Welcome to our sixth
program of Week of Prayer.
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We want to welcome you.
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This is live
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from Thompsonville
Seventh-day Adventist Church
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in Southern Illinois.
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We welcome our
viewing audience tonight.
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We welcome those who
are listening by radio.
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And we welcome those who
are watching via internet.
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Welcome and we hope you are
greatly blessed this evening.
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Before we start,
I want to remind you
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that our prayer lines are open.
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Please do call in
your prayer requests,
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and that number should be
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on the lower
portion of the screen.
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The number is 618-627-4651,
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618-627-4651.
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And please at the prompt,
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press the number one
and that will direct you,
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direct to you our prayer line.
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Also I want to let you know
that if you're unable to call,
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you could also email
your prayer requests,
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we welcome those.
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The way you would
email your prayer request
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would be prayer@3ABN.org,
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prayer@3ABN.org.
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And I'd also like to remind you
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that we've been
giving a free offer
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over the past week or so,
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it's a book
entitled "After the Storm,"
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and it was
written by Danny Shelton,
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so we're still
offering that tonight.
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When you do call
into the prayer line,
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just mention that you'd
like a copy of that book
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and we can write your
name and address down,
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and we'll be sure to
get one of those to you.
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Our subject of prayer tonight,
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is that the financial needs
of God's people would be met
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in order to support
the work of the Lord.
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You know, when we
often think about finances,
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we often see those
as a means to support
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not only
ourselves but our families.
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And while this is
within God's will,
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His desire
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is that our
perspective on finances
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should extend beyond
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the temporal necessities of life
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to the eternal
realities of redemption.
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In this perspective
finances can be properly used.
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Finances are to be
understood in the context
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of the
proclamation of the gospel.
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Finances are
needed on every level.
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Planes need gas
to fly missionaries
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to remote
locations of the world.
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Boats are needed
and supplies are needed
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to travel up rivers
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to villages outside the
view of beyond looking world,
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to areas where
supplies are greatly needed
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and to those who have not heard
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of the blessed
peace of forgiveness
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in the light of the gospel.
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Heavy machinery is needed
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to dig wells in
areas of the world
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where water is scarce.
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And churches need timber
in order to be constructed.
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Children, homeless
children need food.
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And many
children need sponsorship
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so they can not
only receive an education
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but an education, true
education as it's centered
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in the grand
themes of salvation.
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Our 3ABN studios
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would not even be
able to bring hope
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to the hopeless,
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if it were not for
the faithful support
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and the continuous
support of godly men and women
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around the globe
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who have a proper
perspective of finances.
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We just could not do it.
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Every aspect of ministry
from the souls of our feet
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to the blessing in
our hands require money.
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Paul was a tentmaker,
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and I believe Paul was
probably a good tentmaker.
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But Paul's
finances were not used
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to build a vacation
home in the countryside,
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for when the work of
the gospel became rough
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where he could gain a
little rest and repose.
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You see, Paul used his finances
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to support the work
of the early church.
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Paul saw in his monetary income
a means by which more souls
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could be reached.
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Now many of us
hesitate to give a gift
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because so often
our circumstances,
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we see our gift
as insignificant,
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as not worthy to be given,
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sometimes we're
almost embarrassed.
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But the Widow's Two
Mites of Luke 21 remind us,
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that far and above
the size of the gift,
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God looks at the heart.
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What matters most to God
is not the size of the gift
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but rather the intent
and motive of the heart.
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And it is for this reason
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that every
Christian around the world
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regardless of your
financial circumstances
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and situation,
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we have the privilege
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to give a meaningful
gift to the cause of Christ.
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And so with this,
these things in mind,
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I would like to pray tonight
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that the Lord help us
have a proper perspective
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of finances,
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and by His grace
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we too can give
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that souls may be continued,
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may continued to
be won for His sake.
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Let us pray.
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Father we thank You,
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we thank You because
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You are the ruler of
the heavens and the earth
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that would appears to
reside in men's wallets.
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And what appears to be theirs
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in their bank
accounts really is Yours.
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You own the cattle
on a thousand hills,
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You own those hills as well.
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And we just pray tonight, Lord,
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that, yes, we ask that
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You would provide for our needs,
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so that we can
support our families
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but more than that
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so that others can
be won for Your sake.
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So that the truth may
continue to go forward
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that they might become a part
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of our great family in Christ.
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Be with us Lord,
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give us understanding,
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give us wisdom in
financial management.
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Give us a desire, Lord,
to share what has been given
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to give back.
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Not that it may
be given in return,
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shaken together and press down,
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but just to give
because Christ gave all for us.
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We pray, Lord, that
as the income comes in,
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the love would go out,
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that others around
us might be blessed
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by the meager
earnings of our salaries.
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We pray that
Christ to be glorified
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in this aspect of our lives.
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Bless all of Your
people worldwide, Lord,
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that those
blessings may be shared,
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so that those who
are without may have
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that they too can give
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and that You might be glorified
in Your people's lives,
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that when others
see Your children,
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they will know that
they are Your children
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because they will
reflect that spirit of giving
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that we so often saw
and see in Your word.
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Bless us to this end, we
pray in Jesus' name, amen.
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When I was 21,
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my mother invited me
to church for two reasons.
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The first reason was,
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to expose me to the
truth of God's word.
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The second
reason was to meet a man
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who had caught her attention.
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His name was Pastor C.A. Murray.
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Now being the protective son
that I was, I reluctantly went,
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I put my plans on side
that day and went to church.
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And by the time
the sermon was ended,
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I had given my life to Christ.
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I was a little upset with C.A.
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because I felt like
he was reading my heart
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and reading my mind
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but I later discovered that
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it was because
of the Holy Spirit
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and not because of C.A.
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that my heart was convicted.
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And I think that
kind of characterizes
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Pastor C.A. Murray.
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You see C.A. can walk you
through the deep things of God,
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and use difficult words like
ecclesiastical obiter dictum,
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but C.A. can also sit down
with you at the dinner table
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and talk to you as a
friend in common language.
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C.A. has been a
blessing to my family.
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He baptized my sister,
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he baptized myself
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and then later on much to
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what I could not have predicted,
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he married my mother.
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So C.A. is now
honestly a part of my family.
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Before he came to
3ABN, CA wore several hats
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at the Northeastern Conference
of Seventh-day Adventists,
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and about seven years
ago when he came to 3ABN,
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he put those hats on the
shelf and gained another 12.
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So we're happy for the hats
that C.A. wears around here.
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He truly is the Lord servant
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and tonight he's
going to share with us
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a message entitled
"The Richness of the Word."
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But before C.A. comes out,
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we're going to be
blessed by Reggie Smith.
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He's going to be
singing "Christ the Solid Rock."
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This was taken from
our Pillars Hymns project
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that was done right
here on this platform
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not too long ago.
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Now you'll be blessed
and after Reggie sings,
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then we'll be blessed
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by the message by
Pastor C.A. Murray.
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On Christ, the
solid rock I stand
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All other ground is sinking sand
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All other ground
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Is sinking sand
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My hope is built on nothing less
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Than Jesus'
blood and righteousness
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I dare not trust
the sweetest frame
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But wholly lean on Jesus' name
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On Christ, the
solid rock, I stand
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All other ground is sinking sand
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All other ground
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Is sinking sand
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When darkness
veils His lovely face
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I rest on his unchanging grace
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In ev'ry high and stormy gale
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My anchor holds within the veil
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On Christ, the
solid rock, I stand
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All other ground is sinking sand
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All other ground is sinking sand
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His oath, His word, His blood
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Support me in the flood
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When all around gives way
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He then is all my hope
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And stay
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When He shall
come with trumpet sound
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O may I then in Him be found
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Dressed in His
righteousness alone
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Faultless to
stand before the throne
00:12:36.92\00:12:42.82
On Christ, the
solid rock, I stand
00:12:42.86\00:12:46.59
All other ground is sinking sand
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All other ground is sinking sand
00:12:52.33\00:12:58.07
On Christ, the
solid rock, I stand
00:12:58.11\00:13:02.81
On Christ, the
solid rock, I stand
00:13:02.84\00:13:06.95
All other ground is sinking sand
00:13:06.98\00:13:12.59
On Christ, the solid rock,
00:13:12.62\00:13:18.39
I stand.
00:13:18.43\00:13:25.23
Amen and amen, well
done. Shall we pray?
00:13:36.85\00:13:41.15
Father God, we come to
You now with uplifted hearts,
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open and receptive minds
00:13:45.55\00:13:48.16
and we ask that
You would speak to us
00:13:48.19\00:13:50.99
and help us to know and
to understand the richness
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and power of Your word,
00:13:54.43\00:13:57.97
and we thank You
in Jesus' name, amen.
00:13:58.00\00:14:00.70
Turn with me if
you will to Matthew 3.
00:14:00.74\00:14:05.27
We want to read
the last two verses
00:14:05.31\00:14:07.91
in Matthew 3
00:14:07.94\00:14:09.28
and just the first
two or three verses
00:14:09.31\00:14:12.01
in Chapter 4, Matthew 3:16.
00:14:12.05\00:14:17.72
And then we will
read Chapter 4:1-3.
00:14:17.75\00:14:23.36
The word of God
says, Matthew 3:16,
00:14:26.39\00:14:29.30
"When He had been baptized,
00:14:29.33\00:14:32.20
Jesus came up
immediately from the water,
00:14:32.23\00:14:36.40
and behold, the
heavens were opened to Him,
00:14:36.44\00:14:41.44
and He saw the Spirit of
God descending like a dove
00:14:41.48\00:14:45.95
and alighting upon Him."
00:14:45.98\00:14:47.62
I'm reading from
the New King James.
00:14:47.65\00:14:49.85
"And suddenly a voice
came from heaven saying,
00:14:49.88\00:14:52.79
'This is My beloved Son,
00:14:52.82\00:14:56.69
in whom I am well pleased.'
00:14:56.73\00:15:00.60
Then Jesus was led up
00:15:00.63\00:15:02.06
by the Spirit
into the wilderness
00:15:02.10\00:15:04.07
to be tempted of the devil.
00:15:04.10\00:15:07.07
And when He had fasted
forty days and forty nights,
00:15:07.10\00:15:10.67
afterward He was hungry.
00:15:10.71\00:15:13.14
Now when the
tempter came to Him,
00:15:13.17\00:15:15.24
he said, 'If You
are the Son of God,
00:15:15.28\00:15:19.11
command that these stones
00:15:19.15\00:15:22.78
become bread."'
00:15:22.82\00:15:24.75
Jesus and John the
Baptist were cousins,
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that is fairly well-known
and fairly well documented,
00:15:34.30\00:15:37.40
first cousins I
believe closely related
00:15:37.43\00:15:41.30
through their
circumstances of birth.
00:15:41.34\00:15:46.11
John had followed Jesus,
00:15:46.14\00:15:50.75
he had heard
about Jesus and he...
00:15:50.78\00:15:53.55
we would say in
America kept tabs on him.
00:15:53.58\00:15:58.22
It was even revealed to John
00:15:58.25\00:16:00.26
that the Messiah
would be baptized by him.
00:16:00.29\00:16:03.49
So he knew that one day
00:16:03.53\00:16:05.83
they were going to
be intimately connected.
00:16:05.86\00:16:09.06
John knew all about
Jesus long before the baptism,
00:16:09.10\00:16:12.20
even though they had never met.
00:16:12.23\00:16:14.60
John had never
laid eyes on Jesus,
00:16:14.64\00:16:16.30
Jesus had never
laid eyes on John.
00:16:16.34\00:16:19.67
And when Jesus came to John
00:16:19.71\00:16:21.71
there at the
Jordan River that day,
00:16:21.74\00:16:23.75
that was the
first time these two men
00:16:23.78\00:16:26.92
had ever laid
eyes on each other.
00:16:26.95\00:16:29.85
And yet each knew
instinctively through the Spirit
00:16:29.88\00:16:34.22
who the other one was.
00:16:34.26\00:16:36.76
John had been told
00:16:36.79\00:16:39.06
that he was going to hear a word
00:16:39.09\00:16:42.03
from the Lord.
00:16:42.06\00:16:44.13
He was going to hear something
00:16:44.17\00:16:45.97
that would mark
that particular event.
00:16:46.00\00:16:49.27
And so this event John knew
would be marked by the word.
00:16:49.30\00:16:54.98
He was told that, that word,
00:16:55.01\00:16:58.28
though spoken to Jesus
would embrace all of humanity.
00:16:58.31\00:17:03.89
Those words that would
come from heaven on that day,
00:17:03.92\00:17:08.46
though
specifically spoken to Christ
00:17:08.49\00:17:13.60
would be a pride to all of us.
00:17:13.63\00:17:18.20
And yet many there
that day at the Jordan
00:17:18.23\00:17:21.84
didn't know what the words meant
00:17:21.87\00:17:24.44
just as so many
in the world today
00:17:24.47\00:17:26.41
don't really understand
what those words mean.
00:17:26.44\00:17:32.08
When God said,
00:17:32.11\00:17:33.45
"This is my beloved Son
in whom I am well pleased."
00:17:33.48\00:17:38.55
Those words were given
to inspire faith and hope
00:17:38.59\00:17:43.32
in all of the people there,
00:17:43.36\00:17:45.83
but also to strengthen
Jesus for His mission.
00:17:45.86\00:17:50.87
You see,
00:17:50.90\00:17:52.23
all words have
power, don't they?
00:17:52.27\00:17:55.04
All words have power,
00:17:55.07\00:17:56.40
but spiritual words
have spiritual power.
00:17:56.44\00:18:00.41
All words have the
ability to lift up or tear down,
00:18:00.44\00:18:04.28
to encourage or discourage,
00:18:04.31\00:18:06.72
but spiritual words
have life giving power.
00:18:06.75\00:18:11.72
Ellen White says
00:18:11.75\00:18:13.09
in The Ministry
of Healing, page 458.
00:18:13.12\00:18:15.49
She says,
00:18:15.52\00:18:16.86
"The word of God
00:18:16.89\00:18:18.73
is a safeguard
against temptation and sin."
00:18:18.76\00:18:21.86
Now, I want you to
hold that in your mind
00:18:21.90\00:18:23.23
because we're
gonna come back to that
00:18:23.26\00:18:24.60
in just a little bit.
00:18:24.63\00:18:26.40
But these words were given
00:18:26.43\00:18:28.17
to help Jesus in His ministry,
00:18:28.20\00:18:32.27
to help the man Jesus
00:18:32.31\00:18:33.64
because Christ was going
to go through some stuff.
00:18:33.68\00:18:38.18
And those words were
gonna come back to him
00:18:38.21\00:18:40.52
over and over and over again.
00:18:40.55\00:18:42.68
He needed to know
00:18:42.72\00:18:44.72
that what He was about to do
00:18:44.75\00:18:47.32
was cosigned and
endorsed by heaven.
00:18:47.36\00:18:50.59
And so He heard the words,
00:18:50.63\00:18:52.16
this is my beloved Son
in whom I am well pleased.
00:18:52.19\00:18:58.63
Christ knew what was coming.
00:18:58.67\00:19:02.20
And so He needed the word
00:19:02.24\00:19:05.71
to fortify Him
against the battles,
00:19:05.74\00:19:09.31
the tests, the trials
that were sure to come.
00:19:09.34\00:19:14.08
In the book, Desire of
Ages, page 70, Ellen White said,
00:19:14.12\00:19:17.42
Ellen White tells us,
"That angels draw near
00:19:17.45\00:19:20.99
when we seek to know
God through His Word."
00:19:21.02\00:19:24.23
And when I read
that, I like that, Shelley,
00:19:24.26\00:19:25.66
I like that idea
that I could do something
00:19:25.69\00:19:27.83
that would have
angels draw near to me.
00:19:27.86\00:19:30.07
I really like that idea
00:19:30.10\00:19:31.43
that I could engage in
certain kinds of activities
00:19:31.47\00:19:34.27
that would draw angels.
00:19:34.30\00:19:35.64
I like the idea of
having angels near me,
00:19:35.67\00:19:37.67
that's kind of a
comforting thought,
00:19:37.71\00:19:39.57
that there are
certain things you can do
00:19:39.61\00:19:41.41
that will bring
angels close to you.
00:19:41.44\00:19:44.51
Prayer brings
angels close to you.
00:19:44.55\00:19:47.78
Praise brings
angels close to you.
00:19:47.82\00:19:51.85
Singing brings
angels close to you.
00:19:51.89\00:19:55.29
Worship brings
angels close to you.
00:19:55.32\00:19:58.59
That's a nice thought, isn't it?
00:19:58.63\00:19:59.96
That you can do things
00:20:00.00\00:20:01.33
that would bring
angels kind of close to you.
00:20:01.36\00:20:04.87
And also, when
you get into trouble
00:20:04.90\00:20:07.97
for Jesus sake,
angels draw close to you.
00:20:08.00\00:20:11.31
And just as most of
the people at the baptism
00:20:15.21\00:20:18.11
didn't understand the meaning
and power of God's words,
00:20:18.15\00:20:21.75
there are so many, many
people in the church today
00:20:21.78\00:20:24.65
who do not understand
the meaning of those words
00:20:24.69\00:20:27.76
and as such failed
to avail themselves
00:20:27.79\00:20:31.63
of the power of those words.
00:20:31.66\00:20:35.46
Jesus said in John 6:63,
00:20:35.50\00:20:37.37
"The words that I
speak to you they are spirit,
00:20:37.40\00:20:40.74
they are life."
00:20:40.77\00:20:42.37
Not have life, give
life, they are life.
00:20:42.40\00:20:47.54
There is life giving
power in the Word of God.
00:20:47.58\00:20:51.98
And if you want
spiritual vitality,
00:20:52.01\00:20:54.22
spiritual life,
spiritual health,
00:20:54.25\00:20:57.05
being a vegan doesn't do it.
00:20:57.09\00:20:58.62
Doing good deeds
alone doesn't do it.
00:21:02.46\00:21:05.16
Studying your
Sabbath school lesson,
00:21:05.19\00:21:06.63
Mollie, doesn't do it,
00:21:06.66\00:21:08.00
not by our self, all
those things are good,
00:21:08.03\00:21:09.96
even prayer alone is not enough.
00:21:10.00\00:21:13.54
You have to
study, not just read,
00:21:13.57\00:21:16.74
but study the Word of God
00:21:16.77\00:21:19.94
because there is
life in the Word.
00:21:19.97\00:21:22.98
Let me just toss out some,
00:21:26.41\00:21:28.08
Kevin said,
ecclesiastical obiter dictum.
00:21:28.12\00:21:30.72
Patriarchs and
Prophets, page 423, I like this.
00:21:30.75\00:21:35.19
Ellen White says,
"When you read the word
00:21:39.09\00:21:42.96
and you understand
what God wants you to do.
00:21:43.00\00:21:47.04
For God sake, get on with it."
00:21:47.07\00:21:50.67
Amen. Amen.
00:21:50.71\00:21:53.88
And amen.
00:21:53.91\00:21:55.24
If you can't say amen, say ouch.
00:21:55.28\00:21:57.01
When you read the Word
00:21:57.05\00:21:59.01
and you know what
God wants you to do,
00:21:59.05\00:22:02.02
get on with it.
00:22:02.05\00:22:04.85
James 1:22 says,
"Be doers of the Word,
00:22:04.89\00:22:07.72
not just hearers
thereof deceiving yourself."
00:22:07.76\00:22:10.46
I'm glad to see my
boss Jim Gilley here.
00:22:10.49\00:22:13.03
I happen to know that he broke
the speed limit getting here.
00:22:13.06\00:22:16.80
He's a doer of the Word
00:22:16.83\00:22:18.17
because he told me
he's going to be here,
00:22:18.20\00:22:19.73
so he kept his
word, praise the Lord.
00:22:19.77\00:22:22.64
I like this
translation, Shelley,
00:22:22.67\00:22:24.44
from The Clear Word.
00:22:24.47\00:22:27.68
James 1:22,
00:22:27.71\00:22:29.04
"Don't deceive
yourselves into thinking
00:22:29.08\00:22:30.98
that all you have to do
is listen to God's Word.
00:22:31.01\00:22:34.38
You also have to
put it into practice.
00:22:34.42\00:22:36.95
Whoever listens to God's
word and doesn't do what it says
00:22:36.99\00:22:40.12
is like a person
00:22:40.16\00:22:41.49
who takes a good look
at himself in a mirror
00:22:41.52\00:22:44.16
and sees, and sees
himself as he really is
00:22:44.19\00:22:47.93
and then goes away and ignores
00:22:47.96\00:22:49.93
what he has just seen.
00:22:49.96\00:22:52.93
But if he carefully looks
00:22:52.97\00:22:54.30
into the mirror
of God's perfect law,
00:22:54.34\00:22:56.84
if he continues to do this
00:22:56.87\00:22:58.97
and doesn't forget what it says,
00:22:59.01\00:23:01.84
but puts it into practice,
00:23:01.88\00:23:04.58
God will bless
him in all he does."
00:23:04.61\00:23:09.05
So the blessing,
00:23:09.08\00:23:11.09
forgive me, Danny
Shelton, is on the do.
00:23:11.12\00:23:17.03
Now Danny says,
that's on the go.
00:23:17.06\00:23:18.73
So I will not, I will
not besmirch my friend
00:23:18.76\00:23:20.93
and brother,
00:23:20.96\00:23:22.30
I will synthesize
and synergize them both.
00:23:22.33\00:23:24.80
The blessing is
on the do and the go.
00:23:24.83\00:23:26.84
Go and do, amen?
00:23:26.87\00:23:28.20
Amen.
00:23:28.24\00:23:29.57
You got to go and you got to do.
00:23:29.60\00:23:30.94
So the blessing is
on the go and the do.
00:23:30.97\00:23:33.17
The Spirit of Prophecy
says, don't dilly-dally,
00:23:33.21\00:23:36.31
get on with it.
00:23:36.34\00:23:38.08
I'm reading
Patriarchs and Prophets.
00:23:38.11\00:23:39.81
She says, it is
important to believe God's Word
00:23:39.85\00:23:43.08
and act promptly
00:23:43.12\00:23:44.82
while his angels are
waiting to work for us.
00:23:44.85\00:23:47.76
His angels are
there, they're waiting.
00:23:47.79\00:23:50.79
Evil angels are ready to contest
00:23:50.83\00:23:54.53
every step of advance
00:23:54.56\00:23:56.90
and when God's providence
bids His children to go forward,
00:23:56.93\00:24:01.64
when He is ready to
do great things for them,
00:24:01.67\00:24:04.91
Satan tempts them
to displease the Lord
00:24:04.94\00:24:07.81
by hesitating and delay.
00:24:07.84\00:24:11.61
So when God opens the door,
00:24:11.65\00:24:14.68
your job is to walk
through the door, amen?
00:24:14.72\00:24:18.72
Your job is to get on with it.
00:24:18.75\00:24:22.66
You know, you say, I
have decided to follow Jesus.
00:24:22.69\00:24:27.56
And Satan says, "I've decided
00:24:27.60\00:24:29.20
you're not going
to follow Jesus."
00:24:29.23\00:24:31.13
Now you can sit
and debate about that
00:24:31.17\00:24:33.20
or you can follow Jesus, amen.
00:24:33.23\00:24:36.64
So Ellen White says,
"When God opens the door,
00:24:36.67\00:24:39.07
do not displease Him by
hesitating and delaying."
00:24:39.11\00:24:43.01
He says this,
she says this rather.
00:24:43.04\00:24:44.91
"He seeks to
kindle, this is Satan,
00:24:44.95\00:24:46.92
a spirit of strife
or to arouse murmuring
00:24:46.95\00:24:50.99
and unbelief and
thus deprive them,
00:24:51.02\00:24:53.62
that's you and I,
00:24:53.66\00:24:54.99
of the blessing that
God desires to bestow.
00:24:55.02\00:24:58.46
You can't wait
your blessing away.
00:24:58.49\00:25:02.26
God says, "When I open the door,
00:25:02.30\00:25:05.43
you got to go through that door.
00:25:05.47\00:25:07.20
I mean you know,
the Lord will bring,
00:25:07.24\00:25:09.00
rather Satan will
bring discouragement
00:25:09.04\00:25:12.24
out of your own family.
00:25:12.27\00:25:14.28
Anybody ever have that?
00:25:14.31\00:25:16.81
He'll use your own
family to discourage you.
00:25:16.85\00:25:19.51
But you got to serve God,
00:25:19.55\00:25:21.25
you got to walk
through those doors
00:25:21.28\00:25:23.59
that He opens.
00:25:23.62\00:25:26.92
God's servants she says,
00:25:26.96\00:25:28.76
should be minuteman
00:25:28.79\00:25:31.43
ever ready to move, get this,
00:25:31.46\00:25:33.63
as fast as his
providence opens the way.
00:25:33.66\00:25:38.97
Any delay on
their part gives time
00:25:39.00\00:25:42.80
for Satan to
work to defeat them.
00:25:42.84\00:25:47.74
So when it's time
to go, you got to go.
00:25:47.78\00:25:52.01
And so the power of the Word,
00:25:52.05\00:25:54.58
the power of the word
is activated by action,
00:25:54.62\00:25:59.55
activated by action,
00:25:59.59\00:26:01.22
it's like that
OxiClean stuff that they have,
00:26:01.26\00:26:02.86
you got to pour in the water
before the oxygen comes out,
00:26:02.89\00:26:05.19
you got to get wet, amen.
00:26:05.23\00:26:09.56
Activated by action,
action indicates faith.
00:26:09.60\00:26:14.47
When Christ set out the 70,
00:26:14.50\00:26:18.87
they were armed
with nothing more
00:26:18.91\00:26:21.74
than power and
authority of the Word,
00:26:21.78\00:26:26.08
and when you got the
power and authority of the Word,
00:26:26.11\00:26:28.75
you got all you need.
00:26:28.78\00:26:30.95
Jesus knew that
sometimes under trial,
00:26:30.99\00:26:34.86
hope is gone feeling is gone.
00:26:34.89\00:26:39.49
Maybe even
friends and family gone.
00:26:39.53\00:26:42.46
There are going to be times
00:26:42.50\00:26:43.83
when all you'll have
left is you and this Word.
00:26:43.87\00:26:50.21
So look at the assurance
that we get in John 15:20.
00:26:50.24\00:26:54.34
Christ says, "Remember
the word that I said to you,
00:26:54.38\00:26:57.95
a servant is not
greater than his master.
00:26:57.98\00:27:02.08
If they persecuted me,
they will also persecute you.
00:27:02.12\00:27:06.05
And if they kept My word,
they will keep Yours also."
00:27:06.09\00:27:11.29
Christ needed
to hear those words
00:27:11.33\00:27:15.96
there at Jordan.
00:27:16.00\00:27:18.30
Christ needed to hear
00:27:18.33\00:27:20.84
what God had to say in
confirming His mission.
00:27:20.87\00:27:25.91
So He heads now to the desert
00:27:25.94\00:27:28.71
for a little self
imposed solitary confinement,
00:27:28.74\00:27:34.75
to prepare Himself
for His life's work,
00:27:34.78\00:27:38.55
to prepare
Himself for the mission.
00:27:38.59\00:27:42.12
And in Matthew when, you
know, when the Bible says,
00:27:42.16\00:27:44.49
"He went to the
desert to be tempted."
00:27:44.53\00:27:46.93
That too doesn't mean
00:27:46.96\00:27:48.30
that He went there
00:27:48.33\00:27:49.66
for the purpose
of being tempted.
00:27:49.70\00:27:51.67
It simply means
that Satan seized
00:27:51.70\00:27:53.97
the opportunity to tempt.
00:27:54.00\00:27:55.34
He didn't go out
there to be tempted,
00:27:55.37\00:27:56.81
He went out there to get ready
00:27:56.84\00:27:58.71
to get fired up,
to get prayed up,
00:27:58.74\00:28:02.04
to get ready for His mission.
00:28:02.08\00:28:04.28
But Satan saw and
attack and attempt...
00:28:04.31\00:28:08.72
attempted to make an attack.
00:28:08.75\00:28:11.22
So Christ didn't
go to the wilderness
00:28:11.25\00:28:12.65
for the purpose
of being attempted,
00:28:12.69\00:28:14.69
of being tempted,
00:28:14.72\00:28:16.06
He went for the
purpose of coming to God,
00:28:16.09\00:28:19.39
and Satan saw that
time and attacked Him.
00:28:19.43\00:28:24.20
So Matthew 4 uses
the word to be tempted.
00:28:24.23\00:28:28.10
Luke 4 in discussing
00:28:28.14\00:28:29.47
the same things
leaves it out altogether.
00:28:29.50\00:28:32.87
Luke says, "He was
led into the wilderness."
00:28:32.91\00:28:35.78
And of course the
imperfect tense mean,
00:28:35.81\00:28:37.55
meant he is
continually being led by God.
00:28:37.58\00:28:40.28
Testimony to
Ministers, page 80 and 81,
00:28:40.32\00:28:43.35
I like this, Ellen White says,
00:28:43.39\00:28:44.72
"The Word of God alone
can reclaim man from sin
00:28:44.75\00:28:48.16
and keep him
from transgression."
00:28:48.19\00:28:52.29
Thy word, you know
it well, Psalms 119:11,
00:28:52.33\00:28:55.83
"Have I hid in my heart
00:28:55.86\00:28:58.03
that I might not
sin against thee."
00:28:58.07\00:28:59.40
I did a little
playing with that word.
00:28:59.43\00:29:00.77
I don't think there's a
more impoverished translation
00:29:00.80\00:29:02.44
than the word hid in my heart.
00:29:02.47\00:29:05.17
Because the Hebrew
00:29:05.21\00:29:06.54
there actually is
much, much stronger.
00:29:06.57\00:29:08.28
It's more like thy word
have I hoarded in my heart,
00:29:08.31\00:29:12.15
thy word have I
treasured in my heart.
00:29:12.18\00:29:13.72
I've got some stuff down
00:29:13.75\00:29:15.08
in the basement
that I hide down there,
00:29:15.12\00:29:16.45
if somebody came and
stole, I wouldn't mind.
00:29:16.48\00:29:18.65
But the stuff that I really,
00:29:18.69\00:29:20.02
really value like my passport
00:29:20.06\00:29:22.72
is right next to
me on the nightstand.
00:29:22.76\00:29:25.23
See, the Word is
like that passport.
00:29:25.26\00:29:26.90
Thy word have I
treasured in my heart, why?
00:29:26.93\00:29:29.80
Because I don't
want to sin against God.
00:29:29.83\00:29:32.73
So I've hoarded
that Word in my heart,
00:29:32.77\00:29:35.20
I value that Word,
00:29:35.24\00:29:36.74
I've treasured
that word in my heart.
00:29:36.77\00:29:40.31
Job 23:12 is
something I love this.
00:29:40.34\00:29:43.61
The Bible says,
00:29:43.65\00:29:45.81
"I have not
departed from the commandment
00:29:45.85\00:29:48.48
of his lips,
00:29:48.52\00:29:49.85
I have treasured
the word of his mouth
00:29:49.88\00:29:51.95
more than my necessary food."
00:29:51.99\00:29:55.82
How many of you'd like to eat?
00:29:55.86\00:29:57.59
I do.
00:29:57.63\00:29:59.63
If you don't eat,
pretty soon you'll die.
00:29:59.66\00:30:03.50
And if you eat junk,
pretty soon you'll die.
00:30:03.53\00:30:08.27
Same thing with the Word.
00:30:08.30\00:30:11.17
You've got to feast
on the Word every day,
00:30:11.21\00:30:14.54
if you want to be
spiritually strong.
00:30:14.58\00:30:18.75
And so armed
with this approbation
00:30:18.78\00:30:23.12
and divine imprimatur,
00:30:23.15\00:30:24.55
a blessing of God in his heart
00:30:24.59\00:30:25.95
Christ went out to
be tempted 40 days.
00:30:25.99\00:30:28.39
In other words, it
makes it plain that,
00:30:28.42\00:30:29.79
that Satan dogged Christ
steps all 40 of those days.
00:30:29.82\00:30:33.09
Every day he was on
Jesus, every single day.
00:30:33.13\00:30:37.17
And let me say something,
just popped into my mind.
00:30:37.20\00:30:39.27
People always say,
00:30:39.30\00:30:41.50
God is good all the time
and all the time God is good.
00:30:41.54\00:30:45.17
I'm determined not to state
00:30:45.21\00:30:46.54
that anymore
because I don't believe it.
00:30:46.57\00:30:48.21
And I don't believe
00:30:48.24\00:30:49.58
you should be
forced to say something
00:30:49.61\00:30:50.95
that you don't believe
00:30:50.98\00:30:52.48
even if a pastor
leads you into that,
00:30:52.51\00:30:54.48
Pastor John,
00:30:54.52\00:30:55.92
because I don't think it's true.
00:30:55.95\00:30:58.12
Here's my thesis.
00:30:58.15\00:31:02.12
God is good only in good times.
00:31:02.16\00:31:07.96
Correct.
00:31:11.43\00:31:13.07
I believe God is
good only in good times.
00:31:13.10\00:31:18.17
In bad times God is great.
00:31:18.21\00:31:21.34
Amen.
00:31:21.38\00:31:23.11
In the good times, He is good.
00:31:23.14\00:31:26.48
But if you want to
see the greatness of God,
00:31:26.51\00:31:28.48
let something bad
happen to a child of God,
00:31:28.52\00:31:30.62
He steps it up.
00:31:30.65\00:31:31.99
In bad times God is
great, He's much more than good.
00:31:32.02\00:31:36.19
And His word is sure
and you can trust His word.
00:31:36.22\00:31:40.96
Just last week you know,
the Lord sent His little test
00:31:41.00\00:31:44.77
with this cancer diagnosis,
00:31:44.80\00:31:47.44
and a surgeon and all the stuff,
00:31:47.47\00:31:48.80
there's all
kinds of little bills,
00:31:48.84\00:31:50.17
you got to buy
things, you got to buy,
00:31:50.21\00:31:51.54
you know, you got to
buy a little kind of things,
00:31:51.57\00:31:52.91
you do an expense and
money is going and your money.
00:31:52.94\00:31:54.41
Last week I had to buy
two tires for the truck,
00:31:54.44\00:31:56.91
big 20 inch tires cost a fortune
00:31:56.95\00:31:58.28
and then two tires for the van.
00:31:58.31\00:32:00.68
So when the check came,
00:32:00.72\00:32:02.68
as the check came
the chat went, Mollie.
00:32:02.72\00:32:06.89
So that I heard my mind
00:32:06.92\00:32:10.43
say to myself,
00:32:10.46\00:32:13.29
you just survived cancer.
00:32:13.33\00:32:15.96
God is not going to mind, Jim,
00:32:16.00\00:32:19.27
if you take your
tithe this one time.
00:32:19.30\00:32:23.04
You're broke.
00:32:26.64\00:32:30.48
And as that thought,
00:32:30.51\00:32:31.85
Pastor John,
formulated in my mind,
00:32:31.88\00:32:34.22
I ran to the ATM.
00:32:34.25\00:32:38.29
And got my tires out in cash,
00:32:38.32\00:32:39.65
I didn't even
have to write a check.
00:32:39.69\00:32:42.09
And last Sabbath
we were in green room
00:32:42.12\00:32:43.86
and Pastor John said,
00:32:43.89\00:32:45.39
he saw me putting the
money in the tithe envelope,
00:32:45.43\00:32:46.90
he said, I
usually write a check.
00:32:46.93\00:32:48.26
I said, I usually,
I usually do it also
00:32:48.30\00:32:50.57
but today I'm making a statement
00:32:50.60\00:32:51.93
to the devil.
00:32:51.97\00:32:53.30
So I put the cast in there
00:32:55.87\00:32:57.21
because I didn't want
something to pop up on Sunday,
00:32:57.24\00:32:58.94
you know, you
start looking at it
00:32:58.97\00:33:00.31
and your guy
wanted it out of the house
00:33:00.34\00:33:01.98
and in the hands of God.
00:33:02.01\00:33:04.05
Say how good God is.
00:33:04.08\00:33:05.85
I had 3ABN taking
something out of my check
00:33:05.88\00:33:08.48
and it overtook.
00:33:08.52\00:33:10.35
So I walked in
Monday to David Carson
00:33:10.39\00:33:12.99
and I said, just
run some figures for me.
00:33:13.02\00:33:14.39
He said, "You know what?
00:33:14.42\00:33:16.32
We owe you some money.
00:33:16.36\00:33:17.69
Now, now, it wasn't
00:33:20.60\00:33:22.90
a big old stash of cash, JD.
00:33:22.93\00:33:27.97
Just enough for gas and
a couple of other things,
00:33:28.00\00:33:32.97
you know, this week, amen.
00:33:33.01\00:33:35.54
You see the Word of God is sure
00:33:35.58\00:33:38.78
but you never get
to receive the blessing
00:33:38.81\00:33:43.15
unless you act on
the blessing, amen?
00:33:43.18\00:33:46.59
Now, I could have kept that
00:33:46.62\00:33:48.49
tithe money and
done something with it
00:33:48.52\00:33:51.26
and not have the
blessing of that,
00:33:51.29\00:33:52.89
I'd rather be
broke with a blessing...
00:33:52.93\00:33:55.83
Amen.
00:33:55.86\00:33:58.13
Than have a pocket full of money
00:33:58.17\00:34:00.50
and no blessing.
00:34:00.54\00:34:02.04
Amen.
00:34:02.07\00:34:03.41
Amen. Amen.
00:34:03.44\00:34:05.27
So the Word of God is
sure and it's powerful
00:34:05.31\00:34:07.98
and God does what He says,
00:34:08.01\00:34:12.18
He's going to do, but
to tap into that greatness
00:34:12.21\00:34:15.38
you got to study the
Word and know the Word.
00:34:15.42\00:34:18.55
You see I studied
Malachi 4, which says,
00:34:18.59\00:34:20.86
"If you pay your tithes
00:34:20.89\00:34:22.42
I will open unto you
the windows of heaven
00:34:22.46\00:34:25.49
and pour you out a blessing."
00:34:25.53\00:34:28.16
Now, I'd like that
blessing, Mollie, to be $10,000,
00:34:28.20\00:34:33.64
but I didn't
need, well, I did need
00:34:33.67\00:34:36.84
but I didn't needed right then.
00:34:36.87\00:34:38.91
So I got a lot less but
it was a blessing, amen?
00:34:38.94\00:34:44.65
And I went back and I told Irma,
00:34:44.68\00:34:46.25
we got a little blessing.
00:34:46.28\00:34:48.22
Praise the Lord.
00:34:48.25\00:34:50.52
So the blessing is on the go
00:34:50.55\00:34:53.59
and that it's
activated by faith.
00:34:53.62\00:34:58.13
And to use a Krinonian
locution God exalts His word.
00:34:58.16\00:35:03.67
And when you had
the Word in your heart,
00:35:07.80\00:35:10.44
it's like putting
00:35:10.47\00:35:11.81
a little battery
down there, you know.
00:35:11.84\00:35:15.58
And it's activated and it grows
00:35:15.61\00:35:18.45
and you get the
power to live victoriously.
00:35:18.48\00:35:24.15
Now, let's take a
little quick Greek lesson.
00:35:24.19\00:35:26.96
Because I thought for many years
00:35:26.99\00:35:28.32
that there were actually,
00:35:28.36\00:35:29.69
that there were two words
there were translated power,
00:35:29.72\00:35:31.26
there're actually four.
00:35:31.29\00:35:32.83
The challenge is
00:35:32.86\00:35:34.20
two of them are used
about 90% of the time
00:35:34.23\00:35:36.73
and the other two
don't get much play
00:35:36.77\00:35:39.30
but they are great words,
so I'm gonna give you all four.
00:35:39.33\00:35:41.94
The first one you probably know,
00:35:41.97\00:35:43.30
that's exousia,
00:35:43.34\00:35:44.87
we get that, we
see that in John 19:2,
00:35:44.91\00:35:48.51
"As many as received Him
00:35:48.54\00:35:49.88
gave he the
power or the exousia,
00:35:49.91\00:35:52.81
or the authority to
become sons of God."
00:35:52.85\00:35:57.59
Exousia is
translated authority, capacity,
00:35:57.62\00:36:00.76
jurisdiction,
privilege, competency,
00:36:00.79\00:36:05.29
and it's the word
you see most of the time,
00:36:05.33\00:36:07.33
about 80% of the time
when you see the word power,
00:36:07.36\00:36:09.90
it means authority.
00:36:09.93\00:36:12.53
The next word is dunamis.
00:36:12.57\00:36:14.90
We see that in Ephesians 1:19.
00:36:14.94\00:36:18.14
The Bible talks about
the exceeding greatness
00:36:18.17\00:36:21.38
of His power towards us.
00:36:21.41\00:36:23.21
So it's the exceeding greatness
of his dunamis towards us.
00:36:23.24\00:36:27.42
We get the word
dynamite from that.
00:36:27.45\00:36:29.85
It's translated might,
00:36:29.88\00:36:31.92
miraculous work and
that's the sort of subset
00:36:31.95\00:36:35.22
that usually see.
00:36:35.26\00:36:36.59
When we're
talking about dunamis,
00:36:36.62\00:36:37.96
you're talking about a
miraculous working of God
00:36:37.99\00:36:40.30
in the life of His people,
00:36:40.33\00:36:42.30
the physical
ability to get the job done.
00:36:42.33\00:36:45.87
It's also called
abundant ability.
00:36:45.90\00:36:50.67
It's doing the work.
00:36:50.71\00:36:53.81
You know, the Bible says,
00:36:53.84\00:36:55.18
He bless us abundantly more than
00:36:55.21\00:36:56.68
we can ask or think,
that's dunamis power.
00:36:56.71\00:37:00.28
Now those are the ones we know.
00:37:00.32\00:37:02.05
I stumbled on another one
that I really, really like,
00:37:02.08\00:37:04.29
it's called ischus.
00:37:04.32\00:37:06.59
2 Peter 2:11, it's only used
the handful of times, ischus.
00:37:06.62\00:37:10.99
It's translated force or
might, it's like kinetic energy.
00:37:11.03\00:37:15.90
It's like you
take a little snowball,
00:37:15.93\00:37:17.27
you start
rolling it down the hill
00:37:17.30\00:37:18.63
and it picks up mass,
and it picks up weight,
00:37:18.67\00:37:21.34
and it's rolling down
00:37:21.37\00:37:22.70
and it's got a
lot of kinetic energy,
00:37:22.74\00:37:24.11
but you never,
you never really feel
00:37:24.14\00:37:26.24
that energy
until it hits something
00:37:26.27\00:37:27.74
like a tree or
smacks into a car,
00:37:27.78\00:37:29.51
then you realize
00:37:29.54\00:37:30.88
how much energy
that little snowball has.
00:37:30.91\00:37:33.21
Well, ischus, ischus is
like that, it's kinetic energy.
00:37:33.25\00:37:37.62
You'll never know
how much power you have
00:37:37.65\00:37:39.99
until you hit
something like the devil, amen?
00:37:40.02\00:37:44.79
So, Peter says, "We've
got this kinetic energy.
00:37:44.83\00:37:47.96
Christians have
this kinetic energy.
00:37:48.00\00:37:49.86
Listen, just
because you're a Christian,
00:37:49.90\00:37:51.63
it doesn't mean you're a wimp.
00:37:51.67\00:37:54.54
Amen?
00:37:54.57\00:37:56.30
Yeah, Christians are
called to face and to fight,
00:37:56.34\00:38:01.11
it doesn't mean you're wimp.
00:38:01.14\00:38:02.48
You know years ago,
00:38:02.51\00:38:04.35
we had a roller skating club,
00:38:04.38\00:38:05.71
I used to be
back in another life,
00:38:05.75\00:38:07.42
a pretty good roller.
00:38:07.45\00:38:08.78
In fact I was a, I was
a very good roller skater.
00:38:08.82\00:38:10.29
Had Christian
roller skating night.
00:38:10.32\00:38:12.49
And we'll go after
Christian roller skating night
00:38:12.52\00:38:14.09
to this restaurant.
00:38:14.12\00:38:15.46
And we're in this
restaurant one night
00:38:15.49\00:38:17.53
and you know,
00:38:17.56\00:38:19.23
I can't, I can't tell that story
00:38:19.26\00:38:21.46
because if I told you the story,
00:38:21.50\00:38:22.96
you might think less of me.
00:38:23.00\00:38:26.94
Suffice it to say,
00:38:26.97\00:38:28.54
Christians are not
wimps, Pastor Lomacang,
00:38:28.57\00:38:32.74
ain't not?
00:38:32.77\00:38:34.11
Amen.
00:38:34.14\00:38:37.41
So that's ischus, ischus.
00:38:37.45\00:38:41.98
There is a fourth word
00:38:42.02\00:38:44.09
that is translated
power called kratos or cratus.
00:38:44.12\00:38:48.42
Colossians 1:11,
00:38:48.46\00:38:50.36
"According to
His glorious kratos
00:38:50.39\00:38:53.56
or His power."
00:38:53.60\00:38:55.30
It is also translated dominion.
00:38:55.33\00:38:57.87
It is the ability to
hold on to what you've got.
00:38:57.90\00:39:04.07
Amen.
00:39:04.11\00:39:05.44
Kratos is the
ability given by God
00:39:05.47\00:39:08.21
to hold on to what you got.
00:39:08.24\00:39:10.38
Back in 1996,
00:39:10.41\00:39:12.51
I was coming home from a funeral
00:39:12.55\00:39:14.28
and my front door is open.
00:39:14.32\00:39:16.69
And as I'm walking in,
00:39:16.72\00:39:18.52
two individuals are
walking out with my stuff.
00:39:18.55\00:39:22.69
They got my VCR,
you folk remember VCRs?
00:39:22.72\00:39:25.76
That's what you had
before you had the DVD player.
00:39:25.79\00:39:29.00
They walked out with my VCRs,
00:39:29.03\00:39:30.83
my television sets
00:39:30.87\00:39:33.34
and they'd even
stolen my cologne.
00:39:33.37\00:39:38.14
Now, I can't tell you
what happened because if I did,
00:39:38.17\00:39:44.01
you would think less of me.
00:39:44.05\00:39:47.52
But suffice it to say
00:39:47.55\00:39:49.92
that God allowed me to kratos.
00:39:49.95\00:39:54.92
He allowed me to hold on
to what was mine, Pastor Jim.
00:39:54.96\00:40:01.66
It's a powerful word,
00:40:01.70\00:40:03.03
it is not used many
times in the New Testament,
00:40:03.06\00:40:05.00
but it is also translated power.
00:40:05.03\00:40:06.84
It's a God given
ability to possess the land
00:40:06.87\00:40:10.54
and then stay on the land
00:40:10.57\00:40:12.31
to keep what God has given you,
00:40:12.34\00:40:14.54
to hold on to what you have.
00:40:14.58\00:40:16.58
So you've got exousia,
dunamis, ischus and kratos.
00:40:16.61\00:40:22.48
And in Matthew,
Mark, Christ says,
00:40:22.52\00:40:25.79
"No one can enter
a strong man's house
00:40:25.82\00:40:29.12
and plunder his goods
00:40:29.16\00:40:31.13
unless he first
binds the strong man
00:40:31.16\00:40:34.36
and then he will
put under his house."
00:40:34.40\00:40:35.73
And I wasn't about
to be bound that night.
00:40:35.76\00:40:37.37
See the power of the Word
makes you a strong man, amen.
00:40:43.51\00:40:49.44
You look at, look at
little Greg Morikone,
00:40:49.48\00:40:51.21
I caught him little 'cause
he, the guy's about 50 pounds.
00:40:51.25\00:40:56.12
Little guy but
he's pretty strong.
00:40:56.15\00:40:58.45
You let somebody start
fooling around with Jill
00:40:58.49\00:41:00.56
and see if he
doesn't become a strong man.
00:41:00.59\00:41:04.09
Little kratos,
hold on to what you got.
00:41:04.13\00:41:06.13
Let me say this obiter dictum.
00:41:09.13\00:41:11.47
Not a man knows
when to say this.
00:41:11.50\00:41:13.40
If, if you know someone
and I got to say this kindly.
00:41:13.44\00:41:19.54
If you know someone,
00:41:19.57\00:41:23.01
who has an up and
down Christian experience,
00:41:23.04\00:41:29.02
or if you are someone like that
00:41:29.05\00:41:30.39
whose spirituality is
a roller coaster ride.
00:41:30.42\00:41:36.26
Sinning and repenting,
sinning and repenting,
00:41:36.29\00:41:38.29
you know, one day
00:41:38.33\00:41:39.69
they're ready to
fly off to heaven
00:41:39.73\00:41:41.93
and the next day they are
ready to jump off a cliff.
00:41:41.96\00:41:45.17
Always battling depression,
00:41:45.20\00:41:47.20
can't seem to
get a break through
00:41:47.24\00:41:50.17
little or no joy,
00:41:50.21\00:41:53.61
I suspect their challenge is,
00:41:53.64\00:41:57.41
their problem is
00:41:57.45\00:41:59.68
they are soft on or light in
00:41:59.71\00:42:03.39
or marginally
conversant with the Word of God.
00:42:03.42\00:42:09.22
Now, I'm not casting
stones or picking a fight,
00:42:09.26\00:42:12.59
but if you are up and down
00:42:12.63\00:42:14.36
and up and down and up and down,
00:42:14.40\00:42:16.03
listen, prayer
won't even solve that,
00:42:16.06\00:42:20.90
not by itself,
00:42:20.94\00:42:22.30
you got to get
your head in the Word,
00:42:22.34\00:42:26.37
because if you're praying
00:42:26.41\00:42:28.08
and don't know what
your guarantees are,
00:42:28.11\00:42:30.61
you don't know what to claim.
00:42:30.65\00:42:33.31
So you're gonna be up and down
00:42:33.35\00:42:34.72
all your life, up and down,
why is this happening to me?
00:42:34.75\00:42:37.39
Why me? Why me? Oh,
your answer is in the Word.
00:42:37.42\00:42:42.66
So you got to study the
Word and inculcate the Word.
00:42:42.69\00:42:48.50
You got to take it inside
and it will strengthen you,
00:42:48.53\00:42:50.83
it will fortify you,
00:42:50.87\00:42:52.20
it will give you a
victorious Christian life.
00:42:52.23\00:42:57.91
You need to get in that Word,
00:42:57.94\00:42:59.54
Psalms 119:30,
00:42:59.57\00:43:01.58
"The entrance of
thy word giveth light."
00:43:01.61\00:43:06.82
No need to be
groping in darkness,
00:43:06.85\00:43:08.95
stumbling and fumbling
like I did the other night
00:43:08.98\00:43:10.85
and woke Irma up,
00:43:10.89\00:43:12.22
she said, why did
you turn on the light?
00:43:12.25\00:43:15.52
Why are you groping in darkness?
00:43:15.56\00:43:18.83
Light is
righteousness and faith.
00:43:18.86\00:43:21.46
John 17:70, you know the text,
00:43:21.50\00:43:23.50
"Sanctify them
through thy truth,
00:43:23.53\00:43:25.23
thy word is truth and light."
00:43:25.27\00:43:31.14
Let's look at Ephesians 6:14.
00:43:31.17\00:43:34.44
My time is getting away from me.
00:43:34.48\00:43:35.81
Ephesians 6:14.
00:43:35.84\00:43:39.31
Don't want to go through
it all but I will summarize.
00:43:39.35\00:43:44.95
You got truth around your waist.
00:43:44.99\00:43:49.62
You've got the
gospel on your feet.
00:43:49.66\00:43:54.20
You've got faith
covering your chest.
00:43:54.23\00:43:58.80
You've got
salvation on your head.
00:43:58.83\00:44:03.04
And you got the
sword of the spirit
00:44:03.07\00:44:06.17
which is the word, amen.
00:44:06.21\00:44:10.68
Now you will know
00:44:10.71\00:44:12.05
and I'm sure you've
seen this already many times.
00:44:12.08\00:44:14.78
That all of that, of
all of that armament,
00:44:14.82\00:44:18.35
only one is an
offensive weapons,
00:44:18.39\00:44:20.36
you know that.
00:44:20.39\00:44:21.72
Everything else is defense.
00:44:21.76\00:44:24.86
All the other pieces allow you
00:44:24.89\00:44:26.83
to take a blow and not get hurt.
00:44:26.86\00:44:32.23
But the Word, praise God,
00:44:32.27\00:44:35.80
allows you to fight back.
00:44:35.84\00:44:39.61
Amen. Amen.
00:44:39.64\00:44:41.01
Who wants to sit
there all the time
00:44:41.04\00:44:42.38
and just take punishment?
00:44:42.41\00:44:44.28
To say the devil beat up on you.
00:44:44.31\00:44:48.08
The sword allows
you to fight back.
00:44:48.12\00:44:50.69
The sword allows you
00:44:50.72\00:44:52.19
to fight back.
00:44:52.22\00:44:58.59
The Word allows you to go out
00:44:58.63\00:45:02.06
and actively defend
yourself and your territory.
00:45:02.10\00:45:06.90
And then go out to
the devil's kingdom
00:45:06.94\00:45:09.80
and bring back some
POWs from Satan's kingdom.
00:45:09.84\00:45:15.04
Now let me follow
that metaphor through.
00:45:15.08\00:45:18.61
Not only are you
able to defend your home
00:45:18.65\00:45:22.12
and your heart and yourself,
00:45:22.15\00:45:24.59
the Word allows you to
break into Satan's kingdom
00:45:24.62\00:45:29.19
and take back some
of what he's stolen.
00:45:29.22\00:45:34.16
Hebrews 4:12,
00:45:34.20\00:45:36.56
"For the Word of God
is living and powerful,
00:45:36.60\00:45:39.70
and sharper than
any two-edged sword."
00:45:39.73\00:45:44.01
Now why a two-edged sword?
00:45:44.04\00:45:46.74
Stronger than a one-edged sword.
00:45:46.78\00:45:50.35
Here's the deal.
00:45:50.38\00:45:52.18
Here's why there are two edges.
00:45:52.21\00:45:55.48
Because while it
is cutting others,
00:45:55.52\00:45:59.65
it's cutting you too.
00:45:59.69\00:46:01.02
Two-edged sword cuts both ways
00:46:04.23\00:46:06.76
while you're teaching
and preaching to others,
00:46:06.80\00:46:09.86
you are teaching and
preaching to yourself.
00:46:09.90\00:46:13.37
No teacher, no
preacher should ever stand
00:46:13.40\00:46:15.20
before our congregation
and not talk to themselves.
00:46:15.24\00:46:18.77
Any time you lead a Bible
study or a Sabbath school class,
00:46:18.81\00:46:21.31
you're teaching
others but you ought to be,
00:46:21.34\00:46:24.71
you better be teaching yourself.
00:46:24.75\00:46:27.68
And so that
sword is cutting them,
00:46:27.72\00:46:30.25
is cutting you too.
00:46:30.29\00:46:32.42
Amen.
00:46:32.45\00:46:33.79
So you got two-edges,
00:46:33.82\00:46:35.29
that changes them,
it also changes you.
00:46:35.32\00:46:38.39
That's why one of the best ways
00:46:38.43\00:46:39.83
to strengthen your
own spirituality is,
00:46:39.86\00:46:42.53
is study with somebody else.
00:46:42.56\00:46:44.67
And trying to
convert somebody else,
00:46:44.70\00:46:46.23
guess what?
00:46:46.27\00:46:48.14
You would be converted.
00:46:48.17\00:46:49.50
And try to make them
stronger in the Lord,
00:46:49.54\00:46:50.91
you will become
stronger in the Lord.
00:46:50.94\00:46:52.64
It's a two-edged sword,
00:46:52.67\00:46:54.01
it changes them, it changes you.
00:46:54.04\00:46:57.31
Christ life had
been changed by the Word.
00:46:57.35\00:46:59.38
He had learned the
Word from His mother's knee
00:46:59.41\00:47:01.58
and from His youth
00:47:01.62\00:47:02.95
and that's why He
could say in John 14:30,
00:47:02.98\00:47:04.55
I'm jumping just a
little bit, New King James,
00:47:04.59\00:47:06.62
He says, "I will no
longer talk much with you,
00:47:06.65\00:47:09.12
for the ruler of
this world cometh
00:47:09.16\00:47:11.43
and he has nothing in me."
00:47:11.46\00:47:12.79
For years I kind of
stumbled at that text.
00:47:12.83\00:47:15.56
I like it from The Clear Word,
00:47:15.60\00:47:16.93
I just got to read it
to you from The Clear Word.
00:47:16.97\00:47:19.93
Christ says, "After tonight
00:47:19.97\00:47:22.60
I'll not be talking
with you for a while,
00:47:22.64\00:47:25.17
the devil who thinks
00:47:25.21\00:47:27.31
he's the prince of this world
00:47:27.34\00:47:29.14
has no power over me
00:47:29.18\00:47:31.41
because he can't find
one sinful desire in me
00:47:31.45\00:47:35.35
that response
to his temptation."
00:47:35.38\00:47:37.42
Lord, I wish that
could be said about me,
00:47:37.45\00:47:39.09
how about you?
00:47:39.12\00:47:40.46
Christ said,
00:47:40.49\00:47:41.82
"He's got nothing in
me, there are no hooks,
00:47:41.86\00:47:44.13
there's nothing he can
grab on to hold on to me.
00:47:44.16\00:47:47.56
There's a commercial,
00:47:47.60\00:47:48.93
Irma and I are
watching the other day.
00:47:48.96\00:47:51.93
It's a commercial
for a cheeseburger.
00:47:51.97\00:47:56.81
I guess, it's about
a half pound of meat.
00:47:56.84\00:47:59.87
And it's got
00:47:59.91\00:48:01.88
about a quarter
inch of cheese on it
00:48:01.91\00:48:04.71
and it's got
bacon on top of that.
00:48:04.75\00:48:08.15
And then it's got some things
00:48:08.18\00:48:09.52
that I didn't even know
existed till I moved out
00:48:09.55\00:48:11.09
to Southern
Illinois pulled pork.
00:48:11.12\00:48:14.39
We don't do
pulled pork in New York.
00:48:14.42\00:48:16.66
So it's got a big old
thing, a pulled pork on it,
00:48:16.69\00:48:18.69
and there's two
guys standing there
00:48:18.73\00:48:20.30
with their mouths
open staring at it.
00:48:20.33\00:48:23.40
And Irma said to me,
00:48:23.43\00:48:26.00
"That's enough to
make me want to throw up."
00:48:26.03\00:48:29.00
And I said, amen.
00:48:29.04\00:48:31.97
See that's not a
temptation for me,
00:48:32.01\00:48:33.74
there's nothing in me
that responds to that.
00:48:33.78\00:48:38.25
Well, that's what
Christ is saying here.
00:48:38.28\00:48:39.78
There's nothing in the
world, when I, when I see sin,
00:48:39.81\00:48:42.52
it's like looking
at that cheeseburger
00:48:42.55\00:48:43.92
with all that pulled pork on it.
00:48:43.95\00:48:46.76
Satan's got nothing in me.
There's nothing that he has.
00:48:46.79\00:48:50.16
His temptations don't allure me.
00:48:50.19\00:48:55.50
So he's got nothing in me.
00:48:55.53\00:48:57.37
Christ said,
00:48:57.40\00:48:58.73
"There's nothing
in me that Satan can,
00:48:58.77\00:49:00.30
can put in front of
me that will allure me.
00:49:00.34\00:49:02.67
And I say to this day,
00:49:02.70\00:49:04.04
I wish I could
make that statement.
00:49:04.07\00:49:07.08
Jesus could say it
because in the desert,
00:49:07.11\00:49:10.95
Satan through his Sunday punch
00:49:10.98\00:49:14.32
and Christ withstood them all.
00:49:14.35\00:49:20.79
He fired three times
00:49:20.82\00:49:23.86
but he was unable to hurt him.
00:49:23.89\00:49:27.00
He saw Jesus emaciated,
00:49:27.03\00:49:30.10
drawn after 40 days of fasting.
00:49:30.13\00:49:33.64
Anybody ever fasted?
00:49:33.67\00:49:36.04
When I decided
to go into ministry,
00:49:36.07\00:49:38.74
I fasted one solid week.
00:49:38.77\00:49:41.64
I know now that
what I did was wrong
00:49:41.68\00:49:43.21
because I took
nothing, no water,
00:49:43.24\00:49:44.91
nothing from Sabbath to Sabbath.
00:49:44.95\00:49:47.12
You're not supposed to do that,
00:49:47.15\00:49:48.48
you need to have
water in your system
00:49:48.52\00:49:50.55
and you need to
cleanse yourself,
00:49:50.59\00:49:52.32
but they call it brute fasting.
00:49:52.35\00:49:54.76
I just fasted and prayed.
00:49:54.79\00:49:57.26
Drug myself around
school, I was in college.
00:49:57.29\00:50:02.06
But I know how, how beat
up you can get when you fast.
00:50:02.10\00:50:05.73
Tell you a quick
story, we had a fellow,
00:50:05.77\00:50:07.77
I better not call his
name, he was fasting for a wife.
00:50:07.80\00:50:10.91
He said, his eyes are on a
girl and he was fasting for her,
00:50:10.94\00:50:13.81
and she didn't,
she wasn't fasting.
00:50:13.84\00:50:17.35
And so he was
fasting for two weeks
00:50:17.38\00:50:19.55
and he's dragging
himself around school
00:50:19.58\00:50:21.05
and he said,
00:50:21.08\00:50:22.42
"Has the Lord
spoken to you yet?"
00:50:22.45\00:50:24.45
She said, "No."
00:50:24.49\00:50:27.29
And so he fasted
and fasted and fasted
00:50:27.32\00:50:28.92
and after a while
after three weeks of nothing,
00:50:28.96\00:50:31.73
he realized that
God was calling him
00:50:31.76\00:50:33.53
to another ministry.
00:50:33.56\00:50:35.03
But Satan took his
best shot at Jesus.
00:50:38.23\00:50:43.74
He loaded his 357 Magnum.
00:50:43.77\00:50:46.81
The most powerful handgun,
00:50:46.84\00:50:49.41
locked and loaded it with,
00:50:49.44\00:50:52.81
if you are the Son of God,
00:50:52.85\00:50:55.82
command these
stones to be made bread.
00:50:55.85\00:51:00.96
And then he put it
against Jesus' chest
00:51:00.99\00:51:05.26
and he pulled the trigger.
00:51:05.29\00:51:07.90
But before that
bullet could touch Jesus,
00:51:07.93\00:51:11.53
it ran into man shall
not live by bread alone.
00:51:11.57\00:51:16.44
And fell
harmlessly to the ground.
00:51:16.47\00:51:20.28
Then he took Jesus to the top
00:51:20.31\00:51:23.51
of the temple.
00:51:23.55\00:51:25.61
And realized that a mere handgun
00:51:25.65\00:51:27.72
couldn't hurt the Lord so he,
00:51:27.75\00:51:29.18
he got what they call an
RPG, rocket propelled grenade.
00:51:29.22\00:51:35.12
And he turned it on Jesus.
00:51:35.16\00:51:39.93
And he said,
00:51:39.96\00:51:43.26
"Hasn't Your Father said to you,
00:51:43.30\00:51:46.43
is it written in the Word."
00:51:46.47\00:51:49.40
You see, Satan knows the Word,
00:51:49.44\00:51:52.64
that He will give His
angels charge over you
00:51:52.67\00:51:58.51
to bear you up.
00:51:58.55\00:52:01.58
So if you are the Son of God,
00:52:01.62\00:52:05.05
jump.
00:52:05.09\00:52:07.62
That's all, just jump.
00:52:07.66\00:52:10.66
What are you?
Scared chicken, jump.
00:52:10.69\00:52:14.73
In fact, I'll
give you little push.
00:52:14.76\00:52:18.53
Satan say he'll do,
he'll give you a little push.
00:52:18.57\00:52:23.00
Trying to give up cigarettes,
00:52:23.04\00:52:25.34
yet you put one little pack
00:52:25.37\00:52:26.71
in a glove
compartment of your car.
00:52:26.74\00:52:28.94
Then Satan sees to it
00:52:28.98\00:52:30.31
that you get stuck on
the road behind traffic
00:52:30.35\00:52:31.91
and you're nervous and
mad and you're late for work.
00:52:31.95\00:52:34.12
And you know that if you could
just take that one little smoke
00:52:34.15\00:52:39.62
calm you down.
00:52:39.65\00:52:41.96
Satan says, I'll
give you little push.
00:52:41.99\00:52:44.33
So Jesus, what's the problem?
00:52:44.36\00:52:48.36
Do you have any faith?
00:52:48.40\00:52:50.37
Jump.
00:52:50.40\00:52:52.03
That's all, just jump.
00:52:52.07\00:52:55.27
God will take care of you.
00:52:55.30\00:52:57.74
And he pulled
the trigger on, jump.
00:52:57.77\00:53:01.04
And that RPG
00:53:01.08\00:53:02.58
ran into thou shalt
not tempt the Lord, thy God
00:53:02.61\00:53:08.72
and fell
harmlessly to the ground.
00:53:08.75\00:53:12.42
Then he used his masterstroke
00:53:12.45\00:53:16.76
vanity and ego...
00:53:16.79\00:53:19.49
took him to an
exceedingly high mountain.
00:53:22.56\00:53:24.63
Let Him see the world.
00:53:28.70\00:53:32.67
So by the way Jesus,
00:53:32.71\00:53:35.41
these belong to me, it's a lie.
00:53:35.44\00:53:40.22
If you want them,
00:53:40.25\00:53:42.85
I'll give it to you.
00:53:42.88\00:53:45.89
Just drop to one knee.
00:53:45.92\00:53:50.29
You don't have to lay
prostrate on the ground,
00:53:50.33\00:53:54.30
just dip to one day,
00:53:54.33\00:53:55.66
and it's all yours.
00:53:59.53\00:54:03.00
And he pulled the trigger.
00:54:03.04\00:54:04.37
And that missile ran into
00:54:07.48\00:54:11.88
worship God and God alone,
00:54:11.91\00:54:15.98
and no one else.
00:54:16.02\00:54:18.79
And then Christ said,
00:54:18.82\00:54:22.22
"It's time for you to go.
00:54:22.26\00:54:25.19
Get the hence sayonara,
adios, hasta la vista, baby...
00:54:25.23\00:54:31.73
See ya.
00:54:35.37\00:54:38.34
How do you overcome?
00:54:38.37\00:54:40.88
By the power of the Word.
00:54:40.91\00:54:43.68
Amen.
00:54:43.71\00:54:45.58
He didn't
shadowboxed with Satan,
00:54:45.61\00:54:47.22
He didn't fight with
Satan, He used the Word.
00:54:47.25\00:54:52.85
How we overcome
in these last days?
00:54:52.89\00:54:55.99
Same way Christ overcame.
00:54:56.02\00:54:59.16
One of the
greatest texts in the Bible,
00:54:59.19\00:55:01.10
Revelation 12:11.
00:55:01.13\00:55:04.20
And they overcame him
00:55:04.23\00:55:07.87
by the blood of the Lamb
00:55:07.90\00:55:12.34
and the word of their testimony.
00:55:12.37\00:55:17.05
You see, the power
is still in the Word.
00:55:17.08\00:55:22.72
Nothing about you
that the devil fear.
00:55:22.75\00:55:25.39
There's nothing about
you that makes him afraid.
00:55:25.42\00:55:27.26
He is afraid of your
father and your best friend.
00:55:27.29\00:55:32.76
Amen.
00:55:32.79\00:55:34.76
And you never know that
00:55:34.80\00:55:36.93
until you study the Word of God.
00:55:36.97\00:55:42.60
Until you let the
Word come into your heart.
00:55:42.64\00:55:48.11
Until you live out the Word.
00:55:48.14\00:55:52.55
For therein is your power,
00:55:52.58\00:55:54.98
therein is your strength,
00:55:55.02\00:55:57.42
and therein is your victory
00:55:57.45\00:56:02.62
in Christ Jesus.
00:56:02.66\00:56:04.99
But in fact they used to say,
00:56:05.03\00:56:06.93
you never know until you try.
00:56:06.96\00:56:11.43
You never know until you study
00:56:11.47\00:56:15.00
the Word of God.
00:56:15.04\00:56:17.81
And that's what
these weeks of prayer
00:56:17.84\00:56:19.17
are designed to do,
00:56:19.21\00:56:20.88
to take us closer to the Word.
00:56:20.91\00:56:24.98
Amen.
00:56:25.01\00:56:26.35
And amen, shall we pray?
00:56:26.38\00:56:29.28
Gracious Father,
00:56:29.32\00:56:31.15
we thank You
00:56:31.19\00:56:32.95
because Your word is
truly a lamp unto our feet
00:56:32.99\00:56:37.33
and a light unto our path.
00:56:37.36\00:56:40.93
Help us, Lord, to study the Word
00:56:40.96\00:56:45.40
and then to put in
practice those things
00:56:45.43\00:56:49.77
that we have studied.
00:56:49.80\00:56:53.21
Help us to be overcomers
00:56:53.24\00:56:57.01
even as Christ overcame.
00:56:57.05\00:57:00.68
Help us through
the blood of the Lamb
00:57:00.72\00:57:05.32
and the word of our testimony,
00:57:05.35\00:57:09.79
to be victorious children
00:57:09.82\00:57:13.63
of the Most High God.
00:57:13.66\00:57:16.26
And we thank You for
the promise of victory
00:57:16.30\00:57:21.64
in the precious name of Jesus.
00:57:21.67\00:57:26.57
Amen and amen.
00:57:26.61\00:57:29.74