Sunday Evening Worship & Word | Pastor Whitley
by Nathan Whitley
July 31, 2022 · First Apostolic Church of Knoxville (Knoxville, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Hosea 8:11-12, 2 Peter 1:21, 2 Timothy 3:16, Psalms 18:30, Psalms 119:151, John 17:17, John 8:32, Romans 15:4, Amos 8:11-12

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/nathan-whitley--sunday-evening-worship-word-9
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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come on somebody give Jesus Christ I believe Revival is already here I believe it's already here we just gotta jump into it and say Lord just continue Revival we baptize one in Jesus name right after our morning service I think we should give the Lord praise for that right now come on revive won't you clap your hands unto the Lord come on somebody clap your hands I'm not talking a golf club I'm talking about praise that he's worthy of Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah you can start making your way back to your seat just continue standing when you get there and get your Bibles my what a word we heard today there's none unlike unto the Lord he is all by himself God and Pastor what an eloquent eloquent powerful word we heard today I'm thankful for our leadership I'm thankful for our pastor aren't you thankful for your pastor tonight amen amen amen once you get your Bibles go with me to Hosea chapter number eight I want to talk about my favorite thing tonight and I hope to encourage you to challenge you inspire you to see what I see from the word of the Lord Hosea chapter number eight we're going to look at verse number 11. then we'll look at verse number 12. when you're there would you say Amen if you're cheating looking at the screen Say Amen all right it's all right as long as you get there you're there right because Ephraim have made many altars to sin altars shall be unto him to sin look at verse 12. he said I have written to him the great thing someone said the great things the great things of my law but they were counted as a strange thing someone say strange thing tonight I want to draw my subject my title from verse number 12. strange things strange things don't you put your Bibles down lift up your hands and I want you to pray one more time I want you to pray the Lord would inspire you tonight from his word father we thank you for your word we thank you for your spirit we thank you for the services we've had over the last several weeks and how you have moved you have ministered you have touched but I pray Lord that you would help me tonight to teach preach from your word that I would be a vessel for you tonight with your anointing that you might speak to someone Inspire someone from your word in Jesus name we pray won't you clap your hands unto the Lord tonight look at somebody and tell them strange things strange things you can be seated strange things the theme of hosea's prophetic book is simply summed up in two words spiritual adultery the context of this portion of Hosea is in the midst of God's accusation against Israel God's people had broken their Covenant with him and they had gone after other gods Israel had selected Kings without God's approval and built Idols out of gold and silver with such Behavior they had sowed the wind and reaped the Whirlwind not least among God's judgments was this statement I have written to him speaking of Israel he's calling them Ephraim In This Moment the great things of my law but they were counted as a strange thing not only had Israel spurned faithfulness true worship and god-given Authority they had rejected God's word the root of Israel spiritual adultery was their repudiation of scripture and without God's word they were doomed to disobey him can I tell you this you cannot have true worship without scripture Jesus said in John 4 that they that worship God must worship Him in spirit and in truth and you can't have spiritual Fidelity without the word of God and so as long as Israel had forsaken God's word they were sentenced to failure likewise such an outcome is inevitable for the Christian as they neglect their Bibles listen to me tonight no doubt there are Christians that believe the word of God is important but as long as their belief does not lead them to read and study the word of God then their professed belief is nothing more than unbelief because say Amen right there as long as their belief we know that the word of God is important that we should read it that we study it but if you don't do it then really what you're saying is unbelief to call yourself a Christian and neglect reading scriptures backwards and your life will not be upright but it will be upside down I want to stir you up this evening for the word of God it's my desire for you to hunger for the meat of God's word and to thirst for the milk of God's word so let's look at this text from verse number 12 of Hosea 8. look at the first phrase here he says I have written to him so why should Christians study read and Obey scripture first and foremost because God is the author of scripture though many men from different times pin the words of scripture there is but one author second Peter 1 21 says this for no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man but men spoke from God as they were carried Along by the Holy Spirit so God is the author of all of the books of the Bible scripture is 66 inspired books with a cohesive Redemptive theme all inspired of God now Moses may have written history in law but it was God who guided the pen David and Solomon may have composed beautiful Psalms prose and Proverbs but it was God who guided the pen the prophets may have uttered prophetic messages of judgment and promises but it was God who guided the pen Matthew Mark Luke and John may have recorded the life and Ministry of Christ but it was God who guided the pen Paul may have masterfully written theological expositions but it was God who guided the pen men spoke and wrote but they were carried along or moved Along by the Holy Ghost every word sentence and page of scripture is inspired of God Paul wrote Timothy in second Timothy 3 16 all scripture someone say all scripture what does the word all mean the word all means all everything everything that is written all scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching for reproof for correction and for training and righteousness there's nothing that scripture doesn't touch in your life the word of God touches every part of man from his mind to his heart to his Spirit to his complete body to his relationships to his career to his money everything the word of God touches all of scripture is breathed out not by me but by God post-modern celebrity pastors may want to quote unquote unhitch themselves and their churches from the Old Testament but the Old Testament is just as inspired as the New Testament the Old Testament may seem strange because it declares God as the creator of the heavens and the Earth but it's true nonetheless the Old Testament may seem strange because it records Miracle signs and wonders but it is trustworthy despite the contrary the Old Testament laws principles and precepts may seem Antiquated and Politically Incorrect in comparison with today's standards but it's true nonetheless what is strange is that culture has dictated what is considered to be true or not true today the waves of fashion and the whims of fads take precedence over truth how do you feel how does it make you feel happiness is truth no no no the word of God is true but relativism has bit truth to mean whatever is true for you may not be true for me or speak your truth and let me speak my truth brothers and sisters that is not truth that is your opinion and your opinion can change depending upon your feelings and your feelings are fickle but the word of God shall stand forever the word of God is Not based on your feelings it's not based upon your emotions we have a sure word of Prophecy [Applause] a sure word when your feelings are out of whack you can go back to the word and find a sure word oh you're not hearing me tonight Psalm 18 and 30 this God his way is perfect and the word of the Lord proves true he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him you don't take refuge in your emotions you take refuge in the word oh you're not hearing me I'll keep going okay Psalm 119 15 but you are near O Lord and all your Commandments are true everything written in this book is true Jesus said this in John 17 17 sanctify them in the truth your word is truth word has sanctifying power you want to know how you can grow in Holiness get in this book you want to know how you can grow in worldliness listen to the world but I've come to tell somebody tonight that the word of God is true and it's perfect and if you'll dig into this book you'll be a blessed prayer oh you're not oh I'm telling you the word of God will help you the word of God will bless you the word of God will bring you favor in your life the word of God will bring you Victory but you got to open up its pages and read yourself silly and say Lord Thy word is truth sanctify Me In Your Truth truth has liberating power John 8 32 and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free but truth doesn't care about your feelings somebody said that a long time ago truth will make you free though and what you need is the word of God to constantly be there give you a sure Foundation when the world is being tossed to and from with every wind of Doctrine you can go back to the book and find truth today may be considered post-modern post-truth but we will never be post scripture you didn't hear me I'm gonna say it again we may be post-modern post-truth but we shall never be post scripture scripture is what we stand upon for its author is God if God is true then let every man in his subjective opinion be a liar for it is impossible for God to lie he changes not so if his word was true two thousand years ago or four thousand years ago it's true in 2022. it's true I'm telling you if you want to know truth get in the book the grass withers the flower fails but the word of the Lord remains forever and this word is the good news that was preached unto you for scripture to be truth and it's author truthful then we can conclude there are no errors in this book men in history have tried to find contradictions errors and mistakes but yet it still stands as the inerrant word of God scriptures adversaries have come and gone and yet the Bible endures are you hearing me he said though I have written unto them if God is the author of scripture that means that it has Authority he's the king he's the Lord he's the master he's the author this is his book and it has Authority it may have been pinned by man but God guided the pen these are not just the words of man these are the very words of God you want to know how I know it's the very word of God because if it was only written by men we would have painted ourselves in a lot better light we would have left out David's failures we would have left out Paul being a murderer we would have left out Moses saying I want to give up and quit we would have left all that out we would be the heroes of this but you realize when you opened up the pages of this book man needs a redeemer man needs a savior and the only perfect man that could do that was Jesus Christ who was the word of God made flesh I'm telling you it's the word of God that will bring you truth it will set you free does anybody believe that tonight that the word of God is still great it's a lamp unto my feet it's a light unto my if you believe that won't you clap your hands unto the Lord and thank him for his word I want to get you fired up for the word look at the next phrase the great things of my law he said I have written unto them the great things of my law what we find and then God inspired scripture are great things there isn't anything in Scripture that is unimportant or insignificant this is this is true considering that Jesus said this he said think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets I am not come to destroy but to fulfill for verily I say unto you till Heaven Earth pass one jot or one Tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled he's saying every dot every comma every semicolon every cross T everything in the word of God is important you say well I don't need that today we don't need that today why why are we being dictated by something that was written two thousand four thousand years ago some would have you to believe that there are portions of scripture that are not important ah you can just skip over that just be free and pick and choose what you want what we try to do with the word of God we try to make it a spiritual Buffet never been to a buffet been to one of those buffets that got a little bit of everything and a little bit of everything ain't nothing good on it they got pizza they got tacos they got lasagna they got orange chicken and sweet and sour chicken you're like hey y'all what's good here everything can't be everything so you're just gonna pick what you want we don't we can't do that with scripture everything in the word of God is good Paul said this in Romans said all these things were written for your learning that through patience and faith that you might have endurance to continue so these things were written for your endurance it helps you even though can I tell you that Leviticus is important can I tell you numbers is important some of you are like uh brother mate I tried numbers in high school I didn't do so well that's really not a great title for that book and it's really not shouldn't be called numbers it should be called The Book of the wanderings because they're wandering in the wilderness for 40 years and it's a fantastic book and so we think we can't read and we can't understand it that's not important let me get to the good stuff well all of it is good he said it's the great things of my law it's the great everything in scripture is great even the things you disagree with Thomas Jefferson tried to do that he tried to cut out all of Christ's Divinity Miracles and Resurrection making it called the Jefferson Bible but a Bible that is devoid of Christ's Divinity Miracles and messages no Bible at all beloved all scripture is great even the parts you don't like some may try to cut out the doctrines that they may not like but they will soon find their names removed from The Book of Life that's what he said he said in the in his word he said in Deuteronomy he said in Revelation if anybody would try to remove anything from this book your name shall be removed but can I tell you something else there are those who don't believe that scripture is sufficient and so they try to add their Traditions they try to add their preferences to the word of God but let me tell you what the Lord said he said if you try to take something away from it I'll take your name out of it but if you try to add one thing to this book I'll add to you the plagues of this book and I tell you the word of God is great it's sufficient for everything that we need we don't have to take anything out of it we don't have to add anything to it you know why because he's the author somebody say Amen all of it is great all of it is great but he says this the next phrase but they were counted as a strange thing strange things God had given Israel his word however it had been neglected because they thought it strange What a Sad treatment of God's word the word counted in the Hebrew means determined valued esteemed or considered the word of God had little value for Israel it's sad what little value we place on scripture today we hear one or two or three sermons a week and we feel that it's sufficient enough to go out into this world and find victory it's not valued we value other things before scripture we nibble on a verse just long enough sometime in the day to soothe our conscience mark off our check box and our daily disciplines or to quote Charles Spurgeon that great Prince of preachers he said this there is enough dust on your Bibles to write damnation with your fingers he had a way with words didn't he little value is placed on scripture in our lives we get a little time a little effort because we consider it strange the word strange used here in the Hebrew means out of the ordinary illegitimate or alien that's what that's what Israel thought of the word of God we're living in Strange Days you know what we need a great word if we're going to combat the strangeness and the weirdness and the illegitimate ideas of this word we need to have a sure foundation of the great things from the word of God but the issue is we are more familiar with the cultural language of entertainment and politics than we are with scripture we are fluent with cultural jargon and unable to comprehend the word of scripture there needs to be a hunger for the word of God but if we are not careful there will come a famine Amos 8 11-12 says behold the days come saith the Lord God that I will send a famine in the land not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water but of hearing the words of the Lord and they shall Wander from sea to Sea and from the north even to the east they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord and they shall not find it that is a famine that we do not need right now what we need we need to Feast on the word of God more than we Feast on the news social media come on somebody come on somebody if anything we should watch the news and say that's a strange thing we should go through social media that's a strange thing but we should come to the word of God and say this is a great thing this is truth this is how I'm going to apply my life to avoid the famine you must be willing to store up while you have the Harvest you hear me that's what Joseph did that's how they they were able to find sustenance during the drought in Genesis is that they stored up during the Harvest we have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to the Bible we have an embarrassment of riches we've got more English translations study Bibles and additions than ever before we got journaling Bibles we've got athletic Bibles we've got police Bibles and firefighter Bibles you know what these Publishers are trying to do get you to read the word I get this question a lot brother Nate what kind of Bible should I get and here's my answer whatever one you will read which everyone will not sit on your night stand collecting dust pick up the one that you will get into and you will read we are in a time of harvest we better start storing up the word of God in our heart and in our minds because there will be a day there will be a famine when things will not get right and things will become strange and will look for the word of God they'll say listen I gave you a time of harvest I gave you all kinds of translations I gave you all kinds of versions of the Bible and you didn't read it people arguing about translations and they don't they don't even read it drives me absolutely crazy Ashley and I went to an East and we went to Washington D.C a few months ago this year and we went to the Museum of the Bible and if you've not gone to the Museum of the Bible you need to go you need to go there first go to the Museum of the Bible and there was a moving part when we walked through this Museum it's five or six levels we got through three that's it it's it's amazing and you get to this part where you look through how we got the Bible and you need to know how we got the Bible and know that there are people who die for you to have a Bible in your hand today and these people let me just go ahead and just get on my hobby horse here for a second I I got some people who I who I talk to like well we don't like Martin Luther we don't like what we don't know you wouldn't have a Bible if there was not some of these men who translated it from French and German and got it out of the hands of the popes and got into the common man's language people died there was John Knox John Wycliffe who gave their blood for you to have a Bible and you walk through this Museum and there's a place you walk into this this bright white room and there are shelves all around the room and it shows you translations of of the Bible in the language of people around the world and you can see a word translations of the Old Testament has been translated in a foreign tongue but the New Testament hasn't been translated yet in that tongue and then you'll find another language that has the old and the new then you'll find something that has been new and don't have the old then you'll find the majority of the rooms languages of the world do not have a Bible in their language and we're over here fighting and fussing about what translation to read and there's people in this world who don't even have a Bible and you want to fuss with me brothers and sisters pick up the word of God and eat it get in the book and read yourself silly whatever you will read do it we are blessed around here we are blessed with the word of God and we should be thankful yeah come on brother Nate move on now getting in people's preferences now sorry actually I'm not sorry getting this book and you won't be sorry I'm on somebody there's a famine in the land biblical literacy is that an all-time biblical literacy is that an all-time low people don't even know where to find the book of Matthew or Genesis but they can tell you everything about UT football Brothers and Sisters Jesus Christ is not going to ask you how many touchdowns Peyton Manning had oh where are what number did he wear oh yeah now tell me brothers and sisters are you hearing me brother now like when you talk about the Vols like that I'm so sorry that we've got too many gods around here it's not Jesus Christ and that's keeping you can tell me you can watch four hours of a football game but you can't read 30 minutes of the word of God no wonder we're weak no wonder we're constantly getting beat up by the devil you know why because we're not being nourished with the great things of his word [Applause] oh here it comes here it comes Delight in scripture when you get to Psalms The Book of Psalms 150 chapters the longest chapter in the Bible is found there it's psalm 119. that's what we do when somebody gets in trouble at school you're going to write out one psalm 119. all five thousand verses can I just have Psalm 117 it's got like three or something yeah you get to Psalm 119 you're like that's you're like you're doing you're doing so good in your Bible reading you get me and you're on like I'm checking it off I'm going there and all of a sudden you get today psalm 119. and you're like what time is it how long is this going to take and this keeps going and going but you know what the theme of Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the word of God is about the word of God it's about David Allah he said I've got so I got so much to say about the word of God I Delight in the word of God David's heart was delighted in the words of God he is kept on bringing praise to the word to David the word of God was not strange it was great the doctrines the laws the precepts were thought were not thought to be alien and foreign or strange but they were considered great he made this prayer Psalm 119 and 18 open thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy the word law is used over and over again it's in reference to the first five books of the Bible the pentateuch Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy everything there is considered great he says oh you're a wondrous laws he says thy testimonies are my delight the word testimonies is used in reference to when the law was placed in or near the Ark of the Covenant it would signify its Witness then he would say I will never forget thy precepts for with them thou Hast quickened Me the word precepts is drawn from the sphere of an officer overseer one who has the responsibility to look into a matter God's word looks into the matter of man and shows us our flaws and our weaknesses and shows us the remedy only found in Jesus Christ he talks about statues and Commandments things that we need ordinances rules judgments he constantly is referring to the word of God and saying I like light he says this in verse 103 how sweet are thy words unto my taste yea sweeter than honey to mine today that he would rather have God's word than wealth Psalm 119 72 the law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver verse 127 therefore I love thy Commandments above bold yay above fine gold he loves God's word more than he loves sleep he says in verses 147 through 148 I prevented the darling of the morning and I cried I hoped in thy word my eyes prevent the night watches that I might meditate on Thy Word what God wants to do in you he wants to stir up that love and Delight for his word can I tell you the word of God will help you wherever you are in life it will help you know I mean I've heard Bishop talk about this over the last 12 years how he'll say there's he'll come through a circumstance or an issue and the Lord will will Just Awaken or Quicken his mind to something from the word of God and when you dig in the word of God like Bishop has done the Lord will begin to Quicken you Jesus said this he said this the comforter which is the Holy Ghost will teach you or remind you of all things that I have taught unto you meaning he will bring into your mind things from the word of God to fight and to face the circumstances that you're that you're coming against now can I tell you he can't bring to your remembrance what you don't put in your brain he can't stir up into remembrance what you don't put in your mind you have to feed on the word of God so you can draw from The Well of his riches and so you can face your circumstances he says this you can avoid some bad friends if you get in the word Psalm 119 115 he says depart from me you evil doers oh for I will keep the Commandments of my god when you have the word of God dictating your relationships you'll avoid a lot of harm if you'll place your trust in the word of God it'll keep you from a lot of bad relationships how can a young man keep his way pure how can you fight for wholeness if you're a young man in a day where sin and evil is running rampant Psalm 119-9 wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way by taking he thereto unto Thy Word how can you keep yourself from being offended I got the answer 165 great peace have they which love thy law and nothing what's that word nothing mean nothing and nothing shall offend them you know why so many people get so offended all the time they don't love the word of God they're always so sensitive to what everybody's thinking about them what they say oh they're posting not about me aren't they I just know they are no they're not they're just posted a nice little picture they didn't have anything on your mind but if you would get the word in your heart you'll say well this isn't that a nice picture isn't that nice watch and just keep going on your way nothing shall offend them what if you've gone astray from God verse 176 I have gone astray like a lost sheep seek thy servant for I do not forget thy Commandments what if you are facing persecution and tribulation there's a verse for that Psalm 119 153 considered mine Affliction and deliver me for I do not forget thy law how can you learn to hate evil Psalm 119 128 therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right and I hate every false way how can you learn to fight against sin verse number 11 of Psalm 119 Thy word have I hid in mine heart that I might not sin against thee stand to your feet how can you become a person of Praise verse 17 the same chapter my lips shall utter praise when thou has taught me thus who wants to be blessed in the house tonight who wants to be blessed who wants their marriage blessed who wants their finances blessed who wants their children blessed who wants their job blessed Psalm 119 and 56 says this blessing has Fallen to me that I have kept your precepts verse 2 blessed are they that keep his testimonies and that seek him with the whole heart brothers and sisters the word of God is not strange it's great the word of God is not strange it's great now I want to tell you a little story as musicians and singers are coming up here and I'm just going to share with you where I'm coming from tonight okay now I grew up in church had a drug problem when I was growing up Mom drugged me to church on Tuesdays and Thursdays and Sunday morning and Sunday night you can't and eating we could go to church I mean she she drugged me all the way down to Baton Rouge Louisiana to go to church he drug me all the way to Akron Ohio to go to church I went to church a lot I grew up at church with the Sunday School in church I went I mean I did everything in church but I'll never forget this moment I had when I was about 13 or 14 years old I can't remember how old I was but our church was the church that I grew up in was having a sectional rally kind of like what we do here in the tri-state and we had a big crowd at our church and I was getting to play drums for the praise team and the choir and all the things and you know what you do is when you get done and you come off the platform you go get you a drink of water you know you go get that drink of water and you take a look out in the crowd and see who's there especially when you're 14 years old you're looking to see if somebody special's there for you that night you know I also never forget I went and got me a drink of water and I walked to the door frame and to the sanctuary and I heard the preacher he took the pulpit and I heard him begin to read his text and he read his text and he was like I can't remember the exact text but he was like Matthew chapter number 19 verse number one then he went now I want you to go to Psalm 150 and verse 2. now I want you to jump over with me to Jeremiah chapter number three verse number four then I want you to come over here to me with with me over here to Revelation chapter number 20. and I'll just remember he hadn't even told his title yet and I was standing in the door frame of the of the sanctuary and I just never forget this moment and I thought why is the Bible put together like that well I I just don't understand why he's going kind of hopscotching over this and this and I just never forget this this moment I had where I thought I'll never understand the word of God I'll never understand it I'll never be able to read it or understand it I just felt so uh deflated and defeated at that moment even though I grew up in church had the Holy Ghost got baptized I was so intimidated with this book it can be pretty intimidating it's a pretty large book skip ahead several several years and and felt this call to preach to minister and I was just ready me I was like I want to go win the world I'm gonna I'm gonna set this world on fire with the gospel of G what he's done for me and I'm gonna tell everybody and I I knew I knew things had changed in my life when I felt the sudden urge to read I like picture books I had you know magazine subscriptions and I liked all the pictures you know I read the articles here and there but you know I really knew God got a hold of me when all of a sudden I thought how about you read a book [Music] I thought well I better start with the word of God I want to share I'm gonna be honest with you I went to go read the my Bible I thought where am I going to start where should I start I thought I'm gonna start in the New Testament Matthew that's where I'm going to start with Matthew I may have told this before and if I have I apologize I read Matthew and Jesus has been born he heals the sick he dies on the cross and he's resurrected on the third day and then he's going to ascend at the end of Matthew 28 and I'm going now hold on this is a whole lot of information in one one little book what's Mark gonna be about keep me Matthew he gave it all away what's what's chapter two going to be about I thought Matthew was chapter one Mark was chapter two Luke was chapter three and John was chapter four and I began to cry because I didn't know how to read my Bible and I believe that there are people who've got the Holy Ghost you've been baptized you've seen God do great things in your life but you're intimidated by that book and you feel like I just don't know how to read it can I tell you I felt the same way I was not born a preacher just ask this beautiful woman over here God knows she paraded into existence I kept my mother on her knees praying I wasn't born a preach I didn't come out of the womb talking in tongues Acts 2 38 well I didn't that wasn't me [Music] but when God got a hold of me he put something in me for this book and I decided right then I said okay Lord I don't understand how this is all put together yet but I'm gonna give my life to this book I want to give my life to this book I will read it over and over and over and over and over again until I understand it and can I tell you something some 17 years later I still don't understand everything in this book but I I want to tell you every time I open it he speaks something to me it's line upon line precept upon precept hear a little there a little come on somebody if you want to know how to do it just open up and read take it up and read that's all you have to do I'm close and they're going to sing I want to get out of the way it might seem strange to you I know it definitely seems strange to this world you're trying everything in this world to discredit this book ah it's Antiquated it's old-fashioned why do we need to have old men who are dead long and gone tell us how to live today in this Century modern man's more advanced or smarter I'm gonna tell you something God's word endures forever it's true today just as it was two thousand or four thousand years ago his word is still good but what you have to do is take it up and read but you have to have a Hunger Force I want us to pray this prayer right now father as your eyes are closed I want you to pray father I pray that she would stir up within me a desire for your word there might be some people in this room who felt like me 17 some years ago and I got through the Book of Matthew and I had no idea what would come next I was so confused I was overwhelmed and I felt inadequate and I felt insufficient and I felt like I would never make any difference in anybody's life or even my own life but God you stirred something within me for your word and if you can do it for me if you can do it for somebody like me if you can do it for some Heathen like me you can do it for somebody in this room I wonder if you had lift up your hands right now and say maybe if you were honest if you're honest with yourself I say Lord I'm not giving I'm not given your word enough adequacy and time in my life and I really need to do something I'm feeling overwhelmed I'm feeling anxious and worried all the time I'm always being defeated I'm always feeling overcome and overwhelmed Lord I need the word I need the sword of the spirit so I can take it up and wield it but if I can't take it up and read I'll never find the victory but I pray right now Lord that she would Stir It Up with somebody I wonder there be some young man or some young woman right now who say you know what brother Nate that's what I'm going to do I'm going to give my life to the word of God I'm going to give my life to Rita is there somebody who will do that say I'll try I'll try if I have to read on my iPad if I have to read it on my iPhone if I have to borrow somebody else's Bible I'm gonna I want to give my life to the word of God maybe there's some Saint a season say you've been here a long time you've had the Holy Ghost for decades and you're just you still feel overwhelmed with the word of God I want to tell you he will help you if you will try he will give you a burden and a Hunker for his word if you will try I'm telling you it's line upon line it's presentable precept it's here a little there a little all it takes is consistency and discipline I wonder now if somebody would come who say Lord I'm thankful I'm for the word of God you preserved it you've kept it it's sufficient for me and I'm gonna live it I'm gonna obey it I'm going to give my life to it it's not strange to me it's not foreign to me it's great things it's great things