[0:00] If you will, turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 12. 2 Corinthians chapter 12. It's good to see all this folks out here for New Year's Day.
[0:19] This is better than watching the rose parade, isn't it? New Year's time is a time when we take inventory, I suppose, of our life.
[0:32] And we resolve that we're going to do this or do that or not going to do this or not going to do that. And I want to share some suggestions for resolutions.
[0:47] They may not have crossed your mind, but hopefully they will cross your mind today. And hopefully that you will resolve to do some of the things. If not all of them, it wouldn't hurt you if you resolved to do all of them.
[1:03] 2 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 6. 2 Corinthians chapter 12, verse 6. Now, I'm just going to use that one instance, just part of that verse.
[1:29] The Apostle Paul had made a resolution in his mind, had made a promise that whenever he spoke, that he was going to speak the truth.
[1:44] Man, that's a good resolution to man. Good resolution to man. If we're not going to say the truth, we ought to keep our mouth shut. We ought to say anything at all.
[1:56] Well, then sometimes you can lie but not open in your mouth. But we ought to resolve that when we speak, we'll speak the truth. Now, he had been to heaven.
[2:10] He had saw things in heaven that were even unlawful for him to speak. And he had came back to this earth. And being back on the earth, he was in an exalted position of being the only man, I suppose, that had gone to heaven and came back.
[2:30] And he had all these things that he could say and all those things that he could glory in. But he said, I'm not going to do that. But he said, I am going to do this.
[2:41] When I say something, it's going to be the truth. And then, of course, along with exalted revelation comes exalted trouble.
[2:52] Have you noticed that? The more you learn about God, the more is required of you. And it looks like the more problems that you have, tribulations and trials.
[3:07] If you don't want to have any problems, just be an old lukewarm Christian and go along and not try to do anything for God. But if you want to run into problems and troubles and people talking about you and backbiting you, you just stand up and say, I'm going to do what God says, not what the world says.
[3:24] You'll be surprised. Troubles will follow you everywhere you go. I'm not a Wall Street gospel man. I do not preach that if you do what God wants you to do, everything will be roses.
[3:36] Job did what God wanted him to do and everything wasn't roses. Moses did what God wanted him to do and everything wasn't roses. David did what God wanted him to do and everything wasn't roses.
[3:47] If you do what God wants you to do, everything won't be rosy for you either. But we need to resolve that one of these days it will be worth it all.
[3:58] We need to set that in our mind and in our heart, a resolution that one of these days it will be worthwhile. So while I'm down here, I will speak, I will say the truth.
[4:12] Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, as I come to you this morning, God, I thank you for New Year time. I thank you, Lord, for the, it seems maybe we'll be able to start over.
[4:26] It seems we may be able to start afresh and anew. God, I pray that you'd help us, that we would get within our soul, within our thoughts, the desire to do what God wants us to do this year.
[4:41] Lord, that we live for you and not be afraid of what man would do to us. I pray that you'd help us. If there's one here that's lost, I pray, God, that they might resolve today to go home with the Father.
[4:58] I pray in Jesus' name, amen. Probably resolution number one that needs to be made out of every prodigal is found in Luke chapter 15 and verse 18.
[5:14] The prodigal son had gone as far down as he could get. It looks to me like when folks get on the downward road.
[5:25] Now, this is just an observation. It looks to me like that you can holler, you can scream, you can throw up flags, you can say, don't do it, don't do it.
[5:37] But it's been my observation that when they get set in their mind that the far country has got a better life to offer than the Father's house, it seems to me that they have got to go all the way to the bottom.
[5:53] I wish we could stop them. I wish I could stop the folks of my church that I see that are destroying themselves. Folks that will leave the church and go out into the world looking because somebody said they could have a good time there.
[6:12] But resolution number one probably would be there in Luke 15, 18. The prodigal son said, I will arise and I will go to my Father.
[6:24] That's the best thing that we can do. When we are down and out, when we've laid down on God, when we have not did what we ought to do in life, we ought to say that.
[6:37] I will arise and go where I'm supposed to be. I'll go back home and I'll tell my Father that I've sinned against Heaven and sinned in His sight and I'm not even worthy to be called His Son.
[6:53] But if He'd make me as one of the hired servants, I'd be happy. That would be good for us. That would be good for our proud hearts if we'd just say, I'm tired of living in the hog pen.
[7:06] I will arise and go where I'm supposed to be. Go back home to my Father. That's the resolution number one. Jesus was on this earth 2,000 years ago.
[7:21] Lived 33 some odd years down here with us and He made some resolutions while He was here. He made some statements while He was here.
[7:34] Things that He was resolved to do. Things that He committed Himself to do. I remember in Matthew chapter 4, He said, follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.
[7:49] He resolved that if you wanted to, He would make you a fisher of men. Somebody says, well, I'd like to, but I'm afraid to.
[8:00] That's His responsibility. If you'll follow Him, it's His responsibility to make you a fisher of men. He said He would do it.
[8:11] I believe He will do it. I also believe we live in the age of apostasy. As Brother Greg was teaching, we live in the age when there's a great falling away.
[8:21] That we live in the age when, and that word falling away has the idea of somebody that once stood. It doesn't have the context.
[8:32] How could a lost person fall away? He never stood for nothing in his life. A lost person never was on the rock, never was solid.
[8:43] He never amounted to anything. So how could he fall away from anything? No, it's not talking about lost people. It's talking about people who once stood and said this is what we stand for.
[8:56] This is who we are. And today, they've fallen away from that position. There were people that once held up this book and said, I believe this book is perfect.
[9:08] There were people right here in our America who went around the world with the gospel and they didn't have all these new translations.
[9:20] They didn't have all these new observations. But they said, I believe this book is the Word of God. And brother, you try to find one today that will make that same statement.
[9:32] You name it. You name the denomination. It doesn't matter to me. You find one in it that will stand and tell you, I believe that old book is the Word of God. They believe that the scholars can dig up the Word of God if they'll get all 150 translations together and pick one out here and pick one out there.
[9:51] Baloney! Thank you. Baloney! I don't believe that. He said, heaven and earth will pass away, but my word will not pass away. Jesus said, if you'll follow me, I'll make you features of men.
[10:06] As a resolution. He also said in Matthew chapter 11 and verse 28, if you were weary, if you were tired, come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
[10:21] He resolved that if we would come to Him, He'd give us rest. We do not go, so we do not have rest. We think that rest can come by something that we can manufacture.
[10:37] Something that we can create out of our own mind. Our own, quote, image of God. Of what God ought to be. And what... The problem with God is He doesn't cater to our images.
[10:52] The problem with God is no matter what I think about it, He's still God and He does what He wants to do. He said, if we would throw ourselves upon Him, He said, by coming to Him, if we were weary, if we were heavy laden, He said, I will give you rest.
[11:12] That's the New Year's resolution that He made. I will make you features of men. I will give you rest. The leper said, if you can, you can make me whole.
[11:23] He said, I will be thou made whole. Jesus will give us rest. And then He's told us, if we'd be faithful over a few things, I will make you a ruler over many things.
[11:38] Did you ever study that out? Sometimes we think, well, I'd like to be the ruler over many things now. I'd like to have everything now. In this life, I'd like to have it.
[11:50] But He said, you be faithful and I will make you a ruler. I will give you a position of authority. You may never have one here. You may spend your life here up in the head of one of these hollers, if you please.
[12:06] You may spend it there as a little Sunday school teacher in a class of one or two insignificant children that are more interested in going to sleep than they are in your teaching.
[12:17] But if you will be faithful, folks, He said, I will make you a ruler over many things. See, our problem is, we want to be big dog right away.
[12:29] Our problem is that if we can't have it now, we can't have God to do what we want Him to do, then our problem is that we try to go find us another God.
[12:42] In Matthew chapter 27, verse 63, He made another resolution. Matthew chapter 27, verse 63, He said, three days and I will rise again.
[12:57] Three days and I will rise again. You see, before He ever went to Calvary, He had it resolved in His mind that He had did the will of His heavenly Father, that He would bear the sins of the world on His shoulders, that the cross would be part of the experience, but He did not have in mind that He would always be under its power.
[13:24] He did not have it in mind that He ever planned to stay in that tomb. He said, I will rise again. Man, that's a resolution that none of them can say.
[13:37] Buddha didn't say that because He knew He couldn't. Mohammed didn't say that because He knew He couldn't. I was over in Egypt one time and I visited the tomb of one of those Muslim prophets.
[13:51] I don't remember which one he was, but he was a big high-ranking official in that church, if you call it a church. And when we went in there, those folks don't even think like we think.
[14:05] I mean, they believe in reverence and things. They made us put covers on our shoes so we wouldn't track into that fellow's tomb.
[14:16] But then we went in and here I got these little old socks on my shoes. I look like I'm an orderly or something in a hospital. I'm just bouncing along by car.
[14:29] And I go walking in here and here's this great old big, oh, is it a casket? I don't know what it was. Some kind of a tomb. Well, here lay this dead man's bones and all these Muslims around going Abba, Father Abba, something like that.
[14:46] I don't know what they're doing. Then when we start out, here's this dude with a collection plate and he was wanting me to put money in there so that they could keep going with whatever they were doing at that time.
[15:07] Well, I didn't give him no money. And I walked outside and I thought, now, here I visited the tomb of one of their high-ranking prophets. And as far as I can see, brother, he don't have any more power than I've got.
[15:21] When I die, I lay there in the grave. Y'all can come by and throw money into me if you want to. But it won't help you a bit. But when I went to Jerusalem and I walked outside of Calvary's Hill and I went down there to the Garden of Gethsemane and went around there, I found a tomb, but I found nobody inside because his resolution was, I will rise again.
[15:47] Thank God he did it. And if he didn't do it, we're wasting our time. We found ourselves to be false witnesses of God and everything I ever preached is useless.
[16:00] But brother, this morning I believe that he came out of that grave on the third day and I believe he's seated in heaven this morning. And one of these days, thank the Lord, he made another resolution.
[16:12] He said, I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am there you may be also. I'll do it. That's resolutions that Jesus made.
[16:26] Then you can find in the Bible, you can find foolish resolutions. There was a man over in the book of Luke that had prospered in life.
[16:39] Sometimes we think that prosperity means that we're really doing what God wants us to. This fellow was prosperous in life.
[16:50] Probably a hard worker. Probably a good farmer. Probably knew the technology of it. Probably had a Massey Ferguson tractor and all kind of tilling equipment and planting equipment and probably work night and day.
[17:07] And when the year ended, his crop was tremendous. And he had more crop than he had barn to put it in. And so he said to himself, he made himself a resolution.
[17:21] Rather than saying, I'll give part of what I've got, back to God or amen. That's a resolution we need to make. Over there in the book of Genesis, if I don't want to get off of my subject, but over there in the book of Genesis, when Jacob was fleeing from the face of his brother and he stopped there at that stone and God visited him there at that stone, he said, if God will be my God and He'll deliver me and keep me in all the ways that I journey, He said, I will give a tenth of everything I got to Him.
[17:57] That's a good resolution to make. You ought to try that sometime. I don't think rich people ought to give a tenth. I'll tell you why I don't think rich people ought to give a tenth. If I make a thousand dollars a day and you make ten dollars a day, amen, and you give a tenth and I give a tenth, that means at the end of the day, you've got nine hundred dollars left to run you and I've got nine dollars left to run me.
[18:27] The New Testament doesn't teach tithing. The New Testament teaches to give as God has prospered you. Let me tell you something, honey. That little old fellow on a twenty dollar a month income that's putting two dollars in is giving more than you people that's making a thousand dollars a week and just putting in your little hundred and think you're giving something to God.
[18:50] Jesus said that the widow gave more than all the rich people gave. That's just something I throwed in there. Now let me get back. Here was a man that had barns that just couldn't hold what all that he had.
[19:04] So he made the resolution. Resolution, he said I will tear down my barns and I'll build me greater barns. But he took no thought of his own soul.
[19:15] He took no thought of his own life. And that night, if he was to die that night, if he was to go out into eternity to meet God that night, then who would get his barn?
[19:29] Then who would have all of the farming equipment that he had? He said, I will tear down my barn. Foolish resolution. That's not the only foolish resolution.
[19:42] The Apostle Paul had been preaching and he'd been preaching real well. He'd upset the folks. They got him arrested. I think any preacher that doesn't get arrested every now and then ought to check up.
[19:56] Amen. I think any preacher that doesn't run afoul of the law every now and then ought to check up. Run afoul of public opinion every now and then he ought to check up.
[20:07] Paul spent most of his ministry in jail. Anyway, he was preaching and he was arrested for it and he came to a certain part of his trial and there was a man there by the name of Felix.
[20:19] And that Felix, he heard Paul preaching. He heard the sermon. He heard the gospel. He heard the story. And he said, here's the resolution that Felix made.
[20:31] He said, Paul, when I have a convenient season, I will call for you. I resolve, he said, I resolve to get saved when it's convenient.
[20:46] Folks, I believe the devil rejoices when he hears someone talk like that. I believe he can fix it where it's never convenient for you to get saved.
[20:57] I believe he can fix it where it's never convenient for you to pay your tithes. I believe he'll fix it where it's never convenient for you to be faithful to church.
[21:08] He'll fix it that way because you see, we're saying, I'll do it when I feel like it. But brother, we've got to do it when the Spirit of God calls us. Foolish resolutions that are in the Bible.
[21:21] Now I'm going to start meddling. Y'all hide your snuff cans and whatever. We're really going to get with it now. Turn, if you will, to 1 Corinthians 6. 1 Corinthians 6, verse 12.
[21:35] 1 Corinthians 6, verse 12. One lady told me when I said Corinthians, she just cringed. I don't know why.
[21:47] 1 Corinthians 6, verse 12. All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient. All things are lawful for me.
[22:00] Do you realize the import of that statement? Do you realize that if I told you what that really taught, that you would accuse me of blaspheming? Do you realize that God has told you, hey bud, nothing.
[22:19] You do anything you want to do. All things are lawful for you. You help yourself. Okay? Now look.
[22:30] He said, but I will not be brought under the power of any. All over America, Christians are prisoners of war against a...
[22:48] There is a warfare that's going on against the temple of God. And people are being destroyed all over because they have not made that resolution that nothing is going to bring me under its power.
[23:13] I'm saying today that you can watch all the MTV that you want to. That's a lawful thing for you to do.
[23:24] But I'm saying that if you are not careful that you'll get under the power and under the influence of that hellish rock music and it'll destroy you even though you're a Christian.
[23:41] I'm saying that it has a powerful influence. I'm saying that it'll just literally tear your family apart. That's not all.
[23:53] That's not all. There's nothing in the Bible that would say that I couldn't do this or do that. I don't know whether I want to get specific here or not.
[24:05] I ought to take a vote and see how many of you is ready for me to get specific. All things are lawful to me. Some people say well I wouldn't eat a pork chop.
[24:17] And brother pork isn't any good for you. We know that. You ask any doctor. Some folks say I wouldn't smoke a cigarette. And we know smoking cigarettes isn't good for you.
[24:28] Ask any doctor you want to ask. But we've got Christians all over America that are enslaved to bacon and eggs. They're enslaved to it.
[24:39] They can't get loose from it. But then on the other hand we've got these physical fitness nuts that are running around today. They're doing aerobics. You know what I mean kicking out there?
[24:51] They're doing all this and they don't realize it but they're enslaved to that bad thing that they were trying to get loose from. Amen. One of the greatest preachers that I knew was Lester Roloff down in Texas.
[25:04] I visited his place down there and brother Lester he was a good man but he was a fanatic on health food. I mean man he went after them vitamins.
[25:15] He went after oh he wouldn't eat a snowball cake. Uh uh that would be just like him taking poison. And here he was 60 some years old and a picture of health.
[25:27] What happened? He died in an airplane crash. I'm saying brother there ain't no need to get brought under the power of any influence down here but the power of the Holy Spirit of God.
[25:39] You get brought under that and you get caught up folks say oh I've got to have this I've got to have this is the new trend and it's really it's just any kind of an enslaving thing to keep you out of the work of God.
[25:59] I can't go to church tonight I've got to go to exercise class. Amen preacher. I can't go to work tonight they're having a big ball down at the where I work and I've got to I've got to go down there and eat all my potatoes and gravy I can get a hold of.
[26:19] Regardless of which side of the scale that we go now I'm for balance in the Christian life. I got unbalanced many years ago and it's hard to get balance back but I am for balance in the Christian life.
[26:37] But I don't believe that I need to be brought under the power of anything. I saw these tapes advertised. Are you overweight? He said. Send in to us.
[26:48] We got these tapes for $125. We'll whisper while you sleep. You ain't hungry. You ain't hungry. What do you think about hypnotism preacher?
[27:03] What do you think about that verse right there bud? Thank you. I resolve bless God if God wants me to prosper I'll prosper.
[27:14] If God don't want me to prosper I don't want to have a mind power class and get under some kind of a hypnotic Eastern religion spell to try to make me prosper.
[27:25] Thank you. Baby Christians Christians they can't understand a lot of things that someone that's been around a while and by baby Christians I do not mean new converts.
[27:40] I have found that sometimes new converts have more understanding than 20 years. But when I'm talking about a baby Christian I'm talking about I don't care if you've been saved 15 or 20 years if you do not read your Bible you do not study your Bible you do not pray you do not make an attempt to do what God wants you to do you're a baby and you get offended babies get offended real easy.
[28:07] You've got to give them milk all the time. If you don't give them milk they choke on hey honey I've got teachers in this church right now that can choke you to death if you're a baby Christian.
[28:19] I mean I've got some folks around here that's been listening. I've got one fellow over here man I'm afraid to preach the same message he's got it marked down here two or three two or three you preached that message ten years ago but you're going to write you in the Bible.
[28:34] I'm just teasing a lot of folks are that way but what I'm saying what I'm saying is babies don't quite understand what we understand about it. 1 Corinthians chapter 8 verse 13 1 Corinthians chapter 8 verse 13 Paul made a resolution here and Paul said wherefore if meat make my brother to offend I will eat no flesh now how about that what if it offended me to see you eating a big mine I know what you'd say you ought to grow up that's what you'd say but you know what Paul said Paul said let's not judge each other anymore but let's judge this that no man put a stumbling block in front what if they really were offended what if they really were offended a brand new
[29:41] Christian and they were offended by what you did what would you do I resolve that if it offends them until we can learn them that God sanctified everything today by prayer and thanksgiving we can receive pork chops if we want to I think that unless they understand that don't you be eating pork chops in front of them meat sacrifice to idols that's something that's tremendous that'll get that'll get worse as the day goes as the years go on satanism is invading our land again animal sacrifices are on their way back you say oh we're in a modern society you're in a heathen society you're not in a modern society man's got a man's got a desire to worship some way and if he can't find the sacrifice of Jesus
[30:45] Christ he'll invent a sacrifice and and satanism satan is real and satanism will will bring animals in here what if you had a what if you had a sheep that this cult people up here in Morgantown or wherever they are Moundsville what if you got a brand new sheep that they just been offering to an idol would you eat it I'm not sure I would well it's they it don't it don't amount to nothing but I'll tell you what if somebody would see us in connection in fellowship in in in a business proposition with such a people I believe it would offend some of us Christians the question is relevant and Paul resolved if it offends my brother
[31:46] I'll not do it now I want to show you one that's good for preachers Hebrews chapter 13 verse 6 Hebrews chapter 13 verse 6 Paul said so that we may boldly say the Lord is my helper and I will not fear what man can do unto me do you know that America is full of churches that have pastors that are afraid to preach what they know is the truth because they'll get voted out do you believe that there are preachers that know better but they are afraid of what somebody will do to them we need to resolve we need to resolve in our heart in our mind that I don't care what man does to me because
[33:05] God is my helper I'll never leave thee nor forsake thee now I want you to look back in chapter 2 Hebrews chapter 2 verse 13 and we'll be done Hebrews chapter 2 verse 13 well let's just get verse 12 to while we're there saying I will declare thy name unto my brethren in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee and again I will put my trust in him amen what a resolution I will trust God I'll do it I'll put my trust in him wouldn't that be a good new year's resolution for some prodigal to say I will arise and I will go to my father
[34:06] I will put my trust in God I will not trust man I will not trust there are Christians and I'm all for putting Christians in office I'm all for it man if he's a Christian I don't care if he's a Ku Klux Klan member if he's a Christian I'll vote for him amen y'all thought well you got to be a Democrat or Republican if he's a Christian I'll vote for him I'll put him in office if I can but do you know what our hope is not in electing George Bush amen I'm glad thank God I don't have to put my hope in him our hope is not in throwing arch more out we need as never before to say I will trust God I will trust him for the needs of my life resolutions consider them some of them you may have already made some of them you may need to make some of them may be beyond you might they may be beyond us all but we can make the resolution and try to fulfill the word of
[35:27] God let's pray our heavenly father as I come to you just now I resolve to speak the truth when I speak Lord the Bible said God that you hated a liar all liars would have their part in a lake of fire God I resolve to speak the truth when I speak I pray holy father I pray that you would speak to the hearts of people here and Lord to this new year's day that they too would resolve to trust in God speak the truth to their fellow men not put a stumbling block in their way not be brought under the power God lean alone on the everlasting arm heads bow and eyes close others this morning
[36:35] I wonder how many are here you would say with honesty preacher I do need to resolve to arise and go to my father and say to my father Lord I've muffled I've not done what I ought to but by your grace I'm going to do this year what I should do is there any of you will do that if so just step up out of your seat right now walk down this aisle he'll hear this altar say Lord I resolve to live for you this year will you do it while we wait
[37:39] God bless you God bless you God bless you God bless you God bless you folks have already came will you come say God I resolve this year I'm going to live for you will you do it folks have already came would you like to come too if you would just step out of your seat let's stand and sing while these pray here at the hour number 284 number 284 I hope that my heart is sorrow as love
[38:46] God bless your heart amen God bless your heart amen God bless God bless your heart amen pray And전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전전