Christian Life According to John (Part 3) — Denny Kenaston

Hello, this is Brother Denny. Welcome to Charity Ministries. Our desire is that your life would be blessed and changed by this message. This message is not copyrighted and is not to be bought or sold.

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These messages are offered to all without charge by the freewill offerings of God's people. A special thank you to all who support this ministry. Our Father and our God, we bow down before You, Lord. We reverence You.

You are the King. You are the Lord. Oh, Father, we need You today. We need You to open up our eyes and help us to see this land of ours given over to idolatry. We need You to open up the eyes of these young people, dear Father, who stand in great need of losing their way in this land filled with idolatry.

Oh, Father, I pray. I pray that You'll love them in such a way. I pray that You'll captivate their hearts, Father, in such a way that they'll not be drawn away by the idols that are in this land that we live in.

Oh, Father, in Jesus' name I pray that You'll come and visit us in this session, Lord. Oh, have mercy upon me, Your servant, Father, and grant grace to me. Fill me with the Holy Ghost, Lord. I don't want to stand up here by myself, God.

Please don't make me do that, Father. Fill me with the Holy Ghost, Lord. Make Your Word a fire in my own bones and also in the bones of these dear young people, Father. We commit this session to You, Lord, and pray that You'll cause a sense of awe to settle down over our hearts this morning, Lord.

Lift up the eyes of our hearts to see Your will, Your beautiful will, Your purpose, Your dreams, Your visions for us, for these young people, dear God. I pray this in Jesus Christ's holy name, asking You also, Lord, to rebuke the enemy away from this place in Jesus' name.

Confound all of his plans, God, and all of his evil cohorts, Lord. Confound them all, Father. Let Jesus Christ rule and reign in this place, we pray in His name. Amen. You can open your Bibles to John, chapter 7, as we finish up where we were, where we left off yesterday.

Anointed Ministry Flows From Communion With God

Yesterday's last point about eating His flesh and drinking His blood. Life of communion with God, that intimate communion of eating His flesh and drinking His blood continually. It flows very well into our next point, the Christian life in John, chapter 7, is anointed ministry.

These flow beautifully together because if you do not know what it is to eat His flesh and drink His blood, you will never, ever know the joy and the thrill of anointed ministry. The one flows from the other.

What you do with the last point which was given yesterday will determine whether you have an anointed ministry in your life. Like one wise old man said, what you do with the Bible will determine what God does with you, young people.

What you do with the Bible will determine what God will do with you. I don't know if you understand what I just said or not, but I'm telling you, I'm giving you the greatest secret that you could ever get a hold of.

And if five of you would get a hold of what I just said, we would know who you are in ten years from now. If just five of you would get a hold of it, what you do with this book will determine what God does with you.

Remember the young man who left it on his shelf and walked by it day after day after day? What he did with the Bible determined what God did with him. And we'll say more about that as we get further along here.

If you do not grasp the things that were spoken of yesterday, then you will hardly have a clue what the Christian life is all about, I promise you. In John chapter 7 and verse 37 is where we're going to read some of my favorite verses in the Bible.

In the last day, that great day of the feast. And let me say this before I go on. This is the feast of tabernacles. It was an eight day feast. For seven days, the priests would leave the temple and go to the Pool of Shalom with golden vessels.

And scoop up in those golden vessels beautiful fresh water out of the Pool of Shalom. And pour them out before the Lord singing the song which you find recorded in Isaiah chapter 12. Therefore with joy shall we draw water out of the wells of salvation.

And they sang that song as they poured the water out every day for seven days in the feast of tabernacles. But on the eighth day, no one made a trip to the Pool of Shalom or to the Brook Kidron. No one made a trip on the eighth day.

That was to signify that the blessing had not come yet. You see, they poured out that water as a prophetic promised blessing that something would come upon Israel. Something like they've never known before.

But on the eighth day, no one ran to the pool. No one carried their golden vessels and scooped them up full of water and poured them out before the Lord. But that day, it was silent. And it was on that day where we are right here in these verses.

And it's silent. Picture the scene. It's silent. The Jews have been doing this for many, many years. Sitting there silent at the time when usually the priests poured out the water as a promised prophetic blessing of things to come.

But today, it's silent. And Jesus stood and cried, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive. For the Holy Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified. But if you could just imagine the scene.

Though those Jews did not understand what was happening, that river was standing in their midst. That very day, the river was standing there in their midst. There He is, God incarnate. There He is, anointed with the Holy Ghost.

There He is, waiting for the time to go to the cross and go to the grave, and rise from the dead and ascend back to the Father and pour out upon God's people this promised blessing. The blessing was standing in their midst and they didn't know it.

Yet, what else could the blessing do but speak those words that day? If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink. And oh dear young people today, that call goes out to you just as clear as it went out to those Jews.

I thought about yesterday, you know, we looked at John chapter 4, and there we have a personal artesian well. Amen? That was John chapter 4, but in John chapter 7, we have rivers of living water flowing out to a lost and a dying world.

Praise God for an artesian well, but dear young people, God wants you to have more than a personal well, where you get your personal blessing every day from God. God wants you to be rivers of living waters flowing out unto a world around you.

And thus, the Christian life is anointed ministry. And I've learned this, if you will learn to maintain your personal well, it will soon become rivers of ministry flowing out in so many avenues that you won't be able to keep track of them.

Listen to that. If you will learn to maintain your personal well, that well will turn into rivers of living water flowing out in every direction in your life. Isaiah chapter 12 verse 3,. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.

The Spirit Empowers Witness Through the Church

Let's turn now and read just a little bit in Acts. Can we do that? Acts chapter 1. Here we find again, Jesus is speaking about the same thing here in Acts chapter 1 verse 8, that He was speaking about there prophetically in John chapter 7.

In Acts chapter 1 verse 8, He says to His disciples, just before He goes back to the Father, and they're asking Him lots of questions, and, how about the kingdom now, Lord? And, okay, praise God, we thought You were going to be our King, and then You died, but now You've rose again.

Now, is it going to be the kingdom now, Lord? And the Lord says to them, don't you worry about those things. Those are not for you to figure out. Those are in the hands of the Fathers. But, ye shall receive power.

After that, the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto Me. There's that river that flows out of you. Ye shall be witnesses unto Me in Jerusalem, and in Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth.

The Christian life is anointed ministry, young people. Anointed ministry. And maybe you're sitting here today, and you say, Oh, Brother Denny, I'm just a young person. You're talking big things. You're talking stuff way beyond us.

And maybe you're here, and you're an older brother or sister, and you think, whoa, you're going way, way, way beyond what these young people need to hear. Let me remind you of how God used the young people in days gone by.

Do you realize, young people, that it was thousands of young people in the Welsh Revival that shook that whole country for God? Do I need to remind you that it was thousands of young people, along with the other people in the church, who shook the islands of the Hebrides when Revival came there?

Those were young people who had been born again by the Spirit of God. Those were young people who had been sanctified by the Holy Ghost, and their hearts and their lives had been purified. Those were young people who had surrendered absolutely everything to God.

And those were young people who were full of the Holy Ghost shooting over your head this morning. God is waiting for you, young people. Who will get serious with me, says God, to the youth of this land in this 2004 where we live?

Who will get so serious with me that they will walk so close to me that the anointing will so fall upon them that I can use them as rivers of living water flowing out unto eternal life? Acts chapter 2.

Let's go there. If you doubt me, let's go read in Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter 2 and verse 16. Peter speaking. So interesting. Last night, brother Craig was reading these verses and he stopped just before this verse and jumped right past it and kept on going.

And I said, thank you, Lord. Did you notice that, brother Craig? Verse 16. Peter standing up to speak to them and he says these words, This is that. This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel. And then he quotes the prophet Joel.

And it shall come to pass. In the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. That's you. That's my Spirit upon all flesh and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.

That means to speak forth the mind and will of God in the power and the anointing of the Holy Ghost. That's what that word prophesy means there. God wants you young people to prophesy. Your young men shall see visions.

Oh God, do it again. And your old men shall dream dreams. I'll take them, Lord. And upon my servants and my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit and they shall prophesy. The Christian life is anointed ministry, young people.

God is searching for youth who will pay the price and be filled with the Holy Ghost continually. God is searching for young people who are willing to live a life under the anointing of the Holy Ghost just like we heard last evening.

Continuing Faith and Prayer for the Holy Spirit

I want to look just for a moment back in John 7 again. Just turn there for a moment. And look at the word believeth. So we get a little grasp of what the conditions of this beautiful portion of Scripture is.

Jesus says in verse 38, He that believeth on Me. Now remember, we talked about that ETH yesterday. Believeth and believeth and believeth and continue to believe on Me. Out of His belly shall flow rivers, not a river, rivers of living water.

Now this word believe and believeth again is one of John's words. You'll find it in other places in the Bible. That's true. But John uses it 99 times. Let's look at the meaning of this word. It is one of John's beautiful words.

But consider the meaning of this word believe, which has been distorted in our day. But here's what it means to believe. You know, everybody says, oh yeah, I believe. Yeah, I believe. You know, and just like James says, the devils believe and tremble.

What does it mean to believe? You know, we've turned that thing around so much that if we say, yeah, I agree, then that means I believe. But that doesn't mean the same thing. Just because you agree, just because you have a mental assent to something does not mean that you believe like the word believe is in the Bible.

But here's what the word believe means. It believes to believe into Me, losing your whole life in Me continually. That's what it means to believe. And if you say, I'm not sure that's what it means, just get a glimpse with Me.

If you were to stand before God Almighty and He told you to believe in Him, you would believe into Him losing your whole life continually. That's what believe means. It's more than a mental assent. Yes, we must understand it with our heads.

Yes, we must agree with it in our hearts. But it's more than that. Believe. The Christian life is anointed ministry, young people. In Luke chapter 11, if we could just turn there for a moment. You know those beautiful verses in Luke chapter 11 where the Lord Jesus was teaching His disciples how to pray because they asked Him, would You teach us how to pray?

And He begins to teach them how to pray. And in the midst of His lessons on teaching them how to pray, He also was teaching them what to pray and what to pray for. And He taught them to pray for the Holy Ghost in their lives.

And He gave this illustration in chapter 11 and verse 13, saying, If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Ghost to them that ask?

And by the way, if you go up just a few verses, you'll find the word asketh. E-T-H. And keep on asking and keep on asking for the anointing of the Holy Ghost in your life. But I want to challenge you young people this morning.

Number one, get thoroughly right with God this week. Don't leave one stone unturned. Get thoroughly right with God. Number two, get to the place where you are completely surrendered to God. That means there are no issues between you and God.

There's nothing that you're holding back here and saying, Well, that's one thing that I'm going to keep for myself. That's one thing that I'm not going to give up. I know what God is saying. I know what they've been saying this week.

But I disagree with them and I'm not going there. Or whatever it may be. You get to the place where you are entirely surrendered to God in every issue and every area of your life. And then from that point, begin asking God continually to fill you with the Holy Ghost and ask in faith, believing that He hears you because you have every right to ask Him being one of His sons or daughters, being one with a clear heart, being one who is surrendered to God.

You have every right to ask Him as your Father and to believe and know that He will give you just what you ask for. I want to challenge you on that, young people. Are you full of the Holy Ghost? You know, I thought about it yesterday as I was preparing.

Some of these young men that you're hearing. Last evening, some of you heard Brother Darrell on Sunday morning at charity. These are young men, 27, 29, 30. You know, they sat in Bible school one day. They sat where you're sitting.

They heard what you're hearing. I can remember when Craig sat in my living room in the Bible school circle. But I know their lives back then. I'll give you a little secret. I know their lives. Not now, back then.

They were praying while others were playing. They were reading their Bibles while others were hitting the snooze button for the third time in the morning. They made very conscious choices about what they would do with their time and their money.

That's years ago. Young people, this thing doesn't happen by accident. It's a matter of choice with you. Whether you will be anointed with the Holy Ghost. It's a matter of choice with you. God doesn't just go around and say, OK, I'm going to pick this one up and do something with him, and I'm not going to do anything with this one.

I'll take this one, but I won't take this one. Absolutely not! God goes to and fro throughout the whole earth looking for those whose hearts are upright toward Him. And He says, there's one that I can use.

Young people, I want to challenge you again this morning. Go for the goal. Don't be satisfied. Throw off this life. Throw off the frivolities of this life. Throw off the wasted time of this life. And get serious with God.

Pick up this book, which is the eternal Word of God, which is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. Pick this book up and make it your life, your bread, your very sustenance. If you will do that, God will give you anointed ministry, and that is the Christian life, young people.

Freedom From Sin Through Christ

Let's go on to the next one. John chapter 8. We can move ahead there. One of my favorite portions in the Bible. John chapter 8. The Christian life is a life of freedom. A life of freedom. Before we read the text, I want you to note just a few things.

There are two freedoms that I would like to preach about from this famous text in John chapter 8. In the one sense, they are the same thing, but I would like to divide them into two for the sake of application.

Those two freedoms are these. Freedom from sin. And number two, freedom that comes from walking in the truth. Freedom from sin and the freedom that comes from walking in the truth. The two working together make you free indeed, young people.

Free indeed. Indeed, so free that there's no question about your life. So free that everybody knows you're free. So free that you can't keep your mouth shut about how free you are. That's free indeed.

And before we read the text here, consider also two words. The word free, which we will find in this text, and the word liberty, which you will find in other texts in the New Testament. Now, as we read it in the English, we see the word free and we see the word liberty.

But if you read it in the Greek text, you will find out it is the same Greek word. Freedom and liberty, they are the same word and they mean the same thing. And if you interpret them in the context of the verses which you will find in the New Testament, you will know very clearly what God means by freedom and liberty.

The word means moral freedom. Moral freedom. It means liberated. I think we heard that last evening. This is more than just sensual issues, by the way, although it does apply to the sensual issues of our lives.

But it's more than that. It is moral uprightness in every area of life. Now, since that's what the word free means, then these words that we're going to read, they are the great emancipation proclamation of the Lord Jesus Christ.

If the Son shall make you free, then are ye free indeed. Without question, young people. Let's read the text in chapter 8 and verse 28. Then said Jesus unto them, When ye have lifted up the Son of Man, then shall ye know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself, but as My Father hath taught Me, I speak these things.

Thank you, Jesus. And He that sent Me is with Me. The Father hath not left Me alone. Why, Jesus? For I do always those things that please Him. You see that simple insight into the walk that Jesus had with His Father?

It isn't any different for you and I, is it? And as He spake these words, many believed on Him. And I've noticed as I study in the Gospels, whenever there was many around, Jesus always took the opportunity to go a bit deeper with the words that He said, to go a bit deeper in His challenges to the people, and this is no exception to that.

As He spake these words, many believed on Him. Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on Him, If ye continue in My word, then are ye My disciples indeed, and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

They answered Him, We be Abraham's seed, and we're never in bondage to any man. How sayest thou ye shall be made free? See again, they don't understand what He's talking about. So He explains it a little bit better.

Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. We've heard that this week, haven't we? And the servant abideth not in the house forever, but the Son abideth ever.

If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. Morally free. Without question. How? Continue in My word. These are religious people. They've got it all together. They know how to dot all their I's and cross all their T's.

They've got their theology down. They're very religious on the outside. They have all the forms. They go to the synagogue. All these things are in place. But yet, they are not free. Maybe you find yourself in the same place.

Got it all together. I go to church. I'm here. I know what to say. I can have all the right conversations with people. Yet, not free. They were not free. 1 John 3 .5 John said these words, And ye know that He, Jesus, was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him is no sin.

Well, now that's an interesting verse, isn't it? They tell us today, Jesus was manifested so that we can go to heaven. Isn't that wonderful? Jesus came to earth so that we can all go to heaven. Anybody want to go to heaven?

Well, everybody wants to go to heaven. Sure, I want to go to heaven. Pray this prayer. John said, Ye know, speaking to the people of God there, Ye know that He was manifested to take away our sins. Amen?

And let's read another one. In 1 John 3 .8 He that committed sin is of the devil, for the devil sinneth from the beginning, and for this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.

And what are the works of the devil in the context of what we just read? The works of the devil is sin. The Christian life, young people, is a life of freedom. Freedom from sin. Even sin. You don't have to carry that bondage around with you for the next 20 years of your life.

You don't have to carry that big load around with you that maybe your dad has been carrying or your mom has been carrying. You don't have to carry it. For this purpose was the Son of God manifested, that He would take away our sins.

His name is Jesus and He shall save His people from their sins. Oh, young people, today it's very popular, you know. Today, be not deceived with vain words, young people. Today they tell you you can live in sin and go to heaven when you die.

Don't believe it. It's a lie. The devil's been telling that one for 6 ,000 years. He told that one to Eve. And he's still telling it to people today. And they're preaching it from the pulpits. Such bold statements.

I can go out and commit adultery and kill somebody and if I die in the middle of it, I'll go to heaven. No, you won't! For this purpose was the Son of God manifested. To take away our sins. And when He takes away our sins, yes, we get to go to heaven.

Walking in the Truth as the Path of Liberty

Now, this is the negative side of the glorious freedom if we can call deliverance from sin a negative thing. But this is the negative side of our glorious freedom that we have in Christ. But we're not done yet.

Let's look at the positive side of this glorious freedom. And that positive side is a sincere walk in the truth of the Word of God. You see, young people, after you've been delivered from sin, God is not finished with you yet.

He has a whole new life of adventure and freedom in store for you. When you get to the place where your heart is clear, like the song said today, Oh, everything is washed away. Break down every idol. Cast out every foe.

Now wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. Listen, you haven't arrived at some super spiritual place, young people. You just got to first base. Now it's time to get in the game. God has a glorious life for you, a precious life, a sincere walk in the truth of the Word of God.

The Bible calls it walking in the light. The Bible calls it walking in the perfect law of liberty. Or, as Jesus said here in John 8, continuing in My Word. If you continue in My Word, then are ye My disciples indeed.

And the opposite of that is also true. If you do not continue in My Word, then you are not My disciples. Amen? I think that's pretty clear. All this brings moral freedom in every area of your life. Not in a day, but it just keeps leading you on into more and more and more freedom and integrity and character and godliness and holiness as the days go by.

And every step into that glorious, holy, righteous life brings more and more freedom into your life, young people. Don't let the devil steal that from you. As you obey and yield and surrender to the things that God reveals to you in His Word, freedom prevails in your life.

And you find a new strength coming into you and keeping you free from evil and empowering you to do what is right. Free from evil. That's the negative side of the freedom. And power you to do what is right.

That's the positive side of the life of freedom. And dear young people, God wants you to have both of them. Many of you, God has been dealing with you about different issues throughout the week. And the question is, what do you do with them as you sit here?

What you do with the things which God is dealing with you about will determine how much freedom you have when you walk out the doors on Sunday night in this place. James says it so beautifully. Talk about a beautiful glimpse of Christian growth in James chapter 1.

Receiving the Word and Becoming Doers

You want to find out how to grow? Here's a good sermon for you, young men. James 1 .21. Here's where it starts with the Word of God. Wherefore, lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness.

That's sin on the negative side. But remember, he's not stopping there. Then, and receive with meekness the engrafted Word which is able to save your souls. There's the positive side. But, be you doers of the Word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

For if any be a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass. For he beholdeth himself and goeth his way and straightway, forgetteth what manner of man he was.

But, don't play the fool like that man whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the Word, this man shall be blessed in his deed, or may I just paraphrase it, this man's woman's life will be blessed on every hand.

That's called freedom, young people. Freedom. Christian growth is clear and plain in this text. And we can see so clearly why some people grow very fast and others grow very slow. It's a matter of whether you're going to walk in the light of what God shows you, young people.

You see, you're on the line this week. God is showing you many things. Are you going to walk in the light of what God is showing you this week? If you will, you will know the truth and the truth will make you free.

That's what will happen. Listen, I think it's clear in this illustration, in this text here in James 1, that the Word of God is the mirror. Amen? And then you come to the mirror, which is the Word of God, and you look into it.

And as you look into it, you have a choice to make. Oh, I've seen myself. Oh, I have dirt on my face. What am I going to do about it? Now you have a choice. You can walk away from the mirror, leave the dirt on your face, or you can walk away from the mirror and go get that dirt off your face and go on in life.

But I want you to notice something here. We are looking into the perfect law of liberty. This book is the law of liberty. May I say it that way? This book is the law of liberty. I wonder how you look at it.

Maybe you look at it and say, that book is the law, which brings more things than I have to do. No, young people. You've got it wrong. This book is the law, which brings liberty. Liberty? Liberty. Moral freedom in every area of my life.

Are you going to look into the law of liberty and continue therein? Continuing in my Word, using the words that Jesus gave? If you are going to look into the law that brings liberty and continue in it, you are going to be blessed.

Whoever imagined, you'll be blessed. I wonder how you see God's law today. I wonder. Maybe things got a bit cloudy for you already. You know, it's Wednesday, and maybe you got things clear before you came here.

Maybe you got things clear on Monday evening, but as you sit here today, things are a little bit cloudy for you. Well, let me help you a little bit. Maybe you walked away from the mirror and said, yeah, I know.

I know what He said. I know. That guy. Maybe you walked away from the beautiful law of liberty and said, forget it. Maybe you did. I don't know. It happens. It happens to all of us. I'm just trying to help you.

Maybe to understand why things got a little cloudy for you. And you may be wandering around saying, what's wrong? Things were going so good yesterday. No, I'm not sure where I'm at this morning. Maybe you looked into the law of liberty and said, uh-uh.

And you know, we usually don't just say, no way, Lord. I'm not doing that. We don't do that. We're much better theologians than that. We know better than to do that. So this is what we do instead. We go, that guy is a nut.

I mean, what does he think we are? And you know how the old mind is.

Through that thing. And pretty soon the conscience finds a nice place to lock in, you know, and say, yeah, yeah, that's right. He's a kook. Fine. I'll keep on going the way I'm going. But things just got a little cloudy even though you reasoned your way through it.

Rejecting a False View of Christian Liberty

Let's look for a moment at the heresy of Christian liberty. The heresy of modern day Christian liberty. They say, oh, it's great to be a Christian. Now I'm going to heaven. Now I'm going to live it up.

I can do what I want. No more rules for me. Young people, that's not what the word free means. But I'm telling you, that's what people are teaching that the word free means. But that's not what the word free means.

Look at the context of John 8. Look at the context of Romans 6, which our brother quoted to us the other evening. Those are the two places where that word comes up the most times. And it's a solid context.