In Case You Have Forgotten

Summary

Summary prepared by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon's captions — published in summary form; watch the full sermon at the source.

"I have loved you, saith the LORD"

He drove through the ice to get there: "I kind of feel like the U.S. Postal Service tonight — rain, sleet, or snow — because I seen all of it coming here, and drove on ice. But the Holy Ghost helped us. And somebody called me and they said, 'Are you canceling?' I said, 'Only if I'm in the ditch. And so if God will keep me between the ditches, I'll be there, and we'll be having church, having revival.'" He honors Bishop Sutton and Pastor Collins, then gives the text: "Malachi chapter 1, verse 1. 'The burden of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi. I have loved you, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, Wherein hast Thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother? saith the LORD: yet I loved Jacob.' If God will help us, I'm going to preach through the book of Malachi tonight. And so this ain't going to make much sense as far as my title is concerned, but hopefully by the end of the night we'll get there. I want to preach to us just for a little while: In case you have forgotten."

Scriptures: Malachi 1:1-2; Malachi 2:17

What do you know about the Word?

The opening question is about forgetting itself: "How much do you know about the Word of God? What do you know about its content? You know that there's twelve minor prophets and five major prophets. Did you know that there are four Gospels in the New Testament? Do you know the equalizer of the Old Testament book in the New Testament — such as Daniel and Revelation, Isaiah and John? Isaiah, where God reveals Himself: 'I am the LORD, beside Me there is no other.' And in John, where Jesus reveals Himself as God. Do you know how to 'study to show thyself approved, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth'? Have you learned that the Bible is comprised of 66 books, written by approximately 35 authors, in three different languages? Did you know that there's depth in the language that you can't find in the English language?" His own curiosity is the confessed engine: "I owe it to my curious nature. It's just the way that I look at the Bible. When the Bible says that Joseph had a coat of many colors, I want to know what colors they were. Were they horizontal stripes? Was it polka dots?... I got questions like, do dogs go to heaven? I mean, what's the point in that? Who's gonna cook the marriage supper of the Lamb, and how big is the commercial kitchen that's going to do all of that? That's pretty pointless, I think we all can agree... But there are definitely some more serious questions that we all have. We all know the main stories of the Bible and their meanings — such as David and Goliath, Noah and the ark, Moses and Pharaoh. We know the story of how Jesus feeds the five thousand, Zacchaeus, and a plethora of others. But we don't many times take the time to step back and preach about what was the purpose of Obadiah. Nobody preaches about Obadiah. Nahum — when was the last time you heard a message preached out of Nahum? We got one scripture that we quote out of the book of Micah: Micah 7:8 — 'Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: for when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me.' Quote another scripture out of Micah — most of us here can't. And so these are the things that make me ask questions... I have took it upon myself, and I continue to do this, to go through the minor prophets, through the stories that nobody really preaches about, because they're in there for a reason."

Where is God in the middle of this?

Malachi's people are asking the question under Persia: "Everything to do with the message that God is giving His people is wrapped up in two verses of Scripture: one I have read to you already, another I will give you in a moment. But Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh, God of the Old Testament, begins to speak through Malachi and says, 'I love you, saith the LORD.' And yet you have said, 'Why hast Thou not loved us?' They are living under the Persian Empire... There were corrupt priests... There is rebuke to Judah for marrying the daughter of a strange god. And he begins to talk through and says in Malachi chapter 2 and verse 17: 'Ye have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied Him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and He delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?' So God's people are in a place again — they're living under the Persian Empire, they are in a place of captivity, they are in a place where they're not with God the way they've always been with God. So God has sent them a rebuke... And there is a bit of people here that stand up and say, 'Well, we haven't failed, and we haven't went after the false god. So why, God, are you allowing this to happen to us?' Basically they were saying: why do all the bad people get rewarded by God? Where is the God of our fathers? Where is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?... We are in bondage — where is the God of Moses that delivers? We are in heartache — where is the God that Isaiah said would comfort the brokenhearted? We're in poverty — where is the God that provided manna in the wilderness? Where is God in all of these things? Is there God in the middle of my mess? Where is God in the middle of my captivity? Am I talking to anybody tonight? You know what I'm talking about. You know how you can say amen — because you've been there. You've been in the time where you said, 'Where is God in this? I know He's here, but where? Somewhere in the middle of this, God has to be here — but I can't see Him, and I can't hear Him, and I can't feel Him.'" God's answer starts with judgment on the oppressors: "You can go through Malachi — I don't have time to preach it all — but Malachi chapter 3, verses 1 through 5: he starts talking about all the stuff that is to come. He's gonna sit as a refiner and purifier of silver. He's going to purify the sons of Levi and purge them as gold. And then he said, then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old. Then he said, 'And I will come near to you in judgment, and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against the false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right.' You know what's happening here? God is telling them — if you'll allow me to put it in modern terms — all I can see is the world that we live in. It's full of abortion. It's full of mass shootings. All I can see is the division in the church. All I can see is my bills that are stacked up on the kitchen table. And all I can say is, where is the God of judgment? Where is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? In other words: where's God in the middle of all this? But when God begins to talk back, He said, 'I'm going to be a swift witness right before your eyes, and I'm going to bring the judgment.'"

Scriptures: Micah 7:8; Malachi 3:1-5

"I am the LORD, I change not"

The second verse is the sermon: "You say, 'Well, preacher, I know — but that prophecy was fulfilled when Jesus was born of a virgin birth.' And you're right, and that's true. But the truth of the matter is, there's another part to this story. You see, you scroll on now to Malachi chapter 3 and verse 6, and you'll find that he then says: 'For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.' I've come to preach on a Wednesday night to somebody that's looking at questions, and you keep asking why, and you keep asking when, and you're puzzled by life because it's turned upside down, and all you can say is, 'Where is God in the middle of this? What's God doing in the middle of my mess?' Can I tell you that I came with a word from God tonight that said: 'I am the LORD, and I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.' I come to tell somebody that He's God, and that's never going to change. Say, 'Preacher, why are you repeating it?' Because I want you to get it in your guts: that the same God that brought you out of sin can keep you out of sin. The same God that brought you out of addiction can bring you out of addiction again. I know it's Wednesday night, but I feel like shouting on a Wednesday night, and telling somebody that's staring at something that's bigger than you, that if He did it before, He can do it again. If He ever made a way, He can make a way again. If He ever opened doors, He can open doors again. I'm God, and I'm never going to change. My power is not diminished." To the one trying to come back: "The devil has you convinced that because you failed God, that God's not going to pick you up again. But can I tell you that He is the LORD, and He changes not, and if He ever saved you, He can do it again. I know your life's in shambles. I know your life is broken. But, friend of mine, it's not too big. It's not too bad. It's not too hard for this God I serve... He said, you keep looking around — and can I just put it in my own vernacular — you keep looking around at everything and saying, 'Where's God in this?' But you fail to realize that if I wasn't in this, you'd have been destroyed a long time ago. It's true: you forget the fact that it is in Me that you live, and move, and have your being. Israel, you forgot that I brought you out of Egypt. You forgot that I brought you through the Red Sea. Have you forgot that I fed you with manna from heaven? And I'm gonna tell you that it doesn't matter what you're going through — you might not feel Me, it might seem as if I'm a million miles away, but if I had abandoned you, you would have been destroyed a long time ago. If I had walked away, you would have died in that car wreck. If I had walked away, you would have overdosed... I've come to tell somebody: it's because of Him that you're still here. You're not consumed because He's still God. You haven't fallen apart because He's still God. And even though you feel alone, you are not on your own, because He is the LORD, and He's never going to change. That's why you're not consumed." Fear does not disqualify: "Preacher, you don't understand — I'm scared. Yeah, so was Elijah. But that didn't change God. Jezebel said, 'Tomorrow, about this time, I'm going to have your head.' And he ran and hid. I understand we make heroes out of the Bible — and they are indeed heroes — but they dealt with the same stuff you deal with. Some of you have been immobilized by fear, and you feel like just because you failed to have faith, and you've walked in fear for so long, that now God can't use you. But understand the whole reason of why God spoke to Elijah in the still small voice is because he was hiding from Jezebel. Just because you got afraid, that doesn't mean God changed."

Scriptures: Malachi 3:6; Isaiah 26:3

Silence is not absence

Malachi opens the silent centuries: "Understand what Malachi is doing: Malachi is taking us into the 400 years of silence. But just because God gets silent doesn't mean that He changed... 'Jacob, you keep asking if I love you, but remember: the reason that you're here is because I love you.' And that's what we usually do when we get to the place where we can't feel God: we start questioning, does God really care? Because I can't hear Him, that must mean that God doesn't care about me. But Israel — if I didn't love you, if I didn't care — if I wasn't thinking about you every morning and every night when you go to bed, if I wasn't right there, if I didn't have the number of the hairs of your head, if you wasn't more important to Me than the sparrow that I'm watching all the time, if you weren't the apple of My eye — you don't realize, you would have done fallen... I know you don't feel close to Me, but you don't realize how far away you could have went if I didn't love you, if I didn't care." Acceptance-hunger gets its answer: "We're living in an hour right now where people are fighting with acceptance more than ever before. Everybody just wants to be accepted... 'I just want to know that somebody loves me. I just want to know that somebody cares.' Let me tell you something: if you don't get anything else this preacher gives — you can come in service after service, and revival service, as long as we go (I don't know how long that's going to be), and if you don't hear another thing I preach, you'll hear me right now: God cares about where you're at. In case you have forgotten, He's the God that said 'Let there be light,' and there was light. In case you have forgotten, He's the God that spoke the whole world into existence. And if you think for one moment that He's running short on power, let me just reiterate what Brother Malachi said: 'I am the LORD, and I change not.' My God, He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. Malachi, you're taking us into 400 years of silence, and it's going to feel like God is a million miles away. But you need to understand something, Israel: this isn't the first time God's been silent for 400 years. You see, you were in Egypt, and there wasn't any divine appointment while you were there. You wasn't hearing any words from God while you were there, that we can see. Four hundred years goes by, and you've been doing the work of another man. You've been living in slavery and bondage, and you can't hear from Me. But you need to understand: just because you can't hear Me doesn't mean I'm not present. I'm God, and I'm never going to change." The storm at sea teaches the method: "In the New Testament you'll find a story where Jesus is with His disciples, and the Bible says that they are going to the other side of the sea. And as they are, a great wind begins to blow. As the wind begins to blow, the water starts pouring in on top of them, and they're bailing out water, and the Bible says that Jesus was asleep. First of all, I want to know how He slept in the middle of all that. And that seems exactly like what some of y'all are going through right now. 'Jesus, how are You asleep when I'm going through what I'm going through? You can't feel this water? How do You sleep with all—' And the Bible says they were — I mean, the boat's sinking, man, and Jesus is sleeping... And they asked one of the most — this question here is probably asked more in a spiritual sense than any other question: 'Master, carest Thou not that we perish?' Jesus gets up and starts wiping sleep from His eyes. You see, the problem is — it's not that Jesus don't care about where you're at. The problem is, you haven't put into context what you're going through. Because if you back up a little bit, you'll find that Jesus said, 'You get in this boat, and you go to the other side.' And I know you're in the middle of the storm right now, but what you need to recognize is, I've done told you that you're going to the other side. And you don't need to step back and say, 'Don't You care that we perish?' You need to step back to the last time Jesus spoke, and apply that to this situation. When God gets quiet, go back to the last time Jesus said something to you, and then apply — because it'll still work, and it'll still apply to what you're going through. It'll still keep you... I'm going to tell you, one of the last things you'll hear before you backslide is, 'I love you, and you're always welcome back.' And so even though you feel you're so far, let me just tell you: go back to the last time He spoke, and know that He still loves you, and you're still welcome. And 'Master, don't You care that we're sinking?' 'No — I care. But you need to recognize, I've already gave you the answer to the question that you're asking right now. So put your big boy boots on and keep rolling, because if I said you're going to the other side, you're going to go to the other side. What if the ship sinks? Just hold on to Me. I know how to walk on the water. Just keep on holding onto Jesus, and you go to the other side.'... 'Hey, in case you've forgotten: I'm still the God that opens up the blinded eyes. And I'm still the God that unstops the deaf ears. And I'm still the God that heals leprosy. Don't you think I can speak to the wind, and it'll obey Me? Peace, be still.' And the Bible says they began to marvel that even the winds and the seas obeyed Him. What He was trying to tell them is: you need to recognize who I am. I'm God, and I'm never going to change. I'm always going to be God."

The grammar lesson, and the moment of revelation

Even the title was researched: "I almost titled this 'In Case You Forgot.' But believe it or not, in my reading, I wanted to see if that was proper English. And what I found out — this is preaching material right here; watch this, I got preaching material out of an English lesson — in terms of proper English, it would fit to say 'in case you have forgotten,' and it also fits to say 'in case you had forgotten.' The difference is the tense. The first — the simple past — means that at some point in the past, you forgot. Well, that's deep, ain't it? The [present perfect] means you forgot in the past, and have been continuing to forget up until now. When you say 'I had forgotten,' that means you're standing in the moment of revelation. I feel like preaching now. Some of you been walking around not even realizing who your Daddy was. Some of you been walking around, because of the trial, and the enemy has you convinced that God has left you. But I'm telling you that you are standing right now in the moment of revelation, and you're beginning to remember: 'Oh yeah, I do remember when He paid my bills. I do remember when He healed my body.' I know what the devil said — the devil said He didn't do that anymore. But I remember when there was no way, and He made a way. I'm telling somebody: you need to stand in the moment of revelation and say, 'This is my God that I serve.' How many times has He made a way? And I know that He's gonna do it again... Can I tell you what Isaiah said in Isaiah 26 and 3: 'Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee.' I know the devil wants you to look around at everything that's going on, but don't forget that He'll give you peace in the middle of the storm. He'll give you joy in the middle of it all. In case you have forgotten, He's still the God that shows up in the midnight hour." Circumstances do not move Him: "The only thing is, we are so easily changed by our situation. And because we're so easily changed, we think that God is changed. But you can go through the whole Bible — I don't have time to preach every story — but you can find that you can put God's people in the furnace, but that don't change God. You can put God's people in stocks and bonds, but that don't change God. You can take God's people and literally massacre them, and bring them down, and think you have every thread of God stomped out — and guess what? It ain't gonna change God. He's just gonna keep on being who He is, and doing what He does, and showing Himself strong. I got news for somebody tonight: your problem — it didn't change Him, and it's never going to change Him. Say, 'What about COVID?' I don't care about COVID — it ain't changed God. Say, 'What if people die with it?' I understand that. But guess what? He's still a healer. You say, 'Well, preacher, that's a little bit insensitive.' Let me tell you something: God will always be God, in spite of what happens. It's not going to change Him. 'I am the LORD, and I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.'" Paul and Silas are the practice: "When you get thrown in jail, Paul and Silas — but somewhere about midnight, they understood that the prison cell doesn't change God. 'Paul, what we gonna do?' 'All I know, Silas, is He's still God. And so in spite of what we're in right now, I think we need to sing praises and pray unto His name.' You know, He said, 'In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.' I just gave you a word right there: you've been looking for the will of God for your life — there it is. In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning thee. Pray without ceasing. Give thanks in everything... Well, my life's falling apart. Hey — have you forgotten who you're serving? And if you're not serving Him, let me introduce you to Him. He can show up in the middle of your storm, and make a way out of no way, and put your broken life back together again."

"Hot dog, Jesus"

The altar call runs on testimony: "If I handed this mic around to everybody in this room — I know that you see the suit and the tie and the nice done hair, but let me just tell you that behind every suit and tie, and behind every nice dress, lady, is a testimony that said, at one point in time, 'I was down and out, but God brought me out.' Time and time and time and time, He just keeps making a way. That's who He is. That's what He does... You can look around at these people that are here, that are put together, and they drove up in a nice vehicle, and they got these nice clothes on. It wasn't very long they're sitting right where you're sitting — broken, falling apart, life just in shambles. Can I preach this? They met a man named Jesus... I don't care what the doctor said, what the lawyer said, or what the banker said. I want to know what Jesus said. Because Jesus said, 'All I need is a little room to work. All I need you to do is lift up your hands and surrender. All I need you to do is say, I've tried it my own way, and my own way didn't work. All I need you to do is lift up your hands and lift up your voice and say, Jesus, Jesus, have mercy on me.' And when you begin to cry out to Jesus, all of a sudden the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob — He starts showing up." His closing story is from where he started: "I was a young man — Brother Pastor Donald Jones pastored in Lexington, Tennessee. That's where I started preaching. I was nine years old. And I remember hearing him tell a story, Bishop Sutton, about a man that came to God that didn't know anything about God. He was addicted to drugs and alcohol. It was a big deal — we don't really see it like that no more, but I got a feeling we're going to start seeing it like that again. The man came into church, and he walked to the front of the church, and he laid a crack pipe down, and he said, 'Preacher, I want deliverance from this.' And some of us are a little scared when people start doing that. But have you forgotten who you serve? He said, 'I laid hands on the man, and we began to pray for him. And he just stood there and looked at me. He said, so I stopped him, I said, Do you know how to pray? He said, I've never prayed before. He said, Well, I tell you what you do: you figure out the highest praise you can give God, and you just start shouting it to Him.' Now this is just a little old country bumpkin church. And that man lifted up his hands, and Bishop Sutton, he started shouting, 'Hot dog, Jesus!' And everybody around him started kind of chuckling, kind of like we do, because it's kind of funny. But he said it about three times, and he went to speaking in other tongues, as the Spirit of God gave the utterance. Because somewhere, while 'hot dog, Jesus' was coming out of his mouth, over on the other side of glory it was being translated into hallelujah. I'm telling you: you ain't too low. It ain't too deep. It's not too dark. He forgot to deliver you? No — and you're looking at some people that know who He is and know what He can do. And I'm here to tell you tonight, it's your chance. It was a cold winter night in Birmingham, and I went down to a crazy Apostolic church, where people were jumping up and people were running — but I met a man named Jesus." He closes where he began, on the Wednesday-night faithful: "I never learned how to preach on Wednesday night. I just learned how to preach on Sunday night. So I just pretend like every church service is Sunday night — that's all I know how to do. But there's some of you that are just here, and it's Wednesday night, and you came from work. And I get it — you've had a long day, you're stressed out, and it's just, 'Well, can we get through this, preacher?' But have you forgotten who He is? Have you forgotten what He's done for you?... You ought to just look back down the road of everything that's happened, and start remembering everything that God's done for you. How we gonna have revival in the middle of August? Have you forgotten who you serve? The reason we're in this building is because of God that's bigger than [us, who] showed up and started making a way out of nowhere. In case you have forgotten that God — praise Him. Praise Him. Praise Jesus."