Sunday Evening Worship & Word | May 29, 2022 | Pastor Anthony “It is Written”

keep that same spirit as you make your way back to your seats and i thank the praise team and musicians for just ushering us in to the house of the lord and into his presence i give honor to bishop and what pastor what a mighty word we heard this morning and we're uh we're reaping the harvest of that word tonight about just staying stirred up staying stirred up this is not going to be a church house that's a comfortable place i i i feel convicted every time i come in here and i feel convicted watching the saints of god you all in everything you do are the greatest sermons that could ever be preached and all of us have different skills and different talents and we're using them all together just to extend this gospel out just as far as we can go and we're not going to get content we're not going to get comfortable because it's the summer time but we're going to stay stirred up and we're going to keep moving uh we're going to keep moving forward i'm so excited about the great report uh from premier iglesia apostolica earlier all of the baptisms that's been taking place things are happening things are moving as pastor mccool talked about this morning we're seeing some answers to some prayers we're seeing [Music] we're seeing some prophecies that saints of old prophesied about though they're not here literally at this time but they they saw a day that it was going to take place and all of these new faces coming in and all of these different new ministries taking place i'm just excited to be a part of it and we're seeing the answers right before our eyes if you've got your bibles turned to the book of matthew chapter four some of you can turn there and then we're going to cross reference to luke chapter four and some of you can turn there and we'll just get right into it tonight matthew chapter 4 verse 4 jesus speaking but he answered and said it is written astronomical maybe we need to bring that back remember it is written man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of god verse 7 and we'll get and break these down just a little bit later jesus said unto him it is written again thou shalt not tempt the lord thy god verse 10 then saith jesus unto him get thee hints satan for it is written thou shalt not worship thou shalt worship the lord thy god and him only everybody say only shalt thy serve as we cross cross reference to luke chapter 4 verse 1 and jesus being full of the holy ghost returned from jordan and was led noticed by the spirit into the wilderness being 40 days tempted of the devil and in those days he did eat nothing and when they were ended he afterward hungered and the devil said unto him if thou be the son of god command this stone that it may be bread and jesus answered him saying it is written that man shall not live by bread alone but by every word of god i want to preach to you for a few moments this evening you guessed it if uh what the title is but i want to preach to you on the title it is written right where you're at let's pray over the sermon mighty god we thank you tonight we thank you for what you've already done father you see the needs and the the different situations that every individual brought into this house father as we go into your word lord let them over look my inadequacies but let us focus on your word knowing that we can't live without it knowing that we can't breathe without it knowing that in every situation that we face the answer has already been given if we can determine it in our hearts and our minds father we thank you and we praise you in jesus name we pray amen in the book the sniper mind david armalon and very specialized and elite force of the military before getting into technical training he tells the story of the mimosa plant and how it relates to the mindset a sniper must have i like you when i heard that how in the world does a mimosa plant somehow resonate to the mind of an elite uh sniper in the military but he wrote a section entitled a world without day or night he says on a fine summer day in france in 1729 an astronomer by the name of jean jacques de maran whose obsession with the way sunlight could cause cold and winter and heat in summer would eventually lead his protege to invent the photometer noticed and he noticed something peculiar the leaves of the mimosa plant opened and closed at the same time every day the mimosa being a heliotrope belonging to a family of plants whose leaves or flowers move in response to the direction of the sun it intrigued by the plant's timing de meran isolated it in darkness and studied the times it opened its leaves to his surprise this plant stuck to the same times despite the fact that it was now housed away from any sunlight the plant would still open even in the darkness this accidental observation laid down the framework upon which chronobiology the branch of biology which studies natural physiological rhythms was born and he said humans and plants have a lot in common in this area we both have a built-in time clock the point being that because of the way our body is trained because of the repetitious conduct of going to sleep and waking up at a similar time even in a world that is completely dark our body like the mimosa plant can be trained to still know when to wake up even if there is no sunlight we would still know how to respond he says our body can be trained to make a decision even when external factors would lead or influence it towards a different outcome he says the decision to wake up has already been established at a prior time the decision to wake up has already been established in a prior repetition the decision to respond in the darkness had already been established in prior training and prior repetition no matter if there was artificial light no matter if there was sunbeams uh gleaning down the mimosa plant is going to still respond because the answer had already been established and it was not dependent upon the current climate he said it's not a decision that is being made in the moment it's not a decision being made only if there is sunlight only if there is an external factor only if there is artificial light and he says the reason all of this is important is because it lies in the fluidity of battlefield timetables he said combat is notoriously disrespectful of chronotypes and sleep and wake cycles what does he mean by this the enemy isn't too concerned if you're sleep-deprived believe it or not he says missiles and gunfire don't delay hitting their targets because you didn't get your eight hours in he said there's no rules of war there's no international law there's no geneva convention that the enemy must have a recommended amount of sleep and one can only attack between you know the waking hours of 8 to 11 am he said soldiers must be ready at the crackling of gunfire and their minds must be trained to operate in an unusual sleep cycle he said they train their body with short increments of sleep when available in the body to awaken systematically if need be as there is not usually sunlight during the special ops combat and like the mimosa being able to open its leaves in the absence of sun they are trained to respond at a very high level in the darkest of night he said obviously sleep deprivation is associated with poor memory poor attention poor critical judgment poor decision-making under pressure and reduced operating efficiency the brain is obviously sharper when the body is rested and full awake but he says the battlefield is a world without day or night soldiers may find themselves in complicated situations where proper sleep may have to be forgone for extended periods of time critical decisions may have to be made in a very short space of time and complex scenarios that have not been encountered before will need to be effectively dealt with and under these circumstances to have sleep-deprived men or women running around carrying lethal ordinance and engaging in firefights sounds like a recipe for disaster yet the elite units whose tasks always involve some kind of mission critical sensitivity are also the ones who are more likely to experience deployment where they will be the least likely to get any type of normal sleep as we understand it and for this reason many soldiers in particular snipers do almost all of their training in an incremental sleep cycle an incremental sleep training operating while partially sleep deprived operating while being hungry operating under extreme and training under extreme conditions their biological sleep clock consists of incremental sleeping as to stay prepared for missions that could require having to sleep or be awake in an absolute instant that could require them like the mimosa plant to respond in the darkest of night regardless if there's any external factors of sunlight or anything else encouraging it to wake up an additional or one with which the sniper training is also prevalent is the navy seals and they go through buds which is basic underwater demolition training don't sound too bad right also called hell week it's held in the third week of the first phase and before the navy makes an expensive investment in seal operational training hell week consists of five and a half days of cold wet brutally difficult operational training on fewer than four hours of sleep hell week tests physical endurance mental toughness pain and mental stress and yes sleep deprivation above all it tests determination and desire on average only 25 of sealed candidates make it through hell week the toughest training in the us military it's often the greatest achievement of their lives and with it comes the realization that they can do 20 more times what they even thought possible it's a defining moment that they look back to when in combat they know that they will never ever quit and they will never ever let a teammate down and over the years research has been done to determine a common trait in those individuals who make it through hell week and without a definitive answer was their conclusion because the ones who make it aren't necessarily the largest or the strongest the ones who make it aren't necessarily the fastest swimmers but it's those with a burning desire to do whatever it takes and instructors have observed only one true predictor of those candidates which will ultimately succeed and they say that they can only tell who's going to make it by looking them straight in the eyes and the eyes never lie because there's a fire burning inside of them trainees are constantly put in motion running swimming paddling carrying boats on their heads doing long pt sit-ups push-ups rolling in the sand slogging through mud paddling boats and doing surf passage being still can be just as challenged when you're standing instrumentally in formation soaking wet on the beach or up to your waist in water with the cold ocean wind cutting right through you mud covering uniforms hands faces everything but the eyes the sand shapes raw skin and salt water to top it off cuts the burns that are now exposed students perform evolutions that require them to think lead and make sound decisions and functionally operate when they are extremely sleep deprived approaching hypothermia and even in some cases hallucinating while trainees get plenty to eat some are so fatigued that they fall asleep while eating others fall asleep by paddling boats and they have to be pulled out by their teammates teamwork and camaraderie are essential as trainees alternately help and encourage each other to hang in there and not quit throughout hell week instructors with bull horns entice trainees to quit at every single turn mimicking the inner voice that tells you to give in to the physical and mental pain that they are undergoing the instructors even make it easy and even tell them it's honorable to quit after all only 25 make it which means 75 percent don't you got through two days it's okay if you quit right now and actually it's as much mental as it is physical and the instructors make it easy even honorable for stu students to come out of the cold and just simply ring the bell that signals that they've had enough even honorable as i mentioned and the instructors enjoy donuts and coffee and it's sitting right there waiting for them once they decide that they've had enough and they can enjoy their coffee and donuts in front of their suffering classmates because the seal community is so small the instructors know that they will likely serve in future combat with those who are currently undergoing the training therefore they rigorously test and critically assess which trainees have the seal ethos physical ability and character to save other teammates lives sealed candidates commonly have the mistaken belief that hell week is all about physical strength actually it's as much mental as physical trainees just decide if they are too cold too sandy too sore too tired to go on and it's their minds that give up on them not their bodies and while the instructors could get anyone to quit presumably if they decided to that's not what they are after they apply great physical and mental stress sow the seeds of doubt and give tempting invitations for trainees to quit because after all these are going to be the ones who they're fighting beside when they go out into combat these are going to be the ones that go on the most complex and difficult missions in the world and there has to be some decisions that are made in training because the decisions won't be able to be made where on the battlefield when they're hungry and when they're sleep deprived they have to be able to operate already in a state to train their mind and to train their body that way when they get on the battlefield they're not going to sell their teammate out they're not going to get captured by the enemy and begin to divulge all type of different secrets but it's already established in their mind the answer to the question has already been given well before they ever get called out on a mission the decisions are already made in training and just like our spiritual walk we will also be tempted to quit tempted to succumb to the pressures of external factors pressures of the world peer pressure to succumb to the enemy and we must undergo spiritual training and have spiritual disciplines and have a made-up mind knowing what the decision is going to be before the enemy ever opens his mouth and like the sniper like the navy steel that trains their body to go out on special ops missions how much more should we when we're talking about eternal salvation when we're talking about our family and friends being saved how much more should we train our minds and train our bodies and separate ourselves from this world and establish what our response is going to be when faced with tempting circumstances because temptation goes with the territory it is inevitable a part of life that not a single one of us can avoid as long as we are living in this flesh temptation will come our way we will never outgrow it we will never be so righteous because beyond it we can never mature past it we will always be faced with temptation in the book of matthew we receive insight into two of the most significant events in the life of jesus these occurred at the beginning of his public ministry first jesus was baptized by john second matthew shared the account of jesus temptation in the wilderness over the course of a lifetime we learn there are times when temptation follows closely on the heels of great spiritual experiences the enemy doesn't normally show up right as you come up out of the baptistry the enemy doesn't normally show up when we're praising and worshiping and the praise team singing and the musicians are kicking it and i and i'm with my family and i'm with my friends and with a church body up here worshiping that's not when the enemy shows up shows up when you're in your very weakest of moments he shows up when everything else in your life seems to have snowballed out of control and that's when the enemy steps in and makes his move and tries to tempt you to ring the bell interestingly the bible tells us jesus was led of the spirit into the wilderness for the very purpose of being tempted by the devil modern contemporary christianity has deceived many into thinking that you know once i turn my life over to him and once i'm filled with his spirit then everything is happy go lucky and everything from then on out is going to i could just look through rose-colored glasses absolutely not the moment you decide to step out and make a public commitment to jesus christ when you repent of your sins when you're baptized in his name and when you're filled with his spirit that's when the enemy decides to attack the hardest because he's content if you're complacent he's content if you just come in and sit on a church pew and and then just go through the motions and go through the traditions but the moment you take a step out that's when he's going to fight you the most and you better be prepared to give an answer and you better be prepared to give a response and you better have that answer already made up in your mind that it is written the bible tells us that jesus was led of the spirit into the wilderness as soon as you get the spirit it's going to lead you out into on some uncomfortable situations it's going to i mean the enemy is putting up a fight when you take a bold public proclamation and you step out and you decide you're going to do more and you you decide you're going to increase in the things that you're doing you better be ready for a fight the spirit will lead you into the wilderness the spirit directed him to a place of aloneness the spirit directed him to a place of separation and in some ways this can be difficult in 2022 for our minds to understand why would god lead someone to a place where he knows the person will be tempted would it not be better to keep the person in a spiritual environment where temptation would have little to no power of influence it's because we're called to go out into this world and the holiness standards that we live by are conduct and the way we dress and the way we speak it's not isolation from this world like a bunch of hermits living up in the mountain but it's insulation as we go out into this world and proclaim the gospel of jesus christ and no doubt god can do that but there are times when he will lead us to places in our lives where we will be spiritually tested we will be spiritually proven and we will be spiritually strengthened so we must stay close to him and live off of his word many people fall into temptation because they do not practice the necessary spiritual disciplines of prayer fasting and reading of the word just like pastor mccool said this morning i believe in communal prayer meetings i believe in revivals and i i believe when we do the fast together and that's all great and i do not denigrate those things for one second so please understand what i'm saying but you have to have a made up mind when you read the word of god on your own you have to set aside some time each and every day to pray unto god you have to set aside some time to fast each and every day because we live in a world where the enemy is attacking every square inch of it and he's not going to attack us if we're just comfortable and just go through the motions and we're just we're comfortable having church and we'll take two a few pictures and and just go through the motions absolutely not but i i believe tonight that i'm in a church who's not satisfied who's not content with mediocrity but who is ready to go who has spiritually prepared themselves for whatever attack the enemy tries to bring the very word fasting in our world can cause some to cringe we don't like the idea of not eating or drinking anything for a period of time and our flesh craves to be satisfied with natural things and it rebels against being denied for some the thought of giving up even one meal for spiritual reasons is a formidable undertaking imagine jesus for 40 days almost six full weeks he denied his physical appetite he refused to give in and take nourishment into his body it was a time of intense spiritual warfare such a season demanded the spirit to be strong and ready for battle and the only way to accomplish this was to deny his flesh and to feed his spirit prayer and fasting were critical to jesus overcoming the temptations he would face throughout his ministry without preparing the spiritual man surely he would fall in his humanity in a weak moment and in his humanity he may not have known all he was about to encounter yet his spirit he was able just as we have his spirit to recognize when a spiritual struggle was taking place and sure enough right at the moment he did not when he was baptized not when he was performing miracles but in his weakest of moments that's when the devil showed up he didn't show up at the lord's baptism he waited until jesus was in the wilderness denying himself of food that he would need for strength and the devil likes to show up in your weakest of moments and he will show up right where there is a gap in the hedge of your life he does not always arrive when things are going well and we're full of the holy ghost anybody can be on fire for god when everything's going great no he tries to choose the moments of temptation carefully like a snake as he's referred to often in the grass ready to pounce on you when you least expected because he knows when you're in a strong spiritual season what's the point or bothering or showing up at all but if he can catch us in those weakest times of our life he thinks he half the battle is already won because temptation offers an answer for a need or a desire it presents something that will satisfy the appetites of our flesh and the first thing the devil suggested that jesus do was turn the stones in the wilderness into bread that could be eaten the challenge was prefaced oh if you're the son of god surely you could do this with no problem you're the son of god after all you could just turn those stones right there into bread and you could fulfill your appetite what the devil was doing in this particular moment he was challenging the very identity of jesus oh your your god manifest in flesh right this should be no problem for you it was an attempt to appeal to the lord's pride in his humanity and and to try to prove his identity to him because the devil knew if he could successfully stir up the ego of jesus he might get jesus to yield to temptation and if the devil could get him to succumb to temptation in the wilderness notice this then he would have never been able to fulfill his mission to the cross because in those weak times of your life there's something way on down the road that god has called for you there's something there's people that are depending upon you and when you succumb to temptation and those weakest of moments what you're doing is you're foregoing the very calling that god has on your life because how can he expect you and trust you and lead you to do something so great if you fall into temptation in the weakest of moments and satan did so by not only appealing to his ego but also to his flesh his hunger come on jesus you can prove that you're the son of god and also take care of your hunger at the same time and we understand that as we fast the spiritual man is made more sensitive and is strengthened and the temptation is not what destroys us but it's not responding correctly to the temptation is what destroys us the power of choice belongs to us just as it did to jesus jesus did not give in and notice he didn't simply ignore the temptation many of us are faced with temptation and we don't immediately confront it we kind of just let it slide by or pass by or let it show up again but jesus looked the temptation right in the face notice and he said satan it is written he didn't confront it with human philosophy he didn't uh call the friend that he knew would give him the advice that he wanted to hear but he looked the temptation right in the eyes and said satan it is written he knew the word was forever settled in heaven and in earth and it would not fill him jesus boldly looked the devil and said man shall not live by bread alone but every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of god and by appealing to the word of god jesus was appealing to the highest authority known to humanity and when we use the word of god to counter attacks no matter what it is you're calling on a heavenly host you're calling on the highest authority known to humanity you're calling on the very same power that created this world and it will lead you and it will guide you through it because during times of temptation the flesh can do some strange things in our wilderness moments of temptation it can be easy to question god we ask do you even really care do you are you even really seeing what's going on our minds may run rampant with thoughts that we might not survive this or god will not save us if we start to fail we'll question our friends we'll question our our leadership he'll question the very authority and the very help that god's placed in our lives and we'll turn away from it all because temptation in our flesh will make us do things that are unexpected that we normally wouldn't do and to prove in our wilderness moments of temptation it can be easy to question god to prove the point the devil took jesus to a pinnacle of the temple and told him to jump and the devil whispered in jesus ear that you know it would be okay god will send angels to catch you we can become disillusioned and subject to deception we'll entertain voices that shouldn't even have a seat at our table we entertain voices that will sow discord and they'll sow doubt voices that will pit you against the church voices that will pit you against the family your family voices that will pit you against your brother and sister voices that will pit you against the leadership of your life if the decision is not already made in advance if you start making decisions on the battlefield you're in for a rude awakening if you start making decisions on the battlefield whether you're going to serve god or not when things get tough it's already too late if you start making decision when the enemy confronts you and when your flesh is weak it may just be too late but once again jesus appealed to the word of god from the pinnacle he declared to the devil thou shall not tempt the lord thy god be easy during times of temptation to try and put god on the spot to try to challenge him and prove to me who you really are challenge the authority that god's placed on my life you know if you if you all really loved me you would do x y z or if you were really my friend then this is what you would do for me because we're responding and we're acting in our flesh we must remember that the process of facing temptation can strengthen our faith also in our walk with god beyond fleshly temptations and are spiritual temptations jesus was not immune to this simply because he was god manifest in flesh he still had to submit himself to the spirit of god and he was tempted by the devil because the devil was very well acquainted with what true worship looked like he knew what it was like to be in the presence of god he knew what it was like to offer worship to him and the reason the devil was removed from his place in heaven was partly due to his desire to be worshipped like god was worshiped and that desire has never left him unto this day and when confronting jesus in the wilderness the last thing he intended to do the last temptation he sought on him he was o for two thus far with the rocks to turn into bread and with jumping down from the pinnacle of the temple the last thing he wanted him to do was feel forgotten and forsaken and that every single thing he is doing was in vain since we all have an inherent need to express worship the devil thought jesus was primed for a redirection of his worship once again the devil missed he allowed his desire for worship to overshadow just how committed jesus was if jesus did not succumb to turning stones to break and jumping off the pinnacle of the temple there's no chance he was going to cease his worship jesus knew that if our worship falls to temptation so will everything else and again the devil took him to the exceeding high mountain and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world all of the glory of them all these things he said i will give thee as though the devil had dominion to even give them away if thou will fall down and worship me this time jesus was much bolder and straightforward and we get the sense that there was that same fire in his eyes his eyes as he got close to him and said get the hint satan for it is written thou shalt worship the lord thy god in him only shall i serve these words exited the lips of jesus in one of his most weakest states and we must never underestimate the value of the word of god in our lives if the musicians would come when we talk about temptation we immediately think of the lust of the flesh or the pride of life but we can respond to a lot of different types of temptation when we're hurt when we're broken would we feel isolated and if our mind is not made up if the decision hasn't already been made we can incrementally digress from what god has called us to do and we can make decisions in our most vulnerable state god's word is our wellspring of hope and encouragement and during times of temptation his word is the source of supernatural strength in fighting off the enemy second corinthians 10 4 tells us for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through god the pulling down of strongholds david knew this lesson well he realized that hiding the word in his heart would help him not sin against god it has to be already settled inside of us it has to be written already up on our hearts before we even get to that tempting moment the decision has to already be made before we get to that dark place in our life we have to be trained in our spiritual self through spiritual disciplines to operate and respond in the darkness and in the wilderness moments of our lives bishop reminded me in daniel chapter one but daniel purposed other translations say he was determined he was resolved in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat nor with the wine which he drank therefore he requested of the prince of the enochs that he might not defile himself he was not going to be influenced by any external factors the decision to not take of the king's meat did not happen in the moment when he was offered but as a young child as a young man growing up he prayed and he fasted and he opened his window to jerusalem three times a day and every time he prayed he was making a decision already not to partake of the king's meat when we commit ourselves to regularly studying and applying the word of god to our lives we are fortifying ourselves in our wilderness experiences our holiness standards and our conducts of living aren't just these legalistic things that the world tries to misinterpret and place on us and they're not these things that we just go do to just go through the motions of our everyday life to identify us no they are protections for us as we go out into this world there's decisions that are being made every time we decide that we're going to live a holy life stand with me in the book of matthew we read that jesus said i will give thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven we can overcome the temptations of the flesh and the spirit by standing and declaring to the enemy right in his face the word of god whether it be our physical appetites whether it be our spiritual struggles whether we're being challenged in our worship the word of god remains our best defense and it is forever established in heaven and you have divine authority over every situation in your life whatever temptation stares you in the face whatever frustration whatever loneliness whatever complex scenario that you're having to make in the fever pitch of pressure what show whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven his word is forever settled and you can look that situation right in the eye and say it is written it's that simple you're faithful you pray you fast you worship you have divine authority over every situation in your life you do you have his spirit down inside of you and don't take it as some omen because you have his spirit and because you're in a difficult circumstance that god has left you it's likely the spirit has led you there and it may just be a testing ground it may just be a proving ground because if you can endure through this oh there's something greater that you are called to do down the road notice verse 11 after these three temptations the devil left him and it says and behold angels came and ministered to him once once the devil realized jesus worship could not be shaken any other temptation was just a waste of his time and as soon as he endured it then heaven sent angels down and it comforted him and administered to him right there in his isolation right there in his distress and i've got news for you tonight every single person under the sound of my voice whatever wilderness situation that you're facing tonight whatever isolation whatever frustration whatever temptation there is in your life to to go ring that bell maybe you've given up praying for a particular request or maybe you've given up on this particular situation oh don't don't go ring the bell yet don't go ring the bell yet if you can endure just through the night and say satan it is written i refuse to listen to your lies i refuse to listen to your delusion i refuse to listen to your deception satan it is written and don't just be a little passive about it but you need to confront him and just like that song we used to sing get behind me satan in the name of the lord pick up your weapons and flee because god has given me authority not to just oh i'm just going to pass on by you here hey if you don't mind i'm gonna slide absolutely he said to step over him you need to tell the enemy to get behind you and you need to say it is written that situation is not over that miracle is not dead that thing in your life if you'll say it is written i want to open this altar up tonight for somebody that's been in a wilderness situation to let you know that it's not over and if you'll endure i believe heavens about to send some angels down right now administer to you and they're going to say hey you made it hey you made it hey oh just get ready for what i'm going to do in your life just get ready you've shown yourself worthy you've you've been proven you've been tested and you're coming forth as gold