What We Believe and Why We Believe It, Part 2

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.

Let's take our Bibles and let's look at a couple

of... a couple of openings in them from the Gospel

of Mark to start with. And then we're going to

take up that question. Please remember that we're

taking these first services in 2025, and we're

looking into our statement of faith. And our

statement of faith... At this particular time,

we're in the process of revising it, not changing

it, just reordering it. But there are 22 different,

and I believe we passed these out too. It's available

on our church website as well. 22 different items

that we believe. Now, this isn't everything that

we believe, but many of the... major doctrines

of the Bible that we stand by. For instance,

number eight, that salvation, eternal salvation,

salvation unto everlasting life, is by grace

through faith, not of works. And we give Bible

verses for that. primarily Ephesians 2, 8 and

9, amongst some others. Number nine in our statement

of faith is it is God's will that all be saved.

Now, you might be surprised that Protestant churches

that do not hold that as one of their beliefs,

that all should be saved. And yet we find in

our Bible, amongst other verses, we find 1 Timothy

2. Verse 4, it says that He wills that all would

be saved and come to the full knowledge of the

truth. Number 10 in our statement of faith is

without being born again, no one can enter the

kingdom of heaven. That's not a universally held

doctrine. But we hold it because it's in the

Bible. And it's in the Bible amongst other places

in John 3 and verse 3. John 3 and verse 3. Except

a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom

of God. So we're very safe in what we believe

as long as we can support it with God's Word.

We're on very shaky ground. As a matter of fact,

We're unable to support our beliefs if we can't

find them in the Bible. If we can't find them

in the Bible. Now, there are people who believe

God's favorite color is purple. But they can't

support that by the Bible. There are others that

believe his favorite colors are green and gold.

But they're from Wisconsin. You know, we start

talking about God's favorite food. and his favorite

make of automobile and his favorite. We don't

have verses. We don't have scripture. And the

only, not just for a church, but for you personally.

Now I've watched this. I've watched this. You

just turn to the middle while I'm speaking to

Ephesians chapter four. Back to Ephesians chapter

four. I've watched this my whole life. I've watched

the difference between stable and unstable Christian

people. Stable people who are consistent. Stable

people who are grounded and founded soundly.

It's always because God's Word, the Bible is

God's Word, and it does not change. And you want

to build your life. on something that's unshakable

and immovable, that does not change with the

wind, that doesn't change with society, it doesn't

change generation to generation. See, I watch

a lot of Christian people that are inconsistent

and unpredictable and unreliable, and they're

up one minute, they're not up one day and down

the next day, they're up one minute and down

the next minute, and then they're back up, and

then they're back down, and then they're down

farther, and then they're back up. And they're

back and forth and they're in and out and they're

out and in and they're forth and back and they're

down and up and they're up and down. And their

life shows no stability and no consistency. Because

they're not thoroughly, as it says of Abraham,

they're not fully persuaded about what God said.

They're not totally convinced. They bought into

the lie that it's just a book of men's writings.

people's opinions and stories and myths and fables.

And some of it's true and some of it's not. As

long as you have that kind of Christian biblical

view, you're going to be unstable. You're going

to be inconsistent. You're going to be down and

up and up and down and back and forth and forth

and back. And you're going to be in and out and

out and in. And you're going to be tossed to

and fro. The Bible says right here in Ephesians

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4, by every wind of doctrine. Because

you have no stability in your life. You make

the Bible, you make God's word, your firm, sure

foundation. You're going to be a person whose

beliefs never change. Now you may be enlightened

further and further into scripture, but you're

not going to have to deal with people telling

you things like I had to deal with growing up.

And that's things like, well, God didn't really

mean that for everybody. Well, how do I know

then that he meant it for me? Well, that's not

for us today. Well, when did today begin? It

was for you yesterday, but it's not for us today.

When did yesterday end and today begin? Or has

today begun yet? See, I just don't know. I'm

always grasping, and there's nothing certain.

There's nothing sure. I'm like a bobber that's

attached to nothing out in the middle of the

lake, just being thrown all over the place. And

one person comes and says it's God's will to

save everybody, and the next person comes and

says it's not God's will to save everybody. It's

only a few and another says it's for all. I never

am sure whether it's for me or not. I get someone

telling me that passed away when the last apostle

died. Well, what year was that? That was only

for the early church. When was the early church?

Paul and I were driving down through Texas. We

were in Dallas. I wanted to see Brother Hagin's

home birthplace because he was born in the south

bedroom of 403 North College Street in the city

of McKinney, Texas. And I've heard his... testimony

so many times i i never tried to memorize it

so we drove to mckinney texas and we found college

street north college street we found we found

403 and we found the south bedroom took a picture

of it thank the lord for his ministry and his

life and how it's been such a great help and

then on the way back to dallas we we we we come

up to this little church and i mean it was on

a sharp corner and i got to look at it like all

the way around the corner And I stopped the car.

Paula said, what are you doing? I said, give

me the camera. Give me the camera. See, that's

back when we had cameras. We didn't take pictures

with our phones. Give me the camera. Give me

the camera. And I took a picture of their church

sign. Because I wanted a record of their church

sign. Because I liked the name of their church.

You know what the name of their church was? The

early church. They get tired of everybody saying

that all those blessings were just for the early

church, so they just named theirs the early church.

That was only for the early church, so that's

what they named theirs. No, no, no. I read it

in my Bible one day. See, the arch enemy of ignorance

is knowledge. You just start reading your Bible

and just take it right now and just kind of hold

it up like this. It makes demons nervous. Just

grabbing your Bible. And then when you open it

up, they just have a, they faint. They just drop

out. And then when you start reading it and then

apply it and speaking it and doing it, they're

out of there. Make the devil nervous and just

take your Bible and shake it every now and again.

See, when you start reading your Bible, ignorance,

the spiritual ignorance is just going to, the

entrance of your word giveth light and bringeth

understanding to the simple. And when you read

your Bible, I started reading things in my Bible.

I'd go to Paul. We were just newly married, 20,

21 years old, 22 years old, 23 years old. Look

what I found in my Bible. Look what it says right

here. It says, I am the Lord. I never change.

Well, what do you think that means? Well, I think

it means he's the Lord and he never changes.

I'm just, I'm a simple folk. And I just believe

that what he said, what he meant, he meant what

he said. And he didn't heal just because the

church changed and that was the early church

and now it's full of doubters and unbelievers

and people that don't take him literally anymore

because you can't take the Bible literally. Who

said that? Who told you that? That that's not

for us today. You don't find one verse nowhere,

anywhere in the Bible does it say the promises

of God are not for us today. And see, if he was

the healer in the Old Testament and in Exodus

15, 26, he said, I am the Lord that healeth.

I'm the healer. I'm the healer. And then he added

you. So you can't, I'm the Lord that healeth.

I am the Lord that healeth me. Me. Me. 1 Peter

2 .24 says, He him own self, his own self, bore

our sins in his own body. That's ours, yours

and mine. He's got us together at that part of

the verse. That we being dead to sins should

live under righteousness. By whose, this is Jesus,

by whose stripes? Me. You were healed. Not all

of them, not everybody else, not the early church,

not till the last apostle died, not just in Exodus

Exodus 15 · chapter mention

chapter 15. You. You were. You were. You were.

I was, and therefore, I am. Yeah, I am. See,

the Bible is for me. When I quit believing the

lies and the demonically influenced doctrines,

that it might not be for you and you just never

know what God will do. And it's up for some people

and others. And He doesn't want everybody talking

in tongues. He doesn't want everybody baptized

in the Holy Spirit. Where did that come from?

It didn't come from this Bible. And so when I

just stopped believing what people said and just

believed what God's Word said, funny, funny.

Then it became God's will for me to be saved.

Then it became God's will for me to be baptized

in the Holy Ghost. Then it became God's will

for me to be strong. Then it became God's will

for me to be righteous. And then it became God's

will for me to be healed. And I'm healed. God's

Word has to be the foundation for your Christian

life. And it has to be the absolute foundation

of what you believe. And in the same spirit of

Abraham, you are fully persuaded that what God

has promised. And base it on what He said. What

He said. All right, did you find Mark chapter

Mark 4 · chapter mention

4? If you don't do that, well, we didn't read

Ephesians chapter 4 yet. All right. All right.

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

Verse 14, that we be henceforth no more children.

That means, you know, you start off as a child.

Remember 1 Peter 2 .2? As newborn babes. How

many of you remember when you were born again?

I don't mean the exact second, on the exact day,

on the exact day. But I mean, you can think back

and you can remember. I accepted Jesus. I was

born again. And you start off as a baby. No,

no, no. Tim, run up here real quick. Run. Jump.

Jump. Like dive up here. Okay, I see your mama

was sitting right one row behind you. Was he

this big when he came out? Relax, don't let your

mind wander. I mean, how tall are you now? Like

6 '19"? 6 '4", probably 200 pounds and solid

muscle. No, nobody's born again. Nobody's born

again fully developed. But that's God's will.

That's God's will for us that we desire the sincere

milk of the word that we may grow thereby. That

you may grow thereby. And no, you start off as

an infant. I mean, you weren't six foot three.

You were probably just like every other kid in

America. You were 19 and a half inches. You were

seven pounds and four ounces. You had a full

head of hair and everything else. We talk about

those kids. And he didn't come out like 19 pounds,

did he? No. OK. All right. You know, we start

as newborn babes. Every one of us born again.

When you're born, you're a child. And the three

stages of. Spiritual development are found in

1 John, and they are childhood, babies, infants,

children, and then young adults, and then fully

mature, fully developed adults. It has nothing

to do with your age in years. You find people

in their 20s and 30s that are highly developed,

mature Christians. And you find people in their

60s and 70s and 80s, and they're still neophytes.

They're still babies. You find people with very

developed certain areas of their Christian life,

like love or like peace or like generosity. And

yet in some of the other areas, they're still

really struggling and need further development.

You know, I'd look pretty strange if I had one

leg as a fully developed 65 -year -old man and

the other leg was like a seven -year -old child.

That'd look pretty odd. If the muscles on this

arm were a fully developed bodybuilder like I

am, and this arm over here was like a four -month

-old child, there'd be something wrong, wouldn't

there? See? He wants us to develop in all arenas

and all areas, spiritually, just like we do naturally,

just like... We do mentally and emotionally.

That we be no more children. He doesn't want

us to be children. Everybody starts there. But

that we be no more children. Notice it. Tossed

to and fro. Back and forth. Carried about by

every wind of doctrine. By the slight of men

and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait

to deceive. Ground yourself in the Word of God.

Familiarize yourself with the Word of God. Let

the Word of God be the final authority for what

you believe and why you believe it. Let the word

of God be the final authority. Let it be your

initial source where you go first to look and

let God's word be the final authority. Have the

final say. And you'll not be tossed to and fro

and back and forth and change your beliefs and

change your opinions and change your attitudes.

You'll just see it in the Bible and say that

settles it. Forever, oh Lord, your word is settled

in heaven. Psalm 119, verse 89. Forever, O Lord,

Psalms 119:89

your word is settled in Mark. Forever, O Lord,

your word is settled in the Clements household.

Forever, O Lord. And if one of the Clements members

comes up, me included, and says, well, let me

tell you what I believe about that. We're just

going to have a talk with him and just say, where

is it in here? Where is it in here? If it's of

spiritual consequence, and especially if it's

of eternal consequence, it's going to be in God's

Word. It's going to be in God's Word. Now, I'll

save the Mark chapter 4 for next week. Just for

Mark 4 · chapter mention

time's sake, I want to look with you at 1 Corinthians

14, and then we'll go to 1 Corinthians 13, and

so we'll be right there. 1 Corinthians, say it

with me. 1 Corinthians 14. And then we'll also

briefly share 13. We'll also share 13. 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 14 · chapter mention

chapter 14. Now, I've said this on a number of

occasions. Don't take it back. This is a chapter

in regard to what takes place in a church service.

Now, in reality, that's where he... He's at in

chapter 11. In 1 Corinthians chapter 11, you

1 Corinthians 11 · chapter mention

see him talking about, and a lot of people, they'll

pick the Bible apart topically. And that's all

right. There are topics, many topics covered

in the Bible. And yet there can be an issue with

that. There can be a problem with that. If I

focus all of my attentiveness on faith. And I

only look at verses that communicate faith and

describe faith and define faith and reveal the

importance of faith. And I only study faith.

And I take that out of the rest of the Bible

and that becomes my favorite. That becomes what

I universally feed on. I'm going to have one

muscle somewhere on my spiritual anatomy that's

going to be highly developed. To the expense

and at the chagrin of many of the other arenas

and areas. And what it will do is it will not,

as the Spirit of God's Word has been written,

it will not take me flowing through to see the

entire plan of our God. The entire plan of our

God is bigger than us. It's bigger than our race.

It's bigger than our creations. It's bigger than

our redemption. It's bigger than our... time

plot in history. It's going to go far beyond

the existence of humans on this earth. It's going

to extend to where there is no heavens and earth

as we know it right now, and they're replaced

with a new heavens and a new earth. It's all

still within God's great heart and plan to exalt

and glorify and magnify His Son. And we're caught

up in that. We're caught up in that. It's not

just about us. For lack of better terminology,

God has a point to prove. And He has a lesson

to teach. And it's being taught. And all of the

spiritual quote -unquote forces that wanted to

throw themselves over into and against our great

and awesome and eternal God have to stand and

watch. There's no accident that Lucifer was kicked

out of heaven, and he didn't land on Jupiter.

He landed on the earth. And God caused the earth,

covered with water, to be separated out, water

from land, and created an atmosphere, and created

vegetation, and created life, and created human

beings, all after that rebellion in heaven. And

now, according to your Bible, the third chapter

of Ephesians, by the church, the many -faceted

wisdom of God is being demonstrated to the principalities

and powers by the church. They're learning about

God's grace. They're learning about God's love.

They're learning about... Forgiveness and compassion.

They're learning about the length to which our

God will go to save those that He's created,

even becoming one of them which... Who is man?

What is man? What is man that you are mindful

of him? He's lower than the angel. He didn't

become an angel. He became even lower than an

angel. With a human body, with weakness, has

to eat, has to drink. has to excrete, sweats,

has to bathe, has to sleep. God doesn't sleep.

Neither sleeps nor slumbers. Not one weakness

in him at all. Yet Jesus grew tired and laid

his head down on a pillow and slept. You think

this is all by accident? You think this is just

some story about somebody's life? This is all

proving a point. demonstrating the many -faceted

wisdom of God, showing even those demon spirits

to what length our God will go to redeem those

he loves. And they will be without excuse. You

know your Bible says you'll judge angels? Maybe

we should maybe think about teaching on that

one day. Oh yeah, you will judge. Don't you know

that you'll judge angels? Didn't you just read

that in 1 Corinthians? Didn't you just read that

in your daily Bible reading in the epistles?

You go to law and you sue one another and you

go against unbelievers. Don't you realize that

it'll be the church that judges angels? Didn't

you just read that? This is all bigger than us,

folks. Every bit of it. We're caught up in it

and we're the recipients of the grace of God,

the goodness of God, the love of God, the kindness

of God. All this stuff about we were on his mind

and he was thinking about me when he was on the

cross. You don't have any verses for that. He

was thinking about the will of our God. That's

what he came to do. That's what he came to perform.

He concerned himself with nothing else whatsoever.

Nothing. I came to do the will of him that sent

me. I have to be about my father's business.

Where are you at in your Bible? We're just going

to run out of time and say, well, that's all

the time we have. All right, here's the question.

Here's the question. When a prophet, a New Testament,

and we saw those verses. We don't have to turn

back to them, do we? Ephesians 4 .11, God said

in the church, apostles, prophets, evangelists,

pastors, and teachers. And then 1 Corinthians

12 .28, he said in the church. First apostles,

secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, doesn't

give any designation on them. So my question,

first off, when that question was posed to me,

well, when a prophet speaks and they're anointed

by God to speak, isn't that the same as the Bible?

Isn't that the same as the Bible? Well, my question

would be, why wouldn't it be that way then if

an apostle spoke? Why wouldn't it be that way

if a teacher spoke? So what you're trying to

tell me is every time a teacher speaks under

the inspiration of God, that's the same as the

Bible? Hmm. Seems to take away something that's

a basic tenant of ministry for me, and that's

that every human is fallible. That's that every

human being is fallible. That means they can

make mistakes. That means they can have a right

heart. and just a wrong understanding, and then

go ahead and share that. Now this came up because

a pastor that I knew, I still know of him, he

was in a different part of our state, and they

had a person come in who called himself a prophet.

I'm prophet so -and -so, and his website was

prophet so -and -so, and his business card was

prophet so -and -so, and that's all okay. And

then when he would teach from the Bible, and

I had one of his books at one point, and it was

okay. It was okay. And then he would minister

to people after the service. and I want this

whole row just to stand up. And so he'd do that.

I'm just demonstrating because some of you have

never been in a service like that, or we've never

had a service like that. And so he'd come to

every single person, every single person, and

he'd have a word for them. He'd have a word for

them. And it didn't matter what the word was.

They had people writing out word for word. His

prophecy. And so if he gave a prophecy that you're

going to live to be 109, then they would write

it out. And if he'd step up to the next one and

say, I see you're going to have 15 children.

And see, it wouldn't matter what they wanted.

They had no choice in the matter. Because the

word of God is established forever. Forever,

oh Lord, your word's established. There's nothing

you can do about it. And they would write those

all out. He told me personally. I went to visit

him and ask him about it. Drove almost three

hours to get to his place of his office. And

I said, I just want to just inquire about this

and talk to you about this. You're my friend,

right? And he just looked at me adamantly and

said, you just don't understand. You just don't

understand. When a prophet speaks under the inspiration

of God, it's identical to the Bible. That's what

he told me. He said, I don't do any counseling

anymore. He comes, we write down what he says

about their life, and then when they come to

me for counseling, we just hand it to them. This

is the word of the Lord. I'll be real clear with

you. This is the word of the Lord. This is the

word of the Lord. Right here. Your Bible is the

word of God. Not my word, not prophet so -and

-so's word, not spoken under the inspiration.

See, this word is truth. We don't know if his

word is true until after life is over and you're

past childbearing. Well, it doesn't even matter

because there was Sarah and Elizabeth. So for

as long as you draw breath, I mean. You get to

be 90 and you'll say... But he'd have a word.

He'd have a word. And the word, listen very carefully,

don't miss this, the word would give them direction.

I see you're going to be moving out to the West

Coast in six months. Within six months' time,

you'll be moving to the West Coast. Thank you.

And he'd give, I see two boys that are brothers.

Are you brothers? Yes, sir. I thought so. Are

these your parents? Pretty good guess, huh? Except

it was never a guess. It was like, okay, and

I'm going to tell you your address. I'm going

to tell you your age. I'm going to go through

all that stuff like you don't know already. And

then he would say, and you get along fine now,

but you're going to come to be worst enemies

and you're going to struggle against each other.

Praise the Lord. Sit down. And I don't know what

it was. You don't have a clue. Nobody here has

a clue who I'm referencing. It's not about who.

It's about what? It's about what? It's about

what? You're going to become the next billionaire

in this county. And every single person would

get a word. And it would be, you listening? It

would be directive. It would direct them. It

would direct them. It would correct them. Okay,

what would be the first thing? Direct. What was

the second? Correct. Correct. There'd be direction.

There'd be correction. Sometimes even rebuke.

Close your eyes. Put your hands up toward heaven.

I see that hell is manifesting on the inside

of you and there's a great hatred toward your

husband and your children and your family and

your pastor and you need to get on your knees

and repent because I can see it. It's a big black

blotch and spot on the inside of you. And she'd

open her eyes and say, no, that's not right.

I love my husband. I love my church. Don't argue

with me. This is the word of the Lord and you're

going to drop dead within six days if you don't

repent of it right now. Praise the Lord. See,

this is the word of the Lord. I learned a few

things about the word of the Lord. Especially

after they prophesied that I would die. And it

didn't happen. Hmm. The devil was going to take

me out. And it didn't happen. And look around.

Just look around. Look left, right, up, down.

Just look around for a minute. And this church

was going to... implode and go under within six

months. That's 22 years ago. Didn't happen. I'm

not trying to make fun of I'm doing what Paul

did. I am making a little bit light of it. I've

had prophecies and that was a word from heaven.

God just Supernaturally intervening. I'm in law

enforcement chaplaincy today. Partly because

a minister named Al Blue Husky stood at a family

camp meeting and spoke in other tongues and then

said, you down there at the end of the row. Well,

I was in the last seat. He said, you come here.

And I got up and I walked up and he put his hand

on my shoulder and said. The Lord's going to

make you a person of influence over persons of

influence. And then he went on. Then he went

on. The day I received complete release in my

heavenly prayer language, I mean, tears were

streaming down my face and I had my hands lifted

up. I was in a feed room in a barn. God doesn't

just exist in church. God's everywhere. Filling

all places at all times with his presence. And

all of a sudden that worshipful tongue changed

just like that. And suddenly there was a more

proclamation to this tongue. And I stopped. And

I mean, it just kept coming out. So I listened.

And I heard unto you is given to know the mysteries

of the kingdom of God, and you shall be my mouthpiece

and my voice, and you will speak on my behalf.

I don't know. You judge it. That was 1983. God

can speak about anybody he wants, anywhere, anyhow,

for any purpose and any reason. And it can be

accurate or it can be inaccurate. There's only

one way to judge it, and that's by the Bible.

That's the only unchangeable, everlasting, eternal,

thoroughly inspired document that I have. And

the Bible doesn't say anything about whether

or not I'm going to be a mouthpiece and speak

on behalf of the Lord. The Bible doesn't say

anything about whether I'm going to be a person

of influence over persons of influence. The Bible...

Doesn't say anything about, I mean, I had one

of our young families here and shared with them

about children because the Lord showed me to

share with them. And it came to pass absolutely

right down the track, boom, boom, boom, step

by step by step. I've had my pastor speak words

over us, over our church, and just watch heaven

perform. Sometimes God will do that, and that

is God. And I have a whole lot more confidence

in some prophets than I do some who claim to

be. But in much of that prophecy, the Old Testament

litmus test still holds true. So what's that?

Hide and watch. That's the only way to know whether

it was or not. Whether you become a billionaire,

whether you become enemies, whether you buy an

airplane. You don't care if we just read our

Bible for a minute, do you? Let's look at it.

1 Corinthians chapter 14. Verse 1. Follow after

1 Corinthians 14 · chapter mention

love, charity, the agape of God. and desire spiritual

gifts, but rather that you may prophesy. Now,

why would that be? Why would that be? Notice

verse two. For he that speaks in an unknown tongue

speaks not to men, but to God. No man understands

him in the spirit. He speaks mysteries, but he

that prophesies speaks to who? To men. Now, there

are three specific categories that if it's going

to be a... Biblical, New Testament, godly, God

-ordained, within the will of God. Prophecy,

it has to fit one of these criteria, one of these

areas here. Edification, exhortation, or comfort.

If it's a biblical prophecy, it's got to be directed

toward men, and it's got to edify, exhort, and

comfort. What does edify mean? We talked about

it earlier in the service. So, first thing it

has to do is build up. What is exhort? Stir up.

Stir up. There was a prophecy earlier in this

service. Any of you remember any of it? Take

the sword of the spirit and go after the thief.

He's come to steal, kill, and destroy. It's time

to get off the defensive and get on the offense.

Realize you never win being on the defensive.

You defend your goal. You only win by scoring.

Get on the offense. Yeah, go after him. That's

basically what he was saying. That stirred me

up. That stirred me up. Comfort. Comfort. What

does that mean? Bring peace. Cheer me up. Comfort.

Where in that verse do you see correction? Where

do you see direction? Don't see it. Don't see

it. Point one, taken. If it's a prophecy, it

has to be to build up. It has to be to stir up.

It has to be to bring comfort. Cheer up. It has

to be according to the Bible. According to the

Bible. Now, a lot of other things here. Now,

I'm not going to take time to go back to, you

remember Agabus? Remember Agabus the prophet?

Agabus the prophet signified by the word of the

Lord that there would be a great drought in the

land. Remember that? Back in the book of Acts?

I noticed he didn't tell anybody what to do.

He just said, this is what's coming. But he didn't

tell anybody what to do. Now, this is a great

topic if you spend too much time on the Internet.

Because over the past four to six months, there

have been thousands of prophecies. How do you

know which ones were true? I mean, some of them

were just a good guess. I mean, you get a 50

-50 shot, Trump or Biden. But there were hundreds

and hundreds of them. that our current vice president,

excuse me, Harris or Biden, I was close. Hundreds

of them, hundreds of them, that America would

have its first female president, that America

would, hundreds of them, hundreds of them. If

you listen to all those prophecies, we're already

in the middle of World War III and nuclear war

has come before the end of 2024. Where'd they

go? One thing that really, okay, I'll just be

honest, irks me, is that there's no accountability.

When they're wrong, there's nobody. And another

thing that blesses me is, how many of you were

here last night? See, wasn't that a great blessing?

Tremendous, tremendous. I just said to Paula

personally, when Dr. Barkley sent this out to

us back in early December, I don't know what

it is about it. I can't put my finger on it.

Best one he's ever done. The best one he's ever

done. But he doesn't even say, this is what's

going to happen. He says, I predict. He says,

I predict. And take it at the end of the year

and see how accurate he is. But there have been

hundreds and hundreds of others, hundreds and

hundreds, maybe thousands, that the stock market

should have already crashed. 80%. Valuation wiped

out. Banks closed. Just all kinds of... We're

supposed to be under a 12 -foot sheet of ice

already. All the way down to the Mexican border,

if you listen to them. See? Agabus prophesied,

and you know what happened? It came to pass.

It came to pass. But he didn't direct anybody

to do anything. He just said, this is what's

going to happen. And then... Later on, in the

21st chapter of Acts, he walked up to the Apostle

Paul. He had the Apostle Paul, Aaron, and he

walked right up to Paul. Now, I'm not going to

do this. Aaron's bigger than I am. Aaron, just

kind of hold your hands out like you're worshiping

God, maybe. Nathan, come up here. Nathan is going

to be Agabus the prophet. He's going to walk

over to Paul. He's going to unbutton his jacket.

And he's going to take his belt off. No, no,

no. But that's what he did. That's what Agabus

did. Agabus did. Agabus walked right over and

he took his belt off. And then he, thanks. I

didn't know if you were making. I was praying.

Took his belt off and wrapped it around his own

hands and then made this bold statement. So shall

the Jews at Jerusalem do to the man whose belt

I am bound with. Let me ask you an important

question. Was that conditional? Because all the

Christians ran up to Paul immediately and said,

please don't go to Jerusalem. Could he have made

the decision not to go? Then it was conditional.

You have a part to play. Thank you. You have

a part to play because I'll watch people and

it'll be in the presence of God and the prophet

will speak and they'll just turn around and say,

well, I'm not doing anything with that. If God

wants to do it, let him do it. And they have

a part to play. Remember when we were with Dr.

Barclay back in, was it 2000? And we're down

in Guatemala. And he wanted me to go with him

because I'd been down there seven or eight times

and he'd not been down there. So I went to carry

his bags and be with him. And Carol Schlimmer,

you all know Carol? She's one of our missionaries.

Tall South Dakota girl. Single and happy. Single

and satisfied. And Dr. Barclay called her out

of hundreds and hundreds, 500 people. He calls

her out. Doesn't even know who she is. I mean.

she's like 6 '4". When you're 6 '4", red hair,

white girl from South Dakota, you don't fit in

in Guatemala real well. They're all 4 '8". And

like Robert Kimberling's wife, Maria, she says,

caramelized. And so he calls Carol Slimmer to

the front, puts his hand on her, and says, God's

bringing a man into your life. She about ran.

She pulled away and took his hand off and said,

no, no, that's not what I want. That's not what

I want. And Dr. Barclay grinned and said, I don't

care if it's what you want or not. There's a

man coming into your life. He's in the audience.

And he's going, yes, yes. Thank you, Jesus. Yes.

He's just been waiting. He hasn't even made one.

He hasn't even looked at her. He hasn't even

locked eyes with her. He's just waiting for God.

Her heart is not open to it. She is totally happy.

She's going to be a single girl. She's going

to be single her whole life. She's a missionary.

She's doing what God called her to do. She has

no interest in men. God calls her out and says,

man is coming into your life and you're going

to be married. Year wasn't out. And there was

bells ringing and doves flying and flowers. Yeah,

they got married and she's so happy. Did God

force her to do that? No, he's just kind of nudging

her along, helping her along, getting her to

open her heart. He came up at the end of service

and said, hi, my name is. I mean, that's what

I'd have done if I was in that time. I wouldn't

have waited. Right? No. He fought his way through

the crowd. Bless God. Yeah. The Lord can speak

to whoever He wants, however He wants. It might

be a dream. It might be a vision. It might be

an angel. It might be a prophecy. But if it's

an angel, if it's a vision, if it's a dream,

or if it's a prophecy, we have Scripture over

here in 2 Peter chapter 1. 2 Peter chapter 1.

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

Hold your place there in 1 Corinthians and 2

Peter, the first chapter. And it says we have

a more sure word of prophecy. And that was when

they actually saw with their own eyes the transformation

of Jesus, heard with their own ears the voice

of God come tumbling down out of heaven. And

it says in verse 19, we have a more sure word

of prophecy. Now, what prophecy is he speaking

about right here in this verse? We have a more

sure word of prophecy. A more certain, a more

stable, a more immutable, a more reliable, a

more dependable word. And you'd do well if you

take heed. What prophecy is he talking about

right there? Read the next verse. Knowing this

first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of

any private interpretation. One man's idea. Verse

21. For the prophecy, this prophecy, the Word

of God, the Scripture, came not in old time by

the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as

they were moved by who? Now, these verses say

they had a great spiritual, supernatural, outside

of the Bible, outside of the Bible, supernatural

experience. Are there supernatural experiences

outside of the Bible? Yes, absolutely there are.

Absolutely. The Bible says the voice of God came

tumbling down out of heaven. This is my beloved

son in whom I'm well pleased. At the time it

happened, it wasn't in the Bible. Then it came

to be. They saw Jesus transfigured before their

very sight. That wasn't anywhere in the Bible

until it happened. Now it is. If God wants to

call a little South Dakota girl up and speak

personally and finds a vessel he can do that

through, that she's going to be married before

the year is out, he can do that. That's not recorded

in the scripture anywhere, but it's got to follow

the spirit of the scriptures. And again, now

she has something to do with that. You know,

the Bible says that one day Jesus is going to

come to the clouds and the last trumpet's going

to blow. We have nothing to do with that. We

have nothing, zero, to do with that. Our Bible

says it will happen in the fullness of time.

In the fullness of time. The grains of sand are

trickling through the hourglass of heaven, and

when the last one goes, boom, that's going to

be it. Now, we just read three verses. This prophecy,

the prophecy of the Scriptures, came not in old

time, came not by the will of man, but came in

old time by holy men of God who were moved by,

look at it carefully, who were moved by who?

The Holy Ghost. Go back to 1 Corinthians chapter

1 Corinthians 14 · chapter mention

14. 1 Corinthians chapter 14. If any man prophesies,

1 Corinthians 14 · chapter mention

he speaks to men to edify, exhort, and comfort.

He that speaks, verse 4, he that speaks in an

unknown tongue edifies himself. He that prophesies

edifies the church. The whole theme of this entire

chapter is edify. Build up. Build up the church.

But just for time's sake, I may have to come

back and finish this teaching maybe on Wednesday

night. But just for time's sake, drop off. to

a little bit further on in this chapter. In this

chapter. And he talks about it in verse 26, when

you gather together. Everyone has a psalm, doctrine,

tongue, revelation, interpretation, and he gives

the theme of the chapter again. Let all things

be done to what? Edify. Build up others. And

then he gives the guidelines for spiritual gifts.

If any man speaks in an unknown tongue, let it

be two or at most three, and that in order. Everything

in the church service has to be orderly. The

last verse here says, let all things be done

decently and in order. So if they're speaking

in tongues, two or at most three, and let, how

many interpret? One. There's no interpreter,

let him be silent, speak only to himself and

to God. And then it says in verse 29, let the

prophets speak. Two or three. And let the other

judge. And if anything be revealed to another

that sits by, let the first hold his peace. For

you may all prophesy one by one, and all may

learn, and all may be comforted. And the spirits

of the prophets are subject to the prophets.

For God is not the author of confusion, but of

peace, as in all the churches of the saints.

Now he said a mouthful right there, didn't he?

Yeah, he said a mouthful. And we're just going

to take just a couple of... a couple of these

elements out, and then we'll close. I asked that

dear brother, that friend of mine, that pastor,

I said, when we read the Bible, when we read

the Scriptures, when we preach, From Genesis,

Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1

and 2 Kings. When we preach from Isaiah, Ezekiel,

Habakkuk, Malachi. When we preach from Matthew,

Mark, Luke, and John. When we preach from Acts,

and Ephesians, and Titus, and Jude. Do we have

somebody designated in the church service to

judge whether or not that's correct? Because

the Bible just told us we have to do that with

prophecy. Prophecy has to be judged. Heaven help

you if you try to judge God's Word. God's Word

is right and truth from the beginning. God's

Word is perfect. God's Word is right and true.

We esteem all of His precepts concerning all

things to be right. There is no judgment of God's

Word, whether or not it's true or false, whether

or not it's right or wrong, whether or not it's

biblical or unbiblical. It is Bibble. It is Bible.

It is Scripture. The Scriptures never are judged.

The Scriptures are true. The Scriptures are recited.

The Scriptures are meditated on. The Scriptures

are memorized. The Scriptures are preached with

authority. The Scriptures are taught. The Scriptures

are never judged. As to who would think among

us humans that we could judge our God? Oh, the

depth of the riches both of the wisdom and the

knowledge of God. Who has been His counselor?

Who has instructed Him? Who among us is going

to tell God that's wrong and that's right? We

studied 2 Timothy 2 recently, that that's the

opinion and attitude and belief some people embrace

about verse 15 in 2 Timothy 2 that says rightly

divide the word of truth. Like we have to decide

what's right and what's wrong and what God meant

and what He didn't mean. And whether or not it

was truly a virgin when she had that baby Jesus

or not. And whether or not the angels actually

sang. And whether there were wise men there.

And we're supposed to judge whether healing is

for all, salvation is by grace. No, we don't

judge anything. We accept it and we receive it.

And it's settled. It's God's Word. We don't judge

it. And yet, with prophecy, what's your Bible?

What did we just read in our Bible? Huh? 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 14:29

chapter 14, verse 29. Let the prophets speak.

two or three, and let the other judge. There's

another in every church service that is assigned

to judge the prophecy. Judge them on what merit?

Are they biblical? Are they scriptural? Do they

fit in with edification, exhortation, and comfort?

And if not, then go ahead and adjust it. Go ahead

and bring the correction of it. Oh, I hope this

isn't a precursor. I hope this isn't just preparing

us. But if it is, we'll be ready. We had a service.

We were in a little building on 19th Street up

here by the University of La Crosse. We were

just a fledgling little church at that time and

an old laundromat building. And right in the

midst of one of our service, I mean, interrupting

everything, this big, tall gentleman, he stood

up and he started prophesying. And he was out

of order. We had a guest speaker. The pulpit

had already been turned over to him and he was

praying. Now, you know it can't be. You know

that's not the Lord because it says if something

is revealed, let the first hold his peace before

that one starts talking. We just read it. But

he was interrupted and he blurted out and blasted

out. And I had already introduced the speaker.

You can go back. You're not going to judge anything.

And I turned and looked and one of our ushers

was walking back toward him and I went, is that

universal language? You know what that means?

And he put his hand on his shoulder and shook

him and said, shh, shh. Oh, he got mad. Oh, he

got upset. Oh, he was just infuriated. That's

my responsibility. That's my responsibility.

He called me on the telephone that afternoon.

That was back when I had a listed number. Dumb.

Yeah, he called me on the telephone. I mean,

I was trying to talk to him, but he went on for

20 minutes without taking a breath. So I just

had to wait until he was through. I said, was

that what you were going to prophesy? He said,

yes. I said, good. No, I didn't hang up on him.

That's a responsibility. That's just a responsibility.

A prophecy can have elements in it that are 100

% right and then others that are questionable.

So can a tongue or an interpretation. Don't ever

get too hard on somebody that speaks out in a

tongue or speaks, gives an interpretation or

speaks in prophecy. Don't get too hard on them.

Many are doing their best to serve God and do

what he believes to be right. And if it's wrong,

don't rub their face in it. But the Bible's pretty

clear. There's one prophecy of the Scripture,

and that's all given by inspiration of God. I

have to judge a prophetic word in accordance

with the Word of God. If it's not in the Word

of God, then we just have to wait and see. But

any human being speaking in our day, It's not

equal with the Bible. It's not equal with the

Bible. You mind if I give you one more verse?

I think I said that half hour ago, but one more

verse. Verse 29. Let the prophet speak two or

three and let the other judge. Verse 30, if anything

be revealed to him that sits by, let the first

hold his peace. For all may prophesy one by one,

that all may learn and all may be comforted.

Verse 32, read me verse 32. One more time. The

spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.

Hmm. One more time. So the spirits of the people

prophesying in the church services, their spirits

are subject to who? Those who wrote scriptures

were subject to the Holy Ghost. You read it to

me. For this prophecy of the scripture came not

by the will of men, but holy men of old wrote

as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. They were

totally subjected. to the Spirit of God when

they wrote the Scriptures. That verse says when

people prophesy in the church, they're subject

to their self. They can stop. They can go on.

The writers of Scripture had no luxury. They

can't stop. They can't just say, oh, you've got

something to say, I'll just be quiet and step

over here. They were moved by the Holy Spirit

to write that Bible. Commentaries say, almost

with no will of their own. Like a leaf carried

down the rapids of a river with no will of its

own, taken where the river will want it to go.

And so the Holy Spirit led the writers of Scripture

in every single word, in every single sentence,

in every single verse, in every chapter, in every

book of the 66 books of our Bible. People who

prophesy are subject to their own spirit. They

can get louder, they can get softer, they can

keep going, they can stop, they can back away

and let someone else speak. Spirits of the prophets

are subject to the prophets. The spirits of the

scripture writer were subject to the Holy Spirit.

The spirits of the scripture writers were subject

to the Holy Spirit. I hope you've benefited by

some part of this service this morning. It's

been a great honor, a great joy to be with you.

And I love you in Christ's love. You'll leave

here edified. In Jesus' name, let's stand. 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,