Podcasts about somehow god

Bible Reading: Psalm 62:5-8Natalie glanced at her phone. Twenty minutes. Twenty minutes to change and eat something before she had to leave for dance. Gotta move. She grabbed some mac and cheese and popped it into the microwave. As she bounded up the stairs, she passed her little brother Jacob sitting in time-out. Minutes later, the microwave dinged. Natalie tugged her leotard into place and pushed one more bobby pin into her bun. She rushed downstairs and retrieved her food. Stirring her mac and cheese, she glanced at Jacob sitting on the bottom step with his elbows on his knees, fists digging into his chubby cheeks. "What did you do this time, sport?" Natalie plopped beside her brother. "Yelled at Mommy." Jacob sighed. "I hate time-out."Natalie patted his back. "Mom doesn't stick you here just because you're in trouble. It's to help you settle down and get under control. Are you still mad?""No." Jacob paused. "Nat? Does sitting help you too?" Natalie paused mid-chew. Sitting still didn't happen much. Rushing to school and dance left her feeling anything but in control. "I'm too big for time-outs now," she said."You're never home." Jacob's eyes were sad. "I miss you."Natalie licked the cheese from her spoon. She loved dance company, though it meant she practically lived at the studio. What happened to family time? What happened to time with God?She looked at the shelf in the kitchen where she put her Bible. Maybe I need a time-out too. Natalie glanced at her phone. Five minutes. She squeezed Jacob, then walked over and picked up her Bible. A highlighted verse caught her attention: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Rest. Sounds great, God. Natalie remembered learning that this verse meant those who trusted in Jesus didn't have to strive to earn God's favor, because Jesus earned it for them. I need to stop and remember that more often. Remember He's in control. She took a deep breath and continued to read. Soon Mom was calling. Time for dance. Natalie checked her phone. Her five minutes were gone. Somehow God had stretched them, and she sensed His peace. She grinned and grabbed her brother's hand. "Race you to the car!"–Gayle VeitenheimerHow About You?Is your life overscheduled and busy? You need a spiritual time-out. Not because you're in trouble, but to build your relationship with God and get strength and wisdom to navigate the road ahead. Make sure you leave time in your busy schedule to pray, read your Bible, and worship with other Christians. Stop the frenzy for a moment and take a time-out with Jesus.Today's Key Verse:Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. (NIV) (Matthew 11:28)Today's Key Thought:Take a time-out with God

“Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God” (Ps 90: 1 – 2),My brain can't get a grasp of what “everlasting to everlasting” means. People talk about eternity past and eternity future, but I find it impossible to imagine. All I know is that his infinity is one of the many ways God is vastly superior to me. To us. “From everlasting”. Was there a beginning to God? The Scriptures don't allow us to believe that. Somehow God has always been and always will be. And over that seemingly impossible span of time, he has always been in charge. He has always been God. He will always be God. Before the mountains were born, before our planet spun on its axis, he has been the sovereign God. When people were created, he invited them to dwell with him. Even though many rejected the call, he held out his hand. Today, The Lord still holds out his hand.  Later, in Psalm 90 we read:“Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Ps 90: 12)This is a stark reminder of the brevity of life on earth. God may be everlasting, but we are not here forever. Our souls will live on, but what will we do with the limited time we have before we die? Will we live intentionally, making the most of our time, loving God, and doing his will, or will we waste the opportunities set before us? Will we “number our days” -that is, put them to good use?All human beings, like you and I have a paradoxical existence. We are temporal and we are eternal. We are not from everlasting, but eternity is laid out in before us. Faith in Christ will lead us to the dwelling place of God, but will we still number our days? Will we take seriously every minute, every day? Will we do everything we can to further his kingdom? Will we love the lost and feed the hungry? Will we carry out his will?The psalmist (this is a prayer of Moses) believes that we will gain hearts of wisdom if we number our days. A finite life on earth lived with purpose, under the sovereignty of God, will feed the fertile soil where wisdom wants to grow. Peter encouraged us to live with purpose, “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ… make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1: 5 – 11). 

It was Fall, and my wife and I were making our annual pilgrimage to go "Falling" in northwest New Jersey. We had our cider, we had our donuts and we saw the great autumn art show. We had kinda strolled along looking at everything and now we were in a hurry to get home. I wasn't happy when I came over the hill and saw bumper-to-bumper. I was forced to do something I can't ever remember doing on that little country highway. Drive slow! But it turned out that I did not drum my fingers on the steering wheel once or even wish I could go faster. For the first time, I noticed this beautiful little lake I had never seen before with the colorful trees all reflected in it. I saw animals and panoramas that I had missed all these years of traveling this road. Oh, they'd always been there, but I was always moving too fast. I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Why God Slows You Down." Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Psalm 46:10 - "Be still and know that I am God." Well, those things really go together. "Be still," and then while you're still you'll "know that I am God." It could be that God has been trying to get you to realize that He is God - for most of your life. And once you do, your life takes on a peace and a beauty and a purpose you've probably never thought possible. You might finally be ready for some of that. I had missed so much all those years on that country road because I'd always been in such a hurry. You know, people miss a relationship with their Creator the same way. The sad thing is that this is the relationship you've been looking for all your life; the one you've hoped every other person in your life would be for you and they couldn't. The Bible says, speaking of Jesus in Colossians 1:16, "All things were made by Him and for Him." Well, that includes you and me. He's the one you were made by; He's the one you were made for, and it could be you've missed Him all these years. That's why the hole in your heart never goes away. We're traveling at high speed, high stress, high impact, and low fulfillment. Maybe God's suddenly slowed you down, just like I was slowed down that day in the country, so I could see what I'd never seen before. Maybe He slowed you down with a change in your health, or your job, or your finances, or your marriage, or one of your children. Somehow God's forced you to hit the brakes, and He's saying, "Would you be still and know that I am God." Don't miss this incredible opportunity to finally find what you've been looking for your whole life. The first step to experiencing God for yourself is realizing that you're not God in a sense of being boss of your own life. Most of us approach life like this, "God, I've got this idea. Why don't you run the universe and I'll run me, thank you." The Bible has a word for that - sin. And it makes it clear, "The soul that sins, it will die." We will never know God until we have faced the seriousness of us trying to be our own God. And then you've got to get rid of the sin that has separated you from your Creator. And it will separate you for all eternity if it's not removed somehow. That can only be done by One person; the One of whom the Bible says, "God demonstrated His love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." The view God has slowed you down to see is the cross where His Son, Jesus Christ, died to make your peace with God possible. Maybe you've sped by it your whole life. This is your day to stop and see that it was for you. Haven't you lived long enough without the relationship you were made for? Let this be the day you begin your personal relationship with the man who loved you enough to die for you and was powerful enough to walk out of His grave and is ready to walk into your life today. Tell Him, "Jesus, I'm yours." Listen, if you are at that point and you want to get started with Jesus, that's why our website is there. I would invite you to meet us at ANewStory.com. I think you'll find, there, what you need to know to be sure you belong to Him. After years of running so fast, He's slowed you down so you can know His love and know His peace. Please, don't drive by Him again.

Who defines good? Us or God? In this sermon series “Somehow God is Good,” we will examine our definition of good and what the Scriptures teach us about God's version of good. Throughout this sermon, Pastor Dave focuses on Romans 8:28 according to our feelings and Scripture. When feelings become our determiner of truth, we are asking to be deceived. But when all of Scripture is our lens, good is determined by the one promising it, not receiving it. 

Shannon Bishop shares a message on the power of the Bible. Somehow God through the Holy Spirit illuminates the words and brings them into our life. When this happens, we are never the same.Enjoy this message? Consider visiting Ravenna Church of the Nazarene where Pastor Jason is serving as the Senior Pastor. Have a prayer need? Want to share something with Pastor Jason? Send a written message or leave a voicemail here. Help spread the gospel through this podcast by subscribing, leaving a review, and sharing this episode.

Slideshow for this message is available Introduction Luke 2-3 Merry Christmas, Church. Merry Christmas kids! It's so good to see you all this morning. If you've been with us the last couple of weeks, you know we've been talking about this command issued three times in the Christmas Story: do not fear. The command was given to Mary. It was given to Joseph and it was given the shepherds. We noticed that every time the command was given to not fear a reason to not fear was given with it. We built on that last week. We said in order for those reasons to be effective in reducing fear, those reasons have to believed. You must have faith in the reasons presented. So Last week we looked at the fact that faith in the promises of God and fearless living are closely connected. But we never really stopped to ask the question, “Why were they afraid? What were the characters in the Christmas afraid of?” Here's the answer: they were afraid of God! Why were they afraid of God? Well, it's not that hard to imagine it. You see the characters in the Christmas story were much like us. They loved God. They worshiped God. They had a relationship with God of sorts. But, in a very real sense, God was distant. He was far off. I am here in flesh and blood and God is out there somewhere. But in the Christmas story all of the sudden, God is with us. All of the sudden, Immanuel. All of the sudden, he's not far off. He shatters the peace and his presence is powerful and immediate. Somehow God takes on flesh and bone. The fear in the Christmas story is a fear of God because suddenly he was near. So we are going to look this morning at the shepherds because here's an example of some men who truly trembled in fear of the Lord. They hit the dirt. But ironically, it was their experience of great fear that allowed them to not fear. It was the fear of Jesus as Lord that gave them peace with God. So let's read this very familiar story. Luke 2 begins with the account of the census issues by Quirinius. We are told of the birth of Jesus happened in Bethlehem. And then the narrative continues like this: Now when you read that verse, it's so tranquil. I think of flickering candle lights and nativity scenes. I think of Christmas pageants and cute kids in bathrobes. I think of Charlie Brown. I mean it's such a peaceful setting. It's nostalgic. But this is not a passage about tranquility. This is a passage about terror. Have you ever been really afraid? Have you ever thought you were about to die. I've had several moments in my life when my life flashed before my eyes. I'm tempted to tell you a story here, but my dad attends these services and I don't want to get in trouble. If you've had an experience like that you think to yourself, "This is it. I'm a goner. There's no escape from this situation. That's the sort of thing that's going on here. They are just expecting to get squashed like a bug. This is how it's all going to end. Now pause this event. Rewind things 10 second before this bone-rattling fear seizes them. What would you see? It is all contained here in a single word. It was NIGHT. Here the shepherds are, watching their flocks by NIGHT. It's pitch black. There is no electric lights. It's NIGHT. It's DARK. Now what is darkness? Darkness is not actually a thing. Let me give you some examples of what I mean by this. The vacuum of deep space is not a thing. A vacuum is just the absence of air. So a vacuum is just nothingness. Neither is Cold a thing. Cold is simply the absence of Heat. Cold is just what happens when you take away the heat. And in the exact same way, darkness is not a thing. Darkness is just the absence of light. Darkness is what you are left with when you take away light. The text begins that these shepherds were living in DARKNESS. Physically, of course they were in the dark. But as we are going to see, over and over again, the Bible uses this as a metaphor for our spiritual condition. Spiritually speaking, without the Lord, we are living in the dark. Darkness is frigid, miserable and chilling because it's just the absence of all good things. It's the absence of light and the subsequent warmth that comes from it. Spiritually speaking, without the Lord, we are living in darkness. We grope in darkness looking for something to give us bearings. Now watch this narrative unfold. Watch. The vaccuum of dark, cold spiritual emptiness is flooded with LIGHT. Let's watch this explosion happen. Here the shepherds were, MINDING THEIR OWN BUSINESS. The reason the shepherds go from total tranquility to abject terror, the reason they go from chewing on a grass in boredom to peeing their pants in fear is because of this soul-penetrating change from darkness into light. There's this revelation from the heavens. Whenever God appears, it's always associated with light. Paul on his way to Damascus was struck down and blinded by a great light when Jesus met him. Moses when he came down from Sinai was glowing because of his exposure to such brilliant light. So the shepherds go from darkness into light. That seems like great news. Who wouldn't want that? But going into the light isn't always a good thing. Sometimes darkness can be a blessing. I remember when my kids were little, I used to joke with them. “Hey, watch me do rapid quick clean of our house. Watch me clean the house in one second.” And then I'd turn off the light. Presto. You can't see . And that's when the dad jokes began. And I've been on a roll ever since. I've got an entire dadabase of them. So darkness hides the filth. Light is bad news to people with filthy homes. If you want to become horrified at just how dirty your house really is, break out a 10,000 lumen flashlight and shine it on a surface you thought was clean. Suddenly you will see how much grime and filth was hidden by poor lighting. The paradox of light is that it both solves and creates a problem at the same time. It solves the problem of not being able to see. Oh, that's wonderful. I've been groping in the darkness for years. I've wanted nothing more than to be able to see. Hallelujah, problem solved, I can see! But the seeing, itself, creates a problem. In fact the problem it creates is far worse than the problem it solves. Going from darkness into light, biblically speaking is going from the frying pan into the fire. Spiritually, speaking, what the light reveals is terrifying. The old KJV says, And an angel of the Lord appeared and they were SORE AFRAID. I love that translation. They were so afraid it hurt. It makes me think of the emotion of fear as a muscle that was contracting so violently that afterwards they were just sore. The way it reads in the Greek is interesting. The Greek word for fear is phobos. We get our English word phobia from that. And this passage in the original Greek literally says they were phobeo phobos. They weren't just phobos; they were phobeo phobos. Literally it says, “When the glory of the Lord came upon them, they feared with a great fear.” The glory light of Christmas is not soothing; it's startling because of what it REVEALS. It's terrifying. What are men always scared of when God appears? They are scared of judgment. And they should be. The light reveals their sin. They feel naked. They feel exposed. Light has never reached that part of their life. They thought they had that stuff on lock down. They thought it was hidden and they got away with it. Sin is always done in the dark. In secret. Someone who is spending money the way they shouldn't tries to make the paper trail disappear. They purchase in cash. They throw away the receipt. They lie. They are trying to find cover in darkness. Someone who is looking at sinful internet content they do it at a time when nobody is around. Where do they do their looking? In a place where nobody else can see. They delete their history. They cover their tracks so that what is done in the dark cannot be brought out into the light. Darkness is a sinners friend. But then Jesus Christ comes along and says, “I am the light of the world.” Imagine all the sin you've ever done, brought out into the full exposure of the light of the flawless beauty of Jesus Christ. Imagine having to watch a video of your most shameful failures sitting next to Jesus. Fear is always man's response when he is confronted with the light of God's presence. Always. Think about the Bibles examples Isaiah. Here he has a vision of Christ in the temple. Immediately he is conscious of moral inferiority. Immediately. And he said: Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts! I'm going to be consumed. That's always man's problem when the glory of God appears. When Job got near God he said, “I despise myself. I see myself, and I repent in dust and ashes.” When Peter got near Jesus, he said, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man.” That's why these shepherds shake with fear. The angel, of course, knows that what's going on in their minds and hearts and so his first words are words of comfort. Don't fear, your not dying of judgment. The angel is no dummy. He's seen this a thousand times. Every time mortal men get in contact with the divine, every time the light falls, they tremble like dead men. It happened with Isaiah, Moses, Ezekiel, Paul. These humans….sheesh. They can't stay on their feet. The point in the Christmas passage here shows us that human beings live in fear of a near God. And if you don't feel it now, well, just wait until he appears. Wait for your immanuel event. You'll be terrified. Just wait till you get close to God, the fear that has always been there becomes revealed. Imagine an old bridge. That bridge might have all sorts of cracks and stress fractures. And cars drive across it all day long and there's no problem. But then along comes a huge semi loaded down with 80 pound bags of concrete. And that semi drives across and suddenly the bridge explodes into pieces. The weakness was always; it wasn't exposed until the pressure was applied. In the same way, the Bible says we all live in fear of God. It's only when we get near to God and near to his truth that the fear is revealed. But we don't have to be afraid. There's a way to change fear into peace. The angel sees their condition and says, “Fear not.” And then he gives the reason not to fear. I have something to show you that will cause you to not fear. He says, “Behold! Which means,”Look at this!" He's grabbing our attention. Don't fear, look at this. I bring you good tidings of great joy. You want to know what that phrase good tidings means in the original languages? It's the Greek word euangelion. It's the word gospel. Don't be afraid because I'm bringing you the gospel. The angel says, "I know you're afraid. All human beings are afraid when they get into the light of God's truth. Of course. But you don't have to be afraid if you behold what I'm about to tell you, if you look at the truth I'm about to give you. There's a gospel of joy that can rescue you from the terror you are experiencing. That's the entire point of the Christmas story. But how can that be? How can we have peace with God when the very presence of God is reveals our sin in all its shameful 4k detail? How can the mortifying, treachery of our sin be openly replayed in the presence of the holy God of the universe, and yet we can exist in that light without fear. How is that possible? What, pray tell, is it that we need to behold? What is the thing we need to look at? What is the good news in the face of our terror? Listen, that's the news. A SAVIOR is born who is Christ the Lord. The Savior SAVES us from that fear. How does he do that? Listen, do you know where the word fear first occurs in the Bible? It's in the garden with Adam and Eve. It's in association with the first sin. When you read the story of Adam and Eve in the garden, it's the only example we have of humans walking with God in the brilliant light of his glory and being totally and completely at peace. They have no fear. They have ZERO anxiety. They are perfectly relaxed. It's perfectly normal. It's just bliss and joy to stand in the presence of this divine supernova of white hot, glory. Just completely relaxed. They are just soaking it in like a beautiful sunset. We are told they walked with God in the cool of the day. Just going on a stroll with the creator of all things like it's not big deal. Being with God was the thing they wanted most because they just loved staring at his beautiful light. It's the only example in the Bible we have of this. But then we are told that sin enters. Rather than obey God's path for joy, they decided a path for themselves. On that day, when they decided to do that, everything changed. Everything. That next day, when the glory of God came upon them, when the light approached them, like it did every other day, guess what? They were SORE AFRAID. They hit the dirt. They ran. They jumped in the bushes to hide. They wanted darkness. Adam, where are you? Adam, like an innocent child says, “I'm hiding from you.” Why? Why are you hiding from me? What was his answer? I'm afraid. I'm SORE afraid. I have shame. I can't let you know what I've done. I'm too ashamed. I'm too scared. I'm terrified. I'm embarrassed. I'm mortified. I'm shivering with terror at thought of you knowing what I've done. I cannot come into the light. He hides his nakedness. He feels vulnerable, and he jumps it in the bushes. He is SORE AFRAID. And it's been that way from then until now. That's why we are all so filled with fear. That's why we are hiding. That's why we are wrapping ourselves up with things that try to make us feel safe. We want great careers so people will look at our accomplishments and accept us based on what they SEE. We want to have impresses houses, cars, family, money so that we can be accepted based on what they SEE. We want people to look at how sweet we are, how kind we are to others, how moral and loving we are and we want to be accepted based on our external presentations of kindness. We want to look beautiful on the outside so we can be accepted based on what they SEE We want so badly to be SEEN and accepted. That's what we wrap ourselves in. These are just bushes and fig leaves we are using to cover our nakedness. The problem is, and we know it, we are naked. There's shame. There's so much of our hearts that are hidden. We are terrified of dragging that stuff into the light. No not that. Put that stuff on lock down. If that gets out, then for sure, I won't be accepted. And that's why God is so terrifying. He is the light. Nothing is hidden that will not be revealed. Romans 2 What's your secret. What's the thing that nobody knows and you would die 10,000 deaths for it to be known. That's why, beneath the surface for all of us, there is a lot of anxiety. There's anxiety that we will lose our fig leaves and then we will discovered for who we really are and we will be rejected. You want to know what this fear is called? In psychology, this fear is called the imposter syndrome. It's the fear that even though you look competent, you really aren't and you are deathly afraid somebody is going to find you out. When will somebody find out you really aren't any good at this? When will somebody look inside and see what you're really like? I've got to keep performing to keep up the illusion. Some of us are afraid to get close to people because we're afraid, "If they knew what I was really like, then I'm going to be rejected. I'm so tired of rejection, I can't handle it. Keep people at an arms distance. It's fig leaves. The Good News But there's a better way. We don't have to actually be afraid. There's a way for all that to come out into the light and not be afraid. Christmas is the reason we don't have to fear anymore. Why? I bring you good news of great joy, today in the city of David a Savior is born who is Christ the Lord. A Savior is here to reveal what is in the darkness and then save you from the shame of what that light reveals. God as Savior wants to restore that GARDEN RELATIONSHIP. He wants to save you so you can once again be restored back into walking in the cool of the day, totally relaxed, just enjoying God without fear. And the only way to do that is to remove the guilt. To remove the shame. To wash away your sins. To remove them as far as the east is from the west. He doesn't turn off the light. He turns on all the lights and says, let me enter in and clean this up. You see until that happens you can never be free of fear. Let me give you an analogy. Let's say you get a bill in the mail for a credit card you own. And that credit is maxed out. And you have no money to pay it. What can you do about that problem? Well, one of the things you could do is just tear up the bill. That kind of feels like you are making it go away. You don't have to look at it anymore. But deep down you know it's there. You know there's a debt that needs to be paid. You know that tearing it up is just kicking the can down the road. You know that by tearing that up, sure you've bought yourself some time, but the interest is growing. You see, by hiding our sin and living in darkness we can never be at peace. Because you are always wondering, “What's going to happen when people find out who I really am.” We just tearing up bills. In order to have peace with God and peace with man, we have to pay bill. We have to reconcile the debt. Payment needs to be made. And that is what Jesus Christ, the Son of God has done for us. We didn't have the money to pay, otherwise we would have. But we have no way to pay. But Jesus did. But believe me, it was costly. In order to pay our debt he had to live a perfect life and die a death for us, in our place, taking the punishment we deserved, doing the good deeds we needed to do, so that if we receive him as our Savior, all of his work would be credited to us, all of his work is transferred to us, and God accepts us for his sake. You want to know what a Savior does. He doesn't ignore what the light reveals. He fixes it. He cleans it. He pays off the spiritual credit card debt at the cost of his own life. We are all afraid of rejection; we are afraid somebody will look inside and see what's really there and we will no longer be loved. We are so used to this experience. But listen, friend, there's some really good Christmas news here. God has already looked down and seen your deepest secrets and way more. You think you've seen the worst. You haven't seen anything yet. He knows not only all you have done but all you will do. And you know what? He says, “I see that. I see it in all it's horror. I'm rolling my sleeves up to fix it. I'm going to give my life so you can have life. So that you can be free of that guilt. So that we can walk in the garden again.” I want you to walk in the garden with me again. The terror of the Lord leads these shepherd to worship in awe of the Lord - to worship the Savior who is the Lord. We know that we ought to be consumed and then we watch as he is consumed in our place and we fall on our faces in worship. It causes us to explode in worship. 2 Corinthians 4 To know that we can be seen and loved by God causes us to worship him. It causes us to glorify him! We sing with the angels, glory to God in the highest. What does it mean to glorify God? Think about glorious music. What is glorious music like? Glorious music is the kind of music that makes your soul boil over. Do you know what I'm saying? You can't really tell somebody else. You can't walk down a street and say, “Here, let me explain to you why this music is so great.” It doesn't seem to come, does it?" Why because it's too large to be contained in mere words. Because that glorious thing is something that overflows the boundaries of words. It's above. It's beyond. To interact with the glory of God is to experience his immeasurable weight and significance. God has seen it all, and he says, “If you receive my Son as your Savior and Lord, you are forgiven. I love you and I accept you.” Can we all just stop and behold the message: Jesus Christ is born a Savior who is Christ the Lord. They were sore afraid, and we're sore with our afraid, but the angel says, “Fear not. Get up. For, behold, the gospel of joy.” Let's pray.

Gifts of Christmas4. Gold: The Gift of a King Dan Bidwell, Senior Pastor Christmas Week 2022 All this December we have been thinking about the gifts of Christmas. It got me thinking about some of the best gifts Ive received over the years.- Walkie talkies- Skateboards- Body boards (Christmas is in summertime in Australia, and we lived near the beach!) In fact lots of surf wear, swimsuits, towels, snorkels, fins etc. Water babies! My kids are 20 and 18 now, and of course Christmas gifts change as kids get older. The value of the gifts goes up, and usually were told what to buy (and what not to buy). I love the idea of surprising the kids, or my wife, with an outrageous gift. Have you seen those holiday ads from car dealers, the ones where a couple will surprise one another with a brand new car, without ever telling the other person. Has anybody ever had that happen to them? Perhaps my most valuable Christmas gift ever was finding out that my wife, Joanna, was pregnant with our first child. Such an exciting Christmas gift! Jo remembers the gift of morning sickness As I said, all through December weve been thinking about the Gifts of Christmas, particularly the gift that the wise men brought to the baby Jesus. Gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Gifts that were of great value. But also gifts that had spiritual significance. They each point to a deeper truth about Jesus which would be revealed as he grew from Jesus the baby into Jesus the savior. And today we come to our last gift the gift of Gold. So why dont we ask God to speak to us and teach us as we open the Bible over the next few minutes. Heavenly Father, as we open your Bible today/tonight, will you teach us about who Jesus is? Will you reveal him to us, as you revealed him to the wise men on that first Christmas? Will you show us Jesus the king, and will you help us to respond to him in worship? We pray this in Jesus mighty name. Amen 1. Revealing The King As you may have guessed, I was not born in the US. I was born in Australia, and one of the stranger things about Australia is that we still belong to the British Commonwealth. So we still technically have the King of England as our head of state. (Feels strange to say The King after saying The Queen all my life!). One of the big questions as the Queen got older and older was, who would become the next King of England? Prince Charles was always the number 1 in line for the throne, but some people wondered if he would accept the role. Next in line is Prince William, who for a long time was one of the most eligible bachelors on the planet. When I became a school teacher in 1998, Prince Wills (as he was known) was 18, and I remember the girls hoping they would meet him and fall in love and marry a prince (because thats the dream, right?). Its also a regular theme in Christmas Hallmark movies  Why the lesson about the British royal family? This year with the passing of the Queen, a new king was revealed King Charles III. And the coronation was this spectacle to behold uniforms and pageantry and ceremony and horses and chariots and crowds of people lining the streets, as the new King took the throne. Because thats what we expect when the new king is revealed. And thats why the story of Jesus birth is so unusual, so unexpected, so unceremonious. Rather than a royal birth in a palace, surrounded by attendants and servants, instead Jesus is born in a stable, surrounded by animals. In fact it probably wasnt even a stable or a barn, but a cave where the animals sheltered. Jesus wasnt dressed in royal robes and laid in an ornate cradle instead he was wrapped in strips of cloth and laid in a manger, a feeding trough for cattle and donkeys. There was nothing to say that this birth was special if anything it looks the opposite. A desperate young mother and her husband with no family support, maybe because theyd heard that the baby wasnt Josephs. I suspect thats what the scene looked like to the innkeeper who let them stay in his barn. But thats not how God saw the birth of Jesus. He sends a legion of angels who fill the skies, singing Glory To God in the Highest. He places a star in the sky over Bethlehem, a sign to those who recognize it, a neon light to say here is the king! Its funny who recognized the star, and what it meant. Gods people had been waiting for hundreds of years for their king to be born. The one we read about in Isaiahs prophecy from 700 years before: 6 For a child is born to us, a son is given to us.The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called:Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.Isaiah 9:6 (NLT) (BTW did you know if you go to In N Out burger, and you look under the bottom of the soda cups, this verse reference is written there Isaiah 9:6!!) Gods people were waiting for this Prince. But even those who studied the Scriptures faithfully didnt recognize what was happening in Bethlehem. Probably because it didnt look like what they thought it would look like. They wanted a royal birth, and a royal announcement, and a royal family, and instead Jesus was born to a carpenter and his virgin bride But the Wise Men, they recognized what was happening. I said a few weeks ago that we dont know much about the wise men. They were from the east, probably Persia, certainly from a different religious background than Jesus we believe they were astrologers who worshiped the stars as well as studied them. But from hundreds of miles away, from a different culture, from a different religion, they followed the star and came to understand that it revealed the birth of a king. When Jesus was born in the village of Bethlehem in Judea, Herod was king. During this time some wise men from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and said, Where is the child born to be king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him. Matthew 2:1-2 (CEV I love the wise men. Because they remind me that you dont have to grow up with a Christian background to be able to see the truth about Jesus. Somehow God made it clear to them that Jesus is very special. Dont be fooled by the manger. Dont be fooled by the humble circumstances. Jesus is quite extraordinary. He is a king like no other. So what should you do when you meet the king? 2. Responding to the King A few years ago back in Sydney, I took the family to the Broadway musical of The Lion King. Who has seen it? Ill never forget the opening scene. Its sunrise on the African savannah and as the light slowly fills the room, animals appear on stage (well, actors dressed in animal costumes). There are bird puppets flying overhead inside the theater, and then giraffes walk down through the audience onto stage actors on stilts standing 15 feet tall. I actually got a bit emotional when we saw it, because it is so visually overwhelming But then the focus switches to Pride Rock, where the baby lion Simba is revealed, the baby who will one day become king. And thats when the iconic scene happens - Rafiki the baboon holds Simba up, presenting him to all the animals. (Sing?) All the animals hoot and holler and then one by one, they bend their knees, and kneel down to honor their future king Thats what the Wise Men did to Jesus. Did you see it there in Matthew 2:2? They asked: Where is the child born to be king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.. And this is where our third gift comes in. Gold. Gold is a gift fit for a king. And even though Jesus is born in a manger, the Wise Men recognize him for who he is. A King who deserves our worship. A King who deserves our best. A King who deserves our honor and our praise and our allegiance. Look at what God says about Jesus. (Turn to the back page of your handout) In Ephesians 2, it says this about Jesus: 21 Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything elsenot only in this world but also in the world to come. 22 God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things Ephesians 1:21-22 (NLT) If you believe what the Bible says about Jesus, he is not some historical figure from 2000 years ago. One day Jesus will be revealed as the King over every other power and authority in the universe. Far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else. Not only in this world, bit the world to come. Because God has put all things under the authority of Christ. Make no mistake. One day we will all see Jesus revealed like this. The King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. In majesty and power and authority. Not a Christmas tradition, but the living and reigning ruler of all. The ruler of you, and me. And on that day, something else will be revealed. Where you stand with the King. Or more to the point, whether you have bowed down before the King. Whether you have worshiped him. Whether you have given him your best Philippians 2:9-10 says: Then God gave Christ the highest placeand honored his name above all others.10 So at the name of Jesus everyone will bow down,those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. Philippians 2:9-10 (CEV) I love Christmas, and I love the decorating and the gifts, and the family traditions. But dont let that get in the way of the real reason for celebrating this year. Jesus, the King has been born. Jesus, who brings forgiveness, and healing into our lives. Jesus who brings the end of hostility between us and God. Jesus who makes an end to suffering and death. Jesus who can bring us into eternal life and happiness. That is the gift in the manger. The gold of Christmas is Jesus the King. And he deserves your worship. Your very best. Not just in the holiday season, but every day. I know we already sung O Holy Night, but I just love that line: Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices. This Christmas, will you fall on your knees for Jesus? Will you worship him and honor him with all that you are and all that you have? Shall we pray?

Somehow God connects "fear," human fear, with Him doing His wonders. It must be that, sometimes, when God manifests Himself in wonderous ways, it becomes fearful to the observers. There must be some Biblical examples of that. Today, we'll track down some illustrations and examples of that and follow the progression as we study Fear, Faith and Astonishment on The Sword of the Spirit Podcast. To help support this ministry with a one time contribution: https://waygiver.com/campaigns/2055

Somehow God connects "fear," human fear, with Him doing His wonders. It must be that, sometimes, when God manifests Himself in wonderous ways, it becomes fearful to the observers. There must be some Biblical examples of that. Today, we'll track down some illustrations and examples of that and follow the progression as we study Fear, Faith and Astonishment on The Sword of the Spirit Podcast. To help support this ministry with a one time contribution: https://waygiver.com/campaigns/2055 --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/contra-radio-network/support

Did you know the words “The Trinity” are nowhere in Scripture? You can search from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single place where Moses, David, Job, Paul, or any other author says “The Trinity.” But what you will find is that the Trinity is everywhere in Scripture. From the very beginning, God in Genesis 1:26 says, “Let us make man in our image”… Somehow God refers to himself as an US. Plural. This week, for SFC's AMA Series, we welcomed back Pastor Jim Howard to attempt to answer: How in the world can God be Father, Son, and Spirit simultaneously? As you'll hear, no one can grasp this. How God is one and three is a grand mystery that we will never fully be able to understand. But what we can do is understand why God being one and three is integral for our faith. And a sweet, sweet gift to us who know him. Visit our website at wearesfc.org Check us out on Instagram @sfcinternational Like us on Facebook at Snowboarders & Skiers for Christ Support this podcast by giving to SFC at wearesfc.org/donate

In this week's sermon we look at how God's Kingdom is built on Generosity and how it utterly conflicts with our world's economy of Scarcity and Poverty. Somehow God is able to provide for all because everything that He does is an act of generosity that we cannot fully explain. You don't have to be scared of God's ability to provide, He can do it. You don't have to always provide for yourself, He will care for you. You don't have to fight for whats yours, He already has it. God can and will provide!

In this week's sermon we look at how God's Kingdom is built on Generosity and how it utterly conflicts with our world's economy of Scarcity and Poverty. Somehow God is able to provide for all because everything that He does is an act of generosity that we cannot fully explain. You don't have to be scared of God's ability to provide, He can do it. You don't have to always provide for yourself, He will care for you. You don't have to fight for whats yours, He already has it. God can and will provide!

1 (15s): one with your hidden . 1 (4m 36s): Now what a beautiful name. It is. What a beautiful name. beautiful name. 1 (5m 7s): . 1 (11m 38s): We can hear them. 2 (13m 6s): You. Jesus. Thank you Jesus. For your presence. God, we thank you for your power. We love you Jesus, in your precious. 3 (13m 21s): All right, you can go ahead and be seated. No better place to be than the presence of God and God's people. So I mentioned earlier that pastor Steve is down in Santa Barbara, helping out with Don Gaynor's Memorial service. And so we do have a guest speaker this morning, Mike and Jan Sparrow. They've been friends of ours since the mid eighties. I think so our kids and Steve and Jolene's kids and Mike and Jan's kids, they all kind of all went to school together at coastal Christian school. So we've known them for many, many years. 3 (14m 2s): And also Mike has served as pastor of a GABA church in San Louis for many decades. He'll tell you all about that, but Mike is going to be sharing God's word with us this morning. And so Perry, you want to go ahead and bring the podium up front. And so let's give a warm welcome to pastor Mike Sparrow. 4 (14m 23s): And there we go. Test. I am. I got your stuff. I'm using it for a second. Thank you. Good morning, everybody. Good to be with you. Good to see you all see some familiar faces. And I was here, I don't know, several months ago and Steve actually invited me back. So Hey, something must have went, right? Maybe. I don't know, but it's good to be with you. I also have a twin and a, not quite like this and his name is pat Sparrow and because it was Halloween, I was tempted to open today with a slide of pat and I. This was a long time ago, 45 years ago. Actually it was the Halloween before we received Christ. Pat was dressed like a nun and I was dressed like a devil. 4 (15m 4s): Then we were dancing. And, and if you saw that picture, you'd say those two guys need to get saved and I'm, and I'm sure glad we did. It was, it was the Lord totally working on us in us. And so here we are, I, I got some things in my heart, Steve, when he asked me to speak, it was several months ago, he started setting up this date and he said, Hey, would you want to speak on that day? And I asked him, what do you want me to speak about? And he says, I don't know, whatever's on your heart. And so there's been lots of things on my heart because the season the church is in and what's going on with the big church, the big C church. And I am a regional director for our association. So I get to travel something as COVID opens up, talking to pastors all the time, I'm also helping to coordinate the pastors fellowship in San Louis. 4 (15m 52s): So I keep a tab on what's going on in churches and in the body of Christ at large. And so there's been a few things that just been stirring in me that I'm hoping to share today and that you'll you'll catch it, that you'll, you'll see it. And you'll begin to pray into it and the impact you and it'll impact your church here. Likewise, last time I was here, I talked a little about family care network. I'm a liaison for them helping to recruit foster kids where we can be. When I speak, I tell them I'll put a plug in for family care network where I can, and then I need right now because of COVID, there's a big need for re rescue homes or the emergency shelter homes. 4 (16m 37s): Sometimes the middle of the night for various reasons, the police are called the authorities come and that children need to be removed from their home sometimes at short term and as they get family or others, or the situation gets revolt, resolve to put the child back in the home. And so there's a great need for that. We had a 16 year old gal Spanish-speaking only a few weeks ago. Crises came into her house, a single mom, single parent situation. And for cause there was no homes for three days. She stayed in the offices with social workers. And that, that shouldn't be, there's a strong community here. We love families. We want to see families prosper. 4 (17m 17s): Amen. We want to see families be healthy. And most of them are children in our community. And they've had about 60 of them had to go out of the community recently because partially because of COVID parents have kids coming back from college, they're not staying on campus. They moved back in the house. Also. Sometimes there's a concern in the house for people coming and going. There's there's many reasons, but if you have a heart for that, or just want more information about that, we'll be at a table outside and just can fill you in. I know it's a calling. I can't persuade you to do that. And it's nothing that you can, you know, it, it's gotta be something that God puts in here. And every time I've presented it, there's been people that have come up to, God's been dealing with me about that for a long time. 4 (18m 2s): So if that might be you come see us at the table out there is that okay? Well, it's exciting to see, you know, hanging out with Steve, your new plans for the worship center, seeing that things are moving here and, and growing and getting back on track. And we find that in different places that even at our church at God bay, I'm no longer lead pastor, but I'm there probably half time. And I'm still speak once in a while. They're involved in ministry that this, this season we've been in is coming to a close in Jesus name. Amen. And, and yet you see people's hearts. You see some were saying where's so-and-so or where's this family, or where's this group of people. And, and we're, we're asking those questions and then talking to some people, I just seen their, their hearts disengage. 4 (18m 48s): They've just pulled back sometimes offense sometimes because this season we're in how many know it's a time of offense, things over politics, things, things around COVID mass, no mass, all the stuff that's been in the culture the last 18 months, two years has, has brought some division and divided the church. So people's hearts, I've met some, their hearts have grown called you probably never have right pastor. No. Okay. No comment. I'll take that as a yes. And so this is, so he asked me, what do I want to share on? And we, our last song was about it. That God, you would bring a revival that you would bring a renewing that you bring a refreshing. 4 (19m 30s): And I usually PowerPoint things. And so I'm usually a four or five point guy. I I've tried to do that. This is an exhortation. So just trusting, it's going to go into place that encourages and go in a place that gives you some insight. Is that okay if you have your Bible Psalm 85, it's a great one. It's from the sons of Cora and the sons of Korah were Levi's rights. And part of their job was to serve in the temple. And this is their prayer. They saw people coming and going every week to temple to they saw the spiritual atmosphere sphere around their temple campus. And here's what they prayed. Will you not revive us again? That your people may rejoice in? You show us your mercy Lord and grant us your salvation. 4 (20m 14s): I will, I will hear what God the Lord will speak for. He will speak peace to his people and to his saints. He said, revive us again. Oh God. And that's been our prayer. And I'm in a couple of prayer groups and we're praying weekly two times. And we have an all night prayer meeting coming up Thursday. We're praying God revive your church. God help us to be the people that you dreamed of in the season that you wanted a church without spot or wrinkle. You want a church United Jesus. You prayed in John 17. That we'd be one. And it seems like the gates of hell. They're the ones that are winning, but that's not the truth God's at work. Do you believe that? And so how many have ever been in a real revival? Like not just a good meeting, but in an extended time where God moved in a community or area or a country, any bin, but part of that, yeah, I I've had the privilege of being in a few of those places where when we pray for revival, it was more than just a good feeling. 4 (21m 11s): It was more than just an emotional stirring. There was a shift in the atmosphere. There was a shift in the community. There is a shift in the thinking of the people and how families related to each other. The biggest shift was hearts towards God. People's hearts turning back towards God. I I've been in the community will at one place in Kenya where we were working. It's almost on the village of Uganda. We started a partnership there in 96 and pastor shad, reco lo he came to Cal poly. We met through that relationship and we started working with him and there was a part of Kenya that nobody had been there for evangelism for a long time. There was any Piscal church there that was planted way back in the sixties. 4 (21m 53s): And so we rented a tent from the Methodists and we went to this community. But when we went in, they said, you're going to need armed guards. There's lot of robbery, there's thugs that are tormenting people. The atmosphere was just heavy. The people were oppressed and we went up, put up 10 up and we went for like eight or nine days. And in those eight or nine days, we saw God just move supernaturally. The village demoniac this guy literally was a crazy guy in the village. And I don't know if I touched on that when I was here last time I was speaking about compassion. This, this guy came forward in the tent just crazy. And we prayed for him. And I just, under the authority of the Lord, I pointed at him and said, God wants to change you into a different person. 4 (22m 34s): And he fell down on his knees and we prayed for him and the team got him some clothes and he hung around for a couple of days. And just, just something began to shift because God began to move. We baptized 150 people that week. And there was just this, something in the, in the community that changed the atmosphere that heaviness broke loose. And it was a true move of God. And I went back 16 months later and here comes this pastor and a friend across. And I said, who's that guy? They said, that's, that's David. He's the guy that got delivered. And now he's part of our, our recovery ministry here on the campus. And besides that, there's a teacher ran across the playground there, the, the soccer field. 4 (23m 15s): And she said, you don't know me, but since you guys came in, this church started, this whole community's changed. I went driving at night with the pastor and he said, you know, a year ago, we couldn't go out into these little town area. People are afraid. They're frightened. They're locked in. They're out shopping. They're out meeting with one another. Something shifted in the atmosphere. How many believe God can do that? Here? He's no respecter of places. He's no respecter of persons where people's heart are for revival to invite his presence into place where people position themselves and, and call on him. He will come and he will change and he'll move. And he'll, he'll renew marriages and families. I don't know about you. 4 (23m 56s): That's what I'm living for in these days. Amen. And I think that's what you're preparing for down the street, huh? Making room for God to move. If you have your Bibles, go with me and Malakai three 13, I've heard this from people. And at the same time that this time we're in right now, Matthew three 13 or Malakai three 13. Malakai's the last book of the old Testament. And Malakai's prophesying here, prophesying here about some challenges that he's facing amongst the people. And this is new living translation in three 13, he said, he said, God saying through the prophet, you have said terrible things about me. 4 (24m 37s): How would you like God to say that to you? You have said terrible things about me. And he's talking to who grew up in a group of people says the Lord, but you say, what do you mean? What have we said against you? Verse 14. You've said, what's the use of serving God. You ever heard anybody say that? What's the use of serving God, especially in the season we've been in. There's been lots of challenges. I've had pastor friends, deaths in their family. I have a good pastor friend. Now he was fighting cancer in the season. And then he had just retired from a secular job. And now his wife's facing early Alzheimer's and he's been in very, very tough situation. 4 (25m 16s): Used to be the strongest encourager. He would walk up to your, Hey, bless God, brother. How goes the battle? And just an encourage pouring out of him. But this season he asked me not too long ago, Hey Mike, pray for me that my faith wouldn't fail. I'm in the, I'm in the trial in my life. And so when we go through those things, sometimes that thought comes our way. What, what uses it to serve God? And then Malakai's gone. It goes on and said, you said, what's the use of serving God? What have we gained by obeying his commands? Or by trying to show the Lord of heaven that we are sorry for our sins from now on, we call the arrogant, blessed for those who do evil, get rich. And those who dare God to punish them. 4 (25m 58s): They suffer no harm. He's saying there's people that sin, go ahead, God, if you're real, punish me since there's nothing happening to them, life just goes on for them. It's a crisis of faith. And he goes on and 16, then those who fear the Lord spoke with each other and the Lord listened to what they said. And his presence, a scroll of remembrance was written to record the names of those who feared him and always thought about the honor of his name. So they're saying, there's a group here saying, what good is it to serve God? But God said, wait. There's people that still fear me. There's people that still honor me. And how many know God's a good accountant. God can keep track. God's a good listener. 4 (26m 38s): He knows what's going on. He said, there's a group of people that are still faithful to me. And I'm going to write a book and remembrance about them. I'm going to keep track of who they are, those names because they fear me and they honor my name. And then they will be, my people says the Lord of heaven's armies on the day when I act in judgment, they'll be my own special treasure. I'll spare them as a father, spares an obedient child. And then again, you're going to see the difference between the righteous and the wicked between those who serve God and those who do not now, right now, that might be confusing. It's so mixed up the parties and the agendas and all that. But God said here through Malakai, there's a day coming. You're going to see real clear. 4 (27m 18s): Who, who knows me, who fears me, who honors me and those that don't, I believe we're coming into that season. I believe there is a favor. That's going to come on the church once again to make a distinguishing distinguish between those who have a covenant or walking with God and those who don't give a rip about them. Those that don't care about them even to the farther side there's blast femurs around that are just undermining Christianity, attacking us, trying to intimidate the church. I just asked you, hold on and don't give up right now because there's things coming. There's I believe there's a tide turning John 1633. Jesus says these things. I spoken to you that in may, you may, you may have peace in the world. 4 (27m 58s): You'll have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I've what I've come on. I've come on. Overcome the world. That, that word there. Tribulation is the Greek word. Litmus. It means pressure. Squeeze down, sit in the world. There's going to be a squeezing that comes. It's the same word they use to get oil out of olive oil, out of oils or out of all us when they would step and crush them, that that oil would come forward. The same word was used when you're squeezing grapes to get the juice out, flip us. There's pressure coming. But our good friend, Ron Salsbury had a word that I loved and it was perseverance. You remember what that word is? 4 (28m 39s): Anybody that knew him, Hoopa Monet. Remember I saw that. Joe, who, who? Pomona? It's the Greek word. That's just not patient endurance. Not like just, okay. I'm going to buckle down in the storm. And I wait this thing out. No squeezing comes, slip us, squeezes you down, but hupomone it lifts you up. It's a word for patient endurance. It's a word with about staying on course. It's the idea that if the storms coming, some sailors would say, pull down, pull down the sails, wrap it up, set the anchors. We're going to hunker down and wait this thing out. But this word Hoopa Monet means we're going to adjust our sails. We're not going to shut down, but we're going to adjust our sales. 4 (29m 20s): We're going to use this storm for an advantage. It's it's having an expected in it, seeing the finish line. So where we are right now with this thing's coming against the church. I encourage you. Don't give up there. There's a season coming. We're going to see a move of God. I totally believe that I've had promises about that. We hear that in different parts of the world where we're serving that God is at work. Is anybody excited about that? Just a little bit. Amen. How many want that in a waiting for that and position yourself for that and pray into that and believe God for that. Because some of us now are our words, our mouths, our hearts. I hear what we're speaking and help us Lord to be ready for what you want to do. 4 (30m 0s): Scripture says where there's no revelation or prophetic vision that people go unrestrained, but happy and blessed is Hugh who keeps the laws of God without a vision in our heart of what God wants to do with us and in our homes and our families. Without having that vision in us scripture says, we go unrestrained where we're just kind of tossed around. And there's a, another passage of scripture that I've gone through over and over through the years, it helped me just stay on course. And I want to share that with you, especially those that might think what, what purpose or what use is there to serve God. And it's found in second Samuel seven, it's about a thousand BC. David has become king. And after he kills Goliath, he goes through this whole series of things where he's anointed king, but doesn't come in to his rightful reign for a while. 4 (30m 49s): And as he's being positioned to rule all kinds of wars breakout in the Philistines and the surrounding enemies and even battles from within own family members contending for that, that, that place is king and David battles, all those things. Also the tabernacle of God, which is where God would manifest his presence that got captured. The Philistines have it stashed. And finally David gets it back and brings it to Jerusalem. It's rightful place and there's peace now. And he takes a walk up the mountain to this, this tent, and he tells Nathan the priest and prophet, Hey, come with me. I, I just want to hang out in his presence for a little while. 4 (31m 29s): And so in front of this tabernacle, Nathan and David have a conversation. And second Samuel seven one, it says now it came to pass. When the king was dwelling in his house and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies all around the king said to Nathan the prophet, see, now I dwell in a house of Cedar, but this Ark of God, God's tabernacle. It dwells inside 10 curtains. He said, something's wrong with this picture? I've got my temple being built for me, my, my house. And yet I come out here to this tent and that's God's dwelling place. And then Nathan Nathan said to the king, go there, do all that's in your heart for the Lord is with you. 4 (32m 9s): But it happened that night, that the word of the Lord came to Nathan saying, go and tell him my servant, David thus says the Lord, would you build a house for me? And God starts challenging David through Nathan. He says, you know, I, I was in a tabernacle. I moved with the people of Israel through the wilderness for those 40 years, I was with them. And, and as we moved, my presence went with you. And now you want to build me a house. He's asking David in verse eight. He says this now, therefore you say this to my servant, David. I took you from the sheep fold from following the sheet to rule over my people over Israel. And I've been with you wherever I've gone and, and have cut off all your enemies from before you and have made you a great name, like the name of the great men who were on the earth, wherever our point of place for my people, Israel, and when plant them that they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more nor show your sons a witness, oppressed them anymore. 4 (33m 6s): As previously, since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people, Israel and have caused you to rest for all your enemies. This is the point I want to make right here. And then God says, also the Lord tells you that he will make you a house years ago. I read that passage in context and I thought, well, this is the deal God wanted to make with David. He told David, if, if you build my house, I'll build your house. And something went off in me over that. And I've seen over the last 40 some years of ministry, God be faithful to that promise because I truly believe he looks for covenant people. And throughout scripture, he cut covenant with men and he cut covenant with families. 4 (33m 48s): And that Kevin is, I'll be your God. And I want you to be my people, but you're going to get involved with family business. You're going to help me carry out my plan and we'll and in. So doing, you're going to see my goodness. You're going to see my blessing. You're going to be a CMI protection. It's never, problem-free, there's always challenges. There's always opposition, but God said, I'm going to be with you and David, as you build my house, I'm going to build your house. And there's something right now that I have in my heart is like, where's the men and women that have a desire to build God's house. Not, not just the church, but a spiritual house. Where's the men and women of God who are, are as concerned about what God's dream is for this place than our dreams and our plans. 4 (34m 32s): When we walked by a school and we know the turmoil, some of the schools in do we ever look at a school and say, God, what's your dream for the school. Once you what's your dream, God, what do you want to see happen in my neighborhood? As I walk my neighborhood, there's, there's divorce, there's abuse in some of our neighborhoods. God, can we dream with you? What's in your heart. And God says, if we concern ourselves with those things, if we help putting our focus on making a difference there, the promise to David is you build my house and all build your house. Now I I'm, I'm going to share just some personal stories about this, but it's not bragging on Mike Sparrow. I'm a very, very ordinary guy serving a very extraordinary God. 4 (35m 14s): I'm serving a very good God. And, and years ago we got married in 1981 and I was already in the bay area. My degree was in geology. I was working in research and development for Sohio petroleum. And we, when we got married, we got involved with this church, hard to the bay. And in that church, there was a bunch of young couples. We probably had a dozen young couples plus or minus five years of age. And the pastors were dynamic and, and the church was exciting. We're meeting a multipurpose room and, and we were just excited to serve it. It became our life. We had services three, three days a week and our friends were there. But as young couple we were looking around and we said, and we were passing out flyers to something going on at the church. 4 (35m 58s): And I remember Jen and I were talking, gosh, it would be fun to have a house. And we don't have much money in the bank. I don't know how this could ever work, but I remember where we stopped and I prayed God, would you bless us some day with the house or show us how to get in one, we probably had 500 bucks in the bank and at Sohio petroleum, I had a bachelor's degree in us. Bachelor degree guys served the PhDs. They hired a new guy from Tulane university. His name was Mike and Mike came to work there and they gave Mike some money for a down payment on a house. He had one year to use it. And at nine months he came to me and said, Hey, Mike, I need to use this money within three months, or I'm going to lose it. 4 (36m 38s): And do you want to buy a house? And I'll give you the $10,000 and you buy the house. And when you can pay me back, the $10,000 you can, I just need to be on title for a while. Long story short, that was our first house. I didn't even know how to start, but I met a real estate guy and this older guy, Ray, and I remember going into Ray's office. I sit down and the phone rings when I'm in Ray's office. And we don't, we hadn't even seen too many houses that are, he hadn't really showed us anything. Phone rings, guys in a good neighborhood in San Leandro, little house he had on the market for 93,000. He said, I'll let it go for 82,000. I'll carry back some of the money ratio. Let's go look at the house. 4 (37m 18s): We looked at the house a day or two later, we owned a house that how in the world did that happen? God reminded me of his promise. You build my house. I'll make a way for you and your house. I'm not just talking about material things. We're just talking about houses right now. Right? So we, we left the bay area in, in 1986. My twin brother was down here and he called, said, we need a youth pastor. And we had gotten involved with youth ministry and my heart was going more towards ministry than geology. I went from Theo geology. I say rocks in the ground to theology rocks in the head and heart. I made a shift and we get down here. No, the church we left 55,000 a year. 4 (38m 0s): Those are $86 to come down here for 70 bucks a week for youth ministry. It was a really good economic deal. Jan's dad was thrilled. I made that choice and he was a professional us steel. And he, he came down, he was shaking his head. He looks at the church and he says, so when you, if you do good, you get one of these. He thought it was like a franchise or something like that. He had a different mindset. We came down for 70 bucks a week that we're renting a little house in shell beach at first, but I was at a home group meeting and Grover my twin. Brother's speaking on a Sunday night and I'm around this house during worship. And I felt in here, the Lord says, you're going to live in this house. And first I said, really, it's got shag green carpet smells like cats, these old Mediterranean style curtains, but it had an ocean view. 4 (38m 48s): And it, and it's here in Grover beach. And within a few months, the gal that was renting that house from our church, moved out, we were in, I helped buy through real estate, helped her buy a condo, made a little money there. And we're in this house. And then with just in a few months, the owner of the house says, Hey, do you guys want to buy this house? And we looked at each other. I said, you know, we just moved here. I don't have any real job established. I'm making 70 bucks a week. I told the owner w w we'll make a run at it. But in my heart, I felt like God said, yes, go for it. So what happened? I met a lender that just moved to town. He knew as I was a new realtor, wanted to start a partnership. And he got us a loan for the house. And to this day, I don't know how legal it is. 4 (39m 30s): I don't know how it, I don't know how it worked. It was an ugly loan, but within a very short time, we were in a house and God was keeping his promise, that house, you know, Grover beach on the hill, 98,000, we converted it and changed it. All that made equity that got us in the house. We're in now last house story. So we moved across this freeway. We made some equity in that house and our kids were growing up and we had a teenager living with a five or a six year old that wasn't working well. So we need an extra bedroom. And we looked across the freeway and there was a house there that seemed out of our price range. And again, okay, God, we're going to go in by faith. 4 (40m 10s): We made the offer and it, it it's on Irish way. And I was born on St. Patrick's day. And on my birthday, we moved into that house and we're coming down the street. I had the driving, the, the moving truck. And in my spirit, I heard God say happy birthday and moved into a house on Irish way. And I've seen the faithfulness of God. I'm saying this, not to brag on us. I been somewhat faithful. I've had mistakes and my share of just discouragement net, but I've seen the faithfulness of God when your heart is to Zuora. I want, I want to build your house. We've seen that on our children. When our kids were in tough times, God was always faithful to bring somebody, to encourage our kids. 4 (40m 52s): Both of my kids got into Cal poly with less than a averages. Now you have to have it like a 4.5. Both, both of them were like B plus students. Somehow God got both of our sons at Cal poly. I looked just about time after time, where we've seen his faithfulness. I've, I've never made a lot of money in ministry. I, I looked at my salary once and I said, it's somewhere between a prison guard and a teacher. That's probably real appropriate for a pastor. You're kind of balanced it out, but I've seen God be faithful time and time again. And it's, it's not about the money. It's just about the provision of God and feeling like God, I'm in the family business. I am, my, my heart is toward your house, my hearts towards your people. 4 (41m 34s): And when we're oriented that way, Jesus said, seek first, the kingdom of heaven in his righteousness and what happens, everything else gets added. And I, and I'm not saying it's all been smooth. We've had lots of challenges, but I've, I've found this when, when, when your hearts for God and you want to see God's people grow and you want to see God's people strengthened as you pour your life into them. He's always got people to pour life into you, as you want to, as you give out and you're serving, there's always people that want to come around side and support and encourage us. My older brother bill was on the streets because of alcohol for 20 some years. And he was down in Southern California. And I could do nothing about that from a distance. 4 (42m 15s): Sometimes we didn't even hear from him, but I know up here when we would help at our recovery ministry and I'd be talking to people that are struggling, the same thing, I would throw up a prayer. God help my brother, bill God delivered a brother bill. And it wasn't too long. It took several years. He ended up up here at a ranch, getting sober, receiving Jesus as Lord and savior. And I think God, you're just faithful. You're faithful. And as our hearts towards building his house, I promise you his heart will be towards strengthening and working in your house. Does anybody believe that this morning? Amen. Well, these are some quick things. What can we do to help build God's house? We're not building just a physical house. 4 (42m 57s): Ephesians two 19 says now, therefore you're no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ, himself being the chief cornerstone in whom the whole building being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord in whom also you are a billing built together for a dwelling place of God's spirit. So we're not just talking about a building. Scripture says, now we are the temple of God, right? We are the temple of God. We house the spirit of God, God. He used to dwell in Solomon's temple. That's where they would go to encounter his presence. But after Jesus was crucified, the scripture says that veil was rent into the temple doors were open. 4 (43m 43s): And now the spirit of God lives in you and me. And so we're not just about trying to get God's presence to come here. Part of building up the body of Christ is encouraging people that God's presence is in them and help strengthen them and encourage them. And so when we're building up the house of God, I I'm talking about encouraging one another to use their gifts. And you know, I just got four quick points on, how do you build? First of all, Jesus said, my house, God said, my house will be a house of prayer. How do I build? I build with words, I build with prayer. We were in India in this village, we planted a new church or help plant and dedicate a new church in this village of India with Billy Graham Palouse. 4 (44m 25s): And I met Billy Graham's mother, but this other lady that came to that part of India, there was murdered going on. They said weekly, something was getting murdered. It was just a dark, dark area. And here we're dedicating a church and it's vibrant and alive and worship's going on. And I said, how did you guys transform it in such a short time from that to this? I said, we pray. We pray. Prayer brings breakthrough. Do you believe that the effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much, one verse version says it makes tremendous power available. So when you and me pray, it makes a difference. Prayer is the key. I know I'm going quickly here. It's winding down. Number two, prayer changes things. 4 (45m 7s): Number two, determined to be an encourager life and death is in the power of the tongue. This season. I have met so many people that just need some encouragement. Somebody to say, you can do it. Somebody to lift them up, somebody to give them a word in season, just to help float their boat a little bit. Tell your neighbor, you can be an encourager. Come on and tell him that man, you guys don't believe that who you're sitting next to right now, holy mackerel, come on. You can be an encourager life and death is in your words. Do you believe that this season, you know, I don't even have time to go in the story. 4 (45m 50s): So what's over even the last couple of weeks, the times of just people coming that just need to be lifted up and prayed for, and our words can make the difference in how their day goes. Our words can help turn a life, can bring freedom to people. There's power. In your words, do you believe that church, I throw in another one here and especially the season we're in T to have, I think the most infectious thing and the most inviting thing. And the most life-changing things for people that don't know the Lord is to see someone live like they're loved. And when we realized that, that when we were yet sinners Christ died for us, I don't even have time to go into my testimony, but how God pursued me. 4 (46m 35s): When I was running from him, I, we, we got into the drug scene in the Southern California, my twin brother, and I, and things went, you know, it started out fun. And then that fun goes into the partying and the drugs changed. And it wasn't too long. A friend of ours got killed by a drug dealer. That was a wake-up call for me. And I remember praying, God, I only have one life to live Lord, and I don't want to mess it up. God, Jesus come into my life. And shortly after that, he did. And then the revelation through time because of guilt and shame from my past, I would struggle with this. God really loved me, but I was bringing a missionary back to the airport. 4 (47m 14s): And, and this is in Santa Barbara one day. And this happened years ago. And as I was coming back by lake Katoomba, I just felt this urgency to pull into this turnout. And I don't know why, but it was just so strong in me that I even passed it and went a mile down the road. And I came back to the turnout and then pulled in and nobody was there. And so I'm looking around and I'm saying, what was that about? And I was youth pastor then, and super busy just trying to make it all happen. And I was sitting on the wall. And again, you know, I say I heard God's voice only a few times in my life. Has it been that loud and clear that it's almost audible? And this was one of those times. And he asked me, why do you live? Like, I don't love you. 4 (47m 55s): And I argued with them. I don't do that. And, and he reminded me that you, you, you're struggling so hard just that you always got to provide that you always got to keep it together. And you're always just, just on this rush. It was like calm down and know that you're loved. And so now it's been years. And that idea that I I'm, I'm living like I'm really loved, not because of how special I am, but because how good he is, how wonderful he is. And when, when people see your life differently, as Malakai said, once again, I'll make a distinction between those who serve me and those that don't when we live like we're loved. And we truly believe that the God's for us, that he he's got a plan for us, then he'll never leave us nor forsake us. 4 (48m 41s): See, that's the, one of the things he said to David at the temple, my hands always been on you. David ever sent you, you were raised up as king. My hands always been on you when you believe that God's with you. And you know that, and, and you live that way in a confidence that no matter what's coming my way, God, you're bigger. You're bigger. No matter what's coming my way, God, you said you would provide a way of escape when we live that way, it's impactful to others. There's a couple of times in our family where people come, come to us and said, we want what you have. We want the God you serve because of how they see the goodness of God. And again, it's not us. I know it's the Lord in us. 4 (49m 21s): I know when Dean Braxton was here, I think it was here. He said, when you see a tortoise on top of a fence post, you know, it didn't get there by itself. And I can say that with God, what I have today and how I live today. I know it's all because of what Jesus has done. And when we live with that infectious faith and we live with that infectious joy, truly we can, we can build up other people. We can build that spiritual house. We can build this spiritual house. Amen church. Amen. Well, I think it's time to worship Ron. We got a couple more songs and I want to pray. And so worship team come on up and I have a few more pages of notes, but we'll just end it right there. 4 (50m 5s): It's one of those times where over the last season, my, my heart's been filled and, and stirred and father, I thank you for hungry hearts in this place. I thank you for a renewed desire Lord, to see your move, Lord God, in our families and homes, to see some things shift where they need to shift for joy to be restored Lord for your strength to come. I pray great grace Lord, over homes that are still in recovery mode and still struggling God, even from this COVID season businesses that are stuck businesses that have been damaged by this current culture. 4 (50m 52s): Lord, I pray God, just your great grace there. And Lord, I would confirm, I'd ask that you would confirm God in hearts, it's worth it to serve you. I pray that you would renew that, that you said when we come to God, it says in Hebrews six, you said, when we come to you, we must believe that you are. And that you're a rewarder of those that diligently seek you. And I've seen that in every culture. We've been able to go to Lord that you are a rewarder. And I, I pray that we do it out of love for you out of honor for you. We serve you for because of who you are, God, and how good you are. 4 (51m 32s): But I pray as we serve you that others see the fruit of it. And this season they'll see the fruit in our own life, the change in our own life and how you do indeed take care of our houses. And I lift up those that might not know you here, Lord, or have drifted away. And those that might be watching online that have been frustrated. And even in their own heads said, what good is it to serve God, I pray today, Lord, that you would just open their hearts and Quicken their minds again, God, and bring back remembrances and bring back understanding of when they did serve you or that hunger to get to know you or to surrender to you, to put you first and see what happens. 4 (52m 13s): Thank you for that Lord. Thank you. Holy spirit for filling your people as we worship in Jesus name. Amen. 1 (52m 59s): we were away without hope. 1 (59m 28s): We thought you . There was mercy to fill the law and draw two. If the Virgin came from it, throw new, then this glory to Cray Linda the creation. 1 (1h 0m 41s): You do not despise the Soundation Jesus save that you rose all that had spread and that stone was moved for good for the land had conquered Dan rose from Vanuatu's . 5 (1h 3m 24s): Thank you, Lord, for those truths. Thank you for the gospel. Thank you for the power of what Jesus did on the cross for us. And you love for us. Thank you for, for sending us the helper for sending us the holy spirit to convict us of sin And for just your power in us, in our lives. So thank you. God, who would you just give us the power of encouragement as we leave today for others and for ourselves, Lord, encourage us in you.

"In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,“Glory to God in the highest,and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” Luke 2:1-14And the Hits Keep on ComingFirst off, Merry Christmas! We’re here, it’s Christmas day. We have been looking forward to this day all year and counting down to it all month. Today is when we get to see everything come together perfectly.Remember all those prophecies about whose family the Messiah would come through? Well, it’s happening. If you have any doubts you can see all their names in Matthew 1 where he traces the genealogy all the way down from Abraham to Jesus (or can listen to Andrew Peterson’s song “Matthew’s Begats”).Today we get to see all the promises coming together in one glorious birth. We get to see God keeping his word to his people: to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, Jesse, Ruth, David, Joseph, Mary, and others. But how does God do it?You and I both remember that Gabriel appeared to Joseph and Mary telling them about Jesus, right? And we know that way before that he promised that the baby would be born in Bethlehem. But did you ever stop and realize that Joseph didn’t even live in Bethlehem? Sure, it’s where his great, great, great grandfather David lived but that was 1,000 years earlier. It looks like Joseph actually lived about 100 miles from Bethlehem. So how and why did he get to Bethlehem for the birth of Jesus?You Just Can’t Make This Stuff UpOn the one side, you have a pregnant virgin with an elderly cousin who is also pregnant, both of which have been announced by angels from heaven. On the other hand, you have a pagan ruler who wants to get as much tax money as he can from those he is ruling over. What do they have in common? God is God over them all. Somehow God put it on the heart of this Caesar that he needed to tax the people of Israel and the best way to do this is to get everyone back to their ancestral hometowns so that they can be properly registered. And it just so happens that this is the exact time that Mary is getting ready to give birth to her son. No way! Do you realize the odds of this happening? It’s absolutely crazy. Joseph and Mary were not trying to intentionally make sure that the prophecy about the Messiah coming from Bethlehem got fulfilled...Read the Full Articlehttps://www.swoutfitters.com/resource/advent-25-jesus-is-born/

12:56 – Elder and Sister Gong recovering, church's other apostles all test negative for COVID-19 13:30 – Number of Latter-day Saints missionaries in Dakotas double amid COVID-19 pandemic 16:04 – RootsTech Goes Virtual in 2021 17:12 – ‘Somehow God provides... The post Ginger Baby! AoN Ep. 450 The Cultural Hall appeared first on The Cultural Hall Podcast.

This episode dives into the career high scoring 81 point game of Kobe Bryant and the Lakers. Somehow God used this game to assure us that the second half of 2020 still has potential. Get into it. Link to full game below!    https://youtu.be/zcVPLnR-c3g

The Bible ends with an incredible vision of the future: God's triumphant completion of his plan to bring humanity back to him. Somehow God works through the rebellion of humanity and creates a new world that is even better than the original creation. How does this relate to us, where do we fit in?

The earth is cursed because of Sin. Thorns grew as a result of Sin. Somehow God used and is now using thorns as part of His redemption story.

[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent="no" equal_height_columns="no" menu_anchor="" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" id="" background_color="" background_image="" background_position="center center" background_repeat="no-repeat" fade="no" background_parallax="none" parallax_speed="0.3" video_mp4="" video_webm="" video_ogv="" video_url="" video_aspect_ratio="16:9" video_loop="yes" video_mute="yes" overlay_color="" video_preview_image="" border_size="" border_color="" border_style="solid" padding_top="" padding_bottom="" padding_left="" padding_right=""][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type="1_1" layout="1_1" background_position="left top" background_color="" border_size="" border_color="" border_style="solid" border_position="all" spacing="yes" background_image="" background_repeat="no-repeat" padding_top="" padding_right="" padding_bottom="" padding_left="" margin_top="0px" margin_bottom="0px" class="" id="" animation_type="" animation_speed="0.3" animation_direction="left" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" center_content="no" last="no" min_height="" hover_type="none" link=""][fusion_text]Listen via YouTube video if desired[/fusion_text][fusion_youtube id="https://youtu.be/pmbM8PPmINo " alignment="center" width="" height="" autoplay="false" api_params="&rel=0" hide_on_mobile="small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility" class="" /][fusion_text] Transcription (was completed by automated process. Please ignore any speech-to-text errors)   When bad things happen - Part 3 - when evil acts.mp3 Hi, everybody, this is Penny Thomas again, and welcome to this next session of Get Sellers Calling You with Beatty Carmichael. Beatty is the CEO of Master Grabber, creator of Agent Dominator and one of the top marketing experts in the real estate field. Beatty, I'm excited for our listeners today. I'm excited to be chatting with you. What do you have for us today?   [00:00:24] Well, I'm really excited about today's call for two reasons. Number one, we get to do another radical faith call. And so for those of you who may just be joining in on our podcast, if you're joining in for real estate marketing, this is not going to be one of those episodes. This is where we're going to be talking about living as a Christian. And so if you don't want that, go and get this episode and go to the next one. So that's number one reason I'm excited as we get to do a radical faith call. The second reason I'm excited is as I was preparing for this call, it dawned on me that the conclusions that the scriptures talk about that we're going to talk about today are opposite of what most people expect. And so it's kind of like one of those. Wow. Is that really in scripture? So this is going to be a really exciting call.   [00:01:18] I cannot wait to dive into this.   [00:01:21] Yes. Me, too. So as we dive in, kind of alluding to that last comment I made. We're talking about when bad things happen. Is it God's will? Okay. And this is actually part three of our series. And today the subtitle is When Evil Acts. Okay. So in the past, if you recall the previous sessions, our first session, we talked about that God directs our every step. And so when bad things happen, sometimes it's God's will directing us toward our destiny. That's I actually put the second call was about as we talked about the life of Joshua. Excuse me, Joseph in the life of Esther and how the bad things that seemingly were bad were actually all furthering God's ultimate destiny for the will of their lives. So sometimes when bad things happen, it's actually good. Sometimes you have to back up and see it. And once you have a bigger, bigger perspective today, I want to talk on the topic of when evil comes in. By the way. Are you aware that there is evil in the world?   [00:02:38] Yes. Is evil good? No, no.   [00:02:44] So we have to include this when bad things happen because there is evil. And as I mentioned just a moment ago when I started preparing for this, I had kind of a conclusion that I thought was the right conclusion. But I tried to support everything through scripture. And when I started researching it, I found out I was wrong. So I kind of took a huge U-turn on this topic for today. And it's just really exciting. So let me set the stage. Okay. So when bad things happen, there's essentially four things that could be going on. This is what we were talking about earlier. It could be God's destiny for you, moving you toward your ultimate place. And that's the case. All those bad things ultimately are a good thing. Or it could be God's discipline. God's discipline is when you do something wrong and he comes involved to correct you. It says that he corrects every child. So things that could be bad or could be parts of discipline. The third thing that could be going on is, is we talked about through scripture that God directs our every step. But we have the ability to disregard his direction and stumble. This is what Psalms talks about. And when we do that, then sometimes these bad things are simply a consequence of us making our own decision rather than following God's leading. Does that make sense?   [00:04:09] It does. Okay. And then the fourth thing, and this is what we're going to be talking about today is evil when evil comes in and actually impacts our life. But here's what's really interesting.   [00:04:20] If you take these four things, destiny, discipline, consequence and evil, it's it's basically gradient of how closely were aligned to God's will. The more we're aligned to God's perfect will, the more everything is destiny, the less we are aligned to God's perfect will, the more everything becomes evil. Does that make sense? As we talk about evil in my church, I often hear and I'm going to use this term and I use it not critically, but kind of just descriptively, God being accused of being. The source of every bad thing, they don't really believe it, but they do believe and let me see. Let me share this. Here's the idea. This is kind of how it comes out. The idea is because God is sovereign, God is in control and because God is in control, all things that happen must be his will. Does that logic make sense? No, that's not what we've we've accomplished through scripture. But does that make sense how people can come to that conclusion?   [00:05:26] Absolutely. And so therefore, here so here is the implication of that conclusion. I'm sick and suffering. It must be God's will. Have you ever heard someone say that? Okay. Or if a loved one dies, gets killed in a car accident at an early age, well, it must be God's will.   [00:05:48] And then if it must be if it's God's will, then maybe God's trying to teach me something. Does that you'd say that logical string. Okay. So God's word says that man's wisdom is folly to God. Right. And so what happens is we try to put our wisdom into this and it's all folly and we come to wrong conclusions. There's an element of truth, but there's more of an element of truth here. And I wanted to see if I can back up in scripture. What's actually going on. So let me ask you a few questions. A real story. The cousin of a family friend is a 23 year old young woman. She's, uh, she's actually the only Christian in her family. She was recently in a car wreck and those injuries were fatal. But they were able to keep her alive on life, support the hospital until their sister could arrive and say her final goodbyes. And then they pulled the plug and she died.   [00:06:48] So here's the question. Did God cause her to have that wreck and die? What do you think? No. I don't think so. Was it God's will for her to die young?   [00:07:01] No. Is that accent somehow part of God's master plan for her life?   [00:07:13] Yes, and now it could be. So right now, here's kind of where we sit. We don't really have enough information to come to an absolute conclusion. Does that make sense? Yes. But it appears from all that we know about God and from Scripture that generally speaking it doesn't sound like this is what God's plan was.   [00:07:37] I would agree with that. Generally speaking, everything I want to talk about today is kind of. Generally speaking, because there are some very clear absolutes in the Bible where we're now treading, it's going to be not quite so absolute. Okay. So let me give you another real story. A woman had a very important meeting in downtown New York, and it was critical that she be there on time for her career. But she wasn't for whatever reason, she got to the train station late and missed the train.   [00:08:14] Now she's late. She misses the meeting completely. She's fuming inside because she's so upset and frustrated and stretched out. She's concerned that she may actually lose her job and ultimately by her job was actually gone. So the question is, did God cause her to miss that train and this meeting?   [00:08:39] Was that bad? Yes.   [00:08:44] Okay. You're laughing, you know, I'm probably setting you up. Okay. So we really don't know at the moment.   [00:08:56] Is it really good or bad because we can't discern it. But let me give you the rest of the story.   [00:09:05] She ends up going back home. Her meeting was in the World Trade Towers, and that was the day the towers fell.   [00:09:13] Now, let me ask, was missing the train good or bad? Do you think it could have been guided by God's hand that she missed it? Absolutely. OK. So now this is kind of what we talked about on the last session. Once you have a further enough away perspective of everything, you can start to piece things together. But in the midst of it all. Sometimes we just don't know. Does that make sense?   [00:09:39] Yeah. Okay. So now here's a bigger question. Was the crash of the World Trade Towers and the huge loss of lives. God's will? In other words, did he cause it to happen or did evil cause it to happen?   [00:09:56] Yeah, I think so. I want to talk about how that happens and also partly how do we discern it. There's another story I want to share. This actually happened very recently. I was talking with a Christian lady named Joanna and she's been suffering from depression all of her life. And sometime this cloud, that's her entire life, there's a cloud hanging over there. Sometimes it has a crippling effect in her life.   [00:10:28] Is that God's will for her to have depression? No. Do you think God somehow is the cause behind that depression? In other words, he is God. Do you think God authorizes that depression upon her? No. Okay, so here's the issue. If you're going through really tough times, how do you handle it? How do you make sense of it?   [00:10:53] Do you blame God, accused God or attribute to God? Well, it must be God's will. Do you ask God? Why do you even know what's really going on? Because so often in our little perspective, we just don't know. There's a lot more at play, and the more you understand what's likely going on, then the better you can manage these things in your life. Does that make sense? Yeah. Okay. So today I want to give you that better understanding of what is going on. My little disclaimer on this, this is a really complex subject. I don't claim to have all the solid answers, but I want to give you what I see in scripture and kind of my interpretation of that. So take this for what I'll call not for what it's worth, but for what I think. Scriptures generally teach us.   [00:11:51] So there's a passage in the Gospels that we call the Lord's Prayer. Are you familiar with the Lord's Prayer? Okay. So let me ask you a question. If God is sovereign and in control, is everything that happens God's will now cut you on this one, the first set on our first session. So what do you think the answer to that is?   [00:12:20] No, I don't know.   [00:12:23] But some of my conservative friends who use the logic God is in control. God, a sovereign God is in control. He's all powerful and therefore everything that happens must be his will. Otherwise he would have stopped it. If it was his will. So our logic. Okay. So if that is, where are some of our friends who are listening in on right now? I want to show you just one very simple verse that creates some very complicated questions about that logic.   [00:12:53] Turn, if you would, to Matthew 6 9 3 13. This is the Lord's Prayer and let's use the living version on this is just kind of cleans and makes it simple. So Matthew, 6 9 through 13, the Lord's Prayer. Go ahead. Okay.   [00:13:13] All right. This, then, is how you should pray. Our father in heaven hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread and forgive us our debt, as we also have forgiven our debtors and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.   [00:13:36] Okay, so this is Jesus basically giving some nation prayer. Here's how you should pray. These are the things you should be praying for, and all these are real important and they basically encompass what's important in life. As a believer, before I get into what I want to comment on this one, I was going through this. I remember some what I call my Lord's Prayer funny's 3 year old Reese, the way he prays.   [00:14:01] Our father, who does art in heaven, Herald is his name or a particular four year old, prays it this way and forgive us our trash baskets as we forgive those who put trash in our baskets and forgive us our trespasses. Right.   [00:14:22] This is from a mother teaching her 3 year old daughter, Caitlin. The Lord's Prayer. First, she says for several evenings at bedtime, she would repeat after me the lines of the prayer. Finally, she decided to go solo all by herself. And the mother says, listen with pride. She said each word right up to the end of the prayer lead us not into temptation. She prayed. But deliver us some e-mail. I share that to make a point. It's funny sometimes when the children misunderstand the Lord's Prayer, but how often do we misunderstand it?   [00:15:05] You say that this makes sense. For example, if everything that happens on earth is God's will. Then why does Jesus tell us to pray for God's will to be done on Earth as it is in heaven unless it's not always done on Earth? Does that make sense? Yeah. So we have this challenge. So let's now move into the real me to what I want to get into. I want to talk about calamity when bad things happen. Calamity. Question Does God cause calamity in people's lives? No. Does God send the evil spirits to attack people and cause in their lives? Okay. Now let's turn real quickly to Jobe. And we're going to read Jobe One Twelve.   [00:16:05] And in chapter 2, 3 through 6, chapter 1, verse 12, Chapter 2, 3, 3, 6. All right, so one verse twelve, then the Lord said to say to be before you, let me just give the background for those who may not be okay. So this actually Jobe is most scholars believe is the oldest book in the Bible thar pre-dating Abraham. And if you're familiar with J-O-B toward the end, God is talking to Jobin says. Ask him all these questions showing God's sovereignty and superiority. And he talks about an animal called Leviathan. And he says This animal's so powerful that a spear can't pierce it skills and it breathes out fire and smoke.   [00:17:02] So this is an animal that we've never experienced in our life and we don't see it anywhere in scripture.   [00:17:09] So this is a it's a real old book. And what's happening at this scenario that we're just about to read is God is in his court room in heaven, and Satan comes up. God says, where have you been? He said, I've been roaming around the earth. Very vague, almost like a teenage son. Where are you, Ben? I've just been out. What've you been doing with friends? And then God says, Have you considered my friend Jobe?   [00:17:41] And Satan says, Oh, he just loves you because you bless him. Let me touch him and he'll curse you. OK. So that's kind of where we pick up. Pick up now on verse 12.   [00:17:55] The Lord said to Satan. Very well, then. Everything he has in your power. But on the man himself, do not lay a finger. Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.   [00:18:08] All right, then go to job to verse three and six. And as you go there. So what's happened now is Satan goes out and destroys everything that Joe has, kills all of his children and destroys all of his business.   [00:18:24] And now everything he's got is totally gone. And now we pick up in verse three of chapter two.   [00:18:34] Then the lord said to Satan. Have you considered my servant job? There is no one on earth like him. He is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity. Then you incited me again to ruin him without any reason. Skin for skin. Satan replied, a man will give all he has for his own life. But now stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face. The Lord said to Satan. Very well, then, he is in your hands. But you must not. Sorry, but you must spare his life.   [00:19:12] Let me ask you a question. Did God send an evil spirit to attack J-O-B?   [00:19:23] This scripture.   [00:19:25] Yes. Boy, that's not what we expected, is it? Does that sound like a loving God?   [00:19:37] Scripture.   [00:19:40] Did God have any reason to do it? It says, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason. Does this seem like almost an arbitrary act?   [00:19:56] Do you think this is a different view of God than most people have? Yes. Yes.   [00:20:03] Does this one, I might add, if people if this is someone's only view of God. I can see how they would not want anything to do with God.   [00:20:15] You know what? If someone's only view of me is one little part of who I am and they don't know me as a whole. I can always find some part of me that someone would be detested about. Yes. So this is the purpose of what I want to do today. A lot of times we have wrong conclusions based on who we want God to be and what we want things to be. Everything must be God's will because God is sovereign and powerful and controlling. If it wasn't his will, he could have intervened. And the fact that he didn't intervene must mean that it was his will.   [00:20:54] That's the logical conclusion. The logical conclusion about God. God is a loving God. He would never hurt someone. Would he send calamity on someone? Absolutely not. He you sent an evil spirit upon someone? Absolutely not.   [00:21:04] And yet, right here in scripture, we see it happening right in front of our eyes. And if we're going to truly follow the Lord and make sense of things, we have to understand all aspects. Okay. So now let me ask you. What good could possibly have come out of God allowing Satan to attack? What good could possibly come out of that?   [00:21:37] Wow. A lot of spiritual maturity and growth and jobe. All right. What else? Mitt increased faith in Joe and just the fact that he would have to really. Rely on the Lord to take care of.   [00:21:57] All right. Those are all possible, but I think they're missing what I think is the biggest impact. What do you think the biggest impact might be?   [00:22:07] Tell me. It has nothing to do with Jobe individually. Can you imagine how many millions and billions of people have been impacted to trust the Lord and learn more about the and large character by reading about what happened and imagine the impact? Could it be that what God did with Joe was not for Joe's sake, but for God's holy purpose to use to impact millennia of followers of the Lord Jesus?   [00:22:41] So sometimes we have to get further far enough back in perspective to see what's going on. Sometimes we will never understand it. But I think we could come to that conclusion. All right. So God doesn't cause calamity and he doesn't send evil spirits to attack people is what I think I heard you say earlier. And I think we're starting to see that what most people believe about God may not be quite so accurate, but this is just one instance, one one instance. Maybe that's not really God's character. So let's turn to Isaiah, 45, verse 7.   [00:23:21] Love the book of Isaiah forty five seven. I formed the light and create darkness. I bring prosperity and create disaster. I, the Lord, do all these things.   [00:23:39] Read it also in the E.S.P. Version.   [00:23:43] Forwhich.   [00:23:49] All right. Verse 7 I form the light and create darkness. I make well-being and create calamity. I am the Lord who does all these things.   [00:24:01] This God bring calamity on people.   [00:24:03] According to that verse, yes, he did it to.   [00:24:07] According to this verse. God's trying to tell us something maybe about part of his character. All right. Now, the amplified in the notes, it makes a really great clarity and comment. And here's what the note says. It says, God brings physical calamity or physical evil, but moral evil comes from man's heart, not God. I think that's a good differentiation to discern. But gosh, surely that's all.   [00:24:43] But wait, there's more. Let's turn to Limitations Lamentations, Chapter 3.   [00:24:51] And if you read this one in i.v versus 37 3:39 Lamentations 3:37 3:39.   [00:25:04] All right. Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it? Is it not from the mouth of the most high that both calamities and good things come?   [00:25:18] Keep on one more.   [00:25:19] Why should a living why should the living complain when punished for their sins?   [00:25:25] So say that God brings calamity. Sure. Why does God bring calamity? What does this say in this section?   [00:25:41] I'm going to reread it. Who can speak and have it happen if a Lord has not decreed it? It not from the mouth of the most high, those calamities and good things have come. Why should they complain when punished for their sins? Well, according to verse 37, the Lord decreed it.   [00:26:00] According to verse thirty nine to see decree it.   [00:26:06] Because they're being punished for our sins.   [00:26:10] So now we have something to do with sin. And when sin happens, there's a decree that could go out that brings calamity of some form. Does that make sense? But wait, hold on. We're forgiven for our sins, right?   [00:26:29] That's right. I was just thinking of it now. Praise Jesus.   [00:26:34] Okay. So we've been forgiven of our sins. Remember a few sessions back we talked about no longer under law, but under grace.   [00:26:43] Does that mean we're no longer under consequence for sin? No. Okay. So we find that calamity.   [00:26:53] And I'll put the word sometimes has root and sin. Okay. The calamity for Jobe was not based on sin. So this is why I'm saying this is really complex. It's not a black and white. Here's a simple answer. We got to understand the bigger picture of all the things going on at play. And the more we understand, the more we see this picture of who God is. And by the way, we haven't even begun to get into the depth that we're about to get deeper. So let's. But wait, there's more. Let's go first, Samuel. Let's see if we can blow our minds even more. First, Samuel, sixteen vs. fourteen. Do this and they give you a background. Okay. God calls Saul to be king of Israel. The first king. And so becomes king and Sol starts to disobey God, and essentially that's kind of where we pick up here.   [00:27:53] All right, verse 14. Now, the spirit of the Lord had departed from soul and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him, a tormenting spirit.   [00:28:08] The Lord, the Lord God that we know of or the way the God that we have thought about now.   [00:28:17] No.   [00:28:18] Is it right? And holy that a holy God would send an evil spirit against somebody.   [00:28:30] Now, it's not according to this, he did it.   [00:28:36] It doesn't seem like it's right. Let me say it's not. It doesn't seem like it's right from the human standard. But here's the impact.   [00:28:47] If we form a picture of God, that is not true based on our own human logic and desire, could it be that we end up not honoring the Lord as much as he wants? Could it be that we end up missing out on a lot of things the Lord has for us because we have a wrong view of God?   [00:29:10] Absolutely.   [00:29:13] So is this.   [00:29:15] Hyper warping your view of God and changing it is just starting to rain is just going in a million different things. All right.   [00:29:27] That way we're not through yet. Oh, it's gone. You think this is change is warping. Wait till we get to a couple more verses. Okay. So now let's go to First Kings. Twenty to. Versus 23 22. So let me give you the backstory on this. Saul was king.   [00:29:52] Then David took over. Then David's son Solomon and then his son Oboma. Belmondo Kingdom was split between Judah and Israel, and Israel was the king was jeroboam and jeroboam was an evil king. And I think right after jeroboam or one or two, right after is another king named Ahab. And Ahab is the most wicked king, according to scripture, by that time in Israel. And so now we pick up Ahab has made an alliance with not forget the King of Judas name, but the king of Judah, who is a righteous king, makes an alliance with Ahab, the unrighteous king. And Ahab wants to go into battle with Ramus, Gilliard and Ramus chiliad, or battle with the enemy at Ramus. And so they are the king of Judah says, well, let's check with the Lord first before we do this. And so all of these prophets of Ahab start telling him, you're going to have victory, you're going to gouge them, you're going to win.   [00:31:13] And then a prophet of the Lord by Judas request comes in and gives a contrary message that says, if you go to this battle, Ahab, you will die. And then one of the prophets of Ahab's says, know what happened? When did God Spirit leave me and go to you?   [00:31:39] And that's basically the scenario where we are right now. And this is the prophet of the Lord relaying what actually happened in the heavenly, heavenly realm. So now with that as a backdrop, I'll let you begin. First Kings 22, starting with verse 20.   [00:31:57] And the Lord said, who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramus chiliad and going to his death there. One suggested this and another that finally a spirit came forward, stood before the Lord and said, I will entice him. By what means? The Lord asked. I will go out and be a deceiving spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. He said, You will succeed in enticing him, said the Lord. Go and do it.   [00:32:31] Told me that she is deceiving and lying. The same thing.   [00:32:39] Generally speaking, no, I mean, they're right on the line, right on line.   [00:32:46] Okay. Okay. So my translation says I will be a lying spearritt in the mouth of this profits, a dissaving spirit, a lion spirit. But here's the point where I'm going. One of the Ten Commandments says thou shall not lie.   [00:33:04] Is God sending a lying or deceiving spirit?   [00:33:11] To a Hartington, there is a lying or deceiving spirit.   [00:33:17] Evil God is actually sending an evil spirit to attack someone. According to the scripture, to mislead. According to the scripture. Sounds like you are trying to disqualify your answer. Every single one of these scriptures is true and infallible. Is that correct? Yes, absolutely. So then, is God sending an evil spirit against somebody? Yes or no? Okay. Okay. Let's don't try to be equivocate. Alright. Well let's don't try to explain it away. Let's read it for what it is, what God is telling us and then let's understand what he's actually doing. Makes sense. Yeah, absolutely. So God is about to bring calamity upon Ahab, is that right? God is directing it. Because he's sending a deceiving spirit to see they have Ahab will go to the battle. So God can kill him. Is that guy bringing calamity on someone? Yes. That's amazing. Not only is God bringing calamity, but he's sending an evil spirit to cause it to happen.   [00:34:40] Wow. Let's look at another first. We still haven't gotten to the big one. We're about to hit the big one. These are just kind of teeing it all up. So Psalm 44, do this one in the living Bible.   [00:34:54] We're going to go to Psalm 44. We're going to read two sections, Psalm 44, eight, nine and 10, and then jump over to 17 and 18. Eight, nine, 10, 17 and 18.   [00:35:11] My constant boast is, God, I can never thank you enough and yet for a time. Oh, Lord, you have tossed us aside in dishonor and have not helped us in our battles. You have actually fought against us and defeated us before our foes. Our enemies have invaded our land and pillaged the countryside and then 17 and 18. And all this has happened. Lord, despite our loyalty to you, we have not violated your covenant. Our hearts have not deserted you. We have not left your path by a single step.   [00:35:50] Why did God bring calamity upon his people? Does it sound like he was cruel and harsh? They didn't do anything to deserve it. Was there any reason they knew of. On why he did it? No. Kind of sounds like a joke to a degree, doesn't it?   [00:36:09] It does.   [00:36:12] Now, here's the big question. Could there be a reason that they don't know of? Absolutely. So now we're starting to get into. We don't know everything. There's a lot more to the law than what we understand. So now let's get into the big one. This is just setting the stage and I'm hoping we can get all this done in one session. It may end up having to go. Let's go to let's go to Matthew. Matthew, 18. Versus 21 3:35.   [00:36:57] Now, this is a real interesting story. Read the first verse or so about. Peter, one of the apostles asking about forgiveness. I just want to make a comment before you get into the parable.   [00:37:12] Verse twenty one. Then Peter came to Jesus and asked Lord, How many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who stands against me up to seven times?   [00:37:23] Don't you think Peter was just. He was being so proud. We're going to forgive my brother sister up to seven times. That's a lot. I'm holy. We're up to seven times. That's a lot of time to forgive. Okay. Now here we have man's logic doesn't really match God's truth. So let's now read what Jesus says. 22 through 35, 35.   [00:37:57] Jesus answered, I tell you, not seven times, but seventy seven times. Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his bets as he began the settlement. A man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay. The master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had sold to repay the debt. This the servants fell on his knees before him. Be patient with me, he begged. I will pay back everything. The servants master took pity on him. Cancel the debt and let him go. But when the servant went out, he found one of his one of his fellow servants who owed him one hundred silver coins. He grabbed him, and they began to choke him. Pay back what you owed me! He demanded. His fellow servants fell to his knees and begged him, Be patient with me, and I will pay you back. But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged, and they went and told their master everything that had happened. Master, right there.   [00:39:12] Right there. Let me let me give you the short scenario. Just put some things in perspective. The king goes to his servant, number one servant. No one owes him in today's dollar about sixteen billion dollars. That's an amount. When it says ten thousand bags of gold or ten thousand talents. Ten thousand was the largest number that they had in the Roman counting system. This is Jesus saying he owed the absolute most anyone could ever, ever own. So in today's dollars, it works out to about 16 billion. The guy says, I can't pay. The king, says Romans. Throw you into prison. The guy says, please have mercy on me. So the king says, OK, have mercy on you and I forgive you. So then servant number one goes his servant. Number two, who owes him about ten thousand dollars?   [00:40:06] Pay me. I can't. So he throws him into prison. So that's the magnitude that we're looking at. OK. And now let's finish up with versus 34 and 35.   [00:40:19] Okay, let's say I think I was I am 32 in all this. Yeah. Perfect. Then the master called the servant and you wicked servant. He said, I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant? Just as I had on you in his anger, his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured until he should pay back all that he owed. This is how my Heavenly Father will treat you. Each of you, unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.   [00:40:56] How is Heavenly Father going to treat us? What does it say? Wow.   [00:41:04] We will be handed over to be tortured.   [00:41:09] Does that really sound like what it sounds like?   [00:41:13] That's what it says.   [00:41:15] All right. Now, there's another thing that Jesus talks about forgiveness. Let's turn there real quick. Matthew, 6, 14 and fifteen. And let's see if we can maybe connect some dots. Matthew 6, 14 and 15 4.   [00:41:31] If you forgive other people when they sin against you, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your father will not forgive your sins.   [00:41:43] What does this mean, do you think? This is talking about salvation. Going to heaven or hell? Or do you think it could be talking about something different?   [00:41:54] I think it's probably talking about.   [00:41:58] Something different. I think it's just talking about forgiveness.   [00:42:01] All right. But if it says it to, my father will not forgive you. What's the implication of that? Well, then we have. Then turn real quickly to Ephesians 2 8 and read effusions to a.   [00:42:21] Psm. Some dots for us real quickly. The parable of the master of my heavenly father do to you. Take you and send you to the torturers unless you forgive your brother. Then in Matthew 6 here, it says if you do not forgive others, your father in heaven will not forgive you. We know that salvation is through the forgiveness a sin. So we make this connection that this must be talking about. Probably something related to salvation or going to hell. Does it those dots make sense?   [00:42:58] Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So now let's read evasions to wait for it is by grace.   [00:43:04] You have been saved through faith. And this is not from yourself. It is a gift of God.   [00:43:13] Not as. Or maybe the first time. Keep going.   [00:43:17] Not by words, not by words so that no one can boast.   [00:43:23] So it is a gift of God. There is nothing we have to do for it. Is that correct?   [00:43:29] Hmm.   [00:43:30] Not by forgiving somebody b something we do.   [00:43:38] So if we don't forgive and our father doesn't forgive us.   [00:43:44] Could that really be talking about losing salvation or based on this passage and others by grace, through faith, believe on the Lord Jesus and you shall be saved. Whoever believes on the sun will have everlasting life. All these things talk about believe, not forgiveness.   [00:44:08] So is it safe to say that this passage of the parable about forgiveness and torturing is not talking about salvation?   [00:44:21] Yes. Okay. Did you say scripturally why that's true? Yes. Yes. Okay. So then let's see who is she's talking about. Obviously, he's talking to the non-believer about God torturing them. Right.   [00:44:40] So go back to Matthew, 18, verse 21.   [00:44:46] Who was asking the question to Jesus?   [00:44:52] Peter Right.   [00:44:54] Peter Then Peter came to Jesus and asked Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sends against me up to seven times?   [00:45:03] Okay, then read Matthew 1835.   [00:45:10] This is how my heavenly father will treat you. We'll treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.   [00:45:17] So is he talking to the non-believers or is he talking essentially to the believers, his disciples?   [00:45:23] His disciples, the believers.   [00:45:26] Wow. Does this sound like a loving God to want to send someone to the torturers?   [00:45:33] No.   [00:45:35] Does this change your thinking of who God is? Does this expand your thinking? Got it. Okay, okay. Okay. So we got a problem, don't we? Mm hmm. So let's let's ask a few more questions. Who authorizes the act of torturing and that parable? The master, the master and the master is a parable representing God. Would you agree? I do, yes. God is authorizing that torturing. Who does the act of torturing? Does the King or one of his servants do it? The jailer's, one of those are one of the servants. Okay, so now try to picture that gaoler in your mind, this guy who tortures people. First off, do you think this guy who tortures people? Likes inflicting pain on someone.   [00:46:38] I mean, it's his job. He's gotta like it a little bit.   [00:46:43] Yeah, okay.   [00:46:44] Try to picture an image of that torture in your mind. Now, do you come up with someone who's handsome, debonair, sort of a princely young man who would grace the social circles of the king? No.   [00:46:58] Or do you maybe come up with some evil, hideous looking type of beast of a man and some sort of dark dungeon that just takes pleasure in exacting pain in people's lives? Yes. So from what you know about God's kingdom, the spiritual being, do you think would more likely play that role of the torturing trailer, an evil bear?   [00:47:24] Oh, the same thing we've been reading about in all these other passages. Is that what you're telling me? Oh, wow. Okay.   [00:47:34] So an evil spirit is actually there. What I see what you did there. Do you think that evil spirit is a friend of God?   [00:47:49] Might be. Do you think that gaoler is a friend of the king? Yes, you do.   [00:47:56] In a social circle, oh, well, not in the social circle. I just met him. He knows that and has a relationship with them over.   [00:48:06] Let's clarify friend versus servant. Do you think that gaoler is a friend of the king or simply a servant of the king? Servant? Do you think that evil spirit is a friend of God or simply a servant of God? Servant? Was he created by God? Yes.   [00:48:28] Is he being used by God as part of His Holiness and righteousness and all those other attributes that God has about him?   [00:48:38] Okay, so now we're starting to see a different side of God that most of those probably turn our eyes from, because we can't comprehend a God that does this. But God has made it very, very clear multiple times. And these aren't the only times there are others. But he makes it very clear that this is kind of what things are set up. Okay, so here's what's going on. Jesus is saying that we're going to be given over to the torturers if we don't forgive our brother. These tortures are most likely these evil spirits, as you mentioned, and their whole purpose is to torment us. Okay, now keep in mind we're talking about when bad things happen. Is it God's will? How do you how do you handle evil in the world? Okay, so we're now starting to move that direction a little bit more. Let me ask you a question. Do you recall any other places in the Bible where God gives people over to evil spirits?   [00:49:50] We just write a whole bunch of it more. Okay, so here's the question is being tormented good or bad?   [00:50:00] Not a trick question. Good. You think so?   [00:50:06] Yes. Because it's bringing about the end. Result that God's looking for him.   [00:50:13] So if someone dies a premature death. Is that what God is looking for?   [00:50:24] Maybe not by someone.   [00:50:27] If someone commits adultery against his wife, is that what God's looking for?   [00:50:32] The act? No. Then being tormented. Good or bad?   [00:50:42] Do you want to be tormented?   [00:50:44] I do not. It's okay. But going back to what you said. Did I say the big picture? What does it bring?   [00:50:58] It's all it's all part of God's holiness and righteousness.   [00:51:02] But that doesn't mean it has to be good, because evil is not good. Evil is bad. But here's a big question. Is a tormenting spirit authorized by God?   [00:51:21] According to these scriptures, yes.   [00:51:23] Okay, so now we have this really big challenge. Evil is bad. But it's authorized by God. How can a loving good God authorize evil?   [00:51:41] I don't have a great answer for that, by the way, but that's a question that we ponder on. So let's go in and ask a few more questions.   [00:51:51] So Peter originally thought if he only forgave his brother seven times, he's doing something really, really great. Would you agree? If he had done that, is it possible that he could have incurred a tormenting spirit without even knowing why?   [00:52:09] Possible. Is it possible that if bad things happen to us? We could actually be incurring some sort of a tormenting or evil spirit of some sort. That's been authorized by God. For violating some law that we may not clearly understand. Yes. Is God to blame if we do that? No. OK. So now we're starting to get greater clarity. This kind of making sense of where I'm going now. Okay.   [00:52:44] So God set up the rules. We don't understand them.   [00:52:52] But blaming God is saying, hey, God, I'm innocent. There's no reason I should be going through this. Right. And if he set up the rules and we broke them. Who's to blame? We are.   [00:53:07] Does it matter if we know that those rules exist or not?   [00:53:13] No, it doesn't really matter now. Romans I Romans 1 tells us that they're already written in our hearts. So we know them, but we don't. We can't clearly articulate like you're driving 70 miles an hour. You hit a speed zone. You don't even know it. The speed limit sign is down or behind a bush. It says 45 miles an hour. You'll still get a ticket even though you don't realize that you're doing wrong. Right. So then does that mean that everything that bad, everything that happens that's bad is our fault?   [00:53:53] Is it our fault? Is it always because we violated something? I'm extrapolating at this point I'm kind of going to the point of saying this parable that Jesus did. Can you extrapolate this into all things?   [00:54:10] I don't think you can. This is one of those things. I don't think you can. Let's go back real quickly. The Lord's Prayer. You don't have to go back to. I just want to repeat one part of it. The Lord's Prayer is kind of a summation of things. Right. And that we are the high level things to be praying for. One of those is Lord forgive us for our sins as we forgive those who have sinned against us. And there's something really important about forgiveness. It's in the Lord's Prayer. It's in this parable. Jesus talks about tormenting. If you don't forgive, my father will authorize tormenting against you torture. And I won't share this quick story to show you how this starts to illustrate and come out in our lives. I remember listening to this guy who was ministering to someone. He's praying for healing. The man that he's praying for has really bad back pain and he prays for healing. Nothing happens in this guy's name is Todd. And usually when he prays a lot of time, most of the times people are getting healed. And then the Lord gives Todd what's called a word of knowledge. Okay. Supernatural knowledge of what's going on. And the word of knowledge was the man has bitterness against his mother, unforgiveness for his mother. So Todd asked the guy, hey, tell me about your relationship with your mother. And the guy responds immediately, why do you ask that? I hope she dies and writes in hell. I mean, really horrible. So Todd starts working with him, leads him to Christ essentially, or at least leads him to forgiveness of his mother. And then top price for his back and he's instantly hill. Could it be that there is unforgiveness in our lives that's causing some sort of a tormenting spirit that causes bad things and we don't even realize it because we didn't forgive someone over here, we did something over on this other spot, some violation of God's law. But the implication of that law is it opens the door to. For evil to somehow come, come in and impact our lives. Does that make any sense, what I'm asking?   [00:56:40] Yes, absolutely.   [00:56:42] All right. If we look at how people are tormented and wanting to get off of tormenting, but I'm just using this and using it as an example, because what I find is God works in patterns. The pattern articulate in this parable about tormenting is a similar pattern that works in other areas in how God works and where I know we're at an hour and we're going keep on going because I'm wrapping up and there's no good, good place to stop. So this is going to be a longer call than normal. But let me pause real quickly. Is this exciting stuff so far?   [00:57:18] Yes, absolutely.   [00:57:20] Is it blowing your mind?   [00:57:22] It is a solid ending.   [00:57:25] It's expanding my thought process and I get it.   [00:57:32] So think about the ways people are tormented in life. In other words, if we receive a tormenting spirit because we have unknowingly or knowingly violated some spiritual law that God, God's holiness and righteousness.   [00:57:54] What does that look like? I'd like to suggest mental anguish can be part of it. Stress and anxiety. Depression. Health issues. Our dreams and aspirations falling apart. Say, Jesus says that the enemy, by the way. Would you agree that tormenting spirits are the enemy? What does the enemy's purpose and goal in our lives?   [00:58:28] Do you remember what Jesus says to say the enemy comes to destroy, to steal and to kill?   [00:58:42] To kill? Come sit still. Kill, steal, kill and destroy. Do you think those could be acts of torturing? Yes. Okay, let's start wrapping this up so the Lord created everything that's been created. Would you agree with that? Yes. Are Satan. Demonic spirits, evil spirits and evil as a whole. Are all those part of God's creation? Yes.   [00:59:14] But they weren't created as Satan and the ones that wasn't created that way. Granted, but we don't. So this is one of those mysteries we don't understand, but we do understand everything that's been created. Somehow God created it. If evil exists, somehow it's part of the creation. We can't comprehend it. It makes no sense. We have no framework or fabric to put it together. No grid. But we understand that all things were created by God. And that includes evil. And we don't understand it. Okay. I've got some ideas, but they're only opinions. I won't go there. Not everything that is evil is good. But evil exists in some mysterious way as an act of God's will. Because it's been created and everything of evil is there for a purpose. We don't understand it. But if God created it, it's got to be for some purpose. All of this kind of connecting, making sense.   [01:00:31] A lot of questions I don't have answers to. This is where I'm saying my disclaimer. Okay. So then you have God is sovereign over all of creation.   [01:00:42] And just as the torturer in the parable with the king is not a friend of the king. Evil is not a friend of the Lord's. But just like the king used the torturer as part of how he governed his kingdom. God uses evil as part of how he governs his kingdom. Understanding the existence of it and understanding the reason behind it are two different things. I'm just right now clarifying the existence of this done mean I had the answers as to why, but we have to come to the conclusion it exists for a purpose because it was created then and this is where this starts to get even more complex. This whole issue is multidimensional. It's very complex. There's not one simple, easy answer to it. But here's the big picture of everything. Just kind of give us the big picture view. God created some sort of a legal hierarchy, an organizational structure in the spirit world. This is powers and rulers and authorities and Dominion's, which are not speaking about evil structure. God created the structure and an evil always copies what God does and then tries to subvert it. So all of this legal hierarchy that we see in Ephesians and the structure God created, it's much more complex in the heavenly rule than anything in the earthly Rome. And all of heaven is operated by laws and covenants and ordinances.   [01:02:28] Does that make sense so far? This is why the name of Jesus is powerful, because it's a legal authority. Everything is governed by that spirit. The demons, these fallen angels are all subject into this hierarchy of organizational legal structure that God has in place. And within that structure, evil has a legal authority to operate. This is what we're experiencing. It has a legal. This is what we've read in all of these things. They have a legal authority to operate. Satan had a legal authority to operate against Jobe, but only by God's authority. When God withdrew the authority, Satan cannot attack. This is what we see with the parable that we just went through, the Jesus and the torturer. There is a legal authority to act. So we see that is legal authority. That legal authority is either God decreeing a thing. One the passage we said nothing happens except by the decree of God. So either God decrees blessings or calamities or what I call on autopilot because it's part of God's spiritual laws. And when a law is violated, then there's a subsequent consequence that's already predetermined. That kind of making sense. Okay. So this is the kind of things that we're we're involved with when bad things happen. We've got to look at this at this higher level structure.   [01:04:02] We don't understand the laws. We do understand their existence. And probably an easy way to explain this because we see this all the time, but we don't really understand it. Imagine you're sitting in a room and there is a window on your right hand side and there is a wall on your left. You're reading a book and out of the corner of the eye, you see a shadow go against that wall instantly.   [01:04:25] You know, something went by the window. Would you agree? But you don't know what. It's a shadow of something that passed by. You recognize the existence of something there because there's a shadow that moved and when we look at our lives and we see and we look at all these things going on, what they show is a shadow of the spirit realm, the shadow of these laws we can't make. There's not a whole lot of concreteness to it for us. We can't write it down. We don't really know what it is. It's shadows. We see it in existence and displayed throughout scripture. We see the shadows displayed in our fiscal lives. But none of it is clear. We just know it's there making sense. And so this is why we say God authorizing saying to touch sending a tormenting spirit upon Saul and all these other things. There's something there. And so I want to give one other interesting thing, because it kind of ties up. And I want to be real sensitive on this because I don't want to freak you or any of our listeners out. But this whole realm of the spirit realm is real. This whole idea of evil spirits is real. Absolutely. Jesus cast out demons and that was real. So I was doing a deliverance with a lady named Alexis. She's a born again Christian. And in that deliverance session. Okay, so this was one of those really wild and crazy things where Alexis's personality actually goes into a trance and the personality that is now speaking is an evil spirit manifesting through her. Okay. So I'm interrogating, if you want to call it Who Are You? And one of those spirits was a spirit of depression. Why do you think depression was there? Do you think that was tormenting her?   [01:06:34] Absolutely. And she was a Christian and she had depression. And that is a spirit. And I commanded it out and it left. Then there was another spirit. It was a spirit of fear.   [01:06:49] And it had this I'll call it this interrogation.   [01:06:54] It had 25 other junior spirits in its kingdom within Alexis. And you know what the spirit here said why they were there to keep her from getting ahead. In other words, to prevent her from achieving the destiny that the Lord had for her holding her back. They were holding her back, causing everything she did to fall apart, constantly causing it to fail to keep her from getting ahead. That was the spirit of fear. And then there was a spirit of suicide. And it had. I was asking how many how many demons in your kingdom? Said 80. And then it volunteered this information to make sure she kills herself. Wow. I mean, this is real stuff. I know we're not supposed to. Don't don't get truth from a demon. I get that. But what I'm saying is, is this is real stuff. These things do exist. They do exist. And Christians. I'm not saying a Christian is demon possessed by any means. Christ possessed your spirit. But let me ask you a question on that. And we're going to do this whole session on healing later. Is sin evil or good? Then as evil does exist in your flesh.   [01:08:25] Yes. Are you a Christian?   [01:08:29] Yes. So that means that you are born again, but evil exists in your flesh. Does that make sense? That's correct. Why can't a spirit that's evil exist in your flesh as well? Because a lot of people say, well, if you're a Christian, you can't have an evil spirit, well, you have sin and all these spirits are evil. Depression is evil. Fear is evil. Suicide is evil. These are thoughts and attitudes. So I'm driving. I'm getting sidetracked. But the bottom line is this. All these fears are evil. And in some mysterious way. They were allowed to be in her life. I don't know exactly why, but my assumption and expectation from what we've read is there are some spiritual laws that were being violated. Somewhere along the line for life, they gave him authority. Does that make sense?   [01:09:28] Yeah. Okay. Okay. So now the question is, doesn't God love the Lexus? Do you think God loves a Lexus?   [01:09:35] Oh, absolutely.   [01:09:37] If God loved Alexis, why would he allow her to suffer?   [01:09:45] That is a big question.   [01:09:48] That's a huge question, isn't it?   [01:09:52] Can I give a suggested answer? Yes. All right. So let's look at an illustration. A man and a judge are friends. The man breaks the law and he comes before the judge. The judge's personal will list his said his friend free. But his judicial responsibility is to enforce the law. And the judge has the power to do either one. If the judge is righteous, what does he do?   [01:10:24] Does he violate his judicial responsibility to enforce his personal will? Or does it violate his personal Wiltern Borse his judicial responsibility? What do you think?   [01:10:39] Wow, that's a big question, too.   [01:10:42] All right, let's call it this way. Think about the Supreme Court. Do you think every justice on the Supreme Court has a desire of how they wish a law would have been written? When they render a judgment, if they're following their oath of office. Are they? Inputting their personal desire, regardless of what the law says or they interpreting exactly what the law says.   [01:11:15] To the best of their ability, I think the latter.   [01:11:19] So if you look at a judge, if he's a righteous judge. Does he violate his personal will?   [01:11:29] To perform his judicial responsibility or does he violate his judicial responsibility to perform his personal will? The farmer.   [01:11:39] He's going to do his judicial responsibility, and that's the same with God. He has the power to do his personal will. But just generally speaking, he doesn't violate the laws he's put in place. Sometimes we see him do it so. But usually he says judicial process. So sometimes when bad things happen, it could simply because there is evil in the world. Other times we may have sinned. And even though we're no longer in the law, but under grace, there's still a legal ramification of violating the law. And I guess that's kind of summing it up. I want to wrap up one last thing. There's a lot of other stuff, but I want to clarify one thing. And this is a message I texted with a friend. Give you the story on this, because I think this kind of shows how all of this kind of plays a part in one's life. I'm praying for a lady named Francis. She's been a missionary for 55 years. They're about in the last 11 year. She's been stuck in a wheelchair. So I prayed for her. She was instantly healed. She began walking around and she was in a wheelchair because of extreme pain. It was a surgery gone bad 11 years ago. And the doctors couldn't correct it. So now she's walking. There's no more pain.   [01:13:05] She's walking around. And then the pain comes back and she's has to get back in the wheelchair instantly. When that happened, I knew of the spirit. Because once healed your heel. Okay. Okay. You don't lose your healing. There's something else there. I think that's the message of all of this. There's something else there. It's not quite such a pat answer that we like to give. The pain came back. I knew it had to be a spirit. So following the process that there's some legal ramifications, some legal authority, that that spirit has to be there. We went through different things about repentance. She'd been forgiven for her sense. But in going through this, there was she remembered that there was a an organization many years that that she was involved with in high school called Rainbow Girls. I think it's kind of a subset of Freemasonry and it's basically kind of a cult. She didn't realize it at the time. She wasn't a Christian, but there was some sacred oath that she took as part of Rainbow Girls. When she mentioned that, I said, well, we need you need to repent of that. She repented of her involvement with Rainbow Girls and any oath that she took. And then we come in and dispirit out and guess what happened.   [01:14:22] She started walking again. The spirit instantly left everything we tried to do prior to that.   [01:14:28] The spirit and the pain would not leave as soon as she repented of her involvement with Rainbow Girls and we prayed again. The spirit left. Can you see a legal cause and effect on that? Absolutely. Okay. And then the pain came back. Wow. What happened, right. Okay. Then she says, well, Bury, her husband, says, well, God is trying to teach you something. So this is the train of thought. A lot of Christians have. This is why I talked about at the beginning all these bad things happen. God must be trying to teach me something because God is sovereign. God is in control. God is all powerful. Therefore, if anything bad happens, it must be as well. Therefore, something bad happens. He must be trying to teach me something. That's of a train of thought. So this is my text to her. I just want to read it because I think it really summarizes, as I said, I want to clarify something I said last night when your husband Barry suggested that the Lord might be bringing this pain upon you to teach you something. I said that God does not bring sickness upon his children. I believe that is true. But he does authorize spirits to attack us. I don't know how much that authorization is to attack us physically or simply in other areas, such as what happens in our lives.   [01:15:50] I'm still learning, but the simple fact that a spirit is attacking you means that within the spiritual laws the Lord has created. The spirit has authority to attack. Does that make sense so far? And since all of 30 is granted by the Lord. Ultimately the Lord has authorized it. If not directly, then at least indirectly by setting up those laws in the first place. That law is given jurisdiction over us at the fall. This is what you and I spoke about. No longer under law, but under grace that at the fall we became jurisdiction underneath the law. And so I said that law was given jurisdiction over assess the fall. So it's tied to the fall and not tied to the Lord. Trying to teach you something the Lord can and will teach you through it. But is not the purpose for why you're being attacked. I think that's the message. Another message I want to make sure we all understand when these things happen. It's not the Lord trying to teach you something. There's evil in the world that evil has authority. So let me tell you the rest of the story I was asking the Lord. Why did the spirit return? And the Lord said something happened between the time it left and the time it returned. They gave it the authority to return.   [01:17:16] And I said it's the Lord's share that I thought I knew what it was, I called Princeville backup and I started to explain this story, you know what it was?   [01:17:25] This will blow your mind. I said almost, yes. Yes. It was tied to doubt. So you've been in that wheelchair for 11 years. I bet. Unbeknownst to you, you've created an identity of being in pain and being in that wheelchair. And when that spirit left and you're no longer in a wheelchair. It was so unusual for you. It was. It wasn't who you've experienced yourself to be all these years that probably knows you. You kept that identity of pain and you invited it back in because that identity of pain is thin, because it doesn't conform to the image of God. So she said, let's repent of that. So you know what she did.   [01:18:17] By the way, before I do this, I said, Spirit, get out, pain get out. And she said, it's going, but it's not going all the way. It did stuck. It's not leaving.   [01:18:26] So then she said, Okay, we pray, Lord, I repent my identity. Your pain. And then we prayed again and instantly it left.   [01:18:39] That familiar spirit?   [01:18:41] Yes, that's exactly right. So here's the bottom line.   [01:18:45] Not everything that happens is God's will, but nothing happens outside of his authorization. And once we understand that there is a legal framework and authorization, then it helps us to start to understand maybe what's going on and maybe how to fight it in our lives. Here's the other thing I find the more you seek the Lord, the more you are in the center of his will. And therefore, the more that everything that happens to you is part of him guiding you towards your destiny. This is what we talked about last session, I believe. On the contrary is true. The more you ignore the Lord, the more you're out of the center of his will. And then the more everything that happens is evil trying to thwart you. And in some mysterious ways, both of all of this is tied into God's authorization. And so that when evil happens, that's how we start to understand what's going on. Was this a cool lesson?   [01:19:51] This was so great. Yes, absolutely. I love it. And just just being reminded of me, I was thinking of the word test a lot. And I know that gets a bad rap with believers. They don't like to think of God as being. Well, he's going to test me on that. But I also understand the reason behind it. And I think a lot of this to me was just an eye opener to recognize a lot of those moments in those seasons, in those circumstances as a test like Joe going to be faithful and trust the Lord. And I know that working this out for my destiny, I would say yes.   [01:20:32] But I like to make sure one more thing is understood, because last session we talked about was Joseph and with Esther. And a lot of that was part of God's plan moving in towards a destiny, which is kind of where wilderness is a test. But I think the thing if I could underscore one thing from today's session, it's. There are legal. Rules in place that give evil the authority to act in our lives and if we understand those rules. More were more likely to keep evil out of our lives. If you think about speeding. If you understood that the speed limit was 45, you would slow down to 45 before you got there. But if you're ignorant of it, you go barreling through at 7 and you get a speeding ticket.   [01:21:30] So the quote unquote, knowledge is power. Not really a spiritual term, but the more we understand how God has set up.   [01:21:40] His kingdom, the more we can operate in accordance with how it's set up and therefore we can avoid a lot of the hardships. A lot of the trials we can understand. There is some relationship and a cause and effect and we're not just at a mystery of what's going on. Just like with Princeville. She's been prayed for for years to get the wheelchair. One until I came on to my home because I understood the process better. She's able to walk free now. That's the implication.   [01:22:23] That's great. Obeidy, I think we're about out of time for today, we'd probably need to wrap up our call, but thank you so much for your time and your expertise and just all the time. I know the sacrifice of your time that you put into preparing this for today and this is a great call and I know it blesses all of you listeners out there and remember to share the podcast with your friends. Do you

I had the privilege of speaking at the Chapel service again and went in unprepared and was flipping through the pages of the Bible when on of the heading caught my attention. The heading said, "Demonic Influence", which I though made perfect sense give it being Halloween. Then the verse following went into speaking on to what a good servant of Christ is. It was awesome! Somehow God, through the Holy Spirit, always brings out what needs to be said and heard. I pray this message is used by God and it reaches you in a way that only God knows. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/JeffMesker/support

Mid Week Bible Study From Thessalonians: Message: “Somehow God Is Going To Use This” – Pastor Tom Hunter

You are all the city on the hill, salt of the earth, you are all a lamp, we are a light, we are the Church on the corner, we are Dalkeith Road. Part of the point of early Christianity, the Church, the Church is although some people think we are mad, people like having us around, we are liked in the community, because we rejoice with those who rejoice and we weep with those who weep, we’re merciful, we are the peacemakers, among other things. Somehow God has chosen for this to be something more and he has given us a design on what it looks like.

“What if, The Church is far more that what we think it is?”, far more than us singing a few songs, listening to a message. What if God was wanting to do something in the world, far bigger than we’d ever imagine, or ever could imagine? What could happen if "The Church" started thinking with a “what if” mentality. Somehow God has chosen, this, "The Church" to be something more.I think that we can all agree that’d we’d disagree on many points, however our common thread, is our belief in Jesus, or at least our wanting to learn more about Jesus, or curiosity in Jesus. Do we agree on the Gospel? What is the Gospel?What if God was wanting to do something in the world far bigger than we could imagine, through his Spirit, through his Church?Ep 1:22 “And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the Church, which is his body, the fullness of him, who fills everything in every way”. That is, if you can handle it, the fullness of Jesus is in the Church. Its quite mystical how that even works, that somehow, the fullness of Jesus, Jesus is present in the world in the most powerful and with all authority, through us…

TEXT: Genesis 21:1–7 (ESV) 1 The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised. 2 And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him. 3 Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac. 4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. 5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. 6 And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.” 7 And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”   In verses 8-21 we see a divorce take place between Abraham and Hagar (the slave woman that Abraham had married and conceived the child Ishmael with). Abraham divorces Hagar as well as Ishmael. They are sent out of his life entirely. In 22-34 we see a treaty had been struck at Beersheba with Abimelech the Philistine King. Abraham, Sarah, and now Isaac were enjoying a time of peace. The last thing we see in Chapter 21 was Abraham planting a tree a sign that he planned to put down roots. Abraham calls upon the Lord as El Olam – the Everlasting God.   Genesis 22:1 (ESV) 1 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.”   I am very thankful that the Holy Spirit saw fit to give us a clue that this was a, “test” so we could read what follows with that in mind. Abraham however had no such heads up.   Genesis 22:2 (ESV) 2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”   Notice how God demonstrated the significance of this command -    Take your son - This was Abraham’s son, if God has given you a child you know it is a special thing. For a dad, there is always something unique when the Doctor says, “it’s a boy”. To be honest, girls freak us out a little bit. We aren’t sure what to do with girls. But a boy - we’ve been down that road before. For Abraham the birth of his son was all of that and more - this was the child he should not have been able to have. Sarah was well past child bearing years. Beyond this Isaac was the conduit of the promise - he was the next step in God’s promise, God’s covenant to bless the entire Earth. Your only son - Was this Abraham’s only son? Well there was Ishmael, but practically speaking yes. Ishmael had been sent away. Abraham had only one son left – Isaac. The promise would happen through Isaac or it would not happen at all. Not only that - the first born son was subject to the ironclad law of PRIMOGENITOR. You see in the ancient world inheritance wasn’t divided equally between all the children. But the firstborn son would receive everything. So in a very real sense in offering Isaac God was calling Abraham to lay everything he had, or ever hoped to be, every hope, every dream, all of his possessions on the alter. Whom you love – Don’t think for a minute that Abrahams journey of faith had been a series of theological equations. God is acknowledging that Abraham would FEEL this deeply. ILLUSTRATION: I was traveling back to AL for a funeral this week. At one point on the journey I heard a song that my son Cole plays on guitar. That simple music reminded me of how much love my son, how proud I am of him… I don’t expect Abraham love Isaac any less. No doubt, his knees buckled, his stomach twisted into a knot.  For a brief moment despair, doubt, disillusionment, disappointment flooded his soul. This is the son that he LOVED! Genesis 22:2b (ESV) 2…and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”   The word Moriah literally means "foreseen by God."  It is not coincidental that God wanted this event to occur on Mt. Moriah.  In the mind of God this was a sacred spot.  There was no other place any place like this place.  Why did it have to be this place? Out of all of the galaxies God choose the milky way.  Our of all the solar systems God choose our’s.  Then he laid his finger on a little blue planet called earth.  Out of all of the expanses of land on planet earth, God choose the sands of Canaan.  And out of all of the mountains that sprung out of the land of Canaan God choose one Mountain called Moriah. It is on this mountain that redemption would occur. Because there on the Mountains of Moriah - there was one particular place called, Golgatha, the place of the skull… upon a hill called Calvary.   Genesis 22:2–3 (ESV) 2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. Gordon Wenham calls us to notice order of action—first saddling his donkey and then cutting wood – the progression is illogical which indicates that Abraham was quite disoriented. Was it because he was about to have to sacrifice Isaac??? Yes, but more than that. You see God’s COMMAND was in direct contradiction to God’s COVENANT.  Isaac was the child through which God promised to carry out the covenant promise. Now God is saying, “Sacrifice him as a burnt offering”. How could Abraham make sense of this seemingly impossible situation.   God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac to him. That would require Abraham cutting the throat of Isaac, draining his blood, cutting off his arms and legs, then burning his body completely. Somehow or another God was going to have to put this boy back again. Some how God was going to have to reinstate that spilt blood. Somehow God would have to breath again the breath of life. The promise of God demanded that Isaac have a child. That had not occurred. Abraham was believing God for the unbelievable – a resurrection. We get some hint of that in verse 4 and 5…   Genesis 22:4–5 (ESV) 4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.”   You say Pastor that’s quite a stretch that Abraham would assume that God intended to raise Isaac– No not at all - Hebrews 11:17–19 (NAS) 17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son; 18 it was he to whom it was said, “In Isaac your descendants shall be called.” 19 He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type.    Friend the ONLY reason Abraham was able to obey God in this command was because Abraham KNEW that God HAD to be true to His word. DO YOU REMEMBER THE COVENANT? The Shikina Glory of God passed through the torn pieces of the animals. If God didn’t keep His promise - God called down a curse upon Himself.    The death of Isaac could NOT be the end… Abraham believed that deeply.  Genesis 22:6–8 (ESV) 6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together.   Isaac would be required to carry wood up Mt. Moriah, the very wood that was designed to claim his life. It would be thousands of years later before another Son would carry the deadly wood up the mountain…    Church do you see the analogy that Isaac is portraying? The loving father giving His only begotten son as a sacrifice.     7 And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.   Now I don’t know if Abraham really believed that or if he was trying to convince Isaac to go along. We are told Abraham expected resurrection. Either way - what a prophetic word that was!    God will provide HIMSELF a LAMB. Dear church:   We don’t serve a God that demands your son’s to die… we serve a God that provides HIMSELF a lamb.  We don’t serve a God that call your good to outweigh your bad so that he is appeased… we serve a God that provides HIMSELF a lamb. We don’t serve a God who calls you to EARN his good favor… we serve a God that provides HIMSELF a lamb.   Genesis 22:9–14 (ESV) 9 When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”   The Hebrew word for fear means an “Awe, reverence” it carries the idea of wonder, amazement, astonishment… it’s very similar to our word for ultimate love. He is saying Abraham - you have passed the test. You have proved that I’m the absolute most important thing in your life.     13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.   Do you see it? This Ram wore upon his head a crown of thorns pointing to another who would bear a thorny crown. Up until this point Isaac has been the type pointing to Christ, but the analogy could go no further. For you see Isaac also needed a redeemer, there must be a substitute also for Isaac.  ULTIMATELY - the mind of God wasn’t fixed on Abraham, it wasn’t fixed on Isaac, it wasn’t fixed on the ram caught in the thorns…look at verse 14 -    14 So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.” You see the word Moriah literally means "foreseen by God.”    God could look into the future and see another Son, carrying the wood up the mountain, another Father prepared to slaughter His son…. Other thorns upon another head…. But this time, no angel stepped in.    ILLUSTRATION: Years  ago I read about a preacher who was backing out -of his driveway.  His little boy loved to play hide and seek with his daddy.  And this preacher's little boy jumped out from behind the bushes and said, "Boo,  Daddy." But Daddy didn't hear him because he was behind the auto- mobile.  This preacher heard that sickening thud as he backed out over and crushed the body of his little boy. And he picked up that crushed little body.  The life had already gone from the little youngster.  And he was  so broken-hearted.  Later on, he told a preacher friend about it.  And the preacher's friend's name was Bob. And this older preacher told the younger preacher with the tears streaming down his cheeks, he said concerning the death of his son, "Bob, I wouldn't have done it for the world.  I wouldn't have done  it for the world. But God did for the world, for the world.    For God so loved the world, that He gave, He gave He gave His only begotten Son for the world.     Friend - if you are to find the power to take your dreams and sacrifice them to God’s glory….   You will have to look to a God who didn’t stop the knife.    God looked at Abraham who almost sacrificed his son and said, “Now I know how much you love me”.    We look at God who DID Sacrifice His Son and say, “Now I know, how much you Love me”.       

In Jesus the unknowable God, the One we cannot fully grasp intellectually, can be intimately known. Somehow God “makes sense” relationally in Jesus.

Well, for the next two weeks, we're going to be looking at this incredible passage of scripture that Chase just read, Ephesians 2:11-17. And it's a powerful text, I think, that gives us hope for some of the most poignant issues that are facing us even in this day. It's the only hope I think there is for racism, for dealing with the issues of racism in our country. We'll talk much more clearly and directly about that next week. But these problems of division in our world, and hatred, and hostility, and what this text calls a barrier dividing wall of hostility. These things can only be removed by the sovereign grace of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They cannot be removed by diplomacy, or government regulations, or United Nations, or any of those things. Those barriers, those dividing walls of hostility, will not come down that way, but only through the Gospel of Christ. The only hope for unity in our world is the Gospel, and this morning we're going to zero in specifically on the division between Jews and Gentiles. The Jew-Gentile division in the scripture and what Christ has done for that. History of Conflict And I think the overwhelming majority of us who are here today, are Gentiles. There may be some of Jewish descent here, but the overwhelming majority of those that assemble on Sunday mornings to hear the good news of Christ, and to study the scriptures are Gentiles. And we need to hear what Paul is saying to us. What you just heard in the text. How it was for us as Gentiles. We need to understand the astounding work that Christ has done in bringing us as Gentiles, who were so far away from hope, so far away from God's work in redemption, in the world, and bringing us near in Christ, and we need to celebrate that. It's amazing. And this text has the power to do that. Paul here goes to the root of hatred and hostility between Jews and Gentiles, and shows us how the work of Jesus Christ on the cross has removed that forever among those that believe in Christ. Gentiles’ Hostility Toward Jews Now, from the Gentile side, there is the arrogance, and the military superiority, and the vicious persecution, and even genocidal mania that has stained the pages of history. We know that very well from the 20th century from the rise of Nazism, and its virulent anti-semitism, and 6 million Jews slaughtered in what they called the final solution of Auschwitz, and other death camps, but that wasn't the first expression of anti-Semitism in history. It's not the first time we see that hostility or hatred from the Gentiles toward the Jews. Throughout history, if you saw a fiddler on the roof, for example, there's a pogrom right in the middle of that in Czarist Russia. That gives you a sense of the history there. The Jews have been persecuted throughout the nations of Europe. They were persecuted during the time of the Inquisition. Going further back, the Crusades were focused not just on driving the Muslims out of Jerusalem, but also they were anti-Semitic in nature. And it goes all the way back even within the scriptures to what happened in the Book of Esther, as Haman was seeking some kind of a genocidal work on the Jews, wiping them out entirely. So, Gentile history of hatred for the Jews is well-established, along with their military superiority. Hostility of Jews Toward Gentiles But the Bible also makes plain the other side. The hostility of the Jews toward the Gentiles. The Jewish jealousy and hatred of the Gentile world as well. The arrogance, religiously. The fact that the Gentiles were, as the text says, "excluded from citizenship in Israel." They were cast out in effect by the Law of Moses, as we're going to talk about today. They were outsiders, and that had the tendency to make the Jews feel religiously superior to those that were inferior to them. They were the chosen people. Then, in the course of time, when the Jews rebelled against God's covenant, as God said they would through Moses, but when they rebelled in the Promised Land, against God's covenant, failed to keep it, God began to give the Jews over again and again to Gentile conquest. Again, and again, God would raise up Gentiles to come in from the surrounding nations and punish the Jews. You see this in the Book of Judges, you see God raising up the various nations that surrounded them. The Midianites, the Ammonites, Syrians, the Philistines, the Egyptians. And again and again, God would give the Jews into the hands of the Gentiles. The very thing that God said He would do as a curse in the Mosaic covenant, in the Old Covenant. He said this in Deuteronomy 28:25, "The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You'll come at them from one direction, but flee from them in seven. You will become a thing of horror to all the kingdoms of the Earth." And then again in Deuteronomy 32:21, God says this, "They, the Jews, made me jealous by what is no God and angered me with their worthless idols, so I will make them jealous by those who are not a people," speaking of the Gentiles. "I will make them angry by a nation that has no understanding." So, you Jews made me jealous by your idolatry, then I'm going to make you jealous by giving you over militarily to the Gentiles. This is the very thing you said you would do in the song of Moses before they even enter the Promised Land. Ultimately, this was completed, consummated in some ways, by the exiles under the Assyrians, and under the Babylonians, as the Jews were driven out from the Promised Land militarily. Then one succession of Gentile overlords after another rose up to dominate them even when a small remnant under Ezra and Nehemiah, came back to rebuild the Jewish presence in the Promised Land, they were still, as was said in those books, slaves in their own land. They were under Gentile domination. And that was very, very difficult. So you see some of that hatred in that history. It's interesting, even this morning I was looking at a couple of verses in Ezra and Nehemiah. It says in Nehemiah 2:20, as Nehemiah's just beginning his work of building the city wall around Jerusalem, some Gentiles come and show up and begin talking to him about that project, and this is what Nehemiah said to these Gentiles. "You have no portion, no right, and no claim in Jerusalem." Well, praise God we do have a portion, right, and claim in the New Jerusalem. Amen. We were outsiders. What was Nehemiah building? A wall. What was that for? To keep them out. And then again in Ezra as they're starting to build the temple, in Ezra 4:3 says, "You have nothing to do with us in building this temple for our God in which we will worship." Again, spoken to the Gentiles. “You're outsiders.” Well, this attitude, this hostility, Jew toward Gentile, which is made much more fierce because they were, in effect, under Gentile domination, and slaves in their own land, came to a fever pitch in the New Testament. When God raised up Saul of Tarsus, converted him, made him the Apostle to the Gentiles, and he began to go from place to place, teaching that in Christ, the very things he's saying here in Ephesians are true, “we gentiles have become sons and daughters of Abraham. And that we're now included in the covenant, the new covenant in Christ.” The nationalistic Jews were extremely angry about that, those that had not yet come to faith in Christ. And they were enraged actually. Started riots in many cities in reference to Paul's ministry to the Gentiles. Well, you see that in Acts 21, when Paul's there and he's with a Gentile, and they assumed that he had brought this Gentile into the temple area, which was absolutely forbidden. And they started to try to kill him, and started a riot and all that. The Romans came in and rescued Paul, and they're bringing him to the barracks where they're going to beat him. Paul had a hard life. I mean really. What a ministry. But here he says, "Just a minute, I'd like to speak to the crowd." I just think that's amazing, Acts 22, it's a witnessing moment. A chance to share the Gospel. I mean, how he thought was amazing. But he stands up and he's sharing his testimony and for the second time in the Book of Acts. We get the story of the road to Damascus, and how he's converted, and they're listing quietly, until he gets to one word. One word. And this is what it says, "Then the Lord said to me," this is Paul talking about his own testimony. They'd been quiet up to this point. "Go. I will send you far away to the Gentiles." The crowd listened carefully to Paul until he said this. Then they raised their voices, and shouted, "Rid the earth of him. He's not fit to live." And then they're shouting and throwing off their cloaks, and flinging dust in the air. One word sent them into anger, “Gentiles.” So there's that Jew Gentile hostility. We've seen it both sides of the equation. Now, it is true that God had chosen the Jews and blessed them. They were in a very special way, the focus point of his redemptive work on Earth. He said at Mount Sinai in Exodus 19:5-6, to the Jewish nation, "Now if you obey me fully and if you keep my covenant, then out of all the nations, you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole Earth is mine, you will be for Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." But it was for the purpose of blessing the entire world with the Abrahamic blessing. "Through you,” Abraham, “all peoples on Earth blessed," and I don't think they understood that. They didn't see that. And that theme had long since disappeared from the Jewish mindset, and from the Jewish way of life. In Christ, it is fulfilled. In Christ, it is consummated. “We Gentiles, who were once so far away have now been brought near” and are included in what God had always planned to do through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Well, that's all by way of introduction. The Distance Between Gentiles and God Remember What You Were, Gentiles Let's look now very carefully at these verses that teach so much about our condition as Gentile believers in Christ. Let's begin in verses 11 and 12 where it makes it very plain that Gentiles, who are formally excluded and without hope, have now been brought near. We were formally excluded. We were on the outside, and without hope. Look at Verse 11-12, "Therefore remember that formally, you who are Gentiles, by birth, and called uncircumcised by those who call themselves the circumcision, that done in the body by the hands of men. Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.” So Paul here calls on the Gentiles to remember what they were formally. We've already seen that earlier in the worship service today. The benefit of going back and remembering how it was. Now, Ephesus, these Ephesians, they were from the city of Ephesus. It was in Asia Minor, modern day Turkey. And that was a Gentile region, a Gentile city, and a Gentile region. And they worshiped Pagan deities, like Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, whose image had supposedly fallen out of Heaven. And they built this huge temple to her, that was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. There was paganism, it was a pagan place, they worshiped idols. Their men were uncircumcised, as Paul mentions in this text. They were seen by Jews, by some Jews anyway, to be unclean dogs. "They were," verse 11, "Gentiles by birth” or more literally “Gentiles in the flesh." Their genealogy, their racial lineage, was Gentile, not Jew. Paul wants them to look back and to remember how it was for them as a nation, and group. Why is that? Well, it's just a truth. And we've been seeing this again and again. The more you realize what you were before you were converted, the more joyful and thankful you'll be now and energetic in service to Christ. The more you know just how black, and dark, and distant all of that was, the better it is for you. I just love singing that song, Jesus, Thank You. Don't you? I leaned over to Daphne this morning? I said, "I love this song. It gives me a chance to tell Jesus, ‘Thank you.’ Just to say, ‘Thank you for saving me.’” And we've already seen this already, this morning, and earlier in Ephesians 2, how Paul has already brought their minds back. In verses 1-3, look, "As for you," he says, "You were dead in your transgressions and sins in which you used to live. When you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air. Spirit who is now at work and those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.” That's what we were. Remember how you were. Look back at how you were. Understand that condition. Formerly Called “Uncircumcision” by the Circumcised Now, he wants to tell these Gentiles even more about their situation. God had begun a work of redemption through the Jews. Think of the world like a dark howling wasteland. Like a blizzard in some mountainous region, and there's some light shining and a fire that started, and there's some food cooking, and there's this place of warmth, and you're in the blizzard. But it's like you can see the light, and then as you draw nearer you find that there's this huge wall erected around it. You are on the outside and there was a wall there preventing you from coming in. You couldn't be included, that's what he's saying. You were on the outside. Now, Paul himself was raised in a Gentile region. He was also raised in Asia Minor. He was in the city of Tarsus, 700 miles to the east of Ephesus, right along pretty much the same latitude, right across. And he knew what it was like to be surrounded by Gentiles. He himself was a Roman citizen and he understood this situation. So, he doesn't know how much these Gentiles knew about Jewish laws and regulations, but he's going to tell them. He's going to say, "Remember that formally, you who were called the uncircumcision." Alright, “Gentiles in the flesh and called uncircumcised, by those who call themselves the circumcision.” You're seen to be outsiders by these Jews, “called uncircumcised by those who call themselves as circumcision.” Now, to some degree, this statement here is a bit of a digression an aside. Paul's interrupting his thought and said, "There are some people who think hard thoughts about you and they call themselves the circumcision. These Jewish nationalists. I understand them, I was one of them myself at one point. And they call themselves the circumcision. They have a sense of spiritual superiority to you, hostility toward you. They have a certain hatred toward you, but their circumcision," Paul alludes to this, "their circumcision is merely external, and physical, it's not spiritual." He's going to talk about this in Romans 2:28 and 29. He says, "A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly. Nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly, and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's praise does not come from men, but from God." So that's a true Jew. Okay. They've had that inner-work of transformation by the Holy Spirit. It's a circumcision of the heart. They've been transformed. The very thing that happened in Ephesians 2:4-5. Go ahead and look at it. "But God made us alive even when we were dead in transgressions, it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up." That's another way of saying the same thing. That spiritual circumcision, by the Spirit, not by the written code, that hasn't happened to these people, they call themselves a circumcision and they're only focusing on the physical. Six Facts About the Gentile Condition Okay, well anyway, you Gentiles, alright, what should we remember? Well, let's remember six devastating things about you in that condition. “Remember that at that time, when you were not a Christian. Back then, before you were converted, alright, you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of the Promise, without hope, without God in the world.” Six different things that Paul says was true of us as Gentile, unconverted people. Separate from Christ So first he says, "You are separate from Christ, you are outside of Christ, you are apart from Christ, you are not in fellowship with Christ." Christ for us is everything. Christ is life, Christ is our hope. We have nothing apart from Christ. And so, when you are not a Christian you had nothing from Christ, you were separate from Him. Christ is the fullness of joy. He is life and power and peace and everything good in the universe. But more than that, you Gentiles, you didn't even have any promises or any hopes or any thoughts about Christ? You didn't have a heritage of waiting for the Messiah. You didn't even know about Him. You didn't know that one had been promised who would come would be the Savior of the world. You didn't have those kinds of thoughts. So you were separate from Christ. You had nothing like that. Excluded from Citizenship in Israel And secondly he says, "You were excluded from citizenship in Israel." Citizenship, the language of citizenship is something these Gentiles would have understood, dominated as they were by the Romans, and there was such a thing as Roman citizenship. Paul himself was born a citizen of Rome,. And so being a citizen of Rome brought you certain rights and privileges. Certain advantages and benefits. Well, they were outsiders, they had no rights and privileges when it came to Israel. And why? Because the law of Moses kept them out, it excluded them, told them they were not permitted to enter the assembly of the righteous. They were outsiders. In Deuteronomy 23:2-3, it says this, “No one born of a foreign marriage nor any of his descendants may enter the assembly of the Lord even down to the 10th generation.” That's right in the law of Moses. “No Ammonite or Moabite or any of his descendants may enter the assembly of the Lord even down to the 10th generation.” When they came back under Ezra and Nehemiah, they were all about genealogies. You've read those books. Genealogy all the time. “Are you Jewish?” That's the question. And then in Nehemiah 13:1-3, it says on that day, the Book of Moses was read aloud and the hearing of the people and it was found written, “that no Ammonite or Moabite should ever be entered into the Assembly of God.” Now listen to this, the kind of extension of this “when the people heard this law, they excluded from Israel all who were of foreign descent,” everybody. So you might say, “Wait a minute. I'm not Ammonite I'm not a Moabite.” Well, you're included, excluded, included in the excluded. If you're not Jewish, you're out. What's interesting though is honestly the entire Old Covenant was about exclusion, for everybody. Wasn't it? Wasn't the tabernacle, just a bunch of cloth walls that kept people out? Wasn't the Temple, a more permanent bunch of walls that kept people out? Wasn't it true that you couldn't enter the Holy of Holies, unless you were descended from Levi and descended from Aaron and it was the Day of Atonement, and you brought blood, and you better get out of there, quickly? So there are these barriers, all of this. We'll get back to that in a moment. But God had set this up, He had set up this barrier, He had set up this dividing wall, He had set all of this up with its commandments and regulations. It excluded all uncircumcised people, from the sacred assembly. The Gentiles were outsiders. Look at Verses 14-15. Do you see the words there? “Barrier.” “Dividing wall.” See it? Verse 15, “the Law with its commandments and regulations.” That's what kept us out. The circumcision rule, the dietary regulations, all of the Jewish laws. Kept us out. Foreigners to the Covenants of the Promise Thirdly, foreigners to the covenants of the Promise, what is this? Well, God made a promise to Abraham, when He called him out of Ur of the Chaldees. “Leave your country and your people, and go to the land I will show you.” "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you, I will curse, and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." So that's a promise. Then He made him even more promises, He says at one very incredible time. It was night time, and He takes him out, God takes Abraham out of the tent and has him look up at the stars and he says, "Look up at the stars and count them if you can", then He makes him a promise, “So shall your offspring be.” “You're going to have descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky,” that's a promise made from God to him. The very next verse is key to our salvation. “Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.” So you first have to hear a promise, then you can believe it. But the Gentiles had no promise made to them, none that we could believe. And then, it mentions the “covenants of the Promise,” “the covenants of the Promise,” and so in Genesis 15, that very same chapter He makes him the second word. “I'm going to give this land that you're walking on here to you and to your descendants forever.” So how do I know that I'm going to get it? It's not looking too good right now God. So then God had him make a covenant. He had him have animals, and he sacrificed them, and laid them out and made a path between them, as that was a covenant cutting ceremony, and suddenly, mysteriously, this fire pot, representing the presence of God, moved between the pieces and in effect, God said “May I personally cease to exist, if I don't keep this promise to you, I will keep my promise to you, I will keep this covenant, you will get the land forever.” Well, that was Jewish though. The Gentiles had no such covenant cutting ceremony, they had no covenant made with them. Nope, no such promises have been made to the Gentiles, their outsiders. God wasn't making them any promise at all. And notice, it's plural “covenants.” The second covenant I think that Paul has in mind is the covenant made with David, that God would raise up one of David's sons and seat Him on His throne, the throne of David, and he would reign forever and ever a king reigning over a chosen people, in an eternal land that would be theirs forever and ever. That's what God was doing through the covenants, but the Gentiles were outsiders. They were excluded from the covenants of the Promise. Without Hope Fourthly, they, “were without hope.” I would say just like Ephesians 2:10 I would say, there's very few days that go by I don't think about Ephesians 2:10, “that I am God's workmanship created to do good works today, which I want to do which God has prepared for me.” How about this one. That the non-Christians that surround us, the lost people are “without hope and without God in the world.” Think about that every day, think about what it would be like to go through life without hope and without God. It's inconceivable how much misery, human misery, is packed into these words. “Without hope.” What do people do when they're hopeless? Well, some of them kill themselves. Other people drown their sorrows in drugs and alcohol. Or in workaholism or achievements or material possessions, or entertainment, or sports. Because they don't have anything, and as they go on there's more and more sense of despair that just doesn't satisfy doesn't satisfy it's “Vanity of vanities, it's meaningless.” Now, I think there are three types of hope. I've talked to people, non-Christians and Christians alike about this, and it just has to do with a time frame. Hope always has to do with the future. “Who hopes for what he already has?” We don't hope about past things. Hope always has to do with the future. What is hope? Hope is a feeling in the heart, a positive feeling that the future is bright. “I'm looking forward to the future, the future will have good things for me.” Okay? Time frame. First, let's start with eternity, that I'm looking forward to eternity. I'm not afraid to die, I believe in eternal life, and I think eternally, I'll be happy, eternal hope. No one on earth but Christians has any reason for eternal hope, none. Then there's long range hope. “I like how my life is going.” Might have to do with your career, might have to do with a long-term goal. Maybe you just got married, and you're looking forward to a beautiful life with your wife, with your husband. looking forward to that. Things are looking good for you down the road and from now until death, it's going to be good, long range hope. And then there's that short-term, immediate hope. “We're going out to eat tonight at my favorite restaurant. Looking forward to that! Future is looking bright. Short, short range future.” What ends up happening is more and more non-Christians get down to that final one. More and more, and they just live for today. “Let us eat and drink and be merry, because I don't even know if tomorrow's ever going to come and if it does, it's probably going to be bad.” So that's what it means to be without hope. We have a God who has gone ahead of us, in time, and has basically said, “Not only have I been to your future and seen it. I've ordained it, I've decreed it, and nothing will stop it. Your future is bright. So be filled with hope. Be filled with joy.” We have that as Christians. Non-Christians, don't have that. “Without hope, and without God” means without God as a blessing. God sees everything they do. He is a constant watcher of men and women, He knows everything that we do, that's not it, that's like Hell. That's God. There to punish. God, there to curse. God, there to pour out wrath, not God to bless. That's what, “without God” means here, that God isn't making any commitment to bless you. He's made no promises to bless you. “Without hope and without God in the world.” The world is just Satan's world where Satan is in charge and dominant. Can I just stop and just do an application here? Do you not see how we have to be evangelistic in this world? Do you not see how we have got to reach out to non-Christians? We've got to see non-Christians that we live with differently, that these folks have no hope and we have hope in our hearts! Our centers are radiant with hope! By the way, you need to live that out, right? Just live out hope, just speak your hope all the time. Because somebody's going to come and ask you to “give a reason for the hope that you have,” so you have to be putting that hope on display. Amen? So just put that hope on display and hopeless people will say, “What is going on with you?” They're out in the howling wilderness and it's dark and cold and you're like, sitting around a very warm campfire, eating well, and you're protected, and they're like, “I want in. How do I get in?” “Repent and believe in Jesus.” Well, they're “without hope and without God in the world” But now, He says, in verse 13, “In Christ Jesus, you who were once far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. But now,” isn't that almost exactly like, “But God?” Isn't that fantastic just like, “But God”? In verse 4, we have “But now.” Gentiles Now Brought Near by Christ You who were once far away you have been brought near, and how amazing is that we're near, near to what? Not so much near to the Jews. Although we'll get to that. You've been brought near to God. This infinite, high and holy God, the one who, as Daniel quoted earlier, “I live in a high and holy place.” “I live in a high and holy place,” but also with him who is contrite and “lowly in spirit,” “I live with people that are broken-hearted and that come to me through faith in Christ.” You've been brought near. This is the God who sits, “enthroned above the circle of the Earth, and its people are like grasshoppers.” We were as sinners distant from God, and now we have been “brought near” and it says, “through the blood of Christ,” or “by the blood of Christ.” There is no salvation for us sinners, apart from the “shed blood of Christ,” we will never be done talking about the blood of Christ, it says in Leviticus 17, “the life of the creature, of the animal, is in the blood, and I've given it to you to make atonement for your sins.” Well, that was in the old covenant, but we learned in the new covenant that “the blood of bulls and goats could never take away sin.” It was just a symbol, And “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness,” but blood has been shed for us, amen? Isn't that beautiful? “The blood of Christ has brought us near.” Jesus died on the cross, He shed His blood in our place that we, who were once distant might be now brought near to God. Brought Near by Christ’s Bloodshed Now, here's the key to the “barrier, the dividing wall of hostility coming down.” We're going to talk much more about this next week. This is the key to the end of racism. This is the key to the end of the hostility between Jews and Gentiles. This is it. Christ has made us one. Look at verses 14 and 15, “For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in His flesh the law with its commandments and regulations His purpose was to create in Himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace.” Well, Christ is our peace. This section here, verses 14 and 15, begins and ends with peace, and so, Christ by His bloodshed on the cross has taken away the wrath of God. So, the peace horizontally takes a back seat to the first, and that is peace vertically with God. God was at war with us, we were His enemies, but now, in Christ, God has reconciled us to Him, through faith in Christ. And so we now have as we saw earlier, Romans 5:1-2, “we have peace with God” through our Lord Jesus Christ. So vertically, we now have peace with God. And so what that means is horizontally we are drawn close to oneness with one another. We, having been reconciled to God, we can be reconciled to each other. Look at verses 15 and 16, “His purpose was to create in Himself one new man out of the two,” one out of two, “thus making peace and in this one body, to reconcile both of them to God through the cross by which He put to death their hostility.” So, the war is ended. The war is ended with us and God, and then with us and brothers and sisters in Christ, we are one with each other, we are reconciled to one another, we have been made at peace with each other. So he says that the two, Christ has now made one. Now, the key to that is our spiritual unity with Jesus, if you come to faith in Christ, you are made one with Jesus, look back at verses 4 through 6, “But God who is rich in mercy made us alive with Christ, with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions. It is by grace you have been saved.” Verse 6, “And God raised us up with Christ, and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms, in Christ Jesus.” We are one with Christ, And that's true of every single Christian on the face of the earth. We are one with Christ, all of us. It is impossible for two individuals to be each of them, one with Christ and not one with each other. We are in a status of oneness with Christ. Now, we need to act like it in terms of our walk with Christ, in holiness. We are also in a status of oneness with each other, and we need to act like it and walk like it. And so on that basis, Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians are made one with each other, as well, one body united in Christ. Now, later he's going to say this in Ephesians 4:3-6, he says, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace.There is one body and one spirit just as you were called to one hope, when you're called - one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is overall, and through all, and in all.” Unity Made Possible Only Through Christ Now, there are some difficult passages to interpret in the Bible, but what's the main important word there? I think it's “one.” I mean It's kind of like you have to be dense, not to see it. One. There's “one Lord, one faith, one baptism.” “One” hope we are one, we have all been made one in Christ. Now the way he does that is by transforming us individually, making us new men and women, new boys and girls. Look at verse 15, "His purpose was to create in Himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace.” 2 Corinthians 5:17, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old is gone, behold everything has become new.” We're changed, we're transformed and we're going to talk next week about racism and all of those issues. So much of it just has to do with the change of the heart, and covering of the history, and forgiveness, and all of those things God has done that for us, he has transformed our hearts and made us into new people. So, no longer Jew, no longer Gentile. Now with a new name Christian, A believer in Christ. Amen? One new man, one new work he's doing, it's the only designation that matters and the Spirit takes that hatred, that bitterness, that's based on history, based on actual sins that have occurred and takes it away. Christ’s Miraculous Power to Change Hearts I love the scene in the movie, Ben-Hur, one of my favorite movies, and there Judah Ben-Hur, a Jewish man had had a Roman friend when he was a boy, Messala, but when each of them grew up Judah Ben-Hur grew up as it as a Jew, and very nationalistic and caring about his people, Messala grew up as a Roman and grew up very nationalistic, and caring about his people, they came back together after having an apart since they were teenagers, they could not be friends and Messala was bitter and negative toward the Jews, but wanted to use Judah Ben-Hur to betray his people And use him as an informant and all that, and Judah wouldn't do that. So, Messala turns and punishes Judah Ben-Hur, sends him on a slave galley, takes Judah's mother and sister beloved, mother and sister and throws them in prison with no charges where they contract leprosy. Somehow God spares Judah Ben-Hur, brings him back but he is so seething with hatred at Messala, he can't stand him, he's filled with bitterness and rage over the history and what has happened, And then when he finds out that his mother and his sister have leprosy, and it's Messala's fault, it just goes off the charts. Messala ends up dying in a chariot race, but the hatred doesn't go away. It's like a heat seeking missile, he's just looking for something, and he hates Rome, he hates the world, he hates everything, but he meets Jesus as He's on his way to dying on the cross. He actually watches Him die in the movie. And he had met Jesus earlier, Jesus had given him some water when He was on His way to the slave galley. Now, he sees Him dying, and he hears Him say those words "Father forgive them, they don't know what they're doing", and the blood flows down, and in the movie it was very powerful. And then he comes back, he's just a different man. And he said, "When I heard Him say those words, I felt Him reach down and take the sword out of my hand. That's What happens when Jesus makes you a new man or a new woman. He Just reaches down and takes the sword right out of your hand and you are one with somebody that you, in every other way would be an enemy with. That's the power here. And so Christ has done that, and it says in the text, he's done it by destroying “the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility.” Well, this was the last issue in the text. There were laws, there was a circumcision regulation, there were dietary regulations. Jesus, we are told here, has abolished it. Look at verse 15, he talks about the “barrier of the dividing wall of hostility,” verse 15, "By abolishing in His flesh the law with its commandments and regulations.” He abolished them. Hebrews 8:13 says that in Jesus, “in His blood, there's a new covenant and by calling this covenant new, He has made the old one obsolete.” So the old covenant is abolished. That's the text. It's obsolete. That's Hebrews 8:13. We now no longer are at any spiritual disadvantage uncircumcised we don't have to keep the ceremonial regulations, the dietary regulations. That “barrier, that dividing wall” has been removed. That horizontal barrier has been removed because the vertical one has been removed. When Jesus died on the cross, the curtain in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, and now “we have access to the Father by one Spirit,” so Jews and Gentiles who have come to faith in Christ, are perfectly one in Him. They just need to act like it, they need to live out that oneness. Now, we're going to talk next week about how hard that is and more of those aspects. I would say that this text is the most powerful one that I know at getting at the root of racism and bitterness and division. We'll talk more about that next week. A few other applications, then we'll be done. Application First, as Gentile Christians. Let's just stand amazed at what He has done. Just do what Paul says. “Remember how it was for you,” formally remember what you were remember the journey that God has taken you from remember how you used to be an outsider, and now you're in. Now, you're inside. Now, you're loved. Keep that in mind and rejoice. If you like, Jesus, Thank You, go home and sing it. Find another song then sing that one. Just praise Him and thank Him. Secondly, Verse 18 says that “we now both Jews and Gentiles in Christ have free access to God through the Holy Spirit.” Take advantage of it. Come close to God. He has brought you near positionally, now come close in prayer, Bring your problems to Him, “Let us draw near to God, having a sincere heart and pure assurance of faith, as it says in Hebrews 10. Thirdly, and I've already mentioned this and I'll say it again. Meditate much on the condition of people who are not yet converted. Think about the fact that they're “without hope and without God in the world,” have mercy on them. Last week I challenged the home fellowships to have each member identify five people that they know to be lost, that you're praying for by name. Okay, so I'm ready. Home Fellowship, I've got my names alright, I was busy this week meeting people, but let’s just let's reach out, let's get names of lost people and let's pray for them. And if perhaps you have a chance like Ben and some others of sharing the Gospel and reaching out, let's be bold, let's share. And then finally, let's meditate on our supernatural unity, in Christ. We're going to talk much more about it next week, but this is the only answer there is for the kind of racial tensions and divisions there are in our country and in the world. Let's meditate on it, let's Get Ready. So I'd urge you just read this text over in light of some of the difficulties that we've been having, even in our nation and around the world and see the answer there. Close with me in prayer. Prayer Father, we thank you for the truth of the Gospel. We thank you O Lord that apart from Christ we had no salvation but now we, who are once far away have been, “brought near through the blood of Christ.” Lord I pray that there wouldn't be a single person here that would leave this place unconverted, today. I pray that they would trust in Christ for the forgiveness of their sins and find in Jesus, the salvation that they need. And Lord, I pray for all of us who have already found forgiveness and unity and hope in Christ, that we would be filled with thanksgiving and that we would be filled with boldness to take the Gospel to those who are “without hope and without God in the world.” In Jesus' name, amen.