WEBVTT

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Welcome to the Word of the Lord, the weekly television

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broadcast of Living Word Christian Church, proclaiming

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the good news of the gospel of the Lord Jesus

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Christ. Pastor Mark Clements, in -depth, relevant

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biblical teachings will help you in life and

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living in today's world. Now, let's join Pastor

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Clements in the service already in progress.

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Let's take our Bibles and let's look at a couple

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of... a couple of openings in them from the Gospel

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of Mark to start with. And then we're going to

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take up that question. Please remember that we're

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taking these first services in 2025, and we're

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looking into our statement of faith. And our

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statement of faith... At this particular time,

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we're in the process of revising it, not changing

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it, just reordering it. But there are 22 different,

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and I believe we passed these out too. It's available

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on our church website as well. 22 different items

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that we believe. Now, this isn't everything that

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we believe, but many of the... major doctrines

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of the Bible that we stand by. For instance,

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number eight, that salvation, eternal salvation,

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salvation unto everlasting life, is by grace

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through faith, not of works. And we give Bible

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verses for that. primarily Ephesians 2, 8 and

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9, amongst some others. Number nine in our statement

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of faith is it is God's will that all be saved.

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Now, you might be surprised that Protestant churches

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that do not hold that as one of their beliefs,

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that all should be saved. And yet we find in

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our Bible, amongst other verses, we find 1 Timothy

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2. Verse 4, it says that He wills that all would

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be saved and come to the full knowledge of the

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truth. Number 10 in our statement of faith is

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without being born again, no one can enter the

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kingdom of heaven. That's not a universally held

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doctrine. But we hold it because it's in the

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Bible. And it's in the Bible amongst other places

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in John 3 and verse 3. John 3 and verse 3. Except

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a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom

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of God. So we're very safe in what we believe

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as long as we can support it with God's Word.

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We're on very shaky ground. As a matter of fact,

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We're unable to support our beliefs if we can't

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find them in the Bible. If we can't find them

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in the Bible. Now, there are people who believe

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God's favorite color is purple. But they can't

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support that by the Bible. There are others that

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believe his favorite colors are green and gold.

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But they're from Wisconsin. You know, we start

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talking about God's favorite food. and his favorite

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make of automobile and his favorite. We don't

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have verses. We don't have scripture. And the

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only, not just for a church, but for you personally.

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Now I've watched this. I've watched this. You

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just turn to the middle while I'm speaking to

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Ephesians chapter four. Back to Ephesians chapter

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four. I've watched this my whole life. I've watched

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the difference between stable and unstable Christian

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people. Stable people who are consistent. Stable

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people who are grounded and founded soundly.

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It's always because God's Word, the Bible is

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God's Word, and it does not change. And you want

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to build your life. on something that's unshakable

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and immovable, that does not change with the

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wind, that doesn't change with society, it doesn't

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change generation to generation. See, I watch

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a lot of Christian people that are inconsistent

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and unpredictable and unreliable, and they're

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up one minute, they're not up one day and down

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the next day, they're up one minute and down

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the next minute, and then they're back up, and

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then they're back down, and then they're down

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farther, and then they're back up. And they're

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back and forth and they're in and out and they're

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out and in and they're forth and back and they're

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down and up and they're up and down. And their

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life shows no stability and no consistency. Because

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they're not thoroughly, as it says of Abraham,

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they're not fully persuaded about what God said.

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They're not totally convinced. They bought into

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the lie that it's just a book of men's writings.

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people's opinions and stories and myths and fables.

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And some of it's true and some of it's not. As

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long as you have that kind of Christian biblical

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view, you're going to be unstable. You're going

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to be inconsistent. You're going to be down and

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up and up and down and back and forth and forth

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and back. And you're going to be in and out and

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out and in. And you're going to be tossed to

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and fro. The Bible says right here in Ephesians

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chapter 4, by every wind of doctrine. Because

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you have no stability in your life. You make

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the Bible, you make God's word, your firm, sure

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foundation. You're going to be a person whose

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beliefs never change. Now you may be enlightened

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further and further into scripture, but you're

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not going to have to deal with people telling

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you things like I had to deal with growing up.

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And that's things like, well, God didn't really

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mean that for everybody. Well, how do I know

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then that he meant it for me? Well, that's not

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for us today. Well, when did today begin? It

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was for you yesterday, but it's not for us today.

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When did yesterday end and today begin? Or has

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today begun yet? See, I just don't know. I'm

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always grasping, and there's nothing certain.

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There's nothing sure. I'm like a bobber that's

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attached to nothing out in the middle of the

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lake, just being thrown all over the place. And

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one person comes and says it's God's will to

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save everybody, and the next person comes and

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says it's not God's will to save everybody. It's

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only a few and another says it's for all. I never

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am sure whether it's for me or not. I get someone

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telling me that passed away when the last apostle

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died. Well, what year was that? That was only

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for the early church. When was the early church?

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Paul and I were driving down through Texas. We

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were in Dallas. I wanted to see Brother Hagin's

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home birthplace because he was born in the south

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bedroom of 403 North College Street in the city

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of McKinney, Texas. And I've heard his... testimony

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so many times i i never tried to memorize it

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so we drove to mckinney texas and we found college

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street north college street we found we found

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403 and we found the south bedroom took a picture

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of it thank the lord for his ministry and his

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life and how it's been such a great help and

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then on the way back to dallas we we we we come

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up to this little church and i mean it was on

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a sharp corner and i got to look at it like all

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the way around the corner And I stopped the car.

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Paula said, what are you doing? I said, give

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me the camera. Give me the camera. See, that's

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back when we had cameras. We didn't take pictures

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with our phones. Give me the camera. Give me

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the camera. And I took a picture of their church

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sign. Because I wanted a record of their church

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sign. Because I liked the name of their church.

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You know what the name of their church was? The

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early church. They get tired of everybody saying

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that all those blessings were just for the early

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church, so they just named theirs the early church.

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That was only for the early church, so that's

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what they named theirs. No, no, no. I read it

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in my Bible one day. See, the arch enemy of ignorance

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is knowledge. You just start reading your Bible

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and just take it right now and just kind of hold

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it up like this. It makes demons nervous. Just

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grabbing your Bible. And then when you open it

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up, they just have a, they faint. They just drop

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out. And then when you start reading it and then

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apply it and speaking it and doing it, they're

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out of there. Make the devil nervous and just

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take your Bible and shake it every now and again.

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See, when you start reading your Bible, ignorance,

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the spiritual ignorance is just going to, the

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entrance of your word giveth light and bringeth

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understanding to the simple. And when you read

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your Bible, I started reading things in my Bible.

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I'd go to Paul. We were just newly married, 20,

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21 years old, 22 years old, 23 years old. Look

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what I found in my Bible. Look what it says right

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here. It says, I am the Lord. I never change.

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Well, what do you think that means? Well, I think

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it means he's the Lord and he never changes.

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I'm just, I'm a simple folk. And I just believe

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that what he said, what he meant, he meant what

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he said. And he didn't heal just because the

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church changed and that was the early church

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and now it's full of doubters and unbelievers

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and people that don't take him literally anymore

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because you can't take the Bible literally. Who

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said that? Who told you that? That that's not

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for us today. You don't find one verse nowhere,

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anywhere in the Bible does it say the promises

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of God are not for us today. And see, if he was

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the healer in the Old Testament and in Exodus

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15, 26, he said, I am the Lord that healeth.

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I'm the healer. I'm the healer. And then he added

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you. So you can't, I'm the Lord that healeth.

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I am the Lord that healeth me. Me. Me. 1 Peter

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2 .24 says, He him own self, his own self, bore

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our sins in his own body. That's ours, yours

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and mine. He's got us together at that part of

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the verse. That we being dead to sins should

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live under righteousness. By whose, this is Jesus,

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by whose stripes? Me. You were healed. Not all

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of them, not everybody else, not the early church,

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not till the last apostle died, not just in Exodus

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chapter 15. You. You were. You were. You were.

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I was, and therefore, I am. Yeah, I am. See,

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the Bible is for me. When I quit believing the

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lies and the demonically influenced doctrines,

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that it might not be for you and you just never

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know what God will do. And it's up for some people

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and others. And He doesn't want everybody talking

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in tongues. He doesn't want everybody baptized

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in the Holy Spirit. Where did that come from?

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It didn't come from this Bible. And so when I

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just stopped believing what people said and just

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believed what God's Word said, funny, funny.

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Then it became God's will for me to be saved.

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Then it became God's will for me to be baptized

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in the Holy Ghost. Then it became God's will

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for me to be strong. Then it became God's will

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for me to be righteous. And then it became God's

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will for me to be healed. And I'm healed. God's

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Word has to be the foundation for your Christian

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life. And it has to be the absolute foundation

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of what you believe. And in the same spirit of

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Abraham, you are fully persuaded that what God

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has promised. And base it on what He said. What

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He said. All right, did you find Mark chapter

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4? If you don't do that, well, we didn't read

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Ephesians chapter 4 yet. All right. All right.

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Verse 14, that we be henceforth no more children.

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That means, you know, you start off as a child.

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Remember 1 Peter 2 .2? As newborn babes. How

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many of you remember when you were born again?

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I don't mean the exact second, on the exact day,

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on the exact day. But I mean, you can think back

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and you can remember. I accepted Jesus. I was

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born again. And you start off as a baby. No,

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no, no. Tim, run up here real quick. Run. Jump.

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Jump. Like dive up here. Okay, I see your mama

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was sitting right one row behind you. Was he

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this big when he came out? Relax, don't let your

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mind wander. I mean, how tall are you now? Like

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6 '19"? 6 '4", probably 200 pounds and solid

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muscle. No, nobody's born again. Nobody's born

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again fully developed. But that's God's will.

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That's God's will for us that we desire the sincere

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milk of the word that we may grow thereby. That

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you may grow thereby. And no, you start off as

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an infant. I mean, you weren't six foot three.

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You were probably just like every other kid in

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America. You were 19 and a half inches. You were

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seven pounds and four ounces. You had a full

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head of hair and everything else. We talk about

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those kids. And he didn't come out like 19 pounds,

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did he? No. OK. All right. You know, we start

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as newborn babes. Every one of us born again.

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When you're born, you're a child. And the three

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stages of. Spiritual development are found in

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1 John, and they are childhood, babies, infants,

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children, and then young adults, and then fully

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mature, fully developed adults. It has nothing

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to do with your age in years. You find people

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in their 20s and 30s that are highly developed,

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mature Christians. And you find people in their

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60s and 70s and 80s, and they're still neophytes.

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They're still babies. You find people with very

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developed certain areas of their Christian life,

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like love or like peace or like generosity. And

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yet in some of the other areas, they're still

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really struggling and need further development.

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You know, I'd look pretty strange if I had one

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leg as a fully developed 65 -year -old man and

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the other leg was like a seven -year -old child.

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That'd look pretty odd. If the muscles on this

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arm were a fully developed bodybuilder like I

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am, and this arm over here was like a four -month

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-old child, there'd be something wrong, wouldn't

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there? See? He wants us to develop in all arenas

00:15:06.330 --> 00:15:12.350
and all areas, spiritually, just like we do naturally,

00:15:12.470 --> 00:15:17.909
just like... We do mentally and emotionally.

00:15:21.029 --> 00:15:25.250
That we be no more children. He doesn't want

00:15:25.250 --> 00:15:27.250
us to be children. Everybody starts there. But

00:15:27.250 --> 00:15:30.690
that we be no more children. Notice it. Tossed

00:15:30.690 --> 00:15:36.350
to and fro. Back and forth. Carried about by

00:15:36.350 --> 00:15:40.559
every wind of doctrine. By the slight of men

00:15:40.559 --> 00:15:43.679
and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait

00:15:43.679 --> 00:15:50.799
to deceive. Ground yourself in the Word of God.

00:15:51.240 --> 00:15:54.159
Familiarize yourself with the Word of God. Let

00:15:54.159 --> 00:15:58.779
the Word of God be the final authority for what

00:15:58.779 --> 00:16:03.220
you believe and why you believe it. Let the word

00:16:03.220 --> 00:16:05.720
of God be the final authority. Let it be your

00:16:05.720 --> 00:16:08.720
initial source where you go first to look and

00:16:08.720 --> 00:16:11.879
let God's word be the final authority. Have the

00:16:11.879 --> 00:16:16.820
final say. And you'll not be tossed to and fro

00:16:16.820 --> 00:16:20.279
and back and forth and change your beliefs and

00:16:20.279 --> 00:16:22.539
change your opinions and change your attitudes.

00:16:22.679 --> 00:16:24.399
You'll just see it in the Bible and say that

00:16:24.399 --> 00:16:27.240
settles it. Forever, oh Lord, your word is settled

00:16:27.240 --> 00:16:30.940
in heaven. Psalm 119, verse 89. Forever, O Lord,

00:16:31.039 --> 00:16:33.580
your word is settled in Mark. Forever, O Lord,

00:16:33.639 --> 00:16:35.159
your word is settled in the Clements household.

00:16:35.840 --> 00:16:38.899
Forever, O Lord. And if one of the Clements members

00:16:38.899 --> 00:16:42.519
comes up, me included, and says, well, let me

00:16:42.519 --> 00:16:44.399
tell you what I believe about that. We're just

00:16:44.399 --> 00:16:47.440
going to have a talk with him and just say, where

00:16:47.440 --> 00:16:54.299
is it in here? Where is it in here? If it's of

00:16:54.299 --> 00:16:58.399
spiritual consequence, and especially if it's

00:16:58.399 --> 00:17:01.200
of eternal consequence, it's going to be in God's

00:17:01.200 --> 00:17:05.359
Word. It's going to be in God's Word. Now, I'll

00:17:05.359 --> 00:17:08.039
save the Mark chapter 4 for next week. Just for

00:17:08.039 --> 00:17:12.319
time's sake, I want to look with you at 1 Corinthians

00:17:12.319 --> 00:17:16.599
14, and then we'll go to 1 Corinthians 13, and

00:17:16.599 --> 00:17:19.400
so we'll be right there. 1 Corinthians, say it

00:17:19.400 --> 00:17:25.789
with me. 1 Corinthians 14. And then we'll also

00:17:25.789 --> 00:17:35.769
briefly share 13. We'll also share 13. 1 Corinthians

00:17:35.769 --> 00:17:39.410
chapter 14. Now, I've said this on a number of

00:17:39.410 --> 00:17:43.450
occasions. Don't take it back. This is a chapter

00:17:43.450 --> 00:17:47.470
in regard to what takes place in a church service.

00:17:48.130 --> 00:17:53.029
Now, in reality, that's where he... He's at in

00:17:53.029 --> 00:17:57.529
chapter 11. In 1 Corinthians chapter 11, you

00:17:57.529 --> 00:18:01.809
see him talking about, and a lot of people, they'll

00:18:01.809 --> 00:18:05.869
pick the Bible apart topically. And that's all

00:18:05.869 --> 00:18:08.009
right. There are topics, many topics covered

00:18:08.009 --> 00:18:14.069
in the Bible. And yet there can be an issue with

00:18:14.069 --> 00:18:16.490
that. There can be a problem with that. If I

00:18:16.490 --> 00:18:21.750
focus all of my attentiveness on faith. And I

00:18:21.750 --> 00:18:24.349
only look at verses that communicate faith and

00:18:24.349 --> 00:18:29.210
describe faith and define faith and reveal the

00:18:29.210 --> 00:18:33.190
importance of faith. And I only study faith.

00:18:34.390 --> 00:18:37.130
And I take that out of the rest of the Bible

00:18:37.130 --> 00:18:40.069
and that becomes my favorite. That becomes what

00:18:40.069 --> 00:18:42.750
I universally feed on. I'm going to have one

00:18:42.750 --> 00:18:46.769
muscle somewhere on my spiritual anatomy that's

00:18:46.769 --> 00:18:49.980
going to be highly developed. To the expense

00:18:49.980 --> 00:18:52.980
and at the chagrin of many of the other arenas

00:18:52.980 --> 00:18:56.720
and areas. And what it will do is it will not,

00:18:56.740 --> 00:19:01.160
as the Spirit of God's Word has been written,

00:19:01.279 --> 00:19:05.400
it will not take me flowing through to see the

00:19:05.400 --> 00:19:10.640
entire plan of our God. The entire plan of our

00:19:10.640 --> 00:19:13.119
God is bigger than us. It's bigger than our race.

00:19:13.180 --> 00:19:16.180
It's bigger than our creations. It's bigger than

00:19:16.180 --> 00:19:19.299
our redemption. It's bigger than our... time

00:19:19.299 --> 00:19:23.039
plot in history. It's going to go far beyond

00:19:23.039 --> 00:19:25.799
the existence of humans on this earth. It's going

00:19:25.799 --> 00:19:28.460
to extend to where there is no heavens and earth

00:19:28.460 --> 00:19:30.440
as we know it right now, and they're replaced

00:19:30.440 --> 00:19:32.519
with a new heavens and a new earth. It's all

00:19:32.519 --> 00:19:36.880
still within God's great heart and plan to exalt

00:19:36.880 --> 00:19:39.759
and glorify and magnify His Son. And we're caught

00:19:39.759 --> 00:19:43.940
up in that. We're caught up in that. It's not

00:19:43.940 --> 00:19:47.519
just about us. For lack of better terminology,

00:19:47.920 --> 00:19:51.099
God has a point to prove. And He has a lesson

00:19:51.099 --> 00:19:55.380
to teach. And it's being taught. And all of the

00:19:55.380 --> 00:19:59.319
spiritual quote -unquote forces that wanted to

00:19:59.319 --> 00:20:03.880
throw themselves over into and against our great

00:20:03.880 --> 00:20:12.039
and awesome and eternal God have to stand and

00:20:12.039 --> 00:20:16.180
watch. There's no accident that Lucifer was kicked

00:20:16.180 --> 00:20:18.799
out of heaven, and he didn't land on Jupiter.

00:20:20.240 --> 00:20:26.259
He landed on the earth. And God caused the earth,

00:20:26.420 --> 00:20:30.660
covered with water, to be separated out, water

00:20:30.660 --> 00:20:34.579
from land, and created an atmosphere, and created

00:20:34.579 --> 00:20:39.519
vegetation, and created life, and created human

00:20:39.519 --> 00:20:46.009
beings, all after that rebellion in heaven. And

00:20:46.009 --> 00:20:50.529
now, according to your Bible, the third chapter

00:20:50.529 --> 00:20:57.069
of Ephesians, by the church, the many -faceted

00:20:57.069 --> 00:21:02.130
wisdom of God is being demonstrated to the principalities

00:21:02.130 --> 00:21:06.970
and powers by the church. They're learning about

00:21:06.970 --> 00:21:09.890
God's grace. They're learning about God's love.

00:21:09.990 --> 00:21:12.130
They're learning about... Forgiveness and compassion.

00:21:12.470 --> 00:21:15.470
They're learning about the length to which our

00:21:15.470 --> 00:21:18.829
God will go to save those that He's created,

00:21:18.990 --> 00:21:25.410
even becoming one of them which... Who is man?

00:21:25.549 --> 00:21:28.450
What is man? What is man that you are mindful

00:21:28.450 --> 00:21:32.369
of him? He's lower than the angel. He didn't

00:21:32.369 --> 00:21:34.109
become an angel. He became even lower than an

00:21:34.109 --> 00:21:37.809
angel. With a human body, with weakness, has

00:21:37.809 --> 00:21:41.279
to eat, has to drink. has to excrete, sweats,

00:21:41.660 --> 00:21:46.420
has to bathe, has to sleep. God doesn't sleep.

00:21:46.539 --> 00:21:50.000
Neither sleeps nor slumbers. Not one weakness

00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:52.380
in him at all. Yet Jesus grew tired and laid

00:21:52.380 --> 00:21:55.099
his head down on a pillow and slept. You think

00:21:55.099 --> 00:21:57.240
this is all by accident? You think this is just

00:21:57.240 --> 00:22:00.019
some story about somebody's life? This is all

00:22:00.019 --> 00:22:07.920
proving a point. demonstrating the many -faceted

00:22:07.920 --> 00:22:11.140
wisdom of God, showing even those demon spirits

00:22:11.140 --> 00:22:16.440
to what length our God will go to redeem those

00:22:16.440 --> 00:22:21.220
he loves. And they will be without excuse. You

00:22:21.220 --> 00:22:25.380
know your Bible says you'll judge angels? Maybe

00:22:25.380 --> 00:22:27.619
we should maybe think about teaching on that

00:22:27.619 --> 00:22:31.460
one day. Oh yeah, you will judge. Don't you know

00:22:31.460 --> 00:22:33.279
that you'll judge angels? Didn't you just read

00:22:33.279 --> 00:22:36.289
that in 1 Corinthians? Didn't you just read that

00:22:36.289 --> 00:22:38.710
in your daily Bible reading in the epistles?

00:22:39.490 --> 00:22:42.410
You go to law and you sue one another and you

00:22:42.410 --> 00:22:45.089
go against unbelievers. Don't you realize that

00:22:45.089 --> 00:22:48.150
it'll be the church that judges angels? Didn't

00:22:48.150 --> 00:22:51.269
you just read that? This is all bigger than us,

00:22:51.329 --> 00:22:55.329
folks. Every bit of it. We're caught up in it

00:22:55.329 --> 00:23:00.109
and we're the recipients of the grace of God,

00:23:00.269 --> 00:23:03.730
the goodness of God, the love of God, the kindness

00:23:03.730 --> 00:23:08.650
of God. All this stuff about we were on his mind

00:23:08.650 --> 00:23:10.829
and he was thinking about me when he was on the

00:23:10.829 --> 00:23:15.109
cross. You don't have any verses for that. He

00:23:15.109 --> 00:23:17.950
was thinking about the will of our God. That's

00:23:17.950 --> 00:23:19.470
what he came to do. That's what he came to perform.

00:23:19.750 --> 00:23:22.109
He concerned himself with nothing else whatsoever.

00:23:22.849 --> 00:23:28.170
Nothing. I came to do the will of him that sent

00:23:28.170 --> 00:23:30.789
me. I have to be about my father's business.

00:23:32.829 --> 00:23:36.319
Where are you at in your Bible? We're just going

00:23:36.319 --> 00:23:38.140
to run out of time and say, well, that's all

00:23:38.140 --> 00:23:41.059
the time we have. All right, here's the question.

00:23:41.259 --> 00:23:44.900
Here's the question. When a prophet, a New Testament,

00:23:45.680 --> 00:23:48.400
and we saw those verses. We don't have to turn

00:23:48.400 --> 00:23:50.940
back to them, do we? Ephesians 4 .11, God said

00:23:50.940 --> 00:23:54.940
in the church, apostles, prophets, evangelists,

00:23:54.980 --> 00:23:57.400
pastors, and teachers. And then 1 Corinthians

00:23:57.400 --> 00:24:00.539
12 .28, he said in the church. First apostles,

00:24:00.779 --> 00:24:03.420
secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, doesn't

00:24:03.420 --> 00:24:05.980
give any designation on them. So my question,

00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:08.099
first off, when that question was posed to me,

00:24:08.200 --> 00:24:10.359
well, when a prophet speaks and they're anointed

00:24:10.359 --> 00:24:13.680
by God to speak, isn't that the same as the Bible?

00:24:14.480 --> 00:24:18.000
Isn't that the same as the Bible? Well, my question

00:24:18.000 --> 00:24:20.039
would be, why wouldn't it be that way then if

00:24:20.039 --> 00:24:23.279
an apostle spoke? Why wouldn't it be that way

00:24:23.279 --> 00:24:26.369
if a teacher spoke? So what you're trying to

00:24:26.369 --> 00:24:28.190
tell me is every time a teacher speaks under

00:24:28.190 --> 00:24:30.529
the inspiration of God, that's the same as the

00:24:30.529 --> 00:24:38.130
Bible? Hmm. Seems to take away something that's

00:24:38.130 --> 00:24:41.329
a basic tenant of ministry for me, and that's

00:24:41.329 --> 00:24:45.410
that every human is fallible. That's that every

00:24:45.410 --> 00:24:48.589
human being is fallible. That means they can

00:24:48.589 --> 00:24:53.789
make mistakes. That means they can have a right

00:24:53.789 --> 00:24:58.319
heart. and just a wrong understanding, and then

00:24:58.319 --> 00:25:05.539
go ahead and share that. Now this came up because

00:25:05.539 --> 00:25:11.900
a pastor that I knew, I still know of him, he

00:25:11.900 --> 00:25:15.220
was in a different part of our state, and they

00:25:15.220 --> 00:25:21.700
had a person come in who called himself a prophet.

00:25:22.799 --> 00:25:26.059
I'm prophet so -and -so, and his website was

00:25:26.059 --> 00:25:27.960
prophet so -and -so, and his business card was

00:25:27.960 --> 00:25:31.819
prophet so -and -so, and that's all okay. And

00:25:31.819 --> 00:25:38.039
then when he would teach from the Bible, and

00:25:38.039 --> 00:25:40.359
I had one of his books at one point, and it was

00:25:40.359 --> 00:25:47.900
okay. It was okay. And then he would minister

00:25:47.900 --> 00:25:52.470
to people after the service. and I want this

00:25:52.470 --> 00:25:56.349
whole row just to stand up. And so he'd do that.

00:25:56.369 --> 00:25:58.329
I'm just demonstrating because some of you have

00:25:58.329 --> 00:26:00.529
never been in a service like that, or we've never

00:26:00.529 --> 00:26:02.589
had a service like that. And so he'd come to

00:26:02.589 --> 00:26:06.609
every single person, every single person, and

00:26:06.609 --> 00:26:10.069
he'd have a word for them. He'd have a word for

00:26:10.069 --> 00:26:15.750
them. And it didn't matter what the word was.

00:26:16.609 --> 00:26:20.880
They had people writing out word for word. His

00:26:20.880 --> 00:26:25.400
prophecy. And so if he gave a prophecy that you're

00:26:25.400 --> 00:26:28.259
going to live to be 109, then they would write

00:26:28.259 --> 00:26:32.119
it out. And if he'd step up to the next one and

00:26:32.119 --> 00:26:34.960
say, I see you're going to have 15 children.

00:26:36.839 --> 00:26:38.559
And see, it wouldn't matter what they wanted.

00:26:38.660 --> 00:26:41.579
They had no choice in the matter. Because the

00:26:41.579 --> 00:26:44.420
word of God is established forever. Forever,

00:26:44.559 --> 00:26:46.980
oh Lord, your word's established. There's nothing

00:26:46.980 --> 00:26:50.329
you can do about it. And they would write those

00:26:50.329 --> 00:26:52.349
all out. He told me personally. I went to visit

00:26:52.349 --> 00:26:55.829
him and ask him about it. Drove almost three

00:26:55.829 --> 00:27:00.410
hours to get to his place of his office. And

00:27:00.410 --> 00:27:04.190
I said, I just want to just inquire about this

00:27:04.190 --> 00:27:05.569
and talk to you about this. You're my friend,

00:27:05.630 --> 00:27:11.309
right? And he just looked at me adamantly and

00:27:11.309 --> 00:27:14.849
said, you just don't understand. You just don't

00:27:14.849 --> 00:27:18.109
understand. When a prophet speaks under the inspiration

00:27:18.109 --> 00:27:21.230
of God, it's identical to the Bible. That's what

00:27:21.230 --> 00:27:23.529
he told me. He said, I don't do any counseling

00:27:23.529 --> 00:27:27.849
anymore. He comes, we write down what he says

00:27:27.849 --> 00:27:29.589
about their life, and then when they come to

00:27:29.589 --> 00:27:32.410
me for counseling, we just hand it to them. This

00:27:32.410 --> 00:27:37.910
is the word of the Lord. I'll be real clear with

00:27:37.910 --> 00:27:42.329
you. This is the word of the Lord. This is the

00:27:42.329 --> 00:27:46.039
word of the Lord. Right here. Your Bible is the

00:27:46.039 --> 00:27:50.819
word of God. Not my word, not prophet so -and

00:27:50.819 --> 00:27:53.500
-so's word, not spoken under the inspiration.

00:27:54.019 --> 00:27:59.700
See, this word is truth. We don't know if his

00:27:59.700 --> 00:28:03.319
word is true until after life is over and you're

00:28:03.319 --> 00:28:05.180
past childbearing. Well, it doesn't even matter

00:28:05.180 --> 00:28:08.980
because there was Sarah and Elizabeth. So for

00:28:08.980 --> 00:28:12.650
as long as you draw breath, I mean. You get to

00:28:12.650 --> 00:28:20.269
be 90 and you'll say... But he'd have a word.

00:28:20.650 --> 00:28:24.029
He'd have a word. And the word, listen very carefully,

00:28:24.170 --> 00:28:26.349
don't miss this, the word would give them direction.

00:28:27.009 --> 00:28:28.809
I see you're going to be moving out to the West

00:28:28.809 --> 00:28:31.109
Coast in six months. Within six months' time,

00:28:31.210 --> 00:28:32.970
you'll be moving to the West Coast. Thank you.

00:28:40.040 --> 00:28:45.500
And he'd give, I see two boys that are brothers.

00:28:45.799 --> 00:28:47.819
Are you brothers? Yes, sir. I thought so. Are

00:28:47.819 --> 00:28:50.099
these your parents? Pretty good guess, huh? Except

00:28:50.099 --> 00:28:52.200
it was never a guess. It was like, okay, and

00:28:52.200 --> 00:28:53.460
I'm going to tell you your address. I'm going

00:28:53.460 --> 00:28:55.019
to tell you your age. I'm going to go through

00:28:55.019 --> 00:28:57.599
all that stuff like you don't know already. And

00:28:57.599 --> 00:28:59.900
then he would say, and you get along fine now,

00:29:00.059 --> 00:29:02.079
but you're going to come to be worst enemies

00:29:02.079 --> 00:29:04.000
and you're going to struggle against each other.

00:29:04.079 --> 00:29:09.900
Praise the Lord. Sit down. And I don't know what

00:29:09.900 --> 00:29:12.680
it was. You don't have a clue. Nobody here has

00:29:12.680 --> 00:29:16.400
a clue who I'm referencing. It's not about who.

00:29:16.519 --> 00:29:21.720
It's about what? It's about what? It's about

00:29:21.720 --> 00:29:26.440
what? You're going to become the next billionaire

00:29:26.440 --> 00:29:33.859
in this county. And every single person would

00:29:33.859 --> 00:29:38.259
get a word. And it would be, you listening? It

00:29:38.259 --> 00:29:43.920
would be directive. It would direct them. It

00:29:43.920 --> 00:29:49.880
would direct them. It would correct them. Okay,

00:29:49.900 --> 00:29:52.460
what would be the first thing? Direct. What was

00:29:52.460 --> 00:29:55.519
the second? Correct. Correct. There'd be direction.

00:29:55.940 --> 00:29:58.220
There'd be correction. Sometimes even rebuke.

00:29:58.500 --> 00:30:00.740
Close your eyes. Put your hands up toward heaven.

00:30:02.730 --> 00:30:05.029
I see that hell is manifesting on the inside

00:30:05.029 --> 00:30:06.710
of you and there's a great hatred toward your

00:30:06.710 --> 00:30:09.109
husband and your children and your family and

00:30:09.109 --> 00:30:11.049
your pastor and you need to get on your knees

00:30:11.049 --> 00:30:13.049
and repent because I can see it. It's a big black

00:30:13.049 --> 00:30:15.569
blotch and spot on the inside of you. And she'd

00:30:15.569 --> 00:30:17.250
open her eyes and say, no, that's not right.

00:30:17.309 --> 00:30:19.769
I love my husband. I love my church. Don't argue

00:30:19.769 --> 00:30:21.950
with me. This is the word of the Lord and you're

00:30:21.950 --> 00:30:23.869
going to drop dead within six days if you don't

00:30:23.869 --> 00:30:31.130
repent of it right now. Praise the Lord. See,

00:30:31.190 --> 00:30:36.720
this is the word of the Lord. I learned a few

00:30:36.720 --> 00:30:39.579
things about the word of the Lord. Especially

00:30:39.579 --> 00:30:45.180
after they prophesied that I would die. And it

00:30:45.180 --> 00:30:51.380
didn't happen. Hmm. The devil was going to take

00:30:51.380 --> 00:30:58.019
me out. And it didn't happen. And look around.

00:30:58.259 --> 00:31:00.200
Just look around. Look left, right, up, down.

00:31:00.259 --> 00:31:03.859
Just look around for a minute. And this church

00:31:03.859 --> 00:31:07.390
was going to... implode and go under within six

00:31:07.390 --> 00:31:17.809
months. That's 22 years ago. Didn't happen. I'm

00:31:17.809 --> 00:31:21.410
not trying to make fun of I'm doing what Paul

00:31:21.410 --> 00:31:24.990
did. I am making a little bit light of it. I've

00:31:24.990 --> 00:31:29.730
had prophecies and that was a word from heaven.

00:31:30.630 --> 00:31:34.190
God just Supernaturally intervening. I'm in law

00:31:34.190 --> 00:31:39.789
enforcement chaplaincy today. Partly because

00:31:39.789 --> 00:31:44.650
a minister named Al Blue Husky stood at a family

00:31:44.650 --> 00:31:48.609
camp meeting and spoke in other tongues and then

00:31:48.609 --> 00:31:52.710
said, you down there at the end of the row. Well,

00:31:52.750 --> 00:31:56.250
I was in the last seat. He said, you come here.

00:31:56.390 --> 00:31:59.170
And I got up and I walked up and he put his hand

00:31:59.170 --> 00:32:01.259
on my shoulder and said. The Lord's going to

00:32:01.259 --> 00:32:04.599
make you a person of influence over persons of

00:32:04.599 --> 00:32:07.680
influence. And then he went on. Then he went

00:32:07.680 --> 00:32:15.660
on. The day I received complete release in my

00:32:15.660 --> 00:32:19.039
heavenly prayer language, I mean, tears were

00:32:19.039 --> 00:32:21.519
streaming down my face and I had my hands lifted

00:32:21.519 --> 00:32:27.440
up. I was in a feed room in a barn. God doesn't

00:32:27.440 --> 00:32:32.470
just exist in church. God's everywhere. Filling

00:32:32.470 --> 00:32:37.210
all places at all times with his presence. And

00:32:37.210 --> 00:32:39.589
all of a sudden that worshipful tongue changed

00:32:39.589 --> 00:32:42.809
just like that. And suddenly there was a more

00:32:42.809 --> 00:32:46.869
proclamation to this tongue. And I stopped. And

00:32:46.869 --> 00:32:49.930
I mean, it just kept coming out. So I listened.

00:32:53.759 --> 00:32:55.880
And I heard unto you is given to know the mysteries

00:32:55.880 --> 00:32:57.980
of the kingdom of God, and you shall be my mouthpiece

00:32:57.980 --> 00:33:00.319
and my voice, and you will speak on my behalf.

00:33:01.000 --> 00:33:09.619
I don't know. You judge it. That was 1983. God

00:33:09.619 --> 00:33:12.240
can speak about anybody he wants, anywhere, anyhow,

00:33:12.460 --> 00:33:22.410
for any purpose and any reason. And it can be

00:33:22.410 --> 00:33:26.809
accurate or it can be inaccurate. There's only

00:33:26.809 --> 00:33:28.849
one way to judge it, and that's by the Bible.

00:33:31.049 --> 00:33:35.089
That's the only unchangeable, everlasting, eternal,

00:33:35.410 --> 00:33:39.130
thoroughly inspired document that I have. And

00:33:39.130 --> 00:33:40.650
the Bible doesn't say anything about whether

00:33:40.650 --> 00:33:42.170
or not I'm going to be a mouthpiece and speak

00:33:42.170 --> 00:33:44.910
on behalf of the Lord. The Bible doesn't say

00:33:44.910 --> 00:33:46.910
anything about whether I'm going to be a person

00:33:46.910 --> 00:33:50.329
of influence over persons of influence. The Bible...

00:33:51.019 --> 00:33:54.400
Doesn't say anything about, I mean, I had one

00:33:54.400 --> 00:33:58.339
of our young families here and shared with them

00:33:58.339 --> 00:34:01.559
about children because the Lord showed me to

00:34:01.559 --> 00:34:04.579
share with them. And it came to pass absolutely

00:34:04.579 --> 00:34:06.819
right down the track, boom, boom, boom, step

00:34:06.819 --> 00:34:10.760
by step by step. I've had my pastor speak words

00:34:10.760 --> 00:34:14.519
over us, over our church, and just watch heaven

00:34:14.519 --> 00:34:18.440
perform. Sometimes God will do that, and that

00:34:18.440 --> 00:34:22.360
is God. And I have a whole lot more confidence

00:34:22.360 --> 00:34:26.760
in some prophets than I do some who claim to

00:34:26.760 --> 00:34:38.119
be. But in much of that prophecy, the Old Testament

00:34:38.119 --> 00:34:41.960
litmus test still holds true. So what's that?

00:34:42.099 --> 00:34:45.730
Hide and watch. That's the only way to know whether

00:34:45.730 --> 00:34:48.090
it was or not. Whether you become a billionaire,

00:34:48.349 --> 00:34:52.309
whether you become enemies, whether you buy an

00:34:52.309 --> 00:34:59.909
airplane. You don't care if we just read our

00:34:59.909 --> 00:35:02.449
Bible for a minute, do you? Let's look at it.

00:35:02.489 --> 00:35:08.969
1 Corinthians chapter 14. Verse 1. Follow after

00:35:08.969 --> 00:35:13.130
love, charity, the agape of God. and desire spiritual

00:35:13.130 --> 00:35:15.909
gifts, but rather that you may prophesy. Now,

00:35:15.949 --> 00:35:20.329
why would that be? Why would that be? Notice

00:35:20.329 --> 00:35:23.110
verse two. For he that speaks in an unknown tongue

00:35:23.110 --> 00:35:28.210
speaks not to men, but to God. No man understands

00:35:28.210 --> 00:35:30.170
him in the spirit. He speaks mysteries, but he

00:35:30.170 --> 00:35:35.050
that prophesies speaks to who? To men. Now, there

00:35:35.050 --> 00:35:39.110
are three specific categories that if it's going

00:35:39.110 --> 00:35:43.150
to be a... Biblical, New Testament, godly, God

00:35:43.150 --> 00:35:46.670
-ordained, within the will of God. Prophecy,

00:35:46.670 --> 00:35:51.809
it has to fit one of these criteria, one of these

00:35:51.809 --> 00:35:59.909
areas here. Edification, exhortation, or comfort.

00:36:00.269 --> 00:36:02.909
If it's a biblical prophecy, it's got to be directed

00:36:02.909 --> 00:36:06.570
toward men, and it's got to edify, exhort, and

00:36:06.570 --> 00:36:09.550
comfort. What does edify mean? We talked about

00:36:09.550 --> 00:36:12.710
it earlier in the service. So, first thing it

00:36:12.710 --> 00:36:18.590
has to do is build up. What is exhort? Stir up.

00:36:19.789 --> 00:36:25.230
Stir up. There was a prophecy earlier in this

00:36:25.230 --> 00:36:28.949
service. Any of you remember any of it? Take

00:36:28.949 --> 00:36:31.150
the sword of the spirit and go after the thief.

00:36:31.210 --> 00:36:33.070
He's come to steal, kill, and destroy. It's time

00:36:33.070 --> 00:36:34.969
to get off the defensive and get on the offense.

00:36:35.150 --> 00:36:37.010
Realize you never win being on the defensive.

00:36:37.690 --> 00:36:40.530
You defend your goal. You only win by scoring.

00:36:41.090 --> 00:36:45.050
Get on the offense. Yeah, go after him. That's

00:36:45.050 --> 00:36:47.070
basically what he was saying. That stirred me

00:36:47.070 --> 00:36:53.210
up. That stirred me up. Comfort. Comfort. What

00:36:53.210 --> 00:36:59.230
does that mean? Bring peace. Cheer me up. Comfort.

00:36:59.230 --> 00:37:02.329
Where in that verse do you see correction? Where

00:37:02.329 --> 00:37:08.989
do you see direction? Don't see it. Don't see

00:37:08.989 --> 00:37:13.190
it. Point one, taken. If it's a prophecy, it

00:37:13.190 --> 00:37:17.929
has to be to build up. It has to be to stir up.

00:37:18.130 --> 00:37:23.610
It has to be to bring comfort. Cheer up. It has

00:37:23.610 --> 00:37:26.530
to be according to the Bible. According to the

00:37:26.530 --> 00:37:29.969
Bible. Now, a lot of other things here. Now,

00:37:29.969 --> 00:37:33.150
I'm not going to take time to go back to, you

00:37:33.150 --> 00:37:36.250
remember Agabus? Remember Agabus the prophet?

00:37:37.269 --> 00:37:39.610
Agabus the prophet signified by the word of the

00:37:39.610 --> 00:37:41.250
Lord that there would be a great drought in the

00:37:41.250 --> 00:37:45.789
land. Remember that? Back in the book of Acts?

00:37:46.030 --> 00:37:48.650
I noticed he didn't tell anybody what to do.

00:37:50.389 --> 00:37:52.489
He just said, this is what's coming. But he didn't

00:37:52.489 --> 00:37:54.510
tell anybody what to do. Now, this is a great

00:37:54.510 --> 00:37:56.909
topic if you spend too much time on the Internet.

00:37:59.389 --> 00:38:03.329
Because over the past four to six months, there

00:38:03.329 --> 00:38:06.949
have been thousands of prophecies. How do you

00:38:06.949 --> 00:38:09.210
know which ones were true? I mean, some of them

00:38:09.210 --> 00:38:11.289
were just a good guess. I mean, you get a 50

00:38:11.289 --> 00:38:18.110
-50 shot, Trump or Biden. But there were hundreds

00:38:18.110 --> 00:38:23.519
and hundreds of them. that our current vice president,

00:38:23.719 --> 00:38:31.500
excuse me, Harris or Biden, I was close. Hundreds

00:38:31.500 --> 00:38:34.500
of them, hundreds of them, that America would

00:38:34.500 --> 00:38:36.179
have its first female president, that America

00:38:36.179 --> 00:38:39.719
would, hundreds of them, hundreds of them. If

00:38:39.719 --> 00:38:41.679
you listen to all those prophecies, we're already

00:38:41.679 --> 00:38:45.699
in the middle of World War III and nuclear war

00:38:45.699 --> 00:38:49.460
has come before the end of 2024. Where'd they

00:38:49.460 --> 00:38:56.309
go? One thing that really, okay, I'll just be

00:38:56.309 --> 00:38:58.949
honest, irks me, is that there's no accountability.

00:39:00.050 --> 00:39:03.230
When they're wrong, there's nobody. And another

00:39:03.230 --> 00:39:05.710
thing that blesses me is, how many of you were

00:39:05.710 --> 00:39:08.789
here last night? See, wasn't that a great blessing?

00:39:09.909 --> 00:39:12.710
Tremendous, tremendous. I just said to Paula

00:39:12.710 --> 00:39:15.530
personally, when Dr. Barkley sent this out to

00:39:15.530 --> 00:39:19.480
us back in early December, I don't know what

00:39:19.480 --> 00:39:20.960
it is about it. I can't put my finger on it.

00:39:21.019 --> 00:39:23.940
Best one he's ever done. The best one he's ever

00:39:23.940 --> 00:39:26.079
done. But he doesn't even say, this is what's

00:39:26.079 --> 00:39:29.599
going to happen. He says, I predict. He says,

00:39:29.639 --> 00:39:33.300
I predict. And take it at the end of the year

00:39:33.300 --> 00:39:37.460
and see how accurate he is. But there have been

00:39:37.460 --> 00:39:40.420
hundreds and hundreds of others, hundreds and

00:39:40.420 --> 00:39:42.699
hundreds, maybe thousands, that the stock market

00:39:42.699 --> 00:39:48.409
should have already crashed. 80%. Valuation wiped

00:39:48.409 --> 00:39:55.230
out. Banks closed. Just all kinds of... We're

00:39:55.230 --> 00:39:56.769
supposed to be under a 12 -foot sheet of ice

00:39:56.769 --> 00:39:59.909
already. All the way down to the Mexican border,

00:40:00.070 --> 00:40:04.469
if you listen to them. See? Agabus prophesied,

00:40:04.489 --> 00:40:06.570
and you know what happened? It came to pass.

00:40:08.469 --> 00:40:11.570
It came to pass. But he didn't direct anybody

00:40:11.570 --> 00:40:13.369
to do anything. He just said, this is what's

00:40:13.369 --> 00:40:18.130
going to happen. And then... Later on, in the

00:40:18.130 --> 00:40:23.710
21st chapter of Acts, he walked up to the Apostle

00:40:23.710 --> 00:40:27.869
Paul. He had the Apostle Paul, Aaron, and he

00:40:27.869 --> 00:40:33.849
walked right up to Paul. Now, I'm not going to

00:40:33.849 --> 00:40:38.469
do this. Aaron's bigger than I am. Aaron, just

00:40:38.469 --> 00:40:40.030
kind of hold your hands out like you're worshiping

00:40:40.030 --> 00:40:49.860
God, maybe. Nathan, come up here. Nathan is going

00:40:49.860 --> 00:40:52.599
to be Agabus the prophet. He's going to walk

00:40:52.599 --> 00:40:54.679
over to Paul. He's going to unbutton his jacket.

00:40:56.380 --> 00:40:59.519
And he's going to take his belt off. No, no,

00:40:59.539 --> 00:41:05.179
no. But that's what he did. That's what Agabus

00:41:05.179 --> 00:41:09.019
did. Agabus did. Agabus walked right over and

00:41:09.019 --> 00:41:14.260
he took his belt off. And then he, thanks. I

00:41:14.260 --> 00:41:16.079
didn't know if you were making. I was praying.

00:41:17.440 --> 00:41:20.559
Took his belt off and wrapped it around his own

00:41:20.559 --> 00:41:24.420
hands and then made this bold statement. So shall

00:41:24.420 --> 00:41:28.599
the Jews at Jerusalem do to the man whose belt

00:41:28.599 --> 00:41:36.780
I am bound with. Let me ask you an important

00:41:36.780 --> 00:41:46.570
question. Was that conditional? Because all the

00:41:46.570 --> 00:41:49.170
Christians ran up to Paul immediately and said,

00:41:49.210 --> 00:41:52.789
please don't go to Jerusalem. Could he have made

00:41:52.789 --> 00:41:55.690
the decision not to go? Then it was conditional.

00:42:04.909 --> 00:42:10.400
You have a part to play. Thank you. You have

00:42:10.400 --> 00:42:13.739
a part to play because I'll watch people and

00:42:13.739 --> 00:42:17.159
it'll be in the presence of God and the prophet

00:42:17.159 --> 00:42:19.360
will speak and they'll just turn around and say,

00:42:19.440 --> 00:42:21.099
well, I'm not doing anything with that. If God

00:42:21.099 --> 00:42:25.820
wants to do it, let him do it. And they have

00:42:25.820 --> 00:42:28.300
a part to play. Remember when we were with Dr.

00:42:28.400 --> 00:42:35.320
Barclay back in, was it 2000? And we're down

00:42:35.320 --> 00:42:39.219
in Guatemala. And he wanted me to go with him

00:42:39.219 --> 00:42:40.980
because I'd been down there seven or eight times

00:42:40.980 --> 00:42:44.699
and he'd not been down there. So I went to carry

00:42:44.699 --> 00:42:49.179
his bags and be with him. And Carol Schlimmer,

00:42:49.280 --> 00:42:51.260
you all know Carol? She's one of our missionaries.

00:42:51.780 --> 00:42:56.260
Tall South Dakota girl. Single and happy. Single

00:42:56.260 --> 00:42:59.579
and satisfied. And Dr. Barclay called her out

00:42:59.579 --> 00:43:01.539
of hundreds and hundreds, 500 people. He calls

00:43:01.539 --> 00:43:04.579
her out. Doesn't even know who she is. I mean.

00:43:05.980 --> 00:43:10.500
she's like 6 '4". When you're 6 '4", red hair,

00:43:10.579 --> 00:43:12.800
white girl from South Dakota, you don't fit in

00:43:12.800 --> 00:43:18.980
in Guatemala real well. They're all 4 '8". And

00:43:18.980 --> 00:43:21.619
like Robert Kimberling's wife, Maria, she says,

00:43:21.699 --> 00:43:27.239
caramelized. And so he calls Carol Slimmer to

00:43:27.239 --> 00:43:32.219
the front, puts his hand on her, and says, God's

00:43:32.219 --> 00:43:35.429
bringing a man into your life. She about ran.

00:43:36.309 --> 00:43:38.449
She pulled away and took his hand off and said,

00:43:38.449 --> 00:43:40.050
no, no, that's not what I want. That's not what

00:43:40.050 --> 00:43:42.750
I want. And Dr. Barclay grinned and said, I don't

00:43:42.750 --> 00:43:43.989
care if it's what you want or not. There's a

00:43:43.989 --> 00:43:46.969
man coming into your life. He's in the audience.

00:43:47.710 --> 00:43:52.710
And he's going, yes, yes. Thank you, Jesus. Yes.

00:43:53.789 --> 00:43:56.610
He's just been waiting. He hasn't even made one.

00:43:56.730 --> 00:43:59.710
He hasn't even looked at her. He hasn't even

00:43:59.710 --> 00:44:02.130
locked eyes with her. He's just waiting for God.

00:44:03.679 --> 00:44:07.000
Her heart is not open to it. She is totally happy.

00:44:07.099 --> 00:44:08.260
She's going to be a single girl. She's going

00:44:08.260 --> 00:44:09.940
to be single her whole life. She's a missionary.

00:44:10.139 --> 00:44:12.280
She's doing what God called her to do. She has

00:44:12.280 --> 00:44:16.960
no interest in men. God calls her out and says,

00:44:17.099 --> 00:44:19.500
man is coming into your life and you're going

00:44:19.500 --> 00:44:24.920
to be married. Year wasn't out. And there was

00:44:24.920 --> 00:44:29.360
bells ringing and doves flying and flowers. Yeah,

00:44:29.480 --> 00:44:32.139
they got married and she's so happy. Did God

00:44:32.139 --> 00:44:35.940
force her to do that? No, he's just kind of nudging

00:44:35.940 --> 00:44:37.599
her along, helping her along, getting her to

00:44:37.599 --> 00:44:42.440
open her heart. He came up at the end of service

00:44:42.440 --> 00:44:48.980
and said, hi, my name is. I mean, that's what

00:44:48.980 --> 00:44:50.840
I'd have done if I was in that time. I wouldn't

00:44:50.840 --> 00:44:58.199
have waited. Right? No. He fought his way through

00:44:58.199 --> 00:45:04.090
the crowd. Bless God. Yeah. The Lord can speak

00:45:04.090 --> 00:45:07.170
to whoever He wants, however He wants. It might

00:45:07.170 --> 00:45:09.190
be a dream. It might be a vision. It might be

00:45:09.190 --> 00:45:14.610
an angel. It might be a prophecy. But if it's

00:45:14.610 --> 00:45:18.050
an angel, if it's a vision, if it's a dream,

00:45:18.289 --> 00:45:21.610
or if it's a prophecy, we have Scripture over

00:45:21.610 --> 00:45:27.389
here in 2 Peter chapter 1. 2 Peter chapter 1.

00:45:28.639 --> 00:45:31.820
Hold your place there in 1 Corinthians and 2

00:45:31.820 --> 00:45:36.420
Peter, the first chapter. And it says we have

00:45:36.420 --> 00:45:40.599
a more sure word of prophecy. And that was when

00:45:40.599 --> 00:45:42.760
they actually saw with their own eyes the transformation

00:45:42.760 --> 00:45:44.679
of Jesus, heard with their own ears the voice

00:45:44.679 --> 00:45:47.159
of God come tumbling down out of heaven. And

00:45:47.159 --> 00:45:49.440
it says in verse 19, we have a more sure word

00:45:49.440 --> 00:45:52.039
of prophecy. Now, what prophecy is he speaking

00:45:52.039 --> 00:45:55.719
about right here in this verse? We have a more

00:45:55.719 --> 00:45:58.949
sure word of prophecy. A more certain, a more

00:45:58.949 --> 00:46:01.809
stable, a more immutable, a more reliable, a

00:46:01.809 --> 00:46:04.329
more dependable word. And you'd do well if you

00:46:04.329 --> 00:46:06.989
take heed. What prophecy is he talking about

00:46:06.989 --> 00:46:09.949
right there? Read the next verse. Knowing this

00:46:09.949 --> 00:46:16.030
first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of

00:46:16.030 --> 00:46:21.690
any private interpretation. One man's idea. Verse

00:46:21.690 --> 00:46:25.550
21. For the prophecy, this prophecy, the Word

00:46:25.550 --> 00:46:29.760
of God, the Scripture, came not in old time by

00:46:29.760 --> 00:46:33.159
the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as

00:46:33.159 --> 00:46:40.179
they were moved by who? Now, these verses say

00:46:40.179 --> 00:46:44.980
they had a great spiritual, supernatural, outside

00:46:44.980 --> 00:46:48.739
of the Bible, outside of the Bible, supernatural

00:46:48.739 --> 00:46:51.940
experience. Are there supernatural experiences

00:46:51.940 --> 00:46:54.760
outside of the Bible? Yes, absolutely there are.

00:46:56.259 --> 00:47:04.780
Absolutely. The Bible says the voice of God came

00:47:04.780 --> 00:47:06.480
tumbling down out of heaven. This is my beloved

00:47:06.480 --> 00:47:09.800
son in whom I'm well pleased. At the time it

00:47:09.800 --> 00:47:12.360
happened, it wasn't in the Bible. Then it came

00:47:12.360 --> 00:47:17.659
to be. They saw Jesus transfigured before their

00:47:17.659 --> 00:47:21.119
very sight. That wasn't anywhere in the Bible

00:47:21.119 --> 00:47:27.139
until it happened. Now it is. If God wants to

00:47:27.139 --> 00:47:30.179
call a little South Dakota girl up and speak

00:47:30.179 --> 00:47:32.940
personally and finds a vessel he can do that

00:47:32.940 --> 00:47:35.699
through, that she's going to be married before

00:47:35.699 --> 00:47:39.500
the year is out, he can do that. That's not recorded

00:47:39.500 --> 00:47:42.039
in the scripture anywhere, but it's got to follow

00:47:42.039 --> 00:47:44.800
the spirit of the scriptures. And again, now

00:47:44.800 --> 00:47:48.219
she has something to do with that. You know,

00:47:48.239 --> 00:47:50.360
the Bible says that one day Jesus is going to

00:47:50.360 --> 00:47:51.940
come to the clouds and the last trumpet's going

00:47:51.940 --> 00:47:56.690
to blow. We have nothing to do with that. We

00:47:56.690 --> 00:48:00.610
have nothing, zero, to do with that. Our Bible

00:48:00.610 --> 00:48:02.590
says it will happen in the fullness of time.

00:48:03.809 --> 00:48:08.889
In the fullness of time. The grains of sand are

00:48:08.889 --> 00:48:11.329
trickling through the hourglass of heaven, and

00:48:11.329 --> 00:48:14.949
when the last one goes, boom, that's going to

00:48:14.949 --> 00:48:26.360
be it. Now, we just read three verses. This prophecy,

00:48:26.519 --> 00:48:31.159
the prophecy of the Scriptures, came not in old

00:48:31.159 --> 00:48:36.659
time, came not by the will of man, but came in

00:48:36.659 --> 00:48:41.199
old time by holy men of God who were moved by,

00:48:41.280 --> 00:48:43.980
look at it carefully, who were moved by who?

00:48:44.800 --> 00:48:47.699
The Holy Ghost. Go back to 1 Corinthians chapter

00:48:47.699 --> 00:48:55.159
14. 1 Corinthians chapter 14. If any man prophesies,

00:48:55.239 --> 00:48:59.860
he speaks to men to edify, exhort, and comfort.

00:49:01.019 --> 00:49:03.380
He that speaks, verse 4, he that speaks in an

00:49:03.380 --> 00:49:07.820
unknown tongue edifies himself. He that prophesies

00:49:07.820 --> 00:49:10.679
edifies the church. The whole theme of this entire

00:49:10.679 --> 00:49:13.920
chapter is edify. Build up. Build up the church.

00:49:14.880 --> 00:49:16.860
But just for time's sake, I may have to come

00:49:16.860 --> 00:49:19.260
back and finish this teaching maybe on Wednesday

00:49:19.260 --> 00:49:23.199
night. But just for time's sake, drop off. to

00:49:23.199 --> 00:49:27.900
a little bit further on in this chapter. In this

00:49:27.900 --> 00:49:32.159
chapter. And he talks about it in verse 26, when

00:49:32.159 --> 00:49:35.519
you gather together. Everyone has a psalm, doctrine,

00:49:35.659 --> 00:49:37.900
tongue, revelation, interpretation, and he gives

00:49:37.900 --> 00:49:39.820
the theme of the chapter again. Let all things

00:49:39.820 --> 00:49:44.000
be done to what? Edify. Build up others. And

00:49:44.000 --> 00:49:47.800
then he gives the guidelines for spiritual gifts.

00:49:47.860 --> 00:49:49.940
If any man speaks in an unknown tongue, let it

00:49:49.940 --> 00:49:53.079
be two or at most three, and that in order. Everything

00:49:53.079 --> 00:49:55.780
in the church service has to be orderly. The

00:49:55.780 --> 00:49:57.460
last verse here says, let all things be done

00:49:57.460 --> 00:50:00.500
decently and in order. So if they're speaking

00:50:00.500 --> 00:50:02.960
in tongues, two or at most three, and let, how

00:50:02.960 --> 00:50:06.119
many interpret? One. There's no interpreter,

00:50:06.199 --> 00:50:07.920
let him be silent, speak only to himself and

00:50:07.920 --> 00:50:12.400
to God. And then it says in verse 29, let the

00:50:12.400 --> 00:50:19.000
prophets speak. Two or three. And let the other

00:50:19.000 --> 00:50:22.039
judge. And if anything be revealed to another

00:50:22.039 --> 00:50:25.059
that sits by, let the first hold his peace. For

00:50:25.059 --> 00:50:26.860
you may all prophesy one by one, and all may

00:50:26.860 --> 00:50:30.099
learn, and all may be comforted. And the spirits

00:50:30.099 --> 00:50:32.480
of the prophets are subject to the prophets.

00:50:32.980 --> 00:50:35.260
For God is not the author of confusion, but of

00:50:35.260 --> 00:50:37.500
peace, as in all the churches of the saints.

00:50:38.380 --> 00:50:40.179
Now he said a mouthful right there, didn't he?

00:50:40.820 --> 00:50:44.900
Yeah, he said a mouthful. And we're just going

00:50:44.900 --> 00:50:47.099
to take just a couple of... a couple of these

00:50:47.099 --> 00:50:53.500
elements out, and then we'll close. I asked that

00:50:53.500 --> 00:50:56.880
dear brother, that friend of mine, that pastor,

00:50:57.000 --> 00:51:04.320
I said, when we read the Bible, when we read

00:51:04.320 --> 00:51:14.139
the Scriptures, when we preach, From Genesis,

00:51:14.380 --> 00:51:20.619
Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1

00:51:20.619 --> 00:51:26.099
and 2 Kings. When we preach from Isaiah, Ezekiel,

00:51:26.099 --> 00:51:32.239
Habakkuk, Malachi. When we preach from Matthew,

00:51:32.340 --> 00:51:37.500
Mark, Luke, and John. When we preach from Acts,

00:51:37.619 --> 00:51:45.380
and Ephesians, and Titus, and Jude. Do we have

00:51:45.380 --> 00:51:48.800
somebody designated in the church service to

00:51:48.800 --> 00:51:54.900
judge whether or not that's correct? Because

00:51:54.900 --> 00:51:57.119
the Bible just told us we have to do that with

00:51:57.119 --> 00:52:04.900
prophecy. Prophecy has to be judged. Heaven help

00:52:04.900 --> 00:52:07.960
you if you try to judge God's Word. God's Word

00:52:07.960 --> 00:52:11.340
is right and truth from the beginning. God's

00:52:11.340 --> 00:52:14.949
Word is perfect. God's Word is right and true.

00:52:15.449 --> 00:52:18.269
We esteem all of His precepts concerning all

00:52:18.269 --> 00:52:21.750
things to be right. There is no judgment of God's

00:52:21.750 --> 00:52:24.530
Word, whether or not it's true or false, whether

00:52:24.530 --> 00:52:27.210
or not it's right or wrong, whether or not it's

00:52:27.210 --> 00:52:31.510
biblical or unbiblical. It is Bibble. It is Bible.

00:52:32.289 --> 00:52:35.400
It is Scripture. The Scriptures never are judged.

00:52:35.559 --> 00:52:38.199
The Scriptures are true. The Scriptures are recited.

00:52:38.340 --> 00:52:40.900
The Scriptures are meditated on. The Scriptures

00:52:40.900 --> 00:52:43.440
are memorized. The Scriptures are preached with

00:52:43.440 --> 00:52:46.099
authority. The Scriptures are taught. The Scriptures

00:52:46.099 --> 00:52:50.059
are never judged. As to who would think among

00:52:50.059 --> 00:52:54.599
us humans that we could judge our God? Oh, the

00:52:54.599 --> 00:52:56.880
depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the

00:52:56.880 --> 00:53:00.119
knowledge of God. Who has been His counselor?

00:53:02.440 --> 00:53:05.760
Who has instructed Him? Who among us is going

00:53:05.760 --> 00:53:09.179
to tell God that's wrong and that's right? We

00:53:09.179 --> 00:53:12.260
studied 2 Timothy 2 recently, that that's the

00:53:12.260 --> 00:53:14.679
opinion and attitude and belief some people embrace

00:53:14.679 --> 00:53:18.320
about verse 15 in 2 Timothy 2 that says rightly

00:53:18.320 --> 00:53:20.599
divide the word of truth. Like we have to decide

00:53:20.599 --> 00:53:23.019
what's right and what's wrong and what God meant

00:53:23.019 --> 00:53:25.139
and what He didn't mean. And whether or not it

00:53:25.139 --> 00:53:27.500
was truly a virgin when she had that baby Jesus

00:53:27.500 --> 00:53:30.420
or not. And whether or not the angels actually

00:53:30.420 --> 00:53:33.349
sang. And whether there were wise men there.

00:53:33.690 --> 00:53:35.909
And we're supposed to judge whether healing is

00:53:35.909 --> 00:53:38.730
for all, salvation is by grace. No, we don't

00:53:38.730 --> 00:53:41.010
judge anything. We accept it and we receive it.

00:53:41.389 --> 00:53:44.809
And it's settled. It's God's Word. We don't judge

00:53:44.809 --> 00:53:48.170
it. And yet, with prophecy, what's your Bible?

00:53:48.309 --> 00:53:52.710
What did we just read in our Bible? Huh? 1 Corinthians

00:53:52.710 --> 00:53:57.469
chapter 14, verse 29. Let the prophets speak.

00:53:57.880 --> 00:54:02.480
two or three, and let the other judge. There's

00:54:02.480 --> 00:54:05.019
another in every church service that is assigned

00:54:05.019 --> 00:54:08.539
to judge the prophecy. Judge them on what merit?

00:54:08.619 --> 00:54:12.179
Are they biblical? Are they scriptural? Do they

00:54:12.179 --> 00:54:15.659
fit in with edification, exhortation, and comfort?

00:54:15.880 --> 00:54:18.960
And if not, then go ahead and adjust it. Go ahead

00:54:18.960 --> 00:54:31.260
and bring the correction of it. Oh, I hope this

00:54:31.260 --> 00:54:34.099
isn't a precursor. I hope this isn't just preparing

00:54:34.099 --> 00:54:37.260
us. But if it is, we'll be ready. We had a service.

00:54:37.300 --> 00:54:39.920
We were in a little building on 19th Street up

00:54:39.920 --> 00:54:42.219
here by the University of La Crosse. We were

00:54:42.219 --> 00:54:44.480
just a fledgling little church at that time and

00:54:44.480 --> 00:54:48.739
an old laundromat building. And right in the

00:54:48.739 --> 00:54:50.559
midst of one of our service, I mean, interrupting

00:54:50.559 --> 00:54:53.579
everything, this big, tall gentleman, he stood

00:54:53.579 --> 00:54:56.480
up and he started prophesying. And he was out

00:54:56.480 --> 00:54:59.920
of order. We had a guest speaker. The pulpit

00:54:59.920 --> 00:55:01.579
had already been turned over to him and he was

00:55:01.579 --> 00:55:04.420
praying. Now, you know it can't be. You know

00:55:04.420 --> 00:55:07.460
that's not the Lord because it says if something

00:55:07.460 --> 00:55:09.820
is revealed, let the first hold his peace before

00:55:09.820 --> 00:55:13.920
that one starts talking. We just read it. But

00:55:13.920 --> 00:55:17.099
he was interrupted and he blurted out and blasted

00:55:17.099 --> 00:55:21.440
out. And I had already introduced the speaker.

00:55:21.559 --> 00:55:23.179
You can go back. You're not going to judge anything.

00:55:27.719 --> 00:55:30.039
And I turned and looked and one of our ushers

00:55:30.039 --> 00:55:34.780
was walking back toward him and I went, is that

00:55:34.780 --> 00:55:36.559
universal language? You know what that means?

00:55:38.880 --> 00:55:41.460
And he put his hand on his shoulder and shook

00:55:41.460 --> 00:55:48.920
him and said, shh, shh. Oh, he got mad. Oh, he

00:55:48.920 --> 00:55:56.400
got upset. Oh, he was just infuriated. That's

00:55:56.400 --> 00:55:59.440
my responsibility. That's my responsibility.

00:56:01.320 --> 00:56:04.159
He called me on the telephone that afternoon.

00:56:04.400 --> 00:56:07.400
That was back when I had a listed number. Dumb.

00:56:10.079 --> 00:56:12.760
Yeah, he called me on the telephone. I mean,

00:56:12.760 --> 00:56:15.019
I was trying to talk to him, but he went on for

00:56:15.019 --> 00:56:21.039
20 minutes without taking a breath. So I just

00:56:21.039 --> 00:56:24.579
had to wait until he was through. I said, was

00:56:24.579 --> 00:56:27.260
that what you were going to prophesy? He said,

00:56:27.300 --> 00:56:31.239
yes. I said, good. No, I didn't hang up on him.

00:56:33.920 --> 00:56:37.000
That's a responsibility. That's just a responsibility.

00:56:38.260 --> 00:56:40.860
A prophecy can have elements in it that are 100

00:56:40.860 --> 00:56:44.300
% right and then others that are questionable.

00:56:46.679 --> 00:56:50.380
So can a tongue or an interpretation. Don't ever

00:56:50.380 --> 00:56:53.179
get too hard on somebody that speaks out in a

00:56:53.179 --> 00:56:55.400
tongue or speaks, gives an interpretation or

00:56:55.400 --> 00:57:01.239
speaks in prophecy. Don't get too hard on them.

00:57:07.820 --> 00:57:11.099
Many are doing their best to serve God and do

00:57:11.099 --> 00:57:15.400
what he believes to be right. And if it's wrong,

00:57:15.579 --> 00:57:25.429
don't rub their face in it. But the Bible's pretty

00:57:25.429 --> 00:57:28.369
clear. There's one prophecy of the Scripture,

00:57:28.630 --> 00:57:34.670
and that's all given by inspiration of God. I

00:57:34.670 --> 00:57:38.590
have to judge a prophetic word in accordance

00:57:38.590 --> 00:57:41.449
with the Word of God. If it's not in the Word

00:57:41.449 --> 00:57:48.269
of God, then we just have to wait and see. But

00:57:48.269 --> 00:57:54.059
any human being speaking in our day, It's not

00:57:54.059 --> 00:57:57.300
equal with the Bible. It's not equal with the

00:57:57.300 --> 00:57:59.280
Bible. You mind if I give you one more verse?

00:57:59.579 --> 00:58:02.219
I think I said that half hour ago, but one more

00:58:02.219 --> 00:58:21.039
verse. Verse 29. Let the prophet speak two or

00:58:21.039 --> 00:58:25.429
three and let the other judge. Verse 30, if anything

00:58:25.429 --> 00:58:27.969
be revealed to him that sits by, let the first

00:58:27.969 --> 00:58:31.889
hold his peace. For all may prophesy one by one,

00:58:31.969 --> 00:58:34.289
that all may learn and all may be comforted.

00:58:34.369 --> 00:58:44.949
Verse 32, read me verse 32. One more time. The

00:58:44.949 --> 00:58:47.510
spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.

00:58:48.869 --> 00:58:57.210
Hmm. One more time. So the spirits of the people

00:58:57.210 --> 00:59:00.670
prophesying in the church services, their spirits

00:59:00.670 --> 00:59:05.170
are subject to who? Those who wrote scriptures

00:59:05.170 --> 00:59:12.110
were subject to the Holy Ghost. You read it to

00:59:12.110 --> 00:59:16.650
me. For this prophecy of the scripture came not

00:59:16.650 --> 00:59:19.409
by the will of men, but holy men of old wrote

00:59:19.409 --> 00:59:22.969
as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. They were

00:59:22.969 --> 00:59:27.579
totally subjected. to the Spirit of God when

00:59:27.579 --> 00:59:32.079
they wrote the Scriptures. That verse says when

00:59:32.079 --> 00:59:34.139
people prophesy in the church, they're subject

00:59:34.139 --> 00:59:38.519
to their self. They can stop. They can go on.

00:59:38.880 --> 00:59:42.579
The writers of Scripture had no luxury. They

00:59:42.579 --> 00:59:44.519
can't stop. They can't just say, oh, you've got

00:59:44.519 --> 00:59:46.119
something to say, I'll just be quiet and step

00:59:46.119 --> 00:59:50.039
over here. They were moved by the Holy Spirit

00:59:50.039 --> 00:59:54.190
to write that Bible. Commentaries say, almost

00:59:54.190 --> 00:59:58.250
with no will of their own. Like a leaf carried

00:59:58.250 --> 01:00:01.929
down the rapids of a river with no will of its

01:00:01.929 --> 01:00:04.510
own, taken where the river will want it to go.

01:00:04.630 --> 01:00:07.090
And so the Holy Spirit led the writers of Scripture

01:00:07.090 --> 01:00:11.630
in every single word, in every single sentence,

01:00:11.849 --> 01:00:15.230
in every single verse, in every chapter, in every

01:00:15.230 --> 01:00:21.280
book of the 66 books of our Bible. People who

01:00:21.280 --> 01:00:23.980
prophesy are subject to their own spirit. They

01:00:23.980 --> 01:00:25.239
can get louder, they can get softer, they can

01:00:25.239 --> 01:00:28.039
keep going, they can stop, they can back away

01:00:28.039 --> 01:00:30.440
and let someone else speak. Spirits of the prophets

01:00:30.440 --> 01:00:32.840
are subject to the prophets. The spirits of the

01:00:32.840 --> 01:00:34.760
scripture writer were subject to the Holy Spirit.

01:00:36.000 --> 01:00:39.460
The spirits of the scripture writers were subject

01:00:39.460 --> 01:00:42.159
to the Holy Spirit. I hope you've benefited by

01:00:42.159 --> 01:00:45.380
some part of this service this morning. It's

01:00:45.380 --> 01:00:47.800
been a great honor, a great joy to be with you.

01:00:48.159 --> 01:00:52.679
And I love you in Christ's love. You'll leave

01:00:52.679 --> 01:00:59.039
here edified. In Jesus' name, let's stand. Thank

01:00:59.039 --> 01:01:02.239
you for watching The Word of the Lord, a weekly

01:01:02.239 --> 01:01:04.139
television broadcast of Living Word Christian

01:01:04.139 --> 01:01:06.860
Church. Living Word Christian Church welcomes

01:01:06.860 --> 01:01:10.139
you to join us at 2015 Ward Avenue in La Crosse,

01:01:10.139 --> 01:01:15.940
Wisconsin. And Wednesday evenings at 7. For more

01:01:15.940 --> 01:01:17.719
information on Living Word Christian Church,