#S082 - “In God We Trust” (Part 2) 00:00:03.13\00:00:06.57 Welcome to The Breath of Life Television Ministries 00:00:19.91\00:00:22.68 broadcast with Pastor Debleaire Snell in today's episode. 00:00:22.72\00:00:27.22 Pastor Snell will continue part two of the powerful message 00:00:27.26\00:00:31.63 “In God We Trust.” Now 00:00:32.29\00:00:34.56 let's go deeper into the Word of God. 00:00:35.46\00:00:38.00 You can never trust a governmental leader 00:00:38.97\00:00:41.94 to go against the wishes of the majority. 00:00:42.90\00:00:45.24 And let me be clear. 00:00:45.77\00:00:46.88 This is not a call, my friends, to civil disengagement. 00:00:46.91\00:00:51.55 It is actually a recognition of the authority he has. 00:00:52.68\00:00:56.72 See, I need somebody to understand that the power 00:00:57.79\00:01:00.82 is not in elected officials. 00:01:01.49\00:01:04.43 The power is with the people that elect them. 00:01:05.43\00:01:07.96 Not here today. 00:01:08.40\00:01:09.56 In other words, I need you to be clear 00:01:09.60\00:01:12.10 that elected officials never do the right thing in a vacuum. 00:01:13.30\00:01:17.94 It is because the people require them to operate 00:01:18.94\00:01:22.08 with principle. 00:01:22.11\00:01:23.18 All with the pastor today. 00:01:23.21\00:01:24.95 In fact, I love what Dr. King said. 00:01:24.98\00:01:27.28 He says freedom 00:01:27.72\00:01:28.78 will never be voluntarily given by the oppressors. 00:01:28.82\00:01:32.62 It must be demanded by the oppressed. 00:01:33.52\00:01:36.42 And do you notice that all the major civil rights legislation. 00:01:37.66\00:01:41.53 It was never voluntarily given. 00:01:42.23\00:01:44.40 It was because people of courage and conviction 00:01:45.37\00:01:48.27 shifted the desires of the majority. 00:01:49.14\00:01:51.61 In other words, look friends at the voter. 00:01:52.57\00:01:54.21 Read your voter acceptance. 00:01:54.24\00:01:56.48 Write up 1964. 00:01:56.51\00:01:58.51 You know what brought that into being? 00:01:58.55\00:02:00.68 Remember Bloody Sunday on the Edmund Pettus Bridge 00:02:01.78\00:02:04.85 and other words, civil rights leaders were able to maximize 00:02:06.12\00:02:08.96 a particular moment where America was giving 00:02:08.99\00:02:12.29 the message of democracy around the world. 00:02:13.19\00:02:15.60 But they realized that they had to voluntarily 00:02:16.63\00:02:19.03 take a beating on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. 00:02:20.00\00:02:22.37 And once the cameras sent that message across the world, 00:02:23.57\00:02:26.88 it was outside leaders that same the leaders at home 00:02:28.01\00:02:31.05 to say, you can't promote freedom over here 00:02:32.05\00:02:34.35 if you're not giving it to your very own citizens. 00:02:35.45\00:02:38.02 And understand that when they change the view of the majority. 00:02:39.25\00:02:42.86 Six months later, the Voter Rights Act came in 1964. 00:02:43.99\00:02:48.26 And what I'm saying to somebody today is that the leaders 00:02:49.43\00:02:52.37 will never do the right thing on their own. 00:02:53.27\00:02:55.64 We've got to raise our voices. 00:02:56.34\00:02:58.71 We've got to commit to the process. 00:02:59.54\00:03:01.58 We've got to engage in the journey. 00:03:02.44\00:03:04.61 This is not a time to give up. 00:03:05.31\00:03:07.42 It's not a time to sit in the corner 00:03:08.28\00:03:10.19 and wait for the coming of the Lord. 00:03:11.05\00:03:12.49 We've got to act here, Pat, until he comes. 00:03:12.52\00:03:15.99 And we've got to be a people that will stand for the rights, 00:03:17.19\00:03:20.53 even though that happens for all y'all with me today. 00:03:21.86\00:03:24.67 Church. 00:03:24.70\00:03:25.67 And see, one of the things I need 00:03:25.70\00:03:27.10 somebody to know is that we use moments 00:03:27.14\00:03:29.40 like this to disengage, to bury our heads in the sand. 00:03:29.44\00:03:33.11 But God is looking for a people that will stand and be true 00:03:34.31\00:03:37.55 to duty, as the needle is to a pole 00:03:37.58\00:03:40.52 and not hide when things get hard. 00:03:41.35\00:03:43.95 But stand up and speak when things get hard. 00:03:43.99\00:03:46.82 Y'all with me today church. 00:03:47.49\00:03:48.92 Second reason that we cannot put trust in leaders. 00:03:48.96\00:03:52.73 Are y'all with me today? 00:03:53.29\00:03:54.36 Church is that leaders will outright lie to the people. 00:03:54.36\00:03:58.83 Am I preaching anybody that 00:03:59.50\00:04:00.70 if I cannot get you to go with me somewhere, go to some 62 00:04:00.74\00:04:04.21 and verse number nine, some 62 and verse number nine. 00:04:05.34\00:04:08.54 Just go back a few chapters. 00:04:08.58\00:04:10.81 Psalm 62. 00:04:10.85\00:04:12.45 And I want you to see this in verse number nine. 00:04:12.48\00:04:15.35 When you get there, you say, man, 00:04:15.38\00:04:16.89 some 62 in verse nine. 00:04:18.15\00:04:19.82 And again, let me be clear that this principle is not partizan. 00:04:19.85\00:04:23.12 It is not based on race. 00:04:23.16\00:04:24.76 It is not based upon gender. 00:04:24.79\00:04:26.80 It is simply an indictment of the nature of mankind. 00:04:26.83\00:04:30.57 So I'm 62 in verse nine, when you get rid of me, you say, Man, 00:04:31.80\00:04:33.40 listen, the Bible says, surely men of low degree 00:04:34.40\00:04:37.57 are a white vapor. 00:04:38.07\00:04:40.34 Men of hide, degree or position are a what? 00:04:41.28\00:04:44.65 There are a lot. 00:04:45.18\00:04:46.28 And if they are weighed on scales, 00:04:46.31\00:04:49.32 they are altogether lighter than a vapor. 00:04:50.29\00:04:53.59 Does all that church now know if we caught the principle 00:04:53.62\00:04:57.26 that the patriarch just espouse to us? 00:04:58.16\00:05:00.30 And essentially it is the danger 00:05:00.96\00:05:03.23 of putting your hopes in the words of mankind. 00:05:03.26\00:05:06.84 He says, If you take the word of a common man 00:05:07.87\00:05:10.67 or a man of low degree, his word in what ways? 00:05:10.71\00:05:14.31 As much as a vapor. 00:05:14.34\00:05:16.44 And he says the word of a man in high position is a lot. 00:05:16.48\00:05:21.52 And he's saying if you take the word of a common man 00:05:21.55\00:05:25.42 and a powerful man and wave them together, 00:05:26.32\00:05:29.39 the Bible says they both weigh less than a breath of air 00:05:30.59\00:05:33.86 and see what it talks about. 00:05:34.86\00:05:36.53 Friends, is the danger 00:05:36.56\00:05:38.60 of putting our trust in the words that people 00:05:38.63\00:05:41.64 give to us and the promises that leaders give. 00:05:41.67\00:05:44.84 In other words, friends, they are not to be trusted 00:05:45.94\00:05:47.84 in their entirety. 00:05:48.34\00:05:49.84 They are to be received 00:05:49.88\00:05:51.28 with a grain of salt and not trusted as binding. 00:05:51.31\00:05:55.78 In other words, when they make certain promises 00:05:56.79\00:05:59.42 to make your life better 00:06:00.06\00:06:01.69 and to improve your state of being, 00:06:01.72\00:06:04.53 you've got to apply hope loosely. 00:06:05.36\00:06:07.46 Because the Bible says that men of high degree are a lie. 00:06:08.66\00:06:12.30 Are you all with the pastor today? 00:06:12.33\00:06:14.54 And the formula for disappointment of people of 00:06:14.57\00:06:17.24 every sort is to believe everything that people tell you. 00:06:17.27\00:06:21.58 How many of us know you can't put trust in what people say? 00:06:22.84\00:06:26.61 If you want to be 00:06:27.88\00:06:28.88 disappointed romantically, listen to everything 00:06:28.92\00:06:33.09 a man or woman say is out of their mouth. 00:06:33.12\00:06:35.46 If you want to be disappointed spiritually, believe everything 00:06:36.69\00:06:39.89 someone in a church services in a microphone. 00:06:39.93\00:06:43.10 If you want to be disappointed politically, 00:06:44.07\00:06:45.87 then believe everything on every promise that a candidate 00:06:47.07\00:06:50.31 may espouse. 00:06:50.71\00:06:51.91 And what I'm saying to the church today 00:06:51.94\00:06:54.08 is that you cannot allow your hope 00:06:54.91\00:06:56.88 to be attached to the promises of man. 00:06:57.71\00:07:00.05 You've got to allow your hope 00:07:00.75\00:07:02.08 to be attached to the promises of the living. 00:07:02.12\00:07:04.75 God are with me today. 00:07:04.79\00:07:06.55 In other words, friends, this is how you avoid, disappoint men. 00:07:06.59\00:07:10.69 You don't apply hope to man's promises. 00:07:11.56\00:07:14.20 You simply affirm good behavior. 00:07:14.86\00:07:17.17 But I apply hope to the promise of God 00:07:18.07\00:07:21.50 because I know that God is going to act on what He says 00:07:22.64\00:07:25.87 and see. 00:07:26.17\00:07:27.38 The problem is that we invoke the formula backwards, late, 00:07:27.41\00:07:30.45 where we trust entirely what people say, 00:07:31.31\00:07:33.98 and we need God to stand up and prove what He says. 00:07:35.12\00:07:37.99 But how many of us know friends 00:07:38.69\00:07:40.19 that the promises of God and him they are? Yes. 00:07:40.22\00:07:44.43 And in him they are a man. 00:07:45.06\00:07:47.13 In other words, 00:07:47.56\00:07:48.63 I'm not going to put my trust in a political party. 00:07:48.66\00:07:51.90 I'm not going to put my trust in a political candidate. 00:07:53.10\00:07:55.54 On Christ the solid rock I stand. 00:07:56.30\00:07:59.77 All of the ground is sinking, saying I dare not trust 00:08:01.01\00:08:05.65 the sweetest faith but holy lean on Jesus name 00:08:06.68\00:08:10.72 and friends. 00:08:11.79\00:08:12.95 If I'm going to trust anybody, I'm going to trust the one 00:08:12.99\00:08:16.26 that the Bible says he cannot lie. 00:08:17.09\00:08:20.10 Oh, God, 00:08:21.40\00:08:22.83 no, no, no, no. You. 00:08:23.37\00:08:24.10 I didn't get that. 00:08:24.13\00:08:25.47 The word doesn't say he doesn't lie. 00:08:25.50\00:08:28.40 The words says, your God is so awesome that he cannot lie. 00:08:29.64\00:08:33.38 In other words, friends, the Bible is not just teaching 00:08:34.54\00:08:37.28 that God is an honest kind of God. 00:08:37.31\00:08:39.68 He's not just truthful. 00:08:40.25\00:08:42.12 God is truth. 00:08:42.15\00:08:45.39 And because He is 00:08:45.89\00:08:46.82 both truth and divine mind. 00:08:46.86\00:08:49.86 The Bible makes it clear he cannot lie because he is a 00:08:51.03\00:08:54.50 hybrid of divinity and truth, 00:08:54.56\00:08:57.77 so that even if God tried to lie because He's divine, 00:08:58.83\00:09:03.54 whatever God lied about would become the truth 00:09:04.51\00:09:07.71 simply because the mouth of the Lord spoke. 00:09:08.68\00:09:11.95 And that's why Isaiah says that His Word 00:09:12.88\00:09:15.82 cannot return to him void. 00:09:15.85\00:09:18.65 But in the law, 00:09:19.09\00:09:19.69 accomplish what he pleases 00:09:19.72\00:09:21.46 and prospers and the things that he sends it to do. 00:09:21.49\00:09:25.13 And so I need somebody to know that if you can trust 00:09:26.26\00:09:29.23 something, you need to trust God. 00:09:29.26\00:09:32.67 You are hear me today, friends. 00:09:33.37\00:09:36.10 Third reason. 00:09:36.74\00:09:37.91 Friends of mine you can't trust leaders is how are you going 00:09:37.94\00:09:41.28 to be dependent on somebody else who's also dependent? 00:09:41.31\00:09:45.61 Okay, 00:09:46.31\00:09:46.72 so notice what 00:09:48.25\00:09:49.38 the word says you say is putting all your trust in princes 00:09:49.42\00:09:52.25 or in the son of man in whom there is no help. 00:09:52.29\00:09:57.19 Did your catch that the Bible says in him there is no help? 00:09:58.46\00:10:02.06 And then the Bible talks about the frailty of mankind. 00:10:03.23\00:10:05.57 Time for the Bible 00:10:05.60\00:10:06.57 says on the day that he dies, his spirit departs 00:10:06.60\00:10:10.57 and he goes back to the earth from which he came. 00:10:10.61\00:10:13.78 You see, the reason certain leaders are going to lie 00:10:14.84\00:10:17.05 is not necessarily an intentional lie, but simply 00:10:18.11\00:10:21.32 because they are finite human beings. 00:10:21.35\00:10:24.15 In other words, people of every sort do not have 00:10:25.15\00:10:28.89 the divinity or the power or the agency within ourselves 00:10:28.92\00:10:34.46 to even act on our most noble and hopeful intentions. 00:10:35.60\00:10:40.00 We can't even guarantee 00:10:40.57\00:10:42.00 the words that come out of our own mouth. 00:10:42.04\00:10:44.94 The reason I can't keep every promise I make to you 00:10:46.07\00:10:50.38 is that I can't even guarantee my own tomorrow. 00:10:51.41\00:10:54.55 I can't keep my word to you 00:10:55.22\00:10:57.55 because I can't even guarantee if I will make it to the end 00:10:58.79\00:11:01.59 of the day. You are with me today, Church. 00:11:01.62\00:11:03.83 And so that's what the Bible says. 00:11:03.86\00:11:05.69 But not your trust in princes 00:11:05.73\00:11:07.83 or in the son of man in whom there is no help 00:11:08.80\00:11:11.73 in the outcome of church. 00:11:12.97\00:11:14.94 Come on, church. 00:11:14.97\00:11:15.87 The Bible says in them there is no help. 00:11:15.90\00:11:20.24 Why am I saying that? 00:11:20.81\00:11:21.78 Because there are times where we get frustrated 00:11:21.81\00:11:23.75 with government, our leaders, 00:11:24.45\00:11:25.61 because you think they refuse to help. 00:11:25.65\00:11:28.62 But the Bible is saying that 00:11:30.19\00:11:31.79 in them there is no help. 00:11:31.82\00:11:34.26 And see what the Bible is addressing 00:11:35.12\00:11:37.43 is misplaced loyalty or trust. 00:11:38.13\00:11:40.96 See, there are some of us that are frustrated with government. 00:11:42.20\00:11:44.00 We're frustrated with friends. 00:11:44.70\00:11:46.13 We are frustrated with our job 00:11:46.17\00:11:48.17 because you think that these folk refuse to help. 00:11:49.24\00:11:51.87 But the Bible is making it clear that there is only one 00:11:52.97\00:11:55.91 source of help, and it is the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:11:56.91\00:12:00.55 You've got to stop looking to your cousins. 00:12:01.52\00:12:02.98 Stop looking to friends. 00:12:03.55\00:12:04.89 Stop looking to the White House. 00:12:04.92\00:12:06.65 Stop looking to the church. 00:12:06.69\00:12:08.29 And learn how to look till the heals from whence 00:12:08.32\00:12:11.29 cometh your help and realize that your help comes from God. 00:12:11.33\00:12:16.56 Are y'all hear what I'm saying today, church? 00:12:17.87\00:12:20.57 And see, I need you to know that you got to get this 00:12:20.60\00:12:22.70 because you are frustrated, because you're trying to get 00:12:22.74\00:12:25.44 something from people that can't give it to you. 00:12:26.51\00:12:28.04 And see, the problem is not their lack of giving. 00:12:29.11\00:12:31.85 The problem is that we have flawed expectations. 00:12:31.88\00:12:35.08 In other words, I shouldn't expect you 00:12:35.98\00:12:37.79 to be able to give something to me 00:12:37.82\00:12:39.19 that you don't have the capacity to give. 00:12:39.22\00:12:42.52 It's funny, this happens to me. 00:12:42.56\00:12:43.59 There are some 00:12:43.63\00:12:44.33 who get frustrated with me 00:12:44.36\00:12:45.49 because sometimes they will ask me to do things 00:12:45.53\00:12:47.96 that is beyond my competency to be able to do. 00:12:48.96\00:12:50.90 So sometimes 00:12:51.30\00:12:51.90 when I'm in the hospital, 00:12:51.93\00:12:52.97 sometimes people will ask me for medical advice. 00:12:53.00\00:12:55.64 They'll say, Pastor, do you think I should 00:12:56.60\00:12:57.64 have this surgery or that surgery? 00:12:57.67\00:12:59.77 Or sometimes an end of life scenario? 00:12:59.81\00:13:02.31 Some will ask me for legal advice, and they will ask me 00:13:02.34\00:13:05.48 to help them legally 00:13:06.01\00:13:07.08 assign assets from one family member to the next. 00:13:07.12\00:13:09.85 And they get mad when I refer them to somebody else. 00:13:10.99\00:13:13.69 I let them know that 00:13:14.22\00:13:15.36 if you need spiritual guidance or theological guidance 00:13:15.39\00:13:17.79 or leadership or marriage, I might be able to help you. 00:13:17.83\00:13:20.93 But when I meet medical advice, 00:13:21.60\00:13:23.57 I call a doctor. 00:13:25.20\00:13:26.30 Are you with me today? 00:13:26.33\00:13:27.74 When I need legal advice, I call. 00:13:27.77\00:13:30.74 I are. Hear me today, church. 00:13:31.44\00:13:32.77 In other words, 00:13:32.81\00:13:33.88 I'm not trying to say to you I just can't help you. 00:13:33.91\00:13:37.01 Are you? 00:13:38.31\00:13:39.11 Are you hear what the pastor saying 00:13:39.15\00:13:40.72 and see the reason this is critical is that 00:13:40.75\00:13:43.69 we are trying to get help from those 00:13:43.72\00:13:46.82 who simply cannot give it because they are human. 00:13:46.86\00:13:51.56 And it's funny. 00:13:52.63\00:13:53.36 That's why I laughed the other day 00:13:53.40\00:13:54.56 when I heard the president elect say after his victory speech 00:13:54.56\00:13:57.10 that I'm going to fix everything wrong with the country. 00:13:58.23\00:14:01.20 And the reason I laughed is simply because to do 00:14:02.34\00:14:05.04 that is beyond the capability of any human being. 00:14:05.07\00:14:09.31 And this is why you've got to be careful how you apply trust 00:14:10.51\00:14:13.31 and where you assign hope, because we're looking for help 00:14:14.52\00:14:17.15 from people that need help. 00:14:17.19\00:14:20.82 We are dependent upon people that are dependent upon God. 00:14:20.86\00:14:24.03 We're looking for answers from people that need answers. 00:14:25.23\00:14:27.83 We're looking for provision from folks that need provision. 00:14:29.00\00:14:31.63 We're looking to be sustained by people 00:14:32.57\00:14:33.97 that themselves are being sustained by God. 00:14:34.97\00:14:36.71 And instead of looking to somebody 00:14:37.54\00:14:38.81 to sustain us when they are sustained by God. 00:14:38.84\00:14:41.51 Maybe I just look to God to sustain and undergird 00:14:42.51\00:14:45.91 every single area of my life. 00:14:46.61\00:14:49.48 Now there are some who are listening to this 00:14:50.49\00:14:52.15 and you're wrestling with what I'm saying 00:14:52.19\00:14:53.46 because you're saying, 00:14:53.49\00:14:54.59 Well, Pastor, doesn't God bless us by using people. 00:14:54.62\00:14:58.09 I'm glad you asked. 00:14:58.13\00:14:59.73 Yes. God uses people to bless us. 00:14:59.76\00:15:03.13 Can you say amen? 00:15:03.16\00:15:04.73 In fact, God won't just use people 00:15:04.77\00:15:07.97 that like you to bless you. 00:15:08.00\00:15:10.67 God is so good that the Bible says 00:15:10.71\00:15:13.38 he'll make your enemies show favor unto you. 00:15:13.41\00:15:16.54 But this is 00:15:17.65\00:15:18.58 the key when God uses people to bless you. 00:15:18.61\00:15:21.88 You say thanks to the person, but you give the glory to God 00:15:23.15\00:15:27.32 because it was God that put you on their minds. 00:15:28.36\00:15:31.09 It was God that put compassion in their hearts. 00:15:32.13\00:15:34.60 It was God that sent through them 00:15:35.40\00:15:37.93 the blessing that originated in him. 00:15:38.73\00:15:40.57 In other words, Church never confused the sender 00:15:41.64\00:15:44.24 with the source. 00:15:44.27\00:15:46.78 Okay, listen, listen. 00:15:47.34\00:15:49.38 I remember 00:15:49.41\00:15:50.45 back in the pandemic, there was one of our senior 00:15:51.55\00:15:54.55 members of my previous church, and she lived with her daughter. 00:15:54.58\00:15:58.62 And because the daughter had to go into work, 00:15:59.55\00:16:01.59 what she would do is see what DoorDash lots 00:16:02.59\00:16:04.76 to her older mother each and every day. 00:16:04.79\00:16:07.60 And so some days she would 00:16:08.23\00:16:09.13 DoorDash, Cheesecake Factory, other days 00:16:09.16\00:16:11.17 she would DoorDash KFC. 00:16:11.73\00:16:13.13 Other day she would DoorDash Olive Garden. 00:16:13.17\00:16:15.60 And I remember talking to the senior member 00:16:16.57\00:16:18.11 and she said something I always laugh at. 00:16:19.04\00:16:20.44 She says, Pass the you got to try 00:16:21.24\00:16:22.21 this restaurant called DoorDash. 00:16:22.24\00:16:24.21 And I was like, What? 00:16:25.75\00:16:26.88 What restaurant called DoorDash? 00:16:26.92\00:16:28.92 She says, Yeah, pass it. They're good. 00:16:29.75\00:16:30.95 They make everything. 00:16:30.99\00:16:32.39 They make KFC, 00:16:32.42\00:16:34.12 they make Italian food, they make cheese cake factory. 00:16:34.16\00:16:38.39 They're able to make stuff from Chick-Fil-A. 00:16:39.39\00:16:40.70 And because she got a little messed up, 00:16:41.60\00:16:43.10 she thought that 00:16:43.53\00:16:44.57 because DoorDash same tip that DoorDash made it. 00:16:44.60\00:16:48.14 You all missed what I'm saying today. 00:16:48.17\00:16:50.11 And what I'm saying is never confuse the sender 00:16:50.14\00:16:53.34 with the sauce. Oh, you're not hearing me. 00:16:54.31\00:16:55.98 In other words, your job is DoorDash. 00:16:56.88\00:16:59.18 It was God that sourced it, but it was the job 00:17:00.28\00:17:03.08 that sent them that your cousin is DoorDash. 00:17:03.12\00:17:06.76 It was God that sourced it. 00:17:07.42\00:17:09.02 It was simply your cousin that sent it. 00:17:09.06\00:17:11.43 That the hospital is DoorDash. 00:17:12.13\00:17:14.10 That God gave the healing. 00:17:14.73\00:17:16.36 But the hospital sent the healing. 00:17:16.40\00:17:18.53 That the government is DoorDash, 00:17:19.23\00:17:20.94 that God creates the provision, but God sends it through them. 00:17:22.17\00:17:25.67 Never confuse the sauce with the can't do it. 00:17:26.64\00:17:30.51 Y'all hear what I'm saying today, church. 00:17:31.45\00:17:32.25 And so 00:17:33.78\00:17:34.85 notice what the Bible says here in verse number five. 00:17:34.88\00:17:37.79 The Bible says, Happy is he 00:17:38.45\00:17:40.29 that whose hope is in the Lord, 00:17:40.99\00:17:44.09 the God of Jacob, 00:17:44.59\00:17:47.30 and see what the Bible is teaching us here today, friends, 00:17:47.30\00:17:50.00 he's helping us understand that we serve the God 00:17:51.07\00:17:55.10 that can cause us to thrive 00:17:56.20\00:17:58.41 in every situation. 00:17:58.94\00:18:02.54 Notice what he says. 00:18:03.08\00:18:04.45 He says happy. 00:18:04.48\00:18:05.31 See who believes in the God of Jacob. 00:18:05.35\00:18:09.58 Now I need you to get what he's doing 00:18:10.49\00:18:11.85 for the children of Israel. That's Hagai Zacharias. 00:18:11.89\00:18:14.72 Write this. 00:18:14.76\00:18:15.86 He's trying to help them re recall their own history 00:18:15.89\00:18:20.33 by reminding them of the affairs of God 00:18:21.13\00:18:24.47 in the life of the Patriarch, Jacob and friends. 00:18:25.53\00:18:28.27 When you look 00:18:28.30\00:18:29.30 and read the narrative of Jacob, what becomes clear 00:18:29.34\00:18:33.14 is that Jacob served the God that could cause him to thrive 00:18:34.38\00:18:38.51 no matter what situation he was in. 00:18:39.38\00:18:41.78 Now, it's funny because 00:18:43.12\00:18:44.29 Jacob gets kind of a bad rap as a schemer and a hustler. 00:18:44.32\00:18:47.16 And the reason Jacob developed these characteristics 00:18:48.29\00:18:51.03 was because he was always on the wrong side of the numbers, 00:18:52.26\00:18:54.93 and it took a while for him to be able to trust God 00:18:56.03\00:18:58.73 to bless him no matter what circumstance he was in. 00:18:59.87\00:19:02.60 Remember, Jacob was on the wrong side of the age bracket, 00:19:03.74\00:19:06.37 that the birthright was always supposed to fall 00:19:07.44\00:19:09.48 to the older brother, but God was able to bless him 00:19:09.51\00:19:13.35 no matter the situation 00:19:13.92\00:19:15.38 so that the younger brother received the birth. 00:19:15.42\00:19:17.82 Right. 00:19:17.85\00:19:19.05 Now somebody always say he got the birthright through trickery. 00:19:19.09\00:19:21.66 No, that's just the way it played out. 00:19:22.56\00:19:23.89 Remember when Jacob was first born that God told his mother 00:19:25.16\00:19:28.23 that the older one was going to serve the younger one? 00:19:29.40\00:19:31.87 If Jacob had just been steel, he would have seen the hand 00:19:33.10\00:19:35.74 of the Lord do it and bring it to pass on His behalf. 00:19:35.77\00:19:39.37 Remember when Jacob showed up in Lehmann's house 00:19:40.44\00:19:42.71 that he was tricked 00:19:43.24\00:19:44.18 by his father in law into 14 years of service, 00:19:44.21\00:19:47.92 where Laban added the other daughter, Leah, 00:19:48.92\00:19:51.22 because Jacob had too much to drink. 00:19:52.09\00:19:53.92 But even though he was on the wrong side of the numbers, 00:19:55.12\00:19:57.53 God bless Jacob's flock with such abundance that he left 00:19:58.66\00:20:01.76 Lehmann's house with even more than he came in with. 00:20:01.80\00:20:05.67 Remember, Jacob was on the wrong side of the numbers 00:20:06.74\00:20:09.20 as he saw head west strong and had an army ready 00:20:10.27\00:20:13.04 to take him out. 00:20:13.07\00:20:14.28 But God sent an angel ahead to Esau 00:20:14.31\00:20:17.38 and to take the hatred out of his heart. 00:20:18.31\00:20:20.02 So that by the time he saw Esau, he saw didn't curse him. 00:20:21.15\00:20:24.52 But Esau blessed him 00:20:25.05\00:20:26.49 and added to his household gifts and signs of favor. 00:20:26.52\00:20:30.29 Even when Jacob got old and wound up in Egypt, 00:20:31.26\00:20:34.40 God had already sent Joseph ahead and gave Joseph 00:20:35.46\00:20:38.50 so much favor that Pharaoh gave him the best 00:20:38.53\00:20:42.47 land in the land of Egypt 00:20:42.50\00:20:45.51 so that no matter what situations. 00:20:46.61\00:20:49.01 Joe Jacob was in, God always permitted him to thrive. 00:20:49.04\00:20:54.52 Okay. 00:20:56.05\00:20:56.95 Why am I preaching this today? 00:20:57.65\00:20:59.89 Because there is somebody that feels like 00:20:59.92\00:21:03.06 you're on the wrong side of the numbers. 00:21:03.99\00:21:05.99 There is somebody 00:21:06.49\00:21:07.60 that feels like you're in a bad predicament. 00:21:07.66\00:21:10.77 There is somebody that feels like you are under the authority 00:21:11.97\00:21:14.97 of someone who is not interested in your well-being. 00:21:16.04\00:21:18.74 But I need you to know that your prosperity 00:21:19.71\00:21:22.31 is not connected to your predicament. 00:21:23.18\00:21:25.45 You serve the God that can make your enemies your footstool, 00:21:26.65\00:21:30.49 and the God that can make you thrive no matter what 00:21:31.62\00:21:34.46 predicament or situation you find yourself in. 00:21:34.49\00:21:38.96 Can I just say this? 00:21:40.96\00:21:41.80 Because in the African-American community, 00:21:41.83\00:21:43.97 there is this unique grief that has touched us 00:21:45.00\00:21:47.14 because of the things of this week. 00:21:48.00\00:21:49.20 And one of the things I need to remind us of 00:21:49.24\00:21:51.91 is that we've gone through this kind of stuff before. 00:21:53.04\00:21:57.95 Remember what God told Joshua? 00:21:59.15\00:22:01.28 He says, When you pass through the Jordan River, 00:22:02.35\00:22:04.22 he says, Don't go through empty handed. 00:22:05.05\00:22:07.12 He says, I want you to take some stones with you 00:22:08.19\00:22:10.69 so that whenever you get nervous in the future 00:22:11.73\00:22:14.36 and you see these stones, it's a reminder that it was 00:22:15.46\00:22:19.23 the hand of God that brought you through the Jordan River. 00:22:19.27\00:22:23.37 You are hearing the pastor today. 00:22:24.17\00:22:25.41 In fact, Prince, I had somebody use hyperbole this week 00:22:25.44\00:22:29.24 and they say, man, pastor, it ain't never been this bad 00:22:30.41\00:22:32.48 for people of color. 00:22:33.01\00:22:33.68 I said, hold up. Wait a minute. 00:22:33.72\00:22:36.69 Have you forgotten where God has brought us from? 00:22:36.72\00:22:40.52 Do I have any folk in this room that when you study history, 00:22:41.72\00:22:44.69 you realize we've got some stones 00:22:45.53\00:22:47.96 that anchors us when things seem unstable? 00:22:48.90\00:22:52.40 In other words, we serve the God that kept us in slavery. 00:22:53.54\00:22:56.87 We serve the God that kept us in reconstruction. 00:22:57.87\00:23:01.18 We serve the God that kept us in Jim Crow. 00:23:02.08\00:23:04.98 We served a God that prospered us in civil rights 00:23:06.05\00:23:09.08 that we serve. 00:23:09.52\00:23:10.69 The God that's applied when you are unemployed, imposed it. 00:23:10.72\00:23:14.12 And I love what Edmund White says, 00:23:14.89\00:23:16.56 that we have nothing to fear for the future, 00:23:16.59\00:23:19.16 lest we forget the way in which God has led us in the past. 00:23:20.36\00:23:23.60 And do I have seven folk that can look back over your life 00:23:24.83\00:23:27.60 and testify that God kept me in the pandemic? 00:23:28.54\00:23:31.81 That God kept me in the Bush years? 00:23:32.64\00:23:34.94 God kept me in the calendar year. 00:23:35.78\00:23:37.75 God kept me in the Obama years. 00:23:38.45\00:23:41.08 If God kept me during COVID. 00:23:41.75\00:23:43.59 If God kept me during the first drought, then God will keep me. 00:23:44.85\00:23:48.82 Do I have a witness? 00:23:50.19\00:23:51.89 If he kept you in the sixties, 00:23:51.93\00:23:54.36 if he sustained to in the seventies, 00:23:54.40\00:23:56.63 if he was good in the nineties, if he was in control 00:23:57.70\00:24:01.30 in the arts, anybody know that he still on the throne, 00:24:01.34\00:24:07.21 that he hasn't been voted out, 00:24:08.01\00:24:10.15 he can't be overthrown? 00:24:10.71\00:24:13.15 I love when verse ten says that he reads 00:24:13.18\00:24:16.82 whatever. 00:24:17.19\00:24:19.59 Oh, God. 00:24:19.89\00:24:21.29 Oh, and see, this is the good news. 00:24:22.12\00:24:24.86 Know that's what the word says. 00:24:24.89\00:24:26.46 Look at the rest of the chapter. 00:24:26.49\00:24:28.33 He says he gives food to the hungry, 00:24:28.36\00:24:31.27 that he opens the eyes of the blind, 00:24:32.83\00:24:35.27 that he sets the captives 00:24:36.07\00:24:38.24 free, that he raises those that are bowed down. 00:24:38.27\00:24:42.11 That he takes care of the stranger. 00:24:42.98\00:24:45.11 He watches over the fatherless and the widows. 00:24:46.15\00:24:48.88 Oh, we've missed it. 00:24:49.42\00:24:51.45 God says I care for the hungry, the prisoner, 00:24:51.49\00:24:55.32 the stranger, the oppressed, and the bowed down. 00:24:56.39\00:25:00.50 And what it is, is a promise 00:25:01.13\00:25:03.57 that whatever the deficit government has 00:25:04.50\00:25:07.20 got says, I'll 00:25:08.24\00:25:09.30 make up the difference. 00:25:09.34\00:25:12.41 So when the poor are hungry, God is gonna feed them 00:25:13.51\00:25:16.61 when they mess up medical facility. 00:25:17.48\00:25:19.78 God says I'm 00:25:20.18\00:25:21.25 gonna open their eyes when criminal justice is unfair. 00:25:21.28\00:25:24.95 God says I'll set the captives free. 00:25:25.82\00:25:27.89 When they promote mass deportation. 00:25:28.76\00:25:31.23 God says, I'll take care of the stranger and the immigrant. 00:25:32.43\00:25:34.96 So wherever governments fail, 00:25:35.66\00:25:37.93 God steps in. 00:25:38.67\00:25:40.90 So you don't have to trust Republicans. 00:25:40.94\00:25:43.67 You don't have to trust Democrats. 00:25:44.44\00:25:46.14 My hope is an end the donkey. 00:25:46.84\00:25:48.74 My hope isn't in the elephant. 00:25:49.44\00:25:51.55 My hope is in the lamb of God. 00:25:52.25\00:25:56.58 That takes away 00:25:57.35\00:25:59.82 the sin of the world. 00:25:59.85\00:26:02.46 My hope in the end, the donkey. 00:26:02.49\00:26:04.63 But in the light of the tribe of Judah. 00:26:05.53\00:26:09.10 And if you believe, can you give him some 00:26:10.07\00:26:12.07 praise? 00:26:12.10\00:26:15.14 Hey. Hey. 00:26:16.50\00:26:17.84 And it's just a reminder 00:26:18.81\00:26:20.61 that you can't put your hope in print. 00:26:20.64\00:26:22.78 This are in the son of man in whom there is no help. 00:26:23.91\00:26:26.31 But like the old song says on crisis, 00:26:27.22\00:26:30.29 the solid rock. 00:26:31.42\00:26:32.89 I say 00:26:32.92\00:26:34.36 all of the ground 00:26:34.99\00:26:38.33 is sinking, saying 00:26:38.36\00:26:41.06 I dare not cross 00:26:41.50\00:26:43.80 the sweetest train 00:26:43.83\00:26:46.17 but holy leave. 00:26:46.60\00:26:48.54 Oh, Jesus. 00:26:48.57\00:26:51.37 And this message, friends of mine, is 00:26:52.27\00:26:53.31 for those who are having tension and you're wrestling 00:26:53.34\00:26:56.04 with what this election means, I need you to know that. 00:26:56.08\00:27:00.08 That at the end of the day, we we have this moment of grief, 00:27:01.28\00:27:03.72 but now it's time to gather ourselves 00:27:04.62\00:27:06.76 and realize that our help comes from the Lord, 00:27:07.72\00:27:11.49 the Lord who makes heaven and earth. 00:27:11.53\00:27:13.73 Even if your candidate or candidates, 00:27:13.76\00:27:15.66 whether it's for the Senate 00:27:15.70\00:27:16.56 or the House or whatever, the day one. 00:27:16.60\00:27:18.57 What if you're a person? One Guess what? 00:27:18.60\00:27:20.20 The Bible still gives the same admonition. 00:27:20.24\00:27:22.40 Put not your trust in princes 00:27:23.10\00:27:25.71 or in the son of men whom there is no help. 00:27:26.71\00:27:28.61 But we are blessed when our hope is in the Lord, 00:27:29.68\00:27:34.15 because I'm at a place where I can just declare like 00:27:35.28\00:27:37.25 the dollar bill. It is in God 00:27:37.29\00:27:41.26 that we 00:27:41.29\00:27:41.69 trust . 00:27:41.72\00:27:43.86