1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,400 I want to open with the scripture I've been sharing for 2 00:00:02,400 --> 00:00:06,040 a few weeks now. In John 14, Jesus is speaking, 3 00:00:06,040 --> 00:00:09,960 he said A little while longer and the world will see me no 4 00:00:09,960 --> 00:00:13,080 more. But you will see me because I 5 00:00:13,080 --> 00:00:14,240 live. You will live also. 6 00:00:14,240 --> 00:00:17,440 And on that day you will know that I'm in my Father, you and 7 00:00:17,440 --> 00:00:21,160 me and I and you. He who has my commandments and 8 00:00:21,160 --> 00:00:23,720 keeps them. It is He who loves me, and He 9 00:00:23,720 --> 00:00:27,800 who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and 10 00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:32,400 manifest myself to Him. This is so important for us to 11 00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:34,680 understand. I read the scriptures today from 12 00:00:34,680 --> 00:00:39,240 Acts chapter 2 because this is actually on the church calendar, 13 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:43,360 the day of Pentecost where we celebrate the day of Pentecost 14 00:00:43,360 --> 00:00:46,920 as we read here today when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon 15 00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:49,840 the church and such an amazing thing happened. 16 00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:52,880 And most people see that as the birth of the church, the 17 00:00:52,880 --> 00:00:56,080 beginning of the new covenant, and all that God is doing for 18 00:00:56,080 --> 00:00:59,120 us. In the reading of John's Gospel, 19 00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:02,600 chapter 14, Jesus Christ himself is getting ready to leave the 20 00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:07,280 disciples, and so he's preparing them by instructing them so they 21 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:11,760 would know what would happen. Of course, in the coming days, 22 00:01:11,760 --> 00:01:15,800 as Jesus Christ was taken to the cross and the crucifixion, 23 00:01:15,800 --> 00:01:18,360 everything was going on. They got so emotionally 24 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:22,040 disconnected from what was happening that they did not even 25 00:01:22,040 --> 00:01:25,440 understand what it is that was going on, even though Jesus had 26 00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:30,080 told them ahead of time. And so Jesus wants us to know, 27 00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:35,080 as he did his disciples, what it means to receive the baptism of 28 00:01:35,080 --> 00:01:38,640 Holy Spirit, what the Day of Pentecost is all about, and what 29 00:01:38,640 --> 00:01:41,760 that can mean to us Now. When Jesus Christ was here on 30 00:01:41,760 --> 00:01:45,960 the earth, he made it very clear he was the visible image of the 31 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:49,200 invisible God. He said to his disciples, when 32 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:51,080 you see me, you've seen the Father. 33 00:01:51,520 --> 00:01:55,360 So Jesus Christ was God manifested in the flesh. 34 00:01:55,640 --> 00:01:59,480 God become banned so that he could live among his people, so 35 00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:02,600 that we could interact with God in a whole new fashion. 36 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:06,440 But for most of us, it means we can read the Gospels and see 37 00:02:06,440 --> 00:02:08,759 what God would be like as a person. 38 00:02:09,280 --> 00:02:13,120 And it's an amazing life and certainly an example for all of 39 00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:15,040 us. And that's why it's important to 40 00:02:15,040 --> 00:02:18,480 see that he was indeed the in the visible image of the 41 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:22,600 invisible God and to understand that he wants to manifest 42 00:02:22,600 --> 00:02:25,720 himself to us. And so as he's talking to them 43 00:02:25,720 --> 00:02:29,320 about the coming of the Holy Spirit, he said, I'm going to 44 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:33,600 come back and I'm going to manifest myself or make myself 45 00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:36,080 known to you. Now again, they knew him 46 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:39,800 according to the flesh as a human being, but now he would 47 00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:42,680 come through the power of the Holy Spirit, just like he comes 48 00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:46,280 to us. And just like he came to them in 49 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:48,680 a fresh way and manifested himself to them. 50 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:51,640 How many know God wants to manifest himself to us as well. 51 00:02:52,400 --> 00:02:54,800 Now of course, for the disciples that brought all kinds of 52 00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:57,720 questions. Judas, not Iscariot, said to 53 00:02:57,720 --> 00:03:01,160 him, Well Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us 54 00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:04,080 and not to the world? Jesus answered and said to him, 55 00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:06,280 if anyone he loves me, He will keep my word. 56 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:09,720 My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our 57 00:03:09,720 --> 00:03:13,280 home with Him. He who does not love me and does 58 00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:16,280 not keep my words, the word which you hear is not mine, but 59 00:03:16,280 --> 00:03:19,360 my Father's who sent me. And so He's making them 60 00:03:19,360 --> 00:03:22,200 understand there's going to be a difference between those who 61 00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:25,320 believe and those who don't believe, that's for sure. 62 00:03:25,680 --> 00:03:27,320 And that's why he was asking the question, Well, I don't 63 00:03:27,320 --> 00:03:29,400 understand. You'll manifest yourself to us, 64 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:32,080 but you won't be manifesting yourself to the world. 65 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:35,800 Well, what Jesus was basically telling them is I'm going to 66 00:03:35,800 --> 00:03:38,840 come and I'm going to manifest myself to you because you know 67 00:03:38,840 --> 00:03:42,400 who I am. And after I manifest myself to 68 00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:46,800 you, you're going to begin to manifest me to the world in 69 00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:50,440 which you live. Because even though I'm going 70 00:03:50,440 --> 00:03:54,560 away, if you follow the things that I have spoken to you, the 71 00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:57,640 Father and I are going to come back, and we're going to make 72 00:03:57,640 --> 00:04:00,960 our home our abiding place with you. 73 00:04:01,640 --> 00:04:05,320 I began this series actually in the month of April, before 74 00:04:05,320 --> 00:04:08,680 Easter, talking about the purpose of the Holy Spirit and 75 00:04:08,680 --> 00:04:10,800 culminating this week with the Day of Pentecost. 76 00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:13,720 It's very important for us to understand how this all works 77 00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:18,360 and how God uses His things to perform His perfect work in the 78 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:20,640 earth. And I shared from John chapter 79 00:04:20,640 --> 00:04:24,000 14 where Jesus said I'm going away. 80 00:04:24,680 --> 00:04:27,520 And he said when I go away I'm going to prepare a place for 81 00:04:27,520 --> 00:04:31,840 you, that where I am, you may be also. 82 00:04:32,360 --> 00:04:35,120 Now as a part of that, He said in my Father's house there are 83 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:37,320 many mansions. If it were not so, I would not 84 00:04:37,320 --> 00:04:40,760 have told you so. Now, as I've mentioned, often 85 00:04:40,760 --> 00:04:42,960 times the word mansion there is huge. 86 00:04:42,960 --> 00:04:45,400 And because of that, sometimes people think he's talking about, 87 00:04:45,720 --> 00:04:48,440 well, he's going away to heaven and he's going to build each and 88 00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:50,200 every one of us our own personal mansion. 89 00:04:50,440 --> 00:04:52,840 And then when we get to heaven, we'll be able to invite him over 90 00:04:52,840 --> 00:04:56,040 to dinner to our mansion. And that's not exactly what he 91 00:04:56,040 --> 00:04:58,200 was saying. He said in my Father's house are 92 00:04:58,200 --> 00:05:02,080 many abiding places, or mansions if you would, because why? 93 00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:06,440 It's the places where God himself is going to live and 94 00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:09,720 when we understand that we can realize, hey, all of this 95 00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:14,560 happens so that where I am God could be how many know that when 96 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:18,840 you receive Christ in your heart and receiving the power of God 97 00:05:18,840 --> 00:05:21,920 through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, wherever you go, that's 98 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:23,840 where God goes. Why? 99 00:05:23,840 --> 00:05:25,680 Because he is in you. Amen. 100 00:05:26,080 --> 00:05:28,800 Because we are literally give the Lord a praise on that. 101 00:05:28,800 --> 00:05:31,320 That should make you excited. To me. 102 00:05:31,320 --> 00:05:34,200 That's awesome. Now I want to share a couple of 103 00:05:34,200 --> 00:05:37,080 visuals with you. Because on the day of Pentecost, 104 00:05:37,080 --> 00:05:41,160 when the Holy Spirit came, it was primarily Jews there who had 105 00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:44,320 a history, if you would, going through the Old Testament, 106 00:05:44,680 --> 00:05:49,320 because God has revealed himself to mankind over the years. 107 00:05:49,640 --> 00:05:52,640 And so they knew and understood some things about what Jesus 108 00:05:52,640 --> 00:05:54,680 said that you and I wouldn't immediately know. 109 00:05:54,680 --> 00:05:57,360 And so it's good for us to refresh ourselves in what they 110 00:05:57,360 --> 00:05:59,960 knew. Now, in the Old Testament, God 111 00:05:59,960 --> 00:06:03,480 did appear to different folks, and Moses was one of them. 112 00:06:03,480 --> 00:06:06,640 Most of us know the story how the Angel of the Lord came to 113 00:06:06,640 --> 00:06:10,760 Moses in a burning Bush. But the Bible also tells us that 114 00:06:10,760 --> 00:06:13,800 one day God told Moses to go up into the mountain. 115 00:06:14,160 --> 00:06:16,480 And we learned from the book of Hebrews that when he was 116 00:06:16,480 --> 00:06:20,120 literally on the mountain that God showed him a pattern of what 117 00:06:20,320 --> 00:06:23,840 is going on in heaven. So whether it was by a vision or 118 00:06:23,960 --> 00:06:27,520 literally something was there that he could see, but like an 119 00:06:27,520 --> 00:06:30,520 object lesson, we don't know. But we know that when he saw 120 00:06:30,520 --> 00:06:33,920 this pattern, when he came down, he gave them what we call the 121 00:06:33,920 --> 00:06:36,600 law of Moses. And also he told them that they 122 00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:40,960 should build a Tabernacle where God could come and have a home 123 00:06:40,960 --> 00:06:44,280 among them if you would. And so the Tabernacle of Moses 124 00:06:44,280 --> 00:06:47,400 was that place. Now, this is a visual of what 125 00:06:47,400 --> 00:06:52,640 that was, and if you'll notice, it was just a rectangular 126 00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:57,160 situation, not very big actually, but it had three 127 00:06:57,160 --> 00:07:01,120 specific courts to it. And it not only was a pattern 128 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:04,800 for them to have a Tabernacle or a place of worshipping their God 129 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:07,200 in the Old Covenant, but it actually speaks to us of New 130 00:07:07,200 --> 00:07:11,040 Testament realities. In the outer court there was a 131 00:07:11,040 --> 00:07:13,960 golden altar. And on that altar the people 132 00:07:13,960 --> 00:07:17,240 come and bring their sacrifices, because back then you had to 133 00:07:17,240 --> 00:07:21,360 make an animal sacrifice so that that blood could be the covering 134 00:07:21,360 --> 00:07:23,960 of your sin or bring your forgiveness to put you in right 135 00:07:23,960 --> 00:07:28,160 standing with God. Now the priest had a specific 136 00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:31,240 function that was above the average person who could only go 137 00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:34,640 to the outer court. After the altar came the labor, 138 00:07:34,640 --> 00:07:37,320 and they would wash their hands and feet so that they could go 139 00:07:37,320 --> 00:07:40,200 into the next room, which is what we would call the inner 140 00:07:40,200 --> 00:07:43,080 court. And in this inner court there 141 00:07:43,080 --> 00:07:46,960 was a golden Candlestick. There was an altar of incense 142 00:07:46,960 --> 00:07:50,720 and also a table of showbread, also called the table of His 143 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:53,360 presence. Now again, only the priests 144 00:07:53,360 --> 00:07:55,800 could go into that room, but how do you know? 145 00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:58,680 That is a pattern for us? Because God has made us kings 146 00:07:58,680 --> 00:08:02,880 and priests unto our God. And so in that room there was 147 00:08:02,880 --> 00:08:05,400 this golden Candlestick that lit up the room. 148 00:08:05,760 --> 00:08:09,320 There was an altar of incense where they literally all offer 149 00:08:09,320 --> 00:08:11,480 incense. So the the smell, that incense 150 00:08:11,480 --> 00:08:14,240 would fill that room and also go through a curtain to the 151 00:08:14,520 --> 00:08:17,320 ultimate place of God's presence, which was the most 152 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:20,320 holy place. The table of showbread literally 153 00:08:20,320 --> 00:08:23,880 had 12 pieces of bread representing the 12 tribes of 154 00:08:23,880 --> 00:08:26,320 Israel. They would keep it there and it 155 00:08:26,320 --> 00:08:29,280 was called the table of his presence or the bread of his 156 00:08:29,280 --> 00:08:32,480 presence as well, because being close to the presence of God, it 157 00:08:32,480 --> 00:08:35,600 would be assumed that it would pick up some of that presence. 158 00:08:35,760 --> 00:08:39,960 So the priest would eat that bread and replace it once a 159 00:08:39,960 --> 00:08:42,120 week. Now that's a picture of when we 160 00:08:42,120 --> 00:08:45,760 come to church because the candle or the light represents 161 00:08:45,760 --> 00:08:48,000 when we hear the preaching of the Word. 162 00:08:48,280 --> 00:08:50,440 And we should not just see it as something that comes to our 163 00:08:50,440 --> 00:08:54,560 head, but something that comes to our heart and our spirit 164 00:08:54,840 --> 00:08:58,680 because we get illuminated by the Word of God. 165 00:08:59,240 --> 00:09:02,640 The psalmist said, thy word is a lamp unto my feed, a light unto 166 00:09:02,640 --> 00:09:07,160 my path, The table of showbread. Of course, we commemorate as we 167 00:09:07,160 --> 00:09:10,640 receive the Lord's Supper. It shows us the death, burial, 168 00:09:10,640 --> 00:09:13,520 and resurrection, but it also has the presence of God. 169 00:09:13,520 --> 00:09:16,760 That's why we call it a sacrament, and the altar of 170 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:20,800 incense represents the prayers and praises that we offer to God 171 00:09:20,800 --> 00:09:24,080 because we want everyone to know that we're not just singing, 172 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:25,600 we're offering praise to our God. 173 00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:27,440 And how many know? The Bible says that goes up into 174 00:09:27,440 --> 00:09:29,240 the presence of God and he receives it. 175 00:09:29,240 --> 00:09:32,560 Amen. Now only once a year, the high 176 00:09:32,560 --> 00:09:36,640 priest could go into the Most Holy place, and thereupon that 177 00:09:36,640 --> 00:09:39,520 Ark of the Covenant was what they called the mercy seat, 178 00:09:39,520 --> 00:09:42,400 which would have been the place of God's resting place. 179 00:09:42,840 --> 00:09:45,640 And he would sprinkle blood there on the Day of Atonement, 180 00:09:45,640 --> 00:09:50,440 which would ultimately bring the atonement or the price for sin 181 00:09:50,440 --> 00:09:53,320 for the whole nation being paid on that day. 182 00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:57,360 So that was an awesome day. Now the Bible teaches us that 183 00:09:57,360 --> 00:10:02,160 Jesus as our High Priest looking at this heavenly pattern, when 184 00:10:02,160 --> 00:10:07,400 he died he offered his blood on the mercy seat and that veil was 185 00:10:07,400 --> 00:10:11,520 literally ripped open. Bible account tells us that in 186 00:10:11,520 --> 00:10:14,600 the natural it literally happened in the temple that they 187 00:10:14,600 --> 00:10:17,200 had in those days. But we know that what it 188 00:10:17,200 --> 00:10:21,960 provided for us is access into the very presence of the living 189 00:10:21,960 --> 00:10:23,680 God. How many glad we can experience 190 00:10:23,680 --> 00:10:24,920 God's presence. Amen. 191 00:10:26,440 --> 00:10:29,640 Now a few weeks back I also shared this because of the Ark 192 00:10:29,640 --> 00:10:34,120 of the Covenant, which was in that place was the ark where God 193 00:10:34,200 --> 00:10:38,560 rested upon the mercy seat, and it had to have a way you could 194 00:10:38,560 --> 00:10:40,760 carry it around because they were traveling through the 195 00:10:40,760 --> 00:10:43,600 wilderness. That's why it was the Tabernacle 196 00:10:43,600 --> 00:10:48,360 or the tent of Moses eventually become the temple that Solomon 197 00:10:48,360 --> 00:10:51,840 built because it had a permanent structure at a certain time in 198 00:10:51,840 --> 00:10:54,200 their history. But they had to carry it around 199 00:10:54,200 --> 00:10:56,920 in these poles because that was the present presence of God. 200 00:10:56,920 --> 00:11:00,200 You couldn't touch the presence or you could literally die. 201 00:11:00,200 --> 00:11:02,720 And there's stories about how that happened in the Bible. 202 00:11:03,200 --> 00:11:05,280 And so they used to carry it on these poles. 203 00:11:05,280 --> 00:11:09,800 Only the priest could carry it, but that arc of his covenant was 204 00:11:09,800 --> 00:11:13,280 the place where God dwelt. So when they set up this house 205 00:11:13,280 --> 00:11:17,560 or Tabernacle, later a temple, it was all built to house the 206 00:11:17,560 --> 00:11:21,720 Tabernacle of God's presence. Now as a Pentecostal, 207 00:11:21,840 --> 00:11:25,080 charismatic, spirit filled Christian, how many know we 208 00:11:25,080 --> 00:11:27,120 believe in the reality of the presence of God? 209 00:11:27,600 --> 00:11:31,040 And so that picture shows us how that we go through this process 210 00:11:31,040 --> 00:11:34,560 even when we come to church. Now we are born again because of 211 00:11:34,560 --> 00:11:36,560 the blood of Jesus Christ. That's what the altar 212 00:11:36,560 --> 00:11:39,600 represents. Then we should go to the waters 213 00:11:39,600 --> 00:11:44,880 of baptism stage 2 and then celebrate the sacraments in the 214 00:11:44,880 --> 00:11:47,680 inner court, if you would, through communion and the 215 00:11:47,680 --> 00:11:50,840 illumination of the word of God and offering those praises, but 216 00:11:50,840 --> 00:11:54,080 recognize God has something more because he wants to take us into 217 00:11:54,080 --> 00:11:57,480 his presence. But on the day of Pentecost, 218 00:11:57,480 --> 00:12:00,560 they saw this different because although we celebrate the 219 00:12:00,560 --> 00:12:03,400 presence, talk about the presence, and love the presence. 220 00:12:03,720 --> 00:12:07,000 I can share my testimony that when I was baptized in the Holy 221 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:10,400 Ghost, there was something about the presence of God that took on 222 00:12:10,400 --> 00:12:15,480 a whole new meaning to me. But seeing these pictures, you 223 00:12:15,480 --> 00:12:19,200 must recognize this isn't just about experiencing God's 224 00:12:19,200 --> 00:12:21,720 presence based on the scriptures I read to you. 225 00:12:21,760 --> 00:12:26,400 Is you literally becoming that ark, you becoming that 226 00:12:26,400 --> 00:12:28,840 Tabernacle? And that's the way the Jews 227 00:12:28,840 --> 00:12:31,160 would have saw it. When Jesus said I'm going to 228 00:12:31,160 --> 00:12:33,720 come and make my home with you, they're like, what do you mean? 229 00:12:33,720 --> 00:12:37,160 I'm going to be a temple, I'm going to be a Tabernacle, I'm 230 00:12:37,160 --> 00:12:38,520 going to be an art. Yep. 231 00:12:38,560 --> 00:12:40,880 How many know you are the body of Christ, Amen. 232 00:12:41,320 --> 00:12:44,760 And so when you have that revelation, it should give you a 233 00:12:44,760 --> 00:12:48,080 great deal of excitement to think God actually has chosen to 234 00:12:48,080 --> 00:12:51,160 live inside of me. And this is what it says in 235 00:12:51,160 --> 00:12:53,680 Second Corinthians. Therefore, if anyone is in 236 00:12:53,680 --> 00:12:58,240 Christ, you are a new creation. All things have passed away and 237 00:12:58,240 --> 00:13:01,240 behold, all things have become new because we should look at 238 00:13:01,240 --> 00:13:03,760 everything from a different perspective now. 239 00:13:04,360 --> 00:13:07,640 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to himself 240 00:13:07,640 --> 00:13:12,000 through Jesus Christ and has given us the ministry of 241 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:16,000 reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling 242 00:13:16,000 --> 00:13:19,880 the world to Himself, not imputing their tresses to them, 243 00:13:20,160 --> 00:13:25,280 as He has committed to us that same word of reconciliation. 244 00:13:25,800 --> 00:13:30,080 So as we saw that the presence traveled, it also took on 245 00:13:30,080 --> 00:13:34,040 different forms, came in the form of a man, Jesus Christ. 246 00:13:34,200 --> 00:13:37,280 But now God wants us to know that He lives inside of each and 247 00:13:37,280 --> 00:13:40,600 every one of us when we're born again, when we've been to that 248 00:13:40,600 --> 00:13:44,120 altar and received the blood of Jesus Christ in our life, and 249 00:13:44,120 --> 00:13:48,760 when we went to the waters of baptism, we began to walk in a 250 00:13:48,760 --> 00:13:52,960 whole new dimension of living. And we have to understand, we 251 00:13:52,960 --> 00:13:56,520 have to get that new perspective, maintain that 252 00:13:56,520 --> 00:14:01,720 perspective, but also develop that, protect that perspective 253 00:14:01,720 --> 00:14:05,880 so that we can realize, wow, look what God has done in my 254 00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:09,640 life now, just like when Jesus Christ was here in the earth, 255 00:14:09,800 --> 00:14:12,960 the Bible says that God was in him what? 256 00:14:12,960 --> 00:14:15,120 Reconciling the world unto himself. 257 00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:19,760 And he has given us that same ministry of reconciliation. 258 00:14:20,560 --> 00:14:23,400 We have the very presence of the living God in US. 259 00:14:23,400 --> 00:14:28,440 And we have to realize that that puts a whole new dimension or 260 00:14:28,440 --> 00:14:33,120 perspective to our lives. And we have to make sure that we 261 00:14:33,120 --> 00:14:36,400 let that perspective grow because there's a purpose for 262 00:14:36,400 --> 00:14:39,560 our life beyond just the natural living. 263 00:14:40,120 --> 00:14:44,200 When we are born of the flesh, we are born after Adam, the 264 00:14:44,200 --> 00:14:48,120 Bible says, and we come alive. But when we are born again, we 265 00:14:48,120 --> 00:14:50,360 have received a life giving spirit. 266 00:14:50,360 --> 00:14:53,800 So now that we have the life giving spirit, we're not just 267 00:14:53,800 --> 00:15:00,120 alive, we have the potential to literally change our world and 268 00:15:00,120 --> 00:15:02,200 church. There's a revelation in that. 269 00:15:02,200 --> 00:15:04,880 If you would a perspective enlightenment where you begin to 270 00:15:04,880 --> 00:15:10,080 realize, wow, my life has a whole new meaning now I got to 271 00:15:10,080 --> 00:15:13,160 explore the potential of what God has given to me. 272 00:15:13,640 --> 00:15:17,680 So as Jesus is getting ready to leave his disciples, he gives 273 00:15:17,680 --> 00:15:20,280 them instruction. Then after his resurrection, he 274 00:15:20,280 --> 00:15:23,560 comes back for 40 days. We talked about that in the 275 00:15:23,560 --> 00:15:26,840 month of April, because when he came back for 40 days it was 276 00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:32,160 say, it was to say, now remember when I told you This is why 277 00:15:32,160 --> 00:15:34,840 these things happen? And so He enlightened their 278 00:15:34,840 --> 00:15:36,760 understanding to know these things. 279 00:15:37,240 --> 00:15:41,760 And then after those 40 days, it's time for Him to go again. 280 00:15:42,160 --> 00:15:45,240 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked him saying, 281 00:15:45,240 --> 00:15:48,800 Lord, will you at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel? 282 00:15:49,240 --> 00:15:52,360 He said that it is not for you to know the times or seasons 283 00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:56,040 which the Father's put in His own authority, but you shall 284 00:15:56,040 --> 00:15:58,960 receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. 285 00:15:59,320 --> 00:16:03,280 And you shall be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and 286 00:16:03,280 --> 00:16:06,080 Samaria, and also to the ends of the earth. 287 00:16:06,680 --> 00:16:09,680 Now I want to focus on this fact, because the disciples, 288 00:16:09,680 --> 00:16:13,400 having seen all that they saw, all they can think about is when 289 00:16:13,400 --> 00:16:17,520 is the end going to come? And it's so common within 290 00:16:17,520 --> 00:16:20,640 Christianity as Christians for us to think only about the end 291 00:16:20,640 --> 00:16:23,960 game #1 when is the Lord going to return? 292 00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:29,600 In the middle 1800s, there began to be a movement of the 293 00:16:29,600 --> 00:16:33,560 Christian Church to try to figure out when Jesus Christ was 294 00:16:33,560 --> 00:16:36,800 going to come. Dispensational premillennialism 295 00:16:36,800 --> 00:16:39,960 is a big part of that. And since that time, people have 296 00:16:39,960 --> 00:16:42,320 been looking at the Scriptures to try to figure out when Jesus 297 00:16:42,320 --> 00:16:44,800 is going to come. And since that time, they've 298 00:16:44,800 --> 00:16:46,400 been telling us when he's going to come. 299 00:16:46,840 --> 00:16:51,760 So for 175 years people have said Jesus is coming, Jesus is 300 00:16:51,760 --> 00:16:55,680 coming, Jesus is coming. When I was a part of the Jesus 301 00:16:55,680 --> 00:16:58,000 People movement, you got to get ready. 302 00:16:58,000 --> 00:16:59,920 Jesus is coming. Jesus is coming. 303 00:16:59,920 --> 00:17:03,320 A lot of people look out at the world today, Jesus is coming. 304 00:17:03,440 --> 00:17:05,520 And if they're not telling you Jesus is coming, they're telling 305 00:17:05,520 --> 00:17:07,800 you the beast is a rising, the Antichrist is coming. 306 00:17:07,800 --> 00:17:11,680 You know, that's the focus. Now you think after 175 years, 307 00:17:11,680 --> 00:17:14,079 people say, well, maybe we're missing something here. 308 00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:17,800 That's the way I look at it. Maybe there's something more 309 00:17:17,800 --> 00:17:20,160 that God wants to do. And that's why I always 310 00:17:20,160 --> 00:17:24,040 emphasize that it's not the end game that's most important to 311 00:17:24,040 --> 00:17:26,599 God or to us. It should be our process. 312 00:17:27,040 --> 00:17:30,520 And even when it comes to going to heaven, when we get to 313 00:17:30,520 --> 00:17:33,280 heaven, that's going to be an awesome and glorious thing. 314 00:17:33,280 --> 00:17:35,960 But we can't just focus on the end game. 315 00:17:35,960 --> 00:17:40,160 That's the end game. There is a process we have to 316 00:17:40,160 --> 00:17:43,680 know about, so Jesus said, and you shall receive power after 317 00:17:43,680 --> 00:17:45,320 that. The Holy Ghost has come upon 318 00:17:45,320 --> 00:17:50,280 you, and you must understand that power God gives to us is 319 00:17:50,280 --> 00:17:52,520 for a very powerful purpose in the earth. 320 00:17:53,600 --> 00:17:56,800 As I often mentioned, the scriptures that we read were 321 00:17:56,800 --> 00:17:59,120 originally written in Greek, so sometimes you can go the 322 00:17:59,120 --> 00:18:02,280 original Greek word and get a little amplification of the 323 00:18:02,280 --> 00:18:04,280 meaning and the word power there. 324 00:18:04,280 --> 00:18:07,120 If you read it in the Greek says dunamis, which is where we get 325 00:18:07,120 --> 00:18:09,240 the word dynamite. How many know you? 326 00:18:09,320 --> 00:18:12,160 You've received dynamite. When you receive the Holy Ghost, 327 00:18:12,160 --> 00:18:15,520 you need to know that there's supernatural power in that. 328 00:18:15,520 --> 00:18:19,080 Amen. And I like the idea that when 329 00:18:19,080 --> 00:18:22,080 I'm facing an impossible situation, I have the dynamite 330 00:18:22,080 --> 00:18:24,120 to blow it up and move on through. 331 00:18:25,360 --> 00:18:27,960 But just like it is with dynamite in the natural, so it 332 00:18:27,960 --> 00:18:30,840 is in the spiritual church. It's time for us to grow up and 333 00:18:30,840 --> 00:18:34,720 realize there can be problems playing with dynamite. 334 00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:40,120 I've shared before a story how once I was going to a meeting, 335 00:18:40,120 --> 00:18:42,640 somebody encouraged me to go to, they were having a special 336 00:18:42,640 --> 00:18:45,320 meeting in the charismatic, a group of people that were 337 00:18:45,320 --> 00:18:47,600 meeting and they wanted me to hear the special speaker. 338 00:18:47,600 --> 00:18:50,520 And of course, I got there, found out it was a part of a, of 339 00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:53,760 a fundraising event. And so I'm just trying to be 340 00:18:53,760 --> 00:18:57,280 nice and go and show myself that, hey, Lord, Pastor Lawrence 341 00:18:57,760 --> 00:19:01,080 tries to get along when he can. Anyway, so the preacher's up 342 00:19:01,080 --> 00:19:03,840 there preaching and he tells the story. 343 00:19:03,840 --> 00:19:06,800 He says that he was sending in his private jet. 344 00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:10,680 He's even said the cost. He said it's a $45 million jet. 345 00:19:10,680 --> 00:19:13,920 He was telling how wonderful and everything was, and he was just 346 00:19:13,920 --> 00:19:15,800 enjoying his jet because he likes airplanes. 347 00:19:15,800 --> 00:19:19,800 And then he was saying that all of a sudden God spoke to me and 348 00:19:19,800 --> 00:19:21,560 said, what's the matter with you? 349 00:19:22,120 --> 00:19:24,600 You're supposed to live from faith to faith. 350 00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:28,480 Why are you happy with this jet? You should be exercising your 351 00:19:28,480 --> 00:19:33,040 faith to get a bigger jet. And everybody was all excited. 352 00:19:33,040 --> 00:19:35,240 Yay, we got power, get a bigger jet. 353 00:19:36,120 --> 00:19:38,600 Now myself, I wanted to go up in front of the crowd and say, now 354 00:19:38,600 --> 00:19:41,000 please tell me you're not believing this story that you're 355 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:46,080 being told right now. Now, I have no problem with 356 00:19:46,280 --> 00:19:49,400 affluence or blessing. I'm 100% capitalist. 357 00:19:49,400 --> 00:19:51,960 And the emphasis these days of a lot of people in socialism and 358 00:19:51,960 --> 00:19:55,280 say that's bad news. Matter of fact, I heard this 359 00:19:55,280 --> 00:19:59,080 week the Elon Musk, if he starts this IPO that is involved in now 360 00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:02,800 with his spacecraft industry, a business he has, he could be the 361 00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:04,920 world's first trillionaire. And I think if I was a 362 00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:07,360 businessman, I think that'd be a lot of fun to be the first 363 00:20:07,360 --> 00:20:10,440 trillionaire. And he won't just have a private 364 00:20:10,440 --> 00:20:15,560 jet, He'll have a private spacecraft, his own Millennial 365 00:20:15,560 --> 00:20:18,600 Falcon. I think, wow, I want to have my 366 00:20:18,600 --> 00:20:23,320 own jet. But the point of this is just 367 00:20:23,520 --> 00:20:27,880 the focus on what we do with what God has given to us. 368 00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:28,800 What? What is this first? 369 00:20:28,920 --> 00:20:32,960 How many know we need to take it seriously and we need to realize 370 00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:35,960 that. And of course, as a pastor, my 371 00:20:35,960 --> 00:20:39,240 ministry, as was this person's ministry, is about asking people 372 00:20:39,240 --> 00:20:41,560 to help you accomplish God's purposes. 373 00:20:41,560 --> 00:20:45,360 And so if I have greater faith one day and I can wake up, I'm 374 00:20:45,360 --> 00:20:48,760 going to believe for some things that God's going to do that are 375 00:20:48,760 --> 00:20:51,080 miraculous to help people help my world. 376 00:20:51,080 --> 00:20:52,640 That's what I think it's all about. 377 00:20:53,760 --> 00:20:57,320 Now, I do know God blesses his people, so I'm all into that as 378 00:20:57,320 --> 00:20:59,080 well. But again, I'm wanting to 379 00:20:59,080 --> 00:21:01,800 understand. God has given us power, but he 380 00:21:01,800 --> 00:21:05,920 wants us to know, well, why and how do we use this thing Now? 381 00:21:05,920 --> 00:21:09,000 When Jesus Christ was on the earth, the religious 382 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:12,800 establishment hated him, but the people who were the average 383 00:21:12,800 --> 00:21:14,640 people, they said, well, you know, there's something 384 00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:17,840 different about this guy because he has authority. 385 00:21:18,320 --> 00:21:22,160 In other words, he didn't just have power and there seemed to 386 00:21:22,160 --> 00:21:26,080 be great demonstration of power. He had authority because of his 387 00:21:26,080 --> 00:21:31,200 level of maturity, if you would, as the Son of God, he had the 388 00:21:31,200 --> 00:21:34,800 demonstration of great power, but how many know he also had 389 00:21:34,800 --> 00:21:36,840 wisdom and understanding that went with it? 390 00:21:37,240 --> 00:21:39,760 And that's what God, of course, wants us to understand, that we 391 00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:42,880 have to take more seriously the things that He's given to us 392 00:21:43,360 --> 00:21:46,120 because I know a lot of people that have needs that only God 393 00:21:46,120 --> 00:21:47,560 can care. How about you? 394 00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:50,080 And I want to be a source of that. 395 00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:53,560 But what he also told them about this power, he said so that you 396 00:21:53,560 --> 00:21:57,120 could be my witnesses. And again, in this case, it's 397 00:21:57,120 --> 00:22:00,400 also good to look up the original Greek word because it 398 00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:05,080 literally is martyr or martyr. So he's basically saying I'm 399 00:22:05,080 --> 00:22:08,760 going to give you the power to become a martyr for my Kingdom. 400 00:22:09,440 --> 00:22:13,720 Now for the 12 apostles of the Lamb Jesus Christ, that was very 401 00:22:13,720 --> 00:22:17,320 important to understand because they all became literal martyrs 402 00:22:17,320 --> 00:22:21,760 except for the John, the beloved Disciple, whom the Bible tells 403 00:22:21,760 --> 00:22:25,280 us that they tried to kill him by putting him in, I shouldn't 404 00:22:25,280 --> 00:22:28,000 say the Bible, but church tradition tells us they tried to 405 00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:33,360 kill him by throwing him in a boiling a pot of oil and it did 406 00:22:33,360 --> 00:22:35,520 not faze him. I'd like to be a part of a 407 00:22:35,520 --> 00:22:38,480 miracle like that, but unfortunately that means I'd 408 00:22:38,520 --> 00:22:41,400 have to be thrown into oil and oil and I don't want to do that. 409 00:22:41,400 --> 00:22:44,800 So let me write my own program, Lord. 410 00:22:46,800 --> 00:22:50,440 But the point of this is, is that God wants us to realize the 411 00:22:50,440 --> 00:22:54,320 purpose of the Holy Spirit is so we can become His witness. 412 00:22:54,760 --> 00:22:58,200 Part of witnessing is telling people something, but a more 413 00:22:58,200 --> 00:23:05,040 powerful thing is when we demonstrate by our life that God 414 00:23:05,040 --> 00:23:09,920 is everything that He says He is, so that we can receive the 415 00:23:09,920 --> 00:23:13,480 life of God inside of each and every one of us, so that we can 416 00:23:13,480 --> 00:23:15,840 fully become everything that God has called us for you. 417 00:23:15,840 --> 00:23:19,440 Isn't that awesome, church? I believe this is a time you can 418 00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:22,920 give the Lord of praise on that for a time of transition in our 419 00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:26,000 understanding, but also in our maturity. 420 00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:28,480 Because I believe that God's going to do some very powerful 421 00:23:28,480 --> 00:23:31,040 things in the earth today, and He wants His people to be a part 422 00:23:31,040 --> 00:23:35,160 of it, not just in the church, but also in what's going on in 423 00:23:35,160 --> 00:23:37,240 the world. I believe God wants to use this 424 00:23:37,240 --> 00:23:40,760 and as people of influence, but we just have to understand how 425 00:23:40,760 --> 00:23:44,800 to walk that way. Now in Matthew chapter 3 it says 426 00:23:44,800 --> 00:23:49,360 this, I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He 427 00:23:49,360 --> 00:23:52,600 was coming after me as mightier than I, whose sandals I'm not 428 00:23:52,600 --> 00:23:55,560 worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the 429 00:23:55,560 --> 00:23:59,320 Holy Spirit and what? He will baptize you with the 430 00:23:59,320 --> 00:24:03,040 Holy Spirit and what? His winnowing fan is in his 431 00:24:03,040 --> 00:24:05,160 hand. He will thoroughly clean out his 432 00:24:05,160 --> 00:24:09,160 threshing floor and gathers weed into the barn, but he will burn 433 00:24:09,160 --> 00:24:12,840 up the chaff with unquenchable fire. 434 00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:16,840 It's a 2 fold baptism. I get baptized in water, then I 435 00:24:16,840 --> 00:24:20,960 get baptized in the Holy Spirit, and it's called the Holy Ghost 436 00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:24,760 and Fire. Now, the Bible says our God is a 437 00:24:24,760 --> 00:24:27,800 consuming fire. Sometimes people in the 438 00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:30,520 Pentecostal charismatic circles, when they talk about the Holy 439 00:24:30,520 --> 00:24:34,640 Ghost and fire, they think about how the Holy Spirit does give us 440 00:24:34,640 --> 00:24:37,800 a powerful sense of God. And I love what I sense when I'm 441 00:24:37,800 --> 00:24:40,000 in worship and praise and in the presence of God. 442 00:24:40,680 --> 00:24:42,880 And when they're talking about the fire, they just think it's 443 00:24:42,880 --> 00:24:45,400 another level of goosebumps to enjoy God. 444 00:24:46,320 --> 00:24:50,240 Now the fire has a purpose and that's to consume things that 445 00:24:50,240 --> 00:24:54,120 need to be consumed to deal with things that need to be dealt 446 00:24:54,120 --> 00:24:56,760 with in order for us to walk fully in the things that God 447 00:24:56,760 --> 00:24:59,960 has. It's all about purging and since 448 00:24:59,960 --> 00:25:02,920 the origin of our movement, if you would, going back to the 449 00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:07,720 charismatic Pentecostal holiness movement to the second work of 450 00:25:07,720 --> 00:25:10,920 Gray all the way back to John Wesley who taught Christian 451 00:25:10,920 --> 00:25:13,000 perfection. He's it's always been this 452 00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:17,040 thought that the Holy Spirit comes to do a a work on each and 453 00:25:17,040 --> 00:25:20,360 every one of us. And I know that God is changing 454 00:25:20,360 --> 00:25:23,320 my perspective. Last week I used the same 455 00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:25,560 scripture. If you were in the service last 456 00:25:25,560 --> 00:25:28,120 week, you'll know there was a little bit of a glitch in our 457 00:25:28,120 --> 00:25:31,440 system because I read that scripture and I pushed my little 458 00:25:31,440 --> 00:25:34,400 clicker here and the green button that means go forward. 459 00:25:34,680 --> 00:25:36,520 And it was the scripture all over again. 460 00:25:36,520 --> 00:25:38,200 I thought, did I hit the wrong thing? 461 00:25:38,200 --> 00:25:41,000 So I hit the backward and it was the same scripture hit the 462 00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:46,320 forward and say kind of threw me off because I if there wasn't a 463 00:25:46,320 --> 00:25:48,760 scripture there, as you know, I don't preach from notes. 464 00:25:48,760 --> 00:25:51,600 So it'd be very easy for me to stop myself and say, oh, there's 465 00:25:51,600 --> 00:25:53,520 a scripture missing. And I could stop for a minute. 466 00:25:53,520 --> 00:25:55,960 I could picture it and I could actually tell you that scripture 467 00:25:56,240 --> 00:25:58,960 and continue. But that kind of threw me off 468 00:25:58,960 --> 00:26:01,600 because I couldn't figure out if it was forward, backward, what 469 00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:04,360 am I doing wrong? And that's when I said it's not 470 00:26:04,360 --> 00:26:10,280 me, it's the people in the back. Now, the reason I want to bring 471 00:26:10,280 --> 00:26:14,040 that out is because I absolutely believe that when there's a 472 00:26:14,040 --> 00:26:16,880 problem, you deal with it in a practical sense because I'm a 473 00:26:16,880 --> 00:26:18,800 leader. I'm like, OK, there's a glitch 474 00:26:18,800 --> 00:26:19,920 here. How can we fix this? 475 00:26:19,920 --> 00:26:24,280 It don't happen again. But as a follower of Christ and 476 00:26:24,280 --> 00:26:28,080 as a minister, I absolutely believe that when I am in the 477 00:26:28,080 --> 00:26:30,920 work of the Lord, all things work together for good to those 478 00:26:30,920 --> 00:26:33,080 who love God and are called a corner of his purpose. 479 00:26:33,080 --> 00:26:37,000 Can I hear the event on that? So when there's a glitch like 480 00:26:37,000 --> 00:26:41,040 that, I get confused and I say now, Lord, I have to believe 481 00:26:41,040 --> 00:26:43,360 that some way you were speaking to me through all this. 482 00:26:43,360 --> 00:26:46,280 Some of you'll think that's a little bit of super spiritual if 483 00:26:46,280 --> 00:26:49,000 you would, but I believe that because I don't believe the 484 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:51,240 devil can interfere. I don't believe people can 485 00:26:51,240 --> 00:26:53,040 interfere. I don't even think I could 486 00:26:53,040 --> 00:26:54,760 interfere. If my heart is doing what God 487 00:26:54,760 --> 00:26:56,400 wants me to do, it's going to work out. 488 00:26:56,400 --> 00:26:58,120 Amen. I believe that. 489 00:26:59,560 --> 00:27:03,360 So as it turned out, I used that same scripture in my ministers 490 00:27:03,360 --> 00:27:05,240 meeting this week because I'm trying to set all of our 491 00:27:05,240 --> 00:27:07,160 thoughts in order about what is God doing? 492 00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:10,320 How does this all work together? And I realized then what God was 493 00:27:10,320 --> 00:27:13,400 doing because there was an emphasis of point because I 494 00:27:13,400 --> 00:27:15,440 really believe we're kind of like in a new era. 495 00:27:15,440 --> 00:27:19,000 And so so some mindsets I have to get rid of or change my 496 00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:20,960 perspective on. And that's what he showed me 497 00:27:20,960 --> 00:27:24,040 through this event. So anyway, I told the person who 498 00:27:24,040 --> 00:27:26,840 made the mistake last week you were the devil, but this week 499 00:27:26,840 --> 00:27:30,720 you're the Angel of the Lord made them feel a little better. 500 00:27:30,720 --> 00:27:35,360 But anyway, I really believe with all my heart that God's 501 00:27:35,360 --> 00:27:37,920 doing so, so many amazing things in the world. 502 00:27:37,920 --> 00:27:40,720 And so like I'm, I don't want to miss anything God's doing. 503 00:27:41,560 --> 00:27:44,360 And I really believe that it adds a whole new dimension to my 504 00:27:44,360 --> 00:27:49,040 life that if I let God show me what I think is happening, maybe 505 00:27:49,040 --> 00:27:52,160 not what's happening at all, but I can put my trust in the Lord. 506 00:27:52,360 --> 00:27:55,160 So on the day of Pentecost, when they had fully come, the people 507 00:27:55,160 --> 00:27:57,800 were all in one accord in one place, as Jesus giving them 508 00:27:57,800 --> 00:28:00,080 instruction. And suddenly there came a sound 509 00:28:00,080 --> 00:28:02,760 from heaven as our rushing mighty wind, and it filled the 510 00:28:02,760 --> 00:28:04,400 whole house where they were sitting. 511 00:28:05,320 --> 00:28:08,800 And there appeared to them divided tongues again as of 512 00:28:08,800 --> 00:28:12,200 fire, and one set upon each of them, and they were all filled 513 00:28:12,200 --> 00:28:15,000 with the Holy Spirit began to speak with other tongues as the 514 00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:18,800 Spirit gave them utterance. Now, again, the word Pentecost, 515 00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:23,280 if you go to the original, it simply means 50th because 50 516 00:28:23,280 --> 00:28:26,440 days in the Old Testament, after they had celebrated the 517 00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:30,240 Passover, they would celebrate the day of Pentecost on the 518 00:28:30,240 --> 00:28:33,560 church calendar that the traditional church has always 519 00:28:33,560 --> 00:28:38,440 held to, we celebrate on Sunday. So it's not always exactly the 520 00:28:38,440 --> 00:28:41,360 50th day, but it's measured that way. 521 00:28:41,360 --> 00:28:44,840 So we've realized that fifty days after the resurrection, we 522 00:28:44,840 --> 00:28:48,320 got to celebrate the fact that there is a Pentecostal 523 00:28:48,320 --> 00:28:50,320 experience that God wants us to have. 524 00:28:50,720 --> 00:28:54,000 And when it's talking about tongues of fire, it's talking 525 00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:56,840 about speaking in tongues, as you notice in the Scripture 526 00:28:56,840 --> 00:29:00,280 there. And it was a supernatural sign. 527 00:29:00,680 --> 00:29:04,640 But again, today I'm emphasizing how important it is for us to 528 00:29:04,640 --> 00:29:08,520 realize there's more than just the speaking in tongues, more 529 00:29:08,520 --> 00:29:10,280 than just the gifts of the Spirit. 530 00:29:10,560 --> 00:29:14,080 God wants us to realize there's something that He can do in each 531 00:29:14,080 --> 00:29:17,960 and every one of us to change our lives when we will let Him 532 00:29:17,960 --> 00:29:21,520 do that. And this is a key verse here in 533 00:29:21,560 --> 00:29:25,240 verses 22 and 24. It says men of Israel, he hear 534 00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:29,480 these words, Jesus of Nazis, a man attested by God to you by 535 00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:32,840 miracles, wonders and signs which God did through him in 536 00:29:32,840 --> 00:29:37,240 your midst as you yourselves know him, being delivered by the 537 00:29:37,240 --> 00:29:39,560 determined purpose and foreknowledge of God. 538 00:29:39,760 --> 00:29:42,640 You have taken by lawless hands and have crucified and put to 539 00:29:42,640 --> 00:29:46,960 death whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, 540 00:29:46,960 --> 00:29:51,800 because it was not possible that he would be held by it. 541 00:29:52,240 --> 00:29:55,200 Now this is such an important thing to know because there's 542 00:29:55,200 --> 00:29:57,880 two things he's saying. First of all, he's saying now 543 00:29:57,880 --> 00:30:02,720 you know how Jesus Christ was arrested, killed on the cross? 544 00:30:02,800 --> 00:30:05,840 He rose again from the third day because this was all God's 545 00:30:05,840 --> 00:30:08,840 predetermined purpose. But then he said, now you guys 546 00:30:08,840 --> 00:30:11,720 are guilty because you're the ones that crucified him. 547 00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:14,800 And so basically, there's two things going on here. 548 00:30:14,800 --> 00:30:18,520 Just like I was sharing in that earlier example, there was a 549 00:30:18,520 --> 00:30:21,040 people who are not doing what they're supposed to do, but 550 00:30:21,040 --> 00:30:24,480 never does it stop God from doing what he wants to do. 551 00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:28,200 And so when we are aware what's going on, how many know we have 552 00:30:28,200 --> 00:30:31,320 to line yourself up and say, OK, God, I didn't see what you were 553 00:30:31,320 --> 00:30:33,400 doing, but I want to be a part of what you're doing. 554 00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:35,800 Amen. And that's what he was telling 555 00:30:35,800 --> 00:30:37,400 them. You have to understand something 556 00:30:37,400 --> 00:30:41,480 that you killed Jesus Christ, but you couldn't hold him down. 557 00:30:42,280 --> 00:30:45,000 I want you to know something that in your life you need to 558 00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:47,640 know that sometimes things go wrong. 559 00:30:47,800 --> 00:30:50,600 Sometimes it seems like the devil's against you, people are 560 00:30:50,600 --> 00:30:53,360 against you, or it seems like you made a mistake that can't be 561 00:30:53,360 --> 00:30:56,000 corrected. But God says thus saith the 562 00:30:56,000 --> 00:30:58,360 Lord, that's not going to hold you down. 563 00:30:58,360 --> 00:31:01,560 Amen. You got to know that in the 564 00:31:01,760 --> 00:31:07,280 Father's plan for our lives that there are many glitches along 565 00:31:07,280 --> 00:31:11,600 the way, but if we will put our trust in Him, we could know that 566 00:31:12,000 --> 00:31:14,080 all things do work together for good. 567 00:31:14,200 --> 00:31:17,920 We just have to say, okay, God, open my eyes, let me see. 568 00:31:17,920 --> 00:31:22,080 I want to know what it is that you're doing because I have an 569 00:31:22,080 --> 00:31:25,960 expectation that you're going to do something that's exceedingly 570 00:31:26,080 --> 00:31:28,800 and abundantly above all that I could ask or think. 571 00:31:29,440 --> 00:31:32,680 This is why, Peter, most of us know how Peter was the one who 572 00:31:32,680 --> 00:31:35,480 said, Jesus, I'll never betray you. 573 00:31:35,800 --> 00:31:39,080 Jesus, if somebody tries to do anything, I'll be your defender. 574 00:31:39,440 --> 00:31:42,160 And Jesus said before the morning comes, you're going to 575 00:31:42,160 --> 00:31:44,200 deny even that. You know me. 576 00:31:45,440 --> 00:31:49,320 Beloved, do not think it's strange concerning the fire 577 00:31:49,320 --> 00:31:53,280 trial that has come to try you. This is that Saint Peter, as 578 00:31:53,280 --> 00:31:55,480 though some strange thing has happened to you. 579 00:31:56,240 --> 00:31:58,760 But what? Rejoice to the extent that you 580 00:31:58,760 --> 00:32:02,040 partake of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory is revealed, 581 00:32:02,280 --> 00:32:05,840 you may also be glad with exceeding joy. 582 00:32:06,240 --> 00:32:12,640 We have to understand how that God uses suffering and how He 583 00:32:12,640 --> 00:32:19,560 uses pain, and in the process of our problems, we can't be shaken 584 00:32:19,560 --> 00:32:22,480 and say, How did this happen to me? 585 00:32:23,320 --> 00:32:27,280 When people go through times of suffering and pain, our 586 00:32:27,280 --> 00:32:30,760 immediate response is always that's well, that's just bad. 587 00:32:31,280 --> 00:32:34,680 But God says is impossible, as it seems to you. 588 00:32:34,680 --> 00:32:39,200 Will you let me show you how I can make this into something 589 00:32:39,200 --> 00:32:43,600 good? Because God can turn it around 590 00:32:43,600 --> 00:32:48,640 if we're willing to let him move in our lives. 591 00:32:49,440 --> 00:32:53,440 Now, this is vital because sometimes when we make a mistake 592 00:32:53,440 --> 00:32:55,840 or something happens, we almost get embarrassed because we made 593 00:32:55,840 --> 00:32:59,840 a mistake or what people going to think, God let this happen to 594 00:32:59,840 --> 00:33:01,080 me. What, what's wrong with me? 595 00:33:01,080 --> 00:33:03,120 So even if you can't think you were guilty, you're going to 596 00:33:03,120 --> 00:33:04,720 think people are going to think you're guilty. 597 00:33:05,360 --> 00:33:07,920 I'm, you know, we get, we get all upset because we're always 598 00:33:07,920 --> 00:33:09,400 trying to figure out what did we do wrong? 599 00:33:09,400 --> 00:33:13,120 What other people do wrong? What is it that God is doing 600 00:33:13,160 --> 00:33:16,320 right is the question we have to always ask ourselves in the 601 00:33:16,320 --> 00:33:18,920 midst of every situation. Amen. 602 00:33:20,800 --> 00:33:25,160 Nobody made a bigger mistake than Peter, but it became clear 603 00:33:25,160 --> 00:33:28,080 in the end that God was able to do something that was 604 00:33:28,080 --> 00:33:31,800 exceedingly abundantly. If you allow the situation to be 605 00:33:31,800 --> 00:33:36,040 your furnace, if you would kind of intensifies the fire when 606 00:33:36,040 --> 00:33:39,360 you're in your situation and say, well, I don't know what's 607 00:33:39,360 --> 00:33:42,760 going on, but I'm going to let God's Word have a perfect place 608 00:33:42,760 --> 00:33:46,400 in my life so that when this fire is burning, it can purge 609 00:33:46,400 --> 00:33:50,760 me, it can cleanse me, and it can make God's Word come to pass 610 00:33:50,760 --> 00:33:53,960 in my life. In this you greatly rejoice. 611 00:33:53,960 --> 00:33:57,320 Though now for a little while, if need be, you have been greed 612 00:33:57,320 --> 00:34:01,360 by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being 613 00:34:01,360 --> 00:34:04,840 much more precious than gold that perishes, that is tested by 614 00:34:04,840 --> 00:34:08,040 fire, may be found to praise, honor and glory at the 615 00:34:08,040 --> 00:34:12,199 revelation of Jesus Christ. Who having not seen you love, 616 00:34:12,520 --> 00:34:16,760 though now you do not see him yet, believing you've rejoiced 617 00:34:16,760 --> 00:34:22,400 with joy, inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of 618 00:34:22,400 --> 00:34:26,159 your faith, the salvation of your souls. 619 00:34:26,440 --> 00:34:29,880 Now again, the word salvation means we get to go to heaven for 620 00:34:29,880 --> 00:34:33,960 sure, but we have to understand it means also God's work in us 621 00:34:33,960 --> 00:34:37,239 to do His trials and His purposes. 622 00:34:37,239 --> 00:34:40,080 And when it says various trials, that means there's all kinds of 623 00:34:40,080 --> 00:34:43,280 different trials. You have trials that are going 624 00:34:43,280 --> 00:34:46,480 to be you, unique to you because of who you are, what you're 625 00:34:46,480 --> 00:34:50,239 doing in life, whatever, but you have to understand that the 626 00:34:50,239 --> 00:34:54,239 Lord's in every trial. You have to understand because 627 00:34:54,239 --> 00:34:59,680 you're the arc of his presence walking around the God is in the 628 00:34:59,680 --> 00:35:00,960 situation. Why? 629 00:35:01,240 --> 00:35:04,880 Because you're in the situation and we have to keep ourselves 630 00:35:04,880 --> 00:35:08,800 open to say God, I believe that you're able to do something 631 00:35:08,800 --> 00:35:14,360 that's so powerful in my life. And I know God because you're in 632 00:35:14,360 --> 00:35:16,760 me. You're in every circumstance and 633 00:35:16,760 --> 00:35:19,720 you're in every situation. So I'm not going to say God's 634 00:35:19,720 --> 00:35:22,800 not in that. God's in everything because he's 635 00:35:22,800 --> 00:35:23,840 in you. Amen. 636 00:35:24,640 --> 00:35:28,720 How powerful is that to know and that the process, again, of 637 00:35:28,720 --> 00:35:31,800 salvation is not just an end event. 638 00:35:32,240 --> 00:35:35,880 It's something that goes along in the process of what it is 639 00:35:35,880 --> 00:35:40,800 that God is doing in your life. I like the joke that, well, all 640 00:35:40,800 --> 00:35:45,120 of us suffer as you get older because getting older is can be 641 00:35:45,120 --> 00:35:48,080 a pain. I remember reading once where it 642 00:35:48,080 --> 00:35:51,040 said it really takes a strong person to get through old age 643 00:35:52,760 --> 00:35:54,320 because things don't work as well. 644 00:35:55,400 --> 00:35:57,680 I remember talking to somebody about this and I like to say, 645 00:35:57,680 --> 00:36:00,520 yeah, I have as much energy now as I did when I was 24. 646 00:36:01,040 --> 00:36:04,480 Problem is, is it stops at 1:00 in the afternoon now, where it 647 00:36:04,480 --> 00:36:08,760 used to last the whole day. I mean, life itself can be a 648 00:36:08,760 --> 00:36:12,080 trial. And somebody was saying me the 649 00:36:12,080 --> 00:36:14,040 other day, they they sent me a text. 650 00:36:14,560 --> 00:36:17,880 Don't you hate it when people are dying and you're seeing how 651 00:36:17,880 --> 00:36:19,960 people are getting old and all these things going on? 652 00:36:19,960 --> 00:36:23,960 I said, well, there's one thing I know I don't mind getting 653 00:36:23,960 --> 00:36:26,080 older because it means I'm not dying. 654 00:36:28,560 --> 00:36:30,480 People say, well, Pastor Lauren, don't you believe in going to 655 00:36:30,480 --> 00:36:32,680 heaven? Yeah, I want to go to heaven 656 00:36:32,680 --> 00:36:36,440 when I die. Asked me of the sermon joke I 657 00:36:36,440 --> 00:36:40,200 told before how that there was a preacher preaching in the church 658 00:36:40,200 --> 00:36:43,880 service and he said, who wants to go to heaven? 659 00:36:43,920 --> 00:36:46,240 And everybody's saying, yeah, yeah, yeah. 660 00:36:46,240 --> 00:36:48,400 There was a young man in the very front row and he didn't do 661 00:36:48,400 --> 00:36:51,000 nothing, just sit there. Preacher looked at him and said, 662 00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:52,800 you don't want to go to heaven when you die. 663 00:36:52,960 --> 00:36:55,080 He goes, oh, when I die. I thought you were taking up a 664 00:36:55,080 --> 00:36:58,440 load today. How? 665 00:36:58,480 --> 00:37:01,800 You know, God wants us to understand we have a purpose to 666 00:37:01,800 --> 00:37:02,960 this life. Amen. 667 00:37:03,360 --> 00:37:06,560 And that the salvation is an everyday experience, that He 668 00:37:06,560 --> 00:37:10,560 wants us to be able to walk in the Spirit himself. 669 00:37:10,960 --> 00:37:13,880 The Holy Spirit bears witness with our Spirit that we are 670 00:37:13,880 --> 00:37:16,960 children of God. And if children then heirs, 671 00:37:16,960 --> 00:37:18,800 heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. 672 00:37:18,800 --> 00:37:22,960 And we did we suffer with Him that we what may also be 673 00:37:22,960 --> 00:37:27,480 glorified together. For I consider that the 674 00:37:27,480 --> 00:37:32,440 sufferings of this present time, I'm not worthy to be compared 675 00:37:32,440 --> 00:37:34,920 with the glory which will be revealed in us. 676 00:37:35,480 --> 00:37:40,240 For the earnest expectation of creation eagerly waits for the 677 00:37:40,240 --> 00:37:44,560 revealing of the sons of God in the earth. 678 00:37:46,120 --> 00:37:50,280 When I was a young man, age 21, I want to go be trained for 679 00:37:50,280 --> 00:37:53,440 ministry and the program I want to be a part of. 680 00:37:53,440 --> 00:37:56,360 They said, well, you're a little too young. 681 00:37:56,360 --> 00:37:59,560 We like people to be young, already married so that we know 682 00:37:59,560 --> 00:38:03,320 there's kind of settled in life. And I was praying about it and 683 00:38:03,320 --> 00:38:05,640 the scripture came to me. So I want the person in charge 684 00:38:05,640 --> 00:38:09,280 of the training program. I said, well, God told me that I 685 00:38:09,280 --> 00:38:11,800 had to get ready because if I was willing to suffer with 686 00:38:11,800 --> 00:38:14,760 Christ, the glory of the Lord, it's going to be revealed in my 687 00:38:14,760 --> 00:38:19,200 life and it through my ministry. And so the person said, OK, I'm 688 00:38:19,200 --> 00:38:22,960 going to let you in. And I found out there's some 689 00:38:22,960 --> 00:38:25,880 suffering along the way. There's some difficulties along 690 00:38:25,880 --> 00:38:28,680 the way. There's trials you go through, 691 00:38:28,680 --> 00:38:30,720 you think, well, how did this happen to me? 692 00:38:30,960 --> 00:38:36,360 What is happening here? But I can testify that in 693 00:38:36,360 --> 00:38:41,280 everything I have found is as I put my trust in the Lord, His 694 00:38:41,280 --> 00:38:44,200 glory ultimately is being revealed. 695 00:38:45,080 --> 00:38:48,440 I often share my testimonies of miraculous healings, but I've 696 00:38:48,440 --> 00:38:51,600 also found out that God can give me miraculous strength when I'm 697 00:38:51,600 --> 00:38:56,040 going through a trial as well. And when it seems like how are 698 00:38:56,040 --> 00:38:57,120 you going to make through the day? 699 00:38:57,320 --> 00:38:58,640 Well, I can make through the day. 700 00:38:59,480 --> 00:39:02,920 Nothing holds me back from doing what God has told me to do 701 00:39:02,920 --> 00:39:06,760 because I know I can do all things through Christ who 702 00:39:06,760 --> 00:39:09,280 strengthens me. And so I'm going to ask everyone 703 00:39:09,280 --> 00:39:13,440 to bow your heads and close your eyes before we partake of the 704 00:39:13,440 --> 00:39:16,960 table of showbread. If you would, the table of His 705 00:39:16,960 --> 00:39:27,080 presence, our communion, that we would recognize you. 706 00:39:28,000 --> 00:39:31,760 Each and everyone of you have been chosen of God. 707 00:39:33,600 --> 00:39:37,760 Amazing. You've been called to be that 708 00:39:38,000 --> 00:39:44,560 ark of the covenant. You carry the very presence of 709 00:39:44,560 --> 00:39:47,360 the living God wherever you go. That's what happened to you on 710 00:39:47,360 --> 00:39:52,840 your Pentecost. And God says, would you let me 711 00:39:52,840 --> 00:39:58,480 show you how that I am with you everywhere and in all things, 712 00:39:59,160 --> 00:40:01,240 and I have chose you for my purpose? 713 00:40:01,680 --> 00:40:08,520 Will you let me teach you of my ways, that you might walk fully 714 00:40:08,520 --> 00:40:18,080 in all these things? Hallelujah Jesus, God is going 715 00:40:18,080 --> 00:40:22,440 to do something powerful and he says I want you to be a part of 716 00:40:22,440 --> 00:40:25,720 it. Father, we just commit ourselves 717 00:40:25,720 --> 00:40:29,760 to you. Thank you for making us the 718 00:40:29,760 --> 00:40:37,360 Tabernacle of your dwelling in Jesus name, Amen. 719 00:40:38,840 --> 00:40:41,440 This is Pastor Lorne Coverbius from Mount Zion Church. 720 00:40:41,640 --> 00:40:44,440 We thank you for joining us today and invite you to connect 721 00:40:44,440 --> 00:40:48,040 with our church family by visiting mountzion.org and 722 00:40:48,040 --> 00:40:50,640 following us on social media. God bless you.