Steven Furtick - Pressure Points (03/15/2018)
In 2 Corinthians 4, Paul openly shares being hard-pressed on every side yet not crushed, perplexed but not despairing, persecuted but not abandoned, struck down but not destroyed. Pastor Steven calls these "pressure points," revealing that intense pressure—mental, external, internal—exposes our fragility as clay jars while proving God's surpassing power within us, turning troubles into eternal glory when we point back to Him instead of pride.
Paul's Honest View Under Pressure
I want to continue to look at something from Paul's life this week, and I want to talk to you for a few moments about pressure points. This message is only if you've been experiencing some stress or maybe a considerable amount of uncertainty about some things or life has seemed a little too much for you. That's the only people that's going to bless today. So if you need to leave now, because that's not applicable to you, feel free. But the rest of us, we're going to go over to 2 Corinthians chapter 4.
I think I want to do verse 5. Yeah, I think I gave you verse 5. I was trying to decide how much to read. You understand that's the issue every week. It's all so good, and I want to eat it all, but I know you can only digest so much. And so I want to talk about pressure points, but let's kind of get into it here from 2 Corinthians 4 or 5, where Paul is talking to a church that he has authority and responsibility for.
He says, For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, Let the light shine out of darkness, made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of Clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard-pressed on every side, but not crushed, perplexed, but not in despair, persecuted, but not abandoned.
And then touch somebody and say, I'm not alone. I'm never alone. So if you want to roll up on me, you need to know before you start anything, I've got angels all around me. I've got a great God down deep. Get back to the Scripture, Furtick. Where was I? Yeah, not abandoned. Not abandoned, struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.
Go on to verse 16. Therefore, we do not lose heart, though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. I can tell we're going to have church today, because you won't even let me read my Scripture. Look how excited you are about the glory of God being revealed in your life.
So, last verse I'm going to read for now. So, we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. And you kind of get a different picture here of Paul than you got last week, because last week we were hearing Luke, who wrote the book of Acts, describe what Paul did. But this is not someone describing what Paul did. This is Paul describing how he felt, and the two are really different.
The two are really different, because sometimes someone can make something look so easy that you assume that it is. Make it look so effortless. Holly makes parenting look so effortless. And then every once in a while she leaves them with me for 35 minutes, so I can remember how much I need her in my life. But she just makes it look easy. Touch somebody and say, you make it look too easy. Sometimes I think you don't even need faith, because you just got it. And that makes me feel bad about myself, because I look at you and it looks easy. That's why I hate working out with Buck. It makes it look easy. Then I get under that same weight, and he got 12 of them, and I'm on number two, crushing my sternum.
Pressure Management and the Gift of Play
But since you asked me for some parenting advice, let me give you some parenting advice. Actually, it's kind of life advice. I don't think I ever told you, Holly, what Eric Farrell told me. Eric Farrell is a pastor in Virginia, and he… So I have a lot of ministry advice filed away in my mind, because I've been preparing for ministry since I was young, because I thought this is what I was supposed to do. So I took a lot of opportunities at a young age to ask people, Hey, tell me one piece of advice, if there's only one thing you could tell me, and da-da-da-da-da. So I was kind of trying to get ready for it and prepare for the pressure of ministry. Nothing can really prepare you for it, but maybe somebody can tell you something you can hold on to.
Well, Eric Farrell was kind enough. He invited me into his church. This was right around the time Elevation Church was starting. Elijah was a baby. I asked him, What do I need to know to make it? He's been in the same church for 30 years. I thought he could probably give me a little bit of insight on how to make it for the long term, which is the goal. He goes, and he's a real fast talker, real fast talker guy. He goes, Pressure management. It's all pressure management. You got to manage the pressure. You don't manage the pressure. You go off and, you know, ruin your life and manage pressure. You don't manage pressure. I said, How do you manage said pressure? He goes, play.
And I thought I heard him wrong because I heard play, but I thought, sure, he probably said, pray. That's what we tell you to do. Just pray about everything. It makes everything better when you pray. And I'm going to tell you, sometimes your mind is so scrambled that you can't even figure out what to pray. We don't talk about that. Just pray. But he didn't say pray. He said, play. He said, play. You got to play. He said, especially with your kids, he said, when your kids get a little older, when you get home, he said, this is what saved my life. This is what kept me from having an affair. This is what kept me from running off shooting one of the deacons. He said, every day when I got home, no matter how bad the day had been, I just got down on that floor and played with my kids. He said, so do that. He said, when you don't feel like it, do it. And five minutes into it, you feel like it.
And I took his advice. I play with my kids. I think that's really my only hobby in life is torture. I mean, playing with… Did I say that out loud? The most recent game that I made up… I'm going to do this with you, JT. So, I'm going to just sit there. I play games with them that involve pressure. Holly has to leave the room because these games can get aggressive. For different parts of their body, it all started with the calf muscle. Now, I'm going to tell you the names of these things. And I won't spend long because I know you came to hear a Bible study, but just so you can respect my creative parenting.
It started off with this move right there where I squeezed that calf. Now, Abby's calf muscle isn't quite like yours, but I squeezed that thing so tight. That's called… And I don't know why we call it this. I don't even remember how it started, but it's called the Alabama Cream Shaw. I don't know how… I don't know… Alabama Cream Shaw. Then me and the boys were going to Liberty University. So, that's in Lynchburg, Virginia. So, we've been at the Lynchburg leg squeeze. By the way, if you ever think about sitting in the front row at Valentine, you need to know this is like the splash zone at SeaWorld, and you're going to be willing to participate if you come up here. You feel that pressure? It feels good, doesn't it? We got the Pennsylvania poke. The Pittsburgh pinch. Whoa. There's some other ones I'm not going to do. I'm not going to do the Boston butt. Chicago shoulder right there. Right there. Feels kind of good.
So, here's what Graham always will do. Before I get started, he'll go, he'll go, wait a minute. What level are you going to do this on? What level? What level of pressure? Because I need to know before I submit myself. Have you ever wanted to ask God? Before I do this, before I trust you on this, what level of pressure is it going to involve? And the truth be told, if some of you would have known the level of pressure that came along with parenting, you would have stayed celibate. Because you prayed for the baby, but along with the baby came the pressure.
Write this down. With privilege comes pressure. And sometimes I see people who want certain privileges, but don't welcome the pressure that comes with the privilege. When we see Paul in 2 Corinthians, we are getting a picture of a minister and a man who is at that point. Have you ever been at that point of pressure where it feels like something is unraveling on the inside of you? I don't necessarily mean it's a clinical breakdown, but Paul is under pressure, he says, from every side.
Pressure from Every Side – But Not Crushed
Let's read it again in verse 8, because I think it describes something that maybe you've experienced. Maybe not on Paul's level, because there are levels to it, but one thing I have learned is that pressure is relative. So, when a 16-year-old gets their heart broken, they don't have the wisdom of experience to know that there will be others. And so, it really does feel like they want to die. And a lot of times you minimize other people's misery because you have graduated beyond that season. But if you could find the compassion to remember, there was a time when you, too, listened to Milli Vanilli Blame It on the Rain 17 times. Oh, just me? When Melissa Heidrick broke up with you. Oh, just me. There was a time when the pressure felt so great.
Paul said, we are hard-pressed on every side. And that means it was all of the areas at once. All at once. And I believe that the times in our life when we are able to pick our battles and focus our concentration… Generally, most of us are able to stand up under pressure if it is coming from one direction. It's when I can't find any relief on any side. Sometimes when I preach, I'll be preaching to one side, and then I'll turn to another side, and then I'll turn to another side to see, is this helping anybody? And if I can't find any love in the middle, on the right, on the left, sometimes I just turn around and look at LJ, because I pay him to look happy.
But Paul says, it was coming at us from every side. Now, understand what this means for Paul, because last week we were talking about Paul on an island called Malta, a little later in his ministry. And he's there as a prisoner, and he makes it through a shipwreck. And Luke gives us a picture of Paul that is kind of a heroic portrait, because Luke respected Paul so much. And he talks about how Paul got up and gave a motivational speech to the other prisoners about courage and faith in God, no matter the circumstance. And how Paul prayed and had a vision and then relayed that vision to the people to inspire their faith, because sometimes somebody is waiting on you to encourage them, to put courage in them that they don't have right now.
And so Paul did that. And then when Paul got to the shore, he gets bit by a snake. Remember, did anybody listen to the message? And watch how cool and calm and collected Paul was on the shore of Malta. The snake didn't even seem to bother him. He didn't rebuke the snake. He didn't cry out to God. He didn't, in the name of Jesus, plead the blood of Christ the Lamb. He just shook it off. So cool. Don't you admire people who are like that, by the way? Don't you hate people who are like that, by the way? Just people who never get rattled. Just people who nothing bothers them. Just people who shake stuff off.
And Luke is telling us, man, it was amazing. I was there. Paul just shook the snake off into the fire. It was amazing. And they thought he was going to die. And he didn't die. And he just stood there. And they thought he was going to swell up, but he didn't even say anything. And he just stood there. And then he went to Publius' house, and he started healing everybody. And it was amazing. And then Paul went to Rome, and he lived in a rented house for two years.
And Paul says, wait a minute. Wait a minute. It wasn't that easy on the inside, because what you saw was what I did, but you did not see the doubts that I had while I was doing it. You make it look so easy sometimes that nobody even knows that you need to be encouraged, because you just do that. You just do it. You just pay the bills. You just smile at people. You just dress well. You just walk strong and walk tall and walk proud. But on the inside, Paul said, I was so pressured. I couldn't find relief on the right, on the left, in the middle. I looked up. I looked down. I looked all around. I couldn't find a companion. I couldn't find a helper, but I didn't die at the pressure point. Pressured, but not crushed.
Pressure Makes Diamonds – But Also Dumb Decisions
So they have sayings that they put out to encourage you under pressure. We say that pressure makes diamonds. You ever heard that pressure makes diamonds? Raise your hand if you've heard pressure makes diamonds. Pressure does make diamonds, but it also makes dumb decisions. Hello. For real. Pressure does make diamonds, but it also makes divorces. Pressure does make diamonds, but it also can leave you the proud owner of the timeshare. Some of the things you do under pressure. Pressure.
I don't think God wants to prevent pressure in our lives, though. I think there's a point to the pressure. Maybe today you have come to that point. Paul describes it. He said in verse 10, we carry around in our body the death of Jesus. It means that I feel like I'm dying inside. That's the kind of pressure that Paul, snake shaker Paul, shipwreck survivor Paul, he says earlier in his ministry, he says, there was so much pressure. I thought I was dying. And he says that I was hard pressed on every side, but not crushed.
Now, I always heard people shout about that verse, but realize that it's not automatic. You know, when I read that verse, some people are like, yeah, hard pressed, but not crushed. But that verse suggests that pressure can't crush you. Oh, yeah. I've met so many people that let the pressure… I'm thinking of like I had a friend whose family had a recycling plant, and you'd see the cans just crushed into these cubes. I have seen people crushed into cubes and melded into a little bit of nothing and sent away and their dreams deferred and their hope crushed because of pressure.
So, before you shout, I'm pressed but not crushed, realize that if you don't know what to do with the pressure, it will crush you. If you don't know what to do with the snake, the poison will kill you. I'm pressed, Paul said, but I'm not crushed. I'm perplexed, that's mental pressure, but not in despair. I'm persecuted, that's pressure from other people, but not abandoned. I'm struck down but not destroyed.
Now I see a contrast. It is the contrast between what is pushing on Paul and what is pushing in Paul. Can I preach a little bit? I'm just kidding. So many times in my life. So many times in my life, the reason I noise I was overlapping pressure is because I was full of pride. He said, we have this power, this treasure in earthen vessels or vessels of Clay. An wax. And it's an extraordinary power. And so I'm an ordinary person with an extraordinary promise of the presence of God. But sometimes I get confused and I forget that I'm just the pot. I'm not the power.
And sometimes I get so burdened because I put the weight of the world on my shoulders and carry a cross that I'm not strong enough to carry that has already been carried for me. So I'm under pressure sometimes because I'm full of pride. And sometimes, not all the time, pressure comes into your life not because of what you're handling but because of how you're handling it. You forgot your source and you lose your strength. And pressure, pressure sometimes points to pride in your life. Thank you so much. God gave it to me. I can't preach anything God doesn't give to me. And God gave this to me. And you know what? I think that way is so much easier to preach.
Turning Pressure into Power – Point Back
I'm going to help you. I'm going to help you today. I saw it like this. I can't say it again, Mom. I don't even know what I said. I hope you wrote it down. My mom said, say it again. I can't. I don't know what I said. It just came out. But maybe I could illustrate. You know, I've been preaching a lot in the last year about the gap. I've been preaching this message really all over the country, all over the world, I guess, about the gap. And it's the gap between where I am and where I want to be, where I am. Where I used to be. And I've kind of been defining it. I think I'm going to keep preaching it because it continues to speak to me that there are two gaps in my life. One is for my gratitude and one is for my growth. Got it? One is how far I've come, look back, makes me grateful. Can't stay there too long though, because I got to grow or I die.
But this week I was seeing a different gap in my mind. Again, I'm not saying that all pressure is bad, but there is a type of pressure that is rooted in pride and manifest in performance. And this is it. This is the gap between who I think I need to be and who I believe I really am. Stay right there with me because when you think you need to be something that you secretly believe you are not, the pressure is crushing. When you secretly believe that you need to have an ability, that you need to have a strength, that when you secretly think… This is what I do all the time, okay? Therapy session. Bill me. Holly says, I do it. She says that I got it from my dad and he's not here anymore. She can't defend himself. So we talk about this genetic stuff all the time, but my mom is perfect. She's right over there in the front row.
Holly says, you got to quit drawing thought bubbles on other people. She says, you project expectations on people that they don't even have of you. And you disappoint imaginary expectations that don't even really exist. Can you believe my wife would talk to me like this? She didn't read that verse about submit, woman, that Bible verse. But she's right. She's right. I do it all the time. And then guess what I do? Because of the pressure, I start blowing up and exploding at people with frustration because of rejection of expectations that they didn't even have. I'm mad on the inside and I'm walking around with all this combustible pressure. What do you want from me? And people are like, nothing, man.
One time, um, I was getting up to preach. and when actually was when the podium comes up, we have some traditions here at Elevation Church that people come. My little pulpit comes out like right at a certain moment during a certain song. It's just little things we do because it has to get out here at some time. So we just put it out there right then. And they were carrying the pulpit out. And I felt this weird pressure to perform. And God spoke to me. When you were 16, did I call you to be a performer? And, uh, and the moment I realized that I was projecting an expectation that was not from the heart of God, the pressure left the building and I was free to preach. But it was right when that pulpit was coming out and they were doing the last song and Chris was hitting a high note and it was a pressure point. I wonder what it is for you. The Alabama Cremshaw, the Buffalo Bicep. I didn't show you that one. Pressure points. Those, those points, those, those, those things.
And I'm asking the question today, could it be that your pressure is trying to point you to a higher power? The enemy will always point to what you don't have, what you can't be, what you can't do. But when he does, point back. When pressure points, point back. I want you to point at your neighbor's face, put your finger right in front of their nose and tell them, you need this message. Tell them, point back. Point back.
I see Paul in second Corinthians defending himself against the Judaizers because they are questioning his credentials for ministry and they're pointing their finger in his face. Who do you think you are preaching that circumcision is of no avail and it is a new creation in Christ that counts? I see a church pointing their finger in the face of Paul, but what's what Paul does when they're pointing their finger? You know those things, those points, you know those things the devil uses to make you feel smaller than and less than and not enough for and never enough for and never gonna be and you never were and your mama wasn't and your daddy wasn't and you can't be either. When he points, point back.
I have this treasure in earth and vessels that the excellency of the power might be proven to be from God and not for me. That's how you turn pressure into power. Pressure into power. Pressure. Point at somebody say pressure into power. Pressure into power. So Paul says we were pressed but not crushed. Maybe he has in mind here the garden of Gethsemane. You know the place where the Savior knelt down. All alone but not abandoned. Struck down but not destroyed. Headed to the cross but the joy set before him enabled him to endure it. The Bible says he knelt down and prayed. He prayed so hard that he started sweating drops that were like blood. He prayed so long that his capillaries might have burst. He prayed so long with nobody around to relieve the pressure. But as he sweat came forth from the mouth of the living eternal word of God. Nevertheless not my will but yours be done. What happened? He turned pressure into power and he did it in a place called Gethsemane. Gethsemane means olive press and the world's greatest power came from the Savior's greatest. world's greatest power. It's going to be a perfect life. But you don't even know what you have until you're under pressure.
Pressure points. Pressure comes to call you out and to know, do you really trust God? The devil got up in God's face and said, let me put some pressure on Job and let's see what's really in him. Because you claim to be an orange, but you might be a lemon, and I won't know until I squeeze you. You might just be painted a certain color. Let me find out what's inside my pressure. Pressure proves whether you really believe the promise. So I want to read the scripture again. Pressure points. Paul has reached that point. Have you ever been at that point? Is Paul the only one? Are you more spiritual than Paul where nothing ever pressured you to the point where you wondered, would you make it?
So Paul says, the pressure came. verse seven. to show, to reveal, to point out. that this power, this all-surpassing power, this great power that raised Christ from the grave can only be proven after the pressure. is applied. So the pressure shows me. that it's not about me. You know how they say God will never put more on you than you can bear? That's not true. That is a Bible verse, but it's out of context. It's talking about temptation. It's talking about how God is not the author of evil. Okay, so, but they can't fit all that on a bumper sticker, so they just put God won't put on any more on you than you can bear. It sounds better on Pinterest, but that's not what the verse means. God will most certainly. put more on you than you can bear. So you will realize that you were not meant to bear it. So you can access. the supply. that was yours all along.
You've been under pressure? Good. The pressure came to show you where your power came from. No pressure. No pressure. No pressure. If you're not under pressure, you're only going to have the power that you have. But the pressure came to show you power and provision that you could not have accessed any other way. How many are getting something out of this? Make some noise. He says, Therefore, verse 16, because we know that pressure produces power, because we know that what is coming at me is not greater than what lives within me. Because we know that... Somebody say, I already know. I already... Pressure. I already... Pressure. Pre-sure. Because I am pre-sure. God said, you've got to fight pressure with pre-sure. You've got to know some things so deeply in your. .. Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly, it doesn't look very good. We are wasting away. I'm not crushed. Yet inwardly, I've got something on the inside greater than whatever surrounds me on the outside. We are being renewed day by day for our light and momentary pressure, troubles, trials, teenagers, bills, aches, pains.
I'm not going to lie. Some people here are under horrendous pressure. I'm not minimizing it. I'm just saying. that a certainty of what I'm about to share with you next that Paul. .. This is what Paul knew that he could only learn under pressure. He said, I've learned because of what I've been through and I've learned because of what God has done for me. I have learned that my light and momentary troubles are achieving for me an eternal glory. So, the pressure that I'm under right now is pointing to a glory that is going to be so much greater. How many believe the glory. that is on the other side. is going to be so much greater? What God is doing through my life in this season of pressure, I'm going to be stronger. I'm going to be stable. I'm going to be steady. Next time, I'll know how to shake it off. Next time, I'll know how to walk right through it. Next time, I'll know how to spend the night in the fiery furnace and come out without the smell of smoke on my clothes.
Who is this for? You've been under pressure. Your pressure has been pointing to your end. But God says, I'm pointing to glory. for the joy set before it. endured the cross. despising his shame. The glory. of the Lord. is released and the power of God is released through the pressure. I'm telling you right now, I know what it feels like to feel like there's no way out. I know what it feels like to feel like there's no way of escape. But when you can't find a way out, that's when God makes a way in. He's coming in to spend the night with you. He's right there with you in the pressure. I'm preaching And I'm pointing toward glory. I'm pointing toward glory. The enemy will point toward your shame, your failure, your weakness. Paul said, I'm pointing to glory. I'm pointing to glory.
Come on, let's practice. When you get under pressure this week, what you're going to do? We have this treasure in earthen vessels. See, and that's what the promise of God and the presence of God does in my life. It does what they learned how to do to the airplane, because if they didn't learn how to pressurize the cabin of the airplane, we couldn't make it to 30,000 feet. Because our bodies were designed to breathe at sea level, but our minds conceived something that could fly in an atmosphere that we could not retain consciousness in. And that's why the cabin had to be pressurized. Why I come to the word of God is to pressurize. my spirit with the promises of God, because I have this treasure in earthen vessels, and the pressure is too great for me, and my humanity cannot bear the weight of the glory of God, because I'm made of dust, and to the dust I will return. And I am weak, and I am poor, and I am broken, and without him I can do nothing.
But when I get my spirit pressurized, touch somebody, say I'm pressurized, when I get into the presence of God, and I am reminded that these light and momentary afflictions are not worthy to be compared with the glory. I can go higher. And Paul said, I made it through it, because I got above it. Amen. Lift your hands in the presence of the Lord. On your feet now, for everybody who's under pressure, this message came to you just at this time to reveal to you what the pressure is for to show that this all-surpassing power, power that raised Christ from the dead, power that spoke the world into existence, power that makes winds and waves still with one word. This all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.
Are you at the point where you realize that you can't carry the weight of your calling? Are you at the point where you realize that you don't have the wisdom you need to guide your life by your own intuition and decisions? Have you come to that point where on the right and on the left, to the north and to the south, all you see is pressure all around you? The word of the Lord this day is that what is within you is greater than what's around you. God brought you into his presence this day. to pressurize your resolve with the promises of God. Lift your hands to heaven. See, that's how we point back. When the Enemy is pointing at everything that I'm not, I lift my hands to point to all that God is.
Don't say, come on. Pray specifically for someone who has never surrendered their life to you. Someone who has never made the decision to give you complete control. Someone who has been carrying the weight and the shame of their sin and never received your grace. Heads bowed, eyes closed. The Spirit of the Lord is in this place. I want to pray a prayer right now for those who are far away from God in your heart today. The truth of the matter is he's never far from you. He's never far from you. And his presence is in this place. And he longs to live inside of you. And he longs to roll away the burden that you've been carrying.
All that is required for you to access this grace and forgiveness and new beginning is faith. That's it. Scripture says that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. So I want to give you that opportunity right now. You see, I've been living my life on my own terms. I've been carrying the weight of my life on my own. And right now I want to invite God to be the center of my life and receive the mercy of Jesus Christ. I want to pray with you. We're going to pray as a church family out loud for the benefit of those who are coming to God at all of our campuses. Let's pray out loud. Heavenly Father, I come to you a sinner in need of a Savior. And today I confess that Jesus Christ is my Savior and Lord. I believe he died to forgive my sin and Rose again to give me life. I receive this new life. Come into my heart. Make me new. This is my new beginning.
Head still bowed, eyes still closed. If you just prayed that on the count of three, shoot your hand up in the air. One, two, three. I want to celebrate with you. I see you, man. I see you guys on every location. God bless you. God bless you. Come on, let's celebrate, church. Put those hands together. Give God some praise for what he's doing in this place. For his great grace. For his awesome love. For his great grace. For his awesome love. Come on, sing something, team. Let's celebrate the presence of God. You see me. You see me.