1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,120 Well have a lot of information in the sermon today, so make 2 00:00:03,120 --> 00:00:05,960 sure your download speeds are run in full speed. 3 00:00:06,720 --> 00:00:10,200 But the reason I want to cover a lot of information because I 4 00:00:10,200 --> 00:00:14,480 want to discuss theology as well as doctrine because it's very 5 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:17,760 important, because I believe with everything within me, this 6 00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:21,520 is a very important time in the plans and purposes of God. 7 00:00:21,960 --> 00:00:25,320 And so in order for us to understand where we're going, we 8 00:00:25,320 --> 00:00:28,600 also have to understand where we came from. 9 00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:31,800 The Bible says if the foundations be destroyed, what 10 00:00:31,800 --> 00:00:34,160 shall the righteous do? So it's very important for us to 11 00:00:34,160 --> 00:00:36,760 have a groundwork for understanding. 12 00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:40,360 There are two simple messages that will be a part of it. 13 00:00:40,640 --> 00:00:43,160 Now pointed out for those of you who feel it's too much 14 00:00:43,160 --> 00:00:46,440 information to handle because perhaps you don't have the 15 00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:48,280 background to understand some of the things. 16 00:00:48,280 --> 00:00:52,120 But again, I want to stress even before I start, this is a very 17 00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:56,480 important time in God's plan, a time where He's challenging each 18 00:00:56,480 --> 00:01:00,720 and every one of us to take a step higher in Him and to let 19 00:01:00,720 --> 00:01:05,720 Him take us to that place. So in John chapter 16, Jesus 20 00:01:05,720 --> 00:01:09,360 said, I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot 21 00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:11,760 bear them now. However, how? 22 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:15,080 However, when He, the Spirit of truth has come, He will guide 23 00:01:15,080 --> 00:01:17,760 you in all truth. For He will not speak on His own 24 00:01:17,760 --> 00:01:21,240 authority, but whatever He hears, He will speak and He will 25 00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:25,080 tell you things to come. He will glorify me, for He will 26 00:01:25,080 --> 00:01:28,400 take of what is mine and declare it to you. 27 00:01:28,920 --> 00:01:31,320 I shared this scripture on Wednesday. 28 00:01:31,320 --> 00:01:34,200 I did a few weeks back on a Sunday as a part of my YouTube 29 00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:37,800 because I believe this is a very important scripture for laying a 30 00:01:37,800 --> 00:01:41,560 principle for us to understand. When Jesus Christ was getting 31 00:01:41,560 --> 00:01:44,880 ready to go to the cross, He was wanting to prepare His disciples 32 00:01:44,880 --> 00:01:48,240 for what was going to come, and He wanted them to understand 33 00:01:48,240 --> 00:01:51,880 that when they got through to the other side, they would 34 00:01:51,880 --> 00:01:55,720 realize on the day of Pentecost that Jesus Christ did not leave 35 00:01:55,720 --> 00:01:58,680 them orphans. He said I'm going away, but I'm 36 00:01:58,680 --> 00:02:02,360 coming again to you. And he was going to come through 37 00:02:02,360 --> 00:02:05,600 the power of the Holy Spirit. Now that's different than when 38 00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:09,840 he comes in the last day in a bodily form, but it is important 39 00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:13,080 for us to realize there is a present tense reality through 40 00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:16,920 the Holy Spirit that we have that we can continue our 41 00:02:16,920 --> 00:02:21,280 relationship with Jesus Christ. He gave us the Holy Spirit so 42 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:25,120 that we could have a guide, so that we could have a teacher, so 43 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:29,600 that we could have instruction and perception that goes beyond 44 00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:32,800 what is ordinary. And so that's the purpose of the 45 00:02:32,800 --> 00:02:35,640 Holy Spirit. That's why we am outside and 46 00:02:35,640 --> 00:02:39,440 encourage people to understand. There is a second work of grace, 47 00:02:39,440 --> 00:02:42,760 as many call it, whereby after you become a Christian, you say 48 00:02:42,760 --> 00:02:45,440 I want to be endued with power from on high. 49 00:02:45,840 --> 00:02:47,520 I want to receive the Holy Spirit. 50 00:02:47,960 --> 00:02:51,240 Now Jesus said something very powerful as well as a part of 51 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:54,880 this, because he said you're not ready for everything. 52 00:02:54,880 --> 00:02:57,160 I want to tell you. That's why there has to be this 53 00:02:57,160 --> 00:03:00,280 waiting period and then I'm going to come again and speak to 54 00:03:00,280 --> 00:03:03,840 you now through the Holy Spirit. Now first disciples, that meant 55 00:03:03,840 --> 00:03:05,760 they were going to go through the death, burial and 56 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:07,320 resurrection. It was going to be a very 57 00:03:07,320 --> 00:03:10,720 traumatic experience, one in which they would learn a whole 58 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:12,960 lot. Then on the other side, through 59 00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:15,560 the Holy Spirit, Jesus would help them recover from the 60 00:03:15,560 --> 00:03:19,560 catastrophe that it was for many of them and also began to 61 00:03:19,560 --> 00:03:22,600 reinstate them and to walk in the full. 62 00:03:22,600 --> 00:03:26,120 And So what God had for them, but also he was making it known 63 00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:30,440 that the apostle Paul would be raised up to continue many of 64 00:03:30,440 --> 00:03:33,440 the teachings and instructions that he had been taking it to 65 00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:36,240 another level. It's important for us to 66 00:03:36,240 --> 00:03:41,080 understand with God there is a progression to his revelation. 67 00:03:41,280 --> 00:03:43,880 It's true in the church as a whole. 68 00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:47,920 It's true throughout history, and we should see it as true in 69 00:03:47,920 --> 00:03:52,240 our own individual lives. But when speaking to them and 70 00:03:52,240 --> 00:03:54,160 saying, but you're not quite ready for it. 71 00:03:54,160 --> 00:03:57,560 We have to understand that a part of his dealings with us in 72 00:03:57,560 --> 00:04:02,280 the Spirit will also correspond to our natural life because 73 00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:05,280 there's a process that we go through in development in our 74 00:04:05,440 --> 00:04:09,400 natural life that helps us prepare to receive more in our 75 00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:13,120 spiritual dimension. That's why in the Bible we hear 76 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:16,279 the term elder because they're supposed to be people that 77 00:04:16,279 --> 00:04:20,360 through living a long time in relationship with God, there 78 00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:23,760 comes a point in time where it's been proven true in their life 79 00:04:23,760 --> 00:04:27,120 and they have wisdom to share. And that's why God wants us to 80 00:04:27,120 --> 00:04:30,680 understand how important it is for us to continue in the things 81 00:04:30,680 --> 00:04:33,680 that God has for us so that we would be ready. 82 00:04:34,120 --> 00:04:36,640 That's true in our chronological age. 83 00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:40,480 It's also throughout history, something that's very important. 84 00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:44,080 One of the examples I will give about this is one that we can 85 00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:47,360 look back when we look at church history and we know about the 86 00:04:47,360 --> 00:04:50,640 time of the Reformation, which is about 500 years ago. 87 00:04:51,120 --> 00:04:56,480 The church was basically all, all in one church in the Western 88 00:04:56,480 --> 00:04:59,720 part of Europe, all in another church in the eastern. 89 00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:03,840 There was the Eastern and the Western church tradition, but 90 00:05:03,840 --> 00:05:06,840 people began to realize that we need a change now. 91 00:05:06,840 --> 00:05:08,440 And that's where the Reformation come in. 92 00:05:08,440 --> 00:05:11,200 Because all the sudden people began to realize there's a lot 93 00:05:11,200 --> 00:05:14,960 of traditions that were picked up and practices that were not 94 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:17,560 according to the word of God. Well, how did they know that? 95 00:05:18,120 --> 00:05:21,200 Well, they knew that because they were in a time in history 96 00:05:21,200 --> 00:05:24,240 when there was a dynamic change in civilization. 97 00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:28,200 For many years, really for the 1st 1500 years of church 98 00:05:28,200 --> 00:05:31,840 history, most people in the world did not read or write. 99 00:05:32,480 --> 00:05:35,360 And even if they did, they wouldn't have access to a Bible 100 00:05:35,360 --> 00:05:40,080 because all Bibles had to be copied by hand. 101 00:05:40,080 --> 00:05:42,600 And so there weren't a whole lot of Bibles available. 102 00:05:42,600 --> 00:05:44,080 They would have been very expensive. 103 00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:47,520 So again, out of the hands of individuals, through the Age of 104 00:05:47,520 --> 00:05:50,600 Enlightenment, the Age of Reason and civilization, people began 105 00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:53,280 to understand how important knowledge was, how important 106 00:05:53,280 --> 00:05:56,800 education was, and it advanced human civilization that made it 107 00:05:56,800 --> 00:05:58,800 possible for God to do something new. 108 00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:02,400 And also with the invention of the printing press, a band by 109 00:06:02,400 --> 00:06:05,920 the name of Gutenberg had invented something where they 110 00:06:05,920 --> 00:06:09,360 could use a printing press. So Bibles became widely 111 00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:11,160 available. As a matter of fact, the first 112 00:06:11,320 --> 00:06:13,360 book that he printed was a Bible. 113 00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:17,520 And so you can see very easily here how God works in the 114 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:22,200 natural as well as the spiritual to perform his perfect works in 115 00:06:22,200 --> 00:06:25,320 the earth. Again, in the body as a whole, 116 00:06:25,320 --> 00:06:27,440 but also in our individual lives. 117 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:30,600 We should always have this idea. There's never been a day like 118 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:34,480 today, because today God wants to speak to us in a fresh way. 119 00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:36,960 The Scripture here says that too. 120 00:06:36,960 --> 00:06:40,880 It says therefore, when they had come together, they asked Jesus 121 00:06:41,200 --> 00:06:44,960 saying, Lord, when will you at this time restore the Kingdom of 122 00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:47,880 it to Israel? And he said them is not for you 123 00:06:47,880 --> 00:06:51,040 to know the times or seasons which the Father has put in his 124 00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:54,240 own authority, but you shall receive power when the Holy 125 00:06:54,240 --> 00:06:57,600 Spirit has come upon you. You shall be witnesses to me in 126 00:06:57,600 --> 00:07:01,920 Jerusalem, in all Judea, in Samaria and to the end of the 127 00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:04,400 earth. And of course it was at this 128 00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:08,080 point in time, Jesus Christ has resurrected, spent 40 days with 129 00:07:08,080 --> 00:07:10,280 them. He's going to ascend into heaven 130 00:07:10,480 --> 00:07:14,560 and make his church the new witnesses in the earth, 131 00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:16,920 replacing him. Now there was going to be the 132 00:07:16,920 --> 00:07:19,880 body of Christ. Well, of course, as has always 133 00:07:19,880 --> 00:07:23,120 been true in our throughout church history, they knew Jesus 134 00:07:23,120 --> 00:07:25,040 was going away. They knew that he was coming 135 00:07:25,040 --> 00:07:26,400 back. So immediately they want to 136 00:07:26,400 --> 00:07:28,440 know, when are you coming back? When are you going to restore 137 00:07:28,440 --> 00:07:29,680 the Kingdom? When are all these things in 138 00:07:29,680 --> 00:07:32,800 heaven? And Jesus said, I can't share 139 00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:37,600 with you the things or times and seasons that only the Father has 140 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:40,800 in his hand, which I always like to throw out there because 141 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:43,280 there's a whole lot of preachers who can tell you when Jesus is 142 00:07:43,280 --> 00:07:45,280 coming back and he didn't even know itself. 143 00:07:46,400 --> 00:07:49,080 I'm, you know, that should put a little pause when we hear 144 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:53,840 everybody talking about Jesus's gummy because God has a plan and 145 00:07:53,840 --> 00:07:56,280 a purpose. And sometimes we have to get in 146 00:07:56,280 --> 00:07:58,760 God to really perceive the times and seasons. 147 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:02,320 But it's important for us to know that God isn't just working 148 00:08:02,320 --> 00:08:05,680 in the earth to do his part of what's happening. 149 00:08:05,960 --> 00:08:09,360 As we mentioned a couple weeks ago, it's so important for us to 150 00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:12,760 know that heaven rules on the earth. 151 00:08:13,240 --> 00:08:16,040 And that's important for us to understand because whether it's 152 00:08:16,040 --> 00:08:20,320 good things or bad things, God is the manager of all things. 153 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:24,320 As we'll read here today, God gives mankind choices. 154 00:08:24,560 --> 00:08:27,640 Sometimes they suffer for those choices, sometimes other people 155 00:08:27,640 --> 00:08:31,000 suffer for those choices. But the end we have to realize 156 00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:34,520 that God still is a manager of all things. 157 00:08:34,840 --> 00:08:38,520 And for Him, it's always working towards a purpose for His plan 158 00:08:38,520 --> 00:08:40,640 on the earth. And you have to know that God 159 00:08:40,640 --> 00:08:44,360 has a purpose for your life. And so you have to sometimes 160 00:08:44,360 --> 00:08:48,120 stop and say, OK, wait a second, I have a purpose to my life. 161 00:08:48,440 --> 00:08:50,880 I'm going to say, God, what's your purpose in this? 162 00:08:50,880 --> 00:08:54,280 I'm going to put my trust in you and believe that as I do, it's 163 00:08:54,280 --> 00:08:56,680 going to work up. Now, when you said you're going 164 00:08:56,680 --> 00:08:59,880 to be witnesses, he didn't say now you guys have to have a 165 00:08:59,880 --> 00:09:02,840 night where you do evangelism, go out and witness. 166 00:09:04,160 --> 00:09:06,480 You don't have to get your tracks and go out and witness. 167 00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:09,440 When he says here that you're called to be a witness, the 168 00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:13,160 original word in the translation that the Bible came from, the 169 00:09:13,160 --> 00:09:16,320 Greek translation, it means a martyr. 170 00:09:16,320 --> 00:09:18,080 So it's talking about a person's life. 171 00:09:18,640 --> 00:09:22,840 God says your life is a witness. Yes, you should tell people 172 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:26,680 about what God has done, as you should tell what God has done in 173 00:09:26,680 --> 00:09:29,360 your life. But most important is God 174 00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:32,720 saying, do you realize that I have created you to be my 175 00:09:32,920 --> 00:09:34,800 witnesses? Says the Lord. 176 00:09:35,680 --> 00:09:40,080 So there's always this process that's going on in life where we 177 00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:42,240 have an eternal purpose to be God's witness. 178 00:09:42,240 --> 00:09:46,600 And we need to stop from time to time and say, well, what is the 179 00:09:46,600 --> 00:09:50,960 witness that God has for me in the circumstance I'm now in? 180 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:54,720 Because sometimes we think that we have to manage our 181 00:09:55,040 --> 00:09:58,120 circumstances. And God say, no, let me manage 182 00:09:58,120 --> 00:10:01,360 the circumstances. You let me do a work inside of 183 00:10:01,360 --> 00:10:04,040 you. And then you'll see how that I 184 00:10:04,040 --> 00:10:07,880 can make something very powerful out of what even you're going 185 00:10:07,880 --> 00:10:10,720 through, says the Lord, Amen. Give the Lord a praise on that. 186 00:10:10,720 --> 00:10:15,320 That's a good thing to know. Now when I talk about why this 187 00:10:15,320 --> 00:10:18,480 day is important, because I believe right here the Scripture 188 00:10:18,480 --> 00:10:20,920 is so important for the day, an hour in which we live. 189 00:10:21,560 --> 00:10:24,360 Now I say that the air, as long as he is a child, does not 190 00:10:24,360 --> 00:10:28,160 differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, but 191 00:10:28,160 --> 00:10:31,680 is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the 192 00:10:31,680 --> 00:10:34,440 Father. Even so we when we were 193 00:10:34,440 --> 00:10:38,240 children, we're in bondage other elements of the world, but when 194 00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:42,440 the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of 195 00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:46,600 a woman, born under the law to redeem those who are under the 196 00:10:46,600 --> 00:10:52,040 law that we might what receive the adoption as sons, a partner 197 00:10:52,040 --> 00:10:54,160 over this. It's the scripture of transition 198 00:10:54,160 --> 00:10:58,800 because the apostle Paul, the call he had was a call to the 199 00:10:58,800 --> 00:11:03,560 Gentiles, but also he had to reconcile the old covenant with 200 00:11:03,560 --> 00:11:07,280 the new covenant, the law of Moses, with the new message that 201 00:11:07,280 --> 00:11:10,320 Jesus Christ had, which was the message of grace. 202 00:11:10,880 --> 00:11:14,040 And so he wanted the Jews, especially at this point in 203 00:11:14,040 --> 00:11:18,040 time, because in the book of Galatians, he's talking a lot 204 00:11:18,040 --> 00:11:21,560 about the Jewish religion versus what God was doing, because 205 00:11:21,560 --> 00:11:24,200 there were a whole lot of the Jews who had become Christians, 206 00:11:24,480 --> 00:11:27,440 and they couldn't separate the old from the new. 207 00:11:27,440 --> 00:11:29,920 And so they were always trying to bring the people back into 208 00:11:29,920 --> 00:11:32,360 the old. And he's trying to say, no, it's 209 00:11:32,360 --> 00:11:35,600 time to go into the new now. He said it this way. 210 00:11:35,600 --> 00:11:39,640 He says in the old covenant you were treated like servants or 211 00:11:39,640 --> 00:11:42,840 slaves. And it's a natural thing because 212 00:11:42,840 --> 00:11:45,760 even though you are the children of God, you weren't ready for 213 00:11:45,760 --> 00:11:49,080 everything that God had for you to do or everything for you to 214 00:11:49,080 --> 00:11:51,760 be, he said. But just like it is in the 215 00:11:51,760 --> 00:11:55,240 natural, if you're a very wealthy person, your children 216 00:11:55,240 --> 00:11:58,760 are become heirs of your estate. You don't want to just give it 217 00:11:58,760 --> 00:12:01,400 to them at any time. You want to make sure that 218 00:12:01,400 --> 00:12:04,840 they're mature enough, able enough that when the inheritance 219 00:12:04,840 --> 00:12:07,960 comes, they can receive it and do well with it. 220 00:12:08,400 --> 00:12:10,920 And he said that's the way it is with the Kingdom of God. 221 00:12:11,520 --> 00:12:15,760 God has an inheritance for US. Church God has some awesome 222 00:12:15,760 --> 00:12:18,760 things that He's always intended to put in the hands of his 223 00:12:18,760 --> 00:12:23,280 people, but we have to be ready for the blessing He wants to 224 00:12:23,280 --> 00:12:25,520 give to us. And that's why in the Old 225 00:12:25,520 --> 00:12:29,040 Testament they're called the children of Israel, or even the 226 00:12:29,040 --> 00:12:32,000 children of God, because really they were very immature. 227 00:12:32,360 --> 00:12:36,520 They were really just acting like slaves or servants of God. 228 00:12:36,520 --> 00:12:40,160 They never quite understood what it meant to be responsible and 229 00:12:40,160 --> 00:12:41,960 do the things that God had for them. 230 00:12:42,680 --> 00:12:46,640 No, so now there's this transition from the law to grace 231 00:12:46,640 --> 00:12:48,000 and they just couldn't receive it. 232 00:12:48,040 --> 00:12:51,960 No, we're going to stay under the law and not move into this 233 00:12:51,960 --> 00:12:54,440 concept of grace and what that would be. 234 00:12:54,880 --> 00:12:57,840 So really what they were choosing in the Apostle Paul's 235 00:12:57,840 --> 00:13:02,080 determination was you're choosing to be children and not 236 00:13:02,080 --> 00:13:05,480 sons, just like it is in the natural when you have children, 237 00:13:05,920 --> 00:13:07,760 how many know when they first come into the world? 238 00:13:07,760 --> 00:13:10,760 It's such an amazing thing to be a parent and you have kids and 239 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:12,240 you're like, wow, this is awesome. 240 00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:15,640 So the first thing that you think about is you got to 241 00:13:15,640 --> 00:13:19,080 protect your children. You can even say my job is to 242 00:13:19,080 --> 00:13:21,480 keep those kids alive because how many know that's the bottom 243 00:13:21,480 --> 00:13:23,720 line? And I always joke about it, how 244 00:13:23,720 --> 00:13:27,720 that when we first had children, Bonnie and I were very careful. 245 00:13:27,800 --> 00:13:30,560 She has always been more careful than me about everything. 246 00:13:30,920 --> 00:13:33,680 So every time I went to get a cover, something on the 247 00:13:33,680 --> 00:13:37,240 cupboard, it usually had a lock. If you went down the stairs, 248 00:13:37,240 --> 00:13:40,040 there was something that guarded so the kids wouldn't fall down 249 00:13:40,040 --> 00:13:42,640 the stairs. I remember myself even reading 250 00:13:42,640 --> 00:13:44,920 an article once where they said a major cause of death for 251 00:13:44,920 --> 00:13:46,680 children as they fall into the toilet. 252 00:13:47,400 --> 00:13:51,240 I was afraid to even lift the toilet lid after that point in 253 00:13:51,240 --> 00:13:52,880 time, wondered what I would find. 254 00:13:52,880 --> 00:13:55,080 I was just so we got to be very careful. 255 00:13:55,080 --> 00:13:58,880 We don't want the kids to drown, but you don't want to just keep 256 00:13:58,880 --> 00:14:00,320 them alive. How many, you know, you wanted 257 00:14:00,320 --> 00:14:04,600 to mature, bring to that place where there's potty training, if 258 00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:07,160 you would, So you want them to be aware of their bodily 259 00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:10,080 functions and teach them how to handle those things. 260 00:14:10,080 --> 00:14:14,960 And so that the joy that we have as they're growing up is all the 261 00:14:14,960 --> 00:14:17,600 accomplishments. And when they begin to talk and 262 00:14:17,600 --> 00:14:20,960 when they begin to have some sense of humanity that we 263 00:14:20,960 --> 00:14:23,160 witnessed in them. Bonnie was just talking the 264 00:14:23,160 --> 00:14:25,680 other day about our grandkids. And it's so amazing when they 265 00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:29,160 first start talking, you realize that's a person they actually 266 00:14:29,160 --> 00:14:32,480 think it's, it's almost stunning. 267 00:14:34,640 --> 00:14:38,120 But they are. And our goal should always be to 268 00:14:38,120 --> 00:14:40,200 bring them to a place of responsibility. 269 00:14:40,360 --> 00:14:44,040 Well, believe it or not, that's God's same desire for each and 270 00:14:44,040 --> 00:14:47,160 every one of us. It's important for us to realize 271 00:14:47,480 --> 00:14:51,320 God doesn't just want to keep us as slaves, if you would, or 272 00:14:51,520 --> 00:14:55,040 always just watching over hovering over us, but saying, 273 00:14:55,400 --> 00:14:57,320 I'm going to teach this kid some things. 274 00:14:57,320 --> 00:15:00,800 I'm going to bring them to a place of maturity, which brings 275 00:15:00,800 --> 00:15:04,200 us to Genesis chapter 2. For in the beginning, when God 276 00:15:04,200 --> 00:15:08,120 created mankind, the Bible says that the Lord God took man and 277 00:15:08,120 --> 00:15:12,240 put him in the Garden Eden with a responsibility to tend and 278 00:15:12,240 --> 00:15:15,120 also to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the 279 00:15:15,120 --> 00:15:18,360 man saying of every tree of the garden you may freely eat, of 280 00:15:18,360 --> 00:15:21,360 the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for 281 00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:24,120 in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die. 282 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:28,120 Now the name Adam literally means man or mankind. 283 00:15:28,120 --> 00:15:30,720 So this story isn't just about two individuals. 284 00:15:30,720 --> 00:15:34,480 It's about mankind and how God has created us and what His 285 00:15:34,480 --> 00:15:37,200 eternal purpose is for us. So we have to understand these 286 00:15:37,200 --> 00:15:40,200 things. Now when you read about the tree 287 00:15:40,200 --> 00:15:43,320 of life and the tree of knowledge is a good and evil and 288 00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:47,360 how God puts it before them, we often look at it that it's just 289 00:15:47,360 --> 00:15:50,040 an obedience test. And truthfully, if you were to 290 00:15:50,040 --> 00:15:53,080 simplify most people's ideas about Christianity, it's kind of 291 00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:56,360 like God created the earth. He created mankind. 292 00:15:56,800 --> 00:16:00,560 Put up an obstacle course if you would, and if they do the right 293 00:16:00,560 --> 00:16:02,760 thing and follow the right course, they get to go to 294 00:16:02,760 --> 00:16:04,680 heaven. If not, well, you go to the 295 00:16:04,680 --> 00:16:09,000 other place. That has never been God's plan 296 00:16:09,240 --> 00:16:13,520 and His eternal purpose. His purpose is that He would 297 00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:18,400 have children in the earth whom he would work with and develop 298 00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:22,960 and train so that they would go on to maturity, although there 299 00:16:22,960 --> 00:16:26,360 was an obedient side to it. Just like when we have children 300 00:16:26,360 --> 00:16:29,240 when they're little and we want to protect them, How do you 301 00:16:29,240 --> 00:16:31,360 know? We want them to do what we tell 302 00:16:31,360 --> 00:16:34,800 them to do, or we want them to follow the things that we say 303 00:16:34,800 --> 00:16:38,120 are necessary to stay alive because, well, that's going to 304 00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:40,400 make a big difference. Amen. 305 00:16:41,400 --> 00:16:45,440 And so we protect them as best as we can, but then it comes a 306 00:16:45,440 --> 00:16:47,280 point where we teach them otherwise. 307 00:16:47,280 --> 00:16:50,800 So we have to ask ourselves a question is well with God, was 308 00:16:50,800 --> 00:16:54,120 that just an obedience test? Was he just finding out whether 309 00:16:54,120 --> 00:16:58,160 they would do the right thing? Or was that a responsible thing 310 00:16:58,400 --> 00:17:03,080 of parental care, that the tree of knowledge of good and evil 311 00:17:03,080 --> 00:17:07,640 was something that they weren't perhaps even ready for? 312 00:17:08,520 --> 00:17:11,119 Now, it's important for us to understand that again, because I 313 00:17:11,119 --> 00:17:14,359 talked about reformation, there was a time when all Christians 314 00:17:14,359 --> 00:17:17,040 were part of the same church until thousand AD, and then they 315 00:17:17,040 --> 00:17:19,079 split between the Eastern and the Western. 316 00:17:20,079 --> 00:17:24,040 And this is one of the things that the Eastern church had 317 00:17:24,040 --> 00:17:25,720 separate from the Western church. 318 00:17:25,720 --> 00:17:29,360 Because in the Western church, the idea was what happened is 319 00:17:29,760 --> 00:17:34,320 mankind was given a choice. He disobeyed God, so he was 320 00:17:34,320 --> 00:17:38,000 kicked out of the garden and not only did he fall in his 321 00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:42,120 position, but he fell in nature. So man became depraved. 322 00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:46,200 And there's a doctrine called the total depravity of man that 323 00:17:46,200 --> 00:17:48,880 says you are just totally depraved. 324 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:51,440 There's nothing you can do for yourself and you certainly can't 325 00:17:51,440 --> 00:17:55,720 make a choice to follow God. And so we see ourselves as 326 00:17:55,720 --> 00:17:59,840 depraved individuals, always trying to do the right thing, 327 00:17:59,840 --> 00:18:03,280 but never quite measuring up. And so many times people think 328 00:18:03,280 --> 00:18:06,280 that's what God's grace is. God says thanks for trying, but 329 00:18:06,280 --> 00:18:09,360 it don't matter, you're under grace. 330 00:18:10,080 --> 00:18:12,920 No, that's not exactly what he was trying to make them 331 00:18:12,920 --> 00:18:15,320 understand. He was wanting them to 332 00:18:15,320 --> 00:18:20,520 understand that there are consequences for choices, but we 333 00:18:20,520 --> 00:18:24,480 always have to be willing to allow God to bring it back to 334 00:18:24,480 --> 00:18:28,120 the place where we were originally intended to go. 335 00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:31,160 And so we know God is a God of restoration. 336 00:18:31,160 --> 00:18:34,520 Can you say Amen to that? That's so important for us to 337 00:18:34,520 --> 00:18:38,160 know and understand. Well, when you have the doctrine 338 00:18:38,160 --> 00:18:43,480 of depravity or total depravity of man, you have this idea that 339 00:18:43,480 --> 00:18:45,760 there's not much use to the human condition. 340 00:18:46,000 --> 00:18:48,760 It's only what God can do. And so some people think, well, 341 00:18:48,760 --> 00:18:52,640 God chooses you, God pulls you in his Kingdom. 342 00:18:52,880 --> 00:18:54,840 It's irresistible grace and all that. 343 00:18:54,880 --> 00:18:57,800 Well, that's all there is to it. Now, this is where the history 344 00:18:57,800 --> 00:19:01,360 comes in because Mount Zion is in recent times been known as a 345 00:19:01,360 --> 00:19:04,440 charismatic church. The Charismatic movement came 346 00:19:04,440 --> 00:19:07,760 out of the Holiness movement, or excuse me, in the Pentecostal 347 00:19:07,760 --> 00:19:10,240 movement. Pentecostal movement came out of 348 00:19:10,240 --> 00:19:13,160 the Holiness movement, which came out of the Second Great 349 00:19:13,160 --> 00:19:16,280 Awakening, which went all the way back to the teachings of a 350 00:19:16,280 --> 00:19:21,320 man by the name of John Wesley who had a different concept. 351 00:19:21,320 --> 00:19:24,440 He called it prevenient grace, which was not that. 352 00:19:24,440 --> 00:19:28,880 We are totally depraved if you would, but God comes to us with 353 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:34,080 grace, prevenient grace, so that we have an option of a choice. 354 00:19:34,280 --> 00:19:37,680 There's still a choice involved. You weren't just forced to be a 355 00:19:37,680 --> 00:19:39,360 Christian. How many know you chose to be a 356 00:19:39,360 --> 00:19:41,440 Christian? It was an overwhelming 357 00:19:41,440 --> 00:19:44,200 experience, but we believe that we can make choices. 358 00:19:44,440 --> 00:19:47,520 God gives us grace to make those choices, but in the end we have 359 00:19:47,520 --> 00:19:51,400 to make those choices and there's a blessing when we do. 360 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:55,200 Now this is a very interesting thing because in this Scripture 361 00:19:55,200 --> 00:19:59,040 it says then the Lord God said, behold, the man has become like 362 00:19:59,040 --> 00:20:03,400 one of us to know good and evil. Now, lest He put out his hand, 363 00:20:03,400 --> 00:20:06,280 and take also of the tree of life, and eat and live forever, 364 00:20:06,520 --> 00:20:09,120 therefore the Lord God sent him out of the Garden of Eden to 365 00:20:09,120 --> 00:20:13,560 tell till the ground from which he was taken notice. 366 00:20:13,560 --> 00:20:18,520 God says He has become like one of us in the doctrine of total 367 00:20:18,520 --> 00:20:21,160 depravity. That most people who follow it 368 00:20:21,160 --> 00:20:24,960 have in their mindset or in their thinking is simply this. 369 00:20:25,760 --> 00:20:29,880 We lost being created in the image and likeness of God, which 370 00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:33,280 is God said that in the beginning and after we fell, we 371 00:20:33,280 --> 00:20:35,760 were no longer in the image and likeness of God. 372 00:20:36,360 --> 00:20:38,480 Why would we think that? Well, how many? 373 00:20:38,480 --> 00:20:40,440 No other people. And you think they're not like 374 00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:44,440 God? If that's the image and likeness 375 00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:48,520 of God, I don't want it. But no, the Bible says we're 376 00:20:48,520 --> 00:20:52,600 still in the image and likeness of God, believe it or not. 377 00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:57,400 But there is a process of growth and development that we have to 378 00:20:57,400 --> 00:21:01,960 choose to follow and let God work in our lives. 379 00:21:02,400 --> 00:21:04,720 And I think it's interesting because whereas some people 380 00:21:04,720 --> 00:21:07,320 think they were kicked out of the garden as totally depraved, 381 00:21:07,440 --> 00:21:10,440 when they get kicked out of the garden, God says they've become 382 00:21:10,440 --> 00:21:13,480 like one of us. And I'm like, wait a minute, we 383 00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:17,400 were created in the image and likeness of God and now he kicks 384 00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:20,200 them out of the garden and says they've become more like us. 385 00:21:20,760 --> 00:21:22,440 That doesn't make sense, does it? 386 00:21:23,160 --> 00:21:26,600 Unless you believe that when God was stopping them from eating 387 00:21:26,600 --> 00:21:29,880 from the tree, it wasn't that he didn't want them to know the 388 00:21:29,880 --> 00:21:31,440 difference between right and wrong. 389 00:21:31,440 --> 00:21:33,960 It just says, hey, they weren't ready for that yet. 390 00:21:34,640 --> 00:21:37,120 And how many know that's the way it is with our children when 391 00:21:37,120 --> 00:21:39,720 they're young, they don't know the differences, those things. 392 00:21:39,720 --> 00:21:43,840 So we make those choices, but our end goal is how many know 393 00:21:43,840 --> 00:21:45,400 that they can make choices. Amen. 394 00:21:46,440 --> 00:21:50,760 And so God is recognizing at this point that, well, they ate 395 00:21:50,760 --> 00:21:54,200 in that tree, they're able to make choices, but they're 396 00:21:54,200 --> 00:21:56,840 definitely not ready to live forever. 397 00:21:56,840 --> 00:22:00,360 So we better get them out of the garden or they're going to eat 398 00:22:00,360 --> 00:22:03,520 that tree and live forever in that horrible state. 399 00:22:04,120 --> 00:22:09,360 So God separated them and then he has this plan of action that 400 00:22:09,360 --> 00:22:12,640 leads to eternal life for all of us who will accept the plan. 401 00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:16,240 But at the same time, He's been working to prepare us so that we 402 00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:21,520 can not just go to heaven, but that we can be what more like 403 00:22:21,760 --> 00:22:24,440 God. And that's what God wants us to 404 00:22:24,440 --> 00:22:28,160 understand is we're to be a people more like Him. 405 00:22:28,720 --> 00:22:31,320 And that's why I wanted to talk about the history of it because 406 00:22:31,640 --> 00:22:34,440 the apostle Paul said this is what God wants you to do. 407 00:22:34,440 --> 00:22:35,800 He doesn't want you to be a slave. 408 00:22:35,960 --> 00:22:39,760 He wants you to be a son. 2000 years later, the Christians are 409 00:22:39,760 --> 00:22:41,560 still just thinking about going to heaven. 410 00:22:41,760 --> 00:22:44,880 How good do I have to be and just don't want to get there? 411 00:22:46,400 --> 00:22:49,000 God says there's more to it. And that's why I said I want you 412 00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:51,440 to know what time this church, because this is time. 413 00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:55,240 I said this is time. Give the Lord a praise. 414 00:22:57,840 --> 00:23:01,440 And John Wesley taught a doctrine called Christian 415 00:23:01,440 --> 00:23:05,800 perfection. And though he sowed the seed for 416 00:23:05,800 --> 00:23:10,120 it way back in the 1700s in the First Awakening, it's just now 417 00:23:10,120 --> 00:23:13,920 time for that message to start to come to pass. 418 00:23:14,320 --> 00:23:15,880 That's why I love church history. 419 00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:18,440 That's why I love human history, because I know my God is in 420 00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:20,640 charge of history. It is his story. 421 00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:23,240 Amen. And that's why I'm so excited 422 00:23:23,240 --> 00:23:25,520 about this day and hour. And I want you to know if you 423 00:23:25,520 --> 00:23:29,960 know only one thing from what I say today, it is indeed God 424 00:23:29,960 --> 00:23:33,400 saying this is the time for something to come to pass that 425 00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:36,560 was not possibly before. Although it was written in the 426 00:23:36,560 --> 00:23:40,720 Scriptures and although other people preach it, now is the 427 00:23:40,720 --> 00:23:45,400 time, says the Lord, when we will be more like God as we 428 00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:49,120 allow ourselves to go past our humanity. 429 00:23:49,480 --> 00:23:53,120 And God didn't want them to live forever in their human state 430 00:23:53,120 --> 00:23:56,120 alone if you would. He wanted them to go through 431 00:23:56,120 --> 00:24:00,040 this process of development. And that's why he's doing the 432 00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:02,840 things that He's doing now. This is a very interesting 433 00:24:02,840 --> 00:24:04,760 scripture. In Romans 8, it says we know 434 00:24:04,760 --> 00:24:06,600 that all things work together for good. 435 00:24:06,600 --> 00:24:10,720 To those who love God, to those who are called according to his 436 00:24:10,720 --> 00:24:13,720 purpose, I quote the scripture a lot. 437 00:24:13,720 --> 00:24:18,320 You may know. And This is why for whom he for 438 00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:23,600 knew, He also predestined for what to be conformed to the 439 00:24:23,600 --> 00:24:26,960 image of his Son, that he might be the first born among many 440 00:24:27,040 --> 00:24:29,840 brethren. Moreover, whom He predestined, 441 00:24:29,840 --> 00:24:32,760 these He also called. For who's those whom He called, 442 00:24:32,760 --> 00:24:35,720 he also justified. Those whom he justified, he has 443 00:24:35,720 --> 00:24:39,040 also glorified. Now I want to go back to the 444 00:24:39,040 --> 00:24:40,840 first part. We know all things work together 445 00:24:40,840 --> 00:24:43,960 for good to those who love God. Because I just explained to a 446 00:24:43,960 --> 00:24:50,920 story where Adam and Eve or told something, they disobeyed God 447 00:24:51,400 --> 00:24:55,760 and in one sense God made even what was bad turn out for the 448 00:24:55,760 --> 00:24:59,480 good. How many know God can do that? 449 00:25:01,520 --> 00:25:05,920 Amen. God can take our bad and make it 450 00:25:05,920 --> 00:25:08,880 good. That's what we'll learn when we 451 00:25:08,880 --> 00:25:13,720 talk about the Easter week, the day of Jesus death, burial and 452 00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:16,040 resurrection. There was an apostle by the name 453 00:25:16,040 --> 00:25:18,840 of Peter when he found out Jesus was going to die. 454 00:25:18,840 --> 00:25:20,720 He says I'm not going to let that happen. 455 00:25:21,040 --> 00:25:22,880 As long as I'm here, that's not going to happen. 456 00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:25,600 Jesus is like before the cock crows three times. 457 00:25:25,600 --> 00:25:29,200 Peter, you will have denied you even know me, but he said 458 00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:32,640 something amazing. But when you are converted, 459 00:25:32,640 --> 00:25:36,240 strengthen your brother. In other words, his greatest 460 00:25:36,240 --> 00:25:40,440 failure was going to equip him for his greatest message. 461 00:25:41,280 --> 00:25:45,320 The apostle Paul who wrote the Scriptures about God's grace, he 462 00:25:45,320 --> 00:25:48,680 persecuted the Christian Church, consented to them being thrown 463 00:25:48,680 --> 00:25:52,280 into prison, and even held the coats of the people that were 464 00:25:52,280 --> 00:25:54,120 stoning the first martyr to death. 465 00:25:54,520 --> 00:25:58,720 But God even used that so he'd have such a sensitivity to grace 466 00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:02,200 where he'd always say, I don't deserve this, I persecuted 467 00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:03,600 Christians. But guess what? 468 00:26:04,680 --> 00:26:07,760 All things work together for good to those who love God and 469 00:26:07,760 --> 00:26:12,880 according to His purposes, can take even our bad behavior and 470 00:26:12,880 --> 00:26:14,640 use it for good. Why? 471 00:26:14,840 --> 00:26:16,640 Because it isn't whether you're good or bad. 472 00:26:16,640 --> 00:26:19,760 It's whether you're a child of the Most High God and you're 473 00:26:19,760 --> 00:26:22,440 willing to let Him make you a son of the Most High God. 474 00:26:22,680 --> 00:26:26,120 Because with that, you're going to have to realize how that even 475 00:26:26,120 --> 00:26:28,360 your mistakes can be used for good. 476 00:26:28,640 --> 00:26:32,720 Even your failed circumstances and your greatest 477 00:26:32,720 --> 00:26:36,200 disappointments can lead you to something good. 478 00:26:36,680 --> 00:26:41,080 Which brings me to the story about the good boy who comes to 479 00:26:41,080 --> 00:26:45,080 Jesus one day as he was going down the road and said to him, 480 00:26:45,080 --> 00:26:48,400 Good teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? 481 00:26:49,840 --> 00:26:51,920 Jesus said to him, Why do you call me good? 482 00:26:51,920 --> 00:26:55,680 No one is good but one. That is God. 483 00:26:56,240 --> 00:27:00,440 Now the truth of the matter is this guy thought being good 484 00:27:00,440 --> 00:27:03,560 would get him where he needed to go in God and it did have some 485 00:27:03,760 --> 00:27:08,240 blessings to it, but because he thought of it about being good 486 00:27:08,240 --> 00:27:11,680 or being bad, he was like how good do I have to be to have 487 00:27:11,720 --> 00:27:15,040 eternal life? And Jesus wanting to understand 488 00:27:15,040 --> 00:27:18,600 something, it isn't how good you are. 489 00:27:19,080 --> 00:27:22,640 Jesus said don't call me good. I hope, you know, Jesus was the 490 00:27:22,640 --> 00:27:26,760 perfect spotless Lamb of God. He would have known He was good 491 00:27:27,200 --> 00:27:31,160 by our standards for sure, but he wanted them to understand 492 00:27:31,160 --> 00:27:34,440 something. Don't make your measurement 493 00:27:35,040 --> 00:27:37,560 according to people. You know, there's a lot of 494 00:27:37,560 --> 00:27:39,680 people that, well, you know, they were a good person. 495 00:27:40,160 --> 00:27:41,280 Oh, I know they're going to heaven. 496 00:27:41,280 --> 00:27:44,120 They were a good person. They tried to do the right 497 00:27:44,120 --> 00:27:47,240 thing. God says you've got to get out 498 00:27:47,240 --> 00:27:50,240 of this. I'm good enough and understand. 499 00:27:50,360 --> 00:27:55,400 It's about walking in faith and who are we comparing ourselves 500 00:27:55,400 --> 00:27:59,400 to is the real issue. So as the story continues, Jesus 501 00:27:59,400 --> 00:28:02,760 said, you know the commandments don't commit adultery, do not 502 00:28:02,760 --> 00:28:05,600 murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not 503 00:28:05,600 --> 00:28:09,160 distraught defraud, honor your father, mother and he answered 504 00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:14,280 and said him teacher, all these things I have done for my youth. 505 00:28:15,160 --> 00:28:18,720 Then Jesus said looking at him and I want you to take note of 506 00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:25,760 this loved him and said to him, one thing you lack, go your way, 507 00:28:25,760 --> 00:28:28,640 sell whatever you have and give to the poor and you will have 508 00:28:28,720 --> 00:28:33,720 treasure in heaven and come take up the cross and follow me now 509 00:28:33,720 --> 00:28:35,720 in another. And we know these stories are 510 00:28:35,720 --> 00:28:38,960 often in more than one gospel and the other one it says if you 511 00:28:38,960 --> 00:28:42,240 want to be perfect, which is a term about going on to maturity. 512 00:28:42,640 --> 00:28:46,080 But the point is, I want you to know that Jesus loved him and he 513 00:28:46,080 --> 00:28:49,600 actually changed the conversation because really it 514 00:28:49,600 --> 00:28:52,120 was no longer about going to heaven. 515 00:28:52,720 --> 00:28:57,000 It was a situation where he wanted him to know, do you know 516 00:28:57,000 --> 00:29:00,560 you could go on to perfection or think about this. 517 00:29:00,560 --> 00:29:05,800 He actually was inviting him to be one of his disciples, to take 518 00:29:05,800 --> 00:29:09,080 up his cross and follow him. How amazing is that? 519 00:29:09,840 --> 00:29:15,280 But because he only lived in the world of good and bad and 520 00:29:15,280 --> 00:29:18,520 setting his focus on what he wanted to get out of it, he was 521 00:29:18,520 --> 00:29:21,440 going to miss it. You know, I grew up as a good 522 00:29:21,440 --> 00:29:24,240 boy. If you would always was good if 523 00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:26,400 you would look at it from a natural sense. 524 00:29:26,400 --> 00:29:29,000 I always did whatever my parents wanted me to do, whether they 525 00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:32,000 were watching or whether they weren't, did the same thing when 526 00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:33,960 I was at school. I had job. 527 00:29:33,960 --> 00:29:36,600 My joy was to be the best worker that they had. 528 00:29:36,600 --> 00:29:39,000 That was just the kind of person I always was. 529 00:29:39,000 --> 00:29:40,920 I always wanted to do the right thing. 530 00:29:41,280 --> 00:29:43,520 It was natural for me. I actually got a good feeling 531 00:29:43,520 --> 00:29:45,720 out of it. Plus I was always kind of an 532 00:29:45,720 --> 00:29:47,960 anxious person. I found out something when you, 533 00:29:48,680 --> 00:29:51,440 when you're not good, you're in bed, you got problems. 534 00:29:52,560 --> 00:29:56,480 So I always chose the careful way to live if you would. 535 00:29:57,240 --> 00:30:02,280 And so being good, that was what I always would strive to be for 536 00:30:02,280 --> 00:30:04,120 sure. When I was a little kid, the 537 00:30:04,120 --> 00:30:07,600 church we were in, they were a missionary oriented church. 538 00:30:07,600 --> 00:30:11,040 And so being a good boy, I'm like, hey, if that's the 539 00:30:11,040 --> 00:30:12,760 ultimate, I'm going to be a missionary. 540 00:30:12,760 --> 00:30:15,760 So I told my mom, of course, she told the pastor every time he 541 00:30:15,760 --> 00:30:21,320 saw me, he was like, there's my little missionary on the and one 542 00:30:21,320 --> 00:30:23,680 day I went to Sunday school and they said one of the 543 00:30:23,680 --> 00:30:25,920 missionaries we knew was killed in Africa. 544 00:30:26,720 --> 00:30:28,800 I'm like, you can die from being a missionary. 545 00:30:30,160 --> 00:30:32,400 So at that point I said, well, I'm not going to be a 546 00:30:32,400 --> 00:30:38,000 missionary, I will be a Deacon. Told my mom, but just avoided 547 00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:40,120 the pastor because, you know, I didn't want him to think I'd 548 00:30:40,120 --> 00:30:41,840 fallen in his eyes, if you would. 549 00:30:42,960 --> 00:30:46,280 So as you know, my story is before I was 10, I was 10. 550 00:30:46,280 --> 00:30:49,200 I was focusing on politics, but Thomas, 12, I was just going to 551 00:30:49,200 --> 00:30:52,000 run for president. When I got a job at a grocery 552 00:30:52,000 --> 00:30:54,440 store, I was thinking in terms of retailing. 553 00:30:54,440 --> 00:30:56,920 I thought that was amazing. I'm going to develop my own 554 00:30:56,920 --> 00:30:59,680 business and be involved in retailing. 555 00:31:00,080 --> 00:31:04,400 So I was always doing good. And I was the kind of person who 556 00:31:04,400 --> 00:31:07,840 always had this sense of right and wrong, and it was just a 557 00:31:07,840 --> 00:31:10,440 natural, intense thing. And I was kind of shy and 558 00:31:10,440 --> 00:31:13,240 introverted, so it would actually embarrass me to do 559 00:31:13,240 --> 00:31:16,800 something wrong if you would. So even when I was a kid, it was 560 00:31:16,800 --> 00:31:19,120 difficult even hanging with other boys because they were 561 00:31:19,120 --> 00:31:21,840 always being crude in their conversation. 562 00:31:21,840 --> 00:31:24,640 They called potty language, I guess what you call it. 563 00:31:24,640 --> 00:31:27,520 But I didn't just see they were bring crude. 564 00:31:27,520 --> 00:31:31,000 I was like, they're sinning. I'm the only holy person in the 565 00:31:31,000 --> 00:31:32,040 world. Oh Lord. 566 00:31:35,120 --> 00:31:38,240 And when I got older and became a began to preach really is when 567 00:31:38,240 --> 00:31:41,640 it first started, we used to just preach out of the King 568 00:31:41,640 --> 00:31:45,600 James origin Bible and instead of saying donkey, they said ass. 569 00:31:46,560 --> 00:31:49,120 There's even a scripture that says and he pisseth against the 570 00:31:49,120 --> 00:31:51,920 wall. I could read those things, but 571 00:31:51,920 --> 00:31:54,360 one day I got up to preach and I had to say ass. 572 00:31:54,360 --> 00:31:57,080 I'd never said it publicly before that I could remember. 573 00:31:58,200 --> 00:32:00,960 I was so embarrassed. I changed it to donkey long 574 00:32:00,960 --> 00:32:04,000 before the translators of the new King James came along 575 00:32:04,000 --> 00:32:07,840 because I didn't want to say it. That's just the way it kind of 576 00:32:07,840 --> 00:32:09,920 person I was. And it's funny because one day 577 00:32:09,920 --> 00:32:12,920 the Lord began to speak to me and said basically if you're 578 00:32:12,920 --> 00:32:16,080 more holy than the Holy Bible, you're probably too holy. 579 00:32:18,360 --> 00:32:22,040 So I preached a message. It was a Good Friday message 580 00:32:22,040 --> 00:32:25,920 about Jesus writing or a message about Jesus Christ going in 581 00:32:25,920 --> 00:32:28,640 Jerusalem on the cult of an ass. And I was just talking about how 582 00:32:28,640 --> 00:32:32,000 God wants to use this. My message was you can't be 1/2 583 00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:34,040 ass when only complete ass will do. 584 00:32:34,040 --> 00:32:37,920 That was one of those scriptures that one of those sermons has 585 00:32:37,920 --> 00:32:42,240 stuck with me a long time. But anyway, when I became a 586 00:32:42,240 --> 00:32:45,200 pastor, I'd always heard people complain about church all their 587 00:32:45,200 --> 00:32:46,720 life. And I'm like, well, this church 588 00:32:46,720 --> 00:32:49,280 will be different because I'm going to be a good pastor. 589 00:32:49,520 --> 00:32:50,960 This is going to be a good church. 590 00:32:51,240 --> 00:32:54,840 And I found out, guess what? People still complained, People 591 00:32:54,840 --> 00:32:57,480 still found fault. And I'm like, what's going on? 592 00:32:57,680 --> 00:33:01,000 I'm a good preacher. I'm a good pastor. 593 00:33:01,120 --> 00:33:04,880 I tried to do good things that I remember going to talk to James 594 00:33:04,880 --> 00:33:06,920 Beal, who is the pastor of church I was trained in. 595 00:33:06,920 --> 00:33:10,200 He said Lauren, leadership is confrontation. 596 00:33:10,480 --> 00:33:13,480 I'm like, what? I don't like confronting people. 597 00:33:14,200 --> 00:33:15,640 I've always had this personality. 598 00:33:15,640 --> 00:33:17,680 I don't care what you do. You know, some people, they get 599 00:33:17,680 --> 00:33:19,280 mad because other people, they're doing things. 600 00:33:19,360 --> 00:33:21,320 I was never that way. It's like, who cares what you 601 00:33:21,320 --> 00:33:23,080 do? I mean, when you're a pastor, 602 00:33:23,080 --> 00:33:28,240 that has to change a little bit. But all the sudden I realized 603 00:33:28,240 --> 00:33:32,080 something too, and that is I can't just be good. 604 00:33:32,160 --> 00:33:36,080 I couldn't be responsible. I got to realize God has called 605 00:33:36,080 --> 00:33:39,680 me to something that doesn't perhaps even fit my personality. 606 00:33:40,440 --> 00:33:44,200 And He certainly began to lead me in a whole lot of ways that 607 00:33:44,200 --> 00:33:46,680 were just totally opposite of my personality. 608 00:33:46,680 --> 00:33:49,960 But I found out something. I walked with him. 609 00:33:49,960 --> 00:33:53,800 I could do all things. And that's what God wants us all 610 00:33:53,800 --> 00:33:57,520 to understand. Church and that's why this man 611 00:33:57,520 --> 00:34:00,720 was being told you know there's a place you can go where you 612 00:34:00,720 --> 00:34:03,600 begin to live in Kingdom lifestyle living. 613 00:34:03,920 --> 00:34:06,560 Jesus even told his disciples there's some standing here will 614 00:34:06,560 --> 00:34:10,080 not taste till they've seen the Kingdom of God coming in power 615 00:34:10,080 --> 00:34:12,800 because how do you know the Kingdom of God can be a present 616 00:34:12,800 --> 00:34:18,600 tense reality and we can walk in the fullness of what God had, 617 00:34:19,040 --> 00:34:22,719 but we got to do that with a confidence in this isn't about 618 00:34:22,719 --> 00:34:28,600 what I can do good or bad. Sometimes good will only take 619 00:34:28,600 --> 00:34:33,560 you so far and certainly bad can cause you some problems, but how 620 00:34:33,560 --> 00:34:37,520 many know even that's not a problem for God if you'll give 621 00:34:37,520 --> 00:34:40,360 it to him. But always, and this is one of 622 00:34:40,360 --> 00:34:43,880 the warnings I'd like to say is don't let God just forgive you. 623 00:34:44,199 --> 00:34:47,600 Release it because a lot of times people will say, well, I 624 00:34:47,600 --> 00:34:49,159 forgive you, but they don't release it. 625 00:34:49,159 --> 00:34:52,000 You got to release it. You got to let it go. 626 00:34:52,760 --> 00:34:56,360 Amen Church, and that's one of my prayers at this altar today 627 00:34:56,360 --> 00:34:59,080 is God will empower you to release it. 628 00:34:59,480 --> 00:35:03,080 So Jesus look around and said to his disciples how hard it is for 629 00:35:03,080 --> 00:35:06,000 those who have riches to enter the Kingdom of God. 630 00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:08,200 Notice this isn't talking about go to heaven. 631 00:35:08,760 --> 00:35:11,320 And the disciples were astonished at his words, but 632 00:35:11,320 --> 00:35:14,280 Jesus answered again and said to them, because this is the real 633 00:35:14,280 --> 00:35:18,160 crux of the matter children, how hard it is for those who what 634 00:35:18,280 --> 00:35:21,120 trust in riches to enter the Kingdom of God. 635 00:35:21,480 --> 00:35:24,040 It is easier for a camel to go through the ive and needle than 636 00:35:24,040 --> 00:35:26,480 a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God. 637 00:35:27,480 --> 00:35:30,440 In our day and age, all of us are rich compared to the time 638 00:35:30,440 --> 00:35:33,200 Jesus was talking. Because in those days, if you 639 00:35:33,200 --> 00:35:37,480 had a house and you could have food and you had choices, you 640 00:35:37,480 --> 00:35:40,600 were definitely rich. And I've always said how 641 00:35:40,600 --> 00:35:43,480 important it is for us as Americans realize, compare the 642 00:35:43,480 --> 00:35:47,560 rest of the world, how many know we're all rich when we factor in 643 00:35:47,560 --> 00:35:51,640 all the third world countries and Africa and South America and 644 00:35:51,640 --> 00:35:54,360 Asia. But it's important for us to 645 00:35:54,360 --> 00:35:56,960 understand it isn't what we have that matters. 646 00:35:56,960 --> 00:36:01,200 It's what we put our trust in because some people aren't rich, 647 00:36:01,200 --> 00:36:03,000 but they put their trust in government. 648 00:36:03,800 --> 00:36:06,800 That's why you're only 3% of people go to church because 649 00:36:06,800 --> 00:36:09,440 guess what, they have socialism. And so they're like, hey, we 650 00:36:09,440 --> 00:36:11,720 don't have to trust in God. We have the government. 651 00:36:12,760 --> 00:36:15,160 It's very easy for people to put their trust in government 652 00:36:15,680 --> 00:36:17,520 nowadays. Not only people expect the 653 00:36:17,520 --> 00:36:20,200 government to take care of him, businesses expect the government 654 00:36:20,200 --> 00:36:22,440 to take care of him. It's pretty hard to find if 655 00:36:22,440 --> 00:36:25,720 people say I'm going to put my trust in the Lord, Amen Church. 656 00:36:25,960 --> 00:36:29,480 How we know our trust has to be in him because every human 657 00:36:29,480 --> 00:36:33,400 institution can fail us, but God never will. 658 00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:37,640 So Jesus answered and said to us, surely say to you, there's 659 00:36:37,640 --> 00:36:40,360 no one who has left house, brothers, sisters, father, 660 00:36:40,360 --> 00:36:43,640 mother, wife or children who will not receive a hundredfold. 661 00:36:44,240 --> 00:36:46,480 Now in this time, I know when you do the right thing, God 662 00:36:46,480 --> 00:36:50,280 blesses you. But it's important to see what 663 00:36:50,280 --> 00:36:52,480 it says here. Who will not receive a 664 00:36:52,480 --> 00:36:54,720 hundredfold in this time? Amen. 665 00:36:55,280 --> 00:36:59,320 But also notice he says with persecutions. 666 00:37:00,440 --> 00:37:04,920 You see, when the rich young ruler came to Jesus and he said 667 00:37:05,840 --> 00:37:09,560 good teacher, Jesus knew he was good. 668 00:37:10,040 --> 00:37:13,400 He knew he always did the right thing, but he also knew didn't 669 00:37:13,400 --> 00:37:16,480 matter how good he was, he still had to go to the cross. 670 00:37:17,280 --> 00:37:20,600 He still had to pay a price because of that was his purpose. 671 00:37:21,440 --> 00:37:24,760 And so he was going to lay down his life, even though it wasn't 672 00:37:24,760 --> 00:37:27,040 something he'd naturally want to do. 673 00:37:28,320 --> 00:37:31,600 But he was going to do that for all of us. 674 00:37:32,120 --> 00:37:35,920 But also it was going to open the door to an amazing power. 675 00:37:36,040 --> 00:37:39,480 We'll celebrate on Easter Sunday, which is resurrection 676 00:37:39,480 --> 00:37:42,040 power. Cherish God wants us to move 677 00:37:42,040 --> 00:37:45,240 into resurrection power. Can you say men, Amen. 678 00:37:46,240 --> 00:37:48,840 This is Pastor Lauren Coverbius from Mount Zion Church. 679 00:37:49,080 --> 00:37:51,840 We thank you for joining us today and invite you to connect 680 00:37:51,840 --> 00:37:55,440 with our church family by visiting mountzion.org and 681 00:37:55,440 --> 00:37:58,080 following us on social media. God bless you.