1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,720 Going back to last week, it says, And it came to pass, as 2 00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:06,560 the people journeyed from the east, that they found a plane in 3 00:00:06,560 --> 00:00:09,240 the land of Shanar, and there dwelt there. 4 00:00:09,600 --> 00:00:12,480 Then they said to one another, Come, let us make bricks and 5 00:00:12,480 --> 00:00:15,200 bake them thoroughly. They had brick for stone, and 6 00:00:15,200 --> 00:00:18,240 they had asphalt for mortar. And they said, Come, let us 7 00:00:18,240 --> 00:00:21,520 build ourselves a city and a tower whose top is in the 8 00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:23,400 heavens. Let us make a name for 9 00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:27,120 ourselves, lest we scattered abroad over the face of the 10 00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:30,800 whole earth. Now in these scriptures we see a 11 00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:33,400 very telling story about the human condition. 12 00:00:33,800 --> 00:00:37,040 On three Sundays I talked about the opportunities we have in 13 00:00:37,040 --> 00:00:41,760 God, but also the oftentimes negative side to things because 14 00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:44,440 we do have an opportunity to reject what God has. 15 00:00:44,440 --> 00:00:47,920 And the story of Adam and Eve, we know because of their 16 00:00:47,920 --> 00:00:51,600 thinking they chose to go their way rather than God's way. 17 00:00:51,920 --> 00:00:54,240 Because of that, mankind was kicked out of the Garden of 18 00:00:54,240 --> 00:00:57,760 Eden, separated from God. The next story is a story of 19 00:00:57,760 --> 00:01:01,200 Cain and Abel, and that's a story about how someone allowed 20 00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:05,319 their emotions to take control of their life and they followed 21 00:01:05,319 --> 00:01:07,760 their emotions rather than following God. 22 00:01:08,240 --> 00:01:12,280 Last week in the story I read about the Tower of Babel, with 23 00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:15,640 that particular reference as a part of it, we learned how that 24 00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:19,240 often times we can get caught up in the crowd of other people. 25 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:22,680 The Bible talks about it as the God of this world, the spirit of 26 00:01:22,680 --> 00:01:24,800 age. It's easy for us to get caught 27 00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:27,400 up in what other people are thinking, what other people are 28 00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:32,640 doing, and try to go away. That's opposed to God's way, and 29 00:01:32,640 --> 00:01:35,160 this particular story talks about it. 30 00:01:35,360 --> 00:01:38,600 I talk about bricks or stone because in a sense, for that 31 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:43,000 time, it was a modern invention. Up to that time, if you built 32 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:46,320 something solid, it had to be made of stones, which in that 33 00:01:46,320 --> 00:01:49,480 sense is God's creation because he created all the natural 34 00:01:49,480 --> 00:01:51,800 order. But when people began to realize 35 00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:55,920 that they could make mortar and make bricks out of mud and dry 36 00:01:55,920 --> 00:01:59,800 them in the sun, that's when a whole new world started for 37 00:01:59,800 --> 00:02:02,680 human civilization. And even some of the pyramids 38 00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:05,520 that are still there today. I know when I go to Mexico City, 39 00:02:05,760 --> 00:02:10,199 we go to the Pyramid of the Moon and it's a very old pyramid and 40 00:02:10,199 --> 00:02:13,920 there's a whole big area because in those days everybody we're 41 00:02:13,920 --> 00:02:17,800 building buildings and in the end they were always looking for 42 00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:21,360 these to be able to help them reach up into the heavens. 43 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:24,480 Now that's a very important thing for us to understand 44 00:02:24,800 --> 00:02:28,360 because often times with our human inventions, if you would, 45 00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:30,960 and you can go back to learning how to make bricks or you can 46 00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:34,160 talk about today with artificial intelligence and all the things 47 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:37,400 that are available today. There is always the temptation 48 00:02:37,400 --> 00:02:42,000 that man made ideas can take us to a higher place than God can 49 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:43,760 take us. I have, you know, as Christians, 50 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:46,720 we've chosen to go God's way, not our own way, man. 51 00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:49,840 And so it's important for us to learn that very important 52 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:52,240 lesson. But again, they said let us 53 00:02:52,240 --> 00:02:55,000 build a tower that goes up to heaven. 54 00:02:55,240 --> 00:02:58,000 And that's what all these ancient pyramids of old 55 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:02,040 represent, mankind's efforts to get up higher into the 56 00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:05,880 heavenlies, if you would, because they've always looked up 57 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:09,600 to see a source of strength and a source of life. 58 00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:13,480 But yeah, we have to understand God's quite different than that, 59 00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:16,160 because how do we know? When we read the Bible, we find 60 00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:20,480 out that God created an order on planet earth, and then he came 61 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:24,080 down to us. He built and planted the Garden 62 00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:26,320 of Eden, and he communed with man. 63 00:03:26,680 --> 00:03:29,520 We have to understand that it isn't about human effort where 64 00:03:29,520 --> 00:03:31,880 we're striving to get something from the heavens. 65 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:35,640 But we are people who by faith believe that God is reaching out 66 00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:38,480 to us. I'm glad today God reaches out 67 00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:39,600 to us. Isn't that awesome? 68 00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:42,640 Now? It's funny because in the old 69 00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:45,640 days they used to follow what we'd call today astrology. 70 00:03:45,960 --> 00:03:50,320 And oftentimes you can see a real big insight into this in 71 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:53,920 the book of Daniel, because the astrologists typically were the 72 00:03:53,920 --> 00:03:57,280 people who sat before the king. And when they needed 73 00:03:57,280 --> 00:03:59,400 information, there we go, the astrologists. 74 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:01,800 And they would look at the heavens, the movement of the 75 00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:05,240 stars, the movement of the planets, and try to tell the 76 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:09,960 people what was going on based on the observation of the 77 00:04:09,960 --> 00:04:12,280 heavens. And of course, we know in the 78 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:15,680 book of Daniel that was proven not to be true because only God 79 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:17,480 can give us insight into our future. 80 00:04:17,480 --> 00:04:19,920 Amen. And we have to understand that. 81 00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:24,120 But in time, as man began to progress, if you would, they 82 00:04:24,120 --> 00:04:29,400 went from astrology to astronomy, which is they study 83 00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:33,440 or scientific study of the galaxies of the universe and all 84 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:35,920 those things that are out there. But it's still true. 85 00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:39,440 How we know We're still trying to reach out there and literally 86 00:04:39,440 --> 00:04:42,720 build millions of dollars are spent every year on some type of 87 00:04:42,720 --> 00:04:47,080 a spacecraft or whatever. I remember way back in 1969 when 88 00:04:47,080 --> 00:04:50,680 we first landed on the moon, I thought we'd be making regular 89 00:04:50,680 --> 00:04:52,960 trips after that, and we haven't since then. 90 00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:56,200 So I don't know what that's all about, but it is still evident 91 00:04:56,200 --> 00:04:58,760 people are trying to reach up and say what's going on. 92 00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:02,200 Now I mentioned a few weeks back how we have to realize that 93 00:05:02,200 --> 00:05:05,680 we're not in the modern era, we're going to the postmodern 94 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:09,360 era, which amazingly enough, as people are losing their 95 00:05:09,360 --> 00:05:12,560 confidence in science and oftentimes with good reason. 96 00:05:12,880 --> 00:05:16,280 And in the postmodern era, oftentimes they're going back to 97 00:05:16,960 --> 00:05:21,160 old ways of thinking, not just looking at logic and science and 98 00:05:21,160 --> 00:05:23,560 all these things, but looking to the past. 99 00:05:23,920 --> 00:05:28,840 And unfortunately, often times making subjective experience as 100 00:05:28,840 --> 00:05:31,880 a part of their life versus objective, which is what are 101 00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:35,200 some facts or what is the truth? And we know as Christians that 102 00:05:35,200 --> 00:05:37,240 we have both as a part of our experience. 103 00:05:37,360 --> 00:05:40,440 We have the word of God, which we would call objective, and 104 00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:42,720 then we also have the Spirit of God, which would be that 105 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:47,280 subjective or feeling aspect. But if you notice, if you watch 106 00:05:47,280 --> 00:05:51,360 movies or television, people are often times talking about the 107 00:05:51,360 --> 00:05:55,760 universe again. Oh, it must be the universe that 108 00:05:55,760 --> 00:05:59,360 put us together. Oh, I can see how the universe 109 00:05:59,360 --> 00:06:00,920 is putting all these things together. 110 00:06:01,160 --> 00:06:03,840 And and so the idea is being promoted against that. 111 00:06:03,840 --> 00:06:06,840 There's power up there in the universe and, and talking about 112 00:06:06,840 --> 00:06:11,280 the universe itself as if it's a person or a being. 113 00:06:11,280 --> 00:06:13,920 And in reality, what they're doing is going back to the old 114 00:06:13,920 --> 00:06:16,000 days when we thought that's God, God. 115 00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:19,120 But how many know? We know that's not God, church. 116 00:06:19,560 --> 00:06:22,560 And so we have to understand that God has a much better way 117 00:06:22,560 --> 00:06:24,240 for us. Now, having said that, I want to 118 00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:26,280 go to the Scripture. In the book of Hebrews chapter 119 00:06:26,280 --> 00:06:31,040 12, it says, but you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of 120 00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:34,800 the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to innumerable 121 00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:37,400 company of angels, to the General Assembly and Church of 122 00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:40,840 the first born who are registered in heaven, to God the 123 00:06:40,840 --> 00:06:45,400 Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus 124 00:06:45,400 --> 00:06:48,520 the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of 125 00:06:48,520 --> 00:06:50,960 sprinkling. That speaks better things than 126 00:06:50,960 --> 00:06:55,320 that of Abel. And of course we put this up as 127 00:06:55,320 --> 00:06:58,240 a welcome to people. You have come to Mount Zion. 128 00:06:58,640 --> 00:07:01,760 Now of course, we don't believe that the Bible verse is speaking 129 00:07:01,760 --> 00:07:06,440 specifically about us as a local church, but we adopted the name 130 00:07:06,440 --> 00:07:11,200 Mount Zion way back when because God spoke to us that that was a 131 00:07:11,200 --> 00:07:14,720 very important thing even for the latter days of time. 132 00:07:15,120 --> 00:07:18,160 So we call it Church Mount Zion based on Isaiah chapter 2, where 133 00:07:18,160 --> 00:07:21,400 it says in the latter days of time, the mountain of the Lord's 134 00:07:21,400 --> 00:07:23,640 house shall be established on top of the mountains. 135 00:07:23,840 --> 00:07:25,880 It will be exalted above the hills. 136 00:07:26,120 --> 00:07:28,520 And people are going to say, come, let us go to the mountain 137 00:07:28,520 --> 00:07:31,920 of the Lord, to the House of the God of Jacob, for he will teach 138 00:07:31,920 --> 00:07:34,120 us of his ways, and we will walk in his path. 139 00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:36,560 For out of Mount Zion I and shall go the law and the word 140 00:07:36,560 --> 00:07:39,200 Lord from Jerusalem. Those scriptures talk about the 141 00:07:39,200 --> 00:07:42,680 fact that if you live according to the word of God, you will be 142 00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:44,920 blessed. And other people will see that. 143 00:07:45,320 --> 00:07:47,120 Well, I was raised in Sunday school. 144 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:49,800 I've been reading the Bible since I was a little kid. 145 00:07:49,800 --> 00:07:52,840 And I believe that with all my heart after all these years, I 146 00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:55,200 know the word works. Can you say Amen to that church? 147 00:07:56,080 --> 00:07:59,720 Amen. But in recent years I've been 148 00:07:59,720 --> 00:08:03,400 speaking more from here in Hebrews chapter 12, which is a 149 00:08:03,400 --> 00:08:08,040 New Testament counterpart to the Old Testament Scriptures where 150 00:08:08,040 --> 00:08:13,400 it talks about Mount Zion as a ever present theme that each and 151 00:08:13,400 --> 00:08:15,440 every one of us need to understand. 152 00:08:15,440 --> 00:08:20,080 Speak something to us. And because it's something that 153 00:08:20,080 --> 00:08:25,880 seems rather mystical and in some ways far fetched, you have 154 00:08:25,880 --> 00:08:28,960 to have faith in order to begin to see it. 155 00:08:29,200 --> 00:08:32,159 And you have to have faith certainly to enter into it. 156 00:08:32,760 --> 00:08:36,200 Now the apostle Paul who's writing this book of Hebrews 157 00:08:36,200 --> 00:08:39,919 here says, now you have come to Mount Zion. 158 00:08:40,280 --> 00:08:43,080 Now this is a very important thing because he's speaking 159 00:08:43,080 --> 00:08:47,560 about a present tense reality. How many know Christianity is 160 00:08:47,560 --> 00:08:49,920 supposed to be a present tense reality? 161 00:08:50,640 --> 00:08:54,080 Jesus said repent for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand or 162 00:08:54,080 --> 00:08:56,840 it's right here in front of you. And that's very important to 163 00:08:56,840 --> 00:09:01,000 understand that we have to see the Kingdom of God as a present 164 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:05,240 tense reality, not just the future reality that one day 165 00:09:05,240 --> 00:09:09,160 we'll be able to enter into. And so he talked about that and 166 00:09:09,160 --> 00:09:10,840 even told people to pray this way. 167 00:09:11,040 --> 00:09:14,680 He said when you pray, pray like this, our Father who art in 168 00:09:14,680 --> 00:09:19,000 heaven, holy is your name, your Kingdom come, your will be done 169 00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:22,640 on earth as it is in heaven. So it's important to understand 170 00:09:22,640 --> 00:09:26,800 the message of Jesus Christ was not about getting people saved 171 00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:28,560 so they can one day go to heaven. 172 00:09:28,760 --> 00:09:32,880 The message throughout the Bible is obviously there is eternal 173 00:09:32,880 --> 00:09:36,440 life that God promised from the very beginning, but God wants us 174 00:09:36,440 --> 00:09:39,720 to see that. He wants us to open God to our 175 00:09:39,720 --> 00:09:43,280 heart and our life right here and the here and now. 176 00:09:43,960 --> 00:09:48,000 There's something supernatural that God wants you to experience 177 00:09:48,040 --> 00:09:50,800 in this life. And so he's speaking about a 178 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:54,120 present tense reality of this Mount Zion theme that we're 179 00:09:54,120 --> 00:09:56,640 talking about. He said you have come to a 180 00:09:56,640 --> 00:10:00,480 heavenly city, you've come to the new Jerusalem. 181 00:10:00,840 --> 00:10:04,040 Now some people when they read that, they think of only again 182 00:10:04,040 --> 00:10:05,920 in terms of one day going to heaven. 183 00:10:06,280 --> 00:10:09,800 That's why I wrote the book The Descending New Jerusalem that's 184 00:10:09,800 --> 00:10:12,920 available because people need to understand there is a present 185 00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:15,720 tense reality. And when it says a heavenly 186 00:10:15,720 --> 00:10:18,240 Jerusalem, it doesn't mean it's a Jerusalem that's in heaven. 187 00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:21,280 It's talking about it comes from heaven. 188 00:10:21,720 --> 00:10:25,120 That's why in the Book of Revelation, it is a descending 189 00:10:25,120 --> 00:10:28,640 city and we have to understand when the Bible talks about 190 00:10:28,640 --> 00:10:32,280 things being heavenly or being spiritual, it tells us there's a 191 00:10:32,360 --> 00:10:37,120 dimension to it that we can only see again and experience when we 192 00:10:37,160 --> 00:10:40,200 understand there's a faith dimension that God wants us to 193 00:10:40,200 --> 00:10:44,320 walk in. When it comes to eschatology or 194 00:10:44,320 --> 00:10:47,160 how people think about the last days, one of the things that 195 00:10:47,160 --> 00:10:51,160 people so often think about is in terms of, well, where did the 196 00:10:51,160 --> 00:10:53,240 Jews of the Old Testament fit in? 197 00:10:53,840 --> 00:10:57,160 And so this is important to understand because some in the 198 00:10:57,320 --> 00:10:59,960 early church, the predominant thinking was what was called 199 00:10:59,960 --> 00:11:05,000 replacement of philosophy or theory and then replacement 200 00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:07,640 theology. The idea is, well, once the New 201 00:11:07,640 --> 00:11:11,360 Testament come, then everything in the Old Testament, well, it 202 00:11:11,360 --> 00:11:13,120 was a natural, but now this is new. 203 00:11:13,120 --> 00:11:15,440 So what really matters is the New Testament. 204 00:11:16,400 --> 00:11:19,560 In recent years there's been something called dispensational 205 00:11:19,560 --> 00:11:22,760 premillennialism, and they basically say, well, no, you 206 00:11:22,760 --> 00:11:25,320 can't think that way because when you look at what's going to 207 00:11:25,320 --> 00:11:28,160 happen in the last stage, you have to remember what God spoke 208 00:11:28,160 --> 00:11:30,400 to Abraham about the natural Israel. 209 00:11:30,880 --> 00:11:34,360 So we have people who say Old Testament, that doesn't matter 210 00:11:34,360 --> 00:11:36,560 anymore. And there's people who say, 211 00:11:36,560 --> 00:11:38,280 well, it's all about the natural. 212 00:11:38,640 --> 00:11:41,520 And God says, well, wait a second, you got to listen to 213 00:11:41,520 --> 00:11:43,320 what I have to say, says the Lord. 214 00:11:43,760 --> 00:11:47,080 Because the Bible teaches us this is how God builds, first 215 00:11:47,080 --> 00:11:51,720 naturally and then spiritually. So there was the natural Israel 216 00:11:51,800 --> 00:11:53,440 and there is the spiritual Israel. 217 00:11:53,440 --> 00:11:56,080 There is the natural Jerusalem, and there's the spiritual 218 00:11:56,080 --> 00:11:58,360 Jerusalem. And there's things that have to 219 00:11:58,360 --> 00:12:00,520 be brought together, not separated. 220 00:12:00,760 --> 00:12:02,760 That's just like in our life as a Christian. 221 00:12:02,880 --> 00:12:05,400 How many came to this world naturally? 222 00:12:06,200 --> 00:12:09,200 Then hopefully the day comes when you're born again. 223 00:12:09,200 --> 00:12:11,320 And if you're in the service today and haven't I been born 224 00:12:11,320 --> 00:12:15,320 again, now is your opportunity. I want to be born again because 225 00:12:15,320 --> 00:12:18,840 then you are natural and you are spiritual. 226 00:12:19,240 --> 00:12:22,640 Now some Christians only think of the natural realm and some 227 00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:25,440 only the spiritual realm. But God wants us to be 228 00:12:25,440 --> 00:12:28,360 supernatural. What a supernatural is when you 229 00:12:28,360 --> 00:12:31,400 begin to bring it all together and it hits your everyday life. 230 00:12:32,320 --> 00:12:35,240 I've had a supernatural life. I've been in ministry 47 years, 231 00:12:35,240 --> 00:12:39,000 been serving the Lord for many more years than that, and I have 232 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:41,680 a supernatural life. You've heard testimonies about 233 00:12:41,680 --> 00:12:44,240 how we've heard from the Lord as a local church. 234 00:12:44,400 --> 00:12:46,240 We bought buildings we couldn't afford. 235 00:12:46,360 --> 00:12:48,440 We bought lands that somebody else bought. 236 00:12:48,440 --> 00:12:51,280 The Lord made it available to us to get it back. 237 00:12:51,600 --> 00:12:54,640 We have had so many miraculous things that have happened over 238 00:12:54,640 --> 00:12:58,000 the years because, well, we serve a supernatural God. 239 00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:00,400 I often share my personal testimonies. 240 00:13:00,400 --> 00:13:03,080 When I was in my 30s, I was diagnosed with a form of 241 00:13:03,080 --> 00:13:06,520 muscular dystrophy. The doctors can't do anything if 242 00:13:06,520 --> 00:13:10,120 you have something like that other than monitor the progress 243 00:13:10,120 --> 00:13:12,960 of the disease and try to make as comfortable as possible. 244 00:13:13,200 --> 00:13:16,440 But one day God came on the scene and He healed me and I had 245 00:13:16,440 --> 00:13:18,120 America. How many glad for miracles 246 00:13:18,120 --> 00:13:21,160 today? There was a time in my life when 247 00:13:21,160 --> 00:13:24,600 I had a seizure disorder and I love to repeat these stories 248 00:13:24,600 --> 00:13:27,360 because they're so awesome that we would realize we have a 249 00:13:27,360 --> 00:13:30,280 supernatural God. And one day the Lord spoke to me 250 00:13:30,280 --> 00:13:32,920 in prayer because I had this problem for nine months and I 251 00:13:32,920 --> 00:13:35,280 believe in miracles. I'm like, Lord, when you're 252 00:13:35,280 --> 00:13:37,160 going to heal me, are you going to heal me? 253 00:13:37,160 --> 00:13:40,120 And I was praying and one day the Lord said an acceptable 254 00:13:40,120 --> 00:13:42,920 time, I've heard you and the day of salvation, I've helped you 255 00:13:42,920 --> 00:13:46,680 And I knew that day I was healed and I was I went off all the 256 00:13:46,680 --> 00:13:50,720 seizure medicine and God has done a mirror miraculous work in 257 00:13:50,720 --> 00:13:51,640 my life. Amen. 258 00:13:52,520 --> 00:13:56,200 But also during those nine months, I couldn't read the 259 00:13:56,200 --> 00:13:57,560 Bible because of bring a seizure. 260 00:13:57,560 --> 00:14:00,760 I could look at computers, everything was making me go into 261 00:14:00,760 --> 00:14:04,080 seizure at the time. But during that time, I never 262 00:14:04,080 --> 00:14:06,880 missed a beat and preaching, teaching and everything that I 263 00:14:06,880 --> 00:14:09,880 did. I just learned that I can do all 264 00:14:09,880 --> 00:14:12,080 things through Christ who strengthens me. 265 00:14:12,880 --> 00:14:17,440 And I want everybody here to know that God has a supernatural 266 00:14:17,440 --> 00:14:19,480 life that he can cause you to live. 267 00:14:19,880 --> 00:14:23,000 And all that means simply as you live above your natural 268 00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:27,280 abilities, your natural inclinations to become truly a 269 00:14:27,280 --> 00:14:29,640 child of God. So when it's talking about the 270 00:14:29,640 --> 00:14:33,680 heavenly city, it's talking about something that came from 271 00:14:33,680 --> 00:14:36,600 heaven to us, and God has something from heaven he wants 272 00:14:36,600 --> 00:14:37,680 to give to you. Amen. 273 00:14:37,680 --> 00:14:41,240 Church. And this is what he says, the 274 00:14:41,240 --> 00:14:44,840 Church of the living God. We've come to Mount Zion, the 275 00:14:44,840 --> 00:14:47,720 city of the living God. It is a heavenly Jerusalem. 276 00:14:48,160 --> 00:14:52,440 It is a place where we see angels ascending and descending. 277 00:14:52,600 --> 00:14:54,280 That's what the Hebrew writer said. 278 00:14:54,280 --> 00:14:56,880 And that's a reality that God wants us to understand. 279 00:14:56,880 --> 00:14:59,440 It's true. We come to God who is the judge 280 00:14:59,440 --> 00:15:02,960 of all the spirits of just men made perfect, the Church of the 281 00:15:02,960 --> 00:15:04,960 living God. That's what I want to talk about 282 00:15:04,960 --> 00:15:06,920 right here and how important that is. 283 00:15:06,920 --> 00:15:10,880 And Jesus Christ, who is the mediator of the New covenant, 284 00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:15,360 whose blood speaks better things to that of Abel, What could be 285 00:15:15,360 --> 00:15:18,520 better than Abel's blood? Well, the Bible says that Abel, 286 00:15:18,520 --> 00:15:22,000 when he was killed by his brother, his blood cried out for 287 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:25,440 judgment. When Jesus's blood was shed, how 288 00:15:25,440 --> 00:15:27,160 do you know it cries out for mercy? 289 00:15:27,600 --> 00:15:30,120 I don't know about you, but I love Jesus with my whole heart 290 00:15:30,120 --> 00:15:34,640 today because He has given His life for each and every one of 291 00:15:34,640 --> 00:15:36,800 us. And so whenever you see this 292 00:15:36,800 --> 00:15:39,800 picture, I want you to see what it means because it's such a 293 00:15:39,800 --> 00:15:44,360 reality to us. In the Old Testament, Genesis 28 294 00:15:44,360 --> 00:15:48,160 tells us the story about a man by the name of Jacob who was the 295 00:15:48,160 --> 00:15:51,680 grandson of Abraham, whom the Bible calls the father of our 296 00:15:51,680 --> 00:15:54,200 faith. He got into a whole bunch of 297 00:15:54,200 --> 00:15:57,280 trouble and he literally had to run for his life. 298 00:15:57,480 --> 00:16:00,640 His brother wanted to kill him because he had done something 299 00:16:00,640 --> 00:16:03,040 treacherous. He had deceived his brother, but 300 00:16:03,040 --> 00:16:06,960 in his treacherous actions, if you would, when he was running 301 00:16:06,960 --> 00:16:10,000 for his life, God came and talked to him. 302 00:16:10,200 --> 00:16:13,600 That's the merciful God we have. And he talked to him and dream. 303 00:16:13,600 --> 00:16:17,560 It says he dreamed and behold, he saw a ladder which was set up 304 00:16:17,560 --> 00:16:21,320 on the earth, and it's top reached to heaven and there the 305 00:16:21,320 --> 00:16:24,040 angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 306 00:16:24,440 --> 00:16:28,280 Behold, the Lord stood above it. Then Jacob awoke from his sleep 307 00:16:28,280 --> 00:16:32,640 and said, surely the Lord is in this place and I did not know it 308 00:16:33,040 --> 00:16:34,840 and he was afraid. Why? 309 00:16:34,920 --> 00:16:38,480 Well, it was an awesome place. How awesome is this place? 310 00:16:38,720 --> 00:16:44,080 This is none other than the House of God, and it is also the 311 00:16:44,080 --> 00:16:47,720 gate of heaven. Now this is a very important 312 00:16:47,720 --> 00:16:52,560 truth that all of us need to understand because in seeing the 313 00:16:52,560 --> 00:16:56,120 heavens open, He began to understand something. 314 00:16:56,480 --> 00:16:59,000 Wow, this is the House of God. How do I know that? 315 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:02,520 Well, because the heavens are open and I see a ladder going up 316 00:17:02,520 --> 00:17:04,640 and down. Now, Church, do you realize that 317 00:17:04,640 --> 00:17:07,680 when you come to Mount Zion, when you go to the House of God, 318 00:17:07,680 --> 00:17:10,280 if you would, how many understand that the heavens are 319 00:17:10,280 --> 00:17:14,359 open to us? Now, if you know that, you know 320 00:17:14,359 --> 00:17:17,680 that our God has angels at his disposal. 321 00:17:17,839 --> 00:17:20,920 In the Old Testament, it's called the army of the Lord of 322 00:17:21,119 --> 00:17:23,520 hosts or the Lord of angelic beings. 323 00:17:23,960 --> 00:17:26,400 And when you know that's the God you serve, how many know if 324 00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:32,040 you're God as an angelic army at his disposal, that you're safe 325 00:17:32,040 --> 00:17:33,360 at all times? Amen. 326 00:17:33,800 --> 00:17:37,520 God is with us, Church. And so we should be encouraged 327 00:17:37,520 --> 00:17:40,360 by that fact that, and this is what Jacob found out. 328 00:17:40,360 --> 00:17:44,000 He's like, wow, look at this, Heaven is open to me. 329 00:17:44,160 --> 00:17:46,320 God is talking to me from the heaven. 330 00:17:46,440 --> 00:17:49,400 I see the angels and they're going up and down because guess 331 00:17:49,400 --> 00:17:51,560 what? God dispatches them here on 332 00:17:51,560 --> 00:17:54,560 planet earth for the purposes of his people. 333 00:17:55,080 --> 00:17:58,640 And so when you begin to see how awesome God's plan is, and the 334 00:17:58,640 --> 00:18:03,040 House of God is not just a church, a building that we come 335 00:18:03,040 --> 00:18:05,360 to as the people and say, oh, I went to church. 336 00:18:06,320 --> 00:18:08,520 When you come to Mount Zion, you should be saying to yourself, 337 00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:12,480 I'm going to the House of the most high God, Hallelujah. 338 00:18:12,960 --> 00:18:15,960 And when I get there, I'm going to know that the heavens are 339 00:18:15,960 --> 00:18:18,120 going to be open to us as a people. 340 00:18:18,280 --> 00:18:22,840 The very presence of a living God is here today and he's able 341 00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:26,440 to touch us and able to do supernatural things in our life 342 00:18:26,560 --> 00:18:31,880 if we would believe he has these angels at his disposal for us. 343 00:18:32,120 --> 00:18:35,600 And again, that's why the Bible says if God is for us, who can 344 00:18:35,600 --> 00:18:39,160 be against Amen church. And so it's such a powerful 345 00:18:39,160 --> 00:18:42,600 thing for us to know. Now in first Timothy chapter 3. 346 00:18:42,600 --> 00:18:45,200 And it's important to go to the New Testament because the Bible 347 00:18:45,200 --> 00:18:47,840 says out of the mouth of two or three witnesses ever word 348 00:18:47,840 --> 00:18:51,120 established, he wrote to Timothy, his son in the faith 349 00:18:51,120 --> 00:18:54,360 and said these things. I write to you, though I hope to 350 00:18:54,360 --> 00:18:58,600 come to you shortly. But if I am delayed, I write so 351 00:18:58,600 --> 00:19:03,640 that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the House 352 00:19:03,640 --> 00:19:06,800 of God, which is the Church of the living God. 353 00:19:06,960 --> 00:19:10,720 It is also the pillar and ground of truth. 354 00:19:11,520 --> 00:19:16,000 Well, if I go to the House of God, I should know how I ought 355 00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:18,480 to behave myself in the House of God. 356 00:19:18,480 --> 00:19:23,280 Amen Church because God has given us instructions and this 357 00:19:23,280 --> 00:19:26,200 is one of the things we do at Mount Zion, is we try to align 358 00:19:26,200 --> 00:19:29,040 everything up that we do with the Word of God. 359 00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:32,000 We are not a political organization, we're not a 360 00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:35,840 cultural organization. We are the Church of the living 361 00:19:35,840 --> 00:19:39,120 God and everything we do should be based upon the word of the 362 00:19:39,120 --> 00:19:41,520 living God. Amen Church, give him a praise 363 00:19:41,520 --> 00:19:46,200 because that makes a difference and you see it all the time. 364 00:19:46,200 --> 00:19:49,920 It's so easy for churches to fall in human structures and 365 00:19:49,920 --> 00:19:52,360 follow the way that man has laid out. 366 00:19:52,600 --> 00:19:55,440 But God says, wait a second, this is my house. 367 00:19:56,080 --> 00:19:59,120 And because this is my house, you need to know how to conduct 368 00:19:59,120 --> 00:20:02,760 yourself in my house, says the Lord, because guess what, I am 369 00:20:02,760 --> 00:20:06,080 there with you. And literally, the Church is the 370 00:20:06,080 --> 00:20:10,640 very pillar and ground of truth. I grew up in church when I was a 371 00:20:10,640 --> 00:20:13,920 kid, used to hear all kinds of things going on, people mad, 372 00:20:13,920 --> 00:20:16,720 people upset, all kinds of things going on. 373 00:20:16,720 --> 00:20:19,920 Church and be very easy. And people do this from time to 374 00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:21,760 time. Get discouraged about what's 375 00:20:21,760 --> 00:20:25,320 happening in the church. Well, don't be discouraged by 376 00:20:25,320 --> 00:20:27,680 what you see happening in the church because guess what? 377 00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:31,600 We got a bunch of human beings in the House of God, and we're 378 00:20:31,600 --> 00:20:34,000 all working to be a better people. 379 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:36,200 Amen. But in the process, we should 380 00:20:36,200 --> 00:20:39,520 ask ourselves, just like Paul was writing Timothy, well, how 381 00:20:39,520 --> 00:20:41,800 are you going to respond in the House of God? 382 00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:46,160 Well, I'm going to conduct myself like this is the House of 383 00:20:46,160 --> 00:20:48,360 God. And when I come to the House of 384 00:20:48,360 --> 00:20:51,080 God, I'm not just going to go to a building. 385 00:20:51,080 --> 00:20:54,480 I'm going to go in a place where when we start singing songs, the 386 00:20:54,480 --> 00:20:57,600 Bible says that God inhabits the praises of his people. 387 00:20:58,200 --> 00:21:01,000 I'm going to conduct myself because when I'm singing, the 388 00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:05,240 Bible says in Hebrews chapter 2 that Jesus Christ himself is 389 00:21:05,240 --> 00:21:08,240 singing in the midst of the worshipping congregation. 390 00:21:08,480 --> 00:21:10,840 And as he's doing that, he's calling us brethren. 391 00:21:10,840 --> 00:21:12,680 Isn't that awesome? Cherish to think about? 392 00:21:13,160 --> 00:21:16,040 And when I hear a sermon, I'm going to ask the Lord that that 393 00:21:16,040 --> 00:21:19,400 word would come to me because it's not just an instruction. 394 00:21:19,520 --> 00:21:23,440 It's a word that can inspire faith that causes us to change. 395 00:21:24,520 --> 00:21:27,600 I'm going to take communion with the idea that the Bible says 396 00:21:27,600 --> 00:21:32,000 that there's something here that I can get of Christ because in 397 00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:35,360 everything we do, we come to have a meeting place with Jesus. 398 00:21:35,360 --> 00:21:38,640 Amen. Church, not just to have a form. 399 00:21:39,200 --> 00:21:46,000 And that's why I want to share with you Romans 10/6 through 8. 400 00:21:46,000 --> 00:21:49,160 But the righteousness of faith. I was wondering if the picture 401 00:21:49,160 --> 00:21:51,600 was supposed to change up here. It was there. 402 00:21:51,600 --> 00:21:54,800 Go threw me off a little bit. I knew what I was doing. 403 00:21:54,800 --> 00:21:59,360 I just want you to know. But anyway, what is this? 404 00:21:59,360 --> 00:22:04,160 This is a picture of a cathedral from Europe is built after a 405 00:22:04,160 --> 00:22:07,440 Gothic style. And the reason this is important 406 00:22:07,440 --> 00:22:11,120 is because in the Middle Ages of the Christian Church, they 407 00:22:11,120 --> 00:22:14,560 literally built the building so that people would keep in mind 408 00:22:14,560 --> 00:22:17,080 everything I've talked to you so far about the church. 409 00:22:17,520 --> 00:22:21,120 They had built very high ceilings pointing to heaven 410 00:22:21,120 --> 00:22:24,560 because they believed that they were in a place of open heavens. 411 00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:29,320 They would have lots of windows because God is light and of 412 00:22:29,320 --> 00:22:32,520 course the light would represent and mean to the people, wow, 413 00:22:32,840 --> 00:22:36,120 God's presence is here because they were seeing the lights. 414 00:22:36,520 --> 00:22:40,080 They would also have often have stained glass windows so that 415 00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:43,600 they could look at pictures of heavenly things or earthly 416 00:22:43,760 --> 00:22:46,400 people that gave themselves to the work of the Lord. 417 00:22:46,400 --> 00:22:52,680 Whatever, but the reason for all of this great and beauty was so 418 00:22:52,680 --> 00:22:56,640 that people in the time could come to the House of God and 419 00:22:56,840 --> 00:22:58,880 feel like they were connecting to heaven. 420 00:22:59,480 --> 00:23:02,840 I'll keep in mind in the time when this was going on, there 421 00:23:02,840 --> 00:23:06,880 would be a people who were mostly uneducated, mostly 422 00:23:06,880 --> 00:23:09,720 couldn't read, mostly in poverty. 423 00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:13,880 The majority were either slaves or indentured service or were 424 00:23:13,880 --> 00:23:17,080 peasants and just had a very meager life. 425 00:23:17,920 --> 00:23:20,480 They were used to pestilence. They were used to famine. 426 00:23:20,480 --> 00:23:24,120 They were used to people dying because people died a lot from 427 00:23:24,120 --> 00:23:27,200 diseases back in those days. So you can imagine what a 428 00:23:27,200 --> 00:23:31,640 wonderful relief it was to just run to the House of God and say, 429 00:23:31,640 --> 00:23:35,720 oh, I just got to remember in my earthly condition, I'm connected 430 00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:38,560 to heaven. Now we don't live in those days 431 00:23:38,560 --> 00:23:40,160 anymore. And I've often shared the 432 00:23:40,160 --> 00:23:44,720 testimony how in 1980, when things were pretty bad here and 433 00:23:44,720 --> 00:23:46,880 everybody was saying things were going to go from bad to worse, 434 00:23:46,880 --> 00:23:49,240 he said, no, don't, don't believe what they're saying. 435 00:23:49,240 --> 00:23:52,160 Lauren, tell the people, get ready for a time of great 436 00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:54,840 prosperity. And that's what's happened in 437 00:23:54,840 --> 00:23:58,400 our world today. We live in very affluent times. 438 00:23:58,600 --> 00:24:02,280 We have a medical system. When we're sick, we have, even 439 00:24:02,280 --> 00:24:04,640 if you can't afford to buy food, there's all kinds of food 440 00:24:04,640 --> 00:24:06,880 available if you just look in the right places. 441 00:24:07,360 --> 00:24:11,200 And you might not feel like you're affluent, but that's only 442 00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:13,600 because you compare yourself to other Americans. 443 00:24:13,600 --> 00:24:16,360 We live in a very affluent society. 444 00:24:17,360 --> 00:24:20,600 Anybody grateful you live here and experience the blessings 445 00:24:20,600 --> 00:24:23,120 that God has for us here in the United States of America? 446 00:24:24,480 --> 00:24:27,080 Well, when we come to church, we're not fleeing from the 447 00:24:27,080 --> 00:24:30,880 things everybody used to in the past, but we do need to run to 448 00:24:30,880 --> 00:24:34,480 the House of God because the reason there's increasing levels 449 00:24:34,480 --> 00:24:38,560 of drug and alcohol use, the reason because depression and 450 00:24:38,560 --> 00:24:42,840 anxiety is skyrocketing, is because you find out something 451 00:24:43,200 --> 00:24:45,360 affluence doesn't make you happy. 452 00:24:47,360 --> 00:24:49,840 Amen. It's so important for us to 453 00:24:49,840 --> 00:24:53,880 recognize that money is not going to make you happy. 454 00:24:54,040 --> 00:24:57,000 My mom used to always say money doesn't make you happy, but it 455 00:24:57,000 --> 00:24:59,280 does rent a good time. And that's true too. 456 00:25:00,880 --> 00:25:04,440 So we're not against affluence. We should look at it as a 457 00:25:04,440 --> 00:25:06,880 blessing from God. We just have to understand 458 00:25:06,880 --> 00:25:11,480 that's not our source, is it? How many can say Amen, God is my 459 00:25:11,480 --> 00:25:14,480 source, Amen. Amen. 460 00:25:16,080 --> 00:25:19,000 So with this in mind, we'll move on to the next Scripture and the 461 00:25:19,200 --> 00:25:23,000 go back to the original premise of the story about the New 462 00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:25,000 Jerusalem. But he says, but the 463 00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:27,480 righteousness of faith speaks in this way. 464 00:25:27,800 --> 00:25:31,000 Do not say in your heart who will ascend into heaven, that is 465 00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:34,760 to bring Christ down from above, or who will ascend to the abyss, 466 00:25:34,760 --> 00:25:37,240 that is to bring Christ up from the dead. 467 00:25:37,800 --> 00:25:41,280 But what does it say? Well, it says the Word is near 468 00:25:41,280 --> 00:25:43,800 you in your mouth and your heart. 469 00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:47,640 That is the Word of Faith which we preach. 470 00:25:48,320 --> 00:25:51,520 Now we don't build the colosseums like they do in the 471 00:25:51,520 --> 00:25:55,200 old day to remind us of things. And often times that can become 472 00:25:55,200 --> 00:25:58,520 a detriment because in our human experience, often times when we 473 00:25:58,520 --> 00:26:01,760 get used to something, if we especially go every week and we 474 00:26:01,760 --> 00:26:05,520 get used to even a routine, how many know it's easy for us to be 475 00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:08,640 disengaged. That's why more important than 476 00:26:08,640 --> 00:26:12,800 having a visual is understanding that everything that we have 477 00:26:12,800 --> 00:26:16,800 from God can only be given to us and aparted by faith. 478 00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:21,840 The Bible says that the judge shall live by faith. 479 00:26:22,160 --> 00:26:24,720 It says that we go from faith to faith. 480 00:26:25,280 --> 00:26:28,520 And so when we come into Mount Zion, the city of the living 481 00:26:28,520 --> 00:26:32,080 God, and we know everything that God says, it is how we know. 482 00:26:32,080 --> 00:26:35,680 We should say, OK, I'm going to engage myself because if I'm 483 00:26:35,680 --> 00:26:37,920 going to get anything out of this, it has to be a faith 484 00:26:37,920 --> 00:26:39,440 experience. Amen, Church. 485 00:26:40,040 --> 00:26:43,680 And if it is a faith experience, you should say, and I want 486 00:26:43,680 --> 00:26:48,520 everything that this service has for me, or like all of us should 487 00:26:48,520 --> 00:26:52,920 say, I want everything that the Christian life offers to me 488 00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:56,560 because there is a faith reality that can come to us. 489 00:26:56,840 --> 00:26:59,680 And without faith it's impossible to please God. 490 00:26:59,880 --> 00:27:04,360 But with faith, all things are possible in that amazing church. 491 00:27:04,800 --> 00:27:09,040 I just love the Lord. And that's why I believe so much 492 00:27:09,040 --> 00:27:11,920 that we have to be a people with the Word of Faith in our mouth. 493 00:27:12,160 --> 00:27:14,960 The Bible says that with the heart man believes, but with the 494 00:27:14,960 --> 00:27:17,480 mouth confession is made unto salvation. 495 00:27:17,800 --> 00:27:21,240 And so when God speaks to us and we start making it a part of our 496 00:27:21,240 --> 00:27:25,960 conversation, we release the supernatural power of the living 497 00:27:25,960 --> 00:27:26,840 God. Amen. 498 00:27:27,120 --> 00:27:30,840 And so in John chapter 1, I just wanted you to see this because 499 00:27:30,840 --> 00:27:32,800 there's a dimensional change here. 500 00:27:33,040 --> 00:27:36,200 And this is in the ministry of Jesus Christ. 501 00:27:36,880 --> 00:27:40,840 In John chapter 1, He's calling his different disciples. 502 00:27:41,280 --> 00:27:45,880 And he answered and said to him, Because I said to you, I saw you 503 00:27:45,880 --> 00:27:49,480 under the fig tree, do you believe you will see greater 504 00:27:49,480 --> 00:27:51,800 things than these? And he said to him, most 505 00:27:51,800 --> 00:27:55,000 assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see the 506 00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:59,120 heaven open, the angels of God ascending and descending now 507 00:27:59,120 --> 00:28:03,320 upon the Son of Man. When Jesus was calling the 508 00:28:03,320 --> 00:28:06,400 disciples, he says to once disciple, he says, I want you to 509 00:28:06,400 --> 00:28:09,120 come and follow me. I saw you sitting under the fig 510 00:28:09,120 --> 00:28:11,880 tree and that's when I knew I was supposed to call you. 511 00:28:12,120 --> 00:28:15,240 He's like, how did you know I was sitting under a fig tree? 512 00:28:15,680 --> 00:28:18,160 And Jesus said, well, are you going to follow me? 513 00:28:18,160 --> 00:28:22,000 Because I told you that he said you haven't seen anything yet 514 00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:25,000 because now you're going to see a whole new change. 515 00:28:25,480 --> 00:28:27,320 And it wasn't. After that. 516 00:28:27,320 --> 00:28:29,680 We're at the marriage of King of Galilee. 517 00:28:29,680 --> 00:28:33,520 Jesus worked his first miracles and for three years he had a 518 00:28:33,520 --> 00:28:38,040 miraculous ministry that the people observed how God can do 519 00:28:38,040 --> 00:28:40,280 all things. And I mentioned this as 520 00:28:40,280 --> 00:28:43,840 spiritual gifts because what we would call a word of knowledge 521 00:28:43,840 --> 00:28:47,480 is really what Jesus gave to the disciple there. 522 00:28:48,840 --> 00:28:51,640 I have spiritual gifts, but I believe with all my heart, God 523 00:28:51,640 --> 00:28:55,160 saying to the church, it's time for us to go to a higher level 524 00:28:55,160 --> 00:28:59,240 of faith where we begin to see that the heavens are open to us 525 00:28:59,520 --> 00:29:02,440 so that we can all say to one another, we haven't seen 526 00:29:02,440 --> 00:29:05,600 anything yet because God's going to do something that's 527 00:29:05,600 --> 00:29:09,560 exceedingly and abundantly above all that we could ask or think. 528 00:29:10,160 --> 00:29:13,600 Jesus, the Bible says, was the first born among many brethren. 529 00:29:13,800 --> 00:29:18,360 And just like Jacob was told, just like the scriptures speak 530 00:29:18,360 --> 00:29:21,920 to us about going to church, Jesus said why watch what 531 00:29:21,920 --> 00:29:24,640 happens when the heavens are open in church? 532 00:29:24,640 --> 00:29:28,320 Watch what happens when we start really actually believe in the 533 00:29:28,320 --> 00:29:32,520 heavens are open to us, the world we live in. 534 00:29:32,640 --> 00:29:36,600 There's so much stress out there, so, so many problems, and 535 00:29:36,600 --> 00:29:39,320 we haven't seen anything yet. When I was hearing this word to 536 00:29:39,320 --> 00:29:41,440 talk about these things, I'm like, well, Lord, I've talked 537 00:29:41,440 --> 00:29:43,920 about these things before. Is there a specific reason? 538 00:29:43,920 --> 00:29:45,800 I was actually talking to him about that? 539 00:29:45,800 --> 00:29:48,640 And he says, yes. People need to know that in the 540 00:29:48,640 --> 00:29:52,160 days ahead, they got to have this in their mind that well, 541 00:29:52,160 --> 00:29:56,680 there's a place that we can run, that there's a place we can go. 542 00:29:56,880 --> 00:30:02,160 There's a place that we can be empowered for whatever is facing 543 00:30:02,160 --> 00:30:07,160 us in this life because God has something for us church and we 544 00:30:07,160 --> 00:30:08,840 have to have faith to believe it. 545 00:30:09,200 --> 00:30:12,280 In Ephesians chapter 2 he says now therefore you are no longer 546 00:30:12,280 --> 00:30:17,160 strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the Saints 547 00:30:17,160 --> 00:30:20,560 and members of the household of God having been built on the 548 00:30:20,560 --> 00:30:22,640 foundation of the apostles of prophets. 549 00:30:22,640 --> 00:30:26,440 Jesus Christ and the self being the chief cornerstone and whom 550 00:30:26,440 --> 00:30:30,600 the whole building being fitted together grows in a holy temple 551 00:30:30,600 --> 00:30:35,280 in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a 552 00:30:35,280 --> 00:30:38,400 dwelling place of God in the spirit. 553 00:30:38,880 --> 00:30:43,040 Now we are are people that need to understand we have a dual 554 00:30:43,040 --> 00:30:44,680 citizenship. What are you talking about, 555 00:30:44,680 --> 00:30:47,360 Pastor Lauren? Well, in the next week or so, 556 00:30:47,360 --> 00:30:51,120 we'll be commemorating, I'm sure to be on the news about Hamas 557 00:30:51,120 --> 00:30:54,560 invading Israel two years ago. And hopefully there's a peace 558 00:30:54,560 --> 00:30:56,960 process that's going to be announced this week as well with 559 00:30:56,960 --> 00:30:59,440 the remaining hostages are let go. 560 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:02,880 But if you'll notice when it happened, they were saying, and 561 00:31:02,880 --> 00:31:06,320 there are so many American citizens that have been taken 562 00:31:06,320 --> 00:31:11,080 into captivity as well. Well, I I looked it up because I 563 00:31:11,080 --> 00:31:14,440 had a hunch and it seemed to bear true from what I was 564 00:31:14,440 --> 00:31:16,880 reading. And that is that when they were 565 00:31:16,880 --> 00:31:20,840 saying they were Americans, most of them were people with a dual 566 00:31:20,840 --> 00:31:23,240 citizenship. In other words, they were 567 00:31:23,240 --> 00:31:26,760 American citizens who decided that they would go to Israel to 568 00:31:26,760 --> 00:31:30,240 live, but they kept their American citizenship and then 569 00:31:30,240 --> 00:31:33,400 had an end Israeli citizenship as well. 570 00:31:33,640 --> 00:31:37,720 So they had a dual citizenship. Now, there was a time in 571 00:31:37,720 --> 00:31:40,800 American history that when you became an American, you had to 572 00:31:40,800 --> 00:31:45,280 renounce your formal identities, your past or former things that 573 00:31:45,280 --> 00:31:48,720 used to be a part of somewhere in the 1960s, there was a 574 00:31:48,920 --> 00:31:52,880 Supreme Court ruling that was against that because we always 575 00:31:52,880 --> 00:31:56,200 had this idea that we were a melting pot and people need to 576 00:31:56,440 --> 00:31:59,080 forget about their old life and have a new life. 577 00:31:59,480 --> 00:32:03,040 But whatever, it's important to understand people don't want to 578 00:32:03,040 --> 00:32:05,600 let go of their American citizenship no matter where they 579 00:32:05,600 --> 00:32:06,960 live. Why? 580 00:32:06,960 --> 00:32:10,960 Because number one, it has prestige and it also has power. 581 00:32:10,960 --> 00:32:13,440 Because if you notice, whether it was that situation or the 582 00:32:13,440 --> 00:32:16,520 situation in Afghanistan or many other countries, how many know 583 00:32:16,520 --> 00:32:19,360 when the news announces there's American involves, it changes 584 00:32:19,360 --> 00:32:22,840 the whole story. The president gets involved. 585 00:32:23,240 --> 00:32:26,760 People know that the American army's possibility that they're 586 00:32:26,760 --> 00:32:29,400 going to have face if they aren't very careful. 587 00:32:29,840 --> 00:32:32,880 Everybody in the world loves American identity. 588 00:32:33,040 --> 00:32:37,480 When we go to El Salvador, if you go to the American embassy, 589 00:32:37,640 --> 00:32:41,040 the most affluent part of the town is all around the American 590 00:32:41,040 --> 00:32:42,880 embassy. Why people want to be associated 591 00:32:42,880 --> 00:32:45,720 with American Embassy? When we were in Lima, ministry 592 00:32:45,720 --> 00:32:48,160 there, same thing. Go to the American embassy and 593 00:32:48,160 --> 00:32:50,400 guess what? All the affluent people, they 594 00:32:50,400 --> 00:32:51,840 build houses around the embassies. 595 00:32:51,840 --> 00:32:54,000 Why? There's something about having 596 00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:57,320 the citizenship in the United States that makes a difference. 597 00:32:57,320 --> 00:33:00,920 There's something about when you put that passport on the table 598 00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:04,000 when you're travelling to other nations of the world that speaks 599 00:33:04,280 --> 00:33:06,720 volumes to the people that are looking at it. 600 00:33:07,320 --> 00:33:09,880 Now, the reason I want you to think about that is not from our 601 00:33:09,880 --> 00:33:13,200 human perspective, but from a heavily perspective church. 602 00:33:13,440 --> 00:33:17,000 Because when you recognize that you're a citizen of the New 603 00:33:17,000 --> 00:33:20,800 Jerusalem, when you recognize you're a citizen of the House of 604 00:33:20,800 --> 00:33:24,200 God, you need to know you got something behind you. 605 00:33:24,200 --> 00:33:27,840 Amen. You have a prestige position, if 606 00:33:27,840 --> 00:33:32,200 you would, and whatever identity you have in this world based on 607 00:33:32,200 --> 00:33:35,640 your vocation, based on whatever you're doing, never forget the 608 00:33:35,640 --> 00:33:39,520 fact that you are a citizen of the House of God. 609 00:33:39,680 --> 00:33:45,880 You're a citizen of the Most high God's Kingdom, and there's 610 00:33:45,880 --> 00:33:50,280 no passport like that one. It gets you to heaven, but it 611 00:33:50,280 --> 00:33:54,560 also gets you into all kinds of opportunities as you began to 612 00:33:54,560 --> 00:33:58,400 realize the power of the citizenship and that what does 613 00:33:58,400 --> 00:34:02,280 he say He's building? He's building a holy temple, and 614 00:34:02,280 --> 00:34:06,240 each and every one of us are part of that holy temple because 615 00:34:06,240 --> 00:34:09,280 we are the dwelling place of God. 616 00:34:09,360 --> 00:34:13,360 What an amazing God we have, and what an amazing plan we have. 617 00:34:16,400 --> 00:34:19,880 So they came to Jerusalem. Then Jesus went into the temple 618 00:34:19,880 --> 00:34:23,880 and began to drive out those who bought and sold in the temple. 619 00:34:24,159 --> 00:34:27,120 He overturned the tables of the money changers, the seats of 620 00:34:27,120 --> 00:34:30,800 those who sold doves, and he would not allow anyone to carry 621 00:34:30,800 --> 00:34:34,679 wares through the temple. Then he taught, saying to them, 622 00:34:34,679 --> 00:34:38,199 Is it not written? My house shall be called a House 623 00:34:38,199 --> 00:34:41,960 of prayer for all nations, But you have made it a den of 624 00:34:41,960 --> 00:34:44,000 thieves. I put over this the day of 625 00:34:44,000 --> 00:34:48,560 visitation because this is again right before Jesus Christ is 626 00:34:48,560 --> 00:34:51,400 getting ready to go to the cross for all of us. 627 00:34:51,679 --> 00:34:56,080 His first stop is the House of God, and he finds out that in 628 00:34:56,080 --> 00:35:00,960 the House of God is unfortunately business as usual 629 00:35:01,520 --> 00:35:04,520 because the church has become a place of business. 630 00:35:04,680 --> 00:35:07,600 The House of God isn't where people went because God was 631 00:35:07,600 --> 00:35:10,240 their priority. And So what did he do? 632 00:35:10,240 --> 00:35:14,040 He went around turning over the tables of the money changers and 633 00:35:14,160 --> 00:35:19,840 setting everything in order because he said my house is a 634 00:35:19,840 --> 00:35:23,000 House of prayer, not just a House of business, says the 635 00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:26,600 Lord. And so he sanctified the house 636 00:35:26,800 --> 00:35:30,160 because he understood and he wanted the people to understand 637 00:35:30,320 --> 00:35:34,120 how important it is that they would maintain their separation, 638 00:35:34,440 --> 00:35:37,720 but also he wanted them to know. In that sense, the House of God 639 00:35:37,720 --> 00:35:43,840 is an embassy of heaven. When you come to church, 640 00:35:43,960 --> 00:35:47,160 literally you should say in your mind, I'm leaving my world to go 641 00:35:47,160 --> 00:35:52,080 to his world because this is an embassy for the Kingdom of God. 642 00:35:53,280 --> 00:35:56,600 Every nation that you go to, they have embassies, all the 643 00:35:56,600 --> 00:35:59,560 different countries and usually the country does everything they 644 00:35:59,560 --> 00:36:03,400 can to make the embassy as much like the home grown place as 645 00:36:03,400 --> 00:36:07,480 possible. And so This is why I have in 646 00:36:07,480 --> 00:36:09,920 this church a desire to make it everything God wants it to be 647 00:36:09,920 --> 00:36:13,520 because I truly believe this is an embassy of the most high God 648 00:36:13,880 --> 00:36:16,960 that we leave our world and we come into his world. 649 00:36:16,960 --> 00:36:20,040 Amen, Church. And all of us as the people of 650 00:36:20,040 --> 00:36:23,520 God need to have a whole new understanding and a faith 651 00:36:23,520 --> 00:36:26,680 awareness of what this means. Now, speaking about people of 652 00:36:26,680 --> 00:36:30,320 faith in Hebrews 11, it says they all died in faith, not 653 00:36:30,320 --> 00:36:34,600 having received the promises, that having seen them afar off, 654 00:36:34,600 --> 00:36:38,040 they were assured of them and embrace them and confess that 655 00:36:38,040 --> 00:36:40,040 they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 656 00:36:40,560 --> 00:36:44,080 For those who say such things declared plainly that they what? 657 00:36:44,120 --> 00:36:46,800 Seek a homeland. And truly, if they had called to 658 00:36:46,800 --> 00:36:50,240 mind the country from which they had come out, they would have 659 00:36:50,320 --> 00:36:54,360 opportunity to return. Now, most of us know the story 660 00:36:54,360 --> 00:36:57,960 of Abraham, how God came to him one day and said, Abraham, I 661 00:36:57,960 --> 00:37:01,400 want you to leave your country and your kindred and go to a 662 00:37:01,400 --> 00:37:03,520 land that afterward I will show you. 663 00:37:04,000 --> 00:37:07,480 And he's listed here in Hebrews Chapter 11. 664 00:37:08,080 --> 00:37:11,720 But almost all the other people were people that were called of 665 00:37:11,720 --> 00:37:15,040 God and they actually stayed in the country they were in. 666 00:37:15,520 --> 00:37:18,320 So when it says they were looking for something, they 667 00:37:18,320 --> 00:37:20,840 weren't looking for a new country like Abraham. 668 00:37:21,120 --> 00:37:25,000 They were looking for something that God had in front of them, 669 00:37:25,160 --> 00:37:29,600 which is called the city of the living God by faith. 670 00:37:29,840 --> 00:37:32,240 And everybody listen to Hebrews Chapter 11, was somebody that 671 00:37:32,240 --> 00:37:36,160 did something amazing in their world, did things supernaturally 672 00:37:36,160 --> 00:37:39,680 by faith, but there was something that they could not be 673 00:37:39,680 --> 00:37:42,360 a partaker of. And that's what we are partakers 674 00:37:42,360 --> 00:37:45,720 of in the new Covenant, the city of God. 675 00:37:46,640 --> 00:37:50,920 But it does say that what they did see and what they did hear 676 00:37:50,920 --> 00:37:55,960 from God, they constantly would assure themselves and they would 677 00:37:55,960 --> 00:37:59,440 fully embrace of things because they understood how important it 678 00:37:59,440 --> 00:38:03,240 was to hold on to what God had promised to them. 679 00:38:04,120 --> 00:38:06,440 When we come to church, we should be assured of the 680 00:38:06,440 --> 00:38:08,880 principles and we should embrace those things. 681 00:38:09,320 --> 00:38:11,800 When we leave the church, we should know who we are. 682 00:38:11,800 --> 00:38:15,520 We're sons of the Most High God. We should be assured of this and 683 00:38:15,520 --> 00:38:17,640 we should embrace it. Can I hear an Amen on that 684 00:38:17,640 --> 00:38:20,320 church? We've got to know who we are. 685 00:38:20,360 --> 00:38:22,880 We got to know where we are. And we need to know that 686 00:38:22,880 --> 00:38:27,200 wherever we are, God is there because we carry him out of the 687 00:38:27,200 --> 00:38:31,200 embassy, if you would. And we are living demonstrations 688 00:38:31,200 --> 00:38:33,520 of the supernatural power of God. 689 00:38:33,960 --> 00:38:36,800 It said they were looking for a homeland is what the scripture 690 00:38:36,800 --> 00:38:40,720 said, but literally translates a fatherland because this is the 691 00:38:40,720 --> 00:38:43,760 Father's house, Amen. And because it is the Father's 692 00:38:43,760 --> 00:38:46,360 house, it is our homeland. If you would. 693 00:38:46,600 --> 00:38:51,120 So that when we leave our other world and we come to his world, 694 00:38:51,240 --> 00:38:55,880 we realize we found home. We found the place where our 695 00:38:56,520 --> 00:39:00,600 heavenly Father is, and whatever our earthly identity is, we can 696 00:39:00,600 --> 00:39:03,600 appreciate it, we can love it, certainly, but we have to 697 00:39:03,600 --> 00:39:06,400 understand we're called to something higher, Amen. 698 00:39:07,080 --> 00:39:11,720 And we have a Father that's in heaven and we have an heritage 699 00:39:11,720 --> 00:39:15,280 that God says is for each and every one of us to walk in. 700 00:39:15,680 --> 00:39:18,160 He said, but now they desire better. 701 00:39:18,160 --> 00:39:21,680 That is a heavenly country. Therefore, God is not ashamed to 702 00:39:21,680 --> 00:39:24,840 be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. 703 00:39:25,160 --> 00:39:28,400 Again, like I said, if you read this without understanding that 704 00:39:28,480 --> 00:39:31,760 this leading to chapter 12, which is a present tense 705 00:39:31,760 --> 00:39:35,200 reality, you think there we're only looking at something in the 706 00:39:35,200 --> 00:39:37,280 future. But every one of the people, if 707 00:39:37,280 --> 00:39:40,680 he was Chapter 11 did something powerful in their day. 708 00:39:40,680 --> 00:39:43,680 Amen. And all these having obtained a 709 00:39:43,680 --> 00:39:47,200 good testimony through faith, they did not receive the 710 00:39:47,200 --> 00:39:48,160 promise. Why? 711 00:39:48,480 --> 00:39:52,200 Because God having provided something better for us, the new 712 00:39:52,200 --> 00:39:56,200 covenant, that they should not be made perfect apart from us. 713 00:39:56,560 --> 00:40:00,400 So what they look for in the Old Testament is what we actually 714 00:40:00,400 --> 00:40:03,440 have an opportunity to experience in the new. 715 00:40:04,280 --> 00:40:06,560 And I don't know about you, but I've made a decision. 716 00:40:06,560 --> 00:40:09,160 I'm going to experience everything God has for me. 717 00:40:09,160 --> 00:40:12,720 Can you say Amen to that? This is Pastor Lauren Coverbius 718 00:40:12,720 --> 00:40:15,320 from Mount Zion Church. We thank you for joining us 719 00:40:15,320 --> 00:40:18,320 today and invite you to connect with our church family by 720 00:40:18,320 --> 00:40:22,080 visiting mountzion.org and following us on social media. 721 00:40:22,320 --> 00:40:23,080 God bless you.