These are sermons preached at Bethel Apostolic Church. Most are by Pastor David Brown.
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There is an ongoing battle of divine Spirit against the flesh. If you fix your mind on the desires of the flesh in an attempt to supress them, you'll give them new force. But there's a better way! Give up that monotonous and hopeless fight against the flesh and bring another ally onto the battlfield. As you walk in the Spirit, you will acquire new tastes and desires of a higher kind which will destroy the lower. When you have found the one whom your soul loves, there's no need to seek another. A heart content with Jesus will not seek contentment elsewhere. The world desires because it does not possess. - II Chronicles 20:10-11, 15-19, Galatians 5:16-17
They told Jacob, "Joseph is yet alive" and Jacob's heart fainted, for he believed them not, but when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent, the spirit of Jacob revived (Genesis 45:26-27). The wagons were not just bringing relief but also rescue, not just good things but also good news.
Life's experience is marked with blemishes of discouragement, disappointments, regrets and other things that we wish weren't so, but let's not lose sight of the beauty of the journey. If a man is not careful, discouragement can be exaggerated. It can have a tendency to deepen and darken our days. Often enough, however, it's a matter of perception. Let's choose to focus on the right things.
The miracle that occurred as some hopeful men tore off the roof to get to Jesus leads us to some important observations: 1) Sometimes it may appear that the Lord is more concerned with the needs of others than with our own needs and that He is hard to get to. 2) Sometimes there is an action that will be required on our part for the miracle to occur. 3) We often get far more than what we had anticipated. 4) The process of gaining entry to the Lord often takes more time than does the miracle. -- Mark 2:1-12
The text of Psalm 78:9-11 informs us that the children of Ephraim, being armed turned back in the day of battle. Ephraim, armed but insecure. Equipped but not active. Capable of rendering great service but turned back. Even today the Ghost of Ephraim continues to find its way into the church and into the home, but quitting is not the solution. We have all that we need to become great men and women of God. We have the grace of God, the power of the Spirit, energy for His service, resources for personal growth, and the teaching of the Word of God!
The crying need of my life and of yours is prayer! There is a place where the Secret Burden has to be embraced. Yet, we are people in an age who shrink back from burdens of any kind. . . But spiritual power is so dependent on it. It is in those moments that we are willing to enter in to the secret place that power which is so desperately needed in our day comes to rest on us.
Because Daniel "purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself" at the king's table (Daniel 1:8), we are preaching about it now. Seeing the bigger picture, what we do now has great implications in time and eternity. If we are going to serve God with greatness in the "big things", then we will have to serve him in the "small" choices of daily life. The common things, the common decisions, the common relationships, the very common-ness of life will either propel us toward spiritual greatness or hurry our backsliding. The tables that the world offers are nothing more than preparation to resist the huge idols and ferocious lions. If you fail to resist the king's table, then you will worship the idol and not have opportunity for a miraculous deliverance from the lions.
There is a clear pattern in the Bible that teaches brokenness brings a breakthrough, not only in the matter of salvation, but also in the realm of godly living.
"Doth the plowman... cast in the principal wheat?" -- Isaiah 28:24-25 Isaiah's farmer knew the priority of his crop and was willing to give the wheat the best place in the fields. The barley would be set in a small plot. The rye would be placed among a few acres. But the principal wheat would be planted in the richest, darkest, best field that he owned. The heart is the principal place...
When I say "struggling" in prayer, I do not mean fights with some besetting sin, the devil or outside tempatation; but rather those times that our will does not match up to the will and purpose of God.