[0:00] I greet you in the name of Jesus this morning. Hallelujah. What a Savior.
[0:13] It's been good to be here this morning. Turn to Luke 17, and we will take a look at some of this.
[0:25] You know, how will we walk in faith? In Luke 17, verse 5, the apostles said unto the Lord, increase our faith.
[0:53] Increase our faith. Is that our request this morning?
[1:07] Increase our faith. It probably is for all of us. Well, let's read the Lord's answer. And the Lord said, if ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamore tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, Be thou planted in the sea, and it should obey you.
[1:29] But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him, By and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meet.
[1:41] And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, And gird thyself and serve me, Till I have eaten and drunken, And afterward thou shalt eat and drink.
[1:58] Doth he thank that servant, Because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not, I think not, I say not. So likewise ye, When ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, Say, We are unprofitable servants.
[2:18] We have done that which was our duty to do. Now, If anyone can tell me, What is Jesus saying here?
[2:29] And how, What do we need to do to increase our faith From what Jesus said here? His answer. Anyone have an answer for me?
[2:50] You know, So, Isn't he telling us That if we will walk As a people of faith In the kingdom of God, Then We must be faithful Wherever he has put us, Wherever he has called us, In every situation of life, In the little things of life, In the big things of life, If we walk Faithfully with him, And the Lord works, And he Helps us to walk in faith, It's not To lift us up in pride, But We have only done That which was our duty to do.
[3:47] He says, We are unprofitable servants, Since we have done that which was our duty to do. So, What is our answer?
[3:59] I believe that it is To walk in humility Before our God. And, You know, As we look at this, To think of us as human beings, In our weakness, And in our humanity, And in our bodies of flesh, That we would Rise up in pride Against an almighty God.
[4:27] Isn't that such an absurd thought? But that's what humanity does. That's what humanity does. And, As a side note, I do have something To share, And maybe Wednesday night's the night for that.
[4:46] How humanity has raised up Against the almighty God. In pride, And in arrogance, And in self-will, And rebellion.
[5:02] But for this morning, Let's go to Jeremiah. I want to read a few verses out of Jeremiah. Jeremiah. Jeremiah chapter 9, In verse 23, Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Neither let the mighty man glory in his might.
[5:29] Let not the rich man glory in his riches. Aren't these, Aren't these, Exactly the things that, The people of this world, The, The, The, The old flesh, Will want to do.
[5:47] We want to glory, In the things that we have done. We want to glory in our achievements. We want to glory, In, In, The things that, We have, Done.
[6:01] But verse 24, But let him that glorieth glory in this, That he understandeth, And knoweth me, That I am the Lord, Which exercise loving kindness, Judgment, And righteousness in the earth.
[6:18] For in these things I delight, Saith the Lord. Let him that glorieth. You know, He doesn't say that we shouldn't glory, But he directs us in what to glory in.
[6:33] And what should we glory in? That we understand, And that we know God. That we know him. That we know our savior. That we have a relationship with him.
[6:45] And that we grow in grace, And in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. As we grow in this, As we grow in grace, As we grow in the knowledge of Jesus.
[6:57] Then I believe, As we know him better, As we know him more, Our faith will increase. Our faith will increase. Why?
[7:08] Because, We will understand, That he is, The almighty God. We will understand, That he is in control. We will come to the place, Where we can give our, Our cares to him, And rest in him.
[7:24] And these are some of the things, We want to look at this morning. I am the Lord, Which exercise. He gives us three things, That the Lord doth, In this world.
[7:38] Loving kindness. Loving kindness. You know, In the professing, Christian church today, They want to preach, The love of God, And that is all.
[7:55] The love of God, Is one of the aspects, And one of the things, That God does in this world. God loves all men, And he would not have any, Should perish.
[8:06] But that all, Should come to repentance. That all would come, To the saving knowledge, Of Jesus Christ. But he is not only, A God of love, But he is also, A God of judgment.
[8:21] God of judgment. And he wants to bring, The sins of mankind, To judgment in this life. That we come to the cross, And we acknowledge our sin, And we bring them to judgment, We confess and forsake them, And then we are set free from them.
[8:41] God is a loving God, And he is a God of judgment. And, We'll probably see later on, But God, Will be a God of wrath, When the day of grace, Is over with.
[8:56] But today, Is a day of grace, And mercy, To humanity. But there is, A day coming.
[9:08] There is a day coming, When those who have not sent their sin, Ahead to judgment, Will receive the judgment of God, And righteousness in the earth, Righteousness.
[9:24] Our God is a holy God. Our God is a righteous God. And as we, As we, Trust in him, And commit our all to him, We receive the righteousness, Of Jesus Christ.
[9:41] You know, A very part, Of the Godhead, A very, The very image, Of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is a God of love, God is a God of judgment, God is a holy, Righteous God.
[9:58] It says, For in these things, I delight, Saith the Lord. He delights, In these things, And he takes displeasure, In the rebellion of humanity.
[10:15] Now, I want to get a verse, In Micah. Micah 6, 8. Probably a lot of you know, Probably a lot of you know that, Know that verse.
[10:43] Start reading, Micah 6, Verse 6, Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, And bow myself before the high God? Shall I come before him, With burnt offerings, With calves of a year old, Will the Lord be pleased, With thousands of rams, Or with ten thousands, Of rivers of oil?
[11:04] Shall I give my firstborn, For my transgression, The fruit of my body, For the sin of my soul? He has showed thee, O man, What is good, And what doeth the Lord require of thee, But to do justly, And to love mercy, And to walk humbly, With thy God?
[11:27] You know, He gives us a few things, That God requires, And to do justly, And to love mercy, I believe, Is in our dealings, With our fellow man.
[11:40] But he says, To walk humbly, With thy God. You know, As we walk with him, In humility, He can use us, And he can cleanse us, And he can make of us, The men that he wants us, To be.
[12:03] Now let's turn, Let's turn to Philippians, Chapter 3, I want to read here, The heart cry, Of the Apostle Paul, Amen.
[12:19] Amen. I think we'll just start, Start in verse 1, Finally, my brethren, Rejoice in the Lord, To write to the same things, To you, To me indeed, Is not grievous, But for you it is safe.
[13:00] Beware of dogs, Beware of evil workers, Beware of the concision. For we are the circumcision, Which worship God in the spirit, And rejoice in Christ Jesus, And have no confidence, In the flesh.
[13:16] Remember the verses, In Jeremiah, Do not glory, In the things, That we have done. Do not glory, In the things, That we have accomplished.
[13:27] Do not glory, In earthly things. Here the Apostle Paul, He tells us, That we have no confidence, In the flesh. We have no confidence, In our own ability.
[13:41] We have no confidence, In the things that we have. We have no confidence, In any of that. Then he gives, His, The things that he could have, Had confidence in, Regarding the flesh.
[14:00] Though I might also have, Confidence in the flesh, If any other man, Thinketh that he hath, Whereof he might trust, In the flesh, I more.
[14:13] Circumcised, The eighth day, Of the stock of Israel, Of the tribe of Benjamin, And Hebrew of the Hebrews, As touching the law, A Pharisee. Concerning zeal, Persecuting the church, Touching the righteousness, Which is in the law, Blameless.
[14:31] You know, Just look at this man. He's a Pharisee, And he was the best, Of the best. And he says, As touching the righteousness, Which is of the law, He was blameless.
[14:48] What a testimony, The man had. But what things were gained to me, Those I counted loss for Christ.
[15:01] Yea, doubtless, And I count all things but loss, For the excellency of the knowledge, Of Christ Jesus my Lord. I count all things but loss, For what?
[15:18] The excellency of the knowledge, Of Christ Jesus my Lord. The knowledge of Jesus. Knowing Jesus. Knowing him more.
[15:29] Knowing him better. Having that relationship with him. Drawing closer to him. That must be our pursuit in life. For whom I have suffered, The loss of all things.
[15:46] And do count them but dung, That I may win Christ. You know, All of those things, That he had going for him.
[15:58] All of the things of the flesh, Of the old life, The old man, The things that he had accomplished in life. All of it, Is but waste, As dung.
[16:13] Isn't that, What that old flesh produces, It's filthy rags, In the sight of God. It is no righteousness. And be found in him, Not having mine own righteousness, Which is of the law, For that which is, Through the faith of Christ.
[16:35] The righteousness, Which is of God, By faith. That I might know him, That I might know him, That I might know Jesus, That I might know him, Just think of the apostle, After having preached all these years, And having gone all over, All over Asia, And wherever he went, Preaching the gospel, And starting churches, And now, Oh, That I might know Jesus, That I might know the power, Of his resurrection, Hallelujah.
[17:14] Hallelujah. You know, I want to read some of these verses, In the Amplified. Verse 8, Yes, Furthermore, I count everything as lost, Compared to the possession, Of the priceless privilege, The overwhelming preciousness, The surpassing worth, And supreme advantage, Of knowing Christ Jesus, My Lord.
[17:50] And of progressively, Becoming more deeply, And intimately, Acquainted with him. You know, It's not just, A simple thing like, I know you.
[18:04] I know your face, When I meet you, I know who you are, James. It's not just that, But learning to know, Your motives, Your acts, Your, What drives you.
[18:20] You know, On and on, A closer and a closer walk, With our Lord. The priceless privilege, It is our privilege, To learn to know Jesus.
[18:32] It is our privilege, To walk with him. It is an overwhelming, Preciousness. Do we see it as such, That this, Is a precious relationship, And God forbid, That we would do anything, That would, That would destroy, Or hinder, That relationship, With our Lord Jesus Christ.
[18:56] The surpassing worth, Is this worth more, Than anything, This world has to offer, Anything, That we can, Earn, In this world, Anything, That we can do, It is worth more, It is worth more, Progressively, Becoming more, Deeply, And intimately, Acquainted, With him, Is that you?
[19:33] Or do you think, Do you feel that, Well, I've arrived, I, I'm a Christian, I'm born again, I have the Holy Ghost, I've arrived, And so we coast on, Until we enter glory, It doesn't work that way, It does not work that way, The Christian life, Is a, Is a, Is a life of growth, Continual growth, You know, You, You, You plant a tree out there, And it grows, And it grows, And say, After some years, You see, Oh, It doesn't look quite right, The leaves don't look right, It's not growing this year, And the next year, It's dead, When you quit growing, You're gonna die, For his sake,
[20:40] I have lost everything, And consider it all, To be mere rubbish, Refuse, And drugs, In order that I may win, That I may gain Christ, The anointed one, That I might know him, And the power of his resurrection, And the fellowship, Of his sufferings, Hallelujah, You know, Some of that doesn't sound, All that nice, But we must be willing, We must be, Conformed, To his death, We must have died, With him, Buried with him, In baptism, Raised again, In newness of life, Oh, That I might know him, Oh, That I might draw closer to him, Oh,
[21:41] That I would know him, In such a way, That I have just this fellowship, With him, You know, You know, The same fellowship, That Jesus had with the father, You know, I, That, There were nights, He spent all night in prayer, There were, There were, You know, He prayed so much, The disciples said, Lord, Teach us to pray, Why?
[22:03] Because they saw, When Jesus prayed, Then things happened, The miracles, The healings, And all of that, The life of Jesus, He was connected, To the father, Jesus said, I do nothing, Unless the father do it, I say nothing, Unless the father says it, You know, Jesus was our example, Are we connected to him, In the way that he was connected, With the father, That I might know him, That I may progressively, Become more deeply, And intimately acquainted, With him, Perceiving, And recognizing, And understanding, The wonders of his person, More strongly, And more clearly, That I may in that same way, Come to know the power, The outflowing,
[23:04] From his resurrection, Which it exerts, Over believers, That I may so share, His sufferings, As to be continually, Transformed, In spirit, Into his likeness, Even to his death, In the hope, That if possible, I may attain, To the spiritual, And moral resurrection, That lifts me out, From among the dead, Even while in the body, You know, The same spirit, That raised up, Jesus from the dead, Now dwells in us, He dwells in us, The same Holy Ghost, That raised up, Jesus out of that tomb, Raised him from the dead, The same spirit, He dwells within us, And the only thing, That hinders that spirit, From working through us, Is our unbelief, And our not knowing him, You know, If we know Jesus, Then the Holy Ghost, Can work in us, And through us, Amen,
[24:11] Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Verse 12, Not as though I had already attained, Neither were already perfect, But I follow after, If that I may apprehend, That for which also I am apprehended, Of Christ Jesus, Brethren, I count not myself, To have apprehended, But this one thing I do, Forgetting those things, Which are behind, And reaching forth, Into those things, Which are before, I press toward the mark, For the prize of the high calling, Of God in Christ Jesus, I press toward the mark, For the prize of the high calling, Of God in Christ Jesus, Are you making your calling, And election sure today, Are you pressing for the mark, For the prize, Of the high calling,
[25:13] Of God in Christ Jesus, He's called you, He wants to use you, He wants to make you, Into man that he can use, He wants to take you, In this last day, In this dark world, Of sin, And, And, And, You know, It's a reprobate world, Out there, And Jesus, He wants to take you, And use you, In this dark world, To be a bright shining light, Verse 13, I count not myself, To have apprehended, I don't count myself, To have arrived, You know, My mind goes, To the children of Israel, And they were coming, To the promised land, And, Before they entered in, Two and a half tribes said, You know, This is an abundant land,
[26:14] There's an abundance of grass, And we have cattle, We have lots of cattle, And this, This land here, Where we are at, It's a perfect place, For us, And for our cattle, To flourish, They were content, Outside the promised land, But Moses allowed them, To stay there, But let me ask you, The question, Are you content, Without entering in, To everything, That God has for you, You say, I'm born again, I'm baptized, I'm a member of the church, I, You know, I'm living for God, I, On and on down the line, You list the things, That you do, And that you are, But the bad thing is, If you're content, You're not going anywhere, This one thing I do,
[27:27] Forgetting those things, Which are behind, Forgetting those things, That are behind, You know, Hebrews 11, And that you know, Hebrews 11, Tells us, That, If, If they were mindful, Of the things, That they had left, You know, Let me just, Let me just read that verse, It's, Find it pretty easy, I think, We can get it right, In verse 13, He says, They, They confess, They confess, That they were strangers, And pilgrims, On the earth, For they that say, Such things, Declare plainly, That they seek a country, And truly, If they had been, Mindful of that country, From whence they came out, They might have had, Opportunity, To have returned, If we are continually, Looking back, And we don't forget, Those things behind, They will become, A hindrance to us, We look back,
[28:29] At the things, That we used to do, We look back, At the things, That we used to be, And we look back, You know, There's a time, For memory, But there's also, A time to forget, And the apostle Paul says, Forgetting those things, Which are behind, I press, For the mark, Of the prize, Of the high calling, Of God, In Christ Jesus, But here in Hebrews, He says, If they had been, Mindful of that country, Back there, They would have had, Opportunity to return, We don't want to return, To where we were, So let's forget, The things that are behind, And let's press on, Let's press on, You know, You hear many people, Talk about the good old days, And of the revivals, Of the past, And that's, Those things are good, But we can't return, To those, We need a revival, In our day, The revival,
[29:32] Of 40 years ago, Won't do us a lot of good, Unless that fire, Is still burning, In our hearts, And it needs to be, Burning today, We need a revival, Today, They had been, Mindful of that country, From whence they came out, They might have had, Opportunity to have returned, But now, They desire, A better country, That is, And heavenly, Wherefore, God is not ashamed, To be called their God, For he has, Prepared for them, A city, Is your goal, Heaven, Or is your goal, To live in Plains, Montana, And have a nice, And easy life, If it's God's will, That you live here, Great, But there's a day coming,
[30:33] When we're going to move on, Is that our goal, Is that our vision, Or, Are we nearsighted, They declared, Plainly, That they seek a country, And they are, They were strangers, And pilgrims, On the earth, Are you a stranger, And a pilgrim, On this earth, Are you, One of those, That this world, Considers, A peculiar people, I press toward the mark, For the prize, Of the high calling, Of God, In Christ Jesus, Let us, Therefore, As many as be perfect, Be thus minded, If any, In anything, Ye are otherwise minded, God shall reveal, Even this, Unto you,
[31:34] Knowing Christ, Knowing him, Knowing him, And the power, Of his resurrection, And the fellowship, Of his sufferings, You know, If we know him, If we know him, Then, Then, Then, It's not hard, In verse, Six, Of chapter four, He says, Be careful, For nothing, But in everything, By prayer, And supplication, With thanksgiving, Let your requests, Be made known, Unto God, You know, I believe, That God, Wants us, To bring our prayers, And our,
[32:35] Our requests, Our petitions, To him, And then, To rest in him, That rest, That only comes, Because we trust him, We have faith, In God almighty, We know him, And we know, That he will, Work in our behalf, We know, That we can trust him, With whatever situation, We have, That we've given to him, We can trust him, Says, And if we do this, If we give it to him, And we have confidence, And trust in him, The peace of God, Which passes all understanding, Will keep your hearts, And minds, Through Christ Jesus, Hallelujah, The peace of God, That passes all understanding, Let it rule, In your heart, You know, If, If you have, If you have, Problems, If you have, Things that,
[33:35] That, Maybe, Bring an unsettledness, To you, Things that, They want, They want to, Make you worry, They want to, Disturb, Disturb your peace, Just come to Jesus, Seek him, Seek him, Seek him, Just give yourself, To knowing him, You know, The account that, Brother Dan read, The apostles, You know, They, They, They, They wondered, Why couldn't we, Cast out, This devil, Jesus said,
[34:37] This kind comes only out, By prayer, And fasting, You know, We can say that, That kind of devil, Doesn't come out, Except by prayer, And fasting, I believe, We can also say, That kind of unbelief, Doesn't come out, But by prayer, And fasting, If we know Jesus, Jesus never had a problem, Casting out devils, Jesus came to destroy, The work of the devil, That's what he came for, He never had a problem, So as we are here, In his name, We represent him, And if we know him, And we're walking with him, Then we shouldn't have a problem, With those things either, We might have to fast, And pray, That we might, Draw an eye to him,
[35:37] Galatians 2.20, The apostle wrote, He said, I am crucified, With Christ, Nevertheless, Nevertheless, I live, Yet not I, But Christ liveth in me, And the life, Which I now live, In the flesh, I live by the faith, Of the Son of God, Who loved me, And gave himself, For me, I am crucified, With Christ, And now Christ, Lives in me, And the life, I now live, Is the life of Christ, That he lives through me, Hallelujah, Yes, You know, In preparing, There's a lot of things,
[36:46] There's a lot of promises, In Isaiah, You know, Let's turn, Let me get a few verses, In Isaiah 30, Verse 15, For thus saith the Lord God, The Holy One of Israel, In returning, And rest, Shall ye be saved, In quietness, And in confidence, Shall be your strength, And the sad, Commentary, On the children of Israel, Is, And ye would not, But hopefully, We can leave, That little phrase off, For us today, In quietness,
[37:47] And in confidence, Shall be your strength, You know, Quietness, And confidence, Having confidence, In our Lord Jesus Christ, Having confidence, In him, Knowing, Knowing, That he, Will take care of us, That all things, Work together for good, To them that love God, To them that are the called, According to his purpose, You know, You know, If we are in his will, If we are walking, By the direction, And the power, Of the spirit of God, We can rest, We can rest, In him, Isaiah 10, There's a verse, That says, The yoke, Shall be destroyed, Because of the anointing, The yoke of flesh, The yoke of sin, The yoke, Of the enemy, The yoke, That,
[38:47] That, That, You know, If we serve, If we serve sin, We're in bondage to it, But if we, Are yoke with Christ, Then our yoke is easy, But that old yoke of sin, That old yoke of the enemy, It will be broken, How?
[39:07] By the anointing, Of the Holy Ghost, By our, You know, And it's interesting, That word, In that, In that instance, They say that, It literally means fatness, Well, Let us grow, In the grace, In the knowledge, Of our Lord Jesus Christ, Let us, If you will, Become fat, In our, Walk with Jesus, That our knowledge, Of him, And our, Relationship with him, Is such, That, The yoke of the enemy, The enemy has no place, In us, You know, When Jesus was coming, Close, To, To laying down his life,
[40:08] He made that little statement, And he said, That, Satan has nothing, In me, Satan had no hold, On our Lord Jesus, He had no right, In his life, The only reason, That he had to go, To the cross, Was for our sin, Not his own, In quietness, And in confidence, In confidence, Shall be your strength, God is our refuge, A present help, In time of trouble, Be still, And know, That I am God, Be still, And know, That I am God, You know, Isaiah, We're right there, Chapter 31, He warns him, He says, Woe to them, That go down to Egypt,
[41:08] For help, And stay on horses, And trust in chariots, Because they are many, And in horsemen, Because they are very strong, But they look not, Unto the Holy One of Israel, Neither seek the Lord, Where do we put our confidence, Where do we put our confidence, Is it in the things of the flesh, Is it in the things of this world, Is it in what we can accomplish, Or is it in the Holy One of Israel, Going down to Egypt, And putting their trust in horses, Notice what he says here, Because they are many, Because they are many, And because they are very strong, You know, In the natural, There's many things, That are many, And that are strong, But we cannot, Put our trust in them,
[42:11] Whatever it is, But we must put our trust, In the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. Matthew 19, Here we have a young man, Came to Jesus, And he said in verse 16, Good master, What good things shall I do, That I may have eternal life, He said unto him, Why callest thou me good?
[43:11] There is none good, But one, That is God, But if thou will enter into life, Keep the commandments, He saith unto him, From which, Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honor thy father, And thy mother, And thou shalt love thy neighbor, As thyself, The young man saith unto him, All these things, Have I kept from my youth up, What lack I yet, I've lived a perfect life, I've done it all, I've done it right, What lack I yet, Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, Go and sell that thou hast, And give to the poor, And thou shalt have treasure in heaven, And come and follow me, The young man heard that saying, He went away sorrowful, For he had great possessions,
[44:12] You know, Let's turn this just a little bit, Go and sell that thou hast, You know, All the things that we have, The things that we trust in, The things that we put our trust in, The things that keep us from trusting in God, Sell them, Get rid of them, Get rid of them, That we can trust in him, Whatever is keeping us, From following him, And trusting him, With all our heart, Sell it, Get rid of it, And put your trust, In the Lord Jesus Christ, Grace and peace, Be multiplied to you, Through the knowledge of God,
[45:14] In Jesus our Lord, What a wonderful promise, What a wonderful verse, Jeremiah 33, Call unto me, Call unto me, And I will answer, And I will show thee great and mighty, Things that thou knowest not, You know, Our God, If we will trust him, He will be faithful, Let's remove, Whatever, We're trusting in, That is not of him, Whatever is hindering us, From trusting him, In every area of life, Let's sell it, Trust in him, Let's pray,
[46:16] Lord we thank you, That you are the one, And the only, True and faithful God, And Lord, That we can safely, Trust in you, And know that you will, Be faithful to your word, You will be faithful, To your people, Lord we thank you, Lord, We praise your holy name, Thank you Lord, Lord, Help us, Increase our faith Lord, Increase our faith, Help us Lord, To walk with you, In humility, And not allow anything, To steal, Or to hinder us, In our walk with you, Lord, Search us and try us,
[47:19] And see if there's any hindrances, And lead us in the way everlasting, We thank you Lord, We pray in Jesus name, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen,