No One Else Is Coming
by James Chester
First Apostolic Church of Maryville (Maryville, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Exodus 2:12, Ezekiel 22:30, John 5:6-7

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/james-chester--no-one-else-is-coming
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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You may return to your seats if you'd like. In one of the most defining moments in biblical history, we find a man standing between two worlds. A Hebrew by birth, an Egyptian by upbringing. Moses raised in Pharaoh's palace, >> clothed in royalty, >> trained in privilege. is now staring into the reality of his people's suffering. And in that moment, everything changes. >> He sees the oppression. He feels the injustice. >> He knows his identity. >> Now, men, I got to tell you upfront tonight, >> this scene has been analyzed, debated, and preached for generations. We all know exactly what the text says. Moses could no longer sit still. He made a decision. >> He intervened. He killed the Egyptian. >> I used to preach that Moses was checking for witnesses in Exodus 2 and 12. And at a glance, that makes sense. The text says he looked this way and he looked that way >> and when he saw that there was no man, he slew the Egyptian. That sounds like a man trying not to get caught. But when you study the Hebrew phrase, it doesn't just imply fear. It absolutely suggests intentional observation >> and that root word used means to turn forward or to pay attention. >> Jewish commentators like Rashi and modern scholars like Dennis Prager argue that Moses wasn't looking to avoid witnesses. He was scanning for someone to intervene. >> And when he saw that there was no man, >> this man did not walk away. >> But he became the man that the moment required. And that's why, excuse me, that's where we are today. >> Because in terms of building a legacy, >> hear me when I say this to you tonight. In terms of building a legacy, no one else is coming. That sounds brutal and troubling, but I'm going to drill down on this for the next few moments, men. There are no one else. There's no one else that's going to build your legacy for you, >> my friend. There's no man. There's no leader. There's nobody that's going to rescue your legacy. The look that Moses gave was not a quick look like a man about to perform a robbery. It was a fed up man. >> He wanted something done and was searching for somebody to intervene. In the book of Ezekiel the 22nd chapter and verse 30, the Bible says, "And I sought for a man among them that should make up the hedge and stand in the gap before me for the land that I should not destroy it. But I found none." To make up the hedge means to repair what's broken, to stand in the breach, >> to intercede, to protect. To stand in the gap is to take a position of intercession, leadership, and responsibility. God was looking for a man, but nobody showed up. And just as Moses looked for a man in Egypt and found none, God looked for a man in Ezekiel's day and none were willing. And can I say to this group of men tonight that I believe the eyes of the Lord are still searching, still looking for men of courage, still looking for men of conviction, men that will stand in the gap, men of conviction, who will stand in the gap, fearless with the face of lions. I come to ask you a question, men, tonight. Will you be the man that the moment demands? Will you be the man that rises today? Cuz I want to remind you, and I'm not trying to be rude, but nobody else is coming. >> Be seated. Hallelujah. >> It's so easy, Bishop Carpenter, to look at a generational legacy in full bloom, >> a thriving church, a growing school, multiple ministries, generations of preachers, and assume it's always been that way. You drive past Victory Life campus in New Albany today, >> 10 acres >> filled with the sound of students learning, >> saints worshiping, >> families growing, >> and you think this must have always been this way. >> But can I say something to you tonight? Legacy doesn't begin with results. Legacy begins with decision. >> Bishop Raymond George Bishop was a builder of family, >> a planter of churches, a giant of a preacher, and a teacher of the apostolic faith. >> His influence has reached far beyond North Mississippi. stretching into Ohio, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas, and countless pull pits and prayer rooms across this nation. >> But if you rewind the story before the school, before the sanctuary, before the pastors that came from his own children and grandchildren, you'll find something less visible, but far more powerful. >> Yes, sir. Because in the early years there was no crowd. >> There was no building. >> There wasn't even a church. >> There was a young man with talent and drive. So much so that athletic scholarships were on the table from what his dear friend Bishop Steve Wilson told me recently. >> He could have chased a career. >> He could have pursued applause. but instead he heard a call and in the mid 1950s he left his hometown to preach the gospel. He became the first in his family to walk this apostolic path. Can I tell you tonight, Bishop Bishop laid tracks where there was no trail. He said yes before he saw fruit. >> He chose obedience over opportunity. Ministry over popularity. Bishop endured hardship, nearly losing his life in a head-on collision that left him with 342 stitches in his head. But God spared him. And do you know why God spared him? Because the legacy wasn't finished. >> I want to say this to some men in this room tonight. Some of you just pulled through a season where you barely survived. And can I speak boldly in the Holy Ghost to you? You survive not because you're talented, but because the legacy isn't finished. Bishop planted a prayer group with his wife Frankie in a small house. That house grew into a church. That church grew into a movement. That movement now still lives in his children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren and in every soul reached by their ministry. And what began with one man's decision has become a generational legacy. And it all started with one young man looking past what he could gain >> to what God could build. In the early years, you don't see the results, but if you look closely, you'll always find a man that chose God. >> What will be your choosing, >> man? I bring your attention and I think you should look real hard that way. And like Moses did, you should look real hard that way. And you need to tell yourself tonight, no one else is coming to build this legacy. >> Now, let me say this to you. Let's not get too far down the road because legacy isn't just about what you leave behind someday. It's about what you choose to do right now. The key to building a lasting legacy is simply doing the godly thing that is right in front of you. >> So I ask you tonight another question. What's the move tonight? >> For Jacob, it looked like wrestling with God. But truthfully, we know he was wrestling with himself. >> Before he could ever lead his family, he had to die to the old man. and the old ways. For Moses, it looked like slaying an Egyptian. But that one act became the first step of the lawgiver. He didn't have a blueprint for Mount Cyani. He didn't have the tabernacle or the parting of the Red Sea. All he saw was what was in front of him. And a decision had to be made. And there's no doubt when Bishop Raymond Bishop stepped into ministry, Pastor Mark, Bishop, my friend, he couldn't see the end of the journey. All he could see was a house prayer meeting that needed a shepherd, a small work, a simple yes. But that obedience turned into a family, into a church, into a school, into national impact. legacy isn't someday. It's right now. It's right here. It's in this place. >> I'm almost done. Gentlemen, I want to take you to one more scene in the Bible before my part is done here. Couple of nights ago during FAC's midweek service, I was led to this powerful passage in John 5 6 and 7. I'd like to read it to you. It said, "When Jesus saw him lie and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he said unto him, wilt thou be made whole?" The impotent man answered him, "Sir, >> I have no man. >> When the waters troubled >> to put me in the pool, but when I am coming, another man stepeth down before me." This scene for me paints a vivid picture. He had been a long time in that case which means that word case means condition. So this wasn't a a momentary struggle. This was a lifestyle dysfunction. >> And yet Jesus didn't ask him, "Do you want to walk?" >> Jesus asked the question, >> "Do you want to be made whole? because that is a deeper question. >> There's a difference between being able to walk >> and walking in wholeness. I I wrestle with this today because we have a culture filled with people who want deliverance but don't want wholeness. They want to be delivered and saved from something, but not interested in being transformed into anything. But I come to declare to the men of the AOJC this night, a legacy will require more than healed legs. God is calling for us men to be made whole. >> Not just able to walk, but to be able to function in the kingdom of God. >> Not just surviving. >> But building. Yes, sir. >> He wants your heart healed. >> He wants your mind healed. >> God wants to make you whole for kingdom use. >> He wants to make you a good father. >> He wants to make you a healthy husband. >> He wants to make you a spiritual leader, a pillar, a builder, somebody that has a legacy. And it starts with desire. Do you want to be made whole? What's your response to that? Do you want to be made whole? >> Look again at the man's response. He said, "Sir, I have no man." That answer sounds familiar, doesn't it? >> I'm sympathetic to the crippled. But I see the same excuse in so many men today. >> No one helps me. >> Can we just go ahead and be real in this place at the beginning? No one sees me. No one gives me a chance. Others are always ahead of me. If I had what they had, if I was raised dis differently, if if if pastor would just use me, if I had their money and their resources, >> I want to tell you that paralyzes men. >> And it's time that we confront it. >> Let me speak to you plainly. Some of you are still sitting in conditions you should have walked out of years ago. I'm going to be a little more bold here. You built a camp in your dysfunction and you called it your identity. >> And when you hear me, I'm telling you, I feel this in the spirit tonight. >> And when you throw yourself a pity party, and no one shows up. >> You know what I say? >> Good. I said good. Brother Chester, you're heartless. Maybe I am. But sometimes I love seeing grown men throw a pity party because it may be the best thing when nobody shows up because it's good. Why is that? Because sometimes the isolation is divine. >> There are moments where God removes every crunch. When God wants to remove every comfort, >> and it's just you and him. And like Jacob, you're left alone. But I'm going to tell you alone is not a bad thing when it's God's design. No man to help you, no one to hold your hand. And God says, "Will you wrestle with me or will you let me go?" >> And I want to preach. I want to preach to you tonight. You can blame or you can build, but you can't do both. Your wife can't do it for you. Your pastor can't do it for you. No mentor, no friend, no high man, no prophet, no prophetic word, can take the place of a man God designed to wrestle with him. No one else is coming. Are you going to give up? Or are you going to wrestle with God? >> I'm trying to stir something in you tonight. You can be pied or you can press, but you can't do both. You can sit there and pout or you can pursue, but you cannot do both. Come on, men. Look real hard. Look this way. Look that way. Realize that you're the man that God's calling. You're the one Tell somebody right now, you the man. >> I remember a time we used to say that a lot. Tell somebody else, you the man. >> But it's with a little bit of a different implication tonight. I'm calling some of you out. Stop waiting for someone else to build. >> You are the man to build a healthy marriage. You are the man to fight for your children. You are the man to lead with integrity. You're the man to leave behind something that'll outlive you. Stop sitting in your pity, my brother. Stand up and be made whole. Stand Be the man. Tell somebody, "Be the man. Nobody's showing up to your pity party." Nobody's showing up. Nobody else is coming. Grab a weapon and get to fighting. Grab a hammer and start building. We're going. Lift your hands. We're going into worship. But I want to pray a couple of things before we're done. Lift up your hands. In the name of Jesus, I declare over every man in this room, let there be a moving of your spirit, oh God, not just around them, but upon them. And let it rest heavy. Let it stir deep. Let it change everything. I speak courage into the hearts of men. Courage to confront. Courage to repent. courage to rise up and be counted. Let wholeness rise where brokenness has ruled. When the question comes forth, will we be made whole? Let the answer this week with every panel, every sermon, every message, let our response be yes, Lord. Let our response be yes, Lord. Could there be a cry from the men of the ALJC that would say, "Make me whole. Make me whole. Let apathy die in this room. Let passivity be buried in this altar. Let every excuse fall silent. Let the men rise. Let the men build. Let the men war. Let the men lead. Let the men of legacy emerge whole, holy, and ready. Lift up your hands. Raise your voice as we go into worship.