Persecution as a Catalyst: God's Purpose in Trials | Rooted | Prophet Jeremiah Johnson

Foreign.

As Jesus was walking with his disciples for a period of three years

upon the earth, he obviously taught him them about his kingdom.

He told them that he would die, that he would rise again.

And as Jesus rises again, he gives his disciples what we know

as the Great Commission.

Matthew, chapter 28.

Matthew 28 · chapter mention

The Great Commission.

Go out and make disciples, Baptizing them in the name of the

Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

How many of you are taking up the Great Commission?

Amen.

It's something that he gave to all believers to make disciples.

But then in Acts 1:8, he tells them to wait in Jerusalem, to wait

Acts 1:8

in the upper room for the promise of the Father.

And in Acts 1:8, he says, you will receive.

Acts 1:8

Receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.

And you shall be my witnesses in both Jerusalem and Judea, Samaria

and the ends of the earth.

And so the way that I look at it is there's a Great Commission,

then there's a great baptism.

I really believe that Jesus knew they could not fulfill the Great

Commission without the Holy Spirit.

They needed a fresh baptism of power.

And so, as we read there in Acts 18, there's this promise.

Power is coming.

There's this promise.

Great help is coming.

Maybe some of you have received a prophetic word before.

Words of destiny.

Words that God has a plan.

God has a future for you.

So let's see how God plans to activate his promise to them in Acts

18 by reading Acts 8.

And Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death.

Him being Stephen.

Stephen has just been martyred.

And on that day, a great persecution arose against the church

in Jerusalem.

And they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and

Samaria, except the apostles.

And some devout men buried Stephen and made loud cries over

him.

But Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house,

dragging off men and women to put them in prison.

So we're seeing here God's plan to bring forth his promise.

And so, if you're taking notes, God's promise to the early

church was activated through persecution.

I don't know about you, but I would have passed.

Okay, again, I really want to make sure you're tracking with me.

I want to talk to you today about persecution, deception and

the harvest and how it relates to our life.

Okay?

Jesus gives them the Great Commission in Matthew 28.

Go make disciples.

And Acts 1:8, he tells them, before you go and make disciples,

Acts 1:8

you need power.

Say power.

You need power.

You need Holy Ghost power to be my witnesses in Judea and Samaria

and the ends of the earth.

They can't get to Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth

unless there's persecution.

So I see a great commission.

I see a great baptism and I see a great persecution.

We make some practical application.

There are some promises God has given some of us here this morning.

There are some prophecies that we have received.

There are some good things that God wants to bring forth in

our life that can only come forth during hard times.

Jesus, the anointed one went to Gethsemane, which means oil press.

The anointed one went to the oil press in order for what God had

put inside of him.

In other words, what gets squeezed out of you in on hard times

is a revelation of who we really are.

What gets squeezed out of us in hard times is a reality of where

our faith really is in Jesus.

And so the early church begins to be persecuted.

And Acts chapter 8.

Acts 8 · chapter mention

But the revelation here is that Jesus promise to them in Acts

Acts 1:8

1:8 for power can only come after persecution.

And I want to speak to some people.

You're wrestling through hard times.

I want to speak to people.

You're in a valley, you're in a storm.

You're trying to make sense of what's happening.

Why is someone sick?

Why can't I get a job?

I thought the prophet said, said imagine being David.

I would have probably Facebook rebuked Samuel.

Okay, Samuel goes to David and he anoints David king over Israel.

But you have to listen to me today.

There's a difference between the anointing and the appointing.

David anoints Samuel king over Israel, but he's not appointed king

until 13 years later.

The only prophecy David has is you're going to become king.

The reason why I joked about Facebook review rebuking Samuel is

I would just say, hey Sammy, I appreciate the word about me being

anointed king, but you kind of left out the 13 year period of being

chased by a demonized leader named Saul, who I thought was a father.

Right, right, right, right.

Yeah.

God had given him a promise.

God had given him a prophecy.

You are anointed king.

But there was a process.

There was a pressing, there was a persecution, there was a trial,

there was a tribulation.

There was something that he had to go through in order to ref

define him as the man or for you, the woman of God that God has

called you to be.

So I want to speak strength to you today.

I want to speak encouragement you today.

I want to exhort you, I want to comfort you.

The Bible says, don't Be surprised at trials as, as if some

strange thing had happened to you.

Now just for a moment, that there's a false gospel being preached

in America.

The false gospel is come to Jesus and you'll never have a problem

again.

You know how many people come to Jesus thinking somehow he's delivered

them from all their problems?

Listen, if we didn't have problems, there'd be no need for

faith.

Jesus warned them.

Are you building your house on the sand so that when the storms

of life come, your faith is washed away?

Or are you building your faith on the rock solid foundation of Jesus

Christ?

So again in this rooted series where V1 church is being welcomed,

being invited to let your roots grow down deep.

I'm encouraging you and exhorting you that whether our roots

are down deep is oftentimes really determined in seasons of shaking.

Really determined when things.

And again, scripturally, marriage is a covenant.

It's not a contract.

It's not something that I bail on my wife because things aren't

going my way.

I'm not, hey, I'm having a hard time at my job, so I quit.

Listen, we need a generation of no quitters.

We need a generation who learns how to persevere, who learns

how to get a backbone, who learns how to communicate, who learns

how to hit delete on dysfunctional marriage and family.

Come on, somebody, right?

So I want to be somebody that when oppressing, that when a shaking,

that when a persecution breaks out.

Listen, the deeper you go in God, the less you can take with you.

If you haven't been told you're part of a cult yet you're

not doing it right.

Verse 4.

Therefore, those who had been scattered went about preaching the

word.

What was their response to persecution?

I'm just going to keep doing the same thing I've always done because

persecution's not causing me to shake in my boots.

Persecution is causing me to lace up my boots.

Nice try, devil.

Some of you need to serve him notice today.

Some of you need to take a stand today.

Some of you need to look the devil in the face and say, buddy,

it ain't working.

You little wimp.

You stirring up warfare.

You coming against me.

You, you sending this person at work, this little kid wiling out.

I mean this is like, listen, listen.

My faith is unshakable.

My faith is not in my circumstances.

My faith is in God.

I tell people I prayed for people who have been healed of cancer.

I prayed for people who have died of cancer.

My faith is still unshakable.

Listen to me.

Because My faith is not in miracles.

My faith is in God.

I don't heal anyone.

I just pray in faith for the sick and leave the results to God.

So Philip is scattered and he just keeps preaching.

He goes down to Samaria proclaiming Christ to them and multitudes.

It's so, so awesome.

I'll just kind of paraphrase for you.

But as Philip is down in Samaria, he starts casting demons

out of people.

The sick become healed.

People start coming into the kingdom of God, all due to persecution.

The promise of Jesus in 1 Acts 1:8, that they would receive power

Acts 1:8

in order to be his witnesses cannot be accomplished unless persecution

breaks out against the church.

I'm telling you this morning, there are many promises and prophecies

that God has given you and I that cannot come to pass without

a process.

And many times the way God processes us.

Many times what we go through in life is God's way, not our way.

I've had a call on my life since I was a young boy.

I went down to college and pursued ministry.

Then I get a call one day from my dad.

He's crying, says Jeremiah, something's happened to your mom.

I grew up a pastor's son.

My mom ends up being diagnosed bipolar, schizophrenic.

She ends up in a mental institution.

I'm pursuing the call of God.

I've got great promises, I've got great prophecies.

But now I'm wrestling with a mom who grew up a pastor's wife who's

no longer mentally well.

You want to talk about faith shaken.

You want to talk about what in the world is.

My dad steps down from ministry.

He becomes suicidal.

A man that I look to as my hero.

All of a sudden, his world has come crashing down.

In the years that followed, I would have a brother who, because

of the crimes he committed, has been in a federal penitentiary

for the last 10 years.

Sometimes you stand up here and preach and people think you're

perfect.

People think you're telling them to have faith.

Cause you've never had to have faith.

Listen, I could tell you about some hell.

I'm sure there's some people here that could tell me about some

of the hell that you have been through.

But I'm telling you, the substance of our faith is not just

measured.

And you can shout on Sunday when things are good.

The measure of real faith is can you shout when the devil's waging

war?

Can you worship through your storm?

Can you confess that God is good even though your family is crumbling?

I'm inspired by the early church.

I'm inspired by the saints of old.

The more the devil threw at them, the more fired up they got.

The more they were threatened with immediate death, the more crazier

they got for the gospel.

And I just want to tell you my perception of V1 church.

I've heard you guys are the wild ones.

And to me, what.

What that means to me is these are people.

You are people who have uncommon faith.

You are people that.

Whether it's a storm, a trial, a tribulation, or everything's going

great in your life.

I believe I've been sent here today to call people back to the

reason why you signed up.

I sense at this service today, some of you once had a fire, and

that big flame has turned into a flickering wick.

You remember when you caught fire.

You remember when you first received deliverance.

You remember when so and so.

But now, after the months and weeks and days, you're starting to

try to.

Oh, man.

God.

God, where are you?

God, I can't feel you.

God, why did this happen to me?

The Holy Spirit is reaching out to many of you today, saying,

I want to mark your life.

I want to release a fresh fire to your life, brother.

Right here.

You're wearing a white polo.

You've got hair.

I would dream of longer hair.

Right here.

Chewing gum.

Would you stand real quick?

God is igniting a fire in your heart.

He's.

He's marking you afresh.

There are things that you have gone through in your life where the

enemy literally tried to choke the very breath from you.

And God is reviving you today.

God is putting forth a testimony in you today.

I believe that God has called you.

God has called you as a fisher of men.

God has called you to influence people around you away

from drugs, away from alcohol, away from chasing women.

There's a firebrand anointing on your life.

But sometimes you've got to go through the trial.

You've got to go through the fire.

But I hear the Lord saying, I will be the fourth man in the fire.

Even as I was with Rad Shack, Meshach and Abednego.

I'm going to be with you through the fire.

You are a voice, not an echo.

God has put his spirit on the inside of you.

And you are mantled for family revival.

You are mantled to break generational curses off of families.

Let's give Jesus a round of applause.

Now we're having fun.

I mean, I remember crying in my bed, just like, what.

What is this?

Lord, I. I have these prophecies I have these promises

I have.

And, like, what's happened to my family was never prophesied to

me.

What's happened in it, it's like, again, it's like Sammy.

Sammy gives David the prophecy about the anointing and the king

over and just kind of leaves out the part of, like, the process.

And.

And sometimes God's promises take way longer than we think.

We live in some microwavable prophecy generation where you get

a prophecy Sunday, and if it doesn't happen on Monday, the guy's

a false prophet.

I'm just going to tell you real words from the Lord that carry

weight.

It takes time because it's as much about our character transformation

as it is about stepping into destiny.

God cares more about what he's doing on the inside of us than what

he wants to do through us.

And so Philip just keeps preaching they're being persecuted.

Oh, good.

There's a closed door here.

I'm not going to become a victim.

I'm a victor.

Good.

You don't want to hear the gospel over here.

I'm just going to go find someone else that wants to hear it.

I really feel like some of you need to hear.

You are not a victim.

You are not a victim.

You are a more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus.

I get that.

We've all been through, but you've got.

I hear the Lord saying to some of you, stop throwing a pity party

this summer.

Stop calling, moaning, and complaining and whining.

Intercession.

God cannot bless what you keep cursing.

People are like, God.

God's not moving at my work because you keep cursing it.

I'm not saying you're.

You're dropping, you know, cuss words.

What I'm saying is you've got to stop cursing.

Lord, I hate this place.

Lord, why did you send me to this place?

Lord, this boss, this co worker.

You're cursing it.

God won't bless what you're cursing.

The reason why it's dark is because you've got the light.

Open up your mouth.

Some of us are going to go through trials.

Some of us are going to go through persecutions.

And again, there's a difference between questioning God

and asking God questions.

There's a difference between questioning God and asking God questions.

When you're going through hard seasons, it's okay to ask God questions,

but to stick our finger in his face and begin to rage about what

we can't control, it won't help you.

Why is an invalid question that makes invalids.

Why is an invalid question that makes you an invalid.

There is many times in life, we will never know why until we meet

him face to face.

So when I am met with circumstances where I'm being persecuted,

where I am being slandered, when things happen in my family,

that's a trial or a tribulation.

I'm not going to question God.

I'm going to take a knee as a son to my father and say, father,

you know best.

I don't get it.

I don't get it why this person died.

I don't get it why my.

I don't get it why my.

And what do you do?

Right?

I've been paying my mom's bills for years.

I travel and see all these great meetings and all these prophecies

and all these miracles and all these breakthroughs.

And I go back each and every week and love my mom.

I talk to somebody who's the lights are on and no one's home.

See, God moved powerfully in the nation.

And then in my town where my mom lives and I'm paying her bills,

I'm met with the whispers of the devil.

Some of you this morning.

It's the whispers of the devil.

He whispers, you're a fraud.

He whispers, this isn't real.

He whispers, your worship means nothing.

He whispers, they're never going to be healed.

He whispers all these demonic lies, he spews all his venom.

And I personally have an opportunity each and every week to

tell the devil, shut up.

Because again, I. I might not see breakthrough in front of me,

but I'm telling you, I am a steward of the breakthrough up here.

See, I've been given the mind of Christ.

I've been given the word of God.

Just because I'm not seeing someone I love healed and front of

me does not mean that God's not a healer.

No, I'm going to preach to somebody.

Just because I'm not seeing this person that I love delivered

from addiction does not mean God can't break the power of addiction.

I'm not going to allow my circumstances to dictate my level

of faith.

In fact, I'm gonna take every thought captive and make it obedient

to Jesus.

I'm gonna take every lie, every arrow that the devil flings

my way and I'm going to command it to fall in Jesus name.

I'm not going to let the lies of the enemy take root in my heart.

In fact, I'm going to make can pay.

See, I believe in something called double for your trouble.

I believe that even if God hasn't healed My mom yet.

I'm going to see moms healed.

Across this nation, even with a brother locked up in a federal

penitentiary, we are preaching to prisoners.

We are calling captives to be set free.

Because I refuse to allow the devil to have the last say.

I refuse to allow him to win.

I'm telling you, my God is Yahweh.

He's the Lord, strong and mighty.

I don't know what's in front of me.

I don't know why it's happening.

But I profess faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

And I refuse to have shaky faith.

I refuse to have have flaky faith.

I refuse to be a fan of Jesus.

I'm a follower of Jesus.

Come on.

I'm a wild one.

You're a wild one.

We're the one church.

This is who we are.

When the enemy comes in like a flood, God will raise up a standard

against him.

Who's the standard?

You and I. I are the standard.

We march underneath the banner of the Lord Jesus Christ.

He will fight our battles.

He's raising up an army in the earth.

We're not perfect people.

We have challenges.

We have struggles.

But we believe in Jesus, King of kings and Lord of Lords.

He will heal them in this life or he will heal them in the next

life.

He will deliver them in this life or they will be delivered in

the next life.

Come on, give Jesus a shout.

Give Jesus.

Let's praise him in the storm.

Let's praise him on the mountain.

Let's praise them in the good times.

Let's praise him through the hard times.

Hallelujah.

Hallelujah.

This generation is tired of pretending, tired of hypocrisy.

Tired of people who claim Jesus on Sunday and deny him on Monday.

Lord, thank you for strengthening our faith today.

Thank you for encouraging us in the midst of the storm.

Thank you for strengthening our inner man.

Thank you for the gathering of believers.

The devil tries to isolate you.

The devil tries to get you away from saints who have a kind

of boldness and courage that can break through atmospheres.

I'm telling you, it's okay to put your faith in God even when you

don't understand.

I've learned a few things in my walk with God.

Like when I walk up to in church and I don't feel like praying.

Go find the old Pentecostal lady who it seems all she does is

pray in tongues.

Stop hanging in the back.

Stand right next to her during worship, and what's on her and in

her will get on you.

You don't feel like Worshiping today.

Stop standing there looking like a statue.

We're not at Frozen Chosen assembly with Pastor Frigidaire.

We are at V1 Church.

We are a group of the wild ones, right?

We will become more undignified than this.

We don't do statue worshiping.

We don't do apathy.

We don't do lethargy.

We don't do complacency.

If you come into the house of God and you don't feel like worshiping

today, come down to the front and get around the Judah tribe, Get

around the praisers, get around the worshipers, get around

the people that have died to the opinions of men.

And the only thing.

Am I preaching to anybody?

I want to pray for you today.

I intended to preach the next 20 verses, but God stepped in.

I want to pray for you today.

I want to pray for some of you today to go all in.

Some of you, if you're honest, your faith has literally just been

limited to your circumstances.

Jesus is nothing more than a crisis atm.

You run to him when your things are shaking.

You deny him when things are great.

God wants to encourage a generation.

Today.

I'm the God of the mountain.

And I'm the God of the valley.

I'm not the author of confusion.

God is not the author of cancer.

God was not the author of my mom's mental illness.

I refuse to believe that a good father finds enjoyment in making

his kids sick.

Some of you have been praying for prodigals.

Some of you have been believing for breakthrough and it

just seems like you're stuck.

I want to invite you today to believe again.

I want to invite you today to trust again.

I want to invite you today to say, Lord, I might not understand,

but God, I'm pressing through.

Would you bow your heads with me, Lord, thank you that no one is

here today by mistake or coincidence.

Thank you that you loved us so much that you woke us up even this

morning.

I want to pray for two groups this morning.

Number one, I want to pray for those of you.

If you died tonight, you are not certain where you would spend

eternity.

You're living a lifestyle of sin.

You're constantly given over to a lifestyle of sin.

Maybe you hop into a church service every once in a while, but

God sees you and knows you even when you're not here.

The love of God is calling out to you this morning saying, put your

trust in me.

Put your faith in me.

Let me take the weight, the penalty of your sin.

Let me take the shame and guilt and condemnation.

Come to me that's you.

If you want to make a first time decision for Jesus, maybe you've

fallen away and you want to rededicate your life to him.

Would you just slip up your hand quickly?

Thank you, who else?

Thank you.

Who else, Lord?

Thank you, Holy Spirit, for drawing hearts to yourself this morning.

Want to encourage in your own words, believe in your heart and

confess with your mouth that Jesus is.

Lord, turn away from your sins.

Jesus will take that burden, that bondage that you've been carrying

and he'll give you his life in exchange.

Thank you, Lord.

Thank you, Lord.

Thank you, Lord.

Finally, I want to pray for a second group.

I want to pray for a group of people.

You're walking with Jesus, you're one of his followers.

But the Holy Spirit today has confirmed his word to you.

There is a process, there is a timing, there is things in life,

there are challenges, there is persecution.

But today you're saying, lord, I'm all in, though none go with me,

I will follow, Lord.

No matter the circumstances, I will follow.

If that's you, would you just raise your hand?

And I'm going to raise my hand with you because as I've shared this

morning, I'm in the fight.

I'm in the active faith route.

I'm daily trusting Jesus, I'm daily pressing through.

Lord, we lift our hands today in solidarity saying, Jesus, we love

you.

He gives and takes away.

He gives and takes away.

Still my heart will choose to say, blessed is the name of the Lord.

Lord, we trust our lives to you, our families, our marriages.

Lord, we will not let go of faith.

Lord, encourage our faith today, strengthen our faith today.

There is purpose, there is perks.

On the other side of hard times, Lord, we keep pressing, we

keep walking, we keep believing.

It's in the name of Jesus.

I pray.

Can we give Jesus a big, big round of applause?

I want to invite.