THOROUGHLY EQUIPPED

So I want to pick up today, last summer we had a series on equipping. And I just wanted to touch back on that because our theme, our vision, our mission for our churches is equipping the one that knows Jesus to reach the one that needs Jesus. And that we have this, we're motivated and compelled to go out and reach people for Jesus. There's people here today that need Jesus.

The guy standing up here today needs Jesus. I need you to be equipped so the time when I need Jesus the most that you can help me. And you need to be equipped and I need to be equipped to help you. And so we equip with the intention of reaching other people that need Jesus.

And so last summer we really focused on this section of Ephesians chapter 4. But today I really want to go to this passage in 2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 16 and 17 which will really be our launching scripture. And the title of today's message is being thoroughly equipped. Thoroughly equipped.

Paul says this, he says all scripture, let's read this together actually. One, three, one, two, three, ready, read. All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction and righteousness that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. Now the NASB, the new American Standard Bible, translates it a little bit different.

I just want you ladies to feel left out because it says that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped. The NASB says that the man or woman of God may be thoroughly equipped. And that's a correct translation because the Greek word anthropos that Paul, that's written here in this passage, it's a general term for mankind. So ladies don't feel like this, it's just for men.

This is man of God, woman of God that anybody that's a believer can be equipped. And so when we talk about equipping, there's really three main ways that God has built into our walk with him to equip in a believer. Last year we looked at the first one back in August, we started a series on equipping season. And the first way that God equips, not necessarily in order, but the first one we covered was this, it's through the five-fold ministry gift.

So Ephesians 4 that says, and he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and some teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry. And what I want to highlight is that all equipping has a purpose of doing work, right? So for the equipping of the saints for the working of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. And so that God puts certain gifts within the body, it's actually gifts from Jesus to the body for the equipping.

And that word needs to be completely furnished. So if you think of a house and you're putting pieces of furniture in the house, that we're decorating it, we're furnishing it. And so that you can be completely furnished for the work of the ministry. So there's a point to being equipped.

It's not just like I'm putting the equipment on, like I'm going to go, I'm going to go see the equipment manager, I'm going to get my helmet and my pads and my pants and my jersey and I'm going to sit in the stands. Now that you get equipped to play the game, there's an equipping, it's for the work of the ministry. The next way that God equips us is really through God himself. And we're going to talk about that in two weeks, I'm going to come back and revisit this.

But it says in Hebrews, chapter 13, verse 20 and 21, it says that may the God is kind of a benediction, it says may the God of peace who raised up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant make you perfect, it actually is the same word, make you equipped for every good work to do his will. So God through the agency of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit is the agency or the administrator of the power of God. So the same God that raised Jesus from the dead equips you with that same power of the Holy Spirit. And so we're going to look at that in just, I think in two weeks from now, I'll do a message on that.

And then today's is this, is that we're going to look at all scripture, all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for four things we're going to look at so that the man or woman of God may be thoroughly, say that thoroughly, thoroughly equipped. See what happens a lot of times is impartation only goes so far. I can impart to you gifts. I can, I can teach you certain things.

You can be equipped by the fivefold, but to the degree that you forget to train yourself in the word of God, see there's only so far you can go without the word of God. That there's certain things the word of God brings, there's advantages, there's, there's profitability that the word of God brings. And I see so often that people that are super anointed in ministry actually like fumble the ball so to speak because they're not grounded in the word of God. And so that God also not only uses mature believers within the church, he not only uses the, the empowering of his Holy Spirit, but he uses his word, all scripture to thoroughly, completely equip you, which means this, if I leave the word of God out of the, out of the equation, I'm not going to be thoroughly equipped because there's an equipping that only takes place in conjunction with the word of God being internalized and transforming my life.

And so I want to talk to you about that today. So we're going to pick up second, or second Timothy three, 16, we'll look at it again. The next, let's read the next slide. It says there's a dimension of being equipped for the work that God's called you to do that will only occur as you engage in the benefits and advantages of the word.

Say this, the word is important. The word will equip me. Okay. How about saying it like you believe it?

Like, like, I, I believe this stuff. Right? I believe it. Well, the word of God will equip me.

Not talking like that. It won't. See, Paul says this. He says, the spirit of faith speaks this way.

The word of God will equip me. That's not what it says. The word of God will equip me. Come on.

Like, the word of God will change you. It will transform you. It'll renew in your mind doesn't happen apart from the word of God. Like as we look into the word and the Holy Spirit takes the written word and makes it a Ram Award and puts it in me.

It'll do something to you. You can't read the word and meditate on the word and quote the word and be the word and not change you. So there's an equipping that's going to take place today. Are you guys ready?

All right. Second Timothy three, 16, all scripture is given. So two things about scripture. It's all scripture.

So in a couple of verses just before this, Paul talks to Timothy about the Holy Scriptures referring to the Old Testament. Now he shifts gears and says all scripture. So this is all the entire body of the written word of God that we have, including the Old Testament and also the New Testament. All 66 books.

All 1189 chapters. All 31,102 verses. All that were written by 40 authors over a period of 1500 years. All scripture is given by inspiration of God.

Literally means that God breathed it. God inspired it. When you read the word, now remember the word, the word of God is Jesus Christ. He's the eternal word of God.

What we have is a record, a written record of the inspired word of God. It doesn't say that the writers were inspired, although we believe they were, but what this verse said is that the word is inspired. It's literally breathed from the mouth of God. When God formed Adam from the dust of the ground and said he breathed into Adam and Adam became another living spirit.

When Jesus on resurrection days, he's on resurrection day, there was only one, not days, but on resurrection day, he says, goes to the disciples, he says, receive the Holy Spirit and he breathes doing them. The word of God is living. It's alive. So when it's God breathed, there's actually life that emanates from the word of God if you allow it to do its thing.

All scripture is given. It's given. It's not earned. It's given.

God has given this to you so that all you have to do is what? Receive it. All scripture is given by inspiration of God and it is also number two, profitable. It's advantageous.

It's advantages and benefits to allowing the word of God to do the thing that God's designed it to do. We're going to look at four different aspects or four different areas of that today. So that. Here's the purpose.

All scripture, Old Testament, New Testament is given by inspiration. God breathed it. God put life into it. It's alive.

It's profitable. It's beneficial. You're going to derive benefit from it. It's kind of like when you eat food, you get benefit from it.

Sometimes you know, I got to be honest. Sometimes I don't remember what I preached last Sunday. So I know I'm not going to embarrass you and ask you what I preached last Sunday. I don't pass or set priests last Sunday.

Because sometimes I don't even, I got to go back and look at my notes. I'm like, man, I forgot. So the same way sometimes when we think about if I say, hey, would you eat two weeks ago for dinner? Oh, no, no.

Kind of like when you say the word will equip me. I don't know. But it was good. Right.

It's the same way when you feed on the word. You may not always remember it, but there's benefit that's taking place even though you can't see it. Even though you may not remember it, benefit, advantage is happening in your life. And it's for the purpose of God equipping you through his word.

All right. Next slide. I want you to know this, that as it pertains to works that God designed us ahead of time, it says in Ephesians chapter 2 verse 10, it says, we are his workmanship. You remember this verse.

We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God planned beforehand or in turn he passed that we should walk in him. So there's certain good works that God's designed for each one of us to do. And in order for you to walk in them, you need to be effectively equipped so you can do them to the best of your ability. See, I don't want you to be a 50% Christian.

I want you to be an 80% question. I want you to be equipped and operating at 100% of capacity of what God's designed you to do so you can be effective in your job. So number one is this, it says, all scripture is profitable. So I don't have any cute, I didn't alliterate my points today, they don't all start with the same word.

I'm just going to take them as they fall in scripture here in this verse. I want to talk about each of these and let you see how they can impact your life. You guys ready? Got your pens out.

I better take some notes today. This is going to be one of these messages you need to go back and review. I want you to take good notes and spend some time meditating on this week. All scripture is profitable for what?

Doctrine. That's the big word nobody likes. Doctrine. It's kind of boring, right?

It comes from the Latin word, doctrrina. It's a systematic, methodical presentation of truth given by a teacher in order to replicate the standard of the teacher in the student. The Greek word is this. It's that which is taught, teaching, instruction, precepts.

The instilling of doctrine. Doctrine just means teaching. So anytime you read your Bible and you see the word doctrine, it just means teaching. This word is derived from the word for teacher.

Got any teachers here today? One, two, three, four, right? Okay. This is you.

Let's give our teachers a hand. I like that, yeah. I'm a teacher too, but I don't teach kids. But I love kids.

I just couldn't do your job. I could tell you that. It's derived from the word teacher. So anytime that we have a teacher, and I think it's interesting, Pastor Seth preached last week about what he considers to be the greatest question that Jesus ever asked.

Anybody remember what it is? Who? Yeah. But who do you say I am, right?

Who do men say I am? Who do you say I am? Well, do you know before Jesus, all through the New Testament, during his ministry, Jesus asked questions to reveal things, right? Sometimes he would ask questions to reveal and expose things in the Pharisees.

And he was a master at it. Like I love reading the questions he'd ask the Pharisees. He'd always kind of like put them in their place. He was a great question to ask her for the purpose of revealing truth.

God bless you. But before Jesus asked questions in ministry, Jesus was asking questions as a teenager in the temple for the purpose of understanding. It says in Luke chapter 2, let me read this to you. I can find it quickly.

So you remember when Mary and Joseph lost Jesus? That's a bad day. They lost him. They found him in the temple.

And it says in Luke 2, 46, it was so that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening and asking them questions, listening and asking them questions. See what I find a lot of times is people want to ask questions to prove a point when they never ask questions to learn the truth. And Jesus never asked questions to reveal the state of somebody until he grew up and asked questions of those who knew the scriptures ahead of him. He said he both listened and asked questions.

But later in life, he asked questions to reveal things. But early in life, he asked questions to learn things. And he's sitting under teachers. Jesus says this in Luke chapter 5 verse 20.

Next slide, it says this. Nope, wonderful that. I'm sorry, Luke 40, my bad. It says that disciple is not above his master or disciple is not above his teacher.

So everyone who is, say this, perfectly trained. That's the same word equipped. Every person who is equipped will be what? Just like his teacher.

So that if you ever want to know if I've been perfectly equipped, well how do you compare to Jesus? Not how do you compare to me? Not how do you compare to Christen or Pastor Seth or anybody else in church? How do you compare to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ?

Because everybody who is fully perfectly trained, perfectly equipped will look like his teacher or his master. See, I don't think it's any coincidence. In the early church, Acts chapter 2, it says in Acts chapter 2 verse 42, it says of the disciples, not the apostles, not the 12, but of those that were followers of Jesus, it says they steadfastly continued in the apostles' doctrine, in fellowship, in the breaking of bread and prayers. The first thing that they did was they continued in the apostles' doctrine.

They continued in the apostles' teaching. They continued in the things that the apostles at the time were instilling in them. And then it's no coincidence that in verse 43 it says this. It said that fear fell upon every soul and many signs and wonders were done by the apostles in their midst.

They continued in the apostles' doctrine and then the next verse and the apostles did many signs and wonders and miracles. I don't think that's coincidental because here's what, we're the apostles anointed to do signs and wonders. Yes, but do you know if you don't continue in the teaching that believes that signs and wonders are still available, they probably aren't going to happen. I've talked to people who say, what's going to happen in my church?

What do you believe it? Well, no. Well, that's probably why. Jesus who was more anointed than any apostle and at the end of Mark chapter 6, I think it's around verse 52, it said he could do no mighty work there except heal a few sick people because of their unbelief.

That even Jesus was limited because of the unbelief of the people. See, it's important that when we teach on these things that you actually spend time renewing your mind to it because whether or not I believe it, you need to believe it. Now, I don't discount that God could sovereignly work in miracle. He can do that anytime he wants.

But you need to believe the things that we teach. There's a time comes that you need to wrap your head around this stuff. They continued steadfastly. They pursued it.

The things that the apostles were teaching them and the fact that they taught them then signs and wonders were in the next words. The verse. And here's what's great. The signs and wonders didn't stay with the apostles.

Eventually the disciples that continued in the apostles doctrine were the ones doing the miracles. If you go over to Acts chapter 6, we see Stephen, if you know it was the first martyr, it says Stephen did phenomenal signs and wonders. And then we see Philip who was a deacon. Philip goes to Samaria and acts chapter 8 and he does signs and wonders.

And then we have Ananias the guy that God sends to lay hands on Paul who was a no name. We don't even know anything about him. He lays hands on Paul and says, brother Saul, be filled with the Holy Spirit and immediately scales fell from his eyes. See they continued in the doctrine that was being taught and then the apostles did miracles and then they began to do the same miracles.

See, we want to walk in these things but we don't want to put time in the doctrine to build our faith up to believe that these things can still happen today. And I want to encourage you to spend time in the Word. Jesus ascended on the day of ascension. He says all authority has been given to me.

Go therefore and make disciples of all men baptizing in the name of the Father and Son of the Holy Spirit, teaching, that's the word doctrine, teaching them what? All things that I have commanded you and lo, I will be with you always. What did Jesus command them to do? Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons, preach the gospel of the kingdom.

He says, I want you to teach them and still doctrine in them of all the things that I've taught you, I want you to replicate that so that the teacher teaches the disciple. How the disciple becomes a teacher and they teach the next group of disciples who become teachers, who teach the next group of disciples who become teachers. But somehow over the last 2000 years we've pulled out bits and parts of doctrine that we don't like or that we don't understand and then we wonder why we don't see those things. You've got to continue steadfastly in the apostles doctrine if you want to see the signs and wonders of apostles.

Doctrine. See, there's foundational doctrine too. Hebrews chapter 6 says this, he says, leaving the elementary principles. Let us go on to perfection or maturity.

It says leaving the doctrine of this, it'll say the doctrine of repentance from dead works and faith in the God, the doctrine of delaying one of hands, the doctrine of baptisms, the doctrine of resurrection from the dead and the doctrine of eternal judgment. It says those are basics. There comes a time when you've got to get beyond the basics. Those are good, repentance, good thing.

Faith in God, that's a good thing. Doctrine of baptisms, good thing. Laying one of hands, I love it. Resurrection of the dead.

It's why we're here today. Eternal judgment, it's going to happen. Those are basics. You need to be grounded and founded in the basics of theology so you understand those things.

There's more. There's more to learn and be grounded in the Word of God. See, I just see so many people today that, I want to come back to this verse, I quoted Pastor Seth, let me go to this, the next slide I think, from last week. You can't just repost the opinion of a TikTok theologian and expect it to power your personal faith.

Now if you were here last week, that's what you heard. Right? But so many people today are not grounded in doctrine that everything they hear sounds good. They go to TikTok, they go to Facebook, they hear something that lines up with the error that's already in them and they use that to cosign the error that they're living in.

They call it theology. No, doctrine comes from here. It's the unadulterated truth of God's Word. And this alone will set you free.

See you just can't post somebody else's post. Like that means nothing. You need to spend time in the Word until the Word becomes you. And you become the Word.

It's got to actually get to you to where it becomes molecular inside of you. Like you can quote scripture to me all day long, but I don't care about any of it until you get a Word from God and it gets in you. And when it gets in you, it'll change you. And there'll come a time when nobody can convince you otherwise.

I'm not arrogant. I'm just confident because I know what God's Word says. I've spent time in it. I've studied it.

I've understood it. But God's continuing to reveal things to me. But you'll never talk me out of it. See what happens if we don't move to maturity is what if all talks and Ephesians go back to the previous line.

It says this as a result. Now this is talking about in context the four-fold minister, five-fold minister gifts, but if the principle's the same. As a result, we're no longer to be children tossed here and there by waves and carried about by what? Every wind of doctrine.

See that tells me this. There's doctrine that's not, Paul calls it sound doctrine. He says in 2 Timothy chapter 4, the first few verses, he said, they'll come a time when people will not endure sound doctrine. That they'll have, he says, itching ears.

And they'll try to find somebody that'll tell them exactly what they want to hear instead of what they need to hear. See the things that you want to hear aren't always what you need to hear. You need to hear truth that's going to deliver you. Not alive.

It's going to keep you stuck where you're at. And too many times we hear this. Oh, that sounds good. Oh, this sounds good.

Now I feel like Pastor Seth. Oh, now this sounds good. If you're a visitor here, if you're a visitor here, these are to keep Pastor Seth within boundaries because our camera only goes to here. But he likes to, if he doesn't get an amen here, he's going to get an amen here.

And if you don't get an amen here, he's going back over here. Can I get an amen? Oh, I don't know. I'm going to try it over here.

Can I get an amen? Every wind of doctrine, they're like a bunch of farts. They're like empty wind. Like, come on.

They stink. They don't improve life. You need something that smells good like a T-bone stink. You need something that will invigorate you.

I'm tired of empty doctrine and cute sayings and stuff that doesn't change people's lives. Doctrine. There's profit in it. Don't dismiss it because it sounds like some big word who likes theology.

Theology is the study of God. What's wrong with that? In the purpose of reading the Bible to get to know the author? See the purpose of reading this book is not to memorize it.

It's to know the one that wrote it. That's the point. And when you get to know him, his spirit will change you. The profitable for doctrine.

Number two, profitable for what? Reproof. There's a word we don't use often. Let's take off the RE.

If I take off the RE offer, reproof, what do we have? Proof. Reproof is conviction. Don't think of this like this.

Don't think of conviction of this, not that. You can make that case, but I don't think that's what he's saying here. Reproof. Conviction or evidence.

A proof or that by which a thing is proved. If you've ever been to court, right? What is the thing that gets you convicted? Evidence.

Reproof. If there's no proof, there's no conviction. It's just hearsay. Right?

So evidence. This is concrete. This is proof. This is something that's going to be undeniable.

I'd like to say this. You should be so indoctrinated with doctrine that nobody can talk to you out of the evidence that scripture provides. See, this word's only used twice in the New Testament. The other place is used, you'll know this first.

Hebrews 11-1. It says faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. A couple other translations say this. Next slide.

The NASP says a proof of things not seen. The new English translation says being convinced of what we don't see. See, I know that I know that I know what God's word says that you're not going to talk me out of it. I'm convinced.

See, I'm convinced. We sang that song. I've witnessed it. I just don't read some empty promises on a page.

I read things and then I see God bring it to pass. You're not going to talk me out of that. Somebody one time said, hey, I want you to read this book of why miracles aren't for today. I'm not wasting my time because I've read it and I've experienced it.

You'll never take my experience away from me. See, experiences don't define doctrine. Experiences don't establish theology. But experiences should corroborate the truth of God's word.

And as soon as I get an experience that lines up with truth, you're not going to talk me out of that. See, there's a lot of reasons we could be convinced of Scripture. We could just say that the prophecy is alone. Do you even know that there's estimated somewhere between 2000 and 2500 prophecies that have already come to pass?

Already fulfilled. That Jesus of the 2500 or so, Jesus has fulfilled 300 of them. Now if you want to put that in perspective, a mathematician one time did the calculation. If Jesus only fulfilled eight, how many did he fulfill?

I'm going back. I got one answer here. I'm going to go to this side. How many?

Oh, I'm going to go to this side. 300. Yeah. If he just fulfilled eight, the odds with Jesus Christ fulfilling eight would be one times 10 to the 17th power.

That's one with 17 zeros after it. That's 100 quadrillion, one out of 100 quadrillion. For just eight, and he fulfilled 300. You're not going to talk me out of this book ever.

See, you might have your experiences. You might have fulfilled prophecies. You might have the witness of the Holy Spirit that God says something to me and the Holy Spirit comes along and confirms it in me. And you know that you know, but you've got to get to a place in your life where the word becomes not just the foundation for your beliefs, but the evidence.

Like that you're not going to talk. No one's going to talk to you out of it. That you're so confident with it. That you're skilled with it.

Did you ever see somebody try to use something they're not skilled with? Yeah. A knife. A shotgun.

You know, and even sometimes I just thought of this. You can be skilled at using something, but if you don't use it for a while, sometimes you fumble it. I went to see, I used to hunt, I used to work religiously, but I hunted a lot as a kid. And then I got married and you know, that went down the tube with golf and everything else.

You married man to understand. Well, then I made a friend with a guy that had his family had a big farm in West Virginia. So about 15 years ago or so, 10 years ago, he invites me to go hunting and I'm excited. I've been hunting in a long time.

We go out to sight our rifle and hadn't shot it in 10 years. And he puts down the tailgate from his F-150 and I lined it up. And everybody that shoots a rifle knows you put the stock where, right here. Because if you don't, when you fire the gun, the scope will hit you in the eye.

And it happened so quick, I didn't know it until I was running out of my face. So you can be skilled at something, but because of lack of use, you can become like a novice. And so you need to stay grounded, not just grounded in the word, but active. To the place where you're so convinced of it.

Paul writes about Abraham in Romans chapter 4, he says this. He says, and not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body now dead. Because he was about 100 years old or the deadness of Sarah's womb. He didn't stagger at the promise of God through unbelief.

But was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, verse 21. Says this, and being, say it, fully convinced. Being fully convinced. Being fully convinced.

See, when I'm fully convinced, I'm not just convinced of what the word says. I'm convinced of what God does. See, being fully convinced that the one who made the promise also had the ability to do it. See, I get so convinced that I don't know, it's not just that I believe what it says.

I believe that God's going to do what it says. And I am confident in him. See, I got to ask this question. How do you ever expect to be fully equipped if you're not fully convinced?

Like you go out there, and mealy mouth, well I don't know, I heard the pastor say there's this verse that says this, and I don't even know if it's God's will. Well, forget it. You're not convinced. You're not even half-heartedly convinced.

You need to spend time in the Word. The Word becomes you, and you know that you know. See, you can't be fully equipped if you're not fully convinced when somebody comes to you and needs prayer. That's not the time to wrestle with theology.

When a sick person comes up and needs healing, that's not the time to wrestle with, well is it God's will or is it not God's will? Am I qualified to do this? Am I not qualified? You need to be solid in that stuff.

You need to know that God equips you, that God's called you to do this, that this is the normal life of Christianity, that Jesus was the perfect demonstration of the will of the Father, that everything Jesus did, perfectly represented the Father, that every single person that came to Jesus for healing left healed or delivered. And when you lay hands on the sick, they will recover. Paul says this, he says, I know, next slide, I know, whom, not what? I say it, I know, whom I have believed.

Remember, this Word is not just black letters on a white paper. This is the brass of God. I know who I have believed and am what? I'm convinced of what?

He's able, I'm convinced that he's able to keep that which I've committed until that day. The problem is we, most of us, haven't committed anything to him. We're scared to take a step out. See faith takes a step.

Well, I don't know if God's got me. Let me tell you, God's got you. If you commit your life to him, he will protect it. You commit your life to him, he'll guard it.

You're not that good. You can't keep your own self, but you can be confident that when you commit something to God, he's not just capable, but he wants to and he's going to. All says, I am persuaded, Romans 8. I think I put up the new English translation, which says I am convinced.

I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor any other creature shall ever be able to separate me from the love of God. That's in Christ Jesus. I know that when I mess up, I know that when I don't get it right, I know that when I don't think do things exactly the way I should, that nothing separates me from God's love. That I can dust off my pants and I can stand back up and be confident, knowing that nothing separates me.

The only thing that ever separated me was the birth that I received from Adam, but now that I'm in Christ, now that I'm in Him, nothing separates me because Christ is in God. God is in Christ. Christ is in me. Nothing separates me from the Father.

No one can snatch me out of his hand. And it doesn't mean that I use it as an excuse to live a certain way, but when I mess up, I'm confident knowing that he's there like this. Doctrine, you've got to have a foundation. Reproof.

You need conviction. You need evidence. You need to be solid in what you believe. Number three, all scripture is profitable.

I haven't preached much. My voice is giving out. You guys need to pray for me. I got all this pent up preaching from two weeks in an airplane.

All scripture is profitable for correction. Who likes to be corrected in here? If you raise your hand, you're lying. I hate correction.

Curtis, I cast that lying spirit out. I just corrected you. This is when we talk about abiding in Christ and the vine and the branch. We get out of line and things come out of our life and we talk a few weeks about God pruning us.

It's good. The word is alive and sharper than any two-edged sword. There's a job that has to be done when it penetrates soul and spirit and joints and marrow and discerns thoughts and intents of the heart. There's things in there that need prune.

We were in Korea at a dinner just a couple of days ago. We're with Hyundai. Anybody here in Korea? It's a car.

All right. You guys awake. We're sitting with the global heads. God's favor was so good.

We're at the global heads of Hyundai. I'm so engaged in the conversation I'm sitting like this. My posture is not the best. And somebody I won't say who that was sitting to my left.

I have to say, hey, straighten up a little bit. You know sometimes you can get so bent over. You don't realize you're bent over. And here I am sitting at a table with the people that changed the world.

I'm sitting like a hump back at Notre Dame. And my in-house only spirit had to say, straighten up. Almost said straighten your butt up. Straighten up.

They better tell you to straighten up. That's what this word means. It means to straighten up. Go back.

An improvement of life or character, a restoration to a right or upright straight. A straightening up again. See I was sitting straight for a while. But over time my shoulders got tired and I'm sitting there like this.

Looking like an imbecile. Trying to be impressive but not. And she said you got to straighten up. Sit up straight.

Get back to the place that you used to be. Like this. Get your posture up. That's what this word means.

It means to return to an erect straight up state. Do you remember the story of the woman with the spirit of infirmity? She had it 18 years. Come on.

Jesus give me a voice. Here we go. In Jesus' name. The woman with the spirit of infirmity for 18 years in Luke chapter 13.

It says that she was bent over. Right? For how long? I just told you.

How long has she been over? I can't hear you. How long has she been over? Behold, there's a woman who has been disabling.

So we call it the spirit of infirmity. I love this. The ESV version. It calls it a disabling spirit.

Do you realize when you're bent over you can't be very effective? Like you might be able to run, but not real good. Like can I get an amen? Can I get an amen?

See, yeah. When you're bent over, you're not very effective. And so this woman has a spirit of disability. I mean, she had ability, but because of this spirit, it negated her ability.

It says she was bent over and could not fully straighten herself up because her husband wasn't there to say straight up woman. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, woman, you are freed from your disability. You're freed from your disability. And he laid his hands on her and he neededly.

She was what? Made straight. That's the same word that the word reproof comes from. See, some of you need an encounter with the Word of God to straighten you up.

See, you're living life like this. You're looking at the dirt. You need to straighten up because here's what happens. We make excuses to justify our disabilities.

This is just the way I am. You're going to have to live with me like this. This is my natural personality. You're just going to have to deal with me.

See, Jesus does. In America, because of a law called the Americans with Disability Act, the Department of Labor came out with this law of the ADA that says we must accommodate people with disabilities. And we should. We need to.

But Jesus does not accommodate disabilities. Jesus liberates your disability. Jesus didn't say, oh, you poor woman. You're bent over.

Let me accommodate you in that state. He said, no, you're free. Stand up. Straighten up.

See, some of you have gotten so wrapped into a mindset of this is the way I am. This is my lot in life. This is my personality. I'm just a butt head by nature.

And therefore, I'm just going to put some anointing on my butt head. And I'm going to go be a Christian that way. Quit accommodating your personality that's subpar. Quit accommodating the anger in your life.

Quit accommodating. For years. Oh, man, Jesus, where did the miracle of the 5,000 here? Where did they come from?

Somebody give me? Oh, Curtis. I said about you earlier. You're a man of God.

You're a man of God that likes cotton candy. Not so sure about you now. But they do taste pretty good. Thank you.

See, too often, we get comfortable living a subpar life that we begin to just make excuses for the way we are. Like the word's not going to change you if you're satisfied with the way you are. Because you're going to negate the work that the word wants to do in your life. God wants to equip you at a higher level.

He doesn't want you ministering like this. He says, you're sitting at a table with kings. You need to quit acting like you're a king and you stand up and be one. You need to straighten up.

Quit living in a subpar way when I want to liberate you from the thing that's keeping you in bondage. See what happens a lot of times, believers don't even know they're in bondage. Jesus said this to those who believed in him. Do I have any believers here today?

Here's what Jesus said to those who believed in him. He said, if you abide in my words or my disciples indeed and you will know the truth and the truth we say you're free. And the people that believed in him said, hey, Abraham's seed, we've never been in bondage to anybody. Really?

Do you realize they were in bondage to the Egyptians? They had been in bondage to Babylon. They'd been in bondage to the Persians. They'd been in bondage to Syria.

And while they spoke it, they were in bondage to the Romans. Sounds like a lot of Christians. I ain't never been in bondage. Could've fooled me.

I'm looking at the way you're living and you're in bondage. You just don't know it because you're walking around like this and you need an encounter with the Word of God that says I died on the cross so that you could be liberated and stand erect. Doctrine, reproof, correction. You don't need a chiropractor.

You need the Word of God. I'm going to go get my boat. No, you just need to let the Word erect you, straighten you up again. Walk out of that thing.

Remember? He said, if you abide in my word, you're my disciples indeed and you'll know the truth and truth is that you're free. And then he said, hey, Abraham's seed, we never been in bondage to anybody. Look what he said.

He says, therefore if the sun makes you free, you're free indeed. I know you're Abraham's descendants, but you seek to kill me because my Word has no place in you. And it's unfortunate that a lot of believers today live in that same place. They find place for everything else.

They find place for bad theology. They find place for every winded doctor and they find place for everything else in the world except the place that God's Word deserves. David said that word, have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against you. Your Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.

See, I don't need to be bent over looking at the ground to see where I'm going because the Word guides me. The Word is my lamp. The Word lets me see where to go. If I can stand up, I can have full view and still walk and effectively live my life for the Lord.

The final one is this. We're going to have to wrap up quick because this could be a whole message on its own. All scripture is profitable for instruction and righteousness. I don't really think this is how to live a right life.

I don't think this is talking about how to instruct you to live a morally correct life. Because of all the people that were around when Jesus was alive, the Pharisees had more word than anybody else. They actually memorized the first five books of the Bible. Every do and don't memorize committed to memorization.

Imagine memorizing five books of the Bible, the first five. I can't even make it through the begats. It's boring, but it didn't change them. Jesus said in John 6, he says, you search the scriptures because you think they lead you to eternal life, but I'm the eternal life.

I think what this is talking about when Jesus said this in Matthew 5, 20, he said, unless your righteousness exceeds out of the scribes and the Pharisees, you'll by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. That the righteousness that the law affords you will never allow you to step into the kingdom. You'll fall short every time. There's only one righteousness that you need and that's the righteousness that is of God that comes by faith.

Paul says, having not my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is of God by faith in Jesus Christ. Paul says this in 2 Corinthians 5, 21, he says that he who knew no sin was made sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. See, it's not doing right that allows you to gain favor with God. You already have favor.

You already have blessing. He's already done it. He's done 2,000 years ago. He established it in time past.

But see, it's known this that by faith I can receive right standing in front of God. I can stand in front of Holy God, know that I'm innocent, and get listened. That every sin I've ever done has been completely wiped away. I never worry about any past, present, or future sin because he's already taken care of it.

And all eternal, once and for all time, sacrifice of Jesus Christ. That when I put my faith in Jesus, I can actually become the righteousness of God, which is pretty good. Like it's a good deal. But I didn't earn it, so I can't force it because all I can ever do is receive it.

See, the more that you're conscious, and I think this is what this is talking about, is that the word of God will begin to confirm to you that you're the righteousness of God. And as you begin to realize and walk into revelation that you're the righteousness of God, you'll begin acting more righteous than you ever could before on purpose. See, it's the one thing that revolutionized my life. I used to try to do all kinds of good stuff and end up failing every time.

Because here's what happens. The more I'm conscious of my sin, the more that thought process actually leads me to commit the thing I'm trying not to do. But when I begin to become conscious of the righteousness that I am in Christ, I actually walk out of righteous life more on accident. I live accidentally righteous now than I ever could before on purpose.

It sounds like an oxymoron, but it's true. Because God's grace in my life, God's empowerment, my life, God's favor in my life, as I focus in and renew my mind to who I am in Him, I actually live out the nature that He's implanted in me. I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for it, the gospel, the good news, the word of God. I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is the power, the dunamis, the miracle working power of God is in the gospel to those who believe the Jew first and also to the Greek.

For in it, in the gospel, in the message of the too good to be, too good to be true news, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith as it is written, the just shall live by faith. See, there's revelation of righteousness that you haven't even tapped into yet. Well, I know about that stuff. I'm right with God.

Yeah, but according to Romans chapter 1 verse 16 and 17, that the righteousness of God is revealed from one level of faith to another. And as I begin to access this level of faith that gives me a picture of what that looks like, boom, there's another one. See, the righteousness of God is not a finite concept. It's infinite.

It's eternal. Like you'll never be able to exhaust it. Like great. But it will change your life.

It will change your life. He not only makes you new, but he actually in doing that and making you new, he allows you to live a new life. You live at a higher standard under grace than you ever could under law. Paul calls the law the ministry of death and the, uh, the ministry of condemnation versus the ministry of righteousness.

Grace is the ministry of righteousness. He says if the, if the law had glory that grace, uh, if the law had glory and it's, it's descending or decreasing that the grace that remains has even a greater glory. It's so much true that the great, the glory that pertains to grace makes the great, the glory that was in the law seem like a big zero. Like it's a nothing.

Quit renewing your mind to the law. He says when the law was read, the veil remains, but when you turn to the Lord, the veil is taken away and it says that we all with open face, beholding as an amir, the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image even as by the spirit of the Lord. So when I, when I renew my mind and begin to look at the thing that's the most glorious, which is the grace of Jesus, the righteousness that he imparts to me, the Holy Spirit actually transforms me into that same image. And when he does that, you're going to live and walk in victory.

See instruction actually means it's the training up of a child in the way he should go. Everything that embodies training and instruction of a little child. But here's what happens. A lot of Christians live like a slave because Galatians chapter four one says this, it says the air is no different than the slave as long as he is a child.

And here's what happens a lot of times believers when you get saved, you become an heir of everything that Christ has, but because you don't grow in what you are and who you are, you never live at the level that you are destined to live at. That you're destined to live as an heir of Christ, but you live as a slave of the enemy. It's not that you're not there, it's that you don't have an experience yet, but it's available. That God has more for you.

As you learn to allow the instruction in righteousness, you'll begin to walk it out. Can we say amen to that? Can I get an amen over here? If that's not enough, can I get an amen over here?

I think let's pray on that one.