Empowered For Motion by Apostle Johnson Suleman: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

God Identifies with the Idle

Matthew 20:6-7 — "And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and said unto them, 'Why stand ye here all the day idle?' They said unto them, 'Because no man hath hired us.' He said unto them, 'Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right shall ye receive.'" These were men with nothing tied to their names. Their lives were a mess. They had been on one spot for a while.

What is beautiful is this: even when there is nothing working, He still identifies with you. Even when things look scattered, He identifies with you. Even when people have turned their backs on you, He identifies with you. There are carriers and there are towing vans — and God comes as the One who has come with an anointing to move you.

Powers That Keep Men Motionless

Exodus 14:3 — "Pharaoh said, 'They would say that the wilderness has shut them in.'" One of the primary things that keeps people stagnant is powers that shut men in. They close you. They make your life silent — no event, no effect. You are not sick, you are not incapacitated, but nothing is being heard about you. The enemy's goal is to keep you on one spot until time expires.

Another force is progressive delay — the kind Paul described when he said he was hindered. Acts 1:6-8 — the disciples wanted to know when God would restore the kingdom. Jesus answered, "It is not for you to know the times and the seasons, but you shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you." If you want a change of times, a change of seasons, you need power. It takes power to initiate times and seasons. If you have been on one trajectory for a long time and want a change, you must engage in the spirit.

The enemy does not fight the territory — he fights the person. He does not come at your surroundings; he comes at your mind. One of the reasons people refuse to move is self-comparison with those around them. "At least I am better than this person." But comparison should only be made with God's blueprint for your life — His predestined purpose, His predestined intention. Not with colleagues, not with friends, not with environment.

The Bible Is the Script of Your Future

This book — the scripture — is not a religious prop. It is a script. Have you seen movie stars being handed scripts? They act the script, and it becomes their most defining role. That is what this is. That is why it is called scripture — the script of your future. The most you can do is empower it or fail to.

Exodus 3:2-4 — Moses saw a bush burning without being consumed. He said to himself, "I will turn aside to see why the bush is not consumed." God kept quiet. But the Bible says when the Lord saw that he turned, He called him. God watched first. The turning was the trigger. Revelation without action is charismatic affliction. You can have a word, a prophecy, a release from God — but if you do not act on it, it remains dormant. The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life — and the Spirit gives life when you act. There is no motion without action.

Prophetic Timing and the Danger of Its Mismanagement

The problem of King Saul was not caused by Saul alone — it was complicated by Samuel. 1 Samuel 13:8-14 — the people gathered waiting for Samuel. They waited seven days. Samuel did not show up. At that point, with the army beginning to scatter, Saul made sacrifices himself. The moment Saul made an end of the offering, Samuel appeared — and rejected him. "Thou hast done foolishly... the Lord hath sought him a man after His own heart."

Saul waited the full seven days. It was the morning of that same day he made the offering. And Samuel came at what could have been noon. The tragedy of Saul's story is the story of a man who was almost faithful enough — but not quite. A strange spirit entered Saul afterward, because when you lose the anointing through disobedience, something fills the vacuum. Be very careful with divine timing. Do not rush it and do not presume upon it.

Your Condition Is Not Your Conclusion

Ruth 3:13 and Ruth 4:1-6 — Boaz was not the first kinsman redeemer appointed for Ruth. There was a man nearer in line. When Boaz laid out the proposal, the man initially agreed to redeem Naomi's land — but when he heard he would also have to marry Ruth, he said he could not, lest he "mar" his own inheritance. The word he used — "mar" — means to mutilate, to corrupt, to make a stigma. Who was he calling a stigma? Ruth. The great-grandmother of King David. The great-great-grandmother of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Obed was born to Ruth and Boaz. Obed gave birth to Jesse. Jesse gave birth to David. And from the tribe of David, Jesus came. The idiot who called her a stigma was one inheritance decision away from being in the genealogy of God. Your condition is not your conclusion. Men may describe you, but they cannot define you.

Those Wise Men in Matthew 2 who traveled to find the Christ child — the Bible calls them wise. What was wise about astrologers from the East? They saw something in nothing. They saw a child in a manger. And they aligned. Men who see something in nothing are considered wise.

Faith, Hope, and the God of the 11th Hour

When battles are few, a man has faith. When battles increase, faith can fail — that is why Jesus prayed for Peter: "I have prayed for you, that thy faith fail not." When battles multiply beyond what hope can hold, you are left standing on one thing: charity — the love of God. Not praying for things to change, just saying, "Lord, You know. I am in Your hands. Anyhow You want to move, I trust You." The greatest of the three is love, because love never fails.

There is a God of the eleventh hour. He knows how to take the enemy by surprise. He knows how to make those who planned evil against you feel embarrassed. They said to them, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" The progenitor of the Nazarenes was Samson — a wasted life. Nothing came out of him. But Jesus of Nazareth came out and was distributing goodness everywhere He went. What they said could not come out — He came out and distributed it.

What they said nothing good can happen about — you will not just come out, you will distribute favour. You will distribute goodness. You will distribute wealth. You will distribute lifting.