SPEAKER_00 0:02

Hi, my name is Michelle Steele. Pastor Philip and I want to thank you for listening to this message from Life of Faith Church. We have more resources available to help you build your faith and frame your world by the Word of God. From our website, lifeoffaith.net, you can connect to our YouTube channel. Watch the live stream feed from our church services. Access books and downloads in our web store. And discover more about Life of Faith Church. Producing life city, state, nation, and world. Visit lifeoffaith.net today.

SPEAKER_01 0:42

Let's go to Mark Matthew, chapter four tonight. And we're going to continue with this that we've been looking at the core values of the believer. And uh I've been talking about some things we have in the media center. I I mentioned this book Sunday morning uh by Pastor Callwell, The Word System, and he wrote this book originally in 1981, and uh it's all about uh the Word of God, speaking the Word of God, the power of the Word of God, and uh the way the Word System can operate in your life. Uh this book uh by Charles Caps is uh changing the seen and shaping the unseen. And both these you can probably read them in 30 minutes, but the the uh the the power in this book is calling things that be not as though they were, and how the word of God can shape and change uh situations in your life. And I ministered this uh, oh, I don't know, a few years ago, uh simply entitled Thoughts on Increase. And I started going through the word and seeing where, according to the scripture, the earth was supposed to yield its increase to mankind. And um we took the time to uh teach on it and how that we're uh given dominion over everything in the earth through the blessing and over increase in every area of our life. Uh and um so just I just entitled it Thoughts on Increase. So that's this is free, obviously, uh in the Media Center. You can pick that up if you would like to. I think there's four or five copies, and you can certainly pick it up. Amen. Core values of the believer. Uh, this is part six, and uh, if we uh had a subtitle, it would be Living in the Word, and we talked about this some Sunday morning. Living in the Word, the the seven core values of the believer that we I'm not gonna go through all of them tonight, uh, but the first one that God gave me in April of 2024 was put the word first place. Everyone say put the word first place. Now, you know, uh those of us charismatic, spirit-filled people would call us word of faith, but you know, there are people who call us word people. And and some people even kind of say it kind of derogatory. Oh, you're one of them word people. And you know, I'd I'd rather be a word people than a doubt people, but anyway, the the point is is putting the word first place. Putting the word first place. And we talk Sunday morning about living in the word, right? And then as I live in the word, then whatever's going on around me, whatever is uh occurring, I'm living in the word. And because I'm living in the word, the word, I'm vitally connected to the word. Jesus said in John 8, if you'll remember to the Jews that believed on him, he said, if you continue, if you stay, if you remain, one translation says, if you live within the sphere of the revelation that I have brought you, right? Here's the first thing that will happen. You'll be my disciple, right? And then he said, and as you're my disciple, then you will know the truth. You'll become vitally connected to the truth. John 17, 17 says, the word is truth. Amen. Psalm 119, verse uh uh 128 says, concerning the word, it says, all of your precepts concerning all things are right. So the word is truth. He said, and you'll know the truth, you'll be vitally connected to the truth, you'll be intimate with the truth, and here's what will happen: the truth will make you free.

unknown 4:19

Right?

SPEAKER_01 4:20

As I'm what? As I'm living within the sphere of the word. Right? Then whatever is going on around me, it cannot bind me, it can't keep me, because the energy, the life of the word of God is continually setting me free, making me free. Now that's not just for people that know it's in the word. That's people that number one believe the word, and number two, operate in the word and live in the word. Hallelujah. In Matthew 4 and verse 4, this, of course, is what we regularly refer to as the temptation of Jesus. And the devil came to him in verse 3 and said, Command these stones to be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, man shall not live by bread alone. But we could say, man shall live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. In Luke chapter 4, Luke chapter 4 and verse 4. The same thing. The devil said, If you're the Son of God, command this stone that it may be made bread. And Jesus answered and said, It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. So man shall not live by bread alone, but man shall live by every word of God. Alright? So he's saying, Look, we don't live on natural things. We live on the word of God. The temptation here was to live by something other than the word. That's the temptation that always comes. You'll hear people say, I'm a self-made man, then you're a shaky man. Because if you made yourself, you don't have a very good foundation. Right? Now don't misunderstand me. I'm not talking about, you know, working hard and building things and receiving things. Not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about if I did it, then I'm responsible for it. If the word did it and God did it, then the word and God are responsible for it. And I am just a participant in what he wants me to do. That's how I've got to choose to live my life. And so the devil, his game here is like it always is: to try to get somebody to depend on something other than the word of God. To try to get somebody to live in some sphere other than God's word. Amen. That's why Jesus said we won't go there. That's why he took the time over and over again in John 17 to tell us three different times that we are not of the world just like he's not of the world. So, what does that mean? I'm not dependent on the world. I'm not dependent on the natural sphere of things. I live by the word of God. Tell your neighbor, I live by the word of God. Amen. And so it's it's I'm not I'm not only reading the word, I'm living by the word. The word sets my standard. The word dictates how I respond to things. When Jesus said, don't let your heart be troubled, that's not just a cute promise. That's not just something that I can look at and say, Isn't that wonderful? That is a command, that is a directive to me. When challenges come, what's the first thing? Don't let your heart be troubled. Why? I'm living in the word. Amen. When we read in 1 John and it says, if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us, and we know if he hears us, we have the petitions that we've desired of him. What does that mean? If you pray and you know God heard you when you pray, that's the same as an answer. Why? Because he heard me. If he heard me, he said he would give me what I ask for. Now I'm living in the word. And so it's not, it's not when somebody says, How's this going? you know, and you say, I've been praying about it, and then I'll hear people say, I've heard people in my own church say, I've been praying and I hadn't got an answer yet. That's not the Bible. That's not living in the Word. If I prayed and I told God what I needed, He said, I would receive what I needed. So telling God what I need is the same as receiving an answer. Because He said I would receive it. Now then, see, I'm living in the Word. And while this sounds simple, if we're not careful, we get to the place where we're in the Word, but we're looking for the manifestation. We're quoting the Word, but we're waiting to see if the Word worked. The Word, say it out loud. The Word always works. Every time. Now see that now I'm living in the Word. And so you're responding in the Word. Why do you walk in love? You're living in the Word. Why do you refuse to be offended? You're living in the Word. Why do you forgive? Because you're living in the Word. Why do you know God will supply all of your need? Because you're living in the Word. Amen. See, the enemy will come and he'll say things. He told Jesus specifically to turn the stone into bread because Jesus was hungry. Matthew is kind enough to tell us that Jesus was hungry. Well, you know, if you hadn't eaten for 40 days and nights, you'd probably be hungry too. Amen. Some of us is we don't eat for 30 minutes. We get hungry. Amen. But anyway, here's the point. So he appealed to Jesus to get over in the natural to fix whatever he was facing. If you're facing a challenge financially, the devil will come and run you ragged with your answers more hours. You need a second job. You need to work all the hours they'll give you. You need three jobs. Well, I might need to get a second job for a while. I may need to work more hours, but that's not the answer. Living in the word is the answer. I'm right. He said in the book of Isaiah, he said, wisdom and knowledge would be the stability of your days. And the Bible said that those two words, wisdom and knowledge, are words that are used throughout the scripture for the word of God. So we do no damage to the scripture when we say the word of God is the stability of my days. But I've got to be living in the Word of God. Amen. Hallelujah. Somebody told me, Sunday, somebody told me said, You know, you're kind of loud, and I wanted to say, well, man, if it got running up on the inside of you like it gets running up on the inside of me, you might get loud too. Stability of my days, living in the Word of God. Hallelujah. The Weech translation says, It has been written and is at present on record. Not upon the basis of bread shall the individual live, but on the basis of every word proceeding out of God's mouth. I like this, it has been written and is presently on record. But Greek states, it has been written and still stands written. So Jesus is answering the enemy and he's saying, wait a minute, it's been written and it's still written. This is how man lives. Why? Because every word of God is an eternal word. It works the same way every time, it works in the same manner every time, because the word cannot change, because God cannot change. God cannot change, so the word spoken by God cannot change. That's why the word, we we know the word cannot lie, because God cannot lie. Not will not, cannot. And so when He says, when we're living in the Word, we're living in something that's the same as it was whenever it fell from the mouths of the mouth of the Father God. Oh, hallelujah. In every situation under consideration, our response is, what does the word say? What does the word say? That's what you revert back to. What does the word because that's where we're living. We're not trying to figure this out on our own. I'll talk to people and I'll say, Well, how's it going? Well, I'm just trying to figure this out. Boy, you're gonna have a hard time. You gotta live in the sphere of the word. I'm gonna make this statement further on in the message. The written word of God is the complete revealed will of God. That's all we have about the complete revealed will of God. Everything in the word is God's will revealed to me. Now, there are things that God will reveal to me outside what I can specifically find in the Word. For instance, if you're believing for a house, there are plenty of house scriptures in here that you'll have houses, a house full of all pleasant and precious riches, that God will give you houses and lands and all these different things, and you'll have beautiful draperies and fine furnishings in your house. But you can't find an address to your house in here. But I can find where it's God's will that I have one. And as I pray in the Holy Spirit with that scripture, God can reveal His will to me, His will to me concerning where to go look and which one to go after. But this word is the complete revealed will of God in written form. Hallelujah. And so what I have to do is understand that in any situation, my response is what does the word say? But the doctor said this, but what does the word say? Right? Well, the finances are looking this way, but what does the word say? Have you given? I have. Then how they're looking is irrelevant. It's what does the word say? Because we're living in the word. Yeah, but it's tight right now, but what does the word say? See, this is what we we keep going back to. I was talking to uh a person one time, and they kept saying, Well, this is what I think, and this is what I think. And I kept saying, Well, what does the word say, though? Show me that in the word. And finally they got mad at me and said, Oh, you, the word, the word, the word. Well, see, they wanted to give their opinion as the answer instead of the word of God. What does the word say? Because that's where I'm living. I'm living by the word. Tell your neighbor, we live by what the word says. Look at Hebrews 11:3. I'm glad you came to church tonight. Wednesday night, boy, there's just something about it. I'll agree with that. Pastor Larry said it's powerful. Hebrews 11 3. It says, Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. Now, this is very simple, but understand, I've been studying this verse for 30 years. And I keep getting revelation from it. So he says, the things that are seen were not made of things which do appear, but what were they made of? The Word. They were made of the Word. We understand that by faith. By faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God. So that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. When you're speaking the word, you can't see the word going into operation, but yet it's going into operation. Right? Because what did he say? He said, No word of mine is void of power. Amen. He said, This is how my word will be. It will not return to me void, but it will accomplish the thing that I sent it to do. He said, and here's why I'm watching over my word to perform it. So what you were speaking, you were speaking the word this morning, this afternoon, your confession, your declaration. It started working, it's been working, but it started working then, and it's continuing to work, and God's watching over it to see it come to pass. And that's why you're living by the word. Because the only person that will stop the word and can stop the word from working in your life is you. Amen. The moment a person says, Well, I don't understand why it's not working, full stop. Everything stops. Why? Because you're the establishing witness and you just said the word's not working. And God said it works all the time. He says it never stops working. Hallelujah. While you're sleeping tonight, it's working. While you're working tomorrow, it's working. While you're doing whatever you're doing as you're eating dinner, the word's working. Amen. Your finances are increasing and improving right now. Why? The word's working. Amen. Why? Because you laid hands on that stack of bills and you told them cease to exist, dematerialize, be gone in Jesus' name. And then you're doing everything you know to do to help make it happen. And what's happening? One by one, they're going to be going away. Well, how's that going to happen? The word's working. The word's working. And you're living in the word. Well, what if I get an unexpected bill? Just add it to the pile and tell it to go away. Now you understand you can't do like one woman in the church did. She stuck her bills all up under the rug. Because you can have, you know, wherever the sole of your feet touch. But she was in charge of paying the bills. And she didn't tell her husband they were coming in. One day the lights cut off. He said, What happened? She said, Well, I thought the lights would stay on. She was commanding all the utilities and everything to stay on, but not paying the bill. Now you can't do that. Right? You gotta pay your bills. But here's the thing: when you're declaring the word of God, that's you living by the word. Man shall not live by bread alone. Man shall not live by his job alone. Man shall not live by the government alone. Man shall not live by whatever alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. And he said the worlds were framed by God's word. One translation says that they were equipped and fitted by God's word for the purpose for which they were intended. That's what God's Word did in the beginning of the universe. That's the effect of God's word on our lives today. Why? Because if that's what the word did then, it's what the word's doing today. In other words, he's using the word to get you into your purpose and to get you into the life that he intended for you to lead. You know, when somebody gets a hold of the word of God and God starts prospering them, you do realize that was the life God intended for you to live. A prosperous life. Right? Because isn't that what 3 John says? I wish above all things, the Lord told Charles Caps, He said, It is my greatest desire that people's lives prosper by speaking the Word of God. My greatest desire. And 3 John 2 says, uh, he wished, he prayed, he desired above all things that you prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers. So when a person starts prospering and walking and living in health through the word of God, that's God's will for them. And it always has been God's will for them. Amen. That's why you can't find any poverty scriptures in the Bible. Yea, my son, it's my will that you suffer and be in need so that you can learn a lesson and be humble. Right? But yet people will teach that. Now, I know we know that's wrong, and that's not Bible, but that's that that's teaching people not to live by the word. If I did nothing else but stand up here tonight and quote over and over and over and again, that you don't live by anything else but the word of God, we'd have been glad to be here. Because that will change your life. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. If that's what the word did then, it's still what the word does today. Amen. My life cannot go the way God intends for it to go if I'm not living in the Word. Every promise that people make to you must take a second place to the promise God. What did God promise you? People will let you down. God will never let you down. People will fail you. God's word will never fail you. Amen. The primary way God leads is through the word. That's the primary way God leads. That's why Jesus said we have to live by every word of God. The first leading, the primary leading is the word. What does the word say? Now then I have to be led by my spirit in the inner man. But the primary way is through the word of God. And most of the time, when the Holy Spirit's leading you through your inner man, he will lead you to a verse, to a passage, to a scripture that will solidify what God is leading you to do. Because the Holy Spirit will never lead you contrary to the Word. A word from God will never lead you contrary to the Word of God. That's why you've got to live in the Word. If people lived in the Word, then when they got something that was not Wased, they would know it. Oh, hallelujah. Right? You know, if you've ever ate real Cajun gumbo or etuffe, and you go somewhere else, you know, like up north, and they say, authentic Cajun gumbo. Nope. Just not. It's just not. Might be all right, but it's just not. Just something's not on. Something's not something's off. That's what happens when you're living by the word. You get accustomed to the pure word. Amen. That's why if you've ever been like in a word church and maybe you moved or you got moved to another state, another city, you couldn't just go to any church. Because you've already been exposed to the real word of God. Amen. And you had to find somewhere that would teach you the same thing. Not just the same denominational thing, but the same word. Hallelujah. Living in the word means the word is in charge. The word is in charge. So we're always going back to what does the word say to us. And here's something else. There's a lot. I've got a lot to say tonight. Anything the word says to you, you can do. Anything the word says, you can do. Well, I don't know if I can get through this. The Bible says you can do all things, so you can't. Hallelujah. It means we're putting the word first place. The words are stability. The word is how we are kept. Right? The Bible says the word keeps us. John 17, 17 says, sanctify them, keep them, consecrate them, set them apart by your word. And so when I'm living in the word, I'm set apart. I'm set apart from these other things. Because the Bible says the word of God is a shield to those that trust in it. Amen. Says it's a light to our feet and a lamp unto our path. And so I'm never in darkness because I have the word of God. I'm never unprotected because I have the word of God. Hebrews says the word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword. Amen. Two-mouth sword is what that says in the Greek. Why is it a two-mouth sword? Because it cuts one way when God spoke it, and it cuts the other way when you speak it. Amen. Just like it changed your life, it changes your circumstances. The Bible says you were born again by the word of God. And so when you heard the word of God, the word of God came into your life. And what did it do? It divided asunder between the soul and the spirit. And you were created brand new in the image of God. Amen. And so when you begin to speak the word of God, it begins to separate those things out of your life that are not in alignment with the word of God. And it begins to bring the reality of the word into your life. When you see somebody that's a word person living a good life, a blessed life, a prosperous life, that is the result of the word of God working in their life. You can call it the blessing, you can call it whatever you want. It's the result of the word of God. Oh, hallelujah. Look at Psalm 119 and verse 1. Am I helping you this evening? I'm helping me. I've already preached this to myself three times. Hallelujah. It's so good. I heard Mark Hankins say one time, he said, Boy, that's so good. I went blind. He said, My tongue wrapped around my eye, teeth, and I went blind for a minute. Hallelujah. Glory. Psalm 119, verse 1. Blessed are the undefiled in the way who walk in the law. Notice, in the law of the Lord. The word of God is the whole of God's revealed will. It's the law of the Lord. It's his will. You cannot know the will of God without the word of God. When a person reads the verse we read tonight, Philippians 4.19, but my God shall supply all of your need according to his riches and glory. I have found the will of God. It is God's will that he supply all of my need. Now that's where I start. And it makes no difference what the situation or the circumstance looks like. I've told the stories over and over and over and over again, but I'll keep telling them as long as you come to this church, you'll hear them. Right? Because that that's that's the only thing I know is what God did for me. I'm like the blind man. They said, was he a prophet that healed you? He said, I don't know. Was he a prophet or not? He said, but here's what I do know. I used to be blind and now I see. I used to be broke and I'm not. I used to be sick and I'm not. I used to be in whatever shape, but now I'm not. We were, I was assistant pastor at a church, and man, we were having a move of God. People were getting healed. I don't know how many cases of cancer got healed, uh, epilepsy, allergies. It was just full-on move of God. And every service we we had people at the altar and we're praying with people. And one night on the way home, my wife said, Honey, she said, from now on, would you please, when you're praying with people at the altar, squat. And I said, Okay. Why? She said, because you got holes in the bottom of your shoes and we can see them. That's where we started. I had one suit that my wife bought at Salvation Army for $1.75. One suit. It was cool back in the 70s. It had lapels way out to here. It was it was shark skin gray and it was shiny. It was shiny and it had bell bottoms. Now this was in the early 90s. Right? I looked like cool in the gang, so going somewhere to happen, man. I walked into church, a bad bam, bam, bam, bam. It's just how it was. Have a celebration. Amen. But you know, we had we had everybody has started somewhere. You know, maybe maybe you had everything you needed financially, maybe you were sick. Maybe you you had everything you need health-wise, like we did, but you didn't have any money. Amen. But I got in the word of God and I begin to see this is God's revealed will. This is his will. This is not. When we read something in the word of God, people will say, that's a promise in the word of God. But it's not a promise the way we think. In God's mind, it is his will for me. It's already settled. The promise means that God already is holding it in reserve for me. He promised it so I could claim it. Not promised it and then he'll do it. He promised it so I can go up and claim what he promised was already mine. So when somebody says, and we say that, we say it by faith, I'm the healed of the Lord despite how they feel. Listen, that's not them trying to get something. That's them walking up to the cat to the register and saying, I'm here to receive what's already been paid for. Oh, hallelujah. And then what happens? Faith then reaches out and receives in the spirit realm and pulls into the scene natural realm what's already yours. And you how do you receive it? By faith. Faith is the transaction point. Amen. Faith is a transaction point. I was at the suit store a couple days ago, and and well, I say a couple days ago, some time ago, a few days ago, and uh bought a couple suits, and when I got up there, I had to make a transaction. I wanted the suits, I had to make a transaction. So they needed some form of commerce. Right? Card, check, cash, something, bitcoin, something. Right? But here's the thing. What what was the transaction point? When I gave them my card, they swiped the card. Why why did I have them swipe the card? I wanted the suits. Could I I couldn't walk out of the store till I completed the transaction. Faith is the transaction point. How does faith come? By hearing the word of God. So what are we saying? Faith that something is yours comes by hearing the word of God on that subject. And so when you hear Philippians 4.19, My God shall supply all your need. Faith comes that that's yours. That all your needs supplied is yours. Now what happens? Then you know that belongs to you. What has happened at that moment? Faith has come. What happened then? You completed the transaction. Yeah, but I don't see all my needs met. See, but that's irrelevant. You're not living by what you see, you're living by the word. And so the word says your needs are met. Right? And he said, we base our life, 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 7, we live by faith. Not by something seen, one translation says. Oh, hallelujah. And so when I begin to see in the Word of God, this is God's will for me. I didn't have to work something up, I didn't have to try to make it work. It started working. Why? Because faith comes from the Word of God. And the Bible says in Hebrews 4, the Word of God is living and active. And so as you're declaring the Word of God, the Word of God is going to work. And it's producing and providing an environment in your life that is exactly what the Word of God said to you. And so now your home goes from a sick home to a well home. And your home goes from a broke home to a blessed home. Amen. And that job that you had no favor on, now you've got favor with everybody and their dog. Why? Because God is at work because you're living by the word. Amen. When I saw in the Word of God, for instance, when I saw in the Word of God that God favored Daniel, right? Now I quote favor over me all the time. Every day of the world, I declare this. Father, I thank you that your open hand of favor is extended towards us today. I thank you that we do not get the land or the city in our possession with the might of our own hand or the strength of our arm, but because you had favor to us. Right? It's God's favor. But when I saw that God blessed Daniel and favored him, even in places he shouldn't have been favored, it did something to me where my child's concern. It clicked something in me. Every day of the world I lay hands on Liliana and I say, Father, I thank you that Liliana Lynn Steele is set on high above all nations of the earth because she is the seed of a tither. I thank you that she has great favor with the administration of her school and her classmates. I thank you that she has all knowledge of all subjects of study. She is quick and sharp and fast and a major blessing. Every disease, every germ, every virus that touches her, her schoolmates, or her school must die instantly in the name of Jesus, for she is kept by the power of God. Amen. I'm not saying that for any other reason. That's living in the word. This child should have favor at school. She shouldn't have to go through all that bantering and mean girls and shouldn't have to go through all that. Should have favor with her classmates and her schoolmates and the administration of her school. Gonna live by the word. Am I helping you? Hallelujah. To live in the will of God is to live in the word. Because, see, you can't violate the word and be successful. I can't violate the word of God and be successful. I was talking to somebody last night, I got a text uh uh uh from the Kansas location, and a person, one of the ministers in our church, had been asked to do something, and I said, uh, you know, they were telling me what it was, and I said, ask them, did they need help and did they need some, you know, notes or whatever. And uh, and they said yes, and they were gonna do it, and then this morning I got a text from them, and they said, I just I don't want to do this. I just, it's for no other reason than I just I I don't have peace about it. Well, immediately I text them, I said, follow your peace, don't go. Yeah, but it's it, you know, now they didn't say this, but other people say, Yeah, but what are the people gonna think? Who cares? You can't violate the will of God. Listen, it's just simple. You it's like this you cannot not work and expect to be blessed. Because the Bible says you don't work, you don't eat. Hallelujah. So you can't violate the will of God and expect to be blessed in any area. So if you violate your peace, you're not gonna have success. Because the word of God tells us to follow peace. Follow peace. Amen. Look at Hebrews 1. Glory to God. I don't know that we'll get through all this tonight. If we don't, I'll be back. Amen. I'm not going anywhere. Hebrews chapter 1, verse 3, it says, who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person, upholding all things by the word of his power. Now notice it doesn't say the power of his word, it says the word of his power. When himself had purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. One translation says, the word of his power is sustaining, guiding, and propelling all things by the word of his power. So the word of God is where the power to sustain, guide, and move my life in the right direction is found. Is in the word of God. When the Lord wanted to show me his plan for our lives, he took me to the word. 1996, I was sitting in our apartment in Grand View, Missouri, and uh uh seeking the Lord, praying about some things. And he said, Turn to Hebrews 11.3. And I went to Hebrews 11.3, and we we read it tonight. It says, Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God. Things that are seen did not come from things that do appear. And he says, This is the vision and the and the course for your life is to build people's faith and frame their world by the word of God. Took me to the word to show me his plan. This is what I want you to do. When the Lord told Pastor Calwell uh about uh starting the church, he took him over to John 13 and gave him John 13, 34, and 35. By this all men will know that you're my disciples, that you have agape one for another. Agape church. 1972. He was in a Bible study. They were studying E. W. Kenyon's uh uh uh God's Plan for Man and reading, studying that Bible study, and they studied about the agape love of God. And before he ever knew he was a pastor, he said God told him that was the name of the church was agape. Before he ever knew he was a pastor. So the plan of God was bared out and found out by the word of God. Always do yourself a favor. Don't go to anybody else to find out what God wants you to do with your life. Go to God and find out what he wants you to do with your life, and he'll take you to the word. Don't do things just because it sounds good. I knew a young man one time, he didn't know what else to do, so he's just gonna go back to school, which is for a whole bunch of nothing. Well, who told you to I could I could ask who told you to go back to school? Did God tell you to go back to school? Well, no, I can't say that. Then why are you going? Why are you doing that? Why are you wasting your time? My family, listen. Every person in this room, many of us have more years behind us than we do ahead of us. You have no time to waste about anything. Nothing. Think about that. You know, if you're in here and you're 60, you'll be 70 before you know it. And if you're 70, you'll be 80 before you know it. And if you're 80, you'll be 90 before you know it. And if you're 90, you're gonna be in heaven sooner than you think. Right? Because we don't have time to just play games and guess and roll the dice and see how many moves we get to make. We've got to be on that. I told a minister today, I said, if people were aware of how short their lifespan really is, they would be declaring the word more than they've ever been declaring it because there's so much to get done, so much that God wants to do in our lives, so much that God wants to bless us with. You don't have time for these little tristes, and I'm gonna go do this, and I'm gonna see about this, and I'm gonna what does God want you to do? Where does God want you doing it? What does God want you involved with? That's what you've got to be doing. And I find that from the plan of God. It's that way about anything. I see people just floating from church to church and bouncing over here and bouncing over there, and you know, I would come to your church, but this one's closer. What in the world does closeness have to do with anything if that's where God told me to be? Amen. We got people in this church that drive from Stuttgart, we got people that drive from Whitehall, we got people that drive from around Conway, Benton, we got people that drive from Little Rock, people that drive from Momel. We got them coming from all over the place. I've never heard anybody that said, God told me to be here, talk about how long the drive was. This is where God told me to be. This is important. Every moment that I spend outside the will of God, I'm wasting time. And I can never get it back. The hour that we're here tonight, maybe a little over, but we're trying to be here an hour. The hour that we're here tonight, you'll never get it back. Now, I'm not saying this for any other reason. Understand. Why are you here tonight spending this hour? Why did you drive ever how far you drove? Because you want what God has for you. You want to hear what God has to say to you in the place. That you say God told you to be a part of. There are multiplied hundreds of thousands of people that did nothing with the plan of God tonight. They did nothing with what God wanted them to do. They sat in the recliner and flipped channels and wasted their time. And then they want to know what God wants them to do, but God's got to sift through all the news and the sports and the four movies they watch, and he's got to try to get through all of that sewage to get his plan into their life. When I can just go to the Word of God and say, I don't want anything else but your plan. That's all I want. What's your will for me? And he'll show me. Oh, hallelujah. Now look at 2 Peter 1. I've got to get this to you. This is important. You know, we've all heard the people say, you know, I've heard, I've heard ministers say, and I've heard, and I'm a minister, and I have, listen, I have sat by the deathbed of people in my church. I've been there to help them transition over into glory. I remember one lady that came to the church, Lillian Bassett, Lillian and her husband Randall, they came from the time we started the church, and they were old when we started the church. And they got older, right? And and and uh uh Randall was was was getting you know up in age and and not as mobile as he was, and Lillian, of course, got ready to go home. And I was up there with the family, and and I was standing there by her bed, and and you know you can kind of tell when you when you when you've been there, you know, several times, when somebody's fighting, going home. Well, she was fighting, going home because of her family. And I and I could see she was kind of agitated. And I remember I just bent down and I just I whispered in her ear and I said, Lillian, go on home if you want to go home. Nobody is, it's okay. God is my witness. Two minutes later, she was home. Not because of me, just somebody said she heard the right words. Here's my point. All of those dear saints that I've sat by their bed, I've never heard one of them say, I wish I would have made more money. I wish I would have had a bigger office. I wish I would have had a bigger car or a bigger house. I've sat beside the bedside of people and I've heard them say, I wish I would have done more for God. I wish I would have been more committed to things. Not in a bad way. That was just their heart. But I've never heard one of them say, I didn't have a big enough TV. Because that's not what matters. You and I, right now, ever what age we are at, we're looking at eternity. That's the next stop for us. And all what matters now is if I am I living in the Word? Am I living in the Word? Amen. I had a guy look at me one time, he said, I bet you're hard to live with. And I said, Why? He said, Because all you care about is what God asks you to do. What else am I supposed to care about? What else am I supposed to care about? If I care about what God wants me to do, I'm gonna be the better husband, the better father, the better friend, the better person, because I care about what God wants me to do. My life became far more rounded and far more balanced when I became interested in what God wanted me to do. Oh, hallelujah. 2 Peter chapter 1, verse 17. I'm gonna hurry. For he received from God, talking about Jesus 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'm well pleased. This is the Mount of Transfiguration. Peter, James, and John are on the mountain with Jesus, and they all three hear the audible voice of God. This is not, they heard it in their spirit, they heard this voice. The audible voice of God. It so impacted Peter, he said, Here's what we need to do. Let's build three tabernacles. One for the Father, one for Elijah, one for you. Right? And this voice that came from heaven, we heard when we were with him in the Holy Mount. What was it like to be able to remember that? My goodness. But then he said, We have also a more sure word of prophecy. Wherefore you do well to take heed to what that sure word of prophecy, as unto a light that shines in a dark place till the day dawn, the day star arise in your heart, knowing that no prophecy of the scriptures of any private interpretation, for the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. He's talking about the written word of God. And he says, as overwhelming as that personal experience was, he said there's something more sure, the written word of God. So Peter says something that's more sure than the audible voice of the Father is the written word. Wow. I heard a minister preaching the other day, and here's what they said. And I'm not critical, you understand that. But I'm a pastor, and when I hear people say things on TV, I don't know, you might watch them. And if you watched them and you heard it, I'm about to tell you how wrong it was. But they made a statement. They were talking about the devil had been fighting their mind about certain things, health and their body, and these different things. And they said, you know, I was quoting the scriptures and believing and all these different things. And then they made this statement, and they said, and then a prophecy that I received came to me. I thought, okay, now where are they going with this? And then they made this statement. They said, now when I got that prophecy, I got something more than the word. You got too much. They didn't need that prophecy. They just needed the word. If you listen, for instance, if you're sick in your body and you're declaring over your body with his stripes, I am healed. You don't need me to come up and prophesy to you and say, yay, yay, yay, you're healed. The word already told you you were healed. Now, if God wants to confirm something through a prophecy, that's great. I mean, I understand that. But I don't need that. I don't need more than the word. Peter says here, I heard the audible voice of God. Here he says, though, here's what you pay attention to. Here's what you take heed to, the written word. Why? Because you may not ever hear the audible voice of God. And so you got to pay attention to the written word. And he said, pay attention to it, take heed to it like a light in a dark place. Oh, hallelujah. You know, especially if you live in the city, you really don't know dark. I used to live in Perryville. And when the lights would go out in Perryville, I mean, I lived that my address was Perryville, but I was out in the country. And dark. You turned the lights off in the house, it was like, where y'all at? It didn't matter how white you were or how brown you were, white or black, if you didn't smile, nobody saw you. Amen. That's just where you at, honey? Over here. Look, look. Hallelujah. He said, pay attention to it like a light in a dark place. Amen. Now let me finish here. Live in the word and live in the light. The written word of God is not a person's opinion, it was spoken by the Holy Spirit.

unknown 52:14

Dr.

SPEAKER_01 52:14

T.L. Lowry made this statement. I was in a leadership meeting that he was doing some number of years ago. A friend of mine pastored a church in Tampa, Florida. And I flew down there to be a part of the service. I actually flew down there to sow a seed, and Dr. Lowry was conducting a leadership meeting before service, and I was asked to come. And he taught on the Holy Spirit and leadership. And he made a statement. He said, God directed the Holy Spirit to direct men to write the word to correct error. And so the Holy Spirit spoke the word. That's how we know the word is absolutely error-free. Because the Holy Spirit spoke the word. That's how we know it's God's plan, God's will for your life. Psalm 138.2, our last verse, it says this. He says, You've exalted your word above all your name. You've exalted your word above all your name. You've magnified your word above all your name. What does that mean? God is saying, My word is so reliable that it exceeds all other manifestations of myself. It's so reliable. It's more reliable than the audible voice of God. It's more reliable than a prophecy. It's more reliable than a word of wisdom and a word of knowledge. We need all of those things. We need the gifts of the Spirit. You understand that they were flowing heavily Sunday morning in this congregation. But here's what I want you to say. To see, if I come to church and I never get a word, I've got the word. I've got the written word of God that I can base my life on. Oh, hallelujah. And that's why we have to live in the word of God. Amen. That's part of the reason why we got to live in the word of God. Isn't the Lord good? Father, we thank you tonight for the Word of God. We thank you for the manifestation of your presence in our midst. We thank you, Father, for the blessings of the Lord that are so abundant in our lives. And Father, we thank you for the peace of God that passes all understanding in our lives. We thank you that it manifests itself in our lives and our hearts tonight. Father, I just plead the blood over your people. I plead the blood over their families. I plead the blood over their marriages. I plead the blood over their finances. Father, I plead the blood over their jobs. I declare that, Father, no matter what occurs in their lives and in the world, that everything they do prospers. And so, Father, I thank you for that. I thank you for keeping them on their way home tonight. I thank you that in their pathway is life and there is no debt, no death. I thank you that in their life there is abundance and no lack, for their God does supply all of their need according to his riches and glory. And I thank you, Father, that your word is the guiding force of our lives in the name of Jesus. Amen. And amen. Well, let's stand up tonight, shall we?