Transcript for:
Galatians 3:6,14 -Blessed Believers- Pastor Rick Beaudry 2025-09-07

Galatians chapter three verses six through 14. Would you please stand with me as we read God's holy word together? Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture foreseeing that God Hello? Is that one of mine? Alright. It's okay if it's one of my grandkids. Alright. They've never done anything wrong, but it's okay for him too. They can come back in. I'm not I'm I love families being here. Know you therefore that they which are of faith the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture foreseen that God would justify the heathen through faith preached before the gospel unto Abraham saying, in these shall all families or all nations be blessed. And they which be of faith are blessed, the faithful Abraham. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse, for it is written, cursed it everyone that continues not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident for the just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith, but the man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us, for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree, that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of the spirit through faith. Father, we thank you for your holy word. Lord, we pray that once again that you would be our teacher, that you'd lead and guide us into all truth, that Lord, we'd not just be hearers of your word, but doers of your word. That we would be transformed and changed from glory to glory in the image of your son, Lord. That as we look this morning into the mirror of your word, as we see ourselves in relationship to who you are, Lord, we pray as we cry out that you would transform and change us, that our minds would be renewed, that we would think biblically, that we'd have a biblical worldview, that we'd have a biblical citizenship, our citizenship being in heaven, that we'd be looking, Lord, in anticipation for the soon return of your dear son for us his bride, Lord, that we'd be ready. So bless, Lord. Speak to us. Lord, just enrich our hearts with these great truths within the word here as Paul is laying these things out by the power of the Holy Spirit. Help us, Lord, to never fall, to be bewitched like the Galatians were, to be enticed, to be drawn away, to be beguiled by false doctrine. Help us to walk that narrow path, that narrow road, Lord, that place where there's security and peace and knowing we're in your will. So bless now in Jesus' name. Amen. Would you please be seated? Paul continues to emphasize faith in God as a means by which believers enter into the blessed relationship with God. The Judaizers, who are these, Jews come down from Jerusalem in many in many ways, or that's actually what's happening, They're coming to an area of Galatia, which is like a county, Kitsap County, churches in that region. And Paul had already planted the gospel and believers, Gentile believers are believing, but now the Jews are coming down behind him saying, oh, you gotta be circumcised. Oh, you gotta keep the 613 precepts of the Mosaic Law to truly be saved. You know, you gotta become a Jew. And Paul's like, who bewitched you? What happened? What what as soon as I turn my back, as soon as I go away, you guys are getting caught up in false doctrine or, you know, not only in salvation, but sanctification. Oh, you're saved, but now in order to mature and to grow, you're gonna have to keep the law. You need to, you know, keep the Sabbath. You need to, you know, not eat any, you know, any bacon, you know, at oak table. Boy, I miss that bacon oak table. That's the best breakfast. But, that's another another whole other thing. But to Paul, you know, he's he's letting them know that in Galatians or in Acts chapter 15, they had a council, and, Peter's chiming in saying, you know, why put a burden upon the Gentiles that neither we nor our fathers were able to bear? Why should we have the burden of the law, you know, anymore? Because Christ is the fulfillment. He fulfilled the demands of the law, and we'll see that in our text here. And so salvation is by grace through faith alone. And also that your sanctification as you continue to grow, it's by faith. You're trusting in the Lord that, he's going to transform and change you. Being calm to this very thing that he that has begun a good work in you, that he will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. And so these believers, he wants them to have this blessed relationship with God, and he's using Abraham as an example of a person that by faith came into this relationship with God. The law was four hundred and thirty years later. The law had nothing to do with it. It was simply based upon faith. And when Abraham believed God, God imputed it to Abraham for righteousness we're going to see. And so he used the proof text that of Abraham to illustrate this truth. In Genesis 12 verse three, God told Abraham, in you shall all families of the earth be blessed. God wants you and I to be blessed. Do you wanna be in the Bless Me Club? I wanna be in the Bless Me Club. I want to know the riches that are ours in Christ Jesus, the unsearchable riches that are ours. This light of affliction that we're going through is but for a moment, and it's working a far more eternal weight of glory. While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but things are not seen are eternal. And so in the dispensation, in the ages to come, in the future, in the millennium, the thousand year rule and reign of Christ, God's gonna continue to pour out his kindness upon you and I. You're gonna enter in to his kingdom. You're gonna go to the Bema Seat judgment in heaven first because he said, go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again to receive you onto myself that where I am there, you may be also. And that's what's called the Bema Seat judgment at the wedding ceremony where you are joined to Christ. Presently, you have the endowment, you have the seal of the Holy Spirit marking you out as his purchased possession, but there is a day where in Ephesians, the riches that are ours in Christ Jesus, Paul wants you to know, don't negate those blessings by going back into the bondage of the law. The law is gonna condemn you. The law is gonna cause you to be be accursed, if you will. So, know, you why would you do that? Why would you negate? Why would you limit the very things that God wants to do, you know, in your life? So believers are blessed with three things. Number one, with righteousness. Number two, with rest. And number three, redemption. Three great truths. Notice first of all, the righteousness that's ours. Verse six, even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. And so this word accounting speaks of imputed righteousness, a rectified relationship with God to be right with God, or we would call it justification just as if I've never sinned. And so God is holy. Man is sinful. How can man get right with God without violating the righteous holy character of God? When we were in California at the pier there, there's a lot of different religious groups, bunches of them, different ideas and stuff. And there's a couple Jehovah's Witnesses over here, ladies, you know, and they're trying to get people to knock on doors and pass out magazines and stuff. And another little group over here, you know, they gotta wear the golden glasses and britches and things like that and make planets and have babies and all other sorts of different groups of religious people being religious and all. And we didn't fear or feel like we were missing out on anything. There are other people that had wheelbarrows again full of Bibles, free Bibles, people giving Bibles away. The Christians were there, and and it was just exciting in the marketplace, the Agora, where people are there with ideas, and there's bands playing, they had people with ears like in Israel, white sandy beaches, the little tiny what do you call those things? What do you call them? No? Ukuleles. Ukuleles. They had a whole thing of ukulele people out there every week on Tuesdays, you know, and and playing all the cool songs. Then you have the crazy music people. Everybody's there. It's just kinda like Paul going to in Acts 17 to Mars Hill, where everybody had an idea, you know, and all the different idols there, and they were always concerned about the newest greatest thing and such. And and we as Christians, we don't need to be looking for the newest greatest thing. We have Jesus Christ. We're looking for a soon return. And so God will account. He will reckon. He will impute. So those of you that are accountants, the bookkeepers, don't understand in the ledger, in the ledger, there's a debit there. You and I have a debt we cannot pay. The wages of sin is death. We deserve death. If you want justice, if you want, God, give me what I deserve, then you're gonna get death. You're gonna have eternal separation from God. The wages of sin is death. But contrast, love that contrast in Romans six twenty three. But the gift of God salvation is a gift, but the gift of God's eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Right? So if we're to go down the Romans road, if we're on the Romans Road at at Huntington Beach or down by the water shore here, hopefully in Kitsap County as we're evangelists, evangelizing, sharing the good news of Jesus, we would go first to Romans three twenty three. We would establish a level playing field that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And somebody says, not me, man. I got my mega hat on, and I got my coin to Cyrus, and you know, God grade is on the curve. We voted for the lesser of the two evils, and we're not as bad as those stinky Democrats, you know. We we did the warp speed jab. No, you didn't. No, you didn't. Wasn't your idea. You can't it's Teflon with these guys. Didn't do anything wrong. Does God grade on the curve? Does he look at it as, oh, these people, these these Republicans are more righteous than these Democrats, so I better bless America because, oh, we we better make America great. That's the fallacy that people get into in comparing themselves one with another. You're divided. A kingdom divided against itself cannot set Here's what we need to hear. Repentance. A call to repentance. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Being justified freely, verse 24, by his grace through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus. That's where we need to be. That's the gospel. Paul brings everybody from the homos in Romans one, who we love to condemn, those liberals. Then he brings in a chapter two to the moralist, those who think they're better than everybody else. And then he brings us all to the base of the cross. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. You have no way out except Jesus Christ. He's your only way out. There's one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. We got a Jesus problem in America. We got Jesus being kicked out of the church and his word being kicked out of the church. It's not a political problem. It's a spiritual problem because people think, oh, I'm pretty good. You got a false you're you're like the Pharisee and the publican. Get off it. Your heroes, your idols, the people that you exalt. You even ask them, have you ever sinned? You know? I don't know that I've ever sinned at all. I just try to do better next time. Well, somebody needs to teach him the book of Galatians because it's not the doing, it's the trusting. Religion is the doing, and then you pride yourself because you work harder and you do more. But you gotta be perfect. You can live your whole life. And and, you know, like yesterday when I got a couple days ago when I was racing home to get here with that ticket, you know. Well, I've been a good driver my whole life. I've only got one ticket. I bet I've been a good person my whole life. I've only murdered one person. Well, you murder one person or one lie or one ticket, you're guilty of the whole thing. The wages of sin is death. He doesn't grade on the curve. He wants salvation to be a free gift so that nobody can boast of how hard they're trying, how much better they are than the previous, you know, group of politicians or whatever. Crazy how we how we get caught in that works relationship with God. It's a free gift. What a blessing. So God will account, reckon, impute righteousness to all who simply believe in his son. Do you believe? Yeah. I believe. Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. In Genesis 15, Abraham asked the Lord a question. Who will be my heir? Is it Eliezer, my servant? Are we are Sarah and I you you called me, you know, in chapter 12, you called me when I was 75, and Sarah's 65, and you said that you were gonna bless us, that all and our seed, kingdoms of the world, you know, nations of the world be blessed, and, you know, we can't have a kid. We can't have children. We we can't get pregnant. So there's a famine, and I better go down into Egypt. And Sarah, you know, you tell them you're my sister because you're so good looking. They're gonna kill me to get you if if if you're my wife. You know? And so the pharaoh and others saw how beautiful Sarah was at 65 years old, and then God spoke to the pharaoh and said, don't you dare touch this woman. So they got expelled. He failed. You don't see that account in Hebrews chapter 11. You don't see his failure. He's a father of our faith, but he's a man just like you and I. He has lapses of faith. But at crunch time when it came when it came when it was most important in chapter 15, he believed. But in chapter 12, they wind up leaving Egypt with what? With the world. They wind up leaving Egypt with his nephew Lot, and they leave with a woman named Hagar. Oh. So now you've got a situation where Sarah's trying to help God out, Abraham's willing to listen, And so about twelve years goes by, and she says, why don't you go into my handmaiden Hagar? We'll help God out. And so Abraham's, okay. So they bring forth Ishmael, a work of the flesh. Oh, that Ishmael might, you know, live before you, stand before you God. In Isaac shall thy seed be called, we're gonna see. And so they're trying to help God out, and there's a thirteen year silence. A thirteen year silence, Abraham, a man of worship, everywhere he went, he built an altar. Do you have a family altar? Are you a man of worship? When you think of moving to Tennessee, do you first thing you check out is the churches. When you think of changing jobs, is the first thing you check out is where can I worship the Lord? Where's the altar? In many cases, we don't care. We go to Montana because it's for us, and it's dry spiritually. You can't find a church, but boy, you got away from everybody. I love a spirit filled church. That's the most important thing to me is to be with God's people who are spirit filled and love Jesus. We can get through anything if Jesus is at the center. I was I was amazed at how many people packed up and left the state of Washington because of COVID. Absolutely amazed. Panicsville. Let's get out of here. You know, wherever you go, you can have fellowship with Jesus. Doesn't matter. It's not a geographical location kind of a thing. And yet, we do need to recognize in some pockets, some places, people have dug down to pioneer and to establish churches, and they have great roots in those in those communities, and they've been stalwarts in standing for the truth, and they refuse to compromise. And there's great fruit that comes from it. And other communities just totally disregard the word of God and the things of the Lord. They may have once been on fire and following the leading guide and the Holy Spirit, but the apostasy, the falling away from the truth erodes the spiritual fiber of the community. And and like Europe, you see many of these churches empty being filled with Muslims. It's a spiritual void, a spiritual vacuum that has to be filled with something. There's no neutral ground. So the cults, and the new age, and the others fill these communities, and there's always a there's always a battle going on. If I were in Texas and I heard that a bunch of Mohammedans are coming down to build a mosque, it wouldn't scare me a bit. That's the freedom they have as United States citizens. If I take away their freedom to build their mosque, then one day they're gonna take away my freedom to build my church and to worship with the people I love to worship with. There's gotta be religious freedom of all different groups or we're in jeopardy. Really, what needs to happen is the churches need to be so strong that nobody'd fill those mosques like in Iran today. The mosques are empty because Christianity is flourishing. We don't fear them. Jesus said, upon this rock, I'll build my church, and the gates of hell would not prevail against it. It's never been the the unbelievers that had caused me the most trouble. It's been the pseudo Christians infiltrating the church that have caused me the most trouble. Judgment begins at the house of God. If we're doing what God's called us to do, there's nobody that can touch us. There's nobody that can stop us. The early church in Acts four, you know, they're beaten, they're threatened, threatened with more beating, and where are these guys? They go right back into the temple proclaiming Jesus Christ. You can't stop people like that. They're emboldened. They had a prayer meeting and gave greater boldness to continue. The apostle Paul when he stoned at Lystra, when he finally wakes up after being caught up to the third heaven, what's he do? He goes right back into Derby, Lystra, and Iconium. You can't stop a guy like that. And then he gives him the reality of Joel Olsteen. You're gonna have your best life now, you guys. No. He didn't say that. He said that we, through much tribulation, enter into the kingdom of God. There's your reality. Getting beaten is a reality as a Christian. But we don't stop. We get back up and go right back in. We have the power of the resurrection. We're not gonna cower in fear, you know, at the edict of the king that you guys can't meet, and you can't have communion, and you can't worship, and, you know, they're trying to double down even now in the future here. We're gonna have to make some decisions. Are we gonna worship king Jesus? Are we gonna worship him or obey man? When it comes down to our faith in Jesus, it's a no brainer. When it comes down to our worship of him, it's a no brainer. We'll obey God rather than men. And so Abraham and Sarah, they leave there. In about chapter 15, Abraham's frustrated, who's gonna be my heir? And he says, look now toward heaven and tell the stars that thou be able to number them. And he said unto him, so shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord and he counted to him for righteousness. And so God shown him the stars. Also, the sand, you know, God's good thoughts concerning us more than the number of the sand of the seashore, which people tell us there's that many stars up there. So shall thy seed be, the posterity, the spiritual posterity that's gonna come forth from you, Abraham. In the gospel that's being preached to you, the good news of Jesus Christ, seed singular, but seed plural in the people that are gonna believe. Not just the nation of Israel, but every tribe, tongue, kindred, and nation. Because everybody's gonna come as Adam and Eve came. How did Adam and Eve come? Do they have a different gospel? Did they have the law that they had to keep? No. They left the garden in coats of skins. Without the shedding of blood, there's no remission of sin. They saw a future that Jesus would die upon the cross. Adam and Eve were told the gospel ahead of time. They were told in Genesis three fifteen that the seed of the woman, the virgin born son of God, that his heel would be bruised. Yeah. Jesus would go to the cross and be bruised, but he would raise himself from the dead and crush the serpent's head. So Adam and Eve tried to be religious and cover their sins with fig leaves, didn't they? That's not gonna work. And God in his grace and mercy kept them from going to the tree of life. Angels with swords there keeping them from making a huge eternal mistake, and God slew an animal. And they left the garden in coats of skins, speaking future that Jesus, the lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. Same thing with the Passover, that Jesus is that Passover lamb that takes away doesn't just cover, but takes away the sins of the world, so the gospel before being preached. So Abraham believed on the Lord and he counted it to him, credited to him for righteousness. He didn't have to keep any laws, jump through any hoops. Romans four nineteen, Paul in describing this this emphasis upon faith, said, and being not weak in faith, Abraham being not weak in faith, is your faith weak? Do you wanna strengthen your faith? How? How pastor? How can I strengthen my faith? Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. As you get into God's word, your faith will be strengthened. Your faith will be tested. Your faith will be attacked. And every test that you take that you pass, you grow. If you don't pass that test, you get to retake it. So Abraham can retake the test. Thirteen years silence, now he's 99 years old. Sarah's 89 years old, And Jesus comes into the camp with two angels, and they're about ready to deal with Sodom and Gomorrah, aren't they? But the Lord says to Abraham and Sarah who have given up. Have you ever reached a place where you've given up on God's promises? You know you're saved, but you also know that God has promised you some other things. And in Abraham's case, a unique way, through his seed, all nations of earth will be blessed, and Abraham's trying to sort this through. Well, how come Ishmael can't be the one? No. Not Ishmael. That's a work of the flesh. This time next year, a year from now, when you're a 100 years old and Sarah's 90, she's gonna conceive and bring forth a child, a miraculous moving and working of God's spirit so that nobody can take credit. And Isaac's gonna fill, laughter is gonna fill your tent. And Isaac shall thy seed be called. We're gonna change your name from Abram to Abraham, father of many. Now when you're walking around with the name Abraham, father of many, and people ask you how many kids you have, and you say none. You you think they you know, but we're gonna have one soon. Well, Sarah's gone through menopause, and there's no way that's gonna happen. And I tried to illustrate that a little bit. I know I I tested you. I pushed you too far. I pushed Kathy too far. I said, Kathy and I are trying to get pregnant, and you guys all laughed at me. Well, what if Abraham did that? She's past menopause. I mean, why not me? God's no respecter of persons. I was just joking. Okay? We're not we're not going there. We are too old. We're too Grandkids are great. That's what grandkids are for. So now look at the heavens and tell the stars, we'd be able to number them. And he said unto them, so shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord, it was accounted to him for righteousness. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead when he was about a 100 years old. Romans four nineteen. Neither yet deadness of Sarah's womb. He staggered, very important word, he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief. So often we think in terms of sinning, and it's that overt sin of something we murdered somebody or stole something or lied. But very seldom do we think in terms of the sin of unbelief, how we can quench the holy spirit and grieve the holy spirit simply because we're a church that doesn't believe. So God says, hey, I got a challenge for you. I'm gonna send you into the promised land. You get to scope it out, you twelve twelve spies. And 10 come back with an unbelieving report, and it says it permeated, it poisoned the hearts of the rest of the people. It held the whole body back. It held them back for forty years just going in circles. And Caleb and Joshua, they believe, let's go take it now. Let's go now, man. Well, there's giants. You you begin to rationalize and look at it in the natural. Hey, there's no way we can overcome these walled cities. There's no way we can overcome these giants. There's the the Anakim are in the land, you know, the Rephaim. There's giants in the land. And so God's heart is broken. The people began to accuse, you know, Moses of bringing out them out there to just spread their bodies. And we've got little children. We've got little children. Do you know that you can reach a place today especially where your family becomes an idol? People pride themselves on family time, family day, family this, family that. You know your best family time is attending church? Get your family to church. Read the bible to your family. Don't glorify soccer on Sundays and all these other things you can do as a family. It's idolatry. Anything you put before the Lord is idolatry. You seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, all these other things be added unto you. You work out a schedule where the Lord glorified, where priority is the Lord. If you can't make it Sunday morning, then you find a church that has a midweek or a bible study or somewhere where the Lord is the priority. You tell the soccer league, we don't do morning soccer. We play on Saturdays or Sunday afternoon. Nothing wrong with playing Sunday afternoon. But when you act you ask and you give in to the culture, when you begin to envision your kid being a professional soccer player, baseball player, football player, fisherman, or whatever it might be, now you're embracing the celebrity of the world, and you just add Jesus to make it look so clean. Yeah. We got Jesus too, but he gets the 2%, And we do what we want with the other percent. You can Christianize anything. Kids will know. Was Jesus the priority in your home? How's your faith? Little faith? Want your faith strengthened? When the son of man comes, will he find faith on the earth? We're gonna see where our faith is as things tighten up in the world in which we're living. If we go to a central bank digital currency and we don't have the freedom of the dollar anymore, we're gonna find out if your social credit score is more important than worshiping king Jesus. We're gonna find out real quick who we believe in. He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith giving glory to God and being fully persuaded that what he promised he was able to perform. I can't perform it, Lord, but you promised it. Factor God into the equation. Everybody's afraid of Goliath. Everybody's afraid of the giants, but not David. David God prepared David by slaying a lion, by slaying a bear. David's faith is growing, and he's a ruddy little guy. He's a a shepherd boy. The son of Jesse, and Jesse had many other sons, older sons that were too afraid to go engage Goliath, the Philistine champion. And you know the story. You saw it on VeggieTales. You know it. He picked up five smooth stones, and he picked up his his slingshot, and and he began to cry out to the nation, you know, you the battle belongs to the Lord. What are you guys afraid of? If God before us, who can be against us? David factored God into the equation, and God caused that that that little stone to hit the only place where Goliath didn't have any armor. And David couldn't wear king Saul's armor. He had to go in the power of the spirit. And God did that laser guided stone that hit Goliath in his forehead and sunk in deep, we're told. And if that wasn't dramatic enough, he fell like a big tree to the ground. The bigger they are, the harder they fall. And David's not done yet. David doesn't even have a sword. David runs up to Goliath and grabs Goliath's sword and cuts off Goliath's head, holds the head up. Now everybody's emboldened. Faith can also be infectious, just as unbelief. You know, without faith, it's impossible to please God. For they that come to him must believe that he is and that he's a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. I believe the greatest thing that I possess as a man is the faith that God's given me. Steal my faith, take away my faith, and I'm nothing. I won't be able to cope. I won't be able to deal with life without my faith in Jesus Christ. I didn't know him before, but when he revealed himself to me and gave me that measure of faith, and I began to depend and trust in him and get to know him, there's no going back. There's never ever ever is there ever a place of going back. The pig, the sow wallowing in a mire, the dog going back to its vomit, there's no going back. It's moving forward, growing in faith, growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord. And therefore, it was imputed unto him for righteousness. Verse seven, know ye therefore that they which are of faith the same are the children of Abraham? He's a father of many. Abraham, father of many. Believers are the spiritual children of Abraham. This isn't talking about the nation of Israel. This is talking about the spiritual heritage in that there's going to be people Abraham. If you could look up at the stars, you're gonna be a father of many nations. Your faith, the father of the faith, your example in believing in me. But also, Paul's gonna talk about the seed singular in a little while in that the Abrahamic covenant in that the Messiah is gonna come forth from your loins. And it's that belief and faith in the Messiah that's righteousness is imputed to Jew, Gentile, barbarian, Scythian, bond, and free, male, female, doesn't matter who. Whosoever will, let them come. The Jews made the mistake, the Judaizers, the Pharisees in John chapter eight. First mistake they made is they brought a woman, not the man, the woman caught in the very act of adultery and grabbed Jesus and says, Jesus, the law says now the volume of the book is written of him. Jesus said, search the scriptures and then you think you have eternal life and they are they which testify of me. Which of you convicts me of sin? As if Jesus didn't know the law. The law says, she should be stoned. So Jesus, almighty God, he stoops down on the ground. He says, he that without sin cast the first stone. He stoops down on the ground, the finger of God that wrote the very law, the 10 commandments, began to write in the dust of the ground. The finger of God that wrote in Daniel five, many many Tekel Eupharsan, as Belshazzar saw the handwriting on the wall. Your kingdom's taken from you. You've been waiting the balance found wanting divided between the Medes and the Persians. And then as Jesus is writing from the eldest to the youngest, they walked away from there. He turns to the woman, where are thine accusers? She says, nowhere Lord. He says, neither do I condemn they go and sin no more. And then they try to catch him some more in chapter eight there, and he begins to dialogue with them and let them know that, you know, you're priding yourself on your natural lineage, your natural heritage. The natural man understands not the things of God neither can he know them because they're spiritually discerned. You're not going to heaven simply because you were born in a Catholic family and sprinkled by some priest. Nicodemus, you must be born again. A rabbi, you must be born again. Body and soul and spirit, born of above, born of the holy spirit. You've got to receive Christ into your heart and life. How do I do that? Believe. What must I do to be saved? I'm the Philippian jailer. Believe. In John six, what are the works that we can do? The works that we can do to receive eternal life. Jesus said, this is the work that you believe on him who he has said. Believe. It's always by faith. It's your faith that's imputed to you for righteousness. And so Jesus is arguing, debating with the religious leaders, and they're saying, we're Abraham's children. And you know, they tried to hit him below the belt. Jesus said, if you're Abraham's children, then you would do as Abraham did. Abraham rejoiced to see my day and he saw it and was glad. The gospel was before preached unto Abraham, Paul's gonna say. Abraham heard the gospel way back when before the law, four hundred and thirty years before Moses received the law, salvation by grace through faith alone. And they said, well, we're Abraham's children, and they thought because they're Abraham's children, because they were Jews, that they get free admittance into heaven, and that Gentiles were simply produced by God as fuel for the fire of hell. They didn't think Gentiles could be saved. The Goyim. And here Paul is going in there, Galatia sharing the gospel, and people are coming to Christ left and right. And now the Judaizers are jealous as they were jealous of Jesus, and that so many people are coming to Christ, now they wanna bring them under the bondage of the law. And Paul's saying, no. No. No. No. No. That's not how it works. And Jesus said that if you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham, which is what? Believe. In Romans nine, he talks about Israel's past election. Romans 10, Israel's present rejection in that dispensation of of blindness in part has happened under Israel in chapter 11 until the fullness of the Gentiles become in during the church age. But Paul is talking in Romans nine ten eleven, sandwiched between his presentation of the gospel. I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes. To the Jew first, the priority to the Jew. But if the Jew rejects, the Gentiles get to hear and salvation is by grace through faith alone. The just shall live by faith. For therein is righteous God revealed from faith to faith as is written, the just, those justified, those righteous shall live by faith. Martin Luther learned this this truth. And so not all they, Paul says in Romans nine, are of Israel, but Isaac shall thy seed be called. So it's not the Ishmael, it's the Isaac, it's not the Esau, it's Jacob, it's the children of faith. As faith can be passed on to your children. What's it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul, or what would a man give in exchange for his life? The greatest athletes I like are the ones that use the platform of the celebrity to share Christ, like a Tim Tebow. Those are my favorite athletes, a Kurt Warner. Great Excel. Excel at sports. Excel at whatever means that that God gives you, but use that platform. Use that celebrity. Use that stage to glorify Christ. Put Jesus out there. Let people hear of Jesus, and then live it. Tim Tebow was tempted with women coming after him after his John three sixteen on his eyelids and the whole thing, you know, and the NFL wanting to blackball him and treat him bad. You know? But Colin Kaepernick, you know, he's supposed to be something. You know? And Tebow is standing for Jesus, and boy, they try to demonize him and all and say he can't play and all that. This is a Heisman winner in college. Then the women started coming, trying to compromise his testimony. Guess what? He's a virgin when he got married. AC Green that played for the Lakers, he's a virgin. That's powerful. Lot of people profess to be Christians out there. They're celebrities. Boy, they're sure living like the world, aren't they? They blew their testimony. And these guys, they didn't know God. And so Jesus let them know that your father is the devil, that he's a liar from the beginning, and, you know, in Isaac shall they see be called the true Israel of God or those who believe in Jesus Christ. And the scripture foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham saying, and these shall all nations be blessed. So God's letting Abraham know, and anybody that's clued in know John three sixteen. The gospel was before preached unto Abraham. And you know where I'm gonna go. In Hosea twelve ten, God said that he's spoken by the prophets. Hosea twelve ten, and also through similitudes. God played a movie. God played a movie for Abraham, but a movie that he had to act in, a movie that he was tested in. And that movie, that picture, that similitude was Abraham in Genesis 22. Take thy son, thy only son Isaac, only son, to a mount that I'm gonna show you and offer him as a burnt sacrifice. What? The crowning achievement, we finally got the son. He's about 17 years old now, and I'm supposed to take him and build an altar and offer him up? Really, God? Is that who you are? Think of the intellectual, the the your brain would be so warped trying to think that one through, trying to reason that. Well, if you're a god of love you ever gone down that path? If he's a god of love, like somehow we could understand the mind of God. For God so loved, He said, Abraham, so they got the servants to help. Isaac was willing. Isaac being a type of Christ. Abraham a type of God the father, take thy only son. Abraham had other sons. Isaac, to a mount that I'll show you, the place was Moriah, the place we call today Golgotha or Calvary, the place where Jesus was crucified. Father, Isaac says, we have the knife. Father, we have the fire. We've got the wood, but where's the lamb for the sacrifice? Jehovah Jireh, God will provide himself a lamb for the sacrifice. And Abraham, with Isaac willingly laying down, wraps him with some ropes, gets the fire ready, lifts the knife. And at that moment, the picture is complete. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life. The father, Abraham, offering up his only begotten son, and God says, stop. Stop. Stop. I got a ram caught in the thicket. I see, Abraham, that you won't withhold anything from me, that you love me supremely. You love me more than the crowning moment of your lifetime. I think for us guys, I think in many ways, what we're most proud of men, women, is not so much our kids, In many ways, it's our stuff. It's our achievements, what we've achieved. And if God were to take away what we've achieved like he did with Job, that would be so incredibly devastating. More devastating than the loss of a son, a daughter, or even our wives. Because our whole identity is wrapped up in what we built, what we achieved. That's the first thing we talk about when we meet people. And I'm saying, how are you doing? I'm doing great. I'm going to a wealth seminar. I'm gonna learn how to use my wealth in the AI crypto, Bitcoin, keto, whatever field. They were setting up a State Street huge wealth seminar in California in Huntington Beach before we left. Whole lot of young young millionaires, wealthy people, boomers. You know how the boomers got become millionaires? Two and a half percent interest. All their homes went up to be $1,500,000. 2,000,000, 5,000,000 because of that 2.5% interest rate. Now they got that wealth in the stock market. Now they're gonna need to learn how to reset to transition into the crypto world. You got State Street, Vanguard, and BlackRock, right, helping everybody, and Blackstone. So we saw this huge thing, must have cost a couple million dollars just to set it up. Must be a whole lot of wealthy people down there. The thing that surprised me is I wasn't invited. But amazing. Just amazing. And for Abraham, the crowning achievement in his life is Isaac. The laughter that filled the tent, the perseverance to reach the point of being a 100 years old, and for God to do a miracle, for God to had eyes of the Lord to run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show himself strong on behalf of a man whose heart is perfect toward God. And Abraham says, God says, Abraham, you're that man. I can see that you will not withhold anything from me, that I could take your son, your daughter from you. I could take anything from you. And as Job and Job was a contemporary of Abraham. The Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away. Came naked into the world, naked were in gold. Blessed be the name of the Lord. That Satan, hey, we'll worship God for who he is, not what he gives us, or certainly you'll see it as he takes it away. If he does take it away, it's for his glory. And Abraham was willing to give up Isaac in obedience under the Lord even though he may not have understood because how are you going to how are you going to reconcile this? How are you going to bring forth the Messiah if you allow me to kill the seed, singular, kill the seed Isaac that he's coming through? Well, we get the answer in Hebrews 11. In Hebrews 11, it says that Abraham believed God to the point of, alright, it's your problem. And he believed that God would raise Isaac from the dead. You see, the gospel is before preached unto Abraham, not just the crucifixion, the burial, but the resurrection too. That Messiah Jesus, the lamb of God, who would take away the sins of the world, that he'd be crucified, his heel would be bruised, but that he'd crush the serpent's head in his resurrection. That he would spoil all principalities and powers. He would triumph over them all. So the Old Testament patriarchs, they came to faith, they came to salvation the same way we do, by grace through faith alone. Abraham rejoice to see my day, and he saw it and was glad Jesus said, blessed. Believers are blessed with righteousness. Secondly, believers are blessed with rest. How many people you know who are not experiencing God's rest? Filled with anxiety, stressed out, cortisol levels hitting the roof, self medicating, alcohol, gummies, pot, pharmaceuticals. My mom, she was so stressed out. In her fourth marriage, four kids, not even 30 yet, and I remember her. The time she started, I don't remember this part, but when she started smoking when she's 13 years old. She had me when she was 15. Then she had two more kids, two different men. By the time my dad came along, Ralph who's with Jesus now, who adopted me when I was four, they had a fourth kid, and we're living in Huntington Beach, and we could could get by on one income, so to speak, back in those days. And she was at home as a homemaker twelve years, twelve best years of my life, where she's there married to my dad from four to 16 till that marriage blew up. But I remember her, the way that she coped was alcohol, cigarettes, and her finger would do this. And then she'd put that there, and then she'd grab the next cigarette, light that one, try to calm her nerves. And a third one that the ladies began to receive from the pharmaceutical experts, tranquilizers. Mix the tranquilizer with the beers, put them to sleep. She's a rager. Rager, man. The screaming she's doing stuff, so you just get out of the house. That home lacked peace. There's no rest for the wicked. They tried to love. My mom and dad tried their best to love and to do good. They just didn't have Jesus. They didn't know the secret that you and I know. That Jesus said, my peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth, give I unto you. In the world, promising us, being truthful with us, you will have tribulation. Not the tribulation. Tribulation means pressure. There's gonna be pressure against your marriage. There'll be pressure against your home. But with that pressure, as you rely upon me, I'm gonna get you through it. And I'm gonna cause your faith to grow, and you're gonna experience a peace that the worldly person cannot experience. It's my peace. My peace that Paul described in the Philippians four as a peace that surpasses all understanding. Your family, friends, and everybody are saying, hey. You just lost a baby, but you're praise on the lord. You're still going to church. Aren't you blaming god? I don't blame god. I love god. I don't understand. I don't have the answers, but I have the faith. And he's given me a peace. The doctor says, you've got cancer. You've got eighteen months to live. You've got peace. You know where you're going. You know who's sovereign. You know who's in control. And that cancer, if God wields, if God wants to, he can cure that cancer as easy as the others see, the cold or the COVID or the cancer. Nothing's hard for God. And as our faith is tested, as we rely upon him, he's transformed and changing us from within. And the apostle Paul reminds us in Philippians four, be anxious for nothing. But in everything, in everything, give thanks unto God. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything through prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known unto God. You're praying. And the peace of God How would you greet? Peace. Shalom. Hebrew, Shalom. Grace and peace. Grace and peace. God's great and peace. May the peace come over this home. God's peace. Such an elusive thing in a culture that's so busy, so dependent upon so many other things. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding. My ways aren't your ways. They're past finding out. As high as the heavens above the earth, so are my ways from your ways. You don't have the ability to know the mind of God. If you could understand God, he wouldn't be God. You'd be God. Shall guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Gonna guard your heart and mind. Does it mean we don't have a lapse of faith? Does it mean we don't reach a place sometimes of despair? Certainly. We go through that crucible, that trial, and we may hit rock bottom. As David, why art thou cast down, oh my soul? Why art thou disquieted within me? You're talking to yourself. Hope thou in God. Get back to square one. Hope in God. Have a confident expectation in what God's gonna do. He's gonna take all things, and he's gonna work them together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose. God, I don't understand. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. There you go. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he'll direct your path. There's no peace, saith the Lord to the wicked. The Lord will give his peace, Isaiah says, he'll give him perfect peace whose mind has stayed on thee. The battle's in your mind. My mom didn't have anything in her mind to trust in. She didn't know what to do. Then you wind up going to the psychiatrist, and now they're gonna play the blame game, and it's your mom's fault, and your dad's fault. Do you know how many list of things I could blame my mom and dad for what a loser I am today? But I don't do that because I know it's not true. I know that in me that is in my flesh dwells no good thing. The only thing good, the only thing I'm capable of is as the Lord allows me to love, allows me to experience his peace, allows me to say I'm sorry. When the cop gave me the ticket the other day, I said, thank you. I'm sorry. I don't know if that's really sorry, but it sound good. Kathy says, why'd you thank him? I don't understand that. He just gave you a ticket. And I said, well, it was 20 over. He could have done a lot worse, you know. He made it only five over. I'm very thankful. And I could be a lot more sorry, so lighten up girl. Did it stop me from speeding again? No. Why? Because if I see a sign that says, don't walk on the grass, the thing I wanna do the most is walk on the grass. It takes the holy spirit to hold me down. I my sister-in-law said to me, my brother Larry served in the military, and a lot of you serve in the military. She said, you could have never done it because I said, why? And she says, because you can't take orders. What do you mean I can't take orders? I play by the rules, but they have to make sense to you. You see, if I'm in a herd of cars and they're doing the herd mentality, the zombie drooling thing, and the truckers are going like this blocking us and all that, all I can do is think how am I gonna get around them. So that cop, he didn't see me going a 105 to get around them. And then I can relax. Then it's safer. It's safer to be in that spot than it is in that herd where I don't know what the guy on the left is gonna do, the guy on the right is gonna do, the truck's gonna stop, brake lights, the whole thing drives me crazy. I've never been a herd mentality guy. But that's just who the Lord made me. You, you might like it. You might like standing in line for hours to get a COVID shot. I don't know. You maybe you love wearing a mask. Maybe the masks are coming back in California, and you say, god, I missed the mask, man. I missed it. Oh, I'm so glad I can wear the mask again. I got kicked out of so many places for not wearing a mask. I'm proud of it too. Even when the guy runs out to me from one of these whack a doodle churches here and kicked me out of the gym I was in for not wearing a mask, and and I wrote on the termination paper, I won't submit to tyranny, that made him bad. He tried to sell it to me as loving my neighbor. You hear that stuff? I'm gonna I'm gonna give in to an idiocy where the Spanish flu, they say a lot of them got a biological, pneumonia from all the bacteria that those things hold and all that. And they even says right on the box, I can't stop it, you know, the whole thing. But it's conditioning. It's brainwashing. So let's get the Herd dolls. You know, do you see Bill Gates and those guys wearing those things? Not unless it's a photo op, you know. Are their kids jabbed? No. So just a full on psyop to test the waters of how many people they can get to whatever. So it cost me $300, maybe 400 with this ticket to be a rebel, and then who knows what my insurance does, whatever. But I had peace. I had peace like when I got out in front, not so much afterwards. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse for it is written, cursed is everyone that continues not in all things which are written in book of the law to do them. So the law demands perfection, Mega. Perfection. You wanna go that route? You wanna go the route of making Germany great or making America great? You better be perfect. You're gonna criticize in Matthew seven, judge somebody else, there's three fingers pointing back. You wanna be so perfect, let's open up the Epstein list and see how many republicans are on that list. Don't pontificate and point that the Democrats because if the Democrats start talking about you Republicans, you guys are going to jail. That's why you're the uni party and nobody's ever going to jail. It's just rhetoric. Maybe bottom of the barrel somebody. The only people that go to jail are the whistle blowers that expose the others. But we get caught up in the champion. He's my champion. I'm going for the orange man. Mister warp speed jab. Do you have enough critical thinking to know how many people have died from that jab? It's a no brainer. There's overwhelming facts flooding the media right now. And yet, what are they gonna do? They're gonna double down. They just met with Bill Gates at the White House. They're gonna double down. DeSantis, he's saying no jabs of of children in Florida. The surgeon general's agreeing with him. It's your body. And so Trump's asked about it, but he's like, well, you know, it it kinda worked with polio. What kinda answer is that? Are you gonna get polio from someone with polio? And if you're if you're jabbed, why are you afraid of me giving you COVID? You have the immunity supposedly. No. You're a carrier. You're getting the flu shot this season. You're getting the COVID shot this season, and you're going to transfer it to other people. Not me. My immune system already had it and built up an immunity. If they release an Ebola, then okay. Bets are off. The next one's gonna be even worse, he says. How is that guy still breathing? But I'm supposed to rah rah rah because he's on the mega cult team? Mind boggling. That's not where my rest is. I'm not putting my trust and hope in these guys. The law demands perfection. Isaiah 57 or yeah. Fifty seven twenty says, the wicked are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There's no peace, say it my God to the wicked. When we sin, our conscience is violated. We know we've done wrong. And then we can cauterize, we can sear that conscience as we continue to sin. We can justify, we can rationalize. And I confess, I'm just I'm just a sinner. I'm a sinner, but I don't wanna practice sin. I don't wanna do anything that hurts anybody, but I sin. I continue to sin. I'm never gonna reach that place of perfection. But as I yield to the holy spirit, the lord gives me victory over sin, then I experience his peace. Deuteronomy eleven twenty six, behold, I set before thee this day a blessing and a curse. This according to the law, you can choose a blessing or a curse. A blessing if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day, and a curse if you will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God. So who can obey? James says, you can obey in all points except one and still be guilty of all. So if you're pride in yourself on how perfect you are or if you make the mistake I said before of comparing, he that compares himself is not wise. You can always when you're comparing, you're always finding somebody worse than you. Do you know what I discovered when I was far more obese than I am now when I when I was huge? Everybody felt skinny around me. Everybody felt righteous. They felt better than me. I knew who I was inside here, and I used my attractiveness in high school. But when I hurt my back and then I became a pastor, didn't think that mattered. I let myself go. I got up three hundred twenty pounds. Girls quit flirting with me. That was good. It's it's hard being as good looking as I am. That's it's a hard thing. Might cheat on my wife, you know. So then you lose 80 pounds, and people start flirting, things happening, and you're like, oh, man. Oh, man. The devil with the blue dress is here at the gym, you know. So you yield to the holy spirit, you rely upon the holy spirit. What was interesting to me though is people made fun of me. They felt so good around me. They take food and put it in front of me and mock me at the pastor's conference and stuff like that. So now I'm 65 years old. I go to the gym now, I'm eating better. I'm still fat, but I'm not as fat as I was. But man, people sure felt good around me. Everybody likes to joke around the jolly guy, you know. And I'm like, what are you guys doing? You you guys aren't cool. I know cool. You're not cool. You guys are you guys are pastors parading around like you're cool. I got a doctorate in cool. You know? I know how to be cool. It's such a such a, what do you call it, childish kind of a thing. God looks at the heart, not the outward. He doesn't grade on the curve. No rest for the wicked. Whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point is guilty of all. Cursed, no rest. Jesus said, math be therefore perfect even as your father which is heaven is perfect. It's impossible, but that's the standard perfection. That's the standard placed upon Jesus, our substitute. He lived a perfect life so that he could be the sacrifice for us. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus. Verse 11, but that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident for the just shall live by faith. So Paul reaches back to Habakkuk chapter two where the prophet Habakkuk where God told him in chapter one, I'm gonna do a work in your day that if I told you, you wouldn't believe in me. The nation of Israel was apostate, so God was using the Assyrians to deal with the 10 northern tribes in July, Israel was destroyed. In May, God was gonna destroy Judah with the Babylonians. And God's saying, I'm gonna bring the Babylonians in. That's the work that I'm gonna do if I told you, you wouldn't believe me. And Habakkuk's like, hey, they're worse than us. How could you use them? We're much better than them. And God's God's solution, God's reaction was the just shall live by faith. You're gonna have to trust me. You're gonna have to walk by faith. Paul uses it in Romans one seventeen in regard to justification. The just shall live by faith. In Hebrews ten thirty eight, he uses it again in regard to you see in chapter 11, by faith by faith by faith by faith. The problem with the Hebrew believers is because of the persecution, they began to indulge in the law again to to avoid persecution. So Paul say, no, the ones that please God were by faith in chapter 11, so the just shall live by faith. Those that draw back, God has no pleasure in them. In Galatians three eleven here, the emphasis upon shall living, you need to live by faith. Don't live according to the law. And the law is not of faith, but the man that doeth them shall live in them. So law and faith are mutually exclusive. There are opposites like oil and water, you can't be mixed. One blesses, one curses. So you husbands, you're the lord of your house, you're the head of the home, you don't put your wife under the law. You don't put your children under the law. There's gotta be great great grace in every relationship. You walk into that relationship ahead of time, eyes wide open, but as time goes on, half shut. You don't need to see and expose and shine a light on every little thing. You go to first Corinthians 13, love doesn't keep score. Your wife can be as weak as she wants to be. To be strong. You're to be the covering. You're to build her up during your relationship. You're to build her up to present her to Christ. Opposites, the Lord uses the opposites, both of us have to die to self. There's a mutual submission in a marriage, in a relationship. Fathers provoke not your children to wrath by putting them under the law. The hypocrisy within the home, imposing upon them a behavior that they don't see emulated or lived out in your life. If you don't want them to cuss, don't cuss. If you don't want them to be alcoholics, then don't be an alcoholic. If you don't want them to be a rager, anger management, the whole thing, then don't be a rager. Teach them how to love. Cry out to God, God, enable me to love. God, give me the patience. God, give me the peace. Give me the fruit of the spirit so that I can be the godly man that you've called me to be. Because God, I'm representing you in this home. They call me a father. You're my heavenly father. God, I can't do it without your help. Let your kids marvel at the love that they see between you and your bride as husbands or love their wives like Christ loved the church. Let it be a marvel. Let it be awe. They were just so in love. And the law is not of faith. The man that doeth them shall live in them. You remember Jesus said it is finished to Talistai paid in full. The work is finished. Jesus is our Sabbath rest. In Hebrews four verse nine, there remains therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that has entered into his rest, he has also ceased from his own works as God did from his. Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fail or fall after the example of unbelief. So continue to believe. The just shall live by faith. Don't fall like the children of Israel did in the wilderness because they didn't believe. God was wanting them to enjoy his rest. The children of Israel failed. In the time of Christ, he's looking at the multitudes of people, and they were people that sheep having no shepherd. The religious hierarchy abused them and used them, and so the Lord's looking at the people, sheep having no shepherd, and he said, come unto Buddha. Come unto Confucius. Come unto Freud and Roy psychology, and they'll give you rest. Come unto the doctors for the pharmaceuticals, and they'll give you that peace and that rest you're you're craving. Is it working? Is it a band aid? Does it help for a minute? Does it get you through the crisis? Is it something that you, from here forward, are gonna rely upon, be addicted to, the oxy or whatever it may be? Is God inadequate? Is he unable to give us his peace that surpasses all understanding that guards our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus? Do we need a new gospel, a different gospel? Jesus doesn't give you a way, he says, I am the way. Jesus doesn't give you a path foreign to him. Before Abraham was, I am, Jesus told him in John eight. I'm the great, I am, they go in me. I'm the good shepherd. I'm the resurrection, the life. I'm the light of the world. I'm the bread of life. I'm the door. You need to look no further than me, Thomas and Philip. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the father but by me. It's real simple to understand. Destroy this body, and in three days, I'll raise it up to prove that I'm the only way. A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign. The only sign you're gonna get is a sign of the prophet Jonah. There you go. He authenticates Jonah. Come on to me all you that labor and are heavy laden. You're labor and heavy laden. You're carrying the burden of the law. You can't carry that burden. He had that burden placed upon him. That weight of the law was placed upon him. He says, my God my God, why has thou forsaken me? Why are thou so far from my roaring? He that knew no sin became sin. God poured out his wrath upon his son that we might receive the righteousness of Christ. Imputed righteousness, his righteousness. Believers are blessed with righteousness. They're blessed with rest. And thirdly and finally, we're blessed with redemption. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of law being made a curse for us for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree. So the law demands that pound of flesh. God doesn't just wink at sin. It's it's it's open to you, king Agrippa, Festus and all. At times past, he, you know, he had long suffering because Christ didn't come. But now that Christ has come, it wasn't done in a corner. He's out in the open. He's crucified in Jerusalem. Everybody knows about it. He commands all men everywhere to repent, Maga Kol. Everyone, the whole nation has to come to the place of repentance like Nineveh, a heathen nation. I don't even wanna quote second Chronicles seven fourteen. It's overworked. I wanna remind you of Nineveh. Forty days and you're gonna perish. And from the king on down, they repented. And God repented of the evil that he was gonna bring upon the Ninevites. Jonah didn't like it, but they had a one hundred year reprieve. How would you like a one hundred year reprieve for your children and grandchildren? It's a spiritual problem. It's pride, fullness of bread and idleness, and they care not for the poor and needy. That was the sin of Sodom and Ezekiel 16. It manifests itself in Sodom later as a result of their lifestyle in Sodom for pleasure, but it was pride, the pride of Lucifer in Isaiah 14. It's pride that takes a nation down. Being made a curse for us, cursed at everyone that hangs on a tree so that the law demands its pound of flesh. Its imputed righteousness is fine, but there will be blood. The demands of God's righteous holy character must be met. The weights of sin is death, but the gift of God's eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. The the debt must be paid in full. There's no bankruptcy. There's no too big to fail. There's no q e. There's no helicopter dropping of dollars and just printing of the dollars. There's no exceptions. To redeem means to buy in of a slave's freedom. So you're a slave to sin, you're in bondage to the world, the flesh, the devil, and Jesus comes into the slave market and purchased you with his precious blood. He's never gonna put you back into slavery. If you choose to go into bondage, it's because you give the devil, the world, the flesh, the permission. Sin shall not have dominion over you. You're not that devil's dog anymore. You don't look in the past and and blame game at in that in that you're trying to justify for your actions and who you are. No. If any man be in Christ, he's a new creation. The old things have passed away. All things are becoming new. God's transforming and changing us. He's not gonna finish that work till we see him face to face, but we're so thankful that the work has begun. Jesus came to give his life a ransom for many. The law demanded blood. Jesus became a curse for us. He settled the account. He said, to Talistine Greek. He said, it is finished upon the cross of Calvary, paid in full. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law. Colossians two fourteen, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us. So there's charges against you and I. The devil in Revelation 12 is to the user of the brethren. The devil uses the law and he doesn't have to lie about you. The devil tells the truth about you that you're a sinner. Knows He watches. Now he's not omnipresent. He can't be everywhere. I was with this guy that when I got stung by that stingray, and I'm sitting four people wide, and I'm sitting next to a guy that's from a communist country. And he's a biologist, very, very intelligent guy. He's talked to Peter Thiel of Palantir and PayPal, the AI guys. Peter Peter Thiel, you know, he's he's got a four part series on the antichrist now. He's talking more about the antichrist than the churches are. Ain't that something? Shame on us. He's intrigued by it. So I'm talking to this guy, he said, oh, I know Peter Thiel, and he's developing this mRNA technology that he says is gonna work and, working on targeting like cancer in the body where they could target it with through the mRNA and stuff, which some are trying to do. But anyway, he's doing that. And so he's asked me what I did, I said I was a pastor, and he's an atheist. Now he's an agnostic. And I said, well, I didn't I almost wanted to say, well, you know what agnostic means? It means that you're against knowledge. It means you're an ignoramus. But I didn't say that because because I didn't wanna hurt his feelings. You know, everything's about feelings. And so what I did is I tried to minister to him about the AI system, about the whole beast system where Peter Thiel is going to show him where he's going. And I said, now, he asked me about God. He asked me about the devil. And so I said, now the devil's a fallen angel. I'm trying to talk real fast here. You know where I'm going. His rebellion against God in Isaiah 14 is rebellion against God, but he's an angel, and he can't be everywhere at once. One third of the stars of heaven fell with Lucifer in Revelation 12. So these are demons. One third of all the angels are are demonic beings. These demonic beings are fighting against God in rebellion. God is using them to show the hearts of men, and that we have free will, and we can choose God, or we can choose to go the way of the world, the flesh, the devil. And so I said, now, the attributes of God are such that God is omniscient. He knows everything. God is omnipresent by his spirit. He's everywhere. And God is also omnipotent. He's all powerful. Now the devil is an angel and he can't be all places at once. Joe, where have you been? I'm walking to and fro up down the earth. Now the surveillance system is an effort, you see it in China, the space system with the satellites, an effort for the antichrist and the beast system to see everybody in real time facial recognition and all the technologies together so the devil can have a counterfeit omniscience in knowing and seeing and listening to everything. The other one is is he's he's not omnipresent, omniscient, knowing everything, and he's certainly not omnipotent, but there'd be lying signs and wonders where it appears that the antichrist is raised from the dead and all to deceive the people. But, anyway, I've shown him the the technology that the devil is going to use from these technocrats according to Revelation seventeen seventeen. God has put within their hearts to do according to God's will. They are building the beast system. So the antichrist wants to be able to see everybody be able to see the two witnesses in Revelation 11 when they're executed. They lie in the street for three and a half days. Everybody's gonna look on their phone and see the two witnesses in Jerusalem lying on the ground. When has that technology ever been available? Well, the devil will use it in a in a means of being omnipresent and omniscient. And, and everybody can't buy or sell unless they get a mark on the right hand of their forehead, so he's gonna try and position himself. Now, this communist guy said, the problem in the communist country is there's a herd mentality, and people are taught and willing to trust in government rather than God. Out of his own mouth, to trust in government rather than God. We wanna trust in Jesus. He's the one that bled for us. He's the one that died, buying us out of slavery, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, was contrary to us, and took it out of the way and nailed it to his cross. So those charges are there. He died for all the sins, all of your sins, past, present, future, are placed upon him. God is righteous and just and punishing his son as a substitute of propitiation in your place. And so the devil, nobody can say, God, you're you're playing favorites. No. I punished my only begotten son in their place. I paid for their sins. Salvation is a free gift. In Philippians two, the kenosis, the emptying of the free exercise of his deity, it says in Philippians two eight, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, not just any death, but even the death of the cross. The blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ that we might receive the promise of the spirit through faith. You're not gonna receive the promise of the spirit by the law. The blessings of Abraham, that relationship with God, though relationship with the holy spirit was by faith, by grace through faith alone. So too with Adam and Eve, so too with every old testament patriarch, we all come in the same manner by grace through faith alone. God promised Abraham that in thee all nations of the earth would be blessed. God fulfills his promises to all who simply believe the blessing of righteousness, the blessing of rest, the blessing of redemption, the blessed believer. Be blessed. Believe. Receive the promise of the spirit through faith. So the work of the holy spirit, within and upon. God's given the spirit to come alongside you to convict of sin. You're not a believer yet. You're here this morning. The holy spirit's alongside you. Doesn't dwell with him. The holy spirit's showing you the cross. The holy spirit's showing you that Jesus died in your place. The holy spirit's showing you your need of Jesus. Now he's given you the measure of faith, and he's saying it's a gift. Will you receive that free gift? As you confess your sin, he's faithful and just to forgive you of your sin and to cleanse you of all unrighteousness. As you receive Christ, and John one, as many as received him, to them gave he the power to become the sons of God even to them that believe in his name. Are you ready to receive Christ? When you receive Christ, now you have the indwelling of the holy spirit. You didn't work it. You didn't sign up and be a member here. You didn't give. You didn't do anything. You simply believed. And you can't boast about that faith because the faith even the faith is a free gift. There's no boasting. For by grace you say through faith that not of yourselves the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast. And then you see the holy spirit coming upon you within and upon the empowerment of the holy spirit, be being filled with the holy spirit, the filling and refilling of the holy spirit, power for service to serve the lord. So many of us make the mistake of saying, I'm gonna clean my life up, and then I'm gonna go to church. I'm gonna clean my life up, and then I'm gonna start to serve the lord. There's certain degree of truth in that, you know, wait a little bit. Let's let's help you. But you don't clean your life up then go to church. You let the Lord clean you up. You know, he caught you, he'll clean you. And you can't clean yourself. You let him do a receive the promise of the spirit through faith. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this morning. So much for us to learn, so much for us to cover, to go over. Lord, I wish we had three more hours. I missed three weeks, Lord. I missed three weeks. It's in there. I just want to come out. Your rest, Lord, your peace that surpasses all understanding, that guards our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Lord, we thank you for peace in a time of chaos, in a time of great corruption and deception. That, Lord, we know that you're on the throne, you're in control, that everything's happening according to your plan and purpose, not only in our lives, but in the world around us, that everything's going according to plan. The stage is being set for the soon return of Jesus Christ. Thank you for the faith we have. Thank you for your promises. And Lord, we want to be, every single person in here, to be those virgins with oil. Be blessed with the Holy Spirit as believers, that the holy spirit comes in each person's life. Lord, if there's anybody here this morning who doesn't know you, who may be religious, who may have a wedding garment on, who may have the look from the outside, but within, as you said to Nicodemus, you must be born again. Born from above, born of the spirit. And as you continue to pray, if that's you, if you're here this morning, and the Lord's not condemning you, the Lord's convicting you, showing you your need of Jesus. He's simply saying, hey, Jesus did it all. He died in your place. Humble yourself. Receive the grace. Receive this free gift of eternal life. The Holy Spirit wants to come into your heart and life. As many as received him, to them gave he the power, become the sons of God, even to them that believe in his name. Do you believe in Jesus? What's it mean to believe? It means to deposit your trust, your dependence upon him, not in government, not in a religion, not in a hierarchy, not in a pastor, anybody. Completely in Jesus, recognizing his death, his burial, his resurrection, his promise to come again for you. He's written your name in the lamb's book of life. He's a lamb slain before the foundation of the earth. He knew you before you were even born, and he knew this moment. He's brought you to this moment where you would choose Christ. Just lift your hand up. We wanna pray with you. Just lift your hand up. You've you've waited this long. You've weathered this service. Probably 10 people have already left. It's too long. I know it's hard to sit there. But this important moment, your eternal destiny hangs in the balance of your decision. When you stand before God, he's not gonna ask you, how many good deeds did you do? How many poor did you feed? How much money did you give? How often did you go to church? How often do you read your bible? How often did you pray? He's not gonna ask you that. He simply asks you one question. What did you do with my son Jesus? Did you receive him, or did you reject him? If you receive him, there's no sin. There's nothing in the ledger. There's nothing in the account. It's paid in full. Anyone here this morning? Just lift your hand up. We wanna pray with you. Father, thank you for the assurance of salvation. Thank you that each person here knows the peace. That peace, not condemnation. Nobody's condemned here. For there's no condemnation. Those are in Christ Jesus. There's peace in knowing that the account is settled. That no matter how much we sin, how much whatever we've done, it's been washed and cleansed. You've taken our sins, you've cast them to the East to the west to remembered no more. There's no record of wrong. And Lord, there's a great upside. There's a great future for us to grow in the grace and knowledge of you, to walk in righteousness, to walk in the power of the holy spirit. Help us, Lord. Continue to transform and change us in the image of your son. Fill us overflowing with your holy spirit. Give us opportunities to share the gospel this week. And Lord, we do pray for our president. We pray for those in authority. Lord, we do pray that the nation be called to repentance. That would be an exciting day, Lord. Judgment begins in the house of God. Let it begin in the pulpits. The church recognize our sin as a nation. It shouldn't be up to the president. It should be up to the pulpits calling the nation to repentance that we'd have a reprieve. And yet, even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus. You fix it all. In Jesus' name.