1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:08,320 This, oh, it is most worthy. Lord God, we offer praise and 2 00:00:08,320 --> 00:00:12,920 adoration to you tonight. Oh God, Lord, let it be costly. 3 00:00:12,920 --> 00:00:16,040 Lord God, accept the fruit of our lips. 4 00:00:16,040 --> 00:00:19,200 Lord Jesus, tonight God will thank you for it. 5 00:00:19,920 --> 00:00:23,640 Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, 6 00:00:26,120 --> 00:00:34,240 Hallelujah Amen. What is oil in an alabaster box 7 00:00:34,240 --> 00:00:40,600 or fragrance from an alabaster box got to compare with blood 8 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:45,200 from a life? They say that very well possible 9 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:48,160 that that alabaster box was a family heirloom that was passed 10 00:00:48,160 --> 00:00:51,560 down from generation to generation, but still yet what 11 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:56,600 is that in comparison to the fragrance or the substance of 12 00:00:56,600 --> 00:00:58,480 life without? Amen. 13 00:00:58,480 --> 00:01:02,360 For you and I tonight, Hallelujah, it's incomparable, 14 00:01:02,880 --> 00:01:05,560 Incomparable. Hallelujah, Amen. 15 00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:07,360 Thank you for being here on Wednesday night. 16 00:01:07,920 --> 00:01:10,920 This evening. Just a few things to remember 17 00:01:11,400 --> 00:01:15,200 that we are leading into our second week of our Sunday school 18 00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:17,920 campaign. And as the results were this 19 00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:23,200 past Sunday, green had 44 points, blue had 39, yellow had 20 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:27,760 34, and red had 28. And so people already at work 21 00:01:27,760 --> 00:01:31,240 this week, I know, Amen, inviting and touching base with 22 00:01:31,240 --> 00:01:33,520 people and such. And so that's great and 23 00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:36,440 tremendous. Also, this coming Sunday night, 24 00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:38,400 we're going to do our mortgage burning. 25 00:01:38,680 --> 00:01:41,680 We'll probably have a time of our service that is going to be 26 00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:46,200 set aside just for a little reflection and that we're going 27 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:49,200 to have a mortgage burning. Someone say, Amen. 28 00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:52,640 Amen. Let it die, let it die, let it 29 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:55,120 shrivel up and die. Amen. 30 00:01:58,360 --> 00:02:00,800 So we're going to be doing that on Sunday night. 31 00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:04,400 Also, the 5th Sunday of this month, Pastor David Scott will 32 00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:08,240 be with us on Sunday morning and he will be ministering the word 33 00:02:08,240 --> 00:02:10,280 of the Lord. And so we just have one service 34 00:02:10,280 --> 00:02:13,960 on that Sunday and he will be here ministering and that'll be 35 00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:17,000 a great time in the Lord. And then the weekend after that, 36 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:20,200 after that, the first weekend there in the month of April, 37 00:02:20,200 --> 00:02:22,200 then, of course, will be Resurrection Sunday. 38 00:02:22,600 --> 00:02:26,160 And we're trying here in the next few weeks to break the 39 00:02:26,480 --> 00:02:31,080 record here at the Church of 163 that we had on the Easter back 40 00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:34,040 in 2012. It was whenever that took place. 41 00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:36,320 And so we're endeavoring to do so. 42 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:39,400 Amen. I tell you what, folks, I was 43 00:02:39,400 --> 00:02:42,040 almost begrudging Sunday night because I canceled church. 44 00:02:42,040 --> 00:02:44,000 And I like, where's the big thing that happened? 45 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:47,760 And I'm glad that it didn't, Tyler, But it's still, I was 46 00:02:47,760 --> 00:02:51,120 just kind of like man. And but then like I learned that 47 00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:54,000 brother friend said Sheila had had like lightning damage at 48 00:02:54,000 --> 00:02:56,040 their house and broke a window whole 9 yards. 49 00:02:56,360 --> 00:02:58,840 So although it didn't happen to my house, it happened somewhere. 50 00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:02,120 And so my wife was giving me a speech. 51 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:04,280 You I didn't preach Sunday night, but she did. 52 00:03:04,640 --> 00:03:07,520 She's telling me because I kept saying, well, where's it at? 53 00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:10,400 But you got to understand where I'm coming from. 54 00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:14,760 I was like, where's it at, You know? 55 00:03:14,920 --> 00:03:18,720 So I just went, got another bag of chips and I joke and I joke 56 00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:22,680 watch the rain, you know, whatever. 57 00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:26,280 Amen. Psalms chapter #90 This is just 58 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:27,920 a launch out point for us tonight. 59 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:31,040 Good to have Holly back with us. Good to have Andrew with us 60 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:34,200 tonight, Amen. Going to have Erica back with 61 00:03:34,200 --> 00:03:35,800 us. Amen. 62 00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:37,440 Each one of you, Tyler's good to see you. 63 00:03:37,440 --> 00:03:40,400 I already mentioned your name, but because I was thinking of 64 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:45,640 Emergency Management, you know, but but that's good to see you 65 00:03:45,640 --> 00:03:49,640 here tonight as well. Psalms chapter #90 verse #2 66 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:51,600 again, it's just a launch off point. 67 00:03:52,040 --> 00:03:53,560 Amen. For us tonight. 68 00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:59,360 The Bible says before the mountains were brought forth, 69 00:04:00,640 --> 00:04:04,280 wherever thou hast formed the earth and the world before all 70 00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:09,320 of this, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. 71 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:13,960 So just footnotes for us that before any of these things were 72 00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:20,320 in existence or were created or came and to be there was God in 73 00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:23,600 eternity. He stepped in time as Christ 74 00:04:23,640 --> 00:04:27,560 Jesus and Bethlehem's Manger, but he always has existed in 75 00:04:27,560 --> 00:04:29,280 eternity. Amen. 76 00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:33,520 And tonight again, I'm going on with our series on Jesus bought 77 00:04:33,520 --> 00:04:35,320 a house. We talked about last week a 78 00:04:35,320 --> 00:04:39,560 little bit about holiness is kind of like a house, about the 79 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:42,920 attributes of God being the foundation, the framework being 80 00:04:42,920 --> 00:04:45,920 the principles. When we apply those things to 81 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:49,480 our life, it'd be like the sheetrock or the vinyl siding on 82 00:04:49,480 --> 00:04:52,280 the exterior of the building. But I want to look a little bit 83 00:04:52,280 --> 00:04:55,280 more at the eternal attributes of God. 84 00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:59,840 Why all of this is important to us when we talk about the 85 00:04:59,840 --> 00:05:04,360 holiness of God is because it's not set in a time frame of the 86 00:05:04,360 --> 00:05:06,480 temporal, but in that of the eternal. 87 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:09,720 All right, that's where it really finds its origin. 88 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:11,920 Amen. Let's ask God to help us here in 89 00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:13,600 the next little while. Father, we love you. 90 00:05:14,080 --> 00:05:17,840 I thank you, Jesus, God, that every time that we come 91 00:05:17,840 --> 00:05:22,080 together, we open up your word, God, you'll come alongside and 92 00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:26,240 you'll you'll under score and you'll underwrite Lord that 93 00:05:26,240 --> 00:05:28,600 word. And I pray, O Lord, tonight able 94 00:05:28,600 --> 00:05:31,320 to touch our hearts and minds afresh and the new this evening, 95 00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:34,920 help us God to lean in God to what the Scripture may say 96 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:40,040 glorify you for it in the name of Jesus Christ Church, Amen, 97 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:41,720 Amen. God bless you. 98 00:05:43,800 --> 00:05:48,160 I've done some reaching out to people that that come here and 99 00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:52,480 been here or such and for some way, Sister Rebecca, I, I had 100 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:56,720 numbers in that were transposed. This number was supposed to be 101 00:05:56,720 --> 00:05:58,280 with this name. That number was supposed to be 102 00:05:58,280 --> 00:06:00,400 with that name and I had them flipped. 103 00:06:01,200 --> 00:06:03,760 And so I reached out. I've reached out before, you 104 00:06:03,760 --> 00:06:05,720 know, so glad to have so, so good to see you. 105 00:06:05,720 --> 00:06:08,680 Always phone numbers, so good to see you always on Sunday, blah, 106 00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:10,960 blah, blah. You know, sign up Pastor and 107 00:06:10,960 --> 00:06:13,120 Sister McGee. And they talked back da da, da, 108 00:06:13,120 --> 00:06:15,800 da. But this last time I made a 109 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:20,680 reference to them and about them that belonged with another 110 00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:22,200 person that they would have known. 111 00:06:22,840 --> 00:06:25,840 And so then I get a text back saying you must got the wrong 112 00:06:25,840 --> 00:06:28,160 number, blah, blah, blah, such and such. 113 00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:31,400 And to come find out I had a man and a woman's number flip flop 114 00:06:32,400 --> 00:06:35,680 living in two different states. But they both come to this 115 00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:36,640 church. OK? 116 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:40,240 So it's all good. So if you get something from me 117 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:43,440 and it don't sound right, just say blessing Jesus. 118 00:06:43,440 --> 00:06:46,600 I just say he cared enough to reach out to the wrong person, 119 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:53,800 OK? That's a little too much 120 00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:59,760 laughter back there. So the eternal attributes of 121 00:06:59,760 --> 00:07:02,760 God, because before we look at this framework of these 122 00:07:02,760 --> 00:07:06,080 principles, what we call principles of holiness and how 123 00:07:06,080 --> 00:07:08,800 they apply to our life, I think it's we need to clearly 124 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:12,920 understand why these principles from come from God's eternal 125 00:07:12,920 --> 00:07:15,400 attributes. And so there are many, many 126 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:18,720 people, even Christians today that whenever they think of, of 127 00:07:18,720 --> 00:07:22,600 holiness, they only think about the standards of holiness. 128 00:07:22,960 --> 00:07:25,880 And they don't realize that the principles that those things 129 00:07:25,880 --> 00:07:31,520 hang on, Amen, actually come from the attributes of God and 130 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:35,920 that he supports every true thing of application of the 131 00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:38,760 principles in our life. And we call them eternal 132 00:07:38,760 --> 00:07:43,600 principles because, as I said, they really come from eternity. 133 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:45,920 They did not begin whenever time began. 134 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:49,600 They didn't begin whenever man was first formed or whenever the 135 00:07:49,600 --> 00:07:53,680 stars were first thrown into the sky or the planets were put in 136 00:07:53,680 --> 00:07:56,360 their orbit. But these principles in reality, 137 00:07:56,360 --> 00:08:00,200 Brother Reese, because God is holy and He's always been holy. 138 00:08:00,320 --> 00:08:03,840 It's not like he became holy at some period of time in eternity. 139 00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:07,720 He's always been holy and as a result of that, these principles 140 00:08:07,720 --> 00:08:11,480 existed before creation. The principle of holiness 141 00:08:11,800 --> 00:08:15,360 existed before Genesis 11. All right, then in the beginning 142 00:08:15,360 --> 00:08:18,840 God created. And so holiness is not is not 143 00:08:18,840 --> 00:08:22,280 something that God added. All right, It's not an additive. 144 00:08:22,600 --> 00:08:26,320 That's not not something that he added after he created mankind, 145 00:08:26,320 --> 00:08:31,880 but it pre existed the very creation of mankind and it 146 00:08:31,880 --> 00:08:33,320 originates again, it's important. 147 00:08:33,559 --> 00:08:37,760 This originates from our God. This originates and stems from 148 00:08:37,760 --> 00:08:40,159 our God. And so it's God himself that 149 00:08:40,159 --> 00:08:44,159 really brought holiness out of eternity and had it come into 150 00:08:44,159 --> 00:08:47,200 the temporal world of time. It's really him that it brought 151 00:08:47,200 --> 00:08:50,400 it into that that that being and, and it should never be 152 00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:52,680 viewed or should never even be purported. 153 00:08:52,680 --> 00:08:56,440 I think maybe sometimes it has been that holiness is just a set 154 00:08:56,440 --> 00:08:59,920 of standards made by man to control believers behavior 155 00:09:01,560 --> 00:09:04,160 because that type of mindset is the incorrect mindset. 156 00:09:05,360 --> 00:09:07,560 Number one, they weren't created by man. 157 00:09:09,480 --> 00:09:13,520 It is God, Amen. And it's not for the purpose of 158 00:09:13,520 --> 00:09:16,880 necessarily controlling people's behavior as it is forging a 159 00:09:16,880 --> 00:09:22,040 relationship, Amen, between a holy God and his people, what he 160 00:09:22,040 --> 00:09:26,360 would call his church. And so holiness consists of 161 00:09:26,360 --> 00:09:31,440 principles that come from God's own holiness, his his own 162 00:09:31,720 --> 00:09:37,080 characterization of who he is. And since they are a part of 163 00:09:37,080 --> 00:09:41,000 God's eternal attributes, then that means that they are 164 00:09:41,000 --> 00:09:46,120 universal, they are unchanging, and they are also everlasting to 165 00:09:46,120 --> 00:09:49,160 everlasting just like our God is. 166 00:09:49,680 --> 00:09:52,200 And so whenever I talk about this, and I said this last week, 167 00:09:52,200 --> 00:09:54,960 but I want to emphasize again, when I talk about the attributes 168 00:09:54,960 --> 00:09:57,400 of God, I'm talking about God's identity. 169 00:09:57,400 --> 00:10:00,800 I'm talking about the qualities of his character, the qualities 170 00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:03,800 of His attributes, and I'm talking about God's purpose in 171 00:10:03,800 --> 00:10:07,240 creation. I'm talking about what God is 172 00:10:07,280 --> 00:10:12,720 like and who He is and what he does, and all of that involves 173 00:10:12,720 --> 00:10:15,960 God's personality and his character and His purpose. 174 00:10:16,280 --> 00:10:20,920 And all of these things existed in eternity past, before time 175 00:10:20,920 --> 00:10:25,480 ever began And since we know New Testament scripture speaks of 176 00:10:25,480 --> 00:10:29,400 that God that was manifested in flesh, and we know Him as Christ 177 00:10:29,400 --> 00:10:34,000 Jesus is the same yesterday and today and forever as Hebrews 13 178 00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:37,640 tells us that He changed us not. And that other portions of the 179 00:10:37,640 --> 00:10:42,040 New Testament scripture tell us that there is no variableness in 180 00:10:42,040 --> 00:10:45,400 Him, neither is there any shadow of turning again, talking about 181 00:10:45,600 --> 00:10:49,360 His immutability or His ability not to change. 182 00:10:49,600 --> 00:10:54,240 Then we understand that whatever God was before the creation of 183 00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:58,960 the world, God is now and God will be tomorrow. 184 00:10:59,400 --> 00:11:02,880 And so that's a great comfort. Would it be something to serve a 185 00:11:02,880 --> 00:11:06,520 God that constantly changes up his dynamics from day-to-day? 186 00:11:08,520 --> 00:11:10,680 Today, this is what's accepted. Tomorrow I'm going to change the 187 00:11:10,680 --> 00:11:11,880 rules. That's that's no longer 188 00:11:11,880 --> 00:11:15,000 acceptable. Now this is acceptable or today 189 00:11:15,360 --> 00:11:18,400 I'll love all of humanity and then tomorrow I'll love a I'll 190 00:11:18,400 --> 00:11:20,920 love a segment of humanity. And then could you imagine 191 00:11:20,920 --> 00:11:23,680 serving a God where there was no consistency? 192 00:11:23,960 --> 00:11:26,920 You're constantly on 8 shells because you don't know where you 193 00:11:26,920 --> 00:11:31,200 stand with God because God just might change his mind about it's 194 00:11:31,200 --> 00:11:33,680 not your God, your God is the same. 195 00:11:33,680 --> 00:11:37,240 And so we have great confidence and there's a trustworthiness we 196 00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:41,040 can have with our God as a result of that sameness and his 197 00:11:41,040 --> 00:11:44,200 unchanging trait and his unchanging ability. 198 00:11:44,480 --> 00:11:49,800 And so in Scripture, the Lord is described as a eternal spirit. 199 00:11:49,800 --> 00:11:52,760 In Hebrews 9, he's described as an eternal spirit. 200 00:11:53,160 --> 00:11:55,560 But there's other places in Scripture that you know as well, 201 00:11:55,560 --> 00:11:58,160 Brother Pat. He's described as the Holy 202 00:11:58,160 --> 00:12:00,840 Spirit, even the Holy Ghost at times. 203 00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:03,920 But when we talk about the eternal Spirit as he's 204 00:12:03,920 --> 00:12:08,360 described, it's talking about all of those qualities that God 205 00:12:08,360 --> 00:12:12,080 has that even existed before there was ever man. 206 00:12:13,280 --> 00:12:18,360 The eternality of God. God is holy, His Holiness is 207 00:12:18,400 --> 00:12:20,960 eternal. It's a quality that he had 208 00:12:21,240 --> 00:12:25,480 before man was even created. And God always was and always 209 00:12:25,480 --> 00:12:29,160 will be holy. And so whenever the Bible though 210 00:12:29,160 --> 00:12:32,520 starts to describe some of God's more personal or moral 211 00:12:32,520 --> 00:12:37,240 qualities, oftimes it refers to him as the Holy Spirit. 212 00:12:37,600 --> 00:12:44,000 The reason being is that God has a distinct holy being set apart, 213 00:12:44,280 --> 00:12:47,280 different separated that his Spirit. 214 00:12:47,360 --> 00:12:50,680 He has a distinct character traits that if you were to take 215 00:12:50,680 --> 00:12:53,640 them all and you were to summarize them, they would all 216 00:12:53,640 --> 00:12:55,720 be just integrated. And it could be summed up in 217 00:12:55,720 --> 00:12:59,240 that one word, He's holy. He's holy. 218 00:12:59,720 --> 00:13:02,080 And it's these things that we read about in Scripture. 219 00:13:02,280 --> 00:13:04,560 These traits show us what God is like. 220 00:13:05,080 --> 00:13:07,680 It makes us to be able to a certain degree, to be able to 221 00:13:07,680 --> 00:13:11,480 relate to God. When God says he's holy, all 222 00:13:11,480 --> 00:13:15,080 these traits include, Amen, what it means to be holy. 223 00:13:15,080 --> 00:13:18,080 When we say God is holy, all the traits of God are summed up in 224 00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:20,120 that. And so when we talk about 225 00:13:20,120 --> 00:13:24,960 receiving the Spirit of God, the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit, 226 00:13:25,240 --> 00:13:28,320 when we receive the Spirit of God, then the traits of that 227 00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:34,040 God, we should receive the very traits of that God, then come 228 00:13:34,240 --> 00:13:36,800 invested in our life. And it's some of those things 229 00:13:36,800 --> 00:13:39,440 that we even read about Galatians 5, some of those 230 00:13:39,480 --> 00:13:43,520 traits that we see that are called the fruit of the Spirit, 231 00:13:44,040 --> 00:13:47,960 the fruit of the Spirit, those 9 traits of love and joy and peace 232 00:13:47,960 --> 00:13:51,120 and goodness and gentleness and lone suffering and faith or 233 00:13:51,120 --> 00:13:55,080 faithfulness, meekness and temperance, all these traits God 234 00:13:55,080 --> 00:13:58,720 always had, Amen. And when we receive His Spirit, 235 00:13:58,920 --> 00:14:02,920 then they start to showcase themselves even in our lives. 236 00:14:03,120 --> 00:14:06,360 God's holiness becomes showcased in our lives. 237 00:14:06,600 --> 00:14:09,400 It's interesting when you read Galatians 5 and you read about 238 00:14:09,520 --> 00:14:13,240 the fruit of the Spirit, the Spirit, what the Holy Spirit, 239 00:14:13,280 --> 00:14:16,720 God's Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit, when you read that, 240 00:14:17,120 --> 00:14:19,440 Amen. That's not just telling us what 241 00:14:19,440 --> 00:14:23,840 God is like, but in telling us what God is like, it's also 242 00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:28,120 telling us what God is. It's not like it goes to reason 243 00:14:28,120 --> 00:14:31,440 that if we read the fruit of the Spirit that God is love, then 244 00:14:31,440 --> 00:14:34,000 it's telling us that God is not detached. 245 00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:38,520 God is not narcissistic. If we look at and it's telling 246 00:14:38,520 --> 00:14:42,080 us that he is joy, then it's telling us that he's not soul 247 00:14:42,080 --> 00:14:45,800 and and he's not depressed. If it's telling us that he's 248 00:14:45,800 --> 00:14:48,840 peace and it's telling us that he's not anxious and he's not 249 00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:53,360 agitated, if it's telling us that he's long-suffering, then 250 00:14:53,360 --> 00:14:55,320 it's telling us he's not quick tempered. 251 00:14:56,080 --> 00:14:59,320 If it's telling us he's gentle, it's telling us then that he's 252 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:03,240 not malicious, he's not cruel. If it's telling us that he is 253 00:15:03,240 --> 00:15:05,600 good, then it's telling me that he's not evil. 254 00:15:07,360 --> 00:15:09,880 If it's telling us that he's faith or he's faithful, it's 255 00:15:09,880 --> 00:15:13,160 telling me that he's not unreliable and he's not 256 00:15:13,160 --> 00:15:15,960 arbitrary. If he's telling me that he is 257 00:15:15,960 --> 00:15:19,480 meek, he's telling me that he's not rough, he's not harsh. 258 00:15:19,640 --> 00:15:22,880 If he's telling me that he's temperate, he's telling me that 259 00:15:22,880 --> 00:15:26,720 he's not out of control. So with all those traits where 260 00:15:26,720 --> 00:15:30,960 God is telling us what He is, in the same breath, the inverse is 261 00:15:30,960 --> 00:15:33,040 true. He's telling us what He is not. 262 00:15:35,680 --> 00:15:41,000 And I like that type of transparency with my God because 263 00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:45,840 I know what to expect from Him. I know what I can lean on. 264 00:15:45,840 --> 00:15:48,760 I know what I can depend on. I know what I can bring to Him. 265 00:15:51,400 --> 00:15:55,360 And so that builds with me, Brother Fred, a trust that I can 266 00:15:55,360 --> 00:15:59,920 have in my God because by all these things and what he has 267 00:15:59,920 --> 00:16:03,880 shared with me, I understand then that he is trustworthy. 268 00:16:03,880 --> 00:16:06,600 And I really don't have an excuse for not trusting God 269 00:16:06,760 --> 00:16:10,000 because his character and the traits that he has just revealed 270 00:16:10,120 --> 00:16:17,160 that he is a trustworthy God. But the issue of God just walk 271 00:16:17,160 --> 00:16:21,200 with me here a little tonight. The issue that God has an 272 00:16:21,200 --> 00:16:24,400 eternity past before anything was created. 273 00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:28,520 Just the abyss of nothingness, whatever that is. 274 00:16:29,640 --> 00:16:35,160 Imagine nothing except God. It's hard for our minds to 275 00:16:35,160 --> 00:16:37,960 fathom. Really nothing. 276 00:16:39,040 --> 00:16:44,280 Nothing. No material world even, No 277 00:16:44,280 --> 00:16:48,400 elemental world, nothing. Just God. 278 00:16:49,080 --> 00:16:52,840 So you have God and no one else exists but him. 279 00:16:54,360 --> 00:16:59,360 So at that point, Brother Alex, we don't have anybody that even 280 00:16:59,360 --> 00:17:01,840 needs to trust in God because there's nobody. 281 00:17:05,240 --> 00:17:08,440 You don't have to just walk. I know it's a Wednesday night. 282 00:17:08,440 --> 00:17:11,160 You have to think a little bit, right? 283 00:17:13,880 --> 00:17:17,640 But the trustworthiness of God couldn't even be tried or proven 284 00:17:18,920 --> 00:17:24,480 without a comparison of anybody needing to trust or lean upon 285 00:17:25,000 --> 00:17:27,280 God. There was like there wasn't 286 00:17:27,280 --> 00:17:30,840 even, there wasn't even no no opportunity for self revelation. 287 00:17:32,200 --> 00:17:34,360 God didn't have anybody he could reveal himself to. 288 00:17:34,360 --> 00:17:39,160 There was no one. There was no there was no one, 289 00:17:39,600 --> 00:17:41,640 no opportunity for relationship. There was no one to have 290 00:17:41,640 --> 00:17:42,960 relationship with. It's just God. 291 00:17:45,640 --> 00:17:50,880 He's the only one that there was no one to talk to, no one to 292 00:17:50,880 --> 00:17:53,680 share with, no one per SE to love. 293 00:17:54,880 --> 00:17:57,640 As far as being in existence, there's none. 294 00:17:58,520 --> 00:18:03,200 And so since there was nothing that existed before creation, 295 00:18:04,680 --> 00:18:07,960 then there's nothing unholy before creation for sure. 296 00:18:10,720 --> 00:18:14,720 So this whole concept of holiness, real meaning of 297 00:18:14,720 --> 00:18:19,520 holiness, God had that in himself, but there was no 298 00:18:19,520 --> 00:18:23,840 expression or comparison about for what holiness was or wasn't 299 00:18:24,160 --> 00:18:27,640 because there was nothing else, is there by following what I'm 300 00:18:27,640 --> 00:18:33,640 saying right now. So God's purity could not even 301 00:18:33,640 --> 00:18:35,920 be recognized. Now I know this is hard for us 302 00:18:35,920 --> 00:18:38,800 to talk about as purity because there was nothing else there. 303 00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:42,000 Nothing impure or anything pure is just God. 304 00:18:43,240 --> 00:18:45,240 Am I doing all right, brother? Zach, I know you think along 305 00:18:45,240 --> 00:18:46,720 these lines. A lot of times as you fall 306 00:18:46,720 --> 00:18:52,800 asleep at night without being wholly separate or distinct or 307 00:18:52,800 --> 00:18:59,000 different, that usually mean you need a means of comparison to 308 00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:02,520 distinguish or make different or apart from something else. 309 00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:06,680 But there was nothing else. You want what I'm saying by the 310 00:19:06,680 --> 00:19:08,160 below. Fill out your bracket. 311 00:19:08,240 --> 00:19:10,440 OK, You know I'm joking. He's not doing that right now. 312 00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:14,120 That does need to be done and turned into him by midnight 313 00:19:14,120 --> 00:19:16,200 tonight. Has a little commercial break 314 00:19:16,200 --> 00:19:17,360 right here. OK. 315 00:19:17,920 --> 00:19:24,120 All right, I forgot to mention that it just it snuck in. 316 00:19:24,640 --> 00:19:29,680 Just snuck in, folks. This has been one of those days. 317 00:19:29,680 --> 00:19:32,320 My mind's been 1000 different places and I'm just trying to 318 00:19:32,320 --> 00:19:36,120 rein in the whirlwind. OK, so you may be next. 319 00:19:38,880 --> 00:19:40,360 Don't worry, I probably got your number wrong. 320 00:19:44,920 --> 00:19:46,640 You in what? What? 321 00:19:46,720 --> 00:19:48,760 What do we hear from children children often, as you know, if 322 00:19:48,760 --> 00:19:54,080 God made everything, then who made God Naturally the answer is 323 00:19:54,080 --> 00:20:02,080 no one made God. God is whenever Moses had his 324 00:20:02,080 --> 00:20:04,880 burning Bush experience on the backside of the desert and 325 00:20:04,880 --> 00:20:07,800 Exodus chapter #3. And God saying I'm going to send 326 00:20:07,800 --> 00:20:10,800 you to be a deliverer for my people and get them up out of 327 00:20:10,800 --> 00:20:13,600 Egypt, the Israelites. And he says, Lord, if I go, I 328 00:20:13,600 --> 00:20:16,280 need to have a name, you know, about who who send me or who did 329 00:20:16,280 --> 00:20:18,960 did whatever is sending me and commissioned me. 330 00:20:19,320 --> 00:20:23,640 And the Lord replied to him and said I am that I am, I am. 331 00:20:23,720 --> 00:20:29,840 Tell them that I am sent you. You can read most scholars of 332 00:20:29,840 --> 00:20:33,120 even different differing faces. Most most are going to tell you 333 00:20:33,320 --> 00:20:37,680 that that I am simply meant that God was the self existent 1. 334 00:20:39,680 --> 00:20:43,920 In other words, God just simply is God exist. 335 00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:49,480 His existence isn't dependent on anything or anyone. 336 00:20:50,680 --> 00:20:54,960 He is. He was, He will be. 337 00:20:55,560 --> 00:21:00,680 And the marvelous thing he is was and we'll be all at the same 338 00:21:00,680 --> 00:21:06,240 time. God's working in junior today 339 00:21:06,800 --> 00:21:10,920 because he he's not in time, He's out here in eternity. 340 00:21:11,440 --> 00:21:14,600 He sees past, present and future all at once. 341 00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:21,400 That's how in Isaiah he could say that a virgin shall conceive 342 00:21:21,720 --> 00:21:23,840 in Isaiah. And there's actually a 343 00:21:23,840 --> 00:21:27,760 definitive article in the Hebrew the virgin he already had the 344 00:21:27,760 --> 00:21:33,400 one picked out. He's saying that in that moment, 345 00:21:33,400 --> 00:21:36,920 Isaiah that she's a was already picked and he's just going to 346 00:21:36,920 --> 00:21:40,520 use time to reveal what he already picked Mary. 347 00:21:41,360 --> 00:21:43,760 OK, we can't get into all that. We got to stay with this. 348 00:21:44,920 --> 00:21:49,080 But Isaiah 45 and five, God declared I am the Lord. 349 00:21:49,560 --> 00:21:53,720 There is none else. There is no God beside me. 350 00:21:53,960 --> 00:21:55,400 I girded thee, though thou knowest. 351 00:21:55,400 --> 00:22:00,040 Noah has not known me. So if God is the only God there 352 00:22:00,040 --> 00:22:05,400 is, which he is, then that means before creation be all, before 353 00:22:05,400 --> 00:22:07,480 all these things he's completely alone. 354 00:22:08,280 --> 00:22:12,000 And all the qualities of his character, however fantastic, 355 00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:15,440 and they are fantastic, they are, He did not have anybody 356 00:22:15,440 --> 00:22:19,440 else to relate to or express himself through or to for them 357 00:22:19,440 --> 00:22:23,720 to be able to appreciate qualities that he had. 358 00:22:24,840 --> 00:22:26,320 What are you saying? I'm saying, well, it might be 359 00:22:26,320 --> 00:22:32,040 wonderful that God is love, but love is an idea unless love can 360 00:22:32,040 --> 00:22:35,680 be expressed or shown or manifested in some way. 361 00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:39,600 Same thing with general, same thing with all of those traits. 362 00:22:39,600 --> 00:22:42,960 All of those are wonderful, but there's no one else around. 363 00:22:43,720 --> 00:22:46,200 It doesn't mean that God was any less loving. 364 00:22:46,640 --> 00:22:49,440 It just meant there was nobody to express his love to. 365 00:22:53,240 --> 00:22:55,280 Amen. It doesn't mean that God's love 366 00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:59,320 was meaningless. It just wasn't meaningful to 367 00:22:59,320 --> 00:23:01,040 anybody because no one was there. 368 00:23:02,680 --> 00:23:08,000 When God said in second in Genesis 2 verse 18, He said it 369 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:12,440 is not good that the man should be alone. 370 00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:15,760 And that was a true statement for Adam. 371 00:23:15,760 --> 00:23:19,040 But it was also a glimpse into the heart of God, almost 372 00:23:19,040 --> 00:23:24,440 metaphorically about the aloneness of God, that God even 373 00:23:24,440 --> 00:23:29,520 being by Himself just follow me was not totally good. 374 00:23:30,480 --> 00:23:36,240 Because then everything that He was is unknown, unexpressed, 375 00:23:36,280 --> 00:23:41,720 unrealized. For anything else, there had to 376 00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:45,280 be something so there could be expression of love and the joy 377 00:23:45,280 --> 00:23:47,840 and the peace and the blown suffering and so on and so 378 00:23:47,840 --> 00:23:51,240 forth. And so God knew His intent from 379 00:23:51,240 --> 00:23:53,560 the very beginning. God had a plan. 380 00:23:54,240 --> 00:23:59,080 God had a plan just as he made an Eve to be a relational 381 00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:04,080 partner for Adam in the book of Genesis, just as he made an 382 00:24:04,080 --> 00:24:07,440 object for Adam's love to be expressed. 383 00:24:07,840 --> 00:24:12,200 God determined in eternity past before there was anything that 384 00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:17,040 he was going to make himself, quote UN quote, an eve that he 385 00:24:17,040 --> 00:24:21,000 could have relational partner with and would be a object of 386 00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:26,120 all of the qualities that he was before there was even anybody. 387 00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:30,280 The Bible refers to this. We know what it's called. 388 00:24:30,440 --> 00:24:33,440 The Bible refers to this relational partner as his 389 00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:37,840 church, His church. It's a term that comes from a 390 00:24:37,840 --> 00:24:40,240 Greek word that's that's called ecclesia. 391 00:24:40,440 --> 00:24:44,920 It means the called out ones or the gathering of the people. 392 00:24:44,920 --> 00:24:47,200 It's talking about those who have been gathered out of 393 00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:51,680 society, out of the world into a relationship with God through 394 00:24:51,680 --> 00:24:54,480 the gospel of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus 395 00:24:54,480 --> 00:24:56,600 Christ. It is also called, you see it 396 00:24:56,600 --> 00:24:59,680 New Testament Scripture. It's also called the bride of 397 00:24:59,680 --> 00:25:05,600 Christ, Amen. And so we see in Scripture that 398 00:25:05,640 --> 00:25:09,360 Jesus Christ, God manifested in the flesh according to First 399 00:25:09,360 --> 00:25:14,240 Timothy 316, that Jesus Christ and this church was going to 400 00:25:14,240 --> 00:25:18,000 have a relationship. And that relationship was really 401 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:21,120 symbolized in the book of Genesis by a relationship 402 00:25:21,120 --> 00:25:25,160 between Adam and Eve. All right, the man in his bride, 403 00:25:25,160 --> 00:25:28,400 the man in his wife. But here's the awesome thing. 404 00:25:28,520 --> 00:25:31,840 Whenever God decided, whenever that was, how would that happen? 405 00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:36,160 Whenever God decided to create a universe with a planet called 406 00:25:36,240 --> 00:25:38,960 Earth, Amen. And there would be living things 407 00:25:38,960 --> 00:25:41,800 up on this earth, such as men and women. 408 00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:46,440 God's holiness became then evident, because now, whereas 409 00:25:46,440 --> 00:25:50,680 there was nothing, now there is something for the expressions of 410 00:25:50,680 --> 00:25:54,320 God's love and his joy and his long-suffering and his goodness 411 00:25:54,560 --> 00:25:58,840 and his gentleness, all to be disposed upon because God's no 412 00:25:58,840 --> 00:26:01,600 longer alone. Now there's a man and his wife 413 00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:04,760 and they have children, and they are multiplying and having more 414 00:26:04,760 --> 00:26:07,000 children. And now all of these qualities 415 00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:11,160 of God that were seemingly unrealized can now be realized 416 00:26:11,160 --> 00:26:14,920 from going from an idea to an expression because there are 417 00:26:14,920 --> 00:26:18,960 people people now that they can be expressed to. 418 00:26:19,280 --> 00:26:21,680 I know all this was going in the mind of God. 419 00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:24,640 Amen. Everything he knew who he was, 420 00:26:24,640 --> 00:26:27,040 He knew what he was. He knew what he was capable of, 421 00:26:27,240 --> 00:26:29,520 but now it could be expressed to mankind. 422 00:26:29,680 --> 00:26:33,800 It can be expressed to people that he wants and desires to be 423 00:26:33,800 --> 00:26:37,840 a people among people, a call out people, a people called his 424 00:26:37,840 --> 00:26:41,400 church and his bride if as all possible. 425 00:26:41,600 --> 00:26:44,760 And that's partly what Jesus meant in New Testament Scripture 426 00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:49,040 in the Gospel of John and verse 17 or chapter 17 and verse 24, 427 00:26:49,280 --> 00:26:53,120 Jesus said, and he's speaking, he's speaking as a man to the 428 00:26:53,120 --> 00:26:57,640 Spirit and he says, for thou hast loved, thou lovest me for 429 00:26:57,640 --> 00:27:01,840 thou lovest me before. If I say before, for thou lovest 430 00:27:01,840 --> 00:27:04,120 me before the foundation of the world. 431 00:27:04,560 --> 00:27:06,360 But here's what Jesus wasn't saying. 432 00:27:06,920 --> 00:27:10,320 Jesus was not saying I'm the second person of the Godhead 433 00:27:10,320 --> 00:27:13,200 that existed in bodily form with you at the creation of the 434 00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:15,280 world. He is not saying that. 435 00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:18,760 What he is saying is this God, you loved me. 436 00:27:18,760 --> 00:27:22,720 What is Christ Jesus Christ? Jesus is the plan. 437 00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:27,960 Christ Jesus is the plan. He's the body. 438 00:27:28,240 --> 00:27:32,320 He's the blood that would need to be shed for the saving of 439 00:27:32,320 --> 00:27:37,000 humanity, of bringing a people among the people to be made part 440 00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:41,640 of the church. And that plan had always been in 441 00:27:41,640 --> 00:27:44,920 the mind of God. Oh, God help me right now. 442 00:27:45,160 --> 00:27:48,960 I think it's important tonight to understand that God's plan 443 00:27:48,960 --> 00:27:52,480 was not a afterthought. It's not as though God created 444 00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:54,320 Adam and Eve. And there was the serpent that 445 00:27:54,320 --> 00:27:57,240 came down the beguile, the Eve, and she ate and gave her husband 446 00:27:57,240 --> 00:27:59,840 also that was with her and ate. And there was transgression. 447 00:27:59,840 --> 00:28:01,280 And there was the curse gun upon them. 448 00:28:01,520 --> 00:28:04,240 And then God scratched his head and said, you know what? 449 00:28:04,400 --> 00:28:06,120 I might need to do something about this. 450 00:28:06,120 --> 00:28:11,160 No, God had a plan before there was ever a man, before the 451 00:28:11,160 --> 00:28:15,360 foundation of the world. Christ said you loved me before 452 00:28:15,360 --> 00:28:16,560 the foundation. What did he love? 453 00:28:16,680 --> 00:28:26,240 He loved the plan. Someone came in, He loved the 454 00:28:26,240 --> 00:28:30,120 plan. Just as a painter is not his 455 00:28:30,120 --> 00:28:37,800 painting, but the creator of it, so too is God as a creator. 456 00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:40,160 He is a creator, but he's not his creation. 457 00:28:42,200 --> 00:28:47,600 The Bible says in Romans 120 that the invisible things of him 458 00:28:47,600 --> 00:28:52,920 from the creation of the world, the invisible things are clearly 459 00:28:52,920 --> 00:28:57,080 seen, being understood by the things that are made. 460 00:28:59,880 --> 00:29:03,320 You create something. Your creation should be subject 461 00:29:03,320 --> 00:29:07,720 to the Creator, right? Make that chair. 462 00:29:07,720 --> 00:29:09,800 That's my chair. Chair belongs to me. 463 00:29:10,520 --> 00:29:12,360 If I want to set that chair over there, I'll set it over there. 464 00:29:12,880 --> 00:29:14,520 I want to rock in that chair. I'll rock in that chair. 465 00:29:15,320 --> 00:29:17,520 On the Creator is the creation. It's subject unto me. 466 00:29:18,160 --> 00:29:20,720 It exists because I willed it into being. 467 00:29:20,760 --> 00:29:22,240 I thought about making the chair. 468 00:29:22,240 --> 00:29:23,800 I made a chair. I made it. 469 00:29:28,160 --> 00:29:35,880 And so God has created things and He gives things meaning and 470 00:29:35,880 --> 00:29:38,680 He expresses himself through what He has created. 471 00:29:40,080 --> 00:29:42,600 He even expresses, the Bible says the invisible things of the 472 00:29:42,600 --> 00:29:45,680 world since creation can be understand by what's been made. 473 00:29:46,440 --> 00:29:49,800 Even the expression of God's love and His Holiness, all these 474 00:29:49,800 --> 00:29:53,280 things that were invisible at creation, He makes known through 475 00:29:53,280 --> 00:29:56,760 what he has created. Because of this, we can 476 00:29:56,760 --> 00:30:00,520 understand today then that this holiness existed again before 477 00:30:00,520 --> 00:30:04,160 even Genesis 11. It didn't just begin whenever 478 00:30:04,160 --> 00:30:07,840 God started creating, but the moment he decided to create, the 479 00:30:07,840 --> 00:30:13,160 very, the very thought, the very idea when the first idea came of 480 00:30:13,160 --> 00:30:16,840 creation, that expression into the material world. 481 00:30:17,120 --> 00:30:20,280 Hey man, whenever all of that started to happen, because what 482 00:30:20,280 --> 00:30:22,640 happens, you get the thought before you do it, right? 483 00:30:22,960 --> 00:30:24,920 You get the thought to paint before you paint. 484 00:30:25,800 --> 00:30:29,120 You go write a book. You don't, you think about it. 485 00:30:29,920 --> 00:30:31,960 This is just real and inhumanity. 486 00:30:32,520 --> 00:30:34,160 Go take a step. I just thought about doing it 487 00:30:34,160 --> 00:30:36,760 before I did it. I know something seems so second 488 00:30:36,760 --> 00:30:38,600 nature, but they don't happen without a thought. 489 00:30:41,280 --> 00:30:44,240 Universe. There's some thought in order. 490 00:30:44,640 --> 00:30:48,760 So holiness came into being at the moment of thought of the 491 00:30:48,760 --> 00:30:51,880 expression of that thought. And every created thing you talk 492 00:30:51,880 --> 00:30:54,320 about the universe, the moon, the earth, the stars, the 493 00:30:54,320 --> 00:30:56,880 mountains, the seas, the plants, all of these things. 494 00:30:57,760 --> 00:31:01,440 God made all these things for the purpose of His creation, 495 00:31:01,440 --> 00:31:06,800 namely mankind. Man has always been the purpose 496 00:31:06,800 --> 00:31:09,760 for God. Man has been the reason for 497 00:31:09,760 --> 00:31:13,760 everything for God, because that's the reason why all the 498 00:31:13,760 --> 00:31:18,920 way back before the beginning of time, He designated to have a 499 00:31:18,920 --> 00:31:24,240 people, a bride, a chosen. So the church is the object of 500 00:31:24,240 --> 00:31:27,120 God's love. Yes it is the church is the 501 00:31:27,120 --> 00:31:29,880 object of God's love. The Bible says in Ephesians 2 502 00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:32,400 four I know this is heavy for some folks on Wednesday. 503 00:31:32,440 --> 00:31:35,480 I'm so sorry. Come back Sunday, next Wednesday 504 00:31:36,040 --> 00:31:38,640 the Bible says. But God, who is rich in mercy 505 00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:42,760 for his great love wherewith he loved us even when we were dead 506 00:31:42,760 --> 00:31:45,600 in sins, have quickened us together with Christ. 507 00:31:45,840 --> 00:31:49,480 By thy grace are ye saved, and hath raised us up together and 508 00:31:49,480 --> 00:31:53,680 made us to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. 509 00:31:53,680 --> 00:31:58,760 Look at verse 7. That in the ages to come he 510 00:31:58,760 --> 00:32:03,760 might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness 511 00:32:03,760 --> 00:32:07,240 toward us through Christ Jesus in the ages to come. 512 00:32:07,480 --> 00:32:10,160 And so the apostle Paul is explaining right here in this 513 00:32:10,160 --> 00:32:14,960 passage that although we had rejected God and although we 514 00:32:14,960 --> 00:32:20,160 were dead in our trespasses and our sins, because of God's great 515 00:32:20,160 --> 00:32:27,480 love for us, God then made us alive through a new birth 516 00:32:27,480 --> 00:32:31,320 experience. And he raised this to a position 517 00:32:31,560 --> 00:32:35,240 by his Spirit and in his spirit. And we start asking the 518 00:32:35,240 --> 00:32:37,160 question, God, why would you do that? 519 00:32:37,320 --> 00:32:39,240 What what was your purpose for doing that? 520 00:32:39,440 --> 00:32:43,560 And he answers it in verse 7. He says, I did this to you for 521 00:32:43,560 --> 00:32:47,880 you because in the ages to come, I'm going to I'm going to 522 00:32:47,880 --> 00:32:52,640 display the surpassing riches of my grace and my kindness towards 523 00:32:52,640 --> 00:32:56,400 you in Christ Jesus. Someone say Amen. 524 00:32:57,120 --> 00:33:00,080 You know what he's saying. He's saying I've I've done this 525 00:33:00,080 --> 00:33:05,320 for you because I'm going to show to all the world how a man 526 00:33:05,320 --> 00:33:10,520 ought to treat his bride. And I'm going to do it among the 527 00:33:10,520 --> 00:33:13,640 public eye. I'm going to demonstrate the 528 00:33:13,640 --> 00:33:17,400 depth of my greatness, of my ability, of my love and my 529 00:33:17,400 --> 00:33:20,360 kindness and my goodness and my gentleness towards you, my 530 00:33:20,360 --> 00:33:23,480 church, because this is the heart of God. 531 00:33:23,640 --> 00:33:26,960 This is the purpose that He has even in creation. 532 00:33:27,200 --> 00:33:30,400 This is who God is. This is what God is all about. 533 00:33:30,560 --> 00:33:34,040 Everything that God says, everything that he does revolves 534 00:33:34,040 --> 00:33:39,240 around His eternal plan to have a bride for himself. 535 00:33:39,240 --> 00:33:40,720 Watch me here. We'll look at it. 536 00:33:40,960 --> 00:33:47,360 Who is holy and without blemish, whom he can love forever and 537 00:33:47,360 --> 00:33:51,760 ever, and who in return will reciprocate that love and love 538 00:33:51,760 --> 00:33:55,720 him in return? Am I doing OK? 539 00:33:56,680 --> 00:33:59,760 Oh, you say this for the McGee. Well, let's look at some 540 00:33:59,760 --> 00:34:03,920 scriptures. Can we really understand the 541 00:34:03,960 --> 00:34:12,000 eternal realm? I think, I think we can to a 542 00:34:12,000 --> 00:34:16,679 degree. I don't think we can just do it 543 00:34:16,679 --> 00:34:19,880 through human reasoning or or just do it through scientific 544 00:34:19,880 --> 00:34:22,400 investigation. I mean, Paul even said in Romans 545 00:34:22,400 --> 00:34:26,520 1133, he said how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways 546 00:34:26,520 --> 00:34:29,320 are past finding now. But the Bible does say in 547 00:34:29,320 --> 00:34:32,320 Deuteronomy 2929, Moses said these words. 548 00:34:32,760 --> 00:34:39,440 He said the secret things belong unto the Lord our God, but those 549 00:34:39,440 --> 00:34:44,239 things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children 550 00:34:44,239 --> 00:34:47,920 forever, that we may do all the words of His law. 551 00:34:48,840 --> 00:34:51,960 So there's some things that God keeps hid, but the things that 552 00:34:51,960 --> 00:34:58,400 God expresses to us, He wants us to know for the purpose of doing 553 00:34:58,400 --> 00:35:02,040 all of His words and His desires and His expectations. 554 00:35:02,360 --> 00:35:06,080 So there are some things that are knowable about God that He 555 00:35:06,080 --> 00:35:10,640 chose to reveal to us. And he says there in Deuteronomy 556 00:35:10,640 --> 00:35:14,400 that we should we should be required to know them because 557 00:35:14,400 --> 00:35:17,960 the purpose of him giving them to us is so that we'll 558 00:35:17,960 --> 00:35:20,280 understand what the Lord has required. 559 00:35:21,080 --> 00:35:26,320 Do all the words of the law. There's been a lot in Scripture 560 00:35:26,320 --> 00:35:28,040 revealed about God and his purpose. 561 00:35:28,880 --> 00:35:31,960 And here are some principles. Peter wrote this in first Peter 562 00:35:31,960 --> 00:35:35,640 1 verses 18 through 20, and I'm skipping around a little bit 563 00:35:35,640 --> 00:35:39,920 there, but here's some some confident principles, Amen that 564 00:35:39,920 --> 00:35:42,000 we're called to follow. He said we were redeemed not 565 00:35:42,000 --> 00:35:45,760 with corruptible things such as silver and gold a little further 566 00:35:45,760 --> 00:35:49,960 down it says, but with the precious blood of Christ as a 567 00:35:49,960 --> 00:35:53,080 lamb, without blemish and without spot. 568 00:35:53,480 --> 00:36:00,240 He then explained that he was 4 ordained before the foundation 569 00:36:00,960 --> 00:36:03,280 of the world. Look at Peter's language. 570 00:36:03,520 --> 00:36:08,560 He's 4 ordained where it means he was known beforehand. 571 00:36:08,560 --> 00:36:13,800 You know what that tells me? That tells me that God knew 572 00:36:13,800 --> 00:36:18,640 beforehand, before the foundation of the world. 573 00:36:18,640 --> 00:36:25,400 He had that plan. Christ, Jesus Calvary, death, 574 00:36:26,200 --> 00:36:32,520 bloodshed for the bride, for the church. 575 00:36:32,840 --> 00:36:37,320 God knew even before anybody else existed, before the 576 00:36:37,320 --> 00:36:41,440 foundation of the world, that one day He would enter his 577 00:36:41,440 --> 00:36:45,760 creation in human form and shed blood for mankind. 578 00:36:45,760 --> 00:36:48,840 Salvation. That's exciting again, Sister 579 00:36:48,840 --> 00:36:51,200 Sheila, because that's not an afterthought of God. 580 00:36:53,760 --> 00:36:56,280 Let me back it up and say it like this for everybody here 581 00:36:56,280 --> 00:36:59,120 tonight. You were not an afterthought of 582 00:36:59,120 --> 00:37:02,800 God. Your salvation was an 583 00:37:02,800 --> 00:37:06,080 afterthought of God. Your deliverance hasn't been. 584 00:37:07,400 --> 00:37:10,560 I know we sing the the song when he was on the cross, I was on 585 00:37:10,560 --> 00:37:12,920 his mind. But I'm here to tell you before 586 00:37:12,920 --> 00:37:17,400 there was anything else material, elements, people, 587 00:37:17,520 --> 00:37:21,520 bushes, vegetation, you were on his mind. 588 00:37:22,800 --> 00:37:27,080 It wasn't just a Calvary this far removed from Calvary. 589 00:37:27,200 --> 00:37:33,480 You and he had a plan. You know what that tells me? 590 00:37:33,640 --> 00:37:36,280 There don't have to be people that sit on pews and say, well, 591 00:37:36,280 --> 00:37:38,080 I've done so much mess, so much up. 592 00:37:38,080 --> 00:37:41,120 I'm in this great pit, I've done this, that we bring our long 593 00:37:41,120 --> 00:37:42,920 laundry list of everything we've done to God. 594 00:37:42,920 --> 00:37:44,280 Like now. God, what are you going to do 595 00:37:44,280 --> 00:37:45,920 with that? He said, I've been thinking 596 00:37:45,920 --> 00:37:49,400 about this for eternity. I've already got this situation. 597 00:37:49,400 --> 00:37:52,000 I already got this figured out. You say no hope. 598 00:37:52,000 --> 00:37:54,040 I say hope. You say no deliverance. 599 00:37:54,040 --> 00:37:56,000 I say deliverance. You say no way. 600 00:37:56,000 --> 00:38:00,560 I say I've already made a way. I thought about this before your 601 00:38:00,560 --> 00:38:02,880 first mom and daddy, Adam and Eve were ever born. 602 00:38:02,880 --> 00:38:19,800 I got this. God planned deliverance and 603 00:38:19,800 --> 00:38:27,600 salvation from eternity past, but He revealed the plan to us 604 00:38:29,200 --> 00:38:41,160 so that we would be motivated in a relationship to live our lives 605 00:38:42,680 --> 00:38:50,040 as He desires, being purchased by His blood as Him being owner 606 00:38:50,040 --> 00:38:54,960 and operator of our lives. Paul described the idea that 607 00:38:54,960 --> 00:38:59,080 God, God manifested in the flesh, Jesus Christ hanging on 608 00:38:59,080 --> 00:39:03,720 the cross, mankind sins. He says in the 1st Corinthians 2 609 00:39:03,720 --> 00:39:08,680 seven that the hidden, the hidden wisdom which God ordained 610 00:39:08,880 --> 00:39:14,280 before the world unto our glory. You know what he says? 611 00:39:14,760 --> 00:39:19,760 He says that none of the rulers of the world understood what was 612 00:39:19,760 --> 00:39:24,480 going on really at Calvary. Matter of fact, he says, had 613 00:39:24,480 --> 00:39:27,760 they had realized what was going on, they would not have 614 00:39:27,760 --> 00:39:32,080 crucified him. Had they known, Paul concluded, 615 00:39:32,360 --> 00:39:38,240 they would not have crucified the Lord of glory, but Jesus 616 00:39:38,240 --> 00:39:40,800 Christ and His agonizing death on that cross. 617 00:39:41,640 --> 00:39:46,080 Yes, it was to save us from our sins, but it was also to extend 618 00:39:46,120 --> 00:39:49,000 beyond that. The Bible says in Ephesians 1 619 00:39:49,000 --> 00:39:52,240 and verse #4 Paul's writing to the church at Ephesus and 620 00:39:52,240 --> 00:39:54,840 Ephesians one and verse #4 Thank you for having the time up 621 00:39:54,840 --> 00:39:55,880 there, because I don't have it up here. 622 00:39:55,880 --> 00:40:00,000 Pray God, Amen. Verse #4 says according 623 00:40:01,720 --> 00:40:06,440 according as He hath chosen us in Him. 624 00:40:08,640 --> 00:40:12,280 You know, watch this. According as He hath chosen us 625 00:40:12,280 --> 00:40:17,520 in Him, the US in Him is the Church us in Him. 626 00:40:19,920 --> 00:40:23,320 According to see if chosen us and God has chosen the church, 627 00:40:24,800 --> 00:40:31,360 God has chosen His bride, the US in him before the foundation of 628 00:40:31,360 --> 00:40:35,320 the world, He's chosen the church, the church, the bride. 629 00:40:37,600 --> 00:40:41,760 You have a choice to be a part of that church or not. 630 00:40:42,640 --> 00:40:45,240 You have a choice to be a part of that bride or not. 631 00:40:46,920 --> 00:40:49,960 Regardless what you choose. He's chose his church. 632 00:40:51,640 --> 00:40:53,200 You can be a part of it. You're part of it. 633 00:40:53,200 --> 00:40:56,520 He's chose you. You can reject it, not be a part 634 00:40:56,520 --> 00:40:59,160 of it. He still chose his church. 635 00:41:00,200 --> 00:41:04,040 He's not overstepped your will of having a choice. 636 00:41:04,320 --> 00:41:08,360 You have a choice to be a part of what he loves or not, a part 637 00:41:08,360 --> 00:41:14,600 of what he loves. The Church, His Bride, according 638 00:41:14,600 --> 00:41:17,960 as he has chosen us in Him, the Church before the foundation of 639 00:41:17,960 --> 00:41:25,560 the world, that we, the Church, the Church should be holy 640 00:41:27,280 --> 00:41:32,640 without blame before Him, and love having predestinated us 641 00:41:32,640 --> 00:41:35,240 into the adoption of the children of Jesus Christ to 642 00:41:35,240 --> 00:41:36,760 Himself. He's still talking about the 643 00:41:36,760 --> 00:41:41,280 Church according to the good pleasure of His will. 644 00:41:41,440 --> 00:41:44,000 What a statement though today, folks here that Paul's writing 645 00:41:44,000 --> 00:41:47,320 here that before he laid the foundations of the world in 646 00:41:47,320 --> 00:41:51,560 somewhere in eternity past, God decided I'm going to have a 647 00:41:51,560 --> 00:41:54,960 bride. I'm going to have a church. 648 00:41:56,080 --> 00:41:59,840 And if people come and want to be a part of this church and 649 00:41:59,840 --> 00:42:05,520 adopt me as their Savior and me adopt them as their sons, then 650 00:42:05,520 --> 00:42:09,280 these people that I'll call my church that's made the choice to 651 00:42:09,280 --> 00:42:14,520 be a part of it shall be holy and without blame. 652 00:42:15,520 --> 00:42:19,360 And all of this, listen to me, wasn't just deciding New 653 00:42:19,360 --> 00:42:23,520 Testament Scripture. God decided the integrity and 654 00:42:23,520 --> 00:42:27,800 the purity of His Church before the foundation of the holiness 655 00:42:28,200 --> 00:42:31,560 was chosen before the foundation of the world. 656 00:42:37,640 --> 00:42:41,480 It's not some newfangled idea, some institutions, but no, this 657 00:42:41,480 --> 00:42:44,920 is something that before the foundation of the world, he 658 00:42:44,920 --> 00:42:47,240 said. This will be my church, it will 659 00:42:47,240 --> 00:42:53,960 be holy, it will be blameless. It's all part of the plan from 660 00:42:53,960 --> 00:43:00,760 the beginning and the plan said that says to have been 661 00:43:01,000 --> 00:43:04,400 predestined or predestinated by God according to the good 662 00:43:04,400 --> 00:43:07,920 pleasure of his will. The term predestinines to 663 00:43:07,920 --> 00:43:12,320 determine in advance. God determined some things in 664 00:43:12,320 --> 00:43:15,240 advance concerning his church. It'll be a holy church. 665 00:43:16,600 --> 00:43:19,760 It'll be a pure church. This is not the understanding. 666 00:43:19,920 --> 00:43:22,880 There's the idea out there, Calvinism, that that says that 667 00:43:22,880 --> 00:43:24,680 every individual is predestinated. 668 00:43:24,920 --> 00:43:26,960 You were born in this world. You are a predestined to be 669 00:43:26,960 --> 00:43:29,880 saved or lost. That takes the human will 670 00:43:29,880 --> 00:43:34,080 totally out of the picture. That would mean you'd be born in 671 00:43:34,080 --> 00:43:35,800 this world. You just live your life because 672 00:43:35,800 --> 00:43:37,360 you're already destined in one way or the other. 673 00:43:41,920 --> 00:43:44,120 He didn't predestine the individual, he predestined the 674 00:43:44,120 --> 00:43:46,640 church. Again, you have a choice to be a 675 00:43:46,640 --> 00:43:51,440 part of it or not. But he's also predestined his 676 00:43:51,440 --> 00:43:59,240 church to be holy and pure and without spot and with there's a 677 00:43:59,240 --> 00:44:02,760 lot of characterizations that he's put on his church. 678 00:44:04,840 --> 00:44:07,720 Everybody doing OK, I know we're trading deep tonight, aren't we? 679 00:44:13,550 --> 00:44:18,710 So what God predetermined from the foundation of the world, I'm 680 00:44:18,710 --> 00:44:21,190 going to have a church. I'm going to have a bride. 681 00:44:22,430 --> 00:44:25,030 People have choices to be a part of the bride or not part of the 682 00:44:25,030 --> 00:44:27,750 bride. They obey the gospel. 683 00:44:27,750 --> 00:44:30,960 They not obey the gospel and pursue a life of faith or not, 684 00:44:31,480 --> 00:44:33,120 holiness or not, all these things are not. 685 00:44:33,880 --> 00:44:38,000 But what we know for certain is this is that by God's own will, 686 00:44:38,160 --> 00:44:40,680 right? It said according to the good 687 00:44:40,680 --> 00:44:46,520 pleasure of His will, that by God's own will beforehand, 688 00:44:46,880 --> 00:44:50,200 before He began creating, He decided I'm going to be a savior 689 00:44:50,200 --> 00:44:55,120 for mankind and I'm going to do a redemptive act and I'm going 690 00:44:55,120 --> 00:44:58,760 to gain to myself a holy blameless bride. 691 00:45:01,560 --> 00:45:03,040 That's not everything Scripture reveals. 692 00:45:03,040 --> 00:45:06,560 Sister Sheila and his letter to Titus. 693 00:45:08,240 --> 00:45:15,520 Paul described this in Titus 1/2 of a hope of eternal life, which 694 00:45:15,520 --> 00:45:21,800 God that cannot lie promised. Here we go again before the 695 00:45:21,800 --> 00:45:27,720 world begin, folks, there's a whole lot of there's a whole lot 696 00:45:27,720 --> 00:45:31,000 of things that happened before we ever came around that God 697 00:45:31,000 --> 00:45:33,960 already decided concerning himself, his church. 698 00:45:35,880 --> 00:45:39,800 So he decided to plan for the saving humanity to be a part of 699 00:45:39,800 --> 00:45:42,160 his church. He decided the integrity of his 700 00:45:42,160 --> 00:45:45,080 church, and he decided that that bride he was going to be with 701 00:45:45,080 --> 00:45:47,880 forever, all before the foundation of the world. 702 00:45:53,360 --> 00:45:55,760 Listen, this is not the one. This is not like what you read 703 00:45:55,760 --> 00:45:57,680 in the New Testament says you need to sit down and count the 704 00:45:57,680 --> 00:45:59,040 cost. If a man's going to build. 705 00:45:59,360 --> 00:46:02,680 God's already been counting, OK? He's been doing, he's been 706 00:46:02,680 --> 00:46:04,000 writing up the script, all right? 707 00:46:04,880 --> 00:46:06,280 He knows what it's going to take. 708 00:46:09,040 --> 00:46:13,640 So before time started ticking right and I've had the planetary 709 00:46:13,640 --> 00:46:15,920 systems all that in order for the sun stuff for all this to 710 00:46:15,920 --> 00:46:18,520 happen. He already decided he would 711 00:46:18,520 --> 00:46:24,280 become a man. He would have a body, you'd be 712 00:46:24,280 --> 00:46:28,800 in flesh and he'd have a blood blot church forever. 713 00:46:32,800 --> 00:46:40,830 That's pretty awesome. Ephesians 527 I'm hurrying. 714 00:46:40,830 --> 00:46:44,830 I am I'm so sorry. The union of Christ and his 715 00:46:44,830 --> 00:46:47,590 bride. Ephesians 527 that he might 716 00:46:47,590 --> 00:46:52,430 present to himself what? Now we read this sometimes like, 717 00:46:52,590 --> 00:46:54,840 oh, so now you tell, No, it's not. 718 00:46:54,840 --> 00:46:57,200 Now you tell us God, He's planned this from before. 719 00:46:58,000 --> 00:47:00,200 We shouldn't be surprised that he's going to present himself a 720 00:47:00,200 --> 00:47:02,240 glorious church whenever he planned that he would have a 721 00:47:02,240 --> 00:47:05,600 holy, unblameable church from the beginning. 722 00:47:06,040 --> 00:47:09,600 Does that make sense? But it's not like, Oh God, God 723 00:47:09,600 --> 00:47:11,600 sprung one on us. Now we got to be without 724 00:47:11,600 --> 00:47:14,800 spottering. No, this has always been the 725 00:47:14,800 --> 00:47:22,360 plan. This holy God, holy thing, it's 726 00:47:22,360 --> 00:47:27,800 always been the plan. This, this is not some little 727 00:47:27,800 --> 00:47:31,040 caveat over here. So let me pull a buddy out of my 728 00:47:31,040 --> 00:47:40,620 hat. Holy no, that he might present 729 00:47:40,980 --> 00:47:42,660 it to himself. A glorious church, not having 730 00:47:42,660 --> 00:47:47,500 spot or wrink or any such thing, but that it should be holy 731 00:47:47,540 --> 00:47:51,180 without blemish. Yep, I purposed that from the 732 00:47:51,180 --> 00:47:56,520 foundation of the world. The Bible says in First 733 00:47:56,520 --> 00:47:59,840 Thessalonians 4 and verse 7. This is a fulfillment of 734 00:47:59,840 --> 00:48:01,280 promise, really. In Scripture. 735 00:48:01,480 --> 00:48:03,960 The Bible says that the dead in Christ shall rise first in verse 736 00:48:03,960 --> 00:48:06,200 17. Then we which are alive and 737 00:48:06,200 --> 00:48:09,480 remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds 738 00:48:09,680 --> 00:48:11,640 to meet the Lord in the air. Look at it now. 739 00:48:11,800 --> 00:48:16,920 And so shall we ever, ever be with the Lord? 740 00:48:18,000 --> 00:48:20,760 What's it telling me? It indicates from that moment 741 00:48:20,760 --> 00:48:24,360 forward, there will never be a time that we're not with the 742 00:48:24,360 --> 00:48:26,600 Lord. That's not news flash. 743 00:48:26,920 --> 00:48:29,520 That's God just making true on what He decided from the 744 00:48:29,520 --> 00:48:35,520 foundation of the world. Do you understand this? 745 00:48:35,560 --> 00:48:39,200 This union that's going to last for eternity, That's what God 746 00:48:39,200 --> 00:48:44,040 planned for. So he's planned for the church. 747 00:48:44,160 --> 00:48:45,680 He's planned for your redemption. 748 00:48:45,800 --> 00:48:47,600 He's planned for his incarnation. 749 00:48:47,720 --> 00:48:49,280 He's planned forever to be with you. 750 00:48:49,440 --> 00:48:55,320 He's planned for the church's holiness from before time. 751 00:49:04,560 --> 00:49:08,320 So whenever I understand that tonight, you know what holiness 752 00:49:08,320 --> 00:49:12,560 really is. Holiness is an invitation into a 753 00:49:12,560 --> 00:49:19,720 relationship with a eternal God, not a demand from a distant one, 754 00:49:21,280 --> 00:49:25,560 a invitation from one that wants to be in relationship with you. 755 00:49:27,240 --> 00:49:30,600 Why? Because before creation, God 756 00:49:30,600 --> 00:49:34,840 chose a people, the bride. What for? 757 00:49:35,160 --> 00:49:41,200 For this purpose that they might reflect his character, and that 758 00:49:41,200 --> 00:49:45,080 they might respond. His love, his joy, his peace, 759 00:49:45,080 --> 00:49:47,200 his gentleness, his long-suffering, His temperance. 760 00:49:49,080 --> 00:49:53,240 Amen. Holiness isn't about control. 761 00:49:54,400 --> 00:50:04,580 Holiness is about connection. Jesus did just build a house. 762 00:50:05,220 --> 00:50:11,220 He bought a house with his own blood, and his house is made to 763 00:50:11,260 --> 00:50:16,220 reflect Him. So the question I'm doing good 764 00:50:16,800 --> 00:50:23,440 feel like so the question Sister Ray is not do I have to live 765 00:50:23,440 --> 00:50:28,240 holy? The real question is do you want 766 00:50:28,240 --> 00:50:31,080 to be a part of what God has desired from eternity? 767 00:50:38,930 --> 00:50:41,530 Stand with me that out we'll land. 768 00:50:41,530 --> 00:50:45,530 It might be helicopter landing, just straight down land it. 769 00:50:48,400 --> 00:50:50,200 So what you should do, I'll tell you what we should do as a 770 00:50:50,200 --> 00:50:52,640 church, what we should do as the first Apostolic Church, as 771 00:50:52,640 --> 00:50:57,480 individuals. I think that we mankind by and 772 00:50:57,480 --> 00:51:02,360 large, need to see holiness may be differently than the script 773 00:51:02,360 --> 00:51:05,440 has been written in your mind or what how you've approached it. 774 00:51:06,280 --> 00:51:09,960 Again, not as a restriction, but as a reflection of God's nature, 775 00:51:11,240 --> 00:51:15,920 a reflection of God's nature. And so then wanting to be the 776 00:51:15,920 --> 00:51:17,960 church and a part of church, I want to align. 777 00:51:18,600 --> 00:51:20,960 I want to align with his character. 778 00:51:21,160 --> 00:51:26,440 I want that fruit to be evident in my life, that love and that 779 00:51:26,440 --> 00:51:28,960 joy and that peace and that gentleness and all those. 780 00:51:29,000 --> 00:51:31,280 I want that to be evident in my life. 781 00:51:31,840 --> 00:51:36,400 And I for sure want to be counted among the bride that 782 00:51:36,400 --> 00:51:40,840 he's been pursuing since eternity, since before the 783 00:51:40,840 --> 00:51:45,640 foundation of the world. Again, because this isn't just 784 00:51:45,640 --> 00:51:49,360 about the application and the standards of the sheetrock and 785 00:51:49,360 --> 00:51:51,320 the vinyl. It's about the framework. 786 00:51:51,320 --> 00:51:54,600 It's about the foundation. This is about, please listen 787 00:51:54,600 --> 00:51:56,160 again. It's about entering a 788 00:51:56,160 --> 00:52:01,840 relationship with God that He's desired to have with you since 789 00:52:01,840 --> 00:52:10,400 before the world began. And for me, I don't know, but 790 00:52:10,400 --> 00:52:16,000 that changes my perspective. It changes my perspective to 791 00:52:16,000 --> 00:52:21,800 understand his church was foreordained and predestined to 792 00:52:21,800 --> 00:52:28,720 be holy from the beginning. This is not some slick toothed 793 00:52:28,720 --> 00:52:32,440 pastor greased, back headed man that's trying to contrive 794 00:52:32,440 --> 00:52:36,040 something to set obstacles in my way and constrict me. 795 00:52:36,720 --> 00:52:44,200 No, this is the plan of God. This is the plan of God so he 796 00:52:44,200 --> 00:52:50,080 might be expressed through your life, my life, His church, His 797 00:52:50,080 --> 00:52:56,240 glorious, His glorious church. We bow our heads here tonight 798 00:52:57,200 --> 00:52:59,560 and I have felt the Spirit of the Lord at different times used 799 00:52:59,560 --> 00:53:04,760 to do this tonight when I begin to ponder Lord, all the things 800 00:53:04,760 --> 00:53:10,360 that you ordained before there was anyone in existence, all the 801 00:53:10,360 --> 00:53:15,320 things that you ordained God, I am overwhelmed, Lord, about how 802 00:53:15,360 --> 00:53:20,040 conscious Lord you are God, how conscious you are about your 803 00:53:20,040 --> 00:53:25,320 bride and how intentional you are God about the entirety and 804 00:53:25,320 --> 00:53:28,880 the the characterization. Lord of her. 805 00:53:29,440 --> 00:53:34,440 I pray, O God, enough that you would sacrifice, you would shed 806 00:53:34,440 --> 00:53:39,880 blood, you would redeem her. It's offered to all mankind if 807 00:53:39,880 --> 00:53:45,280 they would so choose choose or reject it is up to them but God 808 00:53:45,280 --> 00:53:48,520 the moment they do, they set their own footsteps on a 809 00:53:48,520 --> 00:53:51,960 trajectory in the path. I pray, O God tonight that you 810 00:53:51,960 --> 00:53:54,600 would help us. I know Lord God, some of this 811 00:53:54,600 --> 00:53:59,000 material tonight, Lord in just thought and and Lord Jesus and 812 00:53:59,000 --> 00:54:03,280 understanding may have been Lord heavy, but God, I think it's 813 00:54:03,280 --> 00:54:08,120 important to know God that this has been the plan all alone. 814 00:54:08,720 --> 00:54:11,560 Lord, what you have called us to has been something that you had 815 00:54:11,560 --> 00:54:15,800 intended Lord all along. God, we're not surprised we're 816 00:54:15,800 --> 00:54:18,560 not blindsided. No, no, no, no, no, none of 817 00:54:18,560 --> 00:54:22,000 those things. God, you've been mindful of us 818 00:54:22,480 --> 00:54:28,800 before there was a US to be mindful of. 819 00:54:49,480 --> 00:54:53,040 Jesus, or can we raise your hands, if you will, across this 820 00:54:53,040 --> 00:54:56,040 building today? Just reach out to that Savior. 821 00:54:57,000 --> 00:55:01,320 Reach out to that Redeemer. He's already in your tomorrow. 822 00:55:01,680 --> 00:55:03,960 He's still dealing with things of your past. 823 00:55:03,960 --> 00:55:07,560 He's in your today, Carla. Mashia Motai. 824 00:55:07,560 --> 00:55:11,320 He's a ever present God. He's a ever present God. 825 00:55:11,640 --> 00:55:14,160 He wants to spend eternity with his bride. 826 00:55:14,440 --> 00:55:16,320 He's ordained that from the beginning. 827 00:55:16,560 --> 00:55:20,440 Oh, can we reach out to him? God, here I am God, here I am 828 00:55:20,440 --> 00:55:22,600 Lord. God, I want to make the right 829 00:55:22,600 --> 00:55:23,760 choice. I want to make the right 830 00:55:23,760 --> 00:55:26,080 decision. Lord, I want to be obedient to 831 00:55:26,080 --> 00:55:28,000 the gospel. I want to be a part Lord of that 832 00:55:28,000 --> 00:55:31,120 church that you've been desiring from before the beginning. 833 00:55:31,440 --> 00:55:33,760 I pray, O God, today, here's my life. 834 00:55:34,080 --> 00:55:36,240 God, you purchased me with your own blood. 835 00:55:36,240 --> 00:55:37,920 I'm not my own. I belong to you. 836 00:55:37,920 --> 00:55:40,720 Know ye not that your temple, Hallelujah, your body is the 837 00:55:40,720 --> 00:55:42,880 temple of the Holy Ghost. It's not yours. 838 00:55:42,880 --> 00:55:45,840 It belongs to him. I'm yours God, I'm your bride. 839 00:55:45,840 --> 00:55:49,200 Lord Jesus, I'm your church. Characterize it as you will. 840 00:55:49,200 --> 00:55:52,800 Put traits and your impressions. God of your life upon me. 841 00:55:53,000 --> 00:55:55,600 Let the expressions of yourself be expressed. 842 00:55:55,600 --> 00:56:00,960 God through me. God, you've desired this from 843 00:56:00,960 --> 00:56:16,520 before the beginning. The wonder of my Savior that can 844 00:56:16,520 --> 00:56:20,840 take the unholy and make it holy, that can take the profane 845 00:56:20,840 --> 00:56:24,920 and make it clean. Only your God can do that. 846 00:56:25,600 --> 00:56:30,840 Only God can do that. Oh Lord, we surrender all. 847 00:56:30,840 --> 00:56:34,560 Brother Mason, if you take us to song right now, Hallelujah. 848 00:56:34,560 --> 00:56:37,320 I love you Jesus. I love you, Jesus.