times talking about what they are not and so, you're missing out on where your victory is. 22:40 See, how many of us know your victory is not in them changing, its in you accepting. Ooh, you all don't want this. 22:50 No, no, no. If your happiness is based on them changing... No, no. See, singles, hear me this. 22:56 That's why you don't marry by faith. You marry by sight because we marry hoping they're going to change. 23:19 Ooh, you all look so mad right now. 23:21 [Congregation: Laughing] 23:28 Your pictures not in waiting for them to change their sense of humor. Your picture is when you just accept their sense of humor. 23:36 It's not in in waiting for them to change and become a punctual person. 23:45 It's in accepting that they're going to always be running a few minutes late. 23:50 It's not in waiting from the change and be financially wise, it's in accepting that that's your strength and not theirs. 23:57 [Congregation: Clapping] 24:00 Are you hearing what I'm saying? See, why did you marry them if you're waiting for them to become somebody that they are not? 24:09 And you won't ever be happy until... your happiness won't come when you get what you want, 24:14 but when you just say, I'm going to want and celebrate what I already have. 24:17 [Congregation: Clapping] 24:22 And we got to stop experimenting. What do you mean, Pastor? So there are times when our marriage is in crisis and I said, 24:28 well, did you try to pray? Did you try coming... call on the name of the Lord? Did you try counseling? Did you try that? 24:34 And it was like yeah, Pastor, you know, I tried it for, yo know like, that one time. You know, I prayed like, two weeks in a row. 24:47 We went to counseling twice, and we've got this experimental approach. 24:55 As opposed to a committed approach, see, how many of us know that if you tried diet for two days, you will never lose that thing. 25:03 You got to commit to that thing. It's the same with the marriage so that as we approach this , friends, 25:08 like we're not trying to answer the question if it's going to work out. 25:12 We're operating with a divorce is not an option mantra that says, we ain't got no choice but to work this thing out. 25:22 We got each other and by the grace of God, this house is going to be built upon the rock that is Christ 25:28 and no matter what comes against it, the house is going to stand. Are you all hearing the word today, friends? 25:34 [Congregation: Yeah] 25:36 And it's crazy because what Jesus does, man, is crazy. I got actually got more sermon than I have time to preach. 25:40 He literally turns water into wine. He takes something that's stale. He takes something that's dead. 25:46 He takes something that likes texture and color and what he literally does is he gives it life. 25:50 He gives it color. He gives it Vitality. He makes it something that is exciting and pleasing, and bonding. 25:55 It brings two people together, it lowers their suspicions, it gets them on same page, it makes enemies friends, 26:01 and it gets their spirit on the same place. 26:04 And what God is saying to somebody today is today, your marriage might be water, but if you give it back to me, 26:14 hold on a little while, dip in one more time, in a few days, it might be wine, if you just let me have control. 26:32 Have you ever felt like you were on the verge of something big, like you were on the precipice of something providential? 26:40 You could sense God's divine movement in your life, 26:44 but you didn't quite know how to anticipate the space of being on the verge of something. You got stuck in a place of anticipation 26:53 and you got settled or cemented in your current reality. 26:57 I want you to know, friends, that on January the seventh I'm going to begin a new teaching series entitled On the Verge of Something. 27:06 This series, we're going to follow Israel's journey from the Passover to the Red Sea, 27:12 where they went from being in a place of anticipation, where they're able to see God's ultimate plan come to pass for their lives. 27:20 This series is for somebody that's got a living vision on the inside of their soul. 27:26 It's for that person that has dreams gestating inside of their spirit. 27:32 And so I want to encourage you to join us each Saturday at 11 a.m. and each Wednesday at 7 p.m. and then on Sunday, January the eighth. 27:41 I want you to join us for our 21 days of Prayer. Each Saturday and Sunday, we're going to join together at 8 a.m. 27:48 and each Monday through Friday, we'll meet at 6 a.m. Central Standard Time. We're going to pray, 27:54 we're going to testify and give messages of encouragement to those who believe they're on the verge of something. 28:02 And so this year, I want to encourage you to make sure you don't water down your vision, that you don't belittle your dreams. 28:11 I want you to stay unrealistic in your convictions because this year you too, are on the verge of something. 28:28 (Breath of Life Theme Music) 28:47 [END] |
Revised 2023-01-16