1 00:00:07,760 --> 00:00:12,040 Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord. 2 00:00:12,760 --> 00:00:18,480 Our God is worthy Glory who is like the Lord. 3 00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:22,680 There is no one who is like the Lord. 4 00:00:22,960 --> 00:00:27,160 He is strong and mighty who is like the Lord. 5 00:00:28,240 --> 00:00:31,840 There is no one. Stand up and give him some 6 00:00:31,840 --> 00:00:36,760 praise. Let's give him a hand clap of 7 00:00:36,800 --> 00:00:42,560 praise. Bless the name of the Lord, 8 00:00:43,160 --> 00:00:47,240 Amen. I just echo my wife today. 9 00:00:47,240 --> 00:00:51,000 So glad to have each one of you Amen in the House of the Lord 10 00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:53,240 today. And we know many of you are 11 00:00:53,880 --> 00:00:58,920 family members and friends and acquaintances of of Brandon and 12 00:00:58,960 --> 00:01:03,000 of Jennifer's and of Zach's, so and so forth. 13 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:05,040 And we're glad to have each one of you here today. 14 00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:10,280 Some of you of us years ago, we have been to church together and 15 00:01:10,280 --> 00:01:12,360 like the older churches and things. 16 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:15,600 And one thing I know about the Word family, whenever you talk 17 00:01:15,600 --> 00:01:20,720 about like Brad and Billy and Brandon and these folks, there's 18 00:01:20,720 --> 00:01:23,920 a degree of I see the spirit of their father upon them because 19 00:01:24,240 --> 00:01:26,600 they're always been willing throughout the years to always 20 00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:28,520 help somebody if they needed help. 21 00:01:30,040 --> 00:01:32,680 And I think that was a great mark of their father, always 22 00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:35,160 willing to help whenever help was needed. 23 00:01:35,760 --> 00:01:39,440 I remember whenever my wife, who was, who was here, she's from 24 00:01:39,440 --> 00:01:42,320 Tennessee, she was moving to Tennessee up to this area 25 00:01:42,320 --> 00:01:45,200 because we had plans to get married. 26 00:01:45,880 --> 00:01:51,360 And Brad Worth, his dad at that time, had this Longo trailer and 27 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:53,800 he hooked it up and drove it all the way to Tennessee. 28 00:01:54,200 --> 00:01:57,600 We loaded it up and drove it all the way home in the same day, 29 00:01:57,920 --> 00:02:01,360 just as being a friend. I'll never forget it. 30 00:02:03,440 --> 00:02:07,080 And then Brother Billy back there, he and I was had some 31 00:02:07,080 --> 00:02:10,199 clown days in the past in the church, but I remember right, he 32 00:02:10,199 --> 00:02:13,240 was brother handy and I was brother tater tot. 33 00:02:16,080 --> 00:02:18,520 And there are some weeks I was French fry because I wouldn't 34 00:02:18,520 --> 00:02:20,920 wear the pillow. So it all depended on week. 35 00:02:20,920 --> 00:02:23,640 It was if I was, if I was tater tot or French fries. 36 00:02:23,640 --> 00:02:26,640 Like blink the water, everybody. I still got it. 37 00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:33,160 Blink the water. And we would work with the 38 00:02:33,160 --> 00:02:34,880 Sunday school classes and the kids. 39 00:02:36,800 --> 00:02:42,480 And so if it gets at a spot here somewhere along this morning, I 40 00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:46,000 might just have to break it out. You know, that's why I have to 41 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:47,800 break it out. But some of you sat in our 42 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:51,600 Sunday school classes growing up and were taught as children and 43 00:02:51,600 --> 00:02:53,160 such. And it's so good to see each one 44 00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:54,120 of you. Amen. 45 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:57,120 In the House of the Lord today we're going to be turning to the 46 00:02:57,120 --> 00:03:02,600 Old Testament book, Prophet of Isaiah chapter #35 You can stand 47 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:05,080 for the reading the word if you desire a man. 48 00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:08,520 Or if not, you can set one reason why we stand for the 49 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:10,720 reading, because the book of Ezra talks about they wrote, 50 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:13,120 they, they read the word almost from morning to evening. 51 00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:16,160 The people stood. And I guarantee you we're going 52 00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:17,960 to get by a little better than them because they ain't going to 53 00:03:17,960 --> 00:03:19,760 take me that long to read what I need to read. 54 00:03:20,280 --> 00:03:24,400 Amen. Today, Isaiah 35, start with 55 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:28,200 verse #8 and I've been talking about something around here on 56 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:29,720 Sunday mornings. I'm going to continue talking 57 00:03:29,720 --> 00:03:32,600 about that. But I think it'll help us today, 58 00:03:33,240 --> 00:03:36,240 some benefits of it. Isaiah 35 verse 8, the Bible 59 00:03:36,240 --> 00:03:39,360 says in a highway shall be there in a way, and it shall be called 60 00:03:39,640 --> 00:03:42,480 the way of holiness. We've been talking about how God 61 00:03:42,480 --> 00:03:45,360 is holy and there's a lot that's involved in that. 62 00:03:45,360 --> 00:03:48,960 He has a holy name and he, he, it's not just a character of 63 00:03:48,960 --> 00:03:52,080 his, it's just who He is. The Bible says in the unclean 64 00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:54,760 shall not Passover it, but it shall be for those, the 65 00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:57,800 wayfaring men, though fools shall not air therein. 66 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:03,760 Verse #9 I think is important for us all today says on this 67 00:04:04,120 --> 00:04:10,480 pathway, this holy pathway, that no lion shall be there, nor any 68 00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:15,800 ravenous beast shall go up there on shall not be found there, but 69 00:04:15,800 --> 00:04:20,839 the redeemed shall walk there. The ransom that the Lord shall 70 00:04:20,839 --> 00:04:25,600 return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon 71 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:29,720 their heads, and they shall obtain joy, gladness and sorrow 72 00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:34,040 and sighing shall flee away. It's a tremendous passage of 73 00:04:34,040 --> 00:04:36,560 Scripture. It's a group of people that have 74 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:39,880 been redeemed, really ransomed by the Lord and they have got on 75 00:04:39,880 --> 00:04:44,240 this pathway, this highway, the returning back to Zion, the 76 00:04:44,240 --> 00:04:46,160 returning back to the city of God. 77 00:04:46,160 --> 00:04:48,840 There's, there's rejoicing, there's singing, there's all 78 00:04:48,840 --> 00:04:52,520 these great things. And in part why that can be is 79 00:04:52,520 --> 00:04:56,920 because the path that they are on, that lion can, can go up and 80 00:04:56,920 --> 00:05:00,480 down the skirts of that road, but it cannot pass up on that 81 00:05:00,480 --> 00:05:02,680 road. And so this morning for a little 82 00:05:02,680 --> 00:05:05,720 while, I want to talk about where the lion cannot walk, 83 00:05:07,320 --> 00:05:10,600 where the lion cannot walk. Amen. 84 00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:12,680 We're going to pray one more time that the Lord would help us 85 00:05:12,680 --> 00:05:15,240 in the next little while. Father, I thank you today, God, 86 00:05:15,240 --> 00:05:17,600 for another opportunity to be in your house. 87 00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:20,800 We're grateful, Lord, for all of our guests, the Lord and all 88 00:05:20,800 --> 00:05:22,880 these people and those that are going to be baptized in the 89 00:05:22,880 --> 00:05:25,680 service. God, we rejoice, God for sure in 90 00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:29,400 that today, God, touch us anew and a fresh God, by your word, 91 00:05:29,560 --> 00:05:31,520 you're able, Lord Jesus, to do it. 92 00:05:31,720 --> 00:05:34,720 God, we need heaven, Lord, to come down and touch us Lord anew 93 00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:38,480 today, God, I pray, Lord, direct our steps, guide our minds. 94 00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:42,200 God, bring understanding. Lord Jesus in the service and 95 00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:45,160 the lovely name of the Lord Jesus Christ that I pray 96 00:05:45,440 --> 00:05:48,680 Hallelujah and Amen. And you may be seated this 97 00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:54,880 morning in Jesus name again. We've been looking at around 98 00:05:54,880 --> 00:05:56,400 here the for the past several weeks. 99 00:05:56,400 --> 00:06:00,160 We've been considering, considering this God, this, this 100 00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:05,280 holy God, this holy God who has the ability and desires and 101 00:06:05,280 --> 00:06:10,800 wants to give and has offered to every one of us His Holy Ghost 102 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:14,800 and His Holy Spirit being born again of the water and of that 103 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:18,040 Holy Spirit. And in doing so, that holiness 104 00:06:18,040 --> 00:06:22,680 that God has when we receive His Holy Spirit, that holiness that 105 00:06:22,680 --> 00:06:27,000 He has, then starts to impact and affect our lives. 106 00:06:27,160 --> 00:06:30,360 We've looked over the weeks about holiness, having an idea 107 00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:35,280 about purity and about being set apart or set aside different and 108 00:06:35,280 --> 00:06:37,920 dedicated to the Lord for His purpose. 109 00:06:38,280 --> 00:06:42,560 But it can also be understood in the word of God as as almost 110 00:06:43,040 --> 00:06:46,560 boundaries that are there really for our protection. 111 00:06:46,880 --> 00:06:51,320 Boundaries that are there that protect the holy life that that 112 00:06:51,320 --> 00:06:54,880 is now residing inside of us. After we received the Holy 113 00:06:54,880 --> 00:06:57,080 Ghost. We discussed last week just a 114 00:06:57,080 --> 00:07:00,280 little bit when you look at some of the, the structures of the 115 00:07:00,360 --> 00:07:04,240 Old Testament where God came in and his Spirit came in and it 116 00:07:04,240 --> 00:07:06,800 filled the house. Some of these structures such as 117 00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:10,400 the Tabernacle and the temple and even the city of Jerusalem, 118 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:14,160 because he called that his holy city that all these different 119 00:07:14,160 --> 00:07:17,720 places, they, they had walls that were around, about the 120 00:07:17,720 --> 00:07:20,960 Tabernacle wall around the temple, a wall that was even 121 00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:24,720 around about the city and it indicated a clear line. 122 00:07:24,720 --> 00:07:26,760 If you were in the city, it was the holy city. 123 00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:30,320 If you were outside of the wall, it was then just just common, 124 00:07:30,320 --> 00:07:33,960 just common ground saying with every Tabernacle and temple that 125 00:07:33,960 --> 00:07:37,760 had such a wall around it, because whenever God's cloud, 126 00:07:37,760 --> 00:07:40,680 his spirit came down, whether it be temple, Tabernacle or 127 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:43,960 Jerusalem, when his spirit touched those places, they at 128 00:07:43,960 --> 00:07:47,280 once became holy. They at once became 129 00:07:47,280 --> 00:07:51,520 characterized by the Lord and who he was. 130 00:07:51,800 --> 00:07:55,800 And so with this in mind, even when we consider Moses, if we 131 00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:58,640 could one more time, the Bible describes Moses. 132 00:07:58,640 --> 00:08:02,600 He, he was the deliverer of God's people out of Egypt. 133 00:08:02,680 --> 00:08:05,720 They were in bondage. They were enslavement for years 134 00:08:05,720 --> 00:08:10,040 until Moses came and prior to coming he was on the backside of 135 00:08:10,040 --> 00:08:12,560 a desert. Again, the story is of a burning 136 00:08:12,560 --> 00:08:16,200 Bush that's burning and and yet not being consumed. 137 00:08:16,520 --> 00:08:20,120 And the Bible says that the Lord spoke to Moses from that Bush 138 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:24,040 and said, Moses, Moses, take the shoes off your feet because the 139 00:08:24,040 --> 00:08:27,920 ground that you're standing on is holy ground, because that 140 00:08:27,920 --> 00:08:30,920 ground in that Bush, in that area had been touched and 141 00:08:30,920 --> 00:08:35,000 impacted by the presence of God. It was forever, forever going to 142 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:37,960 be changed, forever being altered by the touch of the 143 00:08:37,960 --> 00:08:39,960 Lord. And so there had to be some 144 00:08:39,960 --> 00:08:44,320 point there in that, that Old Testament desert where if Moses 145 00:08:44,320 --> 00:08:47,720 stepped, he was on holy ground, but if he kept where he was, he 146 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:50,920 was just on common ground. There was some boundary, some 147 00:08:50,920 --> 00:08:54,320 vicinity, their mind had not been marked with a literal line 148 00:08:54,320 --> 00:08:56,200 in the sand. There was some line that was 149 00:08:56,200 --> 00:08:59,800 there, although there was an A literal wall around about that 150 00:08:59,800 --> 00:09:01,680 burning Bush. There was still some type of 151 00:09:01,680 --> 00:09:05,320 boundary of sorts, Brother Billy, that that went from 152 00:09:05,320 --> 00:09:07,520 common ground to holy ground, Amen. 153 00:09:07,520 --> 00:09:11,960 Whenever Moses would step, that distinguished that space in that 154 00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:15,360 area, Amen, from every other area in the desert. 155 00:09:15,600 --> 00:09:18,880 And I believe what that means for you and I this morning is 156 00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:22,880 this, if I could explain it this way, we, we would agree this 157 00:09:22,880 --> 00:09:26,480 morning, if you have any type of belief in God, I think we would 158 00:09:26,480 --> 00:09:30,280 believe and know the power of God that God can do anything. 159 00:09:31,600 --> 00:09:36,360 God can do absolutely anything. After all, the scripture says he 160 00:09:36,360 --> 00:09:40,520 is the Almighty. So, so there isn't another that 161 00:09:40,520 --> 00:09:44,600 Trump's him that's higher than him or that is that because when 162 00:09:44,600 --> 00:09:48,120 you are the Almighty, you're the Almighty all by yourself. 163 00:09:48,480 --> 00:09:52,960 And so God could do anything. But I also so realize that 164 00:09:52,960 --> 00:09:58,240 there's some things that God won't do because he is a holy 165 00:09:58,240 --> 00:10:02,960 God and since he is holy by his own power, there's some things 166 00:10:02,960 --> 00:10:06,760 he just will not do. So with that, I understand God 167 00:10:06,760 --> 00:10:10,760 can do anything, but God can also choose not to do some 168 00:10:10,760 --> 00:10:14,240 things because he's the all powerful God. 169 00:10:14,680 --> 00:10:17,800 And yet the the the amazing fact of that matter is this. 170 00:10:17,880 --> 00:10:22,920 Whenever you receive God's Spirit in your life, that same 171 00:10:22,920 --> 00:10:27,880 power to do or not to do then becomes a part of your makeup, 172 00:10:28,680 --> 00:10:31,960 becomes a part of your makeup in your life. 173 00:10:32,120 --> 00:10:34,760 And so there's certain things God won't do because he's a holy 174 00:10:34,760 --> 00:10:39,480 God, because if he would do them, it would contradict all of 175 00:10:39,480 --> 00:10:44,200 the ethical values that God has, even some of his purposes in 176 00:10:44,200 --> 00:10:47,600 creation. So in that sense, holiness then 177 00:10:47,600 --> 00:10:51,920 is in a certain major way has some has some boundaries. 178 00:10:51,920 --> 00:10:56,160 It it, it, it makes some lines of what is common and what is 179 00:10:56,160 --> 00:10:59,360 uncommon and of what is clean and what is unclean, what is 180 00:10:59,360 --> 00:11:03,800 right and what is wrong with that being holiness and our holy 181 00:11:03,800 --> 00:11:06,120 God and that Holy Spirit that we receive. 182 00:11:06,400 --> 00:11:09,840 And even like this morning, Zach, when we take on his name, 183 00:11:09,840 --> 00:11:15,120 that holy name and baptism, it starts to train us and it starts 184 00:11:15,120 --> 00:11:19,680 to order our steps about activities and and ways that we 185 00:11:19,680 --> 00:11:21,960 talk and ways that we used to think. 186 00:11:21,960 --> 00:11:24,880 And now we start thinking a little differently than what we 187 00:11:24,880 --> 00:11:27,880 once thought. All of that is because of our 188 00:11:27,880 --> 00:11:31,160 holy God. And the Bible even tells us in 189 00:11:31,160 --> 00:11:35,440 the New Testament Scripture that there is the boundary of being 190 00:11:35,440 --> 00:11:40,120 in Christ or not in Christ. There is a definitive line of 191 00:11:40,120 --> 00:11:42,080 being in Christ or not in Christ. 192 00:11:42,280 --> 00:11:45,560 And the Bible tells us those that are born again of the water 193 00:11:45,560 --> 00:11:49,960 and the Spirit, they are those that are in Christ. 194 00:11:50,240 --> 00:11:55,000 Yet if we are one of His and we are in Christ, then we start to 195 00:11:55,000 --> 00:11:58,280 recognize that we've been looking at then we are not our 196 00:11:58,280 --> 00:12:02,840 own because He has redeemed us. It's like all those Israelites 197 00:12:02,840 --> 00:12:05,400 that were in bondage, they couldn't get out of bondage 198 00:12:05,400 --> 00:12:08,280 without God. And when they got out of bondage 199 00:12:08,400 --> 00:12:11,840 because of God, he reminded them and they constantly reminded 200 00:12:11,840 --> 00:12:14,800 themself, I'm only where I am today. 201 00:12:15,040 --> 00:12:17,640 The only way I could pass through a Red Sea where there 202 00:12:17,640 --> 00:12:20,920 was obstacles all around me, the only way that I could get out 203 00:12:20,920 --> 00:12:24,320 from underneath the thumb of favor, the only way is because 204 00:12:24,320 --> 00:12:26,640 of God. And so they owe their 205 00:12:26,640 --> 00:12:28,800 allegiance. They owe their life. 206 00:12:29,080 --> 00:12:33,160 They Amen. They owe everything unto the 207 00:12:33,160 --> 00:12:35,040 Lord. And so when I receive the Spirit 208 00:12:35,040 --> 00:12:36,760 of the Lord, I'm not my own anymore. 209 00:12:37,080 --> 00:12:39,280 Amen. My body and my spirit, it 210 00:12:39,280 --> 00:12:42,440 belongs to God, and so I dedicate myself to him. 211 00:12:42,440 --> 00:12:46,840 I I'm a living sacrifice unto God. 212 00:12:47,240 --> 00:12:52,440 And the Bible says in in Romans 12/1 that that is our reasonable 213 00:12:52,440 --> 00:12:55,080 service. Not unreasonable, just a 214 00:12:55,080 --> 00:12:58,320 reasonable service. So above all, I enter then into 215 00:12:58,320 --> 00:13:00,880 the sanctuary. I worship him with total 216 00:13:00,880 --> 00:13:01,920 devotion. Why? 217 00:13:02,160 --> 00:13:06,120 Because he saved me. He redeemed me, and I offered 218 00:13:06,120 --> 00:13:09,280 him offerings of praise and Thanksgiving because he's a 219 00:13:09,280 --> 00:13:13,120 holy, holy God. And if we're one of God's holy 220 00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:18,920 people, Amen, one that God has set apart by his Spirit from all 221 00:13:18,920 --> 00:13:21,520 the other people of the earth through the new birth, then I 222 00:13:21,520 --> 00:13:26,520 want to act like I'm one of is. I want to act as though I belong 223 00:13:26,720 --> 00:13:29,880 unto him. Now, God's always been concerned 224 00:13:30,360 --> 00:13:33,760 about his people throughout the Old Testament, New Testament, 225 00:13:34,200 --> 00:13:39,920 being able to recognize those lines, those walls, the 226 00:13:39,920 --> 00:13:42,920 boundaries. Then the days of Moses, This is 227 00:13:42,920 --> 00:13:46,840 what he told the priest, he said, and he didn't want them. 228 00:13:46,840 --> 00:13:49,000 He told the priest, he said, you're, you're not, you're not 229 00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:53,560 allowed to drink alcohol because it'll make hard for you as a 230 00:13:53,560 --> 00:13:58,640 priest to be able to differ between what's holy and between 231 00:13:58,800 --> 00:14:01,240 what's unholy. This is the scripture said in 232 00:14:01,240 --> 00:14:04,520 Leviticus 10 and verse 8. And the Lord spake into Aaron. 233 00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:08,520 Aaron was a high priest, saying, Do not drink wine, nor strong 234 00:14:08,520 --> 00:14:12,400 drink thou, nor thy sons, who were priests also with thee. 235 00:14:12,640 --> 00:14:15,680 When you go into the Tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye 236 00:14:15,680 --> 00:14:18,480 die, it should be a statute forever throughout your 237 00:14:18,480 --> 00:14:23,280 generations and they and that ye may put difference between holy 238 00:14:23,280 --> 00:14:26,960 and unholy, clean and unclean, that you may teach the children 239 00:14:26,960 --> 00:14:30,600 of Israel all the statues which the Lord has spoken unto them by 240 00:14:30,640 --> 00:14:35,080 the hand of Moses. It's interesting that the Lord 241 00:14:35,080 --> 00:14:38,520 would tell his priest now don't get involved in something that's 242 00:14:38,520 --> 00:14:42,600 going to compromise, right? Compromise your ability to be 243 00:14:42,600 --> 00:14:46,040 able to reason or compromise your ability to be able to 244 00:14:46,040 --> 00:14:48,640 understand what's unclean and clean. 245 00:14:48,840 --> 00:14:54,200 Another reason why I think this is a little interesting today is 246 00:14:54,200 --> 00:14:57,360 because what happened right before this set of Scripture, 247 00:14:57,720 --> 00:14:59,920 right happened. What happened right before this 248 00:14:59,920 --> 00:15:04,600 set of Scripture were two sons of Aaron, the high priest, who 249 00:15:04,600 --> 00:15:08,120 were priests themselves. Nay, dab, the Bible says, and a 250 00:15:08,120 --> 00:15:10,640 by who? And the Scripture records that 251 00:15:10,640 --> 00:15:14,560 they came into the Tabernacle and they offered up what was 252 00:15:14,560 --> 00:15:18,040 called strange fire unto the Lord. 253 00:15:18,280 --> 00:15:20,440 It was foreign fire. It was fired that should not 254 00:15:20,440 --> 00:15:23,800 have been used at this particular place. 255 00:15:24,040 --> 00:15:26,880 And the Bible says as a result of doing that, this is Old 256 00:15:26,880 --> 00:15:29,200 Testament heavy hand of judgement. 257 00:15:29,200 --> 00:15:31,680 God. The Bible says that he took 258 00:15:31,760 --> 00:15:36,200 their lives because they offered strange fire before the Lord, 259 00:15:36,360 --> 00:15:40,320 that there was some fire that came down and devoured them and 260 00:15:40,320 --> 00:15:45,200 consumed them and they died. Many, many surmise and I'm along 261 00:15:45,200 --> 00:15:47,600 with them. Why would then the Lord follow 262 00:15:47,600 --> 00:15:50,920 that whole incident up with then start talking into the priests 263 00:15:50,920 --> 00:15:54,040 about now don't be drinking any strong drink or wine when you 264 00:15:54,040 --> 00:15:57,640 come in here because many believe that perhaps Nadab and 265 00:15:57,640 --> 00:16:03,600 Abihu was intoxicated. Follow me intoxicated where they 266 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:07,200 come into the presence of the Lord in that holy place. 267 00:16:07,360 --> 00:16:11,160 It doesn't say it expressly, but it's implied that they were. 268 00:16:11,320 --> 00:16:14,840 And so after the death of these men, the Lord is then given a 269 00:16:14,840 --> 00:16:17,680 prescription to the other priests saying don't come in 270 00:16:17,680 --> 00:16:20,840 here intoxicated with other things. 271 00:16:21,040 --> 00:16:24,280 He says you need to come in here sanctified, set apart, 272 00:16:24,280 --> 00:16:30,480 distinguished, so that you can draw nigh unto me as a holy God. 273 00:16:30,640 --> 00:16:33,880 He meant so it's interesting today that he would tell them 274 00:16:33,880 --> 00:16:37,480 that after that whole scenario, because the Lord's telling them, 275 00:16:37,600 --> 00:16:39,560 I want you to come in here clear headed. 276 00:16:39,800 --> 00:16:42,040 I want you to come in here with the right conscience. 277 00:16:42,160 --> 00:16:45,560 Conscience. You got to be sober so you can 278 00:16:45,560 --> 00:16:49,840 correctly decipher between what's holy, unholy, clean and 279 00:16:49,840 --> 00:16:51,320 unclean. Amen. 280 00:16:51,440 --> 00:16:55,200 And it will allow you to keep within the boundaries that are 281 00:16:55,200 --> 00:16:57,880 prescribed for you. I'm I'm listen this morning. 282 00:16:57,880 --> 00:17:01,280 Let's just get real practical when we talk about intoxication 283 00:17:01,560 --> 00:17:04,599 because it's not just substance of alcohol that you can be 284 00:17:04,599 --> 00:17:07,079 intoxicated by. I said this a few weeks ago. 285 00:17:07,240 --> 00:17:10,520 There's all kinds of things you can be intoxicated by, but an 286 00:17:10,560 --> 00:17:16,720 individual that is literally intoxicated on a highway and 287 00:17:16,720 --> 00:17:22,560 there is an accident largely and they say they were hit. 288 00:17:22,880 --> 00:17:26,760 I was hit head on by someone that was intoxicated. 289 00:17:27,359 --> 00:17:30,760 If you would talk afterwards, you would understand that the 290 00:17:30,760 --> 00:17:35,760 intoxicated individual could not decipher where the middle lane 291 00:17:35,760 --> 00:17:41,280 was or where the right lane was because they were intoxicated. 292 00:17:41,520 --> 00:17:45,680 They could not decipher where they needed to be because their 293 00:17:45,680 --> 00:17:48,960 conscience was foggy. They didn't have a clear mind. 294 00:17:49,440 --> 00:17:53,440 Scripturally today, spiritually today, the Lord was telling us 295 00:17:53,560 --> 00:17:58,040 that if we'll just keep sober, if we'll just keep holy, if 296 00:17:58,040 --> 00:18:02,000 we'll just keep mindful of Him, we'll know where the lines are 297 00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:04,720 of the Holy Rd. in order to walk. 298 00:18:04,840 --> 00:18:07,800 And folks, there is safety. Can I say it like this? 299 00:18:07,800 --> 00:18:11,560 Today there is safety by staying in our lane. 300 00:18:17,440 --> 00:18:19,320 We're not in Britain. There's no one that would leave 301 00:18:19,320 --> 00:18:21,840 here today and start going home on the left side of the road. 302 00:18:24,200 --> 00:18:27,600 If so, you're either really brave or there's something else 303 00:18:27,600 --> 00:18:29,200 wrong. We might need to discuss that 304 00:18:29,200 --> 00:18:34,960 after this is over. We wouldn't do that because you 305 00:18:34,960 --> 00:18:36,760 know, there is boundaries to this lane. 306 00:18:37,040 --> 00:18:38,720 It goes from here and it goes from there. 307 00:18:38,880 --> 00:18:42,720 And I know by all means, if I if I can control where I'm at, 308 00:18:44,720 --> 00:18:48,200 there's a major of safety that's right here. 309 00:18:48,440 --> 00:18:52,040 Amen, folks, Sometimes people talk about our holy God and they 310 00:18:52,040 --> 00:18:56,000 say, well, that holy God, His Holiness for my life is just 311 00:18:56,200 --> 00:18:59,880 just optional. It has no real bearing upon me. 312 00:19:00,080 --> 00:19:04,240 Well, today that's that's not entirely true because I have 313 00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:08,360 been saved by the blood of Jesus yes, and that has been applied 314 00:19:08,360 --> 00:19:11,440 to my life, yes, And I have experienced a new birth 315 00:19:11,440 --> 00:19:14,200 experience yes. And some will say, well, there's 316 00:19:14,200 --> 00:19:19,240 nothing more because that gift of the Spirit has saved me and 317 00:19:19,240 --> 00:19:24,120 sealed me and yes, God has saved me, Brother Fred, by his own 318 00:19:24,120 --> 00:19:26,920 will. I didn't do any work to save 319 00:19:26,920 --> 00:19:30,440 Paul McGee. It was his blood, his sacrifice 320 00:19:30,440 --> 00:19:33,360 that accomplished all of that. Some will say, well, you can't 321 00:19:33,360 --> 00:19:37,760 add anything to do that, Amen. But that does not mean that the 322 00:19:37,760 --> 00:19:42,560 holiness that we receive from God is entirely unrelated to our 323 00:19:42,560 --> 00:19:47,440 salvation. Whenever I think about just just 324 00:19:47,440 --> 00:19:50,680 follow me here today, when I think about that holy city of 325 00:19:50,680 --> 00:19:55,680 Jerusalem, there was a time, many times actually, but there 326 00:19:55,680 --> 00:20:00,000 was a time throughout Scripture, the Bible says that that city's 327 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:08,400 walls were broken down. Her gates had been destroyed by 328 00:20:08,400 --> 00:20:11,320 fire. And in the book of Nehemiah, 329 00:20:11,720 --> 00:20:17,240 Nehemiah grieved over the condition of this Jerusalem and 330 00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:22,600 he goes to that Jerusalem with broken down walls and he begins 331 00:20:22,680 --> 00:20:27,120 with other people rebuilding the walls, the boundary line that 332 00:20:27,120 --> 00:20:29,600 distinguish this is the city, this is outside the city. 333 00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:34,280 He began to rebuild those things and and set the gates back up in 334 00:20:34,280 --> 00:20:37,640 their place. Others even prior to Nehemiah, 335 00:20:37,640 --> 00:20:41,440 and this is important today. Others prior to Nehemiah like 336 00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:44,560 Hazra and others, they went before him and the Bible says 337 00:20:44,680 --> 00:20:48,360 they rebuilt the altar in that city because the temple was all 338 00:20:48,360 --> 00:20:51,720 dilapidated and torn down too. That they rebuilt the altar, the 339 00:20:51,720 --> 00:20:55,160 altar that was in that city and they re established the worship 340 00:20:55,160 --> 00:20:57,720 system there. They even started on building 341 00:20:57,720 --> 00:21:00,600 the temple that was there, but they had the altar. 342 00:21:00,600 --> 00:21:06,400 They had the temple, but they were still lacking walls, No 343 00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:10,720 walls, no gates, which meant although they, they worship 344 00:21:10,720 --> 00:21:12,880 there and the altar was established and the temple was 345 00:21:12,880 --> 00:21:18,320 established. Any enemy, any enemy could just 346 00:21:18,320 --> 00:21:23,760 trample right into that city and desiccate and tear down again 347 00:21:23,760 --> 00:21:26,280 everything that they had already built up concerning their 348 00:21:26,280 --> 00:21:30,680 worship system, concerning their temple, because they had no 349 00:21:30,680 --> 00:21:33,360 walls of protection. They, they, they could build a 350 00:21:33,360 --> 00:21:36,280 few blocks, if you will, of the temple and the next day a few of 351 00:21:36,280 --> 00:21:39,280 those will be taken down because there were no walls of 352 00:21:39,280 --> 00:21:41,440 protection. Ladies and gentlemen, our 353 00:21:41,440 --> 00:21:45,280 relationship with God, it's not about just being born again and 354 00:21:45,280 --> 00:21:47,200 worship and sacrifice and all that. 355 00:21:47,400 --> 00:21:50,840 You want to still be able to be doing all those things 10 years, 356 00:21:50,920 --> 00:21:54,240 years, 20 years from now. And the only way that is 357 00:21:54,240 --> 00:21:57,880 possible, you got to have some walls encircled around your life 358 00:21:58,080 --> 00:22:00,440 because you do have an adversary. 359 00:22:00,680 --> 00:22:04,600 You. I'm declaring it this morning. 360 00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:07,360 I don't want anybody to walk around with their head in the 361 00:22:07,360 --> 00:22:09,840 sand. Whenever you begin to start a 362 00:22:09,840 --> 00:22:14,040 life for the Lord and start doing things for God, you have 363 00:22:14,040 --> 00:22:16,560 caught the attention of the adversary. 364 00:22:18,120 --> 00:22:21,440 Whenever you start living life differently than you once lived, 365 00:22:21,760 --> 00:22:23,720 Amen. Acting differently than you once 366 00:22:23,760 --> 00:22:26,520 acted, Amen. Listening to the voice of God 367 00:22:26,520 --> 00:22:28,680 rather than the voices you used to listen to. 368 00:22:28,920 --> 00:22:31,760 The enemy is upset. He's like, I've just lost one. 369 00:22:31,760 --> 00:22:34,480 It's like the song we sing. Hell lost another one. 370 00:22:34,480 --> 00:22:37,160 I am free. I it happened. 371 00:22:37,160 --> 00:22:40,160 He does not like that. He doesn't like to lose any of 372 00:22:40,160 --> 00:22:46,600 his clients, so he's going to be like a hound, Amen, Coming after 373 00:22:46,600 --> 00:22:51,320 you to try to frustrate you, to try to have you backpedal and go 374 00:22:51,320 --> 00:22:53,400 back to some of the things he used to do. 375 00:22:53,600 --> 00:22:56,120 The way to prevent that? Amen. 376 00:22:56,120 --> 00:22:58,800 You're still going to hear the voice, but from him getting his 377 00:22:58,800 --> 00:23:03,560 hands on you is create some walls, create some boundaries, 378 00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:12,320 create some protection. I mean, it's, it's the three 379 00:23:12,320 --> 00:23:16,240 little piglets all over again. Little pig, little pig. 380 00:23:16,240 --> 00:23:19,040 Let me in. Somebody needs to be standing on 381 00:23:19,040 --> 00:23:21,600 the inside of their brick house with some wall sand. 382 00:23:21,840 --> 00:23:24,520 Not by the hair of my Chitty chin chin. 383 00:23:24,760 --> 00:23:36,680 I I've been set apart. Hey, man, we had to go right to 384 00:23:36,680 --> 00:23:37,880 the three pigs. We just had to. 385 00:23:42,160 --> 00:23:47,600 But Nehemiah, in his book, he's rebuilding, he's reconstructing 386 00:23:47,600 --> 00:23:49,480 walls. And the Bible says, listen to me 387 00:23:49,480 --> 00:23:50,640 this morning. I might not get through 388 00:23:50,640 --> 00:23:52,160 everything I have this morning. That's fine. 389 00:23:52,600 --> 00:24:00,040 But the Bible says that they got about at the halfway mark, about 390 00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:03,920 the halfway mark from from ground 0 back up to halfway 391 00:24:03,920 --> 00:24:08,280 where it once had been. And the adversaries, the Bible 392 00:24:08,280 --> 00:24:12,840 says Sam Ballot and Tobiah and those the adversary sought to 393 00:24:12,840 --> 00:24:17,440 stop the rebuilding process of the wall. 394 00:24:19,400 --> 00:24:23,080 Not only that, the Scripture also tells us that the people 395 00:24:23,080 --> 00:24:26,640 that were doing the building, they were becoming discouraged. 396 00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:30,960 All right, come on. Because while they're trying to 397 00:24:30,960 --> 00:24:33,240 find if there were blocks that they could have used that were 398 00:24:33,240 --> 00:24:36,040 tore from the wall and repurpose them back in the wall, they 399 00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:39,080 would. But all that materials among 400 00:24:39,080 --> 00:24:42,840 debris that don't contribute to the wall. 401 00:24:44,360 --> 00:24:46,400 And they're searching through here, Zagner, like, well, that's 402 00:24:46,400 --> 00:24:48,040 a good brick, we use that. That's trash. 403 00:24:48,040 --> 00:24:50,200 Get rid of that day after day of sorting. 404 00:24:50,200 --> 00:24:53,080 What's useful, what's not useful, what can contribute to 405 00:24:53,080 --> 00:24:54,760 the wall, what can't contribute the wall. 406 00:24:54,920 --> 00:24:57,720 And after doing that for so many days, the Bible says they were 407 00:24:57,720 --> 00:25:02,600 discouraged. You know how it is, Amber, 408 00:25:03,080 --> 00:25:07,160 Looking back over your life, reconstituting things in your 409 00:25:07,160 --> 00:25:11,640 wall life that you can use, but other stuff that's just debris 410 00:25:13,440 --> 00:25:15,920 and coming back in contact with some of those things. 411 00:25:15,920 --> 00:25:19,760 It's hard to say this isn't going to contribute to my new 412 00:25:19,760 --> 00:25:26,840 life. Used to I would incorporated 413 00:25:26,840 --> 00:25:29,440 that, but that's not going to contribute to the walls of 414 00:25:29,440 --> 00:25:36,080 protection I need right now. And at the apex of that time, 415 00:25:36,520 --> 00:25:41,440 when the walls halfway and you're discouraged and half the 416 00:25:41,440 --> 00:25:45,720 work is complete, the adversary says, let me see how I can 417 00:25:45,720 --> 00:25:53,200 frustrate, how I can frustrate what is going on. 418 00:25:53,920 --> 00:25:56,480 Why? Because they're just at halfway. 419 00:25:56,920 --> 00:26:00,480 If they get this thing rightfully standing again, we're 420 00:26:00,480 --> 00:26:02,720 going to have a harder time overtaking. 421 00:26:05,680 --> 00:26:08,960 Listen to pastor today. If you're being tried by the 422 00:26:08,960 --> 00:26:18,320 adversary, you are a threat to you are you say, well, I just 423 00:26:18,320 --> 00:26:20,400 don't understand why all this I'm going to knock everything 424 00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:22,080 over today. I just don't understand why all 425 00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:24,440 this is happening right now. It's because you're making 426 00:26:24,440 --> 00:26:26,560 strides. You're adding another brick to 427 00:26:26,560 --> 00:26:28,520 the wall. You're putting up protections in 428 00:26:28,520 --> 00:26:30,800 your life and the adversaries say no, they can't be doing 429 00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:32,480 that. That's going to set me off 430 00:26:32,480 --> 00:26:34,680 distance from them. That's going to keep me from 431 00:26:34,680 --> 00:26:39,360 having a voice in their life. That's going to you know what I 432 00:26:39,360 --> 00:26:43,400 say, go on and talk adversary. I'm going to add another brick. 433 00:26:43,640 --> 00:26:47,480 I'm going to add another brick. I because I understand the 434 00:26:47,480 --> 00:26:51,040 holiness of my God in my life. He's setting me apart. 435 00:26:51,160 --> 00:26:54,480 He's making me different than what I used to be and I need His 436 00:26:54,520 --> 00:27:00,720 protection all around me, all around me. 437 00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:09,520 Look, look at the scriptures. I want to read the scriptures. 438 00:27:10,320 --> 00:27:13,680 Nehemiah 4 verse 6. Hope we get to our text today. 439 00:27:14,960 --> 00:27:19,240 So built we the wall and all the wall was joined together into 440 00:27:19,240 --> 00:27:21,760 the half thereof. That's what I told you about for 441 00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:26,080 the people had a mind to work. It came to pass that when sand 442 00:27:26,080 --> 00:27:29,040 Ballot and Tobiah and the Arabians and the Ammonites and 443 00:27:29,040 --> 00:27:33,920 the Ashdodites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made-up 444 00:27:34,320 --> 00:27:37,120 and that the breeches. It's not that just some of the 445 00:27:37,120 --> 00:27:39,680 wall was torn down. Some of the wall had holes in it 446 00:27:42,720 --> 00:27:46,720 and that the breeches began to be stopped. 447 00:27:47,160 --> 00:27:49,760 They're filling in the hose. They were filling in the 448 00:27:49,760 --> 00:27:55,000 vulnerable areas, he said. Then we were very wroth and 449 00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:58,200 conspired all of them together, all of these enemies to come and 450 00:27:58,200 --> 00:28:02,360 fight against Jerusalem to hinder it. 451 00:28:04,640 --> 00:28:08,440 New convert 1 that just repented and been baptized. 452 00:28:09,920 --> 00:28:13,160 Your adversary is going to try to hinder the work of God in 453 00:28:13,160 --> 00:28:14,760 your life. Absolutely. 454 00:28:15,400 --> 00:28:18,080 Come on, you might says, I'm going to be proactive about 455 00:28:18,080 --> 00:28:20,720 this. I know their attacks are coming 456 00:28:21,560 --> 00:28:24,720 and I know the wall isn't exactly at the height it needs 457 00:28:24,720 --> 00:28:27,720 to be yet. And this is what the Bible says 458 00:28:27,720 --> 00:28:30,360 that he did. He's very strategic. 459 00:28:30,880 --> 00:28:33,760 Look at verse #13 I have this, I don't know if it's up there, 460 00:28:33,760 --> 00:28:34,880 it's King James. It's all right. 461 00:28:35,640 --> 00:28:38,760 I'm reading from the HCSB that you'll be able to see the 462 00:28:38,760 --> 00:28:41,880 correlation, and I'll just read it up there for your purposes. 463 00:28:42,120 --> 00:28:46,760 Therefore, said I, in the lower places behind the wall and on 464 00:28:46,760 --> 00:28:50,280 the higher places, I even set the people after their families 465 00:28:50,520 --> 00:28:54,320 and their swords and their Spears and their bows. 466 00:28:54,320 --> 00:28:58,920 Can you go on verse 14? And I looked and rose up and 467 00:28:58,920 --> 00:29:02,560 said into the nobles and to the rulers and to the rest of the 468 00:29:02,560 --> 00:29:06,680 people, be not afraid of them. Remember the Lord. 469 00:29:06,800 --> 00:29:08,920 I like that. Be not afraid of them. 470 00:29:08,920 --> 00:29:13,080 Remember the Lord, which is great and terrible, and fight 471 00:29:13,080 --> 00:29:17,080 for your brother and your sons, your daughters, your wives and 472 00:29:17,080 --> 00:29:20,880 your houses. Nehemiah says we're about at the 473 00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:23,800 halfway mark in some of these areas, but there's some sections 474 00:29:23,800 --> 00:29:27,160 of the wall that's a little blower than the halfway point. 475 00:29:27,640 --> 00:29:31,760 And he says in order to in order to do this proper, since now 476 00:29:31,880 --> 00:29:35,440 we're under the attack of the adversary, he says, I'm going to 477 00:29:35,760 --> 00:29:41,520 increase the numbers of fighters and people at the lower section 478 00:29:41,520 --> 00:29:45,080 of the wall because it's low right there. 479 00:29:45,400 --> 00:29:48,160 They might be able to hike up the leg, you know, and step over 480 00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:50,080 the wall. But I'm going to put people 481 00:29:50,080 --> 00:29:54,960 there since my wall isn't where it needs to be yet. 482 00:29:55,600 --> 00:30:02,760 I got to increase security at the low vulnerable area of the 483 00:30:02,760 --> 00:30:04,720 wall. What's that? 484 00:30:04,720 --> 00:30:08,760 Tell me as someone reading the Scripture, even as a pastor, you 485 00:30:08,960 --> 00:30:13,640 know what that tells me? Low walls are invitations for 486 00:30:13,640 --> 00:30:16,280 attacks at that spot. Come on. 487 00:30:21,200 --> 00:30:22,640 If I'm the adversary, I'm walking around. 488 00:30:23,360 --> 00:30:24,680 I'm looking for the vulnerabilities. 489 00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:27,520 Any good thief or robbers looking for the vulnerability in 490 00:30:27,520 --> 00:30:32,160 the security system? When are the guards there? 491 00:30:32,160 --> 00:30:34,360 When are they not there? Whatever they're they're they're 492 00:30:34,360 --> 00:30:38,360 casing the joint, whether they weren't they not there looking 493 00:30:38,360 --> 00:30:40,880 around the areas that spot that goes over there towards the 494 00:30:40,880 --> 00:30:43,200 woods that stick. Have they not got it as guarded 495 00:30:43,200 --> 00:30:44,920 because I thought that's the woods and no one ever go in 496 00:30:44,920 --> 00:30:48,960 there chasing out the joint. If I'm him, I'm going around 497 00:30:48,960 --> 00:30:52,400 thinking low wall. Write it down, boys. 498 00:30:54,440 --> 00:30:58,360 Make a note. We got us a penetration point, 499 00:31:02,560 --> 00:31:06,120 but also thinking through these terms, folks, the place where 500 00:31:06,120 --> 00:31:13,160 walls are low, it requires more manpower at that spot. 501 00:31:13,880 --> 00:31:17,800 Whereas if they were built to the height they needed to be, it 502 00:31:17,800 --> 00:31:21,640 wouldn't require as much effort at that area. 503 00:31:25,200 --> 00:31:29,840 It's protection by the race. File out holes in this wall of 504 00:31:29,840 --> 00:31:31,640 holiness that God has given to me. 505 00:31:32,280 --> 00:31:34,000 And it just means there's certain areas of my life I'm 506 00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:35,280 going to have to guard more often. 507 00:31:35,280 --> 00:31:39,240 I'm going to keep Why? Because within itself it has 508 00:31:39,240 --> 00:31:41,000 vulnerabilities because it's low. 509 00:31:42,560 --> 00:31:44,760 Am I doing all right? It's only first time I've done 510 00:31:44,760 --> 00:31:46,280 that today. For all those who go here 511 00:31:46,280 --> 00:31:53,080 regularly, I'm just telling you, all these other people's 512 00:31:53,080 --> 00:31:55,720 attention are are stolen away from other things because they 513 00:31:55,720 --> 00:32:00,240 got to watch the low spot. But when you have high walls, 514 00:32:01,960 --> 00:32:06,920 high walls empower people, high walls empower leaders, that they 515 00:32:06,920 --> 00:32:11,520 can reallocate their focus to other matters and other concerns 516 00:32:11,840 --> 00:32:15,480 because that's amply protected the way that wall is 517 00:32:15,720 --> 00:32:19,520 constructed. Can I go a step further today 518 00:32:20,160 --> 00:32:23,280 and tell you that that our boundaries in our life don't 519 00:32:23,280 --> 00:32:24,720 just impact us? Yeah, that's true. 520 00:32:28,320 --> 00:32:31,320 I told them that we're manning the walls, particularly the low 521 00:32:31,320 --> 00:32:36,200 walls. He says I need you to fight not 522 00:32:36,200 --> 00:32:40,160 just for yourself, but you're fighting for your countrymen, 523 00:32:41,160 --> 00:32:46,520 you're fighting for your family, your sons, your daughters, your 524 00:32:46,520 --> 00:32:49,360 wives, your homes. What's he saying? 525 00:32:49,360 --> 00:32:53,240 He said whenever you have lesser than stellar walls of 526 00:32:53,240 --> 00:32:57,040 protection, you're going to have to be more in fight mode. 527 00:33:01,240 --> 00:33:04,600 You're going to have to be more in fight mode than just simply 528 00:33:04,600 --> 00:33:07,560 guard mode or you're. That's the reason why I said, as 529 00:33:07,560 --> 00:33:10,360 we're doing the work, we're now going to have to work with one 530 00:33:10,360 --> 00:33:12,800 hand and we're going to have to have our sword in the other. 531 00:33:12,960 --> 00:33:16,120 You're going to be divided in your time between building up 532 00:33:16,240 --> 00:33:19,280 and fighting off what's coming because the walls are not where 533 00:33:19,280 --> 00:33:21,920 they need to be. Folks, just imagine how much we 534 00:33:21,920 --> 00:33:26,240 could allocate to the worship and the glory of God if we had 535 00:33:26,240 --> 00:33:29,080 substantial walls. But we didn't always have to be 536 00:33:29,080 --> 00:33:32,160 fighting, but we could be worshipping and living. 537 00:33:32,160 --> 00:33:44,160 And yes, Amen. You got the walls in place 538 00:33:44,160 --> 00:33:46,080 there. There's guardianship there, 539 00:33:48,720 --> 00:33:50,880 dates, there's, there's guardianship there. 540 00:33:53,120 --> 00:33:56,760 But if you don't, it's, it's almost like a soldier going to 541 00:33:56,760 --> 00:34:01,440 war, going to war, they'll have no weapons, they'll have no 542 00:34:01,440 --> 00:34:04,320 armor. He has no capacity to protect 543 00:34:04,320 --> 00:34:07,800 himself from the opposing opposing force. 544 00:34:09,920 --> 00:34:13,199 And as a soldier would be going into the battle without those 545 00:34:13,199 --> 00:34:16,639 things of protection, so are we then without His Holiness. 546 00:34:19,320 --> 00:34:25,120 We're defenseless in many ways. We're unprotected from the 547 00:34:25,120 --> 00:34:29,960 snares and what the Bible calls the devices of the adversary. 548 00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:32,840 So it's in this sense, ladies and gentlemen, that we are 549 00:34:33,080 --> 00:34:39,400 protected by His Holiness. To my text, I got a little bit 550 00:34:39,400 --> 00:34:42,600 of time. Consider what Isaiah the prophet 551 00:34:42,600 --> 00:34:49,040 said about holiness in our text. First of all, when you go home 552 00:34:49,040 --> 00:34:53,080 today, you might want to read, read the verses of chapter 35 553 00:34:53,080 --> 00:34:56,840 that come before our text because talking about this 554 00:34:56,840 --> 00:35:00,720 highway of holiness, this way of holiness, and it says it shall 555 00:35:00,720 --> 00:35:03,680 be there, but we really don't know just from the text where 556 00:35:03,680 --> 00:35:06,560 there is. And so you read the verses prior 557 00:35:06,560 --> 00:35:09,840 to there and you understand where this Highway of Holiness 558 00:35:10,120 --> 00:35:12,720 is, where exists, where it's been constructed, where it's 559 00:35:12,720 --> 00:35:15,600 been formulated. And as you read the verses, the 560 00:35:15,600 --> 00:35:20,080 there is referring to where the Highway of Holiness is right now 561 00:35:20,360 --> 00:35:26,560 is what was once, everybody say once what was once a barren, 562 00:35:26,840 --> 00:35:35,000 dilapidated, torn down, arid, desert, vacant place. 563 00:35:36,160 --> 00:35:42,640 Once somewhere along the line, Oh, I feel the Holy Ghost, God 564 00:35:42,760 --> 00:35:49,960 has redeemed that barren place. He's redeemed that deserted, 565 00:35:49,960 --> 00:35:55,720 unfruitful place, and he has created a main way, a highway of 566 00:35:55,720 --> 00:35:58,760 holiness upon it. And the Bible tells us in our 567 00:35:58,760 --> 00:36:07,360 text now the redeemed walk there and the Redeem are headed to 568 00:36:07,360 --> 00:36:09,760 Zion. They're headed to that Jerusalem 569 00:36:09,760 --> 00:36:14,440 and they have singing upon their lips and they have everlasting 570 00:36:14,480 --> 00:36:17,040 joy. The Bible describes that the 571 00:36:17,040 --> 00:36:20,080 sorrow that they had is no longer there. 572 00:36:20,200 --> 00:36:24,000 The sign because of of just being overwhelmed with life, 573 00:36:24,200 --> 00:36:25,960 it's no longer there. Amen. 574 00:36:25,960 --> 00:36:31,360 Rejoicing has replaced sign. Celebration has replaced sorrow 575 00:36:34,360 --> 00:36:35,920 because verse 10, look at it here. 576 00:36:37,120 --> 00:36:40,920 It says in verse 10 that the ransomed, if you'll notice, the 577 00:36:40,920 --> 00:36:45,920 ransomed of verse #10 are those that are coming to Zion. 578 00:36:46,120 --> 00:36:51,400 The ransomed of verse #10 are the redeemed of verse #9 they're 579 00:36:51,400 --> 00:36:54,760 one and the same. They are a ransom people, right? 580 00:36:55,080 --> 00:36:58,840 And they are a redeemed people. Someone has paid the price for 581 00:36:58,840 --> 00:37:01,800 them and they have been bought back by someone. 582 00:37:02,000 --> 00:37:06,160 These are the ones that are walking on this highway called 583 00:37:06,320 --> 00:37:08,600 holiness. And then verse 8 says this. 584 00:37:08,800 --> 00:37:10,320 You want to talk about protection? 585 00:37:10,520 --> 00:37:12,520 This great gives great comfort to my show. 586 00:37:12,520 --> 00:37:15,880 In verse 8. It tells us that there is no 587 00:37:15,880 --> 00:37:20,440 unclean thing that's passing over this highway. 588 00:37:21,880 --> 00:37:23,680 The Amplified Bible reads like this. 589 00:37:23,800 --> 00:37:27,520 The unclean will not travel on it, but it will be for those who 590 00:37:27,520 --> 00:37:31,280 walk on the way. That is the redeemed and fools 591 00:37:31,280 --> 00:37:35,360 will not wonder on it. That is to say, listen folks, 592 00:37:35,640 --> 00:37:40,320 holiness may not save us, but again, neither is it unrelated 593 00:37:41,840 --> 00:37:43,680 to the salvation that we receive. 594 00:37:44,600 --> 00:37:48,840 Because once I receive the gift of God walking on the highway 595 00:37:50,360 --> 00:37:54,720 prevent some of the things that I need to deal with and some of 596 00:37:54,720 --> 00:37:57,800 the attacks that would penetrate me if there were no walls. 597 00:37:58,400 --> 00:38:01,080 The Bible says in Romans 6 and you probably have this in the 598 00:38:01,080 --> 00:38:04,280 KJV. I'm reading it from HCSB, but I 599 00:38:04,280 --> 00:38:08,920 can read it from a pair. The Bible says in verse 19 I 600 00:38:08,920 --> 00:38:11,880 speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of the 601 00:38:11,880 --> 00:38:14,200 flesh. For as you have yielded your 602 00:38:14,200 --> 00:38:18,720 member servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity, 603 00:38:18,960 --> 00:38:23,400 Even so now or by say now you your member servants to 604 00:38:23,400 --> 00:38:27,880 righteousness and unto holiness. Before you go to verse 22, let 605 00:38:27,880 --> 00:38:30,680 me tell you what the Home and Christian Standard Bible says. 606 00:38:30,920 --> 00:38:34,760 It says this, that you offered parts of yourselves as slaves, 607 00:38:35,920 --> 00:38:40,320 but now offer them as slaves to righteousness, which is 608 00:38:40,320 --> 00:38:43,160 sanctification. Sanctification is that 5 609 00:38:43,160 --> 00:38:47,840 syllable King James Version word that means that you have now 610 00:38:48,000 --> 00:38:52,960 been given unto holiness. Verse 22. 611 00:38:53,240 --> 00:38:54,680 You have it up there for me, brethren alone. 612 00:38:55,160 --> 00:38:57,600 You're doing a great job, brethren, alone by the way, but 613 00:38:57,600 --> 00:39:01,120 now being made free from sin and become servants to God. 614 00:39:01,240 --> 00:39:03,480 Ye have your fruit. We've looked at these verses 615 00:39:03,480 --> 00:39:06,520 over the past several weeks. Unto holiness and the end, 616 00:39:06,520 --> 00:39:09,960 everlasting life. The Christian standard says it 617 00:39:09,960 --> 00:39:12,160 like this. You have your fruit which 618 00:39:12,160 --> 00:39:15,320 results in sanctification. There's that holiness word 619 00:39:15,320 --> 00:39:16,840 again. And the end. 620 00:39:18,320 --> 00:39:24,280 The end is eternal life. God made you holy at your birth, 621 00:39:26,520 --> 00:39:28,160 but again, that's just your birth. 622 00:39:32,000 --> 00:39:34,120 There's been, there's been, there's been children born. 623 00:39:34,960 --> 00:39:38,480 No problems, no difficulties, no diseases, nothing in their lives 624 00:39:38,880 --> 00:39:40,680 move through the process of their journey of life. 625 00:39:41,080 --> 00:39:43,120 Certain things develop, happen and take place. 626 00:39:43,680 --> 00:39:46,080 The situation of their life when they die is of course going to 627 00:39:46,080 --> 00:39:47,720 be grandly different than when they were born. 628 00:39:49,120 --> 00:39:54,200 Some of that is just life. Some of that we have control 629 00:39:54,200 --> 00:40:01,920 over with how we live life. Really, he says. 630 00:40:02,320 --> 00:40:05,680 The sanctification is where it's at in the beginning. 631 00:40:06,200 --> 00:40:11,160 But if you stay on the highway and you walk the highway, in the 632 00:40:11,240 --> 00:40:14,360 end it'll be eternal life because that's where this road 633 00:40:14,360 --> 00:40:18,000 is headed. That's where this road is 634 00:40:18,000 --> 00:40:20,040 headed. God put you on pair. 635 00:40:20,200 --> 00:40:22,800 But if you'll mind, if you'll mind, if you'll mind the edges 636 00:40:22,800 --> 00:40:26,360 of the road, hey, man, it's going to increase if you will, 637 00:40:26,520 --> 00:40:29,600 your odds. Can I tell you you're put at a 638 00:40:29,600 --> 00:40:34,040 lesser wrist, you're put at a lesser risk. 639 00:40:34,200 --> 00:40:37,480 And so we come to the Lord Ioffer myself and to the Lord. 640 00:40:37,640 --> 00:40:40,560 I sat on that street and now notice the protection. 641 00:40:40,560 --> 00:40:42,520 This is the label of my host sermon today. 642 00:40:42,800 --> 00:40:44,880 The protection on this holy highway. 643 00:40:45,200 --> 00:40:51,040 Isaiah says no lion and no ravenous or violent destroyer, 644 00:40:51,040 --> 00:40:57,880 robber, murderer, beast is there or shall go bear on. 645 00:40:58,680 --> 00:41:03,120 Why is that important to me? I'll tell you why, because 646 00:41:03,120 --> 00:41:09,480 Scripture describes in the New Testament in particular that as 647 00:41:09,560 --> 00:41:13,600 a lion and as a ravenous beast, which can be interpreted 648 00:41:13,880 --> 00:41:19,760 murderous beast, as a lion and a murderous beast, our adversary 649 00:41:19,760 --> 00:41:23,920 is categorized as both of those in New Testament scripture. 650 00:41:24,840 --> 00:41:27,400 Take some point first. Peter five and eight says be 651 00:41:27,400 --> 00:41:28,120 sober. There's that. 652 00:41:28,120 --> 00:41:31,640 Don't be intoxicated, Peter 5A. Be sober. 653 00:41:31,640 --> 00:41:40,000 Be vigilant, diligent, because your adversary, the devil as a 654 00:41:40,000 --> 00:41:53,880 roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour. 655 00:41:55,440 --> 00:41:58,160 It's like I described earlier. He's walking around the security 656 00:41:58,160 --> 00:42:05,240 system, he's seeking whom he may, John 844 tells us, Speaking 657 00:42:05,240 --> 00:42:08,600 of this adversary, the devil, this this ravenous beast or 658 00:42:08,600 --> 00:42:11,800 murderous beast. John 844 says he was speaking 659 00:42:11,840 --> 00:42:14,240 Jesus was speaking to some people said year of your father, 660 00:42:14,240 --> 00:42:16,600 the devil, the lust of your father. 661 00:42:16,600 --> 00:42:18,960 You will do. Look what he says concerning the 662 00:42:18,960 --> 00:42:22,560 devil. He was a murderer from the 663 00:42:22,560 --> 00:42:26,120 beginning and abode not in the truth because there is no truth 664 00:42:26,160 --> 00:42:28,440 in him. Let's just say a side note. 665 00:42:28,640 --> 00:42:31,480 If the devil is telling you something, it's a lie. 666 00:42:35,400 --> 00:42:37,480 If the devil is telling you something, if you're getting 667 00:42:37,480 --> 00:42:40,040 that negativity coming in your mind about your walking your 668 00:42:40,040 --> 00:42:41,320 path, he's telling you something. 669 00:42:41,480 --> 00:42:43,640 He is lying to you. You can't trust what he's 670 00:42:43,640 --> 00:42:45,960 saying. So matter of fact, what you can 671 00:42:45,960 --> 00:42:49,600 do is flip whatever the lie he is telling you on its head. 672 00:42:49,800 --> 00:42:52,320 If he's telling you you're not going to make it, that means 673 00:42:52,320 --> 00:42:54,520 you're going to make it. If he's telling you you're not 674 00:42:54,520 --> 00:42:56,880 going to survive, that means you're going to survive. 675 00:42:57,040 --> 00:43:00,120 If he's telling you you're going to fall, you can put your leg up 676 00:43:00,120 --> 00:43:03,400 and say here, here, here. I'm going to travel on with 677 00:43:03,520 --> 00:43:07,520 Jesus just the same. He's a liar and has been a liar 678 00:43:07,680 --> 00:43:10,560 from the beginning. It's not changed from Genesis. 679 00:43:10,720 --> 00:43:18,800 He's still trying to lie and just don't you sow into those 680 00:43:18,800 --> 00:43:20,840 lies. Don't you allow him to get in 681 00:43:20,840 --> 00:43:24,320 your spirit and convince you what he is saying and true. 682 00:43:24,520 --> 00:43:28,200 Quite contrary, the opposite of what he is saying is true. 683 00:43:28,400 --> 00:43:31,800 He's threatened by your wall. He's threatened by your 684 00:43:31,800 --> 00:43:35,160 progress. He's threatened by your 685 00:43:35,160 --> 00:43:36,200 obedience. Hallelujah. 686 00:43:41,000 --> 00:43:44,040 Amen. So he was a murderer from the 687 00:43:44,040 --> 00:43:47,640 beginning about not in the truth, because there is no is no 688 00:43:48,560 --> 00:43:51,200 truth in him. When he speaketh the lie, he 689 00:43:51,200 --> 00:43:54,240 speaketh of his own, for he is a liar in the father of he was a 690 00:43:54,280 --> 00:43:59,240 murderer from the beginning. So we have descriptions of our 691 00:43:59,240 --> 00:44:03,200 adversary, New Testament Scripture as both a lion and a 692 00:44:03,200 --> 00:44:07,800 murderer. Isaiah says on the holy pathway. 693 00:44:09,200 --> 00:44:17,920 He says no lion will walk there, no ravenous beast will walk 694 00:44:19,160 --> 00:44:22,040 there. You know what Isaiah is saying? 695 00:44:22,640 --> 00:44:26,240 There's a place where the lion cannot walk. 696 00:44:31,360 --> 00:44:33,600 I'm not telling you that the enemy isn't mobile, because he 697 00:44:33,600 --> 00:44:40,200 is, but he isn't omnipresent, meaning he can't be everywhere 698 00:44:40,200 --> 00:44:43,320 at the same times. The Bible says his tail pulled 699 00:44:43,320 --> 00:44:44,960 1/3 of the angels of heaven with him. 700 00:44:45,200 --> 00:44:47,920 And yes, he sends out demons and Imps and things of that nature 701 00:44:47,920 --> 00:44:50,120 and unclean spirits. But the devil can't be 702 00:44:50,120 --> 00:44:51,760 everywhere himself at the same time. 703 00:44:52,000 --> 00:44:56,040 He is not omnipresent. But I do will tell you this. 704 00:44:56,040 --> 00:44:57,680 He does search for vulnerabilities. 705 00:45:01,760 --> 00:45:05,280 He search for if you will have cocked obedience he searches 706 00:45:05,280 --> 00:45:06,560 for. Isolation. 707 00:45:06,560 --> 00:45:10,280 He searches for people that wouldn't be submitted. 708 00:45:10,400 --> 00:45:12,120 He searches for blurred boundaries. 709 00:45:12,240 --> 00:45:14,480 He searches for half constructed walls. 710 00:45:14,600 --> 00:45:18,200 He searches for breeches in the walls. 711 00:45:21,000 --> 00:45:24,040 Hey, listen, Pastor Miguel, this morning maybe you tell them that 712 00:45:24,040 --> 00:45:25,800 I don't have to worry about anything concerning the 713 00:45:25,800 --> 00:45:27,680 adversary if I walk on this holy way. 714 00:45:27,680 --> 00:45:31,560 I didn't say that. I'm just telling you he will not 715 00:45:31,560 --> 00:45:34,960 walk on the way. That doesn't mean he won't be on 716 00:45:34,960 --> 00:45:43,160 the edge of the way. I'm not claiming there's no 717 00:45:43,160 --> 00:45:49,440 danger that exists Amen, in the God path world that we live. 718 00:45:50,200 --> 00:45:53,720 But I'm telling you there is a path that God has established in 719 00:45:53,720 --> 00:45:57,840 what once was a barren and forgotten place where danger 720 00:45:57,840 --> 00:46:07,080 loses its access. Case in point, anybody ever read 721 00:46:07,080 --> 00:46:09,240 the book of Job, you know, whenever you thought life was 722 00:46:09,240 --> 00:46:11,400 bad and you said you need to be encouraged, go read Job because 723 00:46:11,400 --> 00:46:13,400 he for sure had it worse than I do, and I'll be encouraged. 724 00:46:13,680 --> 00:46:15,480 Oh, he lost all that. I'm feeling pretty good about 725 00:46:15,480 --> 00:46:19,640 life, right? Job's not really a discourager 726 00:46:19,640 --> 00:46:21,280 and a downer. It's an encourager because 727 00:46:21,440 --> 00:46:22,760 probably none of us has had that. 728 00:46:23,400 --> 00:46:25,320 It's like, man, he had it bad. I don't have it so bad. 729 00:46:25,880 --> 00:46:30,160 God's good. What happened? 730 00:46:30,720 --> 00:46:34,080 The Bible says in that first chapter, when the sons of God or 731 00:46:34,080 --> 00:46:37,880 the angels gathered together to the Lord, Satan came also. 732 00:46:39,680 --> 00:46:45,360 Your devil, your lion, your ravenous, He came also among 733 00:46:45,360 --> 00:46:49,240 them. Lord says, where you been, Where 734 00:46:49,240 --> 00:46:50,080 you been? Satan? 735 00:46:50,400 --> 00:46:56,480 I've been to and fro. He's seeking to and fro. 736 00:46:57,440 --> 00:47:02,760 Notice the devil didn't pick up on the life of Job. 737 00:47:04,680 --> 00:47:07,320 God had to point out the life of Job. 738 00:47:08,080 --> 00:47:13,920 Why? Because Satan tells God, Job has 739 00:47:13,920 --> 00:47:20,920 this hedge about him. Job has this hedge about him. 740 00:47:22,040 --> 00:47:27,000 He's the your adversary is seeking whom he may devour. 741 00:47:27,880 --> 00:47:29,280 He's looking for the vulnerabilities. 742 00:47:29,720 --> 00:47:31,240 He's looking for the lower walls. 743 00:47:32,640 --> 00:47:35,080 Even the Old Testament, they often times always went for 744 00:47:35,080 --> 00:47:37,960 those that were sick and weak on the backside of the army, 745 00:47:39,840 --> 00:47:42,320 looking for the vulnerable. What are you saying? 746 00:47:42,440 --> 00:47:45,360 I'm saying Satan didn't even give Job a second thought 747 00:47:47,200 --> 00:47:49,040 because he had protection around about his life. 748 00:47:51,640 --> 00:47:54,120 And what does the Lord say about, you know, Job? 749 00:47:54,280 --> 00:47:59,600 He said he's perfect or whole, complete and upright. 750 00:48:01,040 --> 00:48:02,360 Got a little hole in this on him. 751 00:48:04,720 --> 00:48:06,440 How do you consider him? No, I'm not, he said. 752 00:48:06,440 --> 00:48:10,440 No, I'm not concerned him. There's a hedge, he says. 753 00:48:10,440 --> 00:48:16,000 If you take down the hedge, you compromise the hedge for me. 754 00:48:16,680 --> 00:48:20,640 He says I'll go at him. Let me put it in terms like 755 00:48:20,640 --> 00:48:25,360 this, because that's not a place I can walk unless you let the 756 00:48:25,360 --> 00:48:35,720 hedge down. Honey, they're just you just get 757 00:48:36,080 --> 00:48:40,680 you just get so enamored and so taken back Amen about living for 758 00:48:40,680 --> 00:48:43,480 the Lord. You just live for him and you 759 00:48:43,480 --> 00:48:46,720 show up and you pray to him and you just dig into that Bible and 760 00:48:46,720 --> 00:48:49,840 you read about Amen, him. And when you hear you throw up 761 00:48:49,840 --> 00:48:53,040 your hands and you just worship and you just build yourself a 762 00:48:53,040 --> 00:48:56,760 cocoon of God's presence and power around about your life. 763 00:48:57,000 --> 00:49:00,200 And the enemy's going to be looking for a easier access than 764 00:49:00,320 --> 00:49:02,800 your life because you're going to have built a hedge. 765 00:49:03,040 --> 00:49:07,520 You're going to have concreted some walls where the lion cannot 766 00:49:07,640 --> 00:49:15,800 or does not try desire to walk. Amen, Amen, Amen. 767 00:49:19,320 --> 00:49:20,640 Let's close. I don't, I don't want to. 768 00:49:20,760 --> 00:49:22,280 We got baptisms to do. I don't want to. 769 00:49:22,520 --> 00:49:23,840 I don't want to take advantage of you. 770 00:49:24,440 --> 00:49:28,800 So stand with me this morning. What happens? 771 00:49:34,200 --> 00:49:36,400 Our highway of holding this is a certain degree comes like a 772 00:49:36,400 --> 00:49:42,400 restricted Rd. Only certain ones can pass on 773 00:49:42,400 --> 00:49:44,000 that. The the lion's lost his 774 00:49:44,000 --> 00:49:49,120 appetite, he's lost his access. It creates limits by the reefs 775 00:49:49,120 --> 00:49:51,480 for the enemy that he must respect. 776 00:49:54,080 --> 00:49:57,120 Just like darkness cannot overcome light and disorder 777 00:49:57,120 --> 00:50:01,120 cannot coexist with God's order, the adversary cannot freely 778 00:50:01,120 --> 00:50:05,160 operate where God's rule is honored and his boundaries are 779 00:50:05,160 --> 00:50:07,560 observed. How's this show? 780 00:50:07,920 --> 00:50:09,560 I'll tell you just one more verse with the James. 781 00:50:09,720 --> 00:50:11,760 It might be our last one here for now. 782 00:50:13,880 --> 00:50:17,640 James 47. We love forever. 783 00:50:17,640 --> 00:50:20,080 Apostolic Church members, Christians forever. 784 00:50:20,080 --> 00:50:22,680 Is love the last part of this verse? 785 00:50:23,480 --> 00:50:27,360 Resist the devil. Then he will flee from you, 786 00:50:32,080 --> 00:50:32,560 right? Tony? 787 00:50:32,560 --> 00:50:35,320 I love that man. You know, devil on my back. 788 00:50:37,760 --> 00:50:41,280 I'll flee from you. But when we've left off the 789 00:50:41,280 --> 00:50:47,520 first portion, we have weakened and made null and void our 790 00:50:47,520 --> 00:50:51,880 resistance. Your Bible says submit 791 00:50:53,160 --> 00:50:58,320 yourselves, therefore to God. We're frustrated in our 792 00:50:58,320 --> 00:51:00,960 resistance mode. I thought they told me this 793 00:51:00,960 --> 00:51:05,280 would work. They told me this would work. 794 00:51:06,160 --> 00:51:08,960 When we feel weak, we don't feel empowered. 795 00:51:10,080 --> 00:51:16,280 Nothing changes. Powers not in myself Resistance. 796 00:51:16,880 --> 00:51:19,360 The power is in whom I'm submitted to. 797 00:51:22,560 --> 00:51:25,400 Can you help me, Brother Zach? Brother Zach and I say this 798 00:51:25,400 --> 00:51:28,600 respectfully. Brother Zach is our in house 799 00:51:28,600 --> 00:51:34,800 meathead. That just means he lifts and he 800 00:51:34,800 --> 00:51:37,080 can do it folks. OK, I'm not going to go through 801 00:51:37,080 --> 00:51:38,320 his specs. You want to see his resume? 802 00:51:38,360 --> 00:51:39,760 Talk to him after church. He can. 803 00:51:40,560 --> 00:51:45,400 He can do it. But any one of you could come up 804 00:51:45,400 --> 00:51:55,040 here. And I might think, you know, I, 805 00:51:55,280 --> 00:52:12,440 Josh, I take you because I am Paul R McGee, junior, is that 806 00:52:12,440 --> 00:52:16,440 the fact of the matter is I might resemble olive oil a 807 00:52:16,440 --> 00:52:17,920 little bit. Popeye, sweetheart. 808 00:52:24,920 --> 00:52:30,280 I don't have no power per SE, but when I yoke up to one that 809 00:52:30,280 --> 00:52:35,040 I've made my friend, come on, that's good. 810 00:52:35,040 --> 00:52:40,640 Whatever opposition comes now, see wherever I go, and I'm 811 00:52:40,640 --> 00:52:43,360 trying to follow his lead, probably more so than mine. 812 00:52:43,880 --> 00:52:51,240 Where he goes, I go. Whom he sets with, I set with 813 00:52:53,000 --> 00:52:57,600 his way of talk, I start to adopt as my way of talk because 814 00:52:57,600 --> 00:53:01,720 this is my company. This is my company and and 815 00:53:01,720 --> 00:53:04,000 there's a little rubbing off that's happening in this there. 816 00:53:06,080 --> 00:53:07,480 And I'm trying not to preach all day, folks. 817 00:53:07,480 --> 00:53:12,040 I really ain't. But then when adversary Josh 818 00:53:12,040 --> 00:53:18,360 comes and all of all standing here, you better wait one, one 819 00:53:18,360 --> 00:53:21,600 minute, brother, because you don't understand what I've 820 00:53:21,600 --> 00:53:26,280 become submitted to. You want to wrestle with me? 821 00:53:26,280 --> 00:53:28,640 Maybe you don't want to wrestle with Zach. 822 00:53:31,280 --> 00:53:36,920 He'll bench press 2 of you's. You understand what I'm saying 823 00:53:36,920 --> 00:53:38,960 today. What's that mean? 824 00:53:39,240 --> 00:53:41,160 That no lion wants to walk there? 825 00:53:43,400 --> 00:53:47,720 No lion wants to walk there. Lucifer was in heaven one time 826 00:53:47,720 --> 00:53:51,120 and got prideful within himself, and he was dispatched by the 827 00:53:51,120 --> 00:53:54,840 Lord of Glory from the glory. I guarantee he doesn't want to 828 00:53:54,840 --> 00:53:58,400 tangle with that. Again, no lion wants to walk 829 00:53:58,400 --> 00:54:00,920 there. So you need to yoke yourself up 830 00:54:00,960 --> 00:54:04,280 with God and you need to yoke yourself up with the character 831 00:54:04,280 --> 00:54:12,520 of God and you need to yoke yourself up, my God, 'cause 832 00:54:12,560 --> 00:54:17,200 there is a place where the lion cannot walk. 833 00:54:24,600 --> 00:54:25,880 Man, I'm feeling a little pre rapture. 834 00:54:25,880 --> 00:54:36,450 Come on here. You know, you're saying that the 835 00:54:36,450 --> 00:54:37,970 devil disappears. No, he don't disappear. 836 00:54:37,970 --> 00:54:43,850 He's still watching, he's still seeking, he's still, he's always 837 00:54:43,850 --> 00:54:46,010 going to have an eye open for vulnerabilities. 838 00:54:48,360 --> 00:54:53,080 You say saying no, he's not destroyed, he's just not there. 839 00:54:55,880 --> 00:55:03,760 He's just not there. There's people sitting in the 840 00:55:03,760 --> 00:55:07,720 sound of my voice today. Some of you already been 841 00:55:07,720 --> 00:55:09,600 frustrated with your Christian journey. 842 00:55:10,560 --> 00:55:17,640 I understand that. I implore thee, I challenge 843 00:55:17,640 --> 00:55:21,840 thee. Just live for God as hard and as 844 00:55:21,840 --> 00:55:24,160 obediently as you can. Just give it all to Him. 845 00:55:27,480 --> 00:55:31,840 Yoke yourself up with Him. Sometimes we get so distracted 846 00:55:32,360 --> 00:55:34,520 about trying to take care of all the little fires and little 847 00:55:34,520 --> 00:55:38,240 issues and problems that we forget the relationship. 848 00:55:39,280 --> 00:55:40,680 So we're trying to take care of this problem. 849 00:55:40,680 --> 00:55:43,320 It's like, it's like going down the road when you got nuts and 850 00:55:43,320 --> 00:55:45,920 bolts and you know, nuts coming loose on this, when you get it 851 00:55:45,920 --> 00:55:48,320 tighten up and it's loose on this because the vibration of 852 00:55:48,320 --> 00:55:50,120 the journey, you're just all you're doing is getting done 853 00:55:50,120 --> 00:55:51,640 going around trying to keep all the boats tighten. 854 00:55:52,400 --> 00:55:56,360 But I'm telling you, if you focus on the main thing, your 855 00:55:56,360 --> 00:56:00,880 relationship with the Lord, if you keep that your focus, he'll 856 00:56:00,880 --> 00:56:07,640 take care of the boats. We bow our heads in this place, 857 00:56:08,600 --> 00:56:10,920 folks. I can tell you today, I feel the 858 00:56:10,920 --> 00:56:14,880 Holy Ghost, God's Spirit is in this building today. 859 00:56:16,360 --> 00:56:19,320 And whenever He shows up, He doesn't just show up to be a 860 00:56:19,320 --> 00:56:22,360 spectator. He shows up with purpose and 861 00:56:22,360 --> 00:56:24,840 with intention. And He's here today with 862 00:56:24,840 --> 00:56:27,920 purpose. I know we have a vast, vast 863 00:56:27,920 --> 00:56:30,000 group of people here today. And some of you, this is your 864 00:56:30,000 --> 00:56:33,040 first time, but listen, there's nothing written in God's holy 865 00:56:33,040 --> 00:56:35,800 word like you got to wait till the 5th time you've ever been to 866 00:56:35,800 --> 00:56:38,400 church to engage with God's Spirit. 867 00:56:39,840 --> 00:56:44,200 If you're feeling a pool upon your life today, you said Pastor 868 00:56:44,200 --> 00:56:46,000 McGee, why you been talking this morning? 869 00:56:46,240 --> 00:56:49,000 I just been feeling something I've never felt before or 870 00:56:49,000 --> 00:56:51,240 there's there's been things happening through this service 871 00:56:51,240 --> 00:56:53,400 at different times. Some things that provoked me to 872 00:56:53,400 --> 00:56:55,920 cry are the things and there's a lot of emotions I'm dealing 873 00:56:55,920 --> 00:56:57,760 with. Sir or ma'am, let me tell you 874 00:56:57,760 --> 00:57:01,920 something that is God's spirit dealing with you this morning. 875 00:57:02,640 --> 00:57:05,720 That's God's Spirit dealing with you and we're opening these 876 00:57:05,720 --> 00:57:07,240 altars right now. What does that mean? 877 00:57:07,400 --> 00:57:10,960 This provides a time for us to come forward to pray. 878 00:57:11,280 --> 00:57:13,680 You can pray in your Pew. You can pray standing, kneeling 879 00:57:13,680 --> 00:57:15,880 on your stomach. It really doesn't matter to me, 880 00:57:16,120 --> 00:57:21,240 but it it provides a time for us to engage with God this morning, 881 00:57:21,560 --> 00:57:25,560 talk to him, cry out to him, tell him about our troubles. 882 00:57:25,640 --> 00:57:28,760 We this is a time where we can come forward and we can have a 883 00:57:28,920 --> 00:57:31,840 afterthought about the way that we've been living life and we 884 00:57:31,840 --> 00:57:34,960 can repent of our sins. This is open up to whosoever 885 00:57:35,040 --> 00:57:37,800 will you don't have to be a member of this church to kneel 886 00:57:37,800 --> 00:57:40,080 at this altar. You don't have to be a member of 887 00:57:40,080 --> 00:57:43,400 this church to pray Amen. If you are here today and you're 888 00:57:43,400 --> 00:57:45,680 feeling the drawing of God's Spirit. 889 00:57:45,880 --> 00:57:49,560 Something that's been said this morning that that your your mind 890 00:57:49,560 --> 00:57:53,360 and your heart just identifies with this altar is for you 891 00:57:53,360 --> 00:57:56,440 today. God will meet you here this 892 00:57:56,520 --> 00:58:00,680 remember this is a holy altar of holy sacrifices. 893 00:58:01,040 --> 00:58:05,880 This is one of those places that Pillai and can not walk, 894 00:58:06,200 --> 00:58:08,280 Hallelujah. Cry out to him. 895 00:58:08,520 --> 00:58:12,120 You can pray quietly, you can lift your voice, Hallelujah. 896 00:58:12,120 --> 00:58:14,360 You don't have to worry about anybody else. 897 00:58:14,520 --> 00:58:17,280 What anybody's going to think, what you might think anybody's 898 00:58:17,280 --> 00:58:19,800 going to say. What you're doing right now is 899 00:58:19,800 --> 00:58:25,120 honorable in the sight of God. Hallelujah. 900 00:58:27,120 --> 00:58:28,520 Just start talking to Him. You. 901 00:58:28,680 --> 00:58:30,360 You don't have to have special words. 902 00:58:30,480 --> 00:58:33,240 You don't have to speak in the King James Version, Bible 903 00:58:33,240 --> 00:58:35,440 language. You just talk to Him like you 904 00:58:35,440 --> 00:58:38,080 would talk to a friend. You can lay it all down. 905 00:58:38,280 --> 00:58:41,400 Bring your trouble, bring your concern, bring your questions, 906 00:58:41,640 --> 00:58:44,480 bring your fear, bring your anxiety, bring your pain, 907 00:58:44,680 --> 00:58:46,200 whatever it is.