Dealing With Rejection by Apostle Johnson Suleman: Sermon Notes

Dealing with Rejection

Our text is Luke 14:16-24.

Rejection is to be hated. Rejection is to be ignored. Rejection is to be intentionally relegated. Rejection is to be abandoned. Rejection is to be dishonored. Rejection is to be disrespected. Rejection is to be undervalued. Rejection is when honor is dripping from a man's life. Rejection is when a person who is supposed to be esteemed is demeaned. Rejection is when a person who is supposed to be celebrated is tolerated.

Every trace of rejection in your life will be ripped apart. Every trace of rejection in your family life will be taken away. Every trace of rejection in whatever you do will be torn to shreds in the name of Jesus.

A Man Who Prepared a Feast

A man had a feast. He told all his friends: I have a celebration. They agreed on a date. He prepared — the caterer, the decorations, everything made beautiful. One night before the event, he reached out to them. At that same time they came up with excuses.

One said: I just bought a land I have not seen. Another said: I just married a wife. I don't know who marries a wife without knowing the wife. The other said: I bought a yoke of oxen — let me go and check if they are alive.

Sometime when God wants to bring you into a season, he will allow some people to make mistakes. Those who were outside were not aware there was a celebration going on. But God had to make someone make mistakes so that those who were not prepared or qualified could get into the season. There are things you didn't prepare for, things you never expected. But God is about to knock off something so that you can be favored, so that you can be remembered.

Blessed to Be a Blessing

The man had a feast and decided to share. Success without the ability to share is failure in disguise. Success you eat alone is failure. If nobody benefits from your success, then you are a failure. God said to Abraham in Genesis 12:2: "I will bless you and I will make you a blessing." You are not truly blessed until you have become a blessing. You are not truly lifted until you have become a blessing. Until God can reach out to someone through your life.

Poverty is not bankruptcy of money — it is bankruptcy of thinking. The rich think about people. The poor think about themselves. There are many poor people with lots of money because it takes a successful mind to have a successful hand.

Begin to tell God: don't just bless me for myself — bless me for my generation, my children, my nation, my relatives, my hometown. Let everyone who comes in contact with me become a partaker of that blessing. Make me an extension of your hand, your prosperity, your lifting, your provision. You are not truly rich until you reach people. You are not truly blessed until you bless people.

Three Things That Fight Celebration

There were three major things those people cited that fought that man's celebration:

1. Foundations and Patterns

   The first said, "I got a piece of land." Somebody say: foundations. Somebody say: altars. I have been privileged to preach in over 130 nations. In every nation, one thing I have seen is called foundations. There are people suffering from what their mother went through. The life they are living is the life their mother lived — caught a man, had a child, the man walked away. It happened to their mother, now it is happening to them, now it is happening to their children. The same pattern is called foundation, it is called altars. It is a spirit that wants you to continue living that kind of life. There are families where people get to a particular age and die. It is a pattern. So the young man grows to that age and dies. No — it is not normal. It is a spirit. A foundation was resisting that man's celebration.

2. Missing Helpers

   The next man said, "I married a wife." A wife — a piece of helpers. When the devil wants to hinder your celebration, he takes away your helpers. There are things you need in life that even if you work for ten years, you cannot get them. God needs to bring a helper into your life. There are dreams, desires, and visions you have — God can bring one person who can pay for it all. It takes a helper. God said to Adam: it is not good for you to be alone. I will give you a helpmate. Constantly pray: Oh God, send me a helper. Every helper of my life — every man, whether in government, the presidency, ministers, anyone you want to use to help me — God, bring them to my life. Let my helpers come.

3. Lack of Motion

   The last said: I bought a yoke of oxen. That is mobility, advancement, movement. When the devil wants to ruin the celebration, people stop moving. Every year the only thing that changes in their life is their age. It is transition without motion. It is celebration without acceleration. No advancement, no increase. Life is static. God wants you to move. When they saw the Red Sea, God said — not stand still — but move forward. When you move forward, the Egyptians you see today you shall see no more. When you move forward, the pain you see today you shall see no more. The rejection you see today you shall see no more.

Rejection Is Spiritual

All their excuses didn't make sense. You discover that people who reject you without cause — they came together in one consent. Rejection number one is spiritual. To be hated is not normal. For people to suddenly rise up against you is not normal. There is something that needs to be corrected. The devil amplifies error and simplifies effort. He amplifies your error. He simplifies your good behavior and amplifies that which he considers wrong.

There are things government will not give you. No matter how good the nation is, you won't get it. It takes the power of God, the anointing of God. Night oppression cannot be stopped by the army. It can't be stopped. It takes spiritual to handle spiritual. Romans 8:9: for he that has not the spirit of Christ is not of him. It takes the spirit of God to handle things beyond your explanation, beyond your comprehension.

It Takes Aggression to Terminate Rejection

It takes aggression to terminate rejection. You must get to a point where you are angry in your spirit. You look at your life and say: no. This life can be better than this. There is greatness inside of me that is being restricted. You get angry and say: in the name of Jesus, anything restricting my life, my destiny, my advancement, my progression — I refuse to allow this.

God has given you authority. But you need weapons — prayer, speaking in tongues. That is your bullet. That is your gun. That is your bomb. God gave you these to say to the devil: Satan, you have gone too far. You will go no further. You are not created to survive — you are created to arrive.

God Has a Plan B

After all that, the man said: you are not coming? Then go to the streets, the byways, the highways, the edges — bring in people.

I serve a God who has a plan B. You thought you broke my heart — God has a plan B. If a man walks out of your life, don't cry. If there is first John, there is second John. If there is first Peter, there is second Peter. If there is first Timothy, there is second Timothy.

God has an alternative. God has a better plan. Jeremiah 29:11: I know the thoughts I think towards you — thoughts of peace, not of evil, to give you an expected end. There is an expected end that God has for your life. Don't weep when you see pains and rejection — God has a plan.

Job 19:25: I know my redeemer liveth. Even if in this flesh he destroys me, yet in my heart I will see God. This is not the end of your life. There is another plan. God has a master plan. God has an alternative.

When the devil was taking out eight children from one family, he did not know that God was adding everything those eight were supposed to fulfill to the destiny of one. That one has put a crown on the mother's head. The devil doesn't have the last say. God is the author and the finisher. Satan is not a finisher — he can come in between, but he is not a finisher. God is the first and the last. Satan is not the last. Your problems may be lasting, but they are not everlasting. Your battles may be high, but they are not the Most High.

Father, every gate of hell barricating anyone from the place of their destiny — let it be broken today. Send helpers. Bring us into our season. In the name of Jesus. Amen.