We had a uh a dogwood tree at our house. I wanted to cut the thing down. I went out recently and I told my wife, this thing is dead. We spent this money planting this thing, just chop it down. My wife said, I don't think it's dead.
I said, how do you know it's not dead? It looks dead. Uh And she said, well, she scraped the little bark with her fingernail and she said, Do you see this green right underneath the bark? That little test means it's still alive. And she said, Jay, do you see this little teeny tiny bump on this thing?
Yeah, that's actually a bud. It's going to be coming out soon. It'll be a flower soon. She did a couple tests, she scraped the mark. She found a bud.
And she said it might look dead. But it ain't dead. It's alive.
Now, some of y'all are in a dead season in your life. Things don't seem to be happening. The feeling that used to be there with your Lord is just not there. And you feel like you're spiritually dead. In fact, one of the most common questions people ask me as a pastor is this: Pastor, how do I know if I am truly saved?
I don't feel saved. This is kind of a dead season in my life. I get this asked all the time How do I know that I'm truly saved? that I'm truly born again.
Now, the answer is not.
Well, did you repeat this magical incantation a few years ago that we call the sinner's prayer? If you repeat that prayer, then you're saved. I don't do that. When you go to the Word of God, there are some tests. The Bible will Do on you.
There are some tests. that the Bible will put out there. To help you decide if you're truly born again, if you're truly saved. And in 1 Peter chapter 1 and in verse 2, or chapter 2, Peter gives three of many tests in the New Testament, but Peter gives three tests to assess if you are truly born again.
Now I want to hit Two of those very quickly today, and I'm going to focus on a third test. And so the whole context of 1 Peter chapter 1. And going into 1 Peter chapter 2. Is verse 23, the new birth. If you look at 1 Peter 1:23, the new birth, the new life that we have in Jesus Christ.
That's the context. The new birth, the new life, this born-again experience. 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 22. Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently. With a pure heart.
Having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible. Through the Word of God, which lives and abides forever. Because all flesh is as grass, and the glory of man as the flower of the grass, the grass withers. And his flower falls away. But the word of the Lord endures forever.
Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you. Chapter 2, verse 1. Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, All hypocrisy, envy, and evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
So let me give you. If you wanna know, am I truly born again? Let me give you three of the New Testament biblical tests. Let me scratch the bark. And see if there's some green underneath.
Let me see if there's some spiritual buds starting to pop out on you. Test number one is this: Do you desire holiness, righteousness, godliness, purity? The desire to live a godly life. I want you to see there in verse Chapter 1, verse 22. Since you have purified your souls.
Now, sense means you got to look what's in front of sense. In front of sense, you have verses 13 through 21, where Peter talks about living a holy life. You tell me you're born again. But you have no desire to live a godly, holy life. You are not born again.
Now that doesn't mean that we are to be Blameless and faultless, and we don't make mistakes, and it doesn't mean we don't mess up. You're looking at a man who messes up every single day. Here's the question. Do you desire holiness? You may not be living a perfectly holy life, but do you want to be more like Jesus?
Let me ask you this question. When you do sin, How do you feel? When you sin and mess up, If there's this conviction inside of you, If something says timeout, Chad, you should not have said that. Hey, time out, Ched. You shouldn't have talked to that person like that.
That timeout is the Holy Spirit saying, I now live inside of you. I am still here. I'm wanting to make you more and more like Jesus Christ. How do you feel when you mess up? Because if you tell me you're born again, but there is no conviction of sin when you mess up, you may not be born again.
So the first test is this. Do you at least desire, even if you mess up every day, do you at least desire to be holy and godly? Second test. Do you love your brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ? Look at verse 22.
Love one another fervently. With a pure heart. Chapter 2, verse 1. Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, all hypocrisy, all envy, all evil speaking. Do you love other Christians?
So you're in a church like this, you hear me say this all the time. In fact, somebody just quoted me this past week. They said, Jan, I think you've said several times, this is a messed up group of people led by a messed up man serving a perfect Jesus Christ. That's cross assembly. Bunch of messed up people.
led by messed up men. serving a perfect Savior. You get into the body of Christ, you will find out just how messed up we are.
Now here's my question to you. Do you love your brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ? Do you love Fellow Christians. Here's what Peter says. He says, If there is, you see this word malice, you do a deep dive in the Greek, that means.
Do you have a chip on your shoulder? Are you hostile? Ayah. Are you the guy that's always conflicting with somebody? Are you the one where, when people see you coming, they're like, here they come again.
What are they going to be mad about this time? Malice. He said, Do you have deceit? That word deceit is interesting, means bait or a snare or a trap. In today's terms, it would be: Do you play church politics?
I want to get to the pastor. We're going to kind of get our group aligned against that group, and we're going to go at them, and we're going to do some things to kind of bait and trap others. I'm into the whole church politics game. That's deceit. Hypocrisy.
It means to wear a mask. Do you present one thing to somebody else? But in the dark, you're somebody totally different. I'm gonna tell you: in the body of Christ, the biggest mask people wear today is the victim mask. Everybody's a victim.
Have you noticed that? Hypocrisy. Then he says this. Envy. That means to be torn up.
Because somebody's blessed in a way you're not. She got a better family than I am. I hate her. He drives a better car than I drive. I can't stand him.
That's what envy is. And then evil speaking is simply gossip. Are you a gossip? Can I tell you something? A lot of what is really gossip in the church world.
We call prayer requests. Y'all pray for her? Would y'all pray for her? Because I heard she's a big sleaze. And do you see how she comes to church dressed like that?
And she tries to make other men drool and blah, blah, blah, da-da. Can we pray for her?
Okay, that's gossip. And so, in the body of Christ, Peter says: if you're a truly born-again believer. There may be times we get irritated with each other. There may be times we don't get along with each other, but do you love fellow Christians? That is a test as to whether you're saved.
In fact, John says this more clearly in 1 John 4:20. If you say, I love God. But I hate a fellow believer. John says, you're a liar. Yeah.
You may not even be born again. And so Peter says: if you want to do some self-testing here to see if you're truly in the faith. Uh let me ask you. Uh number one. Do you desire holiness?
Do you desire purity? Number two, do you love your fellow Christians? And then the third test is this: Do you hunger for the Word of God? Do you want to be in this book? Are you hungry for the Bible?
Because Peter says in verse 2 of chapter 2, as newborn babes, Desire the pure milk of the word that you may grow thereby. You don't have to train a newborn baby. to want to have milk. That's just what it means to be a newborn baby. You're newborn.
You want milk. Peter says You're born again? You want the Word of God. That is a test.
Now I want to park here for just a few minutes because Church, I don't think we understand.
Okay. The incredible power. In this book, right here. I don't think you guys understand the kind of treasure that's in this book. In fact, I was listening to a guy.
He was dying of a terminal illness, and he was talking to an author named Kathleen Norris. And As he's dying, he's reflecting on his life. And he said, you know? When uh when I got married My grandfather gave me a Bible for the wedding gift. He said, I've never opened that Bible.
I don't care about the Bible. He said, We just kind of kept it in the box, put it in the corner, and every time we talked to Grandpa. Hey, have you opened that Bible yet? Oh, yeah, Grandpa, I love that Bible. It's great, Baba.
Thank you so much. We assume it a family of the union. Hey, what are you thinking about in the Bible? Love the Bible, Grandpa. Thank you for it.
I never. I never opened that Bible. He said, my grandfather died. And long after he died, I took that Bible out of the box. And for the first time in decades.
I open that Bible. He said, I found that my grandfather had put a $20 bill before every book of the Bible. He said there was over $1,300 in that Bible. And I never knew it. It was sealed shut, $1,300 in that Bible for a decade because I never opened the book.
Let me tell you something. There's something a lot more valuable than $1,300 in this book. This book shows you how to live your life. This book shows you how to walk with God. This book shows you how to raise your family, discipline your kids.
There is power in the Word of God. And so Peter says, if you're a born-again believer. You better be hungry for this word.
Now, I want to give you just very quickly today. I want to give you five benefits that I see. from that book right there. If you're a Christian and you're born again, hunger for the Word of God, and you're going to find the Word of God does several things. Number one, here's some benefits to Scripture.
Number one, the Bible helps you know Jesus better. We talk about serving Jesus and walking with Jesus. Listen to me. You will never know Jesus personally and intimately. outside of this book.
Now listen to me. As Adrian Rogers said, Jesus and the Bible are not identical. But they are inseparable. Both Jesus and the Bible came from God. Both Jesus and the Bible last forever.
Verse 25: the word of God endures forever. Revelation 1:18, Jesus endures forever. Both are unchanging. Matthew 5:18, not the smallest part of the Bible will be changed. Hebrews 13:8, Jesus is the same yesterday.
Today, forever. Both the Bible and Jesus are lights in a dark world. Psalm 119:105, your word is a lamp, a light. John 8:12, Jesus says, I am the light of the world. Both came from God.
Both last forever. Both are unchanging. Both are lights in the world. If you believe in Jesus, you've got to believe in the Bible. And if you believe in the Bible, you got to believe in Jesus.
Easy, what's it? This thing's so complicated. And it is. Look, here's what always happens. You say, I'm going to start reading through the Bible.
Genesis is exciting. Exodus is exciting. And then you hit Leviticus and Numbers and Deuteronomy, you hit a brick wall. I don't care the proper way to slit the throat of a goat, I don't care.
So the Bible can be challenging, okay? Let me, here's what the Bible says: Jesus says this in Luke 24. Jesus Christ said, let me make it very simple. You want to know what the Bible is about? Jesus said this in Luke 24.
The Bible is about me. Look, the Bible has one villain, that's the devil. One hero. That's Jesus. One message, Jesus saves.
I've just given you the Bible right there. And so why read the Bible? I don't know about you. I just want to know Jesus better. and the more I'm in that book right there.
The more I know Jesus. Second benefit for hungering for the Bible and being in the Bible is: look at this. The Bible brings success. To your life.
Now, I'm not a glorified Tony Robbins. I'm not here to give you a rah-rah, you know, help you actualize all your dreams, but I'm going to tell you something. There is something in the Word of God that brings success. I have talked to businessmen, prosperous businessmen, doctors, lawyers who are Christians, and I ask them this question: How did you get to be such a success? You'd be amazed at how many of them said, I just went back to the Bible.
There's success wrapped up in the Bible. In fact, Joshua 1, 8 says this. This book of the law. Shall not. Depart from your mouth.
But you're going to meditate on it day and night. that you may observe to do According to all. that is written in it. for then you will make your way prosperous. And then you'll have good success.
You wanna be a successful businessman? No, I'm just seriously. Do you want to be a successful businessman or businesswoman? It's right here in that book. You want to be a successful parent?
Student? The key is right there in that book. This is kind of, I read this article a couple years ago. It blew my mind. This is from...
December 3rd, 2013, there was an article entitled Nobel Laureate. The Bible is the key to Jewish genius.
Now listen to this. Jews make up Two-tenths. of one percent Of the world's population. That's like what, 0.2% of the entire world's population. You got that?
Jews make up two-tenths of 1% of the world's population. Yet they are awarded 20% of Nobel Prizes. It's one in five.
Now, there's different theories, but Robert Allman, who won the Nobel Prize in Economics. says it's the study of the Old Testament. that has made the Jewish people, by and large, so successful. Did you hear what I just said to you? They're 0.2% of the global population, yet they win one out of five Nobel Prizes.
And this author said, I am convinced it's because the Jews study their Old Testament and there's built-in success in that Old Testament. Y'all with me on that thing? That counts for stuff. I mean, look. This Bible is is a practical manual.
And if you want to get really practical, Read one chapter out of the book of Proverbs every single day. There's like 31 chapters in Proverbs 30 or 31 days in the month. I want you, so what is today? The 15th? What is today?
50.
Okay, so do this. Go home today. and read Proverbs 15. What's tomorrow? All right, Proverbs 16.
Tomorrow, on Tuesday, the 17th, I'm going to read Proverbs 17. There is practical wisdom in this book. And it's an instruction manual that's so easy. to at least read and understand. I can't stand instruction.
In fact, I shouldn't share this. My wife's getting an admissions meeting, so I'm going to share this with you. Don't tire I share this, okay? But in the equitable distribution of labor in our house, I do the floors. I do the vacuuming, the sweeping, and I do the mopping.
That's my job. I don't mind doing it.
So Darla got this. She says, yeah, you got to see this thing. She got this machine. that vacuums And mocks on one. And I looked at that thing and I couldn't, I didn't even know which end was up, which end was down.
She's now, you gotta do this, Chad. This thing is incredible. I didn't know how to use it.
So I went online and I googled and I found the instruction manual. I'm not making this up. The only instruction manual I could find online was in German. And so I don't know how to read Germany. I should um I found this YouTube video.
And it says this vacuum mop thing. actually talks back to you. And so I thought that meant that, you know, it's voice activated.
So I'm yelling at this thing and it's not turning on and it's not talking back to me and I went, what in the world's going on without line? I said, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You know, you got to have model RoboMop 5000 for that. I said, okay, I don't know. I guess this isn't RoboMot 5000.
I don't know what model this is. And so you're supposed to pour this solution in it. And a mop and clean, and so I poured the solution in, and a red light went off and started blinking, and the thing wouldn't turn on. And I went online, I said, What in the world did I do wrong now? Is it all?
You gotta that's all for RoboMop 6000. And I'm so frustrated with this thing. And I finally said, okay, then what model do I have?
Well, you have to download our app. I said, I'm done with this. Not today, Satan. I ain't doing this thing. I got a broom.
I got a mop and I swept the floor and I mopped the floor. Those instructions drove me crazy.
Now let me tell you some instructions that won't drive you crazy. It's in the Word of God, how to raise your family, how to live your life, how to build your marriage. It's clear in the Word of God.
So why hunger like a newborn babe for the word? It's because number one, the word helps you know Jesus better. Number two, the word brings success to your life. Yeah. Chair Donald Russia, Dumba is successing.
I don't understand a lot of this Bible. I'm with you. Let me give you two answers to that. When this success thing, Chad, there's so much of the Bible I don't understand. Let me give you two responses.
Number one, there's a lot about my car I don't understand. I don't understand how it operates. Does that mean I don't drive my car? Still drive it. Number two, do this.
Follow, be obedient to the parts of this book that you do understand. And then God will give you wisdom and insight later on into the stuff you don't understand right now, okay? All right. Here's another reason to hunger after the word of God. It helps you fight sin.
I just talked to him if you're truly born again. I get hunger for holiness. I'm not living totally the life I should be. I keep messing up, but I desire to be holy. I desire to overcome sin.
Psalm 119, 11 says this, Your word I have hidden in my heart that I may not sin against you. Hey. This book will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from this book. And scientists now talk about something called neuroplasticity. You know that is that your brain Can actually rewire itself.
So some of y'all's brains have been negatively wired. By porn, anger, violence, flesh, sin. Chill this book. can literally rewire, not figuratively, literally rewire your brain. That's neuroplasticity.
In fact, a physician shared the results of the survey with me this past week. 40,000 Christians were surveyed. And they comp in this survey, they compared Christians. who are in the word of God either they read it or they hear it Four times a week. Versus those Christians Who are exposed to the Word of God less than that or not at all?
And listen to this: Christians who engage in the Bible frequently are 49% less likely to get drunk, 51% less likely to look at porn, 43% less likely to gamble, 61% less likely to engage in overall destructive habits. Why is that? Because I believe the more you're exposed to the word, the more it rewires your brain, and you don't want that stuff. You just start hungering for a hold of this. In fact, there's a Jewish rabbi named Rabbi Akiva.
He was also a shepherd. And he said he was. Walking a sheep out. And the pastor one day, and he came to this big boulder. And he noticed some water trickling down.
Just trick, drop, drop, drop. onto that boulder. and over centuries it had worn a huge hole into that rock. And the thought hit him. If cumulatively all that water from those centuries, all those drip, drip, drip from the centuries could be brought together and poured on that rock at one time.
It would not have made that hole. It would have. push the water off and there would be no hole in that rock. What changed that rock was the constant dripping. of that water through the centuries.
You should tell what you're trying to tell me. We're going to try and tell you. It's not the one conference that you go to that changes your life. It's not the one sermon you hear from Pastor Chad that changes your life. It is the constant day-by-day exposure to the Word of God, the drip, drip, drip of the Word over a long period of time that changes your life.
So as a newborn baby And be hungry for this book. Why, Chad? Because number one, you get to know Jesus better. Number two, it brings success to your life. Number three, it helps you to fight sin.
Number four, look at this: the Word of God. I want you to listen to me because we're a Pentecostal church. You just saw this video about how we do believe God supernaturally works miracles.
So, watch this. The word of God, I believe this. brings supernatural power into your life. Um People who are in the Word of God. They tend to see more answers to prayer than people who are not in the Word of God.
Y'all know who George Mueller is? George Mueller, he pastored a large church in the 1800s, but what he's known for is he started 117 orphanages. He helped 120,000 children during Victorian England. He provided for all these orphans. And he never begged for one penny.
There's all these miracles where he would pray. And the money would come in. The man saw supernatural answers to prayer all the time. In fact, I was reading about this. Um In August 1877, he was on a ship from England going to Quebec to preach a gospel service in Quebec.
All of a sudden the ship stopped. And he goes to the Catholic and said, what's going on? The Catholic said, look at this. He said, Do you see this fog? Captain said, I have sailed for decades.
I have never seen fog this thick. He said, We've had to stop. We can't go forward in this fog. We could hit something and sink. And he said, Mr.
Mueller, Fog like this takes hours and hours, if not days, to lift. He said, I'm sorry, you're not going to make it to your gospel meeting. Mule said, I gotta go. There's lost people there. He said, I'm telling you, as a captain, this doesn't lift.
Quickly, we're talking hours or days. Mueller went below deck. Found a little room, started praying to say, God, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, pushed that fog away, and within minutes, the fog was gone. He goes back to the captain and the captain is stunned. He said, What did you do?
He said, I just prayed and told God to. Push the fog away, and God pushed the fog away. The captain was so overwhelmed, that captain converted to Christianity on the spot because he said there must be a God that answers this man's prayers.
Now, why was his secret? I'm gonna tell you George Mueller's secret. Mueller read the Bible over 150 times during his lifetime from cover to cover. He began every day in the Word of God. He would quote Scripture.
He would quote the promises of God. There was this commitment to the Word of God. And God produced supernatural power. Yeah, he don't know who Smith Wigglesworth is. Kind of a great Pentecostal pioneer.
I don't have time to talk about all the miracles that Smith Wigglesworth saw in his ministry. Stuff that would blow your mind. Do you know what Wigglesworth's secret was? He said this. He said, I don't go more than 15 minutes without being in the Bible.
He kept the Bible with him. If he's on the On the bus or whatever, and he'd look down, it's been 15 minutes. He'd pull the Bible out and he would just get into the Word of God. He said, There's a connection with the Word of God and supernatural power. In fact, I love this quote from Smith Wigglesworth.
He says: The Bible is the Word of God, supernatural in origin, eternal in duration, inexpressible and valor, infinite in scope. Regenerative in power, infallible in authority, universal in interest, personal in application, inspired in totality. Read it through, write it down, pray it in, work it out, and then pass it on. Truly, it is the Word of God. It brings into man the personality of God, it changes the man until it becomes an epistle of God.
It transforms his mind, changes his character, takes him on from grace to grace, and gives him an inheritance in the Spirit. God comes in, dwells in, walks in, talks through, and sups with him when he is in the Word of God. Let me give you one more. I could go on and on and on. That's what pastors said when they're running out of material.
I could go on and on and on. But all right, so I got one more here. You ready? The Word of God helps you fight depression. And I want you to raise your hand right now.
I'm serious, I want you. Are you wrestling with depression? and anxiety in this place. This book fights depression. In fact, Psalm 19:8 says this: The statutes of the Lord are right.
rejoicing the heart. Jeremiah 15, 16, your words were found, and I ate them. Your word was to me the joy and the rejoicing of my heart. You're dealing with depression and anxiety. Read this book, quote this book, praise God through this book, sing this book, and according to that, it brings joy.
It breaks anxiety. It breaks depression. That's why Psalm 148, it's one of my favorite Psalms in the Bible. Psalm 148, the reason I appreciate it so much is the context. Psalm 148 is called a post.
Exilic Psalm. You know what that means? God's people have been in Jerusalem. The Babylonians come in and they just destroy the city. They murder the inhabitants.
They rape inhabitants. They decimate the city. God's people are in captivity for 70 years. And now they come back. Can you imagine how depressed that place would be?
Everything is in ruins. Family members had been slaughtered. What would you do in a situation like that? Complain, oh God, how can a good, loving God allow this to happen to this people? What kind of God will let them?
See, we would immediately mouth and be depressed. We'll get angry at God. But as those people saw the waste, the devastation, They lifted their hands and in Psalm 148 they said, Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord from the heavens. Praise Him, the heights above.
Praise Him all of His angels. Praise Him off His heavenly hosts. Praise Him, sun and moon. Praise Him, you shining stars. Praise Him, you highest heavens and your waters above the skies.
Let them praise the name of the Lord, for He commanded and they were created. He set them in place forever and ever. He gave a decree that will never pass away.
So praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, lightning and hail, snow and cloud, stormy winds that do his bidding, you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds, kings of the earth and you nations, you princes and rulers of earth, young men and maidens, old men and children, let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted. His splendor is above the earth and the heavens. For he has raised up his people a horn, the praise of all the saints of Israel, the people close to his heart. Praise the Lord. If you can lift your hands and lift your voices.
in the midst of depression. And devastation. I'm just telling you. It's going to break that in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
So let me ask you. Are you truly born again? Chen, how do I know? Yeah. Do you desire holiness?
Not that you're living a perfect life. Do you desire holiness? When you sin, do you feel bad? Do you love your brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ? And do you love the word?
of God. I'm gonna give you a confession. The older I get The more I love this book right here. I know it's silly and maybe it's a little bit superstitious. But I'm out of the point.
This is going to sound crazy. I don't even put anything on top of the Bible. You know, if the Bible's there on the counter after church and we accidentally put something on it, and I see, I just love this book so much. I don't worship it, but I love it. Um several years ago.
I spoke it up. Thing at uh The assembly's got headquarters. And I had heard this illustration before, but I couldn't find anything about it.
So I called the person that I heard this from. Pastor John MacArthur had used this illustration, and I couldn't find it online, so I called his office and I said, Can you ask Pastor MacArthur, is this true? And they got back with me and said, yeah, it's true. Uh Pastor MacArthur. had a friend.
He's a multi, multi, multi-multi, multi-millionaire. I think he's like an insurance guy or something. And he uh He had one of the largest Private collections of ancient Bibles. in the world. And he said, I went to visit him.
And he said. Pastor MacArthur, I know you love the Word of God. You want to send me a Bible collection? He said, absolutely. And so I went down there and I saw all these beautiful ancient manuscripts and Bibles, and they're beautiful.
He sounds like a kid in a candy shop. Then I asked my host, I said, What is the most valuable Bible you have in this collection? He said, John, I'm glad you asked. He said, go stand over here by this table. As I stood by the table, he said, put on these gloves.
He said, I had to put on white velvet gloves. He said the guy goes into his safe, does the combination, opens the safe. And he said, he laid in front of me. One of the most beautiful old Bibles I had ever seen. He said, I could automatically tell this is an old.
copy of the Bible. And he said, I very carefully opened it. and started going page by page. And he said it was perfect, except for some rust at the bottom of the Bible, it was perfect. And he said, I told my host, I said, this is.
For as old as this is, this is in great shape. He said. Too bad there's a bit of rust at the bottom there. And his host said, John, let me tell you the history of that Bible. He said during the days of bloody Mary Queen in England.
when she tried to take England back into a Catholic kingdom. She began to to prosecute Protestants. specifically Bible-believing, Bible-preaching, Protestant. Pastors. My wife's great, great, great, great, great grandfather.
was martyred by Queen Mary. But what Mary would often do is this. If she found a pastor in possession of a Bible, because she made this, she outlawed this. You can't preach the Bible. She would have a s throat slit.
And the Bible thrown into the blood. He said, John, we've done DNA samples on this Bible. That's not Rust. That's blood at the bottom of every one of those pages. And the best we can tell.
This Bible belonged to a man. that would rather die. Then get rid of his Bible. And he said, I couldn't help it. But as I heard that story.
He said The tears begin to drip from my eyes. Onto that Bible. That's a love of the Word of God. Are you born again? Jen, I don't know.
Well, do you love holiness? Do you love the people of God? And do you love the Word of God? Father, in the name of Jesus. Give us a hunger for the word.
Father, we thank you for your precious word that is a lamp into our feet, a light into our path. Father, forgive us. of the neglect. of your word. Father, forgive us for cheapening your word.
I love what you say, God, in Isaiah 66. This is the one that I will show favor to, who is humble and contrite and trembles at my word. Give us a fresh love. and a reverence. Father.
May we tremble at your word. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Listen, I ain't. Maybe I misheard God.
This may not be from the Lord. But this week, as I've been praying for this service, the Spirit of God has been speaking to my heart. And here's what I sense He's saying: Chad, there's a lot of people in your church today dealing with depression. What's happened is they've overloaded on the news. They hear the economy is supposed to be crashing.
Iran's doing this. Straight up Hormuz is that. You got some depressed. Anxious people in your church today. I'm not judging you.
I'm not condemning you. But I'm just telling you, as a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, there is a biblical way to fight that depression. Hey, I don't have a pill to give you today. I don't have some therapy or some counseling to give to you today. Only thing I can give to you today is Jesus Christ.
And I told you a second ago: when you're depressed, raise your hands, raise your voice, praise the name of Jesus. Can you stand on him right now? No matter what's going out there, he is still on the throne. He's still coming back. Today may be the day.
Let's praise the name of the Lord Jesus right now. Lift up his name. I call you Jesus. I call you, I call you favor. Worthing your glory forever.
Something comes out of the grave. Every time I call you Jesus, I call you, I call you failure, worthy your glory forever.
Something comes out of the grave every time I call your name. Change, break, drive. Won't wake every time I call your name. The gates of hell shake. Every time I call your name, planes break, try won't wake.
Every time I call your name, the gates of hell shake. Every time I call your name, dead things come alive, dead things come alive. Dead things come alive in the name of Jesus. Dead things come alive. Dead things come alive.
Dead things come alive. In the name of Jesus, dead days come alive. Dead things come alive. Dead things come alive in the name of Jesus. Dead things come alive.
Dead things come alive. Dead things come alive. I call you Jesus. I call you, I call you King. Living in a ring and how something comes out of the grave every time I call you Jesus.
I call you, I call you favor, worthy of glory forever.
Something comes out of the grave every time I call your name. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you. Lord. Thank you, Lord.
At the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. Demons put their fingers in their ears and they run out of the room screaming. In the name of Jesus, dead bodies. Draw breath and come back to life.
In the name of Jesus. Cocaine addictions are broken. Families come back together. Cancers are healed. There's power in the name of Jesus.
And that Jesus lives in you. And to go out of this place today with no fear, no anxiety, no depression. Would you raise your hands?
Something's happening here. Can y'all still hear me? There you go. Raise your hands. and receive this blessing.
Let them be scared. Let the world be scared. Let the world be anxious. That's not for you. Because what God said to Joshua Before he took on giants and demons.
God now says to you, Before you take on a grumpy boss. or a tough financial situation. Or physical challenges. God said to him, and he says to you, Hazak be Amatz, Alta Erot the Archet, Hi Emecha, Adonai, Elehecha, Beho, Ashe, Telach. which is Hebrew for be bold.
Be strong. Me and y'all will be afraid. And y'all don't be terrified of anything this week. Why? Because the Lord of heaven's host is gonna be with you everywhere you go in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
We pray. Amen and amen. God bless you, beloved. Go change this world for Jesus Christ.
