Well, good evening, everybody. Welcome into this week's edition of the Focus of Freedom here on WVLR television. So glad that you've joined us tonight. I am very much aware of the fact that you could be watching something else somewhere else, but you're watching the focus of freedom right here.
And I hope you keep that television dial set right where you have it. For as far as I'm concerned, some of the most blessed Christian programming you'll find anywhere. So we're going to get started tonight. This is our fifth program here.
The month of February, we were talking about the need that we have to be as God's people have for humility and unity with everything that's going on in this world, our nation in the peril that it's in. These programs being prerecorded, of course, I have no idea what's going on today, actually, but being a student of this scripture right here, the Holy Bible for so long, we know that things are happening, I think, in alliance with Bible prophecy. The devil is the God of this world, and there are so many things that have happened on our watch these last decades, brothers and sisters, that while we've been busy doing our little trifles, the devil has been very busy with the mystery of iniquity, the spirit of Antichrist, false prophets, so many things lies because he is the lie and the Father of it. So I do believe we as God's people have a little accountability here.
So number one, I think we need to repent just like God told them to in the book of Revelation 3, the Lale to see a church, and get to the point of true biblical humility, then we can pray, seeking God's face, turning from our wicked ways in unity, that'll get God's attention. And we'll hear that from heaven and forgive our sin. So let's get busy being blessed, God's people, because right now, as Zachariah said so long ago, it's not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, say of the Lord, we can have absolute confidence in our God. Jesus said it best, and acts one day, ye shall receive power.
After that the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses of me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and under the uttermost parts of the earth, the authority and the power of God Almighty. That's what we've got to have, ladies and gentlemen, to see a change in our country. And let it begin, and our security is based upon Christ, not on ourselves. So we've got an old choir song for you as we begin here this evening, and it's just about the assurance that we have.
Jesus said, I'm going to prepare a place for you in John 14. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be also. Whether I go in the way you know and Thomas said, Lord, wait a minute, we don't know where you're going. And if we don't know where you're going, how can we know the way?
And Jesus said very definitely without apology, I am the way, the truth and the life, no man coming unto the Father, but by me. There is a river, the streams where I shall make glad the city of God. God is in the midst of her, Psalms 46. So one of these days, ladies and gentlemen, we are going to gather together, together and be there forever in the beautiful city.
And we will sit in His place. We will be praise God. Oh, I hope you're blessed like I am just to know that one of these days, what a day that's going to be. Brothers and sisters, that is a fact of our faith.
We shall be with Jesus forever and ever and ever. He is the source of our security. Remember what the word says in Hebrews chapter 12 that Christ endured the cross for the joy that was set before Him. He is the source of our security, our maturity and our strength.
And knowing that we have this hope in us, then we should purify ourselves even as He is pure, 1 John chapter 3. Now that word pure, if you study it out with a word study, you will want to see that this is our connection to Christ. He is the head of the church, Savior the body, who by himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high in Hebrews 1, where he ever lives now to make intercession and advocacy for us all. It's by Him through Him that sinners can be saved.
And then it's by Him that us who are saved can be strengthened in the inner person, allowing the love of God, the power of God, ye the very indwelling person of the Holy Spirit who constitutes the character of Christ to promote and make a practice then of the true conduct of Christ, which is in essence true biblical Christianity. Thereby going into all the world preaching the gospel with the unction and urgency of the Holy Spirit. This world's only hope is the gospel. So brothers and sisters, we truly need to humble ourselves finally and begin to pray spiritually with knowledge, understanding, calling upon God, faith believing, simultaneously turning from our wicked ways, seeking His face.
And once our sins are forgiven and we join together and anointed with the power of God, that's why He said our land could be healed because the salt would become savory, the light would get back bright in the house of God and like the book of Acts, people would take note that we are one with Jesus and we can turn the world upside down with the gospel, not all of our methodology, theology and all that, but by the power of Almighty God. Now here in the month of March for four weeks, I guess there's four weeks in March, I don't have a calendar, but in there's a story I want us to share together in the Word of God found in Matthew 8, if you want to take a little note of that. And then Mark chapter five, then hearing Luke chapter eight, these three chapters in the gospels that talk about four events that are so amazingly indicative of what all of us go through in this whole world. Now Luke chapter eight, and if you're there at home and you're able to have the Bible open, just please do that.
If you're there in a nursing home or a hotel room or a hospital wherever you are, it's just so good to be able to join the family of ministries here and just have this 30 minutes to where we can come aside in the kind of refuge, if you want to call it that and just look into the Word of God together. Verse 22 down through verse 23, this is the story of the storm out on Galilee. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 57, thanks be unto God which give us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. You and I as God's people, aren't you glad we have victory?
We don't have to go out here against the liberals or the Marxists or whoever to gain a victory. We don't have to fight for a victory. We've been given the victory. I'm thinking of 2 Chronicles chapter 20 where that threefold mighty innumerable army came against Jehoshaphat and Jehoshaphat was frightened, the whole people of God were frightened.
They didn't know what to do. The children of Ammon, Moab, Mountsayer, threefold enemy, of course, from that incestuous relationship in Genesis 19 of a lot, the Ammonites and the Moabites become almost perpetual enemies to the people of God. Then you throw in the children of Mountsayer, so you've got the world, the flesh, and the devil. Inhumorable, they were gathered down there in that valley with hostile intent against the people of God and the natural reaction of King Jehoshaphat, who was one of the few godly kings that trusted in the Lord and appreciated Elijah and the prophets of God, naturally he was afraid.
Would you be a little shook up? They had him out manned out, gunned out and hoofered and they were coming to capture him and to take the people of God's possessions, their gold. There they were. Then God gave Jehahazil his prophet the word and he said, Jehoshaphat, get up off your knees.
This battle is not yours. This battle is the Lord's. Leave all your human weaponry behind. Go down to the battle front and just praise me in the beauty of holiness.
Sing to me glorious praises. You do what you can do and let your thankfulness of me and your faith and trust in me take preeminence over your fear of them and while you're praising me I will fight for you. And Romans 8, if God be for you, who can be against you. Don't put up your dukes as a little bany of game rooster and think we can go to Washington and fight.
What did Paul say to the Corinthians? The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. Let's humble ourselves pray. Trust God.
That's what Jehahazil said, the word of God. And then the people were obedient to the word of God and they went down there not with human armaments but with their praise. And what did Psalms 22 say? The Lord inhabits the praises of his people.
What did Jesus do facing the greatest stress that anyone could ever face in all time? He praised the Lord the last thing he did before he left the upper room to go out and die from in you. He sang a song. They went down there in the face of that innumerable unbeatable army quote unquote and they began to sing and praise God.
Their attention then was moved from them to him and by the time the good meeting broke out and ended on the top of the cliffs of Ziz, they looked down into the valley and what had been an impregnable mighty aggressive force coming against them were laid out there completely defeated. I'm here to tell you God can defeat selfishness, pride, jealousy, anger, gossip, all of these hostile entities that have caused so many problems in the hearts and the minds and the lives of God's people. What an immediate transition. They went down into that valley then not for the victory but went down into that valley with ultimate victory and it took them three days to gather all the spoil of the ones who were, Liz what God did.
When all that mighty enemy was coming into steel, jahoshafats gold, God stepped in and said, you're not going to have that hostile aggression against my people. While they praise me, I will handle you and instead of them getting jahoshafats gold and the people of God's treasures, it took them three days to transport the enemy's treasures back into Jerusalem. Wouldn't you love to see brothers and sisters of mighty transition in America? America wasn't established as a theocracy.
We are not a nation that says we are absolute Christian. We are a free representative republic. Everybody has a right to believe, to live. In colonial America, if you didn't go to church, you were branded at a center, you could be taxed, you could be imprisoned, and even worse punishment could be administered to you.
But with the founding of the United States of America came liberty and based on faith, I don't have a problem with that. But we cannot manipulate people. We cannot go out and force people. We are called to preach the gospel of the Son of God and the gospel that Paul said he wasn't ashamed of in Romans 1 16 is the power of God unto salvation.
So Jesus then is giving us some lessons here. Let's see the first thing. It's here in verse 22 of Luke 8. Let's go over to the other side and they launch forth.
There's not a preacher watching me. I don't think if you've preached a year, you have preached on Jesus calming the storm on Galilee. And I think we've all heard and how true it is. When Jesus said let's go over.
They were destined to arrive. And in verse 26 it says they arrived. Jesus said that the scripture cannot be broken. In Hebrews 618 it's impossible for God to lie.
So God has told us we as His people in the church, we are on our way to the other side. We are going to be by the banks of that by the beautiful river one of these days. That river is going to stream. It's the river of life and we're going to be at home free from sin, free from Satan, free from stress forever and ever and ever.
But in the interim on the journey that little ship was in tranquil water when they left Capernaum. But it wasn't long till things situationally and circumstantially changed. Storms of life are not a question mark. They are an exclamation point.
Jesus said it best to go along with this John 1633. In the world you will have tribulation. But be of good comfort. Be of good cheer.
I have overcome the world. 1 John 4, 4, greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. They got out there. Now Jesus went to the 100 part of the ship and went to sleep.
In the Pauline pastoral of Titus and Timothy Paul told those two young preachers that Jesus when he was on this earth put faith in his own abilities and in his own word. We must have faith in the word of God. Some people have no faith that Jesus ran into in the Bible. Some had little faith.
But then he ran into a couple of folks who have great faith. And faith is the victory that overcomes the world. We get faith from the word of God. That's in Romans 10, 17.
The only way to please God is in Hebrews 11. Now verse 6 I think. Without faith it's impossible to please him. 1 John 5, it's faith that overcomes the world.
So if we're not in this word we don't have, we have little or no faith. And we're not pleasing God and we're not overcoming the world. So maybe we need to work on our faith. But we like the disciples.
They got out there. Everything was fine. We're sleeping in the stern. And out on the bow the disciples started seeing a change in circumstance.
Here comes this incredible front down the plains of Megadose swirling around the go-lawn. And all of a sudden little Galilee became like a big washing machine churning up with probably eight to 12 foot waves and seas. And that little fishing vessel probably at best was about 16 feet long, about 18, about eight feet wide. No way was it engineered to just to stand against hurricane force winds.
Those guys were seasoned sailors and fishermen. They heard the timberscrack and they did everything they could do. Now watch their reaction when they understandably were fearful. I can imagine Peter Cusson and Elbowin and Granite, they panicked and they began to believe lies.
You say, how do you know that? When they woke up Jesus. Now he was God. He knew what was going on.
But he had made himself man, Emmanuel, the God man. He got tired. He was sleeping but he had faith in his own word. It's the word of God that increases our faith.
It's the word of God that gives us sanctification. He said we're going over to the other side. There was no way they were going down. Jesus is the author of life.
The devil is the author of death. So can't you imagine? Those guys began to think in the natural mind having panicked. We're dying.
We don't see Jesus. He doesn't care. So how foolish can you be to wake up the master of the sea, the one who had been teaching you his word and say such a thing. Nice to wear dying and you don't care.
Wrong on both cases. Jesus cares and we're not dying because we have everlasting life. Jesus said John 11, he believed in me. Though he were dead yet, shall he live and whose forever lives and believes in me shall never die.
The Lord just, I believe, just kind of ignored him walked out there on the bow stretched his hands out there and said, peace be still. Those angry waves immediately began to slumber. That horrendous wind laid down. Those guys were thinking, what manner of man is this?
That even the winds and the waves obey? Then Jesus who had just rebuked the dilemma and straightened it out, turned around looked at those wet, frightened, shocked disciples who were so bewildered and sometimes it's in those moments of crises that we can learn the most when we finally just be still and know that he is God. Now he's going to rebuke his disciples with two questions. Why were you afraid?
Don't you imagine old Peter said, what a question. We just been about washed off his things and almost been and you asked us why we're afraid? But then that second question, where's your faith? Brothers and sisters tonight, where is our faith?
Who have we been putting faith in? What have we been putting faith in? You know a tree by the fruit it bears out of the abundance of the heart and mouth speaks. So John, I believe, we'll find out in heaven for sure.
Probably was the first one to put it together. The reason why we were afraid is that we misplaced our faith because when we are faith less, we will be fearful for we know the circumstances of that storm, whether it's my fault, your fault, fate, life, doesn't matter. They were in a very dangerous and dark situation. So when we become faith less, we naturally and ever will become fearful because we put our faith in our own abilities, in our own dogma, in our own intellect.
Jesus let the know, boys, you've been terrified here, believe in lies because you put your faith in yourself and you see where that's got you. You put your faith in me and we're going to move on through these trouble seas. We got a storm raging in America. Many people have storms raging in their own lives.
We get freedom, we deal with jails, ministries, and our residential ministry there, we deal with drug related problems and precious people every single solitary day. Our nation is in peril. We've got a stone going on out here and we can't fight it. The more we fight it, the more fearful and frustrated we become.
But if we cast our cares on Him, wouldn't it be amazing that He'd say peace be still and change the circumstance, but it starts with the change in our hearts and in our minds as believers. Let's get out of this carnal mind in this and let's get back to spiritual mind in this and put our absolute faith in the author and finisher of our faith, the Lord Jesus. And when our faith level in Him begins to rise, our fear level over all this other stuff in the world begins to go down. John 3.30, He must increase, I must decrease.
God bless you all tonight, wherever you're watching from. I hope we'll know that we do have victory because the Lord Jesus is the one who can calm the storms. God bless you and may He use you for His glory and to be a real blessing to someone else. I have the privilege of pastoring and being the Director of Freedom Tabernacle Baptist Church and Freedom Tabernacle Ministries in Atkins, Virginia.
And we are going to get to know one another a lot better through the weeks and months to come. It's my prayer. But right now you can join us on our Facebook page, Freedom Tabernacle Ministries, Atkins, Virginia, or our YouTube channel, Focus of Freedom, Hacking's, Virginia, our website, F-T Ministries.org. Or you can download our app, the Freedom Tabernacle app, download it for free from any app store and we can stay in contact that way.
As we labor together with our Lord for His glory and for the advancement of His glory is the gospel of grace.