Phil Beach Jr. emphasizes the significance of loving God with all our heart, mind, and soul, as taught by Jesus in Matthew 22:34-40. He explains that true love for God requires a transformation of the heart through the Holy Spirit, enabling believers to act in obedience to God's Word rather than being led by feelings. The sermon also warns against the spirit of rebellion that is prevalent in society, urging Christians to remain humble and accountable to God's authority. Ultimately, Beach encourages the congregation to rely on the strength of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome life's challenges and to live a life that reflects their love for God.

Praise the Lord. Testing, one, two. That sounds very good this morning, huh? Uh-huh. All right, praise the Lord. Thank you, Father. Let's bow our hearts and pray, and ask the Holy Spirit to come to us in a very special way this morning, that we might hear his words, that he would speak to our spirits. Father, we thank you and praise you for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We love to mention the name of Jesus, the name that is higher and above every name, the name that has been placed above every authority, every power, every principality, every evil work, every throne, every dominion. Yes, Lord, that is named in heaven, earth, and under the earth, that at the name of Jesus Christ, every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess. We thank you, Lord, that we bear the name of Jesus, and we come by and through that name and pray this morning. The Holy Spirit of God will open up the eyes of our heart, enabling us to see and to hear the Word of God, and by it, Lord, minister to us, we pray, for Christ's sake. Amen and amen. Praise the Lord. Wonderful Savior, wonderful Savior. I would first encourage you, if you would, to open your Bibles to the book of Matthew chapter 22, Matthew chapter 22, and we're going to read verses 34 through 40, and in these verses, we're going to discover a very important statement that Jesus looked at, that Jesus spoke. Then what we want to do is we want to shed some light this morning on the words that Jesus spoke in response to the question that was asked to Him. Now, I have several things from the Lord this morning. That's why I had mentioned earlier that it's important that you listen carefully to the Word of God, because everything that's going to be shared this morning is simply the Word of God as it was quickened to my own spirit, and the Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. The Word of God will speak to you this morning and address the very questions of your heart. It'll address your hurts. He sent His Word and what? Healed them. He sent His Word and delivered them. He sent His Word and sustained them. The Word of God is living this morning, so I want to encourage you to listen carefully and expect God to speak to you to address a difficulty that you're going through. The first word this morning comes from Matthew chapter 22, beginning in verse number 34. But when the Pharisees had heard that He had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. What a fearful company to be gathered around, the Pharisees and the Sadducees. They didn't have a lot of love in their heart for Jesus, did they? Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him. He was tempting him. He was testing him to see what he would say. Master, what is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and all thy soul and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment, and the second is likened unto it. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Jesus responded when asked, What is the great commandment in the law? Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and soul and mind. He said that this is the first and great commandment. Now I'd like to look at the statement of Jesus Christ this morning and help us to understand something. When Jesus said, Thou shalt love the Lord, he mentioned three areas of our being, our heart, our soul, and our mind. It is essential that we understand that in order for the Lord to be fully satisfied in seeing in us all that he intends to produce in us as a result of the new birth that we have become partakers of, we have to understand that when we love the Lord, it is to include the heart and the mind and the soul. The heart, the mind, and the soul. Now let's start from the very beginning. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart. Now as we talked about last week, and by the way, we do have tapes now and we have gotten, we're getting pretty good quality now through the sound system. We've been working on it week after week and we've got pretty decent quality. So I encourage you to get the tapes and listen to them. And if you have a tape player in your car or at home, listen to them because in hearing the word, it will affect you. It will strengthen you. It'll encourage you. Last week we talked about the condition of the heart of a man that doesn't know the Lord Jesus Christ. And we discovered that Jesus taught that the heart is full of sin. It's full of adultery. It's full of fornication. It's full of wickedness. It's full of extortion. It's full of deceit. The heart of man essentially is evil. However, we discovered that when a person becomes a new creation in Christ Jesus, 2nd Corinthians 517, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. We saw from the word of God, particularly in Jeremiah chapter 31 and also in Ezekiel, that God gives us a new heart. He gives us a new heart. And that now the one who is born from above is indwelt by the Spirit of God and has actually become in spirit the righteousness of God. God takes the righteousness of Jesus Christ and impregnates your spirit with it. You are called righteous. You are called justified. You are called washed. You are called sanctified as a true child of God. There has been a change that has taken place on the inside. God has given to you that which you did not have. Now it's important for us to understand this. If we are to fulfill the words of Jesus, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart. It is impossible for a man to love God with all of his heart unless God gives him a new heart. Has God given you a new heart? Now in Romans chapter 5, this is very important for us to remember here in Romans chapter 5 verse 5, And hope maketh not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad, where? In our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us. Now that word shed abroad can be translated poured forth. It can be translated poured out. So here God gives us a new heart, new meaning. It is my spirit is no longer dead in sins but is quickened and made alive and has been joined together to the Spirit of God and has become a partaker of the seed of God, has become a partaker of the righteousness of God. This is an incredible truth. The righteousness that I see in the person of Jesus Christ has now become my righteousness. It is mine. It is part of me. It is part of my spirit. And as a result of the Holy Spirit living in me, the love of God is shed abroad in my heart by the Holy Spirit. So the resources that I now have as a Christian are coming from the very Christ himself. There is never, ever, ever a situation that you are in that you confront that God may allow you to come into that God in his inexhaustible resources does not have the wherewithal to bring you through. The problem is that when we get ourself or we allow or God puts us in a situation that presses us out of measure, we fail to recognize that our resources are not in ourself but they are in God. And therefore we despair because we see that we don't have what it takes in ourself. We look at our emotions. We look at our understanding. We look at our feelings. We get lost in how we feel. We get lost in our mind and in our thoughts and in our emotions. And we conclude, I can't go on. I've got to do something. I've got to run from this situation. And we forget that the Bible says that as a new creation in Christ Jesus, God is with us. He's not against us. God is not against you this morning. Not only is he not against you, he is with you. He said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. But not only does he promise to be with you, he promises to become all that you have need of. All the resources that are in Jesus Christ are now available to you as a believer. Now that is not just some heavenly truth way up here. That applies to your walk down here. What do you have need of this morning? Do you have need of love? The Holy Spirit tells us in the Word of God that the Holy Spirit is pouring forth the love of God in our hearts. Do you have need of patience? The Bible says that Jesus Christ is the patient one and that you are connected to him. Whatever you have need of, don't look into the resources of your own wisdom, your own strength, your own understanding, because you will fail. Don't look into yourself. Don't look at your circumstances, but look to the Word of God and allow the Word of God to lead your heart's focus off of yourself, off of that person, off of that tormenting thought, off of that past memory, off of the future fear, and look to the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the author and finisher of your faith. God's Word to us this morning is this. We can love the Lord our God with all of our heart. We haven't even touched with mind and soul yet. We'll get to there in a minute, but we can love the Lord with our hearts because God says that he is causing his love to be poured forth into our spirits by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit of God. So therefore, my testimony is not based on what I feel or how I feel or whether or not love comes in a tickly feeling down my spine or whether it causes my hair to stand up. No! You see, beloved, we have got to get delivered from this generation's greatest fault, and the greatest fault of this generation is we are caught in the realm of our feelings and our emotions. We are caught in the realm of the transitory way we feel up and down, and the tragic thing is we make decisions based on how we feel instead of on the Word of God. As a Christian, we can't live our lives based on feelings and moods. We've got to be rooted and grounded in the Word of God. Now, this is a good transition because this is where we go from the words of Jesus, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy mind and soul. The transition from heart to mind and soul is the transition that we just made, and that is my mind or my soul, which is made up of my will, my mind, my reasoning powers, my ability to think. My will, my mind, and my reasoning powers must line up to the Word of God and can't work independent of the Word of God. So, when the Scripture says, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and mind, what the Bible is saying is this. My mind has to agree with and choose to believe by the power of the Holy Spirit what God has said as opposed to what I feel. If God has said that the Holy Spirit has shed abroad His love into my heart, then I choose to believe the Word of God, and by the power of the Spirit of God, I choose to believe, and then God enables my choice to strengthen me to act out of obedience to the Word as opposed to acting out of how I feel. Now, how does this touch us where we live? You have to forgive somebody. You have to forgive somebody, but in order to forgive somebody, you have to make the choice, I will forgive you. If you don't make that choice, you are not loving the Lord with your soul because your soul has to do with your will, has to do with your mind, has to do with your thoughts. If you do not choose to forgive that person, then it doesn't matter if the love of God is dwelling in your heart because it has to go from your heart to a choice in your mind. It has to go from in your heart to I will obey, I will forgive, I will release you from the sin that you committed against me. So in doing so, we learn to love the Lord with all of our heart and mind and strength and soul. The mind either becomes a servant to the Word of God and the reality of what God has done in our spirits. Again, the mind and the will and the choices that we make either become servants to the Word of God or they become servants to feelings and emotions that contradict the Word of God, that are in opposition to the Word of God, that lead us astray. So the salvation of the soul, the deliverance of the soul, is the work of God's Word and the work of God's Spirit in us, enabling us to live by the Word of God and not by the Word of man, not by the feelings and emotions and passing fancies of this age and the society that we live in, but to come to where we are feeding on the Word of God and it is the Word of God that I choose to live by every day that governs my decisions on a daily basis. That in fact is loving the Lord my God with all my heart, with all my strength, with all my mind, with all my soul. We see this in the person of Jesus Christ. We see a man who is communing with his Father in heaven and who by his actions, by the way he talks to people, by the way he communicates, he is demonstrating a life that is entirely laid out in communion and service to Almighty God. To love God and to love one another means I will seek the Lord, be strengthened by him, and I choose every day to obey the Word of God. To love God with all your heart, mind, strength, and soul means I will let God and the Word of God judge my actions and when they are leading me to engage in something that I know is contrary to the Word of God, by God's grace and by God's power, I will not go that way. I will love the Lord my God with all my heart, my strength, my soul, my mind. Beloved, you can't let your feelings govern your will. You've got to let the Word of God govern it. Jesus said, lo, it is written of me in the volume of the book. I have come to what? To do thy will, O God. What we're doing is we're living in a society that makes decisions based on feelings, and it's in the church, and it's seducing the church, and it's destroying the spiritual life of the church. You are not kind to someone only when you feel like being kind to them. You're not kind to your spouse when you feel like being kind to them, and then when you don't feel like being kind, then you act or say or do something that hurts them. That's living by your feelings. That's not living by the Word of God. Your soul still needs work. You see, the world gets up and decides based on how it feels. The Christian ought to get up and immediately, the Christian's mind should be upon God, upon the Word of God. There should be communion in spirit with God because the believer is indwelt by God. Listen closely, beloved. Listen closely. This is things that we need to learn. These are things we need to learn as Christians. We need to arise. First of all, we shouldn't go to bed at night unless we've cast our burdens upon the Lord. You should not let the sun come down upon your wrath. When you do, it's like poison inside. It festers. And you know it doesn't go away when you sleep. You wake up and it's still there. When was the last time you went to bed angry or full of stress? Last night, Joel. God bless him. The Christian should wake in the morning and begin immediately. Oh, my God. Thank you, Father. What do you talk to God about in the morning? You talk about the truth. Learn to confess the truth. Thank you, Father, that this morning I stand complete in you. Thank you, Father, that the blood of Jesus Christ ever cleanses me from my sin. Thank you, Father, for the fact that I am today seated with you together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Thank you, Father, that today the Word of God is abiding in me and that the Word of God is my strength. Thank you, Father, that I'm asking you even now to fill me with your Holy Spirit. Empower me by divine grace. Empower me by the Spirit of God. Thank you, Father, for the Word of God that teaches me that the weapons of my warfare today are not carnal, but they're mighty through God. Thank you, Father, that today I'm going to cast down imaginations and thoughts and reasonings that come into my mind that contradict the Word of God. Thank you, Father, that today I'm going to put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh. Thank you, Lord, that today your Word tells me that the devil, the adversary of my soul, is as a roaring lion. He's seeking to and fro whom he might devour. Thank you, Lord, that you're going to equip me with a watchful spirit today. Jesus said, you look up and you see the clouds, right? And you're able to discern the kind of weather. Thank you. But are you discerning? Are you discerning the things in the Spirit? How many of you right now are aware of the weakness, the specific weaknesses in your life that the devil knows he can get you on every couple of days, every couple of weeks? Everyone's got weaknesses. Everyone's got niches in their human armor. Okay? How many of you are watching and being careful and learning to exercise your senses, not your physical, but your spiritual senses, to discern when you sense that this situation has the potential to bring out of me that weakness that's in my life? And therefore, you become alert, and you're watchful, and you sense, and you know, this discussion that I'm having with mom, dad, child, or wife, or husband could escalate very quickly into something very ugly. So, this is what we should be doing. We should be taking fault. Instead, we're like just being led as lambs to the slaughter, and we're just mindlessly falling into trouble. This is why we need to be filled with the Spirit of God every day, and energized by the Word of God, so that we can see these things before they come, and prevent it from happening. A soft answer turns away wrath. A soft answer turns away wrath. How frequently do you find yourself in an argument because you failed to respond with a soft answer? This is what it means to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, strength, and soul. Where are you today? The mind has to stay upon the Lord, has to stay upon the Word, has to meditate upon the Word, has to be renewed. When it says that be not conformed to this world, but be renewed by the transforming of your mind, the word there to renew the mind means this, in order to relate newly to something. Our minds are no longer to be thinking upon and relating to our old life, the impulses of our old life, and the old world that we live in. But our mind is now to be renovated, and through the power of the Spirit of God, and through the liberation that I obtained in my will through the Holy Spirit, my mind is now to be stayed upon the Word of God, stayed upon the authority of the Word of God. You can't just do this on a Sunday morning, once a week. This is a, you learn to do this moment by moment, day by day. It starts in the morning when you wake up, and it's maintained throughout the day. Throughout the day, your mind staying upon the Lord in the business that you have to do. Whatever it is, the Lord can teach you how to keep your mind upon Him. So remember the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, mind, strength, and soul. I will love you, God, with my mind, with my thoughts, with my reasoning. I will make you and your Word my authority. Now listen, that brings us to the next word this morning. I believe that these connect, they're interrelated. I want to talk to you about authority this morning, authority. We're living in a very dangerous time. 1997, the eve of 1998. There is an insurrection going on. It's mostly covert. But believe you me, beloved, there's an insurrection going on in America today. People are disgusted. They're angry. They're angry at the government. People are angry at the government because they feel like the government has got their hands in every area of our life. They're taking too much of our money. They're trying to control us. They're trying to put laws and rules and regulations on us. Businesses are angry. Entrepreneurs are angry. It's almost impossible to have your own business today because the government wants so much of the income. So people are getting angry. They're getting rebellious against authority. And the Lord says, watch out. Be careful. Don't let this spirit of rebellion come on you. Because the church is in the world, but because the church is so immature, the church is so worldly and carnal, the church usually ends up following the spirit that controls the children of disobedience. And therefore, within the ranks of Christianity, there is a rebellion going on. People don't, listen now, people in the church don't want to be subject to authority. They don't want authority in their life. They don't want authority because they're being seduced by the spirit that's seducing the world. They don't want authority in their life. And here's what God says. Romans chapter 14. Romans 14, verse number 11 and 12. Romans 14, verse number 11 and 12. Beloved, be careful, be alarmed and be prayerful about the spirit of rebellion that's in the world today. And don't let this spirit of rebellion seduce your mind and seduce your thought. For it is written, as I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall confess to God. Verse 12. So then, every one of us shall give account of himself to God. What is happening in the church is that this spirit of rebellion, this spirit of despising authority is coming in and it is producing in us an attitude of bless God, I'm not accountable to anybody. Don't ask me any questions. Don't tell me anything. I'm going to live my own life. I'm going to do my own thing. But God would say to his church, every one of us shall stand before God and have to give an account of ourselves before Almighty God. What this spirit of rebellion is doing is producing in us a failure to realize that the church of God, those who are washed by the blood of Jesus, stand accountable to God. Whether or not the government is acting justly or unjustly, whether or not the government is in our face or not, does not annul the fact that the child of God is held accountable before God for every action, every deed, every word, every plan, everything that we do. And we had better accept now the fact that we are going to stand before God and give an account of all that we've done. And therefore, we must allow God to keep our spirits meek, to keep them humble, to keep them teachable, and not to get this rebellious attitude. I see it in the teenagers today. I see it in the parents today. I see it in the church today. And it's not from the Lord. This cometh not from Him that calleth you. An enemy hath done this. There is in fact within the church a spirit of insurrection arising up and people think it's against the government. They think that, yeah, right, the church is saying just like the world, the government has no right to do this, the government has no right to do that. But really, it's not so much against the government as it is God. It's a rebellion against God and the authority of God. And the reason why we know that is because there is a haughtiness there. It's not a meekness. It's not a gentleness. Now listen carefully. Matthew chapter 12, verse number 36. But I say unto you that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified and by thy words thou shalt be condemned or judged. You listen to some of this talk radio going on. How many from time to time turns on talk radio? Anybody? Be careful. Be careful, beloved. Don't you think you're just listening to men talk? You are hearing the voices of devils and demons working out a very, very strategic plan in America today and festering and causing envy and jealousy and hate and bitterness. I'm right. You're wrong. You're scum. I'm good. I don't like you. I want this. I want that. We're right. You're wrong. Who's got the right to tell me what to do? Bless God. This is America. This is capitalism. This is free enterprise. I can do what I want. No, you can't do what you want, child of God. You are a slave to God. You don't have a life of your own. You can't go out and do what you want. You've got a responsibility to God to bow before Him and come to His Word and say, Lord, I am the clay. Thou art the potter, Lord. Make me after Thine own will. Watch that spirit of rebellion, child of God. Watch it. You don't have the right that our dear friend Rush Limbaugh is telling you you have. It's subtle. It's sneaky. But it's devilish. The church should be preoccupied right now. Not with rights. And whether I can do what I want and whether the government is going to come and tell me not to, the church should right now be preoccupied with oh my God, the house that is called by Thy name is defiled. Have mercy on us. The house that is called by Your name called by Your name, oh God, is in ruin. Have mercy. Have mercy. Thank God there's evidence of this kind of thinking going on in the church today. There are men that God is raising up who are crying out to the church, the true heart of God. So from the Lord this morning, a warning. In tender love, but a clarion call. Watch out. Be careful, child of God. Don't be nurtured by the voices of men. Don't allow the books and the media and the television and the commercials and the talk radio and ABC and NBC frame your thinking. I get so frightened when I sit with Christians and they talk about the things that the world talks about. Doesn't mean you can't know what's going on. But don't let it nurture you. Don't let it form your bases of thinking. You are children of the Most High God and your minds must stay free. Don't allow the spirit of rebellion to come into your life. 2 Corinthians 5 verse 9 Wherefore we labor that whether present or absent we may be accepted. That word accepted doesn't have to do with our standing before God in salvation. That's been settled. This word accepted means well-pleasing. It means to bring pleasure to God's heart. You see, God's heart is already pleased when He sees the fact that as a Christian you possess the righteousness of His Son. But He's even more pleased when the righteousness of His Son finds its way out of the shrine of your spirit and affects your soul. Affects your will. Affects your actions. Affects the way you govern your life. And He sees not only a standing you are righteous in my eyes. But He sees a lifestyle based on decisions and actions that are righteous. Then He says I'm really pleased. I'm really happy. It's the difference between seeing a child and you know the child's got your eyes because the child came from you versus an adult who walks with his head up and who conducts himself in a righteous just way. You look at the smile of the child and you say oh isn't he adorable? He's got my eyes. He's mine. Then you look at the son and you sit there and you shake his hand and you say well done son. Well done. We're going to have to give an account. Verse 10 For we must all appear That word appear means to be made manifest. We must all be made manifest before the judgment seat of Christ that everyone may receive the things done in his body according to that which he hath done whether it be good or bad. Revelation chapter 22 verse 12 Revelation 22 verse 12 And behold the words of Jesus I come quickly and my reward is with me to give every man according as his work shall be. Someday child of God you will give an account. You are under authority. Don't get on the bandwagon of this movement. Don't get on the bandwagon. Pray God will give you humility and meekness and awareness every day of your life that there is one who searches the hearts of the church and it is he to whom we all have to do. Keep perspective in this world of turmoil and wickedness that you might be sons of God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation in whom you shine as lights holding forth the word of truth. So firstly we talked about thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, mind, strength and soul. And what that means is that everything about us most importantly our actions one thing that this marriage seminar is going to teach you and this is the conclusion that this preacher came to. Husbands listen you love God as much as you love your wife. Wives same goes to you. Actions are very important. Now I understand in the world we don't equate our actions as evidence of our love. That's real crazy but it's true. My actions don't mean anything. Now listen closely to love God is to be enabled to have our whole being under obedience to God. Spirit soul and body. That's what the Lord's after. Spirit, soul and body. In order for that to happen we must constantly remember we are under authority. It's not our life to do with it what we want. We can't get on the talk radio bandwagon the conservatives of America rise up and take it back. We can't do it. We can't do it. It's not it's not our cause. God doesn't want us to take America back. America is in God's hands. God is speaking to his church to repent. Turn from sin. Husbands love your wives. Wives love, revere, respect your husbands. That's what God's saying to the church. Church, live a life that demonstrates to the world that you're different than them. Pray. God can change America in one day. One day God could turn America around. One day God could send a revival to ABC and on national television we could see the anchor weeping and confessing Jesus as Lord. God could do it. It's not a problem for God. God is now as he did in the Old Testament pleading with his people Israel to turn to him. There is no telling what God will do when we turn to him. So the Lord calls us number one. He calls us to love him with all our heart, mind, strength and soul. The heart must be full of the Holy Ghost every day. The heart must be full of the word of God every day. See him as our all in all. The soul, the mind, the mind must be stayed upon the word of God. Perfect peace have they whose minds are stayed upon them. Philippians chapter 4 verse 8. We're going to close in a few moments. We got lots of time though don't we? We're going to close in a few moments with this last thought. I want to show you from the word of God now what the devil is doing in light of these two truths that I just brought to you from the Lord's heart. But Philippians chapter 4 verse 8 Finally brethren whatsoever things are true listen carefully if you are to love the Lord with your mind now we already settled the heart issue to love God with your heart you must be full of the Holy Ghost every day because the Holy Ghost is the one that pours the love of God into our heart. You must allow the word of God to richly dwell in your heart. Well you can't do that by just putting your hands on it and say Oh hallelujah Lord I pray that you'll just take the word and bring it through my arm and into my heart. It's not osmosis. You don't do that. The word of God gets in your heart by meditating on it by reading on it by thinking about it. The mind though, whatsoever things are pure are true. Whatsoever things are honest, true honest, whatsoever things are just whatsoever things are pure whatsoever things are lovely whatsoever things are of good rapport if there be any virtue, if there be any praise what does it say? Think Think Now what do you think with? Your mind Your mind is part of your soul So to love the Lord with all my soul means what? I can't let my mind wander and just do what it wants I can't let my mind engage in the pleasure of this world the pleasure of this world is basically everything that's opposite of this not what is true, what is untrue the minds of men think about what is untrue soap operas, television programs that are constantly portraying things that are untrue, things that are impure, things that are unlovely things that are not praiseworthy, things that are dishonest you cannot think upon these things and expect to love God with your soul, nor can you expect to maintain a pure clean virtuous free heart your heart will get all messed up and if your heart's messed up and your soul's messed up your body's gonna follow your body will engage in activities that are not pleasing to God so that's number one, number two is we realize we're under authority and in order for us to maintain this life of a clean heart and a soul that loves God and a body that is in obedience to God we need to stay under submission to the authority of God and not let this rebellious spirit get a hold of us, it's an ugly thing isn't it? It's my life I'll do with it what I want you leave me alone, get out of my face bless God, no one's gonna tell me what to do, come on child of God, that attitude should never be in us never we should walk in meekness and humility and gentleness toward one another if someone wants to come and correct me I should accept it don't fight with someone if they want to correct you, that's the spirit of the world, be teachable, be teachable and now thirdly turn your Bibles to Revelation chapter 2 Revelation 2 beginning in verse 8 beloved Satan has a plan, he has a purpose, he has an intention and we're going to unfold rather quickly so that you can just get the thoughts, the main points in your spirit and mind and you can think upon them, but we're gonna unfold what the plan of the devil is, so listen carefully every single person that is within the hearing of my voice this morning is subject to the plan that Satan has whether he accomplishes his purpose or not is another thing, but you are subject to this plan, listen closely verse number 8 chapter 2 of Revelation and unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write, these things saith the first and the last which was dead and is alive I know thy works and tribulation and poverty but thou art rich and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not but are of the synagogue of Satan verse number 10 be very careful to listen fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer behold the Lord shall doesn't say that does it what does it say the devil, alright that's the first point listen closely behold the devil shall cast some of you into prison that ye may be tried and you shall have tribulation ten days be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a crown of life beloved listen carefully here is a church that Jesus said the devil was gonna throw them into prison ten days now first of all I want you to understand who's putting them in prison the devil is throwing them in prison not God the devil now God's allowing it to happen but it's the work of the devil and the reason why the devil is doing it is very clear what does the bible say the devil shall cast some of you into prison that you may be tried you might be tested and as a result you're gonna have tribulation for ten days and then Jesus says be faithful unto death okay here's the plan Satan casts us into prison tribulation and trial be faithful unto death God will give you a crown of life now 1 Peter chapter 5 verse 8 be sober be vigilant now these are words indicating that you have to be alert these are words being spoken to soldiers who's in a warfare Peter's gonna tell us something about the devil here be sober be vigilant because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour whom resists steadfast in the faith now here the bible says that Satan is as a roaring lion he's seeking he's going to and fro throughout the earth and he's seeking whom he may devour in revelation Jesus said the devil cast some of them in prison and they were gonna suffer tremendous persecution and adversity here Peter says he's going about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour what is he trying to do I'll tell you exactly what he's trying to do go to Job go to Job chapter 1 Job chapter 1 verse number 6 and there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord and Satan came also among them and the Lord said unto Satan where comest thou then Satan answered and said from going to and fro in the earth now does that sound like what Peter just said 1 Peter 5 verse 8 be sober be vigilant for your adversary the devil as a roaring lion what is going to and fro throughout the whole world seeking whom he may devour now in the old testament the book of Job the devil himself told the Lord that's exactly what he was doing he was going about throughout the whole earth what was he doing I'll tell you the word of God and the Lord said unto Satan has thou considered my servant Job that there is one like him in the earth a perfect and upright man one that fears God and is skewish evil listen then Satan answered the Lord and said doth Job fear God for nothing hath not thou made a hedge about him and about his house and about all that he hath on every side thou hast blessed the work of his hands and his substance is increased in the land but put forth thine hand now and touch all that he hath he'll curse thee to thy face Job chapter 2 verses 1 2 and 3 are the same the devil comes before God God says what are you doing and he says I'm going to and fro and God says have you considered my servant Job we won't read it we'll go to verse 4 and Satan answered the Lord and said skin for skin yea all that a man hath will he give for his life put forth thine hand now and touch his bone and his flesh he will curse thee to thy face what's happening here huh the pain is being toned up that's an understatement but that's the truth what's happening the furnace is getting seven times hotter Norman said Satan's plan listen closely God listen God I'm going to challenge everything that your people say to you oh Lord I love you Lord I praise you Lord I'll serve you no matter what the devil says God I'm going to challenge everything they say the devil as a roaring lion seeketh whom he may devour how does the devil devour us what did the devil do at the very beginning in Genesis chapter 3 what was that he deceived Eve what did God do he accused God to Eve and accused God of being something that he's not and the way that the devil devours is that he obtains permission by God to test the genuineness of our profession and while in the test the devil comes and starts accusing God oh if God was what you said why is this happening if God is what he said why are you going through this if God is what he says he's not being faithful to his word why don't you just curse God why don't you just give up and get angry and get mad why don't you just tell God to take a walk take things into your own hands throw it out Christianity doesn't work fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer behold the devil shall cast some of you into prison why was the devil casting those saints in Smyrna into the prison test them afflict them let's see if we can get some of them to curse God let's see if we can get some of them to deny the Lord let's see if we can get some of them to abandon their lofty confessions of faith God is faithful take all his money away take his business away take his reputation away and let's see if they say God is faithful then hell has a meaning okay let's take bets who's gonna bet they're gonna curse them I do I do I do no I'm not sure I'm not sure they've been spending a lot of time in that that book you know the bible oh I hate to say it they've been praying in the holy ghost oh I hate to say it I'm not sure what's gonna happen and we're tested what's gonna happen Peter said though all men forsake you Lord I won't yet that same man was crucified upside down wasn't he the devil hates God and hates the seed of God and that's why Jesus said to his disciples when he was praying and they were sleeping pray that she enter not into temptation for the spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is weak this is why the apostle Paul is full of words that relate to men who are in the army who are in war cause he knew he was in a war and he knew that left to himself he would just like the devil told God regarding Job he would curse God when everything comes smashing in upon us and nothing makes sense and God is silent we will curse God if we're left to ourselves but hallelujah to God there is a place there is an abiding there is a power there is a grace there is a word there is a strength that comes from above and as we are taught and learned to depend upon it we can at the stake while burning sing praises to God oh yes we can beloved we are not destined in Christ to fail but we are destined in Christ to overcome even as he overcame but the secret is to learn to live by the life and sufficiency of Christ and not ourselves to draw from the resources that come from him that's the devil's plan you can see he's doing it in a big time way in America give your people money Lord give them money and they'll deny you it's what Moses told Israel wasn't it in the land of Canaan he said take heed when you go to Canaan and you prosper that you forget the Lord your God give them prominence give them fame they'll deny you Lord the devil says you know ultimately a man's after himself really a man's after his own name give him prominence in the world beloved we're in a war and there's only one that has the goods his name Emmanuel God with us your answer this morning and my answer this morning to whatever it is that we are going through is Jesus he alone will sustain us and based upon how much you have seen for in me dwelleth no good thing based upon that will you have zeal desperation and tenacity to reach out and live by God and his word alone until you come to know who you really are apart from Christ your open prey for the devil the thing that Satan fears the most is a people who by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony overcome Jesus is the victor this morning the devil shall cast some of you into prison that you may be tried you shall have tribulation ten days the word ten the number ten in the scriptures indicate universality it indicates something that is all over the world so what is this saying the devil has no limits he has access to every part of the world and everywhere there is a testimony of Jesus Christ the devil will come and try it and test it and prove now I'm going to close Ephesians chapter six verse ten finally my brethren be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil the schemes the stratagems I read in one commentary where that actually means well thought out logical meticulously developed plans it's not aimless kind of well let's just try this shot here the wiles of the devil are well thought out plans he has studied you first of all he knows you because he knows himself and he knows that that part in you that came from him that inherent sin in the flesh he knows what it will do it will sell out for a piece of bread he knows he knows exactly what your weaknesses are he knows how to get you to fall your only hope in being able to pass the evil day when he comes as a roaring lion because your day will come your only hope will be an utter dependence upon the Lord and it has to be something that you learn now you can't just suddenly when it happens think that you're gonna be able to call and know how to trust the Lord something you gotta learn to do everyday ok that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil for we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities against powers against the rulers of the darkness of this world against spiritual wickedness in high places wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand that word withstand it means to be engaged in active opposition that you may be able to oppose resist now the very time you are resisting your inherent weakness in the flesh will be raging don't think becoming spiritual means your flesh is cleansed a lot of people think spiritual Christians aren't tempted or they walk around with a smile because they have no problems wrong they walk around with a smile because they've spent the night in prayer they walk around with a smile because their word is full and bursting over with the word of God but if they for a moment decided that they were gonna abandon their choice to follow God and yield to their feelings they'd commit suicide that's right they'd commit suicide no not the real spiritual ones you mean they have feelings like that of course suicide murder end it leave abandon the whole thing why can't you see it man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God I don't know the man I don't know that man I don't give ear to him he is my life I live by him the words that I speak I don't give way to the feelings in my flesh I give way to the word of God my hope is on the word so the spiritual one is not one who lives in some la la land and a lot of people think it's true no a spiritual one you want to know the most spiritual one that's Jesus read through the psalms and see the things he went through the sorrows the depth the darkness the lions the roaring the sinking where are you God but you follow his life and you don't see any of that what do you see you see a man doing the will of God not seeking a pity party you see a man doing the will of God serving people you say well he was the son of God he was but he went through all the tormenting hell that we go through and a hundred thousand times more his secret was he lived by prayer he lived by communion with the father so don't think that if you get spiritual all these things stop no you just learn how to put on the whole armor of God and to live by Jesus Christ wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand in the evil day and having done all to stand stand therefore having your loins girt about with truth hallelujah to God truth when that which is not true comes to me I will not give vent to it I won't let it be spoken out of my mouth having put on the breastplate of righteousness when something unrighteous tempts me anything that is not righteous anything that's not right I will not allow my will listen my will listen I can't be seduced to do something unless I choose to do it I can't tell a lie if I don't choose to I might be tempted to tell a lie everything in me might want to lie and cheat but I don't do it unless I choose to as a Christian beloved your will is no longer bound to sin you've been liberated you've been renewed but now you must depend upon the energizing strength of the Holy Spirit but God is not gonna do it for you he will enable you to do it he will strengthen you to say no truth righteousness have your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace if your feet want you to go somewhere that you shouldn't go say no your feet should be going prepared to give the testimony of the gospel of peace above all taking the shield of faith wherewith you should be able to quench all the fiery darts of the devil and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit which is the word of God doesn't end there praying always see praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit and watching there unto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints and for me that utterance may be given that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel so therefore our whole secret in success in this Christian life is learning Christ living Christ speaking Christ drinking Christ loving Christ meditating Christ living on the word of God it's Christ it's his word he is everything believe God's word today as we close I would like to invite everybody to make a conscious decision based upon the revealed word of God I will I desire I will that Jesus Christ be Lord of everything in my life let's all say it together I will that Jesus Christ be Lord of everything in my life I will it listen listen I will I choose I affirm that I do not want to be deceived in any area of my life let's say it together I will not to be deceived in any area of my life that's wonderful you know what that's doing that's loving God with my soul that is me affirming that I am in agreement with what God says hallelujah to God Jesus Christ is my life somebody have the baby are you holding it you want to come sing the hallelujah chorus I'm not singing but play it do you know it yeah listen beloved listen I don't know what's happening in your life right now but you know what Jesus Christ does God wants all that was said this morning to lead us to one conclusion one conclusion alone God might have spoken several things and you need to work it out but you need to come to one conclusion Jesus is my life and his authority and the authority of his word must be supreme in my life that's it listen I hate to sound like I'm simplifying everything but I'm gonna do it all our problems stem from failing to give Jesus his place of authority and his word the place of authority in our life it's so simple we fail to do it because somehow we are seduced in our mind and we choose to go contrary to it so the failure is not so much on the inside cause you know in your heart you really do love him but Jesus said if you love me keep my commandments so it's gotta go beyond the heart beyond the feeling oh you know I love you and he does know if you are one of his you do love him but we've gotta go beyond that feeling so that our actions agree with our confession love and obedience go hand in hand did you know that love and obedience now I know my little children love me I know Mariah loves me but she doesn't obey me sometimes does that mean that I could look at her and say you do not love me not really there is a place for immaturity in this walk God loves us he knows when we are weak he knows when we fail him but we still do love him but he doesn't want us to stay there he wants that love on the inside to begin to affect our will and our mind so that we choose to do what is right because we love God even when we feel everything in us feels like going and running we will not do it because we are committed by the God's grace working in me to do what is right that's the kind of Christianity God wants to produce in your life and in my life that will bring glory to God and that will frustrate the devil oh he gets mad when Christians allow this to affect their choice and their will hallelujah let's sing this song thank you father lift your hands up lift your heart up father in the name of Jesus Christ I call for the power of the spirit of God to confirm the word of God this morning I pray that you will empower every single person here through the name of Jesus Christ to receive the power of the Holy Spirit that will liberate their will and their mind and their heart so that everything in them can choose and agree to obey God I pray that change would break right now in the name of Jesus loose people who are listening to this Lord who are bound in their will they're doing what is wrong because they've made a choice to do it give them the power to say no in the name of Jesus bring healing bring healing by the word of God bring healing to that person Lord who is bound to their feelings who is bound to the past you're bound to the past to an event that happened and you can't escape God's word will heal you and loose you from that in Jesus name be free that you might be able to have your mind upon the word of God the loveliness of Jesus Lord in Jesus name heal marriages heal relationships free people from being caught in their feelings and in their sin and let them experience the liberty that comes through the power of Jesus Christ in the name of Jesus Lord hallelujah everyone together let's sing this song thank you Jesus thank you Lord let's keep singing as the power of the Holy Spirit is present if you want special prayer I want to pray for you I feel a special virtue flowing out from Jesus on the inside of me to you and I want to pray for you that the Holy Spirit will release you from any bondage so that you can walk with a will choosing to obey God's word and be empowered by God to do it anyone who wants special prayer come on up hallelujah to God I'm going to ask um hallelujah you keep singing that's alright hallelujah Father in the name of Jesus Christ I pray God by the authority of the word of God that you would empower Joe right now Lord by the spirit of God Lord that you would free him Lord from anything that has him captive in his mind, in his will in his emotions, in his body Lord liberate him in the name of Jesus Lord and enable him Lord to have the freedom and the power of the Holy Spirit to obey your word in Jesus name Lord according to your word so be it in Jesus name hallelujah to God Father in the name of Jesus I pray for Pam Lord God I'm asking that the power of the spirit of God would come upon her even now Lord and that you would loose her Lord from everything that has her captive Lord in her feelings in her emotions Lord that you would liberate her will that it might be free to say I will obey God's word and the power of the spirit of God will strengthen me to do it Father I pray you'll fill her heart with faith and enable her to believe every promise that you've made to her Lord in Jesus name hallelujah Father in the name of Jesus Christ I thank you Lord for the work of grace that you're doing in Helen and now Lord I take authority over every every bondage every power of darkness Lord that would seek to torment and destroy my sister Helen and I command in Jesus name that every form of darkness and bondage would leave I pray God that you will liberate Helen's will right now liberate her soul in Jesus name that she might be empowered to say yes to God I will to will God I will to obey God Lord I pray her will would be liberated in Jesus name and that the word of God the word of God will govern her decisions from this day forward forever in Jesus name Lord so be it by the power of your word Lord thank you Lord in Jesus name receive in Jesus name I pray for Tom too Lord the same that you would empower him Lord to obey your word Lord strengthen him Lord to say no to everything that comes to him that is contrary to the word of God in Jesus name Lord thank you Lord for the ministry of the Holy Spirit Lord thank you Lord Lord I pray you'll take all that stuff that you've done on the inside of Helen in the depths of her spirit Lord where at times she doesn't even see it she thinks it's gone Lord I pray that by the power of the spirit you will loose all of that good stuff that you've done on the inside let it surface Lord and let it begin to govern her life Lord in Jesus name she belongs to you Lord we claim her for you and complete deliverance Lord in Jesus name anybody else anybody else want special prayer this morning just come on up hallelujah to God thank you Lord Father in the name of Jesus Lord I thank you and praise you for grace I thank you for the blood of Jesus Lord and I stand now Lord together with my brother in the name of Jesus and with the Holy Spirit I pray Lord that you would completely Lord empower and energize my brother Lord to stand in will strengthened by the power of the Holy Spirit for all that you have spoken in thy word and against and in opposition all that would come to him in thought, in deed in feelings Lord that would contradict the word of God we pray God that you will empower my brother and oh God fill him with might that comes from the resurrection power of Jesus Christ that lives within him Lord I pray you'll touch his physical body Lord from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head Lord touch him Lord even now by your power Lord oh God give my brother the power that comes from the son of God in Jesus name Lord liberate him Lord in every area Lord that he might will the will of God and obey the will of God that you might equip him as a soldier Lord to fight the good fight of faith with the weapons of the warfare of God Lord in Jesus name hallelujah thank you Lord Jesus thank you Lord Father in the name of Jesus I pray for my brother Lord I thank you Lord for the work of grace that you've done in him I thank you for the blood of Jesus that ever cleanses I thank you for the word that is in his heart Lord I thank you that you've spoken to him the word today and I pray God that you will strengthen my brother to continue Lord the confession of the word of God the confession of faith Lord I pray God that you will strengthen my brother Lord to stand together with the Holy Ghost against all the feelings and all the thoughts and all the emotions that come to him that would seduce him