1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:02,840 I want to open today with a scripture that I shared last 2 00:00:02,840 --> 00:00:04,760 week. I'm not doing a text of 3 00:00:04,760 --> 00:00:07,600 scriptures today, but opening with this from last week here it 4 00:00:07,600 --> 00:00:11,760 says Jesus said to them, have I been with you so long and yet 5 00:00:11,760 --> 00:00:15,680 you have not known me, Phillip. He who has seen me has seen the 6 00:00:15,680 --> 00:00:18,360 Father. So how can you say show us the 7 00:00:18,360 --> 00:00:20,760 Father? A little while longer in the 8 00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:24,280 world will see me no more. But you will see me because I 9 00:00:24,280 --> 00:00:27,600 live. You will live also at that day 10 00:00:27,600 --> 00:00:32,400 you will know that I'm in my father, you and me and I and 11 00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:34,560 you. He who has my commandments and 12 00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:37,640 keeps them. It is he who loves me, and he 13 00:00:37,640 --> 00:00:40,120 who loves me will be loved by my father. 14 00:00:40,520 --> 00:00:44,560 I will love him and also manifest myself to him. 15 00:00:44,920 --> 00:00:46,960 Can we pray? Father, we just thank you for 16 00:00:46,960 --> 00:00:51,040 your word and we thank you today for the spirit of understanding 17 00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:53,160 and pray that you would give to us enlightenment and 18 00:00:53,160 --> 00:00:55,960 understanding concerning Your Word and Your way. 19 00:00:55,960 --> 00:00:59,480 We ask it in Jesus mighty name, Amen. 20 00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:02,880 Well, I want to open with that scripture from last week because 21 00:01:02,880 --> 00:01:04,560 it's such an important scripture. 22 00:01:04,800 --> 00:01:08,760 I believe specifically for the time that we're in now as the 23 00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:12,720 body of Christ, Jesus Christ was getting ready to leave his 24 00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:15,640 disciples. He wanted them to know that, 25 00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:17,360 well, this isn't the end of the matter. 26 00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:21,160 I'm going away, he said, but I'm also coming back. 27 00:01:21,680 --> 00:01:24,640 As a matter of fact, he said, I go to prepare a place for you 28 00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:26,920 that where I am, you may be also. 29 00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:29,680 And a lot of people read that scripture and thinks he's going 30 00:01:29,680 --> 00:01:32,240 to heaven to build them a mansion so one day they can be 31 00:01:32,240 --> 00:01:34,680 with Jesus. But as you read the chapter, you 32 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:37,400 find out what he's actually saying is there's a work that he 33 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:40,720 was going to accomplish because the Bible teaches us that when 34 00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:45,480 Jesus Christ died on the cross and his blood was shed, it was 35 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:49,040 shed for the remission of our sins and the old covenant. 36 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:52,320 They used to worship the Lord at a Tabernacle called the 37 00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:55,160 Tabernacle of Moses, later on a temple. 38 00:01:55,520 --> 00:01:58,920 It had three courts to it, an outer court, an inner court and 39 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:01,480 a most Holy Place where God himself dwelt. 40 00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:05,680 Now most of the people could only go to the outer court, and 41 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:08,479 only the high priest could go into the very inner court, and 42 00:02:08,479 --> 00:02:12,200 that was just once a year. It was there that you would find 43 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:15,720 the mercy seat, the very presence of the living God, and 44 00:02:15,720 --> 00:02:17,840 people were held back from that presence. 45 00:02:17,840 --> 00:02:20,840 But the Bible says that when Jesus Christ died on the cross, 46 00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:24,160 literally the veil that separated the most holy place 47 00:02:24,160 --> 00:02:27,640 from the people was rent. But also we also know that when 48 00:02:27,640 --> 00:02:31,200 He ascended on high and he sprinkled His blood on the mercy 49 00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:34,800 seat, that that meant we have access to God. 50 00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:36,680 I'm really glad we have access to God. 51 00:02:36,680 --> 00:02:39,880 Amen. We are not separated from Him, 52 00:02:39,880 --> 00:02:42,960 but He has done the work to bring us to Him. 53 00:02:43,480 --> 00:02:46,280 Now it's very important when we read a Scripture like this that 54 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:48,680 we understand as we're relating to God. 55 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:52,160 There's a visible image God has given to us, and that's in the 56 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:56,240 person of Jesus Christ. He is the visible image of the 57 00:02:56,240 --> 00:03:00,080 invisible God. So when you think of God in a 58 00:03:00,440 --> 00:03:03,320 visible way, you should picture Jesus Christ. 59 00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:06,840 That's a very important to understand because as you note 60 00:03:06,840 --> 00:03:10,080 in the scriptures that I read to you, one of the disciples said, 61 00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:12,720 well, you're going away. It will be sufficient. 62 00:03:12,880 --> 00:03:14,520 Show us the Father before you leave. 63 00:03:15,240 --> 00:03:18,680 And Jesus, like have I been so long time with you, Philip, that 64 00:03:18,680 --> 00:03:21,960 you don't know that when you see me, you've seen the Father, the 65 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:24,920 fathers of me. I'm in the Father and we want to 66 00:03:24,920 --> 00:03:29,400 actually be in you. What a great plan of action God 67 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:32,120 has for us. So when we think about the 68 00:03:32,120 --> 00:03:35,120 visible person of God, we think of Jesus Christ. 69 00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:37,760 That's important to understand because a lot of people see the 70 00:03:37,760 --> 00:03:40,840 Old Testament as well. There was that mean, legalistic 71 00:03:40,840 --> 00:03:43,440 God. He sent his Son in the New 72 00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:45,920 Testament to die, and now we just think about him. 73 00:03:45,920 --> 00:03:49,360 No, Jesus was the visible image of the invisible God. 74 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:52,080 If you want to know what the Father was like or would be 75 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:56,400 like, read the Gospels and you'll see God is love, Amen. 76 00:03:56,760 --> 00:04:00,280 And every part of his program is about love and something he 77 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:05,280 wants us to experience in him. Now ultimately he said, and I 78 00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:09,040 will manifest myself to you through the power of the Holy 79 00:04:09,040 --> 00:04:10,840 Spirit. Now that's important to 80 00:04:10,840 --> 00:04:13,920 understand because as the body of Christ, we're moving into a 81 00:04:13,920 --> 00:04:17,040 new day in God, transitioning from what was called the 82 00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:20,360 charismatic movement to a new day where we're going to go into 83 00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:24,120 a more fuller experience and expression with God. 84 00:04:24,680 --> 00:04:28,000 Now, one of the things that has to happen as we move forward in 85 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:30,840 God is has to be sometimes a realignment of our thinking. 86 00:04:31,400 --> 00:04:34,000 And in the charismatic Pentecostal movement, there was 87 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:36,200 a lot of emphasis on the Holy Spirit. 88 00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:39,960 And oftentimes people tried to make the Holy Spirit and a 89 00:04:39,960 --> 00:04:43,520 person the same way that Jesus Christ is a person and the Holy 90 00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:46,640 Spirit has a different function. We have to understand that. 91 00:04:47,200 --> 00:04:52,120 And I shared with you last week how we in the old covenants, or 92 00:04:52,120 --> 00:04:55,920 excuse me, the old translation of the King James Version and 93 00:04:55,920 --> 00:04:58,960 referencing the Holy Spirit, sometimes it would use the word 94 00:04:58,960 --> 00:05:02,440 it and itself. Newer translations like the one 95 00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:05,800 I have and we share here, the new King James Version takes 96 00:05:05,800 --> 00:05:08,320 away the IT because it just sounds like a bad word. 97 00:05:08,720 --> 00:05:12,360 And really it's just a reference to gender, male and female. 98 00:05:12,360 --> 00:05:14,600 So when you speak of the Holy Spirit in relationship with the 99 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:18,760 Father and the Son, it's obvious that one could use the words Him 100 00:05:19,040 --> 00:05:21,960 and He. But there's also this part where 101 00:05:21,960 --> 00:05:26,280 we have to understand the Spirit comes to us in a sense that's 102 00:05:26,280 --> 00:05:30,560 different because the Spirit comes to us to reveal Christ. 103 00:05:30,920 --> 00:05:34,240 So Christ becomes our focus and our understanding. 104 00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:37,840 And so we have to realize this because it's important that we 105 00:05:37,840 --> 00:05:41,560 see Christ manifest because ultimately we're going to 106 00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:45,920 understand that God wants to manifest himself through his 107 00:05:45,920 --> 00:05:49,480 church because the Bible says Jesus would be the first born 108 00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:52,400 among many. Brother, God's plan is so 109 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:56,080 awesome and we have to understand that plan indeed 110 00:05:56,080 --> 00:05:59,040 includes us. And today I'm going to talk 111 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:02,360 about the mothers and how important that he is. 112 00:06:02,360 --> 00:06:05,280 But then look at it from a natural perspective and then see 113 00:06:05,280 --> 00:06:07,840 a spiritual side. Because in the book of Romans 114 00:06:07,840 --> 00:06:11,200 chapter 1, the Scripture says, if you really want to understand 115 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:14,240 God, think about the fact that he created all things. 116 00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:17,400 So when you look at his creation and how he created things, 117 00:06:17,400 --> 00:06:20,440 sometimes it gives you insight into spiritual things even 118 00:06:20,440 --> 00:06:22,480 though you're looking at something natural. 119 00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:25,240 And with that in mind, I want to go to this Old Testament 120 00:06:25,240 --> 00:06:28,680 scripture in Genesis 1. It says, so God created man in 121 00:06:28,680 --> 00:06:30,560 his own image, in the image of God. 122 00:06:30,560 --> 00:06:35,480 He created him, male and female. He created them and God bless 123 00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:37,280 them. God said to them, be fruitful, 124 00:06:37,280 --> 00:06:41,680 multiply, fill the earth and subdue it, have dominion over 125 00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:44,840 the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every 126 00:06:44,840 --> 00:06:47,440 living thing that moves on the earth. 127 00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:51,760 So when God created us, he created mankind with a very 128 00:06:51,760 --> 00:06:55,480 specific purpose and we were created in the very image and 129 00:06:55,480 --> 00:06:57,480 likeness of God. That's awesome. 130 00:06:57,960 --> 00:07:00,280 Why did God do that? Well, He chose us to be His 131 00:07:00,280 --> 00:07:03,480 partners. He created the earth and all the 132 00:07:03,480 --> 00:07:07,920 things containing it, and then He gives us a place of position 133 00:07:08,080 --> 00:07:13,080 that involves taking dominion, subduing and sharing with Him in 134 00:07:13,080 --> 00:07:16,680 His purpose for planet Earth. Now it's important for us to 135 00:07:16,680 --> 00:07:21,120 know that, and it's important for us to see the very important 136 00:07:21,120 --> 00:07:23,800 attributes that are necessary for us to understand about 137 00:07:23,800 --> 00:07:26,920 ourselves and also how that's revealed in God. 138 00:07:27,320 --> 00:07:30,720 And what I wanted you to notice is that when God created man, 139 00:07:30,720 --> 00:07:35,040 the Bible says the name Adam means mankind, not just the 140 00:07:35,040 --> 00:07:39,440 personal name, that he created them, male and female in his 141 00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:42,360 image and likeness. Sometimes people have this idea, 142 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:46,120 well, God created Adam first so that Adam is in the image of 143 00:07:46,120 --> 00:07:49,760 God, and well, the woman is a secondary part of that. 144 00:07:49,760 --> 00:07:53,280 No, chapter 1 of Genesis says one part of the story. 145 00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:56,880 Chapter 2, which we'll be mostly talking about today, gives a 146 00:07:56,880 --> 00:07:59,720 whole different aspect that's important for us to understand 147 00:08:00,200 --> 00:08:01,880 how we know. We have to understand that both 148 00:08:01,880 --> 00:08:07,080 male and female attributes are representative of the person of 149 00:08:07,080 --> 00:08:13,280 God and there's value, very high value in the understanding that 150 00:08:13,280 --> 00:08:17,720 God created us male and female, and that all of these represent 151 00:08:17,960 --> 00:08:21,160 part of the attributes of God and something He wants us to 152 00:08:21,160 --> 00:08:25,760 experience and walk in in him. Now in Genesis chapter 2, as I 153 00:08:25,760 --> 00:08:29,040 said, we'll go there and see a little bit more explanation. 154 00:08:29,240 --> 00:08:32,280 It says in the Lord God said it is not good that man should be 155 00:08:32,280 --> 00:08:34,200 alone. I will make him a helper 156 00:08:34,520 --> 00:08:37,960 comparable to him. So the Lord God caused a deep 157 00:08:37,960 --> 00:08:41,559 sleep to fall in Adam. He slept and took one of his 158 00:08:41,559 --> 00:08:44,200 ribs, closed up the flesh in its place. 159 00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:48,000 Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man, he made into 160 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:52,120 a woman, brought her to the man. And Adam said, this is how bone 161 00:08:52,120 --> 00:08:55,880 in my bones, flesh in my flesh, she shall be called woman. 162 00:08:55,920 --> 00:08:58,920 Why? Because she was taken out of 163 00:08:58,920 --> 00:09:00,920 man. And again, I want to talk about 164 00:09:00,920 --> 00:09:05,440 the unique function. So God says Adams alone, that's 165 00:09:05,440 --> 00:09:07,840 not good. He needs companionship. 166 00:09:08,200 --> 00:09:10,200 How many know God doesn't want us to be alone. 167 00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:13,960 Now, this is a very important thing that we understand because 168 00:09:14,080 --> 00:09:16,680 of the world we're living in, where people can start working 169 00:09:16,680 --> 00:09:20,000 at home, picking. People can pick up their food on 170 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:24,640 the way home and just eat it at home and not go out to eat as 171 00:09:24,640 --> 00:09:26,840 much. And everything is centered 172 00:09:26,840 --> 00:09:29,040 around the home. There's a certain sense of 173 00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:32,360 comfort that brings to us. There's no place like home, 174 00:09:32,360 --> 00:09:34,960 they'll say. But what's happening is people 175 00:09:34,960 --> 00:09:38,120 are separating themselves more from other people. 176 00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:41,000 And there's a whole lot of things we can do even 177 00:09:41,000 --> 00:09:45,200 recreationally with the Internet that has to do with just us or 178 00:09:45,280 --> 00:09:49,600 with impersonal people through the Internet as well. 179 00:09:49,600 --> 00:09:52,400 And so what's happening is people are becoming more alone. 180 00:09:53,200 --> 00:09:56,280 And then we wonder why there's so much anxiety and why there's 181 00:09:56,280 --> 00:10:00,120 so much depression and so much that's going on in the emotional 182 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:01,960 side. And that's because, well, read 183 00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:04,680 the word, God said you need companionship. 184 00:10:04,680 --> 00:10:07,760 You should not be alone. That's why the Bible says he 185 00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:10,680 takes the lonely and puts them in a family. 186 00:10:10,880 --> 00:10:13,880 And in the connotation of that, he's talking about the family of 187 00:10:13,960 --> 00:10:16,920 the church, because there's a whole lot of families and 188 00:10:16,920 --> 00:10:19,800 problems that come to individual, what we call nuclear 189 00:10:19,800 --> 00:10:22,640 families. But the family of God that Jesus 190 00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:26,880 Christ planted 2000 years ago is going sterling Amian. 191 00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:29,680 And so there's an important aspect of that we have to 192 00:10:29,680 --> 00:10:33,440 understand. So you need companionship and 193 00:10:33,440 --> 00:10:37,080 also you need a helper. And this is an important aspect 194 00:10:37,080 --> 00:10:41,440 to realize that well, we all have gifts, we all have talents 195 00:10:41,440 --> 00:10:44,000 and we can feel good about our gifts and talents, but we should 196 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:46,760 also feel good about the fact that we need other people in our 197 00:10:46,760 --> 00:10:51,720 life for fulfilling our purpose. And so God says you need 198 00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:54,400 companionship, you need other people to help you. 199 00:10:54,480 --> 00:10:57,240 And this is important thing that God speaks from the very 200 00:10:57,240 --> 00:11:00,080 beginning. I pointed out the scripture that 201 00:11:00,200 --> 00:11:04,000 when God made this statement about Adam needing somebody that 202 00:11:04,200 --> 00:11:07,360 he put him to sleep. The Bible says that he performed 203 00:11:07,360 --> 00:11:11,360 an operation on him. Now the version of the Bible I 204 00:11:11,360 --> 00:11:15,400 read to you today says, and he took a rib out of Adam. 205 00:11:15,760 --> 00:11:18,280 And I like to remind you of this, that when the Bible was 206 00:11:18,280 --> 00:11:21,240 written, Old Testament was written in Hebrew, New Testament 207 00:11:21,240 --> 00:11:24,000 is written in Greek. And sometimes the translations 208 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:27,480 take a little bit of bias from the translators. 209 00:11:27,480 --> 00:11:30,760 And this is one of those words. It's not in the original use 210 00:11:30,760 --> 00:11:34,000 anywhere else in the Bible. And it's important to realize 211 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:37,520 that the word doesn't just mean a rib speaks about something 212 00:11:37,520 --> 00:11:41,800 being curved or curvature. And that's what people usually 213 00:11:41,800 --> 00:11:44,480 think about the fact that just a bone was taken. 214 00:11:44,960 --> 00:11:47,680 But we always say that, well, if you want to understand the 215 00:11:47,680 --> 00:11:52,320 Bible, you got to translate the Bible from the Bible, interpret 216 00:11:52,320 --> 00:11:56,120 the Bible from the Bible. And if you notice that what Adam 217 00:11:56,120 --> 00:12:01,720 said is this is now bone a by bone, flesh of my flesh, for she 218 00:12:01,720 --> 00:12:05,600 was taken out of me. And so it's important for us to 219 00:12:05,600 --> 00:12:10,080 realize that when God performed this work, it wasn't God just 220 00:12:10,080 --> 00:12:12,640 taking a bone and making a whole new creature. 221 00:12:12,920 --> 00:12:17,240 It was there was a part of Adam that would now be in another 222 00:12:17,240 --> 00:12:19,960 creature. And so in both of these, in 223 00:12:19,960 --> 00:12:24,160 these instances, we have to realize that it was a side of 224 00:12:24,160 --> 00:12:28,120 Adam that was now viable, but in another person. 225 00:12:28,120 --> 00:12:31,960 And so it's important to see how these two things work together. 226 00:12:31,960 --> 00:12:35,920 And there's a complete list that comes when we bring both of them 227 00:12:35,920 --> 00:12:38,680 together. And that's why when we look at 228 00:12:38,680 --> 00:12:42,720 this story of bringing together, we can see it even more richly 229 00:12:42,720 --> 00:12:44,680 as you think about this separation. 230 00:12:44,960 --> 00:12:48,640 And literally there's a part of you in somebody else. 231 00:12:48,640 --> 00:12:52,800 And so we require another person's participation in our 232 00:12:52,800 --> 00:12:55,280 life in order to find incompletion. 233 00:12:55,680 --> 00:12:57,960 Now, this Scripture here is very important. 234 00:12:58,040 --> 00:13:01,640 And again, the Scripture needs to interpret Scripture. 235 00:13:01,840 --> 00:13:04,520 And this is a very interesting one that a lot of people don't 236 00:13:04,520 --> 00:13:07,600 even take note of. In Ephesians chapter 5. 237 00:13:07,600 --> 00:13:11,280 This is the apostle Paul writing to the church at Ephesus. 238 00:13:11,640 --> 00:13:15,120 And he says, so husbands ought to love their own wives as their 239 00:13:15,120 --> 00:13:18,640 own bodies. He who loves his wife loves 240 00:13:18,640 --> 00:13:20,800 himself. And we can understand what he's 241 00:13:20,800 --> 00:13:22,240 talking about when we read that story. 242 00:13:22,680 --> 00:13:25,920 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and 243 00:13:25,920 --> 00:13:29,160 cherishes it, just as the Lord does the Church. 244 00:13:29,880 --> 00:13:33,600 For we are members of his body on out of his flesh, and of his 245 00:13:33,600 --> 00:13:35,520 bones. For this reason, a man shall 246 00:13:35,520 --> 00:13:38,160 leave his father, mother, be joined to his wife, and the two 247 00:13:38,160 --> 00:13:41,560 shall become one flesh. Now this is where it gets really 248 00:13:41,560 --> 00:13:46,360 interesting because it says this is a mystery, but I'm speaking 249 00:13:46,360 --> 00:13:49,480 concerning Christ and the church. 250 00:13:49,800 --> 00:13:54,760 And so he basically says you can use Genesis chapter 2 as an 251 00:13:54,760 --> 00:13:58,440 illustration in a natural sense, a husband and wife and how that 252 00:13:58,440 --> 00:14:02,760 relationship works out, but you also have to know that the Bible 253 00:14:02,760 --> 00:14:05,800 is a prophetic book. The Bible talks about Scripture 254 00:14:05,960 --> 00:14:08,800 as being a prophetic word that's made sure. 255 00:14:09,000 --> 00:14:12,040 And so because of that, there's more than one dimension to it 256 00:14:12,040 --> 00:14:15,000 that we have to see. And basically what he's saying 257 00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:18,960 is when you read Genesis chapter 2, you can look at it from a 258 00:14:18,960 --> 00:14:22,520 personal sense in mankind, but you have to realize that there's 259 00:14:22,520 --> 00:14:25,640 something God was trying to tell us from the very beginning is 260 00:14:25,640 --> 00:14:28,800 that in his eternal purpose, He had a plan of action. 261 00:14:29,400 --> 00:14:33,360 The plan of action was that Jesus Christ would come die for 262 00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:38,360 our sins, and that also he would have a bride, which is his 263 00:14:38,600 --> 00:14:41,200 church. And so we have to look at these 264 00:14:41,200 --> 00:14:44,280 scriptures and realize that God's talking about a spiritual 265 00:14:44,280 --> 00:14:49,840 issue here, and he's describing us as the bride of Christ. 266 00:14:50,040 --> 00:14:52,840 How we know that adds a whole new dimension to it. 267 00:14:53,480 --> 00:14:56,280 And it's important that we would see this because it's important 268 00:14:56,280 --> 00:14:59,760 for us to see the role of the church in the plans and purposes 269 00:14:59,760 --> 00:15:04,280 of God and see again, and we'll understand this, where the Holy 270 00:15:04,280 --> 00:15:09,640 Spirit fits in because as we said, God took a side of Adam 271 00:15:09,800 --> 00:15:13,840 and put him in a woman and she became woman. 272 00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:18,440 So how many know that when God pours His Spirit upon us, that's 273 00:15:18,440 --> 00:15:22,120 God taking part of who He is and putting it on us. 274 00:15:23,200 --> 00:15:25,440 That's an awesome revelation to have, isn't it? 275 00:15:25,720 --> 00:15:29,680 That's why we are the bride of Christ, a man, because part of 276 00:15:29,680 --> 00:15:33,280 Christ, which was the spirit of the anointing that was upon him. 277 00:15:33,520 --> 00:15:37,360 The Spirit of the Lord that abides in him then comes to each 278 00:15:37,360 --> 00:15:41,160 and every one of us. And God says, now you are now of 279 00:15:41,760 --> 00:15:44,480 my spirit. Now there's something in you 280 00:15:44,480 --> 00:15:48,240 that came from me. You are my bride, says the Lord, 281 00:15:48,400 --> 00:15:52,760 and you need to understand how you are to relate to me and 282 00:15:52,760 --> 00:15:55,320 really to the world as the bride of Christ. 283 00:15:55,920 --> 00:15:59,720 Look what it goes on to say here in Galatians 4 which things are 284 00:15:59,720 --> 00:16:04,080 symbolic, for these are the 2 covenants, the one from Mount 285 00:16:04,080 --> 00:16:07,280 Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar. 286 00:16:07,680 --> 00:16:11,600 This Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, corresponds to 287 00:16:11,600 --> 00:16:15,080 Jerusalem, which now is and is in bondage with their children. 288 00:16:16,200 --> 00:16:18,560 But Jerusalem above is free, which is what? 289 00:16:18,640 --> 00:16:20,640 Read that with me, mother of us all. 290 00:16:20,640 --> 00:16:23,160 So we're talking about mothers today, and we want to see how 291 00:16:23,160 --> 00:16:27,200 that the Church is our mother. For it is written, Rejoice 292 00:16:27,200 --> 00:16:30,920 o'bearing you who did not bear and break forth and shout, you 293 00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:33,080 are labeled. For the desolate has many more 294 00:16:33,080 --> 00:16:35,240 children than she that has a husband. 295 00:16:35,680 --> 00:16:39,680 And this verse 27 is quoting Isaiah chapter 54. 296 00:16:40,040 --> 00:16:44,280 So in the Old Testament, God was given us examples that we could 297 00:16:44,280 --> 00:16:47,680 look at and they were always speaking prophetically about a 298 00:16:47,680 --> 00:16:52,160 day which was to come. And so through the 1st Adam in 299 00:16:52,160 --> 00:16:54,680 the natural there is the seed of Adam. 300 00:16:55,040 --> 00:16:58,640 And then also the Bible tells us about a man named Abraham who 301 00:16:58,640 --> 00:17:02,280 entered into covenant with God, and God said to him that he was 302 00:17:02,280 --> 00:17:04,960 going to bless him, and through his seed all the nations of the 303 00:17:04,960 --> 00:17:08,480 world we're going to be blessed. When you read the Old Testament, 304 00:17:08,480 --> 00:17:12,000 you read about a literal physical place, Jerusalem, Mount 305 00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:13,920 Zion. And he said, but there's 306 00:17:13,920 --> 00:17:17,000 something more that's going on in the New covenant because 307 00:17:17,000 --> 00:17:20,760 there's the spiritual Mount Zion, there is a spiritual 308 00:17:20,760 --> 00:17:22,640 habitation. And that's what I wrote when I 309 00:17:22,640 --> 00:17:26,040 wrote my book, The Descending New Jerusalem, because it is a 310 00:17:26,040 --> 00:17:29,720 spiritual reality. And so there is a natural 311 00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:32,680 reality and there is a spiritual reality. 312 00:17:32,680 --> 00:17:34,600 How do you know where that spiritual reality? 313 00:17:35,560 --> 00:17:38,160 That's important to understand because the Bible says that when 314 00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:41,680 we are in Christ, we're neither male nor female junior Greek 315 00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:44,400 bond or free. So God says, I want you to 316 00:17:44,600 --> 00:17:48,600 transcend above the natural and live into this spiritual plane. 317 00:17:48,760 --> 00:17:51,440 And when you begin to understand that, you'll see how that the 318 00:17:51,440 --> 00:17:54,760 natural explains it, but you understand that it reaches 319 00:17:54,760 --> 00:17:57,360 beyond that. Now, this is an important thing 320 00:17:57,360 --> 00:18:00,680 to point out because Mount Zion was a part of the Charismatic 321 00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:03,400 movement going back to the latter, and revival going back 322 00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:05,920 to the Pentecostal movement, going back to what was called 323 00:18:05,920 --> 00:18:09,440 the Holiness movement, way back, beginning with the Third Great 324 00:18:09,440 --> 00:18:13,360 Awakening in the 1850s in the United States of America. 325 00:18:13,880 --> 00:18:16,280 And I mentioned this from time to time because I believe we're 326 00:18:16,280 --> 00:18:19,200 in the time of a new awakening. Can I hear an Amen about that? 327 00:18:19,680 --> 00:18:23,160 So we need to know where we came from to know where we're going. 328 00:18:23,800 --> 00:18:26,360 Well, when the holiness movement started, there was a major 329 00:18:26,360 --> 00:18:28,840 figure involved. Her name was Phoebe Palmer. 330 00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:33,000 And back in those days, if a woman had a ministry in the 331 00:18:33,000 --> 00:18:35,480 church, she couldn't teach or preach to men. 332 00:18:35,480 --> 00:18:40,520 So she had a ladies prayer group and it she got such a 333 00:18:40,520 --> 00:18:43,440 reputation, the mineral saying, wait a minute, I want to go to 334 00:18:43,440 --> 00:18:44,680 that. What's going on here? 335 00:18:44,680 --> 00:18:46,720 And so she started, OK, come on in. 336 00:18:46,720 --> 00:18:50,720 Well, what I want to point out is since that time, churches in 337 00:18:50,720 --> 00:18:54,520 this stream in the body of Christ have always believed in 338 00:18:54,520 --> 00:18:58,320 women in the ministry, women as pastors, women as teachers. 339 00:18:58,600 --> 00:19:02,240 Sometimes people from backgrounds that are not 340 00:19:02,240 --> 00:19:04,600 thinking that way will think that, well, if a church has 341 00:19:04,600 --> 00:19:07,520 women in the ministry, they're just giving in to the world or 342 00:19:07,520 --> 00:19:09,360 following the patterns of the world. 343 00:19:09,360 --> 00:19:13,200 And no, that's not true at all. For almost 200 years now, 344 00:19:13,200 --> 00:19:16,120 there's been a people who said, we're following the anointing 345 00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:19,960 because it's the spiritual that transcends the natural. 346 00:19:19,960 --> 00:19:21,600 Can I hear an event on that? Amen. 347 00:19:22,120 --> 00:19:25,360 That's why Mount Zion, we've always had women pastors, 348 00:19:25,760 --> 00:19:30,080 teachers, and there's a side that women have that men don't 349 00:19:30,080 --> 00:19:31,560 have. And so if you want complete 350 00:19:31,560 --> 00:19:34,680 ministry, looking at it from a natural perspective, how you 351 00:19:34,680 --> 00:19:37,040 know, you need to understand how important it is. 352 00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:40,480 So we transcend the spiritual and yet we understand there is 353 00:19:40,480 --> 00:19:44,240 that gender side that becomes very important in the natural 354 00:19:44,240 --> 00:19:46,840 and being able to reach the different members of the body of 355 00:19:46,840 --> 00:19:49,600 Christ. It's an essential function for 356 00:19:49,600 --> 00:19:52,520 us to understand. Now having said that I want to 357 00:19:52,520 --> 00:19:58,280 go to this Scripture in Genesis 3 and then 1st Corinthians 15 it 358 00:19:58,280 --> 00:20:04,080 says and Adam called his wifes name Eve because why she would 359 00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:09,120 be the mother of all living. Now again the Bible speaks about 360 00:20:09,160 --> 00:20:12,640 Jesus Christ being Adam as well here called the last Adam 361 00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:17,480 literally a first Adam because the first Adam the Bible says we 362 00:20:17,480 --> 00:20:21,320 came alive naturally, that through Jesus Christ we become 363 00:20:21,320 --> 00:20:25,240 alive spiritual Amen. That's why it says for so is 364 00:20:25,240 --> 00:20:27,920 written the first man Adam became a living being. 365 00:20:28,240 --> 00:20:33,400 The last Adam became what a life giving spirit, which is 366 00:20:33,400 --> 00:20:37,840 important to understand because the name Eve literally means 367 00:20:37,920 --> 00:20:42,800 life giving spirit. So we know that when Eve was 368 00:20:43,120 --> 00:20:46,040 separated from Adam, he looks at her and says we're going to call 369 00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:49,600 her Eve because she's the mother of all living. 370 00:20:49,840 --> 00:20:52,600 She's a life giver. How many know women are life 371 00:20:52,600 --> 00:20:55,680 givers, Amen. When they have children and it's 372 00:20:55,680 --> 00:20:59,800 a choice that they make when they get pregnant nowadays to 373 00:20:59,800 --> 00:21:01,840 decide I'm going to have this baby. 374 00:21:02,480 --> 00:21:05,840 And we know that it's not always a pleasant occasion because 375 00:21:05,840 --> 00:21:08,640 having children can have its share of problems. 376 00:21:09,240 --> 00:21:11,280 I was just illustrated to my wife Bonnie. 377 00:21:11,280 --> 00:21:14,200 She would love being a mother, she wanted to be a mother. 378 00:21:14,480 --> 00:21:17,440 And I remember standing at the bathroom door when she looked at 379 00:21:17,440 --> 00:21:20,560 the test and said I'm pregnant. She had the biggest smile on her 380 00:21:20,560 --> 00:21:24,600 face and I was happy with her because I wanted a child too, of 381 00:21:24,600 --> 00:21:26,800 course. But it wasn't too long after 382 00:21:26,800 --> 00:21:29,240 that, I was looking through the same bathroom door and she was 383 00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:32,680 kneeling at the toilet. She was not praying. 384 00:21:35,560 --> 00:21:39,600 She was starting experiencing the effects of having a baby. 385 00:21:39,960 --> 00:21:42,840 And there are unpleasant. Some have worse time than 386 00:21:42,840 --> 00:21:45,320 others. Sometimes it's not just morning 387 00:21:45,320 --> 00:21:48,600 sick, then some for some is all day sickness, whatever. 388 00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:53,960 But there's a cost to be paid because the mom is a life giver 389 00:21:54,520 --> 00:21:58,280 and being a part of that life giving, there is a cost to be 390 00:21:58,280 --> 00:22:00,440 paid. And Jesus Christ is a life 391 00:22:00,440 --> 00:22:02,960 giver. And how did that happen with 392 00:22:02,960 --> 00:22:04,920 him? Well, he gave his life on the 393 00:22:04,920 --> 00:22:09,480 cross and then after that he poured out his spirit, which is 394 00:22:09,480 --> 00:22:11,840 what? A life giving spirit. 395 00:22:12,200 --> 00:22:14,960 So again, when I'm born in the natural, I'm alive. 396 00:22:14,960 --> 00:22:17,720 Thank you mom, you had a baby and now I'm alive. 397 00:22:18,400 --> 00:22:23,360 But when I'm born again, I have received a life giving spirit. 398 00:22:23,560 --> 00:22:27,840 And so this has transformed my life and I'm a whole new person 399 00:22:27,840 --> 00:22:32,960 now because I have received new life, which is what spiritual 400 00:22:32,960 --> 00:22:34,960 life. And that's why it's important to 401 00:22:34,960 --> 00:22:38,400 understand how the Holy Spirit works because of the Holy Spirit 402 00:22:38,400 --> 00:22:44,840 comes to us and makes us alive and becomes the habitation of us 403 00:22:44,880 --> 00:22:50,880 experiencing mothering in the natural and also now in the 404 00:22:50,880 --> 00:22:53,600 spiritual as well. That's why it talks about the 405 00:22:53,600 --> 00:22:57,320 Holy Spirit and it talks about the church being the mother of 406 00:22:57,320 --> 00:23:00,120 us all. Now having said all that, I want 407 00:23:00,120 --> 00:23:04,080 to go to the Scripture in Acts chapter 19, it happened while 408 00:23:04,080 --> 00:23:07,840 Apollo's was at Corinth that Paul, having passed through the 409 00:23:07,840 --> 00:23:12,120 upper regions, came to Ephesus and finding some disciples, he 410 00:23:12,120 --> 00:23:15,120 said to them, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you 411 00:23:15,120 --> 00:23:17,640 believed? So they said to him, We have not 412 00:23:17,640 --> 00:23:19,960 so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit. 413 00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:22,960 He said to them, into what were you baptized? 414 00:23:22,960 --> 00:23:25,200 So they said on to John's baptism. 415 00:23:25,720 --> 00:23:28,520 And so as you read through the Scriptures, they repented, they 416 00:23:28,520 --> 00:23:31,120 were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for their mission 417 00:23:31,120 --> 00:23:33,360 and their sins. They received the baptism, the 418 00:23:33,360 --> 00:23:36,160 Holy Spirit and they also spoke in other tongues. 419 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:40,400 And now the first thing that he asked them is, well, what do you 420 00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:44,120 believe? Well, they had a belief system 421 00:23:44,120 --> 00:23:47,040 based upon what they would had already heard, because how do 422 00:23:47,040 --> 00:23:49,200 you know? You can only believe what you 423 00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:52,600 heard with the heart. Man believes, the Bible says 424 00:23:52,600 --> 00:23:55,200 with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation. 425 00:23:55,440 --> 00:23:57,400 I'm glad you're a believer here today. 426 00:23:58,240 --> 00:24:01,880 Amen. So as Paul's passing through 427 00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:05,720 town, he finds some believers, but there's something missing 428 00:24:05,720 --> 00:24:09,480 here because they didn't hear the whole message and certainly 429 00:24:09,480 --> 00:24:13,520 have the whole experience. And that's when he says, have 430 00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:16,840 you received the Holy Spirit since you believed? 431 00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:19,960 Now this is important to understand because as a 432 00:24:19,960 --> 00:24:24,760 Pentecostal charismatic holiness, second work of grace 433 00:24:24,760 --> 00:24:29,000 Christian, we believe there's something beyond just believing. 434 00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:32,560 A lot of people are content with I believe in Jesus Christ. 435 00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:34,480 Sins are forgiven. I'm going to heaven. 436 00:24:35,280 --> 00:24:39,440 But as people who believe in the work of the Holy Spirit and 437 00:24:39,440 --> 00:24:42,400 understand that it is a life giving spirit that has been 438 00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:47,240 given to us, we understand it's not just enough to believe that 439 00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:50,640 if you want everything God has for you, there's a receiving 440 00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:53,520 part. My mom used to always talk about 441 00:24:53,520 --> 00:24:56,360 that when she would have her prayer service and praying for 442 00:24:56,360 --> 00:24:59,320 people because she said don't just believe you got to receive. 443 00:24:59,920 --> 00:25:02,720 And that really has to do with an attitude we have where we're 444 00:25:02,720 --> 00:25:07,280 like, I want to grab a hold of this, I want to experience this. 445 00:25:07,560 --> 00:25:12,240 And this is what the Pentecostal holiness charismatic movement 446 00:25:12,560 --> 00:25:15,080 added to the body of Christ. As we said, you know, there's 447 00:25:15,080 --> 00:25:18,640 something that you receive going beyond believing. 448 00:25:18,640 --> 00:25:23,040 There's something in receiving, and that's why last year I 449 00:25:23,040 --> 00:25:24,840 talked about the descending New Jerusalem. 450 00:25:24,840 --> 00:25:27,880 We talked about the power of what happens in church and how 451 00:25:27,880 --> 00:25:29,600 important it is for us to understand there. 452 00:25:29,800 --> 00:25:32,360 I mean, when we come to church, the Bible says I will enter his 453 00:25:32,360 --> 00:25:35,160 gates with Thanksgiving in my heart into his courts with 454 00:25:35,160 --> 00:25:37,600 praise. And that the Bible says that 455 00:25:37,600 --> 00:25:41,080 Jesus worships among the worshipping congregation. 456 00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:45,880 And I reminded everybody a few times last year because when we 457 00:25:45,880 --> 00:25:48,480 hear something, we got to hear it a few times how important it 458 00:25:48,480 --> 00:25:52,080 is for us to realize when we preach here at Mount Zion on a 459 00:25:52,080 --> 00:25:55,320 Sunday morning, it's not just instructional, which would be 460 00:25:55,320 --> 00:25:58,560 teaching, but preaching is something to inspire faith. 461 00:25:59,040 --> 00:26:02,840 So although you need to learn, you also have to understand that 462 00:26:02,840 --> 00:26:05,520 you need to receive it. That's why the Bible talks about 463 00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:09,840 the implanted word of God. We are born again by the seed of 464 00:26:09,840 --> 00:26:11,720 the living God coming into our heart. 465 00:26:11,960 --> 00:26:15,840 So that means there's something that we have to receive. 466 00:26:16,120 --> 00:26:20,160 So I come into the song service and I say, wait a minute, I know 467 00:26:20,160 --> 00:26:22,120 what I believe that I'm going to receive. 468 00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:25,440 Come on. You know, you have to be willing 469 00:26:25,440 --> 00:26:28,320 to do that because if not, you can come in church and it'd be 470 00:26:28,320 --> 00:26:31,080 just like anybody else's. Some churches don't believe you 471 00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:34,320 receive at that time. So they are believers to gather 472 00:26:34,320 --> 00:26:37,280 together and sing songs, and then they have a message where 473 00:26:37,280 --> 00:26:39,280 they're instructed and how to be a better Christian. 474 00:26:39,280 --> 00:26:41,200 And all of these things are a part of it. 475 00:26:41,200 --> 00:26:43,920 But you have to understand that when you're understanding the 476 00:26:43,920 --> 00:26:47,160 need to receive, you say, no, I need to receive something here. 477 00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:50,760 That's why when we have our altar call, we gather and we 478 00:26:50,760 --> 00:26:53,280 say, OK, we've heard this word, we want to receive it. 479 00:26:53,840 --> 00:26:57,520 And at Mount Zion we teach the word sacrament versus just 480 00:26:57,520 --> 00:26:59,280 ordinance. An ordinance says this is what 481 00:26:59,280 --> 00:27:02,040 God told us what to do. The sacrament says, oh, 482 00:27:02,040 --> 00:27:03,680 something happens when you do it. 483 00:27:04,160 --> 00:27:07,920 That's why the apostle Paul is speaking about communion, said 484 00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:10,840 This is why many are weak and sickly among you and people even 485 00:27:10,840 --> 00:27:13,760 die prematurely because when they take communion, they don't 486 00:27:13,760 --> 00:27:16,000 understand or discern the Lord's body. 487 00:27:16,680 --> 00:27:19,440 There's a reality here. So I don't just believe it and 488 00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:21,880 do it, I receive something. How about you? 489 00:27:21,880 --> 00:27:25,080 And we do the same thing. When people get baptized, we say 490 00:27:25,360 --> 00:27:27,760 we are expecting them to receive something. 491 00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:30,880 So there's a whole different concept here. 492 00:27:31,120 --> 00:27:34,880 And when it comes to the receiving part, and this is a 493 00:27:34,880 --> 00:27:36,760 very important part of who we are. 494 00:27:37,160 --> 00:27:40,280 Now, having said that, I want to talk about the sexual revolution 495 00:27:40,280 --> 00:27:43,640 because I want you to see natural things, how often times 496 00:27:43,640 --> 00:27:47,040 they reveal to us spiritual things when we're looking at. 497 00:27:47,840 --> 00:27:51,160 That's why as a Christian, we're in the world, but we're not of 498 00:27:51,160 --> 00:27:53,240 the world. So we should look at things from 499 00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:56,080 a Kingdom perspective. When I was growing up, I was 500 00:27:56,080 --> 00:27:58,400 part of what they called the baby boomer generation. 501 00:27:58,400 --> 00:28:01,320 The latter part of that, especially in the 60s, one of 502 00:28:01,320 --> 00:28:05,720 the challenges were against the morals of our past generation 503 00:28:06,160 --> 00:28:10,160 and they called it the sexual liberation time or the sexual 504 00:28:10,160 --> 00:28:12,600 revolution. And basically people are saying 505 00:28:12,600 --> 00:28:15,960 we don't need morals, we don't need restraints, we just need to 506 00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:20,000 injure ourselves, take off the restraints and well, just learn 507 00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:23,840 how to enjoy life. So the idea overtime began to 508 00:28:23,840 --> 00:28:27,240 demonstrate itself in that sexuality was not at all 509 00:28:27,240 --> 00:28:30,080 private. That's why on movies they don't 510 00:28:30,080 --> 00:28:33,640 just imply someone's had a loving relationship. 511 00:28:33,840 --> 00:28:35,600 They show the whole thing because guess what? 512 00:28:36,480 --> 00:28:40,000 Nothing secret nowadays. Immodesty. 513 00:28:40,040 --> 00:28:43,480 Well, that went out the window. There's not secret parts anymore 514 00:28:43,480 --> 00:28:46,800 as we used to use the term because everything is out there 515 00:28:46,800 --> 00:28:50,400 in the open going on now. If you were to look at another 516 00:28:50,480 --> 00:28:53,280 aspect of what's happening right now, there's a lot to talk about 517 00:28:53,280 --> 00:28:57,000 SA, which is sexual assault. And what's happened here is 518 00:28:57,000 --> 00:28:59,080 there's a whole lot of people and some of them are bringing up 519 00:28:59,080 --> 00:29:01,200 issues for a long time ago because they didn't think they 520 00:29:01,200 --> 00:29:04,000 had the right to talk about it at the time, because people are 521 00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:08,400 saying, wait a second, I had unwanted sexual advances made 522 00:29:08,400 --> 00:29:10,720 towards me. People were doing things and I 523 00:29:10,720 --> 00:29:14,200 didn't want them to do that. Well, there's a problem in this 524 00:29:14,200 --> 00:29:17,360 because you understand that society is saying one thing over 525 00:29:17,360 --> 00:29:20,480 here and then there's another need over here. 526 00:29:20,840 --> 00:29:25,360 And so in some ways, especially when it comes to male and female 527 00:29:25,360 --> 00:29:28,880 different understanding of these things, it's hard to reconcile 528 00:29:29,080 --> 00:29:32,200 how to bring this all together. That's even why they say a lot 529 00:29:32,200 --> 00:29:35,800 of young men are confused to the world in which they live because 530 00:29:35,800 --> 00:29:37,960 they see, hear these different voices. 531 00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:41,680 Well, it's important to understand that the woman when 532 00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:46,440 it comes to marriage, to consummate the marriage, she has 533 00:29:46,440 --> 00:29:49,760 to be a receiver in the consummation process. 534 00:29:50,280 --> 00:29:54,000 And in order for her to be a mother, she has to receive the 535 00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:57,120 seed of the father. So there's a place for 536 00:29:57,120 --> 00:30:00,280 receiving. And the Bible considers this the 537 00:30:00,280 --> 00:30:03,840 very holy thing when it comes to the natural, but also there's a 538 00:30:03,840 --> 00:30:08,320 spiritual counterpart to it which we need to understand and 539 00:30:08,320 --> 00:30:11,720 relate to because there's something in the experience 540 00:30:11,720 --> 00:30:15,320 that's very important. So what people are finding out 541 00:30:15,320 --> 00:30:17,920 is, hey, this isn't just a recreational sport. 542 00:30:18,800 --> 00:30:22,520 This isn't really making love. What's going on here? 543 00:30:22,520 --> 00:30:27,080 And so a lot of more women than men certainly are saying, wait a 544 00:30:27,080 --> 00:30:31,040 second, there's something here that's, well, it's not just 545 00:30:31,040 --> 00:30:34,160 something physical. There's something deeper here. 546 00:30:34,160 --> 00:30:38,360 There's a sense that I have to protect myself and, and to hold 547 00:30:38,360 --> 00:30:42,360 back and make a choice. And that should always be true. 548 00:30:43,880 --> 00:30:47,080 And so God says to us, I want you understand something. 549 00:30:47,560 --> 00:30:50,840 I want you to be my bride. I want you to be the mother of 550 00:30:50,840 --> 00:30:54,960 my children, says the Lord. And I want you to know I respect 551 00:30:54,960 --> 00:30:58,680 your right to make the choice, but I want you to open up 552 00:30:58,680 --> 00:31:02,840 yourself to me, says the Lord, so that we can be productive 553 00:31:02,840 --> 00:31:07,880 together and we can build in this holy relationship that I 554 00:31:07,880 --> 00:31:10,720 have for you and for the world in which we live. 555 00:31:10,720 --> 00:31:14,560 How many of God's ways, a better way, but also to understand God 556 00:31:14,560 --> 00:31:17,360 understands the human condition. A lot of people just think, oh, 557 00:31:17,360 --> 00:31:20,280 who needs that? Well, we all need to understand 558 00:31:20,280 --> 00:31:21,760 that. We don't always understand why 559 00:31:21,760 --> 00:31:25,600 God is doing what He's doing or why He says what He says, but 560 00:31:25,600 --> 00:31:29,800 you can be sure there's always wisdom, wisdom to it and always 561 00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:34,320 an understanding involved in it. God even spoke to me about this 562 00:31:34,320 --> 00:31:35,240 once. I shared it. 563 00:31:35,240 --> 00:31:38,160 One of my books, I forget which ones are which sometimes and 564 00:31:38,160 --> 00:31:41,520 what I talked about, but I've often shared with you, I had a 565 00:31:41,520 --> 00:31:44,960 testimony about how was healed of muscular dystrophy. 566 00:31:45,520 --> 00:31:49,760 And in my 30s I started becoming very weak and suffering from 567 00:31:49,760 --> 00:31:54,200 this not only weakness but pain. I went to the doctors and they 568 00:31:54,200 --> 00:31:57,440 said, well, you have muscular dystrophy and we're not sure how 569 00:31:57,440 --> 00:32:01,080 long it's going to take to work over your body, but expect more 570 00:32:01,080 --> 00:32:02,880 to come. And really there's nothing they 571 00:32:02,880 --> 00:32:06,520 can do when it comes to muscular dystrophy other than perhaps 572 00:32:06,520 --> 00:32:08,400 help you a little bit with the pain, whatever. 573 00:32:09,800 --> 00:32:13,160 And I remember going to the altar in prayer and saying, 574 00:32:13,160 --> 00:32:16,120 Lord, I believe in healing and I've been serving you and I want 575 00:32:16,120 --> 00:32:18,040 to serve you for a very long time. 576 00:32:18,040 --> 00:32:20,360 And as I was there in prayer, the Lord spoke to me the 577 00:32:20,360 --> 00:32:24,480 scripture Revelation chapter 4, for my pleasure. 578 00:32:24,520 --> 00:32:26,560 Were you created? Now that's a King James 579 00:32:26,560 --> 00:32:29,480 translation, so you won't find it unless you go that way. 580 00:32:30,560 --> 00:32:37,320 And all of a sudden I thought, yes, my body is not just for my 581 00:32:37,320 --> 00:32:41,200 pleasure and my purpose, it's for yours. 582 00:32:41,680 --> 00:32:44,960 And that day I had a very intimate altar experience with 583 00:32:44,960 --> 00:32:47,560 the Lord where I just surrendered myself more fully to 584 00:32:47,560 --> 00:32:50,800 him. And it was just an amazing 585 00:32:50,800 --> 00:32:53,640 experience to me. Another day in prayer, the Lord 586 00:32:53,640 --> 00:32:56,080 began to speak to me and he said, well, I'm going to heal 587 00:32:56,080 --> 00:32:58,720 you. Now this is important in in the 588 00:32:58,720 --> 00:33:02,680 book of Psalm chapter 37, it says delight yourself in the 589 00:33:02,680 --> 00:33:04,920 ways of the Lord and he will give you the desire of your 590 00:33:04,920 --> 00:33:07,080 heart. Now again, if you looked up the 591 00:33:07,080 --> 00:33:10,280 word delight in the original Hebrew, you know what it speaks 592 00:33:10,280 --> 00:33:14,080 about it. It speaks about being effeminate 593 00:33:14,080 --> 00:33:19,440 or a female gender, if you would, in that you're saying, I 594 00:33:19,440 --> 00:33:22,400 receive you. It's not just my body. 595 00:33:22,600 --> 00:33:24,720 We're here to share love with each other. 596 00:33:24,720 --> 00:33:27,120 We're here to share. And and all of a sudden I 597 00:33:27,120 --> 00:33:32,040 realized in that verse, there's a key total surrender releases 598 00:33:32,120 --> 00:33:36,320 total power. Guess what, most of you know my 599 00:33:36,320 --> 00:33:40,120 rest, my testimony. I was healed in a supernatural 600 00:33:40,120 --> 00:33:41,640 way. How many thank the Lord for 601 00:33:41,640 --> 00:33:42,320 that? Amen. 602 00:33:44,240 --> 00:33:47,400 But for me, it's always been about God teaching me along the 603 00:33:47,400 --> 00:33:49,240 way and me learning more about Him. 604 00:33:49,240 --> 00:33:53,400 And to me, following God is just such an exciting journey. 605 00:33:53,600 --> 00:33:55,640 It has. It's difficult times and 606 00:33:55,640 --> 00:33:58,720 sometimes when you say yes to God, there's some uncomfortable 607 00:33:58,720 --> 00:34:02,400 parts, but in the end, it always produces life. 608 00:34:02,400 --> 00:34:06,480 Church, But I want you to know that this is important for us to 609 00:34:06,480 --> 00:34:09,280 understand, because we can see in this natural thing, a very 610 00:34:09,280 --> 00:34:13,239 spiritual thing, where God is saying, will you allow yourself 611 00:34:13,239 --> 00:34:17,920 to come to me in a greater way? In Ephesians 4 he says, And do 612 00:34:17,920 --> 00:34:21,400 not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for 613 00:34:21,400 --> 00:34:24,800 the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, 614 00:34:24,800 --> 00:34:27,960 anger, clamber and evil speaking be put away from you with all 615 00:34:27,960 --> 00:34:31,320 malice and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, 616 00:34:31,320 --> 00:34:34,719 forgiving one another even as God in Christ forgave you. 617 00:34:34,760 --> 00:34:38,840 I put over this sensitivity because basically when we think 618 00:34:38,840 --> 00:34:43,480 about the Holy Spirit, that's our opportunity to experience 619 00:34:43,520 --> 00:34:46,920 the sensitivity of God. And again, this is an important 620 00:34:46,920 --> 00:34:50,560 lesson for men to understand. There's a place where we learn 621 00:34:50,560 --> 00:34:53,719 about being the sons of God, but as the bride of Christ and the 622 00:34:53,719 --> 00:34:56,760 church, being the mother of all. There is a place where we learn 623 00:34:56,760 --> 00:35:01,640 sensitivity and our wives and the women in our life give us an 624 00:35:01,640 --> 00:35:03,960 opportunity to see something about that that we would not 625 00:35:03,960 --> 00:35:05,080 know. That's why that learning 626 00:35:05,080 --> 00:35:08,120 process, even in marriage and relationships, is good for all 627 00:35:08,120 --> 00:35:11,080 of us. But it's important to realize 628 00:35:11,080 --> 00:35:13,720 here that the apostle Paul is saying, it's important for you 629 00:35:13,720 --> 00:35:18,360 to understand that if you're not careful, you can grieve the Holy 630 00:35:18,360 --> 00:35:24,720 Spirit, which means to make sad. God has feelings and when you 631 00:35:24,720 --> 00:35:27,360 begin to realize that you can have a more intimate time of 632 00:35:27,360 --> 00:35:30,560 prayer because you can go into prayer and you can share God's 633 00:35:30,560 --> 00:35:32,920 feelings with him as you learn that. 634 00:35:33,720 --> 00:35:38,000 And often times it's women that excel in areas of prayer and 635 00:35:38,000 --> 00:35:40,640 spiritual habitation. And that's something that we 636 00:35:40,640 --> 00:35:42,480 should look at and say that's for the ladies. 637 00:35:42,480 --> 00:35:44,840 That's something we should look at and say, wow, they know 638 00:35:44,840 --> 00:35:47,240 something I don't know. I want to experience prayer in 639 00:35:47,240 --> 00:35:51,520 that level or I want to have a intimate relationship with God 640 00:35:52,080 --> 00:35:55,480 that comes in a very sensitive form, if you would. 641 00:35:55,880 --> 00:35:59,400 And to me, this reminds me of motherhood because how many of 642 00:35:59,400 --> 00:36:03,680 them ever heard a mom say, if you don't have something nice to 643 00:36:03,680 --> 00:36:07,720 say, don't say anything at all? Isn't that what the apostle Paul 644 00:36:07,720 --> 00:36:10,560 say to them? Don't grieve the Holy Spirit. 645 00:36:11,680 --> 00:36:14,480 If you don't have anything nice to say about other Christians, 646 00:36:14,480 --> 00:36:18,000 don't say anything at all. Oh, oh, let's receive that one, 647 00:36:20,720 --> 00:36:22,960 because the power of life and death is in the tongue. 648 00:36:22,960 --> 00:36:26,240 Amen. And so it gives us the 649 00:36:26,240 --> 00:36:28,960 opportunity for emotional awareness. 650 00:36:29,480 --> 00:36:32,720 Now, I've often heard people say that women are more emotional 651 00:36:32,720 --> 00:36:34,800 than men, and that's not true at all. 652 00:36:35,400 --> 00:36:38,480 They're more likely, often times, to express their 653 00:36:38,480 --> 00:36:41,960 emotions. But I've seen very emotional men 654 00:36:42,480 --> 00:36:45,160 who respond emotionally. And if you go back to the book 655 00:36:45,160 --> 00:36:48,960 of Genesis, I'm you know the story in Genesis chapter 3, God 656 00:36:48,960 --> 00:36:51,400 said don't eat at the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 657 00:36:51,600 --> 00:36:55,120 Eve standing next to the tree and she's talking to the serpent 658 00:36:55,520 --> 00:36:57,640 and she looks at the tree and she says, you know, that's good 659 00:36:57,640 --> 00:37:01,240 for food. Does he a tree desirable to make 660 00:37:01,240 --> 00:37:04,560 one wise plus into the eyes. She was thinking about it. 661 00:37:05,800 --> 00:37:07,800 Hmm, what can I do with this tree? 662 00:37:08,280 --> 00:37:10,440 After she decided to eat at the tree, she gave it to her 663 00:37:10,440 --> 00:37:11,720 husband. The Bible didn't say he's 664 00:37:11,720 --> 00:37:16,200 thought about it, just ate it. I don't know if he thought that 665 00:37:16,200 --> 00:37:20,720 was dinner or what. You know, sometimes men are more 666 00:37:20,720 --> 00:37:23,960 emotionally driven than women. And it's important to understand 667 00:37:23,960 --> 00:37:25,960 that there's a difference between talking about 668 00:37:25,960 --> 00:37:30,240 sensitivity and feeling what other people feel. 669 00:37:30,240 --> 00:37:32,800 Because if you're too emotional, you won't feel what anybody 670 00:37:32,800 --> 00:37:34,600 feels but what you feel. Amen. 671 00:37:35,200 --> 00:37:37,960 So how many know that that's something that moms can do which 672 00:37:37,960 --> 00:37:40,520 is so powerful. That's why these scriptures say 673 00:37:41,160 --> 00:37:43,760 a foolish son is what the grief of his mother. 674 00:37:44,160 --> 00:37:48,000 And when I was my father's son, tender and only one in the sight 675 00:37:48,000 --> 00:37:50,160 of my mother, because guess what? 676 00:37:51,200 --> 00:37:55,440 That child grew in the mother. That's part of the mother. 677 00:37:55,760 --> 00:37:58,880 That's why what we call women's intuition, it isn't just a 678 00:37:58,880 --> 00:38:01,040 mystical thing. It's part of the fact that, hey, 679 00:38:01,040 --> 00:38:03,120 that child started you, grew in you. 680 00:38:03,120 --> 00:38:05,440 It's a part of you kind of hear mom say Amen. 681 00:38:06,680 --> 00:38:10,040 And so that's why sometimes you know more about the kid than 682 00:38:10,040 --> 00:38:11,920 they might even know about themselves. 683 00:38:12,320 --> 00:38:14,040 Course, they don't want to listen to you when you tell them 684 00:38:14,040 --> 00:38:16,920 that, but there's a truth to that. 685 00:38:17,480 --> 00:38:19,120 And that's important for us to understand. 686 00:38:19,120 --> 00:38:22,200 That's why as Christians we need to be open to the Holy Spirit 687 00:38:22,200 --> 00:38:25,360 and how God uses the Word. So we sometimes find out things 688 00:38:25,360 --> 00:38:26,680 about ourselves that we didn't know. 689 00:38:26,680 --> 00:38:30,760 And So what do we do? We should change, but because a 690 00:38:30,760 --> 00:38:36,120 woman has this part of her that was in that child, what we call 691 00:38:36,120 --> 00:38:40,600 women's intuition is that's why it's a grief and that's why 692 00:38:40,600 --> 00:38:43,600 there's a pain involved. It's not the same as a husband's 693 00:38:43,600 --> 00:38:46,080 pain. And this is important for us to 694 00:38:46,080 --> 00:38:47,400 understand. And that's why I'm going to 695 00:38:47,400 --> 00:38:50,840 close with this particular scripture because all the things 696 00:38:50,840 --> 00:38:54,720 that I talked to you about are true of God himself. 697 00:38:54,880 --> 00:38:58,440 That's why this scripture says then the righteous will answer 698 00:38:58,440 --> 00:39:03,720 him saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you or 699 00:39:03,720 --> 00:39:07,880 thirsty and give you a drink? When did we see you a stranger 700 00:39:07,880 --> 00:39:09,840 and take you in or naked and clothe you? 701 00:39:10,520 --> 00:39:13,640 Or when did we see you sick or in prison or come to you? 702 00:39:14,600 --> 00:39:18,400 And the king will answer and say to them assuredly I say to you 703 00:39:19,000 --> 00:39:22,680 in as much as you did it to one of the least of my brother and 704 00:39:22,960 --> 00:39:25,760 you did it to me just like a mom. 705 00:39:25,760 --> 00:39:28,400 If you do it for kids, it's like you've done it for her. 706 00:39:29,120 --> 00:39:31,320 God says the same thing, you know. 707 00:39:33,040 --> 00:39:35,400 Do you realize how much your Father loves you? 708 00:39:36,320 --> 00:39:39,280 Do you realize that He gave you the Holy Spirit so you could be 709 00:39:39,280 --> 00:39:43,040 in touch with Him in such a way that you could feel inside? 710 00:39:44,000 --> 00:39:48,480 I belong to God. I'm tender and very beloved in 711 00:39:48,480 --> 00:39:52,560 His eyes. And when I grieve, His Spirit 712 00:39:52,560 --> 00:39:56,040 grieves with me. That's how much He loves me. 713 00:39:56,400 --> 00:40:01,400 It's so personal, it's so real, it's just like a mother's love, 714 00:40:01,560 --> 00:40:03,640 but even greater. Can we all bow our heads and 715 00:40:03,640 --> 00:40:05,720 close our eyes for just a moment? 716 00:40:06,200 --> 00:40:09,240 Because I really believe with all my heart, this is a new day 717 00:40:09,240 --> 00:40:13,960 in God, and there's something God is inviting all of us into 718 00:40:13,960 --> 00:40:16,280 in Him like we've never experienced before. 719 00:40:17,160 --> 00:40:21,280 And it's going to come to us through His Word and His Spirit. 720 00:40:22,920 --> 00:40:25,880 But we should understand that God knows more of the human 721 00:40:25,880 --> 00:40:29,640 condition than we do. And we should also understand 722 00:40:29,640 --> 00:40:38,120 that he senses our need. And then he also says to the 723 00:40:38,120 --> 00:40:42,840 church, Will you let me, through my spirit, make you sensitive to 724 00:40:42,840 --> 00:40:48,640 others in our marital relationships? 725 00:40:50,640 --> 00:40:56,000 If we would let God's Spirit make us sensitive, what a 726 00:40:56,000 --> 00:41:00,000 difference it would make. If we would understand our 727 00:41:00,000 --> 00:41:02,360 differences, what a difference it would make. 728 00:41:03,880 --> 00:41:07,840 But God wants us to understand there's something more that He 729 00:41:07,840 --> 00:41:12,800 wants us to receive, not just believe. 730 00:41:13,240 --> 00:41:15,680 Receive. Father, in the name of Jesus, I 731 00:41:15,680 --> 00:41:18,920 pray today that each and everyone of us would receive 732 00:41:18,920 --> 00:41:23,400 from you afresh in Jesus name, Amen. 733 00:41:24,560 --> 00:41:27,160 This is Pastor Lauren Coverbius from Mount Zion Church. 734 00:41:27,360 --> 00:41:30,160 We thank you for joining us today and invite you to connect 735 00:41:30,160 --> 00:41:33,760 with our church family by visiting mountzion.org and 736 00:41:33,760 --> 00:41:36,360 following us on social media. God bless you.