October 4, 2025 • 40 mins
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Dan Simmons (00:00):
So, Pastor Simmons, Elder Gladstone Simmons, has been working for the Lord ever since he was a very young man.
He just decided as a very young man,
I am supposed to serve God.
And my job is to tell other people about God.
Now he's pastored different places, and I don't want to go long because that would embarrass him.
(00:23):
As far as the different places where he's pastored and ministered to others.
But God has worked powerfully through him.
Now, we have the same name.
This is my dad.
We look alike, don't we?
No, I took my wife's name when we got married.
This is my father-in-law.
He's a wonderful man, powerful preacher, but even a better pastor because he loves people.
Gladstone Simmons (00:51):
Good morning.
Happy Sabbath.
Are you happy to be here?
So it's good to be good in God's house.
And um first time I've been here as a speaker.
(01:12):
But I've been had the privilege of visiting with you folks a few times in the past.
It's a privilege to be here today.
And I trust as we share a little bit from God's Word, my promise, my desire is to have God's word speak to you.
So before we start, let's just have prayer together, okay?
(01:34):
Good morning, Lord, and we thank you for your promise to be here with us.
I ask you to hide the piece of clay and show Jesus to your people.
Forgive us.
If there's anything that would hinder receiving your message just today, we pray and thank you in Jesus' name.
(01:58):
Amen.
Warnings and admonitions in the book of Peter.
So we're going to stay in the book of Peter for most of the day.
And I have a nice big clock back there so I can watch it.
Let's turn with me, if you would, if 2 Peter chapter 1, if you will.
(02:18):
If you have your Bibles.
I want to read that passage.
It has a series of things of it's called usually in many places.
Peter's ladder of development.
Reading from verse 5, I'm reading from the Christian Standard Bible
It reads this way, for this very reason make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge.
(02:48):
Knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness.
Godliness with brotherly kindness, brotherly affection, it says in my version, and brotherly affection with love.
And then we have in the next verse that I put on the screen
(03:19):
Having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.
So many times we
Forget what God did for us.
I'm reading through the Bible again, and one thing stands out in my mind as I read from book to book to book.
We serve an awesome, merciful, gracious God.
(03:45):
Israel messed up over and over and over again, and then God says, Okay, I'm gonna have a
Give you a little correction here.
Little discipline, if you please.
I'm gonna let the neighbors come by and deal with you.
And they had all kinds of problems, and then they got to the point we need God.
Lord help us.
(04:06):
And here comes Jesus to help them out of their problems.
So Paul says, Peter says, Don't forget.
That God has delivered you in the past.
So many people forget that.
Verse 10.
Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election.
For if you practice that word if.
(04:28):
What does the word if convey?
Condition.
If you practice these things, you will what?
Never fail.
How many like to fail?
Nobody likes to fail.
God doesn't want you to fail.
So He has given these qualities here
(04:49):
Faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, endurance, godliness, brotherly affection, love
He says, if you have these qualities, you will never fail.
And the fact is, we can't have them qualities without God's indwelling in us.
(05:13):
But I must continue.
Second Peter 120 says, Now looking at warnings in Second Peter, okay?
First of all, you should know this.
No prophecy of Scripture comes from your own interpretation.
Again, it's a Christian standard Bible.
Why this verse?
I think it has a very special application today.
(05:36):
Why?
Because there are all kinds.
Of interpretations of scripture.
I just read a study yesterday or day before, a couple of these last couple of days, of a study that just came out this last month.
And the conclusion that they came to have after interviewing 3,000 plus people that in America today less than 50% believe in God's word.
(06:06):
Can you believe that?
And now those who don't believe, some don't believe that Jesus is God.
And that's a good number.
It's numbers growing.
Is the Bible a book of good moral direction?
For some people, yes, but for more people not.
(06:27):
And I won't go through all the study.
I want to continue here.
We're let the Bible talk to you.
Notice what it says.
Peter's warning us, but false prophets.
What kind of prophets?
False prophets.
Also arose among the people, just as there what will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies.
(06:53):
Even denying the master who brought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.
We're living in the end of the world, and towards the end of the world, at least we're getting closer and closer, I believe, and we're finding that these realities are becoming more and more prevalent.
(07:13):
Will you agree with that?
How do we prevent ourselves from being succumbed by these problems?
We're going to learn that in the next part here in a second.
He's warning us about God's coming justice.
You know, a lot of people don't even believe God exists.
So when his justice comes down, it's going to be a phenomenal surprise for them.
(07:37):
Like in Noah's day.
Noah preached for how long?
120 years.
What does he preach?
Brethren, the front's coming.
Blood?
You're crazy, man.
It's never rained.
What is rain?
Water's gonna fall from the sky and God's gonna flood this earth.
(08:00):
This guy's been drinking too much.
And he preached again and again.
And then he began to do what God said, put that boat together.
Did the flood come?
When it began to fall the rain, that is
(08:22):
Hey, no was right.
Maybe he'll open the door and let us in now.
Who shut the door?
Could Noah open the door?
We want to be shut in by God.
And that happens when we have a good relationship with Him.
(08:44):
It says, beware of scoffers.
Do we have scoffers today?
Lots of them.
And they're becoming more and more bold and more and more prevalent.
I gotta keep going.
Beware of those willfully deny scripture.
I've talked to people all the time from
(09:07):
Who I don't believe in that.
In the survey I referred to a minute ago
The majority think the Bible is a collection of myths from the past with good moral stories, moral structure.
So they scoff at the idea, and scripture they deny.
(09:30):
So, how do we overcome the danger that Peter tells us?
will confront the church members, especially in the last days.
And I started out
I think it is with the next slide.
No?
This is the verse that got me started in my study this weekend, full this weekend.
(09:52):
But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
To him be glory both now and forever.
And I want to stress the grow.
Why is it important to grow?
If you don't, what happens?
You die.
(10:12):
That's true of plants, animals, and human beings.
Now I could tell another story that comes close to home, but I'm going to skip that for today, and maybe another time.
That illustrated to me very grace emphatically that growth is indispensable for our survival.
(10:35):
Grow.
Now the word in 2 Peter 3:18, there we just read, suggests that we just keep on growing.
Is it possible to grow for a period of time and then stop growing and then six months later start growing again?
No.
Because when you stop growing, what do you do?
(10:58):
You die.
Now do we resurrect ourselves?
No.
So it's important to keep on growing.
And what does it say grow in?
It says, grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
In other words, develop a personal relationship with Jesus.
(11:18):
I must remember to stay in English here today.
Start off with Spanish there.
So babies are born.
Here's a newborn.
They're special.
But if they don't grow, they become a problem.
And they move on from babyhood to childhood, or and as they're growing through that process, we feed them milk.
(11:45):
And Peter talks about feed on the word of God as newborn babies feed on milk so they can grow spiritually strong.
And when you feed on the word of God, you will find out how full of grace God really is.
As I mentioned earlier, as you go through the Bible stories, you find God's grace is just overwhelming
(12:10):
And still, I don't understand why people don't embrace it more freely, more readily.
They just don't understand.
That's my only conclusion.
They can't understand and reject God's grace.
But then you have children.
Babies grow into children.
They run around, they smile, they have fun, and then they go into teenagers.
(12:33):
In those years, am I going to be this?
Am I going to be that?
What am I going to be in life?
And they go through these struggles, and godly parents guide them through with the guidance of the scriptures.
Then we get into those young adult years when we usually get married at at this stage.
Then comes the family and courier.
(12:55):
And then we have
Where I'm getting to now.
They retire and live as best they can until they die.
That's the cycle of life in this world
I had a friend, his name was Johnny Barnes, and he used to say, brethren and sisters, only in this life.
(13:18):
Because when Jesus comes, there will be no more death, no more sickness, no more sorrow, no more pain.
You're gonna live for how long?
Forever?
What is that?
Now you can define forever, I can define forever, but my mind cannot encapsulate it.
(13:42):
It's bigger than I am.
Isn't that true?
Everything we know begins and ends.
This building is a beautiful building, but if it just sits here for how many weeks, months, years, centuries, maybe?
He's eventually going to what?
Die.
(14:03):
It won't last forever.
So though, healthy growth requires four things.
Air, food, exercise, and rest.
I like to think that healthy spiritual growth requires four things
Air, food, exercise, and rest.
(14:28):
Air or breathe.
How do we breathe as Christians
Here's a text from the Spirit of Prophecy.
It says, prayer is the secret of spiritual power.
Prayer is the breath of the soul.
Oh.
It is not the secret, or it is the secret of spiritual power.
(14:51):
No other means of grace can be substituted and the health and soul be preserved.
Can we live without breathing?
No.
Can we survive as Christians without praying?
No.
Let's continue
The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, it's a very long verse, just those three words.
(15:16):
Pray without ceasing.
Now, what does that mean to pray without ceasing?
Do I have to be on my knees all day long?
No.
Is to develop an attitude of prayer.
If we have a good thing, event, thank you, Lord.
If you have a bad problem, Lord help me, is automatic.
(15:36):
Book Steps to Christ, Mrs.
Way, says we turn to God as automatically as a flower turns toward the sun.
When we develop that relationship that we need so much, prayer sustains it.
The comment here
(15:56):
We're referring to all these numbers, we're referring to the the repentance soul.
God sees its struggles, He watches its conflicts.
He marks its sincerity, and he has his finger upon its pulse.
He takes note of every throb.
It continues.
(16:17):
Not feeling a not a feeling of thrill, not a feeling thrills it.
In other words, when here's a person who's so enjoyable cloud nine.
God recognizes that.
Not an emotion agitates it.
Not a sorrow shades it.
Not a sin stains it.
(16:39):
This is the sincere prayer of the Christian.
Not a thought or purpose moves it of which he is not cognizant.
He is aware of all of that.
And it says that soul was purchased at an infinite cost and is loved with a devotion that is unalterable.
(17:01):
God's love is permanent.
But I want to say this
The Bible says so.
It's defined as love.
God is gracious, yes, he is.
The Bible says that too in many different places.
But many times we hear about God's love, God's grace, God's mercy, God's patience, but we seldom hear about God's justice.
(17:27):
Because he is love, he has to be just.
And he is just, and he will meet out just as
And I said to one gentleman one day, see, you know, he was kind of, I don't need God.
I don't, I said, buddy, God is love, God is patience, God is love.
(17:48):
Forgiving, but God is also just.
And if you don't accept what He's offering to you,
For free.
Cost him immensely, but it's for free to you.
If you don't accept it, he will cry, but he's gonna let you die.
Isn't that true?
(18:09):
That's the reality.
Notice the night seasons of prayer, which the Savior spent in the mountain or in the desert, are essential to prepare him for the trials he must meet in the days.
to follow.
Now notice he felt the need of the refreshing and invigorating of the soul and body that he might meet the temptations of Satan.
(18:32):
Who was that?
Jesus.
This is the last part.
And those who's those?
Who does those include?
Pardon?
Us and those who are striving to live his life will feel the same need.
What is it need?
(18:52):
To pray.
To talk to God about the problems and the benefits that He gives us.
Prayer brings the heart into immediate contact with the wellspring of life and strengthens the sinew and muscle of the religious experience.
You want a strong religious experience.
Experience.
We're talking about breathing, prayer.
(19:16):
This is a concerning comment.
Neglect the exercise of prayer or engage in it spasmodically now and then as seems convenient
And you lose your hold on God.
Now let me stop there and say, in today's world, can we afford to lose our hold on God?
(19:43):
Let's take time to pray.
Make prayer meeting a priority in our experience.
So many of our churches who don't even have, I don't know what they do here, but we don't even have prayer meeting anymore.
It's inconvenient.
Be careful.
The spiritual faculties lose their vitality.
The religious experience lacks health and vigor.
(20:03):
This was given to the young people way back yonder.
But besides breathing, we have to eat if you're going to be healthy, right?
Now I like to eat.
Do you like to eat?
Good food is always a pleasure.
I have a good cook as a wife.
She affects us delicious meals, and she's always finding different ways to do different things, and it always tastes good.
(20:32):
I'll have to sample some of your good tasty food today, I think.
They tell me they're having potluck.
But we're gonna eat.
How do we eat?
The Bible says, Jesus said, this is his verse, search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life, but they are they which testify of me.
So when we study the Bible, there's a reason people study the Bible, but some people study the Bible to argue it.
(20:54):
I can tell you more about this subject than you can tell me about that subject.
They love to argue.
That's not the reason to study the Bible.
If you're gonna do that, don't study the Bible.
Jesus says we need to study the Bible to get to know Him.
And it's all the way through the scriptures.
You'll read about Jesus there.
Sometimes not in name only, but in principle, yes.
(21:16):
If you read through Isaiah and some of the other books, you'll find that Jesus is described over and over and over again.
Read the Bible.
Then we have John 6:33, Jesus speaking again.
Then Jesus said unto them, Verily I say, Verily I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, ye shall have no life in you.
(21:36):
My Eden, Jesus, as we to be cannibals.
No.
He declarifies that
Just a few verses later, in verse 63, he says, It is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing, though what?
The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.
(21:56):
So God is talking, Jesus was talking about his word, the Bible.
And I think of so many verses come to mind now.
But here's Jeremiah tells us in 15, 16, Your words were found and I did what?
I ate them.
And your words became to me a joy and a delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lord God of hosts.
(22:19):
What did I eat?
God's word.
Jesus said again, Jesus speaking, sanctify them through thy truth.
Thy word is truth.
Now, today there's so many people who don't accept there is an absolute truth.
(22:43):
Right?
This is my truth.
That's your truth.
So I'll have my truth and you'll have my.
I have one gentleman one day was talking to me and
And our conversation, he stopped and he asked me, he said, You're a Christian, aren't you?
I said, Yes, sir.
Oh, if you're a Christian, then you have to keep the Ten Commandments.
And I said, Yes.
(23:05):
But I don't have to because I'm not a Christian.
I said, where did you get that from?
Where did you find that from?
Doesn't say just Christians, just man.
Your person, you're obliged to keep the Ten Commandments.
And God says, sanctify them through thy truth.
Thy word is truth.
(23:26):
Now I want to say this.
Truth is the truth.
I'm talking about absolute truth is the truth.
No matter what you believe, no matter what I believe, the truth is the truth, is the truth.
Right?
And Jesus defined what the truth is, his word.
Does Jesus lie?
No.
So I will take him at his word and use his word as a source of food for my thoughts and my mind and my development.
(23:51):
Thy word have I hidden mine heart, David says, that I might not sin against thee.
I listened to a discussion between some people the other day, and they were arguing over things that are specifically against the Bible
One was saying, yes, the Bible says yes, I don't believe that.
And he was giving reasons why he shouldn't believe it.
(24:13):
And I'm thinking, buddy, well folks.
You need to hide God's word in your heart.
Now, why would one hide God's word in his mind?
He first must believe.
How do I get to believe?
I have to have faith.
(24:35):
Paul tells us how to get faith.
Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.
So, all that we need is to know what God says.
We have to have that relationship, that understanding, that belief, that faith that will make us keep God's word in our heart.
Act upon it because we believe it.
And I it's another story.
Let me keep going because the clock the clock keeps going on me.
(24:55):
Exercise.
You like to exercise?
Those of you that are older, like us, older was most of us here are older.
And used to exercise.
Now, some people make the mistake.
I retired, therefore, I'm gonna cool out and I sit in my easy chair and I'm gonna watch TV and I'm gonna do this.
(25:18):
I'm tired of exercising, and they die very soon.
Or they lose the ability to do what they used to do.
So exercise is important, correct?
Yes, it is
So, what is our exercise as Christians?
What did Jesus say?
Again, we're looking at Jesus' words.
Go therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
(25:40):
Dan mentions come
Give you an idea how to do that.
You ain't got to preach.
I don't know to get Bible studies.
You ain't got to get Bible studies.
What do he tell you to do?
Give out a track
You know, I carry them with me, and every time I think I kick myself and I don't give them away, sometimes I forget to put them in my pocket.
(26:00):
But I have offered hundreds of tracks to people.
And I'm trying to remember as I'm talking to you how many people have said no, thank you.
And I can't at this point remember anyone who said, no, I don't want that.
Everybody says, Thank you.
I appreciate that.
Anyone had that same experience?
You give them a little track and they say, Oh, thanks so much.
(26:23):
You cared enough to share Jesus with me.
That's all.
Next verse says, Matthew 28, 20.
Teach them to observe all things, whatever I have commanded you.
And here's the promise that we need never forget.
And lo, I'm with you always, even to the end of the world.
Are we almost to the end of the world?
So Jesus is still with us?
(26:45):
He promised, yes, through the Holy Spirit, He is with us.
Strength comes by exercise.
All to put their to use the ability which God has given them have or will have increased ability to devote to his service.
So, if you want to do better, practice sharing Jesus.
(27:09):
Those who do nothing, I put it in red because this is a part, this is a very serious statement.
Those who do nothing in the cause of God will fail to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth.
Think about that.
I don't know how to do that.
Those who do what?
Nothing.
(27:30):
That's correct English, by the way
You see, you can do something.
Well, I can't go down and walk down the street with my my my I lost one of my limbs or uh I'm crippled and I'm I'm I got axes.
I mean uh
What's the word?
Um arthritis.
(27:50):
And it hurts.
Can you pray for your church
Can you pray for that person who's sick?
Can you call up Mrs.
Jones, Mr.
Smith, Mrs.
So-and-so, or Dozy, or somebody down the street that you know who's having a problem as they sys?
You know, I was thinking about you.
(28:11):
Let's pray about it together.
Would that affect that person?
Very much so.
We are too busy being distracted by the devil.
You agree with that?
So we've got to focus on Jesus.
It's got to be a conscious choice.
(28:33):
But let me continue your clocks here running there.
Notice what it says.
Thus, the Christian who will not exercise his God-giving powers not only fails to grow up into Christ.
But he loses the strength which he already has.
He becomes a spiritual paralytic.
Who wants to be a paralytic?
(28:53):
Anybody here?
Not me.
It is those who with the love of God and their fellow men are striving to help others that become established, strengthened, and settled into the truth.
It requires action on our part.
(29:17):
Now I want to tell you, you can't do it
But you gotta allow Jesus to do it through you.
Paul realized that.
He said in Philippians 4:13, I can do how many things?
All things through Christ who strengthens me.
And Jesus made it very clear in John 15
(29:38):
Nothing.
You see, that relationship with Christ is so indispensable for our Christian walk.
Let me go to the next one here before I run out of space.
The true Christian works for God not from impulse, but from what?
Principle.
Not for a day or a month, but during the entire period of life.
(30:00):
Now our our work for God will change over time.
Now, for myself, we've learned to do many different things, one of them being to share God's word this way.
I tell folks, yeah, I was not retired, I was just retreaded.
(30:22):
Okay.
But notice, no outward observances can take the place of simple faith and entire renunciation of self.
But notice, but no man can empty himself of self.
See, we can't.
We can only consent for Christ to accomplish this work.
(30:46):
Like this next one, the language of the soul will be, Lord, take my life, for I cannot give it.
It is thy property.
1 Corinthians 6, verse 19 and 20 tells us we belong to Jesus.
Keep it, Lord, keep it pure, for I cannot keep it for you.
Save me in spite of myself, my weak, unchrist-like self.
(31:13):
Look at ourselves, and we say, I got a long way to go to get to be like Jesus.
That's my attitude.
How's yours?
Still growing in grace.
Mold me, Lord, fashion me, raise me into a pure and holy atmosphere where the rich current of thy love can flow through my soul.
(31:34):
I am to become a conduit.
of God's love to anybody and everybody I read.
Especially those unlovable people.
Have you ever met any unlovable people?
Yeah.
Those not so nice folks, they just got an attitude that just burns you.
But you gotta smile and say God still loves you.
(31:59):
Rest.
Number four.
Rest.
When do we rest?
Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy
Six days shall thy labor do all thy work, but in the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God, and it says, On it you shall not do any work.
(32:22):
God knew that if He didn't give us a day of rest, we would work ourselves to death.
And so many people are doing just that today.
24, 7, 7, 10, 12 hours a day.
And they get to be 45, 50, and they have heart trouble, they have nerve problems, they have back problems, they have you got enlisted problems, they got it.
(32:44):
But it's amazing in the studies that they've done with Adventists who keep the Sabbath as God intended.
I'll talk about that in a second.
They live longer and they have better quality of life.
So God must do something right, right?
Are we smart enough to listen to what he says?
Isaiah 58, this is the last couple of verses here.
(33:08):
It says, Isaiah 58, I'm going to show put them on the screen.
If you keep from this is from again the Christian Standard Bible.
Okay?
I like that version.
If you keep
From desecrating the Sabbath, from doing whatever you want on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight
and the holy day of the Lord honorable, if you honor it, not going your own ways, seeking your own pleasure, or talking too much.
(33:44):
Do you agree with that?
People say you talk too much about the wrong things.
Now I'm going to meddle just a little bit right here before I quit.
I'm gonna ask you.
Because today is what day?
(34:05):
What did I just read?
How do we keep the Sabbath?
Not doing your own thing or talking too much.
In King James Version it says talking about things that is not pertaining to the Sabbath.
I want you to become aware of the fact.
(34:28):
You sit at Potlock, you'll hear conversations about what happened last night, what happened in the government, the vacation they're going to go on, new car that they bought.
Is that all Sabbath talk?
Is that helping us to get to know Jesus better?
You understand what I'm saying?
God gave us 24 hours every seven days to grow our relationship with Him and to help others grow their relationship with Him.
(34:58):
And we come to church and we say amen.
And then we go out the door and we go through the door and we start into what are you doing tonight?
Well I'm going over to soon as we're having a pizza party.
Is that helping my relationship with Jesus to grow?
I'm just asking you to think.
You ain't got to respond.
(35:18):
You understand what I'm saying?
I love my church.
I want them to be ready when Jesus comes.
And that's going to become a relationship that's going to be saving when we do things his way.
Verse 14 says, Then you will delight yourself in the Lord, and it and I will make you, God speaking, ride over the heights of the land, and let you enjoy the heritage of Jacob, your father.
(35:45):
Well your father Jacob in this version.
For who said it?
The mouth of the Lord has spoken.
Does God tell lies?
If you read your Sabbath school lesson this week, you found there's a statement there in Hebrews which says, God who cannot lie.
(36:09):
So the truth is his word.
And when he says it, it will happen.
Amen.
Let's conclude.
To grow and become overcomers, we must
Breathe equals what?
(36:31):
Prayer.
Pray always.
To overcome, we must eat.
Study God's word.
Once in a while, no.
How often do you eat, by the way?
Once a week?
Just once a month, right?
And I like to say this here.
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Yesterday's breakfast took care of this morning's breakfast, correct?
It didn't?
So, why is it so so many people are so content to read their Sabbath lesson on Sabbath and I'll wait till next Sabbath before I read it again?
How often should we eat every day?
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Next one says, exercise means we're going to share Jesus with others.
And finally, rest.
Keep God's Sabbath according to his methodology and not ours.
David said at the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.
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I want my conversation to be acceptable to God all the time, especially on Sabbath.
Here's the last verse.
Slide.
I again use the words of Jesus.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
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If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will eat with him, and he with me.
There's something special about having a meal with somebody, isn't it?
So you get to know them.
And God wants to come in to the Holy Spirit and have a meal.
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Of his word in our minds help us to understand and how to choose to apply it to ourselves.
But you know what?
He stands outside knocking
And he will not open the door.
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You notice these doors that they show has no handle on the outside.
Because we have the choice
To open the door or not?
How many today would like to say, Lord, by your grace today, and by your grace every morning, I choose.
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To open my heart's door to you.
Would you raise your hand?
Let's pray.
Lord, we thank you for the decisions.
And lots of problems, lots of warnings in the Bible.
But there's a solution.
The solution is Jesus and his love for us.
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He died in our place.
After having lived a perfect life like we're supposed to, then he rose again to give us, offer us.
If we'll accept it, the gift of eternal life.
And once we've accepted it, our lives change and we demonstrate our love for Him through obedience to His word.
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As we grow, as Peter's last words were to the church, grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Help us not to forget our commitment that we made today.
We choose to grow, so we will not die.
And have the choice and the privilege of living with you forever because of all that you did for us at the cross.
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We pray in Jesus' name.
Amen.
So, Pastor Simmons, Elder Gladstone Simmons, has been working for the Lord ever since he was a very young man.
He just decided as a very young man,
I am supposed to serve God.
And my job is to tell other people about God.
Now he's pastored different places, and I don't want to go long because that would embarrass him.
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As far as the different places where he's pastored and ministered to others.
But God has worked powerfully through him.
Now, we have the same name.
This is my dad.
We look alike, don't we?
No, I took my wife's name when we got married.
This is my father-in-law.
He's a wonderful man, powerful preacher, but even a better pastor because he loves people.
Gladstone Simmons (00:51):
Good morning.
Happy Sabbath.
Are you happy to be here?
So it's good to be good in God's house.
And um first time I've been here as a speaker.
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But I've been had the privilege of visiting with you folks a few times in the past.
It's a privilege to be here today.
And I trust as we share a little bit from God's Word, my promise, my desire is to have God's word speak to you.
So before we start, let's just have prayer together, okay?
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Good morning, Lord, and we thank you for your promise to be here with us.
I ask you to hide the piece of clay and show Jesus to your people.
Forgive us.
If there's anything that would hinder receiving your message just today, we pray and thank you in Jesus' name.
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Amen.
Warnings and admonitions in the book of Peter.
So we're going to stay in the book of Peter for most of the day.
And I have a nice big clock back there so I can watch it.
Let's turn with me, if you would, if 2 Peter chapter 1, if you will.
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If you have your Bibles.
I want to read that passage.
It has a series of things of it's called usually in many places.
Peter's ladder of development.
Reading from verse 5, I'm reading from the Christian Standard Bible
It reads this way, for this very reason make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge.
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Knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness.
Godliness with brotherly kindness, brotherly affection, it says in my version, and brotherly affection with love.
And then we have in the next verse that I put on the screen
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Having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.
So many times we
Forget what God did for us.
I'm reading through the Bible again, and one thing stands out in my mind as I read from book to book to book.
We serve an awesome, merciful, gracious God.
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Israel messed up over and over and over again, and then God says, Okay, I'm gonna have a
Give you a little correction here.
Little discipline, if you please.
I'm gonna let the neighbors come by and deal with you.
And they had all kinds of problems, and then they got to the point we need God.
Lord help us.
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And here comes Jesus to help them out of their problems.
So Paul says, Peter says, Don't forget.
That God has delivered you in the past.
So many people forget that.
Verse 10.
Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election.
For if you practice that word if.
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What does the word if convey?
Condition.
If you practice these things, you will what?
Never fail.
How many like to fail?
Nobody likes to fail.
God doesn't want you to fail.
So He has given these qualities here
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Faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, endurance, godliness, brotherly affection, love
He says, if you have these qualities, you will never fail.
And the fact is, we can't have them qualities without God's indwelling in us.
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But I must continue.
Second Peter 120 says, Now looking at warnings in Second Peter, okay?
First of all, you should know this.
No prophecy of Scripture comes from your own interpretation.
Again, it's a Christian standard Bible.
Why this verse?
I think it has a very special application today.
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Why?
Because there are all kinds.
Of interpretations of scripture.
I just read a study yesterday or day before, a couple of these last couple of days, of a study that just came out this last month.
And the conclusion that they came to have after interviewing 3,000 plus people that in America today less than 50% believe in God's word.
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Can you believe that?
And now those who don't believe, some don't believe that Jesus is God.
And that's a good number.
It's numbers growing.
Is the Bible a book of good moral direction?
For some people, yes, but for more people not.
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And I won't go through all the study.
I want to continue here.
We're let the Bible talk to you.
Notice what it says.
Peter's warning us, but false prophets.
What kind of prophets?
False prophets.
Also arose among the people, just as there what will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies.
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Even denying the master who brought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.
We're living in the end of the world, and towards the end of the world, at least we're getting closer and closer, I believe, and we're finding that these realities are becoming more and more prevalent.
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Will you agree with that?
How do we prevent ourselves from being succumbed by these problems?
We're going to learn that in the next part here in a second.
He's warning us about God's coming justice.
You know, a lot of people don't even believe God exists.
So when his justice comes down, it's going to be a phenomenal surprise for them.
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Like in Noah's day.
Noah preached for how long?
120 years.
What does he preach?
Brethren, the front's coming.
Blood?
You're crazy, man.
It's never rained.
What is rain?
Water's gonna fall from the sky and God's gonna flood this earth.
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This guy's been drinking too much.
And he preached again and again.
And then he began to do what God said, put that boat together.
Did the flood come?
When it began to fall the rain, that is
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Hey, no was right.
Maybe he'll open the door and let us in now.
Who shut the door?
Could Noah open the door?
We want to be shut in by God.
And that happens when we have a good relationship with Him.
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It says, beware of scoffers.
Do we have scoffers today?
Lots of them.
And they're becoming more and more bold and more and more prevalent.
I gotta keep going.
Beware of those willfully deny scripture.
I've talked to people all the time from
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Who I don't believe in that.
In the survey I referred to a minute ago
The majority think the Bible is a collection of myths from the past with good moral stories, moral structure.
So they scoff at the idea, and scripture they deny.
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So, how do we overcome the danger that Peter tells us?
will confront the church members, especially in the last days.
And I started out
I think it is with the next slide.
No?
This is the verse that got me started in my study this weekend, full this weekend.
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But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
To him be glory both now and forever.
And I want to stress the grow.
Why is it important to grow?
If you don't, what happens?
You die.
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That's true of plants, animals, and human beings.
Now I could tell another story that comes close to home, but I'm going to skip that for today, and maybe another time.
That illustrated to me very grace emphatically that growth is indispensable for our survival.
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Grow.
Now the word in 2 Peter 3:18, there we just read, suggests that we just keep on growing.
Is it possible to grow for a period of time and then stop growing and then six months later start growing again?
No.
Because when you stop growing, what do you do?
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You die.
Now do we resurrect ourselves?
No.
So it's important to keep on growing.
And what does it say grow in?
It says, grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
In other words, develop a personal relationship with Jesus.
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I must remember to stay in English here today.
Start off with Spanish there.
So babies are born.
Here's a newborn.
They're special.
But if they don't grow, they become a problem.
And they move on from babyhood to childhood, or and as they're growing through that process, we feed them milk.
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And Peter talks about feed on the word of God as newborn babies feed on milk so they can grow spiritually strong.
And when you feed on the word of God, you will find out how full of grace God really is.
As I mentioned earlier, as you go through the Bible stories, you find God's grace is just overwhelming
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And still, I don't understand why people don't embrace it more freely, more readily.
They just don't understand.
That's my only conclusion.
They can't understand and reject God's grace.
But then you have children.
Babies grow into children.
They run around, they smile, they have fun, and then they go into teenagers.
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In those years, am I going to be this?
Am I going to be that?
What am I going to be in life?
And they go through these struggles, and godly parents guide them through with the guidance of the scriptures.
Then we get into those young adult years when we usually get married at at this stage.
Then comes the family and courier.
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And then we have
Where I'm getting to now.
They retire and live as best they can until they die.
That's the cycle of life in this world
I had a friend, his name was Johnny Barnes, and he used to say, brethren and sisters, only in this life.
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Because when Jesus comes, there will be no more death, no more sickness, no more sorrow, no more pain.
You're gonna live for how long?
Forever?
What is that?
Now you can define forever, I can define forever, but my mind cannot encapsulate it.
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It's bigger than I am.
Isn't that true?
Everything we know begins and ends.
This building is a beautiful building, but if it just sits here for how many weeks, months, years, centuries, maybe?
He's eventually going to what?
Die.
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It won't last forever.
So though, healthy growth requires four things.
Air, food, exercise, and rest.
I like to think that healthy spiritual growth requires four things
Air, food, exercise, and rest.
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Air or breathe.
How do we breathe as Christians
Here's a text from the Spirit of Prophecy.
It says, prayer is the secret of spiritual power.
Prayer is the breath of the soul.
Oh.
It is not the secret, or it is the secret of spiritual power.
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No other means of grace can be substituted and the health and soul be preserved.
Can we live without breathing?
No.
Can we survive as Christians without praying?
No.
Let's continue
The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, it's a very long verse, just those three words.
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Pray without ceasing.
Now, what does that mean to pray without ceasing?
Do I have to be on my knees all day long?
No.
Is to develop an attitude of prayer.
If we have a good thing, event, thank you, Lord.
If you have a bad problem, Lord help me, is automatic.
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Book Steps to Christ, Mrs.
Way, says we turn to God as automatically as a flower turns toward the sun.
When we develop that relationship that we need so much, prayer sustains it.
The comment here
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We're referring to all these numbers, we're referring to the the repentance soul.
God sees its struggles, He watches its conflicts.
He marks its sincerity, and he has his finger upon its pulse.
He takes note of every throb.
It continues.
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Not feeling a not a feeling of thrill, not a feeling thrills it.
In other words, when here's a person who's so enjoyable cloud nine.
God recognizes that.
Not an emotion agitates it.
Not a sorrow shades it.
Not a sin stains it.
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This is the sincere prayer of the Christian.
Not a thought or purpose moves it of which he is not cognizant.
He is aware of all of that.
And it says that soul was purchased at an infinite cost and is loved with a devotion that is unalterable.
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God's love is permanent.
But I want to say this
The Bible says so.
It's defined as love.
God is gracious, yes, he is.
The Bible says that too in many different places.
But many times we hear about God's love, God's grace, God's mercy, God's patience, but we seldom hear about God's justice.
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Because he is love, he has to be just.
And he is just, and he will meet out just as
And I said to one gentleman one day, see, you know, he was kind of, I don't need God.
I don't, I said, buddy, God is love, God is patience, God is love.
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Forgiving, but God is also just.
And if you don't accept what He's offering to you,
For free.
Cost him immensely, but it's for free to you.
If you don't accept it, he will cry, but he's gonna let you die.
Isn't that true?
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That's the reality.
Notice the night seasons of prayer, which the Savior spent in the mountain or in the desert, are essential to prepare him for the trials he must meet in the days.
to follow.
Now notice he felt the need of the refreshing and invigorating of the soul and body that he might meet the temptations of Satan.
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Who was that?
Jesus.
This is the last part.
And those who's those?
Who does those include?
Pardon?
Us and those who are striving to live his life will feel the same need.
What is it need?
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To pray.
To talk to God about the problems and the benefits that He gives us.
Prayer brings the heart into immediate contact with the wellspring of life and strengthens the sinew and muscle of the religious experience.
You want a strong religious experience.
Experience.
We're talking about breathing, prayer.
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This is a concerning comment.
Neglect the exercise of prayer or engage in it spasmodically now and then as seems convenient
And you lose your hold on God.
Now let me stop there and say, in today's world, can we afford to lose our hold on God?
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Let's take time to pray.
Make prayer meeting a priority in our experience.
So many of our churches who don't even have, I don't know what they do here, but we don't even have prayer meeting anymore.
It's inconvenient.
Be careful.
The spiritual faculties lose their vitality.
The religious experience lacks health and vigor.
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This was given to the young people way back yonder.
But besides breathing, we have to eat if you're going to be healthy, right?
Now I like to eat.
Do you like to eat?
Good food is always a pleasure.
I have a good cook as a wife.
She affects us delicious meals, and she's always finding different ways to do different things, and it always tastes good.
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I'll have to sample some of your good tasty food today, I think.
They tell me they're having potluck.
But we're gonna eat.
How do we eat?
The Bible says, Jesus said, this is his verse, search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life, but they are they which testify of me.
So when we study the Bible, there's a reason people study the Bible, but some people study the Bible to argue it.
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I can tell you more about this subject than you can tell me about that subject.
They love to argue.
That's not the reason to study the Bible.
If you're gonna do that, don't study the Bible.
Jesus says we need to study the Bible to get to know Him.
And it's all the way through the scriptures.
You'll read about Jesus there.
Sometimes not in name only, but in principle, yes.
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If you read through Isaiah and some of the other books, you'll find that Jesus is described over and over and over again.
Read the Bible.
Then we have John 6:33, Jesus speaking again.
Then Jesus said unto them, Verily I say, Verily I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, ye shall have no life in you.
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My Eden, Jesus, as we to be cannibals.
No.
He declarifies that
Just a few verses later, in verse 63, he says, It is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing, though what?
The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.
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So God is talking, Jesus was talking about his word, the Bible.
And I think of so many verses come to mind now.
But here's Jeremiah tells us in 15, 16, Your words were found and I did what?
I ate them.
And your words became to me a joy and a delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lord God of hosts.
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What did I eat?
God's word.
Jesus said again, Jesus speaking, sanctify them through thy truth.
Thy word is truth.
Now, today there's so many people who don't accept there is an absolute truth.
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Right?
This is my truth.
That's your truth.
So I'll have my truth and you'll have my.
I have one gentleman one day was talking to me and
And our conversation, he stopped and he asked me, he said, You're a Christian, aren't you?
I said, Yes, sir.
Oh, if you're a Christian, then you have to keep the Ten Commandments.
And I said, Yes.
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But I don't have to because I'm not a Christian.
I said, where did you get that from?
Where did you find that from?
Doesn't say just Christians, just man.
Your person, you're obliged to keep the Ten Commandments.
And God says, sanctify them through thy truth.
Thy word is truth.
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Now I want to say this.
Truth is the truth.
I'm talking about absolute truth is the truth.
No matter what you believe, no matter what I believe, the truth is the truth, is the truth.
Right?
And Jesus defined what the truth is, his word.
Does Jesus lie?
No.
So I will take him at his word and use his word as a source of food for my thoughts and my mind and my development.
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Thy word have I hidden mine heart, David says, that I might not sin against thee.
I listened to a discussion between some people the other day, and they were arguing over things that are specifically against the Bible
One was saying, yes, the Bible says yes, I don't believe that.
And he was giving reasons why he shouldn't believe it.
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And I'm thinking, buddy, well folks.
You need to hide God's word in your heart.
Now, why would one hide God's word in his mind?
He first must believe.
How do I get to believe?
I have to have faith.
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Paul tells us how to get faith.
Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.
So, all that we need is to know what God says.
We have to have that relationship, that understanding, that belief, that faith that will make us keep God's word in our heart.
Act upon it because we believe it.
And I it's another story.
Let me keep going because the clock the clock keeps going on me.
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Exercise.
You like to exercise?
Those of you that are older, like us, older was most of us here are older.
And used to exercise.
Now, some people make the mistake.
I retired, therefore, I'm gonna cool out and I sit in my easy chair and I'm gonna watch TV and I'm gonna do this.
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I'm tired of exercising, and they die very soon.
Or they lose the ability to do what they used to do.
So exercise is important, correct?
Yes, it is
So, what is our exercise as Christians?
What did Jesus say?
Again, we're looking at Jesus' words.
Go therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
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Dan mentions come
Give you an idea how to do that.
You ain't got to preach.
I don't know to get Bible studies.
You ain't got to get Bible studies.
What do he tell you to do?
Give out a track
You know, I carry them with me, and every time I think I kick myself and I don't give them away, sometimes I forget to put them in my pocket.
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But I have offered hundreds of tracks to people.
And I'm trying to remember as I'm talking to you how many people have said no, thank you.
And I can't at this point remember anyone who said, no, I don't want that.
Everybody says, Thank you.
I appreciate that.
Anyone had that same experience?
You give them a little track and they say, Oh, thanks so much.
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You cared enough to share Jesus with me.
That's all.
Next verse says, Matthew 28, 20.
Teach them to observe all things, whatever I have commanded you.
And here's the promise that we need never forget.
And lo, I'm with you always, even to the end of the world.
Are we almost to the end of the world?
So Jesus is still with us?
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He promised, yes, through the Holy Spirit, He is with us.
Strength comes by exercise.
All to put their to use the ability which God has given them have or will have increased ability to devote to his service.
So, if you want to do better, practice sharing Jesus.
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Those who do nothing, I put it in red because this is a part, this is a very serious statement.
Those who do nothing in the cause of God will fail to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth.
Think about that.
I don't know how to do that.
Those who do what?
Nothing.
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That's correct English, by the way
You see, you can do something.
Well, I can't go down and walk down the street with my my my I lost one of my limbs or uh I'm crippled and I'm I'm I got axes.
I mean uh
What's the word?
Um arthritis.
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And it hurts.
Can you pray for your church
Can you pray for that person who's sick?
Can you call up Mrs.
Jones, Mr.
Smith, Mrs.
So-and-so, or Dozy, or somebody down the street that you know who's having a problem as they sys?
You know, I was thinking about you.
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Let's pray about it together.
Would that affect that person?
Very much so.
We are too busy being distracted by the devil.
You agree with that?
So we've got to focus on Jesus.
It's got to be a conscious choice.
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But let me continue your clocks here running there.
Notice what it says.
Thus, the Christian who will not exercise his God-giving powers not only fails to grow up into Christ.
But he loses the strength which he already has.
He becomes a spiritual paralytic.
Who wants to be a paralytic?
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Anybody here?
Not me.
It is those who with the love of God and their fellow men are striving to help others that become established, strengthened, and settled into the truth.
It requires action on our part.
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Now I want to tell you, you can't do it
But you gotta allow Jesus to do it through you.
Paul realized that.
He said in Philippians 4:13, I can do how many things?
All things through Christ who strengthens me.
And Jesus made it very clear in John 15
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Nothing.
You see, that relationship with Christ is so indispensable for our Christian walk.
Let me go to the next one here before I run out of space.
The true Christian works for God not from impulse, but from what?
Principle.
Not for a day or a month, but during the entire period of life.
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Now our our work for God will change over time.
Now, for myself, we've learned to do many different things, one of them being to share God's word this way.
I tell folks, yeah, I was not retired, I was just retreaded.
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Okay.
But notice, no outward observances can take the place of simple faith and entire renunciation of self.
But notice, but no man can empty himself of self.
See, we can't.
We can only consent for Christ to accomplish this work.
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Like this next one, the language of the soul will be, Lord, take my life, for I cannot give it.
It is thy property.
1 Corinthians 6, verse 19 and 20 tells us we belong to Jesus.
Keep it, Lord, keep it pure, for I cannot keep it for you.
Save me in spite of myself, my weak, unchrist-like self.
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Look at ourselves, and we say, I got a long way to go to get to be like Jesus.
That's my attitude.
How's yours?
Still growing in grace.
Mold me, Lord, fashion me, raise me into a pure and holy atmosphere where the rich current of thy love can flow through my soul.
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I am to become a conduit.
of God's love to anybody and everybody I read.
Especially those unlovable people.
Have you ever met any unlovable people?
Yeah.
Those not so nice folks, they just got an attitude that just burns you.
But you gotta smile and say God still loves you.
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Rest.
Number four.
Rest.
When do we rest?
Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy
Six days shall thy labor do all thy work, but in the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God, and it says, On it you shall not do any work.
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God knew that if He didn't give us a day of rest, we would work ourselves to death.
And so many people are doing just that today.
24, 7, 7, 10, 12 hours a day.
And they get to be 45, 50, and they have heart trouble, they have nerve problems, they have back problems, they have you got enlisted problems, they got it.
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But it's amazing in the studies that they've done with Adventists who keep the Sabbath as God intended.
I'll talk about that in a second.
They live longer and they have better quality of life.
So God must do something right, right?
Are we smart enough to listen to what he says?
Isaiah 58, this is the last couple of verses here.
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It says, Isaiah 58, I'm going to show put them on the screen.
If you keep from this is from again the Christian Standard Bible.
Okay?
I like that version.
If you keep
From desecrating the Sabbath, from doing whatever you want on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight
and the holy day of the Lord honorable, if you honor it, not going your own ways, seeking your own pleasure, or talking too much.
(33:44):
Do you agree with that?
People say you talk too much about the wrong things.
Now I'm going to meddle just a little bit right here before I quit.
I'm gonna ask you.
Because today is what day?
(34:05):
What did I just read?
How do we keep the Sabbath?
Not doing your own thing or talking too much.
In King James Version it says talking about things that is not pertaining to the Sabbath.
I want you to become aware of the fact.
(34:28):
You sit at Potlock, you'll hear conversations about what happened last night, what happened in the government, the vacation they're going to go on, new car that they bought.
Is that all Sabbath talk?
Is that helping us to get to know Jesus better?
You understand what I'm saying?
God gave us 24 hours every seven days to grow our relationship with Him and to help others grow their relationship with Him.
(34:58):
And we come to church and we say amen.
And then we go out the door and we go through the door and we start into what are you doing tonight?
Well I'm going over to soon as we're having a pizza party.
Is that helping my relationship with Jesus to grow?
I'm just asking you to think.
You ain't got to respond.
(35:18):
You understand what I'm saying?
I love my church.
I want them to be ready when Jesus comes.
And that's going to become a relationship that's going to be saving when we do things his way.
Verse 14 says, Then you will delight yourself in the Lord, and it and I will make you, God speaking, ride over the heights of the land, and let you enjoy the heritage of Jacob, your father.
(35:45):
Well your father Jacob in this version.
For who said it?
The mouth of the Lord has spoken.
Does God tell lies?
If you read your Sabbath school lesson this week, you found there's a statement there in Hebrews which says, God who cannot lie.
(36:09):
So the truth is his word.
And when he says it, it will happen.
Amen.
Let's conclude.
To grow and become overcomers, we must
Breathe equals what?
(36:31):
Prayer.
Pray always.
To overcome, we must eat.
Study God's word.
Once in a while, no.
How often do you eat, by the way?
Once a week?
Just once a month, right?
And I like to say this here.
(36:52):
Yesterday's breakfast took care of this morning's breakfast, correct?
It didn't?
So, why is it so so many people are so content to read their Sabbath lesson on Sabbath and I'll wait till next Sabbath before I read it again?
How often should we eat every day?
(37:19):
Next one says, exercise means we're going to share Jesus with others.
And finally, rest.
Keep God's Sabbath according to his methodology and not ours.
David said at the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.
(37:47):
I want my conversation to be acceptable to God all the time, especially on Sabbath.
Here's the last verse.
Slide.
I again use the words of Jesus.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
(38:07):
If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will eat with him, and he with me.
There's something special about having a meal with somebody, isn't it?
So you get to know them.
And God wants to come in to the Holy Spirit and have a meal.
(38:29):
Of his word in our minds help us to understand and how to choose to apply it to ourselves.
But you know what?
He stands outside knocking
And he will not open the door.
(38:50):
You notice these doors that they show has no handle on the outside.
Because we have the choice
To open the door or not?
How many today would like to say, Lord, by your grace today, and by your grace every morning, I choose.
(39:12):
To open my heart's door to you.
Would you raise your hand?
Let's pray.
Lord, we thank you for the decisions.
And lots of problems, lots of warnings in the Bible.
But there's a solution.
The solution is Jesus and his love for us.
(39:33):
He died in our place.
After having lived a perfect life like we're supposed to, then he rose again to give us, offer us.
If we'll accept it, the gift of eternal life.
And once we've accepted it, our lives change and we demonstrate our love for Him through obedience to His word.
(40:00):
As we grow, as Peter's last words were to the church, grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Help us not to forget our commitment that we made today.
We choose to grow, so we will not die.
And have the choice and the privilege of living with you forever because of all that you did for us at the cross.
(40:24):
We pray in Jesus' name.
Amen.
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