1 00:00:03,680 --> 00:00:07,880 Thank you so much for listening to Riverbend Church's podcast. 2 00:00:07,960 --> 00:00:11,560 Riverbend Church exists to bring people to Jesus, grow 3 00:00:11,560 --> 00:00:15,280 generations in Jesus, and send disciples for Jesus. 4 00:00:15,280 --> 00:00:17,320 We hope that you enjoy this message can. 5 00:00:20,200 --> 00:00:23,120 We just talk about just for a few moments, just how incredible 6 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:26,720 this morning has already been being able to celebrate baptism 7 00:00:26,720 --> 00:00:30,000 together, new life at the 11:00 service. 8 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:34,720 We get to do it all over again. We get to celebrate baptism 3 9 00:00:34,920 --> 00:00:38,280 different times in the 11:00 with three different individuals 10 00:00:38,280 --> 00:00:42,040 in the 11:00. So, so incredibly thrilled about 11 00:00:42,040 --> 00:00:48,240 that man Heather Story and her her just reaching out and say 12 00:00:48,560 --> 00:00:51,680 said, listen, I don't want my pain and what I've gone through 13 00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:54,680 to be wasted. And I wish that there was a 14 00:00:54,680 --> 00:01:00,240 group that was kind of centered around like, not just my pain, 15 00:01:00,240 --> 00:01:03,640 but like healing and, and where do we go from here? 16 00:01:03,640 --> 00:01:06,800 I wish that there was a group like that when I went through 17 00:01:06,800 --> 00:01:08,280 that. And then, you know, the Holy 18 00:01:08,280 --> 00:01:12,120 Spirit of God just kind of gripping her for weeks and weeks 19 00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:15,840 to, to the point of going, you know what, Heather, I'm calling 20 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:19,880 you to start that group. So at Riverbend, we are so glad 21 00:01:19,880 --> 00:01:22,600 to be able to partner with Rachel's Refuge. 22 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:25,720 If that is something that you're interested in finding out more 23 00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:28,080 information, here's what I would encourage you to do. 24 00:01:28,440 --> 00:01:32,880 Take that connect card and on the back just write more info on 25 00:01:32,880 --> 00:01:34,880 Rachel's Refuge. And then at the end of the 26 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:37,680 service, you'll drop that connect card into the giving 27 00:01:37,680 --> 00:01:40,360 stations. And then we will make sure that 28 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:43,320 we connect you with Heather and make sure that you're good to 29 00:01:43,320 --> 00:01:45,640 go. The first time that that small 30 00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:49,480 group is going to be meeting is on November 1st. 31 00:01:49,480 --> 00:01:52,640 It's going to be the first Monday night of every month. 32 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:55,920 So really, really excited about what God's going to be doing in 33 00:01:55,920 --> 00:02:00,440 and through that group. Also, huge, huge thank you. 34 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:04,320 If you were here with us last week, you got to, you got to 35 00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:08,320 hear Jared kind of walk us through a really, really tricky 36 00:02:08,800 --> 00:02:12,440 component of this whole issue of the unseen world. 37 00:02:12,440 --> 00:02:15,520 And that's the the cosmic war, the war in heaven, the rebellion 38 00:02:15,520 --> 00:02:17,880 in heaven. And I love what Jared said. 39 00:02:17,880 --> 00:02:20,000 You know, there's a war behind every war. 40 00:02:20,680 --> 00:02:23,960 And that is so, so true. And we're going to be picking up 41 00:02:24,160 --> 00:02:26,200 where he left off in just a moment. 42 00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:28,360 But. Kind of going back, circling 43 00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:31,480 back to the to the announcements at the very beginning of the 44 00:02:31,480 --> 00:02:33,680 service, I know that Julie mentioned and you probably 45 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:36,400 noticed the signs as you were coming in and on the front of 46 00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:38,960 your bulletin, we're doing something really a fall festival 47 00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:42,160 called Light the Night. And here's how you can help. 48 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:44,800 You can help by signing up. We're doing like a trunk or 49 00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:48,440 treat if you want to, if you want to set up and be a part of 50 00:02:48,440 --> 00:02:53,160 that set up, just e-mail either Julie or Kathy for that or you 51 00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:56,520 can contact the church office. We would love to get you in that 52 00:02:56,520 --> 00:02:58,560 mix. If you just want to serve in 53 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:01,360 some capacity, we have some other activities you can, you 54 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:03,640 can read in your bulletin everything that's going on 55 00:03:03,640 --> 00:03:06,560 there. If you're not free next Sunday 56 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:09,760 night to do that to to help or to serve in that capacity. 57 00:03:09,880 --> 00:03:13,160 One of the things that you can help with is we just need candy, 58 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:15,240 right? So we need candy. 59 00:03:15,240 --> 00:03:19,440 And probably the best way to remind us of candy is just to 60 00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:22,840 throw out candy. And yes, I am aware that this is 61 00:03:22,840 --> 00:03:26,640 pretty ironic that we're asking for candy and here I am throwing 62 00:03:26,640 --> 00:03:35,040 out candy. So candy can I also give kind of 63 00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:43,560 a side note about about candy when we say candy, not raisins? 64 00:03:45,640 --> 00:03:51,520 Not boxes of raisins. All right, we, we want, we want 65 00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:54,320 people to like, love the church and love Jesus. 66 00:03:55,440 --> 00:04:02,040 Raisins don't do that. So anyway, I'll probably get 67 00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:08,320 some e-mail from Raisin farmers. Anyway, here we are, week 3, 68 00:04:08,320 --> 00:04:12,280 this series, The unseen world. The unseen world. 69 00:04:13,160 --> 00:04:15,520 Here's what we're going to be doing this morning. 70 00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:19,480 This morning, I'll go ahead and tell you upfront is going to be 71 00:04:19,480 --> 00:04:20,880 and you probably can pick this up. 72 00:04:20,880 --> 00:04:26,000 If you flip your flip, flip, flip your bulletin over and see 73 00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:27,760 the notes. You're like, man, we're going to 74 00:04:27,760 --> 00:04:30,320 be riding a lot. This morning is going to be 75 00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:32,720 almost like drinking out of a fire hydrant. 76 00:04:33,880 --> 00:04:36,640 And what we're doing, what we're going to walk through is not 77 00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:40,920 some exhaustive in depth study. What we're going to be doing is 78 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:42,760 we're going to be walking through. 79 00:04:42,880 --> 00:04:45,600 We're going to be walking through some bare essential 80 00:04:45,600 --> 00:04:50,720 foundational truths that we need to know about this unseen world. 81 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:53,320 If you're new to this series, or maybe you're just new to 82 00:04:53,320 --> 00:04:57,120 Riverbend, First and foremost, thank you so much for being 83 00:04:57,120 --> 00:04:58,440 here, for choosing to be with us. 84 00:04:58,600 --> 00:05:00,480 My name is Ben. Get the service of lead pastor. 85 00:05:00,480 --> 00:05:03,480 We'd love to connect with you one-on-one or personally after 86 00:05:03,480 --> 00:05:06,120 the service just for thanking you for being here. 87 00:05:06,840 --> 00:05:10,360 We would also love to connect you with some, with maybe some 88 00:05:10,360 --> 00:05:13,360 ministry areas or maybe some some people of similar age and 89 00:05:13,360 --> 00:05:16,480 stage of life just to help form some relationships because we 90 00:05:16,480 --> 00:05:19,480 know that relationships, they're kind of like the connective glue 91 00:05:20,040 --> 00:05:22,240 to life. And there's just there's 92 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:24,560 something special about that sense of belonging, right? 93 00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:28,040 The best way that we can connect with you is honestly through 94 00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:30,840 that connect card. So whatever you feel comfortable 95 00:05:30,840 --> 00:05:34,720 jotting down in terms of info, if you're new to Riverbend, just 96 00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:37,000 jot that down. Drop it into the giving stations 97 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:39,800 on your way out. That also allows us to know 98 00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:42,640 where to ship a small thank you gift out into the mail to you 99 00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:45,680 just as our word of thanks and appreciation for you choosing to 100 00:05:45,680 --> 00:05:49,840 be here with us. So let me go ahead and jump into 101 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:53,040 unseen world. If you're new to this series, 102 00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:57,920 here's the gist of the series is there is a world that that we 103 00:05:57,920 --> 00:06:01,200 see, that we experience, that we touch, that we smell. 104 00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:04,440 It's a world that we experience with our five senses. 105 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:07,400 And then there's an unseen world, the spiritual world, the 106 00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:10,080 spiritual realm that we can't see. 107 00:06:10,240 --> 00:06:14,640 However, it is impacting our lives each and every day. 108 00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:16,800 As a matter of fact, if you're taking notes with us this 109 00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:19,680 morning, I want to introduce you kind of to the big idea 110 00:06:20,000 --> 00:06:23,080 throughout this entire series, and here it is, says the unseen 111 00:06:23,080 --> 00:06:28,280 world is just as real as the one I can see, and it's shaping my 112 00:06:28,280 --> 00:06:31,920 life everyday. The unseen world is just as real 113 00:06:31,920 --> 00:06:36,520 as the one I can see and it's shaping my life everyday. 114 00:06:37,080 --> 00:06:40,600 Now I fully understand that there's a variety of people here 115 00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:42,600 with us in the room and joining us online. 116 00:06:42,840 --> 00:06:46,160 You may have grown up in church. You may be familiar with this 117 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:49,160 unseen, the spiritual world out there. 118 00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:53,480 And my hope, my prayer, my desire for you is that you gain 119 00:06:53,480 --> 00:06:56,360 some clarity, you gain some insight, but more importantly, 120 00:06:56,480 --> 00:06:59,240 you gain some equipping through this series. 121 00:06:59,520 --> 00:07:01,920 And then there's another group that's with us in the room and 122 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:04,800 joining us online that maybe you're new to church or new to 123 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:06,440 faith, or maybe you're just seeking truth. 124 00:07:06,680 --> 00:07:09,480 And maybe when we start talking about this unseen spiritual 125 00:07:09,480 --> 00:07:13,120 world or this unseen spiritual realm, you're, you're just, 126 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:15,440 you're doubtful, you're, you're skeptical. 127 00:07:15,720 --> 00:07:17,160 And, and I would say that's okay. 128 00:07:17,160 --> 00:07:20,280 Thank you for being here. But my hope, my prayer, my 129 00:07:20,280 --> 00:07:23,880 desire for you if you're in that second camp, is that you would 130 00:07:23,880 --> 00:07:28,280 start to see that God would open your eyes to the fact that just 131 00:07:28,280 --> 00:07:32,240 because you can't see it doesn't mean that it's not there. 132 00:07:32,400 --> 00:07:35,600 And just because you may not acknowledge it, it doesn't mean 133 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:37,640 that it's not impacting your life everyday. 134 00:07:38,160 --> 00:07:41,440 You see, there is a world that we can see and there's a world 135 00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:43,920 that we can't see. And the world that we can't see 136 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:48,400 is just as real as the world that we can see and don't miss 137 00:07:48,400 --> 00:07:51,600 the And it is shaping our lives every day. 138 00:07:51,760 --> 00:07:56,440 It's impacting our lives every single day. 139 00:07:56,640 --> 00:08:00,640 Now, if you were with us in the first week of this series, we 140 00:08:00,640 --> 00:08:03,360 were talking about how kind of the road map of where we're 141 00:08:03,360 --> 00:08:05,080 going to be heading throughout this series. 142 00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:07,000 This is going to be like a nine week series. 143 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:10,720 So we're in week 3 of this 9 weeks and we talked about how 144 00:08:10,840 --> 00:08:15,360 weeks one through 5, they're going to be much more informing. 145 00:08:15,520 --> 00:08:19,880 So what does the Bible tell us about these components of this 146 00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:22,680 unseen realm? We need to have a right 147 00:08:22,680 --> 00:08:25,080 understanding. We need to have a truthful 148 00:08:25,080 --> 00:08:30,040 foundation of what the Bible says about this spiritual realm. 149 00:08:30,320 --> 00:08:37,520 And then weeks 4 or 678 and 9, the last four weeks, they're not 150 00:08:37,520 --> 00:08:39,679 just going to be about informing, they're going to be 151 00:08:39,679 --> 00:08:42,360 about equipping. Because I don't know if you know 152 00:08:42,360 --> 00:08:44,920 this or not, but did you know that if you've given your life 153 00:08:44,920 --> 00:08:48,600 to Jesus and the Holy Spirit of God lives in you, you are 154 00:08:48,600 --> 00:08:52,600 uniquely equipped as a son or daughter of God to do 155 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:55,440 devastating damage against the gates of hell? 156 00:08:56,040 --> 00:08:58,680 And we're going to be talking about everything. 157 00:08:58,680 --> 00:09:02,240 What I just meant by everything that I just said later on. 158 00:09:02,400 --> 00:09:06,240 But this morning, we're going to be looking at more the informing 159 00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:09,280 part this week and especially next week, we're going to be 160 00:09:09,280 --> 00:09:13,200 looking at what does the Bible say about some vital, vital 161 00:09:13,200 --> 00:09:17,320 elements of this unseen spiritual world in this unseen 162 00:09:17,320 --> 00:09:19,640 spiritual realm. And this morning we're going to 163 00:09:19,640 --> 00:09:24,760 be taking a look at God, at angels in heaven. 164 00:09:25,280 --> 00:09:26,960 Now, here's the fact of the matter. 165 00:09:27,080 --> 00:09:31,640 We could do an entire series on on all three of those things, or 166 00:09:31,640 --> 00:09:34,720 individually those three things. We could do an entire series on 167 00:09:34,720 --> 00:09:36,800 God. We could do an entire series on 168 00:09:36,800 --> 00:09:39,040 angels. We can do an entire series on 169 00:09:39,720 --> 00:09:42,880 heaven. But for our purposes throughout 170 00:09:42,880 --> 00:09:48,280 this series, we need to have a base foundational truth of who 171 00:09:48,280 --> 00:09:52,600 God is, of who the angels are, who and what and where is 172 00:09:52,600 --> 00:09:55,520 heaven? And then ultimately, ultimately, 173 00:09:55,520 --> 00:09:59,200 why does any of it matter? Like how does it impact our 174 00:09:59,200 --> 00:10:01,960 lives tomorrow or what we're going to be talking about this 175 00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:03,840 morning? How in the world does this 176 00:10:03,880 --> 00:10:08,320 impact as I'm getting ready for maybe the school week later on 177 00:10:08,320 --> 00:10:11,400 tonight or maybe just mentally preparing for the work week 178 00:10:11,400 --> 00:10:16,400 ahead before I go to sleep tonight, How does it impact any 179 00:10:16,400 --> 00:10:18,000 of that? And I'll go ahead and tell you 180 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:20,200 on the front end, one of the things that I've been sharing 181 00:10:20,360 --> 00:10:22,520 with our staff and one of the things I've been sharing with 182 00:10:22,520 --> 00:10:26,920 with with different ones of you is the challenge of walking 183 00:10:26,920 --> 00:10:30,560 through a series like this is separating the fascinating from 184 00:10:30,560 --> 00:10:34,280 the useful is separating the fascinating for the useful. 185 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:38,040 So a lot of what we don't talk about, it's not because it's not 186 00:10:38,040 --> 00:10:40,960 necessarily important. It may be important, it may be 187 00:10:40,960 --> 00:10:44,200 really fascinating is that we need to have a baseline 188 00:10:44,200 --> 00:10:47,840 foundational understanding of who God is, who the angels are, 189 00:10:47,840 --> 00:10:53,120 and what and where heaven is. Because I would argue of these 190 00:10:53,120 --> 00:10:56,120 three elements, these three elements, there's been no more 191 00:10:56,120 --> 00:10:59,800 topic in human history or subjects in human history that's 192 00:10:59,800 --> 00:11:02,760 been thought about, written about artistically expressed 193 00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:08,920 more than God, angels in heaven. I would also argue with you that 194 00:11:08,920 --> 00:11:12,320 there's been no more topics and all throughout human history, 195 00:11:12,560 --> 00:11:15,440 there's been more mischaracterized and more 196 00:11:15,440 --> 00:11:19,760 misunderstood than God and angels in heaven. 197 00:11:20,240 --> 00:11:24,480 For example, we know that God is not some angry old man just 198 00:11:24,480 --> 00:11:27,320 waiting to throw lightning bolts down at us when we mess up and 199 00:11:27,320 --> 00:11:30,200 when we sin. We know that angels are not bald 200 00:11:30,200 --> 00:11:32,520 headed babies sitting on clouds playing harps. 201 00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:36,760 We know that heaven is not like your happiest thought here on 202 00:11:36,760 --> 00:11:40,480 earth to where ultimately when you die you will magically or 203 00:11:40,480 --> 00:11:44,240 mysteriously just run free in a Meadow or drift over an ocean. 204 00:11:44,720 --> 00:11:48,240 Those are all misnomers of God, angels in heaven. 205 00:11:48,240 --> 00:11:52,920 So for us, we need to understand what the Bible says about these 206 00:11:52,920 --> 00:11:56,200 three topics. Like I said at the very 207 00:11:56,200 --> 00:12:01,160 beginning, this is not an exhaustive look at God angels in 208 00:12:01,160 --> 00:12:05,000 Heaven, but it is a base foundation, essential base 209 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:09,040 foundational essentials. Look at God angels in heaven. 210 00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:12,160 You'll you'll notice out beside on your note sheet that out 211 00:12:12,160 --> 00:12:15,600 beside all the bullet points, there's scriptural references. 212 00:12:15,800 --> 00:12:18,880 We're not going to walk through every single one of these 213 00:12:18,880 --> 00:12:20,760 scriptural references this this morning. 214 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:23,520 I gave them to you because here's what I want to ask is 215 00:12:23,520 --> 00:12:25,760 your pastor. I want to ask that you take this 216 00:12:25,760 --> 00:12:30,400 note sheet home and in your time alone with God this week that 217 00:12:30,400 --> 00:12:33,560 you walk through that you look up these passages that you read 218 00:12:33,560 --> 00:12:36,560 through that you pray through that you study these passages 219 00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:40,320 for yourself, that you discover these truths in your own Bible 220 00:12:40,560 --> 00:12:42,800 for yourself. And they're going to give a more 221 00:12:42,800 --> 00:12:47,280 well-rounded, more well roundedness to the bullet points 222 00:12:47,280 --> 00:12:49,840 that we're going to go through and explore this morning. 223 00:12:49,840 --> 00:12:51,560 So here's what we're going to do. 224 00:12:52,400 --> 00:12:56,440 We're going to just in respect of, of, of time, we're going to 225 00:12:56,440 --> 00:12:58,960 go ahead and jump in. Let's tackle that first question 226 00:12:58,960 --> 00:13:01,920 first. Who exactly is God? 227 00:13:01,920 --> 00:13:04,080 If you're taking notes with us, first thing that we need to know 228 00:13:04,080 --> 00:13:08,680 five things about God. God is Yahweh, the one true God. 229 00:13:09,040 --> 00:13:13,920 God is Yahweh, the one true God. Let me kind of unpack that 230 00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:15,720 statement in that sentence for a second. 231 00:13:16,120 --> 00:13:20,360 There is only one true God. There is the King of kings and 232 00:13:20,360 --> 00:13:24,640 the Lord of Lords. One true God and the name that 233 00:13:24,640 --> 00:13:28,080 has been given to him throughout the Bible, especially the Old 234 00:13:28,080 --> 00:13:32,240 Testament, is the name Yahweh. Yahweh. 235 00:13:32,240 --> 00:13:35,560 Now here's why that name is important. 236 00:13:35,720 --> 00:13:40,400 Because the ancient Jews, they needed a way to denote the 237 00:13:40,400 --> 00:13:43,280 person of God. When they were referencing God 238 00:13:43,280 --> 00:13:48,080 or referring to God, they needed a name given to God and they 239 00:13:48,080 --> 00:13:51,840 believed that it was irreverent just to give God just a normal 240 00:13:52,040 --> 00:13:57,680 name like Bill. So they come up with this word 241 00:13:58,200 --> 00:14:01,040 called Yahweh. Now I'm not going to bore you 242 00:14:01,040 --> 00:14:03,320 with all the details, but I do think that it's pretty 243 00:14:03,320 --> 00:14:07,840 interesting for you to note that Yahweh ancient Hebrew, they it 244 00:14:07,840 --> 00:14:12,200 did not have vowels in it. So in the ancient Hebrew, if it 245 00:14:12,200 --> 00:14:15,480 was written out in English, it would be spelled for us in all 246 00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:23,120 caps YHWH Yahweh. And in it was an ancient Hebrew 247 00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:27,560 grammatical impossibility. So it broke all the the the 248 00:14:27,560 --> 00:14:31,640 grammatical rules of of Hebrew. And they did that because they 249 00:14:31,640 --> 00:14:35,520 they believe that God's name should be so other or so set 250 00:14:35,520 --> 00:14:37,280 apart. It shouldn't be so common. 251 00:14:37,520 --> 00:14:40,000 When when I say that it broke the grammatical rules, think of 252 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:42,720 it as like the English equivalent of like breaking the 253 00:14:42,720 --> 00:14:47,400 rule I before E except after C, right? 254 00:14:47,560 --> 00:14:51,920 Except for in the words like foreign or seas or height or 255 00:14:52,320 --> 00:14:54,600 caffeine. You know, those are exceptions 256 00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:58,520 to that rule. But Yahweh was the name, the 257 00:14:58,520 --> 00:15:03,080 Jewish name given, the ancient Jewish Hebrew name given to God. 258 00:15:03,080 --> 00:15:06,520 Now a lot of times when you read through your Bible, you won't 259 00:15:06,520 --> 00:15:10,600 see the name Yahweh. Yahweh has been has been 260 00:15:10,600 --> 00:15:13,040 substituted out. You ever read through your Bible 261 00:15:13,200 --> 00:15:17,840 and you see the name in all caps, all letters and caps Lord. 262 00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:23,720 Lord that is a substitution in our English translations for 263 00:15:23,920 --> 00:15:26,560 Yahweh. But Yahweh denotes that there is 264 00:15:26,560 --> 00:15:29,920 one true God and Yahweh is His name. 265 00:15:30,160 --> 00:15:35,640 Yahweh literally means in Hebrew He is or he causes to come into 266 00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:40,360 existence. He is, He is the one true God. 267 00:15:40,880 --> 00:15:43,760 Second thing that we need to know about God is God is all 268 00:15:43,760 --> 00:15:46,280 powerful. He's all knowing, He's 269 00:15:46,280 --> 00:15:48,920 everywhere present. He is all powerful. 270 00:15:48,920 --> 00:15:53,080 He is all knowing, and He is everywhere present. 271 00:15:53,840 --> 00:15:56,080 Let me kind of unpack that. He is all powerful. 272 00:15:56,080 --> 00:15:57,880 There's nothing that God cannot do. 273 00:15:57,880 --> 00:16:01,440 The word impossible does not exist in God's vocabulary. 274 00:16:01,600 --> 00:16:04,120 He is all knowing. There is nothing that God does 275 00:16:04,120 --> 00:16:06,640 not know. There's nothing that God does 276 00:16:06,640 --> 00:16:10,440 not know that's going on within me, outside of me, and there's 277 00:16:10,440 --> 00:16:13,480 nothing that God does not know. That's unknown to me. 278 00:16:13,840 --> 00:16:18,200 God knows everything. God knows you inside and out. 279 00:16:18,200 --> 00:16:22,240 God knows your your deepest secrets, your your most private 280 00:16:22,240 --> 00:16:24,600 thoughts. He knows what nobody else knows. 281 00:16:24,600 --> 00:16:27,600 He knows what you are ignorant about, and he knows what I am 282 00:16:27,600 --> 00:16:30,440 ignorant about. God knows everything. 283 00:16:30,440 --> 00:16:35,200 He is all knowing. He's also everywhere present. 284 00:16:35,400 --> 00:16:38,400 He's everywhere present. Now this is going to sound kind 285 00:16:38,400 --> 00:16:43,200 of strange, but God exists outside of what we think of as 286 00:16:43,200 --> 00:16:47,440 space and time. So when he looks at history, he 287 00:16:47,440 --> 00:16:52,000 is looking down at one big map. He knows everything that has 288 00:16:52,000 --> 00:16:53,760 happened in the past. He knows everything that's 289 00:16:53,760 --> 00:16:55,240 happening now. He knows everything that's 290 00:16:55,240 --> 00:17:00,200 happening in the future. He not only knows it all, but he 291 00:17:00,200 --> 00:17:04,800 is everywhere in time and in location. 292 00:17:05,160 --> 00:17:07,640 God is all knowing. He is all power powerful. 293 00:17:07,640 --> 00:17:10,359 He is everywhere present. Third key essential that we need 294 00:17:10,359 --> 00:17:14,720 to know about God. God is eternally 3 in one. 295 00:17:14,880 --> 00:17:18,920 He's eternally 3 in one. Now I'm going to go ahead and 296 00:17:18,920 --> 00:17:22,520 tell you that if you have a bottle of Excedrin in your bag 297 00:17:22,520 --> 00:17:24,880 this morning, you may want to bring out a couple of those 298 00:17:24,880 --> 00:17:27,720 pills because this will give you a migraine. 299 00:17:28,119 --> 00:17:33,920 Thinking about #1 God is eternal and #2 God is 3 in one. 300 00:17:34,760 --> 00:17:39,840 But the way that we can best explain it in our finite minds 301 00:17:39,840 --> 00:17:42,480 and in the way in which our human brain is able to 302 00:17:42,480 --> 00:17:46,960 comprehend things eternally means that God has existed 303 00:17:46,960 --> 00:17:49,200 forever and ever and ever in the past. 304 00:17:49,680 --> 00:17:53,360 And God will exist forever and ever and ever in the future. 305 00:17:53,440 --> 00:17:56,320 There's never been a point in time to where God had a 306 00:17:56,320 --> 00:17:58,680 beginning, and God will have an end. 307 00:17:58,680 --> 00:18:03,080 He is eternal. And not only is God eternal, God 308 00:18:03,080 --> 00:18:08,880 exists 3 in one this three in oneness. 309 00:18:09,080 --> 00:18:12,480 The the term that we would put on that is the word Trinity. 310 00:18:12,600 --> 00:18:13,840 You ever heard of the word Trinity? 311 00:18:14,160 --> 00:18:18,280 That means that that denotes that God is 1 but exists in 312 00:18:18,280 --> 00:18:23,280 three equal persons. It's not 3 gods with one 313 00:18:23,280 --> 00:18:29,840 persona, it is one God existing in three distinctly different 314 00:18:29,840 --> 00:18:32,240 persons. We have God the Father, we have 315 00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:35,440 God the Son Jesus, and we have God the Holy Spirit. 316 00:18:35,440 --> 00:18:38,320 All of them are equal in godness. 317 00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:42,720 If you want like the big like theological word on that, it's a 318 00:18:42,720 --> 00:18:46,120 word called homoousius. That's kind of a fun word to 319 00:18:46,120 --> 00:18:47,880 say. You want to say it 123 320 00:18:48,000 --> 00:18:52,000 homoousius right now you can go and press your friends. 321 00:18:52,280 --> 00:18:55,640 Homo uses it literally means of the same stuff. 322 00:18:56,080 --> 00:19:00,440 So this what God the Father possesses in godness, so does 323 00:19:00,440 --> 00:19:03,720 God the Son in in in equal measure. 324 00:19:03,960 --> 00:19:07,080 And what God the Son possesses in godness, God the Holy Spirit 325 00:19:07,080 --> 00:19:09,800 possesses of godness in equal measure. 326 00:19:09,800 --> 00:19:14,840 So it's not God varsity God JV guard God 8th grade team here. 327 00:19:15,040 --> 00:19:19,840 It is God three in one. And guess what God has existed 328 00:19:19,840 --> 00:19:24,480 as the Trinity for all of eternity and will exist as the 329 00:19:24,480 --> 00:19:28,320 Trinity for all of eternity. That's one of the things, that's 330 00:19:28,320 --> 00:19:29,720 one of the things not to chase a rabbit. 331 00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:34,040 That's one of the things that separates Christianity, orthodox 332 00:19:34,040 --> 00:19:38,800 Christianity from, from religion such as Mormonism or, or or 333 00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:42,400 Jehovah's Witness to where they believe and they teach Mormons 334 00:19:42,400 --> 00:19:46,560 and Jehovah's Witnesses both believe that Jesus was created. 335 00:19:47,120 --> 00:19:49,840 You see, the Bible doesn't teach that Jesus was created. 336 00:19:49,840 --> 00:19:52,920 The Bible teaches that Jesus was always God. 337 00:19:53,120 --> 00:19:55,240 John 11. I think that that's on your note 338 00:19:55,240 --> 00:19:57,160 sheet. In the beginning was the word 339 00:19:57,160 --> 00:20:01,880 and the word was with God and the word was God and in the word 340 00:20:01,880 --> 00:20:06,400 that that the word Word is actually referring to Jesus, the 341 00:20:06,400 --> 00:20:09,520 second person of the Trinity. So we need to understand that 342 00:20:09,520 --> 00:20:14,200 God is eternally existing as three in one, eternally existing 343 00:20:14,200 --> 00:20:17,280 as the Trinity. 4th baseline essential that we need to 344 00:20:17,280 --> 00:20:21,200 understand about God is God is both holy and pure. 345 00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:27,200 God is both holy and pure. He is wholly in the fact that he 346 00:20:27,200 --> 00:20:32,080 is completely set apart. He is completely other than us. 347 00:20:32,280 --> 00:20:36,600 He's completely set apart and he is completely other than us. 348 00:20:36,720 --> 00:20:40,280 Here's why that's important is because we have to have the 349 00:20:40,280 --> 00:20:44,640 self-awareness when we start to think about God, are we 350 00:20:44,640 --> 00:20:49,600 approaching God to casually to where it's almost like we throw 351 00:20:49,600 --> 00:20:51,440 our arm around God, We think that we can throw. 352 00:20:51,440 --> 00:20:55,600 Our arm around God and call God like the man upstairs or or our. 353 00:20:55,600 --> 00:21:00,240 Buddy Or you know, flashbacks to the early 2000 T-shirt Fazz, 354 00:21:00,440 --> 00:21:04,840 Jesus is my homeboy. You know, God is holy. 355 00:21:05,240 --> 00:21:10,240 He is other than us. But then also God is pure. 356 00:21:10,720 --> 00:21:14,560 The fact that God is pure means that there's no mixture of evil 357 00:21:14,560 --> 00:21:18,160 or corruption within God. There's no mixture of evil or 358 00:21:18,160 --> 00:21:22,600 corruption within God. You see, another misnomer about 359 00:21:22,600 --> 00:21:27,040 God out there is that God is some cosmic universal yin Yang 360 00:21:27,280 --> 00:21:30,960 to where God is equal parts light and dark, his equal parts 361 00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:34,400 good and evil. And what we're going to discover 362 00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:38,360 this week and then on into next week, there is no part of 363 00:21:38,360 --> 00:21:41,440 corruption or evil or darkness within God. 364 00:21:42,120 --> 00:21:44,720 We're actually next week we're going to talk about when we dive 365 00:21:44,720 --> 00:21:48,320 into the subjects of, of Satan, demons and hell. 366 00:21:48,480 --> 00:21:51,200 We're going to talk about the origins of evil and what evil 367 00:21:51,200 --> 00:21:54,960 really is and how evil came about, but it didn't come about 368 00:21:54,960 --> 00:21:59,360 from God because God is holy and God is pure. 369 00:21:59,600 --> 00:22:03,240 And then the 5th component, foundational, essential that you 370 00:22:03,240 --> 00:22:07,320 and I that we need to know about this God, about our God is this 371 00:22:07,600 --> 00:22:15,240 God is personal and loving. Now check this out, God is 372 00:22:15,240 --> 00:22:18,680 Yahweh, He is all powerful, He is all knowing, He is everywhere 373 00:22:18,680 --> 00:22:21,560 present. He is eternally 3 and 1, He is 374 00:22:21,560 --> 00:22:25,360 holy and he is pure, yet he still chooses to be personal. 375 00:22:26,160 --> 00:22:29,640 He still chooses to be loving. This is another thing that 376 00:22:29,640 --> 00:22:31,680 separates. There's a misnomer out there 377 00:22:31,680 --> 00:22:34,840 that says that the God of Christianity is really the the 378 00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:38,560 same God as as Allah in in Islam. 379 00:22:38,560 --> 00:22:40,800 And we basically pray to the same God. 380 00:22:40,800 --> 00:22:44,000 We just like address our our prayers to different to 381 00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:47,000 different to different names. And the fact of the matter is 382 00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:48,920 that nothing could be further from the truth. 383 00:22:49,520 --> 00:22:52,000 You see, if you ever talk to a Muslim, one of the things that 384 00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:55,880 would blow a Muslim's mind is they do not believe at all that 385 00:22:55,880 --> 00:22:59,400 Allah is personal or loving. They believe that Allah is 386 00:22:59,400 --> 00:23:04,160 completely just, that Allah does not care about them, that he is 387 00:23:04,160 --> 00:23:08,280 just basically going to put on the scales, good versus bad. 388 00:23:08,440 --> 00:23:12,280 And if the bad outweighs the good, then you are banished. 389 00:23:12,280 --> 00:23:16,000 If the good outweighs the bad, then you can go on into heaven. 390 00:23:16,160 --> 00:23:18,920 That is not what the Bible teaches about God. 391 00:23:19,680 --> 00:23:23,440 As a matter of fact, the Bible teaches that God chooses to be 392 00:23:23,440 --> 00:23:28,360 personal and loving. Not because you and I could ever 393 00:23:28,360 --> 00:23:31,360 earn it, by the way, not because that God. 394 00:23:31,360 --> 00:23:34,680 Not because God is impressed with us and our good deeds and 395 00:23:34,680 --> 00:23:36,560 our good thoughts and our good intentions. 396 00:23:36,800 --> 00:23:39,840 It's because he chooses to be personal and loving. 397 00:23:40,360 --> 00:23:45,080 And we see this playing out in the fact that God did everything 398 00:23:45,080 --> 00:23:50,200 to take that first step and creating us with free will and 399 00:23:50,200 --> 00:23:54,360 with the with with the decision or with the ability to choose to 400 00:23:54,360 --> 00:23:56,840 be in relationship with him. And we're going to circle back 401 00:23:56,840 --> 00:23:59,040 to that thought in just a moment. 402 00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:03,960 But despite God being holy and pure, all powerful, all knowing 403 00:24:03,960 --> 00:24:07,240 everywhere, present eternally in the Trinity, eternally 404 00:24:07,240 --> 00:24:11,520 Trinitarian and Yahweh holy other, he still chooses to be 405 00:24:11,520 --> 00:24:15,400 personal and loving. So those are the five basic 406 00:24:15,400 --> 00:24:18,240 essential foundational truths that we need to know about God. 407 00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:22,160 What are some truths that we need to know about angels? 408 00:24:22,760 --> 00:24:26,080 As we're going to go further and deeper into this series #1 409 00:24:26,920 --> 00:24:30,480 angels are created spiritual beings that may take on physical 410 00:24:30,480 --> 00:24:33,560 form. Angels we can read about in 411 00:24:33,560 --> 00:24:38,280 Scripture are created spiritual beings that may take on from 412 00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:43,720 time to time. They may take on physical form. 413 00:24:44,120 --> 00:24:47,480 They may take on physical form. We see this playing out 414 00:24:47,480 --> 00:24:50,160 throughout Scripture. That that that the. 415 00:24:50,240 --> 00:24:52,640 Angels. That God is the one that created 416 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:56,480 angels and from time to time those angels would take on 417 00:24:56,480 --> 00:24:59,240 physical form. Whether it be the Angel that 418 00:24:59,360 --> 00:25:03,320 that that met with Abraham to to tell Abraham of the impending 419 00:25:03,680 --> 00:25:06,920 pregnancy of Sarah to where she would give birth to Isaac. 420 00:25:06,920 --> 00:25:10,840 And out of Isaac would be would be the birth of an entire nation 421 00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:13,320 that would outnumber the the stars in the sky. 422 00:25:13,600 --> 00:25:19,200 Or we can see the Angel taking physical form as as Gabriel and 423 00:25:19,200 --> 00:25:22,000 Gabriel taking on this physical form and and having a 424 00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:26,400 conversation with with Mary to tell Mary about her impending 425 00:25:26,400 --> 00:25:30,360 pregnancy with the Messiah, the second person of the Trinity, 426 00:25:30,840 --> 00:25:33,360 Jesus Christ. We see these angels taking on 427 00:25:33,600 --> 00:25:38,400 physical form, but this physical form you and I we need to know 428 00:25:38,640 --> 00:25:42,920 most often is described as in military type terminology. 429 00:25:43,120 --> 00:25:46,800 Again, this is not some like precious moments type of 430 00:25:46,800 --> 00:25:50,320 figurine that angels take on bald headed babysitting on 431 00:25:50,320 --> 00:25:53,640 clouds, playing harps. As a matter of fact, anytime we 432 00:25:53,640 --> 00:25:56,440 see angels taking on physical form and having conversation 433 00:25:56,640 --> 00:25:59,360 with men or women throughout the Bible, the 1st 2 words that 434 00:25:59,360 --> 00:26:02,040 usually come out of that angel's mouth are fear not. 435 00:26:02,960 --> 00:26:07,000 Have any of you ever gone back to river or Little River and 436 00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:09,640 gone back to the nursery and there's like a baby sleeping 437 00:26:09,800 --> 00:26:13,360 like in a, in a crib and you, you need that baby to open up 438 00:26:13,360 --> 00:26:15,600 and go open his eyes and go fear not. 439 00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:18,400 No, nobody's afraid of like a bald headed baby, right? 440 00:26:19,080 --> 00:26:21,840 You're going to be afraid of these Angel warriors. 441 00:26:22,400 --> 00:26:27,840 So angels are created spiritual beings that sometimes take on 442 00:26:27,840 --> 00:26:31,360 the physical appearance or physical appearance. 443 00:26:31,640 --> 00:26:34,480 Second thing that we need to know about angels is angels are 444 00:26:34,480 --> 00:26:36,560 given a variety of assignments by God. 445 00:26:36,920 --> 00:26:41,240 There are a variety of types of angels and there are a variety 446 00:26:41,240 --> 00:26:43,600 of assignments that God gives these angels. 447 00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:47,760 Again, this is where we have got to separate the fascinating from 448 00:26:47,760 --> 00:26:51,320 the useful, but we've also got to understand that there are a 449 00:26:51,320 --> 00:26:54,240 variety of angels, that there's not just one type of Angel that 450 00:26:54,240 --> 00:26:56,840 God created. So and, and, and not just one 451 00:26:56,840 --> 00:26:58,960 type of task that angels are given by God. 452 00:26:59,360 --> 00:27:01,720 So as a matter of fact, you can read in the in the very 453 00:27:01,720 --> 00:27:04,760 beginning of the book of Genesis to where after Adam and Eve 454 00:27:04,760 --> 00:27:10,400 disobeyed God, God posted a cherubim, A cherubim to guard 455 00:27:10,400 --> 00:27:12,200 the entrance of the Garden of Eden. 456 00:27:12,200 --> 00:27:14,880 So Adam and Eve couldn't get back into the Garden of Eden. 457 00:27:15,240 --> 00:27:17,520 You can read these throne room scenes. 458 00:27:18,280 --> 00:27:21,600 Of God to where you have seraphim flying in and 459 00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:27,000 constantly worshipping God, you have Gabriel, Gabriel being the 460 00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:30,240 messenger. By the way, the Angel the the 461 00:27:30,280 --> 00:27:34,280 the the root word for Angel is usually translated as as as 462 00:27:34,280 --> 00:27:37,120 messenger. But then you have these types of 463 00:27:37,160 --> 00:27:40,160 angels called archangels. And archangels are are are 464 00:27:40,160 --> 00:27:44,680 dispatched by God to, to to protect his his people. 465 00:27:44,680 --> 00:27:47,800 But there are a variety of angels given a variety of 466 00:27:47,800 --> 00:27:53,000 assignments by God. Third thing that we need to 467 00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:57,040 understand about angels, some that we really don't talk a lot 468 00:27:57,040 --> 00:27:58,280 about. That's really going to set the 469 00:27:58,280 --> 00:27:59,840 stage for where we're going next week. 470 00:28:00,120 --> 00:28:02,280 Angels actually possess the freedom of choice. 471 00:28:03,080 --> 00:28:07,600 God did not create supernatural spiritual robots and call them 472 00:28:07,600 --> 00:28:10,160 angels. Angels actually are given the 473 00:28:10,160 --> 00:28:13,080 freedom of choice. We're going to look further into 474 00:28:13,080 --> 00:28:17,040 that, especially when we start talking about Satan and demons 475 00:28:17,040 --> 00:28:20,200 and Hell, because we're going to see how angels are actually 476 00:28:20,200 --> 00:28:23,520 given the choice, created with the choice to submit to God or 477 00:28:23,520 --> 00:28:28,840 to reject God, to to to obey God or to, to to kind of go off on 478 00:28:28,840 --> 00:28:31,880 their own way and disobey God. And we're going to see how 479 00:28:32,120 --> 00:28:36,920 demons are actually the angels that chose to disobey God and to 480 00:28:36,920 --> 00:28:38,960 rebel against God. God. 481 00:28:38,960 --> 00:28:43,480 But angels were created with the freedom to choose. 482 00:28:44,400 --> 00:28:46,520 Third thing that we need to talk about this morning, third 483 00:28:46,520 --> 00:28:51,840 question or component we need to look at is what and where is 484 00:28:52,040 --> 00:28:54,280 heaven? What and where is heaven? 485 00:28:55,040 --> 00:28:56,440 First thing that we need to know about heaven. 486 00:28:56,440 --> 00:28:59,520 Heaven is the dwelling place of God. 487 00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:01,800 Heaven is the dwelling place of God. 488 00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:05,960 And even though we see all throughout Scripture where God 489 00:29:05,960 --> 00:29:10,760 is everywhere present or omnipresent, we see every time 490 00:29:10,760 --> 00:29:14,640 we see like the the, the full majesty of God and and God 491 00:29:14,640 --> 00:29:19,320 seated upon his throne like in Isaiah and in Revelation, the 492 00:29:19,320 --> 00:29:23,760 vision that the prophets are given of God, they actually take 493 00:29:23,760 --> 00:29:27,440 place in heaven. So even though God is everywhere 494 00:29:27,440 --> 00:29:29,920 present, the full glory of God is on. 495 00:29:30,080 --> 00:29:34,760 Full display in heaven. Heaven is the dwelling place of 496 00:29:34,760 --> 00:29:36,480 God. Second thing that we need to 497 00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:40,640 understand about heaven is this. Heaven is a real place in the 498 00:29:40,640 --> 00:29:43,800 spiritual realm. Heaven is a real place in the 499 00:29:43,800 --> 00:29:48,560 spiritual realm. So some of us those that are 500 00:29:48,560 --> 00:29:52,840 right with God, we sometimes assume that heaven is a place in 501 00:29:52,840 --> 00:29:58,280 Athens, GA called Sanford Stadium on Sunday close but not 502 00:29:58,280 --> 00:30:00,840 quite. Heaven is a real place. 503 00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:03,440 There's there's so many thoughts about heaven. 504 00:30:03,800 --> 00:30:07,760 You ever had a conversation with people about about heaven and, 505 00:30:08,320 --> 00:30:10,640 and it's only a matter of time before somebody mentions, you 506 00:30:10,640 --> 00:30:14,280 know, I just really believe that heaven is a lush Meadow. 507 00:30:15,200 --> 00:30:18,840 You're like, what are you talking about Bambi or I just 508 00:30:18,840 --> 00:30:23,200 believe that my spirit will I just love to to vacation. 509 00:30:23,200 --> 00:30:26,560 So I believe that my spirit will hover over the over the ocean 510 00:30:26,560 --> 00:30:33,560 waters when I die. You're like, no, heaven is a 511 00:30:33,560 --> 00:30:36,960 real place. It is a real place in the 512 00:30:36,960 --> 00:30:39,320 spiritual realm. And some of the some of the 513 00:30:39,320 --> 00:30:41,400 depictions of heaven that we get from Scripture. 514 00:30:41,400 --> 00:30:44,480 And I would point you, if you really want to know more about 515 00:30:44,480 --> 00:30:46,800 it, you can look back at Revelation 21. 516 00:30:47,080 --> 00:30:51,760 And in Revelation 21, you'll read about streets of gold and 517 00:30:51,880 --> 00:30:55,840 you'll you'll read about there will be 12 gates, and each gate 518 00:30:55,840 --> 00:31:00,480 is made of a singular Pearl. Heaven is so real, in fact, that 519 00:31:00,480 --> 00:31:03,760 Jesus himself even told his disciples. 520 00:31:03,800 --> 00:31:05,760 And this is recorded for us in Scripture. 521 00:31:06,080 --> 00:31:08,200 If it were not so, I would have told you. 522 00:31:08,920 --> 00:31:11,000 If heaven were a myth, I would have told you. 523 00:31:11,760 --> 00:31:15,720 But I'm going away so that I can prepare a place for you, so that 524 00:31:15,720 --> 00:31:18,600 you may be where I'm going one day. 525 00:31:18,800 --> 00:31:22,760 Heaven is a real place in the spiritual realm. 526 00:31:23,600 --> 00:31:25,120 Third thing that we need to know about heaven. 527 00:31:25,120 --> 00:31:29,440 Heaven is the eternal home for all those who belong to Jesus. 528 00:31:30,200 --> 00:31:33,840 Heaven is a is is the eternal home for all those who belong to 529 00:31:33,840 --> 00:31:36,040 Jesus. Heaven is not the eternal home 530 00:31:36,040 --> 00:31:39,680 for everybody. Heaven is not the eternal home 531 00:31:39,680 --> 00:31:42,240 for good people. Heaven is not the eternal home 532 00:31:42,240 --> 00:31:46,480 for people with good intentions. Heaven is is is not. 533 00:31:46,680 --> 00:31:49,640 It is not the eternal home for people that always just send 534 00:31:49,640 --> 00:31:53,720 good vibes and happy thoughts. Heaven is the eternal home for 535 00:31:53,720 --> 00:31:59,080 all those who belong to Jesus, all those who belong to Jesus. 536 00:31:59,280 --> 00:32:01,640 In heaven we will have the opportunity. 537 00:32:01,640 --> 00:32:04,440 If you've surrendered your life to Jesus, you and I will have 538 00:32:04,440 --> 00:32:09,560 the opportunity to see Jesus, the one who came into this world 539 00:32:09,800 --> 00:32:13,680 and who died on behalf of us on a cross to forgive us of our 540 00:32:13,680 --> 00:32:15,160 sins. We'll be able to see Him face to 541 00:32:15,160 --> 00:32:19,120 face in heaven. We will be able to see the scars 542 00:32:19,120 --> 00:32:24,080 in his hand and the scars in his in his feet in heaven. 543 00:32:24,640 --> 00:32:29,240 In heaven, we will be able to join with all men and all women 544 00:32:29,240 --> 00:32:32,720 throughout all of time and history who have surrendered 545 00:32:32,720 --> 00:32:35,280 their lives to God and given their lives to God. 546 00:32:36,240 --> 00:32:41,200 The men and the women of the Old Testament, Moses and Sarah and 547 00:32:41,760 --> 00:32:45,280 Rebecca. And, and Isaac and Daniel and 548 00:32:45,400 --> 00:32:50,400 and Ruth, Esther and, and, and Paul, we'll, we'll be able to, 549 00:32:50,680 --> 00:32:54,000 to be there with them, but we'll also be able to be there. 550 00:32:54,680 --> 00:32:59,040 We'll also be reunited with the people that we're really close 551 00:32:59,040 --> 00:33:01,880 to that they've surrendered. They surrendered their life to 552 00:33:01,880 --> 00:33:07,920 Jesus, but they passed away and, and we, we greatly miss them 553 00:33:07,920 --> 00:33:10,880 and, and this is the reason that Paul reminds us in First 554 00:33:10,880 --> 00:33:13,280 Thessalonians Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant of 555 00:33:13,360 --> 00:33:16,520 any of these things, but we want you to know we do not. 556 00:33:16,520 --> 00:33:18,200 Grieve as those who have no hope. 557 00:33:18,840 --> 00:33:22,360 He doesn't tell us that we don't grieve the loss of people who 558 00:33:22,360 --> 00:33:24,920 have gone on before us. It just means that we grieve 559 00:33:24,920 --> 00:33:28,200 differently if we know that they are in the presence of Jesus. 560 00:33:28,200 --> 00:33:31,840 Because we know that even though we will miss them for this time 561 00:33:31,840 --> 00:33:36,000 here, we will one day be reunited with them there. 562 00:33:36,440 --> 00:33:40,080 And there's great hope in that. There's also great hope and 563 00:33:40,080 --> 00:33:44,920 knowing that the Bible tells us in, in, in, in Revelation 21, 564 00:33:45,040 --> 00:33:48,120 there'll be no more tears. There'll be no more fears and 565 00:33:48,120 --> 00:33:51,240 there'll be no more mourning or crying or, or pain. 566 00:33:51,240 --> 00:33:54,360 There'll be no more aging or, or doctor's appointments. 567 00:33:54,360 --> 00:33:58,520 There'll be no more heartbreak. All the stuff, all the junk that 568 00:33:58,520 --> 00:34:01,840 you and I that we have to navigate in this thing that we 569 00:34:01,840 --> 00:34:06,160 called life, God is going to make whole in heaven. 570 00:34:07,040 --> 00:34:10,800 So here's really the where the rubber meets the road this 571 00:34:10,800 --> 00:34:15,280 morning. Who is God, What are the angels 572 00:34:15,280 --> 00:34:18,800 or who are the angels? And then what and where are 573 00:34:18,800 --> 00:34:21,120 heaven? Here's the big question for us. 574 00:34:21,280 --> 00:34:25,199 Why does the any of it matter? Why does the any of it matter? 575 00:34:25,360 --> 00:34:28,080 How does any of what we just talked about? 576 00:34:28,639 --> 00:34:32,719 How does it impact our Tuesday? How does it impact your 577 00:34:32,719 --> 00:34:35,560 marriage? How does it impact like the 578 00:34:35,560 --> 00:34:37,880 family dynamic that you're trying to navigate through? 579 00:34:37,880 --> 00:34:41,000 How does it impact some, some, some decisions that you and your 580 00:34:41,159 --> 00:34:44,159 you and your spouse are making? How does it impact maybe the 581 00:34:44,159 --> 00:34:46,040 relationship that you have with your kids? 582 00:34:46,040 --> 00:34:51,159 How does it impact some of the stresses that you have at school 583 00:34:51,159 --> 00:34:55,400 or or on the job site? How does it impact any of this? 584 00:34:56,920 --> 00:35:02,040 I'm glad you asked. Three things in conclusion, to 585 00:35:02,040 --> 00:35:03,880 kind of put a bow around all of this. 586 00:35:04,240 --> 00:35:07,440 Number one, you and I, we have to understand the God who 587 00:35:07,440 --> 00:35:12,320 created me desires to have a relationship with me, the God 588 00:35:12,320 --> 00:35:15,000 who created me. Can I tell you this God is not 589 00:35:15,000 --> 00:35:18,080 some angry old man waiting to throw lightning bolts down at 590 00:35:18,080 --> 00:35:21,680 you and to cosmic cosmically and supernaturally spank you. 591 00:35:21,920 --> 00:35:27,280 When when you do wrong, this God loves you and this God desires 592 00:35:27,280 --> 00:35:30,720 the best for you and he knows that the best for you is for you 593 00:35:30,720 --> 00:35:34,560 to surrender your life to him and for the one who created you 594 00:35:34,560 --> 00:35:37,800 to guide you into living out the reason that he created you and 595 00:35:37,800 --> 00:35:39,280 the purpose that he created for you. 596 00:35:40,200 --> 00:35:43,440 You know out to the side on your on your notes. 597 00:35:43,960 --> 00:35:47,840 I gave you the text John 316 and 17. 598 00:35:49,280 --> 00:35:51,520 And, and if you grew up in church, you know this or if 599 00:35:51,520 --> 00:35:54,920 you're a football fan and watch NFL football on Saturdays, you 600 00:35:54,920 --> 00:35:57,920 typically see this sign held up in the bleachers. 601 00:35:58,040 --> 00:36:00,280 John 316. You know what? 602 00:36:00,280 --> 00:36:05,440 John 316 tells us that God has done everything that he can. 603 00:36:06,640 --> 00:36:09,400 He has taken that first step. He's given everything that he 604 00:36:09,400 --> 00:36:12,240 can. He gave his only son to die on a 605 00:36:12,240 --> 00:36:16,120 cross, to take the place of you, to forgive you of your sins, to 606 00:36:16,120 --> 00:36:18,720 pay the price for your sins, to pay the price for my sins. 607 00:36:19,800 --> 00:36:23,000 He's taken that first step. And, and where we are this 608 00:36:23,000 --> 00:36:25,520 morning is now the ball's in your court. 609 00:36:26,000 --> 00:36:28,320 The ball's in our court. God has done everything that he 610 00:36:28,320 --> 00:36:30,800 can. Did you realize that God loves 611 00:36:30,800 --> 00:36:34,080 you so much that he gives you the ability to accept him or 612 00:36:34,080 --> 00:36:35,760 reject him? God could have. 613 00:36:35,760 --> 00:36:38,600 I mean, we know that God can do everything, anything, right? 614 00:36:38,800 --> 00:36:41,240 He could have created every single one of us robots. 615 00:36:42,360 --> 00:36:44,600 And one of the things that we talk quite frequently about 616 00:36:44,600 --> 00:36:49,400 here, Riverbend, is the fact that relationship requires 617 00:36:49,400 --> 00:36:51,920 choice. Relationship can never true. 618 00:36:51,920 --> 00:36:54,040 Relationship can never be forced or coerced. 619 00:36:54,280 --> 00:36:57,840 It has to be chosen. Listen, God's made a way for you 620 00:36:57,840 --> 00:37:01,280 to be in relationship with Him. You just have to choose him. 621 00:37:01,560 --> 00:37:04,560 You just have to choose to be in relationship with Him. 622 00:37:05,200 --> 00:37:09,360 Second thing that all of this impacts our lives and that I 623 00:37:09,360 --> 00:37:13,320 want to I pray and I hope that God opens our eyes to is this is 624 00:37:13,320 --> 00:37:17,080 that I am being protected in ways that I don't realize I'm 625 00:37:17,080 --> 00:37:19,400 being protected in ways that I don't even realize. 626 00:37:19,400 --> 00:37:22,120 If you, if you, if you're with us this morning in the room or 627 00:37:22,120 --> 00:37:25,640 we're online and you surrendered your life to Jesus, you need to 628 00:37:25,640 --> 00:37:29,720 know that I don't think that we will ever understand that we'll 629 00:37:29,720 --> 00:37:33,600 ever fully know all the many different ways that God has sent 630 00:37:33,600 --> 00:37:39,240 his angels to protect us. But if you're with us this 631 00:37:39,240 --> 00:37:42,080 morning and you're, you know that you haven't surrendered 632 00:37:42,080 --> 00:37:44,760 your life to Jesus, or maybe you're unsure. 633 00:37:45,480 --> 00:37:48,440 Can I tell you this? God has protected you in ways 634 00:37:48,440 --> 00:37:51,760 that you don't even realize. Let me let me throw out a 635 00:37:51,760 --> 00:37:54,880 possibility to, to to you. If you're, if you're unsure on 636 00:37:54,880 --> 00:37:58,960 whether or not you surrendered your life to Jesus, I believe 637 00:37:58,960 --> 00:38:01,760 fully that God has protected you in ways that you don't even 638 00:38:01,760 --> 00:38:05,600 realize to get you to this place, to this space, to this 639 00:38:05,600 --> 00:38:08,200 moment to give you one more chance to accept him as the Lord 640 00:38:08,200 --> 00:38:11,040 and Savior, to surrender your life to him. 641 00:38:12,240 --> 00:38:15,200 You see, you and I, we are protected in ways that we do not 642 00:38:15,200 --> 00:38:19,720 even know by God that loves us and desperately desires to have 643 00:38:19,720 --> 00:38:23,040 a relationship with us. Here's the third way that all of 644 00:38:23,040 --> 00:38:26,920 this impacts our life. When heaven is home, man, earth 645 00:38:26,920 --> 00:38:31,680 loses its hold. When heaven is home, earth loses 646 00:38:31,680 --> 00:38:33,960 its hold. It doesn't mean that we're not 647 00:38:33,960 --> 00:38:36,320 bothered. It doesn't mean that we don't 648 00:38:36,320 --> 00:38:39,600 feel what we feel. It doesn't mean that we don't 649 00:38:39,600 --> 00:38:42,160 worry and that we don't have stress and that we don't have 650 00:38:42,160 --> 00:38:45,080 emotions. It just means that we realize 651 00:38:45,080 --> 00:38:49,120 that we walk this life, that we live our Mondays and our 652 00:38:49,120 --> 00:38:51,360 Tuesdays and our Wednesdays, our Thursdays, our Fridays, our 653 00:38:51,360 --> 00:38:54,840 Saturdays and our Sundays, knowing this place is not my 654 00:38:55,160 --> 00:38:58,360 eternal home. This place is not my eternal 655 00:38:58,360 --> 00:39:00,400 home. You see, if I've surrendered my 656 00:39:00,400 --> 00:39:03,960 life to Jesus, catch this. This place is as bad as it's 657 00:39:03,960 --> 00:39:07,640 ever going to get. If you have not surrendered your 658 00:39:07,640 --> 00:39:11,160 life to Jesus, guess what? This place is as good as it's 659 00:39:11,160 --> 00:39:14,640 ever going to get. That's a sobering, sobering 660 00:39:14,640 --> 00:39:18,280 thought. When heaven is our home, earth 661 00:39:18,280 --> 00:39:22,960 loses its hold. It means that we start thinking 662 00:39:22,960 --> 00:39:26,120 with an eternal perspective. It means that we start to 663 00:39:26,120 --> 00:39:30,480 realize that you and I, that we have been giving this brief time 664 00:39:30,480 --> 00:39:35,320 and this brief slice of history and the decisions that we make 665 00:39:35,320 --> 00:39:38,760 in this brief slice of history, what we would call a lifetime. 666 00:39:39,680 --> 00:39:42,320 And here's the thing, I don't mean to be morbid. 667 00:39:42,680 --> 00:39:46,560 None of us have any control. None of us really know how long 668 00:39:46,560 --> 00:39:51,640 that lifetime really is, do we? God knows. 669 00:39:53,440 --> 00:39:56,560 But the brief slice of history that he has given us, He's given 670 00:39:56,560 --> 00:40:00,880 us that brief slice of history. To know him. 671 00:40:01,240 --> 00:40:05,720 To surrender our lives to him and to make him known to, to, 672 00:40:05,720 --> 00:40:09,200 to, to experience the reason that he created us. 673 00:40:11,120 --> 00:40:13,360 Can I ask you a question? And as we kind of come to a 674 00:40:13,360 --> 00:40:17,080 close this morning and this question, things probably going 675 00:40:17,080 --> 00:40:21,200 to hit pretty close to home. When we start thinking about and 676 00:40:21,200 --> 00:40:25,280 we start talking about things like God and angels in heaven 677 00:40:25,920 --> 00:40:31,360 and eternity, what immediately comes to mind? 678 00:40:32,000 --> 00:40:37,600 What emotions start rushing in? It is, is there is there like a 679 00:40:37,840 --> 00:40:39,560 is there a deep sense of longing? 680 00:40:40,200 --> 00:40:47,560 There Is there a deep sense of longing to where you sit there 681 00:40:47,560 --> 00:40:50,240 and go. God, I am so I'm ready. 682 00:40:50,240 --> 00:40:52,760 God, thank you for the many blessings that you allow me to 683 00:40:52,760 --> 00:40:56,360 experience here in this life, that I'm so ready to be with you 684 00:40:56,360 --> 00:40:59,760 face to face. I'm so ready for what I believe 685 00:40:59,760 --> 00:41:04,280 by faith to experience by sight. I'm so ready to be in your 686 00:41:04,280 --> 00:41:07,080 presence. God, is there a deep sense of 687 00:41:07,080 --> 00:41:09,280 longing or is there a deep sense of fear? 688 00:41:12,000 --> 00:41:17,120 Does it make you feel uneasy? Listen, this is not about 689 00:41:17,120 --> 00:41:20,240 scaring you, but I just want to pose a question to you. 690 00:41:20,600 --> 00:41:23,840 If it makes you feel uneasy, why is that? 691 00:41:26,000 --> 00:41:29,240 I think it, I think it makes us feel uneasy for one of two 692 00:41:29,240 --> 00:41:32,960 reasons. I think it makes us feel uneasy 693 00:41:32,960 --> 00:41:35,560 because we may be unsure about ourselves. 694 00:41:37,840 --> 00:41:40,720 Let me let me kind of put a fine point on that. 695 00:41:42,000 --> 00:41:47,520 Can you go back to a time and a place that you surrendered your 696 00:41:47,520 --> 00:41:50,320 life to Jesus? You know, we were able to 697 00:41:50,320 --> 00:41:56,840 celebrate the baptism of three people this morning of Hart, 698 00:41:57,200 --> 00:42:01,320 Blake and and Ella. Next service we'll be able to 699 00:42:01,320 --> 00:42:03,560 baptize 3 more and celebrate them. 700 00:42:05,120 --> 00:42:07,280 Can I ask you a question? Has there been a point in time 701 00:42:07,280 --> 00:42:10,120 to where you know that you've surrendered your life to Jesus? 702 00:42:10,760 --> 00:42:15,120 To where when you die, you know that heaven will be your home. 703 00:42:16,200 --> 00:42:19,160 I think sometimes when we're unsure about that, subjects like 704 00:42:19,160 --> 00:42:22,400 God and angels in heaven and eternity kind of make us feel 705 00:42:22,400 --> 00:42:24,160 uneasy. I think there's a second reason 706 00:42:24,160 --> 00:42:28,080 it makes us feel uneasy is because you may be sure and 707 00:42:28,080 --> 00:42:31,240 secure in your personal salvation, but there's somebody 708 00:42:31,240 --> 00:42:34,280 really close to you that you're highly doubtful of. 709 00:42:36,040 --> 00:42:40,600 So the thoughts of that person dying without giving their life 710 00:42:40,600 --> 00:42:43,680 to Jesus, Man, it's heartbreaking, isn't it? 711 00:42:45,640 --> 00:42:48,640 In just a moment, what we're going to do is we'll pray 712 00:42:48,640 --> 00:42:50,280 together, we'll stand, we'll worship. 713 00:42:50,280 --> 00:42:54,000 But I want to just call us back to a time of prayer as a church. 714 00:42:54,200 --> 00:42:57,800 If you were here with us our first week together, you know, 715 00:42:57,800 --> 00:43:02,600 the invitation was simply this. If you need to get your life 716 00:43:02,600 --> 00:43:05,720 right with God, if you need to surrender your life to Jesus, 717 00:43:05,960 --> 00:43:08,440 we're going to have some pastors down here at the front that we 718 00:43:08,440 --> 00:43:13,400 would love to pray with you. But if you are sure and secure 719 00:43:13,720 --> 00:43:16,680 in your salvation, ma'am, praise God. 720 00:43:17,320 --> 00:43:19,920 But we're going to invite you to come down and we're going to 721 00:43:19,920 --> 00:43:23,920 invite you to pray by name for people that you may be concerned 722 00:43:23,920 --> 00:43:25,880 over. They may not be here. 723 00:43:25,880 --> 00:43:29,040 They're probably not. They may not be with you online. 724 00:43:29,040 --> 00:43:31,040 They're probably not. But here's the thing, There's 725 00:43:31,040 --> 00:43:34,520 great power and prayer and praying specifically for name by 726 00:43:34,520 --> 00:43:38,360 somebody to where we ask the Holy Spirit God, wherever that 727 00:43:38,360 --> 00:43:43,360 person is, go invade their life, invade their heart God, capture 728 00:43:43,360 --> 00:43:46,840 them with your pursuit and your love for them. 729 00:43:46,840 --> 00:43:50,760 Draw them to you. You do what only you can do by 730 00:43:50,760 --> 00:43:54,840 going where you can only go into their soul, into their heart, 731 00:43:54,840 --> 00:43:58,440 into their innermost being and draw them to to you. 732 00:43:59,320 --> 00:44:03,240 So as we as we're about to pray and stand and sing, I'm going to 733 00:44:03,240 --> 00:44:06,560 invite you just to come and pray for people by name. 734 00:44:07,520 --> 00:44:10,720 So let's pray God, we love you and we thank you for who you 735 00:44:10,720 --> 00:44:14,240 are. And God, if we were given 1000 736 00:44:14,240 --> 00:44:20,040 lifetimes, we can never exhaust talking about who you are. 737 00:44:23,640 --> 00:44:26,040 But God, I pray that this morning, God, that we would be 738 00:44:26,040 --> 00:44:31,360 captured by the thought that you are holy and you are just and 739 00:44:31,360 --> 00:44:34,880 you are pure. You are everywhere, present, all 740 00:44:34,880 --> 00:44:39,520 knowing, all powerful. You are eternally existing. 741 00:44:39,520 --> 00:44:44,120 You are Yahweh, yet you choose to be loving and personal God. 742 00:44:44,120 --> 00:44:48,920 Many of us in this room we have, we have accepted that personal 743 00:44:48,920 --> 00:44:52,160 invitation of yours just to accept you as your as as our 744 00:44:52,160 --> 00:44:54,960 Lord and Savior. God, there's some of us in this 745 00:44:54,960 --> 00:44:58,600 room that we're just not sure or we know that we haven't, but we 746 00:44:58,600 --> 00:45:01,600 know that we need to. God, for that person, for those 747 00:45:01,600 --> 00:45:03,600 people in this room, God, I pray that you would give them the 748 00:45:03,600 --> 00:45:06,920 boldness in just a few moments to step out and to come talk to 749 00:45:06,920 --> 00:45:08,920 a pastor and to pray with a pastor. 750 00:45:11,080 --> 00:45:15,080 God, there's also so many of us in this room that our hearts are 751 00:45:15,080 --> 00:45:19,600 heavy and burdened by friends or family members or Co workers 752 00:45:20,320 --> 00:45:23,920 that even though we are sure and secure in our own salvation and 753 00:45:23,920 --> 00:45:27,200 our own eternal destination, God, we're very unsure and we're 754 00:45:27,200 --> 00:45:29,520 very concerned about their souls. 755 00:45:30,160 --> 00:45:34,040 So God, we want to take this opportunity to lift them up by 756 00:45:34,040 --> 00:45:38,680 name directly to your ears and to your throne to unleash your 757 00:45:38,680 --> 00:45:42,400 Holy Spirit upon their life. So God, I pray that you would 758 00:45:42,400 --> 00:45:45,920 grant us the boldness and the courage to come down and just be 759 00:45:45,920 --> 00:45:49,640 able to pray for people by name. God, we pray that your Holy 760 00:45:49,640 --> 00:45:52,680 Spirit would move in power and might and that your Holy Spirit 761 00:45:52,680 --> 00:45:55,400 would do what only your Holy Spirit can do during this time. 762 00:45:55,680 --> 00:45:58,000 And it's in Jesus name we pray. Amen. 763 00:46:02,720 --> 00:46:05,680 Thank you for listening to Riverbend Church's podcast. 764 00:46:05,680 --> 00:46:09,120 To find out more about this message or Riverbend Church, 765 00:46:09,240 --> 00:46:12,520 connect with us online at Riverbend Church dot live.