Transcript

Elevator Up · Deep Waters

0:14
SPEAKER_00: Hello, this is Ken, your podcast preacher.
0:17
SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to my podcast, Deep Waters.
0:19
SPEAKER_00: This podcast is brought to you by Applied Strengths Ministry, where we believe working together in our strengths is the effect of working out the will and calling of God and into our lives.
0:27
SPEAKER_00: Thanks for joining me.
0:28
SPEAKER_00: Let's open up in prayer.
0:29
SPEAKER_00: Blessed be the God and Father of your Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed you with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as he chose you and him before the foundation of the world, that you should be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestined you to adoption as a son or daughter by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, which he purposed in himself, to the praise of the glory of his grace by which he made you accepted in the beloved.
0:52
SPEAKER_00: In him ye have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace which he made to abound towards you in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to you the mystery of his will, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times, ye might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth in him.
1:10
SPEAKER_00: I ask that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, and the knowledge of the mystery of him, and to the deepest knowledge of him that you are willing and able to receive, that the eyes of your understanding would be open wider, and that you would be enlightened to who he is, that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in you, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power towards you who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead, and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, that he would grant that you would be strengthened with might through his spirit in the inner man, and into your spirit and heart, consistently walking in the spirit so that you would be able to stand against the appetites of your flesh, the corrupted spirit of this world, the devil and his demons, and any and all fleshly desires and temptations.
1:56
SPEAKER_00: I pray that your love may abound more and more in all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be real about your Christianity and unoffendable until the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness, love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, which are by Jesus Christ to the Holy Spirit, to the glory and praise of God.
2:18
SPEAKER_00: That you may be filled with his will and all wisdom of spiritual understanding, that you may look worthy of the Lord, fully pleading him, being fruitful in every good work, strengthen with the mind, according to his glorious path, giving thanks to the Father who has qualified you to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints, by the Spirit and in the life.
2:35
SPEAKER_00: I pray that your hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love in unity, and that you would attain to all the riches of the Holy Spirit of understanding.
2:42
SPEAKER_00: For the Father and Christ, to whom we give me all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
2:46
SPEAKER_00: I think my God always concerning you for the grace of God which has been given to each of my listeners by Christ Jesus.
2:51
SPEAKER_00: That you are enriched in everything by Him, in all utterance and all knowledge, so that you do not come short in obtaining or operating in your calling and purpose, nor in using any spiritual gifts or talents to perform mighty miracle signs and wonders, and that we would do the greater works of Jesus yet to be accomplished, that we would be found eagerly waiting for the continued revelation of our Lord Jesus, who will confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the near coming of the day of our Lord.
3:15
SPEAKER_00: God is faithful by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son Jesus.
3:19
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so now therefore, my sisters and brothers in Christ, when things get tough, think about whatever things are true, noble, just pure, lovely, and whatever things are of a good report.
3:28
SPEAKER_00: If there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things alone.
3:33
SPEAKER_00: I pray that at this very end of end time days that you would let your love be without hypocrisy.
3:37
SPEAKER_00: Show people your faith by your works and service and love, hate and loath what is evil, cling to what is good and righteous, be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another, not lagging in diligence, fervent and fully engulfed in spiritual fire, serving the Lord, rejoicing in hope, walking in the peace of God, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer, distributing to the needs of the saints that is each other, and that you would be given a hospitality.
4:04
SPEAKER_00: May the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like minded towards one another.
4:08
SPEAKER_00: According to Christ Jesus, may we learn to be of one mind and one accord, striving to get along no matter what disagreements we may encounter, operating completely and fully in love, always striving for the working out of God's specific will for each of our lives, while working in partnership with each other within the church and the Holy Spirit, as He manifests as miracle signs of oneness through the daily activities of our ministry and kingdom work, and while we also go out preaching the gospel and word and deed.
4:32
SPEAKER_00: Let us love and serve one another, our enemy, and those who wouldn't expect us to do so, considering each person better than ourselves.
4:39
SPEAKER_00: Bind up any words or thoughts that are contrary to the love of God, or which would set you back in your Christian walk.
4:44
SPEAKER_00: Guard your hearts from anything that would hinder the growth of your character.
4:48
SPEAKER_00: Never forget that you can do all things in Christ, and never forget this means all things.
4:52
SPEAKER_00: I'll step out of faith today and walk with God and with each other, being assured that nothing will separate you from Him as long as you abide in Him.
4:59
SPEAKER_00: Call those things that don't exist as though they do.
5:02
SPEAKER_00: Remember the faith of God of which we have created the universe by the Ram and Logos words of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
5:10
SPEAKER_00: All that you need for this life is invisible until you apply your faith to receive it, but make sure you make your request known to God without fear, doubting, and unbelief.
5:19
SPEAKER_00: Remember that he that is in you is greater than he that is in the world.
5:22
SPEAKER_00: Be more than a conqueror today, submitting to the will of God and everything.
5:25
SPEAKER_00: Never forget that you can do all things through Christ who will strengthen you this very day.
5:29
SPEAKER_00: Let each of us express uncompromising love towards one another and humility while maintaining a teachable spirit seeking to grow, no matter how much it challenges our current thinking.
5:38
SPEAKER_00: I pray that God will give you the revelation within this message that He intends you to receive with the understanding.
5:43
SPEAKER_00: Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.
5:50
SPEAKER_00: To God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory in majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever.
5:56
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name we pray amen.
5:58
SPEAKER_00: The title of this message is Elevator Up.
6:01
SPEAKER_00: This message is going to be a parable about your Christian life representing an elevator.
6:06
SPEAKER_00: Why?
6:06
SPEAKER_00: Because this image popped into my head and it made perfect sense.
6:10
SPEAKER_00: It is also helpful in showing you that Jesus Himself did this very thing when sharing stories with those of his day.
6:17
SPEAKER_00: Let's begin by imagining the number of years that you might live.
6:20
SPEAKER_00: And so for this illustration, we will use the number seventy five years.
6:24
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, our building is a seventy five story building with each floor representing one year of your life.
6:31
SPEAKER_00: When you are first born, you begin at the first story of your building.
6:34
SPEAKER_00: At each floor, the elevator goes up.
6:36
SPEAKER_00: It represents one year of your life.
6:38
SPEAKER_00: And every time you go up from one floor to another, let's say on your birthday, it is implied that you are more spiritually and naturally mature.
6:46
SPEAKER_00: It is my belief that if you are not authentically born again, your natural maturity is massively hindered.
6:52
SPEAKER_00: And this will be evident because your life will, like a baby, be all about yourself.
6:57
SPEAKER_00: And well, your spiritual maturity will be near non existent, even if you are part of some other spiritual growth false religion, and by the way, all of them are false, leading to a hell bent scent run by none other than Satan himself.
7:10
SPEAKER_00: This is why we need to trust God because you can never trust the father of lies to tell the truth.
7:20
SPEAKER_00: I say this because some people do mature somewhat without God, for selfish reasons like getting a promotion or winning a bride.
7:27
SPEAKER_00: But no doubt it is their appetite to satisfy themselves.
7:31
SPEAKER_00: Their wants, own desires, and selfishly supposed needs will eventually and at times rear its ugly head.
7:38
SPEAKER_00: My example is my own life before I became authentically born again.
7:42
SPEAKER_00: In my own thoughts and sin, I justified by anti god beliefs and behaviors, by redefining salvation in the Bible, of which I knew nothing about.
7:51
SPEAKER_00: I simply believed with the wide, satisfied smile on my face that I was a good person, and a good God would be content when he looked upon my life in his examination, no doubt thinking as I thought, while living a very selfish life, that I indeed was a good person.
8:07
SPEAKER_00: Let's take the stairs for a minute.
8:09
SPEAKER_00: Imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon the following scriptures after I surrendered to his pursuit of me Psalms fourteen one six.
8:17
SPEAKER_00: The fool has said in his heart, There is no God, they are corrupt, they have done abominable works.
8:23
SPEAKER_00: There is none who does good.
8:25
SPEAKER_00: The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there is any who understand, who seek God.
8:31
SPEAKER_00: They have all turned aside, they have altogether become corrupt.
8:35
SPEAKER_00: There is none who does good, no, not one.
8:38
SPEAKER_00: Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge?
8:40
SPEAKER_00: Who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call upon the Lord?
8:44
SPEAKER_00: There they are in great fear, for God is with the generation of the righteous.
8:49
SPEAKER_00: You shame the counsel of the poor, but the Lord is his refuge.
8:53
SPEAKER_00: Notice a language for God is with the generation of the righteous.
8:57
SPEAKER_00: You are either righteous or unrighteous, not good or evil, as they are both from the same tree, and who that is disconnected from God can tell the difference.
9:06
SPEAKER_00: Genesis two nine and chapter two sixteen through verse seventeen.
9:11
SPEAKER_00: Listen to Paul's statement in this next verse.
9:14
SPEAKER_00: Second Corinthians twenty one for he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him.
9:22
SPEAKER_00: And how do the Father make him?
9:24
SPEAKER_00: The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
9:27
SPEAKER_00: Isaiah fifty three six.
9:29
SPEAKER_00: All we, like sheep, have gone astray.
9:32
SPEAKER_00: We have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him, that is Jesus, the iniquity of us all.
9:40
SPEAKER_00: He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross Peter two twenty four.
9:45
SPEAKER_00: Who Himself bore our sins on his own body, on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness, by whose stripes you were healed.
9:55
SPEAKER_00: Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.
10:00
SPEAKER_00: Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us, for it is written, curse is everyone who hangs on a tree.
10:08
SPEAKER_00: Psalms fifty three three.
10:10
SPEAKER_00: Every one of them has turned aside.
10:12
SPEAKER_00: They have together become corrupt.
10:14
SPEAKER_00: There is none who does good, no not one.
10:17
SPEAKER_00: And them represents humanity.
10:20
SPEAKER_00: And how did the Father feel about Jesus' decision to die for your sins?
10:24
SPEAKER_00: Isaiah fifty three ten.
10:26
SPEAKER_00: Yet it please the Lord to bruise him.
10:28
SPEAKER_00: He has put him to grief.
10:30
SPEAKER_00: When you make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
10:38
SPEAKER_00: Let's identify who is who in that scripture, Isaiah fifty three ten again.
10:44
SPEAKER_00: Yet it please the Lord to bruise him, that is Jesus.
10:47
SPEAKER_00: He, God the Father, has put him, Jesus, to grief.
10:51
SPEAKER_00: When you, God the Father, makes his Jesus soul an offering for sin.
10:57
SPEAKER_00: He, God the Father, shall see his, that is Jesus, seed.
11:02
SPEAKER_00: He, God the Father, shall prolong his, that is Jesus' days, and the pleasure of the Lord, Jesus, shall prosper in his, God the Father's hand.
11:12
SPEAKER_00: This is how excited God the Father was to offer his Son on your behalf, so that you could choose by your own free will to take up his offering coming from his only Son, so that you could spend eternity with both of them.
11:27
SPEAKER_00: And lastly, the three peak scripture Romans three nine through sixteen.
11:32
SPEAKER_00: What then?
11:33
SPEAKER_00: Are we better than they?
11:34
SPEAKER_00: Not at all.
11:35
SPEAKER_00: For we have previously charged, both Jews and Greeks, that they are all under sin.
11:40
SPEAKER_00: As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one.
11:44
SPEAKER_00: There is none who understands.
11:46
SPEAKER_00: There is none who seeks after God.
11:48
SPEAKER_00: They have all turned aside.
11:50
SPEAKER_00: They have together become unprofitable.
11:53
SPEAKER_00: There is none who does good, no, not one.
11:55
SPEAKER_00: Their throat is an open tomb.
11:58
SPEAKER_00: With their tongues they have practiced deceit.
12:00
SPEAKER_00: The poison of asps is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness, their feet are swift to shed blood, destruction and misery are in their ways.
12:11
SPEAKER_00: Can you believe that God through the Holy Spirit repeated himself on this point?
12:15
SPEAKER_00: It must have been important for us humans to understand.
12:18
SPEAKER_00: That is especially true before we die, and who really knows when that will be.
12:23
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so now let's get back on the elevator.
12:25
SPEAKER_00: So if your elevator goes down one floor, that means you are digressing.
12:29
SPEAKER_00: Spiritually this means that you are maybe backsliding or that you have drawn back.
12:34
SPEAKER_00: Jeremiah three twenty two.
12:36
SPEAKER_00: God calls out to return you backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings.
12:42
SPEAKER_00: Proverbs fourteen fourteen states that the backslider in heart will be filled with his own ways, showing the negative fruit of turning back.
12:53
SPEAKER_00: So if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall, which serves as a New Testament caution against spiritual drift.
13:02
SPEAKER_00: Hebrews three twelve advises believers to see to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.
13:13
SPEAKER_00: Luke nine sixty two, Jesus states No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.
13:21
SPEAKER_00: Hebrews ten thirty eight.
13:22
SPEAKER_00: Now the just shall live by faith, but if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him.
13:29
SPEAKER_00: By the way, it's easier for an elevator to go down or to stay stationary than it is to go up, just like it is in life.
13:36
SPEAKER_00: A portion of the way that this elevator parable works is when you learn something, something new and apply it to your life and get the intended results that you and the learning intended on getting.
13:48
SPEAKER_00: Growth is the outcome always.
13:50
SPEAKER_00: You should never stop educating, learning, or gaining life experience for the purpose of learning, as it is the only way to grow in the future and escape the past or to simply leave our yesterday's successes behind us, knowing that past success does not necessarily ensure or guarantee future successes.
14:11
SPEAKER_00: If you learn something but don't apply it, your elevator is either stuck on a floor or drops down, depending on the situation and what type of negative impact it has on changing your behavior and or outlook.
14:23
SPEAKER_00: If you are living life blaming others or making excuses every time your behavior misses the mark, for example, causes unnecessary tension and even causes divisiveness, then your cables will rust and seize up.
14:37
SPEAKER_00: Another challenge but revealing opportunity nonetheless.
14:40
SPEAKER_00: If you get to the end of a year and you haven't applied any new learning to solve old or new problems, then you could just simply be stuck at a floor.
14:49
SPEAKER_00: Well, let's look at a couple of reasons why this could happen.
14:52
SPEAKER_00: You changed your mind about God Hebrews six four through six for it is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted the 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, yet they fall away to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put him to an open shame, lacking good Q tips.
15:18
SPEAKER_00: Second Timothy four three, for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers, and those teachers will teach false doctrine, and they're in the churches now.
15:33
SPEAKER_00: You grew up not understanding the significance of the nursery rhyme titled Liar Liar Pants on Fire.
15:43
SPEAKER_00: Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?
15:47
SPEAKER_00: This is Paul talking about the rapture.
15:49
SPEAKER_00: And now you know what is restraining, that is the church, that he may be revealed in his own time, for the mystery of the lawless one is already at work, only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.
16:02
SPEAKER_00: And then the lawless one will be revealed, that is the Antichrist, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of his mouth, and destroy with the brightness of his coming.
16:10
SPEAKER_00: The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who were perishing, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved, and for this reason God will send them strong delusion that they should believe the lie.
16:30
SPEAKER_00: Your daddy had an unholy DNA in which you, due to the exercising of your free will, did not get an upgraded DNA, which was holy and righteous.
16:41
SPEAKER_00: You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do.
16:46
SPEAKER_00: He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there's no truth in him.
16:51
SPEAKER_00: When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
16:57
SPEAKER_00: You shifted in pride believing that you could outrun a running man teacher.
17:01
SPEAKER_00: Luke six forty.
17:03
SPEAKER_00: A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher.
17:09
SPEAKER_00: Oops, I sinned.
17:10
SPEAKER_00: But it was so and so's fault.
17:12
SPEAKER_00: Romans two through seven.
17:14
SPEAKER_00: But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things.
17:20
SPEAKER_00: And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God?
17:27
SPEAKER_00: Or do you despise the riches of his goodness, forbearance, and long suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
17:36
SPEAKER_00: But in accordance with your own hardness and your own impotent heart, you are treasuring up for yourselves wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each one, according to his deeds, eternal life to those who, by patient continuance in doing good, seek glory, honor, and immortality.
17:57
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's that you have looked upon the works of God and attributed some of their successes due to your efforts.
18:03
SPEAKER_00: This is defined as a lack of humility, among other things, but let's look at a ladder full of what leads to that, thinking your words or actions are better than those of others, always wanting to get your own way, arguing stubbornly when you are wrong or right, giving unasked for opinions when charity does not require it, despising other people's points of view, failing to realize your gifts and qualities are on loan, not acknowledging you are unworthy of honor or esteem, mentioning yourself as an example in conversation, speaking badly of yourself to fish for compliments or contradiction, making excuses when corrected or rebuked, hiding humiliating faults from a spiritual director to preserve their good opinion, hearing praise with satisfaction and gladness, feeling hurt when others receive more esteem, refusing simple or menial tasks, seeking to be singled out or noticed, dropping hints of self praise, wit, or professional prestige, and being ashamed of lacking certain possessions.
19:10
SPEAKER_00: You will need to grease the cable so that you can begin to ascend upwards again.
19:14
SPEAKER_00: I will include a few scriptures to balance or offset the group of missing humility references Jeremiah fifteen nineteen.
19:22
SPEAKER_00: If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me.
19:26
SPEAKER_00: This Old Testament verse directly links turning away from sin to being restored by God.
19:32
SPEAKER_00: James four eight, come near to God and he will come near to you.
19:36
SPEAKER_00: This verse explains that when we make the choice to purify our hearts and approach God, he responds by drawing close to us.
19:42
SPEAKER_00: Acts three hundred nineteen, repent then, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.
19:51
SPEAKER_00: Repentance clears the barrier of sin and brings renewal from God's presence.
19:58
SPEAKER_00: If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
20:06
SPEAKER_00: Confess and turning to God results in immediate forgiveness and cleansing.
20:10
SPEAKER_00: Joel two thirteen.
20:12
SPEAKER_00: Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.
20:19
SPEAKER_00: God calls people back with the promise of his mercy and compassion.
20:23
SPEAKER_00: The habit of a righteous one needs to remember this Proverbs twenty four sixteen for a righteous man may fall seven times, and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity.
20:35
SPEAKER_00: Screech Okay, we are moving again, but let us continue with this uplifting parable so that we can relate it to our lives.
20:43
SPEAKER_00: The elevator picture I saw was that many people never make it to their last floor, and get stuck somewhere in the middle floor because they don't apply their learning.
20:51
SPEAKER_00: What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, this is Paul talking, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
21:00
SPEAKER_00: Notice the word practice.
21:01
SPEAKER_00: James one twenty two.
21:03
SPEAKER_00: Do not merely listen to the words, and so deceive yourselves.
21:07
SPEAKER_00: Do what it says.
21:09
SPEAKER_00: Second Peter one eight urges believers to add knowledge to their faith and supplement that insight with moral excellence and self control.
21:18
SPEAKER_00: Hebrews fourteen notes that solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
21:27
SPEAKER_00: Look up those scriptures to get a more fuller understanding.
21:31
SPEAKER_00: In this elevator illustration, I am talking about the Christian who either reads the Bible and applies the learning and goes from one floor to the next, or the Christian who reads the Bible sometimes and applies it sometimes, most likely when it's convenient.
21:45
SPEAKER_00: Or we have the Christian that rarely reads their Bible, and when they do, they don't really apply what they're learning because they don't seek the understanding of what it means to apply it.
21:54
SPEAKER_00: This means that they rarely go up a floor at all.
21:57
SPEAKER_00: It looks like an elevator that rarely goes up, but mostly the floor.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: Stays stuck at a floor, or even drops down a floor.
22:03
SPEAKER_00: James 2, 14 through 26.
22:06
SPEAKER_00: What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?
22:12
SPEAKER_00: Can faith save him?
22:13
SPEAKER_00: If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, Depart in peace, be warmed and filled, but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?
22:25
SPEAKER_00: Thus also, faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
22:30
SPEAKER_00: This is like praying for somebody when you actually have the resources to help them in the natural.
22:35
SPEAKER_00: Faith is giving them the resources in the natural.
22:38
SPEAKER_00: That's how it is spiritually fulfilled.
22:41
SPEAKER_00: Verse 18, but someone will say, You have faith, and I have works.
22:45
SPEAKER_00: Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
22:50
SPEAKER_00: So faith is evident in a person's life by the things that they do, not the things that they say, not the things that they pray, but by the things that they do.
23:00
SPEAKER_00: You believe that there is one God?
23:02
SPEAKER_00: You do well.
23:03
SPEAKER_00: Even the demons believe and tremble.
23:05
SPEAKER_00: But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?
23:10
SPEAKER_00: Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?
23:16
SPEAKER_00: Do you see that faith was working together with his works?
23:20
SPEAKER_00: And by works faith was made perfect, and the scripture was fulfilled which says Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness, and he was called the friend of God.
23:31
SPEAKER_00: You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.
23:36
SPEAKER_00: Verse twenty five.
23:37
SPEAKER_00: Likewise was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way?
23:45
SPEAKER_00: For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.
23:50
SPEAKER_00: Now why it's important to go from one floor to the next is because each floor has fruit.
23:56
SPEAKER_00: So, if possible, imagine that each floor represents the fruit of all of your activities for the past year, good or bad, truly meaning righteous or unrighteous.
24:06
SPEAKER_00: Matthew seven, fifteen through twenty three.
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SPEAKER_00: Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
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SPEAKER_00: You will know them by their fruit.
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SPEAKER_00: Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles?
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SPEAKER_00: Even so every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
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SPEAKER_00: A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.
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SPEAKER_00: Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
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SPEAKER_00: Therefore by their fruits, you will know them.
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SPEAKER_00: Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven.
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SPEAKER_00: Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in your name, and done many wonders in your name?
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SPEAKER_00: And then I will declare to them, I never knew you, depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.
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SPEAKER_00: And going up, each floor that you progress up to, it should show from one floor to the next the abundance of fruit that will remain, even though you go up to the next floor.
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SPEAKER_00: I know some people that evangelize, win a convert, and then make no more connection with him, thinking that they've done the will of God.
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SPEAKER_00: But we are to make disciples and equip the saints for the work of ministry.
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SPEAKER_00: John fifteen sixteen, you did not choose me.
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SPEAKER_00: This is God talking about us.
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SPEAKER_00: When people say they found Jesus, they have it wrong.
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SPEAKER_00: Jesus found them.
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SPEAKER_00: But I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give you.
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SPEAKER_00: If you're in the habit of preaching the gospel, leaning someone to the Lord, but not following up with how they're doing or connecting them to a teacher or somebody who can help them like a pastor, then that means your fruit will not remain.
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SPEAKER_00: Nobody can survive Christianity alone, especially a baby Christian.
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SPEAKER_00: If you take the elevator and continue to apply your learning, you will mature satisfactorily and be able to accomplish the will of God for your life.
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SPEAKER_00: I would like to say that in a perfect world, that is, the church would fulfill its mandate to equip the saints for the work of ministry and to make disciples or life learners, then the system would work perfectly and no one would ever drop down a floor or have to repeat a floor.
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SPEAKER_00: But this is not the case, nor the image that I saw, nor what the Bible states.
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SPEAKER_00: Ephesians four, eleven through sixteen and Matthew twenty eight, nineteen through twenty.
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SPEAKER_00: So you get to decide in your building that represents a life how smoothly your elevator goes from one floor to the next.
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SPEAKER_00: As you read your Bible and apply it as best as you know how, through the help of the Holy Spirit, your fruit will increase from one floor to the next.
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SPEAKER_00: You will mature from one floor to the next, and you will grow as a Christian from one floor to the next.
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SPEAKER_00: The following tells us how.
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SPEAKER_00: He's talking about the Holy Spirit.
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SPEAKER_00: John fourteen, sixteen through twenty six, Jesus explains that he will ask the Father to give another helper, and that the Father will send the Holy Spirit in Jesus' name.
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SPEAKER_00: Luke twenty-four, verse forty nine states that Jesus tells his disciples just before his ascension, I am going to send you what my Father has promised.
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SPEAKER_00: But stay in the city until you've been clothed with power from on high.
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SPEAKER_00: We need the electricity of the Holy Spirit to move our elevator and to provide the power for it to function properly, that is for our lives to function properly.
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SPEAKER_00: Romans fifteen, eighteen through nineteen.
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SPEAKER_00: Paul speaks of what Christ accomplished through him by the power of the Spirit, through mighty signs and wonders, from Jerusalem all the way around to Eliquirium.
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SPEAKER_00: Paul notes that his gospel came to them not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit, and deep conviction.
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SPEAKER_00: Like the top floor and high rise buildings, they are the most expensive, have the best or highest levels of views, less clutter, and oftentimes made of the best material and cost the most to rent out.
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SPEAKER_00: Same so is your life in your older age.
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SPEAKER_00: Accumulation of all the trials, tests, persecution, and tribulations are bound up in wisdom depending on how you allowed those events to shape you.
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SPEAKER_00: Your contribution to the whole, like the top floor of the building, is greatest in your older years.
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SPEAKER_00: You stand to make the greatest contribution in your seventies as opposed to when you were in your forties, fifties or sixties, and oftentimes, again, depending on how you manage life and all of its trouble, you stand to be the greatest support for the rest of the building.
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SPEAKER_00: Your life, like the top floor, makes the greatest contribution and adds the most value to the rest of the building.
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SPEAKER_00: When the youth ignore this value, they are cutting their own feet out from among them.
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SPEAKER_00: Of course this won't make sense to them because they think that they will live forever, just like you and I did in our misspent youth.
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SPEAKER_00: Is the problem solvable?
29:00
SPEAKER_00: Well we finish with this.
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SPEAKER_00: Yes, but only if we teach them how to walk through life's toughest moments.
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SPEAKER_00: If you treat them like babies doing everything for them when they are no longer babies physically, then you are setting them up for great failure, and mentally they will remain babies.
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SPEAKER_00: If you are one of those who says, we just want to give them everything we didn't have when we were growing up, you have doomed them to mediocrity and natural and spiritual infancy.
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SPEAKER_00: Raise them up in the fear of the Lord, and they will have a chance to survive life in a spirit of success, making a significant kingdom contribution.
29:36
SPEAKER_00: Every year of your life represents a floor, fill it up with the treasures that is fruit that can only be stored in heaven.
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SPEAKER_00: Matthew 6, 19 through 21 states, Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal.
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SPEAKER_00: For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
30:04
SPEAKER_00: Let's close in prayer.
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SPEAKER_00: May the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before your God and Father at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.
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SPEAKER_00: Now may the God of peace, the one in whom we call wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, may He Himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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SPEAKER_00: To our Lord of Lords and our King of Kings, to our high and lifted up, great high priest, who has once and for all paid the price, that you might see and hear God.
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SPEAKER_00: May He hear and respond to our prayers.
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SPEAKER_00: To our God we stand and pray as He too always lives to make intercession for you while seated at the right hand of the Father.
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SPEAKER_00: May the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do his will, working in you what is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ to whom we glory forever and ever.
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SPEAKER_00: Now to him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.
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SPEAKER_00: To him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever, amen.
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SPEAKER_00: Well that's it for today.
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SPEAKER_00: Remember it's not what you find wrong or disagree with regarding these messages, but what you can take away from it.
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SPEAKER_00: Together we can do more to impact the kingdom than if we work alone.
31:20
SPEAKER_00: Let's put the script and still kill and destroy the works of the enemy and create space for the light of life to shine through in people's lives.
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SPEAKER_00: And help us to make this idea.
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SPEAKER_00: Leave this message out or teach from it.
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SPEAKER_00: In your Bible study, life or still group.
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SPEAKER_00: And yes, even in your church, you can be assured it comes from what we're called to teach, and though imperfect, you have the word of God to use to test everything I say.
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SPEAKER_00: Let's build this ministry together.
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SPEAKER_00: Thanks and see you next time in Deep Waters.