The Key That Locks the Door of Blessing — Paris Reidhead

We want to welcome you this morning to Trinity Alliance Church, I have.

Morrison so if you look in your program, that's not me but I thought I would explain who Lloyd Morrison is let him give his testimony and Why he's here as? Many if not all of you know Paul has been called to Pennsylvania to be the Extension director church director of church growth.

You get more money if it's a longer title. So We feel the board met this week. First of all, we don't think we can replace Paul. So what we are doing is reassigning some of the duties. Paris will be picking up more of the administrative functions and We feel we need someone to work with the young marrieds with the youth to Work with outreach.

I Know personally, I don't attend the Wednesday night Because my kids go here and there and we're running but another night may be more convenient for me to lead a Bible study. Did I just volunteer? But So we are looking at Lloyd invited him down this weekend to spend the weekend with us.

And ask him to give us testimony this morning also as Paul mentioned. The evening service will be at my house. I have little maps that I can amend and make sure everybody gets there. It will be a potluck dinner.

So he can watch how much we dribble down the front of us and we can watch how much he does and meet his two young children and then this evening he will lead us in a Bible study and I think it's a time for all of us just to Get to know each other.

Because the board will be meeting this week to decide whether we will He is the man for us and then if should he be he has to make the decision whether he is to come visit us. So tonight is not at the sternum ins.

It's at our house. It's six o 'clock. So we can let the kids get to bed. So six o 'clock my house and I won't tell you what I know about Lloyd because I think he's gonna give his testimony. I'm afraid I'd steal.

I'd got to talk to him a lot yesterday. So Lloyd I'll let you introduce your lovely wife. Okay?

Thank You Jim and This is my wife Susan Stan and we would like to thank all of you for inviting us to come down here and My testimony in short would be we serve a living God and salvation is through Jesus Christ.

Lloyd Morrison’s Testimony of Conversion and Spiritual Growth

And In my own life God has done many things so I'll have to pinpoint things which I would like to Make known this morning in which he has done Immense things for me. So I'll pick out the highlights and I would also say that God has tended to work within me through gradual processes rather than Pinpoint dynamic times that seems to be what he has done in my life.

I was Born into a Christian family. And so the aspect of Christianity church going is has been a part of me ever since I've been born. The Lord found me when I was 13 years old. Our church was having special services and it was that time where I felt within myself the need for forgiveness and found that through Jesus Christ and I give him praise for that this morning and I credit my foundation my knowledge of God's Word the basic Fundamentals of the faith which I believe in to the church in which I was raised.

The Sunday school and the youth group we got into God's Word. And the youth group was very active. We did community projects. We had a youth choir. We were even able to take part in some of the worship services.

And so through all of that I attribute my foundation to my teenage years. But it wasn't till being a freshman in college where I learned about the filling and the empowering of the Holy Spirit and allowed that to become a very vital part of my life and that came about through working with Campus Crusade for Christ and If there's a dramatic change in my life.

It definitely came at that point when I learned to to give all of myself to leading of the Spirit and seeking his will completely and and letting myself be by the sidelines and It was as a junior in college where the Lord really emphasized in my life the importance of missions.

I had gone to a state school in Pennsylvania for my first two years then transferred to Houghton College. If any of you know about that, it's a Christian liberal arts school. And it was there that my best friend there was born as a missionary kid.

He grew up in the Middle East and he was looking forward to being a missionary himself so my relationship with him and Also, the college had a great emphasis on mission and many of you probably know John Bechtel Who's a dynamic Christian and missionary alliance missionary?

He came there for missions emphasis week and it was a combination of those two things where Lord Gave me a burden for the lost not only around my own little life, but around the world. So missions became extremely important my junior year in college.

Formation Through Leadership, Prayer, and Ministry

It was as a senior in college that God worked Two different aspects into my life. I was what was called the Rickle. It was RCCL which stood for Religious coordinator of Christian life which in short is the head chaplain of a men's dormitory.

So there were floor chaplains Two on each floor and I was responsible for them and working all the different activities into that dormitory. Through that experience. I learned about leadership and I have a business background.

So I learned how to apply Aspects of administration and putting some of the head knowledge into work and also learning about Interpersonal relationships like I never had before being responsible for people being challenged by people and everything that goes along with that and at the same time as A head chaplain as a person who was responsible for people I felt that I needed someone who I could interact with on a one-to-one basis who?

I could pray with share with and learn from and at the same time hopefully encouraged that person and Strengthened their life as well. What happened is I met once a week with a New Testament professor of the college and what I learned through that experience.

Many things but what stands out far above everything else was prayer. I've never met a man or been affiliated with a person who knew how to pray like he did and who could Through his prayers lift another person up and so probably we met 30 to 35 times in a year and that experience taught me prayer and And really caused prayer to become that much more of a part of my own life.

Then we moved down to Dale City we lived in Dale City for one year. I felt that the Lord wanted me to take a year off from school before going to seminary. Susan and I got married. She got a job at Garfield.

So we moved down here, and I got a job in Falls Church and Some people might think well, what's that have to do with the testimony? I think God taught me How to understand and how to empathize with the commuting workforce.

I'm from rural, Pennsylvania. We don't know what major traffic is all about so we came down here and through that year I really think God gave me an understanding for it, which if I would not have gone through it myself.

That's the only time I worked a full year because everything else in my life had been school. And so I think the Lord taught me valuable lessons from that ones Which I didn't like learning up that much but ones which I can empathize with through it.

Then we moved to Boston went to Gordon Conwell seminary and The education there was twofold one. It definitely was academic. It's a top-notch school but what stands out to me is that by and large most of the professors emphasized the pastoral side of Everything they were teaching.

There's a lot of head knowledge that goes on in seminary of course. But most of them tried to bring it down and pinpoint it into if you are a pastor if you're in this situation how do you apply it and That made me do a lot of thinking that I would not have done otherwise and I think that has prepared me more for what the Lord has in store in future ministry and at the same time I was a youth minister for two years at a church and Learning to teach learning to encourage youth learning to Challenge them and at the same time receiving from them youth have no idea what the leaders learn From working with them and and so I learned valuable lessons and also we went to the Franconia Alliance Church to back up a little bit while we were down here and Susan I worked with youth group so both of those together Taught me a lot about how to give and take in relationships and it taught the experiential part of education along with the academics that Gordon Conwell brought and Finally I would close that the Lord has taught me Love.

We hear about Christian love and that God is love. But I've never learned love before like I have since I've been married which probably many of you can attest to through Susan and now through Jeremy who's 14 months and soon Timothy will be doing the same of experiencing unconditional love and that helping me to expand my horizons on the Unconditional love which God has for us.

A Life Verse: Love, Conscience, and Faith

And in closing I would like to say that just recently it was April 12th as a matter of fact in my daily devotions The Lord gave me my a verse which I'm claiming as my life verse. Which came out of first Timothy chapter 1 verse 5 and my paraphrase of that verse which I is my prayer for my future work for Lord my future ministry is The goal my goal is love which comes from a pure heart a good conscience and a sincere faith.

And that's my life verse from now on and that's my prayer of what God has in store in the future.

Shall we continue our worship as we bring our tithes and offerings to the Lord and as we receive the offering where. We need some offering plates. Anybody know where they are. Paul says they're probably out on the table.

We were going to sing our own offertory. So we shall begin by singing our offertory and you'll find it in your bulletins the song of offering.

So we bow our hearts in prayer. Our Heavenly Father we ask now that as we come to this word that we've read That the Holy Spirit may take of the things of Christ and apply them to our hearts and to our lives.

Minister to us we thank thee for thy presence and for what thou are going to say and what we are going to do in obedience to thy word in Jesus name. Amen. Now as you understand we're in the midst of a series messages on faith.

The Problem of Unanswered Prayer

One of the questions that's asked very frequently is this. Why are not all prayers answered? Why are not all the people prayed for healed. Why should some be healed and not others? Why should some prayers be answered and not others?

Honest hearted honest minded people are not afraid to face the question. Nor are they satisfied with a cheap or easy or shallow answers. We who believe that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday today and forever are prepared to Face the questions and to seek by God's help to understand the answers regardless of what they may be.

Now we've had three portions wed for us. I bring verses from those three portions to put into focus the key to. That locks the door of blessing in verse 30 of Matthew 14. But when he saw the winds boisterous He was afraid.

Matthew 17 20. And Jesus said unto them because of your unbelief. And in Mark 440 and he said unto them. Why are ye so fearful? How is it that? You have no faith. Now we must face the fact that fear is indeed an ugly fact in human experience.

Fear as the Consequence of Sin

As you know It began the day man sin. First mention of fear in the scripture occurred in Genesis the third chapter. After mother Eve had eaten and Adam had eaten. Toward the close the cool of the day.

Anticipating the Lord's coming they hid in the shrubbery trying to escape from his presence and Adam heard God's voice calling Adam or art thou. It isn't that God didn't know where he was, but he wanted Adam to acknowledge his voice that God cared and you know what Adam said.

I Heard thy voice in the garden and I was afraid. Isn't that astonishing? First day after they've disobeyed. And Here is fear as a full-grown Emotion it's come into Adam's heart and into Adam's life.

I Was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself. And you recall what God said? Adam who's told you that you were naked? Eliciting from him testimony that he had eaten and Also, he is trying to escape from blame.

The woman thou gavest me. Gave me to eat. It's not my fault. It's her fault. Looking for someone to blame. But he was afraid. Because he had discovered his condition. Adam did confess his sin blamed it on Eve.

But fear became an integral part of the result of sin. And since all have sinned and come short of the glory of God fear is a universal experience. Now we find that the relationship of fear to sin is Converter confirmed in Revelation at 21st chapter in the eighth verse and you do well to turn to it.

If you have your Bible that you might see it and not think that I am reading Something that is less than the text itself you might be wise to underline it if you please because It tells us something that is really not at all pleasant to to understand here it but the fearful and Unbelievers, we've got those two.

Haven't we unbelief and fear tied together but look at the company it keeps and the abominable and Murderers and Whoremongers and sorcerers and Idolators and all liars, you know, that's kind of a ugly crowd wouldn't you say.

So when you talk about well, I would fear is not terribly bad and unbelief isn't all that horrible. Remember where God puts it list he puts it in and I think our attitudes are going to change a little bit.

About the nature of fear and unbelief. We're going to see them for what they really are but look what happened look at the ultimate destiny of the fearful and unbelievers and the crowd they keep. They shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

So, I think right now we ought to recognize that fear when it occurs in our hearts and Minds must be dealt with as the sin it is. It is a sin. It is wicked it is evil and Unbelief is not just a polite little party problem or a bright little social Indiscretion.

Unbelief is sin. And we've got to deal with it as sin. We've got to forsake it as sin confess it as sin and know the cleansing of the blood these. So what have I said the key that locks the door of blessing?

Is the sin of fear and the sin of Unbelief pretty harsh, you know. If I had said that I'd feel that somebody might take up after me and and argue a bit. But since I'm a devout coward and always hide behind the scripture I'm like a rabbit on the opening of hunting season first time a rabbit.

Here's the guns go off it looks for a stump and it's clear all the way around because the rabbits have discovered that if they can just run around the Stump and the hunter has to shoot in the stump. The rabbit isn't hurt and years ago hunting rabbits I decided that's what I was going to be and I would find a stump the Word of God and I'd get down behind it and I'd shout out from one side or the other and let him shoot because if they're going to shoot into the stump I'm not going to get peppered.

I'm not going to get injured. So when I say unbelief is sin and fear is sin I'm Perfectly secure shoot if you must this old gray head, but you're not gonna hurt it because I'm hiding behind the stump of God's Word.

It's God who said it not me and it means that we have to deal with it as it is now the nature of fear of This fear is it's well, it's insane, isn't it? It's absurd. It does seem that We should not commit the sin of fear of circumstances of conditions of problems of waves.

Peter’s Fear and the Fear of Human Opinion

Peter is there Invited by the Lord. He has his eyes on the Lord. What is that Thing that caused Peter to look at the waves take his eyes off the Lord Have it pray disposition. I don't know what it is.

I just know this that It's something problem. We all have to deal with now if we can label of that the way Peter should have labeled it with The Nature that he knew he had because this man who's looking at the waves and Is fearful and starts to sink is the same man that when a little girl?

Lifts her finger and points it at him and says I've seen you this Nazarene. He denies the Lord with a curse, but was he so much worse than we are. Was he much different than we are? Are we not afraid of the pointed lip and the sneer and the question Why is it that the?

Sin of unbelief is the sin that's in good standing. Why are we afraid of what people will think or people will say. I don't know. Well, we are and if we deal with it as sin, we're gonna have a better chance of getting cured of it than if we just Accept it and to make excuses for it now usually the person that is Afraid of what people will say or think if he trusts God and if he believes God.

That really doesn't have any fear of God. He's afraid of men. No fear of the problem, but he's afraid of the answer to the problem. He's not afraid to doubt God. He's only afraid to believe him. What insanity in this thing of fear as it affects our life of faith?

So let us then be alert to the emotion of fear When it occurs in respect to our life. Because you know the reason why we don't See God work in answer to the needs. Could very well be traced back in part at least to this thing of fear.

Unbelief as the Sin We Must Reject

Now I've said unbelief is the sin that's in good standing. That's actually the paraphrase of Hebrews 12 1 when it says let us lay aside every weight and the sin which does so easily beset us. It's the sin of unbelief.

The father brought his son to the disciples and they Wanted success. They wanted to set themselves as those who were able to minister as did the Lord, but the child was not delivered and The Lord did speak to them and speak to and bring deliverance to the child and they asked him Lord, why couldn't we cast him out and The Lord's words so simple so straight so honest so telling.

Because of your unbelief because of your unbelief now. Remember one occasion the father Said yes, Lord, I believe help my unbelief and we've tried to make that pious. We've tried to make that religiously acceptable.

Lord, I believe help my unbelief. That's not given to us as by God the Holy Spirit. Inspired the writer to include it in the text as what a natural man said, but not what a born-again spiritual Christian should do say or believe.

It's not instructions for us. It's not the way we ought to approach the problem. That's the way he and his ignorance approached it. But what we do when we say Lord, I believe help my unbelief we're trying to sanctify our unbelief.

Instead of dealing with it as the sin it is. Now we can't use that verse as though this were divine instructions as to what our attitude should be. This was what a man came who had no spiritual insight and no relationship to the Lord.

Other than that, he had wanted and a miracle in the life of his child. For us, it's a little different. We can't use that scripture. We've got to deal with unbelief as the sin it is now was unbelief on the part of the disciples and that is one of the reasons why.

Some prayers are not answered the prayer doesn't believe oh. How many times you know when I was a young pastor in Little Falls, Minnesota. One of the deacons came to me and said Brother Paris, I'd like to have you go with me to the hospital a lady.

There is sick and she's asked to have the Elders come and anoint her now in Baptist churches. You only have one elder. He's pastor. All the rest are deacons. But the deacons were willing to be pretend they were elders.

Because they really were whether they took the name or not. But you see I was thoroughly schooled in ultra dispensationalism. So I spent the next 30 minutes telling good Roy Larson. Why anointing with oil had no relevance?

Now in this dispensation that it was for the early church and that it was this and it was that and that it he says I guess you don't believe in anointing with oil. I said, that's right. I don't and I can't.

I can't participate. Well, he said I got a couple of the other deacons and we'll go then we believe in it. They went they prayed for God answered prayer, but I knew it was an accident. It wasn't really.

My dispensationalism was right and their theirs was wrong. And but nevertheless nevertheless Doctor at the hospital a few months later. Called me he said are you? Parish read that are you pastor of the Baptist Church?

I Said yes, he said there's a woman here and says if she's got any church at all. It's yours. She doesn't go but she'd like to if she ever went that's where she'd go and He said I don't believe in God and I don't believe in prayer and I don't believe in prayer for healing.

But just because I don't believe in it doesn't mean that miracles don't have in this mother has Has five children and medicine has done all that it can do and if something doesn't happen this woman's going to die and I think it's a Tragedy for her to die and if you claim that you believe anything about the Bible and anything about God I don't but you better get down here and pray for her.

Well That was an agnostic doctor putting the pressure on a fundamentalist preacher. So I call royal arson. I said Roy you got that bottle of oil anywhere you used. I Got a cold case. I can't talk my way out of this time.

He said well, I've been praying you'd get cornered and answered it. So we went down and we went to the room and we stood there and I said Lord I don't know what I'm doing or why and I'm doing it. But the word says it and I believe your word is a tragedy.

This mother's gonna die. She doesn't have to die Lord. Here's the oil and putting it on her and whatever it does you do it Lord. We'll give you all the credit cuz I sure haven't got much. Either faith or anything else, but we're doing what your word says.

And five days later she left the hospital went home to her children. Wasn't matter of the faith of the prayers least this one. Was a matter of obedience to God's Word and maybe God in his sweet grace going to teach a stubborn Stiff neck dispensation was a little bit about how gracious God is.

Anyway, she went home and I submit to you that It's not always the faith of the prayer. It's just the grace of God. Now look at the time when the Lord Jesus after his Baptism in water and the Spirit of God came upon him and he went back to Nazareth.

Unbelief in Nazareth and the Woman Who Touched Jesus

Oh My what a what a longing he had for those people. I See the Lord Jesus as he comes in and there's that demon-possessed man out on the garbage. He was howling and there's a spastic and the crippled man and The blind tapping along the wall.

And as the Lord came in his heart bursting with love. Wanting to touch but there had to be acceptance by the people and in the synagogue He read the scriptures the Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He has anointed me and the elders got around him and they walked him out to that little cliff outside of Nazareth they're going to push him over and The testimony is he could do there no mighty works because of their unbelief.

All the love and power that had made the world Wasn't enough to help the people in Nazareth. The blind man still broke for the wall. The cripple still dragged their withered limbs. Demon possessed still howled in the refuge pit.

Spastic couldn't bring water to his lips. And the Lord Jesus was pushed away unbelief. Listen, you can't make peace with it. You can't accept it. You've got to reject it. Look at the woman With the issue of blood who'd spent all of her living on Physicians and she saw the Lord Jesus coming and she said oh if I could just Reach down and touch the hem of his garment.

Excuse me, please. Would you let an old lady through please and just as he walks by the hem of his garment goes through her fingers and the Lord Jesus stops and he says Someone touched me and The disciples said what do you mean Lord look at all these hands pawing you.

You no, no. No, I didn't say they jostled me and bumped me someone. For I perceive that virtue Went out. What was it that went out virtue? Well, that's the King James translators. They had a problem. Because the problem was this if they translated that word by the way, they were going to translate X18 they were going to say something.

So they said well, he's the Lord. Let's call it virtue. But it's identically the same word that you get an axe or an eighth when he says after that The Holy Ghost has come upon you. Ye shall receive power.

The word is I perceive that power hath gone out of me. Dunamis has gone out of me. Dunamis shall come upon you the very same thing came upon The disciples the people when they were baptized there and us that he went out of Christ to heal the woman.

It wasn't anyone's faith, but hers. So unbelief unbelief wherever it is is going to paralyze and lock the door of blessing now God is concerned to cure us of. Of this curse of unbelief in the portion mark where we read that the Lord Jesus after the miracles of feeding went off alone and The disciples were quite capable good fishermen.

They were they knew the lake they started home. Why did he go off alone? To let them get into trouble and discovered how much they needed him. He wanted to cure them of this curse of unbelief and so he permits his disciples to enter into peril.

He had to get into circumstance that their skill on the lake and their strength and their character and all of the experience They had weren't enough to solve their problems and so with you and so with me.

We're going to have problems in the next week or the next two or the next month. That's going to test our faith. We're going to be tempted to be fearful, but we're going to reject that fear as the sin.

It is we're going to be tempted to unbelief, but we're going to reject that unbelief as the sin it is. I Refuse to let fear intimidate me. I refuse unbelief. I reject it in the name of Jesus Christ. I will not accept it.

You don't have to accept it. God is doing everything he can To prepare us To put us into situations whereby we can have opportunity to accept his cure for this curse of unbelief and fear that locks the door of blessing.

Faith, Ministry, and the Purpose of Trials

And that's what he gave evangelists and pastors and teachers for that's what I'm endeavoring to do this morning. In the Ephesians chapter 4 it says he gave evangelists pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the Saints into the work of the ministry and The work of the ministry is going to be forwarded in your life.

When you deal with unbelief as the sin it is and fear as the sin it is. When it occurs in your heart and life, you're going to Reject it forsake it Confess it know the cleansing of the blood and the renewal of faith and go on To give God the opportunity to be gone in your life.

Let's not Be afraid of the experiences that come but let's recognize that if he permits it were to give thanks. Recognize that he has purpose in that purpose is to Demonstrate us. Demonstrate the reality of the professions that we make father in heaven.

We lift our hearts to thee now with thanksgiving in the peerless matchless resistless name of the Lord Jesus three illustrations given to us in our Lord's dealing with his disciples to teach us the Curse of fear And of unbelief.

Closing Prayer: Trusting God Through Every Experience

So that we will be prepared To deal with it the way thy word is prescribed that we deal with all sin and everything that displeases thee father. We would be those who believe they who trust thee. We've heard the song Only believe only believe all things are possible.

Only believe. This we would prove again and again in our hearts our homes our lives. That we might reveal the Lord Jesus Christ to our day and our generation and our neighbors in this community as Mighty to save strong to deliver In his name and for his glory.

We ask it with thanksgiving.

Amen as Paris was preaching. I could only think of my favorite song 304 like a river glorious. Is God's perfect peace? Overall victorious in its bright increase. Perfect yet it floweth fuller every day.

Perfect yet it groweth deeper all the way stayed upon Jehovah. And it continues to grow hidden in the hollow of his blessed hand. Never full can follow Never traitor stand. Not a surge of worry Not a shade of care Not a blast of hurry.

Touch the spirit there. Every joy or trial falleth from above traced upon our dial by the Son of blood. We may trust him fully all for us to do. They who trust him holy. Find him holy true stayed upon Jehovah.

Let's stand as we see. Any father as we've heard the word as we've sung the hymn as Our minds are put in action endeavoring to reach out to you in total belief. We pray that thou will meet us. This week we will need to be able to trust you for those things you cause to come across our pathway in our dial.

May we find you holy true because we are stayed upon your word Jehovah. Bless us now as we find our ways for this afternoon in Jesus name. Amen.