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00:00 I said on social media that I'm pastorally, pedagogically,
00:03 hermeneutically, and homiletically hyped
00:06 about this two for one series.
00:08 Something is happening in our church.
00:09 I'm speaking double over connected members,
00:12 those watching virtually and in the sanctuary
00:15 that are living right, giving right.
00:16 I'm preaching double.
00:17 This week, I'm talking about Naaman and Nicodemus,
00:22 dead men walking.
00:23 Both of them had major positions.
00:24 Both of them were popular,
00:26 but yet both of them were seeking a kind of peace,
00:29 a kind of healing.
00:30 This word is for somebody that you know.
00:33 Share it, like it, get ready.
00:36 Naaman and Nicodemus, dead men walking.
00:40 ♪ I will trust in, in the Lord ♪
00:48 ♪ I will trust in, in the Lord ♪
00:55 ♪ I will trust in, in the Lord until I die ♪
01:00 ♪ I will trust in, in the Lord ♪
01:13 ♪ I will trust in, in the Lord ♪
01:20 ♪ I will trust in, in the Lord until I die ♪
01:25 ♪ I'm gonna stay on the battlefield ♪
01:34 Come on, everybody.
01:35 ♪ I'm gonna stay on the battlefield ♪
01:40 ♪ I'm gonna stay on the battlefield ♪
01:47 Come on, everybody.
01:48 ♪ Until I die ♪
01:53 ♪ I'm gonna stay on the battlefield ♪
01:59 ♪ I'm gonna stay on the battlefield ♪
02:05 ♪ I'm gonna stay on the battlefield ♪
02:11 ♪ Until I die ♪
02:14 Remember this verse.
02:15 ♪ I'm gonna see God for myself ♪
02:20 Come on, everybody.
02:21 ♪ I'm gonna see God for myself ♪
02:26 ♪ I'm gonna see God for myself ♪
02:33 Come on.
02:33 ♪ Until I die ♪
02:38 ♪ I'm gonna see God for myself ♪
02:46 ♪ I'm gonna see God for myself ♪
02:51 ♪ I'm gonna see God for myself ♪
02:57 ♪ Until I die ♪
02:59 Y'all wanna go to church?
03:01 Anybody wanna go to church?
03:02 You wanna go to church?
03:03 Come on, come on, come on, come on.
03:05 ♪ In the Lord ♪
03:06 ♪ In the Lord ♪
03:08 ♪ In the Lord ♪
03:09 ♪ In the Lord ♪
03:11 ♪ Put your faith ♪
03:13 ♪ In the Lord ♪
03:14 ♪ In the Lord, in the Lord ♪
03:18 ♪ Put your family, in the Lord ♪
03:21 ♪ In the Lord, in the Lord ♪
03:24 ♪ Put your home, in the Lord ♪
03:27 ♪ In the Lord, in the Lord ♪
03:30 ♪ In the Lord, in the Lord ♪
03:33 ♪ In the Lord, in the Lord ♪
03:36 ♪ In the Lord, in the Lord ♪
03:40 ♪ Put your faith in the Lord, in the Lord ♪
03:43 ♪ In the Lord, in the Lord ♪
03:45 I don't hear you.
03:46 ♪ In the Lord, in the Lord ♪
03:49 ♪ Put your hopes, in the Lord ♪
03:52 ♪ In the Lord, in the Lord ♪
03:54 Pick it up, pick it up, take it up.
03:55 ♪ In the Lord, in the Lord ♪
03:57 Everybody.
03:58 ♪ In the Lord, in the Lord ♪
04:01 ♪ In the Lord, in the Lord ♪
04:04 ♪ In the Lord, in the Lord ♪
04:05 Come on, come on, come on.
04:06 ♪ In the Lord, in the Lord ♪
04:09 ♪ In the Lord, in the Lord ♪
04:12 ♪ In the Lord, in the Lord ♪
04:15 ♪ In the Lord, in the Lord ♪
04:18 ♪ In the Lord, in the Lord ♪
04:19 ♪ I will trust in, in the Lord ♪
04:24 ♪ I will trust in, in the Lord ♪
04:30 ♪ I will trust in, in the Lord ♪
04:36 ♪ Oh Lord, until I die ♪
04:42 ♪ I will trust in, in the Lord ♪
04:47 ♪ I will trust in, in the Lord ♪
04:53 ♪ I will trust in, in the Lord ♪
04:59 ♪ In the Lord, until I die ♪
05:04 ♪ I will trust in, in the Lord ♪
05:08 - All right, let's do this.
05:18 So I need you to get two passages of scripture
05:21 in your spirit, drop 'em in your notes,
05:23 and remember them because you'll do it more justice
05:26 in your personal study than my public explication.
05:31 I wanna sort of use a narrative approach to preach,
05:34 an expository narrative, storytelling.
05:37 So I'll be more of a kind of storytelling flow
05:41 than so much expository or expositional.
05:44 So your homework assignment is to read two passages,
05:47 2 Kings 5 and John 3, John 3.
05:52 Let's tag 'em, they're on the screen.
05:54 First of all, 2 Kings 5, verse one.
05:56 2 Kings 5, verse one, it's on the screen.
05:58 I want you to catch this.
06:00 So Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram.
06:04 He was a great man in the sight of his master
06:08 and highly regarded.
06:10 I want you to catch the next slide real quick.
06:12 I want you to catch this.
06:14 Because through him, the Lord had given victory to Aram.
06:17 He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.
06:22 Let me try this again.
06:25 He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.
06:30 John 3, verse one, I want you to catch it.
06:31 John 3, verse one.
06:33 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus,
06:35 a member of the Jewish ruling council.
06:38 Wait a minute, Naaman was captain
06:42 or commander of the Assyrian army.
06:44 Wait a minute, Naaman was captain
06:47 or commander of the Assyrian army.
06:49 Nicodemus was a high ruling member
06:54 of the Jewish hierarchy.
06:57 Wait a minute, Naaman, Nicodemus.
06:59 Here's my subject.
07:00 Naaman and Nicodemus, dead men walking.
07:04 Naaman and Nicodemus, dead men walking.
07:08 You may take your seats in the Lord's house.
07:12 In case this is your first time here,
07:14 I really sense double on this ministry.
07:17 I've been doing something homiletically this dangerous.
07:20 Many of my sons in the ministry and daughters
07:22 are calling me saying, "Dad, no, you're not
07:24 "preaching two sermons.
07:25 "I can't hardly figure out one."
07:27 I said, "To God be the glory.
07:29 "There's double on this house,
07:31 "and I feel like double gotta come out of my mouth.
07:33 "I'm preaching two sermons at the same time
07:35 "and trying not to dishonor either text."
07:39 Okay, so I started off with Jonah and Jesus,
07:42 the problem and the solution.
07:44 Jonah is on a ship, Jesus is on a ship.
07:47 Jonah is asleep, Jesus is asleep.
07:49 Jonah is asleep in apathy, Jesus is asleep in sovereignty.
07:53 Jonah is going the wrong way, Jesus is the way.
07:57 Then we talked about a sick woman and a crazy man.
08:01 The woman with the issue of blood
08:03 who had this internal hemorrhage or bleeding,
08:06 wouldn't stop bleeding almost to the point of death.
08:08 Then we talked about a brother in the tombs
08:10 who had lost his mind.
08:11 One needed physical help, the other needed mental help.
08:15 Both of them end up getting what they needed
08:18 from our Savior.
08:19 This past weekend, I talked about two widows
08:22 and two miracles, Elisha and Elijah.
08:24 I told you to remember that a J comes before S,
08:29 so Elijah is the mentor and Elisha is the mentee.
08:34 I told you that Elijah is the teacher,
08:36 Elisha was the student, two widows,
08:39 both husbands had died, both had kids and needs to meet,
08:43 and because of their encounter and obedience
08:46 to the two prophets, both of them got what they needed.
08:49 And this morning, as we make it to the circumference
08:52 of our two texts, we see Naaman and Nicodemus.
08:57 Let's meet both of them because maybe you think
08:59 you know both of them and maybe you know neither.
09:02 Yeah, Naaman, Naaman, Naaman, Naaman, Naaman.
09:06 The Bible says that Naaman, watch this,
09:08 is as it were the captain of this army.
09:10 He is the commander of this army.
09:13 Bible tells us a whole lot about this brother.
09:15 The Bible says he is the commander of the army.
09:19 Bible says he is a valiant warrior.
09:21 The Bible says through him, God gave, watch this,
09:25 the Assyrians the victory.
09:27 You ought to catch this.
09:28 It is through him that God gave them the victory.
09:31 Wait a minute, it is through him, so wait a minute,
09:33 he's a bad brother, he's light, he has a major position,
09:37 but then your Bible says, but, I'm sorry, he had leprosy.
09:42 I'm gonna try it one more time.
09:43 The Bible says he's a bad brother, he has a major position.
09:47 The Bible says God had used him to bring victory,
09:50 but he had leprosy.
09:52 Y'all looking at me funny because everybody in here,
09:54 no matter how awesome you think you are, you got a butt.
09:57 Let me try this one more time.
10:00 I don't care how much money you have,
10:01 how much degree you have, how happy your marriage is,
10:04 how successfully single, everybody in this room got a butt.
10:09 Y'all not gonna say amen?
10:11 Sally got a big old butt, Peter got a big old butt,
10:14 the Word Church got a big old butt,
10:15 Pastor Vernon got a big old butt,
10:17 Lady Vernon got a big old butt.
10:18 Don't you look at me 'cause everybody in here,
10:19 no matter how you front, you got a big old butt
10:22 that you need God to help you with
10:25 that can't nothing fix but Jesus.
10:27 Can I get five people that know you have a butt?
10:31 It is that, watch this, what I call place of grace.
10:36 It's the place in my life that no matter how much money
10:39 I have, it won't help me with the one son that won't change.
10:43 No matter how much degree I have,
10:45 no matter the suburb we live in,
10:46 I just don't like being married to them no more.
10:50 We got a butt in our house.
10:53 From the outside, it looks great, but we got a butt.
10:56 We got parental issues, they're not what you think they are.
10:59 We all look a certain way in public, but we got a butt.
11:02 Let's meet Nicodemus.
11:06 The Bible says there was a man named Nicodemus.
11:09 He was a part, watch this, of the ruling council,
11:12 the Sanhedrin council.
11:14 This was a 70-member group of men.
11:18 Wow, you couldn't get any higher than this.
11:20 He's a member of the Pharisees.
11:21 He sits on the Jewish ruling council.
11:25 Talk about having a major position.
11:27 Come on, stay with me now.
11:28 We're talking about Nicodemus now,
11:29 the one you know from John 3.
11:30 Nicodemus is this major brother.
11:33 The Bible says he's a Pharisee.
11:35 I think we need to talk about that.
11:37 Pharisee, Sadducee, Essenes, Zealots, Herodians,
11:42 religious sects or groups, denominations as it were,
11:47 they all thought they were the bomb,
11:49 had their own little cliques,
11:50 all of them thinking they're somebody.
11:52 We say Pharisees and Sadducees so much,
11:55 we act like they're twins.
11:58 There's a distinction between Sadducees and Pharisees.
12:02 This is for free.
12:03 The Sadducees were more aristocratic.
12:06 They had money.
12:07 Yeah, the Sadducees, they sort of sat up at the top
12:11 of the social chain.
12:12 I mean, they were all of that.
12:14 They thought at least.
12:15 And the difference and the distinction
12:17 between a Sadducee and a Pharisee
12:20 is that Pharisees believed in the resurrection of the dead.
12:25 Also, they believed in spirits and angels.
12:28 Sadducees didn't.
12:30 So the brother at least has some sense of a hereafter.
12:33 He believed there's something else that has to happen.
12:37 And your Bible says, this is the part you know,
12:39 he came to Jesus at night.
12:42 Yeah, that's why I call him Nick at night.
12:44 So Nick comes at night.
12:47 Nick comes at night and walks up on my Savior.
12:51 Meanwhile, back with Naaman,
12:53 Naaman is a commander of an army.
12:56 Naaman has it going on.
12:57 God had given him, your Bible says in verse one,
13:01 victory over Israel.
13:03 That don't bother nobody here.
13:07 God had given Naaman, wait a minute, victory over Israel.
13:12 But isn't Israel God's people?
13:16 Isn't Israel the chosen?
13:19 So how you gonna give some foreign brother
13:22 who is polytheistic in his theology,
13:24 poly, more than one.
13:26 How you gonna give him the victory?
13:28 How you gonna use him to beat your people?
13:32 Y'all just missed that.
13:33 You have no idea how God used your enemies
13:37 to get you where you are.
13:39 I wish I had 10 people that know sometime
13:42 God gave people victory in that season
13:45 'cause he had a bigger plan for you.
13:47 Take a mental note, take a mental note,
13:49 take a mental note, take a mental note
13:52 that he is not from the people of God.
13:55 He is a foreign brother, servant of false God,
13:59 and your Bible says God used him to beat God's people.
14:03 Matter of fact, your Bible says there's this girl
14:07 who they took captive.
14:09 So, watch this, Naaman's army fights the Israelites.
14:13 Naaman army win.
14:16 Whenever you want a battle, militaristic conflicts meant this
14:20 you were able to not only take their stuff,
14:22 but take their people.
14:24 So, if you lost a battle, the brothers who beat you
14:26 would take your woman, they'd take your kids,
14:28 and they'd become their servants.
14:30 Just so happened, Naaman and his wife
14:33 took in this little girl who's from Israel,
14:36 took in this little girl who knew God,
14:39 took in this little girl whose parents
14:41 had put Jesus in her, preach right now,
14:43 took in this little girl who had been raised to know God.
14:48 This little girl lives in the house
14:50 with him and his wife.
14:52 The little girl says, "Oh, that my master
14:55 "could go meet the prophet that lives in Israel,
15:00 "he would help him with his leprosy."
15:03 Leprosy, as it were, was like having full-blown AIDS.
15:07 It was like having full-blown AIDS, not HIV,
15:10 full-blown AIDS, where it's out there, the skin,
15:12 you can see it, there's no coming back,
15:15 many say, previous to the medicines that we have now.
15:18 Oh, this is bad.
15:19 The little girl said, "Y'all missed it,
15:20 "entrepreneurs, come here.
15:22 "Those of you that are bosses over people,
15:24 "those of you that are supervisors,
15:27 "be careful how you treat people."
15:28 Because it don't blow none of y'all away
15:32 that this girl has been taken from her mama,
15:35 this girl has been taken captive,
15:37 she live in a house with these people
15:39 who took her in as their slave,
15:42 but apparently they treated her with such civility
15:45 that she still care about this man's life.
15:47 She could have said, "Hope he die."
15:49 She could have went color purple
15:50 until you do right by me.
15:51 Y'all missed that, praise God.
15:53 But apparently, even though he has authority,
15:58 he treats her with civility.
16:00 That's for free.
16:01 It's just nice to be nice
16:03 because you never know who you're gonna need.
16:06 Some of y'all get a little position and lose your mind,
16:09 get $2 over your lunch money
16:10 and forget where you came from.
16:12 Time and mistakes have taught me,
16:14 even people on my staff that are literally young enough
16:17 to be my children, I say, "Yes, ma'am."
16:20 I say, "Yes, sir.
16:21 "Thank you for that, really appreciate it.
16:23 "Take tomorrow off.
16:24 "You don't have to work that hard."
16:26 Time teaches you that even though somebody under you,
16:29 be nice to 'em.
16:30 Nobody wanna be around no butthole.
16:33 Look at your neighbor and say, "He was trying to be nice."
16:36 He said, "Butthole, praise God, it's a Sunday morning.
16:38 "It's Sunday morning."
16:40 Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're gonna love this.
16:43 She said, "Oh, that my master would go see the prophet.
16:48 "Oh, that meanwhile, back at Nick at night,
16:50 "Nick comes to Jesus."
16:51 Your Bible says in verse two that he comes,
16:54 I love this, by night.
16:55 You'll love it.
16:56 Nick comes at night and says, "Master, we know,
16:59 "rabbi, rabbi, we know that you are a teacher sent from God.
17:04 "Y'all just missed your second shout.
17:05 "He calls him rabbi, he calls him teacher."
17:07 You know, Nicodemus was a rabbi too.
17:09 You know, there were other rabbis, there were other teachers.
17:11 He calls him rabbi, he calls him teacher.
17:14 In other words, he brings Jesus down to his level.
17:18 But can I tell you, Jesus is not on your level.
17:21 God is not on your level.
17:22 God is bigger.
17:24 He calls him rabbi or teacher.
17:26 In essence, he said, "Me and you on the same level.
17:27 "We know you are sent from God
17:29 "because no man could do the miracles that you do."
17:31 The Bible says he came at night.
17:32 A scholar's been arguing for 2,000 years,
17:34 why did he come at night?
17:35 Did he come at night 'cause he was trying
17:36 to bust a creed?
17:37 Did he come at night because he didn't want
17:39 nobody to see him?
17:40 Did he come at night because he was just a night guy?
17:41 Did he come at night because he wanted privacy
17:43 and Jesus all to himself?
17:44 Texts don't tell me.
17:45 One of my professors told me,
17:47 "When the text is quiet, you shut up too."
17:50 So I don't really know why he came at night.
17:51 If I had to guess, I would think he didn't want nobody
17:54 to know he was talking to Jesus because he wanted
17:56 to look like he was one thing to people,
17:58 but on the inside, he was dying.
18:00 I'm so tired of people fronting like they all of that
18:04 when they dying on the inside.
18:07 I'm so tired of couples.
18:08 I know no couple start with me,
18:10 wanna put their business all out there,
18:13 but before I die, I'm gonna talk to somebody.
18:15 Yeah, I'm gonna say this again.
18:17 I'd rather be publicly exposed than privately in bondage.
18:21 At some point, I need to go to my prophet, my pastor,
18:24 somebody and say, "I need some help.
18:26 "Nicodemus is missing something."
18:29 Meanwhile, back at Naaman, Naaman hears the little girl
18:33 say, "There's a prophet, there's a prophet,
18:36 "there's a prophet in Israel."
18:37 I wish my master would go see, I think Naaman's wife said,
18:41 "Look, a little girl to work for us?
18:42 "That girl said there's a man that can help you out.
18:45 "You need to go to Israel."
18:46 The Bible says Naaman right away went to the general
18:50 and said, "General, can I please,
18:52 "can I please go to Israel?
18:53 "Can I have a leave of absence?
18:55 "Can I take my leave?
18:57 "Can I go, can I go?"
18:59 The Bible says that the man said, "Absolutely, go now.
19:01 "You missed another parenthetical."
19:05 Naaman is such a good kind of commander.
19:09 Naaman has so much value that the general's thinking,
19:14 "I need you to stay alive and your life is so valuable.
19:18 "I'm gonna give you time off to go get fixed."
19:20 It's bad when you quit and the people you work for
19:25 don't miss you.
19:25 It's bad when you brought nothing to the table,
19:31 people hoping you leave.
19:33 It's bad when they don't even have to grieve you.
19:35 Nobody even cared that you gone
19:36 because you brought nothing of substance to the table.
19:39 This man has so much value that the general says,
19:42 "Oh yeah, you go, go right away.
19:44 "Matter of fact, I'm gonna give you a letter
19:46 "to take to the king."
19:47 That's so powerful.
19:48 First Kings five, I'm gonna show you verses five, six, seven.
19:50 Y'all gonna love this.
19:51 Right on the middle screen.
19:52 Y'all wanna see the letter?
19:53 I'm gonna show y'all the letter.
19:54 Here's what the letter said.
19:55 "The letter that he took to the king of Israel read,
19:57 "With this letter, I am sending my servant Naaman to you
20:01 "so that you may cure him of his leprosy."
20:04 I wanna read it again.
20:05 "The letter that he took to the king read,"
20:07 make sure you know I'm in the Bible.
20:09 "With this letter, I am sending my servant Naaman to you
20:12 "so that you can cure him of his leprosy."
20:16 The next verse shows you the king of Israel's reaction.
20:19 The next verse says,
20:20 "When the king of Israel saw the letter,
20:22 "he was terribly upset and ripped his clothes to pieces."
20:24 He said, "Am I God?
20:26 "With the power to bring death to life?
20:27 "Did I get orders to heal this man?"
20:29 Y'all missed that, come here.
20:31 In the Bible, when you ripped your clothes,
20:34 that was the ultimate sign that you was mad.
20:37 Touching it and say, "I don't get that, man.
20:38 "I paid for this shirt."
20:39 Go ahead and tell somebody, praise God.
20:40 Say, "I ripped some toilet paper or something.
20:44 "Yeah, I just bought this blouse.
20:45 "I ain't ripping this for nobody in here, praise God.
20:47 "I ain't ripping my blouse."
20:48 But when you got mad, you ripped your clothes
20:49 like the Incredible Hulk.
20:51 The man in front of everybody, "Rip this clothes,
20:54 "rip this clothes."
20:55 He thought that the king was insulting him.
20:58 Why would that king send me a letter asking me
21:01 to cure this man?
21:02 I'm the king, but I do not have that kind of divine power.
21:05 But the letter was not supposed to go to him.
21:07 The girl did not say, "Go see the king."
21:12 The little girl said, "Go see the prophet."
21:14 (audience applauding)
21:16 I'm preaching better than you responding.
21:18 There is a place where politics end and you need a prophet.
21:22 I don't care who you are watching me all over
21:25 the city of Cleveland.
21:26 There's a place where politics end and you need a prophet.
21:30 There's a place where politics end and you need a preacher.
21:33 You need a church, you need a pastor.
21:35 There are some things that are bigger than politics.
21:38 I'm not casting away politics.
21:40 Somebody gotta do it, just not me.
21:42 I can't handle politics because you gotta be voted for
21:45 and God already voted for me.
21:46 Can I get a witness?
21:47 I can't handle politics because in order to politic,
21:51 you have to do some things you don't sense you should do
21:54 in order to win the election.
21:55 You have to acquiesce in some places
21:57 that are beneath who you are in order to get the job.
22:00 God did not call me to be a politician.
22:02 God called me to be a prophet.
22:04 The Bible says, word got back in the next verse.
22:09 This is so important.
22:10 Elisha said, "Tell the king, don't trip, send him to me."
22:15 Well, I feel like preaching, I feel like preaching.
22:19 Tell the king, don't trip, send him to me.
22:23 I feel like preaching.
22:24 Can I tell you that Elisha says,
22:26 "Send him," meanwhile, back with Nicodemus,
22:29 Nicodemus says to him,
22:31 "We know you must be a major person sent from God
22:34 "for no one can do the miracles that you do
22:35 "unless he comes from God."
22:37 Jesus then says the verse that all of you know,
22:39 he said, "Don't you understand, Nicodemus,
22:41 "you must be born again."
22:44 You must be born again.
22:46 Wait a minute, you must be born again, born again.
22:50 Look at that, look at that phrase, born again.
22:53 It means even though you came out of your mother's womb,
22:56 physically, if you in this room today,
22:58 you gotta be born again.
23:00 Can I tell you the best thing ever happened to you?
23:02 It was not who you married to,
23:03 it was not the money you have in your pocket,
23:05 it's not the degree you have.
23:06 You ought to praise God, watch this,
23:08 come here season saints, you've been born again.
23:10 (audience cheering)
23:11 Can I get 50 people that may not have
23:15 everything you want yet,
23:16 but you're praising God on this hot July day
23:19 from wherever you watch it in the world,
23:21 that maybe you don't have everything,
23:23 but go in and point at three people and say,
23:25 "I've been born again."
23:26 Go ahead.
23:27 (audience cheering)
23:28 Y'all didn't say that like you meant it.
23:30 Y'all didn't praise God for being born again,
23:33 regenerated, and you who were dead
23:36 in your sins and trespasses,
23:38 and you, as he quickened King James,
23:41 who were dead in your sins and trespasses, born again.
23:45 We had a ministry for people who struggled sexually
23:48 in this church, not just LGBT stuff,
23:50 singles who, you know, just whatever,
23:52 bros who married to the finest woman in Cleveland
23:55 and can't stop cheating on her.
23:57 And he say, "Man, listen, I'm just born this way.
24:00 "My father was nasty.
24:02 "They looked at a lot of stuff I shouldn't have seen,
24:03 "started early.
24:05 "Plus, I just got these certain proclivities from birth.
24:07 "It's like it runs in the family.
24:08 "My father got around my mother,
24:09 "wasn't faithful to nobody, nobody ever been married.
24:11 "It's just in the blood.
24:13 "I was just born this way.
24:14 "I was just born this way."
24:16 Touching there, he say, "I believe you,
24:17 "but get born again."
24:18 Go ahead, tell them right quick.
24:19 (audience cheering)
24:20 Y'all just missed y'all shout.
24:21 Can I get somebody that knows we serve a man named Jesus
24:25 and that precious Palestinian Jew can pick you up
24:28 and rinse you off?
24:29 Is there anybody that thanks God
24:31 that even though you have certain proclivities,
24:34 you've been born again?
24:36 And the difference between born-again believers
24:39 and unbelievers is they have options, we have obedience.
24:43 (audience cheering)
24:45 Yeah, when you're not born again,
24:46 you say, "I can sleep with this one,
24:48 "sleep with that one.
24:48 "I can cuss you out, not cuss you out."
24:50 When God gets a hold in your heart,
24:52 stuff you used to wanna do,
24:53 God says, "Be obedient to me.
24:56 "Kill your flesh, say no."
24:58 And you lay there at night
24:59 with your single wannabe love self
25:01 and say, "I love God more than I love a feeling.
25:04 "I'm lonely tonight, but weeping may endure for a night,
25:07 "but joy comes."
25:08 Do I have anybody here that would praise God?
25:11 You've been born again.
25:14 Meanwhile, back at Naaman.
25:17 (audience cheering)
25:21 Elijah says, "Tell Pleya to come see me."
25:25 Yeah, I know he thinking all that,
25:26 but tell him, tell him to come see the prophet.
25:28 Naaman says, "All right, I'm going."
25:31 The Bible says, your Bible says, not mine,
25:33 that Naaman shows up to Elijah's crib,
25:36 little crib, little nothing kind of house,
25:38 this place where Elijah's chilling.
25:39 He ain't got no mansion.
25:40 This prophet just chilling,
25:42 just trying to get people right with God.
25:44 He comes with his chariots and his horses,
25:46 and I think he has some music playing.
25:49 Y'all wanna hear it?
25:51 It was, it was...
25:52 (dramatic music)
25:54 Stop!
26:03 He show up band playing.
26:09 He show up horses and chariots, your Bible says.
26:15 (imitates trumpet)
26:16 Captain Naaman is present!
26:19 Elijah is in the house, your Bible says.
26:24 Elijah is inside, tells his assistant,
26:29 go out there and tell him, if he wanna be healed,
26:36 go dip in Jordan seven times.
26:40 Shut my door.
26:42 (congregation laughing)
26:45 I'm gonna try this one more time.
26:48 Go tell him if he wanna be healed,
26:51 go dip in Jordan seven times.
26:55 Assistant goes out there, hello, Captain Naaman.
27:00 The prophet told me to pass the message to you
27:03 that your condition can be rectified by dipping
27:09 or immersing yourself in Jordan River
27:12 seven times consecutively.
27:13 Naaman, he said, what?
27:17 No, no, no, no, no, no.
27:20 Do he know who out here?
27:22 Do he know how far I've come?
27:25 Has he seen my resume?
27:27 Does he also know that I brought like a bunch of gold,
27:32 a bunch of silver, and 10 different tailor-made outfits?
27:38 Read your Bible.
27:39 I brought it all, and he can't even come say hi to me?
27:44 Elijah says, I'm not leaving my prophetic porch
27:51 to capitulate or kowtow to your resources.
27:59 I'm preaching better than you responding.
28:01 Can I tell you, Word Nation, don't ever forget who you are.
28:06 Yeah, you may not have a handsome husband
28:08 and a bunch of money, but you a woman of God.
28:11 You a man of God, and don't ever let anybody,
28:14 because of what they have, cause you to come down too far.
28:18 Remember, I'm a Christian.
28:21 I don't care what you have, you can't buy me.
28:24 You can't buy me, and you can't impress me that much,
28:28 'cause I belong to God, and I'm not coming down.
28:31 Y'all pray for me.
28:33 People been trying to get me to come down a long time.
28:36 You run if you knew some of the things
28:39 I've been offered to come down.
28:41 Yeah, you laugh if you knew what some people offered me
28:44 for the Word Church's database.
28:46 Be surprised how many people wanna get their hands
28:48 on these kind of people so they can network what they do
28:51 and try to put me in the middle of it,
28:52 but I'm not coming down.
28:54 I don't care who you are, what you own,
28:56 billionaire, millionaire.
28:58 When you meet R.A. Vernon, you meet a prophet.
29:01 I wish I had somebody.
29:03 You meet a imperfect prophet, and when I was younger,
29:07 because we were blowing up, I couldn't believe
29:10 everybody wanted to meet me, everybody.
29:13 Browns players, Cavs, everybody, and you're so young,
29:16 and you can't believe they wanna know you.
29:19 And so in your mind, you so flattered
29:22 that they wanna know you, but maturity
29:24 and spirituality teaches you.
29:27 The reason why they wanna meet you
29:29 is because they don't want somebody else to kiss they butt.
29:32 They want somebody that will speak into their life
29:34 and be a prophet and not come down.
29:38 And I wanna say to all of you, don't come down.
29:43 Meanwhile, back in Nick at Night,
29:46 are y'all tired of me?
29:47 Say, "Keep on teaching, Pastor, keep on."
29:49 Say it loud, "Keep on teaching, Pastor."
29:51 (congregation cheering)
29:54 He says, "You must be born again,
29:56 "born of the water and born of the Spirit."
29:59 Nick at Dean says, "How can a man be born
30:02 "when he's old?
30:04 "Can he go back inside his mama's womb?"
30:07 I just heard 30 women say, "Not here you won't, praise God."
30:10 (congregation laughing)
30:11 Yeah, I bet you would never go back in here
30:12 with your big self.
30:13 It was hard pushing you out when you was seven pounds.
30:17 You're certainly not going back now.
30:18 How can a man be born when he is old?
30:22 Then he says, "How can these things be?"
30:26 Y'all bring that out here for me.
30:27 I got a little illustration I wanna show y'all.
30:28 How can these things be?
30:29 It's crazy because he's talking kingdom.
30:34 Nick at Dean is thinking carnal.
30:36 Put it right here in front, put it right here.
30:38 Put it right there.
30:39 This is fine right here.
30:40 He thinking kingdom.
30:41 Thank you, gentlemen, thank you.
30:42 He thinking kingdom.
30:44 He's talking kingdom.
30:45 Nick at Dean is thinking carnal.
30:49 Jesus talking on one level.
30:51 Nick at Dean is thinking on another.
30:53 Can I tell you why some of you so frustrated?
30:56 'Cause you're trying to explain big stuff
30:58 to little people.
30:59 (audience cheering)
31:02 All the single people, all the single people,
31:04 raise your hand.
31:05 If you don't hear nothing,
31:06 I am currently rewriting my book.
31:09 I go back on tour.
31:10 I took three years off.
31:11 I haven't hit the road 'cause my church needed me,
31:13 but they pulling me now.
31:14 So in January, I'm hitting the road a little bit
31:17 and I'm doing another singles tour
31:19 called the One Night Stand where I go around
31:20 and talk to singles for one night.
31:22 And I call it the One Night Stand
31:24 because when you wake up in the morning, I'll be gone.
31:26 (audience laughing)
31:30 I'll be back to Cleveland.
31:31 When you wake up, Pastor Vernon will be back on the plane,
31:33 back to Cleveland, hopefully the same night if I can.
31:36 But let me tell you this.
31:38 And so I'm rewriting my book, 10 Rules,
31:39 because post pandemic, what I feel, where I've shifted,
31:43 dealing with singles, my whole mind has shifted
31:45 on some of the rules of my books.
31:46 So I'm rewriting 10 Rules post pandemic.
31:49 And so it's gonna be something else.
31:51 But one of the things I'm gonna talk about is
31:52 don't fool around and hook up with somebody
31:54 who doesn't have the capacity to handle you.
31:56 (audience applauding)
31:59 It's fine if you like country and they like jazz.
32:02 That's cool.
32:03 It's cool.
32:04 I mean, if you're a morning person, they're a night person.
32:07 But the worst thing in the world
32:09 is to try to pour into somebody.
32:12 And y'all get along fine for a while.
32:17 But wait, Lord Jesus.
32:19 Why you mad at the glass?
32:23 Because it can't handle a pitcher.
32:25 (audience applauding)
32:26 Didn't you know it was a glass?
32:28 Didn't you know while you were dating
32:35 that he wasn't that smart?
32:36 Couldn't you tell she wasn't broad enough?
32:39 All you saw was her butt.
32:41 You didn't know one day you'd have to talk
32:44 and get out the bed.
32:45 Now you frustrated 'cause there's no more room
32:48 'cause you a pitcher and she a cup.
32:53 25 years of love making off the chain,
32:56 raising babies, getting ready for grandbabies,
32:58 one trailer for nobody.
33:00 Everybody with the Holy Ghost and all telling the truth.
33:01 I feel like I hit the marriage lottery.
33:03 I do.
33:04 But it's not because of the love making
33:06 or how cool she is, everybody like her.
33:08 Cool, my kids adore her.
33:09 No, it's because I married somebody,
33:11 watch this, I can connect with.
33:13 We can talk theology.
33:14 We can talk philosophy.
33:16 We know each other's inside jokes.
33:18 She's witty, she's quick.
33:19 I told you, pastor, but I'm not that quick.
33:22 That's fine.
33:23 Just marry somebody slow like you.
33:25 That's called connectivity.
33:29 You hungry?
33:32 Uh-huh.
33:35 You got the remote?
33:39 Uh-huh.
33:41 Two slow people married 50 years in love.
33:46 Praise God for them, amen.
33:53 But please don't hook up with nobody
33:55 'cause you 35 now.
33:57 And he's saved with a job.
34:00 'Cause one day you'll feel like you're sleeping
34:04 with your son.
34:05 And don't nobody wanna do that.
34:09 Meanwhile, back at Naaman.
34:13 Naaman, he, Naaman, Naaman says,
34:18 "Couldn't the man have come out and say hi?
34:20 "Couldn't the prophet have come out and just greet me
34:23 "with a little civility and camaraderie?
34:25 "The man gonna tell me not only to go dip in some water,
34:28 "which is crazy, but he gonna pick the nastiest river
34:30 "in the region.
34:31 "What about the rivers of Tamar?
34:33 "The other rivers that are cleaner that you can swim in?
34:35 "He gonna pick the nastiest river."
34:37 Stop thinking stuff is beneath you.
34:39 Stop thinking everybody is beneath you.
34:41 God will often put you in a position
34:44 to do some stuff that you think,
34:46 I'm sorry, have you bothered your neighbor
34:48 in the last two minutes?
34:49 If you don't mind, touch at least four people
34:51 or give them an air high five and say,
34:52 you are not all that.
34:53 Go ahead, praise God.
34:55 Say, if it wasn't for the grace of God,
34:58 you wouldn't even be here.
34:59 I wish I had somebody like me that know
35:02 if it had not been for the Lord who was on my side,
35:06 don't you be too big to remember where you come from.
35:09 I don't care how much y'all talk about pastor
35:11 and the projects, it's where I'm from.
35:14 It's where the Lord taught me a lot.
35:15 It's where the Lord humbled me at.
35:17 And I'm going back in a few weeks
35:19 and help with a parade and a festival
35:21 because I'm not too good.
35:22 (congregation cheering)
35:26 Every Sunday, me and that girl go home
35:29 smelling like sex, drugs and rock and roll.
35:32 I'm serious, we smell like weed
35:35 'cause we hugging the weed members.
35:38 And by the way, if you smoke weed, come on to the Word.
35:40 We got a weed section, they're right over there.
35:41 Just sit up there.
35:42 All y'all wave your hand, right over there.
35:45 Yeah, that's, they late.
35:46 See, they late, they ain't nothing to hurry.
35:47 They just come in and sit up top 'cause they high.
35:51 They don't care, we just let them come until God.
35:53 I'm just playing, they not high.
35:55 We don't smoke weed, we love Jesus.
35:57 Y'all too silly.
35:58 Meanwhile.
35:59 (laughing)
36:05 Naaman, Naaman says, I'm not going in that, I'm not going.
36:11 I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Lord have mercy.
36:15 Did I tell y'all he had leprosy?
36:17 I did all right at nine.
36:18 My son, Christopher Foster called me.
36:20 Christopher Foster from, got a major church,
36:22 the Rock Church in the Bay Area near Frisco.
36:24 If you're ever in the Bay Area, go to Christopher Foster.
36:27 Him and my daughter, Nakia, just awesome.
36:29 Bought Lady Verna, the Peloton, just good children of ours.
36:32 And he called me between services and says,
36:34 Dad, you missed something.
36:35 I said, what?
36:35 He said, you forgot the three things about leprosy
36:37 that we talked about.
36:38 I said, wait, wait, wait, wait, send me a text,
36:39 send me a text.
36:40 He said, first of all, the first stage of leprosy
36:43 is undetectable.
36:44 (congregation exclaims)
36:46 He said, leprosy is a naggless to sin.
36:49 When you first start, it's undetectable.
36:51 You don't even know you tripping.
36:52 (congregation cheers)
36:53 You don't even know you done got nasty.
36:55 You don't even know you swiping more on Instagram
36:57 than you ever have.
36:58 You don't even realize you're not praying as much.
37:00 It's undetectable.
37:00 He said, but the second stage,
37:02 it starts messing with your sensory.
37:04 So all of a sudden, you become immune to stuff
37:07 that used to make you feel convicted.
37:08 All of a sudden, it don't feel bad no more.
37:10 It's getting easier.
37:12 The second thing it does is mess with your sensory systems.
37:15 So stuff that used to convict you and make you feel bad,
37:17 you get more comfortable with.
37:19 But then thirdly, you know you got it
37:21 'cause stuff start falling off.
37:23 (congregation cheers)
37:23 I wish I had a witness here.
37:25 Now you didn't crash and lost your wife
37:28 and committed adultery and fell in the bed with somebody
37:30 that you had no idea who you was falling in the bed with.
37:33 You'd be surprised if you're not careful,
37:35 leprosy can kill you slowly, just like sin.
37:39 This man has, thank you, son, I love you,
37:42 this man, this man, this man says,
37:45 I'm not going in that dirty water.
37:49 I'm going, y'all.
37:50 The unknown character of this text that deserves credit,
37:54 don't nobody talk about, we know about the little girl,
37:56 we know about Naaman.
37:57 What we don't talk about a lot is this soldier
38:00 who was a part of his battalion.
38:03 Because Naaman says, tell Clay I'm out.
38:05 No way, bruh, I ain't dipping in no nasty water.
38:08 Who we think I am, we out.
38:10 Thanks, gone.
38:12 One of the guys who worked for him,
38:14 have some people work for you who not scared of you.
38:16 Yeah, please in this next season,
38:20 entrepreneurs, hire people who don't need you.
38:23 Yeah, don't abide butt kissers.
38:25 Have people that show honor but also honesty.
38:28 Yeah, or your company will fall to the ground
38:31 if everybody in there saying yes.
38:33 You need somebody that says I love you but.
38:35 This brother who has the temerity and the toughness
38:39 and the sense of self as a man to tell his boss the truth.
38:43 Said, gotta tell you something man,
38:45 we didn't came all this way.
38:46 We brought all this silver, we brought all this gold,
38:49 we brought these 10 outfits.
38:51 If the man had told you to do something hard,
38:54 you would have did it.
38:56 All the man told you to do was dip in the water seven times.
39:00 And plus boss, I gotta ask you a question.
39:03 You about third stage of leprosy.
39:08 You ain't got nothing else to lose.
39:10 Because if you don't do this, you dead.
39:17 There's some people here got it all together.
39:19 Thank you for coming to the Word Church.
39:21 But there are 10 of you, you ain't got nothing else to lose.
39:25 She didn't told you she don't wanna be married no more.
39:27 You didn't found yourself doing stuff way beneath you.
39:30 Your child didn't broke your heart
39:32 as much as it can be broken.
39:34 You're at a place in your relationships
39:36 that's just the finance stuff.
39:37 Some fit, you ain't come here to play.
39:41 You ain't got nothing else to lose.
39:43 You're saying, God, if you don't do it now,
39:45 I ain't got nothing else.
39:46 I came today 'cause stuff is broken and I'm sick.
39:49 And some of you, it may not be physical sin.
39:51 Can I tell you both of them are dead men walking.
39:54 Dead men walking, Naaman physically sick,
40:00 but Nicodemus spiritually sick.
40:02 Both of them got power,
40:03 but both of them are devoid of something that they need.
40:05 Both of them look good from the outside,
40:07 but if you look beneath,
40:08 you'll see stuff is starting to happen with them.
40:10 Nicodemus is void and needs God
40:12 to fill him up on the inside.
40:14 Naaman got something physical going on with him.
40:16 He needs God to fix him on the outside and the inside.
40:19 Some people in here, you got a spiritual issue.
40:22 Some of you got a marriage issue.
40:24 You make money, you doing okay.
40:25 From the outside, people would say, I wish I was her.
40:29 But you know your husband don't like you that much.
40:32 You know your wife don't like you that much.
40:35 You know you are struggling as a single.
40:37 You know you too nasty and perverted
40:39 to be as saved as you are.
40:41 And you're thinking to yourself,
40:43 I ain't come today to be in the crowd on a hot July day.
40:48 I came 'cause I ain't got nothing else to lose.
40:51 I need God to deliver me.
40:53 (audience cheering)
40:56 I wish I had some real people in here.
40:59 (audience cheering)
41:02 I only got five minutes left.
41:06 Thank you.
41:07 Jesus says to Nicodemus, meanwhile, back at Nicodemus night,
41:14 Jesus says, as Moses lifted up the serpent
41:18 in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted up.
41:22 I'm sorry, I'll preach better next week.
41:25 I gotta be able to sleep tonight
41:27 knowing I gave you this right here.
41:28 Look at me, those watching online, come here, come here.
41:31 As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness.
41:34 Remember in the Old Testament
41:36 when the children of Israel were being disobedient
41:38 and God released snakes and snakes were biting everybody
41:42 and people were dying from the venom
41:44 and the poisonous snakes, they were dying.
41:46 They run to Moses and say, Moses, we're all dying.
41:49 People are falling out, passing out,
41:50 dying from the poison of the snake venom.
41:53 And God tells Moses, here's what I want you to do.
41:56 Take a bronze serpent and wrap it around a pole
42:00 and hold the pole up and then make an announcement.
42:03 Anybody who looks at the snake will live.
42:07 I don't care how close they are to death
42:09 if they just look at the snake.
42:11 All they gotta do, they don't have to do 10 pushups,
42:14 they don't need no shot, they don't need no hands laid,
42:16 you ain't gotta intercede for 'em.
42:17 Just tell 'em, look at the snake.
42:20 Tell Naaman, dip in the water seven times.
42:24 Tell the people, look up at the snake.
42:31 Tell Naaman, dip in that water seven times.
42:34 Jesus, tell the people, look up at the snake.
42:38 I got a word for seven people received if you want to,
42:40 get ready for an unusual instruction.
42:43 God's about to give you an unusual instruction,
42:49 but it's that instruction that's gonna kick your life
42:52 to the next level.
42:53 He gonna make you forgive somebody that you hate.
42:56 He's gonna make you have to call somebody
42:58 you said you'd never call again.
43:00 He's gonna push you to do something that don't make sense,
43:03 but it's in that obedience.
43:04 He's gonna make you sow something to the church,
43:06 give an offering, something that don't make no sense,
43:09 but God says don't miss your moment to get blessed
43:14 because of one instruction.
43:16 I was gonna try to hoop it out Baptist style, but I can't.
43:23 I was gonna try to hoop this part out.
43:25 Oh, I was gonna hoop it out.
43:26 He dip one time.
43:29 He dip two time.
43:30 Oh heck, I might George, he dip three times.
43:35 He dip four times.
43:38 Nothing, okay, stop.
43:40 He dip, watch this.
43:47 And I need y'all to see this for real.
43:49 So you ain't got nothing else to lose.
43:51 Let's worship George.
43:52 I don't wanna hoop it out.
43:54 I don't wanna talk it out, look at me.
43:56 Watch this.
43:58 (soft music)
44:00 So you ain't got nothing else to lose.
44:03 You've been reading this your whole life,
44:04 but you never saw it.
44:05 This man got on Royal Regalia.
44:08 This man's a boss.
44:11 Everybody who worked for him is with him.
44:14 He's the top of the food chain other than the general.
44:16 And the man says, sir, you ain't got nothing else to lose.
44:21 You don't have anything else to lose.
44:22 We didn't come all this way.
44:23 Why don't you just go do what the prophet said?
44:27 (soft music)
44:30 I don't know who God is humbling.
44:43 (soft music)
44:45 (sneezing)
44:50 (soft music)
44:53 (sneezing)
44:55 (audience applauding)
45:21 I wasn't there, but somebody said when he dipped
45:24 the fifth time, leprosy hadn't left yet,
45:27 but pride started leaving.
45:29 (audience applauding)
45:32 Some of you need to come off your high horse
45:37 with your husband.
45:38 Come off your high horse with your wife
45:41 and just dip again.
45:42 Just dip again.
45:45 I'm sorry, that's six times.
45:50 Would you do me a favor and look at five people
45:51 and say you're almost there.
45:52 Go ahead, you're almost there.
45:54 God, I wish I had somebody.
45:56 I wish I had somebody that would jump up with me right quick
46:00 because when we dip this seventh time,
46:02 chain's gonna be broken.
46:04 When we dip this seventh time,
46:06 marriages are coming back together.
46:08 It may not be you, it may be your child,
46:11 but when you dip this seventh time,
46:13 I need you to shout like you're free.
46:15 I'm gonna need you and get a shot of them up there
46:18 'cause we're gonna let the whole church dip
46:20 on seven, on three, everybody just gonna dip in your seat
46:23 and that dip and that motion says,
46:26 God, I humble myself before you.
46:27 I need you.
46:28 Y'all ready?
46:29 It's been six times.
46:30 It's been 13 years.
46:32 You've been married 14 years, 18 years.
46:34 You're struggling, you're tired, you're single,
46:37 but I heard God say dip again.
46:39 Do me a favor, hit three people,
46:40 say dip again, dip again.
46:42 Dip one more time.
46:44 When we dip this time, I need somebody to lose your mind
46:48 like deliverance is coming to your house.
46:51 One.
46:51 Two.
46:55 I'm sorry, church is nervous, give me some room.
46:58 I need some dipping room.
47:00 Say you in my space, you in my space.
47:02 I need this more than you.
47:04 I need this more than you.
47:06 Give me some room.
47:07 Two and a half.
47:08 Y'all ready?
47:09 Y'all ready?
47:10 Y'all ready?
47:11 Y'all ready?
47:12 Free.
47:17 (cheering)
47:19 (upbeat music)
47:23 Wow, we just gotta stop.
47:24 I'm not out of message, I'm just out of time.
47:26 There's double in my mouth, double in this house,
47:29 double in your life.
47:30 If this blessed you today,
47:31 Naaman and Nicodemus, dead men walking.
47:35 You need to share, like, tell somebody
47:37 this word blessed my life.
47:38 Seriously, don't just enjoy it and not tell somebody.
47:41 That's evangelism.
47:42 You get credited in heaven.
47:43 And by the way, if these services are blessing you,
47:46 I need you not just to use us, but be a blessing to us.
47:50 Come on, stop now and give something.
47:52 If you remember, let's pay our tithe.
47:54 Let's help with this mission, this vision.
47:56 If you're just watching, sow something.
47:58 Say that word blessed my life.
47:59 I wanna get in on what's happening at the Word Church.
48:01 There's double on our life.
48:03 If this message blessed you, I need you to share it,
48:05 like it, and if you feel led, give a little something.
48:09 Help us keep helping people.
48:10 I'll see you next week.
48:11 It's called Two for One.
48:14 Can't wait.
48:14 (upbeat music)
48:17 (upbeat music)