 This morning we have a treat. Oftentimes people ask me, who is your favorite Bible teacher? Who do you listen to? Who do you read? And hands down one of the most influential Bible teachers, leaders, apostolic figures in my life over the last 30 plus years has been Rick Renner. And Rick and his wife Denise moved to the Soviet Union over 30 years ago, he's a prolific Bible teacher, apostolic leader, preacher, author, he's brilliant. And he has been a mentor and him and Denise have just been dear friends. He's one of our global partners here at Radiant Church and we are thrilled to have him back today. So would you at both locations stand to your feet and welcome to the platform, Rick Renner, as he comes to teach. Good morning. Amen, you may be seated. Well, I wonder how many of you were in the first service? Can I see your hands? Well, a number of you stayed. Hey, thank you for part two. But I want you to reach for your Bibles and open them to 2 Timothy chapter one. And today I'm going to be picking up where I left off in the first service, but you won't feel like you missed anything. But what a privilege it is to be here. We love Pastor Lee. We love Jane. We think you have some of the best pastors on the planet. It's really the truth. And when I came in here today, I looked around the room and I said to Pastor Lee, I said, wow, this church is really filled with strong men. It is so good to see strong men in the house of God. Wow, it's just, it's amazing. And Pastor Lee, I know that you have attracted them. We attract who we are. And I want to thank you for your leadership and thank you for the worship in this church. Wasn't that song wonderful from him and to him is all the glory. And your worship team really presents their whole heart. You should thank them for what they do because it's really a gift that they bring to you every week. But open your Bibles to 2 Timothy chapter one. Let me see your Bibles. Did you bring your Bibles when you came to church today? You should always bring your Bible when you come to church. And Father, we thank you for today. We thank you for the word of God and Holy Spirit today. I look to you as the great master teacher. You're the one that authored this book. And I surrender to you today as the one who really only has the authority to open it and to teach it to us. And today I ask you to speak through me, speak to me, speak to us. And I ask you to take us into the scriptures until we live them and we feel them and we're transformed by them. In Jesus' name, amen. Open to 2 Timothy chapter one and we're going to begin in verse seven. Where Paul writes to Timothy and says, For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Verse eight, Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God. Let me give a brief review which I will cover from the first service. When the book of 2 Timothy was written, the apostle Paul was imprisoned in the city of Rome and he was not imprisoned as a Christian. That is a misunderstanding which most people have. The Roman constitution guaranteed the freedom of religion and you could not be arrested on the basis of faith. He was arrested on the charge of arsony. Because Nero had set the city of Rome ablaze to make room for him to build his new palace which was called the Golden Palace. It was so enormous it covered more than 300 acres. Which means it doesn't matter what big house you've seen, none of us have seen a big house compared to Nero's house. But they finally determined that it was Nero who was behind the fire that burned down the city of Rome and they brought him to the Senate for his own trial and his own execution and he brought a number of charges against Christians and blamed them for the fire that he was responsible for. And the last charge he brought against Christians was why would you think that I Nero would burn down the city of Rome when this new sect in town, this group called Christians have been standing on our street corners and publicly have been proclaiming that a great judgment is coming during which the world will be tried with fire. He said we should have listened to them because right on our streets they were giving us a signal that they were going to burn down the city of Rome. He was so persuasive with his allegations that by the time that Nero was finished the tables had turned on the history of Christianity and for the first time in the history of the early church a governmental persecution began on the basis of fake news. Which means fake news is not new. Now if you read the book of Acts you'll find there was a lot of persecution but in the book of Acts it primarily is a religious persecution against the Christians. But in the year 64 when the great fire took place a governmental persecution began against the church and people were being arrested on the charge of arsony not on the charge of faith. And now the apostle Paul is sitting in prison because he is one of the leaders that has been rounded up and the entire city of Rome is rejoicing because one of the chief arsons has been arrested and has now imprisoned in the city of Rome. And not only are Christians being rounded up in Rome but in all the major empire cities. For example Christians were being rounded up in Alexandria in Antioch in Ephesus. And Ephesus is very pertinent to 2 Timothy because Timothy was the pastor of the church in Ephesus. And now not only is Paul sitting in prison but believers are being rounded up in Ephesus where Timothy is leading the church and week by week Timothy is watching his great church move into decline as many of them are killed for their faith many of them have been arrested and many of them had said wait we never knew our faith was going to be this serious and they're bailing out in order to save their lives. Timothy is so devastated by what is happening in his church he has been handed the biggest church in the world the church of Ephesus. And in fact when you read first Timothy the church of Ephesus was growing so fast that he wrote a letter to Paul and said Paul please tell me how do I organize this church? And first Timothy is a book about church organization how to choose leaders how to choose deacons what you're supposed to do with the women in the church the church was just growing and growing and growing and growing but there were two three years between these two books and in these three years is when the great fire took place in the city of Rome and now Timothy's church is in decline and he is devastated. He's devastated because people that he thought he could trust have walked out on him. It's very heart wrenching when people that you thought would be true with you all the way to the end give you the Judas kiss and walk out and now this has happened to Timothy by the hundreds perhaps even by the thousands. He's also taken with a spirit of fear because he knows though he has not been arrested yet there could be a knock on his door and because he is the most visible leader in the city of Ephesus if they arrest him they won't just kill him but they'll make sure his death is terrible miserable in order to scare the other believers out of their faith back into the old pagan temples and Timothy knows that prospect is in front of him. And he is so taken with the spirit of fear that he is sat down in his pen to letter and his writ sent it to the apostle Paul who is already imprisoned in Rome for the fire that he had nothing to do with. And he has said to Paul, Paul please help me, help me. I think it's so interesting. Timothy had not been arrested he was a free man he was writing to a man who really was in trouble asking the man in trouble to help him. We always tend to think somebody else's situation is better than ours. And he must have said to Paul, Paul I know you're arrested but you don't understand what I'm facing. And Paul wrote back his responses called Second Timothy. And when you come to Second Timothy chapter one verse seven Paul says Timothy, Timothy God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind. And as I said in the first service notice it's called a spirit of fear. Fear really is a spiritual force. You can feel fear when it comes into the room. Suddenly the atmosphere changes as fear begins to wrap its tentacles around you. And the word fear that is used here is the Greek word delay. It describes somebody that is moving into retreat and that's why if you have a newer translation it may say a spirit of cowardice. It's a person that's moving into retreat he's no longer thinking about taking territory or advancing but he's thinking about insulation, isolation how to preserve himself from hurt. And now Timothy is moving backward and this is bad because he is the pastor of the church that is supposed to be leading the charge for the rest of the congregation. And Paul says God has not given you the spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Well the word power is the Greek word dunamis. I'm sure you've heard that word before and most people would say that the word dunamis means dynamic power and that is correct. However there's more to it than that. The word dunamis was the word used by the Greeks and by the Romans to describe the full might of an advancing army. And by using this word it was the equivalent of Paul saying God has put within you everything you need if no one else stands with you, you singularly are like the full might of an advancing army. Timothy this is what is in you. But the word dunamis was also the word for a force of nature. The very word which was used to describe a hurricane a tornado or an earthquake which means Paul was saying you have within you the equivalent of a spiritual hurricane to blow the enemy out of the way. You have within you the force of a tornado. You have within you like an earthquake the ability to spiritually shake things up. He's trying to change Timothy's focus from what he fears to what he really has. He says God has not given you the spirit of fear but of power and of love. The word love is the Greek word agape. One of the most difficult words to translate in the entire New Testament because it is just so filled with meaning. I call it high level love. Most Christians even in their marriages do not experience agape. Most people in their lives have known a lower level of love which is very common. It is phileo love. The word phileo describes friendship love or reciprocal love. I say that if you're moving in phileo love you give as long as you're given back to. You'll scratch their back as long as they scratch yours. You'll give to them as long as they give to you but the day they don't give back you become disappointed and you're out of that relationship. And by the way, if that has been your tendency in the past then rather than focus on the person who disappointed you you need to realize you were moving in low level love because it's low level love who says I'm out of here. But agape love is a love that has no strings attached it is a love that just loves because it has determined it's going to love it is the very word we find in John chapter 3 verse 16 for God so loved the world yet when you read John chapter 1 verse 11 it says Jesus came unto his own his own received him not they had nothing to give to him but that had no effect on God's desire to love and when you move in agape love you are not a puppet being manipulated by other people's emotional response you are in charge of your own love you love because you choose to love it is not a love that has strings attached and according to Romans chapter 5 this is the kind of love that has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Well Timothy was hurt because he gave to people who now were not giving back to him and Paul now is saying Timothy, Timothy, Timothy come up a notch God has given you agape love a love that cannot be disappointed in people then he adds and a sound mind well the word sound mind is a Greek word sofrinidzo it's a compound of two words the first word is the word sozo perhaps you've heard it before it means to deliver, to save, to heal, to preserve the second word is the word friend P-H-R-E-N it is the word for the intelligence the mind or the brain but when you compound the two words together here it's translated sound mind but it describes intelligence it describes a rationale, the mind that has been healed a mind that has been set free a mind that has been delivered a mind that is unfettered it is free to think correctly and Paul says that Timothy God has given you a brain which is designed to think correctly it should think rationally but if you have a spirit of fear you don't think rationally when a spirit of fear is operating in you you imagine things happening to you that will never happen to you if a spirit of fear is operating in you you wonder what people are saying and thinking about you when in fact nobody's even thinking about you but a spirit of fear has you so obsessed and you need to understand that a spirit of fear does cause you to be obsessed you become self-focused I remember years ago I had a spirit of fear because I found a little knot in my chest and I had never felt that knot before and I began punching it every day when I was taking a shower to see if it was hard or if it was soft I was punching it every day for about a month and then I decided I need to start measuring it so I started pinching that little thing in my chest every day and after about two months you really begin to hurt but it was hurting because I was punching it and pinching it every day and this spirit of fear began to operate in me a spirit of fear is illogical and I determined before I would see a doctor first I was going to make sure I raised my life insurance policy to make sure that if I had something fatal what Denise would be taken care of and I was living under this little lump in my chest so finally I went to see the doctor he laid me on a table he said now I'm going to cut this is going to hurt a little bit but we've got to see what that is he cut he pushed he said wow that is amazing and he stopped well a doctor should never say that to somebody laying on the table I thought it's so amazing even he's amazed at how bad it is and I said doctor just tell me the truth what is it he said that is the funniest little lump of fat I've ever seen in my life and I literally said to him lump of fat can you please do that to my whole body but I've been living under the thought of that now I'm using that illustration because we've all had one of those moments when we have been dominated by a spirit of fear that creates irrational thoughts in our minds and Paul says to Timothy, Timothy God did not give you this spirit of fear you are self obsessed you're moving into a state of self preservation God has made you a one man army God has given you a love that can never be disappointed and God has given you a mind that is sound that thinks reasonably and then Paul adds in verse 8 be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord nor of me his prisoner but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God and in verse 8 we have a double negative which means you could translate it stop being ashamed because it is a double negative it is a prohibition it tells us Timothy was in such fear of his life he was embarrassed to say he was a Christian and Paul was saying stop it, stop it now stop being ashamed of the testimony of our Lord nor of me his prisoner Paul was arrested as the chief arson if you remain in relationship with Paul you may also be charged with arson Timothy was thinking about breaking his relationship with Paul to save his own life he says don't you dare be ashamed of the testimony of the Lord nor of me his prisoner but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God well that's what none of us want none of us want to be partakers of the affliction of the gospel according to the power of God but there is a moment when your stand of faith may put you in opposition to the world around you and we're living in a day and in the aids before us when our faith may put us in jeopardy when the world tells us to believe one thing but the word of God tells us to believe something else the world tells us to say one thing but we cannot say because it puts us in conflict with the word of God we're living in a day of conflict and here Paul gives us a great promise that if you suffer for taking a correct position if you suffer for the gospel you will do it what does it say? according to the power of God everybody say according to those words according to is the Greek word Cata which we saw in the first service in verse one it describes something that is dominating conquering subjugating and here Paul says anytime you're put in a rough position where you're taking a stand for the word of God and you feel the brunt of the world against you you're not going to stand there by yourself you will be dominated, you will be conquered you will be subjugated by the power of God and in fact the power which first century believers experienced was so profound that we actually have a record from the time of Nero when he ripped up all the trees in his backyard took believers, dipped them in tar, tied them to states set them on fire and leaned out his balcony window to watch the believers scream but instead early writers tell us he heard them singing songs antiphonally unto God, what does that mean? singing songs antiphonally unto God they were so dominated by the power of God even while they were burning they were singing in the spirit as they burned and this contributed to Nero's insanity he didn't know how to deal with the power and the victory the Christians experienced when they were suffering and Paul says to Timothy, Timothy, Timothy, Timothy anyway if you do suffer you're going to experience an unusual demonstration of the power of God and then he adds in verse 9, who has saved us and has called us with a holy calling not according to our own works but according to his own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began verse 10 but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ notice these words, who has abolished death death is what Timothy was afraid of who has abolished death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel which means there's no end of life for a believer and then verse 11, Paul says where unto unto this great gospel unto this gospel that has abolished death unto this gospel that's brought life and immortality to light it is unto this great gospel I now he's drawing the focus to himself I am appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher of the Gentiles unto this great gospel I've been appointed then he adds in verse 12 for the which cause I also suffer these things for the which cause little means because of the fact that I've been appointed a preacher because I'm an apostle because I'm a teacher of the Gentiles that's why I'm in jail that's why I'm suffering these things which means in the midst of his own plight the apostle Paul was able to keep it clear that all these things happening to him these nonsensical allegations none of it was really about him the devil was after the call on his life he said I'm appointed a preacher a teacher an apostle it's because of the call on my life that's why I'm suffering these things but he adds nevertheless I'm not ashamed the word ashamed describes a person that is so disgraced a person that is so embarrassed that now their face is completely blushed with red the Greek word really means a red blushed face a person whose ears would be burning with embarrassment Paul is in prison knowing the entire city of Rome is calling his name saying he has been arrested they're so thrilled the arsonist has been arrested he is in jail and Paul says I don't care what they're saying I know who I am and I know who I am not I am not an arsonist I'm appointed an apostle and a teacher and a preacher of the Gentiles that is why I'm here and that is why I'm suffering these things and my friends I want to tell you when people begin to wag their tongues about you you need to know who you are and you need to know who you are not and if you're a person that is affected by other people's opinions you are going to be in trouble Paul was unaffected because he was secure in who he was and in who he wasn't but why did this crazy situation with Nero and the fire and all of these imprisonments and persecution began at this moment what triggered all of this really at this particular moment the church was making inroads and advancements like never before phenomenal things were taking place and boom out of nowhere this attack takes place well hold your finger here and turn over to 2 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 7 where Paul says something very important that religious people really mess up 2 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 7 and when you come to 2 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 7 Paul says and lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations there was given me a thorn in the flesh the messenger of Satan to buffet me lest I should be exalted with measure well Denise and I grew up in a denomination where we were taught that this verse means Paul had a problem with pride and because Paul was very prideful about his revelations God gave him a thorn in the flesh but this verse clearly says this thorn in the flesh whatever it was did not come from God Paul calls it very clearly the messenger of Satan this was something dispatched from Satan I was told that the thorn in the flesh was Paul having an eye disease that he had such a horrible eye disease that his eyes dripped with all kinds of gunk and then we were told that Paul was a hunchback and he couldn't stand up straight and then we were told that Paul had club feet I don't know where that came from but if you just study the scripture and find out how many miles and kilometers he walked in his ministry he could not have been a person with club feet he walked more than 26,000 kilometers 26,000 kilometers he did more walking than he did preaching just to get to the meetings that's why he could ride in 1 Corinthians chapter 14 I pray in tongues more than you all what do you think he did when he was walking on the road all the time praying in tongues, praying in tongues, praying in tongues what do you think he got his revelation en route praying in tongues as he was walking thousands and thousands and thousands of kilometers this was not a man with club feet he was not hunchbacked and he did not have an eye disease then what was the thorn in the flesh well let's look at it first of all it says less I should be exalted above measure now I'm going to read you from my notes because I want you to get this right it's two words in Greek the word hooper and the word hyrule the word hooper, the first part of the word exalted above measure means over above beyond and depict something that is way beyond measure it conveys the idea of something that's greater, superior, higher better more than a match for utmost, paramount, foremost it describes something that is first rate, first class top notch, unsurpassed, unequaled and unrivaled by any person or thing the second part of the word is hyrule which means to raise, to lift up to magnify or to be exalted but when you compound the two words together it depicts a person who has been supremely exalted one who has been magnified, increased and lifted up to a place of great influence a more accurate rending would be as a result of all the vast revelations God has given me I've been raised to a position of great influence that few people possess and because of these revelations and the impact I'm making there was given me a thorn in the flesh well people see the word given they assume it was given by God but a better translation to me there was assigned to me a thorn in the flesh which he identifies as the messenger of Satan and the word thorn is the Greek word scolops a very specific word only used one way this word thorn, the Greek word scolops does not describe a thorn like you would get if you grabbed hold of a bush it is the stake on which you stuck the decapitated head of your enemy and a literal translation would be I'm making such advancements with the gospel and my position has become so exalted and influential that the devil is after me and wants my head on a stake that is a literal translation of that verse and that is a completely different view of this verse now I'm going to read the whole verse too are you ready for this? listen to this, this is amazing here is the RIV Renner's interpretive version but it's accurate because of the phenomenal revelations I've received and on account of the vast number of these revelations that God has entrusted to me and to hinder the highly visible progress I'm making a special messenger has been sent from Satan to harass me with constant distractions and headaches there's no doubt about it Satan wants my head on a stake he's constantly trying to buff it and distract me in an attempt to keep me from reaching a higher level of visibility and recognition and decide track me from preaching my revelations and here we find the principle that when you're making breakthroughs that is often when the devil launches an attack now Paul's sitting in prison for a crime he did not commit this is nonsense but Paul's able to keep it clear in his head he knows it's really not about him it's about him, it's his anointing, his revelations all of it together he says for the witch cause verse 12 I suffer these things nevertheless I'm not ashamed I know who I am and I'm not disgraced of who I am and then he adds for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he's able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day but notice he says for I know whom I have believed the word know the Greek word oida it means to know something by experience he says I have had enough experience with God to know a few things and here's what I know by walking with God I know whom I have believed and am what's that next word persuaded everybody say persuaded the word persuaded is the Greek word patho p-e-i-t-h-o I get so excited talking about these Greek words the word patho the word patho is translated here persuaded it can be translated persuasion but here's what it depicts a person who previously had one reason to believe one thing but he has now been coaxed into a new way of believing he has been persuaded he's been swayed from one position to another position and now he has been so fully swayed that he is standing in a new position he's forsaken the old one now he is rock solid convinced to the core well how do you walk from the former position to the new one Paul says I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day so let's begin with the bad news he's sitting in prison he's being charged as an arson the news sounds very bad about him he can embrace that or he can embrace something else and rather than just sit around and listen to himself he decides to start talking to himself and the word persuasion here the greek word patho in this context describes self talk there was no one else in prison to encourage him so like david he encouraged himself in the lord he began to speak to himself he walked himself from where he was into a position where now he is focusing on the one who's able to keep that which he has committed unto him against that day and friend I'm telling you that you have a mouth it's time to start speaking to yourself and the worst thing you can do is just sit around and listen to yourself the bible says faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God all you need is a preacher if you've got a mouth you're a preacher if there's no one else to speak encouragement until you open your own mouth begin to speak the word of God let it go into your ears until you sway yourself from a bad place into a good place self talk self talk that's what it's talking about I am persuaded I've been through the process of self talk and now I am persuaded I am convinced to the core that he is able the greek word dunitas one that is fully capable of doing anything he is fully capable to keep that which I've committed to him against that day the word keep is the word falasso the word falasso in greek is the very word used to describe a phalange of soldiers which were commanded to stand around a piece of property to protect it so no one could break into disturb it so by using this word keep the word falasso he is literally saying God is my personal guard I am his property God himself has uninterrupted vigilance to surround me he is keeping me I am his and he is watching over me but the word falasso was also the word used to describe the uninterrupted vigilance of shepherds who watched over their flock so the word also meant that Paul said I am his sheep he is my shepherd he's got his eye on me and I'm convinced I'm convinced to the core that he is fully capable to phalange me to keep his hand on me to protect me and especially that which I have committed unto him against that day the word committed is the greek word parathot it's a compound of two words the word para means alongside as close as you possibly can get the word though is from the word tithomy which means to place when you compound two words together here in the king's version it's translated committed but actually it's the word for a deposit which I've deposited into him against that day well when I was growing up my daddy got paid on Thursdays and every Thursday night we'd all get in the car and before we went to buy groceries my dad would drive to the bank and this was in the days before there were drive through tellers so what did you do back in those days you remember you had to get out of your car you had to walk up to the bank to the depository drawer which was in the exterior of the bank once you open the door and put in your money and deposit it once you deposit it it is deposited in fact it is so safe and secure you can't even extract it yourself once it's in it is in and now Paul says I know whom I have believed and I'm absolutely persuaded way to the point of conviction that he is fully able to keep that he's talking about himself which I placed into him he's declaring I placed myself in Christ nobody can touch me there I can't even take me out of there I'm in him I'm secure in him and then he adds in verse 13 hold fast the form of sound words which God has heard of being faith and love which is in Christ Jesus remember he's speaking to Timothy Timothy has a spirit of fear and when you have a spirit of fear not only do you imagine things with an unsound mind but you tend to say things you shouldn't say how many of you know that's true your mouth just runs you begin speaking things that are not faith filled and now Paul says to Timothy who's dealing with the spirit of fear hold fast the Greek word echite from echo have hold and possess you've got to put your mind into it have hold and possess the form of sound words which you have heard of me in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus well sound words the word sound the Greek word hygienic it's words that produce a healthy state of being words that produce a healthy state of being words are powerful we all know that faith is released when we speak good things can be released when we speak negative things can be released when we speak it's one reason why I'm so concerned about people my age who are talking about how old they are what in the world are they talking about we're not old people are living old these days but people start speaking about how old they are my friends what are you saying listen to your words and Paul says you hold fast the form of sound words the pattern which you have heard of me the word of is the word para when you were with me at my side you hear how I talk and you hear how I do not talk and you know Timothy I'm very careful about what comes out of my mouth it doesn't matter what situation I'm in I hold fast and I speak words that are going to produce right results well if you go over to chapter 3 you need to but in chapter 3 verse 10 he says to Timothy hey you've been with me in every situation good times bad times Timothy has been alongside of Paul he has seen Paul in every situation and now Paul says you hang on to you have you hold you possess the pattern of words that produce health and good results and faith filled results like you've heard me do and then he particularly adds in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus his faith is shaken he needs to be speaking words of faith he has been wounded by other believers he needs to be speaking words of love and Paul saying Timothy get the right words in your mouth and friends we have to remember that we're told in James chapter 3 that the tongue is the rudder for your life what you do with your tongue will determine your destiny and now Paul says Timothy you make sure you keep the right words in your mouth in the earlier service I shared that in the last two years I went through a really really complicated situation in our part of the world bad news all around to me and I had to make a choice I had to choose what I was going to think about I could listen to the bad news or I could talk myself into faith I felt that was a better option and rather than just let my mind speak to me I decided it was time for me to speak to myself and if there was a day when Denise didn't have any faith to join me and somebody else didn't have any faith to join me I have a mouth I begin to speak to myself and in those two years there are witnesses all around me a negative word never came out of my mouth I spoke words of deliverance words of preservation because my tongue is the rudder that's going to determine where I go and now Paul says that Timothy especially where you are and what you're experiencing get a grip on your mouth stay in faith stay in love and then he adds in verse 14 and this is where we're going to close that good thing which was committed to you keep by the Holy Ghost which dwell within us that good thing which was committed guess what the word committed in verse 14 is the same word committed in verse 12 the word which means to make a deposit which means in the same day that we came to Jesus and put ourselves in him and we became in Christ in that very same moment when we were placed in Christ Christ was placing something in us it is a permanent deposit it's the power of the Holy Spirit it's in us that good thing which was deposited permanently in you keep and the word keep is the same word keep which we saw in verse 12 the word falasso like guards watching over territory like shepherds watching over sheep he says now just like God is hovering over you and God is watching you that thing that's been placed in you is your assignment you hover over it you protect it you guard it don't let anyone take it and by the way you can do this because you have the Holy Ghost that dwells in us which means we have a partner that's with us all the time my friends your heart is not a hotel he didn't come just to stay and go your heart is a home he moved in he settled down inside you and you have a partner on the inside of you who will help you stay in faith talk yourself into faith speak the right words you can do it by the Holy Ghost that dwells in you and I want to pray for you today if you would just reach up and put your hand on your chest I'm going to give this to pastor Lee and pastor Lee thank you for letting me speak today Father we thank you that truly where the word of the King is there's power Father we help ask you to help us to focus on the truth not just on the things that we hear we thank you but you are able you are truly capable to keep what we've committed under you against that day and Father rather than give way to our mind and our emotions and our mouth help us Lord to have hold and hang on to words that produce faith and love and we thank you for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit who helps us to do it in Jesus name