good morning my friends i'm pastor
stephen brooks welcome today to morning
glory our midweek bible study i'm so
happy that you're here today i want you
to grab your bible so that you can join
me as we read the word of god together
and study it today we're going to be in
the gospel of matthew chapter
uh chapter 7
verse 24 we're going to talk about
building on the rock praise god now some
of you
that have been in the faith for quite a
long time
maybe even when you were young perhaps
in sunday school you first heard
this message taught about building on
the rock well
whether uh it's the first time or you've
you know or you're hearing this again
i want us to understand that we are uh
in a very special time in history where
we have to have the foundation correct
mainly because of various storms and so
forth in life so it is very
critically important that we cover this
message today because we will also
have revelation flowing with the
prophetic anointing by the power of the
holy spirit so that this applies to us
right where we live at right now
and today praise the lord let's pray
heavenly father as we jump into your
word
we ask that your holy spirit would
quicken
your word so that we can receive it as
spiritual food and that we can take it
meditate upon it
and receive all of the rich
rich nourishment
that the word the food provides now we
give you praise we thank you for
illumination to understand your word
wisdom
and insight we give you praise thank you
father in jesus name amen
praise god
verse 24
of course this is jesus teaching and
speaking he's been speaking for quite
some time he's going to begin to pull
together the conclusion of his lengthy
sermon
therefore
whoever hears these sayings of mine
and does them
i will liken him to a wise man who
builds his house on the rock
well if we just
say that we want to be a wise man or a
wise person or ladies a wise woman
i think
we lose the gravity
of what that entails and what that means
and how that can actually play out in
our lives but that in essence
is what we're wanting to be we're
wanting to be wise people nobody wants
to be a foolish person at least not
intentionally so we're endeavoring to
walk in wisdom so that we can be wise
people but i think in order to
understand
this
statement that jesus is making we need
to look at a few scriptures just before
it because you notice in verse 34 excuse
me verse 24
jesus says therefore whoever hears
so when he's using the word therefore
he is
bringing a wrap-up of everything that he
has previously said and he's condensing
it into a real powerful nugget that we
can examine so the word therefore
is a consummation of what he has been
speaking before and that is very
important let's look at just a couple of
scriptures beginning with verse 21
jesus said not everyone who says to me
lord lord
shall enter the kingdom of heaven but he
who does the will of my father in heaven
many will say to me in that day lord
lord
have we not prophesied in your name
cast out demons in your name and done
many wonders in your name
and then i will declare to them i never
knew you depart from me you who practice
lawlessness and then he goes right into
our key text today therefore whoever
hears now
let's talk just for a moment about
those who practice
not occasionally slip into it or have a
bad day or you know do something that's
wrong and then they repent now we're
talking about those who practice
lawlessness so this is something that's
not only being done
but it's something that's not even being
restrained at least as long as they can
get away with it they're not going to be
restrained in it and they are practicing
lawlessness
who are these that are doing this
well first of all it would be the
unbelievers
and then
secondly it would be
what we could call fake christians those
who for whatever reason
have learned the christian nomenclature
and they can speak certain words certain
phrases
and
perhaps even have an external
uh
religious exterior but they're not right
with god
and then uh very dangerously there could
be some that
at one point they were christians
and now they've gone into a gray area
and somehow they've crossed a line where
they are now doing things that are
in the eyes of god
would be falling in a category of
lawlessness
and i don't know
where the gray area starts i don't know
really where the line is drawn where a
person
would move from
having walked with god now they're
actually into this place where they're
practicing lawlessness
that's really something only god can
make the call on but such people would
also be in this
unfortunate category of being those who
practice lawlessness
now
what is
lawlessness you have to understand this
in order to stand uh to really kind of
grasp the weight of what jesus is
talking about
building your life on the rock so let's
talk just for a moment about lawlessness
because eventually
there is coming cannot be stopped there
is coming the man of sin
the antichrist he has different names in
scripture
he's called the little horn he's called
the beast the beast is probably the most
accurate
name really for the antichrist
but he's also called the man of sin
as well as being called the man of guess
what the man of lawlessness
well if if he is a man of lawlessness
what exactly
does that mean he's going to do or in
some situations what is he not going to
do
well
let's turn over just for a moment to
the teachings of the apostle paul
and take a look at this in ii
thessalonians
and this is going to be chapter 2
and we're going to drop down
to
verse 3.
let no one deceive you by any means
for that day will not come unless the
falling away comes first and the man of
lawlessness some translations say the
man of sin is revealed
the son of perdition who opposes and
exalt himself above all
that is called god or that is worshipped
now let's go to verse seven
for the mystery of lawlessness
is already at work
only he who now restrains will do so
until he is taken out of the way verse 8
and then the lawless one will be
revealed
wow the lawless one
he's lawless he doesn't keep the law
what law what laws
are there that this man refuses to honor
or keep he breaks them he's the lawless
one
and then the lawless one will be
revealed whom the lord will consume with
the breath of his mouth and destroy
with the brightness of his coming that's
really good news concerning the coming
antichrist we already know his end
result of what's going to happen to him
verse 9 the coming of the lawless one
this man of sin
the son of perdition the one that's
going to eventually be thrown into the
lake of fire well
he is the lawless one the coming of the
lawless one is according to the working
of satan
with all power excuse me with all power
signs and lying wonders and with all
unrighteous deception among those who
perish because they did not receive the
love of the truth that they might be
saved
it's very interesting that if you don't
receive truth and you reject it you're
giving over to a spirit of deception we
see that in the following verse and for
this reason god will send them strong
delusion that they should believe the
lie why because that's what they wanted
to believe they didn't want to believe
the truth and so people will be greatly
influenced by
the lawless one who is coming he's not
here now
and of course many people say pastor
stephen could he could he be on the
earth today
[Laughter]
well scripture technically says that he
is in
this spiritual dimension called the
bottomless pit
he was
and he is not but he will be in other
words he is somebody that once was on
the earth but he's not on the earth
right now because he is in that
continual falling state of being in the
bottomless pit but he's going to be let
out
and he will be empowered by satan
and he will be the one that is known as
the antichrist the man of sin so is he
walking around on the earth somewhere
right now maybe he's only 16 years old
no he's a person that's already been
here and he's going to come back
if you study
i'll give you a few tips if you study
ancient history
there has only ever been one
conqueror
who conquered everything as far as the
known world would go and from the
perspective of what the biblical writers
called the known world there's only been
one person who ever conquered
the entire known world at that time
never ever lost a battle
and died undefeated
and if you study about that person most
scholars believe he's the one that is
being referred to who was
and is not but will be
well we'll have to keep an eye on that
but one thing's for sure he is the
lawless one praise god well
if he is lawless what laws
are there that he's refusing to keep i
mean is he breaking
traffic laws
is he the lawless one because he speeds
and the
the highway says speed limit 65 or 70
and he goes 85
probably not that's probably not that
what that's referring to but i would say
as a little side note rabbit trail
for those of you that are not picking up
my american
slang right there rabbit trail means a
uh i'm taking a little side trip with my
message
but i'll get back on the main path uh
let me just say my friends to the best
of your ability always obey the law uh
unless these are laws
that would directly violate the
scripture
kind of like what pharaoh was doing back
in the ancient days telling the hebrews
the women to throw your children throw
your sons into the nile river so the
crocodiles could eat them because we
don't want to deliver to be raised up
and of course we knew that person was
moses and there were prophecies and now
you've got a bunch of uh
religious uh not not religious but
politicians
there in egypt getting very nervous so
the pharaoh says kill all the young
so
so yes disobey that but for the uh
normal everyday
means of operating we're actually told
to honor those of authority not
disrespect them even if you don't agree
with them but to honor them pray for
them
and
by all means obey the laws and that
would even include
driving the speed limit don't go over
the speed limit if the speed limit 60
don't go 84 don't do things like that
it's a terrible christian witness but
also
it does something not so much pertaining
to your witness but pertaining to your
conscience
and the way that you're sensitive to the
holy spirit
be mindful of these types of things well
uh
i don't think the lawlessness one
the antichrist is really too concerned
about you know violating a carpool lane
maybe driving in it by himself instead
of having two people in the car i don't
think we're really talking about that
we're not really talking even about u.s
laws and things like that or u.n rules
and regulations we're not not even
talking about laws really of other
religions like sharia law pastor stephen
will he keep the sharia law he's not
going to keep anything that he doesn't
want to
so
to receive the title of the lawless one
and also jesus referring
in matthew chapter 7 to those who
practice lawlessness
what law in essence are they violating
the only one
that in the eyes of god
has
um
truth in it and that would be from
scripture what we would know as the
torah the law of god and its precepts
its judgments its commandments and
the teachings of christ jesus in the
gospels
and the epistles
so we could put it all together and
basically say
that the practice of lawlessness is
those who practice violating what god
says in his word
and the antichrist the man of
lawlessness will have no respect for
anything that the bible says if god says
the earth is created in six days and got
arrested on the seventh he won't believe
that he won't honor that uh if
if the bible says marriage is between
one man and one woman that doesn't mean
anything to him he's lawless in every
area of his life and so
jesus said i will declare to them i
never knew you even if they were doing
it in his name depart for me you who
practice
lawlessness
and perhaps you can even think within
your mind i don't want to drop too many
hints
but even in your mind those within the
church
who have notoriety
but yet they speak with the platform
because they're well known and they
actually
encourage and endorse
lawless behavior now they may not uh be
it's not like they're saying hey go up
uh go out and get a sword or a machete
and start killing people they're not
saying anything crazy like that but they
are saying things that are totally
opposite of what god said in his word
and that is the practice of lawlessness
and when people are doing that even if
they're in the church you can slip over
into a place of total deception and
before you know it you're so off the
path you're in gross darkness whoo it's
very very danger uh dangerous to violate
anything in god's word why because
you're not on the rock anymore if you're
doing that you have you have now moved
over to a completely different type of
foundation that is extremely unstable
well let's jump now into our key verse
by swinging back around to it verse 24.
therefore
in light of everything that is said
previously therefore whoever hears these
sayings of mine and does them
i will liken him to a wise man who built
his house on the rock
now this phrase whoever hears these
sayings of mine and does them
is a
direct
look back to
deuteronomy chapter 6 verse 4
and this is a concept known amongst the
ancient hebrews as
shema and it is the meditation upon a
prayer of devotion to the lord and it is
the ability to stop and listen
to listen the lord told israel listen
and then he gave him
gave them instructions of how they
should believe and who they should put
their faith and trust in which would be
god and god alone and so they were to
listen and they were to
not just hear it but they were to obey
that do not have any false idols do not
have any false gods they were not even
allowed to have an image
formed
within their home lest they succumb to a
temptation to worship it
and
that is something i think we should be
mindful of in some ways
certain statues and certain things it's
almost like uh
i don't know sometimes people they they
venerate it to a degree where it can
become worship and i'm really uh
convinced in my heart that's why the
lord hid
the body of moses because if the
children of israel now they hated him
while he was alive
i wouldn't say hate they just they just
so disliked him because he held them to
the law held them to the commandments of
the lord
and that was frustrating i'm sure to
their flesh
but they had a hard time with him while
he was alive but when he when he died
when he was dead they were just like
devastated they're like our great leader
oh he's not here anymore but god hit his
body because if they would have had
access to his body they probably would
have built some type of a monument and
worshipped it and
they would have elevated moses to a
place probably almost like a deity so
these are very serious things the lord
brings forth and we have to listen we
have to hear and if we do this we're
going to move into a place of great
wisdom
therefore whoever hears these sayings of
mine and does them
i will liken him to a wise man who
builds his house on the rock
you know
this is something consistent throughout
church history
that the church has always really
loved and appreciated
those ministers
that have great oratorical anointing or
gifting and i can think of a couple of
ministers one particularly that i know
that is he's like magnetic
when he preaches
his voice is um it's like electricity
it's
it's it's charged it's it's powerful now
he's not perhaps as
uh how can i say as a popular uh as he
used to be not that popularity is a
measure of right standing with the lord
but he's still rock solid he hasn't lost
the anointing at all
he's probably stronger than the
anointing than he's ever been
but my goodness when he preaches it's
just it's just incredible
and actually the most amazing thing i
was sitting at a restaurant with my wife
um about a month ago and uh we were all
relaxed and kelly's mom had come out
from california and her sister from
california and some some other friends
that were in the family from another
state were having lunch
and the phone rang
and uh
it was a it was a call for me and it was
actually from that pastor i had never
spoken to him or met him in my life
before and he called me
i thought
kelly said stephen you better take this
call that we got all these family
members here but you need to step out
take this call i said yes i think i
absolutely should as i was kind of like
jaw
uh in the sense that this great man of
god was calling me uh and he's much
older than me but he's still known
around the world probably
as one of the most electrifying
preachers on the planet now yes he's
pentecostal so that comes with the fire
and that anointing but some some god
gives an extra measure just to be able
to talk where they could
i don't know you could think they could
talk about how to rewire your
refrigerator and you'd sit there going
that's the most most anointed message
i've ever heard in my life
they could talk about how to replace the
screws on your doorknob and you'd be all
excited it's something something about
that anointing that god can give but
here's the thing we have to realize that
even with great speakers and nobody
nobody could top jesus with that
anointing and that you talking about
authority and uh about power uh you're
mesmerizing you know the the audience so
to speak
but still
this is what the lord trying to get
across to them still when it's all said
and done you have to do
what has been said
we preachers are not just saying these
things just because well this is what
we're supposed to do and we're like some
kind of you like you know a parrot or
robot or something like that no
there are many of us that preach this
from a perspective of we know jesus
means what he says here and if you do
what's right you're rock solid but if
you're goofing around messing around and
somehow think oh this won't affect me or
somehow that you're immune or something
like that to uh obey in the scriptures
and you won't get bit
oh you're on the sand
and it's shifting it's not stable and
this is something that the lord takes
very very seriously so
we must realize that while it can be
very edifying because it brings faith to
listen to a message
that is an incomplete outcome if we stop
there we have to continue we have to
hear and obey we have to listen and then
we have to walk it out what we have
received from the lord
verse 25 and the rain descended the
floods came
and the winds blew and beat on that
house
and it did not fall it did not fall for
it was founded on
the rock what are the rock
or what is the rock it's the word of god
is it the words of jesus yes what he
taught in the gospels yes but all of it
is the inspired word of god from genesis
chapter 1 to revelation chapter 2 and
everything in between it is the living
word of god and you build your life on
the word of god
hallelujah well pastor steven i i i have
to be honest you may be thinking you may
be thanking pastor steven i i don't
really know the word like i should i i'm
not really well versed in the book of
deuteronomy and i have to admit i read
through leviticus and i i get a little
bogged down what if there's stuff in
there that i don't know
well jesus helps you out quite a bit
let's take a look at it because jesus
said
in the gospel of matthew and we see here
in
matthew chapter 22
verse 36
a question was asked to jesus teacher
which is the great commandment in the
law because there's a lot of
commandments different ones
jesus said to him you shall love the
lord your god with all your heart with
all your soul and with all your mind
that's number one if you get that one
down you're really doing good and number
two
verse 38 this is the first
and great commandment
verse 39 and the second is like it you
shall love your neighbor as yourself on
these two commandments hang all
the law and the prophets okay so you may
not have the book of deuteronomy
memorized you may not be familiar with
it i hope you do i pray that you will
but just by understanding these two
commandments love the lord god with all
your heart your mind and strength and
then number two love your neighbor as
yourself because if you love your
neighbor
as you do you're not going to gossip
about them you're not going to steal his
barbecue off of his back patio while
he's gone because you wouldn't want
somebody to steal yours and if you love
people you're not going to do anything
to hurt them or harm them and so by
obeying that you are actually fulfilling
the the law in its totality and we also
see that james touched on this in james
chapter 2
and in verse 8. if you really fulfill
the royal law according to the scripture
you shall love your neighbor as yourself
you do
well
glory to god hallelujah amen so those
things really help us those are great
guidelines for us now let's jump back
over to
matthew chapter 7. let's go to verse 26
let's talk about the sand we've seen the
great benefit of building our lives upon
the rock and when you're on the rock
you're on the word
you're safe
even when the storms the floods because
when the storm all the rain all the
water coming down the water can't escape
uh as much as it should because it just
doesn't have anywhere to go and
eventually you get into the floods and
then the wind and the way all that stuff
beating against your house but see
the right
building procedure connects
the house
to the foundation it's not like the
house is just sitting on top of it not
held down no it's joined and fastened to
it and that's the way you are with the
word you're integrated the word is
integrated to into you it's just like
the vine into the branch and there is a
strong connection and so you're on the
rock you're going to be just fine
verse 26 but everyone
who hears these sayings of mine and does
not do them
you know there are a lot of people
listening to him and he's trying to get
this across to him it's not about just
that hey i'm really glad you came out
thank you for coming out and sitting on
the grass and uh you know taking your
time out in the sun and uh taking a
break from work to come hear me preach
but that's not all there is to it seeing
the miracles that's all great but that's
not all there is to it
everyone who hears these sayings of mine
and does not do them will be like a
foolish man who built his house
on
the sand
well
back in those days nobody would do that
they would think that's crazy
today there are some
engineering techniques that do allow
buildings to be built on sand but it's
never preferable
and even when
architects
and engineers work with these rare
moments when they have to build on sand
they have to use some very
um
unorthodox methods of securing that
building
there are buildings like
in dubai i'm thinking of the burj el
arab the world's only seven star hotel
and it is built completely on sand on a
small little man-made island just off of
the beach area and they put it out in
the water because
they didn't want the hotel to block the
sun on the beach so they moved it out
into the water a little bit and it's a
very iconic building that
has the
it has the shape of a sail from like a
yacht or like a boat so it's a very
beautiful building but it's all built on
sand and so they have to really compact
the sand and you know create this
man-made island but they drove
many many pillars down into the ground
that were about literally about a
hundred and fifty feet in length because
there's no rock uh you you could move
the sand and keep digging and digging
but there's there's just no rock
so
it's very very challenging
but i tell you if there was an
earthquake
would not
want to be in a skyscraper a very tall
building like that and uh so you don't
want
to build on sand unless you're in a an
area of the world where that's all
you've got and so you're gonna have to
work with what you have but outside of
that everybody that jesus
uh was talking to they all understood
that yeah you don't take your house and
go build it on the sand that's crazy
that's just not a good idea why the the
sand moves it's not stable and if it's
unstable
and
you know
it means the house basically can
collapse
and even children know this i was at the
beach
a couple of months back and uh
i was with my oldest daughter kelly and
i went with her and her family her
husband and kids we had a great time and
this is uh out on the carolina coast
and there there is an area that's
actually pretty remote
and most the time when i was on the
beach i could look to my left on the
sand all the way down as the ocean
because we're right on the ocean i can
look for a mile and not see one person i
can look to the right i could look an
entire mile not see one person ooh
i was loving it praise god so i get out
there with the grandkids
and you know what what do little kids
want to do when they're seven years old
and four years old or whatever that age
group might be they want to build
sandcastles and you know what you can
build it and prepare just as good as you
can but come high tide it's all over
with in a matter of seconds those big
rushes of water surges of salt water
come in and just pull that literally
pull that sand castle right out to the
sea
nobody
not even a child would build anything
on a sand castle because they know it
just doesn't work it doesn't last
but so often people can do that and
they're they're moving off of the word
of god and it's very foolish i would
even call it reckless behavior we have
to be very very careful about this
and it talks about again the foolish man
who built this house on the sand verse
27 and the rain descended the floods
came and the winds blew and beat on the
house and it fell
and great was its fall the foundation
got washed out underneath it there's
nothing supported and the house
collapsed now
we all know that
in essence what the lord the thrust of
what he's trying to say here
is that your walk with god your
spiritual life needs to be built on the
rock of god's word jesus is not trying
to give an architectural lesson here
he's not speaking to a group of
engineers uh or you know at an
engineering university he's speaking to
normal regular people that want to make
heaven okay so in order to do that your
spiritual life must be built upon
solely the word of god and when you do
that
jesus says that you are a wise person
and that you are walking in wisdom
now
i want you to realize that
the foolish person who built on the sand
the house fell
regardless of how you live your life
whether you're going to be a man on the
rock or a man on the sand
i need to let you know that either way
storms come
storms come to every body
in
life
i like what dave ramsey has said before
he has said that stupid
will always be
stress tested
and he's not saying that a person is
stupid but he's saying stupid behavior
doing stupid things with your money
doing stupid things with your life
making stupid crazy foolish decisions it
will be tested it will be stress tested
what happens to stupid when it's stress
tested it totally falls apart why it's
stupid
[Laughter]
it's foolish
from the get-go it was doomed to failure
it couldn't even work from the beginning
yet there can be a time where you walk
it out and you think well maybe maybe
it'll get traction maybe it'll work but
and and maybe it can survive for a
little while but not during a storm
that's when you find out what works in
life and what doesn't so i'm telling you
right now stay on
the rock
stay on the teachings of christ stay on
the entirety of god's word don't let
anything move you off of that
praise the lord because storms come to
everybody in life but if you're on the
rock and you're trusting in the words of
the lord jesus christ you will get
through it
you know you can't rebuke every storm i
know jesus rebuked the storm when he was
out on the sea of galilee
and rebuked it and instantly the wind
stops the waves become calm sea is like
glass
but what about the apostle paul
when he was out on the ship for 14 days
and 14 nights and they couldn't even see
the sun because all it did was rain rain
rain clouds rain rain rain and the boat
going up and down like a non-stop roller
coaster you know you get on a roller
coaster for about four minutes and it's
a lot of fun but if it just kept on
going you'd be like this is crazy this
is this is nuts well imagine doing that
for 14 days
14 days
that's crazy
and so
he had to write through it well pastor
stephen i'll tell you what if i'd have
been there
i'd have got about got up on the bow of
that ship and that's i would have said i
rebuked this storm in the name of jesus
now paul stand back and learn a few
things from me i'm going to rebuke the
storm no trust me if paul couldn't do it
there you and i certainly wouldn't be
able to do it either you cannot rebuke
every storm and command to stop command
to leave your life and so forth some
things you have to go through them
certain storms and trials and you have
to be able to face them but when you
face them
grounded in the word full of the word of
god
wisdom will be expressed through that
situation and when it's all said and
done you're still standing
you're still standing praise the lord
but
if you choose to do
foolishness
and you don't take god's commandments
seriously and you're you're breaking
things you're violating things you're
playing in gray areas
storms will come
and there will be
very difficult consequences for having
built on the sand now look at verse 28
and so it was when jesus had ended these
sayings that the people
were astonished
at his teaching
for he taught them as one having
authority
and not as the scribes now the scribes
would be
primarily the pharisees
and they were the
religious scholars they were experts in
the
mosaic law
but a lot of their teaching had gotten
over into customs and they would talk
about what we would call verses and then
they would say now this is what the
ancient rabbi so and so said this means
and this is what the commentaries say
this mean and so
the teaching had gotten real dry and
also had gotten bogged down with customs
but when jesus is teaching he's not it's
not like really quoting somebody else he
doesn't need to quote anybody else he's
he's just expounding upon the word of
god and its principles
and
there was such authority and in his
teaching they were just they were just
blown away by it why
because of a couple of reasons number
one
truth will always catch your attention
number two
truth releases authority
why why does it do that because
there is authority in being right
if if you are wrong
if you are a con man or swindler you can
have a poker face
but your authority can only go so far
but true authority is expressed through
truth and oh he's preaching he's just
going at it and uh they were stunned by
what he said
so
we
we want to embrace these teachings
because jesus meant what he said about
living by his word we live by faith but
that's not a wild random faith that is
faith in his teachings and his
principles now
please don't ever forget this because it
is critical in your life and
when i was a young christian nobody ever
taught me this i learned this later in
life
and i learned it through it a
tremendous minister
but but you know there there is the
principle of growth and grace
but i do wish if go if i could look back
and do some things over again i do wish
that
perhaps there could have been some
better teachers in my life
that would have tried to have driven it
into me
that you have to follow this book just
as the lord said and if you think you
can do other ways of living and it not
affect you
then watch out but i was never really
told that i heard various messages on
grace uh
and i and i love the grace of god i it's
in the word of god but sometimes we're
not so much taught about the
the gravity of what it means to violate
the commandments of the lord and yes
there's forgiveness for sin
but there's also grace to live in a way
that honors god and where we keep the
commandments of the lord so this is what
i want to say
there's two parts to jesus
there is
the part of jesus
which i would call
the part that creates your peace
and unfortunately
that
in many ways is about the only part that
many evangelicals know him as jesus
who has brought me peace through
salvation
i have put my faith in christ and i've
been born again yes and you are born
again and yes you're on your way to
heaven
but
if you only know him
as jesus the man of peace
then you're going to miss out on some
other areas so you need to know the
second part of jesus because
that part of peace
that creates that
security in your life that god loves me
and i'm saved and i'm going to heaven
okay and that's good that was precious
comforting feeling
but the other part of jesus is his
principles
and it is his principles that creates
your prosperity
and so while you can love jesus because
of his
of the peace he brings into your life if
you are touching any areas
that we could call lawlessness or you're
violating the law of god which is
violating the word of god in any area
then it will affect your prosperity it
will affect the way the blessing can
work in your life whether it can flow or
be limited or restricted or constricted
so these things are very very important
because most people
they only know jesus
from that area of two parts the first
part being his peace
now when i say two parts of jesus most
people think oh that would be his
humanity and his divinity merged
together in one that's not what i'm
talking about although that is a fun
subject but i'm talking about
his peace the person of jesus that
creates your peace and the principles of
jesus
many of those i was never taught when i
was younger in the faith i was never
taught about the principles of jesus
that if you do these things you work his
word work his principles that create
your prosperity i was never taught that
oh but i knew god loved me and i loved
him but i had a lot of
goofed up areas in my life why i didn't
know principles i didn't know that jesus
really meant what he said
whoever hears these sayings of mine and
does them i will liken him to a wise man
who built his house on the rock so it
was like sometimes i was on the rock
sometimes i was on the sand and
sometimes i was in between it's like i
had one foot on the rock one foot on the
sand
oh my goodness and you know as a
believer you're wondering why are things
not working how come it's not uh working
out the way god says it's supposed to
because of certain areas perhaps where
we're violating principles
maybe even have a little bit of
lawlessness
that we just don't realize
how dangerous that is to be standing on
sand
and then of course when it's tested
because it always will be test will
always come to every single person it
means just because you're in the church
and in the faith doesn't mean you're
exempt the tests
the trials of life come to everybody the
storms as we would say
and so it reveals
where you're at really praise the lord
so my friends get glued
to the rock get glued to the word of god
and take all of the teachings of the
lord very very seriously
hallelujah glory to god and if you're
doing something that maybe before you've
done and you've laughed at it and you
you thought oh this is no big deal
suddenly realize wait a minute the lord
said don't do this
when the lord said in his word in the
book of ephesians no crude jesting now
yes that was paul that said that but
he's writing an inspiration by
inspiration of the holy spirit so it's
god's word when god said do not be
involved in course jesting well pastor
steven god knows we're human and he
knows yeah he knows
you're going over into the gray area to
the dark area don't do that oh pastor
steven we're all just human you're being
too serious
yeah i'm being i'm being serious because
i've been on the sand
uh too much when i was younger in life
and
don't want to walk over in those areas
anymore i'm not talking about i don't
want to go to the beach i'm just talking
from a spiritual perspective i don't
like sand i like being on the rock
praise the lord so if you find yourself
going over into something
that the lord said stay on the rock this
is sin then
you know
stay on the word praise the lord
be very careful because
it's almost like there's a war between
the republicans and the democrats now
i'm talking to the american audience
just for a moment
and
you have to be careful even
if
let's say you're a republican you have
to be careful that you don't slip into a
thing
where you
uh
get caught up in saying something that's
very dishonorable i know recently at a
church
the church allowed a political speaker
to speak
and the next thing you knew a chant
broke out in the church of a
popular slogan i guess
many people are saying of a conservative
nature when they get together uh and i
won't say what it is but it's um
it's
slang words for
very profane words and i can't say
something like that
even if i don't agree with the
president's policies and i think they're
awful
i can't i can't engage in that kind of
conversation and i'm glad the pastor
later repented he said i should have
never let that hap happen in my church
and uh he said i take responsibility for
that and that was wrong and so he
repented of that the lord bless him so
even if those we don't disagree with
we're supposed to even pray for our
enemies that doesn't mean we're doormats
and we let people stomp on us and do all
kinds of awful things to us because when
they were about to really rough paul up
one time he said you do know that what
you're about to do you're about to do it
to a roman citizen
and they were like you're a roman
citizen he said yes i sure am and they
suddenly they're like they backed off
because he's like i'm going to use my
legal rights i'm not just your beating
bag i'm not your punching bag or you're
you know somebody you can practice your
whip with you know
so
but at the same time while you can be
strong you're always respectful and
courteous
and we have to have
uh that balance of salt and light in a
world that can be very very nasty
because just because you can be
conservative doesn't mean you're born
again doesn't mean you're right with god
just just because you don't want to see
babies aborted which thank god you you
have that understanding and belief but
that doesn't mean that you've been born
again washed with the blood of jesus and
on your way to heaven
so that's my message as a preacher you
must be born again and then of course
when you're born again you need to live
right and yes what god said is wrong is
wrong
and these are awful things that many
politicians not only do and endorse
and
unless there's repentance there will be
eternal consequences for having done
such horrific things but my friends we
must
in these type of areas it's not like
pick sides
although yes i'm a conservative person
but even if you're conservative you
still need jesus or else you're going to
all end up in the same bad place you can
only be saved by faith through
salvation in christ alone not by quote
being a good person
while you should be a good person and
society works a lot better when we're
good people
nobody nobody is good enough to get to
heaven on their own that's why you need
a mediator a go-between between you and
god and that man that person is jesus
christ
glory to god all right
so
what is wisdom
accepting christ knowing christ
following his commandments staying on
the rock
because there's storms everywhere right
now there's all kinds of financial
storms there's
disease and germs and sickness storms
and flare-ups of this and that
so we have to be really grounded right
now praise the lord lift your hands i
want to pray for you father bless your
people
and let them be on the rock in your word
day and night
and let us stay away from lawlessness
even even in these areas of
not speeding even in areas that we may
think are small but they still
we have to do what honors you we just
give you praise father god we thank you
help us to be sensitive to your holy
spirit
who quickens your word to us on a daily
basis
and we thank you father that we choose
to live
by being on the rock founded in your
word we thank you in jesus name bless
your people father in jesus name
amen praise god
well if you're watching today's program
and you've never gotten on the rock you
do that by putting your faith and trust
in christ and turning from your sin if
you've never done that before and you
would like to i want to invite you to
receive christ right now as your
personal lord and savior it's very
simple just pray this prayer from your
heart pray it after me say lord jesus
i'm a sinner
but you died on the cross to save
sinners
like me
jesus i repent
from my sin
i ask you to save me
come into my heart
wash me with your precious blood
and write my name
in your book of life
thank you jesus for save me saving me
in your name i pray
amen
and amen welcome welcome welcome to the
family of god praise the lord welcome to
the rock praise the lord all right let's
take holy communion today
grab some unleavened bread i use these
little bitty wafers if you don't have
one just grab a cracker
grab some grape juice that's what i've
got in my cup i would show you the
inside but i don't want to spill any
praise god amen and if you don't have
grape juice get something else to
substitute for the time being and the
lord will honor that okay
all right let's pray heavenly father we
thank you for
bread and the juice
we ask that you would bless it we set it
apart as being holy
and we thank you that this is now the
body
and the blood of christ and father as we
receive the flesh of the lord jesus we
thank you
that we want our lives to be word based
we want to live in truth we don't want
to ever live in a lie
father we don't want to ever
ever believe a crazy lie that people
would say that we came from an amoeba
that crawled out of the sea or something
as idiotic and stupid as that one father
it says in your word you created the
heavens and earth you created adam and
you created eve from out of adam and
lord you are the creator of all of these
things and lord your word stands as the
highest authority over any other
thing that would be out there so we look
to your word for truth so that we might
be on the rock because anything else is
sand
thank you
thank you father for your word we
receive your flesh
now
thank you lord jesus father in jesus
name amen
let's receive
praise the lord
don't go to a lying preacher
just because you want him to tickle your
ears
you can find preachers out there that
tell you anything you want
if if a person says well you know i
don't think there's anything wrong with
this
i think i should be able to live with
that person if i want to i don't we
don't need to be married or we don't
even need uh
to be different sex we can we can do
whatever we want i'll look there's
preachers out there that'll tell you
anything
that you want they have
they have no standard they're not on the
word what are they doing
they are practicing lawlessness some
even teach it
and some even do it with a very bold
face some wear clerical robes when they
do it and even hold up a cross some even
sprinkle holy water or call it holy
water
while they'll tell you that you can do
this and it's okay and god says in his
word this is wrong
this is wrong
i'm telling you
the consequences of being on the sand
they can be eternal
well pastor stephen i don't know about
that
well let me just say this
being wrong
is something that you would have to live
with for all eternity
in a very hot place
if you know what i'm talking about
so don't take that chance get on the
truth get on the rock amen father thank
you for the blood of jesus
the only remedy for sin
faith and trust in christ through his
shed blood
and father we ask as believers in christ
that if we have committed any sin
we ask that you would forgive us of our
sins
wash them away cleanse us from all
unrighteousness
thank you o god
and father we forgive anybody anyone
who has sinned
against you
and father we thank you for your mercy
and grace
father i think i can't help but think of
so many people every day that profane
and blaspheme your name with the
abbreviated expression of g d
they they stub their toe and they shout
gd
the full
words out and
something goes wrong and they shout this
and lord people all day long curse your
sacred holy name
god have mercy on them
many of them don't know what they're
doing they have no idea they're
practicing lawlessness for you said in
your word you shall not take the lord's
name in vain
father we give you praise let there be
cleansing and forgiveness so that we
live right
my friends i was in church as a young
boy
i was about eight years old and uh i was
in a
the young people's bible study
uh everybody in there was probably
between the ages of 14
and six i was probably right around
eight years old
and uh the teacher there was a
very kind man and a very good teacher
and one of the young
one of the young boys he said the word
uh he said he said this word in a
sentence and the word was d-a-n-g
okay so he did not say like a real
blasphemous word but he said the word
d-a-n-g like d-a-n-g it or something
like that
and the instructor stopped and he said
he said young man he said don't use that
word and he said well i didn't use a
curse word he said i know you didn't but
it's too close to the curse word it's
like the cousin of the cursed word
don't see how close you can get to
lawlessness and dance around it don't
say something like that
and i still remember that today be
careful with these things these words
because jesus meant what he said
father we thank you for the blood of
jesus we receive his blood now with
great thanksgiving
in jesus name
amen let's receive the blood of christ
oh praise the lord
glory to god amen my friends go today
and continue to build your life on the
rock
the teachings
the sayings of god's word
thank you for watching and god bless you
i'll see you back next time