Wednesday Night Bible Study

and praise the Lord everyone we greet you tonight in that wonderful precious matchless name of Jesus and we're so thankful that we know that name and realize and know that there is none other name under Heaven given among men whereby we must be saved I was flipping through some old voice of Pentecost uh and ran across an article here I'd like to share with you and these sermons are about a two3 minutes long it's it's about the length most of us would like to hear brother J Frank Wilson said sermons are like making a cake there's flour and there's lard and there's sugar and shortening and said most of them needs more shortening so I guess that's probably true this article is entitled Milestones are millstones 2 Corinthians 4:15 for all things are for your sakes that the abund Grace might through the Thanksgiving of many redown to the glory of God it's been said that little things do big things to good folks sometimes bad things the Apostle Paul declares all things are for your sakes let me say that again the Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:15 all things are for your sakes and didn't say just good good things are for your sakes but it said all things there's not a trial that is not in your benefit if you will let it be your personal attitude will determine whether it's a milestone or a millstone on either side of the crucified cross hang a deserving criminal one spit forth blasphemy and contempt to his dying moments while the other Thief rebuked His bitterness and in humble submission turned to the suffering Savior and said Lord remember me when you come into your kingdom one man's cross made him bitter the other man's cross made him better so often I see people who could be strengthened by their trials but instead they allow the trial to complete completely devastate them the Apostle Paul in my opinion was the greatest writer the world has ever known his greatness does not lie in his skillful use of words or vocabulary or sophistication but spiritual soundness and inspiration his Simplicity and sincerity reaches to the very heart and soul uh of the understanding how can a man with such political and academic statute come to understand the problems of little people remember our earliest acquaintance with Paul has him an arrogant overeducated egotistical opportunist but on a dusty road while bearing ill things and Ill Tidings to the Damascus Saints Paul met Christ whose brightness left him blinded I do not know but some say he never fully regained his eyesight if this be true his dimness of vision became a light housee Beacon and constant reminder of a great God I do know that Paul prayed for and was denied Deliverance for what he called his thorn In the Flesh we know that on different occasions Paul referred to his afflictions but always using them to encourage others his off imprisonment was directly responsible for us having his Epistles today had he been free to move around many would have enjoyed his presence but there would have been no need for his letters which we cherish today if you give in and give up you're the loser but if you face up to your trial and through faith overcome all who hear of you will be blessed can you think of anything more rewarding let your trial and let your problem become a blessing to you we have a great great lesson tonight um as I have studied this and read it and of course I've I I have uh read it many many times down through the years and as a matter of fact years ago I preached a sermon on this topic or on this character and on this situation I called it seven ducks in a mud hole you'll understand why in a little bit 2 Kings 5 starting at verse one now non captain of the host of the king of Syria was a great man with his master and honorable because by him the Lord had given Deliverance unto Syria let me stop there just a minute now we know that Syria and Israel where they were deadly enemies and on on this particular occasion the syrians had the upper hand and looked like they were the victors but I want you to notice a phrase in this first verse uh the king uh the captain of the host of the king of Syria was a great man with his master and honorable because by him the Lord had given Deliverance unto Sy now all throughout the Bible where God's people were brought into submission or in bondage your servitude to enemies it always tells you why it's not because God was not able to deliver them but this verse says that non was a captain in the Syrian King's Army he was a a a valiant man and uh he was a powerful man but they said the Bible said by him the Lord ha given Deliverance now God never gives credit to the devil for defeating God's people because the devil can never defeat God's people now he may sometimes allow the devil to give you and me a lesson we just read the story the little short sermon millstones or mileston and we can let the problems we go through defeat us or we can let it make us stronger he was also a mighty man in Valor but but he was a leper of all of his uh Valor of all of his strength of all of his Prestige and all of his honor and riches there's one thing he could do absolutely nothing about there was no cure for leprosy leprosy was a death sentence a slow painful death and he was a leper and it was only time that it was going to take its toll but notice verse two and the syrians had gone out by company and had brought away captives out of the land of Israel a little maid and she waited on non's wife let's look at that just a little bit if you or I were the servants that had been captured by the marauding syrians that went out by bands and we were thrown into this position of becoming now she was a little maid and she was non's wife's servant uh would you want to better them in any way or would you just sit back and say uhhuh old boy you've got it coming to you you got you got leprosy and I'm glad that's not the attitude she had she saw now in my little sermon I read to you all things are for your benefit all things are for your sake there's a reason there's a there is a larger meaning to to things than what we can possibly imagine Romans 8:28 is a fact though we don't understand it for we know that all things work together for good to them that love God there's some things we just don't understand we've told you this probably it might be so recent uh you may remember it but when we were planning this church we had a we had a architect that Drew us I don't know how many different plans and seemed like every everyone got worse we it didn't look like a church it didn't didn't satisfies and and pastor and I uh we went here and went in fact we even took a trip uh all the way to Michigan looking at different churches we just see a church we like to look we stop and look at it and if there's anybody there we' talk to them about the the building and we'd even go in and see some of them we finally after all of this we couldn't local local architect couldn't satisfy us I told Pastor Mark you're a arted major at uh at in University of Tennessee you're an artist he's been an artist since he's just a little bitt boy that's the way he grew up his mother give him a a pen or a pencil and a sheet of paper and let him uh draw things on on the paper he got so good at that even one day one time we was in a Revival and phone uh compan came up to do something there and while he was in there mark took a paintbrush andain part of his Fender so he had a lot he had a lot of course he don't remember that um but believe you my wife can attest to that but anyway um all things are for your sake so Pastor I said Mark draw us a draw us something that it may not be according to scale but something that that we like the looks of and then we'll let the architect put it to scale and go from there and in the meantime we we found out of Zion Church Builders and incidentally there our superintendent they sent to us uh brother Ken hul passed away this he was buried yesterday today he was buried today brother Ken hul he was a precious man one of the finest men to work with and one of the most uh intelligent men when it come to building I'll tell you more about that but anyway uh when when they they have their own architect out in Missouri and uh pastors we sent the party wanted it to look like and he then drew it according to scale but the actual design is Pastor Mark M's uh idea his he had everything the way it is the way it looked so um when they got the got the plans I said now I want the building to be 200 ft square and and I don't know why I don't know why that came to me but it seemed like that was just up all the room we had and still have enough parking to satisfy the city and the requirements uh for how many cars you had to as a matter of fact when it got done we had 238 parking spaces no wonder we believe in Acts 238 so strong everything is 238 but anyway um when we got the the plans back and they started uh they started let in the foundation this building it was 198 point something like about 2T being 200 ft square and I never told him that I told him I wanted it 200 ft square and uh well after I saw that the plans were drawn to that they couldn't change that they have to change everything else okay that what's 2 ft going to matter so they went ahead and of course we built the building as it is now and um one day the our local building inspector he he he liked the building so good he said would you mind if I have the state inspector come I'd like for them to see this building and oh we felt so very complimented by that and um be careful when they start when when you think you're being complimented and of course the the local inspector was when when they brought the stadium and the the the state man came in looked at and says very nice but he pulled back some of the sheet some of the uh uh insulation and there was wood trusses in behind that where they going to put sheetrock and so for forth and he said I I hate to tell you this but this has got to come down what this what's got to come down this whole all every one of these outside walls have got to come down because uh according to the code uh you've got to have uh sheet not sheetrock but actual brick and stone you can't I can't allow you to have this uh wood in here well we all went into panic mode and I told uh brother hul about it and he called Jim Hines the head of Zion Church Builders and uh he liked to went into a panic too because uh it was uh they didn't have errors and mistakes insurance but and they literally was telling the all the outside walls had to come down and so uh we we all were in a panic there for a while and brother hok he said I went he I went to prayer and said I said God surely there's an answer for this there's an answer for this and um he said the Lord spoke to him and told him to go he had a whole library of building books and codes and he had he had all kind of things he he was skilled in that and he studied up on those things and he got the reading um the building that's 200 by 200 has so many square feet in it but a building 198 by 198 has several square feet fewer than the other building the building that 200 by 200 fell into the category that they could not accept those wooden uh Building Material in the walls but since it was 2 feet less they could do nothing about it it passed the code and now tell me that was by accident tell me that somewhere God didn't intervene in that you've heard the story the the three bricks the man came up with and and wanted to know we hadn't even found brick we we we was worried about finding brick would match our other building and you know the story well let me get back to my thought all things are for our good God knows what he's doing this little Maid she wasn't uh Angry or spiteful toward her leader uh her M mistress she said notice this and Syria had gone out by companies that had brought away captives out of the land of Israel a little maid and she waited on non's wife be careful that we don't get uh bitter at something that we think we may be mistreated God's got a hand in your life whether you know it or not you don't know how many times God's made you turn left and you thought you got lost and God might have been keeping you out of a you don't know what God has done and is doing in your life you just need to put it in the hands of the Lord and he said unto her mistress would God my Lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria for he would recover him of his leprosy it gave her an opportunity to witness for her God she said I would to God that my M that my master knew about the prophet that down in Israel he would recover him of his leprosy now I don't know um uh who was it uh preached recently here at our church when uh Jesus had never performed a miracle that he had no reputation as a miracle worker he had no reputation as any but he went to a wedding in can of Galilee and they ran out of wine and his mother came to him she didn't she'd never heard him uh turn water into wine she never heard of him doing a miracle but she said they've run out of wine and Jesus said woman what's that to thee and she didn't get offended at her son she just turned to the service and said whatever he says unto you do it she had full faith that he had the answer to the problem she didn't know how it was going to be she had never seen him perform a miracle but she knew that he had the answer and she said whatsoever he saith unto you do it now that you know the rest of the story of the barrels of water but let me tell you this whatever he says just believe him that he's got the answer don't give up and panic and and and don't get stressed out because something great and negative or something you dislike or just want to happen God has still got you and your problems in his hands and God you you remember what Joseph said you me it evil but God made it good and I'm still declaring to you tonight that the are things that happen you put it in the hands of the Lord and let God work it out oh Hallelujah give him a hand clap brother Spencer M wrote the song just put it in the hands of the Lord when you feel that your heart can bear no more just remember Jesus walked this road before so put it in the hands of the Lord I would to God that the my master could just get acquainted with the prophet that's in Samaria now I don't know whether this uh little Maiden had ever seen the man of God Elisha perform a miracle I don't know whether he ever she ever saw it but she said I would to God he could get acquainted with the prophets down in Israel you know you and I if we could only believe God we can tell our friends and our neighbors our acquaintances that's got problems in their life I want to tell if you could just go to our church I would like you to get acquainted with with our God we like you to get and and tell them how great God is and what God can do for them it's an opportunity for you to witness and I'll tell you this as my little sermon said all things are for your sake it'll give us an opportunity to witness to somebody and you may be so despondent you may be so Disturbed over some problem but put it in the hands of the Lord because it's for your sake and one went in and told his Lord thus and thus said the maid that is is of the land of Israel and the king of Syria said go to go and I'll send a letter unto the king of Israel and he departed and took with him 10 Talons of silver 6,000 pieces of gold and 10 chain es of arment now right off the king of Syria he starts thinking about the the uh uh the priorities and he's going to match his position with the king of Israel because he thought that anything that's going to happen good is going to come through the ranks of of the the the Mighty the king to King it don't work that way with God Jesus Jesus knows who to take if it's a a little woman with an issue of blood that can't even get to Jesus and all she can do is touch the H of His Garment his virtue will leave and will heal her when they tried to sh the little children away Jesus said suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not for of such is the kingdom let me tell you something folks God knows who we are are there is there's no status in this world the the high and the mighty and the low and the lowly We're All God's Children and he pays as much attention to the least as the mightiest because he loves every one of us equally and he brought the letter to the king of Israel saying now when this letter has come unto thee behold I have therewith sent nonon my servant to thee that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy now here this captain of the Syrian Army high ranking well thought of brings a letter and gives it to the king of Israel and it's from the king of Syria and the Syrian King says this letter here and I've sent P of gold and a pile of silver and a 10 chains of rment and said now I want you to cure my captain of his laosy like scared the king of Israel to death he he went into panic mode himself notice what it said and it came to pass when the king of Israel had read the letter that he rid his clothes he tore his clothes he he notice what he said he rid his clothes and said am I God to kill and make alive that this man do send for forth unto me to recover a man of his leopardy wherefore consider I pray you and see I seeketh the quarrel against me he thought right off that the king of Syria was sending an an outrageous impossible request a and War was going to break out because he said am I God I can't do what he's want let me tell you something we're talking about two Earthly Kings but now then the prophet of God he's in touch with the real king of kings and Lord of lords and I got news for you tonight it don't matter if you're the lowest of the low it don't matter how much how much or how little you make on your job it don't matter your educational degrees it don't matter if you hold a political office or if you've never held any God sees you and he's got the answer to what you need for all things are for your sake and we know that all things work together for good to them the love God and are called according to his purpose oh God help us to be able to get a hold to that and grasping and it was so when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes that he sent to the king saying where for hast thou rent thy clothes let him come now to me and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel now we see gigantic Faith being Manifest this Prophet believed God that he would be able to pray the prayer of faith perform the miracle and the man would be healed so he sent word to the king of Israel said no need to tear your clothes up said send him to me and he's going to find out there is a real prophet in Israel I want to tell you something we don't need to forget the fact that God's got Holy Ghost filled powerful people that's able to pray the prayer of faith we don't need to hold back it he's the same yesterday today and forever and we need to continue to manifest our faith as your faith so be it unto you so Layman came with his horses and with his Chariot and stood at the door of the House of Elijah now it said horses with all the material that was sent he had to have quite a caravan to carry all of this it must have been something to behold when non with his horses and chariots and servants and those that were that they had to have protection carrying that much wealth with them they came up into the house of Elisha and they just knew when they saw that Entourage come driving up in front of the of the prophet's house that Prophet would come out and uh do some some kind of honor and he's going to have some kind of ceremony and he's going to perform something special and and and the leprosy would just be clean but they were in for a surprise and Elisha sent a messenger unto him saying go and wash in the Jordan seven times and thy flesh shall come again to thee and thou shalt be clean now non later on in our lesson he tells him about we got better rivers in then that old muddy Jordan that's where I got the text or the thought seven Ducks and the muddles and to go dip seven times in Jordan and you'll be clean now notice but non was wroth and went away and said behold I thought he will surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God and strike his hand over the place and recover the leper a point I'd like to focus your mind on right now and we need to be careful and learn something sometime we have a preconceived idea of how God is going to move or what way we think he should move uh some folks seek the Holy Ghost and they're expecting God to do a certain thing certain way or or something else happen now if God would do it this way the best thing we now all throughout the Bible there were strange things that happened can you imagine a blind man a stranger walking up to him and and and saiding spit on the ground and make ball of mud and put in his eyes and said go to the pood of salom and wash he he didn't have to do that Jesus could have said be healed and you'd have been but for some reason he laid his own plan of putting mud in his eyes and him going and washing and was made whole the the lame man that could not get in the the pool when the water was troubled and when the Lord spoke to him the the the man had been crippled his whole life he said when the water trouble I have no man to put me in and Jesus just spoke the word in one instance he performed something through a an unusual manifestation when the man they uh the the man that had 100 soldiers under his command had a sick servant and he asked the Lord to heal him and Jesus said I'll come and heal him he said oh no oh no I I I'm a man I've got servants under me and I but I'm not worthy for you to come under my roof just speak the word and it'll be done and Jesus said I hadn't seen such faith in Israel said go home your servants heal when they got home the servant was healed and he wanted to know about what time was it and they told and it coincided with the time that Jesus spoke the word now my point is this you and I are not capable of design running the way we want God to move all I can do is say God I'm in your hands I do not know I I just recently said this to as a matter of fact I was talking to brother Bob and twin brother other day how in the world did two twin boys 11 years old get started in in the ministry there was no Evangelistic Department we wasn't old enough to get in any organization and and all we had uh was wore out shoes we literally when when when the SS the shoes start wearing out U we cut the bottom of the S and would would set a shoe down on a pasteboard box and draw a picture of the bottom of that shoe and cut it out and slip it in that shoe and it would last till we get out on 84 Highway and he what parent today would let 11 year olds get out on a state highway and hitchhike 18 miles with strangers and yet they allowed us to do that how the I don't know but God had it all in his hands he saw down he saw from 1948 down in 2024 and how that he had a work for me to do to come to Knoxville Tennessee and I can't question the way God brought it about all I can say is it's been God and God gives all the glory and all the honor Give the Lord a hand clap I don't know if I can find my place or not excuse me for getting a little a little bit happy um and here's what non said when he went away uh I thought he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord is God and strike his hand over the place and recover the leper are not abam Far Far Rivers of Damascus better than all the Waters of Israel may I not wash in them and be clean so he turned and went away in a rage and his servant came near and spake unto him it's amazing how God is using servants in this story his own servant had better judgment than he did though he was a man of Valor and great leadership his servant had better wisdom than he did and his servants came near and spake unto him and said my father if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing wouldest thou not have done it how much rather than when he saith unto thee wash and be clean I heard a little story many years ago uh we used to sing a song years ago I'm a child of a king a child of a king and goes on to and and then a little story went with it about a man that had a servant that served him and and he went around singing and was happy all the time and and and his name is William and they called him will and he he said to Will said will said why are you so happy all the time oh he said I got the Lord and the Lord lives in my heart and this little story went in that song as we would sing it years ago and he said well how can I get that joy that youve got and you say you you know the Lord he said you see those Hogs there wallering in that mud said get down there that Waller with these Hogs and you can get the joy that I've got oh he just said that's craziest thing I ever heard in my life I had no way will I do a thing like that then he went back to the house and he on and oh will just kept on singing praising the Lord and one day he came back to Will said will what did you say about that hog pin all he said look out I'm fixing to get down there and I'm going to wall with them Hogs like you said he said no sir you don't have to do that you just have to get willing to do it there's some things you and I may not understand you may not have to do but you've got to get willing what in the world is getting down in the water and getting baptized in Jesus saying do for you there's no intrinsic value in that water we call it washing your sins away it's not if if the water did it if that well we' we'd form us a vigilante commit and we'd go out here and we'd manhandle some of these mean folks and bring them in and baptize them where they wanted to get baptized it wouldn't do one bit of good because the action has to be because of the person has been willing to obey now this Rich captain could have gone to that uh fancy River down in Syria and he could dip the hund times and nothing would have happened his servant came near and spake to him and said my father if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing wouldst not thou have done it how much rather then when he saith unto thee wash and be clean then went he down and dipped himself seven times in Jordan according to the sayings of the man of God and his flesh came again like un the Flesh of a little child um a point I always when I preach on this or talk about this story I I like to emphasize one point here the man did not get partially clean he didn't get one seventh clean when he dipped one time he didn't get two sths clean when he dip the second time the third the fourth the fifth I I can't help but Wonder in my own mind and Imagination after every time he dipped did he look at his hands say well nothing's happened again nothing happens nothing happens and only when he had gone down the seventh time and came up then his flesh was as the Flesh of a child let me tell you something it's complete obedience the Bible say he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved excuse me he that believeth not shall be damned now when they said unto Peter and the rest of the Apostles men and Brethren what shall we do then Peter said unto them repent he didn't say just believe in the Lord Jesus he said repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost now don't stop excuse me we have gone through this many times but it always Bears repeating we have the the the perfect example Through the Bible what Peter said repent and be baptized now the next thing we know the eth chapter of Acts Philip went down Samaria and preached to them the word of God and and Simon himself believed but also when when they believed the Bible said they were baptized both men and women and then it said when when uh the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God and they had been baptized in jesus' name they said unto them Peter and John who would they were come down prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Ghost for as yet he was fallen on none of them only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus they were baptized they had repented but they didn't get the Holy Ghost in the 19th Chapter of Acts uh Paul having passor the epost came to Ephesus finding certain disciples he said to them have you received the Holy Ghost since you believe and they said we've not so much that her were there be a holy ghost I said now how was you baptized if you hadn't heard of the Holy Ghost who about how you he said they were we were baptized under John's baptism well he said John ver baptized with the baptism of repentance saying the people they should believe on him which should come after him which were on Christ Jesus when they heard this they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Paul laid his hands on them and they received the Holy Ghost and spoke in tongues and prophesied now then you've got these steps repentance water baptism in Jesus name and the infilling of the Holy Ghost and the the evidence was speaking with tongu so the seventh time that non went down in the water water he came up his flesh was as the Flesh of a child all right and he returned to the man of God and all this company came and stood before me and said behold now I know that there is no God in all Earth but in Israel now therefore I pray thee take a blessing of thy servant but he said as the Lord liveth before whom I stand I will receive none and he urged him to take it but he refused now Elisha refused to receive any remuneration for what it would look like non the captain was paying for getting healed and Elisha did not want to take away from the miracle that God had done so he would not accept anything and non said shall there there not not then I pray thee be given to thy servant Two Mules uh burden of Earth for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offerings nor sacrifice and other gods but other I I going take some of this soil back to I'm going to say he wanted to somehow glorify God in what he had done and this thing the Lord pardon thy servant that when my master goeth into the house of Ramon to worship there and he leanth on my hand I bow myself in the house of remon when I bow down myself of the house the Lord pardon thy servant in this thing and it said him go in peace so he departed from him and a little way but now then the story takes a dreadful change and most of you Bible students and Bible readers you know where it's going this ser saw all this gold and silver and changes of arraignment and and now then his master Elisha refused it and he saw an opportunity to make some money be careful when you start taking for yourself the glory of God be careful God is in charge now then but but Gaza the servant of Elisha the man of God said behold my master hath spared nonon the Syrian in receiving of his hands that which he brought but as the Lord liveth I will run after him and take somewhat of him so Gaza followed after non and when nonon saw him running after him he lith down from The Chariot to meet him and said is all well and it said all is well my master has sent me saying behold even now there be come to me from Mount Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets give them I pray thee a talent of silver and two changes of reignment now here was a mercenary here was a a liar here was a man trying to profit from what God has done and and the the greatest lesson we can learn from this part of the story don't steal don't try to steal the glory from God and sad to say I have seen those that when God does something it's as though I want you to see what what I can do it's you and I can do nothing without him it's God that does everything I can do I can do nothing without him so Gaza followed after nonon and nonon said be content take two talents and he urged them and he bound two Talons of silver in two bags with two chains of rment and laid them two of his only servants and they bear them before him and when he came to the tower he took them from their hand and bestowed them in the house and let the men go and they departed but he went in and stood before his master and Elisha said unto him whence comest thou Gesa and he said thy servant went nowh one lie required another lie One Lie always requires another one and he said unto him went not my heart with thee when the man turned again from his charot to meet the is it a time to receive money and to receive garments and Olive yards and Vineyards and sheep and oxen and Men servants and made servants the leprosy therefore of nonon shall cleave unto thee and unto thy seed forever and he went out from his presence a leper as white as snow be care for $38,000 but God had a Marine base out here with a bunch of heavy equipment that he wanted to send out here in grade for us and then they got so far along and then Brother David Trella who was in the the the grading business he sent two great big Earth Pans out here and they worked for for weeks and weeks moving dirt and wouldn't even let me pay for the diesel fuel that went Brother David tried to it of that let me tell you something to God be the glory we can't Glory any we just stand your feet with us right now praise your name let's thank the Lord God we thank you for your goodness and mercy we thank you for all you've done Lord we we can't even understand your greatness all we can say is glory to God but Lord we ask you to help us to keep in mind and keeping Focus that everything that happens to us it it's for our sake the word of God said this for our sake and may we not get panic stricken but let us be steadfast in the faith and believe you that you're going to take care of our situation I pray for all of our sick folks and I pray that for all those that are in need tonight dismiss us from this place bring us back at our next appointed time in Jesus name we pray amen shake hands and be friendly you're dismissed In The Name Of The Lord all