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Series Code: BOLS
Program Code: BOLS000080S
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00:06 Sermon #S042 - The Inner-Pivot (Part 1)
00:19 Pastor Snell: And so for those who are in the building, do me a favor, 00:22 stand to your feet as we get ready to go to work today. The book of St. Luke Chapter Five. Luke Chapter five. 00:31 And we will begin together at verse 27, St. Luke chapter five and we'll begin together at verse 27. 00:38 Again, we've been talking about the need to pivot, to adjust, to amend plans and path, to adjust to divine detours 00:46 and I believe that there is a particular type of detour that we need to be prepared to make today. Luke Chapter 5:27. 00:54 When you get there, let me hear you say, Amen. Luke Chapter 5:27 01:02 Luke 5:27, the Bible says, after these things, he went out and he saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax office. 01:12 And he said to him, follow me. So he left how much? He left all rose up and followed him. 01:23 Then Levi gave him a great feast in his own house and there were a great number of tax collectors 01:30 and others who sat down with them and their scribes. And the Pharisees complained against his disciples saying, 01:37 why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? And Jesus answered and said unto them, 01:44 those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick... 01:51 and I think every sinner ought to rejoice in what I'm about to read for, he says, I have not come to call the righteous 01:58 but sinners to repentance. I'm reading for emphasis. Verse 28, the Bible says, so he left all, rose up and he followed him. 02:09 For just a little while, we want to talk to you today under the subject, the inner pivot. The inner pivot. Let's pray together. 02:19 Father Lord, we pray that you would apply unique and rare power to today's service. 02:28 Father, we pray that your Holy Spirit will not just feel the physical space, but Lord may it feel every crevice 02:34 and contour of the heart, Lord, that we might reach our personal saturation point. 02:40 And so Father, I'm praying that in the hearing of the word that faith will be multiplied exponentially. 02:46 Lord, would you please hide me in the shadows of the cross that Jesus alone might be seen, 02:51 that Christ alone would be heard and at the end of our time together, may Jesus alone be praised. 02:56 We ask this in the name of Him who is all together lovely. It is in the name of Jesus that we pray. 03:05 Let those who believe say together, Amen. And amen. You may be seated in the house of the Lord. 03:12 Again, talking to you today under the subject, The Inner Pivot. The Inner Pivot. 03:22 Friends, our text today demonstrates the radical nature of grace and it shows why legalists will always be offended by it. 03:37 You see, the first thing our story teaches us is that Jesus calls us while we're still under construction. 03:46 Christ doesn't just identify with us after we are finish, Jesus identifies with us even while we're still in formation. 03:57 And I don't think friends, I can rightly express how hated a tax collector was in this culture. 04:05 First of all, a tax collector was a reminder to the Jews that they were under the oppressive yoke of the Romans in their time. 04:13 In addition to this, a tax collector would not just collect what was due unto Caesar, 04:20 they would pad that amount so that they might enrich themselves. 04:25 And see tax collectors operated with this arbitrary autonomy so that there was no recourse against the oppression that they 04:34 leveled against you. 04:35 And so understand that those who are tax collectors, in fact, the term publican, 04:41 some believed that it was somewhat of a slur reserved for Jewish tax collectors who simply worked on behalf of the state to bring 04:50 oppression to their own people so that a Jewish tax collector would be seen as an Uncle Tom or Chicken George, a traitor of his own. 05:01 And so when, if you were to have a sliding scale of morality in the day, at that time you would have prostitutes, 05:08 then you would have murderers, then you would have pedophiles, and at the bottom of the ladder would be tax collectors. 05:16 In other words, even the murderers look down on tax collectors. 05:20 And friends, I need you to know that Jesus is not deceived about who Matthew actually is. 05:28 In other words, he doesn't run into him in the supermarket, he does not bump into him at church. 05:34 He literally calls Levi while he is in the office collecting taxes. 05:41 But friends, isn't it absolutely like Jesus to take the most hated and most reviled and most repugnant and most offensive 05:52 and allow that person from culture to stand next to him. And see friends, 05:58 I need you to get that the love of Christ is so immense that do you know that Jesus never becomes ashamed of his children? 06:09 Let me say it again. See, I need you to know that Jesus loves us so much that no matter what we've done, 06:16 he never becomes ashamed of us. In fact, friends, man, I am on 10 that he never disowns us. He never shuns us. 06:27 He never disassociates himself with us. And isn't it crazy that even when we're a little nervous about claiming Jesus, 06:35 Jesus is still bold about claiming us. 06:39 And in fact, it's trippy to me because sometimes we get a little tentative about claiming Jesus out loud. 06:47 In fact, some of us won't claim him in public. Some of us are with Jesus on the down low. 06:53 Some of us won't tag Jesus on his public page. We're always in his DMs. 06:59 But the good news for the sinners today is that no matter how stuck on stupid you have been, 07:05 your savior still publicly lays claim to you and is never ashamed of you. 07:14 How many of us know a real father is never ashamed of his children? In fact, man, 07:20 I remember when my oldest son was about two or three years old, 07:23 we would take him to the public library where he would sit down in the reading groups. 07:27 And I remember as I was getting ready to leave, I got caught by two of these overachieving parents. 07:33 It was this dude that had a fanny pack on his front and there was this other Karen in the library. 07:40 And it's crazy because you know these folk men that's always bragging about how their kids read on a fourth-grade level 07:46 when they're three years old and they're the ones where the kids are playing Mozart in preschool. 07:51 And it's crazy because I'm talking to them and you know how when your kids can see you engage with somebody else, 07:58 that's when they decide to turn up on the side. And so it's crazy, they're boasting about their kids. 08:04 And my son is pulling books off the bookshelf, man, he is writing on the wall. He is laying down all over the floor and eventually, 08:12 they look down their proverbial nose and say, which child is yours? And it's crazy. 08:17 I need you to know that I didn't care what they said. I said the one on the floor, that's the one that belongs to me. 08:25 In other words, I was not ashamed to claim mine no matter how he behaved, because my pride is not based upon behavior, 08:33 it's based upon belonging. 08:35 Y'all not hearing me today. In other words, Jesus loves you not because of how you behave, but because you belong to him. 08:45 Are you hearing me today, friends? And see, I need you to get that one of the offensive things 08:51 about Matthew's call to discipleship is that there is no cooling period that the Pharisees are able to see. 09:01 In other words, once he calls Matthew, Jesus does not sit him down for an indefinite period. 09:08 He does not make him learn all 27 fundamental beliefs. He does not make him go through a screening period to prove himself worthy. 09:18 He goes from collecting in the morning to discipling the same evening. He is robbing folk at the start of the day 09:27 and passing the offering tray at the end of the day. That he starts out the day in wretchedness, but he ends the day in service. 09:36 And see friends, the issue is not that the Pharisees don't believe that he can be transformed. 09:43 The issue is that they've not seen enough evidence that it is authentic. And see, this shows the difference between man and God 09:51 because man looks on the outward appearance. But thank God Jesus looks at the heart. 09:58 And see, there are some that can't receive Levi just yet because all of his bad habits haven't fallen off, 10:05 that he's still got some griminess connected to him, that some of the old ways are still attached to him. 10:13 And there is somebody that can't receive his testimony because of what he was doing earlier that day. 10:20 And see, the reason that grace will sometimes be offensive is because of what we know about people. 10:28 Sometimes what you know about their distant or maybe even their immediate past makes it 10:36 sometimes hard to receive where God has them at the present. 10:40 In fact, there are times where some can't receive somebody in the choir 10:45 because you saw them at the club two months ago. There are certain people you can't stand to see them upfront 10:51 because they didn't speak to you in the hallway. There are some that you don't like to see them greeting in the hallway 10:58 because you know how they are at the job. And see, sometimes we see the fallenness of man as hypocrisy in the church, 11:07 but it's not hypocrisy, it's just grace being at work. 11:11 [ Congregation: Amen] 11:13 See, it takes a mature mind to understand that I am not trying to lower the standard. 11:18 I'm just espousing the power of God's amazing grace. You see, the truth is friends, that if church life was too sterile, 11:27 if the church was too perfect, if church folk were too flawless, then it would be intimidating to sinners. 11:36 In other words, if it operated too perfectly, then guess what? Righteousness would not be unattainable. 11:43 But see, sometimes God positions you to see somebody's transformation from the very beginning and see it all the way through to the end. 11:53 And the reason God wants you to see the flaws is so that you know what's possible for you. 11:59 Y'all not hearing me today. In other words, if you just saw the finished product, you would think that you can never arrive. 12:06 But if you've seen some people start at A and they wind up at F, man, if they can do it, it becomes proof that you can do it. 12:14 Listen, I remember when I first took on my responsibilities here at Breath of Life man, one of the things that made me anxious is, 12:21 I like talking to a crowd but I don't really like talking directly to a camera. 12:25 And it's crazy because I would see my peers in media ministry, they would do these promos and videos and it would be flawless. 12:32 And I didn't really think I could pull it off until I went over to it is written and saw my man John Bradshaw. 12:39 And when I was with him, what he did was he allowed me to see him go through the process. 12:44 And so I was able to see him have to take three takes. I was able to see him flub, I was able to see him start over. 12:52 And I need you to know if all I saw was the video, then it would seem like I can't do it. But once I got to see the process, 13:00 I said, even though stumbling me can do that. And see, sometimes God positions you where you see them error and you see them flub 13:09 and you see them have to start over and you see them have to take another take because it is proof that just because you stumble, 13:17 you ain't by yourself. You have to start over every now and then. And if God can bring it around in them, 13:25 then God can bring it around in you. Are you all hearing me today, friends? 13:29 See, you all looking at me like I'm crazy today. 13:31 See, how many of us know when they are looking at a diamond to determine its authenticity, if it seems too perfect, 13:42 they going to say this is a fake, it's cubic zirconium, but it is the flaws. Y'all not hearing me today. 13:49 It's the flaws that authenticate that there's been a process of pressure that turned it from coal to a diamond. So guess what? 13:59 It's the flaws that make it real. And do I have at least seven or eight flawed folk in this room that can thank God for the flaws? 14:08 Because it is the flaws that authenticate that I've gone through a process. I don't want no cubic zirconium Christianity. 14:20 Are you all hearing me today, friends? 14:23 [ Congregation: Amen] 14:24 Now there is a hypocrisy in the church and the hypocrisy is this. 14:29 See, when I say God calls people under construction, we all shout it. 14:35 But see, we only really shout when the grace is being applied to us. Oh, you all about to clap. 14:41 In other words, we feel like our sins deserve grace but we feel like their sins don't deserve the same grace. 14:51 Are you all hearing me today? In other words, we want God to cover our stuff and expose theirs. 14:57 But see the offense of grace is that he doesn't just man filter the grace to those like you, 15:03 but he covers all of the multitude of sins so that we can all be liberated through his power. 15:10 Are you hearing me today friends? And so I need you to know that church ought to be a place where we hold each other 15:15 morally accountable. It ought to be a place of correction when we are erroring. But guess what? 15:20 We ought to look at one another through the lenses of divine grace so that if somebody walks by and don't speak to you, don't get mad. 15:31 Just remember they're under construction. If somebody gives an attitude with you on the road, don't get mad. 15:37 Just remember they're under construction. If you find out some dirt or information, don't expose it. 15:43 Just remember they're under construction. 15:45 And see, I need you to know the good thing about Jesus is that he doesn't wait till we are finished. 15:51 He calls us while we are still under construction. Second thing that this story teaches us family is that sometimes, 16:02 no, all the time and outward pivot must be preceded by an inner pivot. 16:10 Now for instance the story of the calling of Levi, this is one of those text, Dr. Newborn, when I used to read it, 16:18 it would get on my nerves because it seemed too clean and mystical. In other words, 16:25 like this stranger shows up at your office with no context or explanation and says, follow me. 16:34 And this grown man just leaves everything that he has and begins this pursuit of Jesus. 16:41 I don't know about you all, it just didn't work that way for me. In other words, I was actually nervous. 16:46 I was like, man, something is wrong with me. Because my response man, 16:49 at one point would've been more like that of the rich young ruler. Oh, I'm the only one, than it would've been of Matthew Levi, 16:58 are you all hearing what I'm saying? And the reason I'm nervous is 17:00 because, man, man, my journey with Christ did not happen with this suddenness and man, this radical. 17:06 There was conflict and there was a tug and there was a back and forth. 17:11 It took a while for me to ripen to a place where I could say an unconditional yes to Jesus. 17:17 Am I preaching to anybody today? But as I looked at the story a little bit closer, 17:22 I realized that Matthew operates within the same parameters of the rest of humanity. 17:29 Because the truth is that none of us shift radically. Nobody goes from zero to 60 just like that. 17:37 Matthew goes through a process that just like we do. In other words, Jesus does not hypnotize Matthew. 17:47 Jesus plucks Matthew because he is ripe and fully developed fruit. Are you all with me today Friends? 17:53 So, look at this quote here in Desire of Ages page 272. I want to give you some background for why the yes was so affirmative 18:02 and so easy. Ellen White says here, in Desire of Ages, the best book on Jesus ever written. 18:08 The Pharisees had judge Matthew according to his what? Employment. But Jesus saw in this man a heart opened for the reception of truth. 18:20 Matthew had listened to the savior's teaching as the convicting spirit of God revealed his sinfulness. 18:27 He longed, did you all catch this? To seek help from Christ but was accustomed to the exclusiveness of the rabbis 18:37 and had no thought that this great teacher would notice him? Did you all catch this? 18:43 In other words, I need you to know that Matthew had made an inward pivot before he ever made an outward pivot. 18:54 In other words, his decision to become a disciple was not reactionary. It was not sudden. 19:00 This was not impulsive that there had been something that had been brewing 19:05 underneath the surface for quite some time that basically allowed him to move into discipleship when the door was open. 19:13 And see, the reason the Pharisees are messed up is because they see this as his first day, 19:21 when the truth is it was just his public day that he made association with Jesus Christ. 19:28 And so the reason I'm saying this friends, is that there are times when guess what? You can't understand everybody's moves. 19:36 You won't always be able to understand the decisions that folk are making. 19:41 You won't always from the outside be able to really discern or interpret why it is that they're doing the way that they're doing. 19:47 But I need you to know friends of mine that sometimes 19:51 before people make an outward pivot that there is somewhere been an inward pivot for the good or even for the bad. 20:00 Are you all with me today, friends? In other words, even when people walk down to the aisle, 20:05 walk down the aisle during the sermon appeal, they're not responding to the sermon that day. 20:10 There's been an inner pivot to took place before church even began and now they're making a public decision. 20:18 Are you all hearing me today? So there'll be times where somebody will say, oh pastor, my child just went crazy 20:24 and decided one day to wake up and use drugs or have sex or join a gang. 20:28 No, they didn't wake up that day and decided there was already an inward pivot that was somehow overlooked. 20:35 And now the private pivot has just become public. There are times where somebody will say, well pastor man, 20:42 my wife just lost her mind. She just up and decided to leave and take the kids and leave. 20:47 I said, no, she didn't make that decision today. No, she made a pivot along time ago 20:52 and there was some cries for help that went unheated and there were some warning signs that went overlooked. 20:58 In other words, I need you to know that even when somebody leaves the church that in other words they may transfer on one Sabbath, 21:05 but that decision was made a long time ago. 21:08 So there are times where the public pivot is simply an outgrowth of what's been brewing underneath. Are you all hearing me today? 21:17 And see, one of the reasons you need to have an inner pivot is this. 21:20 In fact, what I really want to call us to is to just celebrate the principle of private deliberation and reflection. 21:27 I want to encourage us before we start making outward pivots, to make sure that we take time for stillness 21:34 and prayerfulness to really get clarity before the presence of God. In other words, I want to encourage some young adults, 21:42 stop putting all your plans out there on Facebook and learn how to be still before Jesus until that thing's become clear. 21:51 I need you to get to a place where you pivot first in the spiritual realm before you begin to pivot publicly in the physical realm. 22:00 Because one of the things I've learned is that public pivots are temporary if they're not proceeded by a private pivot. 22:09 Are you all with the pastor today? And see there are some reasons I need please young adults to hear me on this 22:14 There are some reasons that you need to have a private pivot first. 22:19 See, the first reason you need to have an inner pivot is so that inwardly you can count the cost. In other words, 22:29 before you make that decision publicly, there needs to be a private exploration 22:36 and meditation on how expensive the tolls are on the road you're about to travel on. 22:44 And in other words, man, you need to see how expensive it is to be a wife. 22:50 You, need to see how costly it's going to be to be a husband. 22:56 In other words, as hard as you think it is, working for the church, 22:59 you ain't seen viciousness till you start working in the public sector. If you think it's hard being married, 23:07 man, multiply that pain times 10 and that's your life after a divorce. 23:12 And I'm not saying these things to dissuade you or try to turn you around, 23:16 but what I do need you to do is give enough thought to the decision you are about to make so that you don't walk around acting 23:22 surprised. 23:24 Ooh, you all mad today about the results of certain decisions. Are you all hear what I'm saying today? 23:30 Like anybody old enough at an age where this sounds a little bit condescending, where you see certain folk, man, 23:36 where they're surprised by certain things. Like when the pain to a certain extent was somewhat foreseeable. 23:43 Are you all hearing what I'm saying? So man, we have these young folk, man, 23:47 walking around talking about I didn't know being a husband was going to be this hard. 23:50 It's because you didn't count the cost. I didn't know being a wife was going to be this much work. 23:55 I didn't know being a parent was going to take all that. 23:58 I didn't realize that relocation was going to come with all of these different factors. 24:02 I didn't realize that starting my own business was going to require this much faith. 24:05 And the reason that we are sometimes surprised by the weight and the gravity of the responsibility is 24:12 because there was no inner deliberation where we could count the cost of the decisions we were about to make. 24:21 Are you all hearing what I'm saying today, friends? 24:23 Second reason you need to make an inward pivot is so that you can strengthen your inner resolve. 24:31 How many of us know that when you make some decisions inwardly, 24:34 that by the time you implement it that it's going to be questioned outwardly? 24:41 And see, a part of that inner pivot is taking the time to deliberate so that your will can 24:48 become like iron so that you can withstand the objections that are destined to come from those who don't recognize where it is that God 24:58 is leading you. In other words, there's going to be a time where folk are going to question why you start keeping Sabbath. 25:04 They're going to question why you start coming back to church. They're going to question why you ended the relationship. 25:10 They're going to question why you decided to go back to school. 25:13 They're going to question why you decided to do certain things right now. 25:16 And the truth is that if you don't have any resolve inwardly, guess what? 25:21 The decision is going to crumble once people begin to scrutinize it publicly. 25:27 Are you hearing what I'm saying, Church? 25:29 And see, you've got to have enough spiritual conclusions inwardly so that when you make a move in faith, guess what? 25:37 It can withstand the testings and the question and you will not be pushed back the way that you came 25:42 because other folk don't understand where God is leading you. Are you all hearing what I'm saying today, friends? 25:47 And see, I need us to get to a place where you recognize that everybody's not going to understand what it is that you're doing. 25:53 And I need somebody to hear this. See, the problem is not that you get scrutiny. The problem is that you can't withstand scrutiny. 26:04 In other words, if your decisions can't withstand some scrutiny, then maybe you shouldn't be making that decision. 26:14 In other words, the problem is not that there are people that scrutinize what you're doing. 26:18 The issue is that it's not thought through enough, it is not matured enough. 26:22 It's not gestated in your soul to where you can articulate it with conviction and force and spiritual direction and clarity. 26:29 See, there're going to be times where folk don't necessarily agree with the decision. They don't necessarily understand the decision. 26:35 But when you talk with conviction, at least they'll leave saying, I respect the decision. Are you all hearing what I'm saying? 26:43 And see friends of mine, you got to get to a place where you have spent such time with God, where you've gotten to a place man, 26:49 where you can follow his signs more than you follow people's opinions. 26:54 See, you got to be more loyal to the signs than you are to group think 26:59 because how many of us know that the culture has got us conformed to group think activity where we literally will follow the group 27:07 more than we follow instructions? 27:10 Thank you so much for joining us for the Breath of Life Television Ministries broadcast with Pastor Debleaire Snell! 27:18 We hope and pray that you have been blessed by this fifth message in the sermon series entitled “The Pivot.” 27:27 Join us next week for Part Two of the message entitled “The Inner Pivot.” You don't want to miss it! 28:17 (Breath of Life Theme Music) 28:37 [END] |
Revised 2023-08-07