Lightly edited for readability while preserving the speaker’s meaning and substantive statements.
Hallelujah Lord we pray you this morning Emmanuel God With Us Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth King of Kings Lord of lords God you are mighty you're worthy to be praised you are the one who came to make us holy Lord you shed your blood on the cross sinless spotless blood Precious Blood you shed on the cross he rose from the dead the third day you provided forgiveness for those who would believe confess your name and repent of sin there is remission renewal of sins a washing away of sin lord it's an amazing thing pave the way to give mankind all who would turn to you all who would believe all who would call on your name and repent and make you Lord to give everyone the opportunity to have eternal life in heaven with you nothing beautiful than that nothing more important than that Lord but you were also wounded for our transgressions you were bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was upon you by your strikes we were healed God every time you shed blood through that whole process of suffering you were providing for something that we would need and then you went down into hell and you got the keys of hell and death from the devil and you have power and authority over all the powers of Satan and of darkness and you've given that to your church God help us to grow up and to use what you've given us to change the World to Change people's lives around us father I pray this today in Jesus name amen amen you may be seated Hallelujah since the presence of the Lord here this morning and welcome those you hear the fire and Grace Church we welcome those listening by Blog Talk Radio our friend Sue that told us she'll be listening this morning all the way to the Netherlands we it's an amazing thing isn't it well we welcome all of those listening by Blog Talk Radio live all over the country in different in different countries across the world um this morning I have a subject to cover that I kind of covered before but
um let's just say this for fire and Grace Church and for many Believers across the world can I just say that 2016 better be a year that you finally grow up amen as enough of being spiritual babies especially after the time period when you should not be spiritual babies anymore foreign titled this message no longer children now the Bible talks about that there are stages of spiritual growth but there's also and what's interesting is that there's different Greek words for each stage of spiritual growth but there's also a different Greek word for a grown-up who refuses to act like a grown-up foreign if you pay attention you're going to find out where you are in the spirit now granted a few newly come to the faith and you will be a spiritual babe or a spiritual child that's just part of it but if you've been saved truly Born Again Walking With Jesus because of the Holy Ghost for any amount of time there are certain things that you should be doing and the sad fact of the matter is is that there are many many many Christians instead of doing what they need to be doing so just sitting in churches getting fed but not using what they've been fed now I'm going to show you that and and first I tell you what I was going to go to first John first John chapter 2 is where we'll be in just a second so you can go there but I want you to go to Hebrews chapter 5 first this is kind of when the Holy Spirit dropped this in my heart last night that this was the message for today this was the passage okay I'm gonna put up Kevin's going to put up these Greek definitions as we go through this but I just want to read this here first we're not going to put the words up yet on that but Hebrews chapter 5 and we're going to start reading at verse 8 this is speaking Jesus it says though he were a son yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered and being made perfect he became the
author of Eternal salvation unto all those that obey him now I could just stop right there you know I had a little debate last night with a reformed calvinist Theologian well he says reformed theology that simply means the errors of Luther and the errors of Calvin that he believes I had to hurt his feelings because well Luther became an anti-semite and I said and Calvin became a murderer so I don't worship either of those men or their doctrines all right but the fact remains is that Jesus became the author of Eternal salvation to all those who obey him if you don't obey him guess what that means pretty clear isn't it calvinist and reformed theologians think all you have to do is believe and it doesn't really matter how your life is after that once they've always saved or unconditionally eternal security it's really demonic the doctrine of demons it really is I told him so um but of course he's a 30-something-year-old that's in Bible College he was just looking for a debate I told him I said I don't really have time for for you guys anymore I said I'd rather teach and preach to people who actually want to know the truth instead of Bible school students who think they know everything uh and been indoctrinated by false teachers but that's another story some people have gone to Seminary and bible school and they think they are spiritually mature and they're full doctrines of men and error and they never grow up because they eventually get a piece of paper on the wall by the way I've got a piece of paper too it it's good for about as much as lighting a fire with it it's true grow up okay you know I could make all y'all call me doctoral but I don't do that okay but let's keep going here so Jesus became the author of Eternal salvation and all those that obey him called of God high priest after the order of Melchizedek of whom we have many things to say and hard to be uttered seeing that you are dull of hearing for when the time you ought to be teachers foreign you have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the Oracles of God and have become such as have need of milk and not strong meat for everyone that uses milk is unskippable in the word of righteousness for he is a babe but strong meat belongeth to them that
are full age even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both Good and Evil now we can spend a lot of time just on this passage this morning but for those of you who have been long time members we're coming up January the 11th will be the seven year anniversary of fire and great church some of you have been here the entire seven years some of you have been here less than that but some of you have been here in the four years five years whatever and then there's Mike who's been around me since 1988. but here's the thing there we we've come to a place now that it's time for some of you out here that are not using what you've been taught to begin to use it see let me say all the details here Jesus the model Jesus gave us for making disciples was built upon the fact that he would go away and that they would carry on his teaching his ministry of healing casting out demons raising the dead preaching the gospel so truly making disciples means that if if I was gone tomorrow because you are supposedly my disciples and some people think that that's crazy but we'll I'll read that a minute Paul said in First Corinthians chapter four I believe it's around verse 20. I'll have to look in a second but he said follow me as I follow Christ we are to make disciples and I'm not ashamed to say that you know what I don't have a problem because I strive to stay in the truth of God's word and into sound Doctrine and to give you what most churches aren't giving anymore the whole truth and nothing but the truth whether it be about repentance or salvation or backsliding or Christians have demons and deliverance and needing to cast out demons or or end time Bible prophecy I try to give you the whole counsel of God's word so that you can walk out this Christian line yourself and so that you not just Pastor Dean or or Nancy but so that you can lead people to Jesus lean back sliders back to Jesus cast demons out of people you not Pastor Dean you heal the sick and if I was gone tomorrow see what I wonder is the things that I've taught you say about Deliverance about the the deception of the life once saved always saved no matter how you live I wonder if I was gone tomorrow and
the internet was cut off and your Bibles were taken away from you what did you teach someone how much have you really committed to your heart fully that you could repeat and teach someone else and lead someone else into the truth into Deliverance into healing into whatever they need from Jesus now what could Pastor Dean do I've been doing for nearly 30 years I'm tired I need help and you know this is a Biblical principle don't you that's why God had Moses pull out 70. and lay hands on them so they could help him carry the load of trying to disciple and preach and teach and care for three million people foreign that's why the apostles said when the church began to grow this is when the apostles said you know what our calling is to give ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word we can't be serving tables and running around doing everything else and so they ordained seven Deacons take care of these issues but these men Stephen and Philip those men that said were full of faith and full of power and started with miracles in the sick and casting out demons the Deacons and then I'm not hearing this it's not about complaining this morning I will keep doing what I've always been doing if I change my does he know me in 1988 no the question is though If They Carried me off the jail tomorrow or it was my time to go would you guys keep going would you guys keep preaching the same gospel that I preached to you would you keep teaching others about deliverance and healing and that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday today and forever would you lay hands on people would you sit down with people and counsel them could you teach them the message of Deliverance Could you teach it to them from your heart from your memory see there are students that go to school to learn the information long enough to take a little test and get a grade and
get out but I was thinking about this this morning if someone goes to school and I was going to school I was going to be I wanted to be a doctor so I was in pre-med I had changed my major to pre-med but see here's the thing you think about this you better hope a doctor doesn't go through his schooling in that way no a doctor is schooling and one of the reasons they are in school so long is because they have so much to learn that they must commit their heart into memory that's why this goes on that's why it takes very diligent disciplined people to become doctors foreign because there is so much information that they must absorb retain and able to repeat and this is where the church and maybe in some way I have failed you in not making you forcing you or pushing pressing the issue that you must learn these things commit them to Memory into your heart whatever it takes how much ever study you must do that you need to be able to teach others also you should be able to teach and preach whatever I teach and preach by now especially some of you in the day ahead we are going to have more and more people who need the truth and they're going to need deliverance and they're going to need healing and they're going to need you to stay up here and the preacher that you're supposed to be and you know what folks let me get this across it Jesus said this in Mark 16 he said that these signs shall follow them that believe not Pastor Dean not pastors not Apostles not prophets them that believe firstly in my name Jesus said you will cast out demon do you cast demons out of it have you cast demons out of anybody in your life and you're since you've been a Christian if not or if it's been very little it's time to step up to be a real Christian I know there's there's the majority of pastors Across America and across the world have never cast a demon out of somebody thank you they wonder why their churches are so screwed up you said my name you were cast a demon these signs to follow them I believe speak with new tongues I told that joker last night I said look
if you if if you're on my page to sell your powerless Christianity you might as well go somewhere else because it didn't have to do with speaking in tongues and the gifts of the Holy Spirit and casting out demons and Healing The Sick and preaching repentance and preaching obedience to God I don't want to hear it I don't want to hear Calvinism I don't want to hear Luther Luther I don't want to hear any of that crap you understand me I don't care about the doctrines of men I don't care how much they've been enshrined to be worshiped so he said something he you know he was defending John MacArthur and I said now here's a man that that these guys because he's on TV and he's got a you know he's a foreign Theologian and he's got his own Study Bible he's not probably also a Freemason but we'll check that for a second but he goes I haven't seen John McArthur departing anything that's in the scriptures and I said okay he's on record as saying that the blood of Jesus doesn't have power he's on record as saying that you still take the mark of the beach and you'll still go to heaven if you're a believer yeah and that all the gifts of the holy spirit are done away with and that's no more right oh and he preaches Calvinism and one of the points of Calvinism is limited atonement which means that Jesus didn't die for everyone only a special group of elect people and I told him I said that in itself that one point of Calvinism is absolute blasphemy of the cross of Jesus Christ see I I'm not going to be churchy politically correct I don't care how exalted some man or doctrine may be whether it be Luther or Calvin or John McArthur name your favorite preacher Charles Stanley Tony Evans Joel Osteen Rick Warren Heretics but Pastor Dean they preach about Jesus all the false prophets and teachers preached about Jesus this is why it says someone who grows up who tours in the faith is able to discern good and evil because they are skillful in the word of righteousness and in spiritual discernment you follow these people I understand I realize that you are ignorant you're either a spiritual baby a spiritual child or you're willfully
ignorant and won't grow up it doesn't take too much reading of the Bible to figure out that limited atonement is a false teaching foreign died on the cross for all all will not be saved but he paid the price for us so that they will be as Romans says without excuse right I'm sorry but I'm a little fired up this morning now let's go look at these stages we'll come back hold your spot there in Hebrews 5 because we may come back to that in a second but go to First John chapter 2. you can get ready with these words here and also First Peter chapter 2 verse 2. I'm gonna tell you the four stages of spiritual growth and that's if most evil one there's a fifth one but that one's a perversion okay there are babes put this down babes that's like infants newly born first Peter 2 2 as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow thereby so let's bring up that let's bring up that Greek word therefore babes newborn babes actually it's two words the first one newborn here means just born young convert newborn that's the word babes is Breathless and it means an infant literally figuratively a babe young child infant so you have the word let's back up one let's this is breakfast means babe here and this artique in NATO's long word is newborn but he he put those words together so you wouldn't miss the fact that he was talking about a brand new convert a person who has just believed that Jesus died for them and rose from the dead on the third day and they said you know I understand that he he he paid the price for my sin I believe in him I confess him as Lord and I repent and I turn I will be disciple of Jesus and the Bible says if you do that in truth and sincerity and reality that the Holy Spirit comes and regenerates or
resurrects your dead human Spirit you are born again into the supernatural experience and if you've never had it it doesn't matter how much you go to church or talk about Jesus or whatever uh you're not born again but a born-again person so we've got babes now truly a Babe's not know much a new convert someone that just got saying they're not going to know much about the scriptures they're not going to know much about what they need to do they need a lot of help in instructions just like this little baby right here this little baby right here can't walk can't talk can't tell you what it needs can cry a little bit but you just know this baby needs a lot of milk He he'll let you know when he needs some milk then and leave this diaper changed often see I don't mind helping some babes change your diapers right but I'm not changing adult diapers I'm sorry I'm certain people gifted to do that thank God for you nurses that can do that I couldn't do it and frankly some of you are spiritual adults that still want your diaper change I ain't doing it that's Southern for no way right all right so the first stage of spiritual growth is the babe the newborn baby and then this I don't understand but you know when I when I got saved when I was a newborn baby when I got truly got saved and made Jesus Lord Of My Life and turn from my drugs and sexual sin and alcohol and everything else no one had to tell me read the Bible every day study the Bible pray I was I was like this it just it came natural I I got I got to have it I got to have God I gotta have the truth I gotta have I've got to have time with God I've got to grow so so something is wrong if a baby's born it doesn't you know I know when they're first born they're dealing with the the trauma of everything and a lot of them eat for a little while but once the hunger turns on it's on right I wonder about people did they really get saved or it's something are they spiritually born with some kind of disability or problem because they don't want me if a baby it won't eat something's wrong all right your second one second John chapter two your second stage is the word children here I mean first John I'm sorry chapter two first John chapter two so your babes and now you have children all right you can put that word up
children let's just read the passages he puts that up this is in first John chapter 2 verse 12 he said I write to you little children because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake I write unto you fathers because you have known him that is from the beginning I write it to you young man because you have overcome the wicked one I write unto you little children because you have known the father I've written unto you fathers because you have known him that is from the beginning and I've written unto you and the word of God abideth in you and you have overcome the wicked one and then that is followed by the instruction love not the world neither the things that are in the world if any man loved the world the love of the father is not in him for all that is in the world the lust of the Flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of what it is not of the father but it's of the world and the world passes away in the lust there but he that doeth the will of God continually abideth forever isn't it amazing the same thing about being the will of God we recommended obey but he mentions several things here he mentions children he mentions young men and he mentions fathers okay children young men and fathers so babe first then children let's look at children the word children here take me on in the Greek it can mean an infant but it can also mean just little children but just beyond the stage of infancy they've grown a little bit like Faith here she's five about to be six she could still be a little technical that's what I'll call you little techno thank you but these are people that have grown a little bit they got saved and they've grown a little bit beyond being a babe and they've actually come to an understanding how wonderful it is to have your sins forgiven you know usually when you first get saved it's usually I want to go to heaven I don't want to die in my sins and go to hell and be separated from God forever or a lot of times we would get saved because we we know we need help but sometimes it doesn't really Dawn on us until a little bit later that wow once you get a little closer to God as Paul said you begin to discern the exceeding sinfulness of sin you begin to understand how terrible your sins were how they hurt other people how they offended God how they broke the very laws of the universe and how Jesus had to suffer tremendously for something that he did not do just to save you from that horrible stuff called sin
I believe the children stage is where you really begin to gain an appreciation for the cross for the sufferings of Jesus for the price he paid in a much greater way than you did when you were first born again I'm not saying you didn't do that when you were first Saved I'm just saying you you really grow in that understanding and you're grateful very grateful and humbled that God didn't let you die in your sins when you were a rebel and wicked and disobeying him and blind and ignorant and stupid and doing stupid things I I remember when that when I dawned on me how many times I should have died in my sins and gone to hell all the drinking and driving all the drugs and milks and alcohol and drugs and the guns pointed in my face and the knives and everything else how many times I should have been dead how many times I drove for 20 30 40 miles and don't remember one mile of it car wrecks I was in right before I really gave my life to Jesus I'm in the mountains of Arkansas been up partying all night drinking all night with my stepbrother at the time and my stepbrother went to bed about five and got up at six to take me to work because we were sharing a vehicle at the time we didn't you know we we really didn't want to think we were still drunk get in the car go down this hill in the mountains around this curve truck stop sliding by a gravel company and so there was gravel on the road started sliding this way sideways all over the road jumped a ditch I didn't have a seat belt on Wham my hand went into the windshield and then it hit the back windshield we were just a few yards from going off into about a hundred foot ravine I would have died 19 years old living in sin busted hell out of so once you realize God's great love and mercy for you that he kept you alive long enough for you to realize that the wages of sin is bad that you deserve death that you deserve to hell and I said this not too long ago on Facebook I said you know one of the signs of a true Christian is somebody that's humble and realizes that I deserved to die and go to hell I deserve the punishment of my sins I deserve death I deserve Eternal separation from God but he had mercy on Somebody Prayed for me somebody interceded for me and God had mercy on me and spared my life many times until I finally woke up the only reason that I made it through all that is because my great aunt Zola Jones and my other great aunt her sister Nora Lee Jones and my great-grandmother
Pauline Jones because they prayed for me every day of my life from the time I was born God told me when that woman I remember when Pauline was about to die at 89 years old and I'm sitting at her and she was about to die and the Lord told me just as clear as the bell he said Son the only reason you are here is because of this one right here don't understand how great power we have in prayer to keep people alive so they can get there have the opportunity to get their lives right with God but children also can be very selfish and self-centered you know they'll fight over a toy that's irrelevant all right children can be difficult to deal with sometimes right I understand there are people that are at the Babe stage of Christian growth and there are people at the Children's stage then there's the next stage this is a good stage actually this tends to be where Christians get in Pride but it's still a good stage if you can overcome that it's the young men's stage the term young man here in the Greek s it means a youth I love this a youth under 40. you know in just a few days I will be 48 years old and I started laughing back there thank you thanks for those of you who didn't hear that she said you don't look like it I received that I received that I feel like it though but this is not just about age but the young man's stage is the stage where there is maturity and I love what first John says here what the Apostle John said about this stage he emphasized it twice he says about the young man he said I write unto you verse 13 young men because you have overcome the wicked one and then he repeated it again verse 14 but a little different he said I've written unto you young men because you are strong and the word of God abides in you and you have overcome the wicked one now this stage of Christian growth is where you have spent time you have gone from being a babe sucking on the milk you have gone from being a child knowing very little but but being appreciative of the Cross and the blood of Jesus and that you're forgiven you've grown now you realize that you have an enemy called the devil Satan the dragon that old serpent you have realized that he has fallen
angels with him and demons him and that he is out to destroy you and this is the stage where you grow and you learn your Authority you learn how to do spiritual warfare you learn how to get full of the word of God you've gone from just sucking on milk and you've actually begun to study and memorize and learn some of the scriptures especially the ones that deal with our Authority in Christ Jesus whereas like Luke 10 19. that said have you killed Satan this lightning fall from Heaven behold I give unto you power the treadle serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall by any means hurt you you learn about binding and losing we're simply oh I've given you the keys to the kingdom whatever you bind on Earth is bound in the heaven and the spirit realm whatever you loose on Earth is loosed into heaven you learn about that if you're walking this that the Gates of Hell will not Prevail against you you start learning about deliverance and casting out demons out of yourself and others getting free from strongholds of the past even to learn how witchcraft works and how to fight it how it's fighting against you a cursed object see this is the more serious stage this is where you begin to you begin to learn how to fight it is this is the stage you will either fight and win the word of God abiding in you strong you'll become strong in your face strong in the word strong in prayer strong in the in the principles of spiritual warfare this is where you will either fight and overcome the devil the temptation to fall back into overcome or you will go back a lot of people don't make it too far they don't make it past this one and some people think it's odd for me to say that but if you think about the the foundational teaching of Jesus his foundational Parables the parable of the sower and Jesus said there's some that's going to hear the word and not believe it never be saved he said others are going to hear it but it when it when persecution and difficult time comes they're going to fall away your persecution a lot of it your pressure and attacks that comes from the devil or devil the devil using people but will you stand and see this is something else some of you have learned these principles so this is where most of you are and I'm just going to be honest most of you are in the middle of this stage you are learning these things you might have begun to put them into practice but you're not being consistent and the only way you grow up out of this stage is to get this down and to keep being consistent and then enough time passes you will
mature and let me tell you the graduation of maturing to the next stage what What's called the father stage you'll know you're mature when you're overcoming the wicked one you'll know you're mature when the word of God is abiding in you so strong that you can teach others you don't need to go look up Pastor Dean scriptures sermons it's in you the word of God abiding in you the word abide is interesting means to live in you dwell in you see this is this is the problem Colossians 3 says it I love it Colossians 3 16 let the word of Christ dwell in you richly you have to let it I told Mike this I said what Mike Mike has had his issues over the years but one thing Mike listened to me about I told him I said one day you may not have a Bible they may take it all away from you her commitment to your heart your memory as you can it's the same thing if you've been taught doctrinal Truth Bible truth whether it be about healing the baptism of the Holy Spirit the evidence to speak of the time gifts of the Holy Spirit casting out demons and listen to me there are some of you people that you you know you got a testimony of how this delivered you I shared it recently with one of her old friends on Facebook I think somebody some of your some friend of yours needing Deliverance or somebody here's the thing you're gonna have to be able to preach Deliverance to the captains you need to you need to be able to combat their arguments because Pastor Dean's not always going to be there to do it and they know you if you have a relationship with them they know you they don't know me they're going to listen to you before they listen to me but you should be able to give them what I've taught you if you can't do it then it's time to get it in you until you can repeat it listen there were men of God that I learned from back in the 80s and the 90s David Wilkerson Leonard Ravenhill Jimmy Swaggart I'm not ashamed to say Larry Lee some of these may have fallen but they still taught and preached good things and I learned a lot but you know what I would do I would take I remember listening to a series a tape teaching series cassette tape series
these kids like well what's the cassette how about this we go back eight track um yeah the error of once saved always say right three tape series and you know what I did to that I took that series while I was listening to it I opened the front of my Bible up to these blank pages here and every scripture that he went through I wrote down and I wrote down what it was about what he talked about and the points he made about it and I had the whole page had about 30 things listed there and the next time I got in debate was one of the deacons at First Baptist Church here in Opelika back then who started trying to indoctrinate me and his doctrines of men false teaching I just was able to open to that being a you know still a new believer a new Christian and I started going down that list with him to the point that he got so frustrated he said well you need to go to call my pastor so guess what I made an appointment and went and talked to Dr so and so at First Baptist back in those days and I started doing the same thing and he got so flustered and nervous he was shaking and went to his big cow I'll never forget walked over to his big you know uh Shelf full of commentaries and went to pull one of his Baptist commentaries off the shelf like you know one of these big thick mamas and he started he pulled it off and went to Hannah said I don't want your Doctrine I said you answer me about these scriptures and then maybe we'll talk about that but what was I doing arming myself committing it to me however I had to do it you see what I'm saying I was able to reteach everything I learned in that series listen to that I was able to reteach it and after doing that several times with several people guess what happens it gets in some people all the time you know I started casting demons out of people long before I ever became pastor I went past in the church you know why I started casting demons out of people because they needed it and what the Bible said to do it and I wanted to help people and I wanted to obey the Bible and I wanted to be a new testament Christian it had nothing to do with me being a pastor or a minister or being I wouldn't even imply or anything I just wanted to be a new testament Christian that walked in faith that help people get free from stuff the dead powerless lukewarf Church won't
even address and that should be the desire of every Christian to do the works of Jesus and to teach the true gospel Jesus Christ to overcome the wicked one let's put back up the young men's days when you begin to overcome the wicked Oneness because the word of God is dwelling in you richly and because you're beginning to put into practice what you're learning what you're learning is to put it in practice the best way you know yeah I sit there all day you know I used to play I played quarterback that was my position one thing I could do back in there I could throw a football and I could throw it far and I could throw it accurate I could tell people all alone this is how you do it the whole thing put it here you do this but are they ever going to really get it if they don't start throwing it see this is where as a church we are y'all hear me talk about things a lot how much of it are you doing but be ye doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving your own selves James 1 22. if you hear the word of God the truth on any matter and you do not put it into practice you will end up being deceived but if you ever can get past this young man stage the next stage is father what's the difference in fathers let's look that that word up for you fathers it's so simple but it just simply means whatever it may just be ire sounds Irish just a father see when you're a young man stage young woman stage like most teenagers oh yeah you could you could have children but it doesn't know it doesn't mean you know how to be responsible right the difference between the father
or a mother and and then responsible spiritual adult let me see one of the first things that characterizes an adult versus a teenager or child is that an adult realizes that you have to get up and go to work even when you don't feel like it you don't an adult realizes that you still have to pay the bills even though you would rather go you know on a vacation to the Bahamas an adult becomes more focused on their children's needs than their their own needs you get what I'm saying see still today y'all have no comprehension I want to tell you I said it many times but I'm gonna say it again how many times that I would rather stay in bed on Sunday morning then get up to pray and get up and try to come preach the Warfare I go through the Bible I go through spiritually mentally emotionally physically to do the mystery Kevin and I were talking about this first you know Kevin a while back you know he he took a step of Faith he stepped out and what he's learned about Deliverance he went up uh Huntsville or Coleman there and preached to this group that invited him and sat down and did Deliverance for someone I mean he really took a step out there right and let me just say you got to take those steps sooner or later you're gonna have to step out there you say well what if I mess up well step out there you're going to mess up so what I messed up a bunch of times but you step out there and do it and you're going to see things happen but Kevin was talking about he the Warfare he went through with the Flesh and just the spiritual attack through that whole thing and I I was just as he was talking I was like uh-huh see you can hear me talk about it but when you step out there that's all the the spiritual arrows and bullets and everything are hitting you now I understand what Pastor Dean is talking about but as you keep doing those things and practicing those things you will get stronger and stronger and stronger and your confidence will build and your faith will build and yes you will be able to help people and you'll start being more concerned with helping somebody else even when you don't feel like it gosh if we went by how we feel a lot of time so y'all can choose to not show up for Sunday morning or our prayer meeting or whatever we're doing you know something can happen and you can just you know you can just drop it like a hot
potato no big deal I can't I can't just cancel the radio show when I can't just cancel Sunday morning if I don't feel like it I have come here in such pain I could hardly move with my neck and my back was out still got up here and preached I have preached here with a hundred and two feet I have preached I've gone places to preach I remember one time way way back I had 103 fever but I was supposed to teach a Bible study in Montgomery it had already been scheduled 30 something was showing up in this person's house I went there a woman was having a problem with her eye where she the doctor said she it looked like she was probably going to lose the sight in her eyes such a bad infection or something crazy going on but she was going to lose the sight in her eye I felt horrible 103 fever I didn't want to go teach a Bible study at all but I said Lord I know you want me to go the devil's trying to stop me I don't let my flesh tell me how I feel I tell it how it feels I don't let my flesh say you're staying at home I said no you're going you see what I'm saying and so I go teach this Bible study sweat feeling terrible and you know what I'm preaching healing wanna talk about faith preach that Jesus still heals when you have still have a need of healing in your own life because it doesn't matter what my reality is it matters what the scripture says people talk about all the time well what if somebody doesn't get healed what if they do well Pastor you know you're not healed up how can you pray for people and they get healed guess what my situation is irrelevant Jesus said Lay Your Hands on the sick and they shall recover do I believe that will I practice that even if I still am not healed of something yes and I have not been healed of things and pray for people I pray for that woman her eye was instantly healed went back to the doctor he was like what happened to you had I not obeyed and stepped out in faith and gone against how I felt and my body and my mind and everything else and see my face you see faith is not based on your circumstance or how you feel we walk by faith not by sight not by our feelings foreign I prayed for that woman in Jesus name and she healed that day and actually people were saved in that Bible study so what would happen if I didn't go just because I didn't feel good some of you have missed some of the best church services of your life not just here but in other places you've missed them because you just didn't feel like going let me tell you something if if if stuff arises to try to keep you
from church or prayer meetings or your private prayer time or your Bible study time it's just realize Satan and his demons and your own flesh work and you know if the devil's trying to put some sickness on you to keep you from church and you agree with him if any two of you shall agree you'll have what you agree I refuse to agree with it tonight amen he's like oh you know that little devil gets on your show you're kidnap flu no I'm not I rebuked you in Jesus name I bind you I rebuke sickness amen I want this year I want all of you hide I'm gonna grow up let me give you a little bit more here I've given you these stages but I'm going to show you I have the term children let first children up from SEC uh first John chapter 2. I'll show you there's another word used for children in the New Testament and it ain't good children as used in first John chapter 2 when he says little children all right you've known him you've known the father I love that he said little children you see even babes little children in the faith can know the father have intimacy with God prophesy cast out demons that's what Jesus said when the 70 went out and returned they've been casting out demons they said Lord even the devils are subject to us in your name and he said he delighted he just stood up and in the Greek it actually means Jesus stood up and spun around with joy he was overjoyed he said Lord you revealed these things even to to the babes all right but there's another term for children and it is and I want you to go with me to First Corinthians chapter 13. completely different words the word here or is it is that all there is where's the uh back up a little bit the Greek word for it it's a different Greek word is it not on there huh ah yes technion that's it so you have technios so First Corinthians 13 I want to show you it's a different Greek word this is you know a famous passage here the love chapter but of course the end it starts talking about this let's look verse 11 he says this when I was a child I spake as a child I understood as a child I thought as a child but when I became a man I put away childish things the word child here
is a different Greek word you got it it's the Hebrews one that says Hebrews First Corinthians 13 plus he looks it up here I'll just read it to you it's the word napios you can remember that PP napios little peepee children these are children that should not be wet in the bed but still are wet in the bed okay not because they have a problem because it really doesn't want to get up and go to the bathroom all right here we go Napier so remember not technion right not breakfast babe technion child now this is a different word Napier so this is the the Greek definition not speaking an infant minor figuratively a simple-minded person an immature Christian oh hear what I'm about to tell you he's saying when I was a child I was unable to really speak as I should speak as a Christian when I was simple-minded and I really didn't know a lot he said when I was an immature Christian that's how I taught that's how I lived but when I became a man an adult a mature person spiritual person I put away let me tell you what you put away you put away keeping your mouth shut worrying about what people think you begin to teach others you begin to speak whether they think it's controversial not to treat the truth of God's word you're not ashamed of the gospel of Christ You Preach Deliverance to the captives then you set them free you go out you lay hands on the sick you don't worry about whether they get healed or they don't get healed that's not your job your job is to believe God and to pray for them and the rest is up to the Lord but you the opposite of not speaking is speaking the opposite of being simple-minded is to be what wise understanding learned some see these napios children stay this way they stay they keep their mouth shut when they should be speaking and teaching and preaching they keep they stay simple-minded ignorant unlearned and they stay immature Christians because that because they want to see a technios a child can't help it but Paul said you know what when I grew
up I decided to put away childish Navy on things there's some things you need to put away you get what I'm saying some of you need to put away Facebook at least if you're not having a prayer time but you spend time on Facebook some of you need to put away video games some of you need to put away Pinterest or what's the other one huh Instagram yes somebody to put away the team for a while the iPad the iPhone the tablet see children all children want to do is play but that's normal for children a mature person realize I can't play all the time amen yeah what's up snow there's work that has to be done at home outside the home a mature Christian realizes there's work that must be done and I don't have time to waste on foolish childish things much less alcohol or drugs or sexual sin I don't have time to waste to show you another place these napian PPE Christians are they'll pee pee in advance all right let's look at it Ephesians chapter four why it's one of those things you won't forget PP Christian don't be a PP Christian don't be an APM treasure I'll try to close with this you know for that Ephesians chapter four verse 11. speaking of Jesus it says he gave some Apostles some prophets some evangelists some pastors teachers faithful Ministry and gives these gifts to the church verse 12 for the perfecting of the Saints for the work of the ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ till we all come in the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect or mature man unto the measure of the stature the fullness
of Christ why it's a semicolon here I mean a colon he says that we henceforth be no more children toss to and fro and carried about with every wind of Doctrine by the slight of men and the cunning craftiness we're about to buy and wait to deceive but speaking the truth in love that we may grow up into him and all things which is the head even Christ see God has given you fathers and I'm going to say this fivefoldment is true God called God ordained fivefold Ministries that God has set in the church for a reason why you need to be in a church and have a pastor I know there's a lot of people that don't don't understand this that how important it is to have a true church a true pastors and Elders that are mature and to be committed there because God said I have put in the church first Apostle this is First Corinthians chapter 12 verses 28 29 he said God has set in the church first Apostles secondarily prophets after that teachers evangelists working of Miracles says it in a little different way but the fivefold ministry is to do these things they're to teach and to preach to equip you first of all for the perfecting of the Saints for the work of the ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ so that we grow up we become a mature Christian so that you won't be children who are easily deceived by men you hear me and so that you will be able to speak the truth in love and grow up and help others grow up amen the fivefold ministry is to equip you to do the ministry you understand that a lot of people got a wrong idea about Ministry too let me explain that Ministry not all it doesn't always mean he's being a Pulpit I did a whole and never set foot in the pulpit God made me go to a Methodist Church for two years about killed me but I can't tell you how much Ministry I did in that two years time to people within that church yeah Mike was there people got healed people got delivered people got convicted of sin and repented people got saved I did a whole lot of ministry and I wasn't the youth pastor I wasn't the singles minister exiled now I wasn't anything but part of the church
who had been equipped and I was speaking the truth and helping other people grow up helping other people not be deceived by false teachers and false Doctrine many you know in the in the early years when I was at Evangel Temple in Valley helping Dave Copeland I wasn't the youth pastor I wasn't the associate pastor I wasn't anything but I was doing the work of the ministry helping him getting on the mic exactly so Mike would make it to this point but you hear what I'm saying the ministry is not waiting to get into a Pulpit it's not I'll be in front of a church there are people all around you that need you to counsel them to teach them to preach to them to explain to them Deliverance healing the Gospel of Jesus Christ I remember when I went to Israel in 1988 me and my brother freaked everybody out met this old preacher old man in his 80s wife had passed away he was a pastor Minister from from England British guy had his tea same kinds every day because we stayed for two weeks first weeks there we had a guy that someone knew here set us up we had an apartment uh in Jerusalem right across the street from the from the great synagogue on the fifth floor but we shared a kitchen and the old guy had his room he had our room and we shared the kitchen in the bathroom it was a setup it was gone because every morning we started we have devotions with this old father in the faith they gave me a book I may still have it his wife wrote a book because she was an archaeologist spent a lot of time in Israel I'll never forget what he said one day he read and he was talking to me and my brother and he thought about great discernment me and my brother are so different oh we're so different both called the ministry but very different everything about his personality and everything but he read last chapter in The Gospel of John and basically it was this discussion that Jesus was having between Peter and John how those you want to talk about two different individuals yeah Peter and John personality wise and everything
but I never he looked at us and he said those who will preach the gospel from door to door will eventually preach it from Shore to Shore and you want to talk about being full of meaning because I knew then what he was talking about if you can be faithful to go to your next to your family member to your friends if you can be truly faithful Christian to do the work of the ministry Where You Are unashamed unafraid to live it out Not In a Pulpit in a church but if you can do it Faithfully powerfully if you're bearing fruit this is what I say have you led anybody to Jesus lately have you cast any demons out of anybody have you laid your hands on anybody and feed them healed you get what I'm saying it's time to do the stuff do it do it do it but if you can be faithful with people around you yes maybe one day it's the door for you to speak to Nation oh and he can do it whenever he so chooses or just you know two years ago hadn't I didn't call anybody I didn't seek anybody out I get a call from you know sermon index is a huge thing there are just hundreds of thousands of people that use the ministry certain index to get old sermons and it's a great ministry I get a call from them I've never contacted them and never talked to them I get a call from them would you come and share the vision the dream the work God gave you to our conference well we went and probably present there were only what probably about 200 people there maybe in this church still taking it and broadcast all over a lot of Romanians were there now I have a lot of people from Romania that listen but that one video has gone to I don't even know I haven't even checked but it I mean it's it's 15 000 or more views I get people I see it and I see it posted on people's sites that I've never even heard of in different countries all over the world but that wasn't my goal my goal was to just obey there's a lot of guys that get out there and you know they try to set up all this stuff and promote themselves and all this stuff and you know that's all fine and dandy but bottom line putting yourself never ends up working
out real good you know I actually realized a lot of that you don't want to do it anyway if it's out of the flesh it's targeted with demons and the devil when you're walking in the spirit much less Walking In the Flesh right you never know you know I think about the guy that I went to work for in the summer of 1987. who never met me but he listens to the Holy Spirit see I already got a job this is before I rededicated my life and I already had a job in the city and I was going to work for the summer I was going to go back to Troy State Troy University now and I was gonna you know be the big man in the fraternity played football and have the modeling career and that was that was the plan the movies you know Party Guy gonna do it that was the plan I'm gonna work for the summer I'm gonna go back to my party lifestyle and my own plans for my life and then this one guy I walk in I said well I realized I had a lot of time on my hands I already had a job it really wasn't enough hours so I saw his little sign the Gourmet restaurant David's place in Eureka Springs Arkansas at the time and I said hiring and I walked in and I walked in with some kind of crazy shirt on I think it was Bourbon Street shirt with the sleeves cut off and shorts and flip-flops because I really didn't care if I got something I just said I'm gonna go in here he told me later he said man he said I'd never hire anybody walking here looking like you look he said the Holy Spirit told me to hire you he was a Spirit-filled Christian he wasn't the pastor of a church he wasn't anything he'd grown up you know ministering in youth groups and he was a great musician he was a great guitarist the Imperials had wanted him to play guitar for him but he had turned them down but he uh he obeyed the Lord and he made me his mission for that summer and that man started praying for me and he started speaking he started teaching me he started giving me what I needed and it and God used him to bring me to Jesus and to repentance and to Faith changed my whole life and I think about that and I've been in contact with him a few times over the years he hasn't even been doing that well in his own Christian walk I know some of his backstory and I know why but he was faithful at work to lead this
deceive blind sin-filled teenager back to Jesus into the truth do you know how many lives that just my life has impacted in the last nearly three years in Africa in Mauritius in Israel the Australian who knows what happened to the Australian David Cook that God used me to lead to Jesus in Israel in 1988 who knows you get what I'm saying one person that you truly lead to Jesus or or help them out of deception or error or a demonic stronghold or a sickness that's going to kill them and they get healed you you get them into faith and they get healed you just don't understand how that's going to multiply to other people one person being faithful to impact one life can change so many others I think God for David all the time because because of him my brother is saved and my sister and my dad and my mom is heaven now because he took the time to pray for me and preach the truth and speak the truth and sow the truth he spent a whole summer with me and I ended up not going back to the fraternity house not going back to the drugs and the alcohol and the drinking not going back to my own plans I gave my life to Jesus and I made up my mind I was going to do it right or not do it at all and because he sowed the right things in me he gave me the truth he equipped me other people got saved other people got baptized in the Holy Ghost other people got healed miraculously other people learned to operate in the gifts of the Spirit we will never know how many lives were impacted by David's faithfulness to hire me that day just listening to the gentle voice of the Holy Spirit and not being ashamed of the Gospel in the workplace he wasn't In a Pulpit he wasn't in the ministry but he was doing the work of the national amen be faithful some of us won't know until we get to heaven but I can tell you this much when my mom passed away I know how the Lord is now when my mom passed away on October 2nd 2010 it was one of the worst days of my life I had no idea how it was going to impact me I miss her all the time especially Thanksgiving and Christmas and
but you know we weren't having church then we were in between our Georgia time in here we weren't having Church and the church we were visiting was in LaGrange at the time so we were in all the way the other side of Auburn you took about kind of an hour drive and when you spent the whole weekend with this horrible pain in your heart and tears running down your face almost all day 24 hours you could say you don't feel like going to church and you know what I could have said I don't feel like going to church my mom just died the day before the next morning it's Church if you if there was ever someone who didn't feel like going to church that day was me but I said no we're in the church this morning got up got drift drove an hour to church mind you sat down in the back still having a hard time keeping the tears choked down Pastor came up I good guy still love him service got started we stood up and started worshiping and I don't remember I mean just good worship song Started worshiping the Lord and immediately immediately as John said I was in the spirit on the Lord's Day and I saw my mom in a white robe standing in Heaven Beside Jesus I saw him that was Crystal Clear Vision and Jesus turned to me crystal clear and he said thank you for helping one of my children make it here yes I prayed for my mom and I preached the truth my mom and I eventually LED my mom to Jesus but you don't fathom that Jesus would look at you and say thank you for helping one of them this is the way he said it he said thank you for helping one of my children make it home thank you and it just happened to be my own mother when we get to heaven all that's going to matter to us apart from being there to be with the true God and our savior the only thing else that's going to matter is who did we help get there
and we help people by being an example them and telling them the truth this is why we have to grow up and if you've been a bad example to someone you've acted like a child or a spiritual babe and you've blown your witness and your testimony let me tell you a powerful thing I have I remember my stepbrother right after I got saved I used to fight and do it pretty good dude and I remember he got smart with me one day we both worked at the same place this is after I got saved spirit and he quit drinking and doing drugs and running with him and I guess he was a little upset at that and it was a little convicting there was such a drastic change we lived together so he smarts off at me work and the oldie rose up and then I found out he went and basically gone behind my back and tried to get me fired at this other job the fact that I had two jobs so I found him he was having lunch by himself at the bar when nobody was there that day the bar wasn't open he was having lunch in there and I went in there the newborn baby Christian and I cussed him up one side and down the other better than a drunk sailor I custody and I said I will take you outside and I will beat the day like that I said if you step if you get up out of that seat and walk out the door I'm gonna whip you all over the parking lot you understand oh I would have to oh I was so mad I was Furious but I blew it man you want to come out blowing my witness oh I ruined it with him just ruined it you ever done that anybody in here ever done it oh I let me tell you I walked out of there and immediately Holy Spirit condition oh it's like he'll never he'll never listen to a Christian again you just sealed his faith I mean all this stuff oh God what did I do that for well let me tell you what was powerful if you blown it with people around you go to them and apologize I've gone back to people where I blew my witness in some way and I said you know what I was having a real bad day and I was having a real bad time and I really messed up and I was I I asked you I'm sorry please forgive me I should not have acted like that you know how that impacts people if you
just humble yourself and admit you sin you blew it you messed up and ask them for your forgiveness oh yeah I've had totally unsaved mean nasty people whole attitude changed the moment I said I'm sorry I shouldn't have done that so this year 2016 really starting now everybody say this with me 2016. I'm gonna grow up you're going to find out you're going to end up taking some people to heaven they wouldn't have made it otherwise that's what blows me away we are laborers with Christ he wants us to co-labor with him see the cabinet sayeth all Jesus doing it now not the way he set it up he said I tell you what you go do it and I'll be with you that's how it works amen let's pray Hallelujah father we just come to you today and we just thank you Lord God we thank you because you're merciful we've all blown it and messed it up so many times and Lord you said that if we come to you and confess our sins that you are faithful and just forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness but Lord you want us to grow up you want us to overcome some of those sins that we keep committee again and again you want us to quit being afraid and fearful and and not speaking and not stepping out and doing things you want us to cast out demons and heal the sick in the name of Jesus Christ you want us to preach them lead through Jesus you want us all God to be fruitful in the Kingdom to help somebody make it to Heaven Lord I ask you to give us a heart God and give us the wisdom and give us the Revelation and the conviction give us whatever we need to move out from being children Lord and to grow up and become spiritually mature adults fathers mothers in the Kingdom that are responsible and become responsible for others and not just focused on ourselves Lord I pray that that will become real and everyone here everyone listening to this message everyone who will listen let it become real let us get out of lukewarmness let us
get out of the fear of men let us get out of childish ways and childish things Lord I pray this in Jesus name you know there's a verse in malachite chapter 4. it says in the last days God said I'm going to send Elijah to you before the great and terrible day of the Lord come but then he says I'm going to turn the hearts of the children to the fathers in the hearts of the fathers to the children this is not just for physical fathers and and their children I believe it is but it's not just that I believe what he's saying there God said I'm going to raise up some fathers that care for the spiritual children but I'm also going to raise up and turn the children to start respecting their spiritual fathers and elders and not just hear but listen and do you know I counted as a as a father in the natural I counted respect when my children not only hear what I say but do what I said if they hear what I say and they don't do it I just say they don't respect me they're not honoring me there are some fathers some spiritual fathers and mothers who've gotten tired of dealing with children's attitudes that's in the natural and in the spiritualness sometimes I have to check myself because sometimes I get ill when I hear of some of this crap that's still going on among people that all grown up all right but I have to check myself I got a little ill with that fella last night and I realized you know what God I'm not really showing patience to this guy here so I asked him I apologize to him for that