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Pastor Steven Miles shares on Acts chapter 6 and the death of Stephen
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Pastor Steven Miles shares on Acts chapter 6 and the death of Stephen
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Pastor Steven Miles shares on Acts chapter 6 and the death of Stephen
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Beginning with verse 8 of chapter 6 of Acts. And Stephan, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people. Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia, and of Asia, disputing with Stephan. And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake. Then they suborned him, which said, We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God. And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes, and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council, and set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceases not to speak blasphemous words against the holy place and the law. And we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us. And all that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel. Let us pray. Our Father, we are grateful for this account of Stephan, a man full of faith, a man full of your Holy Spirit, a man full of power. And Lord, I desire so much this morning to see that same power, that same fullness, fill every life in this building this morning. In this church. That everyone in this place would be so charged of your Holy Spirit that it would show up on their face. Lord, I pray that you will break through the lies and the deceptions of Satan, and that you will give to us the glorious liberty that comes from thy presence, O Lord, filling us and flooding our lives and transforming us and changing us. Lord, I pray that you will do a work in me and through me as your servants here this morning, and that your Spirit will rest upon me and flow through me to your people. I pray this in Jesus' precious name. Amen. Amen. Praise God. This last verse of chapter 6 says, And all that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel. Now, just stop and consider the circumstances under which Stephen finds himself. Is he in a position of having the face of an angel, when you consider what is happening to him? What exactly is going on in Stephen's life at this moment? It's a real joyful occasion, is it not? He is standing before people who are very much against what he has to say. They are very much against all the things that he stands for. He is standing alone. There is no one there that agrees with him. He stands before his enemies. As he stands before his enemies, his face does not show fear, it does not show doubt, it does not show apprehension. It doesn't show all those things that ordinarily under similar circumstances you would find a man like this, standing with the type of countenance you would find on his face in a situation like this. He is in a desperate situation. His life is being threatened. His very life is being threatened. And yet, what is his face like? The Bible says his face is as the face of an angel. Why is it that Stephen could stand before these people with the face of an angel? What was it about him that made his face glow and shine? What made him what he was? These are the things that I want to talk to you about this morning. This message actually springs forth from months, years, weeks, anyway, of looking at your faces as I stand in this pulpit. This past week, as I was just between sleep and being awake in the middle of the night, I was just somewhere in between there, and all of a sudden all of your faces started coming in front of me. Not personally, I mean individual faces, but just the faces of the congregation. But the thing that really struck my mind as I saw all these faces of the people of God, the people in the Church, the faces were not happy faces. The faces that I saw, many of them were sad. They were downcast. They were not faces of an angel. They were faces of people in distress, people that were hurting, people that were having problems, all kinds of faces, and yet it was not the face of an angel. And the Lord started to speak to me about this passage of scripture, how Stephan stood before the council with his face shining as the face of an angel. And the question that came to my mind is, why is it that God's people's faces are not like Stephan's? What is it about God's people that causes their faces to be downcast? I'd like you to turn with me to the book of the Bible called Genesis, the first book of the Bible. I want to show you something that happened here, dealing with the countenance, which is the face, Genesis chapter 4, verses 5 and 6, talks about Cain, a man called Cain. It says in verse 5 of chapter 4 of Genesis, that unto Cain and to his offering God had no respect, and Cain was very rocked, and his countenance fell. And the Lord said unto Cain, why art thou rocked, and why is thy countenance fallen? Now notice the fact that God notices Cain's countenance. He notices the look on his face, and he asks the question, why is it, Cain, that your countenance is falling? How come? What has happened in your life that your countenance is falling? And this is something that I really felt was important for us to understand, that God sees your face. He looks upon your face as an individual, and he reads you. This is certainly as we read each other's faces. As I stand up here, I know what's going on out there. Everybody's watching my face. And they're not especially intentionally thinking, oh, what is the pastor thinking up there? But I know it does happen, because I do the same thing when I'm sitting out there, and I do the same thing to you. And you also do that to each other. We all do that. You know, I like to sometimes, you know, one of the things I don't like about church, a church like this, is that we never get to see each other's, you don't see each other's face unless you turn to the side. All you see is the back of somebody's head. So you don't know what they look like, unless they turn around. But I get to see all of you. I know exactly what's going on in your mind sometimes by the look on your face. And sometimes I don't like what I see. And sometimes, praise God, I like what I see. I see what God is doing in your life. There are some times when I, when you walk into this church, you're walking with a sullen look, but you walk out with a glowing face. And there are some people, I can watch them through the whole service, and their face never changes. They come in, and they go out the same way they came in. And that ought not to be. Something ought to happen in this service every Sunday that changes the look on your face. And if it doesn't affect your face, then it isn't affecting the rest of you either. I'm not saying that cruelly. I'm saying that honestly. I'm not trying to be cantankerous here, mean and ornery. I'm saying what is true. God saw King's face. He saw his countenance, and says, why is your countenance scarred? What's going on inside of you, King? What is going on? What is happening? And of course, God was aware of the fact that King had a scarred countenance. And he was aware of the fact that King had a scarred countenance. Had murdered his brother, or had at that point an attitude that eventually resulted in his murdering of his brother. I'm not saying that every time you come in the church you ought to have a smile on your face. Because I know and realize that there are times in which I don't preach sermons that especially generate smiles. There are times in which what I preach really makes us sullen. You may come in happy and leave really feeling miserable sometimes. Because Pastor Miles just stepped all over your toes. And sometimes I ought to. We need our toes stepped on. I had one gal in Ironwood, Michigan. She used to say, Pastor, you stepped all over my toes today, but I really love it. She was that type of person. Going to Nehemiah, there's a passage of scripture dealing with a man who named Nehemiah as he was in the presence of the King. Nehemiah chapter 2 and verses 2 and 3, the scripture says, talking about the situation, Wherefore the King said unto me, Why is thy countenance sad? Seeing thou art not sick, this is nothing else but sorrow of heart. Then I was very sore afraid, and said unto the King, Let the King live forever. Why should not my countenance be sad when the city, the place of my father's sepulchers, lies waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire? And so there are appropriate times for our countenance to be sad. There are times in which it's appropriate for us to have a sad countenance. And this is one situation. Nehemiah was carrying upon him a burden, a burden for his city, Jerusalem, whose walls were fallen, had been devastated, and so he was sullen, he was sad. And therefore the King noticed the sadness on his face. Going to another scripture that deals with sadness, and yet it changed, is in 1 Samuel chapter 1, dealing with Samuel's mother. In 1 Samuel chapter 1, and I'm going through several scriptures rather quickly here, in verse 18, it talks of the fact that she was sad. Hannah was her name. But in verse 18 it says, And she said, Let thine handmaiden find grace in thy sight. So the woman went her way and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad. But why wasn't it sad? Because as she had been praying before the Lord, Eli had been watching her. He thought she was drunk because she was mumbling, and she was at the altar, and he thought that she was drunk, but she was in sorrow. She was petitioning God on behalf of herself that she might have a son. And when Eli had indicated to her to go her way in peace, then her countenance changed. She was no more sad. And so she rose up and worshipped and left at that point. Turn to Psalm chapter 42. I'm going rather quickly through some of these things, I realize, but I want to cover some things, just showing you the scriptures. I want you to be aware of the fact that the Bible does talk about our countenance. It talks about the way we look, the way we react to situations. And Psalm 42, verse 11, says, Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance and my God. Now notice what this is saying. David, the psalmist, is asking the question, is actually asking himself, Why am I cast down? Why am I discouraged? Why am I down? And then he tells himself, Hope thou in God. And then he makes this statement at the end here, you know, and praise him, who is the health of thy countenance. Do you realize that the reason why we're so many times discouraged and sad is not just because of the circumstances, but because of what is going on in here? And what goes on in your heart shows up on your face. There's no way that you can hide what's going on in your heart with your face. Now, some people are really good at it. I mean, they're good at covering up what's really going on inside. But they're fakes. I heard of, I was talking to a man who was working in radio who had been in a situation where he saw, I think it was one of the major newscasters. I don't remember if it was Dan Rather or who it was. Daniel Shore, I guess it was. Who, when he was off camera, was about as dead as dull a person you could ever believe. But as soon as that camera light came on, he all of a sudden lit up. That was the type of person he was. He just lit up when the camera came on. You know, I see this happen with people. You know, they come in with a solemn look and say, how are you? Oh, fine. You know, they put on that face all of a sudden. Oh, things are going so great. But they didn't have that look just a few moments ago. What happened to them? Did their hearts change? No, just their face. Just their face. I'm getting down to where we live. I'm not preaching high pie in the sky, by and by kind of things this morning. I'm talking about the way we are, the way we live. Matthew 6, Jesus makes a statement about some people who are hypocritical. Matthew 6, verses 16 and 17, talks about the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and in this situation he says, Moreover, when you fast, be not as the hypocrites of a sad countenance, for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. For when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face. And he is indicating here, hey, when you fast, don't go around making yourself look holy. You know, there's a holy look that people put on when they go to church sometimes. And you can see this so definitely. They put on their best, suddenly go to meet and close, as they say, and they go to church and they put on this look. And they hold that look until they get out of church again. And you know what that is, that's hypocritical. And I'm not indicating this morning that everybody should come in and put your best look on your face when you come to see Pastor Miles, because he's going to be looking at your face now. You're going to be aware of that now. And so you're going to put on the best look possible. Oh, Pastor, everything is just great with me. I don't want that. I don't want God's people to be hypocritical. And I'm not teaching or preaching on this this morning to make a church full of hypocrites. What I'm trying to do is get at what is really causing the sadness on your face. What is it that's causing you to have that look on your face? That's what I'm more concerned about than anything else. Because I see all kinds of looks in people's faces. It's not all the same. Some are sad. Some, praise God, are just so joyous and so filled with praise, you can tell it. When they walk in the place, they're just bubbly with joy. And other people, you can tell they're worried. They have a worried look on their face. There are people that have a hurried look on their face. And there are people that have a rebellious look on their face. There are some young people sometimes I see sitting in the services and their face is full of rebellion. And then there's also the face of boredom. Pastor, get this service over with quick. There are all kinds of looks that I can see on people's faces. And then there's also the face of conviction that I see. I see the Holy Spirit moving on people's lives and they're so under conviction and it shows. And there's that look of backsliding. A person who, I know as a Christian, but they're backslidden. They're cold in their relationship to God. And as the Holy Spirit moves on their hearts, they sit there with that face that shows you that they're under conviction because they're backslidden. And then for the sinner, there's also a look of conviction. One of the ways that I can tell in the congregation whether or not there are sinners in the crowd is by the look on their face. Many times that's the way I know whether or not I should have an altar call is by looking at people's faces. And if I have people, you know, I'll say to people, lower your heads, close your eyes and guess who's got their eyes open looking at me? The person who's not saved. They'll many times look at me. You can tell that they're not saved. And also the person that's under conviction many times will not, will look at me, just stare at me. You can tell from the look in their eyes. There are all kinds of things that I could talk about this morning, but I don't have enough time to really deal with all these things. But I want you to just be aware of the fact that our hearts reflect on our faces and we can cover it up for a time, but yet we can never cover up completely. And so therefore it's important to know what's going on in your own heart. Why is it that you're sad? Why is it that you're having problems? What is going on in your life that's reflecting on your faith? And this is what God desires to deal with this morning. And I'd like you to turn with me to second Corinthians chapter three, to a passage of scripture that I feel is, deals with the old Testament, but it relates to us in the new Testament and deals with the story of Moses. But second Corinthians chapter three in verses seven through 18, dealing with the old Testament law, it says, but at the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones was glorious so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance, which glory was to be done away. How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather glorious for the ministration of condemnation be glory much more that the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory, or even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect by reason of the glory that excelleth? For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious. This is dealing with the old Testament, the new Testament. Seeing then that we have such a hope, we use great plainness of speech and not as Moses, which put a veil over his face that the children of Israel could not steadfastly look to the end of which is abolished. But their minds were blinded for until this day remain at the same veil untaken away in the reading of the old Testament, which veil is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their heart. Nevertheless, when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away. Now the Lord is that spirit, and where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all with open face beholding as in a glass, the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the spirit of the Lord. Now notice what that last verse is saying. That last verse is saying, but we all with open face beholding as in a glass or in a mirror, the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even by the spirit of God. Do you know why Stephan could stand before that crowd of people and have a face of an angel? It was not because his circumstances were all that great. It wasn't because everything was going so good in his life, and he just said, hallelujah, I'm just having a good time here. That's not why he had the face of an angel. It was because this man, it says earlier on in that chapter, chapter 7 is it, of Acts, where it talks about the fact that Stephan, full of faith, and why was he chosen as a deacon? Because he was full of faith and the Holy Ghost. And it showed up on his face. And if you've been in the presence of Jesus Christ this week, it'll show up on your face. And the reason why we have such sullen looks and why we have such terrible looks on our face is because we haven't been in the presence of Jesus. That's our problem. It's not because, oh, I've had a rough week, you know, everything's gone wrong. That's not the problem. The problem is we just don't take it to Jesus. That's our whole problem. We turn to everything else and everybody else. We've got to find answers for all of our problems and, you know, by counselors and all kinds of things. The best counselor you've got is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. And you see, when you get in the presence of Jesus, you'll be like Moses. See, Moses was up on the mountain for 40 days. I know you can't spend that much time. Most mothers don't have that much time. Neither do fathers. None of us can take 40 days off a 40-day vacation and go spend it all with God. I dare say that most people would not spend it with God anyway. Matter of fact, how much time do we spend with God when we get time away? We spend it all on ourselves. We spend it doing things that we like to do. We don't spend it with God. And then we wonder why it is that our Christian lives are so miserable. The reason why we don't have the power of God working within the body of Christ today, I believe, is because of what I'm talking about right now is the fact that we are not spending time with God. And if you're spending time with God, it'll show up on your face. That's what I'm trying to say. In a nutshell, what I'm trying to tell you this morning is, if you would spend time with God, it's got to show up on you somewhere. It'll show up on here. Somehow, someway. And you know, when you come to church, it's hard for me because I don't want to prime people and people and say, come on, smile. And everybody will smile for a moment and then they'll go back to their old, you know, growly look, whatever. And the reason why is because of the fact it's not in here. It's not in here. And if it's not in here, it doesn't show up here for very long. And I can, you know, pump you up and I can get you looking good and smiling again for a little while. But after it's all over with and all is said and done, it'll all go back to normal. And that's not what God wants. Where are the faces of the angels around here? Where are the men and women that are just shining with the glory of God? Their lives are so full of the Holy Spirit that it naturally just shines in their face. The real problem we have is that we're not full of the Holy Spirit. You see that scripture back there in 2 Corinthians talks about when we get face to face, it talks about where the spirit of the Lord is, there's liberty. There's liberty, freedom. And when the spirit of God comes into your life and starts flowing through you, it shows up on your face. I have yet to pray with people for the baptism of the Holy Spirit or be in a situation where I watch people being prayed for and they're filled with the Holy Ghost that they come out with. The only ones I see doing this are those who didn't get it. The ones who get it are, I mean, they're just alive! And it shines in their eyes and it shines in their face and they're so excited about what God has done! And I think we need that all the time. You know, I keep, I've said this before, you know, I remember when I was first baptized in the Holy Spirit. I remember a deacon in our church in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, looking at my face and just seeing the glow and I knew it was there, it was there. And I remember so distinctly that deacon saying, boy, I'd pay a million dollars for what you've got. And I thought, well, it's free! And I just got, I didn't earn this, it's just free! Why can't you have it? I couldn't figure out why it is that this deacon of the church, this man of God, couldn't have what I got for what I had. And I kept that smile for a long time. I went to a technical school for a year after I was baptized in the Spirit. I stayed in Eau Claire with my grandmother for a year. And I remember those people at the technical school used to call me Smiley. Because I was always smiling! I was so full of the Holy Spirit, it would just shine in my face. And sometimes I wonder what happened to it. You know, after a while the shine kind of wears off. It's kind of diminished, it kind of diminishes in our life. It's not there anymore. But see, that's not God's fault. Because Jesus said, out of your innermost being shall flow rivers of living water. And what He intended, what God intended for us as Christians, is that it would flow from us continually. It didn't have to be, you know, throw my cup Lord, put a cap on it, and fill it just as much as we can, and hope we don't spill it on the way home kind of thing. God intended, and if you go back into Jeremiah, you'll find that the Bible says that my people have committed two evils. Number one, is that they have forsaken the fountain of living water. And number two, is they have hewed themselves out cisterns. Holes in the ground, broken cisterns that can't hold water. And if I were to depict many Christians today, I would say that they are living cistern lives. Where their whole purpose is, come to church, get full of the Holy Spirit, and take it home with them, but they forget to plug the holes. And before they even get home, it's all drained out! It's all gone! And then we want people to have what we've got. Why in the world would people want to want Jesus, if they see the kind of look on your face and my face that they see? Why would they want what we've got? But I'll tell you something that will get people under conviction faster than anything else, is get full of the Holy Spirit, and let it shine in your face, and go talk to people, and you don't even have to witness to them. They just look at you like, what's wrong with you? They know something different about you, they don't know exactly what it is, but there's something strange about you. I can't put my finger on it, but there's something different about you. And sooner or later they're going to ask you, and that will give you a wide open chance to tell them about the glory of God that has filled your life. And by the way, when you're filled with the glory of God, it's not a, you know, ho-hum kind of thing. It is exciting. The most exciting experience in my life that I can ever, of all the experiences I've ever had in my life, the one experience that stands out in my mind is the night that I received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I cannot have, there's no other experience in my whole life that can compare to what I had that night. Because it was so beautiful. I felt the warmth of God's Holy Spirit fill my life, I felt love, I felt joy, I felt all those good things that anybody wants. And I didn't have to take a drug, I didn't have to drink a, you know, beer or alcohol to get it, I didn't have to get into some, you know, high flute meeting, you know, where all kinds of exciting preaching to get it done. No! It was just simply getting filled with the Holy Spirit. And that's really what the church needs, is Spirit-filled people. If we're going to change our faces, we're going to have to change what's going on in here. And my concern is, for you and for me, is not so much what's going on here as what's going on in here. Because I know what will happen here if these things in here change. So where are the Spirit-filled people? Where are the angel faces? Where are those who are like Stephan, full of faith in the Holy Ghost, who when they're encountered with adverse circumstances, the people will look at them and say, he has a face of an angel. Where are those people? Where are the Christians, whom it doesn't make any difference what happens in their lives, it doesn't make any difference if everything is falling apart, it doesn't make any difference if they got bills this high, it doesn't make any difference if everything is going wrong, they have a face of an angel. And oh, how I long to see our young people so charged with the Holy Spirit instead of sitting in our services so rebellious and turned off. Because see, a lot of the things that happen in this service happen underneath. It's not what I say or what goes on in terms of action at this pulpit, it's what's going on in the Spirit. And if you're not tuned into God's Holy Spirit, you're tuned out to what God's doing here, and you're not getting half of what's happening in this place. And that's why you go home empty, that's why you go home and say, boy, that was a dull service. Boy, that preacher preached a long time. And you can see it happen in many people's lives. Some people walk out of this place saying, yeah, hallelujah, God really did something for me today. And other people walk out and say, oh, you barely got through that one. And the tragedy is that the people who ought to know better that walk out empty, and the people that really don't know much about it are the ones that walk out full. Why is it that people who have been a part of this assembly for years and years and years can be the ones that are the least receptive to what God is doing in our midst? Why is it that young people that grow up in our assembly are the least receptive to the presence of the Holy Spirit? Why is it? Because we have forsaken the fountain of living water, and we've hewed ourselves out systems, broken systems that can't even hold water. And all the Spirit that pours in just flows right out. It doesn't bless us at all, it just flows on out, and it never touches us. And that happens to many a person who has known the Lord. You see, the Bible is so full of references to joy, so full of references to peace, so full of references to love, so full of references to many good things, and yet, when it comes boiled down to many people's Christianity, they neither experience joy, they neither experience love, they neither experience peace, they experience none of these things because they let it flow right through them and never let it affect them or touch them. Where are the angel faces? Where are the Stephens? Follow the Holy Ghost, that their faces shine as the face of an angel. Say, Pastor, what can I do about this? I think the first thing that you've got to do is to do as Moses did, and to do as Stephen did, is to get into the presence of God. And as you are in the presence of the Lord, you're going to experience, as 2 Corinthians 3, verses 17 and 18 says, Now the Lord is that Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we will all, all with an open face, beholding as in a glass, the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. We haven't got time after this service to really get into the Spirit of God as we should. But as we sang at the very first song today, we talked about a garment of praise in place of the Spirit of heaviness. The reason why we're so down and so discouraged and so despondent is because we have not put on the garment of praise. I see many times people go through a whole service, and they never worship God. They never praise the Lord. They never sing. They never say, Thank you, Jesus. They never worship God with their mouths. They sit there and not receive anything. And then they wonder why church is so boring and so empty. Oh, why is it that we can't stir ourselves up and ignite our Spirit with the Holy Spirit? Get in the presence of God. Look at the face of Jesus. You know, the reality, when Stephen saw as he was being stoned, he saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God the Father. And he said, Look! There's Jesus! And it didn't make any difference how hard they threw those stones. It made no difference how close he was to death. His face still shines like an angel's. And I'll tell you something. When you get full of the Holy Spirit, when you are charged with God, it doesn't make any difference how many fairy dust the enemy throws at you. It makes no difference how many people criticize you, how many things are going bad. Your face will shine as the face of an angel. And I'll tell you something. If this congregation would get on fire, I just might get on fire. I know some people say, I don't know how you do it, preacher. You know, sometimes I'll be it's very hard for me to preach. How can I preach with such emptiness and such joylessness within the congregation? How can God's people expect me to be on fire for God when the congregation is not on fire for God? And I can be on fire. There are times in which I come into this place so full of the Holy Ghost and I feel like I've been blocked. Emptiness. Because it's all drained out of me within seconds just because of the emptiness of God's people. And there ought not to be. There ought not to be. We ought to come into this place so charged with the Holy Ghost and so full of the Holy Spirit that the power of God is so evident that the sinner really runs to this altar and finds Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Why aren't they? And where are the God-filled, Spirit-filled people? It makes no difference if you were baptized in the Holy Ghost 10 years ago or 5 years ago or 2 years ago or 100 years ago. It makes no difference. The question is, are you full of the Holy Ghost today? Next Sunday is Pentecost Sunday. And I'd like to see some Pentecostals around here. Some charged up, Spirit-filled Christians that literally zap the sinners in crying out, God forgive me. I need Jesus. And I've been in services like that. I've seen it happen when God's people came into this place so charged with God that I didn't even have to preach. People got saved before I even had a chance to preach. They worshipped, they praised, they gave God the glory. And right in the middle of some service, I would feel the Holy Spirit say, don't, you know, give an altar call right now. Don't preach. Give an altar call. And I would give an altar call and people would get saved before I even had a chance to preach. That's what it's going to take for revival, friends. We can't have revival if the Christians are dead. If the children of God are empty, if they're looking to someone else, if they're looking to the pastor to be the Spirit-filled one and we just sit back and let him be Spirit-filled and us not be Spirit-filled, that's not going to work. We've all got to be charged. And the way you can have that happen is to get in the presence of God. Come and behold Jesus' face. Look at Him in His face. And as you see Jesus' face, His glory is going to shine on you and it's going to show up on you. The glory of God is going to fill you. You're not going to be empty anymore. You're not going to be sad anymore. You can't be sad in the presence of God. It's impossible. Somehow He just turns off the sadness and turns on the joy. And I've been in services where all of a sudden the Spirit would sweep over people and they would start to laugh and they would start to laugh and they would start to laugh. So much joy. And I think the real problem with some of our young people is not the young people's fault. It's the adults' fault. How in the world can we expect our young people to be turned on for God if Mom and Dad aren't? And you see this happens at home. We teach our children at home more than we teach them at church. And what we teach them at home is important in terms of what happens in this building. If we're charged with killing a holy ghost, it's going to affect our kids. It's going to affect our young people. And our young people then just can't become, in a sense, spark plugs that get the whole church going. I've seen youth groups that literally get the whole church moving. And I've also seen when the youth group is not going, the church isn't going either. It happens over and over again. And we can point our fingers and say it's their fault, it's that youth's fault. But let's realize that the responsibility does not lie in just one individual or one group of people. It lies in all of us. Spiritual life is for every age group. For every class of people. The Bible says be ye killed. Be not drunk with wine, but be ye killed with the Holy Spirit. And that's not a suggestion. That is a command. Where are the spirit-filled Christians? Where are the charged people of God? And one thing that you can do, for those of you that have the ability to pray in an unknown tongue, the Bible says that he that prays in an unknown tongue edifies himself. He charges himself up, or herself up. If you would spend time praying in the Holy Ghost, praying in the language that God has given to you, it'll charge your spirit. And it'll show up in your face sooner or later. You may not feel anything right away. That doesn't make any difference. This is not based on feelings, folks. It's based on reality. When God's Holy Spirit is there, the rest will follow. You don't get people all hyped up with emotion and then expect that to last, because the emotion is very, very unpredictable. People who are emotionally high at one point can be very emotionally low at the next point. And see, we're not looking for people that are all charged up of emotion. We're looking for people that are full of the Holy Spirit, which affects their emotions. And there is a difference. I've seen some services where all it is is hype and emotion, and all these kinds of things. But when the service is over, the emotion dissipates, and there is no more. You can go from really high to really low within moments, just by some news, by some event or whatever. But if you are filled with the Holy Ghost, like I said before, like Stephan, they can throw the stones at you, they can do anything to you, but they cannot affect your spirituality, because you're full of the Holy Ghost. And your face will shine as the face of an angel. Let's be filled with the Holy Spirit. Let's come next week so charged with God's Holy Spirit that we literally charge this place so full of God's presence that people are going to know that God is in this place. You see, each one of us brings God with us. God wasn't just here when we got here and we just met Him here. Hey, you were supposed to bring Him with you. You were supposed to bring Him with you. And then once you got here, you were supposed to release Him. Because see, the baptism of the Holy Spirit indicates that you're filled with the Holy Ghost, and it starts to flow over to someone else. But see, if you're empty, you come to church just to get, soak it all in. But you never give out. See, there's nothing there to give out to anybody else. So guess what happens? Everybody's soaking it all in. Nobody's giving anything out. Everybody gets charged to a certain point. They go home and say, well, praise God, we've been in church today. It's been good to be in church today. That was a nice service. The pastor preached a nice message. And we go through the motions. But we never blessed anybody else. We never touched anybody else in our lives. We never saw anybody healed or delivered or whatever it was that we desire so much. And we want to see God moving in the miraculous. That's not going to happen until God's people start to let it flow out of them as well as into them. It's got to flow into you, but then it's got to flow out of you. Because Jesus said, out of your innermost being shall flow rivers of living water. And when it starts to flow out of you, it's going to affect something. I'm going to read to you Hebrews chapter 3 this evening and read a passage of Scripture that I would like to use to launch me into a message that I would like to share with you tonight. Hebrews chapter 3 verses 5 through 6. The Scripture says very simply, And Moses verily was faithful in all his house as a servant for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after. But Christ, as a son over his own house, whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost saith today, if you'll hear his voice, harden not your hearts as in the provocation in the day of temptation in the wilderness, when your fathers tempted me and proved me and saw my works forty years. Wherefore, I was greed with that generation and said, they do always err in their hearts, and they have not known my ways. Let's pray. Father, we commit this time of sharing again to you tonight. We look to you. You are the source of our strength. You're the source of our wisdom. You're the source of our courage. You're the source, Lord God, of our ability to stand firm. And Lord, we pray that you will help us tonight to just do that, stand firm against all the opposition that Satan would bring against us. And Lord, teach us tonight to be firm standers against the powers of hell and become overcomers for your glory and honor. I pray this in Jesus' precious name. Amen. You know, this Scripture, verse 5, simply says, And Moses verily was faithful in all of his house. I wonder how many of us would like to have been Moses. And the immediate reaction would be, yeah, that would have been great to be Moses. But if you stop and think about what Moses had to do, I'm not so sure any of us would like to have been Moses. How many of you would like to have been Moses and wandered with the children of Israel for forty years in the wilderness? Anybody? Wouldn't that be a great task? Wandering around in the desert for forty years? That sounds like a real fantastic thing to do. And what's more is Moses never even got into the Promised Land, for he had set out for the Promised Land, and he never made it. Now, how many of us would like to have been Moses? Think about it. Well, this Scripture says that Moses was faithful in all of his house. If we were to judge Moses in terms of success, in terms of the worldly idea of success, was he successful? I wouldn't say he was successful. He didn't even accomplish what he set out to do. He set out to take the children of Israel from Egypt into the Promised Land, and he never made it. In other words, he failed in terms of what the world would say is success. And yet, in God's terms, he was not a failure. He was not a failure. And the reason why he didn't get to go into the Promised Land is because he got angry at everybody. I don't know. If I had a congregation like Moses, I think I would get pretty angry, too. If you were as angry as they were, I don't know if I'd put up with you or not. But you ain't, thank God. Almost, but not quite. Some of you look like you're ready to throw a tomato at me. But Moses was faithful in all of his house as a servant. He served God. And he served God, and it talks about the fact that in verse 6, but Christ as the Son over his own house, whose house are we, if. There's a big word if there. It's only two letters long, but it's a big word, if. If what? If we hold fast the confidence and rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. My message tonight is that the title is Firm Unto the End. And I believe that it's so important for us to just comprehend that, hey, success does not always mean that we accomplish all that we set out to do. Success, in God's terms, many times is simply being faithful in all of your house. I remember hearing the story of a missionary who was a missionary over in Japan for I don't know how many years. I think it was around 20 years. And you know how many people he reached for Christ? How many people accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior in those 20 years? One. One. I can't imagine preaching for 20 years and only seeing one person come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. I would get so frustrated. Because I like to see people get saved, don't you? I like to see people respond to God and become alive with God. And we often, you know, get so caught up in, you know, it seems to be in the Christian community today that if you aren't reaching literally hundreds for Christ, there's something wrong with you. Something wrong with your spirituality. Something wrong with the way you're doing things. And yet I would venture to say that there are many men of God and women of God who have served God faithfully for years and years and years and barely saw much of a result at all. I would dare say that the founders of this church, the Manitowoc Assembly, did not see a lot of people saved. And I would venture to say that in my six years of being here in ministry in Manitowoc, there probably have been as many saved in the six years that I've been here than probably all the years from the time of the beginning of this church until then. I'm not bragging on that. I think that's something that I'm guessing at that. But I'm determining that on the basis of I know the size of the congregation over the years. And I've talked to people that were here years ago. And there have been many people saved. But the thing is, it's obvious that there's a lot of people that have gone through this church, too. They got saved, and they grew up in the Lord, and they moved on. And I'm aware of the fact that if we had everybody in this congregation today that has been saved in this church, we'd have a pretty packed house. Matter of fact, we wouldn't be able to fill this. We wouldn't be able to hold it here. We'd have another church somewhere, because there would be so many people that simply are not here, that could have been here if they'd stayed here, we would have filled this place up. And so we realize sometimes we get our eyes on the success, and we get our eyes on these things, and we don't realize that God is calling us to be faithful in our house. Let's turn to another scripture, Hebrews chapter 10, while we're here in Hebrews. And just notice what the scripture says here in verse 23. Hebrews 10.23 says, Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for he is faithful that promised. And it talks about holding fast the profession of our faith, and that we hold it without wavering, because he is faithful that promised. God is faithful in his promises. He always follows through. And so we've got to realize that and hang on to that, and realize that God sometimes doesn't allow us to experience the success that we often consider to be success, in order to try us and test us to find out if we really want to be faithful to him, if we really trust him. And I am conscious of a scripture, and I'd like to turn your attention to that at this moment, in Luke chapter 18, a passage of scripture that I'm going to say troubles me. Luke chapter 18, verses 7 and 8. This is talking about prayer. Jesus is talking about prayer here from verse 1, he speaks a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and what is the rest of that? And not faint. Now, I wonder why he said that. To pray and not to faint. You know of any way that's ever fainted? Given up, quit, stop praying, because they didn't get what they asked for? And he goes on and says, there was a city, in a city, a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man. And there was a widow in that city, and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not for a while, but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man, yet because this widow troubles me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith, and shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? And I tell you, that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth. And it's this last phrase that frightens me. Jesus says, When I come back, will I find faith? Will I find anybody who believes? Or will everybody have forsaken me? When I come back, will I find faith on the earth? And the thing that frightens me is really the thought of that. What is it that's going to happen during the last days that's going to cause this to happen? So turn with me to Hebrews chapter 12, and I want to show you something, going back to the book of Hebrews, chapter 12 and verse 25. It says, See that you refuse not him that speaketh, for if they escape not who refuse him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven, whose voice then shook the earth, but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. And I'm going to stop there and just ponder on that 27th verse for a minute. It talks about this word, yet once more signifies the removing of those things that are shaken, or that can be shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. What's this saying? This is saying that there's a shaking coming. There's a shaking coming towards the end of the age that is going to be so dramatic and so drastic that absolutely everything, including the things on earth and heaven, are going to be shaken. And during this time, everything that can be shaken will be shaken. Now if we are part of that group that is easily shaken, we're going to be shook. But going on in the next verse, the scripture says, Wherefore we have received a kingdom which cannot be moved. Let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and with godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire. And the question that I think we have to consider tonight is, are we going to make it? Are you and I going to make it? If everything was shook up, every bit of our economy was shaken up, if everything that happened in our whole lives was all shaken up, would we still stand for Jesus? Or would we be shaken along with the rest of the world? That's a question I think that only we can answer for ourselves. Will we be shaken by the events that are yet to take place? If you think it's been bad up to this point, just wait. There's a scripture in the Old Testament that says that if you can't run with footmen, how are you going to run with chariots? How are we going to make it? The only way is to establish ourselves in what this 28th verse says as being a part of an unshakable kingdom. If you've got your feet on the rock, there's nobody that can shake you. But if you're still standing on the sand, you're going to be shaken. And everything that's going on around you that's affecting you, really you've got to realize that there are many things in life that shake us. And this is the thing that really concerns me. I see Christians shaken up by some of the most incidental things in life. And if we can't stand the tests of today, what's it going to be like if things got worse? What would happen if the economy of the United States... How many Christians would serve God in the midst of poverty and famine and all those kinds of things? If your whole faith is based on success, and being successful, and making it economically, and all that is shaken up, will you still stand? If everybody around you turns away from Jesus, what will you do? Will you still continue to follow Christ, or will you be shaken by someone else's fault? See, the kingdom of God can't be shaken. If you're rooted solidly in the kingdom of God, you will not be shaken by any test, anything that comes your way. Because Jesus has promised us that there's no temptation that is not common to man. But the Bible also indicates that he will not allow us to be tested above that which we are able to stand. I like that. Praise God for that. And I'm not trying to scare you half out of your wits here tonight, but I probably am. Because the scripture that I talked about in Luke 18, Jesus is saying, will I find faith in the earth? And this is a very, very crucial question, I think, that we've got to concentrate on. How can we stand? How are we going to make it? If the rest of the world is going to be shaken, how can we stand in the midst of a shakable world? And I think it basically is in this 28th verse of Hebrews when it talks about, wherefore, we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and with godly fear. And there's a sense of reverence, there's a sense of godly fear that keeps us in track and online and doing what God wants us to do. Revelation chapter 2 and verse 10 makes the statement, for none of these things which thou shalt suffer, behold the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that you may be tried, and you shall have tribulation ten days. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. Now, what is this saying? Be faithful unto what? Death. The third chapter of Revelation and verse 11, the scripture says, behold, I come quickly, hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. What is that saying? It says, hold on to what you've got, hold on to what you have. Don't give it up for anybody. There is no reason in all the world to turn away from Jesus. There's no reason big enough for us to turn away from Christ. And yet there are people that are turning away from Jesus for the most insignificant reasons. Many times I've said over and over again, I feel that many people turn away from Christ similar to what Esau did in the Old Testament when he sold his birthright for a bowl of lentil soup. And we have a birthright, we have a kingdom that is eternal, it's unmovable, it cannot be shaken. But if we sell our soul for insignificant things, then how are we going to stand for that which is the most important? Ten thousand years from now, are we going to be standing? Depends on what we do with our lives now. Colossians 1.21, and I'm going to close this up rather quickly, I'm not going to preach a long time this evening. Colossians 1.21 says, And you that were sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked words, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh to death, to present you holy, unblameable, and unreprovable in his sight. If you continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven, wherefore I call and made a minister. Now this talks about the fact, if you continue in the faith, grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel. It talks about being grounded and settled. There are too many people that are so shaky in their Christian faith that they're blown about, as Ephesians says, by every wind of doctrine. We've got to be careful that we understand that we can lose our salvation by turning away from the Lord. But if we continue, we have a promise that he's going to give us eternal life. Now going to Ephesians chapter 6, a scripture that you should be well aware of, it talks about the armor of God, Hebrews chapter 6 and verses 10 through 11. It says, Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. Skipping down to the 13th verse, Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand. Have you done everything you can to stand? Have you done everything possible that you know of to stand against the wiles of the devil? Have you put the armor of God on? Are you ready for battle? Are you ready for warfare against Satan? Or are you still playing spiritual games? Sometimes I think Christians simply play church too much. We play church too much. It's not enough just to come to church and praise the Lord and sing songs and pray and read our Bibles. We've got to prepare ourselves to stand and to be unmovable, unshakable. And how are we going to do that? It simply says in here that finally, my brethren, verse 10, Be strong in the Lord and in the power of what? His might. Thank God you don't have to stand alone. God never intended for any Christian to have to stand by themselves. Jesus Christ wants to empower you to stand. I've heard many times of battles that they fought in World War II, as well as in other battles and wars, where they literally had to dig in and stand against the enemy, continue to fight against them, and hold their ground. Now there are times in which we find ourselves in that type of situation, where we're not especially advancing like we would like to, but we're dug in and we're saying to ourselves, I'm not retreating for the devil. I'm not turning back. I'm going to stand strong against him. I don't care what anybody else do. I'm going to stand right here. And Satan, you're not going to move me. You're not going to prepare me back. You're not going to push me back. I'm going to stand. But then there are other Christians, well, I don't know if I want to stand or not. I'm the devil. He looks so big, so mean. I think I'll step back a couple of steps and maybe he won't bother me. But then he moves up. Then what do you do? It reminds me, I talked a few weeks ago about these, you know, when I was a kid, they used to have these, I don't know if it was a program I saw on television, but I saw this one kid, there was a big bully coming along. And this big bully said, I'm going to, you know, I'm going to really get you. And the little kid says, huh, you believe that? Step, step across this line. So the big bully steps across the line, you know. He pulls back and draws another line. Now, this time I really mean it. If you step across this line, you're in trouble. The guy steps across the line. You know, I think sometimes I've seen Christians do that. Listen, as long as you're retreating, the devil is going to keep coming. It makes no difference how many times you retreat. He's always going to keep on coming. That's why the Bible says stand. Stand. Don't buckle in. Don't back up. Stand against him. Yes, he's powerful, but God is all-powerful. Yes, he's mighty, but God is all-mighty. And you may find yourself stumbling and falling along the way, but don't let that bother you. Get up from the dust and let Jesus cleanse you and stand against him. I feel it's so important that we as Christians get a hold of what's happening around us. There are so many things, so many ways that we can compromise our faith. There are people that, and I remember Sam Farina talking about the way that the church and the world is going today. He said, you know, he's talking about the fact that, Fred, come here. I'm going to use Sam's illustration here. I don't know, maybe some of you remember this from a long time ago. Okay? Right now there's a space between us. Okay. I'm going to say you're the world and I'm the church. Okay. Is that all right? Just for a moment. I don't really believe that, but okay. We're separate. I'm separate from the world. Now you go down that way. All right. Stop. Now I'm still separate from the world. Move on a little bit more. I'm still separate from the world. I'm still holy. But what's going on? What's happening? As the world slides down the tubes, what's happening to the church? What's happening to God's people? They're doing the same, but they're still separate from the world. And I see this happening over and over again, where God's people are compromising. And there's no place. Thank you, Fred. You're really not worthy. But that really is true, that the whole world is going. It's on a downslide. The question is, is the church on a downslide as well? Are we going to stand up and say, no, I am not compromising. I am not moving down the path that the world is going on. I'm not going to go their way. It's so clear in these scriptures that if we stand, if then we'll be conquerors, we'll be overcomers. That scripture I read in Revelation chapter three, verse 11, talks about the fact that don't let anyone take your crown. You know, I've seen kids do this, children do this, where they'll have something in their hands and someone will come and try and take it away from them. And they go, no, you're not. You're not going to be taken. Well, I'm a child of God. I'm not going to let anyone take my crown. You can come at me all you want, but you're not going to take my crown. And that's the answer we need to have. We've been stolen into all oppression and all the things that are going on. You've got to hang on to what you've got. And yet there are a lot of people that are wanting to take it away from us and hog it away from us. Oh, come on, that's it. Boy, oh, come on. No, no, no, that's Christianity, baby. And all that serving God and being spiritual and all kinds of things. Really, you've got to be aware of that. I mean, you've got to mean it. You've got to do it. You've really got to be cruel in all those treasures that you've got for, you know, doing in the world. I don't want to be a part of the world. I want to be a part of the kingdom. That's forever and ever an unshakeable kingdom that can't be shaken by anything else. And there's so many people thinking, turn to the world, walking in the ways of the world. And then they wonder why it is that their lives are being shaken. I think in some ways, God is shaking us for a purpose. He is shaking us so that we know what is shakeable in our lives, so that we can establish ourselves in the unshakeable things of life, so that when everything is being shaken, we won't be shaken. Does that make sense? Well, are we unshakeable tonight? What causes us, many times, to be discouraged and despondent? What causes us to give up on the Lord, or give up on prayer, or give up on coming to church, or whatever it may be? You know, there are different things that we give up on. For what reasons? Sometimes the most insignificant reasons. Sometimes it's friends, it's neighbors, it's people. It may be even a brother or sister in Christ who is not what they ought to be, and they don't serve God the way they should. Or a husband or a wife, or a child, or a mother, or a father. And somehow we've got to determine in our hearts that it doesn't make any difference what anybody else does. I'm going to serve the Lord. We have to have that same attitude that Joshua had as for me in my house. We're going to serve the Lord. There's got to be a holy determination that's so settled in our hearts that we are not going to be shaken by anything that the world has to offer us, and that we're not going to give it up. We're not going to give up on Jesus because of the events that are going on in our lives. It's so crucial that we understand the word of God as to what it says. And I'm going back to the scripture that I started out with in Hebrews chapter 3, and verses 5 and 6, where it simply says, And Moses barely was faithful in all his house, as a servant for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after. But Christ as a son over his own house, whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope, firm unto the end. We're a part of God's house. We're a part of his kingdom already. If we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of hope. And you notice it talks about the rejoicing of hope. It's not a sorrowful thing to serve God. It's a rejoicing type of thing. It's a happy thing to serve Jesus. It doesn't mean that just because you serve Jesus, you've got to be miserable for the rest of your life. It's the people who aren't serving Jesus that are going to be miserable. And the people that are half serving Jesus, they're the most miserable. And so we might as well serve Jesus with all we've got, because if we serve Jesus with everything we have, then we're going to be happy. And we're going to rejoice in what the Lord has for us. And I don't believe that anybody here has to be concerned that you're standing on a precipice ready to fall into the pit tonight. And I don't want to give you that impression that I'm dangling you over the pit saying you're going to fall. But I'm simply warning you tonight that you've got to stand firm. We've got to stand firm and not give in. No matter what anyone else does, no matter what anybody else says, we've got to determine in our hearts we're going to serve the Lord. And we're not going to be shaken. We're going to stand. Having our loins girt about with truth and the helmet of salvation on our head, having the armor on and the sword of the Spirit in our hands, and praying always with all supplication and prayer. Because if you're going to make it, you've got to be a prayer warrior. You've got to pray through. And if you're going to make it, you've got to pray through.
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