The Secret to Life/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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When you think about this life, it's go- it's gonna be tough If you really think about it now, it's gonna be tough. But most people don't really grasp how hard it is to follow Christ. See, a lot of people will tell you they're Christian, but a lot of people don't really wanna follow Christ according to the word. Oh, let's get right into it. Let's get right into it. See, when I see homeless people, I always remember the story of Jesus when he talk about Lazarus, the poor man outside the gate. Just want a little bit of crumb from the rich man table. Now, I, I don't know if you really remember the story, but in the story he never mentions the rich man name. Mentions Lazarus, though, 'cause Lazarus is gonna be blessed. But he got sores all through all of his body, and that was lick the sore. But we talking about this tough life. How do we get to the point where we stop worrying about this life? How do we get to the point where we can have a great life according to the Word? Oh, let's go. Let's get into it. Let's get into it. We're dealing with the secret to life. This is the message today, the secret to life. Now, when I say that, I'm not gonna tell you it's easy. See, a lot of people gonna tell you it's easy. No, I'm not gonna say that. It's not easy. It's actually hard. It's difficult because you have to go against the norm. You gotta go against religion. You gotta go against those false teachers Let's go to the Book of Matthew. Book of Matthew chapter seven. Book of Matthew chapter seven, verse 13 to 14. It's talking about the straight gate. It said, "Enter ye in at the straight gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction and many there be which go in thereat." Remember now, the word is telling you there's a lot of people calling on Christ's name that's going in the wrong direction, "Because straight is the gate and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life and few there be that finds it." Don't miss that now. He said it's only a few gonna find it Why do you think he says only a few will find it? Now, that's how powerful the word of God is, because there's a lot of religions. Everybody claiming Jesus, everybody claiming God, but the word tells me there's only a few that's gonna find this thing called life. Enter through the narrow gate is the way of life. Okay, now, now that we got that, now let me ask you a question, 'cause I'm gonna have a question at the end, and you gotta answer this for yourself. Why does he say narrow is the way? 'Cause you can't do things your way when you say you're following Christ. Now, I, I want, I'm gonna, I'm gonna give you a, a revelation that a lot of people don't know, but let me show you what Jesus really was talking about when he was giving that parable. Go to the Book of John, chapter 14. John 14:6. I'm gonna tell you what he was actually talking about. In John 14:6, Jesus said unto him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me." When you say the, the, when he's talking about the way, the narrow way, this is Jesus. But to follow Jesus, you have to commit yourself to him and follow him. He is the way, the truth, and the life. Now, the revelation is most people don't know Jesus is the Word. Ah. Not only is he the Word, he said, he said, "Now, that's the truth." He said, "But I'm the life also. If you want a great life, you gotta have it in me." Oh, okay, okay, okay, okay. Hold on, hold on, hold on. Watch this now In the Book of John, First John, First John, we, we're gonna talk about why most people have the problem they have, and this is right from the word. People are being led by a lot of false teachers. In First John chapter two, First John chapter two, verse 15 through 17, watch what it says: "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passes away, and the lust thereof, but he that does the will of God abideth forever." I wanna share with you a couple things what everybody looking for in this world. Relationship. Whether it's marriage or just friendship, they're looking for relationships. Well, that's only... You're only gonna get great godly relationships through God. I know you're saying to yourself, "Well, come on now. I've had some people that hurt me in my life." Yeah, but guess what? There are also some great people also. But let's just deal with relationship. We're gonna deal with relationship, finance and money, peace, joy, and righteousness. The... If you want a happy life, these are the areas you gotta be sound in: relationship, finance and money, peace, joy, and righteousness. So in First Thessalonians chapter five, verse 11, First Thessalonians chapter five, verse 11, we in the word now, "Wherefore comfort yourselves together and edify one another, even as also you do." He says, "If you want relationship, a godly relationship, you gotta help each other in whatever area they're weak in." Oh, we talking the word now. Now, now, don't miss that now. A lot of times because of dysfunction, you're not edifying each other. You're hurting each other. But in these godly relationships, you are now helping each other. Let's go to Ephesians. Ephesians chapter four, verse 29. We, we be talking real now. Ephesians 4:29. What is the, what does the word want us to know? "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers." See, now we're talking about the secret of life. Who do you surround yourself with? Let's deal with finance, money. You know why people have the biggest problem with finance? I mean, it's, it's really easy. You know the biggest problem they have is they don't realize that the money is not theirs. Woo. See, when you start realizing you give yourself to God and it's all his money, just imagine you making $10,000 a month, and you live to be 80 years old, and you're worth, at this point, $6 million. When you're dead, what difference is that $6 million gonna do for you? When you are gone, what is that gonna do for you in the kingdom? If you didn't put... If you didn't spend it towards the kingdom, it's gonna do nothing for you. But people are so wrapped up in making money that they miss the concept of helping people. Oh, let's just get in the... Let's go to, uh, Ecclesiastes 5:10. The book of Ecclesiastes 5:10. What does the word of God want us to know? "He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity." He said all of this is vanity. You want this, you want that, all of it is vanity. Not anything you can't have anything, but if that's your whole locking goal, it's all vanity. Let's go to the Book of Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy 8:18. We're talking about the secret to life. Deuteronomy 8:18. But thou shall remember the Lord thy God, for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth. Whoa. Come on now. He said he gives the power to get wealth. That he may establish his covenant, which he swore unto thy fathers, as it is this day. That's a promise. I know you're saying to yourself, "Man, this is good teaching. Why can't I get this more often?" Because most people don't want real teachings. They want false prophets who wanna get their money and make sure they stay in misery. Let's go to the Book of Romans. We dealing with the secret of life Let's go to the Book of Romans. Romans 14:17. Romans 14:17. We talking about peace, joy, and righteousness. Who don't wanna walk in righteousness? We say we following Christ, so who don't wanna walk in righteousness? Who don't wanna walk in joy? Who don't wanna walk in peace? Everybody do. But guess what? It's available, but not in the flesh. For the Kingdom of God, that's Romans 14:17, is not meat or drink, not meat and drink, but it's what? Righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. What you mean? If you'll walk in righteousness, you're gonna have peace. If you got peace, you're gonna have joy. These are gifts that Jesus gave us. Now, I know you're saying to yourself, "Man, why isn't this, why isn't it this simple?" Because you have to be taught this. That's the secret to life. We get all wrapped up and we're arguing over pleasure, fleshly pleasures. We're arguing over finance. We're arguing because you have no peace. We're arguing because people have no righteousness. We're arguing 'cause people have no joy. We argue about the job, that's back to money, finance. The job, you don't like it, you can leave it and go to another one. That's not gonna satisfy the problem of money, though. You will always have bills. Now, here we, we're going deeper now. We going deeper. Go to the Book of Romans chapter 8. Romans, chapter 8. We dealing with verse five through seven. Romans 8:5-7. What are we talking about? The secret to life. See, what, before I get into this one, I, I, I was looking, I was looking at a homeless guy eat out the trash can And what we call food we would waste, that was his dinner, his lunch, or his breakfast See, we think we got problems, but we never check, we never look at it from the other side. See, I started out this story in the beginning about the rich man. He had on his nice outfit. He had the most beautiful house, and the, if you really remember the story, the poor man was at his gate. So he was locked in to his home, his area, his property. But all of, all the poor man Lazarus wanted is, "Can I just have the crumbs that falls off your table? Can I just have the crumbs that you don't eat?" Wow. But after they both die, he looks at the poor man and realize he's in a great place. He's in the bosom of Abraham. Now, we know that's not really Abraham. The bosom is Jesus, but that's all right. But yet he is in security even though he struggled through this thing called life. The rich man had it all easy, but now he's suffering. He's being tormented. And, and, and now watch this now. Let me show you the parallel of the story. He wouldn't even give the crumb to Lazarus, but now he's begging Abraham, "Could you let Lazarus put his finger in the water and take that finger and put it on my tongue so it can stop the burning?" Now we call that gross today. We said, "You could s-- another man stick his finger and put it in my mouth?" Yes. That's how, that's what kind of torment he was going through. Can you imagine being that ki- being tormented like that? That you just want a tip of water to touch your tongue to alleviate just some of the press- pressure. So let's go back to Romans 8:5-7, and it says, "For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that after the Spirit do the things of the Spirit. For to the c- for the..." Now watch this. "For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." That's the word now. "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." See, there's a lot of people, they love satisfying the flesh. Flesh is new car, new house, all those things that don't matter in the long run of eternity. Nothing wrong with having a new house, nothing wrong with having a car, but is that your God? Is that your focus? Nothing wrong with having money, but is that your God? Is that your focus? See, when Jesus told the man, the rich man, he said, "Sell all you got and give it to the poor, and then come and follow me," he said, "I can't do that." He, he, uh, I'm paraphrasing now. He just left. Why? He's so wrapped up in money. A lot of people today are wrapped up in money. They're wrapped up in stuff. They're not even understanding this is gonna be over in less than 100 years. I don't care how much money you make, that's gonna be over for you in less than 100 years. Why did you put your focus in something that's not gonna last? That's all Jesus is teaching. He said, "I'm the way, the truth, and the life. Those who put their trust in me, they'll have that for eternity." But I'm going a little further, a little deeper in the scripture, but I wanted to share that part is the secret of life. But if you go back to Matthew chapter seven, I, I'm, I'm just gonna bless you with this part so you can learn something that a lot of people don't get to see. He's teaching us that because in verse 15 he starts telling you where your problem gonna lie. "Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits." Now, I could go on and on and on, but that's all he's talking about now. He say, "You'll know them." Why? Because all their behaviors are the same. They're not trying to help you, they're trying to help their back pockets. They're not trying to help you get out of your bondage or your circumstance, they're trying to keep you in so you can keep coming back. Who goes to the doctor to stay sick? That don't make any sense. You go to the doctor to get well. Who goes to the dentist to stay in pain? It doesn't make sense, but people do it all the time when it comes to spiritual understanding. Ooh, we're talking heavy stuff now. We're talking heavy stuff, the secret to life. You got all these... I'm not even dealing with unbelievers right now. I'm being real with you. I'm dealing with people who so-called Christians. We got all these people say they following Christ and living one sin or another. Lying, bite back, steal. It doesn't matter what they're doing, they're not living according to the word, and that's why it's hard to follow Christ. Because sometimes you gonna feel like the only one. Sometimes you gonna lose some friends. Sometimes they gonna question you about your belief. But guess what? When it's all said and done- The only one that you need to show you're real is Christ. Now, a lot of people miss this, but I'm gonna go on and bless you with this so you can understand. Once you got the Holy Spirit, you'll feel for eternity. Lord can't take it back. He can't give it and take it back Wow. See, nobody want to teach you that now. What he say, you are sealed for eternity. Once you got the Holy Spirit, you are sealed. The problem is, if I take 100% of the church, I guarantee you 75% of them not saved Now I'll be honest, I'd probably go out on the limb a little more, but I guarantee you 75% are not saved. Now, if I really was bold, 90% not saved. Why? Back to the scripture. He says, "The road, the gate is narrow. Only a few gonna find it, but wide is the road for destruction." They love following Christ, but they ain't gonna follow him all the way. They ain't gonna follow him until they get the Holy Spirit, 'cause one thing about it is, you can't fool Jesus. He'll never give his Spirit to somebody that haven't seeked, knocked, or asked for it. You ain't gonna miss and find Jesus. Never gonna happen. That's gotta be intentional. That's gotta be intentional. You don't miss and find Jesus. You gotta be deliberate and intentional, and that's why it says, "Seek and you shall find. Knock and the door shall be a- answered. And ask and you shall receive." We're talking about the secret to this thing called life. Everybody's not gonna find it. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but most people are not gonna find this life