Transcription
[music] [music] When the devil says to God in Job, it's amazing because there's no revelation of Satan in the Old Testament. People didn't even know who he was, but he's recorded in Job and he's in the audience of God. He's in his presence. People say, "Well, the devil, evil can't, and the devil can't stand in the presence of God." I don't know. He was there in Job, right?
That's why an evil thought might come to you when you're in the middle of worship. Ever have it happen? Because the devil's looking for an opportune time, and he wants you to think, "Oh my gosh, I'm standing in the presence of God and have these things in my heart. I must be lost. I can't be I'm so That is so horrible and terrible." And now all of a sudden you're repenting for something that's not even in you because you have the theology that that can't be in your mind 'cause you're in God's presence. No, that's when it comes. How many people have had oddball stuff that you never want in your mind in the middle of worship? Don't you get deceived and start repenting for something you're not. Don't you ask somebody to pray for you and start crying when it's not even in your heart. Just because it went through your mind doesn't mean it's in your heart.
Preachers mess that up. They say, "If we pull down a whiteboard and put your thoughts on there, how would that be?" That's an unfair preaching. That's not a cool sermon because not everything in your mind is coming out of your heart. Some of it's suggestions. Some of it's warfare. Some of it's demonic. Some of it's just memory and recollection. Some of it's familiar spirits. Remember we talked you talked about your life and where you came from. It'd be so easy for him to just whisper things and take you back seven years and say, "What about this? What about Well, what about that?"
"That lady's dead. I'm a new person in Christ. Don't even mess with me. I'm walking in the Holy Ghost and I'm brand new. Ain't nothing back there. I ain't Lot's wife. I'm his bride. I ain't getting stuck." Come on. Right. But if she's not careful when she hears something like that, she could gray out. She should start remembering it. She start identifying with it. Start feeling the defilement of it. Start feeling yucky. Start getting grayed out. Now she's asking Miss Bonnie to pray for her because I keep remembering bad things. And Miss Bonnie sharp though. Miss Bonnie ain't buying into that. She said, "Girl, I don't need to pray for you. You need to get back on to truth. Are you kidding me? It's truth that makes you free. Not me praying for you and laying my hand on you. Girl, you get back to truth 'cause you are who you are in Christ." And she goes, "Oh yeah, what was I thinking?"
[laughter] Yeah, I got it about right, don't I? Come on. How many people came from stuff, man? Stuff you wish you'd NEVER WOULD HAVE DONE, STUFF YOU KNEW YOU WOULD NEVER DO. HOW MANY OF US GOT BOUND IN THINGS THAT WE DIDN'T WANT TO DO AND WE KEPT DOING IT BECAUSE OF addictions and compulsions? 'Cause we didn't have identity. And the more you did it, the lesser you thought of yourself. And the lesser you thought of yourself, the more you lived low. And then your life convinced you you were whatever it was you convinced you were. But it wasn't good. And then you get saved and born again, and that thing comes says, "Really? Yeah. What's really changed? Well, you did this. You were here. You went that. Well, remember this. Well, what about that?"
People will do that to you. >> People will do that to you. FAMILY MEMBERS WON'T FORGET. >> YOU BETTER MAKE SURE THAT YOU DON'T TAKE THAT STUFF TO HEART. AND IF YOU NEED A FAMILY MEMBER TO FORGET, YOU'RE IN TROUBLE. YOU JUST NEED TO KNOW GOD FORGOT. YOU NEED TO FORGET. And you need to LIVE LIKE YOU AIN'T NEVER BEEN THERE. And your family will come around 'cause in a while they'll say, "WHOA, that ain't nothing like it. used to be. >> You see what I mean? BUT WHEN YOU GET THREATENED by all this stuff, next thing you KNOW, WHY AM I SAYING all this? 'Cause it pulls you from the faith.
>> Guys, we got to lock in. And we got to be refused to move. We got to come. The reason we teach and train is is so that we all come to the unity of faith through the knowledge of the son of God. Are you with me? growing up into him in all things to the full measure, the full measure of the stature.
>> That's the expression and the person >> of Christ. What's that third hat? The life we were created for. He modeled the life we were created for. And make no mistake about this, he made it clear that the only way you're going to live it is first deny yourself. Why? You were never made for you. You were made for his image and his glory and his great name. If we would get this in prayer, if we would take this in prayer and pray this stuff through and grace would ever touch our heart and get us to see that we're not our own, it would change the way you react to things. It would change the way you internalize stuff. It would change the way you process. People would say something that would have crushed you before. But because you've been with him and you've settled this in prayer, you don't even hear it the same. It doesn't even have power. That's how Jesus just walks through everything he walks through when he's on the earth. Why? Everybody says it's 'cause he was Jesus and he was son of God. No, it's 'cause he was selfless and he was love.
>> [snorts] >> He didn't drop the cross. He wasn't analytical. He wasn't stewing over Barabbas. It's bad enough what they're doing to him. Beating him and beating him and now he's thinking if he's like us growing up and not in Christ. Barabbas, are you kidding me? I mean, I took a lot up to now, but that's about too much. He killed a man. I'm raising the dead. He's causing conspiracy. I'm trying to make peace here. I'm feeding them and casting out their devils and healing their sick. And these knuckleheads don't see that. They want to release him and crucify me when I'm here doing good and he's killing their own. If they didn't see by now, these people ain't seeing. WHAT AM I DOING? WHY AM I GETTING HIT for them? That's what rationale says. It makes a great talk show, but everybody loses.
>> When you're victim villain, nobody wins. You say, "Well, he couldn't drop the cross. He couldn't think like that 'cause he's Jesus. He couldn't drop the cross and think that guy 'cause he's love." Because if the only reason he couldn't is 'cause he's Jesus, you have no hope of following. But if he couldn't, 'cause he's love, you're in. And you're bought with a price. And you're not your own. And the goal of your instruction is love. And if he loved us this way, ought we not love one another. And if we love, we know we're born of him and we know him. And if we don't love, we just don't know him. Doesn't mean we don't see our need for a savior. Doesn't mean we're not sincere about forgiveness. But it says if we don't love it's because we don't know him. Which means it's impossible to know him and not become like him.
>> So maybe we get stuck knowing about him. >> Yeah. >> When knowing him is the transformation of my life.
[applause] >> Are you with me? So that's not a slam. If you don't love, you don't know him. Whoa. Whoa. It's not a slam. It's an invite.
>> He's saying, "There's no way you can know me and not be impressed by me in the way that you look like me." >> To where who I am becomes who you are, 'cause I've made us one.
>> That sure beats scripture knowledge. >> That sure beats teaching and preaching a sermon because you studied hard. There's enough references on the internet now. Anyone can preach a sermon. You don't know the sermon because you preached it. You know it because you live it. It's not the great confession. It's the great expression. You know them by their fruits. We're epistles written on the hearts of men. Don't ever mix that up.
So where does that leave us? It leaves us with adversity. And the only reason the devil does it is 'cause he's not convinced we're surrendered 'cause he's watched men for generations. So he quips back to God when God said there's no one like Job on the earth. He says, "Are you serious?" He doesn't say that. It's my paraphrase. But read it. It's what he says for real. Job different than any other man. Come on. Men are men. I've been messing these guys up from the beginning. Remember Adam? He's got us figured out. That's what he's saying. He said, 'Men are all the same, God. You're telling me Job's different? Look, he's only different 'cause you hedged him on every side. You've protected him. You made him fat in the land. You blessed him coming in and going out and rising and sitting. You've hedged him. HE'S ONLY BLESSING YOU 'CAUSE YOU BLESSED HIM. MEN are reciprocal. You do them right, THEY'LL DO YOU BACK. BUT YOU TAKE THIS ALL AWAY FROM HIM AND YOU'LL SEE HE'S JUST LIKE ANY OTHER MAN. HE WILL CURSE you to your face. What's he saying? He's just like you would be in loss. Just like you would be if you lost everything you owned and loved. He's saying you won't worship God like we watch tonight. You will curse him. That's what the devil is saying to God about you. 'CAUSE HE'S GOT US FIGURED OUT 'cause he's watched men for generations. And you better make sure that he's not right because a lot of times he is on that one 'cause he's watched it. He's speaking out of experience.
Job lost everything. God did not take what he lost. He said, "Everything's in your hand. Why are you even asking me? It's all in your hands anyway. People don't understand that Adam handed him keys of authority and all the kingdoms on the earth. And they set up demonic fortresses and kingdoms all over the earth to defend violently against the kingdom of God because they knew men were made for God's image. So they're determined to make sure men never look like him. Let him do church, just never let him be her. Let them serve in ministry. Let them do 24/7 prayer just to make sure they don't shine and that they crumble in adversity. This thing's real. You're not in a fight with the devil and you're definitely not in a fight with people. You're in a fight called the good fight of faith. Your fight is continuing to believe what you started out believing and never be moved from it. You with me?
So Job loses everything. He's very confused. His friends are more messed up. Satan shows up again somehow in the presence of God, right in the front, right in the right before the Lord. And the Lord said, "Have you considered my servant Job? Hasn't cursed me in the midst of all his calamity?" Devil was not impressed. Guess what he said? Skin for skin, a man will do anything to save his own life. Isn't that ironic? 'Cause to walk out Christ, you have to lose your own life. And the devil's convinced nobody's doing that. He's convinced we're Christians for our sake. He's He's convinced we're Christians for blessing and benefit and favor. Coming to God to get through life, coming to God for provision, skin for skin. He says it to the Lord in arrogance as if the Lord's not right. Isn't that something? See, but I mean, you think if we were the Lord, you know, and we had the Lord's power, you know, we he would just go on. But nope, we have a free will and there's this whole thing and one day we're going to see the beauty and the power of it. And God lets it all unfold. He just lets it all unfold and gives us the chance to walk out what we say we believe to prove that we're real and genuine and committed. Go to first Peter and I'll close with this and then we'll see what we need to do. Are you guys okay?
>> This is like an admonition. This is like an admonishment. This is like guys, man, we got to tighten the reigns on this thing and let's not be deceived. Let's study, show ourselves approved. We're destroyed for the lack of knowledge, not the will of God. So, let's get to knowledge and stop destruction. Amen.
>> Amen. >> Yay. This is super enlightening. Now that you turn to first Peter 1, let me quote Romans 5:1. You've been justified by faith and now you have peace with God. You have access into this grace in which we now stand in hope of the glory or the manifestation of God. And not only that, do you hear him ramping up? He just gave you two amazing things. peace with God through the blood of Jesus and access into God's empowerment. And not only that, us guys with hair my color, remember the old cars, the three on the tree. That scripture is a three on the tree, buddy. You know what I'm saying? Gear on the column. Three. Yeah. Yeah. You got it. You even got the movement down. I don't even have that down. You You're a motorhead or something, man. He got it. Like watch WATCH THIS IS WHAT PAUL'S DOING WHEN HE'S PREACHING. You I should get you up and help me. Like we have peace with God through and grace in which we say and then and not only that
[screaming] we glory in our tribulation. IT'S AMAZING. 30 YEARS A Christian I ain't never seen that. I ain't never seen anybody glory in their tribulation. That's tears in a counseling appointment and 20 questions. No, I'm being real. I'm not being sarcastic. We're missing something here.
>> And we're excited and we're sincere and we believe he is who we sing he is. But we can't allow ourselves to be deceived like this. We're to glory in our tribulation. Why? 'Cause we're for real. We're legit. And we understand that persecution brings perseverance. And perseverance character. and character hope. And hope WON'T DISAPPOINT 'CAUSE HIS LOVE IS DEEP IN our heart by the Holy Ghost.
>> Yeah. You count it all joy when you're faced with various trials and troubles, knowing that the testing of your faith brings patience. And let patience have her perfect work, that you're mature, COMPLETE, AND LACKING IN NOTHING. THIS IS WHY GOD DOESN'T STOP THE adversity because it proves our sincerity and commitment. That's right.
>> Are you with me? >> Well, GOD'S ALLOWING ME. WHY IS he allowing me to do as I thought he loved me? HE LOVES YOU. HE PUT HIS SON ON THE CROSS AND ALL HELL IS BREAKING LOOSE. AND BECAUSE THE WORD IS PREACHED, THE DEVIL COMES FOR THE WORD SAKE, not your sake. GET YOUR EYES OFF OF YOU. YEAH, >> BUT I don't like adversity. You're a Christian. MANY ARE THE AFFLICTIONS OF THE RIGHTEOUS. YOU'RE IN THE [screaming] WORLD. DON'T BE OF IT. IF THEY HATED HIM, THEY'LL HATE YOU. COME ON. THERE'S AN EVIL DEMONIC WAR AGAINST THE KINGDOM OF GOD. IT'S KIND OF BIZARRE THAT DARKNESS IS TRYING TO DEFEAT LIGHT. HE KNOWS HE CAN'T STOP GOD. SO, LET HIM JUST STOP GOD'S CHOICE, God's team, God's chosen. Let's just make sure light is never in them. The devil can't defeat the Lord. He can't come up with a plan with the fallen angels and come up with a strategy great enough and make a cool movie where he stormed heaven and snuck around the back and came in the front side and overwhelmed God. So, let me just overwhelm them. Let me preach in a way that the gospel just serves them without changing them. Let's make a bunch of promises to them that God never really made and get their reason for coming to God to be a little skewed and make it just about heaven if they die tonight. And never make it about denying themselves, picking up their cross and following him and overcoming evil with good and toning down a harsh word with a kind word and walking in love and letting mercy triumph over judgment and covering a multitude of sins with love. Let me make sure they get tricked and just get saved for their own sake and not his name. Come on. That's a problem. And then when crisis hits, your motives exposed. That's how it works. And God's not stopping the crisis.
>> He's allowing it as a tool to test your genuiness.
>> Job lost everything, didn't he? Job got really sick for a season, didn't he? He misunderstood a lot. Thought he knew. The last chapters is a powerful when he says, "Stand before me and speak his answer as a man. Where were you?" Bam. Where were you? It's pretty intense. He didn't have a lot of praise for Job's friends either and left us know they were all deceived. We read this stuff as if what they're saying is scriptural and the truth about God. When the when Job says, "The Lord taketh giveth and the Lord takes." So we write a song, "The Lord giveth and taketh away." And we we actually think the Lord took everything from Job that he gave it and took it. You're not praying for a child and he gets you pregnant and then he takes the child to test if you're in idolatry. He doesn't take life. He gives it. He preserves it. But there's theology out there that says he takes your child. We stand by caskets and say, "Honey, he just needed another little angel and I don't know anyone better than your little girl." Oh, that comforts a mother. And then she believes God took her baby. And then she doesn't have any other revelation and she's supposed to just be okay. And then when she knows she'd be three today and now she'd be seven and now she'd be graduating, she cries on all those dates and her heart just gets hurt and hard and the last thing she wants to do is even hear about the Lord 'cause she believes he took her. That's weird. Don't teach people that stuff. There's a thief that steals, kills, and destroys. Why do we put everything on God? Why is everything an act of God? We've marred his name so bad that we don't even have a clear view of him. And that's why we can't come to him for who he is and bring out the best in us. And Satan slithering away like a snake in the grass, laughing, stealing, killing, and destroying, accusing us before our God day and night, and accusing God to us day and night. Ain't that something?
Are you in First Peter? You should be by now. I'm such a gracious man. If you're not there by now, I don't even have faith for you. [laughter] I'm just kidding. I'm just having fun. I'm being lighthearted in the midst of a serious topic. God doesn't want you overwhelmed by this message. He wants you empowered by it.
>> He throws in a little anesthesia and laughing gas every once in a while. So, as you're getting cut and bleeding, you don't even realize it. You're like, [laughter] "Are you bleeding? >> [laughter] >> That's just what he does. And by the time you leave, your heart's been out on the table, trimmed, back in, sewed up. You don't even realize what happened. You're just like, [laughter] I just feel better, man. I don't know. I'm just seeing clear. No, you had serious surgery. [laughter] You had a lot of flesh trimmed and removed. And we laughed our way through it. But it's serious. But he doesn't want you leaving heavy. He doesn't want you going, "Boy, I got a long way to go." He wants you leaving saying, "Boy, I got light on the trail. I have destiny in front of me. I have purpose right in front of my path." You see what I'm saying?
You have first Peter. >> Yes. Holding on to the resurrection is a big deal. Eternal life is is an amazing thing. We make eternal life the reason to get saved. I think it's amazing. We're going to live forever. Communion with God and oneness with the father is the reason to get saved. You get saved to go back to the father. And when you get back to the father, you become one with the eternal one because the law of righteousness has the power over death. It wasn't death never entered the earth. Romans 5 until man sinned. So death had power through sin. And because all men sinned, all men die. So now our sins are what? Removed. So death shall have no dominion over us. Why? Where is your death? O sting, oh death, for the or where is your sting, oh death? For the sting of death or the power of death is sin, and that comes from the law. And he's teaching that that's all destroyed. Are you with me?
Why did God shut the mouth of every lion in Daniel's situation in the lion's den? For as much as he found me innocent in his sight, he shut the mouth of every lion. What are you in his sight through the blood of Jesus? You better know you're innocent.
>> Why do we have eternal life? because we're seen righteous before God as if we've never sinned because he took it away. He didn't cover it. He didn't just forgive it. He took it away. So the law of righteousness gives us the power back to life. That's why Jesus holds the keys of death, hell, and the grave. That's why you're never going to die 'cause he died as you and for you on that cross. And when he died, you died. But when he rose, you rose. So to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. There's no purgatory. There's no holding tank.
>> You're not going to suffer until he comes back. You're something. So why do we live forever? 'Cause it was always the plan. It's not until you eat the tree, Adam, is the day you surely die. But he didn't fall over dead. He died. His identity got lost. Everything he was created to be died, but death entered the earth and now he had a lifespan and he wasn't anymore eternal. It's actually my belief why Jesus couldn't die when they beat him so bad. You ask any medical person if you can beat somebody beyond description and they quote scripture and have recognition of John and mother and mother son and behold your son, behold your mother, behold your son. He's quoting scripture. Scripture teaches he was beyond recognition. There's no way you could tell it was him if you didn't watch from the beginning. You're not just going to walk up to the cross when he's hanging there and say, "Oh my gosh, look what they did to Jesus." You're going to say, "Who is that poor human being?" Because of the blood and the swolleness and the blood loss and the bruises and the beating. He was marred more than any of the sons of men. Come on. When you burn somebody on a steak and the fire's done burning, can you tell it's a man or woman? Can you tell it's your neighbor? Can you tell it's your fellow? No, you don't even know if it's you don't even know its gender after the the burning. He was marred more than that. Means his physical visage and appearance was worse than any sadistic, barbaric thing that men have ever done to men. It's Bible. It's Isaiah. It's it's there. It's 52. Read it. Why did he do that? Why did he have to get beaten so brutally? Why couldn't he just take 39 stripes and some stakes in the hand and feet? 'Cause when sin got done with Adam in the garden, he didn't look anything like he was created to be. And he totally lost his appearance. So Jesus came and surrendered his visage and his appearance to parallel and paid the price for us to get our identity back so that we could look like our father again. And we teach we can't follow him >> if we're not careful. I I actually believe it's why he cried out with behem cries in the garden. I honestly believe that it's why he said, "If there's any other way, if there's any a other avenue to subside this cup of wrath apart from the way that I have to do this, please let's do it that way. But if not, I'm I'm in. I'm ready. I I'm committed." People think he was showing his flesh side and getting cold feet. No, I believe he was about to take the beating of a lifetime for every man and be bruised for every man's iniquities and the chastisement of every man's peace was going to come upon his flesh. And he wasn't going to be able to have death as an escape route. 'Cause sometimes death's a gift. I don't believe he could die because of the law of righteousness. He was a spotless and holy lamb. And the only reason death was on the earth is 'cause men sinned. And because all men sinned, all men die. But guess who never sinned? I bet he couldn't die. That's why he kept saying, "No one takes my life. I freely lay it down." He couldn't die till he was on the cross, 'cause anything hanging on a pole has been cursed by God. So did he curse Jesus on the cross? No. He was made to be sin. For he who knew no sin was made to be sin. So what did God curse on the cross? Sin in the flesh. So sin shall have no dominion over us. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ has made us free from a law called sin. You die. Now you get removed of sin and you live forever. The reason we have eternal life is because of the law of righteousness. He rules his kingdom with that scepter. That's even hard to preach in the church nowadays. Righteousness. And it's what he rules his kingdom by. It says he loved righteousness more than all. And he had more joy than his companions. Why? 'Cause righteousness brings the joy of your salvation. When you know you're right with God, I'm talking know you're right with God. When you know you've been forgiven of everything you've ever done and you stand before him and he doesn't see what you've done, but he sees you through what he's done and he sees you blameless and spotless and holy in his sight. That's joy.