Participants:
Series Code: TDYFW
Program Code: TDYFW018013A
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00:01 I want to spend my life
00:07 Mending broken people 00:12 I want to spend my life 00:19 Removing pain 00:24 Lord, let my words 00:30 Heal a heart that hurts 00:34 I want to spend my life 00:40 Mending broken people 00:46 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people 01:10 Hello, happy Sabbath, 01:12 and welcome to 3ABN's Family Worship. 01:15 I am Chris Shelton, and I am here with my husband, 01:17 Pastor Kenny Shelton, 01:19 and a couple other people around the table. 01:21 In fact, I feel a little bit like a minority here, you know. 01:25 I didn't realize both the wives were going to be gone. 01:28 That's all right. That's all right. 01:30 Before we get too much further, 01:32 I might as well just introduce them 01:33 since I'm talking about them already. 01:35 To our right is Pastor CA Murray. 01:38 I know you're no stranger to these folks 01:41 that are watching us here tonight. 01:42 You wear many hats. 01:44 You've been at 3ABN for a long, long time 01:46 and done an awful lot, still blesses my heart. 01:49 Even your commercials bless me. Yeah. 01:50 Yeah. Praise the Lord. 01:53 And we count you as certainly as a friend. 01:55 Absolutely. Amen and amen. 01:56 The loved one, the brother in Christ, 01:58 and it's just always a blessing, 01:59 and we feel like someone we could count on. 02:01 We need counsel, we need encouragement, 02:03 you know, we feel like we can go to you, 02:05 and so we're very grateful and thankful 02:06 for that relationship. 02:08 Thank you. Very much so. 02:10 Praise the Lord. That is true. 02:11 I mean, all you have to do is hear one of his greetings 02:13 and you feel encouraged. 02:14 And same with brother JD. 02:17 JD Quinn, same thing, he is my buddy, my pal. 02:22 He has just been such an encouragement to me. 02:24 He and his wife, Shelley, are so loving and so caring, 02:28 and you do the same. 02:29 I know you worked in different facets here at 3ABN. 02:32 You work primarily in pastoral sector. 02:34 That's true. That's exactly right. 02:36 You know, one thing I'll just think it, boy, 02:38 doesn't CA have the best smile. 02:40 Yeah. Amen. 02:41 That's it. And so do you. 02:43 Come on, you do too. 02:44 It's encouraging. Well, I don't know. 02:45 I don't watch myself smiling very much, 02:47 but I just noticed CA just kind of... 02:50 You know what? 02:52 I think it's because of who lives in your heart. 02:54 Oh, yes. 02:56 You know, you can see 02:57 the difference in people's eyes, 02:59 in their countenance when Jesus is in the heart, 03:02 and it has to affect us. 03:03 If you ever happened to be just a little bit, 03:06 we don't like to sit down, right? 03:07 We should be always up in Christ, but if you are... 03:10 You meet these two gentlemen and their wives, 03:12 you see, they've got that smile, 03:13 and it's infectious, and it lifts up your spirits. 03:17 And so we love to be around individuals like that 03:19 that have the spirit of God living in them. 03:20 So we give Him the praise and honor. 03:23 Okay. Certain to glory, yes, okay. 03:24 That's right. 03:25 Well, tonight we're actually going to continue a study 03:28 that we thought was just going to be one program, 03:31 and it's entitled "Angels, Armor, and Promises". 03:34 And now we are on Part 4 03:37 of "Angels, Armor, and Promises." 03:39 In fact, I've even thought, 03:41 "Will that make a good name for a program? 03:43 It'd would be a good book?" 03:45 "Cause it just keeps going and going and going. 03:48 It's been such a... It's a 20-part study. 03:49 Oh, it's been a blessing. 03:51 It really has been a blessing. 03:54 She started reading these here about the promises. 03:57 She looked at me and said, "I tell you, 03:58 we may have to do two parts on this one." 04:00 I think she's right. 04:02 At least. At least. 04:03 Anyway, we're glad that they joined us. 04:05 Praise God, we're glad, you get a pencil and paper 04:06 and just write some of these things down, 04:08 we'll move quickly I'm sure. 04:10 And this evening, we're going to talk about 04:12 claim God's promises while praising Him. 04:14 Let me read just one... 04:16 We just going to have prayer, Honey. 04:17 You want to do it before prayer, okay. 04:19 Let me read one passage, and then you can have prayer, okay? 04:20 Okay, sure, yes. 04:21 This is found in 2 Peter 1:4. 04:23 2 Peter 1:4, "Whereby are given unto us 04:29 exceeding great and precious..." 04:33 What kind of promises? Precious. 04:34 "Great and precious." I love that. 04:37 I had to stop and read it to myself 04:39 even at home two or three times. 04:41 "That by these, ye might be partakers..." 04:44 I love this part. 04:45 "Of divine nature, having escaped the corruption 04:49 that is in the world through lust." 04:51 That's what this is all about. Amen. 04:54 Is obtaining that divine nature through Jesus Christ. 04:57 So, Pastor, would you lead us off in prayer please? 05:00 Sure. Let's pray together. 05:01 And you at home, pray with us please. 05:04 Merciful Father in heaven, again, we come to Thee, 05:05 we thank Thee for the beginning and the edges of the Sabbath. 05:09 Just thank You for that special time 05:10 that You've given to us. 05:11 And we're thankful that You said 05:13 the Sabbath was made for man 05:14 and not man for the Sabbath. 05:15 Lord, bless, we pray, as we fellowship together, 05:18 as we open the beautiful pages of this book called the Bible, 05:22 realized, inspired, holy men of God were inspired. 05:25 They wrote these things down, 05:26 some message that You've left 05:28 for Your people here in these last days 05:30 and so important that we take time to study. 05:33 So as we open the pages 05:35 and we look at some of the promises tonight, 05:37 Lord, these things have encouraged us in time 05:39 when they seemed like there was no way out. 05:41 Open the Bible, claim the promise of God, 05:44 and You were always there. 05:45 So we pray now as the Holy Spirit 05:48 descends upon each and every one of us. 05:50 Those who at home, those who may be discouraged, 05:52 those who are going through may be grief, 05:55 they find there's no way out, they don't know what to do, 05:57 maybe tonight, we pray by the power of the Holy Spirit. 06:00 A word will be said in due season 06:03 that the ears will be opened that each one may hear 06:05 and say this is what I need to do. 06:08 Bless us now, we pray, give us heavenly wisdom, 06:10 may we hear the spirit speak to us too, 06:12 in Jesus' name we pray and for His sake, amen. 06:14 Amen. That's a promise in itself, is it not? 06:16 That is true. 06:18 It's a wonderful promise. It certainly is. 06:19 I'm sure we'll talk about that. Yes. 06:21 Let's jump back to 2 Peter 1:4. 06:25 We read just a moment ago that God has left us 06:28 with exceeding great and precious promises. 06:32 The problem is most of us 06:34 don't realize that the promises are there. 06:37 And we haven't learned how to claim those promises, 06:41 that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature. 06:44 I love that. 06:45 And I know we probably all have our own precious promises. 06:49 We have a kind of a guide here. 06:52 But I remember the first time, just to kind of give an idea 06:56 that I learned about a promise in scripture. 06:59 Oh. I had been... 07:01 As a young child... 07:03 In school, we were doing things 07:05 that we didn't realize would invite the wrong spirit in. 07:09 You know, we did things where you would get down 07:12 and say a certain words 07:13 and lift kids up by your fingers. 07:15 And I had a girl that I went to school with 07:18 and her mother had a crystal ball 07:20 and I'd stay all night with her. 07:23 And, of course, my mother didn't realized all this stuff. 07:25 So I finally told her, you know, and she let me know, 07:28 "Don't have anything to do with that whatsoever." 07:30 So I didn't anymore. 07:32 But even as a teenager, I would get like premonitions. 07:37 Let's say we were going to have a science test, 07:40 I just had a feeling we wouldn't do it, 07:42 I wouldn't study, you know. 07:44 And it was that strong, and it would happen. 07:47 My father, my real biological father, 07:49 he was supposed to pick my brother and I 07:51 up to go North Carolina, 07:53 I was 18 at that time, and I just kept thinking, 07:56 "I'm not going to see him." 07:58 I took my time packing, 08:00 and I just felt the whole time... 08:02 I was never really done 08:04 by the time he was supposed to be there, 08:05 and he didn't show up. 08:06 He was killed in a car accident. 08:08 But there was a lady. 08:10 Alias, she was a teacher down at Oakwood University. 08:14 Is it university? It was college back then I think. 08:16 And Francis Bliss, I love Francis Bliss, 08:20 she was my Sabbath school teacher for a while, 08:22 and I used to listen to her, 08:24 and the way she would present Jesus, 08:26 it just drew me in in so many ways. 08:29 And I told her what was happening 08:31 and that sometimes you'd hear water turn on 08:34 or people going down steps 08:36 and, you know, different things like that. 08:38 And she told me... She gave me a promise. 08:40 She says, "I want you to memorize Psalms 34:7." 08:44 And I still pray that promise today. 08:47 "That the angel of the Lord encampeth round about them 08:50 that fear Him and delivereth them." 08:54 And many times, God has answered that prayer 08:58 because I claim it, you know. 09:01 I'm sure many of you have had the same thing happened to you. 09:05 In our last... 09:06 I think it was our last program on this, Sister Mollie said, 09:10 "You know, it would be better if we just learn to claim 09:13 and live by one or two verses 09:16 than to maybe know a whole bunch 09:17 and not claim them." 09:18 There's power in God's Word 09:20 if we begin to use it as He wants us to use it. 09:23 So, guys, help me out here. 09:25 You know, I remember in looking at 2 Peter 1:4, 09:30 it picks up "Whereby we are given to us 09:34 exceedingly greater and precious promises." 09:36 My New King James says "by which." 09:39 So the thing you want to ask yourself is, "Well, by what?" 09:41 You know, when you got a whereby, 09:43 you got to have a thereby and from there, 09:45 you know, that kind of thing. 09:46 So if you go back to the beginning, 09:49 a little closer to the beginning in Paul. 09:54 Read into Peter, "Grace and peace be multiplied to you 09:58 in the knowledge of God 10:00 and of our Lord and of Jesus, our Lord, 10:02 as His divine power has given us all things 10:06 that pertain to life and godliness 10:09 through the knowledge of Him 10:11 who has called us by glory and virtue 10:15 whereby we are given great promises." 10:18 Well... Yes. 10:20 What he's saying is that, 10:22 everything you need to serve the Lord is available to you. 10:26 Yes. Amen. 10:27 And, those are the basis of those promises 10:31 that grace and peace... 10:33 He's saying, "May grace and peace be multiplied to you 10:35 in the knowledge of God and our Lord, Jesus Christ, 10:39 as His divine power has given us all things 10:42 that pertained to life and godliness." 10:44 So that Christ, he is saying, 10:46 has provided for you everything you need for salvation. 10:50 Yes. Amen. 10:52 Whereby those things are great promises to you. 10:55 They are there, but the thing is, 10:57 you got to be in the Word to know 10:58 even what those promises are. 11:00 You know, you've got... 11:02 It's like you got money in the bank and you got no pin. 11:04 You know, you can't access it 11:06 because you don't know your pin. 11:07 Well, those promises are there, 11:09 but you've got a lot of people walking around 11:11 living like hobos who are really very wealthy, 11:14 but they don't know it. 11:15 The promises are there, 11:17 they are great and precious promises. 11:21 But if you are not in the Word, you got cash, 11:24 you don't even know you have, you know. 11:26 So you got to be in the Word 11:27 so that you can access those promises 11:29 that will make your life so much better. 11:31 So what excuses then do we have if every opportunity, 11:34 every privilege is ours, every promise is ours? 11:37 Someone has said, 30,000... 11:40 I mean, 3,000 or 3,500 promises right in the Word of God, 11:44 different ones have estimated. 11:45 That's a lot of promises. Yeah. 11:46 Every one of those is ours that we can claim 11:51 and God will fulfill that. 11:53 So I kind of like to stand without excuse 11:55 when He's promised all of heaven 11:57 and said all these promises are mine. 11:59 Precisely. Yeah, to go off the road. 12:01 And the person that's suffering is you. 12:03 You know, it's like you've got that money in the bank, 12:05 and you're running around begging for nickels and dimes, 12:08 and you got a whole bank account 12:09 and just don't have a pin number, you know. 12:11 Find your pin. Amen. 12:12 It's there. It's there. 12:14 And as CD Brooks say... 12:15 Oh, no, Charles Bradford, he used to say, 12:17 "Write some checks." 12:18 He said, "They're not going to bounce." 12:20 He said, "Just start beginning to write. 12:21 Why are you living like a bum? 12:23 Just write some checks, you know." 12:24 Amen. Not going to bounce. 12:26 Write some checks and cash them. 12:28 That is so exciting the way you put that 12:30 because I can remember being in another church years ago, 12:34 it's an Adventist Church, 12:35 better than the another one that... 12:36 Rather than the one I go to now. 12:39 And being on the church board, being on the school board, 12:42 many times there would be, 12:43 you know, problems that would come up. 12:45 And time after time after time, they'd be looking at, 12:49 you know, what is this school district doing? 12:53 How are they solving that problem? 12:55 Or if you had something in the church, 12:56 well, what did they do?" 12:57 Well, maybe we need to talk to this person, 12:59 he's got a doctorate 13:01 or this person that's got a master's degree or... 13:03 You know what I'm saying? 13:05 And when I came, I'll be honest, 13:07 when I came to Behold the Lamb, many years ago, 13:11 on those board there, if there was a problem, 13:14 we didn't go outside of the church, 13:16 we went to the bank, 13:18 we started drawing money out of the bank. 13:21 And that's when you begin to see 13:23 the power of God at work. 13:25 It was beautiful, I love it, I love it. 13:27 So we need to be studying every single day, right? 13:30 Every single day. Yeah. 13:31 'Cause we're going to talk about these promises 13:33 are on condition 13:35 I think before this is over with. 13:36 You know what, I was reading in this, 13:38 I was reading in the Commentary and following... 13:41 When we're talking about having escaped, 13:43 having the money in the bank, CA, it brought this thing up. 13:46 And this is what the Commentary were saying, 13:48 "That we are not saved in sin, 13:52 but we are given the power to turn from sin and flee." 13:56 Amen. 13:57 So we take that first step, 13:59 we decide that I'm sick 14:01 and tired of being sick and tired 14:03 in what I'm doing, so, consequently, 14:06 then I step away from it. 14:09 Now it's kind of like the Lord is behind me 14:13 with His wind and He's blowing me from it. 14:15 And then if I... 14:16 As long as I'm going from it 14:18 or I've taken my position from it, 14:21 well, then, He continues to enable me to stay from it... 14:24 Amen. 14:26 Rather than to go back to it, and then turn around 14:30 and, you know, get caught back into that trap again. 14:34 So, you know, having escaped the corruption 14:36 that is in the world through lust, 14:38 you know, please... 14:40 And then He tells us in Philippians 4:13 14:43 that "I will empower you, 14:45 I'll infuse my inner strength into you 14:48 to be able to be successful." 14:52 Amen Isn't that beautiful? 14:54 You know, one of our favorite passage is just a small, 14:58 let's say, one liner that is in John 6:37, 15:01 it just simply says, 15:03 "Him that cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out." 15:07 I mean, think about a promise. 15:08 "Him that cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out." 15:12 And in the Ministry of Healing, 65, 15:14 it makes a little comment 15:15 I thought on this passage was good. 15:17 This should really encourage all of us and strengthen us. 15:20 If you've been in the church for 50 years or maybe, 15:23 you know, five minutes, this is encouragement. 15:25 It says, "As you come to Him..." 15:27 This is part of the promises. 15:29 We come to Him. We come to Him. 15:31 "Believe that He accepts you," number one. 15:34 "Believe He has promised, 15:37 You can never perish while you do this." 15:40 Never. 15:41 That's quite a quote from Spirit of Prophecy. 15:44 As long as we do this, you will never perish, never. 15:49 Wow. 15:51 And that's what we're all looking 15:52 for is eternal life, right? 15:54 Not to go in the wrong direction here, but simply... 15:55 What does it say? 15:57 "Come to Him," and He says, 15:58 "I'm not going to cast you out." 16:00 Well, we realized there's conditions, 16:01 and we'll discuss things as go. 16:02 But the first thing I guess, to me, is, "We come to Him." 16:06 Well, and it says here, and it says here. 16:08 We'll go back to what we're talking about 2 Peter 1:4, 16:11 "That by these, you might 16:12 be partakers of the divine nature," 16:14 and that's exactly what you're talking about right here. 16:17 And the divine nature is not going to have sin in it. 16:20 And that's why so many, so many of you at home 16:23 may be struggling and you feel hopeless. 16:25 I don't know about you guys who are on the table, 16:27 but I've had my moments of despair. 16:29 I mean, literally, I have wanted to indent. 16:33 I wanted to drive off a bridge, I wanted to do something, 16:36 but it would be my children, 16:38 my children that would hold me back, 16:40 and I would think who's going to take care of them, 16:42 who's going to help them? 16:44 And I would spend... 16:45 I've spent many of days, many an hour in prayer. 16:49 Amen. 16:50 And by God's grace, He didn't give up on me. 16:52 Amen. Thank you for His grace. 16:54 You know, you speak of promises, 16:56 the number of people who have been 16:57 moved by Satan in their own lives. 16:59 I mean, that number is high. Yes. 17:01 It's very, very high. Yes. 17:02 Because, you know, the Lord never sleeps, 17:04 never slumbers and neither does the devil. 17:06 And he studies you, and Ellen White says that 17:10 "Depression is discouragement is the tool of the devil." 17:14 The Lord never sends that. 17:15 That's right. You know, and see... 17:16 If you're not, studying the Word 17:19 and imbibing the Word, you don't even know. 17:22 You think that's something coming from within, 17:24 that's something from without 17:25 that the devil is dropping on you, 17:27 putting in your spirit, 17:28 and it doesn't come from the Lord. 17:30 The Lord will challenge you. 17:31 Yes. Yes, He will. 17:34 With every challenge, He'll make a way of escape. 17:36 But more than that, He's not... 17:38 When you're, "Nobody knows the trouble I've seen, 17:40 I'm the last one, I'm the only one that's left, 17:42 I need to go over here and drive off a cliff," 17:45 that's not from God. 17:46 No, it isn't. 17:47 You know, the Lord will show you so... 17:49 But you don't know it at that time. 17:50 But you don't know it's... 17:51 You don't know, you don't know because you think it is, 17:53 but that's if Satan can't rust you out, 17:56 he'll wear you out. 17:57 He will just put this depressive thing on you, 17:59 "I'm the only one that's left, you know," 18:01 there's 7,000 out there keeping, 18:02 but you don't know that, you think you're the only one 18:05 that's ever got this in the history of the world. 18:07 That is the tool of the devil. 18:08 And that we've got to fight in the power of God, 18:12 and it's only in the power of God 18:13 that we get the strength to do that. 18:14 Exactly. Absolutely. 18:16 And these promises... Yes. 18:17 We make these resolutions, 18:19 one of my resolution and Shelley's resolutions, 18:21 we want to get in better shape. 18:23 So we've decided, we've determined, 18:27 we've decided, 18:29 and we've dedicated 18:30 to start walking on our little treadmill. 18:32 Oh, my goodness, you know, God forbid, 18:34 there's anything more fun than that. 18:36 But, boy, that's three big words, 18:39 decided, dedicated, determined... 18:41 You better pray, kids. 18:43 Now Shelley, her DNA is, 18:46 "I'm going to do five miles a day." 18:49 I'm sitting there, "Shelley, why don't we do 18:51 a quarter of a mile today?" 18:52 Yes. 18:53 And then build up, 18:55 and then in a month, we'll be at five miles. 18:57 It's hard for her to understand that. 18:59 She's a race horse, you know, I'm a trotter. 19:03 But anyway, she did... 19:06 She tried to do the... 19:08 She didn't make the five, 19:09 but just nearly got sick because she's... 19:12 So what this is saying here, 19:14 and, CA, and what you're saying, 19:15 "Hey, maybe you just start with the gospels, 19:18 Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John." 19:20 You know, but be dedicated 19:22 so that we can start building our stamina up 19:24 so that we do know these promises, 19:27 so that we will be stronger. 19:28 So, I mean, what do you do 19:29 when you have two different people? 19:31 One wants to go this speed, you know, husband and wife, 19:34 and the other needs to go this speed, what do we do? 19:37 Do we try to go with the speed that the other one is going 19:39 or is it conducive to us to be able to go the speed 19:43 we believe the Lord wants us to be, 19:44 that's spiritually and physically too? 19:46 You know, if she can do five, 19:48 and I can only do one, I need to... 19:51 That's the best I can do. Okay. 19:52 Do the one and praise the Lord. 19:53 Yeah, I need to do that 19:55 and not try to gauge it on what someone else is doing. 19:58 It's my relationship, it's my physical being, 20:01 and you should kind of know what you're doing. 20:02 But, I like that because... 20:04 And constantly think about improving. 20:06 Improving. 20:07 You know, but the thing 20:08 that I've got on my side is 70 years. 20:10 Yeah. I've learned. 20:12 I mean, at one time... 20:14 Oh, I can't remember back 20:15 when I was a race horse, you know. 20:18 But I've learned over the years, 20:20 you know, that now you just kind of go at your speed, 20:23 and I do know that I know 20:25 that I will catch up because I do know, 20:27 because now the winds begin to blow behind me instead of, 20:31 you know, trying to fight that wind 20:32 that's just working against you all the time. 20:34 Yes. Yeah. 20:35 And the person gets, you know, and talking about exercise, 20:37 the physical, the spiritual part of it 20:39 is even as you get older 20:41 because if you do too much, all of a sudden, 20:44 your knees swell up, 20:46 and then you can't exercise at all. 20:48 Not sustain it, right. 20:49 You can't sustain, you can't do anything 20:51 because that will hurt 20:52 or you will pull the muscle like I did in the side 20:54 because on the side, I'm going to, 20:56 you know, do this here and my leg... 20:57 Just one little thing like that 20:59 causes sometime to get off the path. 21:02 You know, spiritually that can happen too. 21:04 Somebody can get in and they just, the race horse, 21:07 and they just read and read and read and read and read, 21:10 and it can become overwhelming. 21:12 I think Shelley may have been the one... 21:14 Shelley's here and she didn't even know. 21:16 But I think she is the one that said that, 21:20 "Knowledge without a relationship equals..." 21:23 Is it failure? 21:25 Rebellion. Rebellion. 21:26 Rebellion. And it can cause rebellion. 21:27 It can cause failure as well. 21:29 Yeah. But it's true. 21:31 It is so true because, I mean, back, when I had a... 21:34 I think a much better mind than what I do now 21:36 as far as remembering things. 21:38 I could quote a lot of this, 21:40 but I didn't have the relationship 21:43 until I made a decision, 21:45 just like you're making a decision 21:46 to help you physically. 21:48 Helping you physically is also going to go over 21:51 and help spiritually as well. 21:53 They all play a part. 21:54 But when I made the decision to study and to pray everyday 21:59 before I partake of any physical food, 22:02 I had to have the spiritual food. 22:04 If I'm in a hurry, it may be one or two verses, 22:06 but you got to do this first. 22:08 You've got to do this first. 22:11 The Christian journey is not a sprint, 22:14 you know, it's not. 22:15 It's a long distance... 22:17 You know, but he who endureth... 22:19 Matthew 24:13. 22:20 "He that endureth to the end." 22:22 You know, see, you got a long road in front of you, 22:24 if you start to run all that in one day, 22:25 you're going to break down. 22:27 Finish it, that's another promise. 22:28 You can't do it. No. 22:30 It is a promise. It is a promise. Yeah. 22:31 Shall be saved in other words. Yes. 22:32 So it's not just starting out and petering out, 22:35 it's starting out and staying with it. 22:37 And that's why in John 15 you got that whole, 22:40 and it comes back to it in 1 John, 22:42 the idea of abiding in Christ. 22:44 Just getting in there and staying in there, 22:46 not kind of a flash in a pan, 22:48 but there's going to be resistance, 22:49 but you can boldly say, "God is your helper," 22:52 because He said in Joshua 1:9, 22:54 "I'll never leave you nor forsake you." 22:55 And, of course, you read that in Hebrews 13. 22:57 "I'll never leave you nor forsake you." 22:58 So even when you feel that you're alone, 23:01 the reality is you're not alone. 23:03 He's right there with you, 23:04 and you can praise God for that. 23:05 And you know what? 23:07 A lot of it depends on what I said earlier. 23:09 It depends on where we are spiritually. 23:11 Well said. 23:12 Sometimes we're holding on to something that separates us. 23:15 You mentioned sin. 23:17 You know, sometimes we're holding on to sin, 23:19 open sin or it may be private sin. 23:22 And so, at that time, 23:24 you feel like your prayers are going off the ceiling 23:25 and coming back down, and they may be. 23:28 You know, let's just quickly look at Deuteronomy, 23:31 Deuteronomy 28. 23:33 Deuteronomy 28, let's look at that. 23:35 I love this 23:37 because this is the first few verses 23:41 here are full of blessings, 23:44 full of promises, full of them. 23:47 In fact, it was in Deuteronomy, when we decided to move up here 23:51 because I didn't want to leave our 65 acres in Wyoming 23:55 and the waterfalls and the Rolling Hills, 23:57 I didn't want to leave it. 23:59 Deuteronomy 28, 28. 24:01 We're going to start with verse 1. 24:03 And I remember after about two, 24:06 two and half hours of crying and praying and, Lord... 24:10 Honestly, it's him and Danny. 24:12 I said, "Lord, is this just the brothers, 24:14 is this just their idea, 24:16 you know, is this really what You want?" 24:20 And I had been praying for weeks, 24:22 but this time I was crying, 24:24 and I said, "You need to show me." 24:26 And I prayed, I said, "Lord, I know You speak 24:29 through Your Word." 24:31 "I know You speak. 24:32 And so I'm going to open Your Word, 24:35 would You please speak to me?" 24:36 And the first one... 24:38 There's a verse in here like this one. 24:40 I don't remember if it's chapter 28 24:42 or not at this point. 24:43 But the last part of it says, 24:44 "And in the land that thou goest to possess, 24:48 I will bless thee." 24:50 Oh, glory. That's heavy. 24:51 Yeah. 24:52 You know, I probably read it before, 24:54 but it never hit home like that one, 24:56 it never hit home. 24:59 So it didn't matter how I felt 25:02 because then I knew it was God's direction, 25:05 and I needed to pack, and I needed to go. 25:07 And you know what? 25:08 There's been many, many blessings. 25:10 Amen. He will never fail. 25:12 No. We'll read that too I hope. 25:14 He will never fail. 25:15 His promises are sure, 25:17 and He makes sure that they are sure. 25:18 He is our surety. 25:20 But in Deuteronomy 28, 25:21 I know you guys are familiar with this. 25:24 It says, "And it shall come to pass, 25:25 if thou shalt hearken diligently 25:28 unto the voice of the Lord thy God, 25:30 to observe all of His commandments." 25:33 So in other words, when we find these promises, 25:35 they are always on obedience. 25:36 I mean, on... 25:39 What's the word I'm looking? 25:40 Condition of obedience. Yes. 25:42 Condition of obedience, which I command you. 25:44 And He says, "These blessing shall come..." 25:46 I'm just going to skip through here. 25:47 All right. Shall come on to... 25:49 "And all these blessings 25:50 shall come on thee and overtake thee." 25:52 Can you imagine being overtaken with blessings? 25:55 Yeah, please. What a blessing that is, right? 25:57 Yes. 25:58 "If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God. 26:02 Blessed shalt thou be in the city, 26:04 blessed shalt thou be in the field." 26:06 If you're a farmer, your crop is blessed. 26:08 "Blessed shalt be the fruit of your body." 26:11 You're going to have children, right? 26:12 "The fruit of the cattle, the fruit of the cows." 26:15 It says kine, in King James Version, the flocks. 26:19 And it goes on and on, blessed the steward. 26:21 He says, he's... 26:22 In fact, He goes on to say 26:24 I'm going to make you the head and not the tail. 26:26 Yeah. 26:27 That's what God's people, His chosen people. 26:30 Those who have accepted Him, 26:32 those who are following in obedience, 26:35 they should be the head and not the tail. 26:37 So we're blessed when we go in, 26:38 and we're blessed when we come out, isn't it? 26:41 We're blessed all the way around, right? 26:43 Behind, before, on every side, 26:45 but sometimes we fail to realize 26:47 that we have all of heaven with us 26:50 claiming the promises that He has for us. 26:52 Just reach out and grab those things 26:54 and not look at circumstances and situations of life, 26:58 look at the God that can take care of them and says, 27:00 "I will take care of them because I'll bless you." 27:03 Wherever you go, whatever you do, 27:05 whatever your hands find to do, do with all your might, 27:07 and He's going to bless us 27:08 as we're obedient to His work, conditions. 27:10 Okay, gentlemen, you guys are always counseling with people, 27:13 you're up preaching... 27:14 All right. 27:16 If we're a blessed people, 27:18 does that mean there's never going to be 27:19 any trials or tribulations? 27:21 John 16:33, "In the world you shall have tribulation." 27:25 That too is a promise. 27:27 Yeah. Yes, it is. 27:30 You shall have tribulation but be of good cheer 27:32 because He's overcome the world. 27:33 You know, I was thinking, 27:34 you know, a lot of us are not claming the promises, 27:36 we are embezzling the promises. 27:39 You're taking something to yourself 27:40 that doesn't belong to you. 27:42 And you touched on this a few moments ago. 27:44 That is true. These promises are conditional. 27:47 They are. 27:48 God is going to give, 27:49 but there are some basis for that condition. 27:51 Amen. You got to be in Christ Jesus. 27:53 That's right. 27:54 You have to let this mind be in you. 27:56 And if this mind is in you, 27:58 then that opens the door for all of these other things. 28:00 But if you try to get to goodies 28:03 without being in Christ Jesus, that's embezzlement. 28:06 You're taking something that doesn't belong to you. 28:07 That's right. Yeah. 28:08 I want to just insert this one little thing, 28:10 because it's living up to the light that we have. 28:13 Amen. Amen. Well, said. 28:14 It doesn't mean you will know everything. 28:16 Because if we think, "Oh, I can't claim a promise 28:18 till I know everything or know all, 28:20 I've read all those 3,000 and something promises." 28:22 You know what I'm saying? 28:24 "And I've put those to memory." That's not it. 28:26 It's living up to the light that we have, 28:28 which I truly believe will give people hope and encouragement. 28:32 Because we talked about being depressed earlier, you know. 28:35 And a lot of times I feel like 28:36 I'm not good enough to come to the Lord, 28:38 I'm not good enough, 28:39 and we're never going to be good enough, 28:41 that's why I love it when He says, 28:43 "Come as you are." 28:45 And then these precious promises, 28:47 these precious truths will begin to change us 28:50 and to mould us into that divine character. 28:53 I wanted to go back to because we mentioned... 28:55 I asked you guys 28:56 if there's ever going to be any trials and tribulations, 28:58 and those of us in ministry, 29:00 we know that there are, but it's how we handle it. 29:02 Let me read, this is from three bio... 29:04 It's biography from Early Writing, 29:07 I mean, Spirit of Prophecy. 29:09 It's on page 138, 29:11 and its paragraph 2, I love this. 29:12 It says, "I have been shown that in the future, 29:15 we will see how closely all our trials were connected 29:20 with our salvation 29:22 and how these light afflictions..." 29:24 They don't feel so light many times, do they? 29:27 But we're going to look back and think, 29:28 "These light afflictions worked out for us a far 29:32 more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." 29:36 You know, here we walk 29:37 through this path blindfolded at times. 29:40 You know, I remember 29:42 when my mother was in the hospital, 29:43 and we read the 23rd Psalms. 29:45 "Yea, though I walk 29:46 through the valley of the shadow of death..." 29:48 That's what this life feels like many times. 29:51 But, you know, we realize that we have a master potter, 29:55 and we are His clay, and He's molding, 29:57 and He's fashioning us, and He's like, 30:00 Pastor CA said earlier, 30:01 He's giving us every single thing 30:04 and every bit of it and He's seeing us through it. 30:06 He's the one that gave us the promises, 30:08 but He's also the one that gives power 30:11 to those promises 30:12 and gives that precious incense to His Heavenly Father 30:16 to make our prayers what they should be. 30:18 It goes right along with the Bible passage. 30:20 I think 1 John 5:14-15, and this says, 30:24 "We have this confidence" you remember? 30:26 "We have the confidence in Him that if we ask anything..." 30:30 What? Here it goes the condition. 30:32 "According to His will, He heareth us." 30:35 And then we say, it goes on to say, 30:36 "We know that He heareth us and so on and so forth." 30:39 Then we know we have it. Amen. 30:41 In illustrations, I was looking at something 30:44 just kind of exercise. 30:45 That was a story of the... 30:46 Quickly just, of the leper. You remember the leper? 30:48 Yes. 30:50 He has leprosy, and you think about, 30:51 he was trying to come to Jesus. 30:52 He saw that Jesus was healing, 30:54 and you think about this poor side 30:56 of this man with leprosy. 30:58 He couldn't hardly... 30:59 He couldn't hardly look on his face, 31:01 it was eaten away, 31:02 part of the flesh was gone from his arms 31:04 and so on and so forth, 31:05 horrible and scary to look up on. 31:08 But he wanted to see Jesus, he wanted to have the touch. 31:10 This is talking about the faith if you ask anything, 31:13 God can do something great. 31:14 And so he tried to press close to Jesus, 31:17 most of them scattered, they did not 31:19 because it would be unclean, isn't that right? 31:21 If you touched him, you'd be unclean. 31:23 And Christ was, was criticized 31:26 because He touched the unclean leper. 31:29 But remember, Jesus was clean. 31:31 Anything He touched became clean. 31:32 Precisely. 31:33 So that argument was not any good. 31:36 So, anyway, some even tried to get in 31:38 between and says, "No, you can't come to Jesus." 31:41 But the faith of this man had when he saw Jesus, 31:43 he simply, he falls at his feet, Jesus' feet, 31:46 and he cries out in Matthew 8:23. 31:49 He says, "Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou can make me clean." 31:55 Just that quick, and Jesus just as simply answered, 31:57 put forth his hand, 31:59 He touched him, and what did He say? 32:00 He said, "I will be thou clean." 32:03 And immediately, it says, "He was cleansed from leprosy." 32:07 Notice, that was interesting to me. 32:09 I was intrigued by that point 32:10 because it said immediately he was cleansed. 32:13 And you think about immediately. 32:15 It showed right then and there that 32:17 it couldn't be any human power that did this thing. 32:19 It was something beyond the humanity. 32:22 It was something that was divine, 32:23 something that was supernatural, 32:25 something that was powerful. 32:26 And it's interesting because sometimes when we pray, 32:29 and those of you at home, 32:30 you pray sometimes, and it's like, 32:33 that they are not answered that quickly 32:34 or God will give you something 32:36 that you really didn't ask for, 32:38 but it's for our own good, we know that. 32:40 But, you know, there's a difference there. 32:43 The difference, it was simply is, God... 32:45 When this man came, 32:47 when God answered his prayer immediately, 32:49 He will always answer the prayer 32:50 when you 're asking from deliverance from sin. 32:51 Yes. 32:53 When you come to Him and say, "Lord, forgive in my sin." 32:55 It's not, "Wait a while, 32:56 there's something else I want to give you." 32:57 He wants that, He wants you to come to that point 33:01 in your life, and so He wanted to deliver him from sin. 33:04 And notice it says right here, "So cleansing from sin, 33:07 so we were able to live the holy life." 33:09 I kind of like that. This is what it's all about. 33:12 God wants to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, 33:15 all of the things that's unholy 33:16 that we may live the life of Christ, 33:19 not I but Christ. 33:21 Not I, that's speaking, but Christ is speaking. 33:23 And I sometimes 33:25 since I failed miserably along that line to think 33:29 that we are representatives, Brother JD, of Jesus Christ. 33:33 What a responsibility. 33:36 And how we look at our self, 33:37 how can anyone go around and say, 33:38 "I rightly represent." 33:40 I'm saying, "Oh, God, help me to rightly represent You." 33:42 Then you hear this sharp answer. 33:44 You know, not wanting to get involved 33:46 or, you know, I don't have time for, 33:48 that's not Jesus Christ at all. 33:50 When this man came to Him with leprosy, man, 33:52 immediately Christ said, "Yes, I will do that." 33:55 Amen. I just absolutely love it. 33:57 Christ if thy wilt... More people will become... 33:59 Thou wilt. Yes. 34:01 More people will become Lord if thy wilt, 34:04 you know, because exactly... 34:06 You know, He is eager, 34:07 He is always there to forgive our self 34:09 for our wrong doings, you know. 34:10 Amen. Wow. 34:12 The only question is it's on you. 34:13 If you really wanted, the answer is always immediate, 34:17 and it's always yes. 34:18 If you're talking about I want to follow You, 34:20 I want to serve You, 34:21 I need strength to be your child, 34:23 always immediately. 34:25 Okay, we're going to take this in stages. 34:27 Okay, I'm going to forgive this now, 34:28 and then next week 34:29 we'll give you a down payment on that one, 34:31 and, you know, it's always immediate, 34:32 it's always total, and it's always yes 34:33 if you will, if you want it. 34:35 It was a spiritual issue. Yes, sir. 34:37 It's going to be yes. Yeah. 34:38 I love it. 34:39 And right here on our paper... 34:41 We get back to our paper. 34:44 We're talking about forgiveness of sins, 34:45 1 John 1:9. 34:47 It's a promise. This is a promise. 34:49 If you haven't wrote this down, 34:51 if you haven't memorized it yet, please do. 34:53 1 John 1:9. 34:55 It reads, "If we confess our sins..." 34:59 Yes. 35:00 "If we confess..." 35:02 You can't just deny them. So many people just deny. 35:05 "He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins 35:09 and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 35:12 When you were reading the story of the leper, 35:14 my mind went back 35:16 because all of us have been involved 35:17 in evangelism. 35:20 And I said for many years 35:21 that some of the most miraculous things happen 35:25 during those evangelistic series. 35:27 Well, now... 35:28 Because people are coming, 35:30 they are coming with their heavy baggage. 35:33 You know, they are carrying it into the church. 35:35 And by the grace of God and the Holy Spirit's power, 35:38 many times, they're at the foot of the cross 35:40 as it were at the altar. 35:42 And they're asking God for forgiveness. 35:44 That's a real miracle. 35:46 We think that there aren't miracles. 35:48 When a life can be convicted and converted and changed, 35:52 that is a powerful miracle of God. 35:53 Yeah, that's right. I'm sure it is. 35:54 That is probably the hardest thing. 35:56 How many of us have people in our families 35:58 we prayed for years and years and years, 36:01 and we don't see a change. 36:02 When that person comes, 36:04 when that real change takes place, 36:06 that is a real miracle. 36:08 And what I noticed right here 36:10 is that we are both involved "we, we, if we, and JD." 36:14 If we, yes. Come on. 36:16 And then it turns right around and says then He is faithful. 36:20 So in that one sentence, we're both involved. 36:23 I love it, yes. Yeah. 36:24 You know, that's beautiful. 36:26 In the Book of Isaiah 54:10, I love this here 36:29 because this shows the stability of God. 36:32 You know, I like something that's stable. 36:34 You know, I'm one of those people that I like... 36:36 Well, I like things lined out. Yeah. 36:38 You know, like, we come to this program, right, 36:41 and we're going to do a, you know, Family Worship, 36:44 and it starts at 9 o'clock, I like to start at 9 o'clock, 36:47 not 5 after, not 10 after, or not... 36:49 There's things sometimes that there's we can't help. 36:50 We like to help. We like to help. 36:54 We like to, you know, come to here, 36:57 we like to have some stability, we like to know. 36:59 And in the Word of God, it says here in Isaiah 54:10, 37:02 I probably get in trouble for that, don't worry about it. 37:04 It says, "For the mountains shall depart 37:06 and the hills be removed, 37:07 but my kindness shall not depart from thee, 37:10 neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed," 37:13 saith the Lord, "that hath mercy on thee." 37:17 It's beautiful. The mountains may go, right? 37:19 The hills, everything may change. 37:22 Ministry of Healing, 72, I jot this down. 37:23 I thought it was good. It went along with this well. 37:25 It says, "Human love may change..." 37:28 We see that all the time. 37:30 "Human love may change, 37:31 but Christ's love knows no change. 37:34 When we cry to Him for help, 37:36 His hand is stretched out to save." 37:40 Every time it's that way. It's about salvation. 37:44 Everything God does for you, He does for me even, 37:46 He's reaching out to help us, He's reaching out to save us, 37:50 and I think that's a good promise. 37:51 Yeah, with that righteous right hand. 37:53 Amen. Praise God. 37:54 It's good to hold on to those promises. 37:56 That's why when we see Stephen being stoned... 37:59 Oh, yeah. Like Christ. 38:02 He said, "Father, forgive them." 38:04 He never left them. 38:05 Christ never left him, He never for sake him. 38:08 Paul, all of His disciples, they met terrible ends 38:12 in their lives, terrible trials, 38:15 but He never left them. 38:16 He went to visit John on the Isle of Patmos. 38:19 You know, He spoke to him as a friend. 38:22 And we know that He still does that. 38:24 We know... 38:26 We can read in Spirit of Prophecy 38:27 where He came to visit people in person. 38:30 You know, it's beautiful. 38:31 If we're living up, we have every, 38:34 every power that was given to Christ on this earth, 38:37 when He came as a man is available to us 38:40 if we just live the life that He lived. 38:44 I mean, He does, He still speak today, 38:45 He still speaks. 38:46 You know, you might come, 38:48 "I'm sick, I need prayer," 38:50 Jesus working through you, 38:51 Jesus still comes to us and we sense the prayers, 38:55 and we sense the power of the spirit, 38:58 and He still makes these trips, 39:00 He still makes them through people 39:01 and through individual, so I think it, 39:03 be who's all of us to receive counsel, 39:06 there will be who's all of us to listen to our, 39:08 maybe our neighbor or a friend and weigh out 39:10 what they are saying because it could be a message 39:13 from the very throne room of God 39:15 that we need, 39:16 and so often we don't receive because we may not, 39:21 you know, with this person we don't... 39:22 We need to wait at that right time. 39:23 Yes. Yes. 39:25 That's one thing I love about these Family Worships 39:28 that we have together. 39:29 Because I know that God's speaking to you, 39:31 I know He's speaking to you, I know He's speaking to you, 39:34 and I pray, I believe, I know He spoke through me... 39:37 That's our prayer, that's a promise. 39:38 But as we come together... 39:40 Then the Holy Spirit can put these things into place 39:43 because... 39:45 Sometimes we come and we're like, 39:46 "Well, we have no idea what's going to happen," 39:47 we just give it to God. 39:49 And He pieces all the pieces that He's been instilling 39:54 in your hearts and in your minds together, 39:55 and it is such a blessing. 39:57 It is, it is. It's such a blessing. 39:58 You quoted from 1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins..." 40:01 Just two verses earlier there is, 40:03 "If we walk in the light as He is in the light, 40:06 we have, first of all fellowship," 40:07 that's what this is. 40:09 Yes. That's what this is. 40:10 There is nothing more affirmative or faith 40:13 than to get together people who feel like you do, 40:16 walk-in like you walk, 40:17 heading to the same place you're heading. 40:19 And, you know, we say this at sometimes, 40:22 our brothers and sisters in Christ are closer 40:24 than our biological brothers and sisters. 40:26 That's right. 40:27 If someone is walking with you, going through this... 40:29 Slogging through the same mud as you, 40:31 trying to make it like them, you got fellowship with them 40:34 because you know, I know you know what it is. 40:37 I remember when you came to visit me 40:38 when I had my heart operation... 40:40 Oh, bless you. 40:42 And most of your recovery was in Florida, 40:44 but my heart was with you 40:45 because I knew what you were going through. 40:47 So we got fellowship. Yeah. 40:50 Amen, that won't be kind of fellowship 40:51 you want to repeat, but we got fellowship. 40:54 And on top of that, the cherry on the sundae 40:58 is the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin. 41:00 So you got the whole, can I say enchilada, JD? 41:03 You know, you got it all, 41:04 you got fellowship with brothers and sisters 41:06 and you got Christ 41:07 who is cleansing you from your sin 41:09 because you're walking in the light. 41:11 You know, there's no substitute for walking in the light. 41:15 There's a connection of the spirit. 41:16 There is. 41:18 You can meet a stranger on the street, 41:19 but when that spirit, when you realize, 41:22 you begin to speak with them 41:23 and the spirit is working in their heart. 41:24 There's a connection of God's Spirit, 41:27 and it's as if you've known them forever 41:29 and you connect, you bond. 41:32 But at the same time, 41:33 even with some I love, and I hold dear, 41:35 I pray for every day. 41:37 There's a disconnect 41:38 because their's a different spirit. 41:41 So, you know, that's what so beautiful. 41:43 Why not be on the blessed side? We talked about Deuteronomy 28. 41:47 We didn't talk about the end of Deuteronomy. 41:49 I mean, there's many more verses 41:51 that have to do with the curses. 41:52 If we... 41:54 And what God's doing is He's just saying, 41:56 "This is what's going to happen if you do this, 41:58 this is what's going to happen if you don't." 42:00 You mention the mountains fleeing, 42:02 and we realized there's prophecy saying 42:04 that every mountain will flee. 42:05 Have mercy. 42:07 Every mountain is going to do down. 42:08 Every island is going to go away. 42:09 There is a time coming. Yes. 42:11 Whose side that we want to be on? 42:13 There's mountains, 42:14 there's mountains that loom everyday for us 42:16 as you're advancing in the cause of Christ. 42:18 There's no way you seem to get out of this. 42:21 You know, I want to say 42:22 that mountains on the east side 42:23 and the sea before you and the army behind you, 42:26 what are you going to do? 42:27 That's the time you really get down and pray. 42:29 You mentioned earlier, we pray for one another, 42:31 and we feel for one another. 42:32 I think that's brotherly love that we need, 42:34 and this may just 42:35 kind of the awful things a little bit here, 42:36 but when I heard, 42:38 not even a friend, don't even know him, 42:39 but I heard that Arnold Schwarzenegger 42:41 on the news had open heart surgery. 42:44 He's going to have a valve replaced or whatever, 42:48 and then it turned into something pretty bad. 42:50 They had a team of physicians waiting, 42:52 so they had to go in and knocked all right then, 42:54 all the crushing and all the... 42:56 And it kind of almost made me sick of my stomach 42:58 for a little bit and annoying, 42:59 but we don't need to have to know someone. 43:02 We understand, we've been through that experience, 43:04 and we can relate to, and we feel bad for, 43:08 and we can pray for. 43:09 And I think we should do that as a child of God. 43:12 You know, you mentioned about the mountains of life. 43:14 You know, they certainly don't have 43:16 to be a physical mountain to be an issue in our lives, 43:20 we have our own mountains. 43:21 But I love 2 Corinthians 12:9, 43:25 "For My grace is sufficient for you, 43:28 I will exchange My power for your weakness." 43:30 Yes. 43:31 Many of us have speed bumps in life, daily, 43:35 but He says, "That's okay, JD, 43:37 My grace is sufficient to get you pass 43:38 that speed bump." 43:40 Thank you. 43:41 There's another person, maybe tomorrow, 43:43 that's facing Pikes Peak in their life. 43:44 Yes. He uses the same verbiage. 43:47 "That's okay, Kenny, My grace is sufficient." 43:49 Yes. Halleluiah. 43:51 Fantastic verbiage there, 43:52 you know, because you can sit 43:54 and talk about each individual's issue, 43:57 but yet chorale it. 43:59 My grace, My divine assistance is going to be there 44:03 to assist you in your issue. 44:06 Amen. What a promise? 44:07 It's powerful. You know, you hit on something. 44:09 Whether it's a speed bump 44:11 or Kilimanjaro or Mount Everest, 44:14 it's all Jesus, and the person 44:16 that's getting you over that is all Jesus. 44:17 Yes. 44:19 Everybody is going to get some speed bumps, 44:20 and some of us going to get some Everest, 44:22 you know, but it's the same Jesus 44:24 that's getting you over little speed bump 44:26 or if you got to climb Mount Everest, same Jesus, 44:29 you know, and He's special... 44:31 Let me quote a text. Yes. 44:32 2 Corinthians, a lot of stuff coming out of Corinthians. 44:34 Oh, yes, that's good, that's good. 44:36 2 Corinthians 2:14, 44:38 "Now thanks be to God who always leads us 44:42 in triumph in Christ." 44:44 You know, it's always going to be the same, the answer is, 44:46 whether it's a speed bump, 44:48 the little sleeping policemen in the parking lot 44:51 or you're looking at the highest mountain 44:53 in the world, 44:54 you're going to be led in triumph in Christ Jesus. 44:57 He is sufficient. Amen. 44:59 Regardless of what you've got, He's sufficient to get you 45:02 through that regardless of what you're facing. 45:05 Sometimes a speed bump... 45:08 I like that when you brought that, 45:09 the speed bump because a lot of times 45:11 a speed bump will catch me unaware. 45:13 You don't hardly see it, 45:15 it's just, it's just coming in the road a little bit, 45:16 and if you're gawking around and doing some other things 45:18 and you hit that, 45:19 even if you're going on speed limit, 45:20 it will jar you into reality, 45:22 "Oh, wow, there's a bump there." 45:24 And so I think those are still... 45:26 And some people, 45:27 in their relationship with Christ 45:29 maybe just need the speed bump, just a little waking up. 45:33 And there's others of us that need that mountain 45:36 or in the case 45:38 of an A-frame house for instance. 45:41 When you're putting on new shingles 45:43 or you know, wood shakes, whatever, that right there, 45:45 you can't stay on that because it's just too steep, 45:48 there's no way. 45:49 And you have to have rope thrown 45:51 from one side to the other, 45:52 and you have to wear a harness around you, 45:56 and then you're attached to that, 45:57 and that's the way 45:58 that you're able to continue to go up that. 46:00 So it can get very difficult even in the physical 46:04 and the spiritual sometimes, that ways... 46:06 It seem like the more that I've tried to find 46:08 what God wants me to do, you had to put the harness on. 46:12 There has to be a rope thrown on 46:14 and somebody on the other side 46:15 that's got to hold that rope that I can trust, 46:18 and that is Jesus, isn't it? 46:19 Praise the Lord. 46:20 We can trust Him, but He is going to help us 46:22 get up there 46:24 and get the job complete to the end the ways 46:27 I'm coming after church without a spot 46:28 or wrinkle or any such thing. 46:30 He gives us that ability by the grace of God 46:32 to keep all His commandments, 46:35 and His commandments are not grievous. 46:36 I know one thing, CA, I can appreciate... 46:38 Well, I don't want to do. Okay. 46:40 I don't want to put shakes on it, A-frame. 46:43 A-frame? No, no. I don't want to harness myself. 46:47 If you're scared and think that rope's going to break. 46:50 You know, help me Jesus. Amen. 46:52 It is beautiful to think that there is no greater... 46:55 The Bible even says, "There's no greater than He. 46:57 He is steadfast. He's unchangeable. 47:00 He will not lie." 47:02 I think... 47:04 Let's see. Where is it? Totally trustworthy. 47:08 Numbers 23:19, 47:10 "God is not a man that He should lie, 47:13 neither the son of man that He should repent." 47:16 Now some people, they repent, that just means 47:18 that He doesn't have to change His mind, 47:20 what came out the first time is right. 47:22 Everything that He speaks is right. 47:25 And that's why when we pray, and we claim these promises, 47:27 we always claim them, not my will but thine be done 47:31 because we're in a trusting relationship. 47:34 You were talking about faith, putting on the harness, 47:37 it made me think of going back on the whole armor of God, 47:41 we got to have that whole armor of God, 47:43 that's what that harness is. 47:44 But we have to have faith and trust in Him. 47:50 In fact, I believe that we're coming close, 47:53 ever so close to a time 47:55 that we're not going to be able to believe 47:56 what we see, what we hear, 47:59 you know, what people are saying. 48:01 Well, we're there. 48:02 We are there absolutely, 48:04 because error is becoming truth and truth is becoming error. 48:07 I mentioned I think in the last program, 48:09 even the loaves of bread, maybe even our smell, 48:12 we can't trust because when, when Christ was tempted 48:14 with those loaves by the enemy, 48:17 you know, He went 40 days without any food. 48:20 I mean, how many of us have ever been 40 days? 48:22 You are famished. 48:24 And I don't think He just saw them. 48:26 I think He's very... 48:27 Real possibility, He could smell. 48:29 He smelled that fresh bread, mercy. 48:30 And you know, it's kind of like popcorn, 48:32 you know, in our house. 48:33 Oh, it goes through all the house. 48:34 You could say, no, I'm not hungry 48:36 and all of a sudden somebody's popping popcorn. 48:37 You don't have to be hungry, that smell draws you. 48:40 But see that's what's happening, 48:42 so we got to... 48:43 Our faith is being tested, our faith is being trialed 48:46 because we've got to be as straight 48:47 as steel we are told. 48:49 So with every wind of doctrine, 48:51 we're not going this way or that way 48:52 but we are sure upon it is written, 48:56 His word, His promises, what He says is true. 48:59 So we've got to know it. We've got to know it. 49:01 The Gospel Workers, we're talking about that, 284, 49:04 and we talked about a while ago, 49:05 a little bit about the conditions, conditional, 49:07 and I thought this had a couple of paragraphs, 49:09 it was just beautiful so that we can claim it. 49:11 So I'll just read that Gospel Workers, 284. 49:14 It says, "Christ promised the gift of the Holy Spirit." 49:16 I love that. 49:18 "To His church, and He promised..." 49:20 No, "His promises belong as much to us 49:23 as it did His first disciples." 49:25 How wonderful, 49:26 but, see there's a situation that comes here. 49:28 "But like every other promise is given on conditions, 49:32 that there are many who professed to believe 49:34 and claimed the Lord's promises." 49:36 Well, we're claiming, we believe them. 49:38 But notice, 49:39 "They talk about Christ and the Holy Spirit, 49:41 yet, they receive no benefit." 49:44 How could that be? 49:45 Notice, "Because they do not surrender their souls 49:49 to the guidance and control of divine agencies." 49:52 That's true. That is true. 49:53 So we can talk it, memorize it, 49:55 we can do all these things here, 49:57 but we're seeing no answers. 49:58 The answer is because we're not giving our self fully 50:01 to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, 50:03 which the Holy Sprit would what? 50:04 Lead us into all truth and to obedience. 50:07 People say I have that... 50:09 You know, I have the Holy Spirit, 50:10 that was Acts 5, around 30, 32, it says, 50:12 "The Holy Spirit is given to those who obey Him." 50:16 Those who obey Him, the Holy Spirit is given. 50:19 If we're not obeying Him, 50:20 don't count on the Holy Sprit there. 50:22 But I think you touched on a big, big, big issue 50:25 because we have so many denominations 50:26 in the world, 50:28 and a lot of people that you meet, 50:29 you think, "Oh, wow! 50:30 They really love the Lord." Yes. 50:32 But the moment you begin to open the scripture, 50:34 "Well, I don't believe that pertains anymore. 50:36 Well, we don't have to do that anymore. 50:38 Well, you know, 50:39 that may have been for the children of Israel, 50:41 but, you know, it's not for us anymore." 50:44 And so there's always an excuse. 50:46 And the sad thing is, 50:47 you know, when Jesus was looking 50:48 at the lamb and the goat, 50:52 you know, He was talking to Christians professing people 50:55 that were professing to be the lambs of God. 50:58 And He said, "Depart from Me, you workers of inequity, 51:01 for I never knew you to the goats." 51:04 So, you know, there is a truth and we have to be willing 51:08 to allow God. 51:09 You talked about surgery a while ago, 51:11 allow Him to do heart surgery on us. 51:14 So that we can have faith in His word, 51:17 we can claim these promises. 51:19 Let me share this one 51:21 'cause I know we're getting close 51:22 to running out of time. 51:23 This is Historical Sketches, and it reads, 51:26 "To all who are engaged in the missionary work..." 51:30 I would say now, I don't think there's anybody here 51:32 that is not engaged, 51:33 even those behind the cameras, right? 51:35 That's right. 51:36 "Hide in Jesus, let not self 51:39 but Christ appear in all your labors, 51:42 not us, but Jesus." 51:44 "When the work goes hard, 51:46 and you become discouraged and attempt it to abandon it, 51:51 take your Bible, 51:53 bow up on your knees before God and say, 51:56 "Here, Lord, Thy word is pledged," 52:01 throw your weight upon His promises 52:04 and every one of them will be fulfilled." 52:08 Amen. Amen. 52:09 Amen. Every one. 52:11 Amen. Every one. 52:12 That's heavy. That is heavy. 52:14 And here I go back to what you were saying earlier 52:16 because it's just touched my heart 52:17 when everybody was talking about the leper, 52:19 and he walks up to the Lord, "Wilt thou..." 52:22 Yeah, wilt thou. 52:24 My goodness, that's a big... 52:25 That's heavy work there, you know. 52:27 And just about anything we were reading right here, 52:29 we're given the Lord permission. 52:30 Yes. Yes. 52:32 And it was a spiritual issue, the answer is always what? 52:36 Yes. Amen. 52:38 It's not going to say, "hey, I got a luncheon, 52:41 but I'll catch you later, JD." 52:43 You know, I mean, it's, you know... 52:45 He didn't have a big conversation 52:47 about when Peter was walking on the water, did he? 52:49 No. When Peter start to go under. 52:51 Lord, why... 52:52 Now he should have been... 52:54 Save me, he didn't... 52:55 Yeah, well, you should've listen, 52:57 laying and go around like what, 52:58 immediately He answered that prayer, 52:59 and I think the same was talking 53:01 about our salvation here. 53:02 You know, Lord wilt thou, He emptied all of Himself. 53:08 He came down to this earth, He became a human, 53:12 He gave up being omniscient, 53:14 everywhere at once because He wilt, 53:19 He loved us so much when He... 53:21 You know, we think how our heart goes out 53:23 when we see someone who is suffering, 53:25 who is in pain, 53:27 and He saw His children suffering and in pain. 53:32 I've always said that one of the worst things 53:34 that a person can go through 53:35 is the death of their own child. 53:37 Have mercy. 53:39 And He looks at us, and we're His children. 53:42 And He knows without Him that we're going to die. 53:46 That's right. 53:47 And so He gave everything He has to give, 53:51 and He's still working for our salvation. 53:55 That's why these promises are so vital. 53:58 Amen. Amen. 54:02 Just referring back quickly to 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 54:05 about the weapons of our warfare. 54:07 So somebody was going to mention that, 54:08 it was interesting. 54:10 And that simply you look at it in this passage here 54:13 because Paul, 54:14 in one of his last journeys was sent to Rome 54:17 and naturally we know 54:18 what was going to happen to him there. 54:19 But he was thrown into jail and he was in a situation 54:23 that seemed like it was impossible to do 54:25 any kind of missionary work, 54:26 soul winning at all, because Nero was in-charge. 54:29 And Nero was asked... 54:30 Actually had the empress as it were, 54:32 we talk Spirit of Prophecy of the enemy, 54:34 all those who associated with him, 54:35 had the same empress. 54:37 But as the end results, what happened? 54:39 Because God can use this situation, 54:41 why he's thrown into prison? 54:42 Why he's thrown into jail? 54:45 We find that many people 54:46 of Nero's household was converted, 54:49 and they weren't ashamed about it. 54:51 They stood out and said, 54:53 "Yes, I'm the follower of Jesus Christ." 54:55 And Paul said, 54:56 "It was because I was thrown into prison." 54:59 You see, that God gave me the opportunity to win souls 55:01 for His kingdom. 55:02 So bad things may happen to us, might, but in those situations, 55:06 God's going to work it right, 55:07 where you'll still be a soul winner, 55:09 wherever you might end up, wherever you may do, 55:10 whatever you may do in life. 55:12 Of course, the wisdom 55:13 there is not get ahead of your self, 55:19 allow God to work in you and through you. 55:21 Yes. 55:22 And, you know, be still and... 55:26 I was reading something there... 55:28 "The silt settles when the waters are still." 55:33 Because, you know, just the day before I was reading but, boy, 55:37 the good things happen when the water is... 55:39 Yeah, stir them up. It is going down. 55:40 You know, you know, 55:42 you want to be part of the running water, you know. 55:44 And then I read this over here. 55:45 So there's wisdom on first base, third base, 55:48 it doesn't make any difference, God is God. 55:51 And, you know, just pay attention 55:53 to what's going on in your own life, 55:55 and thank you Jesus for it. 55:59 You know, we're just about out of time, 56:01 I hate to say it 56:02 'cause I am loving the spirit here. 56:04 But I want to share 56:06 these promises found in Isaiah 40. 56:08 Our youngest daughter, 56:09 they thought she had cystic fibrosis, 56:11 she was so very, very ill. 56:13 In fact, she had complete respiratory failure 56:16 from Influenza A and was on life support. 56:18 Long story, it was only a miracle, 56:21 anointing miracle that brought her back. 56:23 But this at a very young age was a promise, 56:27 that was her favorite, and I love it. 56:29 Isaiah 40, starting with verse 28, 56:32 "Hast thou not known? 56:33 Hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, 56:36 the Lord, the Creator of the ends 56:38 of the earth fainteth not neither is weary?" 56:41 We cannot worry here with our trials 56:43 and our tribulations, our prayers. 56:45 He wants us to come to Him. 56:46 In fact, I've read sometimes that, 56:48 we pray one prayer too short 56:50 when we're praying for somebody. 56:52 He wants us to. 56:53 "There is no searching of His understanding." 56:55 I love this. 56:57 "He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might, 57:00 he increases strength." 57:02 I know I have no might. 57:04 You know, it was many times 57:05 I feel like I don't even have a mind, 57:07 you know, to use. 57:09 But by God's grace, 57:10 you know, you just do the very best that you can, 57:13 and He prayerfully will do the rest. 57:15 "Even the youths shall faint and be weary, 57:17 and the young men shall utterly fall, 57:20 but they, that weight upon the Lord 57:23 shall renew their strength." 57:25 You know, sometimes it comes down to the point, 57:27 we mentioned not our will, but thine be done. 57:29 "They shall mount up with wings as eagles; 57:31 they shall run, and not be weary, 57:33 they shall walk and not faint." 57:35 Amen. Amen. |
Revised 2018-05-09