0:02

Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick.

0:03

I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this

0:05

is our podcast. I wanted to thank you for joining

0:07

us today.

0:08

Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds

0:10

your faith.

0:11

Hope it gives your perspective to see God is moving

0:13

in your life.

0:14

Enjoy the message.

0:19

Come on, clap those hands and bless the Lord.

0:33

The devil never should have let you find out

0:35

that God was for you and not against you. That's

0:38

going to change everything. That's

0:42

going to change the way you walk. It's going to change

0:44

the way you talk. It's

0:47

gonna change the way you weep. You're

0:50

not going to sorrow without hope because you know

0:52

that God is not against you.

0:55

It's going to change the way you celebrate because.

0:59

You know that it wasn't your own

1:01

strength or your own might. But if it had not been

1:03

for the Lord fighting for me, how

1:06

many have a testimony that God brought

1:08

you this far?

1:10

Praise the Lord.

1:14

And as amazing as it is for us to remember

1:16

that God is for us, we also need to know

1:19

that there are people who are

1:21

also for us. In a

1:23

divided world. There's real

1:25

power in unity. So I want you to make a connection

1:27

with the person on either side of you either grab

1:29

their hand or touch their shoulder, depending

1:31

on your level of germaphobia and faith. If

1:38

you're watching online, we welcome you. We connect

1:40

with you now by the Holy Spirit. And even if you're watching

1:42

alone, you're not alone.

1:45

There is no distance in the spirit.

1:46

Heavenly Father, I thank you for what I feel

1:50

in this moment, the faith

1:52

that is rising in my heart on behalf

1:54

of the people that you're going to speak to today.

1:57

Lord, I ask now not

2:00

only.

2:00

That you would speak, but that we would

2:02

hear, because

2:05

those two have to happen at the same time

2:07

for results to be produced.

2:09

And there may be things that would keep us from hearing

2:11

what you say today.

2:13

There may be distractions,

2:16

There may be things in our mind that

2:18

are replaying from yesterday that would keep us

2:21

from being in this present moment.

2:23

Now, we just want to do that one.

2:24

Needful thing, and to sit at your feet, to

2:28

learn from you, to be with

2:30

you, to receive from you, to

2:33

worship you, to praise you,

2:36

to glorify you.

2:38

Your word says that if two of us would agree

2:40

concerning anything in your name, it would be done.

2:43

We come together two or three twenty

2:46

thirty thousand, two or three million

2:48

strong, all across the world today, believing

2:51

for breakthrough, believing

2:53

that anything is possible. And

2:55

we clap our hands and celebrate in advance.

2:58

What you're going to do in

3:00

Jesus' name.

3:02

Amen, somebody

3:05

shot, Amen shot,

3:07

Amen again.

3:11

Glory to God. Good to

3:13

see you.

3:15

Welcome, Welcome

3:17

to week four of our series

3:19

Through the New You.

3:20

Let's clap our hands. We made

3:23

it to week four.

3:28

I want to walk you back through really quickly

3:30

the mindsets. I'll have you say them out loud,

3:32

and then we are going to get into a good

3:34

one today.

3:35

Got something for you today, But let's

3:38

catch up. Number one.

3:39

Say I'm not stuck. All

3:42

right, You're gonna have to. I

3:44

know the devil stole an hour asleep, but you're gonna

3:46

have to. You're gonna

3:48

have to caffeinate real quick or something. Say

3:52

I'm not stuck. Touch

3:54

your neighbors. Say you're not stuck unless

3:58

you stop. That

4:00

in the comments, say I'm not stuck unless I stop.

4:04

Now, get a deep breath and say Number two, Christ

4:06

is in me. I

4:08

am enough. Say it

4:11

again, Christ is in me. I

4:13

am enough. Number

4:16

three. With God, there's

4:18

always a way and

4:21

by faith I will

4:23

find it. Look at somebody

4:25

say it might be hard to find, but

4:28

I'll find it. Come

4:30

on, I've looked under the couch for things

4:33

less valuable than this.

4:35

I'm looking for this.

4:37

And today we came to talk about something so

4:40

fundamental and foundational that I pray that

4:42

it will grip you from the inside out by the

4:44

spirit of God. And I want you to repeat

4:46

it after me, and then we'll spend our entire

4:48

time together today giving

4:51

a lesson on it from the Bible. Maybe

4:53

hard for you to believe this, but you just sang

4:56

it, and

4:58

I hope that you will begin to live it more and more

5:00

in your life.

5:02

Repeat after me.

5:03

God is not against

5:05

me, but he's in it

5:08

with me, working

5:11

through.

5:11

Me, fighting for

5:14

me. God is not against me.

5:17

Clap your hands like you know, yeah,

5:21

yeah.

5:23

That's the right response.

5:26

Thank you Jesus,

5:29

and you may be seated,

5:32

Smile at somebody on your way to your seat.

5:39

I will take you now to Jeremiah

5:41

thirty eight.

5:46

Jeremiah thirty eight. I'll

5:49

share with you a story that

5:53

I'll let you decide whether it's an uplifting

5:55

story or not. But

5:57

it is a story that pulled

6:00

at me in a serious way

6:02

this week, and so I'm

6:05

very excited to share it with you.

6:08

The Bible says in Jeremiah thirty

6:10

eight, let's drop to verse six. Will

6:12

be jumping in in the middle, but I will give you

6:15

the backstory as a backfill in

6:17

just a moment.

6:18

Jeremiah thirty eight, verse six.

6:20

So they took Jeremiah

6:23

and put him into the cistern

6:26

of Malkaija, the King's son, which

6:29

was in.

6:29

The courtyard of the guard.

6:31

They lowered Jeremiah by ropes

6:33

into the cistern. It had

6:36

no water in it, only mud,

6:39

and Jeremiah sank down

6:43

into the mud. But

6:46

ebed Melick, a Cushike,

6:49

an official in the royal palace, heard

6:52

that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern,

6:55

and while the king was sitting in the Benjamin gate,

6:58

ebed Melick went out out of the palace

7:00

and said to him, my lord, the King,

7:03

these men have acted wickedly in

7:06

all they have done to Jeremiah the Prophet.

7:09

They have thrown him into.

7:10

A cistern where he will starve

7:13

to death when there is no longer

7:15

any bread in the city. Then

7:18

the king commanded e bed Melick, the Kushite,

7:21

take thirty men from here with you and

7:24

lift Jeremiah the

7:26

Prophet out of the cistern

7:28

before he dies. So

7:31

ebed Melick took the men with him

7:33

and went to a room under the treasury

7:35

in the palace. He took some old

7:38

rags and worn out closed

7:40

from there and let them down

7:42

with ropes to Jeremiah in the cistern.

7:46

E bed Melick the Kushite said

7:48

to Jeremiah, put

7:50

these old rags and worn out clothes

7:52

under your arms to pad the ropes. Jeremiah

7:56

did so, and they pulled

7:59

him up with the ropes and

8:01

lifted him out of the cistern. And

8:04

Jeremiah remained in

8:07

the courtyard of the guard.

8:10

Say amen, for the word of the Lord. Somebody

8:13

say amen, if you know that God has the power

8:15

to pull you out.

8:17

Yeah.

8:18

So I want to speak to you today from this

8:20

subject or this title.

8:22

I want to just call the message this.

8:25

I want to call it instead of uh, rags

8:28

to riches, I want

8:30

to call it rags to righteous,

8:34

rags to righteous.

8:38

And as I move further into

8:40

this talk with you, I just want to tell you something that my

8:42

family picks on me about.

8:44

As you settle in and prepare to take notes on

8:46

this sermon. They call me safety

8:49

Steve.

8:52

The reason is that although I pride myself

8:55

in being somewhat of a risk taker in ministry

8:57

to reach people for Jesus, like doing whatever

9:00

I need to do to get the message across,

9:03

when it comes to average everyday stuff, I'm a

9:05

little bit of a whimp. I'm a little bit fearful.

9:08

Out of my loving heart, sometimes

9:10

I go a little overboard. I'm not a helicopter parent

9:13

exactly, but I do

9:15

require bicycle helmets on

9:17

every bike ride, even

9:19

for Holly. And

9:22

I'm not saying you'll never catch me without a bicycle helmet,

9:24

but I will usually have on a bicycle helmet if you see me,

9:27

because the shield of faith will not stop me from

9:29

crushing my head on the pavement with the way some of

9:31

y'all drive.

9:32

So I need protection. Everybody say protection.

9:35

How funny thing about my kids is sometimes they confuse

9:38

my protection as punishment.

9:42

I remember clearly one.

9:43

Time we were on vacation and we were getting on our bikes

9:45

to ride, and Elijah was about thirteen, and I said,

9:47

where's your helmet? And he said,

9:49

Dad, do I really have to wear a helmet?

9:51

I'm thirteen. By the way,

9:54

happy birthday to my newest thirteen year old

9:56

Abigail Faith Thirday.

9:57

Today is her birthday.

10:00

I said, today is her birthday.

10:03

I've now got three teenagers.

10:06

Watch this beard go totally

10:08

gray over the next few weeks.

10:10

All right.

10:12

So when he turned thirteen, of Liife just said, do I really

10:14

have to wear a helmet? And I said, yeah, you really

10:16

have to wear a helmet? And

10:18

he said, and I quote, but

10:20

Dad, you're ruining my

10:23

fit. He

10:26

had exactly dressed the way he wanted and then

10:29

the helmet clashed.

10:29

With the with

10:32

something that he was wearing. He said, you're

10:34

running my fit.

10:37

I said, son, I don't know if I said it this eloquently,

10:39

but I tried to convey this thought.

10:42

I'm not worried about your fit. I'm

10:45

worried about your future.

10:47

I would like you to live more

10:50

than I would like you to look good. Somebody

10:53

say amen, because I'm

10:56

really not talking about bicycle helmets

10:58

right now. I'm

11:00

talking about God, our father,

11:03

who is never against us, who

11:07

is always for us. But

11:09

sometimes what he wants for you

11:12

is so much greater than what you want for

11:15

you. Because God

11:17

thinks legacy while

11:19

you think lunch. God

11:23

thinks destiny while you

11:25

think desire.

11:27

What do I want right now?

11:29

God knows what he's walking you into,

11:31

and so sometimes while you are so worried

11:34

about messing up your fit, God

11:37

is trying to protect your

11:39

future. Therefore, we

11:41

cannot assume that when we say God

11:44

is not against me, somebody say it, God.

11:46

Is not against me.

11:48

We cannot assume that that means that God

11:50

will always be in complete agreement

11:53

with us, any more

11:55

than I allowed Elijah to take off this helmet

11:57

so it didn't clash with his shoes. This

12:01

is so important as we understand

12:03

the context of the scripture that I read you. Because

12:07

God has a prophet named Jeremiah.

12:09

Everybody say Jeremiah.

12:11

I'll probably have you talked back to me a little bit more

12:14

today than normal, just to make sure that this story,

12:17

which is unfamiliar, really

12:19

gets in your heart before we finish

12:22

it today. Jeremiah,

12:24

of course, was a priest who ministered

12:27

to the southern Kingdom of Judah just before

12:29

they were destroyed, and they were

12:31

destroyed because of their disobedience.

12:33

I want to point that out.

12:35

They were destroyed not because it was their

12:37

destiny, but because

12:39

they were disobedient. You

12:41

ever notice how a lot of things that we

12:44

call destiny, really,

12:48

if we look at it, dissect it and

12:50

take it for what it is, and don't

12:52

deny it, Really, what we call destiny

12:54

sometimes was a series

12:57

of decisions that we made,

13:00

and looking back at it, we say,

13:02

that's just the way it happened, that's just

13:04

the way it went, that's just the way it

13:06

unfolded, and there was nothing I could do. And yet

13:09

throughout the Book of Jeremiah we

13:11

see that what we call destiny

13:13

is a collection of.

13:14

Decisions in many ways.

13:17

In many ways, Jeremiah

13:19

exists to turn the nation back to God,

13:22

but knowing that they would not turn back to

13:24

God, God sends

13:26

him as a warning.

13:28

And then after.

13:30

They are taken captive into Babylonian

13:32

exile. And I know I'm covering a lot, but I have to, because

13:34

you have to understand why Jeremiah

13:36

is in this pit.

13:37

When we pick up in verse.

13:39

Six, Really, Jeremiah's

13:41

words did not accomplish

13:43

the purpose that he intended them to accomplish.

13:47

Therefore, it would be easy to assume that

13:50

he failed. Yet he did not

13:52

fail.

13:53

And the Bible says that as

13:55

he prophesied and told

13:57

the people, you know, you really do

13:59

need to surren and turn back to God.

14:01

In this particular case, he was telling them

14:04

you need to just go ahead and go

14:06

along with what God is doing. In

14:09

this particular instance, God was

14:11

sending the Babylonians

14:13

to take his people captive for

14:15

a season to bring

14:18

them back to him for a greater

14:20

purpose in the future. God

14:23

is allowing something in

14:25

their life in order to bring

14:27

them into alignment with Him

14:30

for their future. Sometimes

14:33

what God allows is for

14:35

alignment. And when God

14:37

sees your life getting out of alignment

14:40

with the word that He has spoken and

14:42

the purpose that He desires to achieve,

14:45

he will allow something in your life,

14:48

even if it feels like an attack. God

14:51

will use the attack of the enemy

14:54

to bring you into alignment with himself.

15:00

Tell me he won't do that.

15:02

Tell me he won't make you put your bicycle helmet

15:04

on and take your phone if you want,

15:06

because He'd rather take your phone than for you to crush

15:09

your skull. And

15:11

I know this isn't what you expected when we

15:13

started, because I said.

15:15

God is not against me,

15:19

and yet I'm telling you that God

15:22

is against some of the things

15:24

that hurt you.

15:28

God is not against you. But

15:31

he is against some of the fake

15:33

stuff that

15:36

you call you, that

15:38

is not you, that rots

15:41

you and robs you of

15:44

what he calls you. Now,

15:49

now, Jeremiah kept coming to the

15:51

king and saying, I'm telling you

15:53

you need to go with what God is doing.

15:55

You should have turned earlier.

15:57

You didn't.

15:57

But now if you just surrender, God will say

16:00

you and they still won't surrender. And

16:02

so these these these four officials, these

16:04

these four cronies of the king, the cabinet

16:06

of the king, uh, the the guys

16:09

who tell him what he wants to hear. They say, you need to throw

16:11

Jeremiah. You need to deal with Jeremiah. Lock

16:13

Jeremiah up.

16:14

Let's put him in a cistern.

16:16

Let's find one of those things that holds water, and

16:18

let's let's throw him in there so he will shut

16:20

up. He's discouraging everybody

16:23

because he's preaching negativity. He

16:25

wasn't preaching negativity. He

16:27

was preaching repentance. And

16:33

repentance is

16:35

the process by

16:37

which, when you find

16:40

yourself in a pit, you

16:42

stop digging. That's

16:46

what repentance is. Repentance

16:49

is realizing, oh

16:51

I'm in a pit, maybe

16:54

I should stop digging, Touch

16:56

your neighbor and say stop digging. The

17:00

best strategy when you find yourself

17:02

in a pit of sin is

17:04

stop digging. And let me just say,

17:06

if I'm the only one here who came to church willing

17:08

to be honest and vulnerable and open today,

17:11

how many have ever found yourself

17:13

in a pit because of

17:15

your own sin?

17:23

Let's try that again.

17:24

How many of you have found yourself sinking

17:27

deeper and deeper into

17:30

something that God tried to get.

17:32

You to stop sooner?

17:37

How many of you waited until the consequence

17:40

has got so bad? How

17:45

many of you waited until the

17:47

pain became so severe?

17:50

How many of you.

17:51

Waited until the point where now

17:54

you have to pray three times as long

17:56

because now you've got ten times as many

17:58

issues. You just would have

18:00

said something when you started sinking.

18:06

God is not against

18:08

me.

18:11

He's always for me,

18:15

and he's always with me. He's

18:19

always with me, and

18:21

he's always for me.

18:23

So now we have to answer the big

18:25

question of Jeremiah thirty eight, verse six. Let's

18:28

go back to that scripture again, because now you're

18:30

really ready for it.

18:31

It says, so.

18:33

They took Jeremiah

18:35

and put him into the

18:37

cistern.

18:38

The cistern isn't very big in diameter,

18:41

only about.

18:41

Three feet, but then it has a bulb

18:44

at the bottom because it's fifteen feet deep,

18:47

and the deeper it goes, the wider it gets.

18:49

These cisterns were meant to collect rain water,

18:52

not human bodies, and yet

18:54

in the nation of Israel there was not much water

18:56

to be found. The Bible says there was only

18:59

mud in this cistern. Look

19:01

at it again. They lowered Jeremiah

19:04

by ropes into the cistern. It had

19:06

no water in it, only mud,

19:09

and Jeremiah sank

19:12

down.

19:13

Into the mud.

19:15

Which makes sense if Jeremiah

19:17

sinned.

19:19

I understand sinking when you

19:21

sin, because I've done it. I

19:23

understand sinking when you're bitter

19:26

because I've been it. I understand

19:28

sinking in an addiction because

19:30

I've dealt with that. I understand

19:32

sinking in my own dumb decisions.

19:35

How many of you have ever sunk in stupid.

19:38

It ain't even always sin. Sometimes you just

19:41

bought a time share. It's not necessarily

19:43

a Bible verse about that, but

19:46

nature reveals seven

19:54

hundred and sixty two months later, you're still

19:57

sinking, and you've been there

19:59

three days and it's got

20:01

roaches.

20:03

Now we must ask

20:05

the question.

20:07

If Jeremiah was

20:10

speaking for God, if

20:12

Jeremiah was serving

20:15

God.

20:16

And not sinning and

20:18

not stupid.

20:20

And we've all.

20:21

Sunk before because we sinned, And

20:23

we've all sunk before because we

20:25

were stupid. And when you are sinking

20:28

in sin, you repent. What

20:31

do you do when you are

20:33

sinking while

20:36

serving? This

20:39

is the question that I came

20:41

to have a conversation about today.

20:45

I'm serving God. I'm not saying I'm perfect,

20:48

but I'm serving God and

20:50

I'm sinking. It would surprise

20:53

you where some of my sermons come from.

20:55

It would because some of

20:57

my.

20:57

Sermons, if you asked me where I got them from, I

20:59

would I have to tell you, honestly, I

21:01

got it.

21:02

From the Mud. Touch somebody

21:04

next to you and say I got it from the Mud.

21:07

Yeah.

21:08

Yeah.

21:08

Some of my sermons that I preached to you,

21:10

I must be honest with you. They

21:12

came not because I was so high,

21:14

and not because I was so holy, and

21:17

not because I was so right, and not because

21:19

I was so righteous, and not because I was so brilliant,

21:21

and not because I was so bold. But

21:24

some of my sermons that I've preached to you. I

21:27

got them from a muddy place, muddy

21:30

messages. I know my boots

21:32

are clean at this moment, but some

21:35

of the stuff that I've walked through and that you've

21:37

walked through to be in your seat today

21:39

would surprise somebody.

21:41

Some of the messages that you get in your life

21:44

come from the mud. Some of the things you help

21:46

people with are from the hell that you've

21:48

been through that you don't want anybody else

21:50

to go through, And so you tell them

21:52

I've been through this hell, so.

21:54

I could hand you this helmet so

21:56

I can tell you.

21:58

I said, called a callback, Remember the hell from the

22:00

bicycle.

22:01

Remember when he was mad because I made him wear

22:03

the helmet, But I told him, I don't.

22:05

Want you to have to go through hell when

22:07

you could just put on this helmet.

22:09

I don't want you to have to suffer the consequences

22:12

when you could just listen to God. I

22:14

don't want you to have to go through sixteen

22:16

sexual partners.

22:17

To find out that you can't get it.

22:19

From that, And after they're gone,

22:22

you're still left with you. And if

22:24

you can't be complete in Christ, nobody

22:26

can complete you.

22:28

See, you gotta get.

22:28

This from the mud.

22:34

The people who are praising God on this

22:37

point have been through something.

22:40

But people who are cute are still

22:43

not climbing out yet.

22:45

But when you've been stuck in something

22:48

and you finally.

22:49

Take a step out of it,

22:51

it'll make you jump up and holler. Look

22:54

how he lifted me with

22:56

nothing else could help, nothing

23:03

but mud in

23:06

the cistern and

23:08

Jeremiah, God's

23:11

man is in the mind. What

23:14

is God's man doing in the mud.

23:17

What is a prophet doing in a pit?

23:20

I thought if you worked for God, he would work

23:22

it out for you, working through me.

23:27

I thought God was fighting for you, So shouldn't

23:30

Jeremiah thirty eight, verse six read Duslie.

23:34

So they took Jeremiah

23:36

and.

23:37

Tried to put him into.

23:39

The cistern, but the angel

23:41

Gabriel grabbed him by the throat

23:44

and said, touch not mine anointed.

23:51

So this one I'm learning because I talk

23:53

to people who love Christ and have cancer.

23:58

Because I talked to people who raised their kids I You're

24:00

an admonition of the Lord, and their kids still went buck

24:02

wild crazy, never wore a helmet.

24:06

I could say other stuff, but I

24:08

pray for me. I feel unfiltered right now.

24:10

I don't want this message to get so muddy

24:13

that you missed the heart of it. And

24:16

the point of it is you can do everything

24:19

right and things still go wrong. I

24:25

release every parent

24:28

of the parental guilt that says if

24:31

you would have put them in the special school when they

24:33

were two and a half years old, if

24:36

you would have taught them Spanish by the time

24:38

they were four, they

24:40

would have been doctors.

24:42

They would have been the president. First

24:44

of all, they can't be the president till they're over eighty.

24:47

Apparently, I

24:51

told you it's getting money,

24:54

it's getting muddy. This

24:57

is the dirty version I guess today. Yeah,

25:10

it's good to be back home. You

25:12

can't say this kind of stuff just anywhere.

25:15

I can't talk like this.

25:16

In Philadelphia.

25:22

We're talking about Jeremiah,

25:25

God's man in the Mud, God's

25:28

man in the Mud.

25:30

And notice how I said that he sank

25:33

down into the mud.

25:34

Now, I'm just going to minister this for a moment,

25:36

because it seems to me very important. Strong

25:41

people sink. Strong

25:46

people sink, and if we

25:48

want to get really technical about it, the

25:51

more weighty the

25:53

object, the

25:56

more quickly and deeply

25:59

it sinks. Strong

26:01

anointing means strong attacks.

26:09

Now I see why he was sinking because

26:11

he was saying something. Now

26:14

I see why he was under attack because

26:18

he was valuable. Now

26:20

I see why he was under attack because.

26:22

He had an assignment.

26:24

Do you understand that about your life,

26:27

that your assignment to glorify

26:29

God, your assignment to shine a light for Christ,

26:31

your assignment to make a difference in

26:34

the lives of others, will sometimes cause you to

26:36

sink. So,

26:40

then full disclosure, God is not

26:42

against me. He's in it with me, working through me. Fighting

26:44

for me was written by

26:47

me one

26:49

morning driving to

26:51

this church to preach to

26:53

this congregation whom I love, and

26:57

the anxiety of standing

26:59

up to preach will often create

27:01

in me a fear that I have nothing to say

27:03

and I'm not worthy to say it. One

27:06

morning, as I drove up to the church, I

27:08

begin to say to myself, God,

27:12

I thank you today that

27:15

you are working through me

27:17

as I preach, and that

27:19

you want me to do a good job. In

27:23

that amazing thought, why

27:26

would I even have to tell myself that? Well, let

27:28

me tell you. The reason

27:30

I have to say, God is not against me. He's in

27:32

it with me, working through me, fighting for me, is

27:35

because just because God doesn't ever

27:37

line up against me. Just because

27:40

God is not against me doesn't

27:42

mean that nobody else is.

27:46

There have been times in my life.

27:47

And ministry where people have uttered an unkind

27:49

word or two in my direction.

27:54

Therefore, if you are not intentional, you will begin

27:56

to assimilate the hatred of peoples,

28:00

of people, the opposition of

28:02

people, or even the trials

28:05

of your life, and you will begin

28:07

to think that since they are like that, and

28:11

since life is like that, God

28:13

is not like that. When

28:16

we say God is not against me, perhaps

28:20

it seems to you unnecessary.

28:21

Perhaps you've never had the thought that God was

28:23

against you. But

28:25

is it possible that.

28:27

While confessing God is for

28:29

me, that life

28:32

is coming against you in a way that

28:35

is making you wonder, if

28:38

God is with me, why

28:40

is there only mud.

28:43

In this pit.

28:46

I don't know if you noticed, but

28:49

the one thing that was never mentioned in the chapter that

28:51

I read you was the presence

28:53

of God. It

28:57

does not say that Jeremy

29:00

I was thrown into the pit, but God was with him in the pit.

29:02

It says that about Joseph in prison and the Old Testament,

29:04

But this is a little different.

29:05

This is one of.

29:06

Those moments where Jeremiah must have been thinking

29:09

as he was sinking, where

29:12

are you God? We know that he thought

29:14

this way because in the Book of Lamentations,

29:17

I mean, think about the name of that book. Jeremiah

29:19

wrote that book lament It

29:22

means to grief, it means

29:24

the question. And

29:26

in that book as well as the book that bears

29:28

his name, many times he would speak the word

29:30

of the Lord, but he would also question

29:35

within himself, God,

29:37

if I'm your man, what's

29:40

up with this mud? This

29:43

is his third imprisonment for preaching the word

29:45

of the Lord.

29:47

God.

29:47

If I'm your servant, why

29:50

am I in this cistern? God,

29:53

you called me to be a prophet. You

29:56

told me before I was born

29:58

that you knew me in a point to me. And

30:02

yet he's learning, as we

30:04

all must learn, that just

30:06

because you are appointed doesn't

30:09

mean you'll never be attacked.

30:13

I'm gonna say it again.

30:15

I know you don't want to wear this helmet, but

30:18

I don't want your head to crash on the

30:20

pavement that you think

30:22

just because you have a purpose and a promise

30:25

from God that there will be no

30:27

pits. Because if

30:29

I preach this, but I don't

30:31

tell you about the pitstops on

30:34

the way to purpose. You

30:36

will smash, you will splatter,

30:39

you will smudge, you will stop,

30:41

You will feel stuck.

30:42

In the moments when the feeling goes away.

30:46

And yet the time to sing, God

30:49

is not against me.

30:50

That's pretty good.

30:52

God is not against

30:54

me.

30:55

The time to sing it.

30:57

Is not when you see it.

31:03

Let me tell you when you need to sing, God

31:06

is not against me.

31:08

Singing a minute.

31:09

God is not against

31:11

me.

31:12

Sing it when you're

31:15

sinking. Sing

31:19

it when you're

31:21

sinking. Tell your neighbor.

31:23

Sing it the next

31:25

time you sink. So

31:28

this is how it's gonna work in your life. When

31:30

you start to sink into the pit

31:33

of your own problems. When you start

31:35

to sink, God feel annointed to help somebody

31:38

up today. I see you've been sinking.

31:40

I see you've been going down in it. I see

31:42

you've been going back to past habits that are beneath

31:44

you. I see you've been going into memories

31:47

that you need to leave in a room.

31:48

But they keep coming out.

31:49

I see you keep going into self pity. I

31:51

see you keep going into old ways of processing.

31:54

I see you keep going into despair. I

31:56

see it keep going into suicidal thoughts.

31:59

I see it keep going back to toxic relationships.

32:02

I see it keep going back to the things that break

32:04

your heart. I see it keep going back to the

32:06

things that pulled you. I'll see it keep going

32:08

back to the things that offer you temporary relief.

32:11

And I see you sinking, but

32:13

I see you singing as

32:16

you're sinking.

32:18

Love lifted me.

32:26

They doesn't mean

32:28

I won't sink. It means

32:30

I won't stay there. Yeah,

32:35

I was about to look for my band. I didn't know if y'

32:38

went to sleep on me.

32:40

But high five somebody and say I'm sinking,

32:42

but I'm singing.

32:45

Please do not let our songs.

32:48

Confuse you into thinking that we

32:50

never sink. Of course, we have

32:53

low moments. It's called human

32:55

experience. It's called being

32:57

born of a woman. It's called having

32:59

a name. Sure that was given to us by

33:02

Adam, but was redeemed by Christ.

33:05

And when I was sinking,

33:07

he reached down and rescued

33:10

me.

33:12

I need somebody.

33:13

Who's been rescued to

33:15

get up and rejoice

33:19

that he rescued you. Then

33:22

we're getting there. We're getting

33:24

there.

33:25

We're getting there, We're getting

33:27

there, We're getting there. I'm

33:31

not rejoicing because the enemy never

33:34

resisted me. I'm rejoicing

33:37

because when he resisted me, God

33:39

rescued me.

33:45

And it is never mentioned. Y'all

33:47

sit down, let me teach.

33:49

It is never mentioned in

33:52

this scripture that God

33:54

intervened.

33:54

But I'm gonna show you something. Who Thank

33:57

you, Jesus. Thank you Jesus.

33:59

Never write up it before went to cemetery

34:01

seminary, went to Bible training school.

34:07

You never ride a bouttle.

34:09

I read about Jeremiah,

34:11

but look what happened.

34:11

When he was sinking.

34:12

And this is what's happening in your life right now, whether you realize or not, whether

34:14

you see it or not, whether you feel it or not, whether you believe it.

34:16

Right now, you're just sing i' HIPing peopleup because I got to gi himdenergy.

34:18

And that's what I do on Sunday morning. That's not this what I do on Sunday

34:20

morning. This is what I do on Monday morning. This is what I do on

34:22

Tuesday morning. This is what I'm do on Wednesday morning.

34:24

This is what I'm doing out in my own.

34:26

Money moment so I can encourage myself

34:29

in the law.

34:31

Why y'all looking at me like you work security.

34:37

You look suspicious of this, and

34:39

yet I am telling you that

34:42

I sink.

34:44

Safety.

34:44

Steve is also.

34:47

Sinking Steve, and

34:50

speaking Steve is

34:52

authoritative sinking.

34:55

Stephen has

34:57

to remember, no, no, no, he's

34:59

not against me. Life

35:01

is, trolls

35:03

are aging

35:06

is.

35:09

But God's note. You

35:11

know what Peter showed me in the New Testament. And then I'm about

35:14

to show you something that's gonna blow you away. Peter

35:16

showed me in Matthew,

35:18

chapter fourteen, verse thirty. I think I gave them the scripture.

35:20

Put it up there if I gave it to you, and y'all

35:22

clap if they put it up on the screen, Mathew.

35:24

But okay, I can say, right, Peter's

35:26

walking toward Jesus on the water.

35:27

Right, walking toward Jesus on the water. He has a path

35:30

toward purpose. Right, he has a path toward

35:32

purpose. And then all of a sudden he saw

35:34

the wind which

35:37

was against him,

35:39

and he was afraid and

35:42

beginning to sink. He

35:44

cried out, Lord save me. That's

35:47

the only verse you need for your sinking moments.

35:50

That's what you need. We'll

35:54

put it backup, put it back up. I'm not doing it yet. He

35:58

started sinking because of what he

36:00

saw. The wind was against him.

36:02

Sometimes what you see is against you, so you forget

36:04

what is in you that is for you, and

36:10

beginning to sink. So

36:13

Peter doesn't sound like this when he cries, don't go oh,

36:18

you're not gargling anything. I

36:20

don't even think he was up to his waist. He

36:23

said, oh, no, I'm not going all the way down there when

36:25

Jesus is right here.

36:28

I want you to get that.

36:28

Mentality about your day.

36:34

I'm not gonna do it after I drink, ain't ate

36:37

glasses. I'm gonna

36:39

cry out when I start to sink. I'm

36:43

not gonna do it after I've already gone off

36:45

on everybody in my phone and ruined all my

36:47

friendships.

36:49

When I start to sink. Put

36:51

it up one more time.

36:52

He started to sink, and

36:55

he said, what

36:58

do you say when you start

37:00

to sink?

37:04

God is not against

37:06

me. So you start to sink, the

37:10

wind is against you. Remind

37:13

yourself, God's not. God's

37:16

not. They

37:20

might be God's not. It

37:23

might be God's not.

37:26

Somebody say, God's not. If

37:30

every demon in Hell is against

37:32

you, I'm done with the verse. Now God's

37:34

not. God's

37:38

not done with you. God's

37:41

not fed up with you. God's

37:44

not gone. And I'll show you

37:46

this from Jeremiah thirty eight. Now we're

37:48

ready for Jeremiah thirty eight, verse seven. He

37:51

was sinking down

37:54

in the mud verse seven.

37:56

But yeah,

38:01

you missed a shout. Go

38:03

to verse six. We'll do it again.

38:05

I know, always catch up class. I've been going a

38:07

few weeks, so you don't have my rhythm right now.

38:10

Let's do it again. And he

38:12

sank down into

38:15

the mud.

38:17

But let's

38:21

do it again.

38:24

He sank down into

38:27

the mud. But I'm

38:33

not shouting about the mud. I'm

38:35

shouting about the butt. I'm

38:41

sinking into the

38:43

feeling of anxiety.

38:47

You got it.

38:49

I'm sinking into the old way of doing

38:51

it.

38:53

One of the best scriptures that you'll ever

38:55

see is we were dead in our transgressions

38:58

and sins.

38:59

But God, but

39:01

God.

39:03

And yet the Bible.

39:04

Doesn't mention God in this passage, does

39:06

it.

39:07

It says he was sinking

39:10

in the mud.

39:11

But Ebed Melic,

39:15

baby name possibility right

39:17

here, Ebed Melick,

39:20

your child will be the only one

39:22

in class raising their hand if

39:25

your name me bed Melic, Ebet

39:29

Melik, and eat.

39:31

The Olpion says here Kushite.

39:33

It also says.

39:34

A official in

39:36

the royal palace, but that's not specific enough. He

39:38

was a eunuch, a

39:41

eunuch who was brought

39:43

over as a slave and

39:46

was put in a position of service. In

39:49

fact, the word ebed melick.

39:52

Ebed means servant,

39:55

Melick means king. But

40:01

ibad Melick, that's

40:03

your cue.

40:04

Put it on the screen.

40:05

Voice, But Ibad

40:08

Melick a kushite, a

40:10

eunuch.

40:12

The eunuchs, when they were brought over to serve,

40:14

were castrated.

40:16

The Levinical law forbade

40:18

anyone who was.

40:19

Castrated from entering the assembly

40:21

of the Lord.

40:23

So I want you to get the preciousness

40:26

of this partnership and the unlikeliness

40:29

of this deliverance is that

40:31

a man from Ethiopia, who

40:34

was brought to a land that was being ravaged

40:36

by enemies, who was serving

40:38

a king who had no courage,

40:41

speaks up and steps

40:44

up as Jeremiah sinks

40:46

in a cistern in a pit, he

40:49

speaks up as a servant in the palace.

40:53

God is working in places you can't see.

40:56

God is working through people you don't know about.

41:00

God is working through people who you think don't

41:02

belong in that position.

41:04

I'm pointing it out to you because some

41:06

people have let you down. Maybe

41:08

some people have been like the men in this passage

41:11

who threw Jeremiah in the pit. Oh,

41:13

thanks a lot. I was just trying to help.

41:16

But while they were throwing him in the pit,

41:19

God was already preparing somebody

41:21

in the palace to steak up

41:24

on his behalf. So

41:26

I'm preaching this word to somebody who

41:28

feels forgotten. You are

41:30

not forgotten. God is just going

41:33

to use something foreign. I

41:36

said, God is going to use

41:38

something foreign.

41:42

Think how wild this is.

41:45

God needs somebody to move

41:47

to get Jeremiah out of the pit. Who

41:49

does he choose to use somebody

41:52

who wasn't even allowed to come worship.

41:57

You're gonna have to watch this message twice to get it,

42:01

because it's going to remind you that

42:05

no matter who betrays you, God's

42:08

always got a butt.

42:10

Ebed melick.

42:15

Yeah, let's pause and give.

42:17

Him praise.

42:20

For every ebed melic. And

42:29

he not only comes to the king, but

42:32

he confronts the king. This

42:34

kind of courage that you have when you know that

42:37

God is not against me,

42:41

but he's in it with me, working

42:43

through me, fighting

42:46

for me. Isn't

42:49

it amazing that you would

42:51

stand up to a king and

42:53

he is not even considered a

42:55

true worshiper, not by that

42:57

culture.

43:00

Is who he wants to use.

43:03

I want to talk to everybody who doesn't even have a high school education.

43:06

God uses who he wants to use. I

43:09

want to talk to everybody who's.

43:10

Had an abortion and people try to make you feel terrible

43:12

about it.

43:13

God uses who he wants to use, and he's

43:15

going to give you something in your future to help somebody.

43:17

And so let's turn those tears into testimony

43:20

so you can help somebody, so

43:23

you can hand somebody a helmet.

43:26

I want to speak to everybody who has

43:28

been.

43:28

Cast out, cast aside, cast graded

43:31

and left any

43:40

crazy, that the one who was

43:42

left out is the one who lifted up.

43:48

Sinking in loneliness.

43:50

Right now, Oh,

43:52

but Ebed Melick, I've

43:54

been spending time with this guy all week.

43:57

The more I studied them, the

43:59

more I touched me. What he did?

44:03

He heard they put Jeremiah into the cistern,

44:06

and the king is sitting in the gate. Now, I want

44:08

to point something out. The King is in the palace,

44:11

Jeremiah is in the pit. God

44:13

is not with the king. God

44:16

is with Jeremiah.

44:18

No, no, no, get this, get this, get this. The

44:22

palace does not prove God's presence.

44:26

The pit does not prove his absence.

44:32

Stop looking at the circumstances.

44:34

Every time you get out there, you go, well, it must not be

44:37

God's will. It didn't work out, well, it must not be

44:39

God's will. It's really hard. Well, it must not be

44:41

working. We've all felt that way. But

44:44

if you're serving while you're sinking,

44:46

and if you're sinking

44:48

while you're serving, know that God has

44:50

an Ebed Melick position

44:54

in the palace. Verse eight. Ebed

44:56

Melick went out of the palace and

44:59

said to him, my lord the King,

45:01

these men have acted wickedly, and all they've done

45:03

to Jeremiah the prophet, this is not right.

45:06

They've thrown him into a cistern.

45:08

He will starve to death when there's

45:10

no longer any bread in the city. And the king commanded

45:13

he bed Melik the Kushai, all right, take

45:16

thirty men from here with you. Thirty

45:21

this is overkill. He

45:23

be Melick, like, I don't really need thirty. No, take

45:26

thirty, Take thirty.

45:28

Here's what I want to prophesy. When God

45:30

does lift you out, there is

45:32

going to be more than enough strength

45:35

to do it. Yeah,

45:39

I'll tell you why God

45:42

is a show off.

45:44

God wants to show his glory.

45:47

God sends thirty men for a task that

45:49

three could handle them. But

45:51

not only do they have extra resource, not only

45:54

does God have more than enough power to

45:56

pull you out of the pit, but

45:58

the Bible says he told him to take

46:00

a rope and go down

46:02

there and get him out of the cistern

46:04

before he dies. In other words,

46:07

he's sinking, but he's

46:10

not all the way sunk. He's

46:12

sinking, but something stopped

46:14

him from sinking.

46:16

Did you ever.

46:16

Wonder why God still

46:18

left you here after all you've been through. Did

46:21

you ever wonder why what came

46:23

against you didn't take you totally out?

46:26

I believe it's.

46:27

Because God has something more for

46:29

you that he wants to do through

46:31

you. After

46:33

all, we were singing a minute

46:35

ago. He's in it with me, working

46:38

through me. And I want to ask

46:40

the question today, not only what

46:43

do you need to be lifted out of, but

46:46

who have you lifted lately? Maybe

46:51

God put you in a position to

46:54

lift somebody. Did

46:56

you ever think about the fact that

46:59

maybe the reason you're in your

47:01

pit is because

47:03

you won't lift anybody else out of theirs.

47:11

I want God to be in my pit with me.

47:14

But what if he is using

47:16

me to visit somebody else in

47:19

their pit. I want you to

47:21

start using everything you go through for God's

47:23

glory. The moment something bad

47:25

starts happening to you, I want you to

47:27

go on a counterattack. I want you

47:29

to say that if the enemy is gonna come against

47:31

me, he's gonna learn that it's gonna cost him a little bit.

47:35

So every time you discourage me, devil,

47:39

just know I'm gonna send three texts

47:41

to encourage somebody else.

47:44

Or you want some Oh,

47:46

you want some.

47:48

You want to put me.

47:49

Down in the pit?

47:51

Wants me lift somebody else up?

47:54

With the strength I do have, with

47:56

the gift I do have, with the

47:59

skill I do have, with the

48:01

life I do have, with the opportunity

48:04

I do have. I thought

48:06

somebody and say I came to lift you up.

48:10

If you don't have faith, borrow mind, if

48:12

you don't have joy, borrow mind, you.

48:15

Can surf on my way for a little while.

48:17

You might be going through something, So

48:19

hitch on.

48:20

To me and let's get out of this pit

48:22

to get up. I'm

48:27

looking for a lifter in this house,

48:31

an unlikely lifter. You've

48:33

been through help, but you're praying for

48:35

other people.

48:39

You're trying to hold.

48:40

Your own life together, but

48:42

you're a source of comfort.

48:44

After all.

48:44

The famine was affecting the bed Melick too, and

48:48

he found the strength to lift

48:50

Jeremiah.

48:52

And I got to show you one more thing because

48:55

when I rean in, I thought, what a

48:57

beautiful story.

49:00

How sometimes life

49:02

puts us in a pit, and

49:04

we don't always feel God's presence.

49:06

In a pit.

49:07

And sometimes when

49:09

God sends a person to bring us out of our

49:11

pit, we don't recognize

49:13

him.

49:16

It's not what we expected.

49:19

And I thought, that's a great story, because everybody in

49:21

here either needs to be more

49:23

like Jeremiah and don't

49:26

die in the pit, or

49:28

be more like Ebed Melick and

49:30

come get somebody out of a pit. And

49:35

the Lord said, and he didn't say it like this, but the

49:37

Lord said, dummy,

49:40

how did he do it? And

49:43

I read about

49:45

the ropes It

49:48

said that the King told him take thirty men from here and lift

49:50

Jeremiah of the systern before he dies, and Ebed Melick

49:52

took them in with him verse eleven, and

49:54

went to a room under the treasury in the palace, and he took

49:56

some old rags and worn out clothes from there and let them

49:58

down with ropes to Jeremiah

50:02

in the cistern.

50:02

Now you're Jeremiah.

50:06

You've been sinking, you've been starving,

50:09

and something starts coming down into the cistern,

50:12

and you've been down here and you've

50:14

been wondering.

50:15

Am I done?

50:16

And we can all relate to this, even if not this extreme

50:19

example, that we are the prophet of God to the nation

50:21

in the time.

50:21

Of backsliding and wickedness. We

50:24

can relate to these moments.

50:27

In the pit where we do not feel

50:29

sense or discern the presence

50:31

of God, and all of a sudden

50:35

here comes the rope. But

50:38

not yet, for the Bible

50:40

says in verse eleven that e bed Melick took them

50:42

in with him, and on his way to the

50:44

cistern, he has to make a

50:46

pit stop.

50:48

Wat watch off. He

50:51

stops by the.

50:52

Treasury in the palace, And

50:55

if you're one of the thirty men with him, you are thinking, no

50:57

doubt, Oh, he's going to get some gold

51:00

or some silver, and we're going to

51:02

buy Jeremiah out of the pit. But

51:04

look at verse eleven. He doesn't go into

51:07

the room where the riches are. The

51:10

Bible says, he went to a room under

51:12

the treasury. The treasury is

51:15

where the valuables were stored. The

51:17

treasury was the room that accessed

51:20

all of the spices and all of the relics,

51:22

and all of the valuables and

51:24

all of the memorials.

51:27

He doesn't go in that room.

51:29

He went to a room under

51:32

the treasury in the palace,

51:35

a room that he knew how to get into.

51:39

What kind of room is this?

51:40

And why are we stopping on our way to a rescue

51:44

to go into a room under

51:46

the treasury?

51:48

So he stops. He

51:52

goes into a

51:54

room,

51:57

and he emerges sometime

52:00

later with an

52:02

unexpected resource. Because

52:07

this room under the treasury

52:10

is not where they kept the riches.

52:13

That's where they kept the

52:15

rags. And

52:19

on his way to rescue Jeremiah,

52:23

God's man in the mud, who

52:25

has been sinking and starving and can't spare

52:28

another second.

52:29

Put the verse up, please. He

52:31

goes into the room.

52:33

And took some old

52:35

rags, some

52:38

old rags and worn

52:40

out clothes from.

52:41

There, and he let them

52:43

down with ropes.

52:46

To Jeremiah in the

52:48

sister and verse twelve

52:50

says the welcome voice of he Bed Melick echoed

52:52

and said to Jeremiah, put these old

52:54

rags and worn out clothes under

52:57

your arms. Jeremiah, we've

53:00

come to help you. I'm

53:02

Ebed Mellick. I'm

53:05

an Ethiopian. I'm

53:07

not the kind of person that you're used to. But

53:10

God has put me in a position, and

53:13

he.

53:13

Heard your prayers. And

53:15

we're here, Jeremiah.

53:17

And I got thirty of my boys,

53:21

and we're about to get you out of this pit.

53:24

I said, we're about to get you out of this pit. Jeremiah.

53:28

We're about to get you out of this pit. We

53:31

got enough power to do it.

53:34

We've got a.

53:34

Heart to do it. It's the purpose

53:37

we came here for. But Jeremiah

53:39

verse twelve, Please, Jeremiah,

53:42

before we pull.

53:43

You out of this pit, put

53:46

these rags under

53:48

your arms, and put these

53:50

clothes under your arms.

53:53

I know they're old, I

53:55

know they're worn out.

53:58

But I brought you something, Jeremiah,

54:02

that you didn't expect. But

54:04

I'm gonna drop it to you now. I'm

54:07

going to drop you these rags before

54:11

I drop you this rope

54:14

I'm going to These rags came from our house.

54:18

I was on my way out this morning,

54:21

and before I came to preach to you, it

54:24

crossed my mind to make.

54:25

A pitstop because

54:28

I wanted to.

54:28

Stand in this sermon in the moment and

54:31

speak to everybody who's waiting

54:33

for the ropes to come, waiting

54:37

for the ropes to pull you out, and

54:40

knowing that God has the

54:42

power to pull you out of it,

54:45

every stronghold, every

54:47

wicked thing, every low

54:49

place, every spiritual

54:52

demonic force that is pulling you down.

54:55

God is greater than the gravity of that, and

54:58

he asked the power to pull you out. But

55:01

I heard the voice of Ebed Melick saying,

55:05

before you grab those ropes,

55:09

I.

55:09

Want to give you these rags.

55:12

And I know they don't look like much, and

55:16

I know you don't see the purpose in them. And

55:20

I know that this is something that normally people would

55:22

throw away. But Jeremiah,

55:26

I brought you a rope,

55:29

and I brought you some rags.

55:32

The rags always

55:34

come before the rope.

55:40

The rags

55:44

always come before

55:46

the rope.

55:48

And I'm saying this because you've been in a

55:50

pit praying for God to provide

55:53

for you, and he is. He's

55:57

given you rags right now, Jeremiah,

56:02

I'm gonna drop these rags.

56:04

I work in the treasury, and

56:06

I know about.

56:07

A secret room where they keep the old cloths

56:10

and the old rags and the

56:12

discarded clothes.

56:14

And I came to bring you something.

56:16

That people would throw away,

56:19

but that God is going to use so

56:23

that when I drop this rope,

56:26

it will not kill you. So

56:29

that when I drop this rope,

56:32

when I pull you out of this pit, when

56:35

you take these rags and

56:37

put them under your arms, when

56:39

the ropes pull you up, when

56:42

the ropes bring you out, because

56:44

of the rags that I'm dropping now, the

56:47

ropes are going to do what they're supposed to

56:49

do. If I didn't give you

56:51

the rags, you couldn't handle

56:54

the ropes. So you're praying

56:56

for ropes. But God has given

56:58

you rags. And it is the

57:01

same hand of

57:03

Almighty God. It

57:06

is Jesus Christ, the

57:09

Alpha, the Omega,

57:12

the lamb of God is

57:15

the lion. The

57:19

one who wore

57:22

the rags is

57:24

the one who holds the

57:27

rope. And I'm telling you this right

57:29

now because I see God dropping

57:31

stuff into your pit, dropping

57:34

stuff you took for granted, I don't

57:36

even know what's in this basket, but God

57:38

does, and God is sending it, and

57:40

God is giving it, and God is supplying

57:43

it, and God is answering, and

57:45

God is giving, and God is supplying,

57:48

and God is saying, when you take

57:50

those rags that look like

57:52

nothing, and you'll get ready for

57:54

what I'm about to do. When

57:56

I say, three, Jeremiah.

58:00

Pull you up out of every

58:02

can.

58:03

I'm to pull you up.

58:05

Oudam generation poverty about

58:08

to pull you up out of despair

58:11

on bree Let's.

58:13

Praise him for the rags.

58:15

What dude, free

58:18

the rash, for

58:23

the rags, for

58:27

the rags.

58:32

The rag is not the rope. The rag is what

58:35

gets you ready for it. And

58:38

I feel God getting somebody

58:40

ready for your next

58:42

season, your next assignment,

58:45

your next endeavor, your next

58:47

moment, your next move. That's

58:54

the message of

58:56

the Gospel, not

58:59

rags to rich, but

59:01

rags to righteous.

59:06

Because he became sin who

59:11

knew no sin Romans

59:15

five twenty one.

59:16

I hear you calling me, he became

59:18

sin who knew no sin.

59:22

He dropped his rags that

59:25

I might become righteous.

59:29

And I speak today by

59:32

the spirit of God that

59:34

the thing you've been overlooking. That's

59:37

your rag, the

59:39

thing that you've been waiting for it to be over.

59:42

That's your preparation, the

59:45

thing that you've been praying God to take away.

59:48

That's how he's getting you ready.

59:51

And when you're ready, here,

59:53

calm the ropes here,

59:56

Calm the ropes here, calm

59:59

the Roman.

1:00:01

Touch. Three people say, here come the ropes and

1:00:08

the rose wrapped

1:00:11

in. And you say, but, Beessor Stephen,

1:00:14

I have no e bed Melick.

1:00:17

Oh, you haven't met him yet. Be

1:00:20

means servant, Melick

1:00:22

means king. Have you

1:00:24

not met the servant king?

1:00:29

Have you not met our Emanuel?

1:00:33

Have you not met the one who

1:00:35

laid aside his crown is king

1:00:39

and wrapped himself in the

1:00:41

rags of flesh

1:00:43

to.

1:00:43

Make you righteous? You

1:00:46

haven't e beed Melick. His

1:00:48

name is Jesus.

1:00:51

For every pit you've ever been in, Jesus

1:00:55

was my ebed Melick.

1:00:57

Jesus was my fourth man. Jesus

1:01:00

as my rescuer. Jesus

1:01:02

dropped these.

1:01:03

Rags and

1:01:10

washed my feet and

1:01:12

made me righteous.

1:01:15

I'm speaking to everybody today who's in

1:01:17

a pit, and I

1:01:19

want you to watch.

1:01:22

For the rags.

1:01:24

To the rescue it's

1:01:27

going to be the rags. Do you understand

1:01:29

what I'm saying to you. It's gonna be

1:01:32

that. You're like, but I don't want that. I want to

1:01:34

rope and God's like, this will

1:01:37

get you ready for that. And

1:01:40

if it's not that, it's this. So

1:01:43

take this sin.

1:01:44

Get ready because the ropes

1:01:46

are coming. The ropes are coming.

1:01:49

The ropes are coming. The ropes are coming.

1:01:51

The ropes are coming. The ropes are coming.

1:01:53

The ropes are coming.

1:01:55

He has the power to

1:01:59

pull me out. What

1:02:02

you're gonna do with these rags? I

1:02:05

know what I'm gonna do.

1:02:07

I learned it from Proverbs twenty

1:02:10

four to sixteen. The

1:02:12

Bible says that

1:02:14

the righteous may fall

1:02:17

seven times.

1:02:21

I might be in the mud seven

1:02:23

times, but

1:02:25

they rise again,

1:02:29

they rise again,

1:02:32

they rise again.

1:02:35

So chid to God.

1:02:37

I just wanted to encourage your heart that

1:02:41

God is.

1:02:42

Not against you. He's

1:02:45

in it with you.

1:02:46

He's working through you, He's

1:02:49

fighting for you. Somebody

1:02:51

shout, God is not against me. God

1:02:54

is not against me.

1:02:56

Now high five.

1:02:57

Everybody you can reach us, say help us on the

1:02:59

way.

1:03:03

He'll got the rocks, He'll.

1:03:06

Come the eyes.

1:03:07

So the cat

1:03:11

he's sitting with.

1:03:12

Me working through working

1:03:15

threw me, fight and fall hay,

1:03:17

call.

1:03:17

Me God, it's not a catte.

1:03:21

He's hitting with me.

1:03:24

He's working, droning aroundy.

1:03:26

Baddy, you already for me.

1:03:29

He's got that's all get ready already

1:03:32

he's.

1:03:32

Hitting with me. Tell my working

1:03:35

through you already there fdny

1:03:38

fock.

1:03:38

We got all this out cast

1:03:40

me. He'll pull you out. He's hitting

1:03:43

it with me.

1:03:44

Don't want the help.

1:03:45

Work and threw me.

1:03:46

I'm gonna try not for.

1:03:49

You're body cat he com he's

1:03:53

sitting with me. I'm so holdly

1:03:55

work you threw me and come,

1:03:58

series of men. He's

1:04:00

not a Cassie. Lift

1:04:02

alof you with me, Lift

1:04:05

about my.

1:04:07

Left.

1:04:07

That the day love me guy,

1:04:10

he's not the.

1:04:11

Day offhe.

1:04:13

He's doing with me.

1:04:16

You're working roomy. He's

1:04:18

fighting for me.

1:04:20

God, he's not Cassy.

1:04:23

He's in it with me. Ready

1:04:27

for me,

1:04:30

God, I gusty.

1:04:34

Bow your head, close your eyes,

1:04:38

say thank you Jesus.

1:04:40

For being in this pit with

1:04:43

me. Oh,

1:04:46

your presence is wonderful.

1:04:48

Lord, even

1:04:50

more intensified when we don't feel it.

1:04:52

You are the God of

1:04:56

rags to

1:04:59

righteousness.

1:05:01

Thank you for what you've done in our lives. Thank

1:05:04

you for cleansing us. Now

1:05:06

I want to pray for somebody who

1:05:09

needs to receive.

1:05:09

The gift of.

1:05:11

Jesus Christ, the gift of salvation.

1:05:13

It is a gift you can't

1:05:15

earn it.

1:05:16

In fact, the Bible says that our own righteousness

1:05:19

is like filthy rags.

1:05:22

So that means you don't sit.

1:05:23

Here and say, Okay, God, I'm gonna get my life together.

1:05:25

I'm gonna be better. I'm gonna stop cussing, I'm gonna stop

1:05:27

drinking, I'm gonna stop doing all the bad stuff. No stop,

1:05:30

you're just gonna sink deeper thinking that way.

1:05:33

You need an ey beed Melick to rescue you.

1:05:36

You need a strong arm, you

1:05:39

need a God. You need a savior. Right

1:05:41

now, in this moment, the savior of the world

1:05:44

is in this place, wherever you are.

1:05:46

I'm not saying just this room. I'm saying wherever

1:05:48

you are.

1:05:49

God knows how to go into the rag room of your

1:05:51

life and turn it into something wonderful.

1:05:54

Right now, I want to pray for those who need to give your

1:05:56

life to Jesus for the first time, or

1:05:59

you need to recommit your life to trusting in

1:06:01

His grace, repent of your sin, turn.

1:06:04

To Him and live and

1:06:06

live. I'm going to lead you in a prayer

1:06:08

right now.

1:06:09

We're going to pray it out loud for the benefit of

1:06:11

all those who are coming to God for the

1:06:13

first time, are coming back to him. You

1:06:15

pray this prayer, and God will lift you

1:06:18

from the pit. You pray this prayer. God

1:06:20

will hear from heaven. He will turn

1:06:22

you around. This is your moment,

1:06:24

and you know it.

1:06:25

Repeat after me, Church, family, Heavenly

1:06:27

Father. Today is my

1:06:29

day. I humble myself

1:06:33

that you may lift me up.

1:06:35

I believe that Jesus Christ

1:06:39

is the Son of God and the

1:06:41

Savior of the world. And

1:06:43

today I make Jesus

1:06:46

the lord of my life.

1:06:48

I repent of my sin.

1:06:50

I believe Jesus died

1:06:53

that I would be forgiven and

1:06:56

rose again to give

1:06:58

me life. Receive

1:07:01

this new life. This is

1:07:04

my new beginning. On the count

1:07:06

of three, shoot your hand up. If you prayed that one,

1:07:09

two, three, shoot him up all over the room,

1:07:11

shoot him up.

1:07:13

God, bless it, God,

1:07:16

bless it. Beautiful, a

1:07:19

beautiful thing online.

1:07:21

Just say in the chat I received Jesus, I received.

1:07:23

From un Let's clap our hands all over the room.

1:07:27

Let's retoic us all over the room, gloy.

1:07:29

To God, hallelujah.

1:07:33

But wow,

1:07:38

say it. He's in it with me, working

1:07:41

through me, fighting

1:07:43

for me. Hug. Somebody say, God

1:07:45

is not against you.

1:07:48

Let's clap our hands and thank God for his presence

1:07:50

today Campus fastors.

1:07:53

Do what you need to do. I'm closing

1:07:55

at Valentine's. Stay right where you are. Did

1:07:58

you receive a word from.

1:07:59

The Lord to.

1:08:03

Rags to

1:08:05

righteous?

1:08:07

Keep this purple thing and remember what I told you today.

1:08:10

When the devil tells you you're not the righteousness

1:08:12

of God, wave it in his face and

1:08:14

say, I know, but I have any bed melic.

1:08:17

I have a savior, I have a redeemer.

1:08:20

Just wave it.

1:08:20

Every time you want to go back

1:08:23

to the old way, just wave that thing. No, I've

1:08:25

gone from rags to righteous.

1:08:27

If anyone is in Christ, he's a new creation,

1:08:30

the oldest gone, the newest calm.

1:08:34

And look, I hope they keep this online because

1:08:37

I think this is good. Brag

1:08:40

about your rags, not

1:08:42

about your sin. Brag

1:08:45

about what God did for you that

1:08:48

seems like nothing, not

1:08:50

your sin. Brag about

1:08:52

what He did to pull you out.

1:08:53

Of your sin. Tell the story

1:08:56

and tell your testimony that

1:08:59

God has the power to

1:09:01

pull you out. Thank

1:09:03

you Jesus.

1:09:05

It's painful sometimes just

1:09:08

because he has the power doesn't mean there won't be pain.

1:09:11

But God is pulling you. You can feel it.

1:09:13

You can feel him bringing you higher, you can

1:09:15

feel him bringing you aboveet.

1:09:17

You can feel it.

1:09:19

And I'm gonna seal it right now with the prayer, join

1:09:22

hands one more time. If you hadn't caught something from them

1:09:24

already, you're not going to. But this won't make

1:09:26

any difference.

1:09:26

Now. God

1:09:29

is not against me. I want

1:09:31

you singing that.

1:09:33

I want you singing that when it feels like

1:09:35

the wind is against you. No, no, no, you worship and

1:09:37

you say God

1:09:39

is not a Oh, I'm gonna make a

1:09:41

choir today.

1:09:43

I'm gonna make a choir. You want to be in the choir.

1:09:46

Come out next Sunday. We're gonna record some new

1:09:48

songs. Sunday, March seventeenth,

1:09:51

we're gonna be here. That's next Sunday, Chris,

1:09:53

we're gonna be singing new songs.

1:09:56

We're not gonna be singing this one that night. We're gonna sing

1:09:58

it tomorrow. God, God is not

1:10:00

Yeah, I'm gonna see.

1:10:03

Which section believes it the most? Before we close,

1:10:06

this is your chance.

1:10:07

Ready

1:10:12

three of ten, welcome

1:10:15

back to you.

1:10:16

Said I'm gonna check y'all out. Yeah

1:10:23

they did it. Watch them

1:10:25

in the middle. You won't believe how

1:10:27

good this sounds. It sounds like professionals

1:10:34

against God, not.

1:10:38

God. Yeah,

1:10:40

God, it is not a gas me

1:10:43

God, it is not a good.

1:10:48

God.

1:10:49

It's not a me. I'm

1:10:51

gonna join the prise team now.

1:10:53

And to him who is

1:10:55

able to pull you up, who

1:10:57

is able to do in that than

1:11:00

you ask for? Imager to a

1:11:03

he big lie.

1:11:04

Through Christ Jesus head

1:11:07

the churns.

1:11:08

Now at whatever somebody's

1:11:10

said, come inside.

1:11:12

Against Thank

1:11:19

you for joining us.

1:11:20

Special thanks to those of you who give generously

1:11:23

to this ministry. Is because of you that

1:11:25

this ministry is possible. You

1:11:27

can click the link in the description to give

1:11:29

now or visit Elevation Church

1:11:31

dot org slash podcast for more information

1:11:34

and if you enjoyed the podcast.

1:11:36

You can subscribe. You can share it

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with your friends.

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You can click the share button, take a screenshot

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and share it on your social stories and tag us

1:11:43

at Elevation Church.

1:11:44

Thanks again for listening. God bless you