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00:00:00Thank you, Lord, that revelation knowledge will flow freely,
00:00:03uninterrupted and unhindered by any satanic or demonic force.
00:00:07And Father, I pray that you will speak through my vocal cords and
00:00:11think through my mind.
00:00:12None of me and all of you, it's in Jesus' name we pray.
00:00:16And everybody said, amen.
00:00:19You may be seated.
00:00:22To have your Bibles go with me to the book of 1 Peter chapter 5,
00:00:26we have been digging into this series.
00:00:29I think this is the last installment for the day or for
00:00:33the day, but next week is another story, huh?
00:00:361 Peter chapter 5 and 10, we've been talking about faith and
00:00:39grace in the midst of discomfort.
00:00:43Faith and grace in the midst of discomfort.
00:00:47Now, you know, there's gotta be something to this.
00:00:49It's like you can't just throw all those Scriptures away that
00:00:53in this world you'll have tribulation.
00:00:56They that live godly shall suffer persecution.
00:01:00I mean, it's too many places, you know,
00:01:04the trial of your faith being much more precious than gold.
00:01:08So, what are we to do with the trouble, the trials,
00:01:12the persecution, the suffering that is to come our way?
00:01:18We certainly don't ignore it and say, well, you know,
00:01:21ignore that because, you know, if you're experiencing any of
00:01:24that, then your faith is just not right.
00:01:27That's, you know he's not saying that.
00:01:29I mean, what, you can't say that and look at the life of Peter.
00:01:36You can't say that and look at the life of Paul.
00:01:38You can't say that and look at the life of Jeremiah and David
00:01:41and all of the emotional and physical attacks and trials and
00:01:47tribulations, so you have to dig into the fact that there's a
00:01:52purpose for this.
00:01:55First Peter 5 and 10 says, but the God of all grace,
00:01:58let me read that in the NLT.
00:02:01The God of all grace, in his kindness God called you to share
00:02:08in his eternal glory by means of Jesus Christ.
00:02:12So, after you have suffered a little while,
00:02:16then he'll restore and then he'll support and then he'll
00:02:20bless you and he'll place on you a firm foundation.
00:02:24That's glory.
00:02:26He says, after you have suffered a little while,
00:02:28you're going to experience some glory.
00:02:30You're going to experience word manifestations,
00:02:33some manifestations of his promises and manifestations
00:02:37of his power.
00:02:39Now, understanding that you're going to in this life,
00:02:46especially if you live godly, you're going to experience
00:02:50manifestation, persecution, trials.
00:02:52How do you handle them?
00:02:55Now, my issue today is not to talk about where
00:02:57they came from.
00:02:58All I know is they're being permitted.
00:03:01And if they're being permitted, they're being permitted
00:03:03for a purpose.
00:03:05And we are not to just sit in the midst of trouble and trial
00:03:09and suffering and just kind of take it.
00:03:12No, our job is to resist anything that doesn't line up
00:03:17with the victory that Jesus died to obtain.
00:03:20We resist it and we resist it because we're maintaining
00:03:24the victory in the midst of the trial.
00:03:26We're maintaining the victory in the midst of the trouble.
00:03:29We're maintaining the victory in the midst of the tribulation.
00:03:33That's our job.
00:03:34Maintain healing, even though sickness is touching your body.
00:03:37Maintain righteousness, even though there's a doubt
00:03:40and a temptation that you are righteous.
00:03:42That's the job.
00:03:43You maintain that, okay?
00:03:46And by maintaining it, it's like we're doing this by faith
00:03:52because grace is going to show up in the midst of discomfort.
00:03:57And either way, you're going to have to understand faith
00:04:00because of what we're about to read in Romans 5 and 2.
00:04:04Romans 5 and 2.
00:04:08He says, because of our faith, Christ has brought unto us
00:04:12this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand
00:04:17and we confidently and joyfully look forward
00:04:20to sharing God's glory.
00:04:23Now, look at that in the King James.
00:04:25Because of our faith, everything that grace has made available.
00:04:28Grace is a gift, okay?
00:04:30It's something you can't earn or even deserve.
00:04:33That's why he said undeserved favor.
00:04:35He says, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace
00:04:43wherein we stand and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
00:04:49Today, you're going to see every time grace showed up,
00:04:51the glory showed up.
00:04:53And I'm not talking about some mystical mist
00:04:55that floats around.
00:04:57I'm talking about the promises of God being manifested
00:05:00in your life.
00:05:01That's glorious, man.
00:05:03That's glorious, praise the Lord.
00:05:05He says, we access by faith this grace of God.
00:05:12Now, let's take just a moment and let's examine this issue
00:05:18of faith because we've got to kind of know what it is.
00:05:21We have to know what it is.
00:05:23Faith, we access, and notice, this faith is used,
00:05:28is to be used to access what grace has made available.
00:05:33This faith is to be used to lay hold of what grace
00:05:39has made available.
00:05:40We have been saved by what?
00:05:43Grace.
00:05:43So, salvation is a gift of grace.
00:05:46Salvation is a work of grace.
00:05:48We have been saved by grace, but how did we access this
00:05:54salvation?
00:05:55By our faith.
00:05:56It's pretty important for us to understand what this is and not
00:06:00to misunderstand it, okay?
00:06:02And so, the first thing I want to show you is the fact that in
00:06:08verses five and six, he tells us really the background of how
00:06:12our faith is gonna work, and this is very important.
00:06:15He says, for in Jesus Christ, neither circumcision availeth
00:06:20anything, nor uncircumcision, watch this phrase,
00:06:22faith which worketh by love.
00:06:26Faith which worketh by love.
00:06:29Now, I need to access grace, and remember, grace is a person.
00:06:33His name is Jesus.
00:06:34Grace is not just a curriculum.
00:06:36Grace is a person.
00:06:38Grace is a person, Jesus, full of grace and truth, and start
00:06:42looking at that.
00:06:43I mean, even when they caught the woman in adultery, everybody
00:06:46there was under the law, because they were trying to stone her
00:06:49under the law, and then they looked up, and they asked grace
00:06:55a person.
00:06:56They asked grace a person, Jesus, they asked Jesus a
00:07:00question.
00:07:02They asked grace a question.
00:07:05What do you have to say about this woman being a stone?
00:07:09She was caught in the act of adultery.
00:07:11Everybody know that.
00:07:11She was caught in the very act.
00:07:14The law, everybody in there was operated by the law, the law
00:07:17asked grace a question.
00:07:20What do you think should be done?
00:07:22And grace bent down and doodled on the ground, and grace stood
00:07:27up and said, you who are without sin, now they were under the
00:07:36law, so we know they had sin.
00:07:39You can't be under the law and not have sin.
00:07:42See, we look at people in dark, we look at people in sin, and
00:07:45say they're in darkness, but people who live under the law,
00:07:47they're in darkness.
00:07:50Because the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 15, that the law is
00:07:54That is the strength of sin.
00:07:58They go together.
00:08:00Excuse me, I'm sounding a little Cody Parker this morning.
00:08:04All right, so, grace stood up and spoke to all of those under
00:08:08the law and said, those of you who have no sin,
00:08:12go ahead and stone her.
00:08:15What he was saying was, those of you who are living by the law,
00:08:19because the only reason you're getting ready to stone her is
00:08:21because the law says if you commit adultery to stone her,
00:08:24he said, go ahead and stone her according to the law,
00:08:29if you don't have no sin.
00:08:32And every last one of them dropped their stone,
00:08:35the old people first, because they knew they had plenty of
00:08:38things in, and then the younger ones later on dropped it,
00:08:43and nobody was there, and grace said to the woman who was just
00:08:50out in an act of adultery, is there anybody here left to
00:08:55condemn you, the law?
00:08:59Is there any law left to condemn you?
00:09:02She said, no, and grace said, neither do I condemn you.
00:09:08But if the law was still here, the law would still be
00:09:11condemning you, but grace is here, and he said,
00:09:14neither do I condemn you, and now that grace has given you
00:09:19the free gift of no condemnation,
00:09:21you can now conquer sin.
00:09:23Go and sin no more, because you no longer see yourself as
00:09:26inadequate, insecure, nothing and not enough.
00:09:31Grace has shown up to give you the strength to do what you
00:09:34could not do under the law.
00:09:36It's all over the New Testament.
00:09:42But by faith, she had to get it.
00:09:44It's by love, and then immediately by the law,
00:09:49we say, because here's what the law does.
00:09:52The law, oh my God, help me, Lord Jesus.
00:10:00Whatever is done by grace, the work of grace doesn't need
00:10:08your help.
00:10:11But under the law, the law is all about your help.
00:10:19The law is all about what you do.
00:10:23Grace is all about the work of God.
00:10:30So, when you read the Scripture, immediately you think faith
00:10:35works by how much I love God, and then we preach,
00:10:39you gotta love God if your faith don't work.
00:10:43Because if you don't love God, look at there,
00:10:45we're preaching the to-do, we're preaching you gotta work.
00:10:48See, we don't really believe that God is doing the work
00:10:51under this, and I see the issue, and grace life
00:10:53almost straightened out.
00:10:54I see the issue.
00:10:56If you don't know how to rightly divide the Word of truth,
00:10:59in the New Testament, when it says the Word of God,
00:11:02it's making reference to the Word of grace.
00:11:06In the Old Testament, when it makes reference to the Word
00:11:09of God, it's making reference to the Word of the law.
00:11:13And if you don't know how to rightly divide between what was
00:11:16true under the old agreement versus what is true under the
00:11:20new agreement, you'll operate in mixtures.
00:11:25And then you'll go around and you'll say,
00:11:28faith worketh by how much you love God.
00:11:31And if you don't love God, now watch the condemnation
00:11:34showing up, and the days that I'm not loving God the way
00:11:38I need to love God in comparison to how somebody else
00:11:41is loving God.
00:11:42Condemnation comes, I'm not enough.
00:11:44Shame comes, I'm not enough.
00:11:46Guilt comes.
00:11:47The same thing that came on Peter.
00:11:49When Jesus was crucified on the cross, and he left,
00:11:53he like, I'm over it.
00:11:55I'm over it, man.
00:11:56He feels so guilty, full of shame, and he's waddling in
00:11:59guilt and condemnation on the beach because all of the stupid
00:12:04stuff he did, he didn't, he can't believe he denied
00:12:06it three times.
00:12:08He can't believe that he got up there and told Jesus,
00:12:11you know, oh, Lord, you will not die.
00:12:13And Jesus said, Satan, you know, I really, he can't believe
00:12:15he did all that.
00:12:16But Peter represents us, all the dumb stuff we did.
00:12:19But he went and just waddled, and you know what Jesus did?
00:12:22Jesus found him, and he said, hey, you love me?
00:12:29Now, it was easy to respond to that because Jesus found him.
00:12:37Jesus found him.
00:12:38You love me?
00:12:39Then get up and preach.
00:12:40Get up and teach.
00:12:41I ain't gonna let you go.
00:12:42I ain't mad at you.
00:12:44I'll never let you go, Peter.
00:12:46Jesus was showing him love that he didn't even know about.
00:12:53So, it's not about how much you love God.
00:12:58Notice the whole church is doing that.
00:13:00How much you love God?
00:13:01You don't love God if you do that.
00:13:03You don't love God?
00:13:04Why don't you love God?
00:13:05No, no, no.
00:13:06This is not about the context.
00:13:07This is about you believing how much God loves you.
00:13:12First John 4, 19, flip there.
00:13:14First John 4, 19, you can't love God unless God equips you
00:13:19to love him.
00:13:22Watch this.
00:13:24Verse 19, we love him.
00:13:26How is that so?
00:13:27Because he first loved us.
00:13:32Verse 20, you realize how much God loves you.
00:13:36When you know how much God loves you, faith is not a problem
00:13:41because you believe he loves you, and because you believe he
00:13:44loves you, you believe he gonna do what he said.
00:13:47You believe God loves you, you believe he'll heal you.
00:13:49You believe you're righteous.
00:13:51You believe that you're redeemed.
00:13:52You believe in all the finished works.
00:13:54Why?
00:13:55Because you believe God loves you.
00:13:57Well, how did you get to the point where you believe God
00:13:59loves you?
00:14:00He loved me first.
00:14:01He died for me.
00:14:03He, he, look at what he did.
00:14:04He shed his blood for me.
00:14:06He came to this earth for me.
00:14:08He loved me first so I can love him, and when I believe he loves
00:14:14me, then faith can work because I love him, and I believe that
00:14:21he loves me.
00:14:22So, faith doesn't come by how much you love Jesus.
00:14:25Faith comes by you believing he loves you.
00:14:28So, when you miss it, do you believe God still loves you?
00:14:31You see what the devil's doing?
00:14:32When you miss it, the first question you ask most of all,
00:14:34well, God don't love me no more.
00:14:36Do you actually think you're a little crazy?
00:14:39Gonna stop God's love.
00:14:40If you're crazy, could stop God's love.
00:14:43God's love is weak.
00:14:46Oh, I gotta get with this.
00:14:47If your adultery could stop God's love, then God's love
00:14:50is weak.
00:14:52Whatever horrible, secret thing you've been holding that pushed
00:14:57you out of the church, and maybe that's the only reason why you
00:15:00watch online and won't come back.
00:15:02Your crazy is not strong enough to overcome his infinite,
00:15:08eternal love.
00:15:10He will not let you go.
00:15:11You cannot divorce God.
00:15:14He gonna keep showing up.
00:15:15You go to the bar to get drunk, he gonna show up.
00:15:17If you go to the strip club, he gonna show up.
00:15:19He gonna keep showing up.
00:15:20You are not gonna push him out.
00:15:22Divorcing God is not as easy as it is divorcing your human mate.
00:15:27Because when God marries you, he gets wrapped up, and tied up,
00:15:33and knitted in, and tangled up, and you can't get rid of it.
00:15:37Because he becomes a part of your life and your DNA.
00:15:40He made you.
00:15:45You can't get rid of him, and he not going nowhere.
00:15:51He ain't going nowhere.
00:15:54Hallelujah.
00:15:56So, when I step out on a promise, I step out knowing
00:16:00God loves me.
00:16:04When I start walking in faith on something, I'm walking in the
00:16:07knowledge that God loves me.
00:16:10God loves me.
00:16:11That's why he gonna do that.
00:16:13God loves me.
00:16:14That's why that's gonna be there.
00:16:16So, in the midst of discomfort, discomfort is designed to cause
00:16:19you to get into questionings.
00:16:23There's a difference between asking a question and
00:16:25questioning.
00:16:26Questionings always end up in doubt.
00:16:30But if the Lord was so powerful, then why did he let that happen?
00:16:33See, you're questioning him.
00:16:34What you're saying is, I am doubting him because that
00:16:38didn't work out the way I thought it worked out.
00:16:40Questionings.
00:16:42So, when we read, you know, somebody told you a long time
00:16:44ago, it's sin to question God.
00:16:46No, no, no.
00:16:47People ask him questions the whole time.
00:16:49Mary had a question.
00:16:50When they showed up, the angel showed up and said,
00:16:52Mary, you're gonna get pregnant when I have sex.
00:16:55How is this gonna happen seeing I know not a man?
00:17:02And, you know, he answered the question, the Holy Ghost.
00:17:06So, he's not talking about asking a question.
00:17:08He's talking about questioning in doubt.
00:17:15Look at this illustration in Deuteronomy chapter 126
00:17:19through 28.
00:17:20Man, I thought I was gonna finish this today.
00:17:22It don't look like this gonna happen.
00:17:24Deuteronomy 1, 26 and 28.
00:17:27He said, notwithstanding, you would not go up, but you
00:17:31rebelled against the commandment of the Lord your God.
00:17:35Now, I asked, even during the time of the law, what would
00:17:39move somebody to rebel against God?
00:17:43He says, you murmured in your tent.
00:17:45Well, that's happening.
00:17:48Why?
00:17:49Why are you doing this?
00:17:50Because the Lord hated us?
00:17:53They believe that God hated them.
00:17:56And he's brought us forth out of the land of Egypt to deliver
00:17:59us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us.
00:18:03Think about the life of the person who's wrapped up in all
00:18:06kinds of sinful behavior.
00:18:09And empathy would move us as Christians to ask,
00:18:12how did this person get like this?
00:18:15And they got like this because they thought God hated them.
00:18:20They thought that whatever they did in the booth in the back in
00:18:25the corner that's dark, God don't like them no more.
00:18:28God hated them.
00:18:31Look what happens when a person believes that God hates them.
00:18:34Look what happens when we keep preaching to people this,
00:18:41this, this, this, this, and God hates you.
00:18:48And then people who got divorced thought that God hated them
00:18:53because they got a divorce.
00:18:56God hates divorce because he knows what it does to people,
00:18:59but he doesn't hate the people that get divorces.
00:19:03He still loves you, but somehow in the church we've made people
00:19:07feel hated by God.
00:19:10Somebody's struggling in their sexuality.
00:19:12They feel like they're hated by God.
00:19:16A divorced person feels like they're hated by God.
00:19:19The girl who had an abortion before she even knew God,
00:19:23you make them feel like they're hated by God.
00:19:27The person that went to jail and had to spend some time in the
00:19:29jail wants to come back to church,
00:19:31but he feels like he's hated by God.
00:19:34If a person from the preaching of the pulpit can feel like
00:19:38they're hated by God, then your pulpit is in Mount Sinai and
00:19:42needs to be moved.
00:19:46And let me tell you what I'm saying.
00:19:50Because people will change if they know God still loves them
00:19:56and if you'll let Jesus do the work.
00:20:01He said, some plant, some water, but this is where your work
00:20:05stops and his starts, but God gives the increase.
00:20:12And I don't know about you, but I'm fed of,
00:20:14I'm fed up with teaching that comes from a pulpit that's
00:20:18located at the bottom of Mount Sinai where the law was given.
00:20:25I want to hear from a pulpit.
00:20:32You already know, so you finish this sentence in your own head.
00:20:37But that's what's going on right now.
00:20:39People are like, I don't want to come to church and keep hearing
00:20:43sermons from Mount Sinai.
00:20:48I want to hear something from the grace of God that says,
00:20:56yeah, you crazy right now, but God ain't gonna ever let go of
00:21:00you, he gonna use all that.
00:21:04He loves you so much, you're not gonna be able to run him away.
00:21:08And you know the shocking thing about it?
00:21:11People's lives are changing and have changed because they heard
00:21:17a message from Mount Sinai.
00:21:23And we still don't get that.
00:21:26We still gotta preach because we're scared if we don't try to
00:21:29put fear in you that you won't change.
00:21:32And so, we preach messages of fear so you'll change.
00:21:37You know, God don't like ugly, and I love this one.
00:21:39It's so funny, I'm being about it.
00:21:41It irritated me so much I couldn't hardly work out.
00:21:44Whenever the preacher wants you to really do something,
00:21:46they'll say, and by the way, that's a commandment.
00:21:54That's not an option, that's a commandment.
00:21:57All right, so now I'm supposed to do it cause it's a commandment?
00:22:01My mama taught me the 10 commandments.
00:22:03I still ain't doing them.
00:22:04My knowledge, my knowledge of knowing that's a commandment is
00:22:08I seriously need to calm down.
00:22:21Faith worketh by love.
00:22:23Faith can't work when you think that discomfort is a,
00:22:30it's proof that God hates you.
00:22:33If you think your discomfort is proof that God hates you,
00:22:37faith can't work.
00:22:39What you've been going through, are you convinced that God hates
00:22:43you?
00:22:45I mean, look at me.
00:22:48Look at me, I'm struggling, I'm divorced,
00:22:52I got these children, and the devil wants to use all that.
00:22:57You're in discomfort, and I'm teaching this series because you
00:23:01gotta respond differently to discomfort,
00:23:04and what I'm saying is I'm in discomfort,
00:23:06and I'm trying to find comfort, and God wants to mature you in
00:23:11the midst of that discomfort, but if you struggle to try to
00:23:15find comfort by any means necessary,
00:23:18you might find yourself in another addictive bondage
00:23:23because you just want comfort.
00:23:25Oh, I'm in discomfort, so I'll go get drunk,
00:23:27try to get comfort, then you become an alcoholic.
00:23:30Oh, I feel like I'm in discomfort,
00:23:33I've been fooling around sexually all my life,
00:23:37and I feel like I'm in discomfort,
00:23:39and then you go and you, you know,
00:23:41you go spend a little money for it now,
00:23:43and now he wakes up, he wakes up that,
00:23:45that, that, that worst habit, and I believe what we have to do
00:23:50as Christians is we've got to change the question from why me
00:23:56to what is it you want me to get out of this?
00:23:59How should I mature out of this?
00:24:06Because God is serious about your maturity.
00:24:08I don't know what it is that he is so serious about us maturing,
00:24:12but you gotta mature, and if you're still holding
00:24:15unforgiveness, that's a sign of immaturity.
00:24:18If you're still, you know, in strife,
00:24:23if you're still holding on unforgiveness,
00:24:25and then it comes out with bitterness,
00:24:27all that's baby stuff, so discomfort will be permitted
00:24:33to help you grow and mature.
00:24:38I know when I went through the crazy physical attack on my
00:24:42body, I am more empathetic towards people who are in pain.
00:24:49I am more empathetic towards people who go to the doctor
00:24:52and they say, you have cancer.
00:24:54I am more empathetic to people who have the trauma of wondering
00:24:59am I gonna be here this time next year?
00:25:03It's so easy for us to be judgmental of people until
00:25:06they come to your house.
00:25:11Yeah, yeah, something happens differently until it shows
00:25:17up in your house.
00:25:20All of a sudden, your former political views begin
00:25:24to float a little bit because you didn't really know what this
00:25:27was about until it showed up in your house,
00:25:31in your family, in your marriage.
00:25:44Faith is my positive response to what grace
00:25:51has made available.
00:25:53Faith is me responding positively to what grace
00:25:58has already made available.
00:26:01Grace has made righteousness available,
00:26:04so my faith responds, I'm righteous.
00:26:08Grace has made healing available,
00:26:10and even when your body's under attack,
00:26:12I respond, I'm healed.
00:26:16Grace, whatever it has done, and it has done everything that
00:26:20pertains to life and godliness.
00:26:24My faith is my response to what grace has made available.
00:26:31How are you responding to Jesus?
00:26:35Are you responding to Jesus in complete dependence?
00:26:41Or are you responding to Jesus with,
00:26:44yeah, I know you did that, but now I can help by doing
00:26:47these two things?
00:26:49Faith is your response to what grace has made available.
00:26:55Let me give you an illustration.
00:26:57Look at 2 Corinthians, chapter 4, 13.
00:27:012 Corinthians, chapter 4, 13.
00:27:11This is how I respond in the midst of discomfort and pain.
00:27:15Now, look at this.
00:27:16Now, we having the same spirit of faith,
00:27:19according as it is written, he said, I believe.
00:27:22Everybody say, I believe.
00:27:24And therefore, have I spoken.
00:27:26We also believe, and therefore, we speak.
00:27:29See, I'm not speaking the Word to try to be magical.
00:27:32I'm speaking the Word because I'm responding
00:27:35to what I believe.
00:27:38I believe in what grace has made available,
00:27:40so I'm gonna say out loud, I'm healed.
00:27:43I believe what grace has made available,
00:27:45so I'm gonna say out loud, I'm the righteousness of God.
00:27:48I'm not saying it trying to be magical.
00:27:50I'm saying it because I believe it, praise God.
00:27:52I believe that I'm blessed.
00:27:54I believe that I'm protected.
00:27:56I believe in the promises that he made,
00:27:58and I believe that he loved me, so I'm gonna respond
00:28:01in faith, and my response is gonna be,
00:28:04if I believe it, I'm gonna say it.
00:28:07So when you hear me saying stuff that may be scriptural,
00:28:10when you hear me saying stuff, I'm not saying it
00:28:12to try to be deep.
00:28:13I'm saying it because I believe it, that's my response.
00:28:17Y'all see what I'm doing?
00:28:21There have been times in my past I've said stuff,
00:28:24I ain't believe it, and I found that that's not too bad
00:28:28because it's something about if you keep saying a thing,
00:28:32you'll talk yourself into it.
00:28:34You'll talk yourself into it.
00:28:39Because man, when shingles was knocking me down
00:28:41because that nerve pain went from my spine to my brain,
00:28:45I said, I'm healed.
00:28:46I'm like, Lord, help me believe.
00:28:50You remember that guy who said, Lord, I believe,
00:28:52but help my unbelief.
00:28:54I was believing until it knocked me down.
00:28:56Help my unbelief.
00:28:57I was believing, and then it knocked me down.
00:28:59Help my unbelief, but after a while, I was like saying,
00:29:02I ain't got time for no more unbelief.
00:29:03I just, I believe.
00:29:11So, you're listening to me now.
00:29:15Now, I want to show you something now.
00:29:18He, Romans 4, 18 through 21 in the King James,
00:29:24and then I want to talk to you about how grace
00:29:30will manifest itself.
00:29:31I got one more thing to say about faith,
00:29:33but I want to show you how grace will manifest itself
00:29:36through suffering, through tribulations,
00:29:37through trials.
00:29:38You can expect it.
00:29:39Some people say, well, the glory of God didn't show up until the
00:29:45atmosphere was charged for the glory.
00:29:48Honey, I'm telling you, grace will show up and go to work for
00:29:51you in the craziest situations in your life.
00:29:56There'll be some grace there.
00:29:58Notice the fourth man didn't show up while they were
00:30:03chillin' on the beach.
00:30:06He showed up when they got put in the fiery furnace.
00:30:10God has promised us that grace, three things,
00:30:15his presence will be there, his power will be there,
00:30:18and his provision will be there.
00:30:21When you go through any kind of suffering,
00:30:23those things are guaranteed.
00:30:24His presence is gonna be there.
00:30:26Now, see, we've been playing church for so long,
00:30:28we think his presence is the really goo-goo-ga-ga feeling.
00:30:31I don't want no goo-goo-ga-ga feeling.
00:30:33I want help in a time of trouble.
00:30:37And that's where the provision comes in there.
00:30:39See, I might still be in the fire,
00:30:41but the provision says, your clothes not gonna be burnt.
00:30:43Neither will I allow them to have the smell of smoke.
00:30:46That only can come from God's provision.
00:30:49He didn't take away the fire, but he was providing for you
00:30:53while you was walking through the fire.
00:30:55Hallelujah.
00:30:56Glory to God.
00:30:57And some of y'all are walking through the fire right now,
00:30:59and you're wondering, God, why don't you take this from me?
00:31:02He says, no, I'm gonna work something in the midst of this.
00:31:06We're gonna keep the fire, but you're gonna learn that there's
00:31:09a fourth man that'll show up every time you get in your fire.
00:31:15And when you come out, you're gonna be looking for
00:31:17that fourth man.
00:31:25I know this goes against all of the little cutie-cutie
00:31:28religion stuff you done heard in the church.
00:31:32All these little cutie-cutie little fable things you've
00:31:34heard that ain't even true, because people don't even read
00:31:36the Bible no more.
00:31:40They're up there declaring stuff nationwide
00:31:42that ain't even in the Bible.
00:31:47They misinterpreted the Scripture.
00:31:49Ain't even in the Bible.
00:31:53I remember I told this guy one time,
00:31:55he was in the midst of preaching to a bunch of ministers.
00:31:58I was like, that ain't in the Bible.
00:32:02I said, you know, he said, who can, something about who can,
00:32:06who can, who, you know, being able to walk without any
00:32:11challenge and sin.
00:32:13I said, nobody.
00:32:15And he called and said, yeah, that's right, nobody.
00:32:17Nobody.
00:32:21Well, the Lord will not dwell in filthy vessels.
00:32:26In filthy vessels.
00:32:30Ain't no other kind.
00:32:32I don't know if that fits you, because somewhere in your head,
00:32:41you think you are a clean vessel, but if you was clean,
00:32:45the Holy Ghost wouldn't have to be dwelling in you,
00:32:47because you are already clean.
00:32:49And I keep trying to tell you to quit buying that story.
00:32:52You tell yourself, I'm the clean vessel.
00:32:54Now you ain't.
00:32:55You as dirty as everybody else in here,
00:32:57and that's why we need a permanent Ajax to live in us and
00:33:02to walk in us and to abide in us and to constantly cleanse us.
00:33:10But you don't buy that religious fable.
00:33:12You think you're good.
00:33:17I just like have had it with people who can't read.
00:33:24Okay, where am I?
00:33:32Okay, so I'm going to say this real quick.
00:33:35If you come to Grace Life, I'm going to teach on it some,
00:33:38but oh, my goodness, I'm trying to stay up here,
00:33:49but I just, you know, I'm on the edge right here.
00:33:52Like, good God, hey.
00:34:04I need y'all to say this to me.
00:34:06Say, sweet lips increase learning.
00:34:13What kind of lips?
00:34:17Now say this, pass the dollar, you heard that?
00:34:22Yes, I did.
00:34:24Yes, I did.
00:34:25Sweet lips increase learning.
00:34:32So, and I'm trying not to have a breakdown moment on this
00:34:36because this is how awesome he is.
00:34:39So, in the old covenant of the law,
00:34:43the old agreement of the law, we had to do the work in order
00:34:48to reap the benefit.
00:34:55If you do good, you get good, right?
00:35:00If you are obedient, kerebasha, if you are obedient to the law,
00:35:07then you get blessed.
00:35:11You know, that's even different in the new covenant.
00:35:14There's an obedience to the law,
00:35:15then there's an obedience to the faith.
00:35:18In the new covenant, old covenant,
00:35:20obedience to the law is what you carry out in your commitment
00:35:25to do what the law tells you to do.
00:35:28But in the new covenant, obedience to faith is your
00:35:31believing in what Jesus has done.
00:35:35Now, so God's allowing us to do the work.
00:35:41We had to do the work.
00:35:46We didn't have to do it, but Exodus 19 to 8,
00:35:48when Moses presented the law to the children of Israel,
00:35:52Exodus 19 to 8, here's how they responded.
00:35:57We can do all you said.
00:36:02The Creator of everything, including man,
00:36:07had never seen such prideful arrogance.
00:36:15Everything God ever created depends on him completely for
00:36:22everything they do.
00:36:24The birds, the vegetation, everything,
00:36:28the earth, everything he created depends on him,
00:36:32including man, until Adam declared independence from God.
00:36:42We don't need him.
00:36:43You can be just like him.
00:36:45That's where it started.
00:36:46It started in the Garden of Eden when they said,
00:36:49I am like God, so I don't need God,
00:36:53and they declared independence from God.
00:36:59So, you see, the situation is the situation of man now having
00:37:04more confidence in himself than he does in God.
00:37:08So, I can keep this, no problem,
00:37:11and so here is why he gave the law.
00:37:14The law is perfect.
00:37:16The law is flawless.
00:37:17The law represents God's perfect character,
00:37:21and he gives the law to a fallen man,
00:37:27and they said, we got it, and if you'll read Exodus 19 on to
00:37:34chapter 20 and 21, all hell broke loose.
00:37:37Don't touch the mountain.
00:37:38Don't even touch the bottom of it or you will die.
00:37:42You think you can keep these laws as perfect as they are?
00:37:45Do you know the number of people that died just because they
00:37:47murmured?
00:37:49Do you know how many?
00:37:50Do you know the millions that died under the law?
00:37:53See, they're not teaching that to you.
00:37:56Look at the Bible.
00:37:57All the stuff that have all them people died.
00:38:00You know, some people died because they wouldn't give glory
00:38:04to God and wouldn't give thanksgiving to him,
00:38:07and they said they could do it.
00:38:12The man was trying to operate independent of God,
00:38:17and you know that's what's happening in some of the church
00:38:19circles today?
00:38:21We got this.
00:38:25I have faith in my faith.
00:38:27We got this, and we still trying to do it based on how we can
00:38:34work it, and you felt miserably in the Old Testament to such a
00:38:41point Hebrews 8 says that he says,
00:38:44I found fault with that first covenant.
00:38:50That's why I'm going to give you a better covenant because
00:38:56that first covenant too many people died because they could
00:39:00not do it independent of me, but in this covenant I'm going to do
00:39:10the work.
00:39:13It's going to be my work, and he says,
00:39:16and all of mankind will be my workmanship.
00:39:22So, God said in this covenant I'm going to go to work on you.
00:39:27I'm going to write the law on your heart.
00:39:30I'm going to make you.
00:39:32I'm going to forgive you.
00:39:33I'm going to do the work.
00:39:35I'm going to save you.
00:39:37Stuff we get under this new covenant we didn't have under
00:39:39the old covenant.
00:39:40So, here's the thing that blew my mind.
00:39:42I don't know where in my head, maybe in my religious
00:39:44traditional head, I never quite saw God like accepting full
00:39:50responsibility for the work on me.
00:39:54I thought, I get saved and now come to church
00:40:00and get all the rules.
00:40:03I get saved and I come to church and I employ the law to keep
00:40:08what grace gave me.
00:40:11You didn't hear what I just said.
00:40:13You were saved by grace, but you employed the law to try to keep
00:40:19what you got by grace.
00:40:22In other words, you employed the law to sustain life that you got
00:40:28by grace, but the law has no sustaining power.
00:40:37The law can't sustain life.
00:40:40The law can't even give life.
00:40:43If the law could give life, there would be no need
00:40:45for a savior.
00:40:47Yeah, y'all didn't hear what I'm saying.
00:40:49I believe I was teaching this past week in, I think it was
00:40:53John chapter 6, where Jesus said,
00:40:57I am the bread of life.
00:41:02He said, my father gave you manna and you did eat.
00:41:07Manna is bread that sustains life.
00:41:13But then he made this comment.
00:41:14Moses did not give you manna.
00:41:19What he said, Moses gave you the law.
00:41:22Moses was a lawgiver.
00:41:24Moses didn't give you manna.
00:41:25If Moses could have given you manna, something to sustain
00:41:28life, then maybe there's life under the law.
00:41:32But Moses did not give you life.
00:41:35Moses gave you the law.
00:41:37Only God through grace can give you life.
00:41:41So, why are you trying to live by something that can't give
00:41:45you life, that can't sustain life?
00:41:47It was grace that gave you salvation.
00:41:50It'll be grace that'll sustain your salvation.
00:41:54Grace sustains your salvation, not the law.
00:42:00And what do we do?
00:42:02We go to the cave and come to church and say,
00:42:05preacher, give me the rules.
00:42:08Give me some rules.
00:42:09Can we drink?
00:42:14What God say about that?
00:42:17What about a little weed just to calm down?
00:42:20Not much, but a little weed.
00:42:27How many women can we have at a time?
00:42:29David has some mistresses.
00:42:31You ever have some mistresses?
00:42:38And a woman, a woman, by the way, that woman ought to be
00:42:43just satisfied that she got a good old God-fearing man.
00:42:48Everything else you need to shut your mouth about and be
00:42:52dominated by your God-fearing man because if he's
00:42:56God-fearing, domination won't hurt.
00:43:00I heard a preacher say that.
00:43:01I actually heard somebody say that.
00:43:03What are you trying to do?
00:43:06You're trying to sustain life that only comes from Jesus,
00:43:12grace, by employing the law as the administrator of something
00:43:18you didn't get from the law.
00:43:21Galatians chapter 2, verse 16 in the message translation.
00:43:32And I'm going to read 16 through 19 in the message translation.
00:43:35So, we made church and Christianity about rule keeping.
00:43:41And God says, wait a minute.
00:43:44I saved you.
00:43:45That was my work.
00:43:47I started it.
00:43:50I will finish it all the way up until the return of Jesus Christ.
00:43:54That's my work.
00:43:57And I'm like, well, all right, I'm your workmanship.
00:43:59What are you, what's the job?
00:44:01What are you doing?
00:44:02What you doing on me?
00:44:04What you doing on me?
00:44:05Now, the greatest thing about grace is that when you've
00:44:07experienced it, you can tell and you can check your life out
00:44:12and say, I don't even know what's going on with me.
00:44:15But the desires I used to have, you know, I ain't had a
00:44:17cigarette in the last three months.
00:44:20I don't even know why.
00:44:21Now, because somebody said it was a rule or bad to smoke.
00:44:24It's that the Holy Ghost been on there.
00:44:26He's been rearranging my furniture.
00:44:28I don't know what's going on.
00:44:29Man, I don't know what's happening here.
00:44:31But my attitude, I'd have normally cussed her out.
00:44:33I'd have normally cussed her out.
00:44:35But I walked away and said, praise the Lord.
00:44:37What's going on on the inside of me?
00:44:39Oh, my child said that to me, oh, a year ago, I'd have knocked
00:44:44the teeth out of her mouth.
00:44:45But I just walked away and say, you're going to be all right.
00:44:48Oh, what's wrong with me?
00:44:50Ain't nothing wrong with you, baby.
00:44:52You're being transformed by the grace of God.
00:44:59So, here's the work.
00:45:01Oh, I'm so excited about the work he's doing.
00:45:05His ultimate work on all of us.
00:45:09Now, here's the thing I want you to get.
00:45:11You are God's assignment.
00:45:13You're his workmanship.
00:45:17So, you know, when God do a job, he ain't going to be doing
00:45:19nothing to embarrass himself.
00:45:21Because one day when we get to heaven, there'll be a group that
00:45:24will look at, because God's going to say, look at these
00:45:28who are saved by grace.
00:45:31They all have some crazy, crazy, but look at them now.
00:45:35They look just like him.
00:45:37Look at them, they look just like.
00:45:39Look at them.
00:45:40I started the work.
00:45:42I finished the work.
00:45:44Look at them.
00:45:45Look at them.
00:45:46Look at them.
00:45:47Look at him.
00:45:48Here, here, here.
00:45:49Here's the job.
00:45:50Here's the job.
00:45:51Here's the job.
00:45:52This blew my mind.
00:45:53Here's the job that God's doing.
00:45:55He says, I am working on you to bring you to the place of
00:46:03complete dependence on me.
00:46:08And how will he do that?
00:46:10I think it's 1 Peter chapter 3, the trial of your faith.
00:46:15Somebody need to be finding that right now.
00:46:17The trial, we'll come back to that scripture in a minute.
00:46:19The trial of your faith, which is much more precious than gold.
00:46:29You follow what I'm saying?
00:46:32Through the trials of your faith, through the trials.
00:46:39Give me somebody saved in the room.
00:46:41Give me that.
00:46:421 Peter.
00:46:43I need somebody who know Jesus back there.
00:46:45Come on now.
00:46:46Give me some 1 Peter back there.
00:46:48Hurry up.
00:46:49The trials of your faith, which is much more precious than gold.
00:46:51I'm telling you, the scripture, good Lord.
00:46:53Ask Siri.
00:46:54Come on.
00:46:55The trial of your faith, which is much more precious than gold.
00:47:02Now watch this.
00:47:03Every time, start noticing this in the scripture.
00:47:05Every time you see the work of grace, you're going to see the
00:47:12glory that comes from that work.
00:47:16He says that the trial of your faith being much more precious
00:47:19than a gold that perishes, though it be trial with fire,
00:47:23it might be found.
00:47:24It's going to be found unto praise and honor and glory at
00:47:30the appearing of Jesus Christ.
00:47:38God says, I'm going to work on you until you come to the place
00:47:45where you have complete dependence on me.
00:47:51Some of you, some of you might not make it out of certain
00:47:54trials, but you're going, you're going to have complete
00:47:56dependence on him when you see him.
00:48:00See, we all expect for the story to end.
00:48:02Now, it ain't going to happen like that for everybody,
00:48:04because I'm going to show you a scripture where Jesus said that
00:48:10when he was working with that blind man, and he said,
00:48:14grace will work for this time while it's day,
00:48:17but when it's night, it ain't going to be working.
00:48:20My spirit shall not always dwell with man.
00:48:25And so, we got to get away from the fables.
00:48:29You think, well, no, I don't want it to work like that.
00:48:33If you're a Christian and you're saved by grace,
00:48:37he started to work on you.
00:48:39Now, what you got to stop doing is fighting God from doing his
00:48:45work, because every time you try to fight and stop something,
00:48:51it keep coming back up again.
00:48:54Have you noticed that?
00:48:56You see it again.
00:48:58And it ain't nothing changed.
00:49:00You still got the same attitude.
00:49:02You see it again, and then you see it again,
00:49:04and you see it again.
00:49:09Wow.
00:49:10He knows how to do the work.
00:49:16A lot of folks in their life I backed off of.
00:49:18I'm like, I'm getting in the way.
00:49:20I'm getting in the way, because I know when I come in and do
00:49:23something that I'm not sure God telling me to do,
00:49:26it just come back on them again.
00:49:28And then they do the same thing that worked last time.
00:49:30Hey, can you?
00:49:33Yeah, I can, because, you know, I'm supposed to be a Christian.
00:49:36I'm supposed to do that.
00:49:37No, you're supposed to live life in complete dependence upon God,
00:49:41and that is depending on him to lead you in what you should be
00:49:45doing and what you should not be doing.
00:49:47Then you got to worry about nobody conning you.
00:49:58Somebody tried to open up a bank account last night in my name
00:50:00with my information.
00:50:02I caught them jokers so quick, they tried to do it over line.
00:50:06Is that you?
00:50:07No, that ain't me.
00:50:09Have you ever had an account like that?
00:50:11No, that ain't me.
00:50:12It's a crook.
00:50:13Get them and do your thing.
00:50:17Now, watch this.
00:50:24Go to wherever y'all came from.
00:50:26It was Message Translations, Galatians 2,
00:50:3016 through 19.
00:50:33Real quick.
00:50:34All right, now, we Jews know that we have no advantage of
00:50:37birth over non-Jewish sinners.
00:50:41We know very well that we are not set right with God by
00:50:44rule keeping, but only through personal faith in Jesus Christ.
00:50:51How do we know?
00:50:52We tried it, and we had the best system of rules the world has
00:50:58ever seen, convinced that no human being can please God
00:51:05by self-improvement.
00:51:07We believed in Jesus as the Messiah so that we might be set
00:51:11right before God by trusting in the Messiah,
00:51:14not by trying to be good.
00:51:18Have some of you noticed that we are not yet perfect?
00:51:24No great surprise, right?
00:51:26And are you ready to make the accusation that since people
00:51:29like me, who go through Christ in order to get things right
00:51:34with God, aren't perfectly virtuous,
00:51:37Christ must therefore be an accessory to sin?
00:51:42He said the accusation is frivolous.
00:51:45If I was trying to be good, I would be rebuilding the same old
00:51:50barn that I tore down.
00:51:54I would be acting as a pretender.
00:51:58What actually took place is this.
00:52:01I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God.
00:52:07Can I get a witness?
00:52:10And it didn't work, so I quit being a lawman so that I could
00:52:17be a God's man.
00:52:21Christ's life showed me how and enabled me to do it.
00:52:26I identified myself completely with him.
00:52:29Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ.
00:52:33My ego is no longer central.
00:52:37It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or
00:52:41have your good opinion.
00:52:43And I am no longer driven to impress God.
00:52:46Christ lives in me.
00:52:48The life you see me living is not mine, but it is lived by
00:52:53faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for
00:52:57me, I am not gonna go back on that.
00:53:00I ain't going back on that.
00:53:03That's strong, isn't it?
00:53:11I tried keeping the law.
00:53:13It didn't work.
00:53:15Now, I'm God's man.
00:53:17Too many of you are so wrapped up in rule keeping, you have no
00:53:25relationship with the one who wrote the rules.
00:53:38Christianity is supposed to be relational, and the Bible is a
00:53:46part of developing that relationship, and prayer is a
00:53:50part of developing that relationship, and coming to
00:53:52The church is a part of developing that relationship.
00:53:55It's not to come get some rules about what you live by and judge
00:54:00other people by.
00:54:04But when I have a relationship with God,
00:54:06it becomes difficult for you to see how this works.
00:54:10It's just like giving.
00:54:14When I did that teaching on tithing,
00:54:16tithing is not a sum total of giving, okay?
00:54:29But giving involves a whole lot of things.
00:54:34And folks thought I said, stop giving,
00:54:37because they see tithing as the only way to give.
00:54:43And we're not even thinking.
00:54:44You're talking about 10%.
00:54:47What I was saying was quit limiting God with the 10% and
00:54:52walk in the fear that you're going to be destroyed because
00:54:55you didn't give the 10%.
00:54:57Give generously according to your heart.
00:55:03But people were real happy.
00:55:04Oh, pastor said, stop giving.
00:55:06Why would you even think about being real happy that you don't
00:55:11get to give to God?
00:55:15So, what's really in you?
00:55:19Because when people do good to you,
00:55:21you want to give.
00:55:28But here's the deal.
00:55:30When you don't believe that God can take care of you,
00:55:37giving becomes something that's hard to do.
00:55:39It's hard to give when you don't believe that God can take care
00:55:45of you.
00:55:46There's another issue again.
00:55:48But when it comes out of your heart,
00:55:50you're not labeling stuff.
00:55:54Like I used to.
00:55:5510%.
00:55:56Oh, I need five more pennies in order for it to be 10.
00:55:59And then I didn't find the five pennies,
00:56:01and somebody broke in my car and broke one,
00:56:04and a brick was in there, and it didn't take nothing.
00:56:06And I said, oh, Lord, I didn't get a full time.
00:56:11I broke the rule.
00:56:14And everything under this new covenant is heart-based,
00:56:21which means God wants stuff out of your heart and not out of
00:56:27your rule book.
00:56:31And the old covenant was a rule book,
00:56:34and the rules tried to administer morality,
00:56:38and it failed horribly.
00:56:43The Holy Spirit now is the administrator of this new
00:56:48covenant, and he will change your life.
00:56:52And what you do, you will do out of your heart.
00:56:57And we hadn't gotten that.
00:57:01I couldn't imagine what my life would be like if I came to
00:57:05church and every Sunday rushed out so I don't have to even see
00:57:08an offering plate.
00:57:11Let me get out of here.
00:57:13What's gonna happen here?
00:57:14Because y'all leave early, and y'all,
00:57:16I'm told that y'all give on the way out.
00:57:19And I choose to believe that.
00:57:20You give on the way out, praise the Lord.
00:57:22I don't want to be preaching from Mount Sinai.
00:57:26You give from your heart on the way out.
00:57:31Now, let me share this one more thing with you,
00:57:33and we will pause this series.
00:57:39Verse 9, grace doesn't always show up in the really cool,
00:57:48successful times.
00:57:49It shows up in the middle of suffering.
00:57:55Somebody was so excited about this, they said,
00:57:57I'm just praying that God will let me suffer more.
00:58:00Somebody said, don't do that.
00:58:01Well, kind of like what Paul asked, didn't he?
00:58:04You know, I'm just, he said, I glory in my suffering.
00:58:08I was like, wow.
00:58:11Wow.
00:58:12We got to change our mind because we still have this
00:58:16little kind of thing of, I just want everything to be
00:58:20wonderful, and we don't know how to deal with life when it's not
00:58:24wonderful.
00:58:26And I recognize myself.
00:58:27There may be some things that I may not ever conquer.
00:58:31There are certain pains I might have to carry through my
00:58:35whole life, but I'm not going to stop believing God through my
00:58:37whole life.
00:58:38Paul said, was given unto me a thorn in my flesh so that I
00:58:41could stay away from pride because of the abundance of
00:58:43revelation that I got.
00:58:46With all of the deliverance and healing, at least I'm alive and
00:58:48healthy right now, but he left a little thorn in my flesh to
00:58:51keep me, and I only feel this when I get real stressed out or
00:58:55when I come to the capacity of what I need to be receiving.
00:58:58So, I've learned how to build boundaries and say, you know,
00:59:02I know you think I'm a pastor, do everything, but I've reached
00:59:04my capacity.
00:59:05I have to pick that up later.
00:59:09Some people might reach their hands out for me to shake it,
00:59:12and at that time, I might not want to give them a germ that I
00:59:15have or might not know them well enough, so I do a little fist
00:59:18pump.
00:59:19Don't get offended.
00:59:23Lot of stuff.
00:59:24And so, I've settled that.
00:59:25I'm like, okay, well, it doesn't mean God hates me because I got
00:59:29a little thorn in my flesh that's operating like a meter or a
00:59:35warning system or a learning thing.
00:59:37It's keeping me from stuff.
00:59:39And part of my issue was everything I had was brought on
00:59:44partly by stress.
00:59:47Shingles is a stress-related thing.
00:59:49Cancer is a stress-related thing.
00:59:52All those things were brought on by stress, and he left me a
00:59:54little something that I would be like, God, when are you gonna
00:59:56take this away?
00:59:57And I'm sitting there saying, that's a pretty good deal right
00:59:59now.
01:00:01I still worship you.
01:00:02You're still good.
01:00:03You're still a healer.
01:00:04You're still almighty.
01:00:05I didn't get everything I wanted, but look at what you did
01:00:09for me.
01:00:10You need to stop all this thing that God ain't real if you don't
01:00:12get exactly what you want like you want it.
01:00:20Go to John chapter 9, start at verse 1.
01:00:25This is a story about the dude who was born blind.
01:00:30And Jesus passed by.
01:00:33He saw a man which was blind from his birth.
01:00:39His disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man
01:00:43or his parents, that he was born blind?
01:00:45Stop.
01:00:46They're familiar with the law, and they knew under the law that
01:00:50you had to do something to get this.
01:00:53If you do good, you get good.
01:00:56If you do bad, you get bad.
01:00:57This guy was born blind.
01:00:59So, what did he do, sin, how did he sin to get this?
01:01:03That's where that was coming from.
01:01:04It was coming from the law.
01:01:05So, Jesus answered, neither hath this man sinned nor his parents.
01:01:15So, he completely shuts that thing down that this issue was
01:01:19an issue of sin.
01:01:22He shuts it down, which I'm sure confused them because they're
01:01:27like, yeah, but he was born blind.
01:01:32Who sinned?
01:01:34Under the law, these things happened because you didn't
01:01:38keep the law.
01:01:40He said, nobody sinned.
01:01:44This blindness is not an issue of sin, but that the works of
01:01:52God, pause, there are certain things about your life that's a
01:01:58setup for God's work and not yours.
01:02:06See, grace is going to show up, so the glory can show up.
01:02:11And you keep trying to make it your work.
01:02:14I must have did something wrong.
01:02:18And I used to think that every time I did, I must have did
01:02:20something wrong.
01:02:22Maybe it's a setup for the work of God, trying to bring you into
01:02:27complete dependence on him.
01:02:28Maybe God's allowed some stuff that shows up in your life that
01:02:32you can't work out, where you ain't got no choice but to
01:02:36depend on him.
01:02:39There'll be situations that'll show up where you ain't got no
01:02:41choice but to trust him.
01:02:45And that's what some of us lack.
01:02:46You, everything's just been so cool and peachy keen.
01:02:51You've never put in a situation where everything you've ever
01:02:54trusted, none of that can work.
01:02:59Yeah, but there's God.
01:03:02I said, yeah, but there's God.
01:03:05He says, but that the works of God should be made manifest in
01:03:10him.
01:03:11I prophesy that you are going to see the works of God being made
01:03:15manifest in you, things that you couldn't figure out, things you
01:03:19don't even know why they happen the way they happen.
01:03:21The work of God is about to show up in your life.
01:03:24The work of grace is about to show up in your life.
01:03:26And when it's all over with, honey, ain't nothing like going
01:03:29through a hard time with God.
01:03:31You'll come out with more dependence on him than you've
01:03:34ever had before in your life.
01:03:42Jesus answered, neither this man's sin nor his parents, but
01:03:45that the works of God should be made manifest in him.
01:03:51I must work the works of him.
01:03:55Listen to him.
01:03:56That sent me.
01:03:58Glory be to God.
01:04:00I must work it.
01:04:02See, I'm working on you.
01:04:04You are my workmanship.
01:04:05I'm going to work some stuff on you.
01:04:07Quit thinking that nothing's going to get done unless you do
01:04:10it, because this New Testament is not about your works.
01:04:18This New Testament is about God's work on you, and he's
01:04:24working on you.
01:04:26And it may not seem like he's working on you, but if you'll
01:04:29just pause a little bit, check out how far you've come.
01:04:34Look at where you are right now.
01:04:36There's stuff you can't figure out.
01:04:38You could never figure out how to deal with it, and God has
01:04:41already, he had already dealt with it.
01:04:43You've been praying about a backache that ain't been gone
01:04:45for the last three weeks.
01:04:47You hardly even notice what happened here.
01:04:49God is doing a work, and you're going to start talking about it.
01:04:52They're going to start talking about it on TV.
01:04:54There'll be athletes, I give God the glory because they know
01:04:58they've been through something or they have seen something that
01:04:59only God could have worked.
01:05:03Been in a car wreck, you should have been dead if I look at the
01:05:05car, but God didn't let it happen.
01:05:08And you can't just say, that can't be nobody but God.
01:05:10That can't be nobody but God.
01:05:14I can't figure this thing out, man.
01:05:16The IRS was supposed to arrest me last week.
01:05:18I ain't paid taxes in the last 24 years.
01:05:22And I called the IRS and say, all right, how much do I owe?
01:05:25And they say, sir, we don't have you nowhere on the computer.
01:05:27You need to tear that house up.
01:05:28You need to shout and roll and do cartwheels and spit.
01:05:33You need to do all kinds of stuff because can't nobody do
01:05:36that but God.
01:05:38God is like an eagle stirring in your nest.
01:05:46He just needs somebody that's going to depend on him.
01:05:49He just needs somebody who's going to depend on him.
01:05:56I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day.
01:06:01The night cometh when no man can work.
01:06:08How long is this going to take before your ego and arrogance
01:06:15is dismissed?
01:06:18What else has to happen before you realize you ain't all that?
01:06:32It took God over 40 years to get me in a place where I can preach
01:06:39like this, where I don't give a rat's sweet lip, sweet lip,
01:06:47right?
01:06:48And what you just said, you said sweet lips, sweet lips.
01:06:53It no longer matters to me.
01:06:58It no longer matters to me.
01:07:00Who is that that said, who is that, Taffi?
01:07:03Who is that who said, why should I take my time and come down and
01:07:08talk to you?
01:07:11Who?
01:07:12Michael?
01:07:14Nehemiah.
01:07:15Why in the world should I be concerned about what you're
01:07:19saying about me to take my time out to come and give you an
01:07:23explanation because of what you disagree with what I say?
01:07:30You just changed the channel.
01:07:31You can change the channel, change the church, change the
01:07:34partnership.
01:07:35You ain't never got to sit under what I'm saying, but there are
01:07:39millions of people that God has prepared to hear this gospel of
01:07:45grace because the church thinks that they have preached the
01:07:48gospel around the world.
01:07:51This is the gospel.
01:07:52And I'm telling you, it ain't been preached around the world,
01:07:57but it's about to be preached around the world.
01:07:59You and I are going to get a hold of this thing, and it's
01:08:02about to be preached around the world, and we're going to start
01:08:05like world changes.
01:08:06I get what he said about world changing, changing your world
01:08:09and the worlds around you, and then ultimately changing the
01:08:12whole world.
01:08:13I get it now.
01:08:15You're going to be changed by the gospel, and then you're
01:08:17going to change people around you with the gospel, and then
01:08:20they're going to change some folks they know around the
01:08:22gospel until all of a sudden it's just going to start
01:08:24spreading like a spiritual epidemic.
01:08:27Glory to God.
01:08:29Hallelujah.
01:08:30COVID wasn't nothing but a shadow of what God is about to
01:08:34do with the gospel of grace.
01:08:38And I say, bring it on.
01:08:51This is a distraction.
01:08:52You know, when I got that message about somebody was
01:08:55trying to use my identity again, right when I was studying this,
01:09:01I just said, no, and went right on studying, and then I said
01:09:06out loud, I know that was a distraction from you because I
01:09:09done been there before.
01:09:12You better ask somebody.
01:09:13I done been there.
01:09:14I know how you work.
01:09:15I know your method of operation, and you're not going to do me
01:09:18like you used to do me, distract my mind where I can't see what
01:09:22God trying to get me to see.
01:09:25That's maturity, but you still have to depend on God to help
01:09:30you not to go back in your mind and focus on those things that
01:09:35become a distraction.
01:09:40I'm going to leave y'all alone, man.
01:09:42Some of y'all looking at me like, what is this?
01:09:48Why didn't nobody tell me?
01:09:53Bow your heads.
01:09:54Father, we need you, and today we want to let you know we need
01:10:06you.
01:10:08You know about all of us, and you know about everything
01:10:14concerning all of us, and you know about everything that
01:10:20concerns all of us, so you know the root of what we dealing
01:10:24with.
01:10:28Let this not be a fight and a resisting you as you work to
01:10:34bring us into complete dependence on you, but teach us
01:10:41how to pray and walk in these two prayers.
01:10:45Lord, show me your will.
01:10:48Number one, and Lord, help me to yield.
01:10:53Show me your will.
01:10:55Help me to yield.
01:10:58Today, I step away from shame.
01:11:01Today, I step away from condemnation and guilt, and I
01:11:08enter boldly into my heavenly stance, my stance of who I am in
01:11:15you, that my state of who I actually am is being changed
01:11:21because who you said I am.
01:11:27At the sound of my voice, those who have heard this teaching
01:11:31today, let them not employ the law to sustain their life that
01:11:38they've been given by grace, but may we trust you.
01:11:46To escort us through this life and sustain us is my prayer.
01:11:53Now, let your glory be seen in the lives of every person that
01:11:58heard this teaching today.
01:12:00Let the glory be seen in their lives, in their hearts, in their
01:12:06thinking, in their mind.
01:12:07Let the glory be seen in their relationships.
01:12:10Let the glory be seen even in their parenting, in their
01:12:14relationships.
01:12:16Let the glory be seen in their households and their businesses.
01:12:21May your glory begin to flow from person to person, house to
01:12:25house, city to city, country to country.
01:12:32May the works of grace allow this glory to flow like we've
01:12:37never seen it before.
01:12:40And we give you praise, Jesus' name.
01:12:46Now, Lord, as we prepare to receive this offering, today we
01:12:52will give with no fear.
01:12:56We will give out of our heart of love and appreciation for you
01:13:00and what you've done.
01:13:04Who is like unto thee, O God?
01:13:07Who loves like you love and forgives like you forgive and
01:13:13works like you work?
01:13:15Only you.
01:13:17May our giving be a blessing to you.
01:13:19Amen.