1 00:00:17,880 --> 00:00:21,080 Revelation chapter 4, Revelation chapter 4, verses one through 2 00:00:21,080 --> 00:00:22,040 11. I'm going to read the whole 3 00:00:22,040 --> 00:00:23,400 chapter. It's really powerful. 4 00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:25,200 But I want to give us give us a picture. 5 00:00:25,480 --> 00:00:28,080 And this here is after the catching away of the church. 6 00:00:28,920 --> 00:00:32,479 You know, I'm convinced this is after that particular event 7 00:00:33,240 --> 00:00:36,520 because you know it, they're the first 3 chapters have been 8 00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:39,880 dealing with the church in the earth that John saw by the 9 00:00:39,880 --> 00:00:42,200 Spirit of God some things going on. 10 00:00:42,280 --> 00:00:45,200 And then it said after these things, I looked up and hold the 11 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:48,400 door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I had 12 00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:53,920 heard like the sound of a trumpet, OK, speaking with me 13 00:00:53,920 --> 00:00:57,160 said, come up here and I will show you what must take place 14 00:00:57,240 --> 00:01:02,160 after these things. So there was a catching up of, 15 00:01:02,280 --> 00:01:05,760 of John into the heaven, the 3rd heaven. 16 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:09,560 And it says in verse 2 immediately I was in the spirit 17 00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:12,320 and behold a what? Come on, What was it? 18 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:15,680 What is it? It's a throne was standing in 19 00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:18,480 heaven and one sitting on the throne. 20 00:01:18,480 --> 00:01:20,600 Thrones are in kingdoms, not religion. 21 00:01:22,640 --> 00:01:25,080 So he's caught up to the throne room. 22 00:01:26,120 --> 00:01:30,640 Hallelujah, Amen. Could you imagine right now just 23 00:01:30,640 --> 00:01:32,760 being translated to the throne room? 24 00:01:33,240 --> 00:01:35,960 Who? Glory to God, because the Father 25 00:01:35,960 --> 00:01:39,560 is seated on the throne. I said he's seated on the throne 26 00:01:39,960 --> 00:01:43,280 and Jesus Christ is seated on the throne right at his right 27 00:01:43,280 --> 00:01:46,480 hand. Verse 3 and he who was sitting 28 00:01:46,480 --> 00:01:49,440 was like Jasper stone. And it goes on with the 29 00:01:49,440 --> 00:01:51,720 appearances here and emerald appearance. 30 00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:54,440 Let's go on a rainbow's all around the throne and the 31 00:01:54,440 --> 00:01:58,480 throne. Around the throne were 24 32 00:01:59,960 --> 00:02:05,440 Thrones and upon the Thrones I saw 24. 33 00:02:06,240 --> 00:02:10,560 What were they? Elders sitting clothed in white 34 00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:16,840 garments and golden crowns on their head. 35 00:02:17,920 --> 00:02:24,400 Now this is a future thing that he saw after the church age that 36 00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:27,600 he's caught up. And here he is in the throne 37 00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:31,600 room and there is this throne that the Father sits. 38 00:02:32,240 --> 00:02:39,840 Yet there are 24 other Thrones, of which 24 elders are seated 39 00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:43,360 clothed in white garment, and they all have a crown. 40 00:02:44,480 --> 00:02:47,280 This is all about a king, his Kingdom and his royal offspring. 41 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:50,200 The Bible's not a religious book. 42 00:02:50,320 --> 00:02:52,880 It's about a king, his Kingdom and his royal offspring. 43 00:02:54,040 --> 00:03:00,240 And here he is, the king of so, the king of the kings that are 44 00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:05,360 sitting around him, 24 elders with their crowns on their 45 00:03:05,360 --> 00:03:07,080 heads. Are you hearing me? 46 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:09,440 It said. Out from the throne comes 47 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:13,600 flashes of lightning, lightning and sounds and pills of Thunder. 48 00:03:13,720 --> 00:03:17,320 And there were 7 lamps of burning fire before the throne, 49 00:03:17,360 --> 00:03:18,880 which are the seven spirits of God. 50 00:03:18,880 --> 00:03:23,520 We ministered on those in the in the past and before the throne 51 00:03:23,760 --> 00:03:27,080 there was something like a sea of glass like crystal and in the 52 00:03:27,080 --> 00:03:30,640 center and around the throne 4 living creatures full of eyes in 53 00:03:30,640 --> 00:03:33,160 front and behind. This is going to be a spectacle. 54 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:36,360 The first creature was like a lion, the second creature like a 55 00:03:36,360 --> 00:03:40,440 calf, the third creature had a face like that of a man, and the 56 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:44,240 fourth creature was like a flying eagle, and the fourth 57 00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:48,840 living creature, each one of them having 6 wings full of eyes 58 00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:52,240 around and within. And day and night say day and 59 00:03:52,240 --> 00:03:57,960 night and day and night. They do not cease to say Holy, 60 00:03:58,120 --> 00:04:04,320 holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, who is, and 61 00:04:04,320 --> 00:04:06,520 who is to come. Glory to God. 62 00:04:07,840 --> 00:04:13,240 So what is being sung around the throne right now? 63 00:04:13,880 --> 00:04:22,079 Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty who is, who was and who 64 00:04:22,079 --> 00:04:25,680 is to come. That's being sung right now, 65 00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:31,640 right now, right now, right now. If you want to get a sound of 66 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:34,840 heaven, there it is. That's what's being sung in 67 00:04:34,840 --> 00:04:38,280 heaven right now and it doesn't cease. 68 00:04:39,680 --> 00:04:43,600 And when the living creatures and when the living creatures 69 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:46,040 giving glory and honor and thanks to him who sits on the 70 00:04:46,040 --> 00:04:51,800 throne, to him who lives forever and ever, the 24 what what are 71 00:04:51,800 --> 00:04:53,680 they? What will they do? 72 00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:57,520 Will fall down before him who sit on the throne and will 73 00:04:57,520 --> 00:05:01,000 worship him who lives forever and ever and will cast their 74 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:05,840 crowns before the throne saying, Oh my Mama, worthy are you, O 75 00:05:05,840 --> 00:05:10,400 Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power. 76 00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:14,720 For you created all things and because of you your will, they 77 00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:17,880 exist and were created. Did we not just saying glory and 78 00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:22,240 honor and power. How long come on, how long come 79 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:23,840 on? How long do you understand? 80 00:05:23,840 --> 00:05:30,200 We were picking up a course that is happening in heaven now. 81 00:05:30,200 --> 00:05:33,520 I cannot tell you. It's the same musical tone but I 82 00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:34,960 can tell you it's the same wording. 83 00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:39,640 Hallelujah. Cause the king of kings in his 84 00:05:39,640 --> 00:05:44,880 throne room with 24 other kings known as elders wearing crowns 85 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:47,640 will bow down and cast their crowns to him. 86 00:05:47,840 --> 00:05:50,840 Just acknowledging you are supreme in authority, You are 87 00:05:50,840 --> 00:05:54,440 Lord and glory of all and they are there to submit to him, 88 00:05:54,440 --> 00:05:56,880 yield to him, carry out anything he has. 89 00:05:56,880 --> 00:06:01,480 He is life, He is love, He's amazing, He is righteous, He is 90 00:06:01,480 --> 00:06:04,760 just. Come on. 91 00:06:04,760 --> 00:06:07,840 Can you get a picture of this? Now, the reason why this can be 92 00:06:07,840 --> 00:06:11,440 a hard imagery for the US Christian Church is because we 93 00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:14,280 tend to be a little more democratic in our Christianity 94 00:06:14,280 --> 00:06:18,480 than we are Kingdom. Because, you know, we don't want 95 00:06:18,480 --> 00:06:21,800 a seat of someone over us. But the reality is there is a 96 00:06:21,800 --> 00:06:26,880 seat and he seated on it. Come on, He is seated on it. 97 00:06:27,320 --> 00:06:31,240 He's not voted into power. He cannot be voted out of power. 98 00:06:31,360 --> 00:06:34,720 He is the king of glory. Hallelujah. 99 00:06:35,400 --> 00:06:38,600 And there are 24 elders. Who are those elders? 100 00:06:39,480 --> 00:06:41,240 I don't know who those elders are. 101 00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:46,800 Now, some scholars speculate that's 12 could be one from each 102 00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:52,320 tribe of Israel, the 12 tribes of Israel for the Old Covenant, 103 00:06:52,720 --> 00:06:56,520 and the other 12 could be the apostles of the Lamb. 104 00:06:57,200 --> 00:07:00,280 And that may be true. That could very well be true. 105 00:07:00,440 --> 00:07:03,680 That would definitely equal 24 and it would fit. 106 00:07:03,800 --> 00:07:06,720 There are someone specific. Remember there were two of the 107 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:10,120 disciples that came with a Mama to Jesus. 108 00:07:10,360 --> 00:07:16,600 Come on, Mamas, quit meddling, came to Jesus, said Jesus, I 109 00:07:16,600 --> 00:07:18,800 want you to give me just one request. 110 00:07:18,920 --> 00:07:21,320 Tell me you'll do it. And he's like, tell me what it 111 00:07:21,320 --> 00:07:24,760 is first, right? That's kind of like a Mama, tell 112 00:07:24,760 --> 00:07:27,320 me you're going to do it. Well, I don't even know what I'm 113 00:07:27,320 --> 00:07:30,960 doing yet to tell you I am. They want, they want commitment 114 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:36,120 before they even communicate. And so she says I want my sons, 115 00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:38,280 each of them, when you get in your Kingdom, one to be on the 116 00:07:38,280 --> 00:07:41,000 right and one to be on the left. He said it's a hard thing You're 117 00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:45,560 asking for your boys might be easy for you, Mama, but you're 118 00:07:45,560 --> 00:07:47,360 asking a hard thing for your children. 119 00:07:48,360 --> 00:07:49,720 Mama. Sometimes you need to watch out 120 00:07:49,720 --> 00:07:54,920 what you're asking for your kids because some things you may be 121 00:07:54,920 --> 00:07:59,200 asking, it's a hard thing. Maybe better you just pray that 122 00:07:59,200 --> 00:08:02,120 they come to the realization of the will of God for their life 123 00:08:03,280 --> 00:08:05,560 is try to determine where they should go and then where God 124 00:08:05,560 --> 00:08:08,000 should use them. Amen. 125 00:08:08,960 --> 00:08:11,840 And so with that being said, he said it's a hard, can you drink 126 00:08:11,840 --> 00:08:14,560 the cup that I'm about to drink? They're like, oh, we can do it. 127 00:08:14,560 --> 00:08:16,800 But you understand they also said they won't deny him either. 128 00:08:19,520 --> 00:08:21,960 He did say you're going to drink the cup, meaning they would be 129 00:08:21,960 --> 00:08:26,280 martyred like he would, but he said to sit on my right and 130 00:08:26,280 --> 00:08:28,840 left. I don't have the authority for 131 00:08:28,840 --> 00:08:30,920 that. My Father in heaven will 132 00:08:30,920 --> 00:08:33,440 determine that. Do you understand? 133 00:08:33,880 --> 00:08:36,360 You don't determine that. The Father will. 134 00:08:38,039 --> 00:08:42,320 And here's the thing, I have no jealousy towards one of the 24. 135 00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:48,960 You should have no issue that right now there's 24 elders that 136 00:08:48,960 --> 00:08:50,640 are before. They're going to be before the 137 00:08:50,640 --> 00:08:52,520 Lord. And if it is those 12, they 138 00:08:52,520 --> 00:08:56,920 could be there now that they are worshipping Him. 139 00:08:56,920 --> 00:09:02,000 They're there in his throne room, receiving His counsel, 140 00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:05,440 doing his bidding, and they are appointed by God. 141 00:09:06,200 --> 00:09:08,720 Now, why do I start with Revelations today? 142 00:09:09,280 --> 00:09:13,440 Because I want you to see that in the Kingdom of God there is 143 00:09:13,640 --> 00:09:18,720 leaders. And here we are in heaven. 144 00:09:19,560 --> 00:09:28,480 And God has placed men in his throne room as elders. 145 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:39,360 Now he's God supreme in authority, self-sufficient, all 146 00:09:39,360 --> 00:09:44,080 sufficient. Yet in his own throne room he 147 00:09:44,080 --> 00:09:48,840 has elders. Yeah, this is this is amazing 148 00:09:49,120 --> 00:09:53,400 that God the Father is so secure in his ability, his 149 00:09:53,400 --> 00:09:59,800 righteousness, his justice, his, his walk of love, who he is as a 150 00:09:59,800 --> 00:10:04,160 being, that he has no problem sharing his delegated power. 151 00:10:05,000 --> 00:10:13,760 That even in heaven he has 24 human spirits, 'cause you're not 152 00:10:13,760 --> 00:10:15,640 on a throne unless you're in power. 153 00:10:16,840 --> 00:10:20,440 Are you hearing what I'm saying? You're not on the throne unless 154 00:10:20,440 --> 00:10:26,200 you're in power. So there are 24 human spirits, 155 00:10:26,200 --> 00:10:34,640 humans that he has hand picked to put in his throne room that 156 00:10:34,640 --> 00:10:42,440 have authority. And if God is supreme and has 157 00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:47,520 layers of leaders, then don't you know the church does? 158 00:10:52,000 --> 00:10:56,280 The church does. If God the Father doesn't do it 159 00:10:56,720 --> 00:11:00,800 without delegating and then giving them very specific 160 00:11:00,800 --> 00:11:03,320 responsibilities within those seats. 161 00:11:03,880 --> 00:11:08,240 These elders have specific responsibilities assigned to the 162 00:11:08,240 --> 00:11:12,200 throne that they are on. Wow. 163 00:11:13,480 --> 00:11:15,760 And they have been been found faithful. 164 00:11:16,240 --> 00:11:21,880 They have been found worthy through the obedience they had 165 00:11:21,880 --> 00:11:24,720 with the Lord. And if it is that the scholars 166 00:11:24,720 --> 00:11:29,640 are correct that 12 of them are from the tribes that technically 167 00:11:29,640 --> 00:11:32,800 could be in the Old covenant. I, you know, I don't know too 168 00:11:32,800 --> 00:11:35,520 many people who will argue that Moses could be on one of those 169 00:11:35,520 --> 00:11:38,480 Thrones, right? Maybe Abraham could be on one of 170 00:11:38,480 --> 00:11:41,240 those Thrones. David could be on one of those 171 00:11:41,240 --> 00:11:44,360 Thrones, could be right. No one argued. 172 00:11:44,360 --> 00:11:50,360 But if they are, these are men who were not born again in the 173 00:11:50,360 --> 00:11:54,040 time they lived on the earth, but they lived a righteous life 174 00:11:54,040 --> 00:11:58,480 by faith-based upon what was allowed for them to function in 175 00:11:58,480 --> 00:12:01,320 until the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus that 176 00:12:01,440 --> 00:12:10,560 earned them the seat. If it's true, and we know this, 177 00:12:10,560 --> 00:12:13,520 if you take time to read the Bible, that in the millennial 178 00:12:13,520 --> 00:12:17,880 reign, when it comes back, the Prince of Jerusalem will be 179 00:12:17,880 --> 00:12:22,480 David, the one we read about. He'll be back in the planet 180 00:12:22,880 --> 00:12:26,200 ruling in Jerusalem. Isn't that amazing? 181 00:12:27,120 --> 00:12:34,520 So here's God in heaven with layers of leaders, and these 182 00:12:34,600 --> 00:12:40,080 leaders are called elders. Well, are there arrow elders in 183 00:12:40,080 --> 00:12:42,400 the church? Look what it says in Acts 184 00:12:42,400 --> 00:12:47,880 chapter 14 verses 21 to 23, it says. 185 00:12:47,880 --> 00:12:51,840 And after they had preached the gospel to that city and had many 186 00:12:51,840 --> 00:12:55,760 disciples, they returned to Lystra and Iconium and Antioch. 187 00:12:55,760 --> 00:13:00,360 Iconium is modern day Albanium, strengthening the souls of the 188 00:13:00,360 --> 00:13:03,840 disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith and saying 189 00:13:04,160 --> 00:13:07,200 through many tribulations we must enter the Kingdom of God. 190 00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:11,920 And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, 191 00:13:12,280 --> 00:13:16,720 having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in 192 00:13:16,720 --> 00:13:19,680 whom they had believed. Hallelujah. 193 00:13:20,480 --> 00:13:25,040 So here the Apostle Paul, if you get this full context, he's 194 00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:28,560 actually was ministering in a particular community that the 195 00:13:30,480 --> 00:13:34,760 the officials of that town incited a riot against Paul and 196 00:13:34,760 --> 00:13:37,520 they drug him out of the city and stoned him to death. 197 00:13:39,040 --> 00:13:43,040 Now the Bible doesn't say this, but it could be that this is 198 00:13:43,040 --> 00:13:45,840 where Paul in another letter says I knew a man in body or out 199 00:13:45,840 --> 00:13:50,640 of body, I do not know, called up to the 3rd heaven and he 200 00:13:50,640 --> 00:13:54,280 begins to see unspeakable things that God wouldn't let him talk 201 00:13:54,280 --> 00:13:56,160 about. But he returned to his body 202 00:13:56,160 --> 00:14:00,960 because they drug him out, supposing he was dead all right. 203 00:14:01,400 --> 00:14:05,240 And back then they knew how to check a pulse people, they knew 204 00:14:05,240 --> 00:14:06,840 how to determine somebody was breathing. 205 00:14:08,520 --> 00:14:12,400 So all indication is when he was stoned, then they killed him. 206 00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:18,520 But God, I said, but God, I mean, if it's not done for you, 207 00:14:18,640 --> 00:14:21,720 they can't kill you. Are you hearing what I'm saying? 208 00:14:21,720 --> 00:14:23,760 If you're walking in the planet, God, they're not going to be 209 00:14:23,760 --> 00:14:25,320 able to kill you. God to get you right back in 210 00:14:25,320 --> 00:14:29,800 your suit, of which he got back in that suit and that suit did 211 00:14:29,800 --> 00:14:35,440 not get immediately healed, but he picked himself up, went on to 212 00:14:35,440 --> 00:14:38,880 the next city. These three mention are are I 213 00:14:38,880 --> 00:14:43,000 think it was Derby and ends up preaching the gospel when he 214 00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:48,320 shows back up a little bruised from the stoning back to this. 215 00:14:48,520 --> 00:14:51,520 These churches, they're like Paul, we thought you were dead. 216 00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:58,040 He begins to instruct them more and says to them, look, in the 217 00:14:58,040 --> 00:15:00,120 Kingdom of God, you're going to have some sufferings. 218 00:15:00,200 --> 00:15:02,040 There's going to be some trials and tribulations. 219 00:15:02,280 --> 00:15:08,160 In essence, we don't stop just because of opposition, because 220 00:15:08,160 --> 00:15:12,000 you understand, in the world the Kingdom of God will have 221 00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:16,560 opposition against the forces in the earth that do not want the 222 00:15:16,560 --> 00:15:19,440 Kingdom to manifest. And that's through the domain of 223 00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:21,880 darkness. And the domain of darkness loves 224 00:15:21,880 --> 00:15:26,680 religion, loves religion, and loves to keep people in religion 225 00:15:26,880 --> 00:15:28,880 and loves for people. How do we know they're in 226 00:15:28,880 --> 00:15:30,720 religion? Because they're defining God on 227 00:15:30,720 --> 00:15:33,480 their terms instead of God defining himself on his own 228 00:15:33,480 --> 00:15:36,880 terms. And so he comes back into the 229 00:15:36,880 --> 00:15:40,400 city and what does he do? He begins to appoint elders. 230 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:44,800 Now Paul is an apostle to the church. 231 00:15:45,320 --> 00:15:49,200 He has planted these churches specifically, and so he is 232 00:15:49,200 --> 00:15:55,880 authorized to appoint elders in this particular church body. 233 00:15:56,480 --> 00:16:03,000 Now one particular commentary concerning the things of God and 234 00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:05,480 appointments within the church says this. 235 00:16:05,480 --> 00:16:12,120 Our Lord Himself is the sole source and origin of all 236 00:16:12,120 --> 00:16:15,840 ministerial power. Do you believe that He is the 237 00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:19,280 head of the Church? None can take office in the 238 00:16:19,280 --> 00:16:21,520 Church except with His authorization. 239 00:16:21,760 --> 00:16:25,200 He is our great High Priest. None can serve under Him unless 240 00:16:25,200 --> 00:16:28,800 by His appointment. He is our King. 241 00:16:28,800 --> 00:16:32,440 None can bear rule in His Kingdom except they hold His 242 00:16:32,440 --> 00:16:35,000 Commission. Now that's powerful statement, 243 00:16:35,520 --> 00:16:38,840 but that is a true statement nonetheless because the Bible 244 00:16:38,840 --> 00:16:42,000 tells us that God places us in the body where it pleases him. 245 00:16:42,280 --> 00:16:45,440 So you understand, everyone is actually placed in the body by 246 00:16:45,440 --> 00:16:48,600 the King himself. The positions are the things 247 00:16:48,600 --> 00:16:52,120 that you do within the church body are not your picking. 248 00:16:52,160 --> 00:16:56,280 You should be finding your assignment because when you find 249 00:16:56,280 --> 00:16:58,200 your assignment, you will thrive. 250 00:17:00,040 --> 00:17:02,800 And let me tell you something, God loves you, loves me. 251 00:17:03,520 --> 00:17:07,440 Religion places us in competition. 252 00:17:08,000 --> 00:17:12,560 The Kingdom were complementing each other because when you're 253 00:17:12,560 --> 00:17:14,800 in Christ there is no competition. 254 00:17:15,040 --> 00:17:20,680 It's just complete. It is just completing each 255 00:17:20,680 --> 00:17:24,280 other. It is complementing each other. 256 00:17:24,280 --> 00:17:27,680 In fact, Pastor Joshua was telling me before service he 257 00:17:27,760 --> 00:17:31,880 went to Daytona, he had a particular assignment where he 258 00:17:31,880 --> 00:17:35,320 was there. I'll just leave it at that. 259 00:17:36,360 --> 00:17:42,200 But with that being said, he was right here in the pits on pit 260 00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:50,600 row where they jump across the wall to change the tires and he 261 00:17:50,600 --> 00:17:53,600 said I forgot to bring gear plugs. 262 00:17:55,160 --> 00:18:00,880 So the crew that he was with, because he was with one of the 263 00:18:00,880 --> 00:18:08,400 owners of a NASCAR, gave him a headset that he could hear the 264 00:18:08,400 --> 00:18:12,600 conversation between the pit crew and the driver. 265 00:18:14,080 --> 00:18:17,880 This is inside stuff here. I mean, this is this is not a 266 00:18:17,880 --> 00:18:20,560 NASCAR experience. This is NASCAR. 267 00:18:22,160 --> 00:18:30,240 And he said they considered the pit crew athletes, athletes. 268 00:18:31,040 --> 00:18:34,640 In fact, they consider them masters, master mechanics. 269 00:18:35,720 --> 00:18:41,160 And that he said every time one came to pit, one guy was 270 00:18:41,160 --> 00:18:46,120 responsible to fuel the car. They got this big jug that they 271 00:18:46,480 --> 00:18:50,920 stick in and you have two seconds, jump over the wall with 272 00:18:50,920 --> 00:18:53,840 a can, put it in two seconds, you're pulling it back out and 273 00:18:53,840 --> 00:18:56,840 jump back over the wall. He said every time the person 274 00:18:56,840 --> 00:19:00,040 did it, he stopped, watched himself on film. 275 00:19:01,440 --> 00:19:02,840 Oh, y'all don't want to hear this? 276 00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:10,760 Washed himself on film, Pastor Joshua said in his ear. 277 00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:13,520 He was here in the crew. You got to do it better than 278 00:19:13,520 --> 00:19:15,440 that. You got to get over that wall 279 00:19:15,440 --> 00:19:17,320 quicker than that. You've got to do it. 280 00:19:17,320 --> 00:19:20,640 But what are you doing? You are an elite mechanic. 281 00:19:23,240 --> 00:19:24,640 Now. There was a few other words that 282 00:19:24,640 --> 00:19:32,840 I'm not at liberty because the Kingdom I am, we do not say so 283 00:19:32,840 --> 00:19:36,480 if there was an opportunity for someone to be offended, it's the 284 00:19:36,480 --> 00:19:39,960 guy holding the can. Are you hearing me? 285 00:19:42,240 --> 00:19:49,680 But here's the thing, when 1 driver of the team wins, the 286 00:19:49,680 --> 00:19:59,480 whole team gets bonuses. So this guy holding a gas can is 287 00:19:59,480 --> 00:20:05,840 just as significant to this race as the one driving for two 288 00:20:05,840 --> 00:20:11,040 seconds. And then how can I do my 20? 289 00:20:11,040 --> 00:20:14,440 Y'all don't want How can I do my 2 seconds better? 290 00:20:21,360 --> 00:20:23,920 I mean how many you coming? How can I get my praise better 291 00:20:23,920 --> 00:20:27,520 today? How can I get my praise better 292 00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:30,440 today? How can I get my giving better 293 00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:33,000 today? How can I get my welcome better 294 00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:37,440 today? Do not let the world out. 295 00:20:37,440 --> 00:20:40,680 Praise us for the God they serve. 296 00:20:42,480 --> 00:20:46,920 And here's the thing, when you know the Kingdom, you are 297 00:20:46,920 --> 00:20:53,360 absolutely jacked, excited to grab hold of a can and jump a 298 00:20:53,360 --> 00:20:55,920 wall and hit it for 2 seconds and come back. 299 00:20:56,080 --> 00:20:59,840 And when your team crosses the finish line with the checkered 300 00:20:59,840 --> 00:21:03,840 flag, you're like, I did that, I did that, I did that. 301 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:07,320 You don't feel inferior, you don't feel like you're second 302 00:21:07,440 --> 00:21:10,120 fiddle. You don't go home cried 'cause 303 00:21:10,120 --> 00:21:13,760 you were not upstanding and popping to champagne. 304 00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:19,640 Now, if the world's got this, there's no reason the church 305 00:21:19,640 --> 00:21:22,120 shouldn't have it. The only reason the church 306 00:21:22,120 --> 00:21:25,440 doesn't have it is because pastors aren't making the demand 307 00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:34,400 out of the Saints to rise 'cause we're too sensitive to 308 00:21:34,400 --> 00:21:37,480 correction. Yet every time he jumps the 309 00:21:37,480 --> 00:21:42,120 wall, they're being corrected on how they could do it better 310 00:21:43,080 --> 00:21:47,880 every race. Hallelujah. 311 00:21:48,520 --> 00:21:51,920 Say Amen anyway. Oh, but I got some Saints in 312 00:21:51,920 --> 00:21:55,080 here who like to jump a wall. They leap over a troop. 313 00:21:55,240 --> 00:21:57,960 They're ready to do their part and only their part, excited 314 00:21:57,960 --> 00:22:00,280 about their part. And when people come into the 315 00:22:00,280 --> 00:22:03,240 Kingdom and we keep advancing and we take another territory 316 00:22:03,360 --> 00:22:06,760 and we take another town and we go into another country and we 317 00:22:06,760 --> 00:22:15,240 do another book and we have another song to sing That when 318 00:22:15,240 --> 00:22:17,640 you're driving a golf cart and bringing someone up, you're 319 00:22:17,640 --> 00:22:26,520 like, I did that, I did that, I broke my part, I did it, man, we 320 00:22:26,520 --> 00:22:32,360 need everybody, Hallelujah. So quit cheapening positions. 321 00:22:33,720 --> 00:22:36,040 Quit being carnal in your thinking and cheapening 322 00:22:36,040 --> 00:22:39,720 positions because at this house, every place is important. 323 00:22:41,480 --> 00:22:45,040 Get self aware and know your part is important. 324 00:22:46,680 --> 00:22:51,240 Hallelujah. So every place is authorized by 325 00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:53,480 the King. All right. 326 00:22:54,320 --> 00:22:58,080 So this minister of power, our Lord conferred upon his apostles 327 00:22:58,920 --> 00:23:03,240 in Acts, in the Acts of the Apostles are and other parts of 328 00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:05,840 the New Testament, we learn how apostles carried out this 329 00:23:05,840 --> 00:23:08,920 Commission. Now the first act after the 330 00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:13,880 ascension, that's when Jesus went up and they watched him go. 331 00:23:14,720 --> 00:23:21,240 They, the apostles brought in Matthias to replace Judas who 332 00:23:21,240 --> 00:23:25,880 had betrayed. It was the apostles, the 11 that 333 00:23:25,880 --> 00:23:33,880 came together say we are here to appoint by the Holy Ghost the 334 00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:38,840 next person into the role of the apostle that Judas fell from. 335 00:23:40,080 --> 00:23:43,320 And so they cast loss for him, which means God was in the midst 336 00:23:43,320 --> 00:23:45,200 of that. The head of the church was 337 00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:49,440 communicating to them, but it was them in the earth that the 338 00:23:49,440 --> 00:23:54,040 lot fell to Matthias and they brought him in and he became the 339 00:23:54,040 --> 00:23:59,160 12th apostle of the Lamb. There were qualifications for 340 00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:03,400 this apostle that he had to have been with the Lord, seen the 341 00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:06,680 miracles walk with him. He couldn't be someone that just 342 00:24:06,680 --> 00:24:13,880 got that was started to show up at a prayer meeting, right? 343 00:24:13,880 --> 00:24:16,080 That the apostle said, hey, you know, we got a prayer meeting in 344 00:24:16,080 --> 00:24:17,400 this upper room. You know what, I think I'm going 345 00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:19,960 to come and they're like, oh, I want to be apostle. 346 00:24:21,080 --> 00:24:24,520 You just got here, son. I said, you just got here. 347 00:24:25,200 --> 00:24:29,040 But the point is, is you say, what's wrong with that? 348 00:24:29,040 --> 00:24:31,320 Well, the Bible tells you she can't put a novice in leadership 349 00:24:31,320 --> 00:24:33,680 position or they'll get lifted up in pride like the devil. 350 00:24:34,680 --> 00:24:36,200 So again, there's qualifications. 351 00:24:36,200 --> 00:24:39,080 This is in the Kingdom. Don't get offended by that. 352 00:24:39,080 --> 00:24:41,280 This is a safeguard to you. This is to strengthen you. 353 00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:44,080 This is to help you become all that God wants you to be. 354 00:24:44,840 --> 00:24:50,120 After this time, as the church grew, it required additional 355 00:24:50,120 --> 00:24:53,640 officers or what they called subordinate officers, meaning 356 00:24:53,640 --> 00:24:56,120 those in a different layer of leadership. 357 00:24:56,320 --> 00:25:01,240 And the first ones they did were actually deacons, deacons. 358 00:25:01,520 --> 00:25:06,360 And these deacons were the ones that serve the food to the 359 00:25:06,360 --> 00:25:10,520 Hellenistic Jews. And there were qualifications. 360 00:25:11,760 --> 00:25:15,920 They had to be full of faith, full of wisdom and full of the 361 00:25:15,920 --> 00:25:19,680 Holy Ghost just to distribute food. 362 00:25:21,120 --> 00:25:24,160 Are you hearing me? Well, a couple of those deacons 363 00:25:24,840 --> 00:25:30,640 out of being in that office or that role and their 364 00:25:30,640 --> 00:25:35,280 faithfulness, God ultimately placed them in the gifting that 365 00:25:35,280 --> 00:25:38,760 He always ordained for them. Philip being an evangelist and 366 00:25:38,760 --> 00:25:43,360 Steven himself becoming someone that God used to minister the 367 00:25:43,360 --> 00:25:46,200 Word and have done something miraculous. 368 00:25:46,200 --> 00:25:49,600 Now some believe that he himself moved into the Apostolic role. 369 00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:54,280 With that being said, there's another layer, a second one that 370 00:25:54,280 --> 00:25:56,960 they ended up placing and they were called elders. 371 00:25:57,880 --> 00:26:02,800 Now these had a higher function because they helped feed the 372 00:26:02,800 --> 00:26:05,520 flock of God. They helped with oversight in 373 00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:09,120 the congregation. In fact, some even moved into 374 00:26:09,120 --> 00:26:13,880 the role of pastoring. Some moved into the role of 375 00:26:13,880 --> 00:26:17,440 pastoring or feeding the flock for a season until the gift came 376 00:26:17,440 --> 00:26:21,440 in or they themselves, through their faithfulness as an elder, 377 00:26:21,600 --> 00:26:26,520 became an actual pastor of that particular flock. 378 00:26:26,600 --> 00:26:30,480 Are you hearing what I'm saying? So we already see beyond the 379 00:26:30,480 --> 00:26:35,880 time we're in that elders exist, but when the church started, 380 00:26:35,880 --> 00:26:40,560 elders also exist. In Titus chapter 1, verses 5 381 00:26:40,560 --> 00:26:42,720 through 6, I want to look at the Amplified classic. 382 00:26:42,720 --> 00:26:45,720 It says this. For this reason I left you 383 00:26:45,720 --> 00:26:49,920 behind. Now Paul's talking to Titus that 384 00:26:49,920 --> 00:26:52,080 many believe Titus is an apostle. 385 00:26:52,640 --> 00:26:57,040 You understand the 12 apostles of the Lamb, and then you have 386 00:26:57,240 --> 00:27:01,200 of which Matthias is one of those because Judas betrayed 387 00:27:01,200 --> 00:27:03,120 himself. But then you understand there 388 00:27:03,120 --> 00:27:06,920 were other apostles because Paul is obviously called an apostle, 389 00:27:06,920 --> 00:27:09,960 but there are many others that were apostles during that time. 390 00:27:10,680 --> 00:27:13,960 OK. Titus is believed to be 1. 391 00:27:14,520 --> 00:27:18,200 For this reason Paul the Apostle says to Titus the apostle in 392 00:27:18,200 --> 00:27:22,000 Crete, I left you behind in Crete, that you might set right 393 00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:26,640 what was defective and and finish what was left undone, 394 00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:30,240 that you might appoint elders and set them over the church's 395 00:27:30,240 --> 00:27:36,440 assemblies in every city, as I directed you for next verse. 396 00:27:36,680 --> 00:27:38,120 Is that the second verse? There it is. 397 00:27:38,320 --> 00:27:42,720 These elders should be men who are unquestionable, have are of 398 00:27:42,720 --> 00:27:47,400 unquestionable integrity and are irreproachable, the husband of 399 00:27:47,400 --> 00:27:53,040 but one wife, those children whose children are well trained 400 00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:56,120 and are believers. These elders are not open to 401 00:27:56,120 --> 00:28:01,000 accusations of being loose and moral and and conduct or unruly 402 00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:05,960 and disorderly. OK, so here a church is 403 00:28:05,960 --> 00:28:11,720 established, but the church is not given the right by the head 404 00:28:11,720 --> 00:28:16,040 of the church. Who who created this order? 405 00:28:16,400 --> 00:28:18,240 Jesus Christ, the head of the church. 406 00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:22,240 Then through the gift of the apostle from the apostle the 407 00:28:22,240 --> 00:28:24,760 appoint the particular leaders of the church. 408 00:28:24,960 --> 00:28:27,240 Saints do not vote for their elders. 409 00:28:32,560 --> 00:28:38,440 Apostles appoint the elders of the church now. 410 00:28:38,600 --> 00:28:43,680 Just because we are a couple of 1000 years removed from the 411 00:28:43,680 --> 00:28:47,560 writings of the book of Acts, the original occurrences, does 412 00:28:47,560 --> 00:28:51,360 not mean God has changed His way of doing church now. 413 00:28:51,360 --> 00:28:55,160 Man has changed the church according to their ways and 414 00:28:55,160 --> 00:28:58,640 there are many denominations and things that they do that are 415 00:28:58,640 --> 00:29:01,920 probably more in line in the government's that they, their 416 00:29:01,920 --> 00:29:04,000 natural governments and they are in a Kingdom. 417 00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:07,720 But we endeavor to follow the voice of the Lord. 418 00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:11,280 Are you hearing me? And so we see here that the 419 00:29:11,280 --> 00:29:14,880 apostles, Paul specifically telling Timothy, who was 420 00:29:15,160 --> 00:29:19,000 submitted to the authority of Paul and the churches he 421 00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:23,240 planted, 'cause he helped Paul plant those churches, he said, 422 00:29:23,240 --> 00:29:26,400 you appoint the elders in every city. 423 00:29:26,400 --> 00:29:29,760 I'm giving you the direction of, in essence, I'm authorizing you 424 00:29:29,760 --> 00:29:32,160 because this is the order the head of the church is telling 425 00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:35,240 us. And these are the qualifications 426 00:29:35,240 --> 00:29:40,200 you are to look for in order for us to have them as elders in the 427 00:29:40,200 --> 00:29:41,680 church. Are you hearing me? 428 00:29:42,360 --> 00:29:45,480 So here's a few things that Scripture tells us that elders 429 00:29:45,480 --> 00:29:49,680 will do within a church body. The first thing that we can see 430 00:29:49,680 --> 00:29:53,720 is elders aid in establishing church doctrine and culture. 431 00:29:54,760 --> 00:29:57,720 Elders are pretty it's pretty serious business being an elder. 432 00:29:59,280 --> 00:30:03,280 OK Acts chapter 16 verse 4 says it this this way. 433 00:30:03,560 --> 00:30:05,920 Now, while they were passing through the cities, they were 434 00:30:05,920 --> 00:30:11,040 delivering the decrees which had been decided upon by the 435 00:30:11,040 --> 00:30:17,520 apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem for them to observe. 436 00:30:18,320 --> 00:30:22,280 So here we have Paul coming into another area, some other 437 00:30:22,280 --> 00:30:25,920 churches outside of Jerusalem, that they are communicating 438 00:30:26,040 --> 00:30:31,040 decrees. These are orders, say orders. 439 00:30:31,960 --> 00:30:33,960 It's OK to say stuff like this in the Kingdom. 440 00:30:34,520 --> 00:30:37,120 Now, if you're in religion, you have a problem with this, but in 441 00:30:37,120 --> 00:30:40,000 the Kingdom you have no problem with this because you understand 442 00:30:40,000 --> 00:30:41,960 they had orders. In essence, they went to the 443 00:30:41,960 --> 00:30:48,040 church and says this is the culture and doctrine that you 444 00:30:48,040 --> 00:30:52,800 are to stand with. And this decision is not been 445 00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:57,240 taken lightly. It has been through a process of 446 00:30:57,560 --> 00:31:03,440 of seeking the Lord and knowing what His thoughts are on this 447 00:31:03,440 --> 00:31:06,600 particular matter. Are you hearing me? 448 00:31:07,720 --> 00:31:12,000 See, in our society today, we have taken a few scriptures and 449 00:31:12,000 --> 00:31:14,760 we have turned them with our government. 450 00:31:15,800 --> 00:31:18,320 What we've done is we've taken the scripture that we're all led 451 00:31:18,320 --> 00:31:20,040 by the Spirit. We've taken the scripture that 452 00:31:20,040 --> 00:31:21,520 no one teaches you but the Holy Ghost. 453 00:31:21,520 --> 00:31:24,240 We've taken these scriptures, you know that all of us can hear 454 00:31:24,240 --> 00:31:26,280 the Holy Ghost. And so the minute we do that, we 455 00:31:26,280 --> 00:31:28,560 say, well, you know what? I can hear God just like you 456 00:31:28,560 --> 00:31:30,600 can, and you can't tell me. And I'm listening to God. 457 00:31:30,600 --> 00:31:32,080 He's the only one teaching me anyway. 458 00:31:32,200 --> 00:31:35,720 So we take the independent spirit of our U.S. government 459 00:31:36,280 --> 00:31:40,520 and we apply it to our spiritual walk, and we use Scripture to 460 00:31:40,520 --> 00:31:44,440 back our rebellion because independence is the most 461 00:31:44,440 --> 00:31:47,200 dangerous word in the Kingdom. The second most dangerous word 462 00:31:47,200 --> 00:31:49,880 is rebellion. Now, no one's telling you to 463 00:31:50,000 --> 00:31:53,760 listen to a pastor just because he says it, because Paul says 464 00:31:53,760 --> 00:31:56,040 search the Scripture for yourself to see if it's so. 465 00:31:56,240 --> 00:31:59,840 But here's the thing, it it when they're in the gifting and 466 00:31:59,840 --> 00:32:03,120 they're truly seeking God, they'll come to establish the 467 00:32:03,120 --> 00:32:06,000 truth that you yourself will come in line with that same 468 00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:07,520 truth. You're not going to have your 469 00:32:07,520 --> 00:32:14,040 own truths. They are not your own truths in 470 00:32:14,040 --> 00:32:16,320 God's Kingdom because Jesus said that straight. 471 00:32:16,320 --> 00:32:23,160 I am the way, the So you don't have a truth. 472 00:32:23,160 --> 00:32:27,320 I have a truth. No, there's the truth of how God 473 00:32:27,320 --> 00:32:31,360 sees it. And if we haven't come to that, 474 00:32:31,600 --> 00:32:37,040 we need to stay on it until we hear the word of God. 475 00:32:37,240 --> 00:32:39,800 But you understand God has no problem with going through his 476 00:32:39,800 --> 00:32:42,960 layers of leadership. None. 477 00:32:43,840 --> 00:32:48,160 He has no issue because he knows those gifts of apostle, prophet, 478 00:32:48,160 --> 00:32:52,720 pastor, teacher and evangelist are to what equip the Saints. 479 00:32:53,040 --> 00:32:58,040 It's within their gifting to have insight to doctrine and 480 00:32:58,040 --> 00:33:01,800 culture of the Kingdom by which then they would communicate that 481 00:33:01,800 --> 00:33:05,800 when you hear you would go yes. Now the problem is your spirit 482 00:33:05,800 --> 00:33:11,800 says yes, but your flesh will go no because you have to change 483 00:33:11,800 --> 00:33:15,800 your thinking. Well, this chapter 16, verse 4, 484 00:33:15,800 --> 00:33:17,600 where did it come from? Back up a chapter. 485 00:33:17,600 --> 00:33:20,560 We won't read the whole thing, but I'll give you the context of 486 00:33:20,560 --> 00:33:26,640 this decree, these orders, these commands, these things that the 487 00:33:26,640 --> 00:33:31,560 church is to yield and submit and obey and teach because it 488 00:33:31,560 --> 00:33:38,520 has come from the apostles and elders of Jerusalem that are 489 00:33:38,920 --> 00:33:41,200 yielded and submitted to the head of the church. 490 00:33:42,600 --> 00:33:45,920 Acts chapter 15, verse one and two, it says some men came down 491 00:33:46,080 --> 00:33:48,280 from Judea and began teaching the brethren. 492 00:33:48,320 --> 00:33:51,960 This is what they were teaching. Now unless you are circumcised 493 00:33:51,960 --> 00:33:55,520 according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved. 494 00:33:58,600 --> 00:34:02,080 And when Paul and Barnabas had great dissension and debate with 495 00:34:02,080 --> 00:34:04,440 them, notice what they didn't do. 496 00:34:04,520 --> 00:34:06,600 Well, brothers, we can just agree to disagree. 497 00:34:08,679 --> 00:34:11,360 I mean, we've really developed kind of a church culture in the 498 00:34:11,400 --> 00:34:15,880 US Like, you know, it's like it's so bad for us to debate 499 00:34:15,960 --> 00:34:17,840 Scripture. I mean, when you have a heart 500 00:34:17,840 --> 00:34:19,560 just to know truth, what's the problem? 501 00:34:21,120 --> 00:34:23,480 There's really not a problem. I mean, we even see it in our 502 00:34:23,480 --> 00:34:29,239 own government. I mean, there's technically two 503 00:34:29,239 --> 00:34:33,239 sides and nobody wants to come together and collaborate or 504 00:34:33,239 --> 00:34:38,840 really, you know, say, OK, what is the best thing here 'cause if 505 00:34:38,840 --> 00:34:40,639 one says this, the other hates it. 506 00:34:40,840 --> 00:34:42,960 When the other one says something they had, the other 507 00:34:42,960 --> 00:34:45,120 ones hate it. And there's no common ground. 508 00:34:45,120 --> 00:34:48,040 There's no dialogue. There used to be a time we 509 00:34:48,040 --> 00:34:50,480 debate. I saw this on a Instagram Reel. 510 00:34:50,480 --> 00:34:53,120 So please forgive me. Let it just popped in my head. 511 00:34:53,120 --> 00:34:56,199 And it is pretty applicable. A particular lady, she was a 512 00:34:56,199 --> 00:35:01,040 comedian, and she says, you know, us Generation X, you know, 513 00:35:01,040 --> 00:35:04,680 which is my generation, you know, it says, you know, we did 514 00:35:04,680 --> 00:35:08,560 some crazy things back in the 80s, crazy things. 515 00:35:09,280 --> 00:35:13,040 She goes, this is one of the weirdest things we did in the 516 00:35:13,040 --> 00:35:16,640 80s because it's so weird. I can't even believe we did it. 517 00:35:16,640 --> 00:35:19,240 We did this thing called critical thinking. 518 00:35:21,040 --> 00:35:23,000 And that was the same response she got from the crowd. 519 00:35:23,120 --> 00:35:25,320 Yeah, I know. You know, there was this time 520 00:35:25,320 --> 00:35:28,800 where somebody would give a side and somebody else would give a 521 00:35:28,800 --> 00:35:33,440 side and then we between both sides would form an opinion and 522 00:35:33,440 --> 00:35:41,280 then we would make a decision. We did this thing called 523 00:35:41,280 --> 00:35:46,360 critical thinking, Amen. If you use that term now, they 524 00:35:46,360 --> 00:35:51,520 just call you critical. But the Bible says seek. 525 00:35:51,680 --> 00:35:55,200 And how can you seek first unless you can become critical 526 00:35:55,560 --> 00:36:00,840 at how you think compared to what he's saying, Amen? 527 00:36:01,480 --> 00:36:05,560 And so we see here that somebody's preaching a thought 528 00:36:05,560 --> 00:36:08,880 process that Paul and Barnabas oppose. 529 00:36:09,960 --> 00:36:12,120 And it said when Paul and Barnabas had great dissension 530 00:36:12,120 --> 00:36:15,360 and debate with them, the brethren of this particular 531 00:36:15,360 --> 00:36:18,680 church determined that Paul and Barnabas and some others of them 532 00:36:18,680 --> 00:36:21,560 should go up to Jerusalem. To who? 533 00:36:22,480 --> 00:36:26,600 The apostles and elders concerning this issue. 534 00:36:28,120 --> 00:36:32,680 Hallelujah. So notice, yeah, this is real 535 00:36:32,680 --> 00:36:35,720 good notice that the church didn't say, well, we're going to 536 00:36:35,720 --> 00:36:38,560 believe what we want to believe. They're like, you know what? 537 00:36:38,560 --> 00:36:40,280 We're going to go to the leadership. 538 00:36:43,040 --> 00:36:47,440 It's what we're going to do. So Paul and Barnabas take off 539 00:36:47,440 --> 00:36:49,600 and go to Jerusalem. Are you hearing me? 540 00:36:49,600 --> 00:36:53,440 Let's follow this account then. So the next verse, then we'll 541 00:36:53,440 --> 00:36:56,240 look at jump down to verse 4. And when they arrived at 542 00:36:56,240 --> 00:37:00,200 Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles, and 543 00:37:00,200 --> 00:37:04,080 the well are they. And they reported all that God 544 00:37:04,080 --> 00:37:07,680 had done with them. But some of the sect of the 545 00:37:07,680 --> 00:37:11,200 Pharisees who had believed stood up, saying, now these Pharisees 546 00:37:11,200 --> 00:37:16,040 are believers, but what's the problem with the Pharisees? 547 00:37:16,520 --> 00:37:22,360 These particular Pharisees have a old way of thinking that they 548 00:37:22,360 --> 00:37:28,280 brought into the new covenant. They're born again, but their 549 00:37:28,280 --> 00:37:32,200 mind is not renewed to this thing called the life of faith. 550 00:37:33,240 --> 00:37:37,160 And so they believe stood up, saying it is necessary to 551 00:37:37,160 --> 00:37:40,600 circumcise them and to direct them to observe the law of 552 00:37:40,600 --> 00:37:44,960 Moses. Because even even Paul and Jesus 553 00:37:45,000 --> 00:37:50,280 said that the the law itself is righteous and just. 554 00:37:51,040 --> 00:37:55,520 But you of your own nature that's cut off from God cannot 555 00:37:55,520 --> 00:37:58,280 live according to it. You'll never measure up. 556 00:37:58,520 --> 00:38:02,600 Christ is the only one who did. So the apostles and the elders 557 00:38:02,600 --> 00:38:04,920 came together to look into this matter. 558 00:38:05,040 --> 00:38:07,000 So what do they do? They looked in and there's from 559 00:38:07,000 --> 00:38:09,680 the next few verses, there's this dialogue that's taking 560 00:38:09,680 --> 00:38:12,440 place concerning something because again, what are they 561 00:38:12,440 --> 00:38:15,000 posing? Unless they are in essence, they 562 00:38:15,000 --> 00:38:18,000 were concluded, I'm born again because I'm circumcised. 563 00:38:18,280 --> 00:38:21,160 And if these guys are truly circumcised or born again, then 564 00:38:21,160 --> 00:38:24,560 they would be circumcised. So again, they were looking for 565 00:38:24,560 --> 00:38:30,000 this physical manifestation of their salvation as opposed to 566 00:38:30,000 --> 00:38:32,520 fruit manifestation because there should be some 567 00:38:32,520 --> 00:38:36,360 manifestation of your salvation. I'm just going to say that if 568 00:38:36,360 --> 00:38:39,440 you're truly born again, there should be fruit associated, 569 00:38:39,440 --> 00:38:41,880 There should be a lifestyle change. 570 00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:46,000 You should function differently. And the apostle Paul wrote in 571 00:38:46,000 --> 00:38:50,360 many of the churches certain decrees as an apostle that you 572 00:38:50,360 --> 00:38:53,200 live this way. You do not live this way in the 573 00:38:53,200 --> 00:38:56,640 Kingdom. Are you hearing me OK? 574 00:38:56,760 --> 00:38:58,520 And the reason you don't is because you're a different 575 00:38:58,520 --> 00:39:01,640 nature because the those actions you'll never see in heaven. 576 00:39:02,280 --> 00:39:05,160 Jump down to verse 13. After they had stopped speaking, 577 00:39:05,160 --> 00:39:10,560 James, who is an apostle, answered saying, brethren and 578 00:39:10,560 --> 00:39:15,160 pastor of this church, brethren, listen to me, we get down to 579 00:39:15,160 --> 00:39:18,200 verse 19. Therefore, it is my judgment 580 00:39:18,200 --> 00:39:19,320 this is the apostle. Now. 581 00:39:19,320 --> 00:39:22,400 This is after they had heard everything he himself had 582 00:39:22,400 --> 00:39:25,040 discussed with the other apostles of the Church of which 583 00:39:25,040 --> 00:39:28,920 he oversaw that church and was pastoring that church, plus with 584 00:39:28,920 --> 00:39:32,360 his elders, they're having healthy conversation. 585 00:39:32,360 --> 00:39:34,120 He's like, what do you think? Where's this at? 586 00:39:34,120 --> 00:39:37,240 Now I do this with my staff. I will throw thoughts out to 587 00:39:37,240 --> 00:39:38,400 them. I said, what do you think? 588 00:39:38,520 --> 00:39:40,680 You know, now the Bible says this and the Bible says this. 589 00:39:40,680 --> 00:39:42,680 We call that those sessions Iron Sharpening Iron. 590 00:39:42,840 --> 00:39:44,880 And I don't mind looking at something from a totally 591 00:39:44,880 --> 00:39:48,680 different angle because anything that is of truth will be 592 00:39:48,680 --> 00:39:51,760 strengthened and anything that is alive will be destroyed. 593 00:39:53,240 --> 00:39:55,360 I have no problem. See, some people won't ask 594 00:39:55,360 --> 00:39:56,840 because they're afraid they'll get deceived. 595 00:39:56,840 --> 00:40:00,240 How can I be deceived when I follow the spirit of truth and 596 00:40:00,240 --> 00:40:03,000 truth is available? When you have a heart to know 597 00:40:03,000 --> 00:40:05,480 truth, you won't be deceived. The only reason people get 598 00:40:05,480 --> 00:40:07,560 deceived is because they want to hold to their truth. 599 00:40:10,960 --> 00:40:14,200 Therefore, he said, it's my judgment that we do not trouble 600 00:40:14,200 --> 00:40:19,040 those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles, but 601 00:40:19,040 --> 00:40:22,720 that they but that we write to them that they now there are 602 00:40:22,720 --> 00:40:26,200 things he told them to do now that they're born again, abstain 603 00:40:26,200 --> 00:40:30,600 from things contaminated by idols, and that from and from 604 00:40:30,600 --> 00:40:34,360 fornication. So having sex before marriage is 605 00:40:34,360 --> 00:40:39,000 never acceptable in the eyes of God. 606 00:40:39,080 --> 00:40:44,720 It is always sin, period. He does not say it's OK ever. 607 00:40:44,840 --> 00:40:51,960 There is no sexual engagement that God ever says is OK except 608 00:40:51,960 --> 00:40:58,120 for husband and wife, period. So they are to not fornicate and 609 00:40:58,120 --> 00:41:02,560 that and from what is strangled and from and from blood. 610 00:41:02,560 --> 00:41:05,600 So there were things that they're saying now in our 611 00:41:05,600 --> 00:41:07,880 culture because we're in the Kingdom. 612 00:41:09,040 --> 00:41:11,880 We're not of this world, we're not saying you have to be 613 00:41:11,880 --> 00:41:13,760 circumcised. You can be born again and keep 614 00:41:13,760 --> 00:41:16,880 your uncircumcision. But what we are saying is there 615 00:41:16,880 --> 00:41:20,360 are some things you used to do potentially when you were pagans 616 00:41:20,480 --> 00:41:23,120 that you don't bring over into this Kingdom because it's never 617 00:41:23,120 --> 00:41:26,240 part of this Kingdom. Are you hearing what I'm saying? 618 00:41:27,080 --> 00:41:30,160 And really this statement is basically saying some of the 619 00:41:30,160 --> 00:41:32,240 same things that they were saying to the Pharisees. 620 00:41:32,480 --> 00:41:36,560 I know you live according to the law to try to follow God, but 621 00:41:36,560 --> 00:41:39,200 you know, we didn't make it. Jesus was our substitute. 622 00:41:40,080 --> 00:41:41,760 So at the end of the day, you couldn't do it. 623 00:41:41,760 --> 00:41:45,200 And part of his discourse was, look, if we couldn't do it, what 624 00:41:45,200 --> 00:41:47,800 makes us think that we going to put this burden on these guys? 625 00:41:48,240 --> 00:41:49,920 You know, we're just faith in Christ. 626 00:41:50,160 --> 00:41:55,160 However, you're trying to bring your religion into the Kingdom 627 00:41:55,400 --> 00:41:58,840 and we don't want them to bring their religion into the Kingdom 628 00:42:01,720 --> 00:42:07,800 because for some of these, their worship was sexual intercourse 629 00:42:08,080 --> 00:42:14,960 in the temple. And they're like, no, this is 630 00:42:14,960 --> 00:42:21,880 not how we're not that close. We're unified, but not that way. 631 00:42:22,680 --> 00:42:28,040 Are you hearing me? OK, so the the apostles and the 632 00:42:28,040 --> 00:42:30,680 elders were a part of this process. 633 00:42:30,680 --> 00:42:33,640 Now jump down to verse 22. Then it seemed good to the 634 00:42:33,640 --> 00:42:40,080 apostles and the notice they're here the whole time with the 635 00:42:40,080 --> 00:42:44,600 whole church to choose men from among them to send to Antioch 636 00:42:44,600 --> 00:42:48,200 with Paul and Barnabas. Judas called this guy and and 637 00:42:48,200 --> 00:42:50,600 Silas leading men among the brethren. 638 00:42:50,600 --> 00:42:53,280 So they were leading men among the brother, or something about 639 00:42:53,280 --> 00:42:55,400 their character that set them apart. 640 00:42:56,120 --> 00:42:59,000 And they sent this letter by them, the apostles and the 641 00:42:59,000 --> 00:43:03,840 brethren who are elders, so that not every brethren is an elder. 642 00:43:04,960 --> 00:43:07,760 So not every brethren carried this authority. 643 00:43:10,040 --> 00:43:12,200 But yet we're not working against each other. 644 00:43:12,440 --> 00:43:15,400 We're all just stepping within the assignments we're called. 645 00:43:16,360 --> 00:43:20,920 It goes on to say to the brethren in Antioch, Syria, 646 00:43:21,000 --> 00:43:25,800 Sicilia, who were who, who are from the Gentiles, and 647 00:43:25,800 --> 00:43:30,440 greetings. So again, elders help the 648 00:43:30,440 --> 00:43:34,920 apostle to establish church doctrine and culture. 649 00:43:35,160 --> 00:43:37,520 Another thing elders will do, we can see here in Scripture 650 00:43:38,240 --> 00:43:41,080 they're church leaders who help in making disciples. 651 00:43:41,280 --> 00:43:44,800 Look what it says in First Timothy 517 and 19. 652 00:43:45,080 --> 00:43:48,920 The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double 653 00:43:48,920 --> 00:43:52,400 honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. 654 00:43:52,800 --> 00:43:56,960 For the Scripture says you shall not muzzle the ox while he is 655 00:43:57,080 --> 00:44:00,000 threshing and the labor is worthy of his wage. 656 00:44:00,000 --> 00:44:03,200 Do not receive an accusation against an elder except on the 657 00:44:03,200 --> 00:44:07,720 basis of two or three witnesses. So here we see that elders are 658 00:44:07,720 --> 00:44:10,680 part of this process of actually helping disciples, which means 659 00:44:10,680 --> 00:44:12,560 elders can help fulfill the pulpit. 660 00:44:12,720 --> 00:44:15,000 They can even do it for a season if necessary. 661 00:44:15,120 --> 00:44:17,880 But they're definitely in the process of rightly dividing the 662 00:44:17,880 --> 00:44:19,440 word of truth. And why wouldn't this be true? 663 00:44:19,440 --> 00:44:21,960 Because they're part of the process of making sure the 664 00:44:21,960 --> 00:44:30,080 doctrine of the church is pure, has a purity about it, and that 665 00:44:30,080 --> 00:44:33,080 we're not going into our own thinking and what we want to do. 666 00:44:34,000 --> 00:44:37,280 And they themselves then, you know, continue as the apostles. 667 00:44:37,280 --> 00:44:39,480 This is it. Then they carry that teaching 668 00:44:39,480 --> 00:44:41,760 all the way through the layers of the church. 669 00:44:42,200 --> 00:44:46,560 Elders do not preach their own truth in Sunday school class, 670 00:44:46,560 --> 00:44:48,520 right? Come on now. 671 00:44:50,640 --> 00:44:59,000 They uphold the doctrine of the church, even to the point that 672 00:44:59,200 --> 00:45:04,280 in some of these scriptures, the elders can help correct the 673 00:45:04,280 --> 00:45:12,960 church body when they're off. They can help stop issues that 674 00:45:12,960 --> 00:45:18,440 take place within the church when people are saying things 675 00:45:18,440 --> 00:45:23,080 and trying to, you know, carry certain thoughts about Scripture 676 00:45:23,080 --> 00:45:25,480 across the congregation. That isn't right. 677 00:45:26,880 --> 00:45:29,480 They can do this. But last little note concerning 678 00:45:29,480 --> 00:45:31,600 this, although I'm not going to deal with it a whole lot today, 679 00:45:32,160 --> 00:45:35,400 but you do not receive an accusation against an elder 680 00:45:35,400 --> 00:45:37,000 except base two or three witnesses. 681 00:45:37,240 --> 00:45:39,440 You'd never let one person come up and talk to you about an 682 00:45:39,440 --> 00:45:44,440 elder ever. They better have a handful of 683 00:45:44,440 --> 00:45:48,160 people with them, number one, and then at that point, if 684 00:45:48,160 --> 00:45:53,760 there's they're you know, accusations collaborate. 685 00:45:54,880 --> 00:45:57,760 It is only to be able to go bring restoration. 686 00:45:59,760 --> 00:46:04,080 But you understand Jesus had collaborated and non 687 00:46:04,080 --> 00:46:06,080 collaborated witnesses against him. 688 00:46:07,160 --> 00:46:11,680 At no place do you just talk about an elder ever. 689 00:46:15,400 --> 00:46:18,800 You don't do it. I said you don't do it. 690 00:46:19,680 --> 00:46:21,240 Now I'll give you a little nugget real quick. 691 00:46:21,760 --> 00:46:27,160 Peter in one of his writings who was an apostle and John himself 692 00:46:27,160 --> 00:46:30,160 who is an apostle. Peter said in one of his writing 693 00:46:30,160 --> 00:46:35,400 he said the elder to the elders. John said the elder to the lady 694 00:46:35,400 --> 00:46:38,400 elect. Both of them acknowledged we 695 00:46:38,400 --> 00:46:42,000 were elders because the simple definition of elder is old man. 696 00:46:44,040 --> 00:46:48,800 But it's not just age, it's wisdom, OK? 697 00:46:49,040 --> 00:46:54,120 It's wisdom in the word, experience, character through 698 00:46:54,440 --> 00:46:59,160 trials and tribulations. So not only do you not talk 699 00:46:59,160 --> 00:47:02,200 about elders, the gift should not be talked about either. 700 00:47:03,960 --> 00:47:08,280 Are you hearing me? OK, Elders pray and lay hands on 701 00:47:08,280 --> 00:47:11,960 the sick of the church. James chapter 5, verses 14 to 702 00:47:11,960 --> 00:47:12,960 15. Y'all doing all right? 703 00:47:13,720 --> 00:47:17,880 Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders 704 00:47:17,880 --> 00:47:23,000 of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him 705 00:47:23,000 --> 00:47:25,440 with oil in the name of the Lord Jesus, and pray. 706 00:47:26,040 --> 00:47:28,520 And the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who was 707 00:47:28,520 --> 00:47:30,520 sick, and the Lord will raise him up. 708 00:47:30,720 --> 00:47:34,040 And if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. 709 00:47:34,440 --> 00:47:38,520 So again, an elder can come to your hospital, anoint you with 710 00:47:38,520 --> 00:47:43,400 oil, or can come to your house. Now again, the this the context 711 00:47:43,400 --> 00:47:46,960 here is if someone cannot make it to church, they are to call 712 00:47:46,960 --> 00:47:50,640 the elders know what it doesn't? James, who is the apostle, who 713 00:47:50,640 --> 00:47:53,680 was the one who gave the decree so that Paul the apostle and 714 00:47:53,680 --> 00:47:57,160 Barnabas could go out and and along with Silas and tell the 715 00:47:57,160 --> 00:47:59,400 churches, this is our doctrine, these are our values, this is 716 00:47:59,400 --> 00:48:02,120 our culture. He says, now listen, I'm the 717 00:48:02,120 --> 00:48:05,240 apostle and pastor of Jerusalem. I'm just going to let you know 718 00:48:06,640 --> 00:48:09,640 that if somebody's sick of the house and you can't get to us, 719 00:48:09,840 --> 00:48:15,200 I'm sending an elder. James is saying I'm not coming. 720 00:48:21,280 --> 00:48:24,320 Now, it's amazing how many Saints get offended if the 721 00:48:24,840 --> 00:48:27,280 senior lead pastor doesn't show up. 722 00:48:27,280 --> 00:48:29,880 He didn't even come to pray for me. 723 00:48:30,400 --> 00:48:36,720 I sent you an anointed office. That's their gifting. 724 00:48:37,640 --> 00:48:39,760 And we're here to complement each other. 725 00:48:41,440 --> 00:48:45,600 I mean, the Bible says believers can lay hands on the sick, but 726 00:48:45,600 --> 00:48:47,520 we're not just sending a believer, we're sending an 727 00:48:47,520 --> 00:48:52,840 elder, someone appointed by God within that vision that it will 728 00:48:52,840 --> 00:48:56,360 have an anointing to lay hands on you to be healed. 729 00:48:56,480 --> 00:48:59,840 Can I get an Amen? So again, just thank God for the 730 00:48:59,840 --> 00:49:02,240 body of Christ. Can we say that thank you, Lord? 731 00:49:02,760 --> 00:49:06,040 Come on, say thank you, Lord, for the body of Christ. 732 00:49:06,600 --> 00:49:12,840 We are all very important in our assignments, Amen. 733 00:49:13,400 --> 00:49:17,160 Just just be thankful, OK? The last thing I'm going to show 734 00:49:17,160 --> 00:49:21,560 you real quick today is that elders can take part with a 735 00:49:21,560 --> 00:49:23,920 laying on of hands at ordinations. 736 00:49:24,080 --> 00:49:27,880 First Timothy chapter 4 verse 14. 737 00:49:27,880 --> 00:49:31,920 The amplified says it this way, Paul talking to Timothy, he says 738 00:49:31,920 --> 00:49:35,960 do not neglect the gift which which is in you, that special 739 00:49:35,960 --> 00:49:39,880 inward endowment which was directly imparted to you by the 740 00:49:39,880 --> 00:49:43,400 Holy Spirit by prophetic utterance when the elders laid 741 00:49:43,400 --> 00:49:45,680 their hands upon you at your ordination. 742 00:49:46,560 --> 00:49:51,560 So elders can participate in laying hands on those who are 743 00:49:51,560 --> 00:49:56,000 called into the ministry. Can I get an Amen?