Keeping the Faith
Pastor David T. Elms 6/10/2025
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Summary
Pastor David T. Elms calls the church to a life of spiritual introspection and perseverance, using Paul's final words to Timothy as a roadmap for fighting the good fight and keeping the original apostolic faith. He emphasizes that true spiritual strength comes from a humble appetite for God's Word and a desperate reliance on the power of the name of Jesus.
Key points
- •Introspection is a uniquely human capacity and a spiritual necessity; we must use the mirror of the Word of God to assess our own souls.
- •Serving God is a lifelong battle that requires the 'holy calories' of the Word and prayer to sustain us through trials, disappointment, and spiritual warfare.
- •'Keeping the faith' involves contending for a specific set of biblical truths and sound teachings that do not change with culture or location.
- •The church must guard against a spirit of religious pride or 'spoiled' criticism, remaining hungry and humble participants rather than mere observers.
- •As the end of the age approaches, God is preparing His people for a quick, supernatural revival characterized by the power of the name of Jesus and sincere repentance.
Scripture
Spiritual Discipline
End Times Revival
Identity in Christ
Faithfulness
Prayer and Repentance
Life application
This week, move beyond 'filler' prayers by engaging in deep, honest introspection before God, specifically asking Him to reveal any areas where your heart has become cold or out of alignment with His Word.
Reflection questions
- When you look in the 'mirror' of the Word, what is the Holy Spirit currently highlighting in your life that needs adjustment?
- Are there areas where you have become a 'food critic' of the service rather than a hungry participant in worship?
- How can you more intentionally 'contend for the faith' in your daily conversations and choices this week?
- What does it look like for you to 'fight a good fight' in your current stage of life?
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Full transcript
0:00another in his presence. Ah, hallelujah.
0:00And in his presence, there's fullness of
0:00joy. Open your Bibles with me to the
0:02second book of Timothy, the fourth
0:05chapter as we go into the word of the
0:07Lord.
0:08And uh I am bringing his word to you
0:11tonight.
0:13Uh and I do not have a series. I love
0:16series. It's so wonderful for me to be
0:19teaching series, but I haven't felt the
0:21Lord give me one yet. I wish one of
0:23y'all just walk up and say, "The Lord
0:24told me to tell you,
0:27but then I'm going to check it."
0:29You better make sure the Lord told you.
0:32But uh right now, uh right now I have
0:35this this feeling to just let the flow
0:38happen. This the way we used to always
0:40do it. Always. You didn't know what was
0:43happening. you just went and the Holy
0:45Ghost spoke and uh you know, Brother
0:47Hail comes and I'm telling you, if I
0:49asked Brother Hail how many series he's
0:51taught his in his entire ministry, I'm
0:54telling you, it would be very few
0:56because that was just that paradigm. You
0:59know, they didn't just embrace a series
1:02and go long through that process. But
1:05and you know, everyone is good. All each
1:08one of those processes are good. But
1:10tonight I want to just give a simple
1:11word that I think is so critical in the
1:15Holy Ghost. 2 Timothy 4 verse 7.
1:20I have fought. Why don't we read it
1:22aloud together? It's not a long one. And
1:25all of you know how to read. I have. Are
1:28you ready? I have fought a good fight. I
1:32have finished my course. I have kept the
1:36faith.
1:37Three things right there.
1:39Fought a good fight. Finished my course.
1:42Kept the faith. My subject tonight is
1:44keeping the faith. Keeping the faith.
1:47You may be seated in the name of the
1:49Lord Jesus Christ.
1:52Hallelujah. Sunday is Father's Day and I
1:56know you're preparing to celebrate your
1:59father. You know, mothers are the first
2:02ones we need to remember because mama
2:05was the one who brought us into the
2:07world. But it was the father who stood
2:10by and counted. So breathe. She would
2:14have forgotten to breathe if I hadn't
2:15told her breathe.
2:18Remember to breathe. One, three, two,
2:22one. I watched the graph, you know, to I
2:25I charted every one of those those
2:28contractions. I was there for that. And
2:30I I helped her through those
2:33contractions. It was a lot of work on my
2:34behalf, you know. All right. Five. Four.
2:37This one's for the baby. Three. Two. And
2:41you know what's so funny? My wife didn't
2:43want me to leave her side. It was crazy.
2:44She needed me there. But you know what,
2:46baby? I heard this is what I heard. This
2:49came to me by secret telegraph. That
2:52when Scarlet was having her baby the
2:54other day that you were the one counting
2:57down and you were a lot like me. I'm
3:01just saying when you learn something
3:03effective
3:10She was really She was I love it. I love
3:13I trained her. I taught her. You know,
3:17we did it for you. Yes. That was so much
3:21fun. Oh, hallelujah. I I'm just beside
3:24myself about all the babies that are in
3:25this church. We've got a We've got a
3:28group of powerful warriors. And listen,
3:31you better be nice to them now
3:35because they're gonna grow up and you're
3:36gonna want their autograph.
3:40I'm just telling you right now, you see
3:42them running around, you better be nice
3:44to them because when they grow up,
3:46you're going to hope they know you
3:48cuz they're going to have all kinds of
3:50press from being raised up to be CEOs
3:54and judges and attorneys and doctors and
3:56and and entrepreneurs. And you're going
3:59to just wish
4:01They remembered your name.
4:03I'm telling you right now, that's the
4:05kind of church this is. This is the kind
4:07of church that celebrates these babies.
4:09Because the problem is is some people
4:11have a jaundist eye
4:13or a clouded eye and they can't see
4:17greatness until it hits them in the
4:20nose. God's people sees greatness by way
4:23of prophecy.
4:25We see things that are not
4:29as though they
4:32I'm telling you I'm in the Holy Ghost
4:33right now. I went ahead and started
4:35preaching. Uh so well let let me just
4:39start by saying a few things. Uh
4:43of all the creatures of of God's
4:45creation,
4:47we are a special kind. humanity. While
4:51science and evolutionary theories have
4:54tried to make us just a little bit above
4:56the animals, we know from the word of
4:59God that we are not just a little bit
5:01above the animals, but we are a great
5:03bit above the animals. And one of the
5:07primary ways that we know it that is
5:09immeasurable by laboratory is the
5:12cognissance that a human being has
5:16of selfawareness.
5:19The way you know this is by way of a
5:22mirror. When you give a mirror to any
5:25creature on this earth. All creatures
5:30look at a mirror and they cannot see
5:33themselves.
5:35They presume it's another different
5:37creature than they are. You give it to
5:39the highest order of what they say close
5:42to us, a chimpanzeee. You put a mirror
5:45in a chimpanzeee, they don't go in there
5:47to check their hair. They always assume
5:51there's another chimpanzeee in the room
5:54and then they'll go behind the mirror to
5:57try to catch that chimpanzeee.
6:01I don't know if you've seen the
6:02wonderful, and I think it's hilarious,
6:04they have taken mirrors and set them
6:07beside wild game trails. And if you
6:10haven't watched the grizzly bear as he
6:13walked by the mirror, it's one of the
6:14funnest, most joyable. You just try it.
6:17Go try triping grizzly bear with the
6:19mirror because this grizzly just am
6:21lumbering through like they do. Don't
6:23let that fool you. Don't think just
6:26because they move slow that they're not
6:28lightning fast. Okay, I'm glad most of
6:31y'all won't be wrestling a grizzly this
6:33week, but there was a black bear kill in
6:36Florida not long ago. So mind your P's
6:39and Q's. All right. But this bear is
6:42lumbering along and all of a sudden it
6:44sees the mirror and fast as lightning.
6:50It goes
6:52and then it attacks the mirror and
6:55surprisingly that bear attacked him
6:57back. It was amazing.
7:01And he attacked the mirror until the
7:03mirror was no more. Didn't take but just
7:05a second. But it's because we're the
7:09only creatures in all of God's earth
7:13that have a selfawareness. Now, we
7:15leverage that many times to let people
7:19know how much uh our relationship with
7:22them cost us. You know, we we many times
7:25will leverage the fact that, you know,
7:27I' I've done so much to get here.
7:30Animals don't tell about how hard it is
7:33to get somewhere. They never remember
7:36how much good they've done for others.
7:38Animals just live and go and they don't
7:40think it's a deal. You know, sometimes I
7:43I've known of and and I'm not not
7:45picking on mothers, but because it's
7:46Father's Day, I'm not going to pick on
7:47fathers right now. Uh but I've known
7:50some mothers who loved
7:53their son so much that they didn't
7:56approve of any of the girls he liked.
7:59And they loved him so much that they
8:03kept them in their house
8:07working to pay their bills to do their
8:11grocery shopping because they loved them
8:14so much. That's the reason I have to
8:16tell sons. Let me tell you, I don't care
8:18how much your mother loves you. Here's
8:20what the Bible says. You are to leave
8:23mother
8:26and father
8:29and cleave unto your wife.
8:33And sometimes the mothers need to tell
8:35be told what the Bible says. Have you
8:38let your son leave?
8:41So I'm pastoring but this is not my
8:43sermon.
8:47But there becomes this self-awareness
8:49which can work as the Bible says
8:51scripturally beholding yourself in a
8:54mirror. One moves from glory to glory.
8:58How do you do that? By introspection.
9:02And that's really why you come
9:04especially on a Tuesday night. It's to
9:06get the mirror of the word and behold
9:08yourself. The Bible talks about one who
9:11hears the word of God and doesn't do
9:14anything about what they've heard. He
9:16uses the mirror metaphor again. Says
9:19it's like the one who beholds himself in
9:21the mirror and sees how they're
9:23unckempt, but they leave and do nothing
9:26about it.
9:29Nothing about it. Have you ever had a
9:31friend that had something on their face
9:34or something, you know, that you know
9:36would embarrass them, but you didn't say
9:39anything to them about it?
9:43I I was not long ago with someone who
9:45had a wonderful uh extrusion from this
9:50beautiful part of this this nose area.
9:55And I was talking to them and it was a
9:57woman and uh I don't I can't tell you
10:01how many times I wiped my nose.
10:04I was doing everything I could to help
10:07this sister out.
10:09And
10:11you know, you don't know exactly what to
10:13do. If it was my friend,
10:16I would say something. If it was my
10:19wife especially
10:21I would say, "Babe,
10:24you know, that's when all of the genius
10:27uh sign language comes through. You just
10:31when you're married, one thing you learn
10:32is you don't always get the side right."
10:34You know, you're tell it's that side.
10:36Then they go to the wrong side.
10:39No no no no.
10:43You're trying to act like you didn't say
10:44anything. You're just
10:46the slightest.
10:54You want to help people. Well, I I'm
10:57using this to make a point. When I come
10:59to the house of God, I need some
11:00introspection. And when I come, I want
11:03to look at myself through prayer. This
11:06is why prayer is such a critical
11:08component in living for God because
11:10prayer is really an introspection
11:14research of me.
11:18Now, I'm not a bad guy. All right? I'm
11:20an okay guy. But it doesn't matter who
11:23you are. It doesn't matter what kind of
11:26patches you got on your arm or t-shirts
11:28you've bought or where you've been or
11:30what people think about you. The day you
11:33stop becoming introspective, you need
11:36some self inspection.
11:40Self inspection. You know, the the
11:42quickest uh the quickest organ to tire
11:46in your senses is the nose. This is why
11:49people sometimes can be very rank in
11:52their odor and they don't even know it.
11:55They're completely unaware of it. and
11:58and and it needs somebody lovingly to
12:01let them know your nose has grown weary.
12:08And I say this in love. I say this in
12:11true love. You really don't know the
12:14ambiance
12:16that you're bringing into the place.
12:21You don't know.
12:23It's an invisible ambiance,
12:26but it's one of those things that people
12:29need people in their life to help them
12:32because if they're trying to do it, then
12:34just openly take care of it. But most
12:36people are not trying to do it. I can't
12:40tell you. I was on a plane to Well, I
12:42shouldn't say that. We took a plane
12:44somewhere and it was interesting that in
12:47that place that we were flying to,
12:50there's a smell that people have grown
12:54accustomed to. Well, in my mind, in my
12:57thinking, my world hasn't grown
13:00accustomed to that smell.
13:04wear deodorant.
13:08We wear deodorant and uh that people
13:10group don't and they would have me to
13:13think they're more healthy than I am. Um
13:16okay. Uh well, I'm not going to get an
13:18argument. I am who I am. Me and my wife
13:21have a very distinct difference of
13:23smelling. She thinks the smell of
13:25cooking cabbage in the house is a
13:27pleasant thing. And I think cooking
13:30cabbage in a house ruins the entire
13:33place.
13:35Listen, we love venison. Brother Marty
13:38always provides us venison for
13:39Thanksgiving. And my wife cooked venison
13:42inside the house one time and I said we
13:45will never
13:47cook venison in the house again. I
13:51smelled it for a week. Uh so now it gets
13:54cooked outside. All of this, I'm just
13:57saying, is a matter of introspection.
14:01And I think that's one reason why you
14:02love this church. It's because it's a
14:04church not just built on giving you a
14:05lollipop and sending you home. It's not
14:09just saying, "Hey, let me give you a
14:10back rub and tell you how you're a top.
14:14You bunch of champions.
14:17Just go and be a champion today." No, I
14:21want somebody to assess me. This is
14:23their standards. You know what standards
14:26are for? To help you keep a level of
14:30purity and truth. And when I say
14:32standards, if I say it in a sports
14:34setting, many people say immediately. I
14:37mean, right now, this week, I know
14:38nobody knows about this, but this is a
14:42NFL training camps that are required.
14:46Okay? And so all the NFL teams, and I
14:49know none of y'all are interested in the
14:50NFL, just pardon me just for a moment.
14:52Um, they all are doing a running test
14:56today. They all had some tests done in
15:00their clubs today. And why? Because
15:03there's a standard. We want to know who
15:06is guarding and watching over this
15:08standard. If you're going to be in this
15:09dimension, you got to at least have this
15:11baseline.
15:13Well, in living for God, the things that
15:16can, uh, slowly get out of kilter, uh,
15:21off alignment is attitudes, perceptions,
15:26and approaches. Because serving God is a
15:29spiritual thing. And what I've got to do
15:31is assess, not am I just present, but do
15:34I have a healthy, holy approach to
15:37worship? Do I have a healthy, holy
15:41approach to giving? Do I have a healthy,
15:45holy approach to prayer? Do I have a
15:49healthy, holy approach to hearing the
15:52preached word of God? You say, "Well,
15:55that's what a preacher's going to say."
15:57Well, I I am going to say it, but let me
15:59tell you, it's not because I hope you
16:01think I'm a good preacher. The reason I
16:03say it is because the Bible says it
16:05pleased God by the foolishness of
16:08preaching to save them that believed. It
16:13wasn't the saving of the lost that would
16:16hold the people. The the the preaching
16:18of the word does save those that believe
16:22initially, but that was written to a
16:24church that was not initial believers.
16:26And it was just saying that it is
16:28preaching that will keep you in
16:30alignment. I love singing. You know, I
16:33love singing. But God didn't choose a
16:35concert to keep us saved. He didn't
16:38choose a soloist to keep us saved. He
16:41didn't just have an encounter thing to
16:42keep us safe. Every once in a while, you
16:44got to sit down and let the word work.
16:48The word's got to work.
16:51It works me over and works me into a
16:55position where I have a perception of
16:59approach. And here in our text is one of
17:03the premier
17:05eloquent
17:07expressions of a man who is a proper
17:10approach and he's coming to the end of
17:14his life. He's almost delegating his
17:18mission to his favorite disciple
17:19Timothy. This is written to the second
17:21letter to Timothy. He looks back over
17:23his life and he looks back over the
17:25approaches of his mind and he settles it
17:27all with three conclusions. I fought a
17:30good fight, kept the faith, finish the
17:33course. Uh, what do men think of when
17:36they're about to die?
17:39Some simply
17:41uh summon the chains that they have
17:44found strength in in their all their
17:46life. If they're about to die, they just
17:48want a good box of cigarettes and them
17:50and their cigarettes are going to make
17:51it. I've known of people that were
17:53literally after a massive heart attack
17:55in the ambulance asking for a cigarette.
17:59Uh some just want alcohol. I've been on
18:04many calls where alcohol was devastating
18:08the home with the police department. But
18:10maybe the one of the most sad I've ever
18:12been to was a death notification of an
18:15officer who had been an upstanding
18:18awesome officer for the Miami Dade
18:21Police Department. He had been a partner
18:24of one of the sergeants in our
18:26department. and our sergeant went to the
18:29house and uh didn't know it was his and
18:34found out that on New Year's Eve
18:38uh he drove to Walmart and got three
18:42bottles of wine to close out things and
18:45he died crawling from his car to the
18:49house and he died on the ground there
18:52and uh our sergeant um didn't know it
18:56was his partner
18:58He had just because he had let his beard
19:00grow and he was unckempt somewhat and
19:03all the way from the car to where he
19:06died almost to the steps. He had crawled
19:09but he drugged the three bottles of wine
19:13until one fell out, another one fell
19:15out. He only had one with him when he
19:18finally perished. And the the sergeant
19:22found him. I would never tell you names,
19:24but when the sergeant found him and
19:26realized this had been his partner
19:28through the toughest times of the Miami
19:30Dade Police Department, it crushed him.
19:34So they immediately called me because
19:36I'm really primarily there for the
19:38officers. And I'll never forget going
19:41and talking. I'll be bound to this
19:42officer forever because of those moments
19:46where he just thought, you know, of all
19:48the things we've done, of all the times
19:50he had my back, of all the moments that
19:53he had me and we talked about alcohol,
19:57we talked about drugs and we interdicted
20:00so much together of all the things I
20:03never thought. And he said, he just
20:05shook his head and he said, "It's not
20:07supposed to end like that.
20:13And
20:15so it goes in the kingdom of God
20:19there. When you come into this thing,
20:21just mark one thing down.
20:28It's going to be a fight.
20:32Serving God is going to be a fight.
20:36If if you think it's just going to be a
20:37skateboard ride,
20:41if you think it's going to be a bike
20:43ride coasting downhill,
20:46if you think, well, see, all of us when
20:49we get the Holy Ghost, we start with
20:51power.
20:53We all start with power. After that, the
20:55Holy Ghost comes upon you. You shall
20:57receive power to be my witnesses.
21:01And sometimes it can have you thinking
21:04that you'll always have that ability to
21:06just say the name
21:10and all of the trials and temptations
21:14of hurt and abandonment and
21:16disappointment
21:19will be gone.
21:21But no, it doesn't happen like that. One
21:23of the favorite films that I I showed my
21:26kids and they all knew it because in
21:29fact I'm proud to have gone to sleep on
21:31it. Actually, this one I didn't go to
21:33sleep on was Mary Poppins. I I I've been
21:36to sleep on Mary Poppins. I like Mary
21:38Poppins. Don't hold it against me. If
21:41you're frustrated with me, just go to
21:42the altar. The Lord work with you. But
21:45it it just Mary Poppins is one of the
21:47great ones. I mean, you know, is that
21:49the one where a spoonful of sugar is
21:51sunk? I mean, if you don't like Mary
21:53Poppins, you got something wrong with
21:55you. Spoonful of sugar makes the
21:58medicine go down. Medicine go down.
22:01Medicine go down. Just a spoon.
22:05See, y'all about to dance in a circle
22:07right now. Y'all thought this is a
22:09Pentecostal church. It's time to dance.
22:14But if if there's one little favorite
22:17part, and this thing's crazy,
22:20but Admiral Boom has always been one of
22:23my favorite little creatures. He's the
22:26next door neighbor to the house and he's
22:29caught in time and his house is situated
22:33like a ship and twice a day he's going
22:36to fire that cannon
22:38and he and Mr.
22:40will do it because he said the reason he
22:43must do it is to mark the time.
22:48Let everybody know what time it is.
22:51Well, in living for God,
22:54folks,
22:55you got to do more than just mark the
22:58time. You got to have set aside seasons
23:01of prayer to really go down and look in.
23:04You got to do like David who said, "Oh
23:06Lord, create in me a clean heart. Renew
23:09in me a right spirit. Take not thine
23:12Holy Spirit from me." When was the time
23:14last time you heard a sermon that said,
23:17you know, the Holy Ghost might be
23:18walking away from you?
23:22Honestly, I'm not trying to be tough.
23:24I'm just telling you that the reality is
23:27is the Lord will not always strive with
23:31individuals.
23:33I have seen people that the Lord draws
23:35and draws and draws and then they come
23:38to a po point where it's like God says,
23:40"You know what? I have walked by and
23:43called your name and knocked and knocked
23:45and knocked and called and called and
23:47called and guess what?
23:50I'm done."
23:52I have seen people wish they could feel
23:57the call of the Lord again.
24:00Never again will they ever feel the
24:02presence of God come up to them because
24:04the Lord who said, "My spirit will not
24:06always strive with man." He did it to
24:09Israel. It's recorded in the scripture.
24:12He gradually said goodbye. And it's
24:15recorded every point. He started at the
24:18altar and he would woo Israel and then
24:20he went to the aisle and then he went to
24:22the front door and then he went outside
24:24the church and he was gradually saying
24:26goodbye. But people would come and go
24:29from the place of the holy.
24:32But the difference was it wasn't that
24:34they didn't go to church. This is the
24:36difference between the wicked and the
24:38godly. The Bible said they came and went
24:41from the place of the holy and they were
24:45not changed
24:47and they were forgotten.
24:50And so this is why when I assess the way
24:53of God, I want to think of these three
24:57categories that Paul gives to us. I have
25:00fought a good fight. You're going to
25:02have to fight. You're going to have to
25:04fight to keep your praise fresh. You're
25:07going to have to fight to enjoy worship.
25:12You're going to have to fight to keep
25:13your heart right. You're going to have
25:16to fight to love preaching. Now, I know,
25:20listen, when you hear talented
25:21preaching, which I'm not going to
25:23presume where I sit on the scale, but
25:25when you hear good preaching, that has a
25:29way of drawing you. But you can get so
25:32spoiled, it's just like those Leonard
25:34kids.
25:38Those Leonard kids are so spoiled
25:44with her cooking.
25:50that unless it's at some kind of a
25:53standard.
25:55I don't know if you've ever seen Mike do
25:57it, but it's a spirit on him.
26:02He'll kind of move on. Why? He knows his
26:05food is not at mama's level.
26:11Now, tomorrow night, Brother Kirk is
26:13cooking me brisket.
26:16I hope that's not why he's missing
26:18church tonight because he's cooking my
26:20brisket.
26:22He's working.
26:25So, I'm going to test his brick brisket.
26:28I've heard it's legendary.
26:31Listen to y'all. Y'all helping the
26:32preacher all of a sudden. Don't be
26:35sitting on there when I'm preaching the
26:36word and they give me an amen when I
26:38start talking about brisket.
26:43But this is the problem. When you start
26:47becoming so, and I say this with love,
26:52but when you become so spoiled
26:55that you get picky,
26:57you start thinking instead of a eater,
27:00I'm a food critic.
27:03Instead of going to the church, God has
27:06called me to assess the quality
27:09of the service.
27:12Oh Lord.
27:15Oh Lord. Oh Lord. Now now who can do
27:17something about that. And y'all I effort
27:20my best to bring good food to this
27:22place. But if that spirit is in this
27:24house oh
27:27you're a broken people.
27:31You're you're a shallow people because
27:35you got to not just have an appetite
27:37because of the quality of the food. But
27:40you got to have an appetite because of
27:42the necessity
27:44of the food. Soldiers, they complain
27:47about MREs, but let me tell you
27:49something. They're not going to battle
27:51without their Is it a M? What does the M
27:55stand for?
27:57What is it?
28:00meal ready to eat.
28:03Why? Because it's not just a taste test.
28:09I've got a battle to win. And I need
28:12holy calories in my spirit when the
28:15demons show up. I don't need to sit back
28:17with a high and hotty spirit and say,
28:19"Well, I'm wrestling a good little
28:21friendly
28:22spat." No, I fought a good fight. It's a
28:27battle to praise the Lord every time you
28:30get a chance. It's a battle to go pray
28:33like you ought to every time you get a
28:35chance. But don't take one chance and
28:39miss it because you think I can do it
28:41again tomorrow in the last day revival,
28:44ladies and gentlemen, which is coming
28:46our way. God's got South Florida in the
28:49middle of his eye with the last day
28:51revival. And we're going to be at the
28:53pinnacle. We're going to be at apex
28:55point. We're going to be in the middle
28:56of it all. And when it comes, it's going
28:58to come because there's people that are
29:01not sitting around spoiled. No, they're
29:04saying, "Oh Lord, give me what I need
29:06that I might be strong. I'm not just a
29:09consumer. I'm not just an observer, but
29:12I'm a warrior.
29:16[Applause]
29:20Fought a good fight.
29:22I've kept the faith." What does that
29:24mean? You know, I taught that series and
29:27I loved it. Faithful faith is
29:29faithfulness.
29:31But there is another faith that is not
29:33just faithfulness.
29:35There is a faith that is a set
29:39of truths,
29:41a certain
29:43pure
29:44group of truths. That was the accepted
29:48practice of the biblical churches. It
29:51wasn't a truth for Leodysia and a truth
29:54for Smyrna and a different truth for
29:57Philadelphia and a different truth for
29:59Ephesus. No, no, no, no, no. It was the
30:03certain group of faith choices people
30:06made to serve the Lord. Paul, I mean
30:09Jude, who was the brother of Jesus in
30:12his third verse, he starts by saying, I
30:15wanted to write to you about the common
30:19salvation. That means there's not a
30:21South Florida edition and then there's
30:23an Montana edition and there's a North
30:26Carolina edition and there is a New
30:28Mexico edition, an African edition and a
30:31R. No, it's a common set of sound
30:35teachings that are based in the word of
30:37God. That's the reason I'm not trying to
30:39find the creeds of men. I want the creed
30:42of the word of God. I want the creed of
30:45God. And so he said, "Earnestly
30:48contend for the faith that was once
30:52delivered unto the saints." It's
30:55actively contending against heresies or
30:58distortions that can rise up from within
31:00the church. Sometimes it's preachers
31:04that bring these distortions and bring
31:06these heresies. Paul said, "Don't be
31:09surprised when they come." Uh and and
31:12Jude warned of those certain men. he
31:15said have crept in unawares. In other
31:18words, the real metaphorical picture was
31:21as a crocodile enters the water without
31:25a ripple. Certain men have slithered in
31:29to the church in they're not outside
31:32looking in. They're in the church
31:34unawares, praying people, God-fearing
31:38people, God-loving people. They came in
31:41unawares. He said, "But they began by
31:44diluting the truth and breaking it down
31:47from its original intent and false
31:50doctrines which debase the integrity of
31:52our prayer and the integrity of our
31:55sacrifice and the integrity of our lived
31:57out expression of devotion and they
32:00start diminishing." Well, your your
32:03expression isn't that important. You
32:05know, you you really don't need to say
32:07amen with the preacher. You know, just
32:09sit there and listen and and give them a
32:11nice hand clap every once in a while.
32:13Listen, I don't want your hand claps as
32:14much as I want your heart. A hand clap
32:17is a copout for the lack of using your
32:19brain.
32:24Don't have to think at all. I just made
32:25a noise and and you got No, but when you
32:28say something,
32:30don't be saying Burger King.
32:34Say something that means something.
32:35That's why prayer is so important. That
32:38means you got to employ your mind and
32:40your heart in it. You can't just say
32:42it's not church by wrote. And that was
32:45one of the greatest flaws of all of the
32:47universal church is they deduced the
32:50faith of the faithful
32:53down to wrote prayers.
32:56And what I'm so frightened about is now
32:59we have broken down much of Christianity
33:03where many people who call themselves
33:05Christian couldn't pray aloud where
33:07others listened without them feel
33:09themselves feeling like I didn't do good
33:12at all. I don't even know what I'm
33:14doing. No, I'm used to somebody telling
33:16me what to say. Ah, we've got to be
33:19prayer warriors. We got to know how to
33:21pray. I I your prayers will not sound
33:23like my prayers, but you've got just as
33:26good a mind.
33:29Well,
33:33I'm joking.
33:35No, he gave you a sound gifted mind,
33:38left brain, right brain fused together
33:41to make a craft that is specifically
33:44you. And when you give him the sound of
33:47your thought,
33:51you know, ask my kids how when we had
33:52family devotion, I would let them break
33:54silently. Oh, it's the hilarious. It's
33:57the most funny thing. And I'd be praying
34:00out loud and my little kids, they they
34:02didn't think that deeply. And and if if
34:05I was praying and I didn't hear one of
34:07them, literally in the hearing of all of
34:09them, I can't hear you, Austin. Thank
34:12you, Lord. Bless the Lord, oh my soul.
34:14Winter, I cannot hear you. And Winter
34:17would tell of the stories of her just
34:20making sounds. Oh, hallelujah.
34:25Glory.
34:27Hallelujah.
34:29Did you have a go-to phrase when I did
34:31that to you, Winter?
34:34Thank you, Jesus. Hallelujah. You know,
34:36thank you, Jesus. Hallelujah. You just
34:38would go around that route. Oh, but
34:41that's that's okay. See, here's what's
34:43so great about learning how to pray.
34:45There's times I hope somebody's
34:47listening right now. Do I have any
34:49hearers in the church?
34:52Sometimes you pray and you have a lot of
34:55fresh thoughts to say.
34:59But there's sometimes you need to learn
35:01how to pray when you don't know what to
35:04say and you have filler.
35:08You say, "Why don't you just be silent?"
35:11Because the Bible says he inhabits the
35:14praises of his people. And I remember
35:16hearing my dad pray. If you were around
35:18somebody praise, you're always going to
35:20find out what is their go-to filler. The
35:23first remembrance I have of prayer is my
35:25grandma Elms took me to church in San
35:27Diego to pray with her. I had to be
35:29three or four. I don't know. I just
35:31remember it was in the prayer room and I
35:33was underneath the chair where she was
35:35praying and she was nailed down over
35:38with her first grandson.
35:45And I was just doing what boys do. I was
35:47looking at all of the possible things
35:49that could be done on the bottom of that
35:51pew.
35:56But it's amazing the the epistles that
35:59are written on the bottom of church
36:00pews. It's amazing the gum that has been
36:04stuck on the bottom of church pews.
36:08It's amazing because back then you
36:10couldn't chew gum in church. You'd get
36:13called out. I don't know if any of you
36:16rem women remember, but if you filed
36:18your nails in church, you could be
36:20called out if you passed notes in
36:22church. See y'all with texting. What if
36:25I called out everybody texting in
36:27church?
36:30Could you share that text with us?
36:34I literally got called out at Bible
36:36school. I was writing notes of what
36:39brother TL Craft was preaching and he
36:41looked down. He said, "Uh, David, what
36:43are you what are you writing? You want
36:44to share it with us all?"
36:48That's the way old school was. Didn't
36:49didn't raise soft generation. You didn't
36:52do that and then leave the church bitter
36:53saying, "Why he hurt me? I've been so
36:55hurt. I was caught out in front of
36:57everybody. I'm going to hurt good night.
37:00I'm embarrassed. I'll never walk in that
37:02church again.
37:08Do you know what? Thank the Lord.
37:11I shared it because I just written down
37:14a note of something awesome he just
37:15said. I said, "Brother Pew, brother
37:18brother Craft, it says and I it just I
37:21wrote it down." Well, he found out he
37:24had kind of openly repu reproved the
37:27wrong guy.
37:30It felt so good he let me use his car
37:32for my banquet date.
37:37I picked up that girl right there in
37:39brother TL Craft's car when she finally
37:42flew in and I was trying to impress her.
37:45It didn't work.
37:50It didn't work.
37:54Paul said, "I fought a good fight."
37:57He said, "I've kept the faith."
38:00And then he said, "I finished my course.
38:05Keeping the faith. You better keep a
38:07faith of repentance.
38:10You need to keep the faith of separation
38:12from the world. Whatever church said you
38:14can go to heaven looking like the world,
38:16acting like the world, and living like
38:18the world, that man's a false prophet.
38:22Grace teaches us.
38:24Grace doesn't just cover.
38:27Grace teaches us that denying
38:30ungodliness and worldly lust.
38:35You say no. And whatever preacher tells
38:39you that stuff don't matter. You can
38:42live like the world and go to heaven.
38:44Smoke all the pot you want and go to
38:46heaven. Drink all the booze you want and
38:49go to heaven. Live in with however many
38:52boyfriends you want and still go to
38:54heaven. It's a lie.
38:59And so we've got to manage our mind and
39:03make sure that I'm keeping the faith
39:06once delivered to the saints.
39:09There's no room for adultery. Now,
39:12there's adultery that happens, but it's
39:14got to be corrected. That spirit is not
39:17welcome in this house. That spirit will
39:21not be treasured. It will not be
39:22guarded. It will not be made room for
39:24it. And that's talking about not just
39:26marital adultery. That's also spiritual
39:30adultery.
39:33I'm talking about the keeping the faith
39:35of worship.
39:37I know my wife has been feeling a major
39:39press to got to get try to get people up
39:41here at the front to worship. And I
39:43understand it's a cultural thing and
39:45there's some churches that are really
39:47doing good at it and some churches
39:48aren't doing good at all. But I think it
39:50could help make us distinctive because
39:53one thing that already makes us
39:54distinctive is altar call.
39:58I don't want to say the percentage of
39:59churches that do not have it, but I'm
40:02sad to say many of them do not have
40:06altar call. And I as a man do not love
40:11altar call. Sunday when I asked for
40:14people to come and nobody came, how do
40:16you think that makes me feel? Well,
40:19let's just remove that awkward part of a
40:20service. Be a lot easier to just pray a
40:23prayer, have them repeat out of me, and
40:25then let's all clap. But see, I'm not a
40:27church that's in the drive-thru fast
40:30food business. This is a church that
40:32wants people to get the mirror and after
40:35the word is preached, put that mirror up
40:37and now we're going to pray about it for
40:39a few minutes.
40:41No, it it sometimes it could go into an
40:43hour or two hours, but most of the time
40:45it's just a 5 to 10 minute introspective
40:48searching. But there's so much pressure
40:51in this world. Don't ask me to do that.
40:53Don't let me stand right here
40:55comfortable. I'll just kind of be like
40:56there and and yet I want a church
40:59culture that says, you know what? That's
41:01me, Lord. I'm going to walk up to that
41:03altar. I'm going to find me a spot up
41:06there. I was saved by getting in an
41:08altar. Now, I know it was a church
41:11culture, but it's a good one. Where else
41:14are you going to feel a place made for
41:16prayer? Where else? All week long,
41:19you're not going to get it at work.
41:20They're going to call it a moment of
41:22silence and it's going to last for 10
41:24seconds.
41:27No, I'm talking about a church that's
41:29built on the power of if my people which
41:32are called by my name would
41:36say it. You Bible readers I've got out
41:38there. What does it say? If my people
41:40which are called by my name would humble
41:43humble themselves. You know what that
41:45walk out of your aisle is walking down
41:47there? It's not me trying to humble you.
41:49It's you saying, "Lord, that's me. I'm
41:52not ashamed to say I'm standing in the
41:55need of you. I I I I don't want a church
41:59I don't want a church that the only
42:01people who walk down the aisle had just
42:03been diagnosed with cancer or just came
42:06out of an adulterous situation. I want
42:08people that are walk down that aisle
42:10that if I was judging them, they're so
42:13full of the Holy Ghost. I don't know why
42:14they're coming down that aisle, but a
42:16church that's so hungry to say, "Oh
42:19Lord, let me take another look at me. I
42:22got to check my heart out. I got to see
42:24what the word was doing when it cut on
42:26me today. when it adjusted me today. I
42:30want to be that clay that stays
42:35stays on the potter's wheel.
42:39I'm on the potter's wheel.
42:42Oh, mold me, make me, shape me, sister's
42:47coming. I'm done. Move me, stir me, talk
42:51to me.
42:53I can't live without you, Jesus. I've
42:56been walking a long time with you, but
42:58I'm not done yet. I'm still fighting a
43:02good fight. I'm still keeping the faith.
43:05Ah, and I'm going to finish my course.
43:11I'm going to finish my course. I'm going
43:14to finish my course. It matters. Shall
43:17we stand? It matters. It matters when
43:21you pray.
43:23It matters when you take the word and
43:24you apply it.
43:27You know, I think it's called mccuricum.
43:31What is that red stuff we used to put on
43:33mccuricum?
43:35Yeah, I'm about to say that word. Is it
43:37What's the official word?
43:40Miruricum.
43:42That wasn't what it was called in my
43:43house.
43:45In my house, it was called monkeykey's
43:47blood.
43:48All right. And I don't know. I better go
43:51and look that word up. See if it means
43:53something nowadays. To me, it meant your
43:55cut and this is what'll heal you.
43:58That was the way it was used in my
44:00house. I mean, when you got a cut, the
44:02first thing mama said, "Go get the
44:04monkeykey's blood." Yeah. Go get it. And
44:09I knew it was medicine,
44:11but good night, it was the that that was
44:14what was going to keep the infection
44:16out.
44:17I was cut.
44:20That's what was going to make sure when
44:22I woke up the next morning, it wasn't
44:25pus, infected, and filled with filth.
44:30I'd go to sleep and have that red stuff
44:32all around my arm. I felt like it was a
44:34badge of honor.
44:36I couldn't wait till dad got home. Look,
44:39Dad,
44:41I fell.
44:45That's what church ought to be. And the
44:47other thing is we always need people
44:50that are spiritual enough
44:53to not just come to the altar to pray
44:54for themselves,
44:56but you get into a place of ministry in
44:58your heart that before the service
45:00starts, you're already being sensitive
45:02to who does the Holy Ghost direct me to
45:05to pray with. And when you pray with
45:08them, you don't pray down to them. No.
45:11No. You don't walk up and say, "The Holy
45:13Ghost has revealed unto me, thus sayeth
45:15the Lord, that you are thus and that the
45:17other." No, no, no, no, no. It's
45:20amazing. You can discern when you get
45:21around people and all of a sudden you
45:23feel less spiritual
45:25when you feel that feeling. Yeah.
45:27There's two possibilities.
45:29One,
45:32you may need to listen to the Lord's
45:33conviction.
45:35But most of the time when you feel that
45:38it's because of somebody else who is
45:41pretending
45:44and they're leveraging every word in
45:46their lexicon
45:47to let you think that they have
45:49revelations that you have not yet seen
45:52that when God speaks to them, it's
45:54because he's closer to them than he is
45:56to you.
45:59That spirit is not welcome in this
46:00church
46:02and it never will be welcome in this
46:04church
46:06because that means somebody hasn't been
46:08standing at the foot of the cross.
46:10Oh yes, I'm on a 40-day fast. I don't
46:12care.
46:14I've never done 40. I've done 21.
46:18But you know what? That doesn't mean
46:20make me make me more special than
46:21somebody.
46:23It just means I need him and I'm
46:25desperate.
46:27That spirit of we're better than
46:29somebody that will never be welcome in
46:32this church.
46:34If that's trying to crawl up on you,
46:36rebuke it. It's not you.
46:39That spirit's not you. It's a spirit.
46:42It's a spirit that tries to come into
46:44every church. And it'll always be around
46:46the fringes. Always. It'll always be
46:49around the fringes. Some churches, those
46:51people sneak into position.
46:54That's the reason God put a bishop in a
46:56house
46:58to if you have to cut him off at the
47:00knees if you have to because that spirit
47:03is the spirit of a viper.
47:07It's not it's a spirit of turning on
47:09your own.
47:11It's people turn on their own. They turn
47:13on the family of God.
47:15It's not welcome.
47:17What is welcome?
47:19people who say, "I'm fighting a good
47:22fight.
47:24I'm keeping the faith."
47:26My mother, my I've lost the two mentors
47:30of my three this past year and a half,
47:34my dad and brother Harold, and I knew
47:38they were both on the edge of dying and
47:40headed towards dying. And so, we had
47:42dying kind of conversations.
47:46And I even had conversations with them
47:49like when you get to heaven, tell this
47:50one that and tell that one this.
47:53Literally.
47:55Uh
47:57but as you get close to dying, that's
47:58when you start becoming what you really
48:01believe.
48:03And listen to these men
48:06walk in the presence of the Lord
48:09with such ferveny of heart.
48:13Weaken body
48:16couldn't even walk.
48:19Fighting fear.
48:23Listen, if you fight fear near the end,
48:25you're not less than the greatest.
48:28And if your parents fight fear at the
48:30end, you just walk in and say, "He hath
48:34not given us a spirit of fear."
48:37You're not rebuking them. You're
48:39reminding them.
48:42They're beyond rebuke at that point. You
48:45just remind them, "You walk with me and
48:48I walked with you. This is who we are.
48:50Let's go together."
48:53I don't think there's any death in this
48:55house right now.
48:57But I do think this is an hour in which
49:00we better get ready for revival
49:03because God is positioning this church.
49:05He has done it for years. But he said
49:07when it happens, it's going to be a
49:08quick work. People are going to come and
49:10they're going to want to get baptized in
49:12Jesus name so fast. It will not be
49:14something that they've done, but because
49:16God has been working on them so long and
49:18the more hungry they get for the Bible,
49:20the more they realize, I want Bible
49:22church. I don't want religion.
49:24I don't want religion. I don't need
49:25another brand put on me. I want to know
49:28what is closer to the Bible. And when
49:30that happens, we're going to be
49:31baptized. I'm going all around this
49:33city. And the only name that saves, the
49:35only name, the only name that would shed
49:37his blood for our sins, he has a name.
49:41His name is not father. His name is not
49:43son. His name is not holy ghost.
49:46Somebody say his name.
49:49The devil will never flee if you say
49:51leave in the name of the father. The
49:54devil will never leave if you say leave
49:56in the name of the son. The devil isn't
49:58afraid at all if you say leave in the
50:00name of the Holy Ghost. But when you say
50:04Jesus,
50:06there's power in that name,
50:10every demon trembles at the sound of his
50:13name. The power is what we need in this
50:18hour. I don't want religion. I want
50:21power with God.
50:23Ah,
50:27the Holy Ghost is in this house right
50:29now. I'm finished preaching. Does
50:32somebody want to talk to him a little
50:33bit? Somebody want to get in a place and
50:37lift up their voice and say, "Jesus,
50:41it's me. Oh Lord, I've been looking in
50:43the mirror. I'm not doing this as a
50:46show. I'm not doing this, oh Lord, to
50:49get closer to religion. I'm not doing
50:52this to get a favorite preacher. I'm
50:55doing this because I want the
50:57supernatural power of God.
51:01I need it. I need it. I need it. I need
51:04to be a part of the last day revival. I
51:07don't want to be a spectator on the
51:08outskirts watching the church become lit
51:11with fire. I want to be in the middle of
51:13it, Lord. I don't want to be assessing
51:16like some surveyor overlooking from the
51:19grandstands. I want to get right in the
51:22middle of the fire. I want to get in the
51:24middle of the fire.
51:28Let me have the fire that fell on
51:30Pentecost. Let me have the fire of the
51:33Holy Ghost. Oh Lord, I want it to burn
51:36in me. I want to be powerful plucking
51:40men from hell's fire. I want to be
51:43plucking those like brands from the
51:47hellish fire. But it's because I'm full
51:50of the holy fire. Oh,
51:54that's it. Lift your voice. This is a
51:57place where we pray and we're heard.
51:59Lift your voice. Lift your voice. Lift
52:03your voice. Hear yourself. Call on his
52:06name. Hear yourself. Declare authority
52:11by the blood of Jesus Christ. Hear
52:14yourself. Take dominion over every force
52:19of depression. Hear yourself. Rebuke the
52:23anxiety that's waiting in your bedroom.
52:26Hear yourself. Don't just think it. Say
52:29it. Say it. Say it. Rebuke the devil.
52:36Resist the devil and he will flee from
52:39you. Ah, let the church say it. Let the
52:44church say it.
52:48Somebody could get the Holy Ghost right
52:50now. The Holy Ghost is in this house to
52:53fall on somebody. You're about to get a
52:55new power. You're about to get a new
52:57authority that's not by men. It's not
53:00made by preachers.
53:04The Holy Ghost is here right now. Right
53:07now. Right now.
53:15Yes. Yes. Let your soul out. Let your
53:20soul out.
53:24This is a Holy Ghost church. This is a
53:27spirit seeking church.
53:30This is a place where we get in his
53:32presence and we call on the name of the
53:34Lord.
53:37Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Yes. Say his name.
53:44Jesus. Jesus. Deliverance is in this
53:48room right now. Deliverance is in this
53:50room right now.
53:53There's some folks that have been
53:54getting too cold in your soul. You need
53:57to let a fire of the Holy Ghost revive
53:59you. You need to let the passion be
54:02heard. You need to give voice to it.
54:07Heat. Heat.