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A.R.Smith Sermons International,Iran Now Faith. Hebrews 11:1-11:23 Now Faith is, by Rev A.R. Smith Hebrews 11:1, Now faith is, the substance of things hoped for, the evedence of things not seen. Introduction; We see many people expecting things to happen tomorrow. I hear it every day when I speek to frends, loved ones and even enemyes. They always say, Well maby tomorrow things will get better, or maby tomorrow or next week, Ill start going to church. And i always add, well what if tomorrow never comes? Where will your soul be for eterniety? Think about it. I. What does Hebrews say about faith? Now faith is, Lets break it down so we can understand it a little better. What Paul was saying here is the same thing, Jesus told Mary and Martha. John 11:32, Then Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying unto Him, Lord if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. Isnt that the way some christians are, they try to put blame on everything not knowing that whatever happens to us as believers may just be the will of God. As you see here, Mary had faith for yesterday, she didnt have,Now Faith.She believed if Jesus had been there yesterday, Her brother, would not have died. She had seen many wonders preformed by Jesus and at this time, along with everyone else, that knew Jesus,they were walking by sight, and not by Faith.We see this alot in scripture and in our daily lives. Christians are sitting back waiteing for the Rapture and doing nothing today, to add to their own faith. being sick in body and spirit, not knowing where to turn, not knowing how to survive. Look at John verse 37, And some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died? Walking by sight and not by faith. How many wonders does Jesus hafe to do before we believe. The Bible states, that, We can do all things throu Christ Jesus, who strengthens Me. Thats Now Faith,. I can, I Can, I can do all things, not yesterday, not tomorrow, but NOW. We all have been given a measure of Faith by the Holy Spirit, but what about Faith for today? Where does it come from? It comes from the same Spirit. Now Faith is,What is it? Its a substance, Strongs Dictionary declaires that ,A substance is, 1. a property. 2. A possession. 3. A virtue. 4. a wealth. So if we use this description, Now Faith is a virtue, a desire,a possession ,a substance, we can hold onto. so it,s the virtue or substance of what? Things hope for . the Bible tells us , if we possess then why do we hope? so can we say anything we hope for is faith? II. LETS look at verse 39 . Jesus said, take ye away the stone.martha , the sister of him that was dead , saith unto him , Lord , by this time he stinketh. for he has been dead four days." Martha was looking at the present tense. even thou she notted Jesus deity , she as with mary believed in yesterday and tomorow faith. sometimes we as christians also forget whom we serve , we forget that God is the creator of all things , visible and invisible colossians 1:16. Lets go to John 11,23. Jesus said unto her," thy brother shall rise again.: martha said unto him , I know that he shall rise again in the resurection at the last day. Many that Ive spoken to, belive in the resurection at the last day.: but its hard to get them to belive that God is a , now God. hes the God of the past , present and future . It seem the true test of a christian lies in how much, now faith, they have, how much that they belive that Jesus is able to take of now proublens, how much that they belive , what he said, " I will never leave you nor forsake you , I will be with you always, even untill the end of the world. III. the evidence of things not seen. WHEN you hope ,its things that you , do not possess. the hope that dwells within us is that, the same spirt that raised Jesus from the dead, will also quicken our mortal bodys. This means to make us alive in Christ. to make us a sacrifice , to be able to say that, Im dead to sin, it no longer controlls my destiny , my life, my very soul, I am who I am , by the grace of God. this is the evidence of things not seen. now faith . verse 25 . Jesus said unto her," I am the resurection , and the life..... Lararus, come forth, " the power in his voice , the majesty in his words. his command to death, had to be obey , there was no other choice. Lazarus had to rise, he had to abey. Jesus was teaching faith. Conclusion,; According to the apostile Paul, Hebrews 6; ,... let us go on to perfection....,let us start useing , NOW FAITH, we have such a short time left, lets use our faith to see our children saved , and the name of Jesus built up to the glory of the Father. The Rapture,Acomming Event Part 1. Daniel 2:44-11:35 The Rapture, A comming Event To begin with, what is prophecy, Its the study of future events. There are those who think that the rapture has allready taken place, and that Jesus has allready set up His kingdom on earth. Im here to show that this type of thinking was the same in Pauls time. Lets look at 2nd Thessalonians, 2:1-5.A letter had been forged in Pauls name and was sent to the Church stateing that the rapture had allready taken place. 2nd,Thes 2:1-5 "That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, nether by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand., Let no man decieve you..... The church here at Thessalonia was upset, for they recieved a false letter in Pauls name, they were sad because, they thought that they were lost because they believed that the church had allready been raptured. What a blow that had to be on these people, waiting on Jesus to return and take them home and then hearing that He had allready come and gone. Isnt that what were hearing today? Prophecy has to take specific time lines that were set up by God. There are over 230 prophetic verses in scripture that hafe to line up and be fulfilled before the rapture can take place. Unless otherwise noted, prophecy must be taken litterally to be understood. There are two distinct fases, listed in scripture, may I say, more than once, The first is the rapture and the second is the glorious appearing. Some reference for these are, Mth. 24:29-31, 25:31-46., Dan 2:35-44., Rev. 19:11-21.Look at John 14:1-3., 2nd Cor. 5:8-10 and Rev 19:1-10, These last three should be read in conjunction with each other. As youve noticed a lot of prophecy itimes are lined up with each other in one or two single verses. That is the reason we hafe to look carefully at each verse to see weather there are more than one event takeing place. Here are some of the rapture passages listed in scripture. John 1`4:1-3 Phil 4:5 1Tim 6:14, Jude 21, Heb.9:28, and these are just a few. As you can see, God in His wisdom gave us the tools and imformation to decipher prophecy, and if it was important for God to install these prophecy passages, we should try to understand them. The second comming passages or Glorious Appearing passages are just as long and start from Dan 2:44-45 thru Rev 22:7,12 and 20. This is just the begining of the study of the rapture and by no means are we even hafe way throu. Lets look at Daniel and the entire 70 weeks in retrospect. Daniel 9:24-27. 1st we have the Babylonian captivity, Cyrus decree to rebuild Jerusalem, then we have the restoration of 49 years, rebuilding the tempel and the city walls under two different men. 1. Ezra and 2. Nehemiah. Next we have the 434 years of silence, or 62 heptads ,untill Messiah shall be cut off but not for Himself. And Jesus crucified, this is 483 years. That leaves 1 heptad or 1 seven year period of tribulation for the Jews, which is called in Jer.,30:3-11, the time of Jacobs trouble. End of 1st Lesson The Rapture, Part 2. by Anthony Smith Revelation 3:10-22:19 The Rapture, A comming event., Part 2 of 3 parts. So far we see in looking back, the church could not have been raptured, because just these few things, required for the rapture have not taken place yet. We are thou, close, because the birth pains that Jesus spoke of, have allready started.The pre trib. view, 1st. Thes,4:16-17, 1st Cor. 15:50-56, shows that Jesus will rapture His church before the tribulation begins.,thus fulfilling the scriptures of Rev. 3:10 and others. Remember that we are not appointed to wrath. Why is this study so important for us? We according to the word are not going to be here during the 70th week of Daniel, but remember, maby some of our children, frends and loveones, that arnt saved may be. The hafe to know what will happen and what to do and not to do.To coin a phrase, its for those who are left behind. Most Bible students make the mistake when they studdy prophecy, they try to use 1 verse to build a doctrine. Its good to keep in mind that sometimes a difference of opinion is determined weather you take the prophecyes, litterally or metaphorically. So for our purposes we will take all litterally. Jesus said in Rev. 3:10, Sence you have kept my command to endure patently, I will also keep you from the Hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world.... Since here, Jesus, is speeking to the entire church, and the church is still here, the rapture hasnt taken place. Some try to use Matt.24:34 and other single passages to build a doctrine, where they ere is where the prophecyes,spoken of by Jesus had to be fulfilled first. The generation that sees these things come to pass, will be the generation, that will see the rapture. In Matt. 24:4 thru, Jesus speeks of many things that hafe to occure, 1. The gospel must be preached throu out the world. 2. Vers. 6 an 7 are two different refferences things that must take place. 3. Look at verse 8, All these are the begining of sorrows, so sence these are only the begining, all else has to take place. Lets go to Paul in ,1st Thess. Paul mentions the rapture in every chapter. Lets remember that when Paul wrote these letters, that there was a time lasps, between the time they were written and the time that they were delievered. In 1st Cor. Paul writes, Give no offence to the Jew or to the Greeks, which are the church of God.... This passage could be used alone to prove that the rapture hasnt taken place. Remember ,the Church that Jesus is comming back after will be comprised of both Jews and Gentiles, One Church, Joined together, in Revelations it is called, The General Assyembly and Church of the First Born. This subject is very important, dont be decieved, people need to here that time is almost over and it will be time for them to give an account of themselves. End of Part 2. Thank you. The Righteousness of Man.
Where is mans righteousness, Where does it come from and do all have it? These are questions that I look at each and every day. I read article after article from the paper and magazines that make me wonder about this question. There are churches today that are partly righteous and partly unrighteous. Compromising the word to fulfill personell goals of increased congregations at any cost. But is this truly righteousness? I think not. Vatican News;The agency said the new document would indicate that men with homosexual tendencies shouldn’t be ordained even if they are celibate “because their condition suggests a serious personality disorder which detracts from their ability to serve as ministers.” [a serious personality disorder, Sin, none acceptance of the word of God.] Vatican News; In an apparently new element, the agency said the document would also say that already ordained priests, if they have homosexual tendencies[Sin], would be “strongly urged to renew their dedication to chastity and a manner of life appropriate to the priesthood.”[Repent and do their first works over.] Vatican News; The American prelate overseeing the evaluations, Archbishop Edwin O’Brien, said earlier this month that most gay candidates for the priesthood struggle to remain celibate and the church must “stay on the safe side” by restricting their enrollment. He stressed that the church was not “hounding” gays out of the priesthood, but wants to enroll seminarians who can maintain their vows of celibacy. Is this Righteousness, is this the will of God, is this true to Gods Commandments and Laws? No. This is the righteousness of Hypocrites. You can't serve two masters, you can't serve the devil on one hand and God on the other. A House divided will not stand. Mat 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. These are the religious leaders of today. Many are speaking about their own righteousness and the righteousness of the established church but are allowing and propagating a system of corruption within the church. Stopping new sin from joining the church ministry but allowing what already exist to continue in place. Act 13:10 And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord? [Pervert;To cause to turn away from what is right, proper, or good; corrupt. To bring to a bad or worse condition; debase. To put to a wrong or improper use; misuse.] Rom 8:10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. This body is dead in Christ, for He took our life and nailed it to the Cross with Him. He died in your stead and so by commanded all your sin and unrighteousness to fall upon Him. You are no longer a free agent but a possession of Christ. In by being the possession of Christ, as a believer, He lives within you and becomes you and becomes your righteousness. The word, ”Righteousness ”, is listed in The New Testament 91 times.[Righteousness; Morally upright; without guilt or sin, In accordance with virtue or morality. Having or marked by uprightness in principle and action.] Rom 6:13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. Where is mans righteousness? Mankind has no righteousness. Isa 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. Our righteousness comes from God. That is the only reason that we will be allowed into the kingdom of Heaven, being clothed in Gods righteousness. That is how we are saved, thats how we are led, thats how we are instructed as how to act and perform in all righteousness. Being instructed in all righteousness by the Holy Spirit. Act 10:35 But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him. So who is accepted by God? You just read it. By having Gods righteousness instilled within you, you are accepted by Him. For God cannot denigh Himself entrants into His own Kingdom. With Gods acceptance of our repentance and acceptance of Jesus as His Son, we then become His seed, His Child, His legacy. Do all have righteousness? Not within themselves, it only comes from God. Now what about in the end? Rev 22:11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. As we fall, so shall we be raised. There is coming a time when no man will seek after God, no man will worship in Jerusalem, no man will praise God but only Curse. What drives a Christian to do the things he does, say the things the things they say and believe what they believe? The Spirit of Christ that dwells within them. Thats the reason many are not afraid to stand up and say that they are not their own but belong to Jesus. When things go wrong, when many suffer, when many die, what keeps a Christian faithful to God? That same spirit that raised Jesus from the Dead. He is the one that quickens our mortal body's and gives us the strength to believe and Glorify God, even in the worst of circumstances. When these huricanes hit, why do we praise God? For His excelent, Greatness, lovingkindness, counsels, knowledge, understanding, for his mighty acts: and His mercy. How can we stand in these periouless times? 1Co 12:4-11 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. 1Co 2:5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Many want you to denigh the Power of God. The gifts that He has given to us to use and to prosper with. Always being ready to give a reason for the hope that dwells within us. Its not our power but the power of God working thru us. These are not our gifts, but the gifts of God. I cannot denigh the gifts of God, neither can I denigh the word of God as I cannot denigh myself being alive in the spirit.1Co 9:24-27; Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. The Armour of God, Part 1.of 4.
Ephesians 6:11-6:17 The Armour of God. p1. A series of discovery, on putting on the armour of God and using spiritual gifts. We will be using Ephesians 6:11-17 to start. Now the armour of God is only a part of our defense against the wiles of the devil. But we will look at one piece at a time, to fully understand it significance and use. The Apostil Paul said that, He came to the church ,not with great swelling words, but with demonstration and power. So what did he mean,lets look. The Armour of God. 1.Loin Girt, Some call this the Belt of truth. Now the belt in roman times, as it is today, was used to hold everything together. There was a hook on one side to hold the shield, when not in use, freeing up the hands for other offensive and defensive weapons. On the other side was a shieth, that held the sword, again to free up the hands, when not in use. Paul used this analogy to explane the spiritual side of warfare. He knew what a soldier wore and by the direction of the Holy Spirit, use the different parts to show how we as christians can defend ourselfs with the Armour of God. Now without the belt, the sword and shield would be a burden to the wearer. Trying to carry more than he could, this would make him vulnerable to attack. The belt that Paul was talking about was the belt of Truth. What is it? The word of God. The Bible tells us that, Let God be true and every man a lier. Without having truth about us ,leaves us, only partially protected, we could not begin to convince anyone of our convictions about Jesus and the spoken word of God. The truth about our lost condition, brought us to repentance and with out it we would have difficulty in bringing others to Christ. 2.The Breastplate. The breastplate was made of beautifully decorated, metal, thin but yet strong. The weight had to be kept down, as to not wear down the soldier, but allow maximum protection of all vital organs. Now what were they? The lungs, and the Heart. Were going to take the heart as our vital organ, the heart is the area that Jesus mostly wants. Its what brings us to love and compassion with others. The Bible tells us, that its not what goes into the mouth that defiles the man but what comes out, or proceeds out of the mouth. For what comes out of the mouth, comes from the heart. At times the mouth produces great swelling words which are not edifying to the church. But the body being controlled by a Christ like heart brings forth words of, encouragement, love, understanding and piece. protecting the heart was and still is an important task that we all have to do for ourselves. The breastplate was also polished on a daily basis, to make it shiny and bright, this helped blind the enemy from seeing the vital organ area. And gave them no clear target to aim at. We also have to polish our heart to keep it in ready order for the battles that we face everyday. The breastplate in scripture is, Righteousness, and it simply, is doing things, that we do in this life, the right way. We do this by reading and studying Gods word to see how we should live our lives. Every question that you have about life is in God word. All you have to do is find it. The most asked question about the armour of God is, why do we need it? The answer to that is in Eph. 6: 11-13. To be able to stand and not just to be able to stand against the wiles of the devil but as we enter a new chapter of christianity to be able to endure thru these end times. The closer that we are to the end of days the more that we need the protection of the armour. Just as in war the closer you are to the front the more you need to be vigilant. As we go thru the armour, we also in this series must go into the gifts of the spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:7-10, there are 9 spiritual gifts. With the Breastplate and Belt I want to add the Gift of Word of Wisdom. The word of wisdom is, 1. A moral Insight, 2. Understanding, 3. Intelligence 4. Discretion The reason we add The word of wisdom in the beginning of our discussion is because, we have to have the word of wisdom to understand the armour and how to put it on and apply it to our daily lives. Don't confuse mans wisdom to the word of wisdom, mans wisdom , according to scripture ,is fulishness to God. An un-believer cannot, and I repete, cannot, understand the word of God. The word of God is spiritually discerned, and an un-believer does not have that spirit. The second ,spiritual gift I wish to add here is the Gift of Knowledge, which is tied closely to wisdom. Knowledge is 1. Full discernment, ect. Now full decernment is not only knowing good from evil, but also being able to understand the scriptures and the hidden mysteries behind them. That is the reason we have teachers and preachers to help others understand the Bible. Not everyone will have each of these gifts but the ones that we have we must share the gained knowledge with others. Freely you've received, freely give. Knowledge, here is concerned with, spiritual knowledge, which is more important than any thing that we can receive from this life. end part 1. ars The Armour of God part 2 of 4
Ephesians 6:11-6:17 The Armour of God, part two. Ephesians 6:11-17 In the first sermon we discussed the Belt and the Breastplate along with the two first spiritual gifts, wisdom and knowledge. In part two I wish to discuss the next pair 1. Shoes, The shoes that Paul speaks of here are special because of the design of not just the shoes themselves but notably the bottom. In the days of Christ and beyond, the shoes of the Roman soldier were used not only to walk with but to walk on. What do we mean by this? The bottoms of the sandles were fitted with 6 and 12 inch spikes, some report, 3 to 6 inch, that were used in combat to maim and to kill the enemy. After the enemy was knocked down to the ground, the Roman soldier, stepped on the chest or head of the enemy to kill them. As you can see so far, the armour has two different purposes, offensive and defensive war-fair. The Bible states for our spiritual war-fair the shoes are considered, The preparation of the gospel of piece. The word preparation here means, To set up and to establish or to have in ready-ness. The scripture mentions many times about Jesus putting his enemies under His feet. We are to do the same thing. Being in ready-ness or to establish our selves in the gospel of piece, being at piece with all men as much as lies within us, according to scripture. So when we are told to put Satan and sin under our feet, you know now what Paul was talking about. 2. Shield, A shield was a movable barrier that the soldier carried in front of him to protect him from not only the others sword but all arrows and darts that were thrown at him. An arrow we all understand, but the darts were a smaller version that were set on fire with oil or other combustibles, they normally carried a small pouch that also carried a combustible that when it hit exploded into flames, not nessasarily to kill but to confuse and maim the person. The darts Paul speaks of are, lies, deceptions, stories, hatred ect. These things will fall off a christian when they are equipped with this shield as protection. The shield also served another purpose, the soldiers were required to polish their shield to use as a mirror to reflect sun shine into the eyes of the enemy, to blind them. We also must keep our shield clean and shiny to help blind the advasary. It gives Satan a reason to think before he decides to attack us. With these two parts of the armour, lets add the spiritual gifts of faith and healing. 1. Faith, Now the scripture tells us that everyone has been given a measure of faith. This is not the same gift here, Paul is speaking about a special gift of Faith. Faith is being able to believe without seeing. The gift here goes beyond that and allows the person to accept and claim all things that God wants us to have, a total belief in all things that are Godly. To be able to believe without doubt or second thought. You've all heard the scripture, Lord I believe, Help my unbeliefe, this is an example of this special gift of Faith. Our Faith here is to believe that each piece of armour will work as God designed it to work. 2. Healing, Cure, deliverance, to alleviate, to relieve disease. The gift of healing requires a total faith in the stripes of Jesus and Gods word. Compliance to instruction is also required for the healings to take place. The scriptures say, If there be one sick among you, LET HIM PRAY. 1st Peter 5:13-16, The correct manner for healing the sick is outlined in 1st Peter. 1. Step 1., It is required for the person that is sick to pray for himself FIRST. 2. Step 2., Call for the elders of the church to pray for them. 3. Step 3., Have the elders anoint them in the name of the Lord. 4. Step 4., Praying in Faith, not only does the elders have to believe but also the one being prayed for must believe. 5. Step 5., Confess your faults and pray for one another. This is how God wants us to pray to be healed, we cannot add or take away from this pattern, and always pray in the WILL of GOD. Now there are those who say that this was concerning the lost and not the christian, but this cannot be so, if you look a little closer the 15th verse it states, and IF he have committed sins, ...this is a very special word here the word, IF., this is not talking about an un-believer but a Christian. Wouldn't you agree? If we take the scripture for what it says and do those things that God requires, we will be able to endure until the end, in piece, safety and health. This is the end of part two, in Part three we will deal with myricals, prophecy,helmet and sword. ars. The Armour of God part 3 of 4
Ephesians 6:11-6:17 The Armour of God. Part three. The Helmet and the Sword. 1. The Helmet, The helmet was the covering for the cranium or head. It protected the brain from blows and from falls. The helmet is to us a protection for our mind, it only allows thoughts that are righteous to enter and repels any thoughts that are unrighteous. It gives us a barrier that will stop Satan from entering and taking control the mine. Our Mind controls the rest of the body, thoughts ,emotions, motor skills, illness ect. Yes Illness, the bible states that a lot of the things that happen to us are common to man,... but those things that are not common are from the devil. So if he can control the mind then he has a foot hold into our physical well being. Have you ever heard of a hypocondiract? Thats a person that thinks himself into illnesses that he doesn't have. The Bible tells us to control the mind and not to give a foot hold to the devil. As the mind thinks, so we are, if we accept illness, then we will be sick, we can talk our way into illness or dispaire and even depression. So if we keep the helmet on we can maintain control of our bodies. This is the helmet of salvation, the knowing that we are no longer our own but have been bought by a price. 2. The Sword, The Word of God, The sword was polished to a high shine and was sharp on both sides to be able to cut in either direction that it was wielded. The sword was and still is an offensive weapon. 3. Lance of Inter-session, The lance was also an offensive weapon, used to keep distance from the enemy and to keep them at bay, it could be held, tossed or thrown a multipurpose weapon. We use it to keep Satan at a distance, thru, prayer, fasting and faith. The spiritual Gifts. Prophecy , Miricales and decerning of Spirits. 1. Prophecy., Scripture that revels future events, not nessassarily in order of occurance. Thats where we have to compare, scripture to scripture. Prophecy in scripture is one of the most important items for christians and the least taught. All Christians can prophecy if the Holy Ghost is allowed to work in them. Paul preferred that we all do it. 2.Miricales, things that cant be done but are done, Jesus did many and we are equipted to do the same, if we believe. 3. Discerning of Spirits, knowing weather a spirit is from God or Satan. We all have a level of this gift but it must be worked and nurtured. The last two gifts are the most contriversual in church doctrine. These are the gift of tongues and the interpretation of tongues. 11. Tongues.,Language, foreign language. Most people associate tongues with the penticaustal church. This is probably correct because other churches do not teach the gift. They believe that it was for the early church and not for us. But for God to list it as one of the gifts to attain, it also has a significance to us today. The last two are the least of the gifts and there are specific rules on their usage. Weather it be a Heavenly language between you and God alone in the privacy of your prayer closet or in a congregation where an interpretation MUST follow it is for all who want it. Most christians associate tongues with French, German, Italian, ect., and this is fine this is one usage of the gift. Read up on this in scripture and make up your own mind weather you wish to have these two gifts. There are a lot of scripture on this subject. Remember if Jesus did it, he said we could also. Weather you believe in tongues or not don't condemn others for their belief because it IS Gods word. Just say you don't practice it and let it go. Sometimes its best if you don't understand something, not to say anything at all. Now there is an offshoot of christian churches that teach that all spiritual gifts stopped in the 60 to 70 A.D. era. That Ephesians 4 and most of the new testament and especially The Book of Revelations are not for us any more. It important to be careful who you talk to and who you listen to. Do not be deceived with those who try to take away and add too the Bible. These same people say its disrespectiful toward God to eat meat. Be-careful, these people will get you into a lot of trouble with God. Spiritual gifts are given by the same spirit to whomever he wills. And they are administered by the pastor of the church, by the laying on of hands, to the believer. If additional information is needed on these gifts, please let me know and I will go further into detale. Next; The Cloke, Garment and Zeal. ars. js The Armour of God, conclusion.
Isaiah 59:17-59:17 We've learned about the Whole armour of God from Ephesians 6:11-17. The parts of armour listed here are the 1. Belt, as the truth of God 2. Breastplate of Righteousness 3. Shoes for the preparation of the Gospel of Piece 4. Shield of Faith 5. Helmet of Salvation 6. Sword of the spirit 7. Lance of Inter-session Most teachers stop there but there are two more pieces of Armour to be added. Lets go to Isaiah 59:17 1. The Garment of Vengeance 2. Zeal as a cloke 1. The garment of vengeance is the fabric that lays between the armour and the body of the soldier. No armour would be complete without a buffer between the skin and all that steel. Now you've heard the old expression that a person is thin skinned, well, we all are. God uses this piece of garment as Himself making a way of escape when trouble overwhelms us to the point that we could lose all the things that we've gained thru Christ. Vengeance is Mine, sayeth the Lord, I will repay. We are to allow God to deal out punishment against all those who trouble us. And He will. 2. Zeal, as a cloke. The last but not least of importance to the soldier. The cloke covered all the armour when it was raining or in bad weather. This helped to prevent rusting or tarnishing of the polished metal. Zeal is the warmth or feeling for God that is above the feelings that we have for anyone or anything else. Making God first in our lives. Thou shall have no other Gods before me. This zeal comes only from the heart, mind and soul of the person that wears it. You can tell those that are in the church that have that type of feeling. You cant hide it, its like a glow that comes over them when they come into the church, a smile that just wont go away. Its the type of Christian that you want to be around, knowing that if you can get close to them some of the spirit will flow over onto you. Now we are well prepared to go out and be a soldier for God. Once again here are the Gifts of the Spirit. 1. Word of Wisdom, A rema word from God. 2. Word of Knowledge, ability to understand what we read. 3. Faith, a gift of special Faith. 4. Healing, ability to heal others of sickness, by prayer or touch. 5. Miracles,,ability to do what no man can do. 6. Prophecy, ability to predict the future for edification of the church. 7. Discerning of Spirits, ability to distinguish good and evil spirits. 8. Tongues, ability to speak to God in a Heavenly language or other national language. 9. Interpretation of tongues, being able to translate other languages for the church. Jesus said, Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened up unto you. This was His promise and our leagasy a part of our inheritance. This concludes this lesson in the Armour of God. ars. js Concerning Hell
Acts 2:24-2:26 As the scriptures say a lot about Heaven, it also says about the same about Hell. Its existence, that most people want to ignore. To give people an alternative to everlasting piece, God introduced a place of torment into their decision. Hell in the beginning was created not for man, but for satan and his fallen angels. Man was created to live eternally with God on this planet. I know that you’ve all heard the stories, that came out of russia, about the scientist drilling down into the depths of the earth, dropping sound devices into the holes and hearing screams and the sounds of people ,at incredible depths. True ? ,I don’t know, but it makes for a good discussion around the dinner table. What I know is true thou, is Gods account of a place that is hotter than a great blast furnace.Lets take a look at Luke12:4-5 , Jesus by His own words confirmed the existence of Hell, “But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear; fear Him, which He hath killed hath power to cast into Hell,....” Remember now the Gospel is for those who will believe, atheist will say there is no hell or heaven, and until God deals with them in a manner of His own choosing. They will remain un-believers, but one act of violence or near death experience for them ,will turn the most stern atheist into an agnostic. Even in the book of Psalms, the sorrows of Hell are apparent, 18:8, 16:10, 55:15, Psalms 27:20, gives us a unique look at the condition of hell and its size, lets read, “Hell and destruction are never full, so the eyes of man are never satisfied.” David knew about the existence of hell, and his information came from the Holy Spirit. How many times, does the Bible have to say that something exists, before its considered to be true? One. I believe that one of the most remembered verses in scripture about hells existence ,is found in Isaiah, 14: 12-15. “How art thou fallen from Heaven, O Lucifer, son of the Morning......yet thou shall be brought down to Hell, to the sides of the pit.” These verses not only prove the existence but condition and layout of Hell. A pit is a , grave or a vault, this grave that the writer talks about, has length, width, breath, depth and sides. An inescapable, vault or prison for the unrighteous and un-repenting of mankind and the whord of fallen angels of Satan. Some consider Hell as a place without light, with heat greater than a modern blast furnace, because the scriptures state that the sinner “will be cast into outer darkness, there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. “ This is just a taste of the scripture concerning Hell, enough to allow those that are lost to start thinking about their future.In the Book of Jude, the scripture tells us that,” On some haveing compassion makeing a difference and on others using fear, hateing even the garment, spotted by the flesh.” Convinsing some of the existance of Hell, is an important way of turning them around and directing them to Jesus. “Even thou, I make my bed in Hell, the Lord is with me, and I pray that God will always be with you. js, ars
The Power of the Holy Ghost
You as christians, have become a minority in the world. The Bible states that many are called but few are chosen. We all offend in one way or the other ,as we bring forth the Gospel of Jesus Christ. His words are pure and sometimes harsh and to the point. If we affiliate ourselves with the world then we become as weak as the world. The commandment of Jesus was, “ Come out from among the world and BE ye a separated people.” We cant be partaker of the sins of the world for we then become as guilty as the world. Jesus told Pilot, “you would not have power over me , except the Father in Heaven giveth unto you.” “ wait for the promise of the Father.” These are commandments of Jesus, not suggestions, sometimes christians jump ahead of God in trying to do a work, a work that seems worthy, a work that seems justified, a work that even needs to be done, but the works are sometimes done without the authorization from God. Remember that what God authorizes, He is obligated to finish, but if He hasn’t’ started the work, He has no responsibility for it. Some times I’m told that I am too imflamitory, too harsh or too forward for Jesus himself was accused of the same thing. We are to be Christ like, the Bible states, “be careful for nothing,..” to me thats calling things the way they are, calling sin, sin and unrightiouness, unrightiouness We are heading into a new world order of sin and unrightiouness.. Leading the way is the anti-christ or should I say the spirit of anti-christ. The power of the Holy Ghost, leads us into all truths, and ask yourself what are the truths in the scripture. The truths here in this verse is the truths behind the words, the world can read the words and even try to interpret them, but the truths are the hidden truths behind the words, interpreting the hidden mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. This is where the power of the Holy Ghost comes in to play with the believer. The Holy Ghost has the power to ,help us with our infermities. The Bible says so. We not only have a prayer line to Jesus but also the Holy Ghost, prayers for us, when we don’t know what to pray for. He helps us with our sicknesses, illnesses, desieses and depressions. His power extends beyond the physical into the spiritual realm. God did His part in the plan of salvation, by giving His son as the perfect sacrifice., Jesus did His part in giving His life as a ransom for many, and now the Holy Ghost has been given the power to convict and lead the lost to Jesus. His power started for us in Genesis and will finish at the end of time. He teaches us how to pray without ceasing , how to interpret scripture, how to love our enemies and most importantly, how to worship the Father. All His work and power ,is to the Glory of the Father. Lets look into scripture, The Holy Ghost is mentioned 112 times in old and new testament and Jesus is mentions 506 times in the New Testament. Starting this sermon is Acts 1:8, other scriptures are Matthew 1:20,3:11, 12:31-32, 12:32, and 28:19. These are by , no means the end of the list but its a start on a continuing search for the Power of The Holy Ghost. ars. How much is enough?
Covetness in ones life will be the death of them. How much is enough, how much money, titles, positions, land , how many homes is enough. We war and strive, fight and kill, lie and cheet, decieve and steal, to get enough. In Matthew 4;1-4, Satan was tempting Jesus with the goods of this world, food, titles, lands and power, everything that, at that time, was his to give. verse 8-10 also was listing the kingdoms of this world, these are the things that the barbarians of this generation are in search of, Hitler, Husain, Mousilene, and Osama Ben-Lauden. All Barbarens and all with the spirit of antichrist. All wanting more than enough. And what about the rich of today, actors recieveing $1,000,000 a 30 minute show, movie actors recieveing $10, 000,000 a movie, T.V. Host worth $1, 000,000,000, just for talking to poor people with nothing and telling them how bad they feel for them, the owner of a large computer company, is the richest man in the world, estamated value of $46,000,000,000 . How much is enough. Concerning the rich, Jesus said, " It is easier for a camel to past thru the eye of a neadel, than for a rich man to inter into the kingdom of Heavan." the deciples answered Him and asked, "Then who can be saved?" Jesus answered and said, " For man it is imposiable, but for God all things are Posiable." You know all the storeies and you know all the verses in scripture about the rich and Gods judgement upon them, but ,it isnt the riches that comdemed them, it was the covetness and greed, it was the lack of compassion on others that got them into trouble with God. The Apostile Paul said, "I pray that you be in health and prosper, even as you soul prosperith." Putting priorities straight. Not thinking more of the blessings than the one that gave them to you. Do people actually believe that they will never die, or be able to take it with them, and what about history? It seams that a lot of men and women want their name written down in history books. If they knew anything about scripture, they would realise that the things of this world will never inter into the next. History books will be destroyed along with their posesions, never to be remembered again. Its useless to strive with things that are not eternal. Every thing that you can see is temperal, according to scripture, and those things that are temperal ,will pass away, temperial means, temporary. Luke 16:19-22, Gives us the parable of the rich man and lazarus , Jesus said that there WAS a certain rich man, Jesus, you must understand, never told a lie, and when He said, there was, He ment it. This rich man was real, an actual person, a person of great wealth and power, that believed in only one thing and that was his wealth. So where did the rich mans wealth get him, what consilation did he have when he died, Verse23 gives us the answer," and in hell, he lifted up his eyes...." This was his consilation, his payment for curelty and covetness, this was where his god brought him, god you ask, yes, the rich mans god was wealth, he had made his desision to worship his money over God. There is so much in the scripture about money and wealth and posessions. There is nothing wrong with, haveing unless your haveing , has you. When money, position, titles, lands, ect ,become your driveing force in life, then it becomes your god. One of the greatest verses in scripture that represents this point is what Jesus said, " If a man gains the whole world and loses his soul, what would he give in exchange for his soul?" Weve intered into perolus times according to scripture, but the concept of what Jesus said over 2,000 years ago, still applies today. Gambling, lottery, horses, fights arena sports, the same thing that brought down the great empire of rome has hit the whole world again. It seams that people today are wanting to see others get hurt or killed because of the type of sports that they enjoy watching, we call them gladeator games, just like rome. What did Jesus say, " As it was in the day of Noah, so Shall it be in the time of the second comming of the son of man." Church, tell me the difference, what is different about the time of Noah and now. Can you justify what man is doing, is it that obvious , that men try to hide it under a different name? Think about it, let God open your eyes to the truth. Posess, but dont let it posess you. Ask yourself, How much is enough, how much do you need, can you let others suffer while you count your blessings. How much is enough? Are we comming to the end of the age ,when Jesus returns?, You thoughts are as good as mine, but can you see the signs? So when you read the paper, watch the news, read your Bible, and pray at bed time, ask yourself, when you see the signs of the times, How much is enough? ars. I Wish I Could, I Wish I had.
John 8:38-8:45 In the life of many people there are two phrases that many people often say, I wish I could... and, I wish I had..., what they are really saying is, “I’m unhappy with the choices that I’ve made and I’m so far gone in this life, I can never go back and change my mistakes.” There is coming a time that many people will say, “ I wish I could serve the Lord, but its too late for me.” ”When the days of the Gentiles be completed. ” And there is coming a time that people will say, “I wish I had listened to the preacher and turned my life over to God, why did I turn down the invitation? “ “In the Great White Throne Judgment. “ Un-belief , to me , is the greatest sin, if I had to choose just one. Un-belief will send all the lost to the lake of fire. Sometimes the truth is hard to take, sometimes it hurts people and makes them uneasy, sometimes it creates a void between you and them. Marriages have broken up over belief in Jesus, but remember that Jesus warned us ,” I come not to bring piece ,but a sword.” Jesus knew that the truth would hurt but rather to allow this world to perish, He came to tell the truth. There is none righteous, no not one. The Bible mentions, pre-destination , words like pre-ordained, If you had the chance to redo your life over, I don’t believe that you would have made any different choices than you already have. We have to live with the choices that we’ve made. But the thing to remember, even thou you cant change the past, you can change your present. Tomorrow is not yours to take thought of, for none of us are even promised a tomorrow. So today is the only day that we can work with. If you tried to change yesterday, you would make today much worse than it might otherwise be. Leave yesterday to itself and concentrate on the now, today. Understanding your relationship with God is a step in the right direction. For , I wishes, will disrupt the flow of connection between you and God. The Holy Spirit has a duty and responsibility to God, to lead and guide you, into all truths. Serve the Lord God with all your ,Heart , Mind , Soul and strength. Lets look at Romans 8:28-30. Do you believe that God is all knowing and all seeing ? Do you believe that when you were not yet born, that God knew the choices and mistakes that you would make ? God will not inter-fear in the decision process of mankind but He does offer alternatives. The best way to relieve the “I wishes” is to not make them. Paul was and still is a good example. The Apostle Paul, paid for his, ”I wish I could and I wish I had, by the number of trials that He had to go thru. In , Prison, in peril, in danger from his country men and strangers, robbers, shipwreck, treading water, and being bit by snakes, hunger and nakedness, cold and heat. Pauls test of faith, had nothing to do with His strength as a man, but His willingness to trust His spirit and accept situations that He knew that He couldn’t change. Our problem today with many is that, they aren’t willing to accept the responsibility of what they did and when they do accept it, they generally enter into self condemnation. Not willing to let go of their own mistakes. Jesus forgave us so why cant we forgive ourselves? We call upon the lost ,not to wait too late , not to come to a point in their life where you will say I wish . The Bible tells us that, “ The Spirit of God shall not always strive with man.” What in this life is worth an unsatisfying, I Wish? What in this life is worth the chance of waking up one day, and seeing the Church Raptured and knowing that the I Wishes have condemned your soul ? Wars and rumors of war, famine and petulance, how much more, Earthquakes, floods, starvation, forest fires rage, tidle waves, hurricanes, tornadoes in record number, global warming ,changing life stiles, man with man ,woman with woman, marrying and giving in marriage, divorce, children being molested, what will it take, what will it take? Jesus said, “ In an hour that you know not, the Son of Man shall return. “ Look around and count the cost of remaining out side the protection of the Son of God, not only is your soul at stake, but those of you with children, would you want them to follow after you, the way that you live or would you rather have them follow a parent that believes in God. For I am telling you a truth, a child raised up not believing in God , will more than likely raise up their children ,not believing in God. An alcoholic raising children will have their children follow after them in their footsteps. How can I say this, because our saviour said it. “I do what I have seen my Father do, and you do what your father does, satan.” Clear and to the point, isn’t it? Jesus never mixed with words, He was direct and too the point, as we all should be. What legacy will you be leaving your children, and what legacy will you be leaving the world ? Don’t you think its time to give up the I wishes and come to Jesus, and one day when the roll is called in Heaven your name will be written down in the Book of life, never to be removed. ars. Scripture References for sermon; John 8:38-45, 12:48,. Luke 21:24,. Romans 8: 28-30. Too Old to Serve ?
Isaiah 40:28-40:31 Too Old To Serve ? How many in here today ,believe that they are too old to serve God ? At what age is too old ? My dad once told me, “Son, just because there’s snow on the roof doesn’t mean that there’s no fire in the stove.” Have you ever felt like that, like there no more fire in the stove and that you’ve done all you can do for God ? Do we sometimes feel sorry for ourselves because we’ve gained a little age ? I remember as a child that I couldn’t wait to become a teen ager and when I became a teen ager I couldn’t wait untill I became an adult. To see the world, to make great changes, to make my mark on society. Now Im just glad that not all my bones don’t creek when I get out of bed. Believe me church ,Ive got pains in places now that I never knew that I had. I don’t know about you but I cant wait untill I become a teen ager again. Lets go to Isaiah 40: 28-31. Ill give you a little time to find it, this is one of my favorite passages in scripture. You know that sometimes even we as ministers become tired in body, for after all we are just people too. I gain my strength in the word, each day and rely on God to give me the strength to continue my ministry. Lets start with verse 28 “Hast thou not known ?hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary ? there is no searching of His understanding.” Verse 28, is telling the reader that gods power and wisdom and understanding is complete and beyond our ability to comprehend. he never tires or becomes week, for He is Power and might. Were told her that we can always depend upon His strength for it never fails. Verse 29, “He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might He increaseth strength.” This verse is telling us that those that are weak in body will be strengthened and those without might He gives them power to accomplish His will in their lives. Jesus doesn’t want us sick or weak and neither does the Father, but we must realize that as age comes upon us many things that are common to this mortal body, will start to afflict us. The Lord of Host will give us strength in time of need to endure untill our time to leave this mortal realm and inter into the Glory of the Lord. Is the weakness of the body limited to the older christian ? The next verse tells us no. Haven’t you seen others of younger years afflicted in body and Haven’t you at times seeing these people, thanked God that you are as healthy as posable being at the age you are ? When you start feeling sorry for yourself, when you start having pitty on yourself, stop, and look around at others that are worse off than you, I always pray that God helps those that are less fortunate than myself. If you still have a sound mind ,praise God, if you can still walk, Praise God, if you still have those that still love you Praise God. The apostle Paul stated that ,” To be absent from the Body, is to be present with the Lord, He told us that it was far better to be out of this mortal body, remember each day that God blesses us with ,is a day closer to Glory. Praise God! Verse 30 is what Im speaking of, listen to this, “ Even the youths shall faint and be weary , and the young men shall utterly fall.” It never seems to amaze me that everything we need is in scripture. Every facet of our lives is covered in scripture. When people talk about changing Gods word, I wonder why, why do they want to change perfection? All the answers to all the questions about this life are in the Bible. Now verse 31,”But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength : they shall mount up with wings of Eagles ; they shall run, and not be weary : and they shall walk, and not faint.” Renewed strength in the newness of life. Children we may be weak in body but our spirits soar with the eagles. In this life we run with the antelope and in the next we shall out run the angels in play. Think about it, a new body, a new life , a new purpose. Glory to God. An eagles babys when they leave the nest, start to fly and take off straight up toward the sun and go as high as they can ,to prove to the parent that they are ready to leave the nest and stand upon their own. are you ready, Children of the Almighty, are you ready for your wings ? Your never too old to serve the Lord for He has promissed to strengthen you and bless you in your effort. Your only as old as you allow your body to feel. We serve God in the Spirit and not in the Body. So rejoice and again I say rejoice in the Lord. ars. |
