Category: Talks

Posted on

God knows … but we still need to ask

Premise:

God knows every single thing about us:
But, we still need to ask for what we want!

The Talk:

1 Corinthians 10:13
13.  There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

God knows every single thing about us:

  • good
  • bad
  • hair on our heads
  • cells in our body
  • the missing genes that we can blame our parents for
  • our hearts desires
  • our needs
  • our wants
  • our strengths
  • our weaknesses
  • what we’re capable of
  • what we’re not capable of
  • how we go about things
  • etc etc etc

And not only does He know this about us, but He knows it about every single person on the planet, that was and that has been …. He knows it all.

So come to a time of need, come to a place when things are not going well and we can find ourselves in the habit of thinking “well God know’s this already … so please God just answer my prayer!!” …. WHAT PRAYER ??? All we did was state a fact …. God does know – correct!
God can answer my prayer – correct!
But have we actually spent time asking??
Have we got on our knees and pressed in for a victory?
Have we spent time calling to God’s attention His promises that we gave us?
Have we spent time building up ourselves on our most holy faith?

We still need to ask for what we want!

Noah and the Ark
God made a way of escape, but he had to build a boat for 100 years to get there.

Genesis 6:6-8
6. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
7. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
8. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.

Abraham and Isaac
The sacrifice of Isaac – God made a way of escape with the goat

Genesis 22:8
8.  And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.

Genesis 22:10-13
10. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
11. And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
12. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
13. And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.

Vipers and brazen snake
God didn’t take the snakes away, but made a way they could be redeemed.

Numbers 21:5-8
5. And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.
6. And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.
7. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
8. And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.

10 Lepers
Only one came back to thank Jesus

Luke 17:12-19
12. And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:
13. And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.
14. And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.
15. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God,
16. And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.
17. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?
18. There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.
19. And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.

Heaven and Hell
God hasn’t taken Hell away, but he has made a way to escape hell

  • Israelites through the Red Sea
  • Esther
  • Shadrach, Meshach and Abednigo in the furnace.
  • Daniel and lion’s den
  • Peter in prison

How do we escape?
Don’t be overcome.
Have a strong foundation.

2 Peter 1:4-8

4. Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
5. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
6. And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
7. And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
8. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 12:25-29

25. See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:
26. Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
27. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
28. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
29. For our God is a consuming fire.

Luke 21:36

36.  Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

Hebrews 2:3

3.  How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;

Posted on

A New Life

Talk Elder Hall – A New Life (with purpose and direction)

Scriptures

  1. 2 Corinthians 5:17
    Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
  2. Ecclesiastes 3:2
    A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
  3. Romans 5:7-8
    For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
  4. John 3:16
    For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
  5. John 10:10
    The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
  6. 1 Corinthians 15:50-52
    Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
    Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,
    In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
  7. Revelation 21:4
    And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
  8. Ezekiel 11:19-20
    And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:
    That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
    OR
    Ezekiel 36:26
    A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh
  9. Romans 8:11
    But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
  10. Psalms 103:17-18
    But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children;
    To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.
  11. Psalms 100:5
    For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.
  12. John 6:47
    Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.
  13. John 11:25-26
    Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
    And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

Extras

  • Ecclesiastes 9:3-6
    This is an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the dead.
    For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.
    For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.
    Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.
  • Romans 3:23
    For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Everlasting

  • Psalms 145:13
    Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.
  • Isaiah 51:11
    Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.
  • John 4:13-14
    Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
    But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

Renew

  • Isaiah 40:31
    But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
Posted on

Expectation

Scriptures

Acts 12:1-11
When God delivers, he delivers not only from that situation, but the complete expectation of those against us.

Ephesians 4:14-15

Type of expectations:

  • Cultural
  • Social
  • Work
  • Health
  • Fashion
  • Other peoples
  • Our own (self-indulging, abasing)

Isaiah 43:1-7
We have God personally defending and looking after us. We are precious in his eyes.

Romans 8:1-2
There is no condemnation (by any one or anything). The Spirit of Life has made us free (from death)

Romans 6:9-11
Death no longer has dominion over Christ, and if we determine ourselves to be alive unto Christ …
Romans 6:17-18
We have been made FREE from sin and become the servants of righteousness.

Romans 8:15
Romans 8:31
We are no longer under bondage, we have been made free and nothing can be against us.

We need to be careful that in our position of freedom we don’t allow pride to creep into our heart and rob us of our position with Christ. Psalms 10:4

Galations 5:1
Galations 5:7-9
Galations 5:16-18
Take warning that we don’t become entangled in a life that will lead to natural expectations. We are encouraged to continue in the things we have learnt and to walk in the Spirit.

Titus 2:11-14
Here we are reminded yet again that we have our salvation by the grace of God. The Holy Spirit teaches us how we should live, what we should do and the things to look for.

John 8:31-32
The truth will make us free

Hebrews 9:11-14
Christ has redeemed us with HIS blood that we should now serve the living God. Our expected end has changed.

1 Peter 1:18-21
Redeemed not with corruptible things, but with the blood of Christ, that our faith and hope might be in Him.

Hebrews 4:1-11
We have been promised true rest, and we need to give this promise of rest true diligence in working towards it, that we do receive it. God has promised us.
Therefore, the more we cease from our OWN works (expectation), the more we enter into his rest (expectation and promise).

Isaiah 55:9
His thoughts are higher than ours. We can remove our own and others expectation from our mind, that we might simply serve God.

Jeremiah 29:11-13
God thinks peace towards us. His thinks to give us an expected end – one of hope, of truth, of rest, of compassion, of joy, of peace …

Titus 3:4-7
A reminder that it wasn’t of anything that we’ve done, but rather by the grace of God that our expectation can be in the hope of eternal life.

Posted on

Psalms 15

Psalms 15

  1. Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle?
    who shall dwell in thy holy hill?
  2. He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness,
    and speaketh the truth in his heart.
  3. He that backbiteth not with his tongue,
    nor doeth evil to his neighbour,
    nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour.
  4. In whose eyes a vile person is contemned;
    but he honoureth them that fear the Lord.
    He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not.
  5. He that putteth not out his money to usury,
    nor taketh reward against the innocent.
    He that doeth these things shall never be moved.

Continue reading “Psalms 15”