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Are you following me?

Pastor (5:19)

Therefore, just because God isn't talking to you about the plan doesn't mean God doesn't have a plan. Because sometimes God's not talking to you about. About the problem because he's working on the answer. Here's the way we would say it in the Mount Olive missionary Baptist church in Kill Michael, Mississippi, which is the church I grew up in, we would say, while you're trying to figure it out, I thought this was the 12:30.

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God has already worked it out.

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And have you ever found yourself in seasons and situations where you were stressed about something, overwhelmed with something, worried about something that you thought was going to be a bigger problem than it was,

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but by the time the problem came up to your doorstep, rung your doorbell, and tried to sit down in your living room, God had already rearranged, reorchestrated, and redeemed it for his glory and your good.

Pastor (6:26)

We got some problems. And we're all in different seasons of life and different stages of life, so our problems are different. But I was reading John 3:16, and I see one problem in John 3:16 that all of us have, no matter what season or stage of life we're in. John 3:16, a very popular scripture captures a part of a conversation that Jesus is having with a man named Nick at night. It's a man named Nicodemus, who's a religious leader who approaches Jesus at night, presumably because he doesn't want to at this point. This is another conversation. Be publicly seen with somebody he need. Yeah, Nicodemus was a religious leader and Jesus was a disruptor. And so he challenged the religious elite in areas they did not need to be challenged. They saw him as competition. And as a result of that, there was a very hostile relationship that some religious leaders of that day had had with Jesus. So Nicodemus is intrigued by Jesus, though. He's impacted by Jesus. Impacted by Jesus. He's impressed with Jesus. So he goes to Jesus at night to find out a little bit more about this Jesus. And when he engages Jesus, he wants to talk to Jesus about Jesus. He said, jesus, I know you, a man come from God. Cause nobody can do these things you do except God be with you. So here is Nicodemus coming to Jesus. Want to talk to Jesus about Jesus. But watch how Jesus flipped the script on Nicodemus. Nicodemus come to Jesus, wanting to talk to Jesus about Jesus. And Jesus is like, you want to talk to me about me, but I need to talk to you about you. And I came to tell you God is a God that will reorchestrate, redeem your intentions, and use your intentions as a way to accomplish his agenda.

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You'll be coming to God about one problem. And God's like, you came to me

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about the problem that you know about, but I want to introduce you to

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a problem you don't know about. I'm using the problem. You know, you have to bring you close to me so I can talk to you about a problem you don't know you have. Because the thing you won't me to fix first isn't always the thing you need me to fix first. But I'mma use the thing you want me to fix first to get you to me. And now that we talking, let's have a little conversation about this other thing over here. You want me to fix this, but we need to talk about that. Am I talking to anybody in the room?

Pastor (9:22)

This is what's happening with Nicodemus. This is not an isolated incident. Jesus operated this way regularly. I could take you back to a story found in the Gospel of Mark, and I could show you this same thing happening. The Gospel of Mark introduces us to an individual that's suffering with some sort of paralysis physically. And you and I may not have ever dealt with physical paralysis, but we know what it's like to feel stuck. Where's my honest people right?

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To feel immobile, to feel like time is moving and I'm not moving.

Pastor (9:50)

You're not unsatisfied with your progress, but you do have a revelation of your potential.

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And so other people will be happy to be. To be where you are.

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Because they're judging their progress based on their potential, not yours.

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It's not that you're unhappy. It's not that you're discontent. It's just that you got a revelation

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of what's in you.

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And where you are don't match what's in you. See, they would love to be where you are, but they don't have what you have. And because God has given you something different, you're not unappreciative. You're just aware it's more in me than this. Hallelujah. I was born for more than this. I'm equipped for more than this. And I am not disrespecting where you want to be. If you happy there, stay right there. You have at it. But as for me, in my house, Lord, I'm running, trying to make a hundred ninety nine and a half just won't do. Am I talking to any people that will not have a pity party in your paralysis? Am I talking to anybody that refuses to stay still?

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Stuck.

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I've been stuck long enough. It's not stuck. It's up. In this season of my life, This man is stuck.

Pastor (11:05)

But he has a circle. He's stuck. When I say circle, I mean squat. Because the text says some men came bringing to him Jesus, a paralyzed man carried by four of Them. So you got a man that's paralyzed. He's stuck. Are you following me? But he's got a squad that gets word Jesus is in town at somebody's house. So they go to their friend's house and say, put some clothes on. Y' all missed the revelation. Here it is. Let me paint the picture one more time. It's a man who's stuck. His friends get word Jesus, who can get him unstuck, is in town at somebody's house.

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So they pull up to their friend's

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house and say, put some clothes on. Y' all missed the revelation. I'm gonna say it one more time. They got a friend that's stuck. And they get word that Jesus is in town and he's at somebody else's house.

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So they pull up to their friend's

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house and say, put some clothes on. We're going to see Jesus. The text does not say whether or not this man wanted to go. But if they picked him up, he had no choice to go.

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My prayer is that you got a circle in your life that does more

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than comfort you, but will confront you,

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will pull up on you

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and say,

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what I'm about to say might hurt your feelings, but it's gonna fix your future. We're about to pick you up because you are not destined to stay here. You are not called to stay here. And you and I need a circle in our life that reminds us of who we are when we forget who we are, who speaks life into us when we're ready to stay stuck. Stuck and settle and have pity parties. We need people that'll pick us up and say, we're going to Jesus. We didn't come this far. To come this far. We're going to Jesus. You didn't survive all you survived just to stay here. We're going to Jesus. You didn't bounce back from all of that just to stay stuck.

Pastor (13:15)

We're going to Jesus. So they picked this man up. I don't have time to bother this. They picked this man up. They picked this man up. Four of them probably holding four corners of the mat. And they picked this man up. He's got to be heavy. It's got to be inconvenient. They probably had other things to do. But commitment is only revealed when it's inconvenient.

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Did you hear what I said?

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Yeah. You think you got committed friends you don't know yet. And some of you saying people changed. They didn't. You confuse time showing you who people are instead of seasons showing you who

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people are, it doesn't matter how long. What matters is how many seasons you've been through. Will you carry me if I'm heavy?

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Of course.

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You with me, I'm light, but when I'm heavy, When it inconveniences you in a way, when do you love me enough to adjust?

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I'm not asking you to go to

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a cross with me.

Pastor (15:01)

Jesus did that. They carried him to the house where Jesus was and, and they get to the house. I'm going back to John. I'm still in the text. Stay with me. I'm not lost. I know where I'm going. Here it is. They get to the house where Jesus is and they can't even get in the house. Cause there's too many people at the house, so they can't even get close. So what these men do. I love this obstacles. So the obstacle for them is the crowd. You got me. It's too many people, so they can't get to Jesus. Now I want to show you here the difference between a victim mindset and a faith mindset. A victim mindset sees an obstacle as an indication that I need to abandon the assignment. A faith filled mindset sees an obstacle as an opportunity for divine innovation. A faith mindset sees this obstacle as an opportunity for God to show me how to do it another way. So instead of, instead of abandoning the assignment, these men carried a friend up to the roof. Now, these weren't extremely high houses during these days, but he did have, they

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did have to go up.

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They did have to go up.

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They did have to go up to get in. They had to go up. He wouldn't let them get in on a low level. They had to elevate. So the only way to get over the obstacle was to elevate. And sometimes God uses the obstacle as an invitation for elevation. He's saying you can do it, but not with that level of focus. You got to elevate. You can do it, but not with that level of commitment. You got to elevate. You can do it. Not with that level of competence. You got to elevate.

Pastor (16:50)

You can't get to where you're trying to, to go without elevate. And so they go up on the roof. It's a, it's a clay roof with straw on top. So they remove the straw, dig through the clay, create a hole large enough to let him down in the mat. Now, I don't know how far they had to walk, but if you carry a grown man, that's enough. I don't know how high the roof was, but to carry up on that roof, that took a lot. To dig through that clay, that took a lot of. To let the man down, that took a lot. And the text says, when they do that, when Jesus saw their faith. I'm not amazing at English, but I know what their mean. I know their is plural. So when he saw their faith, meaning this is the faith of the four that carried him, or the faith of all five. If it's the faith of the four that carried him, it's what's called intercessory faith. What if I told you many Christians operate with a reductionist view of intercession that only limits intercession to prayer, when the word in and of itself does apply to prayer, but it is not just limited to prayer because the word in and of itself means to stand in the gap or to go on behalf of another. And in Scripture, you see more than intercessory prayer. You also see intercessory faith. You will see stories like Mary and Martha, which is also Lazarus, which is also in the Gospel of John in chapter number 11. And Lazarus has been dead for four days. So he can't use his own faith, but his sisters go to Jesus on his behalf. My Pentecostals will understand this. They stand proxy.

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They stand proxy on behalf of my

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brother on behalf of that brother. In other words, they're saying, he can't be here to believe for himself. He can't use his faith to get out of the grave. But I want you to take my faith, because I got enough faith not just to believe you for me, I got enough faith to believe you for Lazarus. That's intercessory faith. So he saw their faith and said to the paralyzed man, son, your sins are forgiven. Now the man paralyzed, right? I'm going to see how honest y' all are. And if you're not, that's why I need you to come back next week so you can be okay being honest. Because when I talk to you about humanology, we're about to spend several weeks exploring not the divinity of Jesus, but the humanity of Jesus. Because historic Christian doctrine teaches that Jesus is not half God, half man. He is all God, and he is all man. And much of what you've been taught is about the divinity of Jesus, but not the humanity of Jesus. And so, because you've been taught the divinity of Jesus, not the humanity of Jesus, you're spending your spiritual growth efforts trying to become a God when God didn't become a human to show you how to be a God. He became a human to show you how to be a human. You're supposed to be godly, not God. And that's why you're so stressed, because you're trying to control outcomes.

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That's God's business.

Pastor (20:24)

And that's why you're so frustrated, because you're trying to change people.

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That's God's business. You can't change people. You can pray for them to change, you can provide an environment for them to change, but you can't make people change. Change. That's God's business.

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So if we're going to be honest, these men were disappointed cuz that's not the answer they wanted. We came here cuz he was sick. You talking to us about some sins. He says, but there's a problem that matter to you, you that brought you to me. So I can deal with a problem that matters to me. He said, cuz you think this sickness got you stuck. You have no idea how this sin has got you stuck. Oh, that's sickness. That's light work.

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I'm going to deal with that.

Pastor (21:23)

You see this? See I'm still in John. You in Mark? No, I'm still in John because the same thing that happened here in Mark is what's happening with Nicodemus in John 3. He's coming to Jesus for one reason. He wants his questions answered about Jesus. And Jesus doesn't answer the questions. See, he's dealing with some anxiousness because he's trying to decide, am I about to go public with my affiliation with Jesus? How much is that going to cost me? I'm a part of this council called the Sanhedrin council. Some say 70, some say 72 men who provided a degree of leadership in Egypt that came with, in Israel that came with affluence, it came with influence. So publicly associating with Jesus was going to cost him. So he's trying to. He's trying to deal with his anxiousness, he's trying to deal with his uncertainty. And Jesus, like I'm not really interested in that. You want to talk to me about that problem, I need to talk to you about another problem. And the problem Jesus talked to Nicodemus about is a problem he needs to talk to all of us about. He said, nicodemus, I want to talk to you about your perishing problem. Perishing problem, Pastor, where's that? It's in John 3:16. For God so loved the world he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish. He says, nicodemus, that's what we need to talk about. You won't talk to me about me. I need to talk to you about you. We need to talk to you. We need to talk about your perishing. Now, when you see the word perish, depending on your religious background, you might interpret that a certain way. If you are not brought up in a religious background, you probably have an advantage when it comes to accurately interpreting what Jesus means here. But for those of us that kind of came up in conservative Christian circles, we were taught this word parish, means basically dying and ending up in eternal alienation and separation from God, which some people call hell. So John 3:16.

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Are y' all okay? So John 3:16 has been historically interpreted

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by a number of us who grew up in conservative Christian environments. To me, God loved you so much that he sent Jesus so that you wouldn't have to die and be eternally alienated and separated from God. And I'm not saying that's incorrect. That's not what I'm saying. I'm not saying that's incorrect. I'm saying it's incomplete. I'm saying that the word Jesus uses when he says perish, the Greek word he uses means this. Y', all. Okay? See, this is. I'm speaking facts. The word mean what the word mean. So here's the Greek word that Jesus used, and here's the way his audience would have understood it at that time. You follow me? Lost, waste, ruin, destruction. That's what perish means. It's a word that's also used in Luke 15, when Jesus tells parables about the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. Do y' all hear me? So now let's read John 3:16, using the words in a way that's consistent with what Jesus said. God so loved the world he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not be lost in this life, shall not waste this life, shall not ruin this life, and shall not experience destruction in this life and the next one. Did you hear what I said? So Jesus didn't just come to keep you from dying.

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He came to show you how to live. He says, I came so that you

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won't be lost in this life and living with no direction.

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I came so that you won't waste this life and not take advantage of what I've graciously given you. I came so that you wouldn't ruin this life and not properly steward the opportunities I placed in your proximity.

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And I've come that you might not be Destroyed in this one and in the next one.

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Now, if you fast forward to John chapter 2:10. Same author, same book.

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Now, Jesus's claims make a little more sense when he talks about the mission

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of Satan and his ministry as the Messiah, when he says, the thief comes only to steal, kill and destroy.

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But I have come that you might have life and have it more abundantly because he says, are y' all okay? He says. He says, for God so loved the world he gave his only begotten Son, so that whosoever believes in him should not perish. But he did not stop there. He did not stop there, but have eternal life. If you grew up in conservative Christian environments, this historic interpretation of internal life has been limited to a location. So it means you interpret that as, I don't go to hell, I go to heaven. Not incorrect. But if you stop there, it's incomplete. I need to say that probably like seven more times because the saints are getting their feelings. I'm not saying that there is not eternal life. I'm not saying that there is not eternal differentiation. I'm saying the way this has been historically understood reduces eternal life to something I only get when I die.

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Are you here? So life on this side has to be terrible, and life on this side has to be trash. And so I got to sing songs about how terrible this life is and preach sermons about how terrible this life is, not realizing and recognizing that the word Jesus used chooses here for eternal

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life is a word, Zoe. And it is not a location per se.

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It is a condition. It is a posture of the heart. It is life from God. It is a life of God. It is a life God breathed into Adam. It is life as God intended. And it is a life that is

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characterized by three traits.

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It is life lives God's way. And that life is a life, first of all, where you are flourishing, speaking to the internal condition of your soul. So when God come here, when God saves your soul, he doesn't just save your soul in the next life. He saves your soul in this life. Receive with meekness. James says the engrafted word of God, which is able to save your soul, your mind, your will, your emotions, your imaginations and your affections. It is speaking to the condition of the soul that is described by John the Apostle when he writes to a man named Gaius in 3rd John 2, when he is giving a greeting, he says, beloved, I wish above all things that you would prosper and be in health even as your what soul prospers?

Pastor (28:53)

Cause you doing however your soul is Doing however your mind is doing.

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That's how you doing.

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Yeah. I don't care where you at.

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You are wherever your mind is.

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Did you hear what I just said? You can be in Maldives, but if

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your mind is stressed, you'll be stressed on the beach, you'll be stressed. In the concert, you'll be stressed.

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Am I making sense? And there are words that Jesus uses to describe the fruit of a soul that is experiencing the life of God. Joy, peace, kindness, temperance, goodness, patience, long suffering. That's when your soul is flourishing. You mean Jesus came to take me to heaven and I'm supposed to be frustrated all the way there that his work only started working when I die, That he don't have enough power to give me some peace today? Am I talking to anybody? Say, I need some peace today. I need.

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As soon as I leave here, I need some peace. As soon as I get in the car and get in this parking lot, I need some peace.

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Flourishing,

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saved.

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I'm not doubting that. Are you Flourishing. That's Zoe. Not just flourishing. Not just a flourishing life, but a fruitful life. So flourishing is what's happening in me. Fruitful is what's coming from me. It is the execution of God's original intention for. For humanity. Seen in the Book of Genesis when he says, be fruitful and multiply, which is not just a command to procreate. It is a command toward productivity. It is speaking to God's intention that humans be more than consumers, but they be contributors. And in the New Testament, he uses the imagery of a tree to describe humans and uses fruit to describe what humans convey and produce.

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You will know a tree by the

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fruit that it bears.

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So.

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So it is not just procreation, it is also productivity. Because you are not just created to consume. You were created to contribute.

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And when you experience Zoe, you are not just a consumer, you are a contributor.

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Because watch this. Fruit that a tree produces is not eaten by the tree. Fruit that a tree produces is eaten by others.

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So when you create, you are creating something, something that contributes to the flourishing of other humans. Which is why the Bible speaks very harshly toward laziness. The Old Testament calls it slothfulness because slothfulness is selfishness. It is a refusal to create something that's going to benefit other people. And only God can tell you what kind of tree you are. And it's only when you know what kind of tree you are that you know what kind of fruit you're supposed to be planting, producing. And we got a bunch of apple trees trying to be orange trees and a bunch of orange trees trying to be pear trees. When God wants you to know I made you to be a certain kind of tree. And if people don't want your fruit, those people are not assigned to you.

Pastor (32:31)

I need you to look in the

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mirror in the morning and say, I like this tree.

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I love this tree.

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God made this tree. God called this tree. God anointed this tree. And I'm not about to be an apple tree running around here trying to switch leaves because it looks like everybody likes orange trees. I'm gonna be the tree God made me to be. And what God has for me, it is.

Pastor (33:01)

Y' all tired. Let's wrap up.

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Y' all.

Pastor (33:07)

Fruitful. Not only fruitful. Fulfilling, flourishing. Fruitful and fulfilled. That's Zoe, the word. You won't find the word fulfilled per se in Scripture, but you will find the word contentment. And contentment doesn't mean complacent. Contentment means the happiness in my soul is not held hostage by what I don't have yet. Did you hear what I just said? Yeah.

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Yeah.

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It means that my soul has a satisfaction that comes from him, not what he gives. I don't have time. But here's what Job says. The good Lord giveth and the good Lord. So if my. If the condition of my soul is simply tied to what he gives, I'll be content what he gives, and I'll

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be entitled when he takes away. And how can you feel entitled to

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God taking what he was never obligated to give?

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So even when you had it, you don't deserve it, but now you feel entitled to it because you've had it.

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My contentment can't be tied to what he does or doesn't do. It's got to be tied to him. So let me ask you something. What's the number that's going to make you happy? What's the number? What's the kind of wedding that's going to make you happy? Because let me tell you something. There never feel like there. I'm not saying be complacent. I'm not saying be complacent. I'm not saying don't have a holy and healthy ambition. But I am saying if your happiness is tied to achievement and accomplishment, then you're in for a rude awakening. Because elevation to one level is a revelation that you're at the bottom of a new one. I'm gonna be happy when I'm a senior. Until you graduate. Now you're a freshman.

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I'm going to Be happy when I

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get my bachelor's until you realize people getting masters. For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believed in him shall not be lost, wasted, ruined or destroyed, but will have a flourishing, fruitful and fulfilled life. This is the gospel. So here's the question. Let's wrap up Tario. Can y' all give me two minutes without walking out? Two minutes. Here it is. Here it is. If Zoe is God's intention, why doesn't everybody have it? If this is what God wants from me, why am I not experiencing it? One is. Watch this. This is why the Bible says people destroy for lack of knowledge, because you won't pursue what you don't know exists. So some people don't have it because this gospel has actually never been presented to them. So their issue is awareness. They've never heard the gospel. They've heard fussing. And those who can't teach must fuss. Anyway. The there's a. And so for some, the issue is not awareness. Like we received the gospel. The issue is application. The issue is the version of Jesus. You've accepted, you experience. It's a reductionist soteriology. Salvation, soteriolo. It's reduction. So you reduce. Some have received them at all. But then there are those of us who've received him. And the only thing he can do for you is get you out of hell into heaven. And when you reduce Jesus to that, you're saved. You're just settling. And when you settle, you don't perish when you die, you perish while you live. So if I'm saved when I die, I won't experience eternal alienation and separation from God. But if I reduce Jesus to simply someone who can, who's a ticket out of hell and into heaven, he is that, but he's not. He's more than that. Then I. I won't perish when I die, but I'm perishing while I live. No flourishing, you're going to heaven. No fruit, you're going to heaven. No fulfillment, but you're going to heaven. And it's the flourishing, the fruitfulness and the fulfillment that actually make us salt and light. That's what make Nicodemus come to you at night and say, I got everything but that. Jesus is God's plan. Are you. Are you hearing me? And when I settle for a reductionist view of Jesus that only gets me out of hell into heaven, I don't perish when I die, but I perish while I'm living. And I live my whole life being defeated by the products of my parishion, the first of which is sin. Jesus is God's plan for sin. Though I don't know what you've been taught sin means, but I know the word sin in the New Testament is the word hamashia. It's a discipline of systematic theology called Hariology. And it's an archery term. It literally means to miss the mark. And it's not missing the mark left or right. It's falling short of the target. You fell short. So this is the language Paul uses when he says, all have sinned and fallen short. It means you aim. I need to be more patient today. You fell short. I need to be more generous. You fell short. I need to steward my body differently. You fell short. I want to say the right thing. You fell short. It's not just missing left or right. You fall short. But Jesus is God's plan for sin. He not only forgives you for it, because sometimes your arrow falling short means your arrow lands on something, somebody else. So your short, come on here. Your shortcomings become casualties. So when you miss the mark, you don't just hurt you, sometimes you hurt others. When you say what you shouldn't say, you fell short, but you fallen short. It landed on those short words, it landed on somebody else. So you need forgiveness. And Jesus is God's plan for that, but he not only forgives, forgives you for it, he helps you fix your aim. He becomes your spotter. Because some of you are spending your whole life trying to reach a target you can't reach with your strength. So Jesus wants to come alongside of you, help you pull the bow back,

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because he's got enough strength to help you reach the target. You're trying to fix this by yourself. You're trying to change you by yourself. You're trying to rearrange your life by yourself.

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Let's go. I promise you, we're about to go. I promise you. Jesus is God's plan, not just for sin, that's a product of perishing, but also for shame. That is the emotional implications that sin has on us. So sin has practical implications, but then there are emotional implications. There's embarrassment, there's shrinking, because sin is, I did a bad thing. Shame is I am a bad person. So now you let your sin define you instead of your Savior defining you. So come on here. So when you. When you shrink back, now you're running from a God that you need to run to, because he's like, I don't only need to Help you fix what you did. I need to help you fix how you feel. So I'm gonna give you conviction to get it right. But the devil wants to give you condemnation to keep you stuck. Are y' all okay? That's why I need you to come here next week. Because the title of my message next

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next week is called I'm Acting Brand New. If any man be in Christ, he's a new creature.

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Old things are passed away. Sin, shame and suffering. You're going to suffer. But Jesus is God's plan for suffering. He doesn't always remove the suffering suffering, but he will redeem the suffering. He didn't always bring me out of the suffering, but he brings something out of me that makes me better because of it. And last but not least, scars. Jesus is God's plan. Scars are the evidence of a previous season you went through. It's not a wound. A wound is open, a scar is closed. But scars have a memory attached. I got a scar on my knee. I try and do something stupid on a bike because when you see a scar, you catch a memory. Here's what Jesus does. When Jesus gets a hold of your scars, the scar that used to be a trigger becomes your testimony. So now it doesn't trigger you. It's evidence of what didn't kill you. It's proof that you suffered, survived.

Congregant (43:48)

Do I have any survivors at the 1230? I got some scars. But it's evidence that I.

Pastor (44:03)

I survived. And your scars aren't for you. They for Thomas. To show Thomas that what he did for me, he can do for you. This is the gospel. This is the good news.