Participants:
Series Code: TDYFW
Program Code: TDYFW018026A
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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 01:09 Hello. 01:11 Happy Sabbath and welcome to 3ABN's Family Worship. 01:14 I'm Chris Shelton along with my very handsome husband, 01:17 Pastor Kenny Shelton. Oh, honey, thank you. 01:20 And we're so thankful that you have chosen 01:22 to start your Sabbath with us 01:24 or maybe in the Sabbath with us, 01:26 whatever time it may be in your area, 01:28 we're just glad that you are tuned in. 01:29 Amen. Good. 01:31 And I believe that we're going to have 01:32 a wonderful time together 01:34 around this table as the Holy Spirit... 01:36 We prayed for the Holy Spirit 01:37 to fill our hearts and our minds. 01:38 And as He takes control, we're going to be discussing 01:42 developing spiritual discernment, 01:45 developing spiritual discernment. 01:47 We'll talk a little bit more about that in a few minutes, 01:49 but we want to introduce our guests, don't we, pastor? 01:51 Absolutely, yes. Okay. 01:53 To your right is Brother... 01:55 And I have to say it again Brother Timmy, Timmy Parton 01:59 aka, also known, as Brother Tim Parton to the world. 02:03 But we have accepted him as family, 02:06 and I know that many of our viewers have too. 02:09 Tim, what do you do here at 3ABN? 02:11 I am the General Manager of Praise Him Network, 02:14 Praise Him channel. 02:15 We're about creating a channel for music to glorify God 02:21 and edify the saints. 02:23 And I think that we live in a time 02:24 where we truly need... 02:25 Oh, we do. 02:27 We need to edify, we need encouraging as children of God, 02:28 but when our content is about worshipping God, 02:31 our song is about worshipping Him, 02:32 He inhabits the praises of His people. 02:34 He does. Yes. 02:36 And that's our job to make beautiful music to glorify Him. 02:39 It's a privilege to be with both of you. 02:41 You both are looking great today. 02:42 Oh, bless your heart. 02:45 Well, it's summertime here in Southern Illinois, 02:48 so we've had a little more sun. 02:49 Yeah, we've got the sun little bit here, yeah. 02:51 Good thing. Absolutely. 02:54 As you were speaking about music, 02:55 my mother always said that music... 02:57 And I've experienced it too and I know you have 02:59 and I know many of our viewers have as well, 03:01 where music can touch a heart 03:03 and change a heart like nothing else. 03:05 Right. Amen. 03:07 And to my left is someone 03:09 who made a big splash during our... 03:13 It was the Three Angel's camp meeting, 03:16 and some of those wonderful, wonderful, 03:19 very difficult music compilations 03:23 that you came in and just really let us know 03:25 who you were, Ryan and his lovely wife, 03:28 Stephanie Day. 03:29 We are so thankful that you are here, Ryan. 03:32 And now you're going to be here permanently, 03:34 and our viewers are going to be seeing you more and more. 03:37 That it true. 03:38 So we are looking so forward to that. 03:40 Tell us a little bit about what you folks 03:42 are doing here at 3ABN. 03:43 Sure, sure. 03:44 So my official title is the assistant 03:48 or I'm an associate... 03:49 We haven't quite decided on that one yet, but... 03:51 Well, we're working on it. 03:53 The assistant to the General Manager 03:55 of Praise Him, which would be good Tim. 03:57 He's kind of my supervisor but a good friend. 03:59 And so, yeah, we're going to be working hard together 04:02 in the music department to bring glory to God. 04:06 Amen. And through song. 04:07 And so I'm kind of also wearing multiple hats. 04:09 I'm going to be doing a little preaching 04:11 and singing and speaking and programs like this. 04:14 And it's a blessing and an honor 04:15 to be a part of this amazing ministry. 04:17 Absolutely. Good. 04:18 Praise God. Amen. 04:20 And Stephanie, how about you, my dear, 04:21 what are you going to be doing in this area? 04:23 I am the Principal 04:25 at the Thompsonville Christian Academy. 04:28 I'm starting this school year, so it's exciting. 04:31 Now for our family at home, this is actually the first time 04:34 that we have actually met you, isn't it, around this table? 04:37 And I didn't tell you, but by profession, 04:40 that's what I was. 04:41 I was a teacher. Okay. 04:42 Oh, wonderful. 04:44 And I was the Director and Principal 04:45 of our church school for many, many years. 04:47 And so that's near and dear to my heart. 04:49 Amen. 04:51 As we begin to think about our topic, 04:53 I would like to just maybe read a little bit of something 04:56 that I wrote as I was contemplating 04:59 developing spiritual discernment. 05:01 By the way, discernment is the ability to judge. 05:05 It's spiritual direction, it's spiritual judgment 05:08 that we each and everyone need in our life. 05:11 Let me just read this to you. 05:13 I may stop a few times. 05:14 I'm good at that, right? Yeah. 05:16 "There are times that accepting Christ 05:18 as our Lord and Savior is easy." 05:20 You know, many times, we're at a meeting 05:22 or we're listening to a song as we mentioned, 05:24 and we feel the unction of the Holy Spirit, 05:27 and we just ask God to come in. 05:29 "We experience and fill the conviction 05:31 upon our lives, but then the path 05:34 that we choose to walk with Him 05:36 can become overwhelmingly confusing. 05:40 There are so many religious ways to choose from, 05:43 so many paths we can choose to walk in, and many times, 05:47 people choose a path or a church 05:50 not because of what they've read 05:52 in Scripture or studied but because their friends 05:55 or their family go there." 05:56 You know, sometimes, 05:58 it's generation after generation, 06:00 or I've even known personal people, excuse me, 06:04 that were in politics, and they would choose a church 06:06 that was the largest church in town literally, 06:09 and they weren't... 06:11 You know, they weren't ashamed to admit that. 06:12 Yes, yes. Right. 06:14 "You know, we are in such a spiritual warfare, 06:18 a warfare that began in heaven. 06:20 And we are truly blinded when it comes to discerning 06:23 what is right and what is wrong. 06:27 And yet where we will spend eternity 06:32 depends upon our having correct, 06:35 the right spiritual discernment. 06:37 We see this in Christ Himself, true spiritual discernment, 06:41 living a life, knowing, breathing, 06:44 and teaching truth was paramount in Christ's walk 06:47 while He was here upon this earth. 06:49 Otherwise, why, why would He lay down His life 06:53 on the cross 06:55 if true spiritual discernment was not important? 06:58 Amen. 07:00 "Why is it said of Him 07:01 that He kept His Father's Commandments?" 07:04 He was obedient, He never once sinned. 07:07 "Today, we hope to share during this study how we, 07:11 all of us here, how we have and how we are continuing 07:15 to develop spiritual discernment." 07:18 And so as we begin our study, Pastor Kenny, 07:20 would you please lead us in a word of prayer? 07:22 Absolutely. 07:23 We encourage you at home, pray along with us. 07:25 The opportunity, 07:27 some may want to get on your knees, that's fine. 07:28 Maybe in your recliner, just pray along with us. 07:30 And we're going to pray here 07:32 for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. 07:33 And right afterwards, we're going to sing a song. 07:36 So we have some wonderful musicians here, 07:38 and we're looking forward to that. 07:40 Brother Tim, what would the title of our song be? 07:42 Do you have a title? 07:43 Open My Eyes That I May See. Okay, praise God. 07:46 Go ahead, pastor. All right, let's pray. 07:49 Our kind, loving, Heavenly Father, 07:50 it is a privilege as we talk about the beginning, 07:53 the edges of the Sabbath. 07:55 We thank You for the special day 07:57 that You've given to us, 07:58 a time that we can come apart from the world 08:00 to worship Thee in spirit and truth. 08:02 Taking time to open the pages of a beautiful book 08:05 called the Bible to learn more about Jesus. 08:08 We've come here together around this table 08:10 because we sense our need of a Savior, 08:13 we sense our need of better discernment, 08:16 we sense our need of a spiritual enlightenment. 08:19 So, Father, we pray that You'll enlighten our hearts 08:21 and our minds and all of the viewers, 08:24 those who are listening, those who are watching, 08:27 they may have questions in their life. 08:29 And we pray that through this program 08:31 that they will be met 08:33 by the power of the Holy Spirit. 08:35 Lord, we need your spirit. 08:36 We don't want to be sad, we're happy. 08:38 This is a joyous occasion. This is a time for learning. 08:41 So we pray that You'll be with us now 08:42 in a very special way, anoint us with Thy Holy Spirit. 08:45 May we, after it's all said and done, 08:47 may we know that we've been with Jesus, 08:49 may we be energized, may we be filled to the full, 08:52 may our cup be flowing over. 08:54 We're going to praise You, we're going to thank You 08:56 as You answer questions for us now through Thy spirit. 08:58 In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. 09:00 Amen. Amen. 09:10 Open my eyes that I may see 09:14 Glimpses of truth 09:16 Thou hast for me 09:18 Place in my hands the wonderful key 09:23 That shall unclasp and set me free 09:27 Silently now I wait for Thee 09:32 Ready, my God, Thy will to see 09:36 Open my eyes, illumine me 09:40 Spirit Divine! 09:44 Open my ears that I may hear 09:49 Voices of truth Thou sendest clear 09:53 And while the wave notes fall on my ear 09:57 Everything false will disappear 10:01 Silently now I wait for Thee 10:05 Ready, my God, Thy will to see 10:10 Open my ears, illumine me 10:14 Spirit Divine! 10:19 Open my mouth and let me bear 10:23 Gladly the warm truth everywhere 10:28 Open my heart and let me prepare 10:32 Love with Thy children thus to share 10:37 Silently now I wait for Thee 10:41 Ready, my God, Thy will to see 10:46 Open my heart, illumine me 10:51 Spirit Divine! 10:58 Amen. Amen. 10:59 Praise the Lord. 11:01 You know, we spoke before, we're saying that 11:02 how appropriate this song is, 11:05 Open My Eyes, 11:07 Open My Ears, 11:09 Open My Heart. 11:10 That's what we wanted today 11:11 because we want to be open to the truth. 11:14 Pastor, would you read our key text there 11:17 found in 1 Corinthians 2:14? 11:20 Yes. All right. 11:21 So those of you at home, 11:23 be sure to look these things up, 11:24 get a pencil and paper and jot some things down 11:26 so you can do some more studying 11:27 'cause we're looking for is spiritual discernment. 11:29 We want to know if we're telling 11:30 the truth or not. 11:32 The only way we can do it is to, what, 11:33 get into the Word of God. 11:34 That's right. Check it out for ourselves. 11:36 So we challenge you with it, 11:37 and we know that you're going to do it. 11:38 That's in the 1 Corinthians 2:14, the Bible says, 11:41 "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit 11:45 of God for they are foolishness unto Him. 11:48 Neither can He know them 11:50 because they are spiritually discerned." 11:53 Okay. 11:54 So what we're studying tonight is biblical truth, right? 11:56 Yes. 11:58 This is something that God is asking of His people. 12:00 And I love as we begin to dive and dissect this 12:04 that we're going to learn more about how to do that. 12:07 I think there's steps that 12:09 we can take as Christians to do just that. 12:12 I love even just this first paragraph. 12:14 Who would like to read that first paragraph? 12:16 Maybe, Tim, would you like to read it? 12:17 I actually don't have that paper... 12:19 Okay. Oh, you don't have it. Okay. 12:20 The Jewels of Truth? Is that the one? 12:22 I will read... 12:23 Okay, the Jewels of Truth. Yes. 12:25 "The jewels of truth lie scattered over the field 12:28 of revelation, but they have been buried 12:30 beneath human traditions, beneath the sayings 12:33 and commandments of men, and the wisdom from heaven 12:36 has been practically ignored. 12:38 For Satan has succeeded, succeeded, 12:40 in making the world believe that the words 12:43 and achievements of men are of a great consequence." 12:46 Mercy. 12:47 "The Lord God, the Creator of the world, 12:49 at infinite cost has given the gospel, 12:52 the teaching revelation of Christ to the world. 12:55 Through this divine agent, glad, 12:57 refreshing springs of heavenly comfort 12:59 and abiding consolation have been opened for those 13:02 who will come to the Fountain of Life. 13:04 There are veins of truth yet to be discovered, 13:07 but spiritual things are spiritually discerned." 13:10 Amen. Beautiful. 13:11 Jewels of Truth. 13:13 You know, it's like when we were studying this... 13:15 The more I began to study it, the more I was like, "Wow! 13:19 This is wonderful", because just opening the Bible, 13:21 you begin to fall in love with it, 13:23 and you see things anew and afresh every time you do. 13:27 "But jewels of truth lie scattered 13:30 over the field of revelation, divine revealing from heaven." 13:34 Isn't that beautiful? Yes. 13:35 "But beneath the sayings and commandments of men, 13:39 the wisdom from heaven has been practically ignored." 13:43 That dirty devil as you often say. 13:45 Oh, he's dirty. Dirty to the core. 13:47 He's got us so drunk with the wine 13:49 and the wrath of her fornication. 13:50 Well, that's a drunkard. That's right. 13:52 And spiritualism, there's so many things. 13:55 What do you guys think about that? 13:56 You know, think about it, like Brother Ryan, 13:59 you probably never heard at home, my dad sometimes said, 14:01 "Son, son, use the good judgment." 14:03 That's right. 14:04 I didn't realize that was another word for discernment. 14:05 Sure, sure. 14:07 And maybe it's now that we look at it, and we say, 14:08 "Just use good judgment, look it over. 14:11 Think about it." 14:12 Do you ever hear it, maybe at home? 14:13 Oh, absolutely. Yeah. 14:15 Definitely. It was a good advice for me. 14:16 Yeah, absolutely. 14:17 And I think, you know, 14:19 you're alluding to the relationship between, 14:20 you know, parents and their children, 14:22 I think that that's exactly what God wants for us. 14:24 Yes, He wants a special relationship with us 14:26 because we in and of ourselves cannot have that judgment. 14:30 We cannot exercise the right judgment 14:33 without the help and the divine guidance of God. 14:36 And so, you know, praise the Lord, 14:37 just like that parent, you know, to a child. 14:40 We depend on our parents to lead us and to guide us 14:42 and to teach us. 14:44 And the same thing here, you know, 14:45 we're talking about discernment, 14:48 but there is a difference, I see, at least, 14:50 between discernment and spiritual discernment. 14:53 Oh, absolutely. 14:55 Because, you know, anyone can exercise 14:56 a certain amount of good judgment 15:00 pertaining to certain things. 15:01 But there is a different type of judgment 15:03 when it pertains to the spiritual things of God, 15:06 the spiritual will and nature of God. 15:09 And so in this case, I think, we definitely need to be 15:12 dependent upon the spirit of God 15:15 that we may obtain and exercise that spiritual judgment, 15:19 that spiritual discernment. 15:21 And many times, spiritual discernment 15:22 goes against what we believe, what we've grown up, 15:25 what we've accepted as truth. 15:27 That's why it's says, "But the natural man." 15:29 That's right. 15:31 If you're non-spiritual... 15:32 So really, we don't expect the cook to go out 15:37 and work on the car if, you know, 15:39 because he's not a mechanic, he's a cook. 15:41 I mean, if he's multitalented, you know, good for him. 15:44 But, you know, I hope he washes his hands 15:46 before he goes back to cook. 15:47 But truly, yeah, it's because it's the natural things 15:51 and the supernatural things, they're different. 15:54 And so truly, my doctor, I want him 15:57 to have gone to university, 16:00 medical school for multiple years 16:03 and have multiple surgeries before he works on me. 16:06 If he does open-heart surgery... 16:07 Oh, my God, yes. 16:09 You've been through that experience. 16:10 And you could say because you've been through 16:12 that experience, "Well, I can probably do that 16:14 because I've had it done on me." 16:16 Well, no, it's not that. 16:18 You've got to have some knowledge of it. 16:20 And so you've got to have been there, 16:22 you've got to have studied the Word. 16:24 In the case of being a spiritual man, 16:26 you have to that's whole accepting Christ, 16:28 accepting His ways, accepting the Word. 16:31 And so it's the difference between being natural 16:33 and supernatural, 16:35 and that's where spiritual discernment... 16:36 I know. 16:38 The difference in, you mentioned a while ago, 16:39 discernment and spiritual discernment. 16:40 That's right. 16:42 And it's seems to me on this study 16:44 that would bring out kind of at least clearly in mind 16:47 that a person doesn't have spiritual discernment... 16:49 Now I'm being careful, 16:51 I'm not hurting anybody's feelings. 16:52 But a person is very selfish and self-centered 16:57 if they don't have the spiritual discernment 16:59 because they're using their own wisdom 17:02 and their own judgment rather than that from heaven. 17:06 So that's just one aspect maybe to look at it 17:08 and you'll be very careful and be willing and open, right? 17:11 For the Holy Spirit to come in because I think Brother Ryan 17:15 mentioned a while ago, what's that, in John 14:26. 17:19 The third person of the Godhead, 17:20 you talked about Holy Spirit comes in, 17:22 He's going to do what when the comforter has come? 17:25 He's going to do something. Yeah. 17:28 So from that, you're saying even the spiritual man 17:31 can act natural, right? 17:34 I mean, we can even when we're spiritual 17:39 and supposedly following Christ, 17:41 we can still go back, we can go back 17:45 because it's only natural because we're living 17:47 in a natural world, but that's really excellent point. 17:51 Some people think, "Well, we're not..." 17:52 "You know, I'm not susceptible to doing anything 17:55 by having spiritual discernment." 17:56 That's right. 17:57 And we go into those opinions and our own... 18:01 In fact, I think that what I read, 18:03 there's something to do with when we... 18:04 The last line, "There are veins of truth to be discovered. 18:08 Spiritual things are spiritually discerned." 18:11 That's right. So you have to use... 18:12 Okay, I'm just making sure I get the fact 18:15 that even though, you know, as a Christian, I can't, 18:17 I'm totally susceptible too. 18:19 Anybody that takes their eyes, right, off of Christ, 18:23 take your hand out of His, we're susceptible to fall. 18:27 Peter walking on the water. 18:29 That's true. Oh, just a split second. 18:31 That is a wonderful explanation. 18:33 I don't trust myself. No. 18:35 Anybody here... We don't trust you either. 18:37 I've often said, all this time, I mean, really, 18:39 to stay off of it means by on our own, 18:41 I don't trust myself, I trust Jesus, 18:44 and I stay close to Jesus. 18:45 This is good. I don't trust myself. 18:48 The human nature, it'll always come back. 18:49 Oh, absolutely. Absolutely true. 18:52 That is so true. 18:54 Boy, oh, boy, some good, good thoughts there. 18:56 You know, another thing I mentioned earlier about 18:58 why would Christ have to be crucified 19:01 if truth wasn't so important. 19:03 And part of what Tim read here, it reads, 19:06 "The Lord God, the Creator of the world, 19:08 at infinite cost." 19:10 We just can't even fathom the cost of giving Christ. 19:15 And remember, Christ is related to as the light, as truth. 19:18 He is revealed to us. He's the revelation. 19:22 He was given to this world 19:23 so that we can really know who God is. 19:25 Amen. 19:26 And when I read that, my mind automatically went 19:29 to John 3:16. 19:31 "For God so loved the world that He gave 19:34 His only begotten Son." 19:36 And we have that opportunity to make those choices 19:39 each and every day to accept Him. 19:41 But when you were talking about slipping up, 19:44 that's why it's so very important 19:47 that our walk with Christ is not once a week, 19:49 it's not once... 19:51 Well, there's some people, 19:52 they're only in church if it's a holiday. 19:54 You know, it's not once or twice a year. 19:56 Yeah. So it's a daily thing. 19:58 We're to die daily, we're to pick up that cross 20:00 daily because we cannot trust ourselves. 20:05 You know, beautiful. Good. 20:06 Well, Brother Ryan, maybe you can comment on this. 20:08 I thought it was interesting. This is John 12:35. 20:11 And anybody here can comment on it 20:13 because that's what we've been talking about. 20:14 John 12:35 says, "Then Jesus said unto them, 20:18 'Yet a little while is the light with you. 20:21 Walk while you have the light lest darkness come upon you 20:25 for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.'" 20:29 Well, that's pretty simple, isn't it? 20:31 What was Jesus really... 20:32 Was He talking to us and telling this, right, 20:34 "We need to walk while the light shining 20:37 on the path or soon as it's revealed to us 20:39 that rather make excuses of why I'm not going to do it." 20:43 Sure, sure. 20:44 Yeah, well, everything goes right back to 20:46 what we were talking about earlier 20:48 as our complete dependency upon the Holy Spirit, 20:51 our complete dependency upon God 20:53 to keep us on that path. 20:54 But obviously, there's a special condition there, 20:56 we have to surrender, we have to be in constant surrendered 20:58 to Him, and as has been mentioned here, 21:00 keep our eyes completely focused upon Him. 21:03 You know, we were talking a little bit about this 21:05 before the program began, before the recording here, 21:09 you know, and I was just, you know, brainstorming 21:12 and mentioning how I believe 21:13 that a person's lack of discernment, 21:16 someone who does not yearn or desire for that 21:19 spiritual leadership and guidance 21:21 from God is very much prone and subject to deception. 21:25 And I think that's where we're going here. 21:27 We want to stay in that light of Jesus. 21:30 We don't want to fall out of it. 21:31 Well, we know there's times that, you know, it happens. 21:33 We take our eyes off Jesus. 21:35 We fall away from the will of God, 21:37 but yet He is quick to forgive us. 21:39 He is quick to forgive us our sins, 21:42 but yet also cleanse us from that unrighteousness 21:44 to get back on that path. 21:46 But I think, you know, when you're talking about 21:48 spiritual discernment, we're talking about, you know, 21:51 people that are... 21:52 It's a possibility for someone to reject 21:55 that spiritual leadership, that spiritual guidance, 21:58 the discernment, the judgment that God wants to bestow 22:01 upon someone that they may properly discern between that 22:05 which is the will of God and that which is not. 22:08 One particular text that comes to mind 22:10 when we're talking about the danger of rejecting 22:13 or not yearning and desiring for spiritual discernment... 22:18 This comes to my mind here. 22:19 Stephanie, you want to read that? 22:21 It's 1 Timothy 4:1-2. Sure. 22:25 It says, "Now the Spirit expressly says 22:27 that in latter times, 22:29 some will depart from the faith, 22:31 giving heed to deceiving spirits 22:33 and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, 22:37 having their own conscience seared with a hot iron." 22:40 Absolutely. 22:41 So that the conscience which, you know, I obviously... 22:44 You know, when a person talks about, you know, 22:46 "My conscience tells me this", you know, 22:49 I automatically interpret that, at least, myself. 22:52 I believe that's the spirit of God talking to us, 22:54 trying to lead us and steer us and to guide us. 22:56 And, you know, the danger of not yearning 23:00 and desiring for that spiritual discernment, Lord, 23:03 give me the right judgment, 23:05 give me the ability to be able tell 23:08 and then determine what is Your will, 23:10 what is not Your will, where's the path 23:12 that I'm supposed to be walking 23:14 versus the path I'm not supposed to be walking. 23:17 You know, Paul prophesied that there's coming a time when, 23:21 you know, deceiving spirits would bring 23:23 about doctrines of demons. 23:25 But, you know, obviously, we know just as God 23:27 does not force Himself upon us, you know, the devil cannot, 23:31 and will not in most cases, force himself, 23:33 but he wants to deceive. 23:34 He wants to come in. 23:35 But there has to be a willingness 23:37 on our part to turn our eyes from that truth, 23:41 from the path that God wants us to be on. 23:44 And so it talks about having our conscience 23:46 seared with a hot iron. 23:47 And I think of the... 23:49 You know, the old movies where you see the people 23:50 on the battlefield, and they get shot or wounded, 23:53 and so what do they do? 23:54 I think, they call it a searing where they take the blade 23:56 of the sword, and they put it in the hot fire, 23:58 and they heat it up, and then they seal the wound. 24:00 Well, I think of that in a sense 24:02 of a conscious being seared to someone 24:04 who's just made up their mind and said, 24:05 "No, I think, I know enough. 24:07 I'm good. I don't have to learn anymore. 24:10 I'm good where I am in my salvation, and, you know, 24:13 I'm already saved. 24:15 And there's nothing else to be gain, 24:16 and there's nothing else to learn." 24:18 And then I'm going to read this one text, 24:19 and then I'm going to be quite myself. 24:20 Let's talk. No, no, that's good. 24:22 But 2 Thessalonians, when I was studying this, 24:23 I was just on fire 'cause I love the Word of God. 24:27 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12, also the writings of Paul here. 24:32 Notice what he says. 24:33 He says, "And with all unrighteousness..." 24:35 Or excuse me, "Unrighteous deception 24:38 among those who perish because they did not 24:42 receive the love of truth, that they might be saved. 24:47 And for this reason," notice, "God will send them 24:51 strong delusion that they should believe a lie." 24:56 And it goes onto say in verse 12, 24:57 "That they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth 25:01 but had pleasure in unrighteousness." 25:03 So when we... 25:05 You know, if we truly desire for true spiritual discernment, 25:08 I believe the Bible teaches us that we have to be 25:11 in a completely humble state at all times. 25:13 Yes. 25:15 When we're completely depended on God and say, 25:16 "Lord, I can't depend on my own heart, 25:19 on my own thoughts, on my own guidance. 25:21 Lord, I don't want to believe or hear the truth, 25:24 and the truth come my way, but I turned it away to be 25:27 prone to believing a lie and being deceived." 25:30 So I think that's the importance 25:32 of spiritual discernment, 25:33 it's that we are completely dependent on God 25:36 and His Spirit to constantly lead us 25:39 and guide us in His will, in His ways. 25:41 Yes, yes. 25:43 You know, I've heard people say to what you've brought up 25:45 a while ago is our conscience. 25:47 You know, our conscience... 25:49 Sometimes we feel certain ways and how do we gauge that? 25:52 God chooses to work through our mind 25:54 'cause we're talking about discernment. 25:56 The enemy works the same way as God does, 25:58 it's through the mind. 25:59 So sometimes, the enemy comes in, 26:01 and he gives you an impression. 26:03 People say, "Well, I know what it says here, 26:04 but, you know, I feel this way, 26:06 and I've seen Him work miracle." 26:08 But it's all... 26:10 We go back to the Word of God if what our conscience 26:12 or whatever we're feeling 26:14 is not harmonizing with Scripture. 26:16 That's right. It is not, provides the truth. 26:19 What did Jesus say in John 17:17? 26:23 "Sanctify them by Thy truth, Thy word is truth." 26:27 And then when we... 26:28 As we read a while ago in John 12, when we hear truth, 26:33 we need to immediately respond to that truth 26:36 and not delay because the enemy will find a way to come in 26:40 or we need not do like... 26:41 Who was it? Balaam. 26:44 Remember, how many times he tried to get away from 26:46 when he was supposed to curse. 26:47 That's right. That's right. He kept going back. 26:49 He kept going back. 26:50 And there is no use to keep going back. 26:52 Once the truth has been enlightened 26:54 or we understand that it's right, 26:56 don't keep going back and say, 26:58 "Well, give me more time or I need to..." 26:59 What time do we need? That's right. 27:04 Your heart will become harder. Yes. Yes. 27:07 And what we're summarizing is the last church, 27:09 the Laodicea Church. 27:11 We're in need of nothing. We have everything. 27:13 And what we're talking about, this not only happens 27:16 outside of the church, this happens inside the church 27:19 which is precisely why I said in the very beginning, 27:23 you know, where we choose to walk with Him, 27:25 what church we choose to worship Him. 27:27 It's not going to where everybody else is going, 27:30 everybody I love is gone, or the biggest church 27:32 'cause where I'll get more votes 27:34 is what church lines up with the Word of God. 27:37 So we go to the Word of God, we begin to seek those jewels, 27:41 those hidden treasures, and as we apply those 27:44 to our heart by the power of the Holy Spirit, 27:46 then God says to, "Walk ye in it." 27:49 Amen. And so we need to walk in it. 27:51 So what church, and that is so vitally important. 27:54 Otherwise, you know, we've often said 27:56 we could have had a mega church 27:58 in our younger years. 27:59 You know, I believe I'm talking about my husband 28:04 'cause I just love, you know, 28:05 I feel like he's a man led by God. 28:09 But if we had just been outside 28:11 and maybe some of these wonderful things 28:13 'cause just like the way that they rejected Christ 28:18 for upholding truth, they reject those of us 28:21 who are upholding the truth today. 28:23 And we'll see that get worse and worse as time goes on. 28:27 Sure. So very good thoughts. 28:30 You know, the Jews did that too. 28:33 They knew they expressed the will of God, 28:35 but yet they came back and then said, 28:37 "Well, show us a sign." 28:39 That's right. Some people still do that. 28:40 You show him from the Word of God, they say, 28:42 "Well, I'm going to have to have a sign." 28:43 I've heard people say over and over. 28:45 "Well, you know, that seems like truth to me 28:46 but you know what, I'm going to have to go 28:48 pray on some more." 28:49 That's right. 28:51 After they've already acknowledged that 28:52 that is truth, mine is, I know we still need to pray. 28:56 But let's think about why do we need to go back 28:58 and pray over something we already said is the truth? 29:00 Right. Right. Yeah. 29:01 Absolutely. 29:02 It comes to the point of taking a step of faith 29:04 and grasping that truth, and God will bless you for it. 29:07 He calls you right on the high places 29:09 and get you out of those low places. 29:11 That's what we need to do right now. 29:12 And there's a lot of times that people are misled, 29:14 and they believe it's the Holy Spirit. 29:17 There are many spirits, 29:18 but they're not all the Holy Spirit. 29:20 You know, we have the evil spirits, 29:22 and we have the Spirit of God. 29:24 And the Bible says that we're to worship God 29:27 because He is a spirit. 29:28 We're to worship Him in spirit and in truth. 29:31 That's right. 29:33 And many people in this world, sad to say, 29:34 they leave out the truth part. 29:37 "Oh, we're enjoying the spirit, we're enjoying this. 29:39 Oh, boy, we were in the spirit." 29:41 Where was the truth? That's right. 29:42 You know? 29:44 And the truth is so vitally important. 29:46 It's the truth that... 29:47 Yeah, both of them at one time. Yes. 29:49 This is really good, right? Amen. 29:50 One guys said one time, you know, 29:52 "You folks have the truth, and we have the spirit." 29:55 Now you can't separate the truth, can you? 29:58 I mean, two different faces. 29:59 And he said, "You guys have the truth, 30:02 but we have the spirit because we worship Him as a..." 30:04 You can't have it 30:06 because the Holy Spirit doesn't tell two different things. 30:07 That's right. 30:09 If you have the truth, you have to have the spirit 30:10 because you can't have the truth 30:11 unless the spirit reveals that truth. 30:13 Jesus called Him the spirit of truth in John 16. 30:16 1 Corinthians talks about that. We talked about a while ago. 30:19 We read 1 Corinthians 2:14, read verses 9 and 10. 30:22 Before then, we're not incapable of understanding it, 30:25 we're not incapable of fathoming 30:27 unless the Spirit of God comes in. 30:29 That's right. That's what we need. 30:30 We need about an Adventist church, 30:31 we need it all the time. 30:33 We think we need more of the spirit. 30:34 We need to not say sad Adventist 30:36 but happy Adventist. 30:37 Sadventist? Yeah. Sadventist. 30:39 Nothing like Sadventist, gentlemen. 30:41 Doesn't makes sense, does it? 30:43 When we have the spirit of God, this lesson brings... 30:44 When you have the Spirit of the living God inside, 30:47 it brings happiness and peace and joy and contentment, 30:51 and your life is different, your attitude changed, 30:54 your character changed, everything changes 30:56 when Christ really lives within. 30:58 Amen. 30:59 And if the character hasn't changed, 31:01 we're becoming more like Him by His grace every day, 31:04 then that's not the wrong spirit. 31:06 Yeah, it is wrong. 31:08 No, no, no, that's all good because, I mean, oftentimes, 31:11 we have been approached by that because it's hard to be quiet. 31:15 You know, my life totally changed. 31:16 I don't intend on being quiet. 31:19 It totally changed as I began to put God first every day. 31:23 Amen. 31:24 When I began to study every day, 31:26 when I had worship before I would eat, 31:28 you know, I'd take of that spiritual food 31:30 before I would eat any physical food, 31:32 my life began to change. 31:34 And now that it's changed, I never want to go back, 31:37 I never want to be silent. 31:40 One of you guys, I don't know who mentioned it, 31:41 but God inhabits our praises. 31:44 And when it comes from a sincere heart, 31:47 you will begin to sense 31:48 the Holy Spirit walking in and amongst us. 31:51 And that's when all of these things come alive. 31:53 You know, years ago, 31:55 we could probably read the very same passages 31:57 and not get excited about it. 31:59 But now as the Holy Spirit is enlightening our minds 32:03 and giving us that spiritual discernment, 32:05 all of a sudden, it's like, 32:07 "Wow! Thank you, Lord. Wow! That's here. 32:09 Wow! We can read it." 32:11 I did it for years. I did it for years. 32:14 I read the Scriptures, 32:15 and I never really found the joy and the peace 32:17 until I was born again. 32:18 That's true. That's true. 32:19 You know, I raised up in the faith 32:21 as it were bestow you until you're born again, 32:22 until you really give your life to Jesus Christ. 32:24 I've often said, once conversion came and as after... 32:27 I mentioned many times, that was after 32:30 you get the little plaques for teaching the early married, 32:34 and that's after you become the deacon, 32:36 and as actually become an elder and still not born again. 32:39 People said that was impossible. 32:40 No... 32:42 It was possible. 32:43 The lukewarmness, Laodicea, and you just kind of raise, 32:47 and you just go through the emotions. 32:49 And then when God really gets hold of you, 32:50 when you're ready for Him to get a hold of you and say, 32:52 "God, you changed", 32:54 everything changes, attitude changes, 32:56 the word changes, everything changes. 33:01 To me, that's called conversion. 33:02 And then started... 33:04 By the grace of God, 33:05 a little bit of a spiritual discernment begin to be 33:08 on hand rather before it was human discernment. 33:11 So I mean, God can do wonderful, wonderful things, 33:14 and He does them. 33:15 But He's willing to change our hearts and change our lives 33:17 and change our attitudes. 33:19 What I really loved about the quote that you had shared, 33:22 the last line, it says, 33:23 "There are veins of truth yet to be discovered, 33:27 but spiritual things are spiritually discerned." 33:29 And I think that's an amazing sentence there 33:32 because we think we have so much truth, 33:35 but we can always learn more. 33:38 We can read the same passage over and over and over, 33:40 and we're still going to get something new out of it. 33:42 And I love that. I just love that sentence. 33:44 Amen. Praise God. 33:45 Amen. 33:46 And it's learning to accept it even when it doesn't fit 33:50 the way our thinking is. 33:51 It's learning to say, I mean, how many times 33:53 some of our biggest battles is with self 33:56 because we're reading them and thinking, "Oh", you know? 34:01 Oh, absolutely. 34:02 "Are you sure that's what you mean, Lord?" 34:05 And maybe about diet and foods, 34:07 "Oh, but I really love that food." 34:10 But let me give you an example. Let me give you an example. 34:14 Talk about yourself now. 34:15 No, this was not the ice cream... 34:17 You were the ice cream man. 34:18 I was the ice cream man. 34:19 No, no. When I was... 34:21 You know, I truly believed as I was growing up, 34:24 it had to be my grandparents that were praying for me. 34:26 I ended up living with my grandparents for a long time 34:29 'cause my mom, she had left the church, 34:32 and she was singing in the taverns. 34:34 In fact, she was asked to sing on Hee Haw, 34:36 but that's right 34:37 when she started to come back to the Lord, 34:39 so she turned that one down. 34:40 But she had several restaurants that were connected to taverns, 34:45 you know, and there'd be a door in-between, 34:47 and that's how we grew up. 34:50 But I would go visit my grandma and my grandpa, 34:52 and they'd take me to church. 34:54 And while I was at church, 34:56 and if you've never heard about this, please, forgive me. 34:58 Study it in Leviticus 11, study in Deuteronomy, 35:03 but there are clean and unclean meats. 35:06 And one day, my parents were in the back, 35:09 and I had learned that pork was unclean. 35:11 And I wouldn't eat pork. How old were you? 35:13 Seven or eight? I don't know but I was little. 35:15 I was very, very young. 35:17 You know, 'cause I came to live with my grandparents, 35:20 probably I was either in the third or fourth grade, 35:22 so it was prior to that. 35:23 Yep. 35:25 So anyway, we were in the back of the restaurant, 35:29 and they were over there arguing about food 35:31 and what I wouldn't eat and why I would eat. 35:34 And finally, my dad looks at me and he says, 35:37 "What about that ham sandwich?" 35:39 See, the ham sandwich, that was my favorite sandwich. 35:43 And he says, "What do you think about that?" 35:44 I'm like, "Well, it's ham. Ham's ham." 35:48 You didn't know? I did not know. 35:50 And he said, "That's pork." 35:54 And that was my favorite sandwich. 35:57 But it had to be the Spirit of God through prayer 36:00 'cause I laid that down, 36:01 and I would never pick it back up. 36:03 And I wasn't even able to read that for myself, you know? 36:08 That was just little things, little examples 36:11 of how we're to learn to trust even when it goes against 36:15 what we believe or what we like. 36:17 What I hear, and I'm going to just ask a question. 36:20 It's kind of a rhetorical question, 36:21 but, you know, can we separate 36:26 spiritual discernment from the Word of God 36:29 in the sense of can we have true spiritual discernment 36:35 absent from or separate from 36:37 the divine leadership of God's Word? 36:40 No. I think that is the answer. 36:42 I've looked up this text here. 36:43 This is, you know, Christ, He gives a parable here. 36:47 In fact, I think this is the first, 36:48 and I can be corrected on this if I'm wrong, 36:50 but I believe it's the first recorded parable 36:52 that Christ tells in the Bible. 36:54 And it's the Parable of the Sower, 36:55 which is not ironic because He actually says in Mark 4, 36:58 I believe it's, verse 13, 37:00 when the disciples were questioning Him, 37:02 He says, "How do you not understand this parable? 37:05 If you don't understand this parable, 37:07 you can't understand any of the parables." 37:08 So this is a very important parable. 37:09 And what is the parable all about? 37:11 It's focused on the Word of God, 37:13 the importance of the Word of God. 37:14 And these four different groups of people 37:17 who respond differently to the divine Word of God. 37:20 But I noticed... 37:21 I've put the Scripture down here 37:22 because Christ says in His response to His parables 37:27 and talking about the purpose of His parables 37:29 which is, of course, the teachings of Christ. 37:32 He says here, "Therefore, I speak to them in parables 37:36 because seeing they do not see 37:39 and hearing they do not hear nor do they understand." 37:43 And this is actually coming from Matthew 13:13, 37:47 I just read. 37:49 And it goes onto say, and He's quoting, "And in them, 37:52 the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled which says, 37:55 'Hearing you'll hear and shall not understand 37:58 and seeing you will see and not perceive..." 38:01 And you said this earlier, 38:02 "For the hearts of the people have grown dull." 38:04 You mentioned the hardening of the heart. 38:05 "Their ears are hard of hearing 38:07 and their eyes, they have closed, 38:09 lest they should see with their eyes 38:11 and hear with their ears, 38:12 and lest they should understand with their hearts and turn 38:15 so that I should heal them." 38:17 But you cannot separate the divine Word of God from, 38:22 you know, the concept, the very reality 38:25 of spiritual discernment. 38:26 We must seek God through His Word 38:29 and in seeking God in His Word, that spiritual discernment 38:33 will become a reality in our life 38:35 because we're not depending upon self's ideas 38:37 and ideologies and perceptions, 38:40 but we're depending upon the Holy Scripture. 38:42 That's right. That's right. And that is a good segue. 38:46 If we jump down to the last, the last verse, 38:50 not verse, but the last paragraph there 38:53 because I think in this last paragraph, 38:54 we're going to see three very important steps to follow 38:58 and how we can become more spiritually discerning 39:01 disciples for Christ. 39:03 Number one, "But those who profess to believe in Jesus 39:07 should ever...", 39:08 and here it is, number one, "Pressed to the light. 39:12 The light represents..." What? 39:14 "The truth of God's Word, 39:15 Christ is the light of the world." 39:18 You know, we can read in John 8:12, 39:21 "Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, 39:23 'I am the light of the world. 39:25 He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness," 39:28 as we've been talking about here, 39:31 "But shall have the light of life." 39:33 You shall walk in the truth, 39:34 you'll be down that narrow pathway. 39:36 `So can we separate Christ from His Word? No. 39:40 So many people have perished 39:42 to just be able to preserve that Word of God. 39:46 I think about the Waldensians, you know, 39:49 they were lead into the Alps Mountains, 39:51 and they would go down to witness. 39:53 I mean in a time where if you just shared God's Word, 39:57 you would be burned, you'd be crucified, 39:59 you'd be, you know, sometimes, they would take the babies and, 40:03 you know, just slay them against the rocks. 40:05 It's horrible what these people endured, 40:08 but they would sow the scripture 40:10 inside their garments sometimes. 40:12 And when they felt it was just the right time, 40:15 they would loosen that and share just bits and pieces. 40:17 That's right. 40:19 And here we have all these books, 40:21 and we let them gather dust on our shelves. 40:23 That's right. So can we separate it? 40:26 Absolutely not. 40:28 Now then, number two, daily prayers. 40:31 So we have study, and now it says daily prayer 40:36 for the light of the Holy Spirit, 40:38 spiritual things must be spiritually discerned. 40:41 You never open a study without asking God 40:44 to bless us with His Holy Spirit. 40:46 We asked Him to bless us here and by His grace, 40:49 I believe He has already. 40:51 And I pray that He's blessing you at home as well. 40:53 Amen. Oh, yes. Sure. Sure. 40:55 "So we want to pray for the light of the Holy Spirit 40:58 to shine upon the pages of the sacred book 41:01 that they may be unable to comprehend the things 41:05 of the Spirit of God." 41:07 So is prayer important? Oh, absolutely. 41:11 Absolutely. 41:13 It's a must. Absolutely, yes. And number three, implicit. 41:15 And I've referred to this several times, 41:18 implicit trust in God's Word. 41:21 And Mrs. White goes on to say, "Or we are lost." 41:26 So that means, even though we're looking 41:28 through the glass, and we're saying, 41:30 "But there are so many people that believe it this is way." 41:35 She says, "Implicit trust." 41:37 Even in our prayer life, for our prayers to be answered, 41:41 we must trust that God is answering those prayers. 41:44 We must have faith that He's hearing us, 41:47 and we walk in there. 41:48 "The words of men, however great, 41:50 however wonderful that preacher was..." 41:53 I'm adding a little bit here, so she didn't say that, 41:56 but you know what I'm saying, "The words of men, 41:59 however great they may be are not able to make us perfect 42:03 to thoroughly furnish us unto all good works." 42:06 And you're not going to have good works 42:08 until you're living up to the light of God's Word 42:11 because it's in His Word that we find 42:14 how a Christian is to be, what good works are. 42:18 Do we have to understand everything? 42:20 Say, we're studying something for truth, 42:22 we want to figure out what is it, 42:24 do we have to understand every aspect of it 42:27 before we are obedient to what we do understand? 42:30 Oh, no. Absolutely, no. 42:31 You know, some people say, "You know, 42:33 I have to understand more of this. 42:34 I see this part", 42:36 but they're not willing to walk in that 42:38 explicit trust in the Word of God. 42:41 That's right. To say, "I'm not..." 42:43 I still read it to this day. 42:44 I read to this day and say, "I know there's more to here 42:47 than I'm getting, Lord, help me to understand it." 42:50 But know what is truth help me to walk in this truth, 42:53 I think it's very important that we do that 42:55 or we might get bypassed. 42:59 And I truly believe. 43:01 And we're seeing it 43:02 as we're seeing laws being passed, 43:04 as we're seeing people 43:05 coming into the highest court of the land, 43:08 things are changing. 43:10 The whole atmosphere is changing. 43:11 I've said this many, many times. 43:13 Truth in our country, truth, many times, in our churches, 43:17 truth, many times, in our families 43:20 has become error. 43:22 And error has become truth. 43:24 So we must have implicit, as she says here, 43:28 trust in God's Word. 43:30 When He says our lifestyle is wrong, 43:32 when He says eating this is wrong, 43:33 when He says this day is holy, He didn't make any... 43:36 I had one family that brought their children to our school. 43:40 And they talked to me one day and they said, 43:42 "Well, we keep every day as the Sabbath." 43:45 It's impossible. When would you work? 43:48 How would you feed your family? 43:50 There was only one day that God made holy, 43:53 that He set apart, that He sanctified, 43:56 and He said, "Come and remember Me. 43:59 Remember Me as your Lord, your Savior, 44:01 your Creator, your God." 44:03 You know, so implicit trust in His Word is what we... 44:07 And then we walk in. 44:08 And we don't hesitate because as pastor said, 44:11 we don't know if we have tomorrow, you know? 44:14 The Bible says today what, 44:16 "Today is the day of salvation." 44:19 That's right. 44:20 "As we walk in that light, 44:21 then it's going to increase in it." 44:23 the passage here in Proverbs 4, I think it's 18, 44:26 it says, "But the path of the just." 44:28 So we need to look at it by the grace of God, 44:30 path of the just. 44:31 You know, it says, "As the shining light 44:33 that shineth more and more into that perfect day." 44:37 But then it goes on, talks about... 44:38 It says, "The way of the wicked is as darkness. 44:42 They know not at what they stumble." 44:44 So basically, what we've been saying here, 44:46 but know that there is going to be an increase, 44:49 the shining light, the more that we accept it, 44:52 the more we walk in it, the more... 44:54 You're not going to outdo the light. 44:57 You walk along this dark world, it gets brighter. 45:01 And before you take the next step, 45:03 by the grace of God, the just, 45:05 God's going to shine light on that path, 45:06 so you don't stumble. 45:08 I don't trip over the rock, I don't hurt myself. 45:11 The light there is progressive, 45:12 and it's going to always go before us, 45:15 and it gets better and better. 45:17 That's right. I like that. 45:18 And if we don't fight it. If we don't fight it. 45:19 Thank you. 45:21 When we fight it, that's the problem, 45:22 that's the problem, 45:24 that's when we get discouraged, that's when we're down, 45:26 that's when things just don't go our way. 45:28 It's a progressive revelation. 45:30 You know, Jacob's ladder, 45:32 it's as though we're stuck on a rung, you know? 45:35 And if you're not going forward, 45:36 the Lord tells us, "We go backwards." 45:40 So, well, you know, 45:41 I love this verse in Romans 12:2. 45:45 It says, "And be not conformed to this world, 45:48 but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind." 45:52 God wants to renew our mind, give us a new heart, 45:57 take that stony heart out. 45:59 He wants to recreate in us 46:01 the image of Jesus Christ Himself. 46:04 "That ye may prove what is that good 46:07 and acceptable and perfect will of God." 46:11 Truth is the perfect will of God. 46:13 Truth is why Lucifer could not stay in the realm of heaven. 46:18 The law of God was broken, and he refused to repent. 46:22 And he was cast out with a third of the angels 46:24 which we have no idea 46:26 how many that meant is, but we... 46:28 You know, just as we think about 46:30 how many people there are on this earth 46:32 and how much the enemy is attacking and deriding 46:35 and working in the lives of so many, 46:37 it's a lot of angels, it's a lot of fallen beings. 46:41 So truth is vitally important. 46:44 You mentioned there the fallen beings because... 46:49 The famous text that many people 46:52 when they think of spiritual discernment, 46:54 they think of the list of the gifts of the spirit. 46:57 Oh, yes. Absolutely. 46:58 And so many people often refer to 46:59 as one of the gifts of the spirit 47:03 often given to people 47:04 as the spiritual gift of discernment 47:06 or spiritual discernment. 47:08 I want to read this in the text 47:09 because I read this in several different translations today. 47:14 1 Corinthians 12 which is where we find that list there, 47:17 it says here, "Each one for the profit of all, 47:20 for one is given the word of wisdom," 47:21 obviously, "through," notice, "the spirit," 47:23 notice the emphasis on the spirit, 47:26 "to another, the word of knowledge 47:27 through the same spirit," so the gift of knowledge, 47:30 "to another, faith by that same spirit." 47:32 So there's still emphasis on the spirit. 47:34 "To another, gifts of healing by the same spirit, 47:37 to another, the workings of miracles, 47:39 to another, prophecy, and then it comes to another..." 47:41 And the words are, 47:43 instead of spiritual discernment 47:45 or the gift of spiritual discernment, 47:46 it says, "Discerning of spirits." 47:48 That's actually how it's translated, 47:51 discerning of spirits. 47:53 And you mentioned these fallen angels, 47:54 you know, the devil is a counterfeiter. 47:57 Yes, he is. 47:58 Guess you haven't figured that one out yet. 47:59 Yes, he is. 48:01 You know, for everything that God has given to us 48:03 as the original real thing, 48:05 the devil is going to try to counterfeit that. 48:07 And so we know 48:08 that while there is a true genuine real spirit of God, 48:13 there is also a counterfeit spirit there 48:15 also fighting for our souls. 48:17 Now we receive counsel from John in 1 John 4:1 48:22 which we are probably all familiar with. 48:25 Very, very first verse in 1 John 4, 48:28 "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, 48:32 but test the spirits, whether they are of God." 48:35 We're talking about spiritual discernments. 48:37 So the emphasis there is on the spirit of God, 48:40 spiritual discernement. 48:41 "Whether they are of God because many false prophets 48:43 have gone out into the world." 48:45 Now I found a quote. 48:48 This comes from... 48:49 I got to read this because this is... 48:51 You know, I like to bring things to a practical, 48:54 something that deals with me and currently 48:56 and maybe the state of our church 48:57 or the state of whatever 48:59 that we're dealing within our own lives. 49:00 And I found this quote, Great Controversy, page 48. 49:03 I'm just going to read a little bit here. 49:05 And this is what she wrote, she says, 49:06 "The religion which is current in our day 49:10 is not of the pure and holy character 49:12 that marked the Christian faith 49:14 in the days of Christ and His Apostles. 49:18 It is only because," check this out, 49:20 "because of the spirit of compromise with sin, 49:25 because the great truths of the Word of God 49:27 are so indifferently regarded." 49:28 So notice how the spirit of compromise with sin 49:31 and what did she tied to that? 49:32 "The great truths of the Word of God." 49:35 Remember that, we can't separate those two, 49:37 "Are so indifferently regarded 49:38 because there is so little vital godliness in the church 49:43 that Christianity is apparently so popular with the world." 49:46 I don't want to... 49:49 You know, we know that God has true genuine followers 49:52 I believe in every church. 49:54 God has spirit-filled, loving people in every church. 49:57 But the truth of the matter is that 49:58 while the Spirit of God is most definitely at work 50:01 in His people and in His church, 50:03 so as the spirit of the enemy. 50:04 Oh, absolutely. 50:06 And when we're talking 50:07 about this conversation of spiritual discernment, 50:08 people need to pray and earnestly yearn 50:12 and seek after God in prayer 50:14 and in daily devotion 50:15 and say, "Lord, I want to make sure 50:18 that I'm being led by the right Spirit." 50:21 Because many times, we may think and attribute 50:24 some thought or idea or notion or perception 50:27 that we believe is from God 50:29 and really it's from a different spirit 50:31 not from the spirit of God. 50:32 That's where that Scripture comes and tests the spirits 50:35 whether they're of God. 50:36 And then the question is how do we test the spirits? 50:37 "How can I make sure, 50:39 Lord, that this is truly Your Spirit 50:40 speaking to me?" 50:41 I always think of that text in Isaiah 8:20, 50:46 "To the law and to the prophets, 50:47 if they speak not according to this word..." 50:50 No light. There is the word again. 50:51 There it is. 50:53 "It is because there is no light." 50:54 Beautiful. There you go. 50:55 Beautiful. Absolutely. 50:57 Wow. Awesome. Amen. 50:58 There is so much to be said for the truth, 51:01 for the Spirit of God. 51:02 He wants to recreate in us, and so much, 51:05 you just covered right there, that was beautiful. 51:08 Any other thoughts? 51:10 Tim, we haven't heard from you. 51:11 What do you think about all of it? 51:12 And we've been going at it here. 51:14 Yeah, I've just really been soaking this in. 51:15 It's beautiful. 51:16 It is a beautiful thing. It is heart-changing. 51:18 Yeah. 51:20 God wants us to... 51:22 He wants us to... 51:25 I mean, He wants us to live this life 51:26 with knowledge of His word, He wants us to... 51:30 He wants us to win. Yes, He does. 51:31 You know, and so He's not hoping that we will lose. 51:34 He's not trying to make it so difficult. 51:36 But the fact is that 51:38 when we rely on our own understanding 51:42 that it's easy to get our eyes off. 51:44 I'm just... 51:46 I mean, I know these things, but it's just amazing to me, 51:50 you know, when we get to think we're so spiritual 51:53 that we think that we can't be natural, 51:57 you know, we can't rely on our own ways and our own... 52:01 So it's just... 52:02 As I'm listening to you all, 52:04 I really appreciated the fact 52:05 that the spirit is telling me, 52:07 you know, that there are times that you think 52:09 you've got this all figured out, and we don't. 52:13 You know, I love information, 52:15 and I'm reading magazines all the time, 52:17 and I'm thinking of people who don't know the Lord, 52:21 who are searching for that whatever 52:25 that we claim to have as Christians. 52:29 And they're looking for it in knowledge, 52:31 but they're just not searching in the right place. 52:34 You know, to me, it makes me want to go out and, 52:39 you know, just witness and tell people that, 52:43 you know, "This is where it is." 52:45 So that's not deep, it's not revelation, 52:48 it's just letting me know that it's... 52:50 It's important that we go to the Word 52:52 because a lot of people read the Word of God, 52:54 and it never changed their heart. 52:56 So I think those steps that we've talked about, 52:58 you know, press into the light, the light, the Word of God, 53:01 and daily prayer, asking for the Spirit of God, 53:05 and testing the spirit is so vitally important 53:08 because you have whole churches 53:11 that are built around the "Holy Spirit" as it were, 53:14 and yet the truth is not there. 53:16 So how can that be God's church? 53:17 Yeah, I mean, it is so heartbreaking because on... 53:20 It is heartbreaking. 53:21 On the road, over the past few years 53:22 that I've traveled doing evangelism, 53:24 you know, you meet hundreds and thousands of people 53:27 who, you know, they're God's children, 53:29 and you want to reach them with the Word of God. 53:31 But, you know, what breaks my heart 53:32 is when I run into someone who says, you know, 53:35 "Well, the Spirit of God told me this, 53:37 and I know this is what the Spirit told me." 53:39 And then what they're telling you 53:41 is not in harmony with what you know the Bible to say. 53:44 And then you ask people, you know, "What you believe, 53:48 you know, in harmony with the Word of God?" And they say, 53:51 "Well, I don't know what the Bible says." 53:52 And I had people say this, 53:54 "I don't know what the Bible says, 53:55 but I know that the Spirit of God told me, 53:57 you know, God told me in my spirit." 53:59 You know, the Scripture comes to my mind, 54:01 and I think it's Proverbs 14:12, 54:04 "There is a way which seemeth right to a man, 54:07 but the end thereof are the ways of death." 54:09 And then you tie that to 54:11 the famous verse 54:14 and 6 there which tells us, 54:15 you know, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart 54:18 and lean not on your own understanding." 54:20 You know, that is the heart issue 54:22 of spiritual discernment. 54:23 We are completely depending upon God and His guidance 54:27 because when we start to go to our own ideas 54:29 and depend on our own theories and speculations, 54:34 we will fail each and every time. 54:37 Increased light 54:39 means increased responsibility, doesn't it? 54:40 Absolutely. 54:42 The more light He shines on our path, 54:43 the more responsible we are. 54:44 But He shines it on our pathway 54:46 as we read in the passage in the Book of John 54:49 that we have to be very careful because once that light, 54:52 and we understand what happens to that light 54:55 if we don't respond to it. 54:58 When it comes our way, you know, you say, 55:00 you're holding meetings and people are like, 55:02 "We understand. We understand." 55:03 What happens? 55:05 Only God tells how much they understood so 55:06 and so forth but just as it's laid on the table. 55:09 What does the person do? 55:11 What happens to that light if we do not respond to it? 55:15 The light stays bright as it always was, it's our... 55:18 The cataracts, our eyes, can't see... 55:20 Yes. 55:22 That's right. 55:23 It goes dim in your heart. 55:25 So what you're saying is what Scripture says 55:27 in Luke 11:34 and 35. 55:30 Here's what happens to light when you present it, 55:33 when you're doing meetings 55:34 and people making call for someone 55:38 to come to Christ and make that decision, 55:40 there's happiness and there's heaviness. 55:43 I don't know if you know what I'm talking about. 55:45 There's the happiness 55:46 because you're having the opportunity to give a call, 55:48 and you're seeing people respond. 55:50 At the same time, you understand by talking 55:52 to people and may be doing it, they understand, 55:54 and they won't respond, 55:56 it begins to tear your heart 55:58 because you know the responsible... 56:00 You can't make that decision for them. 56:02 You can't make, and you'd want to. 56:03 It's their decision. Yes. 56:04 My dad said sometimes, "You know, 56:06 I'm going to help you make this decision, 56:07 what is best for you." 56:08 You just... God operate that way. 56:11 But listen, what happens to that light if we reject it. 56:14 We can't dilly-dally around with it, 56:15 you can't go forever and say, 56:17 "Well, I'm going to..." 56:18 The enemy will come, he'll take over. 56:19 Notice what it says in Luke 11:34, 56:22 this is familiar passage. 56:24 It says, "The light of the body is the eye. 56:27 Therefore, when thine eye is single, 56:30 thy whole body also is full of light. 56:34 But when thine eye is evil..." 56:37 Or we turn away from that evil, what'll happen? 56:40 "Thy body also is full of darkness. 56:43 Take heed, therefore, 56:44 that the light which is in thee be not darkness." 56:48 So isn't it talking about people 56:50 that the lights in them? 56:53 They say, "We understand this here, 56:55 we understand where you're coming from, 56:56 we understand what the Word of God is saying, " 56:58 but then they decide, "Oh, man, 57:00 that light turns to darkness." 57:03 You know, we are about out of time... 57:04 Oh, honey, I'm just getting started. 57:06 I'm starting to feel it. Anybody starting to feel it? 57:08 Amen. Amen. 57:09 There is a great controversy going on. 57:11 There is a controversy 57:13 between light and between darkness, 57:14 and I pray that every one of you 57:17 has chosen tonight once again to recommit your heart, 57:21 your life, your mind, your eyes, 57:23 everything to the Holy Spirit. 57:25 Do you have any last thoughts, pastor? 57:26 No, we love you, 57:28 and we're so very grateful and thankful. 57:29 You have made the right choice. 57:31 You are following the light. 57:32 And I tell you, follow the light. 57:33 One of these days, you're going to see Jesus. 57:35 Praise God. Hang in there. 57:36 We'll see you next time. |
Revised 2018-09-17