“THE DAM IS BREAKING”
Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Psalms 118:8 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. 9 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.
It is easy to trust in the Lord and jump on the band wagon for God when everybody is doing it but true trust is seen when one stands for the Lord even it if goes against the culture of a country.
In Isaiah 30 we find a man that trusted in the Lord in the midst of a national rebellion. His name was Isaiah.
Here in our church most of you have trusted in the Lord. You come to hear truth taught whether it makes you shout “Amen” or “O me.” You are faithful and to that I say, God bless you, and He will.
The word trust is synonymous with belief, hope, conviction, confidence, dependence but mainly it associated with faith.
“Trust in the Lord” appears nineteen times in the Bible. The significance of the number “nineteen” is the fact that in Biblical numerology “nineteen” speaks of one’s faith.
Isaiah was a mighty prophet of God. Biblical history bears record that Isaiah was fearless of man and favored by God. He stood for truth in the midst of a very stubborn and obstinate people.
The prophets before Isaiah had warned of judgment if God’s people ever turned away from God. Twenty years earlier Isaiah warned Judah and Israel to return and be faithful to the Lord.
But now the dam waters of God’s wrath had risen to the flood stage and very soon the dam would break upon Israel, but why?
The Outline: I – THE NOTICE
II – THE NOTEBOOK
III – THE NEVERENDING STORY
I – THE NOTICE– Isaiah 30:1-7
Read Isaiah 30:1. 1 Woe to the rebellious children, saith the LORD, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin:
2 That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt!
Twenty times Isaiah shouts, “Woe” in his book. Six times he shouts, “Woe” in chapters 30-33. Why? It is a notice from God as you might receive a notice from the electric company that says, “You have not paid your bill. Please send in payment by a certain date or your power will be cut off.”
Well, Israel had rebelled against God. They had refused to give God the honor and love He deserved and Isaiah sends them six notices in three chapters.
The mighty Assyrian Army had threatened Israel and Judah. They said to both of them, join up with us or we will destroy you.
The Assyrians promised Israel that everything would be better in life than before. There would be more food, more fun and more festivity.
Israel engaged in this sweet communion but it wasn’t long before Israel found out that the Assyrians, which were a picture of Satan as well as a picture of the Antichrist, lied to them.
Things didn’t get better, they got worse. There national economy began to crumble due to the tax dollars the Assyrians demanded and then Israel’s families continued to crumble.
How many of you have lived long enough to find out that the devil works the same way? He will say, “Come on rebel against God. You are missing out on living. You are missing out on life. Live it up!”
Then one day you wake up and realize your life is a mess, your family is a mess, your country is a mess and the deviled lied to you.
The king of Israel was Hoshea at this time. He was afraid of Assyria and he wanted out of the pack he made with them. He was making plans to make an alliance to yoke up with Egypt, whom God already said, “Don’t do it, trust me.”
As he attempted to make that deal with Egypt (Isaiah 30:3-7), Shalmaneser, king of Assyria found out and the dam broke.
The flood waters rushed through Israel. The mighty Assyrians came down. Israel was conquered but worse, the land was flooded with people from many nations that brought their culture, their beliefs, their immorality and their gods.
Listen to this! What I am about to say is found in Second Kings 17:24. Because Israel would not trust the Lord, because they played with sin, that sin blinded them.
When the prophet cried for them to repent and turn back to God, they couldn’t. Their eyes were blind. They did not know which direction to walk. Their ears were deaf and they could not hear nor did they believe truth. Their hearts were hardened and justified their actions.
They had wandered to far from truth to know truth when it hit them in the face. And their minds were darkened.
That is what is happening to so many in Bible preaching churches today. They hear truth but don’t heed to it and their hearts get harder and their minds get darker until they no longer care about truth.
Then foreigners overran their country. (Hello America) Israel whose worship was so pitiful anyway accepted the worship of the other ideas of “God” as readily as Americans and many churches have today.
These foreigners set up their gods, they controlled the atmosphere of Samaria and Israel’s children served graven images or false ideas of the true God. And the nation of Israel never returned to the days of glory. Christian friend that is what is happening today in America.
Stop and think: Why did God allow this to happen to Israel? It was because Israel, who claimed to be the people of the true God, no longer lived for God. The professed God but did not trust and obey.
When a dam breaks and the water rushes through a town, the entire town is changed forever. Not only are many drown, but the houses and swept away and the very foundations the houses once sat upon are washed away.
Often entire towns are washed off the face of the map and they are never built again like they once were. This was what happened to Israel.
To this Isaiah was warning Judah that if they walked the same way, it would happen to them. And to this Isaiah preaches to America today, the same thing could happen and is happening in our country.
II – THE NOTE BOOK – Isaiah 30:8-14
Isaiah 30: 8 Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever:
God tells Isaiah to write down this eternal message. Why would God call what He is about to say, an eternal message?
Because, what is about to happen to Israel would happen again and again if they did not learn to “Trust in the Lord.”
Here was what Isaiah wrote down in a note book.
1 - Verse 9 That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD:
Today, when someone is called rebellious, we often think of a child that throws a temper-tantrum in public but that is not what the word “rebellious” means. It simply means a people that are disobedient to the Word of God. They hear it but won’t obey it.
Lying Children - Anyone who rebels against truth lives a lie.
If a lie is lived long enough it darkens a persons senses so when God’s word is preach they can’t hear God’s spirit nor perceive truth.
Picture a mother in the front room of her house looking out the window as her children playing in the front yard. One of them begins to chase a butterfly into the street. The mother sees a car speeding down the street and she yells a warning to her child, but the window and walls muffle her sound. The child never heard mother’s warning.
That is what rebellion in ones heart will ultimately come to. A person can’t hear God’s spirit crying to them. The heart is rebellious.
They turn away from God and they often chase the butterflies of life to their death.
2 - Verse 10 Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:
The seer was one who could predict the future. Israel said, “Come on preacher, don’t preach so hard. Don’t tell us the truth. Don’t tell us how to live. We want to live as we please. If you don’t mind just deceive us, just entertain us. Just preach positive, just preach half the Bible and we’ll be happy.
Paul gave this same warning 1900 years ago in Second Timothy 4:
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
How do you know a false preacher? Let me give you seven ways:
1 - False teachers are men-pleasers (Gal. 1:10; 1 Thess. 2:1-4).
2 - False teachers are notable in casting dirt (Korah – Numbers 16:3; 2 Cor. 10:10). They speak against those who preach truth.
3 - False teachers are inventers of the devices and visions of their own heads and hearts (Jer 23:16; 14:14) They speak of things not in the Bible. They make who their own doctrines.
4 – They major on the minors and minor on the major teachings of the Bible. (Matt. 23:2,3) Today we need to reach people’s heart first.
5 – They sugar coat the message enough rather than preaching straight truth. 2 Cor. 11:13-15
6 – They strive to win men by their opinions rather than by God’s word. They speak to better man’s mind and not man’s heart. (Matthew 24:17).
7 – They are out to make merchandise of you. They want your money. (2 Peter 2:1-3). Be careful of TV preachers asking for your money!
3 - Verse 11 Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.
They didn’t want to hear about the Holy God of Israel. Many churches today says, “Let’s just get together on Sunday evening and fellowship and have coffee and chips and chat.” And Wednesday evening has turned into children time rather than prayer meeting and preaching.
4 - Verse 12 Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon:
Israel rejected truth. They trusted man’s philosophy. They trusted in the lies of the world like “I’m saved by grace; I can live any way I please.” But, they did not trust in the Word of the Living God.
THE ROCK WALL
Then Isaiah describes their down fall as a man walking by a rock wall and it suddenly, without warning falls on that man and crushes him to death.
Verse 13 Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant.
THE BROKEN VESSEL
Then he describes God’s judgment as a potter who has worked with a piece of clay over and over and when he placed the lovely vessel of clay in the fire, it came out distorted. The potter would take that clay pot and throw it against the rocks because it was a true picture of the potter’s heart.
6 - Verse 14 And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters' vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit.
All of this was written in a book (the book of Isaiah) to warn God’s people to never wander away again.
In that NOTEBOOK is found prophecy.
Now, I believe verses 15-18 are prophetic scriptures.
God says in verse 15, “I’ve ask you to return to me. I asked you to find your rest in me but you would not, you refused.”
After Israel’s fall, God sent Jesus Christ into the world. Jesus said to them “Repent” but they refused.
Verse 16, they said, “No.” “We will ride our way swiftly away from you.” God said then you will be pursued (v 17) and you will die like flies.
Isaiah 30:17 One thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at the rebuke of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on an hill.
I believe this scripture to be prophetic by Isaiah. It is not a compliment of what is going to happen it is a disgrace. What would happen here will be remembered by Israel for thousands of years.
This prophecy would come to pass 800 years later. It would transpire after Jesus came and after the Jewish people had rejected Christ as we just read.
MASADA
History tells us an amazing story of a battle on top of a mountain called Masada in Israel. After Titus conquered Jerusalem in 70 A.D a group of Jews fled to the mountain of Masada. It was a natural fortress with cliffs straight up that stood more than a thousand feet in the sky (East side 1300 feet and west side 300 feet), with only one small road carved out of the rock to the top. An army of fifty could hold off an army of ten thousand.
The Roman Ruler, Titus commanded the Roman governor, Silva to destroy the 960 zealots on top of Masada. It would take Silva two years but Silva began building a massive road using 2,000 Jewish slaves to hall rock and dirt.
When the 960 Jews saw the road near completion and that soon the Romans would conquer them, they decided they would rather die than become Roman slaves.
They chose ten men to take the lives of all the rest. This was done. Then of the ten, one was chosen to take the lives of the nine men and the final man committed suicide. Two women who hid away told the story to the Romans.
To the Jewish people this was an ensign on a hill, a symbol of Jewish heroism and determination to live as a free and sovereign people.
According to God’s word there was nothing heroic about it. Why? If God’s people will not serve Him, He will turn them over to taskmasters. He did it in Egypt. He did it in Babylon. He did it in Rome.
And He does it today. God’s people (Christians) can as God’s sons, serve their Father or in time they will become slaves to the governments of this world.
III – THE NEVER-ENDING STORY – Isaiah 30:19-33
Isaiah 30:19 For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more: he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee.
20 And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers:
21 And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.
The message that Isaiah delivered was so bleak and discouraging that the Holy Spirit leads him to end with the great promise of the never-ending story that God gives His people and that is, “There is a Great Day coming.”
The Jewish people have a lot of sad memories in history but one day the sovereign God of Israel will show his mighty grace again.
Though they rejected the Messiah, He will give tham another chance.
Then they will hear and understand (21).
They will destroy their false images (22).
They will see and behold the beauty of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
Their land will blossom with plenty (23).
And God will bring a healing to their land (v 26).
But, Israel must understand something as you do and that is this; this is a never-ending story till Satan is finally cast into the lake of fire.
Verses 27-33 retell the same historical story I just told you.
It is a repeat of what happened 3700 years ago.
1) 3700 years ago Isaiah warned Israel to hear and obey God. They rebelled and the Assyrians fell upon them and took them captive.
2) Seven-hundred and twenty-two-years later when Christ came, John the Baptist, Jesus, and the Disciples again cried out for Israel to “Believe God.” They rejected God’s Word again and the Romans fell upon them and they made their final stand at Masada.
3) Now for 2,000 years the Church which was predominately Jewish in the beginning and now mostly Gentile but never the less, Jew or Gentile, it is the Bride of Christ, has preached Jesus for 2,000 years and yet the Jewish people as a whole still live in rebellion of God’s Word as well as most Gentile nations today.
And, one day a great a mighty nation, like the Assyrians will fall on Israel again, and not only them but the whole world, only this time the nation will be the nation of the Antichrist during the tribulation period (27-33).
Look at the last thought in this passage.
1) Isaiah 30:27-28 deal with the Tribulation time.
Compare Isaiah 30:27 with Revelation 19:15:
Isaiah 30:27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:
Revelation 19: 15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
When Christ returns he will return in judgment to smite and destroy the rebels of this earth whether they are Jew or Gentile. They will be defeated and cast into an eternal hell because they had rejected the Lord Jesus Christ.
Compare Isaiah 30:28 and Revelation 16:11:
Isaiah 30:28 And his breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the midst of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity: and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to err.
Revelation 16: 11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.
The pride of man will blaspheme God. God will thus herd them up like cattle and bring them to the valley of Mediggo to the battle of Armageddon where the stream of blood from this great slaughter will flow the horses bridle and man neck.
2) Then Isaiah turns to the Millennium to give encouragement to Israel and the world that would be saved:
29 Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the LORD, to the mighty One of Israel.
Joy will return to Israel one day. He will reign from Mount Zion, the New Jerusalem. His voice will be heard but he must first destroy the rebels (look at verse 30). So he goes back to the tribulation time.
30 And the LORD shall cause his glorious voice to be heard, and shall show the lighting down of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, and tempest, and hailstones.
Now Isaiah reveals a prophetic blessing in verse 31 to Judah. This prophecy will not take place for about eight years after Israel’s fall.
But, Isaiah tells Judah that God will smite the Assyrians for them. This will take place in Isaiah 36.
31 For through the voice of the LORD shall the Assyrian be beaten down, which smote with a rod.
32 And in every place where the grounded staff shall pass, which the LORD shall lay upon him, it shall be with tabrets and harps: and in battles of shaking will he fight with it.
But, understand this is also prophetic of the Antichrist. He will wage a mighty war against Israel and many will die.
But, the Lord will wage war against the Antichrist and this world. Why and when? Did Isaiah give us a hint or a piece of evidence or a symbol of something that transpiring when Israel fell to the Assyrians that shall take place again in the last days?
He does. In verse 33 Isaiah reveals this truth to all the world.
33 For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large: the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.
Tophet comes from the Hebrew words means drums and burning. The kings of Israel and Judah had fallen so far from God that outside Mount Zion on the south-side was a valley called the valley of Hinnon.
It was here that Israel and Judah made child sacrifices to the Canaanite god, Moleck.
It would be yet another ninety years before Judah would destroy Toheth and do away with the worship of this Canaanite god. Did you understand that? Judah even in the days of Isaiah and under his fiery preaching kept the temple of Moleck in the valley of Hinnon where child sacrifices could still take place.
We read in Second Kings 23:10, And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech.
Not until Josiah became king did he in 640 B.C. (ninety years later) put a stop to this wicked practice. But too much water had already flushed over the dam. Judgment was coming.
How does that relate to the world today? What is the character trait today? One might say, “Nobody but heathens in the darkest jungles make such sacrifices.”
To that I must disagree for all over the world from China to America, from England to France, from Russia to Germany and on and on, by the law of the governments of all theses lands babies are offered as sacrifices to the god of conveniences.
It was legalized in America in 1973. You know it as abortion.
And the number one reason women give for having an abortion is it will interfere with their life style.
The Notice is clear. Turn back to God. The Notebook is clear. Don’t rebel any longer. The Never-ending story is clear.
If you are saved, you are on the winning side. Your job and mine as believers should be to flood God’s altar every chance we get and cry out to God to change our hearts or to change our family or to change our country.
Will you be a Christians that will Cry Out To God!
Monday, July 21, 2008
WHO CONTROLS THE WORLD?
WHO CONTROLS THE WORLD?
I know ultimately, God controls all, but why has God allowed world dictators to control countries and influence the world? History reveals that the Pharaoh’s of Egypt and the Caesars of Rome controlled the world. Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and Alexander the Great of Greece and many other evil men controlled kingdoms. Even in God’s government of Israel he allowed rulers like Ahab and Jezebel and puppet kings.
ISAIAH’S WORDS TO ISRAEL
In the time around A.D. 730 Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 29:1, “Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices.”
We see a play on words in verse one. Isaiah is using a little sarcasm here to wake Israel up. First a warning signal is given to Jerusalem or Judah, “Woe.”
Isaiah says to Judah, you need to stop everything you are doing and listen to what I am about to say.
Then Judah is called a lion-like fortress. That is what “Ariel” means. In other words Judah thought they were the “king of the jungle.” They felt they were strong enough spiritually to take care of every thing in life because after all they still had their worship services.
Isaiah is actually mocking them when he says, “let them kill sacrifices.” They thought they were safe because of their worship services. They thought because of the “sacrifices” they made to God everything was OK, but there was a big problem. The worship was head worship with little or no heart worship.
God says in verse two: 2 Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow…
To be in distress is to feel grief, misery, worry, danger, difficulty. I think a lot of people in America and around the world today feel distressed. They are worried about the oil crisis, the economy, food prices going up and the uncertainty of the future.
He declares in verse three and four: 3 And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee.
4 And thou shalt be brought down..
Why is God lifting up enemies against His people and bring them down or should I say cripple their economy? Look at verses nine through sixteen.
1- (9) The people were drunk on pleasure.
2- (10) The people were undiscerning of spiritual things. They did not put God first and so God allowed their eyes to be darkened.
3 – (11-12) The people were ignorant of spiritual things.
4 – (14) God will take the wise men away and people would become more ignorant.
5 – (15) The people lived in hidden sin and said, “Nobody sees what I am doing.”
6 – (16) The people were upset with the potter. They wanted to run their own lives.
Then Isaiah jumps 2700 years in the future and says in verse 18, “in that day,” which speaks of the time the Lord will return. Things will be OK, then. Joy will return. The enemy will be defeated. The doctrines will come again and man will understand them.
But, you and I say, “Lord, how about today?” “What is going on today in this crazy world we live in?”
The history of Israel was well known. They were offered by God the greatest physical, material and political blessings any nation could ever have if they would walk with God and obey His Word, but they did not. They could have been the head but they became the tail. They could have controlled the world but the world controlled them.
World powers such as the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks and even Rome dominated them. World powers controlled their economy. World powers set up puppet kings to sit on Israel’s throne and make decisions by “the powers that be.”
When Christ came and gave His life to provide Salvation, He established a power greater than Israel. He established the Church.
1- He established a group of people who realizes dying was better than living.
2- These people that were blood-washed sinners transformed into saints of God had a power within them that could transform the world.
3- They had a light that could draw thousands and millions to a saving knowledge of Christ.
4- They had a prayer power that could touch heaven and move God’s hand, which moves the hearts of kings and controls the nations and armies of the world.
But, over the years the Christian soldiers that made up that mighty army of God has became weaker and weaker and weaker.
Those blood washed saints which once gave their life, liberty and sacred honor to God and for righteousness, today might give God their thoughts one hour a week.
Because of that the Church as a whole has lost its influence in the world. And the Church which could still be a great power and asset has allowed the spirit of the antichrist to creep in.
And today we are living in the last days just prior to a one world government and a one world economy and a one world religion.
Now listen and let me give you one more verse that is the hope of the unbelievable situation I shall share with you this morning. That verse is
Second Chronicles 7: 14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
Who controls the world today?
Is the world in an economic crisis due to the shortage of oil? Is their a “power unseen” or “unknown” by most people that literary has the supremacy to control what you will pay at the gas pumps and what you will pay for a gallon of milk or is all of this just the ignorance of the governments of the world and is the world on a toboggan slide to disaster?
Are those geniuses who run this world that ignorant or that smart to make the average man think everything is bad so we will vote for the globalization of the world.
Is this part of what some peopled The Illuminati, the Tri-lateral Commission? Is this the power of the United Nations? We know according to the book of Daniel and the book of Revelation there will be a globalization economically, politically and religiously. How close are we to this world becoming one.
Is there another power that can control nations and determine what nations are 1st, 2nd or 3rd world countries? Will America be a 2nd or 3rd class nation in twenty years? Listen to this amazing story.
THE YEAR IS 1970
In 1970 a young man, a missionary by the name of Lindsey Williams, went to Alaska when he heard of the building of the Alaskan Pipeline and ask if he could be their chaplain. They had never had a chaplain but decided to allow him to do so.
They gave him the northern 7 camps up near Prudhoe Bay on the Northern Slopes of Alaska.
After some time R. H. King came to Lindsey and said, “You’ve saved us thousands of dollars of counseling fees. We want to make you an executive on our board. We would like to invite you to sit in on our board meetings to help understand and solve any problems between management and labor.”
Lindsey Williams sat with and ate with the most powerful, controlling and manipulative men on the face of the earth.
Lindsey said, “I never knew such people existed. I was thrown in the midst of those who controlled the world.”
He went on to say, “Had you asked me in 1970 if I believe a hand full of men controlled this world I would have told you that you were crazy.
After ten years in 1980, of sitting in the executive board meeting with the most powerful and influential people in the world, if you asked me do you believe there are people who tell the President of the U.S. what to do and the Saudi’s what to do, and who tells the world what they will pay for a barrel of oil, I would say absolutely, “Yes.”
This young missionary would go back to his room at night and pray and cry to God and say, “God how can there be such people on the face of the earth that literally control the world.”
Folks, these few power hungry men have an agenda. They know what they are doing. They have set goals and are watching them come about.
Lindsey Williams said, “I sat on the board and heard their plans back in the 1970’s and I have seen their plans come to pass.”
One day, Ben Lawlow, the equipment man from Atlantic Richfield said to Lindsey Williams, “Would you like to see something exciting. Jump in my pickup truck. We think we have just struck the largest pool of oil in North America and the World.” The year was 1976, and they had.
They discovered enough oil off the North Slope of Alaska in Prudhoe Bay, on Gull Island to supply America with oil for the next 200 years. Four years later they found another pool of oil in Alaska as large as the first pool of oil. On the North Slope of Alaska America has more oil that Saudi Arabia and Iraq and Iran. There was enough natural gas on the North Slope of Alaska to supply America for the next 200 years as well. They pump one billion cubic feet of natural gas back into the ground every day with 48 - 747 jet engines.
They thought the next morning every newspaper in America would announce this tremendous discovery and it would be on the front page.
When Lindsey Williams came to ARCO base the next morning a security guard grabbed him and said, “Don’t say a word of anything you saw yesterday and ushered him up stairs to the office of Ken Fromme, the Atlantic Richfield’s head man.
“Chaplain”, he said, “Forget what you saw yesterday and be careful what you say. That information has just been classified. There will be no oil released from it anytime soon.”
Lindsey was so concerned he called Senator Huge Chance from the state of Colorado and asked him to come out and see what was going on.
The senator talked with everybody for one week and questioned everybody he could. He then told Lindsey this, “We had just been briefed by officials from Washington and informed in the state senate of Colorado of the energy crisis in America and I realized everything I was told in that top level briefing was a lie. I was intentionally lied to. It was 1976.”
I now quote Lee Kingston from June 20, 2008. “In 1975, an anonymous ARCO official told Hugh M. Chance, a former State Senator from Colorado, that the Government had allowed only one pool of oil in a 100 square mile area on Alaska's North Slope to be developed, even though the entire area north of Brooks Range has so much oil, that if it were drilled in five years the United States could be totally energy free, and totally independent from the rest of the world as far as energy is concerned. The Prudhoe Bay oil field is one of the richest oil fields on earth, able to produce an oil flow for at least 20 years, without the need of a pump.”
As of today, July 6, 2008 not one drop of that oil has been allowed to come through the United States of America and the administration in Washington has prevented this from happening since 1976.
A few years later, the head man of Atlantic Richfield, Ken Fromme was fired. He knew more about Atlantic Richfield than any man alive. Why did they fire him? Because Ken had allowed Lindsey Williams to see everything and Lindsey Williams wrote it in a book.
Then, Ken said, “Lindsey, I’m mad and there are a few things in your book that is not letter perfect, may I rewrite your book and make everything letter perfect. They rewrote it. And the book reveals that this field of oil is totally perfect for oil production. Two months later they hired Ken back with a large increase of pay in an agreement to keep his mouth shut.
Now let’s move to the year 2007
In October of 2007, when gas was $2.50 a gallon Lindsey Williams told audiences all over America that oil would go to $4 to $5 a gallon in one year. This is 2008 and it isn’t October yet and gas is between $4 and $5 a gallon and still going up.
Gas could be less than $1.50 a gallon if our President and Vice President and congress would allow us to drill and use the oil discovered on Gull Island in Prudhoe Bay in 1976 in Alaska.
Why won’t they. In the next message I will tell you a story when this group of men who control the world began and where they began. My wife, Karen and I sat in the very building where these men originally met to begin this world wide operation. We drank coffee and talked and had no idea that the men that would control the world met at that place in 1945.
I will tell you how this group of men control, deceive, lie and manipulate countries and it might make the hair stand up on your arm. As Paul Harvey said, “This will be the rest of the story.”
This group of men has as much power as many presidents of most countries in the world and more power that many.
They choose a means to control the world back in the 1960s and that means would be to control the production of crude Oil. We will tell the rest of that story later.
Do you want to know what it cost to get one barrow of oil out of the ground in Alaska? I’ll reveal that to you in a little bit.
Most things you use every day is made from crude oil. Your toothbrush, plastic water bottles, plastic bags, every highway in America, plastic milk bottles, water drink bottles is all comes from crude oil.
Many drugs come from crude, man-made plastic on your shoes – crude oil. Polyester clothes are made from crude oil.
Go to the store and check the prices from groceries to hardware. All prices have gone up because of crude oil.
*What we pay at the gas pump is a form of taxation.” It goes to those who control the world.
You will be amazed when you hear who it is that controls the world.
It is all a designed plan.
Those in Washington are scared to death to tell you the truth.
Why doesn’t our President or Vice President who was once CEO of Halliburton tell us? He knows. Why doesn’t he tell the story?
They won’t tell you because of what happened to Larry McDonald. Larry McDonald was a conservative democratic congressman from the state of Georgia who had information about these men and was about to go public and then was assassinated when two Russia planes shot down Korean airline 007, which he was riding in and killing everyone on board. He had information that I am sharing with you that he was about to tell. He would not play their game.
For you that know a little of the recent pass, you remember George Hansen, a republican congressman from Idaho, a Christian man who wanted truth to be brought out. He was imprisoned and nearly killed, lied about and allowed to live thought he lost everything he had.
There are powers greater than the Sheiks in Saudi Arabia, and the President of the United States. These “powers that be,” the leaders of the world bow or they may die. We will speak more of that this in the next message.
HENRY KISSINGER – 1973-1976
In the early and mid seventies Henry Kissinger, the Secretary of State of United States traveled to almost every oil producing country in world. Most of the countries were really nobodies like Algeria and Nigeria and many South American countries.
He said, “We want to make you rich. We need to cut a deal with you. If you go along with us, we will see to it that America will buy your oil.
(Now watch and you’ll see why the Alaskan oil from Gull Island cannot be brought to the refineries of America.)
Look at one main country for example: Saudi Arabia.
Here is the deal we made with them?
1) We will funnel billions of dollars back into your country and make you rich.
2) But you must denominate all oil sales in dollars.
3) You can have a certain percentage to build your country. You must use a certain percentage of this money to use our large corporations to build the inter-structure of your country.
4) Then, you must take a certain portion of the wealth we provide and buy our national debt.
That was the noose but, like Nebuchadnezzar, they didn’t have the slightest idea of what they were doing. Today Saudi Arabia and others have no choice and this is the only thing that keeps the America dollar afloat today. These oil rich countries buy our debt. That is why we did away with gold reserve in the sixties and seventies.
There were two countries that would not sign in the days of Henry Kissinger: (Iraq, Iran).
Lindsey Williams said, “the powers that be” people talked about a 30 year plan for the Arabs in 1980. It has been carried out meticulously without one flaw.”
Let me give you an example of the “the powers that be” because I remember it happening when I was a young man. In 1984 Lindsey Williams received a phone call from Ken Fromm. He proudly said, “Lindsey oil is as you know $32.00 a barrel. Lindsey said, “We thought if it went higher the world would go broke.”
Ken Fromm said, “I want to tell you something you might want to use. One year from today, a barrel of oil will be $10.00 a barrel.”
I said, “You can’t do that. The sheiks will go broke. Saudi will be in a tremendous economic hole.
Gold at that time was $800 an ounce. The wealthy in Saudi Arabia were convinced by “the powers that be” a few years earlier to buy gold. They did and lined their houses and swimming pools with it. They invested in gold, but it was all a trap.
Just like what is happening right now. For you to buy interest only on a car or a house is a trap. One day they will call for payment and what you owe will belong to another.
As Lindsey told audiences – people laughed at him. In one year it went to $11.00 a barrel and gold went to $300.00 an ounce. Who took it there? The same powers took it there that are taking gold and oil up right today.
They knew that those oil producing countries would now have to sell much of the gold back for $300.00 an ounce to maintain their economy.
It was all done by a design manipulated plan. This story was told by senior executive of the Atlantic Richfield, Ken Fromme.
CHAIN OF EVENTS
There is a chain of events for anything to come to you. There is a manufacture, a wholesaler, a in-between man, a retailer and then there’s you, the one who buys it. This is true with oil as well, only you don’t know who the “in-between man” is.
In every business you have a number of levels before you and I come into play. For example:
1) Saudi Arabia brings it out of the ground. Do you know what it cost in Saudi Arabia? ($5.00) The cost to bring a barrel of oil up in Alaska is $3.00 a barrel. Not to transport it and refine it but to bring it out of the ground.
Why are we paying $4.00 a gallon and if God does not intervene – you will be paying $5.00 by September and more?
It is already planned – by the “powers to be.”
2) The In-between man play the biggest role.
3) The oil companies (Phillips, OPEC, BP are making all time record profits, BUT NOTHING like the In-between-man makes.
4) Then the service station man stores the oil and…
5) …You buy the oil.
The question is, “Who is the big In-between-man.”
They sit behind their computers in New York and London every day and tell OPEC and Chevron and BP and all the others what the price of oil will be today.
They are controlling much of the world with crude oil. They tell most of the oil producing countries what they will charge for a barrel of oil. And they are making tremendous profits.
Did you know if we could buy oil direct from Chavez in Venezuela, that we could be paying less than a $1.00 a gallon of gas but “the powers to be” will not allow any of the large Oil Companies to do that. I’ll tell you more about in the next message.
Let me tell you who is attempting and doing a tremendous job controlling your life today. There name won’t mean much to you because most of you know nothing about them but their goal is to control the world with money and power. It is the IMF (International Monetary Fund) or the World Bank. I’ll tell you when and why they started in the next message.
Their goal is the Globalization of the world. It is the unification of the world into a single society that functions together. It is the combination of economics, technology, social-culture and political forces. And the World
Bank is using its trillions of dollars to buy off the political leaders of the world and to globalize the world.
In 2007, October Mr. Lindsey said, he was told that crude oil would reach 105 dollars a barrel. Well as you know it has gone higher. It is over 140 a barrel. Who profits? (The World Bank and IMF) How? I’ll tell you that in the next message.
If the IMF continues to be the “powers that be” and if they are not stopped America may become a third world country in twenty years or else we will be like most nations with just an upper and lower class society.
Your style of living has already been affected and it will get worse before it gets better.
IRAN
Now, what is going to affect your life soon is a nation call Iran. Iran holds the third largest oil supply in the world.
Iran said, “By a certain date we will flood the world with cheap oil.” And we are going to denominate all oil sales in Euros.
Our President and VP and congress are shaking for it they succeed it could collapse the America dollar.
So, something must be done with Iran before that date. If Iran doesn’t come around, they will be dealt with as other countries are dealt with. But what you and I will hear from the media will be another story like Israel had to take out their nuclear reactor.
The reason why gas will never be $1.50 at gas station and why we will never use Alaskan oil is due to the United States debt.
When Alan Greenspan began his reign, America had a debt of 1.5 trillion dollars.
Eight years later America’s debt is at 8 trillion dollars.
In the month of September of 2007 our national debt went up 60 billion.
In the month of October, 2007 our national debt went up 94.5 billions.
Saudi Arabia can’t produce any more oil till they drill more wells. They are at maximum. The World Bank controls them.
Every oil refinery in U.S. is at 90 plus capacity.
America had 500 refineries in 1981. They have all been shut down as of today except for 149 refineries. They operate 24 ours a day to supply the growing demand. No U.S. refineries have been built in 20 years. It is all by a designed plan.
Here is the rest of the story: President Bush cannot allow oil from “Gull Island, Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to come to U.S. of America because if he did the oil producing countries of the world could tear up the contract that we made under Henry Kissinger and the American dollar would collapse.
And they will not tell you the truth. Somebody must buy our national debt.
It seems that the reason we are paying 4 and 5 dollars a gallon because you and I are paying the world’s third world country nation debt and it is all by a designed planned.
But, is it by design plan of the wealthiest and most wicked and greedy men in the world or is it because God’s people, like Israel…
1- …are drunk on pleasure.
2- …are undiscerning of spiritual things.
3- …are ignorant of spiritual things.
4- … have rejected the wise teaching of wise men.
5- … are practicing sin and saying, “Nobody sees what I am doing.”
6- … are upset with the potter and they want to run their own lives.
What we need is Revival. “Revive us again; fill each heart with thy love. May each soul be rekindled with fire from above.” That is what the Church of Jesus Christ needs.
I know ultimately, God controls all, but why has God allowed world dictators to control countries and influence the world? History reveals that the Pharaoh’s of Egypt and the Caesars of Rome controlled the world. Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon and Alexander the Great of Greece and many other evil men controlled kingdoms. Even in God’s government of Israel he allowed rulers like Ahab and Jezebel and puppet kings.
ISAIAH’S WORDS TO ISRAEL
In the time around A.D. 730 Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 29:1, “Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt! add ye year to year; let them kill sacrifices.”
We see a play on words in verse one. Isaiah is using a little sarcasm here to wake Israel up. First a warning signal is given to Jerusalem or Judah, “Woe.”
Isaiah says to Judah, you need to stop everything you are doing and listen to what I am about to say.
Then Judah is called a lion-like fortress. That is what “Ariel” means. In other words Judah thought they were the “king of the jungle.” They felt they were strong enough spiritually to take care of every thing in life because after all they still had their worship services.
Isaiah is actually mocking them when he says, “let them kill sacrifices.” They thought they were safe because of their worship services. They thought because of the “sacrifices” they made to God everything was OK, but there was a big problem. The worship was head worship with little or no heart worship.
God says in verse two: 2 Yet I will distress Ariel, and there shall be heaviness and sorrow…
To be in distress is to feel grief, misery, worry, danger, difficulty. I think a lot of people in America and around the world today feel distressed. They are worried about the oil crisis, the economy, food prices going up and the uncertainty of the future.
He declares in verse three and four: 3 And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee.
4 And thou shalt be brought down..
Why is God lifting up enemies against His people and bring them down or should I say cripple their economy? Look at verses nine through sixteen.
1- (9) The people were drunk on pleasure.
2- (10) The people were undiscerning of spiritual things. They did not put God first and so God allowed their eyes to be darkened.
3 – (11-12) The people were ignorant of spiritual things.
4 – (14) God will take the wise men away and people would become more ignorant.
5 – (15) The people lived in hidden sin and said, “Nobody sees what I am doing.”
6 – (16) The people were upset with the potter. They wanted to run their own lives.
Then Isaiah jumps 2700 years in the future and says in verse 18, “in that day,” which speaks of the time the Lord will return. Things will be OK, then. Joy will return. The enemy will be defeated. The doctrines will come again and man will understand them.
But, you and I say, “Lord, how about today?” “What is going on today in this crazy world we live in?”
The history of Israel was well known. They were offered by God the greatest physical, material and political blessings any nation could ever have if they would walk with God and obey His Word, but they did not. They could have been the head but they became the tail. They could have controlled the world but the world controlled them.
World powers such as the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks and even Rome dominated them. World powers controlled their economy. World powers set up puppet kings to sit on Israel’s throne and make decisions by “the powers that be.”
When Christ came and gave His life to provide Salvation, He established a power greater than Israel. He established the Church.
1- He established a group of people who realizes dying was better than living.
2- These people that were blood-washed sinners transformed into saints of God had a power within them that could transform the world.
3- They had a light that could draw thousands and millions to a saving knowledge of Christ.
4- They had a prayer power that could touch heaven and move God’s hand, which moves the hearts of kings and controls the nations and armies of the world.
But, over the years the Christian soldiers that made up that mighty army of God has became weaker and weaker and weaker.
Those blood washed saints which once gave their life, liberty and sacred honor to God and for righteousness, today might give God their thoughts one hour a week.
Because of that the Church as a whole has lost its influence in the world. And the Church which could still be a great power and asset has allowed the spirit of the antichrist to creep in.
And today we are living in the last days just prior to a one world government and a one world economy and a one world religion.
Now listen and let me give you one more verse that is the hope of the unbelievable situation I shall share with you this morning. That verse is
Second Chronicles 7: 14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
Who controls the world today?
Is the world in an economic crisis due to the shortage of oil? Is their a “power unseen” or “unknown” by most people that literary has the supremacy to control what you will pay at the gas pumps and what you will pay for a gallon of milk or is all of this just the ignorance of the governments of the world and is the world on a toboggan slide to disaster?
Are those geniuses who run this world that ignorant or that smart to make the average man think everything is bad so we will vote for the globalization of the world.
Is this part of what some peopled The Illuminati, the Tri-lateral Commission? Is this the power of the United Nations? We know according to the book of Daniel and the book of Revelation there will be a globalization economically, politically and religiously. How close are we to this world becoming one.
Is there another power that can control nations and determine what nations are 1st, 2nd or 3rd world countries? Will America be a 2nd or 3rd class nation in twenty years? Listen to this amazing story.
THE YEAR IS 1970
In 1970 a young man, a missionary by the name of Lindsey Williams, went to Alaska when he heard of the building of the Alaskan Pipeline and ask if he could be their chaplain. They had never had a chaplain but decided to allow him to do so.
They gave him the northern 7 camps up near Prudhoe Bay on the Northern Slopes of Alaska.
After some time R. H. King came to Lindsey and said, “You’ve saved us thousands of dollars of counseling fees. We want to make you an executive on our board. We would like to invite you to sit in on our board meetings to help understand and solve any problems between management and labor.”
Lindsey Williams sat with and ate with the most powerful, controlling and manipulative men on the face of the earth.
Lindsey said, “I never knew such people existed. I was thrown in the midst of those who controlled the world.”
He went on to say, “Had you asked me in 1970 if I believe a hand full of men controlled this world I would have told you that you were crazy.
After ten years in 1980, of sitting in the executive board meeting with the most powerful and influential people in the world, if you asked me do you believe there are people who tell the President of the U.S. what to do and the Saudi’s what to do, and who tells the world what they will pay for a barrel of oil, I would say absolutely, “Yes.”
This young missionary would go back to his room at night and pray and cry to God and say, “God how can there be such people on the face of the earth that literally control the world.”
Folks, these few power hungry men have an agenda. They know what they are doing. They have set goals and are watching them come about.
Lindsey Williams said, “I sat on the board and heard their plans back in the 1970’s and I have seen their plans come to pass.”
One day, Ben Lawlow, the equipment man from Atlantic Richfield said to Lindsey Williams, “Would you like to see something exciting. Jump in my pickup truck. We think we have just struck the largest pool of oil in North America and the World.” The year was 1976, and they had.
They discovered enough oil off the North Slope of Alaska in Prudhoe Bay, on Gull Island to supply America with oil for the next 200 years. Four years later they found another pool of oil in Alaska as large as the first pool of oil. On the North Slope of Alaska America has more oil that Saudi Arabia and Iraq and Iran. There was enough natural gas on the North Slope of Alaska to supply America for the next 200 years as well. They pump one billion cubic feet of natural gas back into the ground every day with 48 - 747 jet engines.
They thought the next morning every newspaper in America would announce this tremendous discovery and it would be on the front page.
When Lindsey Williams came to ARCO base the next morning a security guard grabbed him and said, “Don’t say a word of anything you saw yesterday and ushered him up stairs to the office of Ken Fromme, the Atlantic Richfield’s head man.
“Chaplain”, he said, “Forget what you saw yesterday and be careful what you say. That information has just been classified. There will be no oil released from it anytime soon.”
Lindsey was so concerned he called Senator Huge Chance from the state of Colorado and asked him to come out and see what was going on.
The senator talked with everybody for one week and questioned everybody he could. He then told Lindsey this, “We had just been briefed by officials from Washington and informed in the state senate of Colorado of the energy crisis in America and I realized everything I was told in that top level briefing was a lie. I was intentionally lied to. It was 1976.”
I now quote Lee Kingston from June 20, 2008. “In 1975, an anonymous ARCO official told Hugh M. Chance, a former State Senator from Colorado, that the Government had allowed only one pool of oil in a 100 square mile area on Alaska's North Slope to be developed, even though the entire area north of Brooks Range has so much oil, that if it were drilled in five years the United States could be totally energy free, and totally independent from the rest of the world as far as energy is concerned. The Prudhoe Bay oil field is one of the richest oil fields on earth, able to produce an oil flow for at least 20 years, without the need of a pump.”
As of today, July 6, 2008 not one drop of that oil has been allowed to come through the United States of America and the administration in Washington has prevented this from happening since 1976.
A few years later, the head man of Atlantic Richfield, Ken Fromme was fired. He knew more about Atlantic Richfield than any man alive. Why did they fire him? Because Ken had allowed Lindsey Williams to see everything and Lindsey Williams wrote it in a book.
Then, Ken said, “Lindsey, I’m mad and there are a few things in your book that is not letter perfect, may I rewrite your book and make everything letter perfect. They rewrote it. And the book reveals that this field of oil is totally perfect for oil production. Two months later they hired Ken back with a large increase of pay in an agreement to keep his mouth shut.
Now let’s move to the year 2007
In October of 2007, when gas was $2.50 a gallon Lindsey Williams told audiences all over America that oil would go to $4 to $5 a gallon in one year. This is 2008 and it isn’t October yet and gas is between $4 and $5 a gallon and still going up.
Gas could be less than $1.50 a gallon if our President and Vice President and congress would allow us to drill and use the oil discovered on Gull Island in Prudhoe Bay in 1976 in Alaska.
Why won’t they. In the next message I will tell you a story when this group of men who control the world began and where they began. My wife, Karen and I sat in the very building where these men originally met to begin this world wide operation. We drank coffee and talked and had no idea that the men that would control the world met at that place in 1945.
I will tell you how this group of men control, deceive, lie and manipulate countries and it might make the hair stand up on your arm. As Paul Harvey said, “This will be the rest of the story.”
This group of men has as much power as many presidents of most countries in the world and more power that many.
They choose a means to control the world back in the 1960s and that means would be to control the production of crude Oil. We will tell the rest of that story later.
Do you want to know what it cost to get one barrow of oil out of the ground in Alaska? I’ll reveal that to you in a little bit.
Most things you use every day is made from crude oil. Your toothbrush, plastic water bottles, plastic bags, every highway in America, plastic milk bottles, water drink bottles is all comes from crude oil.
Many drugs come from crude, man-made plastic on your shoes – crude oil. Polyester clothes are made from crude oil.
Go to the store and check the prices from groceries to hardware. All prices have gone up because of crude oil.
*What we pay at the gas pump is a form of taxation.” It goes to those who control the world.
You will be amazed when you hear who it is that controls the world.
It is all a designed plan.
Those in Washington are scared to death to tell you the truth.
Why doesn’t our President or Vice President who was once CEO of Halliburton tell us? He knows. Why doesn’t he tell the story?
They won’t tell you because of what happened to Larry McDonald. Larry McDonald was a conservative democratic congressman from the state of Georgia who had information about these men and was about to go public and then was assassinated when two Russia planes shot down Korean airline 007, which he was riding in and killing everyone on board. He had information that I am sharing with you that he was about to tell. He would not play their game.
For you that know a little of the recent pass, you remember George Hansen, a republican congressman from Idaho, a Christian man who wanted truth to be brought out. He was imprisoned and nearly killed, lied about and allowed to live thought he lost everything he had.
There are powers greater than the Sheiks in Saudi Arabia, and the President of the United States. These “powers that be,” the leaders of the world bow or they may die. We will speak more of that this in the next message.
HENRY KISSINGER – 1973-1976
In the early and mid seventies Henry Kissinger, the Secretary of State of United States traveled to almost every oil producing country in world. Most of the countries were really nobodies like Algeria and Nigeria and many South American countries.
He said, “We want to make you rich. We need to cut a deal with you. If you go along with us, we will see to it that America will buy your oil.
(Now watch and you’ll see why the Alaskan oil from Gull Island cannot be brought to the refineries of America.)
Look at one main country for example: Saudi Arabia.
Here is the deal we made with them?
1) We will funnel billions of dollars back into your country and make you rich.
2) But you must denominate all oil sales in dollars.
3) You can have a certain percentage to build your country. You must use a certain percentage of this money to use our large corporations to build the inter-structure of your country.
4) Then, you must take a certain portion of the wealth we provide and buy our national debt.
That was the noose but, like Nebuchadnezzar, they didn’t have the slightest idea of what they were doing. Today Saudi Arabia and others have no choice and this is the only thing that keeps the America dollar afloat today. These oil rich countries buy our debt. That is why we did away with gold reserve in the sixties and seventies.
There were two countries that would not sign in the days of Henry Kissinger: (Iraq, Iran).
Lindsey Williams said, “the powers that be” people talked about a 30 year plan for the Arabs in 1980. It has been carried out meticulously without one flaw.”
Let me give you an example of the “the powers that be” because I remember it happening when I was a young man. In 1984 Lindsey Williams received a phone call from Ken Fromm. He proudly said, “Lindsey oil is as you know $32.00 a barrel. Lindsey said, “We thought if it went higher the world would go broke.”
Ken Fromm said, “I want to tell you something you might want to use. One year from today, a barrel of oil will be $10.00 a barrel.”
I said, “You can’t do that. The sheiks will go broke. Saudi will be in a tremendous economic hole.
Gold at that time was $800 an ounce. The wealthy in Saudi Arabia were convinced by “the powers that be” a few years earlier to buy gold. They did and lined their houses and swimming pools with it. They invested in gold, but it was all a trap.
Just like what is happening right now. For you to buy interest only on a car or a house is a trap. One day they will call for payment and what you owe will belong to another.
As Lindsey told audiences – people laughed at him. In one year it went to $11.00 a barrel and gold went to $300.00 an ounce. Who took it there? The same powers took it there that are taking gold and oil up right today.
They knew that those oil producing countries would now have to sell much of the gold back for $300.00 an ounce to maintain their economy.
It was all done by a design manipulated plan. This story was told by senior executive of the Atlantic Richfield, Ken Fromme.
CHAIN OF EVENTS
There is a chain of events for anything to come to you. There is a manufacture, a wholesaler, a in-between man, a retailer and then there’s you, the one who buys it. This is true with oil as well, only you don’t know who the “in-between man” is.
In every business you have a number of levels before you and I come into play. For example:
1) Saudi Arabia brings it out of the ground. Do you know what it cost in Saudi Arabia? ($5.00) The cost to bring a barrel of oil up in Alaska is $3.00 a barrel. Not to transport it and refine it but to bring it out of the ground.
Why are we paying $4.00 a gallon and if God does not intervene – you will be paying $5.00 by September and more?
It is already planned – by the “powers to be.”
2) The In-between man play the biggest role.
3) The oil companies (Phillips, OPEC, BP are making all time record profits, BUT NOTHING like the In-between-man makes.
4) Then the service station man stores the oil and…
5) …You buy the oil.
The question is, “Who is the big In-between-man.”
They sit behind their computers in New York and London every day and tell OPEC and Chevron and BP and all the others what the price of oil will be today.
They are controlling much of the world with crude oil. They tell most of the oil producing countries what they will charge for a barrel of oil. And they are making tremendous profits.
Did you know if we could buy oil direct from Chavez in Venezuela, that we could be paying less than a $1.00 a gallon of gas but “the powers to be” will not allow any of the large Oil Companies to do that. I’ll tell you more about in the next message.
Let me tell you who is attempting and doing a tremendous job controlling your life today. There name won’t mean much to you because most of you know nothing about them but their goal is to control the world with money and power. It is the IMF (International Monetary Fund) or the World Bank. I’ll tell you when and why they started in the next message.
Their goal is the Globalization of the world. It is the unification of the world into a single society that functions together. It is the combination of economics, technology, social-culture and political forces. And the World
Bank is using its trillions of dollars to buy off the political leaders of the world and to globalize the world.
In 2007, October Mr. Lindsey said, he was told that crude oil would reach 105 dollars a barrel. Well as you know it has gone higher. It is over 140 a barrel. Who profits? (The World Bank and IMF) How? I’ll tell you that in the next message.
If the IMF continues to be the “powers that be” and if they are not stopped America may become a third world country in twenty years or else we will be like most nations with just an upper and lower class society.
Your style of living has already been affected and it will get worse before it gets better.
IRAN
Now, what is going to affect your life soon is a nation call Iran. Iran holds the third largest oil supply in the world.
Iran said, “By a certain date we will flood the world with cheap oil.” And we are going to denominate all oil sales in Euros.
Our President and VP and congress are shaking for it they succeed it could collapse the America dollar.
So, something must be done with Iran before that date. If Iran doesn’t come around, they will be dealt with as other countries are dealt with. But what you and I will hear from the media will be another story like Israel had to take out their nuclear reactor.
The reason why gas will never be $1.50 at gas station and why we will never use Alaskan oil is due to the United States debt.
When Alan Greenspan began his reign, America had a debt of 1.5 trillion dollars.
Eight years later America’s debt is at 8 trillion dollars.
In the month of September of 2007 our national debt went up 60 billion.
In the month of October, 2007 our national debt went up 94.5 billions.
Saudi Arabia can’t produce any more oil till they drill more wells. They are at maximum. The World Bank controls them.
Every oil refinery in U.S. is at 90 plus capacity.
America had 500 refineries in 1981. They have all been shut down as of today except for 149 refineries. They operate 24 ours a day to supply the growing demand. No U.S. refineries have been built in 20 years. It is all by a designed plan.
Here is the rest of the story: President Bush cannot allow oil from “Gull Island, Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to come to U.S. of America because if he did the oil producing countries of the world could tear up the contract that we made under Henry Kissinger and the American dollar would collapse.
And they will not tell you the truth. Somebody must buy our national debt.
It seems that the reason we are paying 4 and 5 dollars a gallon because you and I are paying the world’s third world country nation debt and it is all by a designed planned.
But, is it by design plan of the wealthiest and most wicked and greedy men in the world or is it because God’s people, like Israel…
1- …are drunk on pleasure.
2- …are undiscerning of spiritual things.
3- …are ignorant of spiritual things.
4- … have rejected the wise teaching of wise men.
5- … are practicing sin and saying, “Nobody sees what I am doing.”
6- … are upset with the potter and they want to run their own lives.
What we need is Revival. “Revive us again; fill each heart with thy love. May each soul be rekindled with fire from above.” That is what the Church of Jesus Christ needs.
THE DISCIPLINED MAN
“THE DISCIPLINED MAN”
Matthew 5:1 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: 2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,
When Jesus called men to follow Him, He called them disciples. A disciple is a learner, a student. The word “disciple” is from the Greek word Ma-tha-tas and it means “disciplined one.”
The Lord’s disciples were many more than just the named twelve.
All that were students of the Lord were called, “followers of the way.” Why? Because they went beyond just making a decision, they lived the life.
There are many decisions people make in life: marriage, college, jobs, investments, vacations, church. But the two decision that will count for eternity are these:
1) Will you commit your life to Jesus Christ as your savior? Every person must decide if they will trust Christ with their life. Will I give Him my life and live for Him or not. Choosing to give your life to Christ will determine your eternal destiny in heaven. To reject Christ is to reject God’s gift of eternal life and sadly to end up in hell.
2) Will I be His disciple? What does that matter? If I offered you a week to work and labor and then promised you 100 years of a life of wonder and glory with all your needs met you would surly accept that. A disciple labors for the Lord for a life time and ends up will riches untold and positions unfathomed.
Why didn’t the Lord call His disciples “diligent ones” or “faithful ones” or “seeking ones” or “spiritual ones?” Why? Because it takes a discipline life make a faithful, loving, compassionate man.
Would you have accepted the Lord’s call?
If your answer is yes that here are the steps:
1 – A Disciple is first a student.
John 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Every one of us here have disciplines over what we love. If we love sports, we will discipline our self to be at practice and at the games. We will give our best physically and mentally to win. If we don’t give all we have we will not benefit our team.
The same is true spiritually. If we love the Lord we will discipline our life and give our self to the things of God. We will then seek the Lord, study his word, engage in Church worship and make Jesus the center of our lives and home.
The key word to a discipline life is not discipline but love. If we love sleep, we give ourselves to sleep. If we love food we give ourselves to cooking. If we love racing we give ourselves to the race track. If we love TV, money, pleasure, we give ourselves to those things.
Jesus said again in John 8:31 If you continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed.
The next verse tells us that as we learn the truth, the truth will set us free from the things that prevent us from being disciplined and receiving the great rewards for time and eternity.
Remember that we are three part beings, body, soul and spirit. If truth is conveyed from mind to mind than one has an intellectual understanding of a truth. It is something we talk about.
But, when truth is conveyed from life to life, that truth becomes a life and that is what we live.
Jesus’ message was His life and He expressed that message by His total being, His voice and heart and very emotions.
Let me give you and example. A dad speaks to his child with a language far greater than just words. That child has five senses.
1) Hearing dad’s words is only 20% of what dad says.
2) The child then feels dad’s or mom’s tone of voice.
3) He then sees dad’s expression and knows if dad said it with love or anger, with patience or haste.
4) He also knows dad’s touch. A child can tell a lot about dad’s touch. Does dad love me? Does he take time for me? Does he hug me? Touch is another 20% of how that dad teaches his child.
5) Then last sense God gives a child is taste. The Bible says in Psalms 34:8, “O taste and see that the Lord is good…”
Dad’s leave a taste in their children’s mouth, a taste of kindness and love, a taste of security and acceptance or he leaves a taste of “I am to busy for you.” “You aren’t important.”
Being a disciplined one is not just words, it is a life. Jesus words to His disciples were more than mind to mind, they were life to life.
The word disciple is used 272 times in the New Testament and it is used only in the first five books.
A disciple of Christ must first be a student, a learner, a discipline one. Children are taught discipline at home with dad puts the family on a schedule.
Then they see to it that all instructions are carried out and fulfilled.
A child is not to quit something or allowed to leave anything unfinished.
Discipline begins at home, moms and dads. And it is conveyed not from mouth to mouth alone but from life to life.
A child goes to school and is taught discipline by doing their studies and completing their assignments. If a child can not complete school assignments they will live an undisciplined.
That is why in order to get a good job employers want a person to have a High School Diploma, minimum.
One dad told this story: Out of parental concern and a desire to teach our young son responsibility, we require him to phone home when he arrives at his friend's house a few blocks away. He began to forget, as he grew more confident in his ability to get there without disaster befalling him. The first time he forgot, I called to be sure he had arrived.
We told him the next time it happened, he would have to come home. A few days later, however, the telephone again lay silent, and I knew if he was going to learn, he would have to be punished. But I did not want to punish him!
I went to the telephone, regretting that his great time would be spoiled by his lack of contact with his father. As I dialed, I prayed for wisdom. "Treat him like I treat you," the Lord seemed to say. With that, as the telephone rang one time, I hung up.
A few seconds later my phone rang, and it was my son. "I'm here, Dad!" "What took you so long to call?" I asked. "We started playing and I forgot. But Dad, I heard the phone ring once and I remembered."
How often do we think of God is One who waits to punish us when we step out of line? I wonder how often he rings just once, hoping we will phone home.
Dennis Miller.
1 – A Disciple is first a student.
2 – A disciple is next an example.
Luke 14:27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
It is interesting how John addresses himself in the book of John. He doesn’t say, “I John,” but he refers to himself fourteen times as “that disciple.”
My Dad taught me discipline when I was a boy. He taught me to work on the farm and I could not go to the house till the work was finished. And sometimes the work was finished till 2:00 in the morning. I don’t think the work was ever done in eight hours. God taught me one thing on the farm and that was farming was 24-7. And God taught me something about His business. It too is 24-7.
I remember quitting early a few times on the farm before the work was done. My dad knew how to correct that. We went out at night when it was dark and finished the work. I learned something. Get ‘u done! Just get’ u done!
Anybody that will be anything for God must have a disciplined life.
A person must have and develop organization and a schedule and give themselves to that schedule. They get up at a certain time. They work a certain time. They have their time with God. They have their time with their family. They are disciplined.
Paul used the analogy of a man winning a race to winning in the Christian life. First Corinthians 9:24: Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:
27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
When I ran track, most of the other guys and girls in our school were out doing their thing. I was running and excuse the phrase “puking my guts out five days a week so I could run on Saturday.”
You know what? I was never first. I always came in second and third and forth string on the track team. I wasn’t number one. But, I heart was to win for my school.
You know what we need in church? We need folks that don’t have to be number one. They don’t have to be seen. They don’t have to be talked about. We just need folks that will run the best they can with all they have for the Lord.
I learned a little about discipline by Lanny Bassham. He won an Olympic gold-medal in small-bore rifle competition. He tells what concentration does for his marksmanship: "Our sport is controlled non-movement. We are shooting from 50 meters--over half a football field--at a bull's eye three- quarters the size of a dime. If the angle of error at the point of the barrel is more than .005 of a millimeter (that is five one-thousandths), you drop into the next circle and lose a point. So we have to learn how to make everything stop. I stop my breathing. I stop my digestion by not eating for 12 hours before the competition. I train by running to keep my pulse around 60, so I have a full second between beats--I have gotten it lower, but found that the stroke-volume increased so much that each beat really jolted me. You do all of this and you have the technical control. But you have to have some years of experience in reading conditions: the wind, the mirage. Then you have the other 80% of the problems--the mind.
Sports Illustrated, August 2, 1976, pp. 31-35, quoted in How to Profit from Bible Reading, I. L. Jensen, Moody Press, p. 80.
It takes discipline to have good health. A lot of you young people will grow up and die early because you have absolutely no discipline in what you eat. You are going to have throat problems, tonsil problems and ear infections. Then you will get older and have stomach problems. You will probably get diabetes and a hundred other diseases because you think you can eat junk food and it won’t bother you.
Sure junk food taste good. I like a good old hamburger. And eating one now and then isn’t going to kill you if your now and then is once a month.
The other night I went to Chick Filet and I thought I need something healthy. I thought, “I know the salad with tomatoes, corn, lettuce, carrots, and the chicken would be good but boy would I like a caramel coffee milkshake.” I was all alone. My wife was at the coast with the girls. Nobody was watching. I could have had anything I waned. I bought the salad that night.
People joke about being a red neck and they say, “You know you are a red neck if you are cutting grass and you find a car in your yard.” No, that is just an undisciplined person. The joke may be funny but the life really doesn’t bring any glory to God.
Kathy plays the piano well. She can sight read and she knows her timing very well. A lot of young people are off on their timing and very few can just sit down and sight read a piece of music.
Why can she do this? Kathy took lessons for ten years and then disciplined herself to practice from 45 minutes to 2 hours a day for ten years. She took lessons from those who demanded perfection. I’ll say this if your teacher doesn’t demand perfection, get another one.
Kathy sings well because she began training since she was eight years old and then took professional lessons for a number of years and disciplined herself to practice 5 hours a week.
She enjoys art and is a good artist. Again, she like most children started drawing at age two but then she took profession art lessons for eight years and disciplined herself to practice.
Her violin ability didn’t come because someone bought her a violin. It came about from ten years of lessons and a thousand hours of practice.
A disciple of Christ is not a dreamer. He is not someone who wishes and hopes to achieve something. A disciple of Christ sets a time to get up. He sets a time to go to work. He sets a time to study. He sets a time to worship. He sets a time to practice and to achieve what God wants him to achieve. Every successful person in life is disciplined.
3 – A disciple is someone who knows how to love.
JOHN 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
Walking in love is not natural for an unsaved person. And it only comes by discipline for a believer. Peter revealed to us the step-ladder of the disciplined life in Second Peter 1:4-9. He said, add to your faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness and ultimately and lastly, charity or love.
Selfishness is natural. People are by nature self centered and selfish. That is human. But, it is divine to love, to give, to forgive, to show patience, to humble our hearts. We need patience.
Please forgive me if it offends you if I use my children as examples but as I thought of my children and love, I don’t think I’ve seen a daddy that loves his son more than Daniel. Daniel has always been loving and joyful much more than many people know.
4 – A disciple is someone who renounces all rights.
LUKE 14:33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
Some have ask, “How far do you have to go to be the Lord’s disciple?” That is up to you and the key has everything to do with your love relationship with Him. To Paul, he thought nothing of giving up his secure job with the Roman government to walk with the Lord. But, he doesn’t ask you to give up your job. He does want you to give up your life and live for eternal things.
John Newton said, “When people are right with God, they are apt to be hard on themselves and easy on other people. But when they are not right with God, they are easy on themselves and hard on others.”
William Penn said, “No man is fit to command another who cannot command himself.”
I read an amazing statistic the other day. It said, that of all the America that own running shoes, 87% don’t run.
A.W. Tozer in his book Men who met God said, ee must face the fact that many today are notoriously careless in their living. This attitude finds its way into the church. We have liberty, we have money, we live in comparative luxury. As a result, discipline practically has disappeared. What would a violin solo sound like if the strings on the musician's instrument were all hanging loose, not stretched tight, not "disciplined"?
5 – A disciple is lastly a teacher.
LUKE 6:40 The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.
A disciple is supposed to end up as a duplicate of Jesus Christ.
Tom Landry was the head football coach of the Dallas Cowboys for many years and won a couple of super bowls with his team. He was there teacher. He said this about discipline: ”The job of a football coach is to make men do what they don't want to do, in order to achieve what they've always wanted to be.”
Tom Landry
ROMANS 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
The end result of being a disciple should be a reproduction of the teacher, who will do the same things the teacher did.
We can fail to convey intellectual thoughts but we always convey our life. Dads, moms, adults, youth, A discipleship is a life, not an intellectual knowledge of facts.
This next story made me think of my son, Daniel. He is a very disciplined young man.
A son asked his father, 'Dad, will you take part in a marathon with me?' The father who, despite having a heart condition, says 'Yes'.. They went on to complete the marathon together. Father and son went on to join other marathons, the father always saying 'Yes' to his son's request of going through the race together. One day, the son asked his father, 'Dad, let's join the Ironman together.'
To which, his father said 'Yes' .
For those who didn't know, Ironman is the toughest triathlon ever. The race encompasses three endurance events of a 2.4 mile (3.86 kilometer) ocean swim, followed by a 112 mile (180.2 kilometer) bike ride, and ending with a 26.2 mile (42.195 kilometer) marathon along the coast of the Big Island .
Matthew 5:1 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: 2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,
When Jesus called men to follow Him, He called them disciples. A disciple is a learner, a student. The word “disciple” is from the Greek word Ma-tha-tas and it means “disciplined one.”
The Lord’s disciples were many more than just the named twelve.
All that were students of the Lord were called, “followers of the way.” Why? Because they went beyond just making a decision, they lived the life.
There are many decisions people make in life: marriage, college, jobs, investments, vacations, church. But the two decision that will count for eternity are these:
1) Will you commit your life to Jesus Christ as your savior? Every person must decide if they will trust Christ with their life. Will I give Him my life and live for Him or not. Choosing to give your life to Christ will determine your eternal destiny in heaven. To reject Christ is to reject God’s gift of eternal life and sadly to end up in hell.
2) Will I be His disciple? What does that matter? If I offered you a week to work and labor and then promised you 100 years of a life of wonder and glory with all your needs met you would surly accept that. A disciple labors for the Lord for a life time and ends up will riches untold and positions unfathomed.
Why didn’t the Lord call His disciples “diligent ones” or “faithful ones” or “seeking ones” or “spiritual ones?” Why? Because it takes a discipline life make a faithful, loving, compassionate man.
Would you have accepted the Lord’s call?
If your answer is yes that here are the steps:
1 – A Disciple is first a student.
John 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Every one of us here have disciplines over what we love. If we love sports, we will discipline our self to be at practice and at the games. We will give our best physically and mentally to win. If we don’t give all we have we will not benefit our team.
The same is true spiritually. If we love the Lord we will discipline our life and give our self to the things of God. We will then seek the Lord, study his word, engage in Church worship and make Jesus the center of our lives and home.
The key word to a discipline life is not discipline but love. If we love sleep, we give ourselves to sleep. If we love food we give ourselves to cooking. If we love racing we give ourselves to the race track. If we love TV, money, pleasure, we give ourselves to those things.
Jesus said again in John 8:31 If you continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed.
The next verse tells us that as we learn the truth, the truth will set us free from the things that prevent us from being disciplined and receiving the great rewards for time and eternity.
Remember that we are three part beings, body, soul and spirit. If truth is conveyed from mind to mind than one has an intellectual understanding of a truth. It is something we talk about.
But, when truth is conveyed from life to life, that truth becomes a life and that is what we live.
Jesus’ message was His life and He expressed that message by His total being, His voice and heart and very emotions.
Let me give you and example. A dad speaks to his child with a language far greater than just words. That child has five senses.
1) Hearing dad’s words is only 20% of what dad says.
2) The child then feels dad’s or mom’s tone of voice.
3) He then sees dad’s expression and knows if dad said it with love or anger, with patience or haste.
4) He also knows dad’s touch. A child can tell a lot about dad’s touch. Does dad love me? Does he take time for me? Does he hug me? Touch is another 20% of how that dad teaches his child.
5) Then last sense God gives a child is taste. The Bible says in Psalms 34:8, “O taste and see that the Lord is good…”
Dad’s leave a taste in their children’s mouth, a taste of kindness and love, a taste of security and acceptance or he leaves a taste of “I am to busy for you.” “You aren’t important.”
Being a disciplined one is not just words, it is a life. Jesus words to His disciples were more than mind to mind, they were life to life.
The word disciple is used 272 times in the New Testament and it is used only in the first five books.
A disciple of Christ must first be a student, a learner, a discipline one. Children are taught discipline at home with dad puts the family on a schedule.
Then they see to it that all instructions are carried out and fulfilled.
A child is not to quit something or allowed to leave anything unfinished.
Discipline begins at home, moms and dads. And it is conveyed not from mouth to mouth alone but from life to life.
A child goes to school and is taught discipline by doing their studies and completing their assignments. If a child can not complete school assignments they will live an undisciplined.
That is why in order to get a good job employers want a person to have a High School Diploma, minimum.
One dad told this story: Out of parental concern and a desire to teach our young son responsibility, we require him to phone home when he arrives at his friend's house a few blocks away. He began to forget, as he grew more confident in his ability to get there without disaster befalling him. The first time he forgot, I called to be sure he had arrived.
We told him the next time it happened, he would have to come home. A few days later, however, the telephone again lay silent, and I knew if he was going to learn, he would have to be punished. But I did not want to punish him!
I went to the telephone, regretting that his great time would be spoiled by his lack of contact with his father. As I dialed, I prayed for wisdom. "Treat him like I treat you," the Lord seemed to say. With that, as the telephone rang one time, I hung up.
A few seconds later my phone rang, and it was my son. "I'm here, Dad!" "What took you so long to call?" I asked. "We started playing and I forgot. But Dad, I heard the phone ring once and I remembered."
How often do we think of God is One who waits to punish us when we step out of line? I wonder how often he rings just once, hoping we will phone home.
Dennis Miller.
1 – A Disciple is first a student.
2 – A disciple is next an example.
Luke 14:27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.
It is interesting how John addresses himself in the book of John. He doesn’t say, “I John,” but he refers to himself fourteen times as “that disciple.”
My Dad taught me discipline when I was a boy. He taught me to work on the farm and I could not go to the house till the work was finished. And sometimes the work was finished till 2:00 in the morning. I don’t think the work was ever done in eight hours. God taught me one thing on the farm and that was farming was 24-7. And God taught me something about His business. It too is 24-7.
I remember quitting early a few times on the farm before the work was done. My dad knew how to correct that. We went out at night when it was dark and finished the work. I learned something. Get ‘u done! Just get’ u done!
Anybody that will be anything for God must have a disciplined life.
A person must have and develop organization and a schedule and give themselves to that schedule. They get up at a certain time. They work a certain time. They have their time with God. They have their time with their family. They are disciplined.
Paul used the analogy of a man winning a race to winning in the Christian life. First Corinthians 9:24: Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:
27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
When I ran track, most of the other guys and girls in our school were out doing their thing. I was running and excuse the phrase “puking my guts out five days a week so I could run on Saturday.”
You know what? I was never first. I always came in second and third and forth string on the track team. I wasn’t number one. But, I heart was to win for my school.
You know what we need in church? We need folks that don’t have to be number one. They don’t have to be seen. They don’t have to be talked about. We just need folks that will run the best they can with all they have for the Lord.
I learned a little about discipline by Lanny Bassham. He won an Olympic gold-medal in small-bore rifle competition. He tells what concentration does for his marksmanship: "Our sport is controlled non-movement. We are shooting from 50 meters--over half a football field--at a bull's eye three- quarters the size of a dime. If the angle of error at the point of the barrel is more than .005 of a millimeter (that is five one-thousandths), you drop into the next circle and lose a point. So we have to learn how to make everything stop. I stop my breathing. I stop my digestion by not eating for 12 hours before the competition. I train by running to keep my pulse around 60, so I have a full second between beats--I have gotten it lower, but found that the stroke-volume increased so much that each beat really jolted me. You do all of this and you have the technical control. But you have to have some years of experience in reading conditions: the wind, the mirage. Then you have the other 80% of the problems--the mind.
Sports Illustrated, August 2, 1976, pp. 31-35, quoted in How to Profit from Bible Reading, I. L. Jensen, Moody Press, p. 80.
It takes discipline to have good health. A lot of you young people will grow up and die early because you have absolutely no discipline in what you eat. You are going to have throat problems, tonsil problems and ear infections. Then you will get older and have stomach problems. You will probably get diabetes and a hundred other diseases because you think you can eat junk food and it won’t bother you.
Sure junk food taste good. I like a good old hamburger. And eating one now and then isn’t going to kill you if your now and then is once a month.
The other night I went to Chick Filet and I thought I need something healthy. I thought, “I know the salad with tomatoes, corn, lettuce, carrots, and the chicken would be good but boy would I like a caramel coffee milkshake.” I was all alone. My wife was at the coast with the girls. Nobody was watching. I could have had anything I waned. I bought the salad that night.
People joke about being a red neck and they say, “You know you are a red neck if you are cutting grass and you find a car in your yard.” No, that is just an undisciplined person. The joke may be funny but the life really doesn’t bring any glory to God.
Kathy plays the piano well. She can sight read and she knows her timing very well. A lot of young people are off on their timing and very few can just sit down and sight read a piece of music.
Why can she do this? Kathy took lessons for ten years and then disciplined herself to practice from 45 minutes to 2 hours a day for ten years. She took lessons from those who demanded perfection. I’ll say this if your teacher doesn’t demand perfection, get another one.
Kathy sings well because she began training since she was eight years old and then took professional lessons for a number of years and disciplined herself to practice 5 hours a week.
She enjoys art and is a good artist. Again, she like most children started drawing at age two but then she took profession art lessons for eight years and disciplined herself to practice.
Her violin ability didn’t come because someone bought her a violin. It came about from ten years of lessons and a thousand hours of practice.
A disciple of Christ is not a dreamer. He is not someone who wishes and hopes to achieve something. A disciple of Christ sets a time to get up. He sets a time to go to work. He sets a time to study. He sets a time to worship. He sets a time to practice and to achieve what God wants him to achieve. Every successful person in life is disciplined.
3 – A disciple is someone who knows how to love.
JOHN 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
Walking in love is not natural for an unsaved person. And it only comes by discipline for a believer. Peter revealed to us the step-ladder of the disciplined life in Second Peter 1:4-9. He said, add to your faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness and ultimately and lastly, charity or love.
Selfishness is natural. People are by nature self centered and selfish. That is human. But, it is divine to love, to give, to forgive, to show patience, to humble our hearts. We need patience.
Please forgive me if it offends you if I use my children as examples but as I thought of my children and love, I don’t think I’ve seen a daddy that loves his son more than Daniel. Daniel has always been loving and joyful much more than many people know.
4 – A disciple is someone who renounces all rights.
LUKE 14:33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
Some have ask, “How far do you have to go to be the Lord’s disciple?” That is up to you and the key has everything to do with your love relationship with Him. To Paul, he thought nothing of giving up his secure job with the Roman government to walk with the Lord. But, he doesn’t ask you to give up your job. He does want you to give up your life and live for eternal things.
John Newton said, “When people are right with God, they are apt to be hard on themselves and easy on other people. But when they are not right with God, they are easy on themselves and hard on others.”
William Penn said, “No man is fit to command another who cannot command himself.”
I read an amazing statistic the other day. It said, that of all the America that own running shoes, 87% don’t run.
A.W. Tozer in his book Men who met God said, ee must face the fact that many today are notoriously careless in their living. This attitude finds its way into the church. We have liberty, we have money, we live in comparative luxury. As a result, discipline practically has disappeared. What would a violin solo sound like if the strings on the musician's instrument were all hanging loose, not stretched tight, not "disciplined"?
5 – A disciple is lastly a teacher.
LUKE 6:40 The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.
A disciple is supposed to end up as a duplicate of Jesus Christ.
Tom Landry was the head football coach of the Dallas Cowboys for many years and won a couple of super bowls with his team. He was there teacher. He said this about discipline: ”The job of a football coach is to make men do what they don't want to do, in order to achieve what they've always wanted to be.”
Tom Landry
ROMANS 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
The end result of being a disciple should be a reproduction of the teacher, who will do the same things the teacher did.
We can fail to convey intellectual thoughts but we always convey our life. Dads, moms, adults, youth, A discipleship is a life, not an intellectual knowledge of facts.
This next story made me think of my son, Daniel. He is a very disciplined young man.
A son asked his father, 'Dad, will you take part in a marathon with me?' The father who, despite having a heart condition, says 'Yes'.. They went on to complete the marathon together. Father and son went on to join other marathons, the father always saying 'Yes' to his son's request of going through the race together. One day, the son asked his father, 'Dad, let's join the Ironman together.'
To which, his father said 'Yes' .
For those who didn't know, Ironman is the toughest triathlon ever. The race encompasses three endurance events of a 2.4 mile (3.86 kilometer) ocean swim, followed by a 112 mile (180.2 kilometer) bike ride, and ending with a 26.2 mile (42.195 kilometer) marathon along the coast of the Big Island .
THE SEEKING MAN
“THE SEEKING MAN”
In our study on God’s “Ten Most Wanted” men we have studied the faithful man, the worshipful man, the loving man, the joyful man, the compassionate man, the peaceful man, the loyal man and the diligent man. The last two men we will study are an absolute must in the life of every one of God’s men if the other eight qualities are to flourish and grow.
Throughout the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, God calls men to “Seek Him first.”
Deuteronomy 4:29 “But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.”
Psalms 105:4 Seek the LORD, and his strength: seek his face evermore.
Matthew 6: 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Let’s look at three aspects of the Seeking Man:
I - HE SEEKS GOD’S PRIORITIES.
There are things in life that are important. There are things in life that are urgent and there are things in life that are godly.
One hundred different people would have one hundred different ideas of different priorities. What five would God pick for us? Let us see.
1) Put God first in your life and in every thing you do. “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matthew 22:37).
The phrase, “Love the Lord” appears seventeen times in the Bible. Seventeen is the number of victory. If you want victory over anything in this world, fall in love with the Jesus.
In Ephesians 5:1-20 Paul tells every individual how to obtain this wonderful relationship with the Lord. Follow after God and order your steps after the Lord. And walk in love the Lord.
Study diligently and thoroughly and you will be so glad you did.
Some folks ask, “How do I know if I am seeking the Lord?” Answer four questions? 1) Are you spending daily time in the Scriptures? 2) Are you spending daily time talking to the Lord? 3) Are you faithful as much as you can be to God’s house? 4) Are you reading, praying and going to Church to bring glory to God or are you hoping to get something in return? In seeking God our motives must be pure.
You don’t go to church to make your marriage better or to make your finances better. You go to Church to seek and worship the Lord Jesus Christ and to learn as much as you can about Him so you might serve Him better. And as you seek Him first, God will take care of the rest of your life.
2) Love your mate. As you continue to read Ephesians 5:21-33 you will discover that one’s relationship with their mate is a picture of one’s relationship with Christ. The man should set an example like Christ and be willing to sacrifice his very life for his mate and the wife should submit to her husband as the Church should submit to Christ.
Individuals can witness for the Lord and that is good but the greatest picture of Christ’s love for the Church and the Church’s love for Christ is a Godly love a married couple has one for the other.
Note that this wonderful love relationship will only take place if you put God first in your life.
A Christian counselor and noted speaker who speaks all over America told of the day when he almost destroyed his marriage and he didn’t ever realize it. He was a very busy man with many appointments here and there. So often he planned to take his wife here and there but it seemed that someone always called and there was always an interruption.
One day when he explained to his wife that he had to cancel another engagement, she said, maybe we ought to get a divorce. It hit him like a ton of bricks. He did not realize that every time he put a counseling session or business trip before her, he was telling her she wasn’t important. It took two years to bring their marriage back to where it once was.
Listen: If you had a lawnmower that need repairing at your house or your relationship to a child or mate needed repairing which one would you first rectify? That one is your priority.
3) Be faithful in Church. Ephesians 5:32 reads, “This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.” The grand importance of the Church is for people to understand that it is an eternal institution. The Church is to meet together to worship and study and pray and fellowship and to grow spiritually. Why? Christians have been saved by grace so they might be a witness to the rest of the world.
We are to be lights in a dark world and salt in a spiritually flavorless society.
The Church dedicated to God has the power to turn the world upside down for Christ.
Some have asked, “Isn’t my family more important than the Church?” What you must realize is the family is very, very important, but the family is temporal and the Church is eternal. You may lose a family member, a mate, a parent and one day you may be all alone in this world.
But, to have a church family built on Jesus Christ with the sweetness of the Holy Spirit is to have a haven in the midst of the storms of life. Make church a priority in your life!
4) Put your family before anything else.
A man must put his family before hobbies, friends, golf games, and even his work.
Paul first addresses the children. Notice what he says.
Ephesians 6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. 2 Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; 3 That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.
Dads are to explain this verse to their children. Children should be taught to obey. They should be taught how to show honor to mom and dad. They should be taught all of God’s commandments and promises and blessings. Dads teach your children (Deuteronomy 4 & 6, Proverbs) God’s word. Teach them God’s promises and teach them what will happen if they live contrary to them.
Then God speaks to fathers. 4 And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Look at two thoughts questions:
1) Why doesn’t Paul address the mothers here? 2) Why does Paul warn of dad’s wrath?
Answer 1) Because dads are suppose to be the main lover, and teacher and disciplinarian of the home. Dad is responsible for the raising of the children. Dads are to give both the nurture and admonition of the Lord to their children without getting angry with them.
Answer 2) Dads, it is human nature to throw off our responsibility to our wives and then get upset if the kids are not doing right. Therefore God reminds dads not to provoke their children to anger.
Mama, I love you, but when your boys become men, they prefer to have dad giving them direction rather than mom. It isn’t that it is a man-thing. It is God’s way! I know that doesn’t fly in our liberal society, but God’s word is more important than the woman liberation movement today.
A young man named Brian told this story as an adult. When I was just twelve my Boy Scout troop planned a father-son campout. I was thrilled and could hardly wait to rush home and give my father all the information. I wanted so much to show him all I’d learned in scouting, and I was so proud when he said he’d go with me. The Friday of the campout finally came, and I had all my gear out on the porch, ready to stuff it in his car the moment he arrived. We were to meet at the local school at 5 p.m. and car pool to the campground.
But Dad didn’t get home from work until 7 p.m. He was frantic, but he explained how things had gone wrong at work and told me not to worry. We could still get up first thing in the morning and join the others. After all, we had a map. I was disappointed, of course, but decided to just make the best of it.
First thing in the morning, I was up and had everything in his car while it was still getting light, all ready for us to catch up with my friends and their fathers at the campground. He had said we’d leave around 7 a.m., and I was ready a half hour before that. But he never came out of his room until 9 a.m.
When he saw me standing out front with the camping gear, he finally explained that he had a bad back and couldn’t sleep on the ground. He hoped I’d understand and that I should be a “big boy” about it.
Then he said, “Could I please get my things out of his car, because he had several commitments he had to keep.”
Just about the hardest thing I’ve ever done was to go to the car and take out my sleeping bag, cooking stove, pup tent, and supplies. And then, while I was putting my stuff away in the storage shed and he thought I couldn’t see, I watched my father carry his golf clubs out and throw them in his trunk and drive away to keep his “commitment.”
That’s when I realized my dad never meant to go with me to the campout. I didn’t matter to him, but his golfing buddies did. This dad lacked a relationship with God as well as with his family. Dads, kids know if they are important in your life.
5) Your work is to be your fifth priority. Ephesians 6:5-9 reveals just how a person should work. A Christian is to work hard and be diligent and work as if he is working for the Lord. Dads keep your priorities straight and you will enjoy life.
I - The man who is seeking God will seek God’s priorities.
II - The man who is seeking God will seek God’s purpose.
What would you think if you paid a good price to go to a football game because you were a great football fan and when you took your seat a group of men in leotards and dresses started to ice skate? Why you would be quite upset.
A battle more fierce that a game of football between two teams is a man knowing and fulfilling God’s purpose in life.
The Bible is simple and clear on man’s purpose in life:
1 - Man was made to fellowship with God. In the garden of Eden God
made man and they fellowshipped together every day. Then sin came and broke that fellowship. If you are not daily fellowshipping with God it is because of sin. Either you have never tasted of the wonderful grace of God whereby He saved your soul or else your priorities are wrong and you have forgotten your purpose in life.
First John 1:3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
Wouldn’t it be grand if dad’s came home at night and ate supper and opened the scriptures with the children rather than turn on the boob tube for three hours.
Before television was invented, that is what Christian families did. Evening Bible reading was as much as part of the family life in a Christian home as supper. But, parents say, “My kids are never home.” Dad’s who is in charge of your home? Is it mama? Is it the kids or are you? According to God’s word, if our priorities are right it is to be you.
2) A second purpose of God is the winning of lost souls.
Luke 19:10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
If you are not a believer in Jesus Christ, know that Jesus loves you. He came to this world for you and died on Calvary for you. He gave us two main instruments whereby a person can be saved. Jesus gave us His Word and He gave us His Spirit.
First, the Bible says in Romans 10:17, “Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” And let me say this. There are a lot of people that think they are believers and they are not. That is the importance of listening to God’s word every chance you can get. Jesus said in Matthew 7 there is coming a day when many and let me emphasis “many” will say to the Lord, did we not call on you and do great things in your name?” And Jesus will say, “I never knew you.”
People say, “But preacher we don’t know a person’s heart.” No, we don’t but if I have a fig tree that doesn’t bear figs but every year it bears poisonous berries I will cut it down so my children won’t be tainted by the poison. And I may be wrong but I know many folks who say, “I am saved” and they have never had any fruit of a Believer.”
Second, God gave us His Spirit. When a person comes to Christ, God’s Spirit will convict, convert and change a person to love God and to love the things of God.
Now, Christian, don’t ever lose sight of the fact that Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost.. We worship and we pray and we so live our lives that we might sow seeds and be a witness to a lost world. Jesus came and Jesus died for mankind to save man from hell. Don’t ever forget that you and I are saved and left here in this world to be a witness.
And let me say that our lives and how we live them are much more important than the words we speak. Dads, moms, so live and pray and walk with Christ to at lease win your family to the Lord. Give your life to that one goal.
3) A third purpose of God is for the Christian.
Christian God wants you to have a hero you worship. He wants you to have a person you idolize and bow to and so honor that you want to become like that person.
Romans 8: 28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
The reason God gave us His Spirit and His Book and the reason He gave the many gifts to the Church as well as pastors and evangelist and teachers is so we would give our lives to becoming like God’s Son.
We are to strive to love like Him, act like Him, react like Him. No we are not perfect. Yes we will fail. But there should be daily and weekly and monthly progress in our lives. And there will be if we are men seeking God’s purpose for our lives.
I - The man who is seeking God will seek God’s priorities.
II - The man who is seeking God will seek God’s purpose.
III. The man who is seeking God will seek God’s promises.
In the 1870s a gold rush began in Alaska. Many men rushed to Alaska to become rich. Many did but most did not. Most men gave every dime they had hoping to become rich and walked away broke or died in their grand search for gold. Just because someone says, “There is gold in them there hills” doesn’t mean it is so. But, I can say with one-hundred-percent confidence, there is gold in God’s word.
God’s Word is filled with gold nuggets called promises that will make you rich in a world that is spiritually poor.
The world is searching for love and yet they are never satisfied. Men look for women to love and women look for men to love and the next month they are looking again. Even in marriage few have a godly love because they will not search the gold mine of God’s word for the gold nuggets about love. You find out how God says to love and put it into practice and you will be fully satisfied.
The world is searching for peace. Thousand of peace treaties have been written and broken in search for peace. Many a home has been filled with arguments and peace agreements only to have them broken the next day if not the same hour. There is only one way to find peace and that is to find the golden peace promises in God’s word.
Psalms 119:165 Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.
I know to some of you this will sound like boasting and I don’t want it to and to some others you will declare that it is an out right lie but God as my witness what I am about to say is true. “I can’t remember the last time my wife and I had a fight.” “I can’t remember the last time we went to been upset with each other.”
Is it because we both study the Bible? Is it because we pray together? Is it because we worship together? Is it because I play my role as a husband and she plays her role as a wife?
I can’t really put my finger on it but I know this, we have gathered enough of God’s golden nuggets called His promises and applied them to our lives that we have a wonderful peaceful marriage and it is more than just knowing God’s promises it is applying them to our lives.
The world and many Christians are searching for peace in their home and in their lives. Thank God I know it is found in seeking His promises.
The world is searching for a better tomorrow. The head lines cry, “We have to change the environment.” “Global Warming” “Political Unrest” “Turmoil in the Middle East” “Education Problems” What will we do for our children’s future?
I am glad to say simply that I secured my retirement when I put my faith and trust in Jesus Christ. I know His promises that every thing in this world will one day be lost or burned up and if I want a better tomorrow then I should live in the light of future glory. I should seek those things which are above and not thing son this earth and I will have a better tomorrow.
Christian, be a man or a woman who will seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and everything else in life shall be added to you.
In our study on God’s “Ten Most Wanted” men we have studied the faithful man, the worshipful man, the loving man, the joyful man, the compassionate man, the peaceful man, the loyal man and the diligent man. The last two men we will study are an absolute must in the life of every one of God’s men if the other eight qualities are to flourish and grow.
Throughout the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, God calls men to “Seek Him first.”
Deuteronomy 4:29 “But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.”
Psalms 105:4 Seek the LORD, and his strength: seek his face evermore.
Matthew 6: 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Let’s look at three aspects of the Seeking Man:
I - HE SEEKS GOD’S PRIORITIES.
There are things in life that are important. There are things in life that are urgent and there are things in life that are godly.
One hundred different people would have one hundred different ideas of different priorities. What five would God pick for us? Let us see.
1) Put God first in your life and in every thing you do. “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matthew 22:37).
The phrase, “Love the Lord” appears seventeen times in the Bible. Seventeen is the number of victory. If you want victory over anything in this world, fall in love with the Jesus.
In Ephesians 5:1-20 Paul tells every individual how to obtain this wonderful relationship with the Lord. Follow after God and order your steps after the Lord. And walk in love the Lord.
Study diligently and thoroughly and you will be so glad you did.
Some folks ask, “How do I know if I am seeking the Lord?” Answer four questions? 1) Are you spending daily time in the Scriptures? 2) Are you spending daily time talking to the Lord? 3) Are you faithful as much as you can be to God’s house? 4) Are you reading, praying and going to Church to bring glory to God or are you hoping to get something in return? In seeking God our motives must be pure.
You don’t go to church to make your marriage better or to make your finances better. You go to Church to seek and worship the Lord Jesus Christ and to learn as much as you can about Him so you might serve Him better. And as you seek Him first, God will take care of the rest of your life.
2) Love your mate. As you continue to read Ephesians 5:21-33 you will discover that one’s relationship with their mate is a picture of one’s relationship with Christ. The man should set an example like Christ and be willing to sacrifice his very life for his mate and the wife should submit to her husband as the Church should submit to Christ.
Individuals can witness for the Lord and that is good but the greatest picture of Christ’s love for the Church and the Church’s love for Christ is a Godly love a married couple has one for the other.
Note that this wonderful love relationship will only take place if you put God first in your life.
A Christian counselor and noted speaker who speaks all over America told of the day when he almost destroyed his marriage and he didn’t ever realize it. He was a very busy man with many appointments here and there. So often he planned to take his wife here and there but it seemed that someone always called and there was always an interruption.
One day when he explained to his wife that he had to cancel another engagement, she said, maybe we ought to get a divorce. It hit him like a ton of bricks. He did not realize that every time he put a counseling session or business trip before her, he was telling her she wasn’t important. It took two years to bring their marriage back to where it once was.
Listen: If you had a lawnmower that need repairing at your house or your relationship to a child or mate needed repairing which one would you first rectify? That one is your priority.
3) Be faithful in Church. Ephesians 5:32 reads, “This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.” The grand importance of the Church is for people to understand that it is an eternal institution. The Church is to meet together to worship and study and pray and fellowship and to grow spiritually. Why? Christians have been saved by grace so they might be a witness to the rest of the world.
We are to be lights in a dark world and salt in a spiritually flavorless society.
The Church dedicated to God has the power to turn the world upside down for Christ.
Some have asked, “Isn’t my family more important than the Church?” What you must realize is the family is very, very important, but the family is temporal and the Church is eternal. You may lose a family member, a mate, a parent and one day you may be all alone in this world.
But, to have a church family built on Jesus Christ with the sweetness of the Holy Spirit is to have a haven in the midst of the storms of life. Make church a priority in your life!
4) Put your family before anything else.
A man must put his family before hobbies, friends, golf games, and even his work.
Paul first addresses the children. Notice what he says.
Ephesians 6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. 2 Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; 3 That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.
Dads are to explain this verse to their children. Children should be taught to obey. They should be taught how to show honor to mom and dad. They should be taught all of God’s commandments and promises and blessings. Dads teach your children (Deuteronomy 4 & 6, Proverbs) God’s word. Teach them God’s promises and teach them what will happen if they live contrary to them.
Then God speaks to fathers. 4 And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Look at two thoughts questions:
1) Why doesn’t Paul address the mothers here? 2) Why does Paul warn of dad’s wrath?
Answer 1) Because dads are suppose to be the main lover, and teacher and disciplinarian of the home. Dad is responsible for the raising of the children. Dads are to give both the nurture and admonition of the Lord to their children without getting angry with them.
Answer 2) Dads, it is human nature to throw off our responsibility to our wives and then get upset if the kids are not doing right. Therefore God reminds dads not to provoke their children to anger.
Mama, I love you, but when your boys become men, they prefer to have dad giving them direction rather than mom. It isn’t that it is a man-thing. It is God’s way! I know that doesn’t fly in our liberal society, but God’s word is more important than the woman liberation movement today.
A young man named Brian told this story as an adult. When I was just twelve my Boy Scout troop planned a father-son campout. I was thrilled and could hardly wait to rush home and give my father all the information. I wanted so much to show him all I’d learned in scouting, and I was so proud when he said he’d go with me. The Friday of the campout finally came, and I had all my gear out on the porch, ready to stuff it in his car the moment he arrived. We were to meet at the local school at 5 p.m. and car pool to the campground.
But Dad didn’t get home from work until 7 p.m. He was frantic, but he explained how things had gone wrong at work and told me not to worry. We could still get up first thing in the morning and join the others. After all, we had a map. I was disappointed, of course, but decided to just make the best of it.
First thing in the morning, I was up and had everything in his car while it was still getting light, all ready for us to catch up with my friends and their fathers at the campground. He had said we’d leave around 7 a.m., and I was ready a half hour before that. But he never came out of his room until 9 a.m.
When he saw me standing out front with the camping gear, he finally explained that he had a bad back and couldn’t sleep on the ground. He hoped I’d understand and that I should be a “big boy” about it.
Then he said, “Could I please get my things out of his car, because he had several commitments he had to keep.”
Just about the hardest thing I’ve ever done was to go to the car and take out my sleeping bag, cooking stove, pup tent, and supplies. And then, while I was putting my stuff away in the storage shed and he thought I couldn’t see, I watched my father carry his golf clubs out and throw them in his trunk and drive away to keep his “commitment.”
That’s when I realized my dad never meant to go with me to the campout. I didn’t matter to him, but his golfing buddies did. This dad lacked a relationship with God as well as with his family. Dads, kids know if they are important in your life.
5) Your work is to be your fifth priority. Ephesians 6:5-9 reveals just how a person should work. A Christian is to work hard and be diligent and work as if he is working for the Lord. Dads keep your priorities straight and you will enjoy life.
I - The man who is seeking God will seek God’s priorities.
II - The man who is seeking God will seek God’s purpose.
What would you think if you paid a good price to go to a football game because you were a great football fan and when you took your seat a group of men in leotards and dresses started to ice skate? Why you would be quite upset.
A battle more fierce that a game of football between two teams is a man knowing and fulfilling God’s purpose in life.
The Bible is simple and clear on man’s purpose in life:
1 - Man was made to fellowship with God. In the garden of Eden God
made man and they fellowshipped together every day. Then sin came and broke that fellowship. If you are not daily fellowshipping with God it is because of sin. Either you have never tasted of the wonderful grace of God whereby He saved your soul or else your priorities are wrong and you have forgotten your purpose in life.
First John 1:3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
Wouldn’t it be grand if dad’s came home at night and ate supper and opened the scriptures with the children rather than turn on the boob tube for three hours.
Before television was invented, that is what Christian families did. Evening Bible reading was as much as part of the family life in a Christian home as supper. But, parents say, “My kids are never home.” Dad’s who is in charge of your home? Is it mama? Is it the kids or are you? According to God’s word, if our priorities are right it is to be you.
2) A second purpose of God is the winning of lost souls.
Luke 19:10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
If you are not a believer in Jesus Christ, know that Jesus loves you. He came to this world for you and died on Calvary for you. He gave us two main instruments whereby a person can be saved. Jesus gave us His Word and He gave us His Spirit.
First, the Bible says in Romans 10:17, “Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” And let me say this. There are a lot of people that think they are believers and they are not. That is the importance of listening to God’s word every chance you can get. Jesus said in Matthew 7 there is coming a day when many and let me emphasis “many” will say to the Lord, did we not call on you and do great things in your name?” And Jesus will say, “I never knew you.”
People say, “But preacher we don’t know a person’s heart.” No, we don’t but if I have a fig tree that doesn’t bear figs but every year it bears poisonous berries I will cut it down so my children won’t be tainted by the poison. And I may be wrong but I know many folks who say, “I am saved” and they have never had any fruit of a Believer.”
Second, God gave us His Spirit. When a person comes to Christ, God’s Spirit will convict, convert and change a person to love God and to love the things of God.
Now, Christian, don’t ever lose sight of the fact that Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost.. We worship and we pray and we so live our lives that we might sow seeds and be a witness to a lost world. Jesus came and Jesus died for mankind to save man from hell. Don’t ever forget that you and I are saved and left here in this world to be a witness.
And let me say that our lives and how we live them are much more important than the words we speak. Dads, moms, so live and pray and walk with Christ to at lease win your family to the Lord. Give your life to that one goal.
3) A third purpose of God is for the Christian.
Christian God wants you to have a hero you worship. He wants you to have a person you idolize and bow to and so honor that you want to become like that person.
Romans 8: 28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
The reason God gave us His Spirit and His Book and the reason He gave the many gifts to the Church as well as pastors and evangelist and teachers is so we would give our lives to becoming like God’s Son.
We are to strive to love like Him, act like Him, react like Him. No we are not perfect. Yes we will fail. But there should be daily and weekly and monthly progress in our lives. And there will be if we are men seeking God’s purpose for our lives.
I - The man who is seeking God will seek God’s priorities.
II - The man who is seeking God will seek God’s purpose.
III. The man who is seeking God will seek God’s promises.
In the 1870s a gold rush began in Alaska. Many men rushed to Alaska to become rich. Many did but most did not. Most men gave every dime they had hoping to become rich and walked away broke or died in their grand search for gold. Just because someone says, “There is gold in them there hills” doesn’t mean it is so. But, I can say with one-hundred-percent confidence, there is gold in God’s word.
God’s Word is filled with gold nuggets called promises that will make you rich in a world that is spiritually poor.
The world is searching for love and yet they are never satisfied. Men look for women to love and women look for men to love and the next month they are looking again. Even in marriage few have a godly love because they will not search the gold mine of God’s word for the gold nuggets about love. You find out how God says to love and put it into practice and you will be fully satisfied.
The world is searching for peace. Thousand of peace treaties have been written and broken in search for peace. Many a home has been filled with arguments and peace agreements only to have them broken the next day if not the same hour. There is only one way to find peace and that is to find the golden peace promises in God’s word.
Psalms 119:165 Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.
I know to some of you this will sound like boasting and I don’t want it to and to some others you will declare that it is an out right lie but God as my witness what I am about to say is true. “I can’t remember the last time my wife and I had a fight.” “I can’t remember the last time we went to been upset with each other.”
Is it because we both study the Bible? Is it because we pray together? Is it because we worship together? Is it because I play my role as a husband and she plays her role as a wife?
I can’t really put my finger on it but I know this, we have gathered enough of God’s golden nuggets called His promises and applied them to our lives that we have a wonderful peaceful marriage and it is more than just knowing God’s promises it is applying them to our lives.
The world and many Christians are searching for peace in their home and in their lives. Thank God I know it is found in seeking His promises.
The world is searching for a better tomorrow. The head lines cry, “We have to change the environment.” “Global Warming” “Political Unrest” “Turmoil in the Middle East” “Education Problems” What will we do for our children’s future?
I am glad to say simply that I secured my retirement when I put my faith and trust in Jesus Christ. I know His promises that every thing in this world will one day be lost or burned up and if I want a better tomorrow then I should live in the light of future glory. I should seek those things which are above and not thing son this earth and I will have a better tomorrow.
Christian, be a man or a woman who will seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and everything else in life shall be added to you.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
