Transcript
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Well, clap your hands, everybody in the building. Drop some fire in the chat. I want so much fire in the chat that they call in the fire department in your neighborhood. We're in the cyber sanctuary today. And you know we having house fires all over the country today. House fires. Not naturally, we rebuke that, but spiritually we're having house fires. The fire of God is in our house. We are still assembling together, but we're using the tool of technology to assemble together virtually. And I'm excited about this last Sunday of the year. I want y' all to go crazy in the building and in the chat for change worship. What can you say about them? What a gift. What a tremendous gift. And God's doing great things. There's a word on my heart. It's kind of like a one off message. It's not a part of a series, but I was just praying through what's an appetizer for New Year's Eve. And on this last Sunday of the year, I want us to go to the Book of Matthew, chapter nine, verse number 27. And I want to read two verses. This is a. I think it's a message that has prophetic implications. I really, I really sense this. And it says in Matthew 9, verse 27, as Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, have mercy on us, Son of David. And when he had gone indoors, the blind man came to him and he asked them, do you believe that I am able to do this? Yes, Lord, they said. Then he touched their eyes and said, according to your faith, let it be done to you. I want to stop the reading of scripture there. And this, I really feel like for some of us this is really a prophetic. It's prophetic in its implications. And at some point I'm going to have to do a teaching that kind of exposes the difference between prophetic ministry in the Old Testament and prophetic ministry in the New Testament. And I think sometimes there's not enough scholastic deep dives into subjects like that. And so even people who have prophetic gifting are using Old Testament paradigms to deliver prophetic ministry. Here's the thing about Old Testament prophetic ministry. The people you're talking to didn't have the Holy Ghost. The prophet was the only one God talked to. But in the New Testament, all of us have the Holy Spirit. All of us now have access to the Father. So now even when am I making sense? So it's like, so if you're prophesying to me in the Same way people prophesied to people who didn't have the Holy Ghost and I do have the Holy Spirit, and I can hear God like you, then something's off. Maybe not in your gifting, but in the paradigm that's influencing the way you deliver it. And so prophetic ministry in the New Testament always leads to evolution, meaning it helps you become closer to who God's called you to be. Am I making sense or exhortation? It is an encouragement or a push toward who God's called you to be, even if it's corrective in nature, is not condemnatory in its mood. Because God's not just showing you what's wrong. The Holy Ghost in you can show you that the prophetic word now is showing you what he want to fix. So sometimes it's corrective in nature, and sometimes it's evolutionary in nature, and sometimes it's encouragement in nature, and sometimes it's descriptive in nature, meaning it's describing a season that you're in. And I just kind of feel like this message today has prophetic implications in that way. And here's the topic of the teaching. It won't end like this. Somebody receive that already. It won't end. Yeah. Yeah. It won't end like this. Family, I want to start this sermon with a statement that's extremely important but often under emphasized. And for my note takers, I want you to write this down. Loss is inevitable, but losing is an option. That's a word already. Loss is inevitable, but losing, that's optional. In other words, loss is a circumstance, but losing, that's a choice. Loss is. Loss is what happens to. To you. Losing is what happens in you. And I think this principle should give us some perspective as we prepare to ease out of 2025 and ease into 2026. Because many of us, if not most of us, are leaving 2025. If you're going to honestly and objectively audit your year, you'll leave in 2025 with some losses. Come on. I know musically they say all I do is win. Musically, we say all I do is win. But practically, some of us, if we're honestly assessing 2025, we took some else. Some took some ails professionally, some took some ails emotionally, some took some ails relationally, some took some ails financially, some took some ails reputationally. And many of us, if we're honest, we kept some things in 2025 we wanted to lose. I thought I would have lost that. I thought. I thought I would have got rid of that. I Thought I. Yeah, we kept some things. Come on, we're honest, right? We kept some things we wanted to lose, and then we lost some things we wanted to keep. Lost some faith, lost some optimism, lost some trust in people, lost some energy. Come on, church. Some people are excited and full of energy, but some of you in the bed right now, smiling, you happy? Why? Cause you tired? 2025. Woe me all the way out. I didn't say wore me out. There it is. Woe me all the way out. Come on, family. We kept some things we wanted to lose, and we lost some things we wanted to keep. However, I got good news for God's people. Somebody asked me, what is it? Yeah. The scriptures seem to suggest that just because we experience loss doesn't mean we have to lose. And God, I believe, wants to use this text on today to disciple you and I in how to steward els. Come on, church. We know what to do when we win. Praise, breaks, celebration. Come on. Exaltation. But what do you do when you lose? And losses properly stewarded, become lessons. And lessons are some of the greatest blessings. Losses properly stewarded, become lessons. And lessons are some of the greatest blessings. Losses become situations where God can give us. Watch this education, first of all, about who you are. Come on. Losses help you. See you. Does that make sense? Amen. I think I'm a patient person until I have to wait. Then I'm like, I'm not as patient as I thought I was. Come on. Yeah. So God uses losses as a situation to give us education about us. And that's a lesson, but it's a blessing. He delivers you from self deception. And deliverance from self deception is one of the greatest forms of deliverance because you can never become who you think you already are. And so God's got to show you what's broke so you can present it to him, so he can fix it. So. So he uses losses as a situation to give us education on who we are. But he also uses losses as situations to give us education on who he is. There's a concept called progressive revelation, not progressive theology. Progressive revelation. It is this idea that God is so large, so magnificent, so magnanimous, so big, it's so much to him that he's got to progressively reveal different parts of him to you because it's so much of him, he can't show you all of him at the same time. Am I making sense? So there's a side of him you only see when you lose. Glory to God. I said there's a side of him that you only get to see when you experience some losses. Losses become situations where God gives you a revelation of the fact that he is a God of recovery and a God of restoration. Did you hear what I said? And I want to tell somebody. Your loss is school. Some of you did not know. 2025 was the year God put you back in school. You didn't enroll yourself. He enrolled you. Did you hear what I just said? And God is the only one that'll take you to school. And you don't even know it until you gradu. You don't even know it until you graduate. You get to another season in your life, and you're like, wait a minute. So that's why you took me through that. I had no idea what you were doing when I went through it. But now that I'm on the other side of it, you taught me some things I thought I was going through a season of suffering. You had enrolled me in school. Yes, sir. He's a God of recovery and restoration. I don't know what you lost, but I want you to hear me. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It won't end like this. Hallelujah. What the devil meant for evil. God will work it for your good. It won't end like this. He will work all things together for the good of them that love God. Do you love Him? Do you love him and are the called according to his purpose? Are you called? Well, he's working it together for your good. You meet the criteria. He's the God of recovery and losses are situations that God uses to give us educations. Education on different aspects of who he is. There's so much to him he can't show you all of them at the same time. And this text here is an example of what I'm articulating. We picked up this story in Matthew, chapter 9 at verse 27. But to make sense out of what's happening here at verse 27, we need to backtrack and explore verse 23, because this section of Matthew beginning at verse 23 exposes us to Jesus just having performed a miracle of resurrection for a daughter of a leader of the Jewish synagogue. And this leader's name was Jairus. If you're familiar with the story of the woman with the issue of blood, just wave at me. Put a wave emoji in the chat here. The woman with the issue of blood. You see, that is an unintended miracle. Let me tell you what was happening. Jesus minding his business. A leader of the Synagogue comes to him and says, I got a 12 year old daughter that's sick and she needs your intervention. Jesus said, well, I'm going to the house. So they're walking to the house and there's the woman who had an issue of blood for 12 years. So the daughter's 12 years old and the woman had an issue of blood for 12 years. And the text says, as Jesus is walking, a crowd, start gathering. Some people know what's going on. I think other people just knows it, right? And so a woman heard, this woman with this issue of blood heard that Jesus was passing by and she said to herself, if I could just touch the hem of his garment, I'll be made whole. Because the text says she had spent all her money on attempting to get medical remedies. Don't miss this. Do you see the losses that are accumulating? She's got loss of a health, she's probably got loss of energy because of her issue. She's got loss of finances because she has spent all her money. She's probably got loss of hope because every time, metaphorically, she's sitting in a doctor, she's hoping this one is going to be able to figure out what the real issue is. And can you imagine? Just wanted to find out what's wrong with me. And you're going from doctor to doctor to doctor. She's experiencing loss. But a situation was a setup for a revelation of the God who's the God of recovery. She said to herself, if I could but touch the hem, the bottom part of his garment, I'll be made whole. Let me tell you how this woman's faith was set up. She said, I don't have to touch him. I just need to. Don't you mess with me. I just need to touch what's touching him. And if I can touch what's touching him, I believe I'll be made whole. The power was not in the garment. Now if you want to buy one of those garments, buy one of those garments. There's nothing wrong with praying with one of those garments. I'm not saying that God can't use those garments. I'm just saying I'm not taking shots at anybody with those garments. But the power is not in the garment. Did you hear what I just said? Yeah, the power is not in the garment. Because what I'm getting ready to show you here, this is like one of three successive miracles. And Jesus, watch this. Jesus performs the miracles different ways because he meets them at the point of their faith. She didn't have. Jesus didn't need her to touch him to. For her to be healed, she needed to touch Jesus. Jesus did it for the centurion with a word, right? The centurion said, you don't even have to come to my house. Just speak the word. Jesus said, you're right. Okay, so he spoke the word. So it's not that Jesus needed her to touch him to be healed. Her faith needed to touch Jesus. So she touches him. The Bible says, Jesus is walking. He stops and say, who touched me? The disciples say, you see all these people, everybody touching you? And listen, read this. He said, no, I felt virtue, spiritual energy, moral excellence. I felt power go out of me. In other words, it was like, I know everybody touching me, but when faith touched me, the result is different. Don't you miss this? I know everybody's doing the same thing, but when faith do get a different result. Did you hear what I just said? Yeah, I know. Everybody praising him, but when faith do it, you get a different result. So this woman's healed. Jesus goes to Jairus House. Cause remember, this woman got an unintended miracle. He's actually going to Jairus House. She just got a walk by miracle. Right, I take it. I know, right? Got a walk by miracle. And the text says, when he gets to Jairus House, D, he enters the Jewish synagogue leader's house, and there's a noisy crowd of people playing pipes. Now, what does this mean in this context? This is interesting, but it's their history. Grief was very vocal and ceremonial, so they would hire musicians. Not because they having a church service. They would hire musicians to play music while they're grieving. And so the text says that people were very noisy. What does that mean? It means that they were mourning vocally. They're expressing their grief because 12 years old is too young for this baby to go. Does that make sense? Now, we don't know specifically what is happening here, but also it was customary for some families, and it's likely that it happened with this family because this was a leader in the Jewish synagogue to not only hire musicians, but to also hire professional mourners, which may be why Jesus deals so directly with them when he walk in the house. Cause the text says, don't miss this. They are noisy and playing pipes. So they're engaging in mourning because they had made peace with an outcome that Jesus was was about to alter. Did you hear what I just said? Yeah, they're mourning and they got the musicians because they had made peace with something ending away. And Jesus is Like, this is not the way it has to end. And many of us may not have gone through this literally, but we've gone through this metaphorically. When we have prematurely funeralized something, God's about to put life back in. I don't know who this is for, but I don't know what you buried in 2025. Don't you assume that just because you think it's done that God thinks it's done? You may be funeralizing something too. See, there are some outcomes we should be accepting and we don't. And then there are other outcomes we shouldn't be accepting, and we do. So Jesus gets gangster. He says he tell the mourners and musicians. It's in the text. He said, go away. Leave. I need you to exit. He says, the girl is not dead. She's sleeping. He tells the people that are making the noise and the people playing the music, go away. This is important because sometimes the people in your life are making the wrong kind of noise. They're giving advice, but it's the wrong kind of noise. And they're giving their opinion, but it's the wrong kind of noise. And they're giving their perspective, but it's the wrong kind of noise. And they're telling you what they think you should do. And it's the wrong kind of noise. And sometimes they telling you what they think. God said, but it's the wrong kind of noise. Jesus said, this girl's not. She's not dead. She's asleep. It's the principle of perception. You and God may be looking at the same thing, but that doesn't mean you see the same thing. They. Because the Bible says, when he says, she's sleeping, they laughed. Now, I want to know how you go from crying to laughing like that. And some of you don't know. You got professional mourners around you. They really not sad when you losing. They really not sad. Y' all broke up. They glad they about to have you back for girls night. Jesus said, go away. So he sends them away, because sometimes some things have to go out for healing to come in. And he touched that little girl, and that little girl got healed. Now, let me tell you why this is important for verse 27, because verse 26 then says, News of this spread all throughout the region. This is why verse 26 is important when it comes to verse 27, which is where we picked up our text, because verse 27 says, as Jesus went on from there, from where Jairus house, two blind men followed him from where Jairus House Got me. Okay. So the blind men were at Jairus House. And when Jesus leaves, the blind man follow him. I gotta move on. But I got a question. If you blind, How are you following Jesus? Don't miss this. In 2025, you must refuse. 2026, you must refuse to be limited by your limitations. In 2025, many of us spent so much time talking about our eyes not working. When your legs do. Did you hear what I just said? And your ears do see, we think you gotta have eyes to follow, but they use their legs, they use their ears, and they probably use their words, where is he? Did you hear what I just said? Yeah. And so sometimes people assume they can't get to where they're trying to go because of something they don't have. But instead of focusing on. On what you don't have, you got to learn how to leverage what you do have. And even if your eyes aren't working, your legs are working, your words are working, and your ears are working. And you can get there. They get there. They say, jesus, son of David, have mercy on us. This is interesting. Now, they were at or in proximity of Jairus House, and they obviously were part of the crowd in verse 26 that heard about the miracle. But they come to Jesus and say, have mercy on us. Now, that girl was dead. They alive. And they say, have mercy on us. So I'm believing you for something I actually didn't see. I'm blind, so I'm believing you for what I hadn't seen. And what I heard about isn't exactly what I need. I heard about a resurrection. I don't need a resurrection. I'm blind. And I didn't even see you perform the resurrection, but I heard you able. So if you can give recovery where there's the loss of life, I know you can give recovery to the loss of my sight. And God may have exposed you to something that happened in the life of someone else, not because he wants to do that thing in your life, but because he wants to use that thing to cultivate confidence and faith in you, that if you can do that for them, do it for me. But watch how they ask, have mercy. They're saying, I need you to do for me what I can't earn and what I don't deserve. And Jesus, the text says, Jesus goes indoors and he asks them a question. He say, do you believe I'm able to do this? Do you believe I'm able to do this? Notice he didn't say, do you believe this can be Done. Do you believe I'm able to do this? See, there's nothing wrong with asking God questions. Something's wrong with questioning God's goodness, his character, his nature, but there's nothing wrong with having questions. As a matter of fact, some of your faith becomes stronger when you know what questions to ask. Sometimes our faith is diminished because we asking, not because we asking questions. We're asking the wrong ones. We asking, can this be done? If you ask me, can a dead person get up? It's like, yeah. If you ask me, can God do it? I say, yes, he can. Did you hear what I just said? If you ask, can an old man like Abraham and an old woman like Sarah have a child? It's like, nah. You say, but can God? Can God do it? I'll say, okay, now we're having a different conversation. And so. And so he says, do. Do you believe I'm able to do this? This? You heard I did that. That's why you following me. But you following me around because you heard I could do that. Do you believe I'm able to. To do this? And I don't know what your this is, but could it be God's asking you the same question? Do you believe I'm able to do this? They lost their sight. I don't know what you lost, but the question is still relevant. Do you believe not, do you believe it can be done? Do you believe I'm able to do this? Do you think the loss is so great that I can't do it? Do you think the loss has been taking place so long that I can't change it? Do you believe I'm able to do this? They said, yes, Lord. And the Bible says he laid hands on them and touched their eyes and said, according to your faith, let it be unto you. And the Bible says, here's what the text says. Their sight was restored. That's what got me restored. So I'm like, I need to look at what this mean. And I looked it up and restored, mean, restored. So this really means one of two things. It means it was restored, like to God's original intent, or at some point they had it, lost it, and God gave it back. And I believe in 2025 we lost some things, but the text is reminding us that God's a God of recovery. And I see three things that these men did in the text that are three principles we can put into practice as well, to position ourselves to experience the God of recovery real quick. Number one, they pursued persistently. They followed Jesus from Jairus house to another region. Then the text says, jesus went indoors. They came indoors. Too many people won't experience recovery because they want it, but they won't walk for it long enough. Thank God they didn't stop walking outside the house when Jesus went in the house. They went in the house too. They pursued persistently. And when you want recovery, you'll pursue it persistently. You'll walk forward, even if this walking forward has you walking longer than you think you should. Because we. We want a quick recovery, don't we? It's like, all right, now, Jesus. Amen. The one with the issue of blood, you did her straight way immediately. I need one of them. And he's like, no, no, no, no, no. Miss this, I'm making you pursue me. Got it? They followed Jesus, and he'll use your need for recovery to get you to follow and pursue him. They pursue persistently. Number two, they believed boldly. Jesus says, you believe I'm able to do this? They say, yes, Lord. Recovery requires audacity. And many of us have been infected with bad biblical teaching on humility that you have lost your audacity. Sir, yes, sir. And you think humble, mean, passive. But if that woman with the issue of blood was passive, she would not have got her miracle. And if blind Bartimaeus was passive, when the disciples told him to be quiet, he would have shut his mouth and he would have missed his miracle. But because he wasn't passive, the Bible says when they said be quiet, he got louder. Glory to God. When they said be quiet, he got louder. You got to have audacity, a defiant, a holy boldness, a defiance against doubt, a God for dense, that believes against all odds. Not a cockiness, not an arrogance, but audacity to square my shoulders and say, he a miracle worker. Say, he gonna give it back to me. Hallelujah. He did it for Job. He's gonna do it for me. They believed both. They believed boldly. And number three, they received willingly. The text says, he touched their eyes. And some people want recovery. But you won't let God touch the areas you need him to fix. He said, you won't. You won't let me put my hand on it. They want God to heal a thing you won't let him put his hands on. They receive willingly. And some of us today, maybe 20, 25, took something out of you. That's okay. Everything God has determined to be is everything you need him to be. So he wouldn't be a God of recovery unnecessarily. He's A God of recovery because he knows his people will always need divine recovery. It doesn't have to end like this. You are depleted. You don't have to stay that way. You may be wounded. You don't have to stay that way. You may be overwhelmed and you've lost your sense of stability. You don't feel anchored. You feel. You feel tossed to and fro. But you don't have to stay that way because our God is a God of recovery. And I'm getting ready to pray a prayer for those of you that believe he still does it. I'm getting ready to pray a prayer that I pray will produce a harvest of recovery in the lives of those whose heart is in great need of it. Father, I just thank you and I give you praise right now for each and every person that has walked through a season of lost, brokenness, confusion. We thank you that just because we lost, we don't have to lose. I thank you that these losses become situations where you give us education on who we are and on who you are. We receive your revelation that you're the God of recovery. And I pray for divine recovery. Hallelujah. I pray for divine recovery relationally. I pray for divine recovery emotionally. I pray for divine recovery physically. In the name of Jesus. Those that are worn out, worn down, fatigued, the Word says you renew our strength. Do it, Jesus, for you, your people. I pray for those that are dealing with loss spiritually, and they're spiritually low and drained and empty. 2025 took all their faith just to survive. I pray, God, that you would renew faith on the inside of them and that in the days and weeks to come, we would test that we're serving. The God who gave it back is coming back. It's coming back. It's coming back. It's coming back. It's coming back. It's coming back. It's coming back. This is my prayer. In Jesus name, Amen. I want you to give him praise in the room we've. Do you feel the Holy Ghost in your house? House? Because we feel it right here. Listen.
