1 00:00:17,880 --> 00:00:19,760 Today I want to talk to you about waiver not. 2 00:00:21,680 --> 00:00:29,360 And I say that because if we look at the book of Luke chapter 3 00:00:29,360 --> 00:00:32,400 18, starting in verse 8, now obviously there's some 4 00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:37,600 conversation that's being asked of the Lord about the end times. 5 00:00:38,080 --> 00:00:43,920 But more importantly, he's actually using an example of 6 00:00:43,920 --> 00:00:50,800 this particular woman who had this issue getting a legal 7 00:00:51,600 --> 00:00:55,400 protection. And so she went to a judge that 8 00:00:55,400 --> 00:00:59,320 was very unrighteous, and it says that he didn't fear God or 9 00:00:59,320 --> 00:01:01,760 man and he would just keep putting her off. 10 00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:07,560 But she just kept coming because she knew her rights in that 11 00:01:07,560 --> 00:01:10,480 nation and what protection she had. 12 00:01:10,480 --> 00:01:14,440 What was do her. And so because she stayed 13 00:01:14,440 --> 00:01:18,400 persistent, eventually this unrighteous judge, the Lord 14 00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:22,240 calls him, says I'm going to give the lady what she wants. 15 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:25,960 Again, not because God told me or because Mass told me and I'm 16 00:01:25,960 --> 00:01:27,920 concerned about them. It's just that really she's 17 00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:29,800 wearing me out. She just keeps showing up and 18 00:01:29,800 --> 00:01:32,280 it's basically, I'm tired of seeing her face and her saying 19 00:01:32,280 --> 00:01:34,120 the same argument. So I'm just going to give it to 20 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:37,560 her. Then the Lord says, now if, if 21 00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:41,560 the unrighteous judge will do this, how much more God who is 22 00:01:41,560 --> 00:01:45,640 just and that he'll bring these things about quickly. 23 00:01:46,080 --> 00:01:48,560 All right. But at the end of this 24 00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:52,680 statement, he makes this very powerful thought that moves us 25 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:56,000 into the times we're in now. And he says this at the end of 26 00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:59,400 verse 8. He says, however, when the Son 27 00:01:59,400 --> 00:02:04,000 of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth? 28 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:09,960 That's very powerful. You know, there are some new 29 00:02:09,960 --> 00:02:12,120 things coming. OK. 30 00:02:13,760 --> 00:02:16,360 One thing that's going to come new is that Jesus is going to 31 00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:20,200 split the sky. That'll be new in the context 32 00:02:20,200 --> 00:02:23,880 that He'll call us up with Him. That's going to be pretty 33 00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:26,080 amazing. The first time he came, He came 34 00:02:26,080 --> 00:02:29,000 through the womb. He left in the clouds, but he 35 00:02:29,000 --> 00:02:30,960 returns in the clouds. So that'll be a new thing 36 00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:32,560 coming. Jesus coming back in a cloud. 37 00:02:33,360 --> 00:02:35,160 That's going to be amazing. You know what else is a new 38 00:02:35,160 --> 00:02:38,720 thing coming? Revelation of God's Word, you 39 00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:42,160 know, because when God continues to reveal himself of what you do 40 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:43,760 not know, that's something new coming. 41 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:50,320 But once I know what he has revealed, now coming is not the 42 00:02:50,320 --> 00:02:56,720 issue I have because faith is now a faith believes it's 43 00:02:56,720 --> 00:03:00,840 already settled. And you know, I'm thankful that 44 00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:03,920 there are things Christ has already accomplished. 45 00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:07,600 That's not a coming, but is a now is a here. 46 00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:11,760 It already exists. It's like when he told the 47 00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:15,680 disciples at one time, he said now Terry, here, be here until 48 00:03:15,760 --> 00:03:19,040 the promise of the Father comes. Well, the Holy Spirit has come. 49 00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:23,320 He came on the day of Pentecost. We're not waiting for him to 50 00:03:23,320 --> 00:03:25,080 come again. He's already in the earth. 51 00:03:25,480 --> 00:03:27,920 And so you understand, salvation has come. 52 00:03:27,920 --> 00:03:30,000 It's here. In fact, this script, this comes 53 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:32,640 from Isaiah. Someone showed me 4319. 54 00:03:32,640 --> 00:03:35,800 There's a new thing coming, a new way of doing things. 55 00:03:35,800 --> 00:03:38,520 Well, there is a new thing that has happened, and that is the 56 00:03:38,520 --> 00:03:40,360 death, burial, resurrection of Jesus. 57 00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:44,680 And everything he has brought is already accomplished. 58 00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:47,720 And so salvation is something you can receive right now. 59 00:03:48,520 --> 00:03:52,080 It's not coming to you. You have it once you believe 60 00:03:52,120 --> 00:03:54,520 it's already in existence. You know, the baptism of the 61 00:03:54,520 --> 00:03:58,640 Holy Ghost and and receiving the endowment of power from on high 62 00:03:58,760 --> 00:04:01,000 is something all you have to do is receive by faith. 63 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:03,360 It's not that it's coming, it already exists. 64 00:04:03,360 --> 00:04:05,520 It's just a matter of you getting in the flow of what's 65 00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:07,840 already there. Are you hearing what I'm saying? 66 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:11,720 You know what healing is? Something available right now in 67 00:04:11,720 --> 00:04:13,880 your life. You can have healing in your 68 00:04:13,880 --> 00:04:16,240 body. God will heal you immediately. 69 00:04:16,240 --> 00:04:18,920 That can take place. Glory to God, Amen. 70 00:04:18,920 --> 00:04:22,520 It's not something new coming. It's something that exists if 71 00:04:22,520 --> 00:04:26,280 you'll access it by faith. So again, when we say these 72 00:04:26,280 --> 00:04:28,960 things, we're not saying that we're waiting for something to 73 00:04:28,960 --> 00:04:31,720 come. We will access what already 74 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:34,600 exists. But there are some things to 75 00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:38,120 come, some prophecies that are still to be a fulfilled and 76 00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:39,520 those are coming. You know what else is the new 77 00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:41,640 thing coming? A new heaven and a new earth 78 00:04:42,280 --> 00:04:44,440 that's coming. That's a new thing coming. 79 00:04:44,440 --> 00:04:47,200 That's going to be something, you know, before that time, 80 00:04:47,200 --> 00:04:49,400 there's a new thing coming called the millennial reign of 81 00:04:49,400 --> 00:04:51,760 Christ. That's when Jesus comes back to 82 00:04:51,760 --> 00:04:57,160 the planet, reigns on the earth, and in that first eternal stage 83 00:04:57,360 --> 00:05:01,040 of where they're still sin in the earth, but he rules the 84 00:05:01,120 --> 00:05:03,920 earth from Jerusalem. Hallelujah. 85 00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:08,080 And so those are, that's the new thing coming when he topples all 86 00:05:08,080 --> 00:05:13,080 of man's nations and they are to pay allegiance to him. 87 00:05:13,240 --> 00:05:16,560 But then eventually he'll release the enemy one more time 88 00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:19,440 who will deceive nations, and then they'll bring an attack 89 00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:22,160 towards Jerusalem. But that won't last very long. 90 00:05:22,160 --> 00:05:25,320 And then the last new thing coming is the new heaven and the 91 00:05:25,320 --> 00:05:27,680 new earth. Glory to God, Hallelujah. 92 00:05:27,680 --> 00:05:29,560 These are exciting times we're in. 93 00:05:30,640 --> 00:05:35,920 But Jesus says, however, when the Son of Man comes, will he 94 00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:40,600 find faith on the earth? Now the word find here means 95 00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:47,440 this will he find after searching, which means he's 96 00:05:47,440 --> 00:05:53,320 going to search for it. He had is making the effort to 97 00:05:53,320 --> 00:05:57,400 locate. So he's going to come to the 98 00:05:57,400 --> 00:06:02,080 earth with the intent am I finding faith and I'm going to 99 00:06:02,080 --> 00:06:05,240 have to search for it. It means to find the thing 100 00:06:05,240 --> 00:06:08,720 sought, which is a little disturbing. 101 00:06:09,920 --> 00:06:12,200 The word find here means to be discovered. 102 00:06:12,720 --> 00:06:15,480 It means to be recognized. It means to be detected. 103 00:06:16,560 --> 00:06:18,960 That's a little disturbing statement because that means 104 00:06:18,960 --> 00:06:25,120 when he returns, will he find after seek? 105 00:06:25,120 --> 00:06:29,920 It's not so obvious that he has to look it out. 106 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:34,080 He has to go looking for it. I said he has to go looking for 107 00:06:34,080 --> 00:06:37,600 it. Now this here could be when he 108 00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:39,520 puts his foot down on the Mount Olives. 109 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:44,400 This definitely can be after what we consider the tribulation 110 00:06:44,400 --> 00:06:48,120 period because man after that during that event, there's a lot 111 00:06:48,120 --> 00:06:53,800 going on and faith would be scarce for sure during that 112 00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:56,600 time. However, the Bible does tell us 113 00:06:56,920 --> 00:07:05,320 prior to the catching away of the church is that is that oh 114 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:14,240 Jesus, thank you, Lord, as he said, there will be a great 115 00:07:14,240 --> 00:07:18,120 falling away that will occur as well. 116 00:07:18,120 --> 00:07:21,200 If you were with us Wednesday night, I, I encourage you need 117 00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:22,480 to listen to that message online. 118 00:07:22,480 --> 00:07:26,360 It's really powerful concerning the catching away. 119 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:30,960 And so with that being said, we want to be found in faith. 120 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:37,560 We want to be found in faith. The thing about faith is that 121 00:07:37,560 --> 00:07:43,280 faith is a misused word. Many people, let me just say it 122 00:07:43,280 --> 00:07:49,800 this way, everybody actually functions by faith, even the 123 00:07:49,800 --> 00:07:53,400 lost. We have actually in, in one 124 00:07:53,400 --> 00:07:59,000 sense, taken this word faith, and we have made it a religious 125 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:03,160 term meaning only church folk have faith. 126 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:10,920 But the Bible definition of faith is not excluded or only 127 00:08:10,920 --> 00:08:15,000 characterized to the believer. Are you hearing me? 128 00:08:15,960 --> 00:08:19,560 If we look at it in its strictest form of what faith 129 00:08:19,560 --> 00:08:22,400 means. And so a lot of times we can 130 00:08:22,400 --> 00:08:26,240 say, Oh yeah, I have faith or I believe God. 131 00:08:26,440 --> 00:08:28,440 But do you have it? According to the Bible's 132 00:08:28,440 --> 00:08:34,679 definition, faith is very important because again, when 133 00:08:34,679 --> 00:08:37,400 the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth? 134 00:08:38,280 --> 00:08:42,080 Which means we need to be found in faith first. 135 00:08:42,080 --> 00:08:43,919 John 54 because faith is powerful. 136 00:08:43,919 --> 00:08:46,160 Look what it says here. Whatever is born of God 137 00:08:46,560 --> 00:08:49,200 overcomes the world. And this is the victory that 138 00:08:49,200 --> 00:08:54,120 overcomes the world, our faith. So if you want victory on planet 139 00:08:54,120 --> 00:08:56,560 earth right now, faith is the answer. 140 00:08:57,080 --> 00:09:00,040 I said faith is the answer. Faith is the answer. 141 00:09:00,520 --> 00:09:03,920 One scholar said it this way. The grand difference between a 142 00:09:03,920 --> 00:09:09,120 man divinely born and others is this, that he conquers the world 143 00:09:09,360 --> 00:09:11,920 while others are conquered by it. 144 00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:16,480 Amen. And if you are a believer, the 145 00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:20,920 world should not conquer you. You should not be conquered by 146 00:09:20,920 --> 00:09:23,200 the world. Now, when we say world, we're 147 00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:26,840 not talking Earth. We're talking the systems in the 148 00:09:26,840 --> 00:09:29,560 world. We're talking the the systems 149 00:09:29,560 --> 00:09:33,480 that the Prince of the power of the air that the devil still 150 00:09:33,480 --> 00:09:40,640 operates with and how he pulls, keeps people in darkness and 151 00:09:40,640 --> 00:09:43,560 then tries to deceive those in the light to come back Into 152 00:09:43,560 --> 00:09:46,680 Darkness. And there are systems that he 153 00:09:46,680 --> 00:09:51,880 uses in order to keep us bound, to keep us from the things of 154 00:09:51,880 --> 00:09:56,480 God and the and from God's Kingdom to manifest in our life. 155 00:09:57,160 --> 00:10:00,800 However, when you function by faith, then the things of the 156 00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:05,720 world do not overcome you. You overcome them in essence, 157 00:10:05,720 --> 00:10:09,560 the things of the world come to you no different than the things 158 00:10:09,560 --> 00:10:16,680 of the Kingdom they come by hearing in Romans chapter 10, 159 00:10:16,680 --> 00:10:18,920 verse 17. We know this, but it's important 160 00:10:18,920 --> 00:10:22,840 for us to see this, that when Paul's having this conversation, 161 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:26,320 he's making technically a blanket statement, and we can 162 00:10:26,320 --> 00:10:28,840 see it in one sense with the comma. 163 00:10:29,040 --> 00:10:32,000 So faith comes from hearing pause. 164 00:10:33,400 --> 00:10:35,240 Just think about that for a moment. 165 00:10:36,880 --> 00:10:39,680 That applies to everyone on the planet. 166 00:10:40,680 --> 00:10:46,400 Faith comes by hearing. So whatever you're hearing is 167 00:10:46,400 --> 00:10:49,280 producing faith. So that means faith is not a 168 00:10:49,280 --> 00:10:53,600 religious word. Faith is not directly associated 169 00:10:53,760 --> 00:10:56,920 with God. I'm going to say that again, 170 00:10:57,400 --> 00:11:01,120 faith in just the definition of the word. 171 00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:06,840 Faith itself is not specifically directed towards God. 172 00:11:07,440 --> 00:11:14,280 Now Paul to the church in Rome, he's letting them know where 173 00:11:14,280 --> 00:11:20,040 they're hearing should be after the comment says and hearing in 174 00:11:20,040 --> 00:11:24,080 essence, you're hearing should be by the word of Christ. 175 00:11:24,200 --> 00:11:28,120 In essence, he's saying if the faith you have should be the 176 00:11:28,120 --> 00:11:31,480 result of what you've heard from the word of God. 177 00:11:31,880 --> 00:11:34,920 I like this translation of the word of Christ because Christ is 178 00:11:34,920 --> 00:11:39,200 the title of Jesus. Jesus is Jesus Christ, Christ is 179 00:11:39,200 --> 00:11:43,120 the Messiah and and Christ is the Greek equivalent to that 180 00:11:43,120 --> 00:11:46,120 Hebrew word Messiah, which is the king in essence. 181 00:11:46,120 --> 00:11:53,080 You want your ear attentive to what Jesus who is King is saying 182 00:11:53,760 --> 00:11:56,320 because he is supreme in authority. 183 00:11:56,520 --> 00:12:00,800 His word rules forever. His word is life. 184 00:12:01,840 --> 00:12:05,760 So he's saying to us, look, people's faith comes from 185 00:12:05,760 --> 00:12:09,600 hearing, However you're hearing needs to come from listening to 186 00:12:09,600 --> 00:12:14,480 the Lord. Can I get an Amen in the world? 187 00:12:14,520 --> 00:12:17,080 Everyone is listening to something. 188 00:12:17,680 --> 00:12:21,080 I mean, I would love to tell you that the majority of believers 189 00:12:21,080 --> 00:12:24,800 are listening so much to the word and only the word rightly 190 00:12:24,800 --> 00:12:29,200 divided. But the reality is, in the 168 191 00:12:29,200 --> 00:12:33,320 days within a week, what you hear within a church and then 192 00:12:33,320 --> 00:12:37,840 your own personal study tends to pale in comparison to the things 193 00:12:37,840 --> 00:12:44,520 you're hearing at work, in your household, on XM radio, the 194 00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:49,600 television, whatever it may be. A lot of things are trying to 195 00:12:49,600 --> 00:12:53,040 affect your mind. And so you have to have a heavy 196 00:12:53,040 --> 00:12:56,880 diet of being able to listen to God's Word so that you can 197 00:12:56,880 --> 00:13:01,560 determine what you should keep in your in your hearing and what 198 00:13:01,560 --> 00:13:04,920 you should disregard. Are you hearing what I'm saying? 199 00:13:05,520 --> 00:13:12,000 So again, you know, there are some things that that I was 200 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:16,800 exposed to as a child that knowing the word today, I would 201 00:13:16,800 --> 00:13:20,400 not participate in today. But the reality is because I 202 00:13:20,400 --> 00:13:25,080 knew God's word, it I had a light source that helped me 203 00:13:25,080 --> 00:13:28,360 overcome the things that I heard in darkness. 204 00:13:29,560 --> 00:13:33,120 But they're but when people do not have a light source or 205 00:13:33,200 --> 00:13:35,720 they're not around the word, then the things that are in 206 00:13:35,720 --> 00:13:39,400 darkness continues to strengthen issues in there. 207 00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:45,480 And the problem is, is because we in the church definitely do 208 00:13:45,480 --> 00:13:50,480 not want to seem religious and seem like, you know, this 209 00:13:50,480 --> 00:13:56,080 thing's about our personal works, us doing it of ourselves 210 00:13:56,160 --> 00:13:59,400 so that God would look at us and say, hey, you're good enough 211 00:13:59,400 --> 00:14:01,040 because none of us are good enough, right? 212 00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:08,520 But there there are things that we are able to overcome because 213 00:14:08,640 --> 00:14:11,680 of what we've heard in the word that other people do not 214 00:14:11,680 --> 00:14:14,400 overcome. And so in the church, a lot of 215 00:14:14,400 --> 00:14:19,560 times we sometimes participate or make excuse about certain 216 00:14:19,560 --> 00:14:22,800 things that are out in the world that people are participating in 217 00:14:24,440 --> 00:14:28,720 because we actually have something that reminds us that's 218 00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:32,880 not real. However, those that are in 219 00:14:32,880 --> 00:14:37,480 darkness, when they are in those activities, it just actually 220 00:14:37,480 --> 00:14:44,720 feeds more darkness. It feeds more darkness. 221 00:14:46,280 --> 00:14:52,200 Hallelujah. Maybe I want to be blunt, maybe 222 00:14:52,200 --> 00:14:57,280 I don't thank you Jesus. Maybe I just want to say he who 223 00:14:57,280 --> 00:15:01,200 has ears, let him hear. Hallelujah. 224 00:15:02,480 --> 00:15:05,520 You know, if we don't watch out as a church, we will be very 225 00:15:05,520 --> 00:15:12,440 dismissive of things that are in darkness, that someone who's not 226 00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:18,240 exposed to light would carry them further, period, period. 227 00:15:18,640 --> 00:15:20,600 Now, you have to have personal conviction. 228 00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:24,880 Don't get me wrong. And again, you know, I can, I 229 00:15:24,880 --> 00:15:28,640 can go in and out of places where darkness is at, but the 230 00:15:28,640 --> 00:15:31,080 darkness doesn't affect me because I'm bringing the light. 231 00:15:31,760 --> 00:15:37,040 However, if I was, if I were only in darkness, it would take 232 00:15:37,040 --> 00:15:43,920 me into further darkness. And the things we're seeing in 233 00:15:43,920 --> 00:15:53,440 our society today is because honestly, we sometimes are 234 00:15:55,120 --> 00:16:01,040 downplaying dangers because we can discern the difference from 235 00:16:01,040 --> 00:16:01,880 good and evil. That's good. 236 00:16:04,600 --> 00:16:08,240 Whereas the loss cannot. And those that are groping in 237 00:16:08,240 --> 00:16:12,920 darkness cannot. And the devil's very subtle at 238 00:16:12,920 --> 00:16:17,240 how he does things. He kind of just chips away, you 239 00:16:17,240 --> 00:16:21,440 know, and, and he's patient in one sense that he'll go from 240 00:16:21,440 --> 00:16:27,080 generation to generation. And if you understand what you 241 00:16:27,080 --> 00:16:30,720 know is in the Old Covenant generational curses, then you 242 00:16:30,720 --> 00:16:34,440 know each generation is worse off than the generation before 243 00:16:35,520 --> 00:16:41,640 because sin never gets better, it only gets worse. 244 00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:48,320 Are you hearing what I'm saying? OK, so with that being said, you 245 00:16:48,320 --> 00:16:50,480 know, I'll give you an example then I'm just going to give you 246 00:16:50,480 --> 00:16:53,800 an example again. You're going to have a hard time 247 00:16:54,760 --> 00:17:00,040 because you have light, but you're think of someone in 248 00:17:00,040 --> 00:17:03,960 darkness. You know, when video games first 249 00:17:03,960 --> 00:17:09,839 came out, I remember I was alive during its start. 250 00:17:11,119 --> 00:17:19,800 And I remember Jamie, a friend of mine had the first Atari and 251 00:17:20,400 --> 00:17:22,760 he had that game. Was it Pong? 252 00:17:23,640 --> 00:17:27,920 You know where the little ball, you just had to put that little 253 00:17:27,920 --> 00:17:34,200 line and bounce it back, right? And when I wasn't good at that 254 00:17:34,200 --> 00:17:37,040 game, that I knew I was in trouble. 255 00:17:37,960 --> 00:17:41,680 Especially today's games. Today's games are fully 256 00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:44,640 immersive. It's a whole nother ball game. 257 00:17:44,960 --> 00:17:49,760 And as much as I want to think that the immersion makes me 258 00:17:49,760 --> 00:17:53,400 better, I found that that's not true because I took some staff 259 00:17:53,600 --> 00:18:00,880 to a virtual game where we had to try to liberate from aliens. 260 00:18:01,040 --> 00:18:07,200 OK, these, you know, fictional, non existent creatures. 261 00:18:07,560 --> 00:18:10,960 And man, I felt like I was doing a pretty good job. 262 00:18:11,520 --> 00:18:18,040 In fact, I didn't realize how many were killing me because all 263 00:18:18,040 --> 00:18:22,320 of my staff were busy with other ones and they left my back 264 00:18:22,320 --> 00:18:24,720 exposed. And so I'm in my goggles and I 265 00:18:24,720 --> 00:18:27,480 don't realize that, you know, why is my screen turning red? 266 00:18:28,280 --> 00:18:30,960 Well, I turned around and I got a whole bunch of them just 267 00:18:31,040 --> 00:18:34,560 eating me right now. And I'm like, where's the rest 268 00:18:34,560 --> 00:18:36,960 of my crew? You know, what are they doing? 269 00:18:38,320 --> 00:18:42,400 And so, you know, being in the Army, you feel like, you know, 270 00:18:42,400 --> 00:18:46,960 you can take them out. But the gamers gained. 271 00:18:48,680 --> 00:18:51,560 They got that thing figured out all right. 272 00:18:51,560 --> 00:18:56,080 Now, again, we were in a science fiction story. 273 00:18:56,760 --> 00:19:01,320 So at the end of the day, there's no reality to these 274 00:19:01,320 --> 00:19:05,040 particular creatures that we are dismembering. 275 00:19:07,920 --> 00:19:14,200 So I start in Pong and then all of a sudden games progress to 276 00:19:14,200 --> 00:19:17,680 other stuff. One of very big one was, you 277 00:19:17,680 --> 00:19:21,120 know when they used to, I don't remember the name of the game, 278 00:19:21,120 --> 00:19:25,120 but you would steal cars and police were always after you. 279 00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:27,320 Grand Theft Auto. Grand Theft Auto. 280 00:19:27,400 --> 00:19:32,520 Thank you. How many play Grand Theft Auto? 281 00:19:32,680 --> 00:19:33,440 Thank you. Yep. 282 00:19:33,560 --> 00:19:35,920 There you go. Now at the end of the day, what 283 00:19:35,920 --> 00:19:38,760 are you saying? You're saying to yourself, it's 284 00:19:38,760 --> 00:19:45,520 pretend, right? I would never in real life do 285 00:19:45,520 --> 00:19:48,440 this. But why would you not do it? 286 00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:58,480 Because you hear from the word of Christ that being against the 287 00:19:58,480 --> 00:20:08,080 authority is unrighteous, that stealing is not the plan of God. 288 00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:12,400 And honestly, you know, we assume. 289 00:20:13,480 --> 00:20:18,240 That if Jesus was in the planet today, he would play the game. 290 00:20:22,240 --> 00:20:25,480 Anybody believe Jesus would get in a game with you in Grand 291 00:20:25,480 --> 00:20:29,320 Theft Auto? Why, It's just a game. 292 00:20:31,960 --> 00:20:39,040 But now think if you are in a troubled house where nobody's 293 00:20:39,040 --> 00:20:43,400 following God, come on, come on. And you've got issues with one 294 00:20:43,400 --> 00:20:46,680 parent because the other one's already left and maybe is in 295 00:20:46,680 --> 00:20:50,560 jail. And the spouse is talking about 296 00:20:50,560 --> 00:20:55,840 how they were, you know, in justly incarcerated. 297 00:20:59,520 --> 00:21:04,000 And you get your child. This game that progresses, you 298 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:08,040 know, to where now, you know, we have games where we're allowed 299 00:21:08,040 --> 00:21:14,120 to, you know, shoot. And now today's games are 300 00:21:14,120 --> 00:21:19,920 really, you know, lifelike. And yet for us, we're like, ah, 301 00:21:19,920 --> 00:21:22,600 it doesn't mean anything. Well, someone's stuck in 302 00:21:22,600 --> 00:21:27,520 darkness. It it can do something to your 303 00:21:27,520 --> 00:21:34,680 mind to where all of a sudden, you know what we would say? 304 00:21:34,680 --> 00:21:41,120 There's no way they're like, this is normal. 305 00:21:43,600 --> 00:21:48,440 So again, we can be dismissive and the reason why we've become 306 00:21:48,440 --> 00:21:51,320 dismissive is because we think faith is our word, right? 307 00:21:52,560 --> 00:21:57,160 That's good. We believe faith only exists 308 00:21:57,160 --> 00:22:01,800 with the church, yet faith comes from. 309 00:22:03,040 --> 00:22:07,960 So if I'm hearing when I'm in my, you know, virtual world 310 00:22:08,640 --> 00:22:11,800 about how we need to take out these authorities and we need to 311 00:22:11,800 --> 00:22:14,600 go after them and how we need to do this at the other and we need 312 00:22:14,600 --> 00:22:16,600 to steal this, and we'll level up here and we'll do this. 313 00:22:16,760 --> 00:22:20,600 And we're constantly hours upon hours and we never go to a 314 00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:24,280 church. We never hear the word of God. 315 00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:31,840 We have our own challenges in life of, you know, parents, you 316 00:22:31,840 --> 00:22:35,440 know, speaking down, you know, bullying at school. 317 00:22:35,440 --> 00:22:41,560 All these things take place. And then we're like, I don't 318 00:22:41,560 --> 00:22:46,920 understand why. I understand why because faith 319 00:22:47,920 --> 00:22:56,200 comes by hearing, by hearing. See, when you're a child of the 320 00:22:56,200 --> 00:22:59,280 light, you can look at someone who has been mistreated, 321 00:22:59,280 --> 00:23:03,440 bullied, you know, abused, and you begin to give them a 322 00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:08,080 different thought process that's so foreign to them because 323 00:23:08,080 --> 00:23:09,840 they've not heard. All their life, they've only 324 00:23:09,840 --> 00:23:11,800 heard. I've even been around believers 325 00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:15,720 that grew up under oppressive parents, meaning the parents 326 00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:17,040 were always that you're not good enough. 327 00:23:17,160 --> 00:23:20,560 No matter what they did, they never felt good enough, never 328 00:23:20,560 --> 00:23:22,960 good enough, never good enough, never good enough. 329 00:23:23,200 --> 00:23:26,200 And that voice lingers so much that even when they were born 330 00:23:26,200 --> 00:23:28,560 again, they became a child of God. 331 00:23:28,640 --> 00:23:30,440 They begin to follow God at his word. 332 00:23:30,440 --> 00:23:33,480 That one voice of their father stayed in their head. 333 00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:36,600 And no matter what they did, they were still trying to please 334 00:23:36,600 --> 00:23:42,320 someone who had built a stronghold in their mind through 335 00:23:42,320 --> 00:23:47,320 hearing that even though they are completing Christ, they 336 00:23:47,320 --> 00:23:51,040 still do not truly have faith in that. 337 00:23:55,240 --> 00:23:58,280 And this is what the perplexing situation is. 338 00:23:58,280 --> 00:24:01,040 Because when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith in the 339 00:24:01,040 --> 00:24:06,640 earth? He will find a firm persuasion 340 00:24:07,040 --> 00:24:17,830 among man, but not towards him. So faith comes from hearing and 341 00:24:17,830 --> 00:24:21,150 hearing by the word of Christ. Our hearing has to be, and 342 00:24:21,150 --> 00:24:24,070 hearing is just how it comes. It doesn't mean you're in faith 343 00:24:24,070 --> 00:24:26,270 just 'cause you heard. That's right. 344 00:24:26,270 --> 00:24:28,150 How do we know this? James tells us this. 345 00:24:28,910 --> 00:24:33,190 He tells us, he says don't. We cannot be deceived in our 346 00:24:33,190 --> 00:24:38,670 faith because if we're a hearer only, we deceive ourselves. 347 00:24:38,750 --> 00:24:44,960 We must be a doer of faith. We must be a doer of faith, not 348 00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:49,400 just a here only. So hearing is is what gives us 349 00:24:49,400 --> 00:24:53,480 the ability to develop a firm persuasion. 350 00:24:53,720 --> 00:24:58,200 But a firm persuasion not acted on is actually not faith. 351 00:25:00,120 --> 00:25:03,920 So it shows up, knocks on your mind's door, it resonates out of 352 00:25:03,920 --> 00:25:06,800 your heart. Jesus reveals to you, hey, this 353 00:25:06,800 --> 00:25:09,560 is my word concerning the situation you're going in. 354 00:25:09,560 --> 00:25:12,560 Act on this. But if you do not begin to act 355 00:25:12,560 --> 00:25:18,000 on that, then it's just hearing that can't faith came, but you 356 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:21,640 did not exercise it. And yet I get around a lot of 357 00:25:21,640 --> 00:25:24,240 believers that say I'm of faith, but they're not exercising 358 00:25:24,240 --> 00:25:28,160 nothing they're hearing. And it would be accurate 359 00:25:28,160 --> 00:25:32,400 according to Scripture to say you are deceived in your faith 360 00:25:34,760 --> 00:25:39,480 because you're not doing because I've gotten around a lot of 361 00:25:39,480 --> 00:25:44,920 people in, you know, my Christian life now where the 362 00:25:44,920 --> 00:25:51,280 excuse not to do is the examples of others. 363 00:25:53,840 --> 00:25:58,120 So their faith is in more of ones that said they were 364 00:25:58,120 --> 00:26:03,120 believing or said they would believe or are not believing. 365 00:26:03,440 --> 00:26:07,200 And now we're going to change our belief in God because of 366 00:26:07,200 --> 00:26:12,440 these experiences. Come on, that's good. 367 00:26:12,440 --> 00:26:15,640 And give excuse because you understand, Nick, you have 368 00:26:15,640 --> 00:26:19,000 personal responsibility. No one can stop you from living 369 00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:21,200 by faith. No one. 370 00:26:21,360 --> 00:26:23,520 If you want to believe God is word, you can believe God is 371 00:26:23,520 --> 00:26:27,480 word period. And to say, well I can't do what 372 00:26:27,480 --> 00:26:33,000 the Bible says because of this or that or how they did this. 373 00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:37,240 Guess what you're doing? You're explaining away the word 374 00:26:37,240 --> 00:26:49,040 of God's power in your life. Same in anyway now what is faith 375 00:26:49,400 --> 00:26:52,840 Hebrews 11/1 now faith is the assurance of things hoped for 376 00:26:52,840 --> 00:26:54,200 the convictions of things not seen. 377 00:26:54,200 --> 00:26:57,520 You know what's crazy about this message today is that it is it 378 00:26:57,520 --> 00:26:59,880 is such a repetitive message that we've done through the 379 00:26:59,880 --> 00:27:03,040 years and it's such a repetitive message that has gone through 380 00:27:03,320 --> 00:27:06,280 really every denomination because again you must have 381 00:27:06,280 --> 00:27:09,600 faith in Christ. But the reality is is that faith 382 00:27:09,600 --> 00:27:14,000 comes by hearing not having heard, which means it's active. 383 00:27:14,200 --> 00:27:19,800 It's now, it's a now word. It's not a yesterday's word, 384 00:27:19,800 --> 00:27:23,480 it's a now word. And you cultivate those things. 385 00:27:24,040 --> 00:27:28,200 You understand, I love my wife not because I married her 30-4 386 00:27:28,200 --> 00:27:33,840 years ago. It's because I choose today. 387 00:27:35,400 --> 00:27:37,840 Today's my choice. And you know why I choose to do 388 00:27:37,840 --> 00:27:39,920 that? Because I first choose to follow 389 00:27:39,920 --> 00:27:43,840 God. Because when I do God His way, 390 00:27:44,040 --> 00:27:51,320 then it puts me in the right position because I fear the 391 00:27:51,320 --> 00:27:54,560 Lord. And as long as I'm doing that 392 00:27:54,560 --> 00:27:58,760 now, it puts me in the position that every role that I play in 393 00:27:58,960 --> 00:28:03,720 life, whether it's husband, father, apostle to a ministry, a 394 00:28:03,720 --> 00:28:08,640 friend to somebody, it's all predicated on me obeying God at 395 00:28:08,640 --> 00:28:12,520 His Word and then hearing God concerning whatever situation 396 00:28:13,200 --> 00:28:16,000 I'm in based upon the relationship. 397 00:28:20,040 --> 00:28:25,280 Because I'm even in faith with, with in relationships that I 398 00:28:25,280 --> 00:28:30,000 don't have any more. Because I can believe that 399 00:28:30,000 --> 00:28:37,520 things can be restored. People can repent because 400 00:28:37,520 --> 00:28:42,240 there's a scripture that I believe love one another of 401 00:28:42,240 --> 00:28:45,840 which were commanded, and that there's nothing anyone can ever 402 00:28:45,840 --> 00:28:50,960 do, even if they fail, that they cannot be forgiven, treated as 403 00:28:50,960 --> 00:28:53,760 if they've never done it. There's only one issue. 404 00:28:53,960 --> 00:28:55,520 It's the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost. 405 00:29:00,640 --> 00:29:03,080 And there may only be a couple people that I've known in my 406 00:29:03,080 --> 00:29:05,160 lifetime that may be a candidate for that. 407 00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:10,960 Are you hearing me? So what's it say? 408 00:29:10,960 --> 00:29:13,080 Hebrews 11/1 it said. Now faith is the assurance of 409 00:29:13,080 --> 00:29:15,320 things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 410 00:29:15,440 --> 00:29:22,600 So faith doesn't require it to be in a physical sense, natural 411 00:29:22,600 --> 00:29:26,120 sense, to be faith. Faith believes it based upon 412 00:29:26,120 --> 00:29:31,080 word alone. Now word alone for us is God's 413 00:29:31,080 --> 00:29:33,400 Word. Everything going on in life 414 00:29:33,400 --> 00:29:36,040 today can be boiled down to this. 415 00:29:36,440 --> 00:29:40,040 What was said and what's the authority of the one saying it? 416 00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:44,560 Period. That's the end. 417 00:29:46,280 --> 00:29:50,120 What's being said and what's the authority of the one saying it? 418 00:29:51,000 --> 00:29:55,800 Because for me, I go to the source of authority and his 419 00:29:55,800 --> 00:30:00,800 name's Jesus. And honestly, in all of the 420 00:30:00,800 --> 00:30:04,560 rhetoric that's out there to try to disprove God, disprove his 421 00:30:04,560 --> 00:30:07,240 word. And, and, and people who do 422 00:30:07,240 --> 00:30:09,880 this, who get on, because I had something, something sent to me 423 00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:13,480 recently where, you know, somebody wanted to send me 424 00:30:13,480 --> 00:30:16,320 something where somebody was ranting about, you know, all the 425 00:30:16,320 --> 00:30:18,840 issues with the Bible and with God and all this stuff. 426 00:30:19,040 --> 00:30:21,160 And in my mind, I'm thinking now then this is an interesting 427 00:30:21,160 --> 00:30:23,880 thought. Here's a person that doesn't 428 00:30:23,880 --> 00:30:26,520 even believe in God, doesn't believe he exists, and they're 429 00:30:26,520 --> 00:30:29,080 firmly persuaded that's their faith. 430 00:30:29,080 --> 00:30:33,560 Their faith is in no God. Their faith is in themselves and 431 00:30:33,560 --> 00:30:40,320 their own ability to navigate based upon their what they 432 00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:42,800 think's right. They are the final authority in 433 00:30:42,800 --> 00:30:46,960 their life them. So they're trying to convince me 434 00:30:47,880 --> 00:30:52,040 that what they're saying about God has more authority than what 435 00:30:52,040 --> 00:30:58,520 God is saying about himself #1 #2 If you're so firmly persuaded 436 00:30:58,520 --> 00:31:03,560 that God is not in existent, then why are you trying to 437 00:31:03,560 --> 00:31:09,240 convince me anyway? You understand the role reversal 438 00:31:09,240 --> 00:31:17,920 there isn't necessary. I am a critical thinker. 439 00:31:19,760 --> 00:31:22,720 I, I do not take the, I'm not a baby bird. 440 00:31:24,600 --> 00:31:27,760 So I'm like, OK, let's play the game. 441 00:31:27,880 --> 00:31:32,400 Let's play the game. The game is God doesn't exist, 442 00:31:32,960 --> 00:31:35,320 OK, doesn't exist. And man can live any way he 443 00:31:35,320 --> 00:31:37,080 wants to. Great. 444 00:31:37,600 --> 00:31:41,400 So you don't have to say anything then, because that's 445 00:31:41,400 --> 00:31:44,960 how it will be. However, if you believe there is 446 00:31:44,960 --> 00:31:51,560 a God, you actually have to say something because if I don't say 447 00:31:51,560 --> 00:31:55,520 something and you live by what you think alone and you can do 448 00:31:55,520 --> 00:32:00,720 it alone where you're wrong. If you're right that do it any 449 00:32:00,720 --> 00:32:02,280 way you want to, it doesn't matter. 450 00:32:02,280 --> 00:32:05,560 We just die and cease to exist or whatever their finality 451 00:32:05,560 --> 00:32:08,560 belief is. It doesn't matter if I believe 452 00:32:08,560 --> 00:32:11,400 that Jesus Christ died on the cross because it will prove to 453 00:32:11,400 --> 00:32:15,840 not be correct. And you don't have to tell me 454 00:32:15,840 --> 00:32:23,120 I'm wrong at all. And Paul even said this. 455 00:32:23,120 --> 00:32:26,640 If if the resurrection of Christ is not, we are the most pathetic 456 00:32:26,800 --> 00:32:29,760 people on the face of the planet, period. 457 00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:33,840 And what is it to you whether I choose to want to pretend 458 00:32:33,840 --> 00:32:36,680 there's a God and pretend that I'm following him and pretend 459 00:32:36,680 --> 00:32:39,240 that I'll what's it matter? And what's it matter if I 460 00:32:39,240 --> 00:32:43,000 convince most of the world and then we're all wrong. 461 00:32:43,000 --> 00:32:45,200 Why? Because it took takes no faith 462 00:32:45,200 --> 00:32:48,920 to just die like you in the sense that you know everything 463 00:32:48,920 --> 00:32:54,000 we've had missed placed belief that ultimately cannot be 464 00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:58,880 supported by someone who has the final authority to substantiate 465 00:32:58,880 --> 00:33:02,000 what we're doing. We are our own issue. 466 00:33:03,400 --> 00:33:12,240 But if I'm right now, if I'm right, you're miserable and you 467 00:33:12,240 --> 00:33:19,600 need to hear right. You need to hear because really, 468 00:33:19,840 --> 00:33:21,800 why are you telling me there is no God? 469 00:33:22,520 --> 00:33:26,760 Who are you trying to save? Think about this. 470 00:33:27,200 --> 00:33:30,640 They're trying to convince us God doesn't to save us from 471 00:33:30,640 --> 00:33:34,600 what? In essence, you're trying to be 472 00:33:34,600 --> 00:33:36,640 a save. Oh, you don't want to. 473 00:33:37,480 --> 00:33:41,040 They are trying to be a savior. Oh, so you want to? 474 00:33:41,480 --> 00:33:47,160 You want to be Jesus now and save everybody from their 475 00:33:47,280 --> 00:33:51,440 miserable belief in God and that Interesting. 476 00:33:52,360 --> 00:33:55,560 Now they're so mad that we put our trust in a savior named 477 00:33:55,560 --> 00:34:01,280 Christ when they really want us to put our faith in them as 478 00:34:01,280 --> 00:34:07,790 Savior. Hallelujah. 479 00:34:07,790 --> 00:34:10,310 Hallelujah. You know how many believers are 480 00:34:10,310 --> 00:34:14,909 swayed, though, by people who come up with these thought 481 00:34:14,909 --> 00:34:19,159 processes? Yeah, honestly, I don't have 482 00:34:19,159 --> 00:34:26,120 time to to go and and debunk all the stuff that people tried to 483 00:34:26,120 --> 00:34:31,080 send me, you know, to try to prove me wrong, right? 484 00:34:31,159 --> 00:34:35,360 I don't, I don't have to. I wasn't asked to do that. 485 00:34:36,159 --> 00:34:38,199 I was asked to just present truth. 486 00:34:38,600 --> 00:34:40,560 And whether you accept it or not, that's on you. 487 00:34:41,600 --> 00:34:47,239 But I'm going to stay with the Lord because He is the way, the 488 00:34:47,239 --> 00:34:52,440 truth and the life, and nobody gets to the Father but through 489 00:34:52,440 --> 00:34:54,800 him. Hallelujah. 490 00:34:55,199 --> 00:34:58,800 And the good news is I'm not wrong and I won't have to prove 491 00:34:58,800 --> 00:35:00,720 that. Jesus will prove it. 492 00:35:01,720 --> 00:35:05,720 Praise the Lord, Amen. You just need to say to him, why 493 00:35:05,720 --> 00:35:11,520 are you so afraid of someone named Jesus now? 494 00:35:11,520 --> 00:35:13,520 Faith is the assurance of things, hope for the conviction 495 00:35:13,520 --> 00:35:16,320 of things not seen. Let me give you an example what 496 00:35:16,320 --> 00:35:19,560 this looks like. Have you ever been around 497 00:35:19,560 --> 00:35:21,520 someone that says, oh, it's flu season, I'm going to get the flu 498 00:35:21,520 --> 00:35:24,000 this year, I better go get a vaccine to help myself out. 499 00:35:24,600 --> 00:35:25,080 Now. What are they? 500 00:35:25,080 --> 00:35:27,800 That's a firm persuasion. They're firmly persuaded. 501 00:35:28,040 --> 00:35:29,840 I'm not against vaccines. I'm not. 502 00:35:30,160 --> 00:35:34,520 I'm just saying this how people think I need to do this because 503 00:35:35,600 --> 00:35:41,560 today, I mean, how many years has it been past COVID yet I 504 00:35:41,560 --> 00:35:45,040 still go to the airport and people have become firmly 505 00:35:45,040 --> 00:35:49,880 persuaded that wearing a mask in public is safer. 506 00:35:49,880 --> 00:35:53,520 Is is safer for them. I don't have a problem if you 507 00:35:53,520 --> 00:35:55,960 worry about I don't care. I'm just saying that shows firm 508 00:35:55,960 --> 00:35:57,720 persuasion. Firm persuasion. 509 00:35:57,720 --> 00:36:00,920 You act on that. They it is such in their mind 510 00:36:01,000 --> 00:36:05,600 that there are things out here that I could contract that I'm 511 00:36:05,600 --> 00:36:10,360 going to cover my mouth to make sure I don't get that. 512 00:36:10,440 --> 00:36:11,880 And how do we know they believe that? 513 00:36:11,880 --> 00:36:14,480 Because the mask is the evidence of that belief. 514 00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:20,320 It is the step they're going to. And if they want to go that 515 00:36:20,320 --> 00:36:23,000 stuff, I don't care. Doesn't matter to me. 516 00:36:23,000 --> 00:36:24,520 I'm not saying it's wrong at all. 517 00:36:24,520 --> 00:36:26,760 I'm saying it's just an evidence of a belief. 518 00:36:27,440 --> 00:36:30,360 That's what I'm saying. And so we see in the world all 519 00:36:30,360 --> 00:36:35,920 the time, people have evidences of their belief by what they say 520 00:36:35,920 --> 00:36:40,440 and how they act, how they actually live carry out their 521 00:36:40,440 --> 00:36:44,080 life. So this is when he says again, 522 00:36:44,240 --> 00:36:48,360 they're not even sick yet because they are concerned they 523 00:36:48,360 --> 00:36:53,560 could be because they've heard it could come this way. 524 00:36:55,120 --> 00:36:58,160 This is the precaution that they live in, which means now they're 525 00:36:58,160 --> 00:37:03,040 acting on what they are firmly persuaded by a word because 526 00:37:03,040 --> 00:37:08,800 we're we're currently not in a pandemic in the in the planet 527 00:37:09,280 --> 00:37:13,080 now are more coming? Yes, because the Bible tells us 528 00:37:13,080 --> 00:37:16,240 in the last days there will be rumors of wars, wars and rumors 529 00:37:16,240 --> 00:37:17,600 of wars. There will be famines and 530 00:37:17,600 --> 00:37:26,760 pestilence where pestilence has to do with pandemics if you 531 00:37:26,760 --> 00:37:29,440 break down that particular word. So more coming where they're 532 00:37:29,440 --> 00:37:31,800 going to say all this is happening and disease is going 533 00:37:31,800 --> 00:37:33,360 to be moving. The enemy's doing everything he 534 00:37:33,360 --> 00:37:38,560 can to isolate, quarantine us off, no personal touch because 535 00:37:38,560 --> 00:37:40,680 he don't want the gospel of the Kingdom to spread. 536 00:37:40,680 --> 00:37:43,000 He wants things to be hindered. Now, no matter what he does, 537 00:37:43,080 --> 00:37:45,720 we're still going to get their composite task because greater 538 00:37:45,720 --> 00:37:47,600 is he that's in us than he that's in the world. 539 00:37:47,680 --> 00:37:51,080 We just need to waver. Not all right now. 540 00:37:51,080 --> 00:37:54,480 Romans chapter 4, verse 20 and 21 says this with respect to the 541 00:37:54,480 --> 00:37:59,760 promise of God. Abraham did not waver in 542 00:37:59,760 --> 00:38:03,160 unbelief, but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God. 543 00:38:04,880 --> 00:38:08,240 Verse 21 and being fully assured are firmly persuaded. 544 00:38:08,240 --> 00:38:12,160 One translation says that what God had promised he was able to 545 00:38:12,160 --> 00:38:14,960 perform. Will God do what he says? 546 00:38:15,520 --> 00:38:19,360 Does God perform his word? God said I have sent forth my 547 00:38:19,360 --> 00:38:21,920 word, it will not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish 548 00:38:21,920 --> 00:38:25,520 that which it was sent to do. Now people try to rebuttal that 549 00:38:25,520 --> 00:38:27,400 said well God said this but it doesn't happen. 550 00:38:28,920 --> 00:38:33,440 God always does what he says. God will say things concerning 551 00:38:33,440 --> 00:38:37,240 you that if you'll be in faith you'll have it, but if you don't 552 00:38:37,240 --> 00:38:40,440 if you choose not to do it, it's not a God promise a you problem. 553 00:38:43,840 --> 00:38:47,280 So when people try to say God won't do again, when you put God 554 00:38:47,280 --> 00:38:52,520 in this category, that God is controlling everything, even the 555 00:38:52,520 --> 00:38:56,760 evil, well, first of all, your paradigm of God is wrong and not 556 00:38:56,760 --> 00:39:02,480 even scriptural. That's right, 'cause God is not 557 00:39:02,480 --> 00:39:08,400 controlling evil, God is not committing evil acts. 558 00:39:10,040 --> 00:39:15,520 God is not participating in rape, murder, adultery, 559 00:39:15,640 --> 00:39:19,360 fornication, all the things that he's not participating. 560 00:39:19,760 --> 00:39:22,080 Man's doing that of his own free will. 561 00:39:24,160 --> 00:39:27,840 God is giving them an answer of how to come out, how to be 562 00:39:27,840 --> 00:39:31,360 delivered, how to have victory over all these things that 563 00:39:31,480 --> 00:39:35,000 attach and try to attack your flesh and get you to live by the 564 00:39:35,000 --> 00:39:37,880 flesh. And if you'll by faith believe 565 00:39:37,880 --> 00:39:41,400 His word that you can do it the other way, then you'll have 566 00:39:41,400 --> 00:39:43,600 victory over the world. You'll have victory over your 567 00:39:43,600 --> 00:39:46,840 flesh, you'll overcome it. You'll cause your flesh to be 568 00:39:46,840 --> 00:39:50,560 crucified. That is not God controlling 569 00:39:50,560 --> 00:39:52,240 that. That is God giving us an 570 00:39:52,240 --> 00:39:58,000 opportunity, and Abraham by faith believe God. 571 00:39:58,160 --> 00:39:59,800 Now here's the thing about Abraham. 572 00:40:00,040 --> 00:40:03,520 Abraham's belief, this particular passage, is that he 573 00:40:03,520 --> 00:40:08,640 has to believe that what God says concerning a descendant is 574 00:40:08,640 --> 00:40:13,400 true. That is a child born not only of 575 00:40:13,400 --> 00:40:19,720 him, but of his wife Sarah. We treat faith in the church as 576 00:40:19,720 --> 00:40:22,280 if God's doing it independent of us. 577 00:40:22,920 --> 00:40:26,000 Yet the person that is the father of faith, the father of 578 00:40:26,000 --> 00:40:29,840 us all, gives us the example that it is a doing of a word 579 00:40:30,080 --> 00:40:35,880 that is true faith. Which means then Abraham at a 580 00:40:35,880 --> 00:40:39,440 time it says he did not contemplate his own body being 581 00:40:39,440 --> 00:40:41,760 dead. Meaning I shouldn't be able to 582 00:40:41,760 --> 00:40:44,920 have kids. Now my wife has never had 583 00:40:44,920 --> 00:40:50,760 children and when the test came of who was having the problem, 584 00:40:51,040 --> 00:40:55,280 it became real clear it was my wife and not me because when she 585 00:40:55,280 --> 00:40:58,360 told me to sleep with her maidservant and I did, she got 586 00:40:58,360 --> 00:41:01,960 pregnant. So I knew I was fine at that 587 00:41:01,960 --> 00:41:04,840 time. But now he's older and he's 588 00:41:04,840 --> 00:41:07,600 thinking, man as old as I am, could I even offspring a child 589 00:41:07,600 --> 00:41:09,160 now? He had kids even after Sarah, 590 00:41:10,000 --> 00:41:13,960 but the coveted child was to come through Sarah, of which God 591 00:41:13,960 --> 00:41:17,600 spoke that. And he spoke this before he even 592 00:41:17,600 --> 00:41:20,120 mentions kids. He says your name's Abraham. 593 00:41:20,120 --> 00:41:23,520 You're the father of many nations with no descendants. 594 00:41:23,760 --> 00:41:27,040 And Abraham's asking the question, well, we, me and Sarah 595 00:41:27,040 --> 00:41:29,240 have no kids. So that doesn't mean that my 596 00:41:29,240 --> 00:41:33,280 servant here, he's going to be the one that gets the blessing. 597 00:41:33,400 --> 00:41:37,040 And God's like, no, he's coming from you and your wife. 598 00:41:37,560 --> 00:41:42,440 So when she's 90 and he's 100, he does not contemplate the 599 00:41:42,440 --> 00:41:47,520 natural evidence, but by faith he believes we're going to have 600 00:41:47,520 --> 00:41:50,480 a child. Now, did he have a child through 601 00:41:50,480 --> 00:41:53,720 Immaculate Conception? No. 602 00:41:55,000 --> 00:41:58,880 That means Abraham had to be a doer of the word. 603 00:41:59,240 --> 00:42:03,760 And that means I'm going to have to have intercourse with my wife 604 00:42:04,240 --> 00:42:11,720 at this age. And when when Sarah looked back 605 00:42:11,720 --> 00:42:16,960 at every word God had ever said to her husband concerning other 606 00:42:16,960 --> 00:42:22,080 things, Hebrew says, she looked back on the faithfulness of God 607 00:42:22,080 --> 00:42:24,000 and it gave her the ability to conceive. 608 00:42:24,600 --> 00:42:27,800 See, Sarah knew her womb was dead. 609 00:42:29,080 --> 00:42:32,840 The one who had the biggest mind struggle was Sarah, because once 610 00:42:33,280 --> 00:42:36,400 Hagar got in play and she became pregnant. 611 00:42:36,600 --> 00:42:40,440 Do you understand I'm the problem now? 612 00:42:40,560 --> 00:42:43,480 Every time he sleeps with her saying we're going to have a 613 00:42:43,480 --> 00:42:48,600 child, she's like, no, no, we're not. 614 00:42:49,680 --> 00:42:52,720 I'm the one broken. It's me. 615 00:42:53,440 --> 00:43:00,000 I mean, it's clear now. But she looked back at what God 616 00:43:00,000 --> 00:43:02,560 said about this with Abraham and what God said about this with 617 00:43:02,560 --> 00:43:04,800 Abraham and what God said about this with Abraham. 618 00:43:04,960 --> 00:43:07,960 And she said, you know, I've noticed that everything God has 619 00:43:07,960 --> 00:43:13,200 told you he's done. And now that I have seen all of 620 00:43:13,200 --> 00:43:21,560 these times that your stance in his word brought the victory he 621 00:43:21,560 --> 00:43:24,560 has. To be fair, I believe I can have 622 00:43:24,560 --> 00:43:27,800 a child, although there's never been evidence that I could. 623 00:43:29,520 --> 00:43:33,760 And it was in that moment. She was she, she conceived the 624 00:43:33,760 --> 00:43:36,040 promised child. And his name is Isaac. 625 00:43:36,280 --> 00:43:38,600 Hallelujah. Are you hearing what I'm saying? 626 00:43:39,680 --> 00:43:43,920 So this firm persuasion is someone when you act on that 627 00:43:44,640 --> 00:43:47,960 when you're a doer. Faith is not coming to church 628 00:43:49,160 --> 00:43:52,040 unless you're coming to church is because you're here because 629 00:43:52,040 --> 00:43:55,200 of this Scripture. Do not forsake the assembling of 630 00:43:55,200 --> 00:43:58,160 ourselves together. Can I sit here for a minute and 631 00:43:58,160 --> 00:44:00,000 ponder just for a few moments. Go. 632 00:44:00,000 --> 00:44:01,520 We're new water baptism here in a second. 633 00:44:04,280 --> 00:44:08,200 Are you in faith when you come to church? 634 00:44:11,360 --> 00:44:16,000 Now? I say that because it says he 635 00:44:16,000 --> 00:44:23,120 wavered, not at unbelief. There are times that you're 636 00:44:23,120 --> 00:44:26,600 doing something that coming to church, You're not going to make 637 00:44:26,600 --> 00:44:27,760 that. I get it. 638 00:44:29,440 --> 00:44:34,120 But those should be rarities. It should. 639 00:44:34,120 --> 00:44:37,000 If you're a person of faith and you come to church actually by 640 00:44:37,000 --> 00:44:40,480 faith, that means you are coming because you believe that God 641 00:44:40,480 --> 00:44:44,080 called us to assemble, that you are part of the body and we're 642 00:44:44,080 --> 00:44:46,960 jointed and fitted. And how could I not be connected 643 00:44:46,960 --> 00:44:48,840 with someone that God has assigned me to? 644 00:44:49,120 --> 00:44:53,600 How can Sunday morning become optional to situations in my 645 00:44:53,600 --> 00:44:59,320 life? Because when you live by faith, 646 00:44:59,320 --> 00:45:02,200 I'm firmly persuaded I am not to forsake the assembling of myself 647 00:45:02,200 --> 00:45:04,440 together and that God has a word for me and I'm coming. 648 00:45:06,960 --> 00:45:08,920 Now again, I'm not using this as a religion. 649 00:45:08,920 --> 00:45:10,480 I'm just saying this is by faith. 650 00:45:11,720 --> 00:45:14,640 And this is the problem because most of us, when we live by 651 00:45:14,640 --> 00:45:17,360 faith, we live by faith without intentionality. 652 00:45:17,400 --> 00:45:20,560 We're really living by faith, just by you know well what what 653 00:45:20,560 --> 00:45:24,160 will be will, because God's in control and I just believe him. 654 00:45:24,160 --> 00:45:26,480 And I may not know what's going on, but I believe it. 655 00:45:27,040 --> 00:45:29,200 Well, how are you believing something that you don't know 656 00:45:29,200 --> 00:45:32,960 what's going on? Because faith is comes by 657 00:45:32,960 --> 00:45:36,640 hearing the word, not from not hearing something. 658 00:45:36,760 --> 00:45:40,720 And you believe nowhere does the Scripture say that we are in 659 00:45:40,720 --> 00:45:43,600 faith just because we generally believe that he exists. 660 00:45:43,720 --> 00:45:48,920 You know, the Bible says that the demons believe God and 661 00:45:48,920 --> 00:45:52,760 tremble because they know His Word, but yet it won't change 662 00:45:52,760 --> 00:45:55,600 their life, doesn't change their life. 663 00:45:55,800 --> 00:45:57,720 And there's a lot of human beings that, well, I believe in 664 00:45:57,720 --> 00:46:00,600 God. Well, you may believe there is a 665 00:46:00,600 --> 00:46:04,920 God, but you're not living by faith, at least not according to 666 00:46:04,920 --> 00:46:06,600 the word of Christ. You are living by faith 667 00:46:06,600 --> 00:46:09,240 according to the words of men. Well, I don't have to go to 668 00:46:09,240 --> 00:46:11,480 church. I don't have to read my Bible, I 669 00:46:11,480 --> 00:46:14,360 don't have to pray. And that interesting Jesus said 670 00:46:14,360 --> 00:46:21,160 when you pray and then through this Apostle Paul, he's like 671 00:46:21,240 --> 00:46:24,920 pray without ceasing, always be connected in prayer. 672 00:46:26,720 --> 00:46:33,240 Seek first the Kingdom of God, not 5th, not after you've had 673 00:46:33,240 --> 00:46:36,520 your career and retirement. Now you have nothing else to do. 674 00:46:36,520 --> 00:46:44,840 So go to church, right? The life of faith is literally 675 00:46:44,840 --> 00:46:48,240 recognizing that God's word is supreme and authority in my life 676 00:46:48,240 --> 00:46:53,400 first and why is it because he's life is this is not a religious 677 00:46:53,400 --> 00:46:58,720 exercise, It's relationship. I mean you understand when when 678 00:46:58,720 --> 00:47:03,440 you fulfill the word of God in your life and the relationship 679 00:47:03,440 --> 00:47:07,360 you have. OK, how can I say let me say it 680 00:47:08,240 --> 00:47:11,760 in Ephesians chapter 5, he said husbands love your wife as 681 00:47:11,760 --> 00:47:15,480 Christ loved the church. OK, not as Christ loved the 682 00:47:15,480 --> 00:47:19,880 world. OK, I'm going to say that again. 683 00:47:21,520 --> 00:47:26,680 Does Christ love the church? Does God love the world? 684 00:47:26,920 --> 00:47:28,760 Yes. Does he love? 685 00:47:28,760 --> 00:47:31,520 Does he want everyone to repent? Absolutely. 686 00:47:32,400 --> 00:47:39,400 But Christ loved the church, that he wanted this 687 00:47:39,400 --> 00:47:44,680 relationship, that it would become so intimate it could be 688 00:47:44,680 --> 00:47:50,600 compared to a husband and wife. Now, if you actually have a 689 00:47:50,600 --> 00:47:53,600 great marriage, then this is going to be a pretty easy 690 00:47:53,600 --> 00:48:00,840 conversation, which is no one begs me to go home. 691 00:48:02,800 --> 00:48:03,800 Hey, you going to go home? Yeah. 692 00:48:04,040 --> 00:48:08,040 I don't know. I don't know, man. 693 00:48:09,640 --> 00:48:11,240 Just thinking about laying out tonight. 694 00:48:11,240 --> 00:48:14,520 You know, I was. I don't want to go, you know. 695 00:48:14,760 --> 00:48:15,920 Yeah, but, you know, you have a what? 696 00:48:15,920 --> 00:48:21,000 Yeah, I got. She'll be there, you know, 697 00:48:21,440 --> 00:48:22,840 she'll be there when I get there. 698 00:48:23,880 --> 00:48:27,640 Whenever I want to be there. I mean, you understand, we treat 699 00:48:27,680 --> 00:48:30,560 God like this a lot of times, you know, it's all. 700 00:48:30,560 --> 00:48:31,960 But he's with me everywhere I go. 701 00:48:32,360 --> 00:48:34,280 Some places people are going. He's not there. 702 00:48:37,040 --> 00:48:39,800 Now, I'm not saying he's not in you and the places you take him. 703 00:48:39,800 --> 00:48:43,000 Sometimes he's saying, hey, what are you doing here? 704 00:48:44,600 --> 00:48:47,600 We're not of this world. We're not doing this anymore. 705 00:48:47,600 --> 00:48:49,760 This is not our participation. It's not what we're doing. 706 00:48:49,960 --> 00:48:52,040 I did not send you an evangelistic outing. 707 00:48:54,560 --> 00:48:58,840 Are you hearing me? I mean, it's pretty easy for me 708 00:48:59,040 --> 00:49:01,680 to want to be with my wife and vice versa. 709 00:49:02,560 --> 00:49:04,800 Now, do we always get along? No. 710 00:49:04,800 --> 00:49:09,160 Do we always have opportunities for, you know, conversation? 711 00:49:09,280 --> 00:49:13,720 Yeah, there are opportunities. We are two willful people coming 712 00:49:13,720 --> 00:49:16,000 together and there's challenges. And you just. 713 00:49:16,160 --> 00:49:18,000 And how do you win the end of those challenges? 714 00:49:18,080 --> 00:49:20,880 We both yield to what God says, not what we say. 715 00:49:20,880 --> 00:49:23,560 And when we do that, then where's good? 716 00:49:24,000 --> 00:49:26,920 No problem. However, God doesn't sin. 717 00:49:27,880 --> 00:49:30,840 God is always the perfect side of the relationship. 718 00:49:33,720 --> 00:49:35,840 So why am I not running to Him? Why? 719 00:49:36,360 --> 00:49:39,160 Surely we would run to Him. Surely we would want to read His 720 00:49:39,160 --> 00:49:40,680 Word. Surely we would want to be in 721 00:49:40,680 --> 00:49:43,720 prayer, Surely we would. It's our flesh that keeps us, 722 00:49:43,720 --> 00:49:47,320 which is the part of us that hinders the relationship. 723 00:49:48,160 --> 00:49:51,800 And you know, I don't like being in a disagreement with my wife 724 00:49:51,800 --> 00:49:54,480 where the relationship now is being hindered. 725 00:49:57,400 --> 00:49:59,960 Unfortunately, sometimes in my life, you know, when situations 726 00:49:59,960 --> 00:50:03,320 I'll even get on the clock and I'll think, my gosh, man, if I 727 00:50:03,320 --> 00:50:08,280 don't resolve this, this is like wasted minutes, a wasted hour. 728 00:50:11,880 --> 00:50:14,880 I don't want the arguments in my life and the disagreements to 729 00:50:14,880 --> 00:50:18,440 account to decades. If I was married to her for 50 730 00:50:18,440 --> 00:50:20,320 years, 10 of them were in conflict. 731 00:50:26,640 --> 00:50:28,760 Nor do I want to walk through the planet and say, you know 732 00:50:28,760 --> 00:50:30,360 what, I was on the planet in Christ. 733 00:50:30,360 --> 00:50:33,880 But I really only spent about five years with Him. 734 00:50:37,000 --> 00:50:39,960 And I only say this because He is the one who tied it to the 735 00:50:39,960 --> 00:50:43,600 marriage relationship. But again, marriages never are 736 00:50:43,600 --> 00:50:47,920 at the level of what we are with God anyway because 737 00:50:47,920 --> 00:50:50,000 unfortunately, we are always dealing with the flesh. 738 00:50:50,200 --> 00:50:54,240 And by knowing that, I recognize that I don't make my wife 739 00:50:54,240 --> 00:50:57,560 perfect, Christ makes her complete. 740 00:51:00,240 --> 00:51:04,960 So I don't put her in a box of perfection, but I do expect that 741 00:51:04,960 --> 00:51:08,000 she would yield to the word of the Lord, of which she is a 742 00:51:08,000 --> 00:51:11,720 woman of God and does just that. And she expects the same from 743 00:51:11,720 --> 00:51:16,400 me, that I'm going to yield to the word of God, that I'm not 744 00:51:16,400 --> 00:51:18,280 going to do what I think I should do. 745 00:51:19,080 --> 00:51:21,960 And there's many times my wife is right about situation. 746 00:51:21,960 --> 00:51:23,840 Like, honey, you're right about that situation. 747 00:51:25,000 --> 00:51:28,880 And again, I'm going to do what you say not because she's the 748 00:51:28,880 --> 00:51:31,040 one in authority, but he's the one in authority. 749 00:51:32,360 --> 00:51:35,440 So we work together. Well, you only can do that when 750 00:51:35,440 --> 00:51:38,040 you actually have a relationship, and faith comes 751 00:51:38,040 --> 00:51:40,960 because you're fully persuaded in the relationship that the one 752 00:51:40,960 --> 00:51:45,240 you're talking to has the power to produce the word in them. 753 00:51:45,360 --> 00:51:48,440 My wife may not do what she said she would do, and I may not do 754 00:51:48,440 --> 00:51:50,640 what I said I was going to do with my wife, and a lot of 755 00:51:50,640 --> 00:51:53,680 forgiveness has to happen. But God has never failed to do 756 00:51:53,680 --> 00:52:02,000 what He said He would do first. Peter 125 says this, but the 757 00:52:02,000 --> 00:52:05,440 word of the Lord endures. How long? 758 00:52:06,280 --> 00:52:08,680 Come on, how long? How long is it endure? 759 00:52:09,240 --> 00:52:11,240 So the final authority is the Word of the Lord. 760 00:52:11,320 --> 00:52:13,400 Our faith should come from hearing Him. 761 00:52:13,960 --> 00:52:17,640 And this is the Word which was preached to you. 762 00:52:17,800 --> 00:52:19,480 This is what we endeavor to preach to you. 763 00:52:19,560 --> 00:52:26,080 The reason why you know a church body who desires to rightly 764 00:52:26,080 --> 00:52:31,360 divide the Word of truth becomes associated with a cult is 765 00:52:31,360 --> 00:52:37,680 because our thinking is so contrary to the Word and the 766 00:52:37,680 --> 00:52:42,840 world's way of navigating life. We do not make an excuse to live 767 00:52:42,840 --> 00:52:47,440 fleshly. We always go, what does the Word 768 00:52:47,440 --> 00:52:50,400 say? And again, when you want to live 769 00:52:50,400 --> 00:52:52,640 by the flesh, you want to accommodate the flesh. 770 00:52:53,400 --> 00:52:55,600 But when you want to live by the Word of God according to 771 00:52:55,600 --> 00:52:58,080 righteousness, then you don't accommodate the flesh, you 772 00:52:58,080 --> 00:53:02,760 crucify the flesh. God never said to accommodate 773 00:53:02,760 --> 00:53:04,440 the flesh. He says to crucify you. 774 00:53:05,760 --> 00:53:08,600 And so when you crucify the flesh, then the next thing you 775 00:53:08,600 --> 00:53:11,000 know you get around people and they come to you. 776 00:53:11,000 --> 00:53:12,680 You know, Eric, they'll come to me and say, well, pass her away. 777 00:53:12,720 --> 00:53:14,640 Well, you know, I have no opinion in the matter, but my 778 00:53:14,640 --> 00:53:18,040 king says So what you should do? Well, they don't like that. 779 00:53:18,040 --> 00:53:19,840 So what they do then they go to Rafael. 780 00:53:19,840 --> 00:53:23,000 Rafael, this here and they want to get a different opinion. 781 00:53:24,200 --> 00:53:26,280 But next thing you know, he's listening to the voice of the 782 00:53:26,280 --> 00:53:29,120 King too, which sounds the same as what I said. 783 00:53:29,480 --> 00:53:32,200 And then they're like, OK, so then they go try to find someone 784 00:53:32,200 --> 00:53:33,320 else. Let me go over here to Nick. 785 00:53:33,320 --> 00:53:34,400 Nick. And that's like, well, what does 786 00:53:34,400 --> 00:53:36,200 the Bible say? Well, you are just a bunch of 787 00:53:36,200 --> 00:53:37,880 talking heads. You all say the same thing. 788 00:53:38,000 --> 00:53:41,120 This is like a cult. Well, I'm only supposed to say 789 00:53:41,120 --> 00:53:45,040 what God's saying because your faith's supposed to come from 790 00:53:45,040 --> 00:53:49,400 the Word, not from my opinion. That doesn't mean I can't 791 00:53:49,400 --> 00:53:54,680 sympathize with your problem, but Jesus can sympathize with 792 00:53:54,680 --> 00:53:58,120 your problem. Jesus has compassion for you, 793 00:53:58,720 --> 00:54:00,840 but more importantly, He's already paid the price for you 794 00:54:00,840 --> 00:54:05,760 to overcome. You want me to give you the most 795 00:54:05,760 --> 00:54:09,320 powerful faith statement? There's nothing you're in right 796 00:54:09,320 --> 00:54:13,520 now that hasn't already been dealt with and that you, through 797 00:54:13,520 --> 00:54:17,240 forgiveness and the application of your part towards that 798 00:54:17,240 --> 00:54:21,600 situation, can't have the power to of God. 799 00:54:22,040 --> 00:54:25,440 It will renew your mind and you can walk around as if nothing 800 00:54:25,440 --> 00:54:34,880 ever happened wrong. Period. 801 00:54:35,680 --> 00:54:39,560 They'll never come a point. There's nothing Brian you could 802 00:54:39,560 --> 00:54:45,800 ever do to your wife in one sense, or really nothing. 803 00:54:46,720 --> 00:54:51,960 There's there's a opportunity because of a scenario, but the 804 00:54:51,960 --> 00:54:57,040 reality is through true forgiveness, God can restore 805 00:54:57,320 --> 00:55:01,240 anything that ever happens and you can live as if nothing ever 806 00:55:01,840 --> 00:55:06,080 messed up ever. That's the power of the blood 807 00:55:06,080 --> 00:55:09,200 and forgiveness. And if we don't remember that, 808 00:55:11,040 --> 00:55:14,080 then the reality is we'll look for reasons to do something 809 00:55:14,080 --> 00:55:16,280 different. This is what people do with 810 00:55:16,280 --> 00:55:18,640 church and they still say they have faith. 811 00:55:18,840 --> 00:55:21,320 This is what they do in their marriages and they still say 812 00:55:21,320 --> 00:55:23,880 they still have faith. This is what they do, you know, 813 00:55:23,960 --> 00:55:26,480 at work. And they still say they have 814 00:55:26,480 --> 00:55:31,320 faith when the reality is they're just not firmly 815 00:55:31,320 --> 00:55:33,200 persuaded by what they heard from Christ. 816 00:55:33,200 --> 00:55:35,800 They're firmly persuaded what they heard from somebody else in 817 00:55:35,800 --> 00:55:38,800 a similar situation. And let me just close with this 818 00:55:38,800 --> 00:55:43,160 thought. OK, again, first Peter 125 said, 819 00:55:43,160 --> 00:55:44,760 But the word of the Lord endures forever. 820 00:55:45,200 --> 00:55:52,280 Today you're in trouble. You're in trouble today because 821 00:55:52,280 --> 00:55:54,240 everybody wants you to take your phone out and hold it up. 822 00:55:54,880 --> 00:55:56,480 Yeah, get your phone because you got it anyway. 823 00:55:56,480 --> 00:55:59,040 Most of you, some of you been on anyway, checking other stuff. 824 00:56:00,800 --> 00:56:02,280 Hold up real high. Be proud. 825 00:56:02,360 --> 00:56:03,480 You got it. Thank you. 826 00:56:03,640 --> 00:56:05,400 All right, now turn your flashlight on. 827 00:56:06,800 --> 00:56:08,360 All right, now. So let me see them. 828 00:56:08,960 --> 00:56:10,800 We're in a concert somewhere, so for fun. 829 00:56:10,800 --> 00:56:12,360 This is cool. Wow. 830 00:56:12,360 --> 00:56:13,680 This is cool. I kind of wish the cameras were 831 00:56:13,680 --> 00:56:15,000 here right now. OK. 832 00:56:15,360 --> 00:56:16,400 Yeah. Let you like shine. 833 00:56:16,400 --> 00:56:20,240 People let you like shine. OK, here's the problem. 834 00:56:21,240 --> 00:56:26,640 Because of AI and the fact that your phone is listening to you, 835 00:56:27,960 --> 00:56:33,000 guess what it is doing? It's accommodating the opinions 836 00:56:33,000 --> 00:56:40,520 of what you hear. If you keep saying that the 837 00:56:40,520 --> 00:56:45,320 catch in the way of the church ain't real, then Instagram's 838 00:56:45,320 --> 00:56:48,400 going to send you reels of people who support what you say. 839 00:56:50,920 --> 00:56:56,600 If you say that the Republican Party are Nazis, then your 840 00:56:56,600 --> 00:56:59,840 social media is going to support that thought with plenty of 841 00:56:59,840 --> 00:57:05,280 reals, or vice versa. Whatever you are saying. 842 00:57:05,640 --> 00:57:10,080 Somebody and and AI is listening to every sermon. 843 00:57:11,320 --> 00:57:17,880 But AI doesn't have the ability to discern which is false and 844 00:57:17,880 --> 00:57:21,200 which is real. That's your responsibility. 845 00:57:21,400 --> 00:57:24,960 So if you're picking up a thought process that isn't 846 00:57:24,960 --> 00:57:29,560 supported from Scripture, but it does support your feelings, then 847 00:57:29,560 --> 00:57:31,720 next thing you know, like look what so and so said, look what 848 00:57:31,720 --> 00:57:33,600 so and so said, And then somebody wants to send me some 849 00:57:33,600 --> 00:57:35,080 minister. I don't care what minister it 850 00:57:35,080 --> 00:57:36,800 is, and I don't care what their name is. 851 00:57:37,120 --> 00:57:41,360 Their name isn't Jesus. And if we'll go through the word 852 00:57:41,640 --> 00:57:44,000 and go there, that's what we want to go with. 853 00:57:44,240 --> 00:57:47,240 Because I guarantee you, you'll find things that support what 854 00:57:47,240 --> 00:57:51,480 I'm saying and I can get send you up 15 pastors that believe 855 00:57:51,480 --> 00:57:53,400 what I'm saying because it's listening. 856 00:57:55,240 --> 00:57:57,680 I'm talking to my children about going somewhere for Christmas 857 00:57:57,680 --> 00:58:01,040 and now I'm getting all these. That place is showing up. 858 00:58:02,200 --> 00:58:08,920 Why is it listening to me? Because technology, the enemy 859 00:58:09,000 --> 00:58:12,920 can utilize it just and there he's being more successful 860 00:58:13,600 --> 00:58:18,200 because of the illiteracy of the body of Christ that doesn't want 861 00:58:18,200 --> 00:58:20,880 to study the word, but just wants to have a you know 862 00:58:20,880 --> 00:58:23,200 someone, a talking head, tell them that they're awesome. 863 00:58:24,440 --> 00:58:28,760 You're amazing and you are amazing, but you're amazing 864 00:58:28,760 --> 00:58:32,960 because you apply. You're amazing because he 865 00:58:32,960 --> 00:58:37,560 created you this way to be, not to just know that you are and do 866 00:58:37,560 --> 00:58:39,520 nothing but look like you're not. 867 00:58:40,160 --> 00:58:42,720 That has to constantly affirm that you are something you're 868 00:58:42,720 --> 00:58:48,920 not acting like. So you're going to get plenty of 869 00:58:48,920 --> 00:58:53,760 algorithms that are going to help support your narrative. 870 00:58:53,960 --> 00:58:56,720 You talk bad about your boss, you're going to find plenty of 871 00:58:56,720 --> 00:58:59,720 reals to support what you think about your boss and its 872 00:58:59,720 --> 00:59:03,040 attitude, and then you'll turn around and start showing it to 873 00:59:03,040 --> 00:59:05,560 your employees. Look, I told you they were this. 874 00:59:05,640 --> 00:59:07,280 Look at this. See these attributes? 875 00:59:07,280 --> 00:59:08,360 That's just like them. See there? 876 00:59:08,840 --> 00:59:12,240 This is dangerous ground. What are you doing? 877 00:59:12,240 --> 00:59:15,400 You're forming your belief on what you're hearing from a 878 00:59:15,400 --> 00:59:23,880 source you do not even know. It's credible, but it sure makes 879 00:59:23,880 --> 00:59:30,920 you feel vindicated, justified and right in your mind. 880 00:59:32,080 --> 00:59:38,040 But when we go to Scripture, that's where the tell tale shows 881 00:59:38,040 --> 00:59:42,720 up because the scripture is not mere words, it's spirit. 882 00:59:44,560 --> 00:59:47,880 And those words will begin to say, yeah, but you need to look 883 00:59:47,880 --> 00:59:50,360 at this. Yeah, but what you're thinking 884 00:59:50,360 --> 00:59:52,040 right now, I'm not going to agree with. 885 00:59:52,040 --> 00:59:55,120 Wait a minute, now I Well, what a Yeah, that's not right. 886 00:59:55,120 --> 00:59:58,120 Because if you actually seek, he'll navigate you to truth. 887 00:59:59,680 --> 01:00:01,480 And at that point you've got to make a decision. 888 01:00:02,200 --> 01:00:08,160 Choose Jesus or choose Barabbas. Matthew 2435. 889 01:00:08,160 --> 01:00:14,200 It says heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not 890 01:00:14,200 --> 01:00:18,080 pass away. In these last days we have to 891 01:00:18,080 --> 01:00:21,880 waver, not because we are going to be bombarded. 892 01:00:21,880 --> 01:00:27,400 We're going to be bombarded with other thoughts, technology. 893 01:00:28,240 --> 01:00:35,880 Is now wired programmed to support your current thinking 894 01:00:35,880 --> 01:00:42,920 pattern. I do not go to my phone to 895 01:00:42,920 --> 01:00:48,040 reinforce the truth that I am seeking. 896 01:00:49,960 --> 01:00:52,960 I stay in the word because I know it's dangerous. 897 01:00:52,960 --> 01:01:00,000 Now I know it's dangerous. I'm very cautious because when I 898 01:01:00,000 --> 01:01:03,960 know a truth and then it shows up from someone else, I have to 899 01:01:03,960 --> 01:01:08,240 be very cautious not to get excited and say, well, at least 900 01:01:08,240 --> 01:01:10,920 I'm not the only one who thinks this because that's a false 901 01:01:10,920 --> 01:01:12,640 reality. There's a lot of people having 902 01:01:12,640 --> 01:01:14,800 that kind of reinforcement in their mind. 903 01:01:15,040 --> 01:01:16,800 I'm not the only one who sees it this way. 904 01:01:17,480 --> 01:01:21,160 Well, the enemy has got a lot of smoke and ladders. 905 01:01:26,000 --> 01:01:33,000 At the end of the day, I want to know based upon not you and you 906 01:01:33,240 --> 01:01:38,960 and you as the witness, but the Scriptures, the context. 907 01:01:39,160 --> 01:01:41,560 That's the witness. I need no other witness than 908 01:01:41,560 --> 01:01:45,720 that. You're hearing what I'm saying. 909 01:01:46,560 --> 01:01:52,680 I don't need man's witness. I need God's Word as the witness 910 01:01:52,880 --> 01:01:57,760 to what truth is. And if we just happen to believe 911 01:01:58,240 --> 01:02:01,840 that what He says is the truth, praise God. 912 01:02:02,160 --> 01:02:05,920 But I'm not more firmly persuaded with His because you 913 01:02:05,920 --> 01:02:08,520 believe it too. It's because I believe it 914 01:02:08,640 --> 01:02:09,600 according to His Word.