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A collection of podcasts from our wonderful programs and hosts that specifically discuss Anger. How to navigate it when it happens, and what Jesus says about it. These messages are not meant to replace any psychological assistance you might need, however they might help you gain valuable perspective. If you're in need of prayer for your or someone else's anger, or any other needs, please reach out to us using the form below, or you can call us at 303.481.1800 and we will pray with you over your issue or need. We are in this life together and Jesus wants us to love one another. Let us help.
God created you for a close relationship with him. When you’re honest with God about your sin and ask for forgiveness, you’ll grow in intimacy with him. Join Pastor Rick as he explains why confession is an important part of our communication with God.
This is Pastor Rick Warren's Daily Hope. If you're new, we're so glad you found us. And if you're a daily, daily hoper, welcome back.
Today, we're going to continue with our series called 40 Days of Prayer. Such a great series because Rick is going to help you cultivate a powerful prayer life, so you can experience breakthroughs. Breakthroughs in your relationships, breakthroughs in finances, health, and really every area of your life.
So don't miss a day of this life-changing series. And now let's join Pastor Rick for the final part of a message called How to Pray Throughout Your Day.
Now you come, you should go back to work. Mid-afternoon, that's when you want to take a nap. And you're starting to get a little sluggish there.
You're not real bright. But by mid-afternoon, I don't know about you, you know, I'm in the people business. And so I'm dealing with people all the time, and I don't know if you notice this, some of them are kind of goofy.
Some of them are frustrating. Some people, don't look at them, some people are disappointing. Some people hurt you intentionally, and some unintentionally.
And I don't know about you, by the time I get to mid-afternoon, I've got a stack of bad attitudes. Because of the people that I've had to listen to or deal with. And so in the afternoon, I got some attitudes and some actions, and I've got some sins that have piled up by mid-afternoon.
And so, the fifth thing I do, write this down, I ask for forgiveness in the afternoon. I ask for forgiveness in the afternoon. And when I take a little prayer break in the afternoon, and I don't even tell people that I'm doing this.
sometimes I just get up from a meeting, go to the bathroom, and while I'm going to the bathroom, I talk to God. And in that point, in the afternoon, I just say, Lord, is there anything in my life I need to clean out? Is there any sin?
Search me, oh God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts. See if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.
God, is there something here that I need to just admit to you? I need to confess? I don't want to carry the garbage into the rest of the day.
Now, it doesn't take a long time. It's just like taking out the garbage. Taking out the garbage doesn't take a long time, but it keeps your house from stinking.
And if you don't take out the garbage in your soul every day, your soul starts stinking. Don't let sin stockpile in your life. In the first place, you can start carrying guilt, and that's dumb.
But now we come to the fifth statement in the Lord's Prayer, Matthew 6 verse 12. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. This is the kind of prayer.
I told you there are different kinds of prayer. We've had Thanksgiving or adoration, and we've had petition, okay? And we've had dedication.
Now we've got confession. And confession, what do I do? I just own up to my own wrong reactions.
I admit my sins. And while I'm at it, I forgive everybody else who's sinned against me. Because I certainly don't want to hold on to grudges.
They hurt you more than they hurt anybody else. You don't want to be carried around by resentment. Now listen, read your pastor's lips right now.
There is never any reason for you to walk around feeling guilty if you know the Lord. Some people actually think they're more spiritual by feeling guilty. I remember one time years ago, this lady who she come to Saddleback, and after every service, I'd be out on the patio, and she said, You know, Pastor Rick, today God just spoke to me.
And it was always something bad. Like, you're doing this wrong, you're doing that wrong, you're doing this wrong, you're doing that wrong. And she did this for like months.
And finally one day, I said, Mem, does God ever say anything nice to you? Because my God isn't always, you know, causing me to be focused on that stuff. He knows I'm going to see it.
But if you do this on a regular basis in the afternoon, you just kind of take out the garbage. That's forgive us our sins as we forgive those sins against us. Doctors say most people could leave the hospital today except for guilt and resentment.
Guilt over things I've done to hurt others. resentment over what other people have done to hurt me. And as a result, we regret the past, and we worry about the future, and we waste today, and we crucify ourselves on the cross of guilt and resentment.
You're not more spiritual feeling guilty. jesus died on the cross, so you don't have to carry guilt. And so every day, you need to take out the garbage.
It might be a good idea to do it in the afternoon. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Here's what I do, write this down.
I admit my sins, and I forgive others who frustrated me. There is no rational reason for carrying around guilt. Just confess it.
Should I ever feel guilty? Yeah, for about three seconds. That's about how long it takes to admit it and ask forgiveness.
And then it's cleaned up. Psalm 32 verse five, a great, great verse. I confess my sins to you, and I didn't try to hide them.
Then you forgave me, and now all of my guilt is gone. I remember driving down the street one day and I saw a sign on a service station, gas station, and it was talking about a certain kind of oil, and it said, a clean engine has more power. That's true of people too.
When you let sin stockpile in your life, and you have stuff there that you haven't confessed to God, it just clogs up the system. You're not running on all your cylinders. A clean engine has more power.
A clean soul has more resilience, and you need resilience in today's world. So, in the afternoon time, that break where it's 3 o'clock or whatever it is in the afternoon, you just take a little time and say, let's do some house cleaning. God, is there any sin, any attitude, any action?
I just need to admit, I'll admit it to you. Now, you're closing up your work, and you're heading home. And you get in your car, and you start to head home.
By the way, did you know, studies have shown this, 90% of all arguments in the world happen one hour before dinner. Two, three words, low blood sugar. Cranky, cranky, cranky.
And you're tired, and you're hungry, and you got a low blood sugar, and you come home, and everybody takes it out on each other. The husband yells at the wife, and the wife yells at the kids, and the kid kicks the dog. The dog chases the cat.
The cat bites the head off the Barbie doll. And there's a chain reaction going on. You need to just be aware that at the end of the day when you go home, that's a prime time for you to get an argument.
And knowing it is wise to ask for help. And so now we come to the sixth prayer time, and that's when you get home, and you just take a minute. You know, and I'll tell you what I used to do.
When my kids were growing up, you know, I listened to people's problems all day. I want to talk to people, and I carry them. And when I come home, I would pause at the door to our house, and I was going to go, I'm not taking these problems in the house and dumping them on my wife and kids.
I'm just not going to do it. And so what I did is I found an old milk can at some antique store, and I painted it blue, and I stuck it out there in front of the front door, and I called it my worry and problem can. And every day, when I'd come home, I would walk up and I'd go, Lord, you know all those problems?
Half of them aren't solved yet, but I'm not taking them inside. I'm going to dump them in this can right here, and tomorrow morning when I walk out, they'll still be there. But I'm not going to load them on my wife, and I'm not going to load them on my kids, because I don't want to do that.
The sixth thing you pray in this time of day, late afternoon, is you ask God to help me make wise decisions. Whether you've got kids at home or not anymore, or you're living with some friends, you need to ask God to help you make wise decisions, and by the way, to protect you from making dumb decisions too. And this is the sixth phrase of the Lord's Prayer.
And it goes like this. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. Now, I don't know about you.
You're probably different. But I don't know about you. My worst temptations actually come in the evening.
And they come from two very demonic sources. The television and the refrigerator.
There are the devil.
You know, I can stay on a diet till at least 6 p.m. But between 6 p.m. and midnight, oh, brother, when you're tired, your resources are low. You're gonna get in arguments, you're gonna say things, you're gonna hurt people unintentionally. And it's a good thing to pray before you go walk back in the home.
Lord, lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from evil. Some of you, the television is a big temptation. And I'm talking about you're watching stuff you shouldn't be watching.
Or maybe it's your computer, and you're watching some stuff on the computer you shouldn't be watching. Before you get home, Lord, lead me not into temptation. God has given us great promise.
Let's look up here on the screen, 1 Corinthians 10, 13. Remember that the temptations that come into your life are no different from what other people experience. Now, this is a good thing.
It says we all go through the same common temptations. Okay? You think you're special, you're not when it comes to temptation.
You have the exact same temptations everybody else does. You have the same temptations they've had for thousands of years, and jesus had them in the same way, the same root temptation. Now, the good news is if there are common temptations, it means there are common solutions.
And it says this. Remember, the temptations come in your life, they're no different from what others experience. We're all in the same boat.
So don't act so higher and mighty and holy, holy. We all have the same temptations. And God is faithful.
He will keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can't stand up against it. And when you're tempted, this is a great promise, you might memorize this. When you're tempted, he'll show you a way out so that you will not give into it.
Anybody who says, I can't help myself was lying because God's promised I'll always make a way out. But you gotta choose it. You gotta choose it.
But say, it was overpowering, I couldn't help myself. yes, you could. God says, I'll always make a way out for you.
Now, you need to understand two very important things about temptation. It's not a sin to be tempted. jesus was tempted.
It's a sin to give into temptation. In fact, a lot of people, when they get tempted, they go, ooh, I shouldn't even be tempted. Like, where did that thought come from?
I'll tell you where it came from. It came from the evil one. It came from the devil.
You can't, Martin Luther said, you can't keep the birds from flying over your head, but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair. So, you can't control every idea that's put into your mind. Some of it comes from stuff you saw at a movie theater 20 years ago, and Satan pulls it back out.
That's why you want to watch what you put in your mind. Everybody's worried about air pollution and water pollution. Are you worried about mind pollution?
Some people are so open-minded, their brains fall out. And they just allow anything, a tractor pull through their brain with all kinds of garbage. You should worry about mind pollution more than you worry about water pollution, because your brain affects your character.
But I'm saying, God says, I'll give you a way out. By the way, if you're watching stuff that's no good for you on the internet, you might want to memorize this verse up here on the screen. Psalm 1013.
I will refuse to look at anything vile and vulgar. Nowadays, that might mean the news.
So you have to worry. Worry about that. So ask God to help me wake up my decision.
Finally, we come to the end of the day. Now you're getting ready for Betty Bye, you're putting on your PJs. And here's the last thing you pray.
You prayed when you get up. Here's the last phrase in the Lord's Prayer. I end my day with an encouraging truth.
Write that down. I end my day. This is called a benediction.
A good word. You end your day with a good word. It's good to read scripture, promises, read some promises from God.
I end my day with an encouraging truth. And the Lord's Prayer ends with one of the most encouraging truths around. And it goes like this.
Matthew 6 13. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
Now, let me tell you what that means. If you'll think of that verse and you'll remember what it means, you can sleep a whole lot better. Because what that verse says is three incredibly encouraging truths.
Number one, God is in control. God is in control. The politicians aren't.
Other nations aren't. Your boss isn't. God is ultimately in control.
And the Bible says the heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord, and he can turn it with or so ever he wishes. It's just enough people pray. That's why the world changes when God's people pray.
He's waiting on us. sometimes we say, God, we're waiting on you to do something. God's saying, I'm waiting on you to pray.
This is a partnership. But when I pray, yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, amen. Good night, Lord.
I'm saying, God, number one, you're in control. Second, this is not the end of the story. And third, God and his family win in the end.
I've read the last chapter of the book. God wins. God wins.
And so that's when you're looking, if you go to bed and the last thing you watch is either news or late night TV talking about the news, you're gonna go to depressed. Cory Ten Boom said it, if you look at the world, you'll be distressed. If you look within, you'll be depressed.
If you look at Christ, you'll be at rest. It all depends on who you're looking at. Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
God, you're in control. This is not the end of the story. And we win in the end.
Good night, Lord. I'll see you in the morning. And when I wake up, it's gonna be get up with gratitude.
And then bless your name at breakfast. So I'm in the positive, and I'm gonna start positive. You'll sleep a whole lot better.
Now, I want to encourage you to not just listen to this, but to actually try this format of using the Lord's Prayer to mark out six, seven times during the day. I'm not talking about 20 minutes a day. I'm just talking about a minute here, a minute here, five minutes here, whatever.
What you've got time for. God just wants to, he just wants to hear from you. Now, I know what you're thinking.
Rick, you don't know how busy I am. You're busier than me. I would love to compare schedules.
Martin Luther once said, I have so much to do today, I must pray three hours. Because I can't get it all done if I don't go pray. When you pray, God helps you.
Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these other things will be added into you. God can do more in a few minutes less if you use some of that in prayer. And if you say, with your excuse, I don't have the time to pause and pray, then you're too busy.
And you can explain that to God when you get to heaven one day, why you were too busy to talk to him. Let me give you a promise. You need to write this down, Proverbs 10, 27, on the screen.
I love it in the living Bible. Well, the living Bible says, reverence for God adds hours to each day. Hello.
Do you need more time? Reverence for God adds hours to each day. It's kind of like tithing.
God can make 90% of my money go further than 100%. And God can make my time go further when I give part of it to him in prayer. Reverence for God adds hours to each day.
Proverbs 10, 27, Living Bible. The Lord's Prayer is not just a ritual that people pray. It is a pattern for living.
It is a model for how to manage your day. And if you do this, you'll have more energy, you'll have more peace, you'll be closer to God, you'll have more power in your life, you'll have more confidence. If you'll do it, jesus says this is the way you ought to pray.
Pray throughout your day. 150 years ago, a young Boston woman married a printer, and they got married and had three kids, but the Civil War ended their happiness because Mary's husband got conscripted in the Civil War in the Northern Army, and he died in the Battle of Antietam. And then, after her husband died, her 12-year-old son drowned.
And then, her only daughter died. It was one calamity after another. And in her grief, Mary Ann Kidder began to turn to writing hymns.
And if you've been in a traditional church, you've sung Mary Ann Kidder hymns, because she wrote hundreds and hundreds of them. It would be very well known. Helped millions of people.
In fact, she wrote, I think, 181 hymns. There's one that she wrote that I remember as a little kid hearing my parents sing, and it was called Did You Think to Pray? And we'll end with this.
When you left your room this morning, did you think to pray? In the name of Christ our Savior, did you ask for loving favor as a shield today? When you met with great temptation, did you think to pray?
By his dying love and merit, did you claim the Holy Spirit as your guidance day? When your heart was filled with anger, did you think to pray? Did you plead for grace, my brother, that you might forgive another who had crossed your way?
When strong trials came upon you, did you think to pray? As your heart was filled with sorrow, did the love of Christ you borrow at the gates today? And the refrain goes like this, Oh, how praying rests the weary.
Prayer will change your night today. So when life seems dark and dreary, don't forget to pray. Let's bow our heads.
What I've just taught you will change your life if you actually practice it. You'll grow closer to Christ. You'll have more energy.
You'll make better decisions. You'll have less stress. You get better ideas at work.
You'll be more productive. You'll be healthier. That could go on and on and on.
The Lord's Prayer covers every major need in your life. And if you use it as a model for a daily schedule of checking in with God, God, I'm checking in with you. It's mid-morning.
God, I'm checking in with you. It's noon. God, I'm checking in with you.
It's the afternoon. Remember, I told you there are two ways to pray throughout your day. One is conversationally, where you just talk to him all the time, and that's a good thing.
But it's also a good thing to set aside specific times and say, these are gonna be the times that I check in with you every day. Our Father, who art in heaven, your good God, and I'm going to be grateful for everything you've done. How would be your name?
Your name, Lord, tells me all the things you've promised to do in my life. Why don't you pray it right now? Say, Our Father in heaven, just say it in your mind.
Say, God, you're a good, good God. I want to be grateful. I want to start each day with gratitude, the healthiest emotion.
I don't want to start it with news. I don't want to start it with bad news. I want to start it with the goodness of God.
And then say, Lord, I want to bless your name at breakfast. I want to learn these names of God so that I can know what you've promised to do in my life. That you're my healer.
You're always present. You will give me power. You're my forgiver.
All of the things that you've promised by your names. And I want to bless your name.
Your kingdom come, Lord, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. I wanna seek first your kingdom. God, I want your plans and purposes for the world and for my life to be number one.
I don't wanna be in cross purposes with you. I wanna seek first your purpose, believing that everything else I need, you're gonna take care of. And Lord, every day I wanna say, give me this day our daily bread.
Just enough to get me through today. Give me strength for today. Give me wisdom for today.
Give me the finances I need for today. And I wanna make a list at lunchtime. As I eat my sandwich, you would give me more than that but inner food, soul food.
And Lord, I wanna ask you to forgive me of all my sins as I forgive those who have sinned against me. Remove guilt and shame and resentment and bitterness from my life. I can't waste energy on those energy drainers.
And Lord, there's some things in my life that you know I'm tempted by. And I'm not very good at handling them on my own. And I'm asking you to lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
And I wanna ask you to help me make wise decisions, and not impulsive ones, and not dumb decisions.
Deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Lord, when I'm down, when I'm depressed, when I feel overwhelmed, when I feel discouraged, help me remember that you're in charge, you're in control, you're still on the throne.
But this is not the end of the story. There was more to life than here and now. And that ultimately, we win.
When the world outside looks darker and darker and dimmer and dimmer, help me to realize that you hold the keys to the future. And then because I'm on your side and I'm in your family, ultimately, it'll all work out. If you've never opened your life to jesus Christ, say, jesus Christ, come into my life right now.
I want to get to know you. I humbly ask this in your name.
Hey, if you've just prayed along with Rick to accept jesus in your life, Rick would love to hear from you. Just email Rick at pastorrick.com. We'll send you free tools to help start your relationship with jesus.
And now here's Rick to tell you how you can partner with Daily Hope to take the Word of God to the world.
There are nearly 8 billion people on this planet, and God wants us to reach every one of them with the Gospel. jesus said, Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I've commanded you. And surely I'm with you always to the very end of the age.
That's called the Great Commission. It often seems like mission impossible, but if we'll work together to fulfill the Great Commission, God will turn it into the Great Completion. You know, the Bible says that in heaven, an enormous crowd of people from every race, every tribe, every nation, and every language will one day stand before jesus Christ to worship him.
That's in Revelation 7, verse 9. And that's why I'm asking you, friends, to partner with Daily Hope by becoming a partner in hope. What is a partner in hope?
Well, right now, we're able to take the good news of jesus into almost every country of the world, including regions where it's difficult or dangerous to share the gospel. But thanks to your prayers and your financial support, we reach millions of people around the world every month through radio, the internet, podcasting, TV, and we're translating Daily Hope into 25 languages that enable us to reach over 80% of the world's population. That's because of your faithfulness.
And yet, there are still billions of people that need to hear about the hope we find in jesus. So please, pray about becoming a partner of hope today. Partners in hope provide vital monthly support that will help us reach millions more people around the world, including these regions we're going to that have no bibles, no believers, and no bodies of Christ.
If God puts it on your heart, then please join us. Become a partner of hope today. With your first monthly donation, we'll send you a special gift to welcome you to the partner in hope family.
Now there's nothing more important that we can do together than to make sure people all around the world hear the good news of jesus Christ and have a chance to grow in God's Word. Join us today as a partner in hope.
It's easy to become a partner in hope with convenient automated monthly giving. You just go to pastorrick.com or text the word hope to 70309. And when you do, we'll send you a special welcome gift to say thanks.
Again, that's pastorrick.com or text the word hope to 70309. And we can't tell you how much we appreciate your support. Thank you.
We hope you'll join us next time as we look into God's Word for our daily hope. This program is sponsored by Pastor Rick's Daily Hope and your generous financial support.
A question asked by Jeremiah needs to be asked today, especially in the world we live in and the things we face daily.
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Friends, it's time for our verse by verse study, as the Are You Studying series is now on the air. We're going to 1st Corinthians 4 today, so reach for your Bibles if you can and join us. That's coming up from the International Gospel Hour.
Stay tuned.
Hi, this is J. Webb for International Gospel Hour. For 90 years, churches of Christ have proclaimed God's word through International Gospel Hour.
You are about to listen to another Bible-based lesson with Jeff Archie of International Gospel Hour, starting now.
Well, greetings, everyone. Great having you with us today for our broadcast from the International Gospel Hour. And a very special, special, shall I say, thank you to our J.
Webb for his kind words. And you'll hear from Jay throughout our broadcast. As stated, our Are You Studying series is now on the air.
And this is what we do with this study, folks. We will pick a book and a chapter of the Bible, and we will spend some time just looking at the section of scripture going verse by verse. And we call this Are You Studying as a nod of memory to our first speaker of the International Gospel Hour by the VE.
Howard who would ask during his broadcast, friends, are you listening? Well, we like to ask, are you studying? People love to sit down and look at the scriptures in this style of study.
And so from time to time, we try to bring broadcast such as this. If there are other books or chapters you are interested in, go to our website at internationalgospelhour.com and scroll down to where you see the 15-minute broadcast. Feel free to peruse through them, and you'll find previous studies from the book of 1 John.
You will find 1 Corinthians chapters 1, 2, and 3, and we're blessed to be able to bring those to you. There may be some studies of the book of Mark, and so we are honored to bring those to your attention. Now, the first three chapters from the book of 1 Corinthians has the Apostle Paul defeating the divisive positions and bringing them all together, where in 1 Corinthians 3, 22 and 23, Paul says, All are yours, and you are Christ's, and Christ is God.
So, all are yours, and you are Christ's. So he's bringing them all together. And then in 1 Corinthians 4, beginning with verse 1, Let a man so consider us as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.
Now he brings them to where they need to be. He's corrected the division. He says, this has to stop.
And now they are all to be together on the same page. Consider us servants of Christ, stewards of the mysteries of God. Paul explained further, verse 2, please.
Moreover, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful. But with me, it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself, for I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this, but he who judges me is the Lord.
Therefore judge nothing before the time until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one's praise will come from God. So Paul says to the church, OK, now, we are all together.
Consider us all together, of Christ all together, stewards of the mysteries of God all together, and each one's praise will come from God. Now with the correction in chapters 1 through 3, let's build and grow, and today, friends, we're going to take verses 1 through 5, 1 Corinthians 4, and talk about the all of stewardship. But first, we've got a very special gift to you, and here is our J-Web with the details.
Our free publication today is Reason and Revelation, a monthly journal courtesy of our friends at apologeticspress.org. International Gospel Hour has secured a limited supply of this awesome publication of apologetics well proven over 40 years. Get your free copy today by calling toll-free at 855-444-6988.
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Now we return to 1 Corinthians 4, verses 1 through 5, as we talk about ministers of Christ or stewards. Let's talk about ministers or servants. Another word that means under-rowers, which means that we are rowing together.
Stewards, a word that means a manager or managers of another. Now, Paul is referring here to the apostles, but he is embracing the uninspired teachers as well, those who are part of the church, servants of God and stewards of the mysteries of God. That you are servants of Christ, ministers are under-rowers.
You are carrying forth what God wants you to carry forth. Not your own, I am of Paul, I am of Cephas or so on, but now you are carrying forth the things that be of Christ. You see in Romans 6 and verses 17 and 18, we are servants once of sin, now servants of righteousness.
Some translations will say a slave of sin or a slave of righteousness, which means we are the servant to whom we follow. Then he moves, as you are a servant, the underroar, your minister, now you are a steward. You are managing what God has given you.
Now here Paul talks about the mysteries of God. Now that doesn't mean that we are stewards of something we can't understand, but the mystery is what has been revealed. So he says now you are stewards of what God has revealed.
You need to preach what God is bringing forth, not your own personal thoughts. That division is gone. Now you are more determined for Christ.
Allow Paul in Ephesians 3, 1-7 to explain this idea of mystery a little more. For this reason, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for you Gentiles, if indeed you have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which was given to me for you, how that by revelation he made known to me the mystery, as I have briefly written already, by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ, which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets, that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs of the same body and partakers of His promise in Christ through the Gospel, of which I became a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effective working of His power. So Paul says, This that has been made known, the mystery, we are stewards of the mysteries.
I am going to proclaim to you what God has granted unto me. This idea of steward means that we are managing things on behalf of another. You know the parable of the unfaithful steward in Luke 16, 1-12, to where he was not doing the job of his master and the changes that he made as steward who was responsible.
And how Jesus speaks of, Blessed is that servant or that steward who will do what the Lord commands. Luke 12, verse 42. In 1 Peter 4, 10, Paul said, or rather Peter says, As each one has received a gift, ministry it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
So, friends, think of God's plan to bring salvation to the world. That plan is through Christ. Those who obedient are disciples with the charge, the responsibility to carry through God's plan and faithfulness.
And that is a requirement of a steward. Now, Paul also speaks of the judgments of man and the smallness therein. He's corrected their division, but he brings in a little reminder here.
Now, friends, I'm going to preface this by saying that I am not a fan of the new international version for many reasons. But I want you to listen to how that verse is translated, and I would accept it as a good commentary. Paul says, I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court.
Five times in verses 3 through 5, we see a form of the word judge. Wrong judgment, friends, is not knowing the facts. So many times people want to immediately go to Matthew 7.
When you bring forth to them of a behavior they need to change, they'll go to Matthew 7, and he says, the Bible says judge not. In other words, you can't say anything, but that's not what Jesus taught. Let's keep carrying that verse a little further.
Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it'll be measured back to you. Jesus uses this as an illustration.
Why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye? And don't consider the plank in your eye. What about when Jesus said in John 7, 24, don't judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment?
I mean, can we see, going back to our lesson text of 1 Corinthians 4, verse 5, can we see the hidden things of darkness? Can we see counseling within the heart of another? No.
Friends, there is nothing wrong with making a righteous judgment, but that's a judgment that's according to all the facts, and sometimes we do speak before we should not. We take today from our study of the all of stewardship, focus on God and His work. You are His servant, you are His steward, and let's do things according to God's way.
Going to pause and go back to our J. Webb. He's going to tell you about a free online study, and then we'll come back and wrap up our broadcast today.
How about an online study of the Bible? That's right. The World Bible School has a free online Bible study available.
Just go to worldbibleschool.org and register. A study helper will assist you in answering questions and provide feedback for your lessons. That's the free online study at worldbibleschool.org.
Sign up today. Tell them the International Gospel Hour has sent you.
Well, friends, we hope that this study today from our Are You Studying series has been of help to you from 1 Corinthians 4, 1 through 5. Other studies from 1 Corinthians, again, are at our website at internationalgospelhour.com. Please check our podcast or 15-minute programs, and we'll be glad to help you if you need additional help.
Thanks for joining me today on the International Gospel Hour. We'll do this at another time. I'm Jeff Archie, and friends as always, keep listening.
Thank you for listening to our broadcast today. To God goes all the glory, and we hope that our study today will draw you closer to his word to walk in his way. To listen to it again, or our other broadcasts, please visit our website at www.internationallgospelhour.com.
We are glad you could join us today for the Concepts of Faith broadcast. This program is dedicated to teach you how to put the Word of God to work so that it will make a positive difference in the everyday circumstances of your life. And now, here's Charles Capps.
See, Jesus has made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption, the Apostle Paul said. But we have to learn how to receive the direction of God by the Spirit of God, the Spirit of man, the Human Spirit is the light that God uses to enlighten you. This is the way God's going to give you direction in life.
It may not come as a flash of light or a bolt of lightning. It may just come by impression in your spirit. So we need to learn how to hear the voice of our spirit.
We're here in I Corinthians, the second chapter. We're talking about the human spirit. Now let's read from verse 10 again.
But God, well, now let's read verse 9 and down through here, because I want to get this ingrafted into your thinking. Because you that are in business, the decisions you need to make, they'll come by the Spirit of God if you'll allow yourself to be trained to hear the voice of the Spirit, and allow these things to come forth within you. Now notice in verse 9, he says, but as it is written, I have not seen nor ear heard, neither have it entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him, but God has revealed them to us by his Spirit.
In other words, he said, this is the way God revealed it. He revealed it by his Spirit to the human spirit. For the Spirit, that is the human spirit, searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the Spirit of man, which is in him. In other words, the Spirit of man knows all about him. Even so, the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
Now, I made a statement, and I want to show you that it's qualified right here. That in verse 10, where it says, for the Spirit searcheth all things, ye the deep things of God, it does not mean Holy Spirit. It means the human spirit.
Now, this verse 11 will qualify it, where it says, even so, the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. In other words, it says, the Spirit of God knows all about God. Then that proves that the Holy Spirit would not have to search the deep things of God.
He already knows them. Can you see that? Now, we have received not the Spirit of the world.
I'm glad I didn't receive the Spirit of the world, aren't you? But we have received the Spirit which is of God. Now, what's the Apostle Paul referring to here?
He's referring again to the human spirit. We have not received the human spirit from the world. Now, he's also, by law of double reference, he's talking about the spirit, the renewed spirit within us, the born again human spirit.
Now, let me just stop here long enough to show you something or bring to remember some things that will help you. In Genesis, the first chapter, it says, God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the fowl of the air, over the cattle, over all the earth. God created man in his own image and in his own likeness.
When I say man, I don't talk about mankind. God is a spirit. They that worship him, Jesus said, they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
So God is a spirit. Now, when he created man in his image and in his likeness, what he did, he created man in exact duplication of God's kind. Now, let me qualify that because sometimes people say, oh, well, you're getting too far out.
You're saying we're God's, no, no. We're created in the likeness of God in his image and his likeness. The word likeness in the original Hebrew meant an exact duplication of kind.
Now, what kind is God? God is a spirit. And man was created in the image and likeness of God.
Now, you can see it if you open your Bibles there to Genesis, the second chapter, verse seven. It says, The Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground. Now, that is not the creation of man.
He formed man out of something that already existed. That's not a creation. You see, he had already created the earth, so he took the earth, which he's already created, and he forms man's body.
Now, that's not the creation. He made his body out of the dust of the ground. And then it says, he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul, or the amplifier says, he breathed into his nostrils the spirit of life.
Now, if God breathed spirit life into Adam, what kind of spirit was it? The spirit of God, wasn't it? Now, there's the creation of man right there.
That is the creation of man. You see, the real man is the human spirit. Now, this is what Paul is referring to here, when he says, now we have not received the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God.
God breathed his own spirit into man, and man became an exact duplication of God's kind. It was the same spirit that God was that was in man. The human spirit was a part of God that he breathed into him.
Now, the word spirit is breath, or wind, air. It was the very breath and life of God that he breathed into Adam. And Adam was an exact duplication of God's kind.
He was capable of operating in faith like God did. He was capable of subduing the earth and having dominion over it. Every creeping thing that creepeth on the earth.
And you know, that's good news, just know you have dominion over creeps, isn't it? Glory be to God. Everything that creepeth.
Now, God gave Adam dominion over the earth. He was capable of subduing the earth or God wouldn't have told him to do it if he hadn't have been capable of doing it. Now, he was going to do it the same way God did it, is by speaking words of faith.
But now, back to 1 Corinthians here, verse 12, Paul says, Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Now, he tells you why he created you in his image and in his likeness, so you would know the things that were given to us of God. Now, get this, this is important, and it's all here in these verses we've read, but the spirit which is of God, we have the spirit which is of God, why?
That we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. This is the only way we'll know the things that are of God, is by the spirit. Can you see that?
He breathed into man a spirit. It was the spirit of God, so that God's spirit could bear witness with the human spirit. You see, spirits communicate with spirits.
Spirits don't communicate with bodies. They communicate with spirits. So God's spirit then could bear witness with man's spirit and do exactly what the Apostle Paul said.
Eye hasn't seen, ear has not heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man by the natural realm, by studying books and all of this. But he said God has revealed it by his spirit. Isn't it good that we have insight by the spirit of God?
God reveals things. Now, the spirit of man is the candle of the Lord. That just simply means it's the light that God is gonna use to enlighten your pathway.
It's the light that God is gonna use to cause it to be a lamp unto your feet or light unto your feet and a light upon your path. When you don't know what to do, when you don't know which way to turn, you don't know what decision to make, don't go around saying, Dear God, I don't know what to do. I'll always make the wrong decision.
Every time I get under pressure, I'll always make the wrong decision. You're planting seeds. You know what you're doing?
You're binding that wisdom of God that can come through the human spirit. You know what Jesus said? See, we talked about it a while ago.
Jesus said, I have many things to say to you, but you can't bear them now. And that's talking to the disciples. Now, the reason they couldn't bear them because he could speak it, but they couldn't understand it.
Now, you know why they couldn't understand it? Because they were yet carnal. They had not been born again.
See, it is the rebirth of the human spirit that causes the human spirit to come alive to the things the power charge has put back in the human spirit. And the human spirit begins to receive communication from God's spirit. So, Jesus said, I've got a lot of things I'd like to tell you, but you can't bury them now.
And that was very obvious they couldn't, because he'd been telling them all the time, he said, I've got to go to the cross and die and be abused and spit on and crucified. And they was over there arguing about who's going to be the greatest when you set up your kingdom here in Jerusalem. One of them wanted to sit on his right hand, the other on his left.
And he kept telling them he's going to have to die and be gone. And finally, Peter rebuked him over it. And Jesus finally turned around and said, get thee behind me, Satan.
Now here's a man, Peter, that was sincere, all right, but you see, he was walking in the carnal nature. And Jesus was giving him great truths, but he couldn't receive it. You know why?
Because his spirit didn't have the Holy Spirit in it, the teacher and the guide. And he said, I got a lot of things to tell you, but he said, you can't receive them now. How be it when the spirit of truth has come, he will teach you all things and guide you into all truths.
Now he said, I can get them to you a lot easier when I'm gone and reveal them into your spirit that I can stand here and tell you now and you'll go away and never know what I said. And he did many times, told them exactly what was gonna happen and they didn't believe a word of it. Went in one ear and out the other.
Well, God wants us to be sensitive to the spirit of God and he is telling us how to receive of the spirit of God. I have good news for you. God reveals things to the human spirit.
And when you learn and train the human spirit to hear the voice of the Spirit of God, then God will direct you and you will no longer have to walk in darkness in making decisions. Isn't that good news? Praise God.
Thank you so much for joining us for the Concepts of Faith broadcast today. Now, all of this week we have a book and CD offer, number 7517. The book is entitled The Light of Life in the Spirit of Man.
It's a 59-page paperback. And the single CD, it's entitled How God Will Light Your Candle. It's for $15 plus $4 postage and handling.
You get the book and the CD, a total of $19. You know, it's the entrance of God's Word that brings light to you. And Proverbs 20, 27 says the Spirit of Man is the candle of the Lord, or we could say it today is the light bulb that God uses to enlighten you.
So you receive revelation in your spirit, and it enlightens you. Now, remember the Word said, in the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God, the Word was made flash and dwelled among us. Well, Jesus was the light of the world.
He brought life and light to the world, and redeemed mankind. And David said, the entrance of the Word bringeth light. Then in Psalms 18 says, For thou will light my candle, the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.
In other words, the scripture says, if you seek, you'll find. If you knock, it will be open unto you. And the Word of God is where the light is.
You remember, Jesus said, the words that I speak unto you, their spirit, their life. In other words, God's Word is spirit life. And words are spirit.
And I'll tell you, the Word of God will get in your spirit. And once you get it in your spirit, it will affect things. It first affects you.
It will enlighten you. It will give you revelation and insight. And the anointing of God is upon His Word.
That's Book and CD, offer number 7517, for a total price of $19. We have a toll-free order line, 1-877-396-9400, 1-877-396-9400. Until tomorrow, this is Charles Capps reminding you that the enemy is defeated, God is exalted, and Jesus is coming soon.
To order the product offered today, call 1-877-396-9400, or write Charles Capps, PO. Box 69, England, Arkansas, 72046. A complete list of CDs, books and DVDs are available online at charlescapps.com.
Through the website, you can listen to this radio program again and subscribe to our podcast. This broadcast is sponsored by Charles Capps Ministries and our listeners in this area.
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Welcome to Yankee Arnold ministries. Dr. Arnold will be with you in just a moment, but first, we want you to know how much we appreciate your prayers and financial support. You may help this radio ministry by donating online at yankeearnold.com or by mail at Yankee Arnold ministries, 7028 west Waters Avenue, Suite 316, Tampa, Florida, 33634.
Again, that's 7028 west Waters Avenue, Suite 316, Tampa, Florida, 33634. Feel free to send Dr. Arnold your questions or comments to yankee at yankeearnold.com and he will respond as quickly as possible. Now, here is Dr. Arnold with today's message.
Well, we've been doing some studies in the Book of Colossians. I hope you're staying with me. I hope you're learning something.
Now, tonight, it's going to hit you between the eyes. You'd be surprised how many people leave the church and say, that was just to me, that was just to me. No, I believe it should be for everybody.
I'm hoping that I hit somebody. But the Word of God is for everyone. And the Holy Spirit, He knows what everybody needs.
So there's a few things we'll talk about tonight. I want you to be sensitive, be teachable. But anyway, Colossians chapter 3, Colossians chapter 3.
Before I start on the portion of the script that I definitely want to cover, I want to give you a warning. It's always good to give you a warning. The warning that's mentioned here in chapter 3 is at the end of the chapter.
But I don't want to wait that long before I tell you what it is. So that while we're going through it, you'll keep that warning in your mind. It's Ruth Binder in verse 25.
Verse 25, you ought to underline this verse in the Bible. You heard me say, yes, salvation is by grace and grace alone. No works, no change in your life, no promising of anything, stopping anything.
It's just receiving what Christ did for us. But as far as your life goes, serving the Lord, yes, you have an option. You can either yield or rebel.
That's the only two options you got. And if you rebel against what God tells us to do, well, then he says in verse 25, But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done. Let me read that again.
Make sure you underline that in your Bible. You need to know there is going to be consequences to rebellion. God will not force you to obey.
He'll only make you wish you had of. But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done. And there is no respect of person.
So it doesn't matter who you are. Can I say, well, Lord, I didn't serve you for 52 years. You ought to cut me a little slack.
Is that going to work? Well, Peter over here, he's kind of like in between. And he's been serving the Lord for a few years, so God will cut him a little slack.
God doesn't cut slack. Now, he's patient. He's long suffered and all that.
He'll give you time to correct problems. But if you choose not to correct the problem, that is the problem. God is going to be forced to discipline.
So he says, but he that doeth wrong. Okay, now, what is wrong? What is wrong?
I don't see anything wrong with this, so I don't see anything wrong with that. Yeah, but you got to look at it from God's viewpoint. That's why it's important to check with the book.
This verse is the same as you would read over there in the book of Galatians in chapter six. You shall reap what you sow. Be it unto you according to your faith.
If you really believe what God says, then you live accordingly and God will bless accordingly. If you don't believe what God says and you live according to that, then you're going to be chastened accordingly. You see, a lot of sorrow that we have in life is because of the decisions that we make.
Man, I wish I could start over again and be smart the first time. But I thought, no, I don't want to go through it again. I'm glad I'm closing on the end part of my life.
When you read these scriptures, it's giving you a warning about what is right. And if you'll do what's right, God will bless. If you don't do what God says to do, then you know what God's going to do.
So look at these scriptures in light of this warning. It's very important. Now, we've already talked about, if you then be risen with Christ, then seek those things which are above.
See there in verse 1. Then in verse 2, he says, set your affections on things above, not on things of the earth. Now, if you want to know how to love your wife, do that.
Set your affections on things that are above. And if you will seek those things which are above, it'll make you a better husband. It will make you a better wife.
It'll make you a better father. It'll make you a better mom. You see, doing that will help you in every other area of your life.
Because, see, even with the children, they need to see that something is real in their mom and dad's life. My daughter, she actually believes that her mama and daddy really love the Lord. We've convinced her of that.
She's 51 years old. Took 50 years to convince her. But, you see, kids need to know if what you believe is real to you.
Is it real? And they watch that by seeing you go through all kinds of trials and tribulations. How do you handle it?
What does it take for you to break? Now, when he says, set your affections and so forth on things that are above, does that mean I'm not supposed to love my wife? Not supposed to love my kids?
No, but look at what he says, and put it in balance. Though God sees us there, we have to live here. And if I have to live here, how does he want me to live?
He wants me to live here as though I was the Lord. I'm to live here like I was the Lord. Now, that's difficult.
I'm supposed to live as though Christ was my total life, and He lives within me. And I am just here loaning Him my body. He bought it and paid for it, but I'm not going to resist it from Him.
I'm going to yield this body to Him, so He can do whatever He wants. So as Christ lives inside of me, in my body, I'm supposed to love my wife the way He would. I'm supposed to love my children the way He would.
You're supposed to love your husband the way He would. See, Christ liveth in me. He lives inside of you.
You're just letting Him use your body. That's why we call it a living sacrifice. I don't literally take my body and put it on an altar and kill it, burn it up with fire.
It's a living sacrifice. You surrender all of your desires, whatever you want. Lord, whatever you want me to be, wherever you want me to go, whatever you want me to do, I'm Yours, Lord.
That's all we're saying. I'm Yours, Lord. I just started listening to the words of it.
Some of them are pretty good. Try me now and see. Try me now and see if I'll be completely Yours.
That's even a scary thought. But now look what he says here in verse 12. Verse 12, put on therefore as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercy and kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness and long-suffering.
You see the word holy and beloved, that's who you are. That's who you are. You are holy because of what Christ did on the cross for you.
You are one of the beloved. You are his child. Beloved, now are we the sons of God.
Now. Then he says of these tender mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness and suffering or long-suffering. And then he tells us how we're supposed to do that for others.
You see, the flesh doesn't do this. The sinful nature we have will not compel us to do this. This is coming from the Lord.
This is what God wants us to do, how he wants us to be. And then he says in verse 13, forbearing one another, forgiving one another, because if you don't, you're going to have quarrel. See that?
If any man have quarrel against any, did you know most quarrels are between husband and wife? How in the world can two perfect people have a quarrel? You know, when you saw him, he was perfect, and you saw her, she was perfect.
these two perfect people got married, and then they have quarrels. And then they have, of course, knock down, drag out fights, hollering and yelling and screaming, you know. Is that the will of God?
No. Somebody's not doing what God wants them to do. Sin always finds a way to flare up and cause you to be ugly and say things you shouldn't say.
Now, you know that everybody has that sinful nature, and it doesn't take much to provoke somebody to anger. We know how to master that. We can do it in a spiritual way, but still get it done.
But look at what he says, If any man have a quarrel against any, even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. Now, this is how God wants us to live down here. Loving one another, forgiving one another.
As much as possible, live peaceably with all men. And he makes this statement. In verse 14, And above all these things, put on charity.
Love is the bond, the cement that holds everything together. Isn't it wonderful that in spite of everything in life, you still know God loves you. That knowledge that God loves me, you'd be surprised how much that will pull you through.
Though you don't understand everything, you know because God loves you, he's not going to put more upon you than you can bear. It is the glue that holds a family together. It's the glue that holds the church together.
Love for one another. Today, I hate it when I see the politicians and all is trying to just pull people apart by hatred. Generating hate, provoking the hate, turning people against one another.
That will not unite us together in unity. It will destroy America.
So he says here in verse 15, let the peace of God rule. We've often talked about playing different sports, and how that you need somebody to be the umpire. I talked about it when we first started the Book of Colossians.
That everybody needs somebody to call the shots. Somebody to say whether the ball was in or out. Whether he really catch it or did he drop it.
You know, somebody that can make the right call, has good judgment, good discernment, keen eye. Well, there's somebody that sees everything, and all of his decisions are right. He's never made a bad call yet, and that's the Lord.
And so, this one that created the heavens and the earth, he's the Lord of the world, and he is the head of the church, and he's over all principalities and power. He has preeminence over everything. Cannot he rule me?
But you see, those things he does without their will. That's what he does. You and I, he gave us a choice.
Will I let the one who created it all, voluntarily, will I voluntarily submit myself to his rule? And he says, if I will do this, he becomes the umpire in my life, and he says what I should and should not do, or I can and cannot go. What I say and don't say, how I think.
He determines everything in my life. So he says, if I would let him do this, and I totally rest on his judgment, I will have the peace of God. Let the peace of God rule in your heart.
The reason people don't have peace is because they don't want to commit things to God. They want to make the call. And when you get to where you want to make the call and everything about what's right and what's wrong, did you know that you make allowances for yourself?
You spread out the boundaries for yourself. You go further than what God wanted you to go. And you're going to get yourself in trouble sooner or later.
So this is what he says to do. In verse 15, let the peace of God rule in your heart. To the which also ye are called in one body, many members, but one body, and we're bound together by this mystical union called love.
It's like a nuclear glue that holds people together. But see, God doesn't make you love him, and God will not force you to love anybody else. But he says, no, if you're going to make the decisions on your own, and you want to rule your life, you can do it.
You do not have to yield to God. But you will have to suffer the consequences because in verse 25 again, he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done. Now, I believe there will be lost when you get to heaven, but I believe there's also a loss of this peace of mind that you'll have now.
Because see, when you don't do what God wants you to do, you know when you're rebelling. You know that you're not yielding to the Lord. Did you know that tortures you in itself?
It robs you of your joy, everything that you want. It takes its toll upon you. Now, look at verse 16.
Now, the word of Christ dwelleth in you richly in all wisdom. Remember that verse we read earlier in chapter 2, verse 3? We're talking about how that in Christ dwelleth all the...
Well, look at it, verse 3. ...in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. They're in Christ, and He wants this wisdom that He has, this treasure. God gave us a treasure chest.
He wants us to look at all the pearls and little jewels and diamonds, all this gold and so forth that we find in the treasure chest. And God says, I've got all the wisdom you need for life. It's all found in His Word.
Let the Word of Christ dwell richly in you, because if you really know the Word, and you apply the Word, you'd be surprised what it's going to do for you personally, what God will do for you, how He'll use you. Look what He says in verse 16. Teaching and admonishing one another.
You see, you can't teach the way you ought to, and you can't admonish one another the way you ought to if you're not rich in the Word of God. Did you know there's some of God's people probably never opened the Bible? They just go from one Sunday to the next.
I can't make people read the Bible. But sometimes you go so busy, you don't even have time to relish in what's been accomplished. You go from one thing and then soon you get that, and then you're on to something else.
You don't have the time to savor the moment. Have you been out to a restaurant and you cut a piece of meat and you haven't had a steak in a long time and you take that first bite and you put it in there, and you squeeze it, all the juices just are flowing all over you. It just tastes so good.
Savoring that bite. Can you taste it? You can almost taste it, can't you?
You can almost taste it. You're going to leave here tonight and go get you a steak. But sometimes you just want to slow down and take your time and just savor the moment.
Well, in life, sometimes we don't get much time to do that. And that's why when you get older, you see grandpa and grandma sitting there rocking in the chair. You know, they're just bringing up those memories and relishing some of the things and the grandkids and so on.
Let the Word of God dwell in you richly. Now look what he says about this. He says in one another, in Psalms, in hymns, spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
You can listen to any music you want to. You can listen to anything you want. You can love all kinds of music.
Go ahead. Nobody can stop you and you know it. I can listen to anything I want to.
It's not going to affect my salvation. One iota, I want to listen to. If I want to listen to Acid Rock or this and that and the other, I can listen to anything that I want.
It will not affect my salvation. But I believe it will affect my joy. I believe it will affect my service.
I believe it might even affect my service to the Lord. And when I get to heaven, I think it might even affect my rewards. So therefore, there's some things that I don't do.
You can do whatever you want to do. See, I can't legislate to you now. If you were in college, I might.
You go to college, you'll be surprised. That's a whole different ball game. Because you come to be disciplined.
When you go to Bible College, you say, I came to be a disciple. Well, the teacher is to teach. And so they teach you and discipline you, whether you like it or not.
I've told college kids what to do and what not to do, just to test them to see whether or not, will you obey what I tell you to do? It won't amount to a hill of beans, but I want to know, are you going to be faithful? Will you yield to my authority?
Even when you don't like what I'm telling you to do, will you do it? Look what he says here. Singing in your hearts to the Lord.
Now, you need to check your music. If your music is not right and honoring to the Lord. Can you do whatever you want?
You can do whatever you want. But look down at verse 25. He that doeth wrong shall receive of the wrong which he hath done.
does God tell you what kind of music to listen to? Well, listen to it. Look up there.
Look in verse. Psalms, hymns, spiritual songs. Singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
So, does God's word tell you? It tells you. Now, you can do whatever you want.
And if you disobey, you pay the price. You don't know what it's going to cost you, though. I don't have a clue.
I'm not God. But whatever you do, do it all for the honor, the glory, the praise of Christ. You say, well, does it say that?
Well, I'm afraid it does. You see it in verse 17. And whatsoever you do, in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him.
So, whatever it is, you ought to be able to thank God for that music. Thank God for that message in that song. If you can't thank God for it, maybe it's not thinkable.
It's a new word. Maybe it's nothing you can thank the Lord for. Maybe you shouldn't be listening to certain things.
Do you believe that the God wrote this book that says you're now seated in the heavenlies and since you have been crucified with Christ and risen with Christ and seated in the heavenlies and it says set your affections on things above. Do you think that there is a lot of things on this earth that you might set your affections upon? Could music be one of them?
Is it possible? Did you know that as the music goes, so goes the nation? And as the music goes, so goes the church.
And as the music goes, so goes the home. And as the music goes, so goes the individual. Do you think it's important what you listen to?
You judge. I'm to be speaking as unto wise individuals that are grown up and mature in the Lord. And you can discern.
You don't need somebody telling you what you can and cannot do because you can walk with God on your own. Well, remember, everything you violate, you'll have to have a reason to justify your disobedience. Did you know, as he talks about here, and you'll see that in verse 18 and 19 and 20, when he gets into individuals, you think about it.
Is it one of the biggest things that people have problem with is yielding to authority? We don't want somebody telling us what we can and cannot do. Do children have a problem with somebody telling them what they can and cannot do?
Well, do you think it's possible for wives to have problems with their husband telling them what they can and cannot do? Do you think adult men have a problem with somebody telling them what they can and cannot do? There's a possibility everybody's got the same problem.
We want to have our own way. And because we want to have our own way, we have trouble submitting. It means in most cases we want somebody else's position.
The kids, they want the parents' position. They want to be the authority. If they don't see anything wrong with it, it ought to be all right.
Because they don't see anything wrong with it. I don't see why I can't. Okay.
So they want the authority. They're not satisfied where they are. Is it possible for a wife to want the husband's position of authority?
I say this in fear and trembling. This is what Paul was talking about. He wasn't talking about all those people throwing stones at him and, you know, wrecking them.
He was talking about every time he talked about women, he was in fear and trembling. But I think that's probably why he was in fear and trembling. But is it possible for women to want to usurp the husband's authority and become the authority?
Do you think that adult men, those that know the Lord, want to usurp authority from God and determine what's right and wrong for themselves and not God? Isn't it possible for everybody to be in a place of rebellion? Let me tell you this.
We just had camp and we had, you know, different speakers and everybody doing a lot of different things. But did you know every person in camp, from the kids to the adults, we even had little bitty kids, and they were all little angels. Were they all little angels?
No. Those that worked with them knew that they probably had a few little rebellious kids. So even children want to see how far they can go.
But wasn't it wonderful to have all of these that worked with those little kids? Did you know at one time probably somebody made this statement, I just love little children? Man, I just hope God lets me work with little children.
That would be the greatest joy in my life just to work with little children. And then you get those little children, and God granted you your request, and there you are. Did you know it wouldn't take much to say, I wish I'd have never seen these little kids?
Did you know somebody's always wanted the other? You know, everybody has a responsibility. Did you know that God looks at it this way?
Everybody got a responsibility, and God's going to reward you in heaven based upon what you did with what you had. But sometimes you don't do a good job where you are because you're thinking about what you don't have. Instead of being thankful for what you do have.
You see, sometimes you marry to that man. But then you're looking at all those others thinking about, look what I could have had.
This one woman, she told this man, she says, I wouldn't marry you if I was the last woman on earth. She says, if you're the last woman on earth, I don't know if I need you. You'd be surprised how easy it is for us to get bogged down, wanting something you don't have.
If you are married, there's a verse for you. If you're not married, there is a verse for you. Wherever you find yourself, are you faithful where you are with what God's given to you?
And you can trust that God up there that you know and love and you walk with. He'll open up doors and He'll close doors. You just walk with Him and trust Him.
Don't worry about it.
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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. And today's message is timely and right on point.
America weighed in the balance. In Bible days, a corrupt kingdom was placed on the scales of God's righteous standards and was found lacking. their failure to heed God's warning brought the hand of judgment to literally write upon the wall of the King's palace.
You are weighed in the balance and found wanting. Today, America is being weighed in the balance of God's Word. God is unshakable.
Oh, He's unchangeable. His Word is unalterable. And His character is unimpeachable.
That is my God. And you know, sometimes you look around you, and if you're not careful, you'll get a little shook up because you think, what's going on? You know, the world is the world.
It's becoming more corrupt, filthy, and ungodly. Jesus said in the Book of Revelation, He said, let the filthy be filthy. Let the ungodly be ungodly, the unrighteous be unrighteous, but let the righteous be righteous.
Amen? The world is only going to get worse. But we cannot allow that overall feeling of apathy to come in and think, oh, well, there's nothing we can do about it.
It's just the way it is. It is what it is. No, we've got to be steadfast and unmovable.
Amen? And today we're going to minister a word that shows you that God is God and He changes not. So turn with me in Proverbs 16 and 2, and you'll recognize this verse.
It's used a lot by many. All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirits. The Lord weighs the spirits.
What does it mean He weighs the spirits? We need to find out what that means. Drop down to verse 11.
A just weight and balance are the Lord's. All the weights of the bag are His work. Okay, so we're talking about weighing here, and now we're getting a little better idea of what He's talking about.
A just weight and balance. So we're talking about being weighed in the balances. And we're finding out that the weights are in a bag, and the bag belongs to the Lord, and the weights belong to the Lord.
Let's flip to the left and go to Proverbs 11 and look at verse 1. A false balance is abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is his delight. So now we're introduced to the fact that there are just or right weights, and we find out they're also false ones, and they are an abomination to God.
Let's flip to chapter 20, Proverbs 20, and looking at verse 10. Diverse weights and diverse measures, both of them are alike abomination to the Lord. So diverse weights and diverse measures are an abomination to the Lord.
Drop down to verse 23. Diverse weights are an abomination unto the Lord, and a false balance is not good. So we're learning here that God weighs the hearts, the ways of man, and He weighs them on a balance.
The balance is a scale. And I know that we have modern ideas of what a scale is. But if you go to the grocery store, and you want to go in the produce department, and you want to purchase some oranges or whatever, and you want to buy them by the pound, then they have a scale, and the scale is freestanding.
So when you put your produce in there, that hand on the produce scale goes around and stops at the correct weight of the merchandise you put in there. So if you're going to pay two dollars a pound for apples, and it stops at one and a half pounds, how much are you going to pay? Three dollars.
And you know that. Amen? And it might even be broken down less than that.
It could be ounces in between. But that scale is going to say how much it weighs. And then you can decide, okay, do I have enough money to pay for that?
Do I want to put some more in? Or do I want to take some out? And then when you get up to the cashier, she's going to have a scale right there, built into her cash register, where she puts it, or he puts it there, and it'll calculate it to the ounce of what you purchased.
That's our idea of a scale. And it has to be calibrated to the correct amount. You know, if they got two scales, an ounce has got to be an ounce on both of them alike.
And a pound has got to be how many ounces? 16 ounces. I don't care if you go to every grocery store in Baltimore City, a pound is 16 ounces.
Amen? Anywhere you go in the state of Maryland, a pound is 16 ounces. Anywhere you go in the United States of America, you're going to find out that a pound is 16 ounces.
It's always that. So it's calibrated. That's the right amount that a pound is, and therefore you will pay accordingly so much a pound is that they're going to charge you.
So it's always a good idea if you happen to look at a scale before you put your produce on it, and instead of that arrow being up here at zero, it's already over here at five ounces. It's not calibrated right, and guess what? You're going to get cheated.
Amen? You're going to get five ounces less in your pound. You're going to be cheated.
How many understand that concept? You know, how many know if you got on those old-fashioned mechanical scales, you always had to make sure that it was on zero. And every once in a while, it gets off, you know, from getting on and getting off and getting on.
And one day, you get on there, you say, praise God, I just lost five pounds. Hallelujah. And you get off and look, and saw it wasn't on zero.
It had crept up on you. Amen. So what the Bible is saying is you've got to have a just or correct scale.
No problem with this changing things. But now we have to understand what their scales look like in Bible times. You know, when I was a little girl, my mother had this on her dining room table.
It was one of those scales that had the bar going across, chains hanging down with a little like cup plate type thing, and she had all kinds of fruit on there. It did not work. It was not a working scale.
It was for decor. But it represented what a genuine scale would have looked like in Bible days. However, theirs would have worked.
And so what they would have done is, you would have put your merchandise on one plate. That would make it go down. And the other one's up here.
It's empty. So what they would do is reach into their bag. They carried a bag that had different weight sizes, little pieces of metal.
And one would weigh so many ounces, and one would weigh half a pound or whatever. Now, they didn't use pounds and ounces, but I'm going to say that to make it for us to understand. And so the seller would put the weights on there.
And once he had enough weights so that now it's balanced, it's even, it's perfectly balanced. So depending on what weights he put on there tells him how much this weighs. And now you know, you cannot know the value of something unless you know how much it weighs.
The weight determines the value. And so he would put his little weights on there until they were even and balanced. So that's what it means to be weighed in the balances.
You're put on this. You're here, and your merchandise is here, and the weights are put on here. And that is how business was done in Bible times.
And always the size or the weight of an item determined its cost and its value. Now, as we said a moment ago, in America a pound is always 16 ounces. And they too had their measurements that were the standard.
16 ounces to a pound is a standard. It's unchangeable. It's unalterable.
You cannot just go through changing what a pound weighs. You can't do it. It's a standard that we all go by in this nation.
Amen? But back in Bible times, because they had to reach into the bag and pull out the various weights that were different weights, but they were standard. They knew which one was.
They were marked. This weighs this much. This weighs this much.
But they had two sets of weights. They had one that was the real, genuine weight, and they had others that were heavier or lighter than the actual ounce or whatever they were, measurement they were using. So they had two sets of weights.
That's what we read. Diverse weights are an abomination. Diverse means more than one, several.
And that's what they did. They had more than one set of weights that they carried around. And we read it's a false weight.
No wonder it was abomination to God because they were ripping the people off. They were cheating them. And God said that's an abomination to do that.
It's one of the commandments. Thou shall not steal and thou shall not lie. And they both were acting there.
Amen? And so if they had a weight, and they said, okay, this weight is one ounce. I'm pulling this out of my one ounce, but really it weighed three ounces.
But they said, this is my one ounce weight. And they put those ones that really weighed three ounces on here, which meant that very quickly it's going to be even. But guess what?
You're going to be paying more than what your item really weighed because they put a false weight on there. And they're going to cheat you. And this is what God was saying.
He was angry. He said, you have a false balance and false weights, and that's an abomination to me. And saints, it is out of this concept, this Biblical concept that comes, this figure of speech that we say, they have a double standard.
Because the weights were the standard. They were supposed to be the standard size every time. But they had a false set.
They had a second set. They had double sets. And they used them to their advantage.
So, when they were trying to sell something to someone, they put a heavier weight on there, making the person pay more money for less. Amen? And they would flip it on the other way.
When they wanted to buy something from someone, they would put a lighter weight on there. So, you see that how that they were cheating, and God said this is an abomination.
Here's another interesting fact. We're talking about pretty much consumerism. You know, we're looking at the consumer world, the business world where we go, merchants buy and sell, we buy and sell, amen?
And so, we're kind of looking at that. You know, in your kitchen, if it said the recipe calls for a pound of hamburger, you had a scale in your house, and you put the hamburger on there, and you put your weights on there till you got your pound of hamburger. So, you would know you've got the right amount for your recipe.
How many understand? So, whether you were going out in the marketplace, or whether it was in your home, you had a scale. And God said that these ones in the marketplace were cheating people because there was also what was called the temple standard, aka the sanctuary standard.
Think about this for a minute. In God's house, in the temple, bring it up to date, in the church, they had a set of scales, and a set of weights, and they were calibrated perfectly and properly to their just and right amounts. I'm not exactly sure what all they used them for, but suffice to say that in the house of God, they had a scale and a bag of weights, and they were the right and correct amounts.
How many are following me? And so they were called the temple standard and the sanctuary standard. And all weights and all balances out there in the consumer world or in people's private homes, they all had to conform to the temple, to the sanctuary set of weights and balances.
Anybody getting a message out of that? They all had to conform to the one that was in the temple. So you want to open up Sharon's produce shop.
You got to make sure that your scale, Sharon, is conformed to the one that was in the temple. You got to make sure that your weights are calibrated and they match the ones that are in the temple. It was God's standard in the temple that the people followed in the business world and followed in their own homes.
Amen? Because we just read it here in Proverbs 16 and 11. God said, a just weight, a correct weight, the right weight is the Lord's.
And all the weights in the bag are His. He's not a cheater. He's not a liar.
And He doesn't have two sets of weights. God doesn't have a double standard. Amen?
He doesn't have one standard that you go by when you're in church, and another one you go by when you're out in the world. He doesn't have one standard that we live by in the church house, and then when we get out there on our job, in our neighborhood, in our family, in our businesses, even in our political scene in the world today, another standard. No!
There is one sanctuary standard. God said that it is His. And when a standard is changed, there is no way to assign something's correct value.
It changes the values. If you change the standard, then the value of something is changed. How many follow that?
You know, they found the temple. They found one of the temple type sanctuary standards. Archaeologists found them in Israel.
One way that they knew for sure that they had found the house of Caiaphas, the high priest is the one that Jesus went to, they took him before Caiaphas. How many remember the story? And they were pretty sure they had found his house, the high priest, but they knew exactly that they had found it because they found the temple balances and weights there.
And they knew they had the right place. So God was very serious about this situation. Turn to Leviticus 19 and reading verse 35.
You shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in measure of length, in weight, or in measure. Just balances, just weights, a just afa, and a just hymn shall you have. I am the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt.
Therefore, you shall observe all my statues, all my judgments, and do them, because I am the Lord. So what is he talking about here? He said, you shall have no unrighteousness in your judgment, and when you are measuring things, whatever you're using, when you're using something to measure length, you're using it to measure width, amen?
You shall have no unjust measurements in your business. So now, here's the curious thing I find here. The word judgment here actually is the judicial word.
It means to judge something, like going to court and deciding a case in a suit where there's litigation. You're going before judges. A decision has to be made.
A sentence has to be passed. An execution has to be carried out. God said, when these things occur, you are to do it right.
One standard for everybody. Not two standards, letting the guilty off and condemning the innocent for reward or kickback or bribery. One standard for everybody.
Amen. And then he goes on and speaks about practical things. It says the meat yard.
What is a meat yard? A meat yard was a measurement of size, a portion of stature, weight. Again, we've talked about it.
How heavy is something? Measure. And really the Hebrew word is mesruah.
We've translated it right into the English measure. It's a designated portion that has to be consistent, unalterable, unchangeable. It's always the same once the standard is set.
And then he talks about the balances. As I described that to you, it's the scales. That's the balances.
And then he talks about the AFA. And AFA was an Egyptian measure of dry goods. And then he talks about the hin.
That was a measure of liquid goods. And usually was about five quarts. Here's the point.
You shall be righteous in how you decide legal matters. And you shall be honest in how you conduct business. No double standard.
Turn to Deuteronomy 25 and looking at verse 13. Thou shalt not have in thy bag divers weights a great and a small. We talked about that.
You know what that means. Thou shalt not have in thine house divers measures a great and a small. Again, can have two sets of weights.
But thou shalt have a perfect and just weight. A perfect and just measure shalt thou have, that thy days may be lengthened in the land which the Lord thy God gives thee, for all that do such things and all that do unrighteously are an abomination unto the Lord your God. So again, God was saying no double standard.
You know, when we got to the time of the prophets, the minor prophets, by then, Israel and Judah were both so corrupt, so corrupt, and they had really gone back on all God's commandments. And we can hear the voice of the prophets. Amos said in Amos 8.5, You make the Aphos small of the shekel and the shekel great to falsify the balance by deceit.
God said through Hosea 12.7, he says, The balances of deceit are in your hand. And in Micah 6.11, Shall I count them pure with the wicked balances and with the bag of deceitful weights? So God was condemning them and saying, You want me to say that you're pure?
When you've got wicked balances and deceitful weights, amen? God said, No, that is an abomination unto me. But you shall have a perfect and a just measure.
And the word perfect means complete and whole. And we know it means to be consistent, the same measure every time, for everyone, for everything you measure. He said, Don't even have an unjust measure in your house.
Now, in your house, you're probably not buying and selling. I don't know. But he said, Don't even have it in your house.
Because if you have an unjust scale and unjust measures in your house, you may be tempted to use them some time. You may have a situation that arises where you've got to make a decision. And let's take this in the spirit now.
It may be a decision of morality. And you've got to decide what you're going to do. And if you've got two sets of standards, and you've got that one that's wrong, you may be tempted to use that wrong one.
Now this just popped in my head, so I'm going to say it. Let's say that you're a parent, your parents, and you have a child or a grandchild who is not married and living with their lover. You love your child, you have fellowship with your child, you have dinner with your child, they come over, you eat, you go out.
But let's say that they want to come now and stay at your house with their lover. So what standard are you going to use? You're going to have a standard because, well, it's my child, and I'm going to keep my good eye on them, but they're sleeping in the same bedroom, but you know, it's my child, and I don't want to alienate them, and I don't want them to be mad at me, because then they probably won't come to church, or they won't do this, or they won't do that, and your child knows better.
We're talking about someone who knows better. Amen? And even if they didn't know better, now that you're a Christian and live a godly life before them, and you explain them into the Scripture, why I can't do that.
You're my kid, and I love you, and I'm not throwing you under the bus. Amen? But I can't countenance what you're doing by letting you stay in my home.
How many understand? I can't have a double standard. You know, as long as it wasn't your kid, look at them, they're letting their kid stay in that house, and they ain't married.
But when it's their kid, all of a sudden, it's a different story. Okay, I'm going to move right along. Because that wasn't even in my notes.
You got that for free. Amen. So here's the point, God is saying, don't have an unjust scale and weights in your house, because you might get tempted to use them.
Amen. God says that these are an abomination to Him. So let's move along.
What is the bag? God said the bag is His, and the weights in the bag are His. So what is the bag?
Anybody want to take a guess? Hold up your Bible. That's the bag.
And the commandments in there, and the teachings of Jesus, and the teachings of the epistles of Paul and the other apostles, they are the weights. Amen. They are the weights, but today people have one standard in the church and another standard outside of the church.
And what has that done? That has devalued the authenticity of the Word of God. Now, let's get this straight.
It doesn't change the Word of God. It doesn't alter the Word of God. But in their sight and in the sight of all those around them, it devalues it.
Amen. And so they begin to alter the Word of God to the world standards. And God said, You are to conform your standard to my sanctuary standard.
Amen. And that's exactly what has happened. The world of America has rejected the Ten Commandments.
It's stripped them out of the public square. Some of them have been there for decades. And some even longer.
Amen. But they're removing them from society. And, I mean, literally removing the granite that they're etched in.
Amen. The standard of prayer and Bible reading, stripped from America. And now it's not only in the schools, now it's in the military.
How can you be a chaplet in the military and you can't read the Bible and pray for people? Amen. There are places that if you wear a cross to work, they'll tell you to take it off.
And let's face it, for some people, it's just a piece of jewelry. They are no more thinking about Jesus dying on that cross for their sins and the man in the moon. Amen.
But let a true Christian, let a real Christian come and wear a cross, and all of a sudden HR is calling for them to come down, telling them you need to take that cross off. Amen. And all the while, we're importing the gods of all the people coming to America.
We're importing their gods with them. Amen. They're bringing their gods with them.
Now, if they bring their gods with them, then what our job is to do is to bring them to Christ, to bring them to the Lord, and show them, like Paul did when he went to Athens, you are serving an idol. Can that idol talk to you? That's a stone idol made with somebody's hands.
And you're going to call that your god? But instead of us being able to do that, because now Christianity is being persecuted, ridiculed, and prosecuted, we're no longer able to share our faith openly and publicly. So now we got the double whammy of importing idol gods into America, and Americans now getting our hands tied and getting duct tape put over our mouths so we can't share the gospel with them.
Amen? You know it's true. So we have changed our standards.
Listen to this. To accommodate our preferences. The standard of biblical truth is mocked.
Because now truth is relative. Truth is relative. Whatever you decide is truth for you is okay.
And whatever you decide for truth for you is okay. And so on and so on. And it's okay for you even if it doesn't fit with the societal norm.
Even if your truth doesn't fit what 98% of the society believes about marriage and other things like that. It's okay. Your truth is your truth.
Even if it doesn't fit with societal norm, and much, much less if it fits with the biblical standards that God said. We each can create our own standard of truth. Everybody gets to create their own standard.
Now, just let me throw this out to you. If we all changed how many ounces are in a pound, what would we have in this country? We would have chaos.
You wouldn't know how much to pay for what. And people would start arguing and fighting and shooting because you overcharge them, because your pound weighs so much and their pound weighs so much. And it's the same way that we're talking about now.
When everybody creates their own standard of truth, you have chaos. You have confusion.
Amen, what an eye-opening word of the Lord. America weighed in the balance. God said it was an abomination for his people to corrupt the temple standards of measures by having two sets of weights in the bag, one honest and the other deceptive, so as to cheat people into getting less product for their money.
Every scale and set of weights in Israel was to conform to the set of weights in the house of God. But dishonest sellers had two sets of weights in their bags, using the heavier set when they sold their merchandise. This is where the term double standard comes from.
And when you change the standard, the weight of something, you change its value. God said in Proverbs 16, 11, The bag and the weights in the bag are his. The bag is the Bible, and its laws are the weights, the standard of right and wrong.
And America was founded on these Jodeo-Christian standards. Today, there is a double standard in America and in the church. People have created their own set of corrupt weights, devaluing the truth of God's Word.
We've come to the place, as Isaiah prophesied, when they call evil good and good evil. And when a society changes its standards, it then must change its laws to facilitate the new standards. This necessitates re-defining words to conform to the new laws.
Sin is a weakness, a disease. It's an alternate lifestyle. What was once a personal preference, such as homosexuality, is now the new standard for which the law was changed to legalize same-sex marriage in America.
And God's standard for marriage was struck down. It has opened the door to prosecute Christian vendors who will not participate in same-sex weddings. Men can change standards, laws, and dictionaries, but it won't change the reality.
God holds the scales and the weights in His bag. America Weighed in the Balance is a fresh word in due season, and it's available today on CD for your love gift for the ready of ministry of $10 or more. Request SK201.
Mail to Sound of Faith, PO. Box 1744, Baltimore, Maryland, to 1203, or shop online at soundoffaith.org, where you can order on MP3s. But to order by mail, send a minimum love gift of $10.
Request SK201 to PO. Box 1744, Baltimore, Maryland, 21203. Saints, I hope you will order the CD, and even shop our e-store for other timely messages by myself and my dad, Brother Hardy.
But if not, I urge you to send your best donation to help us with the cost of airtime on this station. If you are inspired, informed, blessed, and refreshed by our program, we want to hear from you, and your support can help us stay on this station. Until next time, this is Sharon Knotts saying, Maranatha.
Are you serious about your relationship with God? In this episode, Rabbi Schneider lists the things God hates and informs believers what the first step is to stay on track with God.
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Welcome to Discovering The Jewish Jesus. I'm your host, Dustin Roberts, and today Rabbi Schneider is going to help us discover God's covenant names.
Have you ever wondered what it truly means to know God? That's a deep question. And to understand God's hearts and his desires, what grieves him?
Well, today, Rabbi Schneider, he's gonna take us on a journey into the very essence of God's sacred names. And by diving into the depths of God's names, we'll discover a lot about God's character. We'll see how much he longs to have a relationship with us, a personal relationship.
It's gonna be an eye-opening message. So let's get started with today's message from our study called To Know Him by Name. Here's Rabbi Schneider.
Baruch Hashem, blessed be the name of the Lord. I'm excited about this series. This is one of those series that brings me particular joy.
And we've been digging in to the mystery of the revelation of God's sacred, personal covenant name, Yud Hei Vav Hei, which most Semitic scholars believe is pronounced a breathy, Yuh Weh. And I'm launching straight ahead right now as we're continuing our dialogue on this subject. It truly is a series, beloved.
I'm just excited to bring it to God's people because I think there's so much here and many of God's beloved children have not been exposed to this teaching. And it's so sacred and so important. I know it's gonna be a blessing for so many people's lives.
People that love truth, love truth. And this is fundamental truth as we explore who God wants to be to us through the revelation of his personal names and title in Scripture. We can't see God, he's invisible, but we can know him through his self-revelation.
And his self-revelation comes to us in the form of his revealed names. As I've been saying, Yahweh is the Lord's personal covenant name. And I left off on the last episode, we're talking about how Yahweh is a person, and we can grieve him and hurt him.
And I want to continue down this trail today by taking a deep look in Scripture according to Yahweh himself, about the things that humankind can do that hurt him. I shared with you that in Ezekiel 6,9, the Lord speaking to Israel said, you have hurt me. And when I read that, it just pierced my heart.
It's not just about us, it's about him. Now here we go. We're looking at Proverbs 6,16-19.
There are six things which the Lord Yahweh hates. Yes, seven which are abomination to him. So what's the point?
Yahweh said, you've grieved me in Genesis chapter six. The Lord said, you hurt me in Ezekiel chapter six. And now we're saying, what are the things that you and I need to guard our hearts against so that we don't find ourselves amongst those that hurt and grieve Yahweh and his spirit?
Don't you want to know that? Don't you want to know what hurts and grieves God so you can guard your life from it? And know that as you do, put into place those measures to keep your relationship with Yahweh connected.
It means that oftentimes you'll be separated from other people because the world is going one way and God's children are going another way. So realize there is a price to pay and just get ready to pay that cost. And when you do pay a cost to love him and be in fidelity to him, even if that means you're rejected by the world, you should rejoice because you're sharing in the sufferings of Jesus, who was rejected and crucified by the world.
Jesus said, if the world rejects them, neither are going to reject you. And we've been chosen not only to reign with Yeshua, but to suffer with him. So recognize that to be separate from the world because of your fidelity to Yahweh means that you're going to be excluded by the world.
Jesus said, if you are of the world, the world would love you. If you act like the world, if you dress like the world, if you talk like the world, if you entertain yourself with the world, Jesus said, the world's going to love you because the world loves its own. If you're of the world, Jesus said, the world would love you.
But because I chose you on the world, said Yeshua, therefore the world hates you. So I just want you to get ready. If you're serious about your relationship with God, you've got to count the cost and recognize that there's a price to pay and make a decision to happily bear the cross, the cross of the world's reproach because of your love for Jesus and know that there's a great reward coming.
So here we go. What hurts Yahweh? There are six things which the Lord hates, yes, seven, which are an abomination to him.
And now we're going to list them. We're going to go through each one. Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil, a false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among brothers.
Seven things Yahweh hates. Let's take a look at them. Number one, haughty eyes.
What does this mean? To carry yourself with a puffed up heart, to look down upon other people, to judge other people. Just pride is basically what it is.
But if you think about it, how many social contexts have you been in where either you had a haughty spirit or somebody that you were with had a haughty spirit and the person that you were with had a haughty spirit and you just kind of like rolled with it all. But God hates it because you and I, we are what we are by the grace of God. Whatever we have that's good, we only have for one reason, because Yahweh gave it to us.
Are you smart? You don't look down upon people that are maybe as intelligent or as gifted to you in some type of intellectual context because you know what? You're only who you are because the Lord made you that way.
We are humble. We humble ourselves. Everyone's our brothers and sisters.
So Yahweh hates when his people carry themselves with a haughty spirit. Then the Lord continues, a lying tongue. Six, yea, seven things which the Lord hates.
The next one he lists is a lying tongue. Are you aware of things that are coming out of your mouth that aren't really authentic or true, but yet you say them because you want to fit in? I'm not putting anybody down, but I want you to examine yourself, just as I am continually examining myself.
Are you even laughing at jokes that people say that you don't even think are funny or even are an insult to God because you want to be accepted? You know, when you laugh at a lie, you've become, in a sense, part of a lie. That's a lying spirit.
And you know what? This is a problem that many of us have to be careful about. Exaggeration, exaggerating a circumstance, exaggerating telling about a circumstance.
Exaggeration is lying. And if we say something that's not true just because we want to appease people around us or because we're afraid of the consequences of telling the truth, you know what? We're living in the spiritual dynamic of a lie.
We must be truthful. The Bible says that the church is the pillar of truth in the earth. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.
I want you to be aware, and even as I apply this to my own life, I want you to be aware of the words that come out of your mouth. Are they authentic, and are they true? Are they truly true?
And so, as you're in a situation, you don't know, well, how can I tell the truth? Because if I tell the truth, it's going to create this conflict. If you're committed to telling the truth, I believe from experience, God will give you the wisdom to tell the truth in such a way that it doesn't cause destruction, but brings the whole situation forward deeper into the light.
And then the Lord continues here, hands that shed innocent blood. Now, what does this mean? It means taking advantage of innocent people for our own financial gain.
We need to be careful how we treat other people, especially people that are too vulnerable or too naïve to know how to protect themselves. How do you treat people that might be challenged in some way, whether it's physically or mentally or emotionally? This is so important.
I mean, God is for the underdog. God is for the challenged and the disenfranchised. We need to be so careful with how we treat people.
And I believe this concept of shedding innocent blood conveys the idea of making sure that we treat those in society that are very vulnerable with love and respect and sensitivity. Do you do that? Do you do that?
You're listening to Discovering the Jewish Jesus with Rabbi Schneider. We want you to know there are so many ways that you can watch and listen to Rabbi's programs. Online, you'll find us at discoveringthejewishjesus.com.
You can find resources like our television broadcast schedule, Rabbi's messages on your podcasting platform, YouTube content, devotionals, and much more. You can even follow us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Check out all these resources online today.
At the core of everything we do at Discovering The Jewish Jesus is our commitment to declare the whole council of God's Word from start to finish. In fact, Rabbi's unique way of connecting the Old and the New Testaments has helped people all over the world to understand the Bible with fresh eyes. To join us in this work of God, give a donation online today at discoveringthejewishjesus.com, or call 800-777-7835.
And now here is Rabbi Schneider.
Continuing on, God hates a heart that devises wicked plans. I mean, think of the media today. Think of our major media outlets, our news channels.
Always thinking about how to spin something out there to create controversy. All it does is it brings society from one degree of evil into another degree of evil. Looking for ways to scheme and to create chaos to bring forth that which is the spectacular.
Thinking of an evil plan to bring forth the spectacular into the news cycle, just so they can get more reviews and the destruction that's caused to society. God is going to crush all this and destroy it. He hates it, hates it, hates it.
And we can't have anything to do with it. Paul said, stay away from conversations that really are just wicked, conversations that lead to nothing profitable. But he said instead, speak forth that which is edifying.
And God hates feet that rapidly run to evil. What does it mean to rapidly run to evil? Well, I just think of gossip.
Do you have to resist gossiping about somebody else? Many of you do. You know what?
Resist it. A lot of times, I want you to hear this, a lot of times we try to escape our own issues, the pain in our own life, our own emotional disturbance. We try to escape ourselves, listen now, by gossiping about other people.
And this leads us to rapidly run to evil, to do things that are evil because we're trying to escape the lack of peace that we have in our own life. Yahweh hates this. He sees right through it.
The Word of God is living and active and sharper than a two-edged sword, and it divides the soul from the spirit. God knows exactly what's going on in your life and why you do the things you do. And you and I need to get a hold of ourself and develop enough self-awareness that we can understand why we do what we do and begin to separate our motives so we can abide and stay in Him.
And this has to do with the next thing that Yahweh hates, being a false witness who utters lies. It's so horrendous, and it's all over the place. It's all over the place.
I mean, if you think about this concept of feet running to evil and being a false witness and spreading lies, and the next one, spreading strife amongst others, just look at social media today. It blows me away sometimes. I'll put something out there on social media with the best of intent, and sometimes something that I think is just really gorgeous because it's the beauty of God.
I mean, I've released segments before on the beauty of God, and yet there's people out there, and they criticize it. It's like, what? What?
I remember one YouTube live that I did on the beauty of God, and I was wearing a hat that I had made up of all the colors of the rainbow because I was talking about an encounter I had with Jesus in which he manifested himself to me in living color. And I've had this hat for 10 years because of my earliest experience with Jesus in which he manifested himself to me in association with color. And so I was wearing this hat, talking about the beauty of God, and talking about how I had just had this encounter with the Lord, and he manifested his beauty to me through electric living color.
And one of the comments was right away, if you've had that hat for 10 years, why didn't you wear it on television before? And it's like, what? We're talking about the beauty of God.
And yet, to the pure, all things are pure. But to the filed person, everything is defiled, and the lens that they see from is defiled. The point is, beloved, this is what we see on social media today.
So much hate, so much hate and division. And it's just like, this is from the power of darkness, and we need to see it for what it is and separate ourselves from it. Not get involved in conversation about it, not have anything to do with it.
Push it away and keep your eyes on Yahweh like a racehorse that has blinders, and you have to resist, because evil is alluring. Listen, isn't there something in us we want to gossip? In our heart, there's something in us that want to say something about somebody which we know isn't right to say.
We want to contribute our two cents to the conversation and speak something negative about a situation or a person. We have to recognize that we need to close the door to that and not say it. Again, the last thing that Yahweh hates is a false witness who speaks or utters lies and someone that spreads strife amongst others.
We have to guard our tongue. James said, if you could control your tongue, you'll control the destiny of your life. One of the first and most important things that we should do as believers, beloved, to get on track with Yahweh, to get power released into our life, is to control our tongue.
We can be sent into the Spirit and have a sense of, I should or shouldn't say it. That's what we need to do. So I want to continue on now, moving from the negative aspect of what hurts Yahweh, what grieves Yahweh, what Yahweh hates.
I want to move forward now into who He is and focus on His glory, focus on His beauty. Now, how do we know, moving on from where we've been, who this great, glorious, beautiful God of ours is? Who is Yahweh?
He's a person and He's sensitive, but who is He? Well, my beloved friend, I believe one of the greatest portions of Scripture is found in the book of Shemot, or Exodus, chapter number 33. In Exodus 33, what we have here is that Moses is crying out to this one that he had met at the burning bush, Yahweh, to show him his glory.
Moses is saying to Yahweh, show me your glory. Yahweh commissioned Moses to lead Israel out of Egypt into the promised land and into the desert to worship him. But Moses is insecure about this call.
So he keeps on asking Yahweh to help him to know that he's with them. Moses says, show me your favor. Help me to know your favors with me.
And Yahweh says, my favor is with you. And finally, the conversation between Moses and Yahweh comes to the climax when Moses cries out, show me your glory. And Yahweh says to Moses, no man can see my face and live Moses.
But I want you to go into the cleft of the rock and call upon my name. Call the name of Yahweh. And I'm gonna pass by in front of you.
And you won't be able to see my face, but you'll see my back. And I'm gonna proclaim my name to you. So, Moses goes in the cleft of the rock, and he calls upon the name Yahweh.
And Yahweh passes by and proclaims to Moses his name. And Moses is filled with the revelation knowledge of who this person, who this Yahweh is. When a rocket takes off from planet Earth, it has to break through the gravity that surrounds the world in order to become weightless.
In the same way, there are certain things, beloved, that you and I must do to get free in Yeshua. Jesus said, he that tries to save his life will lose it, but he that loses his life for my sake shall save it. In order to lose our life, in order to live lives of sacrifice, in order to be givers, we have to break through the resistance of being takers and being selfish.
I want to encourage you, beloved ones, to practice this principle with your finances. It may seem like I'm just a preacher asking for money, but the fact is, what I'm sharing with you is true. I would simply say this, all of us need to be givers, and all of us need to honor the Lord with our finances.
If this ministry's been a blessing to you, I want to encourage you, make a sacrificial gift unto the Lord through Discovering The Jewish Jesus today. God bless you. Thank you in advance, and shalom.
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It'll help you sift through other thoughts that come from yourself, thoughts that might come from the enemy, or maybe that other people are even sharing with you, to recognize when it is that God's actually speaking to you. And you can get your free copy right now. Just go online to myfreegift.com/hearing.
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That's all the time we have for today right now. And as always, we close each program with a special blessing. Here's Rabbi.
In the Old Testament Book of Numbers, we find a blessing God speaks over his children through Moses and Aaron. It carries the idea of favor and expression. Open your heart to the Spirit and the Word today and receive Father's goodness into your life with confidence.
The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift you up with his countenance, and the Lord give you, beloved one, his peace.
God bless you, and shalom.
Let our prayer team pray for you. We lift up every individual request before the Lord. And then, as God answers your prayer request, or if God has touched your life through Discovering the Jewish Jesus,Welcome to Discovering The Jewish Jesus. I'm your host, Dustin Roberts, and today Rabbi Schneider is going to help us discover God's covenant names.
Have you ever wondered what it truly means to know God? That's a deep question. And to understand God's hearts and his desires, what grieves him?
Well, today, Rabbi Schneider, he's gonna take us on a journey into the very essence of God's sacred names. And by diving into the depths of God's names, we'll discover a lot about God's character. We'll see how much he longs to have a relationship with us, a personal relationship.
It's gonna be an eye-opening message. So let's get started with today's message from our study called To Know Him by Name. Here's Rabbi Schneider.
Baruch Hashem, blessed be the name of the Lord. I'm excited about this series. This is one of those series that brings me particular joy.
And we've been digging in to the mystery of the revelation of God's sacred, personal covenant name, Yud Hei Vav Hei, which most Semitic scholars believe is pronounced a breathy, Yuh Weh. And I'm launching straight ahead right now as we're continuing our dialogue on this subject. It truly is a series, beloved.
I'm just excited to bring it to God's people because I think there's so much here and many of God's beloved children have not been exposed to this teaching. And it's so sacred and so important. I know it's gonna be a blessing for so many people's lives.
People that love truth, love truth. And this is fundamental truth as we explore who God wants to be to us through the revelation of his personal names and title in Scripture. We can't see God, he's invisible, but we can know him through his self-revelation.
And his self-revelation comes to us in the form of his revealed names. As I've been saying, Yahweh is the Lord's personal covenant name. And I left off on the last episode, we're talking about how Yahweh is a person, and we can grieve him and hurt him.
And I want to continue down this trail today by taking a deep look in Scripture according to Yahweh himself, about the things that humankind can do that hurt him. I shared with you that in Ezekiel 6,9, the Lord speaking to Israel said, you have hurt me. And when I read that, it just pierced my heart.
It's not just about us, it's about him. Now here we go. We're looking at Proverbs 6,16-19.
There are six things which the Lord Yahweh hates. Yes, seven which are abomination to him. So what's the point?
Yahweh said, you've grieved me in Genesis chapter six. The Lord said, you hurt me in Ezekiel chapter six. And now we're saying, what are the things that you and I need to guard our hearts against so that we don't find ourselves amongst those that hurt and grieve Yahweh and his spirit?
Don't you want to know that? Don't you want to know what hurts and grieves God so you can guard your life from it? And know that as you do, put into place those measures to keep your relationship with Yahweh connected.
It means that oftentimes you'll be separated from other people because the world is going one way and God's children are going another way. So realize there is a price to pay and just get ready to pay that cost. And when you do pay a cost to love him and be in fidelity to him, even if that means you're rejected by the world, you should rejoice because you're sharing in the sufferings of Jesus, who was rejected and crucified by the world.
Jesus said, if the world rejects them, neither are going to reject you. And we've been chosen not only to reign with Yeshua, but to suffer with him. So recognize that to be separate from the world because of your fidelity to Yahweh means that you're going to be excluded by the world.
Jesus said, if you are of the world, the world would love you. If you act like the world, if you dress like the world, if you talk like the world, if you entertain yourself with the world, Jesus said, the world's going to love you because the world loves its own. If you're of the world, Jesus said, the world would love you.
But because I chose you on the world, said Yeshua, therefore the world hates you. So I just want you to get ready. If you're serious about your relationship with God, you've got to count the cost and recognize that there's a price to pay and make a decision to happily bear the cross, the cross of the world's reproach because of your love for Jesus and know that there's a great reward coming.
So here we go. What hurts Yahweh? There are six things which the Lord hates, yes, seven, which are an abomination to him.
And now we're going to list them. We're going to go through each one. Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil, a false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among brothers.
Seven things Yahweh hates. Let's take a look at them. Number one, haughty eyes.
What does this mean? To carry yourself with a puffed up heart, to look down upon other people, to judge other people. Just pride is basically what it is.
But if you think about it, how many social contexts have you been in where either you had a haughty spirit or somebody that you were with had a haughty spirit and the person that you were with had a haughty spirit and you just kind of like rolled with it all. But God hates it because you and I, we are what we are by the grace of God. Whatever we have that's good, we only have for one reason, because Yahweh gave it to us.
Are you smart? You don't look down upon people that are maybe as intelligent or as gifted to you in some type of intellectual context because you know what? You're only who you are because the Lord made you that way.
We are humble. We humble ourselves. Everyone's our brothers and sisters.
So Yahweh hates when his people carry themselves with a haughty spirit. Then the Lord continues, a lying tongue. Six, yea, seven things which the Lord hates.
The next one he lists is a lying tongue. Are you aware of things that are coming out of your mouth that aren't really authentic or true, but yet you say them because you want to fit in? I'm not putting anybody down, but I want you to examine yourself, just as I am continually examining myself.
Are you even laughing at jokes that people say that you don't even think are funny or even are an insult to God because you want to be accepted? You know, when you laugh at a lie, you've become, in a sense, part of a lie. That's a lying spirit.
And you know what? This is a problem that many of us have to be careful about. Exaggeration, exaggerating a circumstance, exaggerating telling about a circumstance.
Exaggeration is lying. And if we say something that's not true just because we want to appease people around us or because we're afraid of the consequences of telling the truth, you know what? We're living in the spiritual dynamic of a lie.
We must be truthful. The Bible says that the church is the pillar of truth in the earth. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.
I want you to be aware, and even as I apply this to my own life, I want you to be aware of the words that come out of your mouth. Are they authentic, and are they true? Are they truly true?
And so, as you're in a situation, you don't know, well, how can I tell the truth? Because if I tell the truth, it's going to create this conflict. If you're committed to telling the truth, I believe from experience, God will give you the wisdom to tell the truth in such a way that it doesn't cause destruction, but brings the whole situation forward deeper into the light.
And then the Lord continues here, hands that shed innocent blood. Now, what does this mean? It means taking advantage of innocent people for our own financial gain.
We need to be careful how we treat other people, especially people that are too vulnerable or too naïve to know how to protect themselves. How do you treat people that might be challenged in some way, whether it's physically or mentally or emotionally? This is so important.
I mean, God is for the underdog. God is for the challenged and the disenfranchised. We need to be so careful with how we treat people.
And I believe this concept of shedding innocent blood conveys the idea of making sure that we treat those in society that are very vulnerable with love and respect and sensitivity. Do you do that? Do you do that?
You're listening to Discovering the Jewish Jesus with Rabbi Schneider. We want you to know there are so many ways that you can watch and listen to Rabbi's programs. Online, you'll find us at discoveringthejewishjesus.com.
You can find resources like our television broadcast schedule, Rabbi's messages on your podcasting platform, YouTube content, devotionals, and much more. You can even follow us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Check out all these resources online today.
At the core of everything we do at Discovering The Jewish Jesus is our commitment to declare the whole council of God's Word from start to finish. In fact, Rabbi's unique way of connecting the Old and the New Testaments has helped people all over the world to understand the Bible with fresh eyes. To join us in this work of God, give a donation online today at discoveringthejewishjesus.com, or call 800-777-7835.
And now here is Rabbi Schneider.
Continuing on, God hates a heart that devises wicked plans. I mean, think of the media today. Think of our major media outlets, our news channels.
Always thinking about how to spin something out there to create controversy. All it does is it brings society from one degree of evil into another degree of evil. Looking for ways to scheme and to create chaos to bring forth that which is the spectacular.
Thinking of an evil plan to bring forth the spectacular into the news cycle, just so they can get more reviews and the destruction that's caused to society. God is going to crush all this and destroy it. He hates it, hates it, hates it.
And we can't have anything to do with it. Paul said, stay away from conversations that really are just wicked, conversations that lead to nothing profitable. But he said instead, speak forth that which is edifying.
And God hates feet that rapidly run to evil. What does it mean to rapidly run to evil? Well, I just think of gossip.
Do you have to resist gossiping about somebody else? Many of you do. You know what?
Resist it. A lot of times, I want you to hear this, a lot of times we try to escape our own issues, the pain in our own life, our own emotional disturbance. We try to escape ourselves, listen now, by gossiping about other people.
And this leads us to rapidly run to evil, to do things that are evil because we're trying to escape the lack of peace that we have in our own life. Yahweh hates this. He sees right through it.
The Word of God is living and active and sharper than a two-edged sword, and it divides the soul from the spirit. God knows exactly what's going on in your life and why you do the things you do. And you and I need to get a hold of ourself and develop enough self-awareness that we can understand why we do what we do and begin to separate our motives so we can abide and stay in Him.
And this has to do with the next thing that Yahweh hates, being a false witness who utters lies. It's so horrendous, and it's all over the place. It's all over the place.
I mean, if you think about this concept of feet running to evil and being a false witness and spreading lies, and the next one, spreading strife amongst others, just look at social media today. It blows me away sometimes. I'll put something out there on social media with the best of intent, and sometimes something that I think is just really gorgeous because it's the beauty of God.
I mean, I've released segments before on the beauty of God, and yet there's people out there, and they criticize it. It's like, what? What?
I remember one YouTube live that I did on the beauty of God, and I was wearing a hat that I had made up of all the colors of the rainbow because I was talking about an encounter I had with Jesus in which he manifested himself to me in living color. And I've had this hat for 10 years because of my earliest experience with Jesus in which he manifested himself to me in association with color. And so I was wearing this hat, talking about the beauty of God, and talking about how I had just had this encounter with the Lord, and he manifested his beauty to me through electric living color.
And one of the comments was right away, if you've had that hat for 10 years, why didn't you wear it on television before? And it's like, what? We're talking about the beauty of God.
And yet, to the pure, all things are pure. But to the filed person, everything is defiled, and the lens that they see from is defiled. The point is, beloved, this is what we see on social media today.
So much hate, so much hate and division. And it's just like, this is from the power of darkness, and we need to see it for what it is and separate ourselves from it. Not get involved in conversation about it, not have anything to do with it.
Push it away and keep your eyes on Yahweh like a racehorse that has blinders, and you have to resist, because evil is alluring. Listen, isn't there something in us we want to gossip? In our heart, there's something in us that want to say something about somebody which we know isn't right to say.
We want to contribute our two cents to the conversation and speak something negative about a situation or a person. We have to recognize that we need to close the door to that and not say it. Again, the last thing that Yahweh hates is a false witness who speaks or utters lies and someone that spreads strife amongst others.
We have to guard our tongue. James said, if you could control your tongue, you'll control the destiny of your life. One of the first and most important things that we should do as believers, beloved, to get on track with Yahweh, to get power released into our life, is to control our tongue.
We can be sent into the Spirit and have a sense of, I should or shouldn't say it. That's what we need to do. So I want to continue on now, moving from the negative aspect of what hurts Yahweh, what grieves Yahweh, what Yahweh hates.
I want to move forward now into who He is and focus on His glory, focus on His beauty. Now, how do we know, moving on from where we've been, who this great, glorious, beautiful God of ours is? Who is Yahweh?
He's a person and He's sensitive, but who is He? Well, my beloved friend, I believe one of the greatest portions of Scripture is found in the book of Shemot, or Exodus, chapter number 33. In Exodus 33, what we have here is that Moses is crying out to this one that he had met at the burning bush, Yahweh, to show him his glory.
Moses is saying to Yahweh, show me your glory. Yahweh commissioned Moses to lead Israel out of Egypt into the promised land and into the desert to worship him. But Moses is insecure about this call.
So he keeps on asking Yahweh to help him to know that he's with them. Moses says, show me your favor. Help me to know your favors with me.
And Yahweh says, my favor is with you. And finally, the conversation between Moses and Yahweh comes to the climax when Moses cries out, show me your glory. And Yahweh says to Moses, no man can see my face and live Moses.
But I want you to go into the cleft of the rock and call upon my name. Call the name of Yahweh. And I'm gonna pass by in front of you.
And you won't be able to see my face, but you'll see my back. And I'm gonna proclaim my name to you. So, Moses goes in the cleft of the rock, and he calls upon the name Yahweh.
And Yahweh passes by and proclaims to Moses his name. And Moses is filled with the revelation knowledge of who this person, who this Yahweh is. When a rocket takes off from planet Earth, it has to break through the gravity that surrounds the world in order to become weightless.
In the same way, there are certain things, beloved, that you and I must do to get free in Yeshua. Jesus said, he that tries to save his life will lose it, but he that loses his life for my sake shall save it. In order to lose our life, in order to live lives of sacrifice, in order to be givers, we have to break through the resistance of being takers and being selfish.
I want to encourage you, beloved ones, to practice this principle with your finances. It may seem like I'm just a preacher asking for money, but the fact is, what I'm sharing with you is true. I would simply say this, all of us need to be givers, and all of us need to honor the Lord with our finances.
If this ministry's been a blessing to you, I want to encourage you, make a sacrificial gift unto the Lord through Discovering The Jewish Jesus today. God bless you. Thank you in advance, and shalom.
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And as our way of saying thanks for your generosity, we want to send you Rabbi Schneider's Message of the Month. It's available as a digital download, and we'll make sure that you receive our latest newsletter in the mail as well. And before we wrap up today, I want to share that Rabbi has a free gift for you.
And if you haven't claimed it yet, we don't want you to miss out on getting your copy of A Guide to Hearing God's Voice. It's an MP3 audio download, and it's a thought-provoking message that's aimed at helping you nurture your relationship with God. It's really good, and it'll help you recognize the Holy Spirit's leading.
It'll help you sift through other thoughts that come from yourself, thoughts that might come from the enemy, or maybe that other people are even sharing with you, to recognize when it is that God's actually speaking to you. And you can get your free copy right now. Just go online to myfreegift.com/hearing.
Once again, the web address is myfreegift.com/hearing.
And you know, together, we truly can deepen our understanding of Scripture and share it with the whole world. Your support, no matter what amount, it helps us do that. So make sure to give today at discoveringthejewishjesus.com or text your donation to us by typing the keyword rabbi to the phone number 45777.
That's all the time we have for today right now. And as always, we close each program with a special blessing. Here's Rabbi.
In the Old Testament Book of Numbers, we find a blessing God speaks over his children through Moses and Aaron. It carries the idea of favor and expression. Open your heart to the Spirit and the Word today and receive Father's goodness into your life with confidence.
The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift you up with his countenance, and the Lord give you, beloved one, his peace.
God bless you, and shalom.
Let our prayer team pray for you. We lift up every individual request before the Lord. And then, as God answers your prayer request, or if God has touched your life through Discovering the Jewish Jesus, send us your testimony.
We want to rejoice with you, and your testimony will encourage others. Submit your prayer request or testimony at discoveringthejewishjesus.com. You can also connect with us on your social media outlets to stay up to date on the content you love.
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and subscribe on YouTube. Connecting with Discovering the Jewish Jesus has never been easier.
Discovering the Jewish Jesus is a production of Shalom Ministries, and I'm Dustin Roberts. Join us again when Rabbi Schneider continues our study on God's names called To Know Him by Name. That's Wednesday on Discovering the Jewish Jesus. send us your testimony.
We want to rejoice with you, and your testimony will encourage others. Submit your prayer request or testimony at discoveringthejewishjesus.com. You can also connect with us on your social media outlets to stay up to date on the content you love.
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and subscribe on YouTube. Connecting with Discovering the Jewish Jesus has never been easier.
Discovering the Jewish Jesus is a production of Shalom Ministries, and I'm Dustin Roberts. Join us again when Rabbi Schneider continues our study on God's names called To Know Him by Name. That's Wednesday on Discovering the Jewish Jesus.
What does genuine humility look like? Today, Joyce shares scriptures to help you recognize true humility and practice it in your daily life.
This program is made possible by the partners of Joyce Meyer Ministries.
When we lift ourselves up, God is very capable of bringing us down. He invites us to humble ourselves under His mighty hand. But if we don't, He will do it for us.
And that is probably one of the most painful things that we can go through emotionally. I'm Joyce Meyer, and I believe that God can heal you everywhere you hurt.
Tonight, I'm speaking about pride and humility. Now, Andrew Murray wrote a book simply called Humility, and I recommend it. It's a small book, but it's very, very, very powerful.
People don't really understand how dangerous pride is and how powerful humility is. Now, I'm going to say it again. We don't really fully realize how dangerous a haughty spirit is and how powerful humility is.
Now, here's just a couple of things he said.
Pride, well, first, there is nothing so dangerous as pride. It's natural to us. It is insidious and yet hidden from our sight.
You see, people that have a problem with pride, the last thing they're going to do is face and admit that they have a problem with pride. That's why it's difficult to sell any kind of resources with the word pride on them, because people who need them would not want anybody to see them pick it up, lest somebody think they needed it. Pride is behind all lack of love, all indifference to the needs of others and their feelings, and their weaknesses.
It is the source of all hasty and critical judgments, all manifestations of temper, all touchiness, and irritation, all feelings of bitterness, and all unforgiveness come from a spirit of pride. Now, before I start talking to you about humility, I want to make it clear that humility is not a weak, wimpy, go-around, you know, with some supposed look of humility on your face all the time. To be honest, I think that just is annoying to God.
The place to be humble is in your heart and in your mind. And if you have a humble heart and a humble mind, then it's gonna come across in a right, godly way. A humble person doesn't think more highly of themselves than they ought to, but they don't think lowly of themselves either.
They really just don't have themselves on their mind that much. They know who they are in Christ, and in him, they're bold and courageous. God has called us to be bold and to be courageous, but that doesn't mean to be obnoxious and to walk all over people and to hurt other people.
So, true humility will be bold in Christ, and I want to take a few minutes to talk to you about being bolder, and especially being bolder in prayer. We're nothing in ourselves, but we're everything in Christ. I can do nothing without him, but I can do anything that he wants me to do through him.
Come on, now. I can't do it without him, but I can do whatever I need to do through him. Can I tell you that you are stronger than you think you are?
Get the words, I can't, out of your repertoire of words that you use. And don't be going around saying, it's too hard, I can't. You can do whatever you need to do in this life, if you lean on Christ and trust him to help you.
Amen? You can be in a very, very difficult situation and you can be there with a smile on your face and you can be there and be a blessing to other people while you are hurting yourself. I think I'm gonna say that again.
Because, see, sometimes we just think if we're in a difficult situation, then the whole world has to stop until our problem gets solved. And that's just not true. While you're hurting, God will use you to help somebody else if you'll let him.
And that's one of the quickest ways to receive your own healing. While you're hurting, you can be in a very difficult situation and you can be there with a smile on your face and a good attitude. And while you're waiting for your breakthrough, you can and should be a blessing to other people.
Somebody say, Amen.
In Ephesians 312, the Apostle Paul said, Because of our faith in him, we dare to have the boldness, the courage, and the confidence of free access, an unreserved approach to God with freedom and without fear. Now here's Paul who says, I'm the chief of all sinners, but yet he's also saying, in Christ, because of knowing who we are in him, we can have boldness and access to the throne of God to go boldly before the throne and ask God for radical things in our life that we don't deserve and probably shouldn't have, but we can ask him because he's good. Maybe some of you are not asking for enough.
I'll tell them you didn't like it. Maybe some of you are not asking for enough.
You know, several years ago, I got this urge one day, and I believe we get Holy Ghost urges, amen? Don't push those down. If it's a fleshly urge, push it down.
But if it's a Holy Ghost urge, let it come up. Let it come out. And as I was praying one day, I got this urge to pray that God would let me teach the word to every human being on the planet.
Now, just hang on. My mind said, that is crazy. Nobody can do that.
And then the devil said, and who do you think you are? The enemy does not want you to pray bold prayers. You ought to pray something so big that you're not even sure God can answer it.
And I guess that's kind of the way I felt about that that day. God, I want to teach the word to every person on the planet. Well, we're not getting them all yet, but there's a whole bunch.
Our program is translated into 83, 85 different languages now. Translated. I don't know how in the world God does it.
This is what I do, and he gives us all these wonderful people that make all this other stuff happen, and all these wonderful ministry partners around the world, even like other ministries who partner with us in getting these translations and making these things happen. It's important for people to hear the gospel of Christ in their own language. Even if English is a second language for them, they need it in their own language because they can relax and receive it that way.
So we're on television across the Middle East, Africa, India, Asia, Mongolia, I mean places that I wouldn't even know how to get to. And the word works in people's lives, no matter what language they speak or what culture that they're from. Everybody needs Jesus.
So through the internet, through satellites, through television, through radio, through printed material, through books, the gospel is available to pretty much the whole entire planet now. And I'm not foolish enough to think that they're all watching me every day. I'm not that full of myself.
But I would, let me tell you one thing. I would rather pray big prayers and get part of it than to pray little prayers and get all of it. Come on.
So I'm challenging you to know you don't deserve it. That's the first qualification to go boldly before God. You know you don't deserve it.
I don't deserve when I'm getting ready to ask you. I don't deserve it. And I'm not coming in my name.
I'm coming in Jesus' name. And I know that I've done a lot of things wrong, but you said that you forgive me and you forget them. So I'm not even going to bother talking to you about my past.
Come on. Stop talking to God about something he forgot about a long time ago. You don't need to be talking to God about your past.
You need to talk about your future. How we begin in life is not nearly as important as how we finish. And I had a lousy start, but I'm determined to have a good finish.
How about you?
Okay, now listen, you have not because you ask not. God's not getting mad at you for asking. The worst thing that can happen if you ask for something you're not supposed to have is you just won't get it.
Amen. I'm not suggesting asking for a bunch of carnal stupid stuff, but start asking God to use you. Use me, God, use me to help somebody else.
Hebrews 4, 15 and 16 are wonderful scriptures. We have a high priest.
We do not have a high priest who is unable to understand and sympathize and have a shared feeling with our weaknesses and liabilities and infirmities and the assaults of temptation. But one who has been tempted in every point, just like we are yet, without sinning. Whatever you are going through, whatever your temptation might be, Jesus understands it because he also was tempted, yet he never sinned.
Isn't that awesome? How many of you especially, I think women are especially like this, you just want to feel that somebody gets you, that they understand you, you know? I finally told Dave, even if you don't understand, just lie to me and tell me you do.
And so now, one of his favorite things is I understand, and I just pretend like he does, and it makes me happy. Amen? But Jesus understands, and I love that about him, that no matter what I'm going through, on my weirdest of most weird days, he understands.
He gets you. Amen.
Verse 16 says, Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace, the throne of God's unmerited favor to us sinners, that we might receive mercy for our failures and find grace to help in good time for every need. Appropriate help, well-timed help coming just when we need it. When you have not behaved well, don't draw away from Jesus, run to him.
You can't hide from God, and believe it or not, he is great at helping people who don't deserve it. But you have not because you ask not. So start asking.
Learn how to pray your way through the day. Don't just pray for yourself, but pray for other people too. The righteous are bold as a lion.
I love that. Now, pride is extremely dangerous. And it's defined as to be lifted up to be high-minded, to indulge in self-esteem or self-confidence, and to glory in self-achievement.
I hope you noticed how many times the word self is used in that definition. Self, self, self, self, self. The Bible says if we're going to follow Christ, we need to take up our cross and follow him, forgetting ourselves.
That's the cross that we are to carry, is to get ourselves off of our mind, be Christ-minded, and let him flow through us. We die to self and live for him. Amen?
Pride and boasting go together. The proud person talks a lot about themselves. And I personally don't wish to have somebody full of pride for a good, close friend.
And when I meet somebody, and all they do is talk about their selves and tell me all about their accomplishments and everything they're doing, and it's them, them, them, them, them, them, them, all the time, I'm just like, really? That's just not really what I want to talk about all the time. Boasting is defined as the practice of quackery.
That's what it says, the practice of quackery. Pretending to be something that you're not. See, boasting is just dumb because anything good that we are able to do, it's only because Christ is doing it through us.
Amen.
Pretending to be something that you're not, it's created by high-mindedness, thinking that you know when you don't. Whew! Well, let me tell you what I know.
Well, let me tell you what I know. Well, I know, well, let me tell you what I know. You know, well, we don't know anything until we know that we don't know.
I love what the apostle Paul said, I'm determined to know nothing among you but Christ and Him crucified. And God wants us to have knowledge, but we don't need to go around trying to tell the whole world what we know. Thinking we're something that we're not.
Other familiar words are haughty, puffed up, vain, glorious. We might just simply say that a person that's proud, in a wrong way, is full of themselves. No, I'm proud of my children.
And to be honest, I'm proud of the work that's been accomplished in this ministry. But I remind myself on a regular basis that it is certainly God and not me. I am not foolish enough to think that I could ever, in any possible way, pull this off.
And I am very grateful that you showed up in this building tonight, and I believe that God brought you, amen? And I thank God every time there's people in the seats, because I had days when there weren't many. And let me tell you something, those days are good for all of us.
It's good for all of us to go through lean years and to not get what we want, because it helps us to appreciate what we have when God does open the winds of heaven and begin to pour out those blessings.
The sin that Satan committed was a sin of pride. He was originally an angel of worship. His body was made of musical instruments.
And he was an awesome, amazing, beautiful creature. But in Isaiah 14, beginning in verse 12, we're reminded of the fall of Satan. How have you fallen from heaven, O light bringer and day star, son of the morning?
How have you been cut down to the ground, you who weakened and laid low the nations, O you blasphemous satanic king of Babylon? You said in your heart, now I want you to notice how many times the word, the term I will is in here. I will ascend to heaven.
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will sit upon the mount of assembly in the uttermost north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds.
I will make myself like the most high. Ooh. And this was God's answer.
You shall be brought down to Hades. So when we lift ourselves up, God is very capable of bringing us down. He invites us to humble ourselves under His mighty hand.
But if we don't, He will do it for us. And that is probably one of the most painful things that we can go through emotionally, is to be all full of ourselves and have to have God show us that we're nothing without Him. Now, our society today is full of a lot of I wills.
And a lot of people think they don't need God. And that is so sad to me because God is so wonderful. He is so absolutely, totally amazing and wonderful.
I just don't get it why anybody would not want to have a relationship with such a good God as He is. I mean, I really just, I mean, I just don't get it. I don't understand.
Because when you have a relationship with God, not religion, but a relationship with God, and I think to be honest that bad experiences with religion is part of why so many people don't want anything to do with God. Jesus did not die so you could have a religion, or so I could have a religion. Don't be so proud of, well, I'm Catholic or I'm Lutheran, I'm Baptist, I'm Methodist, I'm Pentecostal.
Please don't be offended, but God don't give a rip. Amen.
Do you believe in Jesus, that he died for your sins? That he rose from the dead? That he paid for your sins, that through him you can have a brand new life?
Do you believe that God is good? Well, you see, I guess a lot of people in the world don't believe that, and the bottom line is, is I've often wondered sometimes, I read this someplace, I wonder how many people who claim that they're atheists, if they thought they could keep doing exactly what they're doing, and still have a relationship with God and the promise of going to heaven, I wonder how many would become believers then. See, the reason why people don't want to have a relationship with God is they want to do all these things that aren't right according to the Word, but they're all ruining them and destroying them.
We need to pray for people in the world today, and for a great harvest to come in, and we need to get out in the world and be shining lights. Give people an example of something to want. Show them what a relationship with Jesus is really like.
Amen. Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 13, 10, Pride is the root of all strife and all contention.
You can't have an argument with somebody unless somebody's in Pride. And how many arguments are there daily around the world just because people are trying to prove who's right? Let's look at Daniel chapter 4.
Stop fighting with people just to prove that you're right about something.
Now, there's a most amazing story in the fourth chapter of Daniel. You may or you may not be familiar with it. I want to encourage you to read the whole of the chapter later.
You can make it a Bible study one day next week. But I'm going to read enough of it and tell you about the story that we can learn the lesson out of this that God wants us to have for this evening.
Nebuchadnezzar, verse 1, Daniel 4, verse 1, Nebuchadnezzar the king to all the people, nations, and languages that dwell on the earth. May peace be multiplied to you. Now I want you to listen particularly to what he says in the next three verses.
It seemed good to me to show the signs and wonders that the most high God has performed toward me. How great are his signs and how mighty are his wonders. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and his dominion is from generation to generation.
Everything is about God. And I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at rest in my house and I was prospering in my palace. So as long as he had the right attitude and was given God all the glory for everything good that was going on in his life, and we need to voice that on a regular basis.
God, I know that I'm nothing without you. I appreciate everything that you've done for me and I don't take it for granted. Now watch what I'm going to say.
I don't want you to miss this. The greatest way that we can show that we really, really appreciate the good things that God has done for us is to go be a blessing to somebody else.
Don't let your gratitude just be a bunch of vain, empty words, but put some action behind it. God, you're good to me for no reason and I want to find somebody that doesn't even deserve goodness and be good to them just to show them how good you are. Tell you what, if every Christian would get out in the world and behave like this, it wouldn't be long and we'd all be able to go home.
Now, look at verse 30. I don't know how long these 27 verses took in real time, but it says something in here about 12 months. The king said, is not this the great Babylon that I've built as a royal residence and seat of government by the might of my power and for the honor and the glory of my majesty?
Now, it only took him 27 verses or a little over 12 months to go from everything is God, I would have nothing without God, all the credit belongs to God, to look what I've done and see how great I am. Now, it is very challenging for God to find any man or woman that he can do really great things through you and them not get full of themselves. Do you know how many things there are out there that try to steal our joy every single day?
If there's one thing we all have in common in today's world, it's problems and all these things can make it difficult to experience and maintain joy. So what are we supposed to do? Wait for everything to magically get better?
Or is there a way to find joy in spite of it all?
Moreover, let us also be full of joy when? One more time. Not be full of joy when your problems are over, but be full of joy now.
See, we can rejoice in our problems if we know that God is going to use it to work something good in us. The devil cannot beat you if you'll have that kind of a positive energy.
Learn to experience God's joy today and every day. In Joyce's book, Five Decisions That Bring Joy in a Difficult World. It's yours free upon request.
Joyce identifies specific choices you can make to experience more joy than you ever have before, as well as some practical keys to help you live out those choices on a daily basis. To get your free copy of Five Decisions That Bring Joy in a Difficult World, call us at 1-800-727-9673, or download a digital copy at joycemeyer.org or through the Joyce Meyer app.
If the devil cannot keep us sad and mad, then he loses the battle. I said if the devil cannot keep us sad and mad, he loses the battle. The devil don't want your stuff, he wants your joy.
Why? Because joy is strength. I'm talking about doing ordinary everyday life with a calm delight and a smile on your face because you know who you belong to and you know that in the end, what's going to happen.
Our circumstances may overwhelm us with worry, discouragements and fear, but God has a different plan for us. Start experiencing the joy you were created to have. Contact us today and request Joyce's free book, Five Decisions That Bring Joy in a Difficult World.
Call us at 1-800-727-9673 or download a digital copy at joycemeyer.org or through the Joyce Meyer app.
What if you were able to see the trials of your life the way God sees them?
Part of the beauty of being a believer is that you can have a problem and still enjoy your life.
Blessed in the mess from Joyce Meyer, order your copy today.
We hope you enjoyed today's program. We are so grateful to our Joyce Meyer Ministries partners who make this and all we do possible, including sharing God's word and offering help to people in need all over the world. This program has been made possible by the partners of Joyce Meyer Ministries.
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Welcome to Yankee Arnold Ministries. Dr. Arnold will be with you in just a moment, but first, we want you to know how much we appreciate your prayers and financial support. You may help this radio ministry by donating online at yankeearnold.com or by mail at Yankee Arnold Ministries, 7028 West Waters Avenue, Suite 316, Tampa, Florida, 33634.
Feel free to send Dr. Arnold your questions or comments to yankee at yankeearnold.com, and he will respond as quickly as possible. Now, here is Dr. Arnold with today's message.
The book of Colossians, chapter 3. Colossians and chapter 3. As you know, we are doing some studies in the book of Colossians.
It's a wonderful book. It's got so much to offer us, so much that would help us. Now, let me give you three things.
I wrote down three things. These are not things you have to write down, but the three things that I want to give to you that I believe will help you. It helped me years ago when I understood these three little things that I want to give to you.
Number one, if you can get upset because you're not top dog, can you still get upset because you are? Think about it. If you can get upset because you're not top dog, can you still get upset because you are a top dog?
Now, I want you to think about this. Let me give you another statement. Do you realize that to some people, your present position is top dog to someone else?
Do you realize that to some people, your present position is top dog to someone else? You once thought that also. You used to think, boy, if I could do what you're doing right now at one time in your life, you'd be top dog.
You'd be so pleased. You'd be so blessed if you could just do what you're doing. But there's something about human nature.
We are always wanting, what, more. We always want more. We're never satisfied.
We're always grabbing for more. Well, in the Book of Colossians, it's trying to help us to get a proper perspective. See, there's a divine perspective and a human perspective, and sometimes people can't seem to tell the difference.
But another statement I wanted to give you. If we murmur and complain about the job or position we don't have, then we don't deserve the one we do have. You ever heard of a story in the Bible about a guy named Saul, the first king?
Do you realize that Saul was the first king? He was head and shoulders above everybody. He had it made.
I mean, he was exactly what the people were looking for. But did you know there came a time in his life when he despised God blessing somebody else? Do you realize that you ought to be thrilled to death that God is using you?
And you need to be thrilled to death that God uses somebody else. Did you know that part of serving the Lord is being blessed by seeing what God does in the lives of everyone else? You want everyone to be blessed by God.
You want everyone to be used by God, don't you? You don't have to be top dog on anything, do you? It's so easy preaching and hard living, but that is what the Book of Colossians is talking about, this very thing.
Now, God says that when we trusted Christ as our Savior, we are seated in the heavenlies in Christ. We're with the Lord. When He died, I died.
When He was buried, I was buried. When He rose from the dead, I rose from the dead. When He ascended, I ascended.
And I am seen in the heavenlies in Christ. He is my life. When you and I were born again, we were born from above.
Our citizenship is in heaven. That's where your citizenship is. You see, we are just down here temporarily.
As a child of God, God allowed us to come into this world temporarily. Just for a short period of time. So that we would have an opportunity to lay up treasures in heaven.
Because see, once you are in heaven, you can't lay up treasure in heaven. You can only do it from here. But you are supposed to keep heaven in view.
We live on the earth remembering who we are, the child of God, where we came from heaven, and that I'm here temporarily in order to gain rewards, and then I'll be going back. So if you can understand that, it can help you. God, see, has done some wonderful things for us, given us opportunities to live.
We didn't ask for it. Just ask the way it is. God gave us the freedom to choose whether or not we would spend in eternity with the Lord or in hell.
I'm so thankful for the person who explained to me how to have eternal life. I was 18 years old. Heard it for the first time.
And so far, in another 52 years since then, nobody has ever talked to me about how to go to heaven. Nobody's ever tried to win me to Christ. In all these years, except that one man.
Boy, am I glad he didn't miss me. But he went to be with the Lord in heaven. And before he left, he told me an awful lot of things about heaven.
I didn't know any of it. But it created a desire within me that I begin to set my affections on things that are above. Because I begin to realize I'm not here for long.
I'm going there. And I want to please the one who saved me. I'm going to see God one of these days, face to face.
And I would love for him to say, Yankee, well done, thou good and faithful servant. So it doesn't matter if I've got money or no money, house or no house, good health, bad health. None of that matters.
All that matters is, did you, with what you have, where you are, were you faithful? Were you faithful to please and to honor God? You see, we think it's because of all the things in the world you can grab a hold of.
And God says just the opposite. It was everything they could get rid of. Do you know the apostles when they were here?
You realize how poor they were? I remember a statement made by Peter when they went into the temple, silver and gold have I none, but such as I have, give I thee. Silver and gold have I none.
Well, they must have been a failure. All just some of the most successful people in all the world. It all depends on perspective.
You see there in verse 1, if ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Look in verse 2, set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth. For if ye are dead, for you are dead and your life is hid with Christ and God, when Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall you also appear with him in glory.
Now, we know that one day, Jesus Christ is coming back in the air, and he's going to take us out of this world. That's called the rapture. We'll be caught up and meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Seven years later, he's coming back in power and great glory to the earth. And he says, then shall we appear with him in glory. We're going to have glorified bodies, perfect bodies.
He says, you're going to change these old vile bodies. We have no sinful nature. We're getting old.
We get sick. We get aches and pains. We start losing body parts.
Everything seems to go downhill. See, this is my hope chest. Someday, I hope that it will be a chest.
It ain't happened yet. I have to tell James Hayslip, he needs to do a little work on me. But I wouldn't mind looking like that, but it just seems like an awful lot of work.
Just too much work. So I just hope that God will just let me stay healthy enough until I can get done all that He wants me to do, and then I don't mind. See, I don't want to live forever.
I just want to live long enough to bury the rest of y'all, and then I'll be ready to go. I mean, somebody's got to bury you. And he makes this statement here in verse 4, Then shall you also appear with him in glory.
That day's coming. We're not there yet. We're still down here on planet Earth.
And look what he says in verse 5, Mortified therefore your members which are upon the earth. Now here in verse 5, we have what is called the perverted love. You see, there's things that you love, but it's perverted love.
Did you know that it's a perverted love that loves the things of the world? The lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of the... That's perverted love.
It's not the way that God intended to be. God wants us to love him more than the things of this world. But most people love the world and the things of the world, and they work all their life just for the things of this world, and you're going to lose them.
You're going to die one day, and you can't take anything with you. Naked you came into the world, and naked you shall return. And in between, you're going to get a little bit and lose a little bit.
And when the Lord really blessed Job, he says, The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. You see, when God gives you something, bless the Lord, oh my soul.
When the Lord takes it away, I'm sorry, this was your song.
Blessed is the Lord, who giveth and taketh away. What kind of an attitude would you have if God took away your health? What kind of an attitude would you have toward God if He allowed all of your money to be gone?
You say, that's already happened. What if He took away a loved one? Will you turn against God?
What could God allow to happen in your life to reveal to you that you don't really love Him like you think you do? You see, God is a jealous God. It means that He doesn't want to be replaced.
Idolatry is when you put something in place of God. You see, here's you and here's God. Anything you put between you and God, God can take and remove it.
God doesn't want anything between you and Him. And He can take anything and everything out of your life. Do you understand the power that God has?
And that all of life is temporary, and you need to focus upon that which is heavenly. As He says in verse 1, If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above. Look at verse 2.
Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth. But if you go ahead and you violate that, let's just say, Okay, I'm a Christian. I have eternal life.
I'm going to heaven when I die. And know you can never lose your salvation. You can't go to hell today.
You can't go to hell in the future. You can never go to hell. But you can, as a child of God, you can fall in love with the world.
You can love yourself and make yourself God. And you can have a form of idolatry, where you worship you and your will and your way, and not God's. But did you know that God says there's a price to pay?
You may not have known that, but let me explain it to you. You see, God says that you and I have an old sinful nature. We got it when we were born into this world.
It's in our body. It's the desires of the flesh. We are naturally children of rebellion.
We want our own way. We are stubborn. We are hard headed.
We lie. We cheat. We deceive.
You name the sin, and every one of us in this room is capable of committing it. You say, well, I would never do that. Don't ever say never.
You'd be surprised what you are capable of doing. You just have some restraints upon you, but you can lose those restraints just like that. I know people who have been married for 40 and 50 years, and all of a sudden, I don't want to do no more.
I'm going to trade you in for another model. That's why Henry Ford was so successful. He says, I did my marriage like I did my business.
One model. Y'all will get that after a while. My dad used to have his old model T.
Well, anyway, look what he says in verse 5. The word mortify is where we get the word mortician or mortuary. It means to put to death, to render as dead.
The desires that you have for the things of the world, because if you love the world, you're not going to mortify the deeds of the flesh. You're not going to take those desires that you have for the things of the world. You're not going to count them as dead.
You're going to make sure they stay very much alive. Can you still love pornography? Yes, you can.
All the filthy movies, you can love all of it, every bit of it. You can still commit adultery and fornication. You name the sin, you're capable of doing it.
He says, even as a Christian, as a Christian. Now, most preachers will never tell you the truth. They'll lie to you because they don't understand it.
You see, God loves me. He died and paid for my sin so that I can go to heaven whenever I die. I'm not going to heaven because I love God.
I'm not going to heaven because I stop all my bad things. I'm going to heaven because 52 years ago, in a little old living room, I believe Christ died and paid for all of my sins. There's no sins for me to pay for.
I'm going to heaven. Some people say, well, that just gives you a license to sin. It's not a license to sin.
It's the freedom to do right. I still have the old sinful nature. And yes, I can live like the devil and still go to heaven.
And any preacher that tells you otherwise, he ain't worth a quarter. Don't support him and don't go to the church. He's lying to you.
Eternal life is the gift of God. It's not of works before or after. But should I, as a child of God, should I do right?
Should I serve the Lord? Yes. What I should do and what I must do is not the same thing.
God will allow His children to still live a rebellious life. You can resist the Holy Spirit. You can do wrong.
But God says it's a choice. And I want you to make the right choice. I want you to set your affections upon heaven.
Think about where you're going. Because this is so short. You know, it wasn't long ago.
I was just a little baby. I remember as though it was yesterday. The first thing I remember after being born was hitting a bottle and being behind bars.
Mortify, therefore, your members which are upon the earth. This body you have is a flesh body. You are upon the earth.
But God wants you to live thinking about where you're going, to heaven. And there's things that God is going to reward you for if you obey Him and serve Him. So God says, when you get through down here with this life, you're going to be there.
And when you get there, I want to reward you for what you did for me while you were here in this body upon the earth. So He says, even though you have a body that desires the things of the world, He said, I want you to set all of that aside and live by faith. Take me at My Word.
It will be worth it. And you can think about the sex drive that you have. You can think about all the pornography and so forth in the world.
And you can dwell on all that junk and trash if you want to. But there's something that's costing you. The things that you could have had when you get to heaven, that will be the treasures or the rewards or the positions that God has for you.
The praise and the honor and the glory that you faithfully served the Lord and He meant more to you than all that trivial junk that's down here. Serve God. Put Him first in your life.
Live now the way you'll wish you'd lived when you get to heaven. And so He says here, fornication, He says uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Concubiscence, that's just lusting.
And when you talk about the fornication, all that is all manner of evils that you can think of, where you get the word porno. It's all the sexual sins and so on. God knows the desires of your flesh.
God knows that. God knows. See that?
When you see that good-looking bomb shell walked by, you know something on so tight, you don't know if she's outside getting in or inside getting out.
You can't see clearly. You can't see, you know, like the blind snake fell in love with a rope. You're learning to fall in love with the things that is junk, trash.
And you don't use your discernment. You're just letting your natural desires of rebellion control your life. And some of you are going to ruin your marriage because of it.
Some teenagers are going to go for this hunk. Listen, all that muscle is going to go to the bottom, just like all that beautiful hourglass figure she has. All the sand goes to the bottom sooner or later.
And you're going to give up everything God has for you for this junk. Think about what you're doing. Set your affections on the things that God has for you.
And you'll be surprised what God will do for you. Look what else he says here. You see, in verse 5, it's kind of giving you the idea about the impurities of the mind.
The impurities of the mind. And it talks a little bit about sometimes the actions that are the result of the motives. And then in verse 8 and 9, you're talking about the motives that produce the actions.
And so, you're looking at this, and you're dwelling and trying to think about it. You see, some of these things are like in verse 5, talking about personal sins. And then in verse 8, talking about your social sins.
You see, against other people, things you do to somebody, but there's all these results that comes from it. And he makes the statement there in verse 6, for which things sake, the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience. See, you still have an old sinful nature.
You still have a body that desires the things of the world. And whether you're saved or lost, God hates sin. And God says that his wrath comes upon the children of disobedience.
You may be a child of God, but if you're going to act like a child of disobedience, you need to understand. God will not force you to love him. He won't force you to serve him.
You can live like you please, but there's consequences to it. Everybody in this room can do exactly what you want to do. You can live any way you want to do, and you know it.
I am a Christian. I am going to heaven when I die, and I can live any way I please. I can become as rebellious as I want to be.
I can live as mean and ugly and as dirty as I want to. And I'm still going to heaven, not because I deserve it, but because of grace. God loved me that much that he paid for all of my sins, and he'll give me eternal life.
And I go to heaven on what he did for me. I do not deserve that. But because I am God's child, I know that if I become a child of wrath, if I become a child of rebellion, he's my father.
I'm God's child. And if I rebelled against the will of my heavenly father, I know that my heavenly father, because he loves me, is going to beat the living daylights out of me, maybe even take me home before my time. So, you can't live as you please and get away with it.
Understand that. But you can live as you please. Many adults' problems today is because they sold wild oaks when they were young.
And now years later, they reap wild oats. You reap what they call the law of the harvest. You reap what you sow.
Same thing you sowed much later than you sowed. But a lot more, of course. So God says, I got something so much better for you.
But I want you to put off something. In other words, there is responsibility. God holds us responsible for the decisions that we make.
You can't hide behind, well, I just have a so sinful nature. It's just the way that I am. Yeah, everybody has that.
But God doesn't accept that as an excuse. You're to be responsible for your decisions. You can also make right decisions.
You can make godly decisions. And so he makes this statement in verse 7, in the which you also walk sometimes when you lived in them. You used to be a lost man.
You had an old body with a sinful nature, and that's what you did. But it looks like God wants you to live a different life after you're saved. Not to be saved.
Not to prove you are saved. But because of what Christ has done for you, what He's done for me, God wants me to serve Him. And He says if I would serve Him, He promised that He would bless me.
I've looked over my life for the last 52 years, and I can say God has blessed me. I don't have regrets, because I've tried to give the Lord all of my years. And if He gives me another 10 years, I like to give Him those or whatever He else has left for me.
You should want the will of God for your life, but you've got to set your affections on things that are above, not on things of this world. You're going to lose things down here. People aren't going to please you.
People are not living to worship you. Chances are, their life doesn't revolve around you. If you die, they'll keep on living.
I mean, they'll mourn for a little while, a couple of days, and then you know. You've got to understand, people have something about, it's me, please me. Everybody make me happy.
Nobody makes me happy. I'm down and I'm down. I'm miserable.
Go out in the garden and eat worms. Little pet rock died, you know. But look what he says.
In verse 8, he says, But now, but now, but now, that's the way you were. That's what you did. But now, he says, I want you to know this.
I want you to put off all these anger and wrath and malice, blasphemy. You see, anger and wrath and malice, see, that deals a lot with the way that you're thinking. It deals with your feelings.
When you get hurt, you become bitter, and you get bitter, and you get angry, and angry you say things you shouldn't say, and it builds up into malice where you want to hurt somebody. And God says the external part of that there is the filthy communication out of the mouth. Because you see, how you think and how you feel, it's got to come out sooner or later.
And it'll come out. But it's because of the focus in your life. That's what you love, what you're thinking about, what you're dwelling on.
And so God says, out of your mouth. Look there in Ephesians in Chapter 4. Just turn to your left just a few pages, but the book of Ephesians and Chapter 4.
And look at verse 29. See, this is talking to the Christian, to those that know the Lord, those that are going to heaven when they die. Not all of God's children automatically do right.
That's why they have to be taught, to be trained. They have to be warned. They have to be rebuked at times.
But in Ephesians Chapter 4, verse 29 says, let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth. But that which is good to the use of edifying, not edifying, edifying, get this, that it may minister grace unto the hearth. You should say and do the things that you're trying to help and build up a person, not tear them down.
You see, your light doesn't become brighter because you blow out everybody else's light. When you try to destroy someone else's character, your doesn't become better. But some people, they get blind, they can't see.
Is it possible to trust Christ as my Savior without making him Lord of my life? Is it true that if Christ is not Lord of all, he is not Lord at all? Pastor Yankee Arnold has prepared just the right book with answers straight from the Bible.
The book is called Gospel Driven Man and Pastor Yankee wants to send it to you free of charge. Simply write to PastorYankee at Yankee Arnold Ministries 7028 West Waters Avenue Suite 316 Tampa, Florida 33634 and request the book or write by email at yankee at yankeearnold.com. That's yankee at yankeearnold.com.
Jesus is coming, so keep looking up.
Thanks for listening to today's broadcast. We pray that today's message was a blessing to you and your family. You may help support this radio ministry by donating online at yankeearnold.com or by mail at yankeearnoldministries7028 West Waters Avenue Suite 316 Tampa, Florida 33634.
Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound and we will be changed, caught up to meet the Lord in the air. So live today and every day believing that the Lord is coming soon and just keep looking up.
