Rags to Righteous!

Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick.

I'm the pastor of Elevation Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank you for joining us today.

Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your faith.

Hope it gives your perspective to see God is moving in your life.

Enjoy the message.

Come on, clap those hands and bless the Lord.

The devil never should have let you find out that God was for you and not against you. That's going to change everything. That's going to change the way you walk. It's going to change the way you talk. It's gonna change the way you weep. You're not going to sorrow without hope because you know that God is not against you.

It's going to change the way you celebrate because.

You know that it wasn't your own strength or your own might. But if it had not been for the Lord fighting for me, how many have a testimony that God brought you this far?

Praise the Lord.

And as amazing as it is for us to remember that God is for us, we also need to know that there are people who are also for us. In a divided world. There's real power in unity. So I want you to make a connection with the person on either side of you either grab their hand or touch their shoulder, depending on your level of germaphobia and faith. If you're watching online, we welcome you. We connect with you now by the Holy Spirit. And even if you're watching alone, you're not alone.

There is no distance in the spirit.

Heavenly Father, I thank you for what I feel in this moment, the faith that is rising in my heart on behalf of the people that you're going to speak to today.

Lord, I ask now not only.

That you would speak, but that we would hear, because those two have to happen at the same time for results to be produced.

And there may be things that would keep us from hearing what you say today.

There may be distractions, There may be things in our mind that are replaying from yesterday that would keep us from being in this present moment.

Now, we just want to do that one.

Needful thing, and to sit at your feet, to learn from you, to be with you, to receive from you, to worship you, to praise you, to glorify you. Your word says that if two of us would agree concerning anything in your name, it would be done. We come together two or three twenty thirty thousand, two or three million strong, all across the world today, believing for breakthrough, believing that anything is possible. And we clap our hands and celebrate in advance.

What you're going to do in Jesus' name.

Amen, somebody shot, Amen shot, Amen again.

Glory to God. Good to see you.

Welcome, Welcome to week four of our series Through the New You.

Let's clap our hands. We made it to week four.

I want to walk you back through really quickly the mindsets. I'll have you say them out loud, and then we are going to get into a good one today.

Got something for you today, But let's catch up. Number one.

Say I'm not stuck. All right, You're gonna have to. I know the devil stole an hour asleep, but you're gonna have to. You're gonna have to caffeinate real quick or something. Say I'm not stuck. Touch your neighbors. Say you're not stuck unless you stop. That in the comments, say I'm not stuck unless I stop. Now, get a deep breath and say Number two, Christ is in me. I am enough. Say it again, Christ is in me. I am enough. Number three. With God, there's always a

I'm looking for this.

And today we came to talk about something so fundamental and foundational that I pray that it will grip you from the inside out by the spirit of God. And I want you to repeat it after me, and then we'll spend our entire time together today giving a lesson on it from the Bible. Maybe hard for you to believe this, but you just sang it, and I hope that you will begin to live it more and more in your life.

Repeat after me.

God is not against me, but he's in it with me, working through.

Me, fighting for me. God is not against me.

Clap your hands like you know, yeah, yeah.

That's the right response.

Thank you Jesus, and you may be seated, Smile at somebody on your way to your seat. I will take you now to Jeremiah thirty eight. Jeremiah thirty eight. I'll share with you a story that I'll let you decide whether it's an uplifting story or not. But it is a story that pulled at me in a serious way this week, and so I'm very excited to share it with you. The Bible says in Jeremiah thirty eight, let's

Jeremiah thirty eight, verse six.

So they took Jeremiah and put him into the cistern of Malkaija, the King's son, which was in.

The courtyard of the guard.

They lowered Jeremiah by ropes into the cistern. It had no water in it, only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud. But ebed Melick, a Cushike, an official in the royal palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern, and while the king was sitting in the Benjamin gate, ebed Melick went out out of the palace and said to him, my lord, the King, these men have acted wickedly in all they have done to Jeremiah the Prophet.

They have thrown him into.

A cistern where he will starve to death when there is no longer any bread in the city. Then the king commanded e bed Melick, the Kushite, take thirty men from here with you and lift Jeremiah the Prophet out of the cistern before he dies. So ebed Melick took the men with him and went to a room under the treasury in the palace. He took some old rags and worn out closed from there and let them down

Yeah.

So I want to speak to you today from this subject or this title.

I want to just call the message this.

I want to call it instead of uh, rags to riches, I want to call it rags to righteous, rags to righteous. And as I move further into this talk with you, I just want to tell you something that my family picks on me about.

As you settle in and prepare to take notes on this sermon. They call me safety Steve.

The reason is that although I pride myself in being somewhat of a risk taker in ministry to reach people for Jesus, like doing whatever I need to do to get the message across, when it comes to average everyday stuff, I'm a little bit of a whimp. I'm a little bit fearful. Out of my loving heart, sometimes I go a little overboard. I'm not a helicopter parent exactly, but I do require bicycle helmets on every bike ride, even

So I need protection. Everybody say protection.

How funny thing about my kids is sometimes they confuse my protection as punishment.

I remember clearly one.

Time we were on vacation and we were getting on our bikes to ride, and Elijah was about thirteen, and I said, where's your helmet? And he said, Dad, do I really have to wear a helmet? I'm thirteen. By the way, happy birthday to my newest thirteen year old Abigail Faith Thirday.

Today is her birthday.

I said, today is her birthday.

I've now got three teenagers.

Watch this beard go totally gray over the next few weeks.

All right.

So when he turned thirteen, of Liife just said, do I really have to wear a helmet? And I said, yeah, you really have to wear a helmet? And he said, and I quote, but Dad, you're ruining my fit. He had exactly dressed the way he wanted and then the helmet clashed.

With the with something that he was wearing. He said, you're running my fit.

I said, son, I don't know if I said it this eloquently, but I tried to convey this thought.

I'm not worried about your fit. I'm worried about your future.

I would like you to live more than I would like you to look good. Somebody say amen, because I'm really not talking about bicycle helmets right now. I'm talking about God, our father, who is never against us, who is always for us. But sometimes what he wants for you is so much greater than what you want for you. Because God thinks legacy while you think lunch. God thinks destiny while you think desire.

What do I want right now?

God knows what he's walking you into, and so sometimes while you are so worried about messing up your fit, God is trying to protect your future. Therefore, we cannot assume that when we say God is not against me, somebody say it, God.

Is not against me.

We cannot assume that that means that God will always be in complete agreement with us, any more than I allowed Elijah to take off this helmet so it didn't clash with his shoes. This is so important as we understand the context of the scripture that I read you. Because God has a prophet named Jeremiah. Everybody say Jeremiah. I'll probably have you talked back to me a little bit more today than normal, just to make sure that this story, which is unfamiliar, really gets in your heart

I want to point that out.

They were destroyed not because it was their destiny, but because they were disobedient. You ever notice how a lot of things that we call destiny, really, if we look at it, dissect it and take it for what it is, and don't deny it, Really, what we call destiny sometimes was a series of decisions that we made, and looking back at it, we say, that's just the way it happened, that's just the way it went, that's just the way

Decisions in many ways.

In many ways, Jeremiah exists to turn the nation back to God, but knowing that they would not turn back to God, God sends him as a warning.

And then after.

They are taken captive into Babylonian exile. And I know I'm covering a lot, but I have to, because you have to understand why Jeremiah is in this pit.

When we pick up in verse.

Six, Really, Jeremiah's words did not accomplish the purpose that he intended them to accomplish.

Therefore, it would be easy to assume that he failed. Yet he did not fail.

And the Bible says that as he prophesied and told the people, you know, you really do need to surren and turn back to God. In this particular case, he was telling them you need to just go ahead and go along with what God is doing. In this particular instance, God was sending the Babylonians to take his people captive for a season to bring them back to him for a greater purpose in the future. God is allowing something in their life in order to bring them into alignment

Tell me he won't do that.

Tell me he won't make you put your bicycle helmet on and take your phone if you want, because He'd rather take your phone than for you to crush your skull. And I know this isn't what you expected when we started, because I said.

God is not against me, and yet I'm telling you that God is against some of the things that hurt you.

God is not against you. But he is against some of the fake stuff that you call you, that is not you, that rots you and robs you of what he calls you. Now, now, Jeremiah kept coming to the king and saying, I'm telling you you need to go with what God is doing. You should have turned earlier.

You didn't.

But now if you just surrender, God will say you and they still won't surrender. And so these these these four officials, these these four cronies of the king, the cabinet of the king, uh, the the guys who tell him what he wants to hear. They say, you need to throw Jeremiah. You need to deal with Jeremiah. Lock Jeremiah up.

Let's put him in a cistern.

Let's find one of those things that holds water, and let's let's throw him in there so he will shut up. He's discouraging everybody because he's preaching negativity. He wasn't preaching negativity. He was preaching repentance. And repentance is the process by which, when you find yourself in a pit, you stop digging. That's what repentance is. Repentance is realizing, oh I'm in a pit, maybe I should stop digging, Touch your neighbor and say stop digging. The best strategy when you find

Let's try that again.

How many of you have found yourself sinking deeper and deeper into something that God tried to get.

You to stop sooner?

How many of you waited until the consequence has got so bad? How many of you waited until the pain became so severe?

How many of you.

Waited until the point where now you have to pray three times as long because now you've got ten times as many issues. You just would have said something when you started sinking.

God is not against me.

He's always for me, and he's always with me. He's always with me, and he's always for me. So now we have to answer the big question of Jeremiah thirty eight, verse six. Let's go back to that scripture again, because now you're really ready for it.

It says, so.

They took Jeremiah and put him into the cistern.

The cistern isn't very big in diameter, only about.

Three feet, but then it has a bulb at the bottom because it's fifteen feet deep, and the deeper it goes, the wider it gets. These cisterns were meant to collect rain water, not human bodies, and yet in the nation of Israel there was not much water to be found. The Bible says there was only mud in this cistern. Look at it again. They lowered Jeremiah by ropes into the cistern. It had no water in it, only mud, and Jeremiah sank down.

Into the mud.

Which makes sense if Jeremiah sinned.

I understand sinking when you sin, because I've done it. I understand sinking when you're bitter because I've been it. I understand sinking in an addiction because I've dealt with that. I understand sinking in my own dumb decisions.

How many of you have ever sunk in stupid.

It ain't even always sin. Sometimes you just bought a time share. It's not necessarily a Bible verse about that, but nature reveals seven hundred and sixty two months later, you're still sinking, and you've been there three days and it's got roaches.

Now we must ask the question.

If Jeremiah was speaking for God, if Jeremiah was serving God.

And not sinning and not stupid.

And we've all.

Sunk before because we sinned, And we've all sunk before because we were stupid. And when you are sinking in sin, you repent. What do you do when you are sinking while serving? This is the question that I came to have a conversation about today. I'm serving God. I'm not saying I'm perfect, but I'm serving God and I'm sinking. It would surprise you where some of my sermons come from.

It would because some of my.

Sermons, if you asked me where I got them from, I would I have to tell you, honestly, I got it.

From the Mud. Touch somebody next to you and say I got it from the Mud.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Some of my sermons that I preached to you, I must be honest with you. They came not because I was so high, and not because I was so holy, and not because I was so right, and not because I was so righteous, and not because I was so brilliant, and not because I was so bold. But some of my sermons that I've preached to you. I got them from a muddy place, muddy messages. I know my boots are clean at this moment, but some of the stuff that I've walked through and that you've walked through to

I could hand you this helmet so I can tell you.

I said, called a callback, Remember the hell from the bicycle.

Remember when he was mad because I made him wear the helmet, But I told him, I don't.

Want you to have to go through hell when you could just put on this helmet.

I don't want you to have to suffer the consequences when you could just listen to God. I don't want you to have to go through sixteen sexual partners.

To find out that you can't get it.

From that, And after they're gone, you're still left with you. And if you can't be complete in Christ, nobody can complete you.

See, you gotta get.

This from the mud.

The people who are praising God on this point have been through something. But people who are cute are still not climbing out yet.

But when you've been stuck in something and you finally.

Take a step out of it, it'll make you jump up and holler. Look how he lifted me with nothing else could help, nothing but mud in the cistern and Jeremiah, God's man is in the mind. What is God's man doing in the mud.

What is a prophet doing in a pit?

I thought if you worked for God, he would work it out for you, working through me. I thought God was fighting for you, So shouldn't Jeremiah thirty eight, verse six read Duslie.

So they took Jeremiah and.

Tried to put him into.

The cistern, but the angel Gabriel grabbed him by the throat and said, touch not mine anointed. So this one I'm learning because I talk to people who love Christ and have cancer. Because I talked to people who raised their kids I You're an admonition of the Lord, and their kids still went buck wild crazy, never wore a helmet.

I could say other stuff, but I pray for me. I feel unfiltered right now.

I don't want this message to get so muddy that you missed the heart of it. And the point of it is you can do everything right and things still go wrong. I release every parent of the parental guilt that says if you would have put them in the special school when they were two and a half years old, if you would have taught them Spanish by the time they were four, they would have been doctors.

They would have been the president. First of all, they can't be the president till they're over eighty.

Apparently, I told you it's getting money, it's getting muddy. This is the dirty version I guess today. Yeah, it's good to be back home. You can't say this kind of stuff just anywhere.

I can't talk like this.

In Philadelphia. We're talking about Jeremiah, God's man in the Mud, God's man in the Mud.

And notice how I said that he sank down into the mud.

Now, I'm just going to minister this for a moment, because it seems to me very important. Strong people sink. Strong people sink, and if we want to get really technical about it, the more weighty the object, the more quickly and deeply it sinks. Strong anointing means strong attacks. Now I see why he was sinking because he was saying something. Now I see why he was under attack because he was valuable. Now I see why he was under attack because.

He had an assignment.

Do you understand that about your life, that your assignment to glorify God, your assignment to shine a light for Christ, your assignment to make a difference in the lives of others, will sometimes cause you to sink. So, then full disclosure, God is not against me. He's in it with me,

There have been times in my life.

And ministry where people have uttered an unkind word or two in my direction. Therefore, if you are not intentional, you will begin to assimilate the hatred of peoples, of people, the opposition of people, or even the trials of your life, and you will begin to think that since they are like that, and since life is like that, God is not like that. When we say God is not against me, perhaps it seems to you unnecessary.

Perhaps you've never had the thought that God was against you. But is it possible that.

While confessing God is for me, that life is coming against you in a way that is making you wonder, if God is with me, why is there only mud.

In this pit.

I don't know if you noticed, but the one thing that was never mentioned in the chapter that I read you was the presence of God. It does not say that Jeremy I was thrown into the pit, but God was with him in the pit. It says that about Joseph in prison and the Old Testament, But this is a little different.

This is one of.

Those moments where Jeremiah must have been thinking as he was sinking, where are you God? We know that he thought this way because in the Book of Lamentations, I mean, think about the name of that book. Jeremiah wrote that book lament It means to grief, it means the question. And in that book as well as the book that bears his name, many times he would speak the word of the Lord, but he would also question within himself, God,

God.

If I'm your servant, why am I in this cistern? God, you called me to be a prophet. You told me before I was born that you knew me in a point to me. And yet he's learning, as we all must learn, that just because you are appointed doesn't mean you'll never be attacked.

I'm gonna say it again.

I know you don't want to wear this helmet, but I don't want your head to crash on the pavement that you think just because you have a purpose and a promise from God that there will be no pits. Because if I preach this, but I don't tell you about the pitstops on the way to purpose. You will smash, you will splatter, you will smudge, you will stop, You will feel stuck.

In the moments when the feeling goes away.

And yet the time to sing, God is not against me.

That's pretty good.

God is not against me.

The time to sing it.

Is not when you see it.

Let me tell you when you need to sing, God is not against me.

Singing a minute.

God is not against me.

Sing it when you're sinking. Sing it when you're sinking. Tell your neighbor. Sing it the next time you sink. So this is how it's gonna work in your life. When you start to sink into the pit of your own problems. When you start to sink, God feel annointed to help somebody up today. I see you've been sinking. I see you've been going down in it. I see you've been going back to past habits that are beneath you. I see you've been going into memories that you need to leave in a room.

But they keep coming out.

I see you keep going into self pity. I see you keep going into old ways of processing. I see you keep going into despair. I see it keep going into suicidal thoughts. I see it keep going back to toxic relationships. I see it keep going back to the things that break your heart. I see it keep going back to the things that pulled you. I'll see it keep going back to the things that offer you temporary relief. And I see you sinking, but I see you singing as you're sinking.

Love lifted me.

They doesn't mean I won't sink. It means I won't stay there. Yeah, I was about to look for my band. I didn't know if y' went to sleep on me.

But high five somebody and say I'm sinking, but I'm singing.

Please do not let our songs.

Confuse you into thinking that we never sink. Of course, we have low moments. It's called human experience. It's called being born of a woman. It's called having a name. Sure that was given to us by Adam, but was redeemed by Christ. And when I was sinking, he reached down and rescued me.

I need somebody.

Who's been rescued to get up and rejoice that he rescued you. Then we're getting there. We're getting there.

We're getting there, We're getting there, We're getting there. I'm not rejoicing because the enemy never resisted me. I'm rejoicing because when he resisted me, God rescued me.

And it is never mentioned. Y'all sit down, let me teach.

It is never mentioned in this scripture that God intervened.

But I'm gonna show you something. Who Thank you, Jesus. Thank you Jesus.

Never write up it before went to cemetery seminary, went to Bible training school.

You never ride a bouttle.

I read about Jeremiah, but look what happened.

When he was sinking.

And this is what's happening in your life right now, whether you realize or not, whether you see it or not, whether you feel it or not, whether you believe it.

Right now, you're just sing i' HIPing peopleup because I got to gi himdenergy. And that's what I do on Sunday morning. That's not this what I do on Sunday morning. This is what I do on Monday morning. This is what I do on Tuesday morning. This is what I'm do on Wednesday morning.

This is what I'm doing out in my own.

Money moment so I can encourage myself in the law.

Why y'all looking at me like you work security.

You look suspicious of this, and yet I am telling you that I sink.

Safety.

Steve is also.

Sinking Steve, and speaking Steve is authoritative sinking.

Stephen has to remember, no, no, no, he's not against me. Life is, trolls are aging is.

But God's note. You know what Peter showed me in the New Testament. And then I'm about to show you something that's gonna blow you away. Peter showed me in Matthew, chapter fourteen, verse thirty. I think I gave them the scripture. Put it up there if I gave it to you, and y'all clap if they put it up on the screen, Mathew.

But okay, I can say, right, Peter's walking toward Jesus on the water.

Right, walking toward Jesus on the water. He has a path toward purpose. Right, he has a path toward purpose. And then all of a sudden he saw the wind which was against him, and he was afraid and beginning to sink. He cried out, Lord save me. That's the only verse you need for your sinking moments. That's what you need. We'll put it backup, put it back up. I'm not doing it yet. He started sinking because of

I want you to get that.

Mentality about your day. I'm not gonna do it after I drink, ain't ate glasses. I'm gonna cry out when I start to sink. I'm not gonna do it after I've already gone off on everybody in my phone and ruined all my friendships.

When I start to sink. Put it up one more time.

He started to sink, and he said, what do you say when you start to sink? God is not against me. So you start to sink, the wind is against you. Remind yourself, God's not. God's not. They might be God's not. It might be God's not. Somebody say, God's not. If every demon in Hell is against you, I'm done with the verse. Now God's not. God's not done with you. God's not fed up with you. God's not gone. And I'll show you this from Jeremiah thirty eight. Now we're

But yeah, you missed a shout. Go to verse six. We'll do it again.

I know, always catch up class. I've been going a few weeks, so you don't have my rhythm right now. Let's do it again. And he sank down into the mud.

But let's do it again.

He sank down into the mud. But I'm not shouting about the mud. I'm shouting about the butt. I'm sinking into the feeling of anxiety.

You got it.

I'm sinking into the old way of doing it.

One of the best scriptures that you'll ever see is we were dead in our transgressions and sins.

But God, but God.

And yet the Bible.

Doesn't mention God in this passage, does it.

It says he was sinking in the mud.

But Ebed Melic, baby name possibility right here, Ebed Melick, your child will be the only one in class raising their hand if your name me bed Melic, Ebet Melik, and eat.

The Olpion says here Kushite. It also says.

A official in the royal palace, but that's not specific enough. He was a eunuch, a eunuch who was brought over as a slave and was put in a position of service. In fact, the word ebed melick. Ebed means servant, Melick means king. But ibad Melick, that's your cue.

Put it on the screen.

Voice, But Ibad Melick a kushite, a eunuch.

The eunuchs, when they were brought over to serve, were castrated.

The Levinical law forbade anyone who was.

Castrated from entering the assembly of the Lord.

So I want you to get the preciousness of this partnership and the unlikeliness of this deliverance is that a man from Ethiopia, who was brought to a land that was being ravaged by enemies, who was serving a king who had no courage, speaks up and steps up as Jeremiah sinks in a cistern in a pit, he speaks up as a servant in the palace. God is working in places you can't see. God is working through people you don't know about.

God is working through people who you think don't belong in that position.

I'm pointing it out to you because some people have let you down. Maybe some people have been like the men in this passage who threw Jeremiah in the pit. Oh, thanks a lot. I was just trying to help. But while they were throwing him in the pit, God was already preparing somebody in the palace to steak up on his behalf. So I'm preaching this word to somebody who feels forgotten. You are not forgotten. God is just going to use something foreign. I said, God is going to use something foreign.

Think how wild this is.

God needs somebody to move to get Jeremiah out of the pit. Who does he choose to use somebody who wasn't even allowed to come worship. You're gonna have to watch this message twice to get it, because it's going to remind you that no matter who betrays you, God's always got a butt.

Ebed melick.

Yeah, let's pause and give.

Him praise.

For every ebed melic. And he not only comes to the king, but he confronts the king. This kind of courage that you have when you know that God is not against me, but he's in it with me, working through me, fighting for me. Isn't it amazing that you would stand up to a king and he is not even considered a true worshiper, not by that culture.

Is who he wants to use.

I want to talk to everybody who doesn't even have a high school education.

God uses who he wants to use. I want to talk to everybody who's.

Had an abortion and people try to make you feel terrible about it.

God uses who he wants to use, and he's going to give you something in your future to help somebody.

And so let's turn those tears into testimony so you can help somebody, so you can hand somebody a helmet.

I want to speak to everybody who has been.

Cast out, cast aside, cast graded and left any crazy, that the one who was left out is the one who lifted up.

Sinking in loneliness.

Right now, Oh, but Ebed Melick, I've been spending time with this guy all week.

The more I studied them, the more I touched me. What he did?

He heard they put Jeremiah into the cistern, and the king is sitting in the gate. Now, I want to point something out. The King is in the palace, Jeremiah is in the pit. God is not with the king. God is with Jeremiah. No, no, no, get this, get this, get this. The palace does not prove God's presence. The pit does not prove his absence.

Stop looking at the circumstances.

Every time you get out there, you go, well, it must not be God's will. It didn't work out, well, it must not be God's will. It's really hard. Well, it must not be working. We've all felt that way. But if you're serving while you're sinking, and if you're sinking while you're serving, know that God has an Ebed

They've thrown him into a cistern.

He will starve to death when there's no longer any bread in the city. And the king commanded he bed Melik the Kushai, all right, take thirty men from here with you. Thirty this is overkill. He be Melick, like, I don't really need thirty. No, take thirty, Take thirty. Here's what I want to prophesy. When God does lift you out, there is going to be more than enough strength to do it. Yeah, I'll tell you why God is a show off.

God wants to show his glory.

God sends thirty men for a task that three could handle them. But not only do they have extra resource, not only does God have more than enough power to pull you out of the pit, but the Bible says he told him to take a rope and go down there and get him out of the cistern before he dies. In other words, he's sinking, but he's not all the way sunk. He's sinking, but something stopped him from sinking.

Did you ever.

Wonder why God still left you here after all you've been through. Did you ever wonder why what came against you didn't take you totally out?

I believe it's.

Because God has something more for you that he wants to do through you. After all, we were singing a minute ago. He's in it with me, working through me. And I want to ask the question today, not only what do you need to be lifted out of, but who have you lifted lately? Maybe God put you in a position to lift somebody. Did you ever think about the fact that maybe the reason you're in your pit is because you won't lift anybody else out of theirs.

I want God to be in my pit with me.

But what if he is using me to visit somebody else in their pit. I want you to start using everything you go through for God's glory. The moment something bad starts happening to you, I want you to go on a counterattack. I want you to say that if the enemy is gonna come against me, he's gonna learn that it's gonna cost him a little bit. So every time you discourage me, devil, just know I'm gonna send three texts to encourage somebody else.

Or you want some Oh, you want some.

You want to put me.

Down in the pit?

Wants me lift somebody else up?

With the strength I do have, with the gift I do have, with the skill I do have, with the life I do have, with the opportunity I do have. I thought somebody and say I came to lift you up. If you don't have faith, borrow mind, if you don't have joy, borrow mind, you.

Can surf on my way for a little while.

You might be going through something, So hitch on.

To me and let's get out of this pit to get up. I'm looking for a lifter in this house, an unlikely lifter. You've been through help, but you're praying for other people.

You're trying to hold.

Your own life together, but you're a source of comfort.

After all.

The famine was affecting the bed Melick too, and he found the strength to lift Jeremiah.

And I got to show you one more thing because when I rean in, I thought, what a beautiful story.

How sometimes life puts us in a pit, and we don't always feel God's presence.

In a pit.

And sometimes when God sends a person to bring us out of our pit, we don't recognize him.

It's not what we expected.

And I thought, that's a great story, because everybody in here either needs to be more like Jeremiah and don't die in the pit, or be more like Ebed Melick and come get somebody out of a pit. And the Lord said, and he didn't say it like this, but

Now you're Jeremiah.

You've been sinking, you've been starving, and something starts coming down into the cistern, and you've been down here and you've been wondering.

Am I done?

And we can all relate to this, even if not this extreme example, that we are the prophet of God to the nation in the time.

Of backsliding and wickedness. We can relate to these moments.

In the pit where we do not feel sense or discern the presence of God, and all of a sudden here comes the rope. But not yet, for the Bible says in verse eleven that e bed Melick took them in with him, and on his way to the cistern, he has to make a pit stop.

Wat watch off. He stops by the.

Treasury in the palace, And if you're one of the thirty men with him, you are thinking, no doubt, Oh, he's going to get some gold or some silver, and we're going to buy Jeremiah out of the pit. But look at verse eleven. He doesn't go into the room where the riches are. The Bible says, he went to a room under the treasury. The treasury is where the

He doesn't go in that room.

He went to a room under the treasury in the palace, a room that he knew how to get into.

What kind of room is this?

And why are we stopping on our way to a rescue to go into a room under the treasury? So he stops. He goes into a room, and he emerges sometime later with an unexpected resource. Because this room under the treasury is not where they kept the riches. That's where they kept the rags. And on his way to rescue Jeremiah, God's man in the mud, who has been sinking and starving and can't spare another second.

Put the verse up, please. He goes into the room.

And took some old rags, some old rags and worn out clothes from.

There, and he let them down with ropes.

To Jeremiah in the sister and verse twelve says the welcome voice of he Bed Melick echoed and said to Jeremiah, put these old rags and worn out clothes under your arms. Jeremiah, we've come to help you. I'm Ebed Mellick. I'm an Ethiopian. I'm not the kind of person that you're used to. But God has put me in a position, and he.

Heard your prayers. And we're here, Jeremiah.

And I got thirty of my boys, and we're about to get you out of this pit.

I said, we're about to get you out of this pit. Jeremiah.

We're about to get you out of this pit. We got enough power to do it.

We've got a.

Heart to do it. It's the purpose we came here for. But Jeremiah verse twelve, Please, Jeremiah, before we pull.

You out of this pit, put these rags under your arms, and put these clothes under your arms.

I know they're old, I know they're worn out.

But I brought you something, Jeremiah, that you didn't expect. But I'm gonna drop it to you now. I'm going to drop you these rags before I drop you this rope I'm going to These rags came from our house. I was on my way out this morning, and before I came to preach to you, it crossed my mind to make.

A pitstop because I wanted to.

Stand in this sermon in the moment and speak to everybody who's waiting for the ropes to come, waiting for the ropes to pull you out, and knowing that God has the power to pull you out of it, every stronghold, every wicked thing, every low place, every spiritual demonic force that is pulling you down. God is greater than the gravity of that, and he asked the power to pull you out. But I heard the voice of Ebed Melick saying, before you grab those ropes, I.

Want to give you these rags.

And I know they don't look like much, and I know you don't see the purpose in them. And I know that this is something that normally people would throw away. But Jeremiah, I brought you a rope, and I brought you some rags.

The rags always come before the rope. The rags always come before the rope.

And I'm saying this because you've been in a pit praying for God to provide for you, and he is. He's given you rags right now, Jeremiah, I'm gonna drop these rags.

I work in the treasury, and I know about.

A secret room where they keep the old cloths and the old rags and the discarded clothes.

And I came to bring you something.

That people would throw away, but that God is going to use so that when I drop this rope, it will not kill you. So that when I drop this rope, when I pull you out of this pit, when you take these rags and put them under your arms, when the ropes pull you up, when the ropes bring you out, because of the rags that I'm dropping now, the ropes are going to do what they're supposed to do. If I didn't give you the rags, you couldn't handle the ropes.

Pull you up out of every can.

I'm to pull you up.

Oudam generation poverty about to pull you up out of despair on bree Let's.

Praise him for the rags.

What dude, free the rash, for the rags, for the rags.

The rag is not the rope. The rag is what gets you ready for it. And I feel God getting somebody ready for your next season, your next assignment, your next endeavor, your next moment, your next move. That's the message of the Gospel, not rags to rich, but rags to righteous.

Because he became sin who knew no sin Romans five twenty one.

I hear you calling me, he became sin who knew no sin.

He dropped his rags that I might become righteous.

And I speak today by the spirit of God that the thing you've been overlooking. That's your rag, the thing that you've been waiting for it to be over. That's your preparation, the thing that you've been praying God to take away. That's how he's getting you ready. And when you're ready, here, calm the ropes here, Calm the ropes here, calm the Roman.

Touch. Three people say, here come the ropes and the rose wrapped in. And you say, but, Beessor Stephen, I have no e bed Melick.

Oh, you haven't met him yet. Be means servant, Melick means king. Have you not met the servant king?

Have you not met our Emanuel?

Have you not met the one who laid aside his crown is king and wrapped himself in the rags of flesh to.

Make you righteous? You haven't e beed Melick. His name is Jesus.

For every pit you've ever been in, Jesus was my ebed Melick.

Jesus was my fourth man. Jesus as my rescuer. Jesus dropped these.

Rags and washed my feet and made me righteous.

I'm speaking to everybody today who's in a pit, and I want you to watch.

For the rags.

To the rescue it's going to be the rags. Do you understand what I'm saying to you. It's gonna be that. You're like, but I don't want that. I want to rope and God's like, this will get you ready for that. And if it's not that, it's this. So take this sin.

Get ready because the ropes are coming. The ropes are coming. The ropes are coming. The ropes are coming.

The ropes are coming. The ropes are coming. The ropes are coming.

He has the power to pull me out. What you're gonna do with these rags? I know what I'm gonna do.

I learned it from Proverbs twenty four to sixteen. The Bible says that the righteous may fall seven times. I might be in the mud seven times, but they rise again, they rise again, they rise again.

So chid to God.

I just wanted to encourage your heart that God is.

Not against you. He's in it with you.

He's working through you, He's fighting for you. Somebody shout, God is not against me. God is not against me.

Now high five.

Everybody you can reach us, say help us on the way.

He'll got the rocks, He'll.

Come the eyes.

So the cat he's sitting with.

Me working through working threw me, fight and fall hay, call.

Me God, it's not a catte. He's hitting with me.

He's working, droning aroundy.

Baddy, you already for me. He's got that's all get ready already he's.

Hitting with me. Tell my working through you already there fdny fock.

We got all this out cast me. He'll pull you out. He's hitting it with me.

Don't want the help.

Work and threw me.

I'm gonna try not for.

You're body cat he com he's sitting with me. I'm so holdly work you threw me and come, series of men. He's not a Cassie. Lift alof you with me, Lift about my.

Left.

That the day love me guy, he's not the.

Day offhe.

He's doing with me.

You're working roomy. He's fighting for me.

God, he's not Cassy. He's in it with me. Ready for me, God, I gusty.

Bow your head, close your eyes, say thank you Jesus.

For being in this pit with me. Oh, your presence is wonderful.

Lord, even more intensified when we don't feel it.

You are the God of rags to righteousness.

Thank you for what you've done in our lives. Thank you for cleansing us. Now I want to pray for somebody who needs to receive.

The gift of.

Jesus Christ, the gift of salvation.

It is a gift you can't earn it.

In fact, the Bible says that our own righteousness is like filthy rags.

So that means you don't sit.

Here and say, Okay, God, I'm gonna get my life together. I'm gonna be better. I'm gonna stop cussing, I'm gonna stop drinking, I'm gonna stop doing all the bad stuff. No stop, you're just gonna sink deeper thinking that way. You need an ey beed Melick to rescue you. You need a strong arm, you need a God. You need a savior. Right now, in this moment, the savior of the world is in this place, wherever you are.

I'm not saying just this room. I'm saying wherever you are.

God knows how to go into the rag room of your life and turn it into something wonderful. Right now, I want to pray for those who need to give your life to Jesus for the first time, or you need to recommit your life to trusting in His grace, repent of your sin, turn.

To Him and live and live. I'm going to lead you in a prayer right now.

We're going to pray it out loud for the benefit of all those who are coming to God for the first time, are coming back to him. You pray this prayer, and God will lift you from the pit. You pray this prayer. God will hear from heaven. He will turn you around. This is your moment, and you know it.

Repeat after me, Church, family, Heavenly Father. Today is my day. I humble myself that you may lift me up.

I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of the world. And today I make Jesus the lord of my life.

I repent of my sin.

I believe Jesus died that I would be forgiven and rose again to give me life. Receive this new life. This is my new beginning. On the count of three, shoot your hand up. If you prayed that one, two, three, shoot him up all over the room, shoot him up.

God, bless it, God, bless it. Beautiful, a beautiful thing online.

Just say in the chat I received Jesus, I received.

From un Let's clap our hands all over the room.

Let's retoic us all over the room, gloy.

To God, hallelujah.

But wow, say it. He's in it with me, working through me, fighting for me. Hug. Somebody say, God is not against you.

Let's clap our hands and thank God for his presence today Campus fastors.

Do what you need to do. I'm closing at Valentine's. Stay right where you are. Did you receive a word from.

The Lord to.

Rags to righteous?

Keep this purple thing and remember what I told you today. When the devil tells you you're not the righteousness of God, wave it in his face and say, I know, but I have any bed melic.

I have a savior, I have a redeemer. Just wave it.

Every time you want to go back to the old way, just wave that thing. No, I've gone from rags to righteous. If anyone is in Christ, he's a new creation, the oldest gone, the newest calm. And look, I hope they keep this online because I think this is good. Brag about your rags, not about your sin. Brag about what God did for you that seems like nothing, not your sin. Brag about what He did to pull you out.

Of your sin. Tell the story and tell your testimony that God has the power to pull you out. Thank you Jesus.

It's painful sometimes just because he has the power doesn't mean there won't be pain.

But God is pulling you. You can feel it.

You can feel him bringing you higher, you can feel him bringing you aboveet.

You can feel it.

And I'm gonna seal it right now with the prayer, join hands one more time. If you hadn't caught something from them already, you're not going to. But this won't make any difference.

Now. God is not against me. I want you singing that.

I want you singing that when it feels like the wind is against you. No, no, no, you worship and you say God is not a Oh, I'm gonna make a choir today.

I'm gonna make a choir. You want to be in the choir.

Come out next Sunday. We're gonna record some new songs. Sunday, March seventeenth, we're gonna be here. That's next Sunday, Chris, we're gonna be singing new songs. We're not gonna be singing this one that night. We're gonna sing it tomorrow. God, God is not Yeah, I'm gonna see.

Which section believes it the most? Before we close, this is your chance.

Ready three of ten, welcome back to you.

Said I'm gonna check y'all out. Yeah they did it. Watch them in the middle. You won't believe how good this sounds. It sounds like professionals against God, not.

God. Yeah, God, it is not a gas me God, it is not a good.

God.

It's not a me. I'm gonna join the prise team now.

And to him who is able to pull you up, who is able to do in that than you ask for? Imager to a he big lie.

Through Christ Jesus head the churns.

Now at whatever somebody's said, come inside.

Against Thank you for joining us.

Special thanks to those of you who give generously to this ministry. Is because of you that this ministry is possible. You can click the link in the description to give now or visit Elevation Church dot org slash podcast for more information and if you enjoyed the podcast.

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