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Series Code: BOLS
Program Code: BOLS000087S
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00:05 Sermon #S045 - Role Play (Part 2)
00:18 Welcome to the Breath of Life Television Ministries broadcast with Pastor Debleaire Snell! 00:26 In today's episode, Pastor Snell will continue part two of the powerful Message titled: 00:32 “Role Play” Now, let's go deeper into the word of God! 00:40 Snell: And one of the things that causes me to rejoice is that he knows you, 00:49 and he still wants you. Oh, y'all acting brand new up in here today. 00:54 One of the testimonies in the Bible that I never quite understood was the woman by the well. 01:00 After Jesus talks to her, she leaves her water pot goes into the city, tells all the men, 01:07 come see a man who knows everything I ever done, and guess what? 01:12 The Bible says that they all came into the city to meet Jesus, and it didn't ever make sense to me because if you say, 01:18 come meet a man that knows everything I've ever done, I don't want to see that man. 01:25 I'm scared about what that man might say. Come on and say Amen, 01:28 but the reason the testimony was so powerful is that she is saying, 01:32 I know a man that knows everything I've ever done, but guess what? 01:36 He didn't use it against me. He didn't indict me, but he loved me regardless of it all, that Jesus still loves us, 01:47 and is there anybody grateful that in spite all of your grime and your dirt 01:53 and having to say I'm sorry over and over again, that Jesus still looks beyond our faults and sees our needs. 02:04 It's crazy God loves us so much that it doesn't matter where we've been. 02:09 Doesn't matter what you've done, it doesn't matter where God found you. Real talk, give me a little license on this. 02:18 I'm not trying to be obscene, but I remember growing up, man, when I was around fourth grade, man, 02:22 the toy of my childhood was a little toy called He-Man, anybody remember He-man. Had a villain called Skeletor, 02:29 castle Grayskull, the whole name, 02:31 and I remember I had saved up my little allowance to get me a little he-man action figure, 02:36 and I remember I would eat at the table with He-man. 02:38 I would go to bed with he-man, I would play outside with He-man, but one of the things we were not supposed to do, 02:43 we were not supposed to take He-man to school, but I had gotten down with some of my friends 02:47 and we had decided to bring our action figures to school and we couldn't play with them in class, 02:51 and so the only way we could bring them out was, and we went into the bathroom, 02:55 and so we're in the bathroom playing with our little He-man action figures, 02:58 and I was so excited because I had the best one in the group. 03:01 I had paid for it, and I remember as one of the teachers was going in, 03:05 I had to run into the little stall to kind of hide and get away, 03:08 and so I had set He-man on the back of the little commode, and it's crazy because when I looked inside, 03:14 somebody had left a mess inside, and it's crazy because when I was bumbling around, 03:20 I bumped up against the commode and He-man fell inside. Now, now again, now if y'all don't know this about the pastor, 03:29 I got a thing about public bathrooms. I ain't going to lie, if that joint ain't right, 03:35 I will turn around and hold it till Jesus comes. That's who I am. 03:39 I've been that way since I was a child, and it's crazy because my friends automatically assume, 03:45 He-man, he gone like he's done, he's inside of the mess, but I loved He-man. I paid for He-man 04:03 and before I knew it, I was rolling up my sleeve, lifting up the lid and reaching down, washing He-man, 04:16 bleaching him when I got home, and he was on the mantle by the time my grandma came home from work. 04:22 Now the problem is y'all still looking in the commode. 04:27 How many of us know God didn't find all of y'all on the altar? He found some of us in the aww, 04:35 he found some of us in our mess, but anybody thankful that he didn't hesitate, he got right down in it, washed you, 04:47 cleansed you, paid for you, and redeemed you by his grace. Are y'all hearing me today friends? 05:08 Second thing I need you to get about grace, is that grace is not just informed about what you are about your past, 05:17 grace knows about your future. 05:21 It's amazing to me friends how much information Grace is able to absorb, because not only does God say go marry her knowing her past, 05:36 he says marry her knowing her present, but he says, listen, Hosea, especially in chapter 2, he says, listen, 05:42 Hosea, you going to be good to her. You're going to treat her right, you going to set her up, you going to give her a house, 05:47 you going to get her pedicures, you're going to get her cleaned up, but as soon as she gets a little restless, 05:51 she going to go right back out on them streets and I'm going to commission you to go pay and bring her back home, 06:01 and a part of the salacious nature of the role play is that God accepts us. 06:08 Not just knowing what we have done, that God called you knowing what you would do. 06:22 Now, this is going to mess up the righteousness by works folk, 06:26 but I need you to know the shadow of the cross doesn't just go back to man's original sin. 06:32 It goes forward to provide enough grace for man's final sin. He's saying she going to stay in them streets 06:45 and you're going to have to keep chasing her and bringing her back, and what I need somebody to understand this fundamental truth, 06:52 is that as long as the door of probation is open, there is no cap on the grace of God. 06:59 There is no threshold that you can't trespass. You cannot get beyond the reach of the Almighty God. 07:08 Now the reason I'm saying this is because there are some amongst us that are carrying this heavy condemnation that somehow we can't 07:15 be redeemed, because we have disappointed God too many times, and some of you heard me say this, you may not agree, 07:24 but I need you to understand you can't disappoint God, because disappointment is based upon unmet expectations. 07:37 Disappointment suggests that God expected you to be here, when the truth is you're performing way down here, 07:43 and it suggests that God didn't really know what he was getting into when he got into a relationship with you, 07:50 but God can't be disappointed because he know everything you are going to do before you ever did it. 07:57 In other words, was Jesus disappointed when Peter denied him? He told Peter beforehand that he would deny him. 08:04 He wasn't disappointed when Judas betrayed him, he told Judas he was going to betray him. He wasn't disappointed with Adam sin, 08:12 he had already made provision for Adam's redemption. He wasn't surprised when Job stood strong, he told Satan that he would. 08:21 In other words, there is nothing that you do that surprises God. He made provision for it 08:33 and he planned for it so that there is nothing... oh, y'all hear me today church, 08:40 and now I need you to make sure that you understand this, that just because God knows that you're going to sin and God need you 08:47 and makes provision for it, that doesn't mean he endorses it. 08:50 Are y'all hearing me today? So first John chapter 2 in verse 1. I write these things that you do not... 08:54 [Congregation: Sin] 08:56 Sin, but if any man sins, we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous. 09:06 In other words, I need you to understand that grace is so amazing that God creates provision, 09:10 simply because he knows what we're going to do. It's crazy, I remember when the kids was a little bit smaller 09:17 and we would go to people's house for Sabbath for lunch, you know how it is? You get to somebody's house 09:22 and you turn around in the backseat and you threaten them. 09:26 Don't y'all go in here and act like y'all ain't got no sense. I don't want to see you in on the floor in your dress. 09:34 I don't want to see you outside in your church clothes. I don't want to see you running all the way around, getting dirty 09:39 and messed up. Oh I'm I by myself? Amen. I got these PKs, they photographer's kids. Can I get a witness today? 09:51 Amen, so 1 day we're getting ready to go to somebody's house, 09:54 and then when we find out that they're going to be a bunch of kids there. 09:59 It's crazy because what we do when we find out the Dudley kids are going to be there, some other kids are going to be there, 10:04 we've warned them and said, this is not what you're supposed to do, but because we know our kids, 10:11 what we do is we bring a change of clothes, and it's crazy before we say Grace, my daughter is on the floor in her dress, 10:20 the boys is outside in full sweat, but guess what? Even though we didn't condone it, 10:25 guess what? We bought provision, so they didn't have to walk around in filthy garments, 10:30 and God is saying, I'm not endorsing it, but guess what? 10:34 I got a change of clothes for you so that you can put on my robe of righteousness, 10:43 and see the thing that I want to debunk really quickly friends of mine, is the myth of fragile salvation. 10:51 See, the reason for some of us church or religion is not fun and the reason we don't have the joy of salvation is 10:56 because we don't have the assurance of salvation. It is crazy because most of us still see God as prosecutor 11:07 and not advocate. Most of us still see him as inspector and not savior. 11:15 Pardon me what I'm saying this then, we still see him as principle and not guidance counselor, 11:21 and see what some of us need to have happen is we need to have the veil removed from the character of God so that you can see 11:29 Jesus as he is. Are y'all hearing what I'm saying today? Look at this quote here from the book Steps to Christ chapter 10. 11:35 This is literally why Jesus Christ had to come to earth. He didn't just come to die friends, 11:40 he had to come to show us what God was like. 11:43 See, she literally says the enemy of good blinded mind blinded the minds of men so that they looked upon God with what fear, 11:50 they thought of him as severe and unforgiving. Satan led men to conceive of God as a being whose chief attribute was stern justice, 11:59 one who is a severe judge, a harsh exacting creditor, and do you know who Satan used to purport that image? The church. 12:11 He pictured the creator as a being who is watching with jealous eye to discern the errors and mistakes of men, 12:19 that he may visit judgments upon them. 12:21 It was to remove this dark shadow by revealing to the world the infinite love of God that Jesus came to live amongst men. 12:32 Are y'all hearing me today friends? So that God knew who they were, knew who she was, and pledged himself to her. 12:44 Now this going to trip you out, so when Hosea gets with Gomer symbolizing what God says when he gets with us. 12:55 You know what God is saying is that spiritually adultery is not grounds for divorce. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. 13:08 No, what God is saying is that if you're in a relationship with me, there ain't no such thing as irreconcilable differences. 13:15 God is saying, I'm giving you this promise that he which has begun a good work in you shall 13:25 continue it even until the day of Jesus Christ. Are y'all hear me today friends? 13:32 And I need somebody to understand this critical truth, that even though there is such a thing as a lake of fire and and hell, 13:39 I need you to know that hell is not God divorcing man, hell is man divorcing God, 13:47 because remember what Jesus said, the everlasting fire is prepared for the devil and his angels. 13:55 It is a divorce or a separation of man pulling away from an eternally loving God. 14:02 Third thing this teaches us, listen, I'm almost done watch this. 14:05 One of the things that trips me out about Gomer and us, 14:09 is that Gomer is so dysfunctional that she can't even tell when she's winning. 14:23 See, we so fallen that we can't tell the difference between freedom and bondage. 14:31 That God has been so good to us, but our hearts are so unsettled that we can't even tell when we are winning in Christ, 14:43 so she's got a man who loves her, who's going to provide for her, that's going to rub her feet when she get tired. 14:56 That's going to make sure she has everything that she needs, 15:00 but see, the problem is she has been in a transactional world so long that she don't even know how to function in a relational world. 15:09 In other words, when them streets come calling, there's just something inside of her that feels like she's got to respond. 15:18 She is so messed up that unconditional love, protection and commitment feels unfair to her, and because she's that broken, 15:31 she dismisses them for the streets. 15:39 I'm going to offend when I say this because essentially again, you're remembering what the role play is. 15:46 He's saying, my people are so messed up that they see my goodness as bondage. 15:54 They so messed up that they see my law as restriction. 15:59 They so messed up that they see life in the club as more appealing than life in the sun. 16:07 Are y'all hearing what I'm saying today? 16:10 And I want to say this to every teenage church child that's on the verge of going out into the world, 16:19 or every adult that's in the world in response to life growing up in the church. 16:27 That there is a Gomer like quality in you, because Gomer's flaw is not just that she does wrong, 16:36 it's her inability to be able to see when she's winning. Let me just say this, 16:43 because even if you've grown up in an imperfect religious tradition, maybe your parents didn't do everything the right way. 16:51 Maybe they didn't explain everything right, maybe they overemphasized some things in a way that they should not have done, 16:58 but I need you to understand that if you grew up in the church and your parents taught you how to pray, 17:04 and they brought you to Sabbath school and they gave you a Christian education, 17:08 I need you to understand that you grew up with the upper hand. 17:15 Again, I don't want to invalidate the feelings of some, but at some point in time, 17:19 some of us got to get past this church or Adventist scar tissue that says, 17:24 because I had to come to church as a kid, I'm not going to do it as an adult because I had to come to Sabbath school as a kid, 17:31 I'm not going to do it as an adult because I had to come to prayer meeting as a kid, I'm not going to do it as an adult, 17:37 because we had to have worship as kids, we're not going to do it as an adult. 17:41 It's crazy because all that stuff that your mama made you do as kids was actually giving you a head start. 17:47 It was actually giving you the upper hand. It was actually giving you an advantage and a boost, 17:52 and it's crazy, the logic that says because I had to as a child that I'm not going to do it as an adult. 18:02 You don't say, because I had to go to school as a child, I'm not going to do it as an adult. 18:11 You don't say, I don't brush my teeth now that I'm grown, because they made me brush my teeth when I was kids. 18:18 You don't say, because I had to take a shower as a kid, I don't take showers now that I'm grown. 18:24 We don't say because I had to clean my room as a child, I don't clean my room as an adult. 18:30 You realize that the only thing from childhood that some of us left behind was our religion, 18:38 and if the only thing you left behind was your religion, it wasn't your upbringing, it's your hearts. Are 18:49 y'all hearing what the pastor is saying? 18:51 And I need you to understand that the response to bad religion should not be to become irreligious. 18:58 Your response to bad religion ought to be to say, let me find true religion. Let me find joy in Jesus, hope in the Spirit, 19:07 liberty in Christ, and do it the way that Christ intended, 19:15 so don't let your adult irreligion be a response to imperfect childhood religion, 19:23 because I need somebody to understand, and again, I am, my folk provide, they protected me some from some of the advent is crazy, 19:30 so I ain't got all that, but I need you to understand. How many of us understand that don't no parents get it all right, 19:39 or y'all acting brand new. 19:41 I'm trying to raise my kids the best I can, but I can tell you that it is imperfect, 19:45 but I need somebody to understand that if you grew up in the church, guess what? You're winning. 19:51 Oh God. See, y'all still don't know you're winning. If you learn how to pray, guess what? You are winning. 19:58 If you learn to study your Bible, guess what? You are winning. If you learn how to testify, guess what? You are winning. 20:05 If you are giving a Christian education, guess what? You are winning. If you learn that God is a redeemer, guess what? 20:11 You are winning. 20:14 Instead of looking at everything that was wrong, thank God that you got some kind of foundation to know God for yourself, 20:21 and instead of abandoning it and throwing the baby out with the bath water, hold on to the baby. 20:29 Are y'all hearing what I'm saying today? And there's got to come to a place in time where we look 20:34 and stop looking at all the imperfections of the church and look at the perfection of the savior. 20:44 Stop judging Christ by measuring him against his hypocrites, 20:55 but do I have at least 5 or 6 folks that are just thankful that he came? 21:00 You are thankful that he died. You are thankful that he calls, you are thankful that he redeems. 21:07 It hadn't been perfect or ideal along the way, but guess what? Despite all of my flaws and my mess, guess what? 21:15 He still calls us by name and he allows us to enter into fellowship with him. Are y'all hearing the pastor today? 21:24 I'm done. I'm done, I'm done. I'm done, but I need somebody that's on the verge of heading out and somebody who's already out. 21:34 You got to get to a place where you realize you're winning and you don't even know it. 21:41 You are only a loser in your own mind. See, the problem is we get so distorted, 21:48 our nature is so fallen that we don't even know freedom from bondage. We so messed up. 21:56 Do you realize that sobriety is not bondage? Sobriety is freedom. Oh God. No, it's when you have to that's bondage. 22:13 See, we walking around here. See, the problem is we don't know the difference between protection and restriction. 22:20 Do you get what I'm saying? 22:22 It's crazy. The whole rest of the world trying to get Sabbath off 22:29 and y'all run around here, "Well pastor, is it okay if I do this on this on the Sabbath? Can I go to work?" 22:34 No, we can't tell the difference. Are you hearing what I'm saying? 22:41 And what I'm saying to somebody is that when you find Jesus for yourself, come to conclusions for yourself, 22:49 get settled in truth for yourself, and not allow your whole adult experience to be response to childhood trauma. 22:58 Are y'all hearing what I'm saying today? 23:01 Listen, I'm done. What do I want to do just briefly, go ahead 23:03 and play something for me, is I want to invite somebody into fellowship with Jesus. 23:11 There is somebody who is carrying heavy weight, heavy strain, and it's crazy 23:21 because there's this sense of condemnation that we think comes from the spirit. 23:28 The spirit sends conviction that points you to God, but you know what is embedded in every sin? 23:38 It is the voice of condemnation that drives you away from God, so even sometimes when you come to church 23:45 and we running around thinking everybody looking about you and talking about you. 23:48 No, everybody's just trying to worship, some of that condemnation ain't coming from out, 23:52 sometimes that's just iniquity trying to push you back out the door. Are y'all hearing what I'm saying today friends? 23:59 I need somebody to get to a place where you stop carrying the residue, the stain, the uncertainty, 24:11 and you start walking in the amazing grace that was afforded to us by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. 24:19 Listen, I need somebody to understand. For that person who feels like I've disappointed God, I've messed up. 24:24 I've gone too far, I've done all this. Jesus knew who you were when he called you. 24:30 When he first called Peter, he knew that there was going to come a day where 3 times he was going to act like I didn't even know him, 24:37 but he told Peter on on the front end, he says, you're going to deny me, 24:41 but when you get converted, strengthen your brethren, so Christ didn't just see his failure, 24:48 he already saw his redemption on the other side, so guess what? Christ doesn't just see your mess ups, guess what? 24:55 He sees who you will become as long as you abide in him. 25:03 I need somebody to know that his grace is so amazing, that if you don't give up on God, guess what? 25:09 God won't ever give up on you. If you never walk away from God, God will never walk away from you, 25:18 and it's crazy because I want to encourage somebody on the faith journey, sanctification journey. 25:22 What you ought to do is you ought to get out of the promise making business and get in the covenant business, 25:27 so you're a young believer, you mess up and you get up early next morning, you say, "Lord, I promise I'll never do it again." 25:37 That's 8 o'clock, and by 11 o'clock you done did it again. I'm I by myself. Oh, I ain't going to never do it again, 25:48 but Saturday night, you done it again, and it's funny the reason you out not make promises is 25:52 because again you don't realize how fallen your nature is, because when you keep making promises, guess what? 25:58 You begin to feel guilt because you know how you've broken, so I remember, after this falling again and again and again. 26:05 I made God kind of one last covenant. I really just made the covenant that Jacob made with God. 26:12 I just simply said, "Lord, I'm done trying God, and I'm just coming all the way in." 26:19 I told God, literally here as a student here at Oakwood College, I'm just going to grab a hold of you God, 26:25 and I promise you Jesus, I will never ever let you go until my change comes, 26:33 and I need you to know I've been walking strong with God through ups and downs, imperfections, falling away, 26:39 and guess what? God never left and God never forsook his child, 26:45 and I want to encourage somebody to know that the same grace that has born along with this sorry preacher, 26:50 that same grace is operational in all of our lives. How many of us will believe the word of God today? 28:05 (Breath of Life Theme Music) 28:29 [END] |
Revised 2023-09-20