1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,000 You get on that blood stuff, it gets me excited, amen. 2 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:08,000 Hallelujah. 3 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:11,000 God is so good. 4 00:00:11,000 --> 00:00:15,000 If you have your Bibles, before we turn this into a Gaither thing, 5 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:22,000 we might as well preach just a little dab. 6 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:25,000 Amen, just a little dab. 7 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:34,000 2 Timothy chapter 3. 8 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:39,000 Beginning at verse 10. 9 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:46,000 Covet your prayers this week, Wednesday morning at 10 a.m. 10 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:51,000 I'll be preaching our morning service at the state camp meeting, 11 00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:55,000 which takes place over here at... 12 00:00:55,000 --> 00:00:57,000 Yeah, you better say that. 13 00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:01,000 Y'all will be the only ones doing that time I'm done. 14 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:07,000 Over at Westmoor, Bishop called me last Friday. 15 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:11,000 I think Brother Sims, who was scheduled, I think was his name, 16 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:17,000 something come up, turn about, and he told me just as soon as he hung up the phone with him, 17 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:23,000 the Lord put me on his mind to call, so he called me, he said, 18 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:26,000 Man of God, do you have a word for Wednesday morning? 19 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:30,000 I said, no, but I can get one. 20 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:33,000 Amen, we can find one. 21 00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:35,000 So we're going to do that. 22 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:37,000 If you can, come on out. 23 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:39,000 It would be good to see a few friendly faces. 24 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:45,000 Amen, and if y'all could surround my covenant group, I'd be even happier. 25 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:51,000 Because if you want to know what is wrong with what I've got to say Wednesday, 26 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:54,000 just see one of them after it's over. 27 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:57,000 And they're going to have a whole list. 28 00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:02,000 And what they're waiting on me to do is go over one hour. 29 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:05,000 That's what they're waiting on. 30 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:10,000 And if the Holy Ghost hits me just right, we will, and not even check up. 31 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:12,000 Amen, but we don't want to do that. 32 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:13,000 Pray for us. 33 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:15,000 So we're going to do that on Wednesday morning. 34 00:02:15,000 --> 00:02:17,000 See what the Spirit of the Lord says to the church. 35 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:24,000 It's the KEMS graduates morning, and the MIP graduates will be getting their certificates. 36 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:30,000 So it's going to be an opportunity to speak into the lives of some young ministers 37 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:35,000 about what's ahead of them as the Lord tarries his coming. 38 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:40,000 If he doesn't tarry, we ain't going to have to worry about it. 39 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:42,000 If you're ready to go, amen. 40 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:43,000 All right, enough of that. 41 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:45,000 Commercial over. 42 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:54,000 Second Timothy 3, 10 through 17. 43 00:02:54,000 --> 00:03:00,000 But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, 44 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:05,000 long-suffering, charity, patience, persecutions, afflictions, 45 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:10,000 which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra. 46 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:14,000 The persecutions I endured, what persecutions I endured, 47 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:18,000 but out of them all the Lord delivered me, my Lord. 48 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:22,000 If there's one part of a sentence you need to underline, right there it is. 49 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:25,000 But the Lord delivered me out of them all. 50 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:29,000 Amen. 51 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:34,000 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution, 52 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:41,000 but evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. 53 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:47,000 But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, 54 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:52,000 knowing of whom thou hast learned them, and that from a child thou hast known 55 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:58,000 the holy scriptures which we are able to make thee wise unto salvation 56 00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:01,000 through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 57 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:07,000 That all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine 58 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:11,000 and reproof for correction, for instruction and righteousness. 59 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:20,000 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. 60 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:24,000 I want to talk to us all this morning, obviously, 61 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:27,000 as the Word of God will apply into all of our hearts, 62 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:35,000 I want to just raise up just a little bit and draw our attention to being men of God, 63 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:40,000 men of faith and men of power. 64 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:46,000 Whether you are a father or not today, if you're a man in this house, 65 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:52,000 you may be one day, and if you are, you need to have some instruction. 66 00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:59,000 If you decide to live single all your life, you still need to know how to be a man of God, 67 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:03,000 a man of faith and a man of power. Amen? 68 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:08,000 Whatever your lot in life lends out to you to be, 69 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:13,000 I want to emphasize to us as men this morning, 70 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:19,000 but there's nothing wrong with emphasizing being a woman of God, 71 00:05:19,000 --> 00:05:23,000 a woman of faith, a woman of power. Amen? 72 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:28,000 So this will apply to all of us, and I think it's a place we need to be. 73 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:29,000 Father, I love you this morning. 74 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:32,000 Thank you so much for your goodness and your mercy and your love toward us. 75 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:34,000 Help us, Lord, to be expedient. 76 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:37,000 I know the day, I know the hour, I know the opportunity, 77 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:41,000 I know what's laying beyond this time that we're together 78 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:43,000 and what this day holds for many. 79 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:45,000 Lord, as we celebrate together, 80 00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:48,000 now Father, over this household that is standing here this morning, 81 00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:53,000 if there be those standing whose fathers are already passed and going on, 82 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:55,000 they're no longer with them. 83 00:05:55,000 --> 00:06:00,000 I ask for a comfort and for a peace over each of them. 84 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:03,000 My God, let your hand settle upon them today. 85 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:07,000 Many are not here this morning because of the pain that it brings 86 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:09,000 and the pain that it causes. 87 00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:13,000 Many are here in spite of the pain and the emotions that they feel 88 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:15,000 and what it brings to mind, 89 00:06:15,000 --> 00:06:18,000 and I ask God that you comfort each one today 90 00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:22,000 with your wonderful, wonderful grace and your love 91 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:24,000 as we glorify your name. 92 00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:26,000 In Christ's name, and everyone say it. 93 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:31,000 Amen. You can be seated today. 94 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:37,000 The further we go, the more I become convinced 95 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:45,000 that if the idea of family and the family unit, 96 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:50,000 the biblical principled idea of family 97 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:55,000 is to survive beyond this 21st century, 98 00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:57,000 there's some things that are going to be needed, 99 00:06:57,000 --> 00:07:01,000 and one of those, I believe, is a resurgence 100 00:07:01,000 --> 00:07:07,000 of strong male biblical leadership. 101 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:10,000 If the family is to survive in this 21st century, 102 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:16,000 they're going to have to be led by godly men where men are present. 103 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:18,000 If a man is not present, 104 00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:23,000 then therefore it's going to take a godly woman. 105 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:27,000 Hello, come on now. 106 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:31,000 A woman of faith, a woman of God, a woman of power 107 00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:35,000 to arise to the occasion. 108 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:38,000 The reason that I feel this way 109 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:41,000 is because one of the main targets of attack 110 00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:47,000 in our post-culture Christian ideology 111 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:51,000 is the attack on the family. 112 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:55,000 Mothers are urged to have their careers 113 00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:59,000 and seek careers to supersede. 114 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:02,000 Being homemakers, matter of fact, in our culture today, 115 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:05,000 if you're a homemaker and you stay at home, 116 00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:07,000 you're kindly criticized. 117 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:10,000 If you want to stay home and raise your children, 118 00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:13,000 you're kindly criticized for not going out 119 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:15,000 and striving, mama, after your career. 120 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:17,000 Oh, you put your career on hold. 121 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:19,000 You put yourself on hold. 122 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:21,000 You're just, no. 123 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:24,000 That's what our culture tries to portray today. 124 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:29,000 You need to put you first. 125 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:33,000 Children, oddly enough, are encouraged 126 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:38,000 to choose their own identity. 127 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:41,000 When they get to school, like parents, 128 00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:45,000 you don't have enough sense to raise your own children. 129 00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:48,000 They get into public school systems, 130 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:51,000 and their minds are being formed and shaped 131 00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:53,000 and warped and transitioned. 132 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:56,000 So the modern family is under attack, 133 00:08:56,000 --> 00:08:59,000 but the center of the bull's eye, 134 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:01,000 I truly believe, is on the head of the home, 135 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:03,000 the head of the biblical home, 136 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:06,000 the head of the family, God's idea. 137 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:09,000 It's on the father and the man of the house. 138 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:11,000 How so? 139 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:16,000 Because they have been marginalized and minimized. 140 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:18,000 How so? 141 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:22,000 Well, go back to the day where you have Homer Simpson. 142 00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:27,000 And the portrayal that that does toward fatherhood. 143 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:31,000 Al Bundy and some others, 144 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:35,000 gone are, leave it to Beaver dads. 145 00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:37,000 Oh, yeah. 146 00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:39,000 Some of you saying, who? 147 00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:41,000 Who's Beaver? 148 00:09:41,000 --> 00:09:44,000 Google it. 149 00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:48,000 See who Mr. Cleaver is. 150 00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:50,000 You know, I never could understand 151 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:53,000 how the ladies are to vacuum in pearls 152 00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:55,000 and an apron in a dress and high heels. 153 00:09:55,000 --> 00:09:59,000 I thought, if there's an unrealistic picture out there, 154 00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:02,000 there's one, right? 155 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:04,000 But she pulled it off. 156 00:10:04,000 --> 00:10:07,000 She made it happen. 157 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:11,000 There is that attack today. 158 00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:13,000 Godly men have to arise. 159 00:10:13,000 --> 00:10:17,000 We have to turn toward God, men. 160 00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:20,000 We have to turn our hearts toward him. 161 00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:23,000 And for families to not only survive, 162 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:26,000 but to thrive in this culture, 163 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:31,000 we need to be men of God, men of faith, and men of power. 164 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:33,000 We need to be the man of the hour 165 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:35,000 for our home and for our families. 166 00:10:35,000 --> 00:10:37,000 Amen? 167 00:10:37,000 --> 00:10:39,000 We need to strive to know more of God, 168 00:10:39,000 --> 00:10:41,000 to be closer to God, 169 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:44,000 and allow God to speak into our heart and into our lives 170 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:48,000 as we are endeavoring to lead our families. 171 00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:52,000 Because as the family goes, so goes the culture. 172 00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:55,000 Why do you think the devil is attacking the family 173 00:10:55,000 --> 00:10:59,000 so desperately and just without whim, 174 00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:02,000 he's just unleashed this attack against the family? 175 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:06,000 Because the devil's got more sense than most people have. 176 00:11:06,000 --> 00:11:10,000 Because the devil knows that if we are aligned 177 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:13,000 with the word of God and the will of God, 178 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:16,000 then there's nothing that can stop us. 179 00:11:16,000 --> 00:11:21,000 If God be for you, then who or what can be against you, right? 180 00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:24,000 Because God's grace and God's power, 181 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:27,000 and there's no situation or circumstance 182 00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:29,000 that can enter into our families 183 00:11:29,000 --> 00:11:31,000 that the grace of God will not enable us 184 00:11:31,000 --> 00:11:35,000 and empower us to rise up over and to be victorious from. 185 00:11:35,000 --> 00:11:37,000 Amen? And the devil knows that. 186 00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:41,000 So if he can start to pervert the minds of children 187 00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:45,000 and distort and just tear down the structure of the family, 188 00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:49,000 he knows he can undermine the foundation of a society. 189 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:52,000 But when men begin to decide of their own selves, 190 00:11:52,000 --> 00:11:57,000 their need for God and the help that they must have from him, 191 00:11:57,000 --> 00:12:00,000 there's nothing more powerful than a man 192 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:04,000 who is humbled before an almighty God. 193 00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:08,000 And he knows who he is. He knows who his God is. 194 00:12:08,000 --> 00:12:12,000 There's nothing more powerful in a culture, in a society, 195 00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:15,000 than a man in his rightful order, 196 00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:18,000 into his home and over his family. Amen? 197 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:23,000 Because the devil knows when a man gets it, he's got it. 198 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:27,000 It just takes us a while to get it sometimes. 199 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:29,000 Ladies, there's your part. Right there is it. 200 00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:32,000 You should have shouted me down right there. 201 00:12:32,000 --> 00:12:35,000 When we get it and we finally get a hold of it, 202 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:37,000 there's nothing more powerful. 203 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:40,000 Ezekiel put it this way in 22 and 30 from the heart of God 204 00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:43,000 as he's moved upon by the Spirit. 205 00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:46,000 God says through him, I search for a man among them 206 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:49,000 who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before me 207 00:12:49,000 --> 00:12:53,000 for the land so that I would not destroy it. 208 00:12:53,000 --> 00:12:57,000 But hear what God said, but I found no one. 209 00:12:57,000 --> 00:12:59,000 What a travesty. Amen? 210 00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:02,000 When God said out of search, I'm just looking for a man. 211 00:13:02,000 --> 00:13:06,000 I need some man. I need one man. I need somebody 212 00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:10,000 who will stand in the gap so that I might not destroy the world. 213 00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:14,000 My, my, my, that's hard to conceive, 214 00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:16,000 but even harder is this. 215 00:13:16,000 --> 00:13:19,000 God said I couldn't find not one. Amen? 216 00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:21,000 How far did he have to look? 217 00:13:21,000 --> 00:13:24,000 How far did the eye of God rove over the earth in Noah's day? 218 00:13:24,000 --> 00:13:27,000 When his heart, God's heart is turned, 219 00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:31,000 he's convicted of himself because of the condition of humanity. 220 00:13:31,000 --> 00:13:34,000 His heart only on evil forever. 221 00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:38,000 Man's heart turned away from God and finally God's had enough. 222 00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:40,000 And he said, I'm going to destroy this earth. 223 00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:45,000 But thank God he found a man that day in that time in that era. 224 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:48,000 He found a man by the name of Noah. Amen. 225 00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:51,000 And Noah found grace in the eyes of God. 226 00:13:51,000 --> 00:13:54,000 When we think about being that man, 227 00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:59,000 the first item on our list that we need to be is become a man of God. 228 00:13:59,000 --> 00:14:02,000 A man of God is a description given to a man 229 00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:07,000 that follows God in every way, who obeys his commands with joy, 230 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:10,000 who does not live for the things of this life, 231 00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:14,000 but for the things of eternity, who willingly serves his God 232 00:14:14,000 --> 00:14:16,000 in giving freely of all his resources, 233 00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:20,000 yet gladly suffers as the consequences of his faith. 234 00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:23,000 Amen. Perhaps Micah has it in six and eight. 235 00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:27,000 It sums up the man of God in one neat verse package. 236 00:14:27,000 --> 00:14:31,000 He has showed you, oh man, what is good 237 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:36,000 and what does the Lord require of you to act justly 238 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:41,000 and to live and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. 239 00:14:41,000 --> 00:14:45,000 It's pretty simple. We are the ones who overcomplicate it. 240 00:14:45,000 --> 00:14:49,000 It's neatly packed together to love mercy, to love God, 241 00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:53,000 to humble ourselves before the hand of God and to act justly. 242 00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:59,000 Oh, we need to become men of faith because the man of God can only live by faith. 243 00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:05,000 The first person called a man of God is Moses in Numbers 12 and verse 3. 244 00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:08,000 He's called a man of God. Why? 245 00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:13,000 Because Moses has decided to forsake the things of Pharaoh. 246 00:15:13,000 --> 00:15:17,000 When he became of age, he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh 247 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:22,000 because he was not an Egyptian. He was an Israelite. Hallelujah. 248 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:27,000 And he refused to compromise and give up the identity that God had given him 249 00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:30,000 because God had his hand on Moses. 250 00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:34,000 Can I find a man in the house who knows that God has had his hand on you? 251 00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:39,000 I know for a fact that God has had his hand on me. 252 00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:45,000 And there is a refusal in me to compromise in the day and the hour in which I live. 253 00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:48,000 Whether I'm a preacher or not, whether I'm a pastor or not, 254 00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:53,000 I refuse to give in a compromise to the things of this world 255 00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:57,000 because I am first of all a man of God. 256 00:15:57,000 --> 00:16:02,000 I want to serve God. I'm going to love God. I love mercy. 257 00:16:02,000 --> 00:16:06,000 I'm doing my best to walk justly and upright before him. 258 00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:12,000 And I refuse to compromise and to give in on my manhood. 259 00:16:12,000 --> 00:16:23,000 The world needs men who are not ashamed to be identified as a man of God. 260 00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:29,000 The phrase is used 78 times in 72 different verses throughout scripture. 261 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:36,000 So it's a fairly noted phrase, a man to be a man of God. 262 00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:44,000 1st Tim. 131, Joshua 14.6 in our text, 1st Timothy 6 and 11. 263 00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:49,000 It is in that text in 6 and 11 that we read that Paul is instructing Timothy, 264 00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:54,000 but thou, man of God, flee these things in 1st Timothy. 265 00:16:54,000 --> 00:17:02,000 He just finishes saying this, that the love of money is the root of all evil. 266 00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:08,000 And he lists a whole lot of things above this verse talking about envy and strife, 267 00:17:08,000 --> 00:17:12,000 railings and evil suspicions and the love of money. 268 00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:15,000 And he said, but thou, man of God, this isn't you. 269 00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:18,000 That is not your character. That is not to be your character. 270 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:23,000 That's not to be who you are. You are to be one who loves God. Amen. 271 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:26,000 Who seeks after righteousness, who seeks after holiness. 272 00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:28,000 That's who we are to be as a man of God. 273 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:34,000 In order to be a man of God, I have to be a man of faith because without faith it is impossible. 274 00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:40,000 Can somebody help me with that? Without faith it is impossible to please God. 275 00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:45,000 So if I'm going to be a man of God, I've got to be a man who believes in God and trusts in God 276 00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:52,000 and who's accepted the sacrifice of the Father, which is his son, Jesus, for the sins of my life. 277 00:17:52,000 --> 00:17:57,000 I can't repent for you. Oh, I wish I could. I wish I could repent for all of us. 278 00:17:57,000 --> 00:18:02,000 I wish I could live upright and holy for you, but I can't do it, man and woman of God. 279 00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:08,000 I can't do that. It's a full-time job, trust me, to keep old brother Waters down on his knees. 280 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:14,000 It's a full-time job to keep Pastor Waters' cross squared between his shoulder blades 281 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:17,000 and carrying it and bearing it day in and day out. 282 00:18:17,000 --> 00:18:23,000 It's a full-time job to keep me at the foot of Calvary and keep a fresh coat of blood applied to my life. 283 00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:28,000 That's the reason singing about the blood means so much to me because it is at the cross. 284 00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:33,000 My God, it is a power and there's nothing else that can cleanse me and I am aware of that. 285 00:18:33,000 --> 00:18:40,000 Man, hear me today, men and boys in this room, you need faith in God, not in yourself, not in your ability, 286 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:50,000 not in your skill, but in God and in God alone. Hallelujah. 287 00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:58,000 I'm not talking about being perfect because a man that was after God's own heart wasn't perfect, 288 00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:03,000 which was David. David had his struggles with his own sin, 289 00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:12,000 but he had enough sense to have a Psalm 51 experience not just once in his life, but often in his life. 290 00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:18,000 When he would repent before God, I think part of our problem is our faith begins to wane 291 00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:27,000 because we fail to remember we must remain repentant. It's not a one and done deal. 292 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:36,000 It would be if we only sinned once. 293 00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:40,000 Let's don't start keeping score this week now. 294 00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:46,000 If I were to give you a pen and paper, how big would your list be? 295 00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:55,000 I try to keep some red out applied to mine as I go through the week. 296 00:19:55,000 --> 00:20:00,000 I try to keep some blood over it. 297 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:08,000 I know we live in a culture that's gross to them. Well, it is gross. Sin is gross to God. 298 00:20:08,000 --> 00:20:14,000 He detested. It's an abomination before him. It stints in his nostrils when you and I sin against him. 299 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:17,000 You know we don't just sin against others and sin against ourselves. 300 00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:24,000 Every sin is a sin against God. So we have to become men and women of faith. 301 00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:29,000 Faith brings us to a point of repentance when we trust in him. 302 00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:35,000 For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever does what, 303 00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:40,000 believe within him, should not perish, but have everlasting life. 304 00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:46,000 And it's through that wonderful gift of faith and trusting that we repent and we confess 305 00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:50,000 and we allow him to cleanse and purge us. 306 00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:56,000 You know, he could force that cleansing on us, but God doesn't force himself on us. 307 00:20:56,000 --> 00:21:01,000 He waits till we get to the point where we can believe him and have faith in him. 308 00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:07,000 Abraham believed God and is accounted unto him as faith to follow after God. 309 00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:12,000 To be men of faith. Scriptures filled with examples of men of faith. 310 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:18,000 But few stand out any greater than the man we mentioned earlier, the man Noah. 311 00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:23,000 Noah was just and Noah found grace. Abraham believed and Abraham obeyed. 312 00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:29,000 Joseph refused and had Joseph heard said over him by Pharaoh himself 313 00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:33,000 that Joseph was a man in whom the Spirit of God is. 314 00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:40,000 Joshua J. Iris, the prodigal's father, just to name a very few that are in Scripture. 315 00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:47,000 When we can really do a deep dive, we can find it filled with men of faith. 316 00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:52,000 I think about that prodigal father. 317 00:21:52,000 --> 00:22:00,000 Had a pastor when I was young preach on that text one Sunday and I've never forgotten it. 318 00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:03,000 About that prodigal father. 319 00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:12,000 And after the son, the prodigal son is gone and left and he's in his wild stage in his back slid and condition. 320 00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:16,000 He talked about a knock at the door. 321 00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:21,000 And when the father goes to the door and he opened the door and said there was a clean cut, 322 00:22:21,000 --> 00:22:27,000 nice looking gentleman standing there and he said, my name is love. 323 00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:31,000 I'm going after your son and I will bring him back. 324 00:22:31,000 --> 00:22:35,000 Time comes and time goes, but love never shows back up. 325 00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:37,000 Love never comes back. 326 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:43,000 He goes through a couple more characters until the father is waning and he hears another knock at the door 327 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:47,000 and he goes and knocks and opens to the knock and standing is this old, 328 00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:54,000 shriveled, narrow, tough, rough looking individual old standing on the porch, looked like shoe leather. 329 00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:58,000 And he said, hello, my name is time. 330 00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:02,000 I won't come back without him. 331 00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:05,000 Love couldn't get him wisdom, couldn't find him. 332 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:08,000 Truth was forsaken. 333 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:11,000 But time brought the prodigal son back. 334 00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:14,000 My Lord, I began to think about how about that father? 335 00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:20,000 You know, it said he's seen him a far off and he ran out to meet him because time didn't fail him. 336 00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:24,000 Some of us need to hold on because God is heard. 337 00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:26,000 Man and woman of faith, God is heard. 338 00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:29,000 The prodigals that are wondering, the prodigals that are wayward. 339 00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:31,000 I don't know what time will do. 340 00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:37,000 I don't know time's effect on them, but time, time, time is after them. 341 00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:41,000 We know that the day and hour in which we're living, time is at a premium. 342 00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:42,000 It's in a valuable moment. 343 00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:48,000 So we must seek the face of God so that we be fathers who are able to stand and present 344 00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:54,000 and stand ourself whole with our families. 345 00:23:54,000 --> 00:24:00,000 Men of faith. 346 00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:05,000 Abraham, by faith, took his son Isaac, his only son. 347 00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:13,000 Isaac, you and I know he had another son, but he only had one son, a promise. 348 00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:16,000 By faith, he took him to Moriah. 349 00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:22,000 All these mentioned distribute and demonstrate faith and power. 350 00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:26,000 Noah protected his family, though. 351 00:24:26,000 --> 00:24:30,000 Noah protected his family with his faith and by his faith. 352 00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:31,000 He prepared an ark. 353 00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:35,000 Noah protected his family with a spiritual ear. 354 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:36,000 He was listening to the voice of God. 355 00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:38,000 He heard the voice of God. 356 00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:45,000 Men, are you tuned in to hear what God's saying to you about your family? 357 00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:50,000 We need to realize that one day when we stand before him, we're going to have to give an 358 00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:54,000 account as the head of our home. 359 00:24:54,000 --> 00:25:00,000 Oh, I know that we don't like to hear that, but it's still a reality. 360 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:03,000 We're going to give an account. 361 00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:04,000 And you know what? 362 00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:08,000 I want to stand blameless. 363 00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:11,000 I want to stand and say, yes, Lord, I told him. 364 00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:12,000 Yes, Lord, I warned him. 365 00:25:12,000 --> 00:25:13,000 Yes, Lord, I taught him. 366 00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:16,000 Yes, Lord, I demonstrated it in front of them. 367 00:25:16,000 --> 00:25:17,000 Yes, Lord. 368 00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:22,000 So that he can't look at me and say you failed in your spiritual responsibility. 369 00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:23,000 I don't want to hear that. 370 00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:29,000 So I'm doing everything possible not to. 371 00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:32,000 Is it popular sometimes at home? 372 00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:35,000 No, it isn't. 373 00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:44,000 It wasn't when you chunk CDs out the window, had nothing but garbage on them. 374 00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:45,000 And then you start hearing the fit. 375 00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:46,000 That wasn't mine. 376 00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:47,000 I borrowed that from so-and-so. 377 00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:49,000 I said so-and-so should not have loaned it. 378 00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:51,000 Chunk. 379 00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:55,000 Not in my car, not in my ears. 380 00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:57,000 Do you really believe that? 381 00:25:57,000 --> 00:25:59,000 Yes, I do. 382 00:25:59,000 --> 00:26:00,000 Did you really do that? 383 00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:01,000 Yes, I did. 384 00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:02,000 Ask him. 385 00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:09,000 Because I know where the sounds penetrate. 386 00:26:09,000 --> 00:26:11,000 How do you know that? 387 00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:17,000 Because it's where they penetrated my mind and my soul, and I had to get victory over it. 388 00:26:17,000 --> 00:26:20,000 So what are you doing trying to spare them the battle? 389 00:26:20,000 --> 00:26:23,000 Get in there, mama and daddy. 390 00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:25,000 Get in that game room. 391 00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:27,000 Get that junk out of your home. 392 00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:29,000 Destroy it. 393 00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:30,000 Let them puff up. 394 00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:31,000 Let them get mad. 395 00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:37,000 But you're overwatching their soul. 396 00:26:37,000 --> 00:26:39,000 Whoo! 397 00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:42,000 Happy Father's Day. 398 00:26:42,000 --> 00:26:49,000 And if they puff up, yeah, come on, somebody say that again. 399 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:55,000 Jack them up. 400 00:26:55,000 --> 00:27:00,000 Spare the rod, you spoil the little heathen. 401 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:08,000 You'll come closer to making a saint out of one of them when you do not spare the rod. 402 00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:12,000 God chastises the son that he loves. 403 00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:16,000 If you love them, don't let them smart off to you. 404 00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:25,000 That's a pet peeve. 405 00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:33,000 I don't know if it's preaching or what. 406 00:27:33,000 --> 00:27:37,000 Every man in this house, thank you for being here today. 407 00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:44,000 Before I walked up here, I looked up the stat on the least attended Sunday of the year. 408 00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:46,000 Guess what it is? 409 00:27:46,000 --> 00:27:48,000 Father's Day. 410 00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:50,000 Thank you for being in the House of the Lord today. 411 00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:53,000 I'm trying to pick you up, not tear you down. 412 00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:56,000 I'm trying to help you out, trying to support you here today. 413 00:27:56,000 --> 00:28:01,000 To be a man of God, to be a man of faith, to protect your family with your faith like Noah did. 414 00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:05,000 To protect your family with the reverence and the fear of God. 415 00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:13,000 Part of our problem today is people have lost their fear and awe and revere of God and who God is, right? 416 00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:20,000 Noah protected his family in his preparation of the ark. 417 00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:22,000 He saved his family. 418 00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:27,000 He protected his family with his faith that he had in God, trust he had in God. 419 00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:29,000 You can protect your family in a lot of different ways. 420 00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:32,000 Smith and Wesson is one of them. 421 00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:34,000 Winchester is another. 422 00:28:34,000 --> 00:28:37,000 These are just examples. 423 00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:43,000 Rottweilers, Dobermans. 424 00:28:43,000 --> 00:28:46,000 There's different ways you can protect your families. 425 00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:48,000 Ring doorbells can help protect your family. 426 00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:53,000 Secured properties, secured locks on your doors can help protect your family. 427 00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:58,000 But there's no greater protection than the faith that you have over them 428 00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:01,000 and how you bring them and present them to the house of God. 429 00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:03,000 There is no greater protection. 430 00:29:03,000 --> 00:29:05,000 I know they're going to be prodigals. 431 00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:06,000 I know they're going to go wayward. 432 00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:12,000 But one thing they cannot say when they find themselves in the hog lot of life 433 00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:21,000 is that they don't know what was right. 434 00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:23,000 Noah protected his family by faith. 435 00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:28,000 Noah being warned of God of things not seen as yet. 436 00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:32,000 Being warned of God of things not seen yet. 437 00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:38,000 Not one drop of rain had ever fell in Noah's time. 438 00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:39,000 Not one drop. 439 00:29:39,000 --> 00:29:40,000 It didn't rain. 440 00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:43,000 The earth was watered with the dew of the ground. 441 00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:45,000 That's how all the greenery was watered. 442 00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:47,000 That's how life was sustained. 443 00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:50,000 Not one drop of rain. 444 00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:54,000 But then Noah hears from God, build an ark. 445 00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:56,000 It's going to rain. 446 00:29:56,000 --> 00:30:00,000 It's going to what? 447 00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:04,000 Being warned of things that had never been seen. 448 00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:07,000 Can I tell you there's some things coming the way of these youngins 449 00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:11,000 that have never been seen in our lifetime? 450 00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:15,000 I've watched mine go through things and situations that I had no clue about. 451 00:30:15,000 --> 00:30:20,000 Amen, until I was way grown and had had them and raised them before. 452 00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:22,000 I even knew some of this stuff was out there. 453 00:30:22,000 --> 00:30:24,000 And it's the same way going on in their generation. 454 00:30:24,000 --> 00:30:26,000 And we need to hear the warning. 455 00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:31,000 If God tears, if the rapture don't take place soon, they need to be warned. 456 00:30:31,000 --> 00:30:34,000 And we are the ones who warn them because God is sending a word to us 457 00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:38,000 to be men of God, men of faith that we become men of power. 458 00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:39,000 Faith protects. 459 00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:40,000 Faith watches over. 460 00:30:40,000 --> 00:30:44,000 Faith delivers and faith preserves. 461 00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:46,000 Faith saves. 462 00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:48,000 Did you know that? 463 00:30:48,000 --> 00:30:49,000 Acts 16, 31. 464 00:30:49,000 --> 00:30:55,000 And they said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. 465 00:30:55,000 --> 00:30:58,000 And thy house. 466 00:30:58,000 --> 00:31:01,000 This is the Philippian jailer who comes in, Paul and Silas, 467 00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:04,000 who he had been given charge over. 468 00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:05,000 The place is shaken. 469 00:31:05,000 --> 00:31:06,000 They've prayed. 470 00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:07,000 They've sung hymns. 471 00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:09,000 And the glory of God moved. 472 00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:10,000 The doors are open. 473 00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:12,000 The shackles are off their hands and feet. 474 00:31:12,000 --> 00:31:17,000 And here comes the jailer running in because he knows his life is in jeopardy. 475 00:31:17,000 --> 00:31:20,000 If they're not there, he comes sliding into the room. 476 00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:21,000 Hold on, son. 477 00:31:21,000 --> 00:31:22,000 Everything's going to be all right. 478 00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:24,000 Don't take your life. 479 00:31:24,000 --> 00:31:26,000 Believe in God. 480 00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:28,000 And you shall be saved. 481 00:31:28,000 --> 00:31:29,000 Faith saves. 482 00:31:29,000 --> 00:31:38,000 You're not with the confession of our mouth, the believing of our heart, 483 00:31:38,000 --> 00:31:43,000 who he is, Romans 10, 9, and 10. 484 00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:44,000 That's how we're saved. 485 00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:49,000 That's how we're delivered. 486 00:31:49,000 --> 00:31:54,000 As we protect our families, as Noah protected his, 487 00:31:54,000 --> 00:31:58,000 you realize our faith is demonstrated in our worship. 488 00:31:58,000 --> 00:32:00,000 Men. 489 00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:05,000 I think that's one reason that I'm so moved every time we have a Men on the 490 00:32:05,000 --> 00:32:09,000 Mountain gathering. 491 00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:14,000 Anywhere from two to 400 men over the past 20 years have gathered at Men on the 492 00:32:14,000 --> 00:32:16,000 Mountain to worship. 493 00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:21,000 And it never ceases to amaze me when I see men. 494 00:32:21,000 --> 00:32:23,000 I'm talking rough. 495 00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:27,000 Some of them, ooh, hardcore. 496 00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:28,000 Redneck. 497 00:32:28,000 --> 00:32:30,000 Come on. 498 00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:33,000 That's what I'm talking about. 499 00:32:33,000 --> 00:32:36,000 And they're standing there with mud on them where they've been out over the 500 00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:40,000 mountain trail riding their four-wheelers or horses, and they just come right in 501 00:32:40,000 --> 00:32:46,000 right down to church, and they lift those hands. 502 00:32:46,000 --> 00:32:51,000 I told the band, Brother Brian and them, we're doing the worship one year, and I 503 00:32:51,000 --> 00:32:53,000 told them, I said, y'all go down there about 30 minutes early and just start 504 00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:54,000 jamming. 505 00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:58,000 Well, they got down there to start jamming, they sprung up like a jack-in-the-box 506 00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:02,000 lid come open, and they stood for 30 extra minutes and they worshiped. 507 00:33:02,000 --> 00:33:09,000 And the presence of God come in, and the glory fell, and men, grown men wept. 508 00:33:09,000 --> 00:33:12,000 Hot tears as they worshiped God. 509 00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:18,000 You talking about a moving experience to see men worship. 510 00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:24,000 And then we sprinkle back in on Sundays, and we got to revive that spirit on us. 511 00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:26,000 I'm closing with this. 512 00:33:26,000 --> 00:33:29,000 Somebody say hurry up, quit. 513 00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:34,000 Men of faith, men of God, men of power. 514 00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:39,000 There are several characteristics that accompany a man of power. 515 00:33:39,000 --> 00:33:41,000 Integrity. 516 00:33:41,000 --> 00:33:43,000 Humility. 517 00:33:43,000 --> 00:33:45,000 Loyalty. 518 00:33:45,000 --> 00:33:47,000 Having a teachable spirit. 519 00:33:47,000 --> 00:33:49,000 Honesty. 520 00:33:49,000 --> 00:33:51,000 Qualities. 521 00:33:51,000 --> 00:33:58,000 Revealed in scripture as well as through men who believe God. 522 00:33:58,000 --> 00:34:02,000 Job, he had his own set of troubles, didn't he? 523 00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:09,000 Enoch walked with God and was not, for God took him. 524 00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:14,000 David had his own issues with sin, didn't he? 525 00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:19,000 But he was a man after God's own heart. 526 00:34:19,000 --> 00:34:24,000 Because he, when confronted, would repent. 527 00:34:24,000 --> 00:34:28,000 When confronted, would repent. 528 00:34:28,000 --> 00:34:33,000 Cornelius, Cornelius ended up being a man of power. 529 00:34:33,000 --> 00:34:35,000 A man outside of the covenant. 530 00:34:35,000 --> 00:34:42,000 But yet, when the angels stood before Peter, he said, look, there's a man over here you 531 00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:45,000 need to go see. 532 00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:51,000 Do you know what got God's attention about Cornelius? 533 00:34:51,000 --> 00:35:02,000 When the angel met him to give him his message to sin for Peter, he said, your alms, your alms, your giving. 534 00:35:02,000 --> 00:35:06,000 Not his faith, none of those things. 535 00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:08,000 His giving. 536 00:35:08,000 --> 00:35:13,000 Your alms have come up before the Lord. 537 00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:17,000 It's important, folks. 538 00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:22,000 And because of that, God is going to move on you and your household. 539 00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:24,000 Isn't that something? 540 00:35:24,000 --> 00:35:30,000 Because of your giving, your generosity, sin for Peter. 541 00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:34,000 Cornelius, he gets saved. 542 00:35:34,000 --> 00:35:36,000 His whole house gets saved. 543 00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:41,000 And while they're standing there, the Holy Ghost fell. 544 00:35:41,000 --> 00:35:46,000 Ah, the Holy Ghost fell on Cornelius' house. 545 00:35:46,000 --> 00:35:50,000 As it did in Jerusalem in the upper room. 546 00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:57,000 And he became not only a man of God, a man of faith, but he was endued with power from on high. 547 00:35:57,000 --> 00:36:01,000 Like what Jesus said in Luke 24, 49. 548 00:36:01,000 --> 00:36:06,000 Go, tear you in Jerusalem until you be endued with power. 549 00:36:06,000 --> 00:36:15,000 We need a few more men full of the Holy Ghost. 550 00:36:15,000 --> 00:36:17,000 True man of power knows who the source is. 551 00:36:17,000 --> 00:36:20,000 Stand with me and I'm closing. 552 00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:25,000 Second Samuel 22, 31 through 33 reads as thus. 553 00:36:25,000 --> 00:36:30,000 This is a hymn, a song that David had written. 554 00:36:30,000 --> 00:36:33,000 As for God, his way is perfect. 555 00:36:33,000 --> 00:36:34,000 Can you say that with me? 556 00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:37,000 His way is perfect. 557 00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:40,000 The word of the Lord is tried. 558 00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:44,000 He is a buckler to all them that trust in him. 559 00:36:44,000 --> 00:36:46,000 For who is God? 560 00:36:46,000 --> 00:36:48,000 Save the Lord. 561 00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:50,000 And who is a rock? 562 00:36:50,000 --> 00:36:52,000 Save our God. 563 00:36:52,000 --> 00:36:57,000 God is my strength and power. 564 00:36:57,000 --> 00:37:04,000 And he maketh my way perfect. 565 00:37:04,000 --> 00:37:17,000 For some reason, the fall of sin in the garden brought about a stubbornness on humanity. 566 00:37:17,000 --> 00:37:23,000 And that stubbornness sets no greater than it does on a man. 567 00:37:23,000 --> 00:37:25,000 Come on, brethren. 568 00:37:25,000 --> 00:37:32,000 Stubborn. 569 00:37:32,000 --> 00:37:36,000 How many of you have never been lost when you're driving? 570 00:37:36,000 --> 00:37:40,000 But you were so far away from the intended destination. 571 00:37:40,000 --> 00:37:45,000 But you weren't lost. 572 00:37:45,000 --> 00:37:48,000 No matter how many times you were encouraged, are we lost? 573 00:37:48,000 --> 00:37:51,000 No. 574 00:37:51,000 --> 00:37:52,000 No, we're not lost. 575 00:37:52,000 --> 00:37:53,000 Well, stop and ask somebody. 576 00:37:53,000 --> 00:38:00,000 That's a cardinal sin for a man to ask. 577 00:38:00,000 --> 00:38:05,000 First of all, not how do I get there, but where am I? 578 00:38:05,000 --> 00:38:09,000 Where are we? 579 00:38:09,000 --> 00:38:14,000 How many of you still try to get there, brethren, without Siri? 580 00:38:14,000 --> 00:38:15,000 Give in. 581 00:38:15,000 --> 00:38:20,000 She knows better. 582 00:38:20,000 --> 00:38:31,000 Speaking of her, that talk to text, you know, comes through the radio. 583 00:38:31,000 --> 00:38:37,000 I got a text the other day from some of those beloved pastoral friends of mine, and my reply to them was stupid. 584 00:38:37,000 --> 00:38:39,000 That was my word. 585 00:38:39,000 --> 00:38:42,000 Well, Siri took it personal. 586 00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:44,000 I'm not kidding you. 587 00:38:44,000 --> 00:38:52,000 Come on there and said, I'm sorry, I'm just trying to do my job. 588 00:38:52,000 --> 00:38:54,000 Am I not right? 589 00:38:54,000 --> 00:38:57,000 I thought, what? 590 00:38:57,000 --> 00:39:01,000 I was replying to the group, not to you, Siri. 591 00:39:01,000 --> 00:39:06,000 My response should have been when she said, do you wish to reply to the group? 592 00:39:06,000 --> 00:39:08,000 Yes. 593 00:39:08,000 --> 00:39:24,000 But what they said was so far out there, I just said stupid, and she got offended. 594 00:39:24,000 --> 00:39:31,000 Don't be stubborn, brethren. 595 00:39:31,000 --> 00:39:36,000 Meekness is not weakness. 596 00:39:36,000 --> 00:39:39,000 Meekness is not weakness. 597 00:39:39,000 --> 00:39:44,000 Don't be stubborn. 598 00:39:44,000 --> 00:39:50,000 Especially don't be stubborn with God. 599 00:39:50,000 --> 00:39:54,000 He is your strength and He is your power. 600 00:39:54,000 --> 00:39:59,000 You can't do this on your own. 601 00:39:59,000 --> 00:40:04,000 You don't have enough wherewithal to do it without His wisdom and His knowledge. 602 00:40:04,000 --> 00:40:10,000 Oh, I know we like to think we can. 603 00:40:10,000 --> 00:40:22,000 How many of you besides myself get ready to put something together, you do not need the instructions, you need the picture on the box? 604 00:40:22,000 --> 00:40:30,000 And how many of you like myself have had a pretty good pile of hardware left over? 605 00:40:30,000 --> 00:40:32,000 Yeah. 606 00:40:32,000 --> 00:40:40,000 That's the way it is in life when we just try to put this thing together without following the instructions. 607 00:40:40,000 --> 00:40:45,000 There's one thing that you cannot distrust to the picture on the box. 608 00:40:45,000 --> 00:40:50,000 You've actually got to get into the instructions. 609 00:40:50,000 --> 00:40:58,000 I want to pray over us all today because it applies to each of us, male and female. 610 00:40:58,000 --> 00:41:02,000 We need to be men and women of God. 611 00:41:02,000 --> 00:41:06,000 And we do get stubborn sometimes. 612 00:41:06,000 --> 00:41:09,000 Let's don't be stubborn with the Spirit. 613 00:41:09,000 --> 00:41:12,000 Let your heart be pliable. 614 00:41:12,000 --> 00:41:14,000 Let Him speak into your life. 615 00:41:14,000 --> 00:41:15,000 Let Him direct you. 616 00:41:15,000 --> 00:41:19,000 Let Him help you. 617 00:41:19,000 --> 00:41:26,000 Men of God, so that our faith will become umbrellas for our families. 618 00:41:26,000 --> 00:41:35,000 That one day, if they're wayward, if they're prodigal, that one day they'll look back and they can look at you. 619 00:41:35,000 --> 00:41:40,000 And remember, while they were under that umbrella, things were different. 620 00:41:40,000 --> 00:41:42,000 Amen. 621 00:41:42,000 --> 00:41:53,000 I think that's one of the weakest moments I feel in my life sometimes is when I cannot control their lives. 622 00:41:53,000 --> 00:42:09,000 And then, at times I still think there's six, seven, and eight, and I know how to fix it at six, seven, and eight. 623 00:42:09,000 --> 00:42:15,000 But at 30 plus and 30 plus, they're all over 30 now. 624 00:42:15,000 --> 00:42:21,000 I think the only one that would receive anything from that mode would just be me. 625 00:42:21,000 --> 00:42:26,000 Father, I love you today. 626 00:42:26,000 --> 00:42:33,000 Lord, we're standing here in your presence, grateful and thankful. 627 00:42:33,000 --> 00:42:48,000 I pray for every male in this house to be men of God, men of faith, men of power. 628 00:42:48,000 --> 00:42:50,000 Lord, we need your holy name. 629 00:42:50,000 --> 00:42:55,000 If you're in here and you're not baptized in the Holy Ghost, I'm going to encourage you to start seeking after, 630 00:42:55,000 --> 00:43:04,000 start reading after, start longing after, start yearning for the gift of the Holy Ghost. 631 00:43:04,000 --> 00:43:06,000 I don't understand it. 632 00:43:06,000 --> 00:43:08,000 We'll talk about it. 633 00:43:08,000 --> 00:43:10,000 We've been talking about it. 634 00:43:10,000 --> 00:43:16,000 Wednesday nights, a couple months now, we've been talking about the Spirit, the gift of the Spirit, 635 00:43:16,000 --> 00:43:24,000 and indwelling power of the Holy Ghost over the household of faith, Father. 636 00:43:24,000 --> 00:43:31,000 Encourage, strengthen, empower. 637 00:43:31,000 --> 00:43:34,000 How many of you today know that you've got a struggle going on in your homes? 638 00:43:34,000 --> 00:43:35,000 Lift your hand. 639 00:43:35,000 --> 00:43:36,000 The enemy's out there. 640 00:43:36,000 --> 00:43:39,000 The enemy's trying to steal, kill, and destroy. 641 00:43:39,000 --> 00:43:44,000 Father, every hand that's lifted up, I pray, Lord, that you move on their situation. 642 00:43:44,000 --> 00:43:49,000 I pray that you move in that dilemma, that circumstance, that crisis moment. 643 00:43:49,000 --> 00:43:53,000 God, we pray right now that you move in, move over, take over this situation. 644 00:43:53,000 --> 00:43:55,000 We surrender it to you. 645 00:43:55,000 --> 00:43:58,000 Lord, if I've been stubborn, I'm getting out of the way right now. 646 00:43:58,000 --> 00:44:00,000 I need directions. 647 00:44:00,000 --> 00:44:01,000 I need instruction. 648 00:44:01,000 --> 00:44:03,000 I need it today, Lord. 649 00:44:03,000 --> 00:44:08,000 If you're here and need healing today with hands lifted, I know that he's able to heal you, 650 00:44:08,000 --> 00:44:13,000 to touch you right where you're standing, and move situations out of the way. 651 00:44:13,000 --> 00:44:15,000 He is able. 652 00:44:15,000 --> 00:44:17,000 Touch the household of faith this morning, Father. 653 00:44:17,000 --> 00:44:21,000 Move and minister in a mighty and powerful way. 654 00:44:21,000 --> 00:44:23,000 We'll be quick to praise you. 655 00:44:23,000 --> 00:44:25,000 In Christ's lovely name. 656 00:44:25,000 --> 00:44:28,000 And the church says, amen. 657 00:44:28,000 --> 00:44:43,000 Give the Lord a good handclap of praise, would you?