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Sunday Evening, September 27th, 2026. John Brown

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Sunday, September 27th 2026. Old Testament Scripture series

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Wednesday Night Sermon. September 23, 2026. Answering questions the youth have. Who is the ruler of this world? The answer may surprise you. 

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Sunday Evening, September 20th, 2026. 

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Genesis 15 has God establishing a covenant with Abram, promising an heir with countless descendants, and the land of Canaan. Chapter 16 tells the story of Sarai, Abram, and Hagar, highlighting human impatience and God’s compassionate response to the afflicted Hagar. Chapter 17 records God appearing to 99-year-old Abram to reaffirm His covenant, change his name, and institute circumcision as the sign of the covenant. As you read through or listen to the Bible, look for lessons that can impact your life. There are several in 15:1.

Nothing is more important than Gen.15:6 where it says, “Abraham believed God and He accounted it to him for righteousness.” Abe was declared right with God when He believed the promise of God. He set the precedence for all others to be saved. This the N.T. declares many times (Rm.4:3,22-25; Gal.3:6; Jas.2:23). We are justified by faith. But a close second to that is, “The just shall live by faith.” (Rm.1:17; Gal.3:11; Heb.10:38) Living by faith we inherit all the many other promises of God from the time we are saved till we die. All the promises of God but one has to do with how we live by faith. There are literally hundreds of these promises. God not only wants us to be right; He wants us to live right. To do that we must believe the promises of God.

Because this is so important, we find that the Bible and the experiences of believers reveal there are many hindrances to living by faith. Those hindrances rise from our own flesh, this sinful world, and the devil. Abe didn’t believe the promise of God one day and wake up the next day with the title deed to all the land of Canaan and multitudes of children. These would come as he learned to live by faith. To be born is one thing, but that is only the beginning. There’s a lot to learn about living a productive and meaningful life in this life and in our life with God. And there are many hindrances. I see two in these chapters I want us to consider.

I. Abraham’s God was too small.  It’s not that his God was small, but his perception of God was way too small. He just found it hard to believe that God could fulfill His promises to give him an inheritance of land and children. He was 100 years old with no kids, and Canaanites owned the land God said He had given to him.

This is the life of many Christians. There are many precious promises but for various reasons so many of the promises have yet to be realized. God has abundant life promised to you but you are not living in that abundance. Do you want that abundance? You do if you have half a spiritual brain. Realizing, inheriting and obtaining those promises will require faith and endurance. “Do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” (Heb.6:12)

Abraham had an excuse for his inadequate concept of God. He didn’t have a Bible. We do. We have a huge book filled with stories telling us how big God is. He can create the universe with the power of His spoken word, He can part a sea, heal multitudes, and raise the dead. We are told, “Nothing is impossible with God,” and He proved it with many miracles. Do you believe the miracles God did in the Bible? He hasn’t changed.

For example, by faith we have peace WITH God (Rm.5:1), but the peace OF God is another thing. That comes with praying correctly; so we have to learn how to pray. Even the disciples had to ask Jesus to teach them how to pray (Lk.11:1), and He did. Do you really know how to pray? The proof is in how many answers to prayer you have experienced. The peace of God also requires pondering. “Think on these things…and the peace of God will guard your heart.” (Phil.6:6-9) “He will keep in perfect peace, those whose minds are fixed on Him.” (Is.26:3) You can’t have peace if you’re worried, or depressed, or sinning.

Say out loud, “God is big enough to do anything. God is big enough to do the impossible. I have a big big God.”  And say, “I will not be defeated and I will not quit until His promises are fulfilled in my life.”

II. Abraham’s Patience was too short.  He tried to talk God into making his servant and Ismael his heir. Both times God said, “NO!” He had to be patient for 25 years. Fortunately it doesn’t take that long for most promises to be fulfilled. Sometimes they are fulfilled instantly. When the blind man asked Jesus to heal him, Jesus said, “Go your way; your faith has made you will.” And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus.” (Mk.10:51-52)

But that doesn’t always happen. Noah had to wait before the promise came to pass. So did Jacob, Joseph, and David. Many times we must brood over the promise until it hatches. Sit on it, and don’t get off the nest. Find a promise that relates to your situation, and like Abraham, meditate, imagine, confess, and never give up until the promise comes to pass. Our daughter had hyaline membrane disease. We prayed and prayed for weeks until she was healed. We refused to give up. I would not accept this. If you can live with something, you probably will. If it is contrary to a promise of God you don’t have to live with it. Fight the good fight of faith. 

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Precepts means commands. Jesus mentions His commands in v.15, and 21-24. Paraclete is the Greek word for helper. It literally means someone called alongside to help you, like Eve was called a helpmeet for Adam. Jesus used this word throughout this passage for the Holy Spirit. The Paraclete is the Holy Spirit in v.17 and 26. And so we have in this passage spoken by Jesus: Prayer, Precepts, and the Paraclete. He says very important things about each of them. Let’s see if we can see a connection.

I. Prayer, v.13-14    I have said this before and it is an undeniable fact that in all of Jesus’ teachings on prayer he never gives the slightest hint that each prayer we pray will not be answered and we will get just what we ask for. Every prayer will be answered with a Yes by God.

The problem is that this is inconsistent with most people’s experience with prayer. That’s because most of our prayers do not follow the Scriptural guidelines for prayer. It’s like we get a new computer on wheels (a car) and we don’t know how to work it so we can enjoy all the benefits. It’s like an old man who buys a racecar and only uses it to go to the grocery store.

“You have not because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss.” (Jas.4:2-3) Many don’t know what to ask for or how to ask for it. First, we must pray in faith, believing what we ask for God will give it. “Have faith in God. Whatever things you ask for when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” (Mk.11:22-24) Many people pray and don’t really expect God will answer; they just hope God decides to answer. And they will tell you, most of the time He doesn’t. But that’s not what Jesus said. God wants us to have what we ask for (Mt.7:7-11). We know what God wants by reading the Bible.

II. Precepts,  Jn.14:15,21-24    We don’t obey the precepts to earn God’s love or the answers to our prayers. We do them because we love Jesus. We show our love by doing what He says. That’s not too difficult to understand.

One son shows his gratitude for something his dad gives him. The other just takes it and walks away to enjoy it. That hug and “Thanks” creates a special bond between that dad and his son. One daughter has an obedient attitude toward everything her mom tells her to do. The other gripes about everything. When the time comes to give liberties, guess who is given more freedom? This may have something to do with why your prayers are not answered. You can’t love God without obeying Him. You can’t love your parents without it also.

III. The Paraclete, v.17,26    Jesus had told them He was leaving and where He was going they could not come. Imagine the horror that filled their hearts when they heard that. His presence and all He’d done for them were about to leave them and they would be “without Him” in this world. No more sitting at the supper table with Him, listening to His teaching, no more miracles, no more defending and comforting them. All that would be gone because He would be gone.

And so, He encourages them by telling them it is to their benefit that He goes away. How can that be? He said if He doesn’t go away the Paraclete cannot come (Jn.16:5-7). The Spirit being with them is more important than Jesus being with them. One reason is because the Spirit would be in them. “The Spirit of truth will be, not just with you (as I am), He will be in you. And He will teach you all things.” And don’t forget they would do greater works than He did because the Holy Spirit was coming to empower them (Jn.14:12).

His Story is made up of three parts. In the Old Testament we have the time of the Father. In the gospels we have Jesus. In the rest of the New Testament we have the Holy Spirit. The way many talk there are four dispensations. I call it hyper-dispensation. They have one too many. The have the Spirit throughout the book of Acts and after that we have the Bible. The holy trinity for them is Father, Son, and Holy Bible. But that’s not true. The Spirit came at Pentecost and He will be here with us and in us until we are raptured. He is now our Emmanuel, God with us. The Bible didn’t replace the Holy Spirit; He wrote the Bible. And we are supposed to go by the Bible He wrote. The Bible we are now reading.   

At Pentecost the church was born, believers began to be indwelt by the Spirit, and baptized by the Spirit so we could win the world to Christ. That’s when the gifts of the Spirit began to operate. None of these things will cease until Jesus comes back in power and glory to set up His physical kingdom on the earth.

O blessed Spirit! Fill us with Your presence, passion, and power. Manifest the glory of God with supernatural gifts. Do what you desire to do according to Heb.2:4. Let truth reign in our hearts that we may live it and speak it to others.

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September 13, 2026 Sunday Morning Sermon. Walk Through the Old Testament Scriptures. A Life of Faith: War and Worship from Genesis 14.

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John 14:12-14

These are three of the most powerful verses in the Bible, spoken by none other than Jesus Christ Himself. It challenges us to see if we believe the words of Jesus or not. I do. He is my favorite theologian. I agree with every word He ever said. I hope you do too.

In v.12 He said that if I believe I could do the very works that He did and even greater works. What kind of works did He do? He healed the sick, raised the dead, walked on water, cast out demons, fed multitudes with a boy’s lunch, and many other such miraculous things. And Jesus said every believer would do these works. I am a believer. Are you? We must come to grips with these words of Jesus. Do we believe them or not? And if we do, what are we going to do about it?

How life-changing it would be for anyone who believes, anyone who meditates on this, imagines it, and gets a revelation of it. Your life would never be the same. And how world-changing this would be. Imagine a people who were all walking around doing the miraculous works of Christ. These healings and miracles would have the same effect they had 2,000 years ago. No building would hold the crowds who would follow such believers who do such works. And we would then be able to preach the gospel to all those people!

This is made possible by Jesus going to the Father. What did He do when He went to the Father? Two things: 1.) He poured out the Holy Spirit on all flesh, on every believer. Not just kings, priests, and prophets. “All flesh.” They “received power when the Holy Spirit came upon them.”  (Acts 1:8). They were “endued with power from on High” to do the works of Jesus and preach the gospel to every creature. When Jesus went to the Father He sent the Holy Spirit (Jn.1:33; Acts 1:4-5).

2.) He went there and became our great high priest. He is our intercessor to give the Amen to our Yes. God gives a promise; We see the promise; we say, “Yes” to it and Jesus says, “Amen.”  All the promises of God in Christ are Yes and Amen (2Cor.1:20). Heb.7:25 tells us about the High Priestly ministry of Christ. “He always lives to make intercession for them (us).”

His part is pouring out the Holy Spirit to give us the power to do the works of Jesus, and praying for us. Our part is believing in and praying for that power. There are actually two intercessors: Christ at the right hand of the Father and the Holy Spirit in us. (Rm.8:26-27) With these things going for us, how could we not do the works of Jesus? Here’s how. There is our part in all of this. Why did Jesus say v.13-14 right after v.12? There is a conjunction between them, “And…” We will do the works of Jesus through prayer. He will do His works through us as we pray and believe that God answers our prayers. The purpose of prayer is that we might do the works of Jesus.

In v.13:14 Jesus tells us our part in doing the works of Jesus. We must pray. This doesn’t happen unless we are a praying people. For ten days before Pentecost the early church prayed. The Holy Spirit only comes upon a praying people. Even Jesus was praying when the Spirit came upon Him (Lk.3:21).

Look at some of the promises of answered prayer in the Bible: Jn.5:7; 1Jn.5:14-15; and Mk.11:24. Oh the power of these promises. Who will believe them? I will. Will you?

It is possible to “ask amiss” according to Jas.4:2-3. How can we ask amiss? By asking for something merely for selfish reasons, for our own pleasure. I could pray for a brand new red Corvette convertible, but that would be for strictly a personal pleasure. What is it to ask rightly? To pray for the will of God, which is to glorify God and be a blessing to others. God told Abraham that He would bless him and he would be a blessing. We are blessed to be a blessing. There’s a higher purpose in prayer than our personal pleasure. What is that? It is to accomplish the will of God.

People today don’t seem to know what the will of God is about much of anything. Thus they end their prayers with, “…if it be Your will.” We can know what the will of God is. The will of God is found in the word of God, and in particular the words and works of Jesus who was the will of God walking around in human flesh. It is God’s will to save sinners. Duh. His name means Savior. It is the will of God to heal people. Find someone in the gospels He refused to heal. You cannot. “He healed them all…” It’s His will to prosper us in all things. He multiplied fish for the fishermen and bread for the hungry, with an amazing abundance.

If you want to know the will of God a good place to start is in the New Covenant as written by God through Ezekiel in chapter thirty six, verses 21-38. Fourteen times God says, “I will…” and then lists things He would do. Then he closes it by saying, “I will let them inquire of Me to do this for them.” 

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September 6, 2026 Sunday Morning Sermon. Walk Through the Old Testament Series

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