Well, if you have the Bibles, turn over to Matthew chapter 16.
Trying to get a little heading here.
I got a couple things rolling in my spirit and I'm determining
when I want to release a couple of thought processes.
It's more than a door people. You know, we started this year
off and our theme, the Reigning Church, this is our last Sunday
before we move into 2026 to the Lord.
Terry and I want us to end on the same thought process.
You know, they say how you leave a place is how you'll enter a
place. Well, you know, we came into
2026 because we've been in this theme of reigning since 2020.
And I do not believe reigning in love itself is going to be
diminished. Although we may not utilize the
term sometime, you know in the future it could be, but the Lord
is preparing the earth for His reign.
And you know in the Western society we do not understand the
concept of Kingdom as well as the East does.
And even the East is losing it because Western civilization is
trying to incorporate a new thought process called a
democracy within those regions so that kingdoms in love itself
continue to fall away. However, the Bible's about a
king, his Kingdom and his royal offspring.
It is an eternal truth. And that means that it is
something that is in our future. Not only is it in our presence
and was in our past, it's also in our future.
So there will be, there will never be a time that a Kingdom
thought process ceases to exist. Now the the governments of man
may be trying to eliminate this concept, but Jesus is not Amen.
And a democracy is not better than a Kingdom.
A Democratic Republic is not better than a Kingdom.
Socialism is not better than a Kingdom.
Dictatorship is not better than a Kingdom, all right?
The Kingdom of God is eternal and it's amazing.
Amen. And so we want to look at the
church that's raining because God has much to say about it.
Look at Matthew chapter 16, starting in verse 13 through 19.
It says when Jesus came to the district of Caesarea Philippi.
Let me say this first, stay right here, but I'm just going
to quote a scripture that I normally use, Matthew 15 Three,
Jesus said, why do you forsake the commandments of God for the
sake of your traditions? And again, it's very important
for us to make sure that we do not have traditions.
There are certain things that God has spoken to me through the
years that navigate my life all right?
And it makes me who I am because the Word changes me, which means
I am never in someone's mold. I've decided to not be in
someone's mold. I'm choosing to be in Christ.
Now, in Christ is not a denomination.
So I'm not in a Baptist mold. I'm not in a Presbyterian mode.
I'm not in a Methodist mode mold.
I'm not in a Charismatic mold. I'm not in a Pentecostal mode
mold. I'm not in a Word of Faith mold.
OK, I'm not in any of those molds.
I'm in the Word, and then I have to then allow my mind to be
renewed to thought processes that are only conducive with the
Word, which means I have to become a critical thinker in
order to make sure what I am firmly persuaded in is in
Scripture, not in the tradition of man.
Now, critical thinking is not negative.
Critical thinking is Lord. It is a passion to know only
what God knows, how God knows it.
Amen. And in our society there's a lot
of words that are being thrown around and are being redefined.
But there is the source of words.
In the beginning was the and the word was with God, and the word
was God. Now we know his name.
Once he put on a skin suit. His name is what God is.
The author of words before anything else was.
God was and God is. And when God speaks, that is the
author of all words. Now man can try to redefine
words because he's made himself a God in it of himself, but he
does not hold the power God holds.
So God has a right to define. And since we were lost, say I
was lost, come on, say I was lost.
If you were lost, that means you do not did not know where you
were going, you did not know what you were thinking, and your
thoughts were wrong even though you thought they were right.
The Lord identifies you. There's a way that seems right
to a man, but in the end is, and if we would maintain this
thought that I don't know everything I think I know and
what I do know could be wrong, should the Lord expose that it
is. And when he does, I have to
change because he's not going to change.
He doesn't need to change. So every time we go into
Scripture, I no longer go into scripture thinking I know that
scripture. There are things I know about
it, but there could be more clarity as I continue.
Which means then in order for us to help a Society of people who
are extremely complacent at not investigating the information
they hear. When you're in a society which
will flip through social media and something will come across
and they'll go, Oh my gosh, did you see this?
Did you hear this? And they did not even examine it
to see if it's so, then that means it is a ripe environment
for deception. Ripe environment for deception.
So when you get around a minister that is going to
provoke your thinking, tell you say hold on a minute, do you
know what you know? Now one particular minister was
a master at producing thought provoking statements because
they would make statements that you'd go what?
Because it would challenge your thought.
Now, that did not mean that they were saying what you were saying
wrong. They're just saying think about
what you're thinking about and make sure what you're thinking
is what he's thinking. They're his thoughts.
Hallelujah. But because we're in a shock and
awe society that the first word said all of a sudden people
like, oh, I can't believe we don't even want to hear anything
further because we do not want to take the time to determine if
it's so we do not do honest assessments.
It's easier to stay with a tradition than to discover
truth. Tweet that.
OK, so Matthew 1613 says this. Now when Jesus came into the
district of Caesarea Philippi, he was asking his disciples, his
what? Not converts, but disciples.
These are those that enlisted. These people gave up their lives
and followed him. Their whole routine of everyday
changed. His disciples, their routine of
everyday changed. That's who He called a disciple.
He didn't call a disciple of those who did their same thing
and showed up when they wanted to, to hear what he said, no,
they changed their actual existence, their routine of life
and follow. Why do you?
He said, who do people say that the Son of Man is?
And they said some say John the Baptist and others Elijah, but
still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.
And he said to them, but who do you say that I am?
Simon Peters said you are the Christ, say you are the Christ,
say you are the Christ, you are the Christ, the Son of the
living God. Is your Christmas dinner sitting
on you still? Because I hear it in your tone.
You sound a little sleepy, you know, after you've had that
Christmas dinner. All right, You are the Christ.
Come on, You are the Christ. You are the Christ, the Son of
the living God. And Jesus said, blessed are you,
Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to
you, but my Father who is in heaven, which means you cannot
naturally appraise this, cannot do it.
Hallelujah. Oh man, I could preach there for
a while, but we're going to verse 18.
But also say to you, I also say to you that you are petering
upon this rock. What rock is that?
It is the revelation that Jesus is the Christ.
Christ is not a last name. It is title.
OK, I don't have a title.
Apostle is not a title. Prophet is not a title.
Pastor is not a title. Evangelist is not a title and
teacher is not a title. They are gifts in the body for
the church. But Christ is title.
It is the anointing one in his anointing.
It is the King. It is the long-awaited Messiah.
It is the one who's going to come and establish a Kingdom
that will have no end. He's the King and upon the
revelation, He's the King. Hallelujah, he said, I will
build my church and the gates of hell or Hades will not overpower
it. So the power of darkness does
not overpower the church. Jesus builds upon the thought
that he is king. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
Then he goes on and says verse 19 Because of this reason, I
will give you the keys of the Kingdom.
See, Christ is in verse 18. He's going to or verse 17 that
he's the Christ and upon the revelation of the Christ, he's
going to build a Church of which then now we get into the concept
of Kingdom. All of these are in line because
if you're going to say Jesus Christ, you have to say the
Kingdom. You have to say it.
To not say it is to not talk about Jesus rightly divided, he
said. I'll give you the keys of the
Kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on earth.
Notice the Kingdom has a function in planet earth.
All right shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever is you
loose on earth shall have been loose in heaven.
I love this translation because it's letting us know heaven's
will becomes known in the earth. And when you know heaven's will,
you can get heaven's will in the earth.
That's why Jesus said now when you pray, pray this way, our
Father who art in heaven hallowed be your name, your
Kingdom, your will be on as it is.
That's why he says whatever you bind on earth, when you do the
binding on earth, it has already been bound in heaven, which
means you know the will of your Father.
You have heard the voice of the one who has seated on the throne
and Thrones are in kingdoms, not in religions.
All right, and I'm going to be honest with you.
What I'm preaching is not a narrow or a separate
individualized truth or teaching.
It is the concept of the Bible by which all other subjects are
subject to. Period.
Faith does not exist outside the Kingdom in the way He wants you
to function it. Healing.
All those things are byproducts of the Kingdom of God.
Hallelujah. We cannot be ashamed of this.
So Jesus said I'm going to build my church.
All right, So what do we understand here?
We know that Jesus is the door. He says that he's the door and
that you enter through him. However, the Kingdom is not a
door. The Kingdom is bigger than a
door. All right?
And there's a few things that we can learn from.
This passes because Jesus is the Christ.
His assignment is to build his church.
OK, now to be nice, I would say it this way.
To build his church he must have citizens, and to have citizens
they must be delivered from one domain to another.
To provoke critical thinking. I would say it this way.
Jesus is #1 priority was not to win the lost, but to build his
church. However, winning the lost builds
the church. But here's the problem.
If the emphasis is only to win lost, then building the church
is not necessary. This is very important because
again, there are concepts and there are truths within the
Bible, but if you focus on certain truths without seeing
big picture, you lose purpose. Jesus, when he announced to his
disciples, who do people say that I am?
Then he says, who do you say, well, you're the Christ, you're
the expected one. You're the one that's going to
set up a Kingdom in Israel and it's never going to end.
They understood the purpose and Jesus said I am going to build
my church. Now in order to build a church,
you're going to have to be born again.
We know this because he says how can I have citizens in my
Kingdom here when all of them have been in rebellion to the
Kingdom? They're cut off and they cannot
come by earning it. They can't purchase their own
way in. That's not the pathway of
immigration in God's Kingdom. It is sonship and sonship alone.
Are you hearing me? The only way you can be a
citizen of God's Kingdom is you must be born of it.
The problem is man has fallen. He is separated from God.
He is not of God's nature. He is in a likeness in the
context that he spirit, soul and body.
God said let us make man in our image, and the original man was
literally in his image. However, when Adam ate the fruit
and died and his spirit, man was cut off from God.
He's still spirit, he has a soul and he lives in a body and that
is the makeup of man. But yet he has no relationship
with man or with God, because now he is a God into him unto
him. Now when I say that he's not
technically a God to himself because there's another power,
he has now submitted to Adam. When he lost dominion, he had a
sustaining power, but when he released it to the enemy, he
became a submitted with no power.
When he was made in the image of God, he was submitted to God
with power, but when he ate the fruit, he now became submitted
to a power with no power. Submission was going to happen
either way. Submission is never going to not
be a part of our lives and submission is the first step to
authority anyway. With that being said, God knows
when God makes statements I'll build my church, He knows people
need to be born again. But he did not say, and upon the
revelation that I'm the Christ, I'll win the lost, 'cause if
that was the purpose, then building the church would not be
necessary. And we could all then assimilate
to the belief that all that matters is I ask Jesus into my
heart and that I'm saved. And when I die, I go to heaven.
And we could live that existence freely, which means this is not
necessary. And and the greatest attack in
the last days is on this. And it's been on this, it's been
on this since the inception, because the Lord gave
assignments for them to go plant churches, to establish churches.
And in order to establish a church, you must go into a
community and reveal to that community you're outside this
Kingdom. But you can be in it if you'll
be born of it. And you'll be born of it if
you'll receive the blood of Jesus.
He's the Lord of all. He's paid the price.
Come on. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
And we're going to set up this church.
Now when we hear church, because we're in a Western society, we
think of it as a building, a place where we come and sing
songs to the Lord. But yet the the the believers or
the disciples of this time knew it was a totally different
concept, nothing like the US or Western society.
See churches today. And until we change our
thinking, we'll get stuck in a tradition thinking we're
worshipping God when we're not. In fact, I, I know of a
particular denomination, I'll just leave it at that, where
someone was in it, did all the rituals, all the traditions was
told that they were right with God, only to find out they were
never right with God. Because that particular
denomination did not require that you confess Christ as your
Lord and Savior, call on his name to be saved.
It was not a requirement. There was never an altar call.
And I'll never forget seeing this lady's face who now is a
minister for Jesus Christ. Say, you know, all this time I
was sitting in the church and I was going to hell.
Now this is interesting thought I saw this writing concerning
this that I thought that is extremely accurate, you know,
because right now there is an attack to break this up.
Now let me look read this in another translation, verse 18
because it literally gets it exactly right.
And when we read this, this is how the disciples heard Jesus
say it. It says it this way.
I give you the name Peter a stone, which is a Little Rock.
And this truth of who I am will be the bedrock foundation on
which I build my church, my legislative assembly, and the
power of death will not be able to overpower it.
Now, when I say legislative assembly in the United States,
if I said, well, I went to a legislative assembly this
morning, right? If some, if you walked into town
today and you know, you popped into Chipotle or you went to
some other restaurant and they're like, well, what'd you
do today? Well, I went to a legislative
assembly this morning. Will anyone, both Christian and
non Christian think you went to church?
They will not. They'll be like who, who, who is
having a legislative assembly because we've been wired
separation of church and state, which is God in government.
Yet God is government. God is the government, the
government that will last forever.
Say Amen, Hallelujah. And you're going to be
considered a heretic 'cause you say stuff like this.
But it's absolutely the Bible. All right, so here, this is what
they heard. So you know what, you can go
around town and say, you know, where did you go to church?
Well, I went to a legislative assembly this morning, Right.
What do you do on Sunday, man? I go to a legislative assembly
on Sunday. Some men, they're going on
Monday. On Wednesday night, I'm going
like, wow, you sure are involved in your local government.
You bet I am. I'm extremely invested in it.
Are you hearing me? And I saw this writing that says
man in his thinking thinks he is doing away with church.
But if you look at the world, churches never being done away
with, it's just being modelled in different venues.
Because when you see a legislative assembly or another
translation from the Greek means those who are called out and set
apart, they, they collect upon the same place, right?
And they allow, they have common interest, they allow the belief
system at that assembly to dictate how they govern and
there will be worship or praise associated with that particular
assembly. Well, you understand, yesterday
at certain cathedrals, sanctuaries, we call them
coliseums or stadiums, today there was an assembly.
People called out, They represented something and they
gave cheer and money. I mean, you're supposed to give
to the Lord these people that, oh, you just want my money.
Well, apparently the colleges just want your money.
Apparently the NFL just wants your money.
Apparently, the NBA just wants your money, and not only do you
pay for a seat because I didn't charge you for this one, not
only will you pay for your seat because you understand, Rufino,
your seat would be a lot more than Ernesto's back there,
right? For you to be sitting here and
people are paying it happily. I mean, they get season tickets
and then you pay for the concessions.
You're paying for parking. You do that.
I mean, I'm gonna need to get my parking lot to say that's a $25
slot now. You know what?
No one argues. Oh, y'all don't want to hear
this? No one argues with the attendant
Daytona beat Speedway. The the 24 Hours of Daytona is
about to hit in January. I would love to go see that one
this year. I'm going to have to wait till
next year. But then you got the Daytona 500
and and racing stadiums are even larger.
The largest one is the Indianapolis 500 and they packed
that place pay to park, purchase all kinds of items, spend
multiple day passes and they praise well, church has not been
eliminated. It's just been reassigned.
See, man's just reassigning what it they can't get rid of this
desire to praise, this desire to conform to something that they
can put all of their energy, their resources and their time.
I mean, when the college season ends, people are going to be
depressed, but they will be on to their theology.
They will be studiers of their theology.
I mean, you think the church has podcasts, These other assemblies
have podcasts. I mean, they're going to tell
you who we're tracking in the NIL deals and who's in the
transfer portal and how are the people doing that are all been
heard or whatever. I mean, we track the players, we
know their names, we get their heights.
Where are the schools? Where was the last place that's
studying to show yourself, oh, you don't want to hear this.
It's not gone, It's misplaced. So when people say, well, it's
just hard for me to get into church, No, it's not because
you're into it somewhere else already.
I mean, you're so far into it that you don't even realize how
far into it. And if you could buy season
tickets, I and this and I could go beyond this.
We could talk about ballets. We could talk about arts and
entertainment. I mean, people will go to
concerts, sing songs with people who don't even know them, cry
when they walk into the stadium that that person touches their
hand, they fall out. Say it in.
So I mean, Elvis Presley had something going on that they
just would fall out. Are you hearing me?
So man is doing what God always put in man for him and him
alone. Hallelujah.
I wonder how many people are NFL hurt, NBA hurt, huh?
I wonder how much I got ballet hurt, T-ball hurt.
I mean, you know, how many parents are running their
children around in these little leagues, you know, and I get no
problem as long as it's not taking center stage.
Hallelujah. The church has never hurt you.
Never. People hurt people, Hallelujah.
That's real. Hallelujah.
So Jesus came to establish the church and how the church
function is functioning in the world right now.
I mean, it should be an easy transition for us because we can
recognize, wow, all of our worship, all of our praise, all
of our resource, all of our time, all of our talent.
You understand what I'm saying? I mean, think about it, There
are people out there that are raising money for all kinds of
organizations, OK? I mean, and they will pitch them
and push them and, and go after them and take all kind of time.
But how much do we do it for the church, for that which Jesus is
building? So the minute we take this
thought process that you know what, I don't have to go to
church, it's not important. Well, then you don't know what's
important to Jesus. Jesus said I will build my
church. And what's awesome about that is
that He is personally being responsible for it.
He did not delegate it to the apostle, the prophet, the
pastor, the teacher, or the evangelist.
He's doing it and those gifts are just a part of it.
Like the rest of the Saints. We're all just a part of it, of
which He is the one to be adorned.
He is the one to be glorified. He's the one.
Why do I come to church? Because he's the head of it.
Why do I show up? Because he's here.
Why am I here? Because he's worthy of honor.
It's what he's interested in. He's interested in it.
It's his most active process is to build his church.
So we could say it this way. We could say, therefore, the new
birth is the initial process of building his church, but not the
only process. It's what gets it.
It's the doorway into the Kingdom of which now
discipleship plays the next role of equipping the Saints.
All right, but let me take you through a journey.
Just so you know this particular door.
I have no problem when Jesus says I will build my church.
He knew that step one is you must be born again, right?
Because Nicodemus says to him, man, you must be from God.
He said unless a man is born again, he will not enter the
Kingdom. So what's he show associate?
He said kingdom's what you're after.
I get it. The problem is you cannot even
enter it or see it until you're born again.
But once you're in born again, then you now have access and
that's not it. It's the beginning.
John first John chapter 3 verse 5, Jesus says, you know that he
appeared in order to take away sin and in him there is no sin.
So again, Jesus said listen to his disciples.
Did you get the revelation? I'm the Christ Father sent told
you that. Guess what, I'm going to build
my church. Now in order to build it, I'm
going to have to take away the sins of the world.
Step one. This is step one people.
This is not the message of Jesus.
This is the process that Jesus has to go through in order to
build his church. These are foundational levels of
him building the church. Jump down to verse eight.
First, John 38 says the one who practices sin is of the devil,
for the devil has sinned from the beginning.
The Son of God appeared for this purpose to destroy the works of
the devil. Well, we know that's not his
only purpose because he said I'm going to build my church and
building his church is the first process is you have to destroy
the works of the devil. Those things that bind people
from being able to enter in he John chapter 16 verse 11 says it
this way and concerning judgment because the ruler of this world
has been judged. Now this is what I love because
again, if you just read first John 3, then you think, well,
Jesus is here to deal with sin. But Jesus associates sin with
the devil. He's come to destroy the works
of the devil. He's going to take away sin.
Sin is a byproduct of the devil. But who is the devil?
He's the ruler of this world of the system that functions.
He's been given the dominion of Adam.
So Jesus is saying there is a ruling power in the planet that
has Adam's dominion that I've come to get back, and I'm going
to build my church because in order to build the church, which
is a legislative assembly, which is the Kingdom of God, so that
the Kingdom can function in and on the earth always, whether
it's present or not, it's irrelevant.
So it will function for all of us to be able to participate in
it. I'm going to have to deal with
the ruler of this world. He has been judged.
Are you hearing me? Then you get into Hebrews
chapter 2, verses 14 to 15. It says therefore, since the
children share in flesh and blood, He himself likewise also
partook of the same, that through death He might render
powerless him who had the power of death, that is the devil, and
might free those who through fear of death were subject to
slavery, how often all their lives.
So again, the Bible tells us here in Hebrews that Jesus has
to come as a man. It's because man was given
dominion in Genesis. One man gave that dominion to
the devil, of which he acknowledged he received it in
Luke chapter 4 of the temptation of Christ.
And so in order for God to legally give man back dominion
that he spoke with this is he had to send his own son as a man
to claim it. Hallelujah.
And Jesus says I'm coming to build my church.
And in order to build it, I'm going to have to deal with this
power of death. I'm going to deal with this
issue called sin. I'm going to have to pay the
price that no human can pay cause none are righteous.
No not one but I will. The sinless one became our sin
so that we would have a right to be children of God and be a part
of His church, His legislative assembly, His Kingdom in the
earth. Colossians chapter 2, verses 13
to 15 says it this way. When you were dead in your
transgression and the uncircumcision of of your flesh,
He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us of all
of our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of
death consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to
us, and has taken it out of the way, having nailed it, come on
to the cross. Verse 15.
And when He disarmed the rulers and the authorities and made a
public display of them, having triumph over them through him,
he tore down principalities and powers.
He went over into the gates of Hades or death.
They could not prevail against him.
He busted through his fortified system, crushed him, made an
open spectacle of him, and then took Dominion back and says now
I can give it to whomever calls on my name as being Lord of
their lives. Lord is not a religious word.
It means supreme and authority. You are recognizing his kingship
or he's the Christ of your life. He is the one who rules and
reigns and you are submitted to his rule.
And let me just tell you this, you're submitted anyway, even if
you're not. Because if you leave this life
without ever calling on the name of the Lord willfully, he'll
look you dead in the face, judge you righteously, meaning all of
your wrongdoing is going to be there and you'll know it.
He'll know it, and all creations going to know it.
You'll have no case, you cannot win, and he's going to show you
the blood that flows and that all of it had been forgiven if
only you had asked and that you made the conscious choice to
stay. Stubborn, stiff necked in your
own self will going to do it your way.
Going to be a God unto yourself, only still worshiping the other
one, the Prince of the power of the air, the father of lies, the
devil himself, who's your daddy? And he's going to say, depart
from me. I never knew you, you worker of
lawlessness, which means you work things contrary to my word.
And you'll be cast into the lake of fire.
You will not be able to resist that word.
You won't be able to say I'm not going.
You'll you'll have no power and you'll be cast into the Lake of
Fire, which is the eternal prison system of the Kingdom of
God, of which everyone is there or there because they earned it
and wanted it. There will be no one to say I've
been wrongly accused. It will.
There is no appeal. There is no appeal process.
It is over forever and he will show you every opportunity you
had to receive the precious blood to get out to be free.
Because again, it's not about forgiving you of wrongdoing.
It's about telling you your purpose.
And I'm learning this because I'm studying, taking a little
time in some theological books. And I'm asking this question, is
the basis of these human written books concerning Bible
interpretation? Are they only in the context of
Genesis 3 to Revelations 20? Because if they are, then their
way of of rightly dividing the truth will not meet a biblical
standard, won't meet it. There are those, and I agree
that the church has become too man centric, very man centric,
where man's the hero of the book.
The man is not the hero of the book.
And those individuals say it is Christ centric, but what they're
saying is it's only about Christ.
And you know what, that's not true.
It's not true that the Bible is only about God.
It's not only about God. You know what God told us about
us. So the reality is the Bible is
about God and His creation, which includes how it was to
function. And the center of it all is the
Lord. Don't get me wrong.
But because of Him, I know who I am.
I know who I am. So the Bible does teach me about
me because as I learned Him, then He reveals me.
The Bible's not just about God and it's definitely not just
about the redemption of man. It's about us both.
Same in anyway. It's about both because there's
a lot of ditching going on, lot of ditching going on.
And when you get over in ditches and you stay in specific veins,
then you miss things. If the Old Covenant was not
necessary to understand the new Covenant, he would not have
included in in its writings. It's necessary.
And the Kingdom is the only thing that connects both.
Hallelujah. So we see here that this
redemption we have is destroying A principality, a power, a
dominion. Moving you out of one place into
the next. So the early church understood
that the Kingdom did not have to be here physically to experience
and access its culture. In our, you know, in our Western
society, the majority of the teaching is about a future
event. And when you have a future
event, you'll not believe for a now event.
Now there are future things, but there are things you can access
now. And if you do not understand how
the Kingdom functions today in its current state, not
physically being present where the eyes can see, and you think
it's just only future, well then you'll miss out all the benefits
that come now even though you don't physically see it.
Which tells us that the early church was not receiving Christ
as their savior and then waiting to exit.
Their idea was way different. Their idea was we can transform
our communities because we are accessing a culture and have
access to it now in the name of Jesus.
That can disrupt what's going on in society today.
How do we know this? Look at Ephesians chapter one,
verse 19 to 23. It says, and this is the
surpassing greatness of his power towards us who believe.
Are you a believer? Come on, are you a believer?
These are in accordance with the working of the strength of his
might which he brought about in Christ when he raised him from
the dead and seated him at his right hand in heavenly places.
Far above all rule and authority and power and demean and every
name that is named, not only in this age, but also on the one to
come. And he put all things in
subjection. What under his feet and gave him
his head over all things. Where to the church?
Not to the lost, but to the church.
So it's the church that has this power and dominion.
But how are you going to be the church?
You must be born again. Now, once you're born again,
then you get to move into a thing called authority.
But you can't function in authority if you've not been
trained in it. So it says he gave all things,
gave him his head over all things to the church which is
his body, the fullness of him who feels All in all.
Ed Salvoso said this. He said the 1st century
ecclesia, which is the word church in Matthew 16, introduced
A radical and revolutionary social agenda that launched a
process that literally changed the world.
It changed the world. This this function of Jesus as
Lord of my life was so radical that it upset communities in how
they live their daily lives. It was not Jesus come into my
heart and save me and everything's going to be que
Sarah, Sarah, whatever will be will be.
No, it was transformed so much so that townspeople, especially
in the community of of Ephesus says this guy, which his name
was Jason, has brought in some people that they have turned the
world upside down with this thing that Jesus is the king.
And now he's in our community. And if we don't do something
about it, then our great Diana, this God that we worship, that
we've deemed is the one that's God.
And all of our little idols that we make all of our money of and
all this trade that we do, these people are going to burn them.
Our trade's going to be gone. We won't submit to this one
called Jesus. We want our money out of our man
made idols and we want our community bound in that
idolatry. When they came in, it was
disruptive. Now it wasn't by violence in the
context that they came in and made people submit.
If you don't submit, we'll kill you.
They didn't do that. It was peaceful, it was love, it
was kindness, it was demonstrating the fruits of the
spirit. It would then through
benevolence and benevolence not only through the giving of
goods, but on the healing of the sick, casting out devils,
raising the dead, glory to God. It was amazing.
It transformed communities because these people were
passionate. They knew the Kingdom is here,
the Kingdom has arrived, it's it's spiritual life and by
vibrancy is here. The name of Jesus called all
authority. And when I speak that name, the
demons flee, sickness comes off, the dead are raised.
It was amazing, transformative, but it's also said we
institutionalized the church, turned it into programs, and now
it does nothing to change our society.
But Doctor Martin Luther King said this junior, he said there
was a time when the church was very powerful.
It was during that period that the early Christians rejoiced
when they were deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed.
In those days, the church was not merely A thermometer that
recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion.
It was a thermostat that transformed the Moors of
society. The church, you know, modern day
church is especially in the Western church is, is so
disconnected from the Moors of society.
We'll stay in our camp and you know, we're not here to bother
you. You do what you want to do at
the expense that we won't even really try to change anything.
And then when you come to us, we're going to change the way we
look so much that you won't be offended when you come in.
Yet Jesus said the word will offend, not because it's
offensive, but because it will require you to change.
Not it. He's life.
We were in death. He never sinned.
We were professionals, experts in the field, all of us experts
in the field. If we don't watch out, we'll try
to negotiate with God what part of that old life we can maintain
and that he should be OK with when he's like, no, I brought
deliverance for you completely and entirely, spirit, soul and
body. Yeah, you can have it all.
And your life should shine so bright that your whole community
should take notice. You shouldn't blend in, and you
should be so radically different that if they choose to
assimilate to who you are, persecution is inevitable.
But don't be upset when it comes because you're not of this
world. Drive on anyway, Hallelujah.
Receive the suffering in my name and know my reward is great.
Hallelujah. And we got to get back to those
kinds of passions. Ephesians 26 said this.
He raised us up with him and seated us with Him in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus. Come on, have you been raised
up? Have you been raised up?
The church is raining in the earth today.
It is what Jesus is building. The most important thing on the
planet is church. Is church.
If it was not important, then God would have never tasked the
Apostle Paul with planting. What's the purpose?
Go preach in a field. Get them born again.
Go on to the next community. Go on to the next community.
Don't do it.
Don't make them show up. Don't talk to them about how
they need to live different now. I mean, why we have all these
letters, Why is he saying you formally now you do, your
behavior was, but now it is. And these are church talk.
This is legislative assembly. This is how the Kingdom
function. This is the lifestyle, the
behavior, the cultures, the norms of of a citizen within
God's Kingdom of which your nature now can produce because
it's in Christ. And he says now I need you to
change this community so you come together, you grow,
function, walk in love, have brotherly kindness, have unity
of the faith, endure conflict together.
And you can change this. You are the light on a hill
because without you, it's darkness.
I need to equip you. I need to train you.
I need to challenge you. I need you to get some things
adjusted, things switched out a little bit because again, the
church's assignment is not to win the lost alone, although the
lost can be won and will be won because of the church.
In fact, First Peter 215 or 315 tells us the actual role of the
church. Jesus said I'll build my church.
And then through the the Holy Spirit in his writing to Paul,
who is mentoring Timothy, who has taken the pastoral ship of
Ephesus. Ephesus's pastor was assigned by
an apostle. The pastor didn't pick the
church. The apostle picked the pastor.
OK, Paul was an apostle that planted the church at Ephesus,
and now he's had elders. Some of those would have been
pastors. And now he said, Timothy, you
are the new pastor of that church.
They did not have a board to hire him.
The congregation didn't pick him.
The elder board didn't pick him. The apostle assigned him.
You're the guy and then he said don't let anyone look down on
your youthfulness. And then he lets him know
concerning the church. He said this, he says, but in
case I'm delayed, all right, so that you will know how one ought
to conduct himself in the household of God, which is the
Church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.
There's the role of the church. Well, you know the role of
church and win the loss. No, it's not.
It's part of what a church will do, because a truth of the
church is you must be born again.
But it's not the only church truth the church carries.
In fact, when every other sector of society, its pillars are
collapsing, ours should remain firm.
We are the pillar and supportive truth because what we carry
cannot be eliminated. Because our King, who is the
head of the Church, is the truth.
He's not a truth, He's not my truth.
He's the truth, He's the truth, and we are the pillar and
support of the truth. It's not my opinion, it's what
He says. So don't argue with me about how
you think you can live. He has clearly identified in His
Word how you ought to conduct yourself, which means there's an
expectation. And you know what?
It's an easy one actually, because your nature in Christ
already can produce it. You resisted through a unrenewed
mind, not through a new spirit. Are you hearing me?
Hallelujah. So another minister by the name
of Sunday, he said this. He said people are supposed to
come to church and be aware. Are you aware today and be aware
that you are being trained and recruited?
The church is supposed to be a place like a classroom or a war
room where you have been equipped to go out from Monday
to Fridays and fight for the cause of the Kingdom.
Not like fighting demons that have been defeated thousands of
years ago, but fighting to bring the righteousness and rules of
the Kingdom of God into your sphere of influence.
You are here today to be trained or recruited.
You are not here to have a guest experience.
I'm not here to get to make you have a great experience 'cause
this is not about you. So I don't care if the greeter
didn't smile today because it really wasn't about you, or if
you didn't find the closest parking spot because it really
wasn't about you anyway. It's not about your experience.
What did you have a good experience today?
What did you experience God today?
And you know what? God.
Sometimes when people are experiencing God, it's
uncomfortable because when God came down on the mountain, it
was uncomfortable to those that weren't living right.
And if you're not living right, then you're not going to have a
good experience. You're going to have an
experience, but it may not feel as good as you thought it'd be.
Like what? Why is my wrong showing up all
of a sudden? I thought I had I thought I was
that was good. I thought that was I go into
other churches and and and it don't come to the surface like
that. I mean, you go into some
environments and they are acting like the rest of the world and
saying, but when we all go to heaven or when we die, we go to
heaven because we've asked Jesus in our heart.
Now, I'm not judging those. I'm just saying those
environments exist. I'm not their judge.
But in here, it shouldn't be a guest experience.
It should be a God experience and how will you experience him?
Well, it's at the level of your devotion.
I mean, if you're looking for the Lord, welcome to anchor
faith. We we can show you people that
love God and are passionate about God and since the love of
God, but yet if you're fleshly, it's it's going to be
problematic and it's going to be a rough experience.
And some of you could testify when you were living in the
flesh that it did not feel good to come to church and it wasn't
a God problem. God was actually trying to help
you by warning you and saying you shouldn't feel comfortable
living like that Monday through Friday and then coming in here
and raising your hands and acting like it's acceptable.
I pay too good of a price. Because you ought to conduct
yourself different. You ought to Hallelujah.
And that's not condemnation. The Holy Spirit will convict you
of a quality of life that is better than the one you're
allowing yourself to live. Hallelujah.
Woo. The life of God is good, man.
Wow, it's amazing. Woo, man, you know, God hates
sin and we should not feel like sin is a good place to be in
this environment when we assemble together.
We should want it the holiness in the the glory of God in the
presence of God, because with him there is no sin.
And if there's sin somewhere, then man, it should challenge
you should you should even wait for an altar call.
You should just run to the platform and say, God, I got to
get that out so I don't miss anything in the word today.
Hallelujah, I'm coming out of 2025 with a bang, so when I get
into 2026 we'll go to another level.
Hallelujah, glory to God. Last passage of scripture is
this Hebrews chapter 3. His church reigns in His
Kingdom. There is no sin and the good
news is you can function in this earth detached from sin, not
only in your spirit, but your soul and your body.
You can be blameless, live holy. You have an advocate if you mess
up, but messing up is not practicing.
Messing up should not be a daily occurrence.
Hebrews chapter 3 verse one through 6 says this.
Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling,
consider Jesus the What is He, Apostle and High Priest of our
confession? Let me just stop here for one
second. The gift apostle, of which Jesus
is the foremost in all gifts. He had no problem identifying
others with that gift, not only in his which are the apostles of
the Lamb, but later when the dispensation of the church
through the Apostle Paul, the Apostle James, the Apostle
Priscilla and Aquila, the apostle Apollos.
There are multiple apostles beyond the original 12.
OK, which means they're still in the earth today.
And Jesus has no problem ordaining those gifts today,
because He is chief. He goes on and says this.
He was faithful to him who appointed him as Moses.
He was faithful to him who appointed him as Moses also was
in all his house. For he has been counted worthy
of more glory than Moses, but just as much as the builder of
the house has more honor than the house.
For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all
things is God. Jesus said I will build my
church. First Timothy three said that
it's the household of God which is his church.
So the house Jesus is building is the Church of which the
builder gets greater glory. Let's go on now.
Moses was faithful in all his house as a servant, for which
for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken later.
But Christ was faithful as a son over His house.
Whose house is that? Whose house we are?
Another name for his house is the Church.
If we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm
until the end, that tells me. That the head of the church is
faithful to the church. The question is, is the house
faithful to the builder? Because the minute you start
posting that I quit institutionalized church.
I just stayed at home with my family and, you know, I read the
word with them and it freed up my time and I didn't no longer
have to submit to anything the pastor was saying.
And my life with God has grown so much and I've grown.
I'm just going to tell you right now, biblically speaking, those
comments are a lie. That's a lie sounds good on
social media. And they present their greatest,
you know, face as if their lives all together.
But I'm telling you that is a lie, and that is a deception of
the devil to get you disconnected from the one who is
faithful. Now, I understand there's a
universal church. I get that.
But again, if it was only about universalism, then God never
would have told the apostle Paul and we would have not have had
these writings of the church at Corinth, the church at Kalasha,
the church at Galatia, the church at Ephesus.
Why are they there? Who cares?
It's a global church. Why are we having these local
people assembled in these local communities?
Why 'cause they were designed to be the light in that community.
It is a nation within a nation. It is an embassy in a community
of which the ambassadors assemble to hear from the home
country and walk out in the Moors of society and say you
could live this life now different because Jesus came to
build his church. And when he see when people see
the Kingdom on you, then those that are in the world will
become like a Nicodemus to you, man.
I see that your life is you. You've you've got to be tapping
into God. And that's when you say, unless
a person is born again, they'll not see the Kingdom that I
function in daily. And then you lead them because
the first initial step, she must be born again.
But that's a that's the first process is not the end because
we're enlisting you to a discipleship.
And I'm going to tell you right now, you want to stay with the
church. You want to stay with the
church. You do not want to buy the lie
of being separated unto yourself and you're a part of the church.
Don't buy that. You need to show up, You need to
come and learn. You need to recognize that you
are being trained and recruited, that you are being conditioned
with the Word to become all God ordained you to be.
And there will be pain associated with it, There will
be challenges associated with it, but it will be victorious on
every front because when trouble comes, quit running from the
very thing that he's faithful to.
In fact, I have met with people through the years that when
they've gotten into issues, they separated and the messages that
were being preached week after week were exactly what they
needed to hear the whole time. But because they cut themselves
off, they got along with God. Well, let me tell you what God's
going to say. He's going to say go to church.
And if you think he's not going to say that, then you do not
believe the Bible. How can the head of the church
tell you not to assemble? And I could have testimonies
jump up all across this place this morning.
They could say, pastor, I know what it's like to be here.
And I know what it's like to not and not is worse than being.