WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.419 Faith is more than a feeling or a theory. It's 00:00:03.419 --> 00:00:06.080 a decision that moves your feet, opens your hands, 00:00:06.219 --> 00:00:09.019 and activates God's promises. In our brand new 00:00:09.019 --> 00:00:11.820 book, Faith Act, Jeffrey and I take you on a 00:00:11.820 --> 00:00:13.839 powerful journey through some of Scripture's 00:00:13.839 --> 00:00:16.800 most transforming moments, where ordinary people 00:00:16.800 --> 00:00:20.699 dared to obey and saw heaven move on their behalf. 00:00:21.039 --> 00:00:24.140 Order your copy of Faith Act today on Amazon. 00:00:26.030 --> 00:00:28.629 Week number three in our series entitled The 00:00:28.629 --> 00:00:33.009 Glory. Everybody say The Glory. The Glory. And 00:00:33.009 --> 00:00:37.710 I believe we don't just sit around and go, oh, 00:00:37.710 --> 00:00:40.229 what would be a good sermon topic for Elation 00:00:40.229 --> 00:00:44.149 Church this month? That's not what happens. That 00:00:44.149 --> 00:00:46.329 might happen other places, but we're not talking 00:00:46.329 --> 00:00:50.609 about them. We don't download like a 12 -week 00:00:50.609 --> 00:00:55.750 guide to church growth. That's not... That's 00:00:55.750 --> 00:01:00.469 not the way this works. We go to God and we ask 00:01:00.469 --> 00:01:05.189 for direction and where he wants us, right? We 00:01:05.189 --> 00:01:09.310 don't lean on our own understanding. We acknowledge 00:01:09.310 --> 00:01:13.349 him and everything and we follow him, right? 00:01:13.510 --> 00:01:17.890 His direction, his lead, and his now word for 00:01:17.890 --> 00:01:23.030 the church because God is speaking. He is speaking 00:01:23.030 --> 00:01:28.049 to those who seek him and to listen to him. Maybe 00:01:28.049 --> 00:01:32.950 you say you've never heard him before. I'm not 00:01:32.950 --> 00:01:35.549 talking about like an audible voice from heaven 00:01:35.549 --> 00:01:40.810 that shakes the room, but I am talking about 00:01:40.810 --> 00:01:45.280 hearing him in your spirit. Because did you know 00:01:45.280 --> 00:01:47.780 that God is spirit and he communicates to his 00:01:47.780 --> 00:01:50.760 children through the Holy Spirit alive on the 00:01:50.760 --> 00:01:54.200 inside of us so we can know the things of God? 00:01:55.319 --> 00:01:59.500 And here this series is important because I believe 00:01:59.500 --> 00:02:03.000 it's setting us up to acknowledge and experience 00:02:03.000 --> 00:02:09.659 a move of God in this church, in our homes, in 00:02:09.659 --> 00:02:12.139 our individual lives, and for us to experience 00:02:12.139 --> 00:02:17.590 the glory. in this area. Because, like, we've 00:02:17.590 --> 00:02:21.370 seen things, right? We've seen the Spirit move 00:02:21.370 --> 00:02:26.110 and how he's going to move in this area. So that 00:02:26.110 --> 00:02:35.750 is certain. But what we don't see is point A 00:02:35.750 --> 00:02:40.110 to point B, but what we know is this, that we 00:02:40.110 --> 00:02:50.979 need the presence. And the power of God. We don't 00:02:50.979 --> 00:02:54.099 need all these other things. We need the presence 00:02:54.099 --> 00:02:59.240 and power of God in the believers, in the church 00:02:59.240 --> 00:03:02.419 of God to be a glorious church as we've seen. 00:03:04.979 --> 00:03:13.569 And that's up to us. Did you come prepared? Did 00:03:13.569 --> 00:03:18.849 you come this morning expectant to be with God? 00:03:24.830 --> 00:03:27.909 We've been looking at Exodus 33. I know that 00:03:27.909 --> 00:03:30.610 was really heavy. I'm sorry. We started out. 00:03:30.689 --> 00:03:34.270 That was rough. That's usually not the way I 00:03:34.270 --> 00:03:36.729 start. I usually fumble around and, you know, 00:03:36.770 --> 00:03:41.139 trip over words. But that's just kind of... where 00:03:41.139 --> 00:03:43.539 we're at. I believe we're going somewhere. We're 00:03:43.539 --> 00:03:47.219 called to experience the glory, and this series, 00:03:47.280 --> 00:03:50.659 God laid it on Dad's heart to share because we're 00:03:50.659 --> 00:04:02.319 about to experience it. And we need to, like 00:04:02.319 --> 00:04:08.180 we've talked about, we need to recognize it so 00:04:08.180 --> 00:04:11.099 we don't back down from it. We need to understand 00:04:11.099 --> 00:04:15.240 what's happening, and then we need to be hungry 00:04:15.240 --> 00:04:18.259 for it to happen. We expect it with faith, right? 00:04:18.899 --> 00:04:21.959 We're hungry for God's presence and power in 00:04:21.959 --> 00:04:25.519 our lives, and then by faith we expect that it 00:04:25.519 --> 00:04:32.120 will be so, because it's promised to us. In Exodus 00:04:32.120 --> 00:04:41.230 33, 15 through 16, we find Moses. And God had 00:04:41.230 --> 00:04:45.050 been back and forth with his people, but basically 00:04:45.050 --> 00:04:48.050 Moses had found himself as like the representative 00:04:48.050 --> 00:04:51.129 between God and the people because they were 00:04:51.129 --> 00:04:52.670 like, we don't want to hear the voice of God 00:04:52.670 --> 00:04:56.149 anymore. You just go talk to God, Moses, and 00:04:56.149 --> 00:04:57.850 then tell us what God says because they were 00:04:57.850 --> 00:05:05.149 too scared. God forbid that we get like that, 00:05:05.170 --> 00:05:11.160 right? And Moses makes this profound statement. 00:05:11.220 --> 00:05:13.639 All the verses that I'm reading from today are 00:05:13.639 --> 00:05:16.500 out of the New Living Translation, unless otherwise 00:05:16.500 --> 00:05:20.420 noted on the screen. But he says this to God. 00:05:20.500 --> 00:05:22.819 He's praying to God. He says, For your presence 00:05:22.819 --> 00:05:27.220 among us sets your people and me apart from all 00:05:27.220 --> 00:05:34.100 other people on earth. God's people are marked 00:05:34.100 --> 00:05:39.129 by his presence and his power. In their lives. 00:05:39.610 --> 00:05:42.470 Not just a Sunday morning rub a little Jesus 00:05:42.470 --> 00:05:46.329 on a sunscreen that you apply and then hope you 00:05:46.329 --> 00:05:55.290 live a transformed life. Of course, we're marked 00:05:55.290 --> 00:05:58.149 by the love of God. God's people are characterized 00:05:58.149 --> 00:06:01.470 by his love, but they're also carriers of the 00:06:01.470 --> 00:06:05.329 presence of God everywhere you go. And Moses 00:06:05.329 --> 00:06:07.829 is here saying, he's like, Your presence among 00:06:07.829 --> 00:06:10.589 us sets your people apart from all other people 00:06:10.589 --> 00:06:13.029 on the earth. It's a marker. It's a characteristics 00:06:13.029 --> 00:06:16.850 of who we are. And then verse 18, Moses responds 00:06:16.850 --> 00:06:20.850 and he shouts to God, then show me your glorious 00:06:20.850 --> 00:06:26.029 presence. That was the cry of his heart. It wasn't 00:06:26.029 --> 00:06:29.129 for a better circumstance. It wasn't for a better 00:06:29.129 --> 00:06:32.490 people that would maybe listen and follow God's 00:06:32.490 --> 00:06:37.420 way. No, he says, God, we need you. If you don't 00:06:37.420 --> 00:06:40.279 go with me, if you're not here, I don't want 00:06:40.279 --> 00:06:44.600 to continue any farther. He says, God, show me 00:06:44.600 --> 00:06:50.500 your glorious presence. And what happens? God 00:06:50.500 --> 00:06:56.379 shows him again and again and again. God speaks 00:06:56.379 --> 00:07:00.420 to him. It's said that Moses would go out, he 00:07:00.420 --> 00:07:02.899 would set up a, they called it a tent of meeting 00:07:02.899 --> 00:07:06.500 outside of their camp where they stayed. And 00:07:06.500 --> 00:07:08.860 everyone would go there and make requests, but 00:07:08.860 --> 00:07:12.259 when Moses would go to the tent of meeting, a 00:07:12.259 --> 00:07:16.959 cloud would come down from heaven. And it was 00:07:16.959 --> 00:07:20.259 said that the people who could hear, it was like 00:07:20.259 --> 00:07:26.819 Moses was talking to God face to face. He had 00:07:26.819 --> 00:07:30.019 a relationship with God. See, this is what God 00:07:30.019 --> 00:07:32.399 wants. He wants to show himself strong in your 00:07:32.399 --> 00:07:36.430 life. He wants to talk to you. He wants to be 00:07:36.430 --> 00:07:40.149 there, and he wants you to experience his goodness. 00:07:43.730 --> 00:07:49.329 But we have to look up and say, God, show me 00:07:49.329 --> 00:07:52.970 your glorious presence. We have to seek him in 00:07:52.970 --> 00:07:56.329 order to find him. This word glory in the Old 00:07:56.329 --> 00:08:01.449 Testament is called bode. It means weight, figuratively 00:08:01.449 --> 00:08:04.910 in a good sense, meaning it's... Glory, splendor, 00:08:04.910 --> 00:08:08.410 honor. Often when the glory, when you feel it 00:08:08.410 --> 00:08:13.589 in the room, it feels like a heaviness. But not 00:08:13.589 --> 00:08:16.209 a bad heaviness, but just a heaviness in the 00:08:16.209 --> 00:08:20.350 room. And that's even a part of it. But as we've 00:08:20.350 --> 00:08:23.069 seen throughout this series, what is the glory? 00:08:23.170 --> 00:08:26.410 The glory, if we've seen, I encourage you to 00:08:26.410 --> 00:08:28.529 go back. If you've not listened to the past two 00:08:28.529 --> 00:08:30.730 sermons, you might be a little lost this morning. 00:08:30.990 --> 00:08:33.789 But I hope you've listened to those. prepared 00:08:33.789 --> 00:08:37.289 to come and prepared to receive, right? But what 00:08:37.289 --> 00:08:39.929 is the glory? The glory is the manifest presence 00:08:39.929 --> 00:08:44.570 of God. It's his manifested presence in the earth. 00:08:44.690 --> 00:08:48.929 It's the weight of who he is. It's his goodness 00:08:48.929 --> 00:08:55.429 revealed, and it's his reality made known. It's 00:08:55.429 --> 00:09:01.029 his reality made known. Glory is not just a promise 00:09:01.029 --> 00:09:04.730 for our future. A lot of people think, well, 00:09:04.789 --> 00:09:07.950 glory is just in heaven, and when I get to heaven 00:09:07.950 --> 00:09:10.669 one day, we'll be surrounded by the glory. We'll 00:09:10.669 --> 00:09:13.750 feel and experience the glory. Well, guess what? 00:09:14.409 --> 00:09:17.970 Moses experienced the glory in that tent of meeting. 00:09:18.950 --> 00:09:22.690 The clouds from heaven are coming down and meeting 00:09:22.690 --> 00:09:25.049 with him, and he's talking to God face to face. 00:09:25.190 --> 00:09:29.710 His glory passed before him, right? His goodness 00:09:29.710 --> 00:09:32.820 passed before him. And see, It's not just a promise 00:09:32.820 --> 00:09:36.039 for the future, it's a requirement for our present. 00:09:36.720 --> 00:09:39.259 It's a requirement for each and every believer 00:09:39.259 --> 00:09:44.220 to experience God, to know Him, His eternal life. 00:09:44.840 --> 00:09:49.039 But why don't we experience the glory? Often 00:09:49.039 --> 00:09:52.559 it's just being ignorant of the Word. And being 00:09:52.559 --> 00:09:55.080 ignorant of, we just don't know what is available 00:09:55.080 --> 00:10:00.649 to us in Christ as believers. But God's word 00:10:00.649 --> 00:10:02.769 has told us, as we've looked at the past two 00:10:02.769 --> 00:10:06.129 weeks, that God is coming for a glorious church, 00:10:06.490 --> 00:10:12.870 marked by his power and presence, and then that 00:10:12.870 --> 00:10:16.570 the latter glory, everybody say, we're in the 00:10:16.570 --> 00:10:20.029 latter glory, the latter glory would be greater 00:10:20.029 --> 00:10:22.809 than, everybody say, greater than, greater than 00:10:22.809 --> 00:10:27.649 the former glory. Think about it. When Jesus 00:10:27.649 --> 00:10:34.259 went up, What did he say? He said, I'm sending 00:10:34.259 --> 00:10:39.200 you someone, a helper, a comforter, right? His 00:10:39.200 --> 00:10:45.279 spirit. And he said, too, that we would be able 00:10:45.279 --> 00:10:48.720 to do, because he leaves, that his people would 00:10:48.720 --> 00:10:52.700 be able to do greater things than he was able 00:10:52.700 --> 00:10:59.639 to accomplish on the earth. Whoa. Have you seen 00:10:59.639 --> 00:11:03.299 greater things recently than what Jesus did on 00:11:03.299 --> 00:11:07.379 earth? Are as many people around, many of us 00:11:07.379 --> 00:11:10.759 are just wanting to experience some of the things 00:11:10.759 --> 00:11:20.600 that happened long ago. We sin, we want a move 00:11:20.600 --> 00:11:22.840 of God like happened way back in the past. We 00:11:22.840 --> 00:11:27.139 want God to do something like he's done. But 00:11:27.139 --> 00:11:30.779 God wants to do new things, greater things, and 00:11:30.779 --> 00:11:36.100 we see throughout his word. Let's get a hold 00:11:36.100 --> 00:11:41.299 of this church. He's coming for a glorious church, 00:11:41.399 --> 00:11:44.220 and God's will is clear. He wants glory in his 00:11:44.220 --> 00:11:47.779 house. He wants glory in his people, and he wants 00:11:47.779 --> 00:11:54.519 glory in his generation. What's another reason 00:11:54.519 --> 00:11:57.039 we don't experience the glory? I would say just 00:11:57.039 --> 00:12:01.159 distracted. We're just distracted. We're too 00:12:01.159 --> 00:12:03.840 busy with the natural to be focused on anything 00:12:03.840 --> 00:12:09.879 spiritual. Everything else gets in the way and 00:12:09.879 --> 00:12:12.419 it's okay. Like those things are okay. They're 00:12:12.419 --> 00:12:16.340 good in and of themselves. But if we don't take 00:12:16.340 --> 00:12:22.360 time, if we don't focus on God, if we don't... 00:12:24.700 --> 00:12:27.779 Deliberately give him our attention and our focus. 00:12:28.580 --> 00:12:35.080 He's not just going to into your car. Now you're 00:12:35.080 --> 00:12:40.679 awake. Sometimes we just won't. We want God. 00:12:40.799 --> 00:12:42.779 We want to experience God. We want to hear from 00:12:42.779 --> 00:12:45.200 him. But then we just give him a little bit on 00:12:45.200 --> 00:12:46.919 Sunday morning. We're like, okay, if you speak 00:12:46.919 --> 00:12:48.820 to me in this window, that's great. That's fine. 00:12:53.009 --> 00:12:57.990 You know, I'm going to give you 10 minutes of 00:12:57.990 --> 00:13:00.570 reading today, and then I'm going to do maybe 00:13:00.570 --> 00:13:03.809 a little bit of prayer this afternoon, maybe 00:13:03.809 --> 00:13:08.750 before bed if I feel like it. But I'll probably 00:13:08.750 --> 00:13:10.870 get too tired, and that show will be on that 00:13:10.870 --> 00:13:16.230 I want to finish, and I'll, you know. That's 00:13:16.230 --> 00:13:19.990 just the truth, right? That's just throwing it 00:13:19.990 --> 00:13:23.269 out there. Because we're too busy with the natural. 00:13:23.409 --> 00:13:25.789 You're never too busy for what you want to do. 00:13:26.590 --> 00:13:29.490 You always do what you want to do, right? To 00:13:29.490 --> 00:13:31.830 be focused on the spiritual things. And then 00:13:31.830 --> 00:13:33.710 this kind of goes along with this one. But another 00:13:33.710 --> 00:13:36.110 reason we don't experience the glory is just 00:13:36.110 --> 00:13:39.750 because we have misplaced focus. Our priorities, 00:13:40.029 --> 00:13:45.029 our attention, like what matters most to us is 00:13:45.029 --> 00:13:50.600 not, God, show me your presence. It's God, show 00:13:50.600 --> 00:13:53.240 me this thing to help me with this specific, 00:13:53.480 --> 00:13:56.820 right? It's not seeking God, it's seeking the 00:13:56.820 --> 00:14:04.480 things of God. But we need to seek him and him 00:14:04.480 --> 00:14:08.960 alone. We need to just look to heaven and just 00:14:08.960 --> 00:14:12.259 say, God, show me your presence. Show me your 00:14:12.259 --> 00:14:17.519 glory. And show him. that he is the one who matters 00:14:17.519 --> 00:14:24.139 most to us. I was reminded this week of John 00:14:24.139 --> 00:14:29.139 1 .14 says this, and the word became flesh. Everybody 00:14:29.139 --> 00:14:32.659 say word. Word became flesh. Everybody say flesh. 00:14:33.530 --> 00:14:37.309 Everybody say dwelt. Dwelt among us and listen. 00:14:37.490 --> 00:14:41.490 And we behold his glory. The glory as the only 00:14:41.490 --> 00:14:45.090 begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. 00:14:46.250 --> 00:14:51.529 How profound is this scripture? The word became 00:14:51.529 --> 00:14:59.889 flesh and dwelt. Then we behold the glory. The 00:14:59.889 --> 00:15:08.299 word became substance. encamped with us, and 00:15:08.299 --> 00:15:12.759 then we saw his glory, right? Let's look at these 00:15:12.759 --> 00:15:17.220 words. That word here is legos. It means spoken 00:15:17.220 --> 00:15:21.259 word or systematic built -up word. So it's the 00:15:21.259 --> 00:15:24.940 word becoming flesh. This is obviously talking 00:15:24.940 --> 00:15:28.360 about Jesus. In John, he was writing about Jesus. 00:15:28.460 --> 00:15:31.649 He's saying, Jesus, God, the Spirit, He becomes 00:15:31.649 --> 00:15:34.529 flesh. He takes on flesh at the incarnation, 00:15:34.610 --> 00:15:38.129 as we've been talking about over Christmas. He 00:15:38.129 --> 00:15:42.070 takes on flesh, substance, and then He dwells. 00:15:42.070 --> 00:15:47.950 It means to tabernacle or to pitch a tent. So 00:15:47.950 --> 00:15:52.269 the glory is the spiritual turning physical. 00:15:53.129 --> 00:15:56.809 It's God's presence becoming present, and it's 00:15:56.809 --> 00:16:03.799 God's dwelling. extending to us. I want you to 00:16:03.799 --> 00:16:06.559 see it this way. It's God's dwelling extending 00:16:06.559 --> 00:16:10.960 to humanity. He stepped down out of heaven, took 00:16:10.960 --> 00:16:15.559 on flesh, became a man, and came to us. Amen? 00:16:16.779 --> 00:16:21.820 Amen? Often when we think of God things, when 00:16:21.820 --> 00:16:24.159 we think of spiritual things, we don't think 00:16:24.159 --> 00:16:28.460 of the tangibleness of it. But Scripture again 00:16:28.460 --> 00:16:31.580 and again uses things like taste and see that 00:16:31.580 --> 00:16:37.759 the Lord is good. That we're supposed to experience 00:16:37.759 --> 00:16:45.779 Him. We can see His presence. Moses saw the cloud, 00:16:46.080 --> 00:16:50.059 right? The disciples in the upper room saw fire. 00:16:52.779 --> 00:16:55.399 But there's visible evidence, there's tangible 00:16:55.399 --> 00:16:58.899 evidence of God's presence. And then we beheld 00:16:58.899 --> 00:17:01.340 his glory, that verse says. It means to look 00:17:01.340 --> 00:17:06.380 upon, to view attentively, to contemplate. The 00:17:06.380 --> 00:17:09.099 glory is something, it's a reality that you and 00:17:09.099 --> 00:17:14.779 I can see. It's unmistakable. You can't say, 00:17:14.880 --> 00:17:16.900 oh, I don't know if it's here or not. Maybe it 00:17:16.900 --> 00:17:20.240 was. No, if the glory is here, it's a reality 00:17:20.240 --> 00:17:26.180 that you can see. It's not just an inward sense, 00:17:26.359 --> 00:17:30.240 but it's an outward visible expression of God's 00:17:30.240 --> 00:17:35.539 power and reality to look upon, to view intently, 00:17:35.680 --> 00:17:41.039 attentively, and to contemplate. Get this, Colossians 00:17:41.039 --> 00:17:45.039 1, 26 through 27 says this, the mystery which 00:17:45.039 --> 00:17:47.680 has been hidden from ages and from generations, 00:17:47.900 --> 00:17:52.029 but has now, everybody say now. But now has been 00:17:52.029 --> 00:17:54.730 revealed to his saints. I'm a saint. Everybody 00:17:54.730 --> 00:18:00.450 say, I'm a saint. I'm a saint. To them, God willed 00:18:00.450 --> 00:18:05.289 to make known. I love that. It's God's will that 00:18:05.289 --> 00:18:10.750 we know something. What is it? To know what are 00:18:10.750 --> 00:18:15.630 the riches of the glory of this mystery among 00:18:15.630 --> 00:18:20.900 the Gentiles, which is Christ in you. The hope 00:18:20.900 --> 00:18:27.500 of glory. When you start reading your Bible and 00:18:27.500 --> 00:18:30.740 start seeing glory, it's just all over. And it's 00:18:30.740 --> 00:18:35.200 easy to miss it. But to them, God willed to make 00:18:35.200 --> 00:18:37.539 known what are the riches of the glory of this 00:18:37.539 --> 00:18:40.440 mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in 00:18:40.440 --> 00:18:44.559 you, the hope of glory. What does Christ in you 00:18:44.559 --> 00:18:48.009 mean? What does this look like? Christ in you 00:18:48.009 --> 00:18:52.309 means he's not just visiting you, but he's indwelling 00:18:52.309 --> 00:18:58.349 you. He's not just an external deity somewhere. 00:18:58.450 --> 00:19:02.829 He's an internal God. He's an internal friend. 00:19:05.190 --> 00:19:09.529 He is with you and in you if you believe in Christ. 00:19:11.410 --> 00:19:15.640 So in Christ. The glory, listen, the glory changed 00:19:15.640 --> 00:19:20.240 addresses. In Christ, I'm going to say, in Christ, 00:19:20.240 --> 00:19:23.200 the glory changed addresses. As we look in the 00:19:23.200 --> 00:19:26.819 Old Testament or the Old Covenant, God's glory 00:19:26.819 --> 00:19:31.099 was what? It was on earth. It was manifest in 00:19:31.099 --> 00:19:34.539 the Ark of the Covenant. It was carried by priests. 00:19:35.359 --> 00:19:38.779 It was kept in the holiest of holy places. And 00:19:38.779 --> 00:19:41.019 it was only accessed, allowed to be accessed, 00:19:41.119 --> 00:19:48.119 one. by one person, one time each year. Imagine 00:19:48.119 --> 00:19:55.099 that. But it changed addresses. The glory changed 00:19:55.099 --> 00:19:57.720 addresses. Where did it go? In the New Covenant, 00:19:57.779 --> 00:20:01.140 as we see in the New Testament, one of Paul's 00:20:01.140 --> 00:20:05.099 great revelations is that God's glory manifests 00:20:05.099 --> 00:20:08.730 in and through his people. And God's presence 00:20:08.730 --> 00:20:14.289 can be carried everywhere. If you're a child 00:20:14.289 --> 00:20:17.670 of God and you walked in this room, more of God's 00:20:17.670 --> 00:20:20.390 presence walked in this room. Because you are 00:20:20.390 --> 00:20:27.230 a carrier of Him. Not something like Him. Not 00:20:27.230 --> 00:20:30.990 something lesser. But you are a carrier of Him. 00:20:33.549 --> 00:20:38.480 Him Spirit. Him physical, with you, in you, through 00:20:38.480 --> 00:20:40.900 you. He is here. Everybody say, God is here. 00:20:45.039 --> 00:20:48.400 And his power can be accessed by every child 00:20:48.400 --> 00:20:52.279 of God. The same spirit that raised Jesus from 00:20:52.279 --> 00:20:58.759 the dead is alive on the inside of you. Do you 00:20:58.759 --> 00:21:01.500 think that's just to make you feel a little better 00:21:01.500 --> 00:21:05.630 today? Or should it accomplish something in the 00:21:05.630 --> 00:21:09.970 earth? You know, when Jesus came, he had a mission 00:21:09.970 --> 00:21:15.809 and he had a purpose. Do you think him in you 00:21:15.809 --> 00:21:19.089 is still meant to carry out that same mission 00:21:19.089 --> 00:21:27.009 and that same purpose? Don't you realize that 00:21:27.009 --> 00:21:34.140 he indwells you to use you? In the kingdom, in 00:21:34.140 --> 00:21:37.599 the eternal, while you're busy setting up your 00:21:37.599 --> 00:21:40.940 temporal, God is calling us, each one of his 00:21:40.940 --> 00:21:44.200 believers, to set up some eternal treasures in 00:21:44.200 --> 00:21:49.420 heaven. There's things that need to be accomplished 00:21:49.420 --> 00:21:55.099 in the earth. That's why we're here. It's because 00:21:55.099 --> 00:21:57.460 God had something that he wanted to accomplish 00:21:57.460 --> 00:22:03.980 here. He called us to hear with a mission and 00:22:03.980 --> 00:22:12.259 a purpose to take care of kingdom business. What 00:22:12.259 --> 00:22:17.039 is he calling you to? Are you a part of this 00:22:17.039 --> 00:22:27.059 vision? What is his plans for you? Man, it's 00:22:27.059 --> 00:22:36.079 heavy. What has God called you to? What is your 00:22:36.079 --> 00:22:41.259 purpose here? Your purpose is to fellowship with 00:22:41.259 --> 00:22:49.500 a holy God. Have faith in him to do, to hear, 00:22:49.700 --> 00:22:54.920 and to act according to what he says. And follow 00:22:54.920 --> 00:23:01.640 his will and his way. And when we do that, We 00:23:01.640 --> 00:23:05.440 see his power. I like the way Paul writes in 00:23:05.440 --> 00:23:09.319 1 Corinthians, and then later he put, Don't you 00:23:09.319 --> 00:23:12.799 realize that all of you together are the temple 00:23:12.799 --> 00:23:16.759 of God, and that the Spirit of God lives in you? 00:23:17.859 --> 00:23:22.599 Don't you realize that together you are the temple 00:23:22.599 --> 00:23:26.119 of God? And then later it says, Don't you realize 00:23:26.119 --> 00:23:32.730 that your body, Don't you realize that your body 00:23:32.730 --> 00:23:40.529 is the temple of the Holy Spirit? Christ in you 00:23:40.529 --> 00:23:43.849 is the, back to Colossians, Christ in you is 00:23:43.849 --> 00:23:47.069 the hope. It's from the Greek word elpo, meaning 00:23:47.069 --> 00:23:51.509 to anticipate or welcome. It's expectation. We 00:23:51.509 --> 00:23:54.190 talk about this a lot here at Adulation. It's 00:23:54.190 --> 00:23:58.230 expectation of what is sure, what is certain 00:23:58.230 --> 00:24:02.940 that will be. It's not a hope -so hope. It's 00:24:02.940 --> 00:24:04.920 like the world describes it, like I hope it doesn't 00:24:04.920 --> 00:24:08.759 rain this afternoon. Hope it doesn't drop too 00:24:08.759 --> 00:24:12.359 cold, my plants die later this week. It's not 00:24:12.359 --> 00:24:17.119 that kind of hope. Christ in you is the hope. 00:24:17.200 --> 00:24:20.579 It is the confident expectation of what you know 00:24:20.579 --> 00:24:25.480 will happen. It's not a matter of if, it's a 00:24:25.480 --> 00:24:28.599 matter of knowing. It's a matter of what you 00:24:28.599 --> 00:24:32.599 know, right? You're certain of it. It can't be 00:24:32.599 --> 00:24:36.140 taken away from you because you are so certain. 00:24:36.180 --> 00:24:38.059 You're just like guaranteed that it's going to 00:24:38.059 --> 00:24:43.099 happen. A lot of us act like we don't know the 00:24:43.099 --> 00:24:48.779 will of God. But how many times has it been preached 00:24:48.779 --> 00:24:51.599 from this pulpit? We should know His will. We 00:24:51.599 --> 00:24:54.380 should know His way. We should know how to hear 00:24:54.380 --> 00:24:57.740 from Him. We should be experiencing Him, right? 00:25:01.200 --> 00:25:05.079 We should know, because he's told us, faith comes 00:25:05.079 --> 00:25:08.079 by hearing and hearing by the word of God, and 00:25:08.079 --> 00:25:11.240 then hope is that foundation of faith in which 00:25:11.240 --> 00:25:16.059 you stand upon. Unshakable, unmovable foundation 00:25:16.059 --> 00:25:22.200 that you say, I know something. The world around 00:25:22.200 --> 00:25:25.660 me is spinning, but I know something. I know 00:25:25.660 --> 00:25:33.960 somebody. Christ in you, therefore, is the guarantee, 00:25:34.059 --> 00:25:37.660 you could say it like this, the seed or the source 00:25:37.660 --> 00:25:42.240 and the joyful, confident expectation of what? 00:25:44.640 --> 00:25:48.140 Of what? What does the verse say? Of God's glory 00:25:48.140 --> 00:25:56.789 in your life. This glory. New Testament Greek 00:25:56.789 --> 00:26:00.769 glory is doxa, splendor, majesty, honor. It's 00:26:00.769 --> 00:26:03.930 God's infinite, intrinsic work, and it is his 00:26:03.930 --> 00:26:06.769 substance. Everybody say substance. Everybody 00:26:06.769 --> 00:26:10.009 say essence. It's his essence of who he is. It's 00:26:10.009 --> 00:26:13.410 his reality. Again, it's his reality made known. 00:26:15.599 --> 00:26:18.519 Because Christ is in us, listen, this is what 00:26:18.519 --> 00:26:20.559 this verse is saying, because Christ is in us, 00:26:20.599 --> 00:26:24.119 therefore we can know, we can eagerly anticipate 00:26:24.119 --> 00:26:28.740 and welcome the very atmosphere and substance 00:26:28.740 --> 00:26:44.109 of heaven. What is heaven? It's the substance 00:26:44.109 --> 00:26:51.230 of God's goodness. It's the reality of who he 00:26:51.230 --> 00:27:00.089 is, shining, glowing. And it's a place God calls 00:27:00.089 --> 00:27:07.910 us to. And it's a place where God is. Just like 00:27:07.910 --> 00:27:13.700 the tent of meeting that Moses went to. You are 00:27:13.700 --> 00:27:28.420 now the temple where Christ himself dwells. James 00:27:28.420 --> 00:27:35.700 4 .8 says this, Come close to God, and God will 00:27:35.700 --> 00:27:40.490 come close to you. You might ask, like, what's 00:27:40.490 --> 00:27:42.490 the difference? We know that God is everywhere 00:27:42.490 --> 00:27:46.309 all the time. He is spirit. He's everywhere in 00:27:46.309 --> 00:27:49.390 the earth. We call that his omnipresence. But 00:27:49.390 --> 00:27:51.670 what we're talking about specifically is his 00:27:51.670 --> 00:27:55.930 manifested presence. His manifested presence 00:27:55.930 --> 00:27:59.309 in his people, right? So what does this mean? 00:27:59.390 --> 00:28:04.750 How do we get a good picture of this? As we talked 00:28:04.750 --> 00:28:07.069 about last week, we talked about the reserved 00:28:07.069 --> 00:28:11.900 seat. It's a reserved place of honor for God 00:28:11.900 --> 00:28:15.440 and just a visual representation of how we should 00:28:15.440 --> 00:28:18.079 acknowledge God's presence and his power with 00:28:18.079 --> 00:28:20.700 us in this room every time we meet together, 00:28:20.940 --> 00:28:24.319 right? But think of it like this. Come close 00:28:24.319 --> 00:28:26.859 to God and God will come close to you. It's not 00:28:26.859 --> 00:28:31.259 like we're trying to pull glory out of heaven. 00:28:33.480 --> 00:28:36.039 Don't think that. Don't think that it's like 00:28:36.039 --> 00:28:38.579 a works thing where if I do this and I do this 00:28:38.579 --> 00:28:41.480 and I do this, A plus B equals all of a sudden 00:28:41.480 --> 00:28:45.619 God flies out of heaven and sits right here, 00:28:45.839 --> 00:28:54.339 right? It's not what we're talking about. What 00:28:54.339 --> 00:28:57.240 does the verse say? Come close to God and God 00:28:57.240 --> 00:29:01.740 will come close to you. That's a good verse, 00:29:01.799 --> 00:29:04.819 right? But when you think about it, what is it? 00:29:05.119 --> 00:29:11.700 If God's here and I'm over here, am I close? 00:29:12.380 --> 00:29:20.940 No. If I move, am I closer? Am I nearer now? 00:29:25.779 --> 00:29:28.119 What does this mean? What does this verse mean? 00:29:28.279 --> 00:29:30.380 A lot of people, we act like we're pulling God 00:29:30.380 --> 00:29:34.450 out of heaven. That's not what's happening. When 00:29:34.450 --> 00:29:39.230 you draw close to God, when you seek Him, you 00:29:39.230 --> 00:29:46.269 find Him. When you turn your heart away from 00:29:46.269 --> 00:29:50.170 the temporal things of this world, and when your 00:29:50.170 --> 00:29:52.950 focus and your main attention in life is directed 00:29:52.950 --> 00:29:56.470 towards Him, you gaze steadily at who He is and 00:29:56.470 --> 00:30:00.559 His goodness through His Word. Through his presence 00:30:00.559 --> 00:30:03.779 on the inside of you, you talk to him, you fellowship 00:30:03.779 --> 00:30:07.579 with him, you give him an inkling of your day 00:30:07.579 --> 00:30:10.380 and your time. Each time you do that, you're 00:30:10.380 --> 00:30:16.599 just inching closer to God. And you find yourself 00:30:16.599 --> 00:30:27.980 nearer to him. God's power and presence is tangible, 00:30:28.079 --> 00:30:32.680 and God's glory, the glory's impact is physical 00:30:32.680 --> 00:30:37.160 and transformative. And I want us to look at 00:30:37.160 --> 00:30:42.440 a New Testament believer. His name was Stephen. 00:30:43.299 --> 00:30:47.609 If you're familiar with his story, after the 00:30:47.609 --> 00:30:50.430 day of Pentecost, but we see Stephen, he's just 00:30:50.430 --> 00:30:53.930 a wonderful New Testament example of Christ in 00:30:53.930 --> 00:30:56.690 the believer and the physical and transformative 00:30:56.690 --> 00:31:01.710 power of the glory. And I want us to see this. 00:31:04.309 --> 00:31:07.890 And it's found in Acts 6, kind of goes through 00:31:07.890 --> 00:31:11.049 to 7, but I'm not going to read each and every 00:31:11.049 --> 00:31:13.910 verse, but I kept adding. and I probably should 00:31:13.910 --> 00:31:15.769 have just listed all the verses, and we should 00:31:15.769 --> 00:31:18.670 have just read the whole passage, but here we 00:31:18.670 --> 00:31:23.450 go. Acts 6, 2 says this. I thought this was interesting, 00:31:23.650 --> 00:31:26.309 so I've just left it in here, but it says, So 00:31:26.309 --> 00:31:28.890 the twelve called a meeting of all the believers, 00:31:29.150 --> 00:31:32.190 and they said, We apostles should spend our time 00:31:32.190 --> 00:31:34.930 teaching the word of God, not running a food 00:31:34.930 --> 00:31:42.539 program. Little side note, God's people, when 00:31:42.539 --> 00:31:44.480 they gathered together, they were eating, they 00:31:44.480 --> 00:31:47.000 were also selling their possessions, they were 00:31:47.000 --> 00:31:49.539 regularly meeting together, and they were giving 00:31:49.539 --> 00:31:53.180 of their goods to one another. If someone was 00:31:53.180 --> 00:31:55.319 less fortunate, they would just gladly give. 00:31:55.380 --> 00:31:59.119 They were generous towards one another. The New 00:31:59.119 --> 00:32:02.140 Testament example is not feeding all the hungry 00:32:02.140 --> 00:32:06.220 in the world. It's not taking care of every single 00:32:06.220 --> 00:32:08.819 person all around the world. The New Testament 00:32:08.819 --> 00:32:12.200 church, listen, New Testament church was very 00:32:12.200 --> 00:32:15.859 focused on feeding and gathering and taking care 00:32:15.859 --> 00:32:19.460 of those who called themselves Christians and 00:32:19.460 --> 00:32:21.980 who joined the fellowship with other believers. 00:32:22.720 --> 00:32:27.579 Okay? And the apostles, they got together, people 00:32:27.579 --> 00:32:31.180 were meeting. Now the, you know, the Greek speaking. 00:32:32.000 --> 00:32:34.420 Jews and like the Jewish people, they kind of 00:32:34.420 --> 00:32:37.420 gotten a little tiffs at times. You know, anybody 00:32:37.420 --> 00:32:39.660 gets together, there's some tiffin going on, 00:32:39.759 --> 00:32:41.940 right? Because we're human and we're flawed. 00:32:42.240 --> 00:32:45.700 And there was some, you know, there was some 00:32:45.700 --> 00:32:49.519 issues that the distribution, like some people 00:32:49.519 --> 00:32:52.019 felt that like some of the widows didn't get 00:32:52.019 --> 00:32:54.240 their rightful portion and people were being 00:32:54.240 --> 00:32:59.339 stingy and people were, you know. I don't know, 00:32:59.460 --> 00:33:02.059 eating too much banana pudding at the end, you 00:33:02.059 --> 00:33:03.920 know, and not leaving some for the rest of it. 00:33:03.960 --> 00:33:09.500 You know what I'm saying? Be careful. But the 00:33:09.500 --> 00:33:11.180 12, I just thought that was interesting. The 00:33:11.180 --> 00:33:13.279 12, though, decide, they're like, you know, we 00:33:13.279 --> 00:33:16.099 need to spend our time in prayer and about the 00:33:16.099 --> 00:33:19.859 word and not run a food program. And in verse 00:33:19.859 --> 00:33:23.119 3, and so brothers, select seven men who are 00:33:23.119 --> 00:33:26.359 what? Well -respected and are full of the spirit 00:33:26.359 --> 00:33:29.960 and wisdom of God. Full of the Spirit and wisdom 00:33:29.960 --> 00:33:33.440 of God. Jumping over to verse 5. Everyone liked 00:33:33.440 --> 00:33:35.640 the idea. How about that? Believers agreeing 00:33:35.640 --> 00:33:38.460 on something. That's new. Everyone liked this 00:33:38.460 --> 00:33:41.460 idea, and they chose the following. Stephen, 00:33:41.640 --> 00:33:44.579 and listen to how Stephen's described. Stephen, 00:33:44.680 --> 00:33:48.539 a man full of faith. Everybody say full of faith. 00:33:49.359 --> 00:33:51.920 And the Holy Spirit. So say full of the Holy 00:33:51.920 --> 00:33:58.460 Spirit. That's a good definition, right? I would 00:33:58.460 --> 00:34:00.700 hope someone would say that about me, or I hope 00:34:00.700 --> 00:34:02.480 someone would say that about you this morning. 00:34:02.559 --> 00:34:06.779 Full of faith, not weak faith, full of faith, 00:34:06.859 --> 00:34:13.039 and then full of the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit's 00:34:13.039 --> 00:34:15.780 cool because we need to continually feel on the 00:34:15.780 --> 00:34:20.179 Spirit, right? Continually feel up on Him and 00:34:20.179 --> 00:34:22.500 the goodness of who He is. It's never -ending, 00:34:22.599 --> 00:34:24.940 right? But Stephen is characterized as a man 00:34:24.940 --> 00:34:29.619 full of faith and the Holy Spirit. And I want 00:34:29.619 --> 00:34:37.679 you to see this, these two things. Faith and 00:34:37.679 --> 00:34:44.179 the Holy Ghost are the atmosphere to experience 00:34:44.179 --> 00:34:47.699 the glory of God. These things are required in 00:34:47.699 --> 00:34:50.840 the hearts of believers to be full of faith and 00:34:50.840 --> 00:34:55.480 to be full of the Holy Spirit. This is where 00:34:55.480 --> 00:35:00.679 transformation truly begins. Full of faith, full 00:35:00.679 --> 00:35:04.840 of the Holy Spirit. Verse 6, these seven were 00:35:04.840 --> 00:35:07.960 presented to the apostles. I didn't list out 00:35:07.960 --> 00:35:10.000 all the other seven because they're not important 00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:13.860 for today. The seven were presented to the apostles 00:35:13.860 --> 00:35:17.820 who prayed for them. Get this, who prayed for 00:35:17.820 --> 00:35:20.980 them as they what? Laid their hands on them. 00:35:21.920 --> 00:35:26.539 And something happened. It wasn't just the apostles 00:35:26.539 --> 00:35:31.079 touching them. It was God himself appointing 00:35:31.079 --> 00:35:35.179 people for a call for a service in his kingdom. 00:35:35.480 --> 00:35:37.460 Now we look at it and might be like, well, that 00:35:37.460 --> 00:35:40.019 was just distributing food to like those let 00:35:40.019 --> 00:35:42.960 know. It's important. The kingdom of God business, 00:35:43.059 --> 00:35:45.360 no matter if it's like the lowliest thing or 00:35:45.360 --> 00:35:48.199 the greatest thing, it's all important and it 00:35:48.199 --> 00:35:52.900 all must be done. But the apostles lay their 00:35:52.900 --> 00:35:56.480 hands on them and something happens. Stephen 00:35:56.480 --> 00:35:59.159 is then called something else and defined a different 00:35:59.159 --> 00:36:03.800 way. I believe he's still a man full of faith 00:36:03.800 --> 00:36:07.280 and full of the Holy Ghost, but now Stephen is 00:36:07.280 --> 00:36:12.380 described as a man full of God's grace and full 00:36:12.380 --> 00:36:16.300 of God's power. And what happened? He performed 00:36:16.300 --> 00:36:19.079 amazing miracles and signs among the people. 00:36:20.199 --> 00:36:24.000 Now, wait a minute. He was running the food bank. 00:36:26.889 --> 00:36:29.130 What is he out here doing? Doing miracles and 00:36:29.130 --> 00:36:34.750 signs and everything? If you're full of the Holy 00:36:34.750 --> 00:36:38.469 Spirit, you see your service and you see your 00:36:38.469 --> 00:36:42.730 life in a different way. You live with a kingdom 00:36:42.730 --> 00:36:48.369 perspective. And when you stop and really acknowledge 00:36:48.369 --> 00:36:52.349 him, acknowledge his presence, he begins to tell 00:36:52.349 --> 00:36:55.510 you what to say and what to do in certain situations. 00:36:57.550 --> 00:37:03.050 He leads you. He guides you. And I believe Stephen, 00:37:03.070 --> 00:37:05.670 so he's like handing out food and someone begins 00:37:05.670 --> 00:37:09.789 to talk to him. And all of a sudden the Spirit 00:37:09.789 --> 00:37:12.769 leads him and says, hey, pray for that person. 00:37:13.750 --> 00:37:17.329 Why? Is it that Stephen carried some special 00:37:17.329 --> 00:37:23.349 power to heal? No. God wanted to do something 00:37:23.349 --> 00:37:28.380 in the earth. And God told Stephen, act in obedience 00:37:28.380 --> 00:37:44.739 and you'll see a miracle. Stephen, do this. And 00:37:44.739 --> 00:37:49.139 he did. Why? Because he was full of faith and 00:37:49.139 --> 00:37:52.280 full of the Holy Spirit. When he heard from God, 00:37:52.460 --> 00:37:56.539 he said, yes. I hear you, I believe you, and 00:37:56.539 --> 00:37:59.780 I'm going to do it now because I'm certain that 00:37:59.780 --> 00:38:04.840 on the other side of this act of faith, I will 00:38:04.840 --> 00:38:08.679 see your promises, and I will see you move in 00:38:08.679 --> 00:38:12.920 the earth. And that's where God is waiting for 00:38:12.920 --> 00:38:16.239 us in this room to be, is full of faith and full 00:38:16.239 --> 00:38:22.699 of the Holy Spirit. Then we will see. The fullness 00:38:22.699 --> 00:38:26.300 of his grace and experience his power in this 00:38:26.300 --> 00:38:29.460 room. That's when we will experience the glory 00:38:29.460 --> 00:38:32.800 in this room is when we have obedient hearts. 00:38:34.559 --> 00:38:37.840 Acknowledging him and he and see Stephen, he's 00:38:37.840 --> 00:38:40.099 full of God's grace and power. He performs amazing 00:38:40.099 --> 00:38:43.440 miracles and signs among the people. We see this 00:38:43.440 --> 00:38:46.559 spiritual transformation from full of faith to 00:38:46.559 --> 00:38:49.539 full of God's grace, carrying out miracles. And 00:38:49.539 --> 00:38:54.219 now. Something else, later on it talks about 00:38:54.219 --> 00:38:56.280 that he gets into a debate with some of these 00:38:56.280 --> 00:39:02.019 religious leaders. But every time they do, it 00:39:02.019 --> 00:39:04.659 said that he spoke with a wisdom and a knowledge 00:39:04.659 --> 00:39:08.719 that no one else had ever seen. And so they would 00:39:08.719 --> 00:39:11.519 try to trap him and try to get him to talk about 00:39:11.519 --> 00:39:13.639 something, which he wasn't. They knew good and 00:39:13.639 --> 00:39:16.159 well he wasn't like a skilled person, like he 00:39:16.159 --> 00:39:18.559 didn't study, he didn't do a bunch. But they're 00:39:18.559 --> 00:39:21.309 just like... They tried to trap him. And the 00:39:21.309 --> 00:39:24.570 spirit of God would come on him. And all of a 00:39:24.570 --> 00:39:26.730 sudden, he would begin to say things and talk 00:39:26.730 --> 00:39:29.349 from a place of knowledge and understanding that 00:39:29.349 --> 00:39:32.449 outsmarted them all. And this made him really 00:39:32.449 --> 00:39:38.789 upset. Stephen, he gets arrested. He gets tried 00:39:38.789 --> 00:39:41.510 before the high council. They take him. And then, 00:39:41.510 --> 00:39:46.110 to top it all off, the same people who he debated 00:39:46.110 --> 00:39:49.940 start... I guess probably paying people to lie 00:39:49.940 --> 00:39:52.380 about Stephen, about what he said and what he 00:39:52.380 --> 00:39:56.000 did. You can read it further in Acts 6. But I'm 00:39:56.000 --> 00:39:59.340 just trying to move us ahead a little bit. But 00:39:59.340 --> 00:40:01.199 I want you to get this picture that he's standing 00:40:01.199 --> 00:40:03.820 in front of this high council, being judged on 00:40:03.820 --> 00:40:07.480 the stand. And he's just being lied about. He's 00:40:07.480 --> 00:40:15.159 being falsely accused. And suddenly... What does 00:40:15.159 --> 00:40:19.500 it say in verse 15? Suddenly, while everybody's 00:40:19.500 --> 00:40:24.219 just running their mouth, suddenly they look 00:40:24.219 --> 00:40:31.280 over at Stephen. And what? Everyone in the high 00:40:31.280 --> 00:40:34.880 council stared at Stephen. Why? Because his face 00:40:34.880 --> 00:40:41.840 became as bright as an angel's. Something spiritual. 00:40:42.720 --> 00:40:45.699 becomes physical and it brings transformation, 00:40:45.940 --> 00:40:50.500 physical transformation to Stephen's body. You 00:40:50.500 --> 00:40:53.599 see it where all of a sudden the glory of God 00:40:53.599 --> 00:40:59.480 is coming out of his pores of his face. He's 00:40:59.480 --> 00:41:03.380 glowing, radiating. His face is glowing with 00:41:03.380 --> 00:41:13.219 the presence of God. Why? Why did this happen? 00:41:13.460 --> 00:41:15.860 Doesn't this remind us of Moses? Isn't this the 00:41:15.860 --> 00:41:18.800 same verbiage that we hear about Moses? He meets 00:41:18.800 --> 00:41:21.099 with God and his face is glowing. They had to 00:41:21.099 --> 00:41:23.239 put a veil over his face because they were tired 00:41:23.239 --> 00:41:25.360 of looking at it. It was too bright for them 00:41:25.360 --> 00:41:32.400 to look at. Here it has happened again. But this 00:41:32.400 --> 00:41:36.239 time in a Christ -filled believer. And even though 00:41:36.239 --> 00:41:39.300 Stephen's body was in the presence of his accusers, 00:41:41.000 --> 00:41:45.980 His spirit was in a different place. His spirit 00:41:45.980 --> 00:42:00.019 was in the glory of God. Stephen's spirit's nearness 00:42:00.019 --> 00:42:04.900 to God's goodness transformed his outward complexion 00:42:04.900 --> 00:42:09.510 and then inspires the words, that are about to, 00:42:09.530 --> 00:42:13.369 you know, pour out of his mouth. Because he gives 00:42:13.369 --> 00:42:17.090 this long discourse of things and it's just amazing. 00:42:17.090 --> 00:42:19.630 You can read about it later this afternoon. But 00:42:19.630 --> 00:42:23.829 I want you to see this, what's taking place is 00:42:23.829 --> 00:42:29.510 that Stephen had every opportunity to try to 00:42:29.510 --> 00:42:33.090 defend himself, to try to say, no, they're making 00:42:33.090 --> 00:42:35.730 up lies. He could have been focused on them. 00:42:37.739 --> 00:42:40.559 He could have been trying to do, but no, he stops 00:42:40.559 --> 00:42:45.219 and he focuses his attention on God. Not what 00:42:45.219 --> 00:42:47.059 people are saying, not what they're accusing 00:42:47.059 --> 00:42:50.000 him of, not what the high council or even the 00:42:50.000 --> 00:42:52.599 outcome. He was not fearful of the outcome of 00:42:52.599 --> 00:42:55.219 what would happen because he knows something 00:42:55.219 --> 00:42:58.039 because his body might have been there, but his 00:42:58.039 --> 00:43:01.300 spirit is with God. And that's the foundation. 00:43:01.340 --> 00:43:05.190 That's the hope. So he was not worried. He was 00:43:05.190 --> 00:43:08.889 not afraid. He was not offended by their words. 00:43:12.969 --> 00:43:16.670 And then after he shares his discourse, listen 00:43:16.670 --> 00:43:21.670 to what it says in 7 verse 55. But Stephen, full 00:43:21.670 --> 00:43:26.190 of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven 00:43:26.190 --> 00:43:33.130 and saw the glory of God. And he saw Jesus standing 00:43:33.130 --> 00:43:37.989 in the place of honor at God's right hand. You 00:43:37.989 --> 00:43:40.110 see, being full of the Spirit, it affects your 00:43:40.110 --> 00:43:43.849 vision and it dictates where you look. In your 00:43:43.849 --> 00:43:46.289 times of greatest trouble, if you're looking 00:43:46.289 --> 00:43:49.650 at everything else that's coming against you 00:43:49.650 --> 00:43:54.949 and not the one for you, you won't experience 00:43:54.949 --> 00:44:06.760 his power in your life. What your attention is 00:44:06.760 --> 00:44:12.280 on is magnified to you. It appears bigger and 00:44:12.280 --> 00:44:17.579 larger to you. That's why if I'm focused on myself 00:44:17.579 --> 00:44:21.719 and what's going on in me and my body and whatever's 00:44:21.719 --> 00:44:24.739 happening, if that is what my attention is on, 00:44:24.860 --> 00:44:27.699 those things are going to be amplified in my 00:44:27.699 --> 00:44:34.199 head and in my mind and in my life. I become... 00:44:34.460 --> 00:44:44.119 bigger to myself. But when your attention is 00:44:44.119 --> 00:44:50.800 on God, you become really small. And his love 00:44:50.800 --> 00:44:56.679 for you becomes infinite. His goodness becomes 00:44:56.679 --> 00:45:04.769 overwhelming. And the present trouble becomes 00:45:04.769 --> 00:45:13.769 empty and has no voice. In the middle of this 00:45:13.769 --> 00:45:17.469 terrible circumstance, Stephen doesn't complain, 00:45:17.670 --> 00:45:21.369 he doesn't get offended, consider their hurtful, 00:45:21.389 --> 00:45:25.730 untrue words, because he was setting his gaze 00:45:25.730 --> 00:45:28.670 steadily up to heaven. And if we, if you and 00:45:28.670 --> 00:45:32.150 I, set our eyes to heaven and seek God's glory, 00:45:32.530 --> 00:45:38.610 we will continually be transformed. Because genuine 00:45:38.610 --> 00:45:42.389 transformation does not begin from the outside 00:45:42.389 --> 00:45:50.269 in. It begins from the inside out. The spiritual 00:45:50.269 --> 00:45:54.909 things have more impact over your life than the 00:45:54.909 --> 00:46:06.219 outward things. The spiritual things have more 00:46:06.219 --> 00:46:13.000 impact, ability to impact, than the outward circumstances. 00:46:14.300 --> 00:46:17.599 I love this. Colossians 2, 9 and 10 says this, 00:46:17.699 --> 00:46:21.360 For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in 00:46:21.360 --> 00:46:30.880 a human body. So you also are complete. We need 00:46:30.880 --> 00:46:38.860 to confess that today. Say, I am complete. Christ 00:46:38.860 --> 00:46:49.940 is in me. I am complete. The fullness of God 00:46:49.940 --> 00:47:02.349 is in my body. So you are complete through your 00:47:02.349 --> 00:47:05.969 union with Christ, who is the head over every 00:47:05.969 --> 00:47:09.949 ruler, our authority. So don't bow down and don't 00:47:09.949 --> 00:47:12.329 be afraid of the rulers and authorities of this 00:47:12.329 --> 00:47:16.769 world. Because who's the head over them all? 00:47:18.929 --> 00:47:24.869 And where is he? On the inside of you, right? 00:47:27.809 --> 00:47:36.000 My body's here. But Christ is in me? And what's 00:47:36.000 --> 00:47:41.599 also the paradox here? Where is Christ? Where 00:47:41.599 --> 00:47:47.940 did Stephen see him? He saw him standing at the 00:47:47.940 --> 00:47:53.159 right hand of the Father in heaven. Don't miss 00:47:53.159 --> 00:48:03.500 this. Where is Christ? He's in heaven. Where 00:48:03.500 --> 00:48:09.460 is Christ? In me. And in the Spirit. To be absent 00:48:09.460 --> 00:48:13.539 from the body is to be what? Present with the 00:48:13.539 --> 00:48:28.869 Lord. You are so much more than your body. This 00:48:28.869 --> 00:48:37.909 body will fade away. This body will pass. But 00:48:37.909 --> 00:48:40.550 that's just not for the sweet by and by. One 00:48:40.550 --> 00:48:48.210 day. That's for now. Experiencing his presence 00:48:48.210 --> 00:48:54.190 and the fullness of who he is is why Christ indwells 00:48:54.190 --> 00:49:04.190 us and not just visits us. And we enter heaven. 00:49:04.429 --> 00:49:19.230 How? By the Spirit? Yes. We enter heaven with 00:49:19.230 --> 00:49:28.230 thanksgiving in our hearts. We enter his courts 00:49:28.230 --> 00:49:36.940 with praise on our lips. Because when the physical 00:49:36.940 --> 00:49:39.159 things get connected to the spiritual things, 00:49:39.300 --> 00:49:44.780 that's when things start happening. When we thank 00:49:44.780 --> 00:49:50.320 God, when we praise him, and then in faith we 00:49:50.320 --> 00:49:55.039 expect to see him move, expect to see the goodness 00:49:55.039 --> 00:50:00.099 of who he is, that's when your circumstance starts 00:50:00.099 --> 00:50:05.590 to change around. God's not going to change your 00:50:05.590 --> 00:50:10.869 circumstance. He wants you to look to him. Get 00:50:10.869 --> 00:50:15.269 your eyes off of it. Look to him. And then through 00:50:15.269 --> 00:50:19.909 you, he will change your circumstance in the 00:50:19.909 --> 00:50:25.789 earth. By your words, by your actions, by following 00:50:25.789 --> 00:50:35.929 his will and his way. 2 Corinthians 3 .18 says, 00:50:36.030 --> 00:50:40.349 All of us who have had the veil removed, when 00:50:40.349 --> 00:50:44.809 Jesus died on the cross, the veil was torn to 00:50:44.809 --> 00:50:48.750 the Holy of Holies. We've had that veil removed, 00:50:48.889 --> 00:50:52.510 so now what? We can see, everybody say see, and 00:50:52.510 --> 00:50:57.130 reflect the glory of God, the glory of the Lord. 00:50:57.760 --> 00:51:01.039 And the Lord who is the Spirit makes us more 00:51:01.039 --> 00:51:05.079 and more like Him as we are changed into His 00:51:05.079 --> 00:51:07.820 glorious image. I like what the New King James 00:51:07.820 --> 00:51:10.539 Version says, but we all with unveiled face, 00:51:10.679 --> 00:51:14.119 beholding as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord. 00:51:15.900 --> 00:51:20.039 Or what? Being transformed. Say, I am being transformed. 00:51:20.840 --> 00:51:24.840 Being transformed into the same image from glory 00:51:24.840 --> 00:51:28.659 to glory. It's like... It's like if you sleep 00:51:28.659 --> 00:51:33.139 on a couch with a weird pattern. If you sleep 00:51:33.139 --> 00:51:35.139 on a couch with a weird pattern and you wake 00:51:35.139 --> 00:51:37.659 up and your face is imprinted with that pattern. 00:51:38.119 --> 00:51:39.760 How many of you have done that? Or how many of 00:51:39.760 --> 00:51:41.699 you have silly putty and you've like rubbed a 00:51:41.699 --> 00:51:44.519 newspaper and you just push it down and all of 00:51:44.519 --> 00:51:46.599 a sudden you pull it off and it's imprinted on 00:51:46.599 --> 00:51:53.840 it? The more and more we're absent from this 00:51:53.840 --> 00:51:58.070 body and present with the Lord, thanking him, 00:51:58.150 --> 00:52:01.769 praising him, expecting him in our lives, the 00:52:01.769 --> 00:52:04.510 more and more we do that, the more and more we 00:52:04.510 --> 00:52:07.909 will see. The more we draw closer to him, the 00:52:07.909 --> 00:52:12.489 more we will experience him. Because his fullness 00:52:12.489 --> 00:52:26.250 is in us to impact us, to change us. So go ahead 00:52:26.250 --> 00:52:32.309 and get happy about it. Should put a smile on 00:52:32.309 --> 00:52:36.929 your face. Because in the presence of the Lord, 00:52:37.110 --> 00:52:42.050 there is transformation. Many of you this morning 00:52:42.050 --> 00:52:45.230 might be searching for something that you realize 00:52:45.230 --> 00:52:48.750 that only God can do. And he's just wanting you 00:52:48.750 --> 00:52:56.380 to turn to him. Seek him. Acknowledge him. Not 00:52:56.380 --> 00:52:58.340 just with a prayer to change your circumstance, 00:52:58.480 --> 00:53:06.320 but a prayer to see his glory. The glory can 00:53:06.320 --> 00:53:08.920 be seen, it can be experienced, and it can be 00:53:08.920 --> 00:53:11.920 carried, just like Stephen carried it. He was 00:53:11.920 --> 00:53:15.539 full of faith, full of the Holy Ghost, full of 00:53:15.539 --> 00:53:18.719 God's grace, and full of God's power. That should 00:53:18.719 --> 00:53:21.400 be the definition of each and every believer 00:53:21.400 --> 00:53:25.250 in the earth. That's what God wants. That's his 00:53:25.250 --> 00:53:30.469 will for us. And God is waiting on us to turn 00:53:30.469 --> 00:53:34.489 our hearts and our attention and our focus, praise 00:53:34.489 --> 00:53:41.630 towards him, and give him a place of honor. Because 00:53:41.630 --> 00:53:45.530 this creates the atmosphere for him to move in 00:53:45.530 --> 00:53:50.090 our lives. God is a gentleman. He doesn't just 00:53:50.090 --> 00:53:58.599 zap you. You don't wield him like a sword. He's 00:53:58.599 --> 00:54:03.320 a gentleman. He has to be invited. He has to 00:54:03.320 --> 00:54:08.360 be honored and respected. In a society that don't 00:54:08.360 --> 00:54:13.960 respect or honor much, we have to respect him 00:54:13.960 --> 00:54:16.940 and honor him. And that involves listening. That 00:54:16.940 --> 00:54:23.869 involves obeying. Being quick to obey. and expectant 00:54:23.869 --> 00:54:26.690 to see him move. And this ground creates the 00:54:26.690 --> 00:54:30.289 atmosphere for the fruit of the glory to grow. 00:54:31.130 --> 00:54:35.690 Christ in you is the source of glory. Your cooperation, 00:54:36.230 --> 00:54:39.050 your honor, and your praise then becomes the 00:54:39.050 --> 00:54:42.710 entrance. This online worship experience was 00:54:42.710 --> 00:54:45.090 brought to you by the Friends and Partners of 00:54:45.090 --> 00:54:45.949 Eulation Church.