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In today's episode of Sound of Faith, Sharon Knott explores the powerful dynamics between faith and doubt, drawing lessons from the experiences of Zacharias and Mary. Through God's message brought by the angel Gabriel, Zacharias' initial skepticism teaches us the significance of unwavering belief when confronted with divine promises. Meanwhile, Mary's response exemplifies how faith can unlock miraculous possibilities. Join us as we delve into how past disappointments can layer our hearts with callouses of unbelief and how persevering prayer can remove these barriers, allowing us to fully embrace God's blessings. Discover how to nourish your spiritual journey, dismiss cynicism, and carry your promises to full fruition by revisiting these timeless biblical narratives.
SPEAKER 01 :
Greetings friends and new listeners and welcome to the Sound of Faith. I'm Sharon Knotts thanking you for joining us today because we know faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Today's message, Don't Make Your Angel Mad When God Answers Your Prayers. I know it's an odd title, but this Word of the Lord can help you to know if you're truly believing that your prayers will be answered or if past disappointments have calloused your heart with unbelief. And don't make your angel mad when God answers your prayers. Wow. Don't make your angel mad when God answers your prayer. He said, look, I'm not here on some little mission. I'm here on one of the greatest missions of the entire history of mankind. And what I came to bring you is a tidings of great joy. You should be jumping with joy. Amen. And I'm going to tell you, they are going to come to pass in spite of you. They're coming to pass. Amen. You want to know how this is going to happen. You want to know you want to sign. Well, you just got your sign. Amen. You just got your sign. So let's see what happened after that. Verse 22, And it came to pass that as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house. So apparently, this happened early in the week. And he had to finish his week out. Amen? And after those days, his wife Elizabeth conceived and hid herself five months, saying, Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days when he looked on me to take away my reproach among men. What a powerful thing. So he went home after his week of service was up. And when he got home, he had to get out some of those big yellow legal pads and carry them around with him everywhere. And he had to keep writing everything down and writing everything down. Elizabeth is saying, now, honey, I want you to tell me exactly what he looked like. I want to know every detail. Don't leave nothing out now. Zacharias, I want to know all about it. I want to know exactly what he said. Tell me what he said. And there he is sitting down there, writing it all down over and over and over again. Amen? And now the news is spreading and their relatives are coming. They're traveling and they're getting there and they say, what happened? Why can't you speak, Zacharias? What happened to you? Did you have a stroke? No. No. Shaking his head no. Well, what happened? Are you ill? Are you sick? What did the doctor say? No. Get the legal yellow pad out and write it down again. And write it down again. Do you see what's happening? Every time he writes down the angel's words, the word of God is like a scalpel that cuts away another layer of his unbelief and another layer of his doubt. That's what God's word will do for you if you get it out and you speak it and you write it down. He couldn't speak anything negative. He couldn't speak his doubt and unbelief. He just kept writing down what happened, what the angel said. He didn't have Microsoft. He didn't have WordPerfect. He didn't even have a Xerox machine. He had to keep writing it down and writing it down. I want to read to you. You don't have to turn there unless you want to. But there's a powerful verses in Habakkuk. Chapter 2 verses 2 and 3 says. And the Lord answered me and said. Write the vision. And make it plain upon tables. Of course they wouldn't have had paper like we have. Make it plain that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time. But at the end it shall speak and not lie. it, Terry. Wait for it. It will surely come to pass. And that's what God had Zacharias doing. He had him writing it down and writing it down. Your wife is going to have a baby. It's going to be a boy. You're going to name him John. He's going to be great. He's going to be a prophet. He's going to be the prophet that brings the Messiah into his ministry. He had to write it down. And I don't know if you've ever used that, but that is a great tool for myself. Especially when I'm trying to memorize scriptures that have to do with whatever I'm going through. And sometimes I get hung up and I get mixed up and I leave a phrase out and I reverse the order of the words. But when I write it down... Something about writing it down. It gets into my spirit. Amen. It gets into my spirit. That's why to this day I still have handwritten notes. For my messages. I do not do them on the computer. It's something about writing them down. Amen. That when I'm writing them down. It's like I'm writing them on the paper of my heart. The parchment of my spirit. It's inscribed in my spirit. And then I can say my tongue is the pen of a ready writer. I'm ready to declare and extol the majesty of my king. So every time he wrote it down, I believe another layer, another callous of hardness was removed from his heart. Amen. How many know you can get a callous on your heart? But he had nine months that he couldn't speak, and he had to just keep writing that down. You know how it is when you get a callus. If you go to the salon, and you might go there and get a pedicure, and you know that they have those things that get those calluses off, you're sitting there, you don't feel nothing. They're just rubbing away and rubbing away, and here you see all that dead skin, and you don't feel nothing. But all of a sudden... They start getting where it's live, live flesh there. Amen. They hit that spot. Oh, wait a minute. That hurts. I feel that. You know, you don't feel it when you're working on the calluses. You don't feel it when you're, when you're working on them, but boy, when you get them calluses off and you get to that living flesh, you feel it. Amen. And you see, sometimes you've been saved for so long. You've been saved for so many years and you've seen so many prayers that you felt like didn't get answered the way they should have been answered. And you've saw too many people that didn't get healed. And you saw too many people that didn't make it and you just feel all of that has disappointed you and let you down and it's put another callous on your heart and another layer of hardness on your heart and it hinders you when you pray so guess what happens you don't get the answer and when you don't get the answer because you didn't really believe you get another callous and it just perpetuates itself You got to get the calluses off. You have to say, I believe the word of God. Zachariah should have said, this is the most outlandish thing I've ever heard in my life. But I know what God did for Abraham and I know what he did for Sarah. And he's no respecter of persons. I know what he did for Isaac and Rebecca. I know what he did for Samson's parents. And if he could do it for them, he'll do it for me. Amen. I don't want to hear about people that died. I want to hear about people that lived, that got the victory, that overcame. Those of you who know my situation, someone sent me for my birthday three CDs that go back to 1989 of Joyce Meyer. 27 years ago. She had breast cancer and it just threw her a curve. Her ministry was just starting to really launch and become big. And she had surgery. But the question was, they told her her cancer was aggressive. Now, I don't know what it was. That's all I know she said on the CD. But she never had any treatment after. And she had to walk by faith that she was going to live and not die. And someone said, God is going to bring out of this something great. Your message, your audience is going to be greater because people will know that you've been through this. Now, that's been 27 years ago. Amen. And I want to hear those kind of testimonies. That's what you need to hear. You need to get in the word of God. And what does God's word say that God will do? Amen. And so you have to keep speaking the word of God. And God fixed him good. Gabriel fixed him good and zipped his lips. And he could not rain on her parade. Right. You see, when you're pregnant with a promise, and I think we can use that word, and you know what I'm saying. If you're pregnant with a promise, you've got to go the whole nine months. You don't want to abort early. You don't want to have a miscarriage. You don't want your promise to abort before it's fulfilled. Amen? Even in the natural, for someone who wants to have a child and then has a miscarriage, it's devastating. And even today with technology being what it is, a preemie is like, you know, it's come and go. You don't know from day to day whether or not they're going to pull through. Amen? And so you want to carry it the whole time. Before I had my first child, Scott, right before that I had a miscarriage. And then I got pregnant with him. And you know that doubt's always in your mind. You always have that there. And I remember the doctor said, okay, your due date is May the 8th. Guess what day he was born on? May the 8th. In other words, I went the whole nine months. I didn't have a miscarriage. I didn't have a preemie. It's like God was saying, okay, this one you're going to go the whole time. Right on the due date. Amen? And that's the way it is in the spirit. You've got to go the whole nine months. And I'm using that as a figure of speech, of course. Amen. So when his course was over, he went home. And we know that she conceived right away. And we know that those next nine months were the most joyful, happy, wonderful days of Elizabeth's whole entire life. Think about it. I can think of at least five good reasons. Number one, finally, she was pregnant. She had never been able to get pregnant before. It says she was barren. So now she's pregnant and she knows already they didn't have ultrasound back then, but she knew she was going to have a son. And not only that, according to the word of the Lord, he was going to be a prophet. I mean, hey, mama's going to have a baby boy. He's going to be a prophet. And not only a prophet, but the prophet. So that's four good reasons. And then number five, I'll throw this one in. Number five was for the whole nine months, her husband couldn't talk. So what does that mean? That means that all he could do was listen to her. For nine months, he couldn't interrupt her. And what did she do for nine months? He heard her going around the house singing songs, singing lullabies. Amen. Going around the house like a silly little schoolgirl giggling. I'm going to have a baby. Amen? For nine months he had to listen to her and he couldn't say a thing. And if you think that was enough, maybe to get on his nerves, Elizabeth's joys were about to be multiplied, and Zachariah's troubles about to be multiplied, because it won't be very long, they're going to get a house guest. And then he's not only going to have to put up with one pregnant woman, but he's going to have to put up with two pregnant women. Amen? Because somebody else is coming to the house. Let's look at verse 26. And in the six months, that means the six months of Elizabeth's pregnancy. We just read the verse before she was five months pregnant. Now she's six months pregnant. The angel Gabriel sent from God into a city of Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. Right. And the angel came in unto her and said, Hail thou that are highly favored. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, But they always say, Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favor with God. And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son and shalt call his name Jesus, Yeshua, the Lord's salvation. He shall be great. and shall be called the son of the highest, Elyona. And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Amen. So Gabriel gets two assignments in six months. I mean, God hasn't sent an angel for 400 years. It's been over 400 years since Malachi, the last prophet, had a word of the Lord. And now 400 years, they don't get any assignments, and he gets two in six months. And it's about having a baby. Now the first one just seemed over the top that an old man and an old woman were going to have a baby. But now the impossibilities are going up in magnitude. Because now he's sent to a virgin. And I taught on this last week about the virgin. How many remember from Isaiah 7.14? So now it's a virgin. You see, Zacharias, he was struggling with the idea that him and his wife could have a baby at their age. But at least they had two to tango. Right? And they had the right configuration. Male and female. Very important. When you want to have a baby, it's very important you get the right configuration. Male and female. That's how God made them and married them. Okay, I'm getting another message here. Now look about Mary. She's a virgin. She is engaged. She's espoused. She's betrothed. But they are not married yet. And they're certainly not at the point of consummation. Amen? And so she was afraid. That's normal. As we've already said, you react to that supernatural thing. But here where it says that she was troubled... It doesn't mean she was trouble in the sense of unbelief. It meant she was perplexed. She was confused. Amen? She was trying to figure out how this was going to be. Amen? Consider now, she is not a priest like Zacharias was. She's just a teenage girl. She hasn't been schooled in the word of God like he has been, serving before God in the temple at the altar. She's just a simple teenage girl. Amen? And so she cast in her mind, it means, or she considered, I wonder what he's talking about. What exactly does this mean? Amen? So let's look what she says to the angel. Verse 34, then said Mary unto the angel, how shall this be, seeing I know not a man? Now there is a huge difference between her question and the question of Zacharias. Zacharias had asked, how do I know this is really true? Give me a sign. But hers was different. How is this going to happen? I'm not married yet. You see, she could have assumed, well, it's going to happen after me and Joseph get married. She could have assumed that that would have been a natural assumption. After we get married, we're going to have this happen. But that's not what God meant at all. Amen. He was going to be the son of God because he told her he will be the son of El Yonah. She knew what El Yonah meant. The most high God. She got that much, amen? She understood Yeshua meant Jehovah's salvation. So she's saying, how is this going to be? We are not married yet. Now, as I said, Zacharias had three examples, Abraham and Zerah, Isaac and Rebekah, and Manoah and his wife. As far as I know the scriptures very well, and I could be wrong, but as far as I know, there was only one tiny scripture in all the Old Covenant that might have given Mary something to hold on to. Zechariah had plenty to hold on to, and he did not believe. All that she could have maybe had is what I preached on last week, Isaiah 714. Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a son, and you shall call his name Emmanuel, meaning God with us. Did she know that verse? She may have known that verse. And if she did know that verse, that would have been the only thing that she had to hold on to. Amen? But she wanted to know how was it going to happen. See, her faith was like Manoah's faith. Manoah didn't question that it would happen. He just wanted to know how we're supposed to raise the kid right. And obey your word. And she wants to know, how is this going to happen? You know, it had to be almost amazing for her to comprehend it. So the angel said, verse 35, and the angel said, The Holy Ghost shall come upon you. The power of the highest shall overshadow thee. Therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called... The son of God. You're going to have a baby. And he's going to be God's son. What do you think was going on in her mind? What was she imagining? What was she thinking? How did she think that this was going to come to pass? And he goes on to say, And behold, thy cousin Elizabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age. And this is the sixth month with her, who is called barren. Verse 37 says, he answered whatever thought she may have had in her mind but she had not spoken for with god nothing shall be impossible and mary said behold the handmaid of the lord be it unto me according to thy word and the angel departed from her so here is mary this young girl and she says asked simply how is this going to be i'm not married yet And he told her, something is going to happen to you that has never happened before and will never happen again. The Holy Ghost is going to come upon you, and you're going to conceive in your womb, and you're going to become pregnant, and you're going to become pregnant with the seed of God. This child is not going to have a human father. God himself shall be his father. This is going to answer that first prophecy in Genesis 3.15 that the seed of the woman would crush the hen. of the serpent. Amen. And here's this young girl getting this tremendous, phenomenal, fabulous, fantastic word of the Lord. And what does she say? Let it be unto me according to your word. I'm your handmaiden. Here I am. Use me. Do it, Lord. I'm ready. I surrender. I don't get it all, but I say yes, Lord. I believe the word of the Lord. Amen. Amen. And then she acted on it because the next verse tells us she got up with haste and left town and went to see Elizabeth. She believed the word of God. She thought, oh my goodness, my cousin Elizabeth, who was quite a bit older than her, is also pregnant. I can't wait, I can't wait to go and see her. Oh, this is just so wonderful. Amen. And she got there to Elizabeth's house and knocked on the door. And when they opened the door and she walked in and said, Elizabeth, as soon as Elizabeth heard the voice of Mary, the babe leaped up in her womb. Hallelujah. And she was filled with the Holy Ghost. Amen. And the Holy Ghost came on her and John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Ghost in his mother's womb. Hallelujah. That might be why Jesus said he was the greatest prophet ever was. I don't know. I have a lot of speculation about why Jesus said that, but that's one good reason there. He was filled with the Holy Ghost. And when the babe leaped in her womb, then Elizabeth began to speak the word of God. And I want you to see what Elizabeth said to her. Verse 42, And she, being Elizabeth, spake out with a loud voice and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For lo, as soon as the voice of your salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. And here's the key. Verse 45, And blessed is she that believed. Amen. For there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord. Because Mary believed. And when you believe, there will be a performance. When you believe the word of God, it shall come to pass. So write it down. And revisit it. And read it. And declare it. And speak it. And declare it. And as you do, you will see that in the delay, while you're waiting, your heart won't get calloused over with unbelief. You'll begin to believe and believe that when the word of the Lord comes, amen, you'll be like Mary. You will believe instantly. And you will say, behold, here's the handmaiden of the Lord. I'm all yours, Lord. I belong to you. I am sold out 100% to you. So whatever you want for my life, whatever you say, whatever is your will, I say yes, Lord. Amen? And Mary believed the word of the Lord. And now Zacharias is sitting over there in the corner. He's got two women running around the house, leaping for joy, singing, dancing. You know, they're doing the dance and they're doing the dance. He's sitting there thinking, I cannot believe this is happening to me. Amen. I can't believe this. Amen. And Mary stayed right up until the time she wasn't there for the birth. She went back home by that point. But she stayed there, and all that time, Zacharias could not speak a word. Can you imagine? He was thinking, when I finally get to talk, I'm going to say this and I'm going to say that. I got to remember to tell her this. I got to remember to tell her that. But you know, when the time came, he didn't do none of that. When that baby came, when Elizabeth went into labor and she had that boy and her family came there and said, what is his name? Now, normally the father would name the child in the Jewish custom. The father would name the child. And of course, he couldn't talk. So they said, what is his name? And Elizabeth said, why, his name is John. Because, see, that's what the angel Gabriel said. And they said, well, why are you naming him John? Nobody in your family is named John. Don't you want to name him after his daddy? Amen. Don't you want to name him after your uncle or your grandfather? Amen. And at that point. God loosed the tongue of Zacharias and he said, his name is John. And he took off prophesying. He took off prophesying about what God was going to do in Israel. Amen. And when God answers your prayer, you're going to leap for joy. You're going to sing. You're going to dance. You're going to declare the glory of the Lord. So you need to know that as we celebrate Christmas, it's a season of miracles. It's a time of miracles. And God is saying to some of you today, your prayer is heard. Your prayer is heard. God wants you to know your prayer is heard. He still had to wait nine months for the baby to come. Amen? And because God says your prayer is heard, I can't tell you the time that it will be for the manifestation. But if God says it's heard and it's done, if you don't cast away your faith, if you don't get an Ishmael in the middle of it all, If you don't go off on your own trying to help God and making a mess of things, God will do it. He said, though it tarry, wait for it, for it shall come to pass. Amen. Come on, stand on your feet here this morning. Amen. God wants you to know that there's a breakthrough anointing here. A breakthrough anointing is in this place. Amen? A breakthrough anointing. And if you have been struggling and there's a prayer that maybe you've just sort of stopped praying it because you think it's no point in praying that prayer anymore, let me preface what I'm about to say by this. Make sure that you are hearing the will of God. If we know that he hears us, we know that we have the thing that we have asked of him and desired of him. And we know that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. I mean, that's pretty simple instructions. So first, let's find out if it's his will. And if we know it's his will, we can pray and we can know that God hears us. And if he hears us, we know he's working on it. He's working on it. And sometimes he doesn't let you see that behind the scenes. He's orchestrating it until it's ready and it comes to pass. And when it comes to pass, it usually does happen suddenly all at one time. Amen. I hope you're being blessed by our message today. Don't make your angel mad when God answers your prayers. Have you ever thought how frustrating it must be for God when we doubt his word and constantly demand reassurances and affirmations? And imagine how his ministering angels must feel when Christians repeatedly fall into doubt and unbelief. Zacharias learned this when he was visited by Gabriel with the good news of the coming birth of his son John. But instead of rejoicing, he was skeptical and asked for a sign, saying, How do I know this is true? Well, he got his sign when Gabriel zipped his lips for the next nine months, and he couldn't speak his unbelief to Elizabeth, his wife, or anyone else. Then Gabriel visited Mary, a young virgin, with an even more impossible announcement of the birth of God's Son. But she received his message with simple faith and said, Let it be unto me according to thy word. I believe your spiritual perception can be greatly influenced by this study of Zachariah's stubborn unbelief versus Mary's exemplary faith. Don't let delays make you cynical. If you've been waiting a long time for answers to prayers, this message can instruct you how to rid your heart of unbelief and carry your promise to full term. Don't Make Your Angel Mad When God Answers Your Prayers is available on CD for a love gift to the radio ministry of $10 or more. Request offer SK133. Our mailing address is Sound of Faith, P.O. Box 1744, Baltimore, Maryland, 21203, or you may order online at soundoffaith.org, where you can order on MP3s. But to order by mail, send your minimum love gift of $10, request offer SK133, mail to P.O. Box 1744, Baltimore, Maryland, 21203. Until next time, this is Sharon Knott saying, Maranatha.
Join Sharon Knotts in an insightful exploration of the profound impact of whispers that the enemy plants in our minds. She discusses the role of fear as a crippling emotion first felt by mankind and how subtle differences in truth can lead to significant spiritual consequences. Gain wisdom on discerning between right and almost right, see how Satan's MO of stealing, killing, and destroying can be tackled with the faith in God's unwavering truth.
SPEAKER 01 :
Greetings, friends and new listeners, and welcome to The Sound of Faith. I'm Sharon Knotts, thanking you for joining us today because we know faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Today's message is a true eye-opener and ear-arrester, the whisperer. In Genesis and Revelation, Satan is called a serpent. The Hebrew word is nakash, and its verb form means to whisper like the hiss of a snake. From the moment he beguiled Eve in the garden, Satan has been whispering his cunning lies and accusations against God and his true people because he is the whisperer. He whispers fear. I think everyone is more powerful than the other. Now that I'm going along here, fear is so powerful. It can cripple people. It can cripple people till they can't even hardly function. It can cripple them till they cannot enjoy the blessings God has in their lives. They are so afraid of everything. And I'm not surprised because it was the first negative emotion that mankind ever felt when Adam and Eve sinned. You know, the story goes on to tell us. And then they went and hid and God came walking in the day and he said, where are you, Adam? And he said, well, I hid because I was afraid. I tell you, saints, I don't know how many times through the years that people have come to me and their prayer request is, A spirit of fear. And I can identify with it. I understand it because I was under it. I came under it very strongly. And I've told those testimonies before how I got delivered, so I won't do it today. But I understand how strong a spirit of fear is. I had it from a child. As a little child, I had it. And then as I grew up, I seemed to overcome it. And I didn't have it for many, many, many years. And then it hit me again hard when I had the back issue. So I understand the fear, the things that the devil says to you. Sometimes he'll tell you, you're going to die. You're going to die. And it can become so real to you that you start having symptoms in your body you never even had before. I know that that is true. I know it. So slander, whispers of slander. And this is blasphemy. And, you know, people always think that blasphemy can only be done against God. They always connect blasphemy against God. But you read the New Testament. You read Paul. He says you can blaspheme against other people. And a lot of times they are outright lies. And the thing about it is he is so clever and crafty, he has the ability to make it sound true. To make it seem so plausible, to make it seem true. We looked at Greek, so now we see the Hebrew word for subtle. It means to be shrewd, crafty, cunning, and sly. Again, the word here in the Hebrew, the idea is that it's hard to distinguish between two things. The difference is so subtle that it's hard to differentiate between the two of them. The distinction between them is not obvious immediately. A subtle difference. And, you know, it happens a lot of times in a good way. You know, you're going to paint your bedroom a new color. Okay, we're going to make it a blue bedroom now. And so now you have bought your bedding, and so now you've got to go to the store and get paint, and you want to make sure that it blends. So you're pretty sure you know what color you want, or vice versa. You've already painted the room. Now you're going to go look for bedding, whichever way. And you go into the paint store and you think, okay, we're going to get a light blue. There are 4,235,000 swatches of light blue. And you're like, this is just blue. Put it next to your bedding and they clash. One after another. One after another. You know, you think that it is the same color. But when you get them next to each other, there's a subtle difference. Amen. It's that subtle difference. See, sometimes, saints, it's not a matter of discerning between right and wrong. That's not subtle. It's discerning between right and almost right. Amen. That's where the devil gets in and whispers in your ear. Amen. He uses words of reasoning to camouflage his true intent. So what is the nature of HaSatan? Jesus said in John 10, 10, the thief personifying Satan is come, but, and that means the only thing he's come for to kill and to steal and to destroy. That is his MO. That is his agenda. And everything he does is to the fulfillment of those things. Amen. That's what he's come to do, to steal, to kill and to destroy. And I want you to know that you might say, well, kill and destroy. If you're dead, you can't be destroyed. Here's what you've got to understand. The word destroy there means to ruin. ruin see kill means what it means he would like to actually kill you but if he can't kill you if he can't take you out then he wants to ruin your life he wants to ruin your life with bondage and lies and fear and torment amen That's his nature. And as I've told you before, the word Satan, Satan in Hebrew, if we look at its root, remembering the original Hebrew language was written in word pictures that later became letters. And when we look at the three consonants in the word Satan, because they did not write vowels in ancient Hebrew. So we would spell it S-T-N. So when we look at the Hebrew letter S, it's shin. It's a picture of teeth or fire. Either way, it means to devour. When we look at the word T, it's tet in Hebrew, and it's a picture of a snake. And it means a snake. And when we look at the word en, it's nun in Hebrew. It's a picture of a fish swimming in water. Not just a fish, but swimming in water. And it means life. Put the three together. Satan is a snake that comes to devour life. That is the hidden layer in the name of Satan in the Hebrew. Amen? And so he comes often in whispers. And I correlate Satan's whispers to what I call white noise. Now, our ears are bombarded all day long, everywhere we go, with sound. Everywhere. Sound, sound, sound. If it's not the TV, it's the radio. If it's not that, it's machines that are running. If it's not that, it's traffic that you can hear in your home as well as if you're in your car. It's kids making noise. Everywhere we go, it's... Noise. And I dare say that a majority of people have the habit of having their TV on even when they're not watching it. It's in the background. They can be doing something completely different, but they put the TV on and they're not even paying attention to it, but it's on. And they're accustomed to noise at all times. Amen? And so we're bombarded with all of this noise. But I tell you, if at night... When everyone is asleep and you turn off the TV, you don't go to bed with the TV on and you turn off the radio or whatever else and completely silent. And you happen to live on a street where there's not traffic out there and everything is completely silent and you're laying there. I tell you, you will hear a low level of A very low level of some kind of buzz in your ear. How many have ever done that? And you know what I'm talking about? Because we're so used to sound. We're so used to be bombarded with it that when we're totally, completely quiet. And hopefully if you're married, your mate doesn't snore. If your mate snores, you won't hear the white buzz. The little white noise. Amen. But you will hear that. It is like this low level of noise. And saints, that noise, that sound is not coming from external stimuli. From external noises. That sound is coming from inside your own head. How many know what I'm talking about? It's not outside. There's not something on in your home or in your bedroom that's making this noise. It's coming from inside your own head. And you see, this is how the serpent whispers to your mind. Now, that is a physical illustration that I gave you. But can we connect it and go in the spirit and see that that's how Satan whispers to your mind? And he knows when to whisper. For you to hear him. And that's why we've got to learn to drown out the whispers with the word of God. We've got to cast them down with God's word. And for me, it means sometimes I've got to completely go to speaking out loud. I have to answer out loud. I might in my mind think of a verse or of a song or something. But you know what? I find out when I start singing. I don't hear those whispers anymore. When I start quoting the word of God, I don't hear them anymore because I'm resisting the devil and he has to flee from me. Amen? And I have learned not to wait. See, a while back before I learned all this, I would wait a while. And the thoughts kept coming. And I would just wait a while. And before I would finally, you know, because I was under a spirit of fear to a point. But I have learned now, I don't wait until he tells me two, three, four, five things. As soon as I hear the hiss. As soon as I hear it and my spiritual ears are sensitized to know that is not the voice of my shepherd. That is not the voice of my beloved. That's not the voice of my Holy Spirit. Immediately I begin to speak against it. Immediately I rebuke it. I block it before it can become a fiery dart to go from my mind to my heart, my spirit. Amen. That's what you have to do. You've got to take scripture and counteract it at the very first whisper. So many times when I pray for people, they'll say, Sister Sharon, the devil told me. And I mean, they got this long drawn out story about what the devil told them. And after a while, I have to stop them because they're going to affect my ability to pray for them. You know, tell me, give me the gist. Give me the gist. Don't tell me everything he said. Amen. Why are you repeating it? I know you're trying to explain to me, but I don't need to hear you give me that whole big long thing. I need you to just tell me the main points because I'm getting ready to rebuke the devil. I'm getting ready to command him to back off of you and leave you alone. And I don't need to hear whatever he said because whatever it is, it's a lie. It's a lie. It's a lie. And you know when you're telling me that it's a lie, you know it. So why are you letting the devil beat you up with it? Now I'm not fussing at you. I'm telling you what I know because I know what he did to me. And I know God gave me the victory and he's not a respecter of persons. He'll give it to you. So when it's just a notion, a suggestion that you know is wrong or you know that it's untrue, you cannot let that thing develop. I'm going to go one further. Let's suppose it's not a whisper. Let's suppose the devil's got bold enough to send somebody to you and tell you something about someone or something that immediately your spirit says, that's not right. That's not true. I don't believe that you need to tell that person right then you need to say, you know what? I don't think that's right. i don't believe that it doesn't witness with my spirit and i don't believe it and you better be careful what you're saying about that person because if it's a lie you may be touching god's anointed now if the person they're speaking of is a godly person a godly person then they need to be careful i mean if it's a hypocrite and everybody knows they're a hypocrite you know you just say well you know the bible says you'll know by their fruits So let's pray about them. But when they speak against someone that is a godly person that you have never had any reason to think anything about them, then you need to be careful because it's probably the slanderer. And if it's not and it's true, it will come out. It'll come out. They'll either get right with God. And if they get right with God, then that's the good thing. If they don't get right with God and persist in whatever this thing is, it's going to come out anyway. Be sure your sin will find you out. You know, it reminds me of when they'd already beaten Peter and John and threw him in prison. Amen. And they wanted to keep doing things to him. That's how they were. And then finally, Gamaliel stood up and said, you know, if this thing is not of God, it's going to all fall apart just like he named other things. But he said, if it be of God, you may find yourself fighting against God. See, he wasn't sure. He didn't know. And he was afraid that just in case they were wrong, they would be fighting against God. So we need to proclaim God's word over our mind. And here's the thing. You may have to repeat it and repeat it and repeat it. You may have to repeat it, but you keep doing it until you've drowned out that whisper. And you will. Eventually you will. But don't let the whispers accumulate. Because then they can become a stronghold. Let's go back to 2 Corinthians. And this time let's look at chapter 10. Looking at verse 4 and 5. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal or they're not of the flesh, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Now, here is what the Lord moved on my heart for myself, and it's helped me, and I will share it with you because I think it will help you. I like to reverse the order. In other words, I start with bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Because if you will capture something when it's a thought... When it's a whisper. If you will catch it when it's a thought and cast it down and bring it into the obedience of Christ, make it line up with the word of God. If it doesn't line up with the word of God, then immediately. You cast it down. If you do it when it's just a thought, it will not become an imagination. And that's a stronger because now it has become this thing of reasoning in your mind that now is actually hostile and fights against God and the knowledge of God. It's going up a step. And if you continue to have those imaginations, then they will begin to be one on upon another upon another. And then it becomes a stronghold. And a stronghold is like a fort that is surrounded with walls. So the enemy cannot get in. But in this sense, it's your mind and your mind now has these walls and the truth. cannot get in the enemy has built up walls around your mind he's so filled you with these thoughts and these imaginations and then imagination means fallacious reasoning fallacious reasoning oh you reason this to be true it's not it's false but you do so that allows you then to reason this and reason that and reason the other till it's built up this big thing amen And Satan has successfully put this wall around your mind until it's hard for truth to get in. Then what do you got to do? You got to pull it down. It's a lot easier to take one thought captive than to pull down the walls of a stronghold. I'm not saying it's not possible. Obviously it is, but it's harder and you will suffer much in the process. Amen. So that's how the Lord dealt with me and it really helped me and hopefully it will you. So we have been talking about don't listen to the whisperer. Learn how to resist him and rebuke him. Now I might step on more toes about this time because I'm going to say not only don't listen to the whisperer, don't become a whisperer. Because you know there are whisperers in the church. I'm going to prove to you. Let's look to Romans 1 29. Now in Romans 1, we have a whole catalog of deadly sins. But we're zoning in on our subject. So let's look at verse 29. Being filled with all unrighteousness. Now that's a very key description. Being filled with all unrighteousness. And here is the symptoms, the outgrowth, the fruit, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whisperers, whisperers. Now, several of the traits that we just read here are synonymous with words we've already looked at in connection with the serpent Satan. For instance, malicious and then envious and the murderers. These are all Satan's nature. Deceitful. Malignity here is the same word as craftiness that we've read in the other verses. It's the same word. But the last one is one of Satan's titles. The whisperer. So let's look at the Greek word for whisperer, whisperings and whisperer. What is the Greek word? I'm not even going to say it because it's a little tough. Not that you really care, but here's the meaning. This you do care about. A secret slanderer. Because the devil is a coward and he's like a snake in the grass. He does all his things. He tries to do secretly incognito. So you don't realize it's the devil. Amen. Slander to speak false charges, which defame and damage another's reputation to assassinate their character. That's what Satan does. revelations 12 10 names him one of his titles the accuser of the brethren amen accused means to charge someone with an offense to claim they have committed something wrong or bad and this is what satan's mo is he's always slandering someone slander is a direct connection to satan And I hate to say this to you, but he's got some saints in the church he can use to do his dirty work. I'm not saying just faith tabernacle. I'm saying the church. Amen. The body of Christ. You know, the Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 2 that there are vessels of honor and there are vessels of dishonor. And the enemy knows who he can use, that he can whisper to them, accuse godly people to them, and get them to do his work of starting to slander them. Amen? Back in 2 Corinthians 12 and looking at verse 20. For I fear, lest when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such as you would not. But here's the point. Lest when I come, there be debates, envians, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings. swellings, and tumults. So here we have that word again. I fear less when I come. This is what I'm going to find. I'm afraid when I come to see you again, Corinth. And I want you to know that this would be his third trip there. He's already been there twice. He's saying, I'm afraid, even though I've been there two times already, I'm afraid when I come back, this is what I'm going to find. Debates and envies, raps and stripes and backbiting, whispering, swellings and tumults. Saints, there was a lot of bad stuff going on in this church at Corinth. It's even all the more remarkable when you consider they are the ones to whom he wrote all about the gifts of the Spirit. But he also wrote to them the chapter on love.
SPEAKER 1 :
Amen. Amen.
SPEAKER 01 :
Amen. What a bondage breaking word of the Lord, the whisperer. One of Satan's most dangerous and effective tactics is not just to lie against God, but to subtly whisper his accusations like the hiss of a deadly serpent. He is called the serpent and the accuser of the brethren. He could also be called the whisperer. Paul wrote to the church of Corinth, I fear lest by any means as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, So your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. There are five significant Greek words in this verse that tell the story of Satan, the whisperer, and reveal how he whispers thoughts to the mind that accuse God and godly members of the body of Christ. If they are not taken captive when just a thought, a notion, or suggestion, they can become mental strongholds of deception. Whisperers can tear up a church with jealousy, slander, suspicion, and lies, maligning leadership and wounding members. Learn how to discern the whispers of the enemy and take captive every thought. Make sure not to allow the hedge of protection around your life to be broken down because Proverbs says, where the hedge is broken, the serpent bites. Order The Whisperer on CD for a love gift of $10 or more for the radio ministry. Request SK208. Mail to Sound of Faith, P.O. Box 1744, Baltimore, Maryland, 21203. Order online at soundoffaith.org, where MP3s are available. To order by mail, send your minimum love gift of $10 to P.O. Box 1744, Baltimore, Maryland, 21203. Request SK-208. Till next time, this is Sharon Knott saying, Maranatha.
In this engaging sermon, uncover the significance of mental honesty and simplicity in Christ as defenses against Satan's treacherous subtilties. Sharon breaks down the implications of being beguiled by crafty whispers and offers insights on maintaining a hedge of spiritual protection. This episode is a clarion call to recognize and dismantle the whispers that threaten to corrupt your faith and integrity.
SPEAKER 01 :
Greetings, friends and new listeners, and welcome to The Sound of Faith. I'm Sharon Knotts, thanking you for joining us today because we know faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Today's message is a true eye-opener and ear-arrester, the whisperer. In Genesis and Revelation, Satan is called a serpent. The Hebrew word is nakash, and its verb form means to whisper like the hiss of a snake. From the moment he beguiled Eve in the garden, Satan has been whispering his cunning lies and accusations against God and his true people because he is the whisperer. You know, we're in a season, especially this month of October. It's like a season of a dichotomy in that on one hand, it's the high holy days of the Jewish people. They're in their holiest season of all during the time they had Rosh Hashanah was just last week. And then now they're in the 10 days of all. and these 10 days are between rosh hashanah and yom kippur coming up during these 10 days they search their hearts and they really um you know go before god to see if there's something that's occurred in the last year that they need to get taken care of they need to ask god for forgiveness or go to people And then they have Yom Kippur, when we know is when the Day of Atonement, when the high priest offers up, where they don't do that anymore because they don't have a temple, they don't have a priest. And so it's because they missed the fact that Jesus is their lamb now. But nevertheless... They still have that service. And they'll be coming up on the Feast of Tabernacles, which is a time of joy and celebration. And that's the one feast that will continue to be celebrated even in the millennial reign. They will celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. So this is a really holy time for God's chosen people. But at the same time, it's a time of increased demonic activity. This month, as we go through and progress through this month, demonic activity will increase. Be a lot more demonic chatter. And Satan, he always tries to conflict with and counteract what God is doing. So it doesn't make us nervous or anything. It doesn't make us fearful, but it means we have to be on guard. Amen. On guard. And so if the Lord allows me throughout this month, I will try to be preaching messages to this effect to answer this increased demonic activity. You know, because I thought about it, an issue that had come up in my life, not me personally, but against me, I should say. And when I realized that at least the inception of it was during the same time of year and when the enemy begins his chatter. And we're going to kind of look at that today. So this morning, we're going to begin in 2 Corinthians 11th chapter and reading one verse, 2 Corinthians 11, 3. And Paul writing says, but I fear lest by any means as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety. So your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. But I fear lest by any means as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety. So your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. So we're going to look at five words in this verse that are very important. First, we look at the word serpent. Remember, we're in the New Testament, so we're going to look at the Greek idea. It meant a snake. literally a snake but metaphorically it meant someone that is sly cunning malicious a malicious enemy and being more specific it referred to satan so in the greek thought the serpent metaphorically referred to satan and so now this serpent is the same one that started in the garden In Eden, and he beguiled Eve. And the word beguiled means to seduce someone, to deceive them. And he did it with subtlety. And this word is often translated in your King James Bible as craftiness. It means to be very clever, but in a treacherous way. It is possible for at times for it to be used in a good sense. And someone who was subtle means it's someone who's very prudent and someone that has good ideas and wisdom. But most of the time you're going to see it used in the negative sense in your Bible. And it's talking about being clever, but in a treacherous way with false wisdom. And then the next word we want to look at is corrupted. He has corrupted. And this word means defiled or it can even mean to be destroyed. Destroyed. Something can be defiled but still operational. But if it's destroyed, then you can't even use it. So there is a subtle difference. Amen? And then last of all, simplicity. The simplicity that is in Christ. And this refers to mental honesty. To be free from hypocrisy. You know... people you like to say this word they pepper their language and dialogue all the time well to be honest blah blah blah blah blah a lot of times they're not being honest but they use it to make you think they're being honest how many know what i'm trying to say here but you see the simplicity in christ means i'm going to be honest with myself okay i'm going to be honest about being honest with myself Because sometimes people say they're being honest with themselves, but they're not. Because as soon as they hit that little thing that in their spirit, they back off or gloss over it, move on to something else. That's not being honest about being honest. It's when the Holy Spirit convicts you on something and you don't gloss over it, you face it. you own up to it, and then you say, Lord, forgive me of this and help me going forward. That's the simplicity that's in Christ. So we're talking here about the fact that Paul is concerned that just like Satan was able to beguile and deceive Eve through his subtlety, his clever craftiness, he is concerned that their minds... Their minds could be corrupted, that they could be defiled or even destroyed from the simple honesty that is in Christ. So we know that he's talking about Satan, the serpent. Let's turn to Genesis 3 and verse 1. Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, which is Eve. Yay. Has God said you shall not eat of every tree of the garden. So now we have the word serpent in the old Testament, which means we want to look at the Hebrew idea. The Hebrew word is Nakash Nakash. And it means simply a snake. That's the noun form. But when it's used in its verb form, it means to whisper. Literally, it means to hiss, to hiss like a snake, to hiss like a snake. And so we get the idea of whisper like a snake hisses. This word nakash evolved to refer to those who practice divination, to enchanters and spellcasters and fortune tellers. In fact, five times it's translated in your King James Version Bible, enchantment. And there is a connection to this word nakash, meaning snake or serpent, to the word whisperer. As this is how those who practiced definition and casting of spells spoke. They spoke in whispers, in secret, in darkness. And so the connection. You see, the snake hisses before it strikes. And if you hear that hiss, it's a warning. Amen. You're getting a warning that you need to watch it now because if you get too close, he's going to strike. He's going to bite you. Amen. So the snake will hiss. And in Hebrew thought, the snake is a symbol of a deceitful enemy. And again, the Hebrew thought matches that of the Greek thought, specifically Satan, or they would say Ha-Satan. Because we could actually give Satan the title, amongst many others that he has, we could call him the whisperer. The whisperer. Amen? You know, this is just popping in my mind, but we've heard about the dog whisperer and the horse whisperer, but that's all in a good sense. They can take animals that are hard to tame and hard to control. And there can be a certain person that just seems to have this gift and they can just talk to that dog and that dog will just immediately become obedient. And the same way with a horse who's wild and nobody can ride on him and they can't tame him. But the horse whisperer has a way. Can come up to that horse and just stroke its face and whisper something to it. And that horse will just become docile. So that's in a good sense. But when we speak of Satan and we call him the whisperer. He may come up and try to stroke your face and whisper in your ear. But he's coming to deceive you. He's coming to beguile. He's coming to corrupt. Amen? And we have to be on guard and not fall for it. He works in a subtle, crafty way, just like a snake hiding in the grass. And how many know that some very poisonous snakes that can be deadly often have these very detailed words. colorations on them they may have diamond shapes on them or certain stripes on them because it's camouflage for them to blend in with everything but if you see some of these snakes out in the open like the copperhead that can be deadly they have a certain stripe pattern with a color going through it and you know that this is a deadly snake I mean, it's not only going to bite you, but you're going to get very sick and maybe even die. Amen. And that's how Satan is. And he always begins with a whisper to the mind. Isn't that what Paul said? Your mind. The mind is the place where we've got to win the battle over thoughts that come from Satan. Amen. It's the mind where he attacks. It's the battlefield of the mind that we must get the victory over because if we don't, then he can defile our mind with thoughts of fear and other negative thoughts. Amen. And then they can just invade our whole person. So Satan begins with a whisper in one's mind. It may be an accusatory thought or statement like we just read here in Genesis 3.1. He said in an accusatory way, "'Yay, has God said?' As God said, you may not eat of every tree in the garden. And so the inference is, make God look harsh. Make God look stingy. Make God look like he doesn't really care about you. Like he's withholding something good from you when he tells you not to do this or not to do that. Make him look like a meanie. Amen. And that's out there today. That's what's spreading. If you don't only say that God is love, exclusively God is love, and that's all you say, you can't say that God is a God of justice. God is a God of truth. God is a God of judgment. Because then all of the sudden, has God said that? What kind of God is that? Amen? So he comes with that thought. And he usually doesn't come real bold and out loud right away because you're going to cast him down. But he comes with that whisper to your mind, a suggestion, a notion. And if you don't cast it down, he will speak a little louder and a little bolder and continue to lie to you. It could be that whisper of lust, that temptation. And he may whisper to you, you're not doing anything wrong. There's nothing wrong with what you're doing. Amen. But he's going to escalate it. It's going to go forward. If you don't cast it down, he's going to then come with the next step. Amen. It could be that whisper of anger. Look what they did to you. Look what they said about you. Amen. It's very hard to get rid of that anger in those initial stages when someone has done something terrible to you unjustly, lied about you unjustly. The anger is so powerful. It's palpable. And then Satan tries to come. You know, he is an opportunist. He tries to come and build on that. Amen. You've got to get rid of those whispers when they first come. And they can come in many ways depending on your situation or what you're going through. And there's so many things out there in the world that's bombarding us all the time. We cannot let our minds dwell on them or Satan, the opportunist, will come in and begin to whisper. Whisper things. You know, something can happen, one person against another person. And it can be for some reason that is very specific. But Satan will come and say, oh, they don't like you because you're white. Oh, they don't like you because you're black. Uh-huh. I ain't talking about just in the world. Right. Now, see, I'm talking about people in the church because Paul was writing to Corinth. He was writing to a church. Those whispers of racism. And don't tell me the devil doesn't bring them to you. I don't believe it. Because when he brings them to me, I know it's the devil. You know, they don't like you because you're a woman. They don't like you because you're a white woman. They don't like you because you're an old white woman. Yeah, I've heard them whispers. Amen. And, you know, at first I get really put off by it. I'm like, I know they don't like me. You know, they probably wish this and wish that. But after a while, I have to think to myself, well, wait a minute. I didn't volunteer to do this. God put me here. He enabled me. He endowed me. He anointed me. And I'm going to do it. And I'm going to speak the truth. And people that think those things, they got something in their heart and the devil's whispering and they're listening to him. You need to shut the devil down. Whenever he brings those racist thoughts to you. The world is so permeated with those thoughts. Every news thing that happens has got a slant to it. And they always bring racism into everything. It's the devil's work. We're not surprised. It's what he does. And he found out it works good. We can't let the devil whisper that to our minds. Amen. It was whispers of jealousy and envy. Amen. Oh, that is a powerful spirit, a powerful spirit. When someone comes under attack by those spirits, it's really strong and it can cause them to imagine all kinds of things that aren't even true. sometimes they can imagine things against their own mate and the devil's convinced them your mate is unfaithful and it is not a bread of truth in it but he can take little innocent actions and say see see there uh-huh and you think yeah that that that's right they are doing that uh-huh i tell you the devil what he does he's good at but we gotta be wiser This scripture just popped in my head. I don't even have it in my notes. Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. In other words, we need to have some Christian subtlety. We need to know how to counteract the devil at his own game. But we are wise as serpents. We're clever in a godly, righteous way. But we're harmless as doves. Because we've got the right attitude. We've got the Holy Spirit. Amen. He whispers fear. I think everyone is more powerful than the other. Now that I'm going along here, fear is so powerful. It can cripple people. It can cripple people till they can't even hardly function. It can cripple them till they cannot enjoy the blessings God has in their lives. They are so afraid of everything. And I'm not surprised because it was the first negative emotion that mankind ever felt. When Adam and Eve sinned, you know, the story goes on to tell us. And then they went and hid. And God came walking in the day and he said, where are you, Adam? And he said, well, I hid because I was afraid. I tell you, saints, I don't know how many times through the years that people have come to me and their prayer request is a spirit of fear. And I can identify with it. I understand it because I was under it. I came under it very strongly. And I've told those testimonies before how I got delivered, so I won't do it today. But I understand how strong a spirit of fear is. I had it from a child. As a little child, I had it. And then as I grew up, I seemed to overcome it. And I didn't have it for many, many, many years. and then it hit me again hard when i had the back issue so i understand the fear the things that the devil says to you sometimes he'll tell you you're going to die you're going to die and it can become so real to you that you start having symptoms in your body you never even had before i know that that is true i know it So slander, whispers of slander. And this is blasphemy. And, you know, people always think that blasphemy can only be done against God. They always connect blasphemy against God. But you read the New Testament. You read Paul. He says you can blaspheme against other people. And a lot of times they are outright lies. And the thing about it is he is so clever and crafty, he has the ability to make it sound true. To make it seem so plausible, to make it seem true. We looked at Greek, so now we see the Hebrew word for subtle. It means to be shrewd, crafty, cunning, and sly. Again, the word here in the Hebrew, the idea is that it's hard to distinguish between two things. The difference is so subtle that it's hard to differentiate between the two of them. The distinction between them is not obvious immediately. A subtle difference. And, you know, it happens a lot of times in a good way. You know, you're going to paint your bedroom a new color. Okay, we're going to make it a blue bedroom now. And so now you have bought your bedding, and so now you've got to go to the store and get paint, and you want to make sure that it blends. So you're pretty sure you know what color you want, or vice versa. You've already painted the room. Now you're going to go look for bedding, whichever way. And you go into the paint store and you think, okay, we're going to get a light blue. There are 4,235,000 swatches of light blue. And you're like, this is just blue. Put it next to your bedding and they clash. One after another. One after another. You know, you think that it is the same color. But when you get them next to each other, there's a subtle difference. Amen. It's that subtle difference. See, sometimes, saints, it's not a matter of discerning between right and wrong. That's not subtle. It's discerning between right and almost right. Amen. That's where the devil gets in and whispers in your ear. Amen. He uses words of reasoning to camouflage his true intent. Amen. What a bondage-breaking word of the Lord, the whisperer. One of Satan's most dangerous and effective tactics is not just to lie against God, but to subtly whisper his accusations like the hiss of a deadly serpent. He is called the serpent and the accuser of the brethren. He could also be called the whisperer. Paul wrote to the church of Corinth, I fear lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, So your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. There are five significant Greek words in this verse that tell the story of Satan, the whisperer, and reveal how he whispers thoughts to the mind that accuse God and godly members of the body of Christ. If they are not taken captive when just a thought, a notion or suggestion, they can become mental strongholds of deception. Whisperers can tear up a church. with jealousy, slander, suspicion, and lies, maligning leadership and wounding members. Learn how to discern the whispers of the enemy and take captive every thought. Make sure not to allow the hedge of protection around your life to be broken down because Proverbs says, where the hedge is broken, the serpent bites. Order The Whisperer on CD for a love gift of $10 or more for the radio ministry. Request SK-208. Mail to Sound of Faith, P.O. Box 1744, Baltimore, Maryland, 21203. Order online at soundoffaith.org where MP3s are available. To order by mail, send your minimum love gift of $10 to P.O. Box 1744, Baltimore, Maryland, 21203. Request SK208. Till next time, this is Sharon Knott saying, Maranatha.
Discover the transformative power of Shalom as Brother Hardy delves into the essence of peace from a biblical perspective. By exploring pivotal stories from scripture, he reveals how God's active presence guides and nurtures believers through life's challenges. Drawing from personal experiences and foundational teachings, this episode emphasizes the importance of letting God's peace rule in our hearts, empowering listeners to face trials with faith and courage.
SPEAKER 01 :
Greetings, friends and new listeners, and welcome to this program of the Archie Hardy Ministries. I'm Sharon Knotts, thanking you for tuning in today because we know faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Today's message by my father, Brother Hardy, is truly a beautiful word of comfort and encouragement. It is entitled simply, Peace, Shalom. What actually does the Bible terminology for peace, shalom in Hebrew, mean? It is more than just the absence of conflict or trouble. It is the wholeness of spirit, soul, and body, as we will hear in Peace Shalom.
SPEAKER 02 :
I'm not going to let my heart be troubled. The only way that I can be troubled is if I let it. You know, when we got saved, this is one of my sayings I coined over the years of almost 40 years preaching, that when I got saved, I got the let's. You see, when we got saved, we were no longer slaves anymore. When we were in the old economy, when we were in the reign of the devil, we were slaves. And some people stay so close to the line of demarcation, they still keep the mind and the demeanor of a slave. They still think it's a slave instead of a free man. A lot of times preachers would like to give the illustration of What it means to be free is that a man's in prison and the governor pardons him, and the door's open, but he don't want to go, he stays there. And the warden tells him, you're free! But he still stays in prison. And that's the way a lot of saints are. Jesus freed them, but they still stay in prison. The door's open, no authority left. no rule and no power can legally keep them but they stay there they don't know they have the lets so instead of letting himself be free they let themselves stay in bondage i refuse to be bound i've got that part of shalom which is yeshua i got salvation you see how many's got yeshua that's the hebrew word for jesus If the Old Testament, if the New Testament would have been written in the same Aramaic, instead of him being called as in English, Jesus the Christ, he would have been Yeshua the Mashiach. How many say amen? Instead of Yeshua Christus, he is Yeshua. He's my salvation. He's my savior. He's my deliverer. He's actively present, working for my well-being and my good. and I don't care what comes along my path if I love him he's actively present to work all things together for good Romans 8 28 one of my four foundational scriptures from the beginning of my salvation that I based my salvation on Jesus is the chief and only foundation of But I've built on him, Paul said, if any man build on, can no other foundation be laid? Only that which is laid, which is Christ Jesus the Lord. And if any man build thereupon, now I've built upon the foundation of Jesus. He's my righteousness. I'm saved because of Jesus and Jesus alone. Jesus plus nothing. Jesus alone. Plus nothing saved me. And I have based my eternal hopes and expectations of eternal life on the foundation of the sacrificial death of Christ, his shed blood on Calvary. And Paul said in that Romans, I have been made righteous by his blood. Three things that made us righteous. We have been made righteous by God's grace. The free gift of Christ. And then we have been made righteous by the shedding of the free gift of grace, Christ's blood. And then we have been made righteous by faith in that shed blood. Hallelujah. And that is my foundation for my eternal life and eternal expectations with a life with God in his house and in his kingdom forever and ever. And on that foundation, I have built my building with four pillars. And the one pillar is Romans 8, 28. And I know when I found out with Paul, Paul said, we knew. We know. He knew, and a whole lot have found out with him, and they know. And I know that all things work together for good to them that love God. How many is out there, and you love God? Well... All things, everything is working together for shalom as you love God. The condition is only that you love God. And the definition of loving God is, if you love me, you will keep my commandments. And if you will keep God's word, then all things are working together for good. Now a better translation is, God is at work in everything for good to them that love the Lord. Everything in your life. No matter what comes, God is going to work it in. And when he gets done, it's going to be good. I don't care if the devil sells you like Joseph down to Egypt. When God gets done, it's going to be good. If Joseph wouldn't have went to Egypt, you and I wouldn't be saved today because the family and the line that our Savior was to come through would have died in the famine. But Joseph realized that when he was in Egypt and his brothers come. And instead of being hateful, he had shalom. He had shalom in his life and he had shalom working for the well-being of his brothers. How many say amen? And when he revealed himself to his brethren, they were scared. Because they realized Joseph was in this powerful position and their lives were in his hands. Amen. And they were scared. They didn't know whether they had shalom or not or destruction. They didn't know whether it was going to be well with their being or were they going to be being destroyed. joseph revealed himself and said don't worry it was all in god's plan don't you know god sent me down ahead don't you know god sent me down ahead that i might preserve the family the nation and if you're a child of god the bible said the steps of a righteous man are ordered of the lord And if you're a righteous person and you love and obey God, no matter what comes your way, God's going to be at work. The presence, the dynamic presence of God, El Shaddai, is going to be present with you at work to work it for the good. Take it again. Israel was down in the lands of the Persians. And old Haman raised up. Got the king to sign a law to kill all the Jews. But God worked it all out to good. He caused the king to dislike his present wife. And he made him love Esther. And you know the story. Esther went into the king and said, I love you, king, and everything's wonderful, but you're going to kill me. And he said, kill you, why? Because I'm a Jew too. How many say amen? Never going to kill her uncle? Mordecai, she put herself in jeopardy. once she walked in the king's presence if he didn't extend his scepter that meant death nobody could come into king's presence when he sat on his throne unless he invited them or if they came in uninvited if he didn't extend the scepter of his kingdom it was death and she was in that place because haman was going to kill all the jews and her uncle mordecai said don't you stay back in safety go into that king and save the people or die with the people. How many say amen? In that great moment of trial and test, she stood in front of the king and God made the king love her and extend that scepter and spared the Jewish people. Then the devil raised up against her uncle because he stood for righteousness and was a child of God. everything is not going to go smoothly as a child of god just like when you get married don't you think your marriage is all going to be a honeymoon after you've been married for a while you're not going to see the stars but you might see stars how many say amen but you've got to commit yourself that you're both going to work together for the good of that marriage And God is committed that he's going to work together for good, for our shalom. And old Haman built the scaffold to hang Mordecai. But God troubled the king. And the king got up and told him, bring me the chronicles, the records of my kingdom. And in there he found out that Mordecai saved him from being killed. So he called Haman in. Oh, I like the irony. I like the humor of the Holy Ghost. Some people think God doesn't laugh, but I like his humor. How many say amen? Hallelujah. I'm talking about shalom. Do you have it today? Do you have shalom? Are you letting your heart be troubled? Are you letting it be afraid? are you believing God and knowing that God is actively at work for your well-being for your good and your salvation hallelujah I'm talking about Mordecai God will work all things Together for good. Or a better translation, God is at work in everything for good to them that love the Lord. I don't care what it is that comes across your path if you're a child of God. God might have not designed it. The devil might have been the instigator of it. But if you love God and the world being God, then God's going to be at work to turn it around and make it good. Like he took the son of Joseph down to Egypt for good to save the nation Israel. Like he took the lion's den to elevate Daniel. like he took the fiery furnace to elevate Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and destroy all of their enemies. Jesus said, I think this must needs come, but woe unto them that bring it. People, the devil's going to stir people up to get at you, but woe unto them. Whoa! Because they have touched the apple of God's eye and they don't know that God is actively present working for the good of his children. When you're getting a test, God is working it for your good. And when the enemy brings something against you, God's going to step in. The active presence of God's going to step in. And when he gets done, it's going to be a blessing. So after the king called for the records, the chronicles of his kingdom, and found out that Mordecai saved him, he called Haman. And oh, Haman's so full of self. And you know, when you get self, you're so blind, you don't see nobody but self. And the king said to Haman, what should I do for that person I really love and admire and want to do something good for him? And right away old Saul thought, he's talking about me. He said, I want you to put him on your mule. You know, the mule back in those days was the symbol of the king's power. Remember when David made Solomon king, when his other brother was trying to steal the kingdom? David said, get my mule and put Solomon on him, and lead him through the city and proclaim him king. How many say amen? And the king says, well, get my mule, and that person that I loved, and old Haman was ready to do it, says his Mordecai, and you put him on my mule and you lead him through the city and proclaim him, he's blessed to me. How many say amen? Honey, what God's for you, he'll make the enemy put you on God's mule of authority and lead you through his kingdom saying, this is the one that is in power. And in favor with the almighty God. Fear him. God's at work in everything. For our good if you love God. How many say amen? We are supposed to be ruled by peace. Not fear. Colossians 3.15 says, And let the peace of God rule in your heart, to which also you were called in one body, and be thankful. You were called to peace. Remember I'm talking about perfect well-being in every aspect of your life. Now here he's going to single out the aspect of peace. Let it rule. You're going to have to go to the Greek word again to see what that word rule means. And the Greek word here for rule, I guess the best word we would call it in the English would be referee. It was an arbitrator. It was the referee at the great Greek and Roman games. And he ruled. Who was a winner or who was a loser? Or who could compete and who couldn't compete? He was to be the referee. And whatever he said, his decision was final. And God said, let peace, perfect tranquility, settle on the throne of your life. And when the devil tries to bring or the world or man or sense knowledge or anything like I preached just recently that you perceive with your physical eyes and hear with your ears or smell with your smell or taste or touch. Don't let that reign your life and govern your life. But let peace sit on the throne and be the referee. And when your sight or sound or any of the sense knowledge tells you be fearful, be afraid, be on uncertainty and doubt, then ask peace for a ruling. You want a replay. How many say amen? Don't sit there and tell me you don't watch football. You ain't kidding me. Whenever the world and self and the devil tries to force their decision, then call for a replay and their peace will overrule it. Peace will not let it come in. Peace will not let it govern. You won't be shook up. Let the peace of God reign. You see, it's a command and you got the let's. I can either let the peace of God reign. See, just because somebody commands something doesn't mean I'll have to do it. I could command you to give me all your money right now. Does that mean you're going to do it? I would to God that was that way. I'd command all the devils to give the money to the gospel. Honey, when you get saved, you get the let's. One of them is let not your heart be troubled, let it be afraid. The negative and the positive, let the peace of God be the one that gives the final ruling. I am not going to let anything come into my soul to disturb its well-being. I'm going to let peace of God overrule it. And when bad feelings try to come, good feelings of peace takes over. How many say amen? Then peace is supposed to be our guard to keep us. How many say amen? Philippians 4 and 7th verse to the 9th verse it says, And the peace of God which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Key in here is through Christ Jesus, the active presence of the Lord working for our shalom, the well-being of our whole being is going to guard us. And this word in the Greek guard is like the word garrison of soldiers. Like Paul, remember he was in Damascus? And the governor of the city surrounded the city with a whole garrison of soldiers to take Paul captive. How many ever read that, Max? You ought to read it sometime. Bring a blessing to you. But Paul had shalom. He had the active presence of God in his life. And even though all those Roman soldiers were around him, garrisoned around him, to take him captive, God snuck him out, the secret passage, because he said with every temptation, every trial, every test, God will make a way of escape that you may bear it. So here's a picture. Jesus said a city set on a hill can't be hid, and we're one of his cities. How many say amen? And God has a garrison of soldiers all around us. Peter tells us who the soldiers are. He said, we are they that are kept garrisoned, guarded, the same word in the Greek. We are they that are garrisoned about by the power of God. God's got his power all around us. A few years back, one songwriter came out with a song, Jesus, the offense all around me. All around the child of God is the active presence of God in activity, working for their well-being. And in those days, the cities were made like forts. They were walled. They had gigantic gates, and at sunset, they would lock the gates. I think Nineveh, when they dug it out, the walls were so thick that they could raise six chariots on the top of them in a chariot race. Six chariots, in other words, a six-lane highway, that's how thick those walls were. You see, they didn't have bombers and bazookas, so what they would do was go into a walled city and make a thick wall, and they wouldn't be able to break the walls down and make these gigantic gates, and they wouldn't be able to break them down. And at night, they would close those gates. I guess maybe a better way to understand, instead of the Middle East, is the castles in England. How many say amen? The cities were castles, all walled up, had the big gates. And then there was a garrison of soldiers in there. And if anybody wanted to come in after sunset, They'd have to go through the eye of the needle. Now we can understand that saying where Jesus said that it's easier for a camel to go through an eye of a needle than for a man that trusts in riches to enter the kingdom of heaven. You've got to trust in God. Now to the English person, we would think this modern day, a little needle. that you can't even get a piece of thread in, especially after you get 50. And your arms get short. You know, when you get around 40, 42, your arms get short. Sure, when you read a paper, you got to do it like this. Or if you want to thread a needle, you do it like this. You get farsighted. Sure, when you get after 40 in the spirit, you've got a far sight. You're looking for heaven. You ain't no more looking on the earth. You're looking for that city. You're looking for the return of the Redeemer and the Savior. You're not looking at the earth. Because 40 means test. And after you went through your test in the Lord and passed your test, you're not governed by the senses. You're not looking at the things which are seen. You're governing your life on heavenly things and eternal things, not natural and right now things. That's the trouble with the natural man. He lives for right now. don't realize about the future where he'll spend eternity so at night they'd shut the gates and the soldiers would be all garrisoned there up on the walls and then they would have the soldier at the eye of the needle and the eye of the needle was a little opening If you ever go on a Holy Land trip, they'll show it to you. You'll see doors, and then in the door, down the bottom will be a little door. And in order for that camel to go through the eye of that needle, that little doorway, they had to take all the load off of him. And then he would have to get down on all fours, and they would have to push him through that opening. But on the other side was a soldier there with a sword. And if anything but a camel come through, he lost his head. I could preach and tell you if you're going to make it into that city of heaven. you're going to have to strip every weight. You're going to have to lay aside every weight and the sin that's so easy to set you. And you're going to have to get down on your knees and press your way in. And on the other side, it's going to be the emitting angel with the book of life. And if your name isn't on the roll, you're not going to get through. And we are to let peace... be at the gate of our inner man. And when anything tries to creep in that's contrary to our well-being, when anything tries to creep in, any thought, any insinuation, I don't know how many of God's people are oppressed and obsessed by the devil. You know what obsession is? Obsession is demon possession of the mind. When you're obsessed, the devil has possessed your mind and all you think about is that thing you're obsessed on. And a lot of God's children, they have failed to let peace be at the guard of the gate of their life. And they've let the devil come in with all of these fearful thoughts. And they're tormented. They're obsessed. Night and day he speaks it. Some of them he'll say, you got cancer. You got tuberculosis. Now the most fearful thing, you got AIDS. Or your husband don't love you anymore. Or nobody cares. An old obsessing melancholy spirit. Nobody cares for you. That's the biggest lie that was ever hatched out of hell. God so loved you he gave Jesus. Jesus so loved you. He left his home, his throne, his glory. Being rich, he became poor. He left everything, he became poor. Took on the same robe of flesh. Walk where we have to walk. And the whole time he lived on the earth, though he was a creator, he told that man that wanted to follow him, the foxes have holes, the birds of the air have nests, and the Son of Man has no place to lay his head. He had nothing legally that was his. He had to depend on people like Lazarus and Mary and Martha to take him in. When he died, he had to borrow a rich man's tomb. The only thing that he had was love for mankind, mercy for mankind, grace for mankind. salvation for mankind, healing for mankind, deliverance for mankind. All he had to give was shalom. And when he rose on that resurrection day, I won't say morning because he didn't rise in the morning. He rose in the evening about one second after 6 p.m. because that's when the Jewish day starts. Don't start like our 12 midnight. Their day starts at 6 p.m. is their new day. And Saturday at 6 p.m., the third day, Jesus rose up out of that tomb. all his disciples hiding behind closed doors their whole life disintegrated everything went up for them smoke everything they hoped in was gone because they thought that the act of presence of their lord and savior was gone he was dead and they were waiting for dark to slip out and run back to galilee like a dog in defeat with his tail between his legs but in that dark moment jesus the son of righteousness stood in the midst of his disciples and said shalom i am here i am actively present and my active presence is going to be with you for the well-being and the good of your whole man nothing between you and your god nothing no fear no apprehensions in your mind and in your soul healing for your body Victory for your life. I'll supply all of your needs. And they arose, and I'll tell you what. They went to the highways and the byways of Hedges with the shalom, the active presence of God working actively through them. And they peace, peace to wherever they went. Peace to wherever they went. Peace to the left. Peace to them that are near. Peace to them that are far off. Shalom, my brother. God says shalom, my sister. Let not your heart be troubled. I'm actively at work for your well-being. Oh, give him a good clap, all friends.
SPEAKER 01 :
Amen. What a truly uplifting word by God's servant, Brother Hardy. Peace. Shalom. The Hebrew meaning of shalom is much richer and deeper than our English piece conveys. It is a total well-being and wholeness of the whole person, spirit, soul, and body. God intends for his children to live by the promise and the principle of shalom. And Satan seeks to steal our peace, but we have been commanded to let the peace of God rule in our hearts and minds by Christ Jesus. And this term rule refers to an umpire or referee who makes the calls in a game. And we are called to let God's peace rule in our lives. God's kingdom is a kingdom of peace, and we serve the Lord of peace, who is the Prince of Peace. The principle of God's shalom is directly tied to our thought life. What we think upon will either create peace or fear, soundness of mind or trouble and turmoil. But God will keep in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on him. And Paul said we are to think on those things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, that are virtuous and praiseworthy. And the peace of God will keep and guard our hearts and minds. This message, Peace, Shalom, is one that every child of God needs to hear at some point or another in his life. Maybe that's you right now or someone you know. If so, you can order Peace, Shalom on Sidi for a love gift of $10 for the radio ministry. Request offer 183. Mail to Archie Hardy Ministries, P.O. Box 1744, Baltimore, Maryland, 21203. Or go online to ArchieHardy.org. Once again, to order the CD, Peace Shalom, request offer 183. Send a minimum love gift of $10 to P.O. Box 1744, Baltimore, Maryland, 21203. Until next time, this is Sharon Knott saying, Maranatha.
In a world where peace seems elusive, the words of Brother Hardy bring comforting assurance of God’s promise of peace — shalom. Discover how to access this ultimate peace through the teachings of Jesus and the transformative power of the Holy Ghost. We are reminded that God’s kingdom is a domain of righteousness, peace, and joy, transcending worldly challenges and fears.
SPEAKER 01 :
Greetings, friends and new listeners, and welcome to this program of the Archie Hardy Ministries. I'm Sharon Knotts, thanking you for tuning in today because we know faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Today's message by my father, Brother Hardy, is truly a beautiful word of comfort and encouragement. It is entitled simply, Peace, Shalom. What actually does the Bible terminology for peace, shalom in Hebrew, mean? It is more than just the absence of conflict or trouble. It is the wholeness of spirit, soul, and body, as we will hear in peace, shalom.
SPEAKER 02 :
I feel like David this morning when he said, I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord. How many can say amen? All right, I want to preach on the subject this morning, peace. Something that's fleeting in this world. The doctrine of peace. If you have your Bible, you want to read, I'm just going to read one verse in Romans 4, 17. Romans 4, 17. For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. What the kingdom of God is not, is not meat and drink. but it's righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. What Paul's talking about here, if you read the verses up ahead in the 14th and even in the 13th chapter of Romans, he's showing that the kingdom we're not in is not like the Old Testament kingdom, mainly in feast and holy days and convocations and in the letter, but our kingdom is a spiritual kingdom. Instead of having just cardinal ordinances and feast days that the old Jewish covenant had, we have righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. This is the condition of God's kingdom. When he saved us, he reached down into the devil's kingdom where we were, we're slaves, picked us up, translated us out of that kingdom, and then put us in the kingdom of his dear son. And the atmosphere and the condition of that kingdom is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. And that's the attitudes and the condition that you and I as a child of God should be living in. we shouldn't be afraid of anybody we shouldn't be full of fear and apprehensions because the only people in the kingdom of God that we're in is righteous people and I don't have to worry about them sneaking up on me and robbing me or murdering me because they're only righteous ones like David said in the 23rd Psalm only goodness and mercy follows me we're supposed to be living in this kingdom where there's only righteous ones nothing to fear therefore we ought to have the attitude of peace and joy in the Holy Ghost and nothing on the outside can take this righteousness that we have this peace that God has given us or the joy of the Holy Ghost no outside circumstances I believe before I go any further I need to give to you the definition of peace now the English word peace doesn't quite translate and give us the meaning of the Greek word Irene and we get our English word for the name Irene out of that or the Hebrew word Shalom and we look at peace as a negative meaning The English word peace gives us a negative understanding, and it means no hostilities, the absence of war. But that's not the biblical meaning of the word peace, irini or shalom. See, you could have absence of war and still not have peace. You take it in China, they're not having a war, but those people do not have Bible peace. They're oppressed people. said they're beat down they're oppressed that's not the meaning of the Bible word peace the Bible word peace means perfect well-being in body in soul in spirit perfect well-being in body free of sickness and disease to have healing and health in my soul freedom from inner conflict. You know, some people are at war with their self and tearing their self to pieces. You know, they're trying to serve God on one hand and the self and the world on the other hand, and they're torn to pieces. They're always in an inner conflict. But when you have God's shalom, you have God's peace, You don't have any inner conflict. You've got tranquility. All's at rest. In fact, like that songwriter sang, it is well with my soul. See, well-being. You're going to be well in your body, you're going to be well in your soul, and then you're going to be well in your spirit. Your spirit mind. You're not going to be tormented. See, Jesus said, let not your hearts be troubled, neither let it be afraid. When you've got God's shalom, you're not troubled. You're not afraid. You're not fearful. You're in harmony. How many say amen? And then peace also means perfect relationships. Perfect relationship with other men. In harmony with mankind. And also that you're working for their total well-being. also means perfect relationship with yourself like I said you're not in war with yourself and the third thing perfect relationship with God nothing between Paul said therefore being justified by faith we have what we have peace with God no condemnation no discord perfect fellowship with Almighty God and knowing that God is working for our perfect well-being he's working to bring about healing and health in our body healing and health in our soul healing and health in our mind healing and health in our pocketbook You know, synonyms of peace or good would be tov in the Hebrew. And another synonym for good is Yeshua in the Hebrew, which means salvation. See, when you got God's peace, everything's good. And remember the definition of good. There's none good but who? hallelujah when you got god's shalom when you got god's peace you're in a condition like god god's not afraid of anything god's not shook up about anything and god's not afraid of anyone he's in perfect harmony with himself and everything is in perfect well-being and that's what god is given to us you see when jesus went away Paul said in the second Corinthians and the eighth chapter, after he gave all of his goods, Paul said, don't you see the grace of God, brethren? That though he was rich, yet for our sake he became poor, that we through his poverty might become rich. See, that's perfect peace. That's perfect well-being. And when Jesus gave everything away and then came and put on the robe of flesh... and walk where we have to walk and experience the things that we have to experience to qualify to be our high priest then when he was getting ready to go back to the father by the way of the cross to finish his earthly ministry of being the perfect lamb and sacrifice to take away our sins and the thing that kept us from not having peace with God and peace with ourselves and peace with mankind. He said, I don't have nothing else to leave you. I've already became poor that you might become rich. He said, but I have one thing to leave you. And he said unto them, my peace I give unto you. Not as the world gives, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, and neither let it be afraid. Another definition of peace is the active presence for your good of God. God's active presence to work for your good. And Jesus said, I am going to be actively present with you, working for your good. i'm not going to leave you comfortless i'm not going to leave you bereaved of a parent like an orphan that's what the greek word we translated here comfort i'll not leave you comfortless i know the other times in john's gospel when he talks about the word comforter it's paracletus and it means The name for the Holy Ghost to come be our helper. But in this verse where he says, I will not leave you comfortless. He's saying, I'm not going to leave you by yourself alone. And the Greek word is orphanos. And we get our English word orphan. I'm not going to leave you as an orphan. What is an orphan? An orphan is someone that has lost the supplier of his need. I said an orphan is someone that has lost the supplier of his need. Who supplies the needs of the little children? Their moms and their dads. Amen? And an orphan is someone that's been deprived of their father and their mother and they have no one to supply their needs and they might wind up in an orphanage or in a foster home of someone that don't love them and in fact will mistreat them. But Jesus said church, and when he was speaking, he wasn't only speaking to that first century church, he's speaking to you and I. I'm going to go away. I have to leave. My earthly ministry is finished. But I am not going to leave you as an orphan. I am not going to leave you and cast you in an orphanage. I am not going to cast you in a foster home where not only they don't love you, but they'll mistreat you and abuse you. But all the other meaning of the word comfort. My active presence is going to be with you and it's going to be actively in operation to look about for all of your well-being. well-being in your soul nothing between you and your God justified by grace justified by peace justified by faith and that word justification means I'm going to bring you in a right standing with me I'm going to remove everything that causes you to be in a bad standing You're going to be in a right standing with me. And therefore, you're going to enjoy my fellowship, my love, my mercy, my grace. You're going to have the joy of the Holy Ghost. You're going to have shalom, if you please. What was the first thing? word that Jesus spoke after his resurrection if you go to the story about Martha she thought he was the gardener when he met his disciples that didn't know who he was and more specifically when they were all hiding behind the doors for fear of the Jew they didn't have Shalom They thought they lost the active presence of Jesus to do them good. And all of a sudden in their deepest and darkest moment, it couldn't have been any darker for the child of God that at that moment when they had locked the doors and they were hiding themselves, from the rulers of the Jews that had just crucified Jesus and were looking for them. It couldn't have been any darker. They were looking for a way to sneak out of Jerusalem back to Galilee to save their life. Everything that they built their hopes on for the last three and a half years crumbled, disintegrated, went up in smoke as it were. Their whole life was in the ruins at their feet. And they were full of dread, uncertainty, and fear. And Jesus appeared right in the midst of them and he said what? He said, Shalom. Because Jesus was a Jew. How many say amen? And he spoke Aramaic and Hebrew. And when he said Shalom, they knew what he meant. My active presence is here. working for your well-being, working for the well-being of your soul, working for the well-being of your body, working for the well-being of your mental state, working for the well-being of your financial state. How many say amen? And he showed him his hands, and he showed him his sides, and what did he do again? He again said, shalom. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. I am actively present with you, working for your total well-being. And if I'm for you, who and what can be against us? He said, my peace I give, not as the world give, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled. And he said, my sheep, no one will pluck out of my hand. And he not only said, and I give them eternal life and they shall never perish. But he also said, and I give them shalom. I give them perfect well-being. And no one, not anything, not anybody can take my shalom from them. you know how to give him a good clap over we're going to do it hallelujah we sing a song the world didn't give it to me and the world can't take it away that's what jesus meant my shalom i give unto you Not as the world. The world will give you shalom on one side, and then pick your pocket and take it away on the other side. Just when you think you got perfect well-being in the world, you got a good job, you got a good pension, you got a good hospitalization plan, and what happens? Just like we're seeing now. The company takes away your insurance plan, A lot of you, your pensions cut off, or corporate raiders have raided the corporation that you work under, and your pension's gone, and you have no shalom. Oh, but when Jesus and when God gives you shalom, there's no corporate raiders. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Nobody can take it away. Nobody but me can take my shalom with God. The only thing that's going to take my peace with God is sin, and I am not going to sin. I am not going to let sin reign in my mortal body. Therefore, the world can't take away my peace. Demons can't take away my peace. The devil can't take away my peace. Nothing can take away my peace. I don't care what happens on the outside. I've got the active presence of Jesus on the inside. And he's saying in me, greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world. Oh, give him a clap offering. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. I'm talking about shalom. I'm talking about peace, not just absence of war. A lot of people in America, we're not in a war, but a lot of people don't have peace. They do not have God's shalom. And sad to say, a lot of God's people do not have peace. They ought to have it because we have been translated out of the kingdom of darkness, translated into the kingdom of God's dear son Jesus, and his kingdom is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. But they are not obeying the command of the Lord. When the Lord said, let not your heart be troubled, and neither let it be afraid, he was not... asking or wishing you would do something. He was commanding. In the Greek grammar, that word means a command. Let not your heart be troubled. Neither let it be afraid. When we let our hearts get troubled and when we let our hearts be fearful, then we are doing a disservice to Jesus. And we're doing a disservice to God, the Father, and the Holy Ghost. Because you know what we are saying in effect? You're not able to solve my problems. You're not powerful enough to meet my needs. You don't have the ability to bring about my perfect well-being. Is there anything too hard for God? Is there anything God cannot do? Is there any enemy that can defeat God? Is there any burden he cannot lift? Are there any cares he cannot carry? Peter said, cast all care upon him for he careth for you. Whenever we are fearful and troubled about the things of life, we are not believing God. We're not leaning upon the everlasting arm of the presence of God to work for our well-being. We're saying our circumstance is greater than God. Our problem's greater than God. Our bills are greater than God. Our needs are greater than God. My sickness is greater than God. Is there anything greater than God? Is there anything that he cannot do? He has promised my peace I give unto you. He has promised my dynamic presence is with you and is in operation for your total well-being. And as long as you keep your faith in me, I will work to bring about your perfect well-being. Perfect well-being in your soul. That there is nothing between you and your Father. Perfect well-being amongst mankind. That there is going to be nothing between. You're going to have harmony and love, not hate anymore. If it's any hate, it's going to have to be on their part. But you're going to have perfect well-being towards all mankind and you're going to be working towards their well-being. He's going to be working for well-being for your physical mind's health and your body's health. That's what shalom is. Good. Everything that's good. James said every good gift And every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, in whom is no bearableness, nor shadow of changing. God is working for our good. I said the good God is working for our good. And if we keep our faith in the good God, everything is going to be good. Everything is going to be well. You're going to say, it is well. It is well in my mind. It is well. It is well in my body. It is well. It is well in my pocketbook. It is well. It is well in my soul. Because I'm going to have Yeshua. I'm going to have God's salvation. And he's going to deliver me out of all of my fears. And he's going to deliver me out of all of my bondages. and he's going to deliver me out of all of my sicknesses and he's going to deliver me out of all of my diseases and he's going to deliver me out of all of my dilemmas because he is actively present with me working for my well-being thank you jesus hallelujah i mean that's something to shout about You want to know what a perfect definition of peace is? Read the 23rd Psalm. That's the definition of peace. You want to know another perfect biblical definition of shalom? Read the 103rd Psalm. I preached on that a few weeks ago. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all. Instead of benefits, I'm going to put in there his shalom. who forgives all of my iniquities. He's actively present and forgives all of my sins as I repent and derive strength from Him to not sin. He heals me of all my diseases. He's actively present and because He lives, I shall live also. You want another definition of shalom? It's Isaiah, the 53rd chapter. Surely he has borne our griefs. Surely he has borne our sorrows. And I did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted, wounded for my transgression, perfect well-being for my soul. wounded for my transgression, bruised for my iniquity, the chastisement of my shalom, my peace is upon him, peace for my mind, peace for my body, peace for my soul, peace in my life, good for me, hey, salvation in every respect and aspect, of my life and I have nothing to fear the Lord is my helper whom shall I be afraid the Lord is my life and my salvation who shall I be afraid who shall I fear oh thank you Jesus I feel the active presence of God actively moving in his presence for me this morning I'm not gonna let my heart be troubled the only way that I can be troubled is if I let it you know when we got saved this is one of my sayings I coined over the years of almost 40 years preaching that when I got saved I got the lets you see when we got saved we were no longer slaves anymore When we were in the old economy, when we were in the reign of the devil, we were slaves. And some people stay so close to the line of demarcation, they still keep the mind and the demeanor of a slave. They still think it's a slave instead of a free man. A lot of times preachers would like to give the illustration of what it means to be free. that a man's in prison and the governor pardons him and the doors open but he don't want to go he stays there and the warden tells him you're free but he still stays in prison and that's the way a lot of saints are jesus freedom but they still stay in prison the doors open no authority no rule and no power can legally keep them but they stay there they don't know they had the less so instead of letting himself be free they let them stuff stay in bondage I refuse to be bound I've got that part of Shalom which is Yeshua I got salvation you see how many's got Yeshua that's the Hebrew word for Jesus the old testament if the new testament would have been written in the same aramaic instead of him being called as an english jesus the christ he would have been yeshua the mashiach how many say amen instead of yeshu christus he is yeshua he's my salvation he's my savior he's my deliverer he's actively present working for my well-being and my good And I don't care what comes along my path, if I love him, he's actively present to work all things together for good.
SPEAKER 01 :
Amen. What a truly uplifting word by God's servant, Brother Hardy. Peace. Shalom. The Hebrew meaning of shalom is much richer and deeper than our English piece conveys. It is a total well-being and wholeness of the whole person, spirit, soul, and body. God intends for his children to live by the promise and the principle of shalom. And Satan seeks to steal our peace. But we have been commanded to let the peace of God rule in our hearts and minds by Christ Jesus. And this term rule refers to an umpire or referee who makes the calls in a game. And we are called to let God's peace rule in our lives. God's kingdom is a kingdom of peace. And we serve the Lord of peace who is the Prince of peace. The principle of God's shalom is directly tied to our thought life. What we think upon will either create peace or fear, soundness of mind or trouble and turmoil. But God will keep in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on him. And Paul said we are to think on those things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, that are virtuous and praiseworthy. And the peace of God will keep and guard our hearts and minds. This message, Peace, Shalom, is one that every child of God needs to hear at some point or another in his life. Maybe that's you right now or someone you know. If so, you can order Peace, Shalom on Sidi for a love gift of $10 for the radio ministry. Request offer 183. Mail to Archie Hardy Ministries, P.O. Box 1744, Baltimore, Maryland, 21203. Or go online to ArchieHardy.org. Once again, to order the CD, Peace Shalom, request offer 183. Send a minimum love gift of $10 to P.O. Box 1744, Baltimore, Maryland, 21203. Until next time, this is Sharon Knott saying, Maranatha.
