Equipping the Saints - The Power of the Word - Joe Sweet

i hope you brought your bible with you um tonight uh again this is equipping the saints series i'm calling this equipping the saints the power of the living word the power of the living word we're going to talk about the word of god not ephesians let's pray before we do lord i just pray one more time would you open our ears in our eyes god would you make your word alive and real to us lord let the entrance of your word bring light that we would all be washed sanctified renewed and equipped in the name of jesus amen so equipping the saints the power of the living word in ephesians chapter 4 paul writes about the purpose of what we call the five-fold ministry he says god has given some to be apostles some prophets some evangelists some pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry for the building up of the body of christ so the purpose of what we call the five-fold apostle prophet evangelist pastor teacher is to equip the saints so the saints can do all the work all the work of the ministry leading people to christ t instructing them helping them loving them praying for them getting them healed getting them delivered helping them grow up all the work of the ministry god intends to be done by the members of the body of christ so it's not his intention that a few uh professional ministers do the work of the ministry and i know you know this if you've been in this church for any length of time so this is the purpose to equip the saints to do the work of the ministry for the building up of the body of christ so that's what this tonight is about it's a foundational teaching on being equipped and uh ii timothy chapter 3 verse 16 and 17 the bible says all scripture is given by inspiration of god now in the greek it it says it's god breathed in words the scriptures come by the spirit breath of god all scripture old and new testament all scripture is given by the inspiration of god and is profitable for doctrine that's teaching for reproof that's a rebuke for correction for instruction in righteousness let me read that again all scripture is given by the inspiration of god is profitable for doctrine for reproof for correction for instruction in righteousness that the man or the woman of god may be here it is complete that word in the king james is perfect it means you have all your components and you're lacking nothing complete you may be complete thoroughly equipped for every good work so the bible tells us that all scripture is supernatural it came from god's spirit inspiration and is profitable for doctrine reproof uh correction uh instruction righteousness that the man of god or the woman of god would be complete lacking nothing and thoroughly equipped for every good work so that tells us that all that we need is in the scripture everything we need to be equipped is in the bible amen so we're going to talk about that now it says equip for what for every good work so let me just divert for a few moments and talk about good works in ephesians chapter 2 verse 10 the bible says we are his workmanship created in christ jesus for good works that god has ordained beforehand that we should walk in them psalm 139 says that all of our days were written in a book before there were any of them you can read it psalm 139 verse 15. so before you were born all your days were written in god's book and ephesians 2 10 says god has foreordained good works for you and me to do that nobody else can do the works he's assigned for us to do amen that we should walk in those works and titus chapter 2 verse 14 says that christ gave himself for us that he might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for himself his own special people zealous for good works isn't that awesome now when i read that that's bridal language that's the bridegroom and the bride watch christ gave himself for us and he might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for himself his own special people that's the love of god he gave himself you see it again in ephesians chapter 5 for christ loved the church and gave himself for her that he might wash her and sanctify her with water by the word of god that he might present her to himself a glorious church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing but holy she'd be holy and without blemish so christ gave himself to sanctify us redeem us from lawlessness and present us to himself and he says why in titus so that we would be a people that are zealous for good works that means we have a we're motivated by the love of god we have a passion to do good in matthew 5 16 jesus when he said let your light shine before men he told us how how do we let the light of christ shine it says that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven so helping serving loving giving is how we show christ to people he said let the people see that let the people see your good works and they'll glorify your father in heaven he said that's how we let it shine titus 3 8 says this is a faithful saying and these things i want to affirm constantly wow paul said this saying that i'm about to tell you paul wanted to affirm it constantly to the church that those who have believed in god should be careful to maintain good works remember that's how we show the love of god with good works helping your neighbor loving them blessing them forgiving them bring your garbage bring your garbage cans in from the curb and then bring your neighbors in take the the shopping cart that some lazy person left in the middle of the parking lot that might roll into a car and dan it and take it and put it away pick up the trash open the door help people let your good work let your light shine people can see your good works isn't that awesome so he said that scripture equips us for that titus 3 14 let our people also learn to maintain good works and to meet each urgent needs that they would not be unfruitful so ii timothy 3 16 again all scripture is given by inspiration of god is profitable for doctrine reproof correction instruction of righteousness in righteousness that the man or the woman of god may be complete thoroughly equipped for every good work that means the word of god is our standard it's our plumb line it's our resource it's our rule it's our guide so the scripture now this is very foundational but we have 66 books of the bible they're all given by the inspiration of god each book of the bible is called the word of god and it's been supernaturally preserved by god in psalm 12 verse 7 speaking of the word of god it says you shall keep them your words o lord you shall keep them o lord you shall preserve them from this generation forever so god has preserved his word and another scripture says that god's word is settled forever in heaven and god says of himself i am the lord i change not and so his word is preserved for us in matthew 24 jesus said heaven and earth will pass away but my words will never pass away so the word of god that we have scripture is preserved by god jesus um well i'll get i'm getting ahead of myself i'll get to that the word of god is called in the bible the sword of the spirit the sword is sharp and it cuts and it speaks specifically of cutting between joint and marrow dividing between joint marrow meaning the word of god can penetrate to the deepest part of our being and separate lies from truth the word of god has the power to do it when our own heart and our own soul can deceive ourself the word of god can come in and separate and bring light so that's we need the word of god the word of god is called the sword of the spirit when you read the book of revelation you see jesus coming back he's got crowns on his head his eyes are like flames of fire it says he's coming to make war and to judge and out of his mouth is a sharp two-edged sword that's a picture of the word of god coming out of his mouth and with the breath of his mouth we're told in thessalonians that he'll destroy the antichrist his enemies the word of god is also called the incorruptible seed of the word the incorruptible seed now natural seeds have all the dna they have all all that it takes a small seed to grow a large tree and produce lots of fruit so the word of god is a seed but it's incorruptible it's eternal it's preserved by god so when the word of god is in our heart and when jesus told parables he said that our heart is the soil and the seed is the word of god the word of god is the seed so the bible calls the word of god an incorruptable seed by planting seeds in our heart the tree the branches and the fruit can come forth all from the word of god held in the soil of our heart it's called the incorruptible seed of the word of god we're just laying a foundation the bible is the word of god the lord jesus christ this is interesting he referred to or he quoted in the new testament jesus christ referred to or quoted the old testament scriptures 78 times he quoted from or directly referred to genesis exodus leviticus deuteronomy psalms proverbs isaiah jeremiah ezekiel daniel hosea amos jonah micah and malachi jesus referred to them by quoting them or referring to them 78 times he quoted scripture jesus called the scriptures he called the scriptures the word of god he called them the scriptures and he called them the wisdom of god so jesus affirmed to us that the word of god had been preserved as psalm 12 says that god you will preserve your word from now on to all generations because moses was thousands of years before jesus and jesus quoted the scripture so it'd been preserved for the thousands of years until the time of jesus is preserved today we have the word of god amen now jesus not only quoted the scriptures and called the scripture the wisdom of god and the word of god but he expected us to read and to know the scriptures in matthew 21 16 matthew 21 42 and mark 2 25 when he was challenged or asked a question jesus replied have you never read and then he would quote the scripture for example he said out of the mouths of babes and nursing infants he quoted the psalms he said have you never read that and he also referred to it he said have you never read what david did when he was in need and hungry so jesus used the word of god as the standard and the plumb line when he was asked questions he would he would answer them with scripture or ask him have you never read jesus went places when he traveled for example he said let us go up to jerusalem and then he would say that the scripture might be fulfilled so he where he went what he did was according to the word of god scriptures in the gospels of matthew mark and luke jesus said heaven and earth will pass away but my words will never pass away so we're laying a foundation for what the scriptures are they are the word of god second peter 3 16 peter calls paul's writings the scriptures the word of god amen in matthew 4 4 jesus said man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of god and if you read deuteronomy chapter 8 god tells that's a quote from deuteronomy when jesus said that in matthew 4. but god tells why he brought the israelites out into the wilderness he said i brought you out in the wilderness to test you and to humble you and to teach you that man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes to the mouth of god when god says things like i'm with you to the end of the age we're supposed to live by that when god says seek ye first the kingdom of god and his righteousness and he will add all these other things unto you we're to live by that word when god says fear not he means it when god says go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature he meant it we're to live by that we're to live by every word that proceeds to the mouth of god so if we're going to live now here's the thing i want to lays a foundation the bible says if we're going to get equipped to do the work of the ministry we've got to get equipped by the word of god because paul said to timothy that all scripture is given by inspiration of god so the man or woman of god can be thoroughly equipped complete thoroughly equipped for every good work so if we're going to be equipped saints we have to get equipped from the word of god if we're going to equip others we have to be men and women of the word and feed them the word to equip them it's not our opinion or what we think or our idea it's what the word of god says amen so we're going to talk about some of the things that the word does some of the effects and attributes of the word of god now number one john 17 17 jesus prayed father sanctify them by the truth he's praying for us all those who would believe on him he said sanctify them by the truth your word is truth so the scripture is the truth of god and um jesus prayed that we would feed on the word and that word would sanctify us you see it also in ephesians chapter 5 where he said he christ loved the church gave himself for that he might sanctify her and wash her with water by the word presented to her to himself a glorious church holy without spot or wrinkle so the word of god sanctifies us that means the word of god is alive we're told in hebrews chapter 4 it's living the word of god is living and active and it has the power to sanctify us so whatever area of our life is not in agreement with the love of god or the will of god as we meditate and hold the word in our heart colossians 3 says let the word of christ dwell in you richly as we hold the word that living word hebrew says it's alive that word is alive has the power to sanctify us the word has the power to do in our life what we're not able to do meditating on the word and believing it has the power to do in our life what we're not able to do if we could sanctify ourselves god would just say sanctify yourself but we're to give ourselves over to the washing of the water the word the supernatural power of the incorruptible seed of the word of god in the living word of god which is a sword that can cut and divide between joint and marrow between soul and spirit that living word separates what's righteous from unrighteous and sanctifies us and the word sanctified means to separate from what's unclean unto the lord what's holy so the power of the word now our attitudes our tongue our thoughts our imaginations can be sanctified by the word of god now philippians chapter 2 verse 12 and 13 says in in verse 12 it says work out your salvation with fear and trembling then the next verse says for it is god who works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure so it's god who sanctifies us first thessalonians 5 23-24 now may the god of peace himself sanctify you completely may your whole spirit soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of the lord faithful as he that calls you he will do it so god sanctifies us he used the means of his word but our part when it says work out your salvation with fear and trembling is to take the time to read and meditate the word so we that's our working out of our salvation god does the sanctifying we do the holding the word in our heart so if we neglect the word we short circuit the process of sanctification we hinder it we stifle the process of sanctification because the word is what god uses the means to sanctification john 17 17 and it's supernatural the more you read the word every time we read the word where we're quiet we're pondering the word or meditatively reading the word that word is washing us and sanctifying it's our mind is being renewed whether you recognize it or not it's supernatural when i eat a ribeye steak i don't know how i don't know the process that happens i don't know how uh when i eat it that somehow my body turns it in and adds muscle and tissue and makes my hair grow i don't know how it does that god made our bodies and he set up the process but i have to do the eating and god made our bodies to do the rest the words the same way if we eat the word on a regular basis it sanctifies us if we eat the word on a regular basis our mind gets renewed this is supernatural it's how we get equipped so neglecting the word is the worst thing a christian can do so number one it sanctifies us i remember years ago um i would uh i would it's probably back in 2002 or three i was praying about certain areas of my life that i wanted to be holy and pure and i wrote down on the cards you know what those were and one of them was my tongue i want to have grace on my lips the bible says whoever does not stumble in word is a perfect man able to bridle the whole body and it also says whoever doesn't bridle his tongue his religion is useless isn't that amazing so you could pray and do all kinds of stuff i could we could do all kinds of stuff but if we have a tongue that's critical judgmental gossipy it says our religion is useless but the person that doesn't stumble in word he said is a perfect man able to bridle the whole body and i remember for a long time really working on that saying lord i in but i would go through times where i'd say things that i wished i didn't say anybody else done that and i think lord and then i was reading in the bible one day it says james it says no man can tame the tongue and i said there it is lord it says right here in your word no man can tame the tongue no wonder i'm having a hard time and i heard the still small voice of the holy spirit say but i can if you'll sanctify if you allow me to sanctify you by my word meditate on my word hold my word in your heart the word has the power to sanctify you come on so it'll sanctify your tongue the word will sanctify your attitudes it'll sanctify your imagination your thought life here's the other thing the word does is cleanse us now that's different sanctification means to set you apart and then cleansing is to deliver you from that thing that's unclean so you get set apart unto god and you get cleansed from it so it's slightly different but they're similar and they work hand in hand it says in ephesians 5 christ loved the church and gave himself for her that he might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of the water by the word so that's the power of the word the other thing the word of god does is it transforms us james 1 21 says receive with meekness the implanted word which is able to save your soul now to save the word is sozo it means transform heal preserve deliver and when the bible talks about the saving of the soul in the new testament is speaking of transformation into the image of christ so he said we're to receive the word of god with meekness that means when i read the word if i don't agree with it i have to submit to it i become meek and the word is the ruler not me i don't have the right to say i don't like that verse that's not meekness it's whatever the word says i say yes sir yes lord and so he said receive the word with that attitude and it's able to save your soul transform your soul don't argue with the word of god and the word also illuminates us psalm 19 verse 130 it says the entrance of your word gives light it gives understanding to the simple psalm 19 also says your word has made me wiser than the ancients so the entrance of your word gives light it gives understanding now first john 1 5 says god is light hebrews chapter 4 says the word is living jesus said in john chapter 6 my words are spirit and life please hear this when we meditate on the word of god that word is alive and it's spirit and when we hold the word of god in our heart the holy spirit makes it alive inside of us it's live it's spirit god is light the entrance of his word brings light and so uh there's a reality to this i've experienced it many many many times but i remember um years ago i would get just get alone for an hour hour and a half and just meditate on the word of god and then i would get up to leave my office or my room and i realized i was full of the holy spirit what happened the word is alive the entrance of the word brings light first john 1 5 says god is light and when you chew on the word and meditate on it hold it in your heart the spirit of god fills you it's the truth so it illuminates you and also the word warns us psalm 100 psalm 19 verse 7 says the law of the lord is perfect converting the soul the testimony of the lord is sure making wise the simple the statutes of the lord are right rejoicing the heart the commandments of the lord is commandment of the lord is pure enlightening the eyes the fear of the lord is clean enduring forever the judgments of the lord are true and righteous altogether more to be desired are they than gold yes than much fine gold man the commandments the statutes and the judgments of god are to be more desired than gold even fine gold meaning this we should a wise person would pray like this lord judge me now i don't want any surprises on judgment day deal with me now the judgments of god are all together righteous and they're to be they're to be desired they're not condemnation they're corrections sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb moreover by them your servant is warned and in keeping them there is great reward so that's the word of god the statutes of god the commandments of god he said by them your servant is warned in keeping them there's great reward praise god psalm 119 verse 105 your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path see even whether you realize it or not right now you're being washed in the water of the word and if your heart's open your mind is being renewed something supernatural is happening because the word of god is being spoken now here's what the word of god does it's a lamp to my feet and a light to my path that means this book these living words should be our direction and by the way when the bible says that all scripture is given by inspiration of god and it's able to equip us thoroughly thoroughly for every good work that means to be a husband to be a wife to run a business to do a job every good work all the answers are in here all the equipping is in here it tells us how how to be a husband love your wife now it says we're to love our wife as christ loved the church it also says we're to nourish and cherish then first peter 3 says we're to honor then it tells what the wife is supposed to do the wife is supposed to submit to the husband as unto the lord in all things she's to respect him and to love him so the truth is all of us husbands and wives everybody are supposed to let lay down our lives for each other because jesus said this is my commandment that you love one another as i have loved you he said there's no greater love than to lay down your life so we're commanded to lay down our lives for each other so all the instructions how to be a son or a daughter honor your mother and father obey your parents these are the path of life this is the way to walk amen now the other thing the word of god does is it imparts life psalm 119 verse 50 says this is my comfort in my affliction for thy word has quickened me the word quicken means imparted life there's supernatural power in the word of god to impart life to your spirit daniel 10 19 daniel said when the angel spoke to him he said when he spoke i was strengthened the word of god strengthened them john the beloved writes to the young men who overcame the devil because of the word of god was in them and they were strong so the word of god kept in our heart makes us strong come on somebody it does he's daniel's angel comes and brings the word of the lord to him he said when he spoke i was strengthened the word of god is uh also used to exhort and encourage us you see that in acts 20 verse 2 is to rebuke us ii timothy 3 16. i read that just equip us for every good work the word of god also is used to bring down strongholds everything that exalts itself against the knowledge of god strongholds are in our mind they're they can come from demonic inspirations but uh they come down by the washing of the water of the word the word of god is also used to defeat evil spirits when jesus was tempted in the wilderness his answer to the devil was it is written it is written it is written and the devil left him so the word isn't that awesome the word of god is our weapon to defeat evil spirits now again all i'm going to read this again all scripture is given by inspiration of god is profitable for doctrine for reproof for correction for instruction righteousness the man of god may be complete thoroughly equipped for every good work amen now that's my introduction to the message tonight are you ready for us to begin i want to just lay that foundation of what the word of god is and does psalm 119 verse 130 this is very important it says the sum of your word is truth we've got to take the whole picture the whole council of god you can take a verse here or a verse there and build a case for almost anything but we need all the scripture put together gives us the heart of god the sum of your word is truth you know if you just read the law but you don't read the rest of it and explain the purpose for the laws to bring us to christ you know you can beat someone over the head with that but that's not the purpose of it so it's the psalm the whole word so that's the and it's also the word in context but the sum of his word is truth now now we're getting to the exciting part that was my introduction just to show us the power of the word it's the incorruptable seed it's the sword it's the living word it's spirit it's life it's given by inspiration of god it's been preserved we have the very word of god we're to live by the word of god it's a light and a lamp to our feet and our path and through the word we're equipped and by the word as the word dwells in us we can equip others if we're not people of the word we're not equipped and we can't equip others so i want to encourage you read your bible regularly don't worry about how much you don't understand absorb what you can because the more light gets in the more your understanding will increase now here's how the word works it's one of the most exciting teachings that jesus gave and i think it's often overlooked by many in the church it's found in mark chapter 4 the power of the incorruptible seed of the word of god mark chapter 4 verse 26 jesus said the kingdom of god is as is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground and he should sleep by night and rise by day and the seed should sprout and grow he himself does not know how for the earth yields crops by itself first the blade then the head after that the full grate in the head but when the grain ripens immediately he puts in the sickle because the harvest has come now that's jesus's teaching here's what he said again now in the context in this chapter jesus makes it known that the soil is our heart and the seed is the word of god so jesus is saying the kingdom of heaven is like a person who takes the time to put the seed into their heart to put the word of god into their heart colossians 3 says let the word of christ dwell in you richly we have to be intentional about that reading the word ponder it hold it in our heart he said the kingdom of god is like a man who scatters seed on the ground he goes to sleep and he rises and the seed sprouts and grows and he does not know how it does it by itself the earth yields crops by itself first the blade then the head after that the full grain in the head so that's how transformation works it's how sanctification works it's how equipping works we read the word we hold it in our heart and we keep doing that we have to protect the word nurture the word keep it there don't let our mind be stolen away by the devil keep the word in our heart he said you wake up and say hey there's a plant here there's fruit growing how does that happen the incorruptible seed of the word of god so this should encourage every believer don't anybody ever think i can't change i can't grow don't ever think like that that's a lie from the devil keep putting the word in it and you'll wake up and see change it says watch this he goes to sleep and that plant should grow he does not know how for the earth yields crops by itself so the word in our heart will cause fruit to come by all by itself doesn't need our help we just got to keep the seed in there well that's encouraging to me and again first peter 1 23 says you've been born again not of corruptible seed but incorruptable through the word of god which lives and abides forever so the word of god is living and it abides forever the soil is our heart now here's what first thessalonians 2 says about the power of the word of god he said for this reason we also thank god without ceasing because when you receive the word of god which you heard from us you welcomed it not as the word of men but as it is in truth the word of god which also effectively works in you who believes so there's the word of god doing the work so now this is a practice i've done for close to couple decades is as i write write down scriptures on tall areas that i feel i need like love humility purity of heart grace on my lips holiness i'll write down those topics on cards and i'll print it up and then i'll spend time meditating on those i'll meditate on holiness just meditate on it let the word do the work and watch holiness start happening in your life get scriptures on the tongue and watch your tongue come under submission to god get scriptures on love and keep meditating on them holding them in your heart and watch love start coming meditate on humility and watch god start showing you the pride and and he'll start changing you it's the power of sanctification the power of transformation is in the word and we see we have all these cards that over the years we've developed a lot of them they're printed up in the bookstore there's no charge you can pick up these scripture meditation cards but you get the word in your heart and hold it there and watch transformation happen in fact paul told timothy i think it's in first timothy before i didn't write down the scripture he said timothy give yourself in he wrote timothy some scripture of course and exhortations and commandments and then he said meditate on these things give yourself entirely to them and your progress will be seen by all so you meditate on the word and give yourself to that word the word will do the work the word makes the fruit come amen now what we do with the word of god determines the degree of our relationship with him what we do with the word of god determines the degree of our relationship with him john 14 21 jesus said whoever has my commandments and keeps them that is the one who loves me he that loves me shall be loved of my father i will love him and will manifest myself to him so the more we keep the word the more god manifests himself to us he said in john 14 23 if a man loves me he'll keep my words and my father will love him and we will come to him we'll make her abode with him so really i want to encourage everybody if you're not doing this already when you read the bible learn to meditate on the word you can do like i did you can get topics say lord it's the area i need i need help in could be your tongue it could be your love walk it could be holiness it could be something write some scriptures down meditate on them and learn to hold those in your heart meditation is what it says about mary the mother of jesus when the angels announced the birth of christ to the shepherds and then they came and reported the good news to mary it says mary pondered all these things and kept them in her heart i think that's luke 2 verse 19 mary pondered all these things and she held them in her heart that's what it is to meditate is to read the word and then ponder it visualize it think about it and then i turn the word back into a prayer for example if i'm meditating on first peter 5 5 it says god resists the proud he gives grace to the humble if i meditate on that and i i think about that know you just let the word sink into your heart in fact those are words jesus used when he taught his disciples he said let these words sink in so meditation lets the word get into your heart you think about it wow lord what times i've been proud i just caused you to resist me you resist the proud but god you lift up and you give grace and help to the humble you've got to think about that and let it sink in and then that word takes root and it'll bring forth fruit and you'll just say lord i want to learn humility i want to walk humble because if i don't walk humble i won't get the grace and the only way we're going to walk with god is by grace so we meditate on the word first john 4 16 says god is love first john 4 7 and 8 says god is love and uh it says god is love and he that abides in love abides in god and god abides in him so that's been a quest of mine for many years is lord i want to grow in love i want to abide in love because if you abide in love you abide in god if you abide in god you're a success it doesn't matter what anybody thinks if you're abiding in love you're abiding in god you are a success jesus said if you abide in me you will bear much fruit and he said in john 15 that fruit will remain it means it has eternal value so you you want to meditate on love and i'll just share this testimony how i remember back in well since i got born again in 77 i've been hungry for the lord and that's his work when his spirit comes inside us it makes us hungry for him but i remember in 2002 really feeling like lord i just can't live at the level i'm at in my walk with i need a closer walk with god i need a closer walk with god i didn't know how to get i didn't know what else to do so i remember i was doing a lot of fasting for a couple of years i usually fasted every other day and during that time the lord led me and taught me about meditating on his word and that's the time when i write down scriptures like love humility purity of heart grace on your lips i'd write all those scriptures down and i'd get alone with god and i would meditate on them and that's what i noticed i said wow i've come out of my office after an hour and a half of just i put my earplugs in and just meditate on the word i realized every time i got up from the floor it was full of the holy spirit you just feel that i said wow and i realize the word is alive when i'm meditating on i'm getting full of the spirit of god and then of course you know we go through life and and you can you can get in the flesh and you leak how many how many have leaked before yeah so you've got to repent and meditate and pray again and get filled up again anyway so i was going through that process and i remember saying uh i was meditating on the word and i remember the way i would let meditate is i would lay on the ground i always lay on my belly have my scripture cards in my bible right in front of me i put those foam earplugs in and i'd lock my door and i just read a scripture read a verse meditate on it and then i pray it back to god god you give grace to the humble lord will you make me humble god is love wherever abides in love about i said god i want to abide in love will you work in me lord to make me a loving person fill me with your love so i'd meditate and pray i kid you not i would i'd feel so close to the lord but still after doing that for a few years i said lord i'm hungry for you i need a closer walk with you and some people now by the grace of god i have seen the lord before and um but not like not as often as some people i know and uh i'm like laura these guys i want to see you more often you know so anyway i'm praying like that really praying seeking god the best i know how and that i had a dream in the dream it was a dream but in the dream i went to heaven and i was in this room that was all clouds cloud floor and like cloud walls and the lord jesus was standing about 35 40 feet away from me he wasn't facing toward me he was facing sideways and i knew this i i just knew it in when you're in the spirit like this you just know things uh there had been a woman a saintly woman on earth communing with god in prayer the lord had brought her up out of her body into heaven she was standing this way and the lord was standing next to her they're close to each other just talking like friends commune i couldn't hear what they were saying but i knew they were communing and i spent in this room and i saw them how close she was and in my heart i said god i've got to have a a relationship that close to you i was thinking in my heart now when i thought that the i didn't realize it in heaven it was the all your thoughts are just as loud as your words so when i thought that the lord turned and looked right at me when he did i could his his majesty was too much and i went down on my face and i went just like i do when i made it telling the scripture i laid on my belly and i had my arms like this but it was so awesome seeing the lord face to face that i didn't want to take my eyes off of him but i couldn't stand in his presence it's just too holy so i was laying on the ground and i was looking at him like this to my shock he walked over to me he knelt down and got in the same exact position i was in and his arms were right almost touching mine he was in the same body position exactly as i was and his face was right here no words he was just there and i was just there was no words necessary and i remember thinking oh my god i can't believe this is happening and the next thought was god i don't ever want this to end i can't explain this to you but in that place there's nothing else that you want in that place that's heaven nothing else matters nothing mattered i thought god this is the most awesome moment and i just remember thinking god don't please don't ever leave just stay here and then in the dream i remember putting my hand on his forearm like don't go but i noticed that there was sweat on my hand and as soon as the sweat touched his arm i knew he didn't like sweat and i pulled my hand off and in my heart i said oh i'm sorry lord i woke up here's what the holy spirit said to me i said you're you're crying out for a closer walk with me he said when you're meditating on my word that's how close i am see when i was laying down i was in the exact position he said when you're meditating on my word and communing with me in my word that's how close i am to you then he made me know whoever keeps my word is the one that loves me i will love him and manifest to him whoever keeps my word my father and i will come and make her abode so even though we may not have an experience where we see in visions and all that when we're holding the word of god in our heart you can't get any closer to god that's how close he is and when god loves and he appreciates he wasn't judging me for what level of maturity i was at see we're all at different levels of maturity but whatever level we're at you can wholeheartedly keep his word the best you can and that's how close you are with god so a person that's immature that loves god with all their heart they still have flaws they still need to be sanctified more their image but they love god with all their heart they're keeping his word he's that close to them come on somebody now the sweat part i remembered this from reading in the old testament in the deuteronomy in leviticus god gave instructions for the priest he said they were commanded not to wear wool they had to wear linen ephods wool causes sweat he said no one will come in my presence with any sweat so sweat speaks of the labor and the works of man's flesh so that's a stench to god so what the lord was showing me in that dream experience is there's nothing there's no none of our flesh or our works that's going to keep god close you can't see touching with sweat on my hand that's not what's going to do it and what he showed me was he said when you hungered for a close see i saw the lord and in my heart i hungered i said lord i want a closer walk with you he said when you begin to hunger for me you got my attention see when you say lord i want a closer walk he turned and looked at me then the next thing is he said when you humbled yourself i got on my face he said i draw near you i said draw humble yourself the lord will draw near read to james chapter four he said when you meditate on my word he said i'm right there with you that close christ is in you so i'm just sharing with you the power of the living word the power of the word it's by the word the how we treat the word of god is how close we are to jesus whoever keeps my word is the one that loves me come on somebody so we so there's meditation and here's here's what meditation let me read psalm 1. blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly nor stands in the way of sinners nor sits in the seat of the scornful but his delight is in the law of the lord now at the time this was written that's the word of god the law of the lord his delight is in can i insert this his delight is in the word of god in his word does he meditate day and night he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit it sees and his leaf shall also not wither whatever he does shall prosper so meditating on the word causes fruit to come remember jesus said the kingdom is like a man who scatters seed on the ground he goes to sleep he doesn't know how but a plant comes up he said because the soil produces it by itself because the power is in the word so he said i remember the parable when jesus talked about the sower sowing the word some fell on the hard ground and the birds of the air immediately stole it then he said some fell in shallow soil and it sprang up but when the sun came out which spoke of tests or trials or tribulations it withered and jesus when he explained the parable he said for it had no root it had no root so the word of god some people receive the word of god but it has no root in other words how do you get a root it tells us in psalm 1 whoever meditates on the word day and night is like a tree planted by the water now a tree planted by the water rivers of water its roots go down and they tap into the water so jesus this word is saying that when we meditate on the word of god it causes the word to take root in us when ahead takes root in us fruit comes that's why paul told timothy timothy meditate on these things give yourself entirely to them and your progress will be seen by all so meditating on the word of god this is the power of the living word first timothy 4 15 meditate on these things give yourself entirely to them colossians 3 16 let the word of christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing with grace in your heart to the lord so we're equipped with the word of god so if we're going to be equipped to minister to people we have to be men and women of the word reading the bible meditating on the word equips us all the answers for every kind of ministry jesus said in matthew chapter 7 whoever hears my words and does them is like a wise man who built his house on a rock then the storms came he said the winds the rains and the flood the winds test the side of the house the rains test the top and the floods test the foundation he said the winds the rains and the flood came but the house stood the storm came and went the house was still standing because it was built on the word of god he said whoever hears my word and does not do them it's like a foolish man who built his house on the sand and the storm came he said the winds the rains and the flood and it fell great was its fall jesus did not say if you build your life and my word no storms will come both groups had storms he said the storm will come and go and you'll still be there amen so that's so there's a an introduction to the power of the word if we're going to be equipped we have to be equipped in the word we have to meditate on the word value the word treasure the word read the word and it's amazing how much word will get in you if you'll read it if you just regularly read the bible it's amazing how much gets in you because you have supernatural help from the helper the holy spirit who lives in you that he'll bring to your remembrance jesus said when the holy spirit comes he'll bring to your remembrance the words that i've spoken now if you read the bible over and over you'll be amazed when you start to open your mouth and share with somebody how many scriptures will come out that you never even tried to memorize but they're in you because the holy spirit's in you and he brings them up so read the word everything we need to to know about uh to be equipped for every kind of good work it's in the word the answer's in the word how to witness to somebody it's in the word the the gospel is in the word all of sin and fallen short of the glory of god the wages of sin is death second death is a lake of fire there's none righteous no not one all have gone astray like sheep everyone to his own way but the lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all for god made him who knew no sin to become sin for us that we might become the righteousness of god in christ repent therefore and believe the good news repent means change your mind change your direction he that believes in a baptized shall be saved if you believe that god raised jesus from the dead and confess with your mouth the lord jesus christ you shall be saved for with the heart and beliefs under righteousness with the mouth confession is made unto salvation for all call upon the name of the lord shall be saved for god is not willing that any should perish that all should come to repentance for i take no pleasure in the death of the wicked says the lord why should you die turn ye therefore and live come let us reason together isaiah 1 18 if your sins are as red as scarlet i'll make a white as snow that's you can do that it's in the bible how do you cast out devils it's in the bible how do you pray for the sick it's in the bible how do you run a business it's in the bible especially in proverbs god hates unjust scales the eyes of the lord see everything blessed is the man who fears the lord and walks uprightly everything we need for life and godliness it's in the bible for his word is a lamp to our feet in the light to our path his statutes are right his judgments are right his teachings his commandments are all together righteous for we shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes through the mouth of god jesus christ himself was the word made flesh and he intends that we become the word made flesh for as we eat the word will become the word not by might or power but by his spirit for the word works effectively in you who believe for the kingdom of god is like a man or a woman who put the word in their heart and they went to sleep and they woke up and there was fruit and they don't know how it got there father sanctify them by the truth your word is truth for christ loved the church and gave himself for her that he might wash her with water by the word sanctifier presented to himself a glorious church without spot or wrinkle but holy without blemish all in the word in the word awesome in the beginning was a word the word was with god the word was god nothing was made except through the word he came into the world the world didn't recognize him how should we pray it's in the word pray after this manner our father in heaven hallowed be thy name psalm 100 enter his gates with thanksgiving in his courts with praise pray his will first before yours god your kingdom come your will be done after you pray off for his will to be done then ask for what you need give us this day our daily bread and don't forget lord i forgive those who've wronged me see it's all in the word there's so much flaky teaching on some subjects especially spiritual warfare we get aberrant teachings we get greasy grace doctrines we get you know got to find the name of the of the devil over your city and blow a shofar at it and do this so all none of that is biblical read the bible what it says for spiritual warfare romans 16 19 and 20 be excellent in what is good and innocent in what is evil and the god of peace will soon crush satan's head under your feet see instead of holy living we look for some kind of tricky doctrine some new fad of spiritual warfare how about be excellent in what is good and innocent in what is evil and the god of peace will crush satan's head under your feet that's a good spiritual warfare teaching there's nothing in there about find out the name of the principality drive three times around the city and blow a shofar twice i'm sorry if that was a little bit sarcastic how about this submit to god resist the devil and he'll flee we know how to resist him so the hard part is submit to god so we focus on submitting to god being good excellent what is good and innocent in what is evil now according to the bible i'm reading that if a body of people will do their very best to submit to god become excellent in what is good and innocent in what is evil we can rebuke the devil and he'll leave and the god of peace will crush him under our feet why don't we just do that you know what i when i ponder that a church i want to be a church that's excellent what is good do you know most churches in america don't even attempt to do the great commission don't even try but they're big on spiritual warfare how can you how can you have victory in spiritual warfare we're not excellent in what is good the lord said go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature all christians everywhere should be burdened and praying and seeking at least if maybe we're not the best at it we should be seeking on how to evangelize i'm not claiming i'm the best evangelist but god knows when i'm out there and most of my life is around christians but when i get out there i'm praying and i'm looking for a way to talk to people share the love of god the church has to become excellent in what is good what god said to do innocent in what is evil and the god of peace will crush satan's head under our feet and i thank god we do have a lot of people in this church that are involved in evangelism that's just one thing i'm rambling now i think i should bring this message to a close but all the answers are in the word of god and to the degree that we love the word to that degree we love jesus to the degree that we seek to obey the word to that degree we love jesus and his word is powerful it has the power to change and sanctify us lord thank you for your word lord help us to be a people that are equipped by the word and that god that your word would dwell that is so much that we could equip other people that we could help other people in the name of jesus and all that agreed said [Music] holy holy [Music]

Channel: ShekinahWorshipTV

Views: 7,250

Rating: 4.9322033 out of 5

Keywords: Joe Sweet, Shekinah Worship Center

Id: R6vYQfKxRYk

Length: 61min 44sec (3704 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 12 2021