morning everybody and welcome to steadfast baptist church great to see everybody here
this morning if we can go ahead and find a seat we will get started once you find a seat
grab a hymnal we'll start this morning in song number 162 song number 162 you again
for steadfast for everybody here allowing us to gather and praise your name and fill
this room with your spirit as we lift up our voice unto you and it's in Jesus name we pray
amen all right let's go to song number 406 106 that fast Baptist you don't have a bullet
in just raise your hand one of the ushers would be happy they have extras to give you
one this time I'll go over a few announcements obviously on the onset pastor Shelley is not
here today he's in Houston Texas for very exciting event mission of Salvador Alvarez
evangelist Alvarez is getting ordained today to take on pure words Baptist Church as its
pastor so obviously that's very exciting for him and for that church I would recommend if
you have his number maybe just shoot a text over to brother Alvarez and just let him know
that you know wish him well or just maybe send him a congratulations message or something
like that of course it's a big day for him and also for pure words Baptist Church and
pastor Shelley as well you know that's a long time in the making what's happening today
so that's where he's at on the front of the bulletin you'll notice we have our Bible memory
passage we're in the midst of a grace week started today Psalm 59 17 if you can quote
this to a non-relative church member there's a prize waiting for you and of course in the
midweek service those who are 18 years and younger can quote this to an usher and get
ice cream on the inside of the bulletin we have our service and churchwide soul winning
times and our church stats you can look at our expecting ladies a section for them be
in prayer for them and our prayer list which is read and prayed for on Wednesday nights
if you have something you'd like to add to that you can help the church keep track of
it by emailing any request to steadfastbaptistkjv@gmail.com some upcoming events next Sunday well actually
first of all September 1st I just talked about it the ordination of evangelist Alvarez is
happening today but next Sunday is a event in which dr. Phil Stringer is coming to preach
for us we have a guest preacher for the Sunday morning and Sunday evening service that's
going to be a lot of fun and some of you may recognize him from the last time he came to
preach for us and also from our documentary the preserved Bible the heritage of the Lord
conference is on October 4th through the 6th and this is geared toward the youth but I
remember the last time we did a conference like this I was still edified by the preaching
and so I would invite everybody to attend even if you maybe don't have kids yet Pastor
Mejia and Pastor Anderson are our guests for that October 31st rather than worshipping
Satan on Halloween why don't you come by our church and take part in the Texas chili
cook-off at 6 o'clock 6 p.m. is when this will happen and of course as has been noted
it is a Texas chili cook-off no beans there's some space there if you want to take notes
but that's all I have for announcements this morning I'll invite brother Dustin back up
here to lead us in another song third song this afternoon we're gonna do our Psalm of
the week Psalm 15 Psalm chapter 15 in your laminated handouts could use your King James
Bible but laminated handouts help out way more Psalm 15 don't be lame singing out this
morning singing out real loud turning your Bible morning the John chapter 16 of John
chapter chapter 16 the Bible reads these things have I spoken unto you that ye should not
be offended they shall put you out of the synagogues yea the time cometh that whosoever
killeth you will think that he doeth God's service and these things will they do unto
you because they have not known the Father nor me but these things have I told you that
when the time shall come ye may remember that I told you of them and these things I said
not unto you at the beginning because I was with you but now I go my way to him that sent
me and none of you asketh me whither goest thou but because I have said these things
unto you sorrow hath filled your heart nevertheless I tell you the truth it is expedient for you
that I go away for if I go not away the comforter will not come unto you but if I depart I will
send him unto you and when he is come he will prove the world of sin and of righteousness
and of judgment of sin because they believe not on me of righteousness because I go to
my father and ye see me no more of judgment because the prince of this world is judged
I have yet many things to say unto you but ye cannot bear them now how be it when he
the spirit of truth is come he will guide you into all truth for he shall not speak
of himself but whatsoever he shall hear that shall he speak and he will show you things
to come he shall glorify me for he shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you all things
that the father hath are mine therefore said I that he shall take of mine and shall show
it unto you a little while and ye shall not see me and again a little while and ye shall
see me because I go to the father then said some of his disciples among themselves what
is this that he saith unto us a little while and ye shall not see me and again a little
while and ye shall see me and because I go to the father they said therefore what is
this that he saith a little while we cannot tell what he saith now Jesus knew that they
were desirous to ask him and said unto them do ye inquire among yourselves of that I said
a little while and ye shall not see me and again a little while and ye shall see me verily
verily I say unto you that ye shall weep and lament but the world shall rejoice and ye
shall be sorrowful but your sorrow shall be turned into joy a woman when she is in travail
hath sorrow because her hour is come but as soon as she is delivered of the child she
remembereth no more the anguish for joy that a man is born into the world and ye now therefore
have sorrow but I will see you again and your heart shall rejoice and your joy no man taketh
from you and in that day ye shall ask me nothing verily verily I say unto you whatsoever ye
shall ask the father in my name he will give it to you hitherto ye have asked nothing in
my name ask and ye shall receive that your joy may be full these things have I spoken
unto you in proverbs but the time cometh when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs
but I shall show you plainly of the father at that day ye shall ask in my name and I
say not unto you that I will pray the father for you for the father himself loveth you
because ye have loved me and have believed that I came out from God I came forth from
the father and am coming to the world again I leave the world and go to the father his
disciple said unto him lo now speakest thou plainly and speakest no proverb now are we
sure that thou knowest all things and eatest not that any man should ask thee by this we
believe that thou camest forth from God Jesus answered them do ye now believe behold the
hour cometh yea is now come that ye shall be scattered every man to his own and shall
leave me alone and yet I am not alone because the father is with me these things I have
spoken unto you that in me ye might have peace in the world ye shall have tribulation but
be of good cheer I have overcome the world let us pray dear heavenly father thank you
for this day I thank you for the ordination of brother Salvador I ask you to bless that
please bless pastor Shelley this morning as well and I ask you to bless now brother Ben
please help him to preach your word with boldness and I pray this in Jesus name amen.
Amen I want to open by thanking pastor Shelley for the opportunity to preach the word of
God this morning we're starting in John chapter 16 and verse 12 is where we'll begin where
the Bible read I have yet many things to say unto you but you cannot bear them now how
be it when he the spirit of truth is come he will guide you into all truth for he shall
not speak of himself but whatsoever he shall hear that Shelley speak and he will show you
things to come we learn about one of the ministries of the Holy Spirit and one of the roles the
Holy Spirit plays in our lives this morning right here and John chapter 16 when Jesus
says he will guide you into all truth and I want to break this down to start it's Jesus
talking he will guide you into all truth obviously the subject is the Holy Spirit he we have
a verb will guide and I believe what this is in reference to is the leading of the Spirit
the direction of the Spirit there's an object in John chapter 16 you the believer and there's
a destination all truth all truth what God's word means what God's word says and I believe
also how to apply it to our lives in other words you're empowered by the Spirit of God
to know truth to identify truth to apply truth and the title of my sermon with that in mind
is empowered by the Spirit empowered by the Spirit and here's what I want to really hammer
in for you and this is the theme of the entire sermon right here which is this the the Holy
Spirit he empowers you to engage with scripture in a way that is unique to you as a Christian
and this is something that I think we can potentially take for granted.
All of us probably understand the doctrine of the permanent indwelling of the Spirit
of God inside us.
Ephesians 1 13 talks about that but you see there's more to it than just acknowledging
that that's true, there's a very real change that can potentially happen in your life courtesy
of the Spirit if you let him, if you allow him and I'll get into more of that later.
Now when I use this word empower it can have several meanings.
Often people mean when they use this term they mean that you are giving someone authority
to do something and it's used often that way.
But the way I'm using it according to Miriam Webster's dictionary is to enable.
That's what I mean when I say empower I'm talking about enabling someone or something
to occur.
Giving someone the ability to do something and essentially that's I believe how this
word can also be used and it's the way that I'm using it in the sermon.
So I just wanted to make sure that was clear.
Before we get into some application I wanted to turn to Exodus chapter 25 and offer an
Old Testament picture of the Holy Spirit in regards to the church as he relates to the
church.
Now we know that the Holy Spirit when you're filled with him you will achieve victories
in the Christian life and victory does not come without the Spirit of God.
You have to have the Spirit to have victory.
You have to have the Spirit to have might in the Christian walk, to have strength in
the Christian walk and someone who typifies this I believe is Samson.
There are a lot of Old Testament heroes we could point to, but Samson in my mind when
it comes to the Spirit is a great example of what I'm talking about and you're turning
to Exodus 25, but I want to quote for you from Judges 15 where the Bible read, "And
when he came unto Lehi, the Philistines shouted against him, and the Spirit of the Lord came
mightily upon him; and the cords that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt
with fire, and his bands loosed from off his hands."
The Bible says, reminding us that passage I believe, reminding us of how we're loosed
from the bondage of sin might that emanates from the Spirit of God.
And it's no coincidence that we see fire in Judges 15, 14, and often fire typifies the
Spirit.
Now if you would, had you turned to Exodus 25, look down at verse number 31.
You could have strength in your life courtesy of the Spirit, but really what I wanted to
talk about is how the Spirit changes the way you engage with Scripture.
There's something unique about you and the way you read, study, and apply the Bible that
other people, they don't have that ability.
But before we get into that, Exodus 25, notice verse 31.
Exodus 25 and verse 31, the Bible says, "And thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold,
of beaten work shall the candlestick be made, his shaft and his branches, his bowls, his
knops and his flowers shall be of the same."
The tabernacle required what?
A candlestick.
And it was this candlestick, these lamps associated with it, that Jesus Christ actually paralleled
with the church.
So I'll go with his interpretation.
I believe that you can apply the candlestick to the church or that it can symbolize the
New Testament church.
It contained six total branches stemming from the middle stick.
And if you skip down to verse 33, you'll notice it says, "Three bowls made like unto almonds
with a knop and a flower in one branch, and three bowls made like almonds in the other
branch with a knop and a flower."
So in the six branches, that came out of the candlestick.
So essentially each branch contained bowls made like unto almonds.
Now, turn over just a few chapters to Exodus 27, Exodus 27, and we'll look at verse 20.
And then, you know, I'll make an application here so you'll understand why I'm bringing
this up.
But Exodus chapter 27, let's look at verse 20, where the Bible read, Exodus 27 and verse
20, "And thou shalt command the children of Israel that they bring the pure oil olive
beaten for the light to cause" notice that word there, "cause the lamp to burn always."
And that's the essence of what I'm talking about.
That which causes you to do something or enables you, gives you the ability to serve God, to
engage with scripture in a unique way.
And the oil olive, beaten for the light, designed to cause the lamp to burn always.
So what empowers, if you will, a lamp to emit light according to Exodus 27?
Well, that would be the oil.
And we know that oil symbolizes the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament.
So therefore, what can we conclude?
What empowers a church to emit light?
The Holy Spirit of God.
Oil representing the Spirit.
So just as the candlestick produces light, it's the Holy Spirit of God that empowers
the church to produce truth.
He will guide you into all truth, is what we read in Judges chapter 16.
It's the Holy Spirit that enables us to be the pillar and ground of the truth.
There's a difference between a church like Steadfast Baptist Church and false, garbage,
heretical apostate churches outside these walls.
The difference is the Spirit of God.
It dwells in one place, He I should say, He dwells in one place and He does not dwell
in the other places.
And it's the almonds that remind us that the Spirit of truth produces fruit.
Turn if you would back to 2 Timothy chapter 3, turn to 2 Timothy 3.
The Bible tells us in 1 John 5, 7, "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the
Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one."
There's one God, he's comprised of three distinct persons.
The Father, the Word, another name for the Son of God, Jesus Christ, according to Revelation
19, 13, and the Holy Ghost.
And these three are one.
There also exists an eternal subordination within the Godhead, eternal subordination
within the Trinity, a hierarchy of authority.
The Son perfectly submits to the Father.
The Holy Ghost to the Son and the Father.
Despite being, though, the third person of the Trinity, we know that Scripture teaches,
and 1 John 5, 7 teaches this, that the Holy Spirit is God.
The Holy Spirit is fully God, as is the Son, as is the Father.
At salvation, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit.
And this is one of many reasons why, once you're saved, you're always saved.
You have eternal life, you're born of God, you're a child of God, there's all those
other arguments to be made.
But one of them is the fact that you're sealed with the Spirit until the day of redemption,
and that is a permanent sealing.
There is no unsealing.
You're sealed until the day of redemption.
It is a permanent thing.
And just as the temple of God in the Old Testament contained in it a picture of the presence
of God, we as the New Testament temple of God have the presence of God, if you will,
inside us, the Holy Ghost.
And as a result, there's something different about you.
There's something different about me.
Some of you are like, "Yeah, I know that."
But I mean in a good way, not in the bad way you all were thinking of, all right?
But seriously, there is something different about all of us.
And here's one of them.
I'll go into my first point now.
You are empowered by the Spirit to identify what God said.
You can identify what God said.
If you would, look down at 2 Timothy 3 in verse 16 and notice what the Scripture tells
us.
2 Timothy 3 in verse 16, all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.
The doctrine of inspiration is outlined right here.
All Scripture given by inspiration of God, whether it's the book of Leviticus or the
book of John, it has been inspired.
We do not pick and choose the Scripture we appeal to.
We appeal to all of it.
We love all of it.
It's all inspired.
It's all God-breathed.
And that's what it means when it says "inspired," the inspiration.
It's God-breathed.
Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
And you are empowered as Christians who are sealed with the Spirit, you are empowered
to identify for yourself what has been inspired.
You can identify for yourself what has been preserved, what has been inspired, what God
actually said.
Now, you may not be one of the so-called scholars out there who study text criticism.
You may not have that expertise.
You may not have a vast knowledge of the manuscript evidence, and I'm not downplaying looking
at history, looking at evidence.
I like doing that kind of thing, but it's not necessary for you to know that you have
the inspired Word of God sitting in your lap this morning.
You don't have to study that to know that book right there contains every single Word
of God.
It does.
It contains every Word of God.
And how could you know this?
For sure.
How could you have certainty, the Holy Spirit?
You see, the Christian life brings certainty.
Everything else, it seems, brings uncertainty.
You can be certain that you're a child of God.
And just as sure, you can be certain about the fact that you know, you know what God
said.
You don't have to wonder about it.
And the reason why this is relevant is because I'm not sure you're aware, but if you're
not, I'll get you, I'll illuminate this for you right now.
There is a war on the King James Bible.
And here's how the enemy is waging war on your King James Bible.
They want to make you believe that there are significant portions of the scripture that
shouldn't be there.
They're spurious, they're errors, they're wrong in some way, form, or fashion.
The Bible says the opposite, but these people, they want to make you believe, and I'm talking
about guys like James White, I'm talking about these modern text critics today who want to
cast doubt on the inspired, preserved Word of God, the preserved Bible.
I'm talking about places like, this is what I call it, the real ending of Mark, the real
ending of Mark.
Yeah, long ending of Mark, that's a nice name for it, I'm not trying to knock anyone who
uses that.
I like to say the real ending of Mark, Mark chapter 16, verses 9 through 20.
They want Mark 16 to end in verse 8, that's dumb.
The woman taken in adultery shouldn't be in your Bible according to these modern so-called
scholars.
First John 5, 7 that I quoted earlier shouldn't be in your Bible according to these modern
so-called scholars.
Acts 8, 37 shouldn't be in your Bible according to them.
The King James rendering of Ephesians 3, 9, the way that it reads in your Bible.
Matthew 6, 13, Revelation 16, 5, I could go on and on and on about the Scriptures they
think should not be in the Bible.
They think they're added on in error or that they're added on deliberately to corrupt the
Word of God.
They accuse Theodore Biza, whose edition of the Textus Receptus, the King James Bible,
follows a lot.
They accuse him of adding the rendering that we see, Revelation 16, 5, in our Bible.
They accuse him of adding that in based on no evidence whatsoever, which I don't believe
to be true.
I think if you look at what he himself wrote about the process by which he came up with
his edition of the Received Text, he had compelling evidence for his rendering of that passage
and other passages as well.
According to James White, the comma Johannium, otherwise known as 1 John 5-7, I think we
can all call it that, that's fine, is "obviously a later edition that entered into the KJV
by unusual circumstances."
False.
It's in the majority of Latin manuscripts, quotes of antiquity substantiated from the
third century, from the fourth century.
It existed, there's versional evidence, older Bible translations that contain it, and other
distinctly TR readings.
There's internal grammatical evidence for 1 John 5, 7 for which it did not exist, then
verse 8 would make no sense.
There's compelling reasons why a minority reading that perhaps is based on a minority
of existing Greek manuscripts appears in the King James Bible.
And you know what?
I agree with the talking point that says, "Hey, the King James is based on a majority of Greek
manuscripts."
I like that.
But you know, I think what's even more powerful than that is the idea that the readings we
have in our Bible have been received and passed down and preserved from generation to generation.
Because it only takes one transmission point to corrupt the Word of God.
So I'm not only going to rely on bean counting to authenticate the scripture.
There's something else, though, that you can rely on.
And I bring up these talking points, and they're really interesting, and I like to study and
talk about them and everything like that.
I am not downplaying doing the study.
We should do the study, okay?
I am not downplaying that.
But here's another dimension to this that I feel like not many people talk about.
It's called the Holy Spirit.
And you know what?
At the end of the day, I could sit here and I could talk about the manuscript evidence
and all of that is great and the historical quotes and that's great.
That's fantastic.
But at the end of the day, when I read these passages that they say should not be in the
Bible, the Holy Spirit bears witness to me that I'm reading scripture.
It's just that easy.
And you know, that probably is not going to win me too many debates, but I'm not debating
right now.
This is not a debate.
Would I score points in a debate using that as evidence?
Probably not.
But guess what?
It's a sermon.
So I can say it.
All right.
If you would turn to John chapter 10, the point I'm trying to make is this.
He enables us to authenticate what God said.
We can validate what God said for ourselves.
And even if the enemy wants to downplay that, even if the enemy wants to even mock us for
saying this, well I would expect that coming from carnal people.
I would expect that coming from carnal people.
John chapter 10, notice verse 2, "But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of
the sheep.
To him the porter openeth, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calleth his own sheep by
name and leadeth them out.
For when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him.
For they know," or you could say identify, "his voice."
They know who is speaking.
Verse 5, "And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him, for they know not
the voice of strangers."
Hey, when I read these modern versions, perversions, corruptions of the Bible, I hear the voice
of strangers, especially when they corrupt what salvation is.
The New King James in Matthew 7, 14 saying salvation is difficult.
John 3, 36 in the ESV saying you have to obey Jesus Christ to go to heaven.
There's tons of examples of this, counterfeit scripture constitutes the voice of strangers.
But when I read this I hear the voice of the shepherd.
But of course the opposite is true.
When you hear frauds, when you hear fakes, when you hear the counterfeit, it just doesn't
sound right.
And you know this is one of the doctrines that I can demonstrate for you right now.
Like you don't have to wait until you leave the service.
We're going to do an experiment right now to demonstrate this point.
Now I want to warn you, I'm about to be a little bit sarcastic.
I'm usually not, but I'm going to be for just a couple of minutes here.
Alright?
So play along.
So let me demonstrate for you that the voice of strangers just doesn't sound right.
Alright?
Turn, if you would, to the apocrypha this morning.
Say I don't have an apocrypha.
It's okay.
You could follow along.
Some of you might have one.
I have one in between the Old and New Testament.
But turn, if you would, to the apocrypha.
We're going to look at Tobit chapter 6.
Tobit chapter 6.
Now some say that this is scripture, that this is God-breed, that this is inspired.
Can we as believers identify whether that's true?
Well, let's see.
I'm going to read for you from Tobit chapter 6.
"Brother Azariah, to what use is the heart and the liver and the gall of the fish?
And he said unto him, 'Touching the heart and the liver, if a devil or an evil spirit
trouble any, we must make a smoke thereof before the man or the woman, and the party
shall be no more vexed.
As for the gall, it is good to anoint a man that hath whiteness in his eyes, and he shall
be healed.'"
So here, ladies and gentlemen, we have the story of Tobit in our Bible, the Apocrypha.
And we have a smoke concoction being made to exorcise demons.
Let's continue reading.
This is scripture according to Catholics, you know, they would affirm this, right?
Let's keep going.
"And when thou shalt come into the marriage chamber," I skipped ahead a little by the
way.
"Thou shalt take the ashes of perfume, and shalt lay upon them some of the heart and
liver of the fish, and shalt make a smoke with it," you say, why are you speaking in
kind of a British accent?
I feel like that's the pseudo-intellectual accent, all right.
"And the devil shall smell it, and flee away, and never come again anymore."
Now ladies and gentlemen, we have figured out how to defeat the devil.
The vaunted apocrypha teaches us the solution to fight the devil, to defeat the devil, is
fish.
I'm just exegeting the scripture.
Why are you laughing?
Maybe because it sounds a little weird, perhaps?
Fish perfume.
It kind of sounds like sorcery, but just ignore that part.
I'm reading the apocrypha.
Isn't this God's word?
Okay, let's snap back to reality here for a second, all right?
That sounds ridiculous.
That sounds stupid, okay?
Why?
Why is it that you laughed?
Because you heard the voice of a stranger.
That is not inspired scripture.
That is not what God said.
We are empowered by the Spirit of God to recognize His voice, and let me tell you something,
I did not, and neither did you, recognize His voice in the text I just read for you,
because that is not the Bible.
We are empowered by the Spirit of God to identify what is truly the Word of God, and in a world
that is attacking the scripture today, they want to lift up the Apocrypha.
They want to lift up the modern versions of the Bible.
They want to tell you that your King James contains errors and spurious readings and
additions to it in a world that is just vociferously attacking the scripture that we have.
You can say, "No, no, I identify what actually is scripture because I have the Holy Spirit."
And this is why the disciples said in Luke chapter 24 on the walk to Emmaus, "Did not
our heart burn within us while He talked with us by the way and while He opened to us the
scripture?"
Every single believer who is saved has the ability to recognize what is God's Word, has
the ability to read this book and hear the voice of the shepherd.
You have the ability to recognize that when you read your King James Bible, you're reading
the inspired, preserved, unadulterated Word of God.
It's that easy.
You have the potential to validate God's Word for yourself.
You don't need to rely on a bunch of so-called scholars and the intellectuals out there,
supposedly.
And of course, we're living in a world that obfuscates what God said, casts doubt on it.
But you don't have to be confused.
You don't have to doubt.
You can be certain that you have God's Word.
You are empowered by the Spirit to identify what God said.
But here's the problem.
You have to actually read it, though.
So I'm not up here to just give you a pat on the back.
I want to provoke you to action.
Because these truths should provoke all of us to action.
Because the only way they can be realized is if you do something about it.
You want to know what God said, you have to actually read it, though.
You have to actually read it.
Turn, if you would, to 1 Corinthians 2.
Turn to 1 Corinthians 2.
I'll go to my second point.
I could talk about this for the whole night, so I've got to move on and control myself
here.
1 Corinthians, the whole morning I should say, 1 Corinthians chapter 2.
My second point is this.
You are empowered by the Spirit to understand what God said.
So not only can you identify truth, you can actually understand it, and you can understand
the Bible.
1 Corinthians 2, look at verse 12.
"Now we have received not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that
we might know the things that are freely given to us of God, which things also we speak not
in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing
spiritual things with spiritual.
So the way that we interpret the Bible is by comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
Not comparing spiritual things with commentaries.
Spiritual things with dead heretics who are in hell.
You can interpret the scripture for yourself through the Holy Spirit by comparing one passage
with another, and we often interpret certain passages through the lenses of others.
And this will help you with so-called problem passages that seem to be teaching the opposite
of salvation by faith or anything like that.
You just have to interpret them through the lenses of what the Bible has already told
us so clearly, which is that salvation is by faith.
The reason why so many people wade into error is because they're not following this principle.
They're not comparing spiritual with spiritual, but what 1 Corinthians 2, I believe, is teaching
us is that we can actually make spiritual knowledge claims.
We can make knowledge claims about doctrine.
We can make knowledge claims about what the Bible is saying because we understand what
it's saying.
We have the ability to truly understand the Word of God, whereas for others, it may be
like reading something in a different language.
It may just go completely over their head because they don't have the Spirit.
And the Bible tells us this.
Look down at verse 14.
But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness
unto him, neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned.
Why is it that the natural man cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God, yet the saved
can receive them?
It's not because we're carnally superior.
It's because we have something they don't, the Holy Ghost.
We have the Holy Ghost.
The natural man, as a result, does not understand the Bible.
And this is why you get really weird heresies.
It's because natural men read the Bible and they have no idea what it's saying.
And so they teach wrong stuff.
There's a reason why Catholics believe that a wafer somehow gets transformed into the
literal body of the Lord Jesus Christ, a false doctrine known as transubstantiation.
It's because they read John chapter 6 and they have no idea what it's actually saying,
so they come up with this weirdo false doctrine.
There's a reason why they also believe that alcoholic wine gets turned into the literal
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and then tells people to drink it.
The hell is that?
That's blasphemy.
There's a reason why Jews won't eat cheeseburgers.
Why in the world would you torture yourself like that?
I love cheeseburgers.
Why because the law says thou shall not see the kid in his mother's milk and they just
don't understand that.
They misapply it.
I'm not going to eat a cheeseburger now.
I'm going to keep the Sabbath by not flipping on a light.
What is wrong with you?
You clearly are a natural man and the Jews are not saved.
That's a very obvious statement, captain obvious right there.
The seventh day Adventists, they believe in work salvation.
Then they also believe you must keep the Sabbath in the New Testament.
The Sabbath which pictures salvation by faith.
That's why it says don't work.
Then they believe you have to work.
It's like can you follow the bouncing ball here?
It's not that hard, seemingly.
But what's the problem?
They don't have the Spirit of God.
That's the issue.
And so they believe in two diametrically opposed concepts and they don't bat an eye.
Pentecostals, they think that speaking with another tongue is getting up and foaming at
the mouth and barking like a dog and acting like you're a schizophrenic demon possessed
freak.
Why?
Because they read Acts 2, 1 Corinthians 14 and they don't understand the Bible.
They don't have the spirit.
So what happens is the natural man then produces this weird heresy.
It produces this heresy.
How about hyper dispensationalists who teach that salvation was different in the Old Testament?
How is it possible for such people to teach something like that when the Bible is so clear
that the prophets preached the same gospel we believe in today?
And why would they ascertain that it was different in the Old Testament?
They have not the Spirit.
The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, and heresy emanates from
the flesh.
The unsaved cannot understand the Bible.
Turn if you would to John 14.
Turn to John 14.
Why is it different for believers?
Why is it different for the children of God?
Because you have the Holy Ghost, and the Holy Ghost empowers you to actually understand
the words on the page.
You can understand what God said.
And this is why saved people, they're not going to go into damnable heresy.
You're not going to have a saved person suddenly decide Islam is true or something like that.
You have the Holy Ghost.
John 14 verse 25, John 14 verse 25, "These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present
with you.
As a cross forder, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My name, He shall
teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said
unto you."
Here's what Jesus is saying.
The Holy Ghost will teach you all things and bring the Bible into remembrance.
God's Word into remembrance.
Not some special revelation.
The Bible says there's no scripture given by private interpretation.
It's not like you're going to have a voice whispering in your head, giving you extra
biblical messages.
If you hear voices, that's a major issue.
The Bible brings into remembrance the scripture, and He teaches you.
When you read the Word of God, you can be taught by the Spirit.
He will teach you doctrine so you can understand what it is you're reading.
You're empowered by the Spirit of God to understand what God said.
But like I said earlier, there's a problem.
You actually have to study it, though.
How do you expect to magically understand it if you're never studying it, if you never
crack it open?
Now, this doesn't mean you're going to be perfect doctrinally.
Just as sure as no one is sinless is just as sure as no one is going to be right about
every single teaching because we still have the flesh.
And so if we're wrong about stuff, I blame the flesh for that, not the spirit.
Go to 1 Thessalonians chapter 1, 1 Thessalonians chapter 1.
You know, I kind of like in preaching to the teacher or the preacher, cooking you a spiritual
meal.
That's what they're up here doing.
And it's a lot easier to receive a meal that has been cooked for you rather than making
it yourself.
But it doesn't mean that you're incapable of making it yourself because you have the
ingredients.
The ingredients are here.
It just takes a lot longer to put all the ingredients together and figure it out all
on your own.
And the preacher, he spoon feeds that which has already been cooked for you and he put
the ingredients together for you.
So I'm not downplaying preaching by any means.
It's pastors who spend a lot more time by nature of the fact that they're in the ministry
often studying the ingredients and studying how to put a spiritual meal together.
And we are the beneficiaries of that as church members.
When we come here we're being fed with some really great deluxe five-star spiritual meals
and I walk out of the service full.
And we shouldn't ever, ever take that for granted.
Praise God we have a pastor who feeds us spiritually to the point that I walk out with a big spiritual
belly.
I get fatter spiritually every time I come here with a nice juicy spiritual steak.
Nice juicy mac and cheese.
I like mac and cheese.
You know a nice juicy spiritual mashed potatoes or whatever.
Whatever foods you like you could plug and play.
First Thessalonians 1 is where I had you turn.
I want to just quote for you from 1 Peter 1.
My third point though is you are empowered by the Spirit to proclaim what God said.
So you can identify it, you can understand it, but you can also preach it.
You can proclaim it as well courtesy of the Holy Ghost.
And I think this is why the Bible tells us, "Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto
themselves but unto us they did minister the things which are not reported unto you by
them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven,
which things the angels desire to look into."
The gospel preached how?
By the Holy Ghost.
And this is why I believe salvation is a spiritual transaction that occurs from faith to faith.
It occurs from faith to faith.
You're empowered to preach, but guess what that means?
For the vast majority of us, what that means is this.
You're empowered to get someone else saved.
Only you.
Now think about this.
Again, we kind of, yeah, we acquiesce to these truths.
But have you ever thought and really just meditated on this for a second?
Only you can get someone saved.
The unsaved are relying on you.
How can I accept some man should guide me, the Bible says.
You are being relied on by the Lord Jesus Christ to fulfill the Great Commission and
it's only you because of the Holy Ghost that can get someone else saved.
To me that ought to provoke us to action and not inspire us to say hey at 2 p.m. I know
exactly where I'm going on Sunday or any of the other regional soul winning times because
only I can do it.
Only the brethren can do it.
Only the saved can engage in this spiritual transaction by preaching the gospel through
the word of God and get somebody else saved faith to faith by the Holy Ghost.
Because we have a guiding spirit.
He brings verses to remembrance and it's been preached before but I'll reiterate it.
Why is it that you have guys who maybe they're not the most eloquent.
Maybe they don't have the ability to speak that well.
Maybe they're shy.
Maybe they're introverted.
But yet when they go out and they knock someone's door they're able to get that person saved
and sometimes when I watch people like this give the gospel I'm thinking, "Where did that
come from?"
Man, you could talk because they're filled with the Spirit.
And we should strive not only to be indwelled with Him but filled with Him as well.
And you see people almost transform, I'm not trying to get weird with this, alright, I'm
not a Pentecostal, but my point is you kind of see them almost like they're a different
person when they're filled with the Holy Ghost and they're preaching the Word of God and
they're getting someone saved and where is that power coming from? Not the flesh, it's
from the Holy Ghost and, you know, there's some of us in this room who are physically
gifted, right? Some of you are athletic, you have quote unquote "the look", you maybe have
a lot of muscle or whatever, you're very athletic, you win in the Mighty Men's Conference almost
every year or you do very well, then there's others who, maybe not so much, you could cite
the King of the Hill battle that I had with Brother Milstead, it was kind of embarrassing,
but anyway, I gotta work on that, but my point is, some of us are physically gifted, some
of us not so much, some of us maybe we're not the tallest or biggest and maybe we don't
have anything impressive about us, physically speaking, and I consider myself to be one
of those people where it's just not physically, it's kind of like, I'm glad I'm already married.
I'll just leave it at that. I don't have to deal with that anymore. But you know, it's
like there's there's not much there from a purely carnal standpoint for some people.
And when I was a teenager, I struggled with that a little bit. But once you get saved
and you study doctrine, you realize something that doesn't really matter. Now, of course,
we should work out be strong as men. I'm not downplaying that at all. But when it comes
to things you can't change about yourself, maybe your proclivity to be athletic or to
jump really high, like certain ethnicities, you know, whatever, whatever the case may
be, right? Like, you may not have these God given talents, like from a carnal standpoint,
carnal attributes. But when it comes to the work of God doesn't matter. Now, if I want
to try and go play in the NBA, it matters. If I want to go be in the NFL, it matters.
But when it comes to the work of God, those things don't really matter because it's not
about you.
It's not about me.
It's about the Holy Ghost.
And we're empowered by Him to preach boldly.
We're empowered by Him to get other people saved, even though perhaps your physical stature
isn't that impressive.
It's not about that.
It's not about the messenger.
It's about the message.
It's not about the messenger.
It's about the message.
And our power, our strength, our might does not come carnally.
It comes spiritually.
Go to Daniel 11, if you would, Daniel chapter 11.
And you know what?
There's coming a time in which I think a lot of us, if you're still there, if we're all
still alive when this happens, we'll be asked, I think we'll be tasked to preach in a high
pressure situation.
Some of us already have done this, city council meetings.
I mean, I sat and watched my pastor get grilled in a courtroom for preaching the Bible.
And I'm just like, this is insane.
And it's a foreshadowing of what's to come.
But you know what gives me hope is when I read scriptures like the one that I had you
turn to in Daniel 11 and verse 32, Daniel 11 and verse 32, and such as do wickedly against
the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries, but the people that do know their God shall
be strong and do exploits.
The people that know their God shall be strong and do exploits, the Bible is saying.
How is that possible?
Now, if you study Daniel 11, there is historical fulfillment there through Antiochus epiphanies,
but also this chapter gives us a clue about what the end times will be like.
And we can learn about what the tribulation period will be like, the attributes that the
Antichrist himself in the end times will possess.
And we know it will be a time of tribulation, the likes of which believers have never seen
before, and in the great tribulation, that persecution will reach a fever pitch, it will
reach its climax, and yet the Bible says in Daniel 11 verse 32, the people that do know
their God shall be strong and do exploits during a time in which the Bible says you
shall be hated of all men, hated of all nations, for my name's sake.
How is that possible that we'll still be capable of doing good works and preaching and things
of that nature?
Well, the answer is the Holy Spirit of God.
So I look at this verse in Daniel 11, 32 as not a prediction.
This is not a prediction.
This is a spoiler.
Go to Matthew 10 and we'll read more about it, Matthew chapter 10.
Not a prediction.
I think that's a spoiler.
I think you're going to see believers doing mighty works for God and the only way that'll
be possible, the only way the preaching will continue, the only way there will still be
men with a back mode preaching even in a high pressure situation where their life will be
at risk is because of the Holy Ghost, because they've been empowered spiritually and Matthew
chapter 10 reiterates this point in verse 18, "And ye shall be brought before governors
and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles, but when they deliver
you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak, for it shall be given you in that same
hour what ye shall speak, for it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father
which speaketh in you."
And yes, this applies to the disciples, but there's dual fulfillment.
And I think the same will be true of us, is that when we're in a high pressure situation,
perhaps we're facing our persecutors, we're facing government officials who want to throw
us into prison or kill us for preaching the word of God that we don't rely on our carnal
might or strength, but rather the spirit of our Father who will be speaking in us.
And you may be anxious during this time, you may have a lapse of faith, perhaps you're not
the most well-spoken, maybe you're really scared, maybe you're not sure that you'll
make it out alive, but here's what you can know, is that no matter what you have going
on carnally, no matter how often you fail carnally, what the Bible is saying here is
that you will speak the word of God in a high-pressure situation because He has empowered you to do
it. He's empowered you to do it. You're empowered by the Spirit to preach, but here's the problem,
you actually have to preach, though. You have to actually preach, though. You have to actually
open your mouth boldly, though, and if you're filled with the Spirit, you will preach boldly,
like Acts chapter 4 tells us. That's what happened with the disciples, that they were
filled with the Spirit, and they didn't bark like a dog, like a psycho, they preached.
They prophesied. The Word of God came out of their mouth. They proclaimed what God said.
And in the end times, the only way that we will be able to proclaim what God said in
the midst of the tribulation period, or even the Great Tribulation, the 75 days that comes
before the rapture, will be by being empowered. It will be through the power of the Holy Ghost.
Turn to Ezekiel 36 if you would. Ezekiel 36. And I'm going into my last point. Ezekiel
36. While you turn there, I'll read from Hebrews 8. You turn to Ezekiel 36 for just a moment
and I want to look at a couple of verses there. Hebrews 8 says, "For this is the covenant
that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord. I will put
my laws into their mind and write them in their hearts, and I will be to them a God,
and they shall be to me a people." The Old Testament law written on physical tables.
The Bible is telling us in Hebrews 8 that in the New Testament the law is written on
your heart through the Spirit. And in Ezekiel 36 we find out that there's a consequence
of this. There is a product of this. Israel is being regathered after Babylon here and
look what it says in verse 26, "A new heart will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you,
and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh,
and I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep
my judgments and do them. I believe this is a foreshadowing of the establishment of the New
Testament and the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit, which will cause us to walk in God's
statutes. Again, when I use that word empower, I'm talking about causing someone to do something,
giving someone the ability to do something, and the Holy Ghost causes us to follow God's
law if you walk in Him. There are those who walk in the flesh potentially their whole lives,
and you never see any outward change. You have to, through your free will, walk in the Spirit.
I'll get into that in a moment, but I think we're seeing a foreshadowing of that. God says you'll
put His Spirit within you and cause you to walk in His statutes. I think this is how you can explain
scriptures like in Philippians chapter 2, where it says, "For it is God which worketh in you,
both to will and to do of His good pleasure." The thing is though, you have to work outwardly what
God is working inwardly. That part is up to you. So just to recap, I talked about how you're empowered
by the Spirit to identify what God said. You're empowered by the Spirit to understand what God
said. I said you're empowered by the Spirit to preach what God said, to proclaim what He said.
And this is my last point. You are empowered by the Spirit to do what God said. You are empowered
by the Spirit to do what God said. Now here's the difference between you and a regular unsaved person.
Romans chapter 2 does say that the law of God, His moral law, is written on the hearts of unbelievers
in the sense that it's on their conscience. They're aware of God's moral law. It's on their conscience.
The difference between us and them though is that not only is the law written on our conscience,
making us aware of it, but also the Holy Spirit has written God's law inside us,
which enables us to actually do the law. We can actually do it. I don't believe the unsaved
can do it successfully and I'll explain more in a second. Turn to Galatians 5, Galatians chapter 5.
I'm almost done. There's a distinction between the children of God and the children of this world.
The children of this world, they're aware that murder is wrong and things of that nature. They
have morality in their conscience, unless they're a reprobate. But that's a different topic for a different
time. But you know, regular people, they're aware of God's law. It's just that we as saved people
can actually do it. And Galatians chapter 5 says in verse 16, "This I say then, walk in the Spirit,
and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." You see, the flesh stands in stark contrast
with the Spirit. This is why the Bible says, "I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims abstain
from fleshly lusts which war against the soul." I'm not saying it's automatic. It is not. Doing
good works after you get saved is not automatic. That's garbage. You have to walk in the Spirit.
You have to... I believe in free will, okay? You have to walk in the Spirit. You have to
determine in your mind, "Today I'm walking in the Spirit. I'm yielding to Him and not the flesh."
And if you do that, you're doing a law. And I want to make this statement. Any attempt in my mind,
any attempt to keep the letter and Spirit of the law without the Holy Spirit, in my mind,
is futile. I believe so. Now they may try with their might. They may put sticky notes everywhere
they look. And they may through their fleshly carnal means, try as hard as they can to live
a righteous life. But it's believers who have the means to keep God's law. Does that mean you'll be
sinless? Of course not. Because no one walks in the Spirit 100% of the time. So of course we're all
still sinners. We always will be sinners. Because guess what? We still have the flesh. And so we'll
always be sinners until the day we die. But you actually, when you're walking in the Spirit,
can do what God said and be empowered to do what God said, rather than try to do what He said
through a ritualistic attempt, through fleshly might alone, which leads people to fail. Galatians
5 and verse 22. Galatians 5 and verse 22. "But the fruit of the Spirit is" what? "love, joy, peace,
long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." Pay attention to this. "Against such
there is no law." Obviously there's no law against the fruit of the Spirit because you're not breaking
any law, whether it's God's law or even man's law. You're not breaking any laws when you're
exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit, when you're walking in the Spirit. And you know there's some
people, maybe even in this room right now, who think they can't ever change. Maybe you've had
this thought. Maybe you've thought, "You know what? I'm a smoker and I always will be." Maybe you've
thought, "I'm a drinker and I always will be." Maybe you've thought deep down inside, you've
admitted this to yourself perhaps, that you're not a very good spouse and it'll always be that way.
You have anger issues and it'll always be that way. Maybe some of you have thought, "You know what,
I'm just negative all the time. I lack joy in my life and it'll always be that way. This is just who
I am. Nothing could ever change it. It'll be who I am till the day that I die." Whatever sin you're
thinking of right now that you think in your head you can't conquer or you think some negative
attribute that you have deep down inside that you're admitting to yourself right now that you
struggle with and you think, "I can't change. It's impossible. It's not going to happen." I think
you are wrong. I think you're wrong and let me tell you why. Now there's a line you could cross,
I get that, where there's no good option. I understand that. There's the caveat. But in
general I do think you're wrong and I do think you can change. I do think you can be different.
I do think that there's something about you that perhaps you're overlooking the Holy Ghost.
It doesn't have to be the way you think it is. It's possible for you in my mind
to quit the downward spiral of sin you may find yourself in right now. It's possible for you to
sober up. It's possible for you to quit that which is destroying your life right now. I
think it's possible for you to have patience, to have joy, to have peace, to have long suffering,
to be a more positive person, true joy in your life. I think it's possible for you
to be a better parent, a better spouse, better husband, better wife, better worker, better
Christian, better servant of God. I think it's possible for you to truly really change. You have
to actually walk in the spirit though and in doing so what does the Bible teach? There is no law
against you. Say what do you mean by walking in the spirit? Doing anything spiritual. Praying,
reading your Bible, singing a hymn. Even if you're not a good singer, I'm not. It's okay. That's a
spiritual activity. Soul winning, obviously. Bible reading, Bible memory, fellowship with the
brethren. Don't overlook that. Man, it is refreshing to fellowship with the brethren. Praise God for it.
It is refreshing. I love getting invited to hang out with the brethren. Invite me. I love it.
I love hanging out with my brothers and sisters in Christ. It's refreshing. I feel like I'm walking
in the Spirit. We're having actual edifying conversations. Even if it's not about the Bible,
I can relate to you because you're my brother. I can relate to you. We both have the Spirit of God.
I'm not saying the only topic we're allowed to discuss is doctrine. Even if we're not talking
about that at all, I still feel refreshed being around my spiritual family. The last place we're
going to go is 1 Thessalonians 5 and then I'll be done. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. If you walk in
the Spirit, you won't walk in the flesh and you'll see change. As you draw closer to Him, you'll see
change and people will know that guy's been with Jesus. People will know that. People will recognize
that about you. So here's my challenge for you. Wake up every morning without fail as much as is
possible for you. Wake up every single morning walking in the Spirit and here's what I've started
to do and it has been so great. You wake up starting your day with a prayer. Now some have
said start your day by reading the Bible. That's fantastic. Do that too if you like. I'm not speaking
against that but I personally love waking up and starting my day with prayer. Thanking God for what
I have. Casting whatever burdens I'm dealing with on Him and then I just don't have to worry about
it because it's in His hands. There are certain things you just have to accept that you can't
control so why not just cast whatever that is that you're thinking of onto God and go about your
business with a smile on your face because you've done your part. The first thing you did when you
woke up in the morning is casted that burden on His shoulders and you can go about your business
with joy because you did your part. You asked God to help you find a better job or to improve
your finances or to improve your marriage or to gain more biblical wisdom. Whatever it is,
cast your burden on Him. In my opinion, first thing in the morning and then you know what you
could also ask for, "God, give me the wisdom to truly understand on a deeper level the Bible
that I'm about to read," and then knock out your Bible reading as soon as you're done with your
prayer, then go to work and the rest is history, but you're starting your day off right. Let me
tell you how I used to start every morning. I'll be candid with you. You want to know how I started
every single morning of my life. Twitter, Facebook, they call it X now, whatever, but these social
media platforms, and you know what it did to me? It just, frankly, it just pissed me the hell off
because there's a lot of low IQ people who post on social media. I don't want to see that at all,
let alone first thing in the morning. There's a lot of filth on social media that I don't want
my eyes to see. So why would I start my day off like that? Then I'm grumpy the rest of the day,
and I have a short fuse, and you know what? If you have anger issues, why don't you start your day
walking in the spirit, and then you'll have the fruit of the spirit being demonstrated in your
life, joy, long-suffering, peace, etc. I think it's essential to start our day off right.
People ritualistically will drink coffee, eat breakfast, do these carnal things every morning.
Let's add some spiritual tasks to our list as well. First Thessalonians 5 is the last place
we're going to look. Here's the conclusion. Every Christian, and I realize I have to wind down,
I'm doing it now. Every Christian has potential. Every Christian has potential to do what? To
authenticate scripture for themselves without having to rely on the so-called scholars. To
understand scripture for themselves without having to rely on commentaries often from unsaved people.
To proclaim the truth of scripture for themselves. To go out soul winning and preach the gospel of
Jesus Christ and get someone saved. You can do that. You have the potential to do that. You can
apply the truth of scripture as well. Walk in the spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the
flesh. You could actually do the law. You could actually change. It doesn't have to be the same
way that it's always been in your life. True real lasting change can occur if you walk in the spirit.
Here's the problem though. Too many Christians just waste away their potential. They say how. Last
verse I'll look at. There's only four words. Won't take me long. Verse 19. First Thessalonians 5 and
verse 19. Quench not the spirit. If the spirit is typified by fire and he's in you forever,
there's an issue though. You could quench him. You could make him. You could make it so that he is
not changing you. You're not fulfilling your potential because you're walking in the flesh.
Because you're playing video games all day. You're looking at social media all day. You're wasting
your potential. God put you on this earth for a reason. It's not to advance in Halo online.
I don't even know what other games... I just brought up Halo because that's what I used to play.
I want you to notice what I said and the reason I say this again is not to just pat you on the back
so we can all go home happy. Yay, our ears have been tickled. I said you're empowered by the spirit
to know what God said. You actually have to read it though. You're empowered by the spirit to
understand what God said. You actually have to study it though. Notice you have to do your part
every time. You're empowered by the spirit to proclaim what God said. You actually have to
preach it though. You're empowered by the spirit to do what God said and you have to do your part.
Walk in the spirit though. So I'm asking this morning, I'm just asking you to get out of your
own way. Just get out of your own way. Realize you have potential. The unsaved just doesn't have.
Don't forget, you have the Holy Ghost living inside you, okay? And you have the potential
to recognize what God said. You have the potential to understand what God said. You have the potential
to proclaim what God said. You have the potential to do what God said. And the reason why is because
you are empowered by the Spirit of God. You're empowered by the Spirit of God. And so as a result,
you have potential. Don't waste it. If there's one thing I want you to remember from the sermon,
it's this. You are empowered by the Spirit of God. Take advantage. Take advantage. You can
engage with scripture in a way that is totally unique to you as a Christian. All I have to say
is seize that opportunity. Don't let it go to waste. You have years left. I don't care how old you are.
You're on this earth because you have years left to serve the Lord. Take advantage and use the Holy
Ghost in your life because you're empowered by the Spirit. Let's bow our heads for a word of prayer.
Father in heaven, we thank you Lord for this opportunity to be gathered together in your
name and I just pray that someone somewhere would just be inspired to utilize the Spirit of God in
their life and not just to acknowledge the indwelling of the Spirit, but actually to walk
in the Spirit, to see true change, to be able to interpret Scripture for themselves, to know what
God said, to preach what God said, and to do what God said. And I realize for many of us perhaps
these truths are basic, but I just pray, Lord, that you would help us, provoke us, goad us,
to do what's right, and to walk in the Spirit that you have given us, to cause us, to keep your law.
We love you, and in Jesus' name I pray, amen. Closing, let's go to song number 439. Song number
439, count your blessings. Song number 439, sing it out real loud and first.