WEBVTT 00:00:01.030 --> 00:00:05.089 I'm going to, I've selected a scripture out of 00:00:05.089 --> 00:00:08.009 the book of Revelations, and if you'd be a little 00:00:08.009 --> 00:00:11.210 patient with me here, I want to talk about something, 00:00:11.269 --> 00:00:13.630 and I want to encourage somebody here today. 00:00:14.070 --> 00:00:17.670 I don't know if we're on Radioland, or Videoland, 00:00:17.969 --> 00:00:24.190 or Facebookland, or, is the camera on? They're 00:00:24.190 --> 00:00:27.530 recording. Oh, okay, good. Amen. I'm going to 00:00:27.530 --> 00:00:32.960 throw a stone that way. Praise God. It reads 00:00:32.960 --> 00:00:38.700 this way, Revelations 2 .17. He who has an ear. 00:00:39.640 --> 00:00:42.439 Somebody touch your ear. See if you got one there. 00:00:42.560 --> 00:00:46.560 You got one? All right. You're good. He who has 00:00:46.560 --> 00:00:49.979 an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to 00:00:49.979 --> 00:00:53.799 the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give 00:00:53.799 --> 00:00:59.549 some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give 00:00:59.549 --> 00:01:05.670 him a white stone, and on the stone a new name, 00:01:05.849 --> 00:01:11.450 written which no one knows except him who receives 00:01:11.450 --> 00:01:18.510 it. Amen. This is an interesting passage of Scripture. 00:01:19.109 --> 00:01:22.629 My goodness, we can stay on this for a whole 00:01:22.629 --> 00:01:28.530 series. But I want to pull out some... Nuggets, 00:01:28.530 --> 00:01:32.769 if you please. Praise God from this. And just 00:01:32.769 --> 00:01:35.209 talk a little bit about encouraging. I want to 00:01:35.209 --> 00:01:38.650 encourage somebody here today. This scripture 00:01:38.650 --> 00:01:43.129 in Revelations 2 .17 is part of the letters to 00:01:43.129 --> 00:01:47.290 the seven churches of Asia Minor. Specifically 00:01:47.290 --> 00:01:54.269 for this passage today to the church of Pergamum. 00:01:55.819 --> 00:02:01.280 And if you read Revelations and you attempt to 00:02:01.280 --> 00:02:05.819 discover the hidden meanings within the seven 00:02:05.819 --> 00:02:10.259 churches of Asia Minor, they were real churches. 00:02:10.340 --> 00:02:13.819 They were churches that went through certain 00:02:13.819 --> 00:02:18.740 things. But the Lord used John, and John wrote 00:02:18.740 --> 00:02:22.939 about these churches, different characteristics 00:02:22.939 --> 00:02:28.069 about these churches definitely help us today 00:02:28.069 --> 00:02:32.629 in our Christ -like living and attempting to 00:02:32.629 --> 00:02:35.789 live for God. These letters were written by the 00:02:35.789 --> 00:02:40.090 Apostle John while he was exiled in the island 00:02:40.090 --> 00:02:44.550 of Patmos. As he received divine revelations 00:02:44.550 --> 00:02:49.310 from the Lord Jesus Christ, he began to write. 00:02:49.729 --> 00:02:52.389 And it's amazing because when you read the book 00:02:52.389 --> 00:02:55.699 of Revelation, you would discover there was so 00:02:55.699 --> 00:03:01.240 much, so much that John was receiving of the 00:03:01.240 --> 00:03:05.960 Lord such great revelations about apocalypse 00:03:05.960 --> 00:03:09.560 and whatnot. And it was, it's very powerful. 00:03:09.780 --> 00:03:13.159 Many people shy away from the book of Revelation 00:03:13.159 --> 00:03:16.120 because they don't think that it has anything 00:03:16.120 --> 00:03:20.080 to do with them. But I beg to differ there because 00:03:20.080 --> 00:03:26.099 there's, Four shadows of everything. There's 00:03:26.099 --> 00:03:28.319 shadows from the past and there's shadows in 00:03:28.319 --> 00:03:33.939 the future. If you walk long enough in the path 00:03:33.939 --> 00:03:37.319 under the sun, there's going to be times where 00:03:37.319 --> 00:03:40.819 your shadow will be behind you. Then there's 00:03:40.819 --> 00:03:42.919 going to be times when your shadow is before 00:03:42.919 --> 00:03:48.840 you. And so it is with the Word of God. Prophetically 00:03:48.840 --> 00:03:51.699 speaking, there's going to be things in the past 00:03:51.699 --> 00:03:57.780 that happen as a shadow of things to come. But 00:03:57.780 --> 00:04:02.580 then there's what is ahead of us that, oh my 00:04:02.580 --> 00:04:06.020 God, if we put attention to them and attempt 00:04:06.020 --> 00:04:09.460 to learn deeper on the significance of things, 00:04:09.599 --> 00:04:13.000 we're going to find out that there's so much 00:04:13.000 --> 00:04:18.240 depth to revelation. And John attempted to explain 00:04:18.240 --> 00:04:22.560 it, but he was writing fast and he was passing 00:04:22.560 --> 00:04:27.620 on this information to the church. The phrase, 00:04:27.639 --> 00:04:32.220 he who has an ear, emphasizes the importance 00:04:32.220 --> 00:04:37.720 of listening and understanding spiritual truths. 00:04:38.120 --> 00:04:42.759 There are things that, you know, we... will have 00:04:42.759 --> 00:04:45.959 to hear them and read them several times before 00:04:45.959 --> 00:04:51.560 you captivate because they have hidden meanings 00:04:51.560 --> 00:04:56.199 within them not that god is trying to deprive 00:04:56.199 --> 00:05:00.699 us from revelation but we have to dive deeper 00:05:00.699 --> 00:05:05.060 you know when you dive into the ocean and you 00:05:05.060 --> 00:05:09.879 are looking for the beauty of the ocean some 00:05:09.879 --> 00:05:14.889 folks they They snorkel on the top. And, yeah, 00:05:14.949 --> 00:05:17.550 you're going to see some things. Yeah, you're 00:05:17.550 --> 00:05:19.529 going to see some nice fish here and there. Have 00:05:19.529 --> 00:05:21.310 you ever snorkeled? I've snorkeled. I hate it. 00:05:25.629 --> 00:05:28.089 I don't like it because the water always gets 00:05:28.089 --> 00:05:30.110 in that little thing. And I say, oh, man, this 00:05:30.110 --> 00:05:34.670 is not for me. But, you know, if you want to 00:05:34.670 --> 00:05:36.730 see some beauty, you've got to do that, right? 00:05:37.509 --> 00:05:41.089 But I'll tell you what. If you really want to 00:05:41.089 --> 00:05:46.709 see the beauty, you go deep. You go deep, man. 00:05:46.769 --> 00:05:50.430 And that is not snorkeling. That's deep dive. 00:05:51.329 --> 00:05:54.129 And down there, you're going to find things and 00:05:54.129 --> 00:05:59.149 truths that they just come out. Wow. There's 00:05:59.149 --> 00:06:02.740 beauty in depth. And in the scripture is the 00:06:02.740 --> 00:06:05.000 same thing. There's so much beauty, so much to 00:06:05.000 --> 00:06:08.220 learn, so much to apply to ourselves, but it's 00:06:08.220 --> 00:06:11.000 deep. We have to be willing to go deep. Somebody 00:06:11.000 --> 00:06:14.319 say, go deeper. I'm not going to pull a T .D. 00:06:14.319 --> 00:06:18.319 Jakes and say, can I go deeper? He used to use 00:06:18.319 --> 00:06:23.240 that all the time. Can I go deeper? Amen. Praise 00:06:23.240 --> 00:06:25.480 God. You're not going to go deeper with the life 00:06:25.480 --> 00:06:31.699 jacket on. Oh, come on now. When you got a life 00:06:31.699 --> 00:06:34.060 jacket on, you're planning to stay on the surface. 00:06:35.439 --> 00:06:37.860 But if you want to go deep, get rid of the securities, 00:06:38.439 --> 00:06:42.379 insecurities. You got to get rid of all that 00:06:42.379 --> 00:06:44.699 stuff if you want to go deep in God. Praise the 00:06:44.699 --> 00:06:46.220 Lord, somebody. I didn't cost you nothing. That's 00:06:46.220 --> 00:06:52.319 another message. Those who are receptive should 00:06:52.319 --> 00:06:56.459 pay attention to the message that is written 00:06:56.459 --> 00:07:02.920 in between the words. Amen? It signifies that 00:07:02.920 --> 00:07:07.319 not everyone will understand, will accept spiritual 00:07:07.319 --> 00:07:12.160 teachings. Not everybody's into it. But if you 00:07:12.160 --> 00:07:16.319 are into depth, people want to know, just give 00:07:16.319 --> 00:07:20.019 me the bullets, they say. You know, they don't 00:07:20.019 --> 00:07:22.980 want the details. But I want you to know that 00:07:22.980 --> 00:07:26.720 God is not in the bullets. He's in the details. 00:07:27.809 --> 00:07:30.790 If you want to find God, you're going to have 00:07:30.790 --> 00:07:34.550 to get into the details of God. You've got to 00:07:34.550 --> 00:07:37.009 get deeper. You've got to want it. You've got 00:07:37.009 --> 00:07:39.329 to be hungry for it. You've got to dive down 00:07:39.329 --> 00:07:42.569 more. Praise God. But if you just want to serve 00:07:42.569 --> 00:07:46.050 God on the surface and float around and throw 00:07:46.050 --> 00:07:48.389 the volleyball around on the top, that's fine. 00:07:48.509 --> 00:07:52.250 But I want to go deep. I want to get into what 00:07:52.250 --> 00:07:56.040 God has hidden things. down there so that he 00:07:56.040 --> 00:07:59.420 can reveal. God's not going to reveal anything 00:07:59.420 --> 00:08:04.939 to us on the surface. He's going to reveal it 00:08:04.939 --> 00:08:09.660 to us in the deep. Last week we heard a very 00:08:09.660 --> 00:08:12.720 powerful message for those that were here and 00:08:12.720 --> 00:08:15.759 others that maybe heard it online. The pastor 00:08:15.759 --> 00:08:21.660 preached on the net. And I really, I'm just fascinated 00:08:21.660 --> 00:08:29.100 by the net. And, you know, that particular situation 00:08:29.100 --> 00:08:35.340 is that, first of all, the reason there was a 00:08:35.340 --> 00:08:40.460 couple of things why Peter did not really at 00:08:40.460 --> 00:08:44.399 first appreciate the Lord's attempt to tell him 00:08:44.399 --> 00:08:49.120 to go back out. Number one, a fisherman doesn't 00:08:49.120 --> 00:08:52.539 fish during the day. Not with a net. You fish 00:08:52.539 --> 00:08:59.860 at night. It's night fishing. And the net, there's 00:08:59.860 --> 00:09:03.500 a lot of complexities about the net. But the 00:09:03.500 --> 00:09:05.960 thing what happened to Peter is the Lord worked 00:09:05.960 --> 00:09:08.879 contrary to what he thought fishing was all about. 00:09:09.820 --> 00:09:13.559 He went out during the day and he went out in 00:09:13.559 --> 00:09:18.700 the deep because net fishing is primarily done 00:09:18.700 --> 00:09:23.100 on the edges because the fish come in to eat. 00:09:25.080 --> 00:09:26.799 They come from the deep, and they come in to 00:09:26.799 --> 00:09:29.539 eat. And that's where you throw your net. You 00:09:29.539 --> 00:09:33.340 capture them. You know, a fisherman, man, he 00:09:33.340 --> 00:09:36.159 cheats. You know, he knows they're hungry. And 00:09:36.159 --> 00:09:39.000 they come in, and that's where they catch them. 00:09:39.240 --> 00:09:41.600 But the Lord told them to do two things. He says, 00:09:41.700 --> 00:09:44.360 go out into the deep and go out during the day. 00:09:45.300 --> 00:09:48.399 It's all contrary to how we think. And that's 00:09:48.399 --> 00:09:51.580 what it is. That's how God, when he reveals himself 00:09:51.580 --> 00:09:54.899 and when he speaks to our lives, he speaks to 00:09:54.899 --> 00:09:58.639 us. Come deeper, he says. Come out here in the 00:09:58.639 --> 00:10:01.450 deep. I'm going to show you what I can do because 00:10:01.450 --> 00:10:06.429 then he is the miracle worker that does a miracle 00:10:06.429 --> 00:10:09.669 catch like Peter experienced as we heard last 00:10:09.669 --> 00:10:12.529 week. That is where the miracles are. That's 00:10:12.529 --> 00:10:15.529 where it is. That's where the power of God is 00:10:15.529 --> 00:10:19.750 in the deep. Somebody say, let's go deeper. It's 00:10:19.750 --> 00:10:24.379 about being spiritually minded. and attentive 00:10:24.379 --> 00:10:28.379 to the deeper meanings that are extremely important 00:10:28.379 --> 00:10:32.320 and relevant to our spiritual lives. The Apostle 00:10:32.320 --> 00:10:39.720 John, he directs this letter to the angel of 00:10:39.720 --> 00:10:43.820 the church. And the angel of the church is the 00:10:43.820 --> 00:10:46.000 pastor. Praise the Lord. I don't know if you 00:10:46.000 --> 00:10:49.600 knew that. The angel of the church in Scripture 00:10:49.600 --> 00:10:55.750 is the pastor. And when the apostle wrote, he 00:10:55.750 --> 00:10:58.629 wrote to the, he didn't write to Gabriel or some 00:10:58.629 --> 00:11:00.850 invisible angel. He wrote to the angel of the 00:11:00.850 --> 00:11:04.250 church, which is the pastor. See, when God directs 00:11:04.250 --> 00:11:08.309 himself to something that has to do with the 00:11:08.309 --> 00:11:11.269 church in general, whatever it is, from vision, 00:11:11.389 --> 00:11:16.149 casting to leading, whatever, he directs himself 00:11:16.149 --> 00:11:19.070 to the angel of the church, which is the pastor. 00:11:19.850 --> 00:11:23.649 Praise the Lord. That's how God works. And so 00:11:23.649 --> 00:11:26.529 he was directing himself, first of all, to the 00:11:26.529 --> 00:11:29.950 pastor. The apostle does not mention the members 00:11:29.950 --> 00:11:34.070 or the leaders of the church. He doesn't say 00:11:34.070 --> 00:11:36.789 all the little angels and the rest of the angels. 00:11:36.809 --> 00:11:40.629 No, one angel. Somebody say one angel. Somebody 00:11:40.629 --> 00:11:43.570 say there's only one pastor in the church. That 00:11:43.570 --> 00:11:49.179 was a little Debbie week. He directs himself 00:11:49.179 --> 00:11:53.679 to the pastor as the one chosen by God and responsible 00:11:53.679 --> 00:11:57.299 what happens within the church. The pastor will 00:11:57.299 --> 00:12:00.960 be held accountable for implementing God's divine 00:12:00.960 --> 00:12:05.220 plan, and if needed, correct situations that 00:12:05.220 --> 00:12:10.059 may be harmful to the health of the church in 00:12:10.059 --> 00:12:14.169 his own charge. When the pastor... Led by the 00:12:14.169 --> 00:12:16.710 Holy Ghost makes decisions that make someone 00:12:16.710 --> 00:12:21.149 uncomfortable. Know this. The pastor has the 00:12:21.149 --> 00:12:26.070 best interest of the church in mind. Knowing 00:12:26.070 --> 00:12:28.990 and needing to follow the leading of the Holy 00:12:28.990 --> 00:12:34.190 Ghost. Pergamum was addressed through the pastor. 00:12:35.169 --> 00:12:39.980 But Pergamum was a city. Talking about the city 00:12:39.980 --> 00:12:42.940 of Pergamum, not the church, but now the city 00:12:42.940 --> 00:12:47.340 as Mountain View being the city, not city like 00:12:47.340 --> 00:12:50.460 church, but let's just say Mountain View was 00:12:50.460 --> 00:12:54.960 a city known for its pagan practices and idolatry. 00:12:55.740 --> 00:13:00.659 Yet there were within Pergamum faithful believers. 00:13:01.690 --> 00:13:04.590 There was a group of people there that believed 00:13:04.590 --> 00:13:08.710 God at his word, who held fast to their faith 00:13:08.710 --> 00:13:13.230 amidst all the adversities that surrounded them. 00:13:13.679 --> 00:13:18.039 pressures of the city, government, society, and 00:13:18.039 --> 00:13:21.019 all that is going around them. Over there in 00:13:21.019 --> 00:13:23.519 Connecticut, if you please, I think that's where 00:13:23.519 --> 00:13:28.100 they had that recent, you know, fatalities of 00:13:28.100 --> 00:13:30.879 the little children that died when they were 00:13:30.879 --> 00:13:35.500 inside of a temple. They were in what they call 00:13:35.500 --> 00:13:39.299 the temple hour, whatever it is. The kids were 00:13:39.299 --> 00:13:41.279 in the temple and somebody came by and started 00:13:41.279 --> 00:13:43.110 shooting like through these windows. I don't 00:13:43.110 --> 00:13:45.490 want to scare anybody, but I would have sat on 00:13:45.490 --> 00:13:48.990 this side over here. No, I'm just kidding. But 00:13:48.990 --> 00:13:50.590 they shot through the windows. Can you imagine 00:13:50.590 --> 00:13:55.429 that? Killed two kids and injured about 12 or 00:13:55.429 --> 00:13:59.529 14 others. That's horrible. Horrible. And now 00:13:59.529 --> 00:14:05.789 people in our beloved country. Praise God that 00:14:05.789 --> 00:14:09.190 at the top of the Washington Tower, it says Laos 00:14:09.190 --> 00:14:12.409 Dao, which means the Word of God. You know, we 00:14:12.409 --> 00:14:16.509 founded this thing on God's Word and on God, 00:14:16.590 --> 00:14:19.389 on Scripture. There's even a Bible buried down 00:14:19.389 --> 00:14:22.269 there. You know, we built everything around that. 00:14:22.289 --> 00:14:24.409 Now they're saying that prayer doesn't work. 00:14:26.409 --> 00:14:29.049 Even the mayor from that city says, what about 00:14:29.049 --> 00:14:30.990 prayer? They were praying, and what happened 00:14:30.990 --> 00:14:34.159 to them? Wow. Let me tell you where the world 00:14:34.159 --> 00:14:36.700 is going. The world is going from bad to worse. 00:14:37.000 --> 00:14:40.960 But there's going to be some faithful ones, and 00:14:40.960 --> 00:14:44.080 God's looking for those faithful ones that are 00:14:44.080 --> 00:14:47.919 going to stand strong and say, let God be true 00:14:47.919 --> 00:14:52.340 and every man a liar. We believe that God can 00:14:52.340 --> 00:14:56.360 intervene. We believe that God can protect. We 00:14:56.360 --> 00:15:01.409 believe that God can deliver still, heal. people 00:15:01.409 --> 00:15:05.049 and heal the land. We're believing for it, and 00:15:05.049 --> 00:15:07.309 you know there isn't anything worse than to, 00:15:07.309 --> 00:15:10.210 you know, than to stirring up the hornet's nest, 00:15:10.309 --> 00:15:12.409 man. Because, you know, you want to kill a little 00:15:12.409 --> 00:15:15.389 bee, don't mess with the nest. Praise God, and 00:15:15.389 --> 00:15:18.509 we're the nest. Praise the Lord. We are the group 00:15:18.509 --> 00:15:21.370 of believers that are uniting and believing that 00:15:21.370 --> 00:15:24.370 God's up to something big. The devil is trying 00:15:24.370 --> 00:15:27.950 to put fear in the people, but God's people are 00:15:27.950 --> 00:15:30.789 going to stand up more than ever. This is the 00:15:30.789 --> 00:15:34.950 time to stand up and believe. that God is with 00:15:34.950 --> 00:15:41.009 us. We thank God for faithful members that serve 00:15:41.009 --> 00:15:43.730 under the leading of the angel of the church, 00:15:43.830 --> 00:15:46.850 their pastor, the under shepherd, and to work 00:15:46.850 --> 00:15:51.210 together in communion in God's kingdom. There 00:15:51.210 --> 00:15:54.590 are three things that... out from this script, 00:15:54.870 --> 00:15:59.769 Revelation 2 .7. There are three important messages, 00:15:59.809 --> 00:16:02.210 and I can't go through all of them. I'm going 00:16:02.210 --> 00:16:04.629 to touch on two very little, but I'm going to 00:16:04.629 --> 00:16:09.210 attempt to. But one of them is the hidden manna. 00:16:09.529 --> 00:16:12.049 You can put that up there. The hidden manna, 00:16:12.090 --> 00:16:16.309 the white stone, and a new name. These are the 00:16:16.309 --> 00:16:19.269 very things that pop out from this scripture. 00:16:19.870 --> 00:16:24.429 The promise of hidden manna. reminds us that 00:16:24.429 --> 00:16:27.350 spiritual nourishment and strength come from 00:16:27.350 --> 00:16:31.690 our relationship with Christ. As the manna of 00:16:31.690 --> 00:16:34.549 Exodus, and when we think manna, we think the 00:16:34.549 --> 00:16:36.669 Exodus. We think of the Israelites that were 00:16:36.669 --> 00:16:40.330 sustained and strengthened for 40 years as they 00:16:40.330 --> 00:16:45.509 wandered in the desert. So Jesus is the manna 00:16:45.509 --> 00:16:51.210 from heaven. The spiritual sustenance we need. 00:16:51.950 --> 00:16:57.230 And it is promised to us. In John 6, 48 to 51, 00:16:57.429 --> 00:17:02.110 it says, I am the bread of life. Your fathers 00:17:02.110 --> 00:17:05.349 ate the manna in the wilderness and are dead. 00:17:05.630 --> 00:17:08.809 They're gone. This is the bread which comes down 00:17:08.809 --> 00:17:13.509 from heaven that no man eat of it and not die. 00:17:13.809 --> 00:17:18.109 He said that I am the living bread which came 00:17:18.109 --> 00:17:22.640 down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread, 00:17:23.000 --> 00:17:27.240 he will live forever. And the bread that I shall 00:17:27.240 --> 00:17:32.380 give is my flesh, he says, which I shall give 00:17:32.380 --> 00:17:37.579 for the life of the world. Now listen, the hidden 00:17:37.579 --> 00:17:40.259 manna, there's a beautiful teaching, and I can't 00:17:40.259 --> 00:17:42.579 get into it completely today. There's no way 00:17:42.579 --> 00:17:45.579 I'd get through it. But the hidden manna. are 00:17:45.579 --> 00:17:48.400 the things that God reveals to us. Because you 00:17:48.400 --> 00:17:52.319 see, not everybody gets it. Not everybody understands 00:17:52.319 --> 00:17:55.160 it. You're not going to understand it fully until 00:17:55.160 --> 00:17:58.109 you go deep. Somebody say deep again. There it 00:17:58.109 --> 00:18:00.470 goes. You're not going to understand it until 00:18:00.470 --> 00:18:03.230 you get into the Scriptures. You're not going 00:18:03.230 --> 00:18:06.190 to understand it until you have a personal and 00:18:06.190 --> 00:18:09.190 you seek a personal relationship with God. There 00:18:09.190 --> 00:18:12.150 are people that know God, and there are people 00:18:12.150 --> 00:18:15.269 that have a relationship with God. You can know 00:18:15.269 --> 00:18:17.230 your neighbors, but you don't have to have a 00:18:17.230 --> 00:18:19.170 relationship. And you might not even know all 00:18:19.170 --> 00:18:21.309 their names. You just wave hi. Do you have any 00:18:21.309 --> 00:18:22.970 neighbors you just wave to them all the time? 00:18:23.069 --> 00:18:25.230 Hey, how you doing? Hey, man. You don't know 00:18:25.230 --> 00:18:31.509 their names. Hello. Right? Sometimes we do. Well, 00:18:31.549 --> 00:18:33.509 maybe you know all your neighbors' names, but 00:18:33.509 --> 00:18:37.950 that's unusual. But nevertheless, I wave to people 00:18:37.950 --> 00:18:40.670 three or four houses down. I'm doing this, you 00:18:40.670 --> 00:18:44.089 know. But I know my immediate neighbors, you 00:18:44.089 --> 00:18:47.170 know. Vinny's on this side. Paul's on that side. 00:18:47.349 --> 00:18:51.650 I know them. But, you know, you don't know everybody. 00:18:51.750 --> 00:18:53.930 And people, they think they know God, but they 00:18:53.930 --> 00:18:57.269 don't know him. They don't understand who he 00:18:57.269 --> 00:19:00.829 is, what he stands for, his holiness. You're 00:19:00.829 --> 00:19:02.930 never going to understand the holiness of God 00:19:02.930 --> 00:19:05.569 until you go deeper in God. And you understand 00:19:05.569 --> 00:19:08.730 that he's a holy God. He's a sanctified God. 00:19:08.869 --> 00:19:12.789 He's in the third chamber, the holiest of holiest. 00:19:14.180 --> 00:19:17.160 People run around the court of the tabernacle 00:19:17.160 --> 00:19:19.980 praising God, jumping and everything. That's 00:19:19.980 --> 00:19:22.400 religion. You've got to get in deeper. You've 00:19:22.400 --> 00:19:24.380 got to get into the courtyard. Then you've got 00:19:24.380 --> 00:19:26.559 to get into the holy place. Then you've got to 00:19:26.559 --> 00:19:30.200 get into the most holy place. That's deeper, 00:19:30.339 --> 00:19:33.140 friend. That's a deeper relationship with God. 00:19:33.680 --> 00:19:37.079 Those that receive this hidden manna are those 00:19:37.079 --> 00:19:41.319 who are victorious and they're overcomers. What 00:19:41.319 --> 00:19:42.779 are they victorious? First of all, the first 00:19:42.779 --> 00:19:46.460 victory you need to have is yourself. You need 00:19:46.460 --> 00:19:48.700 to have victory over yourself. You need to overcome 00:19:48.700 --> 00:19:51.480 not your neighbors. You need to overcome yourself. 00:19:52.660 --> 00:19:55.240 You need to overcome this person, this person 00:19:55.240 --> 00:19:59.490 right here. You're your worst enemy. Hello? Nobody 00:19:59.490 --> 00:20:04.730 told you to steal that candy. You did it. Praise 00:20:04.730 --> 00:20:08.049 God. Hey, I'm sorry. Praise the Lord. But it's 00:20:08.049 --> 00:20:10.349 all your fault. Tell yourself it's your fault. 00:20:11.559 --> 00:20:14.900 That's what it is. But when you overcome yourself, 00:20:15.200 --> 00:20:17.759 when you overcome yourself, you overcome other 00:20:17.759 --> 00:20:22.519 things, and the Lord has something great for 00:20:22.519 --> 00:20:26.579 you. He's going to reveal that manna, that bread 00:20:26.579 --> 00:20:30.480 from heaven, the word of God that will come into 00:20:30.480 --> 00:20:34.440 your life, and you will be blessed. despite all 00:20:34.440 --> 00:20:36.259 the trials and the hardships that you're going 00:20:36.259 --> 00:20:39.220 through. Amen. God wants to bless you. Praise 00:20:39.220 --> 00:20:40.900 the Lord. All right, I'm going to jump to the 00:20:40.900 --> 00:20:42.940 next one. I can stay there for a long time, believe 00:20:42.940 --> 00:20:48.400 me. The next part is stones. The stones. From 00:20:48.400 --> 00:20:53.039 Genesis to Revelations, we read about stones. 00:20:53.839 --> 00:20:57.140 They hold significant symbolic and metaphorical 00:20:57.140 --> 00:21:03.480 meanings, such as memorials, altars. which are 00:21:03.480 --> 00:21:07.220 important to the believers, and especially in 00:21:07.220 --> 00:21:12.180 ministries in the church. Stones were often used 00:21:12.180 --> 00:21:16.519 to mark significant events or even agreements 00:21:16.519 --> 00:21:22.700 with God. As Jacob set up a stone to memorialize 00:21:22.700 --> 00:21:28.599 his legacy dream and God's covenant to him. Joshua 00:21:28.599 --> 00:21:34.549 erected 12 stones at Gilgal. as a memorial after 00:21:34.549 --> 00:21:37.609 the Israelites crossed the Jordan River into 00:21:37.609 --> 00:21:41.750 the Promised Land. Stones were used to build 00:21:41.750 --> 00:21:46.049 altars for sacrifices and worship, such as the 00:21:46.049 --> 00:21:50.319 altar that Moses built at Mount Sinai. And the 00:21:50.319 --> 00:21:54.039 altar Elijah built that became consumed with 00:21:54.039 --> 00:21:57.740 fire from heaven. And there are so many other 00:21:57.740 --> 00:22:01.579 altars that we can imagine. And I mean, from 00:22:01.579 --> 00:22:04.579 the beginning, from Noah and so forth, and the 00:22:04.579 --> 00:22:10.339 very beginning to now altars. The stone of Ebenezer 00:22:10.339 --> 00:22:14.279 is a stone of reflection of how the Lord has 00:22:14.279 --> 00:22:20.819 brought us this far. Isaiah wrote, that the Lord 00:22:20.819 --> 00:22:26.680 God is a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, 00:22:27.079 --> 00:22:31.210 and a sure foundation. Matthew also wrote the 00:22:31.210 --> 00:22:34.329 stone that was rejected by builders that became 00:22:34.329 --> 00:22:39.309 the cornerstone, making reference to Jesus. In 00:22:39.309 --> 00:22:42.809 Revelation 21, if you read that chapter, we read 00:22:42.809 --> 00:22:45.670 about the stones of the foundation of the new 00:22:45.670 --> 00:22:49.809 Jerusalem, made of precious stones, with each 00:22:49.809 --> 00:22:54.750 having their own symbolic meaning. Interesting. 00:22:55.450 --> 00:22:58.890 In essence, stones in the Bible are not just 00:22:58.890 --> 00:23:02.990 literal objects, but they carry a deep symbolic 00:23:02.990 --> 00:23:07.710 meaning, reminding us of God's character, His 00:23:07.710 --> 00:23:11.109 actions in history, and the spiritual truths 00:23:11.109 --> 00:23:15.750 about our faith. The Bible references large stones. 00:23:16.089 --> 00:23:19.710 It references smooth stones like the one that 00:23:19.710 --> 00:23:23.650 David looked for, memorial stones, cornerstones. 00:23:24.380 --> 00:23:29.759 altar stones, and lively stones as the Lord declared 00:23:29.759 --> 00:23:33.940 upon Peter and the church. I'd like to speak 00:23:33.940 --> 00:23:40.920 directly to myself today and to the City Light 00:23:40.920 --> 00:23:44.859 Church today about a special and unique stone. 00:23:45.279 --> 00:23:48.960 And if you can put the slide up there, my white 00:23:48.960 --> 00:23:54.309 stone. My white stone. Now you know why I've 00:23:54.309 --> 00:24:01.130 got these here. My white stone. Now, my white 00:24:01.130 --> 00:24:07.069 stone, the Bible says, with a new name written 00:24:07.069 --> 00:24:11.789 on it, and I'll get to that in a minute, this 00:24:11.789 --> 00:24:16.750 white stone is symbolic. Today, it's just a stone. 00:24:17.150 --> 00:24:21.470 If you drop it in water, it'll go deep. You want 00:24:21.470 --> 00:24:25.710 to be a stone? If you're a stone, you'll go deep. 00:24:27.109 --> 00:24:32.390 Oh, you didn't get that at all. That didn't cost 00:24:32.390 --> 00:24:34.710 you nothing there. But if you want to be a stone, 00:24:34.730 --> 00:24:38.690 think about it. If you're one of these, if you 00:24:38.690 --> 00:24:42.609 got one of these, you're going to go deep. You're 00:24:42.609 --> 00:24:46.829 going to go to the depths of God. The white stone. 00:24:48.140 --> 00:24:53.200 It is symbolic of victory, symbolic of purity, 00:24:53.420 --> 00:24:57.000 and acceptance for those who overcome trials 00:24:57.000 --> 00:25:02.940 and remain faithful to God. The white stone is 00:25:02.940 --> 00:25:06.619 not literal, as we see here today, but it is 00:25:06.619 --> 00:25:11.400 symbolic of a precious token of the love of the 00:25:11.400 --> 00:25:16.940 Lord Jesus. It signifies God's approval. Freedom 00:25:16.940 --> 00:25:22.400 from condemnation and a unique personal relationship 00:25:22.400 --> 00:25:30.759 with God. In biblical times, white stones, probably 00:25:30.759 --> 00:25:32.700 no bigger than the one I'm going to show you 00:25:32.700 --> 00:25:39.779 here, white stones and black stones were given 00:25:39.779 --> 00:25:46.400 to a jury that was listening. to accusations 00:25:46.400 --> 00:25:52.000 against somebody. Every juror had one of these. 00:25:52.759 --> 00:25:58.970 A white stone and a black stone. They heard all 00:25:58.970 --> 00:26:02.890 the complaints, all the witnesses, all, you know, 00:26:02.910 --> 00:26:06.730 of what they did wrong. And I saw them. And somebody 00:26:06.730 --> 00:26:09.529 comes in, well, I saw him too. And somebody else 00:26:09.529 --> 00:26:12.750 comes in, I've never seen the man or woman or 00:26:12.750 --> 00:26:16.869 whatever. And they just, at the end, you know, 00:26:16.890 --> 00:26:21.369 they finally heard all the testimonies of everything 00:26:21.369 --> 00:26:26.130 that was said about that person. Good, bad, indifferent, 00:26:26.549 --> 00:26:29.730 whatever. was said about that person. But the 00:26:29.730 --> 00:26:33.049 jurors, after they heard all the testimonies, 00:26:33.049 --> 00:26:35.990 the judge would say, okay, jurors, you know what 00:26:35.990 --> 00:26:41.349 to do. If the man is innocent, you put a white 00:26:41.349 --> 00:26:50.849 stone down. If he's guilty, you put a black stone 00:26:50.849 --> 00:26:57.579 just like that. So I imagine that poor fella 00:26:57.579 --> 00:27:02.500 sitting there. He can see the people. They were 00:27:02.500 --> 00:27:04.500 not hidden. They were walking up. Then he was 00:27:04.500 --> 00:27:06.180 there. Make it a white one. Please make it a 00:27:06.180 --> 00:27:07.680 white one. White, white, white, white, white, 00:27:07.680 --> 00:27:11.880 white. Yes, white. No, black. That's not good. 00:27:13.039 --> 00:27:19.240 Not good. Brother. Brother Kong. If it was you 00:27:19.240 --> 00:27:21.220 and you saw them putting this stone down, what 00:27:21.220 --> 00:27:25.339 would you think, man? Not good, man. This is 00:27:25.339 --> 00:27:30.619 not favorable. You don't want one of these. You 00:27:30.619 --> 00:27:33.779 don't want one of these black guys. Man, I'm 00:27:33.779 --> 00:27:37.759 telling you, when you're watching them walk up, 00:27:37.880 --> 00:27:39.359 you wonder what he's going to do. They've got 00:27:39.359 --> 00:27:41.579 a white one in one hand and a black one in the 00:27:41.579 --> 00:27:43.859 other, and they're walking up there, and then 00:27:43.859 --> 00:27:47.680 they just go. They might even play games with 00:27:47.680 --> 00:27:57.240 you. Which hand is it in? But if it's one of 00:27:57.240 --> 00:28:01.539 these, my God, uh -oh, that's one strike. You 00:28:01.539 --> 00:28:05.759 got 11 more to go. And so the other one comes 00:28:05.759 --> 00:28:09.799 up and whoo -wee, he got a white one for you. 00:28:10.359 --> 00:28:15.960 Right, Brother Rico? I sat in the courtroom with 00:28:15.960 --> 00:28:19.539 this man, I know. Hallelujah. Did we get a white 00:28:19.539 --> 00:28:24.470 stone that day, brother? Yeah. We got a white 00:28:24.470 --> 00:28:27.109 stone, man. And I told him, don't you worry, 00:28:27.170 --> 00:28:29.869 Brother Rico. You're coming out of here, man. 00:28:30.529 --> 00:28:32.309 Yeah, but all the odds are good. Don't you worry 00:28:32.309 --> 00:28:36.130 about the odds. You leave the judge to me. And 00:28:36.130 --> 00:28:38.470 I sat in the back of the courtroom and I rebuked 00:28:38.470 --> 00:28:42.509 that judge. Did I rebuke him, brother? You can 00:28:42.509 --> 00:28:43.930 feel the presence of the God in that courtroom? 00:28:44.750 --> 00:28:46.710 Man, I rebuked that judge. He says, don't you 00:28:46.710 --> 00:28:50.230 say nothing against my brother Rico. He was a 00:28:50.230 --> 00:28:55.519 new convert. Then, What did he do, brother? He 00:28:55.519 --> 00:29:00.519 almost jumped over that big desk, huh? He looked 00:29:00.519 --> 00:29:03.059 like he was going to jump at you, huh? He came 00:29:03.059 --> 00:29:06.339 over his desk. I've never seen a judge do that 00:29:06.339 --> 00:29:10.720 in my life. Here it comes, I said. He jumped 00:29:10.720 --> 00:29:13.920 over the top of his desk. And then he points 00:29:13.920 --> 00:29:18.119 at Brother Reed. I don't know why I'm doing this. 00:29:18.259 --> 00:29:23.779 And I says, I know. I don't know why I'm doing 00:29:23.779 --> 00:29:28.359 this, he said. I said, I know why. We got this, 00:29:28.440 --> 00:29:31.140 we got this. And then he says, I'm going to let 00:29:31.140 --> 00:29:36.960 you go. They should have thrown him in deep, 00:29:37.079 --> 00:29:42.359 man. And not in the waters, in the pen. But he 00:29:42.359 --> 00:29:46.680 got off, man, because he got one of these. I'm 00:29:46.680 --> 00:29:49.900 going to quittle. Hey, he was set free, man. 00:29:49.960 --> 00:29:51.339 I'm going to tell you something. How many have 00:29:51.339 --> 00:29:54.140 been set free here today? If you're set free, 00:29:54.180 --> 00:29:56.240 you say, praise the Lord, I'm free and I'm free 00:29:56.240 --> 00:29:58.900 indeed. If the Son sets you free, you're free 00:29:58.900 --> 00:30:02.420 indeed. But if you get a black stone, the black 00:30:02.420 --> 00:30:09.880 stone signifies condemnation. Doomed. Oh my God. 00:30:10.200 --> 00:30:13.490 You don't want one of those. You do not want 00:30:13.490 --> 00:30:16.390 a black stone. Praise the Lord, somebody. I'll 00:30:16.390 --> 00:30:19.109 tell you, I know some of your hearts are really 00:30:19.109 --> 00:30:21.609 beating fast right now. I'm going to hide these 00:30:21.609 --> 00:30:28.990 over here. Feel better? All we got is white stones 00:30:28.990 --> 00:30:36.710 now. In ancient Greco -Roman culture, A white 00:30:36.710 --> 00:30:40.250 stone was a token of victory award to a winner 00:30:40.250 --> 00:30:45.609 of an athletic contest. They didn't give, you 00:30:45.609 --> 00:30:48.549 know, they started giving other things. They 00:30:48.549 --> 00:30:51.109 don't give medals, gold medals and all of that, 00:30:51.150 --> 00:30:55.329 like now they do, you know. And it's nice, good 00:30:55.329 --> 00:30:58.829 for them, they earned it. But in those times, 00:30:58.849 --> 00:31:03.390 in ancient Olympic games, the white stones were 00:31:03.390 --> 00:31:08.289 given. to the athlete that won. They were given 00:31:08.289 --> 00:31:10.009 one of these, a white stone. I don't know how 00:31:10.009 --> 00:31:12.309 it looked. I mean, this is just a stone that 00:31:12.309 --> 00:31:16.769 I have here. But they were given one of these 00:31:16.769 --> 00:31:24.619 stones. And in ancient times... They were presented 00:31:24.619 --> 00:31:28.759 these stones in a celebration parade. They had 00:31:28.759 --> 00:31:32.000 a parade. And when the athletes came by, they 00:31:32.000 --> 00:31:33.400 were all wondering if they were going to get 00:31:33.400 --> 00:31:36.039 one of these. This went to the victor, to the 00:31:36.039 --> 00:31:39.539 champion, to the winner. And they were given. 00:31:39.660 --> 00:31:41.660 Those, it says, they're all coming by. They were 00:31:41.660 --> 00:31:43.740 just kind of looking to see. I don't know exactly 00:31:43.740 --> 00:31:45.859 how, you know, the parade functioned and all 00:31:45.859 --> 00:31:48.539 that. But I can imagine them wondering, wondering, 00:31:48.579 --> 00:31:52.549 wondering until their name is called. And they 00:31:52.549 --> 00:31:55.789 come up and they get one of these. Isn't that 00:31:55.789 --> 00:32:03.630 interesting? But what they did is they put the 00:32:03.630 --> 00:32:09.750 name of the victor on the stone. They put their 00:32:09.750 --> 00:32:13.970 name on it. And it wasn't just so that, you know, 00:32:13.990 --> 00:32:17.049 you can have a stone with your name inscribed 00:32:17.049 --> 00:32:23.490 on it. But it was possessing a white stone like 00:32:23.490 --> 00:32:30.549 this was an entitlement. An entitlement, not 00:32:30.549 --> 00:32:34.950 only a public recognition, but for the rest of 00:32:34.950 --> 00:32:40.039 your life. If you had one of these, it was basically 00:32:40.039 --> 00:32:46.279 like a carte blanche. My God, that meant something. 00:32:46.859 --> 00:32:52.680 It had value. Praise the Lord. It was your new 00:32:52.680 --> 00:32:58.000 identity. Maybe you were a nobody last week, 00:32:58.059 --> 00:33:01.099 but this week you got a white stone with your 00:33:01.099 --> 00:33:04.960 name on it. And because it's got your name on 00:33:04.960 --> 00:33:08.759 it, guess what? When they began to have the great 00:33:08.759 --> 00:33:14.259 festivities, the huge banquets, where only special 00:33:14.259 --> 00:33:17.819 guests were invited, you would take your white 00:33:17.819 --> 00:33:20.680 stone, and when you got to the entrance of the 00:33:20.680 --> 00:33:24.039 door, you just went like this. What's that say? 00:33:25.519 --> 00:33:29.700 It says, Joseph, thank you very much. Come on 00:33:29.700 --> 00:33:32.900 in. And you can go into the banquets, festivities. 00:33:33.079 --> 00:33:35.259 Man, this thing got you into a lot of places. 00:33:35.279 --> 00:33:36.740 Praise the Lord. Wouldn't you like to have one 00:33:36.740 --> 00:33:41.019 of those today? Praise God. You can walk into 00:33:41.019 --> 00:33:44.079 a banquet and say, go like this. Oh, you're welcome. 00:33:44.140 --> 00:33:48.000 Come on in, Joseph. Come on in, Kong. You're 00:33:48.000 --> 00:33:50.799 in, man. Woo, where'd you get that? Never mind. 00:33:52.259 --> 00:33:55.609 I got it. And they will let you in. You can get 00:33:55.609 --> 00:33:58.109 into these great festivities, celebration. It 00:33:58.109 --> 00:34:00.609 didn't matter how much people paid for that ticket. 00:34:00.789 --> 00:34:05.690 You already had your ticket. This was your pass. 00:34:06.049 --> 00:34:08.909 This was your ticket. This was the token that 00:34:08.909 --> 00:34:11.170 you can get in and celebrate with everybody. 00:34:11.489 --> 00:34:14.230 Amen. Give me a filet mignon medium, please. 00:34:15.949 --> 00:34:19.730 Who do you think you are? Hey. Oh, okay. How 00:34:19.730 --> 00:34:25.320 did you say you wanted that? Listen, this is 00:34:25.320 --> 00:34:29.119 serious stuff. This was serious. I mean, can 00:34:29.119 --> 00:34:34.039 you imagine people wanting that kind of a level 00:34:34.039 --> 00:34:37.559 of recognition? This was a very special recognition. 00:34:38.179 --> 00:34:42.500 This is a token. This is just for athletes. My 00:34:42.500 --> 00:34:47.360 God. This is a stone that had your name on it. 00:34:47.519 --> 00:34:53.690 And wow, that is awesome. The promise of the 00:34:53.690 --> 00:34:58.360 white stone that we read. Encourages believers 00:34:58.360 --> 00:35:03.280 to persevere in their faith. Holding fast to 00:35:03.280 --> 00:35:06.820 a relationship with Christ. Overcoming the hardships 00:35:06.820 --> 00:35:10.099 of this world. Not paying attention to anybody 00:35:10.099 --> 00:35:12.380 that's going to distract you from this stone. 00:35:13.039 --> 00:35:15.800 They're not going to pay your way in. Nobody 00:35:15.800 --> 00:35:18.380 else can lend you their stone. You've got to 00:35:18.380 --> 00:35:21.480 have your own stone. If you want to get into 00:35:21.480 --> 00:35:25.920 the banquet. The banquet of God. At the end. 00:35:26.559 --> 00:35:29.219 festivities that God's going to have one day 00:35:29.219 --> 00:35:32.480 in the heavenlies. You're going to need one of 00:35:32.480 --> 00:35:39.980 these. It's not two for one. You're not going 00:35:39.980 --> 00:35:42.639 to be able to ride on your mama's stone, your 00:35:42.639 --> 00:35:45.079 daddy's stone, your neighbor's stone, your girlfriend, 00:35:45.219 --> 00:35:48.179 brother's stone, nobody. You have to have your 00:35:48.179 --> 00:35:54.579 own stone. Bless the Lord. There's going to be 00:35:54.579 --> 00:35:58.690 a great feast. In the heavens. There's going 00:35:58.690 --> 00:36:02.409 to be a wonderful celebration. Great festivities. 00:36:03.170 --> 00:36:06.230 And brother, if you don't have one of these, 00:36:06.489 --> 00:36:10.750 you're going to get kicked out. And the Lord 00:36:10.750 --> 00:36:13.829 Jesus talked about those. Get them out. They 00:36:13.829 --> 00:36:16.590 don't belong here. They don't have a white stone 00:36:16.590 --> 00:36:23.550 with their name on it. And these white stones. 00:36:25.320 --> 00:36:29.179 are going to have. You know, before I go any 00:36:29.179 --> 00:36:33.880 further, I want you to, I brought some stones 00:36:33.880 --> 00:36:43.500 here. Sounds good, huh? Better than money. You 00:36:43.500 --> 00:36:45.699 like how money sounds? This is better than money. 00:36:46.940 --> 00:36:49.900 Praise God. I'm going to put some stones right 00:36:49.900 --> 00:36:55.579 here. Man, I'm telling you. Look at that. Look 00:36:55.579 --> 00:37:00.380 at those stones. My God. Look at that. Praise 00:37:00.380 --> 00:37:02.619 God. Hello. Wait, where are you going with that 00:37:02.619 --> 00:37:05.260 stone, brother? You've got to earn it. I'm kidding. 00:37:07.260 --> 00:37:18.000 Look at this. I'm going to ask. You don't need 00:37:18.000 --> 00:37:22.280 to. I'm going to ask if you want something to 00:37:22.280 --> 00:37:26.650 remind yourself. Before we continue here, to 00:37:26.650 --> 00:37:29.329 remind you about how important it is for you 00:37:29.329 --> 00:37:33.090 to get one of these in heaven, come up and get 00:37:33.090 --> 00:37:37.610 one. Don't idolize it. Don't make it an idol. 00:37:37.670 --> 00:37:42.050 Don't pray to it. Just come and get one and say, 00:37:42.130 --> 00:37:45.469 this is my stone. You put that on the dashboard 00:37:45.469 --> 00:37:49.469 of your car. You can put it on your headboard, 00:37:49.550 --> 00:37:51.550 under your pillow. I don't care where you put 00:37:51.550 --> 00:37:58.380 it. Just don't idolize it. This is just a reminder. 00:38:02.079 --> 00:38:05.119 Praise God. Look at that. Come on. Hopefully 00:38:05.119 --> 00:38:08.960 you can all get one. If you don't get one, you 00:38:08.960 --> 00:38:17.920 have to wait until the by and by. There you go, 00:38:17.980 --> 00:38:22.000 brother. Come on. Hey, everybody got a stone? 00:38:22.119 --> 00:38:25.059 If you want one, you got one, right? Ooh, he 00:38:25.059 --> 00:38:27.400 even got a stone. Look at that. Good for you, 00:38:27.440 --> 00:38:29.920 man. You got it. You put that somewhere, you 00:38:29.920 --> 00:38:32.579 know, put it somewhere, you can remember one 00:38:32.579 --> 00:38:35.579 of these days, God's going to give me one of 00:38:35.579 --> 00:38:40.179 these. But if you're faithful, when you become 00:38:40.179 --> 00:38:43.400 of age, you give your life to the Lord. Serve 00:38:43.400 --> 00:38:49.349 the Lord. But listen to this. Here's another 00:38:49.349 --> 00:38:51.170 thing about white stones. I just thought I'd 00:38:51.170 --> 00:38:54.670 throw this as extra measure. A white stone was 00:38:54.670 --> 00:38:59.230 also known as, it was called a tessera hospitalis. 00:39:01.289 --> 00:39:07.670 Tessera hospitalis. These stones were split in 00:39:07.670 --> 00:39:13.849 half. And they were exchanged among two people 00:39:13.849 --> 00:39:21.849 to signify a covenant. friendship a covenant 00:39:21.849 --> 00:39:30.550 friendship and what you can do with this years 00:39:30.550 --> 00:39:37.389 can go by 20 years generations can go by if you 00:39:37.389 --> 00:39:43.750 have a half of a stone from somebody when you 00:39:43.750 --> 00:39:48.320 get to that half of whatever it is You will receive 00:39:48.320 --> 00:39:54.000 the gift of the hospitality, meaning welcome. 00:39:55.079 --> 00:40:00.000 Mi casa, su casa. You're welcome. Think about 00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:05.960 it for a moment. Your stone, Jesus has the other 00:40:05.960 --> 00:40:10.599 half. He has the other half. It's a stone of 00:40:10.599 --> 00:40:15.219 covenant. It's a friendship stone. and he has 00:40:15.219 --> 00:40:19.099 a place prepared for you. I'm going to tell you 00:40:19.099 --> 00:40:21.900 something. I mean, I know it's a lot of symbolics 00:40:21.900 --> 00:40:24.619 here and all of that, and that's good, you know, 00:40:24.619 --> 00:40:26.980 and you can, whatever you want. There's people 00:40:26.980 --> 00:40:29.300 that, they come up with some weird ideas. This 00:40:29.300 --> 00:40:32.420 is not a weird idea. This is biblical. Okay, 00:40:32.500 --> 00:40:37.360 but let me tell you something. You show up to 00:40:37.360 --> 00:40:44.449 heaven, and you have a half of a stone, And Jesus 00:40:44.449 --> 00:40:46.730 has the other half. He's going to go like that. 00:40:47.429 --> 00:40:53.949 Come on in. I built this house for you. I built 00:40:53.949 --> 00:40:57.110 this mansion for you. That is what they call 00:40:57.110 --> 00:41:02.289 hospitality stone. Hospitality means that you 00:41:02.289 --> 00:41:06.659 will have a place in heaven for eternity. What 00:41:06.659 --> 00:41:10.019 is his is yours, and what's yours is his. Blessed 00:41:10.019 --> 00:41:13.539 be the name of the Lord. Amen. You have a friend 00:41:13.539 --> 00:41:17.099 in Jesus, but you got to have a covenant with 00:41:17.099 --> 00:41:20.320 Jesus. Don't just start anything. A covenant 00:41:20.320 --> 00:41:25.199 with him. Amen. And you might be wondering, when 00:41:25.199 --> 00:41:26.780 am I going to close? The keyboard is going to 00:41:26.780 --> 00:41:28.800 come up, brother. You didn't come up for a stone, 00:41:28.920 --> 00:41:40.480 brother. You wanted the bigger one? Oh, no, you 00:41:40.480 --> 00:41:44.900 ain't going to get that one. Pick a stone, brother. 00:41:46.739 --> 00:41:59.139 Oh, that's a nice one. Listen. Oh, my God, this 00:41:59.139 --> 00:42:02.559 brother. He thinks he's David. He's going to 00:42:02.559 --> 00:42:06.610 slingshot him somewhere. Praise God. God is good, 00:42:06.650 --> 00:42:11.730 isn't he? But listen to this. This is the most 00:42:11.730 --> 00:42:18.650 important part about all of this, is a new name. 00:42:20.409 --> 00:42:26.210 The new name written on the stone. It carries 00:42:26.210 --> 00:42:30.110 very, very many theological implications. There's 00:42:30.110 --> 00:42:36.190 been a lot of... discussions on this theologians 00:42:36.190 --> 00:42:39.250 are not fully committed to what it signifies 00:42:39.250 --> 00:42:46.289 but because of other scripture and theological 00:42:46.289 --> 00:42:52.849 implications and teachings and if we take the 00:42:52.849 --> 00:43:00.110 spiritual application a new name is a change 00:43:00.110 --> 00:43:07.519 in identity which suggests a unique and intimate 00:43:07.519 --> 00:43:14.739 relationship with Christ. It represents a new 00:43:14.739 --> 00:43:20.820 status and identity. God gave new names to several 00:43:20.820 --> 00:43:26.460 biblical characters, and they all signified new 00:43:26.460 --> 00:43:32.119 beginnings, divine covenants, and new destinies. 00:43:33.320 --> 00:43:39.820 Abram's new name became Abraham, which means 00:43:39.820 --> 00:43:47.980 father of many nations. Sarai's new name became 00:43:47.980 --> 00:43:56.099 Sarah, which means princess. Jacob's new name 00:43:56.099 --> 00:44:03.079 became Israel, a new identity, which means God 00:44:03.079 --> 00:44:10.800 prevails. Simon's new name became Peter, meaning 00:44:10.800 --> 00:44:20.079 rock, signifying Peter's new identity as a foundational 00:44:20.079 --> 00:44:28.099 figure in the apostolic church. Lively stones. 00:44:29.320 --> 00:44:35.420 God gave new names. Because he was expanding 00:44:35.420 --> 00:44:47.199 their influence and purpose globally. Many years 00:44:47.199 --> 00:44:51.940 ago, I may have mentioned this before. There 00:44:51.940 --> 00:44:54.840 was a name, there was a pastor over there in 00:44:54.840 --> 00:45:01.409 Campbell. He was an apostolic preacher. I'm trying 00:45:01.409 --> 00:45:03.070 to remember his last name, but his first name 00:45:03.070 --> 00:45:08.309 was John. Daniels was his last name. He preached 00:45:08.309 --> 00:45:13.590 a message on the black brick. It wasn't about 00:45:13.590 --> 00:45:17.530 this, but he preached about how he was a running 00:45:17.530 --> 00:45:21.789 back for his football team, but he was a fumbler. 00:45:23.150 --> 00:45:26.070 He fumbled all the time. He was strong, fast, 00:45:26.329 --> 00:45:29.199 quick, understood things. He can get through 00:45:29.199 --> 00:45:31.280 the gap. He can do a lot of good things, but 00:45:31.280 --> 00:45:36.139 he would fumble when they hit him. So the coach 00:45:36.139 --> 00:45:41.380 had enough. He says, you're good, John, but I'm 00:45:41.380 --> 00:45:44.059 going to make you better. I'm going to make you 00:45:44.059 --> 00:45:48.840 better. He says, I painted a black brick. And 00:45:48.840 --> 00:45:52.920 he gave him a black brick. He says, you're going 00:45:52.920 --> 00:45:59.500 to take this brick home with you. You're never 00:45:59.500 --> 00:46:05.420 going to separate yourself from that brick. You're 00:46:05.420 --> 00:46:09.699 going to sleep with it, eat with it, take a shower 00:46:09.699 --> 00:46:12.860 with it, everything. You're going to come to 00:46:12.860 --> 00:46:17.179 school with it. You're going to take it everywhere 00:46:17.179 --> 00:46:20.440 you go and you're going to tuck it right here 00:46:20.440 --> 00:46:24.420 like a football. You're going to walk like this 00:46:24.420 --> 00:46:29.300 with this brick everywhere you go. Ah, no problem, 00:46:29.380 --> 00:46:36.260 coach. Really? Well, I told the rest of the team, 00:46:36.340 --> 00:46:40.539 which is about 50 or 60 players, they better 00:46:40.539 --> 00:46:43.699 not let you come back in a week with that brick. 00:46:46.179 --> 00:46:50.179 What? They're going to try to take it from you. 00:46:51.039 --> 00:46:55.360 Everywhere you go, don't lay it down. It's gone. 00:46:56.119 --> 00:46:59.960 Well, It's your problem, John. You're the fumbler. 00:47:03.199 --> 00:47:08.300 And so he took that brick. Let me tell you something. 00:47:08.599 --> 00:47:13.019 He tucked it in right here. He went to school 00:47:13.019 --> 00:47:18.340 every day, to mall, to eat, everywhere, to sleep. 00:47:18.400 --> 00:47:20.340 It didn't matter. He had that brick right here. 00:47:20.780 --> 00:47:24.610 He would not let it go. Every day in school, 00:47:24.750 --> 00:47:27.110 there was guys that would come behind him, in 00:47:27.110 --> 00:47:29.269 front of him, on this side, distracting him. 00:47:29.449 --> 00:47:31.429 And, you know, hey, come on, John, let's sit 00:47:31.429 --> 00:47:34.010 down. Here's a soda. And here's a hamburger here, 00:47:34.110 --> 00:47:36.269 you know, and he needed two hands. I said, oh, 00:47:36.329 --> 00:47:39.909 no, no, no. I even eat with one hand. I'm not 00:47:39.909 --> 00:47:45.510 letting go of this brick for a whole week. Boy, 00:47:45.590 --> 00:47:47.829 he gave some stories about how they tried to 00:47:47.829 --> 00:47:52.369 strip him, but he hung on. At the end of the 00:47:52.369 --> 00:47:55.829 week, he shows up to the coach's office. And 00:47:55.829 --> 00:47:59.590 the coach said, John, I see you still got the 00:47:59.590 --> 00:48:05.030 brick. I see you still got the brick. You're 00:48:05.030 --> 00:48:10.150 worthy of carrying a football for me again. Don't 00:48:10.150 --> 00:48:18.769 ever fumble, John. Don't fumble. Today, I wonder 00:48:18.769 --> 00:48:23.329 if this white stone could be tucked in somewhere 00:48:23.329 --> 00:48:30.170 in your heart. Not literally, but symbolically, 00:48:30.329 --> 00:48:35.110 metaphorically. That white stone tucked into 00:48:35.110 --> 00:48:39.489 your heart, to your life. And you can tell because 00:48:39.489 --> 00:48:45.869 you see, all of hell wants to take your stone. 00:48:47.469 --> 00:48:52.300 All of hell. They say, I don't care how good 00:48:52.300 --> 00:48:55.440 she sings, he sings, it don't matter to me. Take 00:48:55.440 --> 00:49:07.260 that stone away from them. Young man, young lady, 00:49:07.380 --> 00:49:11.559 church, it's up to you if you're going to give 00:49:11.559 --> 00:49:17.880 it up or not for some thrill somewhere. Some 00:49:17.880 --> 00:49:23.139 extra paying job. Oh, but they're offering me 00:49:23.139 --> 00:49:26.300 more money, really? So are you going to lay down 00:49:26.300 --> 00:49:29.420 this thing and go do that for a while? You think 00:49:29.420 --> 00:49:31.000 you're going to come back, John, and just pick 00:49:31.000 --> 00:49:37.059 it up? No. I'm telling you today. I know it's 00:49:37.059 --> 00:49:40.219 symbolic. I'm not telling you the stone that 00:49:40.219 --> 00:49:41.659 you have in your hand right now. That's just, 00:49:41.699 --> 00:49:44.739 you put that somewhere as a reminder. I got to 00:49:44.739 --> 00:49:47.469 get one of those, man. I'm going to get me one 00:49:47.469 --> 00:49:55.550 of those. But you have one in your heart. And 00:49:55.550 --> 00:49:59.469 every day the devil is trying to take it from 00:49:59.469 --> 00:50:04.210 you. You know why? You know why he's trying to 00:50:04.210 --> 00:50:07.469 take it from you? Because he's got one of these. 00:50:08.789 --> 00:50:13.280 He's already been judged. He's already been judged. 00:50:13.420 --> 00:50:15.420 This is what he's got. He wants to get your stone. 00:50:15.539 --> 00:50:18.559 He wants you to get one of these. No, no, no, 00:50:18.579 --> 00:50:20.539 man. Black is beautiful, man. Black, oh, man. 00:50:20.940 --> 00:50:27.119 You know, Raiders, really? Come on, man. There's 00:50:27.119 --> 00:50:28.760 going to be a lot of reasons why. I'm not telling 00:50:28.760 --> 00:50:31.380 you you can't root for them, but it just came 00:50:31.380 --> 00:50:38.239 to mind. The point is, he's got one of those, 00:50:38.300 --> 00:50:41.389 and he wants you to have one. He doesn't want 00:50:41.389 --> 00:50:45.750 you to have this one. He wants to strip you from 00:50:45.750 --> 00:50:50.289 this. Brother, sister, don't listen to those 00:50:50.289 --> 00:50:53.710 voices that are telling you negative things. 00:50:53.969 --> 00:50:57.090 No, no, no, that's not true. Listen to me. No, 00:50:57.130 --> 00:50:58.690 you know, you don't understand the whole story. 00:50:58.809 --> 00:51:00.849 You can tell them, you know, Satan, get down 00:51:00.849 --> 00:51:04.760 behind me. I'm going to put my mind on Jesus. 00:51:04.820 --> 00:51:08.460 I'm not going to get to heaven and over there 00:51:08.460 --> 00:51:11.920 and then when they're passing out white stones, 00:51:12.059 --> 00:51:15.599 I get the wrong color. Come on. Are you going 00:51:15.599 --> 00:51:18.380 to take a chance like that listening to somebody 00:51:18.380 --> 00:51:22.840 else's complaint rather than to the word of God 00:51:22.840 --> 00:51:26.199 and say, let God be true. I'm sorry. I'm not 00:51:26.199 --> 00:51:32.949 going to go to hell for you. It's not worth it, 00:51:32.989 --> 00:51:37.530 man. Sister, brother, it's not worth it. Get 00:51:37.530 --> 00:51:42.389 your life right. Focus on what you need to focus 00:51:42.389 --> 00:51:46.750 on. Serve God with all your heart. And you'll 00:51:46.750 --> 00:51:53.170 see how that, your reward is there. You're going 00:51:53.170 --> 00:51:57.989 to get a name. But you know what's unique about 00:51:57.989 --> 00:52:00.980 that name? You're going to get a stone in heaven, 00:52:01.059 --> 00:52:03.920 brother. Brother Ben, you're going to get a stone 00:52:03.920 --> 00:52:06.880 in heaven. But you know that your stone is going 00:52:06.880 --> 00:52:10.980 to have your name on it. Put that next slide 00:52:10.980 --> 00:52:15.760 up there, brother. My new name. You're going 00:52:15.760 --> 00:52:20.440 to get a name. When you get there, it's going 00:52:20.440 --> 00:52:24.059 to be on your stone. Your name is going to be 00:52:24.059 --> 00:52:26.539 written. How it's going to look, I don't know. 00:52:26.579 --> 00:52:32.400 There's a lot of, you know. and, you know, theologians, 00:52:32.400 --> 00:52:35.699 they're just trying to figure it out. And I say, 00:52:35.760 --> 00:52:37.679 don't try to figure it out. It's pretty simple. 00:52:37.739 --> 00:52:40.599 It's just simple. You're going to get a white 00:52:40.599 --> 00:52:44.519 stone with your name, a new name, and that name, 00:52:44.699 --> 00:52:51.820 nobody is going to know it except God and you. 00:52:53.199 --> 00:52:56.380 That's it. Nobody else is going to know your 00:52:56.380 --> 00:53:04.000 name. It's private. It's unique. He's got a name 00:53:04.000 --> 00:53:09.760 for you. He's got a name for the victor. But 00:53:09.760 --> 00:53:15.860 that name, you will share it with nobody. When 00:53:15.860 --> 00:53:21.320 God calls that name, you know that's you. Nobody 00:53:21.320 --> 00:53:25.619 else. That's me. God, that's me. He's the only 00:53:25.619 --> 00:53:28.800 one that knows my name because he gave it to 00:53:28.800 --> 00:53:31.840 you. And he gave it to you because you were faithful, 00:53:31.980 --> 00:53:38.500 loyal, committed, obedient, suffering for him. 00:53:40.119 --> 00:53:42.539 That new name, I don't know what it is. You don't 00:53:42.539 --> 00:53:45.219 know what it is. Only God knows what it is right 00:53:45.219 --> 00:53:54.920 now. But he has a name. And then that stone. 00:53:58.159 --> 00:54:04.139 It's going to give you access to everything in 00:54:04.139 --> 00:54:09.139 eternity that awaits you. Access. That's your 00:54:09.139 --> 00:54:16.860 ticket. Celebrate eternity with a stone with 00:54:16.860 --> 00:54:20.099 your name on it. Stand with me. Thank you for 00:54:20.099 --> 00:54:27.010 your attention today. This is... my thought for 00:54:27.010 --> 00:54:36.210 today and I Pray that Somehow some way you can 00:54:36.210 --> 00:54:50.030 know that It's real Don't sell out don't lose 00:54:50.030 --> 00:54:59.130 it Don't You know, there's an old story about 00:54:59.130 --> 00:55:06.269 a venomous snake, venomous snakes, that's what 00:55:06.269 --> 00:55:10.869 they call them, with poison. Rattlers have a, 00:55:10.909 --> 00:55:14.530 they have venom, but they have a little bag, 00:55:14.750 --> 00:55:20.670 a little bag of venom. And when they're going 00:55:20.670 --> 00:55:24.610 to go through a process of transition or whatever, 00:55:25.280 --> 00:55:28.980 They take that venom out and they hide it somewhere. 00:55:30.519 --> 00:55:36.019 They hide it. Because that's the only thing they 00:55:36.019 --> 00:55:39.559 have to protect themselves. So they go about, 00:55:39.739 --> 00:55:46.739 do what they got to do. And this was an experiment 00:55:46.739 --> 00:55:52.320 that some people did. They got that venom and 00:55:52.320 --> 00:55:57.710 they took it. Took it from where the snake had 00:55:57.710 --> 00:56:03.150 put it. And when the snake came back for it, 00:56:03.269 --> 00:56:13.469 it was not there. That snake went off a high 00:56:13.469 --> 00:56:18.170 mountain to kill itself. Because without the 00:56:18.170 --> 00:56:25.579 venom, life was useless. How much us with a stone 00:56:25.579 --> 00:56:33.280 that waits us up there. Man, don't lose your 00:56:33.280 --> 00:56:37.920 stone. It's not worth it for nobody. No thrill, 00:56:38.059 --> 00:56:42.360 no situation, no gimmies. No, no, no. Be careful. 00:56:42.559 --> 00:56:45.360 Lift your hands. Let's be thankful to the Lord. 00:56:45.400 --> 00:56:49.820 Father, I thank you, Lord, for this word, Lord, 00:56:49.900 --> 00:56:53.300 that you've put in our hearts today. I know, 00:56:53.320 --> 00:56:59.519 Father, hallelujah, that this is what you want 00:56:59.519 --> 00:57:06.699 to give us. Lord, I want to live my life. I want 00:57:06.699 --> 00:57:11.420 to live my life in repentance, holiness, seeking 00:57:11.420 --> 00:57:15.500 you, Lord. Everything that comes against me, 00:57:15.519 --> 00:57:18.820 Lord, I'm going to tell him, get thou behind 00:57:18.820 --> 00:57:26.320 me. I want that stone. With my name on it. I 00:57:26.320 --> 00:57:33.320 desire it. I'll do whatever it takes, Lord. To 00:57:33.320 --> 00:57:37.840 get that stone. Whatever it takes. I'll do it. 00:57:40.519 --> 00:57:44.599 Thank you, Father. Thank you. God bless you all 00:57:44.599 --> 00:57:44.880 today.