good morning my friends i'm pastor
stephen brooks and welcome today to our
midweek bible study called morning glory
i'm so happy that you have joined me
today
and i want to invite you to grab your
bibles
and meet me in the small little book or
we should say
technically correct a or an epistle
yes now we're using good theological
terms
let's go to the epistle of titus in
other words this is a letter
that paul wrote to titus
titus lived in crete and pastored
several churches there and he was
receiving good instruction
instructions how to shepherd and take
care of the flocks that he was
overseeing
and paul jumps into a different subject
here in chapter 2 verse 11 that we are
going to move in
here in just a moment let's open up in
prayer heavenly father we ask that as we
begin to study today's scriptures we ask
that your holy spirit
would illuminate the eyes of our
understanding
so this is not just ink on paper
this is not intellectual illumination
let this be spiritual illumination
father as we say let the light go on
on the inside give us understanding
to go to the top of mount zion
hallelujah and to be developed into the
image and nature of christ
the mature christ thank you father not
christ when he was a little child
maybe 10 or 12 years old but father take
us into the mature
image of your son let it be reflected in
us
through this teaching and understanding
of grace
in jesus name we pray amen
hallelujah and i believe god's going to
do it now
verse 11 i usually read from the new
king james version
there are some things about the new king
james version i love it's my
main teaching text it's the main bible
that i use
there are some other things that i don't
like i don't like how
the king james translators
particularly like in the old testament
highlighted
or not highlighted that's not the
correct word capitalize
that's the right word they capitalize
certain things
they should not have capitalized such as
the angel of the lord
and they thought well that's the
theophany of jesus back in the old
covenant
so we have to capitalize that to let
everybody know that's a theophany no it
wasn't it was an angel
and i don't like how they did that
because in the hebrew
and in the greek these
these names are not capitalized and so
when you start capitalizing even things
like
he and him and all of this it can get
very confusing
and that's what you run into with the
new king james
so there's not a perfect translation so
until we get to heaven
uh we have to work with limitations of
earthly tongues
but it is a great um version that i
teach
uh 100 of the time from now at other
times i'll bring in other
uh other versions i actually want to
read the niv
uh the niv is not as literal as
the new king james or the esv but it is
still
a very smooth and easy to understand
english version
now titus chapter 2 verse 11
and i want to read it from the niv
because it gives actually a better
translation
it says for the grace of god has
appeared
that offers salvation to all
people it offers salvation
to all people now i want you to
understand that the grace of god
through the gospel message and the
lifting up of christ
jesus as the messiah and savior
of the world okay that grace the grace
of god has appeared that offers
salvation to all people
now let's move into verse 12.
it says teaching us okay
this is fascinating this is what i was
never taught
growing up i'm going to share some
things with you that
although i was raised in church from a
baby
my parents have always loved the lord my
dad's in heaven now my mom's still alive
but i was in church three times a week
whether i wanted to or not we were there
we were faithful church attendees
but i uh you know
you don't learn everything sometimes
that you need to learn
in certain settings or environments i
actually had
a vision one time and jesus
appeared to me face to face in a vision
and he told me that one of the reasons i
struggled in certain areas
of my christian walk was because
of certain things that i was never
taught
now let that sink in for a moment don't
let it mystify you because
you could go to a school system and you
could graduate
that school system and still never learn
how to budget a checkbook
all right you can go through the
american school system
from elementary junior high and high
school
and get out and not even know how to
trade a stock
not even know how to open a stock
account you could it's just amazing
sometimes
what you're not taught that you can be
taught all kinds of other
uh other things that you're never going
to use
in your entire life but you're required
to learn it maybe some of it was good
some of it i'm sure uh was a waste of
time reading certain books that were
just
you know just a bunch of baloney really
but at least i'm sure it helped us to
develop our reading skills
whatever but many of the things that
that could have really helped us in life
such as how to open a bank account how
to budget your money things like that
you know we were never taught so we had
to learn that later
and sometimes we had we had to learn it
real quick
or learn it after there was a mess well
it can be like that in your walk with
the lord and you
might be surprised at some of the things
that can slip
by you there has been
in some ways a deterioration
of what we would call the apostolic
faith
let me give you an example of what i
mean by that
kenneth hagin he passed away in the year
2003
was a great prophet of the lord he had a
visitation from jesus
and the lord told him one time
that if he did not teach the
type of messages that he was teaching
then
there were there would be certain truths
that what we would call the old
pentecostals okay from the 1800s and
early 1900s
those truths would be lost completely
to the incoming generations because
they had re-dug some wells the
pentecostals from the 1800s early 1900s
they had re-dug certain wells about
prayer and intercession
and the deeper walk with god principles
of holiness
and principles of self-control that
former generations a lot of a lot of
them uh
some of the the people that are alive
today don't even know anything about
stuff like that so
let's just say that you were a young
person today
and you got saved and you start to learn
certain things
where you're going you're going to learn
from the teachers
that are presenting certain truths today
and there can be
you know depending on the culture
depending on the nation that you live in
there can be an erosion of theirs of
those truths
there can be political pressure that
would endeavor to
back a preacher down from saying certain
things when's the last time
that you heard a well-known preacher
on television on christian television
say that homosexuality is a sin when's
the last time you heard one of those
real popular preachers say
they'll never say it they'll never say
it is
is it a sin yes the bible clearly
defines
the various forms of sexual immorality
but yet there are certain things oh
don't talk about that
we'll lose half the members well half
the members they may be there but
that doesn't mean they're in uh god's
sheepfold
i'm not saying they're not saved but i
am saying you can sit there
and not know major major things and if
you don't know it
you're not going to get to the top so
the truth of god's word
is out there it's first of all this in
the word
but you know there's a lot of things in
the word
that it comes through an unveiling
that's what the word revelation means
the last book in the bible written by
john the beloved
apostle is called the revelation of
jesus christ
the word revelation basically means
an unveiling and it's like pulling a
curtain back
and you see something for the first time
here's here's the
the crazy thing about it you may see it
for the first time
but it's been there right in front of
you the whole
time for whatever reason your you just
did not have the spiritual
perception or spiritual vision to hear
it
see it or perceive it and it escaped you
even if there was somebody teaching it
for whatever reason you had
blinders on uh i've had things like that
happen and i remember
certain points in my life in my journey
with the lord where certain blinders
came off and i said my
lord that's the truth and it was so
close
it could have reached out and grabbed me
almost but
it took the holy spirit to cause the
unveiling to take place
uh it says here in verse 12 that grace
teaches this grace of god it teaches
now that word teach is a little bit
light in the in the regard that it means
it means something broader than that
when it says teach it means to instruct
it means schooling it also
heavily denotes training and
disciplining
wow that's fascinating glory to god
so i was raised in church all of my life
uh i got water baptized when i was
i can't remember somewhere like around
junior high but i didn't know really
what i was doing i just got wet
but later in high school uh i got saved
i knew i knew when my heart got right
with god i it literally felt like
two thousand pounds came off my
shoulders i knew i'd been born again and
then
i got baptized after that and it meant
something to me
praise the lord but my friends that
is just the beginning salvation
is the beginning it's the new birth
experience
and if that's all you ever had as a
believer and you're born again and
christ is in your heart
well it certainly beats going to hell
doesn't it hallelujah
raise your hands and say praise god but
the lord has
more he's got a whole lot more for you
and even in the book of hebrews the
apostle paul talked about
various elementary truths
and it really would be unfortunate
and if we would be honest extremely
boring to stay in elementary school all
of your life i i mean
i remember i don't remember much about
first grade i remember a little bit
for some reason i remember a lot about
third grade and then uh
fourth grade was a blur fifth grade was
a blur and then you know you know how it
is but
nevertheless i wouldn't want to repeat
those years
over and over and over again in other
words elementary truths
learn them get established in them and
then just keep on moving
all right let's go further i believe
that the baptism in the holy spirit
also is an elementary teaching after all
when paul was talking about elementary
truths
he talked about the various forms of
baptism
so the baptism of the holy spirit also
referred to in scripture as the
infilling of the spirit so i have i have
water in my cup
it's filled up to about here uh if it
gets overflowing then it starts going
over the top
the infilling of the holy spirit is when
you get filled to the top
and there's an overflow and when there's
an overflow
the speaking in tongues comes out praise
the lord
oh pastor stephen i've got i've got the
baptism in the holy spirit
i speak in tongues i'm sitting on the
top of the mountain on my lawn chair
enjoying the view no
you're just on a plateau it's not the
top you look up and you can see the
mountain
still going higher how many of you have
ever climbed various
mountains and you just you keep going up
and you start getting
you know you're up there but you just
think when's this going to end
and you keep going and going and uh do
you think you get to the top and then
clear ridge or something and then you
just keeps on going
and sometimes you could think this has
got to be it and then you look
when you get a different perspective and
you're like nope this is not over with
yet
so you keep on going and eventually
you do reach the summit and
grace will take you all the way
to the top god wants us to go up to
mount
zion a lot of christians camp
where their church camps at and
your church your denomination maybe was
involved in a move of god that's
probably how your denomination if you
belong to a denomination if you're in a
various stream of the christian faith
uh if you're in a denominational type
setting it's because there was a move of
the spirit
and there was a birthing of that
revelation of that truth and believers
joined to that work of god uh
you know and so you had the methodist
who they had a method through john
wesley
of evangelism and uh and then also uh
wesley's
ministry went a lot further than the
evangelist whitefield
because whitfield
he could really get the masses saved
wesley could get him saved too but then
wesley would immediately begin to
disciple them
and so he he had a more complete
structure in his ministry both great men
of god though
but my friends uh so many of the
denominations all
it all happened because there was an
emphasis of the spirit during that time
they caught that revelation and they
hung onto it and they camped
there and they said we love this truth
so much we're never going to move from
this position
well you're supposed to not camp there
you're supposed to celebrate that truth
but you need to keep on moving
because it's like out in the wilderness
with
israel you have to follow the cloud by
day
and the fire by night uh if you don't
follow the cloud by day
you will have the difficulties of
enduring with the blistering
sun because the cloud provided shade
and a form of air conditioning that
protected them
and so you follow that cloud it block
out the sun
and you could have some relief and it
really
helped you to go in the right direction
so you need to keep moving
you need to keep moving you need the
holy spirit is continue
continuing to release revelation and
truth
that we need in order to be conformed
fully into the image of god's dear son
so there is a lot of teaching that must
take place in other words this teaching
schooling training disciplining
praise the lord these are things that
the holy spirit is constantly working
with us to develop
us and to get us to know what it is that
he wants us to know
so that we can keep going up the
mountain and not camp
whew praise the lord there was a place
it was probably about oh maybe
26 or 27 years ago when i looked at a
certain
ministry and i thought lord if i could
join that ministry
be involved in that in the work that
that ministry is doing
i would be the happiest person on the
planet and
surely there would be nothing greater or
more fulfilling than than being involved
in
that work but you know what god
had a totally different plan for me and
now
where i'm at now with the things that i
know now
that i would call the full gospel
sometimes we call it a pentecostal type
message which believe we know in other
words we believe in modern-day miracles
and signs and wonders and things like
that
well if i had gone the route that i had
wanted to get connected with a certain
ministry
well i found out later they didn't even
believe in miracles modern day miracles
they didn't believe in tongues or
anything like that
great people happy people they loved the
lord but they had decided to camp
uh at an altitude that they were all
comfortable with and god was blessing
them there
no question about it but the lord says
hey you want to go higher
you can't camp you got to you got to
keep climbing so that's what i've
decided to do
by god's grace i've kept on going and i
pray and trust
that you will as well now
it may sound a little shocking to some
of you
to think that the baptism in the holy
spirit is not the ultimate apex
experience again it is an elementary
experience where you are in
filled with the power of the holy spirit
and you keep on walking but there's more
there's more praise god we must talk
about this
i think we need to talk about it because
let me give you an example before i
share some natural examples i'll give
you a natural example from the bible
we know that paul when he wrote
the letters to the church in corinth
that we know as first and second
corinthians
he really had to address issues
of i would almost call it bizarre
carnality now remember they are saved
and they all
speak in tongues watch this operate in
words of knowledge and
in prophecy and the gifts of the spirit
and they
despite being saved okay born again
and also being filled with the spirit
having the charisma the gifts of the
holy spirit
they were still carnal well pastor
stephen they had it all they were saved
they filled the spirit they had it all
no that's that's still that those are
elementary principles
and i have
over the decades have just come across
within pentecostal churches charismatic
type churches
christians that love the lord speak in
tongues love miracles and signs and
wonders can prophesy
but yet at the same time if you did
business with some of these people they
would
uh whoo wow
you you'd lose your shirt and you know
what they wouldn't be troubled about it
one bit
they wouldn't say well i'm sorry you
know that was wrong i was dishonest i
cheated from you i lied to you i
you stole your money or whatever that
they wouldn't do anything they just keep
on going uh
you know keep on and also keep on going
the church
and the lord he wants us to be
developed he wants you to understand
that you're not supposed to live
in a place where sin just keeps
triumphing over you
now we know here that grace
teaches grace instructs
so for the last 10 years
the church has had a good dose i'd call
it a mega dose
of grace teaching how many of you know
what i'm talking about
and there are some excellent grace
teachers out there you have uh
andrew womack who's probably one of the
best and he's an
excellent teacher great man of god you
have joseph prince
over in singapore preaching grace does a
great job
and the message of grace to many other
ministers and
who knows how many books that were
written on the subject of grace
those of you that have been in the body
of christ for rob you know what i'm
talking about the subject of grace went
bananas i mean
it seemed like every preacher every
pastor was talking about the subject of
grace
for about a span of 10 years here
was the emphasis that was being taught
the emphasis that was being taught
remember there's two sides to every coin
here's what's being taught is that if
you have sinned
god's grace is there upon your
repentance
to cleanse you to forgive you and to
reestablish you
oh and it was a wonderful message and
the message was anointed by the lord and
trust me
having come out of a denomination that i
grew up in
that was ultra legalistic
and of course anytime you have legalism
you're going to have condemnation like
but
like crazy and uh we had a lot of
condemnation i mean
that not one man could ever pray in our
church
without closing the prayer god please
forgive us of our sins
we could literally pray five minutes
later and the prayer would close
god forgive us of our sins in it every
prayer we had was all
it was all sin conscious we all felt so
unworthy
we all felt so condemned that we loved
the lord
but we had no concept of grace so that
message of grace really
shot through the body of christ globally
and percolate it down to the many
different denominations and
even even small churches all over
america
that really needed to hear that and many
people begin to realize god does love us
god's not mad at us god wants us
blessed and healthy and healed up and uh
not all condemned and feeling miserable
and so people began to realize that god
would forgive them of their sins
and so it was a beautiful message but it
was incomplete
and here's why because of what paul
is going to go into right now now the
message of grace that was taught was
necessary to get the condemnation
off of the people of the lord but
grace not only has the power
and the ability to bring forgiveness
and to lift your face back up to look at
the lord eye to eye
and not feel all unworthy and dirty and
condemned but
grace has the ability
to empower you not to sin in the first
place
and that that was not really the
emphasis of the grace message
throughout the previous decade and
that's that's okay
that's okay i'm just here to say that
if you want to get to the top of the
mountain
this is a message this is this is a word
or verses from god that are essential
and you can't climb to the top
without working on the other side of the
coin
let's talk about these things now for
the grace of god
that brings salvation
has appeared to all men teaching or
instructing us
number one denying ungodliness
denying it well pastor stephen god knows
if i yield and give into it
god knows if i tell him i'm sorry uh you
know do my best you know to
you know try to do better he'll forgive
me yes
you know when you're sincere and you you
know you tell the lord lord i've
helped me lord you know he'll he'll
forgive you absolutely you repent the
moment
you do is he takes it's it's washed away
no problem
no problem but how about denying it
next time it comes up so that you don't
stumble and that you don't yield or give
into it
how about that because that the grace of
god will teach you to do that
now these were things i was never taught
uh
you know we we'd have youth group at
church when i was a teenager and
you know it kind of revolved around just
you know pizza
and half-baked messages that you know a
youth pastor taught that i couldn't even
have time understand what he was talking
about and
uh you know but he didn't study or
anything like that so he didn't really
know anything so we're just kind of
going through the church system
but we're not learning anything and we
all love the lord
but individual in our individual lives
we're just not walking in victory and as
is because we were never taught
the principles of grace that grace will
teach you it will instruct you to deny
ungodliness now i like again the niv on
this it says
saying no no to ungodliness
oh but pastor stephen everybody else is
doing it well maybe everybody else is
going to hell
not me by the way not everybody else
is doing it there's a lot that aren't
and uh
you know it's usually the minority
the small small percentage that's over
into these areas of perversion
and gross sin yet they want to amplify
that like
everybody's doing it no not everybody's
doing it absolutely not that but they
want everybody to agree with it
well i'm not going to agree with it i'm
going to agree with god's word
and i'm also not going to be doing
things like that
see denying ungodliness so you just
when you have these opportunities to
participate in ungodliness
you just deny it you say no no
oh pastor steven god understands though
that we're weak
god understands that we're human well
god understands that he expects you to
say
no you know how about
how about that side of the coin see i
i'm just trying to say there's a lot of
christians they've never
ever been taught this side of grace
now let me jump back to good old john
wesley just for a moment
he began to understand this side of
grace
oh he'd been in the church for quite
some time
and loved god and had a good
ministry but when he began to understand
more of this
he found it so revealing
and life-altering in his christian
journey
that he actually coined or termed a
phrase
that those of you that study theology
would know this is called
the second work of grace in other words
the first work of grace would be
salvation
you're born again you're saved oh well
pastor stephen the second work of grace
is the baptism in the holy spirit
no no the baptism in the holy spirit is
just that that's the baptism of the
infilling of the holy spirit
but this is something different this is
that grace
working in you in the saved
spirit-filled believer by the way
let's just be honest with john wesley
and the methodist church
when that was rolling and john wesley in
the power days of his ministry
all of the gifts of the spirit were
manifest were in manifestation
in his ministry and if you're a
methodist and you're watching me
don't read the current history books on
methodist history
go back and get the old history books of
the way it really was
and you'll find that miracles and signs
and wonders
were taking place in almost every single
meeting
where wesley preached to the degree
even when he would have the massive
outdoor meetings
and the crowds were huge and sometimes
people would want to see him because
the size of the of the crowd some people
would climb up in the trees
before he would start speaking and
getting into the message he would tell
people come down from the trees
because the holy spirit is going to move
and when he begins to move
if you don't climb out of the tree now
he said you're going to fall out of the
trees later when the holy spirit begins
moving
well of course many would climb down out
of the tree out of reverence and respect
for what he said
you always have a few knuckleheads that
are sit up there in the tree anyhow
think nothing's going to happen to them
but they all fell out of the trees when
the anointing came and the spirit of god
would begin to move and
the the symbol of the methodist church
today is the flame
uh but you have to understand that flame
is rooted in the power of the spirit the
flame representing the holy spirit
was rooted in the power of the spirit
that was there
in the early days of that ministry by
the way i'm teaching to you
from an old methodist church building
here in moravian falls this building
this actually
the room i'm sitting in was built in
1910 this is the
updated edition this is the 1910 version
and right behind me is the larger
sanctuary where i stream at on sunday
mornings that was built in 1877.
uh this is a church that came together
from two churches
that were both born or formed in the
1830s
actually in 1830 itself and they
functioned they were healthy and strong
but then they merged together in 1877
the church was called beulah
beulah being a hebrew word that means
married to the land
and the church thrived and prospered for
many years
and we are now privileged to own this
historic
and beautiful facility so i've always
loved john wesley
never knew that i would end up owning a
methodist church building but we're
happy
to keep whatever part of that legacy
alive praise god i liked wesley because
he said
he said the world is my pulpit and i
take that same
biblical approach and who knew
that we would have internet and
satellite television
and things like that and thus the word
has become
a true fulfillment praise god but john
wesley called it
a second work of grace after having
known the initial salvation experience
after having known the power of the holy
spirit
and miracles happening in the meetings
and he was a person that was like
look we're going to let the miracles
happen but we will not sensationalize
this
not one bit we're not we're not going to
get into fanaticism
we've got enough criticism already
because anytime god's moving
the enemy is going to try to you know
find areas to critique and
and you know cause trouble so he said we
will not get into fanaticism
uh and when the supernatural does happen
we're not going to sensationalize it but
trust me it was
it was happening so they were very very
even keeled
and i like that praise god so he
understood
that this grace message can really help
you get to the top
when you understand it from the aspect
that it will teach you instruct you
to walk in the power
that god has given to you as a believer
it will instruct you to deny
ungodliness well i'm just used to giving
in pastor stephen well you need to start
getting used now to denying it
if anything has conquered you before any
habit maybe there's a current habit that
just
uh really uh you know gives you a hard
time
it's time to understand that god's grace
teaches you not to put up with it or
endure it but
to deny it and say no to it
with great authority teaching us that
denying ungodliness and
worldly lust so we need to number one
deny ungodliness
number two grace is teaching us to deny
worldly
lust well pastor stephen you understand
that
when we go to the beach uh pastor
stephen everybody takes their clothes
off and
and runs around naked at the beach oh
so you just do what the world does huh
and that's amazing that
you would never go to a church service a
public gathering
say like on a sunday morning have maybe
a couple thousand people in the service
you would never show up ladies let me
spell you know as an individual you
would never show up with just your broad
your panties on
walk into a church like that people
would fall out thinking lord have mercy
what are you doing
what if the pastor came out into in like
a little um
what's that called a speedo bikini not a
not a bikini just a speedo
what if the pastor came out in a speedo
people would say my lord has lost his
mind
but yet you'll have other christians
they'll go straight to the beach the
moment they get to the beach all the
clothes come off everything comes off
everything comes off except a little
string somewhere
well pastor stephen what am i supposed
to do that's just what we do that's what
the world does
oh pastor stephen it's too hot it's too
hot
grace grace will see grace
instruction has elements of discipline
to it
and also it's implied correction
denying worldly lust well
pastor stephen there are certain shows i
like to watch
oh okay well
you know some of these shows can be real
sensual
in nature be careful
just be careful with all that stuff you
know i had a pastor one time he really
loved james bond
and you know i'm not i'm not trying to
play holy spirit i'm not get i'm not
going to like
try to say this is right this is wrong
i'm just saying
be careful with things you know as this
one pastor he really
he wanted to be suave not
i don't know i guess he forgot he was
married and had children but he
he still wanted to be mr james bond
suave
cool i mean well all the bond movies are
about
bond getting the women i mean you know
trying to look cool and stuff like
that's all it's about it's
it's sensuality and sexual overtones and
sexual comments and it's all geared
towards
th this type of worldly lust and if you
entertain that
you're going to start acting like that
you're going to start you know
looking and talking and behaving and on
and on it goes
on and on it goes praise the lord
well pastor steven i mean do you expect
me to walk around looking like a nun
or or monk
[Laughter]
well not really you know um
but i'm just saying that balance the
holy spirit will teach you all of that
there's there's grace
you know ladies you know when you're
doing things that you know what you're
doing
to try to you know stir something up you
know what you're doing
and uh grace
grace just puts the stop sign on that
praise the lord if you want to get to
the top of the mountain
hallelujah glory to god
hallelujah thank you jesus we're having
fun today
these are things that old-time
pentecostals
got it down pastor steven they were
stiff and religious
they sure were holy though they sure saw
a lot of miracles in their meetings
didn't they the early pentecostals saw a
lot of miracles
in their meetings uh and some of those
things we
we rarely see we rarely see
actually one of the comments i get when
i minister when i go out minister and
start praying and
asking god to heal people and start
ministering to people
is one of the comments i get is that
uh pastor stephen you remind me of some
kind of like old-timey
pentecostal preacher from another
generation from like another era why
why why did they say that because they
haven't they don't they don't see the
type of manifestations
that are taking place they don't see
that today they
just don't see it so i believe
that if you want to go to the top
you're going to need the grace of god
yes
to cover forgive wash away sin but also
and i would say even more importantly to
stay strong in the first place and to
keep on going
denying denying denying no no no
and i know what it's like you know i
wasn't i wasn't born behind a pulpit
you know i wasn't born here preaching
with the bible
you know on the internet i i grew up and
you know learned a career and
i learned a trade skill which was
plumbing worked out on the plumbing
field and then
you know went into uh uh you know
plumbing sales and things like that and
i've had
have guys you know say hey let's go out
and the squad
you know eat together or you know let's
go drink together and all it would ever
be is just crude conversation
that you know was all crude jesting
loaded with profanity and alcohol and i
just i would never go
i would never go and they they knew that
was all it was and so
um but i had all i everybody at any job
i ever worked at they
all really loved me they all respected
me because i was never like um
you know holier than that you can't you
can't do that they're sinners they they
do what they're supposed to do they sin
right it's not shocking or surprising at
all so
we have to we have to do our part and
love people
and you know even daniel he was in the
court
there at babylon working under the king
of nebuchadnezzar
and so you know you just have to find
that balance you could be in the most
uh ungodly place and there's times when
you don't have to
go do certain things and you you know
you know i don't need to be doing that
anyhow i don't need to go to that
i know what's going on back there you
know whether they're you know doing
cocaine or whatever it is and a lot of
these ceo offices and stuff like that
you don't need to be messing with stuff
like that you need to you need to stay
pure
stay clean even though obadiah when he
was standing
and serving next to ahab one of the most
wicked
rulers that israel ever had the king
ahab
and yet here is a man who is the right
hand servant of the king
hiding all of these prophets in a cave
and feeding
them multiple times a day over 100
over 100 prophets and uh he somehow has
to have that balance of living a holy
life
and still called to serve ahab at the
same time
so these are things that you just work
out by the holy spirit
and you endeavor to live the life that
god wants you to
but let me tell you just right now
there's a lot of denying with grace
grace will teach you to deny deny deny
no
no no and the world will say well come
on you know no no
no
hallelujah praise the lord denying
ungodliness
denying worldly lust
some of you men go to certain sporting
events that are
very crude and disgusting
where men pulverize and beat each other
and um there's a lot of that stuff goes
on
not just on tv but also gray market
black market where
it's um it's awful and
you know what this is gladiator lust
this is this is literally a lust for
blood where
it becomes a sport so you have to really
ask yourself why am i sitting
in the midst of such filth as this
of men that want to see and you know a
lot of ladies go to it now and
even the ladies fight each other now and
fight and curse and you know act like
the men now
and you know there's a lot of money and
all of that but what kind of an
atmosphere is that
for a person who wants to walk with god
oh i i know a lot of christians go to
that i i'm not saying they're not say
you probably have some guys in there
that fight that do that stuff and yet
yet they're christians but if you want
to go to the top
and walk with the lord in the holy
places with god and
look you're going to have to make some
decisions
about these things of ungodliness and
worldly lust now it doesn't stop
continues to teach us that we should
live
soberly while grace is doing all of this
okay uh this is the site so often that
was not
taught over the past last decade but
we're going to talk a little bit about
it today a little bit more
number one this grace will instruct you
to deny ungodliness
number two this grace will will instruct
you to deny and say
no to worldly lust number three
this grace will instruct you that you
should live soberly soberly
not sour you know that it doesn't say
that doesn't mean you're supposed to be
a prune you know walk around you know
you know you know just kind of like try
to act like you're ultra religious or
something like that no that's not what
it just means to be sober and this
is not what we would call an individual
type
virtue well i'm sober that that's not
like an individual thing
really in the greek this means that your
whole
nature as an as a person
is that of being sober so it's just
something that's part of your character
it's it's a part of who you are you're
sober and
be careful after great victories please
hear what i'm saying
when something goes really well for you
yes praise god
rejoice but stay grounded
stay sober stay sensitive
sometimes if there's a victory
maybe it's because there was competition
if there's competition
your victory meant someone else lost
don't gloat over them don't run around
with your medal saying i won
i won and and they're over there totally
destroyed wiped out
and you know i i won and you well you
did but
there's something of much more value
than a medal or back in their days an
olive wreath put on your head it's
loving other people it's reaching out to
other people
it's knowing that they have a heart too
they're human too
and you just you just want to walk
in this soberness that
we really are ambassadors for the lord
and don't get all giddy and goofy when
stuff goes good
act mature act like you belong there
and just because it's a moment of
perhaps
elevation or a moment of lifting up
don't let it go to your head and start
acting all goofy
stay sober praise the lord
hallelujah you'll actually enjoy it more
if you if you don't get light hit it and
airhead it
you will enjoy it more if you stay sober
and you just realize this is a blessing
of the lord
i thank god for god's help and others
who who supported me and helped me to
get here
and i'm glad we won or i'm glad we got
the contract or i'm glad
we're able to you know close this out
i'm glad that this is taking place we
praise god for it
and you know just uh have that have that
soberness and never belittle people
never
never um
never take your strengths and use them
to intimidate or push others down always
love others
praise god because you remember what it
was like
in previous times of your life when you
were down low
and you remember what it was like when
others would try to
use their leverage to you know rule over
you
and the lord said we're not to be like
that so be sober
be sober now
the word sober denotes primarily
a self-control it is a it's a
self-control where you can be joyful
you can be happy but remember don't go
cuckoo hallelujah that's why i liked
and i still like a lot of these early
ministers from the 1700s and 1800s who
saw great miracles
but said we're not going to say we're
not going to sensationalize this
look i don't go walking around with the
camera with me everywhere i go
well pastor stephen if you did that you
could capture miracles but
look i'm not holding a phone up to
everybody to record everything you
you will strip the genuineness of the
experience
i mean you're trying to pray for them
they're looking at the hey are you
recording
this i mean i mean it's just to promote
you
what are you doing i'm not criticizing
the ministers who do that
i take my phone with me but i'm not not
recording everything i i just i live i
live for the moment i don't live in my
phone i just live my life for the moment
yeah i enjoy my life whether it's
recorded or not most of the time i don't
even care
praise the lord now if it's a meeting or
something like that and something's
being recorded you know
that that's different but i don't i
don't have a camera strapped to my head
all the time
that's crazy i don't want to live like
that praise the lord
you can never talk to people normally if
you do that hey i want to talk to you
share
jesus with you let me get it on on video
so i can show everybody how spiritual i
am and how much of a soul winner i am
i know they're not going to open their
hearts to you they're just like hey man
i can't be will with real with you we
can't be one-on-one with each other
what kind of a weird thing is this
praise the lord so
just be careful with that there's a lot
of hype
in sensationalism and some people they
do it too that they do it to the t
they know they know they're doing it
they know they're using marketing
tactics and it's not gold it's brass
it's substituting the true gold the true
gold represents deity or divinity but
they can't get into the golden glory
so they're only on the brass level so
they hype it
hoping and realizing that most people
can't tell the difference between
brass and gold because brass can shine
up really good
and you shine the light on it it does
look a little bit like gold
except it's not
and his value in comparison
is dramatically lower so my friends
when the gold is here uh and the real
thing is here
um sure we'll have cameras we'll we'll
have meetings and we will
we will minister because it helps others
to see it and builds their faith
but uh no you you won't need to hype
anything you won't need the hype
anything and even if you never put it on
camera they would show up and people
would start pulling out their phones and
all of their stuff
so they can share it with others
hallelujah
there is a place for marketing
but you have to balance that and be real
careful you know don't don't get over in
the flesh
and try to substitute prayer
and preparation and calling out to god
uh for all these other things
really uh while the african church has
been
when i say the african church primarily
nigeria
while they've been in revival for over
40 years they've had their struggles
but they're doing good they've been in
revival non-stop for over 40 years now
but there was a period about
probably about 12 12 to 15 years ago
where they began to drift
some and begin to get over into
um marketing and you know
let's just let's just promote the
meeting through brochures let's promote
the meeting through television
and we don't need to do all this prayer
and we don't need to do all this fasting
and uh
you know we'll just promote the meeting
and uh that the lord really rebuked
that direction through prophets by the
holy spirit
because what got them there what
brought the move of god trust me was not
a brochure
come to the meeting look how good the
brochure is they didn't
when it started they didn't have all of
that so if you want to maintain it
you have to stick with what got you
there
and they made those adjustments got back
on track praise the lord
thank you jesus hallelujah
all right let's continue on so we have
we have this teaching
of grace that instructs us
that we should live soberly
hallelujah thank you jesus you can be
free in the holy spirit
you can be loose and free hallelujah but
there's a sobriety in the spirit
thank you lord jesus and also we are
instructed next this would be number
four
to live righteously i like that
righteously it means upright there are
some things
that are right and there are some things
that
are wrong and if god said
that's wrong if god identified that is
wrong
it will be eternally wrong well i don't
know about that pastor stephen
well god said stealing
is wrong and because god identified it
as being wrong the moment he did
it eternally became sinful
so a million years from now uh stealing
will still be
sinful well i i don't know about that
pastor stephen well
you know there's there is a way to live
right and there are things that are
wrong now there's a lot of things that
god said they're they're good to go
you know certain things you said like
with food
that you can eat all you want talking
about you know the vegetables and the
fruit and
apples or oranges yeah you eat all you
want okay
it's not unlawful you have all you want
but there's other things he said this is
sin
sexual immorality is a sin well now
pastor stephen we have to adapt to uh
you know cultural norms no i i'm not
adapting to that i'm sticking with god's
word
because grace teaches me to
live righteously there's right living
there's wrong living
you know so many of the things
that the world presents as being fun
the reality of it behind
the scenes it's like it's not fun
it's not fun at all it's propped up as
being fun
as being happy because they want to
they want it to be accepted and they
want people to accept their sin
but behind the scenes when the cameras
aren't rolling
it's a big yucky mess
and it's just a bunch of it's a bunch of
pain
and agony it's a bunch of sickness and
disease
and it is all a result of disobeying
god's word and he said don't do that
they would
people go and do it and the next thing
you know it's it's releasing that
curse of sin into your life
with awful consequences
praise the lord so we are going to live
soberly righteously next it instructs us
that we shall live
godly godly
now this denotes character that is
consistent
with the character of god
i i was a young man one time sitting in
a bible study
and i was i was single i wasn't married
but i really loved the lord and i
anytime my pastor taught uh whether it's
sunday morning or sunday night or the
wednesday night bible class i was always
there well it was the wednesday night
bible class and it was all adults
and he was teaching real good and
everybody had their notes in their bible
and
everybody was being real attentive and
the pastor
he kind of got into the theological flow
and uh you know he was trying to teach
you know a little bit a little more
deeply you know using the theologian's
voice and
he kind of said you know in a very stoic
way and uh what
does it mean to be godly you know and
everybody thought like yes that's real
deep
you know we'll never know it's it's too
deep and he said mmm
what does it mean to be
godly hmm i said it means to be like god
you know people started laughing and
stuff like that and he said oh
yeah he stops that that's that's really
good actually he said stephen that's
really good
to be godly means to be like god so
we should live godly we should have a
character that is consistent
with his praise god
thank you jesus hallelujah
have fun have fun be free but when you
stay godly
when you stay sober you won't be free
and then get crude
do you see what i'm saying i know some
ministers they're good good men
i've seen them get crude i mean talk
about things that that are just uh
whoa you shouldn't be going into that
and really get in the thing and then
start using languages that that language
that uh
you know you can keep on preaching but
every your whole audience your their
mind is still back on the statements you
just said
a few minutes ago you're never going to
be able to get them off that and they go
in the
they go in the areas and say things that
are very crude and
uh i wouldn't say dirty but i am saying
you shouldn't
you shouldn't uh go into that
you'll never see that in the bible
you'll never see any minister of god's
word
talk like that so have fun be joyful but
always
keep that soberness there and always
keep
righteousness there and also that
godliness have that character there
so that you don't suddenly slip over the
edge and now you've done something
out of character out of the character of
god
so hold all of that together now grace
is not done
instructing the grace of god continues
to instruct us to do what
look for the blessed hope
and glorious appearing of our great
god and savior jesus christ
the anointed one now the blessed hope
and glorious appearing being of course
one and the same
is the return of the lord to take
the church his people home with him
the the second coming of jesus
will not be a coming where he comes back
physically to the earth to jerusalem
the second coming of jesus which is his
next coming
is jesus coming to take his church his
bride
out of the earth and taking his people
to heaven
so that the wrath will be poured upon
all the wicked sinners who rejected
christ
and the tribulation will
take place and we will be exempted
and kept from that we will be taken out
praise god that's what this is talking
about
grace will instruct you to be
desiring that in your heart praise the
lord of course many generations
have come and gone
since paul wrote these inspired words by
the holy spirit
but grace today will still instruct you
to be preparing your heart for that
glory to god and who knows
who knows that should the lord tarry
perhaps
perhaps he would still take you early
just like you took
enoch hallelujah because enoch never
died
and many of the rabbis teach
that it was not just enoch that walked
with god but there was a whole company
of people like enoch who were led by
enoch
there was a whole company of people that
had deep walk with god that were having
you know the the supernatural
experiences and the visions and the
glory
and all of that going on so just walk
with the lord
hallelujah walk with the lord and be
expecting the glorious appearing
of our great god and savior jesus christ
also also with that
coming of the lord there is
the coming presence of the lord there is
the coming of lord in the sense where he
could come to you
in a vision and appear to you and i mean
i've had the lord appear to me multiple
times and share things with me
uh and this happened before the catching
up of the saints ever took place
so in other words i'm i'm getting
prepared
and i'm anticipating this blessed hope
yes for the lord to come and to take us
with him
and at the same time he can still come
he may not take you home just yet
because
that's kind of like a corporate thing
he's going to do but
nevertheless you need to be ready to
meet the lord
praise the lord
thank you jesus all right let's go a
little bit further
who gave himself for us that he might
redeem us from every
lawless deed that he might redeem us
from every lawless deed and
purify for himself his own special
people
zealous zealous for good
works praise god that's the things that
god has called us to do
so grace really does teach grace
empowers you
to say no and i think
that we've had a lot of grace teaching
that just said well
you know god understands if whether you
said no or not or gave in or
uh it doesn't matter god will forgive
you and wash all your sins away and
god's grace is there for you you can do
whatever you want and you'll be okay
well that's not
the full teaching of grace grace will
always instruct you to say no
to deny that and the bible teaches us
to first of all resist the devil
well pastor stephen we can't he'll just
steamroll over he'll he'll roll over us
just like a steamroller
no he can't we would not be instructed
to resist him if we could not
do that so we are able to resist him
and when we do resist him he does
exactly what
god's word promises he will do he will
flee
from us thank you jesus
so there is a denying and the more that
you deny
and say no and stick with it and
overcome
you go from victory to victory and then
you start realizing
you know what i got through it i didn't
have to yield to it
i didn't have to give into it wow this
grace really works
never knew this side of grace before and
there's
millions literally millions of
christians
who don't know that sign who don't know
the side to
deny deny well you know pastor stephen
uh
culture has given in and you know we
just need to go along with it and
not cause any trouble and uh you know
just uh kind of do what everybody else
is doing not rock the boat
well not if that goes against biblical
principles
we are to deny that praise the lord
well pastor stephen we might get thrown
in the fire like
daniel or you know shadrach meshach and
abednego
did you know well you know it is what it
is praise god
but i'm telling you you keep walking in
this grace
you'll get to the very top you'll get to
the very top of where god wants you to
be developed into the image of his son
praise the lord praise god i'm telling
you grace will put a backbone in you
it'll put an iron rod in your back
and it'll turn a coward into a lion
absolutely that that's what grace will
do it'll yeah it'll cover your sins
yeah but it'll make you bold as a lion
also
that's that's what got a hold of john
wesley and it shook him so much
and changed his life so much he actually
called it the second work
of grace he actually said it was greater
a greater experience for him than
what was known what we would actually
call the baptism in the holy spirit i've
had other ministers say the same thing
that when they caught the full
revelation of this grace message
they said to them it was a greater
experience
it took them into a greater maturity
that even than what the baptism in the
holy spirit did
i believe that one thousand percent
pastor stephen i talk in tongues that's
good do you deny ungodliness well
well pastor steve but nobody's perfect
[Laughter]
glory to god um it's it's fascinating
it's amazing so keep this in mind
god resists
the proud but he gives grace
to the humble so grace
goes to the humble and grace flows down
in order that you may rise up
think about that grace flows down it go
it flows down to the humble it flows
down to you
in a position of humility so that you
can rise
up to the top whoa
praise god and that's exactly my friends
where you are going
praise the lord praise the lord
hallelujah praise god
thank you jesus grace will keep you from
compromising
praise you praise your lord where
pastor stephen where will this grace
take me to
it'll take you to the top here's here's
a great indicator
that it will make this verse come alive
to you
galatians chapter 2 verse 20 i have been
crucified with christ
it is no longer i who live but christ
lives in me and the life which i now
live in the flesh
i live by faith in the son of god who
loved me
and gave himself for me so grace will
bring you into that position
of knowing there has been a crucifixion
of the self-will
praise the lord
praise god father we give you praise and
glory
thank you lord jesus the grace of god
the grace of god to be molded into the
image of jesus
through teaching instruction
spiritual schooling and even spiritual
disciplining hallelujah
thank you father thank you father god
and every time you win you get
stronger every time you give in
every time you give in the grace of god
will be there for you
but if you want to go to the top every
time you deny
the temptation you go you go higher
praise the lord
praise the lord and that
must come by revelation so heavenly
father we just thank you for your word
let it be sealed in our spirits
we thank you for the new heights that
your people are going to go to
simply by learning to say
no now father i thank you that the
majority
of this grace being worked out happens
in our secret life
not so much in public father 90
of it is in our secret life in secret
manners and
activities and behaviors that nobody
sees
but you so father we thank you
for grace to say no
and to deny it to deny that urge to deny
it
somebody you're watching me and you know
exactly what i'm talking about that urge
that would feel overwhelming to go do
that thing
grace will instruct you
and will strengthen you to deny it
pastor stephen i break it down into a
cold sweat
oh well then just sweat while you deny
it pastor stephen i'm shaking all over
well shake while you deny it and say no
to it
pastor stephen i feel like i'm about to
i'm about we'll just get up go walk
around
go take a walk go take a long walk
hallelujah and just deny it the whole
time
and praise god and you'll discover
really what grace is all about
i would say a fuller understanding of
what grace is
praise the lord
praise god thank you lord jesus
some of you you're going to start to
walk in this grace and people are going
to say well
what's happened to you
[Laughter]
just say well you know i'm
i'm doing some things differently now
praise god
amen praise the lord
praise the lord it's going to be good
it's going to be real
good the lord's cleaning his church
pastor stephen we have a real problem in
our culture with marxism
and communism the socialism is on the
rise
yeah god knows all about that stuff and
you know that's pretty much out in the
in the american system or let me say
like that that's in the world that's
not so much within the people of god
it's just stuff out there for people
that you know would want to
you know kind of go on the anarchy and
you know
you know see a collapse and see a one
world government come forth and all of
that god knows all about that
but god primarily deals
with his people yeah all that's going on
out there god sees that
god and god's working also god god's not
out of surprises he got all kinds of
things he's going to do
the enemy has no clue what god some of
the things god's going to do
so while we see those things that are
out there that you know could be
concerning
and certainly we need to be praying
about but
remember we can't be saying oh that
stuff's wrong that's tough's evil
while we ourselves don't even
live or practice what we you know
proclaim that they should become
and i believe that's what the lord is
working on that's
what he's working on that's the thing
about discipleship and that's the thing
about
you know developing those that are born
again
in the walk of god we in many ways
replicate
what we are yes we we put the christ
that we know into them we
minister the knowledge of god that we
have into them
but we're going to put into them what we
have
and even if you put into them what you
proclaim and
but it's not the truth in other words
you're not really
you're telling them what to do but yet
you yourself
don't do it the message will replicate
exactly what you are
and so sometimes that's been why we see
so many believers that
it seems like it seemed like they missed
something well
paul was certainly solid and yet he
still you know struggled to get that
over to the church in corinth but he
certainly
he certainly didn't pull back on
teaching them what they needed to do
in order to make those corrections
neither did he do so
with uh titus when he's writing to him
and the churches that he's dealing with
they're they're in crete
he's not pulling any punches he's just
saying hey this is
this is the way we do it this is the
apostolic faith
this is the teaching handed down from
jesus christ
himself praise the lord
and it's rock solid and it will work and
it will make you into the man
or woman or boy or girl that god
wants you to be praise the lord
now if you're watching today's program
and you don't know jesus
well my friends eternal life begins with
him
and can only be found in him if you
would like to receive
this eternal life
where christ has abolished and has
overcome
spiritual death and has also overcome
natural death and will one day even
raise the believers up
the dead in christ will rise but the
most important thing
is that you need to be born again so
that the spiritual death
is taken out of you and the life of god
the spiritual life is put
into you if you would like to receive
jesus as your savior
and receive his eternal life right now
along with forgiveness of sins
please right now pray this prayer after
me
say lord jesus i invite you to come into
my heart
right now jesus i give my life to you
give me your new life
wash all of my sins away write my name
in your book of life jesus thank you for
saving me
right now in your name i pray
amen and amen and he has heard that
prayer
and he has saved you and you now belong
to him now if you are a christian but
you've walked away from the lord
and you're in sin you're in a very very
dangerous place come back to the lord
right now
the last thing you would want would be
to perish in your sin
having once known christ but walked away
from him
because you wanted to uh find out what
you were missing or
see if the grass was greener on the
other side well you found out
that there were some pleasures out there
but you've hit you've taken some
horrible hits and not only that
you've you've walked away from the lord
but he stands
stands calling out to you right now
right now if you are a believer
and you want to come back to the lord
pray this after me
say jesus i'm sorry
i walked away from you i repent of what
i've done
and i come back right now
jesus please forgive me please forgive
me
thank you jesus thank you lord restore
me unto you
right now restore me thank you jesus
and heal all the problems
and the issues i've got in my life thank
you jesus
amen and amen praise god
welcome back into the family of god
praise the lord forever my friends let's
take
holy communion today please grab some
unleavened bread grab
some grape juice
praise the lord stay stay sober some
really good things are going to happen
to you
don't get all giddy and goofy uh stay
sober
stay grounded yes be joyful be happy
you know rejoice in the lord all that
good stuff but stay sober
praise god
[Music]
thank you jesus father we thank you for
the bread the juice
we pray over it we bless it
we sanctify it with this prayer
we thank you that it's now set apart as
holy
thank you father this is the body and
the blood of jesus
so father we receive the body of jesus
his flesh we give you praise we thank
you
for your grace teaching us day and night
day and night grace is instructing us
thank you father to deny ungodliness
to deny worldly lust
to live soberly righteously and
godly in this present age thank you that
is teaching us teaching is teaching us
day and night to do these things
father we praise you we receive this
instruction thank you
thank you thank you we're going all the
way to the top
thank you father in jesus name let's
receive the body of christ amen
father thank you for the blood of jesus
thank you for his grace we have been
saved by grace
through faith thank you father for
cleansing and forgiveness
of all of our sins
hallelujah god it feels so good to be
in right relationship with you it feels
so good to be clean
not all dirty and messed up god we
praise you for the blood of jesus
that we are saved and going to heaven
hallelujah
thank you father god for the blood of
the lamb
father we receive the blood of jesus and
its
mighty soul cleansing power sin for
giving power
in his name we pray amen
and amen let's receive
hallelujah praise god
well my friends thank you for joining me
this morning for this little teaching
on the other side of the coin of the
subject
of grace i love both sides
but i just know that this is a side that
we don't get enough
and we need more of it and this is
something that the old time pentecostals
knew about they really did
have a great grasp on being sober
godly and righteous they really had a
good grasp on that
and we need to walk in that too these
are not just
you know truths for pastimes these are
eternal
truths for all time
praise the lord thanks for watching and
i'll see you back
next time bye-bye