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Series Code: BOLS
Program Code: BOLS000101S
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00:04 #S052 - “That's a Good Offer” (Part 2)
00:19 Welcome to the Breath of life television ministries broadcast 00:24 the Pastor Debleaire Snell. 00:25 In today's episode, Pastor Snell will continue 00:29 part two of the powerful message titled “That's a Good Offer” 00:34 Now let's go deeper into the Word of God. 00:37 So we ought to have the peace of heaven. 00:39 We ought to have the access of heaven. 00:41 And guess what? 00:42 You ought to have the strength of heaven. 00:47 Oh, I was shouting all about myself on this. 00:49 You ought to have the strength of heaven. While, here on earth. 00:54 Now, y'all say, man, what they need strength for 00:55 is having you remember that heaven one time had war in it. 01:02 That that the dragon and his angels 01:04 fought against Michael and his angels. 01:06 But they did not prevail. 01:08 Neither was any place found for them any longer in heaven. 01:12 And that great dragon, the servant of all, was 01:13 cast out onto the earth. 01:15 And his angels were cast out with him. 01:18 And the reason the devil couldn't prevail 01:21 was because the strength of heaven was too great. 01:27 No, no. 01:28 The strength of heaven was too great for him to overthrow. 01:31 The strength of heaven was too great for him to come up 01:35 so that guess what? 01:36 He could make war in heaven, 01:39 but he couldn't overthrow heaven 01:41 because the strength was too great. 01:43 And what I'm saying today, that the strength of heaven 01:46 doesn't mean you won't be attacked. 01:48 It doesn't mean the enemy won't come for you. 01:51 It doesn't mean the weapon won't be fired. 01:53 It just means that the strength and you. 01:55 It's too great for you to be overthrown. 01:58 Is there anybody that still believes that greater is he 02:02 that is in me. 02:04 Then he that is in the world. 02:07 It means that nothing 02:11 oh can overthrow 02:15 the faith of a child of God. 02:21 So saints. 02:22 That means no matter what you're going through, 02:26 it means you can come through with your faith intact. 02:32 It is what Paul says. 02:33 Nothing shall separate me 02:35 from the love of God, which is in Christ. 02:37 Jesus, because heaven's strength 02:41 keeps me from being overthrown. 02:43 You are here with me today, friends. 02:45 So you ought to have the peace of had 02:47 the access of heaven and you could have the strength 02:50 of having somebody shout Hallelujah today. 02:53 Okay, 02:54 so here it is. 02:58 He comes to Jesus, makes his request. 03:02 So what I do in order to inherit eternal life in is crazy. 03:07 Because Jesus, knowing what's in his heart, puts forth 03:13 an instruction that's designed to draw out of this heart. 03:19 Those things that are hidden. 03:22 So the Bible says that he is a rich, young ruler. 03:25 Now, I understand 03:25 that when the Bible says he is a ruler, 03:27 it simply means that he is a religious leader of the time, 03:30 because we know that the Jews were under Roman oppression. 03:34 So his rulership was one of theology, 03:37 that he was a part of the sect of the Pharisees. 03:39 Are the sadnesses. Are you with me today? 03:41 So he says to me, You know what to do. 03:44 I mean, you the big dog, you the man on this block. 03:47 You know what you want to do if you want to be saved, 03:49 he says, then just keep the commandments 03:52 and notice what Jesus does. 03:54 France, and you won't get mad at me, is admonition. 03:56 Just a second. 03:57 But he says, Listen, just keep the commandments. 03:59 And he uses the last six that have to do with our fellow man. 04:03 He says, Man, don't steal and don't commit 04:05 adultery and don't defraud your neighbor 04:08 and don't bear false witness and honor 04:09 your mother and father all the days of your life. 04:13 And in Matthew's version, it says, Love your neighbor 04:15 as you love yourself. 04:17 Now, I need you to get that the young man's response 04:20 is not one of arrogance. 04:23 It's one of confusion 04:26 because this man, he's like, Well, Lord, 04:27 I've done all these things from my youth. 04:30 I need you to get. 04:31 Now, he's not saying, Man, I've done this. 04:33 He's not saying I'm and he's not saying I've met the criteria. 04:36 He's remembered that he's already done these things. 04:39 And yet there is a whole yearning 04:40 that drives him to the foot of Jesus. 04:42 He says, I've kept the commandments 04:44 and it's still something missing. 04:46 I've been good and there's still something lacking. 04:49 I follow the rules, but there is still something 04:52 that's been omitted. 04:53 So he comes to Jesus and says, Lord, what do I lack? 05:01 And Jesus says, You all still with the pass? 05:05 No, don't, don't, don't. Just listen to me. 05:07 See yourself as the young ruler today, he says, 05:13 sell everything you have. 05:16 Do you still love him? 05:21 Give it to the poor. 05:24 Then gives an addendum and says, Take up your cross 05:29 and follow me. 05:31 And then you'll have treasure in heaven. 05:34 And let me just pause and say to the body of Christ, 05:37 be careful about saying I'm a commandment keeping believer. 05:46 Because remember, Jesus did something in the New Testament. 05:49 Remember Jesus. 05:50 I didn't come to destroy the law and the prophets, he says. 05:53 I came to fulfill it. 05:54 But you notice what he did was he simply summarized 05:57 the commandments, and kind of one of them 05:59 alluded him down to two. 06:00 He took the first four 06:02 that had to do with relationship with God. 06:04 And he says, this is the greatest commandment, 06:05 that you love God with all your heart, 06:07 your soul, your mind, and your strength. 06:09 And the second commandment is lacking unto it 06:12 that you love your neighbor as yourself 06:15 and understand that this task was not to have him walk away. 06:21 This test was to show him how far he had to go. 06:26 You see, his understanding, Bobbie, of the commandments 06:29 was too small to 06:32 see in his mind. 06:34 Just keeping the commandments 06:35 was just avoiding certain infractions. 06:40 But God is trying to teach him something much more epic. 06:43 That obedience 06:45 is not the fulfillment of the law, 06:47 but love is the fulfillment of the law. 06:50 He says, Me, if you love me with everything you have, 06:54 then you met the standard. 06:55 And guess what? 06:57 While we talk about standards, you hadn't met the standard 07:00 until you can say truthfully that I love my neighbor. 07:08 Oh. You want me to end this? 07:10 But I'm just getting started. 07:13 You're got to love your neighbor like you love yourself. 07:16 Now, notice Jesus didn't say, 07:18 make a donation to the Jesus Treasury. 07:23 He said, sell it and give it to the poor. 07:26 Because he says, I kept all these commandments 07:30 and so I need somebody to get this. 07:32 Did you notice that even those last six commandments 07:35 aren't don't steal, don't kill, 07:37 don't covet your neighbor, don't commit adultery. 07:39 Do you realize that 07:40 those things don't even really speak to your spirituality? 07:45 They just speak to human civility. 07:48 Do you realize that in most society, those last six 07:51 are simply a part of a civil code of living 07:54 that even nonbelievers live by? 07:57 Nonbelievers don't kill and nonbelievers don't say. 08:00 Do you realize that 08:01 our understanding of the law is too small? 08:04 If it's just about avoiding infractions, 08:08 instead of living at the love of Christ 08:11 in such a radical way that it transforms 08:14 the culture for the glory of God. 08:17 See, some of us boast 08:19 a walk around boasting about being civil 08:22 when the truth is we think we're being spiritual. 08:26 Never confuse civility with spirituality. 08:33 You think you're doing something or pass, young man? 08:36 I put my hands on them. 08:39 That just means you civil 08:42 laying hands on them in prayer reveals that a spiritual 08:49 why I ain't curse them out. 08:52 That just means you're civil. 08:55 But speaking 08:56 a word of encouragement shows that your spiritual 08:59 laying down your burdens on Sabbath makes you civil. 09:02 Removing somebody else's burden on Sabbath makes you spiritual. 09:07 Are you hearing me today, friends? 09:08 I need somebody to understand that giving them a dollar 09:11 at the gas station to make them go away makes you civil. 09:15 But giving them your time and your attention, that's 09:17 what makes you spiritual. Okay. 09:20 In other words, just being tolerant of them 09:22 makes you civil, but loving your enemies makes you spiritual. 09:28 I need you to know 09:29 that we've got to stop measuring our obedience 09:32 through just a lack of doing an infraction, 09:35 but measure it by how much we love 09:39 and how much we deposit and how much we give 09:41 and how much we show. 09:43 And to those that Christine's the least of these. 09:48 Because until you have perfect love, 09:52 you are not a commandment keeper. 09:54 You're just a law abiding citizen. 09:59 But I don't want to be law abiding. 10:01 I want to be commandment keeping. 10:03 And I want everybody to know 10:05 that I am a believer by the true metric of Scripture. 10:09 People will know that I am a believer 10:11 not just because of the day of worship, 10:13 not just because of your skirt, 10:15 not just because your face is praying, 10:16 but because you've got the love of Jesus 10:23 operating so richly in your soul. 10:27 Second problem with Richard really is that he loved the gift 10:33 more than the giver, the brother track Jesus down on foot. 10:40 I mean I mean literally, man. 10:41 I mean, he puts himself all the way out there 10:43 in front of everybody. And so, Jesus, man. 10:46 I mean, he's straight, man. 10:46 He's all the way in until Jesus said, 10:50 Sell everything you have 10:52 and give it to the poor. It is crazy. 10:55 You could see his whole energy change. 11:00 All of a sudden he started knocking 11:01 the dirt off his time force robe. 11:07 He start getting the dirt off his magic shoes. 11:11 He tries to hit his head back up on his Gucci turban. 11:17 You can see him 11:18 reclaim his dignity and his composure in his posture 11:22 as he, Wible says. 11:23 He walks away sorrowful. 11:27 That's crazy, Church. 11:28 He probably would have been straight 11:30 if Jesus just sell half of what you have 11:34 probably would have been good 11:35 if you just give away a portion of what you have. 11:38 He might have been straight if he said Jesus, just give. 11:41 Or if you say just give away most of what you have. 11:44 But when it came down to giving 11:51 most of the way in, 11:54 you can't be half the way. 11:56 You can't be part of the way. 11:58 And you can't embrace eternity 12:01 unless you're willing to get all the way in 12:05 with Jesus. 12:08 And it's interesting. 12:09 Friends of mine, he's literally weighing his wardrobe 12:16 over against Jesus, his estate, 12:21 over against Jesus, 12:23 his reputation in love of ease and his names and 12:26 and his adulation of men. He's waiting that over against Jesus. 12:30 And you realize he comes to the conclusion 12:32 that those things weigh more heavily 12:37 than eternal life. 12:41 And he walks away because to ask feels too expensive. 12:48 But you know what this actually shows friends of mine 12:50 is that he didn't really know who Jesus was. 12:54 So remember when he first came to Jesus and say, Good teacher 12:59 rewards, he says, he says, Why do you call me good? 13:05 He says, Nobody's good but God. 13:07 So he's trying to make sure 13:09 that the rich, some ruler, knows who he is. 13:12 You're not just dealing with a prophet or an ordinary rabbi. 13:16 I need you to know that you are dealing with Jehovah. 13:18 Dear Emmanuel, God with us. 13:22 Why is that important? 13:24 Because all Jewish teachers had the fundamental belief 13:27 that all gifting ultimately came from God. 13:31 We had just read at the beginning of this message 13:34 that every good and perfect gift comes from above. 13:38 If he had known who Jesus was, 13:41 he would realize that he owns the cattle 13:43 upon the Thousand Hill and the silver and gold belong to him. 13:47 If he had known that he was God, he would realize 13:50 he's the God of Deuteronomy eight eight. 13:53 He's the one that gives power and order to give wealth. 13:56 If he had known who he was, 13:58 he would know he's the God of some 75. 14:01 Where promotion does not come from the East or the West, 14:04 but promotion comes from God. 14:08 And it's 14:09 crazy because he swears allegiance to the gift 14:14 when the giver is sitting right in front of him. 14:19 You see, friends, this is the equivalent 14:22 of choosing an Amazon account 14:26 above a relationship with Jeff Bezos. 14:33 It's like saying, Steve, I would rather have Laker 14:35 tickets, then go to the locker room to meet LeBron 14:41 is saying that I would rather have allegiance to the gifts 14:46 than the one who gave it. 14:48 And so it shows the foolishness of all coveting 14:52 and the pursuit of things. 14:53 Because how many of us realize 14:55 that every gift is going to decline, every declared gift 15:02 is going to rust, is going to rot, 15:03 is going through and it's going to go out of style. 15:06 But habit of not snow that if you got the giver. 15:08 Guess what, man? 15:09 Your gifts are going to always be upgraded 15:12 because you're in a relationship 15:13 with the one who supplies all the one 15:16 who gives all the one who does all. 15:19 And see friends of mine. 15:20 You got to always realize who the giver is. 15:25 Because he 15:26 if you don't know who your giver is, 15:28 you'll swear allegiance to the wrong thing. 15:33 See, I need you to realize that the giver is God. 15:37 Your conduit is just. 15:38 The job is just the conduit. 15:41 So God simply gives it through the top. 15:46 So you never swear allegiance to the job. 15:49 You swear allegiance to the God who gave you the job. 15:52 So that even if man takes away the job, 15:56 I'm still in a relationship with the giver of the job. 16:00 Or we all act to the promise. 16:02 When you don't know who the giver is, 16:04 you will sacrifice principle 16:06 and integrity and your values and your beliefs 16:09 just to get gifts. 16:12 But when you know who the giver is, 16:14 you swear allegiance to the right one. 16:17 It's great. 16:18 I remember 16:19 kids was a little bit smaller and one day, you know, 16:22 the kids at the table had given all of them some desserts. 16:25 And, you know, my oldest son had finished his dessert first. 16:27 And my daughter, you know, she ate hers slow 16:29 so that the other brothers have watched her eat hers. 16:33 And so it's crazy because now the oldest son 16:35 is trying to get her to give her the piece of cake. 16:38 And so, man, he goes 16:40 and gets a toy that he knows he's wanted for a long time 16:43 and says, listen, I'll give you the toy 16:45 if you give me your dessert. 16:47 Now, it's crazy because he's evaluating the deal 16:50 and she knows it's a bad deal. Why? 16:51 Because the dessert is going to be gone in a few minutes, 16:55 but the toy is going to be around for a long time. 16:58 And she says something I'll never forget. 16:59 She says, I'm not giving my toy for the dessert. 17:03 If I want some more, I'll just ask Daddy. 17:06 In other words, I know the giver, so I got to. 17:10 Compromise myself for a gift. 17:13 When you're in a relationship with the giver. 17:16 In other words, when you know the giver, 17:18 you ain't got to sacrifice your integrity. 17:21 You ain't got to give away your card. 17:24 You ain't got to suck up. You ain't got to kiss up. 17:27 You ain't got a brown no, 17:28 you ain't got to laugh when it ain't funny 17:31 You ain't got a scratch where it don't which 17:33 you ain't got to skin in grin 17:35 You ain't got a scratch Nobody's back 17:38 so that they'll scratch yours Because you know the giver 17:43 of all things are you all with the past today 17:48 last thing I'm almost done. What's this? 17:51 I need you to get this. 17:54 So the Bible says he Jesus looking at him, loving him. 18:02 No, no. Y'all got to get that part. 18:04 Bible says he looked at him and loved him. 18:08 So that the instruction he gives him is not one 18:12 that is arbitrary. 18:14 It is an instruction of love. 18:18 So Jesus is not testing him. 18:22 Jesus is freeing him. 18:30 Works says he loved him. He sees his sincerity. 18:35 He sees the true desire. 18:38 He sees that there is something in him 18:40 that literally wants to be saved. 18:41 But see, the problem is we see this 18:43 as this random test of character. 18:45 No, what Jesus is doing is freeing him 18:48 from a burden that He can't carry much further. 18:54 He's trying to remove the one thing from the man 18:58 that would keep his soul yoked to this life. 19:03 So Jesus is wanting to show him the way 19:06 Jesus is wanting to reveal to him 19:08 a customized plan for eternal life 19:12 and it's funny because some of us see 19:14 this story as an indictment on having money or riches. 19:16 That's not what it is. 19:19 If this is custom to this specific man 19:23 because some of us name, 19:23 we look down on those men 19:24 because the Bible says he walked away 19:26 because he had great possessions. 19:29 Some of us walk away 19:32 for a whole lot less than that. 19:37 Some of us walk away for just a little attention. 19:41 Some of us put Jesus on the back burner for a video game. 19:47 Some of us ignore Jesus whenever we get a car. 19:52 At least our brother had substance. 19:56 He'll say, Oh, no, Pastor, I would never walk away from 19:58 Jesus for some earrings or watch or a gadget or a device. 20:02 If you rob God to get those things, 20:03 you're in the same boat as a rich, young ruler. 20:08 You know what I'm saying? Today, friends 20:12 see the problem. 20:14 Church is not that he had possessions. 20:18 The problem is that possessions had him. 20:23 It's not that he possessed things, 20:26 but he was ultimately possessed by things. 20:30 See, things have a way of attaching themselves to the soul 20:35 and suffocating the being and imposing and imitating God 20:40 in such a way 20:41 that you reach a point you really literally feel like 20:43 you cannot live without things. 20:46 And so whatever you possess will begin to haunt you. 20:50 It'll begin to dictate your values. 20:51 It dictates his movements, 20:53 money and wealth becomes a source of stress 20:55 and strain and anxiety. 20:57 It dictates everything that he values. 21:00 It literally traps him in 21:01 a world of falsehood, artifice and fakeness. 21:04 Well, he's got to fake things and fake friends 21:06 and fake success and fake joy. 21:08 But he is still lacking the thing that matters the most, 21:13 which is Jesus Christ. 21:15 So he says, Jesus, what do I lack? 21:18 And when Jesus says, Go and sell 21:21 everything that you have and give it to the poor. 21:24 What he is literally doing is giving him an opportunity 21:27 to cut away surgically the yoke 21:30 that will tie his life to this world for eternity. 21:36 And it's crazy because it seems like a standard 21:38 that is too harsh. 21:42 But I need you to realize, friends of mine, 21:43 that at some point 21:45 here, the pastor, we will all come to a crossroads 21:51 where Jesus is going to ask something of you 21:56 that feels unnecessary. 22:03 I see. The problem is, the contemporary church 22:05 wants a Christianity that requires no sacrifice. 22:14 We want to give offerings that cost us nothing. 22:18 So this was customized to this brother. 22:21 So for him, he asked them to sell everything that he has. 22:25 But for you to ask may be something completely different 22:28 for somebody here. 22:29 He may be asking you 22:31 to dissolve the relationship you've invested five years in 22:38 for somebody else to ask, maybe 22:41 shut down every pornographic portal 22:46 that gives demons access to your mind. 22:51 For somebody, the ask is Go home and take every ounce of liquor 22:57 and every ounce of weed from your house. 23:02 For somebody to ask is to stop walking in pride 23:06 and self importance and humble yourself before God. 23:12 For somebody, the ask is to stop compromising beliefs 23:17 in order to belong 23:19 and if somebody is going to feel 23:21 too expensive, it's going to feel like too much. 23:24 It's going to literally feel like, 23:24 man, God is requiring too much. 23:27 But I need to know God is not testing you. 23:31 He's freeing you 23:34 for somebody. 23:35 The ask may be forgive the person that hurt you 23:41 the most. 23:45 For somebody to ask, maybe stop storing bitterness and offenses 23:52 because the interest 23:54 is compounding in a way that's not sustainable. 23:59 God is going to make a ask of us at some point. 24:02 That's going to feel impossible. 24:04 And see see 24:05 how many of us believe we're living in the last days. 24:09 Now we say that, but we just literally mean it as theology 24:13 coming to us, realizing that's going to come a day 24:15 where you only fall in one or two categories, 24:17 you're gonna be mocked or feel, but you may literally 24:21 have to uproot and leave behind, as did Locke and his family. 24:28 All that they had known then the life they had built. 24:36 And if you can't give up a person for Jesus, 24:40 a habit for Jesus, a job for Jesus, 24:46 some friendships for Jesus, the enemies 24:51 getting ready to put marks 24:53 on your forehead. I don't want to be marked. 24:57 I want to be healed in that great day. 25:07 But I need somebody to understand is that there's 25:08 nothing that Jesus asked of you that should be too much. 25:14 And a lot of times 25:15 what we what we call sacrifice is just convenience. 25:21 Oh, I made the sacrifice and came to prayer meeting. 25:23 You know, sacrifice. Are you hear what I'm saying? 25:27 Church man, I would love for us to 25:30 in this message made with rejoicing and praise, 25:32 but God says, No, 25:33 I need you to put something before the people 25:35 and let them know that that for some, that day is today. 25:39 For some, that day is coming soon. 25:40 Man, I'm going to require I'm going 25:42 to draw the line in the sand 25:45 and say it's got to be today 25:48 or never. 25:50 And the question is, 25:53 would you then respond like the rest of the apostles 25:57 who are willing to leave job and boat 25:58 and livelihood and follow Jesus, 26:01 or will you like the rich, young ruler, walk away sorrowful, 26:07 trying to hold on to the little that you have? 26:10 Can I give you one last quote? 26:11 Listen, I'm done. I'm done. 26:12 I want you to sing in this moment, 26:14 but I want you to say something. 26:15 I need you to see this quote here from this hour of ages. 26:17 Two of them briefly, Zab, ages 523. 26:22 Self surrender is the substance of the teachings of Christ. 26:26 Often it is presented and enjoined in the language 26:29 that seems authoritative. Because y'all with me church. 26:34 There is no other way to save me than to cut away those things, 26:41 which, if entertained, will demoralize the whole being. 26:47 Talks about the rich and truly he refused. 26:50 Page 520 He refused the offer of eternal life and went away 26:56 and ever after the world was to receive his worship. 27:02 Thousands are passing upon this ordeal. 27:05 We in Christ against the world and many choose the world 27:09 like the young ruler, they turned from the savior 27:12 saying in their hearts, I will not have this man 27:15 as my master. 27:20 What I'm saying to somebody today, 27:22 there's somebody that needs to make a decision for Christ. 27:25 But I pray that you are not like the rich, young ruler, 27:28 and you put a wrong appraisal on the offer. 27:33 See, can I break it down for you? 27:35 I am praying that God would grow me to the point 27:39 where I'll give up anything in these 70 or 80 years 27:43 that I might have treasure in a life 27:45 that has no end with Jesus Christ. 27:48 There is no sacrifice, too great. 27:51 There is no material too valuable 27:54 for me to substitute salvation in order to receive it 28:06 Breath Of Life Music |
Revised 2023-12-21