DEEPER LIFE BIBLE CHURCH WORLDWIDE.
MONDAY BIBLE STUDY MESSAGE.
MESSAGE ANCHORED BY THE GENERAL SUPERINTENDENT.
TOPIC: THE PRESENT, PERMANENT, AND PERPETUAL EXALTATION OF TRULY, CONSECRATED BELIEVER'S
TEXT: JAMES 1:9-12.
The Lord has blessed you. We are continuing our study of the epistle of James. Believers are those who are saved. They have given their whole being unto the Lord, they are unreservedly, absolutely without any other thought surrender unto the Lord. They have repented of all their sins, they are not keeping any sin in them, and they are not practicing any sin in the secret, but they are committed and given themselves unto the Lord in total repentance, in true repentance, in scriptural repentance and they believe in Christ that He has forgiven them. These believers are so committed unto the Lord day and night and everyday of the week, there is no moment they hold back from the Lord their consecration, they are committed to the Lord and they are given to the Lord wholeheartedly that they will listen to Him and learn from Him and they will do whatever He teaches them to do. They don't have a double life. They are not living hypocritically, all the days they live consistently unto the Lord, and there's nothing in them contrary to the faith they possess. These are consistent Christians. They have the present and the perpetual exaltation God has promised them.
POINT 1. THE PRESENT PLACEMENT OF TEMPORAL BLESSINGS IN THESE END TIMES
JAMES 1:9-11; 1 TIMOTHY 4:1,2
The scriptures say that in the last days, people will no more be earnestly contending, practically, and passionately contending for the faith. In the last days, some things will bring discouragement to people, they will be sidetracked to other issues, and they will be no more giving themselves to expanding that faith and extending that faith to other people, they will go back from the faith and giving heed to seducing spirits and the doctrine of the devil. There are believers who are steadfast, and there are some other people who are believers, but they have departed from the faith. They are now pursuing material things, they are pursuing the riches of the world, those people will fade away like the flower that fades away, but we who love the Lord we have this present placement of temporary blessings in this end time
i. The wealth and promotion of the godly. James 1:9; 2:5,6; 2 Corinthians 6:10; Romans 8:14-17.
If you are godly, that means the grace of God has come to your life, which means you're a member of the family of God. You may not have the things that are tangible here in the world, but as many that are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God, he has the Holy Spirit abiding in him and instructing him, what a great privilege the godly person have? That is the promotion we have. That person that is called a godly brother should rejoice because he has not received the spirit of bondage that binds the people of the world with material gains, and they are working for the dust and they are not looking at the things of heaven, but these godly people, they don't have the fear of the people of the world but they have received the spirit of adoption. They are exalted. And because we are children of God, we can ask, we can seek, we can knock, and whatever we need will be given unto us. We may not have it in the bank, but we have it in the bank of heaven. We have it in the presence of God in heaven who is our Father and because now we are children of God and the Spirit of God assuring us that we are the children of God, we ask we receive, we seek and we find, all we need to do is to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all other things will be added unto us. The gentiles concentrate on the material things, but we are concentrating on the Kingdom of God in heaven, and everything we need is given unto us. We are heirs of God because the wealth of heaven belongs to us, and our portion is in the Lord Himself, we will live the things of this world. And because of that, we appear to be family of God, lonely and we are promoted and everything the Lord knows you will ask will come your way. We are going to be glorified in Christ.
ii. The withering and passing away of the grass.
James 1:10; 1 Peter 1:24; Psalm 103:15,16; 1 John 2:15-17.
The rich without God, without grace, without godliness, the rich that only has the riches of world and only depends on the things of the world, all he does is for the world, like flower he shall pass away, but those who do the will of God shall abides forever. As for man, his days are as grass. The Lord gives us the understanding because the people who don't have the light and the people who are not in the light are in the darkness, they do not understand that man's life so brief like the grass of the field. The people who don't have the light, they are the people that are limited in their understanding, everything they do, everything they run after is only of this world because they are in the darkness, but the Lord gives us the understanding that the things of this world will pass away like grass. That's the reason we come to the Lord, and we love the Lord with all our hearts, all our minds, and because we are not concentrating on the things only in this life. Don't concentrate on the world and don't glue your eyes, your gaze on the world, when you say you're given yourself unto the Lord, love not the world. Paper, certificates makes the people of the world proud, what makes them proud is the mode of transportation they have and they don't have heaven, they don't have Salvation, the things they have that makes them proud is not of the Father but is of the world. The world will pass away, the position of the world will be blown away, but those who do the will of God will abide forever. When the things of this world are all gone because when we leave at the time of burial, they will not leave the account book with any of us, they will not bury all the money we store in the banks, all the houses and everything will not be buried with us, they are like grass that fades away, they will not bury anything with us we go but if we have salvation, and we have laboured for the Lord and we are expecting the crown of righteousness, then we will go and we Will rejoice and abide forever.
iii. The wastage and perishing of their goodliness.
James 1:11; Isaiah 40:6-8; Luke 12:16-21; 1 Corinthians 7:29-31.
Many people waste their lives, their beauty, their time, and all their efforts and talents. All the things the people of the world stored in secret place to enjoy on earth for many years come, all of the sudden, death knocks at their doors, they are only rich in the things of this world, they are not rich in Grace, they are not rich towards God, they are not rich in godliness, all they have is the grass that fades away. The rich man who does not know God, the rich man who has position on earth but does not have a position in heaven, they shall fade away in their waste. I pray we will not be like that. Some people can not come to study the Bible with us once a week because the ground of the rich man has brought forth plentifully. Some people are running after degrees, that's why they cannot study the Bible, that's why some people cannot give themselves in learning the word of God because they have awards here and there, and all they are running after are like the grass that fades away, and when death comes, they will leave all those things and they will go to a lost eternity. The people of the world have no time for the word of God, they can read an hundred book in one year, they are committed to reading the books of the world that will grows their financial knowledge but they don't have time to read the word of God single book that will determine their destiny and pave way for them in eternity, they study and study, they labour and labour, and there's no time to do the work that the Lord wiill reward them for for eternity, all the works they are doing is the works that will perish at the end of the day. They are men and women of planning, they are not planning for heaven, they are planning for the harvest on earth, they are not thinking of heaven, they are thinking on what they have here on earth, they are men and women of purposeful activity, but the purpose is only for the things of this world. Think about your life, what are you running after? What are you thinking and running on? Well, all these might be good temporarily. Are you thinking about heaven? Are you thinking about the grace of God that will increase in your life and take you to heaven when you die? Some people don't have the thought of godliness and the thought of going to the great beyond to be with the Lord when they die. They knew that they had a soul, but they didn't make any room for that soul. They didn't make any salvation and preparation for that soul to be with God in eternity. They thought they had everything they could live up for many years, but only God had the final say on the people of the world. God has the final say on the people who are running after the things of this world. They are thoughtless. They lay up treasures for themselves, there are so called some believers too, they don't think of the Bible, they learn doctrine but the doctrine is on the head, it doesn't come to the heart, they are starking money everywhere and there's need of preaching the gospel, there's need of helping their neighbours, but they don't think of that, they stark it away over there and their money is growing and expanding, even those who are getting older, they don't think that when death comes, they leave all those riches suddenly. They are not rich towards God. There are people, they hear about the rapture, they know it in the head, and they don't know that in the heart. All the money you stark in all the banks and you will not touch it, even when your wife is sick you will not touch it, even when the children needs some things, you wouldn't give them money because you want to be a millionaire, if Christ comes at any time, you are not going to take the billions away to heaven if you're able to make it at all because you will not take it away. And when the rapture comes at any time, who will spend it? It will be in the hand of the Antichrist after you're gone. If the rapture takes place and you don't go, all that money you store in the banks, even you cannot spend freely because you have to take the marks of the Antichrist before you can buy or sell, and if you take the mark of the Antichrist with all your money you're doomed and damned and condemned forever. That's the reason we need to understand that the goodness of the rich people if they don't have God, or they have God and they forget God and they are running after riches, they are not rich towards God.
POINT 2. THE PROFITABLE PERSEVERANCE OF THE BELIEVERS WHILE ENDURING TEMPTATIONS
JAMES 1:12a; 1 PETER 1:6
Blessed is the man who resits temptation and stands fast over the pressure of temptation.
i. Resisting the tempter with the sword of the word.
Matthew 4:3-11; Proverbs 1:10-15; Genesis 39:7-12; 1 Peter 5:8,9.
The devil is the tempter, and if he tempts Christ, he will tempt us. No matter how exposed and intelligent and strong you think you are, if Christ is tempted, you can not escape being tempted, but God gives you the grace to say no. If the devil was so courageous and daring to test the first man that did not have sin in his life, today he cannot leave us alone, he's the tempter and he doesn't have respect or honor for anyone. He brings temptation and it is ours to understand that temptation will come, it may not come in the direction you're thinking, Satan doesn't concentrate only on one direction, he has a thousand ways in which he brings temptation, and it is ours to understand that the grace of God is available, whatever direction he comes from, you will overcome. The Lord Jesus has been fasting for forty days, and now he's hungry. The devil will bring temptation from the direction of what you're hungry for. If you're hungry for power, he will bring temptation that way. If you're hungry for position, money, he will bring temptation from that way. if you're hungry for the pleasure of the flesh, popularity, and knowledge of this world , he will bring the temptation from that area. When you know the word and you know that you live by the word of promise and power, when you live by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God, you can easy throw the sword at the temper, he will flee away from you IN Jesus Name. Jesus quoted the Bible at Satan, Satan also know the Bible, although he will twist it, he will turn it upside down, he will takes something out of the word, he will add something to the word and if you don't know the word in reality he will easily deceive you. Sometimes, you meet some of these people outside, and they are not born again, but they can quote the Bible, although they quote it wrongly, but they will still quote the Bible. The tempters and the followers of the tempters in our places of work, in our marker place, in our community, even in our extended families, when they wants us to do something and we are saying no, they will bring out a word from the Bible, don't listen to them, don't be deceived because of their misquotation of the Bible. When Satan quoted the scripture to tempt Jesus, understand Jesus is the light of the word, He quoted the Bible on the angel of being the light of the world, and Satan is the prince of the power of darkness, he quotes the Bible from the angle of darkness. Satan doesn't have grace, he doesn't have godliness, he doesn't have the gospel, he's the darkness, all he can do is to quote the Bible out of content, but because JESUS is the light, He quotes the Bible from the angle of light, but the devil will not give up so quickly, if you overcome one temptation, don't think that is all, he may come back again maybe another day and he will come from another angle. Jesus will be the King of kings, the kingdom of this world will soon become the Kingdom of our God and His Christ, Jesus knew all those things belongs to Him, and the devil tempted Him to take the Kingdom from his hand, not from the hand of God in heaven. Maybe there are some things that legitimately belong to you and the Lord has promised you, and you know you're going to have, yes you will have but before that point of possession, the devil may come and offer it to you, don't make the mistake and collect it, what God intends to give, you must not get from the devil, if you're looking for prosperity at any cost, if you're looking for money, wife, children, property at any cost, if you want it so seriously and so definitely that you pay any price, you may pay the price with your soul, with your eternity and with your destiny. Leave it in the hands of God, and God gives at the time He wants to give. Jesus always adds the written word, and He knows that it will be accomplished as it has been written. You will resist the devil. He will flee from you.
ii. Refusing appealing temptations in supplication, with willingness.
Matthew 26:41; 1 Corinthians 10:1-13; 1 Chronicles 21:1-15; Jeremiah 35:1-6,12-19.
If you don't want to fall into temptation and you desire the grace of God, the pleasure of this present world will not cloud your vision and it will not take heaven away from you, and so you have the willingness when you pray, if you're praying and God knows you don't have the willingness the Lord will not allow you to waste His time, if you're praying to have the power to resist all the snares of the devil, if you're willing it will be so. The Spirit is willing because the Spirit knows the consequence of falling into temptation. The Spirit is willing because you're saved and the spirit wants you to remain and abide as the member of the family of God, the Spirit is willing and you know if you're going to possess the promises, you have to remain with Christ, but the flesh is weak, the flesh is not at the same level with the spirit, the flesh contact in the world, the Spirit is from heaven, but the flesh is looking for what is pleasing in the world, that's why you're there in prayer, when your flesh comes to that same level of the Spirit and the willingness of the Spirit, that's when you overcome easily, you will overcome. When you refuse temptation, we will overcome IN Jesus' Name.
iii. Rejecting attractive temptations with the steadfastness of the warrior.
Luke 8:13,14; 1 Timothy 6:9-12; 2 Peter 2:9; Revelation 3:10,11.
If we don't resist temptation and if we don't act like a warrior, all those things will draw us. Make your mind to concentrate on the Lord, many Christians comes to church and everything is going on smoothly, but all of the sudden temptation comes and they don't have the root grounded so that they will overcome, that will not happen to you, you will overcome IN Jesus Name. The people that do not get themselves grounded, established in the word, and the winds can easily blow them up because of the cares of this life and the deceitfulness of riches, they have the deceitfulness of riches following after them and they loose everything they got, they gamble with their souls, they gamble with everything they got, they fall into temptation and then they realized they have sold their souls in the hands of the devil. The pleasure of alcohol and pornography interest them, and they can not go without the pleasure of this life. Whatever the pleasure is, because of that temptation, they bear no fruit to perfection. I pray it will not happen to you. The people who want to be rich by all means fall into temptation and snare of the devil. There are people that are not drowning in the sea, they are drowning in destruction and perdition. They've gone so fast, so wide, they are committed themselves in their pursuit of riches, they are covenanted with the devil because they will be rich by all means. We are not only talking about the people in the world, we are also talking about the people on the pulpit, they what crowd by all means and they want many people to be following after them and they want to have a name on earth and they sell their destiny into the hands of the devil, they drown in perdition and destruction. It will not happen to you, it must not happen to you, you're on your way to heaven, don't be sidetracked, heaven is enough for you, the glory, the beauty and the enjoyment of heaven is enough for you, don't allow anything of this world to sidetracked you, you will not perish by the way side.
POINT 3. THE PROMISED PRIZE FOR TRIED BENEFICIARIES IN ENDLESS TRIUMPH
James 1:12b; 1 Peter 1:7.
You're blessed if you endure temptation, we will not miss the crown of glory IN Jesus' Name.
i. Reversing the cravings of thoughtless and trampled beasts.
Jude 1:10-13; Proverbs 7:21-27; Philippians 3:18-21; 1 Peter 2:18-22.
There are men like beast because their passion is like the passion of the beast. Their desire and drive are like the desire and drive of the beast. We need to reverse that. By grace, you will reverse it IN Jesus' Name. What the people of the world know naturally is the things that corrupts them, the knowledge they have, the experiences they have, the contract they have with the world and the things they get, they use everything to corrupt themselves. They mingle with the children of God, but they have another heart. They speak evil of leadership, they speak evil of the dignitaries, they speak evil of what they know and what they do not know. Somebody who supposed to be a believer, when he or she start talking, he speak dirty things and corruption that is stalk inside him, he's senseless, he cannot control his speech, he's dead in trespasses and in sin. No fruit, no joy, no evidence of salvation, the anger, the things that come out in anger , and grace gone completely. The Lord helps all of us. If there's a total change, we don't have religious satanic foam epilepsy. Those who have religious satanic epilepsy foam out dirty things.
ii. Renewing the consecration of tested and trusted believers.
Genesis 22:1-3, 12, 16-18; 2 Samuel 24:24-25; Acts 20:24-27; Philippians 3:7-14.
We come back to the Lord, and we renew our consecration completely unto the Lord. The kind of thing believer has are not of the world. They counted everything lost. The things that were gained to them they counted now as loss. When you become a believer, the consecration we have, the things we see as gain we now counted as loss to Christ. The consecration we have now is that deliberately we give up on those things which were our gain. Sanctification makes you know Christ more as the power of God in man. He's the one who makes us steadfast even in a dangerous situation. We are renewing our consecration every time, and we are reversing the crafting of the flesh, and we are concentrated on Christ.
iii. Receiving the crown of the tried and triumphant bride.
1 Corinthians 9:25-27; 2 Timothy 4:5-8; Revelation 3:11-13; Revelation 19:7-9,14.
You will receive the crown, all that happens today, the temptations and trials you will overcome, look at the greatness the Lord will bring you to when you stand within and among the angels and saved, sanctified souls in heaven, you will be wonderful, you will be a star shinning forever and ever IN Jesus Name. At this time now, we need to endure temptation. We need to get engaged in the works of the Lord so that when He, ours will be the reward IN Jesus Name. We are to watch in all things, watch over your life, watch over your language, watch over your tongue, watch over your situations, watch over every circumstances you find yourself, watch over all those challenges and watch over every crisis, don't just talk, don't just act, look before you leap. There are afflictions, watch and endure affliction, do the work of a soul winner, and do the work of a harvester. When the time comes, you will be ready. Be ready every day, every time, every night, are there things you should make right that you have not made right? Are there attitudes that you need to turn around? Are there things in your life you need to forsake? Christ can come anytime, and because of that, be ready. Live in the light of Christ every time and walk in the light of His sunshine. Fight the good fight of faith, fighting against Satan is not the bad fight, fighting against corruption and earnestly contending for the faith is not the bad fight, fighting against the corruption of the flesh so that you will live righteously, godly in this present world, fighting whatever will pull you down is not a bad fight. When you come to the end of the race, and you lived by the faith of Jesus who love you and you're abiding in that faith, there's laid up for you the crown of righteousness. A crown of righteousness, a crown of life is waiting for the overcomers. You will be an overcomer IN Jesus' Name.
