Questions of Jesus Series #2
Pastor David T. Elms 7/29/2025
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52:04
Summary
Pastor David T. Elms explores the piercing questions of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount, challenging believers to move from the double-mindedness of anxiety into a single-minded, faithful reliance on God. He emphasizes that if God provides for the birds and the flowers, He will surely care for His children, who are the 'apple of His eye.'
Key points
- •Jesus used questions not just to teach, but to probe the human heart and address double-mindedness (James 1:8).
- •Doubt is defined here as double-mindedness rather than a lack of emotion-faith; a committed heart stays single-minded and faithful despite the presence of fear.
- •Anxiety often stems from misaligned priorities; Jesus illustrates that if God cares for sparrows and lilies, He is intimately concerned with our greater needs.
- •Believers are called to be the 'salt of the earth,' which means providing moral flavor, preserving against decay, and speaking 'seasoned with salt' about eternity.
- •True wisdom comes from looking up to God in humility rather than looking around at worldly knowledge or status symbols like 'raiment.'
Scripture
Faith vs. Doubt
Anxiety and Provision
Christian Character
Single-mindedness
Life application
This week, practice the 'single-mindedness' taught in the sermon by audibly stating, 'Lord, You are the Lord of this situation' whenever anxiety arises about your job, family, or future.
Reflection questions
- In what areas of your life are you currently struggling with double-mindedness or being 'torn in between'?
- Pastor Elms distinguishes between fear and doubt. How does knowing you can have faith while still feeling fear change your approach to life's challenges?
- What does it mean for your daily speech to be 'seasoned with salt' at your workplace or in your home?
- When you look at your priorities, are you giving more weight to 'raiment' (presentation/status) or 'life' (consciousness of God and others)?
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Full transcript
0:00name I pray. Amen.
0:00I have started
0:02a series and last week I introduced it
0:04on questions Jesus asked and as we go
0:08through this there's no way that I will
0:10adequately cover his questions. He asked
0:14over 300 questions when you read all of
0:17his questions throughout the biographies
0:20of Jesus otherwise known as the Gospels.
0:23But when you get in them, you realize he
0:25asked very poignant and powerful
0:28questions. Questions that are worthy to
0:31be pondered. Questions are what you
0:34point at chaos when you're trying to
0:38find answers. Questions are what help us
0:42find our place in our family, in our
0:46community, in our culture. Questions are
0:49what enable us to discover our meaning
0:53in this world and the 21st century in
0:56which you and I have been called to be a
0:58part of. We are required to have the
1:00ability to learn and to think. Now some
1:04people have been confused that learning
1:06and thinking is limited to places that
1:09are filled with the schooling. But I
1:12would propose for your consideration
1:14that some of the most brilliant people
1:16the world has ever known never darkened
1:20the door of a schoolhouse. In this
1:22western narrative that has tried to put
1:25the gaining of knowledge at the height
1:27of the pinnacle of success. I would
1:30contend that while I am proponent of
1:33education and I want you to educate and
1:37be educated, the Bible teaches us to
1:40teach the word that involves that
1:43teaching which is an educational
1:45process. I would also like to contend
1:48that thinking is something that is not
1:51limited to your grade level. Some of the
1:53most intelligent people I have ever
1:55known did not have much more than a high
1:58school education or sometimes did not
2:02have a high school education because the
2:05difference between knowledge and wisdom
2:08is very distinct. and learning how to
2:11think, whether it be with a country type
2:15of thoughtfulness or being able to speak
2:17in the high sounding words of the
2:20academy. It matters not that that is not
2:24a determinant factor in whether or not
2:26you're asking the right questions. It
2:29has been my contention that it's not a
2:32matter of whether someone has a question
2:34or someone has an answer. What I want to
2:37know is what is the right question?
2:41Because the right question, you may not
2:43have an immediate answer for it. The
2:46right question may demand that you
2:48ruminate over it for a little while.
2:51Because while you have a shallow and
2:54sudden response, it doesn't mean that
2:56that is the proper response. So, as
3:00we're trying to learn about how to
3:01navigate life and walk according to the
3:03will of God in our community, with our
3:06friends, in our family, in our marriage,
3:10with our parents, or with our children,
3:13it matters not. We've got to understand
3:15that there is a way that seemth right
3:18unto a man, but the end thereof are the
3:21ways of death. So just because we think
3:25something is right does not mean it is
3:28righteous.
3:30>> It's why I'm so proud of all of you here
3:31in the house of the Lord on a Tuesday
3:33night. You didn't have to be. Every one
3:35of you all were presented adequate
3:37excuses not to come. All of you were
3:40given the perfect reasons why you ought
3:42to not come tonight. But every one of
3:45you checked all of those excuses out of
3:48the way. you swiped them off your screen
3:50and said, "You don't rise to the level
3:53of dictating how I'm going to format my
3:56life. I will build my life around the
3:58fire that is the word of God.
4:02I'm not just in this thing for the
4:04emotional explosions that occur on a
4:07Sunday morning. I am here to also plow
4:11the field of my heart. Make sure there's
4:14no ground to make sure that it's
4:16fruitful. make sure that I'm taking care
4:18of the vineyard that is my life. And so
4:21I'm always trying to find out about what
4:24is the relevant relevant information.
4:26We're in the process of trying to stay
4:28connected. And in that process,
4:30sometimes the profound things of life
4:33can be silenced because of the noises of
4:37things that are temporary. And so when
4:40you get into the questions of Jesus,
4:43they become righteous questions. He came
4:47that we might have life and that we
4:49might have it more abundantly. Jesus
4:52does not just preach and teach. He
4:55probes the heart. The Bible said on the
4:58day of Pentecost that their hearts were
5:01pricricked was the King James word, but
5:03it meant it was punched. It was probed.
5:06It was pursued to be put in a spot of
5:10questioning and testing. And this is who
5:13Jesus is. He asks questions that pierce
5:17the heart. His questions make you lean
5:20in. The master teacher steps into the
5:24stage of human anxiety and he asks,
5:27"Come, let us reason together. Why does
5:31anxiety come to you in all caps? Why
5:35does your fretting and your worrying
5:38appear to you in a manner that causes
5:40you to go around with tremendous
5:44anxiousness?
5:46And so this is why we take questions
5:48like we're taking tonight. I want to
5:50take us to the book of Matthew, the
5:53sermon on the mount, and we're just
5:55going to see a a certain batch of
5:58questions that the Lord asks there in
6:01the 25th verse of the sixth chapter of
6:04Matthew.
6:06If you're there, say amen. If you're
6:08waiting on the presentation system, say
6:10hallelujah.
6:11>> It's there.
6:13Therefore, I say unto you, take no
6:16thought for your life, what you shall
6:19eat, or what you shall drink, nor yet
6:22for your body, what ye shall put on.
6:26Question,
6:28is not life more than meat, and the body
6:32more than raignment?
6:34Are you more than the presentation of
6:37the clothes that you have? Are you not
6:40more than the materialistic measures of
6:43the meat that you're able to partake of?
6:45Behold the fowls of the air, for they
6:47sow not, neither do they reap, nor
6:50gather into barns. There's no storage
6:53systems because of their fretting for
6:55tomorrow. Yet your heavenly Father
6:57feedth them. Question, are ye not much
7:03better than they?
7:06Which of you by taking thought can add
7:09question one cubit to his stature? And
7:14why take ye thought for raignment?
7:18That's clothing. Consider the lilies of
7:21the field, how they grow. They toil not,
7:24neither do they spin. And yet I say unto
7:26you, that even Solomon in all of his
7:28glory was not arrayed like one of these.
7:32Wherefore if God question if God so
7:35clothe the grass of the field which
7:37today is and tomorrow is cast into the
7:40oven, shall he not more clothe you, oh
7:46ye of little faith? There's no way that
7:50I can adequately begin on the questions
7:52of Jesus in the sermon on the mount, but
7:55I just want to break this one into a
7:57more focused laserlike view. The Lord is
8:01confronting with his disciples and the
8:04people listening that day the challenge
8:06of the lack of faith. Several uh weeks
8:10back I taught a series that faithfulness
8:13is faith. And I think that clarifies
8:16things moving it from an abstract
8:18thoughtbased theory forming uh ideal to
8:22something that is actionbased.
8:25Faith is faithfulness. And yet there's
8:28that time that we feel a hesitation on
8:32faithfulness. All of you that are here
8:34tonight are demonstrating a faithfulness
8:36to the house of God. You're coming in
8:39the middle of the week, a busy week, a
8:41week where many of you were out of town
8:43last week and some of you are getting
8:46wound up for a new school year. I can't
8:48believe I was talking to Sister Crystal.
8:50They start school next week and the week
8:53following that everybody goes back to
8:54school. Here we are marching through the
8:56summer. It's hard for me to say that the
8:58summer is finished, but that's the way
9:01it is. And yet here you are looking at
9:04the questions that Jesus asks. Questions
9:08uh provoke us and they step out for us
9:11or they provoke us to step out in
9:13obedience and to action to where our
9:16words are not thoughts sitting on a pew.
9:18But good works that we give not out of
9:21fear but out of a confident reliance on
9:24God's power. I will praise him. And you
9:27all have praised him tonight. Not
9:29because something happened on the way to
9:31church that was miraculous. No. Uh I
9:34just praised him because I know he's
9:37worthy to be praised. I will worship him
9:40if I have a headache or do not have a
9:42headache because he's worthy of my
9:45worship. I am determined. Do you hear
9:48what I'm saying? A determined heart
9:50decides I will seek his face. A
9:53determined heart says, "I will walk in
9:56obedience." A determined heart says, "No
9:58matter what comes my way, I am not
10:01turning to the left nor to the right,
10:03but I will stay on the king's highway. I
10:06will stay on the way that's getting me
10:09to heaven."
10:12The Lord questions doubt. He challenges
10:14doubt. He asks several times, "Where is
10:17your faith?" Or, "Wherefore did thou
10:20doubt?" or why are ye fearful, oh ye of
10:23little faith? Believe ye that I'm able
10:27to do this. He asked those questions
10:29before he operated in the miraculous. Oh
10:32thou of little faith, wherefore dst thou
10:36doubt? Now doubt, I want you to
10:38understand, is not what we imagine it to
10:40be. Many times doubt means sometimes
10:43we're not sure. We're kind of torn in
10:45between. And that's exactly doubt is not
10:48single-mindedness, but it is
10:50doublemindedness.
10:52It it's not fear. Doubt is not fear. You
10:55can still have faith and have fear. But
10:58if your mind is single, you know that it
11:01doesn't matter if I'm going to fly or
11:03not fly. I have decided
11:07this is the way that I'm going to go. Th
11:10that that's single-mindedness. A
11:12double-minded man, the scripture says,
11:14is what?
11:16>> Unstable. Somebody shout unstable.
11:19>> That means he doesn't have equilibrium.
11:21That means he can be pulled off off of
11:23his balance. A double-minded man is
11:25unstable in all of his ways. But Bob,
11:29the Bible says, if your eye is single,
11:32if you get your mind made up, I'm going
11:34to serve the Lord. I am determined to
11:37hold out. Uh talk about me all you want,
11:42but sometimes it's just me holding out.
11:45It's not always dancing on the hills of
11:47glory. It's not always singing down the
11:49shores of Zion. Sometimes it's deciding
11:53here I stand. It doesn't matter come
11:56hell or high water, I'm going to serve
11:58the Lord. If it's before lions in the
12:01coliseum, I'm going to hold out. If it's
12:03walking on water with the King of the
12:05Glory, I'm going to hold out.
12:09>> I'm going to serve the Lord.
12:12>> If I have to go like uh like like uh the
12:15preacher went to Nineveh, he went Jonah
12:20had to float on a blubberfield mattress.
12:22He for three days he slept in a
12:25blubberfield mattress and he finally got
12:27his head right and went to Nineveh. If
12:30I'm going to be like Nineveh, I'm still
12:32going to go like Jonah. I'm going to
12:34preach the word of God. If I like it,
12:36I'm going to preach. If I don't like it,
12:38I'm going to preach. I'm going to do
12:39what God said to do. We used to sing
12:41songs like, "I'll go where you want me
12:43to go, dear Lord. I'll say what you want
12:45me to say, dear Lord." Or mountain or
12:47plain or sea. I'll be what you want me
12:50to be, dear Lord. Uh uh. This is the
12:52committed heart. This is a madeup mind.
12:55This is a I am determined to hold out to
12:58the end kind of disposition. Doubt is
13:02not fear. Doubt is double-mindedness.
13:04And I want to be single-minded. And so
13:07when I realize that there might be doubt
13:09in my mind, here's one of the things
13:11that you ought to do. When there's doubt
13:12in your mind, you need to take
13:14everything that's precious to you and
13:16put it under the domin the dominion of
13:18the Lord. Lord, you're the Lord of my
13:20life. You just say it. You're the Lord
13:22of my life. You're the Lord of my job. I
13:26don't know what's happening there. I
13:27don't know if corporate layoffs are
13:28coming next week or if I've got a
13:30promotion coming. It doesn't matter to
13:32me. You're the Lord of my Lord. You're
13:35the Lord of my marriage. Oh God, I want
13:38you to know you're over me and my wife.
13:41Lord, you're the God of my children.
13:43What are you doing? You're declaring for
13:45all who ask, there is a
13:46single-mindedness in you. And everything
13:49that's precious to you, you reach out.
13:51It may be scattered around, but you
13:54reach out and pull it into the dominion
13:56of God. You reach out and pull it in the
13:58dominion of God. And you state, uh, you
14:01belong to the Lord. You belong to the
14:03Lord. I am not my own. I've been bought
14:05with a price. Therefore, I will glorify
14:08God with my body which is not my own.
14:12I bring under the dominion of Jesus
14:14Christ. I take my preaching. Oh Lord,
14:16sometimes I feel like I do okay.
14:18Sometimes I don't feel so good. But it
14:20doesn't matter. It's under the dominion
14:22of the Lord. This church of all the
14:24things that have been blessing in this
14:26church and all the things in this church
14:28that I wish had been maybe somewhat
14:30different, I bring it under the dominion
14:32of the Lord. This is not my church. It's
14:35the Lord's church. It's not my people.
14:38You're the people of the Lord. And so,
14:40you bring those things into dominion.
14:43[Applause]
14:46I know school's coming up and there's
14:48all kinds of new teachers you've got to
14:50run into and new relationships you've
14:52got to run into. I'm telling you, you
14:54bring those fears. It's real to have
14:57those fears. There's nothing wrong to
14:59have those fears. If I'm knowing I'm
15:01going to see a lion, I'm going to have
15:03some fears.
15:06>> I was recently up in a cabin area where
15:08there's a lot of bears. We saw the bears
15:12on the picture and my wife knows how
15:14brave I am around bears.
15:17>> I don't know if you know the story. I
15:19stood strong with lions. But the bears,
15:22David slew a bear and he slew a lion.
15:25Then my name's David.
15:32There are times that fears are real.
15:35There are times you ought to fear. I was
15:38taken to Lake James yesterday in
15:40Indiana. And on that lake, I was with
15:44Brother Martin who preached here. You
15:45may remember Brother Martin and his old
15:47family. And they had a speedboat. And
15:50you know, I don't get out in the water
15:51down here in Florida. And they got me
15:54out on that water. And of course, I love
15:55water. I jump in the lake. I won't jump
15:57in these lake. Well, I don't know. But
15:59you know, there's critters down here I'm
16:01afraid of. Ladies and gentlemen, I don't
16:03mind tell you I got fear. I can have
16:05faith and still have fear. That's right.
16:08>> They got me up on that lake and I had
16:10some fear that I wasn't as accustomed to
16:13being nimble as those young people I
16:15were on it with. I was on it with
16:17brother Martin's daughter and a a
16:19friend, a young man. It's the three of
16:21us in a three three seat uh supposed
16:24tube. It looked like a easy lazy boy
16:27chair to me with handles on it. And they
16:29said, "All right, let's go." And the
16:30first time it went down and the bottom
16:32went under and we toppled forward. And
16:34so I said, "Okay." Then we're down in
16:36the lake and I'm swimming and I get back
16:37up. We finally get on it and I'm about
16:39wore out already and they take off
16:41again. And so I'm leaning back this time
16:43and this time it didn't hit it fast
16:44enough. We toppled backwards
16:48>> in the lake again. I'm already wore out
16:50now just trying to get on this thing in
16:52the water. And then finally we got going
16:55and I was afraid. I was afraid that this
16:59friend of mine would love to see me in
17:01an
17:03an exposed moment of awkwardness,
17:07maybe awkward position, I should say.
17:10And it happened and he said, "You were
17:14only going 20 miles an hour."
17:17That thing hit a wake and a big bunch of
17:21stuff and that thing went over and I
17:23went in the water.
17:26The thing I was afraid of has happened
17:29unto me.
17:32>> That's all right. I knocked my breath
17:34out. I found my breath about a week
17:36later.
17:37>> And it was a wonderful thing. And they,
17:40my wife got it all on video. And no,
17:42none of you are allowed to see it. It's
17:43highly rated.
17:47>> But I will say that the splash that
17:49emanated from this precious strength of
17:51mine went higher than old faithful.
17:55Boom. Shakaraka.
18:00Fear is okay.
18:03But doublemindedness is not.
18:08Decide what you're going to be.
18:10>> I'm not going to have one foot in the
18:12world and one foot in the church trying
18:14to negotiate both sides.
18:17This is not Wall Street with its puts
18:20and its and its payments and all of
18:22these little areas where you play the
18:24monopoly game. No, this is a kingdom
18:26that you got to decide either I'm for
18:29him or I'm not.
18:30>> Now, not many people say, "I'm not for
18:33him." They just get for everything else.
18:36But when you're going to walk with the
18:37Lord in the measure and the manner that
18:39he calls us, you got to make up your
18:41mind. I got my mind made up, my foot on
18:44the rock, and my mind made up. Though I
18:47walk through the lonely valley, a drink
18:48from the bitter cup. When the devil
18:50comes around offering me an easier way,
18:54I'll stand square on my feet, look him
18:57straight in the eye,
19:00>> throw my head in the air,
19:05>> I got some folks who know it
19:07>> and they say, "I got my mind made up." A
19:10double-minded man. James said is
19:12unstable in all his ways. The man with
19:15double vision thinks he can see,
19:18>> but he cannot see accurately. He can
19:21wait into the quick sand of worry where
19:23we sink in the whatifs and the how
19:24comes. And you can get caught between
19:27whatifs and how comes until you don't
19:29even do anything for God. But if you'll
19:31pull it under the dominion of the Lord,
19:33what can you do by worry? Are you able
19:36to add one cubit to your stature by
19:38worry? By worry can you make yourself be
19:40clothed? No. The they toil not the liies
19:43of the field, nor do they uh spend
19:45there, but they're clothed greater than
19:47Solomon. The Judges uh uh talks about
19:51the breakdown of God's people. And it
19:53tells us that the saddest day in
19:55Israel's history was when every man that
19:58would did what that which was right.
20:02>> He didn't measure according to the
20:03measurement of the Lord. He didn't go to
20:05look at the Lord say, "Hey, come on. Get
20:07your eye on me. Make your mind up. Don't
20:09be double-minded. The Lord said, "What
20:11can you do by worrying? What are you
20:13going to do by anxiety? What are you
20:15really going to do about it?" No, I'll
20:17tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going
20:18to say, "Lord, the fear's still there,
20:20but come what may, I'm yours. If I live
20:24or if I die, I'm yours."
20:29Every man did what's right. It wasn't a
20:32negotiation with what was wrong. They
20:35didn't sit there and say, "Well, I think
20:36that's wrong, so I'm not going to do
20:38that." He didn't say it was what was
20:40wrong around them and them finding
20:42agreement with what was wrong. The
20:44scripture tells us that the judgment was
20:47that they all did what was right. These
20:49were righteous seeking people. The
20:52problem was that the righteousness was
20:54according the concoction of their own
20:57measurement. It wasn't the measurement
20:59of God. That's why on a Tuesday night
21:01when you come with your hearts ablaze,
21:03wanting more of the word. You're not
21:04just here for the song and dance.
21:07>> You want the word.
21:10>> The word is what lets me know not what I
21:12think is right, but what does the Lord
21:15say is right. And whether I agree or not
21:17agree, I align myself.
21:21I get in the alignment with him. The
21:24Bible said there was a generation of
21:26people that professing themselves to be
21:28wise, they became fools. You got to get
21:31wisdom, but wisdom cometh from the Lord.
21:34Knowledge is that when you're proud, you
21:36know so much, but wisdom will lead you
21:38to a humility because it knows so
21:41little. Knowledge will help you pass the
21:43test at school, but wisdom will help you
21:46pass the test in life. Knowledge is
21:49learned, but wisdom is earned. Knowledge
21:52comes comes by looking around. But
21:54wisdom comes by looking up. I don't want
21:57the knowledge this world has. I want the
21:59wisdom that comes from God.
22:02>> And that's what brings us to our text is
22:05not life. Life is known. And I would
22:08like to just interject the word
22:10consciousness.
22:12Consciousness.
22:13You have life. When you are not alive,
22:17you will become
22:19unconscious.
22:22That's a huge word, consciousness. In
22:25fact, that's everybody's worried about
22:27the light of consciousness. It
22:28distinguishes us from the animals. It
22:30distinguishes us from the plants. It
22:32distinguishes us from other things that
22:34we call life. No, consciousness, an
22:37awareness that I am here and you are
22:39there and and you have feelings that I
22:41need to be aware of and I have ways that
22:43you need to be aware of. And this is why
22:45we learn about charm and manners and
22:48thoughtfulness. We're not animals that
22:50go and do things that ought to be done
22:53in private and we do them in public. No.
22:56But when a degenerated society begins to
22:59embrace the baser things of this life,
23:01the more you'll become aware of the base
23:04animalistic ideas of of the earth. But
23:07when people start learning more of the
23:09ways of God, you learn there are things
23:11that are closer to angels than the
23:13beasts. And man was made a little lower
23:16than the angels. This is why we teach
23:17manners. You know what a manner is?
23:20Manners are not just learning how for me
23:22to be presented, but it means to others,
23:24I'm aware of your presence. When you
23:26dress appropriately for something, it
23:29means I'm not dressing just for me. I'm
23:31dressing because I'm planning on seeing
23:33you. When you dress up for people,
23:35you're telling them, "I knew I would run
23:37into you, and you're so special that I
23:40want to prepare myself for you." But
23:42when you just don't care about anybody
23:44else unshaved unckempt uncomed
23:47unbrushed, un unbathed, and all kinds of
23:50other uns in there, and it doesn't
23:52matter because you think the world
23:54revolves around
23:56>> you.
23:59But when you get closer to the Lord, you
24:01learn to love both the Lord with all
24:03your heart and love your neighbor.
24:06Manners is loving your neighbor.
24:07Learning how to talk is about loving
24:09your neighbor. If you're not worried
24:11about communicating, you're not trying
24:13to speak in a way that's precise and
24:15clear for anyone other than your people
24:17group, then you are not preparing to
24:20meet others. You're saying you're
24:21supposed to meet me here. No, I want to
24:23learn. I want to prepare. I want to be
24:26thoughtful. I want to be anticipatory. I
24:29want to be realization that there's more
24:31in this world than just me.
24:34>> Only children have it tough. They really
24:37do. I'll always remember when Austin
24:39went to China, one of the stunning
24:41things that uh he told me, China had a
24:44one child policy and he went and taught
24:46uh uh English to a Chinese family there
24:48and stayed for at least a month or was
24:50it two months, Austin? It was a month.
24:52And uh he came back and there were
24:54several things that were beautiful about
24:56it all. But the thing that Austin told
24:58me was shocking was how how that this
25:00one child was so um
25:05um
25:08spoiled is is that a kind word?
25:12Pretty kind. He would he went to the
25:14mall with this young man and this guy
25:17kicked a soccer ball in a department
25:19store like nobody else was there. He
25:21just didn't care. And Austin was like,
25:23"I can't believe. Aren't you kinder than
25:25this?" your thought and the problem was
25:27is when you are the f sole focus of two
25:31sets of grandparents and one set of
25:33parents six people have their whole
25:36entity wrapped up in you because of a
25:40one child policy it pres pro provides a
25:43mindset that you are you you become so
25:46selfish when a si when a child gets a
25:48sibling they've got to learn there's
25:51others I'm telling you my sweet Vienna
25:53is just a doll baby. She is so sweet.
25:57She let me hold her and she talked and
25:59taught me some things today. It was so
26:01good to see her. But I'm telling you,
26:03one of the sweetest days I ever have
26:05spent with Vienna was the first day her
26:08new little brother came home.
26:12And when I saw that little Bowden come
26:14home Vienna
26:18found pop to be very interesting.
26:25Zop.
26:28Hello.
26:31Why do you think that is? Because all
26:34people are the same. When you're used to
26:37being the big princess or the little
26:39princess, when you're used to being the
26:41prince, you think nothing else exists.
26:44But good training teaches you it's not
26:46just about you. It's preparation for
26:49others. It's loving the Lord and then
26:51loving others. And this is not life more
26:56than materialism more than meat. He
26:58said, "Is not life more than meat? Or is
27:00not consciousness more than
27:02materialism?" And the body, which is the
27:04vehicle of consciousness, is that not
27:06more than raignment, which is the
27:08display of place or position? People put
27:11on clothes and it's supposed to send the
27:13message. Some of the messages that are
27:16sent, I can't read.
27:18I don't know the message. If if I have
27:20to go and walk up to my children and
27:22say, "Winter, could you explain what
27:24this these shoes are supposed to say?
27:26They're kind of ugly, but I think
27:27they're supposed to say something right
27:29now. I don't know." And then I'll go to
27:32Ethan. I'll say, "Ethan, am I supposed
27:34to have my high waters on because high
27:36waters were never in when I was, but
27:38apparently now high waters might be in.
27:41And uh if you were high waters, you're a
27:43little more in." And I thought, "Okay,
27:45the Raymond is telling me something. I
27:47gotta see about that. I'm not going to
27:49adopt the high water style because you
27:52can see if you go high enough, my socks
27:54don't all fit even though that has a
27:56blue tint to it.
28:00>> What am I saying? Is not life more than
28:03that?
28:04>> It's deeper than that. It doesn't mean
28:06you don't present yourself holy and
28:09acceptable to others. You do it because
28:11you're anticipating they're going to
28:12read you like a book. And Paul said,
28:14"You are a book. You are an epistle
28:16known read of men. They're reading you
28:20every day. Where you go into where you
28:22work, if you have a headache and you
28:23walk in with faith or you walk in and
28:26the whole world is supposed to come
28:27around you and act like you have a
28:29headache.
28:31Some people get weary with that.
28:33>> Find your strength in the Lord. And so
28:36here is the Lord trying to get us beyond
28:38just the things that are immediate,
28:41bigger than materialism. He said,
28:43"Behold the fowls of the air, for they
28:45sow not, neither do they reap. Uh, nor
28:47do they gather into barns, yet your
28:49heavenly Father feedth them. Are you not
28:51much better than they? Are you better
28:53than the animals?
28:55Are you not? Apparently, science tells
28:58you you're not.
29:00PETA doesn't think so,
29:04but the word of God thinks so.
29:07That people are more important than
29:09animals.
29:11I better get off that point. I have some
29:13pet owners in this place upset with me.
29:16They treat their dogs better than they
29:18do their grandkids. They're too carnal
29:20and they are not spiritual.
29:22Their righteousness is their own. It's
29:24not the righteousness of God. They did
29:27what is right in their own eyes. It's
29:30the saddest day of all. Oh Lord, are ye
29:33not much better than they? Which of you
29:35by taking thought can add one cubit to a
29:38stature? Boy, I've tried. I wanted to be
29:406 foot five.
29:44Shut up, Stephen Garfinkle.
29:47Steven Garfinkle with your 6'5 self. Get
29:50out of my My uncle's 6'8. I wanted that
29:53height so badly. But I could I thought
29:56and thought and I slept and I slept and
29:58I ate and I ate and tried to get that
30:00cubit up there. All those cubits Brother
30:03Pep was talking about. No, I couldn't
30:05get them. And then why think take ye
30:07thought for raignment? And this is
30:09talking about that status structure kind
30:12of clothing. It doesn't mean you can't
30:14dress nicely. It's just saying don't put
30:16your hope in that.
30:18>> I've often said please I have some nice
30:21clothes. Don't judge me by my clothes.
30:24>> I don't want to be that low.
30:28>> I don't care what I have on. I don't
30:30want to be that low. You're shallow if
30:32you think the clothes you put on is of
30:35your uh the marking of who you are.
30:38>> I'm so proud of this new generation. I'
30:40All my kids love to go thrift shopping.
30:42I don't know what the deal is. It's
30:44never been an aspiration of mine.
30:48Man, I was the kid that couldn't afford
30:50a pair of Levis's. The only Levis's I
30:52had growing up was the kind with the red
30:54tag cut off and they had the the leather
30:57chopped out and they you bought those at
30:59TJ Maxx. And I couldn't wait till I
31:02finally got a pair of Levis's that had
31:04the red red tag. You know where it is.
31:11>> It's on the pocket. See, you're this
31:13generation. They're they're so totally
31:15different. my first pair of good tennis
31:17shoes. I could I fava I I got some
31:20leather fava. Y'all don't know what I'm
31:23talking about. Lord help me. Y'all don't
31:26have a clue when I finally got a pair of
31:28canvas Nikes. I can't tell you how big
31:31time I almost got anointed right then.
31:35Oh,
31:37but this hour has their own little
31:39things of raignment. Listen, dress nice.
31:42Be presentable. Don't be sloppy and and
31:45unckempt and unckempt and unclean. Do
31:48not do that. That doesn't represent the
31:50King of Glory. And if you are going to
31:52do it, please don't wear church merch.
32:00Please please
32:05don't let that determine who you are or
32:08who you will be. Let the glory of the
32:10heart smile through to everybody and let
32:13them know you see through that because
32:15life is more than Raymond. If God so
32:18clothe the grass of the field which
32:19today is and tomorrow is cast in the
32:21oven, shall he not much more clothe you?
32:25He's not just telling you to stop
32:26worrying. He's trying to make you think.
32:31>> He's not just talking about provision.
32:33He's talking about priorities.
32:36You are the apple of God's eye, but it
32:39does not yet appear what we shall be.
32:41I'm here to tell you, you're the apple
32:43of God's eye. It does not yet appear
32:45what we shall be. You are the apple of
32:47God's eye, but you can't know that right
32:50now except by faithfulness.
32:56>> You just live that way because you're
32:59single-minded.
33:01>> Some days you don't feel like the apple
33:02of God's eye. Some days you feel
33:04forgotten and some days you feel like
33:07he's nowhere to be found. But I'm still
33:09going to live on that day as a child of
33:11the king because his royal blood has
33:15covered me
33:18>> right now. We're still wrestling and and
33:20and and hungry to get a grip on why we
33:23mean so much to the Lord. It's hard for
33:26me to comprehend why I mean so much to
33:29the Lord. the fact that he loves me.
33:32It's it it boggles my mind. And in this
33:35plastic and phony world we live in. Uh
33:38and I want to tell you something. We
33:39live in a world that's so driven by
33:41advertisement, it's hard to get to the
33:43truth.
33:44>> You say, "Pastor, are you an optimist or
33:46a pessimist?" pessimist. I'm a
33:49pessimist.
33:52I'm a pessimist.
33:55I'll tell you what I am. I'm a realist.
33:58Some days I have more optimism.
34:00>> Some days I'm trying to shut down the
34:03pessimism.
34:04>> I wish I was more steady, but sometimes
34:07I'm high.
34:09>> Sometimes
34:13I'm a realist and I want to pastor real
34:15people. Real people that sometimes
34:16you're not running, sometimes you're not
34:18flying. But the Bible says, "They that
34:20wait upon the Lord shall renew their
34:22strength." Some days you'll mount up
34:23with wings as a eagle. Sometimes it'll
34:25won't be flying, but it'll be they shall
34:27run and not grow weary. And sometimes
34:29you can't fly, nor can you run. You'll
34:32just walk. And the blessed celebration
34:34of heaven is that you will not faint.
34:39>> I don't pastor a fake church. I pastor a
34:42church that in the middle of the week,
34:43you walk in, whether you got a blessing
34:45or you're going on fumes, I am
34:48determined to hold out to the end. Jesus
34:52is with me. On him I shall repent for I
34:54know I have salvation. I said I know I
34:57have salvation. I've been washed in the
34:59blood, baptized in his name, filled with
35:01his spirit, born again, and I'm walking
35:04in a separated manner.
35:08[Applause]
35:10>> We have been lied to and conned, abused,
35:13jipped, manipulated, deceived until we
35:16have a sales resistance buildup. You
35:19hear something being said, and I know
35:20some people that feel that way when they
35:22come to the church house. They hear so
35:24much about faith and they've had so
35:25little happen that when faith preaching
35:27starts happening, they have a resistance
35:29against it. I've come to tell you, don't
35:31let your eye be double. Let your eye be
35:35single. God is able to do abundantly,
35:38exceeding abundantly above all that I
35:40can ask or think. He is able. If he does
35:43it today, I'll rejoice in it. If he
35:46doesn't do it today, I'll still rejoice
35:48in where I'm at. You can't take my
35:50praise. No stone's going to take my
35:53place.
35:57Right now, the Vera Rubin telescope has
35:59just been opened up. It's down in Chile.
36:02It's a marvel of human ingenuity. And of
36:05course when you coup couple couple that
36:07with the new satellite uh uh areas and
36:10and and telescopes, this thing is so
36:14astonishing. It can map the entire
36:17universe in three days. It takes
36:20detailed pictures of the entire sky. It
36:23peers into the vastness of space and its
36:26purpose is to truck the dance of the
36:28galaxies and to figure out what dark
36:31energy is that's causing it to grow.
36:35They're trying to figure out what this
36:37universe is being pushed by. They're
36:40trying to map what I would say is the
36:42unmappable and make sense of the
36:45infinite. But I want them to do it. I'm
36:48happy they're doing it. I'm intrigued by
36:49it. I will read and hear about their red
36:52light discoveries. And that's not
36:54talking about the red light district. If
36:56you're a scientist, you know it's the
36:58red light that tells you that the
36:59universe is expanding. But the psalmist
37:01in Psalm 8 said, "When I look up to the
37:04heavens, I get dizzy with wonder. When I
37:07consider your hand, your the heavens,
37:09the works of your fingers, the moon and
37:12the stars which you have set in place."
37:14What is a man? I don't know why he cares
37:19about me, but I'm the apple of his eye.
37:22He said, "Don't you understand? If I
37:24watch every sparrow, if I clothe the
37:27lily of the fields, don't you know
37:29you're more than that?
37:32>> That's right.
37:33>> Amen.
37:34>> You're more than that. You are the salt
37:37of the earth." But if the salt had lost
37:39its savor, what good is it? People are
37:44concerned. Remember just recently, and
37:46this isn't a political statement. This
37:48is just a factual statement. There was a
37:50lot of people that got upset that the
37:52president was making jokes about Canada
37:55being the 51st state, and they got all
37:57wound up about it. But if you're a
37:59historian, you remember this is not the
38:01first time it happened. In November of n
38:04of 2004, on November the 3, it was a
38:08computer send out, and this was in the
38:11early days of the internet. They sent
38:13out this meme all around the world on
38:15the day after the presidential election
38:18and they decided that the United States
38:20was the United States of Canada and
38:23Jesus land
38:26and Jesus Land had won the election and
38:29they were mad about it because the
38:30United States of Canada should have won.
38:35If you don't know about it, go back and
38:37look at it. This is not a political
38:38statement. This is a statement that many
38:41times they look at people as Jesus land.
38:45Now, I don't know if everybody that they
38:47say is in Jesus land is living for
38:49Jesus. Nor do I believe that they say
38:52that everybody that's living in the
38:53United States of Canada
38:56is is is not of Jesus. But I want to
38:59tell you, they have always tried to
39:01separate anybody that serves the Lord
39:03and mock them and make fun of them
39:06because you have some moral truths that
39:08you will not give up. You will not wink
39:11at some things and you're going to be
39:13the salt of the earth. But if the salt
39:15has lost its savor, in other words, it
39:18adds no value to the society from a
39:22moral capacity. Back in that day, in the
39:24days of Jesus, salt, pure salt was more
39:28valuable than gold. It was looked at as
39:31a rare, a rare delicacy. Pure salt was a
39:34medium of exchange. They literally would
39:37pay the soldiers their taxes in salt. It
39:41was a resource so critical that it was
39:43linked to compensation. The expression
39:46today that a man is worth his salt comes
39:50from that very statement that this is a
39:52man that brings value and earns their
39:55work their their wages through valuable
39:58work. And they say, "Oh, that man's
40:00worth his salt." You don't even know
40:01what you're saying. You're saying that
40:03that man has been worth being paid in
40:05salt. Salary is a word that comes from
40:08salt payment. Salt money. That's where
40:12you get salary from. All of this is
40:15talking about the salt of the earth
40:17bringing value to its place. And the
40:20Lord said, if you're the salt of the
40:23earth, but you don't bring value to
40:25where you live and where you work, then
40:27it's just only good to be trotten under
40:30the foot of men.
40:33>> Job was frustrated with his friends when
40:35he spoke in 66. He said, "Can that which
40:38is unsavory be eaten without salt?" He
40:42said, "I need something to help this
40:44taste better." And you three men in life
40:47asked Zil, Bill and Zofar, you none of
40:50you are helping me. And then he goes on
40:53to ask the question. He said, "Uh,
40:55you're about as flavorful as the shiny
40:58white of an egg."
41:02Why? He was needing something that could
41:04change a place. The church is here to
41:07give society flavor, a tang, a zest.
41:11Most of the people you work with
41:13tomorrow, they're not at all interested
41:16in going to heaven or hell. You can't
41:18hardly get them in a discussion
41:20seriously about heaven and what it's
41:22like. You can't hardly get them
41:23believing that there's a real place
41:25called hell. That both are populated
41:28today. Both are being filled by people
41:32that are do going there today. All
41:34they're concerned about is they want to
41:35know how to hack it on Monday. There's
41:37no excitement. There's no thrill. Their
41:40lives are tasteless when it comes to the
41:42things of eternity. Their lives are
41:44flavorless. It's bland leading the
41:47bland. It's the people that don't have
41:49any flavor. No, no taste in them.
41:52Colossians 4:6 says, "Let your speech
41:55always be seasoned with salt.
41:58Let your speech be what's he talking
42:01about?" It's not talking about saying
42:03bad things. It's talking about talking
42:04about eternity things, things of God.
42:07Lord willing, I'll do this. Lord
42:09willing, I do that. Somewhere your
42:11speech has got to betray you. The
42:14world's speech betrays them.
42:17Just let them hit have something that go
42:19wrong. Or let them tell a joke that's
42:22not right. Their speech will betray
42:24them. But the people of God ought to
42:26have their speech seasoned with salt.
42:29There's a kingdom coming. He's coming
42:31soon. I don't know when, but it's
42:34eternity right now. No man knows the day
42:37nor the hour, but I'm already living for
42:40that day. Churches with boring worship,
42:44it's because they've got bored
42:45worshippers. Churches that have boring
42:48church, it's because they've got bored
42:50preachers. I want to tell you something.
42:52I've never been more excited about
42:55serving God than I am right now. Because
42:58in this moment, no man knows the day,
43:01but a trumpet could sound tonight. and
43:04I'll be gone. I will fly away. Oh,
43:08glory.
43:09[Applause]
43:11Sister Elms, come. A preacher went to
43:14the doctor and he said, "Doctor, you've
43:16got to give me something to help me
43:17because of my snoring." The doctor said,
43:20"What's the problem? Is it keeping your
43:23wife awake?" He said, "No, it's keeping
43:26the whole congregation awake."
43:30board preachers,
43:32don't let me hear a bored preacher.
43:35>> If you don't have fire, then set
43:37yourself on fire in the Holy Ghost.
43:40>> If you'll set yourself on fire, people
43:42will come and watch you burn.
43:44>> It was bored preaching that brought on
43:46the the dark ages where the preachers
43:48didn't know the Bible themselves. But in
43:51the midst of the dark ages when the
43:52immorality of the French Revolution was
43:55disdaining life and it was creeping into
43:57England and all the church of England
43:59was filled with drunkenness and gambling
44:02in the pulpit and boredom in the pews
44:04and the entire nation was going crazy
44:07because of being lost, the only joy
44:09juice in the place was alcohol.
44:12God raised up a revival and that's why
44:14America is here because some people over
44:17there decided we will not stay there and
44:20be told that church is to be this dead
44:22and attached to the world and the only
44:25joy you can get is wine coolers.
44:28No.
44:30And I know Christianity is easing in
44:33that direction to where you can't
44:34distinguish between the church and the
44:36world. But let me tell you about God's
44:39people. We'll always be excited about
44:42serving him.
44:44>> Salt in that day prevented decay
44:48and it restrained corruption. It was
44:51necessary to preserve. But salt flavors
44:56and preserves and salt heals. He didn't
44:59say you're the salt of the church. He
45:01didn't say you're supposed to go reach
45:03other Christianity because you're the
45:05salt of the church. He said, "Oh my
45:08Lord,
45:11He said, "You're the salt of everywhere
45:13you walk. You're not just supposed to
45:16supposed to talk Christian around other
45:18Christians and then keep it down because
45:20this world has taken the Bible out of
45:22schools and prayer out of schools and
45:24the Ten Commandments out of the schools.
45:25They can take that out of the schools,
45:27but they can't take the Holy Ghost out
45:29of me. And my speech is sprinkled with
45:33salt. He's coming soon.
45:39That's why prayer is a priority. That's
45:41why fasting is a necessity. That's why
45:44faithfulness is something that we've got
45:46to give to the Lord. Jesus asked
45:50Matthew, "Are you not much more valuable
45:53than these?"
45:55God is not dead. God is not old. God is
45:58not sick. God has not lost his power. I
46:02don't know what tomorrow holds, but I
46:03know who holds tomorrow.
46:08Elon Musk Saturday said that what is
46:11coming in this technological revolution
46:14is known from his verbiage as a
46:17supersonic tsunami.
46:21He said, "This world doesn't even have a
46:23clue.
46:25It's a supersonic tsunami that's coming
46:29faster than anybody knows." and nobody
46:32can stop it.
46:34Okay, it's pretty big words. I don't
46:38believe everything he says, but I do
46:40listen a little bit. If it's coming,
46:44what is this church supposed to do?
46:46Remember,
46:48you're valuable in his eyes?
46:51Is not the body uh isn't life more than
46:55Raymond
46:57or meat? Isn't the body more than meat?
47:00Isn't Is it life more than Raymond? Yes,
47:02it is. Consider the sparrows. If he's
47:06worried about the sparrows, do you think
47:07a supersonic tsunami is going to hurt
47:10the church? God built his church on the
47:12rock. And when all the things come, the
47:15Bible said if you build your life on the
47:18rock, when the storm comes, when the
47:21rain falls, when the wind comes and the
47:24rain beats on that house, you will
47:28stand.
47:29Everything else may fall, but the church
47:32will stand triumphantly against all
47:35powers of earth and hell.
47:39Kingdoms may rise, but every kingdom
47:42will fall that's built on sinking sand.
47:47And only the church
47:49of the living God forever will stand.
47:54You say, "But brother Arms, you don't
47:55know how frustrated I am with this stuff
47:58that's facing me. I I can't figure it
47:59out. I just wish God would show up and
48:02show out. Remember when James and John
48:06came to a city and the Lord sent ahead
48:08and said, "Uh, go and prepare for us in
48:11that city and see if there's a way that
48:13they can receive us." It's Luke nine.
48:16Uh, James and John came back and said,
48:18"The town said they don't want you."
48:21Remember, you Bible readers know what
48:23I'm talking about. And they said, "In
48:26fact, Lord, I'm fed up with it. We know
48:29who you are. We know the power you've
48:32got. We know the greatness you come
48:33with. So, I'm asking you, why don't you
48:36call down fire from heaven upon that
48:39town?" And you know what Jesus said to
48:42them? Luke 9:56,
48:44he said, "The Son of Man did not come to
48:47destroy men's lives."
48:52I wish you could hear that.
48:55He said, "But I came to save them."
49:01When you run into a situation that's
49:03frustrating, just remember one thing.
49:06God's still working. He could have
49:09destroyed that town, but he went away.
49:12And later on, a great revival came to
49:14that place. Are we frustrated that the
49:17kingdom hasn't come yet? Oh, yeah. But
49:20I'm not changing. Do I wish it would
49:22come more? Oh yes, but I'm not changing.
49:25I'm so encouraged right now. The things
49:28that are happening online because of
49:30what occurred last week at our youth
49:33congress are unbelievable. The world is
49:37lighting up watching thousands and
49:40thousands of young people worship God
49:43unfettered but not for a show. It's
49:46something they're not accustomed to
49:48seeing. It's something that they are not
49:50used to seeing. They can't find another
49:52church group that brings that level of
49:55worship that's done in the spotlight or
49:58not in the spotlight. And it's blowing
50:01their mind. But I want to tell the world
50:03something. If you think the Youth
50:05Congress presentation of the hunger of
50:08God's people in this hour is something,
50:10you really haven't seen anything at all.
50:13Because if I could have taken you with
50:15me to Madagascar and shown you all the
50:18crying of that nation for the Lord as
50:21they filled out an outdoor arena in the
50:24weather, 25,000 of them worshiping God.
50:28You don't know what's happening in South
50:30America. You don't know what's happening
50:31in the uh access challenge nations as we
50:34heard the other day. Right now, we can't
50:36see it, but God's doing a great work.
50:39And in the last days, saith God, I will
50:41pour out of my spirit on all flesh.
50:47Stand with me right now. While you may
50:51feel like you're forgotten sometimes,
50:54while sometimes it feels like you're all
50:56alone or as it's as if the Lord isn't
51:00really going to come and you hear that
51:02voice that says, "All things continue as
51:05from the beginning." I want you to just
51:07decide I
51:10am determined
51:14to hold out to the end. I'm going to
51:16serve him. I'm going to live for him
51:19when it's cool, when it's not cool when
51:22everybody's doing it and when it feels
51:25like no one is doing it. I'm going to
51:27serve the Lord. Why don't you come
51:29around this altar and let this settle in
51:31your spirit for a little while right
51:33now? Why don't you just bring a little
51:35bit of your worship in the middle of
51:37your circumstance? You might be blessed
51:39and filled with worship. You might be
51:41burdened and you don't even know that
51:43you can remember how to worship. Come
51:45on, work your worship muscle and give
51:49the Lord appreciation
51:52and thanks and praise because he values
51:56you.
51:59Are you not more than these?
52:03[Music]