Spiritual Birth / Powerful Word from Apostle Al Simmons

Be encouraged and strengthened by this impactful message from Apostle Al Simmons. This word will inspire your faith, renew your mind, and help you walk boldly in God’s purpose for your life.

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Transcript

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No matter where you're born in the world, the process of birth and life works the same way. See, 'cause if you understand that, then I can explain to you the difference in the spiritual birth and how you grow in the spirit just like a child would be born and how they would grow in the physical. I know you're saying to yourself, "Man, this makes perfect sense." So let's just imagine a child is born in Russia, in China, and in America. They're born the same exact time. No matter what, their process will be the same. They will go from bir- b- being born, and then they will naturally, you gotta feed them, you gotta change them, you gotta wash them, you lay them down, put them to sleep, wake them up. Do the same process day after day after day until they learn to start to crawl, then they'll start to make sounds, then they'll learn to walk, then they'll learn to talk, then they'll learn to run, then they'll learn to read, then they'll learn to speak with sentences, and then they'll learn to think reasonably. Now, I know that that's makes sense, that makes sense. We're talking about spiritual birth and growth process. See, it's easy understanding the physical 'cause we all went through it. But when it comes to the spirit, we don't all go through it, so the word of God drives us and the Holy Spirit takes us through these process. I know you're saying to yourself, "Let's go to the word." Not a problem. Let's go to 2 Peter. 2 Peter 1, and that's all we really gonna deal with today. 2 Peter 1, and we're gonna start with verse one because we're gonna break it down, and I'm going, I'm just gonna show you different things as we go through on this spiritual birth and growth process. Verse one: "Simon Peter, a," what? "A servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ." The word apostle means sent one. Jesus called him, and he sent him out. But he goes on, "To them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God And of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, uh, and of our Savior Jesus-- don't miss that now. It says, "Like precious faith." See, there's a lot of people that don't have the faith like yours. It is hard to relate to people that think differently than you. Okay, okay, okay, hold on. We, we, we're gonna go somewhere now. See, 'cause in verse two it talks about grace and peace be multiplied unto you. Well, grace and peace don't come until the Spirit comes, so you're talking about a believer. So when Peter's talking about faith, he's giving you an acknowledgement of a person that's saved. Now, here's the problem with the average American when it comes to the Word of God. This whole book is written to one group of people, the children of Israel. It's to no one else. They're the prophets. When you look at the disciples, they all are children of Israel. That's why they keep saying something that a lot of people miss. You say, "Well, Jesus is from what tribe?" Judah. Why is that so, that important? Jacob's children are the children of Israel. See, if you get that, this will save you a lot of time in understanding. The Muslims don't have a leg to stand on. Why? Because they come from Ismael. Ismael is not a tribe of Israel. He's not a child of Jacob. He's a child of Abraham, but Abraham had eight kids. Only one falls in line with the Messiah. Only one that falls in line with the children of Israel. That's why Isaac was called the promised child. Oh, we gonna get this down now because now we're getting some understanding of this spiritual birth and growth process. But he said, "Grace and peace be multiplied unto you," through what? The knowledge. Of who? God. See, I don't care whatever religion, they don't know God. So there's no way for them to get no knowledge of God because he didn't talk to them. But he said, "And God and of Jesus Christ, according as his divine power-" Has given unto us. Uh-oh. See, you, you ain't just can grip- can get this yourself. He's gotta give it. Well, it's coming with the Holy Spirit. That's the grace and peace. This is given unto you. Now watch what it says now. It said power... It, and he's talking about the according to his divine power, has given unto us all things, what? That pertain, that pertains unto life. But he don't stop there. And godliness. So a lot of people start the process and quit. And you ask yourself the question, "Well, you didn't grow none?" No, they stopped. It's like a baby. You stop the process for them to grow. Well, let's get some more now. Let's get some more now. Because through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue. That word virtue, I'm gonna be honest with you, we miss that word a lot. Virtue is a behavior that you get by doing the right thing day after day after day after day, and it becomes a character. If you can get half of the Christian body to walk in virtue, you will have no problem in the church. Why? 'Cause they can self-correct themselves. They can self-correct others. The problem is that it's so rare. That's why we have the problem that we have when we talk about spiritual birth and growth process. They don't wanna go through the process. But we're going on. Whereby are given unto us exceedingly great and precious promises. Well, if you don't know the Word of God, you don't know what his promise is. If you don't know what his promise is, you can't walk in it. Okay, let, okay, let, let me, let me give, let me put it simple. Let me put it simple. Somebody can leave you a million dollars, but if they never get in contact with you, and you was never u- you never understood that you have this, yes, you have a million dollars in the bank, but because you don't know it, you can't walk in it. You can't go and buy a car because I think I got money. They, they wanna see the hard copy, the money or the check. It's the same thing in the spiritual realm. So now that we understand that, I want you to pay close attention to what's happening now. Watch this now. When he talk about, "Whereby are given unto us exceedingly great and precious promises, that by these, ye might be partakers of the divine nature." Wow. See, it's hard to walk in something you know nothing about. Having escaped, watch this now, the corruption that is in the world through what? Lust. See, the world, he says, "You are in corruption," but when you come to Christ, you gotta walk out of corruption into grace and mercy. And we, by our lust, the things that we want by our eyes, the things we, we smell, we see, we want these things, he says, "Those are fleshly things. They're not gonna benefit you in the spiritual realm." Are we talking about spiritual birth and growth process? See, the word is what start to cleanse you from those things. It's like getting in a bathtub. The water's washing off what? The dirt, the residue of the day. Well, the is trying to wash you from the inside of the behavior that you had that's not godly, of the desire that you had that was not godly. Oh, let me keep on going now. See, in 2 Peter 1, we in verse five now, it says, "And beside this, give all diligence, add to your faith virtue," that's that excellence of God, "and to virtue, knowledge." Wow. See, we ain't playing around with no Mickey Mouse stuff now. We in the heavy word of God now. This is the meat. This is somebody who's walking with God. "And to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance, patience." Don't you realize that you gotta learn to get control of your patience? And God will allow you to go through certain things to bring that under control. "And to patience, godliness." Boy, look at how the things are starting to work now. See, you, without even you realizing, you're starting to become more like Christ by going through the process, going through the crawling, going through the walking in the spiritual realm, and now starting to understand this walk. "And to godliness, brotherly kindness. And to brotherly kindness, charity." You know why most people who call themselves Christian don't give to the poor? They have no charity. They have no godly brotherly love for others. "For if these things be in you," listen to the Word of God now, "for if these things be in you," but watch this, "and abound." It can come, but it can leave. He, uh, he's talking about that now. He said, "If it comes to you, and it stays." It, i- i- it's one of those things, it, it, it came and you caught ahold of it. That's why I love knowledge. Once you got knowledge, ain't nobody can take that from you. Once you know something simple as cooking a pot of rice, once you know how to do that, you can always eat. Why? You know how to cook rice. You know, o- once you know how to cook, you can always eat. Why? 'Cause it's the same process. No matter what, it's the same process. Let me keep going now, 'cause I wanna get you through this right here now. But it goes on, "They make you that ye shall never be barren nor unfruitful," what? "In the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." See, when I talk to people, I'm gonna bring them things about Jesus they have never heard. Why? Because that's our relationship. Our relationship is so tight that He's showed me things that He didn't show the average person. Okay, let me go ahead and make it a little simpler now. I know sometimes I, I go out there and go on a limb. It's like me and my spouse, my wife. I know her name. I know her mother's name. I know where she was born. I know her father name. I know who, I know her teachers. I know her friends. What, what, what am I telling you? Because in a relationship, I get to learn things about her the average person will never know. I know what side of the bed she sleep on. I know if she snores or not. You, you, you see my point? That's, that's in, that's that part of relationship most people don't want with God. Why? Because you can't hide nothing. When you talk about a relationship with God, oh no, there's no sin no more because you can't walk in it. The, the one thing about God, once you got a relationship, He says, "Guess what? If you do wrong, I'm gonna expose it." Why? "I have to expose it because if I'm gonna be your Father, I gotta correct you." You can have 14 friends doing wrong, and you say, "Well, I'm just gonna do wrong with them just one time." You're gonna get caught. Why? 'Cause He says, "You do not belong to the world, so I must chastise you." Why? "Because I am your Father." Let me go on. Let me... We in there now, and that's why people don't get saved. But he say, "You'll never be barren or unfruitful," what? In the knowledge though. And, well, let me go on. Let me go. Verse nine, "But," he said, "lack of these things is," what? Blind. That's why I don't waste a lot of time talking to people who are ignorant to the Word and don't wanna know no more. I don't say a word. They, we can sit there all day and talk about, you wanna talk about basketball, we talk about basketball. You wanna talk about football, we talk about football. But we're not gonna have no discussion about God. Why? 'Cause you're blind. Nothing I say you gonna believe, so why waste my time? Jesus said, "Let the blind lead the blind." But we gonna go on. He said, "Blind, it cannot see afar off, and have forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling," what? "And election sure." He said, "Don't, don't, don't be playing with this now." He said, "You gotta make sure you know that you know that you know." Somebody asked me, he said, "Well, I think the Lord called me to preach." I said, "Run." He said, "Huh?" I said, "Run." "Why?" I said, "If the Lord call you, you can't run far enough." I'm gonna be real. I said, "If the Lord is calling you, you can't run far enough." But don't you walk in this and play. If you're gonna walk in this, make up your mind before you take the first step because this is no game. Satan don't care if you sit on the sidelines, but he cares if you get in the game. He could give you all the hell you can handle, so you better be standing on the rock. But we going on now. "For if," he said, "For if ye do these things, ye shall never fall." Well, you mean sometimes fall? No, never. You mean some... No, never fall. This is the process. I know you're saying to yourself, "Man, this is good stuff." Oh, it gets even better. 'Cause verse 11 says, "For as an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom," and m- don't miss that word kingdom now, "of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ." I, I wanna say that again. "For an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly." You, you mean to tell me... He said, "No, you into, just miss a slide into this, buddy. This right here is as open as it's gonna get." He says, "Continue though." Now, I, I, I know, I know you, I know you're asking yourself the question now, "Mm, man, it can't be this simple." But let me show you where most people hang up at. This is where we dealing with now. This is where most people hang up comes from. In verse 12, "Wherefore, I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them and be established in the present truth." Uh-oh. If that's telling me we're gonna have to have a problem with the Word. That's where people problem lies, right there. Yeah, I think it neat. As long as I am in this tabernacle, the body now, the tabernacle is your body, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance. That's prayer. Constantly put you in remembrance. "Knowing that shortly I must put off this," my tabernacle. P- Peter is telling you, "I'm about to die." Wow, come on now. He, he's, he knows he's about to die, but he's telling you, "I, I gotta cross this tabernacle, but I want you to stay strong even as our Lord Jesus Christ has showed me." Wow. Peter is now telling you, he says, "I watched Jesus go through His glory." He said, "Now I'm ready to take on the same steps as Jesus. I'm not worried about me 'cause I'm about to cross over, but I want you to remember how I went through. Jesus showed me, I'm about to show you how to cross over." Boy, I tell you, this some good stuff now. So in verse 15, he said, "Moreover, I will," watch this now, "I will endeavor that ye may be able after my decease." He said, "I'm dying to have these things always." Where? In remembrance. Now, that's some powerful stuff. See, he know he's about to die, but he says, "Don't, don't forget, for we have not followed cunningly devised fables." He said, "This ain't no game. This ain't no story somebody's telling you. This is truth. If you're standing on this, you gotta be willing to die for it." I'm gonna say that again now. If you believe this, you got to be willing to die for it. But he goes on, "When we made known unto you the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitness of his majesty." Now, remember now, they heard he was coming, but yet they still pulled the cork. And then they got to see him in action. Man, I, I tell you, can't, can't do nothing but, can't do nothing but praise him for that now. "For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.'" Don't miss the word I am. That's God. He said, "I Am that I Am." Now, he said, "Don't miss this now." Don't we all wanna be beloved? Don't we all wanna have that kind of relationship where the Father can look at us and says, "You're my beloved son. You're my beloved daughter." Oh, that family now. See, that's a different place than the average person can even comprehend. We're talking about spiritual birth and growth process. "And this voice which came," from where? Heaven. We heard. Now watch that now. He said, "We all heard it when we were with him in the holy mount." Now, I, I know we're gonna do a little test now. You ain't gotta answer, but I'm gonna answer it for you. How many people was with Jesus at the holy mount? Well, we know it was Jesus. That was easy. We know it was Moses, and we know it was Elijah, but who else was there? Wow. We know Peter. We know James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother. Wow. So that's why when Peter made the statement, "We need to make three tabernacles. One for Jesus, one for Moses, the Word, and one for Elijah." Now, he- here, here's the problem, man. Can't have three tabernacles. You can only have one. That was Jesus. That is Jesus. And that's where the problem is today. We got all of these tabernacles, but we still only got one Jesus. We got some of them Baptist, some of them Holiness, some of them Methodist, some of them Catholic, so... Well, God dang it. I know why the world is confused. We're confused. They ask me, "What church you belong to?" The body of Christ. If, if Jesus' name is not in it, I don't care if it's TD Jakes, I don't care who else it is, if their name is in it, it's not God. It's a congregation. But let me go on. Let me go on. I gotta, I gotta get through this now. I gotta get through this now. But we going on because we need to understand now. "We have also a more sure..." So when you pay attention, it says, "We have also a more sure word of prophecy whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place," until what? "The day dawn and the day star arise in your heart. Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time, but by the will of man, uh, but by the will of man, but by holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." He said, "If you grow in this," he says, "I'm gonna be honest, you'll never fall because you can't fall. God is with you at every step. Even if you think you make a mistake," he said, "you ain't made no mistake." He said, "Trust me." I won't let you make a mistake because I am a light to your foot. I hope you enjoy hearing the word of God. We're talking about spiritual birth and growth process.