What We Believe and Why We Believe It, Part 3

Welcome to the Word of the Lord, the weekly television

broadcast of Living Word Christian Church, proclaiming

the good news of the gospel of the Lord Jesus

Christ. Pastor Mark Clements, in -depth, relevant

biblical teachings will help you in life and

living in today's world. Now, let's join Pastor

Clements in the service already in progress.

And we're taking up, we're not making very fast

progress. But that's all right, isn't it? Yeah.

Thorough as opposed to speedy. We've been talking

since the first of the year, and the Lord prompted

me, spoke to me, directed me to teach on what

we believe and why we believe it. What we believe

and why we believe it. If it's something that

I believe, if it's something that I embrace,

if it's something that I cling to, if it's something

that I am established on, if it's something that

I'm trusting in, I better know it's true. I better

know it's true. See, we just had a verse up here.

And by the way, welcome to all of you who are

streaming. Seem to have a little dry cough this

morning, but I know many of you are struggling

physically with some things, with some symptoms.

I've been in prayer for you this morning and

will be yet again this afternoon and this evening.

And we're lifting you up. I trust you've already

benefited from this service. great time worshiping

our God and then receiving those elements of

communion. And I want to encourage you, as I

encourage all, to receive those elements for

yourself. It wasn't just His body and His blood

that was shed for the entire body of Christ.

It was shed for me. His body was broken for me.

And really examine yourself. Now sometimes, sometimes

we hear those words Before you receive communion,

examine yourself. And we think about sin. Well,

certainly that can be one application. Examine

your attitude. Examine your words. Examine your

activities and conduct and acts and works. And

yet 2 Corinthians 13 verse 5 says examine yourself

2 Corinthians 13:5

whether you be in faith. Examine yourself whether

you be in faith. And I do that. I'll take...

Communion is more than just a quarter of a cracker

and not even one little sip of juice. It's am

I in faith? Am I receiving these elements? Appropriating

the blessings of God's covenant made available

through his son. Examine yourself. Are you in

faith? We've been taking up what I believe and

why I believe it. There's got to be a why behind

what I believe. I've told you many times, I'm

not ashamed of it. I'm not happy about it. I'd

be a lot farther ahead, I believe, if I wouldn't

have been raised that way. But I was raised,

and good morning again, those of you streaming

with us. Glad you're here. I was raised to believe

that God changes his mind. You just never know

what God's going to do. He might get up on the

right side of the bed. He might get up on the

wrong side of the bed. Then I read my Bible and

said, he don't go to bed. Neither sleeps or slumbers.

I was raised to believe that sometimes God will

answer one way and the next time He asks for

the same thing under the same circumstances,

He answers a different way. Then I read my Bible.

It says there's not even a shadow of turning

in God. That He's the same yesterday, today,

and forever. Hebrews 13 .8 Malachi 3 .6 I am

the Lord. I change not. I was told he changed.

He changed from one part of the Bible to another

part of the Bible. That somehow he changed. And

he changed from being an ogre and mean and ornery

and nasty and judgmental. And then now he's a

pushover. He didn't get away with anything. The

God of the Bible has never changed and he never

will. this little bit of history of human beings

on a planet that he created. You know, I saw

one of the most ridiculous things yesterday I've

seen in a long time. Someone trying to explain

to me why the Earth was tilted on its axis. And

it was in a little article about astronomy. And

you can go out and look at the moon. And if you've

ever wondered where the moon came from, and then

it said, here's what we believe happened. It

made my head hurt just reading it. That the moon

was actually a screaming comet through the sky

and it smashed into Earth so hard that it tilted

it onto its axis 23 and a half degrees and then

bounced off and hung there in space and has never

moved since. Where's the flat spot? You run your

head into a wall, let alone a planet hard enough

to cause it to 23. And why did it stop at 23

and a half? And why isn't it still doing this?

Take a beach ball out in the pool and just hit

it with your finger and it's just going. And

it's tilted at 23 and a half degrees because

that's the absolute perfect angle to cause there

to be seasons on the planet Earth as it revolves

around the sun. And the earth is hung there on

purpose to be read in the book of Genesis. How

about this? How about take that whole article

and just white out the whole thing and said,

God said. And it was so. God created the heavens

and the earth. And one day he said there'll be

a great light for the day and a lesser light

for the night. And I mean, that thing tracks

28 days and it's never varied for the history

of the world. It's never changed. You can set

your calendar by it. They do. I've got a fishing

calendar. It'll tell me what day the full moon

is on, what day the half moon is on, what day

the darker the moon is going to be on for the

next 25 years. For the next 250 years. It's not

going to change. Now one day it's going to change

because this heaven and earth as we know it will

be replaced by a new heavens and a new earth

wherein dwelleth righteousness which will be

filled with the glory of God. Amen. Why do we

believe that? Because we've seen it? Because

so -and -so predicted it? Because we think that's

the most plausible explanation? No, we say it

because it's in the Bible. When this church,

when we as a church, as an assembly of God's

people, Answer the question, why do you believe

what you believe? The answer is debated by some,

disagreed with by many, but it's absolute and

it's simple to us because the Bible tells me

so. Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible

tells me so. Now, for years, I didn't believe

that there was a benefit to believers called

the baptism with the Holy Spirit. I didn't believe

it because I'd never heard of it. Never heard

about it. When I started asking people in our

church where we were attending, when I started

asking them about it, they said, well, that's

not for us today. I said, well, then who's it

for? Well, that was just for the early church.

Well, who's the early church? And then finally,

they just said, you ask too many questions. I

couldn't get anybody to talk to me. And I would

read my Bible and I'd read things. I couldn't

find anything about the early church or when

the last apostle died. I couldn't find any of

that. All I found was on the day of Pentecost,

Jesus, Jesus told, Jesus, remember Jesus? Yeah,

Jesus told him, don't leave Jerusalem until you

are endued with power from on high. John truly

baptized you with water, but you'll be baptized

with the Holy Ghost not many days from now. And

seven days later, they were up there in the upper

room, just praising God, singing, worshiping,

having a great time. You just thought there was

spirit filled already. And there came a sound

from heaven as a rushing mighty wind filled all

the house where they were assembled. And every

one of them were filled with the Holy Spirit

and spoke with other tongues as the Spirit gave

them utterance. And then he never went back.

He never went back. He's still here. Yeah, he's

still here. And then right in that same chapter

when Peter was preaching and he preached in verse

38 and 39 of that particular verse, because then

I'd go to my church and I'd say to some leadership

in that church, well, here's what the Bible says

happened on the day of Pentecost. They said,

yeah, but that's not for us. Well, first thing

they said was, well, that's not what he was talking

about. That's not what Jesus was talking about.

Well, I looked at what Peter read in that chapter

and it said, this is that. This is that which

was spoken by the prophet Joel. So you say that

this wasn't that, but Peter said this is that.

This is that that Joel prophesied and that Jesus

said was going to come. This is that right here.

Well, yeah, but it's not for us. And then I just

kept reading in the chapter. And in Acts chapter

Acts 2:38

2, verse 38 and verse 39, then this is what I

read. Peter said to them, repent, be baptized

every one of you in the name of Jesus for the

remission of sins, and you shall receive the

gift of the Holy Ghost. For this promise is for

you. That's what it says. I mean, the devil lied

to me. I had misinformed people. I don't think

they were lying to me. I don't think they were.

purposely trying to steer me away from one of

the greatest benefits that will come into the

life of any believer and every believer. I don't

think they were doing that on purpose. They were

victims of false doctrine, just like I was at

that particular point. It says this promise is

for you and your children and all that are far

off. That'd be us. Many is the Lord our God shall

call. Why do we believe that Jesus hung on a

cross and died? Because the Bible says he did.

And people, they can't wrap their puny imagination,

little brain around it. And so they say, well,

he didn't really die. Well, you say he didn't,

but the Bible says he did. He died. He was buried.

He was there for three days and nights. He descended

into the lower parts of the earth and into the

abyss. He suffered there just like Jonah did

in the whale's belly. And then he was raised

from the dead. And then he ascended up on high.

And on and on and on, all through the Bible.

Well, that's the basis of our faith. The basis

of what we believe is not what we feel. It's

not what we see. It's not what some other person

said. It's not, now we're going to wrap this

up and finish this up today. It's not some spectacular

or supernatural experience that I or someone

else has had. It's because it's in the pages.

Of Scripture. God is eternal with no beginning

and no end. Why do we believe that? Nothing else

in life is like that, Pastor. Everything has

a beginning. Everything is end. Why would we

believe that? Because the Bible says it. Because

the Bible, the Word of God, the inerrant, eternal,

inspired in its entirety, Bible says so. And

so we took that whole first week. And we just

gave you scripture after verse, after reference

from the Bible about the Bible itself. That John

17, 17 says, it is truth. That 2 Timothy 3, 16

and 17 says, it's inspired in its entirety. That

Hebrews chapter 4, verse 12 says, it's alive

Hebrews 4:12

and powerful. That 1 Thessalonians 2, 13 says,

it's not the words of a mere man. But as it is

in truth, the word of God, and it produces results

in the lives of those who believe it. Matthew

24, 35, we gave you that heaven and earth will

pass away, but my word will never pass away.

Psalm 119, verse 89, forever, O Lord, your word

Psalms 119:89

is settled in heaven. 1 Peter 1, 23 -25, it says

this is the word of God that you're born again

by. And in those verses, it says the grass withers

and the flower fades, but the word of God endures

forever. The Word of God endures forever. In

Jeremiah 1 .12, we see that God watches over

His Word to perform it. In Isaiah 46 .11, He

said, I said it, I'll do it. I promised it, I'll

perform it. In Isaiah 55 .11, He said, My Word

shall not return to me void or without accomplishing.

It will accomplish what I send it to do and prosper

in what I send it to. Mark 16 .20, He watches

over His Word to perform it. I love these verses,

Psalm 19 and verse, matter of fact, long as we're

here in Psalm 19, we don't have to just read

the eighth verse, we'll read verse seven too.

Psalm 19 and verse seven, the word of God is

perfect. Well now. See, the instruction. I just

looked that up as I was meditating these verses

again last night and looked that up. And some

say the commandments. Some say the instructions

of the Lord. Some say the statutes of the Lord.

The word of the Lord. The law of the Lord is...

Come on, help me. The law of the Lord is... Remember

that in just a minute when we get to 1 Corinthians

13. Please remember that. The word of God is...

Perfect. Converting the soul, the testimonies

of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.

Verse 8, the statutes of the Lord are right.

I love the simplicity of my Bible. God is right.

Yeah, right. Rejoicing the heart, the commandment

of the Lord is pure. enlightening the eyes. And

we're not going to go through, I'm not going

to go through that entire section that we did.

We preached that. You can go on our website and

you can glean from and benefit from that. We

took up a section on what the benefit of God's

word is to your and my life, that we're born

again by it. That it's life to us who find it.

That it's health to all of our flesh. That he

sent his word and healed us. That it's the word,

the bread of life that we live by. That it renews

our mind. That it saves our soul. That it's the

sword of the spirit. The only offensive part

of our armor. That faith comes by hearing. That

we're sanctified by his word. That Psalm 119

Psalms 119:165

verse 165 says, Great peace have they which love

thy law. And verse 130 says, There's light and

there's understanding. We talked about other

verses that promise blessing. Blessing. Blessing.

And then we ended in 2 Peter, and I want you

to turn there, 2 Peter chapter 1. 2 Peter chapter

2 Peter 1 · chapter mention 2 Peter 1 · chapter mention

1. The Bible never gets old. 2 Peter chapter

2 Peter 1 · chapter mention

1. And we talked about the virgin birth, the

Red Sea parting, Jonah being three days and nights

in the dark, smelly belly of the very big fish.

Heaven and the existence of heaven and the makeup

of heaven and the inhabitants of heaven and hell

and the existence of hell and the makeup of hell

and the inhabitants of hell. We talked about

Noah's Ark, Saul meeting Jesus on the road to

Damascus, David slaying Goliath, the manna coming

out of heaven, water coming out of a rock, three

Hebrew boys walking through a fire, the bones

of Elijah, Jesus died, Jesus... Was buried. Jesus

on the third day rose again. Jesus ascended into

heaven. And Jesus will return. And why do we

believe those things? Because the Bible teaches

them. Because the Bible reveals them. Because

the Bible tells me so. That's why. Now here,

maybe, possibly, the most powerful statements

in regard to God's Word that we have recorded

for us. But they are recorded for us. These are

for our admonition. These are for our enlightenment.

These are to help us through life. And it says

that verse 14, the Lord showed Peter that he

was going to have to put off that body. And he

said in verse 15, after I endeavor that after

I'm deceased, you'll have these things in your

remembrance. And so what Peter was saying there

is what a good number of quality. faithful servants

of God have said since that time. And that is,

I hope after I'm gone, you don't remember my

voice. You don't remember my suit jackets. You

don't remember the car I drove. You don't remember

the jokes I told. You don't remember how handsome

I was. Yeah, thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Clements.

No, no, after my decease, I want you to remember

the things I told you from God's word. Because

that's the thing that's going to change you.

That's the thing that's going to help you. That's

the thing that's going to develop you. That's

the thing that's going to strengthen you when

you feel weak. That's the thing that's going

to buoy up your trust in the God who you can't

see, can't touch, can't taste, can't hear, can't

feel. And you can know Him not by the sunrise,

not by the sunset. You can know Him by the Word

of God. So after my decease, I want you to have

these things in remembrance. Verse 16, for we

have not followed cunningly devised fables, cleverly

designed myths and stories. It says in the margin

of my Bible. Now we tell stories and use them

as examples, but that's not what we believe.

We believe chapter and verse. We believe God's

word. We've not followed cunningly devised stories

when we made known to you the power and coming

of the Lord Jesus Christ, but we're eyewitnesses

of his majesty. So he says right there, I saw

him. And he's going to start referencing here

Matthew chapter 17. What's the date? The 19th.

Matthew 17 · chapter mention

So two days ago, Friday the 17th. chapter of

Matthew was our Bible reading for that particular

day. If you're following that Bible reading plan

that most of us are here in this church congregation.

But he says, we were there and I was an eyewitness

of his majesty. That means he saw him with his

actual naked eye. And he did. He went up there

with James and John and Jesus was transfigured

before them and became glistening white in the

glory of God all around them. Even seeing into

the realm of spirits and saw Elijah and Moses.

Even commented about it. And then a voice came

right out of heaven. This is my beloved son.

And he's going to reference both of those right

here. He's going to say we were eyewitnesses

of his majesty. Verse 16, verse 17. He received

from God the Father honor. and glory, when there

came a voice to Him from the exalted, from the

excellent glory, this is my beloved Son, in whom

I'm well pleased. And this voice which came from

heaven, we heard. And so Peter's saying right

here, we saw the Lord Jesus in all of His resurrected

glory, and we heard the voice of God the Father

from heaven itself. when we were with him on

the holy mount and then he says this in verse

19 20 and 21 we have also a more sure word now

i'm not a greek scholar i've got a number of

of greek study helps and i'm not sure how to

pronounce this word but it's spelled b -e -b

-a -i -o -t -e -r -a -s i don't know how to pronounce

that beatrice or something like that But here's

what it means. It means certain, stable, immutable,

dependable, and reliable. And he says we have

a more certain, a more stable, a more immutable,

a more dependable, and a more reliable word of

prophecy. And you would do well if you would

take heed. And that means fix your eyes and your

gaze upon it. You'd do well if you would fix

your eyes and gaze upon this word as a light

shining in a dark place until the day comes and

the day star rises in your hearts, knowing this

verse, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of

any private interpretation. It's not by any single

man's idea. For this prophecy came not in old

time by the will of man. But holy men of God

spoke as they were moved, as they were motivated,

as they were impelled by the Holy Spirit. We

go back to Timothy and it says, all Scripture

is given by inspiration of God. See, the Holy

Spirit inspired them and they wrote in accordance

with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The

Scriptures are inspired. Now there's a word along

in those verses. And it's contained in all three

of those verses, and that's prophecy. Again,

verse 19, we have a more sure word of prophecy.

See, what does that mean, we have a more sure

word of prophecy? A more certain, more stable,

more reliable, more dependable, more immutable

word than even if you heard the voice of God

Himself. See, when you make God's Word... Your

firm foundation. When you make God's Word the

foundation of everything you believe, when you

make the Word of God the solid rock and solid

ground on which you stand and you judge everything

else by the Word of God, you're sure, you're

certain, you're reliable, you're dependable,

you're immutable. And it says you'd do well if

you take heed to that. But again, this word prophecy,

It shows up there. It says we have a more sure

word of prophecy than even if we would see with

our eyes and hear with our ears. Because see,

you can be deceived by what you see with your

eyes. You can be deceived by what you hear with

your ears. You can be deceived, sure enough,

by what you don't hear with your ears, but you

think you hear. But you can't be deceived with

God's Word. It's stable, it's reliable, it's

dependable, it's never changing, it's eternal,

it's everlasting. God watches over it to perform

it. It'll never pass away. It's inerrant, completely,

totally. But the Bible tells us some things about

prophecy. And he says here, he says in verse

20, knowing this first that no prophecy of the

scripture. Now he defines it. And what the prophets

spoke. And for us, what the apostles recorded.

That's scripture. That's Scripture. And this

prophecy, the Scripture, did not come by the

will of man. It came only by the will of God.

Holy men of God wrote as they were moved by the

Holy Spirit. Now, we took up this term, prophecy,

and we looked up 1 Corinthians chapter 14. Does

1 Corinthians 14 · chapter mention

the Bible speak about prophecy? Absolutely, unequivocally,

yes. Is prophecy one of the nine gifts of the

Spirit? Found in 1 Corinthians 12, verses 8 -10.

1 Corinthians 12:8–10

Well, let's read it and see. We'll see tongues,

interpretation, prophecy. We'll see the gift

of special faith, working of miracles, gifts

of healings. We'll see the word of wisdom and

the word of knowledge and the discerning of spirits.

We'll see those nine gifts. 1 Corinthians 12,

8 -10. You count them with me. For to one is

given by the Spirit the word of wisdom. Anybody

over here can count? How many? Word of wisdom.

Word of knowledge. By the same Spirit. To another,

faith. By the same Spirit. To another, gifts

of healings. By the same Spirit. To another,

the working of miracles. To another, prophecy.

To another, discerning of spirits. To another,

various kinds of tongues. To another, the interpretation

of those tongues. So we saw prophecy. Prophecy

is one of the nine gifts of the Spirit. All right,

we look over to chapter 14, and we have some

things spoken about, just a few, just the, actually,

the verbal gifts, the gifts that are spoken.

And that would be a tongue, an interpretation

of the tongue, or a prophecy. In verse 2 says,

he that speaks in an unknown tongue speaks, what

does it say? Not unto men. Does not speak to

men. No man understands Him in the Spirit. He

speaks mysteries. But see, I heard people for

the first 20 years of my life say, well, you

know, when a person speaks with tongues, there's

got to be somebody there that understands that

language. See, I learned it's interpretation,

not translation. And the Bible, in the previous

chapter, calls it the tongues or languages of

angels. Not the tongues of men. It says if I

speak in the tongues of men and of angels. So

it says here about other tongues, it says they

don't speak to men. They do not speak to men.

But unto who? For no man understands him. That

would include myself. No man understands him

in the spirit. He speaks mysteries. But he that

prophesies speaks to men. And then it gives three

qualifications for a prophecy to be what we would

say of God. When we judge it. Not judge him or

her. It. And we'll cover that here in just a

second. So it says he that prophesies speaks

to who? To men. You don't prophesy to God. God

doesn't need to be edified. God does not need

to be exhorted, and he does not need to be comforted.

He's the source of all comfort. 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1. He's the source of all comfort. Verse

3 and 4. And so he that prophesies speaks to

men, and it has to fit in one of these categories.

To edify, that's to build up. To exhort, that's

to stir up. Or to comfort, that's to bring peace

and hope and help and calmness. So that's what

prophecy, defined by the Bible, does. Now there's

a lot in here. We covered some of that before.

So let's just get down a little bit further in

the chapter here. He's going to talk about a

church service. So verse 26, when you come together.

When you come together. And he puts some guidelines

here. He puts some boundaries down. And he says

in verse 27, if anyone speaks in an unknown tongue,

first he says in verse 26, every one of you has

a psalm, a doctrine, a tongue, a revelation,

an interpretation. Let everything be done to

build others up. Edify. If any man speaks in

an unknown tongue, let it be two or at most three

and let one interpret. If there's no interpreter,

let him keep silent and speak only to himself

and God. Verse 29, let the prophet speak two

or three and let the other do what? Now this

is a huge component of prophecy. And it doesn't

only include prophecy. It should include anything

outside of God's word. Because it has to be judged

by God's word. There's something that judges

every prophecy. I've had people get mad at me,

Reverend Kimberly. You know, want to prophesy

to the church and then don't want the prophecy

to be judged. Well, I'd rather have you mad at

me than I would Jehovah. He said the other will

judge. You judge that prophecy. And as I said

on Wednesday night, some of you, you just haven't

been around much. And that's okay. There's nothing

wrong with that. It's okay just to stay chaste

to the Lord. It's okay just to stay in a good

firm. founded solid church. And it's good to

just stick with your Bible. But no, no, no. I've

had people come to address me for 40 straight

years. In my 41st year now. Pastor, I got a prophecy.

All right, where did you go, first of all? Where

did you go? Who did you call? Whose meeting did

you attend? See, you may not have it now. Please

don't try it. This is not an endorsement, okay?

But for a long time, you could call 1 -800 -PROFIT.

You could enter your credit card. I'm not making

this up. You render your credit card every day,

multiple times a day, many times you want to

pay for it, and you could get your daily prophecy.

You just call me. I'd only charge you $3 .99.

I'd tell you, get out of bed. See, I missed the

meeting, but I watched the recording of it afterward,

and I watched the so -called prophet stand right

up and call people out and prophesy money out

of their pocket into his hand. Let's all stand

to our feet, and anyone who has at least... $10

,000, you remain standing. Everybody else sit

down and then walk around and prophesy to those

people and prophesy money out of them. You know

what? I don't care what that person does. I'm

not that person's judge. I'm not in that congregation.

I'm not part of that church. It's not my job

to get up and correct that. It's my job to protect

you. And when they get up and they prophesy direction

to you, Listen, you don't swallow that hook,

line, and sinker. I'm looking around to see if

I see any baby robins here today. Because you

know, a baby robin, you know what they'll do?

They'll just look up and open their mouth, and

you can stick anything down them you want. You

see a robin's nest, you just walk over there

and shake the branch. They think that's mama

coming with a worm. Big old fat juicy night car.

And they just tip their head back. You can stick

anything in there. Stick, bug. Piece of gum?

I've never done any of that. Christian people

shouldn't be like that. Shouldn't be so gullible.

See? See? The Bible says judge it. The Bible

says judge it. Pastor, pastor, no, no, I'll just

take you, because I was used to be wrong. I said

you met in kindergarten. I won't ask how old

you are today, but how old's your boys? 17 and

14. So we know you're at least in your 20s. See,

I used to say they met in kindergarten. And then

they corrected me one day and said, no, we met

in daycare. We met in daycare. I've watched young

people. I've watched him. We'll just use you

as an example. You met in daycare. I mean, you

went to school together, lived in the same town

together, at some point went to the same church

together, and just grew closer and closer and

closer, and then they both went off to college.

I noticed that he came here to this city to college.

She went somewhere else all the way across the

state on a scholarship. That lasted nine months.

Then she was inspired to move. I think Kent had

a word for her. Thus saith the Lord. No, you

laugh about that and smile about that, but I've

seen that happen. Walk into a church and say,

you two married? Well, the Lord says, you're

wrong for each other. You've been together since

you were in daycare. You're engaged. You're going

to get married this Saturday. Now, you better

judge that. Could be right. You better judge

that and make sure you're not stepping into something

that would be very detrimental for you. But you've

already submitted it to your pastor. You've already

submitted to both your parents. You've already

been on your face and fasted before our God.

You both love Jesus, you're born again, you're

Spirit -filled, you meet all the qualifications,

and you're going to let somebody that you've

never met before and you don't know, you see

on a TV program and point his finger and say,

there's somebody in this audience out on TV tonight

that's going to, and you're going to put the

brakes on and change your whole life because

somebody said something? I had one person come

up to me, I think, I don't, I... To me, just

me personally, it's easier for me to discern

when I'm out of God's will than when I'm in it.

Because when I'm in the Lord's will, He leaves

me alone. When I get out of His will, He wakes

me up in the middle of the night. I mean that.

I have no peace. I mean, it's scratching on the

inside of me. Finally, I'll just stop. I'll stop,

walk in, shut the door and say, let's have it

out. What? What? Where am I wrong? You shouldn't

be doing this. You shouldn't be involved in this.

We pulled the plug on a number of things that

me personally, yours truly, thought would be

a great idea and we should move forward. And

sometimes I had a lot of influence and a lot

of help making those decisions. But the head

of the church didn't think it was right. We're

going to submit everything to the Lord. Everything.

And it doesn't matter who the prophet is and

what the prophecy is. Your Bible's pattern is,

and let another judge. Not the prophet who speaks

it. Let another judge. Not the person who receives

it. Let another judge. Here's a great verse.

We had you look at 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 18

1 Thessalonians 5:18

a few minutes ago. Isn't that a great, powerful

section of Scripture? Just say yes. It is, because

they all are. But look at verse 16 through 18.

Verse 16 through 18. Now that's 18. 16 through

18. Rejoice forevermore. Rejoice evermore. Next

verse. Pray when you get a little extra time.

Pray when it's convenient. No, pray without ceasing.

And the next verse? In everything give thanks.

Let's go back prior to that. Let's look at verse

15. Look at verse 15. I mean, this is all just

great, great portions of Scripture. See that

none render evil for evil to any man, but ever

follow after that which is good. See, don't pay

back. Go back one more verse. 14. Now we exhort

your brethren, warn them that are unruly. Here's

one you might have to exercise more than you

think. Comfort the feeble -minded. Support the

weak, be patient toward all men. Go back one

more, verse 13. Then we're going to go in the

other direction. Esteem them very highly in love.

That's connected to verse 12. This is such a

great portion of Scripture to be able to apply.

But now let's read 19, 20, and 21. 1 Thessalonians

5, 19. Do not quench the Spirit. Judging prophecy

is not quenching the Spirit. It's being a doer

of the Word. That's what the Bible tells you

to do. Despise not prophesying. So we're not

supposed to go so far as to just say, ah, that

was that person. That was what they thought.

That was out of their own mind. That was just

their thoughts on the matter. No, we don't despise

prophesying. To judge prophecy is not quenching

the spirit, and to judge prophecy is not despising

it. It's doing what the Bible says to do. Judge

prophecy. It doesn't say judge the prophets.

It says judge prophecy. Now, just leave that

verse right there for me, because it says do

not despise prophesying. What is the very next

phrase in the Bible? Judge all things. hold fast

to that which is good so he talks about prophecy

and he says don't despise prophecy and then he

says prove all things all things say it all things

so he says don't quench the move of the holy

spirit don't quench that don't just say oh there's

so much flakiness there is there is I remember

somebody, some person who was attending this

church at that time, he called me up when he

was so excited. He got on Christian TV and he

found out they were having a revival somewhere.

We're going to have a revival. You ought to be

in revival. He said, oh, no, the supernatural

is breaking out. I mean, things are happening.

Things are floating. Things are flying through

the air. I mean, deaf ears are opening and blind

eyes are opening and the dead are being raised.

And I stopped him and I said, hold up, hold up,

hold up. I'm going to tell you what else is happening.

People are running from near and far. People

are traveling from the four corners of the nation

and from other nations all to get there for the

show. Because that's what Christian people do.

They don't go there to be edified, which is what

the Bible says the ministry gifts are supposed

to do. The Bible says in Ephesians 4 .11, he

gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastor

teachers to edify and to equip and to build up.

They don't go there for that. They go for the

show. I promised him I would. And so I got on

there. The quote -unquote minister, I don't know

where you find this in the Bible. He had a gallon

of olive oil, the anointing oil. Had a gallon

of it. And he was drinking it. And he was staggering

around, drunk in the Spirit from drinking the

anointing oil. And then he gave it to the first

row. And they were all drinking the anointing

oil and falling out in the Spirit. And I'm a

pastor of a small church, local church, small

at that time, and I have to stand up and tell

a fledgling congregation of 18 or 20 or 25 people

that there's no God in that. Well, you just don't

understand, pastor. You're quenching the spirit.

No, there is no spirit in that. You'll just have

to find me somewhere in the Bible where there's

anything remotely close to drinking the anointing

oil. And it's going to make you drunk in the

Spirit. Where's that found in the Scripture?

See, what are you doing there? You're judging

that particular... that particular activity,

which is being portrayed to God's people so that

now somebody wants to come to the church that

you pastor down here on 7th and Cass or 6th and

Cass, and the church that you've pastored, well,

you've pastored 17 of them, you know, the one

up in Antigo, and they come to your church and

they want to do the same thing in your church

because they saw it there and you're quenching

the spirit if you don't. and say, okay, well,

at least we'll try it. No, we won't try it. We'll

judge that according to the Bible and say it's

flaky. Well, Pastor, don't you just think, here's

what I think. Just stand back and watch and see

what happens to it. That whole thing crashed

and burned, and a whole bunch of them went to

jail. Human beings like the spectacular. See,

what's happening right here is spiritual. And

I am the first one to say, Lord Jesus, let me

just go back here in the instrument pit here

and just crawl on the floor and put my head under

a chair and get out of your way. And if you want

to knock people over, if you want to stand them

back up, if you want to float them around, if

you want to open blind eyes and deaf ears, if

you want to raise the dead, if you want, you

just do absolutely, if you want the appearance

of angels, if you want us to see the bow in the

clouds as in the day of rain that's around the

throne of God, say the word. But with the Lord

Jesus Christ himself. It would have to meet the

Word of God. Because there have been too many

people, Christian people, and they heard a voice.

And they said, well, the Lord spoke to me. Well,

you don't know that unless it agrees with the

Word. Because 1 John 5 tells you that the Word

and the Spirit are in agreement. And the Holy

Spirit wrote everything in that Word. And so

when it says, do not quench the Spirit, Don't

despise prophesying. Prove all things. And what's

the rest of that verse say? Prove all things.

Hold fast to that which is good. See? Prove all

things by give me a copy of this Bible, and if

I don't know it well enough, I'll go to an elder,

I'll go to another minister, I'll go to our pastor,

I'll read it until I find it. But I'm going to

prove it out through here. And that means all

things. That means my dreams. That means my visions.

That means my... See, see, I... Do whatever you

want. I mean, I... If you haven't read Numbers

16 lately, just go ahead and read Numbers chapter

Numbers 13 · chapter mention

13, 14, and chapter 16. You read about a couple

people, one named Miriam and another named Korah,

who was joined with Dathan and Abiram. Don't

look for them. You can't find them. The earth

opened up underneath them and swallowed them.

And this person came. And they were part of our

music team. Came and said, Pastor, I've got a

few questions that you need to answer. I said,

well, if you have questions, I'll be happy to

help you. No, no, no. I mean, these are about

you. Because the Holy Spirit told me during a

time of fasting and prayer that I could come

and I could demand answers of you and I could

question you. No, that's what you want to do.

You want to do, and you're looking for a real

good reason or excuse, and you're going to tell

me because, Pastor, Romans chapter 8 says, they

Romans 8 · chapter mention

that are led by the Spirit of God. And so the

Spirit of God is leading me. I said, okay, give

me some scripture. Just give me some verses.

Because he inspired all of them. There ought

to be a whole chapter full of them somewhere.

But you can't find one to support what you want

to do, so you tag on the Spirit told me. Well,

guess what my Bible says? My Bible says I have

to prove that. I have to judge that. And I have

to prove that it's going to be good. That it

is good. That it's good. God's word is good.

And so I have this pastor friend. He was up there

fairly close to you. Up there. Wish he would

have been closer to you. And he told me, when

the prophet comes to our church and prophesies,

that's the same as God's word. That's identical

to the word of God because it's God speaking

through the ministry gift. I completely disagree

with him. No, why do I disagree? And this is

what he said, and it cannot be judged. And that

prophet said it. He showed me the video of it,

the DVD at that time, and he showed it to me.

Now I'm going to speak by inspiration of the

Spirit of God, so therefore it can't be judged.

For one thing, I'm done. I'm done at that part

because the Bible says it has to be judged. Let

the prophets speak. I'm still open to 1 Corinthians.

I hope this is helping you. 1 Corinthians 14.

I'm not despising prophecy. Prophecy in its form.

We had two this morning, and they both fit into

Bible definition that says it has to edify, exhort,

or comfort, or two of the three, or all three.

But it has to fit into that. It doesn't correct

and it doesn't direct. It doesn't rebuke. It

doesn't even reveal. It edifies, exhorts, and

comforts. Now again, as I said last week, there

are gifts of the Spirit, word of knowledge, and

word of wisdom that do reveal present or past,

or in the case of word of wisdom, reveal the

future. How do I know if that's God? Hide and

watch. That's what the Old Testament said. Wait

and see. And if it comes to pass, then they're

truly a prophet. If it doesn't come to pass,

they're a false prophet and they need to be stoned.

That's Old Testament. That's not for us. Relax.

Somebody bring a suitcase full of bricks in here

next week. Now, verse 29 says, let the prophet

speak two or three and let the other judge. Then

it goes on to say, if anything is revealed to

another, let the first hold his peace. All may

prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and

all be comforted. The spirits of the prophets

are subject to the prophets. And then we look

at 1 Corinthians chapter 13, and this is where

1 Corinthians 13 · chapter mention

it really gets clear for me, because it says,

it gives all of the... The definition of love.

Love doesn't behave itself unseemly, verse 5.

It isn't puffed up, verse 4. Doesn't rejoice

in iniquity, verse 6. Hopes and bears and endures

and believes all things. And then verse 8, charity

never fails. Now here's where, again, it gets

really clear for me when a person says, well,

if it's a prophecy, it's the same as God's Word.

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. If it's identical

to God's Word, then let's settle this right now.

Psalm chapter 19 and verse 7. What does Psalm

Psalms 19 · chapter mention Psalms 19:7

19 verse 7 say? God's Word is perfect. Needs

nothing added to it. Needs nothing taken away.

Does not need to be judged. Does not need to

be proven in all things. God's Word is perfect.

Come on, I'm waiting to hear it. God's word is

perfect. So it says here in 1 Corinthians 13,

for we know in part and we prophesy in part.

Verse 9. Verse 10. But when that which is perfect

is come, then that which is in part shall be

done away with. It's like, I want to hammer the

bench and say I rest my case. But it's not my

case. I want to help you. I want to help you

be a firmly founded, established, settled, and

stable. Established, settled, and stable believer.

Established, settled, and stable believer. The

Lord, He's God. He is God. And he can do whatever

he wants, wherever he wants, however he wants.

If he wants the wind to start blowing in a circle

in this sanctuary and that flag to stand out

straight like it's in a 55 mile an hour wind,

he can do that. But we're not going to manufacture

things to get people to feel goose bumps and

their hair stand up. We're not going to drop

gold dust around. We're not going to drop feathers

around and say it was God when the cameras...

You may not have even a clue what we're talking

about, but there have been ministers who've been

caught dropping gold dust and then telling everybody,

God is raining gold out of heaven right here

in our very midst. And they were up there picking

it up and scooping it up, and it wasn't gold

dust at all. And the one woman, bless her heart,

Lord, she's your servant, she's not mine. I'm

not going to name her. Having everybody close

your eyes and pray and dropping feathers, dropping

white feathers across the platform. And then,

okay, let's all open our eyes and I'm going to

quit. Oh my, oh my, oh my, look at the Holy Ghost,

like a dove, has been flying around up here during

the, oh man. And then the person that they had

recording it all on their own equipment. Took

it home and watched it and saw the whole thing

and revealed it and got crucified by the church

for being so unloving and unkind and for judging

and criticizing. He didn't do anything of the

sort. He made the tape available. I got one.

Thousands and thousands and thousands of mostly

ladies at that particular meeting. It was a ladies'

meeting. And all of them hoodwinked. Every one

of them hoodwinked. Every one of them deceived.

I don't have to deceive you. Our leadership team

doesn't have to deceive you. Any of the ministers

or ministries that we partner with or are here,

you don't have to be deceived to stir you up

and get you thinking that something's happened

when something isn't. I mean, who's got that

little light switch? Start flickering the lights

right now and turn them down and turn them up

and we'll just go, oh, oh, oh, look. Say, if

the Lord wants to do that, we can shut all the

power off to this building and he'll still light

it. Or we can turn everything as high as we can

and he'll still make it dark. He's God and he

doesn't need our permission to do anything. He'll

do what he wants, when he wants, how he wants,

however often he wants and where he wants. He

doesn't need our permission to part the ocean.

Doesn't need our permission to jump down in the

fire and walk around with three boys. Doesn't

need our permission to cause a sun to stand still

in the sky. Doesn't need our permission to cause

water out of a rock for 40 years that they can

carry along with them. How he sustained all those

people's clothes for 40 years out there in the

desert? I don't know. Defies explanation. Doesn't

need my explanation. He's God. He's God. But

nor does He need us to manufacture things that

did not come from and originate with Him. And

that would include dreams, all things, prove

all things, dreams, visions, supernatural appearances,

the Lord told me, a prophecy by somebody else.

Just go to your Bible. Just know your Bible intimately

enough. And if you don't, have enough trust in

church leadership and be able to go and just

say, how's this line up with God's word? How's

this line up with God's word? See, one of the

most frequent, I'm done, but I'm gliding in right

now. I shut my motors off. I'm just gliding in

right now for the landing. One of the most frequent

experiences during my lifetime has been, see,

it's really hard to manufacture when you're blind.

And now you can see. It's really hard to manufacture

when a person is D -E -A -D, dead right there,

D -E -R -T. And the Lord raises them up, especially

when they stink. It's hard to manufacture that.

But for all the people that have sold all the

books and made movies and done circuits around

churches because they went to heaven? And for

quite a while, there was one young man, and when

he was eight years old, reportedly, God took

him to heaven. I mean, you couldn't get on his

schedule for a year and a half. Everybody wanted

to hear about it. Back when I was eight, I was

watching Doogie Howser, M .D. And that's where

I had my first problem. Because everybody that

the Lord Jesus appears to in my Bible, It's when

they're on their face. It's when they're on their

bellies in front of God. It's they want to crawl

away from Him and get out of there. It's Isaiah

and it's Ezekiel. On their face before God. It's

Peter, James, and John when Jesus appears and

they fall right down on their face. It's John

on the Isle of Patmos who's in the Spirit on

the Lord's day. And the Lord Jesus appears and

the sound of many waters is His voice. And His

hair white like wool. And His eyes as flame of

fire. And His feet shine like brass in a furnace.

And His name is written on His thigh called the

Word of God. And it's like Saul of Tarsus. Unbeliever.

He's on his way to Damascus and brighter than

the noonday sun, the Lord of heaven appears to

him and says, why are you persecuting me? And

I'm supposed to believe you're watching Doogie

Howser on TV on a Thursday night and Jesus walks

through the wall and sits down on the couch next

to you and says, hey, can I have some of that

popcorn? And laughs with me and then takes me

up to heaven and we splash around in the river

of life together. I'm supposed to, I'm just.

Really? And people gobble it up. Year and a half

wait. And this is when he was in his late teens.

Year and a half to hear his story. I got a better

story for you to hear. Turn to the last two chapters

of any gospel in our Bible and read the one about

the Lord Jesus Christ becoming sin for you on

a cross. and descending into hell, and being

raised up into heaven, and promising to come

back again. That'll help you. That'll help you.

That'll build you up. That'll discipline. That'll

disciple you. Take your own Bible and read, the

just shall live by faith. And this is the victory

that overcomes the world, even our faith. And

that faith comes by hearing. See? See? I get

persecuted every single time I minister this

way. It won't be any different this time. And

it's gotten to the point at some time, sometimes,

well, you know, just nothing happens in our church.

We want to go somewhere where there's something

supernatural happening. So you want to go watch

a show. And it's okay. Chase them if you want.

I'm not your God. I'm not your Lord. I'm not

prophesying telling you not to go. I'm just going

to tell you this. Who's your Savior? A couple

of you know. Who's your Savior? Who's your Redeemer?

Who's your Lord? He said. Your Lord, your Savior,

your Redeemer. He said, an evil and adulterous

generation seek after a sign. That's right. Amen.

That's what he said. Amen. That's what he said.

See, signs, according to our Bible, signs follow

the word. Signs are not followed by God's people.

Signs follow the word. The word goes forth, God

confirms his word. What's he confirm it with,

Pastor? A renewed mind. That's what it says will

happen. A renewed mind. Peace. Peace. Strength.

Strength. Provision and divine protection. Healing

and health and restoration and wholeness. How

about this one? Joy. Unspeakable and full of

glory. Yeah, they came to Jesus and they said,

show us a sign. We want to see a sign. We want

you to do something. Come on. Make a bird out

of the mud and throw it up in the air and let

it fly away. Do something. And we want to see

a sign. We hear about all this other stuff, but

show us a sign. He looked right at him and said,

an evil and adulterous generation seeks after

a sign. Shouldn't live our life seeking after

signs. And supernatural occurrence. When they

happen, so be it. Let them happen. Listen, the

greatest spiritual, supernatural event. and or

occurrence that you will ever experience, see,

hear about, experience personally yourself, is

not a dream, not a vision, not being jerked out

of your socks and taken up into heaven and brought

back. The greatest is you're being born again.

You're being born again. Ephesians chapter 1

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

is the exertion of God's mighty power which He

wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the

dead. And that same power was exerted in you

when you were translated out of the kingdom of

darkness and into the kingdom of God's dear Son.

It'll never get any better. Oh, pastor, pastor,

do you like? Yes, I do like, but that's not my

assignment today. I like the presence of God.

I like to feel his presence. I like to be in

worship and praise like we were this morning

and just feel God come in. I just like being

sore and stiff and sick this morning and nauseous

this morning and couldn't even hardly stand up

knowing that when we get into church, we're going

to worship our God and I'm going to hop and jump

and dance before the king of glory. and the power

of God is going to manifest right here in that

place. I love feeling the presence of God. I

love it when He comes right into my bedroom.

I love it when He wakes me up in the middle of

the night and speaks just as clearly a conversation

as we're speaking right now. But I have to make

sure that every experience, not just what some

other person prophesies and says, thus saith

the Lord, you're going to become the next president.

Oh yeah, we know that young man. Don't laugh

too hard. We know that young man that they prophesied

that to him. He's going to be the next president

of the United States. I don't think they have

a bad heart. I'm not judging their heart. I'm

not judging their motivation. I'm not judging

them at all. I'm judging me. I better know because

I know because I know. And if I'm going to say

something that's going to Just get them off track

for all the rest of their days. I've had so many

times with the Lord and just have enjoyed all

of them. I enjoy the Lord's presence. I enjoy

Him just arresting me. I enjoy the Lord surprising

me. I enjoy the Lord confirming His Word with

signs following. I enjoy miracles unexplainable

by any other explanation. I love to watch the

Lord order people's steps. They don't even realize

it, don't know where it went, and they go, wait

a minute. Wow, God's involved here. The God of

heaven. Look at this. I enjoy having testimony

after testimony after testimony after testimony

after testimony of people's prayers being answered.

But I personally, I had to come to a place real,

real, real early on, not even in pastoring, before

that. I mean, there were just so many things

that, you know, were questionable and in the

long run hurt people's lives, didn't help them.

And I had to take my Bible. I had to take my

Bible. I had to take my Bible and all by myself,

not because I ever wanted to tell it to anybody.

I've never told anybody this. I would stand and

I would embrace my Bible. And I'd say, Lord,

you're God. You're God. And I would never tell

you how to do anything or what I thought you

should be like. But Lord, if I never have another

supernatural experience, If I never have a dream

or a vision, I'm here because of a vision. When

the Lord himself audibly said, I've called you

and I've anointed you to be a pastor in my body,

a shepherd over a flock of my sheep, go forth

and from this day forward, you will never again

doubt that call. I'll tell you today, just like

I would have told you, On that day in August

in 1985, the 23rd day of August, Thursday night,

I would have told you that the Lord of Heaven

spoke clearly, audibly, and just embedded it

into me. And I say it today. And I didn't ever

memorize it. It's just branded on the inside

of me, for lack of a better term. It's just indelibly

just a part of me. But I had to say, if I never

hear another voice, never have a vision, never

have a dream, never have a supernatural appearance,

never have an angel. I had an angel walk right

into my bedroom one day. You know, everything

else could have disappeared, and I just see the

angel. I don't know why. I don't run everything.

But we had eight -foot ceilings in that house,

and he walked into the bedroom like this. And

his whole head and shoulders would have went

through the ceiling if he would have stood up.

I never left my knees. I just... You know, I

don't know why that would happen. I've had people

come and say, Pastor, I've never had anything

like that. I've never had a dream. I've never

had a vision. I've never had an angel appear

to me. I've never heard the voice of God. I just

try to do my best. and I try to be a good Christian,

and I come to church, and I read my Bible and

study it with you, and I just want to be a doer

of it and please God. Is there something wrong

with me? You know what I tell them? No, there's

probably something wrong with me. I'm not sure

why I needed that extra, but I guess I did. And

see, right at the end of... Actually, I know

that's not right, because the Bible talks about

a truly called minister has some supernatural...

and evidences as well. Everyone. But right at

the end of John, you remember this? Right at

the end of the 20th chapter of John, Thomas.

Thomas says, oh, you all saw the Lord? He appeared

to you? Well, I'm not going to believe until

I see, until I can feel it. The next Sunday morning,

they all came together. Thomas with them, the

Bible says. Can you imagine? You come just to

prove them all wrong, and Jesus appears. Just

walks right through the wall. And walks right

over, oh no, walks right past Bartholomew, walks

right past Nathaniel, walks right past Matthew,

Levi, walks right past Peter, John, walks right

over to you. Says Thomas, go ahead. Go ahead.

Put your finger in there. Put his finger right

in that hole. Go ahead. Thrust your hand right

up in that spear wound in my side. Go ahead.

And quit being faithless and start believing.

Thomas falls on his knees and says, my Lord and

my God. And Jesus says, Thomas, you believe because

you've seen. You believe because you saw me in

my resurrected form. You believe because you

got to touch my crucified body. That's why you

believe. More blessed are they which do not see

and yet believe. It doesn't take any faith when

there's sight involved. It takes faith to open

up this book. Look at the bare word of God and

say, this Bible says it. I believe it. That settles

it. I believe it. That settles it. We believe

what the Bible says. Believe what the Bible says.

And what we believe, we believe because the Bible

says. Are there things that happen that we can't

see exactly in detail in the Word of God? Absolutely,

yes. But the principle is always there, and it

does not cut crosswise with any principle of

the Bible. See, when somebody comes to me and

says, the Lord spoke to me this week, and I had

to lie about my age on this wedding license application.

And you didn't, did you? Okay, all right. Man,

wouldn't that be something if you got called

out in front of church? How long have you been

married? Three weeks. Two weeks. Three weeks.

Correct me. That's okay. Spent three weeks. People

have done that. Walk up and say, I had to lie

on a job application, but the Lord told me it

was okay. Really? See, God's not going to make

an exception for you. There's nowhere in His

Word, nowhere, where it says, but it's okay to

lie if it's just going to make it more convenient

for you. I've had church members walk up and

say, Pastor, I know what you're going to think.

Well, then just don't tell me. But the Lord told

us not to tithe this month. And that we should

take that money and we should spend it on our

children so they know how important and how precious

they are. Do what you want. I don't care. You

curse yourself. God is never going to speak anything

to you contrary to His written Word. Never. Because

the Spirit and the Word are in total agreement.

See, if you allow yourself to do that, You just

become wishy -washy and there's no firm foundation.

You're just going to slog through life, slosh

through life, have no certain, sure, immutable,

reliable, dependable foundation to judge everything

else by. But if you'll take God's Word and make

it the first place that you go for advisement,

for direction, for correction, for information,

for promises. for revelation, for illumination.

It's the first place you go, and then it's your

final authority. It's just the final authority.

Whenever there's a question, it's just the final

authority. Say it. I am. Who my Bible says I

am. I have. Stand to your feet. What my Bible

says I have. I can do. Everything my Bible says

I can do. And my Bible is God's Word. And it

is right. And it is perfect. And needs no correction.

And no addition. And nothing subtracted. Thank

God I have a Bible. It is God's Word. Amen. Thank

you for watching The Word of the Lord. A weekly

television broadcast of Living Word Christian

Church. Living Word Christian Church welcomes

you to join us at 2015 Ward Avenue in La Crosse,

Wisconsin. And Wednesday evenings at 7. For more

information on Living Word Christian Church,

visit us on the web at lwcclax .com.