Participants:
Series Code: HC
Program Code: HC190006A
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00:49 Hello and welcome again to another wonderful presentation
00:54 of this year's 3ABN Fall Camp Meeting 2019. 00:58 We are so thankful that each and every one of you 01:00 are joining us at home and those who are here in-house. 01:03 Have you been blessed so far? 01:04 Yes! Praise the Lord! We have had some wonderful 01:07 presentations, Elder Ted Wilson, president of 01:11 the worldwide SDA church last night. Powerful presentation! 01:14 Then we had Pr. Doug Batchelor from Amazing Facts 01:17 Ministry was also with us last night. 01:20 And of course we're going to hear from him 01:21 again this evening. 01:23 And then this morning we heard from Jill Morikone 01:26 and Kenny Shelton, and they both had powerful presentations 01:29 as well. And we're going to continue the ball rolling 01:32 because we are now at our fifth presentation 01:34 with Ms. Shelley Quinn. She is a dear sister in Christ 01:37 and I love to hear her speak. 01:39 And I know the presentation she has for you this morning 01:42 is really truly going to be a blessing. 01:44 So I ask you to just sit tight. 01:47 Open your ears; open your mind 01:48 and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you this morning 01:50 because I know that He will. 01:52 Amen? Amen! Praise the Lord! Well I also have the honor 01:55 of singing before Ms. Shelley Quinn comes out. 01:59 And the song that I'm going to be singing this morning 02:01 is special to me because it was a song that me and my family 02:05 sang as we were growing up... or as I was growing up. 02:07 And it's a beautiful message. It talks about 02:10 how sometimes we might find ourselves having bad days 02:14 and we may go through trials in our life. 02:16 And it doesn't matter how high the mountain. 02:20 At the end of the day we might have times we might question 02:23 the plan of God, but at the end of the day 02:25 we certainly have no sufficient reasoning to question 02:28 God's goodness. Amen? 02:29 It's a song entitled I Can't Complain. 02:41 Oh, I have bad days 02:46 and I have hills to climb 02:53 and I have sad days 02:58 and then a weary mile. 03:04 Then when I look around 03:10 and I think these things aloud 03:16 all of the good things 03:20 outweigh the bad things... 03:23 I can't complain. 03:29 God is so good to me! 03:35 He is so good to me! 03:42 More than this world could be 03:48 He's so good to me. 03:53 His Spirit came to me 04:00 and gave me victory... 04:07 God is so good to me! 04:13 I can't complain. 04:19 Sometimes the clouds hang low 04:25 and I'd like to see them go. 04:31 I ask the question: "Lord, 04:36 why so much pain? " 04:43 But He knows what's best for me 04:49 although I cannot see... 04:56 I just say: "Thank you, Lord... 05:01 I can't complain. " 05:06 Oh, 05:08 God is so good to me! 05:14 He is so good to me! 05:20 More than this world could be 05:25 He's so good to me. 05:31 His Spirit came to me 05:37 and gave me victory... 05:44 God is so good to me... 05:50 I can't complain! 05:56 So you see, God is so good to me... 06:03 I can't 06:06 complain. 06:12 Praise You, Lord. Amen. 06:17 Amen and amen! Thank you. How true! 06:20 God is so good to us. 06:22 You know, there's no use in complaining anyway 06:25 'cause nobody's listening, right? 06:29 We're so glad that you are here this morning. 06:32 And I'm going to start off... I thought: "How am I 06:35 going to kick this thing off? " 06:37 And it just occurred to me back stage. 06:38 I want to share a little story... something that happened 06:41 when we lived in Coleman, TX. 06:44 We had a beautiful little kitchen. Very cheery 06:47 except for one little corner. 06:49 And in that corner of the kitchen 06:51 the sunlight that was streaming through the windows 06:54 nothing reached there. It... I had a table back there. 06:58 It was just dark and dreary. 06:59 So one day I was at Sam's and they had a floor model 07:03 of a little Tiffany lamp on sale for like 60% off 07:07 and I thought: "Ah-hah! " I bought this gorgeous thing! 07:10 Came home, plugged it in and it became 07:13 kind of the focal point of that room. 07:18 I left it on all day long. 07:21 It was gorgeous! 07:23 It was brilliant red and orange and purples 07:26 and blues and it was a firefly. 07:29 And it was just gorgeous. 07:31 So one morning I came down and I turned it on 07:33 and I walked in the other room. And I came back 07:36 and it was dark. And so I thought: "Well, I need to 07:40 change the light bulb. " So I went and got a light bulb 07:43 and change it and it was still dark. 07:46 And what I heard... The still small voice of the Lord 07:52 impressed this thought on my mind: 07:54 "What do you see? " 07:56 Well, you could see kind of the leaded outline 07:58 of this firefly but it was colorless. 08:04 There was no real... anything joyful about it. 08:08 It was not pretty. 08:10 And so I bent over and checked. 08:14 You know, I kept trying to turn it on. 08:15 I bent over and checked: it wasn't plugged in. 08:19 So I plugged it in, and as I'm coming back up 08:24 the Lord said once again: 08:27 "Now what do you see? " 08:29 Well I could see what the creator had in mind 08:35 when he designed this beautiful thing. 08:38 It was vibrant and full of life and colorful. 08:43 And I want you to know 08:46 that you need to see yourself 08:51 as the Creator designed you to be. 08:56 A lot of us look in the mirror 08:58 and the way we talk about ourself... 09:01 You are not who you think you are. 09:04 You're not who anybody else said you are. 09:07 If you are in Christ, 09:09 you are who God says you are. Amen! 09:13 The title today... I tried to fool you. 09:17 I gave it a different title. 09:19 I'm resurrecting an old teaching. 09:22 In 1999 God taught me 09:27 to speak and to pray His Word over my life. 09:31 He totally changed my life. 09:33 In 2003 I did a program on 3ABN - 09:37 the first series I did - 09:39 called Exalting His Word. 09:41 Did anybody ever see that old series? Yeah. 09:44 And I wrote a companion book Exalting His Word: 09:47 life affirmations from Scripture. 09:49 And you know what? 3ABN sold it for several years 09:54 and Pacific Press published it. 09:57 And I used to read that book with frequency. 10:00 I haven't read it lately 10:03 until a few months ago. 10:05 Let me tell you what happens in my life. 10:09 When I quit plugging in to my power source... 10:18 I can be busy in ministry and get up in the morning, 10:21 I have my devotionals and I pray 10:23 and you're busy busy busy. 10:25 But at the end of the day I'm going like: "What's wrong 10:28 with me, Lord? I feel disconnected from You. " 10:32 See, what I have learned... And boy, I re-read this book 10:37 and I thought: "Lord, I wrote that book in seventeen days. " 10:40 There's no way I could write that book today in 17 days. 10:44 And it ministered to me so much 10:48 so today's title is: The Attitude of Affirming God. 10:54 It could have been called The Spirit of Faith. 10:58 It could have been called Plugging Into Your Power Source. 11:02 But we're calling it The Attitude of Affirming God. 11:04 Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we come in the name 11:07 of Jesus. Oh, how we praise You for the gift of Jesus 11:11 Christ and Your Holy Spirit and Your Word! 11:16 Oh Lord, we know we are what we are 11:20 by Your grace. We know, Lord, that 11:23 we need to get over this identity crisis. 11:28 We need to understand who we are in Christ Jesus. 11:34 I ask in the name of Jesus now 11:36 pour out Your Holy Spirit here on me, 11:41 on everyone who is listening in this audience 11:44 or by television or radio or Internet. 11:47 Father, I ask in the name of Jesus 11:50 send Your Spirit to be our teacher 11:54 and give us, Lord, that motivation 11:59 to practice Your Word. In Jesus' name, Amen. 12:05 Amen! Love, forgiveness, 12:11 deliverance, salvation. 12:16 Provision, peace, rest. 12:21 Joy. Do you want these qualities in your life? 12:26 Amen! These are covenant promises. 12:30 And if there's anything that I can tell you 12:32 our God is a covenant-keeping God. 12:36 Amen! You know, when Solomon was dedicating the temple 12:40 and in his prayer he said to the Lord: 12:43 "You have spoken it with Your mouth and fulfilled it 12:47 with Your hand. " And then he said to the people: 12:49 "Not one of God's good promises to Moses has failed. " 12:55 Not one word of God's good promises has failed. 13:00 II Corinthians 1:20 13:03 tells us that "all of God's promises 13:07 are ours 'Yes' and 'Amen' in Christ Jesus. " 13:11 You see, He is the surety of the covenant. 13:17 Hebrews 7:22 says: 13:19 "He is the surety of the covenant. " 13:23 You know what that word surety means? 13:25 The guarantor. 13:27 Christ is the guarantor from God to us 13:32 that every one of God's promises 13:34 is going to be fulfilled in our life. But He is also 13:39 the guarantor from us to God 13:42 that He will work in us to will and to do His good pleasure 13:45 and that He will complete the good work He has begun. 13:48 So why are so many Christians discouraged? 13:53 Think about that. 13:55 Distractions and doubt. 13:59 Life's distractions are the devil's magnetic field 14:05 that draws away from spending time getting to know God 14:10 intimately and from knowing His promises. 14:14 And doubt... Oh, boy! 14:17 That is... You know... that's Satan's MO. 14:22 He wants us to doubt who we are in Christ Jesus. 14:27 He wants us to be... Remember in Numbers 13 14:33 when the 12 spies went into the Promised Land? 14:36 And Caleb and Joshua come back and "Yes, God said 14:40 we're more than conquerors. We can take it! " 14:43 But ten of the spies were like: "Ah! There's giants 14:47 in the land! Oh, we are but mere grasshoppers 14:51 in their eyes. " 14:54 And you know what? That's what the devil wants you to believe: 14:59 that you are nothing more than a grasshopper. 15:02 He wants us to not... He wants us to be like them. 15:08 They did not mix the message with faith. 15:12 They didn't mix God's promise with faith. 15:15 And guess what? They were shut out of the Promised Land 15:19 because of their lack of faith. 15:21 Is that amazing? 15:23 Why does the Bible say "without faith 15:27 it's impossible to please God? " 15:30 I think you find the answer in I John 5:10 that says 15:33 "Anyone who does not believe God's testimony 15:37 is regarding Him as a liar. " 15:42 So see, when you look at the promises of God 15:46 and you think: "Oh, yeah... maybe for somebody else" 15:50 "Maybe that's true for J.D. Quinn 15:54 but I don't know if it's true for me" 15:56 you are regarding God as a liar. 16:00 Oh, Lord... help us! 16:02 I want to read you Hebrews 11:1 from the Amplified 16:06 because I think it's beautiful. 16:07 It says: "Faith is the assurance... " the confirmation, 16:12 the title deed... "of the things we hope for. 16:15 Being the proof of things we do not see 16:19 and the conviction of their reality. " 16:24 Now they have this little state- ment in brackets afterwards. 16:28 Faith: perceiving as real fact 16:32 what is not revealed to the senses. 16:36 You have a title deed if you are in Christ 16:41 to every one of God's covenant promises. 16:44 Every single one of them. 16:47 But it is more than just saying: "Yeah, that's my title deed. 16:52 I know I'm entitled to that because after all 16:56 I'm a child of God. " 16:58 What God wants us to do 17:01 is to speak with the spirit of faith. 17:06 He wants us... You know II Corinthians 4:13... 17:09 I love this scripture! 17:11 Paul says: 17:14 "Since we have the same spirit of faith 17:18 as it is written... " Now he's going to quote from the Psalms: 17:21 'I believe therefore I spoke. ' " 17:25 And he says: "Since we have that same spirit of faith... " 17:30 What is the spirit of faith? 17:31 "I believed and therefore I spoke. " 17:36 He said: "We also believe and speak. " 17:41 What you say is so important! 17:46 We need to develop this attitude of affirming God. 17:53 And to affirm something means that you are making 17:56 a strong public statement of fact. 18:00 It means that you've got an absolute conviction 18:04 of its truth. And what God wants us to do 18:08 is not just to stake a claim on this promise. 18:12 He wants us to bring it into our life, 18:14 speak it over our life, return it to Him in prayer, 18:18 and let this be our testimony 18:22 because it is a declaration of faith that we agree 18:26 with God's testimony. 18:29 He loves that! 18:30 We're acknowledging His Word as truth 18:35 and we bring glory to Him when we do this. 18:38 We affirm His existence. 18:41 We affirm His character. 18:44 Now let me tell you something about your character. 18:47 Your character is revealed not only in your conduct 18:51 but in your conversation. 18:54 Words are important! 18:57 The Bible says there's "the power of life and death 19:00 in the tongue. " 19:02 Do you realize you can speak death into a situation? 19:07 A lot of you have heard of people 19:11 who grew up hearing: 19:14 "You're never going to amount to anything; 19:17 you're worthless. " 19:19 And they have this mental baggage 19:24 that they have to deal with 19:28 because somebody spoke death into their life. 19:31 Oh parents, grandparents... speak the Word of God 19:35 into your children's lives. 19:39 Our words matter in prayer, 19:41 in conversation, and in our self-talk. 19:46 I don't even want to tell you the self-talk I was having 19:49 before I came this morning. 19:51 Weird morning for me. 19:53 And then I realized: the devil just doesn't want me to be able 19:56 to get up here with any peace in my heart 19:58 and speak to you. You know? 20:01 So I like words. I like to look up words 20:05 in the Greek and in the Hebrew. 20:09 In the Greek there are two terms 20:12 that are both translated word in English. 20:16 One is logos. 20:19 Sometimes people pronounce it logos. 20:21 It's actually supposed to be logos. 20:23 But L O G O S. 20:25 It is used 330 times in the Bible. 20:29 But... So what does logos mean? 20:31 Word. Word! There's another one: 20:34 Rhema. And rhema is only used 70 times. 20:39 Guess what rhema means. 20:40 Word. What we want to do: let's look at the definition. 20:45 I prepared a slide for you. 20:47 Logos... what is the difference between logos and rhema? 20:51 Logos implies 20:54 the sum of God's revelation to humanity. 20:59 The vast unfolding of His reasoning. 21:02 The power of the mind of God. 21:05 Logos is the expression of His will and His purposes. 21:10 The entire Bible: this is the logos Word of God. 21:14 It is called "the Word of life" in the letter 21:18 to the Philippians. 21:19 Jesus is always called the Logos. 21:23 "In the beginning was the Logos, and the Logos 21:26 was with God and the Logos WAS God. " 21:30 So Jesus is the perfect revelation of the Father 21:35 to humanity. 21:37 That's logos. Let's now look at rhema. 21:40 Rhema implies a specific word 21:45 that is spoken by God with an applied purpose. 21:49 A word that has practical and immediate function. 21:54 A personal word of instruction from God 21:58 is delivered as a rhema word. 22:01 And let me give you an example. 22:02 In Luke 5:5 when Jesus was talking to Simon Peter 22:07 and He said: "Hey, go out here... 22:10 cast out your fishing nets. " 22:12 And Simon looks at Him and he says: 22:15 "Uh, well... actually we've been fishing all night 22:19 and we've caught nothing. 22:21 Nevertheless, at Your rhema 22:25 word I will let down the net. " 22:29 So in the Greek dictionaries 22:33 there's really very little distinction 22:36 between logos and rhema. 22:39 But I think... I found the scripture where Christ 22:44 used both terms in one sentence. 22:48 There's gotta be a distinction, right? 22:51 So I started looking up all these scriptures that were 22:55 rhema... the 70 scriptures. 22:57 And what I found is their usage within scripture 23:03 seems to indicate 23:06 that we can take any of the logos Word of God 23:10 and when we bring it in and personally apply it 23:14 it becomes rhema to us. 23:18 In James 1:21 James said 23:21 that the Word, when it's implanted in your heart, 23:25 has the power to save your soul. 23:29 It's the logos he's talking about. 23:31 You take the logos, you implant it in your heart, 23:34 let it get rooted, guess what happens. 23:37 It springs to life as rhema. 23:40 So what I wanted to do is quickly we're going to go 23:43 over 8 scriptures that talk about the rhema Word of God. 23:50 And I think you'll begin to see why rhema is so important. 23:54 Romans chapter 10. 23:57 Romans chapter 10, we'll begin with verse 8. 23:59 Rhema increases our faith. 24:05 The Bible says... 24:07 What does it say? We've got a slide for this. 24:36 Now let me tell you something: 24:38 confession is more than mental assent. 24:41 James tells us 24:42 "even the demons believe" 24:48 and what do they do? 24:49 They tremble. You see, when we confess with our mouth 24:55 this is to say that we have a deep personal conviction. 25:00 And we get that belief in our heart, 25:02 we submit our life to Jesus not just as Savior 25:07 but as our Lord and we repent and trust Him for salvation. 25:13 Now it goes on. In Romans 10 he says: 25:40 What's in your heart and in your mouth. 25:43 Why is that important? 25:45 I'll tell you why. 25:48 When we plant the word of faith... 25:51 When we've got the word of faith and he calls it "rhema word, " 25:56 when it's in your heart and in your mouth, 25:59 it prevents you from being double-minded 26:01 and making a double-minded confession. 26:04 When you hear your own voice speak God's promises 26:10 it is faith building. 26:14 It is... it creates that personal conviction. 26:20 It is a way that you plug in to God's purposes, 26:24 His plan, and His power. 26:28 And as you speak this over your life, 26:30 as you pray His promises back to Him, 26:33 He converts your heart. 26:35 I mean, it's just like you've plugged in 26:37 and all of a sudden His energy's coming into you 26:41 and His way of thinking becomes your way of thinking. 26:46 Confession validates God's testimony 26:51 and we're saying: "Lord, I exalt Your Word. " 26:55 Psalm 138 verse 2 26:58 says: "God exalts His name and His Word above everything. " 27:03 But He magnifies His Word even above His name. 27:10 I think that's an amazing thing. 27:13 So what rhema does for us 27:17 is it renews our mind. 27:19 Remember when Paul said in Romans 12:2 27:21 "Don't be conformed to the world. " 27:24 He said: "Don't be conformed to this system of beliefs 27:29 of the world... their corrupt behavior. " 27:31 "But be transformed by the renewing of your mind 27:35 so that you can prove what is the good and perfect 27:37 and acceptable will of God. " 27:40 You know how you do that? 27:42 You get in and let that Word become your testimony. 27:47 And He changes... Let me give you an example: 27:51 II Corinthians 5:17 27:54 says that "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. 27:59 The old is gone; the new has come. " 28:02 Right? OK. 28:04 Let's do this as an affirmation. Repeat after me: 28:07 I am a new creation in Christ. 28:10 I am a new creation in Christ. 28:13 The old is gone and the new has come. 28:15 The old is gone and the new has come. 28:18 How many of you are going: "Oh, who doesn't know 28:21 that the old rears its ugly head every now and then? " 28:26 You know, there's a mental resistance to that at first, 28:29 isn't there? Let me give you another one. 28:31 Repeat after me. 28:32 Well, first let me tell you the scripture. 28:34 In Romans 8:29 it says: 28:37 "For whom He foreknew, He predestined to be conformed 28:41 to the image of His Son. " 28:42 So repeat after me: 28:44 I am predestined by God 28:46 I am predestined by God 28:49 to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. 28:52 to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. 28:57 That ought to really do something to your heart. 29:02 See, there is sometimes a mental resistance 29:06 when we're first speaking His Word as an affirmation. 29:10 But we have to remember that Romans 4:17 says that 29:13 God is the God who gives life to the dead 29:15 and He calls things that are not as though 29:20 they already were. 29:23 See, what we're doing often when we're speaking this 29:27 is we're calling things that are not yet 29:32 perceived by us, but they're the truth to God. 29:38 And I'm going to tell you it's life changing. 29:43 because the Psalm says: "I believe, therefore I have spoken 29:49 and with the same spirit of faith 29:52 we believe and also speak. " 29:55 And you know what? Little Word; little faith. 30:02 How many of those "all" promises do you know? 30:07 Little Word; little faith. 30:10 Faith expects little when God's promises are unknown. 30:14 So let's look at the 2nd scrip- ture we're considering today 30:18 about the rhema word: Matthew 4:4. 30:21 Matthew 4:4. The word - the rhema word - 30:26 is our spiritual nutrition. 30:28 Jesus said: 30:41 The word that's in your heart and in your mouth, 30:43 the word that you're confessing... that! 30:45 Every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. 30:49 When you take the logos personally you make it rhema 30:54 The vitality of your Christian life depends on how many 30:57 promises of God you have digested. 31:00 Boy, I'll tell you: there's a lot... there's a lot 31:05 about God's Word being nutrition in the Scriptures. 31:09 Revelation 3:20 Jesus said: "Hey, I'm standing at the door. 31:13 I'm knocking, and if you will let Me come in - 31:17 Me... the Living Word - I'll dine with you. " 31:21 Amen! He wants us to be dining on this Word. 31:24 He told Ezekiel in chapter 2 verse 8: "You, son of man, 31:28 hear what I say to you. 31:29 Do not be rebellious like that rebellious house. 31:33 Open your mouth and eat what I give you. " 31:36 He wanted Ezekiel to open and eat the Word. 31:45 he said: "Your words were found, and I ate them 31:49 and they were to me the joy and the rejoicing 31:52 of my heart. " And bless little Job's heart. 31:55 You know what Job says? 31:57 He said: "I treasure the words of His mouth 32:01 more than my necessary food. " 32:03 Oh that we would develop that very same attitude. 32:07 Amen! And you can. 32:10 And I'll tell you what: make that a rhema affirmation. 32:13 "Oh Lord, I treasure the words of Your mouth 32:17 more than my necessary food. " And guess what will happen? 32:20 He will bring that into being. 32:24 Amen! Remember the parable 32:27 Jesus told about the sower and the seed? 32:31 We call it the parable of the seed. 32:33 It should be the parable of the soil. There's 4 different types 32:36 of soil. But in Luke 8:11 Jesus said 32:40 "the seed is the Word of God. " 32:44 Your spiritual nutrition has to be harvested. 32:50 If I plant corn here and I plant wheat here, 32:55 what am I going to get? 32:56 Corn. What am I going to get over here? Wheat. 32:59 Why? The potential of the harvest 33:04 is wrapped inside the seed. 33:08 All of your potential... the seed is the Word of God. 33:13 All of your potential is wrapped inside the seed. 33:17 Now the third scripture. The rhema Word of God 33:21 sustains and upholds us. 33:23 Hebrews 1:3. I'll read from the Amplified. 34:04 It's this word that you're confessing over your mouth 34:08 that you've got in your heart... It's this word that you're 34:10 taking as your spiritual nutrition. 34:13 THAT is how Jesus is going to sustain you and uphold you. 34:18 It's His mighty rhema word of power. 34:22 Let me give you an example: 34:23 Isaiah 26 verse 3 says: 34:27 "You will keep him in perfect peace 34:29 whose mind is stayed on You 34:31 because he trusts in You. " 34:33 One morning I was up, and I'm going: "Oh, Father, 34:36 I thank you that You keep me in perfect peace. " 34:38 "I thank you that You help me keep my eyes focused 34:41 on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of my faith. " 34:44 "I thank you, Lord, that I trust You. 34:46 I know everything that You do is for my eternal benefit. " 34:51 Guess what? A little later I get this phone call. 34:55 J.D.'s out of town. 34:56 It was an alarming phone call... bad news... 35:01 And here I am: "Oh, what are we going to do? " 35:05 I'm trying to get ahold of J.D. "What are we going to do? " 35:08 "I don't know what we're going to do. Oh, Lord, what are we 35:11 going to do? " All my peace flew out the window. 35:17 So all of a sudden the still small voice of the Lord 35:21 impresses this thought upon my mind: 35:23 "Where are your eyes focused? 35:27 On Me or on the problem? " 35:30 So I began to affirm His Word again 35:34 saying: "Father, I thank you 35:36 that You helped me to keep my mind focused on You 35:40 trusting in You. And You promise to give me perfect peace. 35:44 Thank you for that perfect peace. " Peace was restored. 35:49 And guess what? Within 24 hours God had worked out the problem. 35:53 So it's so important for us... 35:56 Hebrews chapter 6 says it's impossible for God to lie. 36:00 God cannot lie. We need to put our trust in Him. 36:04 We need to eagerly expect God to fulfill His promises. 36:10 Did you know that's what the word hope means in Greek? 36:15 Hope means eager expectation. 36:19 We need to let that hope - 36:22 Hebrews 6:19- be the anchor for our soul. 36:27 It will keep us on course 36:31 in the midst of a storm. 36:33 The writer of Hebrews says: "Let us hold fast 36:38 the confession of our hope without wavering 36:40 for He who promised is faithful. " 36:44 Now let's look at Ephesians 5:25-27. 36:51 The rhema word washes away the influence of the world. 37:25 That word that's in our heart that we're confessing, 37:28 that word that is our spiritual nutrition, 37:32 that's sustaining us and upholding us 37:36 that Word will wash away the influence of the world. 37:40 Our minds will be refreshed. 37:42 Our attitudes will be made new. 37:45 Many years ago when we lived in Dallas 37:49 when we first married, J.D.'s family farm 37:52 was a couple hundred miles away and we'd often go down 37:55 for the weekend. And you know, 37:58 I'm a new bride. I want to impress my mother-in-law. 38:01 I had this long, long hair. 38:06 Bushy hair... it's always bushy. 38:09 But we would go, and J.D. would stop at a certain place, 38:15 a certain truck stop to get fuel. 38:19 And sometimes it was necessary for me to run in 38:23 and use the necessary room. 38:25 So I'd run in there and they smoked in there. 38:30 And no matter how fast I dashed in and dashed out 38:33 we'd get in the car and we'd be on the way 38:35 to the farm and... inhaling... "Your hair smells like smoke. " 38:40 You know, we used to not know that second-hand smoke 38:43 was dangerous. We do now. 38:45 Second-hand sin is as well. 38:49 We walk in an environment of sin. 38:55 I'm telling you: this world is insane! 38:58 And what we don't realize is that even though 39:02 we may not be participating in this 39:05 what happens is it begins to permeate us 39:10 and it clings to us 39:12 and we've got to get into the Word 39:16 and let our attitudes be made fresh. 39:21 Psalm 119 the Psalmist says: 39:24 "How can a young man cleanse his ways? 39:26 By taking heed according to Your Word. " 39:29 And then he says: "Your Word I've hidden in my heart 39:31 that I might not sin against You. " 39:34 Let me tell you something - J.D. will confirm this: 39:40 Probably this year all of a sudden 39:44 80% of the phone calls that are coming in to our Pastoral Dept. 39:48 are about spiritual warfare. 39:51 Now first I want to tell you something: 39:54 Satan is not omnipresent. 39:57 Amen! OK? 39:59 There's some people... I mean it's interesting. 40:01 All these people are saying: 40:03 "Oh, Satan's doing this; Satan's doing that. " 40:05 You know? And you think: "Well how can he be in London 40:09 and be in New Zealand and be in Boston 40:12 and be in San Diego? " He can't be all places at one time. 40:18 He's not God. 40:19 He's not omnipresent but he does have 40:24 this unholy alliance of evil angels 40:27 that go out to do his bidding. 40:30 And II Corinthians chapter 4... 40:36 excuse me... chapter 10 verses 4 and 5 40:38 lets us know that this war 40:43 is to control your minds. 40:46 That's where the battleground is. 40:50 And he says in this that we've gotta cast down 40:56 arguments. Talks about the strongholds. 40:59 We've got to cast down arguments... 41:02 these main arguments... everything that sets itself up 41:06 against the knowledge of God. 41:08 We've gotta cast it down. 41:11 And I guarantee you our weapons 41:15 are not carnal but they are mighty! 41:19 So let's look at Ephesians 6:17 41:22 because the rhema word 41:27 is the sword of the Spirit. 41:30 Look at this: Ephesians 6:17. 41:42 It is... Let me just do this: 41:46 I used to think this was the sword of the Spirit. 41:50 No... this is the sheath that holds the sword. 41:55 The sword of the Spirit is that word that is in your heart 41:59 and in your mouth. The sword of the Spirit is that 42:02 word that you are letting use your nutrition. 42:06 I mean, be your spiritual nutrition that is sustaining 42:09 and upholding you that you are confessing and praying. 42:12 So do you remember the story of Zorro? 42:17 If you're old enough? I think they've revived it. 42:19 Even maybe some of you younger folk know that. 42:22 But Zorro was this dashing vigilante 42:25 and he was always going around rescuing people. 42:28 And what would he do as he was leaving the scene? 42:34 He would take out his sword and with three bold swipes... 42:39 whish - whish - whish... he'd make a Z for his mark 42:44 so they knew he'd been there. 42:46 You know, when the devil tempted Jesus... 42:51 In the 40 days in the wilderness when the devil came to Jesus 42:56 first of all I want you to notice Satan used scripture. 43:01 But he used it out of context. 43:04 See, we have to know scripture to understand scripture. 43:08 You can't just pull up one proof text 43:11 and think that that's going to support the teaching. 43:14 It's scripture upon scripture. 43:18 But how did Jesus answer all three temptations? 43:24 He pulled out the sword of the Spirit 43:26 and He said: "whish, whish, whish: 'It is written! ' " 43:29 Three bold swipes: "IT IS WRITTEN! " 43:34 Amen! And this is what we've got to learn to do. 43:39 We can either be spiritual Zorros or spiritual Zeroes. 43:46 See, when the devil comes against us 43:51 with guilt and condemnation 43:54 we need to pull out our sword and say: "It is written! " 43:59 "I'm a new creation in Christ Jesus. " 44:02 "The old is gone; the new has come. " 44:04 "God is working in me to will and to do His good pleasure 44:08 and He will complete the good work He's begun in me. " 44:11 That's II Corinthians 5:17, Philippians 2:13, 44:15 and Philippians 1:6. 44:17 And when the devil comes against us 44:19 we pull it out and say: "It is written! " 44:22 "I am dead to sin but alive to God. 44:25 I'm under the power of His grace. 44:27 Sin shall not be my master; I have put on Christ. 44:30 I'll make no provision for the flesh. 44:33 God has given me the victory through Christ Jesus! " 44:38 That's Romans 6:11, 6:14, 13:14, 44:42 and I Corinthians 15:57. 44:45 The Word of God is alive 44:50 and active, and scripture says 44:52 "It is sharper than any two-edged sword. " 44:56 In the Greek the word for two-edged is distomos. 45:00 And you know what it literally means? 45:02 Double-mouthed. 45:04 Like a double-mouthed river. 45:07 The first edge struck when God speaks it 45:12 but the second edge strikes when you speak it. 45:16 Psalm 129:4 says: 45:18 "The Lord is righteous. He will cut us free 45:21 from the cord of the wicked that binds us. " 45:23 But it's when we take up the sword of the Spirit 45:29 and as we return His Word to Him it does not return void. 45:34 Isaiah 55:11 God says "It will accomplish 45:37 every purpose for which He sent it. " 45:39 Jeremiah 1:12 He says: "I'm watching over My word 45:43 to perform it. " Habakkuk 2:3 45:45 He says: "Though it tarry, wait for it. 45:47 It will surely come at the appointed time. " 45:52 So it is so critical for us 45:56 to become Word warriors. 46:01 John 15:7... the next scripture we want to consider. 46:23 I'm going to say something. 46:25 I think it's very important you understand the 2,300 days 46:28 and the 70-week prophecy 46:30 and all of that. I do think that's important. 46:35 But I'm also going to tell you just 'cause you do doesn't mean 46:39 you have a relationship with the Lord. 46:43 You can have a lot of head knowledge 46:46 but if you don't have that... It is as you abide 46:49 in the rhema Word, as you let that Word 46:53 become real to you and you're putting it into practice, 46:57 that's how you abide in the vine. 47:00 The Living Word... You are bonded with the Living Word 47:04 as you are in His written Word. 47:08 His thoughts become your thoughts. 47:10 And you know why you can ask what you wish 47:14 and it'll be done for you? I John 5:14 says this: 47:17 "This is the confidence we have in Him: that if we ask 47:20 anything according to His will He hears us. " 47:25 And if we know that He hears us, 47:27 we know that we have the petitions we've asked of Him. 47:31 Prayer and the Word are inseparably linked together. 47:38 When you are praying the Word of God you know you're 47:42 praying the will of God. 47:44 And the power of either prayer or the Word 47:47 depends upon the presence of the other. 47:51 OK... here's one of my favorites. 47:55 Luke 1:37. 47:58 No rhema word is impossible of fulfillment. 48:03 Let me set this up. 48:06 The angel comes to this little virgin 48:12 teenager and he says to her "You're going to have 48:15 the Son of God. " 48:19 She's betrothed which means she's married. 48:23 The way it worked back in the day 48:28 in the Jewish marriage that first year 48:31 they had already signed a marriage contract. 48:33 They're married. 48:35 BUT the woman would stay in her village 48:38 and the women are teaching her how to cook and clean 48:41 and fold his underwear just right. 48:46 And the guy would go off and build a house... 48:51 build a room on his father's house. 48:55 And even the bridegroom didn't know 48:59 when he was going to get to go get his bride. 49:04 He had to wait for his father to say: "All right, the room is 49:08 ready. Go get your bride. " 49:10 So here is this little teenage girl 49:14 and I could preach on that but we don't have time. 49:17 Here is a little teenage girl who has this angel come to her 49:22 and say: "You're going to have the Son of God. " 49:25 "How could this be? I've not been with a man. " 49:28 And he says to her in Luke 1:37... 49:30 I have to read it from the Amplified 49:33 because there isn't another version that actually 49:37 captures the Greek. What the Greek says is: 49:39 "No rhema word of God is impossible of fulfillment. " 49:43 So here's Luke 1:37 in the Amplified: 49:57 You know what? Do you realize the risk 50:01 that Mary had to take? 50:04 Do you realize that if Joseph found out 50:10 that she was pregnant... First of all he could think 50:13 she's crazy if she said "Well, the Holy Spirit 50:18 put this baby in me. " 50:20 But if he had rejected her 50:25 she would probably never have been married... ever. 50:29 And she'd have an "illegitimate" child. 50:32 And if her father had kicked her out, which probably 50:36 would have happened... that's what happens in that culture, 50:39 you know what would have happened then? 50:41 She'd have either had to go to prostitution 50:44 or begging to support her child. 50:49 What faith this woman had! 50:53 Think about it. 50:55 You know, it would be easy to say: "Lord, I know 50:58 that the Messiah is supposed to be born, but 51:00 not from me... I'm too young. " 51:03 But what did she say? Luke 1:38 says: 51:06 "Mary said: 'Behold the maidservant of the Lord. 51:10 Let it be done to me 51:13 according to your rhema word. ' " 51:18 Whoo! And then she goes to see her cousin Elizabeth 51:23 when she walks in 51:27 and the baby, John the Baptist in Elizabeth's womb, 51:30 when the baby leaps and Elizabeth looks at Mary 51:34 and she says: "Blessed is she 51:37 who believed that there would be a fulfillment of the things 51:42 spoken to her by the Word of God. " 51:44 Amen! I want you to know that blessing. 51:50 Let me tell you something: 51:52 if Mary said "no, " her history would have changed. 51:56 God would have found another willing servant. 52:00 His purposes would not have been thwarted. 52:04 But God wants you to become "spiritually pregnant" 52:08 with expectancy, with hope. 52:11 He tells us in II Peter 1:3-4: 52:14 "His divine power has given to us all things 52:20 that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge 52:23 of Him who called us by His glory and virtue. 52:28 By which... " by this glory and virtue... "have been given to us 52:32 exceedingly great and precious promises 52:36 that through these you may become partakers 52:40 of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption 52:45 that is in the world through lust. " 52:47 Oh... wow! 52:50 See, right now if you don't know Christ 52:54 your spiritual DNA is the devil's nature acquired. 53:02 But when you are a new creation in Christ Jesus, 53:05 when you have been born again, 53:08 when you are coming to the promises and partaking of 53:11 them as your rhema, confessing them over your life, 53:15 praying them back to the Lord, 53:16 you have a new spiritual DNA: 53:21 the divine nature acquired. 53:24 Whoo! Hallelujah. Now, 53:26 here's the one I do not want to miss, 53:30 the 8th scripture: John 12:48. 53:34 Because this one shows us... this is Jesus speaking... 53:38 it uses both logos and rhema 53:43 in the same sentence. 53:46 And what it tells us is it is dangerous 53:49 to reject the rhema word. 54:02 "The word that you won't receive personally, 54:06 confessing it over your life, 54:08 letting it be your nutrition, 54:10 letting it sustain and uphold you, 54:12 letting it be the sword of your spirit, 54:14 the word that you don't put personal application 54:19 being not just a hearer but a doer of the word... " 54:24 He says: "Boy, the person who does not receive My rhema word 54:29 has that which judges him. " 54:31 "The logos word I have spoken 54:34 will judge him in the last day. " 54:38 Here's your judge. 54:41 Let me tell you: 54:43 our loving Savior wants us to receive all that He has for us. 54:48 Amen! Ah, He wants to equip us thoroughly 54:51 to do His will. He wants us to depend on His power, 54:56 to be made perfect in our weakness. 54:58 It's Almighty God who will work in you 55:01 to line up your desires with His desires. 55:05 To line up your will with His will. 55:08 It's the Creator of the universe who will work in you to 55:12 empower you to act. There is nothing to fear 55:16 as long as we depend on His power to walk in obedience. 55:21 But that being true we've gotta consider this: 55:24 our conduct, our conversation 55:28 reveals our attitude toward Christ and the Word of God. 55:33 If we refuse to receive His Word as rhema 55:38 we are, at that point that we don't apply it to our life, 55:43 at that point that we aren't actively involved with that word 55:48 we're setting ourselves up to be judged in the last day. 55:53 At the point we refuse the Word of God 55:58 and putting it into practice 56:01 we're at the same point refusing and rejecting 56:04 our Savior Jesus Christ. 56:06 I Thessalonians 4:7-8 says: 56:08 "God did not call us to be impure 56:11 but to live a holy life. Therefore, he who rejects 56:15 His instruction does not reject man but God 56:19 who gives you the Holy Spirit. " 56:22 Let me ask you: 56:24 Have you been rejecting the rhema word? 56:29 If you have, I know that, you know, we can 56:33 be in Bible study, devotions, prayer 56:36 but sometimes we're not plugged in. 56:40 And all we have to do... God will bring us 56:43 to godly sorrow and repentance: just confess our sin. 56:46 He will be faithful and just to forgive us of our sin 56:49 and cleanse us of all unrighteousness. 56:51 He's the God of new beginnings and He will complete the good 56:55 work He's begun in us. 56:56 But we've got to have that spirit of faith that says: 56:59 "I believe, therefore I have spoken. " 57:02 And affirmations call things that are not 57:05 as though they already existed. 57:06 It's a confession... a word of faith 57:09 that declares we agree with the wisdom of God. 57:12 And we are confirming His Word as our life source. 57:17 And guess what? It pleases God 57:22 because we are affirming Him 57:26 as our rightful owner, as our Father, 57:31 and as the Lord of all the earth. 57:35 Amen! Let's pray... |
Revised 2020-01-14