TV Transcripts

Transcript of message from TV Broadcast 1673 — taken from Closed Captioning Text

Phil: God doesn’t want us to be afraid of the devil, but we need to know who we are and we need to be His people, don’t we? We need to move in Him. But I believe God with all my heart, God wants to bring us to a place where we know these things that the devil knows, we know who we are, and we’re able to be instruments of Christ in this world. Praise God! All right?

So the devil knows who we are. It’s Christ in us, the hope of glory. We are born from above, sealed by His Spirit, a brand new creation. Now that’s sealed by the Spirit. There’s some… See, any one of these subjects could be a subject of a message, couldn’t it? But the seal of God’s Spirit. What does that mean?

There’s something about when somebody really comes to Christ and hands their life over and He comes in and takes possession, He puts a seal. That’s an illustration of saying, That’s mine. That one’s mine.

Do you think the devil is ignorant of that? He knows! If you’re His, the devil knows it. He’s gonna deal with you differently than he would somebody in the world. But the devil knows those that are His. You know the devil seals people too. You see that on both sides of this war that’s going on, the devil is sealing people with lies and with deception. The whole world is deceived and Satan is the author of that deception.

But I’ll tell you, when God calls somebody out, there is a birth that happens. There is a brand new life that is born that the devil cannot kill. We need to realize who we are in Him. God wants us to wake up and be aware. The devil knows that. Praise God!

Here’s something that just hit me as I was thinking about all this. The devil is scared to death of us. And it doesn’t feel like that a lot of the time, but the devil is scared because he knows it’s not just us. If Christ lives in you, that’s the One he’s afraid of. He’s afraid we’ll discover who we are and start saying, Lord, just like we sang, use me.

This is not a prescription for a pep rally to get out and go change the world in that sense. But this is to bring us to a place where we know who we are in Christ and we know we can do whatever He gives us to do because it’s not us doing it, it’s Him in us. Praise God! That’s what the devil is afraid of. Praise the Lord!

What about the scripture where John was talking in 1 John 4 about deceivers that had come in, but they didn’t recognize that Christ was there. They were just coming in with their deception. And the comment that John makes is, Greater is He that is in us than he that’s in the world. The devil is very, very aware. When Christ resides in a heart, that’s the one he is terrified of. Praise the Lord!

I don’t know as I thought about this, I just felt a greater sense of confidence and rest. I have no confidence in me. Nobody here has any grounds to have confidence in yourself. But we have all the ground in the world to have confidence in Him! Praise the Lord!

And it’s not just that greater is He that’s in us. What about what Paul says in Ephesians 2 about how we who were under the dominion of Satan? I don’t care if you were born in the church and grew up here, until Christ comes in and takes the throne of your heart, you’re living under his power. But when Christ comes in, He takes over. He lifts us up out of the graveyard of sin, gives us a life that the devil cannot kill. But we don’t stop there. He raises us up to seat us with Him in heavenly places in Christ. There is a place of authority that we have.

The devil loves to make us feel like we’re down in the mire, down in the depths and, Oh, God, way up there someplace…. Is that the picture that’s painted? We’re up here with Christ. When it comes to the devil, we’re looking down. We’re looking down. I wanna see it that way. I want this to become so real to me because I’m just like you. I have those times too. We all do when we feel that way. But God wants us to understand these are things the devil is well aware of. He has no illusion about who we are and what our destiny is. Praise God!

And he knows our power to overcome, doesn’t he? Praise the Lord! What about? Well, of course, Revelation 12, the scripture we quote so often. See, that’s the picture of how Christ came into the world. He tried his best to destroy Christ, but he lost, and there was a great war that took place in Heaven and he was cast down.

Jesus said before He went to the cross that that’s what was gonna happen. The devil’s gonna be cast down, cast out. And what happened as a result of that? A message began to be proclaimed, The victory has been won. And those who overcame the devil didn’t do it because they got excited and geared up. They did it because the blood was shed. The only ground the devil has over me is my sins that would separate me from God, but God took care of that at the cross.

Why do you think the devil is so scared of the cross? He knows that the only power he has over us is to get us to… Is to cause us to feel the guilt and the weight of our sins. But they were all placed upon a Savior. Praise God! And he didn’t just bear ‘em, He took them into the grave and left them there. Praise the Lord!

And I’ll tell you, it didn’t stop with just the fact of the blood, but the fact that they had this testimony. Praise God! I’m standing on what God says. I’m gonna be like Jesus. When the devil comes and tells me all about all the stuff that’s wrong with me, I’m gonna tell him what’s wrong with him. I’m gonna stand there and confess what God has done for me. I’m gonna lift up my eyes and get them off of what I think I am and all that I’m not, and place them where they need to be! On Jesus and what He has accomplished. I’m gonna confess that and stand on it. Praise the Lord!

You know, those of you who were there Saturday night, heard Brother Ezra talk about standing your ground. I wish I’d thought about this at the time, but you read the passage in Ephesians 12, or Ephesians 6, I mean, about the armor, yeah, and how we fight and resist. We had a message on that recently. But one of the things that Paul mentions, one of the expressions that he mentions in the translation I use most of the time, is, Stand your ground! That you might be able to stand your ground. Very phrase that Ezra used over and over again.

God wants us to realize that He has given us ground. We didn’t earn it! Jesus, because of what Jesus did, we have a place to stand that belongs to us. It’s ours! We have a right to stand upon that. Now, you know, the illustration he used had to do with Israelites. And God had given them a physical, you know, physical land to possess. And they had every right to say, This is mine. You can’t come in here and take it from me.

But I wonder how many of us really understand that when we’re under assault by the devil, we’re not trying to take ground as though I just haven’t got it yet. God wants us to realize He has given us ground and we stand on that ground. We claim that it is ours and it becomes ours in practice.

I don’t wanna fight from futility of trying to be something I’m not. I wanna become what I am. Think about that. Are we trying to become something we’re not? Or are we growing up to become something that we are because we were born from above? His life is in us. The blood was shed, the cross happened, the empty tomb happened. We have a life that cannot be killed. Praise God!

It’s the finished work of Christ. We have every right to stand upon that. Not because we think we deserve it or we always live up. We come back to that every time and say, This is the reason, Devil. I have a right to stand against you.

Do you think the devil is ignorant of this? The devil believes it better than we do most of the time. He is well aware of what Christ did for us. He knows that he has no defense except trying to assault us in some fashion through lies, through our weaknesses to get our mind, our eyes off of where they need to be. If he can do that, he can make us ineffective.

But I wanna rise up from that and realize that what Jesus did for me at the cross is mine and I have every right to stand on it and claim it. And I’m often in need of it just like you are. But that’s the place that I need to run to every single time. Praise God! Praise God!

So stand our ground! The devil knows our destiny. He knows all of the promises that we so often quote. I didn’t even write down too many of them, but the ones that we quote all the time, Philippians 1:6, praise God about how the work that He has begun. What about it? He’s going to complete it. How long? Till the day of Jesus Christ.

There’s a day coming. God’s not gonna quit. God help us not to throw up our hands as though we’re defeated and we just can’t, you can’t make it. He is the basis upon which I stand. The devil is well aware of that promise. He has no illusions about it being true or not. He absolutely understands that there is a life in us. Like I say, he cannot kill.

What about Romans 8, the passage we read so often? Even the stuff that the Lord allows him to do, God turns it into good. It must be frustrating. Now, I’m not a bit sorry for him. I don’t sympathize at all. But how frustrating is it that when the devil is allowed to do something, that somehow is that human beings regard as negative, he persecutes or he oppresses or whatever, and God says, All things work together for good to those who love Him, to those who are called according to His purpose. And the devil can’t stop that.

And he goes all the way to the point, all the way to the fact that, we’ve been glorified in God’s mind and God’s purpose. We’ve already been glorified. Do you think the devil doesn’t know that scripture? Do you think he thinks it’s, Well, that’s not true. The devil knows.

And what about nothing can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus. Praise God! Every one of these things is something that the devil knows and understands.

What about Paul’s confession? I know whom I have believed that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him against that day. See, God had planted the confidence about his own destiny in Paul’s heart, and he knew it didn’t rest with him. He knew it rested on the faithfulness of God. He said, I handed my… Every issue of my life. I handed it over to Him. I’ve committed me, I’ve committed all the sins, the terrible sins that I committed when I was young, in unbelief, I gave it all to Him. And I know He’s faithful and I know He’s gonna keep it all the way to the end. Praise God!

I just wanna come back to that thought. In all of this, the devil knows every one of these things and the Lord wants us to know them in a deeper way than we have. May He help us. May He help me. I know He is. I don’t think this is gonna take a lot longer, but anyway. I mean, like I say, there’s so many ways, so many places, so many scriptures you could throw into this. But just think of any of the ones that have been meaningful to you.

And I want you to understand, the devil knows about it. He is well aware. What he doesn’t want is for us to get it. He wants us to use the EBM Version of the Bible. It’s not the King James, the NIV or all. EBM. That’s Everybody But Me. Where we could sit there and say, Yeah, that’s a great truth. But as for me, doesn’t quite apply to me.

Oh, God wants us to take His Word. What did Jesus die for? Just so that we could live in as paupers? He wants us to live with a sense of confidence. Now that’s not talking about human bravado and cockiness and thinking we’re something we can just go out and, you know, push spiritual buttons and accomplish things. No! But when he tells us something to do, we can do it because we are His! He wants us to grow up in Him and be who we truly are. The devil is scared to death that that’s gonna happen in God’s people. Praise the Lord!

Well, there’s something else the devil knows, right? He knows his time is short. Now it’s interesting that that was originally written in the first century. But if you just follow the Bible chronology, there was a good 4,000 years before that. And Satan knew when Jesus ascended to that throne and began to declare His message, he said, Woo! Time’s running out.

I don’t think he knew. He also knew that he had been frustrated and has been for most of this time since the Gospel began to be proclaimed. He has been frustrated in his efforts to unite the world under his leadership. Now, he’s able to do a lot of stuff. But in terms of gathering the nations completely under his rule and literally driving out the influence of Christ from the Earth, he hasn’t been able to do that. He has been bound and limited in what he was able to do.

And of course we know that the end of the age is that period of time, described as a little season, when that release happens. And we’ve talked about it many times. It’s happening right before us. We see every day the effort of Satan, the successful effort in so many cases, of the devil to plant his ideas.

Our whole generation is glued to their phones, getting information. What kind of information is it? Boy, the devil has unprecedented powers and avenues for getting information into people’s heads. He can promote his culture, his ideas, his lies in every possible form, if we’re not discerning and awake. And God help us to realize what’s going on. The devil knows he has a short time! He’s come down in great wrath and the people of the world have no idea what’s going on. Thank God, His people do. That God has a people.

You know, I’ve made this point in a couple of settings recently. I believe with all my heart it’s easy for us to focus on, Oh, things are so bad, it’s so dark. Circle the wagons, folks! I believe with all my heart, this is the time that God is gonna have the greatest ingathering of His people. There is a harvest that’s happening in many places in the world right now.

And I don’t wanna seek, I don’t wanna put God in my box, and say, It’s gotta happen this way or that way. I wanna say, God knows how to reach His. God is going to reach everyone. And, yes, there is a terrible harvest of evil that’s happening in the world, but there’s a harvest of good too, and God is calling His people.

I tell you, we’re gonna have a unnumbered company, innumerable company from every tribe and every nation before it’s over. God is faithful and I wanna be part of that. I don’t wanna sit there and say, Well, nothing we can do. It’s all over. It ain’t over till Jesus comes.

And I don’t know what’s gonna happen between now and then. I know it’s gonna get a lot darker and we’re gonna see trials and tribulations of all kinds. But I’ll tell you, God has promised to be with us to the end of the age and He that’s in us is greater! The devil cannot destroy that which God has birthed into His Kingdom. And He’s looking for people that realize who we are!

The devil has no right to you, has no right to me. We have a right to realize we’re here and he’s down here trying to do whatever he can do. But he has lost the war. But right now, he is doing everything he can do to deceive the lost and unify the world under his power.

But he’s also trying to make every effort to make believers ineffective, to blind believers to the reality, on a personal level, of the things we’ve been talking about today. He knows they’re true! He’s scared to death we’ll find out about it, and actually live it.

But I’ll tell you, you see where we’re at, you see what we need. We need to wake up and look to Jesus. When you struggle against something, where do you look? I mean, I know where we’re supposed to look, but I mean, where do we look? Most of the time we’re looking at the circumstance, the feelings, the sense of failure, the sense of weakness.

Whatever it is. God wants His people every moment of every day to lift our eyes and say, I have a source. I need to stay plugged in. I don’t have to suck the juice out of the vine, it’s gonna flow. All I have to do is look to Him and believe His promises and His life will sustain me because what He’s done in here cannot be killed. Praise God!

When I feel weakness, it’s because from the devil’s attempt is attempting to put me in a place where I’m just, Oh, well, I can’t do anything. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. You think the devil is unaware of that? The devil believes every one of these things. He knows them to be true. God wants us to have better faith than the devil. I need to learn to believe things the devil knows to be true. But I need to learn how to believe them personally for me, according to my needs and where I’m at.

And I’ll tell you as God works that in us, we’re going to be instruments of His purpose in this hour. I don’t know what that is. It’s not to start a program and get a committee together to come up with a five-year plan. It’s to look to God and say, Lord, here we are. Use me, Jesus. And I’m just gonna look to you and wait upon you and take it as it comes. I’m gonna do what Jesus taught us, what He said He was gonna bring us to is the place of rest. Learn from me, He said. And you’ll find rest for your souls.

So I don’t know. I just… This has really covered a lot of ground in a way, but I hope it’s painted a simple picture. We need to realize the devil knows a whole lot more than we maybe give him credit for. He is terrified that God’s people will understand the truth of the Gospel and walk in it and lay hold of it and be people that God can use in an hour like this.

I pray that God will wake me up and all of us to realize who we are instead of thinking of ourselves as this poor, weak, useless, whatever, however the devil wants to characterize it. Say, Devil, in myself, I’m all those things. But there’s One in me who’s greater than you. There’s an eternal purpose being lived out and worked out. I have every right to yield myself to Him and to be a part of that.

Maybe He hasn’t called me to go out and do great things, as people who imagine those things. But I can be a light right where I’m at. Christ can live in me. I can be victorious. I can grow in my faith. And yes, there’s room for growth. I don’t get it right all the time, but I’ve got a place to go.

Oh, the devil is terrified of the cross and the blood that was shed there. But we can go there with joy and thankfulness knowing that there is a ground that God has established where we can be as clean as if we had never sinned in the first place. We just have to have a heart that agrees with Him and comes to Him and says, Father, I need to be cleansed. Help me. Help me to grow. Help me to learn from this.

You think He’s gonna be faithful? The devil knows it. He knows there’s gonna be a day when it’ll be over for him. He’s gonna take down everybody he can take down. He is angry that his plans and all that he has imagined is gonna come to an end. He knows it’s true.

How would you feel if you were in his place? You’d be out there doing everything you could do to stop it. But I serve One who cannot, who’s never lost a battle. And it’s not just a matter of the battle. He’s won the war. He has won the war! And I wanna be one that walks in that.

So just think about all these things the devil knows and say, Do I know them? Do I really walk in this? Do I get all this? Does it make a difference in my daily life? And I believe the Lord’s gonna help us in a special way going forward. Don’t you?

I don’t know what it’s gonna look like. God doesn’t live in my box. I just wanna say, Lord, teach us, show us. Lead us. I wanna be free to say, Lord, whatever you have, help us to be alive and awake and to be able to hear your voice and believe it when you speak and trust you for the power to do whatever you tell us to do. That’s kinda all there is to it, isn’t it? Praise God! Isn’t the Lord good? Praise the Lord!

Transcript of message from TV Broadcast 1670 — taken from Closed Captioning Text

Phil: I guess funny how it is, how the Lord expects me to walk in what I preach. But anyway, you know, most of the times when I come in here, I’m saying, Lord, is this really you? And you’re just gonna have to take over. So that’s certainly where I’m at at.

But you know, I always have to go back to what Paul went through and I’m certainly no Paul, but the principles apply. That Paul reached a time when he was weak and being oppressed of the enemy. And yet the Lord told him the answer wasn’t getting rid of the enemy. The answer was leaning on my strength ‘cause my grace is enough, I will give you enough. I mean, that was quoted this morning. And so that’s my hope. And I think there needs to be every one of our hope.

We just need to realize the way things are. But the reality is this is the way it is. And God wants us to help, wants us to understand some basic things that we’ve talked about so many times. That’s another thing I fight when I come in here, Lord, we’ve talked about this all the time it doesn’t make any sense to just regurgitate. But we don’t need regurgitation. We need the Lord to speak what’s relevant to the need right now. And somehow I feel like this is, and the word that came to me was overcoming.

And how many of you know that that’s what the Christian life is about, is about overcoming? And I thought, I don’t want to get into the details so much of this, but you know, in Revelation 2 and 3 we have letters from Jesus to churches. And each church was in a particular situation, the need was a little bit different. And yet there was some common themes, weren’t there?

You know, he went to the church, brought to the church in Ephesus,. And boy, they had it all down, didn’t they? I mean, they were believing all the right stuff. They were doing all the right stuff, but there was a problem, wasn’t there? And the Lord pointed out, You lost your first love. And you see what the Lord was focusing on, how the enemy had actually fooled the people into thinking that if I just keep doing the right things and I’m not wavering in my beliefs, I’m still doing everything I’m supposed to do, that everything is good.

And how easily does a relationship become religion when that happens? And so there’s a danger that the Lord wanted to specifically point out in that church and say, you know, You got a need here. I want this to be a personal one-on-one relationship with me. So that what you do is not done out of a heart of duty or habit, but there is a genuine love that’s going back and forth between us.

And also I wanna shed that love through you. And if you’re leaving your first love, you know, my biggest commandment to you is what? Love one another. Well, how do we do that? We’re gonna have to have love that doesn’t originate in us. It’s gonna have to come from the Lord himself. It’s gonna have to be able to flow into our hearts. And then our focus is gonna have to be on others so that it can flow out to others.

So you see where the Lord was putting his finger on a particular need and there was a particular word that they needed. They just didn’t need, you know, well, okay, now we’re on page such and such of our theology book. And let’s not forget how we do church. God was always very specific. And so of course he comes to the end and whoever has ears let him hear what the spirit says to the churches.

And then there’s promises to the one who is, in this translation victorious, but the original word obviously is the same. The one who overcomes, the one who’s victorious. And then there are promises that God gives. This is the focus. And of course, you know, very quickly just running through what these churches went through.

The second one actually was doing everything right. There wasn’t any focus on, Hey, you’re messed up here. You’re coming short here. Rather, they were in a place of persecution. And so God gave them words of encouragement. I know how you stood your ground. And guess what? There’s more coming. God’s gonna kill some of you. And the Lord was giving them a word of encouragement, but then a promise. You know, hear what I’m saying. And to him that overcomes, there’s a great promise and a great hope.

Alright, and of course the next one, you had some people there they had experienced some persecution and then some of them had the goods. But boy, there were some problems there, weren’t there. You had some people that had all kinds of false motives and false doctrines. Without going into the details, it was leading people astray. It was trying to inject into the gospel a compromise with the flesh and with human ambition.

Whatever it was, I’ll tell you, if we’re not careful, the devil will soften the gospel, will misdirect it, will inject his ideas into it, and it really won’t be the Lord. And all of a sudden, instead of serving him, we’re serving us. And so he was warning them and warning them to repent. There was a real sin here, there was a real need in the church. And the church wasn’t facing it and dealing with it. Okay?

And then he says, you know, Repent, there’s a call to repent. And then, however has ears to hear, and to the one who’s victorious, you had that same element in every one of these letters. There’s something to overcome here. Okay?

And then the next one, the church of Thyatira had kind of a similar thing. You had a woman who had somehow styled herself as a prophetess. Where do you suppose she got her inspiration from? And she was again, injecting something into the gospel, but there probably was a supernatural element. Oh my God, this lady’s, it’s not just her. There’s something supernatural about it. It must be God.

Well, we need to seek the one who is the head of the church and we need to have ears that are willing to hear his voice. ‘Cause his voice, there was no compromise in the voice. I’ve called on to repent. She hasn’t. I’m gonna put her in a bed of suffering. I’m gonna deal with this. My judgment is coming. And there’s some of you that haven’t gone along, you hang on, you hold what you got. But there was a real need of overcoming in that particular context.

And of course then you had one, that there was a church that had a reputation for being alive, but they were dead. I wonder how much of Christian religion that applies to? God help us. So there was a need there. There was a need to wake up, strengthen what remains. Now, the only way the Lord could have said that was if there were some of his people there and there were. And so God was calling upon them to wake up.

You suppose that might just be appropriate. Everything about the spirit of this world is going to put us to sleep if we let it. And listen to the promise of God. Let’s see, remember… Alright, actually, it’s a warning, but there’s a promise built into it. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.

But what’s the promise that’s kind of baked into that? If you do wake up and you’re in tune with me, my coming is not gonna surprise you. Isn’t that what Paul said? But that day will not surprise you like a thief. That doesn’t mean we’re gonna know the day and the hour, but I’ll tell you God’s people that are in tune with him, isn’t that a theme you get throughout this? You better be in tune and listening. I want you to have ears that are constantly tuned to heaven so that I can talk to you about what’s needed right here and right now. ‘cause there are things that I have allowed in your path that need to be overcome, okay?

So anyway, so there’s a word of encouragement and warning all baked into one. And so he is encouraging those who haven’t gotten in that condition, alright? I’ve got promises for you. Just listen. The one is victorious. And then there are promises about that.

The Church of Philadelphia, they were doing good. Basically, they were the church of brotherly love. That’s what the word Philadelphia means. And he says, You have little strength. So this wasn’t even a people who were just, Hey, your guys are strong. This was, You have little strength, but yet there was a word of encouragement, wasn’t there?

Do you ever feel that way? Boy, I just don’t have what it takes. Lord, I’m just so weak. Every one of us, if we’re honest, we feel that way because it’s the truth. And yet, here’s the Lord, giving them a word of encouragement. But what they have done with the strength that God has given them, they have stood fast. They have faced persecution, they face slander, they face whatever the enemy has thrown against them.

And the promise is, You endure patiently. I’m gonna keep you from the hour of trial. I’m gonna be with you to the end. Remember that was said this morning? I’m gonna be there. There’s a lot of things gonna happen, but don’t worry, I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. Okay? The one who’s victorious, I’ll make a pillar in the temple of my God, and so forth. Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear.

Then of course the Laodicean church who had gotten to the point where they were doing everything right, outwardly, they had it all, but they were in a prosperous situation. Do you see the wisdom of God in putting us in situations where we feel our need? What happens when the Lord allows the sun to shine and the bank accounts to be full and everything, business is great? How does that help spiritual progress? It doesn’t, do it? It it causes us to go to sleep.

And so the Lord is warning them. You are going through a form. You are more in tune with what your natural being wants in this world. Really that’s what’s in control of your life. You’re still going through all doing all the right things, but your heart’s not really warm toward me. You’re in danger of just falling away completely from being even my people from my church.

Now we’re not talking about people that really know the Lord, you know, losing their salvation. I’ll tell you there’s something that happens when someone’s born of God, but still you’ve got a lot of people that can gravitate to a church and to a religion and it becomes religion.

But anyway, think of the common elements in this. In every situation there was a word about overcoming. Everyone. Some of them had sins, some of them had pressure. In this case it was prosperity they had to overcome. Everyone had something that they needed victory over. They needed to overcome.

What does that tell you about and remind you about the Kingdom of God and living in this world? There will always be something to overcome. We will always have adversity. And this is where we, again, you know, how often do we talk about this? But that’s one of the things that God wants us to realize.

And yet you see the situation in every case was different. And somehow that just resonated with me because, you know, say what Scott was talking about. There certainly were probably others that experienced some of the same things, but the reality is every individual Christian is different in that regard. We are very unique. We’re different from one another. And yet every one of us in this sense has to deal with something, okay?

So what are we dealing with? Think of the scripture that we so often use in Revelation 12:11, I believe it is, when it talks about the devil who was defeated. Thank God for that defeat, that great defeat. But he’s still here working, isn’t he? We’re here and he’s in the world and he’s working against us.

And so how does that victory happen? It happens because of the blood of the lamb. Thank God that we do have a place that there was a significance to the blood that was shed there. And if we have gotten grounded in our thinking, that my standing before God is not based upon me, it’s based upon that. And I’m standing there, I’m believing it. I’m actively believing it. I’m not acting as if it isn’t really true for me. I’m constantly looking to that.

Now that doesn’t mean I’m looking to that and trying to live my own life and figuring that’s gonna take care of it all, you understand? That’s not victory. That’s not what he died for. But anyway, the blood gives me a place to stand.

And then the word of the testimony that we’ve talked about so many times, that’s when the truth of God enters into our heart and mind in such a way that it displaces the lies of Satan. Satan will always tell you something. He does me. There’s always gonna be something that he’s gonna put in there. And God wants the truth of his word, the promises of his word to become such conviction that we can do the same thing Jesus said. It is written, all right?

But the third part is really where I’m going with this. And they love not their lives so much as to shrink from death. Now, this is something we’ve certainly said many times. My enemy, my biggest enemy is not the devil. If I did not still have in this earthly body a nature that hates God and wants its own way, Satan would have no power over me.

You know, when Christ comes, let’s suppose Satan is round after that for some reason. But when Christ comes, we’ll be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. This old body will be done away with, we’ll have one that is only filled with his life. Do you think Satan would have any opening to get into that? No. It’s while we’re here living in this.

So the issue is not Satan, it’s what’s in here. Do we hang on to what’s part of our old life? And that’s what the Lord’s seeking to deal with in every circumstance that comes our way, every test, the only reason Satan has any access to bring us into a place where we’re defeated, we’re sidetracked, whatever it is, whatever the effect is that makes us less than effective, it all comes from in here.

And of course, I’ll remind you of what we’ve talked about so many times, what Jesus said in his testimony, when he came to the cross, The prince of this world is coming. He knew it. God was allowing him to do his thing. And of course he deceived himself and, you know, wrecked his own chances. Thank God for the victory that God had purposed.

But the point Jesus was making is the prince of this world is coming, but he has no hold on me. That’s the key. I have been tested. Was he not a tested stone? He came down here and experienced the same flesh that you and I have to deal with. But God gave him the strength and the knowledge and the wisdom to learn how to say no and to recognize what was going on.

Satan is trying to appeal to me, to put this first, to seek what my flesh wants. It could be pride, it could be physical lust, it could be a gazillion things that all come from this nature. But Satan did not have any hold on him. He had looked everywhere, put Jesus under a microscope.

And did that mean by the way that he didn’t still have something to overcome? Obviously he had the cross and he had to go to the Lord. And he had to go to his Father and get strength, strength beyond anything you and I will ever need. Thank God that he went there. Thank God that even in that test. See that garden experience happened after Jesus had said that. And yet there he was under a tremendous assault of the enemy and having to say, Father, not my will, but yours be done. There was still a sense of having to stand and having to overcome. Praise God! And thank God he overcame. Praise the Lord!

In fact, isn’t that what Jesus said, In the world, you will have trouble, but cheer up. I have overcome the world. When did he say that, by the way? That was before the cross, wasn’t it? He hadn’t even gone to the cross yet. Boy, I’ll tell you, there’s a faith, there’s a confidence in the purpose of God.

Can we put ourselves in God’s hands and know how it’s gonna turn out? Isn’t that the message of the gospel? It’s not here, you know, I’ll get you started. There’s the road, go for it. And we’ll see how you turn out. This is, I’m putting myself in the hands of an eternal God who has already planned everything from the beginning to the end. So whatever I’m feeling right now, I need to be able to look beyond that, don’t I?

Everything that God allows in our lives, whether it has to do with the preconvention time and all the pressures that come and all the distractions that come, whatever it is, we have a God who’s able to look down into the depths of every life. He knows what we need, loves us enough to do something about it. And in every case, the way to deal with it, God puts something in our pathway. He allows the enemy to push on that thing.

Are there recurring issues in your life? Are you somebody that’s struggled with fear all your life? Many people that would apply to. I won’t look for shaking heads on that one, but am I, you know, we all have a certain amount of that.

But the other, you know, I mentioned too, what about the besetting sins? Are there things that the enemy has just programmed into your nature just enough that you keep doing, you keep falling into that. It could be anger, but it could be a fleshly thing. It could be all kinds of things. And the enemy just knows how to push the buttons, how to arrange the circumstances.

And you get in a place where you feel oppressed and somehow there’s a weakness just to give into that. And, Oh my God, I did it again. God help me, and He does. But, you know, why would God literally allow the devil to keep pushing that button? Is it because he wants us to fail or does He want us to learn how to overcome?

See, in many instances, overcoming means I need to get rid of that. God needs to lift me to a place of victory. So that’s not part of my life, that doesn’t rule over me. That’s the issue. If what rules over me basically is coming from my old nature, I need some deliverance. And God’s going to keep letting the enemy in recurring ways keep pushing that and trying to work on that. And God’s aim is that I learn to overcome and there are great promises. And God wants to bring us to a better place.

What a dangerous prayer it is when we say, Lord, I want higher ground. Lord, I want you to use me, Lord, I want you to make a difference in the kingdom through my life. I think you know what I’m talking about, don’t you? Some of you prayed that and you said, Oh Lord, I didn’t know it meant this. But the thing is, if God doesn’t deal with this old nature, our lives, what John calls our lives in Revelation 12, that we’re loving so much, we’re still attached to more than we know. If God doesn’t break those connections, how effective are we gonna be?

I mean, Paul recognized that it’s kind of like an athlete. Now, the earthly athletes, they’re going for a prize. You know, they’re disciplining their body and they’re doing all these things because they want a prize. Well, I want a prize too, but it’s not that kind. I wanna go for the ones the Lord offers. He’s called me to seek after something that’s eternal, but how can I do that if there isn’t some self-discipline?

And so he actually, in the Greek, it says, I beat my body or I keep it under in one translation, or I basically, I’m in charge, my body isn’t. I keep that under. I recognize that there’s impulses that come from my flesh that if I just let them go, if I somehow say, Well, that’s okay, it’s all taken care of. And the Lord’s wanting to deliver, and the Lord’s wanting to actually break that hold and break that tie.

But Paul says, I beat my body and I make it my slave. I think in this translation. I bring it under subjection, I make it my slave. Is your body and its impulses your slave to serve God. Are you in charge or is it in charge?

Transcript of message from TV Broadcast 1667 — taken from Closed Captioning Text

Phil: Somehow my mind has returned, as it often seems to do, to familiar scripture, but I hope we’re aware as we go along serving the Lord that just because something is familiar doesn’t mean we don’t need it. Because the Christian life is not just a matter of having correct information and doctrine, and this is how you do stuff and all that kind of stuff. It hasn’t been brought down to that kind of a level, but there is a need for this relationship and there is a need for us to as I’ve, the Lord has just brought to my mind over and over again lately, how much we need to hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

If all we’re doing is upholding our traditions, we’re dead or dying. We need the living Savior to dwell among us, and He’s the only one who has what we need. We need life imparted. And I just pray that God will quicken. Lord, if this is You, then You just go ahead and take over.

But anyway, Ephesians Chapter 6 seemed like it’s an appropriate scripture, particularly in light of the psalm that we just read. And I will go ahead and read the passage involved and then just ask the Lord to kind of focus where He wants to focus. There are so many things in this passage, you could have a whole message on a word here and a word there.

But anyway, verse 10, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

“Therefore, put on the full armor of God so that when the evil day comes, you may be able to stand your ground. And after you have done everything to stand. Stand firm then with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

“In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, and pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Pray also for me that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.”

Paul was in prison at this time and had been for years, and yet here he is still engaged, not sitting there feeling sorry for himself, but encouraging God’s people. I pray that God will give us that kind of a heart toward one another, that our lives are not just our own, that God leads us in the way that He leads us for His purposes, that we belong to one another. We’re meant to be channels of God’s life to one another. May God help us to do that, because left to ourselves, it’s impossible, but all things are possible with Him.

Anyway, so what’s Paul’s focus? Why is he dealing with this particular subject? Obviously, you could jump right in and say, well, this is what he says to do, but why does he say to do all that? Well, it’s obviously that God wants to call attention to the reality of the world we live in.

We are inclined to see what we see with the eyes, what we detect with our senses. We react to politicians and the, the crazy things that they say and other people in public life. We just think, oh my God, if they just straighten them out, everything will be fine. But there is a kingdom that we don’t ever need to get up in the morning and forget that there is a real, unseen kingdom that is absolutely in control of this world system.

Now, that does not mean that the Lord does not have a control that is over that, that rules and overrules according to His purposes. But apart from that, there is a government that is real.

Now, back in David’s time, you saw that more plainly in the heathen gods. They were the fallen angels that had set themselves up over the peoples that they had been given to watch over. And there they were being worshiped as gods and ruling and giving their authority to Satan.

But you remember when Jesus was being tempted by the devil and how the devil took Him up to a place where he showed Him all the kingdoms of the world, said, All this will I give you if you bow down and worship me. Well, Jesus did not contest his statement that he ruled over the kingdoms of the world, did He? He knew that was the case. So obviously that’s something we need to reckon with.

We are basically in completely over our heads if we are running in our own strength and our own wisdom and our own resources, we don’t have a chance in this world. The devil’s smarter than we are and he’s not simply talking about clever use of information and lies. It is that, but there is real power that he exerts.

And I’ll tell you, a lot of us feel it, don’t we, at times? The Lord allows us to feel the oppression of the enemy. And that’s what David was talking about. He was in a dark place, wasn’t he? He was in a battle and we see how he was contending with that. Well, that’s what God has called us to.

And folks, we don’t need to wonder, why in the world is this happening? This doesn’t make sense. Oh God, where are You? We feel that way like David did, but the reality is this is the world that we have been called to live in, and there’s a reason God’s doing this and we’re gonna understand it better by and by, aren’t we? As the song says. Thank God!

So, this is the context. Paul wanted to remind them. I don’t care what people do to you, that’s not what you need to focus on. We can get ourselves all bent outta shape over what people do to us. My God, do we not see what’s behind that? Jesus had people do all kinds of things to Him, and yet He didn’t lash out and get all outta shape, bent outta shape over it. He recognized there’s an enemy here. He’s got a hold in that life. That’s my enemy. That’s the one I need to stand against. I need to have compassion. This person is a victim. They’re in prison.

Not only are they in prison, but God has given me the authority to reach into Satan’s prison and to rescue souls. The very person we may think is the worst of the worst may be somebody that God has His eye on. He cares about it and He wants us to have that kind of a heart toward people. May God give us the grace to do that. Oh God, we are so unlike Him, and it’s what he’s working on to make us like Him.

But anyway, so here’s the point, and I’ll remind you of what Jesus said. He’s talked about the confession of the revelation of who He was. He says, On this rock, the rock of the revelation of who Jesus Christ. That’s something that somebody can know in their heart without someone just explaining it and trying to convince them logically. There is a knowledge that we can come to possess of who Jesus is. Upon this rock, I will build my church.

I remember many times being at overseas pastors’ conferences and pointing out that Jesus never told any of us to build Him a church. And even if He leaves a group of people in our ministry charge, if you wanna say that, it’s not our church, it’s His. And our job is to hear Him and do what He says and trust Him for life to come. Because if all we do is preserve the form and the doctrines and the practices, we have nothing left but religion. God help us to be in touch with the one who alone is the source of life and power. So anyway, that’s the context.

But he also refers to something else, it’s not simply the reality of the government that we’re against, but the fact that he has schemes, he’s got all kinds of tricks. You know, if you were a military commander and you were given the task of overcoming and fighting against a certain military force, you wouldn’t just say, okay, oh, you know, to arms, run out there and let’s get ‘em. You’d be studying their setup. You’d be looking for every kinda weakness you could come up with. Where’s their weak point?

Do you know the devil has spent his entire, well, in general, but the devil has assigned spirits to study us? I’m not saying that to make you scared, but this is something we need to reckon on. Every one of us has weaknesses. Every one of us has vulnerable points where we need a savior. We need to learn from Him and learn His ways. He’s given us everything we need. That’s of course what He brings out here.

But Satan has all kinds of tricks and we need to learn to be sensitive and seek the Lord. We need to have the hunger that David was talking about, where we’re reaching out and really, do you feel your need of the Lord today or are you just muddling along and doing your own thing and figuring you got everything under control? You don’t. One of Satan’s schemes is to put you to sleep, and me, cause us to feel like, hey, we’re okay. Everything’s fine. And you’re walking right into a trap and all of a sudden Satan’s gonna close it on you and he’s gaining a hold and you don’t even know it. Oh God, help us to be awake.

You know, at one point he talks down about prayer. He talks about being alert. Doesn’t Peter say the same thing? Be alert, because your adversary the devil walks around as a roaring lion. Why does he do that? What’s he after? Seeking whom he may devour. Do you know, he’s talking to Christians there. I don’t want the devil to eat me for lunch and mess with what God’s purpose is for my life. Oh God, help every one of us. We need Him. The more I learn about myself, the more I realize I need a savior. Oh God, make that real to our hearts.

Okay, so in that context, we’ve got a kingdom that’s in control of this world. And we know from scripture he speaks of the evil day. When the evil day comes, not if, it’s the point we’ve made many times. Obviously there have been evil days that have come through the ages. You know, Jesus said when He went to the cross, this is your hour when evil reign, when darkness reigns. There was a time when God stepped back and allowed Satan to do his worst, what he thought was his worst, but God used it, didn’t He?

And God’s gonna use what’s happening in the end of the age. There is an evil day. When Christ comes, darkness will be at its zenith. A lot of folks don’t get that. And it doesn’t mean God’s gonna forget His people, far from it. God’s gonna bring every one of us all the way through regardless of whether we go by the upper taker or the undertaker. God’s not gonna lose one of His. He’s gonna rescue every single one. Nothing that the devil can do can prevail against His plan and His will.

But God wants us to learn our place in this scheme. So we’re not just sitting back, going through the motions, playing church, believing the right stuff and doing the right stuff, and figuring, hey, everything’s okay. He’s got it all taken care of. I can just live my life. God wants us engaged and awake and aware. So what does that involve?

Well, obviously, it begins with we’re gonna have to get some help that’s more than us. Finally, be strong in the Lord. I’m so glad he has that phrase, in the Lord, and in His mighty power. Is that what he says in this translation? And in His mighty power. Yeah.

Anybody here need power? You got all you need in yourself? You got it handled? I don’t. You know, my mind went back to what he says in Chapter 1 that we’ve referred to so many times, where Paul wanted the believers to understand the incomparable power of God. But there’s an awesome phrase that he puts in there. It’s not just so we can say, oh wow, but that awesome power is for us, for us.

Every one of you who knows the Lord, who’s put your faith in Him, who’s given Him your life, you need to be able to wake up in the morning and say, God, I believe in Your power. It’s greater than all the other power in the universe. And not only that, it’s for me. Here, today, Your power is for me. You are for me, not against me. Even when You have to work in me, even when You have to discipline me, it’s for me. It’s motivated by the heart of love that I’ve come to know and believe in. Your power is mine.

Oh God, is there anybody that can say to the Lord, You can’t do what You’re planning to do? I got the power to stop you. My armies are here. You’re just gonna have to give in. No. My God, I’ll tell you, there’s a devil who can do all kinds of stuff.

I was thinking about the occasion, and this is always a good illustration of the day when Jesus said, “Let us go to the other side,” and got in a boat. And that’s a pretty good illustration of God’s promises to us. He didn’t say, Let’s start out and hope for the best. He said, We’re going to the other side.

Do you know, when he calls you to His kingdom, that’s the message to your heart. We need to be able to look up and say, thank you, Lord. I know things don’t look good, but I’m going to the other side because You said so. Praise God. Praise God!

But something happened when they got out in the water, didn’t it? There’s a terrible storm that threatened to sink the boat, waves were crashing, the disciples were scared to death. Where do you suppose that storm came from? Yeah. Was that just happenstance? The devil knew that He was going over there. Probably didn’t know exactly what. He said, Boy, I gotta do something. He’s got something in mind. He said we’re going to the other side. I better do something. You know the devil has power? In this case, he had power over weather.

I have heard more than one story of somebody who had a tornado or some kind of windstorm bearing down on them and rebuking it. Now, is that a formula? No, but there are instances where God has demonstrated that there is power that Satan exercises even in natural things. He has all kinds of power, doesn’t he? But we serve One who all He had to do was speak and there were stars. That’s plenty of power.

And does not the word say greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world? By the way, where is He? In you. That’s kind of important, isn’t it? It’s not just out there being worshiped in some religious sense. This is, He needs to reside in a yielded, believing heart. Anything short of that, man, you are living in a world ruled over by darkness and that darkness is absolutely taking over the hearts and minds of everyone who doesn’t know the Lord. That’s the world we are living in. So this is the context in which Paul is saying what he’s saying.

“Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.” Then he says put on something. He doesn’t just say put on the armor, but there’s another word that kind of jumped out at me, the full armor. How would it be if you put on most of it? There’s a reason why we need it all.

And I hope maybe as we go through, we’ll see just a little glimpse of that. The Lord’s gonna have to open this up. Like I say, there’s so much in here and I don’t want to get bogged down any place, but the full armor of God. That expression is in two different places. Put on the full armor of God.

But he doesn’t say this is just sort of automatic. You’ve come to me, so don’t worry. You got the armor on. He wants us to absolutely participate in this. We just don’t wake up in the morning and say, okay, Lord, You got this. I’m just gonna go about my day and do my thing. There’s a sense which God wants us to actively seek Him, hunger for Him, reach out for Him when we feel our need, and He has a way of making us, putting us in places where we feel our need.

That’s a good thing. If we could just see the heart of love that’s behind that, we wouldn’t be complaining. Of course, we do, but I’ll tell you, the Lord knows what He’s doing, doesn’t He? Like was said last week, we don’t need to tell the potter how to do His job. He is so faithful and so merciful.

But put on, there’s something plainly stated, not just implied. That is plainly stated that I’ve got a part in this. This isn’t gonna happen without my doing something, okay? Praise God!

So then he comes in and talks about the kingdom and all of that. Therefore, put on the full armor of God, he says it again. Verse 13, So that when the evil day comes, you may be able. So what’s at stake here is my ability to stand. We’re called to stand in a dark hour, are we not? Well, how am I gonna do that? Where am I gonna get that kind of ability to do anything like that? I’m not smarter than the devil. He knows all of my weaknesses and I got plenty of them. I need a savior. Oh God, I need Him, don’t I?

But God wants you and me to know today that He’s for us, that power is for us, and that He has given us everything that’s necessary so that we are actually able to do the same things that Jesus did in the sense that, I mean, the devil came at Him in so many ways and yet there was always a defense.

Here’s Jesus walking in flesh, feeling the same things that you and I feel, the devil probing, trying to find a weakness. And yet somehow because the Father lived in Him and He relied on His Father and the power of the Spirit, He relied on that and God gave Him the ability to stand, to recognize the enemy, to recognize His lies, to know what to do.

God wants every one of His children to be equipped like that. Now, as I said so many times, this is not a matter of you coming down here and your getting a magic experience where suddenly you’re elevated to this warrior status where nothing ever touches you. This is a matter of starting where we’re at with what we got and what we don’t have, and just looking to God and saying, Oh, God, teach me Your ways, like David prayed so many times.

Look at all he went through to learn God’s ways, but his heart was reaching out, panting when he felt the need for God, reaching out like that. Thank God for all that He has given to us, but He has got all that we need and we need to reckon on that. He wants you today to know that wherever you come short, which is plenty, whatever need you possess, God knows about it, but He has made every provision for you, not just oh yeah, for them and for them, but I’m different.

Oh God, help every one of us to wake up to realize that’s part of the devil’s, that’s one of the devil’s schemes, to make you think you’re different and you’re the redheaded stepchild or the proverbial redheaded stepchild that just doesn’t quite fit in. Everybody that God calls fits into His plans. You have a place, you have a place of honor, you have a place of love, a place of mercy. You have every right to do what Paul says here. Praise God!

All right, stand firm then. How do we do that? With the belt of truth buckled around your waist. Now, I don’t know a whole lot about this, but I understand that the typical garb in the day was kind of a robe. It would’ve been good in a warm climate to have something loose. But how do you go into a battle with a robe that’s flashing around here and there and swirling around and getting in your way? There needs to be something that holds it in place that enables me to not have to worry about what I’m wearing. I can focus on the battle.

But what is it that God is focusing on? It’s truth. Now, how easy is it for us to reduce to a bunch of ideas and propositions and things like that? There’s something greater than that. God wants us to know Him Who is the truth? Truth is more than a bunch of correct theology. Truth is a person.

What did He say? I am the way, the truth, and the life. Do you know there’s no truth outside of Jesus? God wants His people to be so convinced in their hearts and minds that He is the truth, that we’re willing to walk in the light that He shows us, and that means, first of all, He’s gonna be showing us ourselves. That’s not something we’d naturally wanna see, is it? But I want him to show me.

Transcript of message from TV Broadcast 1653 — taken from Closed Captioning Text

Phil: I just pray that God will help me to understand how critical prayer is to the purposes of God. You know, I thought about simple illustrations. One of them would be if you’re out in the yard and you’ve got a tool or something, a power tool, and it’s the kind that you had to plug in. Have you ever been out in the yard, the other end of the yard, and you get ready to do something and you pull the trigger and nothing happens? Yeah, if you’ve ever been out with a power tool, you’ve had that happen.

So what do you do? Well, you follow the cord back, and maybe this is an extension, then you check that connection, then you check to where it’s plugged in. It’s a very simple illustration. But if I’m gonna do something with a tool, it’s great to be willing to do it, and to wanna do it, and to pick it up and walk out there and try to say, I’m clipping bushes or whatever I’m doing. That’s great, but what good is it if I’m not connected to any power? Nothing’s gonna happen.

See the problem, there’s no lack of power back at the house, unless it’s December 7th, or 6th, or whatever it was [reference to a recent power outage]. There’s no lack of power at the house. And here I am with a tool, willing to use it, what’s the problem? There’s a connection that’s broken.

Do we understand that there are times when God wants to do something, wants us to do something, and the absolute missing link is prayer, where we get connected to God in such a way that what happens is not I, but it’s Christ living in me, the words that I speak and so forth? So that’s one illustration.

Another one that I have used in the past, I remember preaching on prayer many, many years ago now, and I think it was called God’s Firemen. And in that illustration, you have this picture of a fire, there’s a need, okay? And there’s a fireman who goes, and what does he do? He’s got a hose, and the idea is to spray down the fire with water that’s supposed to cool it down and make the fire go out, okay?

So you’ve got a fireman who’s willing to do it, you’ve got a hydrant that’s nearby, that’s full of water, but what good would it do if he goes out there and says, I know what to do, and he just waves the hose around, but it’s never gets connected to the source of water?

That’s the missing link, I believe, in so much that we do, that God would teach us how to move in the Spirit, how to be connected to what He wants, how to have His power at work in things. Knowing His will. Yeah, knowing His will, but then stepping out and doing it.

I mean, there’s so many illustrations, I guess, in the scriptures, but I just pray that God will somehow get this thought across to me. I feel my weakness, but you know, God’s promised, hasn’t He? That His strength has made perfect in weakness. If this is what it takes, if my feeling weak is what it takes to minister something to you, then praise God!

Isn’t that how Jesus looked at the cross? I mean, He prayed like I would pray, Oh God, I need more strength. But Jesus prayed, Oh God, if it’s possible, let this cup pass from me so I don’t have to go through this. Nevertheless, what’s the bottom line? Not my will, but Yours be done. The focus of His life was not the affairs of this life, it was seeking God and doing what His purpose was and fulfilling His place in that purpose.

Do you know that every member of the body of Christ has a place? Do you know that every single member of the body of Christ is meant to be a vessel through which God absolutely works, and speaks, and accomplishes something? You know, so much of our prayers, I think it’s sincere and I think God is merciful, and we rightly ask if we have needs, like Paul, when he had that thorn in the flesh, God didn’t rebuke him for asking, but there had to come a time when God revealed the purpose of that, and when God did, Paul stopped asking to get rid of it. He said, Praise God, I get it now.

I wonder if we’re willing to do that. There’s nothing wrong with praying and asking God about earthly needs. But even in that, I see Paul not thinking about just earthly welfare. What was the reason why Paul prayed that in the first place? Did he not see that harassment by a spirit as something that is hindering my work? God has called me to work for Him and this is getting in the way, and oh God, get rid of it. So even in that, his motive was right.

But here we are, heirs of the eternal covenant. We are heirs of that which will take us beyond this world into the kingdom of God. And we are not just creatures. When God wanted to do something among the animal kingdom, He didn’t consult the head rabbit or the head of any in a particular group of animals and say, Here’s my purpose, you know, I’ve got a purpose in you fulfilling this. He just did it.

But folks we’re not like that, we’re not just animals, we’re not just pieces on the chess board, as we’ve said many times, we are meant to be His sons and daughters. We are meant to have a relationship with Him that is like His Son. When God wanted to do something through His Son, there was a relationship, He was plugged in, He was connected. He became a channel of God’s life and purpose. That was the whole reason for His existence.

Folks, is that not the reason why we’re here? Are we simply here to live an earthly life and focus all of our attention on its needs? Or are we here to say, God, I’m here for a reason, I’m here for a purpose. Lord, if it was just a matter of getting me out of here into heaven, you would just take me on as soon as I say, yes, to Jesus. But no, I’m here. It’s a time for me to learn your ways, to become like you. But in the meantime, I’m here where you want me to live like Jesus, in a sense.

Didn’t Jesus say, As the Father has sent me, so send I you? Well, how did the Father send Him? Again, the Father anointed Him, called Him, gave Him the ability to do what fulfilled God’s purpose, His part in that.

But every member of the body of Christ, if we are connected to Him, if He lives on the inside, our purpose is not just to have a sweet life here, and every time we have a little problem, we go to God, and you know, we go to the divine “vending machine” and try to pray a formula prayer: Oh God, fix it. Oh God, get us beyond that. He cares about needs, absolutely. But why are we asking?

You know, my mind, as soon as I read that passage about Isaac, my mind went to James. What is it, James 4? A scripture we’ve used many times. When it talks about, okay, anyway, beginning of the chapter, he talks about what was causing difficulties and trouble among the people. But he says, You do not have because you do not ask God. Okay? I wonder how many things that are part of the covenant of God that God has said belong to us, belong to me, and there’s something that I don’t have, I’m not experiencing. He says it in His word, Jesus provided it, He’s provided everything that we need, hasn’t He? Yeah. But I don’t have it. Why? Why don’t I have it?

Do you see where there’s a disconnect right here? Are there not things that just as Isaac went to God, no doubt with this in his mind, here I am 20 years in, I’ve married this beautiful woman and we have no son. And you have promised that through our seed all the nations of the world are gonna be blessed. And there came a time when he said, Oh God, please fulfill your word, please give us a child. And God listened and He did it.

I wonder how many times God is waiting for us and we’re waiting on Him, or we’re somehow expecting this, He’s gonna work in us till that day, all I have to do is sit back, go about my life, and He’s gonna somehow do it. I wonder how many things God has literally given to us in Christ that He wants us to come and say, Oh God, you have brought me face to face with a need in my life, and I have every right to go to you and ask that you would help me in this area?

I wonder how many things that we face and needs that we just sort of blow off or we just say, oh, that’s me, or whatever, and God wants to do something special for us? There are things that God longs to do in your life and mine, but we don’t even care enough to ask Him. It’s not important enough to us or we don’t understand.

Do you see where there’s this missing connection? I just pray that God will somehow show us what this is about. I don’t know how to say this in such a way, but God, you’re gonna have to get this across to me. Start with me, Lord, I need this.

There are things, there are needs that I come up against in my life. Do I not have the right to go to God, just like Jacob did, and say, I will not let you go until you help me? I need help, Lord, You promised, this Your word. I’m not going to You about something that I don’t have a right to. It’s not like I’m asking for a million dollars and a mansion, and some earthly blessing. I’m asking, God, that You promised that I’m gonna be like You, and I see these things in me that aren’t, oh God, help me, give me grace to grow. Help me to experience more of what you have given to me, what Jesus died to give me.

Do these things belong to us or don’t they? Do you suppose many times this is what the problem is? We don’t have because we don’t ask. And of course, we can do a lot of asking, that’s just basically so that we can feed natural desires, and that’s no good. But God is looking for the hearts of people who will say, God, I get it. You’ve called me outta the world. You’ve changed my entire focus, the focus of my heart and my life, and I wanna be on board with that.

But not only do I wanna be on board, I wanna be an active participant. There are things that you long to accomplish that are part of the fulfillment of this purpose that are on me in a sense. You want me to literally step into the gap and exercise myself in calling upon your name for the fulfillment of that. And that’s the missing connection, okay?

You know, one scripture that, well, let me just refer to this one. You can read in 1 John 5. This is the promise that we have of Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. Okay, so we know that God has a will, God has a purpose. And if we ask anything according to that purpose, He’ll hear us, He’ll listen. So if I ask for a million dollars and a mansion, that’s probably not gonna be part of His plan. But if I ask Him to help me to find and fulfill my place in the body of Christ, and to have His mind and to know what He wants me to do, and to have faith to do it, do I have the right to ask that? Yes. Does every person here who belongs to Jesus Christ have the right to ask that? Yes. Is it His will? Yes. Yes.

So then what does He say? And if we know that that’s according to His will, We know we have it. We know that we have it. That’s right. Thank you, at least somebody’s looking up the scripture. We know that we have what we desired. If we’re asking according to His will, and we know that.

God, help us to have that sense. Lord, you do actually have a plan for my life. I’m not just somebody who sits on a pew and I’m unimportant. You matter. You and I, everyone have a place to fulfill. When God created the world, His Son filled that place all by Himself. That’s all it took. Let there be light, let there be this, let there be that, and God’s power flowed.

But there is power that God wants to release among us, through us to one another, into our individual lives, there’s things He wants to do that He has planned to do. And part of that plan is to get us to be able to go to God with faith, and with determination, and with focus, and literally bombard heaven and say, Lord, this is what You promised, and I’m not letting You go until You do this. Until You help me, until You help my brothers and sisters. Does this make any sense? Yes. Is this needed? Yes. Praise God!

Praise God, I thought of a scripture that we use so many times, and I wanna focus on one part of it that we sometimes make mention of. But I wanna look at Ephesians 6 and the armor of God. You know, we talk about the armor itself, the helmet, and the shield, and all of those things. As important as they are, it goes on down in verse 18, it doesn’t stop with that.

And actually, I think the translators of this particular translation wanted to make a paragraph out of this. So they turned praying in the spirit into an active verb instead of a participle. You know what a participle is? It continues a thought. And I think other translations will say praying in the spirit. So in other words, we fight, but there’s something that’s going on while we’re doing all of this. We’re not just doing all the right stuff, there is a source of power that’s coming in. We’re plugged in, in other words.

It’s one thing to stand there and have all these pieces of armor and fight and lift the word up, but we have to have this. If we’re not plugged in, we’re like that tool that’s out there in the other end of the yard. Nothing happens. God wants to power our lives with His spirit, okay? And so it says, And praying, I wanna translate that a little closer, “And praying in the spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.”

Now the Lord just focused my attention on that in the Spirit. Because praying, again, is not just some kind of formula. It’s not like something where you can say, alright, how do you do this? Okay, here are the things you’re supposed to say, and if you just say this, it’s like a divine vending machine. If I do it just right and push the right button, then out will pop the blessing. There is a connection.

Did Jesus do that, do you think? Yes. Were His prayers focused on self? No. They were entirely focused on the reason why He was here. And He found out what the Father wanted Him to do. He was aligned with that purpose and He stepped out in faith, and God’s power flowed through Him to accomplish what His purpose was.

That’s what God has called us to every, single one of us. Now there isn’t a single one of us that has the same role that He does, but we all have one. We all have a place. But praying in the Spirit, that word in is a preposition that is meant to convey something. And it is kind of vague, it’s almost like that’s a place, what does that mean? But the word in the Greek also can convey the idea of agency, that is, how does it happen?

So we’re not just praying in the Spirit, we’re praying by the Spirit. In other words, I need God’s Spirit to power my prayer. Does that make sense? If I’m just doing it and it’s me, my thoughts, my efforts, my energy, and that’s all there is to it, am I really praying or am I just going through a form?

How many of us feel like we need to ask God to teach us about this? Yeah, Lord, teach me, not just how to say the right words, but what is this thing called prayer about? Because if it’s just me doing it, but even it’s like everything in the kingdom of God, I’m meant to be a vessel, a channel through which God flows.

But this is a pretty important one. What He’s saying is even prayer itself is something where I need God to anoint me to guide what I pray and to empower what I pray, so the words can actually go forth and do something. And again, you have the difference between a fireman who just stands there waving a hose and one who’s actually connected to the hydrant, and there’s really something coming out.

I want something coming out when I pray, don’t you? Are we just supposed to go through a form and somehow, you know, it’s easy to say, well, what difference does it make? But God has absolutely ordered His kingdom, so it makes a difference when we pray. And God wants there to be divine power, just as when the words came out of Jesus’ mouth, Let there be light. When He said, Rise and be healed, or whatever He said, and there was power that came out.

God wants power to come out of us. He can teach us those things to where we can be so in tune with Him and such a vessel that we can literally pray and see something happen. We could pray and power would happen, and something would happen on the other side of the world. There’s no distance, there’s no limitation in God.

But I wonder how times there’s something that God wants to do and He can’t find anybody to make that connection. Because there’s a way that God does stuff. It’s not just He’s out there somehow magically doing everything, He wants us participating, being involved.

I thought of an old hymn, I don’t think I could quote it, I looked it up a while ago, but hadn’t thought about this in decades, but, “Channels Only.” And somebody had the sense that what God has called us to be is channels. That it’s not about living for self, it’s about laying down our lives and giving them to Him. For what purpose? So that we can be a channel, we can literally be connected to Him, but not just so that we are bathed in blessing, but so that through us others can be touched and helped.

That’s God’s call upon every member of the body of Christ, every member of His kingdom. I just call upon myself, but all of us, to pray and say, God, teach us what this is about. Help us to join, to be connected to You, to be so in tune with You that we’re just not living earthly lives and trying to get You to fix our problems. We wanna see beyond that. If I have a brother and sister in need of strength and spirit, you’ve given me the power to speak words that are not just wishes that we throw out into the universe and hope God’s listening.

I’ll tell you, when we have to wrestle in prayers, not because God is unwilling, is because God wants us to exercise faith. God wants us to exercise determination, and wants us to call upon Him with all of our hearts and look to Him for His answers.

But anyway, I just pray that God will somehow burn this into my heart as I need it, probably worse than anybody here. It’s so easy just to say, oh, prayer we know all about that. Do we? Do we know much of anything about it? Do we realize that you and I, if we’re hooked up with God and He is empowering us, He’s guiding what we pray, but He’s empowering what we speak, do we not realize that those words have power, that they can literally go out, and change circumstances, destinies, they could empower someone who has a ministry, they’re just as important as the minister, that every person of the body of Christ can contribute to the health of the whole and the purpose of our reaching out and being alive, every purpose that has to do with God’s kingdom?

Every person here has the power to be connected to God and has a place that God has called you to. And He wants you and me to be His channels. Channels only, what a privilege that is. May God help us, and I believe He is, don’t you? I believe He loves us with an everlasting love. And I don’t want anything to not happen because I was just too busy messing around, assuming He’s gonna take care of it all. He wants me involved. Praise God!

Missing Link, I don’t know if that’s a good title or not. ‘cause that’s the general connotation of that, but that isn’t that bad, is it? The missing link is a people who are willing to call upon God and to do it by the power of His Spirit. We have creative power that God wants to give us. It’s not just us wishing things, it’s God carrying out His work in the earth and He wants you and me to be part of it. Praise God!

Transcript of message from TV Broadcast 1651 — taken from Closed Captioning Text

Phil: I’ll guarantee there’s people here that have said, Lord, take me to a deeper place. I wanna know You better. I want more power in my life. I wanna be more effective in what I do, in how I serve You. And the Lord, in order to do that, He has to turn the devil loose on us and put us in actual battles because it’s when we fight with His weapons….

I mean, guys, does this sound familiar? Everything I’m saying was said this morning, and so well by so many, wow, I’m just blessed by the Lord’s presence and how clearly He’s saying these things to us. But if we will stand in those times and use what He’s given us and not listen to that other voice that wants to explain it to us and not go by our own unlimited understanding the stuff we think we know and not allow our emotions to be colored and turned into, turned essentially against the Lord, which is what happens, if our emotions are not on board and we’re just letting them run, what are we saying about Him?

And I’m not saying that to condemn, I’m saying that because I believe the Lord wants us to, He understands all this that we go through. He understands the battles, but He wants us as His children to grow and to learn and to become more what He wants us.

So anyway, the devil comes back and the Lord calls attention again. And the devil says, yeah, he’ll give up everything as long as you don’t touch him. Said, all right, he’s in your hands, but spare his life. And now then we come to the point where he’s got sores from his head to his feet and his wife is a big help. Curse God and die, get it over with. So, everything’s against him.

I mean, I don’t think there’s anybody here who could say, boy, Job, you just didn’t know any better, poor Job. Boy, have any of us have been in that position, I don’t think, I don’t believe I would’ve done half as well as Job did. What an example God has given to us. But anyway, obviously he got down in a very, very, very low place.

And he had three supposed friends who were gonna explain it all to him. And they gathered around him. And even then they waited for seven days ‘cause he was in such a state. And then finally Job speaks and the essence of what he says is, I wish I had never been born. Talk about the ultimate pity party. He goes on and on and on and on and on. What a horrible day that was. It should be wiped off the calendar. If only I had died at birth, would’ve been so much better. So Job was obviously in a very low state emotionally, anybody ever been there?

Yeah, we all get there at times. And so there he was and he was going on and on and his friends start finally speaking up and saying, well, just take your case to God. Go to Him. If right, He’ll help you. Well, the thing is, what did they have to go on? They didn’t have the Bible. They didn’t have the unfolding revelation. They didn’t even have the Old Testament, let alone the New Testament. And so only the only knowledge they had was what had been passed down from Noah.

And of course he probably, he could still have been alive at this point, but he had been very old. But there was a certain amount of knowledge of God and Who He was that caused Job to know that we need to be righteous because He’s an all-powerful God and He’s just, He punishes wickedness. He rewards righteousness. And we need to serve Him and honor Him and live our lives in the light of what we know about Him.

And so there they are trying to navigate all this. And you know what, the most natural thing in all of this is to ask why. And I want to understand it. Now, I don’t care if you’re the most emotional person on the planet. They’re still a part of you that wants to be able to say, I can explain this. I can understand the why.

Oh my God, how easy it is for us to fall into that trap and just insist that we’ve got to figure it out. And just how hard is it for us to just to lay our case before God and say, God, I’m in your hands. I know that You are good.

Do you think God wants us to be in that place where we can just surrender and trust Him? This was a tough place. What an example the Lord has recorded for us of this man and how he was standing up to it and fighting and just, he knew he hadn’t done anything. I mean, he said, in fact, he said at one point, it’s a little bit revealing. The thing I greatly feared has come upon me.

But what does that tell you about the motivation behind what he was doing? He had a knowledge of God. He knew about God and he knew He was all powerful, that He judge his sin. And so there was a, you know, I’ve gotta be careful. I’ve gotta walk on eggs in my life. My children just had a party. I’m gonna offer sacrifices. ‘Cause maybe one of them cursed God in their hearts. I’ve gotta take care of that. There was a fearfulness to it. There was an honest desire to serve God, but it was still tinged with this fear. This, I’ve gotta somehow keep from getting, me here, falling under His judgment.

You think that’s how God wants us to serve Him? Just, I mean, there’s a right kind of fear. It’s a deep respect. But to live under this constant, oh my God, I gotta be perfect or He’s gonna get me if I’m not, if anything bad is happening to me that just tells me He’s angry with me and on and on and on. These terrible accusations against God will settle in our minds and color what we do and how we think and how we think about ourselves. Bad stuff has happened. I must be bad. Oh, was that the problem here?

No, Job was the most righteous man in the world and God was revealing himself to him. I’m not gonna go through the whole book, but the basic story unfolds where he’s constantly trying to say, I didn’t do anything. And he said, you must have, or else this wouldn’t have happened to you. And they’re going back and forth trying to account for all this stuff with what they thought they knew and how it affected them and what their experience was.

God, we don’t know half the stuff we think we know. Wouldn’t it be good just to trust Him? Isn’t that what God is looking for from every single one of us? We just don’t know. And He does, but oh, how easily we let the devil accuse God of just, you know, He’s blessed them. He’s not blessing me. There’s something wrong. Maybe He has it in for me. Maybe this, maybe that. And we’re just, we’re questioning God’s love. Does he really love me, does he really care? Is he really good? Is he just?

And you know what, that kind of came into the play over time. Now Job at one point did have an answer to all these people that have this simplistic view that God blesses good people and punishes bad people. And he said, it’s not like that. Look at all the evil people that don’t care about God at all. And yet they’re having a wonderful life.

Well, what’s the conclusion that the devil’s likely to put in your mind when you think that thought? It’s not worth serving the Lord then, what’s the point? Oh, I’ll tell you, my God. We need divine light and divine help. And we need His word in times like that. There was a time when the Israelites got in that condition, generation or two had gone by after they were restored from Babylon. And the Lord put his finger on their problem and said, they were talking about, why are we doing all this? What good is this doing us to serve God?

How about Psalm 73 and Asaph? He started looking at all the people who were doing wonderfully in the world. Everything was going great for them. And why am I doing this? And of course, the Lord in that case revealed to him that, hey, this is not the end of the story, but here’s Job going through all of this and struggling. But there was one thing that God wanted to touch in Job’s life. The one thing that ultimately he would not let go, even if it came to the point where I’m not a hundred percent sure that He’s just.

What an amazing accusation. God just isn’t just, he doesn’t do right. I can’t really trust him. But there was a point where the justice of God and his own rightness, I’m sinless, I have not done anything wrong. I’ve served God with all my heart. There’s nothing wrong. I’m gonna hold onto my righteousness.

And when the Lord finally spoke to him at the end, He goes through the creation, were you there when I did this? Were you there when I do that? Do you know how this works? Do you, and on and on and on. And suddenly, oops, here I am. I’ve been speaking all these words outta stuff I thought I knew and here’s God talking to me and I don’t know anything. I’m just gonna shut my mouth and listen.

But the one thing the Lord point put his finger on, would you uphold your own righteousness at the expense of my justice? Many times we’re trusting in something in ourselves that’s not really what God wants us to trust in. I wonder how many of us are trusting in our own goodness despite what we sing and say, and when something happens, it’s just proof that I’m bad. I’m this, I’m that. God’s got it in for me.

Instead of saying God’s shaping my life to fulfill his wonderful loving purpose for me. And I don’t care how He has to do it, to show me, needs in me, to show me where my true trust is so I can let it go and put it where it belongs. I don’t care what it is. God, my life is in your hands. We sing the song, but is it? What happens if He says do this or do that or do the other, this is My path for you. Have we really laid everything on the altar?

But here was Job’s, here was the real root of what Job was trusting in was his own righteousness. That’s what it came down to. To the point where it almost caused him to question God’s justice. But you know, the wonderful thing was when God put his finger on that, he said, I abhor myself, I repent in dust and ashes.

That’s an awesome thing, you know what, that’s what God’s looking for. We are going to discover if we’re gonna serve him, we’re gonna discover things about us that aren’t good, that aren’t right. And we’re gonna look and say, my God, I had no idea that was in there. I had no idea that my real motivation was just governed by that. I said I was yours Lord, but I had a condition there. It was, I’ll serve you as long as, I’ll serve you if, just like some of these examples we had here this morning.

But God has got to put His finger one way or another. And it’s usually gonna be by experiences that we would prefer not to go through. We’re gonna discover that these things are there. What God is looking for when that happens is a heart that says, yes Lord, I see it. I acknowledge it. I lay it at Your feet. I surrender in this area.

And I’ll tell you if wherever there’s a willing heart, God will give the strength to do exactly that because I don’t have it, anybody here have it? This thing all the time, that God has to put His finger in me and I have to say, God, I can’t even respond to that. I don’t have the power in me to do it. You’re gonna have to give me what I need.

But hasn’t He promised that? Hasn’t He said He’s given us through His great and precious promises, all things that pertain to life and godliness. There are things in every one of us that He loves us enough to take us through whatever it takes, in order to set us free, to bring us to a better place.

I think with all my heart, the Lord wants everybody to know here that if you are going through a period of oppression, some several testified to that this morning in the men’s meeting, I’m sure they’re not the only ones, guarantee they’re not the only ones. But if you’re in a place where the devil is just bombarding your mind with thoughts, with anxiety, with fear, with questions about God and what He wants. And oh my God, I don’t know what to do in the 1000 and one things that we get, we all get in those places.

Could that have happened if God hadn’t allowed it? We sing, nothing can happen outside of God’s will — except this. Somehow there are things that we exempt from that song or we disconnect from that song. But God wants us to realize that if He has allowed that to happen, to work on your mind, so that you have to contend with that, you have to somehow deal with those questions and those accusations that are coming from the voice of the enemy. Those are darts.

There’s a whole lot said about the armor this morning and how we have a shield, we don’t have to believe it just ‘cause it comes into our heads. But God is wanting to make His promises and His Word and His character and every bit of that so real, that we will be able to stand there and say, I don’t have to listen to you, devil. That’s your voice and not His. This is what the word says. Take that sword out and stick it in him.

And he knows he has no answer for someone who will absolutely agree with God, but you know we’re gonna have to agree with God, not just against the devil, but against things in us. There are things that need to die. There are things we don’t know about.

And of course we’ve often mentioned, and it was mentioned again in the meeting this morning about how the Lord brought Paul to a place where his heart, as far as he knew his heart was to serve God, do whatever the Lord put in his pathway. Oh God, I want to be used of you. I’ve given myself to you. And Paul didn’t know there was a problem.

What was the problem? Pride. He had been allowed to see and experience so many things. And human nature, it’s awfully easy for human nature to grab hold of something that kind of makes it feel like, yeah, I’m a good guy. I’m this, I’m that. It’s because of me. And Paul, the Lord saw the danger and the devil was getting ready to try to use this. And the Lord just put him in a position where he had a need and he cried out and it didn’t happen. The answer didn’t come right away.

How many of you have been through that? And your mind’s trying to explain that, why is God silent? Why doesn’t He answer me? I’m asking, oh God, why aren’t you answering? What did I do? Tell me what I did. That’s where kind of Job was for a long time. The Lord did answer him, didn’t he?

You know, the Lord knows when and how to speak to us and what to say. I pray that as we go along, we will finally get it through our thick skulls, that God knows what He’s doing, he knows how to do it, knows when to do it, that He loves us. That there’s a purpose that He’s fulfilling, that no devil in hell can stop.

We sung so many songs this morning about our foundation and the hope that we have in him. And it’s real. I pray if that’s not real in your heart, you’ll open your heart and say, oh God, oh God, I know one scripture that was quoted today, it was the one in Jeremiah about, I know the plans that I have, plans to not harm you anyway, give you a hope in the future.

But that same passage also says, talks about seeking the Lord. You’ll seek Him and find Him if you do what? Search for Him with all your heart. There’s a God who will hear a willing heart and He’ll give you what you need. You don’t have to deserve it. Thank God.

I’ll tell you, Job was brought to a place where he realized the blessing of God was not something that he had earned, or he had to be living this fearful. Oh my God does this, God, I can see all the effects, but he’s just out there and I’m afraid he’s gonna crush me if I don’t live up to everything. And he finally came to a place where he realized there’s a God Who cares and Who loves me and is willing to come near.

He wants us to know Him better. Anybody here needs to know Him better? See, this is the pathway we just would prefer it to happen some other way. We want to have to be able to come down here and kneel at the altar and have apostle tremendous lay his hands on you and put it in you and take it out, whenever it doesn’t need to be there. It’s all gonna come in an experience.

I wonder if maybe that’s what the Lord was trying to do for me all those years ago. I was trying to get an experience, ‘cause that’s the way people said it’s supposed to happen. Well, there are experiences with God, but nothing in the way of an experience with God that touches your emotions can take the place of God dealing with us in life. There are things that we can only learn on the field of battle that you can’t get at an altar.

We need him in the darkest moment for us to just stand our ground and look to God and understand that His goodness is absolute. We can trust him in the darkest moment that His Word is still justice. As true as when our emotions are up. Emotions are all over the place and our understanding is so desperately limited.

And you know, if you’ve been, if you’ve known the Lord a while and you know a lot about scriptures, awful easy to just kind of coast a little bit. But I believe with all my heart, God is preparing His people to stand in this dark hour. And we’re gonna need to know our God and the people that know their God will be strong and do exploits. We’ll be able to stand, I believe in all my heart, in the midst of things that people are testifying about, seasons of darkness, seasons of questions, seasons of anxiety and fear, where those things are trying to crowd into our minds and our hearts. God is at work.

The devil is the one who is scared to death that God is actually gonna do something in us and through us. And we need to look beyond everything that we’re experiencing in the moment and say, God is taking me to a better place. And I see past all of this. I see His hand at work and I’m in His hands. Devil, you can’t cause me to question God’s faithfulness, His justice, His goodness, His love, all of those things. He is exactly the same yesterday, today and forever. He is exactly Who I need to be living my life for and trusting with all of my heart.

And I’ll tell you, there’s a God Who will give you a word in due season as we look to Him and wait upon Him. Sometimes we can go through periods of time where the devil is just bombarding our minds and then one little word will come. Oh, I love this line to that old hymn. When the battle is all over at the end, one little word will fell him. And many times it’s that one little word that God could drop in our minds that absolutely will cut off what the devil is saying. And we’ll believe that what God says and have the power not to believe what the devil says. And the devil has no answer.

Thank God for what he’s given to us in Christ! Don’t ever learn to listen to what your mind thinks when you’re trying to figure out stuff, your natural understanding. Say, God, I don’t understand, but I’m looking to You for to increase my understanding, to increase my faith, to take me through this. Help me to see the lessons that You taught Job of standing fast and look and repenting when I put My hand and finger on something.

And it came out pretty good for Job, didn’t he? He had twice as much when he was all done. God, there were earthly blessings involved in Him. But I’ll tell you, whatever God has for us, I want what He has. And I don’t wanna sink in a pool of self-pity. Am I the only one? Whoever does that. I don’t wanna sit there and, I don’t like this circumstance. I don’t like having to put up with this.

Someone recounted to me the other day, something Billy Graham said, said, I’m ready to die. I just wasn’t ready for old age. But the Lord knows what He’s doing and my life is in His hands and I’m trusting in Him. And that’s all He seeks for from any one of us. However, He has to accomplish that. Whatever He has to do to make us what He wants us to be is worth everything. It’s worth everything.

Transcript of message from TV Broadcast 1648 — taken from Closed Captioning Text

Phil: I don’t know, I don’t have any as usual, I don’t have anything all that organized in my mind, but I’ve had thoughts that I want to try to trust the Lord to put in order.

You know, recently I had an article that I’ve used in the past and a message called, “Be Ready,” come back to my mind. And I’ve tried to go over it and update it a little bit, but it’s brought it back to my mind.

You know, the closer we get, the further along we get, the more we see the truths that I believe the Lord shared in that coming to pass. We’re seeing a world that is going in two directions. I get this sense all the time. You see people going this way and you see people going that way. And there is a tremendous separation in the Spirit that is going on. And my prayer is that God will pull his people together and bring us through. And I know he will. He is promised to, hasn’t he? So there’s a message of warning, there’s a message of encouragement that I believe the Lord has for his people.

And, you know, one of the… Well, I’ll say this first, a scripture that’s come to my mind and a truth that’s come to my mind many times recently, my mind will go to the letters to the churches in Revelation. And how does every one of them end? Let him that has ears, let the one who has ears to hear, let them hear. Now what does that imply?

Yeah. There’s something deeper than just physical ears. And not everybody has the ability to hear and to understand what God is saying. And that is such a critical thing. You know, eyes and ears, we think of them in the physical sense. And I can see you, I can hear you, we can interact with each other in this physical realm.

But, folks, we are not just physical beings. It’s not just a matter of what we have in our bodies. These Paul calls tents, doesn’t he? A tent is a temporary dwelling. We’re only here for a little while, but there’s a real person on the inside that’s gonna stand before the Lord one day. And I’ll tell you what, the ears that you and I need to have are those kind of ears and those kind of eyes.

You remember Paul, in his prayer, I thought about this scripture too, where Paul in his prayer in chapter one of Ephesians wanted to see an increase in knowledge and wisdom and understanding. And he wanted to see the eyes of your heart. Isn’t that an interesting expression? The eyes of your heart enlightened. Oh, there’s so many people that think that since God wrote his word in human language, we can just sit there with our human minds and understand it. It doesn’t work. We need God to speak down into the depths of our hearts.

And you know, in thinking back about that Be Ready article, one of the key illustrations that Jesus used, examples is a better word, of what the end is going to be like, was what happened in Noah’s day, isn’t it? Not a new truth, but something that I think we can focus on, because we saw a prime example of people who went in two very, very different directions, had two very, very different ends. And what you’re seeing is something that unfolded.

But we see in that event, we see the culmination of that. And what we see, first of all, is a world that had reached the point where they not only were they unwilling to hear his God’s word, they were unable. That’s a scary thing. You know, one of the amazing things that Jesus said about what happened and what unfolded there when the flood came, he said, they didn’t know. They didn’t even know what was gonna happen.

Now think about that. Noah had been building an ark in front of them, had been preaching for however many years, and yet, when the time came, they didn’t know. Do you know there’s a place where people can get and that’s where this world is headed, where people have so shut their minds to the Word of God, that they lose the capacity even to know what He’s saying.

You know, we know that the Word of God is something that the only way you can understand it is for God to shine His light in the heart. Like I say, you can’t just take it and say, Oh wait, I can understand this ‘cause it’s human language. The Old Testament was human language. But Jesus prayed and prayed to the Father and said, I thank you, Father, what? That you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned. Learned means they were scholars. They were people who devoted their lives to learning and thinking and studying.

I’ll tell you, there was nobody that was any smarter. You think about the Pharisees and the scribes and all those that devoted their lives to the study of the word of God and the law of Moses. Oh my God, we got it. We got it. The devil was smarter than all of them. And he had no idea what was coming. God has so couched his truth that in spite of it being in human language, nobody can really understand His purposes unless He reveals it to the heart. My God, I want to have a heart that can hear, don’t you? Oh God. See, that’s what’s going on.

And you remember how when Jesus started preaching, started teaching the people and he gave them parables. Now, one of them, of course, was the parable of the four different types of soil, and it illustrates where the word of God comes. But his disciples asked him, said, Why are you talking to them in parables? And he said, It’s because it’s given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. It isn’t given to them.

And he goes on, describes from the words of the prophets what the problem was. The problem was that they had so resisted the word of God when it did come that they had reached a point, where it says, they have closed their eyes. This isn’t God just shutting them out arbitrarily. This is people who have closed their eyes to the word of God and reached the point where they had no capacity whatever to understand what Jesus was saying.

How many times did great crowds follow him? And then he would say just the right thing. And he would couch it in such language that they would say, This is a hard saying. Who could hear it? And they’d walk… What happened? They walked no more with him. Didn’t matter that he performed miracles. Man, this guy’s crazy. I can’t follow him.

Do you know that there are people that have no capacity, and there are others who just don’t understand. And part of what I wanted to say today is this, that God, well, lemme see if I can back up. I started to say, that nobody naturally has the power to understand the things of God. Okay? We understand that. It’s just not in our power to understand it. We have to hear God’s voice.

And remember the prophecy that Paul quotes in one place. And I better go ahead and turn to that. It’s in 2nd Corinthians, 1st Corinthians 2, I believe. I’m trying to quote all these or refer to all these scriptures, and I probably need to turn to some of ‘em so you’ll know where they’re at.

But this is Paul talking about his ministry and how it’s not designed by human wisdom. It’s not with human energy. This is something that he had to present himself to God, and God gave him something that could absolutely have power in it to change people’s hearts. But it wasn’t something that the natural mind could understand.

And he quotes down here in, is it chapter, verse nine. “However, as it is written, what no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, what no human mind has conceived, the things God has prepared for those who love him.” Now, most of the time people quote that and say, Oh, heaven’s gonna be wonderful. We can’t even conceive it. Well, that’s true, but that’s not what he’s talking about here. He’s talking about the very truths of the kingdom of God and salvation, those things that God has prepared. The human mind cannot conceive them unless God reveals it. Praise God!

Verse 14, it says, “the person without the Spirit,” talking about with God’s spirit, “the person without the spirit does not accept the things that come from the spirit of God, but considers them foolishness and cannot understand them because they’re discerned only through the Spirit.” Oh my God, we need to hear God when He speaks, don’t we? We need, if we’re gonna have ears to hear, that means we’re gonna have to listen when he says something. Praise God!

As a scripture that, I guess, I’ve referred to a number of times, and let’s see which one is appropriate right now. How about John 6? A wonderful promise. I think is what I’m thinking of. And yes, John 6, you remember how this is the passage where they, they stopped listening to him. But Jesus spoke about the fact that he says this, “All those the father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me, I will never drive away.” What an awesome promise. Praise God!

You see the hand of God. That’s where we get this saying that, I think, it has become current among us that God won’t lose any of His own. What a promise, that God has a knowledge of every person who will ever open their heart and receive His word, and God is absolutely tuned in to bring them all the way through.

Folks, it’s not a person here who has a heart at all toward God that needs to be afraid, as though God’s gonna get tired of you and throw you out. God is faithful to keep His word. He, which has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Praise God!

And when the Father presents someone to Jesus and says, Here’s someone who’s put their trust in you. They’ve repented their sins, they’ve put in their trust in you. And I’m entrusting you with their salvation. And I know you have the power and the authority to do it. All what you did on the cross is enough. The gift of the Spirit that comes in and changes their hearts is enough. And all the way you’re gonna be praying for them. Man, God’s gonna bring us through, isn’t he?

But who is it that the Father gives? ‘Cause later on He says, No one can come, verse 44, unless the Father who sent me draws them. So you see that the part of the process is God beginning to speak to people. It’s God reaching out in some fashion to draw somebody to Himself. He says, “as it is written in the prophets,” verse 45, “they will all be taught by God. Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me.”

So you see a little bit of an explanation as to what it means about the Father drawing them. It’s God speaking to a heart. It’s that heart opening and learning from not just hearing that, but actually taking it in and believing it and going by that and allowing that to begin to define what’s, what their life is about.

Folks, we are either gonna receive what God has given to us and be part of His purpose, or we’re gonna perish with the world. That’s where this world, this planet is coming to. And it’s so every day, it gets stronger and stronger, you see the spirit of unbelief. But God wants his people to understand and to hear him and to walk with him. And you see what happened in Noah’s day.

Now when God said, My spirit will not always strive with men. What does that tell us? Had He just been letting men go? No, there had been an outreach. God’s heart had always, in every generation to every person, there was an outreach of God to try to bring them to a consciousness of God, their need of Him and the desire of His heart to have them walk with Him as Enoch did. Enoch walked with God. He stood out from his generation.

But the course of people was when God spoke, there was something in them that had control to the point where they believed and yielded to that instead of what God said. And there comes a time, this is something we’ve certainly said many times, there comes a time when God stops speaking to that individual heart because there’s no capacity. Their heart has been sealed.

There’s a word that’s used, I can’t remember what it is exactly, but it’s like you have a wound and there’s a sore place and it winds up getting all covered over, and there’s no more sensitivity to it. Well, the human heart, the spiritual heart, the inside heart can get that way with respect to God.

And I’ll tell you, that’s… Do you not see that happening in the world every day? You read the headlines, you read what’s going on and what people are embracing and how they’re trying to do their best to shut the word of God down. We’re gonna see it more and more as we go forward. God is not going to forever strive with men.

You know, one of the brothers a few weeks ago quoted or referred to that scripture in Revelation. And I believe that’s a prophecy, a prophetic word that will happen at the right point in history. He that is vile, let him be vile still. And I don’t remember the whole scripture, but he that is righteous, let him be righteous still. So God is basically saying, your condition is determined, it’s over now. I’m not speaking to people anymore. I’m working with the ones that are mine. And that’s how it is going forward.

And you know, I thought about this. This is not just a warning or just information to tell us what’s going on in the world. I believe at this moment God still is speaking. And the question is, what do we do with it? And Jesus warned, I’m gonna go over and read one of my favorite scriptures in Luke 8, because Jesus tells us how this works.

And basically I’m back in eight. All right. Verse 18 is the one I’m thinking of. And this is also, after he’d given this particular parable about the sower, he says, Therefore consider carefully, so this is something Jesus wants us to pay close attention to. Consider carefully, what? How you listen. Okay. “Whoever has, will be given more, whoever does not have, even what they think they have will be taken from them.”

Boy, it’s an important thing when God speaks. And what happens with human nature is that God will shine a light on areas we don’t want shined on by nature. And if we’re gonna listen to God and hear what He has to say, we’re gonna have to humble ourselves to the truth. And so what I would say, what I believe the Lord would say to somebody, there may be somebody here, or there may be somebody who will hear this later, and you don’t really understand what I’m talking about. There’s a lack of understanding, of trying to lay hold to what’s He talking about? What is all this about? I don’t quite get it. Well, God wants you to get it.

And I would say this, if there is somebody who is in that place where they need to listen and they haven’t quite arrived at that yet, my prayer is that you will, if there’s a desire in you, you have every right to go to God and say, God, I don’t understand, but I want to. Do you think God is gonna turn somebody aside like that? One of the first things He seeks to do when He speaks to a heart is to create a need. But outta that need, where’s He trying to go with that? Just make a feel bad? No, he is trying to say, God’s trying to say, Come to me.

Jesus said, Come to me all where weary and burdened. There’s this reaching out of the heart of God to everyone that will listen. You think about Jesus and the things that he said about the people of his day. He saw, they were living in a world like ours. So many people had so shut their minds that they had no capacity. Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who killed the prophets. You stoned them that I sent to you. And all he’s talking about what was gonna happen to them.

But he also says, how often, how often would I have gathered you as a hen gathers her chickens? But what was the problem? You were not willing. Oh, I’ll tell you, if God is convicting, if there’s a sense of need, if you see at all what we’re talking about this morning, about the world coming to two different destinies, I just pray that you will so cry out to God until He hears your cry and opens your heart and gives you the light you need.

I mean, you talk about the wise and the prudent not understanding. How about Saul? He studied diligently under one of the greatest, most storied teachers in Judas, Judaic history, Gamaliel. He was familiar with the Old Testament. He could quote it. He knew the scriptures. He was zealous in what he understood for God, but he was blind as a bat. Blind as a bat.

What did it take? It took God penetrating his defenses and revealing himself. And then it took Paul surrendering to that. He didn’t resist and argue and come back and say, No, my way is right. There was a humbling, and God transformed a life.

God still transforms lives. Time is running out. Time is getting late. We’re gonna get to where the day that they went into the ark and it was over and the door was shut, that day will come. But God’s heart is always for anyone that will listen. If there is the smallest desire in anybody’s heart toward God, you cry out to Him and you take comfort and hope in that you wouldn’t have that if God weren’t reaching, it wouldn’t be there. Praise God for his mercy!

And when Jesus was said all those things about his generation, he wasn’t mocking, he was weeping. That’s God’s heart. And God’s heart of Noah’s day was full of pain and distress at what was going on. He wasn’t happy about it. He wasn’t looking forward to having to judge. But what could He do? They had their opportunity.

Oh, I’ll tell you. God is calling His own, but He calls by speaking to the heart and the ears of the heart need to be open and willing to receive. And I’ll tell you, wherever that happens, God will always give more. God always wants to bring His people through.

And I’ll tell you, when God’s looking around to see who belongs to Him, those are the ones He’s looking for. It’s not the smart, it’s not the wise, it’s not the great people of the world. It’s sinners who need a savior. But He’s got everything we need, everything we need to stand there one day. Everything. Oh, praise God!

Well, what did Jesus say about his sheep? What do they do? My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. And what’s the result of that? I give them eternal life and they will never perish. No one can pluck them out of my hand. My Father who gave them to me, you see that dynamic going on? My father gave them to me? He’s greater than all. No one can pluck them out of his hand.

Oh, I’ll tell you what a hope we have in this broken world, we see things going the wrong way. And I’ll tell you, God has a people. Things were really going sideways pretty badly in Noah’s day, but there was one man who walked with God. And when God spoke, he listened.

Transcript of message from TV Broadcast 1645 — taken from Closed Captioning Text
— Brother Phil Enlow: Paul, as I said, was here for one purpose. After he met Christ, there was only one thing that he lived for. Lord, what do You want me to do? I do not belong to myself anymore. I belong to You.

And I’m gonna ask you the question—ask a question again. Do you really think that this is only for Paul? Or, does that not apply to every member of the Body of Christ?

We’re not all apostles, obviously! We’re not all anything. We have all the variety of gifts and abilities that God has distributed, but these principles apply to everyone.

Didn’t Paul write, I think in one of the Corinthian letters? “…Ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (KJV).

What are you seeking? What’s your life about? What’s the driving vision and burden that you have for your life? Where do you see yourself going and for what reason? These are serious questions, aren’t they?

( congregational amens ).

They’re ones we need to ask ourselves. On one level, this is a question that has eternal ramifications for someone who has never really, really surrendered to Christ. But there are ramifications for every single believer.

Why do we do what we do? You can do the right thing for the wrong reason. And we need to understand. You know, I mentioned…I’m sure I mentioned it here, but where I grew up, we often had messages that were geared to the young people to get them to come to the place where they’re willing to surrender their lives.

It’s not just a matter of coming to a place of salvation, but…because the truth is, how can you have one without the other? But still, the emphasis was basically, you’re standing at the crossroads of life. Where is your life going? What’s it gonna be about? Are you going to surrender your life to Jesus Christ, to do His will, or are you just gonna keep doing yours?

And of course, many times, the emphasis was on, are you willing to be a missionary if God calls you to be that? Or, are you willing to be a minister? There was all of that in there. But the basic principle, the basic center of all of that was, are you willing to do God’s will?

I’ll ask you that today. Is that the governing principle of your life? God, it’s not my life! What do You want me to do? What do You want me to be? How do You want me to live? Change me at the heart level! Impart to me the very ability to do what You’ve called me to be!

Is there anything else that can be called real Christianity? And the answer is no. We’ve got a lot of churchianity in this country. Thank God He has a people in spite of it, that He knows that are His. But my God, don’t we need Him? Don’t we need to have a purpose in our lives that goes beyond living a comfortable okay life, not getting into trouble, not doing a whole lot of bad stuff? Young people, what’s your purpose? Where are you going? What do you want in life? You have to face that.

( congregational amens ).

Have you ever met Jesus? Has He ever taken possession of your heart? Because it’s not a matter of just you trying to conform to what I say. God, help you. It could never be that. I’m in need of the same salvation you are.

But on the off chance that Jesus is actually inspiring some of this, these are His words, not mine. And they’re not spoken to try to be a tyrant in your life. They’re not spoken out of any ill motive, but out of pure love because of what He has…what Jesus died to share with every one of us.

Now, the outworking of that is the polar opposite of human nature. It could not be more opposite than what God has called every single Christian to. It’s not about you. It’s not about me, in the sense that we usually think of it. It’s not about what I can have, what I can do, how I can be seen in the eyes of others, how well I can think of myself, none of that. God, deliver every single one of us from that kind of self-centered thinking.

Here was Paul, knowing that in order to do the will of God, he had to be willing to go out and suffer the things that he suffered. He had to be willing to be hated everywhere he went. There were going to be people that were inspired by the devil to absolutely oppose him, to have him beaten, to have him thrown in prison, to have…have him stoned one time, left for dead. On and on and on, there was constant pressure.

Boy, we don’t like that. We think something is wrong. How many of you have been tempted to think that something is wrong? Here, I’ve been asking God for more, and instead, all hell breaks loose. And I’ve had nothing but trouble.

Yeah, I see a lot of people who said, yeah, I get it. I’d have to raise my hand, too. It’s awful easy. See, that’s human thinking. What we ought to be saying is, thank God. If we’re stirring up the devil, if he’s upset, he has a reason to be upset. That’s a cause for rejoicing for saying God is hearing, and He’s answering my prayer, and the devil is scared, “…because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.”

And the devil knows that! He doesn’t want me to know it! He doesn’t want a people who are in touch with Him, doing His will, knowing that if we’re gonna go through the doors He opens, we’re gonna meet with warfare.

There are all kinds of things going on where the devil has…and the devil will pull on every opening that he has in any life. He does it, “…to steal and kill and destroy.” (NIV).

You remember when Jesus was about to go the cross, He said the devil, “…is coming. He has no hold over me.” Why? Because every part of His being was surrendered to the will of God. There was no way that He could get to…to Him, to Jesus. I wish we could say that about us, but that’s what the Lord’s working on.

You know, the things that the devil has marshalled against us, or he marshals against us when we’re going through some of these times of reaching out for more. Sometimes it’s just temptation. Are there weaknesses that the devil’s just had an extra…put an extra bit of emphasis on the last little bit? Would you admit it?

( congregational response ).

There are weaknesses that the devil still probes and still works on. And all of a sudden you wonder why he’s putting a little more effort into that? Yeah, he’s scared. But God lets us experience battles so that we can experience victory.

There’s an old chorus that I remember hearing many, many years ago. And…’how can we be overcomers unless we overcome?’ Somehow, we want to be shadow boxers, learn the theory, and man, I’m an overcomer.

But, to be an overcomer means there are real battles to be fought. There is a real enemy that we need to stand up against and overcome! And the Lord is putting us through the paces. We’re gonna see him pulling…because he has a hold on a certain life, you’re gonna see the devil rise up in varying ways. We’re gonna need the Lord. We’re gonna need to pray. We’re gonna need to look to God for strength and for discernment.

But God is gonna use the battles that He puts us through to make us into the very thing that He wants us to experience. And we are going to see, as I said, people are either going to listen to the devil and walk away, because of his deception, or we’re gonna wake up and be part of the Kingdom of God and part of…and someone that God can actually use.

Now, Paul was somebody that God could use. His life was laid down. It’s not mine anymore, it’s Yours, Lord! He talks about a great door being opened! To whom does God open doors…the kind of door he’s talking about here? There is an opportunity for advancement of the Kingdom of God, and here it is, Paul.

So, what did Paul do with that? Of course, he went through it, didn’t he? He absolutely responded to God! And he went through that door knowing that there would be opposition, knowing that he was walking into a battle! But he said, this is the whole reason I exist. This is the meaning of my life. It’s not mine.

You remember the Scripture in Revelation in one of the letters to the Philadelphia Church, about how the Lord said, I open, and no man can shut. I shut and no man can open. You know, we talked recently about how this entire existence is a process of God working out a sovereign purpose. He has His times. He has His ways. He has what He wants to accomplish, when He wants to accomplish it, through whom He wants to accomplish it, and He is the one opens doors and closes them.

Sometimes, there are seasons for waiting! Sometimes, there are seasons for going through a door! Folks, it’s not our plans, it’s not our ability. It’s not anything but simply saying, God, show us what to do. Give us the power to do it.

( congregational amens ).

And give us the conviction to go through knowing we are going into battle! Lord, help us. We can’t do anything without You. But the only thing that will matter on that day is what I’m talking about now! You can amass everything in the world, and it will all be burned up and worthless! But the simplest saint who says here’s my life, use it, and God literally touches other people’s lives through that life, that will have eternal value.

What’s your life about? Do you know that God has a purpose for your life and yours and yours and mine? It’s to say, Lord, I don’t even know what to do. I don’t want to live for just an earthly purpose. Lord, I just give myself to You, and I don’t have any ambition in this. I don’t have any…it’s not a matter of me seeking a place or trying to be this or trying to be that. It’s just, Lord, whatever, I’m Yours.

And then, having Him work and change and deliver us from that drive of self-seeking. And we’re gonna have to go through stuff that will cause us to have to die, to let go, to face things that we don’t want to face about ourselves, all the things that we’ve talked about so many times.

But God is going to mold a people that will be able to do, along the same lines as what Paul did, not necessarily being an apostle and doing those kinds of things, but we are called to be members one of another. Every single one of us has something that is from heaven for the rest.

As I thought about this, I thought again about the point that I made a little bit ago, of how easy it is to think of deeper life as just a private, personal thing. Again, think back to what we’ve referred to Philippians 3 where Paul was talking about one thing I do, and oh, my goal in life is to be this high eagle Christian.

But why? What purpose is there in that? Is it just so I can be a Christ-like person? Is it just about me and my spiritual advancement and achievement? Is that what this is really about?

But how easily do we think of it in those terms. Why did Jesus come? For Himself, to be a great somebody? He came to be a servant. He endured everything He endured, not for what He could achieve, not for what He could be, but for what He could give us.

Can you think of anything anymore contrary to human nature? See, you could actually appeal to some people and say, oh, just come and be this super Christian. But you start throwing in the second half of that, “…and there are many who oppose…,” and you realize it’s not just a smooth, easy way.

Okay, Lord, I don’t really like it much, but I guess if that’s what it takes. “…All things work together for good…” you know, to those who love God. I’ll put up with it so I can be what You want me to be. If that’s all there is, that stops way short of God’s purpose for your life and for mine!

Again, why did Jesus do what He did? Why did He put up with this? Why did He suffer and die and put up with everything He had to put up with to do what He did? Why did He do it? Was it for Him or for us?

Oh, you know, I can do a lot, I can go through a lot if it benefits me. That’s the amazing thing when you think about Paul. You think about some of the things that he said. I guess I’m just referring to them, but you want to go back…you want to back up in Philippians. I’ll go ahead and look at a couple of those things.

You cannot read Philippians 3 and that all Paul sought to do and to be without it being in the context of what he said in chapter 1! Now this case, where was Paul when he wrote this? Now, you’re afraid to say, aren’t you?

( laughter ).

He was in prison. Now, he was in prison in Rome writing to the Philippian believers. And some of them were tempted to be timid about their faith, because look what it gets you. Paul is cautioning them don’t you dare give into that, because I’m not here living for me. This is not about what happens to me.

Let’s see, verse 20. “I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” (NIV).

Now, again, you could read that and say, Paul had this vision of what he could become. It’s about me and my relationship, and I’m going to have this glorious love fest with God, and that’s what it’s about.

Is that what it was about? You go on a little bit, and he says, “If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me.” Oh boy, more work! “…This will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but…,”

Ha! There’s a good but, isn’t it? You see what’s in control there? This is what I would like. How many of you would just love to have this be over? You know, you go through times, and you say, God, what a burden life is here, and what You have for me is so much better. You can just come and end it right now if You want to. Take me on. You can see that yearning in Paul, the realization of what lay ahead.

“But it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.” Why did Paul do what he did? Why did he put up with all the stuff that he put up with? Because Paul wasn’t living for himself. Paul was living for the people to whom he was sent. It wasn’t about Paul. It was about allowing the Spirit of God, the life, the power of God to flow through Paul so that others could be helped and lifted up.

Is that revolutionary? Is that why we’re living? Yeah, we’ve got a ways to go, if we’re gonna grow up in the Lord. I believe there’s a measure of that. Thank, God. But I believe that our thinking…if we’re gonna start thinking about deeper life and higher ground and all of that, we need to see what that higher ground involves. If it’s not about me laying down my life so that life can flow to others, it’s not higher ground.

( congregational amens ).

It’s not the ground that He has set forth for us. I thought of an old hymn. I can’t remember whether…whether we’ve ever sung this here or not, but I know I sung it growing up. Anybody know the hymn, “Channels Only”? I guess we haven’t sung it then.

( laughing ).

But anyway, this is a pretty good expression of God’s purpose. “How I praise Thee, precious Savior, that Thy love laid hold of me; Thou hast saved and cleansed and filled me that I might Thy channel be. Channels only, blessed Master, but with all Thy wondrous pow’r flowing through us, Thou canst use us every day and every hour.” That’s the chorus.

“Just a channel full of blessing, to the thirsty hearts around; to tell out Thy full salvation, all Thy loving message sound. Emptied that Thou shouldest fill me, a clean vessel in Thy hand; With no pow’r but as Thou givest graciously with each command.” Wow! Powerful words that capture it.

“Witnessing Thy pow’r to save me, setting free from self and sin; Thou who bought me to possess me, in Thy fullness, Lord, come in. Jesus, fill now with Thy Spirit hearts that full surrender know; that the streams of living water from our inner man may flow. Channels only, blessed Master, but with all Thy wondrous pow’r flowing through us, Thou canst use us every day and every hour.”

Why did Paul do what he did? Do we kind of see it a little deeper? Is that what we want? I believe God is calling. And I tell you, when He opens a door and we go through it, don’t expect to be unopposed. Don’t be afraid. Ask God for the courage. Think about the Israelites and all they had to face and what the Lord told them. Be courageous. Don’t give up. Don’t be afraid. Oh, by the way, be courageous.

( laughing ).

He knows what we’re made of. But folks, if you’re looking for a trouble-free way to the Kingdom of God, you’re in the wrong kingdom. The devil is going to oppose. It is a warfare, but it is one where the war has already been won at the cross.

( congregational amens ).

Thank God, and greater is He that’s in us than he that’s in the world. If we will put our trust in Him, and lay down our lives for Him, He will work, and He will accomplish His purpose, but we’ll also be part of it. That’s where He’s going with all of this. May God continue His work in us to take us to whatever deeper ground and higher ground that He wants. Praise God!

Transcript of message from TV Broadcast 1642 — taken from Closed Captioning Text

— Brother Phil Enlow: Well, Praise God! The Devil’s certainly been fighting me this morning so I hope that’s a good sign, because the Lord has done so much for us and that’s what so many are celebrating today was the victory of the resurrection.

And you know, there’s so much to talk about and I always come to this and say, oh, Lord, what do we talk about this time? And that’s just human reasoning and all that stuff and I just don’t want to, I don’t want to fall into that trap. But I just — I’m gonna give out the thoughts that the Lord’s given me and just trust Him with it.

Because without the resurrection, I mean, without what goes before the resurrection, the resurrection is just a nice history lesson. And, I thank God for the cross and for what it means to us. And we’ve sung so much about that this morning.

And, there’s one passage that’s always kind of intrigued me. It’s just a little bit different, and that’s in John chapter 12. Jesus is speaking, of course, before going to the cross and I believe He gives us some insights into what it’s really about. I mean, we know some of the basic things. We hear them all the time, but there are some truths in here that I pray everybody will get.

And I don’t know, my burden, I guess, as much as anything is for people that don’t really understand all this, that don’t get it. And I’m certainly not an evangelist. But I just trust that God will breathe life into His truth so that this won’t just be a, okay, this is Easter, we’re supposed to talk about the resurrection and go on with our lives. This is something that has Eternal significance. And so, let’s just read the words of Jesus beginning in verse 23.

“Jesus replied…” to something that’d been said, “…the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

“Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me. Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!” (NIV). Boy, isn’t that a good way for us to react to life?

“Then a voice came from heaven, I have glorified it, and will glorify it again. The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him. Jesus said, This voice was for your benefit, not mine. Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself. He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.

“The crowd spoke up, We have heard from the Law that the Christ will remain forever, so how can you say, The Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man? Then Jesus told them, You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. The man who walks in the dark does not know where he is going. Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light. When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.”

I’ll tell you, we need divine intervention in our lives! The condition of the general population certainly reveals a whole lot, doesn’t it? They were just blind to what was going on. And, I’m just gonna try to bring some thoughts out of this and other scriptures and, like I say, I’m just trusting the Lord this morning. I feel extra weak, which is probably a good thing. But Lord, You take over this and just have Your way and speak Your truth.

You know, one of the things that really jumped out at me, as I was reading this the other day, was where Jesus began. It said, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” Now think about the context in which He said this. He’s about to go to the cross and He’s saying, I’m gonna be glorified. Do you think maybe, just maybe, He had a pretty good confidence in the Father’s plan? Yeah! Wouldn’t it be good if we could see beyond today and beyond what’s going on and realize that God has an immutable plan, that He is carrying something out that no devil in hell can stop?

( congregational amens ).

Praise God! He’s not saying, oh, I’m gonna be crucified, it’s gonna be terrible. He said, I’m gonna be glorified. He was seeing right past all of this. Wasn’t it — didn’t the scriptures say it was, “for the joy set before him,” that He was able to see that and the cross was just a stepping stone to get to that? It was necessary, but it was only a stepping stone to something that was real.

You know, when Gospel truth comes to someone who has never seen it and never really bowed to it, it sounds an awful lot like a threat. It’s a threat to human nature! It’s a threat to my own will and my own wanting to do what I want to do.

But I’ll tell you another thing, a thought that came to me very distinctly in thinking about all of this was: everything Jesus said was truthful, but the spirit behind it was one of love, a desire to reach out. If He had just never intervened, men would just die, live and die like lost animals. I mean, it would be no more significant than that. But I’ll tell you, God intervened in history, because of our condition and our need. Thank God!

( congregational amens ).

And I’ll tell you, bowing to that is the ultimate freedom, not the ultimate prison. Natural man says, “You’re gonna take away all my joy. You’re gonna constrict me and make me live a religious life. It’s gonna be terrible.” And God says, “I want to set you free.”

How many can say you’ve been on both sides of that, maybe, where you’ve suddenly seen and God’s opened your eyes and when you finally bowed, you said, “Why did I wait so long?” You remember Brother Thomas’ testimony, so many years ago.

But anyway, some of the things that He said…He said this is verse 31, “Now is the time for judgment on this world…,” talking about the significance of the cross. We always think about it in, well, He died for my sins. Yes He did! But I’ll tell you, there was something deeper going on there. God was judging the world! I mean, I understand that the outpouring, I mean, the outworking of that is something that is yet to come in our future, when this world will have its end. But I’ll tell you, you want to know why I can have confidence that that’s true? Because God’s already done it!

( congregational amens ).

God has already judged the world. Now when we talk about the world, what are you talking about? You just talking about the rocks and the trees? You know, we know better than that. But there is a system. There is a government, if you will, that is over this world that is ruled by wicked spirits. They are behind the scenes of everything that exists in this world.

And I realize there are things that are held up as, oh, this is noble. Man’s got so much nobility buried in him. If we could just get rid of the bad stuff, we could rise and conquer the stars. I’ll tell you, there is a world, a system—a spiritual system that is in rebellion against its Creator. And I don’t care what happens, God has already judged that and said, that will not continue! Jesus said, the world will pass away, “…but my words will never pass away.” And I’ll tell you, if you see any hope in this world, you are seeing something that I can’t see. There is no hope!

And I thank God that the end is coming, but I’ll tell you, I see something else. I see the mercy of God! Why has it not happened already? How in the world can God put up with what’s going on in this world? A lot of people wonder about that. How can God — you know, if God can do anything, why doesn’t He just stop all this? I’ll tell you, there’s one reason. Because God is, “…not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” (KJV).

And I’ll tell you, as long as there is any hope for an individual, God is gonna be reaching out. God is gonna be confronting people saying, I love you. It doesn’t have to be this way. You can give Me your heart and give Me your life and surrender. I’ve got different plans for you.

And I’ll tell you, the principles of this world are sin and rebellion. They are slavery. It’s not just that I follow my natural desires. That would be a basic principle of this world, that life is about just, I have desires and I’m gonna follow them. I’m gonna try to satisfy them. It’s not just that I do that, it’s that they become my master! I become a slave! I cannot stop from being that kind of a person who lives in this kind of a world.

I’ll tell you, this world is a prison house! Well, didn’t we just sing about that? Yeah! “I was in sin’s prison.” And there is an inescapable dominion of spirits of darkness that only the cross and the resurrection can overcome! There is not a man, woman, boy or girl that’s ever been born that can overcome or escape any of this!

How many of you remember, oh, some of the old movies? Ben Hur was one of them I remember. You remember the rowing scene, some of you who have seen that? When the Roman galleys, when they would go to war, what was it that powered their ships?

( congregational response ).

It was slaves who were down in the bow, down in the belly of the ship. And they were, many times, chained in place. All that they could look forward to in life was to row as hard as they could and die, sooner or later. If the ship went down, they went down with it.

And I’ll tell you, that is a picture of life in this world. You have been given a rowing — a place to row and you are chained to that and you’re gonna row, thinking you’re getting somewhere.

I’ll tell you, this is a world that God has judged. The ultimate fate of what is coming upon this world was foreshadowed on the cross. God drew everything — He became the representative of the entire human race! God created a perfect world, and Adam and Eve chose to rebel. I’ll put it this way. Eve was deceived into rebelling. Adam made a choice. She had already made the wrong choice and he made a deliberate choice to follow her instead of God.

I’ll tell you, that’s a terrible thing to do! And because of that, all that’s part of this world, this creation, has been corrupted by that rebellion. There is no solution except for God to exterminate it from His universe! None of this is gonna survive! Thank God!

If you want to know, you want to get a picture of the blindness that sin causes? How about the Lord using the Devil to carry out His plan, and allowing the Devil to think, I’m winning! I’ve been able to crucify the Son of God! Now we can rule! Now the Creator Himself is gone and we can rule!

The scripture says, if the princes of this world — they didn’t understand this — if any of them had understood it — this is 1st Corinthians 2, if you want to look it up. If they had understood this, “…they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” (NIV). You want to know how deceptive sin and darkness is? The Devil thought he was winning and he was engineering his own defeat. Boy, I’ll tell you what, I want to be on God’s side, don’t you?

( congregational response ).

That’s a darkness I want to escape! But you know the main thing we think about with the cross, thank God, is deliverance from the guilt of sin! You know, I need — I mean, it’s so obvious, all of the sins that I have committed in my life, what am I gonna do about them?

What are we talking about? “The acts of the sinful nature….” Look at Galatians 5, 19-21. I’m gonna read it but you can look it up when you want to. “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.”

So this is not a exhaustive list, is it? It can go on and on, but all of it is built around gratifying natural desires and impulses, in a very selfish way. I’ll tell you what, every one of us has sins that separate us from God, apart from Christ. And here’s the kicker! Let me ask you this question. Is God just?

( congregational response ).

I mean, how do you find justice? If there is a law, and a judge says, “Well, I know what the law says but I’m gonna change — I’m gonna do something different this time. I feel sorry for you. I’m not gonna apply the law.” Is he just? No! So, how in the world can God be just and we have any hope whatsoever? Is there anybody here hasn’t sinned? No, of course not! So, how in the world can God remain just and we get off? “The soul who sins…”

( congregational response ).

He’ll die! That’s the law! That’s the law! There’s no escape from that principle! God has to punish sin! And it’s not just the — these acts that we talk about. There’s something deeper than that.

I want you to imagine a scene right now. You’re standing before the bar of God’s justice. God’s sitting there in judgment of you. And you are aware that you can’t hide anything. And I want you to think back to the most shameful things. I’m assuming you’ve got a conscience. I want you to think back to the most shameful things that you have ever done in your life, things that maybe nobody else knows about it, but you do. And if they were ever brought out into the open, you would just be filled with — you’d want to crawl in a hole and pull it in after you, as the expression goes.

But now, let’s go beyond that. Maybe you’re not somebody who’s done a lot of these things. You haven’t robbed any banks. You haven’t actually committed adultery with somebody. But what did Jesus say about that? He said the one who’s looked at a woman with lust in his heart, has already committed adultery.

How many of us would want, not just our deeds to be brought before the bar of God’s justice, but all of our thoughts and our intentions, our attitudes? Every time you’ve rebelled against your parents and been angry, or been angry with somebody, or gossiped in a malicious way or, anything you can think of. Or you just let your mind dwell in the wrong places. You went to the wrong places on your computer. I’ll tell you what, we’ve got a lot to deal with.

But now you’re standing there and the Lord reads off this long list of charges. How do you plead? Everybody here would have to say the same thing. “I’m guilty. I deserve to die. Your law declares that I deserve to die.”

But now there’s a different scene that comes along. And now your Creator, who has come down to this earth to become a part of His own creation, to come down in flesh and live His life among men, just like you did…. But there’s one difference in Him. He has never been guilty of the first thing. His life has been one of perfect harmony with His heavenly Father. He’s perfect.

But now, instead of you standing before that bar of God’s justice, He stands there. And God reads that same list of everything that you have ever done that’s been wrong, every shameful act, every shameful thought, all of these things that cause you such deep conviction and shame. They’re all read. But now they’re read against Him, who has done nothing! And God says, how do You plead? He says, I plead guilty. And the sentence is passed, and it’s a sentence of death.

I’ll tell you, that’s a sobering thing. But until we come face to face with that truth in a personal way, what we’re talking about this morning is nothing but a history lesson, something we can say, “Yay Jesus,” and go on about our lives.

But I’ll tell you, the reality of what happened there has to become deeply personal. It’s not just that He died for everybody, in this vague, general sense, but that I stand before the bar of God’s justice as a guilty sinner and that He steps into my place. He embraces my guilt and willingly goes to the cross.

And so, in that way God’s justice is perfectly satisfied. There have been sins committed, there has been One who has embraced the guilt of all of that and He has received that ultimate punishment. All of God’s wrath against all the sins that have ever been committed were poured out on Jesus Christ and He willingly did it!

I’ll tell you, what does that mean to you? Does that mean anything? I’ll tell you what, that’s some sober stuff to think about, isn’t it? Thank God! Thank God! We have a God who is just and yet able to forgive. Thank God for Jesus. Thank God for the cross. Thank Him for the blood.

Has that ever become real to you? I’ll tell you, if it ever becomes more than just a Sunday School lesson to you, it’ll change your life. It’ll change your destiny, ‘cause that’s what this is all about! You’re part of a system that’s gonna perish. I don’t care what you do, I don’t care what men do. I don’t care whether they try to go to the stars. This world is gonna perish! God has already judged it, but He’s already judged your sins and mine. I’ll tell you what, that’s something to think about, isn’t it?

Now one thing that Jesus said that bears some comment, He said back here in verse…is it 25? “The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” (NIV).

You know, there are three times, I guess, the word “life” is used but most people would not know that there are different words in the Greek. When Jesus talks about your life and my life, He’s using the word soul. He’s using the word for the created life that came in the beginning. God imparted a life, a created life to Adam and Eve. He breathed into his nostrils the breath of, literally, lives, because it’s reproducible. But he had a created life that God gave him and that is what has been hopelessly corrupted!

But what are the words of Jesus? Here are people who are faced with a choice. Am I going to serve Jesus? Am I gonna embrace what He did for me or am I gonna cling to this life that I possess? This is what matters to me. What I want, that’s what matters. The words of Jesus cannot be countermanded! He said, “The man who loves his life will lose it….” There’s no wiggle room in this.

But the other kind of life, when He mentions eternal life, that’s a different word! That is that word, “zoe.” That is God’s life. How many of you know there are different kinds of life? This is a subject — I probably — it keeps coming back to me from time to time and it may be — one of these days it’ll be time to address it, as a doctrinal issue, is this question of what happens? Is the soul immortal?

I don’t happen to believe that it is. I’ll tease you with that much. My Bible says only God is immortal. I’ll tell you, there are gonna be a lot of people, on the Day of Judgment, whose eyes will be opened, finally! They will have no choice. They will see what God has purposed! They will see the righteous standing there, not because they did something, but because they surrendered to what God could do! And they’re standing there in glory and power and freedom and life that will go on forever!

And there they are, guilty in their sins being marched off to a place of destruction! Crying, weeping, wailing, gnashing of teeth, begging for another opportunity when there will be no remedy on that day. But these are the words of Jesus. The one who loves his life — they were clinging to it.

And I’ll tell you, the most — the scariest part of that is when people embrace religion, in some fashion, but they never really let go of their life. Jesus talks about that in Matthew chapter 7, because He says there are two gates and there are two ways. He talks about the false prophets who essentially let people believe—they lead people to believe that they can come in and somehow, in some sense, acknowledge Jesus, even call Him Lord, they use the words the Lord Jesus, but as Jesus says, “Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say?”

And it’s in that context that He talks about people who arrive on that day and say, Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in Your name, didn’t we do great works? Lord, we were working for You all our lives. We went to church. We never missed Sunday School, all the things that you’re supposed to be doing as evidence that I’m a follower of Jesus. What was the problem? They never let go of their life!