Episode Transcript
The first night you were here, we read 2 Timothy 1. And we talked about Timothy coming to the Lord being filled with the Holy Spirit, but the fire had died down, you remember, and Paul says to my son, my dear son, revive the fire of the gift of God that is in you, by the laying on of my hands. And the fire, my conviction is, is the fire of the Holy Spirit that we can grieve. We can smother and we can offend. And so the Lord is saying to timothy hay, revived the fire. Then yesterday, if you remember, we read Second Timothy chapter two. And then it's about service, which is another basic thing, serve the Lord, especially in evangelism. And if you remember, I mentioned 10 different ways of looking at yourself, as a believer in sharing your faith. You're an ambassador, you're a fisher of Ben, you're a witness, you're a farmer, I don't remember them all off by heart. You are a military person, you are a priest, you are a firefighter, you're a troublemaker, there was one more and I can't remember what it is. Anyway, you remember, the, of course, is a picture of what you can be in the name of the Lord as you share the faith. Now, today, I want to by God's grace, read a few passages that demonstrate this. CHAPTER THREE OF Second Timothy is about spiritual warfare, and the state of the world, close to the end of time. And so the subject tonight really is kingdoms in conflict, okay, kingdoms in conflict. And you know, the Bible teaches that there are troubles in the world, and that we Christians wonder why some of this stuff happens and unbelievers do from time to time. And the reason is, there are two spiritual kingdoms in the world is the kingdom of God, and the kingdom of darkness, the kingdom of Satan. And so we're either in one kingdom or the other. But you know what happens when you receive Jesus Christ. It says in Colossians, chapter one and verse 13, goes like this, giving thanks to God, the Father, who has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness, and has brought us into the kingdom of his dear son, he purchased our freedom, the forgiveness of all our sins. So when you receive Christ, this is what happens. You change kingdoms, Satan was your king and my king, even though I was a boy, I was in the kingdom of Satan. But now I'm in the kingdom of God's dear Son. So I changed kingdoms at age 12. On February 14 1947, on the hills of southern Argentina, I entered the other kingdom, and I left the other kingdom behind, but the other kingdom is still active. And that's why there are murders and crimes and babies are killed and people fight each other and kill each other and hate nations and attacked nations and all the evil and ugly stuff in the world is because so many are not yet in the kingdom of God, son. And I just thought I'd do this before we read scripture, just briefly what the difference is, there's many more differences, but one is the kingdom of God. The other is the kingdom of Satan. One is the kingdom of life, and the other one is the kingdom of death. One is the kingdom of light. The other one is the kingdom of darkness. One is the kingdom of truth. The other one is the kingdom of lies. The one is the kingdom of love, the elements of the kingdom of fear. One is the kingdom of good and right, the other was the kingdom of evil and wrong. The one is the kingdom of heaven, the other ones the kingdom of hell. In the one we have temples of God. The other is temples of idols. And there's much more to the list. But as we read the Holy Scripture, can I ask you a question in the name of Jesus Christ? In which of those two kingdoms are you? Are you already in the kingdom of God? Have you ever changed kingdoms knowingly, willingly, joyfully? Have you come to Jesus Christ? Have you switched from the kingdom of the enemy of God into the kingdom of God's Son, or not yet? Some of you perhaps have never crossed the line. You may come from a Christian home, you may come from a Christian background, but for some reason, you've never taken the step of faith to say, I repent. I reject. It says in Proverbs 2813 Whoever covers his sin will not prosper. But whoever confesses and renounces it will find mercy. So as we read holy scripture for a few minutes, and our short brief explanation, please If God is speaking to your heart, maybe your wife is a believer, and you've been dragging your feet, or maybe you're a grandpa, and even your grandchildren are praying for you or you know it, but you still are holding forth. Hey, come to Christ and change kingdoms tonight, that would be the greatest fun thing you will ever remember not the trip to the beach, that the day that you enter the kingdom of God. Now let's go to the Bible. It's so much better than mine. Hmm. Second Timothy, chapter three. And we're looking at three things in this chapter. The first one is, I'm going to ask you a question when we reach up to three. And I'll tell you why afterwards. Does this sound like the kingdom of God? verses one through nine? The answer should be a resounding Absolutely not. When we read it, we're going to realize this does not sound like the kingdom of God at all. The second point are going to be verses 10 to 15, is how we can be victorious while confronting the kingdom of darkness. Everyday we live on Earth, we run into the kingdom of darkness at work at the office at the shop, how do we confront the kingdom of darkness as followers of Jesus Christ, and then the third one, which will be versus what may 16 to 17th is the authority that we have in our hands in all circumstances of life, whether we're confronting the kingdom of darkness, or enjoying the kingdom of light in a special way. Okay, let's read the Word of the Lord, verses one through nine. Does this really sound like the kingdom of God? Answer? No, here we go. Mark this, there will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, Without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying its power, have nothing to do with them. They are the kind who wormed their way into homes, and gain control over weak willed women who are loaded down with sins, and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning, but never able to acknowledge the truth, just as Janice and Jambres opposed Moses, way back when So also, these men oppose the truth. Men of depraved minds, who as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected, but they will not go very far. Because as in the case of those men back then their folly will be clear to everyone. So let's stop for a second. Does that sound like the kingdom of God to you? I don't think so. Hey, you don't have to be too awake to realize whatever Kingdom it is, ain't the kingdom of God. I counted how many negatives there are in this little chapter, which only has 17 verses in that section and then a few more that are sprinkled in the next that we're gonna read 35 Negative realities of the kingdom of darkness. And we're not going to dwell on it too much tonight because we I want you to go home happy, and most of you are out of that kingdom. But it is important to read 35 expressions of what the kingdom of darkness is like. So the second section we're reading is 10 to 15. And this one we've entitled victorious, while confronting the kingdom of darkness on a day to day basis. Okay, how are we victorious? Okay, verse 10. You however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, sufferings, what kinds of things happen to be in Antioch, Iconium, and Lister, the persecutions I endured, yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. In fact, every one who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil men and imposters will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue or the word here I prefer to be honest, and I think it's a better word is persevere, okay? Persist, persist and persevere. But as for you, persist in what you have learned, and I've become convinced off because you know, those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy scriptures, which are able to make you wise Still the salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. And then the third section of just the next two verses I entitled it, the authority we have, under all circumstances. There are periods in life when things go pretty smoothly, and it's fine and we praise the Lord and we just have a great time. But then there's other periods when things get dark. And it seems like the kingdom of darkness is crowding in on us. Things seem to go wrong, strange accidents, criticisms, attacks, things happen in the family, and you feel the kingdom of darkness is crowding you in what is the basis for strength for the believer, okay, verses 16 and 17. Any circumstance with a negative or positive here we go 16. All scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training and righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. Now, before we make some comments, I want to quote two or three more verses that expressed the whole concept of kingdom of darkness, kingdom of light, kingdom of God, kingdom of Satan. One is John chapter 10, and verse 10, famous verse, and if you've been around Christianity knows it. The thief, which is Satan, comes to steal, to kill and to destroy. I says, Jesus, have come that you might have life and have it in abundance. I'll say it again. The thief, which is Satan, comes to steal, to kill and to destroy. And brothers and sisters, this isn't just a little poetic thing that Jesus allowed himself. He's actually telling us the truth. The kingdom of darkness is a destructive kingdom. And we're all born into it. By inheritance from our forefathers, Adam and Eve. All of us every last one of us, even though sweet little babies gurgling around the blaze here. They all come with a darkness in them. And it's the kingdom of darkness. But he comes to steal, to kill and to destroy. And that isn't a lot of fun, stealing, killing, destroying, in the Swedish translation of the word destroy, they translate, butchering you. And when you look around, things that happen even in our society, which is a sort of a Christianized society, though it's watering down lately a bit too much for my liking. But nevertheless, you look around and you see Satan butchering people up, not only kids cutting themselves, but families breaking up friends hating each other, hating politicians, blasting them with lack of kindness and sensitivity, a lack of prayer, you know, and this is the enemy, the enemy is here to steal the good stuff in your life, to kill everything that's good, and if possible to destroy you, and think how many people are destroyed. You look around every family seems to have one or more people who are destroyed by the kingdom of darkness. But Jesus says and this is the emphasis of course, I have come that you might have life and have it in abundance. Another parallel verse, I love it. Psalm 23 Verse five says, You anoint my head with oil. My cup, King James translation runneth over. I love that phrase, my cup runneth over. And you know, that's the kingdom of God, the kingdom of God is a kingdom filled with the Holy Spirit of God. And you know, the reason I read this first, because it's in Second Timothy, and we're talking out of Second Timothy, but you know, there is a current today of people who are very well meaning, and they read the gospels, especially the first three gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and they read about the Kingdom of God and you hear phrases like this, we want to bring in the kingdom. We want to bring in the kingdom as though somehow God sent us into the world to bring his kingdom into society. The Lord's Prayer says, Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Where is the kingdom of God today? The kingdom of God are those who believe in Jesus Christ. Jesus said in the book of Luke, He said, The kingdom of God is within you, is within us, those of us who are believers, we are part of the Kingdom of God. The kingdom, imposing itself on society will not happen until the King comes in person, Jesus Christ, and then he will really impose his kingdom for a period of time, then there will come a final rebellion or a big war that sometimes called Armageddon, and then will come the real final kingdom of God will all his enemies will be put out of the way and there will be peace and blessing paradise all over again to perfection. But the reason I read it is so that none of you and your enthusiasm and dreaming that we can bring in the kingdom, I was brought up in the Anglican Church, and the Anglican Church in the 1800s was based in England, and the Anglican Church in England was sort of synonymous. And it was a great actually a good empire, they went all over the world, basically, they did a lot of good. One of the greatest goods that they did was send missionaries all over the world. And I'm one of the results of that the missionaries from the United Kingdom came to Argentina, I lead our family to Jesus Christ, on my side of the family. And so I love it, they did a lot of good, but they have this idea that somehow, if we work hard enough, and if we really go for it, we can bring in the kingdom. And once everything is in good shape, then the king will come victorious, sit on his throne in Jerusalem, and rule the nations for 1000 years, at least, to begin with, anyway. And many of the old hymns of the Anglican Church that we used to sing out with real vigor, it all had to do with the earth shall be filled with the glory of God as the waters cover the sea. And the way they quoted that was, let's really work on it. Let's fill the earth with a good knowledge of God as the waters cover the sea, and then Jesus will come back. But that's the reverse of what the Bible teaches. That's why I wanted to emphasize here, when you start reading chapter three, it says, mark this, he says, there will be terrible times in the last days before Jesus comes is not going to be a glowing, wonderful kingdom. But we built on earth so that the king can come and be received with trumpets blaring and flags flying and all of us cheering on the country is going to be darker than ever. In another passage, Jesus says, When the Son of God returns, will He find faith on earth? And the obvious answer is not much, not much. He's gonna come back to our world and rebellion. So it's important that we realize that otherwise, you can get yourself so confused. And you might wonder, well, why aren't things changing? Somebody said to me, Well, if Portland is such a quirky town, how come you've lived there for 50 years and you had these campaigns and you're doing all this work idea of Portland is still a quirky place. While nobody ever said we were going to uncork Portland, you know, in Portland, they have a bumper sticker that I tell you the other day, keep Portland, weird. Portland's weird. We tried to bring many people to Christ, all sorts of backgrounds, and they become part of the Kingdom of God. But Portland as a whole isn't looking too much kingly at this time, even though we live them with such nice people. I mean, that's not the expectation. But the first thing is this. There is a war going on. And there's a battle going on. The kingdom of God is a beautiful kingdom. Now we are weak, even those of us who are redeemed, we're not as nice as we wish we were. Other people are definitely not as nice as I wish they were, you know, we're not perfect yet. But the fact is living in the kingdom of God is so superior to living in the kingdom of Satan and the king of darkness. I mean, you can never present the kingdom of God in wonderful terms that are ridiculously impossible. When Jesus Christ comes into your life, he makes you a child of God, is that a gift of what he liberates you from slavery to certain sins? Yes, the temptations keep coming. But by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit we can overcome. And you know, the impact of a culture as is described here in chapter three along those 35 things that indicate the state of the world, what an impact this has on your little boys and your little girls. The kingdom of darkness is right there. It shows up in television shows, it shows up in magazines that shows up in music, secular, non believing music, it impacts your kids, your teenage kids, college kids. That's why the Bible says Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. In other words, he's referring to the kingdom of darkness and the values of the kingdom of darkness. We love the people of the world. We love people. We want them all in the kingdom of God, even God wants that. First Timothy Chapter Two says God wants all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. Second, Peter chapter three says, God wants all people to be saved and to come to repentance. God wants everybody in His Kingdom. It says in Matthew, he isn't willing that one should perish not one. That's God's desire. But still, the fact is, that the kingdom of darkness is all around us, and by the Holy Spirit, and by the Holy Word of God, which we mentioned that the end is valuable to us, both in the good times and the evil times can help us discern where we should concentrate on what we should value, how much time we spend actually listening to non believers. There is a point where you got to cut it out so that it doesn't affect your own life. Even though you're in the kingdom of God. You can be thinking thoughts of the kingdom of the world. have moral thoughts, spiritual thoughts that shouldn't be filling our minds. I like news, you know, so I was just losing it a few months ago, I was reading The Wall Street Journal, The Oregonian, Forbes magazine, Money Magazine, Kiplinger's, I mean, I'm finally you go crazy, you say the world is going to hell. But we know that, but don't let it get you all the time, you know. And I've relented, I've cancelled non accounts, I didn't renew my subscriptions. I just want to spend more time thinking God's thoughts, rather than being pummeled by the thoughts of the world. Now, that doesn't mean phony separation, it doesn't mean that you become a recluse. You don't go and sit on the tree and just meditate all day. But nevertheless, we need to be discerning so that we can also help other people. So the first thing is, there are these two kingdoms, are you enjoying the kingdom of God, the kingdom of God has so much that the scripture offers, but over here, besides all the dangers that they are, for the believer, and the temptations of the world, what we see here is the emphasis on how to confront these situations victoriously. The first thing is follow the example of a godly person. And the first one mentioned here is none other than the Apostle Paul. And it says to Timothy, Timothy, you know, all about my teaching. Remember, Paul was especially called of God, and he was taken up to the third heaven, where he says in Second Corinthians, he saw things that are not lawful to even talk about, they are so deep, so amazing, he only tells us a little bit of what the Lord revealed to him. And Paul says, Timothy, you know, my teaching, you know, my life, you know how much I've suffered, you know, how I've been persecuted. You seen how I handle it, Timothy, you do the same thing. And you know, all of us have men and women that we know walk with God in a special way. And the Bible says that we ought to imitate the faith of those who really walk with God. Sometimes it's a granny, many people look back to their grandma, and say, my grandma, not only led me to Christ, insisted on reading me, the Bible would pray with me would talk to me. And many people listen to their grandma more than anybody else in the whole world. So for you, Granny's, don't forget it. Okay. You haven't been put on the shelf. On the contrary, I read the study by insurance company, in which they asked 1000 college kids from 10 of the United States, most distinguished universities, and they asked them, Who do you most prefer to receive counsel from? And 82% said, my grandparents 63% said, also my parents, and only 32% said, my peers. And we often talk about the influence of peers on kids. And yes, when they're in high school, probably, it has more. But once they get to college, grandparents carry a lot of weight. So let's not forget those of us who are grandparents, that the kids actually listen to us, and will listen, even though they appear, they're not listening. They do. But so Paul says, Okay, here's my example, Timothy, and it's biblical, and it's inspired by the Holy Spirit. And he says, persecutions you know, the one thing that I think is sad about being in the kingdom of God is persecution. I wish it wasn't there, but it's real. In many countries of the world, people are being persecuted tonight, I won't mention names, because see, these get around and they could they could retaliate on our brothers and sisters in some of these countries. But most of you know, there are countries in Asia, where persecution of believers is severe, and deadly. Every day in some parts of the world, people are being blown up, and their heads chopped off, and pastors put in jail. And if you read, and those are the kinds of news you should read, so you can intercede. They are being killed for the testimony of Jesus Christ, brothers and sisters of ours. In the USA, we're blessed for the moment, there's no physical persecution, but there is psychological persecution. When people mock you who likes to be mocked. I don't like it. I'm a tough guy. I can take it, I can dish it out if I have to do but I don't like it. When people put you down. You feel like retaliating in the name of the Lord, you know, but you don't. But you do have persecution, and people make fun of you. And there's been this little batch of atheists from Oxford University for some reason, they put him out in droves over there, you know, mocking believers and making fun of us. And because they have a British accent, you sort of get all impressed. Whoo, you know, Dr. So and So says that the creation didn't happen the way it happened. It must be true. Why? Because you got to have a piece of paper from Oxford that says he's got a doctrine big wow. You know, and make a lot of money writing books against believers and making fun. One of them who died recently, actually said one day I'm having a lot Fight attacking the Christians and I'm making a lot of money in the process. Great fun. We don't need to be cowardly. But it is a sense of persecution that you feel it. Nobody likes to be treated like an idiot. And you're at the office or I call a Joe, wherever you are. Nobody likes to be treated like a fool. But you know, the apostle Paul says, we apostles, he said, we are at the end of the parade. We are fools for Christ. We are fools for Christ. And we mustn't be too shocked when people treat us like we're fools. We are fools for Christ. Look what they did to our Master. They spat on his face. They slapped him around the Bible says that grabbed him by the beard and shook him up. They put a crown of thorns on his head, the whip them 39 times just before crucifying him. They took off all his clothes, and the Roman soldiers knelt in front of him and say, Hail King of the Jews, Al key of the Jews, they covered his eyes, the blessing Savior, and they beat him up. And they said, Hey, if you're the Son of God, who beat you, ha, ha, ha. But you know, is the master went through that we are to expect no less, and that they may come God forbid, because persecution I don't think is pleasant anywhere, at any time. No, do I think it's necessary as far as making us better disciples, if we take Jesus seriously, we will be good disciples, not because we're persecuted, but just because we love Him. Amen. So Victoria's first thing is the example of false positive example. But then the negative experiences actually show that we're in the kingdom of light, the kingdom of God, and that is persecution and violence. And in certain countries, our brothers are being persecuted severely. Sometimes when I read their stories, I get quite a bit of information on that. I just cry, you know, I this is one fellow in a certain country in the Middle East, who is a good looking pastor, I've seen his photo ad on the internet, you can find it, and his wife lives in the States right now. And he is in jail in this country. And I hate that here. I've heard him singing, they've got a video of him singing when he was leading worship in his church before he was arrested in this country of Asia, South Asia. And, and it just makes you think, Gosh, this kid could be my son, you know. And there he is beaten up in jail for three years already. And they've condemned him to death, although they probably won't kill him. But then he is with a wonderful wife and a bunch of kids. You know, there are people in the body of Christ suffering. And that is also what the Lord has promised for us. We should not be surprised that some of us have to suffer marking and treated as idiots, which we know we're not. And then the Apostle Paul tells us, if you're under pressure, and under persecution and being laughed at, and you feel like you're a minority at your company, or in your college class, or some professors and so on, and you feel very lonely. The Scripture tells us over here, persist in what you know, persisted what you know, that's why I liked that verse. When he says in verse 14, but as for you, as for you, persist in what you have learned, and I become convinced of because you know, from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you've known the holy scriptures, don't allow yourself if you're a college student, to be cowered by professors who mock believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember your Savior. Remember the apostle Paul, remember, he says, from whom you learn the Holy Scriptures, and what you know, persistent persistent it, no matter what they say, actually, I find when I'm attacked, sometimes in a press conference in the old days more than lately, but people make fun of me, my adrenaline starts pumping, and I love the fight. I just love it, you know, to be able to answer with a word of God to answer with the scriptures. So you when you are under attack, and when you feel lonely, because the Kingdom of Darkness is crowding you in and the markers are marking you remember the apostle Paul, and those who will lead you in the Lord. Remember the Lord Jesus Christ, and persist in what you know. There's a passage in Ephesians six, where it talks about the warfare, and we're talking about warfare. It is spiritual warfare, is not hating of people is not despising other people. We love them. In fact, the fight is to grab them out of the kingdom of darkness and transfer them into the kingdom of his son. That's why yesterday if you remember, we read first Corinthians nine, where the apostle Paul says, I have become all things to all men, so that by all means, listen to this, I may save some. Now that's a very authoritative thing. If Paul was here, you would say Hey, Paul, what do you mean? You're gonna save some? Isn't Jesus Christ the Savior? Who do you think you are? And he will So of course, he's the savior. But I'm his instrument of salvation in communicating the gospel of Jesus Christ. And the Bible between the kingdom of darkness. And the kingdom of light is very real. And if you walk with God, you're going to sense it. And the closer you walk with God, the more you will sense that battle. But there's times when what you do is you persist in what, you know, Ray Stedman was a pastor that influenced my life tremendously. And some people get tired that I quote him all the time. But I feel like the apostle Paul, hey, he was my mentor, I want to quote him, because I learned so much as watching him and listening to him. But he would teach from Ephesians six. And he used to say, four times, when it's talking about the spiritual warfare against the forces of darkness, demons, Satan, which are they're attacking us. Life is a battle between the two kingdoms, and we're in the one, but living among the others. So he says four times it says, Stand, stand, stand stand. There are times in life, when you're under attack, the passage teaches it, Ray Stedman used to run it, drive it home to us. There are times when you make no decisions, you make no moves. You don't jump from one thing to another, which many people do. When you're under attack. He said, Stand stand, stand, stand, read it up later, in Ephesians 610 to 24 times, just stand there and stand on what you know, stand on the scriptures that you've known since your childhood, many of you just stand, and then the break comes and you begin to walk again with the Lord. To me, that was a very helpful thing. And I wish more believers would get it because you find believers who switch jobs just because they're under pressure at work, or they'll sell a house, even at a loss just to move away from a neighborhood before they give the Lord time to guide them. And so when you're under attack, remember the example of Paul and those ahead of you. Remember to be ready for persecution, because that's one of the promises of the Bible. Everybody wants to live godly and Jesus Christ will suffer persecution of one kind or another. And then remember what you know from the Holy Word of God and stand on it. And no matter what anybody says, you stand on the promises of God. And in the end, you come out victorious ahead. So that's the second thing here. And then I wanted to, to end up tonight with his thought, the authority under which we live under any circumstance, if things are going good, well, a lot of worship, a lot of praise, a lot of rejoicing, a lot of times of happiness, and sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. If you're under pressure, and persecution, and oppression and attacks, stick with a holy Word of God, if anybody can bail you out, and help you think straight is the Holy Word of God. And it says, All scripture is breathed by God. God breathed that through the apostles, and through the prophets. So that what we have in writing, is the very thought and heart of God. 100% trustworthy, 100% accurate, it is God's Holy Word. i When you read it, you are understanding the heart of God. And it says over here, that not only is it God breathed, but it's useful, useful for a whole stack of things, the word of God. There are two books that I always encourage you Christians to read. One is the Gospel of John. And I always say, look, become an expert in the Gospel of John, it has to be the best thing and you believe I could ever do. Read it and read it and read it. Underline the verses that you like, begin to memorize the key passages that touch your heart and your spirit. You Gospel of John, it's amazing. It covers all the basics, that you need to walk with God. And then the other one, which I got from the missionaries, and from my dad is the book of Proverbs. And the book of Proverbs is amazing. It touches every aspect of your life in a practical way. It touches about love about spiritual life, about money, about savings about sex about choosing a spouse, and how to handle your children and any imaginable situation that arises in life. The book of Proverbs, absolutely touches on it, and it has 31 chapters. When I was six years old, my dad was on his knees one day in his office, and I was a little boy and I walked in and he was with a blanket over him on his by his desk, and he was on his knees. And as a little boy, I was sort of intrigued by dads on his knees in his desk in the winter with one light on. And so I went and I said, Dad, what are you doing?
And he said, I'm reading the Word of God. And I said, which one are you reading? And I said, I'm reading the book of Proverbs. And I remember I was only a little kid and he died four years later, but I never forgot. He said to me when you grow up, you read the book of Proverbs. It's got 31 chapters, one chapter for every day of the month, and you will really become a real man. And boy did it ever helped me, because he died when I was 10. And no man ever talked to me about life, about things except my mom, she would try and explain things to me. No man ever did that I was about 23. But the book of Proverbs I believe, saved my life from messing up from being doing stupid things. I took it seriously. And it really did a lot for me. Now, I'm an old guy. I've been around for many years in the kingdom, and yet still, not every single day. But almost every day, I read a chapter in Proverbs. And it's amazing. There's always something new that applies to today. So the word of God, this is what Paul is saying to Timothy, Timothy, that these are going to get worse, as the Second Coming draws nearer, the pressure is going to get greater, the persecution is going to become even stronger, things are not going to be good. Those who are evil, it says will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. And look at the world today. And we got more education and ever more success than ever more capital floating around the world, despite all the economic problems in the banks and Wall Street, and so on. Nevertheless, in spite of that, what troubles are in the world, some of the most educated people in the world have become some of the greatest crooks in the world. People with our education from Yale, and Harvard, and Columbia. And some of these business schools and so on, are the biggest cheats that the world has ever seen. And they seem to have no conscience, they're destroying the retirement plans of little old ladies and widows, and they just don't give a rip, you know, and the country was on the verge of destruction because of just pure greed, to an excess. That was unbelievable. And yet, these are some of the most educated people in the world. And some of them that are being prosecuted by the SEC and by the FBI, and so on. Are not just little dummies who hold you up for a fix in the streets of San Francisco, the guys dressed up like kings who own yachts on Oh, man airplanes, and they're going to jail just like common crooks. Why? Because they don't know Jesus Christ. And you know, you're in the kingdom of darkness. The more education you have, if you work in darkness, the more gifted you are being a crook, because you got all the smarts to be able to do it. You really good and do the other person in and it really, you say to yourself, uh, why, why? Why? Why? Because they don't know the living Christ. Why? Because they don't know the God who says, God is light. God is love. God is righteous. God is a Spirit. God wants to be your father. So we who are in the kingdom of God, which I figures, probably 99% of us who are here, we need to really learn to rejoice, we must realize that what's going on in the world, is because so much of the world is in darkness, but we are in the kingdom of light. And I love the passage that to me, in a way describes what it is to walk with Jesus Christ. He says in John 737, to 39 Beautiful words, look at what he says, on the last and greatest day of the feast. There's a Jewish feast in Jerusalem, Jesus stood and said, I like this phrase in a loud voice. If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him. In a look at that, are you thirsty tonight? Do you feel you've lost the joy? The satisfaction as a believer? Maybe the first two or three years when you were converted? It was like Glory to you. And now you've been at it for 30 years? Have you lost the joy? Have you lost the fire? Are the rivers of living water not flowing anymore? And you know, they're friends, how many believers don't deny the faith, don't mock Jesus Christ. They're really not ashamed of Jesus, but they've lost the fire. And over here, I love that passage out of his animals, man shall flow rivers of living water. That's the Lord's plan. And then he explains what it is. He says By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive up to that time, the Spirit had not been given since Jesus had not yet been glorified. So if you are not filled with a spirit, if you feel like you're worn out, if you feel like there's a thirst that you can never quench, if you feel something's missing, even though I know I'm a child of God, I know I have eternal life. I love Jesus Christ. I love the Lord. But why why why is the fire gone? Why is the water not flowing? Why am I not sad? This fight, spend a little time this weekend and say to the Lord, Lord, I want that old fire to burn again. I want the water to flow again, that out of my being shall flow rivers of living water. Or as David put it, You anoint my head with oil. My cup runneth over, that it'll spill over to bless other people as you follow the Lord. Okay, let's bow in prayer. Okay. Let's spend a minute just quietly before the Lord. Those of you who are young man, younger, that is younger, I want to speak to you young man, especially your wife looks up to you. Your children think you're the champion. Do the rivers of living water flow out of your life? Is the river really flowing? There's a verse in Psalms that says, the river of God never runs dry. The river of God never runs dry drink of the Lord Jesus, let him fill you with His Spirit. So that your boys and girls and your wife can look up to you. And if they don't say it, though, arguably, but they feel it in their hearts. My dad, my husband, is filled with the Holy Spirit. And for those of us who are older men and women, let's be sure that we're not living off old truths, and just repeating old phrases, but that today, were filled with the joy of the Lord. We're filled with the Holy Spirit. And we really are loving God today. And for those of you younger women who still have kids at home, and your Bush, the next tired like heck, and you just hardly can make it. The Lord can renew you spiritually day by day. When you have a little time with the Lord, just praise Him and thank Him that He had dwells you and just say, Lord, today with my kids, and my husband, and my loved ones, let them see you, flowing through me. Oh, God, our Father. We thank you for the amazing plan of salvation. We thank You, Lord, that You transferred us out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of your dear son. We thank you all father that you have shown in our hearts. And the darkness is gone. Because Christ, the light of the world, and he lives in us. We thank you, our Father, that the Holy Spirit has made us temples of God. And our Lord, we pray that till the day you call us home, or you come to get us in the clouds of the air, we will show your presence in our lives. Thank you for today. Thank you for your promises. Thank you for our Savior. In Jesus name.
Amen. Hi, this is Andrew Palau. And I am so glad that you were able to listen to one of Dad's messages today. I love it. We miss him every single day you can imagine. But the beautiful thing is this the work that dad did for God's Kingdom has not ended. Of course, we continue to spread the good news all around the world. In fact, we're reaching more people with the hope of Jesus Christ than ever before, day after day. But there's still so many, many people out there who don't yet know him. So the harvest is plentiful. We see that every single day and we would love your partnership and support and help and if you'd like to support Palau on this mission, sharing the gospel with every person on the planet. That's our goal, visit us at luispalau.org and you'll see how you can do that. Thank you for joining us today. God bless you.
