Hi,
I'm Kay Arthur, and I am so honored to be with
you. And I'm so appreciative of your
Juergen and Susan for th s wonderful opportunity
o share and to be able o do a seminar at yo
r envisions conferenc , leadership and the tim
s of crisis. Last night, I was standing at t
e centerpiece and y kitchen, fixing so
e food. And all of a sudd n I looked at the TV, a
d there the Capitol w s being broken into a
d violated, I mea , breaking windows a
d sitting in the chairs a d the Congress and, a
d that and taking pictur s and that and I though
, Lord, Lord, what is goi g on? I've been followi
g what's happening in t e United States of Americ
, with great interest n this run for t
e presidency and t e government and that, a
d I just really belie e that possible. I real
y believe that possibly N , I really believe th
t America is under t e judgment of God. You s
y Why? Well, I belie e America is under t
e judgment of God becau e America has turned i
s back on God. And you c n see that in our law
. What happened was, e were a nation founded
n the fear of God, we we e a nation that w
s Benjamin Franklin sai , Stop, stop, stop, we mu
t get on our knees and c y out to the Most High G
d for wisdom a d discernment. That's n
t happening anymore. Wh t has happened instead
s we have we have walk d away from the precepts
f God that He is laid do n in His Word. In 196
, prayer was removed fr m school with the Supre
e Court ruling. In 196 , the Supreme Court rul
d eight to one th t Devotional Bible readin
, or other governme t sponsored religio
s activities and publ c schools a
e unconstitutional. n 1967, they had
a decriminalization f homosexuality. And wh
n it before it was a offense that you would
e the go to person for o to jail for in 1973, t
e Supreme Court legaliz d abortion nationally wi
h the Roe vs. Wa e decision, that is t
e most significant of a l of it. In Genesi
, chapter nine, God tel s us that life is sacre
. And he tells us that e is going to require t
e lifeblood of everyo e that is murdered, and a
e put to death illegall , or not, according to t
e Word of God. Next o that, you might want
o write numbers 353 , because in that passag
, he talks about the law f the blood of venger. A
d he tells how when a man s or a person's blood
s not avenge by the blo d of venger, then God
s going to have to de l with them. And it sa
s his blood, their bloo , Christ to me from t
e ground, we're in troubl . We're in trouble. There
s a song we've got troub e here in River Cit
. Trouble with a capital . Because we are not m
n and women of the book. r we know it, we say th
t we and we read it a d that, but do we live
y every word that comes o t of the mouth of God, th
s is what God has ordaine . And if you're going to
e on solid ground with Go , and if you're going to
e used of God mightily, y u have to be a man or
a woman of the word. And I want to tell you fr
m Hosea chapter four, wh t God says about t
e importance of knowing h m in knowing his word.
o if you will turn in yo r Bibles to Hosea chapt
r four, or just at leas , least get it down. A
d listen, as I read to re d to you. in Hosea chapt
r four, it says, Liste , I'm telling you
o listen, he's telling y u to listen. Listen to t
e word of the Lord, o , sons of Israel, for t
e Lord has a case again t the inhabitants of t
e lan
Because there's no faithfulness there or
kindness or knowledge of God in the land. There's
no knowledge of God. He has spoken the the
Pentateuch because has been written and all of
that, but there's no knowledge of God in the
land. They're not paying attention to the Word of
God. And anytime we don't pay attention to the Word
of God, we're going to be in trouble. And we're
going to start living according to our own
thoughts in our own conditions and that and
we're going to sing praise songs and think
it's alright because we got goosebumps, but it's
not always bright. So this is what he says.
There's no faith. Bonus or kindness or knowledge
of God in the land, there is sweat, swearing,
deception, murder, stealing and adultery.
They employ violence. So that bloodshed follows
bloodshed. Therefore the land mourns, and everyone
who lives in it languishes along with the
beasts of the field and the birds of the sky and
the fish of the sea they disappear. Yet Let no one
find fault, nor offer reproof, for your people
are like those who contend with the priests,
you shall stumble by day. And the Prophet also will
stumble with you by night. And I will destroy
your mother. He's saying, I'm going to destroy
Israel, Israel's your mother, my people are
destroyed, for a lack of knowledge. Because you
have rejected knowledge, I will reject you from
being my priest, since you have forgotten the
law of your God. Now listen, I will forget
your children. They're in trouble. I mean, they're
in great, great trouble. And they're in trouble
because you see the key word, there's no
knowledge of God. And you've got to know what
God's word says, so that you can live accordingly.
And so that you can obey his commandments in the
statutes. His Word is, is a lamp unto our feet, and
it's a light unto our path. And if we don't
know what we're going to stumble in the darkness.
And so when you look at this, and this is what I
want to us to see today, and in this seminar, I
want us to see the importance of knowing the
Word of God and living by every word that comes
from the mouth of God. So from Hosea, this is what
I would like you to do. And this is throwing it
together, or quickly because of time, because
there's so much I want to say, all right, first of
all, understand what the fear of the Lord is,
there's no fear of God. Right? And fear is
respect. It's all its submission. It's, it's
bowing before it's bringing yourself low and
saying, your God, you're the all wise God, you're
omniscient, and I bow before you. And so this
is the condition of Israel at that time. And
in a sense, in a sense, America is there. And
Israel is there also because we both have our
roots in the Word of God, we both our fears of God
or our nation started that way. And now we're
in we're in a mass. So Isaiah is a contemporary
of Hosea. And so I'd like you to go to Isaiah,
chapter five. In Isaiah chapter five. He's
talking about what the people are like, and he's
talking about woes, woes, woes. And he says, woe to
those who rise early in the morning, excuse me is
first 11 that they may pursue strong drink, who
stay up late in the evening, that wine man
flame them, their banquets are accompanied
by liar and harp. They play the flute and buy
wine, but they do not pay attention to the deeds of
the Lord. Nor do they consider the work of his
hands. Now, listen very carefully. Therefore, my
people go into exile for their lack of knowledge.
In other words, they're going to go into
captivity, because they wouldn't believe God
because they have desecrated the
the word of the Lord and desecrated the honor of
God. There's no fear of God before their eyes.
And then he goes on and just listen and see. Does
this sound like our culture today? It sounds
like America today. Does it sound like Israel
today? Or you're from all over? Does it sound like
Germany today? We work in 190 countries, and we're
in 99 languages, I believe. And so we're in
touch with all these people. We're teaching
them how to discover truth for themselves.
We're teaching them how to to deepen their
relationship with God through knowing his word
through studying his word. inductively. Not
reading the commentaries there. All right, but
first finding out what does the word of God have
to say, so that you understand that this is
God speaking, and it's breathe and you
understand everything that he is saying? He
says, woe to those who drank drag inequity with
corn. So with cords of faulted and sin as if
with cart ropes, woe to those verse 20, who call
evil good, and good evil. That's what's happening
today, who substitute darkness for light and
light for bitterness. Verse 21, woe to those
who are wise in their own Eyes first 22 woe to
those that are heroes in drinking wine. I mean,
people brag about getting getting drunk. And he
talks about what he's going to do. And he says
in verse 24, therefore, is a tongue of fire
consumes stubble, and dry grass collapses into the
flame. He says, so their root will we come like
rot and their blossom will blow away as does
for they have rejected the law of the Lord of
hosts, and they have despise the word of the
Holy One. On this account, the anger of the
Lord has burned out burned against his
people. And he stretched out his hand and struck
them down. From there. I would like you to put
down Isaiah, chapter 59. And go there and see if
this relates to the culture today, we're
talking about leadership in the time of crisis.
And in Isaiah chapter 59. He's talking about the
state of affairs again, and more. And you can see
this all the way through through the book of
Isaiah. It's an incredible book. It says
in Isaiah 59, verse 14, Justice is turned back,
and righteousness stands far away, for truth, has
stumbled in the streets, and uprightness cannot
enter. Yes, truth is lacking. And he who turns
aside from evil makes himself a pray, there is
no knowledge of God. And because there's no
knowledge of God, there's no fear of God. In this
marvelous passage right here on this segment in
Isaiah and Isaiah chapter eight and verse nine, you
have the promise of the Savior who is coming. And
then Isaiah leading up to that, he's saying, You
are not to fear what they fear or being dread of
it. It is the Lord of hosts whom you should
regard as holy, he shall be your fear, next to
that, put proverbs 2925. And look it up later, he
shall be your dread, then he shall become a
sanctuary. In other words, if you will cry
out to God, in any given situation, no matter
what's going on. And if you will run to God, His
arms will be open wide, and he you will be right
where he wants you. Because you are coming to
him, you're fearing him, you're respecting him,
you're honoring him. You're saying, I know
that your God,
and I know that
you can do according to your will in the army of
heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth.
I know none can stay your hand, I know none can say
to you, what are you doing? Because you are
God, you are sovereign. And once you give this
inside of you, and once you start to live and
look at every situation, and the light of
who God is,
I mean, life changes. Listen to what he says.
He says to the law into the testimony I hear is
the the work of Satan. Here's the work of the
liar, the deceiver, to the law, and to the
testimony, if they do not speak according to this
word. It is because they have no dawn. And other
words the sun has not come up, it's still in
darkness are still in darkness. He says to the
law in the testimony that they don't speak
according to well, how are you going to know if
they're speaking cording to it, if you don't know
the word of God, if you don't study the Word of
God. In Isaiah, chapter nine, he talks about the
prophecy of Jesus, the people sitting in
darkness are going to see a great light, the
darkness is going to be gone. And he tells them,
that for a child, for a child will be born to us
a son will be given. The government shall rest on
his shoulders, his name shall be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Prince
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace, there will be no
in no in to the increase of his government or of
peace on the throne of David in over his kingdom
to establish it, and uphold it with justice
and righteousness. We're going to see justice, not
right now. But when Jesus comes and he takes over
and he begins to rain upon this earth, we're
going to see justice and we're going to understand
it and it's going to be Hey, we were not fools.
He says, for them and forevermore, the zeal of
the Lord will accomplish this. I want you to go
from here with me to Matthew chapter four. And
I want to show you here's the prophecy about Jesus
coming. So when you come to Matthew chapter four,
this is what he tells us. And and I, oh, I wish I
had several hours with you. I just would really
absolutely I absolutely love that so that we
could talk and dialogue here, I've got you in my
kitchen, I can't even talk to you face to face,
or for your cup of coffee. All right. In
Matthew, chapter four, Jesus has been tempted by
the by Satan by the tempter. And in Jesus,
the tempter says to him, if you are the Son of
God, command that these bones be bread show off,
do a miracle, just say stones become bread, if
you're the Son of God didn't do anything. I
mean, God created everything. And so it
says, ends in Jesus answered and said, Now
listen, it is written, it is written, I've read it.
I know it. I know what it says. And of course, he's
the author of it, too. But it is written, do you
know what's written in this book, if you're
going to withstand what is ahead for us, and
these last days, you and I know if we know the
word of God, that is going to get worse and
worse, and many of us are going to have that
joyful, awesome privilege of possibly being
beheaded for Jesus Christ, of laying down
our lives, giving him the last thing that we can
can give him that shows our love and our trust,
and our hunger to be in his presence. Listen to
what he says. He says, It is written, Man shall not
live by bread alone, but on every word that
proceeds from the mouth of God. Now, where is
every word that proceeds from the mouth of God?
Right here, right here? This
is the book,
how many books make up this one book? 66 books?
All right, if you're to live on every word that
comes out of the mouth of God, how many books do
you know? You may know all this wonderful
worship of the songs and everything and, and I
checked some of them out, because some of them are
not biblical term, not according to the Word of
God. But listen, that is that is an exuberance You
and I have to be rooted and grounded in
established in the Word of God, you and I have to
know this word. We have to realize that
everything and he says this and Peter,
everything. The Second Peter, everything that
pertains to life and godliness is in this
book. And if you and I know it, then we know how
to live. We're working in refugee camps, all in all
these major refugee camps. We're doing we
have these studies, and and this one's building a
marriage that really works. This is the power
of knowing God. And so they're doing these
studies. And it's all Scripture. It's nothing
else, but scripture. And it's put together in a
way that you discern for yourself, what God is
saying it's inductive. And we had a Muslim woman
that came up to the ones that was leading it. And
she said to him, I need to talk to you May I talk
to you, my problems are very great. And he says,
You're on the break. And she says, No, they're too
great. And then he found out that her wife, he,
she was told by her mother, mother in law,
her husband was told by her mother in law, to
beat her every night before she went to bed.
So on the wedding night, he beats her. Well, this
has gone on, he beat her once so severely that the
baby died in the womb, and she thought she was
going to lose her life. And she said, If I
believe in Jesus, will my husband stop beating me?
And he says, No, I can't promise you that. And she
said, Well, if I if I believe in Jesus, Will
God keep the Muslims from killing me? And he says,
No. He says, Jesus said, If any man is going to
come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up
his cross and follow me. let him deny himself,
take up his cross, and follow me. In times of
crisis, no matter what's happening. Jesus calls us
she said, Oh, you mean you're telling me that if
I follow Jesus, I have to be willing to die? And he
said, Yes. And she believed her husband was
in another part of the camp because they'd moved
him over there because they were beating their
why he was beating her and she was so it was so
noisy. And so her husband, separated from
her, went to the same study building a marriage
that really works. They're listening to
Ephesians chapter five. Husbands, love your wives
as Christ loved the church and gave Himself
for it. And he begins to wail and wail because he
sees the darkness has passed, the light is come
and he sees and knows and hears the word of God,
and he got saved and eventually they were back
together. Oh, precious ones. For us this word in
the midst of this crooked and perverse generation,
study to show yourself to be approved unto God, a
workman that needeth not be ashamed, don't be
ashamed of him. The His Word is light, and his
word, his life, his word is the very bread by
which we live, live by it. And if you want some
help, I'll tell you how to get it. And I'm going
to tell you one brief story really quick,
because I want you to see this. We have beginner
inductive Bible studies in different languages.
And this one is called who created it, and it's
to teach them how to read and write. So this is the
first time they're reading and writing and
it's Genesis chapter one Barish. sheet, chapter
one. And so as they're doing it, this little boy
is writing the word, God. And all of a sudden, he
looks up, he's just completing the last
letter and God and he looks up, and he starts
to cry. And this is what he says, This is the
first word. I've read. And it's gone, that I've
read about. He saw the Word of God, he heard the
word of God, he embraced the Word of God. And he's
going to live for God. What about you? And what
about me? Our times are very interesting, aren't
they? The people that know their god, no matter
the times, read it, and Daniel, the people that
know their God will be able to stand firm, and
not just stand firm, they'll be able to take
action. The people who know their God, made this
become the most important book in your life, not
books about it, that made this become the most
important book in your in your life, and may it
become your life. And may you hold it fourth in the
midst of this crooked and perverse generation. And
may you hear well done my good and faithful
servant. I wish we could pray together. I wish I
could fix a cup of tea or a cup of coffee, the Lord
bush we have eternity together eternity. Just
think eternal life, because God sent His Son
who knew no sin, to be made sin for us, that you
and I might be made the righteousness of God in
him. Oh, beloved, be like the Apostle Paul. count
all things as loss for the excellence of the
knowledge of Jesus Christ. He says, For whom
I've suffered the loss of all things, and do count
them but dung, that I might win Christ when run
and win