Seven Keys to Spiritual Recovery

[Music] [Applause] [Music] bill was an alcoholic bill was born and raised in Alaska he grew up amongst many other alcoholics and it was a normal way of life for him but when he got into his early 20s he realized he really needed to start working on himself he went back to university and got a degree in substance abuse counseling he got married had a child but in spite of all of his knowledge he wasn't able to overcome the alcoholism his wife left him and she moved down to Washington State and so he followed his wife his ex-wife now and his son down to Washington State in Washington he heard about the truth he heard about God's plan and he asked for a visit I was able to visit with him and be able that was able to work with him as he started coming into the church at that same time there were others in the congregation there were overcoming various addictive problems the pastor of the congregation asked me if I would like to work with these who are going through recovery because you see I'm a child of an alcoholic and I had a particular interest in working with them and helping them so every Thursday night we started a small group that included a couple alcoholics a prostitute a bulimic a recovering drug addict we had about six or seven in this small group but during the time that I was with them they taught me much more than I taught them and I came to have not only a deep friendship with them and especially bill but they taught me so very much about the whole entire recovery process the word got out to the other members how effective this group was and they wanted to start joining us I asked those who are recovering in the program if that would be proper and they agreed that every other Thursday night that it would be okay if we had others come in every other Thursday night the group grew to over a hundred that voluntarily came to understand more about the recovery process we called that group adult children of this world because many of the policies that practices the principles that were used in the recovery movement we're also applicable and overcoming problems in everyday life the subject of addiction needs to be defined addiction is defined as a state of being enslaved to a habit or practice to something that is physiologically or psychologically addictive or habit-forming it's a matter of not being able to control but rather giving yourself over or surrendering yourself to something that is generally injurious to you it's a bent or a craving a dependence and enslavement that is often used in the early teenage years to avoid facing reality to avoid facing and handling mature and adult problems and so many times in the early teenage years individuals will turn to some addictive substance or behavior in order to escape reality to escape growing up and learning how to handle mature decisions some of these escapes can be in the term terms of alcohol it can be drugs it can be video games it can be crime it can be work it can become compulsive overeating or under eating it can be gambling it can be pornography it can be exercise there are many forms of addiction all of them become so habit forming that they become part of the person's personality and then ego for years functioning quite well or seemingly quite well with their addiction but eventually it starts to break down in their marriages in their finances in their health it starts to break down and so they think well I'll just stop but withdrawal always has its consequences and there's always the reoccurring compulsion and often the reoccurring compulsion leads to very hazardous consequences but during this time working with these recovering addicts I came to have a deep love and respect for them I saw that they were individuals that had soft hearts that really cared but couldn't handle often the harsh conditions or the traumas that they were facing but I learned to have a deep respect for them a deep understanding and a deep sympathy the title of this sermon is seven keys to spiritual recovery I will show how all individuals that we're going to be dealing with at the beginning of the millennium and certainly in the great white throne judgment will be individuals that have learned improper ways of handling life and are going to have to learn a new way of life that are going to have to have a recovery from whatever it was and the way they handled life in its problems before I do that though let's take a look at some scriptures let's go to Ephesians chapter 2 in verse 2 in Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world according to the Prince of the power of the air the spirit that now works in the sons of disobedience Satan wants to make sure that no one to the best of his ability can enter into God's kingdom Christ said in John chapter 8 that he was a murderer from the beginning and who he's trying to murder are those spiritual babes that will eventually be born into God's family continues on in verse 3 among whom also we all not just a few individuals that we might look at as addicts but we all want according our conducted ourselves in the lust of our flesh what felt good to us fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind and we're by very nature children of Wrath just as the others brethren we all in coming into God's church and learning this way of life have had to go through a sess of spiritual recovery let's now go to first Peter chapter one first Peter in Chapter one in first Peter chapter one in verse 13 therefore gird up the loins of your mind the way we think gain control of it be sober be sober get control of the way we think one author years ago wrote about our stinking thinking but be sober and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ as obedient children not conforming yourselves to your former lusts as in your ignorance but as he who called you is holy you also be holy and all of your conduct brethren we've all had to go through this process in God's church and every human being that we will ever work with will also have to go through this same spiritual recovery process let's go to 1st Thessalonians chapter 5 first Thessalonians and chapter 5 and we'll start in verse 6 first Thessalonians chapter 5 and in verse 6 therefore let us not sleep as others do but let us watch and be sober you will be amazed at how often this term at this condition is used throughout the New Testament this condition of not being like a dead fish floating down the river this condition of not just going the way normal my wife talks sometimes about normal and I I mentioned back to her why why be a normal people scare me or a bumper sticker why be normal we're not called to be normal we're called to be changed and it starts with sobriety it starts with breaking our normal habitual habits that have caused us to not focus on reality in handling things and a godly in a Christian way if we go down now to gone down to verse 7 in 1st Thessalonians chapter 5 for those who sleep sleep at night and those who get drunk are drunk at night but let us who are of the day be sober putting on the breastplate of faith and love and as a helmet the very hope of salvation so brethren it's a condition that every one of us has to face spiritually let's now go to 1st Peter chapter 4 1st Peter back to the book of Peter and we'll go on 1st Peter chapter 4 and verse 7 but the end of all things is at hand therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers and above all have fervent love for one another for love covers a multitude of sins that we are to be serious minded in reviewing and looking back and contemplating how we also have had to come out of this world and how we can have an understanding of others who are also going to have to come out of this world the one of the outstanding traits of a recovering addict is that they have a compassion on other human beings because they've been there and they've done it and they care they have a heart to care and to help others who are struggling and coming out of this world let's now go to first Peter chapter 5 in verse 8 again notice be sober the margin has it self-control be sober be vigilant alert because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour down in verse 9 resist him in steadfast in the faith knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your Brotherhood in the world brethren our brothers and sisters we are called first fruit and we are to develop the heart of a big brother and sister who cares for their little brothers and sisters that want to help them that care for them in every way let's now go down to 2nd Peter chapter 2 verse 20 in 2nd Peter chapter 2 and verse 24 if after they have escaped the pollution of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ they are again entangled in them on overcome the latter end is worse for them than the beginning it is very very sad and yet very very common when you see someone who is really struggling and overcoming some be addictive behavior to have relapses and to go back it's very sad but as I said very common and it can happen to us it can happen to us as well for when you are escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that we can become again entangled let's go to Hebrews chapter 2 Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 1 in Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 1 therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard lest we drift away brethren the point is just having head knowledge just understanding the truth is not enough because we also retaining that knowledge can drift away and we can drift away for the word spoken which the angels prove steadfast and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward verse 3 how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard him you see brethren we are not above being able to fall back into the this world and the individuals as I will show you that we're going to be working with in the Millennium the individuals that we're going to be working with and the great white throne judgment are individuals that are coming out of this world the same in many ways as you and I have come out of this world and we're going to have a heart to care and help and serve them let's now go to Hebrews chapter 6 in verse 4 I go on these scriptures because I think sometimes people don't take it quite seriously I've seen those in the recovery movement who actually feel that now that they know what to do that that's it and they feel that oh they're okay they can go back that they have control now that's true in some cases they can go back and even start to drink or in a moderate way until the real problems hit them again until the pressure sit then but when things are going fine there okay it's when things aren't going so fine that they're not so okay but in Hebrews chapter 6 in verse 4 for it is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted the heavenly gift that's the very Spirit of God the very earnest that we are given that God wants to see what we're going to do with it the greatest gift that God could ever have given was a gift of life and God has given us life for us for him to see what we're going to do with it but he's also given us his spirit to those who he's calling at this time and those who are agreeing to come to repentance and have had hands laid on them we have the earnest of God's Spirit and we are starting to grow and develop the very mind of Christ it is possible for those who've even tasted of this heavenly gift and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come that if they fall away to renew them again to repentance since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God and put him to open shame dealing with spiritual recovery is very very serious dealing with physical recoveries and mental recovery servant's is very serious we'll talk a little more about that but there are some indications of whether someone is going back into their addiction but I want to cover one more scripture before we take a look at some of the symptoms when someone is going back let's go to 2nd Corinthians chapter 13 2nd Corinthians chapter 13 and verse 5 examine yourselves of whether you are in the faith test yourself do not know yourself that Jesus Christ is in you and less indeed you are disqualified brethren each and every single one of us each and every single one of us needs to examine ourselves and take a look at yourself honestly and privately and take a look at some of these symptoms that can be noticed about individuals who are coming out of an obsession of a compulsion of a habit it's starting to go back the one thing that's quite evident in the recovery movement is that those who are and have been coming out can spot another addict proverbial mile away you don't pull the wool over their eyes they can see the actions they understand the words and they just know that eh I was there too I know what regardless of what you're saying you're covering up you're in denial and another beautiful thing about working with individuals who are in the process of recovery is they are not in denial they have come to the place where they realize if they're in denial that they're on their way back into the addiction and so let's take a look at some of the characteristics that individuals have and the reason that this is important to individually look at ourselves is that after you look at yourself and after you see it yourself you will be able to see it in others hopefully before they go too far and hopefully you can help you see brethren it's a matter of heart let's go to Hebrews chapter three Hebrews chapter three in verse six just give me verse eight Hebrews chapter three and in verse 8 Paul we believe is the author of Hebrews writes do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion down in verse 12 beware brethren lest there is any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the Living God but exhort one another daily we're not alone we're called together to help support and encourage each other we're not alone in this verse 18 and to whom did he swear that he that would not enter into his rest but those who did not obey so we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief there comes a time when someone especially going back goes into denial and their heart hardens a real real problem for an individual who has become addicted is when they are enabled when their parents the school system the police cover up for them so they don't feel the sting they don't feel the punishment of the error of their ways their tickets are paid for they are saying oh that's okay that's okay and they're patted on the head and they get a bye with it the longer they get by with it as the book of Ecclesiastes mentions the greater their tendency to harden their hearts and when someone gets by with it until their 30s and into their 40s they have a longer way to fall and there's much more consequences than if they'd learn the lesson when they're in their teenage years and life itself can often give them lessons but as they grow older or more mature and have additional responsibilities or obligations and they're still enabled there are many more consequences that are very very sad and very serious so let's look at ourselves and one of the first things that you can notice about someone going back into an addictive behavior is grandiosity where the it's the the big me or the poor me I'm just a victim I'm just a victim or I'm really something I'm really great it's either way it's a focus on them the big me and Luke 18 chapter 10 and Luke 18 chapter 10 there is an excellent example of the big me in verse 10 with the parable of the Pharisee who went up to the temple to pray and the Pharisee he was following himself he stood and prayed thus with himself wasn't even really praying to God and God I thank you that I'm not like these other men there's it's always focused on them and it's the big me as opposed to the tax collector who was humble and didn't even feel worthy to raise his eyes up it's one of the first things you look for is when the person is talking about how good they are or they will say well I'm not really a good person and you will hear this from them number two and a major indication of someone who is having a real recovery problem is they become very judgmental and critical they are very prone to be able to have the kettle the pot call the kettle black it's so easy for them to see the same problems and other people and as mr. Armstrong used to indicate when you point the finger at one else or three fingers pointing back you will see very much that they become very very judgmental very perceptive and not always incorrectly and often very correctly they are able to see and evaluate and critique a situation because they're very much prone to value judgments yet we read in Matthew 7 verse 3 in Matthew 7 in verse 3 and why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye and do not consider the plank in your own it's a very common trait and you will often literally hear these words look I'm just normal I'm no different than anybody else or in fact there were so they might actually come up and say see I sure I do this but I'm not as bad as they are you literally hear these words from them where they are bringing themselves down to normal diminishing and yet very critical of others especially those in authority especially those in authority ministers parents government officials police military very very critical and judgmental especially of those in authority let's go to 2nd Peter verse 10 2nd Peter and in verse 10 second Peter and bursts of we could start in verse nine and the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation that's important to remember that God knows how to deliver us out of temptation and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment verse 10 and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise Authority they are presumptuous self-willed and they're not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries it's one of the key marks of someone who either is in the midst of an addictive behavior or headed back into it another key note another point is impulsivity I have a sign in my office that I really enjoy and it says I could not wait for success so I went ahead without it sometimes it's like the Nike motto just do it well the reason that is their motto is they're a target are the youth who yet haven't really fully formed the frontal lobe which has to do with impulse control and so if you can get the youth just to impulsively just do it you'll sell shoes or other apparel and yet impulsivity is a trait of someone who really hasn't come to more of a maturity it's also tightly tied with indecisiveness let's go to first Kings first Kings chapter 18 in verse 21 first Kings chapter 18 and verse 21 I think most of us are well aware of this where Elijah was bringing these pagan ministers who had raised their hand up said they wanted to be a menace he brings them up and he's verse 21 of first Kings 18 and Elisha came to all the people and said how long will you falter between two opinions if the Lord is God follow him and if Balaam follow him in other words indecisiveness many times company with fear of making any decisions because they have exaggerated the consequences I know one of the best things that ever helped me was actually a Reader's Digest when I read that if you make a decision consider what the worst thing could happen and you often see that there are other options of people who are not trained in making decisions don't see options they just see feel like they're backed into a corner and sometimes they just freeze like the proverbial deer in the headlight and they take no action it reminds me of the old cartoons of the cartoon character running down a railroad track well all he had to do would just step off the track but they don't think indecisive and so this is why James that won't turn to it James chapter 1 verse 8 talks about a double minded man being unstable in all of his ways so let's move on and ask the question a little bit more about this way of life and what did we do mr. Armstrong would take a glass and he would say well how do you get the water out of the glass well you get the water out of the glass you can't blow it out you can't dump it out it's replacement and often in recovering an addiction or in coming out of this world we have to replace bad habits with good habits let's go to first Corinthians 16 first Corinthians 16 and verse 15 now in the King James it actually uses the word addiction our dick themselves but here in the New King James first Corinthians 16 verse 15 and and I urge you brethren that you know the household of stephanas that is the first fruit of acacia and they have devoted themselves in the King James the word has translated addicted themselves to the Ministry of the Saints in other words they now had replaced their former way of life with really serving God's people that that became their life their addiction their passion they had replaced the negative with the positive Philippians chapter 2 Philippians chapter 2 makes it very clear in verse 3 let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit conceit but a lonely enough mind that each esteem others better than themselves I'll come back to that later look at verse 5 let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus we're talking about changing or a Zig Ziglar used to say a check up from the neck up changing the way we think and we can only do that with God's help but it has to do with changing our perspective our attitudes it has to change the way we think and the people that we're going to be working with will have stinking thinking and will need help and understanding how to change their thinking let's go to I think I'll skip that let's go to Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 25 Hebrews 10 and verse 25 it's one thing as a farmer who's raised sheep that lost sheep want to be found lost sheep don't want to be by themselves and if you see a sheep that's by yourself you know that they're really hurting and there's something wrong and we read this in verse 24 of Hebrews chapter 10 verse 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some but exhorting one another and so much more as you see the Day approaching God has not called us out alone he's called us out together and yet as a pastor you look out over your audience of maybe a hundred brethren you don't have to take inventory you just know who's not there and when you see them not there again or again you know there's a problem that they may not even be aware of because when people are pulling away from where God's people are learning a new way of life you know there's a problem and so there is a scripture that many have found difficult to understand it's actually in Hebrew or Matthew chapter 11 Matthew chapter 11 in verse 12 and mr. Meredith puts it in a different way and I'll mention how he does it but in Matthew 11 verse 12 it says and from the days of John the Baptist until now the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force if you look at these words you can come to understand that those who are going to be in the kingdom of God press forward they take it aggressively they are moving forward they're not just passive they're not just laid-back in the layout of seeing manner they're coming upon it and taking it seriously as mr. Meredith puts it they're all in and the violent those are the energetic those who are going to take it they pluck it up and pull it reminds me of Jacob who wrestled all night and did not let go even though he was in a great deal of pain he was not going to let go he wasn't passing he wasn't overcome as we read multiple times in Revelation 2 and revelation 3 about being an overcomer and not being lukewarm overcoming addictions coming out of this world takes me me jumping in with both feet and getting in and really aggressively seeking the kingdom of God and not passively just having head knowledge but exercising it and applying a new way of life now I'm going to cover seven points of spiritual recovery every one of us who is in the church now has had to go through a process coming out of this world to where we really are changing our way of life we are changing our thinking we are developing new ways of handling problems and in trials we are developing the very mind of Christ the same as everyone that we're going to be working with for example let's go now to Jeremiah chapter 31 Jeremiah chapter 31 in verse 8 in Jeremiah 31 in verse 8 behold I will bring them from the north country and gather them from the ends of the earth and among them the blind in the lame and the woman with child and the one who Labor's with the child together brethren the times coming down in verse 10 hear the word of the Lord O nations and declare it to the Isles afar off and say he who scattered Israel will gather him and keep him as a shepherd does his flock God is going to bring back a people and these people are going to come back lame they're going to come back back broken look at Jeremiah chapter 16 Jeremiah chapter 16 in verse 19 the Gentiles not just Israel but the Gentiles shall come to you from the ends of the earth and say surely our fathers have inherited lies worthlessness a nonprofit things brethren we're going to have people coming from all cultures backgrounds from around the world are going to be coming out and they're going to come back a downtrodden beaten people notice a very powerful scripture and see if I can locate that now yeah Isaiah 49 verse 20 the this perhaps puts it very pointedly poignant Lee in Isaiah 49 verse 20 the children you will have after you've lost the others brethren to lose to see your children die in famine of a disease in warfare to see them go into captivity to see them die in slavery to see them go through trumpet plagues to see that brings you down and in the recovery moment is called bottoming out where you come to the place where you have to now face reality and these people that are going to be coming back will be facing a harsh reality of the end of Satan's rule of 6,000 years individuals that we're going to be working with are going to be broken they're going to be lame they're gonna be blind they're going to be suffering from post-traumatic stress they're going to be people who are now ready to be taught and who are open it's not unlike a recovering addict that loses his wife his health his children his job it breaks them down and finally they have to snap out of denial and realize they do need help and Isaiah 30 verse 20 Isaiah 30 in verse 20 and these people are coming back and in verse 20 and the Lord even though the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction yet your teachers will no more be in a corner anymore but your eye shall see your teachers in your ears shall hear a word behind you saying this is the way walk you in it we're going to have to teach them how to solve problems we're going to have to teach them sympathetically and compassionately how to start living life in a mature Christian way and we need to be able to have that kind of a heart to be able to care for them number one is they're going to have to be taught number one how to accept responsibility it's one of the benefits of raising children on a farm they learn to accept responsibility I was watching some of these riots after President Trump elect president elect Trump I could not believe it these juvenile delinquents these Millennials these young persons yes I know many of them were bused in and many of them were not resonance but they were throwing a temper Trant tantrum they were freaking out because they couldn't handle life not going their way someone from England told me that there was a sign on a restaurant door or a pub and it says Americans welcome as long as accompanied by an adult it was humorous but these rioters are acting like children because they've never accepted responsibility that's where we have to start it won't turn to it but Deuteronomy 30 verse 19 that God says he laid out a way of life and death and he was like a parent asking please choose life and in Deuteronomy chapter 32 verse 29 oh if my people would only consider their ladder in accepting responsibility we are not always in a but now you have to respect except the responsibility if it's it's like in a marriage counseling when a couple and someone is fifty or sixty years of age and when they're 19 or 20 a young lady asked me mr. Stafford what do you recommend in dating and perhaps marriage and I mentioned to her that at 19 or 20 is difficult to see someone's foot tracks or their whether they're really a faithful and a committed person or not but when someone's 50 or 60 I made the statement that we're who you are is where you are you're the results of your life's decisions and someone overcoming or coming out of a bad way of thinking has to first of all accept the responsibility and I've heard individuals said well I am the way I am because of my mom or I'm the way I am because of I'm gonna didn't get an education all right in the way I am it goes on and on I've heard so many excuses and no recovery until they finally say the buck stops here it's not my wife's problem it's not my son's problem my dad's problem is not my problem I mean it's not my of someone else's probably it's my problem you have to first of all accept responsibility because that's the choice that's God's given to every human being number two you have to get back to the basics this is why the church talks over and over about proving all things first Thessalonians 5 verse 21 that we are to prove all things I remember going to ambassador college not knowing where their God even exists and certainly not knowing whether he had a way of life and I studied and I studied in the ministry called me in and they said Rick we really appreciate your diligence and studying but you really need to have time for people so I allocated 15 minutes for people after dinner I looked back at that and some time agretti at in some ways on the other hand after 53 years I've not found one loose brick and the truth of God because when you prove it and you prove it and you know and you know and you know that you know it it's solid people need to go back and make sure they understand that and come to a real love of this way of life those are the basics and many people who've experienced life the hard way have no trouble in that they do not ever want to go back other people forget number three they use it in the recovery movement they say yield to a higher power we know that Jesus Christ revealed God as our Father who has an awesome plan for all mankind and really the bottom line of Christianity is simply our Father knows best and you come to that place and you realize God knows what's best for us I believe God says it I believe it you come to that place where you yield yourself as we read in James chapter 4 verse 7 James chapter 4 verse 7 in the book of James in chapter 4 verse 7 therefore verse 6 actually but he gives more grace therefore he says God resists the proud he gives grace to the humble therefore submit to God resist the devil and he will flee from you draw near to God and He will draw near to you cleanse your hands what you're doing stop doing what you're doing you sinners and purify your hearts you double-minded become a wholehearted lament and mourn and weep and let your laughter be turned to mourning humble yourself in the sight of the eternal and he will lift you up that is the number three you they have to come to the place where they know God exists and who he is and that he's a loving father not as Satan has deceived the world but a God who really cares and has an awesome plan for all mankind number four you come to the place where you submit to other human beings Ephesians chapter five verse 21 Ephesians chapter 5 in verse 21 submit to one another in the fear of God when you come to realize that other human beings I may be wrong on this but I literally have come to the place where I realize that most human beings are doing the best they can from where they've come from and you have to realize brethren that that's what God is so concerned about that we come to have the heart of a firstborn that we care for other human beings a Philadelphian spirit that we really care about helping serving giving our time giving our life to help others to come to learn the way of life that we've learned to come to experience the peace of mind the hope the joy the forgiveness and you have to come in where you do it wholeheartedly and you I've talked to people who realize well I'm overcome my addiction no you have to realize that this process is a lifelong process and anyone who is an addict a recovering Eddy because there's oh I'm done now is kidding themselves because given the right circumstances they can slip right back into them again and I've seen it happen too many times especially when someone has deluded themselves thinking oh I've got it made in the shade now that's why we know that take heed he who thinks he stands lest he fall but when you start looking at others and care about them and you start having a heart as we read here in Ephesians 5 that you submit yourself to others and you care about other human beings I had a I think that I think it was CS Lewis who mentioned that pride is an anti-god state of mind when someone is filled with pride it is not the mind of Jesus Christ the mind of Jesus Christ is where you are a servant as we read in Philippians 2 about Jesus Christ who humbled himself and out of love for you and me number five you come do you realize that we are the Church of the forgiving sometimes brethren people get so overwhelmed with with guilt they don't understand really grace I learned grace very quickly one time I had been in the habit of driving before the 55 mile an hour speed limit was imposed and I got several speeding tickets in a row but I would go to the court and I would explain and I would get off very lightly one time I had a speeding ticket and I was going too fast in a school zone this time in my mind I knew I was in trouble because I had had other speeding tickets that seemed to me like they were very recently and I was really in trouble now and when the judge looked out over at the bailiff he says any priors any prior convictions any prior speeding tickets I knew I was guilty and the bailiff said no priors in that instant in that instant I learned what grace meant it's not something I had earned I deserved something far worse but grace is partly unmerited pardon and we are the Church of the forgiven and there are individuals who get so overwhelmed with shame I think that's in first John 3 and verse 20 first John 3 not sure that's it let me just make sure yes first John 3 and verse 24 if our hearts condemn us God is greater than our hearts and knows all things because beloved if our heart does not condemn us we have confidence towards God you come to the place where you realize literally that God literally if you repent and ask for forgiveness God will forgive you the unforgivable unpardonable sin is primarily the sin that is not repented of because they have blaspheme the Spirit of God which leads you to repentance so you come to the place that when you really but to repent you have to acknowledge you have the problem and if you're in denial you're not going to repent and you carry the shame and the guilt with you and so you come to the place where you realize that we are the Church of the forgiving and we are God's little children and Jesus Christ literally died for us number 6 you have to teach people how to put first things first you have to teach priorities you can look at your life and you can tell how you're faring how you're progressing very simply by what you put as a priority a Matthew 6 and verse 33 says we're to put God first in the kingdom of God first in our lives and God will take care of us we don't have to be full of anxiety it's a promise and we can put first things first and yet Luke 21 there are individuals that we're going to be dealing with brethren that have just by the really the grace of God have even survived and Luke 21 because the horrible things that humanity is going to go through and these individuals are going to have a survival survivor mentality and yet they're going to have to learn that God is here to take care of them with our help we'll be there to help and Luke 21 in verse 34 but take heed to yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing and drunkenness and the cares of this life in other words that when problems start to hit you don't fall back to escaping them in numbing your senses and being like Peter Pan who never wanted to grow up but yet you don't do that for verse 35 for it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the earth therefore watch therefore and pray always that you may be accounted worthy to escape these things that won't happen happen if you're denying reality it will not happen if you are asleep it will not happen if you are spiritually not sober and so we have to come to the place where we put first things first and number seven get help Ephesians chapter four verse 11 Paul was inspired to say that Jesus Christ he himself set up his ministry for the perfecting of the saints that means so that we can mature from little kids and grow to have the mind of Christ until we all come to a unity of the faith and that we won't be tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine we won't get distracted we won't get distorted in our view we won't become hyper critical of everyone else except perhaps our self we won't get so down that we can't get up and raise up and so if Christ has given us the ministry he has not left us alone Hebrews chapter 13 verse 17 notice this Hebrews chapter 13 in verse 17 obey those who lead you or rule over you and be submissive or they watch out for your souls as those who must give account Christ gave us the church to help us he gave us and inspired his ministry to teach us God's Way of life and how to deal with life but it comes to the place where we can't do it alone we need to get help and not try to go it alone we're not call it alone we're call out to help and support and encourage each other and frankly God's Spirit doesn't just come into us and stay there like some damn building up behind some big resident in some reservoir God's Spirit was meant to come in to us and flow out and turn a generator a dynamo and that's flowing out is to help and serve and care for other people and the more we do that the more we get our minds off ourselves and more we care about this work with the more we care about other human beings and helping them to understand this way of life and coming to understand the way we have the more that dynamo turns and the more Spirit of God we are given its energy its energy and so brethren let's go to 2nd Timothy 1st to 2nd Timothy in verse 2 this could apply to the ministry but it frankly applies to every one of us in 2nd Timothy chapter 2 in verse 24 the servant of the Lord and that's you we're in training to be kings and priests we're in training to be teachers we're in training to be under Shepherds under David we're training to be firstborn firstfruits that can be with Jesus Christ as we read about in Revelation 14 of that part of that 144,000 that are going to be the first fruits that are going to be with Jesus Christ they help people who have now bottomed out and have come to the place where they need help but they're wounded and they're weak and they're going to need to be taught how to make decisions how to choose a way of life that works he says in the servant Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all able to teach and patient and humility correcting those who are in opposition who are going contrary to what is good for them if God perhaps will grant them repentance so that they may know the truth and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil having been taken captive by him to do Satan's will we have a responsibility as the body of Christ as the team to do everything we possibly can to have the heart of a shepherd to have a heart to care for our brothers and sisters and so I'd like to turn to a scripture that actually my wife I'd read it many times but it never really stuck out in my mind until she showed it to me it's in 2nd Corinthians brethren 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 sometimes and we've all experienced various trials and difficulties some of us have literally had active addictions but notice this outstanding scripture in 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 and I guess it's all start in verse 3 blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ and the father of mercies and the God of all comfort who comforts us in all our tribulation why through all the trials tribulations sickness problems that we go through that God has comforted us and brought us through it and the more you've gone through the more you come to really trust God and realize his way is best and you really will come where you have a peace that passes all understanding and you will no longer have the fear the anxiety and you won't feel alone and that's what it's saying that God who comforts us in all of our tribulation why and I love this that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble with the same comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God the reason that we are here in learning in training going through life is so that we can come to fully have confidence in our Father that he will help us throughout all of our trials and we will come to that state where we have total confidence that we can actually take our little brothers and sisters under our arm and we're going to be able to help them and they will see that we really mean it and that we really do have love for them and that we can show them that we can help them and comfort them we are there to help with Jesus Christ when these returns we are there to help people come out of their various addictions and the way they've cope with life we're going to be able to help people who have been downtrodden who are blind and lame who've lost their children we're going to be able to help individuals because we've learned how Christ has worked helped us and we're going to with his very spirit and the very mind of Christ in us we're going to be able to help others with the very comfort that God has given to us I want to conclude by a question that is often asked what happened to Bill that's not his name I really loved him I spent hours with him bill went back to Alaska he went back to his old way of life and he died a tragic death rather than that doesn't have to happen it doesn't have to happen but I've seen it happen to those in the church and I've seen people who go back to a way that they had come to hate so these seven points can help us individually but they also can help us to help others with the very comfort that God has given to us [Music] you [Music]

Channel: Living Church of God

Views: 5,328

Rating: 4.8688526 out of 5

Keywords: Feast, Tabernacles, Spiritual Recovery, Christian

Id: YZc_eIKiGWw

Length: 64min 24sec (3864 seconds)

Published: Sat Oct 07 2017