Bethel Deliverance International Church

Bishop Eric A. Lambert, Jr.: You mean to tell me that you're going to allow church positions and titles and church work and people destroy and defeat your joy? When I have a God who stands by me regardless of what you do to me and I have a scripture that tells me no weapon formed against me will prosper, that I'm always going to be on the top. And right now, I might be momentarily discouraged, but it ain't going to last always because David looked down at his soul and he says, "Soul, why are you cast down? Get up inside of there and hope in God. Get yourself together."

This light affliction, which is but for a moment, is not worthy to be compared by the glory that's about to be revealed in me. And that verse has nothing to do with your heavenly glory; it has everything to do with right now. And what Paul is saying is what I'm going through right now will make me shine with the glory of God, and what's going to be shining is greater than the temporary darkness that I went through.

Praise the Lord, everyone. Pastor Eric Lambert here. In the letter to the Ephesians, Paul makes some tremendous statements in that first chapter. He tells us that by God's predestinative plan, we are seated in heavenly places with Christ Jesus. You know, it's very easy to take a seat, but it's also very difficult to maintain your seat. And so we've titled these sermons "Know Your Place." Know where you're supposed to be.

God has exalted Jesus and put him way up in the heavens next to him, seated in his throne. And then Jesus said anyone who comes to him, he will enable us to sit with him in his throne as he is sitting with the Father in his throne. And so today, we want to encourage you to know your place. I am a child of God. I am predestined by God to be in the family of God, and I am seated in heavenly places with full access to all the blessings of God.

It is important for you to know that, but it is more important for you to sit there in your seat and let the blessings of God just come to you, flow out of you as you stand for Christ. Now, enjoy this message today because it's going to challenge you to stay in your place.

In verse 13 of chapter one: "In whom you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after you believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit." Isn't it amazing that what God does is after you respond to the predestinative call, after you submit to the elective process, God seals you? Now, some of you are going to get happy about that sealing. I can see it and I hear you, but if you know what I know, you best not get too happy about it.

Because that seal is God's way of telling the satanic world, "This is mine." Now, you get all happy about it, but what that does is draw demons. If you don't have that seal, some of you sit there and say, "Pastor, the devil never bothers me." Because you don't have the seal. You ain't worth being bothered. He's like, "Oh, we'll get them anyway. They're ours to begin with." But when he sees that seal on you, he comes at you. He comes to your family. He will hit all of your peripheral things. He will hit you in areas, and it's like Job said, "The thing I feared the most has come upon me." If you keep your mouth shut and don't speak your fears, then Satan doesn't have anything to hit you with.

But you're sealed with the Holy Spirit. And then Paul identifies something. He said the Holy Spirit seal is the earnest of our inheritance. The word "earnest" there, literally in our terminology, means down payment. In other words, when God gives the Holy Spirit to you and seals you as his property, that's his way of saying, "I'm coming back for you." See, you don't have this principle in the world today, particularly here in the United States, because you've got credit cards, and just about every store will say, "You want to get our credit card?" But 30 years ago, we had something called layaway.

You didn't have no credit card. And so you would say, "Give me $10 and bring me $5 a week." And the thing only cost $25. Technically, you could save up the $25, but you don't want to run the risk of somebody else getting it. So you put that money down. That's what God did. God said, "I called you. I elected you. But you still live in the world and you're still in a fleshly body." Boom, I'm going to seal you so that even if you feel like you want to go back, because of that seal, Satan has to go to God and ask for permission to bother you.

Some of you want to do stuff that's contrary to your Christian position, and Satan says, "I can't do it." He'll assign a demon to you, and a demon goes back to Satan and says, "Nope, they got the seal." And he says, "Well, then go to God and ask if you can test them." And God knows your strength. He knows where you stand with him, and he might say, "Yes, go on and test them. Bust them up." Because he knows you aren't going anywhere. And you can tell how close you are to God by the degree of warfare that you go through.

You can tell how submitted you are to the will of God by the "no" that he gives you and your joy remains the same. If you can get a "no" from God and give him praise anyway, then you are spiritually mature. If you say, "Well, God said no. Don't matter. I'm going to keep on moving. I'm going to keep on walking with him." But if you backslide, stop coming to church, stop reading your Bible—what's wrong with you? "God said no." All right, you're a baby. I can't get what I want. I can't get no satisfaction.

Now, Paul goes on. He's talking to these Ephesians. We're getting to something here. But I need you to go back in your mind to what's called the Ten Commandments, although the Ten Commandments is not a biblical term. The Ten Commandments was not the law. The Ten Commandments was structure. It was given to the people around Exodus chapter 20 after deliverance, prior to entering into the Promised Land. The years between were to teach you character things so that when you get over into that land, you don't live like those people around you.

This is where we fail. We get saved and take it right back to the world, and we try to make the things of God marry the world. Hence, we have Christian skating parties, Christian bowling leagues, Christian everything. When we put that preface of "Christian" on there, that's supposed to legitimize it. But when you have sinners that participate, then you've just dirtied it. It's no longer a Christian skating party when you let sinners in. There are no sinners in the body of Christ.

Now, I know some of you just it went way over your head. You're like, "Well, I ain't perfect." I didn't say you were perfect, but you've been born again. And so that old nature—listen, let me prove it to you. Say, "Prove it to me, Pastor." Watch this. In this letter to the Ephesians, chapter two, Paul says, "And you hath he quickened, who were dead." Say "were," past tense. You were dead. This is hard for you to imagine because you've been so counseled and trained to give God less than the best because you've been doctrinally lied to.

You can't be an oxymoron. You can't be a sinning Christian. That old hymn, "Would he devote that sacred head for such a worm as I?" At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light. I'm not a worm. Later on, someone took it upon themselves to change that verbiage. They say, "Would he devote that sacred head for someone such as I?" How you see yourself—the whole purpose of Ephesians chapter one was to show you how great you are. Now, everybody can't handle greatness because sometimes it pushes us into arrogance.

But if God called you, if God predestined you, if God sealed you, if God ordained you, you matter. Tell your neighbor, "You matter." Listen, the key to mental illness—any good therapist will try to get you to a place where you are no longer feeling sorry for yourself and allowing your external circumstances to manipulate your internal views. The goal of therapy is to get you from that mediocre existence into what I like to call a Christological reality. But we don't know how to master it because of pride.

You are somebody special. If Jesus died for you, you're special because he didn't die for everybody. He died for those who were predestined. Lord, have mercy. Maybe this is the wrong church. I always thought my 7:30 church could receive. Anyone that Jesus died for, he knew they were going to accept him. What would be the point in dying for somebody that you know is going to the lake of fire when hell is made for the devil and his followers?

He died for you because he knew you were coming. Jesus didn't give out invitations with the hope "Will you be there?" He gave you that invitation knowing you're going to be there. Have you ever noticed when you give out an invitation to a gathering, there are certain people you give that invitation to and you know they're going to be there? Their response, their facial expression is totally different. "What you want me to bring? What you want me to do? You need anything?" But the one who takes it and says, "Well..." You should just reach out and take it back.

Because you don't want anybody at your party who doesn't want to be there, because they're going to bring it down. I don't want anybody in the house of worship that don't know how to praise him. Now, if you come in here and you don't know how to praise him, then I take that to mean you ain't saved. That's what I take that to mean, that you're not saved. You need to be saved because once you get saved, then you will know that even if God did not give you a new car, even if God did not give you a new house, even if God didn't give you a beautiful woman or a handsome man, he is still worthy to be praised because he saved you for him.

I'm not special because of what I have. I'm special because of who has me. Now, get back to your place when the devil tries to tell you you can't do this and you can't do that. I can live holy. I might not be able to sing like an angel, I might not be able to preach like Paul, but I can live holy. I can be a house for God. I can be a house for God. How many houses for God? I can be a house for God. Hallelujah. This is what he said. Watch Paul now. This is good.

Paul says, "And you has he quickened," revived, made alive, right? He said, "who were dead in trespasses and sin." We were dead, dead, dead, stinking dead, dead, dead. We were so dead we stank, like Lazarus in the tomb. Then here comes Jesus, calling us by our name and raising us up from the dead. You mean to tell me that you're going to allow church positions and titles and church work and people destroy and defeat your joy? When I have a God who stands by me regardless of what you do to me?

And I have a scripture that tells me no weapon formed against me will prosper, that I'm always going to be on the top. And right now, I might be momentarily discouraged, but it ain't going to last always because David looked down at his soul and he says, "Soul, why are you cast down? Get up inside of there and hope in God. Get yourself together." This light affliction, which is but for a moment, is not worthy to be compared by the glory that's about to be revealed in me. And that verse has nothing to do with your heavenly glory; it has everything to do with right now.

And what Paul is saying is what I'm going through right now will make me shine with the glory of God, and what's going to be shining is greater than the temporary darkness that I went through. Oh, somebody ought to bless the Lord. Hallelujah. Look at this. He says, "Wherein in times past you walked," look, "you walked according to the course of this world." The culture caused you to submit to what it was doing. Oh, I wish I had somebody. I can't get no help.

The culture right now is showing despair, frustration. They're impoverished. They're paying $6 for diesel fuel, $4 for gas, $22 for eggs. I mean, it's horrible out there now. But Paul says we used to walk according to the course of this world, but now God raised you up, so he placed you above, seated in heavenly places. I don't care what the world is frustrated about. Now unto him that is able to keep me from falling and to present me faultless before his throne with exceeding joy.

Listen, when you interpret scripture, you have to look for the ultimate exegesis. Sometimes there are scriptures that have dual application. That's one of them. Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling and present you faultless before his throne with exceeding joy. What Paul does not do is he does not clarify who has the exceeding joy. And so when we read that passage, we instantly take it to us, and we say he's presenting us before his throne so that we can have joy, and you would not be wrong about that.

But I like to take it further. I think God presents us before his throne so he can have joy and say, "I made the right choice. Look at my child. Going through the hell they just went through, and they're still praising me. They're still glorifying me. They got a bad diagnosis, but they're standing on my promise. They know that the stripes that were put on the back of Jesus was for their healing. They know!" Glory! Look what he says. He says, "Wherein in times past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power." You were manipulated by the devil.

He'd sit up on your shoulder even in church. Like Jesus said, when the word of God goes into your heart, Satan snatches it away immediately. You're sitting there and you get somebody, their face in your eye, your line of sight, and you lose your joy. Look at there, there's so-and-so. That's because you're walking according to the power of the prince of the air. But when I'm in the presence of God with God's people, there ain't no devil that can interfere. I'm with the people of God.

Yeah, yeah, I'm not saying you won't be attacked, but then go find yourself a crazy Christian. You don't want no deep Christian quoting scripture and all that. That's good, but sometimes you just need somebody to say, "Praise him!" I remember coming up as a young Christian, there was always a mother there. "Praise him! Praise him!" You want to complain and talk about things you're going through? Praise him! Praise him! Praise him! That's what you want around you when you're going through a battle.

You don't need deep people that are exegeting passages. You need a "praise him" Christian. You need somebody to help you remember where he brought you from. The church is too full of babies, whining and complaining. On the one hand, on Wednesday night, we're talking about the sovereignty of God, and it is such a fruitful teaching. But so many of us, we acknowledge the sovereignty of God, but then we blame others for what we're going through.

"Well, you know, when new people come in and they change the rules, then I suffer." No, no, no. You just said that God was sovereign. So if God is sovereign, then he either directed that person or raised them up. Because you forget a simple little premise in the word of God. When Moses went to Pharaoh and said, "Let my people go," the Bible said God hardened Pharaoh's heart. Oh, I wish I had somebody that could go along with me. You know what that means? It means God said, "I haven't gotten enough glory yet."

"And if Pharaoh lets them go now, I won't get the glory that I'm entitled to." Watch now, not out of the Egyptians, but out of my people. So God hardened Pharaoh's heart so they would stay a little longer so they would see the ultimate move of God. See, too many of us are in the elementary stage of our Christianity, and you won't grow unless God lets some things happen to you. But if he kept you long enough to answer the calling, if he kept you long enough to be elected, if he kept you in line with his predestination, then the devil cannot stop you once you become a child of God.

The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds! Somebody said God's not doing miracles like he used to. That's because the people have become like the Laodiceans; we don't need God. God is looking for people that he can show off in. That's what it says over there in 2 Samuel. He's looking for somebody to show off in. The King James says "show himself strong." I like a more cultural phrase: he's looking for somebody to show off in.

I wish I had somebody that could understand. God is looking for people who are running out of physical gas in their car and don't have the money to fill it up but have the presence of mind to give God praise. And watch him move your car with the needle on E. God is looking for people who will not give in to what the culture says but will give in to what the Spirit directs. Why? Because he breathed into us the breath of life and brought us up from the dead. And it's time now that you and I begin to walk in our place. I am the righteousness of God through Christ Jesus. I am filled with the Spirit. I am sealed by the Holy Spirit. Tell somebody, "Act like you know."

Well, praise the Lord, everyone. Pastor Eric Lambert of Bethel Deliverance International Church. For some time now, the Lord has been encouraging my heart to reach out to those of you involved in pastoral ministry and try to share with you some insights on how to move your vision forward through shifting your vision.

Now, I know that you've been in ministry for a while and you're probably comfortable with the way things are going. In fact, you may even see that there are some folks that are joining your church, but to be honest with you, things might be a little stale. You're holding on to traditional outlooks and pulling things along that maybe you need to discard.

But the question arises, how do I do this? What should I look for in order to shift my vision? To look in a different direction as the Lord tells Abraham. He said, "Now look up at the stars," and then he tells him to look at the seashore, and he says, "I'm going to give you a seed that's equivalent to the stars and the sand on the seashore."

It's important for you to realize that you need to shift your vision, but how to do it? That's where the problem is. So I want to invite you to come and join us on May the 1st here at Bethel Deliverance International Church, where we can learn some of the principles of how to shift your vision to move your ministry beyond your wildest imagination.

Now, you can't just stay away and think things are going to happen by osmosis. It doesn't. The work of ministry requires participation, it requires renewed vision, and a level of energy that you may be finding you no longer have. Like Moses, who gets so frustrated that he hits the rock the second time. I believe he did so because he did not shift his vision from being a deliverer to being someone to enable the children of Israel to go into the Promised Land.

So now we're going to address subjects such as: what are the vision killers that keeps your vision from being fruitful? What are the steps you can take to get congregational involvement? You know the goal is to get every member of your church buying into the vision. There are some things you need to do in order to make that happen. So come and join us on Friday, May the 1st, and we are going to sit together and talk about shifting your vision, increasing what God has given to you, and then setting the church up for constant victory. I'm going to look forward to seeing you there. We start around 10:00, and it's going to be important for you to be there because I have a lot of information to share with you and I can't wait to be in the presence of such anointed ministers and women of God to help you make your vision more real to the people. God bless you.

Guest (Male): Thank you for tuning in to Climbing Higher with Bishop Eric A. Lambert, Jr. of Wyncote, Pennsylvania. We pray that you are encouraged to grow in your faith as you listen to today's message. If you enjoyed today's program, feel free to order the entire message by calling 800-550-3284 and request the item number and sermon shown on the screen.

Climbing Higher is a production of Bethel Deliverance International Church of Wyncote, Pennsylvania, located right outside of Philadelphia. If you'd like to fellowship with us, please visit our website at betheldeliverance.org or email us at info@betheldeliverance.org. You can also call our church directly at 215-885-2585.

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Tune in next time for another impactful time in the word of God with Bishop Eric A. Lambert, Jr. of Bethel Deliverance International Church, a place where miracles still happen.