20210206 | Eternal Flame | Pastor John Lomacang

in preparation for this message it was something that the framework was laid out in the adventist review but the sermon wasn't and as you can see your word is a lamp unto our feet and enlightened to our path which was the scripture read this morning but before we go into the message i always ask for the lord to guide and lead so that what is said can be to his honor and glory let's bow our heads gracious father loving lord we just ask right now as you have in the past we pray that you'll send your holy spirit your children are waiting they are lifting their cups towards heaven fill each cup lord to the measure that you know we are in need of and when that cup is filled may it empower us enlighten us and guide us and i pray also that i could be the conduit through which your name is glorified this morning and as the theme is your word which is a constant lamp and a never dying light help us to remember how to use this glorious light to guide us from where we are to eternity and so i now give you my hearts hands and mind use it for your glory in jesus name i pray amen when we think about what the lord wants to do in our lives i want to go ahead once again and share that scripture with you about the eternal flame what is the eternal flame and what does god want us to do with it i know jason read the scripture but i want to read it one more time psalm 119 verse 105. your word can we read this together here we are your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path i always like interesting stories to become the lead into the message and i always look for stories that have some connection to the topic at hand stories should never be for the purpose of entertainment or the purpose for a smile but it's its eternal purpose should be to lay the foundation for the message and i could imagine that some of you may have been alive when president kennedy was alive i would say i was alive but i was extremely young for the record but i i cannot forget november 22 1963 i was a little boy mama the lady who raised me was vacuuming the living room it was back in the day when i don't know how your house was but when we got new furniture the furniture we never sat on the furniture because it was covered with plastic anybody remember that it was the thing when you get new furniture we could see it and the way that you knew that somebody was in the living room as you heard the plastic crackling i never forgot that we had a nice pink couch and a blue couch and a love seat and nice red carpet and mama was vacuuming the carpet and i was a little boy and i heard her turn off the vacuum and i heard her weeping and i wondered what was wrong and our oval shaped black and white television became the focal point of her stare when i heard her say kennedy is dead kennedy is dead my little ears didn't understand it but i could never miss that november 22 1963 the 35th president of the united states john fitzgerald kennedy was assassinated at 12 30 p.m central time in dear dealey square right there in dallas texas as he drove through town in his presidential motorcade with his wife and other dignitaries a tragic day that shook the nation but out of that story two days later his wife his surviving wife jacqueline kennedy made a request that on november 24th 1963 an eternal flame be inserted in the spot where her husband's final resting place was going to be and i always wondered about that eternal flame and i decided well how did the idea of the eternal flame come about and i did my homework and i discovered that the site of his burial place was a place that john f kennedy and his friend an architect john carl warnacki they visited that site earlier that year in march of 1963 and the president at the time said he admired it because quote it was a peaceful atmosphere and a very quiet location and he alluded that would be an amazing place if i were ever buried never knowing that between march and november he only had that amount of time but the question that came to my mind is what makes the flame eternal the flame it was said it was built to withstand rain and wind and the site that became his final resting place according to the john f kennedy presidential library and museum they said the reason why it's called eternal is because quote it is a constantly flashing electric spark near the tip of the nozzle so whenever it rains or whenever the wind blows they said if the flame goes out it almost starts back instantly so you never see the time between it going out and being reignited because it doesn't flash when the flame goes out so that if the flame ever went out it'll start back instantly they called it they said because of this if the flame is extinguished it reignites almost instantly and i thought to myself terry that's a story that i could use for the eternal flame that's a story that can fit into the message about god's eternal flame because friends god's word is an eternal flame what do you say it is built to withstand the extinguishing winds and reigns of its adversaries god's word is connected to the constantly flashing divine spark of his holy spirit and every attempt to extinguish the flame only results ian in an instant reignition can you say amen because throughout the ages men have made many attempts to stamp out god's flame to blow it out to pour water on it to extinguish it and although the flame had grown dim during the dark ages the constant flashing divine spark of the holy spirit has kept the flame of god's word flashing throughout the ages to god be the glory what do you say that's why i take my bible seriously i don't know about your attitude towards your bible when i open my bible i recognize immediately that i'm not on common ground i'm i'm in a book that god has saw fit to preserve to to maintain every attempt to get rid of it has resulted in failure every adverse institution that sought to replace it has failed and god's word is still the number one selling book of all time atheists deny it agnostics doubt it and sinners disagree with it but it still burns some say it's a fable a fiction and a fabrication but i say today it still burns god's word is endless everlasting and eternal and god's word will never be extinguished what do you say isaiah the prophet says it this way in isaiah 40 verse 8 he said the grass withers the flower fades but the word of our god stands for how long stands forever in order it ought to change the way the attitude we have towards studying god's word it ought to ignite the fact in our lives that when we open the bible we are walking through divine pathways we are face to face with divinity god as it were is speaking to our hearts word of god speak when we open god's word never open god's word in an attitude of levity never open god's word thinking that you're going to find the treasures therein without asking the holy spirit to reveal those treasures to you if the holy spirit is the one let me repeat that because the holy spirit is the one that inspired men to write it only he can inspire us to understand it the word of god is a book that never grows dim a power that never fades a light that never needs new batteries because the spirit of god is never out of date he's always connected come on say immense about god's word is powerful it is endless everlasting and eternal the bible this book is unchanging undeniable and unequivocal i read books i have a lot of books in my house i like to read books but every now and then when i get tired of reading books even religious books there's something about opening god's word that shifts you go from the the mind of an individual and i would even go so far as saying even the writings of ellen white cannot parlay with the bible because in everything that's written there's this element of human frailty but when you open the bible even though god used frail men like matthew mark luke and john to communicate their experiences the words were not inspired the thoughts and the experiences are inspired that's why matthew differs a little from mark and diff a little differs a little from luke and john but the thought is constant somebody once said to me well mark says that jesus rose while it was yet dark and john says at the breaking of the day and matthew says during the night well which one is which one is correct i said they all are because he rose they said well how do they differ i said well john was there peter and john were there mark and matthew heard about it when they came back they are witnesses of the fact that he rose so these little nuances that differ does and not remove the fact that we serve a risen savior and the word of god can be trusted it was the proclamation of the day of pentecost on the day of pentecost this man now converted his name is peter this impetuous man who could not get his life synchronized until after his denial he ran to the tomb and found in the person of christ forgiveness for his transgression and that was amazing to me because god god had scheduled peter to preach on the day of pentecost but he had to allow peter to go through his garbage to be ready to preach on the day of pentecost so peter's fall was not prevented by jesus he had to fall so that he can rise higher than he was before his fall so the lord said to peter the devil desires to sift you as wheat but i prayed that your faith will not fail and the king james version says and when you are converted strengthen the brethren i tell you nothing clears your eyes better than when you fall so far that the only way is up and when resurrection morning when they heard about the fact that they wanted to test the theory whether or not jesus was going to rise and when sunday morning came they remembered they remembered as the dawn was coming they remembered and peter and john ran through the tomb and found the stone was rolled away and the tomb was empty and what an ignition grabbed his heart and then jesus decided well on the other side of this i'm going to have a personal breakfast with peter we're going to have some fish together and as they were having breakfast jesus said to peter do you love me he said i love you lord then feed my sheep do you love me you know i love you lord then feed my lambs do you love me lord you know everything then feed my sheep and a lot of times we get caught off of this ideology that the lord asked him so many times but peter denied the lord three times and the lord used these three questions to confirm in peter's heart whether or not he really was converted whether or not he really loved him the first time do you agape me do you love me con unconditionally peter peter said i love you i file you i love you like a brother he said again do you agape me peter peter do you love me unconditionally peter said lord you know i fully owe you i love you like a brother and then the third time the lord said peter do you fully owe me do you love me like a brother lord you know i love you like a brother then feed my lambs feed my sheep so the day of pentecost when the day of pentecost came this proclamation was from a man whose life was converted so when peter preached on the day of pentecost it was not a normal sermon look what the bible says in acts chapter 4 and verse 31 it was not a normal sermon the bible says in acts 4 31 and when they had prayed when they did what i always got to pray for god to use you after that prayer the place where they were assembled together was what shaken i always wondered what that was like what was the measurement on the richter scale it was shaken and they were all filled with the holy spirit and they spoke the word of god with what boldness you can never speak god's word with boldness without the holy spirit in your life you can be intellectual but you'll always fail you'll fall short am i right dakota you will fall short if you try to preach god's word without the holy spirit being the act of ignition behind you it may sound good but it will never result in a transformed life because that's the work of the holy spirit when you study this text you find that 12 times in the book of acts the success of the early church is described and each time it is linked to the preaching of the word the everlasting flame the eternal flame effective discipleship begins in a relationship with the living word i'ma say that again i love music i appreciate music music may move your heart to be open to the word of god but your walk with christ can only be sustained by a relationship to the living word and the written word when jesus was in the tomb when jesus was in the garden of temptation he never sang a song to the devil he said it is written what did he say it is written so you find we cannot be connected to the living word and be disconnected from the written word let me say that again we cannot claim a connection with the living word unless we are connected to the written word it's so clear it's abundantly clear the bible makes it very clear in acts chapter 12 and verse 24. when it talks about the success of the church it says but the word of god grew and did what multiplied as god's word is multiplied so also is the life of the individual that reads it you'll find that the blessings in your life will multiply even the trials in your life will multiply why will that happen because the devil doesn't want you to read the word of god when the blessings of god begin to multiply it makes the devil concerned so he tries to increase your trials and they'll multiply what record can i use as evidence look at the life of the apostles the more they proclaimed the more they had trials but they would rather suffer for the glory of god than prevent themselves from proclaiming the word of god and i would say friends if you think about the early church if the word of god was needed for the inauguration of the church how much more is the word of god needed as we prepare for the coronation of the church if the word of god was needed to get this started it is needed even more to get it finished if we needed it at the beginning of the race we got to keep our eyes focused on the word as we're nearing the end of the race why is that look at john chapter 1 and verse 1 the bible makes it clear the alpha and the omega in the beginning was the word and the word was with god and the word was god in the beginning was the what was the word david the psalmist says by the word of the lord was the heavens made and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth he spake and it was done he commanded and it stood fast you'll discover when you read god's word you'll discover when you study god's word that when god's word speaks things happen that's why the wise man said death and life are in the power of the tongue so the word of god matters and the word of man matters but when the word of man meets the word of god the word of god supersedes the word of man when the word of god enters into the mind of the person imbibing it when you allow the word of god like good seasoning to just sit on that food overnight you can taste the difference the next day my wife yesterday she's a great vegetarian cook but she's also a great jamaican vegetarian cook so she made some i don't know what you call it but it was good and it and it had it was like veggie meat sliced like the veggie chicken and she put some jamaican curry and scotch bonnet pepper which many of you don't know what that is but jasmine does and ricky does and and coconut and uh and just let it sit there and then she made potato salad and added some vegetarian spices in it and rice and peas and she said how do you like it and i finished my first plate and then my second plate and she said i like this new john he really enjoys eating i said honey i like this new angela she's got some new spices in the meals and i want to tell you god and i said well how did how does it how did you do that she said i let it i let the seasoning sit and let it sink in let it soak in you know a meal is good when everything you touch just continues to taste good and you i said honey i need more rice i need more potato salad she said you can't eat that when the word of god is good like that you want more come on save me somebody because there are times we study the bible and it gets so good we look at each other and we almost think that let's read the next chapter and then we get through the next chapter we say oh we got to find out what happened let's read the next chapter that's how god's word is it's a flame when that flame gets started in you you can't be satisfied with anything else and when you turn off the world and pick up god's word you recognize wait a minute you want drama god's word has drama it's got some salacious details that'll make you blush am i telling the truth yeah it was said of the among the jewish young men that they were not allowed to read the book the song of solomon until they were 13 years old and i recommend don't read it unless you're married because it shows how god through the allegorical language of the husband and wife how he loves his church and love is beautiful because god gave it to us say amen somebody but when love is shared between a husband and a wife there's something there that you cannot find otherwise and such is the case when it comes to reading god's word when there's a relationship between the reader and the word of god it is it is as though god is right there saying to you can i talk to you can i talk can we talk and god says let me tell you what i meant by this and i'll be honest with you there are times i've read things that i've read for many many many years and all of a sudden it clicks because on that day i sat back and say word of god speak how beautiful god's word is that's why friends in these last days if the lord brought the world into existence by his word how much more do we need the word of god as we near the end look at revelation 19 and verse 13 the bible says when jesus comes back when jesus comes back this is a a description of who he is when he comes back the bible says he was clothed with a robe dipped in blood and his name is called the what the word of god he was the word of god in the beginning he is the word of god today and he will be the word of god when he comes back again what do you say so if if we have a relationship with not only the living word but the written word he will keep us from the beginning to the end when we read the word of god we meet the alpha and he'll hold us together till the omega but that's got to be a day by day see it's all about christian lifestyle the bible is not the book you drag with you to church on sabbath morning but it's the book that has been just that has been connected to your arm all week long it's the book that you've been reading through your breakfast is here and the bible is there when you wake up in the morning the bible is within arms reach come on somebody it's right where you can find your flashlight and your bible at the same time at least in my house is that way i got three bibles to my right i got my flashlight everything i need right there to my right we can find it you got to get your markers your highlighters we we take our bible studies seriously we've got highlighters and markers my colors mean something completely differently than hers but it's her bible but when you get into studying god's word and it becomes the necessary art in your life you'll start noticing you're gonna change there's no way that you can have a one-to-one conversation with god and not change it's not possible it's not possible can you imagine your phone rings and it says hello who is it it's jesus who is it it's jesus i miss my time with you these moments together is it possible that you could fit me into your schedule early tomorrow morning would you hang up the phone and say no i doubt it but so often we don't hear the holy spirit saying to us he's missing his time with you and when we take time to be holy something happens what happens john 17 17 tells us what happens what happens sanctify them say it together with me what sanctify then by by your truth your word is truth sanctify them by your truth your word is truth god's word is not just sanctified but it sanctifies what does that mean god's word is holy and when you read it you begin to understand what it means to be holy god's word is not just a holy book but it transforms lives and turns lives into holy lives and you'll never know whether or not your life is holy unless you have something unerring to measure it against and it should be measured against god's word if you think that your life is out of line take it to god's body shop and he'll calibrate your tires and when you leave you'll be able to go down the road in the old vernacular my dad used to say he taught me how to straighten my bike tires and he said i said what are you doing he'd sit there with this little tool he's from the old school he sit there with his little tool and he'll take the by tie off and he'd have a file in his hand and a small tool and i say what are you doing he says i'm getting your bike ready for the warm weather and i'd sit there and i said what are you doing he said look at this and he'd spin that he'd spin the wheel and i see the wheel got this he say it's not true yet he called it chewing the wheel i said really he said now what you do is if it's out of whack this way you go to the opposite side and tighten that to pull it this way and if it's out you go there pull and when he was done he'd spin that and you couldn't see the wheel it just stayed as constant as ever and i said i never heard about that it's truing the wheel when your life is out of whack god will true you if you connect to the one that can calibrate your life only god's word can do that that is why that is why the devil is as upset as he is who is he upset with here it is revelation chapter 12 verse 17 why is he upset look at this and the dragon was enraged with the woman and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring who are they who keep the commandments of god and have the testimony of jesus christ now we've read that passage a thousand times at least why is he upset let me make the point very clear how can you claim to have a relationship with god but see his commandments as unnecessary it's not possible i read that text to somebody once if you love me keep my commandments and you know what i got they said well that's your interpretation i said let's break it down if was if mean conditional think if you who is you you is that clear you love what is love that opening of the heart to the other your opening of your heart to god if you love who's the me me that's jesus let's get that if you we got that part what does keep mean that means embrace that means conform to my who's am i again once again jesus so let's make it seriously clear the only word you have a problem with is commandments so don't don't impose your likes and dislikes on god and what bothers me is when i hear that it's almost like christians today are almost saying to god you got a serious problem with asking me to keep your commandments that's the spirit of the devil there's no way you can be connected to god and say that his commandments are unnecessary and there's no two ways to interpret that as a matter of fact the devil knows exactly how to interpret that because he's concerned about those who hold to the commandments of god they are clearly a part of god's word that's why when you read god's word you'll find that our uniform is the whole armor of god but our weapon is the sword of the spirit the living word of god i'll say that again our uniform the whole armor of god our weapon the sword of the spirit which is in fact the word of god why do we need that why is god's word a continued lamp here's what the writer of hebrews tells us hebrews 4 and verse 12. this is the beauty of that weapon this is the why the devil doesn't like this weapon this is why the devil hates those who read god's word and he hates god's word with a vehement hate hebrews 4 and verse 12. for the word of god is what friends living and what else powerful and what else sharper than any two-edged sword is there something that can resist this piercing no piercing even to the division of what soul and spirit that is the thought man and the living man and of joints and marrow and watch this and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart wow let's break that down i would recommend to you that one of the reasons why people don't like to read god's word it exposes who they are it doesn't just say i'm going to reveal what you're doing it says i'm going to reveal what you're thinking anybody ever said to you what do you think about that and they had to wait for your response well the word of god says why are you thinking that why you think of that remember jesus said why do you reason such in your heart the living word jesus said to the pharisees why are you reasoning that way the living word the bible says why are you thinking that and i can imagine that people that don't read the word of god they don't want to be examined by it because the word of god examines you it goes way down deep through the to the thoughts and intents of the heart why is that significant if the end of the luvians held to the word of god their thoughts and intents would not have been evil continually it is amazing amazing is it amazing that the writer of hebrews uses the very phrases that are parlayed in the book of genesis the thoughts and intents of their hearts were only evil continually but the word of god is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart if they had if they had held to god's word they would not have come to the place where god was upset that he had even made them well here's the point i don't want god to be upset that he made me i want to give god something to be i'm just a little grain of sand on a tiny little planet somewhere in god's creation but i want to wake up tomorrow morning and know that god has pleased with me anybody else and it can only happen if the word of god is clear why do we need god's word you know why friends we are not in a turf war a drug war or a political war we are not in a competition for the new world order we are in a battle for the human heart a struggle for the human mind we are in a combat against darkness we are called to be soldiers of light we are called to preach to the spiritually dead marching to christless graves god has called us to be physicians to those affected by the terminal illness of sin and the only reliable weapon in the war is the efficacious word of god that sharp two-edged sword but sometimes we forget here we are sequestered down in southern illinois out in the cornfields nobody bumping by with rap music amen somebody nobody cussing each other out across the street breaking glass and stealing cars we actually boast about how peaceful it is out here but the question is is that the kind of peace that's happening in your home do you have peace in your heart because you can have a peaceful community but a heart that is turbulent why because god's word is not there we can boast about our community that's so quiet you know what do we hear well every now and then we hear a periodic gunshot but we know that's not one person shooting the other i'll leave the rest for your own interpretation but we hear the cows mooing as we drive down the side street we hear the squirrels contending over black oil seeds fighting the cardinals and the blue jays we see the birds flying every morning back and forth to find their food and we say what a peaceful setting how glorious it is but the word of god does not want to just give you peace around you when we study god's word he gives us peace peace within us it's possible to be in a setting that's so quiet but your life is so turbulent it's possible to be in a place where there's peace all around you but there's no peace within you i recommend to you today if you want to find peace within allow the word of god to speak not just speak to you but speak through you that's what god's word wants to do i read an article by the new york times it was it was an april 25th 2018 article and the subheading was most americans believe in a higher power but not always in the god of the bible and i i thought the article was pretty interesting so i looked further into the article to find out what the specifics were it says out of 4729 people that were polled the question that was put to every one of them was do you believe in god or not here was the respondents 80 said yes but out of that 80 percent 56 percent believe in god as described in the bible that was amen right there but 24 believe in some other higher power or spiritual force so the yes does not necessarily mean they believe in god it simply means that there are those who believe in a higher power or another spiritual force but here's the part that was most depressing the 19 percent said no 9 of those said they believe in some higher power or spiritual force they they but they do believe in some higher power or spiritual force but 10 said they do not believe in any higher power or spiritual force so we have people today we have atheists we have agnostics we have people that just don't believe in god's word at all so why is it necessary for us to believe in god's word there is a need in society today for people to see god's word active in the lives of those that claim to be connected to god and why now here's what the apostle paul tells us why now second timothy chapter four verses three and four turn there with me and look at what the bible says why now he says for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine and by the way this is to the christian not to the world but according to their own desire because they have itching ears they will heap up for themselves teachers tell them what they want to hear that's why we have 30 000 denominations and they will turn their ears away from the what truth and be turned aside to what fables i don't know i don't know is it just me but how can people believe some of the stuff that is being taught today in christianity i've made many attempts sometime to share with other christians and the things that troubled me the most is rather than them saying well this is what the bible says they say well that's not what my pastor says remember your pastor don't have any heaven to put you in and don't have any hell to keep you out of you better know for yourself amen if you miss your plane don't say that that guy sent you to the wrong gate you better know your gate yourself my wife and i know what that's like we want our way to north dakota to speak at the university of north dakota and we sat at the gate so proud and we were just excited to be there early everybody else was late we said where is everybody only to realize we as i was sitting there eating my sandwich and looked up on the board said departed i said what's our ticket number what's our flight number she read the flight number she said our plane just left we're at the wrong gate now what am i saying you could be wrong sincerely wrong and miss the flight as amazing as the details are some people say the details don't matter when it comes to your salvation do details matter it does matter so don't don't don't say the details don't matter because many people are believing things that if they would just pay attention to the details in god's word it's a detailed book they'll discover that what they were taught or what they formally believed is not so because unlike the saying that the world embraces you know the world says the devil is in the details when it comes to god's word that's not the case come on somebody christ is in the details the details do matter that's why i say if the bible doesn't confirm it do not preach it why satan's first attack and his last attack are going to be identical satan rejected the truth in god's authority in heaven he led eve to doubt god's word in the garden of eden and as we near the end he is seeking to accomplish the very same thing among millions but i put a question to you what should our attitude be towards god's word let's go to first samuel let's see this first samuel chapter 17 i know i'm gonna bring it up on the screen but get used to your bible what should our attitude be toward god's word this is an amazing story i'll tell the story before i bring the scripture up but david this young shepherd boy had heard about this this cat called goliath big mouth nine foot tall if you're nine feet if you're nine feet why do you need a armor a coat made of male metal to fight against a little guy i mean if you're nine feet that should be all you need help me out nine feet he's got a he's got a spear and the tip of the spear is 20 pounds he's got on a helmet you would think he's gonna you think he's gonna fight somebody his size you know why they sent goliath against david i studied this and i came to discover how powerful our god is because they heard about the god of the israelites they knew that we need somebody stronger than we are to fight against their god but i want to say today even a nine-foot adversary is not big enough to fight against god so saul said well we got to get you ready for this battle david so saul said why don't you use my armor why don't you use my sword why don't you use my helmet why don't you use my shield and look at what happened first samuel 17 verse 38 and 39 it's a very interesting story so here you have this little guy he's a shepherd boy and the bible says so so saul clothed david with his armor and he put a bronze helmet on his head he also clothed him with a coat of mail just like his adversary fastened david fastened his sword that is saul's sword to his armor saul's armor and he did what he tried to walk what was the problem for he had not what he had not tested them and david said to saul i love this i cannot walk with these for i have not what tested them so what did david do david took them off wow that's a whole sermon right there i could preach a sermon called take it off i had one called throw it out i'll do one called take it off what happens you can never win your battles by putting on somebody else's armor you can't rely on somebody else's bible study in your war because it hasn't been tested god is going to test you in your own skin if you have not secured the faith of god and endured the test in your own trial you'll never be able to put on tim's armor when your battle comes that's why you hear me i sometimes sound like a broken record or a man with dementia not minimizing the terrible effects of that but you might say there go pastor again once again talk about bible study bible study bible study bible study until the day i die i'm going to breathe that out we need to know how to use our weapons if it has not been tested and proven by the bible what should we do no take it off take it off what did david do he what he took it off if the word of god does not say it take it off matter of fact don't even put it on that's why the that's why the apostle says it this way in first thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 21 look at he makes it very direct almost to parlay a parallel to what happened to david he said test all things how many things all things when you're reading god's word don't just settle on one scripture hey hold fast what is good why don't you just settle on one scripture because sometimes you could read a passage in second corinthians chapter five and you could read one verse i would rather be absent from the body and be present with the lord and because you didn't read the whole context you think the bible is talking about death but many people don't realize that in that entire passage where that phrase it doesn't say to be absent from the body is to be present with the lord is that i would rather be how many of you let me ask you today with all the trials you face how many of you would rather be absent from this world and present with jesus but make sure that you don't mess up what paul said he said you will put on immortality when jesus comes you're not going before jesus gets here and jesus even said it himself that's why don't take a little piece of the scripture and apply it to the whole thing because jesus says i will come again and receive you unto myself that where i am there you may be also what's the point we're not going anywhere until jesus comes back test all things hold fast that which is good why is that necessary hosea 4 verse 6 just a short portion says my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge why because you have rejected knowledge why is it dangerous to reject knowledge today because the bible says in daniel 12 knowledge will increase let me make a very sobering point we are not just responsible for what we should have read we are responsible for what we could have read we are not responsible just for the things that we have exposed our eyes to we are responsible for the things that we could have and how do i know that what did jesus say matthew 4 4 man shall not live by what bread alone but by most of the words by some of the words by the majority of the words but by what every word that pers every word that proceeds from god's mouth so watch this we're all guilty of it you could say amen before i tell you what you're guilty of because you're guilty of it we are all guilty of signing the bottom line without reading the fine print come on right right when we download software do you agree with the conditions we don't even know what the conditions are the conditions may be when you download the software your house belongs to us we agree am i right who reads the conditions you get your cards like 75 pages long just sign right there when you sign this card if you try to get rid of it we will come and take your wife from you what's the condition we don't read the small print but let me tell you something don't do that with god's word read the fine print because because you will be judged by the word of god so it ain't gonna be i didn't see it because how many bibles do you have in your house five and you had the remote more than you had the bible how many hours that's why i like what apple did apple has this new thing on their devices android has it now where they can gauge how much time you spend on certain apps you ought to examine how much time you spend on certain apps and slap yourself didn't the bible say deny yourself stop that reaching for that stop that reach for the word and god will not slap your hand amen we ought to look at our lives begin to gauge how we take god's word this lamp and this light how we handle it because one day the light is not going to be there my people are destroyed when we preach the word of god it will affect the change and the change will be evident the lord said it clearly you cannot read my word and not realize there's going to be a powerful change in your life how do i know that look at isaiah 55 and verse 11. he says so shall my word be that goeth forth from my mouth it shall not return to me what void but it shall accomplish what i please and it shall prosper in the thing for which i sent it i there there are times but when i have said to god in my in my prayers and sometimes in my destitute moments in my desperation i would say through tears god you said and you know the bible says he honors his word above his name now remember you know how powerful it is he says there is no other name given among men whereby we must be saved and then we read a scripture that says he honors his word above his name that's powerful you could say god you said and he said you're right and if you don't think that's effective that's what moses did when god said i'm going to wipe out the israelites i'm going to take their name out of the book of life moses says no take my name out you are long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth and the bible says god relented not that he changed his mind but he recognized yes his heart is for his people and yes i must preserve my people as a testament to the world when god's word enters into your life you cannot put gasoline in your car and not expect your car to start you cannot light a candle and not expect it to burn god is saying if you put my word in your life you're going to see the changes because my word never returns to me void god's word does not have an expiration date not like bread use it before this date god's word is a bread that never spoils it's fresh every day but i want to say something that's going to maybe shake some of you worship without god's word worship without truth is deception worship that is based on man's word can never replace worship and the conditions of worship that is based on god's word but so much of what's in in christianity today is worship and i ask myself does god believe the same does god accept that we call it worship and we does god accept that well here's the kind of worship god accepts john 4 verse 23 and 24 here's the kind of worship that he says he accepts now it's from the book of john but i didn't write it the bible says but the hour is coming and now is when the true worshiper will worship the father in what spirit and truth for the father is seeking such he's looking for such to worship him god is spirit god is what god is spirit and those who worship him should worship in spirit and truth or did i miss something oh it didn't say should what did it say must now that's jesus speaking we cannot modify the conditions of worship if your worship does not include the spirit what does that mean spirit it doesn't mean jumping over pews it doesn't mean running around forming at the mouth and slapping people all day long doesn't mean that it means being led by the spirit when we are led by the spirit what happens he will lead you and guide you into all truth when we are led by the spirit he will do to us like he did on the day of pentecost you will be witnesses because he empowers you to live a life that testifies to the fact that christ is in you god is not the author of confusion don't connect confusion to the holy spirit and what is the other part truth if god's word says it you can trust it if god's word doesn't say it i don't care how popular the voice that says it it cannot replace the worship that jesus said is what god is seeking for spirit and in truth put it this way somebody once said too much spirit you blow up too much truth you dry up but when you combine spirit and truth you grow up modern worship has placed emphasis on experience rather than on the truth and the spirit the apostle paul says in second timothy chapter four he gives us a commission second timothy chapter four and verse two look at the commission he says this to his protege timothy he's about to pass off the scene and he's challenging this young man that's gonna come in his footsteps he says to him preach the word what is he saying to him preach the word be ready in season and out of season i sometimes when i talked to ryan i said now ryan you just turned 30. i'm 60 something on the low end cut it out and i said ryan i'm excited about your passion because you remind me of me when i was young i was a bulldozer i was a steamroller i could flatten concrete in a in a flash i was a bullet i was a machine gun when it came to truth but you know the difference was i didn't care what people thought and i was a wrecking ball rather than a construction crew i'll leave casualties in my path but as i got older i realized wait a minute the servant of the lord must not strive let god's word preach the word but don't let the word of god knock people over let it ignite their lives come on somebody help me out don't let the word of god burn let your light so shine but why is paul saying what he does be ready in season and out of season reprove i like the king james version but it says convince rebuke exhort with all long-suffering and teaching or the word their doctrine because we're living in a day and age where people don't want doctrine that's why i'm always amazed somebody says i'm i'm a member of a non-denominational church i said what does that mean if you go to the bank and you give them a 20 bill and they said what denomination do you want you say no denomination you'll get that on monday i need change what denomination no denomination you want a 5 no you want a 10 no because that's the denomination that is something that says to you we don't need doctrine but doctrine is simply what the bible teaches about the person of jesus and modern worship places emphasis on experience and not on truth so let's talk about god's word let's talk about the most powerful weapon on earth it can outlast any onslaught and transform any life god's word it can humble the exalted and educate the simple god's word it is a light in the darkness and a pathway to the loss that's what god's word is it can encourage the weak and comfort the weary if you're hungry it will feed you if you are thirsty it will soothe you i speak of nothing other than the holy bible the book of truth this book reveals the mind of god the state of man the way of salvation the doom of sinners and the happiness of believers its precepts are binding its history is true and its decisions are immutable read the bible to be wise believe it to be saved and practice it to be holy can you say amen it's it contains light to direct you food to support you and comfort to cheer you the bible is the traveler's map and the christian charter it cannot lie but it can detect one it has no pulse and yet it lives in it paradise is restored heaven open and the gates of hell are shut closed christ is the grand subject our good its design and the glory of god is its end well how do you handle the bible read it slowly frequently and prayerfully i'll say that again read it slowly frequently and prayerfully why it is a mind of wealth a paradise of glory and a river of pleasure it will reward the greatest labor and condemn all who trifle with its sacred contents paul turned the world upside down with it elijah called down fire through it and god created the world by it what about the bible it cannot be stopped prevented denied or destroyed somebody ought to say amen it will outlive any novel and outlast any show it is divine dynamic didactic and delightful all at the same time it is a conundrum to the proud and the solution to the humble it can open and close your eyes at the same time it can confuse the scoffer and enlighten the seeker the book the book of books the book of life the book of god the bible the revelation of god to man but it comes with a warning listen carefully this book will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from this book reading and confessing this book will terrify the devil stupefy the rebellious mystify the world pacify the critics ratify the covenant edify the church magnify the word and glorify the lord and guess what it is still the number one selling book of all time can you say amen praise god it is still the flame that is eternal it will never go out but what is the caution what is the caution here's the caution amos 8 and verse 11 to 12. there's a caution why should we keep the flame burning there's a caution behold the days are coming the prophet says this is ominous behold the days are coming says the lord god that i will send a famine on the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water but of the hearing of the word of the lord they shall wander from sea to sea and from north to east they shall run to and fro seeking the word of the lord what will happen but shall not find it that is a lord have mercy so why is the devil trying to keep us from reading god's word he wants us to have a famine in our lives he wants us to starve to death he wants there to be a widespread scarcity of food he wants there to be a crop failure in our lives he wants us to be unbalanced spiritually he wants us to be religiously malnourished and he wants to increase casualties among those that claim to be getting ready for the coming of the lord when jesus said there's going to be famines in the last days he was not just talking about the scarcity of physical bread but he was saying that so many things in the world will eclipse the need for god's word we pick up this book my wife has been trying to get me to use my remnant bible every week she says use your brand new bible i said honey do you know how long it took to get this sword sharpened and ready anybody know what i'm talking about do you know how long it took when i highlighted and underlined stuff i could find it like that she said but use your remnant bible so to pacify my sweet wife i have my remnant bible right there but when it comes time for war you know what i'm talking about it's like that tool in the garden that you know how to use it's like that john deere that has 15 years on it but you know exactly how to get it started god's word is a book that will never never let you down why does famine why does a famine occur because in this world people are looking for what god is not giving they're waiting for what god is not sending and they're praying for what god is not going to answer the church needs to be careful we don't need to get in the shopping cart of those that are pushing an agenda against god's word and the world is selling what god has not manufactured the christian world is supporting what god has not endorsed and the devil is behind it all we've got to be a people that know what the word of god is all about and we must hold on to the word of god until the word of god says to us it's time to let it go so friends i'm going to tell you today i love the word of god how about you and i'm going to trust the word of god and i'm going to hold on to the word of god i'm going to say my brethren my fellow brethren let it be said of you your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path let it be said of us that god's word is so near to us that our lives are being transformed so rapidly and so beautifully that there's nothing that we can do about it let it be said of you that when you wake up in the morning god's word is there waiting for you and as the clock alarms you hear the voice of heaven saying let's talk together let's speak together your word jesus is a lamp to my feet it's a light unto my path when my wife and i travel and we haven't done much of that lately but there are three things i have with me and i don't want to call my wife a thing but i have my wife i have my lord and i always have my bible my wife my lord and my bible and i planned on spending eternity with my wife and my lord i'm not gonna need the written word when i meet the living word the written word is intended to get me to the living word and so i'm gonna end with these thoughts we've traveled together my bible and i through all kinds of weather with smile or with side in sorrow or sunshine in tempest or calm [Music] thy friendship unchanging my lamp and my psalm we've traveled together my bible and i when life has grown weary and death was nigh but all through the darkness of mist or of wrong i found you a solace a prayer and a song so now who shall pardon us my bible and i shall isms or schisms or new light just try shall shadow for substance or stone for good bread supplant thy sound wisdom and give folly instead oh no my dear bible exponent of light though a sword of the spirit will put error to flight and still through life's journey until my last sight will travel together my bible and i [Music] myself at a loss for words and the funny thing is it's okay the last thing i need is to be heard but to hear what you would say word of god speak would you pour down like rain washing my eyes to see your majesty to be still and know that you're in this place please let me stay and rest in your holiness the word of god i'm finding [Music] the myself all that i need is to be with you and in the quiet to hear your voice so word of god speak would you pour down like rain washing my eyes to see [Music] your majesty to be still and know that you're in this place please let me stay and rest in your [Music] holiness washing my eyes [Music] please my brothers and sisters god wants to speak to us but the dinner noise of our world has somehow caused us to look to the left and the right and god's word is a silent book waiting to give us rest and guide us to holiness this entire week this entire week we want to find faithfulness in christian living faithfulness and we're beginning this week by saying word of god speak pour down like rain washing my eyes helping me to see your majesty is that your desire today you may place value on relationship and rightfully so but the value with the word of god in you this chart of this map this guide this reliable book the voice of god waiting to be the guide of your life i'm challenging you i'm challenging every one of us when this word becomes the guide in your life your life is going to change it's going to be transformed it's going to be renewed it's going to be powerful it's going to be unstoppable the devil will be angry but he cannot stop god's word [Music] and we got to be connected to the ever igniting power of the spirit so that every attempt every attempt to extinguish that word from our lives will only result in instant recognition i want to do something a little different today tim if you can see in that second verse and when we get to the chorus we're going to sing that with you i might jump in every now and then because i'm just i'm right there with you i'm finding myself in the midst of you beyond the music beyond all the noise all that i need is to be with you and in the quiet to hear your precious voice [Music] washing my eyes to see your majesty your majesty to be still and know that you're in this place please let me stay and rest in your holiness music is played our heads about our eyes are closed father you told us the battle would be coming the forces of darkness even today are lining up on one side of the line and every entity that has ever despised your word is filling their arsenal with things that they believe can topple your word but lord today it is the ever igniting never dying flame [Music] burning eternally in heaven and their broken line from heaven to earth is coming to us today and i pray lord as we see the battle forming that we can turn away our eyes from the voices of earth from the temporary agendas of humanity from the rhetoric that comes from the places of our community and our in our government and then we can say father get me alone with your word so i can hear what your spirit is saying to me transform us renew us convert us send us forth as lamps light lighting this dark world send us forth as beacons that people may see the way that you would have them to walk send us forth transformed and strengthened and finally we look forward old father in heaven we look forward to the day when we could put down the written word and look up to the living word and say lo this is our god we have waited for him and he will save us may we be faithful and trust your word until that glorious morning until that glorious day in jesus name we all pray and god's people said amen and amen amen now tim just play that little softly as ours you

Channel: Thompsonville Seventh-day Adventist Church

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Length: 73min 21sec (4401 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 06 2021