The Name That Breaks Every Chain

Jesus tonight can say stop to a situation and it has to obey because he has all power and all authority Jesus the King of Kings Jesus the Lord of Lords Jesus the Prince of Peace Jesus the lily of the valley Jesus the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the earth Jesus the Lion of the tribe of Judah Jesus the Alpha and Omega Jesus the first and the last Jesus the bright and morning star Jesus who was and is and is to come Jesus the man on the middle cross Jesus the stone roller Jesus the resurrection and the life Jesus the Good Shepherd Jesus the true vine Jesus the need meter Jesus the way maker Jesus the chain breaker Jesus who has the name that is upon every name that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Jesus Jesus stops

for a man whose name we don't even know he's that good he's that powerful he's that personal he's that purposeful he has aligned your life in such a way that there is nothing you're going through that surprises him there is nothing you're going through that makes him ashamed of you there is nothing you can bring him that is insignificant you're his child there's nothing you can bring him that's intimidating he is God there is nothing in your life that you can't come to him about and he stops one time the disciples were in a terrible storm in Mark chapter 4 and Jesus was like I was just letting you go through the storm for a little while and then he got up and he stopped it because Jesus can stop a storm Jesus can stop it touch through people say Jesus can stop it he can stop it, he can stop a storm

he can stop a storm in your life the next time the panic attack comes just start calling on the name of Jesus Jesus, Jesus, Jesus you're enough, Jesus, Jesus still this storm in my life he can stop a storm in chapter 7 they were having a funeral for a little boy they were going through the streets of a town called Nain and a widow was about to bury her only son he was going through the streets dead but Jesus had compassion on the woman and he reached out his hand and he touched the little boy and the boy sat up straight because Jesus can stop a funeral don't bury your hope don't bury your faith don't bury your joy Jesus can stop it one touch from him and all of a sudden the funeral was cancelled Jesus can stop it one time in John chapter 8 they were about to stone a woman to death because she had done something very sinful and they caught her and maybe you're dealing with shame and condemnation

in this place tonight and I want you to know what Jesus did for the woman I believe he'll do for you he got down in the dirt because not only is he a savior who stops and he got down in the dirt of the woman's situation and he began to write something in the dirt and when the people had their stones ready to throw at her which represents the condemnation of the enemy against your life tonight that you've been feeling so ashamed and you've been feeling like maybe I don't have a future and maybe it's over for me and Jesus said let he who is without sin cast the first stone and here's what he knew the one who is without sin was him and he was down in the dirt and the only one who can pronounce over your life what your life can be is the one who created you and fashioned you and Jesus stopped the stoning and I came to declare over Miami tonight we have a savior who can stop it stop it so I love that Jesus stops

I love every time that little hissing sound comes out of the scoreboard cause I feel like it's the devil having a panic attack while we're praising God in here tonight the devil is sighing because he knows that this is the last night that you're gonna believe the lies he's been telling you I know he's been lying to you some of you he's had you up at 2 and 3 in the morning worrying about situations that may never happen He's stealing all of your strength and all of your joy. Even in this service tonight, it's so important that when we say, Amen, you don't stop singing. It's so important that when we say, Amen, you don't stop praising. You have to really carry this night with you, because the giants you're facing aren't going to be any different when you get home, but you are. He stops, and then verse 6, I love it. It's so poetic to me. Do you all just love the Bible like I do, man? It's fresh to me. I've been preaching it since I was 16 years old, and it's still fresh to me, because look what verse 6 says. It's coming up on the screen, please. And Jesus saw him lying there. Now, what's so significant about that, Pastor Stephen? Why are you stopping to tell me that? Because think. This man was lying on a mat, and most people only identified him with his mat. They only saw what he couldn't do.

They only saw what he couldn't be. But Jesus didn't see the mat. First he saw the man. He sees me. Say it out loud. He sees me. He sees me in my storm. He sees me in my disappointment. He even sees the parts of me that I want to hide from everybody else. He sees the parts of me that I won't even admit to myself. One of the most amazing things to realize about Jesus, and I want to say this just right, okay? So, bear with me for a moment. When I realized that the one who knows me the best, loves me the most, it set me free. Because if he knows me totally and loves me completely, what can others do to me? Jesus saw the man lying there, and he learned that his condition was so bad that it looked hopeless. Like my dad who said, you had no idea how far gone I was. And then Jesus is probably thinking, but you have no idea how good I am. You have no idea. Hey, you have no idea how good I am at my job. See, Jesus is the word of God. He doesn't speak the word of God. He is the word of God. So when Jesus sees the man, he doesn't see him where he is. He sees who he really is. And sometimes you get confused about who you really are because all you see is your mat. All you see is your mat. All you see is the thing you struggle with. One of the things that really makes me laugh about my wife…

Now, I need y'all to pray for her about this, because this is the only issue she has. Other than this, she is truly the perfect woman. She's a great gift giver, but one thing she does that's so confusing… You know how at Christmas when you give your gifts you kind of stagger them where you start with the smallest one and then you go to the biggest one if you're getting multiple gifts for somebody? Okay, so Holly always gets great gifts, but she does this weird thing with boxes, because she's got all these really nice boxes and she doesn't want them to go to waste. So what she'll do… And y'all pray for her about this. The Lord can deliver her. I have faith that he can. When she gives you the cheapest gift, a lot of times it will be in the nicest box, which is so disappointing. When you open the paper and the box says Nordstrom, and then you open the box and the gift says Dollar Tree, and you open the box like, what is this? This doesn't match that. She will put the worst gift in the best box, but God will do just the opposite. God will package some of his best gifts in some of the ugliest boxes. Have any of you been dealing with an ugly box in your life lately? Come on. Don't leave me up here by myself like I'm the only one. I know that Amazon dropped off a box that had been beaten and torn and rained on and weathered, but if you open the box and if you trust God and not the box, you might find that the season you're going through right now, you're going to look back at it a year from now and go, thank you, Lord, for that ugly box, because in that ugly box was a great gift. I just came to declare right now, you cannot give up on this season of your life because you don't like the box. God does not live inside of your box.

God sees things you can't see. See, God knows things you can't know. God does not see the man on the mat. He sees the mat on the man. In other words, God sees you coming out of this. I declare tonight you are not going to die in this low state. This is not going to be the end of your story. This is just a chapter in your life. You've got to get up. Your future children are depending on it. Some of you in this room are to be the one in your generation that breaks the curse that has been over your family. There are, oh God, I felt chills all up and down my spine when I said that. I don't know who it is, but there are some of you in this room, and if it hit you when I said it, jump up and give God praise that I'm the one. God's gonna use me. I'm gonna have a testimony. I'm not dying down here. He stops and he sees. Somebody say Jesus stops. Say Jesus sees. And my favorite part of the verse, y'all, is Jesus says, because you got two voices going on. You've got one voice saying, stay down. You can't.

Stay down. You've tried before. Stay down. It's no use. This is not real. That dude up there with the microphone, he is just hyping you up. This is just emotionalism. It is not emotionalism that I am preaching to you tonight. It's called faith. It's called the power of God. It's the presence of God. It's the name of Jesus. This is not hype. This is hope. It's been too long that you've been down there, and with one word from Jesus, verse number eight, then Jesus said to him, you've got to get up. Somebody say, I've got to get up. And it worked. He got up and he took up his mat just because he did what the man said. I wonder what would happen tonight if you would just do what the man said. This guy got healed and he didn't even know Jesus' name. You know a name. You know a name that can silence roaring waves. You know a name that can empty out a grave. You know a name that when it resounds,

chains have to break. And the man got up and began to walk. And when he did, verse nine, the Bible says it was a Sabbath day, which was not the day that they thought he was supposed to be healed. But it was the day that God decided to heal him because when God gets ready to do something, nothing can stop him. Didn't I say that at the beginning of my sermon? So watch this. This is crazy, Miami. Get ready for this. In verse 10, the Jewish leader said to him, the man who had been healed, it is the Sabbath. The law forbids you from carrying your mat. In other words, you can't do that. Now I want you to see the coldest verse in the entire New Testament is verse 11 because they're saying you can't do that. You can't carry your mat. There will always be a voice telling you you can't do what God told you to do. But his voice is the voice that matters because it is the voice that spoke the world into being out of nothing. It is the voice that heals. It is the voice that saves. So you've got one voice saying you can't do that. And in verse 11, the man does something,

this is so powerful to me. He replied, the man who made me well said to me because Jesus stops, Jesus sees, Jesus says. So it's as if he's saying, I appreciate your opinion that you're telling me I can't pick up my mat and walk. But y'all have walked by me every day for 38 years. And not one of you had the power to get me up. But that man over there, come on, help me preach Miami. That man over there, the man who made me well said to me, get up, pick up your mat and walk. I believe this man was so happy that he was able to walk. I believe he started singing. Goodbye yesterday, I'm living in the light of a new day. day. I won't waste another minute on the colonnades. Praise the Lord, I'll not walk again. I'm dancing on the grave that I once lived in. I'm dancing on the grave. Now hold on. Maybe he couldn't dance yet because he's never walked before. But maybe he just starts simple. Maybe he just says, I'm carrying the mat that I once laid on. I'm carrying the mat that I once—come on, a hundred people—I'm carrying the mat that I once laid on. I'm making this up, y'all. Y'all got to help me with this. And then the religious leaders are like, you can't do that, no, you're doing it wrong. And he's like, I'm carrying the mat that I once—come here, Davee—I'm carrying the mat that I once laid on. I'm carrying the mat where I used to lay. You can't do that on the Sabbath day. And then he points. The man over there has the final say. The man over there has the final say. The man Are there 3,000 people in Miami who are ready to leave this place different than you came? Well, if that's you, when I say three, you've got to—one, two, get up, three. I'm dancing on the grave. I'm dancing on the grave. Take up your mat. I'm dancing on the grave. Come on, Miami. You were right. I'm carrying the mat that I once laid on. I'm carrying the mat where I used to lay. The man over there has the final say. The man has the final say. Now, if you believe Jesus has the final say, give him a shout. Praise the Lord. I've been born again. And I won't be back. Goodbye, yesterday. Come

on, I'm being different. Because I've got to get up. Because he's calling me. Because he's done too much for me. And the God who never gave up on you, even though you were on that mat for 38 years, he saw every season of your life, and he never let you go. Don't you see it? That's why you're here. That's why you're breathing. You've got to get up.