40th Pastoral Anniversary - A Divine Destiny

well praise god everybody ready for the word of the lord amen i'm not sure what you do at 40th anniversaries i'm going to just preach let's see where the lord leads in all of this i know one thing without jesus i can do nothing he told us that so i just believe him he said without me you can do nothing amen judges chapter number 13 judges chapter number 13.

we're going to read two verses in your hearing tonight i encourage you to keep your bible your is open because we're going to look at some more passages here in judges 13 but just as a focus i want to start with these two verses found in 22 and 23 of the 13th chapter of judges as we look at this manoa is speaking to his wife who of course are the parents of samson a judge in israel and so with that context hear the word of the lord and manoa said to his wife we shall surely die because we have seen god but his wife said to manoah if the lord desired to kill us he would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands nor would he have shown us all of these things nor would he have told us such things as these at this time i see in these verses she said he would not have accepted he would not have shown us he would not have told us we're not going to die honey and so by the help of the lord i want to preach on this subject a divine destiny a divine destiny praise god let's seek the lord father we need you today in the name of jesus in the name of jesus oh god i trust you lord i trust you jesus by the power that's in the name of jesus and the authority that's in the word of god i pray that you do a work here in this house anoint my mind anoint the ears of your hearers melt our hearts together for your spirit to accomplish the purpose that is set out to do

this is your people this is your house this is in your presence lord we come and we seek you in the name of jesus christ in the name of jesus in the new praise god would we just begin to worship the lord for a few moments here let's connect to him use your voice right now connect with jesus i bless your name today lord praise god praise god a divine destiny and hear me what is happening now is a part of god's destiny for you amen praise god god bless you you may be seated there is a story that is circulated and i emphasize the word circulated because i can't do a fact check on this but it's told there was a certain courthouse in ohio that stood in a very unique location raindrops that fall on the north side of the building go into lake ontario and the gulf of lawrence and then rain drops falling on the south side went into the mississippi river and the gulf of mexico and it precisely at the peak the point of the peak of that roof just a gentle puff of wind could determine the destiny of many raindrops it would make a difference of more than 2 000 miles as to the final destination one going to the north went to lake ontario and the gulf of lawrence the other going to the south into the mississippi river and the gulf of mexico and what happened in ohio by a puff of wind determined the destiny 2 000 miles later and i asked you here today what does the metaphoric puff of wind in

our lives where does that come from i ask you to consider the origin of the winds in our life i found out that sometimes god sends the wind amen sometimes god allows the wind and sometimes you create the wind by your choices but hear me today one thing i know is that god knows our destiny and he knows our purpose and where it fits into his eternal purpose and i want you to understand that every wind or circumstance is under the control of jesus christ god may send the stuff coming your way he may allow it to come your way god can even direct or use the results of your choice but here is what i'm trying to say this is the big guy idea of it all that the seemingly smallest circumstance or providence or deed or choice contributes and shapes and influences our destiny and can i tell you today what is happening now in your life is a part of god's destiny for you and every puff of wind is in the hand of god no he doesn't always ascend the wind but the wind is always under his control and the wind that he allows he always uses it for his purpose and even what satan means for evil god turns it to good what satan meant for destruction my god can turn it into construction and i want you to understand that no matter what we have face are facing or will face there is a divine destiny that is a part of every one of us that are fitting into his eternal purpose hallelujah samson was one of

the 12 judges that's mentioned of course in the book of the bible called the judges it was a very dark time in the history of israel and the people of course were not faithful to the covenant relationship with god and they did what was right in their own eyes and so of course god would use then oppressors to cause his people to cry out to them and then in god's mercy he would just send those judges those patriots those deliverers and deliver them out of the hand of those that plundered them and i noticed this uh i believe in the apostolic study bible that made the uniqueness of samson and how he mirrored the overarching story of israel consecrated at birth both samson and israel but slowly they lose their reverence for separation both samson and israel they were born by special divine providence they were endued with unique power and israel constantly chased or prostituted herself after canaanite gods just like samson chased after foreign women and also like israel however god still worked through samson and he received the glory in despite of the flaws i wonder if anybody's hearing a message today that goes beyond the story of samson that god is bigger than our shortcoming his purpose is greater than our weaknesses and god is going to get the glory in spite of it all i just want to tell you if you messed up i get it but i don't believe that thwarts the purpose of god to those

that reconnect to him so as you look in judges 13 1.

again the israelites did evil in the eyes of the lord so the lord delivered them into the hands of the philistines for 40 years now don't correlate 40 years with 40 years of bondage here that's not a good way to interpret the scriptures or for me either until i get my check amen praise god samson from his day until the time of david think about that the philistines were the major the major enemy force in the land and they were a constant threat to israel the philistines they they resided on the west side of canaan along the mediterranean coast and these philistines were fierce warriors and and they came from these coastal cities that were highly civilized in that day and what i'm trying to tell you is they had the advantage over israel in numbers in tactical expertise in technology in fact the bible teaches us that they knew the secret of making weapons out of iron this is what israel and samson was up against but none of these things mattered when god was fighting for israel is anybody hearing a message beyond the story of israel god is fighting for us god is on our side god can save by many are by few greater is he that's in us than he that's in the world the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but they're mighty through god who strengthens us hallelujah so in verse two a certain man of zorah named manoa from the clan of danites his wife who was barren she was sterile had

no children remain childless and once again we see this constant theme and and the experience of israel this thing called barrenness manoa's wife was in the same condition of sarah the mother of isaac rebecca the mother of jacob hannah the mother of samuel elizabeth the mother of john the baptist what is what are we talking about before god stepped in humanity was powerless but after god stepped in humanity is fruitful fact did you notice that every barren woman i just described as the mother of someone because our barrenness becomes god's miraculous in the midst of a technologically advanced philistine enemy god started with the miraculous deliverance of israel from a barren childless woman is anybody hearing a message beyond the story of manoa and his wife our barrenness is the pathway to the promise when you're down to nothing god is up to something hallelujah so verse 3 the angel of the lord appeared to this woman and said indeed for sure you are barren and have borne no children indeed you're childless but you are going to conceive and have a son do you see that there you are but you're going to be what you are now is not what you're going to be later what is happening now is going to contribute to your destiny you're barren you're childless now but i want you to be encouraged because i have a promise i have a purpose i have a destiny i have a calling for you but in the

meantime here's what you got to do now verse 4 now see to it that you drink no white or other similar fermented drink and that you eat nothing that's unclean you know i think the message here is instead of getting discouraged with the now why don't you start making choices that will impact your destiny amen instead of hear me getting intrigued by the later oh we're always wanting to know the later the future why don't you embrace that your now is shaping your later verse five because behold you're going to conceive and give birth to a son no razor may be used on his head because the boy is to be a nazarene to god from the womb set apart usually nazareth of course took a bow set apart for god's service for a season samson's parents made that vow for him but now samson is to be a nazarite for life and the scripture tells us the stipulations as we've just read here today and of course samson he uh he used some poor judgment he sinned terribly but is anybody going to deny that he accomplished much more when he was determined to be set apart for god it's like the nation of israel once again as long as the israelites remain set apart from god the nation thrive but they fell into sin when they ignored god is anybody hearing the message to you beyond the story of samson and israelites do we need to go over it again it's just simple you set apart yourself and you thrive you ignore god

and you sin we're not shouting about that one but it's true now let's look at this i don't mean to bore you with the scriptures i come from baltimore where we have to tell the bible story i know you guys are pros and know everything and i'm not being sarcastic i understand this is a very knowledgeable audience that's why god sent me where somebody didn't know anything so i could look smart amen i tell them that sometimes i'll be preaching and say wow where'd you get that in the bible just look at the next verse you know i don't have to have revelation from god brother parker i just read the bible amen where was i now through the miraculous conception and birth uh let's look at this again where are we at what's that verse verse four verse five thank you can you come to baltimore that's wonderful okay verse five for behold you'll conceive and bear a son and no razor shall come upon their head child will be an azerite to god from the womb watch this and he shall what oh you got there he saw what begin to deliver israel out of the hand of the philistines does anybody feel deliverance coming on israel's deliverance from the philistines everybody say began began with samson but ultimately ended with david philippians 1 6 being confident of this very thing that he who has begun a good work in you will complete it into the day of jesus christ the philistines were destined for defeat

and god's people were destined for victory you know why because the things that are happening right now are a part of your divine destiny we get so distracted and confused and discouraged about what's going on right now but i'm trying to tell you that what's happening right now is a part of the destiny that god has for you you don't think this couple in 40 years was asking why god is this happening right now i'll tell you why it was happening it was a part of god's divine destiny that has brought them to this point he is faithful and if he's done it in their ministry he'll do it in yours hallelujah now i'm not going to go verse by verse some of you wish i'd have said that 10 minutes ago but let's look at this here verses six and seven the wife tells manoa the story a man of god came to me you're gonna conceive give birth to a son and so manoa prays for a revisit of the angel and god heard his prayer look at verse 12 when he got the angel back manoa said now let your words come to pass the niv says when your words are fulfilled would be the boy's rule of life and his work that sounds like a declaration of faith to me it was not a matter if this would be occur but when it would happen he said when your words are fulfilled he believed and accepted the promise but then he also wanted to know how to steward the promise because he said what is to be the rule that governs now on it

goes verse 20 a flame blazes up from the altar the angel descends in that flame the angel of the lord didn't show up again they realized this isn't an angel and we get into this verse 22.

it's in this setting the angel's gone miraculously it did not come back so they said you know what this isn't a prophet this there's something going on here and so manoa says we are doomed to die because we've just seen god and of course it was believed that seeing god face was certain death and so he said we're gone it's over what we're experiencing right now there's no hope but manoa's wife thought better of that and she got to thinking and and considering the destiny that was unfolding before her eyes and manoa and she said wait a minute stop if the lord desired to kill us if he meant to kill us then why has he accepted our burnt offering and our grain offering from our hands and number two why has he shown us all these things and number three why has he told us all these things she said baby we're not going to die what's happening to us right now is a part of god's plan for us and some of you say that doesn't apply to me because i messed up and i made a mistake oh yes it does because god knows how to turn our failures into triumph and i love this she said number one why would he accept our worship if he was gonna kill us number two why would he demonstrate his power if he's gonna kill us and number three why would he give us this revelation if he was going to kill us mrs manoah mama i want you she says i want you to understand something he's kept me alive to worship he has

received my worship he has demonstrated his power so many times he has revealed truth to me so many times and i'm telling you right now whatever's happening to us i've got plenty other evidence to know that god is in the midst of my stuff right now somebody shall worship like cornelius whose prayers and alms came up as a memorial it's worship somebody shout power jesus showed himself alive by many infallible convincing proofs his demonstration somebody shall truth like paul he's shown us very many inexpressible things so i would say to you today that whatever's happening to you don't get discouraged because he's receiving your worship he's showing himself real and alive to you he's revealing truth to you i'm just saying god is not finished with me yet all the spiritual activity has a purpose and is a part of his divine destiny for me amen can i show you a couple more scriptures are you in a hurry all right psalm 16 5 and 6.

oh lord you are the portion of my inheritance and my cup that means he's all i need you maintain my lot you support my lot and he goes on to say in verse six the lines have fallen to me in pleasant places yes i have a good inheritance let's look at that verse five again he said you maintain my lot in the hebrew it says you take hold of my lot the psalmist here is picturing the lord as casting his lot of course that was a method of how they allotted landed property he said god is casting my lot right right hear me and he said as long as god's casting my lot i'm going to get a good fertile piece of land in fact lot means destiny other translation says you guard all that's mine you are the one that determines my destiny verse six the boundary lines of the land have fallen in pleasant places he's saying look god is the one that is in control of my life come on apostolics why are you so distraught about the environment and the climate of the day why are you going roller coaster on the news and the agenda of the spirit of this day i'm telling you that what is happening to you right now is a part of what god is doing in destiny for this church in destiny for these ministries in destiny for this district in destiny for the kingdom of god haha in the name of jesus hear the word of the lord come on somebody receive that somebody open up your mouth and receive that let's look at that

passage in acts acts 17.

oh you got it hear me paul of course is preaching to those on mars hill the athenians and i love this scripture god what's the subject god this will be a good time to say god god who has made the world and everything in it now you forgot that when you were stressing over the news yesterday god who's made the world and everything in it since he is lord of heaven and earth does not dwell in temples made with hands preach on paul nor is he worship with men's hands as though he needed anything since who sure jesus is god amen since he gives to all life breath and all things here's where i'm going and he who god has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on the face of the earth and has determined their pre-appointed times and boundaries of their dwellings and their lands god said i take nations up and i take nations down and i have set the boundaries in good places and i don't want to hurt your feelings but the kingdom of god is not american it's not nigerian it's not any other nation that you can name the kingdom of god is the kingdom of god i thank god for my country but let me tell you there is no nation that is exempt from the providence and the hand of god he takes them up he takes them down and you know what i get out of that as long as i'm in the kingdom i'm going to be all right i said long as jesus is in dominion of my life i'm gonna be all right whatever you're

going through i'm telling you it's a part of god's destiny for you lift up your heads be encouraged that god is sovereign god is in control come on use your mouth use your hands use your mouth speak it out claim it shout it no come on talk out loud i praise you praise god somebody shout yes hallelujah several years ago there was a man in our church he said you know i'm searching for what god has me to do he was telling me i was searching god what do you want me to do and he said my wife told me what we've gone through is what god's gonna use for us to minister that's a revelation in baltimore i know you've been knowing that for a while but you know what maybe sometimes we don't know it because you're searching and waiting for god to talk to you you're beating yourself up because of mistakes and all this stuff that you may have made but don't you understand that whatever i go through god doesn't waste a hurt whether whether the puff of the wind was god's doing god's allowing or some of my stupid choices you can look at me however you want to but i believe as long as i'm repentant and walking in obedience whatever i went through my god can use for his good you believe that before you got the holy ghost why can't you believe it after you got the holy ghost oh i don't know how far to go praise god here so here's what i'm saying what we call searching at times is really shaping

that's why i'm telling you it's so important not to get distracted by wondering where this road i am on now is going to take me later i don't know what the details of our destiny is but i know that i'm a part of that destiny is this a 40-year anniversary or is it 40 years of shaping hallelujah amen huh i'm saying destiny is in the making and i submit that in all of esther's searching where is god in this decree of the king what's going on in all this mess i'm convinced that in her searching it was through the words of her uncle mordecai that helped her to really see this this is a shaping of my people's destiny and she said and mordecai said it he said for who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this instead of searching while you're in the kingdom why don't you let him shape you when you're in the kingdom amen because in fact what we're going through right now is a part of god's plan for my destiny nothing can stop the purpose of god with or without me his purpose is eternal it's forever settled and with me walking in faith and obedience his purpose is accomplished at times in spite of me i think there's a difference between the purpose of god and will of god i'll let sanhedrin talk about that after but here's how i can illustrate it romans 12 talks about that we may prove or test what the will of god is have you ever missed the will of god a few

pious quiet safe nods you ever miss the will of god you did right then when you didn't admit it all right okay praise god and we get all uptight about the will of god the will of god yeah i want the will of god in my life but you know what i'm human and sometimes i'm testing it and sometimes i make wrong choices that are not the will of god but you know what as long as i'm in obedience and submission to jesus i don't believe he's going to let me miss his purpose you may illustrate that okay i will you got a gps when i came to this church yes i've lived here well not as long as you thought i only lived here 17 years of my 57 years if i lived here 57 i still wouldn't know much more but i i i type in apostolic pentecostal church seven minutes from the hotel but what if i wasn't paying attention or let's just say this way what if my wife wasn't in the car okay i'm on the phone she just goes and uh oh you think it's crazy we have traffic circles in baltimore by the way i'm counting on you have a longer because your season nap stocks you have a longer attention span than baltimore i'm preaching a little bit here okay all right so uh so yeah those traffic circles we got a lot of them in baltimore i just kept going around it because i was on the phone i wouldn't the road is a kind of a incidental thing and so anyway so so no matter what happens when i put in that destination okay i

put that destination i can not pay attention and accidentally miss my turn i could in defiance say they don't know what they're talking about and that's what we do in our hometowns by the way you ever found that out when you're out when you don't know where you are you trust that gps but when you're here that was a dumb way i'll go my way whether you do it in defiance whether you do it accidentally whatever it is when i take that wrong turn you know what that gps does recalculate recalculate the only danger i have is if i ever change the destination i can take turns willfully unfoldfully but if i've got my destination there i want you to know the destination is the purpose of god and sometimes turns may cause me to make some mistakes or whatever it is but let me tell you something right now whatever you're going through whatever you're facing you may have made a wrong turn you may have some regrets or god may have been testing you but just be strong and be encouraged that the purpose of god is eternal and it will not change so how can politics and division how can everything stop me from the purpose of god it cannot if i'm a child of god and i'm destined for his kingdom i don't know what you think about this but there's a good chance i don't pray as much as you do or at least some of you about some of the things you pray about i just trust god now trust me i believe that

prayer gets me in alignment to his kingdom i believe prayer helps me to be saved i believe prayer helps me to get aligned to his purpose but let me tell you right now whatever happens to me physically mentally emotionally whatever i think for me the better prayer is god i trust you i'll trust you in everything and you know i'm not saying not to pray for healing i'm not saying to pray for all those things but at the end of the day i just have the confidence that god is in control god knows the end from the oh no he don't know the end from the beginning there is no end or beginning with him he is sovereign he is lord i'm telling you let's quit worrying about the small stuff and start praying what jesus prayed let your kingdom come and your will be done god has been with these pastors for 40 years he's been with this church for 40 years and all the stuff we never thought we'd make it through we found out it's just a part of god's destiny what he's doing and if he did it through these years he's going to do it in the future years until he comes why don't you stand and praise an almighty god right now hallelujah i don't believe destiny is determined by chances is determined by choices and even when i don't see it you're working even when i don't feel it you're working you never stop whatever you want to say you never stop working i don't mean the sarcastic i'm trying to get us a

challenge you know when we're singing that song we're feeling god have you ever stopped to believe those words in the stuff you're going through right now and when you're wanting to give up would you understand that what i'm going through right now is a part of god's destiny for me and whether he allowed it whether he caused it or whether he's directing my choices i'm just telling you that god is making a way you know that other song we used to say when our back was against the wall and it looked like it was over lord you made a way and we're standing here 40 years later only because you made a way now here's my little algebra equation if i'm standing here today because he made a way in the past then i'm going to be standing in the future because he made a way today i'm going to say that again if i'm standing here today because he's made a way in the past 40 years then i'm going to be standing in the future because of what he's doing right now in the name of jesus i have shared the word that you have given to me and now lord i commit this word into the hearts of men and women in this room saints of god pastors leaders i don't know why we're all assembled here other than the common denominator of celebrating a great family but i do know lord jesus that you can encourage someone today you can help them to understand that lord you are making a way when it doesn't feel like it

right now i know i have confidence because of what you've done in the past i know i can be standing in the future because of what you're taking me through right now come on that's it if it's appropriate why don't you agree with somebody near you why don't you put your hand on their shoulder why don't you take their hand if you're comfortable with it whatever way let's make a faith contact let's end the physical make a connection to the spiritual in the name of jesus you're gonna make it destiny come on pray with someone pray in the holy ghost ministers to one another and let the spirit of god and the word of god encourage us if it was you when our backs were against the wall and it looked as if it was over and i feel like god's helping us here tonight you needed this word you just need god's affirmation of that purpose in your life i wonder if you just feel comfortable stepping out of where you are if you want to feel or flood this altar space you're just wrestling with the calling god or wrestling with this purpose under the holy ghost helping someone in high to affirm that god's got you his destiny is on your life you need him tonight and you need that affirmation feel free to reach out to him and let the holy ghost move here or just turn this into an apostolic environment