When All Is Said And Done

Hallelujah. While they continue to pray, if you

have your Bible, turn with me to Luke's gospel.

Amen. We can pray and preach all at the same

time. Amen. Aren't you glad there's an altar

that you can approach when you're in need? Amen.

As you're turning to Luke, that fourth chapter.

There are milestones in life that are worthy

of celebration. Amen. We have two such celebrations

that are worthy this week. Today, Sister Jean

Westmoreland's birthday. Amen. We celebrate her

with that. I'm going to step out on a limb because

at some point it's celebration. Today is her

89th birthday. Amen. Come Tuesday. Sister Gwen

Goins will be celebrating her 90th birthday.

Amen? You say, won't that kill the spirit? If

it does, it needed knocked in the head, number

one. Because what you see are testimonies of

the faithfulness of God. While one is here seeking

help and a touch, you have two standing. With

celebrations of God's faithfulness over decades.

God is good. God is faithful. He's mighty. He's

merciful. Amen? He is God. Amen. Let's read.

Y 'all keep praying. Y 'all doing fine. Luke's

Gospel, 4th chapter, verse 14. Jesus returned

in the power of the Spirit into Galilee. And

there went out a fame of him through all the

region round about. And he taught in their synagogues,

being glorified of all. And he came to Nazareth

where he had been brought up. And as his custom

was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath

day, and he stood up forward to read. And there

he was delivered, and there was delivered unto

him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when

he had opened the book, he found the place where

it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon

me, because he hath anointed me to preach the

gospel to the poor. He hath sent me to heal the

brokenhearted. To preach deliverance to the captives

and recovery of sight to the blind. To set at

liberty them that are bruised. To preach the

acceptable year of the Lord. Now, we're going

to visit Psalm 22 shortly. But what I want to

preach to you this morning is on this thought.

When all is said and done. When all is said and

done. Amen. I'll pray for you. You pray for me.

Father, we love you. Thank you for your goodness.

Thank you for your mercy. Thank you for the power

of your word, Lord, and the nearness of your

spirit today. Lord, you are in the house. Your

presence is here ever so near. Now, Father, as

we pray one for another, I pray that we hear

what the spirits say to the church. I ask God

that you would help me with that liberty. that

makes it easy to preach and to proclaim. Where

the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty,

and we've proclaimed your presence here. So,

Lord, let that freedom and anointing and the

unction flow today as we declare what thus saith

the Lord. And we'll be quick to praise you for

it all in Christ's lovely, holy, mighty name.

And the church said, amen and amen. When all

is said and done. Life at its best is difficult.

Prior to the events of our text this morning,

there's a lot of things already happened in Jesus'

life here at the beginning of his ministry. John

would record early in the first chapter, Behold

the Lamb of God which takes away the sins of

the world. As Jesus is being baptized, the Spirit

in the form like as a dove descended on him,

and the Father speaks from heaven and declares,

this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.

But on the heels of this experience of baptism,

Jesus... is led by the Spirit into a wilderness.

And during this 40 days and nights that he's

in this wilderness, the enemy is trying to appeal

to him in every way, shape, form, fashion. He's

testing and trying and tempting his humanity.

He's trying, testing, and tempting his authority.

He's trying, testing, tempting his deity. He

is attacking him in every way, shape, form, and

fashion. And so as he makes his way out of this

wilderness, there is a return. The declaration

of freedom from the wilderness is, it is written.

It is written. Now, you may find your own self

wandering in a maze in a wilderness of life.

Sometimes, if you're aware spiritually, you know

that the Spirit leads you. Amen? Now, He doesn't

always lead us through the rose garden. The Spirit

leads us into the wilderness at times because

it's in the wilderness where our faith is really...

Your faith is tempted. Your faith is tried. And

when we come through all of those victorious

in Christ, when it's all said and done, the victory

belongs to us through Jesus Christ. And that

victory is solidified in this declaration of

Luke 4. The passage I read to you is my life

verse. How many of you, you have some scripture

that anytime, every time, all the time, those

are the ones you go to. You've got that go to.

We won't have that problem next week. As I was

saying, you just witnessed my humanity. Tested,

tempted, tried. Thankfully, you're all here,

and I passed the sanctification test. Had that

happened with you not here, I'd be in an altar

praying, Lord, forgive me, for I had just sinned.

I'd have lost my temper. Self -control would

have went by the wayside. Back to, you know,

the Lord really has something good in store for

us this morning. Or all of the struggle, the

pain, the anguish. We wouldn't be dealing with

it. Isn't it good to know that you're at a place

that doesn't set all your anguish, your pain,

and life just aside? Amen. Isn't it good to know

you don't have a prima donna behind a pulpit

but yet gets his feet dirty in life as well?

Who's tempted, who's tested, who's tried? Amen.

But who overcomes by the same grace that you

overcome by? Amen. Isn't it good to know that

your pastor loses his temper from time to time

and it just makes you feel better? When you sin,

it makes me feel better about mine. Makes me

able to preach easier. Somebody's thinking, you

sin? Well, not these egregious things, but yes,

I miss the mark from time to time. That's the

reason I bleed the blood every day. The blood

that we just sung about every day. My Lord. There's

only one sinless man, and I just read to you

about his encounter. All confidence. If you're

visiting today, hang in here. Give us one more

shot. Please. Humanity, authority, and the deity.

We got bugs crawling everything. My Lord. Jesus,

who was the Word of God, the incarnate Son of

the living God, God himself had his encounter

with the enemy in the wilderness. He was led

there by the Spirit. He was empowered through

the Spirit because the Spirit had just sat upon

him. Amen. It wasn't a little dove. It sat on

him. The Spirit sat on him like a dove would

have. Are you following me? Like he came and

lit. The Spirit of the Lord in the wilderness

before he gets there has already equipped him

and already empowered. You say, well, he's the

Son of God. But that quickening for all to know,

that power, the Spirit of God descending on him.

and the Father of heaven saying, this is my son.

I'm pleased with him. In another place it will

be recorded that this is my beloved son in whom

I'm well pleased. Hear ye him. Hear what he has

to declare. And that's what I want to talk to

us about this morning is exactly what he has

to declare in our life. The Lord makes a declaration

over and into our lives. And when these trials

and temptations and these wilderness situations

arrive, me great hope to know when it's all said

and done that he began with a declaration of

my deliverance. He decreed it from the very beginning

giving me hope that no matter what comes into

my life that I can call upon him and he will

answer. It is written. Amen. We have to remember

what John says in John 1. He is the Logos. In

the beginning was the Word. Amen. He's the Rhema

and the Word was made flesh and he dwelt among

us and we hear from heaven whenever trial comes,

whenever the enemy arises, when he approaches

and when affliction comes upon our body. We always

know that we have a place to where we can go.

We have one on whom we can call and know that

God will deliver us in our hour and time and

moments of need. Jesus has come out of Jordan.

He's come through 40 days in the wilderness and

now he's making his way back toward home. He's

coming back toward Nazareth. And Jesus returned.

And I want us to look at something here in that

14th verse. Take really quick note of it. And

Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit. Did

you read that? And Jesus returned in the power

of the Spirit into Galilee. And there went out

a fame of him through all of the region round

about. And he taught in their synagogues, being

glorified of all. Now, what I want us to take

note of in that 14th verse is this. Yes, you

get dreams. Driven in the wilderness. Yes you

meet the enemy out there. Yes you get weakened.

You get attacked. You get ridiculed. You get

all of that. But can I tell you. You can come

out the same way you went in. Jesus come out

in the same power. Of the same spirit that just

sat on him. And took him in. He came out of his

wilderness experience. With the same authority.

With the same power. And the spirit of God still

upon his life. Well what does that mean for me

pastor? Whatever wilderness you feel like you're

in. Whatever. The enemy is coming against you

with. My God, there's a declaration that's been

made. Jesus has already spoken. It has already

been written. And you will not be defeated in

it. So if you will not be defeated, please do

not surrender. Hallelujah. Do not surrender.

He comes back. He makes his way to church. Isn't

that a novel place to go? Thank you for being

in the house of the Lord today. Let's pray for

all those that are out today. Some are sick.

Amen. Some are on vacation. And there are others

just lazy. So just pray for them. Amen. Jesus

made his way as it was his custom. as he often

did. He went in, and he said, I'm going to read

today. I looked into a little bit of that. That

was the custom. The men could go in, and they

could request, and the synagogue leader would

bring over the scroll, and they would read, and

they could stand, and most of the time, after

they read, they would be seated to teach, but

he just kept standing there. There's something

of, oh, Lord, there's little innuendos in all

of the scripture. You just have to read them,

and it's like, I wonder, Just real quickly, has

anybody ever cracked and eaten a hickory nut?

Anybody ever cracked one? That is the hardest.

meat to get out of a shell. It's harder than

a black walnut to get, but they are the best

tasting thing in the woods. Amen. It's hard to

get it out. And it's those little nuggets. Sometimes

you got to crack them and you got to get them

out. And when we begin to say, I looked into

that, Jesus came in and instead of reading from

this text and sitting down to discuss it, he

stands there with them. And he says, today, this

scripture is fulfilled in your hearing today.

what the prophet Isaiah said some nearly 800

years ago has come to pass in your hearing. And

what he said changed my life when I've got a

hold of this text right here. What it has said

has really verified all that was in and what

God was calling me to do in my life. When Jesus

began to declare in his own town as it was his

own custom and they delivered him the book of

Isaiah and when he opened and he began to read

he found the place where it was written. You

know why he found it? Because that's the spot

he was looking for. My God. Amen. That's the

place he was looking for. He was looking for

this particular text so that he could read it.

And he began to unroll. It's not a book like

you and I have with pages. It's a scroll. I can

just see time taken as he's sitting there unrolling

and rolling, unrolling and rolling. Then he said,

here it is. This is where I wanted to get. This

is the text I wanted to read. And then he began

to read. to them in their hearing. The spirit

of the Lord is upon me. Amen. My God, the spirit

of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed

me to preach the gospel to the poor. When we

begin to think about all that can transpire in

our life and in this world and the chaos that

goes on in it and the hell that comes against

you from time to time, I need to know that there's

a spirit of the Lord that can come upon me as

well. Amen. I need to know that there's a hope

that I can run to. There's a power that I can

lean on and a strength that I can draw from.

Why? Because I don't know. Matter of fact, I

do know. I know I'm not enough to face up the

enemy. I know I'm not enough to resist all the

temptation without the Spirit of the Lord being

on me. I know I can't withstand all of the attacks

in myself without the Spirit of the Lord being

upon me. And so here Jesus enters in. Out of

the wilderness, he comes back to his hometown,

and things are different. It's not the same Jesus

that went into the wilderness. Oh, we know that

he is, but there's a difference now as he begins

to make this declaration. He was Joseph's son.

He was the carpenter's boy. He was Mary's boy.

Yes, he done some things around a wedding and

some other things, but there's about to be a

declaration. There's something that is about

to shift in the world known of that day. Jesus

has now stated his purpose, his theology, and

his mission. The Spirit of the Lord. Lord is

upon me and he has anointed me to preach the

gospel to the poor. Somebody needs to hear it

today. There is a declaration when all is said

and done, Jesus came to the poor. He came for

the poor, not just financially poor. He came

for the spiritually poor. He come from all of

us who were impoverished in our spirit, which

by the way is everyone that draws a breath of

oxygen. When you come in, you come into this

world. world poor. You come into this world deprived.

Why? Because we are deprived of the living spirit

of God within us. Amen. But it's because of Christ's

work at Calvary soon to follow this day that

would bring about a fulfillment so that you and

I will know that the spirit of the Lord was upon

him and he anointed him to preach the good news.

This evangelistic message to the poor, not only

the broke, not only the disgusted, but to those

who who were impoverished within their own self.

Amen. He came to deliver the poor in heart, and

he came with an authority. He came with an anointing.

Why? Because the spirit of the Lord is upon me.

He came that he may declare to the spiritually

deficient that there is life in him. My God,

somebody needs to hear it this morning. There

is life in him. I know the enemy's coming against

you. I know he's trying to squeeze the very life

out of you, but I'm here. declare to you today,

the Spirit of the Lord will instill new life

in you. His qualification, the Spirit's on him.

The Father has spoken over him. Commissioned

by the anointing. They were familiar with the

anointing. When he began to speak about anointing,

they were familiar. They understood that the

Spirit of the Lord would set upon the prophets

of old. Many of them actually acknowledged that

the Spirit of the Lord was upon John the Baptist

as he's preaching in the wilderness. This word

of repentance. The message is, I'm not the one,

but the one that's coming after me, I'm not worthy.

To latch his shoes. He's coming. I'm not him.

I'm just the forerunner. I'm coming out here

in the wilderness. Look where he's at. My God.

You ought to know there's a word being declared

in your wilderness. He's in the wilderness. And

they begin to ask, and Jesus said, what do you

think you went out there to see, a reed shaking

in the wind? No, you went out there to see an

old -time anointed prophet of God. He's wearing

camel hair. He's eating locusts and wild honey,

and he's telling you to get right or get left

behind. And he's preaching to you, and his declaration

to you was this, as I approach the Jordan to

be subject to the Lord, the word of the father.

And he said, behold, the lamb of God, which takes

away the sin of the world. Amen. It's understanding

that he is that one. That is his qualification.

That is his commandment. He is the last of the

last. He said, so spiritual only knowing me to

preach the gospel to the poor. So he's preaching

to the spiritually deficient. And then he begins

to move forward with a statement to the spiritually

desperate. The spiritually desperate. I come

to preach the gospel to the poor. He hath sent

me to heal the brokenhearted. Amen. Have you

ever been brokenhearted? I love to see these

young people with that first love gets broke.

You say, you love to see that? Well, sure I do.

Let's be honest. They're honest. They're real.

Amen. A lot of folks don't realize that there's

heartache in this world until your heart gets

truly broken. Amen. Jesus has come to heal the

brokenhearted, those who are crushed, those who

are wounded, those who are deeply hurt. Amen.

He comes to those who are weeping. You know,

when your heart's broke, that's a good sign to

see. Tears begin to flow. Why? Because we hurt

on the inside. Body's fine, fingers and toes,

everything's good. But my heart's hurting. I

hurt on the inside. It's a deep hurt. It's a

deep pain. And don't you know the father's heart

was broken when Adam and Eve sinned in the garden?

Don't you know when he had to turn his face away

in about a three -year span of time after this

occurrence when the father couldn't look upon

the sin that the son was about to bear and he

had to turn his face from him? Don't you know

his heart was broken? Don't you know he was crushed?

Don't you know he was wounded? But I want us

to know something today. Jesus has come anointed.

to be a heart mender. You're going to be okay.

You're going to be all right. Look, if I can

assure you of one thing, it's this. People are

going to disappoint you. If you stick around

here long enough, most likely in some way, shape,

form, or fashion, I'm going to disappoint you.

Why? Because we're human and we're not perfect.

Amen. But what I am thankful of is the one who

is divine. Amen. The incarnate, the son of the

living God, the one who who faced the triune

difference of attack in that wilderness against

his deity, his authority, and his humanity. But

yet he came forth with the written word spoken

and defeated the enemy there in that wilderness.

It makes me happy to know that when my heart

is broken and when I'm crushed and I'm wounded

deep and people have hurt me and people have

walked away, it sure makes me happy to know and

glad to know that he has already come and he's

declared over my desperate, We get desperate.

Luke 8, we see Jairus. whose daughter was very

sick, and he makes his way to the Lord. You know

the story, how the woman with the issue of blood

intervenes as he's got Jesus on his way home.

Doesn't it seem like that way sometimes? Doesn't

it seem like your answer is almost here, and

it's almost come to pass, and you've let your

guard down just a little. You've got Jesus by

the hand, and he's on the way to your house to

take care of your problem, but then somehow there's

an interruption. Have you ever felt spiritually

interrupted? You felt like you were on your way.

Things were going hunky -dory, so to speak. But

then all of a sudden, the wheels fall off. You're

in a mud hole. You're caught back down in a rut.

And it doesn't seem like Jesus is going with

you because he has been delayed. This woman with

the issue of blood, her faith reached out and

touched him. And he stopped to take care of her

issue. My God. Woo! Why does that make you so

happy? Because that next time it may be me with

the issue that I stop the progression. The next

time it may be you stopping and he'll take care

of your issue. I'm so glad to know that when

I'm desperate, I can hear him say, weep not.

He told J .I., weep not. It's going to be all

right. On the road, when he meets that widow

of Nain and her son is dead and he touches the

bear and he rises up, he looks at mama and says,

weep not. Amen, I'm so glad. When you're brokenhearted

and you're ringing out inside, he can look at

you and say, weep not. Why? Because he's been

anointed to do it. We get desperate in our heartbrokenness.

We become desperate. Psalm 147 says, He healeth

the broken in heart and bindeth up their wounds.

So if you're broken hearted, he's going to heal

you. Why? Because he said it's why he came. Psalm

3418, The Lord is nigh unto them that are of

a broken heart. And he saveth such as be of a

contrite spirit. What's contrite mean? It means

crushed ground to powder. It means you feel like

you have no more formal existence. That you feel

almost you've been ground away. Contrite. You're

broken. So what does he come to do? He comes

to save them folk. Amen. He comes to save the

brokenhearted, and he comes to renew the spirit

of the one who feels like he has been crushed.

He saveth such as of a contrite spirit. My God,

you feel low today. I don't know who I'm preaching

to, but I know the Lord's got somebody's attention

this morning. You feel like you're broken down.

You're more than broken. You feel like you're

crushed, and you've been ground up. Have you

ever felt like minced meat before? It's like

potted meat. There's no other setting on the

ground. grinder that you can go through and get

any finer ground than what you are. Amen. That's

the way we feel sometimes. We feel like life

has chewed us up and spit us out. But I'm here

to tell you today, when it's all said and done,

when the devil gets done with you, he has been

set anointed to come into your brokenness. He

comes into your brokenness and he saves you.

He has a decree for the spiritually distressed.

He says he's come to do some things here. Come

to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance

to the captives. Now, it's good to know that

we have a deliverer. And he's come to set us

free. Freedom from the captivity of sin's bondage.

Amen. You don't have to let sin rule over your

life. You say, well, Pastor, you was talking

like you did. No, it doesn't rule over my life.

Amen. Sin doesn't reign dominant in my life.

Grace does. The righteousness of God reigns dominant

in my life. But I'm here to tell somebody, as

long as you're in this flesh, sanctification

does not remove the ability to sin. It just gives

you the sense to know when you do. Amen. You've

been separated. And thankfully, because of the

work of God's sanctifying grace and the washing

and the renewing of his word in my life, I no

longer have a will to continue to sin. I know

when I miss the mark and it breaks my heart.

I do. I don't know about you. When you lose it

all of a sudden and when you come back. to yourself.

You say, oh God, what have I done? What did I

say? I shouldn't have been so mean. I shouldn't

have been so contrary. I shouldn't have this

or I shouldn't have that. Amen. And the spirit

quickens your heart. How do you take care of

that, pastor? I look straight up to heaven and

say, Father, forgive me. I sinned. I should have

kept my mouth shut. I shouldn't have been so

hateful. I shouldn't have been so ill. I shouldn't

have been this. Forgive me and cleanse me. And

you know what he does? He does exactly what I've

asked him to do. Why? Because the book declares,

the Bible says it. If we faithful and just to

confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive

us and to cleanse us of all of our sins and unrighteousness

and so I lean upon that when I'm in distress

knowing that the thief cometh not but to steal

to kill and to destroy but that Christ said he

has come to give you life and it More abundantly.

In your distress, there is the abundance of the

life that we have and live in Christ. Enabled

by the power of the Holy Ghost. Amen. He's only

out to destroy. Paul wrote to that church. Of

Galatians 5 .1, he says, Stand fast, therefore,

in the liberty by which Christ hath made us free,

and do not be entangled again with a yoke of

bondage. The author of Hebrews would say, Let

us lay aside every weight and sin that doth so

easily beset us. Amen. Running out that race

with patience, looking unto Jesus, who is the

author and the finisher of our faith. Knowing

good and well the declaration that Paul would

make that he that had begun a good work in you

is also able to complete it. What are you saying,

pastor? Amen. We're only perfect through his

grace and by his grace. We are only perfected

because of the work of righteousness that works

in and through our life. And when you get in

distress or when you are desperate for a move

of God or your heart is so broken and you feel

poor in spirit again, like you're away from God,

all you got to do is call upon him. Why? Because

he comes. He comes to those who call upon him.

What does desperation look like? What does distress

look like? It looks like Psalm 22. My God, my

God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou

so far from helping me? And from the words of

my roaring, he's letting the heavens know that

he's in pain. David's letting God know that he's

in anguish and that he's hurting. And he's pouring

himself out to God. His desperation is going

before God. His brokenheartedness, he's broken.

Amen. He's broken. He's pouring out himself.

He's desperate. He's in a situation of distress.

He said, oh, my God, I cry in the daytime, but

thou hearest not. And in the night season am

not silent, but thou art holy. Oh, thou that

inhabitest the praises of Israel. We see a man

after God's own heart. Amen. We see a man whom

God has chosen and that God had the prophet anoint.

Amen. With the oil that run down his head and

puddled up on the ground. We see a boy that was

made into a king. We see a shepherd that was

turned into the shepherd of God's people. We

see an imperfect individual who fell upon the

grace of God. Psalm 51 is one of the most powerful

utterances that I have ever read and that you

can read in Scripture. This same man calls out

to God because of a sin in his life. And he asked

God, don't take your spirit from me. Don't take

the joy and the well of your salvation from me.

But he repented before God. And he said, take

some hyssop and dip it in some blood. And cleanse

me and purge me and purify me. I'm before you,

oh God. That's what it looks like to be human.

That's what it looks like to be a child of God.

That's what it looks like to seek after God.

Knowing that in our mistake, he still comes and

aids the brokenhearted. He still arrives in emergency

situations when you're in desperation and you're

in full distress mode. But it also comes from

a realization of knowing who he is. See, that's

why this Luke 4 is so important to me. I know

who Jesus is. This morning as I was getting ready

and getting Kathy's breakfast ready, A thought

come to my mind. I posed the question to her.

I said, is it better to know where you're going

or is it better to know where you have been?

And she just kind of looked at me. She said,

I don't know. I said, that's a philosophical

question that I think is worthy of every child

of God to ponder. Do you want to know where you're

going or where you have been? And as we're milling

around the house there, doing all the chores

and whatnot, I looked at her and I said, you

know, I think I'm glad I know where I've been.

Because I know where he told me I'm going. But

because I know where I have been. You hear me?

You know where you've been. Nobody else knows

where you've been. God does. But you and God

alone, even your closest confidant, doesn't know

where you've been, doesn't know the wilderness

pathways that you've made yourself down, doesn't

know when you've been desperate and in distress.

They don't know. Why? Because we're private.

We don't tell everything. But God knows. My God,

my God, why have you forsaken me? I've prayed

all day and you ain't heard me. And I've not

been quiet at night either. I've kept the neighbors

up in the tent next door. I've roared my complaint

before you. And he goes on down there to tell

God what's going on in his life. I feel like

I'm surrounded by bulls. And then he clarifies

to make his point a little more clear. By the

bulls of Bashan. Looked that up a little bit,

done a little reading. I said, oh, that's why

I doubled up on the bull comment. They're flourishing

in that Golan height area. And those cattle are

getting more to eat. They're getting more protein

and they grow larger. And the bulls of Bashan

are the largest bulls of Israel. And bulls in

the wild can kind of get a little mean. Here

is the man of God saying, I feel like I'm surrounded.

God, I've complained. Now, this is where we get

to. I've complained to you all day, and I've

complained all night. I've cried. I've hollered.

I've yelled. I've roared. I feel like I'm surrounded.

Dogs are all around me. The bulls have shone.

My enemies are set against me. I don't know what.

Is that not distress? And you can't tell me that

there's not days in your life that you don't

feel exactly that way. I've been there, my Lord.

Lived there half the time, it seems like, when

I call on God. and it doesn't seem like he answers.

But if you make your way all the way, I ain't

got time to get into all of it, but you go all

the way to the last verse of Psalm 22 and he

says this, the very last words of Psalm 22. They

shall come and shall declare this, his righteousness

unto a people that shall be born. This is a messianic

Psalm. Christ would quote verse one from Calvary

himself. that he hath done this. In the between

from this cry of forsakenness, you see that he

begins to trust in the God who delivered him.

He goes out and he tells all about his problem

and how he feels. Amen. When you read Psalm 22,

you hear from a man who just really tells it

like it is. He's not hiding. He's not keeping

anything back because he knows God already knows.

And he pours his heart out to God about his situation.

And he asks God. And then when he gets to the

end of it, he says, he's already done this. He's

got this. He'll bring me victory. He'll take

over. He's got it. He's got it in his hand. That's

the reason he would say, my soul thou cast down.

Thou in God. And his declaration is this. Oh,

God. Right in the middle. Realization hits him.

Right in the middle of his complaint. He says,

Thou art holy who inhabitest the praises of Israel.

All of a sudden, he begins to declare the beauty

of God over the darkness of his distress and

his depression and his heartbrokenness. He begins

to declare the beauty of God. Somebody here today,

you need to get right in the middle of your midnight

hour and just. Look up to heaven and say, God,

thou art holy. Not just separated, not just set

apart, but the beauty of your holiness, my God,

illuminates the darkness in which I'm living.

And know that in my distress, in my desperation,

in my brokenheartedness, already the Spirit has

done been dispatched. Your answer. Hang on. Hang

on. Stand fast in that liberty. Lay aside every

weight. He moves into that spiritual darkness

that we live in. He says that he's come to give

sight to the blind. Sight, the recovery of sight

to the blind. Have you lost your sight? If you

can't see where you're going, just stop and turn

around and look at where you've been. The reason

that statement is so stirring to me, I mean,

I stirred myself this morning. I thought about

that. But I know what he's already brought me

through. Are you hearing me? I know what that

anointing has already meant for my life to this

point. So really, really, honestly, is what's

ahead important? Is knowing what's up there really

all that important? No. No, I'm that peanut character

cartooned. Lucy talked to Charlie Brown and tells

him about them deck chairs on the cruise ship.

Have you ever noticed how some people set up

their deck chair? How many of you are cruisers?

I know there's some cruisers in here. Don't admit

it. I wouldn't either. I've been one time. And

the way I set my chairs, not even the two that

I'm about to share with you. Some people set

their chair forward to see where the ship's going.

Others return their chair toward the rear to

see where they have been. Pastor Cliff turned

his side way to look out where no man has been.

That's the kind of guy I am. I'm looking sideways.

Folks are looking up. Folks are looking back.

I'm looking yonder. What's over there? Sometimes

in life, knowing what's ahead. will only discourage

you more. Why do you say that? Because in this

world you shall have tribulation. So what I need

to do is just spiritually look behind and ask

the Lord to open my blindness that I may see

clearly to all that he has done for me. And then

I declare as the psalmist, thou art holy. And

in the midst of my darkest hour, thou art holy.

Why? I've told you just a few weeks ago, you

can't worship him. You can't praise him. You

can't laud him and glorify him without his presence

coming to where you are. And just think about

that for a moment. If you can't feel him and

you feel like, The enemy's got you separated

from him. In your wilderness or in your dark

time, in the dark hour, if you'll just make enough

strength to praise him and holy his name and

glorify him, he will come to where you are. And

the beauty of his presence. There's beauty for

ashes. There's the awe of joy. And there's a

garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.

He made a declaration for the spiritually devastated.

You give me four minutes, it just turned to 12

.11. You give me four minutes, I'll quit at 12

.15. Light in the darkness to the spiritually

devastated. He said he will set them at liberty,

those who are bruised. That bruising is an oppression.

You know what a bruise is? It ain't just hardly

broken, right? Them deep bruises. You know, you've

had the little one that just kind of, it's a

little sore on the surface, but that deep bruise.

Think about this, man. Set at liberty those who

are bruised. At liberty. Didn't break the skin.

Didn't have to have stitches. How many have ever

kicked a trailer hitch? When you're down here

like this saying, God, help me. Oh! You want

to roll around. And then you get up and it's

like this for about a week. And say, what's wrong

with your leg? And then you pull that up and

that big old purple place is there. That deep

bruise. Some of you, the enemies hit you so hard.

You've been already down squalling, but two,

two, three, four weeks later, you're still feeling

the effects of it. But Jesus said, I'm anointed

to take care of that. I've been anointed. I've

been sinned. I've been dispatched from heaven.

The Father has sent me to take care of that.

You hear me this morning. He has sent here to

take care of that for you. Stay with me. I'm

going to quit. Emotional bruises. The Spirit

of God is able to not just treat the symptom,

but able to take care of the disease, the pain,

the depth of it. When all is said and done, He

makes this final decree. I come to preach. The

acceptable year of the Lord. And I can just in

my mind in that old dusty synagogue, I see him

start rolling up. He didn't have far to roll

because that's 61 in the way we divide it. So

it's down toward the end of the roll. And he

just rolled it right back up, handed it back

over to the leader of the synagogue. And he said,

today in your hearing, this scripture has come

to pass. I'm the man. I am he. I don't know about

you, but sometimes I think about the restraint

of the Lord. How did he restrain himself in his

holiness? How did he restrain himself in the

awe of his power? There were days that he just

couldn't restrain himself, and so he just walks

down the shore of Galilee and just keeps on walking.

Oh, I'm on the water. Who's looking? Only the

12 in the ship that feels like they're going

back. There are times that he can restrain his

divinity. He saw that poor widow woman and knowing

she was by herself and needed that son to take

care of her. And so as they're scrouching around

the tight pathways coming around that city of

Nain, they just stop the bear and say, get up.

Mama's crying. Have you ever found yourself sometimes

so overwhelmed that you can't even see the miracle

that's happened to you? Mama, weep not. Get that

boy down and go feed him. There are times that

he could not restrain himself, even urged by

his mother at that wedding of Cana of Galilee.

She looks at him and says, son, my friends are...

They're being embarrassed right here. It's bad.

And he looks at me, Mama, what do you want me

to do about it? I could just say, my mama, you

open your mouth like that again, I'm going to

show you, son. She never said another word to

him. She turned and looked at the servant and

said, whatever he says, just do it. She knew

he was going to do something wild because she

asked him to. And what boy ain't going to try

to do something his mama asked him to do? He

couldn't restrain himself. When it's all said

and done, folks, in the looking back at this

journey we call life, it's tough. It's hard.

It stinks from time to time. But you know, in

the midst of that, there's a fragrance that can

come in. And it's the aroma of the Rose of Sharon.

Sweet perfume that can enter in to the most devastating,

rotten time of life. And he just comes in. Father,

I love you today. Thank you so much for your

goodness. I thank you for your word. I thank

you most of all for your help today, Lord. I

felt your help. No wonder the enemy was fighting

us so hard. Didn't want us to hear the help,

the anointed. No wonder there was such excruciating

pain in the house today because the enemy didn't

want us to know that there's healing and there's

help. No wonder there's emotional distress, deep

emotional spiritual bruises. I admit to you this

morning, I don't know how to go about this altar

call today. I don't know how to extend this invitation

to you. Because I know, if we're all honest,

I hit all of us somewhere along the way. Every

single one of us. That's what's so good about

the Word. For every situation that we think may

be so unique, every time that we're crying as

the psalmist, why have you forsaken me? I've

prayed all day and you ain't heard a word I've

said. Yes, he has. His ear is turned earthward

and he hears the cries of his people. He hears

every one of them. We just have to be patient

and wait on the Lord to move. If you need prayer

this morning. If you need a touch from the Lord,

would you just lift your hand today? Just raise

your hands. If you need to come down, come on

down this morning.