BISHOP NOEL JONES : KNOWLEDGE
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00:00:00 (upbeat music)
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00:00:10 - Amen.
00:00:36 (audience applauding)
00:00:38 Thank you for your services and thank you
00:00:40 for helping me to celebrate him in 2 Peter chapter one.
00:00:46 And we've been working very diligently to get through this.
00:00:52 As I was thinking about this even on last night,
00:01:03 I thought about one of our very special members
00:01:07 who spends so much time with young athletes.
00:01:12 And when I think of Everett and the work that he does,
00:01:18 it speaks to me of what this particular text is about.
00:01:27 And I'll read it very quickly in verse five.
00:01:32 And I think we should allow to be contextual.
00:01:36 Verse four, whereby we are given unto us
00:01:40 exceeding great and precious promises
00:01:43 that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature,
00:01:47 having escaped the corruption
00:01:48 that is in the world through lust.
00:01:50 And beside this, giving all diligence,
00:01:53 add to your faith virtue to virtue knowledge,
00:01:56 to knowledge temperance and to temperance patience
00:01:59 and to patience godliness and to godliness brotherly kindness
00:02:04 to brotherly kindness charity.
00:02:07 For if these things be in you and abound,
00:02:11 they make you that ye shall neither be barren
00:02:16 nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
00:02:21 But he that lacketh these things is blind,
00:02:26 cannot see afar off and has forgotten
00:02:29 that he was purged from his old sins.
00:02:32 Wherefore, the rather brethren give diligence
00:02:35 to make your calling and election sure.
00:02:39 For by these things ye shall never, never fall.
00:02:44 As I was meditating again,
00:02:50 because we're moving to knowledge.
00:02:54 And as I was meditating on this,
00:02:58 I thought about Everett as he is standing in the gap
00:03:03 between the gifted and their character.
00:03:09 And his emphasis of course is on developing,
00:03:16 literally I could say the character of the gifted.
00:03:26 When you approach the whole conceptualization
00:03:30 of Christianity and the very rudiments of Christianity,
00:03:35 you will find that Christianity is founded on sacrifice.
00:03:40 Somehow we have in a capitalistic environment,
00:03:46 somehow we've made Christianity a place of wealth
00:03:50 and finance and health, wealth and prosperity.
00:03:53 And some of us believe that if we don't have
00:03:57 certain amount of financial acquisitions,
00:04:02 then we don't have much with God.
00:04:04 And that is so very wrong, so very wrong.
00:04:10 Because my relationship with God is not psychological.
00:04:14 My relationship with God is not intellectual.
00:04:20 My relationship with God is not material.
00:04:25 My relationship with God is spiritual.
00:04:28 So because it is spiritual,
00:04:31 then we operate by the presence of the Holy Spirit
00:04:36 and the Holy Spirit is God.
00:04:39 But the function of God and the Holy Spirit
00:04:42 is to dwell and work with us.
00:04:47 And there are two major things that we find
00:04:52 that we receive through the power of the Holy Spirit.
00:04:57 And one is we receive the gifts of the Spirit.
00:05:02 And the gifts of the Spirit,
00:05:05 if we go into 1 Corinthians chapter 12,
00:05:07 is to administer the things of God in the body of Christ.
00:05:15 But along with the gifts of the Spirit,
00:05:19 we have the fruit of the Spirit.
00:05:23 And we have to understand the relationship
00:05:28 between the gift of the Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit.
00:05:33 The gifts of the Spirit, for many of us,
00:05:38 and particularly now in the time in which we live,
00:05:43 because now we have assemblers and we have connectors.
00:05:48 We have people who come to the house of God, as you do,
00:05:53 and we have people who are connecting online
00:05:57 and they are home.
00:05:59 So the challenge then is,
00:06:04 how do I get the connectors to assemble?
00:06:11 And to be truthful about it,
00:06:13 and I'm not gonna keep you all day.
00:06:17 I could stay till two or three, but...
00:06:20 The truth is that many of you even decide
00:06:28 when you're coming and when you're not coming.
00:06:31 You decide that, why?
00:06:33 Because for what I'm teaching now and for my presentation,
00:06:39 as it relates to simply speaking the gospel
00:06:43 and speaking and teaching you,
00:06:46 you could be very comfortably on your couch
00:06:51 in those slippers that are dirty in the heel
00:06:55 and got all the signs of your toes in the front,
00:06:59 in that gown that is all rackety and rickety,
00:07:05 and you can have a coffee in your hand.
00:07:09 My brothers could be in a dirty sweatsuit
00:07:11 and just sit right on the couch
00:07:14 and hear everything that I have to say.
00:07:17 And I can promote quite grand eloquently
00:07:21 the fruit of the spirit in a presentation of teaching.
00:07:25 If you're going to enjoy,
00:07:29 or if you're going to indulge yourself
00:07:31 in the gift of the spirit,
00:07:34 where there's laying on of hands,
00:07:36 where there's a prophetic word,
00:07:39 where there's healing and a demonstration
00:07:41 of God's power in the supernatural,
00:07:44 then you can't do that at home.
00:07:46 Can I say that again?
00:07:50 You have to come and assemble,
00:07:53 and you have to come believing
00:07:57 that whatever petition you bring before God,
00:08:00 that the demonstration of his power will be seen,
00:08:06 and that operation will come from the gift of the spirit.
00:08:11 The gift of the spirit is where you're going to find
00:08:15 the prophetic word, that foretelling word,
00:08:19 because right now I'm foretelling
00:08:24 without any indication as to what will happen to you
00:08:28 individually next week,
00:08:30 and to tell you when your blessings are going to flow.
00:08:34 And in order for you to get that kind of treatment,
00:08:37 you gotta show up.
00:08:39 The excitement then is seen in the demonstration
00:08:46 of the gift of the spirit.
00:08:51 And most people are equating the power of God
00:08:56 to the exhibition of the gift of the spirit.
00:09:01 People go all over the world,
00:09:04 and they flock around certain leaders and preachers
00:09:08 who have been gifted to demonstrate the power of God
00:09:13 through the laying on of hands,
00:09:15 through the healing of the sick,
00:09:17 through the prophetic word.
00:09:20 And because it's so visible,
00:09:23 it is so extremely exciting
00:09:27 that no matter how much money is called for,
00:09:31 people generally give it,
00:09:33 because how much would you pay to be healed?
00:09:36 How much would you pay to know your future?
00:09:40 How much would you pay to have demons
00:09:42 cast out of your children?
00:09:45 And so that excitement indicates that God is present.
00:09:50 But the task that Everett has
00:09:56 is he's dealing with a bunch of gifted folk.
00:10:01 But what good is your giftedness if you have no character?
00:10:06 I gotta talk to you here,
00:10:15 because you gotta understand.
00:10:16 This is why if you look,
00:10:18 and somebody find me the very end
00:10:21 of 1 Corinthians chapter 12.
00:10:23 Find that for me quickly,
00:10:25 throw it on the board.
00:10:27 I didn't intend to go this way,
00:10:28 but I'm just going as the Holy Spirit leads.
00:10:32 You see, the preacher can always say that, you see.
00:10:35 If you throw that up for me quickly,
00:10:40 1 Corinthians chapter 12,
00:10:42 and I want the very end of it.
00:10:44 And what you will find is,
00:10:47 he says, go up one, go up to 30, if you will.
00:10:51 He says, "Have all the gifts of healing.
00:10:54 "Do all speak with tongues.
00:10:57 "Do all interpret."
00:10:59 Which means that he lays his hands
00:11:01 specifically on certain people
00:11:04 to do certain things within the body of Christ.
00:11:06 But it's all one spirit
00:11:09 for the administration of the body of Christ.
00:11:12 Go to the next verse.
00:11:14 Have all the gifts go on.
00:11:16 But covet earnestly the best gifts.
00:11:20 Do you see that?
00:11:22 Now he's going to lead us into something else
00:11:27 that he calls more excellent.
00:11:31 So he's shown us through 12,
00:11:37 the administrative power of the Holy Spirit.
00:11:40 And then he says to us,
00:11:42 I'm going to show you now a more excellent way.
00:11:47 Ask yourself the question,
00:11:52 what is more excellent than casting out devils?
00:11:57 What possibly could be more excellent
00:12:03 than prophesying in his name?
00:12:06 What could be more excellent than you bring the sick,
00:12:12 bring the blind and the lame,
00:12:15 and they get up and walk out of the building
00:12:19 having been completely healed and their sight is restored?
00:12:24 What could be more excellent than you sitting in this house,
00:12:29 never having had contact with the preacher?
00:12:35 And the preacher can call you from anywhere in the building
00:12:40 and tell you about your life and give you your phone number.
00:12:44 What could be more excellent
00:12:48 than you walking in this house
00:12:49 and immediately having demons cast out?
00:12:54 And the demonstration of God is seen
00:12:58 until people come from miles around.
00:13:02 What could be more excellent?
00:13:05 Switch to chapter 13 and show me real quick
00:13:08 what he's talking about in terms of what's more excellent.
00:13:11 Chapter 13, verse one, and we can see what he's saying.
00:13:16 Now show I unto you a more excellent way,
00:13:21 though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels
00:13:28 and have not charity.
00:13:30 Oh, I wish I had a church.
00:13:34 No, I'm not gonna say that 'cause I got a church.
00:13:38 And have not charity.
00:13:45 I am become as a sounding brass or tinkling cymbal.
00:13:50 The more excellent way is so much more excellent
00:13:55 that everything that the Holy Spirit was doing
00:14:00 in the administration of the gifts of the Spirit
00:14:05 can't walk with the qualities that come from the character
00:14:10 that the Holy Spirit brings.
00:14:13 After you have cast out devils,
00:14:16 can I preach like I feel it?
00:14:18 You go to the basketball game,
00:14:20 and y'all pray for the Lakers, pray, pray, pray.
00:14:24 You go to the basketball game
00:14:27 and you see a demonstration of ability
00:14:30 that only God could give.
00:14:33 The Democrats or the Republicans
00:14:34 don't bring boys out at seven feet tall,
00:14:38 and they don't bring them out at seven feet tall
00:14:41 with the agility of somebody five foot one.
00:14:44 I was talking to one of the coaches
00:14:46 who is now on our board of directors here at the church
00:14:53 for our next move.
00:14:55 I was talking to Fred,
00:14:56 and Fred is an assistant coach at the Pelicans,
00:15:01 and he grew up in this church,
00:15:03 and he's assistant coach at the Pelicans,
00:15:06 and he says what the boys are doing now
00:15:09 in terms what these guys are doing
00:15:11 when they're running with the ball
00:15:13 and moving and jumping,
00:15:14 and he says it is never been done
00:15:18 in the history of this game,
00:15:20 and nobody comes out to see coaches,
00:15:23 and nobody comes out to see owners of teams.
00:15:26 You come out to see these young men
00:15:28 who God has gifted with the kind of physical ability
00:15:33 that you can't pick up at Walmart.
00:15:36 This is coming directly from God.
00:15:38 When a guy can come around and shoot like curry can
00:15:42 from way downtown,
00:15:45 and we go out to see and enjoy their giftedness,
00:15:49 but you don't know their character
00:15:52 by looking at their giftedness,
00:15:55 so after the guy walks off the court,
00:15:58 he can brandish a little gun
00:16:00 and show a little gun as if he is somebody special
00:16:05 because he's got a gun.
00:16:06 You can give him all the skills in the world,
00:16:09 but you can't take the thug out of him
00:16:11 if you don't have somebody like Everett Glenn.
00:16:14 You gotta have somebody who says to you,
00:16:17 after all your giftedness,
00:16:20 you gotta lift your head up and walk like a child of God
00:16:23 and talk like a child of God
00:16:26 and act like a child of God
00:16:28 after you've cast out all the devil.
00:16:34 You gotta love somebody that's sitting beside you.
00:16:37 Can I tell you something?
00:16:39 I don't have any problems with the things in the Bible
00:16:43 I don't understand.
00:16:45 When I see the beast with the heads and the 10 horns,
00:16:49 and I see all the allegories of the book of Revelation,
00:16:54 I see all the allegories of the book of Ezekiel,
00:16:57 and I don't understand fully the things that's happening
00:17:02 in Isaiah and Jeremiah.
00:17:05 I don't have problems with what I don't understand.
00:17:09 I have problems with what I understand.
00:17:12 When he tells me, "Love your enemies," I understand that.
00:17:16 When he says, "Do good to them that despitefully use you,"
00:17:20 I understand that.
00:17:21 When he says, "No adultery and no fornication,"
00:17:25 I understand that.
00:17:26 I don't have problems with what I don't understand.
00:17:29 I have problems with what I know what I ought to do,
00:17:33 and it takes character to stand up
00:17:36 and love somebody who can't stand you.
00:17:39 It takes God in you to be good to somebody
00:17:43 who wouldn't be good to you.
00:17:45 It takes God in you.
00:17:47 I show you a more excellent way
00:17:52 that after you finish playing your basketball,
00:17:55 you don't beat your wife.
00:17:57 After you finish playing basketball,
00:18:00 you don't ignore your children.
00:18:02 You gotta have class in the spirit
00:18:05 as well as the power of the spirit.
00:18:09 Oh, I feel like preaching in here.
00:18:11 Y'all excuse me.
00:18:16 I thought about it.
00:18:20 I thought about it,
00:18:24 and I discovered the more excellent way
00:18:27 is so much more excellent
00:18:29 that the Lord can look at people who declare,
00:18:33 "But Lord, didn't I prophesy in your name?
00:18:36 Didn't I cast out devils in your name?"
00:18:40 And he look at them and said, "Depart from me,
00:18:44 ye workers of iniquity.
00:18:46 I never knew you."
00:18:48 And I talk to you like I feel like.
00:18:52 If I were to get up in an audience
00:18:56 and look down,
00:18:59 and someone said to me, "That's Brenda over there,
00:19:03 and her husband is Chris,"
00:19:07 I would faint right up here.
00:19:11 Everybody does not interpret tongues,
00:19:19 and if you're sitting there waiting
00:19:20 to cast out devils from somebody
00:19:24 or the blind man comes in,
00:19:26 and he walks outside because you laid hands on him,
00:19:29 that would have to be selected by God.
00:19:33 And Paul says, "Everybody doesn't do that."
00:19:38 So if I were to have to have that gift to be saved,
00:19:43 I'd have to be searching for it every day to find it.
00:19:54 But the more excellent way says,
00:19:57 "You don't have to have that to be saved.
00:20:01 You don't have to be able to cast out devils to be saved.
00:20:05 If you have the fruit of the Spirit."
00:20:08 Can I go further?
00:20:09 The devil can imitate the gifts of the Spirit,
00:20:15 but he can't imitate the fruit of the Spirit
00:20:19 because the devil ain't trying to love anybody but himself.
00:20:23 Ah, I wish somebody'd get it.
00:20:25 He ain't trying to tell the truth to anybody
00:20:28 because he's a father of lies.
00:20:31 He lives in deception.
00:20:33 But when you can tell the truth, no matter what the cost,
00:20:37 when you can walk and love, no matter how folk treat you,
00:20:42 when you can have joy in the middle of sorrow,
00:20:45 and you know God as your keeper and your savior,
00:20:49 you can walk in any place and somebody can look at you
00:20:53 and know there's something about you
00:20:57 that's different from the rest of the folk
00:20:59 because God has built your character.
00:21:03 And I can depend on you to be there,
00:21:06 depend on you to show up,
00:21:08 depend on you to help me out,
00:21:10 depend on you to give me a word of encouragement
00:21:14 no matter what you're going through
00:21:16 because the Holy Spirit has built you up
00:21:20 into something that looks exactly like Jesus Christ.
00:21:25 That's power.
00:21:27 Woo, I feel like.
00:21:30 So I suggest to you
00:21:36 that it takes more power to operate in character
00:21:44 than it does in giftedness.
00:21:46 (congregation cheering)
00:21:49 It's a whole lot of gifted men, honey,
00:21:53 that you wouldn't marry.
00:21:56 It's a whole lot of gifted women,
00:22:03 gifted with pulchritudinous splendor.
00:22:13 Curb like a country road.
00:22:16 Won't cook in a pie factory.
00:22:29 Won't bake a cupcake.
00:22:37 Amen.
00:22:43 Been with mama for 15 years.
00:22:47 Left home at 25 and don't know how to burn water.
00:22:51 Amen, got the package.
00:23:01 But the package is a gift.
00:23:04 Bank full of money but won't pay no bills.
00:23:10 (congregation cheering)
00:23:14 Got the package.
00:23:18 He's tall, dark, and handsome.
00:23:21 The cats meow and the dogs bow wow to look at.
00:23:25 But won't support nothing you do.
00:23:30 Amen, gotta fight him for attention.
00:23:35 When he fall out with you, he don't take care of the kids.
00:23:40 Can't get along with you, the kids gonna suffer.
00:23:44 Amen.
00:23:48 Insisted they are the second, the third,
00:23:52 the fourth, and the fifth.
00:23:54 Gotta have his name.
00:23:56 But you pray they don't have his character.
00:23:59 No character.
00:24:07 You're dealing with gifts, gifted people.
00:24:11 But the real difficulty is the character.
00:24:17 So we've come then to the knowledge,
00:24:21 we're back now in Peter.
00:24:24 And we've come to the knowledge of God.
00:24:30 And the knowledge here is not knowledge
00:24:35 that you gain from a book.
00:24:37 Because if that was knowledge from a book,
00:24:40 it would be the word oida.
00:24:41 But this knowledge, gnosko, is knowledge by experience.
00:24:49 And this means that you have to walk with him
00:24:55 and he walks with you through a variety
00:25:01 of different situations in life.
00:25:05 In order for you to say I'm not acquainted with him,
00:25:10 but I know him through experience.
00:25:17 There are certain people in your life
00:25:20 that if somebody said to you, this is how Susan behaved,
00:25:25 or this is how John behaved,
00:25:30 you would have said to them, no, no, no.
00:25:34 Well, how do you know?
00:25:36 I know she didn't do that or she didn't do that
00:25:40 because I know them.
00:25:42 Well, how do you know them?
00:25:45 I know them because I've been with them in hard times.
00:25:50 I've been with them in good times.
00:25:52 I've been with them when their mother died.
00:25:54 I've been with them when their father died.
00:25:57 I've been with them when they had elation and promotion.
00:26:01 And I never have seen any of that behavior in them
00:26:04 because I know them.
00:26:06 There are certain people you can't make
00:26:10 that testimony about because you haven't been around them
00:26:15 long enough to be able to decide how they would behave
00:26:19 or what they would do.
00:26:21 I just don't know.
00:26:23 Well, don't you have an idea?
00:26:25 You've been going to the same church.
00:26:26 Yeah, I've been going to the same church,
00:26:28 but I oida them, but I don't gnosko them
00:26:32 because we have not had any experiences together.
00:26:37 To know him, Paul says in Philippians chapter three
00:26:41 and about verse 10, he says that I may know him
00:26:45 in the fellowship of his suffering.
00:26:49 You see, most of us wanna know him
00:26:51 because we've been misled by preaching.
00:26:55 That most of us think that a relationship to God
00:26:59 is only on the good side, only on the wealthy side,
00:27:04 only in the suburbs.
00:27:06 But my God is a God of the inner city
00:27:09 as well as the suburbs.
00:27:12 And sometimes we gotta know him in our suffering.
00:27:17 I wish somebody'd get it.
00:27:18 Can I preach like I feel it?
00:27:20 Jesus says to the disciples, let us go to the other side.
00:27:25 And he didn't say you go to the other side.
00:27:29 He said, let us go to the other side,
00:27:32 which means he is going to be in the boat with them.
00:27:37 If they had known him like they should have known him,
00:27:42 they would have known that can't no storm sink a boat
00:27:46 when Jesus is in the ship.
00:27:49 So no matter how rough the storm is,
00:27:52 the only thing you got to remember is I said,
00:27:56 let us go to the other side.
00:27:58 And when Jesus says, let us go to the other side,
00:28:02 there ain't nothing in the way that will ever stop you
00:28:07 from getting to the other side because he's with you.
00:28:11 I wish somebody'd get it.
00:28:13 He's not only with you before you get to the fire.
00:28:17 Oh, King, we are not careful to answer you
00:28:20 concerning this matter, but the God we serve
00:28:25 is able to deliver us out of the fiery furnace
00:28:28 and he will deliver us out of your hand, oh King.
00:28:32 But if not, we still not going to bow.
00:28:37 He looked in the fire.
00:28:40 He said, we put in three, but I see a fourth one.
00:28:44 And the fourth one looks just like the son of God.
00:28:47 God is not only with you when you're in the highs
00:28:50 and the great things of life,
00:28:53 but he's with you in the low things of life.
00:28:56 And when you're in the fire and you're walking
00:28:59 in the hardest time of your life, he's walking with you
00:29:04 because I have a relationship with God.
00:29:08 And when I walk out of the fire, I don't even smell a smoke.
00:29:12 I wish somebody'd understand when you know him,
00:29:16 you know him in hard times, you know him in good times,
00:29:21 you know him single, you know him married,
00:29:24 and you can look the devil in the face
00:29:27 and say, you can't make me doubt him.
00:29:29 I know.
00:29:33 Woo.
00:29:37 I'm going to try not to hoop here today.
00:29:44 Can I talk to you for a minute?
00:29:46 After you get out of the church,
00:29:48 after you've danced all over the place,
00:29:51 how you're going to treat the person in the street?
00:29:54 How you're going to walk by somebody?
00:29:57 How you're going to deal with bad news and heartache?
00:30:01 How you're going to deal with losing something suddenly?
00:30:04 Are you going to capitulate, complain, act ugly?
00:30:09 Are you going to lift your hands up
00:30:11 and declare the Lord giveth, the Lord taketh,
00:30:15 blessed be the name of the Lord?
00:30:18 You can only do that if you know him.
00:30:21 (congregation cheering)
00:30:25 Woo.
00:30:26 I'm getting ready to close.
00:30:36 Got to have knowledge.
00:30:38 Got to know him.
00:30:41 Got to know him to the point where he says,
00:30:48 if any man come after me,
00:30:50 let him pick up his cross and follow me.
00:30:57 Do you know who your cross is?
00:31:02 Woo.
00:31:05 What your cross is.
00:31:07 So pick it up.
00:31:10 And follow me.
00:31:14 Then he says, if any man put his hand to the plow
00:31:21 and look back, walking with God is a movement.
00:31:28 So you'll never become a monument.
00:31:34 Can she look back?
00:31:35 'Cause her heart wasn't with him.
00:31:38 Can I preach like a villain?
00:31:40 You walk with God because your heart is with him,
00:31:43 not because you're looking for a handout.
00:31:45 Folk Christians get mad when they can't get
00:31:51 another American Express card.
00:31:53 You already got one and got it run to the limit.
00:32:04 Can you walk with him in a pinto?
00:32:06 Or do you have to have a Rolls Royce to serve it?
00:32:10 Because every now and then he's gonna test
00:32:13 whether you're in this for the gift or for the giver.
00:32:17 'Cause a whole lot of folk love the gift
00:32:19 more than the giver.
00:32:20 Don't get me started.
00:32:24 You can love what that man giving,
00:32:29 don't care nothing about it.
00:32:32 Take everything he's given and don't care nothing about him
00:32:36 and lose your mind when he's making the demand
00:32:39 over what he gave you.
00:32:41 Oh, you thought he was giving you a tennis bracelet.
00:32:43 Oh, look at my tennis bracelet.
00:32:45 Honey, take another look, discern.
00:32:47 It's a handcuff.
00:32:48 Amen.
00:32:59 Oh, he taking me out.
00:33:00 He taking me out everywhere.
00:33:02 If he taking you out, you're gonna have to put out.
00:33:05 You know, folk get mad.
00:33:19 Folk get mad around the country.
00:33:21 You know, the women had this marvelous thing
00:33:24 and they were talking about love languages
00:33:26 and somebody said, well, that don't need
00:33:28 to be brought up in church.
00:33:29 I got news for you.
00:33:32 If God is love, somebody needs to talk about love in church.
00:33:37 Real love as opposed to lust up in the house.
00:33:42 Somebody need to talk and brothers,
00:33:46 don't feel shortchanged.
00:33:48 We gonna have a comeback.
00:33:50 Amen.
00:33:53 I say like Cedric the Entertainer,
00:33:55 we gonna get us a comeback song.
00:33:58 (audience laughing)
00:34:01 The character of the individual,
00:34:04 the beauty of who you are
00:34:08 because of the knowledge you have in him.
00:34:10 And one of the things that the young gifted fellows
00:34:15 have to understand is the next thing on our list
00:34:19 and that's temperance.
00:34:23 And temperance is (speaking in foreign language)
00:34:28 Really (speaking in foreign language)
00:34:34 So it's (speaking in foreign language)
00:34:36 And it's from a word
00:34:39 that is seen often in Ephesians chapter one
00:34:46 and I'm giving you insight to how we study.
00:34:48 And so when you go home, you get vines.
00:34:53 Dictionary of Old and New Testament words.
00:34:58 Put that in your library.
00:35:00 And it comes, the etymological root of this word
00:35:05 is kratos, that means strength.
00:35:09 And anytime you have kratos or strength,
00:35:17 it is strength related to self-control
00:35:22 and to the Greeks, it was primarily holding your passions
00:35:27 and desires, holding them in your hand.
00:35:33 It is important to understand that God
00:35:42 uses passionate people.
00:35:49 And how do I measure how passionate you are?
00:35:53 It is that same ebullience, that same drive
00:35:59 you had for the devil
00:36:02 that God uses for his kingdom.
00:36:08 I will point out to you then that a lot of people
00:36:13 brag about what they didn't do before they were saved.
00:36:18 But what they didn't do before they were saved
00:36:23 sends a signal as to the kind of person they are.
00:36:29 Because if you have no drive for anything,
00:36:37 you just don't have no drive.
00:36:46 I never committed fornication before I got saved.
00:36:51 So I ain't like the rest of these folks.
00:36:57 Well honey, sex ain't never bothered you.
00:37:03 'Cause you ain't never had no drive.
00:37:07 So did nobody, you didn't get converted.
00:37:16 (audience laughing)
00:37:19 You never had the feeling.
00:37:24 Some people are just foodies.
00:37:31 I think maybe you'll identify with this better
00:37:34 because it won't put you on the spot.
00:37:36 Some people are just foodies.
00:37:41 They just like to eat.
00:37:46 (audience laughing)
00:37:48 So when we see you thinning up,
00:37:52 we knew you made a sacrifice.
00:37:56 (audience laughing)
00:37:59 We knew that you had to push the plate back.
00:38:05 And sometimes when you go by McDonald's
00:38:09 or the places you enjoyed eating, you cry going by.
00:38:14 (audience laughing)
00:38:16 'Cause you really want it bad.
00:38:19 Some people don't have a temper.
00:38:21 Amen.
00:38:24 They just, you know, do anything.
00:38:29 But other people will go crazy.
00:38:33 Some people black out.
00:38:35 And I've seen people cry
00:38:38 because they couldn't get to your throat.
00:38:42 What you crying about?
00:38:43 (whimpering)
00:38:46 Paul is a good example of somebody that was passionate.
00:38:56 He was passionate for religiosity until he met Jesus.
00:39:03 But then that same passion is what he used to tell me
00:39:11 that I was beaten with many stripes.
00:39:13 I would suffer peril at home, peril on the street,
00:39:17 peril in false brethren, peril.
00:39:20 He suffered because he was intense.
00:39:25 God uses intensity, but the devil loves it too.
00:39:32 I wanna talk to you here a minute.
00:39:39 95% of my life, I work hard.
00:39:44 I've dragged these boys all over the world
00:39:48 from one plane to the other.
00:39:51 I'd leave here on a Monday, come back on a Wednesday,
00:39:55 on a plane Wednesday night, come back on a Saturday,
00:39:59 work on a Sunday, and I've done that for years.
00:40:01 I've got 9 million miles on American Airlines alone.
00:40:06 Not including private plane,
00:40:07 not including Emirates and all the others.
00:40:11 Intense.
00:40:12 95% of my time, I'm working for the Lord.
00:40:19 But every now and then I wanna take off.
00:40:25 So 5% of the time, I'm not in my Bible.
00:40:34 - All right.
00:40:35 - And the demons in hell say, "Uh-oh."
00:40:41 We know he works hard,
00:40:50 but let's see if we can get him to play hard.
00:40:54 We ain't gonna get him for long
00:40:56 'cause he going back to that church.
00:40:59 But while he's out here,
00:41:01 most of us messed up our legacies
00:41:09 by 2% of what we do.
00:41:16 And whatever it has to teach the fellows,
00:41:22 and what the preacher has to teach the saints,
00:41:26 is I know you love God,
00:41:30 but I know you're an intense person.
00:41:35 And whatever you get involved in, you gonna overdo it.
00:41:41 I saw somebody's eyes, and I ain't no prophet,
00:41:53 but I saw somebody say, "I love hard."
00:41:56 (congregation laughing)
00:42:00 Saw the sparkle in your eye.
00:42:01 I love hard.
00:42:04 Satan say, "Yeah."
00:42:10 Because I know your intensity,
00:42:14 but it takes strength, not weakness.
00:42:20 It is strength when somebody's up in your face
00:42:24 and insulting you and humiliating you.
00:42:27 It takes strength for you to back off
00:42:31 and keep quiet when you know you got something to say
00:42:34 and know how to say it.
00:42:36 You know you can curse like poetry,
00:42:39 and you know you can put somebody down
00:42:41 and talk about them like a piece of dirt.
00:42:43 And when I get through with you,
00:42:45 you gonna really understand that you've been told off.
00:42:49 But it doesn't take weakness.
00:42:52 It takes strength for you to stand back
00:42:55 and let them talk like they wanna talk,
00:42:57 and you're whispering in your mind,
00:42:59 "Vengeance is mine," sayeth the Lord.
00:43:02 "I will repay."
00:43:04 I don't have to get ugly with you
00:43:06 because you're ugly with me because I'm stronger than that.
00:43:10 I don't have to respond to you like you're talking to me
00:43:14 because I'm stronger than that.
00:43:16 I have a place to go and hide myself
00:43:20 from whatever you have to say
00:43:22 because I have the knowledge of God,
00:43:25 and I know he will fight my battle if I just keep still.
00:43:30 Self-control
00:43:34 is strength.
00:43:38 I'm talking about the character.
00:43:48 I don't care how gifted you are.
00:43:52 Somebody tell the Lakers,
00:43:53 please stop arguing with the ref
00:43:58 while the other team is laying the ball up.
00:44:00 He ain't gonna change the call.
00:44:11 What are you arguing for?
00:44:14 Strength.
00:44:21 Strength to walk in a room.
00:44:23 Let me just give you the reverse.
00:44:26 Do you know how awful it is to be out of control
00:44:32 and then come back to your senses?
00:44:39 It's all right.
00:44:41 If you're out of control and you stay out of control
00:44:45 and black out and don't know.
00:44:50 Now, maybe I'm dyslexic,
00:44:53 but the person with Alzheimer's is not the person suffering
00:44:59 even though we know they're sick.
00:45:02 Listen, if I am up here preaching
00:45:06 and I wanna make a point and that point slips from me,
00:45:11 you better pray for me.
00:45:13 If I mispronounce a word, you better pray for me
00:45:18 because I am going to stop everything to get that right
00:45:22 because I know that that's the way it should sound
00:45:27 and I'll mess up everything else 'cause I can't get past.
00:45:31 All right, so now, because I know
00:45:37 and I can't figure it out,
00:45:41 I wanna remember somebody's name.
00:45:43 We're having conversations,
00:45:44 said, you know, brother so-and-so,
00:45:46 oh man, his name is right out my mouth.
00:45:49 Oh my God, what is his name?
00:45:51 What is his name?
00:45:52 And you are saying to me, well, go on with the story.
00:45:55 No, what is his name?
00:45:57 I got to get his name.
00:45:58 The problem is I know that I don't know.
00:46:06 That's a problem.
00:46:10 Now, I don't have a problem
00:46:14 if I don't know that I don't know.
00:46:18 Ain't no problem with that.
00:46:22 See, the person with Alzheimer's don't know
00:46:25 that they don't know.
00:46:28 You're the one with the problem.
00:46:30 Don't you remember me?
00:46:33 This is your daughter, Mama.
00:46:37 Remember me and you losing your mind
00:46:39 and Mama don't know that she don't know.
00:46:43 She ain't got a problem.
00:46:44 See, the problem is you know you've been out of control.
00:46:52 And you know that folk would like to correct you
00:47:01 but they can't talk to you.
00:47:04 So they see your life wrecking and can't correct you.
00:47:13 You know you got a problem and maybe you don't know.
00:47:16 When you in a restaurant with somebody
00:47:24 and you got to be careful what you say to them
00:47:29 because you know you need to straighten them out
00:47:34 but you know this restaurant is fixing to get turned over.
00:47:39 (audience laughing)
00:47:42 Amen.
00:47:46 You mad that dinner ain't ready on time
00:47:49 so why you dragging all the plates onto the floor?
00:47:54 And for the life of me I don't understand
00:48:00 why you get up so set, you go in the bathroom
00:48:05 and bust your hand against the mirror.
00:48:08 Your hand is all bloody.
00:48:09 You got to go get that fixed.
00:48:13 The mirror is busted.
00:48:15 What did that do?
00:48:17 You just out of control.
00:48:19 Driving down the highway
00:48:22 and you got to pull the car over
00:48:28 to keep from killing somebody else
00:48:31 'cause you lost control.
00:48:35 The kids are sitting there looking at you,
00:48:38 looking for an example and you're cussing like a sailor.
00:48:42 Out of control.
00:48:49 Talk to me saints.
00:48:54 Child of God should always have control
00:49:00 and here's the secret of having control
00:49:06 is you're always in a prayerful mood
00:49:08 for the Bible says pray without ceasing.
00:49:13 That does not mean on your knees.
00:49:15 It means having the kind of relationship with God
00:49:19 because you know him, you can control yourself.
00:49:22 I don't have to cuss you out.
00:49:25 I don't have to be nasty because you're nasty.
00:49:28 Why?
00:49:29 Because nasty has moved out of me
00:49:32 when the Holy Ghost came and I've studied.
00:49:36 Woo, to be quiet and mind my own business.
00:49:39 I don't have to gossip with everybody else.
00:49:42 Control.
00:49:46 Temperance.
00:49:50 This is the spirit of God holding my passions.
00:49:55 So she's beautiful and you better not
00:50:04 open your mouth because she decided to dress like that.
00:50:07 Amen.
00:50:10 She knew what she was doing.
00:50:12 She was messing with your control.
00:50:16 So right in the house of God,
00:50:23 she walk in and had to pass over you to sit down.
00:50:29 (congregation laughing)
00:50:32 And you just out of control.
00:50:42 Jesus, I'll never forget what you've done for me.
00:50:48 (clears throat)
00:50:50 (congregation laughing)
00:50:54 I'm trying to focus on Jesus.
00:51:03 Sitting in the pulpit with the preachers.
00:51:06 Did you see that, Reverend?
00:51:10 Reverend, take a look.
00:51:12 Man, come on, I'm trying to see Jesus.
00:51:17 Just out.
00:51:19 Out of control.
00:51:22 Amen.
00:51:26 There is all kinds of abuse.
00:51:31 Physical abuse is not the only abuse.
00:51:35 It's an abuse with your mouth.
00:51:38 Out of control.
00:51:46 With somebody in your space that confessed
00:51:51 or spoke of something wrong,
00:51:53 that you have forgiven or you said you did.
00:51:58 But yet the moment came
00:52:02 when you were cross or you felt attacked
00:52:08 and you had to get back.
00:52:14 Yeah, you remember, yeah, you told me what you did.
00:52:18 You're still doing it, you're low down.
00:52:20 Out of control, we're having conversation.
00:52:25 We're trying to rectify a situation in our relationship.
00:52:29 Why all of a sudden I gotta get out of your face
00:52:34 with my bad breath?
00:52:35 My breath wasn't bad when I was kissing you.
00:52:39 (congregation laughing)
00:52:42 Talk to me, church.
00:52:48 Folk in the church will vengeance mind it.
00:52:54 They'll rebuke you in the name of Jesus.
00:52:59 They ain't trying to help you.
00:53:01 They're trying to hurt your feelings.
00:53:03 Here come the devil.
00:53:07 (congregation laughing)
00:53:11 Out of control.
00:53:12 There is nothing more wonderful in the knowledge of God
00:53:18 that you have control of how you feel,
00:53:24 control of what you're about to say,
00:53:27 knowing that your words hurt
00:53:32 and cause extreme damage.
00:53:37 And sometimes the psychological debilitation
00:53:40 that comes from hearing something negative
00:53:44 and mean over and over again is hard to shake.
00:53:49 Sometimes it's worse than a slap
00:53:57 for this constant bombardment of your anger
00:54:04 until people don't know how to approach you.
00:54:08 Even if they see danger in your life,
00:54:12 they can't talk to you
00:54:13 because you're always with a short fuse.
00:54:18 Out of control.
00:54:24 But when control is in the house,
00:54:28 blessed are the peacemakers.
00:54:33 (congregation laughing)
00:54:36 That individual, he says, and I'm closing,
00:54:40 he says, "Better is he that keepeth his spirit
00:54:47 "than he that taketh a city.
00:54:50 "The most difficult thing in the world
00:54:55 "to conquer is yourself."
00:54:57 Amen.
00:55:01 I'm a master, I'm a master
00:55:05 at telling you what's wrong with you.
00:55:08 But I'm ignorant, not even ignorant.
00:55:16 I'm ignorant at telling you what's wrong with me.
00:55:29 And if you think I'm joking,
00:55:31 have a discussion with somebody
00:55:33 who just told you everything about you
00:55:35 and see if you can calm them down long enough
00:55:40 to say, "Now that you have read my mail,
00:55:43 "what do you think about yourself?"
00:55:46 (congregation applauding)
00:55:50 They can address all of your issues,
00:55:55 but they can't find their own.
00:55:58 (congregation laughing)
00:56:02 Self-control means bringing yourself under check.
00:56:07 And I can only bring myself under check
00:56:11 and hold my passions
00:56:13 because now I can regulate my energies.
00:56:20 Until you have self-control, you can't direct your energies.
00:56:25 So you spend your energies where they shouldn't be spent
00:56:30 and ignore where your energies should go.
00:56:34 Because if you ever get your energy in the right direction,
00:56:40 the blessings will flow like you will never believe.
00:56:45 But when your energies are spent in the wrong place,
00:56:49 it'll devastate your life.
00:56:55 If you're hearing sound of my voice, wherever you are,
00:56:58 the Lord is calling you to a more excellent way,
00:57:07 this excellent way of being the kind of person you should be.
00:57:14 And if you're a symbol, come.
00:57:17 If you're out there in cyberspace, 844,
00:57:24 844-267-7729.
00:57:29 Pick up your phone and call that number.
00:57:32 If you're in this house, come.
00:57:34 Make me whole.
00:57:38 ♪ Oh it is Jesus ♪
00:57:44 Come on.
00:57:45 Saints, I want you to stay with me for a few minutes.
00:57:48 Don't leave.
00:57:50 Stay with me.
00:57:52 ♪ It is Jesus in my soul ♪
00:57:57 Come on.
00:57:59 He's calling.
00:58:00 Touch, oh yes, give God praise.
00:58:03 Oh yes, I see people coming.
00:58:07 ♪ His blood made me whole ♪
00:58:13 Everybody standing?
00:58:18 Oh, here it is.
00:58:20 Give God praise, they're still coming.
00:58:22 This is what it's all about.
00:58:24 It's all about.
00:58:27 ♪ It is Jesus in my soul ♪
00:58:32 ♪ For I have touched the hand of his God ♪
00:58:46 ♪ And his blood has made me whole ♪
00:58:51 One more time.
00:58:54 ♪ Oh it is Jesus ♪
00:58:59 ♪ Yes it is Jesus ♪
00:59:04 ♪ It is Jesus in my soul ♪
00:59:12 ♪ For I have touched the hand of his God ♪
00:59:17 Amen.
00:59:20 ♪ And his blood has made me whole ♪
00:59:26 Listen, before we go, of course, Solomon's Corner,
00:59:32 you've got all the delicacies that are available.
00:59:40 Stop by and enjoy yourself at Solomon's Corner.
00:59:44 I've been enjoying myself with the Solomon's Corner food
00:59:48 until I'm 20 pounds heavier than I ever been.
00:59:52 Amen.
00:59:55 Ooh.
00:59:56 And next time you see me, I got to lose some weight.
01:00:01 I can't do this, I can't do this.
01:00:06 I'm going in the wrong direction.
01:00:09 Amen.
01:00:10 Ooh.
01:00:12 Nonetheless, nonetheless, go and stop by Solomon's Corner.
01:00:17 We have gigantic decisions to make.
01:00:24 I need your prayers.
01:00:25 I don't think that it makes sense in the time we live
01:00:31 to go out and buy a $40 million building
01:00:39 that we are going to be in just for two hours.
01:00:43 As much as this building is worth,
01:00:47 we're in it for just two hours.
01:00:49 We've got a whole community of boys and girls
01:00:55 that need to be mentored and directed.
01:00:57 And we're used to having church in the warehouse.
01:01:02 We don't have to have some Taj Mahal to meet Jesus
01:01:08 'cause he doesn't dwell in buildings made by hand.
01:01:10 So why don't we make ourselves rotten rich
01:01:14 and buy a whole shopping center
01:01:15 and then have church in the shopping center?
01:01:19 Have a bunch of gyms, 15, 10 basketball courts
01:01:25 and have one section of that court
01:01:28 where we have church for the two hours we have church.
01:01:36 Then why not have a restaurant
01:01:38 where we teach people how to become entrepreneurs
01:01:44 and business schools and truck driving?
01:01:49 I'm telling my brothers now, when I come to see you,
01:01:51 I'm introducing a truck driving opportunity
01:01:55 for not only men but for women
01:01:57 because transportation is the name of the game
01:02:00 in this country today.
01:02:01 And I'm telling you this,
01:02:03 if we don't see about our own Wall Street,
01:02:07 ain't nobody gonna make no Wall Street for us.
01:02:11 Amen.
01:02:12 So the time has come to make business decisions
01:02:17 with the church included
01:02:19 and do something that helps the homeless.
01:02:24 Commercial buildings are cheap.
01:02:28 And I have a proposal for the mayor.
01:02:33 (audience chattering)
01:02:34 Father in the name of Jesus, touch her right where she is.
01:02:37 Jesus' name.
01:02:39 So my committee, my nominating committee
01:02:44 will bring some names of directors.
01:02:48 I have a governing board.
01:02:50 Believe it or not, when we moved here,
01:02:53 on my governing board was no less person than Cathy Hughes.
01:02:56 And Cathy Hughes helped us in many ways
01:02:59 to be able to navigate.
01:03:02 We need business-minded people.
01:03:05 Amen.
01:03:06 We need the best we can get.
01:03:08 One of my board members is the mayor
01:03:11 of the city of Gary, Indiana.
01:03:13 And these are people who have connection with government.
01:03:18 The mayor, the present mayor is just a marvelous,
01:03:22 marvelous counselor to us
01:03:26 to give us the direction we need.
01:03:28 I told the mayor in Inglewood,
01:03:30 I said, "Give us seven to eight acres."
01:03:33 He said to me, "Bishop Jones, don't you know
01:03:37 "that in Inglewood, the acreage is $1.2 million an acre?"
01:03:42 I said, "That ain't my fault, you did that."
01:03:46 (audience laughing)
01:03:49 It was cheap before you got there.
01:03:52 So I need your prayers.
01:03:56 And we're working on it.
01:03:59 And if we build something out,
01:04:01 it's gonna take time, permits and all the things
01:04:04 that have already made arrangements for us to have church
01:04:08 until we complete the assignment.
01:04:11 So you pray for us.
01:04:14 And I need you to pray for our churches in the city
01:04:17 because of the transitions that have been made.
01:04:21 Bishop Blake is no longer where he is.
01:04:25 He's passed the baton.
01:04:29 And Bishop Holmer passed the baton.
01:04:32 I had a long talk with Bishop Jakes yesterday.
01:04:34 We were talking about passing batons.
01:04:38 And, huh?
01:04:41 Yeah, well, amen.
01:04:48 Well, tell my young wife to keep me young.
01:04:52 (audience laughing)
01:04:55 Don't go to clapping now, don't start.
01:05:00 Father, as we go, go with us,
01:05:06 stay with us in this decision-making time
01:05:09 and populate us, not with the envious people around us,
01:05:15 not with antagonistic people,
01:05:18 but populate us with people who are like-minded.
01:05:22 - Amen.
01:05:23 - Who understand that direction and vision come from you.
01:05:27 And power is not the issue here
01:05:30 because nobody can outpower you.
01:05:34 Nobody can outpower who you direct and guide.
01:05:38 And I pray, Lord, that you will have your way
01:05:43 in this business, that this church,
01:05:46 if your coming is delayed a thousand years,
01:05:51 that the name City of Refuge will still stand
01:05:54 as a symbol of love,
01:06:00 respect, dignity,
01:06:03 and kindness to the communities which we stand.
01:06:09 And we claim the victory right now.
01:06:12 We bless every bit of food
01:06:14 that's coming out of Solomon's Corner.
01:06:16 We bless it right now.
01:06:18 For those who forget to pray, so happy to eat.
01:06:21 We bless the food in Jesus' name.
01:06:24 God bless you, I love you.
01:06:27 (upbeat music)
01:06:29,
01:06:34 (upbeat music)
01:06:37 (upbeat music)
01:06:40 (upbeat music)
01:06:42 (upbeat music)
01:06:45 (upbeat music)
01:07:02 (upbeat music)
01:07:04 (upbeat music)
01:07:07 (upbeat music)
01:07:09 (upbeat music)
01:07:12 (upbeat music)
01:07:15 (upbeat music)
01:07:17 (upbeat music)
01:07:20 (upbeat music)
01:07:22 (upbeat music)
01:07:25 (upbeat music)
01:07:27 (upbeat music)
01:07:30 (whooshing)