Full Transcript for Come/Come Forth

00:03:38.240 --> 00:03:40.560 The disciples had to leave their nets. 00:03:40.879 --> 00:03:47.039 Again and again, when God calls someone forward, his invitation requires a response. 00:03:47.280 --> 00:03:51.840 So today I want to ask you, what happens when Jesus says come? 00:03:53.039 --> 00:03:56.879 Peter, when come calls you out of safety. 00:03:57.280 --> 00:04:02.879 Matthew 14 tells us that the disciples were in a boat in the middle of rough water. 00:04:03.120 --> 00:04:11.680 The wind was against them, the waves were moving, and sometime during the night Jesus came walking toward them on the water. 00:04:11.919 --> 00:04:16.800 Peter said, Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water. 00:04:17.040 --> 00:04:20.079 And Jesus answered him with one word. 00:04:21.279 --> 00:04:21.920 Come. 00:04:22.399 --> 00:04:23.360 That's it. 00:04:23.680 --> 00:04:30.079 No explanation, no five-step plan, no guarantee that Peter would feel comfortable. 00:04:30.399 --> 00:04:32.639 Jesus simply said, Come. 00:04:33.680 --> 00:04:36.079 And Peter climbed out of the boat. 00:04:36.959 --> 00:04:39.279 Now here's what gets me. 00:04:39.600 --> 00:04:46.639 The weather didn't change first, the wind didn't stop, the water didn't suddenly become solid. 00:04:46.959 --> 00:04:54.000 The circumstances were exactly as impossible after Jesus spoke as they had been before. 00:04:54.240 --> 00:04:58.639 The difference was that now Peter had a word. 00:04:59.519 --> 00:05:03.920 And suddenly the impossible had an instruction attached to it. 00:05:04.240 --> 00:05:10.959 The command of Jesus can authorize you to stand where circumstances say you can't. 00:05:11.279 --> 00:05:15.839 Peter was not walking on water because Peter had developed some new ability. 00:05:16.079 --> 00:05:19.839 Peter was walking because Jesus said, Come. 00:05:21.519 --> 00:05:24.480 His confidence could not be in the water. 00:05:24.720 --> 00:05:28.160 Water had never been trustworthy enough to hold him. 00:05:28.399 --> 00:05:31.920 His confidence had to be in the one who spoke. 00:05:32.160 --> 00:05:36.079 Which means Peter's real footing wasn't the water. 00:05:36.319 --> 00:05:38.160 His footing was the word. 00:05:38.639 --> 00:05:41.360 And maybe that's where somebody is today. 00:05:41.600 --> 00:05:48.560 You keep looking down, trying to decide whether the circumstances can support what God told you to do. 00:05:48.800 --> 00:05:50.240 They can't. 00:05:53.439 --> 00:06:00.240 Sometimes God calls you somewhere where your only legitimate reason for standing there is. 00:06:06.639 --> 00:06:09.920 Then Peter does something we talk about all the time. 00:06:10.240 --> 00:06:11.759 He starts sinking. 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:17.120 Matthew says, but when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid. 00:06:17.439 --> 00:06:20.160 But wait, the wind wasn't new. 00:06:20.319 --> 00:06:23.680 The wind had been blowing before Peter ever stepped out. 00:06:23.920 --> 00:06:27.120 The storm didn't suddenly appear after obedience. 00:06:27.360 --> 00:06:28.720 What changed? 00:06:29.199 --> 00:06:30.800 Peter's focus. 00:06:31.120 --> 00:06:36.160 He began with his attention on the one who said, Come. 00:06:36.480 --> 00:06:39.759 Then he started studying the conditions around him. 00:06:40.079 --> 00:06:44.480 And the conditions began speaking louder than the command. 00:06:44.800 --> 00:06:46.079 That'll preach. 00:06:46.480 --> 00:06:52.879 Because sometimes we obey God, step out, and then halfway through the assignment we start looking around. 00:06:53.120 --> 00:06:54.560 What if this doesn't work? 00:06:54.800 --> 00:06:56.319 What are people going to think? 00:06:56.480 --> 00:06:58.480 How am I going to afford this? 00:06:58.720 --> 00:07:00.639 Maybe I misunderstood God. 00:07:01.519 --> 00:07:03.199 What if I failed? 00:07:04.720 --> 00:07:10.560 But the wind you are noticing now may have been blowing when Jesus told you to step out. 00:07:10.800 --> 00:07:15.360 Don't let circumstances talk you out of the word that got you there. 00:07:15.680 --> 00:07:17.360 Come was still valid. 00:07:17.600 --> 00:07:19.920 Jesus had not changed his mind. 00:07:20.160 --> 00:07:25.199 Peter simply gave more attention to what he saw than to what he had heard. 00:07:25.439 --> 00:07:31.519 And I love Peter even here because when he started sinking, he knew what to say. 00:07:32.240 --> 00:07:34.560 Lord, save me. 00:07:35.360 --> 00:07:38.879 And immediately Jesus stretched out his hand. 00:07:39.199 --> 00:07:49.199 Even Peter's imperfect attempt at obedience put him close enough to discover that when his faith faltered, Jesus was still there. 00:07:49.680 --> 00:07:53.759 Sometimes come means leaving what feels safe. 00:07:54.399 --> 00:07:57.519 The boat was not evil, that matters. 00:07:57.759 --> 00:08:00.399 Jesus was not calling Peter out of sin. 00:08:00.800 --> 00:08:04.240 He was calling Peter out of something reasonable. 00:08:04.639 --> 00:08:06.319 Boats belong on water. 00:08:06.560 --> 00:08:08.240 People belong in boats. 00:08:08.480 --> 00:08:16.000 Everything about staying where he was made sense, except Jesus was standing outside of it saying, Come. 00:08:16.639 --> 00:08:20.560 Sometimes the hardest things to leave are not bad things. 00:08:20.800 --> 00:08:30.480 They are safe things, predictable things, things that have worked before, things other people understand, and then God says, Come. 00:08:30.959 --> 00:08:38.799 And suddenly the place that once represented wisdom can become the place you are using to avoid faith. 00:08:39.120 --> 00:08:40.799 So here's the question. 00:08:41.120 --> 00:08:44.080 What if your boat is not something sinful? 00:08:44.399 --> 00:08:49.279 What if it is simply something you trust more than the word Jesus gave you? 00:08:49.679 --> 00:08:50.320 Wow. 00:08:51.759 --> 00:08:54.480 Let's hop on over to Lazarus. 00:08:54.799 --> 00:08:58.720 When come forth calls

you out of what looked final. 00:09:00.240 --> 00:09:03.840 Now we move from Matthew 14 to John 11. 00:09:04.080 --> 00:09:05.759 Peter is alive and afraid. 00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:15.759 Lazarus is dead, not struggling, not sick, dead, buried, wrapped, stone in place, four days. 00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:18.799 The people have already moved into mourning. 00:09:19.120 --> 00:09:24.320 And as far as everyone standing around that tomb is concerned, the story is over. 00:09:25.279 --> 00:09:27.039 Then Jesus arrives. 00:09:27.200 --> 00:09:32.320 And Martha tells him that by this time there is already a stench. 00:09:32.559 --> 00:09:36.799 In other words, Jesus, this has gone too far. 00:09:37.759 --> 00:09:42.879 There are some situations we still believe God can fix because they look recoverable. 00:09:43.200 --> 00:09:47.840 But then there are situations where we start saying, that's dead. 00:09:48.159 --> 00:09:50.000 That opportunity is gone. 00:09:50.240 --> 00:09:51.600 That dream's over. 00:09:51.840 --> 00:09:54.240 That relationship can never recover. 00:09:54.559 --> 00:09:56.240 I missed my chance. 00:09:56.639 --> 00:09:58.399 It has been too long. 00:09:59.200 --> 00:10:02.559 Martha was not describing a possibility. 00:10:03.039 --> 00:10:05.919 She was describing decomposition. 00:10:06.559 --> 00:10:11.120 But Jesus was not intimidated by the evidence of death. 00:10:11.679 --> 00:10:13.279 Move the stone. 00:10:14.159 --> 00:10:20.960 Before Jesus calls Lazarus out, he says, take away the stone. 00:10:23.600 --> 00:10:25.919 Now we know Jesus could have moved it. 00:10:26.159 --> 00:10:31.679 The one who is about to call a dead man back to life does not need help moving a rock. 00:10:31.919 --> 00:10:34.080 So why tell them to move it? 00:10:34.399 --> 00:10:43.919 Because there are things God will ask us to do that are within our responsibility and our power to do before He does what only He can do. 00:10:44.320 --> 00:10:51.200 There are stones that we're responsible for moving and resurrections only Jesus can perform. 00:10:51.759 --> 00:10:56.559 We can't resurrect, but perhaps we can forgive. 00:11:10.080 --> 00:11:19.279 Sometimes we keep asking God to do the supernatural while resisting the very natural act of obedience he placed in our hands. 00:11:19.600 --> 00:11:37.120 Move the stone, have the conversation, make the call, take the step, get rid of the thing, open the door, do what he said, then stand back and let Jesus be Jesus. 00:11:38.639 --> 00:11:43.360 Then Jesus cries with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. 00:11:44.320 --> 00:11:47.440 I love that Jesus speaks to Lazarus personally. 00:11:57.279 --> 00:12:01.519 What Jesus calls for cannot remain where death put it. 00:12:01.919 --> 00:12:10.480 They wrapped Lazarus, they buried Lazarus, they sealed the tune, but they did not get the final word. 00:12:11.279 --> 00:12:12.480 Jesus did. 00:12:13.759 --> 00:12:22.720 And I wonder how many things we have mentally buried because people, circumstances, or time told us they were finished. 00:12:22.960 --> 00:12:30.879 But if Jesus is still speaking to it, it is not finished simply because you smell evidence of death. 00:12:39.200 --> 00:12:41.279 Let me say that one again. 00:12:42.240 --> 00:12:50.159 The voice of Jesus has more authority than the condition of the tomb. 00:12:51.279 --> 00:12:53.200 Peter left the boat. 00:12:53.519 --> 00:12:55.679 Lazarus left the grave. 00:12:55.919 --> 00:12:58.240 Now put these stories side by side. 00:12:58.559 --> 00:12:59.840 Peter hears come. 00:13:00.320 --> 00:13:02.320 Lazarus hears come forth. 00:13:02.639 --> 00:13:05.519 Peter is being called out of safety. 00:13:05.759 --> 00:13:09.200 Lazarus is being called out of confinement. 00:13:09.759 --> 00:13:12.799 Peter has to leave the place he trusts. 00:13:13.120 --> 00:13:16.080 Lazarus has to leave the place that held him. 00:13:16.399 --> 00:13:24.000 And that tells me, sometimes when Jesus says come, he is calling you out of your comfort. 00:13:24.879 --> 00:13:29.440 Other times he's calling you out of your confinement. 00:13:30.240 --> 00:13:34.480 One says, leave what makes you feel secure. 00:13:35.200 --> 00:13:41.039 The other says, leave what tried to become your permanent identity. 00:13:41.440 --> 00:13:47.200 Either way, come means you can't stay where you are. 00:13:48.320 --> 00:13:50.559 But Lazarus came out bound. 00:13:50.879 --> 00:13:53.200 Now this part deserves attention. 00:13:53.519 --> 00:14:00.720 John 11 says Lazarus came out bound hand and foot with grave clothes. 00:14:01.200 --> 00:14:06.240 He was alive, but he was still wrapped in evidence of the grave. 00:14:06.879 --> 00:14:12.879 That means resurrection happened before complete freedom. 00:14:13.200 --> 00:14:15.279 Oh, somebody needs that. 00:14:15.600 --> 00:14:23.759 Because sometimes we expect that when God brings someone out, every sign of where they have been should immediately disappear. 00:14:24.080 --> 00:14:29.440 But Lazarus came out alive while still wearing grave clothes. 00:14:30.399 --> 00:14:34.720 Listen, don't mistake grave clothes for death. 00:14:35.440 --> 00:14:41.759 Someone can genuinely be restored and still have things God is removing. 00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:49.679 Someone can be alive in Jesus and still be learning how to walk without what once bound them. 00:14:50.080 --> 00:14:54.320 Someone can come out of addiction and still need healing. 00:14:59.600 --> 00:15:03.360 Come out of trauma and still need their mind renewed. 00:15:03.600 --> 00:15:11.279 Come out of a broken season and still carry survival habits that don't belong in the new one. 00:15:12.240 --> 00:15:17.679 Jesus looked at Lazarus and said, loose him and let him go. 00:15:17.919 --> 00:15:23.279 The grave couldn't hold him anymore, but the grave clothes still had to come off. 00:15:23.679 --> 00:15:27.200 Coming forth was the beginning of a new process. 00:15:29.360 -->

00:15:31.279 Then I think about Abraham. 00:15:32.320 --> 00:15:35.120 When come means leaving without knowing. 00:15:35.360 --> 00:15:44.720 Genesis 12:1 says, get out of your country from your family and from your father's house to a land that I will show you. 00:15:45.039 --> 00:15:48.080 Notice I will show you. 00:15:48.639 --> 00:15:50.159 Future tents. 00:15:51.039 --> 00:15:55.200 Abraham had to move before he knew the full destination. 00:15:55.600 --> 00:16:01.840 God gave him enough information to obey, but not enough information to control the journey. 00:16:02.080 --> 00:16:04.080 And there's the pattern again. 00:16:04.399 --> 00:16:05.919 Peter gets one word. 00:16:06.240 --> 00:16:08.480 Lazarus gets one command. 00:16:08.799 --> 00:16:12.559 Abraham gets direction without a map. 00:16:12.960 --> 00:16:19.360 God often gives enough word for obedience before he gives enough information for comfort. 00:16:19.679 --> 00:16:22.399 We keep asking, where exactly? 00:16:22.720 --> 00:16:23.519 How long? 00:16:23.840 --> 00:16:25.600 What happens afterwards? 00:16:25.919 --> 00:16:26.799 What if? 00:16:27.360 --> 00:16:31.360 And sometimes God's answer is simply come. 00:16:32.960 --> 00:16:35.120 The disciples left their nets. 00:16:35.440 --> 00:16:40.639 Jesus walked up to a fisherman and said, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. 00:16:40.879 --> 00:16:42.320 And they left their nets. 00:16:42.480 --> 00:16:46.639 Again, the call required leaving. 00:16:47.039 --> 00:16:51.279 You can't follow while insisting on staying exactly where you are. 00:16:51.519 --> 00:16:53.919 That doesn't always mean geography. 00:16:54.159 --> 00:17:08.720 Sometimes you have to leave a mindset, an identity, a habit, a level of comfort, a relationship dynamic, an excuse, a season that ended, an old version of yourself. 00:17:09.039 --> 00:17:16.720 Every come contains an invitation, but it also exposes an attachment. 00:17:17.039 --> 00:17:21.680 Jesus' invitation reveals what we are holding on to. 00:17:21.920 --> 00:17:27.839 You may not know how much you trust the boat until he calls you onto the water. 00:17:28.160 --> 00:17:33.440 You might not know how attached you are to the familiarity until he says go. 00:17:33.839 --> 00:17:41.359 You may not know how much the grave has become part of your identity until he calls you to come out of it. 00:17:41.759 --> 00:17:43.519 What has to move? 00:17:43.839 --> 00:17:50.480 So maybe the question for this entire week is not simply, is Jesus calling? 00:17:51.039 --> 00:17:56.160 Maybe it's what has to move because he called. 00:17:56.480 --> 00:18:03.920 Peter had to move, Lazarus had to move, Abraham had to move, the disciples had to move. 00:18:04.240 --> 00:18:07.200 The word demanded a response. 00:18:07.519 --> 00:18:11.119 And here is where obedience becomes personal. 00:18:12.160 --> 00:18:17.440 Because we can celebrate Peter stepping out while refusing to leave our boat. 00:18:17.680 --> 00:18:24.640 We can shout over Lazarus coming forth while staying wrapped in something Jesus told us to leave behind. 00:18:25.039 --> 00:18:32.400 We can admire Abraham's faith while demanding that God show us the destination before we take step one. 00:18:32.960 --> 00:18:38.000 But Scripture was not given merely so we could admire what they did. 00:18:38.960 --> 00:18:45.119 It was given to teach us how to respond when the same God speaks to us. 00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:48.400 When one word is enough. 00:19:08.799 --> 00:19:14.319 But there are also times when we know he has spoken. 00:19:14.559 --> 00:19:20.240 And at that point, the issue is no longer revelation, it's response. 00:19:20.559 --> 00:19:22.559 Peter asked for a command. 00:19:22.799 --> 00:19:24.079 Jesus said come. 00:19:24.640 --> 00:19:31.279 And Peter had to decide whether one word from Jesus outweighed everything the storm was saying. 00:19:31.519 --> 00:19:32.960 That's faith. 00:19:33.359 --> 00:19:40.240 You don't always need a paragraph from Jesus when one word is enough to move you. 00:19:40.559 --> 00:19:43.519 Sometimes come is enough. 00:19:44.640 --> 00:19:47.920 Peter heard come over the sound of a storm. 00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:51.680 Lazarus heard come forth from beside a grave. 00:19:52.079 --> 00:19:55.759 Abraham heard the call without knowing where he was going. 00:19:56.160 --> 00:20:01.119 The disciples heard follow me while their nets were still in their hands. 00:20:01.440 --> 00:20:07.039 Different people, different circumstances, different things to leave behind. 00:20:07.359 --> 00:20:13.359 But the same question, is his voice enough to make me move? 00:20:13.920 --> 00:20:17.119 Maybe your come is calling you out of comfort. 00:20:17.359 --> 00:20:19.440 Maybe it's calling you out of fear. 00:20:19.680 --> 00:20:22.799 Maybe it's calling you out of something you thought was over. 00:20:23.039 --> 00:20:26.559 Maybe it's calling you away from what has defined you. 00:20:26.799 --> 00:20:31.359 Maybe it's calling you into an assignment you don't fully understand yet. 00:20:31.599 --> 00:20:37.279 Whatever it is, remember, the water does not have to make sense. 00:20:37.599 --> 00:20:40.079 The tomb doesn't get the final word. 00:20:40.559 --> 00:20:43.680 The destination doesn't have to be visible. 00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:46.880 You just need to know who called you. 00:20:47.279 --> 00:20:53.759 Because when Jesus says come, the question is no longer whether the circumstances can support you. 00:20:54.000 --> 00:20:59.200 The question is, is his word enough to move you? 00:21:00.400 --> 00:21:01.680 Let's pray. 00:21:02.640 --> 00:21:06.400 Jesus, give us ears to hear when you call. 00:21:06.880 --> 00:21:09.839 Give us courage to step out when you say come. 00:21:10.480 --> 00:21:14.240 Help us release what feels safe when you're calling us deeper. 00:21:14.880 --> 00:21:25.279 Call us out of every grave, every identity, every fear, and every place that has tried to hold us beyond its season. 00:21:25.759 --> 00:21:29.839 Give us faith to obey before we understand every detail. 00:21:30.240 --> 00:21:40.720 Show us the stones we need to move, the boats we need to leave, the grave clothes we need to remove, and the steps that you're asking us to take. 00:21:40.960 --> 00:21:47.279 And when the wind gets loud, remind us of the word that called us out of it in the first place. 00:21:47.920 --> 00:21:49.839 Your voice is enough. 00:21:50.160 --> 00:21:52.000 Your word is enough. 00:21:52.240 --> 00:21:56.799 And when you say come, help us answer with our lives. 00:21:57.279 --> 00:21:59.039 In Jesus' name. 00:21:59.440 --> 00:22:00.079 Amen. 00:22:01.359 --> 00:22:06.160 When Jesus says come, something has to move. 00:22:09.359 --> 00:22:14.640 Thank you for tuning into Living Life on Purpose with Evangelist T Lo. 00:22:17.359 --> 00:22:20.319 We pray that this message was a blessing to you. 00:22:20.720 --> 00:22:27.920 If you would like to reach out for prayer or other resources, email on purpose collection at gmail.com. 00:22:29.599 --> 00:22:32.960 Remember, live today intentionally. 00:22:33.279 --> 00:22:35.279 Love people genuinely. 00:22:35.519 --> 00:22:37.920 Follow Jesus completely. 00:22:40.160 --> 00:22:41.759 Walk in purpose.