WEBVTT 00:00:02.250 --> 00:00:05.250 Welcome to the Life Bible Church podcast. We 00:00:05.250 --> 00:00:07.669 want to thank you for joining us today, and we 00:00:07.669 --> 00:00:10.169 hope you find today's sermon impacting as you 00:00:10.169 --> 00:00:12.689 listen to it wherever you are in your daily walk. 00:00:12.949 --> 00:00:15.929 To find service times and watch messages online, 00:00:16.210 --> 00:00:20.109 see our website at lifebiblechurch .org. Now, 00:00:20.129 --> 00:00:24.510 enjoy this week's message. Why don't you turn 00:00:24.510 --> 00:00:27.410 in your Bibles, if you would, to 1 Corinthians 00:00:27.410 --> 00:00:31.480 chapter 5. 1 Corinthians chapter 5. We're going 00:00:31.480 --> 00:00:34.020 to pick up a little bit where we left off last 00:00:34.020 --> 00:00:41.280 week. If we can do that. Well, you guys are scattered 00:00:41.280 --> 00:00:44.560 to the wind here today. How am I? Let's see here. 00:00:45.060 --> 00:00:48.119 All right. I may. Tim, could you bring that down 00:00:48.119 --> 00:00:50.679 for me? We're going to just come down to you 00:00:50.679 --> 00:00:53.460 all. All right. Jenny, you're going to keep playing 00:00:53.460 --> 00:00:55.880 a little bit of music for me here while I get 00:00:55.880 --> 00:00:59.840 set up. Thank you. Thank you, Tim. All right, 00:00:59.880 --> 00:01:02.719 1 Corinthians chapter five. I'm gonna turn there 00:01:02.719 --> 00:01:10.819 while you're turning there. Thank you, Jesus. 00:01:12.280 --> 00:01:14.319 I know we've been praying a lot, but let's just 00:01:14.319 --> 00:01:16.819 do one more time to open our ears and our heart. 00:01:16.900 --> 00:01:21.280 Can we do that? Father, in Jesus' name, we come 00:01:21.280 --> 00:01:23.359 now to the reading of your word. We come now 00:01:23.359 --> 00:01:29.209 to, Lord, to that place where you who are. You 00:01:29.209 --> 00:01:32.629 are the living word of God. The one who was, 00:01:32.689 --> 00:01:36.230 is, and is to come. The bread of heaven. The 00:01:36.230 --> 00:01:40.150 one that gives life. Lord, I'm asking now as 00:01:40.150 --> 00:01:45.170 you are the great feeder of the sheep. You feed 00:01:45.170 --> 00:01:49.849 us. And Lord, your word says your sheep hear 00:01:49.849 --> 00:01:53.530 your voice. And God, I'm asking as it says all 00:01:53.530 --> 00:01:58.269 through the scripture. Let him who hears. Give 00:01:58.269 --> 00:02:00.890 him an ear to hear what the Spirit of God is 00:02:00.890 --> 00:02:04.010 saying. This morning, in the name of Jesus, would 00:02:04.010 --> 00:02:07.489 you open our ear? Would you open our heart? Would 00:02:07.489 --> 00:02:10.030 you open, Lord, inside of us that we would be 00:02:10.030 --> 00:02:13.849 ready to receive, that we might grow? Let the 00:02:13.849 --> 00:02:19.210 Word of God come into our hearts, our mind, and 00:02:19.210 --> 00:02:23.729 change us, transform us, shape us, guide us, 00:02:23.830 --> 00:02:27.360 and feed us this morning. In Jesus' holy name. 00:02:27.400 --> 00:02:33.039 And everybody said, amen. Amen. Thank you, Jennifer. 00:02:34.479 --> 00:02:38.520 All right. Well, I'm not going to ask for a show 00:02:38.520 --> 00:02:40.659 of hands who was here last week and who was not. 00:02:40.680 --> 00:02:43.020 We don't take attendance like that on Sunday 00:02:43.020 --> 00:02:46.780 morning. But I am going to move us in a direction 00:02:46.780 --> 00:02:50.460 and kind of do a little bit of recap to try to 00:02:50.460 --> 00:02:55.969 bring us maybe into some... understanding. Victor, 00:02:56.069 --> 00:02:58.069 as you're sitting on the front, you're in dangerous 00:02:58.069 --> 00:03:00.210 territory because you might get used for an example 00:03:00.210 --> 00:03:04.689 a time or two here. So bring us into an understanding 00:03:04.689 --> 00:03:08.090 that would maybe help some of us in this. I'm 00:03:08.090 --> 00:03:10.729 hoping it'll help all of us. But how many are 00:03:10.729 --> 00:03:15.050 you're new to the Christian faith in the last 00:03:15.050 --> 00:03:18.469 five to seven years? Let me see your... Lift 00:03:18.469 --> 00:03:21.270 them way up so I can, I'm an old man, and I'm 00:03:21.270 --> 00:03:23.469 short, so I'm up here on the front. Okay, so 00:03:23.469 --> 00:03:26.250 we got a pretty good percentage here of those 00:03:26.250 --> 00:03:28.810 that are new to the Christian faith in the last 00:03:28.810 --> 00:03:31.389 five to seven years. How many are, let's say, 00:03:31.449 --> 00:03:35.610 in the last 12 years and under are new to the 00:03:35.610 --> 00:03:38.090 Christian faith? Let me just see. Okay, a few 00:03:38.090 --> 00:03:40.689 more that are popping out. All right, now, so 00:03:40.689 --> 00:03:43.330 why is this so important? Well, for some of us, 00:03:43.449 --> 00:03:46.219 let me tie this shoe. I don't want to trip. I'm 00:03:46.219 --> 00:03:49.560 getting excited here. For some of us that have 00:03:49.560 --> 00:03:53.280 been walking with the Lord a long time, sometimes, 00:03:53.379 --> 00:03:57.680 and I'll put myself in the long time category 00:03:57.680 --> 00:04:02.819 because it's been almost 48 years for me. And 00:04:02.819 --> 00:04:04.919 I know some of you have been walking with the 00:04:04.919 --> 00:04:06.840 Lord a lot longer than that, but I'll just call 00:04:06.840 --> 00:04:09.919 myself the young of the old that have been walking 00:04:09.919 --> 00:04:15.300 with the Lord. Sometimes we lose sight of things 00:04:15.900 --> 00:04:20.459 that are supposed to be kept up front and quickened 00:04:20.459 --> 00:04:26.579 and alive. And maybe we learned some things that 00:04:26.579 --> 00:04:32.379 along the way led us to some conclusions in the 00:04:32.379 --> 00:04:35.819 scriptures that maybe weren't the fullest that 00:04:35.819 --> 00:04:38.660 they should be. How many have found over the 00:04:38.660 --> 00:04:42.259 years of being a Christian that what you started 00:04:42.259 --> 00:04:45.819 off believing and understanding God had to move 00:04:45.819 --> 00:04:48.980 you into some understanding, expand some things, 00:04:49.100 --> 00:04:51.660 remove some things in order to make it fuller. 00:04:51.839 --> 00:04:55.980 Any of the ones that have been, okay. I'm speaking 00:04:55.980 --> 00:05:00.540 to us this morning as much as I'm speaking to 00:05:00.540 --> 00:05:03.379 the ones that maybe have never heard this. One 00:05:03.379 --> 00:05:07.060 of the things that we dealt with last week, and 00:05:07.060 --> 00:05:12.129 just to kind of give you a little bit. why we 00:05:12.129 --> 00:05:15.029 do the things the way we do. When I first started 00:05:15.029 --> 00:05:19.930 pastoring about 34 years ago, when I got into 00:05:19.930 --> 00:05:22.750 the ministry full time, there were things that 00:05:22.750 --> 00:05:27.009 I did just because I watched it done to the people 00:05:27.009 --> 00:05:30.490 that went before me, right? They were well -meaning 00:05:30.490 --> 00:05:34.189 people, loved God, loved, and I learned from 00:05:34.189 --> 00:05:36.689 them. The Bible talks about that. Find faithful 00:05:36.689 --> 00:05:39.259 men and women. Teach these things to faithful 00:05:39.259 --> 00:05:41.819 men and women so that they will teach it to other 00:05:41.819 --> 00:05:43.939 men and women. And the gospel has been moving 00:05:43.939 --> 00:05:51.220 forward. When I surveyed the whole area of communion, 00:05:51.519 --> 00:05:55.699 people take the Lord's Supper and communion in 00:05:55.699 --> 00:05:58.759 a variety of ways. And I remember the Lord on 00:05:58.759 --> 00:06:02.519 our journey here. Jenny and I had pastored, founded. 00:06:03.259 --> 00:06:05.540 Life Bible Church, obviously with the help of 00:06:05.540 --> 00:06:08.259 the Lord, it's his church, but asked us to plant 00:06:08.259 --> 00:06:10.459 this church. We'll be celebrating 25 years this 00:06:10.459 --> 00:06:13.379 fall. When we came out and planted this church, 00:06:13.439 --> 00:06:17.779 about eight, nine years into the pioneering, 00:06:17.800 --> 00:06:22.220 the Lord really spoke a word to me personally. 00:06:22.300 --> 00:06:25.819 He says, I want you to change the way you're 00:06:25.819 --> 00:06:32.459 teaching communion. And I thought, oh. I must 00:06:32.459 --> 00:06:36.519 not be hearing right. And so I keep going and 00:06:36.519 --> 00:06:38.759 I keep doing. And the Lord said, I told you, 00:06:38.779 --> 00:06:40.939 I want you to change the way you're doing. I 00:06:40.939 --> 00:06:43.699 said, well, Lord, how do you want me to change 00:06:43.699 --> 00:06:46.720 it? He goes, I don't want you just to add it 00:06:46.720 --> 00:06:49.720 on for the majority of services. I don't want 00:06:49.720 --> 00:06:53.819 communion to be something that's just a thing 00:06:53.819 --> 00:06:58.220 you do in the midst of something else. I want 00:06:58.220 --> 00:07:00.519 you to begin, and this is important because it 00:07:00.519 --> 00:07:03.040 connects to what I'm going to say most all of 00:07:03.040 --> 00:07:04.819 today. If you don't hear anything, hear this, 00:07:04.899 --> 00:07:11.100 is that I want you to deepen, widen, and the 00:07:11.100 --> 00:07:14.720 depth of people's understanding of why I bring 00:07:14.720 --> 00:07:19.459 them to my table. I don't want them to just walk 00:07:19.459 --> 00:07:24.620 away with only simplicity. I want them to understand 00:07:24.620 --> 00:07:28.439 the depth of the fullness of my word of what 00:07:28.439 --> 00:07:32.100 went into the elements, what went into the table, 00:07:32.199 --> 00:07:36.319 and what is happening when we actually have that 00:07:36.319 --> 00:07:38.620 meal together. And so it was one of the things 00:07:38.620 --> 00:07:43.339 that God really moved on my thinking so that 00:07:43.339 --> 00:07:46.439 no matter where I'm at, if you've followed us 00:07:46.439 --> 00:07:49.360 for the last four or five years, certainly for 00:07:49.360 --> 00:07:52.800 the last eight years, 10 years, I've shifted 00:07:52.800 --> 00:07:55.899 that for most part, every time we come to once 00:07:55.899 --> 00:07:58.740 a month communion Sunday, doesn't matter where 00:07:58.740 --> 00:08:02.240 we're at in a series, somewhere, I kind of just 00:08:02.240 --> 00:08:05.019 do the old TV commercial, stop, drop and roll. 00:08:05.199 --> 00:08:09.220 And we stop the series that we're in and we move 00:08:09.220 --> 00:08:13.439 into some aspect of the Lord, his nature, his 00:08:13.439 --> 00:08:15.459 character of what we find in the communion table. 00:08:15.680 --> 00:08:22.480 Last week we did that and we used a really, Not 00:08:22.480 --> 00:08:26.740 a very common verse to establish something about 00:08:26.740 --> 00:08:30.759 communion, which took us back to what I'm going 00:08:30.759 --> 00:08:33.659 to call the feast of Passover, and that's what 00:08:33.659 --> 00:08:36.679 it was. But for some of us in this room, we don't 00:08:36.679 --> 00:08:39.940 even know when you say it took us to communion, 00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:41.740 I'm having trouble even understanding communion. 00:08:41.799 --> 00:08:44.059 What are the feasts? Well, I'm going to lay out 00:08:44.059 --> 00:08:45.820 a couple of things, and I hope I do it justice 00:08:45.820 --> 00:08:48.519 today. Okay, one of the things that we're going 00:08:48.519 --> 00:08:51.539 to look at, and let's look at the verse. 1 Corinthians 00:08:51.539 --> 00:08:55.860 chapter 5, and we can put it up on the screen 00:08:55.860 --> 00:08:59.360 here. 1 Corinthians chapter 5, and I'm going 00:08:59.360 --> 00:09:01.639 to come back to this verse, but I want you to 00:09:01.639 --> 00:09:08.980 see this verse in verse 7, part B. 1 Corinthians 00:09:08.980 --> 00:09:16.600 5, 7b. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been 00:09:16.600 --> 00:09:22.190 sacrificed. The apostle Paul, through the Holy 00:09:22.190 --> 00:09:24.549 Spirit, is writing to the Corinthian church. 00:09:24.690 --> 00:09:27.970 The Corinthian church is really a church like 00:09:27.970 --> 00:09:31.350 you and I. It's made up of primarily Gentiles. 00:09:31.370 --> 00:09:34.590 It means people that were not raised with an 00:09:34.590 --> 00:09:39.690 understanding of who God really is. The Gentile 00:09:39.690 --> 00:09:42.230 church where Paul met them is kind of like us. 00:09:42.370 --> 00:09:45.409 They believed in a pantheon of gods having a... 00:09:45.610 --> 00:09:48.309 Greek and Roman mindset. They didn't understand. 00:09:48.669 --> 00:09:51.769 They thought there were many deities. And Paul 00:09:51.769 --> 00:09:54.490 is now taking people who believed in the gospel 00:09:54.490 --> 00:09:57.509 of Jesus Christ as God who sent his only son 00:09:57.509 --> 00:10:00.429 to the world to forgive the world and to save 00:10:00.429 --> 00:10:02.649 them from their sin and to break the curse of 00:10:02.649 --> 00:10:05.850 death. The people were coming out of idolatry, 00:10:05.850 --> 00:10:09.450 coming out of paganism, coming out of all forms 00:10:09.450 --> 00:10:13.850 of issues of cultural displays of every form 00:10:13.850 --> 00:10:17.070 of amalgamation of different kind of concepts. 00:10:17.289 --> 00:10:20.789 And God brings them out of every area and brings 00:10:20.789 --> 00:10:24.950 them into his church. He calls them saved, but 00:10:24.950 --> 00:10:27.450 he also in the midst of calling them saved and 00:10:27.450 --> 00:10:30.590 saints is working on changing their heart and 00:10:30.590 --> 00:10:34.009 their mind. How many know that he's still doing 00:10:34.009 --> 00:10:36.690 that? That's exactly what has happened to every 00:10:36.690 --> 00:10:39.570 one of us in this room. If we've accepted Jesus 00:10:39.570 --> 00:10:44.909 Christ, we are called saints, we are saved positionally, 00:10:44.929 --> 00:10:48.610 and now he's working out that salvation through 00:10:48.610 --> 00:10:53.169 sanctification, working in us to change our values, 00:10:53.389 --> 00:10:56.269 change our mindsets, change our understandings. 00:10:56.389 --> 00:11:00.350 And as he's saying here, he's addressing an issue 00:11:00.350 --> 00:11:04.259 in the church. that he's got to root out because 00:11:04.259 --> 00:11:07.519 in the church of what was happening in Corinth, 00:11:07.559 --> 00:11:11.200 this church that Paul was a pioneer of and preached 00:11:11.200 --> 00:11:13.659 the gospel to and all the people would have heard 00:11:13.659 --> 00:11:16.820 the message was actually allowing something in 00:11:16.820 --> 00:11:19.879 the culture of the church that was actually affecting 00:11:19.879 --> 00:11:25.740 it. And so in order for Paul to address the root 00:11:25.740 --> 00:11:29.139 situation that was taking place, he had to bring 00:11:29.139 --> 00:11:34.309 them back. to what God did in the nation of Israel 00:11:34.309 --> 00:11:37.789 when he called them out of bondage, out of slavery, 00:11:38.190 --> 00:11:40.730 out of a condition that had them trapped. He 00:11:40.730 --> 00:11:44.490 had to bring them a revelation of what was put 00:11:44.490 --> 00:11:48.309 in them that very night that he would separate 00:11:48.309 --> 00:11:51.470 the difference between those that were unsaved 00:11:51.470 --> 00:11:54.590 and those that would be his. And he brings them 00:11:54.590 --> 00:11:58.159 back to this truth. of Passover. Passover is 00:11:58.159 --> 00:12:01.500 simply a term that was meant that when in Exodus, 00:12:01.600 --> 00:12:03.700 when the children of Israel were coming out after 00:12:03.700 --> 00:12:06.860 all of the plagues that happened through God, 00:12:07.000 --> 00:12:09.440 as Moses delivered them to Pharaoh, the last 00:12:09.440 --> 00:12:12.879 plague was the plague of the death angel. And 00:12:12.879 --> 00:12:15.879 if blood was applied to the doorpost of the house 00:12:15.879 --> 00:12:18.039 and there were a variety of other things that 00:12:18.039 --> 00:12:20.519 had to take place, the death angel would pass 00:12:20.519 --> 00:12:25.259 over and life would stay in that house. Anywhere 00:12:25.259 --> 00:12:27.919 where there wasn't blood, the death angel would 00:12:27.919 --> 00:12:31.379 take. Not only just of man, but also of beast. 00:12:31.759 --> 00:12:35.399 And the Bible says that the difference between 00:12:35.399 --> 00:12:40.480 Egypt and Israel was clearly seen on that night. 00:12:40.840 --> 00:12:45.840 Now, Paul brings this Corinthian church that's 00:12:45.840 --> 00:12:50.419 now several thousand years past what happened 00:12:50.419 --> 00:12:54.129 in the Exodus. and so we are as well, but even 00:12:54.129 --> 00:12:56.889 in the Corinthian church, he brings these people 00:12:56.889 --> 00:13:01.370 back to the place of Passover. Why is that so 00:13:01.370 --> 00:13:05.970 important? Well, he says, listen, Christ, our 00:13:05.970 --> 00:13:12.250 Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Now, I need 00:13:12.250 --> 00:13:15.950 you to get this in your heart. Everything that 00:13:15.950 --> 00:13:19.470 God does in your life and in my life, and God 00:13:19.470 --> 00:13:23.480 has always done, is always about establishing 00:13:23.480 --> 00:13:28.000 truth and the empowerment of his Holy Spirit 00:13:28.000 --> 00:13:34.360 to do what? To get you to actually progress and 00:13:34.360 --> 00:13:38.620 move forward with him. There's nothing that God 00:13:38.620 --> 00:13:42.899 does in his nature that he wants to actually... 00:13:43.279 --> 00:13:46.340 keep something from you or keep you back from 00:13:46.340 --> 00:13:49.279 the revelation of himself or forward progress. 00:13:49.460 --> 00:13:52.259 Now, when I say the word that revelation should 00:13:52.259 --> 00:13:55.100 be progressive, I'm not telling you that revelation 00:13:55.100 --> 00:13:57.639 should be liberal, okay? It's not a political 00:13:57.639 --> 00:14:00.539 definition. When I say revelation is progressive, 00:14:01.299 --> 00:14:06.120 it means that it should build on, each thing 00:14:06.120 --> 00:14:08.539 should build on one another. That's why the Bible 00:14:08.539 --> 00:14:13.419 says, line upon line, precept upon precept, Here 00:14:13.419 --> 00:14:16.539 a little, there a little. Why? Everything you 00:14:16.539 --> 00:14:20.879 do in God should actually move you forward in 00:14:20.879 --> 00:14:24.059 God. The kingdom of God should grow inside of 00:14:24.059 --> 00:14:27.460 you. And every type and shadow, every revelation 00:14:27.460 --> 00:14:31.399 that God is giving should all come and it should 00:14:31.399 --> 00:14:34.879 stack on one another as something that's being 00:14:34.879 --> 00:14:37.919 built on. You say, well, where do you get that? 00:14:38.080 --> 00:14:41.779 Well, see, here in Western culture, One of the 00:14:41.779 --> 00:14:43.799 things that we deal with the most is because 00:14:43.799 --> 00:14:47.779 we still have Greek thinking. We're trained to 00:14:47.779 --> 00:14:51.159 think in a Greek form of thinking, in a Greek 00:14:51.159 --> 00:14:55.299 Roman form of thinking. We're not trained scholastically 00:14:55.299 --> 00:15:02.059 to think like a Hebrew mind. Because all of our 00:15:02.059 --> 00:15:04.980 systems, all of our education systems are under 00:15:04.980 --> 00:15:09.159 a Greek philosophy. Folks, think about it. Why 00:15:09.159 --> 00:15:12.580 do we have... fraternities and sororities with 00:15:12.580 --> 00:15:17.320 Greek names and a bunch of Greek letters that 00:15:17.320 --> 00:15:22.799 nobody reads. Alpha, beta, kappa, you know, okay? 00:15:23.100 --> 00:15:27.340 Why? Because it's a Greek philosophy of thinking. 00:15:27.799 --> 00:15:31.840 It's what? It's linear. But I'm telling you this 00:15:31.840 --> 00:15:35.879 morning that if you'll ask the Holy Spirit for 00:15:35.879 --> 00:15:41.440 help, One of the greatest damages that's been 00:15:41.440 --> 00:15:45.360 done to us in Western culture is that we would 00:15:45.360 --> 00:15:49.340 pick up Greek linear thinking and try to apply 00:15:49.340 --> 00:15:56.320 that to a text that is not linear only. It is 00:15:56.320 --> 00:16:02.100 more Middle Eastern Hebrew associated. Why? It's 00:16:02.100 --> 00:16:06.899 meant to have a learning style, which is what? 00:16:07.389 --> 00:16:10.490 Move it from the realm of keeping it up here 00:16:10.490 --> 00:16:14.730 in your head to actually moving it into an interaction 00:16:14.730 --> 00:16:21.590 that would allow a I show you and now you begin 00:16:21.590 --> 00:16:26.889 to do with me. Greek mindset is what? I'll tell 00:16:26.889 --> 00:16:29.710 you about it and we'll talk about it intellectually 00:16:29.710 --> 00:16:33.909 and we'll just keep talking philosophically about 00:16:33.909 --> 00:16:37.769 it rather than actually doing. And if you'll 00:16:37.769 --> 00:16:42.549 recognize this, everything that's in the New 00:16:42.549 --> 00:16:47.929 Testament, there's two filters really in Christianity. 00:16:48.769 --> 00:16:53.070 There are those that simply want to have a mindset 00:16:53.070 --> 00:16:55.850 of everything that makes sense to their natural 00:16:55.850 --> 00:16:59.669 mind. And it comes down to, I just need to have 00:16:59.669 --> 00:17:03.049 it in here and I just need to believe it, but 00:17:03.049 --> 00:17:05.730 I don't have to display it anywhere in my life. 00:17:07.779 --> 00:17:11.420 versus that you have to have both. There has 00:17:11.420 --> 00:17:13.559 to be a knowledge of him and a growth in him, 00:17:13.619 --> 00:17:17.339 but then there has to be what? An actually witness 00:17:17.339 --> 00:17:21.559 that you're actually walking with him and that 00:17:21.559 --> 00:17:23.880 the spirit of God and the word of God is actually 00:17:23.880 --> 00:17:28.819 flowing out of you. Are you there? Now see, when 00:17:28.819 --> 00:17:32.059 God builds a house, many of us think this way 00:17:32.059 --> 00:17:35.259 because when we read the Old Testament, we think, 00:17:35.589 --> 00:17:38.390 How did God build a house? God built a house 00:17:38.390 --> 00:17:41.910 by, well, the Old Testament. There was tabernacle 00:17:41.910 --> 00:17:44.750 and then there was Moses' tabernacle and that 00:17:44.750 --> 00:17:47.650 had an order that was called the house. And that 00:17:47.650 --> 00:17:50.569 house had an outer court, it had an inner court, 00:17:50.730 --> 00:17:53.710 it had the holy place and then the most holy 00:17:53.710 --> 00:17:57.609 place. And there was a progression to that tabernacle 00:17:57.609 --> 00:18:00.259 that you went from... all of the furniture out 00:18:00.259 --> 00:18:03.180 in the outer court from the brazen altar to the 00:18:03.180 --> 00:18:06.940 brazen labor inside the holy place to the golden 00:18:06.940 --> 00:18:11.500 candlestick, the altar of showbread to then the 00:18:11.500 --> 00:18:14.400 altar of incense and then to that veil. And then 00:18:14.400 --> 00:18:16.420 once a year, they'd get behind that veil and 00:18:16.420 --> 00:18:19.339 they would be in the Ark of the Covenant where 00:18:19.339 --> 00:18:21.920 the presence of God and they would atone. That 00:18:21.920 --> 00:18:24.799 was the principle that God was going to set up 00:18:24.799 --> 00:18:27.339 all the way back with the children of Egypt. 00:18:27.559 --> 00:18:31.059 Israel and it would it would set this order of 00:18:31.059 --> 00:18:36.299 how to approach God based on three major feasts 00:18:36.299 --> 00:18:39.079 three major feasts now we're going to look at 00:18:39.079 --> 00:18:42.579 this next week and and if I can Chelsea I'm going 00:18:42.579 --> 00:18:47.579 to have you go to my my very um the slides on 00:18:47.579 --> 00:18:50.240 the on the feasts if you will all right perfect 00:18:51.690 --> 00:18:54.390 Okay, I didn't get here for first service, so 00:18:54.390 --> 00:18:56.410 you guys are getting this. You're gonna get ahead 00:18:56.410 --> 00:18:59.950 of the class here, all right? I need you to just 00:18:59.950 --> 00:19:02.190 kind of take a look at these charts. And you 00:19:02.190 --> 00:19:05.230 can see here, there's biblical feasts. Why am 00:19:05.230 --> 00:19:08.809 I spending time on biblical feasts? Because the 00:19:08.809 --> 00:19:11.329 Apostle Paul and the Holy Spirit are gonna bring 00:19:11.329 --> 00:19:15.450 these feasts front, line, and center for New 00:19:15.450 --> 00:19:18.029 Testament understanding. And if we don't have 00:19:18.029 --> 00:19:22.519 a framework, of what happened there that's actually 00:19:22.519 --> 00:19:24.920 supposed to be fulfillment here, we're going 00:19:24.920 --> 00:19:27.579 to miss out on the whole principle of what God's 00:19:27.579 --> 00:19:30.200 wanting to do in you in his timing right now. 00:19:31.019 --> 00:19:33.000 Now, one of the things that we look at, we look 00:19:33.000 --> 00:19:35.680 at, okay, this is what happened. When we say 00:19:35.680 --> 00:19:39.200 the feast, there were three times a year, three 00:19:39.200 --> 00:19:41.119 times a year. And I'm going to just generalize 00:19:41.119 --> 00:19:43.960 it. You see seven up there, but out of the seven, 00:19:44.059 --> 00:19:46.980 there were three times a year that God required 00:19:46.980 --> 00:19:51.339 that everyone inside of Israel would come to 00:19:51.339 --> 00:19:54.339 Jerusalem to celebrate those feasts. And those 00:19:54.339 --> 00:19:57.940 feasts are Passover being the first, Pentecost 00:19:57.940 --> 00:20:01.339 being the middle, and Tabernacles being the third. 00:20:01.500 --> 00:20:04.019 In between those three feasts, there were other 00:20:04.019 --> 00:20:08.440 feasts and principles incorporated around the 00:20:08.440 --> 00:20:11.559 early feast and the latter feast. Pentecost kind 00:20:11.559 --> 00:20:15.099 of stands on its own. And so what we're trying 00:20:15.099 --> 00:20:17.460 to do here is get the church to understand, as 00:20:17.460 --> 00:20:20.579 we started last week and this week, is understand 00:20:20.579 --> 00:20:24.119 the significance of Passover so that when we 00:20:24.119 --> 00:20:28.059 get to Pentecost, you don't just see Pentecost 00:20:28.059 --> 00:20:32.440 as some particular philosophy that some people 00:20:32.440 --> 00:20:34.940 believe in the Holy Spirit and other people don't. 00:20:35.579 --> 00:20:39.000 That's the worst thing you could walk away with. 00:20:39.220 --> 00:20:41.799 What we want you to see... In the scripture, 00:20:41.960 --> 00:20:44.279 that's how God presents it, is that God has been 00:20:44.279 --> 00:20:48.779 working all along to bring types and shadows 00:20:48.779 --> 00:20:53.759 in his Old Testament to show us how he builds 00:20:53.759 --> 00:20:57.900 progressively and how he moves people along in 00:20:57.900 --> 00:21:01.440 his purpose, in his will, and to operate in partnership 00:21:01.440 --> 00:21:04.900 with his power and in kingdom authority. And 00:21:04.900 --> 00:21:08.599 so what you have to understand is he has a calendar. 00:21:09.180 --> 00:21:11.759 God had a calendar in the Old Testament. He started 00:21:11.759 --> 00:21:15.680 these feasts start in the spring of our year, 00:21:15.740 --> 00:21:18.839 most likely in March and April. And Passover, 00:21:19.019 --> 00:21:23.140 as we read here in the scripture that we just 00:21:23.140 --> 00:21:27.240 read in 1 Corinthians 5 verse 7 part B says, 00:21:27.420 --> 00:21:31.480 and Christ is our Passover lamb who has been 00:21:31.480 --> 00:21:35.440 sacrificed. What did Jesus do? Jesus fulfilled. 00:21:36.619 --> 00:21:39.559 Passover, meaning he is the lamb of God that 00:21:39.559 --> 00:21:41.460 was slain before the foundation of the world. 00:21:41.849 --> 00:21:44.750 The Holy Spirit says, it's been done. Passover 00:21:44.750 --> 00:21:48.269 has been fulfilled. But then right next to Passover 00:21:48.269 --> 00:21:52.549 is this thing called unleavened bread. And unleavened 00:21:52.549 --> 00:21:57.430 bread has a connection to Passover that the A 00:21:57.430 --> 00:22:01.349 and the B belong together. And if you don't see 00:22:01.349 --> 00:22:04.369 that in your mind, understanding it in New Testament 00:22:04.369 --> 00:22:07.470 theology, you'll just think that your salvation 00:22:07.470 --> 00:22:12.549 is only yes, it's started in God, it's from God, 00:22:12.710 --> 00:22:14.829 and I don't need to worry about anything else. 00:22:15.650 --> 00:22:19.109 But do you understand that God in Passover, and 00:22:19.109 --> 00:22:21.809 this is what we dealt with last week, God in 00:22:21.809 --> 00:22:25.049 Passover said, I'm gonna bring Jesus, I'm gonna 00:22:25.049 --> 00:22:27.289 put his blood on the doorpost of your life, I'm 00:22:27.289 --> 00:22:30.269 gonna have you eat the lamb that represents eating 00:22:30.269 --> 00:22:34.950 of all that he is as the savior and as the deliverer 00:22:34.950 --> 00:22:38.960 and as your healer and the strength. But in addition, 00:22:39.119 --> 00:22:42.920 right next to it, I'm going to say for a week, 00:22:43.019 --> 00:22:48.400 I'm going to command you to now check your house. 00:22:50.160 --> 00:22:52.720 And I'm going to ask you to remove from your 00:22:52.720 --> 00:22:58.559 house every bit of unleavened bread. Now this 00:22:58.559 --> 00:23:03.579 is important because it lets us know that God... 00:23:03.900 --> 00:23:06.779 starts something and does something that only 00:23:06.779 --> 00:23:10.259 he can do, but then he never just leaves it all 00:23:10.259 --> 00:23:13.980 by himself. He's always looking to bring you 00:23:13.980 --> 00:23:17.839 into his purpose and his will. And notice that 00:23:17.839 --> 00:23:19.839 the whole point of unleavened bread, even though 00:23:19.839 --> 00:23:22.500 Jesus is the bread of heaven, even though Jesus 00:23:22.500 --> 00:23:27.000 is the living word of God. He made the people 00:23:27.000 --> 00:23:31.059 begin to walk through an understanding of if 00:23:31.059 --> 00:23:34.299 you're going to live under the blood of the lamb, 00:23:34.579 --> 00:23:39.240 you're going to have to participate and walk 00:23:39.240 --> 00:23:42.140 through your house in order to remove the leaven. 00:23:43.539 --> 00:23:46.240 You say now, well, that's just Old Testament. 00:23:46.440 --> 00:23:49.579 Well, no, it's not because that's what the Holy 00:23:49.579 --> 00:23:51.680 Spirit brings back into the Corinthian church. 00:23:51.720 --> 00:23:55.099 Listen to what it says in verse six. Verse six, 00:23:55.140 --> 00:23:57.460 we'll keep that screen toggled and we'll go back 00:23:57.460 --> 00:24:01.759 to Corinthians. Your boasting is not good. Do 00:24:01.759 --> 00:24:04.420 you not know that a little leaven, I'm gonna 00:24:04.420 --> 00:24:06.019 say some words here and then we're gonna describe 00:24:06.019 --> 00:24:11.819 it. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. Now 00:24:11.819 --> 00:24:16.259 cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a 00:24:16.259 --> 00:24:22.940 new lump as you really are unleavened. For Christ, 00:24:22.940 --> 00:24:26.420 our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Okay, 00:24:26.519 --> 00:24:30.500 let's talk about the strange language here. Leaven 00:24:30.500 --> 00:24:36.259 and lumps. Some of you are old enough to remember 00:24:36.259 --> 00:24:42.099 the Looney Tunes commercials and Warner Brothers 00:24:42.099 --> 00:24:46.000 and the old thing going, how many lumps you want? 00:24:46.900 --> 00:24:49.140 Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, and three or four 00:24:49.140 --> 00:24:51.900 lumps would appear on his head. That's not what 00:24:51.900 --> 00:24:53.759 the Apostle Paul is talking about here, just 00:24:53.759 --> 00:24:55.980 so you know. He's not looking just to give you 00:24:55.980 --> 00:24:58.940 a lump with a sledgehammer. That is not it. He's 00:24:58.940 --> 00:25:01.539 actually looking to do something that our culture 00:25:01.539 --> 00:25:07.059 is very unfamiliar with. Most of the people in 00:25:07.059 --> 00:25:13.039 this room, we have gravitated on the basis of 00:25:13.039 --> 00:25:18.720 time not to make things from scratch. We buy 00:25:18.720 --> 00:25:26.539 our bread. already packaged in, what, the plastic 00:25:26.539 --> 00:25:30.380 wrappers and cellophane, already sliced. We didn't 00:25:30.380 --> 00:25:33.240 mix the flour. We didn't put in the ingredients. 00:25:33.559 --> 00:25:36.220 We didn't knead the dough. We didn't bake it. 00:25:36.279 --> 00:25:38.900 We didn't do any of that. We just simply go to 00:25:38.900 --> 00:25:41.839 the store out of convenience and we buy already 00:25:41.839 --> 00:25:44.519 what's already pre -made, pre -sliced, pre -done. 00:25:45.960 --> 00:25:48.759 The Holy Spirit was taking the Corinthian church 00:25:48.759 --> 00:25:51.039 and saying something to them. He's saying, listen, 00:25:51.220 --> 00:25:54.339 I need you to go back to why this is so important. 00:25:55.000 --> 00:25:59.359 I need you to go back to the lump. And if you 00:25:59.359 --> 00:26:01.480 understand, if you're a baker at all, you'll 00:26:01.480 --> 00:26:05.460 understand that the lump represents what you 00:26:05.460 --> 00:26:08.680 start with with bread. You're either gonna start 00:26:08.680 --> 00:26:11.940 with a lump of dough that represents how you 00:26:11.940 --> 00:26:15.329 measured the flour. the amount of oil you put 00:26:15.329 --> 00:26:18.650 in, and all of the ingredients that actually 00:26:18.650 --> 00:26:22.269 become and will become the bread that you will 00:26:22.269 --> 00:26:24.970 partake. And the Holy Spirit through the apostle 00:26:24.970 --> 00:26:28.089 Paul says, you need to understand that you are 00:26:28.089 --> 00:26:34.309 a new lump. You're not an old lump. Turn to somebody 00:26:34.309 --> 00:26:36.130 and say, your lumps have changed. Hallelujah. 00:26:36.430 --> 00:26:39.029 Come on. I mean, your lumps have changed. I mean, 00:26:39.069 --> 00:26:43.849 the reality is, God is trying to do what? He's 00:26:43.849 --> 00:26:48.430 trying to remind you that who you were in your 00:26:48.430 --> 00:26:52.769 initial put together of your old nature is not 00:26:52.769 --> 00:26:56.390 who you're supposed to be anymore. He's already 00:26:56.390 --> 00:26:58.670 declared you. And this is why it's so important 00:26:58.670 --> 00:27:01.609 in New Testament theology. He's already declared 00:27:01.609 --> 00:27:04.369 you. You're still alive. You're still a person. 00:27:04.750 --> 00:27:08.309 But spiritually, when you had the blood of Christ 00:27:08.309 --> 00:27:11.599 come over the doorpost of your body, What does 00:27:11.599 --> 00:27:15.680 that mean? Your mind, your will, your body, your 00:27:15.680 --> 00:27:18.660 soul, and you invited the Spirit of God inside 00:27:18.660 --> 00:27:23.420 of you, you now have positionally become something. 00:27:23.480 --> 00:27:26.319 You're like the bread that you were, only you're 00:27:26.319 --> 00:27:30.579 not the old, you're the new. Paul writes this 00:27:30.579 --> 00:27:32.799 again. This is first, notice the interesting 00:27:32.799 --> 00:27:36.240 choices of verses, even in the divine penmanship 00:27:36.240 --> 00:27:39.720 of what God is dealing with. 1 Corinthians 5, 00:27:39.779 --> 00:27:45.400 7. 2 Corinthians 5, 17. If any person's in Christ, 00:27:45.480 --> 00:27:47.900 they are a new creation. Behold, the old is gone, 00:27:47.940 --> 00:27:50.420 the new has come. I find it interesting that 00:27:50.420 --> 00:27:52.759 in two different letters, right at the fifth 00:27:52.759 --> 00:27:55.539 chapter, he's dealing with what kind of lump 00:27:55.539 --> 00:27:59.640 you really are. Right? And here he starts it 00:27:59.640 --> 00:28:03.460 out. He says, you are a new lump. Now look it. 00:28:03.539 --> 00:28:08.619 He says, cleanse out the old leaven. that you 00:28:08.619 --> 00:28:12.339 might be a new lump. Why is this important? Because 00:28:12.339 --> 00:28:17.700 Passover linked, that God said, whoever will 00:28:17.700 --> 00:28:22.460 not celebrate the cleaning out of their house 00:28:22.460 --> 00:28:26.059 by removing leaven, and I'm gonna explain leaven 00:28:26.059 --> 00:28:30.140 in a little bit, not 7 -11, but leaven, whoever 00:28:30.140 --> 00:28:33.960 won't clean out the leaven, I'm going to cut 00:28:33.960 --> 00:28:39.049 off from Israel. Not only will I, I'll pass over 00:28:39.049 --> 00:28:41.470 you, but I'm going to give you grace. But if 00:28:41.470 --> 00:28:46.289 you refuse to clean out the leaven, I'm actually 00:28:46.289 --> 00:28:50.849 going to cut you off from my life. I'll cut you 00:28:50.849 --> 00:28:53.529 out of the nation of Israel. Now that is where 00:28:53.529 --> 00:28:56.190 the Holy Spirit picks that up in Exodus chapter 00:28:56.190 --> 00:29:00.089 12, picks it up for the New Testament, for the 00:29:00.089 --> 00:29:03.910 New Testament church about members in their church. 00:29:04.519 --> 00:29:07.980 that we're not living as new lumps, but we're 00:29:07.980 --> 00:29:12.220 choosing to take the truth of God's grace and 00:29:12.220 --> 00:29:15.779 live like they lived prior to coming to Christ. 00:29:17.099 --> 00:29:20.960 And it's important because what's leaven? Leaven 00:29:20.960 --> 00:29:24.339 in the Bible, leaven all through scripture, it's 00:29:24.339 --> 00:29:27.859 both in the old and in the new, always speaks 00:29:27.859 --> 00:29:33.559 of that which causes a rising. It's a rising 00:29:33.559 --> 00:29:38.000 up. to pride. It's a rising in arrogance. It's 00:29:38.000 --> 00:29:42.559 a rising of man's old ways. It represents anything 00:29:42.559 --> 00:29:46.980 that puffs up and anything that brings into a 00:29:46.980 --> 00:29:51.319 place of superiority as man, man's purpose, man's 00:29:51.319 --> 00:29:55.339 ideals, man's concepts. The whole principle of 00:29:55.339 --> 00:29:58.569 cleaning out leaven was what? to actually to 00:29:58.569 --> 00:30:01.690 get you to clean out that which you relied on 00:30:01.690 --> 00:30:04.609 yourself, your way of thinking, your successes, 00:30:04.809 --> 00:30:08.130 your own abilities, remove it out and surrender 00:30:08.130 --> 00:30:11.609 it and recognize I'm going to eat bread now that's 00:30:11.609 --> 00:30:15.789 dense. It's not the light pastry, French, ooh 00:30:15.789 --> 00:30:18.650 la la, croissant that puffs up in so wonderful 00:30:18.650 --> 00:30:28.990 pastry. No, no, no. It is the deep, thick bread 00:30:28.990 --> 00:30:33.930 that is intense. I'm not eating it for flavor 00:30:33.930 --> 00:30:38.289 or pleasure. I'm eating it because God told me 00:30:38.289 --> 00:30:42.089 to because it's a revelation of the purity of 00:30:42.089 --> 00:30:46.670 only the word of God and nothing else. God goes 00:30:46.670 --> 00:30:50.069 back into the Old Testament, brings that forward 00:30:50.069 --> 00:30:53.609 into the New Testament, and now says, I need 00:30:53.609 --> 00:30:58.210 you to get this because this is what you have 00:30:58.210 --> 00:31:02.750 to partner with in order for me to move you forward, 00:31:02.890 --> 00:31:05.589 children of Israel. If I'm going to bring you 00:31:05.589 --> 00:31:08.349 into progressive revelation and understanding, 00:31:08.710 --> 00:31:12.930 I've got to get you to understand that only Jesus 00:31:12.930 --> 00:31:16.339 can do what only Jesus did. He could only be 00:31:16.339 --> 00:31:18.539 the lamb of God. His blood, the blood of the 00:31:18.539 --> 00:31:23.539 God man, the holy blood of the father's DNA that 00:31:23.539 --> 00:31:26.359 would represent the blood of all nations. Only 00:31:26.359 --> 00:31:30.200 he could die for the sin of the world that every 00:31:30.200 --> 00:31:32.539 person that would apply that blood would not 00:31:32.539 --> 00:31:36.319 just be Tiffany's side of the Jewish side, but 00:31:36.319 --> 00:31:39.900 it would be as Gentile as, what are you normally? 00:31:40.920 --> 00:31:44.980 Norwegian, even. Even the legions and Sven get 00:31:44.980 --> 00:31:49.559 saved. Okay? I mean, the reality is, natural 00:31:49.559 --> 00:31:54.819 Israel, by the blood of Jesus Christ, and Timothy 00:31:54.819 --> 00:32:01.279 Sven Munson of Norwegian descent, and Asian, 00:32:01.420 --> 00:32:07.140 and Italian, and Latino, and African, and Chinese, 00:32:07.180 --> 00:32:09.980 and Filipino, and you name it, the nations of 00:32:09.980 --> 00:32:16.509 the world are found in the blood of Jesus. And 00:32:16.509 --> 00:32:19.210 with that reality, he doesn't just stop there. 00:32:19.390 --> 00:32:22.849 And here's what most people have learned in Western 00:32:22.849 --> 00:32:26.769 thought. It's just all about me getting saved. 00:32:28.690 --> 00:32:31.329 You see, if that was the case, if it was only 00:32:31.329 --> 00:32:35.289 about you getting saved, only about you coming 00:32:35.289 --> 00:32:40.819 out under the law of death and sin, Jesus paying 00:32:40.819 --> 00:32:42.819 for you, setting you on good ground and going, 00:32:42.940 --> 00:32:46.460 okay, you're no longer under that. We wouldn't 00:32:46.460 --> 00:32:51.460 have any other feasts. We wouldn't see any progression 00:32:51.460 --> 00:32:55.500 from Passover written from the Bible. Why? It'd 00:32:55.500 --> 00:32:58.940 be enough. I got you out of Egypt. I just brought 00:32:58.940 --> 00:33:02.039 you. You don't need to celebrate whatever Passover 00:33:02.039 --> 00:33:05.460 means. You don't need to celebrate tabernacles 00:33:05.460 --> 00:33:07.140 and all of the feasts that are around there. 00:33:07.240 --> 00:33:10.819 Why? Because it's just about you. Do you understand 00:33:10.819 --> 00:33:13.319 that that's the whole reason that he included 00:33:13.319 --> 00:33:16.619 the unleavened portion with the cross portion 00:33:16.619 --> 00:33:19.460 of the blood of Jesus? Is because by nature, 00:33:19.519 --> 00:33:23.779 we're selfish. By nature, we want to make it 00:33:23.779 --> 00:33:27.619 all about us. And by nature, he included in the 00:33:27.619 --> 00:33:30.799 blood of the Passover lamb, he included what? 00:33:30.900 --> 00:33:36.380 He invited their responsibility. He has never 00:33:36.380 --> 00:33:42.880 unhooked himself from that. Salvation is only 00:33:42.880 --> 00:33:47.559 by grace, but it also carries a responsibility. 00:33:48.299 --> 00:33:52.579 Meaning, I can't, how do I say this carefully? 00:33:52.960 --> 00:33:58.319 I can't clean my house without the agent that 00:33:58.319 --> 00:34:02.079 God gives me to clean it. But I also can't clean 00:34:02.079 --> 00:34:05.539 my house just telling the blood of Jesus to do 00:34:05.539 --> 00:34:11.420 it by itself. Wouldn't that be nice? Just put 00:34:11.420 --> 00:34:15.360 the Ajax and you can tell how often I clean here. 00:34:15.440 --> 00:34:19.559 Put the Ajax and the, I was going to say the 00:34:19.559 --> 00:34:21.340 Listerine, but that's what you do mouthwash. 00:34:21.539 --> 00:34:26.780 Put the Ajax and the Pine Sol and all of the 00:34:26.780 --> 00:34:29.440 stuff that you clean your house with, you just 00:34:29.440 --> 00:34:32.920 set it on the counter and you just say, in Jesus' 00:34:33.000 --> 00:34:39.519 name, clean the house. Yeah, if it would, but. 00:34:39.840 --> 00:34:42.539 Thank you, Will, for that because it's totally 00:34:42.539 --> 00:34:47.360 wrong. Because that's, think about it, that's 00:34:47.360 --> 00:34:50.139 what Western culture has made Christianity out 00:34:50.139 --> 00:34:55.559 to be. God saved me and he does everything. I 00:34:55.559 --> 00:34:57.760 don't need to partner with him. It's just all 00:34:57.760 --> 00:35:00.599 about me going to heaven and as long as I get 00:35:00.599 --> 00:35:04.679 my hell insurance, I'm good. Whole doctrines, 00:35:04.760 --> 00:35:08.579 philosophies, whole groups of denominations have 00:35:08.579 --> 00:35:12.719 built that mindset on that form of linear thinking 00:35:12.719 --> 00:35:16.380 that all the gospel is about is about getting 00:35:16.380 --> 00:35:21.980 you to heaven. That's only half of the equation. 00:35:22.000 --> 00:35:25.280 It's the first half. You see, the equation has 00:35:25.280 --> 00:35:31.260 an A and a B side for all you math majors. Okay? 00:35:31.579 --> 00:35:37.610 There's an A plus a B. I didn't do so good in 00:35:37.610 --> 00:35:41.110 math. That's why I moved more toward a humanitarian 00:35:41.110 --> 00:35:48.989 arts degree. But anyways, the reality being there 00:35:48.989 --> 00:35:54.190 is a second side to this thing. The A side is 00:35:54.190 --> 00:36:00.070 Jesus by his blood can only pay for sin and breaking 00:36:00.070 --> 00:36:03.800 the power of the Lord of death. Do you understand 00:36:03.800 --> 00:36:07.320 that? Satan, because of Adam's transgression, 00:36:07.360 --> 00:36:10.239 Adam and Eve's transgression, now became ruler 00:36:10.239 --> 00:36:14.780 and was over sin and death. That's why the apostle 00:36:14.780 --> 00:36:16.579 Paul would write later in the New Testament, 00:36:16.719 --> 00:36:19.940 he says, oh, King Agrippa, when he was talking 00:36:19.940 --> 00:36:23.199 about giving his testimony, going to Rome and 00:36:23.199 --> 00:36:27.139 even to Caesar, he laid out to Agrippa and to 00:36:27.139 --> 00:36:30.920 Festus and the others, he said, I've been transferred 00:36:30.920 --> 00:36:35.500 from the kingdom of darkness into the glorious 00:36:35.500 --> 00:36:39.039 inheritance of his son's love. The principle 00:36:39.039 --> 00:36:43.579 being, that's what Jesus did on the cross is 00:36:43.579 --> 00:36:46.400 he broke the lordship of death. That's Hebrews 00:36:46.400 --> 00:36:51.440 chapter two. He says, he broke the fear of death 00:36:51.440 --> 00:36:56.920 in which we were all subject. He breaks the Lord 00:36:56.920 --> 00:36:59.960 of death, the power of death, which is sin. That's 00:36:59.960 --> 00:37:03.480 what Paul writes again in 1 Corinthians 15. Oh, 00:37:03.480 --> 00:37:06.420 death, where is your sting? Oh, grave, where 00:37:06.420 --> 00:37:09.559 is your victory? For the strength of sin is the 00:37:09.559 --> 00:37:12.800 law. But thanks be to God our Father who's given 00:37:12.800 --> 00:37:16.280 us the victory in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ 00:37:16.280 --> 00:37:20.460 broke... The lordship of death, being held captive 00:37:20.460 --> 00:37:23.059 from being separated from God, paid the price 00:37:23.059 --> 00:37:26.659 of sin and did what? Also established everything 00:37:26.659 --> 00:37:29.480 that God sent in his law about his holy nature 00:37:29.480 --> 00:37:32.480 that we would break. He also satisfied it on 00:37:32.480 --> 00:37:36.500 the cross. And with those three things, Christ 00:37:36.500 --> 00:37:40.400 liberates us. And then he does what? He grabs 00:37:40.400 --> 00:37:44.639 you and I and he says, now, I'm not just gonna 00:37:44.639 --> 00:37:47.139 apply the blood. Now you're gonna partner with 00:37:47.139 --> 00:37:53.420 me. Because the Passover was never meant to just 00:37:53.420 --> 00:37:57.739 be fulfilled naturally. It was meant to be fulfilled 00:37:57.739 --> 00:38:02.199 both naturally when Jesus fulfilled it and that 00:38:02.199 --> 00:38:06.300 the church would spiritually fulfill it. Meaning 00:38:06.300 --> 00:38:10.159 what? That you inside of Christ, Christ in you, 00:38:10.199 --> 00:38:13.880 the hope of glory, I'm in Christ. would recognize 00:38:13.880 --> 00:38:17.380 I've now applied the blood of Jesus. I now feast 00:38:17.380 --> 00:38:20.500 on the lamb as the word of God. And now with 00:38:20.500 --> 00:38:24.840 the help of the Holy Spirit as the light, come 00:38:24.840 --> 00:38:28.699 on, walk with me, the light and me as a person. 00:38:28.780 --> 00:38:31.579 So this represents, Victor, good looking guy 00:38:31.579 --> 00:38:35.139 here. Okay. Represents the light of Christ wearing 00:38:35.139 --> 00:38:38.719 a white shirt. Very nice. Way to fit the example 00:38:38.719 --> 00:38:41.389 today. Okay. Wearing the light of Christ, we're 00:38:41.389 --> 00:38:44.130 gonna do what? I'm gonna take my conscious heart 00:38:44.130 --> 00:38:47.429 and mind and the light of Christ now, because 00:38:47.429 --> 00:38:49.969 the blood has come and the presence of God has 00:38:49.969 --> 00:38:53.309 come, is gonna walk with me in the very aspects 00:38:53.309 --> 00:38:58.929 of my mind, of my heart, of my emotions and my 00:38:58.929 --> 00:39:02.670 motivations, and he's going to shine light on 00:39:02.670 --> 00:39:06.630 where I can bring leaven. Leaven is what? Where 00:39:06.630 --> 00:39:10.670 I've believed. My way is better than God's way. 00:39:11.449 --> 00:39:15.170 Where I've puffed up me. Where I've puffed up 00:39:15.170 --> 00:39:19.130 people's opinions. where I've made things that 00:39:19.130 --> 00:39:23.309 were easier for me and it's time like this that 00:39:23.309 --> 00:39:26.170 I don't just keep that once a year like they 00:39:26.170 --> 00:39:29.769 did naturally. I now live with the blood and 00:39:29.769 --> 00:39:33.190 the Holy Spirit with me and he's now removing 00:39:33.190 --> 00:39:37.530 and always speaking in grace and an understanding 00:39:37.530 --> 00:39:44.969 of where I now have kept leaven. Thank you. You 00:39:44.969 --> 00:39:47.280 may keep burning. Right there. All right. Now, 00:39:47.380 --> 00:39:52.639 in that process, it's not just for me personally. 00:39:54.619 --> 00:39:57.059 It's not just for you personally. See, many times 00:39:57.059 --> 00:39:59.500 as a Western thought, we think, well, this scripture 00:39:59.500 --> 00:40:02.800 is for me. It is, but that's half the, again, 00:40:02.900 --> 00:40:06.219 Western thought gives you half of the equation. 00:40:07.340 --> 00:40:10.780 The other half is, it's not just for me. It's 00:40:10.780 --> 00:40:13.980 for us. It's for the church. That's why he's 00:40:13.980 --> 00:40:16.809 writing it. He's writing it. for the community 00:40:16.809 --> 00:40:20.329 called the church so that they would know how 00:40:20.329 --> 00:40:24.789 to collectively allow the light of the Holy Spirit 00:40:24.789 --> 00:40:28.929 and the blood of Jesus to keep the body of Christ 00:40:28.929 --> 00:40:32.909 clean, not just relegate it to our own personal 00:40:32.909 --> 00:40:37.050 private deal where nobody can speak into. Oh, 00:40:37.050 --> 00:40:42.869 snap. Do you understand that that's part of the 00:40:42.869 --> 00:40:46.750 reason that people don't want to do church? It's 00:40:46.750 --> 00:40:50.050 not the fact that, oh, Dwayne and Lana were just 00:40:50.050 --> 00:40:52.550 elders in the other church or pastors and they 00:40:52.550 --> 00:40:55.250 just didn't treat me right. And I just, I mean, 00:40:55.269 --> 00:40:57.789 they wounded my inner puppy and I just haven't 00:40:57.789 --> 00:41:08.110 got over it for 25 years. No, that is not the 00:41:08.110 --> 00:41:10.869 reason. You know why? It's because most people 00:41:10.869 --> 00:41:13.389 don't want the accountability that it actually 00:41:13.389 --> 00:41:16.940 comes. The reason they don't want to be in the 00:41:16.940 --> 00:41:19.719 house of God for the purpose of God is they want 00:41:19.719 --> 00:41:22.320 to keep their relationship with Jesus private. 00:41:22.440 --> 00:41:24.840 Why? They don't want to be responsible for growth. 00:41:24.980 --> 00:41:27.079 They don't want to be responsible for serving. 00:41:27.179 --> 00:41:29.340 They don't want to be responsible for actually 00:41:29.340 --> 00:41:31.659 discipling other people and actually putting 00:41:31.659 --> 00:41:34.760 down roots and actually recognizing that their 00:41:34.760 --> 00:41:39.599 life is meant to be life giving to others. We've 00:41:39.599 --> 00:41:44.909 built, oh, come on now. Come on. Don't make me 00:41:44.909 --> 00:41:47.650 high step and get out there to you. Come on. 00:41:47.710 --> 00:41:53.369 The reality is the issue of Western thought and 00:41:53.369 --> 00:41:57.369 Western Christianity is it's what? We stop singing, 00:41:57.610 --> 00:42:00.829 it's all about you, Lord, and we change it. It's 00:42:00.829 --> 00:42:10.449 all about me. And we focused on what we want, 00:42:10.610 --> 00:42:14.230 how we want, how we want to live. And we can 00:42:14.230 --> 00:42:18.230 mark out all sorts of pages of the scripture 00:42:18.230 --> 00:42:21.030 to try to justify the fact, well, it's only really 00:42:21.030 --> 00:42:25.630 about me and heaven. No, no, no, a thousand times 00:42:25.630 --> 00:42:34.710 no. Why? My God. I feel like Joshua and he looked 00:42:34.710 --> 00:42:37.070 at the sun and said, stand still time. Hallelujah. 00:42:37.170 --> 00:42:44.360 All right. We have a thinking. That what God 00:42:44.360 --> 00:42:50.780 is building is only one dimensional. If you've 00:42:50.780 --> 00:42:52.559 been here long enough, you've heard me say this 00:42:52.559 --> 00:42:55.280 about marrying the Old Testament and the New 00:42:55.280 --> 00:42:59.260 Testament. I say it this way. The Old Testament 00:42:59.260 --> 00:43:03.900 is the blueprints of what God designed all the 00:43:03.900 --> 00:43:06.199 things that would be seed thoughts and revelation. 00:43:06.639 --> 00:43:08.860 They would be signs. They would be prophecies. 00:43:08.860 --> 00:43:11.460 They would be understandings. They would build 00:43:11.460 --> 00:43:14.579 the whole framework. That when you get into the 00:43:14.579 --> 00:43:19.599 New Testament, those blueprints would now begin 00:43:19.599 --> 00:43:22.139 to build the building. Why? Because the building 00:43:22.139 --> 00:43:25.599 wasn't according to the old. The building was 00:43:25.599 --> 00:43:28.579 according to the new. And God says, according 00:43:28.579 --> 00:43:31.860 to his scripture, he doesn't live in houses of 00:43:31.860 --> 00:43:35.719 wood and stone anymore. He now lives, what? In 00:43:35.719 --> 00:43:39.190 people. And he's called you. the living stones. 00:43:39.409 --> 00:43:42.389 So he takes all of the principles of the blueprint 00:43:42.389 --> 00:43:47.010 and he brings it to what? Inside the temple called 00:43:47.010 --> 00:43:50.989 you. And then he says, it's not just about you 00:43:50.989 --> 00:43:53.530 though. We're now living stones. Notice what 00:43:53.530 --> 00:43:56.590 he says, living stones now being fit together. 00:43:56.829 --> 00:43:59.050 Wouldn't it be, you see, Western Christianity 00:43:59.050 --> 00:44:02.889 paints the picture that you and Jesus as the 00:44:02.889 --> 00:44:08.550 cornerstone and one stone are the house. And 00:44:08.550 --> 00:44:13.250 that's just simply not true. You and Jesus are 00:44:13.250 --> 00:44:17.769 wonderful. That's your salvation. But the house 00:44:17.769 --> 00:44:23.769 is supposed to be connected to living. It's plural 00:44:23.769 --> 00:44:29.889 and it's also Pentecostal. Living stones means 00:44:29.889 --> 00:44:34.099 that God is bringing, what did he say? took down 00:44:34.099 --> 00:44:38.239 the wall of separation and I'm now bringing Jew 00:44:38.239 --> 00:44:43.179 and Gentile together and I am building a house 00:44:43.179 --> 00:44:47.260 of living stones for the dwelling of my presence. 00:44:47.559 --> 00:44:50.380 That is why it's so important that you get Christ 00:44:50.380 --> 00:44:53.679 on the inside but it's also important that you 00:44:53.679 --> 00:44:58.820 begin to join yourself to both Jew and Sven and 00:44:58.820 --> 00:45:04.119 Oli and Asa and you begin to see that God is 00:45:04.119 --> 00:45:07.380 actually looking to what? Not only take the grace 00:45:07.380 --> 00:45:09.860 of God that he dealt with you personally, but 00:45:09.860 --> 00:45:12.840 now he comes to bring his presence in a greater 00:45:12.840 --> 00:45:16.320 capacity when the stones gather together in love, 00:45:16.400 --> 00:45:19.840 in unity, and preferring one another. And the 00:45:19.840 --> 00:45:23.199 residence of God and the presence of God begins 00:45:23.199 --> 00:45:26.519 to fill the corporate house as well as the personal 00:45:26.519 --> 00:45:34.400 house. I'm preaching myself happy, and I hope 00:45:34.400 --> 00:45:37.800 you're enjoying it as well. Now, back to the 00:45:37.800 --> 00:45:44.980 chart. Okay. Now, you're saying, Pastor, we're 00:45:44.980 --> 00:45:47.659 going to get through all seven feasts? No. Okay. 00:45:48.280 --> 00:45:51.260 We're barely getting out of Passover here this 00:45:51.260 --> 00:45:55.199 morning. If you'll see the three feasts before 00:45:55.199 --> 00:45:57.480 we ever get to Pentecost, notice what he's doing. 00:45:58.079 --> 00:46:02.630 He deals with Passover. The very same day or 00:46:02.630 --> 00:46:05.110 the next day, he deals with unleavened bread, 00:46:05.289 --> 00:46:09.630 which deals with what? There is no old nature. 00:46:09.710 --> 00:46:15.250 Everything is new nature. The old nature is buried. 00:46:17.469 --> 00:46:19.730 That's the unleavened bread. We're a new lump. 00:46:21.510 --> 00:46:25.360 And then he goes first fruits. You say, well, 00:46:25.400 --> 00:46:27.159 why do we do first fruits? Well, part of it is 00:46:27.159 --> 00:46:30.340 this. It's part of the understanding of Passover. 00:46:30.639 --> 00:46:33.960 First fruits was what? I'm bringing something 00:46:33.960 --> 00:46:38.300 out of the field that has not been harvested 00:46:38.300 --> 00:46:48.639 and called mine. I'm giving the first as an offering 00:46:48.639 --> 00:46:52.179 before I ever take the field. I'm giving the 00:46:52.179 --> 00:46:54.980 first as an offering that the rest of the field 00:46:54.980 --> 00:47:00.059 would be made like the first. That's why the 00:47:00.059 --> 00:47:06.139 very first first fruit offering was done at the 00:47:06.139 --> 00:47:11.559 same time right after the end of Passover, which 00:47:11.559 --> 00:47:15.440 ended on a Sabbath. First fruit starts when? 00:47:15.480 --> 00:47:18.780 On the Sunday right after the Sabbath ended. 00:47:19.469 --> 00:47:24.510 So as soon as the Sabbath of the law ended, the 00:47:24.510 --> 00:47:29.150 first resurrection Sunday would be the celebration 00:47:29.150 --> 00:47:32.050 of first fruits. And that's what we celebrate 00:47:32.050 --> 00:47:35.630 when we celebrate, in essence, Easter is what? 00:47:35.710 --> 00:47:40.090 The death, the burial, and the raising from the 00:47:40.090 --> 00:47:43.250 dead of the Lord Jesus Christ as the first fruits. 00:47:43.369 --> 00:47:46.190 And the Bible's filled in the New Testament with 00:47:46.190 --> 00:47:49.880 what? Jesus is the first fruits. So that what 00:47:49.880 --> 00:47:52.500 follows after, and just kind of pat your neighbor 00:47:52.500 --> 00:47:55.099 on the shoulder, that means you. Come on, that 00:47:55.099 --> 00:47:59.179 means you. What follows after Jesus is you get 00:47:59.179 --> 00:48:03.440 to do exactly what he did. That death no longer 00:48:03.440 --> 00:48:06.320 will keep you. And how what God did with the 00:48:06.320 --> 00:48:10.300 first, he promises to do with the second. And 00:48:10.300 --> 00:48:14.260 in type and shadow, all in the whole, if you 00:48:14.260 --> 00:48:18.630 want to just narrow it down. all in the wholeness 00:48:18.630 --> 00:48:23.469 of Passover, unleavened and first fruit is connected 00:48:23.469 --> 00:48:27.230 under the canopy of Passover because it is saying 00:48:27.230 --> 00:48:31.250 to us, we are going to move you to the understanding 00:48:31.250 --> 00:48:35.489 of what God did for you. And then we, in the 00:48:35.489 --> 00:48:39.190 midst of that, join you to what God now wants 00:48:39.190 --> 00:48:41.869 to partner with you so that you have a solid 00:48:41.869 --> 00:48:44.750 foundation so that when you come to the next 00:48:44.750 --> 00:48:49.260 feast, you'll not only celebrate what it is naturally, 00:48:49.440 --> 00:48:52.480 but you'll be ready to partner at a deeper level. 00:48:54.199 --> 00:48:57.400 You see, when I said God builds according to 00:48:57.400 --> 00:49:01.739 the blueprint, here's what America wants. Here's 00:49:01.739 --> 00:49:06.460 what Western culture wants. I want a house that's 00:49:06.460 --> 00:49:12.039 one level, ranch style, and if I just want a 00:49:12.039 --> 00:49:15.369 house, I'll just make it bigger. and I'll just 00:49:15.369 --> 00:49:21.809 spread it out. Do you know that in every other 00:49:21.809 --> 00:49:26.610 part of the world, ranch -style houses are not 00:49:26.610 --> 00:49:32.130 the main construction element? Everything around 00:49:32.130 --> 00:49:39.489 the world is built up for people to live in multi 00:49:39.489 --> 00:49:42.909 -stories and for people to live multi -generational. 00:49:45.070 --> 00:49:47.389 Now, maybe I'm going to, Jenny, if you want to 00:49:47.389 --> 00:49:50.150 come up to the piano, I hope to drop something 00:49:50.150 --> 00:49:52.869 on you here that will help you make sense of 00:49:52.869 --> 00:49:56.170 something. We get ranch style, not that if you 00:49:56.170 --> 00:49:57.969 want a ranch style house, God bless you. I'm 00:49:57.969 --> 00:49:59.329 not saying that that's wrong. I'm not saying 00:49:59.329 --> 00:50:02.369 go sell it and buy something else. I'm telling 00:50:02.369 --> 00:50:06.030 you, don't try to put your faith like your personal 00:50:06.030 --> 00:50:12.469 home. Because God's blueprint was never to build 00:50:12.469 --> 00:50:18.849 a mindset that just enlarged your footprint of 00:50:18.849 --> 00:50:23.809 single family dwelling on one floor. You can 00:50:23.809 --> 00:50:27.269 say, well, why are you saying that? Because God 00:50:27.269 --> 00:50:31.250 is multidimensional. Meaning, now I'm not being 00:50:31.250 --> 00:50:34.550 weird here. Think about it. He is into what? 00:50:35.050 --> 00:50:40.269 He's into width, but he's also into breadth and 00:50:40.269 --> 00:50:44.360 depth and height. He wouldn't have sponsored 00:50:44.360 --> 00:50:47.320 through the apostle Paul in Ephesians through 00:50:47.320 --> 00:50:49.699 one of the greatest prayers that was ever prayed 00:50:49.699 --> 00:50:54.480 when he said, I pray that the Lord fill you in 00:50:54.480 --> 00:50:58.739 height, breadth, depth, and width with the what? 00:50:59.300 --> 00:51:03.739 Love of God. What was he looking at in you? If 00:51:03.739 --> 00:51:07.460 he knew you were the temple, he was not just 00:51:07.460 --> 00:51:10.519 saying, well, I just fill you with just the width 00:51:10.519 --> 00:51:15.119 of love. Why? Because Western Christianity, ranch 00:51:15.119 --> 00:51:20.760 style, we are a mile wide and an inch deep. That 00:51:20.760 --> 00:51:23.940 is not biblical. It's not close to biblical. 00:51:24.619 --> 00:51:29.960 Fact is, real biblical faith does what? It builds 00:51:29.960 --> 00:51:35.539 you in every dimension. You see, love can't get 00:51:35.539 --> 00:51:41.039 into you. Height, which I'm challenged on, height, 00:51:42.400 --> 00:51:45.300 depth, breadth, and then I got the width thing 00:51:45.300 --> 00:51:50.059 down, okay? Height, breadth, depth, width of 00:51:50.059 --> 00:51:53.019 the love of God. What does that mean? It means 00:51:53.019 --> 00:51:56.480 he's getting now, are you ready? He's getting 00:51:56.480 --> 00:52:01.199 now into my thinking. He's getting into my emotions. 00:52:01.460 --> 00:52:05.320 He's getting into my motivations. He's getting 00:52:05.320 --> 00:52:11.039 into the very, essence of what I value. That's 00:52:11.039 --> 00:52:14.420 why Jesus could say, it's not what goes into 00:52:14.420 --> 00:52:17.940 the man that defiles the man. It's what comes 00:52:17.940 --> 00:52:21.519 out of the man. Why? Because once it comes out, 00:52:21.579 --> 00:52:27.980 it means it's been there a long time. And that's 00:52:27.980 --> 00:52:31.760 why just ranch style in the spirit doesn't cut 00:52:31.760 --> 00:52:37.400 it. Why? There's no depth of growth. There's 00:52:37.400 --> 00:52:40.679 no depth. Why? And that's why we gravitate to 00:52:40.679 --> 00:52:43.380 Western thinking because we're not opening our 00:52:43.380 --> 00:52:46.679 heart to actually have a spiritual encounter 00:52:46.679 --> 00:52:49.920 with the Holy Spirit. We'd rather just understand 00:52:49.920 --> 00:52:52.960 the gospel with our mind than actually be vulnerable 00:52:52.960 --> 00:52:55.480 and hear what the Spirit of God is saying in 00:52:55.480 --> 00:53:02.260 addition. Are you there? Why do you think? I 00:53:02.260 --> 00:53:05.780 almost went back up on stage. Why do you think? 00:53:06.800 --> 00:53:13.099 That when God shows us the city of God at the 00:53:13.099 --> 00:53:15.780 very end of the scriptures here in Revelation 00:53:15.780 --> 00:53:21.539 chapter 21 and 22, why does he not show you a 00:53:21.539 --> 00:53:24.840 giant ranch style house coming down from heaven? 00:53:28.960 --> 00:53:33.260 You got yourself a 1400 square foot ranch baby 00:53:33.260 --> 00:53:38.449 coming down. That is your mansion, Texas edition. 00:53:40.889 --> 00:53:44.710 No, that isn't what he's doing. What's he showing 00:53:44.710 --> 00:53:50.050 you? He's showing you a city that is square. 00:53:51.269 --> 00:53:53.969 Now, is that because God is creator, all he could 00:53:53.969 --> 00:53:58.789 come up with is master cubes? Beloved, I send 00:53:58.789 --> 00:54:05.239 you the cube. No. It's he was modeling something 00:54:05.239 --> 00:54:11.059 in the cube that we miss. That heaven, its dimension 00:54:11.059 --> 00:54:18.000 of God and his people is what? Height, breadth, 00:54:18.440 --> 00:54:24.079 depth, width of all the same measurement that 00:54:24.079 --> 00:54:30.039 every aspect is full. Every aspect is deep. Every 00:54:30.039 --> 00:54:34.500 aspect is filled. It's God does not build something 00:54:34.500 --> 00:54:38.579 that just has one dimension. He builds you. That's 00:54:38.579 --> 00:54:42.260 why you're created in the image of God, body, 00:54:42.460 --> 00:54:46.679 mind, soul, and spirit. And if he's the God of 00:54:46.679 --> 00:54:50.079 wholeness, he's going to bring wholeness in every 00:54:50.079 --> 00:54:54.110 level of your personhood. And wouldn't the city 00:54:54.110 --> 00:54:57.929 of God and all of the people redeemed also live 00:54:57.929 --> 00:55:03.570 in the fullness of who he's supposed to be? That's 00:55:03.570 --> 00:55:06.590 why he wants to move you forward. Because he 00:55:06.590 --> 00:55:09.070 doesn't just want you to know the truth about 00:55:09.070 --> 00:55:12.929 salvation. He wants you to experience the truth. 00:55:13.110 --> 00:55:15.989 He wants you to live the truth. And then he's 00:55:15.989 --> 00:55:19.059 prepping you. He wants you to be filled with 00:55:19.059 --> 00:55:22.360 that truth so that you can actually release that 00:55:22.360 --> 00:55:26.239 truth wherever you go, extending the king and 00:55:26.239 --> 00:55:31.679 the kingdom. Would you bow your heads, your hearts 00:55:31.679 --> 00:55:44.300 with me? Father, this morning, Lord, I thank 00:55:44.300 --> 00:55:47.920 you for this church. And Lord, by church, I'm 00:55:47.920 --> 00:55:49.880 not talking about walls. I'm not talking about 00:55:49.880 --> 00:55:54.699 wood or stone. I'm talking about people. I'm 00:55:54.699 --> 00:55:58.739 talking about the saved people who've been redeemed 00:55:58.739 --> 00:56:02.199 by your blood, by your grace, through faith, 00:56:02.380 --> 00:56:07.139 and that have called on your name. Lord, and 00:56:07.139 --> 00:56:09.559 you heard their prayer. And as the Bible said, 00:56:09.739 --> 00:56:12.920 if they confess their sin, You will forgive them 00:56:12.920 --> 00:56:15.079 of their sin and cleanse them of all righteousness. 00:56:15.320 --> 00:56:18.400 You also said in three different places and whoever 00:56:18.400 --> 00:56:21.400 calls on the name of the Lord. That means who 00:56:21.400 --> 00:56:24.340 you are, what your purpose was and what you came 00:56:24.340 --> 00:56:28.719 to do will be saved. I thank you for those that 00:56:28.719 --> 00:56:32.599 you've redeemed in this house. Lord, as you're 00:56:32.599 --> 00:56:35.400 feeding them and as you're growing them, I'm 00:56:35.400 --> 00:56:38.239 also now coming to you and I'm praying for those 00:56:38.239 --> 00:56:44.280 that have not truly known you. on the inside. 00:56:45.320 --> 00:56:49.659 They have a mental understanding. They've been 00:56:49.659 --> 00:56:53.239 caught in the beam and the tracker beam only 00:56:53.239 --> 00:57:00.000 of rationality of the gospel. And God, the gospel 00:57:00.000 --> 00:57:04.699 does make sense to a sinner, but it's also supposed 00:57:04.699 --> 00:57:08.960 to be something that is so tied to your nature 00:57:08.960 --> 00:57:15.490 that is wonderfully glorious and spiritual. Lord, 00:57:15.490 --> 00:57:19.230 you said if Jesus would be lifted up, you would 00:57:19.230 --> 00:57:23.530 draw all men and women unto you. And so, Lord, 00:57:23.550 --> 00:57:27.130 today we have lifted you up, your purposes, your 00:57:27.130 --> 00:57:31.829 plan. And that is to encounter people, to do 00:57:31.829 --> 00:57:33.530 for them what they couldn't do for themselves, 00:57:33.869 --> 00:57:37.610 and then to draw them into partnership. And today 00:57:37.610 --> 00:57:41.429 I ask, Lord, as we open this church service now, 00:57:41.590 --> 00:57:45.480 Lord, To that place where they come to meet you. 00:57:47.079 --> 00:57:51.900 In just a few moments. I'm going to give an altar 00:57:51.900 --> 00:57:54.059 call. What that simply means is I'm going to 00:57:54.059 --> 00:57:58.760 give a request. Because the spirit of God is 00:57:58.760 --> 00:58:01.280 here. He's the one responsible for drawing people's 00:58:01.280 --> 00:58:06.219 hearts and minds to the Lord. My job is to give 00:58:06.219 --> 00:58:12.000 the message. His job is to embrace you. Forgive 00:58:12.000 --> 00:58:16.920 you. love you and begin to grow and walk with 00:58:16.920 --> 00:58:22.239 you as you walk and grow with him. So if you're 00:58:22.239 --> 00:58:25.760 here this morning and you've not asked Jesus 00:58:25.760 --> 00:58:30.199 Christ into your heart personally, into the very 00:58:30.199 --> 00:58:32.920 depths of your heart, your soul, your mind, you 00:58:32.920 --> 00:58:35.900 would say, Lord, I'm not going to trust in myself 00:58:35.900 --> 00:58:39.940 anymore. Today under this, under what I've heard 00:58:39.940 --> 00:58:44.940 today, I need you. To come and fill me. And be 00:58:44.940 --> 00:58:50.719 my King. Be my Lord. Be my Savior. Not only save 00:58:50.719 --> 00:58:54.719 me from Lord the curse of death and sin. But 00:58:54.719 --> 00:58:58.460 to bring me into fellowship with you. As Lord 00:58:58.460 --> 00:59:01.539 and friend. If that's you this morning. And you'd 00:59:01.539 --> 00:59:04.500 be willing to pray that prayer. As the Holy Spirit 00:59:04.500 --> 00:59:07.199 is here. I'm going to ask you. I don't need you 00:59:07.199 --> 00:59:09.599 to come front. But I do need you to have a response. 00:59:10.800 --> 00:59:13.269 So I'm going to ask you just. If that's you, 00:59:13.309 --> 00:59:15.550 right where you're at, just lift your hand above 00:59:15.550 --> 00:59:18.489 your head so that I can see it. And that's part 00:59:18.489 --> 00:59:21.949 of the witness and part of the response package. 00:59:22.590 --> 00:59:25.010 And as you lift your hand, I'm gonna send somebody 00:59:25.010 --> 00:59:28.110 to come and pray with you. And together, they're 00:59:28.110 --> 00:59:30.510 gonna call on the Lord together and ask Jesus 00:59:30.510 --> 00:59:33.730 to come and fill your heart and bring you under 00:59:33.730 --> 00:59:37.869 his care and his leadership and love. Is there 00:59:37.869 --> 00:59:40.730 any here that would say, that's me? I wanna accept 00:59:40.730 --> 00:59:45.070 Jesus. In totality. No longer just making him 00:59:45.070 --> 00:59:48.590 a mental image of someone that was a good teacher. 00:59:49.369 --> 00:59:52.090 But I want him to come and save me from my sin 00:59:52.090 --> 00:59:58.690 and fill my life. Make him king and Lord. Just 00:59:58.690 --> 01:00:02.530 a little bit longer. As you're hearing my voice, 01:00:02.570 --> 01:00:06.329 you say, that's me. I need the Lord on the inside. 01:00:06.369 --> 01:00:22.440 I want to know him in spirit and truth. If you 01:00:22.440 --> 01:00:25.039 would like to give, click the link in the episode 01:00:25.039 --> 01:00:28.159 description below. You can also help us by subscribing 01:00:28.159 --> 01:00:30.719 to this podcast and sharing it with your friends 01:00:30.719 --> 01:00:34.099 and family. Lastly, if you are in need of prayer, 01:00:34.239 --> 01:00:40.059 send us a text message at 541 -625 -1365. We 01:00:40.059 --> 01:00:41.239 would love to pray with you.