He Is...

You may return to your seats. So thankful for this opportunity to be able to bring the word here today. Like I said, I feel faith in the room and I believe the Lord is going to do something mighty in this place. I do want to give honor to Pastor Dong and Bishop for this opportunity. Thank you so much. I am so thankful for this church, for Pastor Clark opening the doors to this church and welcoming me back in 2017. A lost MK college student that didn't really know what to do.

Just came here and uh was able to go to Spanish church. And Pastor Clark came up to me. And he's just like, "Well, do you want to preach next Sunday?" I'm like, "Sure." At that point, I I can't really go to try out other churches or anything like that. So, I mean, he had a good strategy. And here I am 9 years later. Praise God. Amen. Amen. I love APC. I love IPA. And it's a privilege to be able to serve this church, serve the Spanish church, and just be a part of what God is doing.

That's what it's all about, right? We just get to be a part of what God is doing here in St. Louis, here in this church. God is so good. He is so good. If you wouldn't mind opening your Bibles with me to the book of Hebrews, chapter 11. And while you go there, I do want to say it's a privilege to serve this church alongside my beautiful wife, Bethany. I love you. You're amazing. Amen. Yes. She's incredible. And um my in-laws as well moved here to St.

Louis. You're welcome. You're welcome. You know, it took nine years, well, not nine years. It took seven years. We've been married seven years. seven years of convincing and they're like, "Okay, fine. We'll become bishop at our church and move down there." So, you're welcome, church. If you haven't met them, they're great people. We love them. So happy to have them here in St. Louis. Praise God. Book of Hebrewsap 11:6. But without faith, it is impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God must believe must believe that he is.

Say it with me. He is must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Amen. I want to preach here for a few m moments on the title. He is. He is. And I'm going to be talking about and telling you what he is in a few moments. But if you wouldn't mind putting your Bibles aside and let's pray that the Lord will have his will and speak to us. Thank you, Jesus, for your word. That it is effectual and it is true for us today.

I pray that you will open up our hearts, our ears to listen and understand and apply your word into our hearts. That Jesus, you will speak to us. that it won't be my words coming out of my mouth, but it will be your words to your people and that this will be edifying to your body. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen. Amen. You may be seated. Praise God. In the Old Testament, we see that God has a covenant, a special covenant relationship with the Israelites.

Actually something that brother Norris taught us at Ian College is that we can take that word testament and change it for the word covenant. So we see that that God has this covenant with one group of people and he chose of course Abraham and told him that he was going to be the father of many nations and that his lineage would be as numerous as the stars in the sky as the sands by the seashore. And God kept his promise. And through his descendants, Isaac, Jacob, the Lord began to create his own special people to have covenant with.

That covenant carried out um through carried Israel through 400 years of Egyptian bondage. And it was the covenant that God had with his people that moved his heart when they cried out in slavery. It was the covenants that God had with his people that opened up the Red Sea, that rained down mana from heaven and brought water out of a rock. Every miracle in Israel's history wasn't random. It was provision from the covenantkeeping God. It was God simply being faithful to what he promised. And when Moses stood at the burning bush and asked God for his name, God didn't say, "Well, I was," he didn't say, "this is what I will be." But he said, "I am.

I am." Present tense, immediate, as if God was saying, "Whatever you need in this moment, I am already that." How many are listening to me here today? It wasn't just a name, but it was a covenant declaration. I am everything that you need me to be. That same God, covenantkeeping God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob desires to be in covenant with each and every one of us. It's not just about a nation anymore. It's not just about a bloodline. But the veil was torn. The doors swing wide.

There is an opportunity for salvation for each and every one of us. The cross of Jesus Christ was the ultimate covenant act. His blood ratified a new and better covenant, one that opens up the door to salvation to whosoever will. And when you're in covenant with him, something powerful becomes true in your life. because he can be whatever it is you need him to be. That's why Paul in Ephesians, he could write this epistle from prison with confidence. And he knew that God was able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or even think.

And he can still do exceedingly abundantly above all that we can ask or think according to the power that workketh within us. I'm talking about the Holy Spirit. Once you are in covenant with him, he can be anything you need him to be. Today I want to remind someone about who he is. That we don't serve an abstract God that hopefully exists. that maybe hears our prayers. But Hebrews 11:6, he who comes to God must believe that he is and he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.

Because the God who is is the same God who enter into covenant with Abraham, who delivered Israel, who wrapped himself in flesh to ratify a new and better covenant with his own blood. He is here today for all of us. Amen. Hallelujah. Today I want to focus on three attributes of God that first of first of all he is our provider. Going back to the book of Exodus, the children of Israel just witnessed the Red Sea open up. They crossed it in dry land and then the Egyptians were running behind him.

God closed the seas once again, drowning all their enemy behind them and they were finally free. Finally free. You would think that after a miracle like that, Brother Chambers, they they'd be set for life. After being in captivity for so long and then seeing their their the enemy chasing after them, now they had complete freedom. But it wasn't long that the hunger set in. And in their hunger, they forgot who they were in covenant with. They cried out once again, but this time it wasn't in faith.

It wasn't it wasn't crying out to God for for him to provide for them. But they said, "Would it to God what it took God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt where we sat by the flesh pots." In other words, we'd rather have been slaves with full stomachs than free people trusting in God. And yet, despite the whining and complaining, God responded to their complaint with bread. Every morning, without fail, mana appeared on the ground. Not occasionally, not when they deserved it, cuz man, these people like to whine a lot.

Not when they deserved it, but every morning, six days a week, God carpeted the ground with provision. He didn't ask them to figure out where the next meal was coming from, but he simply said, "Get up. Go outside and gather what I have provided you." It's important to notice that they had to go out and gather. The provision was there, but participation was required. Obedience was required and expected. This wasn't just a miracle. This was God establishing his identity in the wilderness. where they didn't have a place to go.

They didn't have a grocery store. They didn't have a farmland or natural explanation. But God was saying, "I am your source. It's not Egypt. It's not Pharaoh. The Egyptians can't provide this for you. I Yahweh, the I am is providing for you. The I am is giving you what you need." And that God that rained down bread from heaven has not retired. The God that fed two million people in a desert is the same God that Paul declares in Philippians 4:19. But my God shall supply some of your need.

Shall pro provide a a couple of your needs. Shall provide SHALL PROVIDE. SHALL PROVIDE ALL YOUR need according to his riches in glory. Hallelujah. WE HAVE A GOD THAT CAN PROVIDE FOR YOUR NEED. It doesn't matter WHAT IT IS THAT YOU'RE FACING. YOU CAN CALL ON THE NAME OF JESUS. YOU CAN CALL ON THE NAME OF JESUS. AND HE SHOWS UP WHEN YOU'RE IN DIRE STRAITS. HE SHOWS UP WHEN YOU'RE IN YOUR DIRE in the craziest need of your life. He can provide. Hallelujah. He was a provider then.

He's a provider now. Hallelujah. There's a sister in our Spanish church. She uh uh her sister comes to church very faithful and uh she would she would come to church every now and then. Um but a few months ago, she had surgery and and she was in the hospital for a few days. So Bethany and I went to the hospital and we spent some time there with her, prayed for her and that really impacted her. So she started being more faithful to church, which is great.

Awesome. And uh she started coming to church more often. She got baptized, received the gift of the Holy Ghost. Tremendous miracle. So thankful for what God is doing in Sandra's life. But something happened where she went to a she went to a follow-up and she mentioned that she hadn't been sleeping well. She was having issues sleeping and they said, "Well, let's do this sleep study." And long story short, turns out she has sleep apnea. She needs a machine to sleep. So they go and they tell her, "Hey, it's going to be it's going to be this amount of money.

Keep in mind, she doesn't have insurance, so it was going to be a lot." So I had mentioned to her in the past, hey, if there's anything you need, come talk to me. You know, we'll we'll try to help out. So she came up to me and she said, hey, I have this need. We're going to need to buy this CPAT machine and it's going to be very expensive. So, um, we were able to figure out a way where we were able to give her a someone's old CPAP machine to try to hopefully help out.

That way, she wouldn't have to pay any money. So, then she goes, she takes it to the doctor. The doctor said, "Nope, this isn't going to work. You got to pay us money." So, they said, "We're not going to be able to set this up for you. So, you're just going to have to buy the machine." So, she brought the machine back and she's just like, "Brother Christian, I I don't know what I'm going to do. It's I" She She said, "I don't I even know exactly how much it's going to cost, but it's going to be a lot." And I'm just like, "Well, um you know, we'll talk here at the church and see what what what we can do, but in the meantime, we're going to be praying.

We're going to be praying that God will open up a door." And she's just like, "Yeah, yeah. We'll see. We'll see." So that same week, she goes back to the she goes back to uh do like a follow-up appointment with the sleep doctor and um and so they're talking and he was just like, "Oh, before you leave, here's a brand new machine. Here's a brand new mask. Here's enough filters to last you for a few years." And she was just like, "Well, I I I can't afford this." He's like, "Oh, we we don't normally do this for people, but we're giving this to you for free." I'm telling somebody here, he's a provider.

He provided a brand new machine for Sandra that right now she's able to sleep soundly. She's able to to have complete rest. I don't know who needs to hear this today. Maybe you're facing some sort of financial situation where it seems impossible. But I got a God. I got a GOD WHO'S A PROVIDER THAT CAN PROVIDE FOR YOUR NEED. WE'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT PROSPERITY GOSPEL, BUT I'M TALKING ABOUT A GOD THAT LOVES his people. And he IS GOING TO PROVIDE FOR YOUR SITUATION. HE CAN PROVIDE FOR YOUR NEED.

We got to have faith that he is. We have to have faith that he is our provider. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Psalm 121, I will lift up my eyes to the hills from whence cometh my help. Verse two, because my help comes from the Lord which made heaven and earth. We need to stop looking at our situation sometimes and seeing how bad things are and lift up our eyes to the hills where our help comes from. He is here to provide for your need. Hallelujah. Secondly, I want to focus on that he is our healer.

In the book of 2 Kings chapter 5, we see the story of a man named Non. He was the commander of the Syrian army. He, the Bible says, he was a man of valor. He was highly favored by his king. And by every outward measure of this man, he had it all together. But underneath all that armor was a condition that no military victory or accolade could ever fix. The Bible says that he was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. And one day a little Israelite servant girl told him, "Would God, my master, were with the prophet that is in Samaria, for he would recover him of his leprosy." So non I mean not not much to lose decides to go over there and to goes to Elisha's door expecting a dramatic encounter.

He expected Elijah to come out bust through the door called on the name of the Lord probably put his hands over his wound or something. Expect some grand gesture and expect the miracle. But instead, Elisha didn't even come out. Didn't even come out to greet him. But he sent a messenger with simple instructions. Hey, just just go wash in the Jordan seven times and and you'll be healed. Now, Non, hey, he's a he's a commander. Deserves respect. and I'm going to have to dunk myself in the Jordan, that dirty water.

Aren't there better rivers in Damascus? He had a picture in his mind of how his healing was supposed to look. How many times we have a certain picture and we try to tell God, "Hey God, if you were to do it like this, this this work out great. Let let me help you out, God. Um, I here I have a perfect flowchart on what needs to happen for me to get my miracle. So, if you could get on that, please. Right. We we we we we know exactly the steps that need to happen for it to happen.

And we're hoping, okay, God, here's the plan. It's going to be cool. It's going to be great. But sometimes God's plans aren't our plans. And when God's method didn't meet non's expectations, he almost walked away from his miracle. It took his servants reasoning with him. If the prophet had told you to do some great thing, wouldn't you have done it? And he convinced them, just just do it. What do you have to lose? So non went down to the Jordan once. Nothing. Okay, I'll do it twice.

nothing. Three times, four times, five, six. And I bet maybe he got to the six. He's just like, "Oh man, this ain't happening." It's not even like getting a little bit better, you know? At least if it would have gotten like a little bit better, he would have like felt better about it. It's probably the same. But something happened when he took the seventh dip. It says that he came out of the water and the Bible says that his flesh came again like the flesh of a little child.

Total restoration, complete healing. And notice what produced the miracle wasn't non's worthiness, wasn't his status, but it was simply because he obeyed. His obedience to the word. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. God was a healer then. Guess what? He's a healer. Now, he still heals. He still provides. We have another sister in our Spanish church. Her name is Sister Compos. She very faithful to church. She's now taking care of her of her parents and she brings them to church with her. But a few years ago, she hurt her her wrist uh her hand really bad.

and she could like barely open open her right hand. And so she would come to church with this big brace and you know she would worship God. It was beautiful. And but she would always have this big brace. And so one day my in-laws were visiting and we had brother Thompson preach at our Spanish church and he brought the word of faith and sister Compost came up and she wanted healing. She wanted healing. Now, it could have been really easy for for him to say, "Okay, um where are the people of faith, the leaders of the church?

Come lay hands on her, declare the word of faith." But he did something I'll never forget. He said, "Where are all the children?" And he brought all the children and they gathered around Sister Compos. And all the children prayed for her and he prayed the word of faith and she had her hand up and she started doing this and then pretty soon she started closing it more and then she just started moving it like that and then she just said I don't feel any pain. I don't feel any more pain in my hand and I've never seen her with that brace EVER AGAIN BECAUSE GOD IS STILL A HEALER.

And he may it may NOT HAPPEN JUST HOW YOU WANT IT TO HAPPEN. You may WANT IT TO HAPPEN A CERTAIN WAY, BUT GOD'S WAY IS HIGHER THAN OUR WAYS. His miracle is way BETTER THAN WHATEVER WE CAN CONJURE UP. WE NEED TO TRUST IN HIS WILL. WE NEED TO TRUST IN HIS way cuz he's the one that can do it. He's the one that can heal. He's the one that can provide. He's the one that can bring complete restoration. Hallelujah. Whatever sickness or disease you may be facing, we serve a God that is our healer.

He can turn your bad medical diagnosis and change it into a testimony. And sometimes, like non, your path of healing may look too simple, may look a little silly. It may look like you have to dance before the Lord before you get your healing. You may have to declare faith before you need to start thanking the Lord before you get your healing. But God honors faith. We need to trust him. We need to make sure that we won't let ourselves be talked out of our miracle.

We will not let the simplicity of God's method make us miss our miracle. We serve a God who heals and he is the same yesterday. He is the same today forever more. Can I get an amen? Hallelujah. My third point and more importantly than him being our provider and being our healer is that he is our savior. We go back once again to the book of Exodus. Egypt had been brought down to its knees. Plague after plague had fallen on the most powerful nation on the earth.

And here, God wasn't finished. There was one final act that would break every chain and set his people free. God gave Israel specific instructions that they were to take a lamb spotless, unblenmished, kill it, and take the blood and strike it on the two side doorposts and on the upper doorpost of their house. Then to go inside to not come out until morning because that night the death angel would pass through the land of Egypt. And God said plainly that when I see the blood, I will pass over you.

This wasn't about their good works. It wasn't about how religious they were, but it was all about obedience, applying the blood. The only thing standing between Israel and judgment that night was the blood of the lamb applied to the doorpost of their home. That night, in every home covered by the blood, the angel passed over and salvation came not because they were the strongest. It didn't come because they were the most deserving of salvation, but salvation came because they were under the blood. Centuries later, John the Baptist stood at the Jordan River and saw Jesus and declared, "Behold the lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." The Passover lamb was never the end of the story, but it was a preview of what was to come.

a shadow of the one who was coming. And when Jesus went to Calvary, when the nails were driven and the cross was raised, heaven's final plague fell, not on a nation, but on sin itself on death. And that blood that was shed on the cross is still being applied today. It needs to be applied into our lives through responding to the gospel. Amen. I ask our church people all the time in our youth like, "What is the gospel?" And they're all excited, Sister Chrissy. They go like, "It's the good news." I'm like, "Okay, great.

What's the good news?" Oh, it it's good. Like, yeah. Like, can you imagine someone comes up to you, "Pastor, I got good news." You're like excited to hear. It's good news, pastor. Okay. Okay. Like, well, ju just trust me. It It's good. It's good. Amen. Well, what is the gospel? The gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Right. Amen. Amen. Death, burial, resurrection of Jesus Christ. Well, what does what does that mean? What does that mean for you and me? Well, it means that I need to die to my sins through repentance.

Can you say with me, repent? Repentance. And then I need to be buried just as Jesus was buried through baptism in Jesus name. Can you say baptism? Baptism. And we are resurrected in Christ when we receive his spirit living inside of us through speaking with the initial sign of speaking in other tongues. That is the gospel. That is the good news. Amen. How many ARE THANKFUL FOR THE GOSPEL? AMEN. AMEN. We have all been called to participate in the gospel. Mark 16:15 and uh verse 15 and 16.

And he said to them, "Go into all the world and preach." Amen. We'll start. We'll do it again. go into all the world and preach the gospel. Amen. And he who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned. When we obey the word of God, when we obey the gospel, his blood is applied into our lives and we can rest assured that we have salvation in him, that we can rest assured that he is with us, that we are now in covenant with him.

And when we are in covenant with him, he can be whatever it is we need him to be. When we are in covenant with him, we can rest assured that he is our peace. He is our joy. He is our provider. He is our healer. He is whatever it is that we need. I'm here to tell someone that he is exactly what you need in whatever situation you're in. It's not because we we deserve it. It's not because we have it all together because none of us have it all together.

I tell you what. But it's all because of covenant. It all starts with him becoming our savior. Before the foundations of the world, God decided that he wanted to be bound to humanity. He called Abraham. He delivered Israel. He rained down bread in the wilderness. He healed a leper in the Jordan. He gave himself to Calvary. Every single act from Genesis to Revelation is the story of a covenantkeeping God, relentlessly pursuing relationship with his creation. And that same God is here today. The writer of Hebrews said it plainly that he that cometh to God must believe that he is.

Not that he was, not that he might be, not that he may be, that he is present, active. He is available right now in the middle of whatever you walked in with. He is He is your provider. The same God who carpeted the wilderness floor with bread every morning is aware of every need in your life. The same God that provided a CPAP machine for Sandra. He can provide whatever you need. You're not here alone trying to survive. You are in covenant with the God who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, who closed the liies of the field, who said he would supply all your needs according to his riches.

It's not according to the world's economy. It's not according to your specific circumstances, but according to his riches, and his supply never runs out. He is our healer. The same God who sent non into the Jordan and brought him out with new skin is still in the healing business. The same God that healed Sister Compost's hand, he's still in the healing business. Whatever you've been carrying underneath the surface, whatever condition followed you in, he is still a healer. But most importantly for all of us, he is our salvation.

The lamb that was slain, the blood that was shed, the covenant that was sealed on the cross 2,000 years ago is still being applied today. His blood is still redeeming. His blood is still cleansing us of all unrighteousness. It's still making a way where there is no way. And the greatest miracle he offers isn't provision, isn't healing. We're thankful for those. But the greatest thing miracle he offers is salvation. Life for your soul. Eternity with God. And it is available to everyone in this room today.

If we could stand this morning, musicians can come. I want to open up the altar today to those that if you could put that last slide up. to those that need him to be your provider, those that you need him to be your healer, those that you need him to be your savior, but even who those that just need him to be fill in the blank. Maybe you need him to be your comforter right now. Maybe you need him to be your joy. Maybe you need him to be your rest.

Pastor Brad says yes. Whatever it is you need from him, he is here with open arms. He is here to touch your situation, to touch your life. You don't have to leave this place the same way you came in. That's right. That's right. But we can put our burdens on him. Cast our burdens on him. and he will help us. He will provide. He will heal. And he will bring salvation. And whatever it is that you need, fill in the blank. He is here for you.

How many are willing to take a step of faith? Let's open up this altar and I invite everyone to come forward. Let's spend some time in prayer. Thank you, Jesus, that you are everything, everything we need. God, I pray that right now we will take this step of faith and that we will declare your healing. We will declare your provision, provision for our family, provision, Lord, for our personal lives. What whatever it is, Lord, you are everything we need. I don't have to put my trust on the things of this world.

I don't have to put my trust on material things. But God, right now, I make the decision. I'm going to put my trust in you. I'm going to put my trust in your word. I'm going to put my trust in your promises. That Lord, I am going to be a new creature through you. That you're going to fill me with your presence. That you're going to forgive me of all of my sins. That it doesn't matter what I've done. And it doesn't matter what I'm bringing to you today.

You will take it. You will take it. And you will make me whole. You will make my family whole. You will make my marriage whole. Lord, that doesn't matter what it is that I'm facing. It is yours. It belongs to you. I give it to you and I put my trust in you, God. You are my provider. You are my healer. But most importantly, you're my salvation. And today, I accept it. I accept it, Lord, that you will do your will in my life. That you will do your will in my family.

You will do my your will in my church. That I'm not going to try to do it my own way. I'm not going to try to do it with my own strength. But I'm surrendering it to you. I'm surrendering it to you, God. Receive it. Receive it, Lord. Hallelujah.