God Will Come Through for you
Sermon Preached on Day 2 of the Divine Intervention Ministration at Liberty Chapel, Windsor Mill, Maryland on July 23, 2011
By
John Ojewole
PREAMBLE:
Thanks for your hospitality.
NIV | Pr 11:25 A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.
NKJV | Pr 11:25 The generous soul will be made rich, And he who waters will also be watered himself.
Introduction:
(Matthew 11:28 NIV) Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
creatio-ex-nihilo—Created out of nothing.
Exodus 3:7–8 (HCSB) “7 Then the Lord said, “I have observed the misery of My people in Egypt, and have heard them crying out because of their oppressors, and I know about their sufferings. 8 I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and to bring them from that land to a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey …”
Isaiah 43:19
Behold, I will do a new thing,
Now it shall spring forth;
Shall you not know it?
I will even make a road in the wilderness
And rivers in the desert.
1. The Requirement:
a. You must have faith in God. Faith is the heartbeat of our Christian living. Faith is the engine of our prayer.
NKJV | Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.NKJV | Mk 11:22 So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. 23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. 24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.
Faith is the activator of your healing, miracle and breakthrough.
HCSB | Mk 5:34 “Daughter,” He said to her, “your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be free from your affliction.”
HCSB | Mt 9:22 But Jesus turned and saw her. “Have courage, daughter,” He said. “Your faith has made you well.” And the woman was made well from that moment.
NKJV | Mt 9:27 When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, “Son of David, have mercy on us!” 28 And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.” 29 Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith let it be to you.” 30 And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, “See that no one knows it.”
Rom 10:17 (NKJV) 17So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
b. Pray in faith
NKJV | Mk 11:24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.
1 Samuel 1:9–12 (HCSB) 9 Hannah got up after they ate and drank at Shiloh. Eli the priest was sitting on a chair by the doorpost of the Lord’s tabernacle. 10 Deeply hurt, Hannah prayed to the Lord and wept with many tears. 11 Making a vow, she pleaded, “Lord of Hosts, if You will take notice of Your servant’s affliction, remember and not forget me, and give Your servant a son, I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and his hair will never be cut.” 12 While she continued praying in the Lord’s presence, Eli watched her lips.
Common obstacles to prayer:
a. First, godlessness.
(Job 27:8-9 NIV) For what hope has the godless when he is cut off, when God takes away his life? {9} Does God listen to his cry when distress comes upon him?
b. Second, unconfessed sin.
(Psa 66:18 NIV) If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened;
(Isa 1:15 NIV) When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood;
c. Third, unforgiving spirit.
(Mat 6:14-15 NIV) " For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. {15} But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
d. Fourth, doubting.
(James 1:5-8 NIV) If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. {6} But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. {7} That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; {8} he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.
e. Fifth, praying with a wrong motif.
(James 4:2-3 NIV) You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. {3} When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
2. Radical Intervention of God
John 5:1-9
John 5:1–9 (HCSB) After this, a Jewish festival took place, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 By the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem there is a pool, called Bethesda in Hebrew, which has five colonnades. 3 Within these lay a large number of the sick—blind, lame, and paralyzed [—waiting for the moving of the water, 4 because an angel would go down into the pool from time to time and stir up the water. Then the first one who got in after the water was stirred up recovered from whatever ailment he had].
5 One man was there who had been sick for 38 years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew he had already been there a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to get well?”
7 “Sir,” the sick man answered, “I don’t have a man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I’m coming, someone goes down ahead of me.”
8 “Get up,” Jesus told him, “pick up your mat and walk!” 9 Instantly the man got well, picked up his mat, and started to walk.
Now that day was the Sabbath,
First, The Hurts of this man
(John 5:1-5 NIV) Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie--the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. 5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.
(John 5:7 NIV) "Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me."
(Psa 30:5 NIV) For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.
(Psa 34:19 NIV) A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all;
Second, The Hope of this man. Despite the condition of this man he was hopeful
(John 5:4 NIV) From time to time an angel of the Lord would come down and stir up the waters. The first one into the pool after each such disturbance would be cured of whatever disease he had.
(John 5:7 NIV) "Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me."
Romans 5:5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Third, The Healing of this man
(John 5:6 NIV) When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?"
(John 5:8-9 NIV) Then Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." 9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath,
Corrie Ten Boom once said: “You will never discover Christ is all you need until Christ is all you have.”
3. The Reciprocal Intervention.
NKJV | 1 Ki 17:8-16 Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, indeed a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup, that I may drink.” 11 And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” 12 So she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.” 13 And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the LORD sends rain on the earth.’ ” 15 So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke by Elijah.
Observe the following from this passage:
· First, the efficacy of the word of God. Verses 13-14
· Second, the faith and obedience of this widow 12 & 15
· Third, the reward of obedience. verses 15-16
NKJV | Mk 13:31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.
NKJV | Ge 8:22 “While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and summer, And day and night Shall not cease.”
Principles to bear in mind about faith giving:
a. Know that everything that you are or that you have belongs to the Lord. Deuteronomy 8:18
NKJV | Dt 8:18 “And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.
b. When you sow faithfully into a ministry, you will reap a bountiful harvest. Luke 6:38
NKJV | Lk 6:38 Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”
c. Every seed that you sow brings fruit. You will reap what you sow. Proverbs 22:8
NKJV | Ga 6:7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.
NKJV | Pr 22:8 He who sows iniquity will reap sorrow, And the rod of his anger will fail.
d. When you sow seed into the kingdom of God, you need to know that in order to have a bountiful harvest, you must be sure that you sow a good seed and the soil and the environment is conducive for its growth.
Sow seed with the right motif. Do not do it grudgingly.
NKJV | 2 Co 9:5 Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren to go to you ahead of time, and prepare your generous gift beforehand, which you had previously promised, that it may be ready as a matter of generosity and not as a grudging obligation. 6 But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.
e. Be patient as God brings about the bountiful harvest.
NKJV | Jas 5:7 Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain.
NKJV | Ga 6:9 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.
NKJV | Mk 4:26 And He said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, 27 and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. 28 For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. 29 But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
NKJV | Pr 4:18 But the path of the just is like the shining sun, That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.
Conclusion:
NKJV | Lk 6:38 Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” NIV | Php 4:17 Not that I desire your gifts; what I desire is that more be credited to your account.
