Apostles Live | Guest Speaker R.T. Kendall

[Music] good morning i'm jonathan youssef thank you for joining us today if you are a guest with us please fill out the card in the pew in front of you or online also feel free to share any prayer requests with us there as well we're thankful to have dr rt kendall as our guest preacher this morning please make sure to also join us next sunday july 25th as dr bill davis will be preaching at both the 9 and the 10 30 services men during the summer we are still offering our tuesday morning men's bible study called the hub the hub is designed for men of all ages to be equipped encouraged and empowered to live out the gospel join us this tuesday in the commons at 7 am or arrive a little early for breakfast at 6 45. to find more information about our upcoming events please view our online bulletin or use your phone to scan the posted qr code as you exit the sanctuary and now let's sync together as the people of god would you stand god is with us the mighty one who will save he rejoices over us with loud singing so this morning we returned a sacrifice of praise to him [Music] would you sing with me it's coming on the clouds kings and kingdoms will bow down every chain will break his broken hearts declare his praise for who can stop the lord almighty our god is the light the lion of judah he's roaring with power and he's fighting our battles and every knee will bow before him our god is the lamb the lamb that was slain for the sins of the world his blood breaks the chains and every knee will bow before [Music] open up the gates open up the gates make way before the king of [Music] to three is here to set the captains [Music] free [Music] is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] jesus christ is lord and who can stop the lord almighty who can stop the lord almighty sing it out who can stop the lord almighty and who can stop the lord almighty who could stop the lord almighty [Music] and our god is is [Music] foreign [Music] forehead [Music] [Applause] [Music] from the rising of the sun to the going down [Music] and both now and forever [Music] open up your eyes where or more are gathered his presence will abide to heaven there's only one to glorify jesus christ [Music] foreign [Music] where mercy can be found from the rising of the sun to the point of the name of the lord he plays and that the name of the lord [Music] jesus [Music] in the name of the lord we pray [Music] [Music] [Music] i [Music] [Music] is [Music] we confess our faith together a firm foundation that is jesus christ he saints of the lord is laid for your faith in his excellent word what more can he say than to you he has said to you to jesus am with you oh be not disney for i am your guide and will still give you away foundation [Music] [Music] [Music] shall i my grace of sufficient will be your supply the flames will not hurt you i only desire to [Music] [Applause] foundation my rock redeems [Music] my this morning we're going to do something a little different i want you to turn to your neighbor and say this is the promise of god to you go ahead turn to your neighbor and say this is the promise of god to you and we're gonna sing this we're gonna sing it loud and i want you to sing it loud enough where your neighbor can hear you sing it because we're singing the promise of god over one another all right here we go [Music] [Music] righteousness [Music] my foundation foundation i'll stick [Music] praise god with that confidence we go before the throne of grace in prayer to receive mercy in time of need so be seated or kneeling and let's go to prayer [Laughter] [Music] [Laughter] please bow with me [Music] father we come before you today as your people gathered together on your day to worship you we thank you for the access that we have to your throne not because we deserve it not because we can talk to you on our own but because you have given us a mediator you have given us access to you through your son jesus christ who has saved us for our sins so we thank you that we can come to you and ask for mercy and help father we pray today for our brothers and sisters in christ in this country and around the world for your church not buildings not people who attend but people who are redeemed who know you through jesus christ we recognize that many live in places where they could be killed or disowned for their faith and that persecution of your church continues today we ask for strength and help for our brothers and sisters in those situations we ask that you would grant them faith to continue to trust in you and i pray that it would remind us and encourage us to be bold and grateful for the freedom that we still have in this country the freedom of religion to worship you freely and that we would not be ashamed of the gospel in our homes and our neighborhoods and our workplaces father we pray for this country we love this country we love the freedom that it gives us we pray for its leaders our president and vice president pray for our state leaders our governor and mayor pray for our congress we ask that you would grant wisdom in decision making and legislating father we know that you are over the affairs of men you are over every kingdom we want to live in a land that's honoring to you and we ask that you would awaken people in this land and that it would be a place that honors you but we also recognize that we are citizens of your kingdom in heaven first and we thank you for that father we pray for this church this local church for its staff we pray for michael as he travels this month he as he speaks and preaches and teaches that you would give him the words to say and that you would use him wherever he goes we pray for the staff here at this church we thank you for their hard work and their serving the kingdom and their serving of us we pray that you would bless them and reward them for their service we thank you for dr kindle being here today we pray that you would speak through him that we would have ears to hear and father we lift up the needs of this local congregation you know each one of us better than we know ourselves you know the hairs on our head you know our thoughts before we think them you know our words before we speak them and you tell us that we can come and cast all of our cares upon you and so we do we ask for help in different ways for each one of us perhaps for healing perhaps for a job financial challenges perhaps for relationships you know each one of our needs may we be faithful to bring them to you persistently and pound on the windows of heaven and ask for your help father i pray if there is anyone here this morning who does not know you who is living in the domain of darkness who has not repented and received your grace through jesus christ that today you would remove the scales from their eyes that you would quicken their heart and they would respond in faith through the preaching of the gospel and be re restored to you through jesus it's in his name that we pray amen [Music] amen this morning at this time we go to the lord and we bring gifts and offerings to him and when we give something to someone we love we do it joyfully right we don't have a begrudging attitude well i kind of wanted to give you that bicycle but you know it's i just i don't know about it you know we do it joyfully we're excited to give and so that's that's that should be our posture this morning and so don't feel any compulsion or any sort of coercion or anything like that what we what we want is for you to feel the freedom to bring before the lord that which is most precious to you and that's what god wants and so at this time there's gonna be a link if you're watching us online we wanna welcome you and there's a link that you can follow and you can participate in giving as well but for those of us who are in the room this is a time where we're going to pray and seek what god would have us give to him that can be financially that can be um just a prayer time of hey what what is it in my life that i'm holding on to that i need to relinquish to you um and we're going to prepare our hearts for the sermon and at the end of the service ushers will be in the back to receive your offering you know in mark chapter 9 jesus is asked by this man to heal his son from an unclean spirit and if you're like me often you come before the lord asking for healing with hesitancy because you're not sure what he's going to say or what he's going to do and the man has that same kind of attitude and he says if you can do anything would you please help my son and jesus says if i can he's like taken aback if i can what what kind of question is that and he says all things are possible for those who believe and he says i believe lord i believe help my unbelief and so if you're like me often you come to the before the lord asking if you can do this without first knowing and already understanding that he is capable of far more than we can imagine or even ask and then there's the woman who just wants to touch jesus's coat she's got the issue of bleeding and she says you know what if i could just touch the hem of this garment then i'll be i'll be healed and so perhaps that's you and praise god if that's you and praise god if that's the faith that you have with you william calper in 1779 wrote a song that reminds us of all these stories about healing and it's called heal us emmanuel and we're going to sing that song now it's it's going to be a little different than william calper wrote it originally but we would invite you to stand and sing it with us and let's petition the lord to heal us as we sing we pray prepare our hearts [Music] amen well here we long to feel your touch deep is souls today with life we'll [Music] we faintly trust be that far from you [Music] amen well here we are [Music] is leave lord i believe with tears he [Music] cries [Music] [Applause] we long to feel your touch [Music] oh savior here our [Music] [Music] give it up for tyrone [Music] she too who touched you in the press and healing virtues stole [Music] was answered your faith has made like her with hopes and to fears you if we make [Music] oh send us not despairing homes [Music] well here we are we long to feel your [Music] [Music] our is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] hey man well this morning you're in for a treat dr artie kindle i have always felt uh not only does he have a wonderful sense of humor he has a passion that's that's that's palpable for the lost for the word of god for those of you who do not know rt kendall he is a christian writer speaker teacher and preacher he was the pastor of westminster chapel for 25 years he's been married to his wife louise for 63 years he has two children three grandchildren he's the author of over 50 books some of which are available for purchase today after the service he has a passion as i said for sharing the gospel and he always seems to have a witty barb or two for jonathan youssef as jonathan has introduced him he is the greatest theologian since paul and the humblest man since moses join me in giving dr artie kindle a warm apostles welcome well thank you you read my writing very well so honored to be here one of the proofs that god loves us apart from sending jesus is that he gave michael and elizabeth to louise and me his friends and when we retired from london i got off all boards except one leading the way we're on the european board and i believe in this ministry with all my heart and so honored to be back in church of the apostles and pray that god will use me today i miss you jonathan i know you're watching i pray for isaac every day and let me know the name of the new one when he or she arrives probably know whether it's a boy or girl these days anyway i want to read to you from hebrews chapter 11 verses 5 and 6. and so we're told of enoch enoch was taken up so that he should not see death and he was not found because god had taken him now before he was taken up he was commended as having pleased god and without faith it is impossible to please him for whoever would draw near to god must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him may god be pleased to bless the reading and the preaching of this his most holy and infallible word brief word of prayer heavenly father i pray now for the sprinkling of the blood of jesus by your spirit to rest upon every mind in order that their perception of what i say will be received as you intend cleanse my tongue that i will be your transparent instrument to say what needs to be said nothing that doesn't need to be said help me to be clear simple and may this be a word that edifies everyone here and a word that brings great honor and glory to your name i ask in jesus name amen i want to begin by sharing a personal story very special to me and you will see why it's a story that my father told me many times as i grew up and it was when he and my mother were in indianapolis indiana and i'm from kentucky i hate to rub that in to you people i realize that you can't help it and i've got to keep that in mind but i'm from kentucky but my parents before i was born my mother with me and her womb my dad mother went to a church in indianapolis indiana and he was so taken by the sermon that he says he put his hand on my mother's tummy and said lord let my son preach like this man well he didn't know it was going to be a son but it was and i grew up hearing that story fast forward 18 19 years later i'm a student at trevecca nazarene college in nashville tennessee and we had to go to chapel every day and over the years i heard hundreds of sermons there was only one that i remember in all those years at trevecca only one and it was a sermon by someone who preached on hebrews 11 verse 5 that enoch before his translation had this testimony that he pleased god i was so moved by the sermon that i went to my dormitory got on my knees and said god help me to live a life that i will please you in fact i got on the phone i said dad i just heard a sermon today that has moved me he said who was the preacher i said a man by the name of c.b cox he said that was the pastor in indianapolis indiana before you were born that i put my hand on your mother's tummy and said lord make my son a preacher like this man well that story i grew up with and this verse i've long been gripped by but haven't really preached on it and charles spurgeon said if a text gets a hold of you chances are you have got a hold of it and so this passage that enoch had this testimony before he was translated that he pleased god some of you may remember a couple months ago that uh his royal highness the duke of edinburgh uh the husband of her majesty the queen passed away and i watched the funeral and at the end of the funeral the archbishop of canterbury listed the honors given to the duke of edinburgh and i think there were 11 or 12 and every single one of those honors and nobody here could ever come up to none we will never get anything like it and the thing that struck me he was born to privilege he was given those honors that nobody else could ever have but it crossed my mind i wonder if he thinks that that would help him in any way get to heaven i don't know that he thought that i wouldn't be surprised if he did what i know is that this was regarded as so important they were praising him for these honors then i thought of the apostle paul and he referred to his own pedigree hebrews sorry philippians chapter 3 verses 5 to 7 where paul said circumcised the eighth day of the people of israel of the tribe of benjamin a hebrew of hebrews as to the law blameless but whatever and as to zeal to persecute the church what i counted as a as loss uh i now do that be for the surpassing worth of knowing christ jesus my lord for his sake i have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish that i may gain christ and be found in him not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law but that which is through the faith of christ well paul said as for all these things i count them rubbish rubbish when you consider honors of the world what honor would you like to receive uh i think of the olympics at this moment those that get a gold medal what an honor and uh when you consider uh a nobel peace prize or pulitzer prize or being the winner of a political office or you strike it well financially and you think of different things like that at the end of your life what will matter and i cannot think of anything more wonderful than this enoch had this testimony before his translation that he pleased god doesn't say he pleased his parents sometimes that's hard to do in fact it was hard for me to do my first report card back in ashland kentucky was bees and seeds and my father said son you work a little harder you can have all bees i did had a report card with all b's then he said son maybe one day you'll get an a i did then he said maybe next time you'll have all a's and no b's i did and then one day the report card had it all a's but on my way home i was dreading one thing a bunch of those a's were a minuses and what do you suppose my dad noticed i could never come up to standard but we're talking about something it's not out of reach the commandments of the lord are not grievous said john enoch had this testimony that he pleased god doesn't say pleased his friends sometimes that's hard to do doesn't say he pleased his wife sometimes that's hard to do even in 63 years i i was preaching in northern ireland and a man came up to me after the service said can i ask you a question sure can your wife be your enemy i said yeah he said thank you and then he came back and said oh by the way i loved your book on unhappy marriage i said i didn't write a book on unhappy america no i didn't you did then it hit me in my book thorn in the flesh there's a chapter on unhappy marriage that that could be your thorn in the flesh he said it changed my life we don't know that enoch pleased his parents his friends his wife doesn't say he pleased his enemies do you know what it is to have an enemy and you work overtime what can i do at westminster chapel i had some enemies one raised up of god i guess it was god to write against me he will come to the service and take notes as i wrote waiting for that unguarded comment and if i would make a state oh there you go you got it write that down to you you try to please people like that in fact you know what it is to have somebody jealous of you who can stand before jealousy and that's for enoch it doesn't even say he pleased himself romans 15 3 even christ please not himself but it does say he pleased god the grandest and greatest thing that can ever be said about a human being and yet it's a possible thing by the way hebrews 11 is that chapter we call it the faith chapter in the bible people did what they did by faith abel enoch noah abraham isaac jacob joseph moses jephthah on and on they turned their world upside down by faith but it's not a chapter telling you how to get to heaven it's a chapter describing people who did great things by faith by the way hebrews is not written to convert people in fact hebrews 11 is not telling you how to be saved the writer assumes everybody he's writing to they're already saying chapter 3 verse 1. he calls them holy brethren so what's the purpose well he wants them to come to a higher level of knowing god he refers to entering god's rest chapter four in chapter six there's that subtle hint the possibility that as god swore an oath to abraham he might swear an oath to you abraham one was willing to sacrifice isaac which seemed to be unreasonable to ask but because god said it abraham actually was ready to sacrifice isaac and sometimes god may ask you to do something that makes no sense at the time in the same way abraham did this he walked with god enoch walked with god two in the book of genesis it says they walked with god abraham was a friend of god enoch pleased god and they did it by faith it's not the way you get to heaven but they came into this assurance and so hebrews 11 is trying to encourage you and me to have a greater relationship with god by the way there are two kinds of faith saving faith and persistent faith so saving faith is what enables you to be fit to go to heaven do you know for sure that if you were to die today would you go to heaven i ask you that but then there's persistent faith that's the kind of faith you have once you're converted and persistent faith is what leads to a greater relationship with god it's what will enable you to do what enoch did he pleased god i wish i so wish that as that preacher years ago at trevecca preached on this text had the effect on me that i wanted to do that oh i wish that somehow god would overrule everything i say and just speak with you and give you an ambition that has no natural explanation but only god could do it only god could put a desire like that there or let me put this question to you which gives you more satisfaction when god does things for you when he pleases you or when you please him well i think we'd all be honest and say we prefer that god pleases us sure answer our prayer give us the raise and pay uh give us that new friend that breakthrough yes we all want that but i have been asking this question in recent years have you come to the place that you get satisfaction just knowing you please him you see we're living in the me generation we're living in the what's in it for me society most theology today in bible colleges and seminary it's anthropology it's what's in it for me what's in it for man nobody asks what's in it for god i would urge you to ask that question [Music] and consider getting your satisfaction from knowing you're pleasing him you say rit how can i do this faith by faith by faith enoch he walked with god he pleased god faith and that's it you see the only time ever that you have to please god is while you are alive you can't do that after you get to heaven you will not need faith in heaven everything will be clear everything will be real but it's at this moment this side of the judgment seat of christ that it's handed to you on a silver platter you will not always have this opportunity just to please god and verse 6 says without faith it's impossible to please him and this is what it's asking of you well what does the writer say well you believe that he is you believe that he's a rewarder of them that seek him but have you stopped to thank god for the privilege of faith you will not always have this privilege and when we stand before god at the judgment seat of christ we give an account of the things done while in the body that means on this earth you can't do it after you get to heaven these are the moments and to show your gratitude to god not because you're trying to earn points to get to heaven no we get to heaven by sheer grace by the blood of jesus but as a thank you for the doctrine of sanctification is the doctrine of gratitude we say thank you not only by telling him but by living a life that honors him and so ask you again do you appreciate the privilege of faith well the only way to please god is by faith and then he mentions two things the first may surprise you i've thought about this a lot believe that he is well i think surely christians don't need that that's an assumption you believe that he exists why would the writer bother to say you must believe that he is that he exists i'll tell you why whenever there's a trial and of some severity and the devil comes in he will immediately cause you to think if there were a god this wouldn't happen it comes you think with this situation god wouldn't let this happen the devil comes right there there's not a saint that doesn't have that thought and that's why the writer says what these were discouraged christians these hebrews they were discouraged because friends were deserting the faith chapter 10 he says don't give up the assembling of yourselves together as the manner of some is these saints had not seen vindication they thought the temple would fall by then and the temple is still standing it's in the middle 60s when this is being written and they're discouraged and this is why the writer says he that comes to god must believe that it is whatever else don't give up knowing he's there and though things go wrong you can say with job though he slay me yet will i trust him i believe in him i'm standing put i will not turn back i will not give up you believe that he is but there's more it's not for nothing and this may surprise you you see there are christians some of them i think they're trying to be pious i don't need to be motivated by reward as if that's beneath them don't be silly this is the way we're wired this is the way god made us this is the way he created us he does everything to us because he's appealing to what will please oh brother who's here from providence rhode island here's a letter from os hawkins he's coming here in two weeks he's an old friend um don't be surprised if he preaches on enoch had this testimony that he pleased god that's just like os i've taught him all he knows i can't believe i did that that's the worst mistake i've ever made i turned this off tiara oh well thank you are you pleasing your husband do you like being judged no jesus said judge not and you will not be judged give and it will be given to you you see we never outgrow wanting something back this is the way we're made and god appeals to you and he that comes to god must believe that he is and that he rewards those and some translations put it who diligently seek him what does that mean well there comes a time when just saying the apostles creed important though it is i believe in god the father almighty maker of heaven earth you need more than that it comes a time when you earnestly seek him these hebrew christians were discouraged and this is a word today for someone you could be in a trial as i speak and it would not surprise me if there is someone here you as i speak are in the greatest trial of your life what does god say don't give up believe that he is is that he's a rewarder of those who don't give up who diligently seek him and so when you're in a great trial know that god has allowed this for a purpose well the way he attempts he said to jesus if you're the son of god trying to get him to doubt he said to eve in the garden of eden has god said this you see the first onslaught of the devil is to get you to doubt but he rewards those who diligently seek him and never forget the bottom line of the book of job job said now i know no purpose of yours can be thwarted and you will see that all that is happening is part of god's plan for you and so with these hebrew christians it turned out just a year later the temple was destroyed and it could be that what is about to happen you think it's not going to happen and you give up just before don't god is never too late he's never too early he's always just on time and so enoch had this relationship with god and i think this is my speculation that one day god looked at enoch and said enoch you know too much come up here with me well the duke of edinburgh i don't know whether he thought all those awards would help him he was born to privilege most of us know nothing about that but what we can say we've been born again and that's a work of the holy spirit and when that happens to you you realize it's what god did you didn't ask for your birth you didn't give your parents permission to have you and so when you're born again it's the work of the spirit and throughout eternity you'll be aware that you don't deserve to be there in heaven some years ago i was given an invitation from 10 downing street to meet prime minister margaret thatcher and i was asked to to give a prayer at the royal albert hall for some lawyers present and and it was a privilege to meet the prime minister and then i noticed after having time with her and i was promised 15 minutes alone with just her then after that who do you suppose was waiting in the queue just to shake her hand listen to this the chief justice of the supreme court warren berger vice president mondale the ambassador to saint james i mean all these dignitaries and all they did is to say glad to meet you prime minister and i stood and just watched it i thought i've been with her but then they said we're going to take a photograph i said uh well okay i'll i'll get out of the way and uh no dr kendall you you want me with this group yeah well i there i am and i opposed i felt like a fraud but no i didn't deserve it and throughout eternity we'll look at each other and say how did you get here martin luther says when i get to heaven i expect three surprises there'll be those that i didn't expect to be there there will be those missing that i thought would be there but the greatest surprise is that i'm there myself and yet not a surprise it's by the grace of god we're all aware it's what god did question have you been born again question do you know for sure that if you were to die today would you go to heaven and if you were to stand before god you will and he were to say to you why should i let you into my heaven what would you say pause a moment suppose it's the real thing and you're being put with this question why should in heaven you get in why there is a reason do you know the reason and it should come to you by now and if nothing comes to your mind think again or if you're beginning to say well i've tried to do this i've tried to do that i would say with all respect no hope i've got one hope of going heaven and i'm going to share a prayer with you if you have any doubt i want you to pray this prayer you pray it in your heart you don't need to say it out loud but if you need to pray it say it now lord jesus i need you tell him i want you i know i'm a sinner and i'm sorry for my sins wash my sins away by your blood i welcome your holy spirit into my heart and as best as i know how i give you my life did you pray that prayer are you ashamed that you prayed that prayer why do you ask rt well jesus said if you're ashamed of me i'll be ashamed of you jesus said if you confess me before men i'll confess you before my father i'm going to do something that i don't think i planned on this before i came i doubt you thought it would happen but if you just prayed that prayer i wonder in the next 10 seconds if you're unashamed of it you'll just stand up you say in front of all these people yup if you've just prayed that prayer right now stand your feet good thank you thank you in some cases this may have been recommitment but if you've never confessed christ before or prayed a prayer like that before guess what you've just been born again goodbye god bless you well church let's stand and let's sing this gospel truth in christ alone our hope is found amen and we celebrate with our brothers and sisters this morning as we sing that together [Music] in christ alone my hope is found he is my light my strength my soul this corner stone this solid ground [Music] i stand [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] is this gift of love and righteousness scorned by the ones he came [Music] [Music] [Music] come on church let's sing this [Applause] [Music] in glorious [Music] is [Music] this is [Applause] [Music] jesus [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] or calls me home [Music] [Applause] we go out with a shout of joy this morning [Music] when we're suffering we will hope in jesus and lift our voice to sing may our may you songs your ears in one voice we praise you sing it through our tears [Music] [Music] then i don't feel like singing with my heart laying down your voice will fight for me so brother sing it loud sisters raise your [Music] in heaven's history song [Music] is [Music] is me of your truth again that's right for the joy of the lord is my strength [Music] [Applause] [Music] for the [Music] cause it's joy joy o lord that renews our song it's your joy alone that's i strength in our sorrow and plain we can see your praise [Music] [Music] strength is [Music] [Music] strength amen go out in the power and the peace of the lord jesus christ have a great sunday we'll see you next [Music] week [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] thank you for being part of our worship today please contact us and tell us about what god is doing in your life if you are in the atlanta area we hope that you can visit us in person god bless you

Channel: The Church Of The Apostles

Views: 704

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Sermons by great preachers, testimonies of christians, jesus christ, leading the way, Dr Michael Youssef, The Church of the Apostles

Id: 9AZhcv5TseQ

Length: 69min 19sec (4159 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 18 2021