I want to speak a message today entitled "Pressure". Anyone here ever been under any kind of pressure? When I was preparing for this and the Lord laid this on my heart, the word "Pressure" came to me. This message began to take a little different turn than I thought it was going to go. I believe we serve a healing God and I also believe we serve a God who challenges us quite a bit. How many are ready for a challenge this morning?
Turn to Proverbs 24:10, I believe in these days when we're under a lot of pressure this is a good word. "If you faint in the day of adversity your strength is small". The new living testament says "If you fail under pressure your strength is small".
Heavenly Father, we thank you today that you are our Savior. We thank you for your presence in this room. Lord, there's already been a marvelous sense of what you're doing in us. Lord, I pray that we would decrease and that you would increase and that your word would have its way in us. Amen.
It was interesting, a few years ago Billy Joel wrote a song entitled "Pressure". As a matter of fact, when you listen to it, it can get a little intense. Yesterday out of no where, not even in the midst of just thinking about this message, I happened to have the radio on in the car and that song came on. How many know God will kind of quicken your heart when you're on the right track? Anyway, it was interesting because the kids in the back seat we're going a little bit crazy and the song 'pressure' was on. I had to turn the song off so I could relieve some of the pressure I was feeling.
People today are under pressure like never before. All around us you can see it. The world is under pressure like never before, pressure to succeed, bills to pay, lives to live. Our political culture is charged with pressure. It's hard to do anything, just even to enjoy life without there being some other form of pressure being put on us. There's moral pressure literally that comes from us at every side as we live to be Christians everyday. There is an assault on us like never before to forsake the faith and to live in a way that isn't pleasing to God. It's a battle. How many have found that life can be a battle every once in a while?
I want you to hear me, there's a difference between stress and pressure. Pressure can be good, stress is never good but there are times when pressure is important.
As I began studying on this, God's greatest instruction on pressure is in the word of God, he didn't give us a shoulder to cry on but instead he gave us a challenge to live. He didn't give us another towel to shed more tears on and put his arms around us and tell us it's just going to be alright. But how many know that with Jesus it is going to be alright? In the times of pressure God began to usher a challenge, it wasn't a 'poor me' speech but it was more of an instruction on how you survive the battle.
I think in America sometimes we think that God will always remove us from the battlefield but how many believe that there are things in life that are worth fighting for? There are things worth standing up and being counted for. Turn with me to Ephesians chapter 6:11-14, "Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil". Now listen to me, the devil is not going anywhere until Jesus comes back and puts him completely in his place. How many understand that we are fighting a spiritual battle today? The Bible says to "put on the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers and against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all, to stand".
That word 'stand' means to literally be present, it means to show up, to be there. The truth is that too many people, when the battle gets tough and life gets hard, they quit, they stop. God says we don't wrestle against flesh and blood but we wrestle against the enemy and he said when you put on the full armor of God we need to stand. He says to show up for the battle, be present, be counted for, stand there and be counted as a warrior for Jesus Christ.
Too many people give up and quit under pressure. If marriage gets tough, they quit; if family gets hard, they quit; if a job gets tough, they quit; if a church gets tough, they quit. Listen, the world loves to quit. Jesus said, when the battle is on, put on the full armor of God and stand. I believe the reason why the church so many times has been under attack and it seems like the enemy is winning is because the church doesn't show up for the battle. We need to stand up and be present. If you don't like the direction that America is going, Christian, then stand up, show up and be counted on.
It's easy to quit and it's easy to be silent but I believe this, I believe that there is a lot of pressure that people are facing but when you stand up to bullies they will back down. When I stood up to bullies that decided they weren't going to back down, instead of running and quitting, if I would at least put up a fight then usually I'd wind up as the winner. But I found out as a Christian I always wind up a winner. The truth is our battle isn't against a person, our battle in life is against the enemy and God says this, "When you've done all to stand". Keep showing up, keep being present, keep being there, don't check out. I believe that the church for a long time has had many 'cream of wheat' Christians. Alot of wimpy Christians who say "I'm going to serve God, I'm going to love God" but when the battle gets tough they fold under the pressure and they stop and quit. They say, "If this is what it means to be a Christian then I'm done with the whole thing". God doesn't serve cream of wheat, he serves the full meat of the word of God.
I believe that God is raising up people that show up for the battle. Christian, if you're tired of losing, if you're tired of being beat up, if you're tired of walking away and quitting, I want to tell you that the Bible says 'to stand'. This life that we live as Christians and as overcomers doesn't mean sometimes that we just sit down and quit in the battle but it does mean that when the enemy shows up then that's fine because I'm still going to show up myself. "Greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world".
Standing takes courage. Hemingway once said this, "Courage is grace under pressure". Grace is this, Grace is God's unearned favor. Pastor Ralph didn't even know what I was preaching on today and he said, "We want to stand in the favor of God". We stand in the favor of God by knowing his word, by living his word and by living that every single day, by knowing what it says and releasing that in our life and actually activating it by doing what it says. Grace is his strength when we are weak, grace is his provision when we don't have enough, grace is his help so that we can stand when we don't want to stand anymore, the grace of God comes in.
Listen, when Christians say, "I'm going to stand in the battle" and we've been weak but we still stand up and say "I know what I've been going through and the pressure is strong and it's really hard but I'm still standing, I'm still going to be here, I'm still going to show up".
I remember one time when I got into a fight when I was a kid, the only reason the bully backed down is because every time he knocked me down I kept getting back up. I just told him I was determined and I'm not walking away. He got tired of fighting and I wasn't going to quit standing. Listen, Christian, what I found is that Jesus, when we need the grace to stand, grace is when you can't do it on your own anymore, God will be right there with you and say "I'm holding you up and I'm still the strength to give you the courage and the ability to go on". Pressure is not always a bad thing but standing takes courage.
Pressure turns coal into a diamond. Christian, I want to tell you, some of you say "God, I want to be everything that I could ever be in you, I want to become that man or that woman of God whom you created me to be. Lord, I want to stand and be counted on for you". How many know that most of us are a little rough around the edges? But still inside there is that life that God wants to bring out in us, that polished beauty that God has for us but it will never happen without pressure.
Pressure turns coal into a diamond. Irritation takes a little bit of that grain of sand that is in an oyster's mouth and turns it into a pearl. Pressure helps turn Christians into saints of God who are warriors for him. We often talk about receiving God's grace after we have fallen. We talk about the grace that God gives us after we have failed and he comes and gives us a second chance. How many of you are thankful today for the God of second chances? How many of you are thankful for the God who set you free and took you out of the sinful life that you had and now you live in that purity? We often talk about that and I'm thankful for that marvelous grace but God gives us his grace so that we can stand under pressure and not fall or fail. Why settle for grace to get back up when he has given you the grace to stand and you don't have to fall? I believe that's one of the words that's missing today.
Romans 5:1-2 says, "We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand and rejoice in hope of the God of glory".
Standing still takes a little bit of exertion. Someone said we worshipped so long today that by the end I couldn't stand any longer. Glory to God, you're still standing, you made it. I want to tell you if you're fallen today, if you're going through the hardest time of your life and you've failed, the grace of God is here to help you stand. Some of us know that the pressure of life has been there and you are making the decision either personally or in sin whether to stand or to fall. Some are deciding whether they are going to stay the course in their marriage or whether they're going to quit. Some are deciding whether they're going to have the grace of God to live everything that he has for their life or whether they're going to leave it behind and your life is in the balance. You're at that place in pressure and God gives us the grace to stand so that we don't have to fall. It may not be easy and it may take exertion, it may take all you have to keep standing but I want to challenge you Christian, 'stand'. That's not the word from Marvin Nemitz, that's the word from the Word of God.
Not all pressure is bad. Your whole life won't have to be a lifetime of pressure but the truth is there will be seasons of pressure. When God does this, when we go through those seasons of life, I call it "spiritual marinating". The truth is we believe the time is short, how many believe that Jesus is coming back? People say we're in a time of spiritual increase, a time of spiritual acceleration, a time of God's multiplication. I believe that but I want you to hear me, there are still no shortcuts with God. The only way that we have the chance of God doing something in us and him accelerating the work and it still having its desired effect in our life is through pressure.
I was watching on the Food Network, they were making this Chicken Gumbo that Smokey Robinson liked down there in Louisiana. They found out that you need to marinate the meat for a long time but they didn't have the time to marinate the meat that long. So in order to get the stuff into that meat they put it in a pressure cooker and what would normally take about 8 hours to get done was done in about 2 minutes. All that sauce was sucked right into the chicken. This is why I call times of pressure 'spiritual marinating' because if God is going to do a work in you in a short time and he's got something to do, there are some people he will take years to do a work in and there are some of us that God will do a work quickly in but he still has got to get the stuff into us. There are no shortcuts, no way to get through it, the only way to get it in and make sure that its saturated into every pore of our being is through pressure.
Pressure is God's way of getting into us what we need. Pressure helps us to get strong and to develop faster. Psalms 119:143 in the New Living translation says this, "As pressure and stress bear down on me I found joy in your commands". There are some people that take lots of time to find joy in what God is doing but I have found this to be true, those that stand with God and withstand when they're going through those times when God is just pumping that stuff into your life, everyone of them has said "I have found the joy in his commands". How many of you have ever felt God just pumping stuff right into your life, good things, but you felt he pressure?
Sometimes under pressure people won't stand under his commands, they'll leave them. "Life is hard, I'm going to go get drunk tonight". Listen, you may forget what you did the night before but when you wake up you're going to remember what you did and what you've been going through and you're going to have a headache on top of it and you don't know what stupid things you did while you were drunk. How many know that's not the answer?
Those under pressure find out that there is joy in God's commands, that he really makes it simple. I want you to hear me, pressure helps us to find out that obedience to God is his pressure relief valve. When life is hard and you don't know what else to do, God says to stand. So many Christians get frustrated with life and instead of going God's way and doing things according to his word, they will try this and that but pretty soon those who begin to follow the Lord find out that if they obey God, that is the simplest way to relieve the pressure and there is joy in that. Not only does it bring relief but in the midst of the pressure there is joy.
I have found that when I get under those times of pressure I used to get miserable, now when it happens I start to have a little bit of fun with it because I know that God is up to something. I want you to ask yourself this question, "Do I give up easily, do I quit? When things get tough do I stop or stand? When the enemy comes in do I stand on God's word or do I quit"? I want you to hear me, winning is a habit, just like losing is a habit. Giving up can become a habit.
I was talking to a friend the other day and we were looking at people who were going on in baseball. Tampa Bay doesn't have a whole lot of talent, they don't have all the big money players, they haven't paid out the millions in salaries, but Tampa Bay believes they can win. Tampa Bay has alot of young guys who have some wins under their belt and now every time they come up to the plate they expect to hit a home run, they expect to round the bases, they expect to walk out of the stadium a winner. You look at some other teams in baseball when they show up for the game they expect to lose. The pressure is getting hard in the Major Leagues.
Christian, how many of you know life is the Major Leagues. Living for Jesus as an adult is the Major Leagues. If you're a kid you're still in the Minor Leagues. Those of you who are all grown up now, welcome to the Major Leagues. Tampa Bay is winning, they're doing well because they believe they can win and winning is a habit. I want to tell you, Christian, when you begin to serve God and you begin to understand that he is your life, that he is your help and your hope, when you show up when the pressure gets hard, you expect to walk through it. Diligence and faithfulness are vital qualities of a believer and you only gain those under pressure. If you don't have anything to be diligent about, you're not diligent you're just there. Faithfulness isn't faithfulness unless you've got to keep doing something.
Many start out with God and then they quit. In Mark chapter 4 it talks about the parable of the sower. Mark 4:16-19 says, "And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground who when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness and they have no root in themselves so they endure for a time: afterward when affliction or persecution arises (or in other words, when pressure comes) for the word's sake, immediately they stumble. And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, and the cares of this life and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in, choke the word and it becomes unfruitful". How many know, those under pressure who stand don't choke.
Choke is when you know there's 2 outs, 2 strikes and 4 balls and the hottest picture on the mound is staring down the guy who's the best hitter in the league. Who's going to show up and who's going to choke?
How many know God is a God of compassion? How many know God is a God of strength? Some of us have come to situations in our life where you know it's a pivotal moment. You know you're either going to stand or you're going to fall. I've played sports for awhile and there were a couple times as a teenager where I choked. The pressure was hard and it got to me. The Bible says, "When you've done all, to stand". When the enemy is staring you down and the decision is on the line, the one who is going to come out the victor is the one who stands.
The enemy wants to come and choke you out, the cares of the world, the things that are happening around you, what other people think and sometimes God will put you under pressure when you're a young Christian to see if you'll choke or not. But the truth is this, when you've felt his strength and you have known his help and you did not choke and you didn't let the enemy take you down, then you begin to walk with a different type of confidence. You begin to live with a different sense of power, you begin to know that he is your life and your strength, your hope and your everything. That word isn't sown into poor ground, your life becomes good ground that the word begins to take root in and it becomes a wonderful life lived for the glory of God.
In this culture we have "No Fault" Insurance, we have "No Fault" divorce and everywhere we go we have fast food but I want you to hear, that culture doesn't work on a Bible believing church. The truth is, it's not easy to live a Christian life, it goes against the culture. I want to ask you Christian, can you stand the pressure? Will you stand up? Those who win in the battle are those who stand.
I want you to hear me, Christian, your soul is worth fighting for, your family is worth fighting for, God's plan for your life is worth fighting for and when you've done all, to stand. Stand because of this, "Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world". If you've got that promise and you know that it's true then stand. When you don't feel like it, stand. The truth is that few people stand the course.
How do you overcome your enemies? The answer is, by outlasting them, just keep standing, outlive them. There was a song that came out a few years ago that I really liked, it was called "I'm still standing". Some of you, you've been serving Jesus and you've been in the battle and you're feeling beat up and you've been wondering if you failed or not but you're still standing. That's all God asks. Being more than an overcomer is this, it is when the enemy has attacked and kept coming and you're still standing. Listen, life has been hard but you're still standing, by his love, in his power, through his grace, you're still standing. You've been in a difficult marriage but you're still standing. Your finances are bad and bankruptcy is facing you but you're still standing. You've faced temptation to sin but you didn't and you're still standing. You're still standing after all these years, that's all God asks. I may not be able to hit the notes like Elton John can but "I'm still standing". That's a good song, glory to God. He may not know Jesus but when I hear the song it blesses my heart. You may be able to knock out the world but you can't take out a man or a woman of God. You may have had a hard time but if you're still standing you've done what God said and that's being faithful. That's pressure but you stood against the pressure.
Some of you today, the enemy has taken his best shot trying to bring you down and the battle has been hard but I want to tell you, you may be bruised, you might be tired but you're still standing and when you've done all, stand. 1st Corinthians 16:13 says "Watch, stand firm in the faith, be brave, be strong". That's a choice. Bravery isn't bravery if you're not scared. Some of you believe you're not living the life of faith because there's things you've been facing and you're scared out of your mind.
Maybe some TV preacher told you that if you're scared then you don't have faith. The truth is you might be scared, scared is a feeling and those who are brave are brave because when they were scared they kept standing. It doesn't make you a failure. Some of you today, the enemy has been beating on you because it's been hard, some of you have been feeling like you're a failure because you've been scared and you've been asking yourself "Where's your faith"? Your faith is this, you've trusted God and you haven't forsaken him and you know he hasn't forsaken you and you're still standing.
I want you to hear me, serving God isn't always fun. How many have found out that life isn't always fun? The person who told you that life should be always fun was a liar. That's American culture, that's not reality. Life is not always to be from one party to the other. If life was meant to be a party you wouldn't get to go to work. God brings seasons of renewal, God does bring seasons of refreshing but I've got a prophetic word for the church today, "Grind it out". How about this? "Stick with it". Sometimes the daily grind is ok, and life doesn't have to be drudgery but sometimes standing hurts. Stand anyway.
Marriage isn't always the honeymoon and it isn't always romance. Whoever told you it was supposed to be that way was a liar. Stand anyway. Movies last 2 hours and the romance is great for 2 hours then the actors go home. Church isn't always about revival, you're not always going to shout, dance, and get excited. It's not always that way. Sometimes you just have to show up. Listen, sometimes as your preacher I just have to be faithful. Sometimes I don't want to preach. Sometimes the day has been hard before I got here, none of my shirts would fit me. Grind it out anyway. Life isn't always pretty but either are you when you get up in the morning, that's ok. If we will be faithful in the pressure then we will have the presence of God in our life.
Hebrews 6:11-12, "And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end that you do not become sluggish but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises". That's endurance, that's perseverence, that's grinding it out. Grind it out anyway, that's how you receive the promise.
Listen, pressure is part of helping you clarify your purpose. Life gives us many pressures to do many things. Fight for your purpose. Many people come to me as a pastor and they offer me many different ministry plans.
People offer me many different business ventures to get involved in. There's pressure to make money, pressure to get rich, pressure to do a different ministry. Pressure helps you clarify your purpose. Some of you might have some pyramid ventures or businesses that you're involved in, lots of pressure that the world will put on you to distract you from God's purpose.
I've found that it's easy to say "No" to alot of things. Someone came to me and said they've got this great prison ministry and wanted me to be a part of it with them. I would really like that but it would take away from me pastoring this church, that's what God called me to do. Pressure to do other things helps you to declare and to know your purpose. There are many good things that you can do with your life. Do the God things and know the difference. There are a lot of things that you could do that are fun, give time to your family. Some of you men could have a really good golf game if you spent more time on the golf course. Go spend a couple hours out there then get back to your family, they need you.
Know God's vision for your life. "Without a vision the people perish". Without a vision people cast off restraint, they'll just do whatever comes along, whatever looks good for the moment but those with a vision don't give in to the pressure for everything else, they just keep plowing straight ahead for what God has. Listen, if you don't fight for what God has for your life, the enemy will bring in so many other things and pretty soon you'll look around and you won't know what your purpose is.
I want to close with this, we need pressure to grow and to live and to achieve. In the ocean there are certain fish that live very deep but when you take them up from their depths they die because they can't live without the pressure. Many people who retire early pass away because there's no more challenge. Pastor Ralph, he may have retired from pastoring a church but he's not retired from ministry, he's still ministering. The truth is this, Christian, you might retire from your job but you never retire from being a Christian. You never retire from doing the work that Jesus has for your life. If you get to retire from your job you have more time to spend on what God has for your life. That's a wonderful thing.
Most Christians thrive under pressure, not the crushing weight of stress but the urgency of God in their hearts to touch lives. Those are people who dare to do what others won't do. They're the ones who run when others quit, they're the ones who work while others play and those who walk where others fear. They're risk takers, not safe but sanctified and set apart for God and they know that without a challenge there's no achievement and without pressure there's no progress.
I want you to hear me, God will never overwhem you. He is an ever present help in time of trouble. Your adversity, the pressure you are under is not there to crush you but to make you stronger. Some of you right now are under some pressure and God has put it there so that you'll be stronger.
Don't quit, stand and when you do you will be stronger because of it.
God knows who you are, he knows your strengths, he knows your abilities, he knows whats going on in your life and he knows what he has planned for you. Some of you have been in the pressure cooker, "stand". Life isn't always easy, "stand". Some of you are going through it and God is building you, you know it and you've fought it but you can sense it in your spirit, let him strengthen you.
Some of you right now, you're under pressure and God isn't specifically doing this so you'll become stronger, life has thrown something at you that is hard and he gives you the grace to stand. Those times of building before in your life help prepare you so that the difficult times in your life aren't as difficult as they could be, "stand".
Some of you have been tempted by sin, some of you have been on the verge of getting ready to fail, he gives you the grace to stand. God will bring you back. Some of you have already fallen, God will give you the grace to get back up though your legs may feel a little wobbly, he'll give you the grace to stand.
The Bible says this, "His grace is sufficient", that means it's enough for you. The battle has been hard but you are standing, that's the power of God, you're standing. That's the life of faith. Some of you say, "If I were this great person of faith, I would be raising the dead, healing the sick". That's the ministry that follows those who believe but great faith is when you're going through it and you're still standing. The enemy may have tried to knock you over, your legs may be weak but his strength is there for you.
"Father, I thank you for those who have come to this altar. Spirit of the living God, I thank you for your presence that is in this place. Lord, we've laughed alot this morning but the truth is many have spent a lot of this week in tears. It's been the hardest time of their lives but Jesus, we know know that you are faithful. Lord, today by the very fact of taking these steps forward, we acknowledge that you're working in our lives. We acknowledge that we're in the midst of some of the battles that we face. Lord, I pray right now for your strength and your help to come right now into each heart and mind.
Jesus, we surrender ourselves to you but we don't surrender to the enemy. If anything, we know that we are overcomers in Christ, I pray right now Father for your encouragement upon each heart. Father, some have been feeling like life has been coming at them, wave after wave after wave and it's been hard but they're still standing. Jesus, I pray that they would begin to see themselves right now as you see them, people of God, full of the Holy Spirit. I pray Lord for them right now that they know they've been in the pressure cooker, being marinated by you, things that you've been forcefully putting inside them. Some of it they've enjoyed but some of it they've hated. Some have just received the revelation that that's what you've been doing and Father, I pray that they would begin to see the results of the God life that's inside of them, your Holy Spirit doing a deep work in the inner man, changing them and making them more like Jesus.
I pray Father that they would begin to find themselves get stronger. We know Lord that sometimes after those days of building there's a little bit of soreness, there's a little bit of adjustment of our spiritual muscles just like our physical muscles, getting used to the new weight thet we're able to carry and handle. I thank you Lord that weight doesn't stay, that it does lift and we're able to cast it off. Today your word says, "To cast our cares on you because you care for us".
Father, I pray that in the midst of that building, in the midst of your instruction to stand, that Father everyone of your children would know your loving hand there supporting them and equipping them. Jesus, I thank you that today they would stand proud because of who they are in Jesus. Lord, I thank you that even the seasons of pressure do end and that they would stand through it until it does. Give them strength for that now in the mighty name of Jesus, amen.
How many believe God's doing a good work and he is faithful? He is a good God, he is faithful. Whatever God is doing inside of you, you just keep standing. The enemy will try to lie to you when you walk out of the church, how many know he's a liar? You just walk out, keep your head up and your chest high. It's a good thing, God will bless you.
