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Transcript of message from TV Broadcast 443 -- taken from Closed Captioning Text -- Brother Phil Enlow: Most men have made their choice. And they've chosen to stay in the darkness and say no, I don't want that. I want to have my own way. God has left them in that condition. We're real close to that. But it's a sobering thing to say--to examine our hearts and say have I really ever trusted? But I want to just drop this thought into some, because I know that there are some that this happens to, who really and truly have given their heart to the Lord, but the devil assaults them. I've heard Brother Thomas many times after an altar call say this, "Don't you doubt the Lord." Because what the devil will do is come in and he'll make us the issue. How we feel, what happens, a whole lot of ups and downs, and this's and that's, and suddenly we just get thrown all off stride. And what we really need to realize is that if we ever really put our trust in God, do you really think--do you really think that He's going to violate that trust? -- Congregation: No. -- Brother Phil Enlow: Somebody that puts their trust in Him. We can rest in that. If you've ever really, really, really given Him your heart, He's got it. Thank Him. Trust Him. Praise God! ( congregational praise ). I don't know--maybe that'll help somebody. It helps me because I need this too. The devil talks to me, a lot. But you know we need to learn to stand on this. Boy, he'll make us the issue all day, but it's what Christ has done for us. Is there anybody in this universe who is trustworthy apart from Him--utterly, utterly, completely trustworthy. He is worthy of our trust tonight. I just praise Him. That's a good question to ask ourselves. You know, a lot of these other things are symptoms sometimes, Jimmy, because God has called us out. And there is a fundamental--just unbelief in people. You know Hebrews chapter 3 warns about--well praise God, I had it in my head ...an evil heart of unbelief. I thought of it just by opening the page. Sometimes that's all it takes. But the Lord warns about an evil heart of unbelief. That means somebody who has, down here, they've never trusted God with their whole life. And yeah, they've gone along here and they've gone along there. They've done this and they've done that and they've done the other, and outwardly everything looks fine. But way down here they've never let go. That's what he's talking about. Well God sees that. He knows that that's down there. That's the thing that He's gonna put His finger on sooner or later. And when that's gone, then the rest-then all this comes. Praise God! I appreciate the Lord tonight. I believe He is calling us out and I believe He would have us to live with a greater sense of where we're at, where the world is at, what the condition of the world is, and to be sure that we ourselves are truly ready, that our lives are being lived with eternity's values in view. God help me, God help every one of us to realize what He's called us to, and to love Him and to trust Him, and to be separate from this world--realize what it means. We could talk about other things-Abraham and all the separation in his life and how he insisted on getting a proper wife for his son Isaac. All of these things--you've heard ministry on this, most of you. But I praise God tonight for His faithfulness. He's looking for people. The only righteous people in this world are those who have come, deep in their hearts, to undo what Eve did in the garden--to come back to that place of utter and complete trust. You do that, He'll declare you righteous. He's taken care of the sin problem. That's not really a problem to Him. He's done everything that's necessary there. What it comes down to is, are you willing to just surrender? Because once you do that He does the rest. Isn't that wonderful? Praise God! -- Brother Jim Easterly: You know I, in my life, I have very seldom waited to be drafted, but I was drafted tonight. And if you have ever been drafted behind Jimmy Robbins and Phil Enlow ( laughter )( laughing ). I mean you just say, Lord, what can I say. He said, well you can't say anything. ( laughing ). But He can. God can. I don't have a lot to say, you know. I just...I would like to say this. I would like to kind of point this to us here tonight. You know we have people in our minds. And you know there's a joke that Brother Thomas used to tell about that drunk that came to church. There were several people in the church, and that preacher, boy he tore drunks up. And after church, boy that drunk told him, he said, "Preacher you nailed them tonight." And the second night, there was just the drunk and a couple other people, and the same thing. And the drunk told him again. He said, "Preacher you got them tonight." And the last night of the meeting there was just that drunk. And that preacher just tore drinking up. And that drunk told him after church. He said, "If they'd been here tonight preacher, you'd have got them." ( laughter ). And I want us to...you know every one of us has somebody in our mind that this message would apply to. There's a reason why we're here tonight. God brought us here. That's right--to hear this, to help you and to help me. You know like Phil said, it's issue after issue after issue. It boils down to this--"Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness." We cannot get righteous by knocking down one issue after another. "Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness." Amen. And the issue that we started with tonight--yeah it's a tough issue. You've got the physiological side. Those hormones are very real. They make you do things--very powerful. Then on the spiritual side you've got this desire. You say, well Lord, I've been here. I was raised here. And you just fall into one thing after another. And the day comes where you're...I mean, you're marriageable age. In your mind you're way past marriageable age. But Abraham was way past the age where God could do what He promised to do for him too. Now did God reward Abraham? -- Congregation: Yes. Amen -- Brother Jim Easterly: I mean really, this is for us tonight-for you and for me. We can trust God. We can trust Him. He has our interest at heart. He has our interest at heart. Listen, He gave His only begotten Son. He is not gonna drop the ball on any issue. The issues, honestly, as important as they seem as you face them at that time, they are trivial. What is important is trusting Him. We can trust Him too, beloved. Amen. That's all I've got. -- Brother Chip King: I believe this is the Lord, don't you? I need it probably more than anybody else. You know I thought of the rich young ruler. Here was this fellow that came to God and, you know, he actually came to Jesus. Let's turn over there. It's in Mark. You know, it's pretty easy...let me sort of say this before I get into that. Is it Mark chapter 3, is it Phil? Ten, excuse me. You know, there is a spirit in this world-a religious spirit-that says it trusts God, but it's trusting a God that's here. It's sort of a mental assent and it trusts sort of this God that we can sort of make do anything we want Him to do. But I think that when it comes right down to it, when we hear from God, do we really bow the knee when we hear from Him? Do we believe that God is speaking to us? You know, we are to be responsible to something. We can't just be responsible to this general concept of God. I believe God is in a people, don't you? I believe God is in a ministry. I believe the Spirit of God comes forth to speak to hearts and it's a very personal thing. God speaks to us eyeball to eyeball. I'm thankful for that because if He didn't speak to me that way and it was just sort of up here and I could go my own way and sort of interpret it any way that I wanted to, I'd be in big trouble. I believe God is speaking tonight. Let's examine our own hearts in the light of this Word. I'm talking to me too. And let's not do as Jim was talking about and say well if they'd a been here. Praise God! Here he was the rich young ruler in verse 17, and I don't need to go through it all. You all are just as familiar with it as I am. But he came to the Lord and he called Him good master. He realized there was something special about Jesus. He said, "what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" And I'll guarantee he asked that question knowing already in his heart that he had done everything he needed to do. He was convinced that he had already done it. And the Lord said to him, "Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God." Then the Lord kind of begins to talk to him a little bit and says, "Thou knowest the commandments." Then he goes through this, "Do not commit adultery." The rich young ruler says I've got it made there. "Do not kill," and the rich young ruler says that's no problem. "Do not steal," he says I've never stolen anything. "Do not bear false witness," and so on and so on. And the rich young ruler, I tell you what, he's figuring, you know what? I have it made. He says master, all of these things have I done-not only just done, I've done them from my youth up. God if anybody deserves eternal life, I do. That's the rich young ruler. And then, "Jesus beholding him loved him." God saw beyond what the rich young ruler was saying. God saw the man's heart. The Lord loves you and I tonight. He loves us enough to tell us the truth. Praise His name! Thank you Lord! The Lord "beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest." Well, I guarantee the rich young ruler was thinking, well you know what, if it's just one that's okay. He said, "Go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me." The Lord had touched the very thing--the very thing that this young man did not want to give up. And it says here, "He was sad at that saying." I tell you what, he was let down. Here he was. He thought he'd done everything he needed to do and even when the Lord said there's just one thing the guy, he probably felt, well that's okay. But he went away and he was grieved "for he had great possessions." What does the Lord need to touch in our hearts? What is it that we hold that's between you and I and God? Is it the issue of a mate? Could be. We're in a battle right now-a battle in my home. There's a battle here, I believe, in the Body of Christ. God is interested in this issue. He is very interested in this issue. So much so that He's speaking to us eyeball to eyeball about it. Think about that. We could read it, but I tell you what. When God speaks, it comes by the anointing. What will you and I do with that anointing? Are we going to walk away sad at that saying because it crosses us? Or are we going to do as Jesus Himself had to do when the cross was facing Him? I thought of this tonight. The Lord of Glory came down from heaven. He and God together decided this was what was needed. The Lord agreed to come--willingly He came, became a man, lived just as you and I have to live here in this earth, was faced with every conceivable temptation--trial. Was He not "tempted in all points like as we are"? Praise God! The Word declares that He was. He agreed to come, had to go through all of that, and at the end of it was going to be sentenced to death, and a very painful death. And there He was in the garden, when it had come right down to it. When it came right down to it, and it was just before Him, it was going to happen. It was coming, He could not escape it. And He went out into that garden and He went aside and He began to pray. And He began to pray. And He began to pray. So much so that He began to...blood began to pour out of Him. Think about that. He agonized because the cross was there and He knew what He had to face. All of the sin was going to be placed on Him, all of the pain. All of that was gonna be placed on Him. He knew it was there and He wept over it. He agonized and He said, God, if it be your will, "let this cup pass from me." But then He said this: "Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done. Praise God! The Lord of Glory had to surrender His will in this matter. My God! And if He hadn't, there'd be no hope for you and me. But praise God He did! Hallelujah! ( congregational praise ). Hallelujah! What will you and I do when God Himself before us--eyeball to eyeball challenges us? It may be marriage. It may be something else--whatever that appeals to us that we like. And maybe on it's own merit there's nothing wrong with it. But God sees something wrong with it. He sees danger. He sees danger and He loves us enough to come to us and say, wait a minute. Have you considered my Word? Have you considered what I might think about this? And I love you so much, I'm gonna tell you about it. And I'm gonna come and I'm gonna speak to you, and I gonna be honest with you. My God, I'm thankful God and Christ--they're honest with us. He doesn't gloss it over. He tells us the truth in love. He doesn't lay down laws. Praise God! He doesn't give us the do's and the don'ts. He comes to us and ministers faith--faith that we can take a stand, faith that we can get beyond how we feel, faith that we can get beyond this issue that seems so strong to us--and it's strong. God made us. He understands that. But He also will give us the grace to take the stand that we need. And praise God, when we fall, He has the grace to lift us back up and say, I still love you. Praise God! If Jesus Christ himself could come to the place where facing the cross...I can't imagine. Only He knows what that was like. But He said, "Lord, not my will but thine be done." Can we say that tonight? God help all of us. But I know--I know as we surrender little by little, whatever measure we're able to do, I believe God will bless us. As we take a stand in areas that we understand and know are right God will bless us, because He's a God of His Word. He backs it up. Let's not be as the rich young ruler and walk away sad. There's no further record of him here--no further record of the rich young ruler. Don't know whether he ever got to the place where he repented. I'm sure it might be in here if he did. Praise God! Let's consider what the Lord is saying to us tonight and let's thank Him that He beholds us and loves us. Praise God, I thank Him for it! -- Brother Thomas: Well I think the Lord has spoken to a lot of people and I appreciate...I don't know of a man that's got up here that hasn't contributed something that we need and I appreciate it. I just want to bring this down to another dimension if I can. I was thinking about some of my own personal experiences, you know, in the Lord's work. I was thinking of two or three little incidents. I'll mention them briefly and that'll be all. I was thinking about one night. I was coming up to North Carolina in fact. I drove up this--North Carolina to Florida to North Carolina over and over again for many years before I ever moved up here. I remember I was pulling out. It was 12 o'clock at night and I was turning around. The road in front of our house was dirt, and I was just turning around in that to come and get on Highway 90 and head toward Jacksonville, and then of course take US 1 and come on up this way. But about the time I got turned around, my children woke up. I only had two--Sherry and Dan at the time. They come out with their little nightgowns. That's all they had on was little nightgowns. My wife of course was out there on the front porch, and she said the children just got up and they want to say bye to you. And so I paused just briefly and they come out on the porch and they said, Bye Daddy, Bye Daddy." And I'm gonna tell you right now that was the hardest thing in the world for me to leave there at that time. But I did because I had a meeting scheduled that was supposed to go two or three weeks. But I almost quit that night. I almost resigned. You know, nothing I guess is as dear to you as your children. And the Lord knows just exactly how to bring these things to pass. So that night I couldn't hardly leave there, but I did. And after I got out on the road and got up 60 or 70 miles an hour, why of course I soon forgot it. But I never will forget how I wept, praying for my children and praying for my family. Those things may not seem important, but you have to do some surrendering to do it. The issue that He brings to you like that is real. He knows how to touch you--God does. And all that does is just really--well it does a work in you. But, when the Lord saved me I just started right out, you know, walking. Didn't have no car, and so I would walk up and down the roads and I would talk to people in the field--men in the field, and then going from house to house. But I had many wonderful experiences with the Lord, and it all served a purpose. The Lord showed me that I wasn't my own, that I was bought with a price, and I had to use my faculties, my intellect, what talent I may have had--had to use it for His glory. That means I couldn't consider anything--didn't consider a job. I did work some, but I mean for the most part that wasn't my number one priority. My priority was to go and serve God and do His will. I'm not sorry I did. ( congregational amens ). I'm thankful. I went through a lot of experiences. I shed many tears. And I walked and I prayed. If you want to know the will of God, you just seek Him. ( congregational amens ). And don't quit, just keep on seeking Him. 
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