Participants: John Lomacang
Series Code: AOT
Program Code: AOT000058
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00:13 Welcome to Anchors Of Truth from Puerto Rico.
00:17 Resurrection with John Lomacang. 00:20 Well, we welcome you to Puerto Rico where it is 8 pm. 00:25 So whatever time it is wherever you are, 00:27 we're just letting you know, at least at this time 00:30 with a live showing, it is 8 pm in beautiful and warm 00:37 and nice Puerto Rico. 00:40 And we have found that the people here are just as friendly 00:44 and warm as the good weather. 00:47 And we've enjoyed being here these last few days. 00:50 And we're going to enjoy the rest of this series. 00:53 And we hope that you'll be with us for each and every one 00:59 of our presentations. 01:01 Tonight, our speaker is going to be Pastor John Lomacang. 01:06 And as the announcer told you, his subject will be 01:10 the resurrection. 01:12 What an important subject that is. 01:15 Without the resurrection, there would be no hope 01:20 for one single one of us, none of us, 01:24 without that resurrection. 01:26 So important. 01:27 And we're going to look at that in a really deep sense 01:32 with Pastor John Lomacang. 01:35 Before he comes to us, though, we're going to invite 01:39 Ruby Villanueva to come and to have our prayer this evening. 01:45 And she will just come right on to the front. 01:48 We will ask you to bow your heads as she leads us in prayer. 02:00 Our kind heavenly Father, we are so thankful for the privilege 02:04 that we have here tonight to worship You, 02:08 to praise Your name. 02:10 Lord, we know there are so many in this world who 02:12 don't have that privilege. 02:13 They do so sometimes at the loss of their own lives. 02:17 We thank You for all Your wonderful blessings. 02:21 Send Your Holy Spirit to teach us, to be with us, 02:25 to help us to do what we should do so we'll always 02:27 be pleasing in Your sight. 02:29 We pray that Thou be with our visitors, Lord. 02:33 Help them. 02:34 Some of them are new to these messages. 02:36 We pray that You will open their minds and their hearts 02:38 that they might understand, that they might be 02:41 preparing for Your soon coming, Lord. 02:44 Bless You, Father, for forgiving us when we're so unworthy. 02:48 And thank You, Jesus, for dying for us. 02:51 Because through Your death, we know we have eternal life. 02:55 We ask these things in Your name, amen. 03:01 Thank you so much. 03:04 Right now, I'm going to invite Pastor C.A. Murray 03:07 to come and sing for us a song that we've all learned to love. 03:11 Go Free. 03:30 Troubled soul, why are you sad and down hearted? 03:39 Don't you know He doesn't care where you started. 03:48 Yesterday can't change tomorrow, 03:54 so leave behind all your sorrow. 03:59 Go free, go free. 04:05 In the name of Jesus, go free. 04:10 Child of God, child adored, 04:17 come to the Lord and go free. 04:31 Tempted soul, I know you're so tired of aching. 04:39 Don't you know Jesus has cures for the taking? 04:49 His hand of mercy and healing 04:54 can untie the hurt that you're feeling. 05:00 Go free, go free. 05:06 In the name of Jesus, go free. 05:11 Child of God, child adored, 05:18 come to the Lord and go free. 05:32 Trembling soul, I know you're so tired of fighting. 05:40 Don't you know He sees the wounds you've been hiding? 05:50 The battle that rages is so strong 05:55 and you've been a captive for too long. 06:02 Go free, oh you've got to go free. 06:08 In the name of Jesus, go free. 06:14 Child of God, child adored, 06:20 come to the Lord and go free. 06:28 In the name of Jesus, go free. 06:34 Child of God, child adored, 06:41 come to the Lord and go free. 06:48 Go free, go free. 06:55 Now go free. 07:10 Good evening, everyone. 07:13 Good to see you here on this Thursday evening. 07:16 Those of you who are joining us, whether satellite or television 07:20 or internet, we praise the Lord that we can get together tonight 07:24 to divide the word of truth. 07:27 And we are here in warm Puerto Rico. 07:29 But the reality of it is, I'm just about a half hour flight 07:32 away from my roots in St. Thomas and the Virgin Islands. 07:37 And so if you're joining us from the beautiful Virgin Islands, 07:40 St. Thomas, maybe Frenchtown, I want to send a warm greeting 07:43 to you from 3ABN, and also from your native son, John. 07:48 We look forward to being there, if not soon, maybe later on. 07:51 But that's all in God's hands. 07:54 You heard the title of the sermon. 07:56 It's called, The Resurrection. 07:58 But it's not about the resurrection. 08:01 It's not about the first resurrection, 08:03 and it's not about the second resurrection. 08:06 It is about the resurrection that the Lord wants to happen 08:09 before the first and second resurrections. 08:13 And tonight, if you have your Bibles, the story that we're 08:15 going to draw from is found in the book of Ezekiel chapter 37. 08:21 And we're going to look at one of the greatest resurrections; 08:26 the resurrection before the resurrection. 08:29 Let's pray. 08:31 Father in heaven, this is Your time. 08:34 I'm Your servant. 08:35 Take what I have written, what You have given to me, Father, 08:39 and add to it the power that You desire. 08:41 In Jesus name I pray, amen. 08:46 Now, you're turning to Ezekiel. 08:48 That's where our story comes from tonight. 08:52 But I'm going to begin with a text from Ephesians chapter 5, 08:55 and one single verse. 08:57 Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 14. 09:02 Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 14. 09:07 One very short and to the point verse. 09:11 Paul writes, "Therefore He says, 'Awake, you who sleep, 09:18 arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.'" 09:24 Ephesians 5 and verse 14. 09:28 Ezekiel was so shocked by what he was shown. 09:33 It took more than 2000 years to accomplish it, but it was. 09:38 It took more than 50 generations for it to happen, but it did. 09:44 The nation entrusted with the message for the world 09:48 was so completely diluted that they ultimately rejected Jesus. 09:54 Satan reduced Israel to nothing more than a 09:57 powerless spectacle. 10:00 But the good news tonight is, there is no condition from which 10:05 God cannot resurrect His people. 10:08 No matter how bad things get, God always has an answer 10:12 for our condition. 10:14 And so Ezekiel is shown a picture that seems to be 10:17 impossible, a situation that seems to be without remedy. 10:20 And he takes us now to Ezekiel chapter 37 10:24 beginning with verse 1. 10:28 And the Bible says, "The hand of the Lord came upon me 10:35 and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, 10:38 and set me down in the midst of the valley; 10:43 and it was full of..." What? 10:45 "...full of bones." 10:47 Ezekiel stood in a valley of scattered bones. 10:52 Like casualties of war, bodies were left where they fell. 10:57 As far as Ezekiel could see, skeletons were no longer 11:01 in the closet. 11:03 The bones had been there for some time, for the Bible says 11:06 for they were very dry. 11:08 There were arms, but they could not embrace. 11:11 There were hands, but they were unable to touch. 11:14 There were fingers, but they could not give direction. 11:19 Intellect was no longer a factor. 11:21 Opinions were finally laid aside. 11:24 How you dressed and what you ate was no longer an issue. 11:29 The rich and the poor finally received the same treatment. 11:33 There were no signs of life achievements. 11:35 No disputes about race or status. 11:38 There were no political disagreements. 11:40 Opposing parties were finally merged together. 11:45 There were no more attitudes. 11:47 No more arguments. 11:49 There were neither smiles nor frowns. 11:52 No separation, no disharmony, no contending, no controversy. 11:58 Everyone was finally on the same page. 12:02 Ezekiel sees a valley of dry bones. 12:07 Finally, the congregation was in one accord 12:10 and in one place. 12:12 As a matter of fact, they had no desire to stray. 12:15 The reality of it is, they had no desires at all. 12:18 All that was left was a valley of dry bones. 12:24 But before we answer the question; how can these 12:26 dead bones live, let's address the issue; how did they die. 12:32 Paul the apostle, in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, 12:35 summarizes the history of Israel, this very powerful 12:40 nation that God had chosen. 12:42 And he writes in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 beginning with 12:44 verse 1, he says the following, "Moreover, brethren, I do not 12:50 want you to be unaware that all our fathers were 12:54 under the cloud..." 12:55 Notice the word "all." 12:56 "...all passed through the sea, all were baptized 13:01 into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same 13:08 spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. 13:14 For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, 13:18 and that Rock was Christ." 13:21 But the Bible goes on to add one more verse that 13:24 changes the entire picture. 13:26 For it says in verse 5, "But with most of them 13:30 God was not well pleased, for their bodies were 13:34 scattered in the wilderness." 13:37 As you follow the history of Israel, not only that, 13:40 Israel also lined themselves with leaders that did not 13:44 respect the truth of God that God entrusted to them. 13:48 And I believe one of the reasons why so many are not 13:51 preaching the Word as it should be preached is this; 13:53 they don't respect the truth because they don't rely 13:56 on the Holy Spirit. 13:59 Only the Spirit of God can reveal the truth of God. 14:02 Can you say amen to that? 14:05 But the Bible tells us that actions reveal conditions. 14:08 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 14 says it this way, 14:12 "The natural man does not receive the things of the 14:15 Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; 14:18 nor can he know them, because they are 14:21 spiritually discerned." 14:23 We often say, "Spiritual things are spiritually discerned." 14:27 It takes a spiritual eye to discern spiritual things. 14:31 And leaders that are not concerned by the leading of 14:34 God's Spirit to discover the truth of God's Word 14:37 are not discerning the true condition of the people. 14:39 So they give them substitutes. 14:41 Because spiritual things are spiritually discerned. 14:45 That's why I say, don't preach philosophy. 14:48 Let's preach the Word. 14:50 Don't give them opinions. 14:51 Let's tell them what God's Word says. 14:54 Don't modify it or alter it. 14:56 Preach the Word as it is written. 15:00 There's no better word than the Word of God 15:03 as it is written. 15:05 I remember growing up. 15:07 And one of the things that I tell often times about 15:09 my story is, my father was the kind of man that 15:13 taught me a lot of things. 15:14 He would give me directions on how to fix things. 15:17 And just recently, Brenda Walsh included my story 15:20 in her Bed Time Stories, the Brenda Walsh stories. 15:24 And she has a story there called, The Fireworks Surprise. 15:29 And she tells my story a little different than I tell my story. 15:34 For the purpose of opening the imagination of the children, 15:37 she tells it a little more animated. 15:39 But I remember the story very well. 15:41 Speaking about following directions the way they 15:43 should be given, or the way they ought to be followed. 15:46 My father taught me how to fix wires. 15:53 And I remember very well, one evening I got excited about 15:57 fixing a broken lamp. 15:58 And I had seen him fix lamps so many times before 16:01 that I said, "I can do this. I've got it. 16:04 I'll follow exactly what you did. 16:05 I'll follow what you told me to do." 16:08 And so I separated the wires from the lamp. 16:11 Separated the wires from the cord. 16:13 And I said, "The next thing is tape the wires together." 16:15 He said, "That's what you do." 16:17 And I said, "Now tape them together again." 16:19 He said, "That's what you do." 16:20 And then plug it in. 16:21 But what I forgot to do is, when you tape the wires, 16:23 you tape them separately before you tape them together. 16:29 And I taped them all together and plugged it in. 16:32 And thus Brenda Walsh has a story entitled, 16:34 Fireworks Surprise. 16:36 For a bolt of lightening came out of the socket 16:38 because I didn't follow my father's word the way 16:42 he told it to me. 16:43 In the very same way, we've got to follow God's Word 16:47 the way He tells it to us. 16:48 What do you say? 16:50 That's why we can't look to popular preachers. 16:52 The excuse is nowadays that they are number one bestselling 16:56 authors or top selling authors. 16:58 But the truth of the matter is, Jesus is the best Author. 17:03 He is the Author of salvation to all of those who obey Him. 17:08 He is the Author and Finisher of our faith. 17:12 And my father told me something when I was growing up. 17:14 He said, "You have to learn from people 17:17 that are where you want to be." 17:20 And Jesus is where I want to be. 17:22 So I'm going to follow the words of Jesus 17:24 as they are written in His Word. 17:28 I'm lifting up the Author. 17:29 The only One that can save me. 17:31 The only One that can give me direction. 17:33 The only One that can give me eternal life. 17:36 That's why we have to be very, very careful nowadays 17:39 who we follow. 17:40 There are a lot of popular people. 17:42 A lot of people with notoriety and status and power. 17:46 But if they don't stand on the Word of God, 17:48 the Lord wants us to follow this and not them. 17:52 I follow the Word as it is in Jesus. 17:57 There are those who are concerned about crowds. 17:59 But I suggest to you tonight that the One that can 18:01 draw the best crowd is Jesus. 18:02 And He said, "If I be lifted up, I'll draw all men unto Myself." 18:08 The only crowds that we should be concerned about 18:11 are the crowds that are being drawn by the power 18:14 and the presence that is found in Christ and in His Word. 18:18 Can you say amen to that? 18:20 You know, there's a danger in following men. 18:21 The danger is, you can hang around people for so long that 18:25 don't believe the way you do that you begin 18:27 believing the way they do. 18:30 You begin thinking the way they do 18:32 and mimicking the things they do. 18:34 And I was remembering somebody just recently. 18:36 I got a call from one of my friends and he said to me, 18:39 he listened to a sermon recently. 18:40 And he said when he heard this sermon, 18:45 one of his friends said that they had heard that sermon 18:47 exactly almost word for word before. 18:50 And they went to the internet and found out that the 18:53 preacher that was preaching at their church 18:56 had gone on the internet, copied somebody's sermon 19:00 word for word. 19:01 Whether or not it was true was not the concern. 19:04 Copied that sermon word for word and preached 19:06 that sermon in their church. 19:08 And somebody who had known the preacher 19:09 on the internet said, "I've heard that sermon before." 19:13 The only sermon that I want to follow is the 19:14 sermon's found in God's Word. 19:16 Can you say amen to that? 19:17 We are called to preach the Word. 19:21 Paul told Timothy, "Preach the Word. 19:24 Be instant in season." 19:26 Go to 2 Timothy chapter 4 with me and see what Paul says. 19:29 2 Timothy chapter 4 beginning with verses 2 and 3. 19:33 We are called to preach the Word. 19:36 He says, "Preach the word! 19:39 Be instant in season, out of season. 19:42 Reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine. 19:48 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine." 19:53 And the time has come. 19:54 Men do not endure sound doctrine. 19:57 That's why as workers of 3ABN, we are committed 20:01 to the undiluted three angels messages. 20:04 If it's not from God's Word and can't stand the test, 20:08 the acid test of God's Word, we don't air it, 20:10 we don't preach it. 20:11 Because we're living in the time when opinions of men 20:14 have replaced a "thus saith the Lord." 20:18 The danger is, when sound doctrine is rejected 20:21 there's a greater evil that follows that. 20:24 You see, if you don't want what I give you to eat, 20:26 then I won't give it to you at all. 20:28 And Amos says in Amos chapter 8... 20:31 Turn there with me. 20:32 If you don't like my food, I won't give it to you. 20:34 Notice what God's Word says. 20:36 Amos chapter 8 verses 11 and 12. 20:41 Amos says, "'Behold, the days are coming,' says God, 20:46 'that I will send a famine in the land. 20:50 Not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, 20:55 but of the hearing of the words of God.'" 20:57 And notice how bad it's going to get. 21:00 "They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east, 21:05 they shall run to and fro seeking the word of the Lord, 21:10 but they shall not find it." 21:13 Now is the time to hunger and thirst after the Word of God. 21:18 Now is the time to hunger and thirst after righteousness. 21:23 Now is the time to desire to read the Word of God. 21:26 Because one day, as the Bible says, one day the Word of God 21:30 is not going to be available as it is today. 21:33 And right now on my computer alone, I have about 21:35 fifteen different Bibles. 21:37 There are people that have Bibles on their iPads and 21:39 on their laptops, on their iPhones, 21:41 on their digital devices. 21:44 But they don't desire that Word, so the Lord is saying to us, 21:46 one day the Word that they don't desire 21:50 won't be able to be found. 21:51 Seek the Lord and His word while it may be found. 21:56 The world is driven by a thirst, but a thirst 21:59 that is not righteous. 22:00 The world is driven by a thirst that is evil. 22:04 Not too long ago, I did a series about the thirsts of the world. 22:08 It was called, Unclean Spirits. 22:10 And when you begin to examine the things that the world makes 22:13 available to us, there was a time I use to say 22:15 that the world has nothing to offer. 22:17 But I've changed that tone. 22:18 The world has a lot to offer, but when you're looking for 22:21 eternal life, you can't find that in the world. 22:24 You only find that in God's Word. 22:27 You only find that in Jesus. 22:29 The world has a lot to offer. 22:31 Just a few nights ago, because of my research... 22:33 I want to qualify that. 22:34 Because of my research, I decided to peek in on the news. 22:39 I was not in Thompsonville when the Grammy Awards came on. 22:43 But I decided to go ahead and look at the news and 22:46 find out the recap of the Grammy Awards 22:49 just to get an idea of the thirst that the world has. 22:53 And I want to tell you, I heard songs 22:56 of people that really couldn't sing. 23:01 The world has come to the place where you don't 23:03 have to sing any more. 23:04 All you have to do is make noise to be popular. 23:09 Not only that, they said, for the first time there was a 23:13 full blown exorcism done on television. 23:18 And that's the kind of thing the world applauds. 23:20 That's the kind of thing the world thirsts for. 23:22 It's a thirst, but it's not for righteousness. 23:25 It's a thirst for things that are evil. 23:27 We've got to hunger and thirst after righteousness. 23:30 Can you say amen to that? 23:32 We're living at a time when the admiration of man is 23:34 quickly replacing the authority of the Word of God. 23:37 The problem is, God can give directions without 23:40 the word of man, but man cannot give directions 23:43 that are reliable without the Word of God. 23:46 Seek the Lord while He may be found. 23:49 So Ezekiel sees a people that are reduced 23:52 to nothing more than a pile of bones and dust. 23:56 And God asks him the following question. 23:58 Ezekiel chapter 37, look with me at verse 3. 24:03 The Lord asks Ezekiel, "Can these dead bones live?" 24:10 And like any preacher with common sense, Ezekiel says, 24:14 "O Lord God, only You know." 24:18 "O Lord God, only You know." 24:20 When God asks a question, we've got to answer those questions 24:23 very carefully because only God knows the outcome 24:27 of the issues of life. 24:28 Only God knows if anybody is going to change for the better. 24:33 He looks at these bones; disconnected, dislodged, 24:38 in a valley of dust, a cemetery with no tombstones, 24:42 no funeral directors, and God asks him whether or not 24:46 these bones can live. 24:48 And then God asks him to preach to these bones. 24:50 Now sometimes God asks us to do things that don't make sense. 24:54 But one of the prerogatives of being God is, God is not to be 24:58 understood, but God is to be trusted. 25:01 And so Ezekiel begins to preach to these dead bones. 25:05 Look at verse 4. 25:07 The Bible says, "Prophesy" or preach, "unto these bones and 25:11 say unto them, 'O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.'" 25:19 The world needs to hear the Word of the Lord. 25:23 The world needs the Word of the Lord. 25:27 You know that today, even though it may not appear to be 25:31 that way, do you know the Bible is still the number one 25:34 bestselling book in the world? 25:36 Can we say amen to that? 25:37 The Bible is still the number one bestselling book 25:42 in the world. 25:43 Translations of every kind. 25:46 You can find it in Hebrew, you can find it in Greek. 25:49 You can find it in transliterated versions. 25:52 You can find the Septuagint. 25:54 You can find it in English and Spanish and Latin and Brazilian. 25:59 But the problem is not that we have more Bibles. 26:02 The problem is, people don't read their Bibles. 26:05 They don't study their Bibles. 26:07 That's why it's easy to accept anything that a man says. 26:10 Because it does not come from the Word of God. 26:14 That's why Ezekiel is told to preach the Word of the Lord. 26:19 To tell the people to hear the Word of the Lord, 26:22 not the word of men. 26:24 Because the only hope of bringing dry bones back to life 26:28 is preaching the Word of the Lord. 26:31 Look at verse 5. 26:36 "Thus says the Lord God to these bones..." 26:39 God is outlining His plan. 26:41 "Thus says the Lord God to these bones, 26:44 'Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, 26:50 and you shall live.'" 26:53 When the Word goes out, the power comes in. 26:57 When the Holy Spirit works in the preacher, 27:00 the Word comes out. 27:02 And when the Word works on the people, 27:04 the Spirit comes in. 27:06 When the Word goes out, the Spirit comes in. 27:09 The reason why the Spirit is not coming in is, the Word is not 27:12 going out as God intends for it to go out. 27:15 Matter of fact, I was in Sam's Club the other day. 27:18 My wife and I went to Sam's Club here today 27:20 to see if there were things that were not in the Sam's Club 27:23 that we have in Thompsonville. 27:24 Actually not in Thompsonville, but in southern Illinois. 27:27 Thompsonville is not big enough. 27:29 Matter of fact, all of Thompsonville could 27:31 fit in Sam's Club. 27:35 But we stopped in Sam's Club to see if things 27:37 were different there. 27:38 And we discovered, the more things change, 27:41 the more they stay the same. 27:43 I was beginning to think today that I could easily 27:45 live here in Puerto Rico. 27:46 Because much of what you have here is what we have 27:49 in Thompsonville and in southern Illinois. 27:52 The only problem is, the language is different. 27:55 And I've been learning little words here and there like, 27:58 poquito and buenas noches and buenas tardes and buenos dias. 28:02 And sometimes I say beunas noches in the morning 28:04 and buenas tardes in the evening. 28:06 And I get mixed up. 28:08 And people look at me. 28:09 I go to the store sometimes and I want to communicate. 28:11 And they're talking to me in Spanish a thousand miles 28:13 a minute and I just say, "Gracias." 28:15 I don't know what I said "thank you" for. 28:18 But my point is this: 28:21 Unless we are speaking the same language, we are just guessing. 28:25 When you begin with the Word of God, there is no need to guess. 28:30 Because the Word of God is the same yesterday, 28:33 today and forever. 28:34 What do you say to that? 28:36 So the Lord said to Ezekiel, "Preach the Word." 28:39 And when you think about it, the creation of man 28:41 and the resurrection of man is just about the same thing. 28:44 Go to Genesis chapter 2 with me, Genesis chapter 2 and verse 7, 28:47 and look at what the Bible says about the creation of man. 28:50 This is very interesting. 28:52 Genesis 2 and verse 7. 28:55 The creation is parallel to the resurrection of man. 29:00 The Bible says in Genesis chapter 2 and verse 7, 29:04 "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, 29:10 and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; 29:14 and man became a living being." 29:17 Or living soul. 29:19 Now I want you to get this. 29:20 I'm not going to run through this part. 29:21 It's very important. 29:22 Until God put the breath of life in man, 29:26 he was just the form of man. 29:30 He had all the components. 29:32 He had the fingers, he had the thumb, he had the face. 29:35 He probably had hair, because when God does something, 29:38 the Bible says He does it very good. 29:40 He had eyes. 29:41 He had everything that he needed to have physically, 29:43 But until God put in him the breath of life, 29:47 he was just a form. 29:51 He had all the things on the outside. 29:54 But what was missing, what was yet to be put on the inside, 29:57 God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. 30:00 And man became a living soul. 30:02 Now go quickly with me to Psalm chapter 33 and verse 6. 30:06 Psalm 33 and verse 6. 30:09 Connecting it together, the creation of man and the 30:12 resurrection of man; similar components. 30:16 Similar components. 30:18 David the psalmist says in Psalm 33 and verse 6, 30:22 "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, 30:27 and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth." 30:32 And notice this. 30:34 God made the heavens, but He did it by the breath of His mouth. 30:39 God formed man, but He brought him to life 30:42 by the breath of His mouth. 30:46 You see, the church can have all the forms of righteousness, 30:49 but unless God has breathed into us the spirit of life, 30:54 we just have a form. 30:55 But we're actually like the picture that 30:57 Ezekiel sees in the desert. 30:59 He sees them dead. 31:00 God does not want a church that appears to be alive. 31:03 God want a church that is filled by the breath of life 31:06 that comes from God; the Holy Spirit. 31:11 Genesis chapter 1 and verse 2 says it this way. 31:13 "And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness 31:17 was upon the face of the deep. 31:20 And the Spirit of God moved..." 31:23 I'm going to stop right there. 31:24 "The Spirit of God moved..." 31:26 You see, a life without the Word is a life without form. 31:31 When you have the Word, the Word brings structure. 31:35 It brings form to your life. 31:37 When my wife and I study our Word together, 31:39 it gives structure to our day, structure to our lives. 31:43 Strength and direction that we all need. 31:45 But without the Word, we go out and live our lives 31:48 guessing as to what God wants us to do. 31:50 But when you have the Word of God, you've got 31:52 structure in your life. 31:55 A life without the Word is a life without form. 31:59 Just like the world was before God breathed on it, 32:02 before God called life into existence. 32:06 Not only that, he says the world was without form and void. 32:10 And I suggest to you, a life without the Word 32:13 is a life that is void. 32:18 The Word fills those empty places. 32:21 My wife and I, every now and then, and every day we have a 32:24 study together, we begin our day together, 32:26 at least with a devotional. 32:28 Sometimes the study at night gets so good that my wife 32:31 falls asleep and I'm up for two more hours. 32:35 But the good thing about God's Word is this: 32:37 When your life is worn down, when you have come to the 32:41 end of your rope and you cannot find answers, 32:44 I would suggest to you that there's nothing that can 32:47 fill you better than simply opening God's Word 32:51 and let God fill those empty places in your life. 32:57 The world was without form, and void. 33:00 But there was one more thing; there was darkness there. 33:03 A life without the Word of God is a life that is in darkness. 33:08 The Word brings light. 33:10 The entrance of God's Word brings light. 33:13 The Word of God is a lamp unto our feet 33:16 and a light unto our paths. 33:23 But when Paul writes about the last days, 33:25 he says, "In the last days there will be a form of godliness, 33:29 but denying the power thereof." 33:33 There's a whole lot of godliness, it looks that way. 33:35 A whole lot of externals that look godly. 33:38 But unless there's power on the inside, 33:40 it's simply a form of godliness. 33:44 But God puts a plan together to replace the form with the power. 33:48 The diagnosis of modern Christianity is this: 33:51 It has more form than it has power. 33:55 It needs more power than it needs form. 33:57 Notice Ezekiel 37 and verse 6. 34:01 God's plan for the resurrection of His church. 34:07 Ezekiel 37 and verse 6, notice what God does. 34:10 He says, "I will put sinews on you..." 34:19 I'll break that down in a moment. 34:21 "...and bring flesh upon you. 34:25 I will cover you with skin and put breath in you; 34:32 and you shall live. 34:34 Then..." There's that word. 34:37 "Then you shall know that I am the Lord." 34:42 Notice, all those things are vitally important for 34:45 somebody to know that the Lord is the Lord. 34:48 Now let's break it down. Sinew. 34:50 I began to get intellectual and I opened my dictionary 34:53 and began to look up this word. 34:54 Sinew is another word for muscle. 34:57 What that simply means is, there are many 35:00 spiritual experiences without strength. 35:02 When we've got God in our lives and He fills us with His Spirit, 35:07 He replaces lifeless and weak Christianity 35:11 with Christianity that has muscle. 35:14 The joy of the Lord is our strength. 35:20 The experience that we have has to have 35:22 something strong behind it. 35:23 Because if it's weak, it's going to be revealed in time. 35:26 The Word of God brings strength to our relationship. 35:29 It brings strength to our walk with God. 35:34 Not only that, He said, "I'll cover you with skin." 35:39 I discovered today, I was reading a medical journal 35:43 on the internet, and they said that our skin weighs 35:47 about six pounds. 35:49 Only six pounds. 35:51 Now I weigh about 175 pounds. 35:58 178 on good days. 36:00 Close to 180 after a couple of apple turnovers. 36:05 If I weigh 176 pounds, the Bible is saying, 36:08 or medical science says that only six pounds of me is skin. 36:14 And it may appear that skin is not as important 36:17 if it's only six pounds. 36:19 But to show you how important skin is, 36:21 skin holds everything else together. 36:25 It's the wrapping, it's the Saran Wrap. 36:28 It's the topping on the apple pie. 36:30 It's the rubber on the tires. 36:32 It's the metal on the frame of the car. 36:34 It holds everything together. 36:35 Can you say amen? Aren't you glad you have skin? 36:38 We all need skin. 36:40 Smallest in weight, but largest in territory covering. 36:47 Everybody needs skin. 36:50 The skin that the Lord wants to cover us with 36:52 is His righteousness, His character. 36:56 Not our character, His character. 36:59 He wants to cover His church with His righteousness. 37:03 But then thirdly is something else. 37:06 He wants to bring flesh upon us, 37:09 add substance to our Christianity. 37:11 He wants to put breath in us, empower us with the Holy Spirit. 37:15 He wants to give us life. 37:17 He says, "And you shall live." 37:19 He wants to add vitality to our walk with God. 37:23 You know, I believe that Christianity ought to 37:25 make a difference, not just on the weekend, but it 37:27 ought to make a difference every day of your life. 37:30 It ought to make a difference when you're in the mall. 37:33 Am I telling the truth? 37:35 It ought to make a difference when you go to the 37:36 grocery store and when you go to the video store. 37:38 It ought to make a difference when you choose what you watch. 37:43 It ought to make a difference when you decide how to dress. 37:47 It ought to make a difference when you decide what to 37:49 listen to and what songs to sing and what to buy. 37:53 Christianity is something that the Lord wants to be vitalized, 37:56 not just one day a week, but He wants us to have that power, 37:59 that vitality, that substance, that righteousness, 38:03 and that strength every day of our walk with God. 38:07 Every single day. 38:10 But look at verse 7 of Ezekiel chapter 37. 38:15 There's something else He wants us to do. 38:19 He says, "So I prophesied as I was commanded. 38:23 And as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, 38:30 and the bones came together, bone to his bone." 38:35 There are a lot of people that put together this rhythmic 38:37 soliloquy of, you know, "The ankle bone connected 38:39 to the knee bone, the knee bone connected to the thigh bone." 38:41 That's not what I want to talk about tonight. 38:43 I want to talk about the fact that when God 38:45 puts us together, the brokenness that he's talking about 38:48 that comes together, the noise that is being heard, 38:50 the shaking that Ezekiel sees is, broken lives are 38:54 being put back together. 38:56 What do you say tonight? 38:57 Those who are dead in sin are now alive in Christ. 39:02 Hope is being restored and despair is being buried. 39:06 Mouths that use to be used for prying are now used for praying. 39:11 Arms that were used for hurting become arms 39:15 employed for helping. 39:16 Feet that use to carry gossip are now carrying the gospel. 39:20 Hearts that were filled with love for the world 39:23 are now filled with love for Jesus. 39:25 And a divided church becomes a unified church. 39:30 That's what Ezekiel sees. 39:31 The noise and the shaking is the coming together 39:34 of God's church. 39:37 And by the way, you know that there's always been 39:39 noise in the church. 39:40 But when Christ comes in, He changes the noise 39:43 from a battle noise to a joyful noise. 39:46 What do you say? 39:47 We have heard the joyful sound, "Jesus saves, Jesus saves." 39:53 That's the joyful sound. 39:54 There's a lot of noise in church. 39:56 Sometimes we forget that the Lord is in His holy temple 39:59 when we come to church and we talk all service long. 40:01 We talk about our own things. 40:03 There's always noise in the church. 40:04 But God wants to change that noise from human noise 40:08 to divine transformation. 40:11 Bringing life back to His church. 40:15 Not only that, when the church is filled with 40:18 the sounds of life, that's not the end of God's process. 40:21 Look at verse 8 and 9 of Ezekiel chapter 37. 40:25 Verse 8 and 9 of Ezekiel chapter 37. 40:30 He said, "Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh 40:38 came upon them, and the skin covered over them; 40:49 but there was no breath in them." 40:55 "Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, 40:59 and the skin covered over them; 41:01 but there was no breath in them." 41:04 What he's saying is, God's people looked the part 41:08 but they lacked the power still. 41:11 God put all the programs together. 41:13 Let me make application. 41:14 You know, the last thing we need as a church is another book. 41:19 We've got more books than we can read until Jesus comes. 41:23 We've got more buildings around the world. 41:24 We can build more buildings; that's a good thing. 41:27 But if you look at all that God has blessed us with as a church, 41:29 as a people; we've got buildings, we've got hospitals, 41:32 we've got programs, we've got universities. 41:34 We've got missionary programs; we have ADRA 41:37 we have Maranatha, we have 3ABN, Hope Channel. 41:40 We've got a whole host of movements. 41:43 But God is saying those are the bones coming together. 41:48 But even though all those things are in place, 41:51 there's still something else that God wants to do. 41:55 Follow me carefully. 41:59 By the way, my wife works for 3ABN Radio. 42:02 Last week when she drove to work, 42:07 she got two flat tires at the same time. 42:10 How do you get two flat tires at the same time? 42:14 My wife got two flat tires at the same time. 42:18 And it just so happened to happen on a day 42:20 that was very cold. 42:22 And guess what. 42:23 She called me to fix her flat tires. 42:26 So I went over to 3ABN Radio and I took with me a canister of air 42:32 to hopefully fill the tire back up. 42:35 But these were truck tires. 42:37 Meaning, they were big tires. 42:39 And as fast as I put the air in, the air came out. 42:43 So I said to my wife as I looked at the tire, 42:47 I saw on one side of the truck that there was a hole 42:50 made by a gravel stone on one side, and there was a hole 42:54 made by a piece of glass. 42:55 Because when I was backing out of the driveway at home, 42:58 I noticed there was all this broken glass on the ground. 43:00 And I thought to myself, Angie ran over the glass and broke it. 43:06 That was the first tire. 43:07 But when she got to Radio, there's a road that goes down 43:10 to 3ABN Radio that's covered by gravel. 43:12 And she ran over one of those sharp gravel stones 43:15 that stabbed the other tire. 43:16 So here she is, two flat tires. 43:19 I brought my canister of air trying my best to fix the tires. 43:23 But as fast as the air went in, the air came out. 43:27 So I said to my wife, "Go buy three cans of Fix-A-Flat." 43:31 You know what Fix-A-Flat is? 43:33 A little stuff that's in a white can. 43:35 People that fix tires don't like Fix-A-Flat. 43:37 So she went and got three cans of Fix. 43:39 I said, now one is pretty good. Two is really good. 43:42 But three is the ultimate. 43:44 So get three cans of Fix-A-Flat. 43:46 Well, she got the three cans of Fix-A-Flat. 43:48 And when she came back, I said, "Thank you, Lord. 43:50 I only have but so much air left in this canister. 43:52 I'm going to hold that until I fix the tires with Fix-A-Flat. 43:56 Then pump it up and take it to the gas station to get it fixed. 44:03 But as fast as I pumped the Fix-A-Flat in, it bubbled out. 44:09 You know why? Because the holes were big. 44:14 New tires, expensive tires. Had good tread. 44:19 But no matter how good they looked on the outside, 44:21 the holes were big. 44:23 And until the holes were closed up, there was no way 44:27 to fill it up. 44:28 Until the holes were closed up, there was no way to fill it up. 44:33 Before God fills us up, He's got to close us up. 44:37 There are lots of holes that exist today in our walk with God 44:40 that has to be closed up. 44:42 God has to close up the hole of compromise, and lack of love, 44:45 and division, and worldliness, and competition. 44:48 God has to seal up the holes of envy and jealousy and lust 44:53 and backbiting. 44:54 And when God seals us up, then God can fill us up. 44:59 Ephesians 4 and verse 30 says it this way. 45:03 Ephesians 4 and verse 30 says it this way. 45:08 "And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed 45:14 unto the day of redemption." 45:16 Well, you know what happened? 45:17 I need to end the story about the tires. 45:20 I eventually made it down to the gas station. 45:23 And when I got there I was just, you know, 45:25 it was like bubbling tires. 45:26 You know that sound of tires when they're almost flat. 45:29 I had just got there, and as soon as I pulled in 45:32 I heard this sound, ssshhhh. 45:36 Flat as a pancake. 45:39 But the good news was, I took it to where it could get fixed. 45:46 Here's my point. 45:48 If you bring people who's lives are flat 45:51 to the place where their lives can get fixed, 45:54 God can do the job. 45:56 God established the church as a place to fix all those 46:00 lives that are flat. 46:01 What do you say? 46:02 You've got to bring them to the place where they can get fixed. 46:04 You've got to bring them to the altar of Christ. 46:06 You've got to Jesus. 46:08 The only place where they can get fixed. 46:09 And the beautiful story of it is, the next day 46:11 I went to get the tire. 46:12 And you know what? 46:14 After the tires were fixed and filled up with air, 46:17 they looked like they were never ever flat. 46:19 That's how completely God can fix our lives. 46:23 When God fixes us up, closes up all the openings 46:26 in our lives that causes the life to seep out, 46:30 and then He fills us up, we can appear as though 46:32 we never had a problem in our lives. 46:36 "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. 46:39 Old things have passed away; behold..." 46:41 How many things? 46:42 "...all things become new." 46:44 God can fill us up, but God has to seal us up. 46:48 And close us up. 46:50 That's why verse 10 is so vitally important. 46:52 Look at it with me very carefully. 46:54 Verse 10, notice what the Bible says. 46:58 Ezekiel 37 and verse 10. 47:04 Ezekiel said, "So I prophesied as He commanded me, 47:07 and breath came into them." 47:10 "And breath came into them." 47:11 That's the Holy Spirit came into them. 47:13 "...and they lived..." 47:14 Without the Holy Spirit, the church has a form 47:18 but it's not alive. 47:19 We've got to pray every day for the 47:20 infilling of God's Holy Spirit. 47:22 What do you say to that? 47:23 Every day we need the infilling of God's Holy Spirit. 47:31 "...breath came into them and they lived..." 47:35 And notice what happened. 47:36 Until the Spirit of God comes in, they cannot 47:40 stand up on their feet. 47:46 I need to say this. 47:48 That may be the reason why there is so much sitting down 47:51 rather than standing up. 47:54 If the Spirit of God were... 47:56 If people would pray for the Spirit of God to fill them, 48:00 there would be more people carrying the gospel 48:03 than just listening to the gospel. 48:07 We were driving down here in San Juan. 48:10 Or in Mayaguez or in Bella Vista. 48:12 Wherever we are. 48:14 Puerto Rico. 48:15 Let's leave it there. 48:16 And there was a young man with a backpack on. 48:19 And he had a whole stack of cards in his hand. 48:25 And he would tap one card and pass it out to the car 48:28 at the intersection. 48:29 When the light turned red, he ran into the street, 48:32 tapped his card, and passed to this car, 48:33 passed it to that car, passed it to this car and that car. 48:37 He was passing out all these little things. 48:38 And I looked at what he was passing out. 48:40 I didn't ask for one. 48:41 I looked at what he was passing out. 48:42 You know what he was passing out? 48:43 He was passing out information for people to party and gamble. 48:48 And I thought to myself, what if... 48:51 Just think about this. 48:52 What if God's people were so convinced that we had 48:57 the message that we would be the one's at the traffic light 49:01 with our backpacks filled with the gospel of God 49:05 passing it out to cars when they come to the stop light? 49:07 What if God's church came to the place where they accepted 49:11 the fact that God has given us a message 49:13 just like He gave to Israel? 49:16 I believe there would be more people on the street 49:18 than there are today. 49:19 I believe there would be people in the mall passing out tracts, 49:22 people at the stop lights passing out tracts, 49:24 people, when you walk the streets, 49:26 giving something into our hands. 49:28 Because you know what, brethren, even if you can't preach a 49:30 sermon, everybody can go like this. 49:34 Amen? 49:35 Everybody can pass out a tract. 49:38 But notice what happened here. 49:39 Until the Spirit of God came into them, they couldn't live 49:43 and they could not stand up on their feet. 49:46 And what God needs today is people that are less concerned 49:51 with sitting down and more concerned with standing up. 49:55 As one preacher once said, and I hope I get it right, 49:57 he says, "We ought to get out of our seat 50:00 and hit the street with the gospel beat." 50:03 Amen. 50:04 Walking for the Lord. 50:06 Walking with the Lord. 50:08 Giving out the truth while people are still 50:10 open to accept what is available to them. 50:16 But notice how the verse ended. 50:18 I'll read the verse one more time. 50:20 "So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, 50:26 and they lived, and stood upon their feet, 50:30 an exceedingly great army." 50:33 Here's the point that I got out of that. 50:34 Until the church of God is standing on its feet, 50:37 Satan will not be afraid of this church. 50:40 Did you know that we are in a war? 50:43 The Bible says, the dragon went to make war with those who 50:48 keep the commandments of God and have the 50:50 testimony of Jesus Christ. 50:51 We are in a war. 50:52 The only way that we can be an exceedingly great army 50:55 is if we allow the Spirit of God to come into us 50:57 and we get on our feet and hit the street with the gospel beat 51:02 and share the word of God while we have the opportunity. 51:05 We are in a war. 51:06 And what is our weapon? 51:07 The weapon is the Word of God. 51:09 We've got to put on the whole armor of God. 51:10 And when we've done that, we have to still pray. 51:12 We are in a war. 51:13 But the devil is never afraid of a church that's content with 51:17 sitting down while everybody else is out there on the street, 51:21 while everybody else in the world is passing out things 51:23 that do not pertain to eternal life. 51:25 The Lord wants to fill us up and get us to stand up. 51:29 And then we can become an exceedingly great army. 51:33 And until He fills us up with the right thing, 51:36 we can never make our destination. 51:39 A few years ago my wife and I and family were down in Jamaica. 51:43 And I had a chance to speak in Montego Bay on one weekend 51:47 and then in Kingston on the other weekend. 51:50 And I was brave enough to drive in Jamaica. 51:56 They drive on the opposite side 51:58 with the opposite side steering wheel. 52:02 And to make it even worse, the stick shift 52:05 was on the other side. 52:07 So I was sitting on this side, steering wheel on this side, 52:10 stick shift on this side, driving through the mountains 52:14 of Jamaica. 52:17 Made it all the way through treacherous roads. 52:20 That's a hard word, treacherous roads. 52:23 And on the last Saturday night we were there, 52:26 I had a concert in Kingston at the Andrews Memorial Church. 52:31 And my brother-in-law had to be at the airport 52:34 the very next morning very, very early; 5 o'clock. 52:37 And here it was getting close to midnight and we were on the 52:40 other side, we were on the southeast of Jamaica, 52:48 and we had to drive to the northwest of Jamaica by morning 52:52 within five hours. 52:54 And they said to us, "Now you may barely make it 52:58 if you leave at midnight." 53:00 Because we had to go through treacherous mountain roads 53:03 in Jamaica with an American driver. 53:09 We got to the gas station and I said to the lady at the 53:12 gas station, "Now when you fill it up, don't put diesel. 53:17 Put regular fuel." 53:19 And she said to me, "Okay." 53:22 I said, "Don't forget. Regular fuel, not diesel." 53:24 She said, "Okay." 53:27 "Don't forget, regular." "Okay, okay." 53:29 So she looked a little irritated but I wanted to make sure 53:31 she put regular fuel. 53:32 And she filled it all the way up. 53:37 And my brother-in-law, who had to make the airport, he said, 53:39 "You know what, let me drive. 53:41 Because I'm the one who has to get there at 5 o'clock. 53:42 I'm going to drive faster than you would because if I don't 53:45 get there, I'm going to miss my plane." 53:46 So he got into the driver's seat. 53:49 The car is all filled up with fuel. 53:55 He turned the key and we only drove about 10 feet. 53:59 And the car began to putter and smoke. 54:02 Black smoke was coming everywhere. 54:04 And before we even made it out of the gas station, 54:06 the vehicle died and just coasted right into the street. 54:09 And you know what happened? 54:11 Then we discovered that she filled that vehicle up 54:15 with diesel instead of regular fuel. 54:17 And we went back and said, "Now did you put in 54:19 regular gas or diesel?" 54:21 She said, "I put in regular fuel." 54:24 I said, "I don't think so." 54:25 Here's my point. 54:26 If the right thing is on the inside, we'll get the 54:29 right results on the outside. 54:30 What do you say? 54:32 The reason why we don't get right results on the outside 54:34 is because the right thing is not on the inside. 54:36 We've got to hunger and thirst to be filled with 54:38 the righteousness of Christ. 54:40 If it fills us on the inside, we'll have the right results 54:43 on the outside. 54:46 Well, the gas station attendant said to us, 54:50 "Don't even touch the key. Don't even move. 54:52 Don't even try to start it again. 54:54 Because if you do, you can mess up the carburetor 54:56 and the fuel lines. 54:57 And it will take us, we may not be able to get that fixed." 55:00 And the other problem was, the car rental company was 55:02 five hours away on the other side. 55:03 And here we are stuck. 55:07 What do you do? 55:09 Well, I'll tell you what Jesus would do. 55:11 He'd do what they did. 55:12 They said, "Don't even move." 55:14 So they pushed the car back to the gas station. 55:18 They hoisted the car up with their jacks. 55:24 And street mechanics came with all their tools. 55:29 Took out all the gas things, took the seats out. 55:31 Took the gas tank out. 55:33 And they stayed there for two hours emptying fuel 55:38 out of that tank. 55:39 Two hours. 55:41 The gas station attendant was so upset he was about to 55:43 fire the young lady that had filled the car up. 55:46 They were going to fire her that night, but we 55:47 pleaded for her case. 55:49 And we said, "It was a mistake. 55:51 Give her back her job or give her a job. 55:53 Don't fire her." 55:55 The good news was, two hours and fifteen minutes later 55:58 they filled us up. 55:59 Which meant we only had three hours and forty-five minutes 56:01 to get to the airport. 56:04 Well I must say, my brother-in-law, who's Jamaican, 56:08 drove like a Jamaican. 56:10 All through those mountains of Jamaica, he got to that airport 56:13 in the time that he needed to get there. 56:16 And you know how he made it? 56:17 Because the right thing was on the inside. 56:19 What do you say tonight? 56:20 God doesn't want a church that just looks like it has all the 56:23 right things on the outside. 56:24 God wants a church with all the right things on the inside. 56:28 He wants to fill us before the first resurrection 56:31 and before the second resurrection. 56:33 The real resurrection is the resurrection that the Lord 56:36 wants to take place in our lives before He comes. 56:41 He says, "Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, 56:45 and Christ will give you light." 56:48 Tonight, the Lord wants to give you light. 56:51 Tonight, the Lord wants to restore your relationship 56:54 and bring you to a spiritual resurrection. 56:57 Tonight, the Lord wants to give you a rebirth. 56:59 He wants to give you reformation and revival. 57:03 He can do it if you desire His Word, 57:06 if you desire to receive those things that pertain to 57:10 God's plan of salvation. 57:11 He can do it if you have your life emptied of the things 57:14 that are filling you now and filled with the things 57:19 that will give you eternal life. 57:20 Tonight, friends, thirst after righteousness, 57:24 hunger after righteousness, 57:26 and Jesus promises you shall be filled. |
Revised 2014-12-17