Eternally Exclusive
Pastor David T. Elms 11/2/2025
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54:49
Summary
Pastor Elms explores the exclusive nature of eternal truth, challenging believers to choose the 'narrow way' over the well-traveled roads of culture and commerce. Using the metaphor of the Tabernacle's bronze labor, he calls for a deep, inward cleansing where the Word of God separates soul from spirit.
Key points
- •The Word of God acts as a forensic tool, discerning between the 'soul' (man's personality and temporal desires) and the 'spirit' (the eternal part that connects to God).
- •Truth is not relative or cultural; it is exclusive and unchanging, requiring 'exegesis' (extracting God's intent) rather than 'eisegesis' (forcing the Bible to fit modern culture).
- •Scriptural history (Noah, Gideon, the Exodus) shows that while many are called, a 'righteous remnant' is often the few who remain faithful through trials.
- •God refines His people through fire and trial to ensure their identity is rooted in Him rather than in the temporal 'commerce' of the world.
Scripture
Spiritual Discernment
Exclusivity of Truth
Refinement
Biblical Integrity
Life application
This week, take time to distinguish between your 'thoughts' (fleeting temptations) and your 'intents' (what you allow to sit in the foyer of your mind), and ask the Holy Spirit to refine your heart through daily scripture reading rather than following cultural trends.
Reflection questions
- In the picture of the two roads, which path - the well-traveled road of commerce or the trail to the chapel - more closely resembles your daily priorities?
- How can you protect the seeds of God's Word in your life from being choked out by the 'thorns' of worldly distractions and self-promotion?
- Are there areas where you have been trying to make the Bible fit your lifestyle rather than letting the 'two-edged sword' of the Word cut away things that don't belong?
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Full transcript
0:01I, in my study, have a picture that I look at every day when I
0:05come to work, and that's most days of the week. And it's a big picture
0:10right over the couch. Now, some people think that when they come to the pastor's
0:15study, they're in trouble. I don't know if I want to change that or not.
0:19Seems like people pay more attention when they think they're in trouble. But I've had
0:24a lot of people come to my office and listen about this much of what
0:28I said. So, you know, in these 33 years of pastoring here in South Florida,
0:33you just kind of take it as it comes. But I look at that
0:39picture every day and on that picture is a picture of two roads. There's a
0:45big wide road that's got wagon ruts in it and it curves up and goes
0:51to the right. Then off of that big industrial size road that has the evidence
0:56of commerce, there's a little trail that goes off down towards a river. And on
1:02that river is a chapel with a steeple. There are also grain bins down there.
1:09I like art that says something. And this picture has always spoken
1:15to me of the fork in the road, the way of industry
1:21and commerce, the way of all kinds of advertisement and celebrations. And
1:27that little trail is symbolic to me of the way less travel,
1:33the way that takes you where the house of God is, the
1:39way that takes you where the church The place of, I'm
1:44about to get that phone, I'm telling you. I am about to get that
1:50phone. You know, we use somebody who doesn't know the ringer's ringing right now.
1:56But that's okay. We love you too. We all can make that mistake. I
2:02always appreciate it whenever they start events nowadays. Please turn off all cell phones
2:07and all ringers and without ever kind of a mistake, there is that one
2:13person. Mine doesn't ring, it flashes, and the whole
2:19place looks like a strobe light. And so I look at that
2:24and I think, my calling as a man is not to propose
2:30how prophetic I am or tell you how holy I am or
2:36tell you how advanced or educated I am. My duty is to
2:41talk to everyone who comes to the fork in the road and
2:47say the way of commerce is well-traveled. But there is another
2:53road for you to take that will take you down to the things that are
2:58holy and the things that are fulfilling. And that's where I stand. Paul said it
3:04like this. We look not at the things that are seen, but at the things
3:10that are not seen. For the things that are seen are temporal, but the things
3:16that are not seen are eternal. It seems like an oxymoron to look at what
3:21cannot be seen. Last week before I preached, I took a little while
3:27to explain the strength of interpreting the Bible lies, not in just taking it all
3:33literally, nor in all taking it metaphorically. But there's this fine dance that you've got
3:39to walk with God to make sure you're grabbing both what it means for the
3:44right now and what the word of God means for the forever. And
3:50so the Lord chose this manner. And therefore, to be like Jesus, we speak parabolic.
3:55We speak in metaphors. We use word pictures to get to people's soul. And it's
4:00not that we're trying to keep living for God in mystery. Believe you me, I'm
4:05direct. I'm clear. If you ever meet with me, you know I'm going to kind
4:10of write to the point. But here's the desire of my heart for you to
4:16understand what Paul was saying when he said, we speak or look not at the
4:21things that are seen. And so I see what I can see, but I've got
4:27to look beyond just what I can see and say, what is it saying to
4:32me beyond what I can see? This is why as you grow in the Lord,
4:38you'll find out that some of the dreams you've gotten throughout your life are spiritual
4:43dreams All of you whether you've lived for God or not whether you're in the
4:48church or not God speaks to you just as much as he speaks to somebody
4:53that said prayer meeting every time we open the doors because he loves you just
4:58as Powerfully as he loves any of us. It is not his will according to
5:04scripture that any should perish but that all Should come to repentance Romans 1 tells
5:09us that just because you can observe nature if you Love the rising of the
5:14Sun if you love the glory of a black I mean a poem in a
5:19sunset, you know, I love when the palm trees turn black I'll just tell you
5:24that right now there I know they're not literally black but because I'm seeing what
5:28they are when the Sun sets just perfectly I The sun is purple. I mean,
5:34the sky is purple and the palms are black. And brother, when I see that
5:38driving home, I'll just, and we're going to start seeing it now because time changed.
5:41Okay. I used to see that at Bill Gothard seminars. He always made these drawings.
5:45I've told you this a hundred times and he would dim the light. There would
5:49be hidden cross in the palm tree. I didn't know God was calling me to
5:53South Florida. But the process is when I have dreams, I've got a file. I
5:59was talking to Brother Eric this morning and he was telling me about a dream.
6:04And sometimes you will understand your dream the first time you had it. Sometimes all
6:09you did was eat too much pepperoni that night. Okay. Let's not get super spiritual.
6:15Somebody called it a bean dream. All right. Let's not play like every dream is
6:20from God. But every dream is not not from God. God speaks to you. Visions
6:26and dreams flashes of insight come to you and when you grab it you realize
6:31there's more than they're there than what I'm seeing and You try to shake it
6:35you come back in the real world you try to look at who won the
6:40World Series and you go and try to see what Wall Street's doing today and
6:45all of a sudden it creeps back up on you You know exactly what I'm
6:50talking about It'll sneak back up on you and it just hovers in your spirit.
6:54The Lord wants to lead you closer to him and And Paul said, we look.
7:00Now that's the difference. Everybody doesn't do it. But those who want to please
7:06the Lord, Paul includes in his supernatural we. Everybody doesn't do this. But if
7:12you're going to be a part of the Bible people, we look not at
7:18the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For
7:24the things that are seen are temporal. You don't believe it. Just go study all
7:30of your science books when you are in high school. That could have been two
7:35years ago and they've already changed. Okay. They've already found out that some of these
7:40laws are wrong. Even the law of relativity, even Einstein's law, they're getting messed up
7:45with new discoveries. There's a comet coming through the sky right now that's being pulled
7:50by something other than gravity. And they're trying to figure this thing out. It's made
7:55of all this amazing, I guess it's, it's not iron. It's like some special metal
8:00that it's made out of. And so what is, what am I saying? The
8:06things that are seen temporal. I build my life on this book right here. This
8:11book tells me how the world really works. It's only confusing to those who want
8:17it to be I'm not saying I understand everything in it I don't but I
8:21grapple with it. I wrestle with it. I hold it It gives me definitions of
8:26where I came from and it tells me definitions of where I'm going and if
8:30it helps me know where I came from and it tells me the options of
8:34where I'm going then I want to get that because nothing I've encountered in all
8:38my years of living or education or so forth Give me the clarity that this
8:43book right here gives me me when clarity things seen are temporal unseen or
8:48eternal. The Bible tells us this in Hebrews four 12, and this
8:54is why preaching is so important and celebrated this church because it's
9:00not the preacher. It's the preaching. We're not here celebrating the preacher.
9:05I don't have no, an entourage to come in. I got people
9:11that would entourage me. No, I'm just a man walking through this
9:16world. But this book right here gives us power and understanding and wisdom.
9:22It gives us insight. It helps us clarify our life. It gives us anchors to
9:28hold on to when everything's tossing and turning. The Bible says if the foundations be
9:34destroyed, what shall the righteous do? And that's what the enemy wants to do. He
9:40wants to rip up every foundational truth that you have and say everything is relative.
9:45No, everything's not relative. There's not 20 truths in this world. There's one truth. It's
9:51not the truth of the Western society. It's not the truth of Eastern society. It's
9:56not the truth of all the lands that are south of the equator. It's not
10:01the truth of the lands that are north of the equator, whatever quadrant the enemy
10:07or the world wants to put themselves in. Understand there's one truth, one truth. And
10:12here's what the Bible says in Hebrews 4:12, the word of God is quick and
10:17powerful. Sharper look forensically at this scripture. Okay sharper than
10:22any two-edged sword None of y'all know what a two-edged sword is
10:28like how many own a two-edged sword? Okay, we got one of
10:34course sergeant major Lynn would have a two-edged sword I always wondered
10:40why brother Wilson got real humble when he married Sister Lynn now
10:45I know she's got a two-edged sword It's not something that
10:51is in our modern day vernacular or it's a metaphor more or less to us.
10:57Okay. But in that day, a two edged sword was maybe the most dynamic weapon
11:02that existed. Mean the Grecians had fight with fought with long spears the Romans come
11:08along with a new Military strategy and they chose to fight with short short swords
11:13and they built their Legionnaires are through the philosophy that they had and the Greeks
11:18loved the long spear you go study military strategy the long spirit enabled them to
11:23win many battles But when the Romans came with their short swords it changed the
11:28whole stratagem of war But I want to proclaim to you
11:34the sword, two-edged sword. The Bible says the word of God is quick and
11:40powerful. More powerful than my personality. More powerful than the volume that they give
11:46me from the soundboard. More powerful than the weights I used to be able
11:52to lift. This power is what will crawl down in your soul and help
11:57you figure out the fraud. And all of us have to wrestle with the
12:03fraud. Quick and powerful, sharper than any two edged sword
12:09piercing, even the dividing asunder. Now notice what they juxtaposition against each other. Soul and
12:15spirit. There's a tension here. Their soul and then their spirit. And I may need
12:21to teach a Bible study on that new year. Okay. So you can know these
12:27are not two intermixing words. It's like the difference between sin and evil. They are
12:33not the same words. Sin is a mistake. Evil is to harm someone else. Totally
12:39different. That's the reason it said, lead me not into temptation. That's having to do
12:44with sin. But deliver me from evil. That's something that's just not a matter of
12:49being led through. No, I need somebody to bring me out of it. It's totally
12:54different. Two complete different Hebrew words. Different in the Greek. But some people think, well,
12:58when you say sin, you said evil. No, it's totally different. Same thing between soul
13:03and spirit. Soul is the you of you. Spirit is the God gift
13:09to you. So when you show up with personality, I've always had this personality. It's
13:15a little over the top. Can't help it. I blame mom and dad. I've had
13:21it since I was a baby. My grandson, Ethan, a river. Ethan, my son got
13:27it from me and river got it from me. No, he got it from
13:32his daddy, but it doesn't show up in his daddy as much. Okay, Austin's cool
13:37calm collected Don't think he's not dangerous, but he's just he's a gentle soul But
13:43he got more of that from his mom mom. You're not a gentle soul It
13:48had to come from above you it had to come a buck from above you
13:53I've got a hat in my office over my over my jacket holder there's a
13:58hat that says something along the lines of the pastor's child children are liable
14:04to be used in any sermon an illustration thank God I've got awesome
14:10kids they've lived through it all but you know it's so awesome watching
14:16my grandsons now River he is energy I mean in your face I
14:22was holding Bowdoin during church today that is the most Austin-like son he's
14:27got Bowden is Austin as a baby now Tessa. I don't want to
14:33leave you out of this I know you're probably the sweet and the
14:39sour altogether Soul is the you of you spirit is what's gonna go
14:45back to the God who made it and live forever Somewhere and so
14:50what the Word of God does is it walks up to you while
14:56the words being preached and I'm about to preach This is all prelude
15:05It walks up while the preaching is going on and your mind is playing back
15:10and forth pickleball You hit and then you run to their side you playing it
15:14all by yourself soul spirit soul Spirit it's the God part of you that says
15:19I want to do what God wants me to do I got to deal with
15:24God that part of you that has to do with God and soul is the
15:29you of you and Well, it's your personality. It's which football team you like. It's
15:34whether you like enter Miami or not. It's what cologne you prefer. It's whether you're
15:39a Ford or a Chevy guy. All of that is the you of you. That's
15:44your soul. And the Bible will come up to you and say, that part of
15:48you, that soul, this part of you is spirit. What are you going to listen
15:53to? You know that you, and there's some people walk up. My soul is the
15:58part of me that's coming from God. No soul is you of you. Spirit is
16:03the God in you. That's not the Holy Spirit yet. That's your spirit. It's the
16:09reason you've got to be born again I'm not worried about you being quiet because
16:15I know you're learning right now. And so here's the point it divides asunder between
16:20soul you and spirit joints and marrow What's the difference between a joint and a
16:26marrow the marrow of your bone is where your life force comes from? When
16:32your marrow goes bad, you are days from dying. That's leukemia. That's the cancer
16:38of bad blood. Your healthy blood comes from your marrow. Your joints enable movement.
16:43I mean, it's where my movement comes from. And what God does is he
16:49brings the word and he decides how much of this is just how much
16:55you move around and how much of this is what brings your soul life.
17:01Because everybody wants to move nowadays. We got social media. You can move everywhere. I
17:07mean some of y'all are everywhere I don't see it because I don't ever get
17:12on but I'm just telling you you can self-publish Self-advertise self-promote you can let yourself
17:18be seen everywhere and then I'm supposed to be impressed with how many likes you
17:23get Unimpressed you can walk up and tell me I've got 10,000 million followers. I
17:29don't care does Jesus follow you I I'm not impressed. My wife,
17:35my wife is more in tune to this stuff. She told me the other
17:40day, y'all don't know this. This probably should not be for public consumption, but
17:46I am the most popular guy in this church. I didn't know you knew
17:52that or not. I had no clue. I was, my wife just pointed out
17:58to me that for pastor's appreciation month, they did Morgan. It's
18:04the team. It's the team. They did these these foe these stickers of me sticking
18:09around this church Did y'all see these stickers? I mean, this is not just ridiculous.
18:14It's redonkulous I walk in I sit down to study in the presence of the
18:19Lord and here's the most awkward looking picture of me sitting With my legs up
18:24in this feminine way. I'm sitting there. My legs don't even bend like that How
18:29in the world did you get that picture of me?
18:35And literally today I was preparing for church and I had two of them
18:40stuck right here. I had stuck them to see them and I got so
18:46distracted I had to remove them because they were distracting me from my preparation.
18:52Here's my point. My point is, is because more people have viewed and my
18:57daughter Winter is pretty anyway. Let me brag just for a short minute. Winter is
19:03really followed. She's got all these followers. I don't know how many it is and
19:08what it's supposed to mean and all that stuff, but she's got a few they'll
19:13like her. And I thought, you know, they, we got a bunch of new followers
19:18just from her, from her singing. And she gets a big following from South America.
19:23And I don't know where all it is, but I, where were you at winter?
19:28She's teaching. She's teaching. Okay. I have gotten more. I've gone viral. How many did
19:33I get? How many views? A hundred and something doesn't impress me.
19:3915,000, which is so tiny compared to what all the people watching
19:45are. All y'all pastors and all you people who watch, y'all have
19:51so many more than that. I'm just talking my world. That's the
19:57most viewed in our church following set up. And I thought, look
20:03at that. Good night alive. Is it the way I'm sitting? I
20:09mean, good night. I don't sit like that. Listen, I'm playing
20:15with my grandkids. I'm doing an illustration. It was an illustration. No, I'm not
20:20doing it again. Now follow me. Follow me. The word of God is quick.
20:26It separates the joints from the marrow. What does that mean? Well, if you
20:32want to just look at the things that are seen, it's just talking about
20:38that and then the marrow that produces the health of my blood. But if
20:43you're willing to look at the things that are unseen, the joint means that
20:49which enables me to have movement, to get around. To go see things and
20:55to do things the marrow is my health wherever I am Doesn't matter where I
21:00am. Am I healthy when I arrive and that's the way the word does the
21:06world get up and walk to you say and it'll say well all of this
21:11is helping you be known all of this is helping you get Advanced attention from
21:16people all of this over here is you getting some shine. We all like that
21:22now. I like the shine and But the Lord said, but you're not healthy
21:28when you get there. Your marrow is putting out unclean blood. The marrow is the
21:33life of the, I mean, really the health of the body is from the marrow
21:38of the bone. They didn't even know that when that scripture was written, but God
21:43did. They didn't even know when that scripture was written that the heart was what
21:48pushed the blood all through the body. It wasn't until Michael Salvatus discovered that later
21:54by taking all these carcasses and looking inside blood They there was a season. They
21:59thought the blood was bad. If you were sick, let's get blood out. Remember they
22:04would put leeches on people. I mean that was the highest highest specialty of learning
22:09back then and we're doing something just as ignorant right now. We won't know it
22:14until 10 years from now, but in 10 years we'll look back and say I
22:19can't believe we were thinking that because we're subject to temporal things. the word of
22:25god is quicker a discerner between the soul and the spirit the joints and the
22:31marrow and is a discerner between the thoughts and the intentions it's different you're not
22:36going to go to hell because of thoughts that come through your mind but your
22:41intentions you will be judged my dad used to tell me like this you know
22:47he was teaching me as a son how to handle the challenges that a man
22:52has and he was saying david when when the thoughts come in your mind you've
22:58got to realize you've got a foyer in your mind it's like the entryway of
23:03your mind and they'll come in and present themselves to you whether it's strange flesh
23:08or or some kind of temptation that could come your way it'll come and present
23:14itself to you you are not guilty because it walks through your mind that's not
23:19a sin because it's walked through your mind it's when you transition it from the
23:24foyer and you invite it to come and sit down and you chat a little
23:29while with the temptation And you have some negotiations with the temptation. And you think
23:35through the temptation of how maybe we can become a little closer. I want to
23:40spend some time with you, Mr. Temptation. And what the word of God does is
23:45it walks up and it says, here's the thing. What you've been fighting all week,
23:50that's a thought. But if you take one more step with it, it becomes an
23:55intent of your heart. And I can't know that. And you in your flesh cannot
24:01know that. but by the preaching of the word of god it walks up and
24:06it takes you through the inventory of your is anybody hearing me today it walks
24:11you through the inventory of your decisions and say thought thought thought intent thought thought
24:16thought intent and that's the reason that the conclusion of every service here at the
24:21cathedral we have a non-negotiable we're going to have a season of prayer Because while
24:25the preaching's going on, you've had the word of God walk up and say, joint,
24:31joints, not joint, not doobie. All I know is old names. I didn't even know
24:37what the Doobie Brothers were. Listen, I found out that the Doobie Brothers meant that.
24:42You didn't know that until just now? You're so innocent, Sister Elms. I didn't know
24:48that Doobie Brothers meant, I thought there was a real family. I thought, where do
24:53the Doobies live? I wonder if the Doobies live on Elm Street.
24:59Found out that the doobie brothers was pot smoking his pot smoking the modern-day
25:05word See all y'all acting saved on me. You're all acting so saved and
25:10Separated and filled with the Holy Ghost like you should be that's right Well,
25:16here's the thing the Word of God discerns that Bible says by the truth
25:22Some people want to negotiate with the truth. This is the difference two big
25:28words Okay, I'm bored with them, but I got to tell them to you
25:34exegesis eisegesis. I Exegesis means I want to know what the Bible says
25:40as God intended it to be spoken. Not as I want it, not as my
25:45culture redefines it. Eisegesis, the way to remember that is people think that I'm a
25:51Jesus. Eisegesis. Eisegesis means I'm going to take this scripture and I'm going to make
25:57it fit my culture because I want to take it and rearrange it. That's
26:03how they justify abortion. That's how they justify adultery. That's how they justify
26:09Fornication that's how they justify a homosexuality. That's how they trust to justify
26:15trans. That's how they justify Indulgery in the pulpit. That's how they justify
26:20the works of destroying the body through drugs and alcohol and cigarettes and
26:26sugar Wow, I just stayed in the truth for a minute there didn't
26:32I and that interesting I some pentecostals don't think that's
26:38as bad as smoking you need to get you a six pack and smoke
26:43some cigarettes you might live longer than all that sugar you're eating oh lord
26:49i gotta be elms get right back on track you're liable to lose them
26:55now remember who you're supposed to judge you're supposed to judge yourself so when
27:01i walk out of here eating an aloe later don't be judging me don't
27:07you start looking down your nose at me just because i'm eating a sour
27:12cream donut all right All of this is truth.
27:18The Bible speaks of those whose God is their belly. Now, I know
27:24that's talking about their lusts, but it can also include food. And so
27:30here's the thing. By the truth. The truth isn't the UPC. The truth
27:35isn't Pentecost. The truth isn't the word we've labeled apostolic. I love those
27:41terms. I know there are labels that help define us. But those same
27:46labels have been misabused, misappropriated, and turned into traditions of men. This
27:52word is what I've got to have to walk into my life and cut and
27:58slice and say that's a thought That's an intent. That's your movement. That's your promotion.
28:03That's your joints. This is your marrow This is the thing that's gonna give you
28:08a health on the inside of your soul that right there. That's your spirit It's
28:14got to meet God that stuff. That's just soulful Throughout
28:19history, the Bible has been fought against. It's been suppressed. It's been destroyed. It's
28:25been belittled. Political systems have been invented to tear it down. Communism has been
28:31invented to destroy the Bible. If there's any communist in this church, get it
28:37converted. Okay? There's no religious version of communism. It's political. It's religious. It's ideological.
28:43It's ideological. The campaigns against this Bible range from empire-wide governments, which track them all,
28:49track them if you know history or if you care to know history longer than
28:54two weeks ago, you'll learn that this is something that's been tracked through time. The
28:59campaigns range from empire-wide governmental edicts, which come from the capitals, all
29:05the way to religious buildings and churches and synods that are writing
29:11prohibitions to access to this word. The reason why you came to
29:17the cathedral this morning was because you're not coming because I have
29:23great stories. No, I want to have great stories and I'll work hard to have
29:28them, but that's not why you came you came here today Because you want more
29:34than emotive worship music more than impacting personalities more than a Job friendships and connections
29:39like LinkedIn, but that are holy no more than that. I You come to
29:45this house because you want the pure word of God. I see it in your
29:50eyes while I'm preaching. I see the way you look at me. I see the
29:56way you nod while I'm preaching. You sit there and say, I want to know
30:01truth. I've been invited to speak at the synagogue for Christmas or for holidays. It's
30:06not their Christmas. It's Hanukkah. And I'm going to go talk to them about the
30:12differences in the likeness that we have together. But the thing about this is
30:17the first major assault that was worldwide was Antiochus Epiphanes. In the Seleucid
30:23Empire, 167 to 164 BC, for three years, he went about burning Torah,
30:29finding every scroll he could find and burning it and destroying it. And
30:35he tried to make every holy place defiled. It wasn't until the Maccabees
30:41decided we won't take it anymore. He killed a pig on the altar in Jerusalem
30:47and Jesus had not yet come. And the Maccabees, Joseph Maccabee and his two sons
30:53decided I won't take it anymore even if I die. And they got their sword
30:58out and every priest and every Jewish man and every ruler of the Jews that
31:04allowed it, they started killing them. Was bloody it was bloodshed and Joseph
31:10Maccabee and his boys took the holy mountain in Jerusalem They stood on top of
31:15it. Not the one that's there. Now. This is the one that Rome would tear
31:21down in 70 AD Okay, this was before Jesus came and he burned every scroll
31:26he could get and he did it until that That's why we have Hanukkah because
31:31they had no oil in the temple to burn the sacred fire and for eight
31:37days With no oil, no oil to replenish and it
31:43was gone. The fire didn't go out. And just a few
31:48weeks, every Jewish home that loves the traditions, and I use that word on purpose,
31:53the traditions of the Jews will go every day. They've got an eight-pronged lighting force,
31:59and they'll turn a knob. They'll turn the light, and they'll light it for every
32:04day. And it's a remembrance to say, our God gave us oil when there was
32:09no oil you could see. And he kept the sacred fire burning the whole
32:15time. And they celebrate Hanukkah to this very day. What was that a celebration
32:21of? Those who were trying to destroy the book. Torah is Old Testament. Destroy
32:27the book. Cannot destroy it. Along after that was the emperor, Emperor Diocletian and 303
32:33AD. He come along the Roman Empire. They were killing Christians. They were feeding them
32:37to lions. And there was a massive crackdown on Bibles. And they tried to destroy
32:42every letter that had been written. There was no Bibles yet. But they had the
32:47letters from the apostles that had been spread and copied. And he tried to burn
32:52every copy that he could and destroy those who were the believers. He couldn't stop
32:56it. Then came the medieval church who had written the Bible into Latin and said
33:00it's the holy language. And we're going to keep it because common people aren't smart
33:04enough to know what to do with the sacred. And I've known some people that
33:08don't know how to deal with the sacred, okay, that most of them are in
33:12seminary. It's
33:18amazing. I study from academic papers, okay? I still go on EBSCO host, and
33:23that's the way I study. It's crazy how many academic papers that are theologically
33:29based, written by preachers, priests, pastors, all the different titles that you put on
33:35anybody that says they know the Bible. It's crazy how many of those papers
33:41are so gone crazy, woke. It's unbelievable. And I choose that word on purpose
33:46right there. Because they have readjusted theirs. There's so much there. They've turned the Bible
33:52into the fan of LGBTQ They've got it all twisted out of its proper context
33:57under the guise of academia Well, it was that group in the 1400s that tried
34:02to destroy and keep the Bible from the people So John Wickler decided we're gonna
34:07buy it and we're gonna build it We're gonna put it in the common man's
34:12language and especially in Britain and if you don't know your history This is why
34:17our number one Statement of our national declaration of independence and coming together
34:22in the Constitution article 1 freedom of speech because in Terrible Britain write
34:28it down Britain because you've got the same problem right now Terrible Britain
34:34if you say anything that doesn't fit the narrative that they want to
34:40be said you can be locked up over 13,000 people are in prison
34:46right now because of memes they put out on social media right now
34:52Why? Because in Britain they don't have freedom of speech. So thank God for
34:58freedom of speech. I mean, I was with Brother Stan Harvey, pastors in Sydney,
35:04Australia, this past week, and he was telling me that now they can get
35:09arrested if a homosexual comes to their church and they try to lead them
35:15to repentance. They can't lead them into repentance because that is a crime that
35:21can be punishable with a jail sentence and being arrested in Australia. So when
35:27that comes to America... Wish I could say if but
35:33when that comes to America I might become a lot
35:38more Acquainted with the gray bar hotel that's called jail
35:44if you don't know what the the gray bar hotel
35:50is because I am NOT gonna compromise true Interpretation of
35:55the Word of God to accommodate a generation that wants
36:01things Whatever way they want them John Badley was burned
36:06in Because he tried to preserve this. He was one of the Lawlords in 1409.
36:11And he was in Britain, right outside of London. And they burned him. And they
36:16pleaded with him. And the priests of the Church of England came and they got
36:21the nicest one to appeal to him with the most consecration. Because he said, when
36:26you take the cup and you eat the bread, it does not literally become the
36:30body of Christ. Otherwise, we've got gods everywhere. And that was the way the priesthood
36:35could control the church. Because only the priesthood could put that and give it to
36:39you because they were handling what they called the literal body of Christ And because
36:43he would not accept that doctrine the Church of England this isn't Catholic listen I
36:48got plenty of stories on the Catholic Church Okay, this is Church of England though
36:52And I'm not trying to make any of them bad because I got some of
36:56the best Catholics in the world coming here right now Okay, but we've got a
37:00deal in the truth folks. I don't need you running the aisles right now I
37:04need you paying attention Because when that happened, they got the sweetest priest that the
37:10Church of England could have that appealed to him with tears saying, please, if you'll
37:14just stop doing this, then we won't burn you at the stake. But King Henry
37:19was seeing the money that the church had. It's a big political geopolitics and all
37:23of that. You've got to know the whole history. And I'm not pretending I do,
37:28but I know enough. No, they put them in a barrel. And in that barrel,
37:32they stuffed the sides of it with sticks. to burn and they took that barrel
37:37and started to lower it over the flames and this man said thanks for your
37:42kindness but I will not recant so the king's son ran out and said stop
37:48I beg you. They pulled the barrel out of the fire. And the king's son
37:53walked up and said, here's what I'll do. If you'll recant, I'll give you a
37:58salary every year. You can have a stipend for the rest of your life. If
38:03you'll recant, I will also make sure your family has a nice place to live.
38:08If you'll recant, I will do many things. And he laid out a whole list
38:13of things that as the king's son, he would give to this man. And the
38:19man said, I will not recant. Now they say every man has his price, but
38:24that's just not true. Because you buy the truth and you sell it not. Doesn't
38:30matter if you get the best offering from the leader of whatever country. If it's
38:35to recant on the truth of the living God. The man said, thank you. I
38:41love you. But I will not recant. And it wasn't mean. It wasn't cruel. If
38:46you read the historical reports, it wasn't some abrasive back and forth. It was true
38:52appeals. But the man said, I cannot buy into the fact that there's more than
38:57one God. And when you put him in the bread and the water, you're saying
39:02there's a God wherever it's done. No, that's the symbol. It's not the God. It's
39:06not the literal blood of Jesus. That's a symbol of his body. And because of
39:11that one thing, many people die. This is the beginning of getting the Bible out.
39:16And folks, I tell you this because I want you to know communism is now
39:20trying to make its way. And wherever you find communism, you will find an atheistic
39:25approach. They come under this guise of being kind and friendly. I've got Cubans in
39:29this church. You know what I'm talking about. Okay, I've got Russians who know what
39:34I'm talking about because of the Soviet Union and they haven't produced what Stalin and
39:38Lenin did to try to purge the world. And right now in China, they're fighting
39:43against Holy Ghost filled churches and arresting them left and right. It's finally making the
39:47headlines here, but they're going, our brothers and sisters full of the Holy Ghost are
39:52being locked up. Why because the enemy hates truth because
39:57truth will be rain over governments It'll rain over the law
40:03of the land It'll rain over governments and palaces and wars
40:09and armies and all those things give me the truth God
40:15says in his word very clearly that he wants everybody saved
40:20but all will not be saved I hate to say it
40:26the Bible refers to a righteous remnant. It's just a few
40:32and He said in the New Testament, "Broad is the way that leadeth to destruction,
40:37and many there be that go in thereat." That's the King James. It just means
40:42there's a big road going to hell. "Narrow is the way that leadeth to life,
40:47and few there be to find it." Now, I love the verses in the book
40:51of Revelation where the Bible said it was a multitude which could not be numbered,
40:56that their praise was like a roar of an ocean. But that doesn't tell us
41:01true understanding of percentages of those that are saved and those that are lost.
41:07He tells us he counts things. He gives measurements throughout his Bible. In the book
41:12of Revelation it tells us about a new Jerusalem with measurements there. But the question
41:17I've got to ask you is this question that is presented in our text today.
41:22Where the Lord through Zachariah is prophetic about God's people. Now people say that's Old
41:27Testament. That doesn't apply to me. Oh yes it does. Old Testament is not done
41:32away with. It's the symbol of the new. And he said there are two-thirds of
41:37my people. He wasn't saying the world. he was saying of my people two-thirds
41:43that will not be true with me and one-third will be true with me you
41:49know one of the most striking instruments in the tabernacle you don't know about the
41:55tabernacle it's something that i want you to learn more and more about because it's
42:01such a symbol of living for god today but when you went to the tabernacle
42:07and moses's tabernacle every instrument means something We don't have any of them here, but
42:13when you come to this altar, you need to know the process of the tabernacle.
42:18So know how to get to God. And on the outside of the tabernacle, there's
42:23this big altar where things were killed for sins. And there was this big labor
42:28of water, which you don't know what a labor is. I don't either. My wife
42:33says it's a laboratory. Is that what you're saying it is? It's sort of like
42:38that, but it's a big old bowl full of water. And Moses asked the people
42:43of God to contribute those that are of wise spirit and willing heart to give
42:48for the building the tabernacle it's still that way today those that are wise spirit
42:53and built and get a wise heart they give and so they gave many of
42:58them gave in fact they gave so much Moses said stop we've got plenty but
43:03one of the stunning realities and revelations is that this labor of water the bible
43:08goes out of its way to say that this was made out of the, I'm
43:13going to modernize it, okay, out of the mirrors of the ladies. There were no
43:18mirrors back then as we know them today, but what happened in Egypt, and they
43:23found them, they discovered them, they would take bronze and shine it and polish it
43:27down to a very high shine, and it was one of the most luxurious items
43:32in all of Egypt. These big flat pieces of bronze, and it would beautify, it's
43:37how people could see if they were beautiful or not. According
43:42to Jewish tradition, it was the way that Israel grew from a small
43:48nation to a massive nation because they said that the women of Israel
43:54would beautify themselves so greatly that when the men came in from the
44:00fields, that the beauty of the women would overwhelm the weariness of the
44:06men. And that's how Israel grew. I don't know, but you men thankful
44:12for mirrors? There have been one or two times I've been my wife's
44:18mirror. Baby, you got something in your teeth.
44:24that's me being her mirror i mean she had a big old
44:30chunk of pepper right there just smiling away and if i don't
44:35let her know i'm in trouble for maybe maybe a little bit
44:41why didn't you tell me i'm not your mirror oh yes you
44:47are and thank god she's my mirror are you still with me
44:52today we're about to open this altar for prayer what's so amazing
44:58to me about this is the thing that god used to cleanse
45:03the people that were doing the work that was dirty Killing beasts
45:09of the fields cutting their throats and dealing with blood is dirty work and the
45:15priests could not go into the place That was holy unless they went to the
45:21labor of water and what God did now if you want to just see What
45:26is seen and temporal you will say I'm making this up but if you'll see
45:32things through the eternal you'll realize God dropping that piece of information in there and
45:38That that little instrument that you use to always check out your outside
45:43is now going to be consecrated in my house to be now the
45:49instrument that you use to clean your soul. It was the cleansing of
45:55their body that made them have the access to the holy place. And
46:00without that cleansing, they would die. Lest you die, the Bible says. And
46:06there were some who did die because they went in with strange fires.
46:12they disregarded it. They were sons of Aaron. So it doesn't matter if you're the
46:17son of Moses or the son of Aaron or the son of whoever you want
46:23to name, you still are going to be judged. I've often told my kids, your
46:28walk with God has nothing to do with me and mama. God has no grandchildren.
46:33Everybody's got to get one on one with the Lord. And so here we are.
46:38They use this, this labor. It's not a bowl. It's not a bowl. It's a
46:43battlefield now. the thing that we used to just look at the outside now we're
46:48using to look on the inside it's it's a word that walks up to you
46:53while i'm preaching and says that is a thought that is an intent what are
46:57you going to do with it has to do with the marrow of your life
47:01this has to do with you being seen what you're going to do with it
47:06and when you come to the altar i don't know why you're coming but you
47:10come because god has spoken something into your heart And oh Lord, I don't want
47:15it to ever be cool to not come to the altar in this church. I
47:19don't care how long you've lived for God, it's never acceptable that you pass the
47:23need to walk to the altar and say, "Oh Lord, work on me." Worked over
47:28me. I don't need to hear what you're saying This isn't confession to a man,
47:33but this is admission The Lord is still sharp and he's working on my soul
47:39and it's sharper than any two-edged sword Because as I close Noah preached 120 years
47:44and only eight people made the final count the Bible says of those that went
47:50out of Egypt only six hundred three thousand five hundred fifty thousand footmen left Egypt
47:55and But of that number, isn't that an amazing number of people that
48:01left Egypt? They walked through the Red Sea. They had miracles. They drank
48:07water from a rock. They ate manna from heaven. But all of that
48:12number only entered the promised land. So don't think because God's given you
48:18miracle signs and wonders, because you're eating manna from heaven, that you're making
48:24it. You say, that's harsh. No, it's just, let me lay down the
48:30facts. Gideon's army that God used to rescue his people started at 32,000. It was
48:35reduced down to 300. Because what God is saying is, "I don't need numbers. I
48:41need honesty." Somebody last week, they told me how big a church was. They were
48:46running something like 12,000 people. And I said, "That's an amazing number." Did you know
48:51how big that church is? It's ever many fly. If only five go to heaven
48:57from that church, it doesn't matter that they ran 32,000. If only five flew when
49:03the trumpet sounds, that man was pastoring five people. The only size of this church
49:08is not the crowd we have. And we're doubling up. We're going to go back
49:13to two services. Lord, help us. You know how much I don't want to do
49:18it, but we're doing it in January. We're going to have it at 8, 30,
49:24and 11. But still, they'll be slip sliding around, even like that. There'll be people
49:29who think because they come that they're getting in the promised land. And I'm telling
49:35you, heaven's going to be exclusive. See this picture right here? It's one of the
49:39most stunning pictures. And when I was this morning, I was just, I was done
49:43studying. I was done praying. I was just, was going through. And that picture popped
49:47up before me. And I said, if that's not the picture, I don't know what
49:51it is. Because who in their right mind would build a church on an island
49:56that nobody can get to? Mean isn't that that's the
50:02most exclusive thing I've ever seen if you don't own a watercraft you're not welcome
50:07I mean you got to know somebody that's got a boat to get to church.
50:13Here's the thing I want to tell you today Lord knows I want everybody in
50:19this house and everybody in the Davie Police Department that I minister to and everybody
50:24in South Florida that I've ever touched and Everybody that ever goes to any at
50:30church that baptizes in Jesus name I want them all to be saved but the
50:36facts of the Word of God are Is that of all the people Jesus
50:41fed and of all the people he ministered to four thousand in one place three
50:46thousand another five thousand there was only a hundred and twenty that was in the
50:51upper room and about three thousand the same day were saved and I think thousands
50:56after that but I guarantee you there's a bunch of them that won't make it
51:01to heaven Jesus spoke of the soils he said there's the the hard soil that
51:06even before you leave the birds of the air which is Satan is going to
51:11take the word off your heart and Then he said, there's the rocky soil that
51:16is there's wayside, there's rocky. I mean, there's wayside and there's yeah, rocky. And that
51:21means there's rocks and the seed grows a little bit. You think about it maybe
51:26till evening time and then it's gone or maybe tomorrow and it's gone. Then there's
51:30thorny soil. It's good soil, but you grow with the world and it grows together
51:35until the thorns choke them out. So maybe you've served God two or three years,
51:40you know, maybe four years. maybe 10 years, but you've let the thorns
51:45grow. You haven't done any weeding. You just let them grow. And the
51:51Bible said by and by the thorns will choke them out. And then
51:57there's the good soil. That's a percentage of maybe a quarter. Those are
52:03people that hear preaching. That's not those who don't hear preaching. That's those
52:09who hear preaching. So it shall come to pass that in all the
52:15land, saith the Lord, two parts therein in his land, two parts therein
52:21shall be cut off and die. but the third shall
52:27be left in the land. And I will bring the third part
52:33through the fire and will refine them as silver is refined and
52:38will try them as gold is tried. They shall call on my
52:44name and I will hear them. I will say, it is my
52:50people. And they shall say, the Lord is my God. Some through
52:56the fire or some through the water, some through the flood, some
53:02through the fire, but all through the blood. Some through great sorrow,
53:09God gives a song in the night season and all the day long shall we
53:14stand. I've emptied my soul to you today. I'm giving you a chance to let
53:20the word work in you. If you haven't been born of the water and the
53:25spirit, being born of the water is being baptized in the name of Jesus Christ
53:30for the remission of your sin. You cannot see the kingdom of heaven. If you
53:36haven't been born of the spirit, that means receiving the Holy Ghost, speaking in other
53:41tongues as the spirit gives the utterance, not as men teach you. As the
53:47Spirit gives the utterance. That Spirit that has to do with
53:53God. You will not see the Kingdom of Heaven. If you
53:58do receive the Holy Ghost and are baptized, but you stop,
54:04you stop letting the Word work in you. You may live
54:09in the land of God, and God forbid it happen to
54:15anybody here, but two-thirds will be removed. One-third, He said, I
54:20will hear. There's mercy in the land right now. We're all
54:26in the land. Let's take opportunity. to talk to him.
54:31I open this altar for whoever wants to come and
54:37let the Lord hear your heart, hear consecration, hear your
54:43voice seeking for him, seeking for him. Being one-on-one, not